Torta and Dragon found a new, larger ship with more food storage on Zoon and took off towards another ball. “Wow, that was lucky!” Torta said. “We got a ball! I was expecting it to be a lot harder to get one this time around. I’m gonna tell the others!” Torta went to the radio and connected to the Rainbow Stocking and Dragon’s former ship.
“Yeah, well,” Dragon said, “the hard part is going to be holding onto this one. But while we have it, we should probably get as many others as we can, before the outstanding balls are collected by a single group. That’s when we meet up.”
“I’ll let them know.” Torta conversed with Puttee, Gaita, Regal, and the stray Scallop, trading stories. Each team was pleased to learn they had all recovered a ball. They made a map of their positions, so they could track their movements, and agreed on the meetup signal.
While Torta had this meeting, Dragon planned out their course. The next ball that they headed for was a week away, so Dragon pushed the engines to the max before he and Torta went to train. With any luck, they’d get there in time to pry this ball from the enemy.
Unfortunately, only a day out from Zoon, they found the signal moving. Dragon changed course to go after it, finding it aboard a Demon Clan ship. However, it was raided by Saiyans before they could arrive. The back and forth stealing of the ball by Demon Clan and Saiyan forces continued indefinitely. During that time, Torta and Dragon were either training, both now aided by the Devil’s Tincture, or jumping into the crossfire of yet another raid, hoping to come out a ball richer.
Ten raids later, that hadn’t happened. Two months passed. Torta had caught sight of the ball once, and so knew it was the blue five-star ball. Dragon looked at the monitor after a training session. “On our current arc, the ball’s now only a day away,” he said. “The Saiyans should have it by now, and the nearest Demon Clan ship is two days away.”
“Looks like luck is on our side, finally!” Torta said. He sighed in relief. Looking around, the ship had become very messy. He had accepted that Dragon was not very worried about keeping things tidy, but it still bothered him. He could hear Gaita in his ear telling him to pick things up, and Svenex calling him a child for being so disorganized. “You know,” Torta said, “adults often show they care about themselves by keeping their space clean.”
Dragon laughed. “You know, sometimes it really shows that you had no guy friends growing up.”
“Puttee is messier than you,” Torta shot back. Dragon paused over the navigation console a moment. “Can you recognize the ship or tell anything about it?”
“It looks like your average Saiyan fast attack vessel. Like a plane, but in space. Unimaginative, but aggressive and effective. What worries me is how deep into the Empire we’re getting. Big players could start showing up soon.”
“Whatever it is, we’ll face it together. Like always.”
Dragon smiled. “I know.”
The next day, the two arrived in close proximity of the enemy vessel. Torta and Dragon dried off their sweat and changed into their spacesuits. As Torta zipped his suit together, Dragon looked over and noticed that his helmet wasn’t secured properly and fixed it for him. “Thanks!” Torta said as they headed for the airlock.
Flying over to the enemy ship, Torta whistled at his progress. Though he had gotten into the habit of feeling unconfident heading into battles after his first fight with Spats, he now found himself excited heading into new battles once more, ready to test his new strength. Having an ally like Dragon turned his reasons to succeed from a weight crushing his psyche into a drive pushing him further.
As they approached the ship, chi blasts came charging at them. This time, the blasts were homing. “They’re getting smarter!” Dragon remarked. He and Torta fired their own blasts to dispel them.
Torta concentrated. “I only feel six people on board,” he said. “The strongest feels about as strong as Mussel.”
The two arrived at the ship, prompting it to take evasive action. Dragon landed on a wing first and activated his magnet boots to stick on as soon as he landed. He looked over slyly at the other wing, expecting to see Torta struggling with this task, but found Torta had smoothly attached himself as well. Torta smugly smiled and blasted the thrusters. With the ship incapacitated, Torta and Dragon made their way over to the airlock, waiting for the enemy soldiers to open up for an attack. Since they had evaded chi blasts earlier, it came as no surprise that the airlock opened quickly, with pre-suited soldiers emerging to fight. These soldiers were easily dealt with. Torta and Dragon entered.
Inside the small craft, they found a crowded flight room, with three remaining soldiers and their commander. “Attack!” ordered the commander to his troop. They were quickly slain by Dragon.
Torta charged up a BLT and pointed it directly at the commander. “Give us the Dragon Ball!” he demanded.
“Never!” the commander said before attacking. Though confined to such a small space, the commander proved very agile and adept at using the close quarters to his advantage. It took a moment for the two heroes to get a read on his strategy and pin him to the floor. Once Dragon had done so, Torta pointed a Slider right at his heart and fired.
Dragon clapped Torta on the back. “Remember how recently it was an enemy like him would have given us trouble?”
Torta laughed. “We can get past anything, as long as we put in the effort!” Torta looked around the ship and found the Dragon Ball, the blue five-star ball. Grabbing it, he showed it to Dragon, and they both cheered. Finally, they had gotten ahold of a prize they were chasing for two months, and two balls gave them a notable advantage over their adversaries.
The computer panel on the ship raised an alarm, and so the two checked it out. Another, much larger ship was headed right for them, showing no signs of stopping or charging weapons. “Oh, no!” Torta said. “At that size, it won’t suffer major damage from a collision! We’re going to get smashed!” He took the controls and clumsily pointed the ship towards a nearby planet, hoping to get somewhere safer. Dragon gulped, recognizing the ship’s ID code on the screen.
The rough, untrained entry into the planet’s atmosphere was shaky and nerve-wracking, but with the ship’s autopilot taking control, Torta was able to get them on land. That area of the planet was warm and covered in sparse steppes. Tall, thin, rocky mountains jutted vertically out of the ground across the landscape. A quick read of the instruments told Torta the air was breathable. Torta quickly stepped outside, looking up and stretching in anticipation of the enemy. Dragon slowly trudged out, and Torta noted the lack of enthusiasm. “What’s up?” he asked.
“The ship headed for us,” Dragon said, “belongs to Bagaruta. She’s the most powerful officer in the Saiyan Empire, second only in power to Daikon. And that’s despite how she’s never been able to go Super Saiyan.”
Torta whistled at the idea of such a big shot headed their way. “Well, after all that training, I feel ready,” Torta said. “If we team up, I’m sure we can beat someone like Bagaruta. You’re remembering past battles, but you’re about to compare that to your current abilities. It’s exciting, isn’t it?”
Dragon smiled, happy to have a partner so able to put him at ease.
Soon, the shadow of Bagaruta’s ship darkened the skies above them. Dozens of chi could be felt inside, though none felt particularly strong. “Bagaruta doesn’t flaunt her power like the others,” Torta noted.
“Yeah, she’s always been wily and strategic,” Dragon concurred.
Two dozen soldiers emerged from the ship and surrounded Torta and Dragon. Then another pair of soldiers emerged. One held a trumpet and made fanfare, while the other held a scroll. “I now announce the arrival of the venerable General Bagaruta of the Saiyan Empire!” he said.
Out from the ship descended a surprisingly short and skinny woman with long, wild hair, her tail waving freely in the air, instead of the usual belt-style wrap over her armor. “Heya, Dragon!” she said upon landing. “Good to see you again!”
Torta took a stance, expecting the surrounding soldiers to attack or go into the ship at any moment. “Is being that flamboyant part of her usual ‘strategy’?” he asked Dragon. Dragon didn’t respond. He was focused, dead-serious, on Bagaruta. “This time is going to be different, man. You’ve grown a lot.”
All around them, the Saiyans laughed derisively, calling out “No-Tail!” with glee. Dragon bristled at this chorus. Torta looked back over at the condescending Bagaruta and saw her flitting her tail back and forth, mocking Dragon. Torta started to yell in defense of Dragon, but Dragon unleashed his chi, letting his overwhelming power quiet the footsoldiers. “Your abuse never made me weaker, or you stronger!” Dragon defiantly announced. “Now I’ll show you.”
Bagaruta chuckled and sighed. “I’ll admit, your chi does feel far greater than before,” she said. “Last time we fought, it was so puny that I thought you were dead! Lucky you! But this time, I’ll make sure the job is done.” One of the soldiers started moving towards the smaller craft, but Bagaruta stopped him. “Don’t! Only I will fight. I’ll get the balls when I win. There’s no point in losing good soldiers.”
“Try to hang back a second and watch her moves for a bit,” Dragon told Torta.
“We should be able to take her down,” Torta said.
“Don’t be so cocky,” Dragon said.
“Yeah, don’t be so cocky,” said Bagaruta, from behind Torta and Dragon. The heroes flinched in surprise. With a wave of her hand, she knocked the two back with wind pressure. Bagaruta went on the assault, focusing on Dragon at first. Her force was overwhelming, putting him on the defensive. Torta was shocked; he was sure the two of them were far above Mussel by that point, and Bagaruta was fighting so casually. She laughed. “I guess you’ve gotten strong enough to make this a real fight!”
Seeing enough to satisfy his curiosity, Torta jumped in to help Dragon, knocking Bagaruta in her ribs. Rolling out, she coughed. “Wow!” she said. “Are you actually stronger than Dragon, lowly human?” She then charged at him. On the receiving end, Torta realized just how intense Bagaruta really was; though her moves appeared effortless, they were incredibly precise and polished like few he had ever seen.
Dragon rejoined the battle, making it two-on-one. Together, they actually managed to push back against her defenses. Snarling, Bagaruta landed a powerful punch into Torta’s gut and then slammed him deep into the ground. By the time Torta recovered and emerged, she had thrown Dragon far into the sky. Her keep-away game was fairly strong. The two of them had to keep regrouping, taking turns firing chi blasts at a distance while the other went in close. Each time, Bagaruta would knock away the challenger in her face and swiftly turn to face the incoming partner. With each pass, Torta could see her defenses being worn down. “If we keep this up, we can win!” Torta told Dragon.
Annoyed with these pests, Bagaruta focused her chi and knocked both away at once with an explosive wave. “We’ll win no matter what!” Dragon told her. “Our teamwork already has the upper hand, and we’ve got a couple other tricks up our sleeves. Since Hedarrow already made the first wish, you have no way of turning the tables on us. Little Miss Superior can’t transform!”
The surrounding soldiers began to laugh. Dragon was confused, and Torta got a bad feeling. “SILENCE!” Bagaruta barked to the soldiers. They quickly silenced. She scowled at Dragon. “Your information is out of date, though I am dishonored to use the royal form to beat a No-Tail.” While Dragon and Torta looked on in shock, Bagaruta transformed into a Super Saiyan, her power far exceeding anything Torta had encountered.
The Super Saiyan warrior playfully beat the heroes around. “Daikon secluded himself for a couple months to train recently,” she said. “He was sure that there was something beyond Super Saiyan power. I was his training partner in that time, and with the emperor’s help, I unlocked my transformation! Even the power you once feared Daikon possessing is nothing compared to what he’s currently capable of! This beating I’m giving you is a tiny taste!”
Torta was devastated by the assault. He had really thought he was making the kind of progress needed to overcome the enemies ahead, but Bagaruta blew that assumption out of the water. One wrong target in Dragon Ball theft could have spelled his doom these past couple months. Even now, he was lucky to survive the assault. It was like Spats all over again, except Bagaruta clearly intended to kill him. Dragon was similarly ground down, but Torta recognized a look of hopelessness in his eyes. He flinched, remembering how he promised Dragon they could take on anyone together. Torta considered using Dagwood, but knew their combined power would not be enough, and Bagaruta would kill Dragon while he was defenseless.
With a burst of indignant anger, Torta charged in at Bagaruta while she pounded Dragon mercilessly. She didn’t even respond when Torta punched her in the face. With a single swing of her hand, she repelled Torta, backhanding him into the dirt. He looked up in time to see Bagaruta fire a beam through Dragon’s chest. “NO!” Torta called out in disbelief and anger. He flew in again, only to lose consciousness with the next strike.
All original story, all original characters! Check out Dragon Ball ‘Redux’!
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Life in the Gutters 