Everyone had questions for Puttee, who’s undiscussed family drama was once again threatening their lives. “I’ve always thought Spats was amazing and wonderful,” Puttee explained. “Our dad, though, he treated her like an untalented problem child. We actually used to really get along growing up, but the way dad treated her was really hard on her, and I could tell she was a little jealous of how much better dad treated me. He called everything I did a work of art and then took out all his anger on Spats. It was terrible.
“And honestly, none of what happened on Monmassu is really a surprise, now that I have time to think about it. Spats was probably assigned the task of making the Silico Dragon Radar and reverse engineering my infinite energy generator. This being a royal mission, she has access to a lot more resources to make way better Androids. And like…she’s actually really smart, you guys. Even I hadn’t noticed before how much the design of the infinite energy generator resembled cell metabolism; her turning herself into a bioengineered model makes perfect sense, and it’s so revolutionary! I mean, I was shocked to see Silico attack the world with those half-baked Androids. This is what they could have taken over the world with.”
Torta paused. “I do feel for you in all this, Puttee,” Torta said. “But I feel I should make clear where we’re at. We already knew the Demon Clan was after us, which is a problem in itself. But now, we’re being chased by a massively powerful enemy uniquely motivated to kill us. She even has all of our special advantages in this Dragon Ball hunt, as I’m sure her ship is also infinitely powered, protected by a forcefield, and equipped with a Dragon Radar. Like, we haven’t even faced Malacol, and this is starting to look really grim.”
Regal glanced over at Gaita. “Torta, let’s get to work,” she said. “We have to get back in the gravity chamber and start playing catch-up.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Torta agreed. The two started making their way over. “We should go straight to 50G and use the Devil’s Tincture at the same time; we can’t risk going so slow with this anymore.”
Gaita watched the fighters leave, her eyes finding a mirror by the door as it closed. “I’m sorry,” Puttee said. “I—”
“No!” Gaita cut her off. “You told me I was made to be ‘free,’ with the caveat that I spend my first full day alive killing other Androids by the hundreds, even if they were drones, because your family is obsessed with making the most dangerous tech they can. And now I find out I’m physically modeled after a sister you didn’t tell me you had until right before this trip! A trip where Spats is intent on murdering all of us, and I bet I’m number one on her list! I’m the only one who can’t prepare for that battle, Puttee! I don’t get stronger; I just persist until I’m scrapped!”
Puttee stared blankly a moment. “I know I look cheery and put-together most of the time,” she said, “but I’m a mess. I don’t know what I’m doing with my life.”
“Your sister called me a ‘depressed girl’s delusions,’” Gaita said. “She thinks I’m just some replacement for you, like a doll or an imaginary friend.”
“In a way…that’s not far off. I could have made you look like anything, but I chose for you to look like Spats because I was too scared to see her in person. I…I’m so sorry, Gaita.”
Torta and Regal hit their training hard. They had been at it for an hour and were already at the end of their ropes from the intense regimen they started. Each throwing a punch that missed the other’s face, they fell to the ground. “Spats even has the same giggle as Gaita,” Torta remarked.
“Indeed,” Regal agreed. “We’ll have to prepare for the possibility of killing someone who looks just like a friend.”
“I don’t think that’s what Puttee wants to do. I hate being dragged into stuff like this, but I’ll never stop having her back. She’s so happy to see her sister again, even under these circumstances. We have to let it be Puttee’s decision.”
“Spats may not give us that luxury.”
The trip to the next planet took a month. In that time, Gaita receded into herself, having a difficult time reconciling everything that happened and becoming increasingly afraid that “the real sister” was going to rip her into scrap as soon as they made another planetfall. Puttee similarly isolated herself, feeling guilty every time she saw the others. Torta and Regal, with little else to do, struggled their way to mastery of 60G with the Devil’s Tincture.
Once they arrived in orbit, Torta looked down on the new world. It was a world of water and a few small islands. He sighed and figured that he’d have to hold his breath for hours trying to swim to the bottom of an ocean trench. He went over to Gaita’s room and knocked on the door. “We’re about to land,” he told her. He knocked on Puttee’s door. “Let’s get going!” There was no response from either of them.
Torta met Regal in the lounge. “You confident about this plan of ours?” he asked her.
Regal shrugged. “I feel as ready as we can be. You think you can manage against Spats? You fought her, so you have more of an idea what she’s capable of.”
Torta shrugged. “I think I could run away, if I can blind her. I’m pretty sure she can’t track chi, since she doesn’t have it.”
The ship descended into the atmosphere and prepared for landing. Torta and Regal both turned, surprised to see Puttee at the wheel. “The radar is picking up a signal from deep on the ocean floor,” Puttee said, monotone. “It’s well below the photic zone. There’s an island relatively close by we can park on.” Gaita appeared as well, sitting at the table.
The ship landed on a small island, a glorified sandbar. On the surface, the air was warm and incredibly moist, as expected of an ocean world like this; there was no area on the surface with less than 90% humidity. Torta, Puttee, and Gaita all left the ship in swimsuits, ready for the underwater adventure, while Regal emerged in the same black and grey gi she always wore. “Do you just like being uncomfortable?” Torta asked Regal.
“You’re weakness is the only thing making me uncomfortable,” Regal said.
Puttee thrust her hands in front of Torta and Regal. “I made some rebreathers,” Puttee said. “From spare parts from the life support system. And there’s a waterproof Dragon Radar. Good luck.”
“Thanks, Puttee,” Torta said. He pocketed the Dragon Radar.
Just as the three fighters were about to enter the water, the surface began to ripple. “I can feel multiple chi in the water,” Torta said.
“They feel Namekian,” Regal said.
Indeed, a moment later, a group of Namekian heads popped out of the water, topped with fins and with colorful gills on their necks. “Greetings!” said the leader. “I’m Dorsal, and we are all emissaries of the Zalt Tribe! I heard from the other elders, so I gotta know: Are you Regal, guardian of the Grand Elder?”
“Yes,” Regal said. The Zalt Namekians quietly cheered like excited teenagers. “I take it you know what happened on Monmassu.”
“Indeed, I did. Tragic, what happened to their warriors. We will do everything we can to protect you from the Demon Clan and these mysterious stalkers of yours. Welcome to Zalt!”
Torta, Regal, and Gaita walked into the waves, the former two putting on their rebreathers. Under the water, the Earthlings were able to get a fuller look at their aquatic hosts. The Zalt Namekians had long, webbed fingers, flowing dorsal fins, and long, flexible legs ending in large fins; for a moment, Torta thought they had tails, like mermaids, but they merely kept their legs close together as they swam, likely to retain the utility of two legs. They wore various accessories made from shells and oceanic plants. “Our people chose these forms as soon as the first elder landed here,” Dorsal explained. “It’s not like there’s any land here to live on. The islands are all like the one you landed on, all sand. Everything is in the oceans on this planet.”
“Namekians can choose the form of their children,” said Regal. “We can simply lay eggs and let nature choose their shape, but we can also choose to give them certain physical features, and they don’t have to be typical of Namekian anatomy. Like the saurian Demon Clan soldiers.”
“Right,” Dorsal said. “I guess you Earthlings don’t know everything about us. Namekians reproduce by laying eggs from our mouths, asexually. Our original elder gave birth to two of our kind right away, and we’ve grown ever since.”
“Have any Demon Clan members arrived?” Regal asked.
“We had an encounter a few weeks ago, but we handled it. This planet is all about aquatic warfare, and we have the homefield advantage. We’ll keep you all safe while you’re here, until you get the ball.”
“What about Spats and her Androids?” Torta asked. “They’d be three Earthlings with no chi, probably aggressive.”
“No, I have not seen them yet,” Dorsal said. “I guess we should be expecting them. You know what,” Dorsal turned to her warriors, “you three, you’re all I need to escort the Earthlings. The rest of you, go stay up top and watch for the Demon Clan and these Earthling enemies. Our friends left a noncombatant up there.” Her warriors nodded, and the majority of them swam back up to the surface.
The remaining group then headed out, swimming fast into the depths. Torta noticed that the signal on the radar was moving. He showed it to Dorsal. “Yeah, our mystics had trouble locating it, too,” she said. “Maybe it’s caught in a current?”
“How far down?” Regal asked.
“Ten clicks,” Torta said.
Deep down in the ocean the group swam. Torta was glad that his gravity training prepared his inner ear for the depth change. Regal seemed to be enjoying her conversations with Dorsal and the others, whose culture was very different from the combat-oriented, practical Monmassu Namekians. Gaita started to warm up to the adventure, watching all the unusual fish and sea life and the elegant swaying of the Namekian fins ahead of her.
Once below the photic zone, Torta got out his flashlight, which was able to shine enough light to see the radar screen if he held it directly in front of his face. “Can you follow us?” Regal asked Gaita. “We’ll be tracking each other by chi sense.”
“I can follow,” Gaita said. “Puttee uploaded some software into me that allows me to detect chi, as well.”
On the surface, Puttee laid back on a beach chair, looking increasingly resolved. Around her, Demon Clan soldiers fought in the air against the Zalt warriors below, Puttee being shielded by the ship’s forcefield. She simply thought about what would happen the next time she saw Spats, and with each minute, felt more confident about what she needed to tell Gaita.
In the distance, Spats descended to the surface, hovering her ship above the waves just two miles away from the Rainbow Stocking. “Get in there, you two,” she ordered Alpha and Bravo. “Intercept Torta and Regal partway down. They’re at a disadvantage, having to breathe. But bring Gaita to me alive.” Nodding, the two Androids dived.
The Dragon Ball was located under twenty feet of heavy, sludgy sediment, which was being pulled by oceanic currents and tectonic movements. It took a bit of work for everyone to clear away the sand and fish Torta into the pit, and even more work to pull him back out of the swallowing sand without breaking all of his bones. They then began the ascent, with Torta excited to find out which ball he just recovered.
Just as they reentered the photic zone, fists swung hard against Dorsal and her warriors. Torta was gripped with panic upon seeing Alpha and Bravo. “Ready yourselves for battle, girls!” Dorsal told her band of warriors.
“Don’t!” Torta told them. “These Androids are a lot stronger than you, and they’ll absorb your energy to get even stronger. Just let us handle this.”
“Are you sure?” Dorsal asked.
“Yes!” Regal said. “Please, go up to assist your warriors on the surface; they’re doubtless trapped in an even harder battle with Spats!”
“If you say so,” said Dorsal. “Come on, girls! Surface!” She and her three warriors swam past Alpha and Bravo to reunite with their fellow tribespeople.
The fight started right away, getting intense pretty quickly. It was clear that Alpha and Bravo had kept all the energy they absorbed on Monmassu and added quite a bit, making them incredibly powerful combatants. Torta had hoped that he would be able to overpower them with ease, but they were still a major challenge.
Gaita was unsure of her role in the battle. “Give me the Dragon Ball!” she said. “I can take it to the surface.”
Torta made an opening and passed it to her. “Me and Regal, we got a plan,” he said. “It should flip all our fortunes around. Go help everyone up there!” Unsure of what he meant, Gaita put up her forcefield and began surfacing at full speed. Alpha and Bravo tried to catch Gaita, but Torta and Regal stopped them.
As they fought, Torta and Regal did what they could to move upwards themselves, but it was clear the Androids were intent on keeping the battle below the surface. Regal, annoyed that her training didn’t seem to pay off like she hoped, gave a concentrated burst of power and managed to drive Bravo high into the water, but her momentum was cut short. She glanced over at Torta, who nodded.
On the surface, the Zalt Namekians had finished with the Demon Clan footsoldiers, and were now watching as Puttee and Spats battled over the forcefield. Spats had deployed hers and was trying to match it to the ship’s own, so Puttee was busy randomizing the field frequency to keep her at bay. Though the Zalt warriors tried fighting Spats at first, they discovered that Spats was behind an impenetrable wall, so they simply watched the strange battle of wits playing out in the air above them.
Torta kept looking for an opening until, finally, he had a decent break from Alpha. With a flash of thought, he and Regal enacted their plan. Regal allowed Bravo to grab her, and as Bravo tried to drain her energy, Torta took the bulk of it for a Dagwood attack. Now empowered with this overwhelming might, he rushed Bravo and beheaded the Android. Alpha, shocked, froze. Torta released Regal’s chi back to her, and the two turned to Alpha. Though the Android had gotten much more powerful, they would be no match for the combined assault of the two Earthling champions. With no other beings nearby to drain of energy, Alpha retreated.
Torta turned to Regal. “It worked!” he cheered. “Sorry that you lost so much energy, though.”
“We couldn’t know how fast they drain energy,” Regal said. “It’s a small price to pay to be rid of one of these things.” Using the ropes provided by Dorsal to secure Torta during his plunge into the sand floe, they secured the remains of Bravo to Torta’s back and gave chase to Alpha.
Gaita arrived on the surface to see Spats standing over a bruised Puttee. “You’re such a silly girl,” Spats said to Puttee. “Both for thinking you could keep me out of this ship, and for attacking me.”
“If ‘attacking you’ is what you’re calling a hug after all these years,” Puttee said.
Angry beyond her better judgment, Gaita called attention to herself. “Puttee! I’ve come to save you!”
Spats turned to her mirror with contempt. “Your life is over now,” she said. “I got through the ship’s forcefield; it’s only a matter of time before I bypass yours. Once I do, I’ll rid the world of you!”
“You’re wrong about her,” Puttee said. “Gaita isn’t a fancy doll to soothe my depression. Gaita isn’t a delusion. Gaita is all of my hopes and dreams for the family I missed. The sister I abandoned. Gaita is all of my love for you, and my desire to make more memories with you. She’s the bridge I built to get back to you. If it’s not too late, please join us, just us sisters against the world!”
Gaita was deeply moved.
“What self-deceiving drivel!” Spats said. She rushed Gaita, who put up her forcefield and kept changing its frequency, so Spats did the same, leading to a similar duel of forcefields that Spats recently won. Gaita attempted to descend into the water for safety, figuring Spats still needed to breathe, but Spats flew around her and used the pressure of her forcefield to drive Gaita into the air.
Then, Dorsal’s warriors began to weaken and drop alarmingly fast. Gaita realized what was going on. “Get away as fast as possible, all of you!” she told Dorsal and her warriors. The Zalt Namekians began to disperse. Alpha then rose from the water, alone.
Spats was confused. “Where is Bravo?” she asked.
Torta emerged from the water, with Bravo strapped to his back. Regal followed soon after. “Looks like we owe you a tin soldier,” Torta said with a smile.
A look of horror crossed Spats’s face. “It’s impossible for you to overcome my perfect designs!” she said.
“I mean, it was tough,” said Torta. “But you forgot that they had a weakness: They can’t use a forcefield while draining someone of power, because they have to keep contact.”
Alpha prepared to attack again, feeling more confident with the power from Dorsal’s crew. “Stand down,” Spats ordered Alpha. She backed away from Gaita for the moment. “I’ll kill these two right here and now.” Without another word, Spats began her attack, moving at blinding speed.
“Get the ship airborne and far away!” Torta yelled to Puttee.
“Right!” Puttee agreed, motioning for Gaita to get on board. With a quick meld of fields, Gaita jumped into the ship, which Puttee got up and running at lightning speed. Soon, the Rainbow Stocking was in the air and turning away from the group.
“Go after them!” Spats ordered Alpha.
Alpha started moving towards the Rainbow Stocking, so Dorsal and her remaining warriors emerged from the water and threw cables across the Android, holding them back. Annoyed with all this incompetence around her, Spats flew off towards the ship herself. “Come on, Regal, one more Dagwood,” Torta asked, seeing his chance. Regal sighed and relented, taking a seat on the sandbar. With a Dagwood power up, Torta outpaced Spats and pressed her hard with a powerful barrage of attacks. The fight heated up from there. Though Spats was sure that this pathetic trick wasn’t going to work, she found herself using all her strength, and still was not able to overpower Torta. Though serious at the beginning, Torta began to smile, happy to see the progress he and Regal were able to make.
“All this resistance is useless anyway!” Spats told him, trying to hide her fear. “This technique is stressful, yes? Your muscles will soon turn to jelly, while I’ll never run out of power!”
“Very true,” Torta said. “I have some experience fighting Androids, so I know ‘barely stronger,’ especially while using a Dagwood, isn’t going to cut it. I’m definitely going to lose.”
Spats was puzzled by Torta’s strange confidence, even as he was wincing from the stress of his technique. Then she glanced at the sandbar and saw that Regal was no longer there. Alpha fired a few energy blasts into the distance and their Namekian captors, but every shot left Alpha with less strength to resist them. While Spats was distracted with this, Torta threw a chi blast directly into her eyes and dove into the water. Underneath, some Zalt Namekians awaited, carrying him as fast as possible, everyone with their chi suppressed. Up ahead, a different group pulled Regal through the water.
Many miles away, Torta and Regal emerged from the water and jumped onto the Rainbow Stocking as it hovered above the waves. As the door closed, Torta turned out to the Zalt Tribe. “Thanks!” he said. “You all were life-savers!” Before he was finished, Puttee was pulling up hard and away from Zalt, closing the door.
In the lounge, the group cheered their successful battle and escape. Torta noticed that Puttee and Gaita seemed to have made up and was relieved. “What are you guys doing with Bravo, anyway?” Gaita asked.
Torta smiled. “I think Puttee knows what to do with all these specialty parts,” he said. “I figured she could upgrade you more with this, so that you’re not so left behind.” While he said this, Puttee was already going gaga over the exposed circuitry hanging from Bravo’s neck.
Gaita was taken aback. “That’s so thoughtful,” she said. “You were thinking of me the whole time…but what I meant was, why did you tie Bravo to your back, knowing you would fight Spats? You could have passed them off to the Zalt warriors, or tied them to Regal, knowing she wasn’t going to fight.”
Torta opened his mouth, but didn’t say anything. He unburdened himself of the load. “Oh, can I see the Dragon Ball?” he asked. Gaita removed it from her pocket so everyone could admire their prize. It was the five-star ball, with a strong blue hue. Torta cursed. “I was convinced it was going to be the two-star ball! It felt slightly lighter than the four-star.”
Regal scoffed. “They’re identical balls. That must have been your imagination.”
Puttee laughed. “That’s great,” she said. “But I have some really bad news. While on Zalt, I saw four Dragon Ball readings. That’s our three, and one more for Spats, right? So even if she only bothers getting that one, we still have to beat her if we want our wish.”
Torta put a hand on Puttee’s shoulder. “What do you want to do with Spats?” he asked.
“I want to capture her,” Puttee said. “I want to bring her back to Earth, against her will if necessary, and reconcile.”
“That’s a wonderful idea,” Gaita said.
Torta glanced over at Regal, who sighed. “We can at least try,” Regal said.
Puttee shed a tear, but quickly wiped it. “I guess I gotta get to work on Gaita’s upgrades, then! You’ll never succeed without her.”
All original story, all original characters! Check out Dragon Ball ‘Redux’!
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Life in the Gutters 