A few minutes later, they were back on the road.
Bulma was hunched over the handlebars of her motorcycle, tearing down the dirt road at a steady 90 km per hour.
To her right, Goku was running looking like he wasn't even breaking a sweat.
They were closing the distance to Oinktown.
"STOP!"
Goku's shout cut through the wind and the roar of the engine.
He skidded to a halt, kicking up a cloud of dust.
Bulma slammed on the brakes.
The bike fishtailed slightly, then came to a stop.
"What is it?"
Goku didn't answer.
He wasn't looking at the trees.
He was walking toward a pile of rocks on the side of the road.
Bulma killed the engine and hopped off.
She crept up behind him, ready for anything.
"I'm dying! The end is near!" A raspy and desperate voice shrieked from the ground.
"My belly is baking! The sun is a cruel mistress! Goodbye, cruel world!"
Bulma peered over Goku's shoulder.
It was a…
A sea turtle?
A very large one, stranded on its back, flailing its wrinkled limbs helplessly in the air.
Goku reached down, grabbed the edge of the shell, and with a casual flick of his wrist, flipped the creature over.
The turtle landed on its belly, letting out a sigh of relief.
It blinked its large, watery eyes and looked up at Goku.
"Oh... bless you, young man, you saved me. I thought I was going to turn into soup on this place." The turtle said, its voice sounding like an old, sophisticated gentleman.
Bulma froze.
She took a step back, rubbing her eyes violently.
"Okay, either the stress is finally making me hallucinate, or that turtle just thanked you in fluent common."
Goku ignored her. He crouched down, getting eye-level with the animal.
"What are you doing out here? This isn't the water."
The turtle cleared his throat loudly.
"Ahem."
He stretched his neck, looking from one to the other with a dignified air.
"It would be terribly rude of me to proceed without proper introductions after you saved my life, i am Umigame. And to answer your question, young man, yes, I should be in the ocean. Specifically, I reside on a small, quiet island off the coast."
He looked down at his flippers sadly.
"I ventured to the mainland to gather some specific ingredients... rare mushrooms, you see. But I took a wrong turn, and it became quite confusing."
Bulma glanced at her wrist map.
"Confusing is an understatement. You're way off course. The nearest coastline is nearly two hundred kilometers south of here."
"Two hundred?!" Umigame's eyes bugged out, his jaw dropping.
"Good heavens! No wonder I've been walking for a year! I haven't even smelled the salt air in months!"
"Well, that sucks for you," Bulma said, indifferent to the reptile's plight. She pointed down the road.
"Just keep heading south. You'll hit water eventually. Might take you another year, but you'll get there. Good luck."
She turned back to her bike, revving the engine slightly.
"Alright, Goku. Let's move."
She expected to hear the sound of his foot hitting the dirt. Instead, she heard a grunt of exertion and a heavy shifting of weight.
She turned back.
Goku was hoisting the massive, hundred-kilogram turtle onto his back like it was a school backpack. Umigame looked terrified, clinging to Goku's shoulders with his flippers.
"Goku... what exactly do you think you are doing?"
"I'm taking him to the ocean."
"No, absolutely not. Did you already forget the conversation we had few minutes ago? I am the leader. You follow orders. Our priority is finding the dragon balls, not running a taxi service. The turtle can manage on his own."
Goku adjusted his grip on the heavy shell, not budging an inch.
"But I like him, and he's too slow. I'm going to help him."
He looked at Bulma with wide, innocent eyes.
"Besides, Bulma... where is the closest ocean from the place we're going to anyway?"
A vein throbbed visibly on her temple. She hated it when his simplistic logic accidentally stumbled upon the truth.
She glared at him, her jaw set so hard her teeth audibly ground together.
"Oinktown... is a coastal village."
Goku beamed, his face lighting up.
"See? That's great! It's on the way!"
He patted the shell on his back.
"You hear that, Umigame? You're gonna see the ocean in a little bit!"
"Oh, thank you! Thank you so much!"
Umigame cried, relieved. He twisted his neck to look at Bulma.
"And thank you to you as well, young la—"
The turtle stopped. He saw Bulma's face. It was a mask of pure, unadulterated fury. Her eyes promised murder.
"...eh... thank you for... cooperating?" Umigame finished weakly, pulling his head slightly back into his shell.
Bulma didn't deign to respond.
She slammed her visor down and gripped the handlebars of the motorcycle.
"I am not slowing down for you, Goku, i'm going full throttle. If you can't keep up with that extra hundred kilos on your back, I'm leaving you both behind."
"Don't worry," Goku said, shifting his stance.
"I can keep up."
He turned his head to the turtle.
"Hold on tight, Umigame. This might get a little bumpy!"
The engines roared for a few more minutes, cutting through the forest.
...
....
.....
....!!!
"Bulma, stop!"
Goku's voice was sharp this time.
Bulma squeezed the brakes, the bike skidding sideways in the dirt.
She whipped her head around, her patience finally snapping.
"Goku, I swear, if this is another talking animal rescue stop—"
"It's not that." Goku said, his eyes narrowed, fixed on the road ahead.
"There's an enemy."
The road ahead was blocked.
A massive boulder, easily three meters tall, sat dead center in the path.
As they watched, a figure stepped out from behind the rock.
It was a giant sloth.
Standing over two meters tall.
He wore baggy silk pants, a sash, and a vest, carrying a massive sword that rested casually on his shoulder.
He moved with agonizing slowness, dragging his feet until he stood between them and the path forward.
"Haaaaaaalt..." The sloth drawled.
"You are passing... through the territory of the Great... Taida."
Umigame shrieked, pulling his head so far into his shell it almost popped out the other side.
"B-Bandits! We're doomed!"
Goku just stood there, blinking, his expression completely blank as he adjusted the heavy turtle on his back.
Bulma, however, went rigid.
She noted the unnatural muscle mass beneath the fur and the dilated pupils.
He's not an animal
She remembered it from her toxicology textbooks.
That morphology... it's a side effect. He's an Animalia, a human who consumed the Animorphaline drug. And judging by that size, he's one of the big ones.
"Pay... the... toll..." Taida said. He pointed a long, clawed finger at the jeep, then slowly shifted it to point at Goku's back.
"And... hand over the... turtle."
He licked his lips, a slow, grotesque motion.
"I love turtle... soup..."
Umigame whimpered from inside his shell.
"Oh dear, oh dear! I knew I should have stayed on the island!"
Goku tightened his grip on the shell straps.
"No, you can't have him. Bleh!"
Taida sighed, a sound that lasted nearly ten seconds.
He slowly lifted the massive Jian sword from his shoulder.
"I was considering sparing your... lives." Taida grunted, shifting into a fighting stance.
"But now you... have chosen... death."
Bulma watched the giant sloth, her knuckles white on the handlebars. She leaned toward Goku, whispering urgently.
"Goku... look at the size of him. That sword weighs more than you do. Are you absolutely sure you can handle this guy?"
Goku looked at the bandit, then back at Bulma. He offered her a confident grin.
"Don't worry, this won't take long."
He unbuckled the straps and gently set Umigame down on the dirt road.
"Stay here, turtle." Goku said, cracking his neck.
"I'll be right back."