"Is this… Goku's world?"
"The trees are enormous!"
"Look, everyone! Is that… a dinosaur over there?"
Son Goku emerged from the dimensional gate to find the girls clustered around the massive corpse of a dinosaur, their voices a mixture of awe and disbelief. It was the same beast he had slain while gathering energy points before his departure.
Saeko's eyes were wide. "This… it truly looks like one."
"It appears to be a Tyrannosaurus Rex," Saya observed, adjusting her glasses analytically.
"Did we travel back to the Cretaceous period?" Shizuka wondered aloud, tilting her head in thought.
"What kind of world still has dinosaurs?" Rika Minami exclaimed.
"Look, there's a huge wound on its neck. It's definitely dead," Yuriko noted, her observation keen.
"Who could be so cruel?" Kurumi said, her voice indignant. "This is a creature that went extinct millions of years ago!" Her biology teacher's instincts were fully engaged.
"You've got some nerve, Kurumi, scolding me like that," Son Goku's voice came from right behind her, followed by a light swat on her backside. "I'm the one who killed it."
"Ah! I-I'm sorry! I didn't realize it was you…" Kurumi stammered, her face flushing crimson.
Yuriko turned to Son Goku, her expression serious. "Goku, do dinosaurs still exist in your world?"
"Not just dinosaurs," he replied, his tone turning grave. "There are creatures far more dangerous. You must not wander off. This world is filled with powerful beings, any one of which could end you in an instant." He then paused, taking in their surroundings with a flicker of surprise. This is exactly where I was before I crossed over. And this dinosaur… it looks freshly killed. The flow of time between worlds must be different. That's excellent news.
"Onii-chan, does your world really have dinosaurs?" Alice asked, her eyes sparkling with excitement. "Are there Brachiosaurus? Or Triceratops?"
Son Goku smiled and nodded. "Most likely. I haven't seen every type myself, but this world is… vast. We don't just have one Earth here, but countless planets across the universe. The powerful beings out there are beyond number. Some can destroy a planet with ease. Others… can obliterate a solar system, or even an entire universe."
"No way…" The girls stared at him, mouths agape in stunned silence.
"That's impossible," Rika Minami said dismissively. "You're pulling our legs. Who could be that powerful? Destroying a universe? Do I look like I'm three years old?"
"Believe what you want. You'll see for yourself eventually," Son Goku said with a shrug. "Enough talk for now. Let's find a proper place to rest." As he spoke, he pulled the Dragon Ball Radar from his pocket. The nearest signal blinked about two kilometers to the southwest. "We'll head this way."
"Onii-chan, what's that in your hand?" Alice asked, skipping to his side. "It's so shiny and pretty!"
"This? It's a Dragon Ball Radar," he replied casually.
"A Dragon Ball Radar? What's that?"
"It's a device that locates the seven Dragon Balls."
"You mean those round stones?"
"Exactly." He reached into another pocket and produced the seven Dragon Balls. They were no longer inert stone spheres, but gleamed with their familiar orange luster and embedded red stars.
Just as I thought. The Dragon Balls were dormant in that other world. Was it the absence of a deity, or the different cosmic rules? He sighed inwardly, about to stow them away when Rei's sharp eyes caught the glint.
"Goku, what are those spheres?"
"The seven Dragon Balls. The petrified stones I showed you before. Now that we're back in this world, they've reverted to their true form."
"The Dragon Balls! If only we could have used them in our world," Rika said with a wistful sigh.
Kiriko shook her head pragmatically. "Don't get greedy. We're fortunate just to have escaped that place."
Saya peered at the orbs. "So this is what they really look like? They seem… ordinary."
Shizuka, however, was looking past them at the endless expanse of jungle, her shoulders slumping. "We're not going to have to walk our way out of here, are we?"
Son Goku nodded. "Afraid so. I can fly, but I can't carry all eight of you at once."
Saya shot him a look of pure exasperation. "You're an idiot sometimes. Can't you just ferry us out two at a time?"
No sooner had the words left her mouth than a shadow fell over them. A huge, corpulent pterosaur descended from the canopy, its maw gaping wide as it dove straight for Yuriko.
"W-what is that?!" the girls screamed in unison, scrambling for their firearms. A barrage of gunfire erupted, but the bullets merely pinged harmlessly off the creature's thick hide.
"Impossible!" Terror seized them as the beast's claws reached for Yuriko.
In a blur of motion, Son Goku appeared. A single, thunderous kick connected with the pterosaur's side, sending the massive creature hurtling dozens of meters through the air. It crashed to the earth with a ground-shaking thud, legs twitching once before falling still in a newly formed crater.
Son Goku turned back to the group of pale, shaken women. He shrugged. "That's what I meant by 'ferocious.' So, should I still leave you here in batches?"
The girls shook their heads vehemently, their earlier bravado completely evaporated. The point had been made with terrifying clarity.