The Red Ribbon

A Radar Blip in the Mountains

Time has passed since the close of the 21st World Martial Arts Tournament. Goku soars over a wooded mountain range on the Kinto-Un, pausing briefly at a stream to drink before checking the Dragon Radar Bulma pressed into his hands. The device pings with a signature to the northeast. Meanwhile, two capsule houses sit parked beside a pickup truck in the hills, where a lazy cowboy is being roused out of bed by his sharply dressed superior. The trench-coated man, greeted as Colonel Silver, reminds the cowboy that it is already eight in the morning and orders him and his fox-faced partner into the truck. Commander Red wants results, and the Brown Company has already delivered a ball the day before.

First Encounter With the Army

The cowboy stomps through the underbrush grumbling about searching such a huge area for such a tiny object. The fox henchman spots Goku zipping in on the Kinto-Un and the boy drops down, consults the radar, and calmly reaches between two rocks to pluck out the Six-Star Ball. He notes with disappointment that it is not his grandfather's. The cowboy draws his pistol and demands the artifact, stunned that a child even knows what a Dragon Ball is. Goku sticks his tongue out in response, and when the gunman lunges to snatch it, a single kick rockets him out of sight. The fox soldier opens fire, but Goku weaves through the bullets, closes the distance in an instant, and plants a fist in his gut before launching him after his partner.

Kinto-Un, Meet Rocket Launcher

Goku tucks the Six-Star Ball away and climbs back into the sky, unaware that the beaten cowboy has already crawled to the truck and radioed Silver. The Colonel storms out of his capsule house with a rocket launcher, takes aim, and scores a direct hit. Goku lands on his feet but the Kinto-Un is blown apart, and he rises to his feet seething. Silver demands answers about the radar and the balls, but Goku refuses to say a word after what the officer has done to his cloud. With a cold warning about messing with Captain Silver of the Red Ribbon, the stage is set for a fight.