The spaceship had been drifting through the star-speckled void for three uneventful days. Son Goku had filled the time, as he often did, by engaging in 'shameless activities' with whichever of the women caught his fancy.
At the moment, he was thoroughly preoccupied with a giggling, breathless Shizuka.
"Goku! Look!" Bulma's excited shout cut through the atmosphere. She pointed at the Dragon Ball radar's screen. "A planet with a life-sign reading! Straight ahead!"
"Really? Where? Let me see!" The other women abandoned their tasks and crowded around the main viewer. A beautiful azure planet, roughly Earth's size, hung against the blackness of space.
Having finished with Shizuka, Goku adjusted his clothes and sauntered over to the console. He studied the glowing orb. "Looks promising. Let's go down and check it out."
"Alright, everyone, back to your seats! Harnesses on!" Bulma called out, her hands flying over the controls as she guided the ship into a descent trajectory.
The women scrambled to buckle in. Goku, however, simply scooped up the limp and blushing Shizuka, carrying her to his own seat as the ship shuddered, entering the planet's atmosphere.
With a final, gentle bump, they touched down on the first alien world of their journey.
The hatch hissed open. Goku was the first out, taking a deep breath of the unfamiliar air. Finding the climate pleasantly Earth-like, he beckoned the others.
"An alien planet! I'm so excited! I never dreamed I'd actually visit one!" Rei gushed, her eyes wide with wonder.
"It's surprising how similar the atmosphere and gravity are to Earth's," Saya observed, instinctively adjusting her glasses—a look Goku had insisted she keep, much to her secret pleasure.
"Nee, nee! What do you think the aliens look like?" Alice asked, bouncing on the balls of her feet, her face a picture of eager anticipation.
"No point in guessing," Kiriko said pragmatically, already striding toward a distant plume of smoke that suggested habitation. "Let's go find out."
The group followed, with Goku storing their spacecraft safely within his Ring of Worlds before bringing up the rear.
---
They arrived at the outskirts of a small settlement, finding two groups locked in a tense standoff. The natives of this world, whom Goku immediately dubbed 'Space Minotaurs,' were humanoid but possessed distinct bovine features: broad, flat noses, prominent ears, and powerfully muscled frames.
The tension centered on a single, rather buxom female Minotaur. On one side stood a group led by a huge, imposing figure who radiated simple-minded belligerence. On the other was a slightly smaller, but clearly more intelligent-looking leader astride a creature that resembled a flaming bull.
"Ox-Sage!" shouted a wiry Minotaur from the larger group, a dirty white headband with the scrawled characters for 'Strategist' tied around his brow. "How dare you try to steal our Boss's woman! Are you looking to die?"
The boss in question, the giant named Ox-King, glowered. He was a mountain of muscle standing nearly three meters tall, holding a notched cleaver.
His 'regal' cape was a tattered hide with poorly written characters that seemed to have been edited from 'Lord of Gluttony' to a messy 'Lord of the World.'
Behind him stood his ruffian followers and some nervous-looking villagers. The conflict was simple: both Ox-King and the more noble-looking Ox-Sage from a western village desired the affections of the well-endowed cow-girl, Erhua.
Ox-Sage, mounted on his impressive Fire-Ox, completely outclassed Ox-King in appearance and demeanor. It was little wonder Erhua gazed at him with longing.
"Enough talk!" Ox-King bellowed, his voice like grinding stones. "Let Erhua choose!"
Erhua looked between the two, visibly torn. Her attraction to Ox-Sage was clear, but Ox-King's volatile temper and local power made defiance risky.
Seeing her granddaughter's distress, Erhua's aged grandfather stepped forward. "Since the maiden cannot decide, let the matter be settled in the traditional way! A contest of martial prowess! The victor shall win Erhua's hand!"
"A contest! A contest!" Ox-King's men roared in approval, confident in their boss's raw strength.
Ox-Sage's expression grew wary. He was no coward, but he knew Ox-King's brute force was legendary in the region.
"One match is too arbitrary!" one of Ox-Sage's quicker-thinking subordinates shouted. "It should be best two out of three! That is only fair!"
After much shouting and posturing, the terms were set: best two out of three. The first round would be a direct duel between the two leaders.
"You pretty-boy upstart!" Ox-King roared, spinning his cleaver with surprising grace. "I'm gonna pull your horns off!"
Ox-Sage looked down from his mount with cool disdain. "Put the weapon away, you oaf. This is hand-to-hand combat."
"OAF?!" Ox-King's simple mind fixated on the insult. "I HATE being called an oaf!" His rage ignited. He stomped the ground, cracking the earth for meters around.
A visible, fiery aura erupted from his body, whipping up a small dust devil. The sheer power he radiated was staggering—his battle power easily eclipsed twenty thousand.
The fight was about to begin.