Chapter 3: Yamcha! The Desert Bandit!

Hot, heavy beams of light shone brightly over Diablo desert; home to the bandit Yamcha. Yamcha, who savagely robbed those who found themselves stranded in the sandy hell and killed those who tried to resist, was known for his strength and skills in martial arts.

He was especially known for his Wolf Fang Fist.

It would take one hell of a fighter to be able to take down the thief.

And yet, today, it seems as though that fighter has shown their face and beaten the fearful Yamcha.

"Shit…" The bandit cursed.

"Yamcha!" Their cat friend cried, floating right by their side. "Don't die! You can't!" They mourned Yamcha, someone who they were extremely close to. They were partners, with Puar abetting his crimes. They had spent years together and to lose him like this!

Puar wept, refusing their friend's fate.

Looking at Puar, for what he thought was his last time, Yamcha inwardly cried. This wasn't the way he had pictured himself going! He was supposed to get married, maybe have a few kids, die surrounded by his family in old age.

But instead, he was bleeding out in a nowhere desert and traumatizing his best friend. How shameful!

"Puar," He croaked. "Help me get to the shade-" The sun burned him, only a little less than his wounds did. If only he could get somewhere comfortable, then he could die with a little more dignity. "Heh, who knew that little kid was going to be the death of me."

"That kid was really weird, Yamcha. He had a tail!"

"Yeah, that should have tipped me off…" And with that said, Yamcha lost whatever little strength he had and plunged into darkness.

—-

Heading southwest, in search of another dragon ball, Bulma and Gohan speed across a river in a small boat. The old man silently took in the surrounding area, admiring the mountainous landscape along with the many unique fish swimming throughout the river.

It was similar to the scenery of Mount Paozu: Goku and his home. The peaceful nature and chirping of birds relaxed his mind. Helping him think of his plan of action more clearly.

"I can reason with him." As his grandfather, he was sure of it. "This must be a product of his restlessness."

If he had to, he could always grab them by the tail. That'd be quick to take them out and knowing Goku, they hadn't worked on training that weakness of his.

"How long until Frypan Mountain, Bulma?" With that tracker of hers, they could find him. Goku seems to be following the same path they are, only a lot faster.

Bulma rummaged through her bag, trying to find a map. Pulling it out, she glanced over it, swerving just a bit as she tried to read. Gohan offered to read it himself, but she ignored him. "We're still pretty far away… Should be about 3 days until we get there."

Gohan sighed. It would be too long until they get there. If he were in his prime, he would have run his way there. Something he used to do quite often to see his old friend Ox King. Last he heard, they had a daughter just about Goku's age. Chi Chi, he thinks.

Perhaps she could serve as a friend close to Goku's age? Having a girl around might mellow them out. He's seen plenty of bad boys change their ways for a lady. And if Chi Chi was anything like her father, then she must be strong enough to deal with Goku's attitude. She could help whip him into shape!

Their trip went on for a while longer, with not much conversation. Bulma asked a bit about country life, and he asked about the city. She didn't seem much impressed about his way of life, preferring the technology and excitement of West City. But he couldn't find much enjoyment in her life either.

Gohan preferred the quiet life in the mountains, but he understood it wasn't for everyone. Hell, sometimes he found himself missing that life. Especially when it came to the ladies. Brunettes, specifically.

"You know, Gohan, you could be a hit in the city. If you show off your martial arts a whole crowd of people would show up! I promise you, you could be famous!" She seemed like she really meant every word she said.

He chuckled. "Thank you, but I really do like my life." Thoughts of fame were long past him.

"Even though Goku doesn't?"

…

"Well—"

Suddenly, their boat stopped. Only making a sputtering sound before slowly dying out. Bulma cursed and the boat rocked with her quick movements. She raced to the back, yelling even more profanity as she realized the problem.

With her constant motions, Gohan had to try and adjust himself so they wouldn't topple over. "I must have hit a rock or something! The stupid propellers broke!"

"Let me see." He may not be that well versed in boats, but he was a little capable in fixing things. You had to be when you had no one to rely on.

He was fully prepared to see a little dent or maybe one had become loose, but he was shocked when he looked and saw that they were almost completely gone! Snapped right in the middle. Without any materials on hand, they couldn't do anything to fix them.

"Well," Gohan started to undress down to his boxers. "Guess I have no other choice."

Bulma starred in bewilderment and disgust. No teenage girl wanted to see an old man stripped down to their boxers. "What are you doing?"

"I'm going to push us to shore." He said as if it were obvious.

"What? You can't just–" Water sprayed her in the face as he dove and soon the boat raced towards the coast. She had almost tipped over by how fast they were going and quickly raced to sit down, holding on for her life.

"You are one strange man, Gohan!"

He chuckled. "Don't I know it!"

—-

It didn't take long to get to land with the help of Gohan's freakish skills. Bulma had to admit she was impressed, even if she had to deal with the image of an old man in nothing but underwear. He apologized for his indecency, but it would never escape her photogenic memory.

Seeing as her boat was nothing but trash, they would have to find another way to Frypan Mountain that wasn't through the river. She didn't worry so much about it though, seeing as she had a lot of capsules to choose from. If she wanted to, she could even fly there! She just preferred to stay lower to the ground.

(After last summer's little accident with her flying motorcycle prototype she didn't really like being in the air all that much.)

"Let's see…" Her car was almost out of gas, she didn't want to share a bike with Gohan, she could use her jeep— "What! They're gone!" Bulma searched her bag again, and continued to search until she decided to pour all of its contents onto the ground.

"I must have dropped them in the river! I lost them! I really lost them!"

"Lost what?"

"My capsules! The case with my capsules is gone! Now we'll never get there."

Gohan raised his eyebrows. "We can just walk."

She looked at him like the very thought was ridiculous. "Yeah, right. You may be strong, but I'm sure even you aren't stupid enough to think you can walk all the way to Frypan Mountain without dying."

He scoffed. "I've done it before. I've even walked twice as far in a day!"

"Well, maybe you can, but I can't!"

"Not with that attitude."

"I can't! I'm not like you… I'm just a girl."

"Girls are plenty capable." Bulma didn't budge, silently picking up her purse's contents. "Well… I can always carry you."

She eyed him suspiciously. "Not a chance, old man."

"I'll do it piggyback style."

…

"Or you can watch as I leave. I have better things to do, you know!"'

"...Okay."

Gohan smiled, happy she agreed. "Alright, jump on!"

She did as he said with slight embarrassment. Good thing they were in the middle of nowhere. Bulma wouldn't be able to ever show her face to anyone ever again if this got out!

Gohan took them deep into the desert, with many mushroom-like stone structures. She was awed once again by how fast he was going. For an old man, he sure had good stamina.

(He must have been plenty popular with the girls back in the day.)

"It's really hot," The sun burned her and she could see Gohan start to sweat. "Let's rest under the shade."

"I," Gohan breathed out. "Can agree with that." He gently let her down and Bulma thanked him.

They both plopped down, breathing a sigh of relief. Even just a few minutes here were deadly. She didn't know how he could stand it with that black shirt underneath those martial arts clothes.

"Do you think there's an inn or hotel here?" She asked.

"...Probably not."

Bulma would have thrown a fit, but she was already embarrassed enough by having him give her a piggyback.

They both rested for a bit. Gohan napped against the stone's structure, and Bulma laid down. Drained from what little energy she had. It was boiling!

Not even the animals were out right now! They were probably under the shade just like her and Gohan. Heck, she could spot one right now. They were sleeping with what looked like a blue cat nuzzled on top of their chest. Quite comfortably too and– Hey that was a person!

Not just that! A guy!

"Gohan!" She shook him, and he peeked one eye open. "Look! Another person!"

His eyes snapped open and he turned to look at him with her. They watched him, unsure if they should try and get their attention.

"Hmm, they might be in trouble."

"You think so?"

"We should call out to them." She agreed.

Standing up, she shouted for them. She jumped and yelled as much as she could to get their attention. "Hey!!! You! Guy! Are you okay?"

Nothing. Not even a little movement from him. It made them even more concerned. Gohan motioned for her to hide as he went to investigate.

"This could be a trap."

She could see him approach the man and couldn't help but wonder what was happening. The cat lifted their head, and looked to be shielding them from Gohan. Not wanting the old man to even get close to who he was protecting. Which made her even more curious.

Gohan bent down to look at them, after the cat seemed to relax and let him get closer. Bulma watched in silence as he looked back and yelled for her to come quickly.

"What is it!" She breathed, exhausted from the small amount of exercise. But he didn't need to answer.

There, on the ground, was a man close to death. Completely pale from loss of blood, with purple lips and a pain stricken face. The cat looked completely terrified, with bloodshot eyes and tears dripping down their face. It was a horrific sight.

The smell of it was putrid with sweat and blood mixed with the heavy heat. She tried to cover her nose but even that wasn't enough.

"This is terrible!"

"Yes," Gohan nodded, bending over to grab the man. "Now grab the other side. The little cat fellow says their house is close to here. We're going to take him there and help him."

There was no arguing and Bulma helped lift him. They carefully transported him to a hideout carved into one of the structures. It was big and had the words "Severe Training and Extreme Sharpening" artfully painted. He must have been a fighter training out here for reasons similar to why Gohan lived in Mt. Paozu.

"Eekk!" Bulma swooned. "How cool!" He was like the cool and mysterious type of guy! She's sure underneath that ugly death look he was really cute!

The man groaned and made a disgusting liquidy noise as he coughed. It was enough to make Bulma shake as she thought of how horrible of a way to go. Alone in a desert underneath the hot sun.

Good thing they had found him!

"Maybe it's fate my boat broke…"

They gently placed them onto a bed in the corner of the room. Gohan ordered the cat to gather all of their medical supplies so he could treat them. The cat did as he said, informing them that his name was Puar and the guy was Yamcha.

"This wound, it's quite horrid. What happened?" He gently pressed onto the wound with a wet cloth, telling Yamcha to quiet their cries and rest.

Puar looked at them in fear as he remembered the events. "There was this evil boy! Yamcha and him got into a fight and he– he… Oh how terrible it was! I thought he was dead!" They wailed and both of them decided not to push for details.

A distraught witness wouldn't be of any help.

"An evil boy…" Bulma heard Gohan whisper and she knew exactly who he was thinking about.

"It must've been his grandson." Wherever that boy went he left a line of terror. A destroyed town, a half dead man, what else would he do?

She thought Gohan said he was a real sweetheart? From everything that's happened so far, that doesn't seem to be the case.

"It's a good thing I've got Gohan to protect me! I could easily be another one of his victims!" Bulma kind of hoped she never has to meet them.

Finishing the stitches, Gohan patted his legs before getting up and turning to Puar. "If we hadn't found him, he would have died. Now, I know you just went through something terrible, so how about I make you something to eat? It'll at least give you your strength back."

"...Okay. Kitchens right there, feel free to use anything you'd like to."

"Thank you. Now sit down and rest. You do so as well, Miss Bulma."

—

Gohan looked over his shoulder and watched the children rest. The boy was so young and yet he had already almost lost their life.

And at the hands of his grandson!

"Goku, how could you?" Was there really no helping them? Were they really that bent on killing? "I have to stop him."

The world was depending on it.