Gohan immediately began to blush. Yamcha took a seat next to him, when suddenly there was a loud banging sound. Frowning in puzzlement, Yamcha turned his head to look. The door had slammed closed.
Because Goten had just walked in.
Yamcha almost had a heart attack. Knowing Goten, he would tell his parents--especially his mother--about everything he'd seen. And then Chi-Chi would be after him. And then he'd be dead.
He had to get him out of here.
He ran up to Goten just as, judging by the sound of the cheers coming from behind him, the stripper had just walked out on stage.
"Goten!"
The ten-year old grinned at him. "Hey Yamcha-san!"
"Goten," he said, grabbing onto his shoulders, "You shouldn't be here. I thought your parents had let you stay over with Trunks." He began to push Goten out the door.
"Oh, they did!"
And then, of course, Yamcha figured it out. If Goten was here...
"Stay right here, Goten. Don't move."
He whirled around and headed for the back door to the building. Sure enough, there was Trunks sneaking through the door as quietly as he could. Yamcha reached him right as the stripper removed her top. He didn't actually see it, but he'd been to enough bachelor parties in his time to judge what came off by the kind of cheer.
"Trunks..."
"Hi Yamcha-san."
"I thought I told you you couldn't come to this."
"I didn't want to, but Goten came here so I had to follow him--hey, there he goes!"
Yamcha whirled again to see Goten trying to work his way into the crowd. Sighing, the bandit headed towards him and grabbed him by the hair. Another cheer. That one meant that she'd gotten rid of her pants.
"Ow! Let go!"
"Not until you promise not to move!"
"OK, OK, I promise! Hey, where's Trunks going?"
Dropping Goten, Yamcha whirled again; he was starting to get dizzy. Trunks was also trying to get into the crowd. The older man growled and headed back. He couldn't believe it. Everything was going fine, and at the last possible second for things to get screwed up...things were getting screwed up. He'd found that this was a theme that had repeated itself throughout his life. He snuck up on Trunks from behind and snagged his belt right as the cheer went up that indicated the stripper had taken off her bra.
"Oh, damn!"
"You got that right, punk. You're a bit too much like your father for my taste."
"At least I'm not as much like my dad as Goten. There he goes!"
Instinctively, Yamcha let go of the boy's belt and once again whirled around. Goten was trying to climb onto a rickety table to see what everyone else was cheering at, apparently forgetting he could fly. Yamcha got there right as the spike of crowd noise indicated that the stripper had removed what little of her clothing had remained. And right as he got there, he had a revelation.
If the two kids were criminals, they'd be partners. Goten would be The Muscle, and Trunks would be The Brains. The former did work corresponding to the latter's orders. And the latter was the most dangerous. Stop The Brains and The Muscle was essentially harmless. Stop The Muscle, and The Brains would just find a replacement.
And Trunks had been orchestrating all this, no doubt. Divide and conquer.
Well, Yamcha had had enough. In his career, he'd been eliminated in the first round of three straight Tenkaichi Budokai's, been killed twice, and lost his girlfriend to an alien who had once tried to destroy the planet.
He'd be damned if he'd be outsmarted by an eleven-year old.
He grabbed Goten and hauled him behind him as he stalked off towards Trunks. Trunks saw him and blanched. Even he had rarely seen such a malicious grin as the one on Yamcha's face.
The bandit reached him. Then he picked up both of the kids--by their hair again--and lifted them up to his eye-level. He was facing away from the stage.
"That's it. I'm going to fly you both back to Capsule Corporation and lock you in the gravity room myself--" He stopped short at the looks on the kids' faces. Trunks, normally unflappable, was so shocked that his eyes were wide and his jaw slack. The same was true for Goten. At the same time, another huge cheer erupted. Yamcha knew what that meant.
Lap dance.
He grinned, and his anger faded away. So Gohan was getting a lap dance...that was worth all the trouble he'd been put through. He'd just hustle the kids over to another room, and after the party was over he'd take them home and apologize.
Still holding them by the hair, he turned around.
And his expression quickly resembled theirs.
Yes, Gohan was getting a lap dance. Yes, as he'd expected, Gohan had had a mild nosebleed.
What he hadn't expected was that he knew the stripper.
Or that'd it be his girlfriend.
"MARON?!"
Because Goten had just walked in.
Yamcha almost had a heart attack. Knowing Goten, he would tell his parents--especially his mother--about everything he'd seen. And then Chi-Chi would be after him. And then he'd be dead.
He had to get him out of here.
He ran up to Goten just as, judging by the sound of the cheers coming from behind him, the stripper had just walked out on stage.
"Goten!"
The ten-year old grinned at him. "Hey Yamcha-san!"
"Goten," he said, grabbing onto his shoulders, "You shouldn't be here. I thought your parents had let you stay over with Trunks." He began to push Goten out the door.
"Oh, they did!"
And then, of course, Yamcha figured it out. If Goten was here...
"Stay right here, Goten. Don't move."
He whirled around and headed for the back door to the building. Sure enough, there was Trunks sneaking through the door as quietly as he could. Yamcha reached him right as the stripper removed her top. He didn't actually see it, but he'd been to enough bachelor parties in his time to judge what came off by the kind of cheer.
"Trunks..."
"Hi Yamcha-san."
"I thought I told you you couldn't come to this."
"I didn't want to, but Goten came here so I had to follow him--hey, there he goes!"
Yamcha whirled again to see Goten trying to work his way into the crowd. Sighing, the bandit headed towards him and grabbed him by the hair. Another cheer. That one meant that she'd gotten rid of her pants.
"Ow! Let go!"
"Not until you promise not to move!"
"OK, OK, I promise! Hey, where's Trunks going?"
Dropping Goten, Yamcha whirled again; he was starting to get dizzy. Trunks was also trying to get into the crowd. The older man growled and headed back. He couldn't believe it. Everything was going fine, and at the last possible second for things to get screwed up...things were getting screwed up. He'd found that this was a theme that had repeated itself throughout his life. He snuck up on Trunks from behind and snagged his belt right as the cheer went up that indicated the stripper had taken off her bra.
"Oh, damn!"
"You got that right, punk. You're a bit too much like your father for my taste."
"At least I'm not as much like my dad as Goten. There he goes!"
Instinctively, Yamcha let go of the boy's belt and once again whirled around. Goten was trying to climb onto a rickety table to see what everyone else was cheering at, apparently forgetting he could fly. Yamcha got there right as the spike of crowd noise indicated that the stripper had removed what little of her clothing had remained. And right as he got there, he had a revelation.
If the two kids were criminals, they'd be partners. Goten would be The Muscle, and Trunks would be The Brains. The former did work corresponding to the latter's orders. And the latter was the most dangerous. Stop The Brains and The Muscle was essentially harmless. Stop The Muscle, and The Brains would just find a replacement.
And Trunks had been orchestrating all this, no doubt. Divide and conquer.
Well, Yamcha had had enough. In his career, he'd been eliminated in the first round of three straight Tenkaichi Budokai's, been killed twice, and lost his girlfriend to an alien who had once tried to destroy the planet.
He'd be damned if he'd be outsmarted by an eleven-year old.
He grabbed Goten and hauled him behind him as he stalked off towards Trunks. Trunks saw him and blanched. Even he had rarely seen such a malicious grin as the one on Yamcha's face.
The bandit reached him. Then he picked up both of the kids--by their hair again--and lifted them up to his eye-level. He was facing away from the stage.
"That's it. I'm going to fly you both back to Capsule Corporation and lock you in the gravity room myself--" He stopped short at the looks on the kids' faces. Trunks, normally unflappable, was so shocked that his eyes were wide and his jaw slack. The same was true for Goten. At the same time, another huge cheer erupted. Yamcha knew what that meant.
Lap dance.
He grinned, and his anger faded away. So Gohan was getting a lap dance...that was worth all the trouble he'd been put through. He'd just hustle the kids over to another room, and after the party was over he'd take them home and apologize.
Still holding them by the hair, he turned around.
And his expression quickly resembled theirs.
Yes, Gohan was getting a lap dance. Yes, as he'd expected, Gohan had had a mild nosebleed.
What he hadn't expected was that he knew the stripper.
Or that'd it be his girlfriend.
"MARON?!"