Chapter 10

Yamcha

Yamcha groaned as Puar woke him up in the form of a very loud alarm clock. "Come on, Yamcha-sama, you gotta make time to train if you wanna keep ahead of your students," the cat said as he turned back into his regular form. "Yeah, that's right," Yamcha said, pumping himself up. He got out of bed and shook his head to ge his blood flowing, then got to work stretching. Man, this seemed a lot easier to do last year, he thought to himself after twenty minutes of stretching. His and Puar's apartment wasn't very big, so he had to turn the living room into a makeshift gym with a set of eighty-pound barbells and a four-hundred-pound dumbbell set he found online, and a chin-up bar he had to take out from under his bed. Yamcha set up the chin-up bar in the living room and Puar tied the barbells to his feet. Yamcha jumped up and grasped the bar, pulling himself up with his left hand until his sternum touched the bar, and went back down.

Up and down Yamcha pulled himself with his left arm for seven-hundered reps before repeating the feat with his right arm. After this, he completed his set with a thousand regular sternum pull-ups. Yamcha let go and then untied the barbells from his feet and gripped them in his hand before jumping up into a front flip until he grasped the bar with his legs. The human warrior lifted himself up, holding tight to the barbells as he did hanging sit-ups, with Puar counting the whole time. "ONE-THOUSAND!" Puar announced and Yamcha let go of the chin-up bar and put the barbells away before disassembling the chin-up bar and putting it back under his bed. "You're really pushing it today, Yamcha-sama," Puar said as he handed him some water and a towel. "Thanks buddy. Yeah, I got a pretty good reason to stay in shape now," Yamcha said as he wiped his sweat off and took some quick sips of water. "That Detective Pinto is really something, huh?" Puar asked.

"Y-Yeah! And I gotta set a good example for her, and all my students since I'm teaching them ki!" a blushing Yamcha said as he picked up the four-hundred-pound dumbbell and lifted it over his shoulders. He squatted down and stood back up with the dumbbell not moving at all, pushing himself. "I mean, yeah, she's beautiful, tough, and dedicated to helping people, but she's not my only reason to get stronger," Yamcha told Puar. The disbelieving cat floated in front of Yamcha and said, "Uh-huh, I noticed you putting on your cologne for the past week, you only do that when you got a lady in sight you wanna date." "Okay, okay, yeah, I'm thinking about asking her out tonight, see what happens," Yamcha admitted as he kept on doing his squats. "Can you blame me? Goku's a grandpa for crying out loud, Marron-chan isn't so little anymore, and I swear I saw her and Goten out on a date yesterday, and here I am at 55, still single. If there's any justice in the Universe, shouldn't I find someone to settle down with? I mean, if Vegeta can get together with Bulma, doesn't that mean I at least have a shot?" Yamcha said as he kept on doing his squats.

"I guess you're right. But are you sure that you're really ready to settle down?" Puar asked him. Yamcha was quiet as he thought about that. It wasn't until after he did one-thousand-five-hundred squats that Yamcha finally answered, "Yeah, I do. I've been asking Krillin about Pinto, and he says that she's been looking for Mr. Right for about six years now. Maybe the Supreme Kai's sending me a message, you know?" "I don't think that's his job, but I see your point," Puar said. Yamcha finished off his exercises by shadowboxing to the air for twenty minutes without resting, then showered and changed into his gi. He put on his cologne and Puar packed up his lunch, while breakfast was some simple scrambled eggs and coffee. "Hey, Puar, think you can help me out today?" Yamcha asked his oldest friend. "Really?" Puar asked, his eyes all shiny. "Sure, I mean why not? You can use your transformation powers to help visualize what I wanted to teach today," Yamcha told him. "Alright! You can count on me!" Puar excitedly said as they left their apartment and flew off to the Police Station.

Yamcha saw Krillin and Videl show up and greeted them, "Yo!" "Hey, Yamcha," Krillin greeted him. "Morning, Yamcha," Videl greeted him, "Uh, what's that smell?" "His special 'Lady Killer' cologne," Puar said before Yamcha could stop him. "Oh, gonna ask Pinto out?" Videl said with a sly smile. "Uh, yeah, after today's lesson," Yamcha admitted. "Heh heh, you sly old dog," Krillin told him, slapping him on the back, "Knew you weren't out of the game yet." "Good luck," Videl wished him, and they parted ways, them to their desks, and him to the Station's Exercise Room. All the officers who had volunteered to be trained by him had finally managed to tap into their ki as of yesterday, Yamcha would be a liar if he said he was proud of them, and it made him think he was a pretty good teacher.

One by one they all filed inside the Exercise Room and got to work stretching themselves out. Yamcha stretched out again too to keep himself limber, then announced, "Alright, time for you all to start learning a little about fighting with ki." Everyone sat down as Puar floated over them, most of them staring at the cat in shock. "This is my best friend Puar, he's going to help me illustrate today's lesson. Alright, you know that ki strengthens your body, and it also helps make it tougher as well. However, whether or not it helps you can often depend on your opponent. The fact is, that if your opponent possesses more ki power than you, your attacks won't be as effective," Yamcha explained. Puar demonstrated by transforming into a tiny martial artist and kicking Yamcha's leg, which Yamcha ignored. "And, if they are twice as strong as you, then forget it, you won't be able to hurt them at all, no matter how you try to physically attack them," Yamcha said as Puar stuck to his martial artist form, got on his back and tried to back choke him and kicked his head.

"That said, there are still some ki techniques out there that can even harm those much stronger than you. Krillin has his Destructo-Disc, another buddy of ours, Tien, created the Solar Flare technique, which creates a bright light that can distract or blind your opponent. He also knows a powerful technique called the Tri-Beam, but that's a very dangerous technique that lowers your lifespan every time you use it, so I'm not going to teach it. And finally, another friend, Piccolo, created his Special Beam Cannon attack, which focuses your ki into your fingertips, and lets you concentrate your power, like a bullet. There are other techniques out there, I'm sure, but these are the ones that cross my mind first. Today, you'll need to grab your sunglasses, I'm going to teach you the Solar Flare technique," Yamcha told them. The officers all headed out of the room and grabbed some sunglasses, then followed Yamcha outside to the back of the Station.

Luckily, it was a clear day out, and Yamcha continued his lesson, "Alright, as you can imagine, Solar Flare works best when the sun is out, although it can be used with other light sources nearby, the sun is definitely the best. You need to make sure that your back is to the sun, put your hands on both sides of your forehead, like this, focus your ki in the area between your hands like a lens, and release it. SOLAR FLARE!" Yamcha unleashed the technique and all the officers yelled out in amazement. "Holy cow! Good thing we got these sunglasses!" Pinto exclaimed. "Alright, now, I want you all to try this technique individually. It's a pretty simple technique, but it's almost always effective," Yamcha said. Once again, one by one, the officers all tried it. Some needed three or four tries to get it down, no one managed to get it on their first try due to inexperience. Finally, Pinto was the last one to try. She followed Yamcha's instructions exactly, putting her hands to her forehead, made sure the sun was behind her, focused her ki, and yelled, "SOLAR FLARE!" Her Solar Flar shined out like an explosion, it's intensity was such that even Yamcha was caught off guard by it.

Once the light dissipated, Yamcha went up to his students and told them, "That was great! You all did very well. But, keep in mind, this can blind your opponent. You need to be careful, my friends and I used this technique in fights where it was just us and our opponents, we never used it in a setting where innocent lives could be in danger. Don't use this against people in a moving vehicle and be especially careful if your target has a gun, the last thing you want is for them to lose control of their vehicle; or start shooting around blindly. Understood?" Pinto nodded, "Makes sense." The rest of the officers all agreed. "Alright then, since it's such a beautiful day out, let's get to work with some physical training. Drop down and give me a hundred push-ups," Yamcha ordered. For the next two hours he had his students work their butts off outside, going through all the exercises he could think of that didn't involve equipment.

When they were done, the officers went back into the Station to shower and get changed into their uniforms. Yamcha spotted Pinto and swallowed. Now or never! Focus! Be confident! Yamcha psyched himself up and said, "Pinto, can we talk for a minute?" Pinto came over, to his credit, Yamcha kept his eyes focused above her neck, ignoring her sweaty body. "Yes, Yamcha-sensei?" "I was wondering, would you like to meet up for dinner later tonight?" Yamcha asked. Pinto took off her silver sunglasses and looked Yamcha up and down with her stunning green eyes, "Is this a date?" "Uh, ah, well…basically, yeah," Yamcha said. "Well, what place did you have in mind?" she asked him. ALRIGHT! Made it this far! Yamcha said out loud, "There's a sushi stall across the street from Satan City Park called 'Masato's' we can go to, it's seriously got some of the best seafood you'll ever have, outside those millionaire restaurants." Pinto enthusiastically responded, "Masato's? Great! I love that place. Sure thing, say, around six?" "Six o'clock it is," Yamcha agreed. "See you then," Pinto agreed. "See you at six," Yamcha said, and Pinto headed into the Station.

Yamcha stood in shock for a second, his whole body shaking before he finally jumped straight into the air, "YES!" As soon as his feet touched the ground, he headed inside the station and checked to make sure there wasn't anything he had left inside. "You got it, Yamcha-sama," Puar happily said as they left the Police Station. "Of course I did," Yamcha said, feeling his old swagger returning, "The ladies can't resist the Great Yamcha." Yamcha decided to walk back to his apartment, he had time, and he wanted to see if there were any good soba stalls around. After about thirty minutes and walking and looking, Puar said, "Hey, there's a soba stall right there." "Puar, lunch is on me," Yamcha said as he saw where Puar pointed. He went into the stall and saw a very well-fed older woman with glasses and grey hair cooking up the noodles. "Welcome, what'll it be?" the woman asked. "Two dishes, a hard baked tanuki soba bowl for me," Yamcha said. "And I'd like the nishin soba," Puar asked. "Coming up," the old woman said as she got to work, "You definitely look like you're having a good day." "Well, got a hot date tonight, plus I taught my students a new move that they got the handle of pretty quick," Yamcha said, "Can I get a cup of lemonade with my food." "Two please," Puar said. "Sure thing," the old cook said.

The cook finished preparing their soba and gave it to them and handed them both their lemonade. "So, you're a teacher, huh?" she asked as she got ready to make some more soba. "Martial arts teacher actually, helping the Police out, teaching them self-defense and such," Yamcha happily said, "Thank you for the food." "Sounds like an interesting career," the cook said while Yamcha and Puar dug in. Yamcha slurped up some of his noodles before answering, "It's never been a dull moment, that's for sure." He and Puar continued eating while other customers arrived and ordered their own food. Puar stopped after a minute and said, "Wow! This is the best nishin soba I've ever had!" "Secret's all in the spice you use to cook the fish," the cook happily said. "Mine's pretty great too," Yamcha admitted. They finished eating and paid 2500 Zeni for their food, Yamcha saying, "Gotta stop by here more often." "Come by anytime!" the old lady cook said as they left.

Yamcha and Puar walked the rest of the way home, where they immediately started cleaning up the place. I got a date! Oh man, I gotta make sure that if I bring her back here, it looks perfect! Gotta start keeping this place spotless for when that day comes! Yamcha thought to himself as they cleaned up. After three hours, the whole apartment was so clean that it looked brand new. Yamcha sighed in his chair as Puar laid down on his shoulder. "That was harder than I thought it would be," Puar commented. "Yeah, but it'll be worth it. Gotta start cleaning more than once a month, like once a week should be good," Yamcha said. After resting for another half-hour, Yamcha got back up and took a shower and shaved his face, making sure to put on extra dabs of his Lady Killer cologne. He looked in the mirror and wondered if he shouldn't fix his long shoulder-length hair up. "Ponytail will be fine," Yamcha said to himself before combing out his hair and tying it into a ponytail.

He checked his clothes and decided on his favorite yellow suit to wear, it was nice, but not too fancy. By the time he was done getting ready he saw he had half an hour to get to Masato's. "Wish me luck, Puar," Yamcha said, heading out. "Good luck!" Puar said as the door closed.

Yamcha flew straight to Masato's and arrived just five minutes before six. He stood as casually as he could, hiding his excitement. "Hey!" Yamcha turned and saw Pinto coming, she was wearing a black v-neck shirt that showed a little bit of her chest along with some tight jeans and red shoes, Yamcha noticed she was wearing emerald earrings as well. "Wow, now I feel underdressed," Pinto commented. "You look good either way," Yamcha told her. "Well, I mean, it's just sushi, so I wasn't sure what would work," Pinto explained as they went in. "I get that," Yamcha told her. "Welcome!" the sushi chef and owner, Masato, greeted them while his daughter prepared some sushi rolls. He was an old man whose bald head and long beard almost made him looke like Master Roshi, only his lack of sunglasses and very dark tan were his main difference in appearance. "Pinto! You brought a date, wait a minute, I remember you, you're the guy with that cat friend of yours!" Masato said as they sat down. "Yeah, this is Yamcha," Pinto said. "Got it, nice to see you again, Yamcha," Masato said. "Nice to see you too, Masato-san," Yamcha greeted. "So, what'll it be?" Masato asked. "I'll have the sake-zushi," Pinto said. "Same here," Yamcha agreed, "And a beer." "Two," Pinto finished. "On the way," Masato said as he started preparing their food. "So, Yamcha, where'd you learn to fight?" Pinto asked while they waited. Masato's daughter, a pretty girl named Koi with bright blue eyes brought their beers over before Yamcha answered.

"Well, I first started when I was a kid. Mom…passed away when I was little, and Dad was always working. I watched a lot and read a lot about the World Martial Arts Tournament and first I was just imitating them. It wasn't until I met my real master, Master Roshi, that I learned how to really be strong," Yamcha answered. For the next hour, Yamcha and Pinto talked, he told her about how his life as a bandit, meeting Goku and Bulma, and all the adventures they shared. Pinto in return told him about her life; how her Dad died in a plane crash when she was two, and her Mom remarried and eventually had her younger sister and current fellow officer, Suki. Suki's Father spoiled her, which led to her having a bad superiority complex, and more than a few fights that Pinto had to save her from. Pinto told him about how she hated bullies, and that led to her joining the police, in her mind, criminals were nothing more than bullies. By the time they had finished eating and talking, about three hours had passed.

Yamcha saw the time, "Wow, time sure flies when you're having fun." "I'll admit, you turned out to be more interesting than I expected," Pinto told him. "Trust me, my life has been crazy, I'm surprised that you didn't call me a liar or anything," Yamcha told her. "Well, after seeing all the stuff you, Krillin, and Videl can do, I just accept that the world is bigger and weirder than I imagined," Pinto responded. Yamcha paid the 9000 Zeni bill when he heard the sound of a gun being cocked. Faster than a normal human could move, he quickly turned and heard the gun go off. Yamcha caught the bullet before it could hit Pinto and yelled, "GET DOWN!" Pinto, Masato, and Koi all ducked as Yamcha caught a second bullet, aimed at him. Yamcha blasted a ki ball at the shooter before he could fire a third time, his attack knocked the assassin down and out.

Pinto grabbed her own gun and badge out of her purse and headed out to arrest the man, but Yamcha sensed five more people, all of them powering up their ki. "Pinto get back!" Yamcha yelled before appearing in front of her and pushed her back as five ki blasts all converged on the spot she almost reached. "YAMCHA!" Pinto yelled, the force of the explosion knocked her back into Masato's sushi stall.

The five attackers floated down to the street and one said, "There's the bitch." That was when the smoke cleared and Yamcha saw who his attackers were, five men all wearing black, with ski masks to hide their faces. They saw Yamcha, standing there unharmed, his suit completely shredded to ribbons. "What is this guy!?" another assassin yelled when he spotted him. "I am the Great Yamcha," Yamcha said. Like a blazing blue inferno Yamcha's ki aura swirled around him as he stepped towards the five assassins. "And you just ruined my favorite suit. You all are going down hard!"

Yamcha disappeared, then reappeared in front of the first assassin that spoke and heel-kicked him hard in his chin, sending him flying across the street and into a brick building, knocking him out cold. Before the other four could react, Yamcha jumped at the second speaker and knocked him out with a round kick to his head, the crack of his jaw heard by everyone. The third assassin flew at Yamcha with a punch that was easily deflected, then taken out with a punch to his solar plexus, sending him flying head first into the fourth attacker, knocking them both out. The fifth one raised his hands and summoned a ki ball, then to Yamcha's surprise, he tossed it at Masato's sushi stall. "NO!" Yamcha yelled, flying straight at the last assassin and knocking him out with an elbow to the face, but the ki ball flew straight in and exploded. "PINTOOOOO!" Yamcha screamed, watching as the sushi stall burned.

"I'm right here!" Yamcha turned and saw Pinto, carrying Masato and Koi on her shoulders. "What, how!?" Yamcha yelled as police cars started to arrive. Pinto put Masato and Koi down before explaining, "I saw the fighting and figured I needed to get the civilians to safety. I remembered what you told us today about not fighting guys twice as strong as us and figured I might not be able to help you, but I could at least keep them safe, got out just before that last guy tossed that ki bomb or whatever it was." "MY STAAAAALLLLLLL!" Masato screamed as he watched his business burn, "Damn it! It took us decades to save up for our own place, it was our dream…our future…oh Yumi our dream is gone…why now?" Masato broke down sobbing as Koi held him close, "Father, we can start over, as long as we're alive, there's hope."

Yamcha watched the old man sob at the loss of his livelihood, while the arriving officers detained the would-be assassins. "This is all my fault," Pinto sighed, "They were after me…" "No," Yamcha told her, "This is Shen's fault, for teaching these punks, and telling them to come after you." "But how did they know I'd be here? I only told you and Saki!" Pinto pointed out. "I don't know," Yamcha admitted, "But we're going to find out."