DESERT NIGHTS AND CITY LIGHTS

One week after the craziness that was the Dragon Ball hunt, Yamcha decides to visit Bulma for the first time. West City is really far from the Diablo Desert and most of the Crystal Gems are busy, but Lapis offers to fly Yamcha to the city.

Thanks to Lapis' immense strength and speed, she carries Yamcha on her back with ease and makes it to West City in less than an hour. As soon as they enter the city, the duo is nearly overwhelmed with how huge and loud it all is. It takes them a few minutes to find Bulma's address, but they eventually get there, and Yamcha is shocked to see that his girlfriend lives at the Capsule Corp. mansion.

As soon as they land in the yard, a friendly blonde-haired woman greets them. Yamcha and Lapis introduce themselves and ask for Bulma, to which the woman cheerfully tells them that she's Panchy, Bulma's mother, and takes them through the mansion. Yamcha and Lapis are in awe at everything they see, and they eventually meet a bespeckled, lavender-haired man with a little black cat on his shoulder, whom they quickly learn to Dr. Brief, Bulma's father and the founder of Capsule Corp.

Panchy asks one of the robot servants to go fetch Bulma and leads Yamcha and Lapis to the kitchen, where she offers them tea and snacks, which they happily accept. A few minutes later, Bulma races downstairs and into the kitchen. She and Yamcha happily embrace and kiss.

They end up spending the whole day together, having fun and getting to know each other as they go from room to room in the mansion. Lapis, meanwhile, decides to go out and explore West City for a little bit, including playing with some people at a waterpark and getting a few treats at an ice cream parlor.

After several hours, dusk finally comes and Lapis returns to Capsule Corp. She and Yamcha say their goodbyes to Bulma and her parents, and head back to Kung Pao Rock the same way they came.

This same pattern continues for a few weeks. Yamcha and Bulma call each other once a day and text often, and Yamcha tries to visit whenever he can. However, the only way he can visit are when Lapis flies him to West City, but more often than not she's busy with missions.

After a few weeks of this, Peridot becomes frustrated that Lapis, one of the strongest members of their team, now has a fifty-fifty chance of not being on important missions with the rest of the Crystal Gems. During dinner one evening, Lapis and Yamcha start talking about visiting West City, which leads to the former and Peridot getting into an argument. Peridot eventually blurts out in anger, "Well, if you two just love the city so much, why don't you just build a Warp Pad there?!"

Everyone stops when she says this, including Peridot herself. That actually sounds like a good idea…

So good, in fact, that they decide to go through with it.

The next day, Yamcha and Lapis visit Bulma again, now with Peridot in tow. She brings along materials to build a Warp Pad, and while the three of them have fun in West City, she gets to work. Hours pass, and Yamcha, Bulma and Lapis return to find a proud Peridot standing atop a new, shiny Warp Pad, which is located in the mansion's atrium.

Yamcha and Bulma share a goodbye kiss before the former gets on the Pad with Lapis and Peridot. But before they can leave, Bulma, who is in fascination, asks how the Warp Pad works. Peridot is more than happy to explain it and steps off the Pad. Yamcha and Lapis warp back to Kung Pao Rock as they talk. Peridot warps in about an hour later, looking as chipper as ever.

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Meanwhile, several hundred miles away, Goku travels to Kame House and meets another boy his age, Krillin, who also wishes to train under Roshi. The Turtle Hermit decides to take both of them under his wing, but on one condition: they bring him a beautiful woman.

The boys head out, and after a while, they end up finding two unusual women on the run from the police…

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While watching TV with Bulma and the Gems one day, Yamcha sees a commercial announcing that the 21st Tenkaichi Budokai—the Strongest Under the Heavens Tournament—will be held several months from now. Yamcha's always been fascinated with the tournament and decides to enter it, while Peridot quietly comments that it sounds somewhat familiar…

Yamcha asks the Gems if he can come on more missions and if they can amp up his training. They agree to do so, though Jasper playfully tells him that she won't go easy on him, cracking her knuckles as if to prove a point. Yamcha confidently tells her to bring it on.

For the next couple of months, the Crystal Gems continue training Yamcha and bringing him on missions. Except now, they allow him to hunt down and bubble corrupted Gems on his own, forcing him to rely on his wits and strengths every time.

During this time, Yamcha continues to spend time with Bulma thanks to the new Warp Pad. This also means that the other Gems visit Capsule Corp. more often than not; they may not be too fond of humans (with Yamcha and Ocha being the exceptions), but they enjoyed the company of the Brief family.

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Bulma slowly but surely grows accustomed to Yamcha and the Crystal Gems being around a lot. But even so, it takes her a while to get used to the Gems themselves.

A couple months later, Bulma sees the atrium light up while tinkering with a project in her lab, and happily rushes out to greet Yamcha, but she stops when she sees him and all of the Gems covered in feathers and scratch marks, Rose holding a bubbled Gem in her hands, and that Apache is holding a giant egg. Yamcha tiredly greets Bulma, but she hardly notices as Jasper chides Apache for keeping the egg, saying that they don't need that and it won't fit in the fridge. Apache ignores her and heads off to the kitchen anyways, with Jasper right behind her.

Bulma watches in disbelief, and Yamcha casually tells her that they fought a giant bird monster as he brushes the feathers off of him…then both of them flinch when they hear clattering come from the kitchen, followed by the fridge slamming shut and a loud crack.

After that, Bulma goes back to her lab and tries to finish up her project, but finds it hard to concentrate with Yamcha and the Gems running amok in Capsule Corp. (including watching the TV at full volume, messing with the animals in the atrium, and doing who-knows-what in the bathroom and kitchen). Several minutes of frustration later, Bulma angrily yells for Yamcha, and once he's in front of her, she snaps at him for all the noise and distractions, which he just takes in his surprise; as she does so, the Gems find themselves watching, as if it were some kind of show.

Bulma tells Yamcha that, if he and the Gems are going to make so much noise, then they need to take it somewhere else. Yamcha asks where they should, and Bulma growls back that she doesn't care. She storms back in her lab and slams the door shut.

Hoping to ease the tension a bit, Lapis suggests that they head down to beach; she flew there a couple of weeks ago, and it looked like a great place to hang out. Yamcha and the Crystal Gems agree and head out, hoping to give Bulma enough time to calm down.

Jasper, Lapis and Rose all shapeshift their appearances for beachwear once they hit the sands, while Yamcha, Apache and Peridot (who leaves behind her limb enhancers and sheepishly adopt a much shorter appearance, leading to her saying she feels naked without her limb enhancers) change before leaving due to them not being able to shapeshift. Once they're at the beach, they run around and have fun. Volleyball tournaments, diving into the ocean to find seashells and starfish, and so much more. After all the hard work they've put in the past few months, they all agree that this is a well-deserved break.

Unfortunately, the fun doesn't last long.

While sunbathing with Rose and Apache, Yamcha notices the wind picking up speed. The source makes itself known, revealing to be a giant red and pink pufferfish-like monster (later revealed to be a corrupted Rubellite Tourmaline) that's spewing an incredibly powerful gale and is clearly after the Gems. Apache yells that they can't go one day without being attacked, and they start fighting back against the giant pufferfish.

It takes a while, but they manage to come up with a plan to destroy the pufferfish's physical form (since Yamcha and Apache didn't bring their weapons), which involves turning a portion of the sand into sharp glass, using their volleyball net to force the pufferfish into the glass, and Lapis launching Jasper into the air to gain momentum and slam her helmet into it. They successfully poof the monster and bubble its gemstone.

However, their fight doesn't go unnoticed. Between the pufferfish's gales and the Gems using their powers, Bulma can easily see it, even from the window in her lab. Even though she's working on volatile materials, she can't help but watch from the window in awe. Unfortunately, she doesn't remember her materials until it's too late; they quickly become unstable, and they explode before she can restabilize them.

Dr. Brief hears the explosion and rushes his now wounded and unconscious daughter to the Capsule Corp. medical wing. Yamcha and the Crystal Gems return sometime later, and are shocked when they learn what happened. Bulma is bedridden in the medical wing, covered in burns and bandages, but is otherwise okay.

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After two days in the medical wing, Bulma is able to leave, though she still has bandages on her, mostly all over her right arm. Yamcha feels guilty, especially after learning that it happened while she was watching him and the Gems fight, and decides to plan something special for his girlfriend.

Just as sunset begins to creep in, Yamcha starts leading Bulma through the hallways of Capsule Corp., but they both stop when they see Rose standing at a window with a worried look on her face. They try to see what she's looking at, and spot what looks like a second sun in the pinkish-orange sky.

Bulma tries to ask her what that is, but Rose jumps out of the window and rushes off towards the beach instead of answering. Yamcha follows suit, despite Bulma's protests. He and Rose eventually made it to the beach, where Jasper, Lapis, Peridot and Apache have already gathered and are looking at the 'second sun' through a telescope. Yamcha looks at the object, which Peridot reveals is a Red Eye and that, if they don't stop it, it's going to crash into West City.

Yamcha and the Gems start coming up with ways to destroy the Red Eye. Lapis suggests using Holly's Energy Canon, which intrigues Yamcha, but Peridot is hesitant and wants to use it as a last resort, saying that it hasn't been used in a long time and might not work right. Even so, Rose suggests they get it anyways; better safe than sorry, after all.

Peridot eventually relents and gives Yamcha the location, telling him to go get it while the Gems try to destroy the Red Eye on their own. Jasper tells him to hurry, and then, unprompted, picks up Apache and hurls her at the Red Eye; the monochromatic Gem crashes into it, but doesn't do any damage and just falls into the ocean.

Yamcha runs back to Capsule Corp., but is intercepted before he can reach the Warp Pad. She demands to know what's going on and he tells her, so then Bulma demands to go with him. Yamcha refuses to at first, since she's already injured and he doesn't want to add to it, but she snaps back that she's fine and that she wants to see this 'Gem magic stuff' for herself. Yamcha reluctantly agrees, and the two of them warp away.

They soon arrive at the location Peridot gave him: the Lunar Sea Spire, an abandoned Gem oasis (Peridot had explain that, even though Holly kept most of her weapons in her hidden armory, she scattered a few of them across the Earth just to be safe).

Bulma and Yamcha make their way to the top of the Lunar Sea Spire, both of them in awe at the ancient structure and making their way past several Crystal Shrimp. It takes a while, but they arrive at the top, where they find the blue Energy Canon, covered in moss and surrounded by debris. It's heavy, but thanks to Yamcha's strength, he's able to carry it back down to the Warp Pad and the duo rushes back to West City.

Once they arrive, they see that the sky now had a reddish tint and the Red Eye is much closer than before. The Gems have tried destroying it on their own, but haven't even managed to crack it. Yamcha and Bulma rush the Energy Canon to the beach and the Gems try to use it, but nothing works.

The Red Eye gets closer by the second, and the Gems start panicking. Caught up in his emotions, Yamcha unknowingly starts tearing up, and a few teardrops fall onto the Canon. Within seconds, the Canon suddenly glows and opens itself up. Though surprised, the Gems help Yamcha hold it up and aim the energy blast at the Red Eye, destroying it on impact, and watching as the pieces scatter into the ocean and the sky goes back to normal.

Yamcha, Bulma and the Gems rejoice. Yamcha wipes his eyes, then takes Bulma and heads back to Capsule Corp., determined to give her the 'surprise' he promised her.

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Yamcha and Bulma end up riding on Okami's back to a beautiful, secluded lake just outside out West City. Once they hop of the wolf, Yamcha pulls a small case out of his pocket and throws a few capsules onto the ground, which transform into a picnic table, a portable stove, microwave and mini fridge, and various packages of food on the table and in the fridge (most of which are a bunch of vegan substitute foods they had joked about trying a few days ago).

The two of them spend the next few hours at the lake talking, laughing, and trying the foods with exaggerated and hilarious reactions. Okami naps under a nearby tree as they do so, though Yamcha still feeds him a few pounds of raw meat he brought with him. Bulma and Yamcha craft and eat various meals with the vegan substitutes, which includes veggie burgers on sandwich bread, chicken wraps, coconut-banana bites, chocolate almond butter tarts, and almond, rice and oat milk. Some suck more than others, but overall, they're not bad.

As they're working through the food, Apache Tears suddenly shows up. She passes down a message from Peridot: "If you're not home before midnight, I'll storm down there and personally whoop your butts!" Yamcha and Bulma laugh, and promise to be back soon. Apache's about to leave, but spots one of the uneaten halves of the chicken wraps and curiously picks it up.

"Doesn't that just bring a smile to your face?" Yamcha asks playfully as Apache takes a tiny bite of the wrap and swallows it.

She raises her head and looks him dead in the eye with a single, "No." Then places the wrap back on the table and walks off like nothing happened.

Yamcha and Bulma take a minute to laugh, then go back to their food.

Once they've polished off everything, they take their shoes off and sit at the edge of the lake, dipping their feet into the water as they continue talking and laughing. They inevitably talk about the Red Eye from a couple of hours ago, with Bulma commenting that she didn't expect his tears to power the Energy Canon.

Yamcha chuckles sheepishly and mentions that his mother's tears were very powerful. Then it finally hits him, and he feels like an idiot for not remembering it earlier. He asks Bulma to let him see her injured arm, and when she does, he gingerly unwraps the bandages. Bulma freaks out and tries to stop him at first, but he manages to calm her down and asks her to trust him. She's hesitant at first, but eventually relents and allows him to remove the rest of her bandages, exposing the burns that have barely begun to heal over.

Then, Yamcha surprises Bulma again by asking her to make him cry. She asks why, but he says he'll explain in a minute, which doesn't help her confusion and frustration. It takes them a few minutes to figure out a way, but eventually, Yamcha tears up after (reluctantly) biting his lip hard enough to draw blood. As soon as the tears hit Bulma's arm, she watches in awe as her arm completely heals over, looking like she never got hurt in the first place.

Bulma's in fascination and asks Yamcha how his tears work. While simultaneously trying to use his tears on his bleeding lip, Yamcha explains that he doesn't understand everything about it, but the Gems have told him about his mother's ability to repair cracked gemstones and heal living beings via her tears. Despite the small explanation, Bulma's still awestruck.

Eventually, it gets close to midnight, so they pack up everything and rush back to Capsule Corp. on Okami's back. Peridot's at the front door waiting for them, looking ready to have a mental breakdown but also relieved at the same time.

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A few more months pass. As Yamcha continues his training, Bulma is gradually getting used to the Gems and even enjoys their company. She particularly enjoys spending time with Peridot. Their arrogant and stubborn personalities lead to them butting head several times, but they also bond over two things: their high intelligence and their love for a certain human-Gem hybrid.

Bulma and Peridot find themselves in the former's lab, working on a project together and chatting amongst themselves. Occasionally, their technobabble is interrupted by the sound of crashing and shaking. Every time this happens, either of them (whichever is closer) will stick their head out the window to yell at Yamcha, Jasper and Lapis, who are all training in the yard (Rose and Apache are out on a mission).

Currently, Bulma is working on crafting brand new Limb Enhancers for Peridot. She's a bit reluctant to give her old ones up at first, but agrees that she needs new ones; her current Enhancers keep falling apart, no matter how many repairs she makes or how much duct tape she uses (still, not bad for over 6,000 years).

Hours seem like minutes to them, and before they know it, the duo has crafted a pair of new, shiny Limb Enhancers. Peridot tests them out, and is more than pleased with the results. They're lightweight like the old ones, but this time, Bulma's fused them with metallic elements so that Peridot can use her ferrokinesis to lift them up and fly around on them. Needless to say, the green Gem is more than ecstatic right now.

Unfortunately, the happiness doesn't last long. A nearby explosion shakes the foundation, and the duo looks out the window to see that Yamcha, Jasper and Lapis' sparring got just a little out of hand. And by 'a little out of hand', I mean they basically destroyed most of yard, left a giant crater in the middle, and don't even get me started on how bad the balcony looks right now.

Bulma's ready to scream at them, but Peridot beats them to the punch. The enraged green Gem jumps out of the window and lands with ease thanks to her new Enhancers, yelling the whole time she's storming over to the guilty party. "YOU THREE CLODS! I SWEAR TO HOMEWORLD! IN A TRUNK, OFF A CLIFF!" And Bulma simply watches in amusement as Peridot starts tearing them a new one.

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Days turn into weeks, and weeks turn into months. And before any of them know it, it's been almost a whole year since the first adventure to find the Dragon Balls. And it's also time for the 21st Tenkaichi Budokai.

After several months of training, Yamcha feels more than ready to fight his way through the tournament. With his training clothes packed up, Yamcha, Bulma and the Gems board onto one of the heiress' many capsule planes and head off to Papaya Island.

That takes care of the first training/interlude. Up next: the 21st Budokai!

Writing Yamcha and Bulma together is so much fun! I freaking love these dorks!

Notice how I mentioned TWO women when Goku and Krillin went to find a beautiful girl, not one. Anyone wanna take a guess?

The scene of Yamcha and Bulma trying various vegan substitute foods was inspired by Jaiden Animation's 7 Day Vegan Challenge video on YouTube (if you haven't checked out Jaiden's channel, I highly recommend it!). Also, I can totally see Apache doing something like that lol

And you may have noticed that, while Bulma's still fiery and stubborn, she doesn't treat Yamcha as harshly in this version. Why is that? Because Yamcha now has five protective mamas who won't hesitate to destroy anything that hurts him, lol. Plus, her spending time with Yamcha and the Crystal Gems has allowed her to slowly become a better person that her canon counterpart

Bonus points to anyone who can tell me what Peridot's quote towards the end is referencing

Peridot's new Limb Enhancers look almost exactly like her old ones, except now they're black with bright green bottoms and fingers

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this! Please leave a review letting me know what you think! God bless you and have a wonderful day/night/whenever you read this!