Chapter Five

Day came and went by quickly for the wandering group of travelers that was Raditz, Bulma and now Oolong. After a five hour venture towards another of the Dragon Balls, the three companions had decided that it'd be best to settle for the night. While Oolong had turned out to be not as bad a guy as he had let off at first, Raditz still had very little trust for him -that's just how loyalty worked. Now the trio sat outside of Bulma's RV, settling alongside a campfire.

"Wow, only two of these boys left to get Raditz," Bulma squealed , pleased with the progress she had made since Raditz had joined her. "Soon, we'll have my wish granted… and right on time for winter semester to begin." She added, hugging her collection of five shimmering Dragon Balls as she sat on her blanket.

"Wait a second Bulma," Oolong interrupted, now intrigued at these strange balls that Bulma and Raditz had been mentioning. So, they granted a wish he was hearing… he wanted a say in things if he was the third of this little trio… it worked 33-33-34 right? "What do you mean by your wish? Last I checked we're a group here, let's discuss what we'll wish for!"

"First, I was talking to Raditz and secondly, you're an intern in this little project! If Raditz isn't concerned about a wish, neither should you be you piggy," Bulma snapped, slapping the pig with a Dragon Ball, leaving a bruise on the top left of its forehead. Looking over to see the Saiyan meditating she sat on the other side of her, getting into her own cross-legged position. "Care if I join you?" She asked. The both of them knew he wouldn't mind.

"As long as you don't interrupt mines," Raditz answered, slowly harnessing his energy reserves until his body began to hover. It was good having a training partner, even if Bulma was nowhere close to a match to him right now.

The next day, Raditz and his band of friends set out around noon, continuing their adventure towards one of their final two Dragon Ball sites. Currently, they were traversing through a calm river with the help of another of Bulma's proudly claimed capsules, this one a motorboat big enough to hold all three of them.

"So Blue," Raditz told the bluenette driver as she navigated the boat as he napped. The waves were peaceful here, Mount Paozu never had anything like this. Taking advantage of the peace he was getting in the rare instance that Oolong and Bulma weren't arguing, he took in the scenery. Soon the adventure would be done and he'd be back to training, though he'd be with the Turtle Hermit, training was still the same repetitive training… not that he grew bored of it. "Where's this canal taking us?" He finished.

"Let me see," Bulma started, pulling the map from her satchel. Glancing between it and her map, she looked up at Raditz to answer. "Uhhh, we have to cross through the Diablo Desert and we'll run into the next Dragon Ball if we head west after that… maybe another day's journey or so."

"Did you say the Diablo Desert?" Oolong cried, going into another of his panic stages. "There's no other route we can try to take? Yamcha, the Wolf Bandit of Diablo Desert, harrasses anybody that dares step foot through it! We're pretty much dead meat."

"I heard the same about you and was met with disappointment," Raditz said with disgust, his eyes still not open. "What makes this clown any different?"

"You don't look like you know much history but after the Pilaf Wars destroyed most of the desert's civilizations, Yamcha's pretty much all that's left of the Diablo Desert's population." Oolong explained, gulping as he spoke. "He's a fighter like you but imagine how tough you gotta be to be the last of your family! He challenges and kills people for their supplies like any bandit and he strikes with the power of three wolves,"

'So, he's like me' Raditz thought to himself. The last of his race left to fend for himself, that was what he had gotten from Oolong's story. The Saiyan grew excited, solitude and isolation brought out a different hunger in fighters. He half wanted to put aside looking for the Dragon Balls to look for this guy, it'd be his first fight that didn't end in a landslide victory for him or Roshi laughing at his face in the dirt. "I hope we find this chump, I've had no choice but to work on my ki control being cooped up in these vehicles and all. I gotta stretch my legs as soon as I get a chance." He grumbled.

"W-Wait, you wanna fight the guy?" Oolong gulped, astonished by the moxie that Raditz showed off. "He's bad news Raditz… and with that, I'm out!" He added, gulping in preparation of his shapeshifting technique. Before it could even go according to his plan, he was caught off guard and barely dodged a kick from the Saiyan. That was all warning he needed to not attempt it again.

Raditz didn't care what Oolong had to think. He had heard time and time again how Oolong was such a menace but he had easily thwarted the guy. Now he was saying the same for this Yamcha guy… What was it with Earthlings and their titles?

At that moment, the motorboat came to a stop. Seeing that it was out of gas, Bulma began to sigh. Then she turned to Oolong, a smirk on her face as she had waited for this moment when she'd agreed to letting him tag along.

"Oolong, be a dear and transform into a canister of some gas… diesel please and just enough for us to reach that shoreline over there," Bulma pleaded, turning to face the two men.

"I'm afraid I can't do that, and not just because I can't be bothered by it," Oolong confirmed, clicking his tongue. "I'm not that good of a shapeshifter, doing something like that would just drain what little energy I do have nowadays."

"Transform into a paddle and let Bulma use you then," Raditz barked as he jumped overboard, getting behind the motorboat. As he pushed and the woman paddled, the motorboat gained some momentum and powered through the river to the riverbank, where the trio parked it on the shoreline. Looking ahead of them, the Diablo Desert awaited them and a long walk through scorching heat.

The sun continued to beam down on not just the sand but everything that sat on its surface, the Diablo Desert showing Raditz, Bulma, and Oolong just how it had earned its trademark name. Each of them were hot and tired after what seemed to be an endless walk and to manners worst, Bulma had dropped some of his more useful capsules somewhere in the midst of the chaos.

"I-I can't go no more, I'm not built for this stuff," Bulma panted, falling to her butt. The sun getting the better of her, she took a swig of her canteen and immediately fell over. "Let's take a quick break here, what do you boys say?"

"Oh so when I want to take a break we gotta keep walking but when you're done, we can just stop?" Oolong snapped at Bulma, the heat getting the better of his snarky remarks. Blowing a raspberry as he doubled over as well, Oolong sighed as he carried on. "I'll take you up on that one though Bulm, it's your smartest idea all day."

Raditz rolled his eyes, choosing to walk away from the two before they began to argue again. While they rested he would use the time for a bit of stretching, ten minutes would be enough time for their legs to recover then they'd be on their way. He would hate to be outside in this desert when it got cold if it was this hot in the daytime! However, before he could do so much as take two steps forward, Raditz's eyes shot forward as his Scouter buzzed. Looking ahead, he could see that two different signatures were heading their way.

"W-What's that?" Oolong asked, his entire body now trembling as he caught wind of what Raditz had spotted. In the distance a small dust cloud began to form, each second it seemed to grow in diameter. "R-Raditz, w-what is that?"

"Something tells me that's our guy," Raditz replied, a smirk easing its way onto his face as whatever -or whoever was creating this cloud of dust closed in on his position. "Don't worry, I'll protect you and Bulma."

In a matter of minutes, the dust cloud began to form a silhouette of its creator, who was now racing towards the group in a hovercraft. The driver of the hovercar quickly split the small distance between himself and Raditz, coming to a complete stop right in front of the long-haired Saiyan and his porky friend, Oolong.

Stepping off of his form of transportation, the man stood Raditz's height. Taking off the goggles that he'd worn while driving, a smirk came across the bandit's face at the sight before him. He wore a pair of orange pants and a green gi with a strange red kanji on it. An orange scarf draped across his shoulders and like his height, his hair bore similarities to Raditz's own hairstyle. Sitting on the bandit's shoulder was a small blue cat-like creature.

"I'll make this short and sweet my friends," The man commanded with a fierce smirk on his face. Crossing his arms in a victorious fashion, the desert bandit spoke again. "Give me every dollar and capsule you have and just maybe I'll send you on your way without so much as a scar."

"Who are you to order me around?" Raditz grunted, scanning his opponents with the scouter. The Human had a power level of 27 and the feline creature one of five.

"I am Yamcha and you're the unwelcomed ones. I'm the feared Desert Bandit, I run things in this desert," The man, Yamcha, replied. Hoping to strike fear with just the mention of his name, he crossed his arms before reaching down to the hilt at his side with speed rivaling Yamcha's.

"Hey Yamcha," The small cat at the bandit's side purred, floating in midair. Her eyes narrowed at Oolong, spitting at him as tensions rose between their martial artist friends. "That's that Oolong meanie I used to tell you about! Look at me now Oolong, still smaller than you but you're the one going down now!"

"Well my friend, Puar," Yamcha stated, stepping forward with his sword in hand. Glaring daggers at Oolong for the stories he had had from his friend, the friendly Puar, Yamcha raised the sword above his head. Lounging forward he yelled, "It appears to me that the tables have turned in our favor."

Raditz hopped in front of Oolong, redirecting the desert bandit's sword to the left. Respecting his opponent's speed, Yamcha hunkered down into a bow before dropping into a fighting stance.

"Just like always," Puar smiled, speaking from the side of the battle. "Having somebody else fight his battle for him! That's why Yamcha's gonna kick his butt and then yours!"

"This isn't your fight," Yamcha exclaimed, slashing his sword at the Saiyan again with vigor. "Just leave us your friend Oolong and a few capsules and you'll be free to go, Puar and I don't like bullies."

"No way," Raditz retorted, falling into a battle stance as he reflected the blade with minimal movements.

"Your funeral," The desert bandit smirked, disappearing from view. Raditz was barely able to dodge another slash, his eyes picking up the gleaming of the blade just before it had cut through his face.

"I can't lie, you're fast," Raditz commented, regaining his footing. One bad step and Yamcha had almost cut him down. He would have to handle this Yamcha guy smart, he was a fellow martial artist as well. "But still very weak."

"I'll show you weak!" Yamcha raged, his anger getting the best of him. Charging towards the Saiyan with the speed of a lightning bolt, the desert bandit was nothing if confident in his fighting abilities. He had cut down several men before, this Raditz guy was nothing more the same.

Power Levels

Raditz: 84

Oolong: 6

Bulma: 4

Yamcha: 27

Puar: 5