Chapter Six

Yamcha could feel as the tension began to rise between himself and the boy he was fighting. Fixing his grip on the sword, the bandit charged towards the Saiyan. Within seconds, now within striking distance of his foe and already on the offensive, the sharp blade swung at Raditz with unmatched hostility.

"How's this for weak?" The desert bandit shouted as he charged, slashing the weapon at Raditz. On the other end of the fight, Yamcha's Saiyan foe seemed to be staying ahead of each blow, using the armored gauntlets on his hands to deflect the sword anytime he was unable to evade it. Backflipping to create more distance between the two, Raditz felt his leg buckle up as Yamcha's knee shot into his side, the human fighter launching forward with his own attack. "Now take this!" He continued, using the Azure Dragon Sword to ensure he stayed on the offensive end.

Weaving out of the way, Raditz sensed his opportunity to change how this fight was going. As he moved out of the way of a devastating attack on the fierce bandit's end, Raditz felt his arm lash out in a punch. Moving forward with the relentlessness of a hungry wolf, Yamcha suddenly stopped in place as the Saiyan's fist shot into his stomach. Pain flooded his body but Yamcha shook it off after scrambling for a breath of fresh air before he was forced to throw up a forearm to barely block another attack, this one a jumping kick.

"Now you're going to get it," Yamcha cried out as he dropped his guard and placed his sword in its hilt. He looked over his stinging forearm, he'd managed to block his opponent's kick but nearly shattered his forearm in the process. He then looked up at his foe, the Saiyan dropped into his own battle stance. Spitting out a blood-mixed loogie and realizing that his foe was a fighter like this, Yamcha dropped into his own battle stance.

"Yamcha, be careful!" The voice of Puar, the desert bandit's furred accomplice, sadly shouted at the sight of blood-mixed saliva rocketing from his friend's mouth. Hovering over to ensure that the man was alright, Yamcha shot a look of caution at the feline shapeshifter as he cracked his neck in hopes of loosening up.

"It's alright Puar, I-I'm fine," The desert bandit assured his friend, letting his own energy build up as he tried to predict his opponent's next move. Hunkering down into a position that he knew all too well, Yamcha focused his breathing and allowed his energy to boil through his body. "Get back my friend, I'm afraid things are going to heat up and I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if you were caught in our crossfire."

Taking the warrior's advice, Puar swiftly flew out of harm's way. Digging his foot into the sand, Yamcha rocketed back towards Raditz with unparalleled speed. As he did this, his foe launched his body towards the bandit. Meeting in the middle, each fighter began throwing their own flurry of kicks and punches at the other. Whenever Yamcha shot a punch his way, Raditz countered with a kick and the both of them knew that they were leaving themselves very open to counterattacks. Though they moved faster than most people could keep up with, the Saiyan managed to stay just a tad bit faster than his Earthling opponent -managing to both avoid more strikes and lash out with more of his own at the desert bandit. After minutes of close combat, the pair of fighters separated as a cloud of dust kicked up.

Yamcha's eyes met back with Raditz just as they had given each other some ground. The two fighters glared daggers at their opposite, waiting on somebody to make the first move. Panting as he tried to normalize his breathing, the desert bandit weighed every option he had. This guy was very much as good a fighter as he was and though he would never admit it outloud, his technique was more refined and it wasn't even close. He was a fighter, he could tell. He still had one trick up his sleeve, his ace card was one that always came through… his Wolf Fang Hurricane Fist attack!

Hunkering down, a smirk crawled across Yamcha's face. Feeling a newfound spark of energy within himself, the desert bandit spat out, "Try this on for size, the unblockable Wolf Fang Hurricane Fist!"

"Bring in on then," Raditz retorted, ready to see just what this move Oolong had told him about could do. Trying to keep up with the desert bandit, the Saiyan's eyes widened as Yamcha closed the distance between the both of them with a speed he hadn't seen him move with up to this point. In the next instance, Raditz felt a ki-enhanced punch connect with his body and almost coughed up. Then, not letting up in the slightest, Yamcha's punch output increased, lashing at the Saiyan with a flurry of blows. Finally catching wind of the bandit's punch style, Raditz was able to react with enough speed to catch the final blow in his hand. Seeing Yamcha go out with a double-palmed strike for his face, the Saiyan met the bandit's attack with both of his hands; the two stood at each other's necks, locking hands as their strength came to a stalemate.

Yamcha took to be the first to launch back at his foe. His aura taking the form of a violet colored wolf, the desert bandit once again tore at the air with his lightning fast punches. Throwing them as fast as he could, Raditz could see an opening on the taller man's chin. Dodging a hook, the Saiyan shot forward with intense fury. As he moved forward he felt his knee drive into the Earthling's stomach with tremendous force. Taking in the damage, Yamcha fell to his knees and bent over, clutching his stomach as he fell to the ground in defeat.

"Some attack that was," Raditz said with a smirk, trying to pay the birds flying around his head no lie. Being honest, the attack hurt a bit but he couldn't let the bandit know that after he'd been knocked out. "If you were just a bit faster, you could have caught me with the strongest part of the combo… better luck next time," He added, now wiping extra specs of dirt from the spaulders on his armor.

"Yeah, you're going to pay for this," Yamcha spat, getting to his feet. He put his feet a shoulder's width apart, desperate to try his signature attack once again. "If I were a little faster you say? Try to keep up with this one!" He cried, charging the Saiyan with a revived sense of spirit.

"W-What's with all the noise?" Bulma asked through her slumber, now awakening from her nap in the midst of the two martial artist's match. Both fighters were interrupted by the woman, and they both handled it in different ways.

Yamcha stopped dead in his tracks at the sound of Bulma's voice. He could feel as his intestines began to make knots of themselves and his face filled with beads of sweat. He slowly began to back up towards his hover scooter as his friend, Puar, raised a palm to its face in embarrassment. "A-Ah, h-how… a girl!" The bandit cried out in terror, more so scared of Bulma than he was of the Saiyan he had been fighting.

Wasting no time, the bandit took to hop in his hovercraft and haul back to where he had come from without so much as a goodbye or a promise for a rematch. Raditz stood confused, he hadn't even gotten all the way warmed up! Realizing that his opponent had tucked his parts between his legs and ran, the Saiyan felt his boiling blood relax as his sense of fighting simmered. He'd have the chance to fight the desert bandit again he believed, they still had half of a desert to cross.

"Who was that and what's his problem?" Bulma asked, confusion evident on her face as she watched the hovercraft shrink into nothing.

"Well I don't know what that was, our boy Raditz probably just beat some sense into that desert brat," The shapeshifter remarked, praising the fighter's combat skills. "Did I mention that I love you Rads, Yamcha would have turned into a ham sandwich had it not been for you?"

"Damn it Puar, what the hell is wrong with me?" Yamcha mumbled, harshly scolding himself as he took a sip from the bottle of liquor in his hand. While he was hardly a drinker, he needed one today. He had gotten outfought. His world-renown Wolf Fang Hurricane Fist had failed him for the first time ever. And to add on insult to injury, he'd lost himself in the fight because of his fear of women. "What a drag, that Raditz chump was going to taste the sweet fist of defeat had it not been for that… that woman of his. He must've known I would fold."

"It's okay Yamcha," The shapeshifting cat, Puar, responded in an attempt to comfort his bandit friend. The feline sighed, thinking of his childhood bully. "I just wish we could have roughed that Oolong guy up some more…"

Yamcha took another swig from his bottle, standing up to pet his blue, furry friend as he walked to the door. He wasn't mad that he had been defeated, fighters lost sometimes. He was mad though, that the Saiyan seemed to be rocking his long hairstyle… and looking much better in it. It didn't matter though, he could look good all he wanted -it was Raditz's funeral, not his.

"Don't worry my friend, I'll make sure you have your revenge on the pig," The bandit said. He had formulated a plan to help deal with the trio that had given him and his friend trouble. "Let's go follow them and see if we can plan out an ambush… somebody fighting that hard must have something valuable to lose."

"Good plan Yamc," Puar purred in agreement as the two began their nefarious plot against Raditz and Oolong.

"The Dragon Radar isn't trying to work in this heat," Bulma sighed, sticking her tongue out as she fiddled with a screwdriver and her machine. Popping open the back of the radar, she could see that the battery had fried. "This is gonna be a problem, maybe I can find the right ones once we make it out of this desert?" The scientist asked herself, fidgeting with the advice.

"So how exactly do these Dragon Ball things work?" Oolong asked, seeking further clarification. He held one of the five orbs that the group had in his hands; it seemed that Bulma and Raditz now at least trusted him a bit. "Why can't we just get this wish of ours granted now? And who says we can't each get a wish, nobody wants to see Bulma wish for some girly stuff."

"We can't summon the Eternal Dragon until we have all seven of the Dragon Balls together," The bluenette interjected with a smug. She held the two-star, five-star and three-star ball, Raditz was inspecting the four-star one that he'd found, and Oolong was looking at the six-star Dragon Ball. "And even then, I made the Dragon Radar and found two of these things before either of you even knew what Dragon Balls are, so the wish is mine. I was going to wish for the perfect boyfriend," She added with a firm tone.

"Oh, so you two aren't together?" Oolong laughed, scratching his head in confusion at the revelation. Looking between the two people in front of him, the shapeshifter could feel the awkward bubble he was in as Raditz's eyes had widened and Bulma stood with a face as red as a strawberry, rubbing her arm and as speechless as he had ever seen her.

"W-What? No!" Bulma insisted, feeling the warmth her face was growing. "I-I mean… we're just traveling together, that's all. You stupid pig!" The Capsule Corp heiress finished, slapping the back of her shapeshifting partner's head.

"Tell me this then," Oolong snickered, a smirk forming on his face. "You're always blushing when you're close to him. He's always super protective over you. You can't tell me you guys haven't slept to-"

"SHUT UP BEFORE I CUT A SLICE OF BACON OFF OF YOU!" The bluenette screamed, interrupting the babbling swine. Threateningly enough, she now grasped a large cleaver's knife in her hands, somehow finding it in the midst of the moment in a cabinet in the RV's kitchen.

Seeing that an argument was brewing, Raditz began to sigh, grumbling to himself. Half lying, the Saiyan added, "Both of your voices are kind of annoying. Weak pig, neither romantic feelings or casual sex have come up in either Bulma or I. I'm just here to handle the heavy lifting and meet anybody that can help me get stronger." Then, after yawning, Raditz began to laugh as he turned to Bulma. "I'll admit it though… Blue, that would be an extremely dumb wish."

"See, even he agrees… I have an idea," Oolong snarked, laughing. He was a simple man, he just wanted a small fortune or a beautiful woman. "How about we wish up a billion dollars… we split it and go our separate ways until you guys want to do this again."

"Just a billion dollars? My father runs a multi-trillion dollar company and I'm next in line when he decides to retire," Bulma stated, swaying her blue hair. Plus, she was already as beautiful a woman as they came.

"And what need would I have with your Earthling currency? I've made it this long without much of it so I don't see why I'd need it anytime soon," Raditz added in. In his culture, wealth hadn't mattered as much as one's power level. "A true warrior lives only by his strength and words. Everything else is just in a race for second in my life."

"So you'd use the wish to get stronger?" Oolong asked the Saiyan, coming to that inference .

"Huh, of course not," The Saiyan spat out, gagging at the preposition. He was a Saiyan, half of the fun came from feeling the burn as your body gave out on you in a fight or during training -why spoil that? "Where's the fun or honor in that?"

"So, what would you want to wish for?" Bulma pitched in, asking the long-haired fighter.

"I don't know, maybe for my younger brother, Kakarot, to return to the living," The Saiyan answered after a second of thought. He hadn't even gotten to meet the boy before Vegeta's destruction, that was something he sat awake thinking of at night sometimes. "That's not why I came along though. I just wasn't going to find more strong people to fight where I was before." The Saiyan admitted.

"Oh, and how's that been? Anybody in particular you've found?" Oolong said, taking the statement as flattery. He had taken a beating at the Saiyan but he had survived… that spoke for something! "Maybe a shapeshifter or someone?"

"Only that old geezer, the Turtle Hermit," Raditz replied, picking at his mane of hair as he crushed Oolong's heart unknowingly. "I mean, I would go and train with him but we gotta finish things here first. Kami knows the two of you wouldn't last a day without me anyways… Bulma isn't much of a fighter just yet and you're guaranteed one spoiled pair of pants a day Oolong."

"Ouch, that might have been the nicest thing you've said to me all day," Oolong replied dryly. "Hey… how about me or Yamcha! I could've taken you had it not been for this asthma and he hit you with a few punches back there, you're my guy and all."

"I've fought dummies that hit harder than you but that desert bandit wasn't too shabby of a fighter for a Human," The Saiyan responded, checking his scouter as was common with him. His lips curled into an eager smirk as he did so, speaking of that damned desert bandit.

"My friend, are my ears deceiving me or did you hear that too?" Yamcha asked Puar, the pair of thieves continuing their eavesdrop on the trio of adventurers. Hiding under the window pane, the two had picked up on the entirety of Raditz, Bulma and Oolong's talk of the dragon balls. "I think we've finally found our "big one," Puar. Now, how do you suppose we go at getting our hands on those oh so precious Dragon Balls without that Raditz guy noticing us?"

"I'm not sure but we could wish for anything right? What would you wish for?" The cat creature giggled to his friend. They wouldn't just leave things as valuable as these balls claimed to be just lying around to be looted.

"We could get whatever our heart desires… fame, money, I could even lose this nervousness that overcomes me around girls," The bandit started, thinking of every wish he was going to ask this eternal dragon for. "I could even ask for the power to beat that tailed brat, Raditz…" He grumbled, a smirk growing to his face.

Casting aside talks of granting a wish, Yamcha began to brainstorm ways to first get his and Puar's paws on these Dragon Balls! They didn't just call him the Desert Bandit for just anything, thievery was a skill he had mastered as a boy.

"Okay, this is what I got," The bandit began to say, not noticing the look on his shapeshifting friend's face and the beads of sweat that seemed to be filling her face. "We get the jump on the first of them to come out of that RV and then we put your shapeshifting skills to good use." He continued until he could feel a muscular finger begin to pop his newly blown bubble.

"Puar I'm brainstorming, what now?" Yamcha irritably brushed off, now noticing that Puar's finger had never been that big nor muscular. Gulping, the bandit slowly turned as he heard an exaggerated coughing of a man. Not as much of a surprise but the last person he wanted to see in this moment, the desert bandit's body tensed as he came face-to-face with the Saiyan warrior, Raditz.

"And what exactly was going to happen if you actually managed to do that? Think I wouldn't notice anything funny?" Raditz spoke with a firmness in his tone. Pointing to his scouter, the alien continued. "This thing here picked up on your conversation minutes ago, I just wanted to see how far along you'd thought this through. Didn't count on me being the first one out huh?"

"I should have known you would be on your guard, especially after earlier." A snicker escaped the bandit's mouth as he hopped backwards, positioned into a defensive stance. Stepping forward with great reservoir, his aura surged as he lashed out with a flurry of punches in an attempt to catch Raditz off guard. "I'm going all-out this time, no holding backsies." He finished.

"If only your fighting was as good as your bantering," The Saiyan laughed, ducking under a hook punch. Flexing his muscles, the tailed fighter's veins bulged as he pushed off his foot and charged into Yamcha's stomach. Loading his knee with more than enough force to break wood, the Human felt the Saiyan's knee in the back of his body as his insides howled at him. "Then you'd have blocked that." He added with a slight smirk, his energy feeding off the battle.

"C'mon, I can do better than this," Yamcha said to himself as he spat out a mouthful of slightly bloodied spit. In the next instant, the desert bandit had shifted to the offensive. Launching forward, the fighter lashed out at his opponent with anger motivating him. Unleashing a flurry of claws and punches at the Saiyan more ferociously than before, on the receiving end, his blows were narrowly missing the mark. Although this was his enemy at the time, he had to admit it -this guy was far faster than anything he had ever seen in his life.

Suddenly, a jab to the face finally gained contact with Raditz. Connecting firmly into the tailed fighter's nose, Yamcha could see a small stream of blood slowly drip from his nose. He had to fight back a smile, the fight was still going on. Taking advantage of how he'd stun Raditz, the bandit's grin began to show a little as he flipped backwards to create a few extra feet of sand between himself and the Saiyan… that hit would definitely have rattled him up. Yamcha's aura viciously cackled as this happened, taking the form of a large snapping gray wolf. His Wolf Fang Hurricane Fist had forever been his ace and having the Saiyan stunned left the perfect opening for him to utilize the attack.

Raditz's head continued to spin but he'd managed to snap back to his senses. Seeing the bandit charging towards with malicious intent, he raised an arm to block his aggressor. His guard managed to block some of the blows but a small amount got through in the midst of it, doing little damage. Countering when he got the chance, the Saiyan shot two bone-shattering punches at Yamcha's ribcage. As the right and then the left hand struck their mark, the desert bandit howled in pain as he felt his ribs begin to bruise.

Not letting up in even the slightest for a single second, Raditz immediately lashed out towards the thief again. Raising a knee that spiraled towards the bandit's chin, Raditz felt the entirety of his leg collide with his foe's chin. Yamcha felt his muscles pulsate, his entire body feeling as if it could give way in any instant. He wasn't able to baise in this feeling for long, just barely not getting out of the way of another of the Saiyan's fists rocketing towards his face. He could feel a mouthful of spit and at least two teeth spit out his mouth as Raditz's hooked fist drilled into his jaw, dazing him on contact from the sheer force of the strike.

"Y-Yamcha!" The soft voice of Puar screamed out, teary eyed at the beating he was witnessing his lifelong partner take. This was a new sight to him, Yamcha had never lost to anyone before!

"Atta boy Raditz!" Oolong retorted, cheering on his Saiyan partner as he watched the two martial artists continue to duke it out with each other.

At this point, Raditz decided to apply some of his recent training to the fight. Seeing the bandit doubled over, the Saiyan knew he had time to attack with a small energy attack. Gathering his energy in the palm of his energy, aura flared across Raditz's body as he began to bring out his ki into a moderate sized ball the size of a basketball. Concentrating on his target, Raditz flung his arm forward like a pitcher. Slow to pick himself up, Yamcha would have been struck by the beam of energy had it not been for the Saiyan's inexperience. Whether it had been due to a minor lack of concentration or what, he didn't know, but Raditz's face scrunched into a scowl as the ball of ki traveled in a weird path missing the desert bandit completely.

Yamcha took this time to rise to his feet, not exactly knowing what had gone on but still grateful that whatever Raditz had tried to hit him with had missed, thankfully. Spitting out a loogie, the bandit charged forward the fatigued warrior. Throwing a dozen punches in the midst of a few seconds, Yamcha's rejuvenated resilience helped him to numb down the pain he was going through to push through and continue fighting. Despite being winded by his complete waste of energy, Raditz still managed to block away most of the punches with ease but felt himself being pushed back by the advancing foe.

Reacting instinctively to a sloppily thrown punch, Raditz's body moved to counter his exhausted opponent. Feeling his foot leave the ground at a speed faster than lightning, the Saiyan shot a kick directly into the bandit's gut. Moving off the fraction of a second he had to react, Yamcha's knee raised to protect his stomach from the blow. Taking the majority of the damage to his leg, the desert bandit gritted his teeth but he stomached the pain and shot forward with a battle cry. Meeting in the middle of each other, he and Raditz continued to lash out at each other, trading blows at an unremarkable speed that had them looking like blurs to their spectators.

After nearly thirty seconds of this exchange, the two fighters separated from one another. Raditz could feel the feeling leaving his nose, having taken another hit to the nose from a straight on his bandit foe's part. Yamcha felt his leg begin to give out on itself, a large blood clot having formed on the upper part of his thigh… one of his several knots from this bout. He ran his hand past it, it was three times the size of his knuckle already.

Raditz brought up a forearm to wipe a line of blood from his mouth, breathing just as heavy as his body felt at this point. He glanced up at his opponent, watching as his hand ran up his leg and the human's face soured up. The Saiyan wouldn't admit it flat out but he was actually pleased with how well this Earthling had fought, especially compared to their first bout. He had one crazy good hook punch and although it wouldn't hurt for the human to brush up on his defensive maneuvers, Yamcha was a decent opponent to the Saiyan at least. Disregarding this thought for the time being to focus on the ongoing bout, Raditz narrowed in on the opening in the bandit's defenses that he was looking for. Raditz lunged forward with the grace of an acrobat, aiming a roundhouse kick. As the Saiyan's armored boot crushed into its target, the bandit felt a howl ring out his mouth as a river of newfound pain overtook his body. Unable to tolerate this, the desert bandit collapsed to his knees as drops of sweat struck the sand under him.

Raditz, still very much in pain himself, limped his exhausted body towards his downed foe. Standing over the human, Raditz glared at the bruised face of the defeated desert bandit. Knowing that the battle had already proven much, he turned to face away from his downed opponent. "Get out of my face and don't ever let me hear about you ever again or I'll return and smash your face in," The Saiyan threatened, knowing that it would best get his message across.

Yamcha sighed, spitting a loogie out before looking up at his opponent from his downed position. His body hurt but he wished he could push it to fight a little more but boy was this Raditz guy something! He still wanted those balls, that much was sure but Yamcha was a smart guy, he knew there was no way he could slip under and out of the Saiyan's site nevertheless with the Dragon Balls in hand. He was a thief though, and with a thief there was always a way.

"Wait," The bandit said, his eyes narrowing to the radar that Raditz's blue-haired friend held. "Maybe I could help you and your friends out with finding and protecting these balls of yours. You look like the only capable fighter out of the bunch,"

"And how much of an extra hand would you be? You're honestly just slightly less of a burden than the pig there," Raditz grumbled to his fallen foe, turning away in a sign of boredom.

"I could help you train, we're both trained fighters and I've never ran into somebody with your power," Yamcha admitted, rising to his feet. He wiped the dirt from his gi before continuing, "I know you haven't had a sparring partner in some time like I, maybe we could keep each other on our toes? I'll show you my Wolf Fang Fist and I see what other tricks you can pull out of that sleeve."

"Your techniques are impressive," Raditz laughed, intrigued at the prospect of a brand new training partner -an adequate one at that. "For a human at least." He added with a smirk resembling Lucifer's own.

"Alright, that sounds like my greatest idea yet! Who on this side of the planet stands a chance against the two of us together?" Yamcha cheered on, putting out a fist out for his new friend to pump.

"Yeah, alright, any funny business and I'll crack these," The Saiyan yawned, meeting the human fighter's gesture with a bit more power than needed, nearly jamming each of Yamcha's fingers on impact.

"Oh, mighty Emperor Pilaf, have you been informed that the sonar's picked up on five Dragon Balls gathered simultaneously yet?" Mai began to ask her boss, the small blue imp adorned in a royal robe as he entered the room. "I knew the kid had a Dragon Ball when he saved me and Shu's skin from those wolves but had I known he had five then, I'd have smothered him in his sleep and taken them days ago,"

"Yes Mai, it seems that they're leading us to the sixth as we speak… maybe we go and rid ourselves of the competition as soon as they find the last ball?" The emperor snickered, juggling the lone Dragon Ball he possessed in his small blue claw. "Go with Shu and see where they're going, don't even bother showing back up empty-handed!"

"Yes sir, Emperor," Mai applauded as she left the room, cursing the daylights out of the imp in her mind.

Pilaf looked into the orange base of the Dragon Ball and smiled at his reflection in self thought. Soon this world and every single thing in it would be his to control with an iron grasp. Then not even this Raditz guy he had been hearing so much about would be able to challenge him. A snicker escaped his toothless mouth as thoughts of supremacy flashed through his head. Being an overlord was going to be very… very fun.

Power Levels

Raditz: 84

54 (after using ki and failing)

Oolong: 6

Bulma: 4

Yamcha: 27

40 (using Wolf Fang Fist)

Puar: 5

Mai: 8

Shu: 6

Pilaf: 14