After resting for a while under the shades they finally had enough stamina to get moving forward.
After driving around for about another hour Lite complained again.
"This heat~!", he said and pulled out his water bottle. Gulping the content down and literally sucking it out to the last drop. Afterward, he shakes it and sighs. Another bottle out the drain.
"Please stop talking about the heat, Lite. It won't get better.", said Luffa and tried not to think about it herself.
"But..." "Stop it", shouted Glew and smacked him on the back of his head.
Lite only gritted his teeth and rubbed the spot where Glew hit him. He wanted to complain but didn't have enough energy for that and just stayed still.
Otamo played the dead man a long time ago and tried to regain some energy from that.
"Is it still far?", asked Zarid and sighed. Not only the kids are out of energy but even him.
"No, it isn't.", Darc answered and noticed something. "Hey look. What is that?"
Zarid furrowed his brows and immediately went on the brakes to stop. The reason was that behind a boulder, a small hoverbike came out with a 10-year-old kid on it. That kid had a gun equipped and was now circling them.
"This is a robbery! Get out of the truck and hand over all your money and precious items!", shouted the kid. The kid shot a few times into the air and stopped his hoverbike and pointed with the gun at the truck.
"Well, ain't this cute?", murmured Zarid after hearing that.
Darc only eyed the kid up. What is a kid doing here in the desert of all places?
The other four were surprised by the abrupt stop of the truck. Lite even kissed the metal wall a little.
"Urgh, why always me.", he complained but then he heard the shouts and gunfire and became serious again.
After being prompted to get down the all did it and Darc with Zarid also came out. They all stared and looked at the boy who was about their age, maybe a little older, in bewilderment.
"Now, the money! Throw it in there!", he shouted again after throwing a bag to the group.
"Are you for real, buddy?", asked Darc with a smirk.
The kid didn't take that as a good sign so he started to threaten again. "Do you think I am joking?" , He said and shot past Darc on the ground. "Next time I won't miss. You are after all trespassing on this great Yamcha´s territory!"
Darc immediately made a surprised face. This guy is Yamcha!? He looks so different. So he was already a bandit even before Goku met him. Well, that makes sense.
Yamcha noticed his impression and smirked. "Haha, so you know about great me, huh. Well, give me your money and capsules now and I will spare you."
Darc came back to reality and started laughing a little. "Me? Being impressed by you? Hardly. I am just so shocked by your kingship that I nearly fainted laughing.", he rebuked him and Yamcha became red as a tomato.
"Damn you!", said Yamcha and pointed the gun at him. Darc on the other hand charged in front of him and clenched his gun to shreds so he couldn't use it anymore.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
The eyes of Yamcha bulged out and he took some steps back.
"You know. Using guns is pretty dishonorable. I will show you can't do anything with those against martial artists.", said Darc and threw the gun away. Then he put one hand behind his back and pointed at Yamcha. "Now then. Time to get spanked, your kingship."
Darc charged at him and hit him barely hard enough in the stomach that he went out cold immediately.
After Yamcha fell over Darc only clapped his hands as if a job well done and took a bag of Zeni out of a capsule. He threw it beside Yamcha and went back to his group.
Zarid only sighed and went back to the driver's seat.
Lite, Luffa, Otamo, and Glew only had an amazed expression on their faces.
Lite was the first one to smirk and charge at Darc and shoulder-hug him "That was amazing! Just one simple punch was enough and what was that with the gun!", he said laughing all the while.
The Luffa looked a little bit concerned "Is it alright to do that?", she asked.
Darc arched his brows. "Hey, he started it. So he can just take the punishment. Don't worry I left him some money for a hospital fee and for a little bit of food and such. After all, no kid our age should live like a bandit. Maybe he will change someday.", he answered to Luffa and Luffa started to smile.
It was very kind to include something like that. But the real reason for Darc was that he kinda was sorry for Yamcha. After all, this guy really is so long a bandit in this desert and just robs people to survive.
"That was pretty amazing. You sure are strong.", said Otamo.
"If you want to be as strong as me, just visit teachers dojo. Even just visiting it to stay fit is an option that would benefit you, Otamo.", grinned Darc at his friend's remark.
Lite had stars in his eyes hearing that.
"Hmm, is that so. That's pretty monstrous strength, all right.", commented Glew and was skeptical.
Darc only laughed a little awkward and waved at them. "Hey, are you telling me I am a monster or something? That´s pretty harsh.
"I am just saying that it isn't normal to squeeze a gun into a flat flounder.", she said with a smile.
"That´s just how martial arts are! I am gonna be as strong as Darc, right Darc?", he interrupted and looked to Darc for an answer.
Darc nodded at him. "Sure, if you work hard enough you can do that."
He looked to Yamcha again but soon started walking back to the car where Zarid was waiting."Let's continue or this heat will just be getting worse.", he said.
Everyone noticed the heat again and sighed. They got on the truck and drove off all the while looking at the pitiful boy.
Later Yamcha came back to his senses and held his stomach. "Urgh dammit. That bastard was strong. What did he say? Martial artist? Hmm, maybe I should use my fists as well? And maybe a sword? Yeah, I will do some martial arts as well! Just you wait and see!", he shouted with commitment.
And so was Yamcha´s wolf´s school born. "And I should probably stop introducing me like that...", he added and became completely red thinking about being laughed at by those other kids.
Then he noticed the bag with Zeni. He smiled "Haha, they lost their money! Now money for food is secured! But I should take note to scout out my prey more carefully before acting."
He stood up and took his hoverbike that was still lying on the ground and dashed away with it back to his hideout.
------
Later on, the group found the 1-star Dragonball and were extremely happy to finally leave this forsaken desert. They really didn't like the heat at all.
They also stopped at the closest village outside the desert and refilled their supplies. Especially on water.
"That trip through the desert was really nerve-wracking. I hope the last 4 balls aren't so much of a trouble.", Darc said and looked at the radar again. Then again he could just fly off and find them all himself but he promised himself not to do that.
"Yeah, I won't be going to any beaches for a while.", said Lite exhausted.
"I will probably be sunburnt for a while", said Luffa with wrinkled brows.
Darc smiled. "But I thought girls liked tanned skin?"
Glew snorted a little "That doesn't mean we like sunburns."
Darc sighed. "How about we stay here for the night? It's not like we are in a rush for now and most of us are exhausted, right? And we would get beds instead of sleeping bags."
Otamo & Luffa "Yes, please". They both stared at each other and l laughed a little. Seemed like they both preferred beds to sleep in.
"Alright, let's look for the inn then.", said Zarid and nodded.
The group found an inn and purchased some rooms for the night and went to sleep there. The day was really something for them all after all.
Three Dragonballs are secured. Now only four are still missing. Before going to sleep meditation on his bed, Darc sensed around a little bit to make sure if the shadow made any weird movement.
Not sensing anything out of the ordinary he started meditation. Maybe he also should try to train a little bit in differentiating auras so that he can judge them human or not. It would probably help him refine his ki sense.
----
"Boss, I think it will be pretty hard to get these balls....No....Its the kids. Seems like they are martial artists or something...Yeah, I understand."