Dragon Ball: A Better Bulma

"Ah, what a wonderful show of strength! No wonder they were able to get a large portion of the Dragon Balls, but I have better things than those scum you just fought, why don't you try fighting my best warrior?" the holographic projection of Pilaf spoke to the group below the Air Fortress. 

"May it be mighty!"!" shouted Goku with a somewhat disappointed expression at the poor quality of the enemies he faced. 

"It is. Yamcha, come down and fight!" shouted Pilaf before his holographic image disappeared.

A hatch opened in the fortress and Yamcha appeared, two swords hanging from his back in the shape of an X. He looked down and focused his attention only on Goku, trying to ignore his fear of women. 

Yamcha didn't know why he was afraid, he hadn't even had bad experiences with women, he had no problems with his mother, and the few times when he decided to go to school as a child, neither his teacher nor his classmates caused him any fear. 

This situation was uncomfortable and disabling, to the point that he could not even rob a group of travelers he encountered if he somehow realized there was a woman in it.

The beatings he received for his inability to defend himself, being paralyzed at the mere sight of a girl, were something that worsened his psychological situation regarding this issue.

But he also had a stroke of luck. One day, when he was able to move during a beating he had received because one of the members of a group that had attacked him was a woman dressed as a man, and he had not seen it coming, luck struck.

It was like those old stories he used to read out of boredom in his cave in the desert, he ran towards a cliff, tripped, and fell into the abyss, but managed to survive by holding on to a ledge. 

On his way up, he found a cave, and knowing that he couldn't get down for the time being, he decided to explore it to see if he could use it as shelter. What he found, however, changed his fate drastically. 

There was a skeleton sitting there, wearing threadbare clothes and holding a thick, dust-covered book. As he picked it up and read it, he realized that it was the diary of a man who called himself a martial artist, but who was now spending the last moments of his life in this isolated place. 

Why? A classic plot, apparently he stole a technique from a great martial artist, and said technique allowed you to fly. But the younger brother of that great martial artist was an assassin who used poison to torture him, and he was only able to escape by a stroke of luck. 

In agony, he asked that if someone found his journal, he could inherit his martial arts from the Wolf School and learn the flying technique he had worked so hard to learn. 

Sure, it was just the basics and most of the 'special' techniques were created by himself during his ki research, but this explained one thing: Yamcha was a genius, in his way, but a genius without a doubt.

Yamcha sighed heavily before he fell from the flying platform, but his body floated in the air to the amazement of the quartet on the ground. Goku was even excited by the sight. 

'This universe is getting more and more interesting,' Bulma repeated to herself as she formed a smile on her lips. 

A Yamcha with over 100 power and a flying technique? Now that was something to see! She even felt a little sorry to let Goku do the fighting, but the boy was too hyperactive and if she got into his fight, he wouldn't leave her alone for days. 

"Come on, let's give him some space," Bulma said before grabbing Oolong by the collar of his clothes, who was in shock at this point from all the bloody spectacle he had witnessed. 

"Are you going to eat me?" the pig boy asked fearfully, but Bulma just burst out laughing as she carried him on her back. 

"That would be cannibalism, you're an Earthling, a pig-like one, but an Earthling," Bulma told him before walking off with Chi-Chi to a secluded spot.

Bulma could feel Yamcha's emotions, the boy was afraid and avoided looking at her at all costs, and though it was strange, he didn't feel the same when looking at Chi-Chi, which meant one thing.

Yamcha was afraid of women, he could sense that through his ability, but it seemed that his fear was not of the female gender per se, but of a certain type of woman. The beautiful ones, perhaps?

Seeing that Bulma had left his near field of vision, and using his rudimentary Ki sense to realize that she had only given him free space to fight, Yamcha dropped to the ground. 

His fall was a bit awkward as if he wasn't used to flying, but he quickly regained his composure and shook the non-existent dust from his shoulders as he turned his full attention to Goku. 

"My name is Yamcha, of the Wolf School," Yamcha introduced himself, even mimicking the old greeting from hundreds of years ago as he clenched his fist. 

Goku didn't understand why he did that, so he just scratched the back of his neck before he waved as he always did, with a big smile on his face that radiated carelessness and naivety. 

"Hi, I'm Goku! From the Sora and Turtle School!" the boy introduced himself before he took the pose that initiated his fighting style, his smile still on his lips but his eyes completely serious.

'One of the schools that the journal mentions, did he learn from one of that man's students?' Yamcha thought before imitating Goku and taking his starting stance. 

They both stared at each other for several seconds before they charged at each other. There were no rules, no boundaries, just a clash between two pure martial artists. 

The first clash began when their fists collided, maybe it was because of Yamcha's crouched stance, but he was not bothered by Goku's small stature, but he was surprised by the power of his punch. 

'He just looks like a child...' Yamcha's thoughts flashed a little before the seriousness of the situation brought his mind back to the present, there was no need to be distracted by trivialities, if anything, he would just pay more attention to the boy who called himself Goku. 

They both looked at each other before they started to exchange blows, or at least tried to hit each other, but their attacks were constantly blocked by the other. At first, it was a display of basics, Goku's style focused more on defense, inspired by the thick shell that turtles generally have. 

Meanwhile, Yamcha's attacks were as fierce and sinister as a pack of wolves on the hunt. Both were moving through the valley, which was strangely blooming at that moment. 

Their figures were almost a blur, only Bulma could see everything without having to focus on ki sense, but seeing Chi-Chi's uncomfortable face, she decided to advise her.

"If your eyes can't follow the battle, use your ki sense, it's faster and will allow you to feel and see what's going on, put aside your concern for Goku, he'll be fine," Bulma's words made the nervous teenager take a breath before closing her eyes. 

Chi-Chi remembered her training and closed her eyes, letting the special sense she had developed to perceive Ki do its thing. Gradually, she was able to 'see' the fight, so to speak. 

Unexpectedly, it was Yamcha who landed the first real blow, connecting a series of quick punches to Goku's chest before kicking him in the ribs, sending him flying several meters. 

But as he went after his opponent to continue attacking, a brown tail unexpectedly struck Yamcha's cheek, causing him to stop his attack. Goku spun in the air and touched his chest, taking comfort in the knowledge that much of the damage was being absorbed by his armor. 

Still, there was something special about those fists, he could feel that Yamcha's ki had been transferred to his body through his punches and was trying to attack his body voraciously, which was certainly a cool technique, so much so that Goku was excited as he purged the strange energy. 

"Grandpa was right, there are so many techniques in the world, so many interesting martial artists," Goku muttered before smiling again as the fight was just beginning.

Yamcha, on the other hand, looked down at his knuckles, if he hadn't protected his fists with Ki, he would have been torn to shreds by now. He could feel the odd resistance when he struck, and not only that, there was even some backlash against his body that he had to fend off.

Looking down at the ground again, he could see the small gaps left by his footprints as he redirected the impact of his body to the ground. It seemed that he had to avoid attacking the parts protected by that strange robe, which only offered inconvenient options, such as the head, and the extremities... 

Even he felt a little pain at the thought of where else he could hit, but this was a real fight and not a game, so he took a deep breath and stirred the Ki in his body, causing a faint white aura to cover his body. 

Before Goku's eyes, Yamcha seemed to become a mere flash of lines, but his fluid movements allowed him to raise his arm, protecting his body from a kick aimed directly at his head.

Though his body slipped a bit, Goku deflected the attack well and responded almost instantly with a blow of his own, taking advantage of the momentary lull in Yamcha's body. 

Goku's fist slammed into his opponent's stomach, who was knocked back and lunged at Goku again, this time even faster than before. All this was possible because technically, he wasn't running, he was flying.

Yamcha hovered only a few inches off the ground, but the ability to fly allowed him not only to take to the air but also to eliminate air resistance, which was why he could achieve his increased speed. 

But Goku deflected all of his attacks, which frustrated the desert boy, who was not used to fighting people with similar or greater power than him, showing his obvious inexperience. 

Goku, on the other hand, had been beaten over and over again by Bulma, who had always been stronger than him, and while that hadn't allowed his talent to blossom to its fullest, it had given him good reflexes. 

Now, this fight was what Goku needed to stimulate his growth, fighting someone of similar power, even if he wasn't as experienced, allowed him to unlock more and more of that potential that regular training couldn't bring out. 

Gohan said it, he couldn't just sit at home and punch or throw ki blasts, he had to go out into the world, explore it, fight constantly, and make his blood boil at the sound of a good fight.

Then Yamcha noticed that Goku's punches became more powerful, his defenses more airtight, and he even countered better, making it difficult for him. 

At a certain point in the fight, Goku suddenly jumped backward, placed his hands in a certain position, and generated Ki between them. Small blue flashes erupted from his palms before he began to shout. 

"Kame...!" Yamcha heard these words and felt cold, was this the Kame Hame Ha? He had read about it and from what he knew, it was powerful. 

But even though he was nervous about Goku's sudden move, he didn't hesitate. If there was one thing that being a thief had taught him, it was that doubt was the mother of all failure. So he concentrated his energy, causing the aura around his body to take on a strange appearance.

"To think that is possible with Ki!" Bulma exclaimed in genuine amazement as she saw the strange image appearing above Yamcha. 

A wolf, a creature created by his energy, and even Bulma could sense that there were Yamcha's emotions in such a creation. In the original series, this could only be seen as an illustration of his attacks, but in this universe?

It was Yamcha's way of having a signature technique! 

"Hame...!" Goku became more and more excited and sped up the charging process of his attack, he wanted to see how his enemy, no, rival, Yamcha resolved his attack. 

Yamcha crouched down, his hands glowing with energy as he focused his attention on Goku, ignoring everything else. There was nothing but his prey, nothing but the food he had sought to satisfy his hunger.

"Howl of the Hungry Wolf!" 

"Ha!"