Walking around the corridor and heading to Bulma´s room he actually ran into Yamcha out of all people.
Yamcha was pretty surprised to see him. "Who the hell are you? I never saw you before?... Wait, you kinda look familiar?", sad Yamcha and tried to think who this guy is.
Darc only smiled amusedly about that this guy already forgot about him. But now Darc could recognize Yamcha immediately since he looked a lot like in the canon.
"Well look who we have here. If it ain't King Yamcha from the desert.", said Darc with a mocking grin.
Puar that was beside Yamcha was surprised. "Yamcha, do you know him?", she asked him puzzled and saw his eyes bulging when she turned around to him.
"It's you!! What the hell are you doing here!", he shouted and got into a fighting stance and was about to charge him.
"Are you sure about that? You know how it ended last time.", snickered Darc but at that moment Bulma also came and saw them both talking.
"Darc!", she shouted and ran over hugging him. She even had little tears in the corners of her eyes.
Darc was completely shocked at this. "What is going on? Why are you crying?", he asked.
She looked at him and then hit him."You idiot! I thought you were dead! When I collected the Dragonballs something bad happened so I thought I couldn't bring you back if something happens."
Darc arched his brows "And that makes you think I am dead? You know I was only supposed to visit about a month later, right? I just came by to check because I made a shortstop." Then he looked back to Yamcha "Also, what does that desert bandit do here? Did you actually fall for him and still got yourself a boyfriend?", he asked her.
Hearing his words she also looked at Yamcha. "You know that idiot Yamcha? Well, I did meet him on the journey and we kinda became friends. But I am not together with this skirt chaser!", she said.
Yamcha was still dumbfounded. "Hey, I am not that bad! I just want to find a girl that I can marry.", he rebuked. "And why do you know each other?"
It looked like Yamcha ended up freeloading here because he helped her out finding the Dragonballs and he seemed to slowly lose his fear of woman because he interacted a lot with Bulma. He still was a little shy but it looked like he became a skirt chaser pretty fast.
"I know Bulma since I was 8 I think. By the way. Bulma can you stop hugging me?", he answered him and looked down at Bulma.
She noticed it herself and let him go. A slight blush covering her face.
"And I know this guy when he once tried to rob me and my friends when we were searching for the Dragonballs. I showed him his place but looks like he still didn't change?", he explained to Bulma at and asked at the same time.
Puar eyed Darc up. "That was before I met you, right? Is that guy the one you told me about you wanted to surpass?", she asked Yamcha.
Yamcha immediately tried to cover her mouth "Nothing like that was said! And yes, that's the strong guy I told you about. And I did reform...well only when I met Goku and Bulma here."
Darc made a fake surprised face "Goku? Was it a guy in a violet gi with a monkey tail?", asked Darc.
"Yeah, him...Wait! You know him?", said Bulma and was surprised.
"Yep, I know him. I met him and his grandfather when I searched for the Dragonballs. I returned their Dragonball after collecting some of them again so I could return them to their owners. So that guy joined you on your journey?"
"You returned Dragonballs? Who did you return them to?", asked Bulma now.
"Muten Roshi, Goku, You and Me. So I collected four in total.", answered Darc."Why do you ask?"
"Just curiosity. So you also know that perverted hermit. No wonder he said that these balls are kinda attracting a lot of attention lately."
He laughed a little. "Is Goku here as well?", asked Darc.
"No, he went to Roshi to train.", said another Yamcha coming to the group.
"What the hell are you doing looking like me, Oolong!", shouted Yamcha and smacked him so he turned back.
Oolong only grabbed his head after he got hit and cowered "You are the one that told me to take care of that woman! She is scary, man!", he rebuked.
"What was that?", asked Darc.
"Nothing!", laughed Yamcha awkwardly and tried to silence Oolong.
"I didn't mean the things you do but what this guy looked like just now.", said Darc again.
"Oh, that is an ability from Oolong. He can transform pretty much in everything he understands and saw.", answered Bulma.
Darc squatted down and looked at him „Can you teach me?", asked Darc him.
Bulma frowned "Why do you want to learn that?"
"It could help in infiltration.", said Darc.
Bulma thought about it and just nodded afterward.
"Even if I would teach you it takes time. You also need to have the affinity for it.", said Oolong and Puar also nodded to that "Yes, it takes a whole 3 years in transformation kindergarten to learn that", she added to his words
Darc looked at Puar "You can do it too?", he asked and got a nod from her.
Then he only put one finger on Oolongs forehead and read his mind. "Got it." Then he made a puff and looked like a carbon copy of Goku. He grinned at them.
Tama got a little bit scared and jumped to Bulma who was surprised at first but snuggled with her cat and looked at Darc again. She knew he had many weird abilities. Looks like he could copy even the one from Oolong.
Everyone else had bulging eyes seeing him transform.
"Wow. That only took a second and your transformation looks so good.", commented Bulma and eyed him up. He even got that monkey tail from Goku and it moved around.
Then he transformed back. "Neat ability. Still, need to get used to it. But I can feel that right now it is only the basic level of optical illusion and the better I get with it the more I can copy. I think even copying the strength and other traits can be achieved like that.", he explained to her.
"What? That can't be. If you copy someone you wouldn't become as strong as them.", rebuked Oolong.
Darc only shook his head. "But I can feel it. Maybe you are just not good enough in your own ability?
"Like hell! I can hold it up to 4 minutes!", he shouted. Puar also nodded heavily. Even she can't hold it longer than that.
"..." Darc only arched a brow "Well I can indefinitely hold the transformation...I just canceled it on my own."
"....." Both Oolong and Puar were flabbergasted by that. How the hell did he learn their technique and can hold it forever!
"How did you learn it so fast?", asked Yamcha.
"I read his mind when I touched his forehead and searched for the information of the transformation.", said Darc.
".....You can do something like that? Isn't that kinda cheating?", asked Oolong.
"Hey, it still doesn't mean I can pull off the ability or understand every information that I read."
"So that's why you could decipher that ship...", said Bulma and made the other three confused.
Darc only smiled at her. sometimes Bulma is too smart for her own good. „Alright, since Goku is at Roshi´s I will go there and visit him as well. Want to see how he holds up. Bye bye.", he said, waved his hand and vanished.
"Hey, wait!", shouted Bulma and wanted to grab him but failed to do so. Her mouth twitched.
"And gone he is. How did he do that?", asked Yamcha.
"Shut up!", she shouted and hit him "Why don't you make yourself useful and get to work instead of freeloading!! Any you Oolong. It´s all your damn fault that he went to Goku right now. Guess I will have to make sure you don't open your mouth when not needed", she told him and looked like a demon at this moment.
Yamcha, Puar, and Oolong sweated at that moment. Hell awaited them for enraging her.
One could hear a pii pii sound afterwards
-----
At an island pretty close to the small island the Kame House normally stands.
Roshi was sitting on a stone in front of a long staircase that led down from a little temple and smoked a pipe
Darc appeared beside him. "Hey, old man Roshi. Its been a while."
Roshi looked at him and wondered who this guy in front of him is. Where did he even come from?
At the same moment, Goku finally reached the top with the milk he carried and saw them both. He made a surprised face seeing Darc. "You are also here, Darc?", asked Goku.
Darc smiled. That Goku actually would be the one to recognize him. "Hey there, Goku. How are you doing? How is your grandpa doing?"
Goku got a little bit sad. "Grandpa passed away shortly after you visited.", he said.
Darc narrowed his eyes. "I see. Sorry that I brought up something sad.", apologized Darc to him.
"Its alright, grandpa fell asleep really peacefully and I buried him where he wanted to be. He also said it was about time for him.", grinned Goku again.
´Huh, so he didn't get trampled by Goku but died of old age? That's a little relieve but also kinda a coincidence.´, thought Darc but didn't bother to think about it that much. Old Gohan probably got an injury that lead to his death but he didn't let Goku know that.
"Ah, now I remember. You are the kid that once visited me for the Dragonball. My, you sure grew a lot. Darc is your name, huh. Gotta remember that. Good to see you being healthy.", said Rohsi this time.
"Thanks. Bulma also told me you are still as pervy as ever. So I guess you are as healthy as always as well.", said Darc.
"You know Bulma?", asked both Goku and Roshi.
"Yep, I was the one that sent her on her journey to search for the Dragonballs after all.", explained Darc to them.
"That's nice! I also met her because of that. Bulma is a nice person. Even though she is sometimes really weird.", said Goku.
At that moment Krillin also came up the stairs and huffed.
"Huh, who is this you are talking to?", he asked.
"This is Darc. An old friend of mine. He also knows turtle grandpa here.", said Goku.
Krillin only looked blankly at Darc. "Hi, I am Krillin. Say, how old are you?", asked Krillin because when Goku said, friend, he kinda got curious how a friend can be that tall. He looked like an adult.
"I am 15, why do you ask?", answered Darc. Roshi and Krillin had a surprised look. Only Goku was confused.
"So we are nearly the same age. You look so much older. I am 14", said Krillin. "Me too", added Goku.
Darc scratched his head. "Thanks for the compliment?", said Darc.
"So you are all still so young...", commented Roshi.
"So you both are training at this hermits place?", he asked them.
"Yep, I want to become stronger", answered Goku.
Krillin only nodded.
"Come on, deliver that milk already then.", he said to them both and they came back to realization and delivered that milk.
A monk came out and greeted Roshi and started talking with him.
"The WMA Tournament!?", shouted Krillin after following the conversation about them having potential and listening further for what he trains them.
"What's that?, asked Goku.
"Its the martial arts tournament that is held every 5 years, Goku. Only the strongest fighters take part in it. You will meet a lot of strong people there", answered Darc before Krillin could.
Then Krillin realized something "Wait, your name. I remember now! You are the champion of the last WMA, aren't you?"
Darc laughed lightly. "Yes, I am."
Goku got excited "So Darc is also strong!"
"Interesting. So you won the last WMA. Hmm. Who was your teacher?", asked Roshi now after finishing his talk with the monk.
"He is the teacher of the tiger school in my hometown.", said Darc.
"Oh, I heard about it. It only established itself a few years ago.", said Krillin when he heard that name.
Darc nodded at his words.
"Interesting, did you also came here to come under my tutelage and join them to train?", asked Roshi now.
"Nah, I am just here on vacation so to say. I still have a job to do and wanted to see how Goku here is holding up.", said Darc to him and denied the old man. It's not like he would learn anything from this guy.
"What a shame." Roshi sighed.
"Yeah, why don't you stay for a day? Our Launch makes really good food too.", said Goku and tried to convince him to stay.
"That is as long blonde hair Launch is not in control of her body.", added Krillin with a wry smile.
"But no food for those that don't do the training.", said Roshi.
Darc smiled. "Sure, I can join you on that."
Afterward, Darc joined them in their small training. Krillin and Goku were surprised how easy it looked for him doing it with them. Even Rohsi kinda started sweating a little while trying to show off and increasing the difficulty of the training. To the dismay of Goku and Krillin.
Later in the Kame House at the dining table, he met the blue-haired beautiful Launch. Darc had to admit that he kind of wondered how she got forgotten in time. She had a pure heart and was really nice as long as she remained in that personality of hers.
She did eventually sneeze changed once. And everyone besides Darc thought they would be blown away but without knowing why Launch stared at Darc the whole time and didn't do much at all. She even responded like the blue-haired Launch while being asked something.
Krillin and Roshi were intrigued and tried out more but immediately got attacked after going too far.
She only blushed and tried to behave immediately after she saw Darc looking at her violent reaction.
Darc scratched his cheek and smiled at her. Looks like he had a more manly look than he thought. Launch only reacted to the manly Tien like this after all.
Soon after the started to eat and talked about the things that happened.
He enjoyed the little time he spent with them and Launch even filled him and Roshi up with alcohol to make it merrier after getting into the mood herself. Goku and Krillin were out pretty fast with that and it didn't take long for everyone to go to sleep.
The next morning Darc woke up. He had a slight headache because of the alcohol and frowned. He still had that habit to get pulled in to drinking even though he is still underage right now. Then he looked to the right and saw Launch lying right beside him.
His mind went blank for a second. He looked under his sheet and sighed. Luckily he was still dressed in his suit. Only Launch was lying there in her underwear. She even noticed him moving and clung to him in her sleep. He softly pushed her away from him and stood up.
Then he covered her up and went down to the other three and saw them still lying around. At that moment even a clock rang and the others woke up as well.
They all looked extremely tired.
"Alright, guys. I will be going now. I enjoyed the stay here. Wish you luck and keep training hard.", he said and waved to them and disappeared right after with his instant transmission.
"Did I just see right or did Darc disappear?", asked a sleepy Krillin.
---
Before leaving the planet he teleported to Bulma´s room and still saw her sleeping. She slept like a monkey. Completely spreading all her limbs in all directions. He smiled and thought about doing something mischievous but he refrained from it.
He didn't bother waking her up and didn't stay long. He just put a letter and tube with a piece of the ice inside it from that planet he stayed at the moment on a cupboard and teleported back to his ship.
---
+Welcome back, Darc+
"Heya, Alice. You can start up the engine. Time to continue our flight", he said to her.
+Understood+
"Oh, and establish a communication channel to my mother. About time I explained to her that I am in space...Oh boy. Hopefully, she doesn't wring me out when I come back"
+Please visit the communication room when you are ready to start the communication.+
"Got it.", he said and moved to the communication room.