A Pulse of ki spread through the clearing as those iconic words fell. Visible only to the byakugan, the 8 trigrams formed as Yamcha gathered a large amount of KI to his hands and feet.
"8 trigrams: 64 palms!"
The ground shattered behind Yamcha as the explosive ki he had gathered propelled him forward. Goku was once again shocked at the sharp increase of speed, and before he could move his opponent was upon him. With no other choice he decided to go blow for blow, deflecting everything he could and landing blows where he could.
In the blink of an eye more than a dozen strikes had already been exchanged between the two. As Goku worked on dodging and deflecting he could hear his friend counting his attacks.
"2 palms, 4 palms, 8 palms"
So far he had avoided any direct blows, and even landed a few hits himself. But he knew that the longer this barrage went on the worse shape he would be in,he could feel that even the glancing blows were rattling his ki control.
"16 palms, 32 palms"
Oh yeah, and the speed of incoming attacks were increasing exponentially.
Yamcha, however, wasn't in great shape either. Even before this clash Goku had landed several blows. Though his merging with Neji had put him and Goku on even ground in terms of martial mastery, Goku still had the edge in speed and power. His stamina was draining with each attack, but the increased speed of his 64 palms was paying off.
Goku had finally missed a parry, a pointed jab landing on his peck, numbing the area and slowing his movements.
Yamcha grinned, not only would this snowball into his advantage, but it gave him invaluable feedback on his technique. While he could feel his ki invade Goku's system, the saiyans' stronger ki had dampened the effect. It would seem that superior yang energy could block some of the impact of his gentle fist. He already had a few ideas to get around this, but for now he had to focus.
"64 palms!
The speed of his attacks doubled yet again, pushing his opponent's abilities to their limits. As the final strike of his 64 palms landed, a heavy blow landed on sternum, winding him and pushing him back. Both fighters stood at the end of trenches dug by their boots as they tried to stabilize themselves. Each combatant stood apart, breathing heavily. Neither were in a great condition. Goku's arms, while still in a defensive position, visibly trembled. It was obvious that while the impact of the Juken was dampened, his ki flow and muscles had been damaged.
Yamcha's battle damage was more obvious, a small trail of blood escaping the corners of his mouth as he had an arm over his ribs.
In unison both dropped their combat stances and gave a respectful bow.
"That's incredible, Yamcha! That technique isn't like anything I've seen before, my arms are still shaking!"
"Ha, you're still as strong as ever Goku. Still, I'll need to refine my technique for stronger opponents."
"His body's make up is definitely not human. His ki is more potent, but it seems like his control doesn't come as natural as mine."
"You definitely helped me though Goku, I've got a few ideas for improvement already!" He gave his friend a thumbs up for his help
"Say, what else did you need help with? You said you had 3 favors to ask?"
"Yes, I wanted you to show me where your Grampa's house was. I've got an idea for a gift for Bulma."
With a confused head tilt that Yamcha thought reminded him of a small animal, he asked "Yeah I can show you, but I'm not sure what you could find for Bulma there."
"Ah, well that leads me to my third favor." The playful mood died as Yamcha got serious. "Something strange happened last night. You've noticed some of my changes, but there is some stuff that I need to talk to Bulma about. Some of the stuff is about you, so I was hoping you'd come with me."
The now even more confused mountain man pointed to himself as if asking a question.
"Yes, I don't want to explain too much, since I'll just have to explain again later."
"Sure, I guess. Let me just go talk to Chi-Chi, she wont like it if I Just run off. Come inside and say hi!" he turned and immediately ran off into his house.
Yamcha was both slightly confused and relieved. "Hmm, it seems like the real Goku is a bit more responsible a husband than some of my memories would suggest."
He was relieved though, since he inherited those memories he had always thought Goku being so absent minded was a bit out of character. He was just about to deactivate his byakugan when he looked towards the newlywed's house. He paused as he had a moment of intuition, his gut telling him to check Goku's body closer.
Focusing more ki to his eyes he took a closer look at Goku's internals. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, besides the differences he had already noted. Not until he focused in on the heart, it was there he saw a pulsing, deep purple discoloration on the inner walls.
Another flash of memories hit him. A ruined future, everyone he knew dead, with only a battered Gohan, Trunks, and Bulma standing between the world and extinction.
"The heart virus," He muttered to himself, "So even this early it was laying dormant. Just one more thing to ask Bulma about."
Deactivating his eyes he slowly followed his friend into his house.
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As Yamcha entered the quaint mountain abode two things immediately struck him.
First, Goku had already explained his visit and was telling her about his requests.
And second, Chi-Chi had a slight bump forming on her belly. It seems young Gohan is already on his way.
"Man they really didn't waste any time," a small blush began creeping up his neck at the thought before he regained his composure,"good for them."
"...and he wants me to go with him to see Bulma. Something about weird stuff happening to him and needing to talk to us about it."
At this, the visiting fighter made his presence known, "Hi Chi-Chi! Long time no see huh?"
As she was about to round on him for dragging her husband off to do Kami knows what, she noticed the striking changes in the desert bandit she'd only met a few times before.
"Goodness, what happened to your eyes? Are you okay, how's your vision?"
He smiled softly, despite how some of his memories painted her, she is ultimately a caring person.
" I am fine, yes, but I figured if anyone could tell me more about these changes it would be the people at Capsule Corp."
"That makes sense," the new housewife responded, busying herself with making tea for her husband and guest, "that family has more money than I think I've ever seen, even back before that old pervert blew up fire mountain." She grumbled lightly at the end, still holding a small grudge towards the old master for destroying her father's castle.
"Yes, but there is a bit more to it than that." He sobered up a bit as he took the offered tea. He took a sip before continuing, "These changes to my eyes let me see people's insides. Their muscles, organs, and flow of energy. While Goku and I were sparring a bit just now I noticed something a little worrying."
Sobering up themselves, the married couple leaned in to hear what Yamcha had noticed.
"I don't want to alarm you two, but with my eyes active I noticed something wrong with Goku's heart." He kept Goku's heritage to himself for now, figuring that would be best kept to a private conversation.
The couple was immediately worried, Chi-Chi more than Goku, but even he seemed spooked."Something's wrong with my husband? What is it? Can you fix it?"
Goku gently grabbed his panicking wife's hand and looked to one of his oldest friends for an explanation.
"Well," Yamcha began, feeling some genuine regret, "I'm not a doctor, and I don't really have any healing techniques. But from what I can tell it looks like some kind of poison has been absorbed into the walls of your heart. Your body purged most of it, but it looks like it was too potent for your ki at the time to fully process. If it's not removed it could weaken your heart enough that one day it could give out."
Goku's eyes went hazy for a moment, searching his memory, before he suddenly lit up in realization.
"Oh I know! After King Piccolo started rampaging back then I went to Korrin's tower to train. He had this stuff I drank, the 'ultra divine water.' It was supposed to draw out my potential if I could survive the poison! It's what made me strong enough to take on the Demon King."
"Oh Goku…" the now teary eyed Chi-Chi squeezed her husband's hand. Just imagining the little Goku forced to go through that kind of pain to defend the planet and avenge his friends, it was enough to remind her of how dedicated he was to protecting his loved ones.
Not knowing her inner thoughts, but seeing his wife upset he squeezed her hand back and gave her a smile. "Don't worry Chi-Chi, if anybody can fix this it's Bulma! She's the smartest person I know!"
Yamcha had to smile at that, Goku was cheery as always, even at the news that his heart could give out.
"That is quite the understatement too." He added mentally, "Forget who you know, Bulma might well be one of the brightest minds of the multiverse"
"He's right Chi-Chi, and even if this stumps Bulma, in the worst case scenario we could always gather the dragon balls and wish the issue away." He offered this to soothe Chi-Chi's nerves. "Honestly, I already have a few ideas if Bulma can't fix it." Yamcha thought to himself, "They won't be clean, but they'll work. Probably. Maybe."
Seeing the truth in Yamcha's words, the stressed housewife let out a breath. "Thats right. Thanks to you catching this early we can fix it before anything happens." At that she stood up and gave a respectful bow, "Thank you Yamcha," she stood straight again, a hand resting on the slight bump on her stomach, "I don't want to imagine our baby growing up without his father, even if he's a bit too focused on fighting sometimes."
Goku could only laugh awkwardly and rub the back of his head.
"No worries Chi-Chi, this muscle head's an old friend too, if I can offer help I'm happy to give it."
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After a round of laughter and a bit of small talk about Yamcha's changed appearance, Yamcha, Puar and Goku set out to Grandpa Gohan's old house.
"I still don't understand what you're looking for out here, but if it helps, then I guess I'm happy to help!"
Activating his byakugan, Yamcha began scouring the surrounding area. Internally he marveled at how much further his eyes could see. Neji's eyes could only reach to about a half mile radius, but now Yamcha could cover at least 10 miles. He rapidly searched through the information of his observation radius, all while Goku quietly paid his respects to the man who raised him.
After about a minute passed he finally found what he was looking for. "Ha! Goku I found what I was looking for, let's go. I've got an empty capsule to carry it, so let's pick it up and head to Bulma's!"
"Right!" Goku affirmed, as they both set out through the woods, Puar stayed with the vehicle to avoid slowing the two fighters down.
Eventually they made it to their target, a round pod-like ship in a deep crater.
"Whoa, what is this? I've never seen any cars like this!"
Yamcha grinned somewhat smugly, "That's because it's not a car." He gestured grandly at the pod, an excited gleam in his eye. "Behold Son Goku! An alien spaceship!"
An awkward silence passed between them, Yamcha feeling increasingly foolish at the lack of reaction.
"Um, Yamcha?" Goku spoke up to his still posing friend, "What's a space ship?"