Yamcha woke up feeling sore all over.
That was to be expected considering he basically asked Goku to give him a thorough beating.
A well-needed beating.
Still, he couldn't remember the last time he felt this bad. Maybe when he died, but that was sort of…an instant thing. The pain and feeling of dread abruptly disappeared when his soul popped on over to the afterlife.
"Oh, you're finally awake."
Yamcha looked up to see Chi-Chi standing at the threshold to the kitchen.
He realized he was on the couch. "How long was I out?"
"About a day…" Chi-chi crossed her arms. "I nearly kicked Goku's butt after I saw him drag you half dead into the house and throw you onto the couch."
"S-sorry." Yamcha awkwardly scratched his head. "Please don't get mad at Goku; I was the one who asked him to do it."
Chi-Chi rolled her eyes. "Goku is many things, but he isn't someone who would hurt his friends for no reason; of course I wouldn't assume it's his fault."
Yamcha nodded. "Sorry for the trouble."
Her expression eased a little, and she let out a small sigh. "It's not a big deal, honestly. We barely get any guests out this far, and Gohan was happy about the book you snuck him, so we'll call it even."
Yamcha stiffened a little under Chi-Chi's curling lips.
"Did you think I wouldn't find out?" She chuckled. "Yamcha, you don't need to hide it the next time you get him a book to read, even if it's something silly. As long as it isn't inappropriate, I fully support Gohan reading for fun."
"So save the special magazines until he gets older, got it."
"I will skin your hide." She held up a spatula, threatening him.
"A joke, a joke." Yamcha put his hands up in a show of defeat. But the look on Chi-chi's face showed that she wasn't serious either.
"How do you feel? You were in pretty bad shape when Goku brought you in. I made him toss you into the nearby river, so you weren't all bloody and sweaty before letting you sleep on the couch."
Yamcha winced slightly but found that fair. "Like the strongest person in the world beat the crap out of me."
Chi-Chi snorted again. "You just missed lunch. Gohan and Goku went out to play about an hour ago; they'll probably be back for dinner."
Yamcha sniffed and furrowed his brow. "You're already getting started on dinner?"
Chi-Chi gave him a rather dry look. "Do you have any idea what it takes to feed a Saiyan, let alone two?"
Yamcha blinked. "Oh wow, I've seen Goku eat, but I never really thought about it. You probably put most line chefs to shame."
"Hmph, you're darn right." She shook her head. "Don't even get me started on how much milk Gohan needed. Damn, the doctor thought I was starving him when he was a baby when I was already feeding him twice the standard amount."
That was certainly also a thought Yamcha never even considered.
"You know, speaking of Gohan, have you considered letting him join a team or competitions to get to know kids his age?" Yamcha asked.
Chi-Chi's attention snapped back at him, and her expression turned a bit more serious. "You realize he can smash boulders with a fist, right?"
Yamcha waved it off. "I'm not telling you to get him to play a sport like baseball or something. But maybe like chess? Go? There are tons of card games that are popular with kids. Or even sports that don't focus on physical ability."
Chi-Chi put her hands on her hips. "Yamcha, I have to plan my grocery trips out a month in advance due to how far away we live from the nearest city. Not to mention, Goku just put the car in the shop."
"I already mentioned it to Goku, but have him teach you how to fly." Yamcha pointed out.
"...really?" She seemed taken aback by his answer. "You want him to teach me how to fly?"
"Don't make it sound like it's some bizarre thing. And you were a Martial Artist for how long before you stopped?"
"That's different. I'm a mother now. I'm…it's just too…."
"Chi-Chi, you used to run around in bikini armor with a helmet that had a boomerang horn you could take off to cut dinosaurs in half with." Yamcha deadpanned.
Chi-Chi actually flushed in embarrassment. "I was young."
"That kind of makes it worse."
"Hush, you!"
"You know, getting that level of control over your Ki, it would probably help slow down your natural aging too." Yamcha threw out as well.
Chi-Chi immediately perked up. "You are oddly convincing, Yamcha. I swear, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you were a whole different person. What happened to you?"
Yamcha's expression shifted slightly. "I just…got some perspective on things, I suppose."
"Do you want to stick around for dinner?" She offered much more genuinely than yesterday.
"I appreciate it, but I need to head out. Thank you for having me over, Chi-Chi." Yamcha said politely.
Chi-Chi smiled rather warmly. "You're welcome over any time, Yamcha."
@***@
Yamcha didn't know why he said so much to Chi-Chi before.
Frankly, he felt awkward doing it, but those memories of his had a sort of bad impression of her and how good of a mother and wife she was. But that went contradictory to what he knew.
Yeah, Chi-Chi can be scary; she's able to keep Goku in line after all. And she can be very strict with Gohan, but she's not a bad parent or abusive or any nonsense like that. Hell, she let Gohan fly to an alien planet; that isn't something an insanely strict helicopter parent would do.
Maybe she erred too far on one side, not wanting Gohan to be too much like Goku, but that wasn't something Yamcha had the right to comment on.
Regardless, he put those thoughts behind him.
Despite the open invitation and the seemingly closed distance between him and Chi-Chi now, platonically of course, he probably wasn't going to go back and see them any time soon.
He was honestly happy that Goku wasn't around.
He was too ashamed to see him right now.
That feeling in his chest was still there, and he could see and picture the look on Goku's face at the end. It was enough to push away all those wayward thoughts of giving up or the thoughts of inadequacy.
It was enough to ignite a desire in him that he hadn't had for a long time.
That's why he was flying through the sky right now, heading to a very specific location.
Part of him wished it would be as easy as some people thought to just grab the dragon balls and wish to be infinitely powerful or something.
Heck, even he had thoughts like that—what he could wish for and how to munchkin his way to being the strongest in the universe—but almost all those plans just weren't feasible.
The Dragon isn't as omnipotent as many people thought.
The Dragon's power to grant wishes is limited by Kami's strength.
Yamcha was stronger than Kami, to put it into perspective. Though, magic wasn't a one-to-one ratio of strength to results based on his experience. He'd seen Babidi be able to cast magic on a Super Saiyan 2 Vegeta.
That's not to say he didn't have any thoughts or plans, but they didn't involve being able to wish for something ridiculous like a Tree of Might or turning himself into a Saiyan. Granted, the Saiyan thing was technically more viable, as the Dragon could probably accomplish that, but Yamcha at the end of the day was human. He wanted to stay human; that's what his heart told him.
However, all of this was irrelevant to Yamcha right now.
Right now, it would be pointless for him to try and use the Dragon Balls; he wasn't even close to being ready for that.
He had other plans.
He continued to fly across the sky, briefly looking down every now and then.
It was funny, the scenes he remembered; it made it look like the world was made up of islands more than anything, yet that couldn't be further from the truth. It was true that humans—and other sentient species—converged on coastal areas.
In fact, most of the continent that covered the planet wasn't inhabited by people. A significant portion of it was either desert, covered in ice, or completely wild and untamed. There were villages scattered here or there outside, but the vast majority of the world's population gathered in the handful of major cities.
It kind of put into perspective how many disasters the Earth had been through.
A good chunk of the population had died when Nappa had glassed that city when he landed. Cell casually obliterated half a city when he made his news announcement. Heck, Android Gero wiped out half of South City as well when he touched down in about three years. Those cities were the major population hubs of the entire human race.
Frankly, without the Dragon Balls, humanity would have probably been an endangered species by now, if not outright extinct.
Yamcha himself lived over by Bulma in West City.
Which was…really far from Goku's house. Even at his speed, it would take an hour to fly back, if that's where he was heading.
There was a reason that Chi-Chi was pissed that Goku accidentally broke the car. Her closest city was five hours away in that thing for her, one way.
The air of the ocean hit him quickly as he flew off the coast, and almost immediately he could see his target.
He touched down right on the island housing Kame House.
He didn't even need to say anything or announce his presence as Master Roshi came out.
Just as he remembered, just as how he'd 'seen' before. Master Roshi was old, hundreds of years old. His Power level, if you cared about it, probably was lower than his age. Yet, even Goku wouldn't deny it if anyone said that Master Roshi was the best Martial Artist on the planet.
He wasn't the strongest, but put him up, equally strong, against anyone here, and Yamcha bet he would win.
"You look like shit, Yamcha." Master Roshi didn't hold back.
"About how I feel too." Yamcha admitted.
Ki was magical in how well it healed someone, but he was still black and blue from the beating he got from Goku. He hadn't seen himself in the mirror, but his face still felt swollen, and he was sure his ribs hadn't fully healed yet.
"Did you pick a fight with Vegeta or something?"
"More like….Goku."
Master Roshi raised an eyebrow. "What made you think that was a good idea? I taught that boy; if he didn't hold back, he must have had a good reason."
"I asked him, Master Roshi." He felt his shoulders slump, and then he fell to his knees and slowly lowered his head down until he was in a proper dogeza. "Please teach me again, Master Roshi."
"Yamcha. Did you get your ass kicked and then come crying to me to make you stronger?" Master Roshi sounded…annoyed. "I thought you stopped practicing. Didn't you have a baseball career now? I watched a couple of your games on T.V. when they came on. Really making use of that training I gave you before to bully those regular people. I heard you entered the hall of fame—really something, huh? All those unprecedented records you set."
The scathing remarks made Yamcha wince. They hurt his pride more than he wanted to admit.
It was no secret that Yamcha was using his superhuman abilities to dominate in a sport with regular humans.
"Well, son? Got nothing to say?"
"I don't have an excuse, Master." Yamcha finally whispered.
Master Roshi was intending to shoo him away, not wanting to bother with his inflated pride or bruised ego after getting beaten by Goku, but this made him stop in his proverbial tracks.
Master Roshi took off his sunglasses and really looked at Yamcha and furrowed his brow, noticing things he hadn't a moment ago. "This isn't about losing to Goku, is it?"
"No." Yamcha still didn't lift his head.
Master Roshi didn't speak again for several minutes, watching Yamcha, who didn't even move an inch.
It was like a strange stare-off, despite Yamcha keeping his head down.
Master Roshi's aged eyes looked at the boy for a good long while, as if evaluating him for the first time in years.
Yamcha, head still pressed in the dirt, could finally hear him walk away, going into the house for who knows how long.
After a bit, Master Roshi returned, a folding chair in one hand and a six-pack of beer in the other, and he set up a few feet away from Yamcha, sitting down and opening his beer, still not speaking.
The monotony was only broken by the shifting of Master Roshi in his seat or the distinct sound of him opening another can of beer.
Eventually, there was a pile of them stacked up in the sand next to his chair.
The sun slowly started to move across the sky until the bright lights reflected on the waves, indicating that it began to set for the night.
"I'm not angry that you decided to use your gifts and my training to make money playing baseball." It was the first words Master Roshi spoke after several hours. "There are thousands of worse things you could have done with them. You didn't hurt people, you didn't abuse anyone, you didn't…do anything bad, Yamcha. At most, it's a shitty thing to do, but it wasn't really my place to say anything since you weren't hurting anyone, not really."
There was a pause as he took a sip of his drink.
"I'd be a hypocrite to say I didn't use my abilities a bit selfishly when I was younger. A powerful, handsome man like me? Well, I had all the ladies~" He chuckled. "I admit, I didn't think about using them for sports. Then again, sports weren't that popular back then, but maybe I would have done it too in your position. And I can say that I didn't get this island by rescuing cats from trees and only prize money from martial arts tournaments."
Master Roshi looked up at the sun set across the water, a sight he had never gotten bored of ever since he moved to this island centuries ago.
"Get up, Yamcha; I can see that you're serious about this."
Slowly, Yamcha raised his head as Master Roshi also stood up, stretching his back. "You'll train me again?"
"If you had just asked me with the excuse about the whole Android thing, I would have done it, albeit without much enthusiasm." He replied.
"...I doubt I would be much help against the Androids if they can take down a Super Saiyan." Yamcha sighed genuinely. It was oddly, not as hard a pill to swallow as he imagined saying out loud.
"You're right." Master Roshi didn't argue. "If Goku can't handle it, what's the point of you even being there?"
It hurt to hear, but Yamcha just nodded along.
"Jeez, kid, you really are in a bad spot, aren't you? Normally, you'd have some cocky words to throw back at me." The old martial artist scratched his cheek. "I was just saying that to get a reaction out of you, but now you're starting to make me feel bad."
"It's true though." Yamcha said firmly, not wanting to lie to himself even if his first reaction was to defend himself.
"And say I train you, you get stronger, what would you do with that? Go back to baseball when the Android thing is dealt with?" Master Roshi asked.
Yamcha bit his lip and turned away slightly. "I won't lie, Master Roshi. I loved it—all the fans, all the attention, and the popularity. It made me feel important and special. But, I think that it's time for me to retire."
There was a small glint of surprise and perhaps acknowledgement now in Master Roshi's eyes.
"It's a hell of a drug, isn't it?" Master Roshi smiled gently. "You're a lot like me, Yamcha. I wasn't unlike you when I was younger; I had my time in the spotlight, the fans, and the attention. People recognized me wherever I went, even when we didn't have as much fancy technology back then."
He shook his head, casting off those nostalgic and distant memories. "Last time, I taught you the art of war, as I did with everyone else. But you never learned the other important part of what I had to teach. Do you remember the rules, the way of the Turtle Hermit style?"
Yamcha, having adjusted himself to being on his knees, looking up at his teacher, answered without hesitation. "Work hard, study well, and eat and sleep plenty. That's the way of the Turtle Hermit."
The memories flashed before his eyes as he repeated every word.
"I taught you the Art of War, but you never learned the Art of Peace. The last and most important lesson of the Turtle Hermit, Yamcha. The part that all my students learned by you was missed. The Art of Peace is not to simply live your life without violence or to take breaks from fighting. It's to live your life without regrets."
Master Roshi's aged eyes looked down at Yamcha. "Do you have regrets, Yamcha?"
"Yes, Master."
"Then you're in need of more tutelage, my wayward student." Master Roshi smiled gently. "Come on, we'll settle you inside; it's going to be a long and hard journey for both of us."
@***@
Yamcha looked around. Though he was by no means a stranger here, he was confused about something. "Hey Master Roshi, where are Puar and Oolong?"
Puar was one of his best friends, but he usually stayed here with Master Roshi and Oolong.
"Chiaotzu asked them for some help with the farm while he and Tien were training. Turtle also went to give a hand too." Master Roshi replied casually.
Yamcha just nodded; he remembered that Tien had a farm he took care of, and it would be hard to manage it if he went somewhere for some isolated training.
"Now, we need to talk about your training. I'll be honest, I'm not sure where to start. I've never trained someone with your…power."
"Is that a problem?" Yamcha furrowed his brow.
"Maybe, maybe not. It depends on what you want. You want to get stronger; you're already stronger than me." He pointed out.
"Master Roshi, if we had the same 'power,' in a hundred out of a hundred fights, you would win every single one."
The aged master let out a laugh. "Damn right, sunny."
"I have an idea; I don't know if it's plausible though." Yamcha smiled a bit now that the earlier tension had eased.
"Well, you're no young brat anymore that doesn't know how to throw a punch. Hit me with what you want, Yamcha."
"Even if you trained me, even if I mastered everything from you, if we use 'power level' as a basis, I'd still be nowhere close to bridging any gaps."
"I hate this whole 'power level' thing that you all focus on, but I get your point." Master Roshi nodded. "So, what do you have in mind?"
"I think it's possible to improve the quality of my Ki, rather than the quantity." Actually, Yamcha knew for a fact that a higher quality Ki did exist.
God Ki.
But he wasn't so arrogant as to think he could just acquire God ki through some training with Master Roshi. Or that he could acquire it at all, really.
But it proved that a path to that destination existed. So, he just needed to find the right path; even if he never reached that conclusion, he could still get further than he was now.
"Interesting, tell me more." Master Roshi was intrigued.
"I was thinking about some of the guy's special attacks. Even your Kamehameha. Why is the output exponentially higher than the amount of Ki pushed into it? Krillin's Destructo Disk—he told me that he managed to cut off the tail of Frieza in Frieza's second form. I hadn't seen Frieza's second form, but Krillin said he had a Power level of around a million. And I know you don't like comparing power levels, Master Roshi, but that's not something that can be ignored, right?"
Yamcha took a breath as he blurted out his thoughts all at once.
"What I'm trying to say is, why is it that some Ki attacks have a stronger output compared to the Ki investment? My theory is that, naturally, the quality of Ki can be increased. If it's possible through special Ki techniques, why isn't it possible for someone's innate Ki?"
Master Roshi rubbed his eyes. "There are several flaws in what you said, and your explanation wasn't very good, but I understand what you're trying to say. With my Kamehameha, one plus one is equaling ten. You want to internalize that."
"Exactly." Yamcha nodded. He knew he wasn't voicing his thoughts very well.
"And what's your game plan?" He finally asked.
"I need to go back to the very basics, Master." Yamcha finished. "I need you to teach me as if I were a normal human without any training."
"That's rather difficult; you can't just turn off your 'power level." Master Roshi argued. "Even if I give you the training I've created, you could do it without a sweat, even suppressing your power as much as you could possibly manage."
Yamcha nodded; that was a problem. "Do you know a technique that could force my Ki out, to essentially 'depower' me?"
Master Roshi didn't respond for a moment but ultimately shook his head. "Never thought of something like that before. Never even crossed my mind. To create something like that, it'd probably take me years just to theorize it."
Yamcha had a flash of enlightenment, something he just suddenly recalled. "The Multi Form Technique!" He excitedly blurted out. "It splits your power between each copy with each one made!"
"Hooh, that's not a bad idea." Mater Roshi rubbed his chin. "But it's limited to four. Even a fourth of your power is capable of reducing a city to a wasteland if you wanted, Yamcha."
Yeah, that was still a problem for Yamcha.
"...I could always use the Dragon Balls." He muttered.
"That's an option." Master Roshi acknowledged. "But that seems like a waste, and a misuse of their power, don't you think?"
Again, Yamcha recognized that Master Roshi was correct. He did have other plans to use the Dragon Balls rather than waste them on something like this.
Yamcha's nose scrunched, and he let out a sigh. "I have an idea, Master. I think…Bulma may be able to make something that could help?"
She created a literal time machine; surely a machine that could deplete someone's Ki wouldn't be out of the question, right? It didn't seem like a strange conclusion to make based on Bulma's track record. She made a device that could track the Dragon Ball's unique magical signature. She was able to fix up a scouter, something that measures Ki.
It didn't seem like a stretch by any imagination.
He just…needed to go see Bulma, and things totally still weren't awkward after their breakup at all.
@***@
A/N
I think a lot of people seem to overestimate the Dragon Balls. Don't get me wrong, they're pretty darn powerful, but there are distinct limitations. I've had multiple people say to wish for a Tree of Might. Like, guys, the Tree of Might needs to devour an entire planet's energy to produce fruit. Likewise, an entire Fruit would be more power than the Dragon—created by Kami—would be able to just spontaneously create. That's just an example, and don't take this as me saying Yamcha isn't going to grab some stuff, but it's not going to be a wish fest to ultimate power.
Anyways, just a snippet continuation; it's not part of any normal schedule, and I don't know when or if I'll do another part, just when my muse strikes again.