After a few more hours of driving Yamcha once again touched down in front of Capsule corp. As he exited a small robot rolled up to him on a single wheel.
"Greetings, Mr. Yamcha." It spoke out in its high pitched voice. "Ms.Bulma is expecting you in her lab. Please follow me."
Before he could respond the small robot turned and wheeled itself back towards the capsule corp building.
"Efficient as always" he mused, following behind the little robot.
Truthfully he was looking forward to seeing Bulma again. After going so long focusing on his training with Roshi, he only had the day of the 23rd tournament before his self imposed exile. After that, they only had a single day to talk to her before he took off for Korin's tower.
All in all he'd only seen Bulma two days in the past three and a half years. With his new outlook on life he was excited to fully reconnect.
By now he was entering Bulma's lab, the woman herself under a half disassembled space pod.
"Yo!" he called out, doing his best not to startle her. "I brought some stuff for you to look into. Figured you might like the chance to investigate some magic beans."
Bulma looked up from her work and raised an eyebrow, "Magic beans?" She asked skeptically. "What, did you sell your cow for them?"
He chuckled as the scientist got up from her work. Reaching into his pocket he pulled out two capsules and retrieved their contents.
"First and foremost," he started, handing over a vial of noxious purple liquid, "This is a sample of the ultra divine water."
Bulma gingerly took the vile and brought it over to a large computer with an open section to place containers. Gently placing the vial inside, she closed the clamps to secure the vile and closed the glass covering.
As Yamcha watched on, intrigued, a small needle shot out from the top of the machine. It pierced through the cork on the top and into the toxic liquid.
"This machine will analyze the contents and construct a profile to compare to similar poisons." She began explaining, "It will hopefully start us out in the right direction and cut down on research time. Yamcha's keen eyesight caught the liquid drain out slightly before the needle retracted, and the covering opened back up.
Bulma retrieved the vile and turned away from the machine, and walked towards what Yamcha guessed was a cabinet for cold storage.
"I'll hold it here for now. Once the analysis is done I'll call in as many medical experts as I can to start finding a cure."
Placing the container inside she turned back to Yamcha. "Now," She said, hands on hips, "what's all this about magic beans?"
He chuckled as he took out a senzu from the pouch Korin gave him.
"Here," he handed it over. "This is a senzu bean. Magical healing, and full of enough energy to keep Goku fed for a week."
Taking the offered bean Bulma chuckled, "If they can keep Goku full they must be magic."
They both laughed at the thought as Bulma brought the bean over to a research bench. She placed it in a sealed container and turned back to him.
"So, how was meeting God?"
He laughed, "Technically it was two, and one strange genie guy that may or may not be some kind of outer god."
Bulma just looked at him confused before they both laughed at the absurdity of what he just said.
After a strange talk of everything that went down on the lookout, Yamcha looked over to the spacepod he had delivered the last time he was here.
"So how goes the research into alien tech?" He asked.
She immediately lit up at the question. "It's great!" What followed was an incredibly detailed breakdown of the difficulties of space travel, strange composites of materials he'd never heard of, and a whole host of other topics that he had little to no frame of reference for.
When she finished he looked just as confused as she had when talking about gods and spiritual energy control. She laughed, somewhat embarrassed about how long she had rambled.
Before she could continue Yamcha perked up at something she had mentioned.
"Wait, you said something about artificial gravity control right?"
She was a little surprised that he had actually picked up on anything she was just talking about.
"Yeah?" She began, "There is a mechanism that simulates gravity on the passenger for extended deep space travel."
Yamcha got a little bit excited about an idea he'd been thinking of.
"Do you think you could replicate it?" He asked. She looked a little confused about the request, but before she could ask he continued. "In some of the memories I got there were these seals that could confer various effects."
He paused for a second, trying to come up with an appropriate comparison.
"Think of seals kind of like a coding language, but when they are powered on with spiritual energy they affect reality."
She nodded, intrigued about the possibilities.
"I'm working on trying to adapt them to work with ki, but for now I can't use them." He was a little disappointed that he hadn't made any progress yet, but it had only been a month, and even Neji was no seal master.
"Anyway," he continued, "One of the training methods I read about was a seal that added gravity to the body, it builds speed and muscle, and with ki it keeps the body from being damaged from the added stress."
Realization dawned on Bulma now.
"You're telling me you want to simulate gravity for training?"
"Exactly," Yamcha nodded, leaning forward on the workbench. "When you analyzed mine and Goku's bodies you said we could both handle higher gravity, with his body being even better suited to it than mine." He began explaining his plan. "If Goku trains under heavier gravity, his body will adjust even faster. I figured… if we can create a field strong enough to pressurize the body safely, we could multiply training efficiency for everyone up to tenfold!" He finished, excited now.
"It could be exactly what we need to get ahead of whatever's coming!"
Bulma tapped her chin, a grin already forming. "Tenfold, huh? That's the kind of reckless idea I like."
She turned to her console and began hammering at the keyboard, blueprints flashing across the screen. "The ship's system used an internal artificial gravity stabilizer. It's designed for 1.5 G max so the crew doesn't lose bone density. What you're talking about would need something way more powerful, adjustable fields, reinforced housing, maybe an internal dampening ring…"
She trailed off, eyes narrowing as her brain started sprinting ahead of her words. "Yeah. Yeah, we can do it. I could repurpose one of the old training chambers Dad used for strength-testing materials. If I link the stabilizer to a variable generator, I can push the gravity as high as the structure will allow."
Yamcha smiled; he'd missed this. Watching Bulma think was like watching fireworks: bright, noisy, and beautiful.
"Just don't blow yourself up," he teased.
Bulma shot him a mock glare over her shoulder. "Please. I only blow things up when I mean to."
They laughed, the sound filling the lab, the years apart suddenly not feeling so long.
Hours passed in comfortable chaos. Bulma worked with her usual manic energy, calling for wrenches and cables, sketching on holographic blueprints, and occasionally pausing to mutter equations under her breath. Yamcha helped where he could, holding tools, lifting heavy panels, and pretending to understand the jargon.
After a crash course in wiring and soldering, Bulma was surprised that Yamcha actually seemed like a natural. The telescoping effect of his byakugan gave him an inhuman level of precision.
Eventually, as she adjusted the stabilizer ring, she said without looking up, "You know, you could stay here while I work on this."
He blinked. "At Capsule Corp?"
"Yeah. You're already helping with Goku's cure, and you'll need a place to test the chamber once it's built. Besides…" she smirked, "someone's got to taste my cooking when Mom's out shopping."
"Cooking? You cook now?"
"I can cook. I just prefer not to."
They both laughed again.
He thought about it for a moment. The idea of having somewhere peaceful that wasn't a mountaintop, a temple, or a desert actually sounded… nice. "Sure," he said finally. "I'd like that."
Later, as Bulma continued to work, Yamcha wandered through the familiar halls of Capsule Corp. The place hadn't changed much, still absurdly clean, still buzzing with life and machines that had no right to exist. He stopped by a window overlooking the city. The skyline glowed under the evening sun, a mix of glass, clouds, and Capsule domes.
"Three and a half years…" he thought. "It's strange seeing the world still moving while you've been standing still."
He remembered Roshi's voice warning him not to chase perfection; Kami's lesson that stillness and action were the same breath. He exhaled slowly, a small self deprecating smile spreading on his face. "Guess I can learn balance after all."
"Talking to yourself again?" Bulma's voice came from behind him. She leaned against the doorframe, wiping oil from her cheek with the back of her hand.
"Old habit," he said, turning. "How's the prototype?"
She sighed dramatically. "Prototype concept. I'll need a few days to convert the old chamber. The math's fine, I just need parts that won't compress into a pancake when I crank the generator past three Gs."
"Want me to pick up anything?"
Bulma looked at him, surprised. "You'd run errands for me?"
"I did climb a thousand-mile tower for a cat once," he reminded her.
She snorted. "Fair point. You can start by fetching dinner. Mom's out, and I'm starving."
Dinner at Capsule Corp was a comfortable kind of chaos. Mrs. Brief had left a note saying "beef stew in the fridge, darling" accompanied by an army of side dishes, all perfectly labeled. Yamcha reheated the stew while Bulma tinkered with a handheld gravimeter at the table.
"So," she said between spoonfuls, "this water from Korin, it really almost killed Goku?"
"Yeah," Yamcha nodded. "He told me it was the hardest test of his life. I think that poison never fully left him. It's eating away at his heart slowly."
Bulma frowned, setting down her spoon. "Then we'd better hurry. The analysis says the compound structure's alien, It doesn't match any kind of poison discovered on earth. It's not even chemical in the traditional sense; it behaves like it's alive."
"That fits," Yamcha said. "It was divine water, not normal poison. Maybe it reacts to life force instead of cells."
Bulma's eyes lit up again, the look of a scientist handed a new mystery. "If that's true, then normal antidotes won't work. But if I can find the energy wavelength it responds to, I might be able to design a way to neutralize it. It'd be like canceling out sound with opposite sound waves."
He grinned. "You're amazing, you know that?"
She tried to look modest and failed completely. "Well, I am the smartest woman on the planet."
The next morning came early. Yamcha was up before sunrise, jogging laps around the Capsule grounds in his weighted clothes. The city lights dimmed as dawn painted the sky orange. For the first time in years, he wasn't training alone in the desert or on a mountaintop, he was training among life. Cars hummed in the distance, people stirred awake, and he could feel their collective rhythm through his ki.
When he finished his last lap, Bulma was waiting at the entrance with a mug of coffee and a datapad. "You're insane," she said, handing him the mug.
"Thanks."
"I meant that as an insult."
"I'll take it as a compliment."
She rolled her eyes but smiled anyway. "The good news is I've got the gravity modulator running. The bad news is it's bolted to the floor of my old materials chamber and is currently humming like it wants to explode."
"So... first test?"
"Obviously."
They entered the wide, reinforced training hall, a relic from one of her father's old experiments. Cables and machinery lined the walls, and in the center sat a circular platform covered in emitters. Bulma tapped at her control pad, and the room came alive with a deep mechanical hum.
"I'll start you at 1.5 G," she said. "Baby steps."
The moment she hit the switch, Yamcha felt the pull. His knees bent slightly as his muscles tensed to keep him upright. He steadied his breathing, sinking into his stance.
"Good," Bulma said, watching readings spike across the monitor. "Now 2 G."
The pressure doubled. Yamcha's muscles screamed, but his ki flared instinctively to stabilize him. Sweat rolled down his temple.
"2.5!" Bulma called.
He grinned through clenched teeth. "You trying to crush me already?"
"Science waits for no man!"
He pushed through, letting the energy flow through every cell, reinforcing bone and muscle the way Kami had taught him. After another minute she powered the system down, and the world snapped back to normal gravity.
Yamcha collapsed onto one knee, breathing hard but laughing. "That's incredible," he said. "Felt like every muscle was trying to adapt to the change."
Bulma was still watching the readouts, awe creeping into her voice. "Your body adapted almost immediately… even if the others don't adapt as fast… Yamcha, this could revolutionize how everyone trains."
"Let's test the revolution tomorrow," he panted. "Today, I think I'll settle for dinner and a bed."
Bulma closed her tablet, smiling. "Good. Because you're officially staying here. Mom already made up a guest room."
"Did she now?"
"She's convinced we're secretly dating," Bulma said with a smirk.
Yamcha froze. "We're not?"
She rolled her eyes again, but her cheeks turned faintly pink. "Just take the room, hero."
That night, Capsule Corp was quiet except for the faint hum of the new gravity chamber and the distant purr of the city. Yamcha lay on the guest bed, staring at the ceiling. His muscles ached pleasantly, like after a good work out.
"A month ago I thought my story was over," he thought. "Now it feels like it's just starting again."
Outside, Bulma's lab still glowed through the window. He could see her silhouette pacing, adjusting dials, scribbling notes. Her drive reminded him of his own. She was relentless, brilliant, and a little reckless.
He smiled, closed his eyes, and let the hum of the machines lull him toward sleep.
Tomorrow would bring more training, more science, more unknowns, and for the first time in a while, he was looking forward to all of it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~A/N: I'm back! Sorry for the delay on this chapter. I had an idea for a new story that kept distracting me. I think I wrote about 4 chapter 1's. I'm going to get a neat little backlog on it before I upload. I'll leave an authors note as soon I decide to upload. Thanks for the powerstones and comments everyone! It's awesome to see support for my first story.