Timely Arrival

(Happy New Year from me!)

Chapter 17: Dr. Briefs' Quest to Amend His Boredom

Yamcha and Puar lounged on a leather couch in complete comfort, watching interviews of baseball players from different teams on TV. Yamcha heard his phone ringing and looked at the caller.

"H- Huh? Bulma's dad wants to talk to me?" He had a confused expression, while Puar looked curious. He put the phone to his ear. "Hello?"

"Hello, Yamcha! How are you and Puar?" Dr. Briefs responded cordially.

"Hi, Dr. Briefs! Puar and I are doing great after the grappling tournament I won last week! Uh, what's up?"

"Well, I'm busy helping with something at the moment for the kids and Bardock. It gives me something to do, after all. They wanted you to meet with them by the Gravity Chamber."

"...They want me to meet them there, of all places? ...Why?" he asked, completely dumbfounded. He started to get a very bad feeling inside.

"Well, this is between you, me, and the three of them; I told them about your attempt at 300 times gravity years ago," Dr. Briefs stated straightforwardly.

Yamcha fumbled the phone a moment while Puar looked on confused. "Gah! You know about that?!" He admonished himself, "Just great, Yamcha. You really went and blew it all those years ago, after all..."

"Heheh, I certainly do know about it! All things considered, you should have been boasting about your experience. Or at least, that's what I would have done!" Dr. Briefs chuckled. "Back on topic - Do you think you could spare some time to try out the latest gravity room with them?"

"Look, I... I really couldn't. I don't train as often anymore, and-"

"Would you say you're stronger than you were back then?"

This gave Yamcha pause. "Well... yeah, for sure..." he answered thoughtfully.

Dr. Briefs told him, taking on a more serious tone, "What you did was frankly astounding, y'know. If you can survive 300 times gravity for a whole minute, including lifting yourself back up to turn the machine off... Well! Can you imagine the amount of potential the human body, or at least your body, might be hiding? Since it should've realistically killed you, it caused me to think about it for years. It makes me wonder if Tien Shinhan or Krillin could do what you did back then, as well. It's a shame that Tien can't be easily contacted, though."

Dr. Briefs continued, "Not only do I have a doctorate in physics, I also know a lot about other areas of science too. When I saw Trunks challenging Bardock's limits with the gravity, it rekindled my desire to learn about how you did it." 'Since Goku's father struggled at around half of 300 just before,' the scientist thought to himself.

"Therefore, I'm personally requesting for you to train yourself in the Chamber even after today's meet-up. I'll pay you however much is necessary too, for this little side project of mine."

Yamcha was awestruck by the level of praise he was getting from the Dr. Briefs of Capsule Corp. And here he thought he was being forgotten by everybody over there these days. "I... Wow. I get where you're coming from, Dr. Briefs. Alright... I've decided. I'll take you up on that offer! I'll head over to Capsule Corp right away!"

"That's good to hear!" Dr. Briefs responded.

"But, I've got a question," Yamcha began, "That Gravity Chamber's usually used by Vegeta, right? I doubt he'll be pleased to see me of all people using his special training room for myself when he comes back," he said in a concerned tone.