Chapter Text
Bulma barely slept a wink last night.
Launch showed up at her apartment unannounced, mascara streaked down her cheeks and a bottle of wine clutched in her hand. Her relationship with Tien had been unraveling for weeks, and after giving it everything she had, Launch decided enough was enough. Ending it for good.
So now the only logical thing to do was to drink and drown the heartbreak in a bottle of red wine.
…or two.
It wasn’t until three in the morning that Launch finally passed out drunk on Bulma’s couch, and by 8:30 that same morning, Bulma was struggling to stay awake in her office, nursing a throbbing headache.
Slouched back in her chair, her phone vibrated on the desk. Squinting at the screen, she noticed a new message.
Launch: You still alive?
Bulma: My head is killing me.
Launch: Sorry 😭
Launch: Thanks for letting me crash at your place btw.
Bulma: Anytime. Stay as long as you need.
Launch: Love you! You’re the best! 😘
A groggy laugh escaped as Bulma set her phone back on the desk, nudging aside a stack of coffee-stained papers before sinking back into place in her chair with a long, drawn-out sigh and wondering if she could possibly sneak in a nap.
She barely had time to consider it when Chi-Chi burst into the office without so much as a knock or greeting. Straight to business, as always.
“Your father scheduled a meeting for this morning,” she announced, scrolling through Bulma’s calendar on her tablet.
Bulma lazily dragged her gaze from her laptop to Chi-Chi, her brow furrowing in irritation. She hadn’t even managed to check her emails, much less her schedule, and now there was a meeting?
“What meeting?” she muttered, rubbing her eyes.
Chi-Chi snapped the tablet up, angling the screen toward her. “Conference Room 2 in thirty minutes. No notes and he sent the request...” She glanced back to double-check, lips pressed in a thin line. “Five minutes ago.”
Bulma let out a dramatic groan. Her father had a bad habit of springing last-minute meetings on her, usually wanting her input on something he’d just invented. It didn’t usually bother her, but a little more notice would be nice... especially today when she felt like death itself.
“So, you have no clue what this meeting’s about, then?”
Bulma stood, stretching her arms overhead with a yawn. “Never do.”
She snapped her laptop shut, figuring that the emails could wait since nothing urgent ever came in after finishing one of her projects. Her latest being a handy little radar for tracking concentrated energy sources from afar. And now that it was done, her schedule was clear and she was free to start something new.
Bulma checked the clock and stepped over to the coffee pot, pouring herself another cup and hoping the caffeine would chase off her hangover before this mystery meeting with her father.
Half an hour later, her coffee long gone and the hangover still stubbornly present, Bulma left her office and made her way down Capsule Corp’s brightly lit hallway with Chi-Chi following close behind. As Bulma and Chi-Chi reached the meeting room, they found her father already inside, seated beside a dark-haired, broad-shouldered man. Though his back faced her, there was something oddly familiar about him. The two appeared to be deep in conversation until her father paused mid-sentence, glanced up, and smiled.
“Bulma, Chi-Chi, you’re here.” The men rose from their seats, and her father led them over to the spiky-haired man.
Now standing before him, Bulma took him in. He was tall, muscular, with tanned skin and warm, dark eyes. An X-shaped scar slashed across his left cheek, with wild, spiky black hair that shot out in every direction. Wrapped casually around his waist was a thick brown tail.
Bardock.
She hadn’t seen him in years.
Even after all this time, she remembered his visits to their home vividly. Her father and Bardock had been roommates in college. Her dad was the quiet scientist, while Bardock was a star athlete. Despite their differences, they built a strong friendship that lasted long after college, and Bardock would stop by from time to time to see her father.
Unlike Bulma, Bardock was a Saiyan, known for their naturally higher stamina and brutal strength. Beyond these traits, they also possessed sharper reflexes and heightened senses. Physically, Saiyans were nearly identical to humans, save for their unmistakable monkey-like tails.
“It’s good to see you again, Bulma.”
“Bardock! How have you been?” she asked, smiling as they took their seats around the meeting room table.
“Can’t complain. Still running Planet Sadala Gym, but I just started my own company, Riot Javelin Management, managing MMA fighters.”
“Right now I have three fighters. Two of them are my boys. Raditz and of course, you know, Kakarot.”
She met Kakarot—or Goku as his friends call him—when she was sixteen. Her father had come to her one afternoon and asked if she could tutor him after school. His grades were slipping, and Goku was on the verge of flunking out and getting kicked off the football team. While he wasn’t exactly the brightest kid, his easygoing spirit made it effortless for him to befriend everyone he met, and they became friends shortly after.
And he was his dad’s spitting image, right down to the wild, untamable mess of hair.
The last time she saw him was right before she left for college. They had stayed in touch online over the years, mostly through his endless posts of gym selfies and workout videos. She loved the guy, but at this point, she was this close to unfollowing him the next time he posted another mirror pic flexing his “muscle mass progression.”
Raditz, however, she had never met, but had seen pictures that Goku and Bardock had shown her. The guy was massive, built like a house, taller than both Goku and their dad, with an unruly head of dark black hair that flowed down his back.
The four of them chatted for a while. Her dad reminisced about the "good old days". Bulma gave a quick update on her work at Capsule Corp, and Bardock shared some light family gossip about Goku, Raditz, and his wife, Gine.
Chi-Chi chimed in here and there, her curiosity clear as day in her questions about Goku, especially after Bardock pulled out a few family photos on his phone, which caused a noticeable peak in interest.
Bulma made a mental note to pester her about that later. Chi-Chi had NEVER seemed interested in anyone lately, so Bulma figured she had to jump in on that.
After a moment, waiting for a lull in the conversation, Bulma leaned forward.
“All right, Dad... what’s this really about?” she asked. “You don’t usually call meetings just to catch up and chat.”
He gave her a nod, reaching for one of the manila folders on the table. Opening it, he revealed a spread of blueprints, a handful of notes, and what looked to be a contract.
"So, I bumped into Bardock the other day and we got to talking," Dr. Briefs said, sliding the folder across the table. "He told me about his new business, and it got me thinking... what if Capsule Corp sponsored his team? We could even build some new training equipment like we did with the Titans."
The Titans were a local baseball team Capsule Corp had once sponsored a few years back and her father built them high-tech baseball training gear.
That was also how she met her boyfriend, Yamcha. A Titans player who was shy at first but eventually warmed up and showed more charm.
Unfortunately, it didn’t take long for his more annoying qualities to surface after that.
Bulma straightened in her chair, skimming over the papers.
“This is Kakarot’s first year going pro. Raditz has a few years of experience already, but his contract ended, so now Bardock’s taking over as his manager.” Dr. Briefs continued, “I think this could be a great way for us to help out Bardock and his boys.”
Bardock chuckled. "Honestly, I said no at first, but your father is persistent. Then he showed me those mockups and I couldn’t resist."
“But really, this new gear’s gonna be a game changer for us. With Capsule Corp’s name behind it, the media’s gonna eat it up. Kakarot’s just getting started, so anything that gives him a leg up is huge.”
Bardock paused for a moment, then added. "We also signed a new guy. Tons of talent, a few years of experience, but…we might need to do a little damage control."
“Damage control?” Bulma raised an eyebrow.
“Vegeta, he was under some pretty bad management before signing with us,” His tone shifting just a bit as if he was uncomfortable discussing it. “I won’t get into the details, but with this sponsorship and the new equipment, it might just set him on the right track.”
“That said, he’s stubborn as hell and short-tempered, so we might have our work cut out for us.” He snorted.
“Stubborn and short-tempered, huh?” Bulma shrugged. “I’m sure I’ve handled worse.”
“Well, this one might surprise you, so you’ve been warned.”
Dr. Briefs grabbed a few papers and walked Bulma and Bardock through the contract. He showed them a few mockups, such as a wristband with sensors to track strain and energy output, and some early drone concepts.
Bulma offered tweaks to simplify the designs and suggested a fast, unpredictable drone system to simulate live opponents.
After a few moments, her father paused their intense shop talk and turned to Bulma.
"Now Bulma, the real reason I asked you here is that I want you to take the lead on this. I’ve handled projects like this before, but I think you’re the right person to take this on."
"Oh? Why’s that?" she asked.
"You remember how things went with The Titans? All the press coverage, product deals, and those interviews? I think this one will have more media attention and frankly... I'm getting a little too old to deal with all that nonsense."
“You’re sharp, you handle the public well, and people naturally gravitate toward you. One day you’ll be running Capsule Corp and this will show people you earned it by leading bigger projects and handling the media.”
Bulma hesitated, weighing her options.
She tapped a finger against her chin. She had enjoyed her time with the Titans during her visits. The media attention had been a headache, but it wasn’t anything she couldn’t handle. And getting involved in something different might actually be a nice change of pace, she realized.
“I think it could be fun and building those drones sounds interesting. What the hell, I’ll do it.”
Dr. Briefs nodded, "Good. I was also thinking you could get in touch with Whis. Fill him in and give him Bardock’s information. Having him handle PR could be a huge asset. Might even do Goku and this Vegeta fellow some good."
Whis, her longtime friend and PR manager, handled media and press brilliantly, setting up interviews, articles, commercials, and even a few modeling gigs—which of course were her favorite. If she brought him in, there was no doubt he could do the same for Bardock’s team.
Bulma flipped through the last of the files as she and Bardock wrapped up the final details, signed the contracts, and scheduled a visit to his gym later in the week so he could show her the training space and the spare office she could use. It would give her a chance to meet the team, get a sense of what they needed, and decide which equipment would suit them best.
“I can’t wait to get started,” she said, excitement bubbling up. “And I can’t wait to meet everyone on the team!”