Capsule Corporation
"I just hate that I'm missing the tournament." Goku said as he did a hand-stand on the Capsule Corporation lawn. Though he was now fully grown (at 18 years old!) he still acted very much like a child. Bulma mumbled something from her spot underneath the spaceship on her lawn, currently unable to speak because of the screwdriver she held between her teeth.
"I mean, the reporters have been building it up for weeks! The great Tien-Goku rematch that everyone's been waiting for!" Goku flipped back onto his feet, performing a few punches to the air. Bulma stopped what she was doing and rolled out from underneath the spaceship, spitting out the screwdriver (which she had been holding in her mouth) onto the lawn.
"Goku, people are dead!" She yelled, causing Goku to stop what he was doing and turn to look at her. Bulma wiped some grease off of her face - she had just been working on the engine. Goku sighed, dramatically falling over and sitting with his legs cross-legged. He sighed, closing his eyes for a second.
"I know." He closed his eyes for a moment, "But it's been three years! And we don't even know what we are doing!" Goku opened his eyes, and it was clear that he was frustrated. Now it was Bulma's turn to sigh and she turned and walked over to where Goku was sitting on the ground. She bent down on her haunches, looking at the boy she had known for six years now.
"There HAS to be something out there. Something like Shenron? There's gotta be aliens involved." Bulma said, and Goku laughed in response. A big, large gut laugh with tears coming out of his eyes. Bulma gave him an annoyed look in response, standing up and putting her hands on her hips.
"Aliens!?" Goku opined between tears of laughter. Bulma's brow furrowed even deeper.
"Duh! You don't think you're an alien!? With that crazy tail of yours?" She tried to tell him, but he was still laughing, "You turn into a GIANT APE!" Goku finally stopped laughing, slowly of course. He wiped away his tears and Bulma stood there tapping her foot.
"Look, you're smartest person I know. If you think we can bring our friends back by looking for a second set of Dragon Balls in space, then I'm going to go with you." Goku said seriously now. The wind blew his gigantic hair gently. Bulma stood up straight again, turning to look at the ship that she had built.
"Do you miss them?" She asked, eyes roaming the entire ship for any possible defect. Goku stood up, walking next to her and looking at the ship with it's large "Capsule Corp." emblazoned on the side.
"Every day. I hate King Piccolo for what he took from us." Goku said, placing a hand on Bulma's shoulder. It was strange for her, as she was so used to Goku being shorter than her. She turned to her young friend with a sad smile on her face.
"At least it will be like old times. You, me, and Yamcha; searching for Dragon Balls." Bulma said.
"In space." Goku replied, looking up at the sky in wonder. They stood there for a second.
"Speaking of, where is Yamcha!?" Goku said, turning to look at the Capsule Corp building.
"He should be here by now…" Bulma said, following Goku's gaze and walking back towards the building.
"EEEKKK!" Bulma yelled in unison with a window breaking almost right in front of them. The source of the break was Yamcha, now lying in front of the duo. He had multiple bruises all over his face and looked like he had been in a pretty serious fight.
"You!" Goku said as he looked at the broken window where a familiar three-eyed bald man stood. Tien's green uniform swayed slightly in the wind and Goku sprang towards him with fists raised.
"Wait!" Tien held up his hands, but otherwise didn't try to defend himself. Goku stopped a few feet in front of him, fists still raised in preparation for a fight.
"Give me one good reason!" He said through gritted teeth. Farther down the lawn, Bulma leaned over the beaten Yamcha with worry in her eyes. The former bandit half-opened one eye to look up at Bulma, hair surrounded by the light of the sun.
"I never saw it coming, just crossed the street and wham…." Yamcha said lazily, falling back into the darkness of unconsciousness. Bulma looked up, hoping that Goku was finally getting that rematch that he had wanted. What she saw instead was Goku and Tien talking intently. She stood up, walking quickly over to them.
"What the hell is going on here!?" Bulma yelled, standing next to Goku. Tien gave her a look that Bulma misinterpreted as fear - fear of her. Goku turned to Bulma, a guilty look on his face.
"So, Tien is going into space with us." Goku said, scratching his head and awkwardly laughing. Bulma gave a shocked gasp, looking between the two of them. She looked about ready to fight both of them at once. Tien held up his hands in defense of himself.
"Hey hey! I just found this little thief on the side of the road after he got into a car accident. I was bringing him here to you when he mentioned what you guys are doing. And I'm going. You're not the only one who lost people to King Piccolo." Tien said, giving Bulma a moment's pause. Tien put his hands down, looking more confident and serious now.
"That thief over there didn't lose anything. If anyone has a right to go up there, it's me!" Tien explained. Goku nodded, seeming to agree with him.
"That thief is my boyfriend, you bald-headed jerk!" Bulma responded, exasperated. Goku and Tien just stared at her for a few seconds. Bulma wondered if she had just slipped into a mirror world where Tien and Goku were actually friends.
"Ugh, fine!" Bulma conceded. She turned and pointed a finger at Yamcha. Goku nodded, flying over to him and giving a senzu bean to the fallen warrior. Within moments Yamcha was completely fine and Goku helped him up.
"You could have done all that first." Yamcha said as Goku led him inside and sat him down. Bulma turned to Tien.
"Look, dude. I hope you're packed, because we're leaving now!" Bulma said and she stalked back over to the spaceship as the ramp lowered just for her. Tien gulped, following quietly afterward. He lugged a duffel bag along with him as he floated up the ramp of the ship. He shook his head as he saw Bulma again, already changed into her space suit and with the grease wiped off of her face.
"Sleeping quarters are over there. The master was going to be for Yamcha and I, but now that you are here you can share a spot with Goku." Bulma said as she pointed into what had to have been one of the smallest room's Tien had ever seen, with only a single toilet and a mat on the floor where Goku presumably intended to sleep. She gestured at the room they were currently in.
"This is the control room, obviously. We'll fly the ship from here." She pointed at the center console, surrounded by three chairs, "There's a food dispenser on the wall. It's processed, but it will be easy to find things to fuel it. Down there is the training room."
Bulma led Tien down the hall past the bedrooms to a glass door. Beyond it was a half-dome room that was otherwise completely empty. Bulma quickly disappears back to the pilot's room, but Tien lingers on the training room. He soon becomes aware of a presence behind him.
"Do you miss him?" Goku asks, referring to Chiaotzu, Tien's friend who died three years ago during the King Piccolo attack. Tien nodded.
"Honestly I wasn't going to the tournament, either. I just don't have it in me anymore…. But I would do anything to bring my friend back." TIen held up his fist in a dramatic fashion. Goku smiled, placing his hand on Tien's shoulder.
"I miss Krillin, too. He and I trained together at Master Roshi's when we were children… It seems so long ago. But I know it's my duty to make sure he makes it back here." Goku said, the fire in his eyes now matching that of Tien's.
"Ugh. You two should get a room, why don't you try that one?" Bulma scoffs as she walks past them, gesturing to the training room. The two boys (because at 21 and 18 that's really what they are, aren't they?) run into the training room and begin powering up - finally their long-awaited rematch, but not under the circumstances they intended. The lights in that room dim as the rest of the ship lights up and Bulma smiles as she sits at the cockpit. Though the ship could run fully on it's own, it also has a very light and passive energy absorption unit in the training room. She figured the ever active Goku could at least contribute to the ship's running and not be a total free loader.
There's Chapter 1. Warning, Goku will be extremely OOC because I'm going to write him as a human being and not the bastardization of his character we got later in the series.