Bad Combination: Prologue

Vegeta was annoyed, though that was hardly surprising. His plans for masochistic training all day in the peace of the Gravity Chamber were interrupted by his daughter's incessant pleas to go shopping. While he had become quite adept at ignoring Trunks, Bulla's requests were always harder for him to ignore. Eventually, as always, he gave in and took his daughter to the mall. After buying her what must have been an entirely new wardrobe (how these Earth women justified having this many clothes he would never understand), they were finally returning back to the Capsule Corps Compound.

Finally.

There were few places on this god-forsaken planet that Vegeta hated more than that human-infested, teenage-filled, loud, obnoxious place called a "mall."

Vegeta hadn't even had time to turn off the bloody car before his daughter had hopped out in her excitement, carrying capsules and bags full of clothes into the house – smiling, skipping and humming to herself. No doubt off to find her mother for a fashion show. Vegeta scowled and hmphed at the idea. Why the hell couldn't either of his kids inherit more of his blood lust? But Vegeta just rolled his eyes and stepped out of the car.

As he crossed the short distance between his car and the door, an overwhelmingly bright light surrounded him and a portal opened up nearby.

"What the f-" was all he managed before being sucked into the bright hole in the fabric of the universe.

"Daddy?" Bulla called, opening the front door and looking outside. She quickly scanned the yard and the car, but saw no sign of her father. "I could have sworn…" She frowned slightly, then shrugged before heading back into the house. Whatever had happened, she was sure her father could handle it…

Goku was flying back to his home, Piccolo and Gohan trailing not far behind. He was mulling over the conversation he had just had with that mysterious purple-haired boy from the future. Trunks. It was mind-boggling enough to think that the boy was Vegeta's son. But Bulma's too? Go figure. If the boy hadn't looked so serious when he said it, Goku probably would've split his side laughing. But it was probably best not to dwell on it. And if there's one thing the Saiyan could easily do, it was put things out of his mind.

Instead he was intently focusing on the idea of fighting two super-strong and super-evil androids. Although the idea worried him somewhat, the promise of such a challenge excited him far more. Better start training… Gotta get stronger… Goku thought with a seriousness he only reserved for food and fighting.

He had only briefly begun to think about the fact that Chichi probably wouldn't be happy that he'd be returning only to immediately take up his training again, and the fact that it would negatively affect his food supply, when a strange portal of blinding yellow light appeared directly in front of the three members of the Z Senshi. All three stopped dead in their tracks, Gohan gapping at the unearthly glow, Piccolo wondering if it was an impending attack, and Goku tilting his head to the side in confusion. The portal expanded, pulling Goku towards it. Before any of them could react, Goku was sucked into it and it closed promptly behind him.

Goten was having lots of fun, but then again, he was did when he sparred with Trunks. Whenever Goten got too rough with the other boys in his class, his mom would just yell at him, then get misty eyed and exclaim how he was "just like his father." But Trunks wasn't nearly as…. breakable as the other kids Goten played with. The two could go all out and not have to worry unless they broke something (be it a vase, a bone, or a poorly placed wall).

The World Martial Arts Tournament was in a couple days, and they had agreed to fight in the junior division. Trunks was confident that he would win, but Goten thought he stood a chance. Either way, he was really excited and knew it would be a TON of fun. Smiling that goofy Son smile, he pulled both hands to his side and began powering up his ki.

"KA…" he started, eagerly preparing his most powerful attack.

Trunks, slightly caught off guard, looked panicked for a fraction of a second, then smiled a very Vegeta-like smirk. Two can play this game, he thought wickedly. "GALLIC…" he yelled, charging up his own, equally powerful attack.

Both attacks were almost fully charged and were seconds away from being fired when a strange portal opened up behind Goten. Goten was so surprised that he instantly powered down his Kamehameha. His surprise turned to absolute horror as he felt his body being pulled into the strange opening. He started screaming and flailing, but it did little good. Trunks ignored his friend's cries, instead taking advantage of… whatever it was that was freaking out Goten and fired his Gallic Gun.

After the smoke from the blast cleared, Trunks noticed Goten was nowhere to be seen. He looked around in confusion. Not seeing or sensing his best friend anywhere, Trunks' mind went blank for a second. "OH MY DENDE," he screamed after a moment. "I JUST BLASTED MY BEST FRIEND INTO ANOTHER DIMENSION!" He wasn't sure which was worse – knowing he had killed his friend… or realizing he'd have to tell his mom and Chichi as much. Even his dad wouldn't be able to protect him. Maybe he could run away to Namek…

Mirai Trunks was just about to get back into his time machine, back to travel back to his own time. The entire Z Senshi had come to bid him a heartfelt, though somewhat somber, farewell. Even his father was being… tolerable. Which was about as good as he could hope for. Trunks smiled, waving good-bye to his friends. Although he was glad to help restore peace to their time line, he couldn't help but feel a little sad, knowing he would never see any of them again.

The bittersweet moment was rudely interrupted by a sudden burst of energy. Above Trunks a portal had formed, starting as a pinprick but rapidly expanding to the size of a car. He vaguely recognized it – it looked somewhat like the portal he encountered whenever he time traveled. But the glow was slightly different, and it was somewhat alarming that it would spread so rapidly from nothing.

Instinctively, he backed away, but was almost immediately pulled in. Caught up in the strange gravitational pull, he began to struggle against it, but to no avail. As soon as he was completely absorbed, the portal vanished as quickly as it had appeared, leaving a very confused Z Senshi behind him.

Bulma was flipping through a magazine, stretched lazily on the large sectional in the living room. She had just finished repairing the Gravity Chamber – AGAIN – for a cranky Vegeta and was taking a well-earned break from her own work. Nothing beat relaxing in her air-conditioned mansion on a hot summer day.

Kami, she thought as she skimmed through an article about micro-cellular degeneration, Vegeta is such a pain in the ASS. Good thing he's cute or I might have to kick him out on his sorry Saiyan ass. See if the Prince of all Saiyans can fix his own damn machine.

Bulma flinched as a bright light appeared outside the window, casting the front yard in an eerie white glow. What the hell… she thought, completely distracted from her magazine. She sprang off the sofa and rushed outside to see what was going on. Hopefully that Saiyan jackass hadn't blasted anything or she really would have to kick him out. She had barely stepped foot outside the door when the portal she hadn't even noticed consumed her screaming form.

Vegeta heard the screams and casually walked over to investigate. Damned if he was going to actually rush over as if he were concerned for the wench. Then why the fuck are you walking over there at all? he asked himself. None of your fucking business, he fumed back at the voice, ignoring the fact that he was indeed telling himself to shut up. Briefly perusing the front yard and living room, he could find no trace of the woman or whatever would have caused her screaming fit. Still annoyed that he had shown even that much interest, he decided not to investigate further, and instead went back to the Gravity Chamber.

"Oh man, this is NOT good." Gohan sighed, completely unsure of what to do with the five figures before him. The five of them rubbed their eyes, looking around at the strange machinery around them, no doubt wondering where they were and what the hell had brought them there. He guessed he had about five seconds before one of them realized he was there and started asking him questions he wasn't quite sure he could answer.

5… 4… 3…

"Boy. Explain. Now."

Gohan sighed again. Vegeta never failed to disappoint. Oh well, five seconds had been a generous estimate anyway.

Vegeta was glowering at him, his arms crossed in that oh-too-familiar stance that Gohan was far too acquainted with. The other four, apparently deciding that Vegeta would know the right person to question, all turned to Gohan. He could tell that they wanted – or in some cases, demanded, an explanation – but he could tell a couple of them didn't recognize him. They must have seen something familiar about him, but they couldn't quite place him.

Vegeta's impatient stare didn't relax in the slightest. Gohan fidgeted slightly, feeling like a little kid back on Namek (which is how he usually felt when Vegeta gave him that look), and hit the small remote in his hands. It blinked weakly once or twice, but did nothing else. He held it up to his ear and shook it gently, hoping nothing inside had come loose when he had hit it. He did hear a faint rattle... He sighed yet again, throwing the useless remote over his shoulder, completely giving up on it.

Bulla is going to kill me…

AN: This is a re-posting of a fic I posted years back. I'm going through it and editing it. I rarely make attempts at humor, so bare with me. Constructive criticism always appreciated.