Bulma lazily spun around in her revolving chair, tinkering with an outdated piece of tech. It was just one of many obsolete gadgets that now cluttered her desk along with old blueprints and miscellaneous tools and materials. The scientist's mission to deep clean her lab was put on hold once again as Bulma instead decided to reminisce over long-forgotten technology dug up from the dustier cabinets in her workshop.
It wasn't as if she didn't want to clean her lab. The lack of cleanliness and organization often led to problems whenever the planet (or universe) was in urgent need of one of her inventions. However, an organized lab was a luxury that she didn't have the time or habits to make a reality. The busy scientist saw potential in every piece of scrap metal to come into her possession, so time had turned her workspace into a conglomerate of useless odds and ends. She, of course, had the money and resources to hire a team to do the task for her, but she trusted no one enough to responsibly tidy up her possessions. If the genius wanted the chore done right, she would have to do it herself.
In the end she was an engineer- not a maid- so the task of organizing was put on hold so Bulma could fawn over the creations of her younger self. The inventions ranged from her elementary school days to her time collecting the dragon balls with Goku and the others. They were impressive for any scientist, let alone a child.
Bulma turned her attention back to the mess on her desk. Most of the supplies were ray guns or vehicles being stored in antiquated capsules. Cerulean eyes scanned over the mess until they landed on what appeared to be a watch with two buttons adorning the face. Bulma picked up the trinket and examined it, gradually recalling its use to her adventures many years ago.
The Micro Band was created to allow Bulma to fly on Nimbus with Goku. The cloud refused to allow her to ride on it due to the heinous crime of being too beautiful. So Bulma did what she typically did when gods, dragon balls, or magical clouds failed her; she resorted to science. In the end, the invention had been given to Master Roshi in exchange for a submarine needed to retrieve a dragon ball from the depths of the ocean.
It was only days later when the hermit returned the watch to her, saying it was "more trouble than it was worth." The heiress shuddered at the thought of what he had meant by that.
Still, the Micro Band was an incredible gadget even for the prodigy that was Bulma Briefs. The watch acted similarly to a DynoCap. It took a significant amount of mass and stored it in a way that would take up a more manageable amount of space and weight. In this case, that particular mass was about 94% of the user's own body. For Bulma, that meant she would shrink to about three inches in height.
She wondered if it still worked.
The scientist wrapped the bracelet around her left wrist and hesitated. The device was decades old by now. It had been forgotten about in the bottom of a cabinet and collected dust for years. It probably wasn't her best idea to just slap it on her arm and test it out.
…Then again, patience wasn't the heiress's strong suit and this wouldn't be the first time she pressed buttons at random to see what kind of results she would get.
To hell with it, she thought, and pressed the large blue button on the face of the watch.
Vegeta balanced himself upside down, bearing all of his weight on a single digit. The gravity chamber was running at its usual power, but a pair of wristbands created by his wife added an additional strain of gravity to his workout. Her creation would supplement his training without burdening the machine itself. All in all, it was a typical day of training, so the prince's attention started drifting towards other thoughts.
Vegeta's mind never used to wander during his time training. Everything in his life had been dedicated to discipline, power, and the goal of surpassing Frieza (and later, Kakarot). There was simply nothing else for the prince to focus on.
Then he met the woman, who screeched her way into his mind and made herself an infuriating distraction. The prince hadn't just blamed her though; he spent years filled with self-loathing, angry at his mind for succumbing to the pull these newfound relationships increasingly had on it. Vegeta's years on Earth had muddled his priorities, and until his sacrifice against Buu he felt a significant amount of resentment for the effect a handful earthlings could have on him. Now was different- he was different.
Vegeta stayed perfectly balanced, working to adjust his body to the increased gravity the new equipment provided. As a daily habit of his routine, he closed his eyes and started seeking out the energies belonging to his family. The second largest ki on the compound belonged to the older half Saiyan that resided there. Trunks had recently turned 15, and like many Saiyans, he developed from a child to an adult almost overnight. The teenager matured physically and mentally, receiving a significant power boost in the process.
This breakthrough was currently being squandered, however, as Trunks' ki was currently lazing around near one of near equal strength. Like most things regarding the duo, Goten was not far behind in his maturity into Saiyan adulthood. Vegeta grimaced, noticing the two energies resting in one of Capsule Corp.'s game rooms the pair enjoyed wasting time in. A new disinterest in training coincided with this new step in the two brats' lives, and Vegeta was none too pleased with his son's slacking off.
He would deal with that later as his attention was drawn to a smaller, yet striking energy currently near the edges of their residence. A hint of a smile touched the corners of the Saiyan's lips as he felt his daughter's loud and unpredictable ki. Bulla was spending her day with Bulma's mother and father- something she did any day her own parents were busy in the lab or training room. It was unclear how long this tradition would last though, as Bulla was just over a year old and already running to and from everyplace she went. Her mother made it a point to remind him that his training with Trunks began the day the boy learned how to walk, something that the Saiyan was reluctant to repeat with his second child. Though he would never admit it, Vegeta was perfectly content with allowing Bulla to spend her days learning to bake cakes with her grandmother, or helping to take care of the creatures Dr. Briefs spent his time rescuing. Training could always wait…
Finally, Vegeta settled his concentration on a particularly weak ki that was currently dwelling within the labs of Capsule Corp. It was small, fragile, and nearly indistinguishable from the energies belonging to the other creatures roaming this mud ball of a planet; and yet it was more precious than any energy in this universe combined (outside of those of his children, of course). It was the ki he regularly sought out during his early days of settling on Earth, belonging to the one who produced two children with more power and potential than anything seen in the history of the Saiyan race. It was an energy comparable to that of a common insect, and yet its owner found herself as one of the multiverse's greatest influencers; someone who made friends with and domesticated the most powerful beings in existence.
The prince regularly found himself locking onto his mate's ki. The feeling was comforting and second only to her physical touch. It was common for him to fret over how tragically delicate it was in comparison to those with Saiyan blood, as if it could disappear at any moment. So long as he lived, the prince would never allow that to happen.
In that moment, Bulma's ki disappeared completely.
Vegeta was upright, firing a ki blast into the console of the gravity machine and another at the door to the hallway. Though Bulma might kill him, it was much faster to activate the fail-safe systems than to walk over and shutdown the gravity manually. He found himself soaring through the curved corridor, his mind flying almost as fast as he was. There was no spike in fear before Bulma's energy had disappeared, nor had it slowly faded away like it would if she had been dying; and yet it was nowhere to be felt from as far as his senses could reach.
The Saiyan burst through a wall into the scientist's lab, powered up and ready to face what he found inside.