A/N: Maybe this seems pretty mixed up with ages and stuff...but keep in mind that at that point, Bra was a very little girl and Goten & Trunks were just hitting puberty. That's to give you an idea of the time frame we're moving in.
Disclaimer: as always, I'm NOT the owner of any of the DBZ character. They belong to TOEI and if they were mine....let's not think about it. xD
Chapter 4
It was already 10 in the morning when Bulma returned to the kitchen to get some food. She didn't notice how long she had been in the lab working on the "multiverse traveling machine" (as she called it) until she finished it. The hour wasn't a surprise of course, as she usually had breakfast somewhere between 9 and 10 am, mainly because she worked until late at night….and other times, did "other things" besides work.
When everyone finally gathered for breakfast, Bulma stood up and said…
"Vegeta, Kids, I will organize a barbecue this afternoon because I have an announcement to make."
"Can uncle Tarble and auntie Gure come too?" – said the little Bra as her brother told her that it was impossible they could arrive on such short notice.
"Sure, Bra! Your daddy can do Instant Transmission as well, so don't worry about it" – replied Bulma while staring at Vegeta with her signature menacing look.
The rest of the morning went pretty smooth. Everybody did what they used to do and the woman called all the Z-Gang…well…at least the ones that have phones. Even Bunny was preparing the meat so it would taste delicious cooked directly (well…sort of) on fire.
The afternoon came and with it, the fighters and their families, one by one. First was Tarble and Gure, then the Sons, followed by the Chestnuts and Roshi. A few minutes later, everyone else arrived.
"Oh, by the way, Bulma, this barbecue is delicious!!!"- said Goku with his mouth full of food.
"Enjoy it, Goku. I will make an announcement now" – replied the not-so-young scientist.
After everyone ate their food and talked a bit, Bulma stood up on a table and made the announcement.
"Well guys, first of all, I'm sorry I called you on such short notice, but I'm pretty sure you enjoyed this barbecue I made" – everyone nodded at that statement
"This morning I finished my last creation which I think it will change the way you people train and most importantly, the way we see our world. I built a multiverse traveling machine, which can go from one universe to another".
"You mean there's another me in another universe, Bulma?" – asked curiously Kakarot.
"Of course! And what's more interesting, there could be different stories adapted for each universe, which could be as normal as ours or as weird as our wildest dreams!"
"And how's that machine? Like Trunk's time machine?" – asked Krillin
"Not at all." – answered Bulma – "It's like the teleport pads, but modified. I think 18 would understand how it works".
"Well...what are we waiting for? Let's go!!" – cheered Goten as he got up the table and went straight to Bulma's lab
Everyone followed, in part driven by curiosity and in part driven by the danger that Goten meant to the Brief's lab. He, along his best friend, often got in trouble while they were there, so even if both of them were a bit older, they were nowhere near being mature.
When they arrived at the lab, Bulma turned on the main computer and showed everyone how it worked. Then, she dialed some numbers and letters on the computer and the pad's floor started to glow.
"All right…who's first?" – asked the blue-haired scientist. Everyone looked at each other since no one wanted to be the guinea pig for such a dangerous experiment.
"We'll go" – said both Goten and Trunks. Sure. They weren't the best emissaries from their universe to the others, but then again no one dared to step on the complex contraption the Briefs made.
"All right, kids. I'm going to send you to….fsdk-773, which is very similar to our universe. You two put these on…(handing them a couple of watches with two buttons on them) and whenever you want to return, just press the blue button. Anyway, I implemented a countdown, so the first trips could only last 30 minutes. Plenty enough time to recognize the life support features of the other universe".
The kids put their watches and stepped onto the platform. At first they saw everything normal, but suddenly, they started to watch everything fade and go white. A second later they were at a completely different spot in a different universe.