Since she was still only eighteen, Bulla knew the wine would be off-limits. When her mom was hosting she could usually get away with sneaking some anyway, but that was a big no-no at Chi-Chi's house. She still remembered a couple years prior, at Pan's high school graduation party , when she thought she was being stealthy. Turned out Chi-Chi was watching her the whole time, and she was forced to spend the rest of the party on clean-up duty. Before they left, Chi-Chi had gotten Bulma and Vegeta to promise to send her to rehab, which luckily never came to fruition since her mom later admitted to doing the same thing at her age.
So this time Bulla came prepared to the full day engagement party. She placed her several liters of Coca-Cola in the drinks fridge, made sure to open them up in front of Chi-Chi and take a hearty swig, then once the overbearing woman got distracted and looked away, Bulla would pull out one of the several flasks of rum she tucked away in her bra to top it off.
It wasn't ideal, but it made it far more tolerable to sit through a day of family and friends reminiscing yet again about fight stories she'd heard a million times before, that all happened before she was even born.
Aside from Chi-Chi, Videl and Pan were the only other ones there when they arrived. Luckily, Chi-Chi had pretty much everything already set up at that point, so helping out didn't take too long. Afterward, Chi-Chi recruited Bulma and Videl to help her in the kitchen, leaving Bulla and Pan free to hang out and welcome the other guests as they arrived.
"So how excited are you for your date?" Pan asked, sipping at the wine she was just old enough to drink in front of Chi-Chi.
"I honestly haven't been this excited for a date since middle school. I know it's dumb since I barely know him, and from what I've seen there's every chance he's a total sleazeball, but it's such a nice change of pace from all the typical boys who forget how to talk and jizz in their pants whenever they get close to me."
"Love how modest you are, Bulla. At least you can get guys to talk to you. I'm just an invisible tomboy to most of them."
Bulla took a hearty pull from her rum and coke. "That's bullshit, girl. I've seen plenty of guys trying to talk to you, but you always ignore them because they're not HIM. With the way you talk about your mystery crush, he must be the sexiest, smoothest guy in the multi-verse. If I ever meet him, I might just have to steal him from you."
Pan giggled. "Oh, I'm not too worried about that. Let's just say you're not his type."
Bulla put a hand to her chest in mock offense, but before they could continue their conversation, Marron and 18 arrived, prompting Chi-Chi and the others to gleefully cry out and welcome them.
"There's my little guest of honor! Oh Marron, you look just as beautiful as your mother! My Goten is such a lucky boy!"
Marron blushed. "You're too sweet, Chi-Chi. Your home looks beautiful, as always. You really didn't need to do all this just for my little old engagement party!"
"Of course I did! And this is nothing, just wait until you see the decoration and feast I have planned for the wedding in a couple of months!"
"Where's Krillin?" Bulma chimed in. "Not working, I hope!"
18 sighed. "He's just wrapping up a few things and he'll be right over. There's a lot going on with those party deaths from last weekend."
"What a tragedy," Videl said. "I'm just glad our girls are smart enough to avoid places like that."
Bulma shot a dirty look over at Bulla and Pan. "Same here, it would be a damn shame if our little girls were foolish enough to get tangled up in that dangerous lifestyle."
The two girls scratched the back of their heads and let out awkward laughs. Marron looked over to them.
"I am SO glad you two could make it today too, always nice to see my sisters!"
Bulla forced a smile and nodded, probably a bit too enthusiastically. Luckily, Videl chimed in again before she had to come up with some sort of too-nice reply.
"I understand Krillin being a bit late because of work, but where is Goten? This is just as much his party as yours, Marron."
Marron smiled. "He should be here anytime. We talked this morning and he told me that he'd fly over with Trunks as soon as they're done with their morning training session."
"Ugh, men! I swear, Goten is his father's son alright! You just say the word Marron, and I'll track him down and drag him back by his spiky little Saiyan hair if I have to!"
"Thank you Chi-Chi, but that won't be necessary. I know how important his training is to him, and it will all pay off if this wonderful time of peace ever comes to an end. I'm just happy when he's happy."
Chi-Chi teared up, and the other women all let out an 'aww.'
"You are such a sweetheart, Marron! I'm so excited to have you become an official member of the family soon!"
After that, the group naturally split off the way it usually did - Marron conversing with the older women, and Pan and Bulla back on the couch, keeping to themselves. Bulla grabbed another liter of Coke from the fridge, and mixed it while Pan mocked her for it.
"If we're being honest here, I still can't believe your uncle Goten is getting married to her."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"I just never really thought she was his type. We both know Goten's a cocky asshole, and he's hot enough to pull it off. Who knows how many of his past co-stars he's boned on set. Then one day he just up and decides to settle down with her? I mean, who are we kidding, she might have her mother's hair but she definitely got her stubby little body and looks from her dad."
"Bulla!"
"I'm not trying to be mean. It is what it is."
Pan rolled her eyes. "She's super pretty, Bulla. And that's far from all that matters anyway. Goten needs someone like her in his life to keep him grounded. I feel like you've just had a problem with her since she called you out last year for trying to date three guys at the same time."
"So not true! She just reminds me more of your grandma than her mom, but maybe what they say is true, and guys really do end up married to someone just like their mother."
Piccolo and Krillin were the next to show up, and after Krillin voiced his displeasure about Goten still not being there, Chi-Chi suggested they move the party to the picnic tables outside. Once out there, Tien, Chiaotzu, Yajirobe, Puar, and Yamcha all arrived as well.
Bulla tried to avoid eye contact with Yamcha as he walked by her toward where the snacks and drinks were, but like usual, he made a comment anyway.
"Pan, good to see you! And Bulla, great to see you! You're looking more like your gorgeous mother every day!"
She forced a smile and thanked him, before dragging Pan away by the arm. "See Pan, I told you he's a super creep!"
When Mr. Satan showed up, sans Buu, Pan ran up and gave him a hug.
"Grandpa! You made it!"
"Well of course I did! Your dad is my son-in-law after all, and that makes Goten part of the family too! Speaking of, where is the little bugger?"
"He's off training," Bulla said.
"Typical Saiyan! Guess they know that they have to stay on top of their game if they ever want to be as strong as me!" He flexed, and the girls giggled.
"Where's Buu?" Pan asked.
"Oh, he's napping of course! It's hard enough to keep him awake and cooperating all day on set, but all the pudding and puppies definitely help! Can only ask so much of the big guy though!"
As the day wore on, Bulla worked up more of a buzz, and soon she and Pan were happily socializing with the others, even asking for details on the old stories they'd each heard countless times before. Yamcha and Tien reminisced on the days back when they actually posed a threat to Goku, Videl joked about how Gohan always used to try and impress her as the Great Saiyaman, Bulma spilled a bit of wine as she lost herself in tales of her crush on Vegeta growing while they were on Namek together, and even Yajirobe joined in on the nostalgia with his dramatic retelling of the time he hacked off Vegeta's tail, saved the Earth, and how if it wasn't for that Vegeta wouldn't have become the guy Bulma fell in love with.
"By the way, he's not around right now listening, is he? I don't think he likes that story as much as I do." Yajirobe scanned the area anxiously, giving the others a good laugh.
Bulma shook her head. "He's not here now, but he should be getting back anytime now. No way Goku and Beerus will let his obsession with training get in the way of sharing in the delicious feast Chi-Chi is cooking up for us all!"
Krillin scowled. "At this rate, they'll get here before Trunks and Goten do. It's not right, this is an important day, and they should all be here. Especially Goten!"
Marron just smiled, but it was obvious that she too was growing a bit impatient about Goten's absence.
Piccolo, who as usual had been mostly quiet to that point, stepped forward.
"I can sense their energy not too far from here. They've been going at it for quite some time now. If he's anything like his father, he can easily lose track of time while he's training. Maybe he just needs a friendly reminder. I'd be happy to be that reminder."
"Thanks, Piccolo." Krillin said.
Marron smiled at him and voiced her thanks as well, and he flew off without another word. There was a short silence afterwards, which Bulma eventually broke after downing her glass of wine.
"Well as long as we're all sitting here waiting for the rest of the boys, I have something to show you guys!"
She dug around in her purse, pulled a capsule case out, then pulled a hot pink capsule from it and clicked it as she threw it out in front of her. After the puff of smoke cleared, its contents were revealed - an ancient-looking ornate mirror, which stood at least ten feet tall and six feet wide. Its glass surface was too foggy for anyone to make out a clean reflection, and at the top of the gold trim which twisted all along its edges, there was a spherical socket.
"Uh, Bulma, it's nice and all, but with all your money don't you think you could afford a fancier wedding present?" Yamcha said, rubbing his chin.
Bulma growled, then knocked him to the ground with a punch to the back of his head.
"Of course this isn't my present for Marron, you idiot! This is an ancient artifact that I found at an auction near my latest inventor's conference! And I'll have you know, it cost more money than your bum-ass will ever make!"
"Well I think it's pretty neat!" Mr. Satan said, backing away slowly. "But knowing you guys, it's probably super dangerous!"
"Nonsense!" Bulma countered, not all that convincingly. "I mean the old monk who put it up for sale DID say that that if you had the key to unlock it, that you could peer into a whole different world, but he assured me that it was a beautiful place! What reason would he have to lie?"
With that comment, the others began to back away as well. Bulla, being her mother's daughter (and a bit drunk), was the only one to step forward.
"Sounds cool to me, mom! I bet you have the key so we can test it out, too!"
Bulma winked. "You bet I do! At least I think I do..." She reached back into her purse, and pulled out the One-Star Dragon Ball for everyone to see. "What do you say guys? You gotta admit, it outta be more interesting than just standing around and waiting for the boys to show up!"
A nervous silence followed, finally broken up by Pan.
"I say go for it!"
"That's the spirit!" Bulma looked from the Dragon Ball, to the top of the mirror, then back at the group. "I might need a little help though..."
"I got it, mom!"
Bulla took the Dragon Ball and floated up to the top of the tall mirror, where she reached out and inserted it into the socket. It was a perfect fit, and by the time she floated back to the ground, the mirror had already started to react.
It started with a gentle vibration as a dim glow flowed down from the top of the mirror all the way to the bottom. The glow grew brighter and brighter until it became almost as blinding as a solar flare, causing everyone to shield their eyes until it finally faded some. When they looked up, the mirror was no longer glowing. Instead, it looked as if a door had been opened, and on the other side was a dark, rainy alley.