Super Dragon Ball: Paradise Hysteria

A Knife-Edge Partnership

A Capsule Corps spaceship halted in place, expelling a burst of white light of heated gases it's been riding for an entire quadrant of the galaxy. After everyone got over the inertia shock of the sudden stoppage, Bulma unbound herself from the chair and moved toward the nearest porthole to see what was ahead. On her way to the porthole, she slammed her hand against a few control panels to scan and analyze her immediate surroundings and send inquiries to any nearby space stations for data about the region.

The mechanical spaceship door opened up with a soft rubbery hum, revealing Goku with a bowl hanging over the side of his head while some kind of stew dripped down his face onto the floor. Bardock turned to his son with widening eyes. Despite a valiant struggle, he could only keep his laugh down for so long. Lazuli, who probably had the most reasons to mock Goku, just rolled her eyes at his buffoonery.

"Yeesh, I've been on spaceships before but I don't recall them ever shaking this bad! I guess I missed the cue to buckle up, huh?" Goku took the bowl off his head and placed it down on the nearest surface while wiping his messy hair and gi with his hand. Despite having embarrassed himself, he couldn't stop snickering at the little accident.

"I've got no clue how you missed it. I warned you to stop stuffing yourself and buckle up," Bardock said while shaking his head at the pride and joy of his family and the repeat savior of the universe at work.

"Hey, doofus, that stew looks stringy and dry. Don't you wanna wash it down with some soda?" Lazuli teased Goku with a seductive squint of her eyes that challenged Goku to take her up on the offer.

"Soda? Soda is awfully sticky so I don't see how I could wash this off with it, but... I am thirsty, I guess!" Goku exclaimed, walking up to the freezer and pulling some soda out. Almost immediately after cracking the can open, a geyser of soda shot upward and showered Goku in it, leaving the Saiyan with a foamy cola beard and spoiled clothes. This time it was Lazuli who burst into laughter while Bardock just looked at the artificial woman and shook his head. It was tough to say who disappointed him more, Lazuli with her immaturity or his own son for falling for a prank like this.

"Hmm... I can't see anything out there. If there's some massive cybernetic planet out there, shouldn't I be able to see it? The Big Gete Star stuck out like a sore thumb, even in its smallest configurations..." Bulma groaned, pressing her face to the porthole and trying every inch and corner but failing to pick anything up. "Let's just wait until we can see the readings..." she sighed after returning to the scene, patting her hands and approaching the ship computers to see what the results of the scan are and what data they've been able to download.

After slamming against a wall of loadings, Bulma groaned and turned around. The sight of Goku covered in his fourth lunch that day and soaked in dripping soda hit her like a mallet. Grinding her teeth, Bulma walked up to the messy Saiyan and dragged him to a different room by his ear, while one of the strongest martial artists in the known universe whined like a spanked brat.

"I knew leaving Gohan-kun on Earth was a mistake. It's embarrassing to see, but he became a voice of reason in the family and he, surprisingly enough, can keep Son-kun out of trouble," Bulma groaned after walking back out, then opening the door and raising her voice. "And don't come back until you've showered and changed your clothes! You can find the newest model of Saiyan armor in the locker!"

With thunderous rumbling and a terrifying boom, the Luud Star appeared directly behind Bulma's spacecraft, causing a rampant quake from the tremorous fabric of time-space. Artificial stars like the Four-Stars didn't use ordinary thrusters and spacecraft engines to move around. Instead, it bent and squeezed the surrounding space-time to move them at unfathomable speed across the universe. Like a pearl inside of a toothpaste tube, if one moved it around by squeezing the tube with their fingers, the pearl could end up at any location within the tube in no time at all. Obviously, the energy and fuel economy was vastly superior on a grander scale, like the Four-Stars'.