Chapter Text
Two Worlds, One Very Big Problem
The skies above Earth were perfectly clear.
Which, as Bulma Briefs knew from long experience, usually meant something was about to go horribly wrong.
“Are you absolutely sure this is safe?” Android 18 asked, leaning against a capsule vehicle with her arms crossed.
Bulma rolled her eyes.
“Of course it’s safe.”
18 raised an eyebrow.
“You said that before the time machine exploded.”
“Technically it only partially exploded.”
“Bulma.”
“And technically it wasn’t my fault.”
Before Android 18 could continue the argument, the ground began to shake.
Both women turned toward the horizon.
A massive golden dragon emerged from a pillar of light.
Shenron.
At exactly the same moment, far beyond Earth, on the distant planet Namek, another dragon answered another set of Dragon Balls.
Porunga.
Neither dragon had ever been summoned simultaneously while a certain experimental dimensional frequency generated by Bulma’s newest Dragon Radar Prototype Mark VII happened to be active.
Unfortunately for everyone involved, that was exactly what happened.
Bulma looked down at her device.
The screen flashed red.
Then purple.
Then every color she had ever seen.
“…That’s not supposed to happen.”
18 sighed.
“Of course it isn’t.”
The sky split open.
A vortex appeared overhead.
Wind exploded across the landscape.
Bulma screamed.
Android 18 grabbed her arm.
The world vanished.
⸻
Somewhere else.
Far, far away.
The Thousand Sunny sailed peacefully across the sea.
Monkey D. Luffy was asleep on the lion figurehead.
Usopp and Chopper were arguing about whether giant beetles could defeat dinosaurs.
Franky was performing maintenance while loudly singing about cola.
Nami was calculating expenses.
Robin was reading.
Sanji was preparing lunch.
Everything was normal.
Then a glowing portal opened above the ship.
“Eh?” Chopper blinked.
Two figures fell out.
One landed directly on Franky.
The other crashed through a pile of barrels.
The Sunny tilted violently.
“INTRUDERS!”
Usopp immediately hid behind Chopper.
“Don’t hide behind me!”
The crew rushed toward the impact site.
Bulma slowly sat up.
“My head…”
Android 18 stood instantly.
Perfect balance.
Perfect composure.
Perfect irritation.
She looked around.
Ocean.
Strange ship.
Several unfamiliar people.
One skeleton.
One reindeer.
One cyborg.
One rubber idiot.
“…Bulma.”
“Yeah?”
“Where are we?”
Bulma looked around.
Then she noticed the Jolly Roger.
Then the lion figurehead.
Then the pirate crew.
Her eyes widened.
“No way.”
“What?”
“No. Freaking. Way.”
⸻
Five minutes later.
“You’re telling me you’re from another world?” Nami asked.
“That’s exactly what I’m telling you,” Bulma replied.
Luffy grinned.
“Cool!”
Everyone stared at him.
“What?”
Robin smiled.
“It does sound interesting.”
Franky crouched in front of Android 18.
Stars practically appeared in his eyes.
“Amazing!”
18 frowned.
“What?”
“Your energy systems! Your construction! Your mechanical structure!”
“I am not mechanical.”
Franky froze.
“What?”
“I was human.”
“What?”
“I was modified.”
“What?”
Franky looked as though his soul had left his body.
“THAT’S EVEN BETTER!”
He collapsed dramatically.
“Cyborg perfection…”
18 immediately regretted not throwing him overboard.
Meanwhile, Sanji approached carrying a tray of drinks.
The moment he saw Bulma and 18, his eyes transformed into hearts.
“ANGELS!”
He launched himself forward.
“My beautiful ladies! My radiant flowers! My goddesses!”
Bulma laughed.
“Well, at least somebody has manners.”
Sanji immediately dropped to one knee.
“Please allow me to dedicate my life to your happiness!”
Bulma giggled.
Android 18 stared at him.
“Move.”
Sanji froze.
“…Excuse me?”
“I said move.”
The cook somehow developed emotional damage.
Even Zoro felt sorry for him.
Almost.
⸻
Over the next few hours, Bulma explained everything.
Dragon Balls.
Saiyans.
Androids.
Energy attacks.
Interplanetary travel.
The Straw Hats listened with varying levels of comprehension.
Robin found it fascinating.
Nami found the technology fascinating.
Franky nearly cried tears of joy.
Luffy mostly wanted to know whether Goku liked meat.
“He eats mountains of it.”
“We’re friends now.”
⸻
That evening, Bulma sat with Nami and Robin in the Sunny’s library.
A pile of notes covered the table.
Bulma rubbed her temples.
“The dimensional energy is unstable.”
Robin nodded.
“Can you return home?”
“Eventually.”
“Eventually?” Nami repeated.
Bulma smiled nervously.
“Maybe.”
Nami looked horrified.
“That’s not a scientific answer.”
“It is where I come from.”
Robin laughed softly.
“How long?”
Bulma looked at her calculations.
“Days.”
She checked again.
“Possibly weeks.”
Nami screamed.
⸻
Elsewhere on the ship, Franky continued bothering Android 18.
“Just one scan.”
“No.”
“Half a scan.”
“No.”
“Quarter scan?”
“No.”
“Can I at least look at your energy core?”
18 grabbed him by the face and shoved him across the deck.
Franky crashed through three walls.
“SUPER!”
The cyborg somehow seemed even more impressed.
⸻
The next morning brought trouble.
A pirate ship appeared on the horizon.
A large one.
Very large.
Black sails.
Heavy cannons.
Ugly flag.
The captain used a telescope.
“Looks like the Iron Fang Pirates,” Usopp said.
Nami groaned.
“Not those idiots again.”
The enemy vessel approached rapidly.
Dozens of pirates crowded the deck.
Their captain, a giant brute covered in armor, pointed toward the Sunny.
“Hand over your treasure!”
Luffy grinned.
“No.”
The pirate captain blinked.
“What?”
“No.”
“…That’s your answer?”
“Yep.”
The captain became red with rage.
“CANNONS!”
Explosions thundered across the sea.
The battle began.
⸻
The Straw Hats launched into action.
Zoro leapt forward.
Sanji vanished in a blur.
Franky fired artillery.
Usopp screamed heroically from a very safe distance.
Bulma hid behind a crate.
“Now this feels familiar.”
The pirate ship crashed alongside the Sunny.
Boarding hooks flew.
Enemy pirates flooded across.
Android 18 sighed.
“Can we go one day without this?”
Apparently not.
A massive pirate charged directly toward her.
“Get her!”
The man swung a giant axe.
18 caught the blade between two fingers.
The pirate stared.
She stared back.
Then she punched him.
The man disappeared over the horizon.
Nobody saw him land.
The entire battlefield stopped.
Even Zoro blinked.
“…Okay.”
Another pirate attacked.
18 kicked him.
He flew through three masts.
A third pirate rushed forward.
She slapped him.
The resulting shockwave knocked down twelve others.
Luffy laughed so hard he nearly fell off the ship.
“She’s awesome!”
⸻
Meanwhile, the enemy captain finally arrived.
The giant warrior towered above everyone.
He pointed a massive hammer toward Luffy.
“I’ll crush you myself!”
Luffy stretched his arms.
“Bring it on.”
Before the fight could begin, the captain noticed Android 18.
Then Bulma.
Then Android 18 again.
His grin became unpleasant.
“Maybe I’ll take those women instead.”
Silence.
Dangerous silence.
Sanji’s face darkened.
Nami cracked her knuckles.
Robin closed her book.
Even Zoro looked annoyed.
Android 18 smiled.
Which was somehow even scarier.
“Bad choice.”
The captain swung.
18 vanished.
She appeared behind him.
One kick.
The giant pirate flew off the ship.
Straight through his own vessel.
Straight through the opposite side.
The ship split in half.
The ocean swallowed the remains.
Complete silence.
Franky slowly lowered his sunglasses.
“SUPER…”
Robin nodded.
“Indeed.”
Sanji wept.
“She’s so beautiful.”
18 looked ready to kill him.
Again.
⸻
That night, the Sunny sailed onward beneath the stars.
The pirate threat had vanished.
The crew celebrated.
Music echoed across the deck.
Luffy ate enough food for twenty people.
Franky challenged everyone to arm-wrestling.
Brook played violin.
Bulma sat beside Nami and Robin, studying the strange readings on her device.
Something had changed.
A signal.
Weak.
But real.
A possible route home.
Bulma smiled.
“We might actually be able to do this.”
Robin looked interested.
“You found something?”
“Maybe.”
The device beeped.
Then beeped again.
Then exploded.
A cloud of smoke covered the table.
Nami stared.
Robin stared.
Bulma stared.
“…Okay.”
Nami pointed.
“What part of that says ‘we might actually be able to do this’?”
Bulma coughed.
“Science is a process.”
Far above them, unseen by anyone aboard the Sunny, another dimensional crack opened in the sky.
Something was coming through.
Something powerful.
Very powerful.
And judging by the distant shouting that echoed through the portal—
It was probably a Saiyan.
To be continued…