Disclaimer: I don't own any of Dragonball/Z/GT.

"YOU SNEAKY LITTLE SON OF A---"

"Bitch. I know."

"GIVE ME ONE GOOD REASON WHY I SHOULDN'T LET YOUR FATHER SKIN YOU ALIVE!?"

"No reason aside from you losing your only son and heir."

"Shit, I'll just train Bra."

"Riiiiiight."

Bulma turned red and ready to explode until she realized how impossible her alternative option was. Yes, her son needed to live...a little while longer at least.

"FINE! I'LL JUST HAVE YOUR FATHER PUNISH YOU LATER!"

"Is there any meals ready? I'm starved! Oh, and the time machine flies nicely--once I made some adjustments. You really ought to check them out. I've improved the performance of the engine you designed by over forty percent." Trunks replied smugly only to finish with a patented smirk.

"WHA-AH-OOOOOHHH!!! How dare y--" Bulma spattered out as she watched her son turn and enter the house. She stormed immediately after, ranting and raving all the way there. Whether she was ready for it or not, her son was becoming more and more like his father everyday.

Vegeta heard the commotion and entered the living room to see what was going on. Since this was 'his' territory, he was continuously nosy about anything that went on within it. He didn't say anything and just assumed a relaxed pose against a wall, amused that a 'fight' was occurring.

Bulma had grabbed her son from behind. When she touched his shoulder, he spun around to face her, his brows down and his eyes for a moment, flashed super saiyan green. It was a super saiyan's way of giving warning, and Bulma knew it,but stood her ground. She didn't tame her mighty saiyan prince by showing weakness afterall and her son would be even less of a task.

She was about to get in his face and give him a real verbal thrashing, but suddenly she lost all train of thought. Her nose wrinkled as she took in several sniffs. Trunks was baffled momentarily then remembered the little 'trick' from the other timeline. He still had that hooker's perfume smell on him!

"What cheap hussy did you sleep with while there eh? The ones in this timeline aren't good enough for you?"

"I didn't sleep with anyone mother. It was just a little prank I was trying to play on your other self."

"I'm not laughing and I doubt neither was she. Now I'm beginning to wonder if those tabloid articles about you are really true."

"C'mon mom, you know better!"

Bulma raised an inquisitive eyebrow in challenge for her son to go further into his defense.

"I haven't slept with anyone, not even myself for months!"

"And I'm supposed to believe that?"

"Geesh mom. Honestly, can you think me to be that low?"

"If the shoe fits."

Trunks tossed her the capsule containing the time machine. "If you want to know so bad, go back and ask them yourself. Now, if you are finished mother, I've got some business to attend to."

"With your zipper up or down?"

"MOTHER! For your information, I have some work type business to attend to. You walked out of an important deal with Pakar. And if I recall correctly, I left this timeline roughly two hours before an emergency meeting that I called. I'll be at the office, but don't bother calling, I won't answer." Trunks sternly explained as he slammed the door behind him.

Bulma stared at the door with mouth agape. Vegeta smirked. His son had just stood his ground against a very powerful entity. The boy had balls afterall. But, another powerful entity must be acting upon him to cause such a sudden change in personality. Yes, the next few days or weeks would certainly prove amusing to the mighty prince of saiyans.

"My baby boy...what did I do to deserve this? Now I know how ChiChi felt with Gohan." Bulma wimpered as she turned and rolled the capsule in her hand. Her eyes suddenly caught a figure standing ever confident with smug grin against the wall across the room.

"IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT VEGETA!" she yelled at him before storming out of his sight. Vegeta's smirk widened as he followed suit with opportunity in mind. His mate, in this condition, was prime for a little romp to help her 'cool' off.

Meanwhile, at Capsule Corporation Headquarters, Trunks entered his office only to find his secretary hustling about as if her skirt was on fire.

"May I help you?" he asked cooly and softly, not wanting to startle her since she hadn't noticed him enter. It startled her anyway.

"Sir! I've been setting up this meeting for you and everyone's here, but then when I came to get you, you were gone, so I've been--"

"Relax, take a breath, and don't worry. I'm here now aren't I?"

She nodded. Trunks was known for his unusual punctuality or lack thereof. He offered his hand to retrieve the files in her hand. "I suppose those are the files I'll need to get this thing on track correct?"

"Yes sir. I have Pakar's and Sukoya's earnings and stock charts, and I--"

"Rui?"

"Yes, Mr. President?"

"Take a deep breath, count to ten, then go here. Tell them I sent you." Trunks said as he handed her a business card or rather a personal pass to his favorite massage parlor. It was Western Capital City's best of course.

"Sir? But what about---"

"I can handle it alone."

"You-"

"Please don't start sounding like my mother. Both of you seem to underestimate me. Now go relax, please?"

Trunks' secretary nodded as she handed him the files. Trunks in turn, set the files on his desk then assisted her with her jacket. After she departed, he grabbed the files and headed for the Conference Room. He was actually rather excited at the challenge before him. Like Gohan,he had rerouted many of his saiyan urges and lust for physical battle into that for mental battle. And naturally, if the mental battle began to fail, he could always resort back to the physical. An effortless ki blast through a wall to make a new air duct to the outside always had a stunning impact on those in attendance.

As he walked into the room, all verbal commotion became silence and all eyes trained on him. He quickly noticed Marron in attendance as well. He strode to his place at the head of the table with confidence and quickly made contact at the two opposing sides of the table. Shareholders from Pakar, Sukoya, and Capsule Corp were in attendance as well as Trunks' senior officers sans his mother. The only unknown was which senior officers were following his ideas and which were following his mother's. But, this meeting should be able to pry them out if he worked it carefully enough. And with one final glance, he spied one more figure in attandance, one who was seated on the same side as Sukoya...Pan.

So, once again, both Pan and Marron were in the same room and on opposing sides no less. Trunks wondered to himself an old saying, "why can't we all just get along?" before he took a deep breath and began the meeting with a summary of what is and has been currently occurring between the three companies. Strangely enough, as he discussed the conditions and backed them up with the charts and graphs, he found that his personal life was following a similar flow chart. A ominous triangle with fluctuating sides led to distorted angles and were always shifting. Outside of this triangle were lines shifting in wave like patterns as the triangles gave or took ground. Yes indeed, there were times when business and personal life could be compared. They might not always mix, but there were strategies that could be used in both instances. Trunks was beginning to see them now. His visit to the past also allowed him to see the triangular image in 3D rather than 2D as he knew some stuff he normally wouldn't in the course of a regular life. And from that triangle, Trunks suddenly saw his path straight and true, right through the middle of it.

"With Sukoya and Pakar merged into one solid company and Capsule Corporation as its backbone, we could sever the competition with one fell swoop. All companies will emerge profitable and sustainable. Stocks should rise in favor of this as we build up a solid wall against the competition. With them blocked, we have open market." Trunks said as he drew a diagonal line right through the middle of the triangle on the overhead transparency. The triangle now showed a pyramid and a trapezoid. The pyramid indicating upward growth should the two companies scale back and grow together. The trapezoid was Capsule Corporation, lending a firm foundation of strength and stability. The wave lines outside would disappear. No one could threaten this stable structure.

Plugging a few numbers into the computer, Trunks brought up a projected growth line in stock of this new merger. It did its usual dip and rise, but the general trend line did indeed show growth, even if the economy were to settle into a recession. He allowed the groups to now discuss his ideas to themselves. Meanwhile, Trunks himself, couldn't help but stare at the figure he'd drawn. It was so easily applied to this situation, but could it also be applied to his own life just as easily? If so, who was the pyramid and who was the foundation? Would those wavy lines still be there? He already knew the severing line was himself. In an opposite idea from a merger, he imagined the severing line being a permanant split. Make Pan and Marron go their separate ways without him? This was a possibility too. Wavy lines would only go away if they all remain friends with no harsh feelings or resentment towards one another. His eyes trained back onto the attending members, specifically Marron and Pan. Neither were engaged in conversation with their groups but rather seemed locked in a stare down with one another. Trunks sighed disappointendly...perhaps he needed to add a ringer to the group? Grabbing his beeper, he typed in a small message and sent it to another beeper number.

His personal life was indeed going to influence the outcome of this meeting whether he wanted it to or not. Pan and Marron were the leading representatives for the two other companies, and he, himself headed the third. Their own triangle was indeed here and overlaying atop the business one. And to add to the complication, he noticed that his own senior officers were in disagreement with one another. This meant that his mother did indeed have a faction of her own undermining her own son's decision making abilities. He was unsure as to who exactly was running Capsule Corporation. He did on a daily basis, but his mother loomed in the shadows with the ability to veto his decisions with a single word. Though she had never challenged his choices before, she seemed to be doing so now. Chairwoman vs. CEO...mother vs. son, this was going to be yet another complication. Plus, his own personal life was mixed within this tangling web. Well, one thing was for sure, once the media and press figured this out, they were going to have one hell of a story!

Looking at the picture before him once again, he focused on the straight line. Could he run through his own mother as well? Would she take that stance as a positive or negative thing? As he was thinking, his senses picked up on the growing silence and eyes training upon him. It was time to continue once again. But one thought stained Trunks' brain...*I walk alone.* With yet another glimpse at the straight line he'd drawn, he followed its trajectory which led away from all of it and into a pure blank space on the sheet. What was that space? Would it be running away or was it a finding of serenity and solution? Whatever it was, it would have to wait. For now, he had business to attend to.

Elsewhere in the city...

Immediate stress eased, a new one took its place. Bulma couldn't stand it any longer. Her son was conducting business to perhaps alter a decision she had made and she wasn't invited to defend her own position! So, in true Bulma fashion, she bolted into her favorite air car and sped off for the company headquarters. There was no way she was going to be left in the dark, and most especially, not by her own son!

Also, in another part of the city...

Bra's beeper went off. Looking at it, she noted the message. Whether or not she showed it, she cared for her brother. He was actually asking for her help? How could she resist? She quickly made her way to the checkout counter without even completing her inspection of the sale items in the rest of the store. She needed to get to Capsule Corp's HQ ASAP!

to be continued...

Next time...bring an umbrella, the turds are gonna be flyin' in grand Briefs style!