Hey guys, Liz here. So, yeah, there was no update last week and I'm updating on a Thursday…..Yep. I got super busy with exams and final exams are coming up along with Thanksgiving and Christmas and stuff. (Gosh, I'm so busy. Lol). This'll probably be the last update for a bit due to all this craziness going on, so I apologize in advance.

One quick thing before we start, though: we got 100 favorites for the story! That's flippin' sweet, man! I'm really happy that so many people like the story and it makes me excited to keep up the story. I'm gonna try and update for the one-shot story too in the future, so keep your eyes open for that.

Anyway, on with the show!

The Son Squad Ch.40

The twins didn't have that much longer flying Bulma, Yajirobe, and baby Trunks back to Capsule Corp after that little rest-stop in the woods. They quickly dropped the three off and then zipped off to their house at lightning speed. As they soared through the air, the tension was so thick that you could cut it with a knife. Gohan and Chiyo hadn't really said much to each other after their little conversation by the fire. Chiyo wasn't sure how to talk about what happened. She needed something to bring up the situation, but she also knew that Gohan didn't want to talk about it too much.

It didn't help that the flight home was absolutely silent. Chiyo wasn't much for talking, sure, but she hated that it was dead-quiet other than the air rushing by her head. She had to figure out how to break the ice and make things semi-normal between her and her brother; otherwise, she might lose her mind. Then the perfect topic popped into her mind; "So….our birthday is coming up," Chiyo brought to Gohan's attention, catching up with the brother that was slightly ahead of her. "We're both gonna be ten. That's a whole decade right there."

Gohan looked over his shoulder at his sister and gave her a sympathetic smile. He knew what she was trying to do by bringing up their birthday, and he appreciated it. She always seemed to try and cheer him up when he was feeling down. It was a valid attempt to keep his mind from wandering down a rabbit hole of worry. "I know, I know," Gohan said. "We're both gonna be in the double-digits. I honestly can't believe it."

"The next thing you know, we'll both be going off to college and stuff," Chiyo pointed out to her brother. "Or mom's gonna be setting us up on dates to find our future spouses or something!"

Gohan laughed a bit at that little comment. He definitely could picture his mother pushing for him to find a nice girl to marry when he got older, but that was something he didn't want to think about for a while now. "That's still a ways away, Chiyo," Gohan chuckled. "Let's just focus on this birthday first and worry about that stuff later, okay?"

Chiyo chuckled back. This seemed to be working in getting Gohan to lighten up. It also had the added bonus of calming her own worries about the androids, the others' safety, her Dad's health, and everything else on top of everything else. "Okay then; let's talk cake, party, gifts, and all that other stuff."

"All right, then; cake first. I'm thinking of a marble cake with vanilla frosting."

"Didn't we have that for cake last year?"

"No, you're thinking the year before. Remember? That was the year Grandpa Ox-King bought us those encyclopedias."

"I think that was Mom's doing, though. She pushed him to buy those things. Have you even opened yours?"

"No. I think it's still collecting dust on my bookshelf."

For the rest of the flight home, the twins chatted with one another about their birthday, what they wanted for presents, and their plans for the party their mother was sure to throw. It was an excellent distractor from all the craziness that was going on. Honestly, they needed this. They were still kids, after all. Kids shouldn't have to be carrying the weight of the world on their shoulders. Still, even though they were smiling and joking between each other, the two half-saiyans knew that worry and doubt were boiling beneath it all and nagging at them from deep inside.


Krillin filled in everyone on the situation, and needless to say, they weren't happy with hearing what the small monk had to tell. While they all deeply appreciated being healed- well, everyone except for Vegeta, who couldn't even be bothered to give a small thank you- they weren't too thrilled to hear how the androids basically were taunting them with the idea of a rematch in the future. Krillin also informing them about the androids' "game" just sent chills down everyone's spines.

"Well ain't that a kick in the pants," Daichi remarked after Krillin was finished, kicking away a small rock that was by his feet. "It's not too different from how they are in our time, but still."

"I thought for sure they'd kill us," Chibi spoke up. "I mean, even when they were messing with us, they wouldn't hesitate to try and finish us off. Kept telling us we were getting in the way of their "fun.""

"So, what does this mean?" Tien questioned, trying to keep his cool but still very confused about the whole thing. "Is this their way of saying we're not even worth their time?"

"We have to face facts, here," Piccolo stated, a few beads of sweat cascading down his forehead. "They've been playing us from the start. It's just like some sport for them!" Piccolo tried to keep from getting too angry, but you could tell he wanted to explode right then and there. They all trained so hard for the past three years just to get their butts handed to them by two tin-cans. He was grateful to be alive, but he felt like his pride as a warrior had been trampled on by those monsters.

Speaking of pride, while the others had all been conversing, Vegeta was off to the sidelines sulking. He couldn't believe the humiliation he had just suffered, and in front of the earthlings no less! He was the prince of saiyans, and he was beaten by a machine?! And to make it more humiliating, it was a machine that looked like a woman! He couldn't stand being there any longer and took off before Trunks had time to stop him.

"And there he goes again," Chibi sighed, shaking her head.

"No point in going after him," Piccolo commented. "Vegeta trained hard to prove himself and got defeated, and by a female no less. The harshest wound is to his pride."

A slight tick formed on Chibi's head after hearing that, and she let out a small growl before turning to Piccolo and glaring. "And what's that supposed to mean, huh?!" She growled at Piccolo, surprising him, Krillin, and Tien. Trunks and Daichi didn't seem all that surprised by her outburst. "So you're saying he's even more upset because a woman beat him?! You implying something, green man?!"

"What the heck is your problem?" Piccolo questioned, not even sure what he did wrong. It reminded him a lot of Chi-Chi, and he had been around her long enough to recognize an odd outburst like that. Still, what the heck had he said to make her so upset?

Daichi quickly got between Piccolo and his sister before things escalated. "Okay, Chibi, let's go over here for a second," Daichi said, grabbing his sister by her shoulders and pushing her to the sidelines to cool off a bit. She looked like she had steam come out her ears.

"Uh, what was that all about?" Tien questioned after he and Krillin had just witnessed that.

"Chibi's got a bit of an issue when it comes to that sort of stuff," Trunks explained to the others. "She gets real temperamental if someone implies things with gender and stuff. It gets ugly quickly."

"Seriously?" Krillin questioned. She definitely gets that attitude from her mother, then, Krillin thought. "That must get pretty annoying."

"Yeah. We think it might have to do with 17 always taunting her and calling her things like a little girl and stuff," Trunks hypothesized. He shook his head as Daichi forced her to sit down and cool off before coming back over.

While Chibi did that, Daichi came back to join the guys and figure out the next course of action. "We barely made a dent in those things," Tien stated, getting them back on the matter at hand. "Our combined strength did nothing to those things."

"Yeah, sorry for not jumping in to help you guys back there," Krillin apologized, looking down at the ground in shame. "Maybe if I got involved, I could've made a difference."

"With all due respect, Krillin, if those things could take down four super saiyans with ease, I doubt you would've made much of a difference," Piccolo told Krillin. "No sense beating yourself over it."

If that was his way of cheering Krillin up, it wasn't really super effective. Krillin still felt terrible. Hearing that just made him feel completely useless. "Damn it! If only Goku was here!"

"No disrespect to Goku, but you saw what happened when he was fighting that weaker android," Tien stated. "Goku may have defeated Frieza, but Frieza's completely different from these things."

"Didn't you beat Frieza, though?" Daichi whispered to Trunks.

"Not now, Daichi," Trunks mumbled back to the slightly older half-saiyan.

"Face it; even if Goku came back 10x as strong, he couldn't stop those androids! Those things are just unbeatable!" Tien shouted. He was trying to keep cool, but this was getting all too real for him. The facts were the facts; they all stood no chance against those machines, and Goku could barely handle a weaker model. He'd be demolished by 17 and 18, no problem!

As an awkward silence fell over the group, Chibiko came back over to join them. "They're just different from the ones from our time," Chibi stated to the group, being a lot calmer than she was before.

"What are you talking about?" Piccolo questioned.

"Back in our time, the androids weren't this strong," Trunks explained. "We struggled, sure, but if me, Chibi, Daichi, and Chinku worked together, we were at least evenly matched with them."

That wasn't the news the three original z-fighters wanted to hear. So now the androids were even more potent than the ones who destroyed the future? Talk about a kick in the pants. "That's just great," Tien remarked. "What are we supposed to do now?"

"For starters, the five of you need to get to Goku's house as quickly as possible," Piccolo instructed the others. "Get him and the rest of his family as far from there and to a safe spot where the androids won't find him. We need to keep them away from Goku for as long as possible until he gets up."

"Sounds like a good start," Krillin said. Hearing that Piccolo had a plan in mind meant that things couldn't be totally hopeless. There was still a chance that all of this was going to work out. As he thought it over, though, Krillin realized that Piccolo's plan involved everyone but himself. "Wait, what are you going to do, Piccolo?"

Piccolo gritted his teeth as he thought over his next move. He didn't like what he was probably going to have to do. To be honest, it made his stomach churn. "Good question," He stated after a minute.

"Hey, come on, Piccolo, what are you thinking?" Daichi asked, a bit curious as to what the Namekian warrior was planning to do. He had heard stories from his older siblings about how Piccolo was a cunning strategist who always tried to think one step ahead of his opponents. "You gotta tell us."

"Yeah," Krillin agreed. "No sense leaving us in the dark. Last time I checked, we were all in this together."

"Oh, really?" Piccolo questioned before quickly glaring at Krillin. "And when did I agree to that?!"

The sudden shift in tone caught everyone off guard. Before anyone could question Piccolo, he threw a blast down and then took to the skies, proclaiming that he was not their friend and that he was just doing this to further his own "evil" plans. Then, he took off in a rush.

"….Well, that happened," Daichi remarked after Piccolo left. He wasn't sure what to make of Piccolo's outburst. "I thought Vegeta was the only one who did that kind of thing."

"Should've seen that coming," Tien commented, clenching his fists. "Once a bad guy, always a bad guy. I can't believe we ever trusted him!" Ever since his fight with King Piccolo, Tien was skeptical about Piccolo being on their side. Back when they fought Vegeta and Nappa, he didn't say much since there was a more significant threat to deal with. Now, this just proved to him that Piccolo was just as evil as Vegeta.

"Yeah, I don't buy that," Krillin said, catching everyone else's attention. "I think Piccolo is just saving face. He's got his pride too. Plus, didn't you see the way he was flying, Tien?"

"Hold on, what?" Tien questioned Krillin. Of all the people he expected to defend Piccolo, he didn't think it would be Krillin. After all, one of King Piccolo's minions was to blame for killing him all the way back in the day. "What are you talking about, Krillin?"

Krillin saw right through Piccolo's tough-guy act. He could tell the Namekian had changed from all those years ago. He was nothing like the previous Piccolo, and he sure showed it. Krillin knew Piccolo cared deeply for the others, especially Goku's kids. Krillin may have had his doubts a few years back, but after seeing Piccolo sacrifice himself for the twins against the Saiyans and Goku back on Namek, he just knew that the Namekian was just trying to seem harsh. Heck, he proved it earlier by sending the twins and Chinku away from the battle so that they'd be safe. "Piccolo is on his way to see Kami ask him for help."

"Wait, but why would he do that?" Trunks questioned. "I thought Piccolo couldn't stand Kami."

"He can't, but that's just how desperate the situation is," Krillin stated. He explained what the grand elder told him back on Namek, how if Piccolo had merged with Kami, he would've been able to handle the saiyans and Frieza no problem. Basically, he equated this to the idea of the two becoming a super Namekian, a being who could, theoretically, be stronger than a super saiyan. Yeah, the dragon balls would disappear, but that's just how dire everything was.

With that said, the five warriors took to the air and raced towards Goku's house. Tien split off from the group to grab Chiaotzu and meet them at Master Roshi's place after a little training. It didn't take long for the four to reach Goku's home, and they soon touched down outside the house.

Once they did, Daichi and Chibiko couldn't help but have vague memories of the place flood back to them. Daichi noticed the small swing that his father had put up at his mother's request, and Chibi saw the flower bed that was just on the east side of the house. The place was like brand new to them while the house back home was abandoned after their mother passed. Gohan and Chiyo's loss literally broke her heart, and she fell sick shortly after they died.

"You two, okay?" Krillin asked, noticing the longing looks in their eyes.

"Y-Yeah," Daichi stuttered, wiping his eyes. "Just, uh, thinking is all."

Before they could knock on the door, the sound of shouting could be heard from the other side of the house. It sounded like a fight was going on. Since they were coming off the heels of the battle with the androids, Krillin, Trunks, Daichi, and Chibi concluded that it had to be the androids. Crap, they were too late to get to the house before they did!

All four quickly ran to the other side of the house, ready to go for a second round with the androids, only to find that it wasn't the androids coming for Goku's head. Instead, what they found was Yamcha and Chinku sparring with one another. Yamcha was panting with a few new bruises on his face while Chinku had maybe one or two marks to signify that she was training. The two were exchanging blows with each other, but neither could land a hit on the other. Yamcha soon noticed the others and stopped for a moment, giving Chinku the opportunity she needed to land a blow to Yamcha's cheek and send him flying towards the tree with the swing. He hit the tree so hard that several smaller branches and some nuts came down and hit him on the head.

"Sorry, Uncle Yamcha!" Chinku quickly apologized, not meaning to actually do that.

"N-No, it's fine," Yamcha said, rubbing his sore cheek as a bump formed on his head. He got up and brushed the branches and acorns off of himself before walking over to the group of arrivals.

"I'm a bit surprised you're training, Yamcha," Krillin admitted to his scarred-up friend. After the beating from earlier today, Krillin would've thought Yamcha would've been staying away from martial arts for a bit. Yet here he was sparring with Chinku.

"Yeah, well, Chinku asked if I could teach her some moves and stuff," Yamcha sheepishly admitted.

"I almost learned the Wolf Fang Fist attack!" Chinku proudly proclaimed, coming over to join her new teacher and the others.

"Uh, okay," Krillin chuckled. At least Chinku was more upbeat compared to earlier.

"So, did you guys beat the androids?" Chinku asked.

"Well, uh-" Krillin tried to answer.

"Where's Gohan, Chiyo, and Mr. Piccolo?" Chinku interrupted.

"Well, they-"

"And who are these two?" Chinku spoke up once again and pointed to Daichi and Chibiko. "What happened to the lady with the colored hair?"

"Chinku, if you let Krillin speak, he'll tell you," Yamcha laughed.

"Oh, right. Sorry, Krillin."

"It's fine," Krillin insisted.

"But, you did beat the androids, right?" Yamcha questioned, an optimistic smile coming to his face. "I bet that these guys from the future helped you do it, right?"

"Not exactly," Trunks answered, looking down at the ground in shame.

"It's a long story, but we gotta go now!" Chibiko jumped in. "Long story short, the androids are on their way here right now, and we gotta move to Master Roshi's place before they do."

Needless to say, the orders didn't have to be repeated.

Everyone quickly got to work loading up onto a small ship that Trunks got from a capsule his mother gave him. They started loading Goku and everyone else onto the ship, along with some clothing and a few other essentials on board. Chinku grabbed hold of baby Daichi and Chibi and watched them on the ship while the others loaded everything into place.

"Make sure the baby car seats are put on, too," Chi-Chi instructed Daichi as he carried them on board. "Daichi and Chibi are too little just to roam around freely while we fly."

"Yes, mo- I mean, Miss Chi-Chi," Daichi quickly corrected himself, thinking that now wasn't a good time to reveal who he really was yet. He set them on board and then went back to help Yamcha move the unconscious Goku onto the ship.

While he did that, Chibi finished her last round of carrying things and placed down a large bundle of what felt like bricks onto the ship. "Is that everything we need?" Chibi asked.

"Yeah," Trunks said. "Now, we just have to wait for Gohan and Chiyo to show up, and then we'll get going to Master Roshi's place."

As if on cue, Chi-Chi looked to the sky and saw her two eldest children coming in for a landing. Both were confused as they touched down and saw luggage everywhere and people on the plane. "What's going on?" They both questioned before being tackled into a hug by their mother.

"You both had me so worried!" Chi-Chi told her two children as she hugged them. It was like a weight had been lifted off of her shoulders when she saw that Gohan and Chiyo were okay. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?!"

"No, Mom, we're fine," Gohan insisted.

"But what's happening?" Chiyo questioned as she and Gohan tried to squirm their way out of their mother's hold.

"Just get on the plane, and we'll explain when we're in the air," Daichi said as he put down the last bit of luggage in the back.

Another chapter done and over with. We got a bit more insight into the future versions of Daichi and Chibi and now we got to get a move on to Roshi's place before the androids get them. (For the next chapter, I'll probably refer to the future Chibi and Daichi as F. Chibi and F. Daichi since they're around the little versions of themselves).

What do you guys think? Are you excited for the future chapters? Do you have some predictions for what'll happen next? Let me know in the reviews and I might just reply to them.

For the next update, I'm not sure when it'll be. I know that's not really an answer, but classes are about to get super crazy with finals and whatnot. Anyway, I'll either shoot for the Saturday of Thanksgiving week or the first Saturday in December. I may be wrong. Who knows. Just tune in and see, I guess. Anyway, have a good everyone and remember to wash your hands!