Hey guys, Liz here. So….yeah. I'm late on the update. And that's my bad. I've been studying for some exams coming up for school and my computer did a complete restart on me in the middle of writing the newest chapter. I did not appreciate that at all, but you know what? It's fine. Besides, today is the one year anniversary for the Son Squad, so there's no way I can be down with that being

Anyway, last we left off, Goku and Chi-Chi had left the kids to their own devices. What will our Brady Saiyan Bunch get up to? Find out now!

The Son Squad Ch.55

About an hour after Goku and Chi-Chi left, the Son kids were all unwinding in their own way. There was plenty of time still left to prepare for the Cell Games, and their father had told them as much. It was better to rest and not stress about the upcoming battles to come, so for now, they'd rest. To do that, they all split off to do their own thing.

Under one of the nearby trees, Chiyo was sitting with her knees pulled up to her chest with a small sketchbook sitting on her lap. She was quietly doodling on the blank page in front of her with a pencil in hand. This was a side-hobby she had picked up after returning home from Namek. It helped her destress a bit from the experiences on Namek. In actuality, it had become a form of therapy for her.

On the right corner of the page was a small sketch of the three-star dragon ball with Shenron wrapped around it. It was a more cartoony version of the dragon (think the title card in DBZ opening from the 90s). A few inches diagonal from the dragon and dragon ball was what looked like the moss-covered time-machine she had found with the others, complete with the hole in the glass and the word HOPE painted on its side. Down towards the bottom of the page was a sketchy drawing of some tulips and sunflowers intertwined by their stems. Up in the left-hand corner of the page was a chibi-looking drawing of Piccolo with his signature turban, cape-shoulder pads, and signature scowl. Finally, in the middle of the page- Chiyo's current sketch- was a detailed depiction of her father as a super saiyan glaring at Frieza. Chiyo was nearly done with this final page of doodles, working to finalize her father's spiky hair before deciding to call it a day on the drawing.

As she was finishing up, F. Chibi came outside looking to see where Chiyo had gone off. The young woman had finished making a small snack for her toddler brother and younger self when she noticed the younger version of her older sister was gone. She wasn't concerned for Chiyo's safety, but she just wanted to make sure that the younger girl was okay. Looking around, F. Chibiko spotted Chiyo sitting under the tree. From where she stood, she couldn't quite make out what Chiyo was doing and decided to head over to see what was going on.

Chiyo didn't even notice F. Chibi coming over; she was so caught up in her work that she didn't even realize that anyone else was outside with her. All she cared about at the moment was getting the shading done for her drawing. It would hopefully help her father's figure pop more off of the page. Maybe a bit more shadowing under the bangs? Chiyo thought to herself as she looked at her father's hair.

"Hey, sis," F. Chibi greeted her sister.

Having completely tuned out the rest of the world, Chiyo yelped and jumped up from her spot on the ground. Her pencil flew out of her hand and into the tree while her small notebook flopped out of her lap and onto the ground. Quickly realizing what was going on, Chiyo untensed herself and looked to her confused future sister. "Oh, Chibi, you startled me," Chiyo panted as her nerves calmed down by placing a hand on her chest. "Oh, man. Give me a sec, okay?"

While Chiyo was slowing her racing heart, F. Chibiko bent down to the ground and picked up the sketchbook. None of the pages were torn or folded (every artist will tell you that is one of the worst things ever to happen), and the page it was open to was in the middle of the book. The image shown on the page looked like a sketch of a planet by its looks, with an odd-looking ship with spikes on it floating towards the planet. The next page had a little sketch of what looked like a young Namekian child standing next to Gohan when he had a bowl-cut. Then the following page had what looked to be all the Z-fighters, including Vegeta, as tiny versions of themselves standing right next to each other. (Chibiko had to admit she got a kick out of seeing the one of Vegeta with a huge tick mark on his forehead while standing next to the chibi version of Goku). "Your art is pretty good, Chiyo," Chibi remarked as she handed the notebook back to her sister.

"Oh, you saw?" Chiyo asked, her face becoming a light tint of red as she realized someone else had seen her art. She didn't show it off that often to others.

"Yeah. I didn't know you liked to draw."

"It's, uh…something I picked up a few years back." Chiyo closed the sketchbook up and tucked it under her arm before heading up to the tree to look for her pencil. "Bulma got it for me for my birthday. I…sometimes draw to help me destress."

"That's cool. Have you shown anyone else?"

"Only Gohan and Chinku." Chiyo pushed away a tree branch and searched for the pencil some more. She found it resting in an empty bird's nest.

"Why just them?"

"Well, Dad doesn't seem like he'd be interested in that sort of thing. And Mom….well…." After getting her pencil back, Chiyo floated back down to the ground. "You know how she is; she wants me to focus on school and stuff. She wants me to become a scholar, a lawyer, a doctor; one of those things. Or just a housewife."

F. Chibi furrowed her brows a bit as she took all this in. She had heard stories about how her mother was a bit pushy when it came to school and education. Of course, with the future how it was, there wasn't a lot of people could do in the ways of proper education, what with trying to survive and all. It wasn't like Chibi didn't know anything, but her education would not be up to the same standards that Chi-Chi had for her kids. "What about you? What do you want to do?"

The young girl began clasping the back of her neck. "…I…I really don't know yet. But…I don't want to be a scholar…or a doctor…or a lawyer…or a housewife. I kind of want….I guess, to do my own thing. It's just that…I don't even know what that is, yet. And Mom's always talking about planning for the future and stuff, and I just feel like if I don't have a solid plan, then-"

"Woah, Chiyo, stop for a moment." The older girl got on her knees in front of her sister and gently placed her hands on Chiyo's shoulders. The younger girl looked her sister in the eyes as she clenched the sketchbook in her arms. "You're only, what? Ten? You don't need your life plans laid out in full. I'm 18 now. Do you think I have everything figured out?"

"…I mean, you are from a messed-up future and all, so I don't think that's a good comparison…"

"Regardless, you don't need to have everything set in stone yet. Be a kid. Do what Chinku, Daichi, Trunks, and I didn't get to do; relax. I know you want to make mom happy and stuff, but you also need to think about what'll make YOU happy. I'm not saying completely rebel, but just keep that in mind, okay?"

"….Okay, I will."

Meanwhile, inside, Gohan was looking at the books that lined the shelf in Chiyo and Chinku's room. He was there with Chinku, trying to pick out a book to read with her. This was a bit of a tradition between the two, one that Gohan had started up after getting back from Namek. He had an immense love for reading and thought he could pass it on to his rambunctious little sister. It was also a good way for the two to bond, something they hadn't truly done in a long time.

"Let's see," Gohan mumbled to himself as he scanned the books with Chinku on his shoulders. He scanned the spines of the books and tried to pick out a book that not only his sister would enjoy but that he too would enjoy. "What to pick, what to pick."

"Ooo! This one!" Chinku cheered, reaching to grab an older-looking book in the middle of the stack. She then handed the book down to her older brother to hold. "I want you to read this one."

Gohan looked down at the cover of the book, and the title read A Wrinkle in Time. This book was a classic. He remembered his mother reading it to him and Chiyo when they were about four. It was one of their favorite books, and it excited the twins as young toddlers. It made them wonder about space and all it had to offer. They thought about if aliens were out there, what other planets were like, and if they could one day visit other stars. Now, having been to space and encountered other aliens, it just added more inquiry about what else was in the vastness of the galaxy. It couldn't have been all bad, right? There had to be more species of aliens like the Namekians and the Yardatians, right? "This is a good one, Chin," Gohan replied, smiling up at his little sister. "Mom read it to Chiyo and me when we were a little younger than you. It's about-"

"No, no, no! Don't tell me!" Chinku interrupted her brother mid-sentence. "No spoilers. I just want you to read it to me."

"You know, you could read it with me," Gohan commented as he walked over to Chinku's bed. He sat down on the mattress and then scooted himself so that his back was resting against the wall while Chinku got off his shoulders and crawled into his lap.

"I could read it, but I like it when you read out loud," Chinku commented as she got comfortable in Gohan's lap. She then rested her back against Gohan's chest. "Besides, you do better character voices than I do."

"Well, I can't read to you forever, sis. One day, you'll have to read on your own."

"And until that day comes, I've got you to read to me."

The young man chuckled. He didn't mind reading to his sister all that much. In fact, it helped relax him. With everything going on and not knowing what would happen with Cell, having something to take his mind off things for a while was a massive help. Speaking of Cell, as Gohan opened the book, he thought more about this creation of Dr. Gero. Surprisingly, Gohan did not feel too much ill-will towards Cell. He thought Cell was definitely a bad person, but to say that Gohan hated him wouldn't be true. In fact, despite the creature from the future threatening all of man-kind, Gohan didn't find the idea of fighting Cell all that enjoyable. He thought it was kind of dumb how every encounter with a bad guy had to come down to some big, climactic battle. Besides, Cell seemed more concerned with fighting just for the heck of it, just like his dad. Why did they fight just for the sake of fighting? Gohan never really saw that much enjoyment in battle only to fight. His first interaction with the whole martial arts scene came about due to Piccolo and that entire situation. Gohan never regretted learning how to fight, but still-

"Gohan? Gohan. Earth to Gohan!" Chinku shouted, pulling her brother out of his thoughts. She looked like she was about to jump up and start slapping him in the face or something to get him to respond.

"Huh? Did you say something, Chin?" Gohan asked, coming out of his ever-winding thoughts.

"I said, you can start reading now," Chinku replied, tilting her head back to look back up at her older brother. "But you were so busy with your head in the clouds that you didn't hear me."

A light red tint came to Gohan's face as he realized how far in thought he had gone. He got distracted too quickly sometimes. "Oh, sorry, Chin. I was just thinking."

The younger girl turned her head as she took in her brother's reply. "What were you thinking about?"

"…Just, stuff." The last thing Gohan wanted was to drag Chinku into his ever-changing thoughts. It was too complex for him to try and explain it all to her. Besides, would he want to explain it to her? Chinku acted a lot like their dad, and Gohan thought it would be difficult for him to explain to her that he didn't believe that fighting Cell was the way to go about things. How would she react, anyway? Would she ask too many questions? Would she call him out on being passive? Or would she just stare at him like he had two heads or something?

"Why were you thinking about stuff?" Chinku asked, leaning back against Gohan once more. She thought that she had every right to ask Gohan what was going on in his head. She was a curious girl by nature, and she wanted to know all she could about various things. What would be the harm in asking, right?

"…I tend to overthink things, Chin. It's nothing to worry about, though. Okay?"

The little girl narrowed her eyes as she looked back up at her brother, suspicious of his vague answer. Still, she wouldn't push him on it, at least not yet. "Okay…Well, let's get started. I want to get in a good chapter before Mama and Daddy get back."

"All right." Fixing himself in a comfortable position, Gohan opened the cover and turned to the first chapter. "It was a dark and storm ni-"

"NO!" The shout from Chinku threw Gohan for a surprise, and he nearly jumped out of bed with his little sister after being caught off guard. He was sure that had he done that, they would have gone through the roof or something. What could cause his little sister to cry out of nowhere suddenly?

"Chinku, what's wrong, now?"

"You're not getting into it, Gohan. You gotta do a more atmosteric voice."

A huge sweatdrop formed on the back of Gohan's head after hearing this remark from his sister. That's why she stopped him? And she was using the wrong word to boot. "You mean, atmospheric?" He chuckled.

"Yeah, that," Chinku answered, crossing her arms over her chest. This was serious business, you know. The right voice could make a book sink or float for the young girl. "Make it more atmospheric. You've read the book before. You know how it's supposed to sound like."

"Okay. Okay. I'll try it again." Gohan cleared his throat and then turned back to the book in hand, letting out a slight cough. "It was a dark and stormy night…"

"Much better."

Meanwhile, out in the living room, F. Daichi was lying on his side on the floor while little Daichi sat on the couch and flipped through channel after channel on the TV, trying to find the perfect show to watch. Across the room, little Chibi was in her playpen playing with some blocks and a teddy bear.

F. Daichi was completely fine with just staying there for the rest of the day or something. This was the first time in who-knows-how-long that he was just sitting around and doing nothing. His dad was right; it was easier to relax out here than in the hyperbolic time chamber. Daichi couldn't even recall the last time he had watched TV without it having anything to do with the androids or Cell. The future was no better, with TVs basically going extinct, and the only source of entertainment like that coming from radio stations when they weren't blasting out news reports on the dire state of the planet. Not gonna think about that right now, F. Daichi decided as his younger self flipped through channel after channel. I'm gonna relax. I'll worry about that stuff when I go back to train with Trunks and Chibi.

As little Daichi was flipping through the different channels, he was getting discouraged that he wasn't finding any good cartoons to watch. Each channel was either on commercial or was a news report about evacuations underway following Cell's broadcast to the world.

"More people are evacuating from-"

"-another city is practically empty as people fear-"

"-the question remains: is this the end?"

Just as Daichi was about to throw the remote across the room, he clicked it the umpteenth, and it showed a channel running some old cartoons. He put the clicker down and focused all of his attention on the screen as a roadrunner outran a coyote for the billionth time. Daichi giggled as the fast bird managed to evade capture and its predatory pursuer fell off another cliff. It was repetitive, but it was funny. "Meep meep!" Daichi chirped, sticking out his tongue like the cartoon on the screen.

"Oh, so you're a roadrunner now, are you?" F. Daichi chuckled, looking up at his younger self. He was glad that the little guy was actually finding some enjoyment during all this chaos. He wasn't sure if the young toddler grasped that he and the guy on the ground were one and the same, but F. Daichi wasn't sure how he could explain all of that to a 2-year old. He'd just let the boy be a kid.

Little Daichi nodded and stuck out his tongue out once more. "I'm fast!" He declared to his older self. "Meep meep!"

"Well, if you're the roadrunner, that means you're gonna need a coyote chasing you," F. Daichi joked. He then turned his face of amusement into a more speculative-looking one as he looked up to the ceiling and stroked his chin. "Now, where on Earth could we find you a coyote?"

"Hmmm." The little boy thought, copying his older self in the same contemplative fashion. If he was gonna be the roadrunner, he'd have to have an excellent coyote to counter him. But where to get a coyote on such short notice? Then it hit him; "You be coyote!" He shouted and pointed to his older counterpart.

"Me? The coyote?" F. Daichi overdramatically asked. "Gee, I don't know. That means I'd have to be chasing after you all over the place and never get a chance to have anything to eat."

The 2-year old nodded. "Coyote not too smart, but funny!"

"Well, funny is my middle name." (That's a lie; he doesn't have a middle name). "I guess I can indulge in some chase scenes for a bit. Not like we're doing anything else today."

"Yay!" The young boy got up and jumped off the couch and to the floor faster than F. Daichi realized he would. He ran behind the couch and stood there, waiting for the chase to begin. However, his future self took a moment to get up and realize what was going on.

When F. Daichi did realize what was happening, he got up off the floor and lightly stretched himself out a bit. Then, he crouched down before rushing to the back of the couch to try and catch the little boy.

"Aaaah!" Little Daichi screamed before he ran around the couch to get away from his pursuer.

F. Daichi indulged in the fun and ran at a somewhat slower pace so his younger self would think he was the faster one of the two. As the two ran circles around the couch, F. Daichi noticed that the tot he was chasing was actually starting to get faster with each lap around the sofa. At first, he thought it was just in his head, but the young boy was beginning to give him a slight sweat. It had to have something to do with his saiyan genes. Either way, there was no real harm in continuing this little escapade, so F. Daichi picked up a little speed to keep at the same distance from the younger boy.

As the two rounded the couch over and over again, Chibi, who was sitting in her playpen, stood up and leaned against the pen's wall, following the two running around. Her head went back and forth as they kept going around and around and slowly became more blurred as they did so. It got to the point that her eyes started to spin as she watched them. At one point, they were so fast that she was getting dizzy and fell back onto the pen floor to make her head stop spinning. (Don't worry, she's fine. The pen bottom is cushioned, so she's all good).

Soon, F. Daichi stopped chasing his younger self and just plopped himself on the couch, waiting to see how long it would take before the younger boy would notice. He didn't for a solid 10 seconds before skidding to a halt in front of the couch. "Hey, you stop!" Little Daichi declared, confused why his chaser had stopped. "Why?"

F. Daichi chuckled, and with a playful smirk on his face, he turned to the younger boy and said in a Brooklyn accent, "Ain't I a stinker?"

It took Daichi a second to process what his older self was talking about, but he soon got the joke and began to laugh hysterically. He sounded just like the rabbit on TV.

Chiyo and F. Chibiko were now inside, sitting at the dining room table just talking while F. Daichi sat in the living room with Gohan and little Daichi playing a game of go-fish while baby Chibi took a nap and Chinku was munching on an apple. Just then, the house phone rang, interrupting everything. Since she was the closest one to the phone, Chinku went over to answer it. "Hello?" She asked after swallowing the last bite of her apple. "This is Chinku."

"Oh, hey Chinku, it's Bulma," Bulma greeted from the other end of the line. "Can you put your dad on the line for me? I need to ask him for something."

"Sorry, Bulma, Daddy's not home right now," Chinku replied. "He's out with Mama on a date…I think."

At this point, the other Son kids were all peaking in to see what was going on. They weren't expecting a call from Bulma of all people.

"Oh, good for Chi-Chi," Bulma replied, smiling a bit at hearing that Goku took Chi-Chi to spend some time with her. "Well, I guess I can call back tomorrow or something."

"Why? What do you need from Daddy? Is something the matter?"

"Well, maybe." Bulma twirled the telephone cord on her phone a bit as she thought about what to do. She needed Goku's help with this. "Is Gohan there? Can you put him on the line?"

"Yeah, okay." Chinku turned to Gohan, who was leaning over the couch and held the phone out for him. "Bulma wants to talk to ya, Gohan."

"Oh, okay," Gohan said, slightly surprised that Bulma needed to talk to him. He quickly hopped over the couch and took the phone from his sister before holding it up to his ear. "Hello? Bulma?"

"Oh, hey Gohan. Listen, since your dad's not there, could you do me a big favor? I could really use your help right now."

"Sure, what's up?"

Bulma then explained her dilemma to Gohan: she and her father were working on a memory chip for android 16. It was one of the last things they needed to do to fix him up good as new for the fight with Cell. The only issue was that there was not enough of a particular type of metal needed for the chip. In fact, it was a rare metal to begin with. Based on what she knew about the metal, it was only found in the Mt. Paozu area, which is why she had called to ask Goku to get some for her. "You don't mind picking up a few bits of it for me, do you?"

"Not all, Bulma," Gohan replied, seeing no issue in helping his father's friend out. "I can have that over to you in a jiffy."

"Thank you, Gohan. You're a lifesaver. Anyway, I don't need too much memorite, so just bring me about three medium-sized pieces of it, okay?"

"Yeah, I got it. See you soon, Bulma." And with that, Gohan hung up the phone.

"What did Bulma need?" Chiyo asked her brother after he hung up.

"Oh, she just asked for some help with a part she needs to fix up the android that she and her dad are working on," Gohan replied. "The metal she needs is out here in the area, so I'm just gonna grab a few pieces and go over to Capsule Corps to give it to her."

"Well, if you're going, I might as well come too," Chiyo remarked with a smile. It would be good to see Bulma again after only briefly seeing her before entering the time chamber to train.

"I wanna go too!" Chinku boldly declared, jumping up and down with excitement and a smile on her face. "I wanna see 16 again!"

F. Daichi and F. Chibiko were both equally taken aback by Chinku's declaration. Why on earth would she want to get so close to the android? Didn't she realize how dangerous this guy was? Didn't she know what the androids had done to the future? Despite wanting to scream at her, Gohan, and Chiyo not to go, the future duo kept quiet.

The two decided to stay behind while the trio went out to find the metal they needed to get for Bulma. "Just be back before Mom and Dad get back, okay? And be safe heading out," F. Chibi advised. Gosh, I'm starting to sound like a mom or something.

"We'll try," Gohan replied as he exited the house. Chiyo and Chinku were already outside waiting for him. He turned back to his future siblings, smiled, and then waved to them one last before going to meet Chiyo and Chinku. "Okay, let's go find that memorite for Bulma."

"Memorite, memorite!" Chinku sang a bit, bouncing on the balls and heels of her feet. "Let's go get the memorite!"

Chiyo giggled after hearing her sister's little song. It was adorable. Maybe it didn't really rhyme, but it was cute. "I think the place where it's at isn't far from here," Chiyo theorized. "We should be there and to Capsule Corps in no time."

With that all settled, the trio took to the skies to look for the metal for Bulma.

After they had left, F. Daichi and F. Chibi slumped onto the couch, lying against the back of it and staring up at the ceiling. They were trying to keep themselves from being upset, but the idea of Bulma fixing up 16 just made them so furious. Helping an android- one of Dr. Gero's creations- made them want to scream to the heavens. "….I don't get how they can just want to help that…thing," F. Chibi grumbled through gritted teeth.

"I get they didn't grow up in the hell we did, but the idea of them being anywhere near one of Gero's androids makes me want to….I don't know!" F. Daichi huffed, running a hand through his blonde hair.

"...I just hope this doesn't come to bite us in the butt later," F. Chibi admitted. "The last thing we need to worry about is that 16 causing trouble."

"Agreed."

All right, so that's it for now, guys! What did you guys think? What awaits Gohan, Chiyo, and Chinku at Capsule Corp? Find out next time on the Son Squad.

Thank you all so much for your continued support of the story. The one-year anniversary of this story is here, and I can't believe that it's made it this far. There have been plenty of ups and downs with it for sure, but I couldn't be happier with all the support you all have given. You all are just amazing, okay?

Anyway, have a good day everyone, and remember to wash your hands!