"Dragonball AS: Aftermath Saga"
Chapter 5- "New Challenges"

By- Tiny

It had been two months, two long, agonizing months since the whole incident with Yugin and Bonzar. Over the course of that time then tension between the two purple haired passengers, Trunks and Yugin, hadn't decreased in the least; in fact, Goten had begun keeping Paresu extra close to him, so as to avoid Yugin's gaze.

Despite all this tension onboard amongst the ship's occupants, that wasn't what was most troubling to the ships eldest occupant. Son Gohan was sitting in deep meditation, much like Piccolo used to, focusing intently on the energies around him. What bothered the hybrid Saiya-jin the most was the fact that something was making his mind cringe, like a dirty towel does to a germaphobe.

"I must be imagining things," Gohan assured himself, "After all, there are no evil ki's aboard this ship. Guess I'm just getting old..."

"Hey dad?" Pan smiled, poking Gohan's ribs, "Me and Bra are going off to the training room for a few hours. Wanna come?"

"Not thank you sweetheart," Gohan chuckled, patting his daughter's head, "I think I'll go and see what the others are up to. See you in a little while."

"Okay, bye!" the quarter Saiya-jin beamed as she bolted down the hallway, her best friend in tow.

"I was right," Gohan laughed, "I am getting old!"

The alarm went off in Trunks' room for the third time since six o'clock and, also for the third time, a soft, feminine hand slammed onto it. Ever since their bonding, Marron had been staying in her mate's room with him and that pleased her to no end. Deciding it was time to get up, Marron stood up off the bed, kissing Trunks on the forehead, and stretched her arms out.

"What a beautiful day this will be!" she moaned sarcastically, "The only good thing that goes on around here is the night life!"

Marron bent over to giggle, one hand over her stomach when a sudden queasy feeling crept up into her throat. Feeling as though she would gag if she didn't take off immediately, Marron darted into the bathroom. The sounds of her chucking awoke her somewhat startled mate, who immediately dashed to console her.

"What happened Marron?" Trunks asked, "Are you feeling alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Marron sighed, wiping her mouth, "Just a little space sick, I guess. I'll be alright after a while."

"I'm not so sure," Trunks mused, examining his mate's features, "Something about you is definitely different...."

Marron cocked her head to the side, grinning at the lavender-haired hybrid, and poking her tongue out at him. As she did so, Trunks' eyes widened in disbelief and he collapsed on the floor of the fairly tiny bathroom.

"Is something wrong Trunks?" Marron giggled, poking his ribs, "You seem a little pale!"

"Y....you..." Trunks stammered, "you're....you're...."

"What is it, sweetie?" Marron asked, concerned, "Is something wrong?"

"YOUR PREGNANT!!!!!!!"

"I warned you about this," Gohan muttered, "But no, you and Goten NEVER listen to me!"

"Well how were we supposed to know it would happen so soon?" Goten whined, "I mean, you didn't tell us about the fact that Saiya-jin in heat are more likely to IMPREGNATE their mates!"

"I was about to, but you stormed off, as usual!" Gohan growled back, "And I told you the next day about that possibility, did I not!?!"

"Well...um..."

"My point exactly!" Gohan sighed, "How far along do you figure they are?"

"About a month," Trunks spoke up, "They're just beginning to show, so it's still early on in the development."

"That means no training for you two for five months!" Gohan huffed, pointing at the two human girls, "Not while you're in this condition!"

"But human women stay pregnant for NINE months!" Paresu whined, "We'll be headed home by then!"

"Not exactly," Gohan laughed weakly, "Saiya-jin babies develop MUCH faster than human children. After six months, they're ready to enter into the world and gaze up at their parents!"

"You mean that we'll be getting REAL big REAL soon!?" Marron whimpered, "That's not fair!"

"Life's not fair," Gohan smiled, "But trust me, this'll all work out in the end."

"Hello Gohan!" Videl beamed, jumping on her husband, "I have something I need to tell you!"

"Really? What's that?"

Videl leaned in close to Gohan's ear, whispering in a voice so low that only the two of them could hear it. As she spoke, her husband's eyes bulged out to twice their normal size and he bolted up to stand again.

"You don't mean that you're..." Gohan gasped, "YOU TOO!?!"

"I don't see what's so wrong with that," Videl shrugged, "We've been trying for another one since Pan was born and now that I'm pregnant..."

"WHAT!?!?!" everyone else cried all at once, making Videl wince in slight pain and Pan to go slack jawed.

"I said that I'm pregnant. Why?"

Gohan and his daughter both hit the floor, so out of it that they didn't even notice when Goten splashed them with cold water. The younger brother of Gohan laughed heartily at his brothers predicament, then remembered he was in the same boat.

"Well, looks like we're gonna have to jettison some of the spare parts and clean up a bit!" Goten laughed, catching everyone's attention.

"Why do you say that Goten?" Ubuu, who had been listening intently, mumbled curiously.

"Because we're about to have company!"

Three months passed fairly quickly and it turned out that Goten and Trunks were wrong: the girls were two months pregnant before. Paresu and Marron, while being forbade from their training by Gohan, kept fairly busy by cleaning up their old rooms and converting them into nurseries for the babies.

Videl, on the other hand, was much farther along then the other two human women and looked like she'd pop any second now. It was because of that that Gohan had decided to land the ship somewhere until the children were born. Goten had located a planet he said would suffice for them, the planet where his father had learned his teleportation move, Planet Yardratsei.

"Are you sure it's a good idea to land here Goten?" Gohan questioned, "I mean, we don't even know what the gravity's like on this planet."

"No, but it's nothing the girls can't handle!" Goten chimed in, glancing back at the radar screen.

"It's not the girls he's worried about, dumb ass!" Trunks growled, "It's the babies!"

"Oh."

"According to preliminary tests, the gravity is only five times Earths," Ubuu stated, "That shouldn't affect the girls too much should we decide to land."

"WILL YOU JUST LAND THE DAMN SHIP ALREADY!?!" Marron finally screamed, making the other human men wince in pain and the Saiya-jin's ears bleed.

"Yes ma'am!" everyone chimed in at once, preparing the ship for landing on the planet's surface.

"That was awfully mean, Marron," Bra spoke up, "I don't think I'll ever hear again!"

"Perhaps not Bra," Marron smiled, "But it was worth it!"

Goten, who had noticed the smug smirk on Marron's face while preparing for landing, glanced over at Trunks and waved him over.

"Hey Trunks," Goten whispered, "Do you ever get the feeling that the girls are talking about us behind our backs?"

Wondering if maybe Goten was right, Trunks looked over at the line of young women standing behind the bridge. All of them were grinning like idiots and chuckling at the young men.

"Nah!" both hybrid Saiya-jin said at once, turning back to their posts, oblivious to what they had missed.

Entry into the planet's atmosphere was rather easy, at least in comparison to the reentries on Earth. Gohan assumed it was because of the higher gravity of the planet, but never had time to think about it as their ship touched down just outside the nearest civilization. They had decided it was best to stay away from there so as to not attract a lot of attention to themselves during their stay.

Gohan and his fellow hybrids were busy gathering up some things to prepare for camping out on the strange planet, so they didn't notice that the human men were starting to feel edgy. They kept looking up at the sky, their gaze steely, almost as though they suspected something was coming.

"So you guys can feel it too?" Ubuu smiled, noticing the other two's gaze, "I thought I was the only one."

"No, we have very sharp senses thanks to our resurrection," Yugin chuckled, "Whatever's out there, it's like...putting your hands in a dumpster. You feel dirty just from sensing it."

"I know, it's very dark," Ubuu shuddered, "Not as powerful as the Shenlongs or even Bebi, but still quite powerful. We might just have some trouble on our hands."

"Do you think we should tell the others?" Bonzar mused, looking up into the darkening sky.

"No, it doesn't seem to be heading this way," Ubuu mumbled, "But I think we should keep tabs on this energy, just in case."

The three reincarnates looked at each other with wary glances, each silently agreeing on the best course of action. Content to just watch, for now, the three teens walked back to the ship and helped prepare for their stay, oblivious to their target's change of direction...

NEXT TIME: A new, evil power has appeared in the vicinity of our hero's yet again, but Ubuu seems to think it better to not to warn the others just yet. Will the reincarnates decision lead to problems they don't want? And what about the children? Will the fighters be able to protect them should something go wrong? Find out in the next installment of Dragonball AS!