As the five flew onward, Tien announced, "I'll be leaving you guys here. I'm going to pick up Chiaotzu from Kame House so we can train some more."
Raditz nodded. "Right, then we will meet up with you later."
"See ya," Krillin said, as Tien turned away.
As they went, Raditz said to Ranch, "By the way, I told your mother that she should wait with your Aunt Chi-Chi while we were all away. She'll be very happy to see you."
"That'll be great," Ranch said, appreciatively.
They lowered their altitude as they approached the house, and when they landed Raditz started to lead the way inside.
But before Raditz got to the door, Krillin said, "Hey, before we go in there's something I want to ask..."
"What is it?" Raditz asked, annoyed.
"Trunks, Ranch, I'm wondering," Krillin began uncertainly, "do you really think that the cyborgs are…all bad?"
The two from the future were taken back by the question. "They're ruthless, cold-blooded, killing machines," Trunks responded with no room for compromise. "Why even bother asking?"
"Ditto. Seriously, what's going through your head?" Ranch asked.
"Hey, I was just hoping that maybe if we could get through to them we wouldn't have to fight," Krillin quickly explained.
"Hoping won't do anything," Trunks said as he turned back to the house.
Ranch, though, stared suspiciously at Krillin, who buckled under her glare. "Wait a sec," Ranch began, her anger rising as she advanced on Krillin. "You wouldn't have some sort of stupid crush on the bimbo because she gave you a pity peck on the cheek, would ya?" When he did nothing but just stand there nervously, Ranch picked him up by his shirt, and demanded, "Well?"
"Ranch, stop!" Raditz said in shock, but she didn't listen.
"No! No, of course not. What kind of crazy idea is that?" Krillin said desperately.
Ranch let him go and he landed on his feet, albeit barely. "Good," she said in a low, threatening tone. "Because if you do anything that gets in the way of destroying those monsters, I'll clock you good. Got that?" she added, raising her fist.
"Yes!"
"…Fine, then."
"Come on, Ranch, a crush? Don't you think that's a bit farfetched?" Trunks said to her as she walked past him.
"I hope so," she responded irritably.
"Gohan! Is he back?" Chi-Chi's voice rang out as she opened the door to see what the commotion was. "Oh," she said in disappointment, upon seeing Gohan wasn't among them.
"Raditz, you're back!" a new voice said happily, running outside with baby Ranch in her arms. "But what is going on out here?" Older Ranch and her blue-haired mom locked eyes. Her mother looked at her in wonder, unsure at what she was seeing, and approached her slowly.
"Launch, dear," Raditz said, putting an arm around his wife. "Remember that time traveling young man that warned us about the future? Turns out our daughter came back as well."
Ranch's demeanor immediately flipped, as she raised her hand in greeting, and unsurely said, "Hi, mom."
Launch's eyes filled with tears, she gave the baby to her husband, and she rushed forward to hug her older daughter. "Ranch! Oh my goodness! I can't believe it, you're all grown up!"
"It's good to see you, too, mom," Ranch said, hugging her back warmly.
"Oh wow, that's Ranch?" Chi-Chi said, perplexed. "Now that you mention it, I can see it."
"Hey, Aunt Chi-Chi," Ranch greeted over her mother's back.
"Raditz! Krillin! You're back!" Yamcha greeted excitedly, coming out to meet them. Spotting Trunks, he added happily, "Hey, man, welcome back!" Then he saw the scene between Launch and Ranch. "Uh, what's going on there?"
"We'll explain later," Krillin said seriously. "We've got to move Goku now. There's another batch of cyborgs, and they're several times stronger than all of us put together!"
"Whoa! Seriously!" Yamcha yelped.
"How is Kakarot doing?" Raditz asked him.
"He's taken the medicine and he's sleeping," Yamcha informed him.
"Alright, well get ready. For now we'll move on to Roshi's."
"If you say so," Chi-Chi sighed. "I'll get some things together."
Launch put on a serious face as she let go of her older daughter. "Yes, I'll help with that. Honey, would you run back home for a bit to get Ranch's things?" she asked Raditz.
"Of course," he agreed, handing her back the baby. "I'll be right back." And he flew off towards his house.
As Chi-Chi and Launch went inside the house, Chi-Chi complained, "I wish Goku was that attentive when Gohan was a baby." Launch just giggled.
"Oh, hello, I don't think we've had the pleasure," Launch said to Trunks, who followed them in with Ranch.
"Uh, I've had," Trunks said a bit unsure how to go about it. "The pleasure of meeting you, I mean. I'm Trunks, Bulma's son."
"Oh! Bulma must be so happy to know what a handsome, young man her baby will grow up to be!" Launch told him brightly.
"Thanks," he said, blushing slightly.
After the plane came out of its capsule, Krillin and Yamcha went to the bedroom to pick up Goku and carry him in, while Trunks picked up a mattress and blanket. Chi-Chi and Launch gathered up some laundry, while Ranch was weirdly tasked with minding her baby self. Thankfully Raditz soon came back with the baby supplies, and was all too happy to carry his daughter. Just as Goku was carefully laid on the mattress and was covered with the blanket, Gohan appeared in the sky.
"Gohan!" Chi-Chi cried happily, dropping what she was carrying and running over to hug him when he landed. "My baby's back!"
"Hey, what's going on?" Gohan asked, despite her mother's attempt to smother him.
"We'll explain on the plane, let's go!" Krillin told him.
When they all got in the plane and Yamcha started it up, they took off into the air as Gohan was filled in on the details by Krillin. Baby Ranch was still being held by Raditz, but the baby then began looking over at Trunks and made babbling noises at him.
"What is it, sweetums?" Raditz asked as his baby got more restless. It was then he noticed that little Ranch was swinging her arms at Trunks. "I…think she…?"
"Oh she just wants to meet Trunks," Launch said simply. She took baby Ranch from her father, and Launch held her out for Trunks to carry with a smile on her face.
"Uh…sure," Trunks said, feeling a little awkward about it and avoiding Raditz's unfriendly gaze.
"Aw, she likes you," Ranch teased with a grin. Indeed, the baby was continuing to joyfully wave her arms and make noises at him.
"Wow, not even four Super Saiyans can take them out," Gohan said, anxiously.
"Yeah, and apparently they're even stronger than the ones they came back in time and warned us about."
"Okay, that's quite enough," Chi-Chi piped up, opening one of the bundles they brought along. From it emerged a stack of books that she plopped in front of Gohan. "You've got some studying to catch up on."
"Ah, mom, you expect me to study now?" he asked in disbelief.
"No back talk. Get to it," she said seriously.
"Wow," Krillin said in amusement. "And I thought I had it rough."
Curious, Ranch went over and sat by her aunt and cousin on the floor. Smiling, she mentioned, "Geez, I had no idea you were such a bookworm, Gohan."
As Gohan was about to comment, Chi-Chi cut him off in a panic. "No idea? What do you mean by that?" she asked in horror. "He's supposed to grow up and become a scholar!"
Taken back, Ranch blinked and scratched her head uncertainly. "Well," she explained, "all of the world's strongest fighters died when the cyborgs appeared, Aunt Chi-Chi. Gohan was literally the only one left until Trunks and I got older, so he had to focus on getting stronger."
"What?" Chi-Chi said, dejected. "No…way."
Seeing her expression, Ranch hurriedly went on, "But that because he had no other choice! Don't worry, Aunt Chi-Chi, I'm sure that if we take care of everything here Gohan will be able to pursue whatever academics he can!"
"R—really?" she asked, cheering up.
"Of course!" Ranch said with a confident expression. "I mean, look at Uncle Goku. Back in my time he still didn't make it despite us traveling back in time to give him medicine. But he's still alive right here, right now. And I'm positive that Gohan will sur—" she stopped herself, and hoped the pain didn't show in her face. "I'm positive Gohan will live a different life!"
Encouraged by this, Chi-Chi smiled and looked down at her son. "In that case, young man, hit those books. Looks like you have to make up for the other you, as well."
"Gee, thanks, Ranch," Gohan said under his breath, giving her a sideways look.
"Sorry," she whispered, before going back over to Trunks, who was still holding baby Ranch.
"You know," Trunks started, "we were just thinking over here about maybe going back in time again, and destroying Gero's lab now that we know where it is." His gaze then fell onto Goku. "But what you just said made me realize it wouldn't work. All we'd be doing is going to another reality, while in this one the cyborgs are still on the loose."
"Hmm, I hadn't thought of that, but you're right," Ranch said, cooing her baby self. "It might be best to find some solution here, and take that back home."
For a little while after that they all sat in silence, except for the scratching of Gohan's pencil and little Ranch's squeals. Then suddenly, Yamcha said from the driver's seat, "Hey, so does anyone want to let Bulma know what's up? She'll probably want to be kept in the loop."
"I'll do it," Raditz quickly volunteered.
Trunks couldn't help but be amused. "Wow, Raditz, I don't know many people that'll voluntarily deal with my mom."
Raditz looked at him and Ranch being cozy with the baby, and then said, "I could use the distraction."
When he dialed and got through, Bulma's voice blasted out of the speaker. "Raditz, what's going on? What happened? Is everything okay? I've been trying to call you and your brother's house, but no one's answered. Also, are Trunks and Ranch there? I mean the future ones."
Taken back by the barrage of questions, Raditz composed himself, and said, "Yes, they're both here now. They can hear you."
"Okay, so we got a call from someone in the countryside outside Ginger Town that says he found one of our vehicles," Bulma explained. "He didn't know what to make of it, except that he saw it had the Capsule Corp logo, so we asked him to send you us a picture. I've never seen anything like it before, but I got a feeling it has something to do with them. I'm sending it over now."
The printer on the plane's console produced the picture, which Raditz handed to Ranch.
"No way!" Ranch cried in disbelief, gripping the photo.
Trunks peeked over her shoulder and just about dropped the baby. He handed her back to Launch, and joined in on Ranch's confusion. "No—but—that's the time machine! But that makes no sense! I've got it right here in capsule form," Trunks said, taking out his case of capsules to prove his point.
"Not only that, the one in the picture is old and decrepit," Ranch added. "How is this possible?"
"We have to investigate," Trunks said seriously. "Where is this place?"
"I'll send you the location. I'll meet you there," she told them, much to their surprise.
"Uh, are you sure?" he asked.
"Yes I am. Don't argue with your mother. I'll see you soon." Bulma hung up.
"I'd go too, Trunks, but I think it's best if I stay and watch over my brother in case trouble shows up," Raditz said.
"Understood," Trunks said, nodding. "Ranch, we—"
"Um, actually," Ranch said, suddenly looking slightly guilty, "I think I should stay, too. You know…extra protection for Uncle Goku." But her eyes traveled to her parents, and it was clear to Trunks that she just wanted to spend time with them.
Smiling, he told her, "Yeah that makes sense."
"In that case how about I go?" Gohan asked standing up. "I promise I won't get in the way."
"Gohan," Chi-Chi started, "you still haven't finished your homework."
"Come on, mom, I'll finish it when I get back!"
"Alright, Trunks, be careful out there," Ranch said to him, placing her hand on his arm with a soft expression.
"Don't worry about me," Trunks reassured her. "But…it's weird now thinking about it. This'll be the first time in years you won't be around to watch my back." Raditz watched the exchange with some apprehension. Like before, when he easily pictured himself with blonde Launch, the way that Ranch and Trunks were interacting now made Raditz picture himself and blue-haired Launch.
She gave him a sly look, saying, "Well don't get used to it."
Trunks placed his hand on Ranch's shoulder. "Wouldn't dream of it."
Trunks and Ranch closed the gap between them and kissed. Raditz tensed up and looked away; Launch and Chi-Chi let out sounds that clearly indicated they found it adorable; and Yamcha, Krillin, and Gohan were doing their best to not be amused.
They separated when the hatch on the plane's side opened up, and Trunks and Gohan flew out into the open air. Ranch stood by the window and watched them until they disappeared. Trunks was right, it was weird now that they were separated after so many years basically attached at the hip. When she could no longer see them, Ranch noticed that she was being stared at.
"What?" she asked.
"Sweetie, you didn't tell us you and Trunks were together," Launch pouted.
"Well it didn't come up," she replied, thinking about it.
Launch then smiled at her. "Well I think you two make a cute couple," she said, now embarrassing her older daughter slightly. "Don't you think so, honey?" Launch asked Raditz.
Her father didn't immediately answer. He was sitting on the floor, arms and legs crossed, a fierce battle being waged inside him. Finally, Raditz said, "Yes…they are." Then he let out a heavy sigh, admitting, "Trunks is just fine from what I've seen, but Vegeta is going to be even more unbearable than usual."