#dbnextgenweek2018

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“Trunks, can I have a margarita?” Bulla asked, leaning way over on the counter, eyes wide. What he was making himself was a cocktail, but to Bulla it was all the same. She was five years old.

“What’s the magic word?” Marron nearly choked.

“Please?” she whined, flopping on the bar.

“Alright, go sit down.” She hopped off the stool and Trunks met Marron’s eyes. The girl was glaring daggers at him.

“Are you going to give your five year old sister alcohol?” she demanded.

He smirked, so much like his father. “Of course not. Check it out.” He motioned for her to look under the bar and opened a wine chiller. Lined up was every brightly colored fruity soda she could name off the top of her head. “Mix it together and it looks just like the real thing, and the smell’s so strong they won’t be able to tell that it’s different than mine. It was Goten’s idea. He’s so smart,” he added wistfully, which made Marron laugh because no, he’s really not. Trunks’s boyfriend was away visiting colleges this weekend, even though he would likely go to online college and work at Capsule Corp like Trunks did. Or at least he hoped so.

“Well, that sure is deception.”

“It’s great! Gotta stay one step ahead of these kids.”

“Bad attitude, man.” She wouldn’t admit that she had felt the same way since she was nine, or even before then. She was so below the Saiyan children’s power that she had to accept that getting close to their level would be no easy task. She had strategy, though, taught by her dad and figured out by trial and error. Catching her boys off guard was her specialty.

“Do you want one?” Trunks asked, cracking open four bottles of soda and pouring the first in a glass of ice.

“The real kind or the sugar monstrosity?” She was 16, not legally allowed to drink alcohol yet, not like Trunks knew that, or cared. “Neither. I think I’m good.”

“Alright. Could you go ask Pan and Uub what they want?”

“Whatever.” She went.

The home theater was cut off from the bar by only glass. It was dark, only illuminated by the blue screen of the TV, but all three children were good at seeing in low light. Bulla crouched in the corner, adjusting the movie settings on the laptop there, and Pan leaned over her shoulder observantly. Uub sat on the edge of the couch with his arms around his knees, the blue of the frozen screen reflecting in his large brown eyes.

“Who wants what, kids?”

“Can I have a margarita too?” Pan asked. Marron sighed.

“Do you have milk?” Uub asked quietly.

“Probably upstairs. I’ll get you a glass.” She didn’t move for a moment, then sat down next to the boy. He looked skittish and kept pushing his chin into his knees. “You doing okay?”

“It’s not usually this dark, I-I’m not used to not seeing the sky.” The theater room had no windows and gave the best of them claustrophobia. The sterile air and the enclosed space were understandably frightening the little boy who was never as far from the outside as he was in the Briefs’ compound.

“You want to go for a walk?”

“Yes.” After a beat he unfolded himself and walked with the teen to the door.

“Pan wants a cocktail too,” Marron informed Trunks as they walked by, “and we’re going upstairs to get milk.” He waved a hand to acknowledge them, but didn’t even turn his head. He was on the phone and judging by the spacey, blissed out look on his face she could guess with whom.

The whole compound was dark, save the occasional emergency light, and the air whirred with the sounds of machinery, but at least topside light from the streetlamps and stars streamed in the windows. Uub looked at the sky in wonder, and smiled like it was his best friend. They stopped a moment to stare through the window. Marron wondered if a part of the child remembered that he came from there, somewhere farther out in the cosmos than she could imagine from her little shoebox house on Earth. He played with the lock on the window and before Marron could stop him he was leaning into the warm breeze, giggling at the spring peepers that filled the air with noise.

“Go fly around, I’ll let you back in,” and he was out, hitting the ground and bolting after the peeping frogs. Marron hardly saw someone so happy.

She continued to the kitchen and poured milk for Uub and herself. She spend a minute tapping on the counter, checking her email, enjoying the quiet, before her companion touched down on the patio and knocked on the glass with his elbow. His hands were clamped tightly together and something squeaked inside. Uub smiled like a mad man.

“You shouldn’t bring the frog inside,” Marron warned, but that’s all it was, a warning. She didn’t say he couldn’t.

“I want to show Pan, then I’ll let it back out.”

“Alright.” and after a moment she added with a  smirk, “We’re gonna freak Trunks out though, okay?”

He didn’t get it. He didn’t have to.

They headed back downstairs, Uub looking giddily down at the frog in the empty cereal box they placed it in. Trunks was wrapping his call with Goten up when they returned and Marron transferred the frog into her hand.

“How is Goten doing?” she asked, hands clasped behind her back.

“Great. He’s coming home earlier than he thought he was.” Trunks smelled of alcohol but he was drunk on his own love. It might have been cute.

“How much did you drink? You haven’t touched your cocktail,” she commented, moving closer.

“I had some vodka, just from the bottle. The drink’s for the movie.”

“Ah-huh.” She moved so they were almost touching and wrapped her arms around the tall teen. He hugged back, of course. And her hand sneaked up to his shoulder and placed the frog there. He didn’t notice— until it croaked. The half Saiyan jumped backwards into the wine rack. Marron cackled.

Uub stepped in frantically to rescue the peeper and the girls raced in as Trunks yelled groggily, “How dare you weaponize hugs! Friendship ended robogirl!”

“Talk’s cheap monkey boy!”

“Hey!” Bulla shouted, tiny hands on tiny hips. “Don’t be racist.” Both teens doubled over laughing. Pan agreed loudly over her shoulder.

Marron reached to help Trunks stand up, and he took her hand with one of his and pointed in her face with the other. “Don’t put! Slimy creatures on me please, young lady.”

“Alright, old man, but I promise nothing about slimy plants.”

Trunks groaned.

Pan jumped on Marron, flying up to be face to face with her. “Can we go watch Frozen now?”

“We’re watching Frozen? Oy, I had no idea.” This was the third time they were watching Frozen for movie night, she could have guessed. She stepped toward the theater room and the kids headed that way. “Don’t forget your movie drink, Trunks.” She took her milk with her. Trunks followed.

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Marron was the outcast at her school from 1st grade (she skipped preschool and Kindergarten) to about age 9, and truly she never stopped being one. She had cried for her mom the first couple months of school, and she solved her problems with ki blasts from her fingers, put together with her appearance and need to question everything and not having a filter between curiosity and prying and talking back, did not make her popular.

Chiaotzu had something to say about that, after all he had watched her (along with Tien and/or Yamcha) when she was little the few times 18 had somewhere to be or she and Krillin had a night or a weekend out. She called him her best friend, other than her mom, and didn’t see any problem with it until she had to go to school and he didn’t, seeing as he was a 30 year old. Chiaotzu was the first one to recognize that she really needed some friends her own age.

The only people in the world who could understand Marron, daughter of an android and the most powerful human on Earth, who could bend the energy in and around her to her will, were deemed to be Goten and Trunks. They didn’t like that all that much. Goten wanted to help her but didn’t want his friendship with Trunks to change, and Trunks flat out refused, “Goten is my friend and I don’t wanna share.”

They started meeting only once a week, an Saturday afternoons, after which Bulma would let them stay up as long as they liked playing video games (not like they didn’t do that already, but now it was permitted so they wouldn’t have to try and hide it.) They played hide-and-seek in the sprawling gardens until they introduced her to video games, where she took a vicious liking to whooping their virtual backsides. Hangouts at the Capsule Compound became trips to the mall and the zoo and aquarium, camping trips and occasional sleepovers. They liked each other and reveled in their secret powers, exchanging glances and smiles at school. They confided in each other. She was their friend, and they were her boys.

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Trunks sat with his arm spread out on top of the couch like always, and Marron sat on the cushion in front of it and leaned her head back. Her shaved hair irritated his skin and he readjusted himself so the short girl leaned on his shoulder instead. When she first shaved her hair he accused her of copying him. She said neither flattery nor mockery was involved in her decision. Her hair was just too long for her own good, she didn’t like it on the back of her neck or behind her ears. It made her a better fighter too, which was always a plus. Grabbing Goten’s hair over and over was what made him finally cut his. Trunks kept his short for convenience probably, since he has no patience to deal with tangles.

“I’m going to start the movie!” Bulla declared, pressing the play button then running and catapulting herself into her brother’s lap.

“OOF! Ow, Bulla!” She giggled. “What is this, mess with Trunks night?”

“Here I come,” Pan warned and jumped onto Marron’s lap. The teen tackled the littler girl to the couch into a laughing heap.

Uub had gone somewhere, but returned not too far into the movie. “The frog’s back outside.”

Pan pouted. “Can you catch another one later?”

“I’ll teach you how to catch one.” He sat down and Pan clambered off Marron’s lap and onto his. He hardly let anybody touch him, let alone sit in his lap. Pan was a special case. She was his training buddy, and fellow frog lover.

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By the time everyone lived happily ever after it was past 11 o’clock but none of the kids wanted to go to sleep. Trunks and Marron were ready but the young ones still had energy. Trunks wasn’t about to deal with that.

He tucked Bulla and Pan into their little shared bed against their protests and made them promise that if they played games they had to be talking games, not get up and run around ones. Uub slept in a cot in the same room and he was the one of the three closest to falling asleep. He was curled up with his eyes closed when the teens left.

Marron climbed into Trunks’s bed as he exhaustedly set up the air mattress.

“Goten will be back this time tomorrow. You think you two’ll be screwing in this room then?” Marron asked lazily.

“I haven’t the foggiest idea why you would want to know that given where you are currently laying,” he responded, smirking and flopping on his mattress.

“You’re right. I don’t wanna know.”

The Saiyan boy pulled his quilt up to his chin. “Lights off,” he commanded, and they clicked off.

“You think either of you’ll ever have kids?” she asked, quieter this time. “You’re a good… you’re such a good big brother to all three of them.”

She almost thought Trunks hadn’t heard her, and listened for his snores. He finally said, “We haven’t talked about it, I mean I’m only 19 and he’s 18. I can’t say I want kids but I do... like caring for the kids we have now.” Pause. “I don’t know, you don’t think putting me in permanent charge of a kid is a good idea, right? I’m not that responsible.” She knew. He had given his five year old sister what she thought was a margarita.

“I dunno. Put you and Goten together and you make a great team. I mean, what else are you gonna do?”

“How about run Capsule Corp? I’ve got my job set for me, I don’t know about him.”

“Bulma runs this place and still raised two kids. You could do it.”

“A lot of faith, Marron, a lot of faith.” It was quiet again.

“You could go pro at fighting, I think that’s what I’m gonna do.”

“I’ll think about it.”

Fruit and vodka. Mechanical whirring, light through the windows from streetlamps and stars. Spring peepers. “Goodnight, Mar.”

“Goodnight.”

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Please tell me other people know what peepers are? Those frogs where you can open your window in the springtime and hear them screaming at each other. We have them in the suburbs but I’m pretending they have them in the city too.

Also I have not watched any of GT, although I guess this takes place some time in between the end of Z and the start of GT in some au where Uub stays in Satan City to train along with Bulla and Pan instead of going back to his island. All characterizations are kind of pulled out of my head along with things I’ve gotten from fandom osmosis.

Hope you liked!

A loud knock on the door to his room startled Uub awake. He rolled over and promptly fell on the floor. Thankfully, the futon wasn’t exactly high enough from the ground to make it too painful. Just a bit of a shock to wake up slamming his face into the floor instead of a soft pillow.

Before Uub could sit up and drag himself over to the door, the perpetrator let himself right in. Surprisingly, it wasn’t his martial arts master like he had been expecting. Instead, it was the second son. Goten.

Uub raised an eyebrow as he rubbed his face and crossed his legs on the ground, letting his other hand flop into his lap. “What is it, Goten? Why are you up so early?”

“Early?” Goten blinked, looking toward the window. “It’s not early.”

At the statement, Uub did the same, his eyes widening instantly at the realization. The sun was already high in the sky. He sprang to his feet.

“H-how long did I sleep in? Why didn’t Mr. Goku come wake me up?”

Goten laughed, scratching at his mess of black hair. “You know, I still can’t get used to you calling my dad that. It’s fine if you just use his name.”

“Oh, r-right,” Uub chuckled, searching for his training gi that Ms. Chi-Chi had so nicely made for him. “He tells me that, too. It’s hard for me not to, though. Feels too...”

“Close?” Goten grinned. “It’s fine. You’re like part of the family now.”

“Yeah,” Uub mumbled, “you guys keep saying that.”

It was strange. With as much time as he had spent here, he should feel like part of the family. But there was still some distance. After hearing about their adventures, he figured out why, too. They had all encountered life or death situations. They had all experienced death. (Well not the granddaughter, Pan, but the others…)

It was something he couldn’t relate to. A love and appreciation for the closeness of their family and their life together that kind of seemed out of reach to him. Ms. Chi-Chi was always talking about how there were so many boys in her house, how she loved having them all there, even though Gohan and his wife and child lived elsewhere now. In a nearby city, apparently. With Uub here, she insisted it was like she was raising another child and she loved it.

Uub couldn’t understand that. He did his best to be polite, and Ms Chi-Chi encouraged his polite gestures and patience, while Mr. Goku did the opposite. How did they even work? She said one thing, he said another. Still, Mr. Goku caved to her on many things, especially when they involved the house itself or when they were under the roof.

So. A functional family, he supposed. Different from his own. His family back home wasn’t lacking anything, really, but it was still different. There was a warmth in the atmosphere here. Back home, things were a little more tense. Here, the tension was short lived and quickly laughed at when it occurred.

They all insisted he was part of the family now. Part of their family. All because Mr. Goku had decided to train him and then decided to bring him here. But why -

“Oh, you don’t have to wear your gi,” Goten said, still hanging by the doorway, almost like he was blocking something from being seen. “Choose something comfortable. Dad says he’s not training you today.”

“H-huh?” Uub spun around. “Why not?”

Goten shrugged. “Dunno. Something about a break, I think.”

Was he annoying Mr. Goku and he needed a break? Was he not good enough yet? Was he supposed to be doing more? He tried so hard and did his best, but Mr. Goku was still stronger than him. Uub hadn’t exactly won a fight yet. He was only twelve. He still felt amazed that he could go toe-to-toe with one of the strongest, if not the strongest, person in the world.

“I – uh -”

“Hah, you look freaked,” Goten said, closing the door and walking over to the closet. “Relax and put this on. It looks comfortable. And hurry.”

Nodding along, Uub took the clothes that Goten tossed at him, feeling no shame to dress in front of the teenager. Well. Goten was an adult now, too, since he was nineteen, but it wasn’t hard to feel at ease around him. Uub had learned that quickly enough. Sometimes, he felt like Goten treated him like a younger brother. Or a younger friend.

They really did insist he was family, after all.

He blinked as he processed the rest of what Goten had said. “Hurry? Why? What happened?”

Goten only laughed and leaned back on the heels of his feet. “Don’t worry, don’t worry. Man, I can’t believe you’ve been with us this long and you’re still on edge about everything. Relax. It’s fine.”

A part of him wanted to counter with the fact that this family wasn’t exactly normal. Uub had always felt a little out of place in his own family thanks to his sudden bursts of power. But here that was perfectly normal. Which made it...not normal to everyone else. Well. Maybe that bit made him feel like he belonged at least.

After getting dressed, Uub followed Goten to the door and then down the hall and then into the kitchen. Where he paused in his steps. His eyes grew as a crowd of people shouted “surprise!” Not just the whole Son family, but Trunks and Marron were there, too. The older friends he had made thanks to Goten for bringing him along on some of their outings.

On the table, there were boxes wrapped in colorful paper. And a cake. A cake that read “happy birthday Uub.” Tears sparked into his eyes and he had to dab them away quickly. How had they known? How had any of them known? Not only that? Why did they go through such lengths to give him a party for his birthday?  

Maybe…

Uub could feel his fingers trembling as he held onto Mr. Goku’s sleeve. Not because of the teleporting technique his master had, but because of where they were going. Air rushed around them for a second and in a blink, they were no longer in his village. They’d already said goodbye. He would be training away from them now. He wasn’t worried about them anymore, not after all the help Mr. Goku had been…

No, he was worried about other things now.

Like meeting a whole new group of people. A group of people who may or may not like him. A family that he wasn’t a part of. A family that Mr. Goku had left on a whim to help him, Uub, little boy from a poor village who had shown up at a tournament only to -

Well.

He didn’t have much time to think on it. With a sudden plop of energy, they were no longer in Uub’s village. Instead they were inside a house close to the kitchen. And someone was in front of them. Someone with long black hair pulled back loosely at her neck.

Mr. Goku was the first to speak. “Hey, Chi-”

“Kyaaaaaaa!”

The exclamation made Uub slap his hands over his ears. The high pitched shriek was not what he had been expecting when meeting Mr. Goku’s family. The woman actually spun around and smacked Mr. Goku across the face, causing him to go flying through the room until he hit the nearby wall. Uub stared, eyes wide, trying to gulp back his new fear.

Meeting new people was always scary on its own – going to the tournament to be surrounded by so many unknown strangers had been such a difficult experience for Uub – but his fear spiked at seeing someone knock Mr. Goku aside so easily like that. Mr. Goku was the strongest person he knew. Probably the strongest in the whole world.

And yet -

This woman before him had smacked him across the room with hardly any effort. Needless to say, Uub was frozen in place and trying hard not to so much as breathe wrong. He wanted to run and hide but he also couldn’t move. He didn’t want the attention on him. So he just stayed there and felt his eyes shaking as he glanced from this powerful woman to his master.

To Uub’s surprise, Mr. Goku laughed, rubbed his cheek, grimaced slightly, and brushed off his pants as he stood to his feet. “You still got it, Chi. Ow...”

“G-Goku?” the woman said, hand going to her mouth. “I – why can’t you ever use the door like a normal person?”

Mr. Goku laughed again, rubbing the back of his head this time. “Aw, Chi, it’s faster to go straight to your energy. You know that.”

She huffed. “Sure but I don’t think I’ll ever get used to it. Not after you’ve been gone so long.”

“Aw, Chi, it hasn’t been that long...”

“Never mind that,” she said, waving her hand in the air and turning to Uub. “Who did you bring with you?”

Oh no. The attention was on him. Confusing conversation between these two or not, he still wasn’t sure if he was safe from the woman’s wrath. What if he said or did something to surprise her? Or anger her? Or – what if she remembered who he was and held resentment? Or -

A big hand landed on his shoulder, follow by Mr. Goku’s voice. “This is Uub. He’s the boy I’ve been training ever since that last tournament.”

Uub watched as the woman’s eyes narrowed and her lips pursed. He gulped. She didn’t like the reminder. Oh, this wasn’t a good idea. He shouldn’t have come along. He should’ve just stayed at home. No matter how much fun it was to train with Mr. Goku.

“Well,” the woman sighed. “Why is he here? Are you planning to stay for a while?”

“Yep!” Mr. Goku said, as if not noticing the tense atmosphere or tension around Uub specifically. “We got his village into a better state so they’re not starving anymore. So I figured we could stay here now. That’s all right with you, isn’t it, Chi-Chi?”

“Of course it’s all right” Ms. Chi-Chi said, her expression suddenly beaming. “All right, Uub. You just sit down there at the table and I’ll get you something to eat right away.”

“Uh, but -” Uub started without thinking. “I didn’t say anything about being hungry.”

Ms. Chi-Chi waved her had in the air as she turned to the pantry. “Don’t worry about that. I know when boys are hungry. Trust me. If you don’t feel it yet, you will soon. Besides, I’m sure Goku wants me to cook something anyway.”

With a blink, Uub looked from Ms. Chi-Chi to Mr. Goku. He was giving her a look that reminded him of… oh… well, if Ms. Chi-Chi was Mr. Goku’s wife then that all made sense. He had talked about her a lot. Uub should’ve recognized it earlier.

The spirit of all things Dragon Ball dictates that names are jokes, puns or follow a pattern of some sort. Uub is Buu backwards both in name and nature, but in-Universe Uub’s parents wouldn’t have known that, so where did the name come from? WELL, there’s a fruit called the Umbu (Imbu) fruit, part of the cashew (Anacardiaceae) family. If we take away the m and extend the first vowel then we get a fun pattern to use with other fruits from the same family! (Plus means we can say Uub grew up on Cashew Island hohoho!)

Aabarella (Ella) (ambarella): The fussiest sister ever. Politically and economically involved in the island’s business as soon as she could read (and that was early), she was the one overseeing Goku and Uub’s efforts when farming and restoring the mangroves during training. As the eldest the family leadership position would fall to Uub but he was happy to refuse it (hell, even encourage to) so Ella could get a seat at the table of families and work her way to getting her mitts on the island proper. She drives the Island back to prosperity with the neighbouring islands, and stands firm against Central City’s insistence the South Islands should conform more to federal rule (e.g. keeping local languages, local governance structure and traditions).

Jaakote (Jaak) (jocote): Twin, chill dude with a heart of gold, extremely sensitive. Like his Dad he loves to tell a story, though as a kid would often have to check in with Moubun to make sure he’d remember it right. Ends up taking on the traditional role as the Island’s Keeper of stories, and works as his elder sister’s charm offensive when battling Central for cultural preservation. Folds in a lot of stories about his elder brother and teacher’s adventures which go down well.

Moubun (Mou, MouMou), (mombin, same fruit as jocote): Twin, looks very grumpy but just a quiet softy. Still, she knows she has a reputation so will make use of it to put people in their place. Has the memory to be a Keeper but just not the extraversion or sense of drama to be telling and spinning new stories all the time. Instead does an undergraduate history major with scholarship at Southern City University, then a PhD in preservation of pre-unification cultural history at Central City University. She works to uncover the history of the South Islands archipelago that has been lost or become piecemeal over the course of Central’s rule, causing a quiet stir in those ivory towers so close to the King. The low humidity required for old documents does not mesh well with keeping a pet frog, so she doesn’t keep any :c. 

All Over - Cruisr (And all the Cruisr songs, actually) Goten x Marron. All Over in particular is a song about two people fighting and, um, /fighting/, so works well for how I write them. Could probably work quite well for Goku x Chichi and maybe Videl x Gohan for that reason.

All right part 2 - Asian Kung Fu Generation, You Your Cat and Me - Frank Hamilton - present Trunks x Mai for the chill, cosy loft apartment and strong coffee vibe. And for mentioning cats.

Eden - Chef’Special - Pan Bra brotp/otp/who knows TP

Where No One Goes - John Powell (How to Train Your Dragon 2) - Pan’s flight from Mount Paozu round the world, including an arc to the edge of space (the playlist’s coverart)

It All Starts Here - Magic Man  - The day Goku and Vegeta leave for their final fight, leaving the Kids in charge.

Snakes - Bastille - Everyone saying goodbye to their loved ones before turning towards the final battle.

Fast Fuse - Kasabian, Misirlou - Dick Dale - Gotenks. Dare you to listen to Misirlou and not think of him haha. 

Peculiar - Chef’Special - Without /fail/ my brain plays the intro as Gohan trying to convince an editorial board to publish his work on ki, the bar before the verse his demo of a simple ki ball, the final beat their shock, then from the first bar of the verse onwards how everyone copes with it all coming out (and going better than expected). Also works as a Gohan x Videl song I think, it’s so cute!

Fell in Love with a Girl - White Stripes - Pan donning a hoodie and mask and helping out a now exasperated Papayaman.

Quiet, Quiet (B side) - Polite Fiction - Trunks and Goten singing to Pan and Bra to get them to sing along and practice breath control/movement with ki, demoing for Mai, Marron and for the first time Uub, who hasn’t seen too much subtle ki manipulation yet (namely manipulating Gotenks’ Ghost technique to make butterflies for the girls to chase) (I love this song).

Forever - Ykiki Beat - Really cool ending song, I imagine everyone painting a mural of their parents and friends’ past battles on the wall of Goten’s café, it being shown to the Old Guard at a party, and then being covering it up.

Daylight - Matt and Kim - Everyone at a seaside town driving round, top of the car down, air metallic in the heat, late afternoon Sun, girls dozing in the back after a long afternoon at the beach.

Pressure - Youngblood Hawke - very ‘chips are down’ intro song

Finally...