AN: Hello and welcome! Glad you decided to come by. We'll be introducing a few more characters today.

But first... a shameless plug!

Another story of mine that I'm working on: RWBYS - Blood is Thicker. If any of you guys are a fan of RWBY, maybe you could give it a look-see.

With that, we shall begin. Stand by for cuteness!


Chapter 4 – The First Step

It took a great deal of finesse to explain to Chronoa how Puddin had come into existence overnight, but Dumplin somehow managed to do it in a way that wouldn't make the childish god want to throw energy blasts at him or worse, make dinner for him.

Maybe it was also helped by the sheer amount of property damage that the Kais made the very next day. That probably helped divert some of the attention.

With an unusually large increase in the amount of time rifts across history, the Time Patrol had begun to hire more and more new recruits. The new members were coming in so fast that that Elder Kai was called in to help with the training of the recruits. This spawned many arguments between the two Kais about how the Time Patrol should be run, some of these arguments almost coming to blows thanks to Chronoa's immaturity and Elder Kai's penchant for stupidity.

Seeing them go at each other at the drop of a hat got many of the new recruits talking. First it was about why the argument was happening in the first place, then about who would win said argument, then about who would win an actual fight, then about how strong either of them really were, and then finally about why people believed these two layabout deities were so strong in the first place. They only had others' say so that these two could even actually do anything.

Chronoa decided to put a stop to such dangerous thinking by arranging for a grand demonstration of both hers and Elder Kai's divine powers. After gathering the entire Time Patrol together, Chronoa made a huge display of bringing the Shenron statue in the meditation garden to life. Unfortunately, she put a little too much effort into it and the now-immense statue ran amok, smashing Toki Toki City to pieces around it. The child-like Kai spent the entire ordeal locked in the Time Nest, projecting a force field to keep it all in one piece as the dragon raged outside. Dumplin and Towa watched the disaster in fascinated silence as Puddin sat upon her father's head, giggling nonstop at the explosions all around her.

When the dust settled, Toki Toki City was in shambles. The dragon had flown off and had taken up a position obscuring the entire northern horizon. After giving a very embarrassed apology to a very ticked off Time Patrol, Chronoa and Elder Kai began organizing the effort of remaking the Time Patrol headquarters. Plans were made and the ruins of Toki Toki City were used as the foundation for a brand new city. Dumplin and Towa even helped steal hunks of land from Earth, Namek, and a bunch of other planets across the ages to fit onto the new city like building blocks.

Soon, the new Conton City was complete.

All throughout the building process, Puddin would ride around on her father's head while he worked, giving her a first-hand view of the world around her. Dumplin would proudly introduce her as his daughter to any Time Patroller who would listen. Puddin was soaking up experience and knowledge like a sponge. By the end of the first day she was speaking a handful of words. By the second she was managing simple sentences. By the fourth she was actually holding conversations with other people and was starting to puzzle out written words. Dumplin was as proud as he could possibly be, but Towa was still keeping her distance for some reason, spending most of her days in her lab. This led to lots of times when Dumplin and Puddin would spend the evening together after a long day of work, either reading books, watching TV, or just snuggling on the couch.

One morning, Puddin surprised her parents by waking them up after completely changing her form. When everyone had gone to bed the previous night, she had been the little blob with legs. When they woke up, she had grown immensely and had changed her body to the proportions of a five-year-old girl. She even grew some head tentacles to give herself bangs and a ponytail. It took a bit of practice to shift from using four legs to just two, but within minutes she was walking like a champ.

She even went with her father to the morning muster of the Time Patrol.


Puddin looked all around the courtyard in front of the Time Nest with wide eyes, trying to take in everything around her. Dozens of Time Patrollers stood at attention as Trunks, her daddy's partner, was giving the announcements for the morning. There were so many Patrollers here, from every size, shape, sex, and species. Some were so tall that they seemed to stretch up forever while some were even shorter than her daddy. The demon in question just smiled at his excited daughter, but kept a firm grip on her hand to make sure she didn't go running off to who knows where. Puddin's other hand was clenching and unclenching around the fabric of her lime green sundress.

"Alright, you all have your orders," Trunks said, his posture straight with his hands clasped behind his back. "You're all dismissed."

"Sir!" the assembled Patrollers said at once before going off to their duties. Trunks let out a sigh before approaching the two.

"Morning, Dumplin," he said before turning to Puddin with a look of confusion. "Who's this?"

"Aww," she pouted. "Don't you remember me, Trunky?" Her eyes grew impossibly large as she looked sorrowfully up at him. Trunks' jaw dropped.

"Puddin?! How… What… How?"

"I decided I wanted to be bigger. Nyaa~" she said with a proud smile.

It must have been a weird day because Trunks decided to accept that answer.

"Is there any chance of… of Towa being around today?" Trunks asked hesitantly. Dumplin shook his head.

"The missus is working on her next big thing. She'll only come out when she's hungry. Or horny. Or both." He shrugged. Again, Trunks' jaw dropped as he looked back and forth between Dumplin and his daughter. The girl just looked at her father in confusion.

"I didn't know Mommy had horns," she said, cocking her head to the side. Dumplin smiled and patted her head.

"Only when she's really mad, sweetheart."

"Oh, I get it," she said with a smile.

"Oh my gods…" Trunks groaned, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Anyway," he emphasized, eager to move the conversation along, "I need to talk to you. Um… in private, please."

"Oh, sure," Dumplin said. He craned his neck and looked around the courtyard. A few Time Patrollers were seeing to various tasks close by while some actually had time to loiter here. He looked at each of them in turn, giving consideration to who could keep an eye on Puddin for a few minutes. There were some he wouldn't trust to take care of a ham sandwich, some he wouldn't even think to leave Puddin with, and some he would only leave Puddin alone with so he could put the aftermath on YouTube. Finally, he spotted a Time Patroller across the courtyard who he felt was halfway capable of looking after her for a few minutes.

"Hey, Paata!" Dumplin shouted across the courtyard, his free hand cupped around his mouth. "Get you and your butt over here!"

The Patroller in question was a black-haired Saiyan who looked in his late twenties and dressed in a blue gi over a yellow muscle shirt. He was currently going through a sword kata before he froze and turned to face Dumplin. His golden eyes shined with excitement as he sheathed his katana and sped forward to them. He snapped to attention and bowed to Dumplin.

"You called, sir?" he asked excitedly. Dumplin nodded before indicating Puddin.

"I got to talk with Trunks for a bit. Can you keep an eye on Puddin while I'm gone?"

"Puddin?" Paata said, looking at the girl in amazement before smiling. "Wow. You really grew."

"Uh huh," she said proudly.

"Puddin, this is Paata," Dumplin told her. "He's a good Patroller Cadet and a pretty decent guy. He's gonna look out for you while I'm gone. Alright?"

"You got it, daddy," she said with a smile. Dumplin smiled back.

"Now be good for Paata," he said as he kissed her left cheek, "and bad for me," as he kissed her other cheek. "Be back soon." With that, he waved goodbye before both he and Trunks took to the air and flew toward the Time Nest.

For a moment, Puddin and Paata just stood there staring at each other. A random wind blew a tumbleweed past.

"So," they both said at the same time. They stopped and continued to stare at each other a moment before starting to laugh.

"You first," Paata urged.

"What were you doing when my daddy called you?" she asked. Paata smiled and patted his sword hilt.

"I was practicing a sword style I'm trying to make. I'm calling it Dragon Claw right now, but I might change the name later."

"You're actually making a style?" Puddin said in awe. "That is so cool! I can't wait till I start learning how to fight!"

"You want to be a Patroller?"

"You bet!" she squeed. "Hearing Daddy tell me about his stories, about how he fights the bad guys and he's all 'Bam! Boom! Swish! Pow! Hiyah!' Nyaa~ it's so cool! I really wanna do that!"

Paata laughed as she showed him her 'kung fu moves', which basically equated to her swinging her arms around and saying "Hwatcha!" a lot.

"You've definitely got the heart for it, Puddin," he said. An idea struck him and he smiled conspiratorially. "Say, Puddin," he began, "what would you say to doing a little bit of training while we wait for your dad?" With a blur of motion, she was suddenly grabbing onto his gi with both hands and looking up at him with an eager expression. Paata could swear he saw stars in her eyes.

"Nyaaaa…" she said in barely over a whisper. The sheer adorableness made Paata laugh.

"Alright then," he said. "Let's do some training."

"Yes!" she cried, hopping up and down like a jackrabbit on caffeine. "What are we doing first? Orin Combo? Kamehameha? The Fifty-Five Fists of Furious Fury?"

Paata put his hand on her shoulder, keeping her in place.

"Let's start with performing a correct punch," he said.

"That works too."

After spending a few minutes getting Puddin into a proper boxing stance, Paata started coaching step by step in how to a proper punch. Puddin was a little surprised by how much work went into just doing the simplest of strikes, but she was nevertheless making progress. Her initial attempts didn't have much force behind them, but she and Paata kept going through the motions over and over again. Soon, she had the entire movement down.

When she finally pulled off a punch with all of her strength behind it, the force was incredible. The pressure wave alone was enough to knock Paata back a step.

"…Wow," he said when he got his balance back. "That's one heck of an arm you got there. We should definitely show your dad when he gets back."

"Nyaa~" Puddin said proudly, as her fist flew toward Paata. He started to block before he realized she was just holding her fist out to give him a fist bump, which he gladly returned. They laughed for a few moments before Puddin went quiet and started fiddling with her dress. "Um…" she started before going quiet.

"What's wrong, Puddin?" he asked.

"I… I was just wondering… well…" she flushed in embarrassment. "Would you like to be my friend, Paata?" The man smiled and held his hand out to her.

"I'd be happy to," he said with a smile. She returned it and shook his hand.

"Great," she said. "We can do sleepovers, braid each other's hair, talk about boys, run around outside, play dress up, and watch cartoons all day! Nyaa~!"

"Depends," he said with a smile. "What cartoons do you like?"

"Well…" She started looking bashful again. "I know it's kind of silly and it's a pretty old show, but I really like this one called Warrior Pegasus Princess. I just… I just can't stop watching the adventures of Princess Moonbeam." She was now attempting to hide behind her bangs.

When Puddin finally looked back at Paata, she was surprised to find he was no longer smiling but was looking at her with an almost stunned expression. Then, a small smile spread across his face. He stood up to his full height and drew his sword with a sharp ring of steel.

"Behold!" he said dramatically as he thrust his blade into the sky, "for the story of our resolve is written in our battle cries!"

Puddin's mouth dropped open. She knew this! Paata glanced at her from the corner of his eye and winked at her. She could feel her mouth turning into an immense grin.

"Those that stand against us," she picked up, "lack something that is always by our side! The joys of life!"

"The joys that come from the will and capacity for friendship! For love!"

"And with those joys, we shall show you no mercy!"

"Taste the wrath of love!" they both shouted, striking dramatic poses. A few moments of silence passed before they heard a scattered round of applause. The other Time Patrollers in the courtyard laughed and clapped for them, but Puddin was barely listening.

"We should get together and do a marathon sometime!" she said happily, bouncing up and down in excitement.

"Just give me the time and place," Paata answered with a smile, sheathing his sword.

Before Puddin could really get into a discussion on her absolute favorite show, she heard a voice calling her name. She spun around with a smile.

"Daddy!" she said, bounding over to give her father a flying tackle hug. Dumplin plucked her out of the air and spun her around. Trunks was standing next to him and hopped to the side to avoid Puddin's flailing feet.

"Miss me, sweetie?" he asked.

"Yes," she said, "but Paata and I had a really great time. Can he come over to our house sometime? Please please please please?"

"I take it things went well?" Dumplin said, glancing at Paata. The Saiyan smiled and bowed.

"We got along very well together," he said. "It turns out we share a few interests. We also did a little training today. I showed her how to do a punch." Suddenly, Paata's smile turned slightly evil. "Um, Mr. Trunks, sir?"

"Yes Paata?" Trunks answered.

"Could you hold this for Puddin?" Paata asked, pulling out a large padded punch shield. "I need to see how her whole posture is when she punches."

"Um…" Trunks said, pointing at the large piece of training equipment. "Where did you get that?"

"I carry exercise equipment everywhere," Paata said with a shrug.

Again, Trunks decided to accept that explanation. Without another word, he took the shield in and braced himself to receive Puddin's punch, but he didn't seem too concerned.

"Alright Puddin," Paata said, "just like we practiced. Hit it as hard as you can."

She nodded and took her position in front of Trunks. She took her stance, took a few breathes, and brought her fist back before snapping it forward.

SMACK!

"AAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa…." Trunks screamed as he was sent flying into the air, over the ledge, and across the skyline of Conton City into the business district. Based on the angle, it looked like he landed somewhere close to the school. There were a few moments of silence in the courtyard.

"BWA-HAHAHAHAHA!" Dumplin roared with laughter. "That never gets old!" In moments, every nearby Time Patroller was laughing, barely able to stay standing.

"Hehehe," Puddin giggled. "Oops." Paata and Dumplin both gave her a thumbs-up, making her giggle even harder.

Things were good in Conton City.


Paata, the lovable Saiyan with the lovable butt, is property of MasakoX. I plan on having a lot of fun with this guy. Hope you guys liked the chapter. See you guys next time!