AN: Hello and welcome to The Adventures of Puddin. Happy Belated Father's Day to all of the dads out there. I bring forth a new chapter that I hope you all enjoy. Have fun!

Chapter 5 – Growing Up Puddin

Puddin pressed herself deeper into the shadows of her family's dining room, hands clamped over her mouth. Her heart pounded in her ears. She knew that if she uttered the tiniest squeak, she would be found.

A floorboard in the family room squeaked. Puddin tried to stifle her cry of fright.

Footsteps came into the room. The dark figure looked from side to side, scanning the room.

"You know you can't hide," the figure said. "Just let this happen."

Puddin curled up even more, desperate to make herself as small as possible. If he saw her, she was done for. She now deeply regretted choosing bright green for her training gi.

The footsteps, slow and methodical, stalked past the corner she crouched trembling in. They were heading into the kitchen, but the hunter would be back in moments.

Puddin took her chance and ran.

She sprang from her corner and sprinted through the living room, the slapping of her bare feet on the wood floors was practically silent compared to the pounding of her heart. She managed to hear the stomping footsteps behind her, which only spurred her to greater speed.

She made it to the other side of the room and reached for the door handle, but her hand never made it. She found herself blocked by some invisible barrier. She couldn't get to the door. She barely had a moment to realize her situation before hands seized her in an iron grip.

"Figured I'd take some precautions to make sure you didn't leave," her captor said. "Now come on. I'm getting impatient."

"No! Noooo!" Puddin cried, trying to wriggle and free herself from his grip. Unfortunately, the assailant was much stronger than her.

He half dragged and half carried her down the hall, with her fighting him every step of the way. As they got closer and closer to the door at the end of the hall, she found herself relieved of her gi. Her undergarments soon followed. He shouldered open the door at the end of the hall to come into a bright room. She struggled and kicked, but she could not stop him. He raised her up and flung her down into-

SPLASH!

Puddin sat up in the bathtub and rubbed furiously at her face, hissing and spitting.

"Soap in my eye!" she cried. "Soap in my eye!"

"It's your own damn fault," grumbled Dumplin as he took a seat next to the tub and began scrubbing furiously at her filthy head tendrils. "It's what you get for deciding to play in the dirt with Paata."

"He was teaching me grappling!" she protested.

"Whatever," Dumplin said dismissively.

"I hate the water!" Puddin yowled.

"Adjust."

When Dumplin took his hands off of her to rub soap between his palms, Puddin tried to jump out of the tub and make a break for it. Dumplin was too fast for her, however, and held her in place as he shampooed her tendrils.

"Don't try it, Puddin," he said, wringing out a sponge over her head to wash the suds off. "I am so not in the mood today. Your mother…" He stopped his ministrations and sighed. "Never mind."

Puddin didn't need anything more than that. The sadness washed over her again as she sat there and let her daddy wash her.

It had been her first day of training, and her mother hadn't come to see her.

After Puddin's display of strength against Trunks, Dumplin was as proud as he could possibly be and Trunks now had a reputation among the Time Patrollers as The Guy Who Got Knocked Out by A Five-week-old Girl.

Fortunately for Trunks, it didn't catch on.

Dumplin signed Puddin up to get formal training at the Time Patroller academy and she started lessons one week later. She was the youngest there, in both physical and actual age, but her sheer strength stunned the instructors. She was so excited that they needed to put thirty pound weights on all of her limbs just to keep her still. She had started the day by accidently crushing one of the workout machines when she tried to use it and everything went downhill from there. A Majin instructor named Punohsa took a fast liking to Puddin's upbeat personality and endless energy. She started teaching Puddin the basics of the Majin fighting style, taking advantage of her inherent strength and elastic limbs. Puddin was still working on getting her arms to stretch when Ponuhsa called an end of the day. The training session ended both because it was nearing sundown and because Puddin had single-handedly destroyed over a dozen punching bags over the course of the day. A few of the other instructors seemed a little fearful of Puddin taking regular lessons.

Despite the fact that she beginning her training to become a Time Patroller and that she got to spend some time training with Paata, Puddin was feeling sad on the way home. She had eagerly told her mother that she would be training today and kept pestering her until Towa finally caved and told her she would come and watch. Puddin had spent the whole day eagerly looking over toward where her dad was sitting at the side of the dojo, each time hoping with all of her heart that she would find her mother sitting there with him.

She never came.

When Puddin and Dumplin finally made it home, the sight of a note from Towa telling them she had gone out to find some new samples for her research had put Dumplin and Puddin in a very unhappy mood. Even a delicious dinner of macaroni and cheese wasn't enough to lift their spirits.

Later that night, after Puddin's bath, Towa eventually came home and promptly disappeared into her lab without saying a single word to either of them. Puddin had knocked on the basement door for almost five minutes in order to get her mother's attentions before just giving up and going to bed. She lay on her bed and held her stuffed animals close, trying not to cry as she slowly fell asleep.

Time Patrol Training Dojo – The Next Day

"I'm sorry, Dumplin, but the other instructors have expressed… shall we say, concerns about Puddin continuing to train at this present moment," Ponuhsa said, looking apologetically at Dumplin and Puddin. "They think her strength is too much of a loose cannon. I voted to continue the lessons, but they overruled me. Until your daughter can gain a greater degree of control over her strength, she cannot continue her lessons here." She looked down at the heartbroken Puddin, tears in the corner of her own eyes. Ponuhsa knelt down and wrapped her arms around the girl. "I am so sorry, Puddin, but I can't do anything about it." Puddin returned the hug as her own tears trailed down her face.

The ensuing silence was broken by the sound of an explosion from within the training hall.

"Please no!" screamed a male voice. "I'm a pacifist!"

"You're a pussy!" another voice roared before there were sounds of more explosions.

"Yes," Dumplin drawled, "clearly things will be much safer if Puddin does not attend. I'm sure there are no other reasons that Puddin was denied, right?" Ponuhsa looked at the ground, unable to meet his gaze.

"I am not privy to the motives of the other instructors," she said. "I fought for you two, sir, and I would happily fight for you again, but this is out of my hands."

Dumplin sighed and rubbed his forehead.

"It's alright. I know this wasn't your fault," he said. He squared his shoulders and gave her a determined look. "Just tell those instructors of your that she'll be back tomorrow and they better be ready to train her. C'mon Sweetheart. We've got work to do."

Puddin nodded and dejectedly trudged after him, sniffling and wiping away her tears. As they passed the main courtyard of Conton City, she looked over at the larger-than-life holographic display of Dumplin. The monument had always inspired her, encouraging her to become a Time Patroller to live up to her daddy's legacy. Now, though, it seemed there were some who would rather deny her the chance.

"They're not gonna let me train tomorrow, Daddy," she sniffled, looking at her father. "You heard what Ponuhsa said. The other masters don't like me."

"It's not that they don't like you, Puddin," Dumplin said, pulling her close to his side and giving her a hug. "It's that they're scared of me, and therefore of you. But we'll show them. When you show up tomorrow, you won't break a single thing by accident."

"How am I gonna do that?"

"Something your mom has," he said vaguely.

They had reached the front door of their cottage and entered through the front door. Towa was, wonder of wonders, in the family room, sipping a cup of tea while reading a book. Dumplin let out a long breath through his teeth before turning back to Puddin.

"Sweetheart, go to your room and pack up all of your clothes. Might as well pack your stuffed animals too. I need some time to talk to your mother."

"Okay, Daddy," Puddin said, going off to do what she was told.

Dumplin turned back to Towa. She shot him a glance before returning to her book.

"I take it since you both are here that the training sessions aren't going well," she said.

"Not like you would know. Puddin was crushed that you didn't come yesterday."

"I was carrying out very important research. I didn't have the time to come see her sloppily punching a bag."

"'Very important' my ass. This is our daughter, Towa." Dumplin paused and let out another breath, willing himself to stay calm. "Look, I need to help Puddin control her strength. It's gonna take a lot of work, so we need to use that Door you made."

"Well go ahead," she said dismissively. "You know where it is."

"You're coming with us," Dumplin said in a tone that brooked no argument. Towa did not seem to get that impression as her eyes snapped back up to meet his.

"Why would I want to do that?" she asked.

"Because your daughter has no idea who her mother really is," said Dumplin. "Because if you miss out on this much time with her, you're going to regret it." He sighed and rubbed the back of his head. "And because you'll be much more efficient in your work if you come with us." That last statement sounded almost reluctant. Towa stared at him for a few long moments. "Please," said Dumplin. "I'm actually begging you to come." After a pause, Towa sighed.

"Fine," she said, standing up. "I have a few experiments that could use a little extra time. Just let me pack up and we'll leave at noon. Oh, and make sure to tell Cupcake to grab our paper tomorrow."

Towa walked down the hall to grab her things while Dumplin stood in the living room.

"Please let this work," he whispered to himself. "Please, please let this work."

Ever since the day she was born, Puddin had never been in the family basement. It had always been considered Mom's Place, and no others were welcome. Regardless, she found herself and her entire family standing in the basement with enough luggage to signify a long vacation. Her father had told her they were taking a training trip, but that still left many questions unanswered.

The three of them stood in front of a dark brown wooden door set into the wall. The frame around it was absolutely covered with hundreds upon hundreds of runes and markings. Puddin looked from the door to her parents and then back again.

"What's this thing?" she asked, unconsciously squeezing the plush dragon her father had given her a few weeks ago.

"One of my older projects," Towa said, looking down at her. "Your father kept pestering me to help find him a better way to train, and I eventually came up with this. We've both used it once in the past and he wants to go again to help you control your power."

"How does it work?" Puddin asked. "It's just a door."

"It's easier to just show you," Dumplin said, moving towards it. He opened the door and ushered his family in. Puddin gasped, rubbed her eyes, and gasped again.

White. White as far as she could see. An endless void extended outward far into the distance. She and her family were standing in the main room of some kind of house with a completely open wall leading to an open stone patio. She looked around in silent awe as Towa moved to deposit her bags on the counter of a small kitchen while Dumplin shut the door behind him.

"This is in our basement?!" Puddin finally managed to say. "It's huge!" Her expression of absolute shock made Dumplin laugh.

"Not exactly, Sweetheart," he said. "It's kind of like a pocket world. The door leads to this world, no matter where it is placed. Also, time moves differently while in here. One year spent inside is equal to only one day outside."

"Wow," Puddin said, looking out at the endless white ground and sky. "Is there anything out there?"

"No," said Towa, coming over to stand by her. "There's only this house and the void."

Void… void… void…

Puddin stared outward.

"Does it always do that?" she asked.

"Just when you say 'void'," said Dumplin.

Void… void… void…

"Spooky," said Puddin.

"Yeah, kinda," agreed Dumplin. "Alright, so this is a pretty comfortable place to live for a year. Bathroom and showers are through that door and up those stairs are a few bedrooms. They're all the same, so you can pick out where you want to sleep. First, though, drop your stuff and take off your weights."

"Um, okay," Puddin said, placing her bags on the ground and taking off her training weights. Each of them made a loud thud when they hit the tiled ground.

"Alright, now come with me," Dumplin said, leading her outside. Puddin shrugged and followed him.

The instant she stepped out onto the patio, Puddin was almost driven to her knees. She felt like someone had strapped a car to her back. Planting her feet, she managed to stand up straight. After the surprise had worn off, she could stand upright, but it was much harder than it should be.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"As soon as you walk outside, the gravity increases to ten times the amount you're used to. The further you are from the house, the higher the gravity will become." He reached out and put a hand on her shoulder. "I just want you to know that we are going to be doing some serious training for the next year. I'll get you started on fighting and we'll build up your strength, but most of all you need to learn to control your strength. Alright?"

"Nyaa~! I can't wait," Puddin said excitedly.

"Good," said Dumplin. "Now go pick out a room and unpack. When you're done, come out here and we'll get started with some warm up laps."

"You got it, Daddy!" Puddin exclaimed, saluting him before running inside.

"Are you sure she's ready for this yet?" Towa asked, walking outside to stand beside him.

"Of course she is," Dumplin said. He grinned at Towa. "She's our kid after all."

Towa nodded, but said nothing.

A few minutes later, Puddin practically jumped down the stairs and ran outside, stumbling slightly as she exited the house. She straightened up and stood before her daddy, practically vibrating with excitement. Dumplin smiled proudly at her.

"We've got a lot of work to do," he said. "Let's get started."

Yup. Towa created the Hyperbolic Time Chamber. I feel like, if anyone in this canon was most likely to think up a training dimension with a messed up time flow, it would probably be the demonic mad scientist that routinely messes with time. I think that after his transformation, Mr. Popo tried to recreate the Chamber but couldn't do it quite as well, so the house was much smaller.

Hope you all liked the chapter. See you next time.