AN: Hello and welcome to the Adventures of Puddin. Before I get too into things... *falls to the ground before you* I'M SO SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG! Prep for grad school plus moving plus writer's block was an absolutely terrible cocktail, not to mention the chapter I initially planned to post needed to have some prior events added in. Hence, we have this chapter, a bit of a prologue to what I had initially planned. I have just started grad school, so I'm sorry to say that updates are going to be slower because of real life. I do promise, however, that you WILL get updates. The next chapter is about 80% done, so it should be up sooner rather than later. (Oh god, please don't quote me on that!)
Anyhoo, on with the show.
Chapter 7: ...When The Edges Frayed
Puddin shifted her grip on her weapon, waiting for the perfect moment. She adjusted her footing slightly and tilted the club a few degrees up. Her entire body was like a coiled spring. Her fingers twitched anxiously, ready to move at the slightest provocation. Her feet shifted slightly, scuffing across the dirt.
With a high pitched whine, her target suddenly streaked toward her. With a blur of motion, Puddin struck, swinging her weapon faster than the eye could see. A series of tiny sonic booms followed her club as it slashed through the air. It connected with Puddin's target with a loud, piercing CRACK, and her target was sent flying. It streaked through the sky and blasted a hole through an innocent cloud that had just been minding its own business. Puddin smiled and looked at Punohsa for approval. The older Majin, wearing a jersey, cap, and whistle today, grinned and nodded in approval.
"I think we just found our star hitter," she said. Other patrollers at the tryout nodded in stunned agreement. "Nice work, Puddin."
"Nyaa~!" Puddin cheered, bouncing up and down happily. "I won't let you down, Coach!"
"I'm sure you won't, Puddin," Punohsa said with a smile. "Alright, then. Sherbet! Front and center! Let's see how you handle a bat."
Puddin took her seat on the bench as a nervous looking Frost Demon took her place at home plate. Puddin happily hummed to herself, satisfied with her performance. When they were talking over ice cream, she had told Paata about her discovery of baseball and how much fun it was to play with her dad. He quickly told her about the Time Patrol Baseball League, which he had taken part in last year and was going to have tryouts in the next few days. He was on a mostly Saiyan team called the Raging Ravagers, led by academy instructor Saimo. Seized by the excitement of being on a baseball team, Puddin decided to try out for Punohsa's team, the Super Scrappers, partly because she really wanted to have Punohsa as her coach and partly because the Scrappers' uniforms, by sheer luck, were lime green.
Puddin looked out over the field the Time Patrol used to Super Baseball. It was one of two fields they had, with the two of them floating on opposite ends of Conton City. Unlike normal baseball diamonds, these were designed with super-powerful Time Patrollers in mind, so the bases were over a hundred yards apart and every other area of the diamond was appropriately scaled up. This was a field that the players could really cut loose on, instead of constraining themselves to the normal sized baseball diamond.
The tryouts continued for a few more hours and Punohsa was able to fill up her roster. Puddin spent the time either daydreaming or chatting with Cupcake, her friend and next door neighbor. Cupcake had had been friends with Dumplin since they moved into their house and she had formed a friendship with Puddin shortly after she started training. The friendly pink Majin was likely to be the team shortstop, partly thanks to her stretchy arms that could move just slightly faster than Puddin's.
"So, there I was on the palace wall," Cupcake told her, practically vibrating from laughter at a joke yet to be told. Her black and red eyes were twinkling with mirth. "Kid Goku's standing on my right with his bo staff and Bulma's standing on my left wearing a suit of power armor. We've also got Yamcha, Tien, and the Royal Guard all at the ready. King Piccolo and the Red Ribbon Army have completely surrounded the palace. He's got a Demon Destruction Wave aimed right at the wall. We are about two seconds from having our defenses breached and the palace flooded with demons and fascists. Then, guess what happens?"
"He starts talking to nobody like all bad guys do?" Puddin asked with a smile.
"Exactly!" Cupcake said. "Sweet kais, Puddin, it's unbelievable how much time these bad guys just spend talking about killing the good guys instead of actually doing it!" Both of them giggled before Cupcake continued. "He starts going on about how, now that he has absorbed Kami, he's ready to destroy our cities and name himself lord of the planet. The people I'm with have nowhere to go and he just won't shut up." Cupcake rolled her eyes. "Anyway, so Demon King Piccolo-" At this, Puddin just rolled her eyes.
"There is only one true Demon Lord," she said.
"Yeah yeah, I know. It's your dear old dad, long may he reign and all that stuff, but let me finish. So Piccolo is prepping his wave and mouthing off, so I decide to take the initiative. I speed down into the throng of soldiers and start smashing tanks left and right before he could even finish saying 'prepare to die'. When he turns to look at me, Goku nails him right in the head with that stick. Piccolo had the stupidest look on his face!" The two of them dissolved into giggles, prompting Punohsa to give them a look.
"Look ladies, I know that Piflam's hitting isn't exactly professional grade, but there's no need to be giggling about it." The teenage Namekian at bat turned a deeper shade of green as she said that.
"We were talking about something else, Coach," said Cupcake. "Sorry to interrupt you, Piflam. You're doing good." Cupcake shot him a wink and a smile. If at all possible, the Namekian seemed to turn even greener.
"I'll tell you more later," Cupcake whispered. Puddin nodded and sat back to watch the rest of the tryouts. When everything was said and done, Punohsa called them all to stand in a circle around her.
"Alright, everyone," said Punohsa, "the roster will be as follows." Puddin phased out for a little while until she heard names she cared about. "Cupcake is shortstop and is third at bat. Puddin will be in the outfield and fifth at bat. We want to build up some people on bases before she knocks one out of the park." Punohsa tucked her clipboard away and put a hand on her hip. "That's all for today, folks. Be here at 9 am sharp tomorrow for practice. Scrappers, dismissed."
"Yes Coach!" they all said at once before they dispersed.
Puddin and Cupcake walked home together, giving Cupcake the time to finish her story, including how she forcibly ripped Kami out of King Piccolo before Goku delivered the final blow.
When they reached their houses, they split ways. After waving goodbye, Puddin unlocked her front door and stepped inside. She stepped inside, dismissively tossing her keys onto the table beside the door. She heard voices in the living room and creeped forward to get a better look. The sight that awaited her froze her in her tracks.
Details eventually began to filter into her utterly fried mind. First, Towa was out of her lab. Second, she was sitting down on the couch with Dumplin. Third, she was reclining back on the couch while Dumplin delicately lowered a chocolate covered strawberry toward her mouth. Towa had a sultry smile on her face as she bit into the strawberry, letting out a moan of appreciation that was probably less about the snack and more about something… different. Towa delicately chewed on the fruit before looking into Dumplin's face. That's when something incredible happened. It happened for only a second, but Puddin was sure she had seen it. The next instant, Towa noticed Puddin standing in the hallway, and her face shifted back to a neutral mask. Dumplin followed her gaze and he smiled happily at Puddin.
"Sweetheart! Welcome home. How were the tryouts?"
"Um… pretty good," Puddin managed to answer, mentally stumbling for a moment. "I made the team-"
"WAHOO!" her father cheered, making Puddin smile. "Congratulations, Sweetheart."
"Thanks Daddy. Anyway, I'm playing outfield and Punohsa is already saying I might be the star hitter. We'll just have to see how I do in practice."
"Nice work, Puddin." Dumplin got up from the couch and gave her a tight hug. "I'm so proud of you. How about I order some pizza tonight? What do you want?"
"Oh! One meat lovers, one with extra cheese, and one with French fries and Oreos."
"Got it," he said, moving toward the phone. "What do you want, babe?" Dumplin and Puddin both turned toward Towa, who just looked at them without an expression. After a long moment, she stood up with a stretch.
"I should go back to my experiments. Leave out a pepperoni, Dumplin. I'll eat it when I'm done." With that, she left the room and entered the basement, closing the door behind her. Dumplin just sighed sadly before dialing the number. Not really knowing what to say, Puddin instead gave her dad a sympathetic pat on the shoulder before heading to her room to change into more comfortable clothes.
As she was making her way back into the living room, she found herself moving toward the bookshelf against the wall. She knew she had seen something in Towa's face, but she had to be sure. She floated to the top shelf, where the photo albums were kept and started running her finger over the titles. There was Awesome Explosions, Trunks' Fuck-Ups, Best Kills, Cute Puppies…
"Aha!" Puddin said to herself, pulling out the album labeled Our Family. She sat down on the couch and opened the book, flipping through the laminated pages. She needed to be sure she had seen what she thought she had seen. She skipped over pictures of the old Toki Toki City gardens decorated for the wedding, the pictures of the food layouts and floral arrangements, and pictures of all the deities who had come to celebrate. Finally, she reached the picture she was looking for and stared long and hard at it.
She remembered from when Dumplin had first showed it to her. It was presumably just after Dumplin and Towa had said their 'I dos' and kissed, as they were making their way down the aisle while many confused Time Patrollers were applauding them. Dumplin was wearing a technicolor tuxedo while Towa wore a black wedding dress that was much slinkier than a wedding dress probably had a right to be. Though they were making their way down the aisle, they still had their eyes locked on one another. Puddin was mostly focusing her attention on Towa's face. The demon scientist was sporting a wide, genuine, overjoyed smile as she looked into Dumplin's eyes. There was no hint of the evil genius she had been when she and Dumplin had first met. This was the smile of someone who was truly happy at the idea of spending their life with someone they loved. It was the smile that Puddin had seen when she had walked in on Towa and Dumplin together. Puddin flipped further into the book, past the pictures of the couple relaxing on picnics and doing sciencey things together down in the labs, and a handful of times when Towa went on a mission with Dumplin. They looked so happy together.
"I don't understand," Puddin whispered to herself. "What changed, guys?"
When she got to pictures that included herself, the change became apparent.
Whenever Puddin was in a picture, Dumplin would have the biggest smile on his face while Towa just had a blank mask, if she was even in the pictures at all. She was only in a handful of pictures when Puddin was still a blob, and she had practically disappeared once Puddin became humanoid. There were still smiles from Towa, but only in pictures without Puddin in them, like when she and Dumplin went out on date night.
Outside of pictures, Puddin had never seen Towa give a smile like that one she had today.
As Puddin flipped back to the wedding photo and looked at her parents' happy faces, she felt a cold weight settle in her stomach. Her parents hardly ever acted like that anymore. Even after the trip in the Time Chamber, it was only a matter of days before Towa was back in the habit of spending her days locked in her laboratory. Over her entire existence, Puddin could still use her fingers and toes to count the number of times Towa had willingly taken time so the three of them could be together.
An idea came to her and she felt a pain in her chest. Puddin felt tears in the corners of her eyes.
Is… is it me? Did I ruin everything?
"Want to watch a movie, Puddin?" Dumplin asked from the kitchen. "Queue something up on Space Netflix and we can have a little dinner party." Puddin hurriedly pawed at her eyes and replaced the photo album.
"A-alright, Dad," she said, trying to keep her voice from trembling. "How 'bout something with mindless explosions?"
"The bigger the better," he said. "Look for something made from Bichael May."
"Got it," Puddin said as she turned on the TV and looked through the options. She eventually settled on one of the more brainless Transmorphers movies and tried to enjoy herself, but the thoughts from earlier still pressed down on her. She just silently sat on the couch and hugged her knees to her chest.
Did I ruin everything?
Two weeks after tryouts, it was the night before the first game of the season. While Puddin was feeling confident in her abilities as a baseball player, she was still nervous about tomorrow. Therefore, she found herself pacing back and forth in the living room, running her fingers through her hair tendrils and drumming a constant beat against her skull. After her twelfth lap back and forth across the room, Dumplin looked up from his tablet and the game he was playing.
"Puddin, could you please sit down? You're making me nervous."
"I can't help it, Daddy," she almost whined. She was almost hyperventilating at this point. "The first game is tomorrow. If I mess up, I'm gonna let the whole team down. And if I let the team down, I'm gonna let Punohsa down. And if I let Punohsa down-"
"Puddin! Breathe!"
Puddin stopped and took a few breaths.
"Thanks, Daddy," she said. "Sorry."
"You don't need to apologize to me, Sweetheart," he said soothingly. He set his tablet aside and patted the couch seat next to him. Puddin plopped herself down and leaned against him. "It's alright, Puddin. You may not have faith in your skills right now, but we do. If you can't believe in yourself for that, then at least believe in us who believe in you. Okay?" Puddin took another calming breath and nodded. "That's my girl," he said, giving her a hug. "Want me to make you some honey tea?"
"Please," Puddin said with a nod. Dumplin got up and went into the kitchen. Puddin made herself more comfortable in the couch and found herself looking across the room where her mother sat. Towa had been sitting in one of the armchairs for almost an hour, scribbling page after page in one of her many journals and completely ignoring both of them. Puddin averted her eyes and stared at the carpet. Even after these many weeks, it was hard to look at her mom, or really either of her parents, and not think again about whether they'd both be happier together if she weren't there.
Before she could descend any further into the morose pit of depression she found herself in, Dumplin returned with a hot mug of tea. Puddin took it in hand and sipped from the delicious brew. Her father really did have a talent for making tea.
"Feel better?" he asked. Puddin nodded, making him smile. "Well then," he said with a clap of his hands, "what do you want to do tonight? Watch a movie? Read a book? Play some video games?"
"Video games sounds good," Puddin said with a smile. "We can do Silvereye, but no more Oddjob."
"But he's the best! And you're just upset I beat you that one time," Dumplin mock-complained.
"Because he's shorter than the crosshairs! Anyone who plays Oddjob is a cheater."
"Alright, alright, I won't play Oddjob," Dumplin said with a smile. He got up from the couch to move to the TV as Puddin took a sip from her mug. Before he could turn on the game system, however, his communicator beeped from where it was charging on the counter. Letting out a hiss through his teeth that sounded like a muffled curse word, Dumplin walked to the communicator and answered it.
"What?" he snapped. He waited for a few moments before his expression went slack. "You're joking. Now?! My daughter's game is tomorrow, for fucks sake!" He waited some more. "Seriously? No one is available to take this?!" After a long pause, he sighed and rubbed his face. "Fine. I'll fucking come, just don't expect me to be happy about it. Tell Trunks to have a Senzu bean ready for me when I get there." He disconnected the call and gave a heavy sigh.
"You have to go on a mission, don't you," said Puddin. Dumplin nodded.
"Freeza and his forces found out how to grow the Tree of Might, so now I need to go fight a goddamn war while Trunks just dicks around and claims to be helping." He sighed again. "I should be back in about three days." Puddin felt her heart sink, and Dumplin could probably tell, based on his expression. "I am so sorry, Sweetheart. I'll be back as soon as I can, but… I can't make the game." Puddin nodded and forced a smile on her face.
"It's okay, Daddy. There will be other games. It's fine. Go save the world." Dumplin gave her a sorrowful look before giving a reluctant nod. He stepped forward and gave her a tight, loving hug.
"I love you, Sweetheart," he said quietly. "I'll be back as soon as I can."
"I know," she said. "I love you too, Daddy."
When their hug ended, Dumplin walked over where Towa was sitting and gently rubbed her shoulder, snapping her back to reality.
"I've got to go on a mission, babe. Should be back in a couple of days."
"Alright," Towa said, giving him a kiss. "Take care of yourself and make sure you have some fun." That actually made Dumplin snort out a laugh.
"Fat chance," he said. "These baby villains hardly ever give me a chance to have fun and cut loose." He shook his head and sighed. Then he leaned closer to Towa and whispered into her ear. It was quiet, but Puddin could still make it out. "Babe, do you think you could go see Puddin's game tomorrow? I know it would mean a lot to her." Towa tapped her pencil against the page of the journal a few times.
"If I'm not too busy," she said. Dumplin nodded after a pause.
"Alright. I love you," he said.
"Love you too, dear," said Towa.
"Love you, Daddy," said Puddin.
With a final wave, Dumplin walked out the door. Immediately, Towa was engrossed in her journal and the house once again became silent. Feeling like her heart was made of lead, Puddin stood and went to her room. She would need her rest for tomorrow. As she lay on her bed and held her plush dragon close, she willed herself not to cry.
"It's okay," she whispered to herself. "There will be more games. Dad can go see those ones. Besides, Mom said she's coming tomorrow. She'll see my game, and then we'll get to spend time together. Things will be good. They'll be fine.
If you believe that, said a little voice in the back of her head, then you deserve the disappointment coming to you.
Puddin squeezed the dragon tighter and tried to get some sleep.
By the time it was finally Puddin's turn to be at bat, she was itching for the chance to channel some annoyance from what had been a very crappy day so far. It had started bad and stayed that way. She had been awake for most of the night due to nerves, she found out the milk was spoiled only after she had filled her cereal bowl, and of course her dear mother was nowhere to be found. She had spent ten minutes knocking on the door to get her mother's attention and had waited at the house for her as long as she was able to before she had to rush off to meet her team. When she was finally at the field, she had to deal with a surprisingly large number of hecklers and opposing fans. Since baseball was the only sport that the Time Patrol had an official league for, team bias apparently ran strong, especially in the winter.
As she and her teammates were warming up, they all had to deal with seemingly endless insults from the opposing team, the Frenzied Falcons. The worst of them was the Earthling pitcher, who spent half of his time shouting insults and the other half demanding sex from the girls on the Super Scrappers, with his buddies laughing and egging him on the whole time. All of this served only to make the smoldering pit of anger in Puddin's gut burn even hotter as time went on.
Not to mention the fact that her mother still hadn't come. Puddin had been looking over the crowd every few minutes since she had arrived. The stands were filling fast, but she could not find her mother. She had tried energy sensing, like Punohsa had taught her, but couldn't pick up her mother's energy signature. She hadn't come.
And then there was the crowd itself. What felt like hundreds of people were in the stands of the baseball field, watching the game with rapt attention. More specifically, they were currently watching her, and Puddin could feel the oppressive weight of their gaze on her shoulders. It made a part of her want to run away and find a hole to hide in.
However, one person who she was glad to see was Paata. He and the rest of the Ravagers were playing on the field after this, so he was sitting in the stands and cheering her on for the duration of her own game. Seeing him there made Puddin think twice about blowing something up as a way to relieve the tension.
Just barely, though.
At the moment, Cupcake and a Saiyan named Basil were on first and second base. As Puddin took her position at home plate, she glared at the pitcher and shifted her grip of the bat slightly. So far, this human was pretty detestable in every way. He was tossing the ball up and down in the air and giving Puddin the kind of smile that should result in immediate imprisonment. He had a round face, green eyes, and an orange bandana tied around his head.
"Hey Sugar Tits," he drawled, making shivers climb up Puddin's spine, "how about you throw this game and I'll take you out on a date? I promise I can be quite the gentleman."
"I wouldn't touch that if I were you, man," the first baseman said. "That's the Demon Chick. She'd probably just try to eat you alive."
Puddin could feel the wood of the bat groaning in protest as her grip tightened.
"Hey, that's not a deal breaker," the pitcher said. "The wild ones are always my favorite."
"Shut your whore mouth!" Puddin heard Paata yell from the stands. "Just stick to wooing Saibamen!" The prompted a few laughs from the crowd and a death glare from the pitcher.
"You're gonna pay for that one, Paata!" he shouted.
The weird back-and-forth between Paata and the pitcher made Puddin lose her focus for a moment and relax her stance. That was her mistake. Before she could get herself ready again, the ball whizzed right past her head and slammed into the catcher's mitt.
"Strike one!" the umpire shouted. The Falcons' supporters all cheered while the pitcher just grinned at her.
"Want me to throw the next one a little slower, Toots?" he asked mockingly. Puddin growled and took a few practice swings.
"Just throw the goddamn ball," she snarled to herself. The pitcher wound up for another pitch and sent the ball flying. This time, Puddin's bat connected, but she swung too early. The ball went into the stands, but it also went flying over the foul line.
"Foul ball!" the umpire shouted, accompanied by shouts of disappointment from the spectators and a few jeers from the Falcons. The pitcher, however, was dead silent and just gave her a blazing death glare.
Must be mad that I managed to hit it that far, Puddin thought to herself as she tapped her bat against home plate.
"You won't get so lucky next time, demon," he said.
"Luck's got nothing to do with it," Puddin said back, getting back into a ready position. The two stared at each other for a long moment, almost as if the rest of the field had disappeared. He was looking for weakness and Puddin was lying in wait, ready to strike.
Finally, the pitcher hurled the ball. It sped toward her, leaving a blazing trail of ki behind it. Puddin grit her teeth and swung, pumping all of her anger and frustration into her swing. Her bat collided with the ball, but she found herself struggling to overcome the force of the pitch. The ball continued its spin, grinding into the wood of the bat, but unable to push past it. Puddin didn't even need to see the shit-eating grin on the pitcher's face to know it was there.
Puddin could feel all of the frustration that had been building up in her starting to boil over. First her dad needs to go on a mission, then her mother locked herself in the basement again, then there was this pitcher who had been acting like an asshole the whole game. She was done. She was completely…utterly…DONE!
"RrrrrRRRRAAAAHH!" she roared, putting her full power into the struggle. Finally, the stalemate ended.
With an ear-splitting CRACK, the ball was sent flying into the air as Puddin's bat snapped in two. The outfielders made to fly after the ball, but it disappeared out of the field to the north before they could make it more than a yard. Puddin could even see a Mach cone forming around the ball as it blew holes in every cloud that was in its path. As it sliced through a large cumulus cloud, Puddin felt her stomach drop.
Oh crap! It's heading right for the-
Even from this distance, Puddin could hear the smack as it collided with the giant dragon.
"OW! Motherfucker!" the immense creature roared, holding one of its eyes. "Why is it always the goddamn eye?!" The dragon turned a baleful gaze toward the baseball field. "Watch you're shooting those things! Christ!"
The entire audience was dead silent. No one moved. No one even seemed to breathe. Puddin could feel the stares of the other players and the people in the audience, and she felt a cold shiver go through her body. She pulled the brim of her helmet down, trying to hide her darkening face.
"I'll… I'll just do my home run," she said quietly, beginning her flight around the bases. The other flyers on the bases hesitated for a few long moments, unknowingly letting her pass them before they snapped back to reality and completed their own flights back to home plate. Puddin completed her loop of the bases and took a seat on the bench with her hat pulled over her eyes. She tried very hard not to meet the gaze of any of her teammates or spectators. No sooner had she sat down when a pair of very familiar ninja sandals came into view.
"That was pretty incredible, Puddin," said Punohsa. Since the ground was not polite enough to split open and swallow Puddin right then and there, she timidly raised her eyes to look at her coach. In her peripheral vision, she could see her teammates scooting downward to give them some privacy.
"I'm sorry," Puddin muttered. Punohsa blinked.
"The hell are you apologizing for?" she said. "I was coming to ask if you can do that a few more times in this game."
"Really?" Puddin said in surprise. Punohsa smiled and put a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"Kiddo, your strength is unbelievable. That was the most amazing hit I've seen in all my years in this Baseball League. You are a being of incredible power, so it's time to own it."
"But everyone was staring at me," Puddin said, looking back down at the ground. "It was like I'd done something wrong." Punohsa looked like she was about to say something before she stopped.
"Ah, I get it," she said. She took a seat next to Puddin and put an arm around her shoulder. "You've never been in front of this many people before, have you?" Puddin shook her head. "Thought so. You're still pretty young and you haven't regularly interacted with many people outside of your parents, Paata, Cupcake, and me."
"I guess so," Puddin said. Punohsa smiled.
"I understand why you felt like you might have done something wrong, given how everyone was staring at you. However, what you've done is absolutely amazing. It's an incredible gift, so you shouldn't feel like you need to hide from it, okay?" Puddin thought for a moment before she nodded. Punohsa's smile widened. "Plus, I really want to use that swing of yours to stomp these losers into the ground." Puddin laughed and nodded in agreement. "You good to go?"
"Ready and willing, Coach,"
"That's my girl." Punohsa gave Puddin a squeeze on her shoulder before standing up. "Looks like we're switching up. Ready to go out and win this thing?" Puddin smiled and grabbed her mitt.
"You bet."
And so the innings passed in a similar manner. When the Scrappers were at bat, Puddin would hit home runs almost every time. When on the field, she bounced and flew all around to try and catch every ball that came her way. The most satisfying parts of the entire game would be when she would catch flying at the last moment before they would become home runs. One time in the third inning, she caught the ball hit by the pitcher. His face turned the funniest shade of beet red as she smiled and waved at him. In the end, the Super Scrappers won the game fifteen to four, a fantastic start as Punohsa told them.
As Paata went off to warm up with his own team, Puddin made her way home, promising to get changed and be back to watch his game. As she was leaving, however, she suddenly found her path blocked. The Falcons' pitcher stood in her path with two of his teammates standing a short way off. His eyes spoke of nothing less than the wish to destroy the object of their attention. In this case, it was Puddin.
"Something I can help you with?" Puddin asked politely. Dumplin always told her to start out polite when addressing possible opponents. It confused them and put them off balance.
"You might have won the game, but I'm not done with you yet," he snarled. "You ruined my home run, bitch. You have to answer for that."
"I guess I did do that," Puddin said with a noncommittal shrug. "What of it?"
"Fight me. Right now."
Puddin just blinked and put her hands on her hips.
"You saw what I did on my first home run, right?" He looked surprised by the question, but nodded. "Good, then you need to ask yourself a very specific question: 'If she can do that to a ball, what is she likely to do to me?' Think about that before you do anything." The pitcher suddenly looked much less confident and took a few steps back. "That's what I thought." With that, Puddin brushed past him. She had made it ten paces away before he suddenly reclaimed his courage.
"This isn't over!" he shouted. "My name is Dailli and I declare you my vile nemesis! Mark my words, I will defeat you!"
"Whatever," Puddin said, rolling her eyes.
After a few minutes of walking, Puddin entered her house and went straight to the bathroom to take a shower. After scrubbing herself down, she put on a fuzzy set of clothes and moved to leave again, hoping she had some time before Paata's game to buy some peanuts, which she had heard were traditional baseball food. When she reached the living room, however, she was shocked to find that she wasn't alone.
Towa was sitting in the armchair she took whenever she was upstairs in the living room, reading a paperback book with a floral patterned cover in one hand and sipping from a cup of tea with her other. She appeared the very image of refinement and relaxation and it was really starting to freak Puddin out.
"Mom…" she said. "You're… here?"
Towa finally looked up, almost as if she hadn't noticed Puddin, but Puddin knew better.
"I finished a long experiment early this morning. Since the new batch of cells needs time to grow, I figured I might take the day to relax after a long string of experiments."
Puddin felt like the floor had been pulled out from under her, like she was in freefall but still standing still. A weight dropped into her stomach and she felt chills travel from her toes all the way up to the rest of her body. She could hear the sound of her heart thudding in her ears.
"Did you remember that my first baseball game was today?" she asked through gritted teeth.
"I do remember you and your father making some noise about that," Towa said, returning her gaze down to her book. Puddin's hands curled into fists.
"It was pretty cool," she said in a tight voice. "It would have been real nice if you could have come and seen me."
"I doubt that," Towa said, taking a sip of tea. "I find competitive sports to be positively wearisome."
"But…" Puddin was having a hard time putting her words together correctly. "But it was important to me, Mom." Towa glanced up again to meet Puddin's eyes.
"Puddin," Towa said slowly, as if she were lecturing a three-year-old, "I don't see how any of that is my concern."
Puddin felt something break.
"Why do you have to be like this?!" she snapped, causing Towa to start in surprise. "Every single time I talk to you, every single time you even see me, you act like you just saw the most grotesque thing in the world and immediately get as far away as you can from me. I thought things were better after the Time Chamber, but then… then you just go back to the way you've always been."
"Young lady," Towa said slowly, closing her book with almost predatory grace.
"No!" said Puddin, feeling tears in the corners of her eyes. "None of that stuff! I want to know why you hate me!" Towa just stared at her silently. "I mean," said Puddin, feeling her heart pound a mile a minute, "I've seen the pictures. You and Dad were so happy before, and now you've changed. I mean, I don't see how this can happen. I'm your daughter and-"
"You're wrong, Puddin," Towa said, interrupting her. "I don't hate you."
Puddin just stood frozen, not quite able to believe what she had just heard.
"W…what?"
The room was eerily silent. Slowly, Towa placed her teacup on the saucer and put down her book before calmly standing up.
"I do not hate you, Puddin, but I do not consider myself your mother." She brushed a tuft of hair over her pointed ear before affixing a blank expression on her face. Puddin scarcely dared to breathe. "On the night you were created," Towa continued, "I made a mistake. One, single, tiny mistake. Because of that, I found myself landed with you and my husband suddenly just expects me to happily play Parent with him. I had no interest in being a mother in any way, so you can imagine I'm not terribly thrilled when the man I love simply expects me to care about you." She stepped closer, staring at Puddin with cold eyes. "So no, Puddin. I did not change. Your father was the one who changed."
"But…" said Puddin, before she swallowed to moisten her dry throat. "But I don't understand. What about when we were in the Time Chamber? We were a family together. You…" She sniffled. "You looked like you were happy. We were happy."
Towa averted her eyes and stepped past her.
"You would do well not to read too much into that, Puddin. Nothing good can come of it."
With that, she made her way down the hall and turned into the bathroom before closing the door. Shortly after, the sound of the faucet could be heard filling up the bathtub.
Puddin just stood in the center of the living room, frozen in place as tears slowly trickled down her cheeks. Biting her lip to stifle her sobs, she started making her way toward the door, pressing her palms into her eyes to stop the tears. She blindly grabbed her jacket from the coat rack before stumbling out the door and down the path heading toward the city.
She needed to find Paata.
Paata was leaving the baseball field after a very close victory. The first few innings, the Ravagers and their opponents, the Cavaliers, had been almost neck and neck. In the very last inning, his team had managed to squeezing in a three-point homerun and thereby secure the win.
Paata was glad for the win, but a bit confused as well. He knew that Puddin had gone home after her game with the promise to be back soon, but he hadn't seen her at the game, or even felt her presence.
What could have happened to her? he thought to himself.
As if summoned by his thoughts, he turned around only to come face to face with her. A happy greeting was halfway out of his mouth before he froze. Puddin had her arms wrapped tight across her chest, her hands holding fistfuls of the coat fabric, and there were tears dripping down her face.
"Puddin," he said quietly, "are you okay? What happened?" Puddin looked around them at the people still hanging around the field before staring down at the ground.
"Can… can we talk somewhere?"
"Um, yeah," Paata said with a hesitant nod. "I know a good place. Follow me."
"My god, Puddin. I'm… I'm so sorry that she said that to you."
"I just don't know what to do Paata," Puddin said in a brokenhearted tone, staring down at the bustle of the city below her. She brushed away a few lingering tears from her cheeks She had just finished relating to him all of the problems she and Dumplin had been having with Towa, Towa's unwillingness to fix any of them, and finally the 'talk' she had just had with Towa. The two friends were both sitting on the roof of one of the office buildings in Downtown Conton City. From next to her, Paata sighed and rubbed her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her.
"I don't know, Puddin," he said. "Towa is, by nature, a difficult woman to deal with. Maybe your dad or Trunks knows what do?"
"Trunks? Are you kidding?" Puddin didn't roll her eyes so much as toss them upward. "He locks up if a girl so much as talks to him. How the hell is he gonna help solve this?" She sniffled. "And besides, if Daddy knew what to do about this, he would have already done it. He's more of the 'blow up planets' type instead of the 'building bridges' type."
"Maybe you can ask Punohsa? Or Chronoa?" Paata suggested. "They've probably got some good ideas for what to do."
"I guess it can't hurt," Puddin said, pushing herself off of the rooftop to float in the air. "C'mon. We can ask Punohsa first."
Paata nodded before he took to the air himself and the two of them drifted down to the ground. Their silence was broken by the sounds of laughter and jeering. There was a group of male Cadets sitting in the outside area of a restaurant, calling out encouragements to Paata and making loud wolf whistles. Paata just laughed and flipped them off as he and Puddin turned a corner and lost sight of them.
"Who were they?" Puddin asked.
"Just some of my friends at the academy," he said. "They're firmly under the impression that we're dating. Not the brightest lights in the city."
"Is the thought of dating me really that terrible?" Puddin asked with a grin.
"Well…um…" Paata started. "That's not what I meant. It's just hard to think of you that way. I still remember when you were that little grey blob girl I was watching cartoons with. You're like the little sister I always wanted. Dating you would just be… weird. Is that bad to say?"
Puddin laughed.
"Don't worry, Paata. It's not weird. We're good friends. Plus," she shrugged, "you're not really my type."
"Alright. Good to hear," he said. "So, how should we approach Punohsa about all this Towa business?" When he didn't receive an answer, he looked over and saw that Puddin was no longer next to him. Instead, she was standing in front of a shop window with her face plastered against the glass. The window was filled with Christmas trees and decorations and little Santa figurines. "Huh," he said. "I totally forgot it was almost Christmas." Puddin turned to him, looking confused.
"Paata… what's 'Christmas'?"
"It's a holiday in December. It's only a few days away now," he answered. "It's a time where people come together, exchange gifts, and eat delicious food. There's also a big focus on family-togetherness and peace through the cosmos and goodwill toward sentients and all that jazz."
"Family-togetherness?" she asked, her eyes practically sparkling. Paata nodded before she turned her wide eyes back to the window display. "That's it…" she said.
"Huh?"
Suddenly, Puddin grabbed Paata by the shoulders and started shaking him vigorously
"That's it, Paata!" she yelled. "This is exactly what I need! Nyaa~! Thank you, Paata! Thankyouthankyouthankyou!" She seized him in a tight hug before dropping him on the sidewalk and soaring into the air. "I need to find out everything about Christmas!" In moments she was gone, leaving a very confused and shaken Paata.
"Um… glad I could help?" he said to the empty air.
He had realized a long time ago that it took a certain amount of both inner strength and mental acrobatics to keep pace with Puddin. One of these days, he really needed to introduce her to some new people. It was becoming really hard keeping track of her all by himself.
With a shrug, he began making his way back home.