Super Dragon Ball: Paradise Hysteria

Train Smart, Not Hard

Trunks flew back from the wilderness, planting his feet on the ground and checking up on Videl who sat in front of the fire and kindled it with a stick. Unfinished food lay by her side and nothing in the young woman's mood suggested she wasn't doing well. Trunks was wary of how to approach Videl when she was like this. It took him a brief pause of almost a full minute before his face bloated with smugness and he gently touched her arm with his hand.

"That's okay. You took a rough beating the other day, it's only natural you wouldn't be able to just jump back into training. Let's just take it easy for the time being," Trunks tried consoling her the best he could.

Videl sighed. She knew the boy meant nothing ill in his attempts to ease her anxiety and feeling worthless after waking up far too sore for their morning training session. When she needed her body to work the most, it failed her. With Trunks having become as powerful as he has and growing ever stronger with each battle he took part in, with their enemies growing progressively stronger and using the Destron Gas to power up even further in novel ways, Videl needed to keep up with her training more now than ever.

And yet... Maybe she was stupid thinking she could do whatever Chayote, Gohan, and the rest do. She was, after all, just an Earthling. When Trunks got into a mean scrap, all he needed was plenty of food and a good night of rest and he looked ready to go again in the morning. Not to mention, he grew progressively stronger with each punch he took or landed. Videl tried compensating for those natural differences by working extra hard, but... It felt like she only broke her body and now couldn't train at all. It felt as if fate had punished her for even trying, for working hard.

Still, Videl didn't want to ruin little Trunks' ecstatic smile, so she closed her eyes and gulped her sorrow and self-loathing down. She kicked up a big heap of dirt onto the fire, wincing in pain at just putting force in her body for a kick. In the morning, when Videl woke up grunting and moaning in pain, Trunks went silent when Videl tried forcing herself to train. Then, it became apparent that she'd pass out even getting to the training spot. Trunks tried amping her confidence up by suggesting they could just take it slow, but Videl knew better–she'd have held Trunks back and she didn't want that. She relented to having the morning to herself to rest up.

She even had to use the jet capsule to fly around instead of doing her best to fail to keep up with Trunks in the sky. The jet didn't struggle at all in that task, though Videl knew the boy was purposefully holding himself back there to make her feel better. Somehow, in his mind, even Videl managing to keep up with him on a plane should have lifted her spirits. Fortunately, the Kame Island was only a pair of hours of flight away from their camp. Videl wouldn't have too much time to wallow in misery and watch over her aching body.

Umigame crawled out from the sea, accompanied by a handful of smaller sea turtles behind him while Muten Roshi left the Kame House with a curious look on his face when a Capsule Corps jet that was unfamiliar to him yet still carried the Capsule Corps logo and knew his home address landed on his island's shores. The old man nuzzled his back with his hands as if it had been keeping him restless, though, based on all the stories Videl had heard from Gohan, this old martial arts hermit was an amazing master who taught Goku all he knew. Long ago, Muten Roshi was even known as the God of Martial Arts. Videl had hoped to ask the old man for some help with her training, but the thought felt ludicrous now.

There was no way that a broken body like hers could have ever found use in any martial arts training. If there ever was a secret to help Earthlings keep up with demons, aliens, and Super Saiyans, it would most likely come from some grueling training method rather than a mere advice one could give or just a method of breathing differently.

"My, my... If it isn't Bulma's boy and... You're Chayote and Gohan's pupil, Videl, wasn't it?" Muten Roshi scratched the back of his ear as if he was a cat.