Watching Gohan move at that turtle pace, Aeris got so annoyed that she pulled out a whip made of condensed ki and started lashing it behind him. The message was obvious.
If he didn't want to get hit, then he needed to keep running.
Faster.
Much faster.
Gohan clenched his teeth and endured it.
The problem was, the longer this went on, the more he felt that Aeris's lashes were getting more frequent.
And stronger.
"Aunt Aeris… even if you're mad, you don't have to take it out on me…"
"Run faster. Faster!"
Aeris's voice was full of gritted-teeth frustration.
Gohan: "…"
So I'm the only one getting hurt here, huh…
Aunt Aeris, you're not the same loving aunt anymore…
"Ahh—!"
Gohan lost focus for one second and immediately got hit by another lash.
And so the scene became one person desperately swinging a whip while the other desperately ran for his life.
Ah…
How harmonious.
Like hell it was.
Can someone speak up for me here? Do I, Son Gohan, not deserve dignity? This shit hurts!
Aeris got more and more into it.
Gohan, meanwhile, was about ready to foam at the mouth.
At this point, it was no longer about dignity or appearances.
It was about whether he could get hit a little less.
The whip didn't leave injuries…
But damn, it hurt.
In game terms, this was pure true damage.
No one knew how long he ran before Gohan finally collapsed gloriously and passed out.
For the first time in his life, fainting actually felt wonderful.
A few minutes later, Aeris woke him back up by dumping a bucket of cold water over him.
"Alright. Endurance training is over for today. Next is agility and reaction training."
The moment she finished speaking, Aeris flew up into the air and, without giving Gohan a chance to say a single word, started firing one small energy blast after another at him. They wouldn't kill him, but if enough of them landed, it was still going to suck badly.
"Wait— you didn't even say start, Aunt Aeris!"
Gohan hurriedly leaped aside to dodge, and then immediately started rolling and scrambling all over the place to avoid the attacks.
At this point, he understood it clearly.
Aeris was using him as a punching bag.
But he didn't dare resist.
And even if he did, what would be the point?
He couldn't beat her anyway.
"Ahhhhh! I'm gonna die! I'm gonna die! Aunt Aeris, please go easy on me!"
"Enemies on a battlefield won't give you time to react. What exactly gave you the childish idea that they would, Son Gohan? Me, your father, all of us became this strong by crawling through life-and-death struggles again and again. If we'd thought the way you do now, we'd all be dead already."
Then her voice sharpened.
"When you fought Frieza with your father and Piccolo, did Frieza ever give you a chance?"
As she said that, the attacks in her hands grew even denser.
"Don't be so naive, Son Gohan. In this world, you're the only one who can save it now. Stop clinging to these unrealistic ideas!"
Aeris completely sealed off all of Gohan's escape routes, forcing him to dodge head-on instead of using those disgraceful, scrambling methods.
"Answer me, Son Gohan. Show me your resolve!"
Gohan grit his teeth.
This time, instead of dodging miserably, he charged straight toward Aeris.
"That's it. That's it! Son Gohan, come at me!"
"With the resolve to die!"
Gohan dodged while trying to counterattack at the same time. He still looked rough doing it, but he was trying.
Unfortunately, Aeris wasn't about to give him that much room. She raised the intensity of her attacks again.
Gohan struggled to get up from the ground one more time.
In the end, though, he fell flat again, powerless.
"Get up. Rest for a bit. Then we continue."
Aeris hauled him back to his feet.
"Yes, Aunt Aeris…"
Aeris glanced at his face and frowned.
"What happened to your face?"
Gohan went quiet for a second, but then he answered.
"It happened the last time I fought them. I… naively thought the battle was over."
He stopped there.
That time, he had almost lost his arm too.
If not for the Senzu Beans, he probably wouldn't have gotten away at all.
Aeris sighed.
"You really are a lot like your father. Even after going through all this, you're still too naive. Too kind."
Then she smiled faintly.
"But… that's what your family is like. Still, don't do it again. I already told you—your enemies won't go easy on you because of your kindness. They won't feel guilty because of your mercy either. In this world, only when your fist is hard enough will those rats behave…"
Her tone dropped, suddenly sharp as a blade.
"…and listen."
As she said that, she casually tossed a purple-red energy ball behind her.
BOOM!!!
"A rat is still just a rat. I didn't catch you last time, and now you actually dared to come hopping right up in front of me today."
Aeris raised a hand and clenched it in the air.
Immediately, she lifted the intruder off the ground.
"Oh? And this one's nice and plump too."
She dragged him over to her feet and tilted Android 19's chin up with the tip of her shoe.
"Tch. Ugly as hell. Looks like you've been dead for a week."
"Aunt Aeris, be careful! That one can absorb your ki to strengthen himself!"
The second Gohan saw it was Android 19, he hurriedly shouted a warning.
"Oh? Interesting. Then let me see how much you can absorb. Maybe you'll actually qualify to amuse me a little…"
Her lips curled upward.
"…because my hands are itching."
And with that, she drove his head straight into the dirt under her foot and ground it there a few more times.
Watching that, Gohan felt like all his worry had been completely pointless.
Then again, if Aunt Aeris had been around back then, these androids probably would've been nothing more than punching bags.
Android 19 grabbed one of Aeris's legs and absorbed energy from her for quite a while. But eventually, the speed of absorption began slowing down.
He had apparently reached saturation.
"Trash. That's all you've got?"
Aeris ground her foot down harder, then finally stomped hard enough to snap one of 19's arms clean off.
At this point, she was unimpressed.
He had absorbed for that long and still hadn't even reached her base power.
Utter garbage.
Android 19 stared at Aeris in terror now. He wanted to run, but the moment he tried to move, Aeris crippled one of his legs too.
"This garbage is yours now. Use him as a punching bag."
When she tossed 19 to Gohan, she also dislocated his jaw for good measure.
His screaming was annoying.
Leaving him one working arm was perfect. Gohan could use him to practice.
Gohan stared at the enemy who had once seemed overwhelmingly powerful.
Now he was crawling in front of him like a beaten stray dog.
This…
This was surreal as hell.
Should he really do like Aunt Aeris said and use him as practice?
Actually…
Yeah.
Why not?
Gohan stopped hesitating and dragged 19 over to an open area, where he immediately began a brutal and inhuman one-sided beating.
Android 19 did fight back.
The problem was, he only had one usable arm left, and he couldn't keep up with Gohan's speed at all now.
The regret hit him hard.
If only he had listened to 20 earlier.
But no.
Now he had become the punching bag.
And the worst kind too—the kind that couldn't even hit back.
He regretted everything.