"Can we take her?" PaoPao asked Jazz, "you, Krillin, and Yamcha seem familiar with this apparition, and are definitely familiar with the island."
Jazz grinned, but shook his head, "I have no idea, if I could get a feel for her power, I'd definitely say yes or no, but… it's weird."
"What is?" Chi-Chi asked.
"The more ki someone has, the stronger their body is when they release it outwards. I can't feel her ki as anything beyond that of a relatively trained martial artist like Hercule, yet the blasts she's unleashing are beyond anything we are capable of."
"What if she's suppressing her power?" Chi-Chi offered.
"Then… we can't win."
Launch laughed, "now you're getting it!" She launched a massive blast, blowing a hole through the ground. Water began to flood the cavern they were within, lapping at their feet.
Jazz was the first to act, transforming into a bull and springing forward. He clashed with Launch again, pushing both of them back. As they slipped in the shallow waters, Yamcha was next, he launched a flurry of punches and kicks.
Launch dodged left and right then flipped backward. Ki gathered in her hands as she fired another blast of ki. PaoPao and Chi-Chi launched their own ki blasts, pushing back and exploding the possessed woman's attack.
"Amazing… she doesn't even seem tired." PaoPao grinned, "she's almost as scary as you, zombie-man."
"Me?!" Jazz scoffed, "I get tired, every attack I'm dealing with right now is literally just burning an empty tank."
"Can you two not bicker please." Yamcha took out a sword, "what's the plan?" The others turned to Jazz.
"Erm… why me? Aren't you the leader?" Jazz turned to Yamcha.
"You were the one conscious for the longest when we fought Lucifer, and you destroyed the gemstone."
"Yes, you truly ravaged me back then…" Launch held her hands to her face. "Your rough hands, your indifference, I thought I'd break, I couldn't handle it!" She let out a lascivious moan, causing the others to look at Jazz.
"I did no such thing!" Jazz shouted, flustered.
"I didn't expect you to be such a man…" PaoPao shook her head.
"She's literally trying to kill us! Why would she tell the truth?!"
"Maybe she's trying to kill us since you were so mean?" Chi-Chi offered.
"He truly was mean...I offered you so much power you know…" Launch giggled.
"Yeah, in exchange for my free will probably."
"Free will is overrated." Launch stepped forward, firing out beams of energy at the group again.
They jumped over the beam and charged at Launch altogether. The possessed woman for her part simply smiled.
…
Krillin rushed through the long corridor, keeping up behind him, Hercule carried Miguel. The only sounds were their footsteps, Hercule's teeth chattering, and the echoes of shouts, screams, ki blasts, and impacts coming from the cavern behind them.
"We, we'll make it, right?" Miguel asked.
"Y-yeah, we've got this… but, is Goku really that strong?" Hercule turned to Krillin. "I mean, I know you guys are all really tough, Jazz said you were all stronger than him. But is Goku stronger than all of you enough to beat her?"
Krillin shook his head, "I don't know, maybe." When we were on the island last, this guy, Lucifer, kicked all our buts, even Goku's, but then Jazz had Goku look at the moon, and gave him some energy. He turned into the giant monkey thing, and then he was able to beat Lucifer, though somehow, he didn't go out of control."
"Go out of control?" Miguel asked.
"Goku wasn't always able to act like normal when he turns into that giant monkey, Jazz said he'd help Goku train it. The first time Goku transformed after we were on the island, he almost killed us, we had to grab his tail for hours until the moon set and the sun rose. It took us months to get to the control he has now."
"So, he might win in the giant monkey form?"
"Goku's stronger than he was then, so, hopefully. And since he has more control over himself, we can stop her without hurting her."
They pushed past the metal hatch and into the devastated remains of the island.
"What the…" Krillin looked around, "I know the island had been destroyed, but… was it that bad when we came down?" What used to be at least 10000 square feet of already ravaged land had been reduced to less than a third of its size.
"Where's Goku?" Miguel asked, "Did something happen again?!"
They began to look for him, concerned by all the devastation.
"Goku? Goku!" They found the young boy, unconscious on the floor and breathing shallowly.
"Oh god… what happened to him!" Hercule shouted. Goku was covered in bruises from head to toe, and a few scratches and cuts filled his arms. The most devastating wound however was on his left hand, as if an odd geometrical shape was branded unto his palm.
"Hehehe... For, my lord Lucifer…" a voice groaned out.
They turned to see the bodies of two oni. The oni were in terrible shape, one lost both its legs, the other was mangled beyond recognition, the only evidence of its inhuman origin being its odd colored blood and mottled green skin.
"We… we will die tonight, but your enemy is doomed…" The oni laughed, then coughed in pain.
"What did you do to Goku!" Krillin glared at the monster.
"Pft…we poisoned him, and now… he'll die. But… even then, how was he so powerful… despite being poisoned…" Unable to keep conscious for any longer, the demon's eyes rolled to the back of his head and he stopped moving.
"Goku!" Krillin noticed that many of Goku's wounds were discolored green or blue and a nasty smell came out of them. "Oh gosh! What do we do!"
Hercule bit a nail, "oh god, poison, how do we… do we suck it out?!"
"No! Poison isn't like venom, it acts without needing to be injected, you'd get poisoned too!" Krillin grits his teeth. "We… we have to get Master Roshi."
An explosion rocked the island below them.
"Oh god… are they okay?" Hercule asked.
Krillin tightened his lip. "Take Goku…" He turned to Hercule. "You guys have a capsule, right? Take Goku. Leave, I'll, I have to help them."
"But… we were given orders to…"
"We can't! Goku's really hurt right now, Kamesennin can do something! We can't let him die!"
As the two began to argue, Miguel walked over to Goku and poured several flasks unto his wounds and into his mouth.
"Huh?!" Krillin's stomach dropped, "What are you doing?!"
Miguel shrugged, "when I was a kid, I read a lot of stories about knights, and samurai, and ninjas and spies. Whenever someone has a deadly poison, they normally keep the antidote, either for blackmail or in case they get poisoned."
"Miguel, that's just in stories, there's no way that…" Hercule shook his head. Only to gape as Goku got up.
"I'm hungry!"
…
Launch's attack pattern was simple, she rushed in, attempted to overwhelm her targeted fighter with a flurry of punches and kicks, used a gut-busting blow, then fired a point-blank ki blast. If others got too close, ki would explode out of her, attempting to strike down the fighters like a shower of bullets. If she felt like she was on the backfoot, her entire body would begin to glow, and seconds later, an explosion of force, like a full-body Kiai, released from her body, blowing back anyone or any attack within ten feet. Whenever that occurred, Jazz got an accurate feeling for her energy totals, and it frightened him.
'She's stronger, by a clear margin, than all of us combined, is her power level somewhere beyond 700? But, why do her attacks not pack that level of punch, it feels like her power is fluctuating.' He observed Launch for a bit longer before charging into the fray once again, using his body to block a killing blow aimed towards Chi-Chi.
"Thanks!" Chi-Chi shouted through ragged breaths.
Jazz could barely grunt out a response as he willed his broken body up, and the others weren't in much better shape.
Yamcha nursed a broken arm, and PaoPao gripped the broken end of her sword furiously.
'How do we beat her…'
Jazz thought to the few times they had actually been able to harm her. The first time was the talisman, which caused the most visceral reaction, the next time, however, was almost as interesting. He had transformed into the Bal Rog once again, and charged forward, wreathed in flames. She had avoided the fire, opening herself to ki attacks from everyone else, who had been waiting for her to move. She took those blasts head-on with nary a scratch, but when Jazz moved in to strike her, she had mustered all her effort to knock him away and kill him, even taking an attack from PaoPao, which ended up shattering the latter's blade and leaving a gruesome slash on her back. The slash interestingly enough hadn't healed yet, but every other attack she had taken had regenerated after a few seconds.
"...I wanted to save this for later, but I have no choice." Jazz turned in surprise to PaoPao, who took out a talisman. She raised it towards her forehead, then her eyes turned to her friend.
"What is that?"
"It's… we don't have time for this…" Before PaoPao could hold it to her forehead, Jazz grabbed her hand. "I've got a plan, and if that's what I think it is… please wait before you use that."
"Oh? And what do you think that is?"
"Jiang Shi transformation witchcraft." Jazz didn't even see PaoPao's hand clutch his neck.
"WHERE DID YOU LEARN THAT" Her voice dripped with venom.
"I…" Jazz barely choked out a word before PaoPao dropped him.
"Who the hell are you?" She paused and shook her head, "You know what? No, I'll find out that answer as soon as this is over, but first, what the hell even is your plan?"
"You… you can do witchcraft right?" Jazz began, "do you know any exorcism techniques?"
"Yes, that was the talisman I tried using first, but she's wary of me."
"Not as wary as she is of my flames." Jazz replied, "but I'm not fast enough to make her focus her full attention on me. So…" he points to the talisman, "use it on me."
"What?!" PaoPao blinked in surprise, "you realize you lose your free will when that happens, you become a puppet, only controlled by my will, right?"
"Yes, I know." Jazz nodded.
"You trust me?"
"Well, a little less after you tried to wring my neck like a freaking turkey, but sure." Jazz laughed, "but seriously, Yamcha and Chi-Chi can't hold off Launch for much longer."
Chi-Chi screamed out as the helmet she wore shattered to pieces. The shrapnel scattered out, with some bits digging into her flesh as she attempted to dodge a missile barrage of ki blasts.
"What worries me the most is how she seems not to have run out of ki, the attacks she's launching out are powerful enough to kill us, but also too much for the energy she's outputting to release. Then mix that with how her movements sometimes seem sluggish or slow, and her body seems to lack the training required to have this power." Jazz shook his head, "the Sleeping Princess doesn't know how to fight, she uses the body and experience of the person she possesses, Launch is an aggressive person, but she's not a trained martial artist, her body probably can't take more energy than the level she's placed in right now."
"So… your plan is... to make her fight you more seriously?" PaoPao handed him her transformation talisman.
"If she's distracted, you can place the exorcism talisman back on, and then I'll force her to keep the talisman on." Jazz took the transformation and placed it on his forehead.
"Okay, word of warning, it will hurt."
"I mean, I've been shot before, how bad c-"
…
Jazz's screams filled the cavern.
The Sleeping Princess turned to the sound, she had been about to decapitate the annoying man before him. The bandit had defeated hundreds of her Oni and seemed to move as if he predicted her fighting style, she was annoyed with him, and despite him only being stronger than the boy currently screaming, she felt it necessary to get rid of him. However, the boy that was screaming began to radiate a violent aura. The flames surrounding his body began to glow a violent blue light, and his skin began to turn deathly pale. At the same time, his ki signature leaped up 5 times over.
"This is interesting," she smirked, "you're a bit stronger, but it's still nothing to me." She fired a massive blast of ki, eradicating everything in her path. The boy stood there, then turned to his profile and released a guttural roar. Air pressure caused by his Kiai deflected the ki blast, causing Launch to stagger, her black hair flapping in the wind.
Jazz's body had bulked up, causing him to grow several inches in size.
"Oh, didn't you already try this? Even with your supped-up power, you're still weaker than me."
Jazz did not reply, an explosion of white smoke billowed out from his body, and leaping from that explosion was the massive Bal Rog, only this time, with blue flames erupting from its body.
This caused Launch to frown, and she leaped back. Even as she did, the flames coiled around the ground and air, then began to chase after her as if it was a snake.
"Damn!" Launch raised her hands to blast away the flames, then turned in mid-air just in time to see that Jazz had sailed to her back and prepared a powerful punch. "You won't get the jump on me!" She screamed, unleashing a ki blast into Jazz.
Again, their ki clashed, but her's was greater, overwhelming Jazz's Kiai and engulfing him in her blast. He disappeared into a puff of smoke, and behind her, a hornet buzzed past her face. She whipped her head to see him de-transform and punch her as hard as he could in the face, knocking her back several dozen feet in the air until she crashed into a stone wall. At this point, for those on the ground, the water had pooled to their ankles. Looking at that, Launch smirked. Jazz for his part roared and charged towards her again.
She struck out, and he fired a ki blast in retaliation, killing his momentum and taking her by surprise. She charged through the blast, only to see nothing as he somehow appeared above her, elbowing her in the back. The force knocked the wind out of Launch, careening her into the water. She looked up, spit out some blood, and grinned, then, without skipping a beat charged towards the injured PaoPao.
"I know where the puppet master is!" Zipping past Yamcha and Chi-Chi she attempted to stab PaoPao, Jazz leaped towards her, tackling her away and punching her face into the ground. He then began to unleash a flurry of savage punches on her.
Launch blocked his punch and retaliated with a blow strong enough to pierce his stomach. "You know, I was worried, you got so strong, so now I thought I'd have to rev up my power, but now, you're sloppy."
The Jiang Shi replied by grabbing Launch's arm in a vice grip and releasing a blast of Kiai and flames, causing Launch to unleash her own Kiai to counter it. Rocks began to fall and break from the ceiling and walls around them, either revealing the night sky above or allowing more water in, speeding up the flooding of the cavern.
PaoPao watched them, her face contorted with effort. "Dammit…" Her witchcraft technique had major weaknesses, she had to constantly be in control of the Jiang Shi or else they would follow orders with the simplicity of a dumb beast, which was all well and good if it was an enemy she had taken control of, but with an ally, it became complicated, she couldn't just use Jazz as a sacrificial pawn, but she also couldn't let the others, or herself, die. Her magic also put a drain on her stamina depending on how powerful her Jiang Shi was, and Jazz was relatively close in power to her, and more powerful than her when he became a Jiang Shi.
Jazz gripped Launch's arm tighter, gritting his teeth as she began to pummel him.
"Dammit! Let go! IT BURNS!" She screamed and began to scratch at his face and neck. Eventually, her hand grabbed at the talisman on his head. Ripping it out, she watched as Jazz's body slumped over. "Dammit!" She hissed, spitting out curses as she observed the burns all over her body. "This… this freaking…"
PaoPao appeared before her, and Yamcha and Chi-Chi locked themselves around her sides, keeping her from moving just long enough to allow PaoPao to place the talisman on her forehead.
Her screams filled the air. And waves of ki destroyed more of the walls, causing the water to reach their wastes.
Eventually, the waves of ki subsided, and Launch spit out a blood-colored crystal.
"That…" Chi-Chi looked at the crystal curiously; reaching out to it.
"DON'T TOUCH IT!" PaoPao shouted. Causing Chi-Chi and Yamcha to flinch. "I sense murderous magic in that crystal." She turned to look at Jazz. The hole in his stomach was already beginning to knit itself back together, and if she observed closely, it looked as if tiny flames then sealed the wounds shut. She handed Launch to Yamcha, "can you lift him with your one good arm?"
Yamcha nodded. "He's not heavy."
"Good, let's get out of here then." PaoPao picked up Launch and slung her over her back.
At this point, the water had made it to their chests and shoulders respectively, but they were able to navigate their way towards the entrance.
"HELLLLLP!" A voice screamed out at a distance.
PaoPao and the others turned to the sound, which came from deeper in the cavern.
"HELLLLLP! I CANNOT SWIMMMMM!"
PaoPao rolled her eyes, "what the hell is this day…"
…
...
Jasper(Jazz) Duncan
Age: 15 (and 10 months), physical appearance: 15-16
Hair color: Red
Skin color: white
Race: Quarter Caucasian(White American of English-Irish descent), Quarter Asian (Korean), Quarter Black(African-American), Quarter Hispanic (Cuban)
Height: 5ft 9inches | 175 centimeters (69 inches, nice)
Weight: 157 lbs | 71 kilograms (the namekians granted him a pair of 10, 15, and 20 kilogram wrist and ankle weights. (3 sets of weighted clothing in total, 4 parts each, 22 pounds, 33 pounds, and 44 pounds respectively, currently using 15 kg (33 lbs) weights.
Skills: Decent Sports Talent for Age, Semi-Above Average Intellect for age, intermediate martial arts skills, average ki control, good pain tolerance, trap building, intermediate weapons mastery, basic boxing, basic mma, street fighting skills
Powers: Magic Materialization (Fire) (Intermediate Understanding)
General magic: Rudimentary Understanding
Max Power/ Pump Up,
Shapeshifting, Mastered Skill level (indefinite)
Noble Werewolf (dormant)
Powerlevel: 62, will raise to 93 temporarily when using Pump Up/Max Power
…
…
Afterword
So, they have finally fully crushed the sleeping Princess, or have they? My purpose for this string of chapters was to introduce the Jiang Shi Witchcraft early enough to make it seem not completely out of left field. Jazz's powerlevel temporarily multiplied by 5, allowing him to keep the possessed Launch preoccupied long enough for the rest to position themselves into an ambush. The effect however also increased his strength a little bit at the end, perhaps the magic interacted with the magic already in him?
I'm sure a lot of you are feeling impatient for the first tournament, and don't worry, we shall get to that soon. Also, Goku, shhhhhhh….
The gold eyes mean nothing. yup
*whistles