"I see… yes, this isn't good news." Roshi's face was grave as he spoke on the phone. He turned, watching his disciples, "hey! Return back to training!" They scrambled out of his way, returning to their warm-up drills. At the same time, Roshi put down the phone. He had just received a call from PaoPao regarding the Red Ribbon Army and Goku's encounter with them. He prayed for his disciple's safety.
…
Goku awoke with a start, he let out a loud sneeze.
"Mom! Mom! He's awake!" A little girl with red hair and rosy cheeks ran to her mom, a portly woman wearing a black dress and blouse.
"That's good! It's a good thing you found his Suno!" The woman smiled at the young boy. "Here, have this cocoa, you were frozen stiff when my daughter found you outside."
"Thanks." Goku drank the dark-colored liquid, feeling a rich warmth fill him, "where am I?" he asked between sips.
"This is Jingle Village!" The girl, Suno, said.
"I don't see why anyone would be this far up north without protective wear, what were you looking for?"
"Oh?" Goku took out his radar, "oh no! It's broken…" He turned to Suno and her mom and took out the 6-star Dragon Ball. "I'm looking for the Dragon Balls, well, the 4-star one."
"A dragon ball?!" The woman asked, "are you part of the Red Ribbon Army?" She held her daughter back protectively.
Goku shook his head, "bleh! I hate those guys, one of them blew me out of the sky and tried to steal it!"
"Oh…" The woman relaxed, and Suno got out of her grip. She approached Goku.
"Can I see that?" She pointed to the Dragon Ball.
Goku nodded. Handing her the ball. As the girl marveled at the pristine orange color of the orb,
"It's a pretty gem, but I can't see what the big deal is." The woman said.
"If you find all 7, a huge dragon comes out and grants your wish! Anything you want in the world!"
"Oh! Oh wow!" The little girl sighed, "Is that why you want them?"
"No, my Grandpa left me one of those balls, as a memento, I want to get it back. It's like this one, but 4 stars instead of 6."
"So that's why the Red Ribbon Army is after this!" The woman shook her head, "Those monsters probably want to use it for something really nasty!"
"Are they bad guys?" Goku asked.
"Yeah! They kidnapped our mayor and made all the men go to work to find the dragon ball, and if we resist in any way, they said they'd kill the mayor! They're the evilest guys in the world!" Suno raised her hands as if to emphasize the size of the Red Ribbon Army's evilness.
"Wow… so they took the Mayor? Is that why you can't beat them up?"
"Yeah!" Suno took Goku to the window of their home, "over there!"
Goku corkscrewed his arm. "Alright! I'll go beat them up then!"
Before anyone could say anything else, two men burst into the door, guns aimed and ready.
"Alright! We knew we found weird track marks here! Surrender the dragon balls kid!" The first, a human in a red facemask and hat growled.
"And don't think we won't forget what you did!" The second, a fox-type human-animal pointed his gun at Suno and her mom. "You're gonna have a fun conversation with General White!"
Goku got ready to charge the two men, but before he could strike them, two men in snow-white clothing took out the men. One of them jabbed a needle into the dog-type's neck, while the other smashed into the stomach of the Red Ribbon Army solder with a brass knuckle, then with a roundhouse kick, he knocked the man into the snow. As the man struggled to get up, the white garbed man knocked him out with a high-powered kick to the face.
"Haaah… yeah… haaah… that's….what you get...haaah…" The man leaned on his knees, gasping for air.
"You…" The other robed figure looked at their companion, sighed, then moved to strip, tie up, and gag the knocked-out men.
Goku cocked his head at the weird pair. "Who are you guys?"
The man stood up. "The name's Gnocchi, I'm a spy for the King of the World, I was sent to spy on the Red Ribbon Army." He was dressed in a white parka, white pants, and thick white gloves, and snow boots. He wore a white fleece Ushanka hat and had a pair of ski goggles over the hat. The wrinkles on his face and multiple gray bits betrayed his age as he grinned cheekily at the boy before him. "And this is my lovely companion Strazza Preti."
The other person was in off-white camouflage ninja gear that covered her from head to toe, they removed their face rapping to reveal a fox-type human-animal woman. "Just call me Strazza, my partner Gnocchi works for the King's army, while I work for the private defense organization Tsukimi."
"You mean the king didn't abandon us?" The woman held her hands together.
"We never meant to abandon your people, it was just dangerous to put together a massive invasion, so small crack teams like ours would infiltrate and sabotage, while a larger mobile task force would lay in wait, it seemed like it was best for us to introduce ourselves before things got hairy." Strazza looked over at Goku, "but I guess it wasn't needed."
"Hmm?" Gnocchi cocked his head, "know something I don't, vixen?"
Ignoring the provocation, Strazza handed the grizzled man a letter. 'The Red Ribbon Army is to chase down and capture a black-haired boy in orange clothing, he has at least 1 Dragon Ball on his person and a radar capable of detecting them.'
"Hmm… impressive, but why does that matter? We have to protect or escort him out of the village?" Gnocchi asked.
"This is the runner-up to the 21st Budokai Tenkaichi, a student trained by the Muten Roshi," Strazza replied.
"Oh… I see." Gnocchi grinned as he saw the form then looked at Goku, the boy just cocked his head. "So, we'll be doing this all Cloak and Dagger style?"
She nodded, donning the Red Ribbon Army uniform and parkas. "Son Goku, I am a subordinate of PaoPao."
"Oh! I know her, she's my friend!" Goku smiled, "she's your boss?"
"Yes, we were told to find you and rescue you, but seeing as you are here now, and you defeated the person who defeated Lady PaoPao, I have confidence in your strength. Gnocchi and I plan to infiltrate Muscle Tower, we wonder if you would permit us to pretend to use you as bait? We should be able to sneak to the top of Muscle Tower that way and get to General White without any bloodshed. If we capture White, we will have most of the Red Ribbon Army under our heel, and then we can send in the Task Force to arrest and capture them before they have a chance to harm any villagers."
"That seems like a dangerous task for such a young boy!" Suno's mother placed a protective hand on Goku's shoulder, "can't you do something else?"
Goku scrunched his face, "I'm not that good with complicated stuff." He turned towards Muscle Tower and sprinted off."
"Holy shit! He's fast!" Gnocchi held a hand to his ushanka while Strazza merely gaped.
"I see… PaoPao was right when she warned that he'd be… eccentric." She sighed, "well, no choice. We'll follow and see if we can infiltrate after. She turned to Suno and her mom. "Those men won't be able to break out, just leave them there until we return, but if we don't return…" She handed Suno's mom a capsule.
They leaped unto the Red Ribbon Army stooges' snowmobile to chase after the intrepid monkey boy.
Goku returned within half a minute. "It's c-cold!"
After borrowing Suno's coat and hat, Goku charged towards the tower.
…
"General White!" A soldier rushed into the top room of Muscle Tower. There, a buff man with red hair and sideburns and a distinct cleft chin turned to face the intrusion into his sanctum.
"Why have you interrupted me! Do you want the Death Penalty?!"
"Sorry, sir!" The soldier saluted, "But there's radio traffic for you!"
Turning on his radio the man's eyes filled with shock as his men called that a child war rushing over 50 mph towards their base.
"That's definitely the brat!" White yelled into the mike, "tear him to shreds!"
The soldiers began to open fire at the boy, and White watched at the top of his tower with glee, waiting for the expectant scream and spray of red into the snow. Instead, he watched in shock as in less than a second, the 15 men he had on standard patrol were knocked flat on their backs or into the walls of his fort. The brat he had written off then pole-vaulted onto his second-floor using an odd staff.
"Damn… you're pretty tough, I see how you gave Colonel Silver issues, but you're stupid if you think the same will happen in my Muscle Tower!" He turned on the PA system, "ATTENTION ALL TROOPS! OUR TARGET HAS BROKEN INTO THE COMPOUND! ELIMINATE HIM AND RETRIEVE THE DRAGON BALLS AND RADAR, IF NOT, DEATH PENALTY!
He then turned to the outside mike. "OI! BRAT! YOU'RE FOOLISH YOU KNOW!"
"Huh?" Goku asked.
"YOU MUST THINK YOU'RE TOUGH, ELSE YOU'D HAVE TO BE A FOOL TO CHALLENGE OUR MUSCLE TOWER."
"Are you up there?!" Goku called up. "Yeah, I'm pretty strong!"
"HAHAHAHA! OKAY KID, WHY ARE YOU COMING AFTER US ANYWAY?!"
"You kidnapped the mayor!"
"OH, I SEE, SOMEONE FROM THE VILLAGE ASKED YOU TO COME, WELL ALRIGHT KID, COME ABOARD MY TOWER! BUT BE WARNED, THIS MAY BE THE LAST THING YOU EVER DO!"
As Goku rushed into the second floor, General White called upon his strongest warrior, Ninja Murasaki. "Watch this brat get murdered!" The General laughed as his men on the second floor gathered around the young boy.
The men swarmed him but balked as the young boy began to systematically take down each and every one of the soldiers.
"Hmmm!" The ninja widened his eyes as a soldier fired multiple rounds at Goku, only to be hitting an illusion as Goku struck him from behind. "That's Kage-no-Bushin Jitsu! The shadow clone technique! He's truly a skilled shinobi."
"Oh? You mean he comes from your folk?"
"I've never met this boy before… but I recognize those techniques… hmph, though he's a fool if he thinks he could get past the 3rd floor and Sergeant Metallic, and even more stupid if he thinks he can take me on."
General White smirked, "well, this will be interesting, I kinda almost wish he made it out here, I've wanted to get some exercise in." He turned his mike onto the 3rd floor.
"General Metallic! The kid we told you about?! He's heading up right now! Go a little easy! Don't kill him too fast! GAH HAHAH!"
On the third floor, a massive Arnold Schwarzenegger-looking man in thick sunglasses sat on a massive chair. As Goku made his way up the tower to the third floor he met the mountain of a man, who called out a simple "welcome!"
"Your voice sounds weird!" Goku pointed to the massive man, whose voice sounded clipped and crisp like he was talking through a radio. "You kinda sound like the guy who flew me here! I think his name was robot or somethin', are you guys friends?"
"I… am a tap dancer." Sergeant Metallic smashed his foot into Goku who sailed back into a wall.
"Oh? You're kinda strong." Goku landed on his feet, then turned to inspect the wall-shaped impression left on it. "My turn?" Before the robotic general could react, Goku smashed him into a wall, cracking it into pieces. "Okay!" Goku began, "now to find the way up here…"
"The stairs are over there, but you'll have to beat me first." The robot stood up and smashed his arms into Goku and reached out to crush him.
Goku groaned, but after a few seconds, he overpowered the man's vice-like grip. "You know…" Goku began as he looked at the man, "you remind me of my friend Jazz, he made his arms and legs really hard, so I had to…" Goku swung down with renewed force, and General White and his top warrior could only watch in shock as the metal man's arms dented from the force of the monkey boy's attack. "Yup!" He laughed, "you're pretty tough!"
The robot grunted angrily, his synthetic face twisting into a rage, his mouth opened, revealing a missile round. The payload launched from his mouth towards Goku, and the room was engulfed in a short blast of light.
The robot looked about, smirking, "hmmm… he's gone, destroyed, victory for the Red Ribbon Army."
"Missed me!" Goku called, rolling out from a pillar, "if you wanna use something like the Kamehameha, then I'll hit you with my own!"
"STOP PLAYING AROUND METALLIC! FINISH HIM OFF!" White called from the speaker.
"Yes… I'll finish you!" Sergeant Metallic charged towards Goku only to be caught in the blinding light of the Kamehameha, which, unlike the original, annihilated the robot. "Waaa! I used too much energy!" Goku stared at the robot, which was now a torso, "I'm so sorry…" he cupped his hands in prayer, "uh… look after this guy, and make sure he gets to eat till he bursts in heaven Kami-sama, umm… Nanman-dabu! Nan-Mandabu!"
"He's so powerful!" White grinned excitedly.
"Well… I don't know what's more surprising, his strength or how he butchered that prayer…" Ninja Murasaki shook his head. "Well, it doesn't matter, it's my turn."
"Would it be too much to ask if you saved me a piece after you're done with him?"
The shinobi chuckled, "of course, bos-" They were interrupted by a massive explosion that rocked the bottom of the tower.
"What!?" General White looked at the first-floor security camera, only to balk as he saw over a dozen soldiers belonging to the King's army. "How dare they?! Don't they know this means war?!" He rushed to the emergency radio, only to groan as he heard dead static. "They cut the line… Dammit! Now we have to deal with both headaches?!"
"Boss…" Murasaki began, "I'll take care of the boy, you must release Android 8 on those idiots."
"Android 8? Yes… his time in prison should help him understand his place."
"Then I'll release him!" The shinobi nodded and sprinted down towards the prison. "Then, I'll go kill that brat!"
…
PaoPao, Talia, and their elite escort neared the secret location of the Crane School. Just outside West City, a small stream lead to a dense forest that hid a sheer drop. As the stream turned into a river, the sheer drop led to a waterfall, underneath the mist and canopy of trees was the secret sect of the Crane. In many ways, Shen's and Roshi's philosophies were the polar opposite, if Roshi believed in quality over quantity, Shen believed in overwhelming quantity. As opposed to Roshi, Shen recruited as many individuals seeking a quick path to power and charged them exorbitantly for his training, and for the ones unfortunate enough to run out of payment, they would become workhorses or slaves to their richer warriors. Only a few students in the Crane School could enjoy autonomy simply through their skill level. Of them, she remembered distinctly three, Tien, Chiaotzu, and a girl by the name of Yurin who ended up losing her position.
"We've reached the entrance to the Crane School Mistress, how do you wish for us to approach this?"
PaoPao weighed her options, while it would be more in her favor diplomatically to announce her presence, it would also put her on the backfoot if they attacked. Attacking by surprise would be seen as cowardly, but… She shook her head. "They took our people's blood unprovoked, at the very least, they need to feel our same heartache." She took out her blade and talisman, then began to channel ki in both, tossing the talisman up in the air, she pointed her blade forward, parallel to the ground, then unleashed a quick thrust into the talisman. Instead of piercing the talisman, a wave of energy traveled from her body into the blade, then through the talisman, a massive wave of ki reminiscent of hundreds of crescent moon slashes rained down like meteors.
The patrolling disciples could barely scream out warnings of a surprise attack as PaoPao and her elite guard came down upon them like a tidal wave. Eyes flashing yet expression cold, PaoPao began to cut down the Crane School disciples who stood in her path. Any who fled were spared no glance, but any who tried to attack from behind were cut down with greater ferocity as her elite ninja scattered into formation, fighting with blades, fists, and poisoned darts. Even if she had "turned to the light", her clan was once a people who lived and breathed in assassination, and she was as steeped in death as the rest. This was why she didn't want to call upon Roshi and the others, to her, those like them, even Yamcha, who never took a life in the desert despite his harsh upbringing, were like stars in the twinkling sky, and she would be loath to mar them with her hazy miasma.
"Tsukimi!" A top disciple of Shen shouted out, blocking PaoPao's thrust. "How dare you attack our school! Don't you realize what this means?!"
PaoPao grinned and dropped a bloody Crane School emblem. "This was found in the grips of one of my people who faced the Red Ribbon Army. They were cut down by strikes from behind by excessively cruel weaponry." She looked at the man, who wielded a chain-and-thorn whip. "Perhaps you should realize what this means."
The man gulped, "y-you'd dare attack our school?! Even we'd not be so brazen to strike you in your home!"
"Ah… so you mean you'd rather attack my people out in the wilderness, where they are alone than at home, with all our forces? So my organization should be thankful that instead of striking the heart, you slice us to ribbons from the extremities first?" As more Crane School students of decent skill surrounded her small troop, she began writing a symbol in the air with her ki. Her men and women behind her took out the Jiang Shi talismans and placed them on their foreheads as she recited her incantation. "I came here to tell Shen personally that the next time he wants to 'send us a warning' he better do it himself." Her Jiang-Shi army howled in rage and charged forward, turning the Crane School disciples into a blender of flesh and blood.
Further, into the heart of the school, Shen bit his thumb nail in irritation, "ah… if I knew that bitch would be so brazen, I'd have rejected that payment… dammit, my revenue, all those losers earned me a pretty penny!"
"What should we do?!" A Crane School elder asked.
"Easy, just send in those three." Shen sighed, "you remember, after what happened? Tien's now in a league of his own, and that brat isn't far behind either." He began to laugh evilly.
…
"Android 8? Is that you?" Gnocchi called out in interest. His men had the easiest time breaking into Muscle tower, the layout was straightforward, and on each floor, they passed, it became increasingly apparent that someone had already fought their way through. After tying up all the unconscious enemy on the second floor, they were stopped by a fearsome-looking man in a black suit that resembled Frankenstein's monster. Before the troops could open fire on reflex, their captain, the spy Gnocchi raised a hand and walked over to the behemoth.
To the men's surprise, the Android raised a hand and smiled. "Nice to see you again sir."
"You know this guy captain?" One of the soldiers asked, "isn't he Red Ribbon?"
"He's an android, designed by a scientist in the Red Ribbon Army." Gnocchi replied, "but he's a good kid, he fed us a lot of information before they imprisoned him for being so kind and soft-hearted." He turned to 8, "what are you doing down here buddy?"
"They ordered me to come here and stop whoever was coming up, but I'm glad it's you." He clenched his fist. "They told me that someone came here to rescue the Mayor, he might be in danger! Ninja Murasaki went to fight him!"
The troops murmured, they knew of Murasaki's danger. He was a strong warrior and assassin, not on Mercenary Tao's level, but certainly, someone who could be whispered in the same vein. Just then, they watched in disbelief as a beaten, bruised, limping man in a ninja costume crawled down the stairs.
"8! You bucket of bolts! Kill this boy or I'll destroy you!" He held a remote in his hand.
"No way! I don't want to hurt anyone! I don't like you guys and your evil ways!"
"You dare refuse your creators?!" Murasaki prepared to smash down on the remote, but just as he did, Goku materialized behind him, and with a savage kick, destroyed the remote.
"A...ah...aaaah…" The famed ninja could only turn in despair as Goku grabbed him, twirled, and sent him flying through the wall of Muscle Tower and out into the snow.
"That's the Red Ribbon Army's target?" A soldier trembled.
Strazza merely grinned, "well, with that out of the way, Son Goku, do you mind if we lend you assistance?"
Goku looked at them, "ummm, oh yeah! You work for PaoPao, and those guys work for the King guy, right? Umm, sure!"
...
General White shook in disbelief, "no way!" The brat, Son Goku, had taken care of his "elite ninja" in seconds, Murasaki claimed to be stronger than General Silver, and as they began to compare their ninja skills, Murasaki grew desperate, so desperate that he rushed to the first floor to command 8 to attack Goku, only to find that the Android was escorting the troop of the King up Muscle Tower. Before he could destroy the traitorous Android, Goku smashed him through a wall and out into the snow. "NO!" He pounded his fist in anger. "But..." He looked down towards the floor below his. "I still have monster Buyon! Bullets and blades bounce off his thick hide, nothing can kill him!" He laughed, turning his camera onto the floor, "n-n-n-nothing…?" He looked dumbfounded. Inside the floor, his 'invincible' monster Buyon was rotting, slumped to the side, and deflated like a sun-fried beach ball. Several holes had been torn into the creature as its long dried blood pooled below it. Someone had killed his monster, at least a day ago by his reckoning, "but… who?!" He trembled in fear, trying to think up a plan to save himself. But before he could, the troops streamed into the room and Goku tackled him to the ground.
"That's the bad guy, right?" Goku asked. The people with guns said they were part of the Government and were trying to catch the bad Red Ribbon Army, Android 8 said those guys weren't mean like the Red Ribbon Army, and for some reason Goku found himself liking the tall guy.
White attempted to reach for his high-caliber gun but felt a blade on the back of his neck.
"I'd surrender quietly if I were you." Strazza whispered in his ear, "You wouldn't want to end up in pieces, would you?"
The man shuddered, clenched his fist, then relaxed. "Dammit!"
So many things had gone wrong, first, the boy attacked, then the King's Army came storming in, Android 8 betrayed them, and now he was captured. But… the greatest nightmare was the death of Buyon, it happened under their noses, the worst part being, he didn't even feel it, Buyon was a powerful monster, how could someone have just killed it unnoticed?!"
…
PaoPao was breathing hard, several new wounds and cuts marred her body as she faced her foe. Tien had been stronger than her when they last sparred, but he was now on a whole new level. The assassin-in-training was Shen's greatest disciple and had surpassed his master a while ago. To his side, Chiaotzu held her back with psychic force, and she could only watch as Tien left her Jiangshi army on the brink of death. "This…."
"Is impossible?" Tien replied, "yes, I understand the feeling, my power is unreal, and I'll have to thank my new friend for it."
PaoPao groaned in effort, she was circulating her ki rapidly to counter Chiatzu's psychic abilities, but it was slow going, even if her control over her troops was hampered, each one was physically powerful, maybe on Chi-Chi's level after the transformation, yet all 20 of them were knocked down? The only one who remained standing was Talia, and even she was in bad shape as she attempted to stand with one broken leg.
"Well, I guess it's time to finish her off." Tien pointed a finger, "my pride as a warrior is a little marred, but you attacked my clan, my school, my people, so I can swallow this pride for just a short amount." Before he could fire the Don Don Ray, PaoPao broke from Chiaotzu's psychic control. The little boy screamed out in pain as blood spurted from his body. "Chiaotzu!" Tien screamed, distracted for long enough for PaoPao to channel the last of her ki into a fatal attack.
"Even if I die here, the Crane school will pay manyfold for their sins!" She thrust out her blade, with Tien only being able to turn just in time to see the attack.
The airburst with an explosive wave as ki clashed against ki, and magic clashed against magic. PaoPao opened her eyes wide as, instead of Tien, a new opponent met her blade. This new enemy simply smiled lackadaisically as he caught her blade between his crossed black-metallic arms. His green eyes twinkled as Jazz, wearing the gi of a Crane School Assassin-in-training, pushed PaoPao off and recited his incantation. "WABO WABO BO!" Flames burst from the ground, blinding PaoPao then engulfing her and her Jiang-Shi whole.
As the smoke cleared, not a single thing remained of the warriors of Tsukimi.
"AHAAHAHAHAAHAHA!" Shen began to giggle and dance around. "Serves that bitch right! She thought she could tangle with my school?!" He turned to Tien. "You idiot, you let your emotions get to you, an assassin must always be cold and unflinching."
"You are right… I follow your words master." Tien sighed as Chiaotzu slowly got up.
"And you, brat, you said your name was Jazz, right? I accept you as a student, that was a fantastic display of power and killing intent!" Shen shook his head, "but dammit! I lost so many men I have to cancel the contract with the Red Ribbon Army! Now my brother will be the only one…" He sighed, "ah well, I can always recruit more."
Jazz smiled lightly, "thank you Master Shen." he then turned to the smoldering pile of ash before him, eyes narrowing."
…
...
Jasper(Jazz) Duncan
Age: 15 (and 11 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: 161 lbs | 73 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, bullshitting, and trickery
Powers: Magic Materialization (Fire) (Advanced Understanding), Magic Materialization (Water) (Basic Understanding)
General magic: Basic Understanding
Max Power/ Pump Up (1.5x (mastered), 2x (capable),
Shapeshifting, Mastered Skill level (indefinite)
Noble Werewolf. Juvenile Awakening, 1.5x, currently possible only under a full moon
Powerlevel: 86, will raise to 129 temporarily when using Pump Up/Max Power 1.5, or 172 when using Pump Up/Max Power 2x, if using Juvenile awakening, power will be 193 or 258 respectively
…
…
Afterword:
So… as you can all see, Jazz is now a villain. He is irredeemably evil and there is no reason to continue the story. Next chapter he'll use the Super Dragon Balls to take Goku's body and then slay the JabberWocky to save Narnia. This isn't at all a Long Con. Nope… it's just it, he's just evil.
Also, if you want to know, the type of canine Jazz looks like when he transforms, look up Samoyed puppy.
Thanks for reading this chapter, next chapter will be out today