"Goku! Thank you so much for your help!" Suno's mom hugged the boy tearfully. "If not for you. We might have never been free, and I wouldn't see my husband again." Her husband, a jolly-looking man with a large black mustache smiled as he sipped a cup of cocoa. The village chieftain had decided to escort him personally back home, and to thank the village's hero, Goku, who was staying with Suno's family for the time being.
"Hehe!" Goku rubbed his nose, "I'm glad I could help. Man… I just wish I found the Dragon Ball…"
"You're looking for the Dragon Ball too?" Android 8 asked.
"Yeah, one of them was given to me by my Grandpa, I'm trying to get it back."
"So you won't use it for evil?" Android 8 looked relieved. "Umm…" he took out the dragon ball.
"Oh wow! You do have it!" Goku poked the ball.
"Why'd You have it?" Suno's dad asked, surprised. "They had us work to the bone for it."
"I'm sorry…" 8 began, looking down, "when I was outside one day I happened to find it, I was going to give it to the General, then I overheard him saying that he was going to kill everyone in the village when he found the ball, so I hid it."
The Mayor slapped the table, "Excellent job! You saved all our lives! If you don't have anywhere else to go, you can come live at my house!"
"M-me?" 8 looked shocked, "but… I'm an android, and…"
"Well hey, I live alone with my wife, if we had someone young like you, it'd really help us out, and so what you're an android?" He raised his arms and waved them, "there are good and bad types of real humans too! Not to mention good and bad monsters! So there are good and bad androids. And you, young man? You're the best!"
"That's great Hacchan!" Goku said excitedly. "You said you wanted to live in the village, cause all the people seemed nice!"
Android 8 turned in confusion to Goku, "Hacchan?" (in Japanese the word for 8 is pronounced 'Hah'-'Chee', so the nickname Goku gives in the original is Hacchan, in the English dub, Android 8 is referred to as Eighter (Eight(8)-ter), but I like the way Hacchan rolls off the tongue a bit better.)
"Well… Android 8 is a mouthful, so… do you like the nickname?" Goku asked.
Hacchan smiled, "my first nickname! Thanks, Goku!" He closed his eyes excitedly, "I can't believe it, I'm so happy, I get to live somewhere, and I have a real name!"
Goku grinned, happy for his new friend
"Goku!" Suno asked, "what will you do now?"
"Why don't you come live with us too Son Goku?" Hacchan offered.
"No, I can't" Goku replied "the dragon ball you found was the 2-star dragon ball. It's not my Grandpa's after all. I have to keep searching. Also, I can't let those bad guys get any dragon balls!"
"You've got quite a journey ahead of you," The mayor sighed.
"But you can definitely do it! You're pretty strong!"
"Oh… then I'll miss you." Hacchan sighed.
"Hey, I'll come back to visit you again!" Goku nodded, then yawned.
"Oh dear, it's already late in the night Goku, you should rest then head out early in the morning, alright? My wife and I would be more than happy to accommodate you." Suno's dad nodded good-naturedly.
"Yes! And Hacchan? You should stay the night too and then say goodbye to Goku tomorrow, then head on over to my place!" The Mayor got his jacket and hat ready.
"Okay, thank you, sir!" Hacchan gave a short bow to the man as he waved to Suno's parents and left.
Goku got ready for bed quickly, borrowing an old pair of Suno's dad's pajamas and a spare toothbrush to clean his mouth. Roshi's words on oral hygiene reverberated through his mind.
"So? How will you find the next dragon ball? Suno asked as she lay in bed.
"Hmm… umm… my radar broke so…"
"I can try and fix it, I'm good with machines." Hacchan demonstrated his skill as he expertly removed the back of the radar and began inspecting the machinery within. "Oh wow…"
"Can you fix it?"
"The person who made this radar must be a genius… it's too complicated for me."
"Oh…" Goku nodded, "alright."
"Sorry Goku, I wanted to be helpful…"
"Hey! It's okay, If I can't fix it here, I'll just have to go to Bulma's house to get it fixed! She's the one who made it. Um… I think she's in West City, do you guys know where it is?"
Suno thought for a second, "uh… that way!" She pointed definitively forward. "Maybe, 370 miles?"
"Wow… that's far Goku, how do you plan on getting there."
"Well, I'll just walk."
"WALK?!" Suno and Hacchan shouted at the same time.
Suno continued, "well… we don't actually have any cars or planes, but we'll get you lots of food!"
"Wow! Really?!"
"Yeah!" Suno agreed.
"Don't give up Goku!" Hacchan cheered from behind.
"Well then, I better get lots of sleep!" Goku lay on the mattress prepared for him. "Goodnight!"
"Goodnight Goku!" Hacchan replied.
"Goodnight guys!" Suno said.
...
"Lady PaoPao!"
PaoPao woke up with a start. She stared at a blurry figure hazily until her eyes began to focus. The image sharpened, revealing the tear-stained face of Talia. "Talia!" She muttered, "are we in heaven? Or is this hell?"
"I know not, only that I follow you, my lady." Talia bowed deeply.
PaoPao got up slowly. "My head feels as if it's been smashed to bits then put back together." She looked around. "How is the condition of the rest of the troops?" Her soldiers, who had temporarily sacrificed their free will to become Jiang-Shi were sitting or milling about, it looked like some had gotten a fire started and the savory smell of stew had already begun to fill the air.
"Miraculously, all of us are accounted for, with nary a scar or blemish, in fact, some of us have fewer scars than before." She grit her teeth, some great deity truly smiled upon us, protecting us from that traitor's flames."
"There was no god protecting us, what god would even dare to look at our blood-stained hands?" PaoPao smirked. "What of the Crane School?"
"We sent some scouts to their perimeter, we've done too much damage for them to simply swallow it and counter-attack, I believe they will take the time to recover."
"Good." PaoPao nodded, "that should give us and the Government some breathing room."
"What should we say of Jasper?" Talia asked, her eyes glinting, "he betrayed you, if that blow landed true, Tien may have fallen."
PaoPao shook her head, "I would have died." She closed her eyes, remembering the scene. She swung her blade with all her force, yet in that split second, Tien was ready to strike with the Tri-Beam; it would have disintegrated her if they clashed. "Jazz stopped my suicidal charge, and his flames of Renewal healed us."
"Then… why do you feel so lethargic?!" She asked.
"Because those flames have an exorcism-like property, and thus it clashed with my witchcraft." PaoPao sighed, "but… I was certainly shocked, I would not have predicted that he would do this."
"Do what?" Talia asked.
"He's conning Shen." PaoPao grinned. "And he's given us a crucial opportunity. As far as Shen knows, I and my most elite squad are dead. But he can't capitalize on it, the next best thing would be to send his brother after my organization, but Tao Pai Pai is under Red Ribbon Payroll for at least another 3 months, so…"
"He'll tell the Red Ribbon Army, and they'll invade alongside a mercenary army."
"But by then we will be prepared." PaoPao took out a phone. "That guy's fire control is a lot better, not even a scratch on my clothes." She giggled as she began to make some phone calls. "Let's appreciate Jazz's gifts."
…
It was morning in Jingle Village when Goku's surprised shout filled the air.
"Ehhhh?! You mean Kintoun wasn't destroyed?!"
A village elder laughed, "well, those things are pretty tough, why don't you try calling for it."
Goku nodded, "alright…. KINTOUN!" After a few moments, the little orange cloud could be seen zipping towards them. Like a puppy whose master had been gone for a long time, the cloud seemed to tackle Goku as he embraced it like a long-lost friend. "I missed you so much! I'm glad you're safe y'know?!" He jumped unto the cloud, shocking the crowd of villagers and the King's Army troops behind them.
"Thank you for everything, Son Goku! You're my best friend!" Hacchan announced.
"Bye Hacchan! Have a good time in the village!"
"Be careful! Make sure to beat those Red Ribbon Army bad guys!" Suno called out.
"I will! I'll make sure to stop them! Bye Suno!" Goku patted Kintoun like a prize-winning horse. "Alright, Kintoun! Next stop? West City! Bye Villagers!" He zipped through the air, and when the cloud reached a certain height, an audible boom sounded as it soared past the speed of sound.
"Oh wow… he really can ride it." Gnocchi took out a cigarette. "He's really impressive, eh Strazza?" He turned to Strazza, who was trembling as she glanced at her communicator. "Eh… what's wrong vixen? Cat got your tail?" He frowned as he noticed her eyes, which were tinged with shock, and her snout which had twisted into a growl-like grimace.
"...My mistress… PaoPao…" She began, "according to the Crane School, she was killed by Jasper Duncan, a semi-finalist in the Budokai Tenkaichi…"
…
"I can't believe he'd do something like that!" Bulma shouted into the communicator, on the other side, Yamcha, after a deep sigh, spoke.
~"I know, I just can't believe it either, but… Roshi heard it from PaoPao's own organization, and the members who said it, they were crying."
"Where are they now?"
"Resting." Yamcha sighed loudly enough to be heard over the phone. "They should have taken a break an hour ago, but they demanded to continue, if not for Roshi telling them he would not train them if they broke their bodies, they would have continued till they died."
Bulma frowned, "dammit… what the hell is going on? What happened?"
Miguel had locked herself in her room, the events she heard were overwhelming enough to make her feel faint. She didn't know PaoPao for long, but she seemed like a nice, cordial, strong girl, and now, she was dead? The worst part was that it was Jazz who killed her?
Bulma wanted to say some words of encouragement, but she was almost speechless too. She knew martial arts was dangerous, but at the same time, weren't PaoPao and Jazz friends? She remembered listening to them train together and speak afterward, it was impossible to miss that they both had tiny crushes.
"Roshi's not saying anything, but it seems to have something to do with his old training partner and rival, the Crane Sage." Yamcha began. "He's contemplating going there himself to confront Shen."
"But… if PaoPao died, and Jazz is there… wouldn't he be in trouble? He's just an old guy…"
"Hey!" Yamcha retorted, "don't insult him… he's… he was actually disguised as Jackie Chun."
"Wow! Really?! So he's not just an old martial artist, he's ridiculously strong?" Bulma grinned, "then, we can send him there and he can find out what's going on." Then she sighed… "do… do you think Jazz did it?"
Yamcha was silent,
~"I don't think so, but… to be honest, I can't understand him fully. Jazz is strong, very strong, and he had the opportunity to train with Roshi when he returned, but he chose to go to the Transformation School, and while he's insanely powerful with those transformations, he would like likely surpassed all of us otherwise if he trained as Krillin and Goku did at the same time. Now he's gone to Roshi's rival, the Crane School, despite already knowing the Kamehameha. Then… there's the fact that PaoPao said she learned the Don Don Ray and flight from the Crane School, and they made a trade. The Crane School announced that PaoPao had attacked them, why would she? Was there a plan? Her organization, Tsukimi, is silent on the matter."~
Bulma nodded, Jazz was an enigma, she looked over to his smartphone that lay in parts on her desk, and the images on his phone that she viewed on her computer. They were of an Earth and people both similar and different from her own, her eyes often streamed back to the pictures of the Dragon Ball comic books Jazz would sometimes have pictures of, as well as drawings of supposedly her and the others, as well as other, unrelated people, and completely different pictures and comics in different art styles. Perhaps, "no… I'm overthinking it." She mused out loud.
~"What, Bulma?"~Yamcha inquired.
"No, no, ignore me." Bulma shook her head flippantly, but her mind was racing, could it be that Jazz was bored? Since this wasn't his Earth, and he knew sort of what would happen in the universe, was he now playing with it? Like a kid ripping off a fly's wings? She shuddered at the thought. 'I… I've slept in the same house as him… he's not evil, or a murderer… he would have… he could have wrung my neck for the Dragon Balls at any time, but he waited… he was going to ask, right?' Bulma realized, in the heat of the moment, she chose to give Jazz the wish, as no one, sans Oolong, wanted to make a wish anymore. She didn't give him the opportunity to act upon the dragon balls, what if they wanted their wishes? Would he have fought them? Would he have… she slapped her face to calm down.
"Ms. Bulma?" She turned to face a maid.
"Look, I said I was leaving school early, you can tell my parents they can't make me go back today."
"No… not that, there's a Police Officer outside, saying he brought a young boy who claims to be your friend."
Bulma rushed past the maid and went downstairs.
~"Bulma?"~ Yamcha called out belatedly.
Bulma made her way downstairs to see Goku, who waved and smiled. "Hey, Bulma!"
"Goku?" Bulma was happy to see her little friend, "it's good to see you, but what are you doing all the way out here?"
"I need you to fix the radar please!"
Bulma nodded, "alright no problem." Her mind raced, thinking of other thoughts as she led him upstairs.
"Erm…" The cop began, "could you guys fix my bike?"
"Sure." Bulma said, "follow me, I'll have my dad do it."
After an hour or so, Bulma had been caught up with Goku's adventures.
"You're fighting the Red Ribbon Army!?" She began, "and they're chasing after the Dragon Balls?!" Her mind raced. "Wait… you said a girl saying she worked for PaoPao helped you?"
"Yeah! They beat up some guys, though I was going to do that myself, and said they wanted to help, but their plan was slow so I just ran ahead!" He laughed, rubbing his head.
Bulma nodded, it was beginning to make sense. From the little she learned from Chi-Chi, Miguel, Yamcha, and Krillin, PaoPao had once been part of a clan of assassins but traded her contracts and business contacts with scrolls and secrets from the Crane School. She was now working for the World Government… and the Red Ribbon Army was directly opposed to the King of the World and his government, which meant, they'd be PaoPao's enemy. So… even though there was a treaty before between Tsukimi and the Crane School, it ended because of the Red Ribbon Army. "That means if we beat the Red Ribbon Army, we might find info about the Crane School!"
"Huh?" Goku asked, confused, "does that have to do with fixing the radar?"
Bulma knew nothing about martial artists, but she could read tax documents, payment records, munition ordinances, general orders, and had a minor in Cryptography and Forensics, the fact she still had to attend High School was her parents honestly. Pushing that thought aside, she turned to Goku. "Hey! Goku, let me come with you, okay?"
Goku nodded, "I mean, okay, but your planes are so slow."
"That's okay!" Bulma laughed, pulling out a bracelet. "My very own invention, this will make me shrink!" Before Goku's eyes, Bulma shrunk to the size of a toy soldier. "So you can carry me in your pocket. I have a theory that wherever we look for Dragon Balls, the Red Ribbon Army is close by, so if we find them, I'll need you to take care of those guys, okay?"
"Huh?" Goku asked, "I mean, they are bad guys, but why?"
Bulma, not wanting to say the whole truth, said, "I think PaoPao and Jazz might both be in trouble, and it's because of the Red Ribbon Army, they have papers, that document their activity, I want to read them, but I'm not strong like you Goku, so you'll have to beat them up for me."
Goku nodded, "okay! No problem Bulma!"
"Thanks! You know, you're a good guy Goku, thank you."
The tailed boy just chuckled, turning on the radar, he directed Kintoun in the right direction and charged forward.
…
Jazz was leisurely gliding towards the training field. After proving his adequacy with the basic teachings of the Crane School, he had been given free rein to take scrolls out to study forms and techniques. Today, he would be partnered up with Tien and Chiaotzu.
"Wow… and I thought Lucifer was sneaky… well, actually, you aren't nearly as bad…"
Jazz shook his head, not knowing whether to take Z's statement as a compliment or not. As he came up to the training grounds, he saw Tien already doing intense warm-ups and Chiaotzu meditating.
"You're up early." The red-head waved to the two Crane School disciples.
"Well, you're up decently early yourself." Tien smirked, "for someone who was up all night."
Jazz didn't respond, he merely smiled a bit wider. Tien responded by utilizing high-speed movement to appear behind Jazz.
The younger man did his best to hide his surprise. He knew Tien had become more powerful, but he didn't know what to expect.
"You don't seem surprised." Tien remarked, "then again, I wouldn't imagine so, as you were the one who gave me this power."
Jazz shrugged, "I guess you don't like it?"
"I didn't say that, though, if I had known how painful this supposed 'Ultra Divine Water' was, I would have hesitated. Perhaps I should thank you for that healing technique of yours."
Jazz shrugged. "The pleasure was mine, I needed a way into the Crane School to learn the teachings, and you gained strength, that's all there is to it, is it not?"
"What then of PaoPao? She certainly recognized you."
"That's simple." Jazz turned to look at Tien, "we fought against each other in the Tenkaichi Budokai, and we trained a bit together when we were younger."
"Oh, so you were acquaintances… no, that look of hurt on her face, you were clearly friends."
"Your point being?" Jazz replied, "aren't you supposed to be a ruthless, cold assassin?"
Tien frowned, "that is my purpose, to be as great a warrior as Mercenary Tao, but that doesn't mean I smile when I witness someone turn on their own friends and family. You may have fooled the master, but someone like you who'd turn against their family for power will just as easily turn against us." He got into a fighting stance.
"Going to kill me?" Jazz asked nonchalantly, but inside, his mind raced, 'Tien should still be stooped in the path of an assassin, where power is everything, I didn't think he'd get like this, maybe I should have taken the water too…' He stood there, not getting into a fighting stance.
Tien watched him, eyes never wavering from his own, until after an imperceptible eternity, the warrior of the three-eyed clan lowered his fists. "I still don't know what you plan, but I'll let you run around, for now, the master may like you, but I'm still his favorite."
Oh… wow… really? "Are you jealous?" Genuine curiosity filled Jazz's voice as he broke character to ask the question.
Tien did not answer, instead, the young man pointed to Jazz's scrolls.
Jazz sighed internally. The cold, ruthless warrior was already a bit more complex than he thought based on the manga, but then again, everyone was more than what was described on a surface level.
"It must be so weird, knowing so much yet so little about a person at the same time," Z remarked.
Jazz rolled his eyes as he and Tien turned to face a new person.
It was Master Shen, who nodded approvingly at his new disciple. "You have much to learn if you wish to be as impressive as Tien and Chiaotzu over here, so I hope you are prepared."
Jazz smiled. "Of course, master, I'll engrave into my mind everything you teach me."
After some hours of grueling training, Tien and Chiaotzu lay sprawling on the floor. Next to them, slowly getting up, was Jazz.
"What sort of monstrous stamina do you possess?" The three-eyed warrior remarked.
Jazz shrugged, "I know my way around ki utilization." He stretched, sighing in relief whenever he heard a popping sound coming from his back and neck. "Man… I need a chiropractor."
"You never did answer my question." Tien began, "where were you last night?"
"I don't remember you posing that as a question, and would you even believe the dishonest me?" Jazz replied.
"Humor me." Tien crossed his arms.
"Well… if you must know." Jazz began, smiling, "Today's my birthday."
"What?!" Tien asked in surprise.
"Yeah, May 9th, I'm officially 16, yay!" Jazz waved his hands jazz(heh) hand style. "So I went out to celebrate. I got myself a very nice gift."
"Oh?" Tien began, "and what, pray to tell, was it?"
"I'd have to kill yah to let you know." Jazz chortled as Tien's face twisted into a scowl.
"That's not very nice," Chiaotzu replied. Jazz shook his head.
"I guess not."
Before their eyes, Jazz reached into his pocket, pulling out a blue-colored rose.
"You got a flower?"
Jazz merely smiled at the comment. He let the rose fall from his hand, and they watched as the rose petals scattered into pieces in the wind. "I found the most interesting blue flower, and… I just had to pluck and observe it, unfortunately, it looks like it didn't survive the trip." He sighed, "oh well."
"I'll kill you if you continue to mock me," Tien growled.
"Yeah, sure, I look forward to it, when pigs fly." Jazz exploded into dust, turning into a boar and snorting as he used the Air Dance to fly back to his resting area.
…
...
Jasper(Jazz) Duncan
Age: 16, physical appearance: 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 10inches | 177.8 centimeters
Weight: 161 lbs | 73 kilograms, Wearing 44 lb weights on wrists and ankles, and 100 lb weighted shirt, alongside a full body tension harness.
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:
There was something I wanted to type, but I think I forgot it while typing the story, well, next time I won't wait till the end to type the afterword. Thanks for all your reviews, follows, and favorites!