Yamcha watched the Jiang-Shi before him. He remembered when PaoPao had fought Jazz and used this technique on herself. Like her, the Jiang-Shi before him had blue skin, glowing red eyes, and a feral look on its face. Unlike her, however, it seemed to breathe out an ominous mist. And only observed him.
"Whenever you are ready," Yurin announced.
Yamcha smiled, "ladies first." He ducked under a rapid swipe as the Jiang-Shi leapt from a standing position. He countered with a quick uppercut, surprised as he watched her catch his fist. 'She's got fighting experience, just like me, but her movements are extremely orthodox.' He backflipped away, weaving left and right as she launched a flurry of spinning kicks, digging furrows into the ground.
"You'll find that Talia's got years of combat experience on her, more than any of us combined actually."
"Really? She doesn't really strike me as that old though." Yamcha joked, only to be blown back by a savage strike to the chest.
"Oops… you shouldn't have said that." PaoPao placed a hand over her mouth.
Chi-Chi shook her head, "Yamcha! Number 1 rule! Never ask a woman her age!"
"Urg… noted!" Yamcha suppressed an urge to vomit as he ducked a kick sharp enough to decapitate him. "Wolf, Fang, FIST!" He charged forward, striking with a flurry of punches, kicks, and jabs. The Jiang-Shi was now put on the defensive, dodging, weaving, and blocking. Yamcha grinned, smashing into the ground, he channeled his ki, launching up a wave of energy to destabilize the immediate area 10 feet around him, as the Jiang-Shi stumbled, he rushed forward then used his fingers to rapidly pivot to the side, pushing off the ground he aimed for a knee into the small of Talia's back, confident that he was at her absolute blind spot.
PaoPao simply smirked and Yamcha widened his eyes as Talia ducked then kicked out, striking Yamcha in the jaw. He tumbled to the ground, his senses and wits strong enough to order him to keep moving his disoriented body. As he did so, he barely dodged a kick to his face. Getting up, Yamcha blocked, dodged, and parried the attacks that seemed to fly at him from everywhere. Talia fought differently from the savage PaoPao when under the spell, almost as if…
Yamcha realized as he backed away. Utilizing his speed, he ducked past the Jiang-Shi and raised his fists. "Bear Swipe!" Raising both fists up, he smashed them down. Talia dodged the attack, but PaoPao frowned as she saw the dust fly into the air. Yamcha turned to look at Talia, and as he expected, she began to charge at him with reckless abandon. Before the dust settled, he had her pinned to the ground, but not before catching several more scratches and bruises.
The dust settled, leaving Yamcha gasping for air and the possessed fighter screeching and screaming to tear apart her captor.
"Alright." PaoPao nodded, as she did, the talisman disintegrated and Talia's movements relaxed.
Yamcha let her go and backed away quickly.
"Nice job Yamcha!" Krillin shouted, "you did incredibly!"
"Yes… you did." PaoPao admitted, "but, Tien fought 24 of them."
Yamcha, who was still breathing hard shrugged, "yeah… I was barely able to keep up, even with the Wolf Fang Fist, I'd probably knock her out with an Okami no Ken, but… I can't do 24 of them in a row."
"To be fair." PaoPao offered, "Talia is my strongest supporter, and thus my strongest Jiang-Shi, and as I'm sure you can tell, there are some weaknesses to the technique."
Yamcha nodded, "you have to line of sight to control them effectively, and I assume controlling multiple Jiang-Shi makes it more difficult to coordinate each one. There were times where it felt like I was fighting you."
"Oh? I was trying to keep faithful to Talia's style, one interesting advantage of the Jiang-Shi is their ability to take on the style and mannerism of the possessed, only when I make active split-second decisions does it require me to take full control."
"Sort of like an RTS." Chi-Chi began.
"Huh?"
"A real-time strategy game…?" She looked down, embarrassed.
"Oh, you mean like SpaceCraft?" PaoPao nodded, "yes, like that, thank you for the analogy Chi-Chi. You can think of the Jiang-Shi as a powerful AI program that directs my possessed towards their designated target or task, they will try and complete the task as quickly and effectively as possible, ignoring the safety of the possessed unless I give express instructions. Of course, the 'programming' ends up dulling the system, and my warriors don't fight with the same level of skill they'd normally have, in exchange, however, they can demonstrate roughly 3-5 times the power they could normally." She pointed to herself, "when I cast it on my self, I'm only half as proficient when it comes to the power increase, and my savagery is rather increased. There is a weaker version of said ability that increases power, but it is only by 50% strictly, and I still suffer from some cognitive impairments caused by effectively doping my body."
"5 times stronger?" Yamcha whistled, "and there were 24 of you…"
Talia looked down, "yet he handled us with ease, even with the increase in power, none of us had the capability to seriously harm him."
"We though would have overwhelmed him with numbers if not for his partner, Chiaotzu."
"Oh?" Krillin asked, "What did that guy do?"
"He has a powerful psychic ability, he can hold you in place, and he has the strength to crush a normal person's spine and organs. Those with ki have a better time resisting fatal blows, but prolonged exposure will kill. He used it on me and a few Jiang-Shi at a time, holding us in place and giving Tien the breathing room to fight. However, the act was also exhausting to him. If I had broken out faster, I might have won, but not without losing at least half my people."
"So that's why they're all training." Krillin started, "you're all tough, but if they become stronger and more coordinated, the Jiang-Shi will be unbeatable."
"It's harder to control a Jiang-Shi who is stronger than you unless you stoop even deeper into the witchcraft, but that requires doing acts I find rather… heinous."
"Oh? Like what?" Launch asked.
"I have to find a boy, a virgin boy, who likes me." PaoPao began, "then I must slice out his heart and entrails."
An awkward silence filled the air.
"Oh god… just like high school," Roshi muttered.
"Are all witchcraft techniques so… evil?" Chi-Chi asked.
"Well, yes and no, depending on what you think evil is." PaoPao stretched. "They all require a basic understanding of magic, but as opposed to regular magic and the standard talisman magic I display, sans Jiang-Shi, it requires me to harness emotion in some way, shape, or form, as fuel for the spell will often be the life force of myself or of others." She shook her head, "I know of a few of these techniques vaguely, but I chose to solely learn of the Jiang-Shi, it was one of the few pieces of witchcraft I could focus on that was both powerful and suited my needs yet also relatively tame in what was required to first learn and develop the ability." She raised a hand up, "before any of you ask...let a girl have a few secrets, okay?"
As they sat there, they heard a familiar voice. "Guys! Guys!"
Yamcha was the first to turn. "Bulma?!"
…
"Who the hell are you?!" A crane school disciple called out to the monkey boy who crash-landed in front of them.
"You shot down my Kintoun!" The boy yelled back, charging forward and knocking the disciple out.
"Invader!" Others began to scream, the peel of an alarm bell and several sirens filled the air. Students began to rush forward, towards their foe.
"First Tsukimi, now this brat?!"
"He's wearing the Turtle School Emblem!"
"There's only one brat! Squash him!"
The Crane School disciples charged in on Goku, who leaped towards them. He tackled the first in the gut, sending him flying towards a bunch of charging men. The next to attack him were two almost identical-looking teens, they fought using butterfly swords, slicing and dicing in a synchronized pattern. Goku leapt over the left twin, kicking him in the back, he fell on the right twin, entangling them both. They were unfortunately quickly trampled by more Crane School students, some of which wielded spears. Goku dodged and blocked where he could, but he couldn't approach because of the wall of spears. Frustrated, he took out his power pole.
"Extend!" At his command, the staff extended 20 feet, allowing him to sweep his enemies immediately in front and behind him. "Where's Jazz! I don't want to deal with you guys! I need to talk to Jazz!" He charged forward, smacking down more and more warriors. Eventually, the elites came in, wielding poisoned darts, spiked whips, wrist-mounted blades, and spiked knuckle-dusters. They fired the poisoned darts at Goku, he deflected most of them, but a few ended up piercing his side. He knocked away the enemy, charging forward and ignoring the slight feeling of numbness. "This isn't anything compared to that island!" He declared.
Stop speaking nonsense! Several charged Don Don Rays towards Goku, who responded by pulling back and firing a Kamehameha.
"Pft! This! F….!" The disciple's smirk twisted into fear as Goku's blast overpowered their Don Don Ray. They disappeared in a flash of light, before dropping to the floor, barely alive.
"Our elites?!" The disciples surrounded Goku, but none dared approach 40 meters.
Goku for his part glared at them, he spoke once again, "get me Jazz, now… and that Crane guy too while you're at it."
The disciples muttered and murmured, uncomfortable with the events, first, Tsukimi came knocking and killed many of their people, and now this boy was coming and doing the exact same. Would their humiliation never end?
"The master is coming!" This whisper sent shock and thrill through the minds of the Crane School students who were still conscious. Their hope was coming.
"Make way you morons!" An angry voice pierced through the whispers, and like Moses parting the Red Sea through God, the disciples of the Crane school seamlessly stepped to the side, allowing Master Shen and his top 3 disciples access.
"Y-you!" Goku yelled, pointing at Jazz. "Jazz!"
'Oh… fuck… well,' Jazz sighed internally but kept his face neutral.
"Didn't calculate that in your mega-brain? Eh… smart boy?" Z prodded at Jazz's side mentally. Jazz kept his face neutral as he walked forward.
"You know this brat?" The Crane Hermit growled, "did you invite him here?"
"I journeyed with him for a bit, he trained under Roshi."
"That Turtle Bastard!" Shen grits his teeth. "Oi! Brat! You made a big mistake coming here, get on your hands and knees, and I might just let your death be painless!"
Jazz walked towards Goku, who prepped his bo staff. Goku flinched when he saw Jazz walk past him and towards the Crane Disciples. Lowering his hand, Jazz walked to each and every one of them that still breathed, and with a sharp jolt, healed them. He made sure to keep the flames hidden from any eyes, so to those watching, it looked like he simply pressed ki into them somehow. He turned to Goku.
"Jazz!" Goku began, "tell me it was a lie, or something fake!"
"What was Goku?"Jazz began, feigning ignorance.
"That you killed PaoPao! Wasn't she our friend?!" Goku clenched his fist.
"Oh? That?" Jazz waived off Goku dismissively. Goku's face darkened, as Shen's twisted into a cruel grin and cackling laughter.
"Boy! Did you really come here to avenge that dirty shrimp?!"
"You… you killed her?!" Goku asked quietly.
Jazz didn't answer.
"JAAAZZZ!" Goku cried out angrily, yet Jazz did not answer. Gritting his teeth, Goku charged forward.
Jazz activated Pump-Up 2x and transformed, his skin this time taking a reflective dark-grey sheen. His had caught Goku's fist, and a rush of air sent Crane disciples flying back.
"Oh…?" Jazz replied, the pain evident in his voice, "you infused some ki in that as if you were…" Before he could continue, a kick smashed into his face, sending him flying. He opened his eyes to see Goku charging towards him.
"He's mad, do you plan to explain it to him?" Z asked.
'I would if I was either psychic or had the forewarning to stop him.' Jazz called out, "Hey!" Ducking under Goku's tackle, he flipped in the air. "Aren't you going after the Dragon Balls? How did you even find out?!"
"From Bulma! But I wanted to know the truth!" Goku grabbed a lamppost, then spun from it into a flying kick towards Jazz. Jazz flew over it and landed a heavy kick on Goku's chest, knocking the Saiyan to the floor.
"You should be collecting the Dragon Balls Goku…" Jazz warned, "the Red Ribbon Army is after them… weren't you trying to get your Grandpa's ball?"
"Don't think you can run away!" Shen roared, "Kill him, Jazz!"
Jazz sighed and muttered under his breath. "People are going to die if you don't head over to Korin forest right now…" Goku's eyes widened, but he gripped his fists.
"Who's going to die in Korin forest?!" He roared.
"Oh? That's where the Red Ribbon Army's searching for the last dragon ball, isn't it? If not for that bitch's meddling, I'd have sent my boys too!" Shen cursed.
"Don't call her a bitch!" Goku charged towards Shen, but before he could reach him, Jazz was at his side, he transformed, taking the form of the six-winged dragon, and was firing off a fully-powered Thunder Fire Flash. Goku responded with a Don Don Ray through several parts of Jazz's long, snake-like body.
"Thief! You stole my technique!" Shen turned to Tien, "kill him! Now!"
Goku stared at the struggling Jazz, who slowly healed his wounds, then turned to face Shen. "Apologize!" He charged towards the Crane Sage.
Tien appeared at his side with high-speed movement and chopped his arm down, Goku disappeared from the three-eyed man's vision, only to reappear to his left. Tien struck out, catching Goku in the jaw. The young man's face twisted in shock as Goku pushed past his fist and struck him in the jaw. "Grrr!" He struck Goku with a haymaker, then leapt back as Goku attempted to retaliate.
"Kamehameha!" Goku fired the beam at Tien, who retaliated by sticking his out hand forward,
"Don Don Ray!"
The ray pierced the Kamehameha but disappeared near the base of the beam. The two attacks exploded out, knocking Goku back. He leaped from the pillar of smoke, wielding his bow staff. Tien charged forward, the two began to strike at each other, Goku with his staff, and Tien with his fists.
Shen's cruel grin twisted into shock as he saw Goku eventually begin to take the lead. It was a close fight, but Goku was distinctly stronger.
Tien couldn't believe it, he had felt an unreal level of power after he had drunk the supposed 'Ultra Divine Water', yet he was losing to this brat from the Crane School?!
"I am the disciple of the Crane School!" Tien focused his ki, and two extra arms burst out from his shoulder, using them he continued the fight, the extra limbs making up for Goku's extra reach. He grabbed onto the power pole and pulled it forward, cocking back his fist to pound Goku into the pavement.
"Extend!" Goku extended the power pole, which jettisoned him back and away from Tien. "Return!" He shrunk the pole's length, rocketing him forward, using the momentum, he clotheslined Tien, then stripped the 3-eyed clan member. Tien rolled continuously to dodge Goku's kicks, then caught the boy with a multi kick recovery.
Despite his anger, Goku couldn't help but begin to smile. "You're a dirty jerk, but I'm having fun in this fight!"
Tien couldn't help but mirror Goku's expression, though only for an instant. He charged forward again, with Goku preparing an overhead strike.
Jazz narrowed his eyes, watching as Goku froze mid-air and took a devastating flurry of kicks and punches from Tien.
"Ch-cheaters!"
Shen began to laugh, "cheaters?! Boy, do you know where you are?! This is my school, you are here to avenge one girl and yet you've killed dozens, if not more of my disciples?"
"You are bad guys!" Goku retorted.
"Do you know what PaoPao was doing here?" Shen replied, "she killed nearly a hundred of my disciples, she attacked us first, and unprovoked!"
"Liar!" Goku retorted, but he was disturbed by the claim.
"Oh no, no lie, I would never." Shen grinned, "my heart bleeds for my fallen disciples, yet you decide to come and hurt even more of us?! Are my people's lives worth less than one single girl's? Am I supposed to stay there and get killed?! You're as bad as we are, murderer!"
The other disciples began to chime in. "Murderer! Murderer! Killer! Avenge our disciples! Kill him, Tien!"
Goku flinched at their provocations, but at the same time, he couldn't move, his organs felt like they were on fire. "K-Kintoun!" he shouted. The cloud rushed in from a distance, but he didn't think he had the strength to escape.
Chiaotzu groaned in the effort. "He's… he's too strong… I can't, keep it up for much longer!"
Shen smirked, "you don't have to… I'll take care of him." He pointed his finger forward, "ORIGINAL…. DON DON PA!" A beam of yellow light shot forward, ready to pierce Goku's chest. Goku felt the crushing feeling in his organs disappear like a dream and dodged past the blast. He was in no state to fight, however. Leaping on the Kintoun he began to fly high and up, as far away from the Crane School as possible.
"Dammit! Why did you let him go!" He turned towards Chiaotzu, fist raised to smash into the little being.
Tien appeared behind him and caught his raised fist.
"Let… let me go!" Shen roared, causing Tien to flinch and release his grip. Shen gripped his arm in pain and glared at the three-eyed clan member.
A sharp slap rang the air as Tien sported a red mark on his face. Shen glared at him, arm trembling. "You!" He stormed off.
Tien sighed and knelt by Chiaotzu. "Are you alright?" He asked softly. The doll-looking human nodded.
"Thanks, Tien, but master Shen's mad at you now."
"It's not the first time." Tien widened his eyes, "you're bleeding!"
Jazz stumbled over. "I can heal him." The other disciples had begun to move away from the area, giving Jazz the time to take a gamble. A spurt of flame shot from his finger, engulfing the pale kid. Tien was about to rush Jazz, only to see the flames enter Chiaotzu, and the boy touching his body and breathing with relief.
"Your flames… heal?" He turned to Jazz, dumbfounded.
"Not always, depends on what I want to do." Jazz replied.
Tien narrowed his eyes. "I see…" He got up and glared at Jazz, who smiled back.
"You should do better to let your friends know your purpose, that kid would have been killed by me today."
"Would he have?" Jazz replied.
Tien twisted his face but didn't answer. "We've got a lot of training to do, come."
"I can come?" Jazz asked, somewhat surprised.
"Well, I don't trust you yet, but you healed Chiaotzu."
Jazz nodded, "alright, thanks." As they turned to leave, they missed Jazz stumbling behind them. Pain racked his body as blood rushed from his eyes, nose, and ears. He stood still for a few moments, waiting for the pain to subside with his healing, and cleaned the blood with a rag before pocketing it. For the spots of blood on the floor, he shot tiny flames, burning them away into ash.
…
Commander Red, leader of the Red Ribbon Army was grinding his teeth.
"Sir." His second in command, General Black, said, "You need to calm down, we must be an example to our loyal men."
"Those bastards are loyal?! Then why don't they do their jobs?!" He turned to the mike. "Colonel Silver was defeated by a brat, who then went on to help the King's Army catch General Red. Blue's not responded for over 36 hours, and the dragon balls from those three areas are making their way towards Colonel Yellow's squadron. If that brat intercepts the dragon ball there, what are we supposed to do?!"
He got on the mike to speak to Colonel Yellow.
~"Sir!"~ A trembling voice could be heard on the other side.
"What's taking so long you bastard! I sent 400 men to aide you! And you have 1,000 mercenaries, do you not?!"
~"Well, sir...the mercenaries rand away, and the Crane School has retreated."~
Commander Red took in a sharp breath, "okay… you listen, and you listen well, if you don't get the dragon ball in an hour, I will send Mercenary Tao to kill you." He cut off the communicator, ignoring the frantic pleas from Colonel Yellow.
"Send for Mercenary Tao." He said to Black.
"But…sir? Didn't you say he'd get an hour?"
"An entire wing of the King's Army is there, alongside ninjas of the contemptible Tsukimi, do you think Yellow would win? No, he's going to be a diversion, we'll have Tao take care of all of them." He gritted his teeth, "now… where the hell is Blue?!"
...
Goku felt extremely tired, but at the same time, weak. That Tien guy was strong, and he had a weird power, if Goku was stronger he could have broken out. But at the same time, he felt weird, the Crane Guy's words bothered him, but he couldn't fully figure out or understand it. "If PaoPao's dead, I'll use the dragon balls to revive her!" He nodded. "Yeah… then we'll go punch Jazz and make him apologize."
He used the radar and flew towards the next closes dragon ball. Eventually finding himself at the outskirts of a familiar forest and tower. "Oh! This place!" It was Korin forest and the tower. "Huh?!" He looked down, the sound of screams and gunfire could be heard, and part of the forest was on fire. Leaping down from the Kintoun, he got closer to observe. The first thing he noticed was a bunch of ninja-looking people and soldiers fighting against the Red Ribbon Army, and a really large guy with a spear was helping the ninjas and soldiers. In the background, several people were attempting to put out the fire, but they were having a tough time doing it. On the Red Ribbon side, a tiger-type human-animal was leading the troops.
"Just give us the Dragon Ball!" He roared, though his voice seemed less intimidating and more fearful. "Don't you realize! He's coming! We'll all die if he does!" He and his men fought with a sense of desperation, facing down the overwhelming forces despite their own numbers dropping like flies. "Dammit!" The tiger growled, "those Crane and mercenary bastards, running away!"
The tall man prepared to charge forward, but several of the Red Ribbon Army members tossed out grenades. Causing him to leap back into cover. "Guh! Cowards! I will not give evil men like you the item you seek!"
"Dammit!" The tiger, Colonel Yellow, looked around for anything that could help him. Eventually, he spotted it, in the thicket of trees, a child with the same complexion and similar markings as the man wielding the spear. "Th-there! Our only chance!" He dashed forward, spraying and shooting with reckless abandon and rushing into the trees. Eventually, he came up to the boy and grabbed him. He held the gun to the boy's head and ran back to his squad.
"Ahh! Father! Help me!"
"Upa!" The man shouted."
"Throw down your weapons and give me the dragon ball, or I'll blow this brat's head wide open!" Yellow laughed as he stared at the man. "Don't you realize! I'm doing you all a favor, if that bastard gets here, we'll all die!"
The man took out the dragon ball. "Just give me my son, I will give you the ball."
"Like I'd believe that!" The tiger narrowed his eyes, "throw the ball over!"
"Sir Bora! You can't believe him! He'll kill your son!" One of the army soldiers shouted.
Yellow cocked his gun, jabbing it against Upa's throat, causing the boy to gag and choke.
"U-Upa!" Bora groaned, "I… I can't let them hurt my son!" He prepared to throw the dragon ball over.
"You bad guys!" Goku's voice was heard in the distance as he smashed into Colonel Yellow. In a few short seconds, the entire remaining members of the Red Ribbon Army's Yellow Squadron were decimated.
"Upa!" Bora ran to his son, hugging him. "Thank you stranger, you saved my son's life."
Goku nodded, grinning, "no problem!" He nodded, "yup, these Red Ribbon Guys are bad people, they go after everyone!" With that quick thought, Master Shen's attempted manipulation and guilt trip vanished from Goku's mind. He smiled at Bora, "I'm glad I could help, but… can I see that Dragon Ball please?"
Bora looked at Goku with some suspicion. "So many groups have come looking for this ball. What do you seek with it?" He allowed Goku to see the ball and flinched in surprise as he saw the boy jumping for joy.
"I found it! I finally found my Grandpa's ball!" The tailed boy began to dance and sing and whoop in celebration.
Bora raised an eyebrow, "what is the meaning of this ball?"
"If people gather 7 of them, a huge dragon comes out and grants any wish in the world!"
"Is that why you seek them?" Bora asked.
Goku shook his head, "the four-star ball belonged to my Grandpa, who gave it to me! I was just looking for it at first, but I might need to use it." He looked down, "my friend died, she was killed by another guy I thought was our friend, and I want to bring her back."
Bora nodded sadly, "betrayal is painful, I admire your desire."
Goku nodded, looking around, he noticed the Army soldiers and ninjas. "Did you guys all work for PaoPao?"
One of the ninjas walked over and bowed. "I am Shu… and yes, I, we, are members of the Tsukimi, our lady's last order was to intercept the Red Ribbon Army and cut down their forces. If not for the ambush of the mercenaries and Crane School, we would have defeated the Yellow Squadron a long time ago."
A soldier walked over, "Yeah kid, thanks for your help! If it wasn't for you, we'd be pushing up daisies, when they grabbed that kid over there, I thought it'd be over!"
Upa smiled, "thanks again for saving me! And I'm sorry for putting you all in danger!"
"It's okay, kid!" The soldier laughed.
Their happy break was cut off just as a pillar smashed into the ground. Leaping off it, a man in a pink Chinese shirt with the symbol for "kill" emblazoned on it landed on the ground.
"ALOHA!" The man smirked.
"I-it's Mercenary Tao!" One of the Tsukimi shouted, immediately, the soldiers got into a defensive position.
"Oh? I'm pretty famous aren't I?" He laughed. His eyes moved around until they lay on Goku. "Oh? You're the brat my brother was telling me about, the one who insisted on trashing his house and running with his tail between his legs."
"I wasn't running away!" Goku retorted.
"Oh?" Mercenary Tao giggled, "alright then."
Goku blinked as he saw Tao charge towards him, he moved to get ready but felt his body seize up. Before he could move, Tao caught him in a flurry of punches and kicks, finishing off with a knee to the throat.
"Protect Son Goku!" The Tsukimi ninja charged towards Tao, who smirked. Taking out thin needles, the mercenary demonstrated his expert power and skill, blocking blades and throwing stars with simple thrusts.
"Is this how you want to play it? I was only hired to kill Son Goku and retrieve the Dragon Balls."
The Tsukimi ninja replied by leaping away, giving the soldiers of the King's army the freedom to attack, they fired off rounds from their assault weapons, not letting up until they emptied their clips.
Tao stood there, hands smoking as he revealed the hundreds of bullets, now hidden in his sleeves. "You dropped these…" He smirked, "oh dear, let me… RETURN THEM!" With a twirl and flourish, he launched dozens of the bullets back, striking the soldiers in the head, chest, leg, and so on.
"Wait?! You're hitting us too, aren't you going to rescue us?" A captured Red Ribbon Army soldier asked.
"You?" Tao laughed, "Commander Red has already ordered the death penalty for you, regardless, you will die once this mission is over, and after I take care of the rest of them, you'll be gone too."
"S-stop!" Goku roared, "you're after me, right!? Leave them alone!"
Mercenary Tao grinned, then turned around and began to kill the stragglers.
"Upa!" Bora yelled, "take the boy and run!" He pulled out his spear and charged towards Tao.
The assassin grinned and flicked a bullet at his quarry. Bora tensed his muscles and gathered his ki, and to the assassin's surprise, the large man's dark skin was unblemished by the bullet. "Interesting…" He stood and waited for Bora to approach.
The spearman struck with all his might, only to tremble as the Assassin caught his spear with two fingers then tossed him nearly 1 hundred feet in the air. "You dropped your spear!" Tao giggled, "let me give it to you!" He tossed the spear into the air, only to widen his eyes as a beam of yellow ki pierced it. Followed by a beam of blue ki rushing his way.
"I won't let you bad guys kill anyone else!" Goku roared, charging forward.
Tao blocked the blast but marveled at its strength. "This kid!" He shouted. He could see that Goku was injured, majorly so, yet the boy still had so much power within him. "You ruined my clothes!"
"Who cares about your clothes!" Goku collapsed from his exertion, "leave that guy alone!"
Tao Pai Pai of the Crane giggled maliciously. "Alright, I'll make sure he never feels pain again!" He pointed up and fired a Don Don Ray into Bora's chest, killing him almost instantly. "And since you want me to stop hurting your little friends, well… I guess I have no choice." He ran towards the still alive Tsukimi and King's Army soldiers and began to slaughter them.
"No! Aaah!"
"Stop!"
"R-run away!"
"Father!" Bora ran forward, gripping his father's axe in both hands.
Goku struggled to get up. "No! Bora! Don't!"
"Leave them alone! You already have the dragon balls!" Bora threw a stone at Tao, hitting him on the back. "Give me back my dad!"
He grinned back, his face caked in blood. "Well, aren't you an unfortunate little tyke? I made you an orphan. Worry not little one, I'll fix that!" He raised his hand, ready to chop down on Bora.
"Nooooo!" Goku screamed out.
Tao Pai Pai flinched as Goku's scream seemed overlaid with the roar of some horrid monster. The sound of a heartbeat, as steady as a war drum and as loud as a cannon emanated from the young boy. Goku glared at the several-centuries-old assassin, causing him to back up. The boy's eyes had lost their intense glare, instead, now they gleamed gold, and reflected pain and insanity. "M-me?! I'm not afraid!" Tao glared, "N-no!" He charged forward.
Goku smashed into the assassin, breaking several of the older man's ribs and knocking him into the base of Korin Tower. Instead of speaking, the buy simply roared and charged forward, no technique could be found in his charge, merely a headlong rush, despite that, its power could not be matched, and Tao had no choice but to dodge.
"Th-this c-can't be!" He growled, getting into a fighting stance, "I will not be done in by a mere child!" He gathered his ki into a tiny point, preparing for Goku's charge. "Come at me bastard, and join all your little friends!"
Goku answered his provocation with a roar and leapt forward, tearing apart the ground as he attempted to reach his hands around the assassin's neck and snap them. Tao raised his weaker arm to catch Goku's attention, wincing as the boy snapped and shattered his forearm's bones like one would snap balsa wood, then pointed his full power Don Don Ray into Goku's face. On instinct, the boy ripped himself from Tao's grasp, but still took a blast to the shoulder, severing a few tendons. Goku screamed out in pain, his irises beginning to flicker between gold and their normal black. Tao took advantage of this to begin attempting to strike and kill Goku, but he found to his shock that his strikes did little to damage the boy's body.
"N-no!" He growled, "I can't be weaker than the boy!" Using the last of his reserves, he channeled ki into his one good arm, preparing to stab into the boy's chest.
Goku retaliated by opening his mouth and firing a solid yellow beam of ki, engulfing the Crane School's Assassin. With his ki finally spent, Goku collapsed onto the ground.
"Oh no!" Upa ran to Goku, watching tearfully as the boy began to bleed. "We… we have to stop the bleeding." Upa was grieving his father, but he couldn't let his new friend, who fought with all his might to avenge his father, die. He looked around, but there was no one on their side who looked conscious. At the same time, a radio signal played out.
~"It looks like Tao is dead, but no matter! The brat is gone too! Get a squad ready to recover the dragon balls and his radar! We should get there in 3 days! As for the rest of the yellow squadron? Death Penalty! They're useless! Useless!"~
The comm was destroyed by a tearful Upa.
"D-dammit…" The Red Ribbon Solder, the only one alive in his squad, began tearing up. "W-we're done for…"
"It's all your fault!" Upa yelled, "you monsters came and attacked us! Whether people listen to you or not, you kill them! You are the evilest, most selfish people on the planet!"
The soldier scowled, "Do you think we have a choice?! Didn't you just hear that midget bastard just now?! He's going to kill us all, we've been loyal for years, and he just throws us away…" He stared hard at the bleeding Goku. "Hey… kid…" He began.
"My name is Upa!"
"Fine, fuck it… Upa…" The man glared, "untie me."
"Why?!" Upa glared, "so you can steal the dragon balls and save your life?"
"My best friend died at my side to the fucker my boss hired! I can't let him get away with this, and if it means helping the bastard who beat us up because I think he's the only one who can kick Commander Red's ass? So be it!" He stared at Upa intensely, "just let me go before that kid dies!"
Upa, nodding, hesitantly walked over to the Red Ribbon Army soldier. The untied soldier quickly rushed to his pack, pulling out bandages, gauze, and pills. He ran over to Goku and began treating his wound.
"We're lucky, that laser y'all weirdos shoot out, it's a clean wound." After dressing the wound, he began rushing over to his Red Ribbon Army allies, only to click his tongue. "Dead… all of them." He turned his eyes to the Tsukimi and King's Army soldiers. "Damn…" He could tell that some of them were still alive. He turned to glare at Bora's corpse, anger filling his chest again. He and his men had been sent on a suicide mission, they trained for years but were outnumbered, outmatched, and outgunned, and then their leader sent someone to kill them, and now was going to finish the job. "Dammit!" He rolled up his sleeves and turned towards the survivors.
…
...
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
As you can see, I changed things up quite a lot. Goku was stronger than Tao, and would have won easily if he hadn't been injured from his fight with Tien and Jazz and such, even now, he still won, because despite being at maybe ⅓ power due to his injuries and Tao's beginning attacks, he got a x10 from… well… you all know. I think however, my favorite part of this chapter was writing the end. These tiny side characters don't really ultimately matter in the grand story of Dragon Ball, and likely wouldn't act this way if it was Toriyama writing, as he's very black-and-white in his villain henchmen. But part of me always thinks that's sad. Like, yes, they are bad people, but they are bad partly because they work for someone who's bad, more than a few of Frieza's soldiers work more out of fear then out of love for evil doing, so I thought, with the bigger conflicts, some people would survive on both sides, leading to interesting interactions like this.
Oh, and to give the frame of reference by which I think these battles, I can give a guestimate on our fighter's power levels, just so you can see where they stand now.
Goku: 246 (lowered to 82 temporarily after all the injuries before fighting Tao, but it's still the body of one with that power level)
Tien: 237 (Like I'm sure you've gathered by now, Tien had drunk the Ultra Divine Water, he's a little weaker than Goku even after that, but Chiaotzu's psychic ability balances things out in his favor. (Before drinking the water I had him at around 140) Remember, Goku was trained by Korin, then spent 3 years gaining technique and experience, and of course a gain of power. The combination of Korin's training, and those 3 years, brought him from somewhere above 100 but below 130, to 180. That's at least a 27% boost in power after getting training from someone who trained Roshi.)
Krillin: 145 (My boy trained his heart out for the Budokai Tenkaichi, and this was the power he faced Goku with, for reference, I gave Goku a power of 180 at the beginning of his fight with Krillin, he got a Zenkai after Jazz carried him to the sky and healed him from the explosion of power caused by his Oozaru transformation going haywire due to the Sleeping Princess Crystal. Goku leaped up to 200. Goku then gained a huge Zenkai from his back to back fight against first Jazz then Roshi.
Roshi: 160 (Roshi was already strong from the beginning, but seeing that both Krillin and Goku had begun weight training made him realize that he'd need to start training immediately to prepare to face them in the Budokai Tenkaichi. Again, Goku was tired from his fight with Jazz, which played a bit into Roshi's victory, but, like in the Manga, he was also just the more experienced fighter.
Yamcha: 95 (I'm certain this will throw more than a few people off, how could Yamcha keep up at such a low power level? Well, that's the cause of his Wolf Fang Fist, it utilizes his ki to increase his abilities temporarily, I think of it the way a Kamehameha works, it concentrates one's ki and lets them effectively fight above their normal battle power. Also, the Jiang-Shi he fought? Her normal power level is 25, giving the transformation the power level of 125, stronger than Yamcha, but not enough to cause him to outright lose if he does his best. His training by fighting the Oni was to build up his fighting sense and technique, not so much his power, but now, he's going to be doing that.
Chi-Chi: 110 (I'm sure this might strike you as a little controversial, as an adult Chi-Chi was 130 against Goku, but that's also while being trained by the Ox-King alone, who was much weaker than Roshi, taking into account her desire for strength and the training she then gained under Roshi, I believe this number was good. It has only been a few days since the tournament, so like the rest of the humans, her gains in power would be in the single digits at the most.
PaoPao: 130 (Again, I'm sure a little controversial, but I back it up again with the argument I made when I first decided to introduce this videogame character. The game gave her a battle power of 1300 around by the time the Saiyans were to arrive, and she mostly gained strength by training alone and beating up dojos after she ran away from home. She had to have been at it for a while if she gained a name for herself in game as a Dojo Challenger and Flag Taker. This makes her strength when she activates the Talisman make a bit more sense then though, as a 1.5-2.5 increase from the Jiang-Shi would be devastating for anyone to face. Unfortunately she was facing magic man.
Oh, and to answer the question a Specific Guest left me last Chapter: "How tall is Jazz gonna be by the time he's an adult? If you don't mind answering that."
I certainly don't mind, I wanna joke and say I'll make him 6'10'', but realistically, I want him at like like 6ft or 5ft 11, Yamcha is actually 6ft by the beginning of Dragon Ball Z, steadily getting taller throughout original Dragonball, with Tien being 6'2'', Piccolo is 7'5'', with Old Demon King Piccolo at 7'4'' and Young King Piccolo at 8'2''.
Jazz won't be like basketball player tall, but he will be definitely taller than Vegeta, and Goku in base.
If you have any questions and you don't want to make an account to DM them to me, you can leave them as guest reviews and I can try to answer them alongside the next chapter.