Jazz, well, Jazz 3 looked at himself in the mirror. The members of Tsukimi who ushered him into the room had treated him like a great venerable, or some mystical hero.
Rumors of his appearance, about how he landed down before the Crane School and drove them back single-handedly pervaded their spaces. Jazz 3 was frankly annoyed.
"Those rumors are wasteful." He sighed, "just because I helped stop the enemy doesn't mean I deserve this much veneration." He was dressed in a classic tuxedo and tweed jacket combination. He wore an eggshell-colored dress shirt with a black tie, black pants, and a designer black belt with a gold clasp. Above the dress shirt, he wore a black sleeveless buttoned-up jacket vest, and above that, he wore a black tweed jacket. "Like these clothes are way too much, I can't fight while wearing these in good conscience."
"You look fine!" PaoPao giggled, "you look great, Jazz, you don't need to worry." She was in the same dress, though now her hair had been put up into two tight buns, with thin sticks placed in and a flower added for good measure. Jazz turned to his other friends. Bulma was in a dress of similar style to PaoPao's, though her color was purple, she had recently cut her hair shoulder length, so it stayed like that, she wore minimal makeup and only applied a bit of eyeliner and eyelash extender, using light pink lipgloss and lipstick instead of something deeper and noticeable.
Chi-Chi wore a more vibrant dress that widened near the bottom, hers was blue in color. Like PaoPao, a decorative flower was in her hair and she walked with an air of elegance, befitting her status as Princess of Frying Pan Mountain. "I can get used to this!" She twirled her dress in front of the mirror.
Miguel wore a simple long dress of western style, it was an elegant muted brown. Her long hair was tied back into a braid that went down her back.
Yamcha was in an outfit of similar origins to PaoPao's, Chi-Chi's, and Bulma's style. His clothing was a darker emerald green by comparison, however, and the buttons that held it together were gold. He also wore a midnight blue jacket and had on midnight blue dress pants, which matched the darker colors quite well, giving him an elegant figure.
Krillin was dressed the simplest, in a white dress shirt and black tuxedo jacket, he sported a bow tie and carried a trilby hat that he insisted on calling a fedora, much to Jazz 3's chagrin.
Hercule wore a pale red dress shirt with black buttons and a bow tie, his pants were nearly black with red undertones. Instead of a jacket, he wore a red tweed sleeveless vest with the same black buttons as on his dress shirt.
"I certainly think I look great!" Krillin chuckled, "getting the ladies will be really easy now!".
Jazz looked at the various teens who were seemingly obsessed with their appearance, then remembered that he was 17, so at the moment the rest of them ranged from around that age to 1-2 or 3 years younger. Jazz 3 didn't feel the same, perhaps because of the ability to simply transform his physical appearance at will?
"So we have to look like this the entire time?" Jazz asked.
"Yes." Chi-Chi asserted, "you're older than me but you're acting so fussy as if you were a toddler!"
Jazz scoffed and looked away. "I'll be in the navigation room."
They were in a state-of-the-art skyship, it was a box-ish jet plane with wider cabins and individual rooms, in many ways calling it a skyship was apt as it felt like riding a sailing ship in the sky. Jazz walked past the giggling Yamcha and Bulma who fussed over each other's looks and clothing. Eventually, he made it to the navigation room. He blinked in surprise, other than PaoPao's crew and the intoxicated Master Roshi, who was in a tuxedo with a rose corsage in his pocket protector, he saw Launch, twirling a bottle of wine. The blue-black haired Launch was the current form she was in, she turned to Jazz, a slight blush on her face from drinking.
"Hey! Come over!" She beckoned Jazz over, who sat next to her. "We don't talk much y'know?" She hiccuped. "I see you train, and you see me train, we work under the same master but I think the longest conversation we ever had was when I was possessed."
Jazz 3 nodded awkwardly. "Yeah… we did…"
"Oh, where are my manners?" Launch nodded to herself, turning to a passing worker she requested some Orange juice be brought over. "I know you're a minor, so you can't drink with me."
"You're 21?" Jazz asked incredulously.
"No?" Launch looked at Jazz inquisitively, "I'm 20? The legal drinking age?"
Jazz 3 thought to himself, 'that must be Japan's legal drinking age.'
The dark-haired girl giggled at Jazz's face. "Why are you thinking so hard?"
"There's just a lot I have to deal with at the same time." Jazz 3 muttered. He took the Orange juice from the Tsukimi member who handed it over. "Thanks…" He took a sip, then made a weird face. "This isn't orange juice."
Launch winked, "that's Orange juice, is an Orange City specialty, cranberry, cherry, lemonade, limeade, and mango."
"I mean, it's good… but why is it called Orange Juice? It's red." Jazz stared at the dark red drink.
"Sometimes, not everyone is as they seem, and not everything is as black and white as you might think, but I believe you already know that." She poked Jazz in the sternum.
"You mean…"
"Yup." Launch giggled, "she's probably quite a handful at times, but she's a good girl, she helped me, after all."
Jazz raised an eyebrow, "how so?"
Launch smiled, "You can say that I've gotten in touch with my other half…" She took another sip of wine. "Well, I will see you later."
Jazz nodded, then turned to the navigators. "Umm… where are we going?"
"We will be heading to pick up government liaisons and an expert on Red Ribbon Army tactics, then we will attempt to intercept the last Dragon Ball and recruit the aide of Son Goku." The worker glanced at Jazz every once in a while, awe evident on his young face.
Jazz smiled politely and thanked the man. Glancing down at the screen he was looking at, he saw a map of the world.
The man, eager to impress his hero, spoke, "that's a state-of-the-art global positioning system!" He looked down proudly, "it includes major roads, cities, and landmarks, and because we are so high up, interference is cut to a minimum due to its connection to the satellites!"
Jazz looked at the map. "I thought you said we're going to pick up the liaisons first."
"We are?" The man looked down, "huh? Why's the last dragon ball there as well?"
…
Reuben, the former member of the Red Ribbon Army, awoke with a start as something crash-landed outside his home. "What the hell happened?" He unfurled his blanket and rolled to the edge of the bed. He was about to get up but realized that he didn't put on his prosthetic leg. Looking at the metal and plastic implement in the corner of the room, he sighed and reached out to a pair of crutches. He began to hobble out of his home.
"I already told you fuckers that I'd be out when they arrived!" He stepped outside, the first thing that caught his eye was the massive ornate tower that seemed to stretch up into the heavens. He closed his eyes.
"What's so special about this freaking place…?" Reuben huffed and puffed with exhaustion, he was equipped with rock climbing gear as he made his way to the top of the tower. "I've been at this for…" he didn't even want to talk anymore, he had run out of granola bars 3 days ago, and water half a day ago. The natives of Korin forest had been distrustful of him. If not for Upa vouching for him, they would not have let him stay. Reuben didn't have much to do when he started living there. The first thing he did was find his friend's grave. Despite being enemies, the people of Korin forest were surprisingly kind. The Red Ribbon Army soldiers were buried with their gear and any valuables. And if a name could be found it was placed on a simple gravestone. After a month, Reuben noticed that the bean he had pocketed was beginning to sprout, remembering that the boy gave them the mystical beans, he, on the spur of the moment, decided to try and climb his way up to the top.
"There… finally!" Reuben had considered himself fit, but it took nearly half a month to get up to the top. He saw a circular floor with 4 holes below him. Climbing up, he reached for one of the entrances, only to begin to slip. "N...NO!" Before he fell, a small furry hand grabbed him.
He was pulled up with ease and began to breathe sighs of relief. "Oh my god… thank you, thank you so much…" He turned. Only to gape at surprise at the fluffy white cat before him.
"Oh please, I'm not God, I'm more akin to his general secretary."
…
Reuben pulled himself out of his memory and looked around until he spied the source of the noise. He looked to see a car-sized crater. He hobbled over. "What kind of shit am I getting into now… Reuben… just turn around and leave… that's the smart thing to do." He hobbled closer, then widened his eyes in shock at what he saw. Curled into a ball, was the small form of Goku.
His eyes shook, Goku was the reason his friend died, and while he was willing to work with the government, the power inside Goku, inside one single person, it was too much for him to fathom. He trembled as he reached a hand into his pocket, preparing to take out a gun.
"G...grandpa…" Goku shivered, "I'm sorry… I didn't mean to...I didn't… it's my fault grandpa...it's…" Tears streaked the badly injured boy's face. Reuben froze.
"Dammit…"
…
Goku woke up, startled from his nightmare. The first person he saw was a grizzled-looking middle-aged dark-skinned man with haggard, somewhat haunted eyes, and a scraggly beard. He wore a green jumpsuit and walked around on stilts. "You're a funny-looking old man!" Goku announced.
"I'm not old!" The man retorted, "I'm only 25!"
Goku got up, "wow… I feel really good, how come?"
The man sighed, "you ate a Senzu."
"Really?! Wow! That's why I came here, are you friends with Korin?"
"Sure, you can say that." The old man shrugged.
Goku cocked his head, "Hey, if you had a Senzu bean, why didn't ya use it on your leg? It heals anything!"
"You're kinda dumb, aren't you." The man shook his head, "if the wound is too old or it closes, you can't heal the leg. I'd think you'd know that too, Goku."
"Hey," Goku narrowed his eyes, "how do you know my name, stranger?"
"You forgot me?!" The man shouted incredulously.
"Umm…"
The man sighed, "I was the one who bandaged you idiot, right here!"
Goku's eyes widened, "you're that bad guy! Well, I guess you aren't a bad guy if you saved me twice now."
"What's all the ruckus? We were trying to sleep!" Two people stepped out of another capsule house.
Goku looked up at them and smiled, "Ah! Ravioli and Strazza!"
"My name is Gnocchi!" Gnocchi retorted angrily, Strazza giggled at his indignant attitude.
"Hello Son Goku, it's good to see you." She bowed lightly to the young man, who bowed back.
"Hi! How are things? Do you guys live together?"
"Please! Like I'd be able to tolerate an extended stay with miss paws over there." Gnocchi rolled his eyes.
"I for one am always surprised to encounter a human with more facial fur than myself." Strazza laughed, flashing her fox-like teeth. "But our journeying together is more business than pleasure, we're accompanying and escorting Mr. Reuben there to a Tsukumi ship, then we shall head into the Grood Kingdom for a diplomatic meeting."
"Huh? A diploma tic? What kind of bug is that?"
"Diplomatic," Gnocchi stressed the word, "it means we're attempting to talk peacefully.
"Oh…" Goku nodded, "okay, thanks! Well, I guess I'm going now."
"Wait, what the heck even hurt you that badly?!" Rueben asked, "I've only ever seen one person do that to you!"
"Well, I was attacked by Mercenary Tao, but he was a robot, and a bunch of people raised their hands and went PHWOOM!" Goku raised his hands in emphasis, "it really hurt! I didn't think I'd make it, but then their attacks got weaker and weaker and I called Kintoun." He looked mad, "I'm going to find them! They were after grandpa's ball!"
Strazza and Gnocchi shared a look, "you have the dragon balls?" The fox-woman asked.
"I have one! The four-star! My Grandpa's ball!" Goku took out the dragon ball.
Strazza immediately handed Goku a box. "Put it in this."
"Huh? Why?" Goku asked.
"We discovered that lead-lined cases can block the energy signature given by the dragon balls. Once we discovered the dragon balls, we were to contain them in these capsules."
Goku nodded. "Okay… so now they can't chase me or take my dragon balls?"
Strazza nodded. "In fact, we are going to where they keep their dragon balls, I would be honored if you were willing to aide us."
Goku nodded. "Umm… okay, those Red Ribbon Guys and Mercenary Tao are bad guys, so I don't want them having the dragon balls."
"I wouldn't be so worried about the dragon balls if I were you…" A new voice cut across the area.
Goku turned around, "you again?!" His eyes turned reflexively gold.
The voice gasped. "It really is the wrathful form…" As if materializing from the darkness, the same freckled man with a tail walked forward. Goku looked at him fiercely, "what do you want?!"
The man, who still sported a hole in his stomach, walked forward. "Hello, Goku." He smiled.
Goku cocked his head in confusion as he eyed the man's stomach. Gnocchi was the first person to speak, "how the hell are you still alive?"
The man turned to Gnocchi, Goku leaped in front of him and smashed away the beam attack.
Gnocchi pulled out his gun, fear present in his eyes. "What the hell man?!"
The black-haired Saiyan laughed. "I'm sorry, sometimes when I observe the insignificant ants, I get filled with so much rage. He looked at Goku, "I noticed that you have the capability to tap into the power of the Oozaru without becoming one. I want that power, so I'll kill you and take it."
Goku backed up as the man laughed and charged forward. They clashed once again. Goku continued to overpower the man, but he kept fighting with a wide grin on his face. Eventually, the man looked up into the sky, Goku threw a punch forward, only to blink in shock as the man caught his fist. "It's a beautiful night, Goku." The man began to grow in size, while he was still medium size he swung his fist into Goku, shattering the sound barrier and knocking the onlookers onto their feet. Goku sailed across the air. He caught himself barely, just in time to dodge a vicious blow from the massive monkey.
The mysterious man's Oozaru was covered head to toe in dark purple fur, its eyes gleamed red and its tail whipped about maliciously. He began to laugh maniacally as he charged forward, destroying the forest around him.
"Hey!" Goku leaped back, "what are you doing?! These are people's homes!"
"Don't care, didn't ask, go fuck yourself." The Oozaru's fist connected with Goku, and sent him flying into the air.
Goku felt himself beginning to blackout. As he did, the oozaru transformed into a smoke-like cloud and charged towards Goku, the smoke streamed into Goku's body.
Goku felt immense pressure building up and his vision became hazy.
"Just sleep… little boy… give up your body to me…"
Goku screamed out, and an aura of ki burst out from his body.
"Gyaaaaah?!" The apparition was forced out as Goku's black hair began to spike up. "No way?!" He glared at Goku, reforming into the massive Oozaru, "Stage 2?" An orange aura flitted around Goku's body and he charged forward. The oozaru grinned, "You've gotten a bit stronger, but it isn't enough!" He swung his fist, knocking Goku to the ground, just as the child fell, he bounced up and leaped forward once again. The oozaru laughed and kicked him away, but Goku grabbed unto the boot, even as he spit out blood, and unleashed a mouth beam into the Oozaru's leg, singing off fur.
"OOOOWWWWW! You bitch!" The oozaru moved to swat away Goku, but he leapt off instinctually and cupped his hands in an odd form. "W-wait... n...no way!"
Goku's young body was bulked slightly, and his veins pulsed with power as he pressed his forefingers together and crossed his thumbs over, creating a vaguely diamond-shaped gap between his hands. "AAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" Goku screamed.
"The Tri-" The Oozaru was interrupted by the attack, which carved a 3-mile hole in the earth. The world exploded in light as Goku's hair began to drop to its normal shape, his eyes lost their glow and became black again, and he dropped from the air.
"...No! No! No!" The Oozaru was missing half its body, hot black blood spilled on the floor and he struggled to keep standing. "That body will be mine!" He charged forward, dissipating into a cloud of smoke. Before he could reach Goku, a pillar of flame blocked his path, causing him to scream in pain. "What the hell is this?! One thing after another?! Why?! Who's getting in my way?!"
"You better back the fuck away from my friend!" Jazz 3 charged towards the pillar of smoke, blasting out more bursts of flame. The smoke creature tried to get away, but Jazz 3's eyes gleamed blue, the smoke stuttered in the air, unable to reform due to his interruption.
Jazz 3 had felt the two massive amounts of ki, the first one he noticed was Goku's likely using the Wrathful form or Oozaru, then he noticed the second one skyrocket, then Goku's power level rise slightly, then rise at the extreme rate only noticeable in a Kamehameha or Tri-Beam. He didn't know what the monster he was fighting was, but he knew that it was weak to his flames. He fired off another burst of fire into the smoky creature.
"Gyaaah?! Who! Wait! Why?! WHY ARE YOU HERE?! JAZZ?!"
Jazz 3 froze, allowing the creature to reform a bit, creating the Oozaru face, that launched a mouth beam his way. The beam was about to engulf him when PaoPao landed in front of him and launched a barrier.
She screamed in pain as the beam threatened to shatter the barrier. Jazz instinctively reached his hand to her back and added his ki to hers. Several ki blasts smashed into the Oozaru's head, causing the creature to stop its blast in annoyance. Jazz took advantage of the monster's hesitation to launch another burst of flame. The creature screamed some more, then turned to flee into the darkness.
PaoPao gripped Jazz's shoulder. He turned to her, then to his horror felt her body go limp as she lost consciousness. Catching her before she fell, he turned to look at the shadowy creature that disappeared before his eyes. "What… what the hell is that thing?!" He muttered, fear evident in his voice. "Why does it know my name?"
…
Jazz 4 turned to Kami.
"I see something is on your mind, anything I can help you with?"
Jazz had been in the middle of drills with the bo staff when he suddenly stopped. Kami had felt the wave of first anger, then fear, then confusion wrack the boy's body. The multi-form technique, normally only known by the 3-eyes clan, was a powerful technique that was less combat-oriented and more for scouting, allowing the warrior to cover more ground and experience more of the world at the same time. Its inventor devised it as a tool to protect others and learn the world better. It seemed that Jazz was doing his best to embody the spirit of the skill, even if he wasn't a member of the clan. The boy finally opened his mouth.
"Kami? Was I the first, or only one?"
Kami raised an eyebrow. "Hmm… at the least, you are the first I observed. I have been a guardian for less than half a millennia, unfortunately, so beings older than me are nothing more than spirits, apparitions, and ghosts that have been here, and will be here. The only reason you were an oddity was due to the way you came into the world."
"How did I come into the world?" Jazz asked.
"It was the strangest and most terrifying thing I had ever experienced," Kami admitted. "A dark, cloying, absolutely vile ki, so thick that it was visible in the air and appeared as soot, ash, and smoke, it shaped itself into the form of a boy, into your form."
Jazz 4 felt his blood run cold. "Thank you… sir…" He returned to his training, though he began to move even more vigorously. Kami noted the trembling in his fingers.
…
...
Jasper(Jazz) Duncan
Age: 17 years (gonna be his birthday in two days, so just saying 17 now, since 16 and 12 months will probably piss someone off lol, that said, my favorite time of 2020 was when after midnight, the clock changed from 12:59 to 12:60.
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 11inches | 177.8 centimeters
Weight: 159 lbs | 72.12 kilograms, bound by a Crane School Training/ Torture device
Skills: Skills are what you make of them, it doesn't matter what's known, just how to use it
Powers: Magic Materialization (Fire) (Mastered Understanding), Magic Materialization (Water) (Mastered Understanding), Magic Materialization (Ice) (basic understanding), Magic Materialization (smoke) (basic understanding), Magic Materialization (steam) (basic understanding), Magic Materialization (lightning) (beginner Understanding) Telekinesis (Mastered),
General magic: Basic Understanding
Shapeshifting, Mastered Skill level (indefinite)
Noble Werewolf. Juvenile Awakening, 1.5x,
Emissive Techniques: Kamehameha, Don Don Pa, Solar Flare
Body Techniques: Max Power/ Pump Up (1.5x (mastered), 2x (capable), Four Witches Technique, 12 Eyes Technique
Fusion Dance
Powerlevel: 30, will raise to 45 temporarily when using Pump Up/Max Power 1.5, or 60 when using Pump Up/Max Power 2x, if using Juvenile awakening, power will be 67.5 or 90 respectively
Jazz 2 (Currently developing and training his werewolf and pump up ability)
Werewolf: Adolescent Awakening (1.65x), Pump Up/Max power: 1.3(gains power and speed), 1.575(gains power but doesn't lose speed), 2.1x(speed is not reduced as severely)
Powerlevel: 29, will raise to 45.675 or 60.9 utilizing Pump Up, raises to 47.85 utilizing juvenile awakening alone. If utilized with Pump Up, raises to 55.125, 75.36375, and 95.7 respectively
Jazz 3 (Currently training with Master Roshi)
Powerlevel: 47.5, Pump Up: 71.25 or 95 respectively, with Juvenile Awakening: 71.25, if utilized with Pump Up: 107.25 or 142.5 respectively
Jazz 4 (Currently on the 6 month trip to Namek with Kami)
Powerlevel: 40
Staff Technique: Intermediate
Hand to Hand Technique: Intermediate
Ki techniques: Basic
Magic materialization: Intermediate
…
…
Afterword:
The plot thickens. Who is this mysterious figure, how does he know Jazz? What is his connection? And why does he want to take Goku's body?
Anyways, thanks for reading! It's literally only been half a day at the most since last chapter. If you're wondering where the Red Ribbon Army disappeared to, you don't have to worry, they'll be back soon.