The metamoran fusion looked at the three jiang-shi that faced him. He wiggled his talisman and felt PaoPao's wavering ki. At the same time, the last jiang-shi of the crane student cyborg-disciples fell from the air. His friends landed next to them.
"Jazz? Took you long enough, we were told you had to hold back the enemy while we were gone." Yamcha looked Jazz up and down, "hmm… something about you seems nostalgic."
Jazz smirked, "maybe..." He turned to PaoPao. "Hey, PaoPao, how much longer can you maintain the talismans?"
"30 seconds." PaoPao admitted easily, "but… if I shut down everyone's except for yours," she began, interpreting the meaning behind Jazz's question. "I can last about 2 minutes."
"Oh?" Jazz smiled, absentmindedly wiping some blood from the girl's cheek and lips. "Thanks! I literally cannot do this without you." PaoPao stiffened at his touch, a blush hitting her face.
"Go flirt somewhere else!" Mei Lin ordered her jiang-shi forward.
Without looking at them, Jazz flicked his left hand and fired a magic-fire ki blast. The explosion rocked with enough force to knock the powerful enemies backward several hundred meters.
Jazz smiled, "660,000 gallons."
"...what?" PaoPao said as Jazz helped her up.
"The amount of water I summoned then transformed into hydrogen and oxygen." Droplets of water began to coalesce around Jazz as he spoke. "A hydrogen gas explosion has a yield of about a 1 to 2.2 ratio with gasoline. One gallon of gasoline has the explosive yield of 83 sticks of dynamite, so a gallon of the correct oxygen-hydrogen mixture is equal to about… 37.72 sticks of dynamite. So…" Jazz grinned, "multiply that by 660,000, and you have power almost rivaling a small nuke." He smirked, "of course, this is if it's allowed to spread out, but, let's say you pressurize it with a wall of ki and psychic energy." He pointed to the enemy. "Oh yeah… th-"
PaoPao nodded, the talisman decorating the other's foreheads disintegrating. They sat in exhaustion as their ailments and pain came to the forefront. "Sorry guys…" She mumbled apologetically.
"No, you've done a lot for us today." Chi-Chi said, "besides, we agreed to help you."
"Yeah!" Krillin laughed, "and I get to see Goku again, so it's all in all a great day."
"My bones creak and my arms are on fire, my ribs feel funny when I breathe." Hercule smirked as he lay on the floor, "yeah, it feels like I'm training with Roshi."
Jazz shook his head as he turned towards the enemy. "Alright, I won't waste any more time."
"Jazz!" PaoPao called out the boy, who turned, "...don't die, but please...don't kill her either."
Jazz smiled, "of course."
…
Mei Lin felt a pulsing headache as her magic threatened to go wildly out of control. It took all three of her Jiang-shi gathered in front of her and using a barrier spell powered by all of them to fend off Jazz's attack, and even then, her barrier was destroyed and the jiang-shi of her father was badly burned and damaged. Worse yet, the damage was not being restored nearly as quickly as it should have.
"Dammit! What the hell is going on?!" She cursed.
"I could tell you." Jazz appeared, decapitating the jiang-shi of Shen. Mercenary Tao and her father leaped out of the way of his attack.
"You! Insignificant little twerp! Do you think my sister's shitty magic is impressive? Come under me! I'll show you pleasure and power beyond your wildest dreams!" The zombies charged forward towards Jazz, individual barriers wrapped around each one. A dark smoke emanated from Mei Lin's body.
Jazz ducked under the large zombie's swing, then stabbed his fist into Tao's chest. Flames gathered around again as he incinerated the corpse.
The jiang-shi of PaoPao's and Mei Lin's father charged towards Jazz, hands outstretched. Jazz grabbed the hands and punched the creature in the face three times over, then he spun rapidly before launching it into the air. It had reached a few hundred meters when Jazz transformed into a rocket. The force of the shock wave alone shattered the ground and caused a miniature tremor, and the blast-force winds smashed Mei Lin into trees and nearly shattered her spine. She could only watch, dumbfounded as the rocket changed into a small, white humanoid that trailed a blazing ray of fire and ki behind him.
"Marshmallow Meteor!" The impact was devastating, creating a sound reminiscent of a rolling thunderclap, and the sky was bathed in violet light from the attack.
In the middle of the sky, Jazz flipped through the air after his impact and slammed the Jiang-shi towards the ground. He transformed again, transforming into a floating living pillar of flesh, bone, and muscle covered in a keratinous shell. In many ways, it looked like an artificial object due to its almost perfect diamond shape. Inside the pillar, over 12 trillion electrocytes stacked on each other, generating a charge equal to the power of over 5,000 lightning bolts. "God's Thunder Clap!" Jazz bellowed in the form as a massive storm of lighting rained down on the collapsing jiang-shi, before the storm ended, a blast erupted from the top of the pillar, sending the massive monstrosity bearing down. It landed in 10 seconds, creating a massive crater of lightning, fire, and ki.
Mei Lin could only watch in shock as the jiang-shi she had created crumbled into dust at the onslaught of his attack. At the same time, the talisman on Jazz's face disintegrated.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" Mei Lin screamed in fury and indignation. She slapped the talisman on her face and charged the warrior.
Jazz smirked, which was the last thing Mei Lin saw before he knocked her out. Jazz stepped in front of her and proceeded to smash his fist into her jaw then chop into her right wrist, breaking it. He launched 3 blows into her gut and one into her sternum, she spat out blood and flew back from the force of his attack.
"Idiot!" the metamoran fusion declared, "even if I'm no longer powered up by the talisman, this fusion is more than enough for an idiot like you." His mocking words fell on deaf ears, but he simply shrugged, picking up the unconscious girl and slinging her over his shoulders.
He rejoined the others. "Hey, guys!" But he noticed their expressions. From a mix of awe to pride, to a little fear, to curiosity, to determination and challenge, he looked at each of his friends, then his eyes rested on PaoPao. "Hey…" He smiled.
"What happened to my father's corpse?" PaoPao asked.
Jazz frowned, "I'm sorry, I needed to make sure it was thoroughly destroyed."
She smiled back at Jazz. "Thanks…" She bowed low, tears threatening to fall from her face. She looked up again, determination clear on her face. "The worst is about behind us now."
"I wouldn't say that…" They turned to see Commander Black leading a contingent of soldiers and cyborgs.
Goku, Tien, and Jazz stepped forward as the strongest fighters. "What do you want?" Jazz growled.
"I'd like to make a trade." Commander Black offered, "we know you seek the dragon balls, we'll exchange them for the return of Mei Lin. She is a valuable asset."
"We can just take the dragon balls now." Launch threatened.
"Really? While you're all so exhausted?" Commander Black smirked, "what if you fail to destroy us on time?" He looked up, "And what of your ship? Is the integrity of your vessel and the safety of lives on it, worth the effort?"
PaoPao's face twisted, "why are you doing this?"
"Because she is useful to us." Commander Black shrugged. "If that's not enough, I have something to sweeten the deal." He turned to some soldiers, who dragged forward a massive being in a tarp. They pulled it away.
"Hacchan!" Goku shouted in surprise. It was Android 8, eyes closed as if asleep.
"The doctor has little time for traitors and Android 8 was slated for scrapping, but he decided that it would be better to hand the robot over to you all as a gesture of goodwill." Before anyone could stop him, Goku ran over to the Android.
"What did you guys do to him!" He roared.
"If you attack any of us, he might never wake up." Commander Black said.
Goku narrowed his eyes, "you bad guys!"
PaoPao looked at the android, she had heard of the being from her agent, Strazza. "What happened to his village?" She asked.
General White, who stood at Black's side, smirked. "You'll have to find that out."
"We don't take orders from the likes of you!" Launch shouted, "I might be tired, but I'll take out 20 of your guys real easy!" The others shouted in agreement.
"Deal," PaoPao said suddenly, shocking the others.
"...What?!" Tien turned to her. "Why would you agree to take a deal with these traitors?! Especially after everything she did to your father! To my masters!" Tien had estranged himself from the Crane School, but in many ways, it was still dear to his heart.
"I won't risk the lives of the men on my ship, nor of my friends, just to capture my sister. Do they want her? They can have her." PaoPao felt her blood boil, "I won't let them take away my precious people, not when I'm so close to bringing back what I've already lost."
"Wise choice." Commander Black handed PaoPao a remote and a suitcase. He then snapped his fingers. General White walked over to Jazz, who unceremoniously dropped Mei Lin into the man's arms.
"Be careful the viper you save today doesn't bite you in the face." Yamcha spat.
"Oh, a poet and a bandit?" General White chuckled, "What a fucking nerd, I'd love to break your spine over my locker after I stuff you in it."
"What the heck kind of a joke is that…" Krillin muttered under his breath.
At the same time, Tien's transformation ended, and he split into two once again. The two Tien's remerged, and while his appearance remained tough-looking, Jazz could tell that he was exhausted. Even he and Goku were breathing a little heavily.
Commander Black nodded, he and white led their men to a ship, which took off in the direction of the city.
…
A lavish feast lay before the members of the Red Ribbon Army. General White ate with gusto, while Black and the other high-ranking officers ate much more moderately.
Lt. Silver looked around, then he quietly spoke. "The plan failed… but you are not angry?"
General White laughed, "angry? Why? Wretched dogs who yapped at our heels are finally dead, with them gone, the records, drugs, and training regimen they put their remaining disciples to are ours for the taking. And Dr. Gero was able to collect a lot of visual data and DNA from this experiment from the majority of the dangerous potentials."
Lt. Violet looked up, "dangerous… potentials?"
"Dr. Gero has determined that there are a few beings on the planet who have the potential to thwart our plans. I'm certain you're already aware of Son Goku." Commander Black said, cleaning his mouth with a napkin. "But it also includes Jasper Duncan, PaoPao Dango, Yamcha, Krillin, Muten Roshi, Chi-Chi, Launch, and 'Hercule' Mark Satan."
"Well, we might have to include Tienshinhan in that list, as he seems to have joined their side." General White said as he chewed through some food.
"We have, though fortunately, we've collected quite a bit of data on his capabilities through our short-lived alliance with the Crane School." Dr. Gero walked over to them slowly.
"Ah, Doctor!" White smirked, "how's our little demon princess doing?"
"The medical staff state she will make a full recovery in 5 months but should awaken by the end of the week, luckily, she suffered very little lasting trauma to the brain."
"Naive." White shook his head. "Those children are naive. The charts also say that nearly half of the 'dispatched' Crane School cyborg's vitals are still reporting, meaning that they did not attack with the intent to kill."
"I understand that we should not be angry over this loss, but, even with all this information we have gained." Silver began, swallowing nervously, "doesn't this mean we're even further away from our goal? Every time we have a good estimation of the enemies' powers, something happens that throws our calculations away. First, Goku's 'agitated' golden-eyed state, then the potential of PaoPao's talismans, especially in a wide-scaled battle. Each of the fighters on their side can be considered as elite warriors, made even more powerful with those talismans. You saw this battle today, I am intimately aware of the specifications of Mei Lin's Jiang-shi's power, yet it was crushed in less than 3 minutes. Not to mention that we still don't know fully what Jasper Duncan is capable of, for all we know, he was holding back even further!"
"I never struck you as a coward Silver." General White growled, "sit the fuck back down."
Lt. Silver glared at his commanding officer. "I'm sorry sir… I just…"
"We just wish to understand our place in this all." Lt. Violet said. "Commander Black and General White have both been transformed by your science, doctor. Yet Lt. Silver and I have yet to be worked on, you simply conduct tests and have us train and do battle scenarios, frankly, I am beginning to grow frustrated and restless as I see my fellow soldiers risk their lives on the battlefield or under the surgery table."
Dr. Gero smiled, he turned around to hide his sneer as he spoke, "well, I understand your point, but I would take care to be a bit more patient." He smiled, "I am in the midst of finalizing my latest schematics, I just have a single test run that I plan for in about a year's time. But, before that, I should perhaps show you all that we know of, in my opinion, the most powerful of our dangerous potentials."
The first image was of Goku with gold eyes. "Son Goku, capable of running speeds of nearly mach 0.5, jumps of nearly 100 meters, and physical strength capable of lifting several dozen to nearly 215 tons, and these are all low-end scale estimates. He has two tools that make him incredibly versatile." Gero said as the still image changed to an image of Goku on the kintoun, preparing to swing his power pole. "The bo staff he wields is capable of extending at least up to 15 miles, if not more, in only a few seconds. He rides an object resembling a golden nimbus cloud, capable of traveling standard cruising speeds of mach 1.5, but is also capable of traveling at even faster speeds when needed. From what we have seen, conventional weaponry can dissipate the cloud, but not destroy it."
"That's fast and all, but is that really amazing?" General White asked.
"The cloud's versatility doesn't just come from its speed, it reacts according to the user's will it seems, as Son Goku is able to pull off evasive maneuvers, turn sharp corners, raise, lower, and reverse while barely losing any speed. This makes him extremely difficult to chase down with conventional weaponry, not to mention he's immune to small arms fire and only suffers mild bruising from a sniper rifle. His master is capable of a blast of energy with enough power to destroy the moon, and given his physical capabilities and the power displayed in this battle, it should be regarded as expected, understandable even, that Goku is capable of destroying the planet."
"Wait… who destroyed the moon?!" Silver shouted, "but it's outside, right now?"
"It was restored." Gero said dryly, "but we have records of the damage to coastal areas and sea life for the 6 months it was gone. "The damage was less than projected estimates, but it was still definitively caused by the moon's destruction. As for who restored the moon? That is unknown." The screen changed, revealing Jazz. At the same time, the last of the ranked members sitting at the dinner table growled.
Lt. Silver turned to see General Blue. When they had become acquainted, Blue had been a shadow of his former self, and even now, his damaged psyche had yet to fully recover. He bore a messy, unkempt beard and wild long hair that went below his shoulders. He was often shirtless, wearing only a red ascot with the Red Ribbon Army "RR" logo. He wore faded jeans and military boots, with a combat knife strapped to his hip.
"Calm yourself, General." Gero said, "I understand your ire, this one is… the most enigmatic of our enemies."
Silver looked at Jazz, "That's the one that can transform, the shifter."
"He's a fucking thief!" Blue shouted angrily. "He took what was mine!"
"General… you will have your time," Black growled. General Blue quieted down and took out a silver flask.
"Jasper has shown the ability to fluctuate his strength, showing the ability to unleash devastating strength and power, though it can be surmised that this is through great effort, circumstance, and preparation. His aresenal is quite varied, with his many transformations, but he seems to not utilize the full force of his strength unless he believes he is in a life and death struggle, given that he was capable of annihilating Me Lin's jiang-shi, and could survive and overpower an onslaught of Crane School soldiers, while at the same time refraining from committing an actual casualty, the already dead jiang-shi notwithstanding. He has two notable techniques that actively increase his strength, a 'werewolf transformation', and a technique that inflates his muscles as if he had been taking steroids. The techniques are potent, but not necessarily powerful until put in tandem with a mysterious technique he seems to have passed down to the warrior Tienshinhan. This technique requires the user to split themselves into two distinct halves and move together as one, I assume this is a technique that requires ki, as our soldiers and prototype androids have been unable to repeat the effects, even after Mei Lin's… distraction, provided adequate footage of the technique."
Gero clicked unto another picture, revealing 2 large photos, each photo had 2 instances of Jazz on them, but the locations were wildly different. "As you know, Jazz is capable of being in multiple locations on the planet at once, making his technique useful for things like scouting and reconnaissance, as there seems to be a level of passive and active information sharing between each instance of Jazz."
"If each instance can see the world and share information, and I'm assuming each instance can split in half, and then use that technique, couldn't he simply stack that technique on itself again and again? Or does it only work the first time?" White asked.
"Interestingly enough, we have seen him utilize such a thing in this battle he had with Mei Lin while he sent his ally away to gather the rest of their forces. That is when we first saw the technique in action. Jazz split himself, fought for a decent amount of time, then split apart and suffered a severe level of backlash. His allies caught up and held back Mei Lin and her jiang-shi for a time before the second instance of Jazz arrived." Gero showed a photo of a wild, feral-looking redhead.
"How long have the instances been separated?" Violet asked.
"By this point, by almost a year, if not a year, as we don't know when exactly he originally split himself. By our calculations, the original instance of Jazz is still trapped within the remains of the Crane School, while this instance, which had been guarding him, left to aid this third instance of Jazz that has been with the Turtle School. The fourth instance has been completely untraceable after we lost sight of him near the land of Korin. But this teaches us many things as well, the instances can be considered as flesh and blood as the original, and contain their same annoying abilities. While I spoke of Jasper's offensive strengths, I should speak of his most troublesome ability, his nearly instantaneous regeneration. Jazz has been shown to regenerate lost limbs, shattered bones, gruesome burns, and even ruptured internal organs, but he likely has a weakness, as he almost always attempts to protect his skull, his brain may be the only organ he cannot regenerate. He has a slew of esoteric techniques that I have no recourse to consider other than magic as well. He can shoot out flames that can both harm an opponent and heal an ally concurrently, summon a deluge of water, in some transformations, he can unleash powerful torrents of electricity, and interestingly enough, has at least a base level understanding of chemistry, as he used electrolysis to convert his summoned deluge into a mixture of hydrogen and oxygen in order to launch a powerful flame attack, it's actually quite ingenious."
"He's a fucking thief, that's what, there's nothing 'genius about him." Blue shouted, "he stole my powers!"
"I was getting to that." Dr. Gero muttered, "what makes Jazz so dangerous is his unpredictability, while he was an ally to Son Goku and the others trained in the Turtle School and Tsukimi, he was not an active combatant for the majority of the conflict. He infiltrated the Crane School, orchestrated the faking of PaoPao's death, and directed Son Goku to the land of Korin. Jazz's one and only active attack against the Red Ribbon Army was his attack on General Blue and his base. He did not collect the dragon balls they were looking for, instead, he attacked and captured all the men on the base, and dragged General Blue's submarine out of the water, his goal was simple, it was to steal General Blue's psychic ability, which he succeeded in doing. The fact he even knew of such a thing is what worries me the most, but we don't know the extent of what he can steal, so we must take care to guard against him."
"These two are already so powerful." Silver said, "and they are still young, with room to grow and mature in strength and skill, how are we to defeat them?"
"Preparation, the reconnaissance we've gained has already been quite fruitful, and I'm ready to begin working on my projects." Gero smirked, "and we aren't the only enemies they have," The next picture was of a young man with dusty brown hair and eyes, he boar a long brown tail like Goku's. "This dangerous potential has the least information on it, but has also proved to be the most powerful." The next picture was of the shadowy oozaru that nearly killed Goku. "Our scans indicated that the level of power outputted by this being overshadowed even this current iteration of Jasper, and of course, overshadowed Son Goku by leaps and bounds, even after the latter utilized a heightened version of his agitated state. The creature seems to bear a weakness to fire, but that should simply make him more manageable."
"What are you suggesting, Doctor?" Commander Black asked.
Dr. Gero smiled.
…
A lavish feast was placed in front of the returning Z fighters. PaoPao ordered the technicians on the ship to take a look at Android 8, and Bulma volunteered to go with them and see what was done to Goku's friend. The others had been allowed to rest and eat. The kids had run-up to the group and were ecstatic when PaoPao said that they could come home with her and hugged the teen in excitement. Dinner had been prepared after they went to clean themselves up, and Jazz split back into his Jazz 2 and Jazz 3 counterparts.
Lapis and Lazuli were surprised to see their friend, who had already looked a little different, split in two.
They were now sitting on the laps of the doppelgangers, Lapis sat on Jazz 2, while Lazuli sat on Jazz 3 as the group ate.
"So…" PaoPao began, "there are things I…" She turned to the others, "we… need to understand, Jazz, while I'm aware that I granted you a good deal of power with the talisman, how did you attain that much power… and who is… who's that?" She pointed at Jazz 2.
"I'm Jazz 2." Jazz 2 slurped up some spaghetti, and Lapis emulated the teen, doing the same with his miniature bowl.
"I see… I do remember that Jazz was capable of splitting in two, so, you returned from that trip, and from the person you promised to help?" She asked politely.
Jazz 2 snorted, "oh no, that was a different Jazz."
PaoPao frowned at his dismissive tone. She turned to Jazz 3, "hey, Jazz, is he telling the truth?"
Jazz 3 took a neat sip of soup and nibbled on some bread, an action that Lazuli emulated with the same level of grace and decorum. The clone then glared at his fellow doppelganger, "Yes, a different doppelganger assisted me in fighting against the Crane School."
PaoPao nodded, "it feels like there's something you aren't telling me." She stared at Jazz pointedly. She turned to Jazz 2, "why are you called Jazz 2?"
"It's simple really, I was split from original Jazz, thus I'm Jazz 2, that's my number designation."
"Can we do this after we finish eating?" Jazz 3 asked.
"So you split from the original Jazz?" She turned to look at Jazz 3, "you used the multiform technique and split him from yourself?" She asked.
"Yup!" Jazz 2 said, laughing. "Guy had the smart idea to split us into 4 and train at four separate locations."
"Woah…" Hercule muttered, "you mean you guys together is only half of Jazz's full strength? There are two other doppelgängers out there?"
Jazz 3 did not respond, his mind reeled as Jazz 2's lie reverberated through his skull. 'He covered me?' He began.
"Yup." Jazz 2 laughed, then looked at Jazz 3 slyly, "but original over here stopped communicating with us, which scared us all quite a bit, we thought he was abandoning us, and our plan."
"Plan?" Yamcha asked.
"To survive, get stronger, and return home." Jazz 2 said, "I'm sure Bulma's already told you guys a bit about it."
Everyone did vaguely remember her stating that Jazz was from Earth, but not "their" Earth.
"Do you really have a way to return home?" Bulma asked excitedly.
"Yes and no." Jazz 2 replied, "but Mr. Original should know, right?" He turned to Jazz 3, who felt the eyes turn towards him.
"Yes… I was… instructed by a wise elder that the way back home would be available after decades, nearly 40 years in total I believe."
"Holy…" Yamcha whistled, "that long?"
"The fastest spaceship on earth could only reach Pluto in 9 years, and would take 100-300 thousand to leave our Solar System, this is a completely different universe we are talking about, we'd be lucky if it took only a million years to get to the edge of our universe, not like that even lets you transport to another universe!"
"Oh wow… how'd you even find out about that?" Yamcha turned to Jazz 3.
"Hey, hey, stop crowding around my boss." Jazz 2 chuckled, ribbing Jazz 3.
The rest of the dinner was quick and quiet. The children were sent to their rooms and the others also retired to get some rest. Jazz 2 followed Jazz 3 to the latter's bedroom.
"Swanky place." Jazz 2 yawned.
"What's your fucking game!" Jazz 3 growled.
"Hey, no need to get pissy with me, jackass, I'm not the one who cut off his connection to everyone else."
"You know why I did that!" Jazz 3 growled, "you know why now."
"Yeah, I do." Jazz 2 stared at the symbol of Tsukimi emblazoned on the door. "Hmm… when did we get a crush on her?"
Jazz 3 didn't answer.
"Honestly, it's probably from that first time we saw her train." Jazz 2 nodded, "in fac-"
"Shut up!" Jazz 3's fist crashed into Jazz 2, sending him careening into the wall of the room.
"Cool, you're finally heated up?" Jazz 2 smirked, "follow me then." He opened the window to the outside.
"Why?" Jazz 3 asked angrily.
"Because I'll tell on you with a smile on my face." Jazz 2 chuckled. "And I know enough about you to know you're more scared of that than anything else right now."
…
The two Jazzes met together at the center of the battleground.
"You've already checked for drones, right?" Jazz 3 asked.
"Please, I destroyed the ones that were tracking us when they got too close."
"But they witnessed most of the battle."
"Couldn't collect our DNA though, that's the most important part." Jazz 2 chuckled. "Anyways, let's-"
Jazz 3 launched forward, carried by flames and ki. Jazz 2 smirked and ducked under the attack, he kicked out at full force, launching Jazz 3 into the air. "What?!" J3 shouted in shock, J2's power level had been lower than his, but all of a sudden, they were even? No, J2's power was almost imperceptibly greater.
J2 laughed, "come on, me! Don't tell me you're surprised, you aren't the only one who's been training. I've worked my butt off increasing my skills, and I'm no slouch with training either. This is the power of a streamlined Pump Up! I call this one 1.3x!" He charged forward and threw a flurry of kicks and punches J3's way. J3 ducked under a swipe and fired off a short-range ki blast at J2's sternum. J2 used telekinesis to turn the ground they were fighting on, causing J3's blast to veer out of the way. He then swung his hand forward, scratching J3 on the face.
J3 hissed as the claw-like nails tore into his skin. He tensed up, exploding out into Pump Up 1.5, his fist smashed into J2, tearing a hole into the feral boy's stomach and sending him dozens of meters backward.
J3 charged forward to slam his fist into J2's face, the air exploded around J2 as he activated his max Pump-Up. Jazz 3 was blown back by the punch. J2 extended his palms, unleashing multiple miniature bursts of ki into the air that chased down J3. J3, as opposed to dodging or blocking, caught the attacks and applied his ki to them, launching them back at J2, who smirked, doing the same. They caught and launched back ever-increasing volley's of ki until the attacks reached fatal levels of power. J3 put forth the best effort his Pump Up 2x could provide, launching a truly devastating blast of energy. J2 caught the volley of ki and redirected it into J3's blast, he then charged forward and blitzed J3 with several dozen kicks and scratches.
"But! My power is greater!" J3 shouted.
"Yeah, but you're slow, don't you remember Trunks vs Cell my dude?"
"Shit!" J3 could only move into a defensive position as J2 blitzed him, the damage wasn't particularly devastating, but it built up, and even with Jazz's insane regeneration, J3's power was beginning to slowly dwindle. A silver whirlwind wrapped around J3 as he transformed into the werewolf, he then activated Pump-Up 1.5 in tandem with the werewolf transformation and rushed forward. J2 smirked as fur sprouted from his body. He exploded out in power as he activated his Pump-Up max and werewolf transformation, smashing his fist into J3's and knocking the latter back. J3 activated Pump Up 2x and lumbered forward.
J2 shook his head and slammed his fist into the slower boy's face, dodging his punch. "You might be a bit tougher big guy, but you ain't as skilled, I've built up fighting experience, I've fought with my life on the line, you've trained hard with many skilled people, but unlike you, I'm going all out!"
"What...are you talking about?" Jazz 3 asked, he sent a blast of ki into the ground, attempting to hit Jazz 2 with a 360 spreading blast. Jazz 2 was already out of the blast zone as he launched several massive boulders forward. Jazz 3 summoned his flames, then concentrated them into a white-hot blade, slicing the boulders as if he were using a lightsaber, the air exploded with the heat radiating from his blade. Flames then jettisoned out from behind his hands and feet as he charged towards Jazz 2. "I've been facing my weaknesses! I don't need you guys to tell me the weaknesses of this technique!" He barreled into Jazz 2 then swung rapidly. Jazz 2 dodged, ducked, and weaved out of the way, only to lose his right arm to a rapid slash sent his way.
"Cute." Jazz 2 summoned water, when Jazz 3's sword touched the water, the force from the steam explosion pushed both fighters back, giving Jazz 2 enough time to regenerate his arm and apply flames to his body. The steam cloud was split apart as Jazz 3, transformed into a rocket, smashed into him. Jazz 2 split into 2 multiform clones who pushed against each other to separate themselves from the rocket, they then rejoined and fired off a tri-beam, catching Jazz 3 in the back, knocking him out of the transformation and into the ground. Jazz 2 landed heavily after him, and the two rolled up and faced each other. "You've forgotten." Jazz 2 was smiling.
"What the fuck did I forget?" Jazz 3 growled.
"Why we're so worked up about going home, we have a family to return to Jazz, you know that." Jazz 2 said quietly.
"...You think I don't know that?!" Jazz 3 groaned, "but you know what? I won't be the one experiencing that reunion, it'll be him. I won't be the one gaining from the fruit of labor, it will be him." He quieted down, whispering now, "I won't be the one PaoPao likes, it's him. The year I spent with her, that's not the original Jazz, that's me, Jazz 3, the original clone he made first, I'm the one who, alongside Jazz 4, saved our friend. And I'm the one who trained with everyone else. You guys wouldn't know that Blonde Launch hates green peppers, while Blue-Haired Launch hates mushrooms, you didn't know that Krillin is terrible at karaoke, or that PaoPao snorts when she laughs, or that she enjoys listening to the Blues genre, or her favorite foods, or her meticulous plan book for her clan's financials. You don't know any of that shit, you didn't earn it, you didn't spend time with them, I did, I spent the time and effort with my friends, but once I disappear, all of those memories are fully the originals, the same thing will happen to you, to Jazz 4! The original is just sitting somewhere, eating and sleeping and shitting, he's sitting back and hanging out while the rest of us work to earn him power! If he really cared, he could have broken out, we could have saved more of PaoPao's people, we could be effectively training as one, I wouldn't even have had to be alive to experience this bullshit!" Jazz 3 smashed a foot into the ground angrily. "I'm not the one who gets to say hi to mom or brother, I know that, but at least, I want to be the one others look at and say, thanks!"
"Jazz 3," Jazz 2 began, "I'm sorry, but you're not special, any one of us could have been the ones left with the others to train under Roshi. Our roles could have been reversed, but they aren't and you're where you are. We don't care that you've fallen in love, that's you, but we at least want you to be either super fucking honest, or not act on your feelings, not this fucking middle ground bullshit you were about to pull. What would have happened if, in 2 years from now, the rest of us reunite, and you gotta explain to your 'girlfriend' why someone claiming to be the original Jazz is here."
"Then why didn't you just rat me out?!" Jazz 3 asked angrily.
"Because I don't hate you?" Jazz 2 replied. "What kind of psycho do you think I am?"
"The kind who wanted to punch me after finding me on the floor with blown up limbs." Jazz 3 replied dryly.
"Pft, true, but anyway, shut up and listen." Jazz 2 scratched his head, "Jazz 1 has offered each of us an ultimatum. I and 4 have already made our decisions, but since you're such a pansy about it, he'll give you a year."
"What's the ultimatum?" Jazz 3 asked.
"Well, if you connected your mind, you'd find out, but since you're being such a pansy about it…"
"You already used that insult."
"Fuck you." Jazz 2 transformed into an Eider Duck. "I'll see you in a year! Hopefully, you aren't as much of a loser then."
Jazz 3 watched as his fellow doppelganger disappeared into the night sky.
"Oh yeah!" The duck quacked, "happy belated birthday! You big baby!"
...
…
Jasper(Jazz) Duncan
Age: 17 years (happy belated birthday)
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 and some speed (the same speed gain as 1.3) ), 2.1x(speed is not reduced (same speed gain as 1.3))
Powerlevel: 44, will raise to 57.2, 69.3, or 92.4 utilizing Pump Up, raises to 72.6 utilizing juvenile awakening alone. If utilized with Pump Up, raises to 94.38, 114.345, and 152.46 respectively.
Jazz 3 (Currently training with Master Roshi)
Powerlevel: 57, Pump Up: 85.5 or 114 respectively, with Juvenile Awakening: 85.5, if utilized with Pump Up: 128.25 or 171 respectively
Jazz 4 (Currently on the 6 month trip to Namek with Kami)
Powerlevel: 42
Staff Technique: Intermediate
Hand to Hand Technique: Intermediate
Ki techniques: Basic
Magic materialization: Intermediate
…
…
Jazz 3 is kinda a spaz, he can't fully comprehend his pubescent emotions, but let me translate for him.
He is battling both existentialism, lovestruck-ness, and a painful sense of loneliness. He likes PaoPao but, like all the Jazzes, he needs to return home to his family, it would be unfair to give PaoPao a relationship that predicates him eventually leaving. Then, there is the fact that he knows first hand that when a clone returns, the same one doesn't come out, there isn't a set stock of multiforms, it's simply a new instance born from that current state of Jazz, meaning the 3 years he gets to explore the world is technically his only shot at living before he disappears forever, much like how cut and paste for a computer program or moving it to another folder doesn't actually transfer it, it deletes the folder after creating a separate copy. This is of course, super fucked for anyone to contemplate, especially when he doesn't have anyone to talk to about it. The other Jazz's are presumably already over any such angst, and original Jazz won't ever suffer from such a feeling. He can't tell his friends for fear of two things: they reject him and shun him and his fears, as they care more for the original Jazz, or two: they accept him, but become hostile to the other variants of himself. His entire "plan" is to honestly try and plead his case to remain independent from the original Jazz, to not cease to exist, regardless of what happens.