Hercule cursed himself as he had the kids sleep in their hotel beds. The destruction to the apartment meant that he couldn't have them sleep there, so he booked a hotel on short notice. He also called a private doctor to check on them, luckily the poison gas was simply a cocktail of acetaminophen, a common pain killer, an antiseptic to reduce infection, a depressant to relax the nervous system, and an antihistamine, the main ingredient for sleeping pills. But it could have been much worse. Hercule had been called to his dojo, apparently, someone had destroyed part of the building and was still in the building. By the time Hercule arrived his dojo was on fire and a red-headed man stood, facing him. It took Hercule a good while to overcome his foe due to the latter's unorthodox fighting style and superhuman strength, but Hercule bested him and rushed back home once he began to feel Lapis's ki spike. To say he was angry was an understatement. The children were both hurt pretty badly, the cocktail of drugs knocked out Miguel and Gabriel quickly but both Lapis and Lazuli were shot with tranquilizer-laced bullets, with Lazuli getting taken by surprise by the attacks. It seemed that as soon as he destroyed the cyborgs the signal returned to his phone and he was able to call his friends. After reassuring them that the kids were okay he felt exhausted, but he couldn't bring himself to sleep, if he slept, there was no telling what could attack them.

Hercule clenched his fist as he observed his sleeping fiance. Miguel was still asleep, but the doctor assured them that everything was alright, he chose to believe the guy for now, but if she was asleep longer than 12 hours he would take her to a hospital. His thoughts were broken by a phone call."

~"Hey."~ Jazz's voice was crisp and calm. Hercule winced at his cold tone.

"Hey Jazz," Hercule replied, trying to hide his nervousness. "What do you need?"

~"Did you really kill those two?"~ Jazz asked.

Hercule sighed, "of course I did, I saw them break apart in front of me, even blew them to smithereens for good measure."

~"But, they were purely mechanical, did you not feel any ki at all?"~

"None whatsoever," Hercule repeated his answer for the 12th time. "Jazz, as I said, I didn't feel their ki, even Lapis and Lazuli said the same things."

~"I know, that's what worries me."~ Jazz said quietly.

Hercule frowned, "do you think they were completely robotic, that Gero made some… fakes?"

~"Possibly, yeah."~

"That would be a scary thought." Hercule sighed. "How are you guys doing?"

~"Well, we've finished checking on Hacchan."~ Jazz began. ~"It's good that we did."~

"I see…" Hercule responded, "so Gero did something to him?"

…

(3 hours ago)

"I'm sorry, but with things going on like this, I think we'll need to do the inspection on Hacchan now. The Red Ribbon Army is too much of a problem to be idle about." Tien said firmly. "The children, as well as Hercule and his family were targeted while the rest of us are here. "Clearly they don't have the strength to beat us if they are attempting this divide and conquer tactic, we need to discover if they have any plans with the android here, neutralize those plans, and discover their whereabouts."

"I mean if they come here." Goku said, "we'd beat them."

"It's not about just beating them," Tien retorted, "I'm not one to pass on a challenge, but I'm also not stupid enough to ignore an obvious, dishonorable trap. They wish to take us out while we are unawares, correct? So we should make sure they regret such a plan."

"What do you propose?" Yamcha asked.

"We head back into the time chamber a-"

Yamcha groaned, "of course…"

"Do you have a better idea?" Tien retorted, "we spent only a day in the time chamber yet gained what was equivalent to an extra year of training. While it is true one can only use the chamber twice in their lifetime the second time will be extremely important for all of us. We can't ignore the strength we gained, clearly, it wouldn't be bad to be overprepared for any eventuality."

"And what would happen to the world while we are out for a day Tien?" PaoPao asked, "can you handle that responsibility."

The silence was cut as the radio turned on. ~"This just in, scientists have identified several hundred small-sized asteroids on a collision course to the planet. Supposedly there are about 50 in transit. Here's Dr. Cog, a professor of biology, mechanical engineering, biotechnology, medicine, computer engineering, and astronomy, with a report."~

~"You don't need to give away all my titles."~ An aged voice laughed hoarsely over the radio. ~"We likely don't have much to worry about. An asteroid loses about 90-95 percent of its mass upon entering our Earth's Atmosphere, and calculations determine that these asteroids are about at most, 2 meters, at their size they are likely to burn up in the atmosphere completely, descending upon use as space dust."~

~"That's pretty relieving."~ The radio host laughed, ~"But Dr? If we have nothing to worry about, why does it have the scientific community all abuzz?"

~"Why, due to the sheer number of asteroids and their nearly uniform shape. It's getting many to cry out about the possibility of mankind receiving its first alien encounter."~

~"That does indeed sound ridiculous."~

~"Well, not really, who knows, the more we learn about our universe the less we realize we truly know, and anything could be out there. In fact, I've been more intrigued by the recent developments we've experienced in almost half a decade, and the surge of humans unleashing latent superhuman ability, the fact that the human body is capable of such devastating power, it's honestly fascinating that such capabilities are both possible and now in public spaces, ready for any old regular layman to attempt."~

Tien, after some more silence, finally spoke, "I'm not a defender of the Earth, I'm not some great hero, I'm a warrior, I will stop an atrocity before my eyes, but I will not sacrifice myself to the world. Not like…" He let his words hang in silence.

"Not like me?" PaoPao asked.

"Your power has flagged behind, PaoPao, you've been so busy being the world's keeper you've neglected your training, except for Jazz, everyone here is stronger than you. In a few years, your children will surpass you if this keeps up." Tien growled, "do you expect me to follow in your path to stagnation?!"

"Hey, Tien…" Blue Haired Launch tapped the three-eyed warrior on the shoulder, "you're acting scary…"

Another round of awkward silence filled the large living room of Bulma's capsule duplex.

"Tien's plan isn't necessarily flawed." PaoPao finally announced, eyes closed, "but we can't all go in together, even though training together yields the best results, at most, two or three people are to enter at a time. While the rest remain on standby, training and resting like usual. If an attack occurs, the majority of fighters will be informed and will head to that location, and whoever was training will be alerted by a remaining fighter if things seem dangerous." She looked around, "can we all agree to that?"

Tien nodded, "fine then. Regardless, you all came here to check on the cyborg, let us finish that now so that we can be on our way."

The most difficult part of the procedure was the discussion on how to safely perform surgery on Android 8, while Bulma had the large man's schematics, courtesy of PaoPao and stolen Red Ribbon Army documentation, they had to deal with the fact that Android 8 both had pain receptors, and was unresponsive to virtually all forms of anesthesia. Eventually, they had Jazz transform and use his powers, at Bulma's direction, to find, prod, and slightly shock parts of Hacchan's body to cause a shut down to the majority of his systems, leaving only life support on. This had the beneficial side effect of turning off the android's pain receptors. Next was Bulma's and Chiaotzu's job. Chiaotzu had a higher psychic sensitivity than Jazz and was able to gently move intricate parts out of the way for Bulma to thoroughly check. PaoPao would then inspect the parts of the body for signs of witchcraft. It took them roughly 30 minutes to find what dozens of scientists missed.

"I can't believe I could miss this…" Pao Pao inspected the microchip with a pair of tweezers, to the naked eye it looked like a normal piece of technology, but under Bulma's compound microscope the chip revealed a nasty secret. Kanji runes for Jiang-shi witchcraft were scrawled all over the chip, and it was not the only one. Dr. Gero had tricked them all in the only way he could. By improving Hacchan's specs, scientists would be too busy attempting to discover what hostile code he placed into the cyborg, and overlook the fact that almost every single processing and data storage unit in the cyborg's body was etched with the unholy runes put there by PaoPao's sister. PaoPao's face was flush and her limbs seemed strong after clearing away the runes, but her face was set grimly as Bulma put back the chips.

"It's not your fault." Chi-Chi comforted, "I'm sure the scientists didn't expect the words on the chips to mean anything substantial. And now that we know what Dr. Gero prepared, we can prepare for him without worrying about a friend in danger."

PaoPao nodded. "You're right…"

…

~"It wasn't simple, if any of us screwed up the poor dude would be irreparably damaged, Gero was very haphazard with his combination of technology and biology with Hacchan, almost like someone added the human elements at the last minute and he had to improvise."~

Hercule nodded along. "Well, glad that's over with, anyways, are we really using the room of spirit and time?" He'd experienced firsthand the power of the others after using the room, and while he was still confident in his strength he did have a few worries, a year's worth of training would definitely be helpful."

~"Well, they were going to, but Kami said no. He stated that it had only been a day or so from our last time in that room, there isn't enough food prepared for another year, nor are their mental states ready for another stint in that room. So it looks like the only ones allowed this time are you, me, PaoPao, and the twins."~

"Is PaoPao really going in? She's so busy." Hercule asked incredulously.

~"She isn't, and the twins can't either, so don't tell them anything."~ Jazz said, sighing, ~"they're too young to handle the stress, and we can't just force them to age all of a sudden."~

"Well, what about you? Wouldn't you age like crazy?" Hercule asked.

~"I'm an adult, and so are you, one year in the time chamber will mean less for us than it will for a couple of 12-year-olds."~

Hercule nodded, "yeah, I understand."

~"Sometimes, I wonder if it was the right thing to train them."~ Jazz said quietly.

"Jazz?" Hercule asked, incredulous.

~"Did I have a right to change their fate? I rescued them from abuse, but now their lives are risked, I risk your life by being your friend too. Was I wrong in including people into this world?"~

Hercule bristled at the words. "Don't you give me that bs!" He announced angrily, "I don't regret getting my power or understanding the world a bit better for even a second, and the kids probably don't either. If not for you I'd be a coward, hiding from any serious-looking martial artist. I'd probably be unable to confess my love to Miguel if I wasn't so confident either. I'd be a prick to her if I was the same old Hercule that you first met. I'm still the bombastic, handsome me, but I'm also a more complete person because of all my training. So don't talk bullshit like that ever again."

~"Sorry, you're right. I shouldn't think like that."~ Jazz sighed, ~"It's just when I got the news I and PaoPao wanted to fly over to comfort the kids, but… we also knew if we left things at Hacchan's unresolved, it would bite us in the ass. Even now, I'm heading over as fast as I can as reasonably as I can and it will still be half an hour. I both want the kids to be strong enough to protect themselves but never want them to have to fight again."~

"Pft… you sound like a dad."

…

The Red Ribbon Army was quiet for two weeks, and in that span of two weeks, a lot had gotten done. PaoPao had doubled the allocated budget for training, logistics, and reconnaissance; except for a few fringe outposts too small to really matter and fanatical sympathizers, nothing was heard of the Red Ribbon army. The kids began to train again, even as they had school. Jazz had noticed and had been worried, but both assured him that they were okay, and stated the same thing to PaoPao. Jazz had noticed that PaoPao hadn't been able to keep up her training, but she had brushed it off, stating that she could still fight and was a force to be reckoned with. Hercule had finalized his pushing off of duties to trusted assistants and decided that he was ready to join Jazz in the room of Spirit and time.

"As I said, babe, I'll be okay." Hercule brushed some hair away from Miguel's face as he pets his fiance's head. "It'll only be a day for you."

"But it will be a year for you." Miguel was teary-eyed. "Are you sure you need to go in there? I already think you're the strongest."

Hercule laughed, "maybe so, but the Champ needs to defend his title every once in a while." Hercule winked, "and to tell you the truth, everyone was a little too sweaty coming out of there." He laughed, "I better wash 'em up!" He chortled at his bad joke.

"Get a room!" Jazz shouted from a distance.

"You're one to talk," Lapis grumbled as he turned away in disgust. After they arrived, Jazz and PaoPao whispered something to each other and she kissed the red-head on the cheek. This act grossed him out.

"Squeamish little baby afraid of kisses?" Lazuli asked playfully, "I'd kiss your cheek but I'm scared I'd become a frog too if I did."

"Shut up." Lapis hissed, "you girls are so weird with your touchy-feely stuff.

"Beats farting everywhere, all the time." Lazuli retorted.

"My body is a temple, and must be aired out regularly."

"Temple of poop more like it." Lazuli replied lazily.

Lapis grunted and turned away, causing his sister to frown. Before she could press the topic, Jazz approached the kids.

"I'll only be gone for a day, but don't think you can skip school just cause of that."

Lazuli rolled her eyes, but Lapis merely grunted. "Yeah, sure, whatever old man."

Jazz raised an eyebrow but said nothing. He ruffled their hair. "I'll be back before either of you know it."

Lazuli grinned, "I hope you actually train hard, we'll surpass you otherwise."

Jazz laughed, "I hope it won't come to that just yet, it would be real embarrassing to lose to a couple of pre-teens."

Lazuli stuck out her tongue and Lapis darkened. "Yeah yeah, just go and train already." He turned away, causing Lazuli to push him."

"What's your problem?!" She asked angrily.

PaoPao swooped in before the twins could escalate. "Hey, hey, hey! We're family. If we have issues, we talk about it."

"Like you talked with your dad and sister?" Lapis retorted, before flying off angrily.

PaoPao looked like she was about to cry as Jazz got ready to take off after the boy. "No." She began, turning to Jazz, "don't chase after him, I don't know why he's so angry, but I'll talk to him, you need to concentrate on training, every second here is hours in there."

As PaoPao and Lazuli took off after the fleeing boy, leaving Jazz there scratching his head. "I…"

"Don't try to get it, you aren't a mind reader, even if you are psychic." Hercule said, "sometimes people need their space to think. We'll have a lot of thinking time to ourselves once we enter this place, leave it to the girls to try and get what's made the kid upset, cause you'll clearly need a year to figure this one out."

…

Jasper(Jazz) Duncan

Age: 21 and 10 months

Hair color: Red

Skin color: white

Race: "Human"

Height: 6 feet 0.5 inches | 184.15 centimeters

Weight: 195 lbs | 88.4505 kilograms,

Skills: Advanced Staff Technique, Advanced Kinjutsu (sword technique), Advanced Hand-to-Hand technique, Advanced Ki techniques, Mastered Magic Materialization

Capable of creating: Conventional Weapons, Food, various tools (limited by his knowledge of the materials, craftsmanship, and scientific knowledge)

Weapons that can be created: Long Ruyi Jingu Bang, Long Bansho Fan, Ryu Kusanagi, Wyvern's Wind-And-Fire Wheels, Dragon's Flame-Tipped Spear, Fafnir's Gungnir, Leviathan's Trident, Jorgumandur's Svalinn, Hydra's Ancilla

Powers: Elemental Magic Materialization, Capable of summoning and freely manipulating fire, water, wind, and earth, lightning, ice, smoke, and steam, capable of manipulating and stirring the growth of plant and animal life. Mastered Telekinesis.

Mastery of General Magic Concepts and abilities. mastered understanding of intermediate-level magical techniques, an advanced understanding of advanced magical techniques.

Shapeshifting: Mastered Skill level (indefinite)

Transformation Power Techniques

Noble Werewolf: True Awakening: 5.3x power

Ultimate Full Power: A renamed form of Pump-Up/ Max Power, no longer lowers speed, instead it now grants strength and speed proportional to power gain, due to witnessing Launch's utilization of the technique, the power raised up to 5.4x

Talisman Magic: Body Enhancement: 5x Power, drains magical energy over time, lasts 10 minutes at full, before then draining ki,

1.5x level: can be used for 6 hours straight

2x level: can be used for 2 hours straight

3x: can be used for 1 hour

4x: Can be used for 30 minutes

Emissive Techniques: Kamehameha, Don Don Pa, Solar Flare, Tri-Beam, Thunder Shock Surprise, Barrage Ki attack, Magic Fire Kamehameha, Thunderfire Kamehameha. Ki-Flame Sword, Marshmallow Meteor,

Body Techniques: Four Witches Technique, 12 Eyes Technique, Fusion Dance, Wolf Fang Fist, Mafuba

Blessing from a "Friend": Enhanced strength, speed, stamina, durability, senses, capable of surviving a 2 fold fusion without extreme backlash.

Powerlevel: 1954

Power of Just Werewolf: 10,356.2

Power of Pump Up: 10551.6

Power of Werewolf and Pump Up: 55923.84

Power of Werewolf, Pump Up, Magic Talisman Technique: 279,617.4

…

…

Afterword:

List of Power Levels: To be revealed in Chapter 80, the advent of the 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament. (sponsored by Hetap)

Chapters should be coming out more regularly now.