Krillin looked on in confusion at the scene before him. The woman purported to have been Mei Lin had morphed before his very eyes, the attractive black-haired woman was looking around, pensively, as if she had no idea where she was and was frightened.
"What sort of game are you playing at?" Krillin asked out loud, causing the woman to flinch and back up.
"I was… I was out shopping for groceries!" The woman who appeared to be Mei Lin shouted, "Then… all of a sudden…" She clutched her head in pain.
"What sort of game are you playing at, Mei Lin?!"
"I don't know who you're talking about!" The woman shouted, backing away from Krillin and falling out of bounds.
"AMAZING! THROUGH SHEER INTIMIDATION! KRILLIN WAS ABLE TO KNOCK BACK HIS OPPONENT!" As the announcer spoke several tournament attendants rushed Mei Lin to a gurney. At the same time, PaoPao took out a communicator, a serious look on her face.
"Did… did I win?" Krillin muttered, "That was lackluster…"
…
The announcer called for a short 30-minute recess, during that time, runner-ups and tournament staff with some martial training wowed the crowd with their skills. Within the pavilion proper, several people were talking and shouting all at once, looking at the woman who appeared to be Mei Lin.
"She has very thin surgery lines and a few scars here and there. Her teeth were also adjusted recently. The strangest thing however is the x-ray, they show odd metallic implementations in odd parts of her body." One person began.
"That's not the worst part, she was placed in a powerful hex, I can sense a great deal of evil magic on her. Whoever did this to her was determined to make her think and act like Mei Lin." They turned towards Pao Pao. "Do you recognize any of this handiwork?"
PaoPao for her part looked at the woman with an emotionless gaze, but inside, her heart was in turmoil. Whatever Mei Lin and Dr. Gero had planned, they kidnapped an innocent woman and augmented her body both magically and scientifically in order to enter the tournament. She had been suspicious that so many members of the Red Ribbon army were participating, and even more surprised when the World Government gave her the explicit orders to not arrest or interfere with any matches. Jazz contacted her to tell of his interference, and that further muddied the waters. Krillin's match was being sabotaged, and the fact he had survived for as long as he did was a testament to his prowess and instinct as a fighter, but cheating still occurred. Which is what made this situation all the more awful in her opinion. The tournament head wanted to avoid drama caused by announcing that Mei Lin was a body double, and wished to bury the cheating allegation.
Krillin himself didn't care, as he still wanted to compete and didn't want the tournament to be over, the others felt the same, except for PaoPao and Jazz, but they were outvoted.
"What do you want to do?" Jazz asked, "You know them as well as I do, they'll keep fighting even at the detriment of their lives."
PaoPao sighed, "I know… but this is bad Jazz, I think… I think the world is turning its back on us."
"Why do you think that?" Jazz asked, serious.
"I think this is supposed to be an exhibition of the Red Ribbon Army's prowess in the development of super soldiers capable of combatting against ki users. I think the reason I was explicitly told I could not make a move against these obvious members of the Red Ribbon Army is to measure how they hold up against our friends."
"But why? We don't plan to harm the world." Jazz said.
"It doesn't matter whether or not we plan to harm the world," PaoPao said. "Any of us could. And you know that. Master Roshi blew up the moon, and the dragon balls had to bring it back, and the power he expressed back then was dozens, if not hundreds of times weaker than the power expressed by Goku now. If I were a political leader, I would be nervous if there was a group of powerful men and women who lacked any oversight, checks, or balances."
"Do you think Gero came to them with the promise of creating a balance for us? Power to compete with our power?" Jazz asked, irritation rising. "After everything that bastard did, from siding with the Red Ribbon army to helping unleash the Demon King Piccolo, the world wants to use him against us? We, who have saved it countless times?"
"Maybe." PaoPao placed a hand on Jazz's, then gave him a reassuring smile. "I don't know for certain, but we will do as we always have. Besides, ultimately we just need to prove we're better than these creations of Dr. Gero's.
…
"So they want to turn on us? After everything we've done for those jerks?" Blonde Launch was incensed, it took a shoulder tap from Tien to keep her from exploding right then and there.
"But it makes no sense." Bulma muttered, "Even if Dr. Gero could offer them the technology to supposedly keep up or overtake the power you guys produce, they're trading a force they can't control, but is known to be benign, if not on their side, with a force led by a person they should understand is crooked." She grits her teeth, "I can't believe I used to look up to that old fogey, him and Dr. Frap."
"So we're being used as an exhibition, in order to test out how effective their augmentations are. They turn normal humans into these cyborgs in order to compete with our years of training and dedication." Chiaotzu glowered darkly.
"That makes things easy," Tien said.
"THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATIENCE! ANNOUNCING! TIEN VS AGENT AZULE!"
"We just have to crush their supposed exhibition and turn it on its head."
He stepped into the arena and looked at his opponent, the man who had defeated Launch.
"I suppose, based on your appearance, you're General Blue."
Agent Azule blinked in surprise, then smiled. "I guess the secret's out. I take it you have an idea of why we're here."
"You're making an exhibition out of us." Tien began, almost dispassionate in the way he looked at Agent Azule, "You're testing your prowess against us, the designs Gero visualized, vs the skills we cultivated, if you win, or at least, do well, you'll prove to the government that Gero is worth investing in, and they'll likely cut off the Tsukimi organization's funding and label them, and us, pariahs."
"I'm glad you understand." Azule extended out his hands, exerting his psychic power against Tien. "Now… I'll get vengeance against you bastards!" He charged forward, hand brimming with energy, aiming to kill Tien.
Tien did not move as the psychic energy continued to press against his body. And in only a few seconds, Azule was upon him, hand brimming with energy and aimed for his neck.
The air exploded with energy, causing a cloud of dust to billow, blocking the crowd's vision.
"HELD DOWN BY AZULE'S STRANGE POWER! IS THIS THE END OF TIENSHINHAN?"
The dust cleared, revealing what the Z Fighters already knew. Tien stood, bored, as the blade of energy hovered an inch away from his neck, unable to get closer.
"If this is the best of Dr. Gero." Tien's veins popped, eyes narrowing as his ki began to spike to full power. "You'll need a thousand years to catch up to me." With a single, gentle push, Tien launched Agent Azule backward launching him into the sky at Mach 7.
Jazz whistled in appreciation. "128 punches… he was mad." Tien didn't kill Azule, but he struck with enough force to break most of the man's bones if the cybernetic augmentations over his body still afforded him bones.
Tien's expression remained unchanging as he turned to the announcer. "He's not coming back."
The young man with blond hair and sunglasses gulped before lifting his mic. "...A-AMAZING! IN A SPLIT SECOND! TIEN SHOWED HIS OVERWHELMING POWER!"
"NOW ANNOUNCING! THE NEXT FIGHT! YAMCHA! VS! JAZZ!"
The two heard the crowd cheering in the background.
"Well, I guess it's my turn." Jazz began to slowly turn.
"Hey…" PaoPao smiled, "Be sure to win, or else Bulma will rub this victory in my face for years to come."
Jazz rolled his eyes, "Whatever you say, my dear." He grinned, kissing PaoPao on the hand.
…
Jazz and Yamcha stood across from each other, ignoring the sounds around them.
"So… the Red Ribbon army's being propped up to go after us?" Yamcha asked quietly.
"Yeah." Jazz responded.
"Well, I don't really care, we save people 'cause we can, I train 'cause I want to be the best. So their opinions don't matter too much." Yamcha's smile tightened. "At the moment, you're the person I'm most interested in fighting, so I'm not going to waste time thinking about politics."
Jazz's musculature began to swell slightly as a feral grin appeared on both his and Yamcha's faces. Yamcha leaped forward, fist first, and was met by Jazz's forearm. The air cracked with the force of their attacks as they began to ramp up the ante. Kicks, punches, swipes, body tackles. Everything went in this fight as they danced in the air and ground.
"EVEN WITH THE HIGH-SPEED CAMERA, WE CAN BARELY KEEP UP WITH WHAT'S GOING ON!"
Jazz smiled, even as he blocked Yamcha's punches and kicks, his arms and legs began to gain small cuts as a side effect of Yamcha's unique fighting style. Yamcha refined his wolf fang fist after spending time with the werewolves and after all the training he did with Kami, Roshi, and the others. The technique seemed to double his power, speed, and reflexes, emulating the greatest aspects of the animal kingdom.
Yamcha launched a flying knee forward, and as Jazz blocked, the scarred warrior opened his mouth, unleashing a screaming howl, amplified by ki. The force of this kiah nearly sent Jazz out of bounds. Jazz stopped his movements with his psychic ability and flew forward, catching Yamcha off guard with his sudden momentum shift. Yamcha barely raised his defenses to block a fist to his sides.
Jazz smiled, using his psychic power to move his body below Yamcha's without expending ki, which threw off the former bandit once more. In retaliation, Yamcha closed his eyes, deciding to rely on his advanced smell and hearing.
Jazz's technique relied on him using his psychic power in order to move in directions without telegraphing his movements. He was slower than normal flight, but the angles and shifts in momentum were so jarring that it would throw an opponent off guard. He was impressed that Yamcha, despite seeing him only demonstrate this technique during this fight, found a unique way to counter.
They continued their fight, switching from physical combat to ki control. Yamcha's powerful spirit ball technique, charged up by his pump up, began to chase Jazz, who countered by launching sharp blades of ki towards that ball, with the purpose of shaving off bits and pieces of the blast until it was weak enough for him to deflect or overcome with his own ki.
"Are you conserving energy?" Yamcha asked, irritated, "Shouldn't you be taking me seriously?"
Jazz smiled, "I am taking you seriously, Yamcha, hence why I'm conserving energy." He launched more slivers of ki at the spirit ball, slowly shaving off more and more of the attack's size until it was small enough for him to dissipate once he sliced through it.
Yamcha's grin changed into a snarl as 4 spirit balls appeared in each hand. He charged forward, launching the balls of energy in tandem with his movements.
Jazz flew back, dodging the mix of punches, slashes, and ki blasts as he got higher and higher into the air.
Yamcha's muscles swelled as his speed increased once more. "Since I'm up here, I don't have to worry about holding back!" The energy he projected began to skyrocket, shaking the air in their immediate vicinity. He howled once more, unleashing a Kiah that burst apart the clouds behind Jazz.
"Take this!" Yamcha shouted, combining the blasts into a corkscrew that drilled toward his red-haired friend.
Jazz extended his hand, and Yamcha watched in shock as the sky went white, blinding him for a few seconds. He cleared his vision just in time to see Jazz, standing almost completely unscathed from the attack. Jazz's appearance had shifted slightly, at least compared to his standard transformations. His skin was glossy black, metallic in sheen, and ended in razor-sharp claws. His hair had gone from its usual red to a very snowy white, and his grin was sharper, his normal teeth all seemingly replaced with shark-like canines.
"This is new…" Yamcha mused, "Is this your werewolf transformation?"
"Yes and no." Jazz responded, "I've added a bit of Southern Transformation flair into it." He contorted his body, twisting with the dexterity of a gymnast before rocketing forward, smashing his shoulder into Yamcha's stomach, launching the scared man towards the tiled floor.
Yamcha for his part tried to catch himself, but the momentum was too much, he managed to barely block a side tackle only to catch a heel kick to the face. Kami had taught him how to sense ki, which let him know Jazz wasn't stronger than him, or at least, wasn't projecting enough power to be stronger, so how…
"You're tired." Jazz said, as if reading Yamcha's thoughts, "You over fatigued yourself with that last move, so now that I'm going all out, you can't necessarily keep up as well as you could before." Jazz began throwing punches, kicks, and swipes at increasingly higher and more erratic movements, Yamcha for his part struggled to keep up, his fatigue growing larger and larger. "In your haste to specialize, as astounding a specialization as it was, you forgot to focus on the most important thing." Yamcha caught a punch, only to wince as Jazz slowly jerked the arm to the side, overpowering Yamcha's own formidable muscles. "You neglected your fundamentals. How often did you train with weighted clothing just below your limit? How often did you take the time to build up muscle all over again and refocus on general flexibility? How often did you practice general ki techniques? You are fast and instinctual in your movements, but did you practice flying to a dead stop after being launched by overwhelming force, intricate flight patterns, endurance vs speed, rapid shifts in movement due to altitude, combat efficiency, and other factors?" Jazz's blows were unseen, even to Yamcha now, who could only raise his guard to block his vitals and take Jazz's punishment. Jazz, upon realizing Yamcha no longer bothered attempting to dodge or deflect attacks, grabbed his limbs and hurtled toward the ground.
The arena shook with the force of impact, knocking some viewers off their seats. As the dust settled, they looked on in shock at the appearance of Jazz, skin as glossy as obsidian and hair white as snow, floating over Yamcha, who was breathing heavily and planted in the grass.
"ESCAPING EVEN THE NOTICE OF OUR CAMERAS! THE WINNER! JAZZ!"
Yamcha let a smile creep across if face as he reached a handout. "That was my loss, I'll take your criticisms into consideration."
Jazz smiled back, goodnaturedly, "Please, it's no problem." As they grasped hands, the crowd's cheering intensified, and they turned to see the reactions of the crowd. Jazz saw the smiles on most of the fighter's faces, Goku's extremely tense excitement, Bulma's irritated smirk, Launch's joking ribbing of Bulma, and PaoPao's… face full of shock. She was looking up and ahead, so captured by what she was viewing that the communicator in her hand slipped from her grasp, shattering to the floor.
Jazz felt the energy before he began to turn. It was massive and unrefined, not anywhere near Jazz's or any of the fighter's maximum output, but it was massive all the same.
It's… it feels like it should be around 20,000… stronger than Vegeta… but…
The power wasn't what shocked Jazz, if it was just about power, Jazz would be able to handle what was coming with ease, hell, unless there were tricks, he was confident that Launch and Chiaotzu would be able to defeat whoever this individual was. No, the issue wasn't the power, it was the fact that the person hurtling down from the heavens towards the arena grounds was on a Saiyan pod.
As Jazz watched, shock on his face, he flinched as he began to feel more ki signatures. 7 more pods began launching down towards the arena grounds. These powers dwarfed the first power of 20,000.
"Evacuate the tournament!" Jazz screamed, ki enhancing his voice. Saiyan pods landed like meteors, and 7 of them would annihilate the tournament grounds. He reached into his pocket, taking out a bag of Senzu he handed to each Z fighter and to PaoPao. He handed Yamcha two, one to heal him back to full, and the other for the same purpose as everyone else's.
The crowd began to panic and would have trampled each other if not for Tsukimi operatives directing them safely. It took less than 5 minutes for them to stream out of the pavilion fully, giving the team enough time to organize themselves.
"Lapis, Lazuli, I'm not going to repeat myself, you kids need to get out of here, take Bulma, Oolong, Puar, and Miguel out of here, now." Jazz said.
Lapis looked like he wanted to protest, but the power he felt from each person, especially from the second rapidly approaching powerlevel scared him. Lazuli took his hand, and he nodded, smiling at her. "You guys better handle this!" He shouted as he joined his sister to carry the ladies and Puar and Oolong out of there.
"Wow…" Goku watched as the pods landed. Jazz had ordered them to move back by half a mile, and he thanked him for the forewarning. The entire pavilion was nothing but ruble, stretching a quarter of a mile from the impact of the 8 pods. "Who are these guys? They feel so strong?"
"They don't feel friendly, that's for certain," Yamcha said, eyes narrowed. "Do you know about this, Jazz? Is this another secret of our future you kept hidden?"
Jazz's eyes were wide as he shook his head. "This was supposed to happen in 5 years… I don't know… I don't know what's going on…" He was wracking his brain for some reason, any reason for the future to change so drastically, but even more so, he was wondering how, or why, there'd even be 8 Saiyans in existence. Planet Vegeta should be smithereens, after all. Per the Super Broly movie, Vegeta had Nappa, Raditz, and 2 other companions that later died before the events of Z, it was possible that those 2 were still alive by this time, but why would all 5 come to Earth? It was only during Z that Raditz remembered that Goku was even alive because they planned to recruit Goku since he was full-on an adult by then. Goku was certainly considered an adult, at about 18, but it was still way too early. And that didn't explain the 3 other Saiyan pods, nor the massive power levels, even the weakest power he felt, the approximately 20,000, was stronger than Vegeta. He wracked his brain, because Gurumes existed, as well as the Sleeping Princess, he couldn't discount the existence of movie villains, it could possibly be Turles amongst them, but that saved space for two more Saiyans. Either version of Paragus and Broly would be worse than catastrophic. Broly, even if he was at most the highest power level he felt, around 150,500, was still capable of either Super Saiyan or Ikari mode, either form would, along with his rapidly increasing power, spell their ends unless Jazz risked with life with an 8 -16 times fusion.
The pods slowly opened. The first person to appear from a pod was a tall human, standing a good 6 feet and perhaps 2 or 3 inches tall. He had a massive widow's peak and even longer hair, long and spiky, draping over his back and just ending below his knees. He wore armor that fully covered his torso, with attachments that covered his shoulders, hips, and groin, but left his legs bare. Halfway down below his knees, he wore sturdy black boots with orange tips, matching the rest of the coloration of his Saiyan armor. A tail was wrapped around his hips, almost acting like a belt, causing most of the Z-Fighters to turn to Goku. Outside of the somewhat uncanny physical resemblance, the tail felt like a dead giveaway to whatever this person was.
"Raditz…" Jazz whispered quietly, with only Piccolo, who had elected to remain in the area to observe, overheard. It was Raditz, but it couldn't be, Jazz felt sick and confused as he used his eagle-like eyes to see the man's face closely. It was Raditz, but his power was too large, even if Jazz had become a bit more inaccurate with his power-level readings over time, Raditz was too powerful, the man should have been weaker than his kids, but he was boasting a power reading of 20,000. As Raditz began to float up in the air, Jazz noticed him adjusting his scouter, turning the green lens their way, measuring the power level of the humans around his brother. He paused when he laid his eyes on Tien, a scowl on his face, which was quickly replaced with a smirk as he flew ever closer. His face was close enough now that Jazz could see it, the Massive Black M, large enough that Jazz realized he couldn't be making up what he was seeing.
"He's getting closer. Get ready!" Tien prepared for a fight.
Once he was only a few dozen feet away, Raditz stopped getting closer. "I must say, brother, I'm impressed. You, who had been born with a power level of 2, are now boasting a power of 36,000, somehow you're even stronger than I am. I can see you've even gathered followers, some even more powerful than you, but none I'd consider completely trash. The Namekian is a surprise, but… I'm a little upset, brother…" He looked at Goku, venom dripping from his voice every time he voiced the word, brother, "why have you not committed your true purpose? Why have you not wiped out this planet's population? Answer me, Kakarot! With your power, and going Oozaru even once, this planet would be dust beneath you!"
"Are you talking to me?" Goku asked.
"Of course, I'm speaking to you, Kakarot!"
"I don't know what you're going on about, but my name is Goku. And I'd never do something as vile as killing everyone on Earth, it's my home."
Raditz blinked in irritation. "What the hell are you talking about? Planet Vegeta is your home! Did you lose your mind?!" His energy began to fluctuate erratically, radiating a sinister aura that reminded Jazz of Demon King Piccolo.
As he continued his rant, the other pods finally opened, revealing 6 men and 1 woman. None of them had the massive build, hairstyle, or fashion reminiscent of either Broly, but Jazz couldn't feel relieved.
He stared hard at the greatest power that began flying towards them. And could feel the shock, confusion, and fear reflected off the faces of his friends.
Goku for his part looked at this newcomer who led the herd of Saiyans with shock.
The Sayain, a man wore armor with the same coloration as Raditz, though his jumpsuit fully covered his legs and he had blue wrist guards, one could even see some physical features that made the two look similar, but most obvious was just how similar, no, identical, this man looked to Goku. If not for the cross-shaped scar on his right cheek, the man would look identical to Goku, from hair to height, to skin tone, and almost to build, with this saiyan being slightly more muscular than Goku. Like Raditz, the other Saiyans, Bardock included, had massive M's emblazoned on their foreheads.
"Raditz, what the hell are you doing?" The man barked out, irritation evident in his deep voice. "You were supposed to fly in formation with the rest of us, you idiot, what if they started hostilities early!"
Raditz rolled his eyes, "I'm sorry… father…"
Jazz felt his heart stopped as he turned towards the doppelganger of Goku, who snorted in irritation. "I am not, father, when on the field, I am captain." He turned towards Goku and smirked as he eyed the young man up and down. "Not half bad, kid, I didn't imagine you'd be anywhere this strong, especially without that bastard Babidi's interference."
"How dare you, father!" Raditz roared. Bardock's glare turned the long-haired Saiyan's countenance sullen.
"But, I do agree with your other brother, why didn't you conquer this planet, son? Certainly, it's not where you were going to be assigned, but it was still weak, at least by our scans, and Freeza would have had no interest in it."
"Who… who are you, and why do you look like me?!" Goku backed up, face twisting in anger and confusion.
The other Saiyans snickered, "Looks like he's confused, Bardock" one of them, a large, rotund Saiyan with an odd mustache grinned. "Maybe little Raditz is correct, he must have brain damage or something." Jazz's fear was confirmed, Bardock was alive, but if he was alive, that would mean Planet Vegeta wasn't destroyed a little after Goku's birth, but, if that's the case, why, why would that be the case?
Bardock raised a hand, silencing his crew. "Kakarot," he said, addressing Goku, "even if you don't remember after these 18 years, I'm surprised you can't tell. I'm your father, Bardock, you are my son, my second son."
…
…
Afterword:
Jasper(Jazz) Duncan
Age: 21 and 11 months
Hair color: Red
Skin color: white
Race: "Human"
Height: 6 feet 0.5 inches | 184.15 centimeters
Weight: 195 lbs | 88.4505 kilograms, currently weighs 1200 lbs | 544.3108 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, and 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, 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, and an advanced understanding of advanced magical techniques.
Shapeshifting: Mastered Skill level (indefinite)
Transformation Power Techniques
Noble Werewolf: True Awakening: 6.25x power
Ultimate Full Power: 6.4x
Talisman Magic: Body Enhancement: 5x Power, drains magical energy over time, lasts 30 minutes at full, before then draining ki,
1.5x level: can be used for 12 hours straight
2x level: can be used for 4 hours straight
3x: can be used for 2 hours
4x: Can be used for 1 hour
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, Sovereign Rain
Body Techniques: Four Witches Technique, 12 Eyes Technique, Fusion Dance, Wolf Fang Fist, Mafuba
Blessing from a "Friend": Enhanced strength, speed, stamina, durability, and senses, capable of surviving a 2 fold fusion without extreme backlash.
Powerlevel: 4260 (suppressed)
Power of Noble Werewolf: 26,625
Power of Ultimate Full Power: 27,264
Power of Talisman: 21,300
Noble + Full Power: 170,400
Noble +Full Power + Talisman: 852,000
Fusion Dance (10x)
Double Fusion Dance (100x)
…
After Afterword:
Be on the Lookout for the next chapter within a week. Let me know what you think, or feel, in the comments.