The clone of Jazz, who was currently actually 4 clones of Jazz, was playing hacky sack with his doubles with a bean bag when the scouter began blaring. Jazz turned it on, surprised to hear a familiar but alien tone from the other end.
"Ohohohoho! I heard there was someone out there who has the capability to kill monkeys and wished to pledge their services to me alone."
The Jazz clones all shut up except for one, who cleared his throat. "And who may I have the honor of speaking to?"
"Ah, I like your elegant tone, you have been graced by the indulging presence of Lord Freeza."
"I am honored, I have never caught a glimpse of you, but I'm awed by your consideration. Anyone capable of commanding the troop who attacked our planet is indeed supremely powerful."
"Ah, so you understand the effort it takes to raise effective warriors." Freeza's voice took a dark undertone, "Thus you understand my ire at the report of failure, caused by your resistance."
"You have my apologies, but in my opinion, and I think in yours as well, Earth is of little value monetarily, is is that not true?"
"...You are correct, it was simply an excuse of mine to exterminate some of the more troublesome Saiyans and tie up a loose end. So… tell me, Trespasser, what makes you so special?"
"Has Babidi not informed you?" Jazz asked, curiosity leaking out of his voice.
"No, that bastard barely holds an audience with me."
"Ah, all the more reason he must fear my existence. I have the power to suppress the Majin Seal."
"Really? Ohohohoho."
"Yes, I can negate its controlling effects, but keep you alive, and with the power gained."
"I see, well then, I can send a ship for you right away."
"Truth be told, Lord Freeza, I am sorry, the magic required to use this requires human life. I must sacrifice humans to generate the magic required, and too many humans died, I need at least 5 years to replenish the population and rear adults capable of being sacrificed for the ritual."
"A ritual?" Freeza was silent, "You mentioned no such thing to my subordinate, simply that you and a companion performed the magic, and now, I'm led to believe there is a ritual involved?"
"My lord… Freeza, I understand your ire, if you are willing to afford me those 5 years, I can promise I can scrounge at least 100 human lives to perform this ritual on a subordinate of your choosing you bring within this first year. The issue is, the more powerful a being, the more lives need to be sacrificed. Your monstrous power and reputation proceed you, I'll need an uncountable number of lives to free you from Babidi's shackles, enough that the Earth may never fully recover, even after using those five years to bolster the populace." The Jazz clone's brain worked overtime as he spun the wildest bullshit he could weave.
Freeza's reply came quickly. "Fine, I'll send for one of my more loyal soldiers to come to your planet discreetly, intercept and free them from Babidi's magic, but make sure they retain their power. If you can do this, I will believe you, otherwise, after that year's end I'll be coming to your planet with my full force."
"Thank you for your magnanimity. I shall not disappoint you."
"I appreciate the enthusiasm, even as I can't see your face. Ah, also." Freeza continued, "Your request to keep the Saiyan woman alive, why?"
"I was curious as to the woman Bardock kept screaming for as I brutalized him, if she was so eye-catching as to keep his attention, I think I'll have fun with her."
"Hmm, you have an odd taste, but there are many in my employ who reproduce sexually. If you are able to provide the service you claim, then when my subordinate comes back, another ship will be heading your way, with the Sayain woman on it."
"Really?!"
"Oh, wow, you're so excited I'm almost disgusted, but yes, think of it as a performance bonus. I like to reward my men for their excellent service and dedication, and I'd certainly reward someone powerful enough to put down those Saiyans and dangerous enough to give Babidi pause who swears fealty to me. Know that under my employ, the women of any species you desire will be yours, as soon as you conquer that planet for me."
"Yes, Lord Freeza." The Jazz clone waited until the scouter shut off before muting and turning it off.
"Barf." One Jazz said out loud.
"Vomit." Another added.
"Yuck." Another added.
"What a prick." The original clone, who held the scouter, agreed. "But, we've bought ourselves time."
"Okay, but where are we going to find the sacrifices for this fake ritual?" One clone queried.
The others looked at him like he was stupid.
"You… you do realize we can create clones, right? You also realize we can survive our throats being slit, and can also lower our power levels to near 0, if not 0 if our power is low enough, right?"
"Oh, yeah…" The called-out clone chuckled. "Um… so, do we designate ourselves with numbers or…?"
"NO," The others said in unison. "Do not. No numbers, no weird existential crisis shenanigans, we're literally the same dude and let's not entertain that."
"I guess that's fair."
…
"Good news, Lady PaoPao, we have an estimate on the casualties and damages." A robed man in a Japanese style Yakuta was carrying a large amount of documents. His eyes were bloodshot and he had bags under his eyes. "The costs to our facilities only total up to about 30 million Zeni, and while we had 25 agents in critical condition, the quick dissemination of Senzu beans cultivated by Reuben was instrumental in halting life-ending, but not immediately fatal, injuries. Unfortunately, the death tolls are on a grander scale worldwide. We're tallying the lives who are eligible for rebirth via the dragon balls, and lives that are unfortunately unable to be brought back."
PaoPao nodded, resting a hand on her forehead. She was in a large, spacious office, that would normally be full of her top aides, but unfortunately, they all had their hands tied. A large projector displayed a screen with several minute windows. Each window held the image of high-profile government officials, and in the center screen was the picture of the King of the World.
"Again, we thank the Tsukimi forces, if not for your quick work, the casualties would have reached the hundreds of thousands."
PaoPao nodded, "I am simply doing my duty."
One man, a stern-looking fellow in military camouflage narrowed his eyes. "Does doing your duty include flirting with your boyfriend in a frivolous fighting tournament?"
"General Dane! There's no reason to be so rude! What Lady Dango does in her spare time is her own business! Besides, this attack took us by surprise, our best scientists had no idea the meteors swarming towards the planet was an alien attack force."
"No one could have suspected this. Or else, they would have forewarned my organization. If you remember, General, my job is to protect the people on this planet from terrorism and excessive criminal activity from hostile powers. Our funding and jurisdiction, by your own orders, do not include access to intercontinental ballistic technology nor any independent access to satellites, criminal databases, or military reconnaissance. The majority of information gathered by my agents is through independent ground and air reconnaissance, through small teams of elite warriors specializing in stealth and espionage. As it is, we are lucky." PaoPao played a recording of Jazz's talks with the mysterious alien, Zarbon. If their plan was to simply destroy our planet, they might have done so from orbit, too far for us to counter, and we'd have had no ability to prevent retaliation."
"This does not bode well. In 5 years, these beings will return to our planet? With even stronger forces?"
"It's actually perfect, five years is more than enough time to prepare for a second invasion. We have a general gist of the power our enemies boast. And we have some understanding of their tactics due to the intel we've gained from the captured forces."
"And what is the reason why you've not passed them over to us?!" General Dane spat.
"With all due respect, General, you lack the manpower and resources to contain the vast majority of these alien men and women. The weakest of them is stronger than my standard warriors. And we are the only ones with access to the ki-suppressing pills."
"And why haven't you spread that technology out of the house? Or sent a detail of troops to assist our military units!?"
"Because, as per your own words General, we are, while an intrinsic part of the World's Government to be kept at an arm's length and not intermix. Tsukimi is loyal to the world, but also they are loyal to me, and the clashing of egos such a situation might cause will not be conducive. Besides…" She smiled brightly, "who do you think assisted Mark Satan in the production of his instructional videos? I'm aware that half a million copies of the entire instructional set were purchased as a military expenditure, and at only 25 zeni per set, a one-time bulk purchase seems quite economical to me." She stifled a laugh as she saw the General's reddening face. "Please, sir, I am not making fun of you, or your men's efforts, within the next few years I expect the military to boast soldiers capable of utilizing superhuman strength, speed, and durability, maybe before I die of old age, my organization will become redundant, but until then, I'll continue to hold the prisoners. You are all, of course, free to bring people to interrogate them as always."
"I believe Ms. Dango has made her point." The King sighed, "Unless anyone else has any questions, this meeting is adjourned."
"Actually, I do have a question." A woman called out.
PaoPao turned to the voice, a light smile on her face. "Ah, Ms. Secretary of Commerce." PaoPao loathed the woman. "What may I help you with?"
The Secretary of Commerce, a cat-based animal person, was tall and lean, with elegant features, she was modest in dressing wearing a full business suit, but that did little to fully hide her curves, PaoPao would not mind her if not for how vapid she would act in social settings. She had an inkling that the woman was playing on airs, but it was still annoying to deal with.
The cat-based animal person smiled widely, taking on an almost Cheshire grin as she spoke, "I'm actually a little curious, Ms. Dango. During the fight you and your companions waged against the main strike force, I'm aware your adopted children, led by the legendary Muten Roshi and 3 of Mr. Satan's strongest students fought to protect the venue guests from Saibamen after evacuating the area, getting them to a bunker before they rushed out to continue facing the rest of those plant monsters."
"Your point being?" PaoPao did her best to hide her impatience.
"I apologize, during that time, witnesses reported Bulma, daughter of the CEO of Capsule Corp. taking out 4 strange items, and two pairs of odd-looking green fans. Upon eye-witness statements, those who swung the fans could summon tornado-level winds with the scale of hurricanes. They could call down thunderstorms and even cause a slight pouring of water. Meteorology experts claimed that weather patterns seemed to crop out from nowhere, then disappeared soon after, as if magic. Is this a new technology your organization miraculously invented? Bulma has refused to answer our correspondence and her father claims he did not invent these items."
PaoPao's smile widened at the greed she saw in the woman's eyes. "Oh, those things? They're a birthday gift. My 'useless'..." she looked at the General, who scowled. "...Fiance, created those items, he's quite a talented person."
"Ah, yes, Jasper Duncan… perhaps you can invite him to one of these meetings? For someone that talented in invention, I believe his abilities are squandered if he wastes his time on giving them away like dollar-store trinkets."
"You are right, I shouldn't waste his time. Oh, but then why would I bring him to this meeting?" PaoPao retorted.
To PaoPao's annoyance, the Secretary of Commerce giggled at her dig. "Jittery about your boyfriend getting more female attention?"
The King growled, causing everyone to flinch. Adjusting his glasses, he spoke quickly, "We are working together for the betterment of the people of Earth, petty words do us no favors. Ms. Dango, if you wish to protect your close friend's desire for privacy, you may do so, but if you can, allow us to audience with him. As he is the man who seemingly bought us 5 years, and I'd like to thank him. As for you, Secretary Bells," he turned to the cat-animal-person, "don't tease our ally like this, I understand you likely have countless ideas for how lucrative the technology they have access to is, but right now, our most pressing matter is the victims." His words carried a finality to their tone that expected no question. PaoPao was reminded once again of why she respected the man so much, who she had heard looked at the Demon Lord Piccolo in the eyes without fear despite the monster's overwhelming power.
PaoPao let out a sigh of relief, stretching. It had been 3 months since the attack. The dragon balls were just about gathered and ready for use, and luckily, she had not heard a peep from the Red Ribbon army. Her friends for the most part had gone their separate ways, but not before celebrating Migeul giving birth and Goku and Chi-Chi's marriage. Jazz had sighed in relief seeing the little girl, whom Miguel and Mark named Videl, saying cryptically that in the back of his mind, he had feared his existence screwing with not just events, but births as well.
PaoPao felt some pang of jealousy seeing the two happy couples and had been surprised to learn that Chi-Chi was already pregnant, but nonetheless, she also understood that it was due to how busy she and Jazz had become that their relationship had not moved that far past the initial decision to be engaged. Jazz had his hands full training Lapis and Lazuli, alongside himself, while PaoPao managed disaster relief and oversaw the new upgrades to facilities she had commissioned through combined efforts of her finances, Bulma's technology, and Jazz's ability to produce almost any desired material known to and sometimes unknown to man. She pulled out her sword, marveling at its sharpness, it had yet to even dull or chip despite use, being made of a material supposedly called Katchin. He stated that as long as she never tried to use it against Katchin, nor fought against someone capable of breaking it, which he stated would have to be someone maybe ten times his strength maximum strength, she'd be completely safe.
PaoPao trained somewhat, but the majority of her training was devoted to her witchcraft, part of Jazz's plan included her learning the ins and outs of the Majin Marking technique and learning how to counter it. She was a long way coming but believes she could successfully suppress, as opposed to simply destroy via absorption, the technique in a year. In that, the Saiyans and other aliens were invaluable, each of them more than willing to share how the technique made them feel, and all, except the woman and the son of the lead saiyan, were willing to allow PaoPao to examine their bodies for the after-effects of the magic.
"Perhaps I should ask Goku how he fought that demon, Shura, the demons must have some knowledge of Makai magic…" she mused to herself as she made her way down the long halls of her home. As she walked, her ears began to pick up the heavy pounding of fists and grunting voices. She made her way closer, marveling at the intensity of the attack just from what her ears could detect.
"Ah, Lady Dango!" Two warriors bowed before her. They had stood guard by a pair of heavy doors. PaoPao nodded in their direction as she strode past them and through the doors.
"Ah! Mom!" PaoPao smiled wryly at the voice and extended her hands to hug Lazuli. The latter was covered head to toe in sweat and stunk of the stuff, but still, PaoPao rested her chin on her adopted daughter's blond hair. "How are you?"
"I'm honestly quite well." Lazuli giggled. "Lapis is over there." she pointed over to her brother, who was flopped over in exhaustion. The young boy raised a trembling hand up, then switched to a thumbs up before collapsing once again in exhaustion. PaoPao giggled at the sight, her gaze turning somber as she turned to see Piccolo jr meditating in a corner of the room. The being's power intimidated her, but she had little fear of him causing a ruckus in this room. She had noticed his consideration for her kids, especially for Lapis, and, even with all of that, she was confident in one man especially.
The sounds of fighting originated from two men exchanging blows, their energy strong enough to overwhelm even her best power. Despite the strength coming from them, she did not feel intimidated, as she did with Piccolo, instead, she felt pride, relief, and a great deal of warmth.
"Jazz!" She called out.
Jazz, who had split himself in two for this sparring match, turned to look down towards PaoPao. His smile was cut off when he hastily moved to block an attack from his clone.
"Hey, she was talking to you." The clone chuckled before it disappeared into Jazz's body.
Jazz sighed, lowering himself down to PaoPao. "Hey, how ar-" He was cut off by PaoPao's sudden embrace. "Mm!" The sudden shock of her lips meeting his left him warm, almost too soon she separated. "I smell of sweat," Jazz had a goofy smile.
"You've not been able to see your fiance in 5 days, and that's the best response you have to her kissing you?" PaoPao retorted, smiling in turn.
"I mean, I had something witty, maybe even entertaining, but at the moment I'm drawing blanks."
"Well, you better think hard then, I certainly don't like you for your looks." PaoPao teased.
"Ouch." Jazz pantomimed clutching his chest as if shot, smiling wider as PaoPao giggled at his display. They embraced again, as Jazz then asked. "Okay, so… how are you?"
"Just awful, the government's attempting to find any excuse to cut funding. And I still can't pin down who's helping the Red Ribbon Army."
"I'm sorry you're going through that. You'd think they'd appreciate your sincerity and the work the Tsukimi organization has put in a little more."
"Times of peace breed complacency. We were so peaceful that they began to question the use of the Tsukimi and the fear associated with how strong we were. I'm not surprised someone turned to the Red Ribbon Army, but I'm worried about how far they'll go. I hate the idea that they'll kidnap people like they did Eighter."
"I'm worried too, but right now, our priority is preparing for Freeza, the Saiyans, and his army. If the Red Ribbon Army knows what it's got coming, they'll be silent. I'm simply annoyed those agents of theirs disappeared in the chaos."
The Red Ribbon Army members, Agent Azule, Agent Argent, Mrs. Morada, and Agent Violet had disappeared sometime before the conflict was fully resolved with the Saiyans, Jazz had been shocked to hear that Argent and Violet stayed to even help fight a little, but according to the former Red Ribbon Army member, Rueben, they were once all friends and he believed in their supposed better nature. Jazz did not think much of Rueben, outside his exceptionality as another outlier in the timeline. That a normal person, a former villainous henchman with no name in the manga no less, would do something as momentous as cultivate Senzu Beans and more than quadruple their number over the years was nothing short of miraculous. So many people out from the woodwork demonstrated exceptional skill, especially that one Tsukimi Agent, Taiga, that guy was, and still is, exceptional.
"Why are you thinking so hard?" PaoPao asked, concern on her face.
"Oh, nothing, just still thinking about those agents, and about the strange devices they used to track our energy signatures. The items were rudimentary in comparison to, but they really did…"
"They resembled the scouters in function, and somewhat in form." PaoPao nodded, "the only real difference being, well, everything else, from materials to circuitry, to the way they are charged."
"That is true, it's just sorta uncanny."
"If Dr. Gero did not so believe in control, perhaps we could have been allies, he may have helped humanity reach the stars by now." PaoPao closed her eyes. "I have distaste for the man, but I still have some sympathy, since he lost his son before his eyes."
"No matter what happens, we have it handled. You have agents scouring the world for him, and the second we get a whiff, I'll be there to finish the job. I promise. And if, on the small chance he actually wants to turn over a new leaf, we'll let him thrive, on the world's smallest leash."
PaoPao laughed at Jazz's confident tone. "I love that about you."
"Oh?"
"Just how self-assured you normally are. When you've decided to do something, you do it, regardless of how foolish or inefficient others think you are, you stick by your principles." She leaned over to kiss Jazz again.
"Can you guys, please get a ROOM!" Lapis screamed, "I'm going to hurl!"
…
Afterword:
Jasper(Jazz) Duncan
Age: 22 and 3 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 1400 lbs | 635.0292 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: 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 6.4x
Talisman Magic: Body Enhancement: 5x Power, drains magical energy over time, lasts 30 minutes and 15 seconds at full, before then draining ki,
1.5x level: can be used for 13 hours straight
2x level: can be used for 4.75 hours straight
3x: can be used for 2 hours and 20 minutes
4x: Can be used for 1 hour and 1 minute
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, and senses, capable of achieving a 2 fold fusion without backlash and at the full time.
Powerlevel: 4579 (suppressed) (Real powerlevel: 11676)
Power of Noble Werewolf: 28,618
Power of Ultimate Full Power: 29,305
Power of Talisman: 22,895
Noble + Full Power: 183,160
Noble +Full Power + Talisman: 915,800
Fusion Dance (10x)
Double Fusion Dance (100x)
…
AfterAfterword:
Things start a bit slowly before they pick up again. We have 5 years before the Saiyan Saga should have started for real. While large swaths of this time period will be blitzed over, as it's all about training, there are some slice of life situations that need to be established.