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Chapter Text

Pearly black eyes peeled open, drowsy and clouded. They tried to absorb any info they could gather. Everything around them seemed to be familiar, though the one behind the eyes couldn’t seem to place where from. A movie? Perhaps a game of some kind. Either way, it was dark, barely any light peeking through at all, most coming from the various small lights on buttons and such strewn about. 

An attempted stretch was what informed the occupant that she was in a tightly enclosed space. Her shoes pressed against cold metal ahead of her, hands against soft cushions behind. 

Following her disappointing stretch, she again tried to observe her enclosure. Despite how dark it was, she could see it was just about entirely white. The only obvious part that wasn’t was the round, dark red window. She couldn’t see much outside it either, as it was completely dark besides the stars in the sky. Odd, she didn’t feel like she was laying back.  

A voice broke her thoughts, coming from a device she hadn’t even registered was attached to her ear and covering her left eye. The voice sounded oddly familiar. “Good, you three are awake. We’ll be landing soon enough. Prepare yourselves.”

She tried to place where she recognized that voice from but her head felt so fuzzy. Everything about this felt so familiar, just out of her mental reach. She didn’t have time to figure it out though, as her little pod began shaking rather violently. A screen lit up to her side, warning that the atmosphere was thick but breathable. She struggled to wrap her head around the information while being shaken as violently as she was.

It all came to a surprisingly soft stop when her pod finally crashed down, followed by three others just moments behind hers. The metal plate holding the red window fell forward, revealing it as a door to her. Her breath was stolen from her, a suffocating pressure holding it just out of reach. 

Her desperate attempts to gasp for air made it difficult to move in a smooth way. Despite this, she managed to grab onto the edge of her pod doorframe and pull herself out of it with rather surprising ease. She stood up straight and took in her surroundings. The rocky terrain around them had fresh dust still settling from their impact, which still had her reeling along with everything else. The rocks were a dry, light brown and the sky was a deep yellow. She was surprised it was breathable at all. She saw now why it was so difficult. There were also a few trees with blue leaves scattered about, though they were few and far between. 

The other three pods to the left of hers opened up, revealing the occupants. The first was an average height man with thick black hair all the way down to his knees. She immediately recognized him as Raditz, Goku's brother. But how? Dragon Ball was just a manga-turned-anime. There was no way he could actually be standing beside her. 

As if to prove her wrong, next a tall, muscular, bald man with a thin handlebar mustache pulled himself out of his pod. Nappa. So the next would have to be..

Vegeta, the shorter man with tall pointed hair, exuded intimidation. Quite frankly, he was terrifying, despite him being shorter than her. She knew she recognized that voice earlier. He was even more scary when he looked her way, a clear look of disdain on his face. In fact, they all seemed to look at her that way. She couldn't help but wonder why. 

"Alright, you all know the drill. Find and eliminate any intelligent life forms on this planet. The more you get, the bigger the cut you get." Vegeta didn't wait to see if any of them had any questions before blasting off in a different direction, surely to do exactly as he said.

Nappa spoke up next. "You heard him, hurry up and do your part. I don't wanna hear any complaints from the two of you."

He flew off in the opposite direction of Vegeta, his aura a typical white compared to Vegeta's purple. Raditz looked at her and grunted to himself before speaking. "I will stay nearby in case you're in trouble. I know you likely will be."

She stared after him, disbelief on her face. Was he trying to be nice to her? It was clear he didn't hold a very high opinion of her, so for him to offer help took her by surprise. 

Before she could get past her shock, something even stranger happened. A blue, transparent screen appeared in front of her, though she couldn't tell from where. On it read a simple message: 

New Quest!

Kill more Tritekians than the other Saiyans. Remaining: 60,378

   - Vegeta: 65

  - Nappa: 20

  - Raditz: 3

  - You: 0

For a brief moment, she was surprised it kept track of how many the others had killed. This was, of course, before the shock and disgust settled in that they had already killed that many. She tried to push it away, telling herself that this was just a dream or something. It had to be, Dragon Ball wasn't real, she couldn't actually be here. Her struggling breath certainly felt real though..

She pulled her mind away from those thoughts by focusing on the screen. It reminded her of something she'd see in an RPG or something. For a moment, she wasn't sure what to do when the screen went away, but when she thought about it, it appeared in her vision once again. 

She willed the screen away, ignoring the rapidly rising numbers beside everyone else. She wondered if, like an RPG, she had a stat screen. The moment she thought it, a new screen appeared. 

Welcome to the Personal Statistics Data System (PSDS for short)!

A brief explanation will be shown

Stats Explained:

Race: What your race is. This cannot be changed under normal circumstances.

Titles: What titles you have and their effects. (+1 slot every 5 levels)

Lvl: Your level. Increases as you get exp.

Exp: Your Experience points.

Req Exp: The amount of Exp needed to level up. Increase Required amount by 100 every 5 levels. (Current: +100 every lvl)

Sp: Skill Points. How many skill points you have. Skill points can be used to level up or purchase new skills.

PL: Power Level. This is overall how powerful you are. 

Hp: Hit Points. Current and maximum amount of health you have.

Ki: Current and maximum amount of ki you have.

Atk: How much damage your physical attacks do.

Ki Atk: How much damage your ki attacks do.

Def: How much damage you take when hit.

Spd: Your speed. How fast you can move.

Level Up Effect

(Includes Added Effects)

Hp: +5

Ki: +5

Atk: +1

Ki Atk: +1

Def: +1

Spd: +1

Power Level Calculation

All numbers are rounded up to the nearest whole number.

(((Hp/4) + (Ki/4) + Atk + Ki Atk + (Def/2) + (Spd/2)) x Lvl) + Zenkai Boost [0%] = PL

She looked over everything in front of her, trying to take it all in. It was a lot of information, however, and she felt she probably missed something. If need be, she could just look it over again later, she was sure. Most of it was pretty simple, though the power level calculation made her head spin a bit with all the numbers and parentheses. She willed it away for now and a new screen took its place.

Stats

Name: Jica

Race: Half-Appullite/Half-Saiyan

Title: (1 Free Slots)

Lvl: 3

Exp: 0

Req Exp: 300

Sp: 3

PL: 219

Hp: 100/100

Ki: 120/120

Atk: 6

Ki Atk: 7

Def: 4

Spd: 6

Titles

None

Active Skills

Flight (Lvl 3):

Focus your ki beneath you and take flight.

(5 Ki/Sec.)

Ki Blast (Lvl 1):

Fire a small blast of Ki.

(10 Ki, Chargeable)

Ki Beam (Lvl 1):

Fire a small continuous beam of ki. 

(30 Ki, Chargeable)

Passive Skills

Saiyan Zenkai Boost:

Recovering from 10% Hp or less grants a 10% boost to PL. (x0)

Hp Regeneration (Lvl 1):

Regenerates .1% of max Hp per minute. Effect multiplied by 5 when asleep.

Ki Regeneration (Lvl 1):

Regenerates .1% of max Ki per second.

Effect multiplied by 5 when asleep.

The girl, named Jica apparently, looked over it all. Her eyes drifted toward her power level first of all and she couldn't help but feel disappointed with how low it was. She wasn't even half as strong as Raditz. No wonder they all looked down at her. Her suspicion was strengthened when she saw she was only half Saiyan, though she didn't recognize the other half. It made her think of Appule, though she couldn't be sure. 

She was ripped from her thoughts, the screen disappearing from her view. Screams sounded from nearby and a body flew down toward her. It was charred, though she could see it was originally rather bug-like. 

"That is what we should be seeing, Jica, not you just standing there like an idiot!" She heard Raditz shout from above her. She looked up at him and saw his outline against the bright yellow sun behind him. 

"Ri-right!" She yelled back and hurried her way up the crater away from him. When she got to a point that it was too steep to climb on foot, she decided to try her new skill, Flight. She did as the description told her and... Nothing happened. She remained where she was standing.

Jica looked behind her, breathing a sigh of relief when Raditz wasn't there. It would've been horrifying, as well as plain embarrassing. 

She thought for a moment, trying to figure out how she was supposed to fly. After just a brief moment, she decided to simply try activating the skill the same way she pulled up her little screens. To her delight, it worked exactly as she thought. Her feet shakily lifted off the ground and she flew upward toward the ledge. It was a slow process but she landed just a few moments later. She decided to pull up her stat sheet to see what her Ki was at.

Ki: 70/120

That took a lot more out of her than she liked to admit, and she could definitely feel it. It felt like she just finished a short run. Worn out, but not like she was ready to keel over. She took a moment to catch her breath and jogged into the 'forest', though calling it that was a stretch. It was just where the thinly dispersed trees were the densest.

She didn't have to go far. She found herself standing on a cliffside, looking down at a small village of them. She wondered how strong they were for a moment before nearly slapping herself due to her stupidity. The scouter! Duh! 

She tapped her scouter a few times, figuring out how it worked first. It was rather intuitive really. One tap did a general scan, another did one the way you were looking, and one more looked for the strongest power level it could find. She was thankful the language was her own or else it would make things much more difficult. In general, they weren't too strong, the highest seeming to have a power level of about 115. She shouldn't have too much trouble, she figured. She hoped.

Then she stopped again. Could she really kill them? They were innocent. They didn't deserve to die. But.. Vegeta and the others would kill them anyway, and possibly her if she didn't want to do it. She was already as weak as she was, being hesitant would just make everything worse. But could she do it? Could she live with herself if she did this? Vegeta did, later in his life. Surely she could too... Right? 

She took a shaky breath, still struggling to even get it down. The thick atmosphere around her made it difficult to think straight. Maybe that was why she felt she could do this. Maybe it was the adrenaline of whatever situation she found herself in. Maybe it was the threat to her life if she didn't do this. She wasn't sure. All she knew was that she had to do this. So she was going to do it.

She took another deep breath, more steady this time. If she was doing this, she had to be confident. Ready. Prepared for a fight.

She stood upright and let herself slide down the steep, loose dirt. Her entrance brought the attention of the villagers and they immediately took up arms. At least she could tell herself she was defending herself later if she needed to. 

She pulled up her Ki again, hoping it had regenerated a bit. She felt a lot better so she thought it did.

Ki: 105/120

She smiled to herself. Good, she thought. She focused on the Ki Blast skill and let her smile creep into a dark grin. She did whatever she could to embrace whatever sadistic side she may have and threw it at one of the bug aliens that we're charging at her. A large plume of smoke and dust surrounded the area and she used it as an opportunity to get back and gain some distance. Her scouter told her that the one she hit had died and the ones around them were at least injured. She felt her stomach turn at that information and did her best to push down the rising bile. 

Before the dust settled, two aliens lunged out of the dust at where she had been before, their poorly made sharp spears sticking into the ground. Her scouter beeped, alerting her to another, more powerful, one charging her. It swiped at her with its claws and she nearly fell, dodging the attack. She kicked it hard in the midsection and felt her stomach flip again when she heard something crunch. 

The bug flew away, slamming into two others that caught it. The scouter told her its power level was dropping rapidly. At least it would be dead quickly.

She spun around just in time to move out of the way of the two with spears. One caught her in the side, though not that bad. It burned but she could ignore it. She was really wishing she actually knew how to fight. Right now, she was just throwing herself around and the only reason she was doing so well was because her power level was so much higher than theirs.

Unfortunately, that couldn't carry her forever. She grabbed one of the spears and kicked the one holding it away, before sticking it through the chest area of the other spear wielder. She didn't even have time to grieve when she took a sharp kick to the right side. She flew back and skidded across the ground. Blood seeped out of where the clawed kick hit her. 

She held her side and pushed herself up to a sitting position. The one that hit her was the one with the 115 power level. She took a few breaths, struggling to gulp it down, seething at the burning both in her lungs and her side. 

The powerful Tritekian rushed her. She rolled away just in time, kicking the leg that just about slammed into her. When the bug fell, she used a Ki Beam, holding it to make sure she killed the thing. When she let it go, she saw the charred corpse of the alien and finally let the contents of her stomach out. She vomited onto the rock beneath her, making sure not to get any on herself. As she pulled herself to her feet, panting, she checked her Ki again.

Ki: 16/120

She breathed out a heavy exhale, pulling herself to her feet to prepare herself for more.

—————————————————————

Jica laid on her back, sweat dripping down her face, a small pool of blood around her. The bleeding had stopped just a few minutes ago but she felt like every last bit of energy was draining from her. She mentally pulled up her stat screen once again. 

Hp: 8/100

Ki: 2/120

Talk about a close call. She coughed and groaned from the pain of doing so. Her attention was drawn away from the pain when another screen appeared, covering the first.

Level Up!!

Stat Level Up: Ki!!

Stat Level Up: Atk!!

Stat Level Up: Ki Atk!!

Stat Level Up: Def!!

Ki Blast Level Up!!

Ki Beam Level Up!!

Zenkai Boost!!

New Stats

Name: Jica

Race: Half-Appullin/Half-Saiyan

Title: (1 Free Slot)

Lvl: 4

Exp: 120

Req Exp: 400

Sp: 4

PL: 370

Hp: 13/105

Ki: 12/130

Atk: 8

Ki Atk: 9

Def: 6

Spd: 7

Active Skills

Ki Blast (Lvl 2):

Fire a small blast of Ki.

(9 Ki, Chargeable)

Ki Beam (Lvl 2):

Fire a small continuous beam of ki. 

(29 Ki, Chargeable)

Passive Skills

Saiyan Zenkai Boost:

Recovering from 10% Hp or less grants a 10% boost to PL. (x1)

She read over all the information she had just been given. If she had the energy, she would've celebrated the news. She had grown so much just from that one fight. She better have with how much pain she had to go through. Though it did raise some questions. Could she raise her stats and skills separately from the levels? Was there any way to increase how many stats she got per level? And what were these skill points for anyway? She hadn't had time to question them earlier.

She pulled up the stat explanation chart again. It didn't say anything about raising stats independently of leveling, but it did tell her what skill points were for. They were, to no real surprise, points you could use to level up your various skills. What she hadn't expected, however, was for it to let her purchase new ones. 

Interrupted once again, the voice of Raditz pulled her from her thoughts. He spoke loudly, as he was still approaching from a distance. "It's about damn time you find that killer instinct of yours. Any longer and we would have killed you ourselves." 

He spoke with both irritation and something akin to happiness. "You beat me this time, Jica, but it's only because I let you. I wanted to see how well you did now that you pulled your head out of your ass."

Jica couldn't help but let out an exhausted laugh. "How.... How many... did you get?" She spoke between coughs. Each one felt like hell on her body. Raditz looked at her as if she were a completely different person. To be fair, she was. 

"One hundred and six. And if I counted right, yours was just above one hundred and twenty, yes?"

Jica showed herself thinking for a moment but in reality, she was looking at the quest screen again. 

Kill more Tritekians than the other Saiyans. Remaining: 0

  - Vegeta: 31,782

  - Nappa: 28,364

  - Raditz: 108

  - You: 124

Congratulations!! You finished third! You have earned a reward!

250 Exp awarded

1 Sp awarded

It wasn't as big of a reward as she was hoping, but she imagined it was because she only came in third. Still, it was something she only got once per level, just given to her. She felt pretty good about it either way. Plus the experience almost got her up another level!

She almost missed the fact that Raditz miscounted his own kill count. Oh.. she didn't like thinking of it that way. When she did, it meant she had over one hundred lives taken by her hands. 

Burying that thought, she decided not to mention his miscount. It would be odd for her to know. "One twenty-four." Was her response. 

Raditz let out a huff and stepped closer. He held a hand down to her to help her up. "We'll both be getting the short end of Prince Vegeta's wrath from how low our kills were. It's no matter though, now that you've awakened this part of yourself. He'll be pleased to hear of that."

Jica took his hand, making sure to squeeze his with all she had. She knew she shouldn't look weak and, if this was anything like home, a firm grip showed that she was strong. She was pulled to her feet and nearly  toppled over from how easily he lifted her. 

"Thanks" Jica stood up straight, ignoring the ribs that were crying out to her to not do so. She started limping her way back to the space pods, holding back a groan as she realized she had to climb back up the small cliffside. She decided to look at her Ki again. She had rested for a few minutes at least.

Ki: 53/130

She was happy to see the number so high again already. Her regen felt really high already. Maybe she should focus on leveling that with her skill points, she thought. As quickly as she could, she activated her flight and pushed herself up into the sky. She touched down, finding she only dropped about twenty Ki. 

Raditz hadn't offered to help her back to the space pods but he hasn't left her side either. Maybe he really did care? Or perhaps he just wanted to make sure he wouldn't become the weakest one. She could hardly say, though she leaned toward the latter. 

—————————————————————

She leaned on her small ship, going over everything in her head. She tried not to think about the 'her killing people' part and focus more on the fact that she was now in the Dragon Ball universe, something she knew as a fake world before now. What she felt wasn't fake though. That was real pain and real blood. Real murder.

She was a fan of the series in her home world. She never read the manga but she played the games a lot and watched the show when she was a kid. Some of the specific details were fuzzy because of that, since the games usually skipped the less action-packed parts, but she knew most of the story of Z by heart. Super had lost her toward the beginning of the Tournament of Power arc though and she never actually watched the original Dragon Ball, though she always planned to. That was until she... 

Wait, what did happen to her? Did she die? She didn't remember dying, but those isekai stories usually started out with something like that. She remembered doing her usual thing, going to work her boring cashier job in the morning and coming home in the afternoon to her small apartment. She watered her plants, did her chores, played her games and read her books, then went to bed like usual. It was a typical day in her life. So what caused her to come here? Did she die in her sleep? If so, did her few friends miss her? Her mom or brother? She hoped they were okay. Better off than her at least. 

Vegeta cleared her thoughts along with his throat when he approached. He was the last to return. Nappa had just a few minutes before. They both looked more or less fine, though Nappa was still a bit out of breath. Raditz was fine too, though apparently he had been watching her fight. 

The short man looked at her with disdain. "Did you finally almost go and die on us? Serves a weakling like you right." He spat to the side. "Come now, tell me all your numbers. They need to be reported to Frieza."

Jica noted the lack of a title before the name Frieza. So he was still just as open about his dislike of that demon as ever. That was good, at least.

When Nappa and Vegeta heard that she had more takedowns than Raditz though, both thought they were lying. When Raditz explained what he saw in her and that he observed her, Vegeta's attitude changed. He seemed much happier about it. 

"So, the spineless coward finally grew some backbone, is that it? Good. In that case, I have an idea. Though as much as it kills me, I need to speak to Frieza himself first."

Using that as a way to excuse himself, Vegeta hopped up the crater side and out of earshot. Was he actually going to talk with Frieza? Doubtful, probably just one of his subordinates. She grew visibly calmer when he left and Nappa took notice.

"Still scared of the crown prince, are ya kid? Good, you should be. If you weren't one of us, you'd be dead already." The beast of a man continued to pick on her until Vegeta returned. She simply ignored him to the best of her ability. 

He really was exactly as she had imagined from the show. Cocky without much behind the eyes. She really wished she could show him just how weak he was compared to everyone from the rest of the series. In time, she told herself. 

She distracted herself by looking herself over as best as she could. Looking in the reflective red glass of her space pod, she could tell that she looked like a normal Saiyan. That is to say, she looked like a human with a fuzzy tail, stark black eyes, and sharp looking black hair that was shaved on one side and short and fluffy on the other, almost shoulder length. She hadn't even truly noticed her tail before. It was wrapped around her waist in a way that it seemed it evolutionarily just did that, like how your hand naturally sits half clenched. The only thing that truly made her stand out was that she was covered in purple spots, much like Appule was covered in yellow. Hers laid differently on her though. They covered the top side of her arms and ran under her armor. They reached up her neck a bit before stopping. She could infer that they continued down her body as well because they ran down and around her bare legs, stopping mid-calf. 

She jumped slightly when she heard Vegeta speak. She didn't even notice him coming. "Nappa, you and I are moving on to the next planet. Raditz, you are to take Jica to Frieza planet 79 to heal. Afterward, you both shall go to Earth for your brother, like you've been wanting. Do not disappoint, you two." He stayed silent for a moment before looking her in the eye to keep talking. "We need Kakarot because the next planet we're all going to is dangerous. We'll almost assuredly need to use the Oozaru form, which means you need to get stronger if you're actually trying to pull your own weight for once. Jica, I either expect good news about you or I expect you not to come back."

He spoke in a demanding way that showed his royal descent. He truly was an elegant man considering how brash and arrogant the rest of his race was. 

Jica watched as Raditz opened the pod - after telling Vegeta he would make sure she followed his order - by placing his hand on its side. She followed what he did and placed her hand on the side of her own pod. She was glad when it did what she wanted. The last thing she wanted was to do something stupid in front of these three.

She collapsed into her pod. The door closed and she immediately felt her breathing come to her easier. It had been so hard for so long, she nearly forgot how easy it once was. 

A few unfamiliar screens lit up. They appeared to be the navigation system. She tapped around on it, unsure of what exactly to do. She typed out 'Frieza Planet 79' on the keyboard, disappointed when it didn't work. Raditz's ship started to lift up into the air, making her panic. 

Hitting random buttons and keys, hoping something would work, seemed to prove fruitful. Her pod rose up like Raditz's did and launched after it. She wasn't sure if it was going where she wanted it to or if it was just following Raditz, but she was happy with it either way. 

Finally, after hours of confusion, pain, and held back tears, Jica was able to just stop for a while. She made sure her scouter's mic was off before letting the droplets spill from her eyes. She had no idea what was happening to her or why she was here. Sure, being in the Dragon Ball universe was something she had always thought about, but realistically, she knew it was a scary, violent world. Hell, she had been in it for hardly any time at all and had already been forced into a kill or be killed situation. 

She couldn't hold back the emotion from overflowing, no matter how much it hurt. Her head thundered away and her body ached in a way she had never experienced before. Before this, she had been a fairly normal girl. She was on the cross country team when she was in high school, though she didn't keep it up in college. She was also a fairly nerdy sort of girl, being a fan of some of the bigger anime and playing video games in most of her free time. Pretty stereotypical admittedly.

Going from an introverted, dorky type who liked to run to a world like this one was horrifying. She had hardly ever even thrown a punch, let alone *killed* something. And now... Now she had a body count of over a hundred. 

Externally, she told herself that it was just to survive this crazy situation. Internally though, she saw herself as a monster. How was her life more important than any others, let alone a hundred? When she asked herself this, the only answer she had was that it wasn't. Her life wasn't more important. She was just a first year college student. She didn't offer anything more than any of them did. 

These thoughts plagued her mind for what felt like forever. Eventually though, she started to pull herself out of it. She spoke low to herself, almost afraid someone would hear her, even though she knew nobody could. "I'll make up for it. Vegeta said I'm supposed to go to Earth for Goku. I'll make sure things go right and I'll do whatever I can to keep this world safe. If I'm in a place like this with abilities like mine, then I have to."

She let herself sit with those thoughts a while longer. She wanted to remember this feeling, this determination. She wanted to be sure she could pull from this later, when she was sure to need it. If she was really planning to help the Z-fighters, that meant she would end up fighting Vegeta eventually. The thought terrified her.

She shifted her focus to the rpg-like power she had been given. She'd seen people call it "the gamer" in fanfiction, but that was so cheesy. What had it called itself before? 

This thought brought up a screen telling her it was called the PSDS. Well, that answered that. Her mind went back to right after her... fight, when she looked into the skill points. She pulled up her stat screen again to see she had five points. She could put them into her skills or she could try and buy some new ones. If she put them into her skills, she would probably put them into her passive ones. Her active skills seemed to level on their own through use easily enough. When she checked, she found she couldn't use her skill points to give herself a zenkai boost. That figured.

She tried thinking about opening the skill shop and it appeared just like the other screens would. She skimmed through it, finding that basically any technique she could think of was in there. Ones the Z-fighters would use like the turtle style Kamehameha, Krillin's Kienzan, and Tien's Tri Beam, to ones other people would use like Frieza's Death Ball, Burter's Blue Hurricane, and Nappa's Bomber DX. A specific few caught her attention more than the others though. 

Super Ghost Kamikaze Attack (Lvl 1)

Create a ghost-like figure that attacks whatever enemy to direct it to. Explodes on impact.

500 Ki per ghost

Cost: 15 Sp

Kaioken (Lvl 1)

Slowly drain Hp and lower Def for a boost to Atk and Ki Atk. 

 -10 Hp/sec, Def/4, Atk x 1.5, Ki Atk x 1.5

Cost: 10 Sp

Multi-form (Lvl 1)

Cut all stats in half and create a complete copy of yourself. You can absorb the clone to retrieve your stats. Any stats lost via clone recover from full night's sleep. 

All Stats/2, Time Limit - 15 minutes

Cost: 5 Sp

Hellzone Grenade (Lvl 1)

Unleash multiple balls of highly condensed energy that float where you see fit. Can throw them at the opponent when desired.

100 Ki per ball

Cost: 10 Sp

These had always been some of her favorite techniques throughout the series. Especially the Kaioken. Even though it was nearly unusable to her right now, she was really tempted to save up for it. But that was just it. She couldn't use it yet, and she could afford and use the Multi-Form technique right away. But the Kaioken was her favorite...

She decided to sleep on it. She was tired and everything hurt. She had a long ride anyway. It was time for the final test for this PSDS. It said it sped up her healing by five times when she slept. She decided to put that to the test. 

Jica laid her head back and allowed the sweet embrace of sleep to take over.

Chapter Text

The pod door opened, letting the air inside Jica's pod escape and flood with the considerably thinner air of Frieza Planet 79. It was still breathable, easier than it was on Planet Tritek. She carefully pulled herself out of her pod, and looked around. The rounded white buildings stood high above her head. They reached up into a sky so clear, it was like she was standing in space still. Below her was a lush blue-green forest that spread out as far as her eyes could see.

She was aware of the matching pod that landed not too far from her own on its own landing pad. Raditz was there and he had some questions for her. First and foremost; how was she already fully healed? She had thought long and hard over this and she thought up a possible way to get around his suspicion. It all depended on his knowledge in a certain subject.

Precisely as she expected, he made his way over to her in more of a hurry than one would normally expect from him. He also had a clear look of frustration painted on his face. All he said was "Come with me," before storming off toward the entrance to the building before them.

Jica followed behind him, making sure to keep her distance while remaining close enough for him to know she was following. She wasn't sure where they were going so she did her best to memorize the path they took coming in. It was hard to guess how he would react after all. 

They came to a stop in front a door. He made a head gesture that told her to go in. The door slid to the side, revealing something she hadn't expected. She wasn't sure what exactly she *did* expect, but the space equivalent of a clean hotel room wasn't it. She whipped her head around, fearful thoughts running through her head. Luckily, he was leaning against the wall by the door. 

"Prince Vegeta expected you to need at least a day in a healing chamber, maybe more, so he made sure to set me up a room to stay in." The man before her explained. "Though it appears that was a mistake. Explain to me how you are already healed of your wounds. Now."

His tone left no room for argument, though she didn't expect there to be. A sigh escaped her. He at least seemed to be wanting her to have privacy as she explained. She had thought this part out because her stat screen said she didn't have a single Zenkai boost until now. "Well, I haven't been seriously injured in my time with you three, correct?" He shook his head, poorly hiding a scowl. "Well, do you know much about Appullites?"

Another head shake from him. "The only thing I know of them is that the crown prince Appule, though rather weak, is a part of Frieza's lower task force. I'm not sure why though. That and that the race is nearly wiped out. Only a few thousand left."

She did what she could to not show her relief. She kept the subject moving to help herself out. "Well, I haven't been badly hurt as far as my memory serves, and I don't know much about my other half, so this is all speculation." He didn't react when she said she didn't know much about the Appullites, so she went with the assumption that she joined them fairly young. "I think Appullites may have a healing factor of some kind. Perhaps that's why Prince Appule is on Frieza's task force." 

She felt odd calling Appule a prince considering she wasn't aware of it before now, but she needed to keep up the act. She remembered him being rather sadistic too. 

Raditz spoke again, speculatively this time. "We did pick you up rather young after all, it's only natural that you don't know much about your other race. Perhaps we could inquire after some Appullites after we get Kakarot, get some answers."

Jica was surprised by how considerate he was being. Maybe it was because she was a Saiyan that was working with him? Either way, she had to stay wary. She knew she would be turning on him once they got to Earth anyway. 

Raditz was the one to bring the conversation to a close. "We should get going. If you are already healed, there's no reason to stay any longer. Let's get to Earth."

He turned to leave, leading her back to their space pods. 

“Wait!” She wasn't entirely sure what made her stop him but she had. He stopped and turned his head to look back at her. He was clearly annoyed but he didn't say anything.

She thought a little before speaking. “I.. have heard you three talking about Zenkai Boosts. If I'm right.. this is my first one. I want to see how much stronger I am. I want to spar before we leave.”

He sneered at her. “No way in hell am I wasting my time fighting with you!”

She wasn't sure how to respond to that. She was sure her shock was clear on her face. Before she could though, he spoke up again, quieter this time. “Let's head down to the surface, I'll pit a Saibaman against you. It's stronger than you but far less skilled. You will either kill it or die.”

Down on the surface of the planet, it was much harder to see. She could tell that it was far less safe here than up in the city. She didn't think she was sensing them but she could almost feel the energy of the forest, the beasts that must have filled it. 

“The soil here isn't the best so it will be weak. That's good for you though. If they were their normal strength, you'd likely die.”

Raditz told her as he knelt on the ground. He dug a small hole in the dry dirt and dropped a seed into it. A few drops of a thick green liquid and he stepped back. A few seconds was all it took for the lighter green monster to start breaching from the ground. It was much more frightening in person too. Its screams seemingly echoed all around her. The forest suddenly felt less dangerous. 

He spoke to it once it was fully free. “You. Do whatever you can to kill her.”

New Quest:

Defeat the Saibaman.

She rolled out of the way as its skull pried open, sending a sizzling substance straight at her. She had seen it coming though. A ki blast was thrown at it but it batted it away. It sped at her, much faster than she expected. Instead of dodging though, she thrust her foot forward. It really was stupid. It slammed itself into her foot. She stomped down as hard as she could. Cracks formed in the ground beneath it. 

She lifted her foot to stomp again but it disappeared from beneath her.

They stood at opposite ends of the clearing. She glanced at Raditz. He stood to the side, arms crossed, watching her closely. This was enough of an opening for the Saibaman and it rushed her again. It's punch threw her back. She crashed through a tree, toppling it. She caught herself in the air just in time. It closed in the distance again. She dropped down under its fist this time. 

She grabbed it's ankle. It dug its claws into her wrist, drawing blood. She ignored it, throwing it down at the ground as hard as she could. She dove down and slammed into it feet first. 

She rose back up into the air and held her hands up in a familiar triangular fashion. The wound was deeper than she thought. 

‘Let's hope this was worth the four SP.’

She activated the skill while yelling, “Kiko-hooo!!!”

She winced from the pain of it. A large beam of light slammed into the Saibaman on the ground. A square crater appeared, the Saibaman now at the bottom of it. 

She yelled again and a second beam slammed into it.

She clutched her chest. That second one hurt more than she thought. She glanced at the skill again. 

Kikoho (Lvl 1):

Make a triangle with your hands. Fire a large square beam of ki, far faster and stronger than most, at the cost of Hp.

(50 Ki)

(25% Max Hp)

HP: 46/105

Ki: 20/130

‘Shit, that hurt a lot more than I thought. I knew it would take a lot of Hp but that hurt!’

She dropped to the edge of the crater. It was perfectly square and about ten feet deep if she had to guess. The Saibaman was lying motionless. One of its legs was missing. Guilt crept up her spine, a shiver running back down it. She dropped down into the crater.

Her hand lifted up at it, ready to blow it away. Before she could though, it launched at her. ‘Just what I thought.’

Instead of blasting it, she moved her hand just right to catch it by the throat. She squeezed hard. It clawed at her hands but she refused to let go. Looking up at Raditz, he scowled again. 

“Finish the fight already!”

She activated her Ki Control skill for twenty points on Strength. 

Ki Control (Lvl 1):

Use your ki to temporarily increase your stats.

(5 Ki/min, per stat.)

She threw the Saibaman at Raditz as hard as she could. He caught it by the head. It's head popped like a berry, splattering purple goo. She cringed at it.

Quest Complete:

100 Exp awarded

1 Sp awarded

Level up!!

“You did better than I expected, especially whatever that one attack was. But you're still weak. You still didn't kill it, instead relying on me!” She couldn't react in time. His fist was buried into her stomach. She tasted bile from the impact. 

Stat level up: Hp!!

“Don't forget your place! You were told to kill it. If I tell you to kill, you do it!”

He let her drop. “Meet me at the space pods. We're leaving as soon as you do.”

He lifted into the sky, back up to the city. She clutched her stomach, tears of pain spilling from her.

Jica opened her pod once again deep in a crater. She breathed in deeply, relishing the familiar air. Oh how she missed this. The green grass and blue skies, the dense forest starting at the end of the field, the mountains in the distance. She hadn't realized how homesick she felt, even after such a short time. She had loved her whole life in a city before this yet it made her feel so much better being here. 

Pulling herself out of her pod, she looked back at it. This was likely the last time she would be using it. She felt surprisingly nostalgic over it already. 

She activated her Flight skill and lifted herself out of the hole. Raditz landed beside her.

"So this is Earth, huh? 

 Without a word, he tapped on his scouter and Jica did the same. Both their scouters went off after a moment.

"There. That seems to be the strongest power level nearby. I will go check out that one. Make yourself useful and find us something to eat, would you?"

He turned away from her, tapping on his scouter a few more times. Before blasting away, he looked over his shoulder, a strange look on his face. "If you run into trouble, contact me. I'll be here in an instant."

And then he was gone. 

Jica was a bit surprised at his seemingly kind words. This wasn't the first time he did this either. Perhaps... No. Surely not.

She put her mind to the task at hand. He told her to get food. She didn't exactly have what it took to deal with a pissed off Raditz. 

She went to do exactly that. She just hoped nothing changed for the worse with Raditz and the others.

Chapter Text

Jica spun, throwing her foot into the air as she did. She wasn't really sure what she was doing, not having been properly taught how to fight, but her body knew how. She followed what her body told her to do. Apparently, before she took over, she was a very fluid fighter. Every strike seemed to flow into another one. If not into another one, then into a well defended position. 

The thought of feeling bad about taking over her body passed through her mind but if she were being honest with herself, she couldn't being herself to care. The girl before her was likely just as sadistic as the rest, being a Saiyan and all. Sure, she seemed to be a coward according to the other three Saiyans but that didn't mean she had been a good person. After all, her body's instinct had taken over fairly well when she was on planet Tritek. She had taken lives without right until after she was done. She would have never done that before. The only explanation was either the PSDS or her own body's instinct. 

Sitting in her space pods was a small pile of fruit she found. They looked like large yellow pears. She didn't find any animals for meat but that was fine. 

Still moving on the grass, she was trying her best to get used to how her body wanted to move. It was odd. Her body was so similar to a human’s, feeling so similar, yet it wanted to move in such different ways that felt both natural to her body and unnatural to her mind. 

Her scouter beeped at her indicating a high power level rapidly approaching. She slowed to a stop. A burst of power and Raditz was falling down to the ground. In his hand was a flailing, crying baby Gohan. It hurt her to see but was more of a relief than anything.

“That isn't Kakarot. His kid? I saw a tail.”

“Yes, that's his brat. The imbecile has grown soft and thought he could fight back. I had to beat some sense into him and take his child for good measure. If he knows what's good for him, he'll come crawling to us to let him join.”

The tall man hopped down to his space pods and roughly tossed the boy inside.

Raditz started talking before he touched down beside her again. “He has grown attached to the dirt ball and those on it. He is to bring us one hundred bodies or we kill him and everyone else. Either way, we're taking the brat. He may only be half Saiyan like you, but at least we won't be leaving this mission empty handed.”

Jica’s fists clenched unwillingly. “That's not our mission. We were sent to bring back Kakarot, not genocide the people here!”

If looks could kill.

“This is standard, as you well know. Clear the planet of intelligent life and sell it. If you can't take that, you have no business with elites like us. Are you saying you're too weak to do your job?”

The way he said it told her he'd kill her if she said she couldn't. Whether he would do it at this point though, part of her wasn't sure. She remembered him being a bit of a coward in the show. Maybe he wouldn't be able to bring himself to do it. 

She didn't want to push her luck though. 

“Forget it.”

She pointed Raditz toward the fruit she found and waited. She knew that Goku and Piccolo would be here soon as long as there were no major changes.

Fate decided not to scorn her it would seem. Just a short while to wait and their scouters went off at the same time, indicating two high power levels heading their way. She did her best to calm her shaking hands. This was do or die.

The two touched down and a golden cloud flew off into the distance. Goku stood tall, his bright orange gi the same as it had always been.

“Raditz! Give me back my son!”

“Well well well, it seems my dear little brother is the rebellious type. And look at this, he brought the green man as well.” The long haired man tossed the yellow fruit in his hand over his shoulder. He crossed his arms. A dark laugh escaped him.

“I admit, I wondered who that second insignificant blip on the scouter was. To think it was just you.” 

“Enough talk. You know why we're here.” Piccolo quickly pulled his cape and turban off. They hit the ground with a loud thud. Goku clearly looked surprised.

“Huh, Piccolo? I had no idea you trained with weighted clothing too!”

“What, you thought you were the only one?”

The banter between them was surprisingly light. Goku quickly followed suit, pulling his boots, wristbands, and undershirt off. They all made the same thud that Piccolo's clothes did.

“Do you two really think you stand a chance against us? I don't think you could even take me by myself.” Raditz mocked.

“By all means, do you wanna test that theory?” Jica spoke up. Raditz looked at her with a suspicious eye. It looked like he was trying to analyze her.

“You know what? I would. You stay out of this for now Jica.” She nodded and floated backwards. She touched down and sat on one of the plateaus nearby, letting her legs dangle off the side. It would be easy to watch from there.

“Cocky bastard. Whatever, it makes our job easier. Ready Goku?”

“Always!” The excitable man responded. He launched forward, the Namekian following close behind. The two of them threw flurries of attacks so fast they were hard to follow. Raditz struggled to block and dodge all of them at first. Finally seeing an opening, he fucked between them and elbowed them both in the back. They flew back from the blow. It took nearly no time at all for the both to catch and throw themselves back at him. 

Raditz hit Goku first this time, throwing him into the air. Piccolo did his best to keep him busy. In the air, Goku took the opportunity to charge a Kamehameha. Piccolo dodged back as he launched it down at them. 

Raditz dodged backwards. He was obviously surprised when the beam bent and chased after him. He batted it away just in time. Piccolo was already rushing him when he did. 

He dodged back when he saw Jica flying at them. Raditz didn't react in time, not expecting her. Her foot connected with his scouter, shattering it. The man flew back and landed with a flip.

“Jica! What is the meaning of this?” Jica didn't respond, instead pulling her scouter off and dropping it to the ground. She stomped on it, shattering her own as well. 

New Quest: 

Defeat Raditz

She glanced toward the two he was fighting. They had stopped to see what was happening but remained defensive.

“They have kept you on the defensive this entire time. They're strong, stronger than you expected. We don't have to listen to Vegeta, or Frieza, or anyone! We can join them instead! We can actually do our best to live peaceful lives here instead of slaughtering countless innocents!”

Raditz’s face contorted. It finally landed on something like anger. “You fool! Do you truly believe something so foolish?”

“I do. Nappa and Vegeta would be here within a year at the earliest! That is plenty of time to train to defeat them. And Frieza would likely never bother coming after two runaways, Saiyan or not!”

He stayed silent for a moment. She knew he was debating it. He shook his head. “No.. you're a fool. Not only a fool, a dead fool! We have grown tired of your weakness for too long! If you wish to join them, then fine! You will die along with them!”

Dark purple energy gathered in his hand. Faster than she could dodge, it flew toward her. She knew she couldn't get away, so she braced herself, doing everything she could to tank the hit. 

It didn't last long. The two Raditz had been fighting threw themselves at him once again. Jica dropped to one knee. Her forearms were raw and dripping blood. She pulled up her Hp.

HP: 47/115

Shit. She knew that would hurt but that was a lot more than she had hoped. She laid her hand on the grass, catching her breath. She looked up just in time to see the very same attack that took Piccolo's arm in the show. She winced seeing them crash down to the ground.

Raditz touched down in front of them, laughing. “Have you seen my arm? You can't miss it, it's green!”

While his defenses were down, she charged at him as quick as she could. She managed to land a strong kick to his back. He turned, a fist outstretched to hit her. Luckily, she was already spinning with the momentum of her kick so the hit brushed off of her. She spun and threw a punch at his face. He ducked back and kicked at her faster than she could react to. 

She tumbled across the ground before sliding to a stop. She saw Goku already engaged with him again and Piccolo charging his Special Beam Cannon in the distance. Shit, she really wanted him to swap to their side! It would really help down the line. She had to act fast.

She threw herself toward them again. This had the unintended consequence of distracting Goku enough for Raditz to get a hit in, but nothing too bad. She joined him in his attack, pushing Raditz back more and more. Goku managed to land a heavy kick to his abdomen that threw him back into the cliff side. As he pulled himself to his feet, she tried again.

“Raditz, you're outnumbered. You're tired and now you're wounded. You can't keep this up and you know it! Please, we can-”

He cut her off with another quick blast. She managed to dodge this one at least. He rushed at her but Goku came to her rescue. He had managed to grab his tail!

Raditz stopped in his tracks and fell to his hands and knees. Piccolo yelled to them, “Good, hold him like that!”

She could see the panic on Raditz's face and hear it in his voice. “W-wait Kakarot! Jica is right, we don't have to fight! I can- I can leave! I can leave and never return!”

Goku responded by squeezing harder. A pained gasp escaped the tailed man. “Yeah right, like I would believe that! You kidnapped my son and demanded I kill a hundred people. I'm not that stupid!”

“I was wrong Kakarot! Please, I'll leave and never return. Just let me go and we will never return! I swear it!”

Jica could see Goku's resolve wavering. “Don't do it! He's lying to you. If he's let go, even if he leaves, he'll only come back with more help.”

She crouched down in front of him, looking him in the eye. “Look at the position you're in, Raditz. Please. I know Vegeta is strong, but so are you! So is everyone here! If there's anywhere to go to get away from them, from this life, it's here.”

She could practically see the cogs in his brain turning. “Maybe you're right..”

Jica, though still nervous, nodded at Goku. As soon as the tail slipped from his hands though, he kicked Goku hard. Seeing this as his last chance, Piccolo loosed his attack. Raditz tried to move out of the way but it still clipped his side. The beam flew onward, colliding with and destroying an entire mountain. Jica leapt backward, loosing her own Tri Beam. It hit him head on. She collapsed onto the ground, clutching her chest. She pulled up her health.

HP: 8/115

That's not good. She really didn't pay attention to her health. She couldn't even bring herself to her feet, unlike Raditz. He was bloody and beaten and his armor was shattered in multiple places. There was a gash in the side where Piccolo's attack had nicked him. 

He must've seen that Jica was down because he ignored her. He went over to Goku who was pulling himself back to his feet. A swift kick to the ribs flipped him over onto his back. “You're all fools! To think you could defeat me! You were stronger than I expected, I will admit, but in the end you never stood a chance.”

He stomped down onto Goku's chest. She could hear something crack all the way from where she was. Try as she might, she just couldn't get herself to move past the pain. This wasn't good. This wasn't how this was supposed to go. She really had less of an effect on this fight than she had hoped, or even expected. The only difference between this one and the original was-

A crash from the space pods drew the attention of them all. There, in the air, was a young boy. “Stop hurting my Daddy!” 

The boy flew faster than any, even Jica, expected. He slammed into Raditz head first. They both hit the ground. Raditz clutched his chest, trying to breathe. Gohan quickly crawled over to his father, crying over the state he was in and so much more.

Jica tried one last time and was finally able to get to her feet. She held her side and wiped her mouth. Blood.

“Raditz. Please. This is the last time I will plead with you. Stop this senseless fighting! You're not fighting to survive at this point, you're fighting to live a life you don't even want! I know you don't like this constant murder as much as I don't! We're all strong and we can get even stronger! Hell, even the boy has massive potential, as we all just saw! Please. Give it a shot. What do you have to lose?”

She hoped against hope that this would work. She was no Naruto, she knew she wasn't some Talk no Jutsu expert like he was, but she was trying her damnedest. 

A pained laugh escaped him and he forced himself to sit up. “That little brat is far stronger than I expected him to be..”

He looked over to Goku, who was trying his best to console Gohan. Then to Piccolo, who was cautiously approaching them. 

“You know this is suicide, right?”

She chuckled and coughed. She had to wipe the blood she coughed up away. “Yeah. I know it probably is. But I'm tired of this life. I'd rather fight and die than live and continue the way we have been.”

He breathed a long sigh. “Fine. We're going to die.. but fine. Let's do it.”

Chapter Text

Quest Complete : Defeat Raditz

1000 Exp Awarded

1 Sp Awarded

Optional Objective Complete : Don't Let Anyone Die

1 Sp Awarded

Hidden Quest Complete : Sway Raditz to Your Cause

500 Exp Awarded

Level Up!!

Stat Level Up : Hp

Stat Level Up : Atk

Stat Level Up : Ki Atk

Stat Level Up : Def

Stat Level Up : Def

Stat Level Up : Spd

Tri Beam Level Up!!

Zenkai Boost!!

New Title Unlocked : Betrayer

Jica plopped down on the ground with her hands behind herself, like Raditz. She got a lot from this fight, a lot more than she had expected. She even got her first title!

Betrayer:

When fighting against Frieza or his army, increase PL by 10%.

Well, it wasn't the best in the world, but it was her first title. It also would be outdated after a while. She could only hope she found a better one by the time they beat Frieza. Assuming they did. Her presence here barely made an impact on the fight till the very end. 

Footsteps made her look up at Piccolo. Oh boy, time for the hard part. Before she could think of a way to deal with it, Raditz spoke up. 

“Us coming here has doomed you and your planet. Two Saiyans far stronger than either of us will come here to kill us and you. As much as I loathe to admit it, we need each other. Neither are the types to give up on it either.”

He focused on the ground as he talked.

“Then leave. We don't need you here anyway.”

Raditz's head whipped up to look at the Namekian. “You think that would help? Our scouters - our communicators - are broken. The last location they were at was here. This is the first place that they will check and if you think they will leave without slaughtering everyone then you're even stupider than I thought. No, the only thing that might keep you alive is preparing as well as you can to fight.”

Goku finally chipped in. He was laying, propped up on one elbow. Blood trickled from his mouth and the way he sounded made her wonder if one of his lungs was pierced. 

“So you're saying I get a brother and another fight? Sounds like a win-win to me!” He laughed-turned-coughed.

Raditz's face morphed from rage, to utter confusion, and finally landed on amusement. “Spoken like a true Saiyan. Idiot.”

What looked like a flying yellow bus flew toward and landed near them. A short bald man, an old bearded man, and a tall blue haired woman flooded out of it - otherwise known as Krillin, Roshi, and Bulma. They hurried over to Goku, though were certainly cautious of the other three there. 

“Goku! Don't worry buddy, we brought you a senzu bean!” Krillin was the first to reach him.

“Only one?” 

Krillin looked confused. “Well no, there's two.. do you mean for them?”

He looked at them. Piccolo shook his head. “Forget it, I don't need your pity. Give it to them if you must.”

“Go ahead Krillin. They said it themselves, they wanna stay here with us.” Goku instructed the man. He hesitated before giving Goku a full bean. He snapped the other in half and threw the halves their way. Raditz was clearly skeptical of it. Jica downed it right away.

Oh that texture was just awful. Dry and chalky. Wait. She could feel things popping back into place. Her muscles burned and her wounds screamed at her as they rapidly shut before her very eyes.

She hadn't expected it to hurt so much! 

As soon as it came though, it went, leaving her with a surprisingly soothing sensation. Her body felt cool and she felt energized. These little things really did work wonders!

She still ached though. When she checked her health, it wasn't completely filled.

Hp: 85/130

It was only half a bean, she figured. It fixed all her major wounds and left her well enough to move about fine and fight if she needed to.

“The hell?” She heard Raditz say quietly to himself. She couldn't help the chuckle that bubbled from within her. 

She couldn't comment on it though. Piccolo cut them all off with a loud yell. A new arm covered in a green slime-like substance shot out of the wound where his arm was missing. Most of the others looked horrified at the revelation of his ability. The only ones that weren't were Raditz and Jica. Well, and Goku, but he was certainly surprised. 

“You said we have about a year or so to train?” He looked over his shoulder at Raditz and Jica, rubbing his hand up and down his new forearm.

“Yes. A year at the earliest, though I assume they will finish their own mission first. If so, it will likely be closer to a year and a half.”

The green man nodded and looked toward Goku, who was now on his feet holding Gohan in his arms. “Goku. You better train hard. As soon as this threat is taken care of, I'm taking you down too.”

With his message said, he took off into the sky. 

Goku seemed largely unperturbed by his declaration.

Jica pulled herself to her feet, as did Raditz. She walked over to Goku and friends. “I suppose proper introductions are in order. You all know Raditz at this point but not me. I'm Jica. I'm a Saiyan too. Well, half Saiyan.”

“Goku! And this little guy is Gohan! Oh, and this is Krillin, Master Roshi, and Bulma.”

He informed with a smile. She smiled along, trying not to show that she already knows all of them and their names. “Good to meet you all. I wish it could be under better circumstances.”

After proper greetings this time and timid questions from the rest of the group, Goku insisted that they all board the plane and head back to Roshi’s Island to rest up. They had a lot of training to do after all.

—

It hadn't been long since the fight, only a few days. In that time, they had all rested and recovered their strength. She had formally met and gotten to know most of the Z Fighters. The only one she hadn't yet met was Yamcha, who was supposedly coming out soon. He was apparently hesitant since he and Bulma had split up. 

Tien and Chiaotzu had surprisingly shown up shortly after they arrived back at Roshi's Island. They had sensed the battle and were near enough to reach them quite quickly. 

Raditz had only stuck around for the first night, while she opted to stay with Roshi since he offered. She knew it was because the old man was wanting to peep on her but she figured she could deal with that when the time came. For now, it was just nice to have an actual bed to sleep on.

Goku had come back a few days after the fact. It had apparently taken some convincing but he actually managed to get ChiChi to let Gohan train with them! Albeit, it was actually because he ended up saying he wanted to join us, which surprised all of them. She insisted that they be very careful with him and, of course, he wasn't allowed to join the fight.

Jica hoped against hope that the young boy didn't have to join any real fight. She knew it likely wouldn't work out that way though. He just had too much potential, he was bound to be too strong to just sit on the sidelines. Plus, the poor boy was a defender at heart. If he was anything like the Gohan she was used to, he wouldn't just stand by when someone was in danger. 

At that moment, she stood in a field across from Goku. Gohan was off to the side in a T-shirt and overalls, out of the way of any potential harm. Goku had instructed him to watch and try to learn as much as he could.

She half-way expected the boy to be wearing a gi like Piccolo or Goku, though she figured that was a little ridiculous to expect.

“I'm ready whenever you are.” She spoke up, falling into a stance that felt comfortable. The look he gave screamed that her stance was worse than she realized. She decided to stick with it though. Her style could come later.

One second, he was standing across from her. The next, his fist was buried in her stomach. She fell back, but managed to plant her hand on the ground and flip back to her feet. He rushed her again but she responded with a high upward kick. He still slipped past it though, landing another jab against her.

He kept up the pressure, forcing her to focus solely on dodging his attacks. She was clearly the faster of the two, but that hardly mattered with how streamlined his attacks were. She was stuck in a constant backpedal. 

Block, block, dodge. 

She jumped over a sweep at her legs, only to drop to the ground when he spun into a high kick. The kick dropped down at her so she rolled out of the way. 

Remembering how Goku used a Kamehameha to throw himself in the show before, she decided to mimic that. She fired a Ki Beam at the ground, throwing herself over her assailant. His kick still hit her though and made her spin through the air. She used her Flight skill to steady herself and fired three Ki Blasts at the man. He batted two away and blocked the third. He dashed underneath her and started charging up an attack of some kind. She flew up into the air to put distance between them. It may not be a full Kamehameha but it would still hurt.

He loosed his attack. It was fast, but not fast enough. She managed to pull out of the way. The intensity of the beam beside her made it hard to focus. 

She dropped fast. He stopped his attack, readying himself to counter whatever she was about to try. She flew down at him as fast as she could. It was clear her speed was surprising to the man, but not enough to throw him off. Before she reached him, she threw a Ki Blast at his feet. It hit the ground, throwing dust in the air. She dropped to the ground before charging him instead of coming from the air.

It wasn't enough though. He leapt just high enough for her to go under him. He thrusted his legs down onto her back, slamming her to the ground. The blow hurts more than anything else she had been hit by so far this bout. He leapt away, seemingly giving her a moment. 

She took the opportunity to quickly leap to her feet and throw herself at him. She used her Ki Control to increase her speed and strength by a few points each and kicked as hard as she could. He brought his leg up to his arm to block the kick. The man barely managed to stand his ground against her.

They stayed like that briefly, looking each other in the eye. He had a big grin on his face. She had a pained grimace on her face. 

Jica kicked off of Goku right as he threw a ki beam her way. It clipped her but not enough to stop her. The second she touched the ground, she was zooming back at him. She stuck low to the ground again. He followed suit, flying in her direction. She feinted a punch at him, which he matched, only to swap into a kick. 

Goku caught her leg this time and used his momentum to spin her around. She tried not to panic. As she started to gather herself enough to retaliate, he let go. She skipped across the ground like a rock. 

She came to a stop and clutched her side. That hurt more than she thought it would. It was getting harder and harder to move around. She still had more fight left though. She had to.

“Let's call it there for now.” The man she had been fighting called. His words surprised her. While she could tell he was hurting too, he was still standing tall. She knew he could go longer.

Ki Control (Lvl 2) :

Use your ki to temporarily increase your stats.

(4 Ki/min, per stat point.)

Well that's helpful. She quickly willed it away.

“You're strong, that's for sure. You don't really know what you're doing with that strength though.” He continued. His steps were light as he made his way to her.

“You weren't really trained, were you?”

It was more of a statement than a question.

“No, I wasn't. Once I was old enough to fight, I was just expected to.”

While that wasn't true for her personally, it would've likely been true for the Jica before her. She had never learned to fight in her previous life either.

“Then we have a year to fix that.” His tone was assuring. 

The man turned to his son. “Were you able to follow that, Gohan?”

The boy nodded. “It was hard to but I did see a little!”

“Good. Did you see anything Jica could've done better?”

Her face burned. Here she was, an adult who now had a few fighting experiences, about to be told by a child how to be better. He was a smart kid though, surely he had something to say.

“Well um.. she seems a lot slower with her beam thingies than you.”

“Good, Gohan! You're absolutely right.”

He turned back to her. “Your ki - the energy you use for flight and attacks - tell me how you use it.”

Jica knew this moment would come. She had thought about it and had decided on a simple, not entirely untrue response.

“How I use it.. well, it's like flipping a switch. To use it, I have to reach inward and flip that switch before I can fly, attack, whatever.”

She hoped it was sufficient enough of an explanation.

The response didn't come from Goku though. It didn't come from Goku either. Above her, she heard Raditz’s voice.

“Impressive Jica. You really have gotten stronger in such a short time.”

He slowly dropped to the ground. Gohan’s face became one of fear and he ran to his father. Raditz simply rolled his eyes at the boy.

“Well I have to. If we're going to beat Vegeta, I have to get stronger, I have to get better.”

She tried to sound strong. She wasn't sure if it worked though. Raditz looked to Goku.

“Kakarot. You knew I was here, didn't you?”

The man in question nodded. 

“I did. What'd you think?”

Raditz was seemingly surprised by that one. Perhaps he expected more hostility? Jica wasn't sure.

“I think... your technique is surprisingly good. You're far too weak though. Jica, you have some catching up to do.”

The long haired man called her out. Even though she was likely technically stronger than Goku, he still beat her quite easily.

“You're right. All of you are. Goku,” she said, getting his attention again. “How would you recommend I improve? You said I'm slow with my Ki. How do I fix that?”

Raditz looked smug when she admitted he was right. Immediately asking for assistance seemingly irritated him though. He sneered and interrupted Goku. 

“Kakarot, where is the green one. Since you're busy with her, I'll go see what he can do to help me train.”

He didn't take it poorly though. He shrugged. “I dunno. I know he sticks to wastelands though. The closest one I know of is that way.”

Goku pointed north. Raditz huffed and took off into the air again. They watched him go until he was just a dot in the horizon.

The orange clad man turned back to her and Gohan. 

“Gohan, I want you to listen too, okay? This is important for you both to learn.”

He dropped to the ground with his legs crossed. Jica and Gohan did the same in front of him.

“Finding your Ki can be a really difficult thing. You'll have an easier time with this, Jica. You need to look inward, usually around here.” He placed a hand on his chest, right below his rib cage. “When you find it, don't do anything. Just feel it, hold it if you can, but don't pull on it.”

He fell silent after that. He sat motionless, legs crossed and hands pressed together. 

This was the man she had looked up to so much. He was the reason she got into running in her previous life. She wasn't sure why seeing him so at peace like that was what made her realize that feeling, but it left her in a form of awe.

“Jica. You're not even trying.”

Her face flushed at being called out by the man. He hadn't moved, hadn't even opened his eyes. 

She let out a long breath. Her eyes drifted closed and she finally did as he instructed. She didn't feel anything but she wasn't even sure if she could with the PSDS. This was a weakness she had though and it would only get worse with time, so she had to try. 

They remained that way for a while. The entire time, she couldn't feel anything. She started to feel dumb after some time but she kept at it. Finally, Gohan is the one to complain.

“I can't get it! I don't feel anything!”

The boy's frustration had clearly built too much for him. He had tears in his eyes to show it. Luckily, Goku was there to guide him. He held a hand out to him.

“Take my hand, son. Let me try and show you.”

Gohan hesitantly did when he was told and grabbed onto his father's hand. The man's eyes shut again and Gohan followed. Jica watched for a minute before doing the same. 

The moment her eyes shut, she felt something at the corner of her consciousness. It wasn't coming from herself though. She could tell that much. Was she able to feel Goku guiding Gohan?

Unfortunately, the connection broke as quickly as it formed. Her eyes shot open and she looked at the two across from her. They hadn't moved at all. 

Passive Skill Unlocked: Passive Ki Control (Lvl 1):

Increases skill with using your Ki without concentration.

This was good. This was the proof she needed. She could do this. 

Chapter Text

It had been nearly a week since Jica first felt Ki without using the active skills in the PSDS. She had gained that skill, Passive Ki Control, so she had thought the skill would increase quickly like the others had. She had barely touched anything else since unlocking the skill. She had gained a single point in her speed stat from some basic workouts and cardio she had been doing. Every other moment was dedicated to this skill. 

She wasn't sure why it was taking so long to level. Everything else came so quickly, at least it seemed to. This one though, it hadn't leveled even once. She had felt it in her almost every time she meditated now, but it always felt so distant. 

The warm glow of her ki. She knew where to look for it now at least. It was right about where Goku had said. It sat in her abdomen, just below her ribcage. Another thing she had noticed was that doing this slowly drained her Ki. It still regenerated so it wasn't like it immediately exhausted her. 

She was trying her best to focus, to reach out and grab the warmth inside her. The only way she could think to describe it was trying to grab something with a limb she didn't have. It felt impossible. The only thing that kept her from giving up on it was that she could feel it. However faintly, she could feel it. 

She knew getting frustrated wouldn't help. She knew it was just making it harder to focus. Struggling with this for this long with absolutely no improvement though was starting to grind at her though. 

It didn't help that she could tell that the old pervert had been watching her this entire time.

“Roshi, if you don't have anything helpful to say, stop staring.”

A few choked out noises escaped the man after realizing he was caught. He came out of his home and over to her. As he approached, he said “You're trying too hard. You'll never get it if you force it. Your Ki is like a woman, you-”

He cut himself off and looked down at her. She had one eye cracked open, leering at him.

“Er, uh… I-I mean it's uh… You need to be gentle with your Ki. Guide it, don't force it.”

She thought about that. As much as the old master has grated on her in her short time staying with him, she knew he was an incredibly talented teacher. She huffed and relaxed her muscles.

She knew he was right. He was the master after all. However annoying the man could be. Oh how he could be annoying. She knew he would be even before meeting him, but she thought she could handle it. 

She clearly couldn't as well as she had hoped. 

She settled back into her resting position. Her legs were crossed and her back was straight. One hand held the other in her lap facing skyward. 

Focus. Breath.

In. Out. In. Out.

She tried to use the advice he had given her so far. Don't force it. Focus on your senses, then push them away until all that's left to feel is your Ki.

The most obvious was the sand beneath her. It was still warm from the beating sun. It had cooled off in the time she had been sitting there. It was shockingly soft - she absentmindedly wondered how that was. The feeling of it dulled upon reaching her shorts. The sun as well, making it almost unbearably hot.

Wow, was it hot.

Okay, shut out the sense of touch.

There were gentle waves lapping at the sand around the island. The sound of them washing up on the shore before receding was one of the nicest things she had experienced since coming to this world. She could hear the wind and even some seagulls in the distance. 

She was momentarily distracted by the sound of the TV inside crackling due to poor reception.

A deep breath to center herself.

The next sense. Smell. The salty ocean scent was all she could smell. In fact, she couldn't smell much at all compared to what she was used to. Huh.

Okay, that was touch, hearing, smell. She couldn't do sight with her eyes closed. That left taste.

Similar case to her sense of smell. Likely since they were so tied together. She wasn't sure. She knew it was hot though. 

No! Focus. Block it out.

She had already analyzed her senses. Now block them. Block them out. Block out the sound of the TV. The annoying crackling of its bad reception. Don't think about how loud it is.

“I'm gonna go blow off some steam. I don't think I'll get anywhere like this.” Jica huffed and stood up. As she did, Roshi spoke up again.

“Well, if you wanna blow-”

“Finish that sentence and I will send you to the moon.”

The old man panicked for a second again before huffing and crossing his arms. “I was going to ask if you'd pick up some things before you come back! I'll send some money with you.” 

Jica didn't believe a word he said. Either way, she let out an annoyed groan. “Fine, whatever.”

The old pervert mosied on into the house, leaving her alone on the beach. Once she was sure he couldn't see her, she stretched. She had sat like that for a while after all. 

She had to figure out a place of her own and fast. Krillin wasn't on the island as he, along with the rest of the human z-warriors, were called to Kami’s lookout to train. Because of this, she was taking his room at the moment. Even with this though, she hated it. She desperately wanted a place of her own if she was going to be living in this world.

When Roshi came back with the money, she snatched it and the small list and took off into the sky.

She wasn't sure why she was so frustrated. It had only been a few days. This sort of thing took time and she knew that. Even with that though, it was infuriating. Maybe it was just because she was spending so much time around the old man. At least the breeze while flying was nice.

She let her mind wander a while. Flying was such a relaxing thing. The wind in her hair, the sun so much cooler on her skin when so high up. And the clouds! She loved flying through them. It stung a little, but she didn't mind it. Maybe it was her new Saiyan genes. The wind drying her off after was delightful too. If flying didn't drain her so quickly, perhaps she could try meditating this way. 

As she flew, she willed her stat screen up in front of her. She scowled at her new skill. It hadn't even budged. She had to be doing something wrong, she was sure.

Passive Ki Control (Lvl 1) :

Increases skill with using your Ki without concentration.

Still the exact same thing that it had been when she'd gotten it. No changes whatsoever. It was maddening. If only there was a progress bar or something at least. No matter what or how she tried to will one into place, it just wouldn't happen.

Figures. Even when things are made easy, they're a pain in the butt.

She looked over the rest of her stat screen for the thousandth time in the last week. It was a habit she was picking up quickly. Who knew having your growth quantified like this could make you motivated to grow more? Making the numbers go up made it more fun. She supposed it probably made it worse for some people, but for her it did wonders. Not seeing many of the numbers go up lately had been a bit taxing though admittedly. The only one that did was her flight skill up to level four, and even then, the cost was still the same! Just another thing that was grating at her spirits.

The island was coming into view finally. Good, she was getting worn out already. Her Ki was just so limited. Surely that would change eventually. It had to if she was going to stand a chance against Nappa, let alone Vegeta. Especially since Goku didn't die, so he wasn't going to learn from King Kai. If she could, she wanted to invest in the Kaioken technique before that time came.

She touched down on the island and deactivated her Flight skill. Her Ki was low now, only about twenty points left. The only reason she was even able to make it was her Ki regeneration. It seemed freakishly fast. She wasn't going to complain about that though. 

The island looked familiar. She was fairly certain it was where Roshi originally took Goku and Krillin to train. She couldn't be certain though. It was a lot harder to tell in person. It was pretty though. Rolling grassy hills that went on for miles. Way off in the distance there was a dense forest. There were a few lone houses scattered around the place with their own little farm lands.

Roshi had said that the town was on the other side of the forest. She let out a long breath, sucked in an even longer one, and set off. It was a steady jog for her, but she still practically flew across the land. She wasn't sure if she'd ever grow used to it.

Jica’s heart thrummed in her ears but the sound of the wind nearly blocked it out. She ran and ran, finding herself actually enjoying herself. Maybe it was because she was so much stronger than in her old life. Maybe it was because she could watch her stats go up over time from exercising. Maybe it was as simple as having a weird alien biology. Whatever it was, she found so much more joy in exercising now than she ever did in her old life.

It didn't take her too long to reach the forest edge. The expectations of tropical trees on this island was dashed away as she approached. They looked like simple oak or maple. Admittedly, she wasn't sure since she didn't know much about trees. Thick trunks with rough brown bark leading up to bright green leaves high in the sky. Not very tropical looking, not at all. 

The air cooled down intensely in the dense forest. The sun couldn't reach the floor easily and the wind shook the branches above. It was a welcome change.

She took her time here, letting herself enjoy the noises of the woods around her. Birds calling out, little critters chittering away, even the distinct sound of squirrels fighting nearby. A little laugh bubbled out at that one. The memories of watching the squirrels run around on the trees from her bedroom window flooded through her mind's eye briefly. 

The joy of being in the forest felt much shorter than it was. As unfortunate as it felt, the trees thinned out, leaving her standing at the city edge. 

It was a little overwhelming actually. It so suddenly went from a dense forest full of life to a city with buildings towering high into the sky. Towers with bulbous tops and strange tubes curving around them all. She had been on an actual alien planet just weeks before, yet this was the most alien this world had felt since she'd gotten here. 

She was pulled from her thoughts by a bored feminine voice. “Hey! You gonna just stand there gawking or are you gonna listen and gimme what you've got?”

Jica turned and saw a familiar figure sitting on a nearby bench. Blond hair held up by a red ribbon, a green tube top and shorts the same color as her hair, all pulled together by the gun the woman held pointed directly at Jica. A jolt of fear was calmed by the mental reminder that Goku and Krillin took bullets to the face as children. 

“Uh.. Launch?”

The hesitant call of her name made her lower her gun. It was still pointed at her, but the girl wasn't looking at her down the sights anymore. She analyzed Jica, eyes lingering here and there.

“Yeah, that's me. Whaddya want?”

Jica took a moment to think. She was here in the city to pick up supplies, but she had left to blow off steam. 

“Nothing really. I just recognized you from some pictures at Roshi’s place.”

She made sure to mention the old man. Whether they had a good relationship or not, she couldn't remember, but they at least knew each other. It worked too, because Launch’s eyes flashed with recognition and she finally lowered her gun.

“That old perv, huh? I just left there a while ago to look for someone. You wouldn't happen to know Tien, would you?”

Annoyance was clear on her face. Jica assumed it was because of Roshi. 

“I actually just met him a few days ago at Kame house-”

Jica was cut off by Launch swearing and letting her head drop back.

“Figures. Know where he went after?”

The blonde's tone revealed it was more of a demand than a question. Jica didn't mind though. She expected this conversation to go a lot worse. She shrugged and said, 

“I'm not sure. He took off north from there. That's all I know.”

Launch groaned her annoyance. She opened her mouth to respond a moment too late. A few yards behind them, a voice cut through the air. A police officer was talking into his radio, calling for backup. He had evidently recognized Launch. 

For her part, Launch threw herself onto her motorcycle. She looked back to Jica and motioned to get on.

“I'm not done with you yet, so get on!” She yelled over the sound of her bike. 

Jica just shrugged and hopped on the back behind her. 

As soon as Jica was on the bike, Launch hit the gas. The back tire squealed as the zoomed away from the cop. She looked back and laughed at the panic that was evident on the man's face.

They tore through the empty streets, passing only a few scattered cars. Launch was clearly enjoying herself and feeling confident in her abilities. So confident in fact that when a cop car pulled out and started chasing behind them, she turned and flipped them off.

A sudden right turn pulled them more into the city. Jica was pretty sure she was either just having fun or maybe even showing off. They took a quick turn up a ramp onto a huge highway full of cars. Launch weaved through the cars with expert precision. The gathering cops behind them were forced to practically stop due to the traffic, but the two women didn't even slow down. 

People were yelling at them out their car windows and some were panicking in their seats. Some only seemed mad because traffic was slowing down because of them.

No. No wait. Traffic was stopping. It was stopping because of the police cars and vans forming a blockade. Launch swore and looked around. She reached for her gun, but Jica spoke up first.

“Capsulize the bike!” She yelled over the noise of it all.

“What? Are you stupid or something?” Launch yelled back.

“Just do it!” Jica demanded. She peaked at her Ki a moment before and it was about half way refilled at this point. She wrapped her arms around the woman's waist, ready to lift them both.

Launch growled in frustration. “Fine, damnit! If this doesn't work, I'll kick your ass!”

The blonde hit a small button on the bike and it poofed back into its capsule in her hand. As soon as she felt it disappear from underneath her, Jica lifted them both up into the sky. Launch let out a yelp and held onto Jica's arms as best she could.

“What the hell! Warn a girl first, at least!” Launch yelled at her. An awkward laugh escaped Jica, followed by an apology.

Below them, the cops watched in awe as they took off into the sky. All it took was one cop taking their gun out and firing into the sky at them for the rest to follow.

For the first time since getting here in this world, Jica realized just how much faster she was. She ran a lot faster, sure, she knew that. In that moment though, she watched a bullet fly at them. Not only that, she was fast enough to react to it. She pulled them out of the way and watched as the little piece of metal flew past them. She spun them around so they were upside down in the air to keep Launch out of harm's way. Just in time too, as she could feel the starting to hit her in the back. They hurt a bit, but they didn't do any real damage. A peak at her Hp was enough to push that concern away. She didn't think they would damage her but it was good to be sure. 

Jica was starting to think they were in the clear when another yelp came from Launch, this one clearly pained. 

“Fuck! My leg!” 

Jica swore to herself and flew higher into the sky. She lifted them up until she was sure that the cops wouldn't be able to hit them. They must have thought the same thing, as she could hear that they stopped firing.

She slowed down finally to talk to Launch.

“Are you okay? It was just your leg, right?”

Launch was hurting but she was able to talk through gritted teeth. 

“Yeah. Just my leg.”

Jica let out a sign of relief and started lowering them back down to the ground. She wanted to reposition them so she was carrying Launch in a better way, but she didn't want to jostle her.

It didn't take long for them to reach the same forest Jica was in earlier. Jica set the woman down as gently as she could before touching down herself.

She crouched down in front of Launch. She was hit mid-thigh. Launch pulled a small box from her pocket and popped the latch on it. Inside were a handful of capsules, though there was a bit of empty space too. She pulled one out and hit the button on the capsule. It poofed open and, once the smoke cleared, revealed a small first aid kit. She opened it and handed Jica a clean cloth.

“Do me a favor and press that against it, huh? And don't be a baby about it, I mean really press on it.”

Even though she was in a lot of pain, she was still taking control of the situation. Dang, this girl really was tough.

Jica did as she was told and pressed the cloth to the wound. Launch nearly cried out but held it together by saying “Yup, just like that. Shit that hurts…”

The injured girl balled her fists and tried to adjust to the pain. Her breathing was ragged, as if she had just sprinted a mile. She probably felt like she did too Jica figured. Only a few moments of reprieve and she was back to business. She dug through the kit and found a pair of thin but solid metal tweezers. 

“This is gonna be the worst part. That bullet has to come out.”

She had Jica removed the blood soaked cloth and she sucked in another breath through clenched teeth. She took a short moment to steel herself. Hesitation was clearly taking hold of the woman because she stared at the bleeding wound rather than doing what she needed to do.

“Here, let me.” Jica offered. 

“I can fucking handle it! I've done this before you know!” Launch snapped back at her. Jica did her best to stay calm with her response. 

“I'm sure you have, I can see all sorts of old scars on you. That doesn't mean you have to do it this time though. Give it here and I'll do it.” She did her best to made sure her voice was firm but it still wavered a little. It was enough though because Launch huffed and thrust the tweezers at her.

“Fine! Just get it over with.”

Jica took the tool from her and turned back to the wound. It wasn't incredibly deep, which was lucky. She wished she didn't have to but she had to mimic what the blonde in front of her did and take a deep, reassuring breath. She put one hand on the girl's thigh to hold it steady and started to gently work on it. Launch bit down on her own hand to keep herself quiet and from thrashing around. 

Before Jica could get it though, Launch stopped her and made her pull the tweezers away from her.

“Shit. Shit not.. ahh.. nooott now! Ah.. achoo!”

The girl sneezed and in an instant, her hair went from blonde to dark blue. Jica wasn't able to see the process even though she was watching her the whole time. It was just too fast, too instantaneous. 

The other thing that was instantaneous was her personality change. No longer was she the tough, take no bullshit type. Now, she was a sweet caretaker type. It only took her a second to cry out in pain and for tears to form. Jica put a hand on her shoulder and made her look at her.

“Launch, listen to me. I know it hurts and you're scared, but you've been shot and I need to get the bullet out. I'll try and be quick but you have to stay as still as you can, okay?”

Jica was able to keep her voice steady this time. The woman in front of her, the same one physically but completely different mentally, was scared. She was scared and it was now entirely up to Jica to fix.

Even though she was still panicking, the bluenette nodded and hugged herself tight. Jica set to work, determined to get this thing out and fast.

Jica had to admit, Launch was being much stronger now than she thought she would. She was staying surprisingly still, though still a few involuntary jerks here and there. 

It didn't take Jica long this time. Only a few moments and she was holding the blood covered bullet up to make sure it stayed in one piece, which it did. Good. 

“Okay, only one more thing to do, okay Launch? You're doing amazing for me, just a little while longer.”

The poor girl was silently sobbing to herself at this point, but she still nodded in acknowledgement. Jica quickly did the next part, though she doubted she was doing an amazing job. She packed the wound as best she could and quickly wrapped it up. It didn't look the best, but it was certainly better than nothing. 

Jica sat beside the girl, unsure of what to say next. Launch was the one to speak up.

“S-so.. you know about us? That one of us can.. take over at any time?” She sniffled and spoke quietly.

“Kind of, yeah. I'd never witnessed it myself before, obviously, but I was aware of it.” Jica half lied. She couldn't just say she knew all about it and had seen it all the time, just not in person before.

Launch nodded a little and fell quiet again. 

“I've been staying with Master Roshi. It's uh.. it's how I met the other Launch. I recognized her from pictures there. We talked and then the cops found her. She wanted to talk to me more after we got away from them but.. well obviously that didn't work out too well.”

Launch giggled a little before wincing and sniffling. Jica sighed and stood up. 

“Unless you know a better place, I should get you to Roshi's. You need a safe, warm place for that leg to heal.” 

Launch let out a defeated sigh. “I hate to burden him again though. I feel so bad about it every time.”

Jica knelt down and wrapped an arm around the neck of Launch's knees and the other around her back. The woman practically squeaked when she was picked up and her face went red but she didn't complain. 

The trip back to the island was made mostly in silence.