Chapter 17

Disclaimer: This is an AU, it is not the same as canon, some events happen sooner or later than they do in canon, or they don't happen at all. So keep in mind that I am aware of the canon timeline and it is different because I purposefully changed it.

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Kaz stood in the middle of a street, was currently staring at the buildings and people around him in aw. He had never left his house when he was living on his earth, and since then, the only people that he had interacted with were Bora, Upa and Korin. So seeing all of these people and new buildings to him was like when a baby sees grass for the first time.

'Wow, these buildings really are weird, how are they even standing? This place looks like a sci-fi movie, so I guess its probably anti gravity or something. And look at all the people. There must be tens of thousands, I've never seen so many!' Kaz was amazed, not knowing how he was supposed to react. Then he realized that he had landed in the middle of a street, and was blocking traffic.

"S-sorry!" Kaz hurriedly apologized before any of the drivers said anything and jumped out of the way. He landed on the sidewalk, only to have a bunch of the people there stare at him in confusion. His face immediately started burning, to the point where steam was almost visible.

He out his head down and hurriedly walked away, trying not to look at anyone. 'Stupid Stupid Stupid Stupid Stupid Stupid Stupid Stupid!' He thought and sped up, only drawing more attention to himself because of his speed.

He eventually found an ally where he could hide from his embarrassment. 'Shit! What was that? How did I immediately fuck up the second I got here! I thought I got better! And why is my face so red?'

Kaz was about to start panicking again, but then he remembered Korin's teachings. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath and exhaled, calming himself down. 'Its okay Kaz, calm down. You should have known that this would have happened when you came here. All I have to do is get some headphones and a phone, then I can be done with all of this "socializing" stuff and can go back to training like a hermit.'

Doing his best to bring back his confidence, Kaz walked out of the alleyway and back onto the sidewalk. 'Now all I need to do is find a phone store. Shouldn't be that hard right?'

Unfortunately for Kaz, he bumped into someone the second he left the alleyway. The person didnt really care and apologized, then they walked away like nothing happened. But Kaz retreated back into the alleyway. 'Maybe I should just look for the store from the shadows. if I'm out there, I might accidentally reveal my true power and freak everyone out, that wouldn't be good.' He nervously thought up an excuse to not have to talk to anyone and started running on rooftops to get around instead.

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"Shit, why the hell is it so difficult to find a phone store? I have been looking around for at least six hours now and have found nothing! This is bullshit!" Kaz complained to himself, not realizing that he could have easily just asked for directions.

"H-Hey you! You come out here right now and face me!" Kaz heard a voice from behind him. Turning around, he saw a kid that was a little older then him, about fourteen, standing there in a fighting stance. He was surprisingly muscular for someone his age, he had brown, curly hair and was wearing a brown Gi with white pants and a golden belt.

"W-what do you want?" Kaz asked, trying not to get nervous over just talking to a random stranger in an alleyway, but failing.

"You are walking around in a dark alleyway with a shady expression and you seem nervous! Are you the murderer?!" The kid yelled, and, since he wasn't the smartest, he immediately jumped to conclusions.

"M-Murderer?" Kaz said and took a step back, looking around to see if there was another person in the alleyway, but there wasn't. This only served to make the kid more suspicious.

"So you are! I had thought that the murderer would be at least an adult like those other people that I beat up, but to think it was just a kid!" The kid put his hands on his waste and started laughing, seemingly trying to imitate superman.

"W-What are you talking about?! I am no murderer!" Kaz replied, the nervousness in his voice fading as he entered battle mode, ready to fight the kid in front of him.

"If your not the murderer then why else would you be acting like that? Hanging out in alleyways, getting all nervous at stuff! Only a murderer would do that!" The kid didnt buy it and was about to attack.

"What do you mean?! Anyone could do that, like a thief or drug dealer!" Kaz tried to make a comeback with poorly chosen words.

"Oh, your right. Sorry, I thought you were a murderer-" The kid said, but the realized something. "Wait, your a thief and a drug dealer?! So you are still a criminal and I need to beat you up!"

"N-No! That's not what I meant!" Kaz tried to stop him, realizing his mistake, but it was too late.

The kid launched forward, spinning around and kicking Kaz with a surprising amount of force. Kaz was sent into the wall next to them, cracking it a little. He then got up, completely unharmed, but surprised.

"Wow kid, so you are strong! Very few of the other guys could survive even a single kick from me, and you seem to be completely fine! I guess I'll have to get serious then!" The kid said to Kaz and charged forward again, but this time, Kaz wasn't caught off guard.

Kaz's brought his hand up, with a blue energy tailing it, and deflected the kids attack back at him with twice the force. He then grabbed the kids leg and slammed him against the wall, cracking the wall even further.

"S-sorry, are you okay?" Kaz hurriedly apologized without thinking, panicking a little at the thought of heavily injuring someone. He had forgotten that even trained humans couldn't handle even a little of his strength at this point.

"Ouch, Ah, I mean, what are you talking about? I'm fine, you barely even scratched me!" The kid said haughtily as he was clearly trying to hold back tears.

"But, you are bleeding, here let me help you." Kaz said with concern and went forward to heal him with his Ki.

"What, no I'm not, this wound on my head was there before the fight! And what are you doing?" The kid was a little confused and was going to back away, not wanting to get hit again.

But Kaz didnt say anything and just put his hand out. A ball of yellow Ki started to gather above his palm, creating a weird noise that the kid had only ever heard once before. Memories flashed through his mind as the kid remembered the scene of a man shooting a beam of energy through his masters heart.

'He... He's going to kill me!' The kid thought and was going to try to run away, but it was to late. Kaz released the energy blast and it shot at the kid. But, instead of an explosion or a hole appearing in his chest, the kid suddenly felt a hundred times better as his body started healing at a visible speed.

"Is that better?" Kaz asked as his panic died down a little, but since he had never tried healing other people before he wasn't entirely sure that it would work, so he was still a little apprehensive.

The kid just sat there, stupefied as he looked at his body. "Uh, y-yeah, I'm fine. H-How did you do that?!"

"What? Ki? You are this strong but don't know what Ki is?" Kaz was surprised and confused. Based off of that kick, the kids power level should be around a hundred, and he was under the impression that anyone with a power level over fifty could easily use Ki if they felt like it, at least that was the case in the anime.

"KI? Yeah, I know what Ki is, of course I know what Ki is! What do you think I am, an idiot?!" Based off of Kaz's tone, the kid realized that Ki must be common knowledge among martial artists and he just hadn't gotten the chance to learn it before his master died.

"A-Anyway, why did you help me, aren't drug dealers and thieves bad guys?" The kid asked, trying to change the subject.

"I'm not a bad guy! I'm not a drug dealer, thief or a murderer! I just wanted to hang out in the alleyway!" Kaz was a getting a little annoyed and that let him talk without stuttering for once.

"Oh, well then I'm sorry for attacking you. I guess if you really were that murderer, you would have bombs or some type of explosive on you." The kid said and realized how dumb he was for not realizing it sooner.

"What is this murderer you keep talking about? Why would he have bombs?" Kaz asked, a little confused about why a murderer would specifically need bombs to murder.

"Oh, you must be knew to the town just like me! I just got here a few days ago, when did you get here?" The kid asked.

"Oh, uh, I think I got here about six or so hours ago." Kaz replied.

"Ah, well then that explains why you don't know. Anyway, there has been a murderer going around the city for the past few months, killing people by blowing them up, though, its mostly just women that they kill. By now, there have been over three dozen victims." The kid explained.

"What? And nobody has caught them? Do you at least know what they look like?" Kaz was surprised by this as he didnt remember any of this happening in canon. He had forgotten that this was a real world, and the conflicts and murders shown on screen weren't the only ones that existed.

"Yeah, it's crazy. And no, nobody knows what they look like. The only trace of his presence that he leaves behind is the scream of his victims before they die and their blood. Not even the police have any leads on the murderer. That's why I decided to find him myself! Both to bring this murderer to justice and to honor my master who recently passed, I will find them!" The kid proclaimed rather loudly and put his fist in the air.

"I see." Kaz said with a blank expression. He imagined all of the victims terror before they died, the grief their family must be feeling after losing them, the joy that the murderer was probably feeling after killing them. He suddenly felt angry, a lot more angry then he had ever felt in his life, and, unnoticed by him, his eyes flickered the same yellow color that they had earlier that day.

"Can I help you find them?!" Kaz asked with a serious expression.

"Ah, help me? You want to help?! Sure, you are stronger then me, or, I mean, you are pretty strong, but are you sure that you want to get caught up in this? We are talking about a murderer after all!" The kid hurriedly asked, though, he was a little hopeful to have a partner helping him.

"Yes I am sure, if there is a murderer out killing people, and I don't even try to help, what is the use of having my strength anyway? I saw this quote in a comic book once, "with great power comes great responsibility", and I am going to follow it!" Kaz replied with determination in his eyes.

"Well okay then, welcome to the team! The name is Mark, what's yours?" Mark smiled and stuck his hand out.

"Kaz." Kaz replied and shook Marks hand. Strangely, he was able to keep a clam mind and didnt get nervous with all the social interaction he just had. At least not yet.