Become Legend (Jackie, Marrow)

"Well-"
The world didn't exactly fall neatly into black or white. Jackie knew some good people who didn't go out of their way to spread that wellness. And decent people who participated in some shady business. Be it for money or otherwise. Russ was doing a pretty good job walking away from her strikes, but he was noticeably keeping away. She would control the flow for a moment. "- Everything's a shade of grey, isn't it? I won't pretend to know the guy, but he's perhaps paid well for what he does. Moon or not." Doubtful everyone involved in the Dirty Snakes was also privy to this Moon conspiracy.

Jackie was pretty nimble with a weapon, but those would always be a little slower than a proper fist. Or movement, as Russ would protect himself and hop over the young kami with a kickflip off her staff. She'd able to keep balance and follow his fall behind her. The staff would twirl around with her stance to bash against the first two strikes. Smacking away the main punch and elbow. Only, simultaneously, taking the hidden third arm that for a majority of their scrapes took a defensive stance. That fist would smash into her abs but seem to ignite her into action. Small whirls of flame exploded out from her form for a mere moment as she pulled her staff back into position and tried swinging upwards at his chin to make him back up. Ignoring the blow's possible effect on her recovery.

"I'll believe ya, but I would caution taking a criminal's word at face value."
She'd attempt to step back for the distance, trying to follow up her upwards swing with a jab at his gut in return. "Couldn't you just ask her in jail? Or will she not speak up at all?"

---

On a good day, it'd be challenging to pick out Russ' energy signature. He was nothing if not pragmatic in his approach to keeping a low profile - when he wasn't blabbing about it to random bank robbers, that is. He kept himself suppressed and submerged in a sea of people. The needle wasn't just in A haystack; the entire damn city was one. Eris thought herself a lucky woman. Finding the right minion, stringing her along just enough, a literal legend revealing the path to power, and finding a neat little solution to the issue of fledgling rebellion. And now the very man she was looking for was isolated save for one other power out in the middle of nowhere, shining like a beacon.

"How fun! Do you think he'll be happy to see you again?" The Shinjin laughed lightly, running a finger across Marrow's cheek as the hybrid twitched and growled. "What a convenient little invention those midgets made; a wonder they never decided to deploy it against the Saiyans. Good thing, too! Now we can continue our whacky fun adventures, like in the old days." Eris frowned, turning toward the horizon. "I didn't want to have to do this to you. Truly. I was always the 'boss' in our relationship, but... well, guess the fault is mine for assuming you'd be smarter about it. I wasn't against your retreat on Namek, but I wanted to test your loyalty. Sadly, there is no use for disloyal, rabid dogs."

The rocky wasteland was sparse for cover. Eris had brought the two of them - luckily with undetectable energy - to a shaded alcove on ground level. Russ and his mysterious partner were still sparring. Not as HARD as Eris would've liked. She initially planned on running them ragged before siccing her new toy on them, but at this rate, they'd be here all day. Amethyst eyes stared blankly ahead. "I almost miss your sarcastic and selfish drivel. Oh well. You think they'll be surprised to see a Super Saiyan show up? It'll be an honor! Who would think a lowly gutter-born hybrid to ascend? We COULD pull it now... but, hm, I think it'd be much more entertaining to give a false flag of hope. Off you go!"

It would be sudden. As the friends and defenders ambled on with information exchanging and pleasantries, Marrow slunk among the shadows. Without warning, a fan of knives formed from liquid paint betwixt each of her fingers, the Saiyan silently hurtling her array of weaponry toward Jackie's back, neck, and head.

Russ' clever tactic worked, it didn't send Jackie flying but he managed to disrupt her balance until she prevent herself from falling. He would've liked to achieve the same result using a precise and "professional" style of combat without relying on fancy gimmicks or tricks. His unorthodox way of fighting needs a lot of work, or perhaps it could be one of his greatest attributes if Russ learned to accept it. Outside of combat sports in tournaments, there are NO rules for street brawling.

They say words dead more damage than a knife and Jackie's response certainly felt like a punch to the gut. "I know, I screwed up big time. But It's not like I told her my home address nor do I have a secret identity. Had I turned her to the police that day, I wouldn't have received vital information that ties into a much bigger scheme. If I could turn back time and replace the cash, I'll do it in a heartbeat. I did my best to protect the people she endangered and minimized collateral damage." If Russ learned magic he could replicate the stolen zeni and give it to the bank, and everybody wins.

It's time to train hard for real this time, Jackie knew light spars wouldn't be enough to push her protege and Russ agreed. Going Super Saiyan requires breaking down his mental walls and push those muscles past the point of fatigue.

If only the pair were still alone to continue their training, the barren wasteland now has extra visitors and they are observing the martial artists from the shadows. They were hunting for the blue-haired wonder and waiting for their moment to strike, one tried to shorten Jackie's life with colorful paint knives and Russ winced.

"Jackie!" He rushed to her aid and examined the knives, green eyes widening and teeth clenched together knowing who they belong to. Jackie believed to be an assassin, but Russ knew it was something far worse...

"Marrow..." he spoke lowly and transformed into his Wrath state, appearance is sorta different due to a hairstyle change. Russ looked around for the sight of rainbow hair and relied on his ears to listen out for possible sounds of footsteps. "She's here." His eyes narrowed still scanning the area, his voice a mixture of fear and anger. Marrow's battle power was hidden since the day they met, as he recalled her power is roughly equal to his own. For her to inflict injuries on Jackie, means that the hybrid has gotten as strong as them in six months.

This is bad, what is she doing out here in the middle of nowhere and what does she want with them? Well, Russ is about to get his answers soon enough. Russ saw "something" in the shade, charged up a stray ki blast, and fired it in Marrow's direction. For all he knew it could've been a rock or a small creature or something, regardless he wasn't taking any chances.

"I'm... Fine!"
Jackie wouldn't stay down from a few loose knives embedded in her. Especially the kind that melted away to reveal big bleeding wounds. The kami grit her teeth and looked up to Russ as he mentioned that one girl by name. Rather than succumb or get hit while she was off guard she'd stand and take fire around her form. Surging motes of flame would be thrown around her form, forcing it to level close to both Russ and Marrow's own transformed states from the technique alone. Subsequently, she'd take some of this fire and press it to the worse of the wounds, the one lining her gut, burning the blood and tissue there with the intent to close it up. It wasn't so bad for the fiery monk, and it beat bleeding out. A sudden pool of multicolored sickness surrounded her from below. Forcing the woman to move away while she delivers such dangerous first aid.

"Ahh!"
The culprit would soon enough show themselves. Or... Reveal their voices, at least. Jackie tried focusing on the presence, gauging where it was coming from, but she got nothing. It was hauntingly similar to how Jackie could throw her own voice from a distance. Perhaps this one was just... WAY far away. This voice threatened the pair, mainly Russ. "What?" - "Russ, what does she mean by 'purpose'. You met this Marrow at the Hospital... But the one speaking doesn't sound like a Marrow, does it?" Of course it wasn't. The puppeteer taunted and toyed before finally showing the actual Marrow.

"That's... What did you do to this girl!?"
She'd shout back at the voice as she looked carefully at this disheveled saiyan, not really in the know as much as Russ was. "We aren't attackin' your victim, whatever you are. I've just about had it up to here with shadowed cowards manipulating people around me!" The burning hand would come up to burn the arm's wound now, stopping any bleeding with a loud grunt. Quick to shrug off any semblance of weakness surrounding the previous attack while walking forwards and raising a fist. "Come out and we'll talk about this like adults!"

"WhAt DiD yOu Do To ThIs GiRl? I dunno, seems pretty obvious to me. Your blue-haired bitch of a friend might have a better idea!" Jackie's attempt at defusing the situation was met with derisive laughter: "Aw. Honey. You got a big storm comin'. Don't worry your pretty little redhead; it'll all be over soon." Amid the taunting and jeering, Eris had already initiated the next step of her plan. Jackie and Russ' hesitancy to attack while they had the advantage would backfire. All thanks to Nasu and a little bug from Plant, she now had the perfect concoction and methodology... to force an awakening.

"No! At least those things are cute. You're more like the test rats locked away in cages. The time has finally come for you to help me collect some much-needed data." Marrow twitched violently, a light foam forming at her mouth as a slow but unsustainable flood of artificial emotion began coursing through her veins. "I never promised I'd FIX anything. Our deal was drips and drops of experience in exchange for her service. Marrow proved lacking in fulfilling her end of the deal, so I decided to ensure that we'd get to have our fun properly."

At this point, it was hard to obscure. Marrow fell to her knees with a guttural howl, nails digging into flesh and drawing blood. Anger, fear, uncertainty, loss. An explosive cocktail of feelings that she'd never felt before besides in passing - now all crammed into her already melting mind. The Saiyan's cells screamed in a torturous choir, and all at once, the dam holding back her power BROKE. Her scream carried into the transformation, ratcheting in intensity as a silver pillar of light engulfed the woman where she stood. Marrow's once-rainbow hair turned to brilliant silver snow, glowing fiercely as her dilated crimson eyes moved about erratically.

The landscape bent to the force, pillars of stone crumbling and the earth quaking as her battle power skyrocketed into the millions. Eris' quiet laugh accompanied her puppet's pain as Marrow's newfound power was immediately turned on Jackie, a bloody red dagger racing towards her heart with the intent to kill the woman where she stood.

Much needed data...what did she mean by that? Was goading Jackie and Russ to attack Marrow a part of her research? As if the guardians of Earth will give her satisfaction to pile on that poor Saiyan's torment. The boss never promised to fix Marrow's illness, she would give her brain the necessary components to feel emotions as a price for her services.

Their deal allowed her to reap most of the benefits while Marrow gets little in return. As soon as Marrow wants to end their arrangement, her boss refuses to let her go and she juiced up her brain with negative emotions, it's messed up. "Controlling Psycho! She's is not your property!" Russ sneered. The minute she comes out of hiding, she'll get a knuckle sandwich special courtesy of justice.

He looks at Marrow standing there, twitching and foaming at the mouth, twitching more erratically than before, she fell to her knees and screamed in pain. 'What's happening to her?' He pondered if she was changing, it was difficult to watch her suffer like this, he wish he could take all of her pain away this instant.

Jackie took matters into her own hands and got close to her to encourage her to fight her control. Russ however knew she was too far gone to be reasoned with, her rabid form wouldn't allow it. His eyes widen "Jackie. Don't!" He tried to warn his friend. Too late, Marrow's energy exploded in a silver beacon of light. Russ shield his eyes as the entire wasteland glowed white from its eye-burning brightness. The light was temporary and faded into obscurity. It revealed an unhinged Marrow with glowing silver hair and shrunken red eyes. She focused on a single target. Kami.

Russ is silent, astounded by her new look. Before his mind could process everything Marrow threw her deadly paint at the guardian founder, Jackie protected herself effectively with minimum damage inflicted. "Jackie!" she was fine but that looked really painful. Russ can feel Marrow's power spiked up to ludicrous heights, more powerful than an army of Arcosians combined.

The little hairs on his body and tail raised up on edge, and his legs shake in subtle fear. Otherwise, they are firm enough to plant his feet on the ground. "So much power...what kind of form is that!? If the hair was gold, no doubt it's the Super Saiyan of legend. But clearly, something is different, something...unnatural.

Jackie encouraged his student it will be alright, it's obvious she was scared but is putting on a brave face for him. "R-Right.." Russ readied a fighting stance.

One thing for certain the big bad boss is correct. Russ has a better idea of what she did to her victim. His eyes trained on his silver-haired counterpart, wondering how will they get out of this mess. "Marrow's boss established a link to her brain, she amplified the neurons in her amygdala. Right now, Marrow's mind is overloaded with anger and adrenaline, triggered a berserker state." There are a lot more emotions she's feeling but it's hard to pinpoint what they are from her feral state of mind. Unaware most of the work is done by a parasite mutating her DNA.

"We have to knock her out and sever the connection, it's the only way to save Marrow." He forced his legs to lift off the ground and propel himself toward Marrow, he attempts to pummel her with a rapid flurry of punches and kicks. Russ could whip up a cure for Marrow's condition, with a sample of her paint magic. But as long as her client has full rein over the wild Saiyan, time will be wasted.