Sean wasn't sure whether sensing a high-power level would be sufficient to trigger his Zenkai Boost. If it was just sensing it, he should have already approached Blonde Blazer's power level, something he had sensed every time he entered the building. Unfortunately, despite his power increasing, there was still quite the gap between them.
However, how did it explain the massive increase right after having met Phenomaman? He had two guesses.
First, it was because of the quality of Ki he had sensed. It had been difficult to notice when he didn't have anything to compare it to, and when his own strength was so small compared to Blonde Blazer's Ki, he couldn't recognize the details. Blonde Blazer's blazing Ki, despite its strength and radiance, felt almost hollow, as if something were missing. A certain quality that was there when he sensed Phenomaman. Unadulterated raw power with a fullness.
Second, it was because he didn't see Blonde Blazer as a threat, as opposed to the shock he received when suddenly a presence completely dominated his senses. Although he couldn't feel any hostile intention from either of them, it was only Phenomaman's that had completely encompassed all he had sensed and made him feel unimaginable insignificant. There would have been nothing he could have done to resist that might. It might have been that helpless feeling, the resulting indignation of feeling that way, and the desire to reclaim his sense of strength that his body internalized this to turn it into strength.
Both could be true, and he wasn't going to rely on chance and unknowns to plan his future growth. There were two ways to figure out which was which. While being injured, he would need to face him without fighting him first to see whether that would be enough to trigger his growth. Unfortunately, this relied on his instincts not turning on survival mode again by merely approaching him, otherwise, this test wouldn't be conclusive.
The other way would be to have Blonde Blazer pressure him, so he could see her as a threat. If he received a significant boost, he would know that the emotion toward a presence was the most relevant. In all honesty, he felt that was the most likely factor in Zenkais. After all, why would a Saiyan's body adapt to a power level if he didn't feel threatened by that benevolent Ki signature?
In the end, it didn't matter which approach he went with. He still needed to establish a deal with Phenomaman, and for that he could only seek out the only one he knew had a connection to him. His knuckles rapped against her office door.
"Come in." Her voice called out from the door frame. There were some speakers hidden in it, so the room could be sound-insulated while giving her the option to invite people in. Truly extravagant and weird thing to worry about.
"Hello, Blonde Blazer." As he greeted her, he closed the door behind him. Although it wasn't information that couldn't be known by others, it was still a private topic he was asking her. His boss sat up a bit straighter seeing him, fixing her hair over her ear.
"Jin, how can I help you?" There was a familiar smile on her face, as so often when she knew someone was watching. Working in the same office made it a certainty that they ran into each other from time to time. When she didn't see him, her face always indicated she was constantly thinking about something difficult. When she did see him, her face lit up with a smile.
"Yes, I wanted to ask you if you could do me a favor." Her right eyebrow raised. "A few days ago, Phenomaman had visited you-" Her eyebrows furrowed. "- and I couldn't help but notice that he was quite strong. I had hoped you could introduce me to him." She looked surprised at his request before she seemed to have realized something.
"I find your pursuit of growth admirable, but I have to disappoint you. Phenomaman and I have broken up, so we aren't exactly on speaking terms. At least, I wanted to give him some space to process everything…" She looked at him as if she expected a specific reaction from him. It was unclear what she expected, but he couldn't hide the disappointment from his expression.
"I see that's too bad." He muttered before opening his mouth to ask where he would usually hang around, but that felt like he was overstepping a boundary.
"Your team had been booking the arena quite often, isn't that enough?" She suddenly asked, seeing him conflicted by the news.
"The sparring sessions work as intended. They improve the team's ability to work together… but I'm a lot stronger than they are and I'm not stimulated enough to benefit as much from them." Even fighting against them at the same time while suppressing his Ki as much as he could, they weren't really a threat to him anymore. Since Phenomaman wasn't in the cards, "Blonde Blazer, would you be up to spar with me?"
The blonde superhero looked surprised by his question and thought about it for a moment. "Sure, why not? I'll make some time." Although not quite what he had hoped for, this was indeed a great boon and would reveal what affected his Zenkai.
His strength had increased significantly. However, when comparing their Ki, he shouldn't be her match quite yet, so fighting her should give him quite the boost, and it would also open up the opportunity for future spars.
"Thank you, I appreciate it. Then see you at 6:00 pm?"
She nodded. "See you then."
With this, he was about to exit her office when he saw a familiar bag. "Did Mandy forget her bag?" The question came out of his mouth before he could think whether it was any of his business to ask about.
"Hm? Eh, yeah- I mean no. We have the same bag. It was on sale… You know- how do you know her?" That was the least coherent sentence he had heard from his usually confident boss.
"We met when I noticed her in your office. She had a key, so I figured she was related to you."
"Yes! She is my cousin." She nodded as if to reassure herself.
"Really?" Sean couldn't help but narrow his eyes at her. "You two really look alike. I figured you two were sisters. Anyway, see you later!"
"See you!"
He seemed to have heard a sigh when he closed the door before heading to get his lunch.
…
It was the end of the day, and Blonde Blazer had mostly finished what she had to. Of course, there was always more to do, but she decided to wrap it up for the day. If only to keep up her promise with Jin for the spar he had asked her for.
Her feet quickly carried her toward the arena. Loads of rubble were already in the designated cleanup spot, and there was dustiness in the air which could only have come from recently destroyed concrete. After knowing they would spar, she had taken a look and seen that another team had booked it until 5:45, so she reserved the arena until 7 pm.
Suddenly, she heard someone mumble, which only grew clearer as she closed in. There was more than one person. Perhaps the other team was still cleaning up? After rounding the corner, she saw the members of the Z-Team. At least, some of them.
"Hello, I think I had booked the area?" It was half a question about whether that system glitched again and half what they were doing here if it hadn't.
"Yep. We know." Invisigal said with her arms crossed, while leaning against the wall. Malevola and Punch Up were sitting on some makeshift bench made from a piece of broken-off wall, while she could hear Flambae and Prism talk on the spectator railings.
"Did Jin invite you to observe us?" It would make sense for him to invite them. They might be able to learn a few things by observing them. However, the idea of him inviting them disappointed her a bit. She would have liked to spend some one-on-one time with him. Get to know him as Blonde Blazer while in a more casual setting. Well, as casually as this after-work sparring session could be. She wondered whether he would act differently then. Of course, as Mandy, she knew he acted differently, but that wasn't the same.
Fortunately, Malevola shook her head. "Naur, we had invited him for a drink, but he said he was out for sparring. Took lots of convincing and a peek into the bookings to reveal who it was against."
"That maniac really shouldn't spar in his condition." Punch Up shook his head in exasperation, though right afterward he shrugged his shoulders. "Well, what can ye do? Can't talk the lad out of it with him being this excited. I get it though. Sparrin' with ya lass will probably be worth it."
"What do you mean in his condition?" She asked. When they had talked during lunch, he seemed fine, and she hadn't heard of any major mishaps during any mission that day.
"Oh, just that his body is littered with wounds because the in-house demon can't say no." Invisigal's sarcastic voice added.
"He asked me to do it." Malevola threw up her hands.
"Do you do everything he asks you to do? Just a wrong move and he might keel over!" Invisigal snarks back, surprising Blonde Blazer at the outburst. From the sound of it, it seemed to be justified too. The interactions she had with Invisigal over the last two months made her surprised that she would be this angry for someone else. Although Invisigal was a good person deep down, she didn't seem keen on opening up to anyone nor worrying over someone openly this early. It was a sight that brought hope that the Phoenix Program was truly working.
"His body was littered with wounds?" She asked with a frown. Jin's hero outfit was long-sleeved with pants. They were tight-fitting with an armor covering his torso and his private parts as well as most of his thighs. Big boots and gloves as well. Without his clothes being damaged, it would be difficult to see any injuries that weren't in his face. However, he was still looking strong and steady when they talked. "He looked fine a few hours ago."
"That's what I was saying," Malevola argued, sighing a bit at Invisigal's glare. "Look, he said it has something to do with his powers. I didn't ask about details since he looked and moved fine. He will know if it's too much." Even the one saying it didn't seem fully convinced before looking over to her. "Blonde Blazer, maybe you should take it easy first."
"Of course," She nodded with what she hoped to be a reassuring expression. "Where is he?"
"In the middle, at the pillar." Punch Up supplied, while Invisigal turned invisible, and it was anyone's guess where she was headed. Malevola and Punch Up took her leave as the signal to walk up to the spectator railings.
For some reason, that short talk with them made the atmosphere heavier than she would have liked. She had come with the hopes of spending some time with him and maybe tease him about it later as Mandy, and now there was this knot in her, making her worried about what she would find. It didn't take long until she arrived, despite feeling that it had taken too long while simultaneously not giving her enough time to prepare mentally.
He was dynamically stretching, warming up, giving her the feeling that there was ample strength in his body. For a moment, she wondered whether they were messing with her, but she doubted that. Not when Invisigal looked genuinely angry, and Malevola was obviously feeling guilty.
She took a deep breath. "Hey Jin."
"Hello, Blonde Blazer. Do you need a moment to warm up as well?" He sounded casual.
"I've heard you're injured." The exposure was met with raised eyebrows. It was clear he didn't think she would have known before realization hit him as he glanced toward the distant specators.
"The others told you?" He asked with a frown.
"You're really injured?"
"…I mean-" She could feel an excuse coming up, so she interrupted him.
"Take your shirt off."
"Excuse me?"
"I want to see it." He raised an eyebrow at that request. "The wounds, I mean."
He sighed as if this were bothersome and she was making an issue out of nothing, but when the former criminals showed concern for their teammate in what was supposed to be a friendly spar, that deserved her attention. With a tug at his collar, he took off the armor, and for a moment she feared the undersuit was a one-piece as well until he took off his long-sleeved top.
And as the others had alluded to, there were countless cuts and bruises. It was a miracle that he wasn't bucking over from pain with every movement. The wounds shouldn't have healed enough to allow him to move about at ease as he seemed to be. The only saving grace was that they weren't bleeding otherwise, he would be bleeding out rather quickly.
A few scabbed over, but clearly, "You aren't in any condition to fight." Her jaw felt tight from the tension. Anger was rising in her at the man, who made it seem like this wasn't a big deal, especially when he looked like he was about to argue with her.
"I'll rest once we get this spar over with." He dared to utter, which was almost the straw that broke the camel's back. Blonde Blazer took a deep but shaky breath, barely containing her anger. "It might not seem like it, but it's going to be beneficial for me." He continued to explain.
"Right. You look like you have gone through a shredder, and that's supposed to be beneficial?"
"I heal quickly-"
"With that wonder pill?" She interrupted. "Oh, I know Knuckleback gave you one. It's not a solution for everything. It can fail to work."
"I'm not going to rely on it." He said, standing tall with his chest out, looking exceedingly confident, though for Blonde Blazer it looked like a suicidal man on the verge of throwing himself over the edge. "Are we doing this or not?" His hands moved to put on his undersuit top and his armor back on.
"What do you think?" They looked at each other, and she could see it in his eyes. The change. The determination, the steel of resolve forming before taking root firmly.
"I think you don't have a choice." His tone turned harsh, unlike how she had gotten to know him as Blonde Blazer or as Mandy. Jin's entire demeanor shifted to something dangerous. The difference was so stark that for a moment, she feared he had been mind-controlled.
His arm slowly raised until his palm pointed at her. Of course, she had heard and read some of the reports. His powers had evolved to the point they made him unrecognizable.
"Are you really trying to force it? Why not just postpone our spar until you've healed? Why now?" She really couldn't understand his angle in this. Wouldn't it be better to spar when he had his full strength?
"Indeed, it's stupid to spar like this," He admitted, though she had the feeling she wouldn't like what would follow that sentence. "However, I'm going to have this fight no matter what. Please do your best to survive. I'll only stop if you kill me or knock me out. If you try to run, I'll target them." His chin lifted to his teammates.
Given the way he had conducted himself the past few days with basically everything, him turning murderous because she didn't want to spar with him when he was injured was absurd. And yet, his eyes looked anything like he was bluffing. Besides, his entire vibe was off. There was an invisible aura he exuded that just made it seem he was out for violence.
At that moment, she remembered their conversation as Mandy. 'A goal that needs extreme measures.'
"You can't be serious-"
"HAAA!" There were no visuals, just her instincts compelling her to move to the side. An invisible force tore open the ground before causing the concrete wall behind her to explode. Debris and dust spread with a deafening crack. "You're insane."
"Indeed, try your best to stop me. You'll never know what I might do." He said as he held out his arm to the side, revealing a glowing sphere in his palm. He flung it at her. In response, her own hands lit up as she pulled out more power from her gem. Her hand unleashed a light beam, connecting with the sphere Jin fired back.
An explosion dominated the space between them. The reinforced ground shattered. Stones and bits of steel were blasted away. She needed to end this quickly without hurting him too much. To her surprise, he leapt through the smoke. She flew back and up before realizing he was flying. Catching up to her. His fist connected with her forearm. The force pushed her toward the ground. Before the impact, her body swayed to the right, dodging a follow-up kick by him.
Flight. Another ability she didn't know he had.
"Stop it! You're in no condition to fig-"
"Seems like I am if you can only defend yourself! I won't stop if you keep holding back!" He hollered as he followed her. She weaved through the obstacles, letting him clip a few walls as he seemed to not be well-versed in flying yet. His hand dug into a concrete wall and flung it at her.
"Fine!" Her arms outstretched. A golden sphere appeared around her. The concrete stone pelted against it without affecting it at all. "Have it your way!" She would have to take him out quickly. A few precise shots and he would be out! Her speed increased. It used to be difficult to adjust to the acceleration, but after wearing the gem for years, she had more than enough experience.
As soon as she moved, she was already by his side. His eyes widened as she punched him. His raised guard pushed away as the loaded energy of her fist exploded against it. He was left open. Her other fist struck him straight in the chin. A smaller explosion of light snapped his head to the side. His body spun before plummeting into a wooden crate. It shattered into a thousand pieces.
A moment later, she started to panic as he didn't move. "I told you not to hold back." His voice called out as his body lifted. After massaging his chin, he cracked his neck. "Congrats, you've won the warm-up. Let's take it up a notch." Blonde Blazer couldn't help but feel like she was floating in front of a force of nature taking human form.
Wind suddenly seemed to be generated off him, as dust, splinters, and debris started to be pushed away by him. Instinctively, she channeled more energy. Her gem started to glow, as did her fists and her eyes. Like the many times before she used this much power, she felt invincible. It was as if she could shatter anything with her hands and nothing could affect her. Her vision was near perfect and her reaction time was boosted to its limits.
Jin became faster. It was like he had some super speed ability on top of all the others he seemed to have gotten. However, even with that boost, he looked slow to her. Not snail slow, but slow enough for her to casually lean out of the way. Her fist buried in his stomach at the same time as his punch missed. A small explosion pushed him back, clipping another wall before he flipped to stand perpendicular against a wall. His arm thrust toward her.
Her shield, impenetrable, took the brunt of the invisible attack. Surprisingly, it pushed her back. Her sphere embedded into the concrete wall of a lookout tower. Her palms lit up as she started to fire at him. He had to dodge. Barrels, crates, concrete walls, and Jersey barriers exploded into bits. In an arc, he flew at her. She decided to meet him.
His fists landed in her palm. She pushed it away, only for him to kick at her. Her guard held. With a weave, he dodged her fist, only to be met with her knee. His body shot up. She followed. Their fight continued. He had no answer to the little explosions that came with each impact from her fists. They were upside down.
"Seems like this is new to you." She spoke to distract him. Just from the little exchange, it was clear he was the better close combatant. He was slower and weaker, but managed to bridge the gap with skill. In flight, however, he was clumsy. Unfortunately, the short bout made it clear she couldn't hold back much if she wanted to restrain him.
Her forehead smashed into his nose. Crack. Cringing internally while continuing her assault. His harsh eyes tracked her as blood dripped down. He wasn't going to stop. She could feel his determination, so as he said, she would make him. His head snapped back. Her fist clocked his cheek. A retaliation shot only to miss as she looped around him. With her arms around his waist, she pushed off from the leverage she created in the air.
Their speed accelerated to a beam of light before she let him go. His head smashed into the main pillar in the middle of the arena, pierced it, and continued to smash through several more reinforced obstacles. Her gaze snapped upward. Her eyes widened as she heard the metal of the ceiling groan as it lost the main support.
"Leave the building!" She shouted at the bewildered spectators. Her voice registered quickly as they moved fast, while she headed toward Jin. It didn't take long to find him through the path of destruction in the rubble.
"I-I'm fine." He muttered, clearly disoriented. "Let… continu-"
"You absolute buffoon! The building collapses!"
"Huh?" He blinked as he looked up.
"You're definitely concussed. I shouldn't have-" Before guilt could truly settle, Jin shot up.
"HHAAAAA!!" His body glowed with an intense light before erupting. A blinding light before the push. Her body was lifted away from the resulting explosion, only staying put because she counteracted the force through her powers. Ironically, her own glowing eyes had to close to shield herself from the intense light. Several objects shattered against her.
It wasn't long. In fact, it was only a blink of an eye before the explosion and force subsided. Her eyes opened to reveal most of the ceiling being pulverized as a body plummeted. Behind his body, she could see the light of his attack in the far distance, heading into space. Without thinking about it, she moved to catch him. Of course, he was out of it. That last attack seemed to have emptied his tank. At that point, she couldn't help but wonder how strong he would have been if he had been fully rested.
"Freaking maniac." She muttered as she held him in her arms. Now unconscious with the tension leaving his face, he looked more like the man she had gotten to know. A sigh escaped her as she surveyed the damage, knowing that she would have to write a lot of reports and explain herself.
…
Strange. Sean had expected more. Although it was ironic to say when his entire body was hurting this much, he still couldn't deny that the fight wasn't what he had expected. The fight itself had been quick, a few exchanges only to result in his defeat. Blonde Blazer's Ki was strange, and how she used it was strange. Her Ki was more like an armor she put on and not part of her body.
Armor that helped her durability and increased her damage output, though even that didn't seem to be consistent with what he was sensing. If that was what she did with her Ki, then her control was absolutely abysmal.
Despite the huge gap he felt between their Ki, their actual fighting gap wasn't that high. In fact, if he hadn't been half-dead and had actually eaten his fill during lunch, he was confident that he could have easily beaten her. Of course, this was only the case if she hadn't held back, though he was pretty sure that she didn't.
He took some steady breaths with his eyes still closed, just feeling his body. For a moment longer, he just wanted to rest and not be confronted by the people conversing animatedly in his room. It was in the spur of the moment that he started provoking Blonde Blazer. He truly wanted her to put effort into their fight, make it seem that he was a real danger, so he pushed her.
In hindsight, it was a shortsighted action that caused damage to the good reputation he had been building since he had woken up in this world, but his Saiyan brain at that point won out. Just thinking about someone as strong as her fighting him seriously was truly an exhilarating thought. With an exhale, he felt ready to take fault. His eyes opened to reveal his team and Blond Blazer talking- no, they seemed to be arguing.
"…He could have died!" Invisigal almost shouted while Blonde Blazer looked ashamed.
"She had no choice," Sean interjected, making heads snap toward him. "I would have escalated it one way or the other. Besides, we were there to have a spar. It was inevitable to get hurt in the process. If you want to blame someone, then blame me."
"Hmph, you're a fucking idiot to want to fight her, but she threw you through the pillar and dropped a building on you!" Invisigal sounded appalled. "You were one foot in the grave and she-" She argued, but he didn't have any of it.
"So, why didn't you stop her? You've told her about my injuries, right?" That question shut her up, and with his words, he floated up. The blanket slipped to the bed. "I know why. It's because you know what I'm capable of, because you can trust my judgement." Every part of his body hurt, and with that little bout with Blonde Blazer, he had sustained new injuries. In all honesty, he just wanted to lie down and sleep for a few days. He was running on fumes since even before the fight.
However, he knew what a Saiyan's body could endure. Against Vegeta or on his way to Namek, Goku's every bone had been nearly pulverized, and he was still able to move and fight. With the Kaioken, he was sure that Goku's damage was so grave that any human would have immediately keeled over, but he didn't.
Ki flowed through his body, leaking to the surroundings. Strength that would have been unimaginable to his human self filled him. "I won't do anything that will truly put me in mortal danger."
"You passed out! You did almost die!" This time it wasn't Invisigal, but Blonde Blazer, who had been silent until now. She looked equally guilty and angry at whom was anyone's guess.
He scratched his cheek. "I did get carried away in the end. Didn't want the building to fall on anyone, but!" He spread out his arms as his expression softened. With his telekinesis, he pulled everyone present closer into a hug. "I'm touched that you guys worry about me."
"Eww." "What the-" "This- this nice." "Hm, not bad"
After a moment of savoring it, he let them go again. "Don't worry, I'll be more careful in the future." With that, he turned to Blonde Blazer, who still looked conflicted. Even if his words had eased her a bit, she clearly would not let that feeling go easily. "Thank you, and sorry about putting you in that situation. It had been selfish of me, and I shouldn't have."
She sighed heavily. "…Let's not do that again."
"No promises." She glared at him before looking up at the ceiling as if she lamented having him as an employee.
The team then began detailing what they had seen. Punch Up was gushing about the counters, while Flambae muttered something about the flight. Tension had eased out, but there was one more thing. "Hey." They looked at him. "I'm starving. Can we go eat? It's my treat."