Nightmare Mode (DBZ Gamer!SI)

Game

Thoughts

"Talking"

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"What did you say?" Tien replied coldly, the man shifting into a fighting stance.

"We should all just calm down…" Krillin said, stepping forward as he tried to diffuse the situation.

"I'm a Saiyan," Gray said abruptly, staring down Tien, "You've heard of my race, right?"

"Of course," Tien shot back, his cold expression gaining a small smirk, "I've killed a few of you, and I'm sure I'll kill a few more in the future."

"Us Saiyans communicate a bit differently than you Earthlings," Gray continued, ignoring Tien's taunting as he took another step toward him, "We're what you would call a 'warrior race.'"

Tien didn't respond, simply staring cautiously at Gray.

"You Earthlings use your words. You use these complicated words and expressions. You use your voice's tone to convey how you feel. You use words to tell each other your feelings," Gray continued, stopping in place as he held up his fist, a light glow of Ki forming around it, "Us Saiyans are much more simple. We don't need words. We let our fists do the talking."

Gray looked up again, locking eyes with Tien, "So, let's do this the Earth way. Introduce yourself, and stop talking about me like I'm not standing right in front of you. Or, if you wanna keep being so hostile…"

Tien suddenly stiffened, his closed third eye shooting open. He spun around, holding up his hands to defend himself, but was too slow. Gray's hand clamped on his shoulder, appearing behind him in a blur as he stared down at the man.

"We can do this the Saiyan way." Gray finished, his hand tightening as he gripped Tien's shoulder, causing the man to wince. Tien stared back at him defiantly, looking like he was considering starting an actual fight…

…Then, he eventually gave in. He sighed, stepping back as Gray took his hand off his shoulder.

"Tien Shinhan," He replied gruffly, "Disciple of Master Shen of the Crane School."

"Gray, a Saiyan working under Frieza," Gray shot back evenly, then turned around and nodded his head at his group.

"I'm Asuna!" Asuna greeted cheerfully with a smile, "Oh! I'm also a Saiyan!"

"Saeko," Saeko said simply, also smiling, "Not a Saiyan."

"Celia," Celia said simply, without a smile.

"I'm, ah, Nami," Nami greeted, still looking unsure about the whole situation, though she looked more comfortable than when she was surrounded by aliens back at the cave base, "I'm a human, or, a, uh, Earthling?"

"I'm Krillin! I'm a student of the Turtle School!" Krillin greeted in a friendly manner, partially breaking through the tension in the air, "Nice to meet ya!"

"The name's Yamcha!" Yamcha greeted, stepping forward and looking pointedly past Gray, "In case you ladies were wondering, yes, I am single!"

"I wasn't," Saeko shot back instantly, and Yamcha clutched his chest as if he was shot by an arrow.

"No one was." Celia shot him down in an even more harsh manner, causing Yamcha to bend down dramatically.

"...sorry," Asuna said simply.

Launch was next, stepping forward aggressively at Gray, "Launch. Saiyan or not, act like that again and you'll get a bullet in your- ah… oh fu-"

Launch was interrupted mid-sentence as her head suddenly snapped back, her nose twitching. Then, her head flung forward, a sneeze ringing through the air. In a split second, her blonde hair abruptly changed, becoming a dark blue.

"...What are we doing here?" Launch asked, her aggressive voice suddenly lighter and more feminine, "Oh, when did this big guy get here? Sorry, I'll move out of your way!"

Launch promptly turned around, walking back behind the group of men and standing next to Bulma.

"Big is right," Yajirobe suddenly stepped forward, raising a lazy eyebrow at Gray, "Never seen a Saiyan that looks this funny. You get stretched in the womb or somethin'?"

"Only as stretched as your belly is," Gray hummed back in reply. The fat man froze for a second, staring directly at Gray. Then, he burst out into laughter.

"Ha! Whatever," He said simply.

"...he's not wrong though," Finally, Bulma stepped forward, "Bulma Briefs, CEO of Capsule Corporation. I've never seen a Saiyan that… looks like you. No offense!"

"None taken," Gray said simply, not explaining any further. 

It's weird seeing her like this.

To see Bulma, who had no problem loudly berating Goku or Vegeta, men hundreds of times stronger than her, apologize for such a small comment was strange.

"That's enough. We should speak on the matter at hand," Kami finally spoke again, butting into the conversation, "Monster Carrot has made another attack on West City. Just mere minutes ago, he took another block to the east, and turned the martial artist Nam into a carrot."

"Yeah, we know," Krillin sighed, looking distraught at the news, "But… what can we do about it? Trying to fight him is dangerous enough, but on his home turf…"

"It would be a death sentence," Yamcha grunted, finishing for Krillin, who nodded at his words.

"Yes… he is quite a problem," Kami muttered simply.

"I know a way to take him down," Piccolo said, finally speaking as he lazily leaned against the small wall surrounding the rooftop.

"No," Kami shot him down instantly, "We've discussed this many times. We will not use your methods."

"His methods?" Celia asked questioningly, and it wasn't Piccolo who answered, but Tien instead.

"He wants to blow him sky-high," Tien grunted, looking over at Piccolo, "Personally, I'm… not opposed."

Despite his words, Tien was clearly at least bothered by the idea, as his hesitation was clear on his face.

"We can't! He has so many hostages!" Krillin butted in, shaking his head at the idea, "Not just civilians either - our fellow martial artists too! Our friends!"

"Y-Yeah, he just got Nam too…" Ranfan nodded, agreeing with Krillin, "We need to make this bunny guy change them back!"

"Actually… I'm with Piccolo here," Gray spoke, causing Ranfan to look at him with wide eyes.

"Of course you are," Tien grunted again, "Why would an alien care for human lives?"

"I like you more already," Piccolo smirked from behind him, stepping forward next to Gray.

"I'm with him because I do care about the Earthling's lives," Gray clarified, causing him to receive a volley of confused looks.

"Then… you don't want to blow them up?" Krillin asked, confused by Gray's conflicting statements.

"No, I do," Gray shot back again, "because doing nothing is even worse. Carrot's been attacking for a while, right?"

Kami nodded at his words, "Correct. He's been slowly taking over more and more of West City."

"Then, the longer you let him run free, the more innocent lives he'll take," Gray continued, "The more Earthlings he'll turn into carrots, and the more of your friends he'll keep as hostages. The harsh truth is that you're all scared shitless of trying to take him down."

Gray glanced over the group, no one denying his words, "And I don't blame you. It'd take a lot of convincing for me to go seek out a fight with that monster. I quite like being a Saiyan and not a Carrot."

"So, what? You want us to just cut our losses?" Tien asked, a slight tinge of anger on his face as he stared intensely at Gray, "Just kill all the people he's turned into carrots along with him?"

Hah, he's still a good guy.

Despite Tien's cold demeanor, his anger at Gray's idea was all he needed to see. He was still a good guy - he just needed someone to bring it out of him.

"Yes," Gray replied bluntly, "You have a better idea? No one will ever be brave enough - or, stupid enough - to go track him down. No one in their right mind wants to fight a man who can turn you into a carrot with a touch. He'll continue to turn more and more Earthlings into carrots. Not just civilians, but fighters too. Will it take your strongest fighter being turned into a vegetable for you to take action?"

Gray's eyes scanned across the group, watching as his words slammed into them. It was harsh, but it was also the truth. Nam might've not been a strong fighter, but he was still another body to help against the many factions on Earth.

I can see where this is heading, and it's not good.

Carrot would continue to push further and further into the city. Eventually, he'd start taking down people close to the Z-Fighters. Someone would stupidly try to stop him for revenge, and they'd end up just like Nam.

They're strong. I can't let them die a useless death.

Tien was the strongest, and while he was no 'world-saving force,' he was still a powerful ally. He was someone who wouldn't die to anyone but a top-level commander in one of the factions.

Or, to a single touch of a rabbit's paw.

More importantly, Monster Carrot just had to go. On a planet where Gray felt confident enough to take on damn-near anyone, Carrot seemed like the biggest concern at the moment.

He's not the strongest of foes, but his bullshit ass power can take me down instantly.

Carrot would keep dwindling down the Earthling's fighting power and would continue to loom over Gray's shoulder as a genuinely terrifying opponent.

"B-But…" Ranfan trailed off, looking up at Gray with big eyes, "What about Nam? Y-You… you can't just kill him!"

Gray sighed, looking down into the woman's big eyes. Then, he glanced back up at the group, "Did you guys forget about how this whole battle of Earth started? It was over the dragon balls."

"Oh, right!" Ranfan said abruptly, her eyes shining as she stared up at Gray, "You can bring them back! You can wish them back!"

"Oh, yeah! That would work!" Krillin nodded in agreement, his expression brightening.

"Exactly," Gray confirmed, and Tien's expression begrudgingly calmed down.

"Hah, you're right," Tien sighed, "If we can gather all the dragon balls, that is."

"If we can't, then we have bigger problems," Gray deadpanned, "Mainly that we lost, and one of the intergalactic emperors is immortal. At that point, I think Nam would prefer to be dead anyway."

"While that works in theory, it won't work," Kami interrupted, "The dragon balls can only resurrect someone who died within a years time. Unless you manage to gather the dragon balls within a years time, those killed will not be able to be brought back. If you want to use this method to take down Carrot, it would be wise to gather the dragon balls first."

"How do you know?" Gray asked, then clarified at Kami's look, "That they can't be revived within a year. I thought these were some mystical wish-granting balls. How do you know they have that rule applied to them?"

I know how, of course, but…

"Because I created them," Kami said, leading the conversation in the direction Gray wanted.

"Then change them," Gray said bluntly, and Kami blinked at him.

"Change them?"

"You made them, right? Actually, even better, just make some new ones," Gray said, locking eyes with Kami.

"I can't just make new ones…" Kami trailed off.

"Then change them," Gray said again.

"I can't just change them," Kami shot back again, "It's not that simple. The dragon balls can not do something that exceeds the power of their creator, which is me."

"When did you make them?" Gray asked, and then continued again at his look, "The dragon balls. When did you make them?"

"Many hundreds of years ago," Kami answered.

"Then, you must've been much weaker, right?" Gray continued, "You're stronger now, so you can make them stronger."

"I'm… not stronger," Kami countered, his wrinkly face wrinkling even more as he didn't want to explain the whole 'him and Piccolo splitting apart' thing, "It's complicated, but I have lost much of my power."

"Then get stronger," Gray said bluntly, "Get to training. You're the guardian of the Earth, right? Every day that we let Carrot run free, more Earthlings turn into carrots. Get to training so we can take him down now, and then revive them later."

The lookout was silent for a moment, all eyes locked on Kami and Gray. Then, finally, Kami slowly nodded.

"You… are not wrong," Kami grunted, Gray's words impacting deeply into him. He had been failing as the Guardian of Earth, as he could do nothing while the space invaders continued to wreak havoc on the planet.

"W-What do you mean he's not wrong?! We can't just try to blow him up! We'll be killing…" Krillin trailed off, looking at a loss for words as he stared between Gray, Piccolo, Tien, and Kami - all of whom seemed to be in agreement now.

"They'll be brought back later," Tien conceded, nodding at Gray, "Fine. I'm in agreement."

"Come on guys… we can't just…" Krillin was noticeably frustrated, looking around at the other members of the group. 

"I hate to say it, but… this is the smartest course of action," Bulma conceded as well, not meeting Krillin's eyes.

"I'm glad you guys agree," Gray hummed, resisting letting a grin form on his face. 

"Now, enough talking. Let's go blow this fuckin' rabbit sky high!"

For the first time possibly ever, the system decided to be kind to Gray.

[Quest Alert]

Defeat 'Monster Carrot'!

Rewards:

+1,000,000 XP

+100 Attribute points (10x multiplier from [Nightmare Mode])

A random [Common] [Magical] skill!

Failure:

Nothing!

Hah. I was gonna kill him anyway, and I'm gonna be rewarded for it? With a magical skill too?

Even if it was a common one, any type of magical skill was appealing. They tended to be rather bullshit.

Maybe NIghtmare Mode isn't so bad after all! 

Gray would soon realize that Nightmare Mode was, in fact, so bad after all.

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Gray Tanaki:

[Saiyan Squad Captain]

Age: 18

Wallet: 1,271,650 Coins

Lvl: 22 (2,085,000/5,000,000 XP)

PL: 3,118,252,700

Available Points: 300

HP: 1,889,950/1,889,950

TKI: 2,311,325/2,311,325

STR: 1465

AGI: 1650

END: 1290

INT: 1405

CHA: 1205

LUK: 795

KI: 1645

HREG: 1176

EREG: 1176

Skills: [Observe LVL 10], [Running LVL 15], [Determination LVL 15], [Ki Control LVL 14], [Ki Gun LVL 11]. [Ki Enhancement LVL 9], [KI Suppression LVL 10], [Ki Sense LVL 8], [Pushup LVL 15], [Punch LVL 15], [Kick LVL 15], [Jump LVL 15], [Flight LVL 9], [Prediction LVL 7], [Zenkai Boost LVL 6], [Cognitive Acceleration LVL 7], [Ah! Lord Freiza! LVL 7], [Mouth-Beam LVL 6], [Ki-Blade LVL 6], [Cooking LVL 6], [Ki Array LVL 8], [Ki Explosion LVL 6], [Ki Vision LVL 6]

Perks: [Gamer's Mind], [Gamer's Body], [Double-edged Sword], [Legendary Super Saiyan], [Perfect Ozaru], [A Cute Pawn], [A Humble Master], [Ladies Man]

Fighting Styles: [Boxing Style: Kolra LVL 2], [Fighting Style: Broly LVL 1]

Party: [Saeko, Celia, Asuna, Ranfan]

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AN: Thank you for reading! The next chapter will be out next week, or you can read the next 5 chapters right now at Patreon.com/Koyon !