Nightmare Mode Chapter 8.2

Game

Thoughts

“Talking”

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“Don’t look so scared, boy. It’s unbecoming of a Saiyan.” Raditz chuckled, and Gray realized his stress was showing on his face, “What’re you scared that she’ll find out? Got a small cock or somethin?” 

Gray glanced down his crotch.

Nah, I’m packing.

“Yeah, something like that…” Gray said and was glad when Raditz merely grunted and didn’t push him any further. 

It’s not like I have any THAT bad planned, just overthrowing Frieza and probably killing her father in the process… though if he’s on board with the whole killing Frieza idea, then I guess I he can stick around.

“Still kinda scary that she might be able to read my thoughts or something…” Gray mumbled, staring over the railing. 

Does she know about my past life?

“Enough of that. I need to start filling you in on the mission. You ever heard of the planet named Earth?” Raditz asked casually, and Gray struggled to keep his face emotionless. He failed, letting his surprise slip through, but was luckily facing away from Raditz as he stared over the railing. 

“Ah…” Gray trailed off, not sure how to answer the question.

Should I know Earth? Is it part of the Saiyan education I missed out on?

“Whatever, it doesn’t matter. I don’t blame you for not knowing, our contact with it is kept pretty under wraps, and it was thought to be pretty useless until a couple of years ago.” Raditz said, and Gray turned his head to lock eyes with him. 

“So, what about it?” He asked.

“That’s where the mission’ll be. I’m leading a squadron there, and you’ll be a part of it.” Raditz said, looking like he was going to explain more, but stopping as footsteps echoed down the path they come from. Gray stood up straight as he saw Celia walk around the corner.

“Father is ready to continue the briefing.” She said simply, eliciting a nod from Raditz as he pushed himself off the wall, walking past her toward the throne room again. Gray followed suit but paused as Celia placed a hand on his shoulder as he walked past, whispering to him, “Remember what I told you. Don’t reveal anything to him. Be vague. Let me do most of the talking.”

Gray nodded, and they walked toward the throne room.

I’ll have to trust her for now, but whatever ability she has is scary. I might have to kill her at some point. 

Gray flicked his eyes toward Celia, looking for any reaction on her face. She maintained an emotionless expression as they walked side by side.

So, not mind reading. 

They walked back into the throne room and stood in a line once again as the King leaned back on his towering throne. 

“I’ll start the briefing now. Be grateful, it’s not every day you get to speak with your King. I usually wouldn’t waste my time on this, but this mission needs to stay under tight confidentiality. Nothing I say here should leave this room unless it’s completely necessary, got it?” King Vegeta asked, glowering down at them as if begging for one of them to refuse. 

“Of course, Your Highness.”

“Of course, Father.”

…

“Um, Yeah, sure, Your Highness,” Gray spoke up, slightly panicked as the King’s sole attention focused on him after his moment of silence.

“Good.” King Vegeta intoned, then hopped off of his massive throne. He walked confidently towards a small door on the side of the room, hidden behind a towering pillar, and gestured for them to follow. Gray let Celia and Raditz move first, following behind them. Once inside the room, Gray saw what looked to be a board meeting room. There was a long stone table in the center, and various marble chairs placed around it.

King Vegeta walked over to a small white rock sitting in the corner, stomping on the side of it so it flipped over, revealing a paper underneath it. He picked up the rolled-up paper, and walked to the long table, placing it down. He rolled out the paper, and Gray eyes widened slightly as a map was spread out on the table. 

“This is Earth. Your mission will be here. There amount of maps made of Earth can be counted on your fingers, so you won’t be getting one. Memorize this one before you leave, which will be in 2 days.” King Vegeta said, gesturing to the large map lying on the table. Gray narrowed his eyes as he scanned the map.

I’ve only seen the Dragon Ball map a few times, but this looks roughly how I remember it, minus how the cities are laid out. 

The map showed a large land mass on the left, with an ocean separating it from a much larger land mass on the right. There was a small tract of land at the top that connected the two. Towards the bottom of the map, and in the middle ocean separating the two land masses, was a flurry of spread-out islands. There were multiple lines, each a different color, that cut across the land masses to showcase different territories.

Why the hell does the literal King of the Saiyans have a map of Earth? Judging from Raditz’s age, I thought I was around the start of Z, but maybe not if they’ve already been to Earth.

“Father, I think it would be best if we explained what we know about Earth to Gray before we continue - to ensure he is not confused,” Celia said. Gray narrowed his eyes slightly at her words.

Maybe she can read thoughts?

“Pointless. He’s promising, but this is Earth he’s heading to. I doubt he’ll make it back alive. Anything we tell him is just wasted time. He’ll follow Raditz’s orders.” King Vegeta growled, looking up from the map to stare at Celia. Celia’s eyes bore into him, and Gray saw her face change, going from its normal emotionless state to looking slightly pleading.

“Fine,” King Vegeta grunted, relenting at her look, “This is Earth. Up until three years ago, we thought it was full of weaklings. It had some decent materials, but nothing special. It was ranked D on Intergalactic Zillow.”

Gray struggled to keep his face blank.

Intergalactic Zillow? Is that really how Frieza sells planets?

“The war with his family has been costly for Frieza, so he increased the number of Saiyans in the planet-selling unit. The squadron that went to Earth never came back, so he sent another. They never returned either,” King Vegeta said, sitting down in one of the large marble chairs, “Frieza sent his left-hand man, Dodoria, but he returned empty-handed. The lifeforms on Earth are much stronger than we had anticipated, and it would require a full-on invasion force to take over the planet. King Cold noticed Dodoria’s excursion and sent his own forces. Frieza had deemed the planet more trouble than it was worth, but that was until one of King Cold’s generals was captured. He was interrogated, and let us know about this: An item called a Dragon Ball.”

Gray’s eyes followed King Vegeta’s finger as he placed it on a small orange dot drawn on the map, “When all of them are gathered together, they can grant a wish. Any wish. Power, immortality, even… killing someone.” 

Gray’s eyes widened as King Vegeta looked pointedly at him.

I was wondering why he asked me if I wanted to kill Frieza but then started talking about Earth. He wants to use the dragon balls to kill Frieza!

King Vegeta grinned at Gray’s look, his eyes glowing menacingly, “You understand, right? Frieza’s power is beyond even my comprehension, there’d be no chance to kill him in a battle. Instead, we utilize the dragon ball's power, and wish for his death!”

That’s… actually a good plan. At least, a good plan from what he knows. The dragon balls can’t kill anyone stronger than Kami in the show, but this world is so fucked up already, so who knows?

But, why does King Vegeta want to kill Frieza?

“King Cold and Cooler want the power of the balls as well, so it’s not as simple as just invading Earth anymore. Earth has become a battleground between Frieza, Cooler, King Cold, and the inhabitants of the planet.” The King explained, his grin dropping, “Each of Frieza and his family have claimed portions of the planet for their own, but most of the planet is still controlled by Earthlings. They are… surprisingly powerful.”

I knew everything in this world was fucked up already, but the Earthlings are actually able to fight back? Did the Z fighters get a huge power boost or something?

“Now, this information will be essential for your mission. Pay attention, all three of you.” The King said, looking pointedly at Raditz, who had been openly not paying attention as King Vegeta relayed information that he already knew. King Vegeta placed his finger on the bottom of the left land mass.

“This is the territory of the ‘Red Ribbon Army.’ It’s an army of weaklings, but their technology in weaponry exceeds even ours, so they are a formidable force. They’re likely the weakest of the forces on the planet. The most recent report from Earth indicated that they have one dragon ball.” The King explained.

The Red Ribbon Army is not only still alive, but can hurt Frieza’s army. So, canon is just fucked, huh? Thanks, dumbass nightmare mode. Now a lot of the knowledge from my past life is useless.

The King dragged his finger up above a red line that separated the Red Ribbon Army’s territories from the one above it, “This is the ‘Land of Kami.’ It’s an uninhabited forest, but there’s a floating island in the sky where at least four powerful fighters live, one who calls himself the guardian of Earth. Our forces are unsure about where one of the dragon balls is, so it might be there, but don’t mess with this area unless you’ve gathered the other six already.” 

Four? Kami, Popo, Korin… and who? 

“Hmmph, only four fighters? I bet I could take those weaklings on my own.” Raditz said with a confident grin.

“Keep speaking like that and you’ll be replaced as Squadron leader for this mission. I chose you because you’re trustworthy and smarter than most. Don’t bother these four unless you have six dragon balls.” King Vegeta said, glaring at Raditz, who wilted under his gaze.

“R-right!” 

Considering this guy is Vegeta’s father, I thought he’d be a lot more arrogant and stupid. He seems pretty level-headed.

“Next is Frieza’s base. This is where you’ll be landing and living for the duration of the mission.” King Vegeta said, pointing to a large island right above the land connecting both the land masses. He then pointed to the actual land connected to the land masses, “This is Cooler’s base.”

“Neither of which have any dragon balls.” Celia chimed in helpfully, resulting in King Vegeta’s hands clenching.

“Yes… unfortunately, our forces have been largely preoccupied with Coolers, so we have no balls.”

Hah, no balls.

The King dragged his finger farther to the right, pointing to a large territory on the left land mass, “This is where most of the humans are gathered, in a place called ‘West City.’ It’s protected by a group of martial artists who call themselves ‘The Protectors of Earth.’ They have two dragon balls.” 

That’s definitely Goku and the other Z fighters.

“This is King Cold’s base. They’re holding one dragon ball.” The King said, pointing to the large island under the left land mass, then moving his finger to a series of smaller islands nearby, “These islands, and part of the bottom tip of the continent, are guarded by ancient martial artists. They also have one dragon ball.” 

Ancient martial artists? Is Roshi really holding his own against actual Saiyans, or is it some new bullshit I’ll have to deal with?

“Finally, our biggest concern. This area is entirely desert, and is owned by the ‘Triangle of Evil.’ It’s ruled by three monsters. One is a green monstrosity, said to be so ugly that just looking at it can kill you. The other is a mastermind emperor from thousands of years ago, and the third is the biggest problem. A sentient Rabbit that can turn anything he touches into a carrot! Even worse, their name is totally badass! The Triangle of Evil sounds so cool!” King Vegeta shouted, slamming his fists into the table, looking far more worked up than before, his eyes glowing red as spit flew from his mouth.

I can believe he’s Vegeta’s father now. This guy’s a total moron.