Chapter 21: The New Earth (14.2)
Game
Thoughts
"Talking"
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"Kakarot?"
"Nope!"
"A little monkey boy?"
"Don't think so?"
"You've never seen a guy with something like this?" Gray asked Ranfan, gesturing to his tail as it unwrapped from around his waist.
"Oh! I have!" Ranfan said, nodding excitedly at him.
Thank fuck, I thought Goku wasn't on Earth for some reason.
"It was a girl! She died with the first group of aliens that came!"
Fuck you random Frieza Force Saiyan girl.
Gray sighed, rubbing his eyes as his mind whirled.
Don't panic, Gray. There's a perfectly reasonable explanation. Maybe Ranfan just doesn't remember the super OP monkey kid running around. Or, maybe Bulma never met him, and he's just out living in the forest somewhere?
Gray stared at his feet, knowing he was coping as he tried to think of where Goku could be.
The most probable reason is that Goku never got sent to Earth. Frieza never destroyed planet Vegeta, so Bardock had no reason to send his son away. This fucks up everything.
Gray hadn't been super-concerned about the state of the Earth, solely because he thought Goku was here.
Goku's this world's fucking main character. Even if Frieza's family is fighting over the Earth, and the Androids are here already, he'd be able to do some shit about it. He could train for a few days in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber and keep the planet safe. If he's not here, then the Earth might actually end up being taken over by Cooler or King Cold, or even the fucking Red Ribbon Army if I don't do something. I can't just trust fucking Krillin and Tien and shit to save the planet.
Gray resisted groaning audibly as his problems just increased exponentially. He'd come to Earth with the mindset that he'd play it safe, getting stronger and potentially meeting the Z-Fighters during the 2 months before heading back to finish his recruit training.
Now, I don't know what to do. The Earth might be more fucked than I thought. The martial artists are holding out, but most of the planet is in dangerous hands, and there's no Goku here to do anything. It might be up to me. There's no guarantee that the humans won't be wiped out.
Gray clenched his fist.
What the fuck do I do? Take the waifus and ditch the planet? No, then either Frieza, Cooler, King Cold, or the Red Ribbon Army will have the dragon balls. It'll be hard to beat an immortal Frieza, or any of his family members, and who knows what the Red Ribbon Army will do with them. Commander Red just wanted to be taller in the show, but I can't leave it to chance.
Gray stared down at his fist.
No… there's only one solution. There's only ever been one thing I can do.
A hungry grin appeared on his face. His heart rate increased as a primal urge flowed through him.
I'm a Saiyan. I'll just beat the shit outta everyone.
"Should I know him?" Ranfan asked, her head tilted to the side as she dragged Gray out of his thoughts.
"Ah, nah," Gray shook his head, shaking away his inner thoughts, "I was just wondering. Forget about it."
"Okay!" Ranfan responded, agreeing far easier than Gray thought she would. Gray glanced over to the growing pile of martial artists as Saeko dropped another man down the hole, spotting movement. A large man in a turban crawled out from the pile, standing up quickly and taking a fighting form.
Nam blinked, looking from Ranfan to Gray, then smiled approvingly as he held up a thumbs-up, "Good job, Ranfan! I see your technique worked on him! I was worried after he took me down so quickly!"
"Not really," Ranfan said, frowning at Nam, "He just spared us for information about the planet."
"No, no," Gray waved his hand, not-so-subtly glancing down at her breasts in the tight-fitting sleeveless shirt, "It definitely worked. It worked a lot."
+200 Reputation with Ranfan (For being attracted to her) [4x from [Ladies Man], [A Humble Master]]
Why is this so easy?
"Wanna get married?" Ranfan asked abruptly smiling cutely at Gray.
"Not happening," A voice rang into the small tunnel-prison hybrid as Celia climbed down the ladder, a suit of armor in her hands.
"You're not taken, are you? I can share!" Ranfan said, confusing Gray as she looked overly worried at the prospect of him being taken.
Why is this girl so into me?
"That's not the problem. Gray loves sharing," Celia said, stressing the word as she walked over to them, "Sharing with every girl he sees, too. The marriage part isn't happening. The Saiyan King can only have one wife, so you'll have to compete for it."
"You're a King?" Ranfan asked, staring at him with wide eyes.
"No, but he will be," Celia hummed, "Or, he'll die before he gets there. Either way, you're not getting married that easily. Gray, come up with me? The rest of the squad will be coming back soon."
Just casually saying I'll kill her Father, huh? Is she being jealous right now?
"That quickly?" Gray asked as he stood up and walked toward the ladder, passing by Nam as he headed to speak with Ranfan, "There must not have been anyone in the buildings."
"No, there were," Celia corrected, "They just weren't very strong. There's only one power level left, so I assume they're interrogating them as we speak."
Gray followed Celia up the ladder into the snowy landscape, silently lamenting about her ass being partially covered by the metal armor she was dragging up behind her. They reached the top as Saeko tossed a final unconscious body past them, leaving just the three of them outside of the tunnel.
"She seems very into you," Saeko said, smirking at Gray.
"Yeah," Gray responded, stretching his arms, "Not sure why."
"You're dense," Celia said simply, "You're her ticket off this dying planet."
"Huh?" Gray asked dumbly.
"She's weak on a planet that's become the battleground between Frieza's family," Celia explained, "She could die at any moment. She thought she was going to die, then you come out of nowhere and save her. After being considered a 'beast,' as most galactic races refer to planetary races, she was probably ecstatic to hear you thought she was attractive. You beat down the other fighters, all of which are stronger than her, and saved her. You're her chance to live safely, either in or off of this hellhole."
"Oh."
I didn't think about that. It's probably terrifying for the humans right now, with their entire planet being taken over and turned into a war ground. They didn't touch on this stuff in the show, because most of the time the humans didn't even know their planet was in danger.
Gray watched as a flock of black dots appeared from the buildings, a crowd of Saiyans flying back toward them with Raditz at the front. He was holding a man in the same metallic suit that the soldiers were wearing, dragging him along with them. Raditz landed in front of the trio, tossing the man roughly into the snow.
"Make sure he's not lying," Raditz said, the statement directed at Celia, then turned back to the man kneeling in the snow, "Tell her what you told me, and we'll let you go."
No, we're not letting him go, stupid. He could be a hostage - though I doubt Cooler will pay anything for him. He could also be a spy. Hell, even a negotiator. He'll have some use.
"Y-Yes sir!" The man said, his voice dripped in fear as he turned to look up at Celia, "I-I'm a huma- or, um, an Earthling, as well as a lieutenant for the Earthling Cooler Earth Stabilization Force Squad."
What a stupid long-ass name. I never thought something could make the Frieza Force sound cool.
"W-We recently pushed the Frieza Force stationed here back to the coast and set up an ambush here to stop reinforcements from arriving." The man finished, his body visibly shaking inside the suit.
"How'd you know we'd be arriving today?" Gray asked.
"They didn't," Celia answered for the man, causing him to look at her in surprise, "They're Earthlings, so they're expendable. They've been waiting here all day every day."
"Y-Yes," The man spoke up, confirming Celia's words, "We were forced to work for Cooler's army after they took over our village."
"Where did you get those suits from?" Celia asked him, gesturing to his scouter-blocking camouflage.
"A higher-up gave them to us. I never learned his name," The man answered.
"He's telling the truth," Celia said simply, "He's also afraid we're going to ask him about classified information because he doesn't know anything. He's just been stationed here with minimal contact with any higher-ups."
"He's got nothing else for us?" Raditz asked the girl.
"Nope."
"S-So, I can go?" The man asked hopefully, looking up at Raditz. Raditz smirked, his grin wide and cruel.
"Yup," He swiped his hand sideways, slicing through the man's neck, "You can go straight to the afterlife! Hahaha!"
This moron is our captain. I have to listen to this moron.
Gray felt an indescribable feeling well up within him. A mixture of annoyance, anger, and shame.
Gray stared at the man's head as it rolled off his body, looking back up at Raditz with narrowed eyes, "That was stupid. He still had some use."
Raditz scoffed in response, ignoring Gray as he turned to the crowd of Saiyans behind him, "The rest of the Frieza Force is at the coastline, directly that way! Let's get going!"
A chorus of agreement rang out as Raditz pointed North.
Whatever. It's not a big deal.
"I'll need a few men to help carry the martial artists," Gray said, turning to Asuna as she stood to the side of Raditz, "There's about 25 of them. I can't carry all of them myself."
I'm strong enough to, but I'd probably end up dropping one on accident. I doubt they'll survive a couple hundred-foot fall.
"What?" Raditz spoke over Asuna before she could respond, his eyebrow raised comically high, "Just kill them. You already interrogated them, right?"
"Ah," Asuna said, looking worried about the argument she could see about to form, "I'll help ou-"
"Just kill them," Raditz reiterated, locking eyes with Gray, a smirk on his face.
"I'm taking them with us. You don't have to help." He responded simply, still trying to be civil despite a strong desire to yell forming in him. He pushed it down, trying to play nice with Raditz.
I'm tired of- no, Don't start something here, Gray. Be smart. He'll kill me.
"No," Raditz said again, glaring at Gray, "I said to kill them. My men aren't going to help carry a bunch of animals to the base. You're not disobeying orders from your captain, right?"
I'm tired of listening to a bunch of dumbas- no, stay calm. Don't let him piss you off.
"Don't be a prick," Gray growled, glaring back at Raditz, "I'll carry them myself, alright?"
"No," Raditz said again, his condescending smirk growing bigger as he stepped toward Gray, "I said to kill them. Your captain said to kill them, so go fucking do it, brat!"
I'm… tired of going against my Saiyan instincts. I know it's stupid. I know I should play it smart. A few human lives aren't worth my own… but…
"And I said," Gray took a step forward, leaving only a few feet between the two Saiyans, "That I won't. You won't either, got it? I'm taking them with us."
It's not about the humans anymore. It's about Raditz.
"You trying to die, kid?" Raditz said through gritted teeth, his face twisting in annoyance, "Why are you so set on keeping those beasts alive?"
The fucking first-floor boss is talking shit to me. The weakest squad captain is ordering me around. I can't take it.
Gray's pride was burning within him like an inferno, the fire being stoked with every verbal altercation. It was urging him. Urging him to fight back. Begging him to not back down. Demanding that he not be a coward. Commanding him to kill the man looking down on him.
"Because I want to. Keep talking like that," Gray grinned widely, his heart beating in his ears as he stared into Raditz's eyes, "And I won't be the one dying here."
This is stupid. So stupid. I could die here. I probably will die here. But…
"C-Calm down, guys," Asuna started to say, holding up her hands in a placating gesture.
I don't care.
"Gray…" Celia said worriedly, reaching over to place a hand on his shoulder.
"This little brat is too disrespectful," Raditz spat out, "You've been pissing me off all day. Saying we should run from the fucking ambushing rats. Letting the fighters live. Complaining that I killed that little fucker earlier. Disobeying my orders. Are you even a Saiyan?!"
I'll do whatever the fuck I want.
Gray raised a clenched fist, adrenaline flowing through him as his grin grew even wider, looking near-maniacal, "I'll show you just how much of a Saiyan I am, captain!"
"Beat his ass, Captain!" A shout came from behind Raditz, encouraging the man who was staring Gray down. The crowd of Saiyan's started forming a circle around them.
"Yeah! Get him!"
"Fight! Fight! Fight!"
"Let's get some entertainment going!"
"Kill that little fucker, Captain!"
"Tear his limbs off!"
Raditz's own faced morphed from annoyance into a shit-eating grin, staring back at Gray as their eyes were locked.
"Hey, brat."
Raditz clenched his fist, shifting into a fighting stance.
"Don't beg for mercy, because I won't give any!"
Gray clenched his fist, shifting into a fighting stance.
"Same here. When the sun comes down, only one of us will be alive!"
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Gray Tanaki:
[Saiyan D-Class Recruit]
Age: 15
Wallet: 46,150 Coins
Lvl: 10 (33,000/75,000 XP)
PL: 31,972,700
Available Points: 300
HP: 91,450/91,450
TKI: 179,825/179,825
STR: 315
AGI: 350
END: 290
INT: 455
CHA: 145
LUK: 455
KI: 395
HREG: 206
EREG: 206
Skills: [Observe LVL 5], [Running LVL 6], [Determination LVL 4], [Ki Control LVL 9], [Ki Gun LVL 5]. [Ki Enhancement LVL 4], [KI Suppression LVL 5], [Ki Sense LVL 2], [Pushup LVL 4], [Punch LVL 4], [Kick LVL 4], [Jump LVL 4], [Flight LVL 4], [Prediction LVL 2], [Zenkai Boost LVL 1], [Cognitive Acceleration LVL 1], [Ah! Lord Frieza! LVL 1]
Perks: [Gamer's Mind], [Gamer's Body], [Double-edged Sword], [Legendary Super Sayian], [Perfect Ozaru], [A Cute Pawn], [A Humble Master], [Ladies Man]
Fighting Styles: [Boxing Style: Kolra LVL 1]
Party: [Saeko, Celia]
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OH MY DAYS IT'S RADITZ! It was Raditz who killed the author JR! Wait… what's that music?! I know that music! IT'S GRAY! The young Saiyan boy from Planet Vegeta! He's walking down the ramp! Wait… wait… He's challenging Raditz to a no-holds-barred deathmatch at WrestleMania! We're about to witness another murder JR!
Tune in Saturday for the double-length chapter of Gray v. Raditz! (or read right now at Patreon.com/Koyon - going from 1 chapter ahead to 3 chapters ahead starting Saturday!)