The Game of Life: Dragon Ball Edition
A/N: "The following is a fan-based work. Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, is owned by Funimation, Toei Animation, Shueisha, Dimps, and Akira Toriyama."
Chapter 19: A New Objective
Update!
Patch Notes:
Certain background calculations have been updated and improved.
I ignored the notification, preferring to glumly sit against a wall, my head in my hands. "He hates me," I hummed out loud as guilt swarmed me.
"He doesn't hate you, he's just angry," Rot's voice was calm and reasonable. She put a hand on my shoulder in an attempt to comfort me, but I was still confused.
"But why? I didn't expect to be trapped for all this time! I thought I'd have been back in no time!" I retorted, repeating what I'd told Leek when we spoke.
"Sometimes, anger is irrational. But in this case, I can partly see what Leek means," Rot walked to the other side of the room and leaned against the wall, "He's angry that you didn't at least warn him that the mission was potentially dangerous and that you might not make it back."
"It wasn't dangerous," I insisted with a glare.
"Doesn't seem like it. It looks like you went in alone for no reason at all, instead of bringing help and assuring your safe return," Rot gave me a look which made me turn away.
"I could handle it on my own. I only lost because the natives blindsided me," I huffed at the memory.
"So, therefore, you didn't have it handled," She sighed, "You're an ignorant alien, you know that?"
"I just might be… But that's beside the point," I sat back in my chair, "Leek should understand that it was outside of my abilities. I got back as quickly as I could."
"You're not getting the point," she put a hand on her face and groaned, "This could have been avoided if you didn't act so recklessly."
I stayed quiet as she continued.
"He waited for you, Sub. For years he thought that you abandoned him because he wasn't strong enough. When he became a teenager, sadness turned into anger and bitterness," she ran a hand through her short black hair, "But even still, he still cared about you and missed you."
"Didn't seem like he cared about me a minute ago," I grumbled under my breath.
"Anger doesn't disappear that easily," Rot paused for a second, before continuing. "It was years before he went to Earth, and even then, they didn't get proper answers. The people on Earth said that you came and left. Rover didn't believe them, but Leek wasn't sure."
"After they destroyed Earth, Leek was so lost and unsatisfied that he went off on his own for a year or two looking for you," Rot finally slowed down, allowing me to process the new information.
"So he doesn't hate me… He's just bitter," I lifted my head and smiled a little bit, "Well, that's better. When I first saw him, I thought that he was going to kill me."
"That would have been a sight," Rot chuckled back.
"So, what did everyone else think of my disappearance?" I ask her, now that the more critical subjects were out of the way.
"Everyone just went about their life. We expected you to come back eventually, but after the mission to Earth, we weren't sure anymore," Rot shrugged her shoulders, "To be honest, I believed that your disappearance was on purpose. I thought that you had to sacrifice yourself to take out the Cold Family. A noble death."
"If only everyone saw it like that," I fiddled with a piece of my bio armor, growing it and sharpening it, "I've already encountered Soko since I've been back."
"Oh?" She didn't seem particularly interested, but she did raise an eyebrow, "What did he say?"
"He tried to kill me. He was the first Saiyan that I met when I got back here," I informed her, "Obviously, he failed."
"I'm not surprised," She grumbled in disappointment, "Not that I wanted him to kill you. It's just that he's grown to be so pathetic."
"I mean, he's not weak," I started, but was interrupted by an annoying clicking sound from Rot.
"Compared to you," She said offhandedly.
"What's that supposed to mean?" I narrowed my eyes, a little hurt.
"You know what I meant," She scanned me over a few times, "You're not exactly a hotshot anymore."
"It won't stay like this for long," I turned away from her grinning face, "It won't take long for me to overtake you all again."
"I wouldn't be too sure about that," Rot crossed her arms over her chest and gave me a wink.
"Is that a challenge?" I lifted my head to look her in the eyes.
"Damn right, it is," She walked over to me and patted me on the shoulder hard. I felt my shoulder dislodge, but I didn't make a sound.
Side Mission Alert!
Growth!
Objectives:
Defeat Rot in a fight before she goes off to her next mission!
Rewards:
EXP
Reputation Increase With Rot
Reputation Decrease With Saiyan Race
"I accept your challenge, but it's your loss," I replied, trying to stay confident. After seeing the power levels of the rest of the people on her team, I wasn't so sure. "What's your power level anyway?"
"Now that's a surprise," Her smirk made my heart drop for a second, "I could be even stronger, but I've been slacking on my training ever since I mastered the Super Saiyan form."
"You mastered it?" I asked hesitantly.
"Yep. I thought of the tale from long ago. If that person could maintain the Super Saiyan transformation constantly, why couldn't I?" She asked rhetorically, "It took a few more years, but I finally managed it. Currently, I'm the only one who's done it. Now, I've reached the pinnacle of the Saiyan race."
Keep thinking that. I continued to ask her more questions over the next half an hour, about the things I've missed and need catching upon. I can't have the Saiyans find out that this is just the beginning of their ascension. Not until I'm strong enough.
"Wait, so you're telling me that Saiyans don't just live on Planet Saiyan now?" I asked her once she mentioned something particularly compelling.
"As if we could all fit on this planet anymore. Frieza had a law that Saiyans couldn't breed above a specific limit, nor could they cross-breed " Rot looked out of her massive window-wall, into the night sky, "When Frieza vanished, most of us went back to our original inclination."
"Which is?" I asked as I walked to her side, looking out into the sky with her.
"Marrying many women and having as many children as possible. Spreading the Saiyan genes and slowly make the entire Universe loyal to the Saiyans," She replied, before looking back at me, "Apparently, when Saiyans and another species mix, unusual kids come out."
"Oh?" I probed her further, despite having already known this. Humans and Saiyan hybrids were powerful, but it was interesting to see that it wasn't just humans that this happened with.
"The Tuffles say that Saiyan DNA enhances the good aspects of whatever DNA it's crossed with, by a large margin," She continued casually, "Whether that's strength, intelligence, or anything else."
"So why haven't you gone ahead and made a hybrid baby?" I asked, turning my head to face her.
"I haven't found anyone worthy enough. I'm not like other Saiyan women." She clicked her tongue as she turned to face me. "I don't settle for weakness. I'm powerful, so I need someone powerful to match me. Someone that can push me forward to greater heights."
I hadn't forgotten how beautiful she looked, but with the light pouring in from outside, her looks were highlighted. She needed someone who could push her to greater heights. I could do that.
I thought back when we almost kissed before I went to Earth. She'd said that together we could be powerful. Did she still remember? I found myself leaning my face towards hers, intent on finding out.
I was stopped by her finger, which crashing into my lips. My heart stopped for a second, my eyes opening to see her amused facial expression. She looked as if she was trying to hold in laughter, so I leaned away from her finger, unable to speak.
"Sub… I don't think you were listening…" She mocked me with a smile, which erupted into a nervous chuckle. That just threw salt on the wound. "You're less than a tenth of my maximum power. What about that gave you the impression that I was interested?"
I couldn't form the words that spilled out of my confused heart. I ended up just staring at Rot blankly until she finally sighed, and her smile dropped.
"I considered you once Sub, but that was a long time ago." She looked away and shook her head, "Things were different back then."
I was stronger than you. That's all the difference. I grimaced behind her back, but quickly it fell into a thin neutral lip. If it was [Gamer Mind] or not, I couldn't tell, because I still felt an odd feeling of loss and emptiness.
"I'll take my leave now," I opened a portal behind me and took a half step into it. She didn't stop me, instead just looking at me and waving offhandedly.
My portal brought me into outer space—a place where Saiyans couldn't breathe yet. At least I hope not.
I chose not to think about what just happened, instead of trying to figure out what I was going to do about the Saiyans. They were far too strong for me to feel comfortable here, but I couldn't just leave yet. Leek would probably kill me at that point.
Broly and Ikari had thrown me for a loop, one that I haven't quite recovered from yet. Especially Broly. That look he had sent me was probably the primary reason why I was currently out in space, where he hopefully couldn't follow. But then again, Broly in the original movies survived getting hit by a comet and floating through space to Earth. It's probably safe to say that he can breathe in space.
On the positive side, training with Saiyans would give me good EXP. As Sal demonstrated, once they've transformed, they provide even more. I didn't need to kill them to get good gains, either. Maybe I'll stay here a little longer.
While floating aimlessly, I remembered that I still had feat points, attribute points, and special move points that I needed to allocate. I pulled up my 'Special Feats' list and scrolled through it.
Dimension Manipulation
Size Level 3
Where You've Been
Dimensions Accessible:
Deadzone
It went on to show me the branching upgrades for my dimensional manipulation. Several interesting ones met my eye.
More Portals - Gain the ability to hold open five portals at a time.
Aura Signature Lock - Gain the ability to open portals to specific people, based on their Aura signature.
Hyperbolic Time Chamber Level 1 - Access the same dimension that the HBTC is linked too. Level 1 means that you'll be able to be in for a year before it locks until you upgrade it again—resources for two people for one year.
Otherworld - Gain the ability to open portals to Otherworld.
Walk With Gods - Gain the ability to open portals to your God of Destructions planet.
They all looked like good choices, but I only had four feat points. I couldn't keep upgrading my portals; I had to branch out.
I wouldn't need [Walk With Gods] yet, because I wasn't nearly ready enough to meet or speak with Beerus or Whis. That ability could wait for now. Nor did I need to visit Otherworld yet.
More portals would be helpful, but if I wasn't strong enough to fight the other person, it wouldn't matter. So, in the end, I settled for the [HBTC Level 1] and the [Aura Signature Lock]. Now I could go to anyone I've met before, as long as I could sense them.
I closed out of that list and going over to the Special Moves that I could purchase. I went to the [Kaioken] the moment that I saw it, spending a few points to buy it. I use my last two feat points to upgrade it and give me access to [Kaioken X3] and [X4]. Knowing how durable that the Frost Demon body was, I knew that I'd be able to hold it for longer than most. And even if I had to strain too much, I could always fall back on [Self Healing].
I considered buying another Special Move but decided to leave it till when I had more points. The more points I could spend, the better the move.
I had 12 attributes to give out, dishing 5 to charisma, bringing it up to 20, and 5 to perception, also bringing it up to 20. I put the remaining 3 points into luck, which brought it up to 9. Unlike with intelligence, I wasn't giving any special feats for reaching 20 on charisma and perception. Perhaps each attribute has a different plateau for special stat-based feats.
Once I closed that menu, I took a deep breath and opened up my stat sheet to examine it.
The Engineer
Name: Sub
Level: 11
Race: Frost Demon
Age: 8 (1/12)
Status: Alive (Second Form)
HP: 792,000
Stats:
S. 60
P. 20
E. 60
C. 20
I. 30
A. 53
L. 9
Attribute Points Left: 0
Battle Points: 6
Power Level: 237,600
Energy Modifier: 58.6
Final Power Level In Base Form: 13,923,360
Final Power Level in Second Form: 27,846,720
Final Power Level in Third Form: 139,233,600
Final Power Level in Buffed Up (100%) Third Form: 208,850,400
Final Power Level in Third Form Kaioken X2: 278,467,200
Final Power Level in Third Form Kaioken X3: 417,700,800
Final Power Level in Third Form Kaioken X4: 556,934,400
Feats: Elite Warrior, Hidden Potential, Power Sensing LVL 3, Energy Suppression, Fast Learner (INT), You're Getting On My Last Nerve
Not bad, not bad at all.
I allowed the world to fade back into reality, the cold silence of space greeting me. I felt slightly less anxious, knowing that I had Kaioken. It put me higher on the ladder, but not high enough. Kaioken wasn't a complete transformation like the Super Saiyan form. If I didn't end the fight quickly, I'd be back to my weak base and be vulnerable. But it's the best I have.
On the plus side, now I could go to the HBTC Dimension. I'd been slightly worried about it when I realized that the Earth had been obliterated, but now I was delighted. I considered going in now alone to train and cement my spot at the top of the leaderboard but realized that it would be better if I had a partner.
My first choice was either Leek or Paragus: Leek, preferably. The more powerful my training partner was the more gains that I'd get. He won't be easy to convince, especially considering that he's angry with me. But I'll try.
I reached out with my senses, finding his aura signature quickly. I stepped through a portal, walking into an apartment that was in one of the tallest high rise buildings. A large window looked out over the city, and that's where I saw Leek standing.
"I knew you'd come," Leek's voice was deep and emotionless, "But why?"
"I've come to offer you a proposal," I started as I walked towards him, "But first, I'd like to apologize."
"What for?" His face was like a mask of stone. "Earlier, you didn't seem to understand at all what I was saying."
"I had someone help make sense of my confusion," I stopped next to him, making sure not to get too close, "You had the right to be angry at me."
"Damn right, I do." He seethed, his first bit of emotion slivering out. He turned to me, his pale skin slowly becoming inflamed. "You abandoned me like I was a piece of garbage. Didn't I mean anything to you?"
"Of course you did, you're my br-"
"Don't say that!" His yell shattered the window next to us. Despite the ringing in my ears, I didn't falter. Damn, he really might kill me.
"You said that we were family and that families are supposed to take care of each other!" He quoted me accurately; his snarl was only intensifying the sentence. "Tell me, Sub, what did you think would happen to me if you never came back?"
"I honestly didn't think that was a possibility," I admitted with a frown on my face. "They took me by surprise."
"Then why didn't you take anyone with you?" He drilled me. "Why didn't you take me?"
"It was a simple mission, Leek. It didn't need anyone else," I tried to tell him, but I could tell that he wasn't convinced, "I was doing it to free the universe, and I did. There was just one mistake. You can't jump down my throat for that."
"So, you're not sorry?" He asked as he took a step towards me. He stood right in my face, surprisingly almost the same height as my second form.
"I'm sorry for abandoning you and for being overconfident. I should have taken some help with me," I crossed my arms over my chest, "But I'm not sorry for doing what I did. Even if I had to get trapped for longer, I would do it again."
"Why?" He hissed at me, his spittle flying into my face. "You're not a hero, so why are you trying to act like one?"
"I'm not! Frieza and Cooler were out for me, and Frieza wanted to kill you! I wasn't strong enough to fight them face to face, so I had to do it another way!" I countered, my voice rising in response.
He stopped speaking, instead opting to stare into my face. I stared back; my beating heart calmed down by [Gamer Mind]. After a few moments, he sighed deeply and walked away from me, further into the apartment.
"So?" I asked as I watched him walking around. "Do you forgive me?"
"Not yet." He replied while he packed some stuff into a bag, although his tone was considerably less critical, "But I'll listen to your proposal."
I smiled in response before continuing. "Well, seeing as you probably aren't doing anything until your next mission, I'd like to take you on a training trip with me. A bonding trip."
"A bonding trip?" He seemed to think about it for a second before sighing and going back to packing, "I can't yet."
"Why not?" I asked him swiftly, disappointment creeping in.
"I have quite a few things to do before my next assignment," Leek stood up and looked at me. "The kids will kill me if I don't visit this time around."
"Oh, kids? You're a teacher?" I asked while we both headed for the broken window. He had a backpack on his back and turned to me with a cheeky wink.
"No. I meant my kids," Leek then blasted off into the distance.
"WHAT?"
In the end, I was able to convince him. We'd go after he visited his wives and children. Oh gosh, even the thought is weird.
From what he told me because Leek was practically the strongest Saiyan in the army, he had an almost unlimited income of money. With this money, he purchased a small sector of a galaxy—hundreds of inhabited planets and stars systems.
On every planet, Leek was their King. He visited them all as much as he could, but with hundreds of worlds to visit, it just wasn't happening in between missions.
Just like Rot had told me about the old Saiyan culture, Leek took quite a few wives. I wasn't sure of the exact number but Leek made it sound like he was still planning on having more once he got around to the other planets that he hadn't gotten to yet. These wives would become the ruler and Queen of that planet in his absence.
Each wife had at least one kid for him. Which meant he had a whole lot of kids.
To see all of them in a short period, Leek was planning for all of his kids and wives to travel to his 'primary planet.' There, he could be with all of them at one time. Once we got there and he spent some time with them, Leek and I would go into the HBTC and train.
"Are you sure that there isn't anything else you need here before we leave?" Leek asked me once he got to his ship, which looked like a very impressive miniature Star Destroyer.
"I assume you have a Gravity Chamber in there?" I asked him, who nodded back in response, "One that can be shrunken and taken somewhere else?"
"Yeah. We can shrink most of our Gravity Chambers to about the size of a hand," He informed me. Perfect.
"Alright, then I think that's it," I nodded my head after checking my inventory for my new present. Since I returned, Takia had gone ahead and made me the energy sword that I'd given him the plans for years ago. The Saiyans weren't big fans of weapons, so he hadn't needed to make it. I had to make a special request.
In my inventory, I had quite a few items—many different Tuffle books on machines and technology. If I was going to be in the HBTC, I wanted to train all of the stats that I could, not just strength and endurance. I'd chosen [Fast Learner] and applied it to intelligence, so I was going to put that 50% learning increase to good use.
Before we headed into the ship, Leek stopped and tapped his scouter-watch.
"Captain Leek?" A rough voice came from the other end.
"Ikari, I'm going to need to ask you a favor," Leek began to walk into the ship. He's talking to the older child of Paragus.
"What is it, captain?" Ikari asked.
"I'm going away to take care of my kingdom. I shouldn't be away for long, but do you think you can handle Broly until I get back?" Leek asked although the question was more of an order.
"I'll do my best," Ikari responded, although his voice was uncertain. I lifted an eye at this. Was Broly stronger then Ikari? Did Broly get more of the mutation then Ikari did?
"Good. Keep up the training," Leek cut the connection as the ships entrance closed behind us. It was very good looking on the inside, almost as if it hadn't been used before.
"This is brand new. I bought it specifically for this," Leek told me as we walked along one of the halls.
"It's nice," I noted as he walked, "So what was that about? Broly was that kid that wanted to pick a fight with me, isn't he?"
"Yeah. Broly is one of our more promising students. They are Paragus's kids, and they both inherited some sort of foreign gene from him. The Tuffles did some research on it, actually," Leek told me, "The gene makes them much stronger than the ordinary Saiyan. They even have different transformations."
"I see. But that doesn't explain why Broly wanted to kill me the moment that he saw me," I questioned further. "And what are these unique forms?"
"Broly is unhinged, and we aren't sure why. It is as if his Saiyan impulses are turned up to a maximum. If you think that an ordinary Saiyan is cruel and sadistic, Broly makes them look innocent," Leek sighed in annoyance. He turned around and looked at me. "Due to his incredible power and unique transformation, he's been assigned to Rot's squad, which consists of the most powerful warriors in the Saiyan empire. That way, if he goes on a rampage, we can stop him."
"Is his transformation that powerful?" I asked, fearing the answer.
"He was born able to access the Super Saiyan transformation. Same with Ikari. But after that, their transformations took two different turns," Leek went on to say, "Ikari gained a form that we call 'Wrath.' He looks like his ordinary self, but his eyes turn yellow, and he gains a crazy boost in power, which doesn't seem to have an end. He hasn't been able to combine it with Super Saiyan yet if that's even possible."
"Broly's transformation turns his hair green, and he gets insanely muscular but without any speed drawbacks. His power level goes through the roof, and the longer the fight goes on, the stronger he gets. Which is why we end the fight as quickly as possible."
"So does that mean that Broly is stronger then Ikari?" I asked.
"When Broly transforms, he's the strongest Saiyan in the Universe," He said once we reached the training room, "Ikari's Wrath form has incredible potential, but I think that Broly's increase in power is linked to his bloodlust and uncaring attitude. Ikari just isn't like that, and that's his weakness. He's almost too soft."
A nice Legendary Super Saiyan? It did fit with his character from the movie, but it was a little hard to believe. I did see him laughing with his squad the other day, but I'd just ignored it.
"Well, what about you? Broly looked pretty shaken up when you showed up," I reminded him, into which he chuckled.
"Whenever he goes into his rampages, he doesn't remember them. I use this to my advantage, and I tell him that I single-handedly beat him every time," Leek smiled at his manipulation, "It's been working. He thinks twice about letting his berserk form take over in inopportune times."
"That's pretty smart actually," I complimented him, genuinely impressed. That was Broly wouldn't know that he was the strongest. If he did, he'd do whatever he wanted.
"Can you go Super Saiyan yet?" I asked Leek, who shook his head.
"I'm not sure why yet," He almost sounded disappointed, but his tone quickly changed, " But I'm more than powerful enough in my base form. When that's not enough, I can control my Oozaru transformation. I've even learned how to transform without the need for the Burst and Mix technique."
"Good job, you've come a long way," I smiled and put a hand on his shoulder, "I'm proud of you."
"Let's see how proud you are after I kick your ass in a training session," Leek chuckled darkly, a grin on his face, "I've still got some pent up anger against you. Remember, I haven't forgiven you just yet."
"Ah, now that's not fair at all."
I hope that you all enjoyed the chapter! I'm on a roll with these updates! The story is at the point where it's about to get intense. I'm hyped for what I have planned.
To explain Rot's behavior for those who didn't understand, she's attracted to power. It wasn't anything about Leek as a person that she liked before. She was only attracted to him because of his power. It's like how some women are only attracted to certain guys with certain features, or how some men are only attracted to certain women. So, now that he isn't as strong as her, the attraction is gone. She still likes him as a friend but doesn't see him as a potential mate.
Will Sub even want to be with her once he surpassed her? Who knows.
Make sure to review and let me know what you thought about the chapter! I'll try to reply to every review, so if you have any questions, fire away!
