Chapter 2: A Dark Night

"I told you that this was a bad idea! Come on, we need to go!"

I was snapped out of my shock and horror by Squash, who grabbed me by my arm and dragged me back and through the hallway. I couldn't tear my eyes off of the horde of dead Saiyans that were apparently alive and chasing after us.

"What are they?!" Karro screamed in shock as we ran through the hallway, away from the fast-approaching group of… Whatever they were. I gathered myself and slapped Squash's hand away; allowing me to run on my own. I snatched the unconscious Tuunip off of his back and put him on mine.

"Where are we going?! We need to get out of here!" I yelled at the two leading me. I could barely hear myself think over the ungodly shrieking from behind us.

"There are more Saiyans! Alive ones! We found them when we found Tuunip!" Karro shouted back at me over the noise. My heart pumped in my chest in understanding. What were they doing here?!

I looked over my shoulder at the swarm, finally gathering the nerve to use [Observe] on one of those things.

Undead Saiyan

[Nameless] - Level 4

Age: 230

HP: 3,920 (Increasing)

KI: 200 [Increasing]

Reputation: [N/A]

Description: A mindless husk of the Saiyan that he used to be. He was killed during the Tuffle invasion of the Lost City, but his body was preserved; only to be brought back by Tuffle technology.

His mind is empty and the Saiyan that possessed this body is dead. The only thing left is an itching desire to devour.

Power Level: 784

I looked away just as we slipped into a room and slammed the doors shut us. The doors were made of powerful-looking metal, but I knew that it wouldn't hold. We swiftly locked the door from all possible angles, and I used my ki to heat the metal until it merged with the wall that it was connected to.

"Is anyone going to answer me?! What are those things?!" Karro's panicked voice echoed throughout the room. I composed myself and turned towards them both.

"They're Saiyans that died but were brought back to life by Tuffles…" I said slowly. When I said it out loud, it sounded like a joke. A horrible, horrible joke.

"Which one is it? Are they dead, or alive?" Squash asked me frantically. All of our eyes suddenly snapping to the door when the sound of a loud impact reached our ears.

"Both," I replied in a breath, before spinning on my heel and taking in the room around me. It was lit up, unlike the rest of the compound. My eyes quickly fell on a group of completely nude Saiyans huddles in a corner. They looked to be of varying ages, but they all had the same strange look on their faces. One long glance at them, and I knew that something was wrong.

"Why do they look like that?!" I asked impatiently and with caution. I threw my hand up and a ki ball formed swiftly. They didn't react to the threat, though. Instead, they just huddled closer together, watching me with slightly agape mouths and wide eyes.

"I don't know! But they aren't like those... Those... Whatever they are!" Squash said to me, placing his hand on mine and lowering it. A sudden banging on the door, followed by a shrieking yell made me scowl.

"Why are we here anyway?! We have Tuunip, we can go!" I shouted at them both, the sudden realization hit me. What are they trying to do?

"We can't leave them behind! They're Saiyans too! If we leave them here, they'll die!" Squash shouted at me, his face inflamed with passion. I shook my head and shoved past him. With one upward motion, I used a ki blast to puncture a hole right through the ceiling.

"I'm not here to play hero! They're as good as dead!" I looked back at them both as I began to fly upwards, towards the ceiling. I locked eyes with Karro. "If you want to be soft and weak; be a hero. You'll die trying."

With that, I flew upwards and out of the facility with Tuunip safely on my back. Before flying away, I hesitated, my eyes gazing at the hole. What am I waiting for?

I released the breath that I didn't know that I was holding when I saw Karro emerge from the hole after me. Wait, why am I relieved? I shook my head and cleared my thoughts because not even a moment later, the hole that I had created was stretched into oblivion due to dozens of decaying bodies bursting through it at once. All in hot pursuit of Karro.

"Come on!" I shouted back at him while turning in the air and bursting forward towards the edge of the city. Back in the direction of our home. Where is Squash? That idiot must have gotten himself killed!

I looked back towards Karro, only to realize that the undead Saiyans were actually flying after us. They did have a small amount of their ki left. Karro was keeping a good distance from them, but my eyes widened in shock when I saw even more of the undead monsters pouring out of every building in the city.

I turned back to the edge of the city and sped towards it, a little faster than before. Underneath me and from the corner of my eye, I could see hundreds, maybe thousands of those things flying up to meet us in the air. Their combined sound was like a low buzzing.

"Fly up and straight! There are too many!" I shouted back at him, hoping that he would hear me. Instead of flying straight forward, I flew at an angle, going up and forward at the same time.

I got to the edge within a few moments, followed by Karro a few seconds later. I wasn't planning on stopping; until I heard a sudden silence. An almost deafening silence. I heard Karro slow down behind me, breathing heavily. I slowed down and turned around.

"What the hell is going on?" I said through labored breaths.

As if stopped by an invisible barrier, each and every one of the Saiyan undead were halted at the edge of the city. Together, they created a blanket of bodies. I shivered when I realized that their combined glare was directly on us.

"They… Stopped?" Karro asked me upon seeing what I was seeing. "Why?"

I couldn't answer the question, even if I wanted to. This is the most bizarre and terrifying thing that I've ever experienced.

"It doesn't matter. We need to go before they start attacking again." I decided finally, but before I could take off, I saw someone break through the blanket of bodies. Squash…

Once he got out of the city's edge, his body fell like a ragdoll with its strings cut. He kept falling until he crashed into the desert ground. We both flew down to ground level, landing a few feet from his body. I kept my eyes up at the wall but was shocked when I glanced down at Squash's body.

His left arm was completely missing, and his right leg was torn off at the knee. Blood coated his entire body, the sticky substance making his clothes cling to his skin like a wetsuit. The closer I looked, the more I began to see multiple strange marks. Are those… Teeth marks?

To my surprise, he was still breathing.

"I… I couldn't leave them… Like I left my family… I just couldn't…" His voice was extremely weak and feeble. Underneath the blood, I could see that his skin had become deathly pale. I've seen enough death to know that he's going to die soon. He has a few hours at maximum.

"Don't worry, you'll be with your parents in hell soon enough," I said, trying to console him. I lifted my hand towards his downed body, an energy ball forming at the end of it. Karro's eyes widened and he put a hand out towards me.

"No! He's dying anyway! Let him die due to his battle injuries, like a true Saiyan!" Karro argued, his eyes fiery. A few moments later, I nodded my head and lowered my arm.

"We might be able to get back to the city in time, right?" Karro asked, although even he sounded uncertain. I looked down at Squash's injuries, and then back up at the wall of flesh and darkness behind us. They were still piling up. Now, they were completely blocking out the sun, creating an immense looming shadow.

"I have an idea." Karro's voice was a whisper. I chose to ignore it in favor of examining more of the monsters in front of me. There was an army of them. Their power level fluctuated, but their ki was still low. How could they have such a high power level? Did this 'game' that applied to me not apply to them?

Or was there something here that I wasn't understanding?

"Let's go." Karro began to fly again, this time with Squash on his back. I flew ahead of him, but with my front still facing the wall. I took a look over at Squash, surprised to notice that his amputated body parts looked almost sealed shut, but were now extremely darkened.

"What did you do to him?" I asked the kid, who kept his gaze straight and slowly increased his speed. It was clear that the experience was getting to him.

"I used my ki to burn his wounds shut. That way, he won't bleed out until we get back." He told me, his voice low and quiet. Huh, that was a smart technique. I hadn't thought of that.

"Operation Second Birth has been initiated."

A booming metallic voice emitted from the lost city, my eyes narrowing considerably in reaction. That was what the Tuffle had said before he died.

"The Tuffle Empire will now stand up and reclaim this planet as our rightful home! For too long we have waited! Go, my army of abomination! Kill! Devour! DESTROY THE SAIYAN MONKEYS!"

"What does that mean?" Karro's voice was uncertain. It felt like my heart had fallen right out of my chest. Breathing was becoming harder, and I noticed myself shaking involuntarily.

"They're following us…" My voice was as firm as I could manage in this situation; unfortunately, that meant that it was barely over a whisper. "Fly! Now! Don't look back!"

I grabbed Karro by the shirt and put all of my ki into flying at top speed. It was faster than I'd ever flown in my life, but no matter how fast I flew, I couldn't get away from the feeling of dread that was bubbling up inside of me. I tried to shake it off but this time it just wouldn't go away.

One glance back left me feeling nauseous. The sky was black with only small rays of light coming through. The sand was more like a tempestuous ocean, churning and waving; lashing outwards and revealing dozens of metal Leviathans hidden underneath.

If they got to my town… Would we be able to stop this?

We got to our town much, much quicker than we had previously. On the way, the rewards for the missions [Find Tuunip!] and the [Raise Your Power Level To At least 2000!] came in, giving me 5000 EXP. It helped me level up but I didn't have the time to check out how much stronger that it made me.

Our town was just as rowdy as ever, people flying around and going about their day. Once we arrived, I let go of Karro and gave him a stern look.

"Warn as many people as possible! Get them to leave! No matter what it takes!" I turned around and looked far into the horizon. There wasn't any sign of them yet, but I knew that it wasn't long before they came.

"What about you?!" Karro asked me through strained breaths. I had made him keep up with me, even going as far as to drag him at certain points. "And what about Squash?"

I wasn't entirely sure if Squash was still alive. His skin was a sickly pale and he wasn't moving. He stopped mumbling in his sleep a while ago. I stopped to consider it for a moment but it didn't take me long to reach a conclusion. What use would it be if Squash lived but our town was destroyed by the Tuffles? One Saiyan life did not overshadow the life of everyone else. Especially when his injuries were his own fault. But looking at Karro, I knew that he wouldn't understand.

"I'll get help. Now, give him to me. I'll bring him somewhere." I told him, offering my free arm. He nodded and let me take the near-corpse. "Now, hurry!"

Karro went off in one direction and I took off in the direction of my home. When we were out of Karro's field of view, I let my arm go limp, allowing Squash's unmoving body to fall from my grip. I didn't look back, but I knew that he had a very long drop. I couldn't have any distractions.

"Pretty cruel. Maybe you're more Saiyan then I thought…" Tuunip's voice was scratchy, but he seemed fine. He woke up about half an hour ago but kept mostly quiet.

"If you could stop being a dick for just a minute, that would be appreciated," I growled back at him. He didn't respond, but it didn't matter. He was alive and that is what was important.

"Dad!" I shouted into the house as I entered the front door. I shouted again another time, and thankfully he came from around a corner. He looked as pissed as ever but had a look of interest when he saw Tuunip on my back.

"What do you wa-"

"The Tuffles! They're coming!" I cut him off before he could finish his sentence. Usually, that would earn me a punch in the face, but this time his face became devoid of emotion.

"Are you certain?" His voice was low. I nodded my head frantically, while letting Tuunip get off of my back. "I found Tuunip in the Lost City, but it turns out that the Tuffles were doing experiments on Saiyans and creating monsters. When we escaped, we saw an entire army of them and Leviathans things made of metal marching towards us."

He took a step back for a second, his thinking face on. While he did, I silently thought about how exactly this fight would go down.

Our city wasn't well known for its warriors. That army would sweep through us like a blade through flesh. What could we do?

"Let's go. We need to warn the Prince." Father decided. He was already heading for the door before I could react. I follow behind him and Tuunip follows behind me, albeit slower.

One thing about my Father was that he never wanted to talk about Saiyan royalty. When I came back from my assignment I was curious. That earned me a broken arm and nose.

To think that this threat was deadly enough that it forced my Father to willing go to meet royalty was spine chilling. We followed him in relative silence, and soon we approached a large building. It was just like most Saiyan houses, made of stones that were melded together by ki. Except that this house was much larger, and the stones looked much cleaner.

At the front door, two Saiyan warriors with the royal insignia stood with folded arms. We touched down right in front of them and my Father took the lead.

"We need to speak with Prince Grapea." He stood up to his full height, which was above average. He easily overshadowed the guards, but they still had smug looks on their faces.

Guard

Po - Level 10

Reputation: 0/1000 Neutral

Guard

Cha - Level 10

Reputation: 0/1000 Neutral

"Bold of you to assume you were welcome here." Po, one of the guards mocked. I raised an eyebrow in confusion, but let the conversation continue. "Not after what you did."

What? I looked from the guard to my Father's blank face. What did he mean?

"What I did was for the betterment of the Saiyan race. And if you don't think so…"

I didn't see Father move, but I definitely saw Po's dead body slump to the ground a second later, with his head flattened into the wall like a paste. My eyes widened in alert, but I didn't dare to show any weakness. I stood up straight and noticed that Tuunip followed suit.

Cha's fear was palpable, and he quickly stood out of the way of the door. We entered the house shortly after. There were a few people, women and kids, but they quickly ran away from us and into another room. We followed, finding what we were looking for.

A short man sat on a throne of metal, surrounded bodyguards. His concubines and children flocked around the shocked man, who stood up in alert, his face turning into a scowl.

His hair was light brown, almost red. He had a small crown on his head, signifying his position. He's the prince of this town? He looks scrawny. I wonder what observe will say about him.

Prince of Southeast City

Grapea - Level 15

Age: 20

HP: 120,000

KI: 3,000,000

Reputation: 0/500 Hated

Description: Grapea is a headstrong Saiyan, extremely prideful and selfish. His parents died in the middle of the war, forcing him to take the mantle, despite being only 20.

Grapea's family tree branches off from a distant cousin of Vegeta the 1st. Due to being one of the weakest family lines, they were given the territory furthest away from Vegeta City.

Currently is on edge due to Omato's presence.

Power Level: 30,000

30,000? He's a lot stronger then he looks. I looked between my Father and Grapea. They were having an intense staring competition, neither letting up.

Why is Grapea so on edge? And why does he hate me?

"Grapea, it's been a long time." Father's voice cut the silence. He took a step towards the prince, who stood his ground. "I have urgent news."

"Why are you here? You have no right to be in the presence of Royalty!" Grapea sheathed, baring his teeth. "The terms for you to be allowed in my territory we-"

"I KNOW the terms." I hadn't heard my Father's voice so loud before. I would have covered my ears if it wasn't a sign of weakness. Grapea shut right up, his face going a shade paler.

"Then you understand that showing your face in front of me means that you, and your entire family, will be banished from Southeast City?" Grapea said slowly. He almost sounded relieved; while I couldn't be more confused. But I knew better than to interrupt.

"If we don't act quickly, there won't be a Southeast City to be banished from."

Grapea looked interested now, and it didn't take long for my Father to explain what I'd told him. Grapea looked at me and Tuunip, and then back at Father, and then back at us.

His look was one of deep contemplation. His children and many wives were ushered out of the room, and we all waited in painful silence as the Prince thought. It took a minute or two for him to respond, but when he did, his voice was calm.

"We will have a silent evacuation of the soldiers and valuable individuals." Grapea decided finally. I raised an eyebrow at the decision. "No need to warn the commoners."

"Evacuation? That's for cowards!" Tuunip spoke out, determination to fight clear in his tone. I had no such conviction but to each their own.

"It's a tactical retreat, boy." Grapea's eyes fell to Tuunip, his words dripping with annoyance. "Keep your mouth shut when the adults are talking."

I felt the Prince's ki leek out of his body, filling the room quickly. Tuunip's mouth clamped shut, but his eyes were boring directly into Grapea's. His hand balled into fists and I was on my toes. I didn't come all of this way, just for Tuunip to get killed in a fight with one of the Saiyan Princes.

"Evacuation is necessary." Father's voice calmed the tension. I let out a sigh of relief, but the situation turned sour with his next words. "But we need to evacuate everyone. Not just valuable Saiyans."

"Everyone?" Grapea almost burst into laughter. "Don't be insane. That would take too much time. Valuable time that we could use to get to the next city and warn them of the Tuffle's upheaval. They're not important enough."

The room became thick with ki energy, but it wasn't from the Prince this time. I felt myself almost choking on the aura that was coming off of my Father in waves. His face had become one of rage and disgust.

"Not important enough?! Tell me, Prince, aren't you the ruler of ALL of the Saiyans in your province?! The person who's vowed to protect them?!" The house shook around us, and I took a few steps backward. Surprisingly, Grapea didn't look afraid anymore. Instead, he looked furious. His pride is overriding his rational thoughts.

"If they have no purpose and are weak, they aren't even worthy of being called a Saiyan!" The Prince took a step towards my Father, his fists clenched tightly. "Just like you! Too soft for your own good! So soft that you got your own Father kill-"

Grapea's next words were lost to history because, in a blur of movement, he was lifted up in the air by his throat. My Father let out a primal growl as his fingers dug deeper into Grapea's throat. Two of the Prince's guards tried to approach, but a lash of Father's aura send them flying out of the side of the building.

J-Just how strong is he? I thought in shock as I looked on from the other end of the room. If Grapea has a power level of 30,000, how high is Dad's power level?

"Soft?" He tightened his grip considerably on Grapea's neck, lifting him higher. The young Prince couldn't do anything against it. He looked like an animal caught in the jaws of a predator. His eyes were wide in alert. Mine followed in quick pursuit when I heard my Father's next words.

"You forget your place, cousin."

I opened my mouth to speak, but before I could even react, the sound of screaming broke out from outside. We all turned towards the holes in the halls. It was dark outside as if the sun had already set.

"But it's midday…" Tuunip remarked slowly, the situation not dawning on him yet. Or on anyone else for that matter. But I knew what it was.

"They're here."

The ground opened up beneath us, giving way into the eager mouth of a Leviathan.

I've returned! And I don't plan on leaving for now :p I've had a very busy last few months, but I'm back. Sorry if the chapter is a little short. And yes, plot twists! If you didn't understand, you'll understand soon! Large battle incoming next chapter!

Review if you liked it! If you didn't, well... Review anyway :p