Disclaimer - I own nothing.
A/N: Alright, so I'm most likely going to edit the previous chapter since I'm not satisfied with it. Just wanted everyone to be aware. Also, if you weren't sure, I'm attempting to update this fic every two weeks. So expect another update on or before 12/9/13.
It took little to no effort at all for Gohan and Krillin to defeat the two armor-clad aliens, whom approached them merely minutes after arriving on the actual Planet Namek, and seeing as they were on a Planet completely foreign to them, it would be completely illogical to think that a few or so inhabitants wouldn't approach them. Once again, they were on someone else's territory and it was practically common sense. It was no different than a stranger appearing in an neighborhood, trekking aimlessly only to be approached by a few inhabitants of said neighborhood. Initially, he wanted to believe that that was simply the case when he first sensed their ki's, but upon seeing them - whom looked nothing like Piccolo or Kami - he was certain that they weren't Namekians. But since they were no longer a threat, he really couldn't complain due to the result being completely in their favor.
Only thing though, was whether or not they were going to have to worry about more enemies approaching them. Until their recent confrontation, they were under the impression that, besides the Namekians, they'd be the only ones present on Planet Namek, but that seemed not to be the case. Which, in other words, basically meant that their mission to collect all seven dragon balls wasn't going to be as easy as they originally thought nor as easy as it sounded.
Krillin diverted his attention onto his blue-haired friend whom was currently setting up a contraption of some sort up near the now malfunctioning ship, no doubt trying to get in contact with her father or possibly Goku. If it was as he feared, then they at least had an advantage with Bulma having her dragon radar, which meant that they could find the dragon balls rather quickly, but with their ship unable to fly they were practically sitting ducks. Perhaps they could gather them all and conceal them in a secure place. But could they manage to do that without running into anyone else? And what about how the two aliens had found them with seemingly little difficulty? They had the same device Raditz donned when he first arrived on Earth, so he was very much aware that their devices could assist them in tracking and pinpointing ki, and in order to avoid being approached by more - which, hopefully, there weren't - they'd have to constantly suppress their ki.
"Hey, guys," Bulma called out, her blue eyes fixated on the currently beeping device in her hands. Both, Gohan and Krillin, gave the blue-haired woman their undivided attention, waiting for her to continue. "There's two dragon balls nearby."
Krillin moved to respond, but at the sight of an all-too-familiar space ship, his words died immediately. Confused at Krillin's change in behavior, Bulma and Gohan diverted their attention to where Krillin was looking, the two immediately paling. Was that who he thought it was or was he hallucinating? Hopefully, the former monk thought to himself, it was the latter because if that was Vegeta, then things just got far more complicated than any of them could have imagined. For one, the sole person strong enough to go up against Vegeta wasn't present and two, Vegeta was most likely after the dragon balls. Krillin was almost ninety percent certain that that was Vegeta's sole purpose. After all, that was his reason for going to Earth in the first place. And though he had no idea what Vegeta could possibly desire from the dragon balls, it certainly didn't take a genius to know that it wouldn't be good.
Krillin frowned. If only he would have killed him when the opportunity presented itself, then the three of them wouldn't be gaping at what was Vegeta's space pod. But because Goku was his best friend and because he respected him, he complied with his wish to allow him to live...
...And it appeared as if they were going to pay the consequences.
"That's Vegeta." Bulma stated knowingly, "there's just no doubt about it. With our ship destroyed, we have no choice but to stay and gather the dragon balls. If we at least grab the two nearby, then if Vegeta manages to grab the remaining before us, he won't be able to make a wish."
Gohan gave a curt nod, displaying his agreement. "Right. You can't make a wish without all of the dragon balls present."
"Then, I guess we better get started, Gohan."
Gohan opened his mouth to respond, but at the sight of yet another space ship, which resembled the same pod as Vegeta's, his expression became one of confusion, resulting in everyone's diverting their attention to the source as well. "Wait a minute," the black-haired Saiyan began, "If Vegeta, Dad, and Uncle Raditz are the only Saiyans left, then why is there another space pod? Both dad and Uncle Raditz are on Earth, and if Vegeta is already here...then who is that?"
"I don't know," Krillin answered, "but I don't like the look of this."
"I don't either." Bulma agreed, turning to head towards the ship moments later. "I'm going to call Master Roshi and fill him in on everything that's going on right now."
"Alright. After you finish, you should probably settle down somewhere more safe. There's no telling how many more of Vegeta's allies are swimming around. Plus, wherever those two aliens came from earlier, if someone was with them, then they probably noticed by now that something happened to them, so it wouldn't be safe for you to stay in the same location. Gohan and I will find you when we get a hold of the dragon balls."
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o
Vegeta emerged from his space pod, cursing Frieza as he did so. He should have known that Frieza would have found out about the dragon balls and he was a complete fool to think that Frieza wouldn't resort to something as dirty such as spying on him. After all, it was Frieza he was dealing with. That vile creature had nothing else better to do but to poke his nose where it didn't belong. No matter though, the time would come soon enough where he'd bring Frieza to his knees and make him beg for his pathetic life and make him pay for all that he has done. He supposed he should just be grateful he caught wind of what Frieza was up to, lest he lose his opportunity to gain immortality completely.
With that being said, he needed to start pursuing the dragon balls immediately, seeing as Frieza did have the advantage of arriving here before he did. Vegeta lifted up a hand, pressing a simple button on his scouter, locating Frieza's position in mere seconds. Upon getting a reading that Frieza had two others at his side, he simply smirked, not surprised that Frieza's loyal lapdogs - Dodoria and Zarbon - were present as well. He wasn't worried though. Alone, he was certain he stood a chance against the both of them. Frieza, however was a different story, but his end was near.
The flame-haired Saiyan's smirk widened when his scouter located yet another one of Frieza's lapdogs, Cui to be precise, and he already knew that a confrontation between the two of them would come to pass and he'd be lying if he said he wasn't eager. That Cui was too cocky for his own good and he needed to be knocked off of his high-horse, a job Vegeta thought was more than fit for a prince such as his self. Vegeta chuckled to himself in amusement, already picturing his surprise when Cui found out that he was completely out of his league.
Without another thought, Vegeta took off, certain that Cui would seek him out.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o
"It appears that Cui has landed, Lord Frieza."
"So it seems," Frieza responded, seemingly unfazed by the news he just received. He was also aware that Vegeta had just landed merely seconds ago, and seeing as it was Vegeta, he was aware that he shouldn't take him too lightly. He knew that sooner or later Vegeta would catch wind of what he was up to, but seeing as he already contained four dragon balls in his possession, he had the clear advantage. All he needed to do was gather the remaining three dragon balls and he could gain immortality, then no one would be able to rise up against him.
"Lord Frieza, Cui requested your permission to pursue Vegeta." Zarbon reported, two large orange orbs under his arms as he patiently awaited Frieza's response.
If Cui engaged Vegeta in battle, then that would buy him some more time to gain another dragon ball, Frieza thought to himself. Plus, the two had it out for each other in the first place and should Cui get rid of that monkey, then that would make things far more easier for him, and even if Cui couldn't get rid of Vegeta, then like he stated earlier, he'd still have bought some time to at least gain another dragon ball. "Tell him I said that's fine."
Zarbon nodded, reporting Frieza's exact words to Cui, before turning to face his master once more. "And pertaining to the smaller power levels that were felt earlier? I dismissed two scouts to investigate, but both of the readings suddenly disappeared and - "
"I'm more concerned about Vegeta." He interrupted, dismissing Zarbon's question with a wave of the hand. "He has a real knack for getting in my way, like the pest he is. "
"Cui willl see to it that Vegeta is handled. That monkey stands no chance against Cui." Zarbon assured.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o
Cui - an indigo-skinned alien donning the typical armor majority of those who were under Frieza's command wore - landed in front of Vegeta, arrogantly smirking as he took in his opponent. For quite sometime now, he has been waiting for this moment to come to pass and it was finally here. Vegeta, his arch rivial, was at his mercy and he had the permission from Frieza himself to eliminate him and by all means he would do so. For years, he has took amusement out of doing whatever he could to get under the Saiyan's skin, and who would have known that the simple action of him mocking Vegeta pertaining to Frieza's plan to obtain the dragon balls could grant him what he desired for so long.
The moment he took off after Vegeta, his adrenaline began pumping, and compared to now, it made the adrenaline rush he was feeling prior to confronting him look like nothing.
"Are you just going to stand there with that hideous smirk on your face or are you going to actually do something?" Vegeta goaded, his arms folded across his chest. "Or are you having doubts? You seem to have quite the bit to say over the scouter."
Cui chuckled in amusement. "I could say the same to you, Vegeta. I've gotten far stronger than you think and it's pretty much needless to say that I will easily defeat you. How ironic will it be for me to bring the so-called prince to his knees?" Cui mocked.
Vegeta threw his head back, guffawing. This lapdog thought he stood a chance against him? Clearly, he must have bumped his head in order to entertain a thought such as that.
Cui scowled. "What's so funny, Vegeta? The fact that I'm right and that you're at my mercy or the fact that - "
"Let me let you in on a little secret, " Vegeta began, a wide smirk on his features, "my power level has increased immensely due to my previous defeat and I picked up a few tricks, including how to control its output."
This time, Cui guffawed, sending his rival an incredulous look after he composed himself. "You expect me to believe that? You're bluffing!"
"Is that so?" Vegeta inquired. "Then allow me to show you otherwise."
Without a moment of hesitation, Vegeta powered up, releasing an immense amount of ki as his form was encased by a red aura. Cui's mouth fell slightly agape at Vegeta's display of power, barely registering the fact that the amount of ki Vegeta was releasing resulted in his scouter getting destroyed in the process. Trepidation leisurely began to course within him, the adrenaline he once felt now completely gone, leaving no trace of it ever being present. Cui suddenly smirked, masking his fear. "Ah, Lord Frieza. He's all yours."
What? Frieza? Vegeta whirled around immediately, only to see no one behind him, indicating that he had been deceived. He scowled, mentally chastising himself for falling for the oldest trick in the book, but the moment he turned around to face his opponent, Cui had took the opportunity to onslaught him with a volley of paramount attacks.
As soon as Cui finished his onslaught, he smirked in satisfaction. "Apparently, you're not as tough as you thought you were, Vegeta." Cui laughed, placing his hands on his hips. "You underestimated me and you paid the price."
"Really?" Vegeta called out from behind Cui, surprising the indigo-colored alien. Cui's expression became one of pure terror, baffled at the fact that Vegeta escaped his attacks completely unharmed.
"The fact that my power level increased also means that my speed increased as well. Had you not been spent the small amount of IQ you do contain on trying to deceive me, you would have realized that."
Cui, visibly at a loss of words, noticeably trembled, his fear more than evident. Quickly, before Vegeta could kill him, Cui took off, fleeing for his life. How could this be? How could Vegeta, a mere pest, be stronger than him? They were equal in strength and speed before he departed for Earth and even if he did get defeated, he shouldn't have increased that drastically. No matter, Cui concluded, all he had to do was locate Dodoria or Zarbon and then he'd -
"Going somewhere?" Vegeta called out from in front of him, interrupting Cui's thoughts all the while smirking in amusement. Without another thought, he charged towards Cui seemingly in the blink of an eye before driving his fist into Cui's stomach, cracking his armor in the process, sending him hurling upwards. Quickly, Vegeta allowed a smile grace his features as he mercilessly ceased his existence with a mere blast, leaving no trace of the indigo-colored alien ever existing.