Disclaimer - I own nothing.
A/N: It has been called to my attention that a few of you aren't too pleased with the lack of action - my skipping some of the fights. Seeing as the Frieza Saga is quite a bit lengthy, I probably skipped far too much than I should have. That aside, no more fights will be skipped and soon enough you'll get to see Raditz in action. This is the first time I'm doing a story on all of the sagas after all, so a few mistakes are expected. That and I didn't think everything through when I posted this story - I posted it on a whim. Anyway. If you have any more suggestions, don't hesitate to let me know via PM or a review. Thanks.
Here's my attempt to makes things a little less painfully boring and turn this story around.
To say he felt different was a complete understatement. In fact, Raditz felt as if he was a completely different person. Initially, he had his doubts about training in various settings of gravity, reluctant to believe that it would work due to the fact that it sounded too good to be true. However, after the first day of training in a higher setting of gravity than he was accustomed to, he could already feel the change in terms of power. That change in power, though, went from amazing to overwhelming (from the moment he tested the results of the first day to the moment he tested the end results today) and as he laid in his bed, hands resting behind his head as he stared up at the ceiling, he could feel the excitement already coursing within him as he neared Planet Namek - which was courtesy of the Saiyan blood pumping through his veins.
Just less than a week ago, he entertained the thought - on various occasions - of how long it would take for him to even hope to surpass the egotistical Prince. Admittedly, he had been entertaining that thought even before a week ago, but seeing as they had to rescue the others, he had every intentions of starting an intense series of training methods the moment they returned back to Earth. By all means necessary, he was determined to do whatever he could to surpass Vegeta. At the moment, however, it seemed as if surpassing him wouldn't be a goal for him any longer. If anything, he just had to focus on maintaining where he stood and made sure he stayed stronger than Vegeta.
Granted, Vegeta wouldn't sit idle and allow himself to be surpassed by him - especially since he was of lower class than him - but he didn't exactly expect him to do so. Constantly competing to see who would remain on top would certainly make things interesting back on Earth - assuming that Vegeta came, of course. More or likely, Vegeta would be coming back seeing as it wouldn't be too many other decent Planets to live on. Not only that, but Vegeta would be determined to surpass Kakarot once they arrived on Namek and in order to do that, he'd have to be keeping tabs him. Furthermore, he also had a feeling that once Vegeta caught wind of the fact that he and Kakarot trained under different settings of gravity, he wouldn't be going anywhere but to Earth to presumably get the same training as well. Speaking of Vegeta, Raditz couldn't help but wonder if he had already got rid of Zarbon and/or Dodoria. Instead of dwelling on whether or not Vegeta would come to Earth, the enemies they'd have to worry about were far more significant than his ex-comrade.
Hypothetically, if Vegeta did get rid of Zarbon and Dodoria, then the only threat left to rid was Frieza and probably a handful of henchmen. Undoubtedly, the henchmen would be easy to kill off. In fact, that would most likely be the only easy enemy to rid. Having known Frieza for quite sometime now (unfortunately, for him), he wouldn't put it past Frieza to notify the Ginyu Force of what was going on and request their assistance. And having knowing Vegeta, if Dodoria and Zarbon were in fact dead, he'd want to collaborate temporarily in order to defeat the Ginyu Force and then Freiza later on. Of course, Vegeta would never suggest this if he wouldn't receive a benefit from it. Heck, Vegeta hardly worked with anyone unless it was for his own personal gain - his ego was too freaking huge to do so under other terms.
Honestly speaking, even knowing the fact that he and Kakarot would end up working together with Vegeta to defeat Frieza later on, did little to curb his increasing apprehension that their combined efforts would prove futile. Since he had been under Frieza's reign for a considerable amount of time, it only made sense that he caught wind of rumors about the tyrant from time to time. One in particular, though, was the fact that Frieza contained the capability of transforming. The sole thought of Frieza being even more powerful than what he already was was absolutely terrifying. Regrettably, the rumors didn't cease there like he hoped. In conjunction with that fearsome rumor, was the fact that Frieza could transform several times. Those very rumors left him wondering if this training he and Kakarott did would even have an effect on him.
Not only that, but even though he had filled Kakarot in on Frieza and his henchman, even King Kai had recommended that they avoid Frieza - a clear testament to just how boundless the fear of Frieza was. Of course, he and Kakarot were going to ignore that because there was just no way avoiding Frieza was possible - it was inevitable. And if avoiding Frieza had been possible, then the Saiyan race shouldn't have been forced to follow his every whim out of fear for his power or that he'd kill them. Perhaps he was slightly exaggerating, but it wasn't as if they could possibly find out now. Though, it wasn't as of he didn't understand where King Kai was coming from, it was just that running away from the problem would do nothing but prolong what was to come to past any way.
In his case, when he had remained on Earth and eventually came to the conclusion of staying, he was already aware that he'd come face-to-face with the tyrant once more. At that time, facing Frieza later and taking advantage of the situation in order to obtain his freedom, seemed like a smart move to make; for he intended to spend majority of his time training in order to at least be better prepared for what was to come. However, he began to review things after ending up in the hospital - which meant no training. He supposed things did work out though, because it was evident that he got in more training than he could have possibly obtained in such a short frame of time. All-in-all, his stalling, worked out in his favor.
Today was indeed he and Kakarot's day of rest, for they were due to be present on Namek come tomorrow; however, he couldn't help but feel as if he should be training at the moment. He certainly couldn't sleep - and doubted that he would any time soon - so what else was there to do besides train? He had been laying in the same position in his bed for what had to be hours now, yet his eyes hardly dropped at all. If Frieza didn't kill him, then his boredom certainly would.
He'd be doing nothing but deluding himself if he denied the trepidation coursing within him alongside the excitement. Who in their right mind wouldn't be afraid - or at least, slightly afraid - with the idea of confronting one with the ability to transform several times? Frieza was a tyrant and feared for a reason. It wouldn't be in anyone's best interests to underestimate Frieza and overestimate their selves. From what he could tell, Kakarot didn't seem at all fazed by the fact that he contained that capability. If anything, he seemed even more excited. Had this been a different opponent, then he'd be just as excited. Perhaps he wasn't as excited as he should be due to the fact that he had been a slave to Frieza for as long as he could remember, or perhaps it was the fact that he was readying himself to go against what he knew was a losing battle deep down.
Raditz pinched the bridge of his nose, the light scowl on his features indicating that he was beginning to get frustrated with himself. Just what was he thinking? He sounded like...a coward. The worst thing that could possibly happen to him was death. It was as simple as that. He was only making things worse by entertaining the doubts that had been present since he first learned that his confrontation with Frieza would be sooner than he expected. And even if he did die, then he found comfort in the fact that for once, he had been in charge of his own life and what he did with it.
0o0o0o0o0
Though the green skies admittingly had a bit of a soothing affect on him, Kriilin was far from feeling calm at the moment. For one, Bulma was no where in sight (when she was very much supposed to be) and it appeared as if she had wandered off. Secondly, if she was no where in sight and had indeed wandered off, then she was definitely upset with he and Gohan. It never failed to amaze him just how much he could get a woman upset with him. All in a day's work, Krillin supposed, diverting his attention onto Gohan.
"Well, if Goku fails to arrive soon, it looks like we'll die by Bulma's hand instead." Krillin joked with a sheepish smile, awaiting a response from Gohan. However, when he received none, he frowned. He was very much aware that he wasn't the funniest guy on the planet, but he at least thought that his joke deserved a smile or something - anything.
"Krillin." Gohan called out solemnly, a look of utter defeat on his features as he kept his gaze fixated on the ground. "Do you feel that? I don't think Bulma wandered off on her own."
"Hey," Krillin called out, placing a comforting hand on the child's shoulder, mistaking Gohan's solemn expression for something else. "I'm sure she couldn't have wandered off too far. It is Bulma, after all. We'll just stop suppressing our ki until we find - "
"No." Gohan's voice was a bit firmer now and Krillin couldn't help but look slightly taken aback. Sensing he had Krillin's attention, he continued, his eyes betraying how he was feeling, "Bulma's with Vegeta. He must have taken her. What do you think Vegeta would want with her?"
After confirming what Gohan was stating was true, he sighed. "Well, the only the thing I can think of at the moment is that he wants to trade her for the dragon ball. If that's the case, I guess we better go find her."
Krillin bent his knees, preparing to propel himself off of the ground with a push of his feet, intending to head in the direction of where he felt Bulma and Vegeta's ki; however, a small hand on his wrist made him do otherwise. "Gohan? What - "
" - Look!" Gohan interrupted fearfully, his eyes wide as he pointed towards the sky.
Krillin followed Gohan's line of sight only to see what looked like five ships, modeled in similar fashion of Vegeta's, rapidly descending from the atmosphere. Needless to say, it didn't take long for his eyes to widened in fear as well. Had it been just two ships, then he could have convinced himself that Goku and Raditz had arrived - even if he would have been knowingly deluding himself. And since he had a knack for having the most unfortunate of things happen to him, he already knew (courtesy of the knot in his stomach) that reinforcements for the enemy were going to be pursuing them soon.
"Gohan, let's hope we can find Vegeta and Bulma before they find us!"
"Right!"
0o0o0o0o0
Frieza smirked evilly as he pictured the expression on Vegeta's face when the Ginyu Force took the dragon balls from him. Oh, how he wish he could see it for himself! Perhaps he should have ordered them to bring back Vegeta's lifeless corpse along with the dragon balls. It was a tempting thing to do. After that stunt that monkey pulled, he deserved to suffer a fate worse than death. In fact, that monkey has been doing nothing but getting into his way and if he would have known that he was going to cause even more trouble after Zarbon defeated him, he would have had him kill the arrogant Saiyan the moment the opportunity presented itself.
But he supposed everything worked out just perfectly. Surely, if Vegeta didn't die by the Ginyu Force's hands then he would die by his hands. For Vegeta's sake, he better hope that the former got their hands him and succeeded. If they didn't succeeded, then he could guarantee that Vegeta would be wishing that he died by their hands instead of his.
Yes, Frieza assured himself, it was only a matter of time before his wish became granted. With immortality, no one would dare to oppose him. Though he was already unstoppable, he would be even more unstoppable with immortality. It was so close that he could pratically taste it.
And he could barely contain his excitement.
0o0o0o0o0o
Vegeta cursed out loud, his eyes widening as he stared after the five space pods that had landed too close to him for comfort. If he saw what he thought he saw, then the Ginyu Force were now present as well. Great, Vegeta thought bitterly to himself, as if Frieza wasn't enough to deal with. Now he'd have another hindrance in his path to obtaining the immortality he deserved. He should have known that Frieza would have called for reinforcements. No matter, he mentally assured himself, he only had six dragon balls with him. This could still work out in his favor. If he was right, then those brats were on their way towards him right now for the girl with a dragon ball in hand. Simply put, all he had to do was ally himself with them temporarily and make them hide their dragon ball somewhere else.
"Hey, what's going on?" Bulma inquired curiously, a blue eyebrow raised. "Is - "
" - Shut up." Vegeta interrupted irritably. He was in no mood to deal with the girl. He needed to make sure things worked out. If only those Earthlings would hurry up. Couldn't they sense ki? What in the world was taking them so blasted long? Impatiently, Vegeta began to pace back and forth, his hands behind his back as his black eyes remained fixated on the blue land beneath his feet. Waiting around has never been his forte and it never would be, but given the situation he had no say in the matter at the moment.
The Prince wasn't sure how long he had been pacing back and forth, nor the amount of time that had passed by, but when his ears picked up on the sound of what he believed to be the two Earthlings landing and finally come into sight, he immediately stomped towards them. "Took you two long enough!" He spat angrily, tempted to blast them into oblivion. What a tempting thing it was to do. If he didn't require their assistance, then they would be in the other dimension before they could even grasp onto the reality of what happened.
Before they had the chance to speak, he began talking again, "Look; I'm certain you're aware of the company we're bound to face. Those space pods you saw were the Ginyu Force and they could be here any minute now. Frieza called for reinforcements and they're most likely going to take the dragon balls. I had every intention of trading the girl for the remaining dragon ball, but of course someone had to interfere with my plans. Again. So are you two in or what?"
Krillin raised an eyebrow, warily regarding Vegeta. "You want us to help you?"
"Don't flatter yourselves. This is only temporary and we have a common enemy."
"And then afterwards?" Gohan inquired, sharing a glance with Krillin.
"I'm beginning to lose my patience with you two!" Vegeta barked. "We don't have time for this! We'll worry about that later!"
As if having a silent conversation, Gohan and Krillin glanced at each other once more before nodding a few moments later, clearly having come to an agreement.
"Well, it's about time." Vegeta remarked with a scowl. "Now, first things first, we need to relocate the dragon balls as far as possible - anything to keep them from getting their grubby hands on them. After we handle them, then we'll find the dragon balls again."
"Right." Gohan agreed with a nod, before turning towards Bulma. "Bulma, you should find somewhere more safe."
The blue-haired woman opened her mouth to protest, but Gohan was already grabbing her by the wrist and leading her behind a nearby cliff, cutting off any protest she may of had. "It doesn't matter where you go, just find a good hiding place out of sight."
"Fine! You can stop pulling me now!"
Releasing her, he proceeded to head towards the others, sending a quick glance in Bulma's direction to make sure she was doing what he asked. Satisfied, he came to a halt beside Krillin, watching as Vegeta scooped up a dragon ball and prepared to launch it elsewhere. All seemed to be going well the moment the huge orb began to hurl out of sight; however, a blur - hardly traceable to the human eyes - suddenly appeared and snagged the orb away as if it was nothing.
The trio were momentarily perplexed...
...until they heard the laughter of what had to be no one but the Ginyu Force.
Eyes widening in shock, they all whirled around to face the source only to realize that their suspicions were correct.
Well? What do you think? Your honesty is the only way I can improve and make things better, so I appreciate all of the suggestions and opinions.