Gine had never met the Ginyu Force in person, but their reputation was as big as their power levels. Rumors abounded about them, some absurd, some mundane, all terrifying. Bardock had taken great pleasure in dispelling the ones that weren't true, but there were some he had confirmed. Gine kept her eye on Guldo.

Vegeta muttered a curse behind her.

Ginyu straightened from his pose and turned to face them.

"I knew you'd gone rogue, Vegeta, but it seems you have a whole little insurrection going. I didn't think you had the balls. Well, no matter." He turned to his men. "Who wants first dibs on the riff raff? Vegeta, obviously, is mine."

"Aw, Captain!" Burter whined.

Recoome chimed in. "You got the best part last time, too!"

"It's not fair!" Guldo objected.

Ginyu rolled his eyes.

"Very well. I am a generous fellow. Play roshambo for it, and the runner up gets first pick of the others. Share nicely, now."

They set about their game, voices raised in banter and teasing as they ignored the three of them entirely. Kakarot caught Gine's eye and gave her a raised eyebrow. What the heck, ma? She shook her head at him. Behind her she could hear Vegeta grinding his teeth. He probably knew even better than her how much the Ginyus liked to play with their food.

"Aw, dammit!" Guldo swore. He'd gotten third place. Gine was pretty sure that meant fighting her. Burter slapped him on the back.

"Don't complain, man. At least you get to fight."

Guldo rolled all four of his eyes and stepped forward, cracking his neck. Gine, seeing an opening and without any input whatsoever from her brain, raised her palm and let loose a thundering column of energy that engulfed Guldo and sent gusts of wind whipping around the plain. When the dust settled there was only a smoking corpse where Guldo had once stood.

Something crackled through Gine's skin, and she gave a full body shiver and lowered her arm.

"Ma, what…?" Kakarot was staring at her, horrified. She realized she was baring her teeth and with effort she drew her lips back down. "Y-you killed him."

"Yes, Kakarot, I did," she said, never once taking her eyes off the rest of the Ginyu Force.

"But he didn't even—"

"If word gets back to Frieza about us we're dead!"

"What the hell?" Jeice was saying. "Captain, what the hell just happened?"

"That… It... Guldo must have let his guard down," Ginyu said reluctantly. "Recoome, looks like you get your chance early."

Recoome stepped forward, grinning. Gine felt Kakarot still looking at her.

"These guys work for Frieza?" he asked.

She nodded.

Before Recoome could do more than strike a pose, Kakarot had elbowed him in the gut so hard he fell over where he stood. Ginyu gaped.

"What the... J-Jeice, Burter, do something!"

The two of them looked down at Recoome's body, then up at Kakarot in horror, but quickly they shook themselves and rushed forward. Together, Gine and Kakarot rushed to meet them. Three seconds later they lay dead on the ground as well.

Ginyu looked around at the scattered bodies of his former squad in disbelief.

"How— You—"

Then his eyes narrowed.

"I get it," he said, stepping over the bodies of his men. "You lot are raising your battle power for a fraction of an instant, just as you strike. A scouter wouldn't be able to pick that up. I admit, it's a clever trick." He grinned. "But make no mistake— you aren't the only ones with tricks."

He looked down his nose at the two of them.

"Unlike my late colleagues, I am not entirely reliant on my scouter for information about my opponents. I estimate your battle power to be about... 50,000, madam," he said to Gine. "Quite respectable for a Saiyan." He turned to Kakarot. "As for you, I'd say you're around 95,000. I'd almost be tempted to recruit both of you for my squad since I currently have openings… But I think it's a little late for that."

Ginyu's smile turned hard for a moment.

"Neither of you have scouters, so I'll spare you the agony of wondering and tell you my top power is 120,000. Even as strong as you are, you're no match for me. Luckily for you I haven't had a good fight in ages."

He rushed Kakarot, elbowing him in the face. Kakarot flew backward, but righted himself in midair, ducking under Ginyu's swipe as he appeared behind him. They exchanged blows, neither landing a solid hit, and then Kakarot rocketed up into the air, Ginyu right behind him. Kakarot attempted to line up a ki shot, but Ginyu dodged and shot one of his own, which Kakarot also dodged. They met in midair and exchanged more blows before leaping apart, both of them breathing hard.

"Alright, you're better than I thought," Ginyu admitted. "But please do me the courtesy of not holding back, and I will do the same."

"I thought that couldn't be all you had," Kakarot said. "Alright, I'll fight at full strength, since you asked so nicely. But you're going to wish you hadn't."

Raditz wasn't the only tricky son she had, Gine thought as they rushed each other again. He'd only gone times two.

This time when they broke apart Ginyu was nearly out of breath and bleeding. Kakarot hadn't even broken a sweat.

"Wha— what—?"

"What number do you put me at now?" Kakarot asked, smirking. Ginyu touched his scouter and his face contorted in horror.

"T-two hundred thousand?! Impossible! You're a Saiyan. Saiyans aren't this strong."

Kakarot shrugged nonchalantly. "Maybe you just ain't met the right ones."

Ginyu growled, but then his demeanor softened into thoughtfulness.

"Perhaps…" he said softly. "Perhaps you are special."

"Then do you give up?"

"Ha! Hardly. Your strength does intrigue me, though, Saiyan," Ginyu said. He took off his scouter and tossed it high into the air. "It intrigues me greatly. I'd like a better look at it."

Ginyu plunged his hand deep into his own chest. He gasped, coughed up blood, and said two words:

"Change now!"