Dragon Warrior Camp, Namek
December 20, A762

Vegeta watched Roshi's jumps; the old man, who could fly, was jumping from island to island, and was still outpacing Vegeta, who was more powerful right now than he'd ever been. It was everything Vegeta had to avoid screaming. The beating he'd received from Zarbon didn't help, though. He'd prefer to spend a bit of time in a healing pod, though last time he'd done that it was intended to be his prison.

Finally, the old man stopped jumping, and gestured to a cave, "We're here."

Vegeta landed, rolling his shoulders.

"All right, old man. Let's talk," Vegeta said. Roshi said nothing, only walking to the cave.

"Bulma, I'm back! I brought another guest!" Roshi called out.

"Oh, another Namekian? I've got the water filter going like cra-AZY! ROSHI! IS THAT VEGETA?!" a human shrieked, stepping out of a house in the cave.

"Yep. Don't worry, I can handle him if he tries anything. Don't touch the girl, or any of the Namekians, boy, or you'll regret it," Roshi instructed Vegeta.

"I'm only interested in your power and your Dragon Balls," Vegeta said.

"And here I thought it was our food that got you to follow me," Roshi chuckled, "Bulma, could we get some trays microwaved for our new guest, please?"

"Do I look like a cook?" Bulma sneered.

"All right, fine, I'll do it myself," Roshi grumbled, stepping inside. Vegeta followed them inside, and looked around the human domicile. It wasn't too different from the quarters he was used to, though it had much more personal room. There was a pair of Namekian children with chips and cards.

"Are you teaching them poker, Bulma?" Roshi asked.

"Yeah. It's taking a while," Bulma sighed.

"Why's that?"

"Whenever one of us gets ahead, they share their pot. It'd be pissing me off if it wasn't so cute," Bulma said. The microwave beeped, and Roshi handed Vegeta a plate and some chopsticks. Vegeta found a seat, and rapidly chowed through it. By the time he was done, Roshi handed him a second plate.

"I'm never gonna get used to seeing the Saiyan appetite," Roshi muttered.

"By the way, the others called in, and told me they were resting at Guru's. How'd you get back so fast?" Bulma asked.

"Yes. Explain, old man!" Vegeta said with a full mouth. Roshi huffed.

"Boy, I'm over three hundred years old. I've dedicated my entire life to studying the art of fighting, of perfecting my body and mind. You've dedicated yourself to slaughter and war. If you want to achieve my level, and go beyond, you have a lot to accept and change. You're full of shame and anger. Broken pride and sorrow. You're a hollow man, Vegeta. But until you accept that, you'll still be holding yourself back. You'll never truly be a warrior in any way that matters," Roshi said.

"That's just a bunch of noise I've heard a hundred times on a hundred worlds from pathetic fools too weak to defend themselves! Just because it comes from you doesn't mean a damn thing to me," Vegeta said, "I want to know how you and Nappa surpassed me!"

"By working for it. If Nappa managed to surpass you, it's because he's been putting himself through the training of his life on that ship with Tao Pai Pai. But there are other factors, things that are holding you back. Nappa's working through them, one by one. He's using martial arts to clear his mind, and discover who he truly is! What he truly wants."

"What he wants to be worthy of," Vegeta muttered.

"Hmm?"

Vegeta clenched his fist.

"I don't have anything left, old man. All I have is becoming stronger. Maybe to destroy Freeza. Maybe to become the best again, I don't know."

"That's the truth about Martial Arts, boy: To make yourself better. Get some rest, boy. We'll need our strength for what's to come."

Vegeta hesitated, and nodded.

"First?" Bulma interjected, "Baths. You smell like a toothpaste factory that's been turned into a gym, and you just smell like an old man."

"How dare-" Vegeta started to snap.

"That sounds wonderful, Bulma, thank you for the suggestion," Roshi interrupted, "You first, Vegeta. I'm gonna clear out these sprouts in a couple rounds of poker."

XXX

Guru's Hut, Namek
December 20, A762

"Nail! Do you sense that?" Kotai said.

"I do," Nail said, crossing his arms.

"It's headed straight for us," Molc said.

"Get inside. I'll handle this," Nail said.

Zarbon stopped in midair, and looked down at the Namekians.

"Can you imagine my luck? More Namekians! Hah!" Zarbon landed in front of Nail, "I'll bet you've got a Dragon Ball, there's no other reason to build a house in some place so ridiculous! Lord Freeza may be furious with me over my failure to bring Vegeta in, but if I return with another Dragon Ball, he may forgive me! So, Namekian, you're going to make this real easy on me: You're going to hand over your Dragon Ball, tell me where to find the last of your villages, and I'll be sure to kill you nice and quick!"

Nail looked Zarbon up and down, "You're already injured."

"I'm more than enough for the likes of you! I might be high on stims, but I've got more than enough power to take what I want! Now hand over the Dragon Ball before I get angry!" Zarbon hissed. His arm twitched, bulging out a bit before he took control of his transformation. Nail shook his head.

"If you fear your master so much, I suggest hiding until this crisis is over. You will not survive a battle with me," Nail said.

"Did you not understand me, creature?" Zarbon's face transformed, "I will rip you to pieces and feed them to you if you don't give me the Dragon Ball!"

"Your rage is going to destroy you. Calm down, before-"

With a gurgling roar, Zarbon turned into his beastly form, firing a Ki blast from his mouth, which Nail deflected away from the house. Zarbon leaped up to come down upon him with a punch, but Nail caught Zarbon's arm and slammed him into the ground.

"This is a holy place. We should not fight here," Nail said. Zarbon gurgled and growled at him incoherently. Nail raised his foot and came down upon Zarbon's head, intending to kill him quickly, but Zarbon caught Nail's foot in his mouth and bit down, tearing flesh off.

Zarbon pulled, trying to take Nail down to the ground, but Nail landed a punch on Zarbon's sternum, causing him to spit out the chunks of foot he had tried to swallow.

With Zarbon still holding on his leg, Nail rotated his leg up and over, slamming Zarbon into the ground, repeating the motion and leaving dents in the ground each time, until Zarbon's grip slipped, and he fell off Nail's leg. Zarbon clawed at the ground to slow and stop his momentum, and he leaped at Nail.

Nail punched up, causing Zarbon to cough blood. With a rotation of his arms, Nail tossed Zarbon off the side of the cliff. As he fell, Nail fired a Ki blast onto his enemy. A trail of smoke showed Zarbon's trail as he fell straight into the river below.

Nail followed Zarbon with his senses; he was not dead, but quite unconscious, and would not be a problem for them for some time.

XXX

Dragon Warrior Camp, Namek
December 21, A762

Vegeta kept punching, trying to land a blow on Roshi. Each one was deflected with a simple swat of Roshi's hands. Food, a bath, and sleep had done more for Vegeta than he'd expected after Zarbon's beating. Just being around Roshi gave him a second wind, Vegeta realized, and it drove him to train with the old man, faster and harder than he expected.

As the Prince, Vegeta had only expected battle to increase his power, aside from his natural potential. Training was the purview of the lower classes. Some of them were too weak to bother with at all, and those who were either desperate, like Gine or Raditz, just received beatings for their Zenkai to bring them up to where they needed to be.

But to Vegeta's surprise, he realized he enjoyed this simulated battle. He didn't want to kill Roshi-well, that wasn't entirely true, but what seemed like a game was pushing Vegeta to speed and concentration he didn't really know he had.

The two Namekian boys were practicing alongside them, mimicking the exercise Roshi was putting Vegeta through as if it were a game. They had taken to it quickly, and whenever one of them managed to land a blow, they would switch who was attacking.

For a split second, Vegeta twitched to look at the oncoming powers headed towards them, but Roshi enforced Vegeta's concentration with a slap on the scar on his forehead.

"Concentrate on me!" Roshi commanded. Vegeta doubled his efforts, infuriated by the insult, which only ended with more slaps. Krillin, Tien, and Moori arrived, their powers altered and holding the One-Star Dragon Ball.

"Roshi? What are you doing with Vegeta?" Tien asked.

"I'm training him," Roshi said, slapping away Vegeta's hand.

"Yeah, but why?" Krillin asked. Vegeta did not expect Roshi to catch his hand, twist his wrist, slip his foot under Vegeta's foot, and flip him on his ass.

"I was waiting on you three," Roshi said, "I sense you've had your potential unlocked, as well, Moori?"

"Yes," Moori said, "I can now heal those who are injured in battle. We have a great boon this day. I also have the password for the Dragon Balls."

"Excellent. Vegeta's still a bit beaten from his fight yesterday. Would you do him a favor, and heal him up, then? We have a long day ahead of us," Roshi requested.

"I thought you said Vegeta was one of the people we were trying to keep the Dragon Balls from?" Moori asked.

"Vegeta won't be a problem in that regard, I've got him handled," Roshi said, "And we're going to need his help with what's to come."

"You don't mean to say we're going to fight Freeza already? We're not strong enough!" Tien said. Roshi grunted.

"I might be. I don't know. But that's not what I'm talking about. Something else is approaching, and fast. The battle for this planet is about to get even more intense. We're going to need Vegeta at his best, by our side, if we're going to deal with it, and with Freeza, for that matter," Roshi explained.

"What is it you're sensing?" Vegeta asked, standing up, "I don't sense anything."

"I can't quite tell, not yet. It's on its way. But I don't think it's going to be very friendly."

"Well, I still don't trust Vegeta," Tien said, "He's the reason Meys is dead, and if we hadn't stopped him, he's been doing to Earth what Freeza is doing to Namek. He can't be trusted."

"Normally I'm with you all the way, Master Roshi, but I'm with Tien here," Krillin agreed.

"There's still great darkness within him. His ambition is a liability," Moori said.

"I can show you where to get another Dragon Ball," Vegeta said, "If the old man is right about what's coming, we need a plan, and that starts with the Dragon Balls. And if my darkness is anything to worry about, know that I could have taken the Four-star ball and killed everyone in the village. That would have been standard procedure. Instead, I warned them about Freeza. Now your Namekian friends don't know where the ball is, and are useless to Freeza. He won't bother with them."

"Tsuno's village is alive?" Moori said with a note of relief in his voice, "That's wonderful!"

"Elder Moori, what about the ball in our village?" Dende asked.

"Yes, I never did tell them where it was. Unlike Tsuno, I kept the ball hidden. Without their Scouters, they might not have found it, and without enough men, may have given up the search. It may be worth checking out," Moori nodded.

"I'll go with Vegeta to make sure he keeps true to his word," Tien said.

"I'll go with Moori to his village," Krillin said, handing Dende and Cargo the Dragon Ball."

"I'll remain here, and make sure the Dragon Ball remains safe. I'll work Bulma and try to come up with a plan to get the rest," Roshi said.

"Sounds like a plan," Tien nodded, glancing at Vegeta.

"First, healing," Vegeta said, who glared at Moori.

"Here's a lesson for you, Vegeta: Manners," Roshi said to him. Vegeta scrunched his nose in a snarl to Roshi, and looked back to Moori.

"Please."

"For protecting my people and helping us, I will heal you," Moori said, laying his hands upon Vegeta. His bruises disappeared, and his posture improved.

"Now what do we say?" Roshi said.

Vegeta seethed, but still managed to hiss out a "Thank you."

"Meet back here, and we'll sort out how to deal with the Dragon Balls," Roshi said, taking the Dragon Ball from Krillin, "Come on, boys, I've got a bit more training for you."