He had seen her again. She didn't know he was watching her, all the while as she talked and moved around. Well she wasn't supposed to, he made sure no one knew he was awake yet, and they wouldn't until he wanted them to.

Vegeta stirred very slightly, trying to shift his position so that his many injuries wouldn't bother him all at the same time. But since to find a position like that was impossible he soon gave it up and continued to watch.

Incredible anger and resentment filled him towards that woman. That strange, laughing, insolent, beautiful woman. Wait, how did that last one get in there? He closed his eyes, wishing that he could see and think clearly, he heard her say something about a pill they were supposed to give him for the pain. Hah! Well he wasn't taking anything like that. Gritting his teeth in determination he looked up slightly to see what the woman was doing now.

She wasn't on the ground anymore, where did she go? He groaned and leaned back, why was it that when he saw her eyes it had hurt him so much? He knew she didn't touch any of his outward injuries but when she looked down at him he felt his heart beat involuntary faster and harder.

He closed his eyes, shutting out everything around him, but even in the darkness of his mind he could still see her eyes, shining with such joy and energy that they appeared almost to give out a light of their own and pierce the impenetrable darkness that usually lay there.

Vegeta thought that someone was next to him now, but it wasn't her. A hand forced a little round pill into his mouth, and an instant later he heard the whispered words-

"Element of water, I bid you appear!" And a gentle trickle of cool water poured down on him from somewhere up above. He groaned in frustration, but allowed himself to swallow the pill, when he got his strength back he would show them all. Especially her.

***

Avril floated placidly right across from Frieza, arms crossed, eyes studying her opponent very carefully.

"Well my dear, impressive, impressive indeed, three minutes and not a second more, how did you manage it? I only hope that it was enough to make you last a few moments at least in this little fight." She shrugged.

"It should be, but we'll see." He narrowed his eyes slightly.

"Will we? Tell you what, since you are such a pretty little child I'll even do you a favor, I'll fight on the ground, using only one arm, and at zero percent of my full power." Avril raised an eyebrow.

"We'll fight in the air, you use all your appendages, please, I don't need any favors, and fight at your full power, or as close to it as you can get." He laughed.

"My, my, so eager to die are we? We'll I'll humor you, in the air it is, but before you go asking for my full power, perhaps you should see what only a little bit of it can do." He extended an arm, and from his palm emerged a cold violet light growing in intensity and size until it erupted away from him, and flew directly towards Avril.

The pirate extended two fingers, and hit it away easily; not even appearing to notice that what she hit was a blast of pure energy and not a little toy.

Frieza's eyes widened very slightly, but he quickly regained composure.

"Ahhh, so you are tougher than you seem, well, well, that makes no difference, since that little ball of nothing only took up an insignificant fraction of a percent compared to what I could really do." She sighed impatiently.

"Quit boasting, and let's get down to it."

"Ladies first."

"Funny, I was about to say the same thing," Avril teased.

"Why you…" Frieza came directly at her, whipping out with his tail. She dodged easily, and spun to the back of him, he turned trying to punch her, and she dropped down out of reach. He moved quickly to try to reach her, and she disappeared.

Frieza floated for a moment in the air, slightly at a loss as to what to do next.

Suddenly a swift kick came in contact with his stomach, sending him coughing in unexpected pain. A well-directed punch, from nowhere, caused him to fly a few feet out. And still there was no sign of his opponent. He tried to right himself in mid-air, furiously scanning the air and the ground for any trace of her, but another quick hit to the stomach, followed by a second and third sent him reeling backwards.

"Where are you!" He called out in anger. Avril reappeared, frowning.

"Now will you quit doing me favors and play all out?" He wiped a little trickle of violet blood from the corner of his mouth, and peered down at it as if not quite sure where it came from. Then his eyes narrowed and he gazed with pure hatred at the woman across from him. Who had the nerve to cause him pain, who could cause him pain. He clenched his fist, and laughed softly.

"Ridiculous child, don't you know that I am fighting using none of my actual energy what's so ever."

"Well, yeah!" she cried out," and quit it, power up right now, or else this won't even be an interesting fight, it will just be a short one." Fury returned to his face. How dare she! How dare she challenge his power and look down on it as inferior. She was actually pushing him into using all of his strength, something he had never had to do to finish any opponent. An evil glow came into his red eyes.

"Very well," he said hoarsely," let's see how you like this." Turning slightly away from Avril, Frieza bowed his head slightly, and extended his arms on either side. He would show her, he would make her pay for her insolence, and then, then this world and this universe were as good as his. All he had to do was take care of this minor annoyance. A small smile came across his face; it was only a matter of moments now.

***

Piccolo stared in total disbelief up at the quickly moving figure of Avril and at Frieza's now stationary form. He couldn't help staring, what he saw was completely unexpected. The woman had seemed so small to him, so completely inexperienced as a trained fighter that he figured she was going in there for a maximum of five minutes. But the girl had proved him wrong. Boy had she proved him wrong, managing to get the most amount of affective blows into the fight, without so much as breaking a sweat. And now his expert ears caught a shred of what she was saying to Frieza. She was actually asking him to use his full power against her. She was either very crazy or very brave, and whichever one it was, it looked like she may just be able to give them the little bit of strength they needed to win.

Next to him, Krillin was carefully watching the other woman. The quieter one that was now beside Vegeta, looking over his many injuries. She raised her solemn gray eyes briefly from the sayjin up towards the sky to see the battle.

Nekita could feel the force of Frieza's power growing, he wasn't boasting or bluffing, his true strength was far greater than any of them could imagine. But then again, Avril had a few more tricks up her sleeve as well.

She sighed and got up; walking over to the cluster of people who still regarded her rather suspiciously.

Krillin flushed faintly as she neared, and turned away quickly.

"Your friend wasn't kidding when she said she could take him, was she," Piccolo observed still watching the sky. Nekita smiled sheepishly.

"Avril always means what she says." She said firmly.

"Let's just hope this time she isn't over her head," he grumbled stiffly. Nekita frowned faintly and looked up.

She could never tell exactly what Avril was thinking, and to know what she would do next was impossible, but one thing she knew for certain. Avril never went into a fight without being confident that she had a chance. The odds could be totally against her, but if deep inside she believed she had the slightest possibility of victory she would fight, no matter what. Nekita only hoped that this time she didn't underestimate her opponent.

***

King Kai strained every nerve in his little body, trying to make every muscle obey him. He must know what was going on, on Namek; he had to hone in on every tiny bit of energy that was able to reach him. Extending his antennae further he moved slightly forward, making the two people hanging on to his shoulders move with him.

"What is it King Kai?" Tien asked uncertainly, trying to pick out what the energy signal he felt was.

"Ohhh, someone different is with Frieza now, but…I can't seem to be able to pick out their energy signal, either it's blending in with something…or they don't have one."

"But…but that's impossible how could they possibly have the strength to even fight Frieza if they don't have any energy of their own?" King Kai wagged his antennae slightly, as if to say 'who knows?'

"Whoever it is, they'll need all the help they can get." With that the little blue creature clamped his mouth shut, but not before thinking with all his might "Where are you Goku?"

***