A/N: Don't worry, Goku's been working on getting stronger than Bardock, he'll get there.

Chapter Twenty-seven - The Hunt for the Dragonballs Begins!

Vegeta stepped out of his ship and looked around. /Strange planet... the grass is blue and the sky's green.../ He lifted the device Bulma had constructed and peered down at the black gridlines over the green glass. There was a single blinking dot several miles north. He pressed a few buttons and zoomed out the view and found... nothing. There weren't any other readings. He zoomed out again and still found nothing. "Terrific. Well, I'll get the first ball and then come back and have the woman fix this damn thing." he muttered launching into the air. Had Vegeta bothered to activate his scouter he'd have seen the powers that waited at his destination.

******

"That's amazing!" Tien cried watching Piccolo spar with himself on King Kai's planet. "Even split in half his power's still greater than us!" They'd all arrived at King Kai's only a week after the battle on Earth and been training since then.

Yamcha nodded. He, Tien, and Appla, in the almost three months they'd been at King Kai's, had already caught Bubbles and hit Gregory. They, along with Piccolo, were still training though. The Namek didn't need to sleep though which gave him a distinct advantage, he could train non-stop and it seemed to be showing.

"Alright guys." King Kai said walking out. "Piccolo, reform yourself, it's time for me to see how far you've come. Your friends will be on Namek in a few more hours." Piccolo remerged and joined the others. "Now, Tien, Yamcha, let's see how you do with the Kinryoku."

They both nodded, Tien went first. "Nibai Kinryoku!" he cried. His now doubled power nearly equaled that of Piccolo as the silver aura coursed around his body.

Next up was Yamcha. "Sanjuu Kinryoku!" he cried as his power tripled stopping just short of Tien's strength.

King Kai looked them up and down while Piccolo was amazed at the power they had now. This was the first time either of them had come this close to matching his strength. /I'm slacking off to much. No more breaks while they sleep./ he thought grinning.

"Alright you three, an all for one battle until Appla finishes eating!"

The four warriors charged at the central point between them and clashed with a thunderous clap. Each swung at the other two while trying to block them at the same time. Piccolo slid around a punch from Yamcha but got caught in the ribs with a kick launched by Tien. The Namek pulled back and launched an energy blast at each Human before diving back down in and slamming a fist into Yamcha's face. Quickly he spun and lashed out at Tien's head with a roundhouse but the Triclops ducked it and landed an uppercut to the green man's jaw.

Appla stood in the doorway to King Kai's house watching the battle outside. King Yemma almost didn't let her through, it was King Kai's telepathic intervention that had saved her. She, like most Sai-jins, had much to atone for. According to King Kai and Yemma, the recent events on Earth were a very good start.

She couldn't believe the power the Humans had gained. They were all stronger than her now, by natural means at least. King Kai really couldn't explain it but somehow she'd mastered the Kaio Ken much faster than Goku or Bardock had done. Of course, even he knew little of how the technique actually worked never mastering it himself. He was beginning to think it relied on untapped power or potential. That made sense to Appla. As a Sai-jin she possessed much potential, but she'd always had trouble gaining in strength. Even here, now, she hadn't gained nearly as much power as the Humans or Piccolo. That had to give her enormous untapped power which led her to an easier use of the Kaio Ken. Or, at least, that was the theory.

"Play time's over boys." she said walking out to join them at last. "Time to do some real work. Kaio Ken times Five!" she shouted charging in. Her power soared beyond that of the other three and she began to fight against them all at once. They were managing to overpower her despite her greater strength. As Piccolo landed a hard right hook to her face she decided to give it try. "Kaio Ken times Six!" Again her power built as her muscles grew in size. She felt the strain and the burning caused by the massive amount of energy she had coursing through her but it wasn't severe enough to cause her any problems in easily pounding her three opponents over the course of the next few hours.

******

The small saucer ship that had brought Gohan, Krillin, and Hotaru to Namek set down gently in the soft blue grass near a small Namekian village. As the ship settled into place some of Namekians came out of their homes and in from the fields to investigate. They didn't get visitors to often.

As the three occupants neared the exit Krillin muttered to himself again that he wished Vadora had come with them, it would have made him feel safer. Slowly the door opened and the fresh air rushed in to meet them. Hotaru took a deep breath as she stepped out into the blue grass. They were all a bit surprised to see how close to a village they'd landed and to see all the Namek's around them.

"Look at all the Piccolo's" Krillin breathed.

"Hello, my name is Dende." said a small Namek as he neared them. "We've been expecting you."

"You have?" Gohan asked.

"Yes. Guru, the eldest Namek, told us that you would be coming and that we were to bring you to him when you got here."

/That's weird. How'd they know we were coming?/ Hotaru wondered as Dende turned and floated into the air.

"Follow me please, Guru's house is a couple hours away from here." They didn't know what else to do so all three lifted into the air and followed after Dende through the green sky.

"So, Dende," Hotaru began as she pulled up along side the young Namekian. "How did this Guru know we were coming?"

"A friend of his, an off-worlder named Azura. She has lived here on Namek for nearly thirty years now. Anyway, she is of a nearly extinct people with the power to foresee the future. She saw the arrival of several important groups. Yours, Prince Vegeta, Frieza, and two others she can't see clearly." Hotaru nodded and floated back to join the others again. She'd heard of a people with that kind of ability.

******

At the same time that Hotaru and the others were landing Vegeta touched down outside a different small village. There were only three people in this village, and they all seemed to have been waiting for him. Vegeta cursed his stupidity and activated his scouter. All three were at five thousand even, which meant suppressing their power. Vegeta wasn't worried though, the strongest power ever recorded on Namek was only just over 45,000. Slowly the Namek in the center walked forward and approached Vegeta. "My name is Nail, I am the protector of this planet. You are Prince Vegeta, correct?"

Vegeta was shocked to say the least, it seemed as though he'd been expected. "Yes. I am."

The one called Nail nodded. "And you seek the Dragonballs." this was more a statement of fact than a question. "Very well. What is it you desire?"

"What business is that of yours?"

Nail chuckled. "All that happens on Namek is my business. Even more so when it relates to the Dragonballs."

"I'm going to have them make me a Super Sai-jin so that I can free the Sai-jin people from fear of Frieza and his family."

Nail stood silent for a moment, seemingly contemplating what Vegeta had said. He was, in fact, remembering his conversation with Guru not more than three hours ago. "Nail, I want you to meet the Sai-jin prince." the large Namek had said. "It's unclear if helping him in his quest is the best course of action in the long term, so many things are uncertain in these times, but for the short term at least his goals should be your goals. However, he cannot succeed in this venture with out a wake up call."

"A wake up call?"

"He's not as strong as he thinks, he's not invincible. Take Torg and Shale to the Village he'll go to first and promise to aid him only when, and if, he can defeat all three of you without the loss of life."

Nail sighed. He wasn't sure about Vegeta but Guru seemed to believe helping him was the best course of action. "Alright. We will help you, but only after you can defeat the three of us in battle without killing."

Vegeta laughed. "Defeat you? That won't be to hard. But why would I need your help in finding the Dragonballs, I've got this to locate them." he waved the radar.

Nail shook his head. "Check the radar again. You'll find that it doesn't work, in fact, in never did. The Namek Dragonballs are different than the ones from Earth."

Vegeta checked the radar. Sure enough, he couldn't get a reading, even on the single ball he'd seen earlier. "What the? How? I followed a signal to this village..."

"You followed an illusion created by Guru, the eldest Namek, to lead you to us. Now, the only way you'll get the Dragonballs is to defeat us."

"Alright, fine. Let's get this over with."

Nail looked over to Torg, the weakest of them. The large Namek stepped forward. He braced himself and in a sudden flash of green light his aura exploded outward and he began to power up. Vegeta remained confident even after the Namek's power passed fifty thousand. When it reached two hundred thousand he began to grow cautious. Finally it settled at 814,201. That was higher than his power. /This may be more difficult than I'd expected... but how are they so strong?/

******

Ginyu was snapped awake by an annoying tone in his pod. He pressed the receive button expecting to see Frieza's face but got a shock. "Raven." he said in disbelief.

The woman smiled. "So nice to see you too Ginyu." she joked. She moved her hair out of her eyes. "You've not heard from Frieza yet have you?"

"No. Why? Is something up?"

"Nothing major, but the meeting ended early. He's going to try to make it to Namek shortly after you do, for some reason he dosen't trust you anymore." she said with a smirk. "Be careful."

Ginyu nodded as her face vanished. He tensed for a moment worrying about Frieza and what he might know before relaxing. He just needed to finish this last assignment, afterwards Raven would boost his power for the second time pushing him to over four million at which point he'd join her army. Or rather, her lovers army. She'd also boost the other Ginyu Force members powers too. Well, except for Guldo, the green frog didn't even know about Raven, neither she or the guy she worked for liked him. Actually, nobody liked him. Grinning and closing his eyes Ginyu drifted back off to sleep again.

******

Raven turned from the screen and looked over at the shadowy chair in the room's center. "Do you think he'll survive?" she asked.

"Not sure." replied the hidden man as he leaned forward slightly. The shadows still hid his face from view as he continued. "But this should prove entertaining." Raven walked over to her lover and sat in her chair beside his. Leaning back she felt his tail drape over her shoulders and saw the gleam of his teeth as he grinned. "Tell me my dear, who do you have your money on?"

Raven glanced over at him and smirked as well. "You of course." He chuckled lightly before turning and bending over to kiss her. "By the way, have you seen Ravenna?" she asked.

The man shook his had. He'd not seen their daughter in a few weeks. "She's probably locked herself into a training room again."