Krillin's initial reaction can be considered perfectly normal.

It begins with the blood flowing out of his face. He can feel his skin go ghastly pale as everything drains from his cheeks and lips, down the back of his bald head and into his neck. All of that blood and body heat coils together in a whirlwind of dread and anxiety in his chest. His heart had skipped a beat moments ago when his eyes fell on the reason for his body's fear fueled reaction. Now it has started beating twice as fast as if trying to escape the emotional torrent wailing inside of him. It could very well burst out of his chest at any moment and make a run for it.

To be fair, Krillin will not be far behind.

His breath had been stuck in his lungs for a moment. Now that he finally catches it again, it comes out in short, wheezing bursts that feel hot on his lips.

Run for your life is slowly repeating itself through his fear addled mind. Not that he can outrun this man. Not that any of them can...

They weren't specific enough.

Everyone killed by Frieza and his men.

They should have been more specific in who they had wanted revived.

And now they were going to pay the price.

Their adversary is glaring them down. His black eyes had done a quick sweep of the crowd, which consists mostly of green aliens not worth their foe's attention. Everyone has gone quiet, so much so Krillin can hear his heartbeat booming through his veins and the grass crunching beneath the warrior's boots as he slowly stalks closer. The ruffling of Piccolo's cloak thunders to his left when the strongest of the Namekians takes a stand next to the bald man. Gohan claims his spot in between his mentor and his friend, back straight and shoulders squared. The young boy doesn't even flinch when those way too dark eyes glide over to him. They regard the child silently, studying the boy's face and noticing all of the similarities with his father that endlessly piss the monster off.

When those same horrible eyes suddenly snap towards him, Krillin screams.

The Saiyan's shoulder's shrug once in amusement at the human's outburst.

'Don't even think abut it.' The deep tremor of Piccolo's voice has a slightly calming effect on Krillin. Trust the Namekian to be the center of tranquility even in the direct face of danger. 'You want your ass kicked? Then I'm your guy.'

Vegeta's eyes simply narrow. His stance relaxes, for some strange reason, and his arms cross in front of him.

When his lips part, Krillin feels a shudder crawl up his spine.

'You idiots.' the Saiyan hisses, and a collective gasp rips through the air. The reaction is quite over the top, Krillin realizes, not sure why being called idiots affects his friends this much. Vegeta can call them a whole lot of things worse than that. 'I don't understand you.'

Wait sorry what now?

'What is he saying?' When Bulma asks the question, Krillin blanks for a moment. He turns his head around and looks at her over his shoulder. He would not be looking this surprised if she had suddenly caught fire.

'This is going to be a problem.' Gohan mumbles, worry crossing his features.

Piccolo makes a low, annoyed sound in the back of his throat. 'Beating someone into a bloody pulp is a universal language Gohan.'

'What is going to be a problem?' Krillin takes his eyes off of the woman behind him and turns his gaze up towards Piccolo. The Namekian is still glaring at Vegeta. The bald warrior turns his questioning gaze towards the Saiyan Prince. 'I don't get it.'

'You can't be this stupid.' The alien speaks again. Vegeta's eyes roll over to the bald warrior. 'The scouter is a translator.'

'The what?'

'The scouter on your head you idiot!' The warrior snaps, and his outburst frightens the whole crowd. Several Namekians have begun backing off more, children are slowly being herded away or hidden behind by their larger kin. Vegeta relaxes slightly and huffs. 'Give it to me.' He uncurls an arm and holds out his hand, palm facing the sky. 'Give me the scouter.' He makes a grabbing gesture with his fingers, holding his arm at the same height as Krillin's head.

To be fair, the Earthling had forgotten abut the device attached to his face.

'What does he want?' Gohan turns big eyes towards Krillin.

'He wants the scouter.' It comes off relatively easy, which is good. For such a weird little machine it sure sits comfortably. He can barely feel the weight in his hand at all.

'Why?'

Before Krillin can answer, Vegeta clicks and whirrs. It is a short sound that carries and quickly changes pitch several times. He ends with something that resembles a K, but the sound is made in the back of his throat. The sound is a strange mixture between the rumbling of an animal and something mechanical, like the soft creaking of an old clock or maybe one of Bulma's quieter, oiled up machines.

It finally makes sense to Krillin.

To be fair this has been the worst week of his life, definitely. He is exhausted, to put it lightly, so it has taken him a moment or two to catch up.

As he hands the Saiyan the scouter, so that the monster can threaten them in a language they can understand, Vegeta makes another rumbling or purring kind of noise, something that starts with something that sounds like an N and ends with a plethora of pitches so quickly Krillin had trouble following them all.

The Saiyan is probably calling them a whole bunch of naughty things.

When Vegeta places the scouter on his ear, it responds with a short beeping noise. The alien sighs softly, his stance sightly askew as he reads whatever the screen displays.

'The scouter is a translator.' He repeats once again. His voice is layered with a gritty undertone, but perfectly understandable. 'Not only does it translate whatever is spoken for me, it also translates whatever the wearer says in any language. You can now understand me...' His eyes roll over the small group of Earthlings. Then he motions with a hand towards the Nemekians around them. '..and they can too. So...'

The dark haired warrior straightens his posture once again, somehow managing to tower over everyone despite his shorter size. His stature takes on a commanding vibe, like a General who would speak to his soldiers.

Or a Prince talking down on peasants.

'...Someone wished me back from the dead.' His black gaze slides over the Namekians huddling together to his left. On of their oldest is hugging Dende to his side. The little green boy hides part of his face in the pants of his elder. 'I am aware that that was a mistake.' Vegeta isn't looking at Dende in particular. In fact, he is not looking at individuals specifically.

'However, I am thankful nonetheless.' His eyes fall on the group of Earthlings in front of him. 'So I have decided not to slaughter you all.' His lips split into the nastiest smile Krillin has ever seen. The alien looks menacing and he's not even trying. 'You're welcome.'

'Well aren't you just generous?' Piccolo grunts, fangs bared. 'But what makes you think I'm not about to undo that little mishap?' Vegeta just gives the Namekian the most pleasant smile. The Saiyan's face is almost beaming, telling Piccolo he's being cute. Then the shorter warrior purrs and his lips pull back over his teeth. The open challenge is terrifying.

'Oh stop it you two.' Bulma pushes herself in between Gohan and Krillin. She shows a remarkable set of balls, shooting Piccolo a disapproving glare like that before stepping forward and in between the Namekian and the Saiyan.

She must have gotten a sunstroke from those three suns back on Namek.

'I have no doubt that you have gotten crazy powerful.' Her eyes soften with a glint of admiration for the green man. Piccolo gives her a quick glance that Krillin can't quite place. 'But Vegeta died. So I can only imagine the boost he's gotten from that.' She emphasizes died on purpose, knowingly mocking the Saiyan.

Definitely a sunstroke.

She turns her back to Piccolo, facing the Prince, hands on her hips and eyes shining. The smile on her face is filled with playful mockery.

Whelp, no need to put her down. The Saiyan will take care of that if she keeps it up.

By the way Vegeta's eyes have gone predatory, it will be taken care of real soon.

But then Bulma does something very surprising.

Krillin adores her, he really does. She is a beautiful woman with a set of brains so bright he has trouble wrapping his head around her brilliance. She manages to pull at least one epic feat out of her ass every time he sees her, and one would think the surprises should be getting old by now.

They don't.

He hopes they never do.

'It has come to my understanding that you are, basically, a mercenary. Am I correct?'

Though Vegeta's eyes narrow slightly, he does seem intrigued by her question. 'Correct.'

'And if I am not mistaking, you worked for Frieza right? Up until the moment he killed you.' More emphasis is put on the Vegeta dying part, and Krillin can tell that despite that riling the Prince up, his full attention is on whatever hidden meaning Bulma is hinting at beneath her taunt.

'Death is indeed one way to get out of his contracts, yes.'

'So...' She crosses her arms and gives the Saiyan a toothy smile. '...looking for work?'

The alien snorts, amused. He doesn't answer her question with words right away, but if he had any less self control he would be doubled over, laughing. 'And what could you possibly have to offer me?'

And there is her opening.

'I will have you know that I am the daughter of one of the most influential men on this planet, and the heiress to Capsule Corporation, the current market leader in technology. To put it so that even your simple brain can process this, I am one of the richest people on the planet.'

Vegeta doesn't seem the least bit impressed. 'Do you have any idea how many have claimed such a thing in my presence? A lot of people seem to be drowning in wealth when faced with their extermination.' A moment of silence passes between them, until Vegeta's curiosity seems to win. 'What could you possibly have to offer?'

'What do you need?'

That is a surprising question. But clever too, if Krilling may say so. Because they could offer Vegeta a hundred billion Zeni, once the Saiyan shoves off planet there is probably little he can do with that. The alien regards Bulma silently, eyes narrowing once more and his grin disappearing. 'What do you have to offer?'

'What do you need?' Bulma doesn't back down.

Vegeta carefully considers her words for a moment. His dark gaze is searching the woman's face. Bulma bravely keeps his stare, lips curled slightly upwards in encouragement.

'I want off this rock.' Simple as that. His eyes slide over to Gohan, linger for a long breath, and then fall back on Bulma.

'Best case scenario, in a few months we will be able to use the Namekian Dragonballs to wish Goku back to life and than back to Earth. Then we can wish for a ship for you and you can be on your merry way. Worst case scenario, we need to build you a ship ourselves.' Krillin is impressed, it seems that Bulma is three steps ahead already.

'My dad and I can build you one. It's going to take time. I can't tell you how long, that depends on how long it takes to collect materials and build parts. But I can get you off this rock, one way or the other.' From the look the Saiyan gives her, the idea isn't pleasing him all that much.

That is, until Bulma continues. 'In exchange, you will come work for me. We'll provide you with a place to stay, food, whatever you need, as much as you need.'

'And what exactly will you have me do?'

'Not sure yet. What are you good at, besides destroying planets and being a total asshole?'

Vegeta's lips pull into a thin line and he softly shakes his head. 'The mouth on you.' He rumbles under his breath, the threat lingering in his eyes. After a tense moment his face relaxes somewhat and his eyes light up in, dare Krillin think it, amusement? 'What do you need me to do?'

He threw that one back at her.

'A Jack-of-all-trades huh? I like that.' She nods, seemingly pleased with having just hired the man that came here and killed all her friends and has been a constant threat to their lives ever since. 'Here's what'll happen.' Putting on her Business Bulma face, the heiress of Capsule Corp. begins.

'You will protect planet Earth.'

Krillin is unsure if she understands Vegeta's resume. But before he or anyone else can formulate a question her eyes shoot up and her gaze fills with worry. 'Goku is still out there fighting Frieza on a planet that is about to blow up. Though we can wish him back with the Namekian Dragonballs, knowing there's a chance he might die again sucks. He's always kinda been the guardian of this planet you know?' Her blue eyes fall on the Saiyan Prince and their stares lock. 'Ship ready to launch or not, wish ready or not, you will remain here, on Earth, as its guardian, until he gets back.'

Isn't getting the mass murdering maniac off their planet asap kind of a pressing matter?

'Frieza probably has lackeys scattered all over the place. The thought that some of them can come here and try to kill us...' She shakes her head to rid herself of that thought. 'I want you on this planet, being our main deterrent. In exchange, my family will provide you with living facilities, clothes, as much food as you want. And when you leave, maybe you can take some valuable materials from Earth. Materials that can provide you a boatload of space money, or whatever you people use up there.'

What is probably the most astonishing part of all this, it is that Vegeta seems to have the mind of a businessman as well. 'My services will not come cheap.'

'Oh please. I wipe my ass with thousand Zeni bills. You better be worth your weight in gold.' The Saiyan's eyebrows quirk. The expression might be unfamiliar to him but he seems to understand what it means.

'Now wait a minute.' Oh Kami above, Krillin hates being that guy. 'I don't like being a party pooper and all, but who here in their right mind thinks that Mister It's Over 9000 over here won't Galick Gun us all back to the Big Bang when he leaves?'

The grin creeping over the Saiyan's face is not helping. Can the guy not look menacing for just a second please? However, Bulma seems to have thought that one through too.

'Because that wouldn't be very honorable, wouldn't it Vegeta?'

She's right, seeing as the grin on the alien's face grows a couple teeth.

Krillin fails to see how this is a good thing...