Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN DBZ OR ANY OF IT'S CHARACTERS.

Krillin and the two Namek natives approached the home of the Grand Elder. "Is that the house on the spire there?" Krillin asked, gaining a nod from Dende. The trio landed atop of the spire. Placed right in the middle of the so-called platform, the house had gigantic windows, but no entrance seemed to be visible.

"It seems that Vegeta guy and the others haven't found this place yet," Nonoi said as she and her companions approached the house. As they neared the home, a panel on the side of the home opened up and from the inside of it was a taller Namekian. Dende's eyes lit up and he immediately embraced the older Namekian.

"Nail!" The young boy cried. "You're still alive!"

"It's great to see you again, Dende. I haven't seen you in quite a while." Nail said to the boy, hugging the boy back. He looked towards Nonoi and their other visitor, she seemed comfortable with him so he clearly wasn't a threat. Waving his hand as if he wanted them to follow him, he entered the dark room, Dende holding onto his hand. "We have much to discuss, Nonoi."

Nonoi nodded her head respectfully and followed behind Nail and Dende. Krillin entered the dark room, he gazed in amazement at the large figure that sat in a throne-like chair. He looked like Dende...if Dende was a giant, obese and greatly aged Namekian. The bald monk watched as Nonoi, Dende and Nail bowed towards the old Namekian, following suit and bowing as well.

"Lord Guru, I have returned with a visitor." Nonoi said to the obese elder. The eldest Namekian stared down the bald Earthling. He was weak compared to Nonoi and Nail, but he was stronger than most of the Namekian warriors.

"Welcome, little one." The Elder said. "I am the guardian of this planet. What brings you here and where are the other Earthlings?" Krillin stared up nervously at the dwarfing elder, thinking of a respectful way to explain his travels. "My friends and I are on a mission to revive our fallen comrades, the others are staying at our hideout at the moment." Krillin looked towards Nonoi and Dende, hoping they could ease the tension in the room and thankfully Nonoi read the situation perfectly.

"Lord Guru, I believe his story is sincere. He saved Dende from the beings slaughtering the villagers." She stood next to Krillin, placing her hand on his shoulder. "He's an honest person from what I can gather."

"I see...Nonoi has placed great trust in you, Earthling." The Grand Elder said. "I wish to thank you for saving my son. The deaths of my children brings me a grief unfathomable. The weight on my heart and soul is so unbearable that I feel my time in this world will be ending soon."

Guru flew into a coughing fit, the other four rushed to his side to help him but were waved off. "We have more important things to discuss, so ignore my health."

-Freeza's Ship-

Freeza paced back and forth in his chambers, his stay on Namek was lasting longer than expected. The deaths of Cui and Dodoria, as well as two of his squadrons, had pushed everything back by days, maybe even weeks. Stretching out his plans required him sending more members out to find the last dragon balls and leaving the ship's maintenance to two or three members. He sighed as he heard a voice ring through his door's intercom.

"Enter," Freeza said. Zarbon stepped into the room, grinning as he took a knee before the tyrant. "Please tell me you have information on the dragon balls."

Zarbon shook his head but maintained his grin. "I was unable to find any villages or Namekians, but I was able to find a certain monkey," Freeza smirked, Zarbon was truly his most reliable soldier.

"I take it you dealt with him accordingly?" Zarbon nodded as Freeza began to laugh. "So...where's the body? I want to tie his corpse to the bumper of my ship."

"Body? I had beaten him brutally and left his body to be submerged underwater, he will drown if he somehow survived the beating I gave him." Zarbon said, thinking this would please Freeza, but instead, the tyrant scowled. He whipped his tail towards Zarbon, knocking him down. Perhaps I spoke too soon about his reliability, he thought as he glared at the light blue alien.

"You didn't confirm his death because he was underwater?! How can you lead my troops when you are too scared to get a little wet in your stockings?!" Freeza yelled. The tyrant only seemed to get more annoyed as Zarbon began to stutter out nonsense. It was clear Zarbon didn't survey his encounter with Vegeta properly, the fool didn't even stop to think Vegeta might have known where the other dragon balls were.

"M-my Lord I will go and fix this immediately!" Zarbon said, hurrying toward the door. The tyrant eyed the panicked alien down before firing a finger blast above his head to stop Zarbon in his tracks. The scout teams he sent out would be returning soon and whatever they found would be much more important than the drowning monkey. Opting to sit in silence and glare down Zarbon, who was nothing more than a nervous wreck at the moment, he waited for them to return.

As expected, an urgent knock pounded at the door. "Enter," Freeza said. The door opened and two soldiers rushed, immediately bowing before him.

"My Lord, we have some interesting news regarding the dragon balls." A soldier named Orlen said. "While we searched for more villages, we came across a survivor of a destroyed village. It seems Vegeta was responsible for the destruction of the village and its people, stole their ball too."

Freeza frowned and stared daggers at Zarbon, who shuffled uncomfortably. Incompetence seemed to be the constant theme of his army while on this dreadful planet. "What of the survivor?"

Orlen opened his mouth to speak but was cut off by the other soldier. "We killed him my Lord, he was no longer useful to our objective."

"What?!" Freeza growled, incompetence was spreading amongst his army like the common flu. "You killed our only witness to Vegeta's crimes and didn't think to ask or interrogate him, so we can learn where Vegeta hid it?!" Freeza walked towards the two soldiers menacingly. The two startled soldiers began to sputter nonsense and apologies, but the merciless tyrant dispatched of them both. His eyes flashed gold before the two of them exploded. "Zarbon, hurry and find Vegeta. I will not accept you prolonging my wish for immortality because of you, so don't return or face me until you have found the prince of monkeys or your death will not be as merciful as those two."

Zarbon nodded and dashed out of the ship, and into the beautiful Namek sky. Freeza watched as his soldier's aura disappeared from his sight before he called for Appule. "Get Ginyu on the phone, I need a favor."

-Bulma and Gohan-

Gohan jumped back and forth while kicking and punching fiercely at the air. Bulma sat on my sidelines, fiddlings with her dragon ball radar when a single dot appeared on the screen and began to head towards them. So Nonoi and Krillin were able to get one, she thought. Her thoughts were interrupted by another blip on her radar. This ball seemed to be all alone. "Gohan come here and take a look."

The young Saiyan looked at the radar, noticing the same thing as Bulma. Vegeta and the others had missed one, wait, no...Vegeta was already at that area when he massacred the village's people. The Saiyan Prince was hiding the ball for later, but Gohan wouldn't let him get the chance to recover it. "Bulma, I'm gonna go after that one while Vegeta is gone. Tell Nonoi and Krillin where I went, okay?" Bulma nodded as the hybrid blasted off to find the ball.

-Zarbon-

Zarbon descended in the crater that held the Saiyan Prince's body prisoner. He dove into the water and spotted the battered body of the prince at the bottom. He grabbed onto Vegeta's ankle and tossed onto the sandy bank. Reaching for his neck, he felt for a pulse and smiled when he felt it beating through the Saiyan's body. "You being alive may get me back into Lord Freeza's good graces." Zarbon said, lifting Vegeta onto his shoulder. You stubborn Saiyans just can't die, huh?, he thought as he took off for Freeza's ship.

-Nonoi and Krillin-

Nonoi began to speed up as she headed back to the hideout with Krillin. The bald monk was entrusted with one of the dragon balls, even was given a power-up by the Grand Elder. He was stronger, but still much weaker than all three Saiyans on Namek and those guys from the first village.

"Nonoi, why didn't you ask The Grand Elder for a boost as well?" Krillin asked as he desperately tried to catch up to her. He felt stronger, but Nonoi still dwarfed him in speed and power.

"I don't need it, at least, not now. We should have Gohan go for one as well, he's pretty strong for a child." Nonoi said, looking back at him. "I will help you gather the rest of the dragon balls as Guru said, but I will expect you to carry your own weight at times, Krillin."

Krillin nodded and sped up next to her, she was quite strong and had a presence that reminded him slightly of Goku, maybe waiting for Goku wouldn't be so bad as long as he was with her. The female Saiyan narrowed her eyes, as she felt a fading energy source being carried or followed by another. "It feels like that Saiyan from before, am I wrong?"

"No, you are correct. It's Vegeta and that guy he was battling before, it seems Vegeta lost." Krillin said, stopping in his tracks. "We should circle around them, we don't want trouble right now with the ball in our hands."

-Freeza's Ship; Medical Room-

Flashes and blares came from the controls of Vegeta's healing tank. Zarbon watched on as Appule adjusted the configurations and tried to stabilize Vegeta's vitals. "You really did a number to him, if I hadn't finished up Lord Freeza's orders, you would probably be with Orlen and the other guy right now. He was so pissed, he called in his father's Ginyu Force to come to Namek."

Zarbon glared at Appule and silently cursed himself. Vegeta's recklessness was ruining his credibility in Freeza's army and now that the Ginyus was coming, he would definitely be looked at differently by Lord Freeza. "You better hope he survives or I will make sure you go down with me, Appule." He said as he headed towards the door.

"Yeah...I'm hoping alright. You beat him so bad, it might take a miracle for him to heal and even if he does, he may be knocked out for days or weeks or even months."

"Just do whatever it takes Appule!" Zarbon barked at the purple alien, as he left the room.

Appule muttered curses under his breath before walking back to the monitors and checking Vegeta's vitals once again. In between taking care of Vegeta, listening to Zarbon's demands and pleasing Lord Freeza, the alien was having a hard time focusing. "It's not fair, y'know Vegeta?" He said. "Zarbon and Dodoria screw up everything and lose multiple dragon balls and villages, and yet I'm the one feeling like it's my fault." He paced back and forth between the pod and his medical cabinet, injecting new fluids to help heal Vegeta. "He may be a pretty face, but he's a dumb brute just like Dodoria, if he held back some this would be much easier."

Appule let out a deep sigh as he stabilized Vegeta's vitals once again. He had done all he could and the only thing they could do now was pray he healed properly. He watched the Saiyan Prince float around in the pod and sat in his seat, kicking his feet up. "Let's hope, Freeza spares me at leas-" He was cut off by a bright light glowing in the pod and immediately began to tremble in fear as he knew what was happening.

-Freeza's Ship; Freeza's Cabin-

"And lastly, Appule has stabilized Vegeta's vitals. He said it will be no longer than a few hours before the Prince wakes." Zarbon reported to the tyrant.

"Ah wonderful news, Zarbon." Freeza said as he approached the light blue alien. "For you that is."

A qualm of fear shot through Zarbon's soul. "Ah yes, sire." Zarbon said.

Suddenly the ship began to shake violently following consecutive explosions, almost knocking Zarbon and Freeza down.

"That sounds like it came from down the hall!" Zarbon yelled.

-Medical Room-

Vegeta smirked as he stepped on Appule's neck. The healing rates of a Saiyan were beyond those of a normal warrior and he felt much stronger than before. "Now then." He looked around and fired a blast through a wall. He slipped in the other room and fired blasts quickly as he heard the terrified screams of Freeza's soldiers outside the room in the halls.

"That sounded like it came from the medical room!" Zarbon yelled as he dashed through the hallways with Freeza right on his heels.

Both of them raced to the healing pod to find the door blasted open and Appule's dead body laid next to the rubble, as well as a large hole leading right outside the ship. Zarbon pressed to the newly made escape hole but could find no sign of Vegeta. "No! He's escaped, sire!"

Freeza caught up to Zarbon and quickly whacked him down with his tail. "Go find him now, you pansy!" He ordered.

"Yes my Lord!" Zarbon said, taking off through the hole and surveying the area outside. He had to find the Saiyan renegade before Freeza's temper became worse. "He couldn't have gone far!"

Vegeta peaked from around a corner at the frustrated Freeza. That's right fools! Keep looking for me out there! He ran down the hall of the ship to Freeza's quarters. Once there, he let out a laugh at the sight of five unguarded dragon balls sitting in front of him neatly. "There is a God it seems."

From one of the holes he had made, he could see Zarbon pacing back and forth. "That fool wouldn't think to check this room." He said. He made a count of all the dragon balls in the rooms. "I love it when a plan comes together, however being beaten wasn't entirely in my playbook. Nonetheless, I will finally claim what is mine!" He stopped for a quick second as he heard footsteps run past the door. "Now how will I escape with all five?"

He thought for another second before making a large ki blast and shooting outside the doorway."Well, you always need a backup plan." He said as he popped out the doorway and began to shout. "Hey, Freeza! How can you worry about other homes catching fire when yours is being burned to the ground as we speak?!" He yelled, shooting another ki blast down the hallway.

Both Freeza and Zarbon stopped and looked at the direction of ki blast as it blew up. Quickly Zarbon made his way towards the hole when a large portion of the ship exploded beneath him, engulfing him in a wall of fire and smoke. He popped back into the air. His armor was severely damaged by the explosion and his hair was frazzled, as well as his ponytail being almost completely destroyed. "VEGETA!" He yelled. "YOU BASTARD!"

Vegeta ducked back into the room as smoke covered the hallways. He gathered his energy as he raced back to the balls. Letting out a yell as he fired threw each dragon ball through the hole as hard as he could before taking off after them.

Zarbon raced through the halls as the ship exploded around them. Soldiers crawling and fighting each other trying to escape, some caught in the explosions and others successfully escaping with others in their hands. A wall exploded and collapsed in front of the galactic emperor and Zarbon, causing both to fall back a bit. "I refuse to be made a fool any longer!" Freeza screamed, staring into the fire, his eyes filled with a rage rarely seen. He pointed towards the exit. "Hurry and find that ape now!" He barked at Zarbon.

As the fire calmed, Freeza made his way towards his quarters, only to find Vegeta and his dragon balls gone. "NO! THAT STEALING MONKEY!" He screamed.

Vegeta watched and listened to Freeza's meltdown from behind a rock before slipping into a nearby lake. Those fools will be searching for me in the air, but will never find me, he thought as he swam away from the ship.

-Gohan-

Gohan followed the scouter signal and before long, he finally reached the village. The Namekian village was in ruins and void of life anywhere. He slowly walked through the village, horrified at what Vegeta had done. He came across the body of the elder and a child under his body and spat in disgust. "Vegeta...you monster."

Following the dragon ball's signal through the village, he stopped right as he came to the lake. "So, it's not in the houses, huh?" He questioned. He pushed the button on the radar again, but the screen still showed the ball in the water. "Oh I see..not even Vegeta would be smart enough to check inside the water."

Taking of his gi, he dove into the lake and continued following the signal. Soon enough, he found the lonesome dragon ball and swam up to the surface. He hovered over the lake and smiled at the large ball. "One down." He said.

-Vegeta-

Vegeta gasped for air. He climbed up to dry land and began to look around. "Alright, they have to be around here somewhere." He said.

He began walking around before noticing a blinding glare coming from behind a near rock. As he approached the rock, he was pleased to see the five dragon balls had made it safe during their journey. "Excellent!" He laughed. "Now I have only one to collect, not counting the one I stowed away, and then I can make my wish."

As he hid the balls away, he felt two surges of energy coming straight towards him. "N-no way Freeza and Zarbon found me already!" He stuttered. "Wait no, one of them is to low to be Zarbon or Freeza, but the other is sketchy..."

He watched as Krillin and Nonoi blasted through the sky, a dragon ball in the bald monk's hand.

"The Earthling and some woman?" He said. The Earthling grew stronger really fast, but the woman was vastly stronger. "Either way that dragon ball is mine!" He took off after them.

-Zarbon-

The light blue alien panicked as he looked through every nook and cranny for Vegeta. The Saiyan Prince was determined to be the end of him it seems. "If only I had my damn scouter!"

He continued to search through every crevice he could find, coming up with nothing. Suddenly two white auras blasted past him. "Vegeta!"

He said, before looking closer and noticing it was one of the insects from before and new member. "But it seems he has a dragon ball."

As quickly as the first two auras dashed past him, another aura appeared and unless his eyes were playing a trick on him, he was convinced that was Vegeta. "I got you monkey! Prepare to face the wrath of one of Lord Freeza's most powerful soldiers, you ape!" He took off on hot pursuit of the three speeding figures.

-Vegeta-

Vegeta smirked as he tracked the two speeding figures in front of him, this was easy pickings and the gods seemed to be smiling down upon him today. Before long, Vegeta took notice of the energy source tracking him. "Well, well Zarbon has finally found me, huh?" He chuckled. "I was looking to kill two birds with one stone, but Zarbon has made this even more interesting."

-Nonoi and Krillin-

The duo dropped in front of Bulma, causing her to fall behind a rock in surprise. She peered over to find Nonoi and Krillin staring down at her. At first, the blue-haired beauty seemed enraged, but quickly changed her mood when she noticed the dragon ball. "You actually found one? They're so big here compared to home." She said.

"Yeah." Krillin chuckled. "But you should have seen the Grand Elder. He's so amazing." Straining his neck behind Bulma a bit he looked into the cave. "Where is Gohan? I want him to meet the Grand Elder as quickly as possible."

"Oh, Gohan? He went off to find a dragon ball. We found one on the radar, I think it was at one of the village's Vegeta was at." Bulma stood up and walked toward Nonoi, touching her hair. "Is it naturally like this?" She asked.

Krillin stared at Bulma in disbelief. "You're kidding, right? Gohan is by himself and potentially in danger, and you're worrying about hair?"

"Well, wherever Gohan is, its much safer than here," Nonoi said as a sudden large energy source appeared above them, sending Krillin into shock. "A huge power level appeared out of nowhere just now, Krillin." She said.

"Is it Gohan?" Bulma asked. "That didn't take him that long."

Nonoi shook her head and frowned as the energy source descended before them. The Saiyan Prince stood before them and time seemed to stop for the two Earthlings as he smirked cunningly at them. "Interesting that we meet here after our not so long ago battle, Earthlings? What brings you to Namek?" He asked, but none of them dared to answer. "I was quite surprised to sense your energies when I landed on this planet, but your sudden growth in power has really surprised me." He took two steps forward and immediately Nonoi and Krillin got into defensive stances. "Oh, it seems you want to fight. I haven't fought the woman yet, maybe if she proves to be strong I'll keep her alive and have her bare my offspring."

"You won't be alive to have any children after Freeza gets done with you." Zarbon said as descended from the sky. Bulma instantly lusted after him, blushing at the sight of him. "He's beautiful, he has to be here to save us with a face like that."

"Don't bet on it, Bulma." Krillin replied.

Zarbon and Vegeta stared each other down, their gazes not breaking from one another. Krillin cowered behind Nonoi as the two alpha males sized each other up. "This is bad, really bad and we need to find Gohan fast."

Bulma stuck to Nonoi's side as well, but for a closer look at Zarbon. "What do you mean?" She asked. "That hunk is here to save us, right?"

"A dead man can't save you," Vegeta smirked at Zarbon. "It seems my little firework show did a number on you, Zarbon?" The little remark sent Zarbon into a fury as he dashed at Vegeta, swinging a right-handed punch that was easily dodged by the Saiyan Prince. He kept up the pace and let out a fury of attacks at Vegeta, but he continued to dodge them.

Nonoi could tell the Saiyan Prince was a well-trained Warrior, but each dodge and counter reeked of arrogance. He didn't fight with honor, but with pride and ruthlessness. Like he wanted to break his opponent and slowly, but surely he was breaking his opponent. Dodging every stray blast from the battle, Krillin and Bulma made their way into the cave as Nonoi stayed back to watch.

"I've had enough of this!" Zarbon yelled, punching towards the Saiyan with a fist of k. Vegeta dodged quickly and countered with a blow to Zarbon's jaw, sending him crashing to the ground. He landed on one knee and immediately charged at Vegeta, but he was easily speed blitzed by the Prince, who laughed at him mockingly.

"Come on now!" Vegeta began jogging in place. "I hope the warmup is over, don't hold back anymore Zarbon!"

Zarbon gritted his teeth and sighed. He has become a lot stronger than before, but he can't beat me if I transform, he thought as he began to swell up into his transformed state, shocking both Krillin and Bulma.

"His power just shot through the roof!" Krillin exclaimed. "This isn't good for Vegeta."

Nonoi shook her head and told Krillin to watch the battle closely. The Prince remained unchanged from his transformation. Vegeta wanted him to transform to prove something, she thought.

Zarbon shot at Vegeta and fired an energy beam. The Saiyan shot the beam with his own energy but was sidelined by a lariat by Zarbon. He hit the ground away from Zarbon and waited for Zarbon to charge him. Come on, take the bait fool!

The light blue alien swung at him but missed miserably. Vegeta taking this chance dropped down and grabbed a fistful of dirt and blinded him momentarily. Keeping up the action, Vegeta slammed his fist into Zarbon's head, sending him flying. He fired several ki blasts at him, destroying the land around Zarbon. "This battle might make me break a sweat."

-Gohan-

Gohan frowned at the absurd amount of energy he was feeling. "That's coming from where I left Bulma!" He said. "I gotta hurry!" He channeled some of his energy to go even faster.

- Vegeta vs Zarbon-

Zarbon breathed heavily. They were trading blows, but somehow he looked the worst of the two. The majority of his armor was destroyed and his hair was beyond damaged.

"Vegeta is really doing a number on that guy, huh?" Krillin said to Nonoi, who nodded in agreement.

"He's toying with him. Like a predator with injured prey, he's enjoying the devouring, even more, knowing he has broken his opponent." Nonoi said. "The climax of this battle is about to arrive."

"Zarbon, you're looking pretty bad." Vegeta laughed. "Maybe I should let you head back to Freeza and heal up, hopefully you get a power up like a Saiyan. I want a real challenge."

Nonoi and Krillin's eyebrows raised at what Vegeta said, but Zarbon seemed to get even angrier. "You filthy ape!" He yelled. "Laugh it up now! When I'm done with you...when I'm done with you!" He charged at Vegeta once again and swung, his punches were vastly slower than before.

"You're boring me Zarbon," Vegeta said, dodging easily. "I know this isn't the true strength of Freeza's right-hand man, right?"

"Shut up! You never have and never will touch my power!"

Vegeta dodged Zarbon's attacks, feigning boredom, before knocking him backward. "You, who oversaw my development, should know Saiyans the best." Vegeta said before pressing forward towards Zarbon. "Saiyans grow stronger every battle and even stronger when brought to near death, and that battle earlier brought me to death's door."

So that's why my development was much faster than the other warriors on Namek, Nonoi thought as she watched the battle.

"That's right!" Zarbon roared. "I watched your development, so I know that you're all talk and just a loud mouth monkey!" He charged at Vegeta, his arm pulled back to strike with everything he had.

Vegeta frowned and simply moved out of Zarbon's path, and plunged his fist into his gut, blood dripping down his white glove. Zarbon gasped as realization finally hit him. He was outclassed by the Prince. "V-Vegeta...p-please...L-l-lord Freeza had me do these things...h-have mer-mercy." Zarbon pleaded with the renegade Prince.

"Mercy? You helped the man who destroyed the planet I was destined to rule, I will not grant you mercy. At least face your death will some pride." Vegeta said before charging up a blast.

"W-wait! I c-can help you k-kill F-Freeza and f-find the r-rest of the dragon balls!" Zarbon began to cry as he pleaded with Vegeta, who frowned at him.

The lack of loyalty and honor from Zarbon was disgusting. Without a second thought, he fired off his blast, shooting Zarbon into the distance, killing him instantly. His glove dripped with Zarbon's blood as he began to laugh. Three down, one coward to go.

HEY THANK YOU FOR READING THE FIFTH CHAPTER. IM SORRY FOR TAKING SO LONG, I'LL TRY TO GET THESE OUT FASTER. IS THE PACING ALRIGHT? LET ME KNOW! THANKS FOR READING! PLEASE REVIEW, FOLLOW AND FAVORITE! CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM IS ALSO WELCOMED! BYE