I suggest you atleast read Chapter 1's rewrite, as well as chapter three when it comes out, as they do have a bit of reworking of medium details. But you don't have to. Also how about a QnA for chapter 10? No? I just want something to put up here.
Chapter 9: Plan To Take Back The Dragon Balls. The Saiyan Must Fall.
Appule sat at the controls of the healing pod. In between trying to keep Vegeta stabilized and Zarbon barking orders at him, the alien was having a hard time keep his head on straight. He pounded his fist onto the controls and walked in front of the pod. "It's not fair, Vegeta." He said. "As if it wasn't enough that we're all up to our necks with the whole Dragon Ball affair, I have Zarbon treating me as though this is all somehow MY fault." He paced back and forth rubbing his temples. "Maybe if he had held back just slightly, we wouldn't be in this mess right now." He took a deep breath and helmed the healing pod's controls again.
He stablized Vegeta's vitals once more before letting out a sigh. "It's not like we can do anything about it." He said. "All we really can do is cross our fingers and pray you heal up properly." He pushed a button on the wall and a panel folded downwards, giving him a place to sit.
As he watched Vegeta float around in the pod, he thought he had started drifting off when the saiyan opened his eyes and stared at him. Only when the pod began glowing with a bright light did reality hit him, and he began fumbling with the door in fear.
"And how is Vegeta doing, Zarbon?" Frieza asked.
"His vitals were beginning to stabilize independently last time I checked in." Zarbon replied. "It won't be much longer until he fully recovers, my Lord."
"That's wonderful news, Zarbon." Frieza said. "For you."
A pang of fear shot through Zarbon's heart. "Truly, sir." Zarbon said.
Suddenly the whole ship began to shake violently following a loud explosion, almost knocking Frieza and Zarbon off their feet.
"That sounded as though it came from down the hall." Zarbon said.
Vegeta stepped on Appule's temple and chuckled. "Guess you didn't account for the healing rate of a saiyan." He said. He looked around for a second before taking aim at a wall. "Now then."
Zarbon and Frieza raced through the halls of the ship, soon to be met with another explosion. "That sounded like it came from the healing chamber." Zarbon said.
Both of them raced to the healing pod's to find the door blasted open and a large hole leading right outside the ship. Zarbon raced to the newly made exit and scanned the area. "No no no no no!" He yelled. "Damn him! Vegeta's escaped, sir."
Frieza ran up beside him and whacked him with his tail. "Well don't just stand there!" He ordered. "Go after him, dimwit!"
"Yes, my Lord!" Zarbon said. He took off through the hole and began scouting the area.
"He can't have gotten far!" Frieza yelled. "Bring him back to me in a heap of broken bones for all I care! Just find him or so help me I will have your head on a pike!"
Vegeta peered from around a corner. That's right, Frieza. Continue on with your goose chase. He ran down the hall of the ship into Frieza's quarters. He let out a low laugh at the sight of all five Dragon Balls sitting there neatly. "He couldn't have made this any easier." He chuckled.
Gohan flew along following the scouter's signal. Before long he came upon the ruins of a namekian village, with no sign of life anywhere. He slowly walked through the village, horrified at what Vegeta had done. As he came upon the bodies of the elder and the child, he stood still at the sight. "Vegeta.." Gohan said. "You monster."
Zarbon darted back and forth between the rocks surrounding the ship. So far he couldn't find any sign that Vegeta had been there, let alone anything had been there. "Don't think you can escape me, Vegeta!" He yelled out. "I will find you, you rat! Nobody could've gotten far so quickly!"
"Zarbon, you incompetant fool!" Frieza yelled.
"Lord Frieza, I-" Zarbon said, before a purple beam shot towards him, narrowly missing.
"Zarbon, do know I hold you responsible on all accounts for this!" Frieza yelled. "If I was you I'd start searching harder and faster! Now move!"
Vegeta watched Zarbon move back and forth through the ship's front window. "Yes, yes. Keep going, moron." He said. He made a count of all the Dragon Balls in the room and chuckled. "I hate to be an unforgiving guest, Frieza, but I really must be taking what's mine." He stopped for a second as he heard footsteps run past outside the door. "Problem is, escaping with all five of these things is much easier said than done."
He thought for a second before gathering a large amount of energy into his fist. "Time for Plan B." He said. He popped outside the doorway and began to yell. "Hey, Frieza! Before concerning yourself with extra affairs, you should check to make sure your own house is in order first!" He yelled, before letting the energy fly out of his hand and down the hall.
Both Frieza and Zarbon stopped to look as the energy made contact with a wall, exploding on impact. Zarbon made a break for the hole when a portion of the ship exploded beneath him, a wall of fire engulfing him entirely. He popped out of the inferno and into the air. Parts of his armor were broken off in the explosion, as well as his cape being destroyed by the fire. Parts of his hair were also singed, his pony tail almost completely destroyed. "You-" He yelled. "YOU BASTARD!"
Vegeta ducked back into the room as a plume of fire roared past the door. He gathered his energy as he raced towards the window. He let out a yell as he fired straight through the window leaving a massive hole. He grabbed each Dragon Ball and threw it through the hole as hard as he could before taking off after them.
Frieza and Zarbon raced through the halls as the ship exploded around them. Frieza's men were scurrying around trying to find an exit. Some got caught in the explosions, while others carried each other outside into the open air.
"Could you tell where his voice came from, my Lord?" Zarbon asked.
A wall of fire exploded in front of them, causing both of them to fall back a bit. Frieza stared dead into the fire, his eyes filled with rage. "He's pilfering my Dragon Balls right under my nose!" He screamed. He turned to Zarbon and pointed towards the exit. "Get outside and go around, you dolt!" He barked.
As the fire cleared Frieza ran for the entrance to his quarters, only to find Vegeta and the Dragon Balls already gone. "NO!" He screamed.
Zarbon appeared in front of the window to see Frieza beginning to have a meltdown. He turned to face the cliffside and scanned the area. "YOU THIEVING BASTARD!" He yelled. "WHERE ARE YOU, YOU DAMNED APE!" He frantically searched the area but came up with nothing.
"Lord Frieza, c-could he perhaps still be on the ship?" He asked.
"You're the one responsible for losing him, Zarbon!" Frieza yelled. "This is your mess, you fix it!"
"Yes, my Lord." Zarbon said.
Vegeta listened from behind a rock before slipping down into the lake. Those idiots think I'd take my escape through the sky, but I wasn't born yesterday. He thought to himself, swimming away through the waters.
Zarbon slammed into the wall and slid downwards. Frieza stood before him, his entire body teeming with anger. "Absolutely unacceptable!" He yelled. He wrapped his tail around Zarbon's neck and hoisted him into the air. "It is YOUR fault Vegeta and my Dragon Balls were able to slip through our fingers, you imbecile!" He yelled, flinging Zarbon back down to the floor.
Zarbon gasped for air as Frieza came to stand above him. "I will conduct my own search throughout whatever is left of my ship. You are to go and search the surrounding area." Frieza said. He placed his finger between Zarbon's eyes, a ball energy placed between the two. "But be warned that if Vegeta is not standing in front of me within the hour, I will not hesitate to substitute your life for his, understand!" He said.
"Understood, sir." Zarbon gulped.
Gohan followed the Dragon Ball's signal through the village. He stopped short as he came to the lake, the signal still directly in front of him. "It's not in the houses?" He questioned. He pressed a button on the radar and the screen zoomed in, showing the Dragon Ball as right off the coast. "Oh I get it." He said. "Not even Vegeta would search underwater."
He dove into the lake and continued following the signal. Soon enough he came across the Dragon Ball, nestled between a couple of rocks. He grabbed the Dragon Ball and swam up to the surface. He hovered over the lake's surface and stared at the Dragon Ball. "I found you." He said.
Vegeta broke through the surface of the water and gasped for air. He climbed up onto dry land and began looking around. "Alright they have to be around here somewhere." He said.
He began walking around before noticing a glare coming from near a rock. As he approached the rock, he was happy to see that the Dragon Balls had made a safe journey. "Perfect." He laughed. "Now I just need to collect the one I stowed away underwater, and I'll be one step away from all seven."
As he hid the Dragon Balls inside of an inlet, he felt a great surge energy coming straight towards. "No way that idiot's found me already." He said. "No. No it's way too low to be Zarbon."
He watched as Krillin came barreling through the sky, a Dragon Ball grasped between his hands.
"The earthling?!" He said. "He wasn't this strong a few hours ago. And where'd he find a Dragon Ball?"
He watched as Krillin's aura disappeared from the sky before letting out a laugh. "Well I guess fortune has favored me today, hasn't it?" He laughed. He took off after Krillin, his laughs still filling the air.
Zarbon searched through every nook and cranny in search of Vegeta. "Where are you." He said. He tossed away of rock he could find before settling down. "With the way things are going, I think I'll just have to hide myself away." He blasted away a rock in frustration. "If only I had my scouter!" He yelled.
He continued searching through every crevice he could find, coming up with nothing. "You are determined to be the end of me, aren't you, Vegeta?" He said.
Suddenly, a white aura lit up the sky, causing Zarbon to go wide-eyed. "There!" He said, before looking closer to see that it was just the earthling. "Damn it. It's just the insect who saved that namekian and ruined my nose. And I'm going crazy in anger, or is that a Dragon Ball?"
Suddenly another aura filled the sky, following behind the earthling's. "Vegeta!" He yelled, realizing who the aura belonged to. "I got you now, you monkey bastard! Prepare to rue the day you messed with Lord Frieza!" He took off in hot pursuit of the saiyan and the earthling, going straight through anything in his path.
The trio darted through the open namekian skies, a tricolor aura filling the air. Before long Vegeta took notice of another power level following behind him. "Now that has to be Zarbon." He chuckled. "Couldn't leave well enough alone, could he? Well, I guess today truly is my lucky day. Now I get to kill two birds with one stone."
Krillin dropped down infront of Bulma, causing her to fall behind a rock in surprise. She peered over the rock to find Krillin staring down at her. "What the hell is wrong with you!" She screamed. "Don't you know your supposed to warn people before making a sudden appearance like that!" She began to calm down after noticing the Dragon Ball in Krillin's hands. "You actually found a Dragon Ball? They're so big here compared to home." She said.
"Yeah." Krillin chuckled. "But you should've seen the Grand Elder. The guy is absolutely amazing." He peered behind Bulma and into the cave. "Is Gohan in there? I need to get him up to the Elder's place and fast." He said.
"Actually he went off on his own for a little bit." Bulma said. "One of the Dragon Balls popped up on the radar over by the village Vegeta was at earlier."
"You can't be serious." Krillin said. "You're joking, aren't you?"
Suddenly a large power level appeared right on top of them, sending Krillin into shock. "Bulma, a huge power level just appeared out of nowhere." He said.
"Is it Gohan? That didn't take him long." She said.
"We're not that lucky, Bulma." Krillin replied.
Vegeta descended down infront of them, his presence seeming to stop time for the earthlings. "Interesting that our paths crossed again so far away from your home, earthlings." He said. "I was honestly surprised when I felt your energies when I landed on this planet. Never would have thought your kind would be able to figure out space travel." He took a few steps forward and crossed his arms. "Now either you two can stay put for right now, or you can run and make everything much, much uglier." He said. "But I suggest you both tidy yourselves up, because it seems we have an unexpected guest coming by."
He stood and watched as Zarbon descended from the sky, coming to halt above the trio. Bulma instantly began swooning over him, her face turning a bright red. "He's cute." She swooned. "With a face like his, he has to be here to whisk us away to safety."
"I wouldn't bet on it." Krillin said.
Zarbon and Vegeta stared each other down, their gazes unwavering from one another. Krillin cowered into the Dragon Ball. "Can this get any worse." He said.
Bulma leaned over him in a love-struck daze. "What do you mean?" She asked. "He's gorgeous."
Krillin gasped in disbelief and turned to Bulma. "Are you crazy?" He asked. "Haven't you heard of not judging a book by its cover?"
"Yeah, but..." She said. "Just look at his eyes."
"Believe me. I don't need to look at anything on him." Krillin said.
She dug her elbows into Krillin's shoulder and leaned onto her hands. "You were saying?" She swooned.
Krillin sighed in defeat and turned back to the staredown. "Ya know, I'm starting to feel sorry for Yamcha." He said.
Zarbon scoffed as he pulled away his gaze. "So you continously make a fool out of me but just want to stand around and gawk at me now, huh?" He said. "And don't think I haven't noticed you, baldy. I haven't forgotten what you did to my nose back at that village."
"Oh please." Vegeta laughed. "A bruised and bloody nose is nothing compared to what you look like right now, Zarbon."
"Quite." Zarbon said. "And I have you to thank for that Vegeta. Your little firework demonstration earlier really put on quite the show."
Bulma pushed past Krillin and called out to Zarbon. "Hey big guy!" She called. "I'm rootin' for ya all the way!"
"Oh look, Zarbon. Your first fan." Vegeta scoffed. "You must feel so proud."
"Mock me while you still can, Vegeta." Zarbon said. "It'll be quite enjoyable to watch Lord Frieza put your mouth through the wringer. Sooner or later you will tell us where the Dragon Balls are."
"Tough chance." Vegeta said, readying a stance.
Zarbon ran at Vegeta and swung, the saiyan effortlessly dodging each attack. Zarbon flew after Vegeta, who let loose a flurry of ki attacks. Zarbon vanished and reappeared behind Vegeta. He fired off a ki beam, which the saiyan deflected using his own ki. Zarbon took his chance and struck Vegeta in the face. Krillin and Bulma dodged past every beam that came hurling towards the ground, managing to make it inside the cave.
"I've had enough of you!" Zarbon said, punching outwards with a fist of ki.
Vegeta dodged past the beam and delivered to Zarbon's jaw, sending him straight to the ground. He landed on his knee and got back up to run at Vegeta. He kicked outwards at the saiyan, who vanished and appeared behind Zarbon.
"Come on now!" Vegeta said. "Don't keep holding back at me!"
Zarbon let out a chuckle and began swelling up into his transformed state, putting Krillin and Bulma into a state of shock.
"You win!" Bulma said. "He's a bad guy!"
"His power just shot through the roof!" Krillin said. "This isn't good!"
Zarbon shot towards Vegeta and fired off an energy beam. The saiyan shot the beam before it could hit him but was blown back by the explosion's energy. He hit the ground and waited for Zarbon to charge him. Yes. Take the bait. He thought.
Zarbon swung at Vegeta, who hit the ground, dodging the attack. Just before Zarbon could strike, Vegeta grabbed a fistful of dirt and launched himself into the sky. As Zarbon flew at Vegeta, he let go of the dirt, letting it fall into Zarbon's eyes.
"Damn you!" Zarbon said, rubbing his eyes free of dirt.
Vegeta moved behind Zarbon and plunged his fist into Zarbon's armor and fired. Zarbon was sent recoiling and was met again by Vegeta, who slammed his fists into Zarbon's forehead, sending into the waters below. He fired several ki bolts at Zarbon, causing the water to swell and overflow its banks.
"Bulma, we gotta go!" Krillin said. "Come on!"
"Are you insane!" Bulma said. "He'll pound us into the dirt if we run!"
"He'll pound us into the dirt even if we stay!" Krillin said. "Atleast this way we might have a chance!" He grabbed Bulma's wrist and began running as fast as he could.
Vegeta noticed the two making a run for it and fired infront of their path. "Oh no you don't!" He yelled.
Krillin stopped and pulled Bulma back as the bolts hit the ground and exploded the area. "Great." He said. "Can nothing get past this lunatic?"
Gohan furrowed his brow at the amount of energy he was feeling. "That's coming from where I left Bulma." He said. "I have to hurry." He used his energy to go even faster, leaving a much brighter streak through the sky.
Zarbon and Vegeta furiously exchanged blows as they descended to the ground. The two seperated as they touched down, Zarbon looking the worse of the two. The majority of his armor was now missing and patches of his hair were completely gone.
"You aren't looking so good, Zarbon." Vegeta laughed. "Maybe you should head back to Frieza and heal up. Who knows? Maybe you'll power up just like a saiyan can."
Bulma and Krillin were entirely confused at what Vegeta said, but Zarbon just got even angrier. "Laugh it up!" He yelled. "Nothing'll seem that funny when I'm done with you!" He charged at Vegeta and swung, his punch exponentially slower than before.
"Come on, Zarbon." Vegeta said, throwing the punch away. "I know that you can do so much better than this."
"Shut up!" Zarbon said, swinging again. "Your power pales in comparison to mine! It's always been that way!"
Vegeta swiftly dodged Zarbon and knocked him backwards. "Of all the people in Frieza's army, you should know saiyans the best, Zarbon." He said. "Our little skirmish earlier brought me to near death. But as a saiyan, things like that will only make me stronger."
"So what!" Zarbon roared. "An ape like you can deal with the Reaper as many times as you like, but you'll never even reach a tenth of my power in this form!" He charged straight at Vegeta, his arm pulled back, ready to strike with everything he had.
The saiyan simply moved out of Zarbon's path and plunged his fist into Zarbon's gut, blood dripping down his glove. Zarbon let out gasps in a mixture of pain, fear, and surprise.
"V-Vegeta... please." He cried. "I was just... just following o-orders. H-have m-mer... cy."
"After all these years of being taunted and spat at. Years of being used as a punching bag and cannon fodder. Years of being treated as some low-class scum." Vegeta said. "And you expect me to show you mercy."
"P-Please... hear me o-out." Zarbon grunted. "F-Frieza will... will k-kill me if I... I return to h-him. W-We could... join f-forces and get rid of h-him."
Vegeta was disgusted at the lack of honor and loyalty within Zarbon. With a second thought he fired off an energy beam, blasting Zarbon into the distance, the blast killing him almost instantly. Vegeta's glove dripped with Zarbon's blood as Vegeta let out a low chuckle.