The rewrites for chapters 3 and 4 are finished and have been posted.
Chapter 10: Theft Right Under His Nose. Vegeta's Plan Begins To Falter.
Bulma and Krillin stood wide-eyed and terrified as smoke still billowed from Vegeta's glove. "You're a disgrace, Zarbon." The saiyan said. "Loyal to your own ends."
He wiped the blood off of his glove and turned to the two earthlings. "I believe we have some unfinished business." Vegeta said. "Your strength has increased tremendously since we last met, Baldy. But don't think that you can ever match up to me. Just hand over the Dragon Ball you have there and things won't get ugly."
"On one condition." Krillin said. "Give us your word that you'll just take this and leave us alone."
"Trying to bargain, eh?" Vegeta chuckled. "I suppose killing you both would just be a waste of my energy. I just want the Dragon Ball."
"You mean that?" Krillin asked.
"Don't push your luck." Vegeta replied. "Just give me the Dragon Ball and I'll be on my way."
Krillin hesitated for a moment before cautiously approaching Vegeta. He extended the Dragon Ball towards the saiyan, who took it in one hand. "You're lucky I'm in a good mood today. Now that I have all seven of these I couldn't be any happier." He said. "But I guess immortality can put a guy in a good mood too." He let out a laugh and took off, blasting dust into Krillin and Bulma's faces.
"Not to add insult to injury," Bulma said, "but you sort of blew it. What good was it to gather the Dragon Ball if you were just going to give it away."
"I didn't really have a choice, now did I?" Krillin said. "Either we gave him the Dragon Ball and got to keep our lives, or he kills us both and takes the Dragon Ball. But we still have a one-up. Gohan went to find one of the Dragon Balls, right? The problem is that Vegeta most likely hid that Dragon Ball for a reason, so we're gonna have to be careful now that we have it."
"Yeah!" Bulma said. "And since Gohan had the radar, he should be making his way back right now."
"Let's just hope him and Vegeta don't cross paths." Krillin said.
Gohan soared through the sky until a sense of energy popped into his head. "Something's coming this way and it's power is enormous." He concentrated on the energy and an image of Vegeta formed in his head. "No!" He yelled, darting behind a nearby rock.
The sudden surge of energy caught Vegeta's attention, making him fly even faster. "Something's giving off a lot of energy of this way." He said.
Gohan pressed up against the rock. I have to suppress my energy. He thought.
"What the?" Vegeta said. "It's gone. Is my mind playing tricks on me?"
Gohan shuddered behind the rock. Just go away. Please. He thought.
"Whoever's down there come out now!" Vegeta called out. "I know you're here somewhere so there's no use in hiding!"
What do I do? Gohan thought.
"Show yourself before I turn this place into rubble!" Vegeta yelled.
He wouldn't! Gohan thought.
"Get out here, coward!" Vegeta yelled.
It's no use. I'll have to face him. Gohan thought. It's the only way I'll be able to keep him from getting another Dragon Ball.
"So you insist on staying hidden, huh?" Vegeta said. "This is the last chance you get before I turn this place into a crater!"
He focused energy into his hand and prepared to the blast beneath him. As he brought his hand down a voice yelled out from one of the rocks.
"WAIT!" Gohan yelled. He set the Dragon Ball down and climbed up onto the rock. "Happy?"
"Oh it's just Kakarot's little brat." Vegeta said. "I assume you came with the other Earthlings. I already had a run-in with them."
Gohan gasped as he noticed the Dragon Ball under Vegeta's arm. "How did you get that?" He asked.
"Oh this?" Vegeta said, motioning to the Dragon Ball. "This was a gift. A token of friendship, you could say. The other Earthlings were so happy to see me that they felt I should I have it."
"You monster!" Gohan yelled. "What did you do to them?"
"Relax, kid. I haven't done anything to them." Vegeta said. "But I'd be more than happy to go back there if you want me to."
Gohan was taken aback. "What?" He said.
"Truth is, I was so overjoyed of having all seven Dragon Balls that I let them live." Vegeta said.
"So you finally got what you came for?" Gohan asked, his eyes shifting to the stolen Dragon Ball.
Vegeta landed in front of Gohan, startling him. "Nevermind that." He said. "I want to know what you have in your hand there."
Gohan shielded the radar's screen from Vegeta's view. "It's a clock." He said.
"You mean to tell me that a species that can manage interstellar flight can't keep time on anything smaller?" Vegeta said.
"Maybe we prefer things that way." Gohan said. "We're not Saiyans."
"No, you aren't." Vegeta said. "Speaking of which, is Kakarot coming to Namek?"
"No, he's not." Gohan said. "We left him back on Earth. We didn't know that a bunch of bad guys like you would be here."
"So I'm a bad guy, huh?" Vegeta chuckled. "Listen here, kid. For my life, this is how I was raised. I know the Saiyan lifestyle. And you, kid? You're a Saiyan too. So is your father. We three are the last of our kind."
He placed his hand on Gohan's shoulder and leaned in. "I want you to give your father message." He said. "Listen closely."
Before he continued he slammed his knee into Gohan's gut, causing the child to keel over in pain. Vegeta placed his heel on Gohan's temple. "Tell him that he needs to start acting like a Saiyan!" Vegeta said. "Otherwise, I just might take another trip to Earth." He knocked Gohan onto his back with another kick. "And this time, there won't be a happy ending."
He stepped away from Gohan and prepared to fly off. "Just lay there for awhile and take a nap, kid." Vegeta said. "You'll need it." He took off, leaving an aura blazing through the sky.
Gohan forced himself to sit up and let out a pained chuckle. "That wasn't fun." He said. "Atleast he didn't find the Dragon Ball." He cringed at the pain of his chuckles, causing him to lose his balance and fall from the rock, landing next to the Dragon Ball. "I wish I had a senzu bean right about now." He said.
A sense of foreboding fell over Krillin. "Where is he?" He said. "Gohan should've been back by now."
Bulma appeared from inside the cave, her hair a mess. "I finished pack up our stuff into capsules." She said. "Is Gohan back yet?"
"There's no sign of him." Krillin said. "I hope he didn't run into Vegeta. The bastard knows where we are, so we gotta get out of here quickly."
Krillin heard the sound of someone flying towards them before he could sense their energy. "It's Gohan!" He said.
Gohan touched down and stumbled forward before falling to the ground. Krillin and Bulma raced for Gohan and helped him up.
"Come on, kid. Stay with me." Krillin said.
"I'm okay, Krillin." Gohan said. "I'm not going to die on you."
"Can you still fly?" Krillin asked. "We have to get outta here or Vegeta's gonna come kill us all."
"I should be able to keep going." Gohan said, standing up on his own. "I don't want to have to face Vegeta again."
Vegeta stood at the bank of the lake. "So here we are again." He chuckled. "Only this time I'm going to be ending my plan."
He dove into the lake and began scouter around for the Dragon Ball. Prepare to see the end of your reign, Frieza. He thought. Just one simple wish away and it all becomes mine.
He searched around the lake for awhile without coming up with the Dragon Ball. That's odd. It should be somewhere around here. He swam around for awhile longer before stopping. It's just vanished. He thought. But... but how could it have-?
A realization struck Vegeta like a brick. The kid! He thought. There's no way it was a coincidence I ran into him halfway between here and that cave. But how could he have found it so easily? Another realization struck Vegeta. That wasn't a clock that he had! It must've been some kind of radar! Damn it!
The water's surface swelled as Vegeta charged straight into the air. He dashed forward at full speed, his eyes bloodshot with rage. "DAMN YOU, YOU FILTHY DOUBLECROSSERS!" He screamed. "I'LL MAKE YOU PAY FOR THIS!"
He flew right infront of the cave's entrance, the ground cracking beneath him as he landed. "Get out here and face me, you bastards!" He yelled. "Come out and fight like warriors, damn it!"
He ran into the cave and began searching every nook and cranny. His screams of rage echoed out of the cave as the whole thing exploded, Vegeta standing right in the center. "Damn it!" He yelled. "They saw me coming!"
He lept into the air and looked around. "I can't believe I fell for such a simple trick by a bunch of weaklings." Vegeta said. "And the vermin can suppress their power levels to almost nothing."
Vegeta flew off back towards the Dragon Balls he had stashed away. "It's not like they can make a wish." He said. "I hold all of the cards, so all I have to do is wait for them to come to me."
The trio hid away in a far off crevice. Gohan peered over the top of the rocks and looked around. "This place is pretty well hidden." He called down. "I think this'll work quite well."
"This is nuts." Bulma said. "You couldn't have found anywhere else to hide."
"Relax, Bulma." Krillin said. "It's not like we're gonna be here forever."
"Dad'll be here soon." Gohan said. "You can hold out till then can't you? It'll be fun."
"Oh yeah." Bulma said. "It'll be a barrel of monkeys. An elegant lady sharing a narrow crevice with two roughnecks. And there's no bathroom, I may add."
"Don't worry." Krillin said. "You'll have the place to yourself. I'm going to take Gohan to see the Grand Elder and it's gonna take awhile."
"Why do I have to go?" Gohan asked.
"So you're just going to leave me by myself again!" Bulma said. "This time with a no doubt rage-driven Saiyan roaming the planet!"
"That's the thing, Bulma." Krillin said. "It may suck for you to be alone right now, but once I get Gohan to the Elder's, he'll be able to take on Vegeta."
Three soldiers stood terrified behind Frieza, who swirled a glass of wine. "Zarbon sure is taking his sweet old time." He said, taking a sip from the glass. "Either he has fled in embarressment or was offed by Vegeta. Both options are far better alternatives to him coming back with no results."
He set down the wine and turned to face the soldiers. "If I had expected such a mess from two of my top generals, I would've just brought the Ginyu Force with me!"
Vegeta set down the Dragon Ball he got from the Earthling's down with the others and sat on it. If the Earthling's really do have a Dragon Ball locator, then I shouldn't leave this spot. He thought. No doubt they'll be searching for the six I have. Nothing for me to do but wait for them to make a move.
A large red ball of energy shot through the sky, turning a nearby island into a crater. And it appears Frieza isn't too happy either. HE thought.
A vicious red aura flared around Frieza, who stared out the blasted window. "Vegeta..." He said. "You damned worm."
His energy formed into a ball infront of him, which he blasted through the hole in the window.
Bulma grabbed onto a rocky wall as the whole ground shook beneath her. The Dragon Ball began rolling away from her. She fumble her foot around ball trying to bring it closer. "I've had enough of this planet!" She said.
Vegeta watched as another ball of energy soared overhead, causing vicious winds inside the inlet. "I'll have to start thinking of a way to deal with this." He said. "No doubt Frieza's called reinforcements now that Dodoria AND Zarbon are gone. It'll take them a couple of days to arrive, so I need to act fast."
"At this speed, it'll take us twice as long to get there as I originally planned." Krillin said. "But if we boost our energy, then Vegeta's sure to notice us. As it stands, both of us combined couldn't take him on."
"Isn't that how it's always been?" Gohan asked. "What makes you think the Elder can even the odds?"
"Look how strong he made me." Krillin replied. "And I'm not even a Saiyan. We get him to release your hidden power, and we might just stand a chance of beating him."
One the Frieza Force's soldiers came running into Frieza's quarters. "Sir, the Ginyu Force is in the vicinity of Sector 9035YX and should be arriving shortly." He panted.
"Excellent." Frieza said. "Someone who will finally be able to give me results. Now if only Vegeta would show up to try and deal with me as he no doubt wants to. He can stay in the shadows for now, but once the Ginyu Force brings their scouters, there will be no escape for him. He can run and hide all he wants, but nothing can change that."