I will answer any questions about why this is how it is. I'm very open to constructive criticisms.
Chapter 16b: The Namekians Fight Back. Nail's Time To Shine.
Nail took a knee in front of the Grand Elder's throne. Having returned shortly after leaving to aid the Earthlings, the Elder looked down at him in dismay.
"What has caused you to return to me, Nail?" The Elder questioned, "Did you not leave to lend your power to the Earthlings?"
"Sir, with all due respect, your safety is my highest priority." Nail said.
"Nail, what good will my safety be of if the Earthlings perish at evil's hands?" The Elder questioned.
"What good would it be if you were to perish at evil's hands?" Nail countered, "If you are to die, then the Dragon Balls would be rendered null. The Earthling's trifles would have all been in vain at that point."
Nail stood and walked to the window. He stared out at the sea of green as the sky seemed to fill with darkness.
"You can sense it, can't you?" The Namekian said with turning around, "The Earthling's may have defeated the five who descended upon this planet earlier, but a greater evil approaches as we speak. I will not stand by while an evildoer comes to destroy the last place I can call home."
He turned and approached the Elder, who stared intently at his son.
"If you wish to send anyone to aid the Earthlings, then send Dende in my place." Nail said, "He may not be a fighter, but his healing abilities are beyond anything we've ever seen."
The Elder pondered his words for a second before beckoning his second son to his side.
"Dende, stand beside the chair." He said.
He placed his hand atop the young Namekian's head and unleashed the child's potential, a flow of energy filling his body.
"Go now, Dende." The Elder said, "Fly quickly to the Earthlings and lend them your aid."
Dende rushed to the room's exit but was stopped by Nail.
"Sir, I may have asked for my potential to be unlocked as well but there is no time." Nail said, taking a stand beside Dende on the platform, "Stay safe, Father. I'll do my best to keep him at bay."
The Elder watched as the two descended into the lower chamber.
"I shall try, my child," He said, "But I fear that my long life will catch up with me before any evil could have the chance."
The two Namekians flew as fast as they could from the Elder's home, Dende sticking as close as he could to his older brother.
"Dende, if something is to happen on our way there, you need to keep going." Nail said, "Worrying about my wellbeing will only slow you down."
Dende gave a half hearted nod to his brother and stared straight ahead, a powerful, evil energy hitting him in the face.
It didn't take long for the Namekians to come across Frieza, who only stopped out of mere curiosity.
"Funny." The tyrant said, "I thought my men had killed all of the Namekians."
"Cut it." Nail said, Dende cowering behind his back, "There'd be no reason for someone like you to be out this far on the planet if you weren't looking for something. And to my knowledge, you've already obtained all seven of the Dragon Balls."
"My, my. Quite the detective." Frieza said, "Yes, the truth is that I'm in the market for a couple of Namekians. You wouldn't believe how joyous it made me to see three Namekian power levels pop onto my scouter."
"Well, here we are." Nail said.
"Ohoho. You seem to have not heard me correctly." Frieza laughed, "I said three Namekians."
"Dende, leave." Nail said, "Don't look back."
As Dende went to fly from the scene, Frieza moved in front of him, blocking his escape.
"You look familiar." He sneered, "Oh who am I kidding? All of you slugs like alike to me."
As he went to reach for Dende, Nail grabbed his arm, shocking the tyrant.
"Leave him." Nail ordered, "This is just you and me."
Frieza ripped his arm away and stared Nail dead in eyes, both giving an icy gaze towards each other.
"So you want challenge me, is that it? Fine." Frieza said. He abandoned his chair and came to fly in front of Nail. "Let's let the big boys play."
Dende flew off in a rush as the two began to fight, a clash of lights filling the air.
Frieza gave himself a slight upper hand over Nail, forcing the Namekian to fight at his full power. The two descended to the ground as Nail's stamina began to drain faster and faster. As the two touched down and separated, Nail collapsed to the ground, giving Frieza a big disappointment.
"Is that really all you've got?" Frieza mocked, "I've fought mice for longer than this."
Nail slowly got to his feet and crossed his arms while letting out a low yell. He extended his arms and let out a burst of energy, destroying the nearby rock mounds.
"42,000, huh?" Frieza said, "Well, it's something at least."
Nail charged Frieza, who stood ready to counter the Namekian. At the last second, Nail shot a burst on energy into the ground in front of Frieza, sending a column of dirt and rocks into his eyes. Nail quickly moved behind the emperor and kicked his back, catching Frieza off guard and sending him stumbling forwards. When Frieza turned around to face the Namekian, Nail had outstretched his arm, a purple spiral developing in his palm.
"SPIRIT RAY!" The Namekian yelled, firing off the blast towards Frieza.
The emperor leapt into the air while the spiral widened and surrounded him.
"Did you honestly expect to hit me with that?" Frieza laughed.
Nail smirked and closed his fist, the spiral beginning to close in around Frieza. The tyrant quickly vanished out of its path and moved behind Nail. The Namekian reacted quickly and swung at Frieza's neck, the emperor tilting his head to open up the shot.
Frieza took no notice of the impact, while Nail stood there in shock.
"Have you ever wondered what my power level is, Namekian?" Frieza asked, "It's 530,000."
He grabbed Nail's arm and ripped it clean off, sending the Namekian reeling in pain, clutching at his arm.
"I suggest you just give up now." Frieza said, tossing the arm to the side, "Before there's an even bigger mess to clean up."
Nail looked up at Frieza and spit in his face.
"You'd have to kill me before I'd ever give in to you." Nail said.
Frieza showed blank expression while delivering a powerful jab to the Namekian's gut, sending him to the ground. Frieza grabbed Nail by the antennae and lifted his head to stare into his eyes.
"Listen here, slug." Frieza sneered, "I want something from you. So I have no intention to kill you right now. But until you give me what I want, you're going to wish I did."
He threw Nail's head back down into the dirt and turned to fly away.
"I'll be off for a bit so do take the chance to reconsider your choice." Frieza said, "When I return, pray you make the right choice."
As Frieza lifted from the ground to head back to his chair, he heard a rustling come from behind him and turned to see Nail getting to his feet. The Namekian lifted his injured arm into the air and, with a pained grunt, regenerated a new limb in its place.
"Interesting." Frieza said, "So you can regrow your lost limbs. If only you could do that for your power level. Guess your energy to needs to go somewhere if not into fighting."
Nail ready himself into a fighting pose, not willing to let himself go down.
"Here you are. Beaten and bruised yet still willing to put up a fight." Frieza said, "You know, I've always wanted to train a dog. For your first trick, I'll teach you how to play dead."
Gohan and Krillin touched the ground not to far from Frieza's ship, the radar indicating the Dragon Balls were right below them.
"They're over here, Krillin." Gohan said, pointing to the spot.
"It sure looks like something's been buried here recently." Krillin said, eyeing over the spot, "Well, let's get to digging."
The two began shovel the dirt away with they're hands until a bright reflection hit them in the face.
"Found 'em!" Krillin said, shoveling more dirt away, "And it looks like all seven are here too."
"Well, what are we waiting for?" Gohan asked, "Let's wish our friends back."
The two arranged the Dragon Balls in their pattern and stood over them. Krillin raised his hands over the balls and began the summoning process.
"Come forth, Shenron, and grant us our wish!" He yelled, simultaneously throwing his hands upward.
The two stood there blankly as the balls gave no reaction.
"What... What happened?" Krillin asked, "Why didn't Shenron come whooshing out? Isn't he supposed to come whooshing out?"
"Maybe the words are different here." Gohan said.
"How different could they be?" Krillin asked.
In a split second, a cold wave washed over Krillin, sending a chill down his spine. He grabbed Gohan's hand and ran for a nearby rock.
"We have to hide!" He yelled.
"Why?" Gohan asked, "What's wrong?"
As the two ducked behind the rock, Gohan felt the same sensation as Krillin.
"Krillin," Gohan whispered, "we should have grabbed the Dragon Balls."
Krillin placed his hand over Gohan's mouth and placed a finger to his as they heard two footsteps land on the other side of the rock. It felt like an eternity of silence before they heard a familiar voice pipe up.
"It's okay, you two." Goku said, "You can come on out."
Nail lurched forward and leaned on his knees, blooding dripping down to cover his face, his body covered in cuts and bruises.
"You just don't know when to give up, do you?" Frieza asked, "We could do this all day, and you still would be none the wiser."
Nail held his breath as he spun his torso to face Frieza while letting all of his energy into an attack. Frieza took the entire blast, the ground behind him being turned into a crater.
"Why do you continue to waste your energy?" Frieza asked, "Is it out of desperation, or is it that you truly believe you can still beat me?"
The emperor vanished and reappeared in front of Nail, who had no time react before Frieza slammed his fist into the Namekian's face. Nail collapsed onto his back clutching at his face in pain. Frieza stood beside him and aimed a death beam at his forehead.
"I'm getting tired of your obstinacy." He said, "Now either you tell me how to work the Dragon Balls, or I will splatter your brains all over this god-forsaken rock you call home."
Nail let out a little chuckle and let his arms fall to his side. "And what good would killing me do?" He chuckled, "I guess it's a good time to tell you something. The Dragon Balls are tied to the life force of their creator. If he is to die, then all seven would be rendered useless. And if it's important that something like them don't fall into evil hands, don't you think their creator would sacrifice his life against the one who would use them for no good?"
Frieza's face twisted into a grimace as he pressed down on Nail's chest with his foot.
"You're bluffing." He said.
Nail raised his forehead up to blast and looked straight into Frieza's eyes. "Sure, you could call me a liar and kill me right now." He said, "But are you willing to take that risk?"
Frieza grimaced before wrapping his foot around Nail's face and slamming his head to the ground.
"So I can't kill you." He sneered, "But there are more of you slugs left on this planet."
Frieza pinpointed another Namekian power signature using his scouter and locked in its location. He picked Nail up by the neck using his tail and carried him back to his chair, slamming him down into it behind the main seat.
"We're gonna go say 'hello' to one of your little friends." Frieza said, taking off in his chair towards the next Namekian.
When they arrived at the Elder's house, Frieza jumped from his chair, Nail in tow. He blasted apart the upper wall and flew up to it, throwing Nail onto the ground in front of the Elder's feet.
"Now listen here, fatso." Frieza said, slowly approaching the Elder, "You're going to tell me how to work the Dragon Balls, or I'm going to give you they same treatment as this pitiful creature writhing before you."
"As if I'd ever listen to the demands of someone so evil as you." The Elder said.
Frieza scowled and flew up to the Elder, hovering before his chest. "Wrong... answer." He sneered, his tail whipping behind him.
Frieza plunged his tail into the Elder's chest, not far enough to kill him, but enough to cause him severe pain.
"Again I'll say it." Frieza said, "Tell me how to work the Dragon Balls."
"N... Never..." The Elder groaned.
Frieza pushed his tail slightly further into the Elder's chest, causing him to give an agonizing scream.
"Tell. Me. The. Password!" Frieza demanded.
Tears of pain began to trickle from the Elder's eyes as he gasped out a name.
"D..." He said, "Dende..."
Frieza's face dropped as he recognized the name. "What?" He asked.
"You're too late." Nail coughed, "By now, Dende's bound to have reached the Earthlings and helped grant their wish. The words you so desperately seek... will go to them."
Frieza growled lowly before ripping his tail from the Elder's chest, causing him to lurch forward in pain. "I'll be back for you two." He said before taking off from the window.
Frieza frantically tried to get a reading on the Ginyu Force's power levels but nothing came up, adding to Frieza's anger.
"Don't tell me that some insignificant bugs and a simple ape were able to beat all five of them!" Frieza yelled, his rage boosting his speed. "But more importantly, what have they done with my Dragon Balls?!"
His aura flared around him, filling the sky around him with a deep red-purple.
"YOU LITTLE WORMS!" Frieza yelled, "I WILL BE THE ONE TO HAVE MY WISH GRANTED. ME, LORD FRIEZA! NOT SOME INFERIOR LIFEFORMS LIKE YOU!"
The water and rocks ripped up around below him, creating a large crevice that followed his path.
"DAMN YOU!" Frieza yelled.