Krillin had found the dragon ball in a Namekian village. They had almost tried to attack him until he managed to convince them he was not one of Frieza's. As it turned out, Frieza and his men were going from village to village in search of the dragon balls, killing everyone in the process. They allowed Krillin the ball after he promised Frieza would never see the ball. It didn't matter if Frieza managed to gather the other six. The dragon could only be summoned when all seven were together.
Krillin went and put the ball in the ship for safe keeping while Piccolo stood outside. He could sense Frieza and his men moving closer to them, but not close enough to worry. The ship was well hidden. So long as they kept their ki suppressed, the alien wouldn't even think to look there.
"Do you think I should go get another dragon ball?" Krillin asked as he came up beside Piccolo, switching on the radar. "Hm, Frieza still only has three. Okay, here's ours... there's one in that direction," he said pointing East, "and two that way," he finished, pointing North.
"Frieza is headed East. Go North. Both if you can, but one is fine. Don't get caught. Ki only high enough to fly."
"Way ahead of you. Where are you going?"
"East."
"What? But you just said Frieza was headed that way!"
"I know. But I can beat them there. The Namekians need to be warned somehow. If they all die, who is to say that the dragon balls won't as well? You said when Kami disappeared, the dragon balls did too. What if they kill the creator of the dragon balls here?"
"Good point. Okay, go then. Just, stay safe."
Piccolo's ears quirked. "Was that concern I heard?"
"We're allies, Piccolo. Of course I'm concerned. I lost everyone else. I don't want to lose you too. I can't do this on my own," Krillin stated.
Piccolo nodded and took off, flying as quickly as he could without raising his ki too much to be noticed on the scouters. As he skimmed the water, he came to a sudden halt.
Vegeta.
Vegeta's ki was barreling down the same path, coming from the opposite direction. He clearly had felt Frieza's ki headed that way and realized there was a dragon ball in that village. Piccolo debated raising his ki to fly faster and beat them both, but no, he couldn't risk getting stuck between Frieza and Vegeta. With a snarl, he lowered his ki to his minimum, flying back to the ship, angry.
Halfway back, he felt fifty Namekian kis all disappear at once. Vegeta had destroyed the entire village. In that instant, he felt Krillin's ki jump up quickly in panic, and he immediately knew what had happened.
Krillin thought Piccolo had been killed as well.
No, no, no, you idiot...
The jump was enough for one of the henchmen of Frieza's to detect and determine a level of threat, for one's ki began to rush to where Krillin was.
Who happened to be hurtling at breakneck speed for the ship.
Shit, shit, shit!
Piccolo tossed his training weight off as fast as he could, getting ready to meet Krillin as soon as he hit the ground. Sure enough, the monk landed and stopped, looking amazed and relieved that Piccolo was standing there before him.
"Oh thank god! I thought... We gotta go! Someone's following me!"
"You idiot! You led him right to us!" Piccolo snapped, smacking him upside the head.
"I'm sorry! I didn't know where else to go! I don't exactly know this planet very well!" Krillin said defensively, rubbing his head.
"Anywhere but here would've been a good decision! Lead him somewhere else!"
"What? But he's almost here! I can't fly that fast!"
Piccolo felt Vegeta's ki raise marginally as he took flight and began heading their way as well. "Lead him that way. Make him intersect Vegeta," he said, pointing.
"And get stuck between them? Hell no!"
Piccolo snarled, "You're useless," before he raised his ki to higher than Krillin's and took off. Krillin's ki lowered and the follower changed course to follow Piccolo. He realized balefully that the imposing power was quickly gaining. He gave up the flight and turned to face his opponent.
The pink leviathan nearly shot past him. It skid to a stop and faced him with a look of wonder. "A Namekian? You're quite a bit stronger than the others of your filthy kind, aren't you?"
Piccolo didn't answer as Vegeta made his presence known, flaring his ki and barreling into view. "Out of the way, Namek. This one's mine!" he sneered, pushing past him. "I have a bone to pick with you, Dodoria. And Frieza isn't here to protect you. You've just made the same mistake as Cui. How unfortunate."
"Oh, blow me, Vegeta. Cui was a weakling anyway. You're all talk."
"If anyone blew you up anymore, you'd pop, you ugly oversized pink balloon," Vegeta jeered.
Piccolo smartly lowered himself so that he hovered just above the water. The pink one called Dodoria moved to punch Vegeta, but the Saiyan merely grabbed his arm and whirled him around, planting his feet into his back and pushing off and he grabbed Dodoria's other arm, bending the blob backwards. Piccolo could hear Dodoria's spine begin to creak ominously as Vegeta increased the pressure.
"Let go, you blasted little monkey, and fight me like a true warrior!" he snarled, clearly in pain.
Vegeta laughed. "Scared, Dodoria? Whatever for?"
"This is a cheap shot and you know it!"
"And yet you fell right into it."
Dodoria growled and jerked his leg back futilely, completely missing the Saiyan. Then, he began to chuckle, his bulbous body quivering. Vegeta looked confused for a moment before Dodoria bent his neck back, mouth open, a blast built up. Vegeta hastily let go as the blast let loose, narrowly missing its target. Dodoria straighten up immediately, rubbing his sore wrists and hunching his back, popping everything back into place.
"Tell me about cheap shots," Vegeta muttered, yet it was clear he wasn't the least bit concerned. "Want to try that again, cannon mouth?"
"As a matter of fact, yes. Yes I do. Good luck blocking this one, oh crown prince," Dodoria teased. Vegeta arched an eyebrow and held his arms out, giving Dodoria a clear shot at his chest. "Oh, you pompous little punk. Let's see what you can do with this."
Piccolo knew the fight was over before the blast was even out of Dodoria's mouth. As the blast hurdled towards Vegeta's exposed chest, the Saiyan whipped his arm in front of him, knocking the blast back.
Straight into Dodoria's still open mouth.
The blast exited his skull and the leviathan plummeted to the water, sinking like a weight to the ocean floor.
"Well that should've alerted Frieza to my presence well enough," Vegeta scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest. "Zarbon should be on his way shortly. What the hell are you still here for, Namek? Go away."
Piccolo shook his head. "You killed an entire village of Namekians, Vegeta."
"You say it as if I care. I've destroyed entire planets. This was nothing more than a little blip on the radar. Now get out of my way, or you'll be next on my list."
"You can't just kill people because they won't give you what you want. Did they even have a dragon ball?"
"As a matter of fact, I can, and they did. Not that you'll ever see it."
"Come off it, Vegeta. Yes, you're stronger than you were on Earth, but not by much. You can't honestly expect to get the rest of the dragon balls from Frieza without help. Stealth isn't exactly your strong suit, is it?" Vegeta shot a careless blast at him, which Piccolo sideswiped. "And this Zarbon, the one who's coming this way, he's at your power level, isn't he? Maybe more."
"He's nothing I can't handle. Stay any longer and I'll let him kill you first. You're seriously beginning to piss me off," Vegeta snapped angrily, entire body quivering slightly. Piccolo instantly recognized Tsuki's power at work, willing Vegeta from killing him on the spot.
"Now would be a very good time to leave."
Piccolo didn't need another hint and he nodded curtly at the Saiyan before heading back to the ship, skirting away from the force that was Zarbon.
Vegeta watched Piccolo leave with passive eyes before turning his attention to the rapidly approaching ki of Zarbon.
Perfect. He owed the pretty boy a few returned favors and then some.
"Vegeta! You're doing a pretty good job pissing off everyone you're coming across," the accented voice of Zarbon said.
"Killing them too. You want to make it three for three?"Vegeta goaded.
"I'm not even going to bother with you right now, Vegeta. Lord Frieza told me to be quick about it, and that's exactly what I'm going to do. So come on then, show me what you've got," Zarbon said coolly.
Vegeta sprang forward and attempted to force his opponent onto the rebound, and it was working quite well, actually. Zarbon went onto the defensive, barely blocking Vegeta's well-aimed blows. He grabbed for the prince's leg and swung him away. Vegeta came back with a vengeance, punching Zarbon square in the face.
Zarbon backed down, rubbing his jaw ruefully. "This isn't even worth my time," he snapped. "Count yourself lucky, Vegeta. You'll be one of the few to have ever seen my other form," he said, laughing. He began to power up, his body curling in on itself before bulging out grotesquely, his skin becoming scale-like, his face morphing into one of a reptilian nature.
Vegeta laughed, trying not to show his disconcert at the sudden influx of Zarbon's ki. "Jesus Christ, you're ugly. I thought Dodoria was the ugliest, but you, you take the cake, lizard face. What're you gonna do? Flick your tongue out at me to death?"
"Oh very funny, Vegeta. But your words mean nothing here."
"You know, you're the third person to say that to me. You'll also be the last."
"Doubtful." Vegeta was taken aback as Zarbon rushed him with twice the speed he had originally possessed. The large fist punched him squarely in the gut, and then in the face. "Where are your words now, monkey? Hm?"
Vegeta could say nothing as Zarbon barraged him with punches and kicks, before finally landing a large blast into the Saiyan's chest.
Vegeta hit the water and began to sink, his body headed to the depths where Dodoria lay as well.