Holy crap. I managed to crank this one out in about two hours. The wait may be a little long for the next chapter. I have my senior capstone research paper to write :/ EVERYONE ENJOY!
Piccolo whirled around as the ki that belonged to Zarbon doubled almost instantaneously. When Vegeta's fell to next to nothing, he charged into the fray. By the time he arrived, however, Zarbon's ki had returned to normal and he was long gone. Vegeta was nowhere to be seen.
Grunting, Piccolo realized the Saiyan was in the water, and he jumped in. Sure enough, he spotted him and dove down to the depths, grabbing him by the arm before he could sink any further, and dragged him to the surface. As the broke the surface, Vegeta took an instinctive deep, wracking breath , though he didn't awake. With much disdain, Piccolo slung him over his shoulder and began to fly back to the ship.
"Whoa. What happened to him?" Krillin asked as he came out to greet him.
"He got into a fight way over his head," Piccolo responded blandly, entering the ship with Krillin at his heels.
Bulma came out of her room as Piccolo was dropping Vegeta onto the couch in the "lounge" as Krillin called it. "What are you doing? Are you crazy? Get him out of here!" she shrieked. Piccolo raised his lip at her in warning and she instinctively backed off, throwing her hands up in a huff. "Fine. Do what you want. If he kills us, I will haunt both your asses!"
Piccolo ignored her. "We need to go out and try to collect more dragon balls. It's too dangerous to go out alone now."
"Whoa! Uh, hell no! You both are not leaving me here alone with this...this...monster! Forget it!" Bulma stormed, stomping her foot and putting her hands on her hips.
"But, Bulma, it's really important that we get the dragon balls. Don't you want Gohan back?" Krillin ventured in attempt to calm her.
"Of course I do. But I don't want to die either!"
"You won't. He probably won't even wake up while we're gone. If he does, he'll be too weak to do anything anyways," Piccolo said.
"Ugh, fine. Here's my condition: Krillin has to wear a headset so that I can reach you guys."
"Deal," Krillin said.
Bulma went back into her room and came out with two headsets. She placed one over Krillin's head, affixing it over his ear and adjusting the mouth piece so that it rest by his lips. "Okay, these are simple. Hit the button on your ear piece...okay. You just turned your microphone on." She put her own on and turned it on. "Testing...can you hear me?"
"I hear ya," Krillin affirmed.
"Good. Go ahead and turn it off then. Leave it off until you need to talk, or else you'll wear the battery out."
"Got it. Thanks Bulma. We'll be back as soon as possible!" Krillin called over his shoulder as he chased Piccolo outside.
"You better!" she shouted after them. As she watched them fly out of sight, she added under her breath, "Oh, be careful guys. I can't lose you too..."
"How many dragon balls are still out there?" Piccolo asked.
"According to the radar, Frieza has five now. There's the one back at our ship. There's only one left."
"Where is it?"Piccolo asked, though he had a pretty good idea where it was.
"That way," Krillin said, pointing in the direction Vegeta had been when he'd killed the village of Namekians.
"Let's get it then, and beat Frieza to the punch, shall we?" he said, changing course.
"Yeah. Hey, what are we going to do about the other five though? I mean, he's going to find out when no more turn up that someone else has them. We can't raise the eternal dragon without all seven. How are we going to get the other five without him finding out?" Krillin asked, clearly worried.
Piccolo shook his head. "I don't know. We'll have to think of something."
"And you're sure bringing Gohan back is going to give us the edge to beat him?" Piccolo's eyes cut to him sharply, and Krillin raised his hands defensively. "Don't get mad. It's a feasible question. Gohan's just a little kid, Piccolo. He's five. He already died once. What if...what if we bring him back only for him to die again? What if it's more painful this time? I mean, Piccolo, even fighting together, you, Vegeta, and I wouldn't even be fairly matched to this guy. What's Gohan going to be able to do that we can't?"
Sighing heavily, Piccolo shook his head. "I don't know," he answered softly.
With a sudden gasp, Vegeta woke up. He bolted upright, his head whipping around, his mind racing as the last thing he remembered was Zarbon pummeling him...
But no. He wasn't in the water. No, he was laying on a couch in a ship far too small to be Frieza's. He relaxed slightly, rubbing his temples ruefully. He noted with disdain that someone had bandaged him up fairly well.
"Whaa!" a woman shrieked from the door. He turned his gaze to her and she frantically hit at her headset before shouting "KRILLIN! You guys said he wouldn't wake up while you were gone!" He heard some indistinct chatter coming from the other end as he tried to place who Krillin was. Oh yeah, the bald one from Earth. "I don't care! Just get back here!" she all but screamed.
Vegeta growled as he put a hand on his pounding head. "What the hell is your problem?" he snapped.
She looked absolutely stricken for a moment before her face darkened and she grew bold. "My problem is that your Radish friend killed my best friend and his wife and one of your cabbage-headed minions blew up my boyfriend!" she snapped back, arms crossing over her chest.
Vegeta pushed himself off the couch and stood in an attempt to intimidate her. "None of that was my fault. I didn't make Kakarott or that human weak. That was their own damn fault."
The woman looked like she was about to explode. As she took a deep breath to begin her retort, the bald one rushed in.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Okay, come on Bulma. Out before someone gets hurt," he said, bustling her away.
"I do not strike women," Vegeta said, slightly offended.
Krillin shot him a glance over his shoulder as he pushed the woman out. "I was talking about you."
Vegeta stared after them, slightly bewildered, before his attention turned to the Namekian coming in. He noticed immediately that he was holding a dragon ball with the exact same number of stars as the one he had stored safely in the waters outside that Namekian village he destroyed...
"That's mine," he said hotly, pointing at the ball.
"You won't be getting very far with only one," the Namek said plainly. "You need all seven for it to work."
"I know that. I just haven't found the rest yet," he snapped.
"No need to. We have these two here, and Frieza has the rest."
"You listen here, Namek-"
"Piccolo," he interrupted, setting the ball down in the corner, where another was stored just out of sight.
"Whatever. I'll get the other five. By myself. I don't need your help."
"Clearly you do. You would've drowned," Piccolo said pointedly.
"I had it under control," Vegeta seethed.
"Let's get one thing straight. I hate you. The only reason I pulled you out is because you're of no use to me dead."
"Of use to you-"
"Shut up. Yes, of use to me. I need you alive and on my side when we attack Frieza. Together. Once the boy is back and this is all said and done, we go our separate ways, provided you aren't dead. Which would probably be an added bonus."
Vegeta snarled at him. "I'm not going to die. I'm becoming immortal, you idiot. That little brat isn't coming back. Frieza would pick him off in an instant. And when I become immortal, you're next on my list, after Frieza. Got it?"
Krillin appeared in the doorway. "Stop it," he commanded in a very unlike-Krillin manner. "We aren't going to get anywhere like this." Piccolo relaxed his stance almost immediately. Vegeta took a few moments to come down, before he crossed his arms over his chest. "We both have a common goal. So, what are we going to do about it, huh?"
"I need to get to a healing chamber first," Vegeta stated flatly.
"Here, we have a few senzu beans left. Use one of those inste-"
"No. No, we need to save those for emergencies only," Piccolo interrupted.
"Okay...Well, where is there a healing chamber then?" Krillin asked.
"There's one on Frieza's ship," Vegeta said.
"How is that even remotely a good idea?" Krillin asked, alarmed.
"Because Frieza isn't there, and neither is Zarbon. Cui and Dodoria are dead. There is no one on that ship who is any sort of threat. I only need to be in it for ten minutes. That woman actually did a pretty good job," he added almost resentfully.
"Yeah, well, years of hanging out with the warrior bunch has made a fantastic doctor of me," Bulma said, coming into the room. She was much calmer now, her voice even and flat. "How exactly do you plan on slipping past those henchmen, huh?"
"Yeah. Won't they have scouters to contact Frieza and tell him you're there?" Krillin added.
"It won't be hard to slip past them so long as we stay hidden. We'll be fine."
"What this we business?" Krillin asked, immediately wary.
"I need one of you to go with me to keep watch while I'm in there."
"I thought you said you didn't need anyone's help," Piccolo said snidely. Vegeta shot him an icy glare and raised his lip at him. The two stared each other down before Piccolo straightened. "I'll go. But we need to do it fast."
Vegeta nodded. The two walked down the ramp into the light and took to the sky.
"What do you think the odds are that they'll kill each other before they get there?" Bulma mused.
"Probably pretty good," Krillin said, scratching his head. "I hope this works."
The journey to Frieza's ship was a fast and silent one, the two warriors avoiding each other almost like the plague. Vegeta raced on, Piccolo flying easily in his wake. They made their descent as the ship came into view, opting to skim over the ground to stay out of sight.
Vegeta sidled up behind a leg of the ship, glancing around warily, but full of confidence. "What a bunch of idiots. There's no one even out here keeping guard," he muttered. "This is going to be way too easy."
Vegeta led the way, taking silent steps, Piccolo following quietly behind him. They scaled the ramp cautiously, furtive eyes darting around for movement.
Nothing.
Vegeta let out a quiet derisive snort, as if he had known this would happen all along. The two entered the hallway and began to run with careful, quiet steps down the corridor. Vegeta came to a sliding stop as he heard two people walking in the opposite direction. Glancing behind him, he saw that the Namekian was way ahead of the game, having floated up to the ceiling and pressing himself against it. Vegeta scowled at him as he followed suit. The two guards below them walked by without suspecting a thing.
The two dropped back down and Vegeta led them to the healing chamber. He carefully inspected the inside before tapping at the keyboard attached to the pod-like structure. "Close the door," he hissed at Piccolo. "Left button." Piccolo pressed it and the door whooshed shut. "Okay, this thing's set for ten minutes and I'll be good as new. If someone gets in here, kill them," he said flippantly as he removed his bandages.
"No problem."
Vegeta entered the chamber and placed a mask over his mouth and nose. As soon as he shut the door, the chamber began to fill with cool blue liquid and he closed his eyes, feeling the familiar sensation of everything being healed. Piccolo glanced at him for a moment before turning all his attention to what was happening outside the door. Occasionally footsteps would go by, but none stopped to question why the door was shut. Piccolo kept glancing at the chamber console, watching as the timer counted down.
BEEP BEEP BEEP
The alarm sounded loudly from the chamber as it reached zero and the chamber began to drain the liquid. Vegeta ripped the mask off him, swearing. "Shit. Well that should've alerted the whole ship," he growled, slamming his hand down on the control panel, effectively breaking it. "Let's go," he said, opening the door and darting out.
As predicted, the entire ship was aware of them now.
"It's Vegeta!" several of them exclaimed, drawing their blasters out. Several were shouting into their scouters for Frieza. Piccolo turned to run down the corridor as Vegeta sent a giant wave of ki down the hall, effectively killing everyone in its path. He almost ran past the main room before Piccolo grabbed his arm and yanked him in.
"What are you do-" Vegeta began to snap before he caught sight of what Piccolo had already seen.
The five dragon balls.
Piccolo raised his head as he felt the overwhelming ki of Frieza racing to the ship, Zarbon following. Vegeta blasted the window out with a well-aimed blast. He began gathering the balls and chucking them as hard and far as he could, them soaring out one after the other and disappearing over the horizon.
"Go!" Vegeta snarled, shoving Piccolo toward the window. He needed no reinforcement. He flew out the window at breakneck speed, Vegeta on his heels as they headed the direction the dragon balls had gone.
Behind them, trailing on the wind, was a loud roar followed by "VEGETA!"
"What was that?" Piccolo mused, slowing.
They stopped and turned toward the ship, lowering their ki now that they were effectively out of sight. Vegeta smirked.
"That was the glorious sound of a very pissed off Frieza."