Vegeta took a few steps forward on a plateau near Frieza's ship, reaching out with his senses to locate the few surviving Frieza soldiers. As he'd suspected, they had evidently learned of his battle with Zarbon and the destruction of the Namekian village, and had promptly returned to the ship to guard the remaining Dragon Balls and prevent further casualties. He could sense no more than perhaps twenty or thirty soldiers remaining, none of them particularly threatening. All he had to do was get Frieza away from the ship.

"At least that part will be simple," Vegeta thought with a chuckle as he fired a ball of ki into the air before it exploded in a spectacular display miles above his head. Wasting no time, he took off and briefly hid within a cave on the opposite side of the ship as he monitored the various ki signatures within. After a moment, he could tell that the soldiers had withdrawn into the ship, and he seized upon the chance, blowing a hole through the cave and taking off towards the ship. No sooner had he done so than he saw just what he had been hoping for: Frieza, knowing his soldiers would be slaughtered if they attempted to track him, decided to get up and hunt him down personally now that the opportunity presented itself.

Barely restraining the urge to cackle maniacally, Vegeta landed just outside the ship just as some of the soldiers returned to stand watch while their lord was gone. No sooner had one of them uttered a single syllable than Vegeta had effortlessly slaughtered the lot of them. Quickly raising the cry of alarm, the other soldiers scrambled to attack the prince as he calmly walked down a corridor and cleaved through all of them with a single ki blast. However, he could still sense seven soldiers within a single location, and rapidly deduced that that was the location that the Dragon Balls were being kept.

No sooner had Vegeta flown into the chamber than he heard the sound of shattered glass and saw the surviving soldiers, all but two of them with a Dragon Ball in their hands, anxiously attempt to make their escape. Although moving as fast as he could to dispatch the two stragglers who intercepted him, he was only able to kill four of the five remaining soldiers before one of them escaped, flying as fast as he could in the direction of Frieza.

"LORD FRIEZA COME QUI-ACK!" the soldier cried out as his body was pierced by a finger beam, leaving Vegeta to pry the Dragon Ball out of the falling corpse's dead hands before retreating into the ship.

However, the noise was enough to dimly catch Frieza's attention, who had been searching around the area of the ki blast for a few moments. With a cry of shock, the tyrant immediately flew back to the ship through the hole in the chamber, while Vegeta fired off a ki blast to his right, blowing another hole into the ship, before doubling back to the left and slipping into an adjacent room. Frieza, arriving in time to hear the sound, took off down the hall to the right and exited the ship once more, to no sign of Vegeta. Although only distracted for perhaps ten seconds, it was long enough for Vegeta to return to the chamber and quickly throw all of the balls out the hole in the window. He took off as fast as he possibly could while Frieza was still distracted, before hiding behind a nearby outcropping. Just a few seconds later, Frieza returned to the ship and his chamber to find the Dragon Balls gone, letting out another cry of shock.

"What the-! He must have-! GRRRRAAAAAHH!" he cried out in frustration before blowing apart a nearby wall with a ki blast. "That prideful fool can't even begin to comprehend how he's inconvenienced me! Agh! To be fooled by such simple tricks-!" After another few seconds, he sighed resignedly. "Well...the Ginyu Force will be on their way soon anyway. Four days until they arrive, if I recall. But...what to do until then?"

Frieza pondered this for a moment. "I could spend the next four days until their arrival engaging in a manual search on my own, but-agh, such demeaning tasks are what I had these useless dullards for!" Frieza growled, gesturing to one of the many corpses scattered about the room. "On the other hand...leaving things as they are may prove even more costly. Vegeta was almost certainly the one who destroyed that village, meaning he likely took their Dragon Ball for himself. And who knows where the last one is?"

Frieza took another breath before a plan of action came to mind. He slowly walked down the corridor to the bridge, idly waving his hand in order to telekinetically activate a computer terminal.

"Hm...no scouter signals. So, Vegeta's was destroyed," Frieza mused as his lips curled into a smirk. "Excellent. He's just as blind as I am now." His eyes then fell to the coordinates of two scouters which, from the look of things, had been disabled before the incident at the village. "Ah, yes! That's where Zarbon said he'd be going. The location never was investigated fully..."

His plan of action decided, Frieza set out towards the window once more, looking around the landscape and deciding on a direction.

"He probably threw them all roughly in the same place, so he could find them later. So, I'll simply pick a direction and then pan around to wherever else he could've chosen."

With that, Frieza took off at the rightmost angle Vegeta could have thrown the balls.

"Bear no false hope, Vegeta-it is I who shall obtain immortality!" He cackled as he flew with breathtaking speed.

Vegeta emerged from the lake he had plunged into and started suddenly as he felt the evil tyrant exercising his power.

"I-incredible! Even a fraction of his strength...no! I have to focus! He's heading the wrong way, but it's only a matter of time until he finds the balls!"

Flying with renewed vigor, Vegeta soon came upon a clearing in which he could see all five of the balls, packed fairly close together.

"Yes! They're all here!" Vegeta cried out in relief before panic began to set in. "But it won't be long until he thinks to come this way. I could risk burying them here, but there's still the chance that he might find them." He pondered over what to do as he quickly gathered the balls around him. "If I could lift them all up at once...no. I have no knowledge of how to perform the kinds of telekinetic feats I've seen of some species."

After a second, however, a thought occurred. "Wait a second! The power of flight involves lifting oneself with minute manipulation of ki! If I were to extend the field around which that ki was manipulated..." He picked up two of the balls and attempted to lift off in such a manner a few times, with little success, before finally managing to slightly lift the other three. Cackling in triumph, he poured more of his energy into the technique, managing to take all five of the balls into the air and have them roughly keeping pace with him as he left the area only moments before Frieza glanced at the area as he flew overhead, before moving on.

After fifteen minutes of flying as fast as he could while keeping his tenuous hold on the Dragon Balls, Vegeta located a suitable alcove and touched down, letting the balls fall to his feet. A small ki blast was all it took to create a suitable hole, within which Vegeta promptly buried the balls. Satisfied that his handiwork would not be easily discovered, he turned his attention to another matter.

"Yes...I'd been sensing it for some time now, but I'd been too distracted," Vegeta mused. "Three great powers...flying off in the direction of that village."

Vegeta sprang to action.

"Yes! That's it! Whoever I sensed before must be getting reinforcements after taking the Dragon Ball from that village!" He took off into the air, angling himself towards their location and setting out. "But none of their powers are any great threat to me! I'll crush them all, take their Dragon Ball, and then I'll be free to scour the planet for the last of them!" Vegeta laughed maniacally as he felt his goal coming ever closer to being within his grasp.

"Man...I know I said this a handful of times before, but...holy crap, you're strong now."

Goku stood across from Piccolo, both of them panting heavily under the strain of training and twenty times normal Earth gravity. The training room's floor was already noticeably chipped from the struggles between the two.

"Still...you have been improving dramatically, Goku," Piccolo acknowledged, taking note of his torn clothing. "Particularly with that one sudden boost in power you obtained."

"Yeah," Goku acknowledged. "I've been thinking back on some of my old fights, where something similar happened when I got really roughed up."

Piccolo seemed to read his mind. "You're worried that, should Vegeta still be alive, he'll have experienced a similar boost in power."

"Or a greater one," Goku elaborated. "We're both way stronger than he was back on Earth, but if he made it to Namek...the gang's got enough on their plate as it is."

Piccolo nodded solemnly. "Let us hope that he did not, or that your allies are able to evade him."

Goku nodded in turn. "Yeah...anywho!" he said, changing the subject. "I feel like we've gotten the hang of twenty gees. Wanna kick it up a notch?"

Piccolo smirked. "I thought you'd never ask." Just as Goku moved to the gravity generator's control panel, however, he felt a jolt in his brain, which he quickly recognized.

"Goku? Goku, can you hear me?"

Goku's face lit up as he recognized the nasally voice in his head.

"King Kai?! Ah, it's good to hear your voice! The last month has been insane!"

"Likewise."

Piccolo turned to look at him quizzically, causing Goku to have an idea.

"Oh! King Kai, can you patch in to Piccolo too?"

"...Oh! Right, of course! Sorry about that."

"No worries!"

Piccolo blinked as King Kai began communicating to his mind as well. He chuckled.

"Hm...I was wondering when I'd get to talk to the Lord of the Worlds himself."

"What are you two doing out in the middle of space, anyway? Are you going to search for the Namekian Dragon Balls?"

"Wait, you don't know? There's something really bad going on on Namek right now, and my friends are right in the middle of it!"

"Is that so? Well, we can discuss that in a moment. I called to inform you: I've got two new guests on my planet."

"Two new...?"

Piccolo chuckled slightly. "Ah, yes, I remember. I'm glad to hear you made it across. Chiaotzu, Roshi."

Goku took a step back, while King Kai seemed surprised. "How did you/How did you-?"

"In the aftermath of the Saiyan invasion and the incident with my late father, Kami made a visit to Other World to vouch for the passage of your fallen comrades across Snake Way to train with King Kai."

"Still, how...oh. Right. Yes, Roshi and Chiaotzu were informed of the possibility before he sent them off."

Goku sighed for a moment before his brightness returned. "Can I talk to them?"

"Certainly. Put your hand on my shoulder, either of you!" The voice called out to others. After a few seconds, Goku and Piccolo heard a different voice.

"Hello, Son Goku and...Piccolo? Kami? Kamiccolo?"

"It's just Piccolo," he replied with some irritation. Goku, meanwhile, smiled sadly.

"Hey, Master Roshi. It's...it's really good to hear your voice again."

"I feel the same, my pupil."

"How'd you even get across Snake Way so fast? It took me six months!"

"Well, Kami's training definitely helped in that department."

Goku chuckled. "So now you're training with King Kai?"

"Yup. And I gotta say, he's really putting us through the wringer with this gravity."

"Are you going to try and learn the Kaio-ken?"

"You bet! The technique seems intriguing, and I think I'm already beginning to have an idea of how it works."

"Yeah, I've been getting in some practice with the Kaio-ken too. Piccolo's fusion with Kami has made him insanely strong!" Piccolo smirked as Goku continued, "Not to mention the gravity we're training under. We've only got five days until we get to Namek, and from what we hear, even this might not be enough!"

King Kai and Roshi both paused for a second. "You mentioned something really bad going on on Namek," King Kai finally said. "Care to elaborate?"

"Well, I was still hurt, and Piccolo was busy training along with...other things, so Bulma, Krillin, Yamcha, and apparently Gohan went to Namek to find their Dragon Balls. But there's somebody else there-some emperor guy and his army! And some of them are even stronger than Vegeta was!"

King Kai let out a gasp of shock. "E-emperor?! Wait...was his name...Frieza?"

"Hm...yeah. I think it was actually."

"Oh no...no, no, no, no, NO!" Goku heard as King Kai busied himself with something.

"King Kai? You still there?"

"He seems to be looking for something," Roshi remarked. He got no further before King Kai let out a full-blown cry of terror.

"IT'S HIM!"

"Huh. So I remembered it right!"

Piccolo chuckled. "For once."

"SILENCE! This is no joking matter, you two! Listen to me, no matter what you do, when you get to Namek, you need to grab your friends and LEAVE!"

"What? But...they say he's after the Dragon Balls too. If he gets his wish-!"

"I know that, but it doesn't matter! Frieza's the emperor of much of your galaxy! His power is beyond anything either of you could ever hope to reach! Defying him will only make him angry, and his anger will send him on a destructive path across the universe! He will find your planet, and everyone you care about will be destroyed with but a flick of his finger! Please, Goku, Piccolo, heed my warnings and STAY! AWAY!"

"Woah...to think there's someone that powerful..." Goku mused.

As King Kai continued to get worked up, Roshi took over. "Listen, Goku, just focus on getting as strong as you can before you get to Namek. With luck, Frieza won't get whatever he's wishing for, and if you should come across him...there is one technique that Piccolo now knows of which may be of help."

Piccolo chuckled, recognizing what the old man was getting at. "An interesting proposition. I don't know if it's ever been attempted on someone that powerful...but it may be helpful, indeed. If there truly is no recourse, I will do as you recommend. I'll simply have to find something around here that will work for it."

"One other thing-if you manage to get the Namekian Dragon Balls before Frieza, focus on the needs of the moment, rather than bringing us back. If these Dragon Balls could give you a way to actually stop him...take it."

Goku recoiled in shock. "M-master, are you sure?"

Piccolo was likewise surprised. "The Dragon Balls can't resurrect groups of people if more than a year has passed. If the Namekian ones have the same restriction-"

"Then it's the lives of a couple hundred thousand compared to untold billions throughout the galaxy who may be persecuted and enslaved under Frieza's continued rule," Roshi replied frankly. "Besides...I doubt King Kai's training would make much of a difference in whether or not me or Chiaotzu could help you boys down there. We'd be alive for all of five minutes if King Kai's to be believed."

Piccolo nodded, although Goku looked unsure.

"Trust me, son. It's the best option in the long run."

"I-I know, but..."

"I understand your frustration, but don't worry. If anyone's able to defeat this latest menace, it's you. Now get back to your training, son."

Goku paused for a moment before nodding. "Sure thing, Master!"

"I'll see if I can't talk to you again, although I imagine you'll have your hands full."

"Looking forward to it! Until then, I'll see you later!"

"Likewise." With that, the line went dead, and Piccolo and Goku kicked the gravity up to thirty g's as they had planned.

Meanwhile, in Other World, King Kai looked worried. "I worry you still don't understand just what Frieza's capable of."

Roshi chuckled. "Oh, I got the gist of it, but if there's one thing I know from twelve years of knowing the man, it's that no entreaty in the world is going to stop Goku from taking on somebody strong. Especially if said somebody is an evil person putting his friends' lives in danger."

King Kai sighed. "I figured as much. I just hope I won't have to see him in this place for a very long time."

Roshi put a hand on his shoulder in consolation. "I hope the same, but perhaps we should focus on a more immediate concern?"

King Kai sighed. "Very well. In order to begin my training, the two of you must tell me a joke!"

Roshi chuckled as Chiaotzu looked unsure. "You're entirely sure you want to start this? With somebody who's been hearing good jokes for three hundred years?"

King Kai smiled slightly. "I've been hearing them for millennia. Now, give it your best shot."

Roshi sat in thought as he attempted to come up with a joke, the first step in what he hoped would be rather productive training with the Lord of the Worlds.

"So how much further?"

Yamcha addressed the question to Tsuno during the first break they'd had in hours. The elderly Namekian considered it for a moment.

"Given our current rate of travel, about three days."

Yamcha groaned audibly, before looking over at his charge: the Dragon Ball of Tsuno's village.

"Well, as long as Vegeta or this Frieza guy don't spot us, I guess that's alright. I just wish I could contact Bulma or the others. We really should've built communicators or somethi-" Yamcha paused as he felt a familiar sensation in his head. Tsuno evidently felt it, too, as he pointed off to the direction they had been heading.

"Look! Three high powers are approaching!"

"And...yes! It's Krillin and Gohan!" Yamcha cried out in relief before realization set in regarding the familiar signatures' magnitude. "Holy crap, that's Krillin and Gohan!"

"And the third one with them is...Nail! He's here! Nail is here!" Tsuno cried out joyously, with the other Namekians soon joining in.

Only a moment after they first noticed their approach, the three arrived before them, landing gently on the ground in front of Yamcha and Tsuno.

"Mr. Yamcha!" Gohan called out, wrapping him up in a hug.

"Aw, hey, little man! I was worried about you two!" Yamcha replied. "Holy hell, how did you both get so strong?!"

"Apparently Lord Guru can unlock people's hidden potential," Krillin answered. "Brings out a huge power boost."

"Sounds awesome!"

"[Nail!] [Nail's here!] [Nail's come to save us!]"

"[Brothers! It is good to see that you are all well,]" Nail replied. "[However, you must make haste to Lord Guru!]"

"[B-but Nail, if we use our full energy, then-]"

"[I am afraid he's already on his way,]" Nail said solemnly, leaving the other Namekians to become somewhat anxious.

"Uh, what did he say?" Yamcha asked the others.

"I imagine something about how Vegeta's on his way here after sensing our energy," Gohan replied.

"Oh. ...Crap," Yamcha said.

"I will stay behind and ensure he does not obtain the Dragon Balls," Nail assured Yamcha. "In the meantime, the three of you must get my people to safety."

"You're sure he can take on Vegeta by himself?" Yamcha asked.

Gohan nodded. "From what everyone tells us, he's a lot stronger than him. He should be fine!"

"Well...if you say so," Yamcha acknowledged. "Alright, everyone-we're moving out!"

Powering up to maximum, Yamcha picked up the Dragon Ball and took off, Krillin and Gohan in pursuit along with Tsuno and the other Namekians. Soon, only Nail was left hovering above the clearing, before he was met by the sinister grin of the Saiyan prince himself.

"Huh! So it would seem Frieza's lackeys missed a few of you!" he mused to himself, chuckling. "Well, I happen to be in a fairly good mood, so if you go ahead and let me pass, I might just not use you as a punching bag."

"You can sense energy, can you not?" Nail inquired. "Surely you have guessed this is not my full power?"

Vegeta scoffed. "It doesn't matter how much power you're hiding, slug. I am the second strongest being on this planet! And once I gain immortality, I'll finally be able to wear that bastard Frieza down and take his place as ruler of the universe! Now, are you going to let me pass, or do I have to demonstrate?"

Nail smirked. "By all means," he replied before powering up fully. "Try me."

Vegeta floated backwards a step, before steadying his resolve, flying towards the Namekian at full speed. To his horror, however, Nail simply flew aside before grabbing him by the ankle and throwing him into a nearby mountain. Before he could recover, Nail flew down to meet him with a dropkick to his ribs. As he wheezed in pain, out of breath and with several broken ribs, Nail picked him up and threw him in the opposite direction, leaving him to crash into the open clearing.

Nail landed in front of him, and Vegeta tried his luck with a series of punches, but Nail managed to dodge these easily before taking one in the stomach, to seemingly little effect. Nail swiftly responded by picking him up and replying in kind, leaving him doubled over as he tossed him into the air. Flying upwards, Nail then met him with a roundhouse kick to the face, sending him right back into the dirt.

Enraged and heavily wounded, Vegeta began charging up a powerful new technique, holding both of his arms to his sides. Nail held out his hand and replied in kind.

"FINAL CRASH!"

"Mystic Flasher!" he shouted, summoning forth a massive wave of yellow ki which ultimately consumed Vegeta's after a short struggle, leaving him to take the brunt of the impact. When the smoke cleared, Vegeta was lying on the ground, covered in burn marks and blood and weakening rapidly. Nail calmly walked over to him, charging up ki in order to finish him off.

"Damn it! I need to...retreat," Vegeta thought to himself with a scowl. Seeking a way out, he opted for a tried and true tactic.

"W-wait!" Vegeta called out, as he struggled to get up. "I-if you kill me, you'll never know where the other Dragon Balls have been buried! You'll be left searching for days!"

Nail stopped for a second, before chuckling slightly. "Not exactly. The Earthlings claim to have a device which allows them to detect our Dragon Balls," he explained, causing Vegeta's face to fall. He briefly considered attempting to steal it from the other Earthlings he could sense not too far away, but realized that even if he got away, the delay would only give Nail more time to catch up to him, or the other Earthlings time to finish him off, assuming they even had it. "Which means...I have no incentive to spare your life."

As Nail held his hand aloft before Vegeta's face, he found himself scowling in rage for allowing himself to be so thoroughly beaten. In desperation, hating himself all the while, he decided to attempt the one last trick up his sleeve, drawing his hands together in front of his face just as he was about to fire.

"SOLAR FLARE!"

The burst of light flashed directly into Nail's eyes, the close range only intensifying the pain as Vegeta flew past him as fast as he could currently manage. Although still able to sense his energy, the pain distracted him for several minutes as Vegeta continued flying. When he'd finally shaken off the effects of the flare, he discovered to his disappointment that Vegeta had managed to drop his energy all the way to zero, rendering him undetectable.

"Blast!" Nail cursed to himself before sighing in acceptance. "Well, in any event, those wounds will certainly kill him if they are not treated soon. If I sense him again, I shall give chase, but for now, returning to the others is the most logical course in order to keep Lord Guru safe."

With that, he reluctantly took off at maximum speed towards Guru's home, seeking to overtake the others who had gone ahead and hoping that the threat of Vegeta was sufficiently dealt with.

Guru lifted his hand from Yamcha's head, leaving him to bask in the glory of his unlocked potential.

"Whoa...you guys weren't kidding! This is awesome!" Yamcha cried out joyously.

"Yeah! But, it doesn't seem like our unlocked potential is going to do much good against the likes of Vegeta, or this Frieza guy," Krillin replied morosely.

"Eh, maybe, but it'll help us hold out until Goku gets here," Yamcha replied optimistically as he brought his power back down to zero.

"I guess..."

"In any event, as long as we try and keep our energy down as much as we can, we shouldn't run into any trouble with Vegeta or Frieza," Gohan reasoned.

"We can only hope," Krillin replied.

Before any of them could dwell upon the topic, they sensed the arrival of Nail only a moment before he joined the other Namekians and the Earthlings in Guru's chamber. The scowl on his face told them well enough what had transpired.

"He escaped," Nail began. "Blinded me with some technique, then took off while I was distracted. He's hiding his energy now, but he's severely wounded. I highly doubt he'll give us too much trouble, but if he makes his presence known again, I shall eliminate him swiftly."

Guru nodded. "You did the best that you could, my son."

Nail nodded in turn before turning to the Earthlings. "I should apologize to you all as well-he now knows that you are capable of tracking down the Dragon Balls."

The Earthlings started in shock, but sighed resignedly after a moment.

"Well, guess we'll just have to bring you along when we track them down, just in case he tries to jump us for the radar," Krillin reasoned.

"I came to the same conclusion."

"Alright then!" Krillin said, pulling out the Dragon Radar. "Gohan, Nail, you're with me! We'll fly at top speed to wherever the radar says we should go! Yamcha-"

"Already sitting down."

"Gotcha! Let's go!" The three then descended the lift and walked outside before taking off into the sky once more, leaving Yamcha to watch over Guru and the other Namekians with a sigh of annoyance.

"Curse that slug...curse those Earthlings...curse Frieza!"

This train of thought had been steadily making its rounds through Vegeta's head for some time as he trudged to a familiar location on foot, hiding his energy. He knew that, even if he was entirely confident he could fly all the way to the only medical machines he knew of on the planet without passing out, Nail was sure to locate him and finish him off before he could get there. Not to mention he'd have to stay hidden from Frieza for however long it'd take to recover.

"But," Vegeta said with a satisfied smirk as his target came into view, "I still have one advantage."

With renewed effort, he dragged himself into his attack ball, relieved to see that the impact with the ground hadn't damaged its propulsion systems.

"Now...set course for...coordinates 645...by 386...mark 267," he got out before collapsing into the seat. The ship quickly closed the hatch and lifted up into the air, taking off just high enough above the ground to steer clear of any mountains as it flew across the planet.

At its standard cruising speed, it took only a half an hour for the ball to arrive at its destination, a mountain not too far from Frieza's ship. With even more effort, the prince got out of the ship as its hatch opened once more, before resolving to push himself as much as he could to fly to the ship, reaching it in only a minute. From there, he stumbled into the hole he'd created in it previously, searching for one of two rooms of interest to him and doing everything in his power to keep blood from dripping onto the floor and revealing his presence upon Frieza's return.

Eventually, he found the room he sought, and was relieved that it housed the newer model of medical machine. Hoping that it'd be enough, he turned out the power to all non-vital systems within the room, before setting the chamber to open and close with a two minute delay before and after the process was complete. These precautions complete, Vegeta stumbled into the pod, blood now dripping profusely on the floor and control panels, and hooked himself up to the breathing apparatus as the chamber was sealed. He gave in to sleep as the chamber filled with a lime green fluid, hoping against hope that he would be given the time to heal, while also holding another hope in reserve.

"With the kinds of beatings that I've endured on this planet...combined with the boosts I've gotten previously...yes. This may...be the boost that...allows me to truly...surpass the limits of my race! To become...the...the Super...Super..."

With that, he drifted into unconsciousness as the pod continued its work.

"Well! It appears," Frieza began as he surveyed the remains of his search area, dug up almost to bedrock by his telekinetic abilities, "that my search has been for naught." After a slight groan, he resolved to take off into the sky and scope the area out for the direction of his next target.

"Let's see...the coordinates should take me in...that direction," he mused, taking off at a leisurely pace as he continued to think aloud. "It's unfortunate that Vegeta likely moved the balls somewhere else, but without any sort of reference, they could be anywhere on the planet by now. Let us simply hope that he does not obtain the last one during the course of my investigation."

Before he knew it, he arrived at the canyon where Zarbon met his demise. Sparing a second to scowl distastefully at the sight of his aide's final resting place, he continued onward before finally coming upon a serene lake, with no evident signs of life for miles beyond the occasional sea creature. However, his vision soon rested upon a poorly defined shape which seemed to be at the floor of the lake. Moving closer, he could see that the large shape was definitely not a natural formation, but still couldn't make out many details. His interest piqued, he reached out his senses as he began manipulating the ki in the nearby area.

Within the ship, Bulma had been relaxing, getting herself a snack from the ship's kitchen, when the entire ship was suddenly racked by a massive jolt, as if being picked up by some giant hand. Bulma quickly lost her footing, and both her and her food fell to the floor.

"AH! What the HELL?!" she cried out in surprise before glancing out a window and noticing her predicament:

The ship wasn't underwater anymore.

"Uh...ship? Did you...take off accidentally or something?" she called out, making her way slowly to the helm.

"Propulsion systems are offline," the ship replied robotically. Bulma was about to ask it what was going on, before she looked out the front window to see Frieza floating directly in front of the ship, apparently not having moved a muscle. Being acquainted with Chiaotzu, she had some idea that ki could be used to give its user telekinetic abilities. Further, based on how the aliens responsible for the attack on the village were described to her, and the sheer power on display, it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out the identity of the horned figure. And Bulma was much smarter than a rocket scientist.

"SHIP GET US OUT OF HERE AS FAST AS POSSI-!" Bulma screamed in terror before she heard the hatch opening. "W-what?! How the hell-?!" she muttered frantically before activating the emergency override, causing the hatch to close once more. She allowed herself only a second to sigh in relief before she looked out the window to see that the emperor was gone. With a sinking feeling in her stomach, she turned around.

"Greetings," the emperor said, in a surprisingly cordial fashion. "I was hoping we might have the chance to talk."

Bulma was about to respond before she felt a powerful sensation all throughout her body, as if she was being crushed by a truck. Within seconds, she had completely lost consciousness, being lifted up telekinetically by the emperor as he nonchalantly blasted a hole in the ship. With little effort, he released his hold on the vessel, sending it falling sideways back into the lake with a resounding splash as he took off towards his own ship, his captive in tow.

"You know, that was...a lot easier than I was expecting."

Krillin made the observation as he, Nail, Gohan stood over the spot where Vegeta had buried the five Namekian Dragon Balls. With the radar's help, digging them up had been easy, and they were in the process of picking them up for transport.

"I'll say. I haven't sensed Vegeta at all!" Gohan remarked.

"He's evidently sensible enough to not try and approach us in his wounded state," Nail reasoned. "What's more...wait."

Nail paused, reaching out with his senses towards a particular location.

"What is it?" Gohan asked.

"Frieza...he's been moving."

"Yeah, we've been feeling that every so often," Krillin replied. "It's kind of hard to miss him, honestly."

"It's not just that-there's another one with him. Significantly weaker-evidently not a fighter."

"A Namekian?" Gohan asked. Nail shook his head.

"Every Namekian save for the inhabitants of Tsuno's village, Dende, myself, and Lord Guru is dead. Lord Guru himself told me that nobody else survived."

"But who else would have such a low...power...level?" Krillin asked, his heart sinking and his eyes widening as he realized who it was. "Oh, no."

"What? Who else could it-?" Gohan began before he too realized who had been taken, gasping in shock. "Miss Bulma!"

Nail cocked his head in confusion. "Who?"

"She came with us on our mission to gather the balls," Krillin explained.

"More to the point," Gohan added frantically, "she's the one who built our Dragon Radar!"

Nail's eyes widened slightly before his expression settled into a frown. "And now that knowledge may reside within Frieza's grasp as well."

"S-she'd never cooperate with him!" Krillin said, although Gohan seemed hesitant to agree.

"She may not be given a choice in the matter," Nail replied. "Frieza's likely kept her alive solely because he believes she has information about your activities. You've seen the wanton acts of cruelty he's capable of."

"Plus...have you seen how that woman holds up under pressure?" Gohan asked candidly, fear evident in his voice. Krillin's face fell as he took Gohan's words into account, before his determined expression returned.

"Well, then, we need to get her back immediately!"

"Agreed, but there are more pressing matters we must remedy first," Nail replied. "We should get these back to Lord Guru's before we try and work out a rescue plan. As long as your companion is able to hold out, Frieza will have no way of knowing we have all seven balls in our possession. As much as their power would benefit us at the moment...we must keep it that way."

Krillin looked at him confused, while Gohan nodded. "Ah, yeah. I heard something about the Dragon Balls cutting out the light of the sun when activated. Figures yours are similar."

"And on a planet with three of them, such a change is very noticeable," Nail said. "Should we attempt to use the Dragon Balls, it is almost certain that Frieza will realize what has happened and kill your friend, whether out of anger or simply because her services will no longer be needed."

Both Krillin and Gohan blanched at this news. "W-we can't just leave her!"

"Nor did I suggest you should," Nail replied, focusing on the ki around him for a moment. Soon, three Dragon Balls were floating near him, with the other two in his hands. "I can get the Dragon Balls to Lord Guru's. You two go on ahead and see if you can formulate a rescue plan. I'll join you as soon as I am able."

With that, he took off, leaving the two of them to contemplate the best plan of action to rescue their friend, before flying in the direction of Frieza's ki signature.

"Come on, Bulma...just sit tight! We'll...we'll figure out some way to get you out of there!" Krillin thought to himself, partly out of genuine belief, and partly to reassure himself that she had not already been lost.

Another chapter completed on time! Whew! Admittedly, this one wasn't too hard to get through, although I do worry I've been abbreviating some of the fights. I'll let you guys be the judge of that. Anyway, responses!

BarryManiHigh says:

"So Vegeta doesn't know about Frieza's other forms. I wonder if that will have a notable effect on the story?"

You'll see what happens with that later, but needless to say, he's in for a surprise.

The Richmaster says:

"I'm definitely enjoying the changes here and it's interesting to see Yamcha actually doing something here; the various interactions all fit well too. The doctor side of things might be an interesting minor background plot, all things considered it's probably known that they know Bulma so it might be considered a Briefs prototype."

Eh, maybe, but like I said, idk if this fic is necessarily the place for that particular kind of subplot. Might touch on it, but definitely not until we get back to Earth, at least. Also, yup, this fic has been fairly good to Yamcha thus far, lol. Dunno how long that trend will continue, but him doing things that actually matter will.

Anonymous says:

"Uhh...Piccolo was not stronger than a untrained ssj before fusing. Gohan says piccolo seems as strong as a ssj, but Vegeta just scoffs. Goku did NOT train in his ssj form for the 3 years, only on yardrat to get it under control and while fighting 19, was no where near his full power due to heart virus. Piccolo(unfused)untrained ssjfused piccolo. I still believe piccolo and kami's fusion should be stronger but its your fic and you have the liberty of changing stuff as long as it's not too outrageous Update soon"

Huh, interesting. I assumed that he was, at least as far as sparring with Piccolo went, since Gero and 19 were allegedly much stronger than the humans, including Tien, who we later see hold off Semi-perfect Cell with the Shin Kikoho. Training his base form would seem kind of pointless for Goku with this whole new lattice of power to tap into, but then again, it *would* explain why he only just started refining it to Grades 2 and 3 and Mastered in the Cell Saga. Yeah, I'm not sure on that-might have to re-read that arc.

As for Vegeta scoffing, I remember that, but I just kind of assumed it was typical Vegeta "Grr but my PRIDE!" behavior. Under the assumption that he had been training with Goku as a Super Saiyan, I figured it was fair to put Piccolo slightly above the level Goku was at when he first unlocked it, thus explaining how he's able to easily curbstomp Gero, while a sick Goku only barely held his own against 19. Anywho, I'll have to keep all this in mind for when we eventually get to the Android Saga.

Guest says:

"Although the event that forced piccolo to leave Namek was at a time super-Namekians weren't all but gone (which guru lived through), wouldn't surprise me if super had ''the event'' be Beerus. Either way, he should be at least a few 100 thousand above Nail."

Eh, I personally doubt that. Didn't watch too much of Super, but from what I have seen, Idk how merciful Beerus would be to a planet whose people don't eat food. But just leaving them with a drought also isn't his style. I would wager if it was Beerus who showed up back then, Namek would've just been blown up, unless the villagers prepared him something.

Also, given Piccolo and Kami's levels of power, I could understand people defending anything from like 10,000 to 50-60,000. Anything more seems a bit far-fetched to me, personally.

TienFan180 says:

"Just wanted to say, I am really loving the route this story is taking so far and the creativity on display in regards to the story of Dragon Ball, it really feels like the story could go in any direction because of one minor change. Some thoughts I wanted to share were that with Zarbon's line about the value of Earth increasing tenfold, perhaps some soldiers will he sent to conquer the Earth again giving Tien and the remaining characters something to do #plot predictions #mybestguess. Also in regards to Piccolo learning Kaio-ken, maybe he can use it but just to very small multipliers because it can't be as easy to use the spiritual technique of the Kaio-ken when you have two souls in your body to deal with instead of one, with his maximum maybe being around 2 or 3 times Kaio-ken? Wondering what your thoughts are!"

Thank you! One of my primary goals with this fic has been to create a fresh and engaging story, so I'm pleased to hear that seems to be paying off.

As for your prediction, I'm honestly not entirely sure what I'll be doing during the intermission between the Frieza and Android Sagas. I feel like if the Frieza Force did send soldiers, they'd be close to Ginyu-level, and the only characters who come to mind that wouldn't be an OC would be the Armored Squadron. As a rule, I'd like to keep non-canon movie characters out of this story, unless I think they have the potential to have a serious impact beyond just filling up chapters. So, the Armored Squadron are probably out of the question there, but yeah, I have considered such an idea before. I've also considered limiting Piccolo with the Kaio-ken in some way(my thought was his Namekian physiology making it more difficult to go to higher levels), but Idk how people would react to that. For now, though, either idea is a little ways off, so I won't concern myself too much. Anywho, thanks for the input!

Alright, and with all that done, power levels!

Roshi: 1,100(keep in mind that all of that running for a month straight is bound to be a good workout)

Chiaotzu: 800

Yamcha: 11,000

Piccolo, Goku: I'll save those for when they land, if that's okay with y'all.

With all that said, thank you all for reading, have yourselves a fantastic night, and take care.