The crashed pods hissed open to allow their occupants the opportunity to leave once the effects of their long-term stasis wore off. First to emerge was, of course, the illustrious captain, who had to turn his head slightly in order to get his spikes around the hatch. Next came a far bulkier man, seeming to resemble an ordinary human save for his massive 7'7" frame, with orange hair and a long, chiseled face. After this, two figures emerged simultaneously, one slightly taller than the humanoid, blue skinned, and with a snake-like head and scales, and the other a mere 5'7", red skinned, and sporting a mane of white hair. Finally, the last to emerge was a fat, green skinned alien with an additional set of large eyes along the sides of his face, barely over a meter in height. All five were dressed in standard Frieza Force armor custom-fitted for them, with a unique insignia along the right breast of the uniform, and all save the green one wore green scouters across their eyes.

With a sneer, the purple, horned captain took off, leading his men into the sky as they flew to the roof of Frieza's nearby ship. Sitting in his hoverchair waiting to greet them was the man himself, looking quite pleased to see the elite warriors. The captain spared a look at the others before they engaged in their time-honored routine. The blue one and the orange-haired giant moved both of their arms in one direction, as if forming a giant V-shape if pressed together, while the red one and the green, four-eyed alien crouched down and lifted their hands into the air. Rounding out the pose in the center, the captain turned around and held out his hands behind him as he let his head peek through the opening between his legs. As each member executed their pose, they called out their respective names.

"Recoome!"

"Burter!"

"Jeice!"

"Guldo!"

"Ginyu!" the purple, horned alien finished before continuing, "And together we are..."

"THE GINYU FORCE!" they all cried out at once before assuming completely different poses, Ginyu kneeling down with his arms touching the ground while Guldo stood to his left, Recoome throwing his arm over the group rather than away, and Jeice and Burter off to Ginyu's right, Jeice raising his fist into the air while Burter posed similarly to a tree. Frieza watched the entire display with growing confusion before sighing to himself. Memories of some of Zarbon's antics came back to his mind, heightening his annoyance.

"I always get the eccentrics," he thought to himself, irritated, before clearing his throat and getting down to business. "Gentleman! Thank you so much for coming down to assist me in this enterprise! I understand you had been planning the mission to Yardrat for quite some time-"

"Oh, think nothing of it, Lord Frieza!" Ginyu replied amicably. "You're well aware of the pleasure it brings us to lend our humble services to you."

Frieza genuinely smiled for the first time in a while. "Yes, of course. Now, then...there have been some developments which you must be made aware of before proceeding..."

Elsewhere, Vegeta stood overlooking a barren field some distance away, sensing the new arrivals with interest.

"So...the Ginyu Force has arrived at last," he said with a chuckle. "Too bad I've already eclipsed all of them in sheer power! But, then again...they may be useful when it comes to ferreting out those Earthlings and their slug friend. Perhaps I'll let the lackeys seek them out, and leave Ginyu for myself."

With this, he powered up somewhat, being careful not to make it seem like his power was anywhere near Ginyu's, while also making it clear that he was too much for his subordinates.

"Heh. Hopefully that will lure him in...and leave him open to a rather unpleasant surprise," Vegeta said aloud before letting out a stream of maniacal laughter.

"Attention: twenty minutes to arrival on Namek."

The computer's automated warning-given in a female voice, as anyone familiar with Dr. Briefs would expect-caught Goku and Piccolo's attention, who had both been meditating for the past few hours as they rested from the past few days' training. Piccolo in particular looked somewhat haggard even as he recovered, yet endeavored not to let it show. Goku opened his eyes and stood up, stretching his arms and back muscles.

"Welp! Looks like this is it!" Goku said in his typical optimistic manner.

"Indeed," Piccolo replied simply.

"Whoa! I'm feeling a lot of really powerful ki down there!" Goku remarked as he stretched out his senses. Piccolo grunted, confirming he felt the same. "And I'm pretty sure at least one of those is Vegeta!" At this, Piccolo's attention was piqued, and he held a slight internal debate with himself before speaking up.

"Goku?"

"Yuh huh?"

"I have been meaning to discuss this with you, but concerning Vegeta, there is something of which you must be made aware."

"What is it?" Goku asked, cocking his head in confusion. Piccolo paused for a second before responding.

"It is evident that your goal upon encountering Vegeta again is to fight him, to test his mettle in combat against your own. Am I correct in this assumption?"

Goku nodded. "It looks like he's gotten pretty strong! Although, he's not showing too much power compared to us..."

"Indeed. But, I want you to know: if the opportunity presents itself...my goal is to kill him." Goku sat in silence for a second before he finished, "Do you object to this?"

Goku thought it over before finally answering, "...Nah. He and his buddy killed so many innocent people on Earth. Not to mention Chiaotzu and Master Roshi, and how they hurt Yamcha and Tien. Plus...I didn't sense the same thing fighting him that I did when I fought you. With you, I could detect at least a hint of goodness. You clearly weren't the same evil person your father was. But...with him..." Goku took a deep breath, cutting his thoughts off there. "Just...let me get a good fight out of him first, huh? It seems a waste to not see just how strong he's gotten. And, to tell you the truth...I'm kinda hoping I'm wrong here."

Piccolo nodded. "Very well."

With this, the two ended their conversation abruptly, sitting down and resting once more as their ship continued its approach towards Namek.

"-So in summary, Vegeta appears to have gotten significantly stronger, and either he or a group of aliens accompanied by a Saiyan child are likely in possession of my Dragon Balls," Frieza said, concluding the briefing. Ginyu and the others nodded in understanding.

"Well, tracking down either of them shouldn't be too difficult. Jeice?"

"On it, captain!" The red-skinned warrior replied, checking the readings on his scouter.

"Oh, speaking of which! Recoome?"

Recoome promptly took a briefcase out of Jeice's hands and handed it to Frieza. "Here ya go, boss-new scouters, fresh off the lot."

"Why, thank you, Recoome," Frieza replied, taking out a red one and placing it over his right eye. The group continued to wait patiently for Jeice's report before Jeice stepped back in shock.

"Ah, bloody hell!" he cried out in surprise. "There's a power of 60,000 not too far from here!"

"What?!" The other Ginyu Force members cried out, while Frieza simply growled angrily.

"Those aliens from before only managed to succeed in killing Dodoria as far as my knowledge goes, and I've encountered no Namekian with anywhere near that power. I think it's fair to surmise that Vegeta is out and about."

"B-but the reading only showed up a moment ago!" Jeice replied.

"And no Saiyan's even gotten near 60,000!" Burter added.

"The locals seem to be able to vary their battle power. I would wager that Vegeta has developed the same skill."

"Hm...then 60,000 may be just for starters. A demonstration to show how much stronger he is," Ginyu speculated.

"B-but how would he know our battle powers?" Burter interjected.

"His scouter was destroyed," Frieza replied. "He shouldn't have any knowledge of your strength-I made sure that such knowledge was restricted only to my most trusted personnel. Unless...hm. Yes, that might explain some things."

"What is it, Lord Frieza?" Ginyu asked.

"The locals also seemed capable of sensing energy. It's possible that Vegeta has developed that skill as well."

Ginyu grimaced. "If these aliens of yours have also learned those skills from the Namekians, this hunt could be rather tricky."

"There is one saving grace," Frieza assured him. "There is a non-combatant among them-a female scientist with an abysmally low power level. I imagine it may be difficult, but isolating her signature will likely allow you to follow them."

"Jeice?" Ginyu asked.

"Already on it," Jeice replied, pausing for a moment before nodding. "Yup. Got her. Power level of 1, about...eh, ten, fifteen minutes out? Plus...oh, shite!"

"Yes?"

"A power of 42,000, boss! Same as any of us, right on top of her!" Jeice replied, gesturing to himself, Burter, and Recoome in panic. Ginyu thought to himself for a moment.

"Hm. Distressing. Lord Frieza, you say the aliens killed Dodoria?"

"That's correct. The attack evidently cleaved through him like a sword."

"Hm...well. Every one of you save Guldo are almost twice as strong as he was. Even if there is one equal to you three among them, the others shouldn't pose much of a threat. The four of you shall intercept them and obtain the location of Lord Frieza's Dragon Balls before they die, or secure the device with which they locate them, should it actually exist. As for me...I'll handle 'Prince' Vegeta myself."

"SIR YES SIR!" The other Ginyu Force members cried out, before Jeice took the lead.

"Ginyu Force..." he began, before the others finished along with him, "MOVE OUT!" With that, the four took off in the direction of the lower ki signatures, leaving only Ginyu and Frieza atop his wrecked ship. Ginyu took a deep breath before turning to his master hesitantly, which failed to go unnoticed by Frieza.

"Problem, captain?" he asked, partly out of concern, but mostly out of impatience.

"I'm just thinking, Lord Frieza...I worry that 60,000 may not even be close to what Vegeta has risen to at this point."

Frieza considered this before nodding. "Agreed. Based on the evidence, he seems to have utilized my newer model of medical machine while I was busy watching the girl. That would suggest he was critically wounded, and desperate enough that he'd take such a monumental risk as walking right onto my front doorstep."

Ginyu nodded in turn. "The Saiyan 'zenkai'...that was one of the reasons you were so concerned about them."

Frieza seemed annoyed at the suggestion he was concerned about anyone rising to surpass him, yet did not dismiss the point. "It seems to have given our dear monkey prince some rather unwelcome ideas about the proper order of things."

"Yes. However...I have to wonder whether it may yet be useful to us."

Frieza cocked his head in confusion. "Useful? How could it possibly be useful...oh. Oh! Ohohoho!" He laughed heartily. "What a splendid suggestion, captain! Yes, that would solidify my hold on the cosmos quite nicely! But...are you sure about taking such a step?"

Ginyu shrugged. "It is true that I am accustomed to this form, but if my assumption is right, Vegeta's body has the potential to be even greater. And of course, any opportunity to more effectively serve you is a welcome one, Lord Frieza."

"Hm...I do not wish to have any subjects too close to me in terms of power. And I've grown rather accustomed to dealing with my subjects in this form," Frieza mused. "But then again, perhaps I should allow myself the chance to show off a much larger helping of my true power."

"But of course, sir! All the better for dissuading other fools from following in Vegeta's footsteps!"

"My thoughts exactly, captain," Frieza replied, smiling. "Now then, you may execute your plan at your leisure."

"Certainly, sir!" he replied before doing one more of his token poses and taking off in Vegeta's direction.

"Well, Prince, you have earned my respect for managing to become so powerful on your own. I wonder...hm. It is a possibility. But enough about that. In any event, whether or not you are truly stronger than me...I promise you an honorable end."

Several minutes prior, Krillin, Bulma, and Gohan sat exhausted, eating a small meal of heated rations with the help of a cooking pot capsule Bulma happened to have on her. Nail, not requiring any nourishment, simply ate one of the packs in order to absorb some residual moisture, there being no hydrangea plants nearby to provide him with safe water. Suddenly, however, Nail became aware of a most troubling sensation, and started suddenly to the surprise of everyone else.

"What's going on?" Gohan asked. Nail turned to face him and the others as he responded.

"Five powerful ki signatures have just awoken. I believe they are this 'Ginyu Force' Frieza spoke of."

Surprised, Gohan and Krillin reached out, and quickly felt them as well.

"Oh, crap!" Krillin cried out in terror, to which Nail nodded. "Three of them are as strong as you!"

"Perhaps slightly less, but against all three, I stand no chance," Nail remarked, somewhat bitterly yet resigned to the facts. "Fortunately, you could dispatch one of them easily, but their leader..."

"He's on a whole other level," Gohan finished, terrified.

"Plus, with their scouters, they may be able to pick us up using Bulma's signature even if we bring ourselves down to zero!" Krillin added, equally scared.

"Okay, so, what's the plan?" Bulma asked, panicking herself. "...There is a plan, right?"

"Yes. Grab on," Nail replied simply, swiftly picking up Krillin, Gohan, and Bulma in both arms and taking off at full speed towards Guru's.

"THIS IS YOUR PLAN?!" Bulma shouted angrily as they continued to soar through the sky.

"Yes. If we hurry, we may use the Dragon Balls to our advantage after all," Nail replied calmly.

"Oh! What if we used one of the wishes to bring Piccolo and daddy directly here?" Gohan asked, to which Nail nodded.

"My plan exactly. Now, do not let go!"

Over the next ten minutes, Nail soared past the landscape as he carried the three of them along. When they finally made it to Guru's home, Nail quickly let them go, at which point they all hurried towards the lift and into Guru's chamber. Nail, Krillin, and Gohan met the frantic questions posed to them by the Namekians, before they were silenced by Guru.

"We must not let panic interfere with our judgement, my children," he began. "Now, gather the Dragon Balls and take them outside, quickly!"

As several Namekians scrambled to fetch the balls and take them out to the grassy courtyard, Yamcha met Bulma with a fierce embrace, which seemed to surprise her. After a few seconds, he broke away and began to speak, stuttering over his words.

"God, I just-as soon as I sensed what had happened, it took everything I had not to fly off and try to save you right then and there!"

Bulma chuckled somewhat awkwardly. "Yeah, as romantic as it would've been for you to do that, I generally prefer my men to be...alive. You know, as a rule." After a few seconds of continued chuckling, her face grew somewhat more somber. "Listen, Yamcha..." She began, before Yamcha spoke abruptly once more.

"I know, but like, even still, it was just so frustrating I felt so bad about it and I wished that I'd managed to get stronger than I was somehow so I could actually go in there and do something-"

"Yamcha...I-"

"Ah, babe, I'm just glad you're okay I don't know what I would've done if anything had happened to you you're just so important to me and-"

"Yamcha!" she said more forcefully, causing him to take pause.

"What?" he asked, looking at her with such concern that she wondered if perhaps she was making the right decision after all. Nevertheless, she gulped and pressed on.

"Yamcha...I'm breaking up with you."

Yamcha's eyes widened, while the other Namekians not busy gathering the balls just paused, confused. Yamcha finally managed to get out, "W-what? But-"

"Look, it's been in my head for a while, and let's just say I had a lot of time to think about my life," Bulma began before sighing, remorse evident in her tone. "In the end, I just don't think...whatever we've had for the last twelve years is really all that stable or healthy for either of us. I think...we were both at a point in our lives where we thought we needed to be in a relationship. We both needed...something, and we had no idea how else to get it."

Yamcha nodded slowly, understanding her reasoning, yet still finding himself confused as Bulma continued. "And I think that, when neither of us could manage this through the power of a magical wish through a giant dragon-you know, like normal human beings," she cut in with biting sarcasm before continuing, "we more or less drifted to each other out of convenience. Even after multiple break-ups and misunderstandings and whatnot, the thought of not having that relationship was worse than being in the relationship. So, we've just...kept going. We haven't gotten any closer-hell, we've been separated for months at a time! And we just...didn't really care. I don't know if we had something and it just died horribly, or if we never had anything to begin with...but at this point, I think it would be better for both of us to just...stop."

Yamcha took a deep breath, processing everything, while Bulma hastily moved to comfort him. "Yamcha, you're the sweetest guy I've ever met, and I'm sorry for the role I played in dragging this out. I'm sure you'll make a wonderful boyfriend for somebody else someday. Sorry for springing all of this on you at once, but I've been holding it in for like two days without knowing how to say it, and it seems increasingly likely that we're all going to die soon with no hope of revival, so...yeah. Sorry, again."

As Bulma finished her thought awkwardly, Krillin, Gohan, and especially Yamcha all stared at her unblinking. Still struggling to process everything, Yamcha was silent, prompting Krillin to eventually reply candidly, "Wow, that was...remarkably mature of you." Bulma turned towards him, some of her usual anger back in full force, before sighing to herself and accepting the barbed compliment.

"We're ready, Lord Guru!" one of the Namekians cried out from outside, catching everyone's attention. Bulma and the others hurried outside, Yamcha lagging behind as his brain continued spinning.

"You all are certain of the wishes you want to ask for?" the Namekian in front of the balls asked plainly. Krillin nodded.

"Just bring the ones known as Piccolo and Goku to this very spot. We'll work out the other two later."

"Understood." With that, the Namekian took a deep breath and began to recite an incantation in Namekian. "[Rise, Porunga, God of-!] ACK!" The man found himself interrupted as a purple ki blast collided with his body, burning him completely, to everyone's shock. Krillin looked up to trace the source of the blast, only to find four figures floating in the sky a fair distance away, three of whom boasted incredible power rivaling that of Nail's. Recoome's hand showed slight traces of smoke, indicating it was he who did the deed.

"Aw, damn it all! If we'd gotten here as late as we might have, they would've had those Dragon Balls activated!" Jeice exclaimed.

"Couldn't catch what he was saying before Recoome fried him," Burter stated. "Maybe there's some kind of code? One that only Namekians know?"

"That definitely complicates things," Jeice agreed.

"Well, it's a good thing we arrived when we did. Extending my field around others is even more draining," Guldo remarked, annoyed. "I'm not sure how much more of my time stopping I can pull off."

"Relax, buddy! All we need to do is get them away from the little slugs!" Recoome encouraged his teammate.

"Speaking of which..." Burter pointed out, gesturing towards the Namekian civilians and Bulma retreating towards the structure, while the Namekian warriors, Krillin, Gohan, Yamcha, and Nail stood in a ring around the Dragon Balls. Sighing, the Ginyu Force quickly flew down to meet the group on the ground.

"G'day, gentlemen! How's it going?" Jeice began cordially. "Now, our orders were to kill all of you lot and take your gizmo so we'd find out where the Dragon Balls were, but, heh! Wouldn't you know it-here they are, right in front of our faces! So obviously, that has prompted some slight alterations to the plan. Guldo?"

Before any of them could blink, the Dragon Balls had been taken away from where they were resting and had been tossed across the nearby field below haphazardly. Guldo stood sweating somewhat, yet still grinning in triumph. The warriors looked over to the Ginyu Force with uncertainty etched across their features, preparing themselves for combat.

"Splendid! Now you blokes won't be able to get any unfair advantages over us!" Jeice remarked with a grin. "All that's left now is to divvy up the bastards."

"I call dibs on the slug!" Recoome bellowed. "I wanna see just how one of them got just as strong as any of us!"

"Hey, hey, now, easy! There'll be no calling of dibs as long as I'm heading up the mission!" Jeice retorted. "The three of us who actually stand a chance will play Roshambo for the match, while the aliens are divided up among the remaining three. That sound good?"

"What about the other Namekians?" Guldo asked. Jeice simply scoffed.

"Ah, them? We'll mop them up as soon as we're done with these blokes, provided they don't run themselves up against our fists. I mean, seriously, even you could solo them no sweat, Guldo."

Guldo bristled at the backhanded compliment, yet acknowledged the point-their pitiful power levels would see them dusted in a matter of minutes were he to meet them in combat.

"The aliens who attacked Dodoria seem to match the description of those two," Burter said, pointing to Gohan and Krillin. "Bald midget, Saiyan toddler with a bowl cut." Krillin and Gohan both bristled at the descriptions.

"But which one killed him?" Guldo asked, to the others' confusion.

"Well, it's gotta be the bald one, you dumb bloke!" Jeice snapped back. "You think a child of five is going to murder someone in cold blood?"

"It is a Saiyan squirt we're talkin' about here. Those little monkeys are beasts," Recoome pointed out.

"Plus, I heard a rumor that Lord Frieza killed one of King Cold's subjects when he was that age," Guldo said defensively.

"Nah, mates, it wasn't the kid."

"Eh...could be the guy with the robot hand," Burter said. "I mean, it's a robot. Hand. If that doesn't say hardcore, I don't know what does."

Yamcha, his thoughts still somewhat scattered, blinked at the compliment, while Jeice and Guldo acknowledged the point.

"Or it says he got his arm taken off because he was a weak little pansy," Recoome replied, to Yamcha's chagrin. "Seriously, look at him! The boy's shaking in his boots!"

"Look, fellas, are we gonna play, or are we gonna keep arguing while the blokes stare at us like Zeytellan Weevils in headlights?" Jeice asked the group, who promptly held out their hands while Guldo sat out. After a few rounds of play as the other warriors looked on in confusion, Recoome at last emerged the winner.

"YES!" Recoome cried out in triumph before jerking his thumb towards Nail. "Listen up, sluggo! You best prepare yourself for the gruesome end of your miserable life! Why?! Because the name's RECOOME! And it rhymes with DOOM! And YOU'RE gonna be hurtin'! ALL! TOO! SOON!" During this proclamation, he moved around in several extravagant poses before finally settling on a classic flex, thrusting his arms towards his midriff and allowing his muscles to bulge.

Nail watched the display impassively before finally saying "...Very well," in a voice completely devoid of all emotion. The other Ginyu Force members snickered at his deadpan response to Recoome's antics, while Recoome himself seemed to deflate slightly. Jeice quickly regained his composure.

"Alright then, now for the rest of you lot!" Jeice proclaimed, meeting up with Burter and Guldo for another few rounds of Roshambo. When the game was concluded, they moved away and back to their original positions, facing their new opponents.

"Come on, short stack! Show me what you got, huh?!" Jeice taunted Krillin, who simply gulped nervously.

"Sweet! Got the guy with the robot hand!" Burter added on, excited at the prospect of a good fight. Yamcha had significantly more mixed feelings.

"Tch. Of course I end up with the toddler," Guldo said indignantly, yet nonetheless secure that the fight would at least end well for him.

Just as the group began to brace themselves for their coming confrontations, however, an idea struck Gohan, who, like the others, had been hoping for Piccolo and Goku's ship to be landing soon. Given how much this group seemed to view their missions as a game, one logical question still remained to be asked.

"Who goes first?" Gohan asked plainly, to everyone's confusion. Jeice was the first to speak up after several seconds of silence.

"I, agh, uh...h-huh?"

"Well, you just did Roshambo matches to figure out who's fighting who, right?" Gohan asked. His allies still looked on confused, while Jeice responded.

"Yeah...?"

"So...who goes first? Or, is it more of a group confrontation-you all come at us at once and can help out in each other's fights and all that?"

"W-what?! Of course not! If everyone could just tag on all of you lot, what would be the point of picking who we fight in the first place? Besides, having to have your mates tag the bloke you're fighting is totally weak!"

"So, you run through each fight one by one?"

"Yeah! But...uh...we don't really decide on an order, though. We kinda just...wing it," Jeice said, somewhat sheepishly.

Gohan scoffed in carefully practiced indignation. "Oh, well, that just won't do at all! No, there's gotta be a structure here! You can't just play a game and expect to make up the rules on the spot! That's just...moronic!"

By this time, Krillin and the others had caught on to the fact that Gohan was buying them time for Goku and Piccolo to show up. They prayed that the young child's scheme would give them the few precious minutes that would make all the difference. Jeice's brow furrowed as he considered the boy's words, and it was obvious his fellow Ginyu Force members had taken pause as well. As they all glanced at each other, the four of them promptly hovered closer together before touching down and getting into a huddle, speaking softly to each other. Only Nail and the other Namekians could decipher what they were saying.

"Blimey, the kid's got a point," Jeice admitted to his men, who nodded in agreement.

"Have to agree," Burter said.

"Squirt's got a good head on his shoulders," Recoome acknowledged.

"So, what are we going to do, then?" Guldo asked.

"Well, if we're gonna have a proper go at it, we need to set up some actual rules!" Jeice decided.

The group then engaged in a brief discussion over what the actual rules would be. After a minute of this, one of the Namekians attempted to fly towards the far-off Dragon Balls, only for Burter to fly to him, stop him in his tracks, and pitch him into Guru's wall before returning to the huddle. After that, nobody bothered to go towards the balls, deciding to wait the eccentric fighters' decision out while the other Namekian warriors retreated to check on their comrade. Eventually, the group did one last, quick series of Roshambo matches, before breaking their huddle and turning to face Gohan and the others.

"Alright then!" Burter began, with an air of authority. "The rules of this engagement shall be as follows: each of you shall face your combatant at your assigned turn. Combatants shall only be eliminated if they are killed or wounded to the point of being physically unable to continue. Should either party's allies spring in to help, said allies are considered fair game by the current opposing combatant. Should the current opposing combatant be eliminated, the original combatant shall remove themselves from the fight, whereupon any interfering member or members' combatant or combatants will take the field in the priority dictated by the original order. If an interfering member should no longer have a combatant, on account of them being eliminated in a previous match, their designated combatant is the first opposing combatant who also does not have a combatant on account of elimination, up to and including the member interfered with. This cycle shall continue until every member of one team or the other is eliminated, by which point those who are not dead shall be disposed of as the victors see fit."

Burter paused as everyone looked towards him, before finishing his statement. "Any questions?" He addressed both parties, who all shook their heads, Krillin and the others somewhat awestruck by the detail of the rules they put together.

"Jolly good!" Jeice said jubilantly, before frowning slightly. "You know, in retrospect, there ain't a whole lotta room to fight here, huh? What say we move a little ways?"

Nail and the others nodded, and all of them floated off of Guru's plateau and down to flat ground near where the Dragon Balls had landed.

"Alright! Guldo, step on up!" Jeice said, clapping Guldo on the shoulder as he did so. He simply grumbled.

"Let's just get this over with," he said indignantly. "Of course I have to be stuck with some weak little monkey kid."

Nail, Krillin, and Yamcha all exchanged conspiratorial glances before Krillin looked at Gohan with a smirk. Gohan looked back, somewhat anxious at being placed into an actual combat situation once more, yet still confident based on what he was sensing of Guldo's ki. He nodded at Krillin before turning around and looking Guldo dead in all four of his eyes. Guldo, however, simply sat there confused as to why he wasn't moving.

"You, uh, you gonna start, kid?" he asked, both puzzled and impatient. "Or do I have to, like, try to kill you or something?"

Gohan, however, simply chuckled, surprising the Ginyu Force and leaving his allies amused at what would soon take place.

"Green means go," he said cryptically, with a smirk on his face, only confusing Guldo even more.

"Okay, see, I don't know whether that means you're about to start, or if you're just-"

Gohan powered up with as mighty a battle cry as his high pitched voice could muster, sending out a kiai which shook Guldo and the nearby Namekians, and surprised the other Ginyu Force members.

"Oi! The kid's power is still rising! 12,000...14,000...16,000...18,000!" Jeice cried out, incredulous as the numbers continued to rise.

"From a toddler?!" Burter added, equally shocked.

Guldo felt true fear as he looked into Gohan's eyes and saw something he had seen many times on many missions, but never paid much attention to until now: the cold, calculating gaze of a warrior. Only this time, unlike all of those prior missions, said warrior could easily pound him into dust.

As Gohan flew straight towards him, Guldo let out a cry of fright and only barely managed to ensnare the boy into his telekinetic grasp, casting the immediate area around him in a field of green telekinetic energy. In that one stroke, Gohan's grasp over his ki faltered, and he was left virtually helpless, unable to move no matter how much he struggled. Guldo sat on the ground panicking before he began to chuckle with relief and satisfaction, his mirth growing in intensity the longer he saw Gohan struggled against his trap.

"Ha! You may be tough, child, but my telekinetic powers have laid to rest some of the strongest warriors in the universe! Why else would I be a proud member of the illustrious Ginyu Force? Now..." he said, chuckling as he pulled up a tree and pointed its jagged trunk at the defenseless child. "Prepare to be skewered, you insolent whelp!"

As Gohan continued to struggle, Yamcha and the others watched the situation with apprehension, with Yamcha ultimately being the one to act, kneeling down towards the ground and charging up a ball of ki in his left arm. With a few quick hand gestures, the ball burrowed through the ground until the space directly beneath Guldo began to rumble, catching the attention of the Ginyu Force far too late.

"What the-?" Guldo asked before the ball slammed into his chest from below, the sheer force of its power dragging him into the sky along with it and breaking his telekinetic hold, giving Gohan enough time to fly clear of the area. Before Guldo could fully muster the ki required to repel it, panicking all the while, it was already glowing white hot, and he realized too late that it was about to explode. With one last cry of terror, the ball detonated, vaporizing Guldo in a massive yellow explosion. Yamcha stood with his fist clenched, barely having broken a sweat, as he marveled at his handiwork.

"Damn...that's becoming my best move," he remarked aloud with a slight chuckle.

Meanwhile, the Ginyu Force looked up in shock as the smoke cleared, revealing no trace of their former comrade.

"Oh, SHITE!" Jeice cried out, horrified at the sight before him. "Oh my stars my first time heading up a mission and one of the blokes dies oh stars oh no why did this have to happen-!"

"Hey, hey, Jei, come on now, just take a deep breath, relax. Everything's going to be fine," Burter consoled the red alien.

"None of us ever got axed on one of the captain's assignments!"

"Yeah, well, this is the first one in a while where the guys we were fighting were this strong!" Recoome added, consoling in his own way.

"It's a dangerous job. Stuff happens. We knew that going in, yet we signed up anyway. What's important is that we get the job done, huh? Huh?!" Burter said, trying to reason with his friend. Jeice took a deep breath and steadied himself.

"Y-yeah. Yeah, you're right," Jeice said, some of his confidence returning before he paled again. "You, uh, you go kill the bastard, huh, Burt? I need to, uh...draft my report to the captain." With that, he largely withdrew from proceedings, thinking through how he was going to explain the situation to Ginyu after he'd eliminated Vegeta. Burter, however, cracked his knuckles as Gohan withdrew and Yamcha anxiously stepped up to the plate, entering into the stance of his Wolf Fang Fist technique.

"Got no chance against this guy in a straight fight. Going to have to see if I can't make use of misdirection to-" Before Yamcha could even finalize the thought he had about his battle plan, Burter vanished from sight before reappearing behind him, hitting him with a backhand that sent him flying across the plain. No sooner had he gotten his bearings and stopped himself in midair, powering up fully as he did so, than Burter appeared next to him again, this time kicking him into the ground.

"Ah, seriously?" Burter said, his disappointment evident. "Come on, robot hand guy! You looked so badass before!" Yamcha, desperate and slightly irritated, charged towards him with a Wolf Fang Fist. To his horror, both of his hands seemed to show minor damage simply from making contact with the large blue alien. Burter made what passed for a tsk sound, given his snake-like tongue.

"This is just sad," he remarked before abruptly punching Yamcha in the stomach, winding him as he grabbed him by the throat. Rather than making any real effort to choke him out, however, Burter instead looked intently at the robot hand before focusing his ki into his arm and slicing through the connection between Yamcha and the hand almost perfectly. With nothing left but an open, bleeding wound where his mostly healed stump had been before, Yamcha was dropped to the ground unceremoniously as Burter picked the hand up and examined it further.

"Hm. Altogether, not the worst craftsmanship I've seen with something like this. Definitely looks cool. But, in the end, it's just so...flimsy," he said coldly before grabbing it from both ends and crushing it between his hands, causing parts of it to break off and warping it beyond all recognition. Yamcha looked up out of breath at the cold, red eyes of his adversary, while the snake man tossed the scrap metal to the side.

"Fitting, isn't it?" Burter remarked, grinning sadistically as ki continued to flow throughout his body, preparing for the killing stroke. However, no sooner had he done so than he distinctly heard a high pitched whine from something sharp hissing through the air.

"BURTER WATCH OUT-!" Jeice cried out as he saw Krillin's Kienzan flying towards him, but Burter had already managed to leap out of the way, escaping with only minor damage to his right arm. The disc then came sailing towards Recoome and Jeice, who easily leaped out of the way as well. Krillin stood there in shock as the attack continued to fly off into the distance, while Jeice and Recoome were equally terrified at the destruction it left in its wake.

"...Okay, so the bald one killed Dodoria," Recoome said, apprehension in his voice.

"Yup!" Jeice replied, considerably more terrified.

Burter, meanwhile, hissed in anger at the damage he sustained, and before Krillin could react, he was already upon him, kicking him savagely into the dirt. Krillin was sent flying, landing with a hard thud and discovering to his horror that he was too wounded to even stand. Satisfied that he was no longer a threat, Burter flew back to Yamcha, charging up ki into his fist before readying himself to bring it down. Before he could land the blow, he turned his head towards where he heard the high-pitched cry of rage coming from behind him, and promptly punched Gohan away. Gohan steadied himself in the air, growling with fury, while Yamcha struggled to lift himself up.

"You know, you're not half bad, squirt," Burter consoled the kid as he took a few steps forward. "But if you think you can tangle with the fastest in the universe, you've got another thing coming!"

Gohan simply kept growling in anger, but Yamcha, struggling to remain conscious, spoke up from behind Burter. "Wait, fastest...in the universe?"

"Damn straight!" Burter called out, not turning away from the half-Saiyan.

"But...isn't your boss, like...way stronger than you?"

Jeice and Recoome were too far away to make out what Yamcha was saying, but they did see Burter tense up slightly.

"W-well, yeah, but that's-"

"Not to mention Frieza's...on a whole other level from him."

"Okay, that's just not fair!"

"And based on what I've been sensing from Vegeta-"

"SHUT UP!" Burter cried out in anger as he turned around and brought his fist down upon Yamcha, causing him to cry out in pain. Burter readied another, stronger blow, but was too angry to pay attention to Gohan this time, whose fairly silent flight allowed him to kick Burter in the head, knocking him backwards.

"MASENKO..."

Burter managed to steady himself from the previous blow mere seconds before Gohan flew up in front of his face, hands above his head as he continued charging.

"HAAAA!"

The blast hit the snake-like alien directly in the face, sending him stumbling backwards onto the ground. Before Gohan could follow up with another attack, however, Burter intercepted his fist, crushing it with little effort before using the grip to throw Gohan into the dirt. With some effort, Gohan got back up onto his feet, blood trickling onto the dirt from his shattered hand.

"Man, you Saiyans are tough little monkeys, huh?" Burter said, chuckling as he walked towards the child. Gohan, however, clenched his other fist as he stood his ground.

"As...long as I'm still standing...you won't hurt anyone else," he said, his previous anger cooling into a quieter fury. Burter considered his words for a moment as Gohan rushed towards him with all the power he could muster. Burter easily dodged the charge, before landing a devastating kick to the boy's neck, leaving it broken. Unable to speak, unable to move, and barely able to breathe, Gohan simply dropped onto the ground, clinging to life. Burter simply chuckled.

"Well...now you ain't standing."

And done! Getting back into the swing of things with a full on fight between Earth's defenders and the Ginyu Force! Can Nail beat the odds and triumph over these three equal foes? Will Goku and Piccolo arrive in time? And just how will the battle between Vegeta and Ginyu play out? Find out next time on Dragon Ball-uh, Hermit! Yeah!

Anyway, let's go over some responses real quick.

T-Biggz says:

"I was just referring to the information from the Wiki in regards to power levels. That's what I meant by Goku's power level when facing the Ginyu force. I don't remember if they actually gave him a set power level after he arrived that's why I said at least. The reason Vegeta's power level was as high as it was was due to him being able to sense Ki and Frieza was so close to him in his first form while he was resting. At least that's my head-cannon for this story. Even if Nail was the one he was supposed to be getting the Zenkai boot from. But whatever."

When I read through the manga way back when, it had Ginyu guessing his power level as they fought, and as Goku unleashed more of it. Ginyu pegs him for 60,000 and then 85,000 by the end of their fight. Goku uses the Kaio-ken to boost his power to 180,000, giving Ginyu the incentive to swap bodies. Now, from that, I interpreted his max base power level as being 90,000, and to my recollection, the wiki's list of power levels is with me on that, putting him at 90,000. Using that estimate, I made my own interpretation as to how much having a partner along to give him boosts and spar with would help him, and went from there. You'll see that later.

As for Vegeta, yeah, I think that's the general consensus for how he got so strong in canon. Here, he sensed Frieza's ki, being so close to him in the pod, and adjusted to that off of Recoome's boost. Idk if Toriyama originally intended for him to get that much of a boost in canon, given that Vegeta was apparently fearful of Ginyu's power for a bit, but regardless, him fighting evenly with Frieza in his first form supports him becoming that powerful.

Anonymous says:

"I was sure goku was 180K on namek. But anyway. Training with a person almost equal to him would boost his power way above canon. Also Vegeta being that powerful is kinda inconsistent. I mean he was scared of fighting ginyu, but suddenly was confident of fighting Frieza. It also means he would be able to steamroll through the ginyu's without any problem alone this time around. I am guess captain ginyu will try to take Goku's body again and considering he'll be already stronger than canon, Gohan and krillin will be hard pressed to stop ginyu in Goku's body. I wonder if piccolo will fuse with nail also. Update soon"

Yeah, Goku at Kaio-ken x 2 was 180k. The power up he does clearly illustrates him using the Kaio-ken, and Ginyu was estimating his base power to be near 90,000.

And yeah, I recognize that inconsistency, but I think that might've been a goof on Toriyama's part more than anything else. He needed somebody fighting Frieza to be strong enough to give Frieza incentive to transform, and the whole thing has more weight to it if it's Vegeta with that level of power. He's so close to killing the man who killed his entire race and has held him under his heel all his life, yet he discovers what he's facing isn't even a fraction of his true strength...two separate times. Vegeta has a rough time on Namek.

As for Piccolo fusing with Nail, stay tuned on what happens with that.

Guest says:

"Any chance Piccolo will fuse with Guru? Or get his potential unlocked as he could get a massive increase either way."

Funnily enough...I thought about it. I thought about Kami, connecting with Guru's similar circumstances, would offer to fuse with him to preserve his essence. I also thought about having Tsuno fuse with Guru in order to directly inherit his wealth of knowledge and experience, as well as have him around to offer advice. But, personally, I figured that Guru would reject these offers. He has no desire to live forever, and he has a whole other family of fallen kin that he'd no doubt like to see again. Moreover, he's of the belief that he's done what he was meant to do, and that it is the responsibility of his children to carry on his legacy, rather than be tied down by it. So, ultimately, I think Guru would reject any offers to fuse with him, and allow himself to die.

As for the potential...wait and see.

Anyway, power levels!

Yamcha: 11,000

Krillin: 13,000

Gohan: 18,000

Gohan(rage boosted): 23,000

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

[5/26/19]: Alright, slight retcon here and in Chapter 19 regarding Yamcha's arm. I'd been operating on the assumption that a Senzu bean could regenerate lost limbs, which some reviewers believed not to be the case. Upon investigating the matter, I found that they could indeed regenerate lost limbs...if the wounds were fresh. The stump on Yamcha's arm was very much not fresh-it had been healed over already, and thus couldn't burst forth a new arm after he ate a Senzu bean. So, my reasoning here with this retcon is that, with the wound freshly opened, the healing properties of the Senzu bean would strive to restore the body to its ideal condition-which, in this case, means two arms. So, here we are. My apologies for screwing up on this detail regarding the Senzu beans-they seem to be a subject that I need help with as far as accuracy goes. In any event, I'm hopeful that this will resolve that particular problem with my depiction of the abilities of the Senzu beans. Thank you all for understanding.