Chapter Sixty

Vegeta's Rage! Time for the Ginyu Force!

Krillin had barely began to speak when Guru held up a hand for silence. Krillin blinked in confusion until Guru beckoned him forward. Maybe the old guy was hard of hearing. Krillin shrugged and moved to stand beside the giant chair in the shadow of the aged Namekian. Krillin started to talk again before Guru held up his hand again. Now Krillin was starting to get irritated.

"Hey," he asked indignantly, "Do you want me to tell you or–" he felt Nail's glare at his back and whatever sarcastic remark Krillin had been cooking up died in his throat. "Uh… I mean… what do you need?"

"There is no time for speech," Guru muttered, "For my life is like the hourglass. I shall simply look within." Before Krillin could ask what the heck that meant, Guru rested a hand on Krillin's head and Krillin's eyes went wide and his jaw went slack. It felt like his mind was a book and Guru was leafing through the pages. His entire life, every memory and thought, took Guru maybe thirty seconds. "I see," Guru murmured calmly. "So the last of the Dragon Clan escaped to Earth. That explains how you know of the Dragon Balls. I can see your intent is pure and you have fought many times for justice and peace." Guru slowly reached up his other massive arm and plucked the Dragon Ball up from behind his head before handing it to Krillin. "I sense that I may trust you with this." Krillin took the Ball from Guru's hand and- holy cow it was heavy! Krillin held the ball in his hands while Guru inclined his head toward Suno at a glacial pace. "I sense that the pair of you have sleeping power deep within you. Come and I shall use my powers to draw it out of you." Suno nodded awkwardly and, not sure what was going to happen, walked over to the other side of Guru's chair, suppressing a slight "Eep!" as Guru's giant hand rested atop her head.

For a moment, Suno and Krillin wait awkwardly, not sure what was going to happen. Then a surge of white light raced down Guru's arms and into Krillin and Suno's bodies, surging into their bodies and making their eyes go wide. The energy raced through them like lightning and it was as if they'd plunged into icy water, their bodies were tingling with energy and they suddenly felt wide awake, as if they'd been in that sleepy pre-coffee haze for months.

"W-wow," Suno whispered as Guru lifted his hands off their heads, "That… I feel… holy cow."

"Y-yeah," Krillin stammered as he staggered back from Guru's chair. He felt stronger, faster, he felt… better than he had been before. He was actually looking forward to fighting Vegeta! He could take him on! Yeah! "Thank you, Guru! Thank you so much!"

"Hey," Suno said with a sudden idea, "Mr… Elder Guru, sir, does doing that… hurt you? Does it shorten your lifespan, I mean?" Guru shook his head and Suno let out a little relieved sigh. "Then would you be able to do this for one more person?" Guru nodded slowly and Suno beamed. "Great! We'll send them right over!" Then she turned to Krillin eagerly. "Come on," she told him while already racing to the door, "Let's go get Gohan!" The pair rocketed out of the building and into the sky, faster than they had been flying when they were running for their lives but without straining themselves at all. This was great!

OoOoOoO

Speaking of Gohan, the young boy had been following the Dragon Radar's signal to the two Dragon Balls. He had been wondering how he was going to find where Vegeta might have hidden them when he found a destroyed mountain and one corner of his mouth quirked up. Vegeta sure had made the Balls easy to find. Gohan dove into the water and emerged a few seconds later with a Dragon Ball under each arm. This was great!

OoOoOoO

Zarbon and Freeza were suddenly ripped away from their conversation (Zarbon had been asking how King Cold liked his cape) by a tremendous explosion that nearly took them both off their feet. Well, Zarbon was nearly taken off his feet. For a supreme being and consummate gentleman like Freeza, it merely took the slightest psychokinetic effort to keep his feet firmly rooted to the ground.

"Th-that must have come from the medical wing!" Zarbon stammered out before breaking into a sprint. Freeza followed after him, keenly aware that this meant Vegeta had recovered faster than they'd expected. He hadn't even settled on how he was going to torture the information out of the Saiyan. He'd been torn between either ripping off his epidermal layer by layer, or making him eat himself. Starting with his toes, probably. Or maybe the eyes. Servant and master entered the medical wing to find it a smoking ruin of mangled corpses and destroyed machinery.

"Goodness," Freeza muttered, "He works fast, doesn't he?" Then he looked up at Zarbon who was still gawking at the destruction and slapped him in the back of the head. "What are you waiting for?! Find him, you fool!" Zarbon stammered out an affirmative and flew out of the ship. Freeza swore that if he didn't know any better, no one under his employ would know how to breathe if he didn't tell them what to do.

OoOoOoO

Vegeta chuckled to himself from behind a corridor as he looked out a viewport as Zarbon stupidly circled around the ship, around and around, floating through the air. He supposed it was good that they thought he was a mindless brute. Otherwise, they might actually think to look in the ship. He dashed down the hall in a burst of flight, making sure his feet never touched the ground until he found Freeza's personal chambers. He laughed to himself as he looked down at the four star-covered spheres on the floor in front of him. Perfect! Of course Freeza wouldn't trust the Dragon Balls to be under anyone's eyes but his own.

Then again, Vegeta supposed that he would do the same thing.

Not wanting to contemplate on the idea that he and Freeza were in any way alike for too long, Vegeta pressed forward with his plan. After all, he couldn't just bundle the Balls under his arms and saunter out the door. He backed up to the door and charged energy into one of his hands. He'd have to act fast for this to work. He'd only have moments to act after he gave himself away. Now, if Vegeta remembered correctly from the handful of times he'd been on the ship when he had bent the knee, the engine room would be…

OoOoOoO

"In here, you prancing jackanape!" Zarbon whipped his head around when he heard Vegeta's voice coming from inside the ship. His eyes narrowed with fury as he lunged for Freeza's craft. He was going to rip out his stupid eyes for daring to mock him yet agai– and whatever Zarbon had been thinking was cut off as a massive fireball ripped through the top of the ship and blinded him.

Inside the ship, Freeza had surrounded himself in a bubble of psychic energy, not because of fear that he might be damaged but because the smoke would sting his divine eyes. He maintained the bubble as he walked through the flames, the fire and smoke ebbing in his presence before Zarbon dropped out of the sky to take the lead.

"I wonder," Freeza muttered, "Why go through all that trouble just to damage the ship? He could have done that from outside, why would he still be ins–" Freeza came to a screeching halt as the gears turned in his mind. "Zarbon! My chambers! Now!"

OoOoOoO

'Now!' Vegeta thought as he raced back into the center of the room, firing another blast that tore through Freeza's viewport. He grabbed one of the Dragon Balls and threw it with all his might, watching with satisfaction as the ball skimmed across the waves. Then he flung the other three, as hard as he could, with perfect aim and accuracy. Still laughing triumphantly to himself, Vegeta hopped out of the window and plunged down into the water in a smooth and effortless dive. Gods, he was great. He streaked along under the water until he resurfaced about a mile away, popping out of the water to land on an island and found all four Dragon Balls perfectly clustered together. Everything was going perfectly. Vegeta suddenly felt a flicker of ki and looked up to see the bald one and the wench flying overhead. He saw a glint of orange in the bald one's hands and grinned. Oh, Gods, was there something better than perfect?

Oh, wait, Vegeta realized as he raced after them, there was something better than perfect.

Himself.

OoOoOoO

Freeza looked down at the spot in his chambers where four Dragon Balls had once been. He balled up his fists and let out a long, irritated sigh. A spasm of terror went through Zarbon's body and he screwed his eyes shut tight. This was it. He was dead. He was so incredibly dead.

"One hour," Freeza muttered in a voice trembling with rage. Zarbon slowly opened his eyes and blinked, his body still tense with fear.

"Y-your Lordship?" he asked in confusion. Why wasn't he dead yet?

"You have one hour to find my Dragon Balls," Freeza explained, "Or I will discover the most painful way that any being has ever died in the history of the universe. And your death shall be more painful still." He never raised his voice and barely spoke above a whisper yet the look in Freeza's eyes filled Zarbon with such bright terror that he took off through the hole Vegeta had put in the ship without another word. Freeza sighed and stared glumly at the ruin of his ship. Now he'd have to share a Space Pod with one of the Ginyus. Or he could just kill one and claim the pod for himself. Guldo, probably.

OoOoOoO

"Bulma!" Krillin called out as he and Suno touched down outside of the cave. "Hey, Bulma, get out here! We got the last Dragon Ball!" Bulma slowly made her way out of the cave and wore a somewhat forced smile on her face.

"Hey," she said over eagerly, "That's great! Awesome, guys, really!"

Krillin nodded and grinned. "Hey," he said, "Where's Gohan? We gotta take him to that Guru guy, he'll make Gohan way stronger!" At the mention of Gohan's name, the color drained from Bulma's face.

"Bulma," Suno said icily, "Where's Gohan?" Bulma didn't say anything. "Where's my son, Bulma?" Bulma looked down at the ground and chewed on her lip.

"He… uh… he kinda… went out." she murmured.

"OUT?!" Suno asked, her eyes wide with fury and her face turning red.

"He… uh…" Bulma swallowed and started to back away from the two of them, holding up her hands as a meager kind of shield, "He took the Dragon Radar so I think he was looking for the other two Dragon B–" The distance between Suno and Bulma was maybe a hundred feet. Still, Suno covered that distance before Krillin could blink, her hand around Bulma's throat as she hauled the other woman up off of her feet.

"Are you telling me," Suno seethed with rage between clenched teeth, "That my baby is out there, ALONE?! Vegeta could find him! Or one of the other two aliens EVEN STRONGER THAN VEGETA!" Bulma kicked frantically as her face began to turn blue and Krillin dashed to her aid, dropping the Dragon Ball to grab Suno's arm in both hands and physically yank her hand off of Bulma's throat.

"Suno!" he snapped at her. "Get it together! Call me crazy but I don't think strangling Bulma is going to solve anything!" Suno now turned her eyes on Krillin and he knew he had to say something fast before she directed her fury at him. "L-look, I know you're worried, I am too! But Gohan's a smart kid. He's tough and he's strong and he'll be safe. He can look after himself. Besides, we can sense his ki, so we'll know if something bad's going to happen. And nothing bad is going to happen." Suno sighed and seemed to calm down. Before Suno could apologize to Bulma, however, things got worse.

"Oh," called a very familiar voice from above, "I would not go around saying things like that if I were you." The three of them looked up and watched in horror as Vegeta slowly descended towards them. Bulma was, by far, the most terrified. This was, after all, the first time she'd actually seen Vegeta in person. "After all," Vegeta continued, "Something very, very bad might happen to you if you do not hand me that Dragon Ball." Suno got into her guard and prepared to fight but Krillin was moving to pick up the Dragon Ball. Before anyone could do anything, however, someone else joined the party.

"The only person things are about to go badly for," said a posh voice that dripped contempt and sarcasm like a wet cloth, "Is you, your majesty." Zarbon descended to stand, ridiculously enough, between Vegeta and the Earthlings. Zarbon looked over his shoulder at them and smirked. "Ah, yes! You're the strange ones who saved that little Namekian boy! Where's the little… well, the littlest one, the one who kicked Dodoria in the face? God, I'm going to be laughing about that for quite a while." Despite her terror, Bulma couldn't fight the blush that crept across her cheeks when the handsome blue-skinned gentleman looked at her. After all, she hadn't actually seen any of the horrible things Zarbon had done so, as far as she could tell, he was like a handsome prince who'd come to save them! His face, his hair, his ass. He was gorgeous! Zarbon noticed where Bulma's eyes were going and smirked again as he winked at her. Suno and Krillin groaned and rolled their eyes and Bulma giggled before Vegeta spoke up again.

"I'm afraid," he said as he stepped up to Zarbon, "That you're going to have a very short while to be doing much of anything." Zarbon smirked and stepped closer, peering down at Vegeta, their faces inches apart. Come to think of it, Bulma thought as she got a better look at the Saiyan, Vegeta was pretty hot too. In that crazy, violent, ex-con bad boy sort of way.

"Make a move, little man," Zarbon taunted, "If you want the same beating as last time, that is."

"You first," Vegeta shot back with a smirk of his own. They stared into one another's eyes, the air palpable with tension as one waited for the other to take the initiative.

'Please make out,' Bulma thought to herself while chewing on her thumbnail. 'Please make out, please make out, please make–' Zarbon roared as he transformed in a flash into his monstrous form and just like that, Bulma's fantasies were dead. Vegeta headbutted Zarbon in the snout before reaching up and grabbing a fistful of Zarbon's hair, yanking his face down as Vegeta jumped and brought his knee up, face and knee meeting in a violent collision before Vegeta swung Zarbon by his hair towards the sea and blistered him with a barrage of ki blasts before following him into the sea.

"Let's get outta here!" Suno muttered as she grabbed Krillin's hand and Krillin grabbed Bulma's, "This is our best chance!" No sooner had Suno's teeth made that last "Ss" sound than Vegeta was right in front of them, bursting out of the water.

"Oh, I think not," he warned them. "I think you'll find it in your best interest to stay right h–" Zarbon came roaring out of the sea, figuratively and literally, tackling Vegeta and slamming him through the cave. The trio stood frozen in suspense and watched as Zarbon did his damnedest to try and kill Vegeta with his fists and his claws and his ki blasts, even his teeth! Once Zarbon started throwing rocks, however, it was clear that he would settle for just hitting Vegeta. Unfortunately for Zarbon, it would be Vegeta that hit him, driving his fist into Zarbon's chest. Zarbon gawked and sputtered in pain as blood leaked around Vegeta's fist and came up out of Zarbon's mouth.

"V-Vegeta," he stammered weakly, "Please–"

"Shut up," Vegeta spat as Zarbon began to feel a terrible heat spreading through his chest, "I've no use for cowards and beggars. Say hello to Raditz for me, would you?" With that, he sent a blast of ki through Zarbon's body, blowing a hole through his back. The Jekhydian slumped forward before Vegeta shoved him off contemptuously. Vegeta looked down at his bloody hand and grinned. He was starting to wonder why he ever wore gloves. The feel of blood on his hands, the rush from feeling another being's heartbeat stop in your grip, Gods, it was exhilarating! In a final, cruel irony, Zarbon reverted to his normal form as the light faded from his eyes. He had gotten what he always wanted. To be beautiful forever.

Vegeta stepped over Zarbon's corpse and made his way back to the others, holding out his bloody hand. "The Dragon Ball, if you please." Suno had a smart remark all prepared before Krillin wordlessly handed the Ball over. Vegeta laughed and tucked it under his arm before flying away. He felt so triumphant that he hummed a little song to himself, a traditional Saiyan anthem about pride, power, and ambition. "I shall become a mighty king, so enemies beware…"

"Krillin," Suno asked in confusion once Vegeta had disappeared, "Why the hell did you give him our Dragon Ball?"

"Gohan's out there, remember?" Krillin explained. "As long as he gets at least one of the balls, Vegeta can't have them all. We just gotta have faith in him." Suno chewed her lip and looked up at the sky, worry still on her face.

"You're right," she muttered. "He can handle himself. He's not a baby." 'But he's my baby.'

OoOoOoO

Gohan smiled to himself as he flew back to the cave, a Dragon Ball under each arm. Soon they'd have three Dragon Balls and all they'd have to do is wait for mom to arrive! Gohan was so pleased with himself that he started to hum a song to himself, even singing a few snatches of it.

"Ain't no passin' craaaze! Hmm hmm hmm hmmhmm, for the rest of your d-" Gohan's good mood came crashing down as he sensed Vegeta's ki coming towards him and he immediately dropped out of the sky to the ground below. He quickly dug a couple holes in the ground to hide his Dragon Balls and pressed himself flat to a rocky outcropping, trying to make himself as invisible as possible while suppressing his ki as much as he could. Within seconds, Vegeta was hovering less than a mile above him.

"I know you're down there, abomination!" Vegeta roared. "If you think that hiding will save you then you are sadly mistaken! I'll give you to the count of ten before I blast this entire area into oblivion." For half a second, Gohan was going to stay in hiding. Let Vegeta blow him up and destroy the Dragon Balls. Then neither he nor Freeza could use them. But he'd be dead. And none of their friends could be wished back. Defeated, Gohan took out the Dragon Radar before he raised his ki and flew up to stand on top of the outcropping. Vegeta smirked, descending to meet him. "Well hello there," Vegeta greeted with mock civility, "And what are you doing out here all by yourself?" Gohan didn't have a good lie so he just kept his mouth shut. "What's that thing you're holding, boy?" Vegeta asked when he saw the Dragon Radar.

"J-just a watch," Gohan stammered out. Vegeta chuckled to himself and rolled his eyes.

"Typical Terran garbage. Of course you're too stupid to make them any smaller." Gohan was extremely thankful that Vegeta could be so easily distracted by his own arrogance. "Tell me, boy, is your mother here?"

"Which one?" Gohan asked, trying to be bravely sarcastic. Vegeta promptly slapped him across the mouth. To Vegeta's surprise, Gohan kept his gaze level with Vegeta rather than dropping his eyes. "No," he said calmly, "My mom Goku isn't here yet. But she will be soon. And she'll beat you up!" Vegeta smirked as he rested a hand on the back of Gohan's head, making Gohan extremely uncomfortable.

"Then you're a lucky boy," Vegeta taunted, "Because I don't plan on killing you until she arrives. By then, I'll be immortal, and killing you should put her in a heat." On that horrifying note, Vegeta drove his knee into Gohan's gut. He laughed as Gohan doubled over in pain and flew away to the site where he thought his Dragon Balls would be. Gohan waited until he was gone before he staggered back to his feet and dug up the Dragon Balls, flying away and trying to drive the words "Mom" and "heat" away from his mind forever.

"It's our problem free," he muttered weakly, still smiling to himself, "Philosophy, hmmhmmhmm hmmhmmhmm!"

Gohan returned to the cave a little while later and was almost immediately tackled by his mother.

"Gohan!" Suno cried jubilantly as she wrapped her arms around and lifted him off the ground, pelting his face with kisses as the Dragon Balls slipped out of his arms and fell to the ground. "Oh my gosh, you had me so worried!" Gohan managed to peel himself away from Suno, his face bright crimson with embarrassment as he put his feet back on the ground.

"I think he's okay, Suno," Krillin told her with a laugh. "Although you might be about to kill him with embarrassment." Krillin laughed again as Gohan's face turned even redder. Once the moment passed, however, Gohan noticed something very different about his mother and Krillin.

"Hey," Gohan pointed out, "Your ki are much larger! What happened?" Krillin smiled as he picked up the Dragon Balls and handed one to Suno, who raised her eyebrows in surprise at the weight of it.

"That Elder Guru guy did something to us. He pulled out our latent power and made us way stronger. Come on, we'll take you to him. We need all the help we can get!" Gohan smiled before Bulma chimed in.

"Wait a sec," she protested, "Are you just gonna leave me here by myself?!"

Krillin rubbed his chin in thought. "I guess one of us could stay back and keep watch. Hey, Suno, y'wanna hang back?" Before Suno could respond one way or the other, Bulma interjected.

"No, no, nonono, it's fine!" she assured them, "I'll be fine back here by myself. Just gonna… y'know. Keeeep workin' on my sketches." She gave a nervous giggle and Krillin shrugged.

"Alright, I guess we're good, then. C'mon!" Suno, Gohan, and Krillin took off into the sky while Bulma let out a sigh of relief.

OoOoOoO

Vegeta smirked as he flew back to the island that he'd hidden his Dragon Balls off the coast off and was pleased as punch with himself. All he had to do was take these three Dragon Balls back to the four Dragon Balls he'd stolen from Freeza and he'd be as good as immortal. The idea of immortality, of being that much closer to the ultimate power that was his destiny and avenging his race by exterminating Freeza's own was such a powerful sensation of pleasantness that Vegeta barely recognized it as he submerged under the water. He was truly and sincerely happy for the first time in a long time.

It took approximately thirty seconds before his joy dissolved into ash. Vegeta stared at the spot where the Dragon Balls had been… where they no longer were. The current wasn't powerful enough to pull them away. There weren't any other destroyed mountains in the area. This was exactly where they were supposed to be. So why weren't they?

'The boy…' Vegeta thought with a growl. That little half-breed, that little abomination had tricked him! Deceived him! Out… outsmarted him. That watch wasn't a watch! It was some sort of Dragon Ball locating device! That little brat… that little brat took his Dragon Balls!

From above, the waters looked completely still and calm. Then, without warning, the mountain that was blown halfway to hell was blown the rest of the way there, as well as the island it had been on top of. The very oceans were shoved apart by the power of Vegeta's Battle Aura and in seconds he was standing in the open air as he threw his head back and screamed with rage. His screams of fury only grew louder as he blasted off into the sky, the sand beneath him blasting apart into a massive crater from the violent force of his ascent. Vegeta tore through the sky, a trail of purple energy following him and making him look like a hellish comet as he kept screaming, eyes wide and bloodshot with mind-rending rage.

OoOoOoO

Suno, Gohan, and Krillin were only about a few hundred feet from Guru's hut when they heard Vegeta's scream in the distance.

"H-hey," Krillin stammered as he broke out in a cold sweat of terror, "You guys hear that, right?"

"Krillin," Suno muttered, "I feel that." Then she looked over her shoulder at Gohan and hoped she didn't look as afraid as she felt. "Gohan," she urged as gently as possible, "Go. We'll hold him off."

"But mother–" Gohan started to say.

"Gohan," Suno cut him off a little more harshly than she meant, "If you want to fight Vegeta, you'll have to go get stronger. Now go!" Gohan nodded and flew off as fast as he could while Suno and Krillin got into their guard. "So," Suno said nervously as she gave Krillin a glance, "Got any plans?"

"N-nope," Krillin admitted with a nervous chuckle, "Was kinda hopin' you had a plan."

"Think we can convince him to stand there and wait for a few more days?"

"Heh. Nah, not really."

"Eh heh. Me either." With that, the two friends waited nervously while the bone-chilling scream grew louder and louder and the purple flash on the horizon grew larger and larger.

OoOoOoO

Goku smiled proudly to herself as she stretched and sprinted easily across the room under one hundred times the Earth's gravity. She was feeling great! And she still had another four senzu left in her bag! She ran to the gravity machine and turned the dial back down to Earth's neutral gravity before bursting into an uncontrollable fit of giggles at how light she felt now! She dashed effortlessly around in a blur of movement, bouncing off the walls and doing cartwheels and handsprings before coming to an acrobat's stop, sticking the landing and throwing her hands high in the air. This was great!

After that, Goku took a long, hot bath and made herself a big sandwich before settling in for a nap. Wouldn't the others be surprised to see how strong she'd gotten?

OoOoOoO

Well outside the orbit of planet Namek, five pinpricks of light signaled five Space Pods coming out of hyperspace and streaking towards the planet. Each one was immaculately maintained and perfectly polished, without a speck of entry burn soot or scuffs or scratches from the effort of landing or the debris of space. The five pods flew through the stars in perfect synchronicity. Their light would be lost in the blinding glare of Namek's three suns, yet these five ships heralded doom.

Technicolor, fantastic, flamboyant doom.