Chapter Fifty-nine

The Beauty is a Beast! Goku Catches Up With Friends!

After wiping out Freeza's force and taking the Dragon Ball for himself, Vegeta had reflected that there were no more collections of power levels left on the planet. He supposed that meant that the Namekian race was almost entirely extinct. Even though he could only take partial credit, it felt good to do a bit of genocide again.

After this little revelation, Vegeta had begun to search out some place to stash his Dragon Balls. Which was not easy, as he would need to put them some place where he could easily find them again, and every square inch of this awfully, damnably dull planet looked exactly the same! Eventually, Vegeta had decided to make his own landmark and blew a mountain half to hell, dropping his Dragon Balls in the water off the coast of the ruined mountain. Vegeta had been focusing on his power level sensing abilities, searching for where the last free Dragon Ball might be and growing accustomed to this strange new ability that made him uncomfortably open to the life energy of other beings when he felt a familiar power level flicker across his mind.

"What the hell," he had muttered to himself. "I have the time." There were only four other people looking for Dragon Balls on the entire planet, after all. Plenty of time for murder. He had taken off into the sky and was vaguely aware that at some point that he had flown past the bald bastard and Kakarot's broodmare but decided he'd get back to them later. He had more pressing concerns.

OoOoOoO

Goku let out a grunt as she pushed herself up off the floor of the ship. She'd been doing pushups under fifty times Earth's gravity for about an hour now and she'd passed the point where her arms had been burning a while ago. Now she couldn't really feel anything in her arms. She hit the ground with a thud and groaned as she rolled over onto her back. She was gonna need a senzu. After she did her crunches, of course!

'Goku,' came Kaiou's voice in her head, 'Goku, are you there?'

"Yeah," Goku said aloud as she started on her crunches. "What's up, Kaiou? Are you gonna try and talk me out of fighting Freeza again?"

'Oh no,' Kaiou muttered dismissively. 'I've accepted that you're an idiot and that I'll be seeing you again in about a week.'

"Thanks for the confidence," Goku grumbled in a rare moment of sarcasm. "So why are you calling me, then?"

'I just thought you'd like to know that I've had five new arrivals,' Kaiou thought playfully, 'And they beat the heck out of your time. You know them pretty well, actually!' That was enough to make Goku stop her crunches and beam.

"You don't mean…?"

'Hey, Goku!' Yamcha's voice suddenly rang in her head, 'How ya been?'

"Yamcha!" Goku beamed. She hadn't heard from her friend in over a year! "It's so great to hear from you! Are you guys training, too?" Yamcha chuckled back on Kaiou's planet, his hand on the strange deity's shoulder.

"Yeah," he said as he looked back at Launch, Chaozu, Ten, and Piccolo. "I wish the circumstances could be a little better but it's good to hear you, too, Goku. The gravity here's a little intense but we'll figure it out." They were all sweating just from the effort of standing under ten times the Earth's gravity. Even Yamcha was feeling it and he'd built his body up to withstand three times the Earth's gravity.

"Yeah," Goku agreed, "It takes a little while to get used to. But now I'm training under even stronger gravity!" She smiled and returned to her crunches as she spoke. "So it's you," she said, "Ten, Launch, Piccolo, and… is the fifth one Kami?" she asked. Yamcha shook his head.

"Nah, it's Chaozu," he told her. Chaozu winced.

"Don't sound too disappointed," he muttered sarcastically as he rolled his eyes. Yamcha ignored him.

"Kami gave me, Chaozu, and Launch our bodies back but, after that, we don't know where he went." Piccolo suddenly walked over to Kaiou and put his hand on his other shoulder.

"Don't get any ideas," Piccolo told her. "I'm not doing this to help you all out or because I'm a 'good guy'," his voice was dripping with sarcasm at the insinuation. "I just can't stand the fact that you've surpassed me and I intend to catch up to you." There wasn't much venom in that statement, however. Damn her and her son. Maybe he was going soft.

"That's great, Piccolo," Goku told him with a genuinely encouraging tone that made him furious. "I gotta go, though. I need to focus on getting stronger. I've gotta beat up some jerk named Freeza. Bye, guys!" Goku hung up on Kaiou again and went back to her crunches. She had a lot of work ahead of her and only a few days!

"So," Launch asked as Yamcha and Piccolo walked away from Kaiou, "When do we start training?" Ten was already thinking about how he might best use the training.

'I won't be able to catch up with Goku,' he admitted to himself, 'But I might be able to combine whatever Kaiou shows us with my own techniques. If I put my own spin on it, I might be able to make the difference less embarrassing.'

"Well, hold on a second," Kaiou said as he held up his hands. "If you expect to get any training, you'll have to do something to prove you've got what it takes." He pulled down his sunglasses and fixed them with a serious stare. "Make. Me. Laugh." Yamcha, Launch and Chaozu stared in disbelief while Tenshinhan and Piccolo, the physical incarnations of serious stoicism, were awash with dread.

OoOoOoO

"V-Vegeta," Zarbon stammered out as he ran a hand over his face to keep the hair out of his eyes, "You're… looking well." He wasn't afraid of Vegeta, of course. He just hadn't expected to actually run into the bastard. It was an awfully large planet, after all, and neither of them seemed to have scouters.

Vegeta smiled smugly and crossed his arms while… was… was he flexing? "Thank you," he replied. "I'm glad to see you've managed to pull yourself together. Word was you went all to pieces after Raditz's death." His Battle Aura flared and he cracked his knuckles. "Not to worry," he assured Zarbon. "You shall be seeing him in hell soon enough."

"Wait," Zarbon cut in and held up a finger in confusion, "How are you so certain Raditz is in hell? Why am I going to hell?" Vegeta's aura dissipated and he stared at Zarbon incredulously. He groaned and ran his hand over his face once he realized what Zarbon was implying.

"You and Raditz have killed… how many people for Freeza?" he asked wearily. Zarbon blinked with understanding.

"Oh," he said, "Then… why aren't you going to hell?"

"Oh, I'm absolutely going to hell," Vegeta assured him, "The ninth hell. Then I'm kicking Inehoozuki out of my throne."

"Ohhhh," Zarbon nodded, "Alright. I understand. Yes, that would… yes, of course. I thought you meant–"

"I know what you meant," Vegeta cut him off impatiently, "This is precisely why I was not looking forward to this fight. I knew that you were going to make this about–"

"You're right," Zarbon said as he held up his hands apologetically, "You're right. I made things awkward."

"You did."

There was a painfully awkward silence.

"Can we just get to the part where we start punching one another?"

"Oh gods, please."

Zarbon lunged at Vegeta in a blur and was shocked when his fist went straight into Vegeta's palm. Vegeta smirked and yanked Zarbon forward into a headbutt, Zarbon's jewelry snapping and flying down into the sea below as Vegeta kneed Zarbon hard in the stomach and followed up with a backhand blow that sent him reeling through the air. Zarbon snarled and righted himself before letting loose with a barrage of energy bolts that, to his frustration, Vegeta effortlessly weaved and dodged through before driving his feet into Zarbon's beautiful face with a dropkick. Zarbon let out an irritated snarl and flew away to create some distance between himself and Vegeta, raising one hand high overhead as he flew further away. He thrust his glowing hand forward, his other hand gripping his elbow to keep his aim true.

"Elegant Blaster!" He cried out. He could swear he saw Vegeta roll his eyes as the blast rushed towards him. As if 'Galick Gun' was so much better. Vegeta languidly raised one hand and fired back a purple beam of his own to counter the Elegant Blaster. The clash lit up the horizon in a burst of yellow and purple and Zarbon smirked at Vegeta's arrogance. As if a blast of such weakness could possibly hold up against his attack. Only, Zarbon realized with horror, he wasn't just holding up. Vegeta's blast was pushing Zarbon back. Where was Vegeta getting this power?!

OoOoOoO

Suno looked over her shoulder at the purple-yellow explosion of light off in the distance in a mixture of awe and dread. It was beautiful, in its own way, but she also knew it was bad news, whatever it was. She blinked sweat out of her eyes and caught back up with Krillin and Dende. She had forgotten how exhausting flight could be.

'Is it too much to ask,' Suno wondered to herself, 'For Vegeta and whoever he's fighting to kill each other?'

OoOoOoO

Zarbon had ducked away at the last moment to avoid Vegeta's blast overwhelming him. He could feel the heat of the blast against his back as it zipped overhead. Before he could come up with a plan, however, Vegeta was on him, battering Zarbon with lefts and rights, punishing body blows and hooks and crosses and jabs to the face. He finished his combination with a bone-shaking uppercut that sent Zarbon tumbling up into the sky. Vegeta grabbed Zarbon's cape before he could get away and spun him around and around, faster and faster until they were a blur and Zarbon was certain he was going to be sick. The cape ripped and Zarbon was sent rocketing away, his beautiful and perfect form smashing through a mountaintop before he came to a skidding stop on one of the islands. He let out a groan as he rolled onto his back and waited for the world to stop spinning.

"I will not lie to you," Vegeta told him mockingly as he descended, "I had hoped you would put up more of a fight before you died. Even Dodoria took a few swings and tried to headbutt me. You are such a disappointing little ponce." Despite the mockery, Zarbon… laughed.

"Oh, you think so?" Zarbon asked as he got to his feet. His clothes were torn, he'd lost his cape and his jewelry, his hair was a mess and he was covered in dirt. What did his beauty matter at this stage? "You don't know how wrong you are."

"Have I missed some great trick?" Vegeta asked. "Or was your plan for me to break my hands upon your face? You haven't got a chance, Zarbon. Now lie down and die like a good boy. I still have Freeza to kill." Zarbon hocked out a mouthful of blue blood and laughed again.

"You honestly think you have a chance against Freeza?" He asked as he ran a hand through his hair to undo the braid. He shook his head wildly from side to side to fan his hair out, a wicked glint in his yellow eyes. "You couldn't even begin to measure up to Lord Freeza's power. Or even to mine." Now Vegeta looked genuinely puzzled. "You see, Freeza can transform to increase his power, as can I. Although, unlike Freeza, I tend not to transform because it's a rather… ugly business." Vegeta smirked and, to Zarbon's surprise, clapped.

"Good show, Zarbon," he quipped with sarcastic praise. "You've managed to one-up Dodoria for 'most useful information given before death'." He smirked and flared up his Battle Aura again. "Very well, let us see this great and terrible power of yours." His voice was dripping with sarcasm and contempt, which only made Zarbon grin wider.

"With pleasure."

Zarbon grit his teeth and snarled. In truth, this transformation was never a pleasant undertaking. But for a miserable cur like Vegeta? It was more than worth it. He groaned as his muscles expanded and his very bones began to change their shape. He grew half a foot taller and his arms, legs, and chest bulged in size. This ripped his already-torn leggings and arm sleeves to shreds but he no longer cared. His immaculately-maintained black fingernails stretched and sharpened into a set of deadly claws. He grimaced and snarled as his nose fused down into his mouth and the whole thing stretched out into a terrifying muzzle. He opened his mouth and let out a bestial roar as his teeth turned sharp and he developed a set of fangs. He chuckled in a deepened and distorted voice as Vegeta stepped away, eyes wide with shock.

"Now then," he growled, "Let us see who's the disappointment, little prince."

OoOoOoO

Krillin felt a bolt of panic run through him as the Power Level that wasn't Vegeta's surged even higher, eclipsing the Saiyan's. He clutched Dende's hand tighter in his grip and tried to ignore his mounting weariness.

"You felt that, right?" he asked as he turned his head to Suno. She nodded and looked as worn as he felt.

"Puttin' on speed?"

"Puttin' on speed." With whatever else they might be holding back, the pair flew with all their strength, Dende exhausted as he fought to keep up.

OoOoOoO

Vegeta gawked in disbelief at Zarbon's strange and horrid transformation. What in all the gods was he looking at? He balled his fists and pushed away his... confusion, maybe, but certainly not fear, and charged. He swung out with all his strength to deck Zarbon on the chin. Only, his hand never found Zarbon's chin. It landed in Zarbon's palm and disappeared once Zarbon's fist closed around it. Zarbon chuckled as Vegeta tried to pull his hand away before Zarbon headbutted him.

When Vegeta regained consciousness a few moments later, he was flying through the air and the world was spinning. He tried desperately to right himself as Zarbon loomed over him and let loose with a barrage of energy bolts that Zarbon took square in the face without flinching. Zarbon's claws were out in a flash, slicing through the much-vaunted PTO armor that Vegeta had long since decided was made more of bullshit than any material worth a piss. Zarbon's claws came away bloody before he swatted Vegeta down into the ground. The sight of his own blood filled Vegeta with rage and he burst out of the hole he'd been punched into before he let out a roar of defiance and flew at Zarbon with both fists. To his frustration, the monster avoided his attack and smashed his knee into Vegeta's gut, right into the godsdamned wound. Vegeta heaved with pain as Zarbon grabbed his head in both hands, claws digging into the sides of his face as Zarbon hauled him back up and headbutted him again. Vegeta blinked stars from his eyes and willed himself to stay conscious despite his blinding pain.

"Got any little jokes now?" Zarbon asked mockingly while still holding onto Vegeta's face. "Come on, then. You were talking such a good game before. Let's have something." Vegeta scowled at him with contempt. "No? How about an apology, then?" Vegeta, King of the Saiyans, Last of his Name, the Saiyan of Destiny, apologized for nothing. Apologies were words of cowards, the language of the shamed and the pitiful. Instead, Vegeta opened his mouth and hacked out a phlegmy glob of bloody spit in Zarbon's eye. Zarbon growled in frustration and took one hand off of Vegeta's face to rub at his eye. Just the moment Vegeta had been waiting for.

Vegeta pushed off Zarbon's chest with both feet and wrenched out of his monstrous grip, ignoring the claws slicing into his skin as he made his escape. A more shrewd man might have taken this moment to escape, to lie low and recuperate his strength. After all, Zarbon had no way to detect him and was vain enough to turn back into his "beautiful" form once the fight was over. Even injured, Vegeta could have broken his neck.

Vegeta was many things. Shrewd was not one of them. He slammed one shoulder into Zarbon's gut with his remaining strength to send the Jekhydian tumbling through the air before gathering his power in both hands overhead and swung forward, firing at Zarbon with an enormous purple blast that hit Zarbon squarely. Surely, now, he was dead. The arrogant, prancing, preening little…

When the smoke cleared, however, Zarbon had brought up his arms in a crossguard to defend himself, Vegeta's blast having done nothing more than burned his forearms and messed his hair. Vegeta gawked, so furious that he was struck immobile. This wasn't right. This wasn't fair! Freeza being stronger than him, he could understand. Freeza was the most powerful being in the universe. He would be able to defeat Freeza once he was immortal. And the Super Saiyan. The Ginyu Force being stronger, he could tolerate. They were Freeza's most powerful warriors. Even Kakarot, the contemptible cow, at least she was a Saiyan! Who was Zarbon? A lickspittle, a fop, a dandy, nothing more than a servant. By what right was he stronger than the greatest warrior ever born?

While Vegeta was pondering this, Zarbon flew towards him and spun him around. Before Vegeta could do anything to fight back or defend himself, Zarbon turned upside-down and rocketed into the sea. Namek shook with their impact and the oceans rocked with tremendous waves. Once the green seas settled, Zarbon rose from the water. Alone.

"Well," he muttered as he dusted his hands and shook the water from his body, "That's that." He gave a grunt and happily returned to his true and beautiful self. "Now…" Zarbon paused to wring the water out of his hair and put it back in its braid, "How the hell to get back to Freeza?" He looked around and shrugged before flying off in a random direction. In the water down below, a faint trail of bubbles floated to the surface.

OoOoOoO

Suno noticed the two power levels drop and, against her better judgement, came to a stop.

"Krillin," she called ahead, "Wait up!" Krillin came to a stop, still holding Dende by the wrist, the little Namekian struggling to stay airborne. "Maybe we…" Suno paused to catch her breath and wipe sweat from her forehead, "Maybe we should take a break." Krillin nodded and looked down at the ground below.

"Y-yeah," he stammered out wearily, "That sounds like a good idea." As they descended toward one of the islands far below, Krillin put in, "Y'know, I never realized how hard flying was until I had to fly for my life." Suno nodded wordlessly as they found shade in the shadow of a mountain and leaned against it. The trio was out cold in a matter of seconds.

OoOoOoO

Gohan sighed and looked up at the ceiling of the capsule house while sitting at the kitchen table. He'd long since finished his workbooks and he hated just sitting around. He should be helping! He should be doing something. Who knew who else was suffering while he was just hiding like some little kid? He looked at the Dragon Radar on the table and frowned down at the seven blinking orange dots on the green screen. He could see one dot by itself, that was the one Dende was taking Krillin and his mother to. The other four were Freeza's, he knew that. But there were two by themselves. He tapped at his chin and a plan started to form in his head.

"Bulma," Gohan called as he pushed his chair back and got up from the table, "I'm going out for a little bit." He picked up the Dragon Radar and walked out the door. He was shocked that actually worked.

"Be careful, Gohan!" Bulma called from her room while she scribbled out sketches and designs for a suit of powered armor in one of her notebooks. Like any great genius, she had to plan for every eventuality. In this case, the eventuality was that after they got the hell off this planet, that this Freeza guy or whoever else all those other aliens worked for would come after them on Earth. As strong as Bulma knew her friends to be, there were only… ten of them. One of whom was six. Honestly, she didn't trust Piccolo all that much, either.

Her dad had once offhandedly mentioned his old college roommate Archimedes Gero and his explorations into the fields of human-cyborg modification. Dad had called it "ludicrous" and "inhumane" and said that "the sun would turn into a black lump of coal and dissolve into its individual particles before Gero got federal funding." Once Bulma had seen some of Gero's sketches and blueprints that her dad had nicked back in college, she could understand why. The invasiveness of the procedures was just… barbaric. She still could see the benefits of Gero's designs, though. The body modifications that amplified strength and speed and, if Bulma remembered correctly, Gero even seemed to have a rudimentary understanding of ki. Or maybe they were just plasma blasters fused into the ulna and radius bones and repulsors in the femurs. Bulma would do it better, of course. Because she was smarter. By putting the modifications outside of the body with a suit of armor, she would easily get royal funding, on top of her own family's money, and she'd be able to perfect the design. Because she was so smart.

Bulma was so busy patting herself on the back about how smart she was that it took her almost a full minute to realize Gohan shouldn't be allowed to leave. Bulma shot out of her chair like a rocket and bolted for the door, sprinting out of the cave and staring wildly around for anything.

"Gohan!" She called out frantically, not worrying in her panic about someone else overhearing her. "Gohan?! Come on! Where are you?!" But there was nothing. No speck on the horizon. No contrails. No footprints. He was just… gone. "...Shit," Bulma muttered, "Suno's gonna kill me…"

OoOoOoO

Zarbon finally found his way back to Freeza's ship and took a moment to remember his postures and smiles before stepping inside. He found Freeza talking to Captain Ginyu on one of his enormous screens and waited for the call to end.

"I trust you shall bring the newest model of scouter?" Freeza asked. Ginyu nodded, standing sharply at attention and saluting precisely.

"You can count on the Force, your Lordship. Ginyu out." Zarbon had heard others talk of how polite and punctual and proper he was but compared to the Captain, Zarbon had more in common with Dodoria! The screen winked out and Freeza slowly turned his hover chair around to face Zarbon, fixing him with a look.

"Well?" Freeza asked. Zarbon bowed politely and yet he couldn't fight the ungentlemanly smile that came to his lips.

"Vegeta is dead, my Lord," he announced. Freeza nodded yet the sound of his fingers strumming on the side of the chair sent a spasm of terror through Zarbon and he looked up to see that Freeza's gaze had cooled significantly. "M-my Lord?"

"I notice," Freeza pointed out calmly, "That you do not have any more Dragon Balls. Do you suppose Vegeta might have some?"

Zarbon broke out in a cold sweat as he realized the implication. "I-I… I suppose that is a possibility." Freeza's eyes narrowed and Zarbon was almost certain he was about to die.

"And if Vegeta is dead then we will never know where those are," Freeza mused. "Did you see him die?" Zarbon was gone before Freeza could even make the request.

"Don't be dead," Zarbon growled through gritted teeth, "Don't be dead, don't be dead, don't be dead!"

OoOoOoO

Suno awoke with a start from her nap, whipping her head around in a panic before she managed to calm herself down. Well, as calm as one could be on an alien planet, billions of lightyears from home. When you were sharing a planet with hostile aliens. One of whom tried to murder you, your wife, and your son. And was also much stronger now. And there are two other hostile aliens that are, apparently, much stronger than him.

Suno turned to see Krillin still snoring and sighed, gingerly shaking him. "Hey, Krillin." She upgraded to more serious shaking when he was not roused. "Krillin!" Krillin sat up quickly and went through the same panic phase as she had done.

"Whosah? Whatsah? Huh?" While Krillin muttered to himself, Suno looked up at the suns and tried to figure out how much time had passed.

As Suno was used to a planet that only had one sun, she had no idea what she was looking for. She turned to Dende to ask for help but the little boy seemed to be looking a thousand miles away. He looked a little bit like Gohan, she realized. They were about the same age, weren't they? She tried to imagine her son with the same lonely, hopeless expression and her heart nearly broke.

"Dende," she asked softly, "What is it?"

"Gone," he whimpered out. "I… I can't feel anyone." He slumped forward and hugged his knees, rocking back and forth. "All the Namekians. All the other villagers…" Krillin moved quickly over to Dende and put his arm around him.

"Hey, hey," he said softly, "Don't give up! We've got a chance as long as we get to Guru and get his Dragon Ball! Come on, Dende. We promised we'd help, right?" Dende sniffled and wiped his eyes before letting Krillin help him to his feet. "Come on, let's get going." With renewed energy and purpose, the three took off into the sky again.

OoOoOoO

Vegeta gurgled and growled as he pulled himself out of the ocean and halfway onto the shore. He took a few desperate, gasping breaths as he filled his lungs with sweet, sweet air. As adaptable as Saiyans were, he hadn't been able to grow gills. Still, he was alive. A pair of brown little loafers quickly filled Vegeta's vision and he wished he had stayed in the ocean.

"Oh good," Zarbon breathed out in relief, "I don't have to resuscitate you." Vegeta scowled and spat on his foot. Zarbon gave a "Tsk" before stomping on Vegeta's face, rendering him unconscious again. Then he hoisted Vegeta up over one shoulder and flew back to Freeza's craft.

OoOoOoO

Krillin couldn't believe it when they finally made it to Guru's hut. The hut was gigantic, it was twice the size of any of the other structures they'd seen on Namek. On top of that, it was sitting on top of a giant earthen spire that was so tall that Krillin couldn't even begin to guess how it had come into existence in nature. Or how you could even reach Guru without being able to fly.

Before Krillin could ask Dende, another Namekian flew out to meet them. The sight of him made Suno and Krillin come to a dead stop. He looked so much like Piccolo! All of the Namekians looked a little similar to Piccolo, an observation that Krillin hoped wasn't racist, but this new guy looked exactly like Piccolo. Even the way he was dressed was similar to Piccolo in some ways. He had the same blue belt as Piccolo and the same kind of pants, although his were white where Piccolo's were purple. He had the same ruffled collar as the other Namekians and a blue vest that came down to his knees. As Dende and the big Namekian spoke in their native language, Krillin reflected that there was no anger in his eyes like Piccolo. He wondered if this was what Piccolo might have looked like if he had always lived on his home planet.

Which didn't make much sense, when Krillin thought about it. Because that would mean that Kami never left Namek. Which meant that Kami would never have needed to separate his good and evil halves, which meant Kami would never have existed. Which also meant that the Dragon Balls would never have existed on Earth and oh, yup, Krillin just went cross-eyed.

"Greetings," the Namekian said, snapping Krillin out of his dazed confusion, "I am called Nail. Dende tells me how you saved his life and that you seek an audience with the Great Elder." He smiled and rested his hand on top of Dende's head. "Any friend of Dende's is a friend of mine. Please, come inside." Nail floated back into the hut with Dende trailing behind like a puppy. Krillin turned to Suno and she shrugged before the pair followed them inside as well.

Guru.

Was huge.

The ancient Namekian was the largest person Krillin had ever seen. He was bigger than the Ox King, bigger than the chainsaw robot he and Goku had fought as children. Krillin was reasonably certain that he was bigger than the Kame house. He was so massive that he almost completely filled the room, to the point where Krillin wondered if the hut had been built around him. Guru was seated in an equally-enormous white chair with the Dragon Ball literally over his head. Every breath seemed to take half a minute and it looked like it was a struggle just for Guru to be.

"Hello my child," he murmured in a low rumble. "It is good to see that you are alright, little one." Suno and Krillin stopped gawking long enough to notice Nail and Dende were on their knees and, not wanting to offend, did the same.

"Elder Guru," Dende said with his voice echoing off the walls, "These Earthlings have promised to help our people and protect you. They say they require your Dragon Ball." Guru slowly, oh so slowly, turned his head towards Krillin and Suno. While he never opened his eyes, Krillin still felt a little nervous.

"How do you know of out Dragon Balls, strange ones?" he asked softly. "Tell me your tale. Tell it all and tell it truly."

OoOoOoO

Apple stared at Vegeta's unconscious body inside the healing tank and smirked. He didn't look so tough now that he was knocked out. He wondered how Zarbon had been able to do it, though. After all, Vegeta had apparently killed Kiwi and Dodoria with no problem.

"Not that it matters," Apple muttered aloud. "Once he wakes up, Freeza will find out where he hid those Dragon Balls and then that'll be the end of him!" He chuckled to himself and tapped on the glass. "King of all Saiyans, big whoo–"

Vegeta opened his eyes.

SSV/N: Hey, guys! If you like Pokemon, I'd like to take this opportunity to give a cheap plug to co-author/editor Zelenal's Pokemon Fanfic, "When Two Become One". You can check it out here! s/12106293/1/When-Two-Become-One