"Men, sound off."

"Jeice here."

"Burter here."

"Guldo here."

"And Recoome is here as well!"

Captain Ginyu smiled, though only slightly. "Now now, Recoome, you know the rules. While I do not mind barter, when doing the official sound off we must make it uniform."

"Sorry 'bout that, Captain. Recoome here!"

'A bit more force than is needed but I'll allow it,' Ginyu thought to himself as he settled a bit more into the seat of his pod. 'After all, sometimes passion can be a wonderful thing. I'd much rather have someone excited to complete a mission rather than someone who barely cared.'

That had been the problem when he had been commanded to set up the Ginyu Force by King Cold nearly a century ago. There were plenty of powerful warriors in what was, back then, called the Cold Force. But finding the right temperament was difficult. As he had explained to King Cold a man could be the most deadly fighter in all the universe… but if he couldn't work properly within a team he would be more of a danger than an asset. A loner who wanted to do everything on their own simply wouldn't do, as they would not be able to work with others to complete tasks that were beyond them, nor offer aid when needed. There had to be pride but it had to be balanced with humility… someone who wanted to do their best but remembered that glory to the cause was more important than glory to themselves.

Ginyu had been forced to… deal with… several potential Ginyu Force members because they refused to play well with others.

'They would try and bark orders,' he thought. 'They would think they didn't need to do certain tasks because they were 'beneath them'. They would mock other members of the Force for being foolish or silly.'

Of course he had to be careful and make sure that someone also was able to work independently. That was the other end of the spectrum, of course. There were many in the Cold Force who had thought that it was perfectly acceptable to allow others to do all the work while remaining on the sidelines. It was why they would never be little more than grunts: they didn't have any ambition. It wasn't cowardice… that was a common mistake. No, it was a lack of drive. They were brave but… lazy. Yes, lazy.

'Each of my men have the perfect balance of the two extremes,' he thought to himself. 'They are willing to do what needs to be done but are happy to shift into a supporting role. They understand that glory can be passed about… one doesn't need to gorge upon it like they are the only person at the table, desperate to eat their fill before the food spoils. But they also know when it is time to stop the small talk and begin the dine.'

He rubbed his stomach. Perhaps he was just hungry.

The point though was that there had to be the right mix. And all his men had it, though in different amounts and for different end goals.

"Jeice, have we been cleared for the approach? I would hate for us to be delayed by Frieza Force soldiers just doing their job."

"Its taking a bit of extra time ta reach'em, Cap'ain," Jeice replied. "There is some issue with the main support ships and they've moved to the back ups to the back ups for communication. I've reached them but its slower than normal. We should be able in full contact with them and get approval before we reach them."

Ginyu nodded after a moment, not that Jeice could see it. The pods only had comm units, not view screens. Those were used for study and entertainment, after all. "I suppose there is little else we can do about it. And better that they are cautious than to be too caviler."

Jeice. He was a touch too vain and if things didn't go to plan he tended to panic. He liked missions to go exactly as they had gone over and while he had decent improvisational techniques it wasn't his strong suit. He had little respect for his foes either and while Ginyu of course could understand that it didn't mean one couldn't have good manners; that was something he had been working to teach Jeice for over 50 years now and the man was certainly FAR better than he had been when first selected for the Ginyu Force.

'He wants to be commander of his own Force one day, just as King Cold asked me to move on from being the official trainer for the Cold Force and become commander of this elite squadron. He isn't ready yet but in another 50 years? Yes… yes I believe he will be ready then.'

Out loud he said, "Burter, what do we know of this Planet Namek and its people?"

"Very little, I am afraid," Burter said though to his credit he didn't tremble or stammer. He didn't appear afraid at all to not have the information. "Our scientists have only been able to look over the remains of the Namekians that killed themselves rather than be captured. From what we've determined their stomachs aren't designed to handle solid foods but they also do not have any way to liquefy anything they might eat. That has led us to believe that they mostly live off of water."

"So it will be harder to resupply ourselves," Ginyu commented.

Burter though cut in. "Though we can't be for sure… there may be game animals on the planet."

"Very true."

Burter. Arrogant and prideful about his speed, to the point of making claims that frankly worried Ginyu greatly. If he ever dared to say them to Lord Frieza he might end up killed for trying to say he was better at something than the Prince. He would never be a leader… he was happy to be support. While Ginyu left Jeice in charge to handle missions, wanting to give the man a chance to see how he handled difficult problems, Burter was his true Second In Command. He was utterly brilliant, able to adapt fast, and reminded Ginyu much of himself when he was younger. He didn't know if Burter would go off with Jeice when he left or if he would remain but whichever team had him would be stronger with him around.

"Guldo, what do you think about time frame?" Ginyu asked.

It took a moment for the shortest of the team to speak up. "I've been looking it over and I'd say that we are looking at, best case scenario, 2 days. But I must warn you that I don't believe that will be possible. Even the smallest thing would have to fall perfectly for us and I expect that we will run into problems. And that is assuming that Lord Frieza does not wish us to leave after we complete whatever task he has settled for us. If things have gone badly and he's lost men he may need us to step up and take command of squadrons until reinforcements can come in."

Guldo, after having lost a squadron he had commanded, wanted to prove that he belonged within the Ginyu Force and was forever worried that he would be replaced. It made him helpful to his team mates and savage on the field… though his attitude needed some work. He was rude and held grudges… he needed to learn to let go of slights because otherwise he'd eventually find himself alone. But Ginyu was pleased with his cunning and his out of the box thinking.

"Recoome, please tell us what the first order of business will be."

"I… uh…" Recoome swallowed and Ginyu remained silent. "Oh! We need ta find Lord Frieza and check in. He'll want da new scouters we have as well!"

"Correct," Ginyu said. The rest of the team of course already knew all this, it was old hand for them, but it didn't hurt for them to be reminded.

Recoome. Ginyu knew that there were many in the Frieza Force who were startled by the patience he showed him. Nearly as many that were startled by how Recoome acted. They had been told of the great warrior who could look across a battle field and, after watching only a few grunts take on his foes, know at once how to defeat them and with as little energy as possible. Ginyu had seen more than one Frieza Force Soldier deflate upon meeting Recoome and seeing he was nothing at all like warrior the old timers spoke of in awe.

There was a simple answer for that: this wasn't the same Recoome.

Recoome Jr. was the son of the legendary Recoome, Ginyu's original Second In Command. One of the best fighters Ginyu had ever seen, a marvel on the battle field. And a good friend. When he had reached the point of retirement he had left with a full honors, with even Lord Frieza stating in a letter that the Frieza Force wouldn't be the same without him. Ginyu had tried to find a replacement for him several times but none had worked… until Recoome Jr. had proven himself during the taking of Planet Eleviso, defeating the Channuls even though they had surprised the squads sent there by uniting with their sworn enemies the Ceblas. Ginyu had decided to recruit him and while he still had MUCH to learn… he would become far better than his father, Ginyu was sure of that.

"Very well then. We should be on the planet in a few hours, assuming Jeice is able to get us through without any delays. Then we can meet with Lord Frieza and see about fixing all of this up."

Ginyu smiled as he turned off the communications, settling into his chair… only to wince and bring his hand to his stomach. Even though he knew the entirety of his pod from top to bottom he still took several moments to carefully make sure that there was nothing recording him before he worked on removing his torso armor.

What he found was exactly what he'd expected… and prayed wouldn't be there.

The purple flesh along his abs was cracking badly and horribly dried out, causing sections to be a grayish purple color rather than the vibrant purple that everyone saw. When he reached down to touch one of the patched the crusty skin crumbled into dust, leaving a dark spot on his belly.

Ginyu grit his teeth in frustration.

'This body… its reaching the end of its lifespan,' he thought. When he had first claimed this form it had proven to be exactly what he needed to move up within the Cold Force. Tough, durable, and with a massive power level, it had helped Ginyu do so much. He would have still been a pathetic grunt if not for the body he had gained. But that had been nearly 300 years ago and the molting process that had once been an annoyance was now failing. Before his skin had come off in thick hunks… now it was brittle to the touch. Worse the flesh underneath wasn't forming properly at all.

He had noticed other issues too. The area where his horns grew out of his head itched often. His taste buds weren't as sensitive. His feet were beginning to lose feeling.

The truth was plain, obvious, and painful: the body was reaching the end of its life cycle.

'And I still haven't found a replacement,' he thought bitterly. 'There are plenty of strong warriors out there but they are too well known to the Force. Most of the old timers know not to bring up my ability to change bodies and the younger ones…' The fact of the matter was that Ginyu liked being seen as powerful and he feared that would go away if people learned much of his strength came from him stealing it from others. 'But it can't be helped now… perhaps a Namekian might work. They are supposed to be rather strong.' He looked through the viewport, knowing that racing towards him was Namek. 'Maybe this trip will be the solution I need…'

~MC~MC~MC~

Goku had his eyes shut, doing one of those 'mental workouts' that he and the rest of the Z Fighters loved to do when they couldn't actually fight. He'd told me though that he'd improved it because now anyone he had been around and seen fight he could create a mental duplicate of, allowing him to fight on his own. Normally it wouldn't be as good as actual training, because it was after all just in your brain. Bulma hadn't understood how it worked AT ALL, because to her it was just… imagining something. How could that make you stronger?

But oddly enough I had gotten it completely and that had had nothing to do with my knowledge from my world.

"Think of it like performing in a play," I had told her after what felt like the twentieth time of her trying to understand. It frustrated her that only her, Isco, and I were unable to perform the method and she had been grousing to the two of us about it. "You rehearse the lines in your head over and over again. You try different inflections and pitches and speeds. 'Are you kidding me' done as a question, as a flat statement, as a roar. With anger or laughter or sadness. You try it all out that way, when you get on stage with the other actors, you already have it figured out. Not as good as bouncing off of them because obviously you don't know how they will react but its better than nothing."

Bulma had ended up huffing at that and saying that it still shouldn't work for fighting. My example was all about the voice… not building muscles and the like. Isco had pointed out it was 'Ki Energy' and thus made no sense anyway and in the end she had accepted that.

Normally it wasn't as good as training with a living person.

But Goku, being Goku, had decided to push even his brain to the limits and then break past it by creating the Avengers to battle him.

And not just the Avengers we first fought with, as he'd explained to me. No, that would be too easy. He'd decided to mix them with the Z Fighters to create even stronger Avengers for him to battle. A Captain America that could grow and stretch his arms like Senza. A Hawkeye that was a Triclops. Tony Stark throwing around Destruco Discs. A Black Widow who could fire off Ki Blasts.

"Oh, she'll be able to learn that soon!" Goku had chirped at me. "I realized she has a lot of Ki… she's probably as strong as Raditz was when he first arrived on Earth, at least in potential. I can't wait to go back there in a year or two and see what she's learned!"

'Of course Goku would turn one of the Avengers into a Ki Slinger,' I thought to myself, watching as he remained completely still, folded into the lotus position, eyes shut and face relaxed save for the occasional twitch.

We had decided that it would be helpful for him to practice some of the stuff he'd learned on that other Earth now, before we arrived on Namek. It wasn't like he would be able to pilot the ship; Goku had admitted he didn't even know how to drive a car. And the sling ring was again something only I could handle. So, better he train while I handled sneaking us onto the planet.

I knew that in the show Goku had been able to reach the power levels that allowed him to utterly destroy the Ginyu Force thanks to training with King Kai and then being near death once. A second time on the planet helping him at least survive Frieza til he became a Super Saiyan. But things were far different now.

'He's stronger,' I thought to myself. 'Even without nearly dying taking on Thor and then the Avengers and the Chitari and finally Thanos himself… that all helped him grow stronger. And then there is what Thor's lightning had done to him…' I half wondered if Thor had been fighting the mind control and done Loki's will but twisted it to help him out: send down lightning to nearly kill Goku but then it instantly healed him. 'No,' I decided, dismissing that thought, 'the lightning affected him but Thor had no idea about the power boost. And even if he did he isn't a healer.'

I shook my head.

'Its possible that just absorbing immortal lightning was enough to give Goku a massive power boost.' Because the fact plainly was that Goku was now well past Senza in terms of power, at least as we had left him. I didn't know if he was anywhere near where he should be if we followed canon but he was MUCH stronger. 'And so are you,' I thought as I flared out my good and evil magic. 'You are MUCH stronger.'

The proof of Goku's strength was his new Ki attack. Mine was my attacks changing. Black Parade had been the first but I sensed that all my spells would be far stronger and have enhanced effects. White Satin had certainly worked out better than I had expected, nearly killing Thanos when I performed it, and my other spells would most likely be changed too.

'And I can't practice any of them until we land,' I thought as I moved the ship along the long arcing path that would help us avoid the Frieza Force ships and land safely on Namek. According to the control panel that would only take us about 4 hours… and that was if she didn't run into any trouble. It could be 6 hours and that was making me nervous… almost nervous enough to use the Sling Ring again and get us right onto the planet.

But patience was wining out for now.

'Just enough time to try and figure out what the fuck is happening with me,' I thought as I reabsorbed my magic. 'Last few times I saved a planet I got a power boost… but not this time.' I knew that wasn't fully accurate; I could feel that my power had increased. Every time I pushed myself, my magic grew stronger.

When I'd first begun training with Baba I had been VERY careful to never overdo it. I had assumed, like in many fictional works, that there was only so much magic in me and I had to build up my reserves. Baba had laughed at that… a lot. An insultingly long time too. But finally she'd explained that while magic could of course be gained it was more about strengthening what you have. She had compared it to a pressure cooker or a tea kettle: you could of course add more water, which would cause it to overflow quicker, but training was like adding heat to everything, making the magic expand and thus increasing the pressure.

"Except it isn't like that at all!" Baba had then snapped at me, whapping me over the back of the head.

'And then there is what Wong and the Ancient One said,' I thought to myself. 'I'm close to becoming the Silver Sorcerer but I'm still not there. My magic isn't working together properly.'

Baba had told me the Silver Sorcerer used magic in a way that was impossible. That they used good and evil magic together in harmony. And I could now understand why she felt that way, having spent a year firing off spells. When I used White Satin or Black Parade one of my sources of magic moved off to the side and the other was the dominate one. It meant that for all the magic I did have I was only half as strong in a battle as I should be, at least on paper. It would be like Goku only being able to punch when he was completely still or kick when he folded his arms over his chest. Nothing working in tandem.

'And I'm man enough to admit that I'm trying to brunt force all of this,' I thought. I knew my own attitude on things: when there was a problem one shouldn't let it fester. Instead it was important to attack it in full, going after it as hard and as fast as one could. There was no easing into it for me. When I had a pulled muscle I didn't gently massage it. No… I would grind my fingers into it so hard I ended up prolonging the healing process. When I needed to apply cold to it I went with as icy cold as I could get. When I needed heat I cranked things up to almost scorching. 'The same is true with my magic,' I thought to myself. 'I have been trying to bully the good and evil magic into playing nice with each other… but maybe its more of a soft touch.'

It was the right idea. The best idea. Probably the only way to get my magic to behave like it should.

Problem was… we were heading into the den of the dragon and now wasn't the time to try and learn a new way to throw out spells.

'Except it might also be the only way for us to defeat Frieza,' I thought. 'Face facts… Goku isn't strong enough. He's powerful… and all the Z Fighters of powerful. Chichi is at the level of Raditz and he is now where Vegeta was. Goku is stronger than them both and he's as strong as Senza, who probably is very close to what Piccolo was at when he faced Frieza in his second form. Yamcha and Krillin and Tien… they are MUCH stronger too and we didn't have the numbers we do now. But the fact remains that Frieza is at such an insane level that even that won't be close to what we need.'

I brooded on that thought… for about 5 seconds.

'Trying to brute force things again,' I scolded. 'Seriously, why is it that half the time you are sly and cunning and the other half you are an idiot just smacking things?' I let out a dark scoff at that. 'You took out Raditz by being clever. Your best hits against Nappa and Vegeta were you being a tricky bastard. You nearly had Thanos dead to rights by using White Satin for pete's sake.' I shook my head. 'There are ways to defeat Frieza that don't require us to just pound him into the ground. You just have to think!'

I shut my eyes and began to go over the possible moves we could make, the cons and the schemes.

'I just hope I have enough time to figure out something that will work,' I thought.

~MC~MC~MC~

"Nothing?" Krillin said as he landed next to Yamcha, who shook his head. "Damn it… I was hoping at least one of us would find Gohan."

They were standing outside of the canyon, Senza, Tien, Bulma, Chiaotzu, and nearly all the other Namekians back there. The only ones missing still were Chichi, a few of the Namekians still out looking for the kids, and someone named Nail. Krillin didn't know much about him but according to Elder Mori he was supposed to be the best fighter that Namek had.

Krillin… hadn't know how to feel about that.

'Maybe, when we first arrived here if I had been told that I would have been excited. But seeing what Larin and those others fighters could do… and how little it mattered against Frieza's men?' He thought back to that fight against the pink alien and how Larin and the other Namekian Warriors had been utterly destroyed by him. 'Maybe this Nail guy is stronger but until I know for sure I'm worried that what the Namekians think is a strong fighter and what we think is are radically different.'

"He's a smart kid," Yamcha said, trying to keep Krillin from feeling too upset. "After all, he managed to sneak away from all of us. I'm sure he can sneak around Frieza and his goons!"

"Maybe… but until we know we won't be able to focus on what we need to do." Krillin rocked back and forth on his heels. "Alright, we need to think about this… Gohan asked for the Dragon Radar, right?"

"Yeah."

"He wouldn't ask for that just because he thought it was cool. We should have realized that." Krillin shook his head. "He wanted to help so he's going after the Dragon Balls."

"Right, we figured that part."

"Except we have nearly all of them, right?"

Yamcha frowned before leaning into the canyon. "Hey, Elder Sax! How many Dragon Balls do we currently have?"

"At the moment we have 3… no 4. Four Dragon Balls. Nail has brought the Dragon Ball that belonged to Lord Guru with him."

"What of the other three?" Krillin asked.

Elder Sax sighed. "One village wasn't alerted in time. The scout that went there witnessed Frieza's men destroying the village and taking the Dragon Ball."

"I'm sorry," Krillin said. "We-"

"We only learned of it while you were gone," Elder Sax stated gently, trying to ease his burden. "And the village was the one of farthest from us. We knew it was a fool's hope. Another village was apparently destroyed as well, but we did not witness the Dragon Ball being taken from it, so there is a chance that it was hidden away. And the final Village… well, that scout has not returned."

"But it was closer than that farthest one?" Krillin pressed. When Elder Sax shrugged at that Krillin let out a sigh. "Then we have to assume that the Dragon Ball there was taken and the scout was killed."

"So, what does that mean?" Yamcha said.

"At best it means that Gohan is looking for a Dragon Ball that was hidden, so that gives us a chance. At worst… he's flying right to Frieza's-"

All of them suddenly stiffened.

"I feel three power levels coming," Yamcha whispered, though there was no real need to tell Krillin that as he could detect the energy himself rather easily. One was definitely very powerful but the other two were… muted. Not shielded but instead Krillin got the sense that they were diminished.

'Most likely from a fight,' he thought, it only a relief that they were clearly alive.

"That is Nail," Elder Sax declared. "I would know his presence anywhere."

"Hey, he must have found Dende and Gohan!" Yamcha declared and Krillin realized that Yamcha had the right of it. The two children might have gotten into a scrape but it was also possible they had been scolded for running off and that was why-

It wasn't Gohan and Dende.

"What is HE doing here?!" Krillin asked as the others come out.

"Better question is why isn't he dead?" Raditz demanded as he watched Nail carry Vegeta into the canyon. "Hey!"

"He's right," Tien said. "Why are we bringing Vegeta into here? That's too big of a risk."

"He's… badly hurt," Chichi said, sounding utterly tired. "Nail said that the Namekians can heal him up."

"…whhhhyyyyyyyyy?" Krillin drawled out.

Chichi swallowed and at once all of the Z Fighters knew they wouldn't be happy with her answer.

"Because… he's my brother."

Nope.

They didn't like that one bit.

~MC~MC~MC~

Salak frowned as he looked down at the mangled corpse of the Namekian he had slaughtered. "I thought these guys were supposed to put up a fight," he muttered as he nudged the body with the toe of his boot.

"To be fair," Akebi commented, peeking his head into one of the buildings, "we did kinda make it not that sporting. When you drop a bomb right in the middle of a village it is hard for them to get back up and fight."

The two of them weren't the strongest of Frieza's fighters. They couldn't fire off energy blasts and the like. No, their talents laid in machines and such and it was only because they didn't mind the sight of blood at all that they were allowed to go out on missions rather than being part of the mechanics corps. They used lasers and bombs and the like to take care of business. They were the ones normally sent out to deal with machine-using races, as they could not only turn off such things but make it that the weapons were turned against their creators.

"Why are we even doing this?" Salak complained. "It's a waste of our talents!"

"Well," Akebi said, "to be fair Lord Frieza didn't know that this planet didn't have any technology. They could have had stuff hidden, like on Masbro III."

"That was different and you know it!" Salak complained. "Frieza sent out soldiers only for them to be slaughtered so he sent us out after. Here he just sent us out without checking on anything."

"To be fair-"

"Would you stop saying that?!" Salak snarled in frustration. "Every time you need to make a point you said 'to be fair'. You don't need to say that!"

"I'm just being polite," Akebi stated. "And it also helps me gather myself. Its easy for me to stumble over my words, you know."

Salak didn't say anything. He knew his partner was embarrassed by how he had issues speaking in basic… that came from his species mostly using whistles to communicate. It would be like demanding someone to suddenly learn how to dance every conversation. They might eventually understand and be able to communicate but it would never feel natural to them. But he was also so utterly annoyed at hearing, over and over 'to be fair' that he couldn't bring himself to apologize.

So instead he merely stated as he began to walk away, "Well, we got that Dragon Ball… that should please Lord Frieza." They had sent Strawberri ahead with the Dragon Ball and they were doing clean up.

Akebi didn't say a word.

"Oh come on!" Salak complained. "You aren't going to stand around giving me the silent treatment, are you?" When his partner said nothing he rolled his eyes. "Youa re such a-"

He turned… and saw Akebi standing utterly still… a Namekian holding a knife to his throat.

"My name is Larin," the Namekian declared, "and I want to talk with your boss."

~MC~MC~MC~

Millions of Light Years Away, Xeno suddenly smiled.

"I think its time for a Halloween Filler arc!"

The Chaos Theory Z Filler Arc

"World War Z Fighters"