บท 71: Ch. 71: Saving Vegeta

"Huh?" One of Frieza's scouts raised an eyebrow, sensing something off. "A village!" He saw. It was the last thing he ever saw.

"I hate this." Nappa muttered, looking down at the crater that Frieza's scout was in. He'd sensed him from a mile away and come to stop him from reporting to Frieza.

Krillin and Gohan had ended up deciding to leave the Dragon Ball at the village with Nappa, knowing that Piccolo and I were going to come back with another one soon enough, anyway. As a result, Nappa was back to helping the Namekians in the field, worrying about Vegeta, and dealing with any of Frieza's scouts that came his way while Gohan and Krillin waited in their nearby cave.

"Back to the fields I go!" Nappa whistled a tune, flying back over to where Rise and the other Namekian warriors were tending their Ajisa plants.

...

"Lord Frieza, it's Zarbon."

"The door's open." Nappa entered Frieza's chambers. Frieza lowered himself from where he was flying in the middle of the room in order to listen to his right hand man's report, "I felt the shockwaves from your battle with Vegeta. You look the worse for wear... I honestly thought I'd need to start looking for a new Zarbon." Frieza told him.

"No. Vegeta wasn't that tough. He was stronger than expected, but I was able to eliminate him fairly easily after transforming."

"Oh, did you confirm the body? And what about Nappa?" Frieza asked.

"Umm... no, my lord. But it's highly unlikely that he survived, a chance in a million, maybe. We're still searching for Nappa." Zarbon made excuses, but Frieza didn't care.

"So, in other words, Nappa split from Vegeta for no reason at all, and you don't really know if Vegeta's alive or not?!" Frieza half-shouted.

"I know that I saw Vegeta fall into the water and not get back up again. He clearly wasn't breathing down there, either." Zarbon said.

"You should have gone in after him, Zarbon! Knowing those monkeys, he probably survived, not that I know one way or the other, because you didn't want to get wet! That's careless. And on top of that, you didn't even think of Nappa." Frieza scolded.

"I don't see what that brutish moron has to do with this, my lord." Zarbon thought aloud.

"Nappa would not have left Vegeta's side unless he had something important to do! Perhaps, I don't know... guarding a Dragon Ball!?"

"Then I'll find him. If I can't find the bullish man from the skies, then we'll simply find him with our scouters when they arrive." Zarbon told Frieza, but Frieza shook his head.

"No. We can't rely on scouters to find someone who can conceal their strength, and you're useless for anything other than fodder! You're going to find Vegeta and hope that he isn't dead, or I swear I'll rip your head right off your body right now, Zarbon!" Frieza shouted.

"Understood, milord." Zarbon started to run out, but Frieza called him back.

"And Zarbon?"

"Milord?"

"Don't come back without a living, breathing Saiyan." Frieza threatened.

"Understood, milord." Zarbon's face went pale.

"Appule!" Frieza shouted as Zarbon retreated from his presence. A purple alien in uniform entered, passing Zarbon.

"Open a line to the home planet. I want the Ginyu Force here immediately. Tell them to bring scouters. I'm expecting them in five days or less."

"Understood, Frieza." Appule immediately started running to carry out the order.

Meanwhile, Frieza watched Zarbon's figure fly out from his spaceship.

"These Saiyans..." Frieza clicked his tongue.

...

Flying back to the scene of his fight with Vegeta, Zarbon noted a figure lying on the ground near the water-filled crater. It was Vegeta, but from a distance, he couldn't tell whether the Saiyan was alive or dead. He flew down and checked Vegeta's pulse, sighing with relief.

"Well, well... You're still alive. Thank Lord Frieza. I'm going to have fun making you talk, Vegeta." Zarbon whispered, flying off, carrying Vegeta with one arm.

...

"The dragon ball that the Grand Elder had is on the move towards us! It's moving at a pretty steady clip, too." Bulma noticed, fidgeting with the Dragon Radar.

"That must be Piccolo and Hanna! They've got it and they're on their way back, Gohan."

"Uhn." Gohan only nodded.

"Cheer up, buddy. Everyone makes mistakes, and yours made you a lot more powerful, man. You might actually be able to stand toe to toe with Vegeta right now, you know. Isn't that something?" Krillin tried cheering Gohan up, but Gohan was too deep in thought to listen.

"At least he doesn't seem to be as depressed as he was before." Cargo noted.

...

Back on Frieza's ship, Vegeta was getting medical treatment. His wounds weren't as bad as the ones he'd gotten back on Earth, but it was definitely in the same, life-threatening league.

"Let me know when he's ready. I want him to be fully healed before I begin torturing him." Zarbon told the alien in charge of the medbay.

"Uhn!" The alien nodded.

...

Meanwhile, in space.

"Hey, Raditz... can you move?" Goku asked, waking from a nap. He and Raditz had been training harshly under fifty times gravity for so long that they'd both collapsed, too tired to continue.

"Nope." Raditz answered from where he lay on the floor nearby.

"Then who is she, and why can she move?" Goku asked. Indeed, there was a third person in their spaceship this time around. It was Chelsea. She'd been tasked with keeping an eye on the two brothers, and when they'd fallen asleep, she'd teleported into the ship to watch over them and read a nice book. At 50 times Earth's gravity.

"I have absolutely no clue. I thought she was some figment of my imagination." Raditz answered.

"I don't think so. I can see her, too." Goku told his brother. After a moment, he called out to her. "Hey! Are you real?" He asked.

"Nope. I'm a figment of your imagination." Chelsea said, finally pulling herself from her book long enough to realize the two brothers were awake. To fuel the illusion, she teleported away with that, without even standing up from her chair.

"..."

"..." There was a moment of silence after she was gone.

"Okay, then!" Goku thought aloud.