Zarbon descended slowly into the scarred ravine, his polished white cape fluttering gently in the Namekian breeze. His scouter flickered off as he touched down, his golden eyes narrowing in immediate disgust at the scorched, blackened rock face ahead.
The ground was still hot. Floating dust and the faint, bitter stink of burned armor hung heavy in the air.
"Dodoria?" Zarbon called out, his voice sharp and refined, though a rare edge of tension broke through his calm demeanor.
He stepped up to the edge of the crater. There was no body. No blood. Only a smear of vaporized metal cooked directly into the stone wall.
Zarbon's hand drifted up to tap his scouter, calling up the last logged energy ping from Dodoria's scouter before it had shattered. The reading was impossible, a spike far exceeding Dodoria's maximum output of twenty-two thousand, cut short in a fraction of a second.
"Obliterated..." Zarbon whispered to himself, his jaw tightening. "He didn't even have time to fight back."
A cold sweat broke out along Zarbon's neck. Dodoria was a brainless brute, but his raw strength was undeniable. To erase him so thoroughly meant Vegeta, or whatever scum he was running with, had increased their power levels exponentially since the battle on Earth.
Zarbon turned on his heel, his cape whipping around him as he kicked off the ground and rocketed back into the sky, pushing his thrusters to the absolute limit.
"Lord Frieza needs to know about this immediately," Zarbon muttered through gritted teeth, speeding back toward the flagship. "The Saiyan vermin aren't just hiding... they're hunting us."
Zarbon pushed his speed past its breaking point, blue shockwaves tearing through the quiet teal atmosphere as he shot toward Frieza's central landing site.
The wind howled deafeningly in his ears, but inside his mind, panic was beginning to drown out his usual aristocratic composure. Dodoria's sudden destruction wasn't just a tactical setback; it was an impossibility. Saiyans didn't just double their power levels overnight. Every mile closer to the flagship felt like walking toward an executioner's block; presenting Lord Frieza with failure was often a death sentence in itself.
The massive, dome-shaped ship broke through the fog line, its sleek crimson hull glistening under Namek's twin suns. Zarbon cut his speed, banking sharply toward the lower landing platform. His boots hit the metal ramp with a heavy, reverberating thud, and he immediately broke into a swift, rigid march.
Inside, the brightly lit corridors of the flagship were deathly quiet. Low-ranking soldiers scattered out of the way as Zarbon strode past, sensing the cold, suffocating pressure radiating off the top advisor. His white cape snapped violently behind him with every stride, his gloved hands clenched into tight fists at his sides. He smoothed his braided hair with a tense, automatic motion, desperately trying to force his trembling jaw into a mask of calm before reaching the command deck doors.
The heavy steel doors hissed open, revealing the dim, cavernous control room.
At the center of the platform sat Frieza in his hovering pod, his back turned, gazing out the massive viewport at the alien landscape. A glass of wine rested lazily in his small, three-toed hand.
"Lord Frieza," Zarbon said, bowing so deeply his forehead nearly touched his knee.
"Ah, Zarbon," Frieza's voice drifted back, soft, high-pitched, and unnervingly polite. He didn't turn around. "I trust Dodoria has secured the remaining Dragon Ball from those little pests?"
Zarbon's throat went bone-dry. He swallowed hard before speaking. "I... I bring urgent news, sire. I traced Dodoria's last known location into the canyons. He... he is dead, Lord Frieza. Vaporized."
The quiet in the room suddenly became absolute. The faint hum of the ship's engines seemed to die out.
Frieza slowly swiveled his hover-pod around. His red eyes were wide, unblinking, and entirely devoid of warmth. He didn't yell. He didn't lash out. He simply set his glass down on the armrest console with a delicate, fragile click.
"Dead?" Frieza repeated, his tone almost conversational, as if asking about the weather. "Dodoria? By whose hands? Surely not those green local creatures."
"It... it appears to be the Saiyans, Lord Frieza," Zarbon answered, a drop of cold sweat rolling down his cheek. "Vegeta, or perhaps one of his surviving squad members. The energy required to atomize Dodoria in a single stroke exceeds twenty-four thousand."
Frieza's tail twitched slightly against the floor of his pod. The crimson irises narrowed into thin, predatory slits. A faint, cold smile curled at the corner of his lips, a look far more terrifying than any fit of rage.
"How fascinating," Frieza whispered, his voice dripping with venomous amusement. "The wild dogs we left alive have grown teeth. They think they can stalk my men and steal my immortal life out from under me."
Frieza leaned forward, resting his chin on his knuckles, his aura flickering with a dark, suffocating purple light that made the metal floor plating tremble beneath Zarbon's boots.
"Find them, Zarbon," Frieza commanded softly, his polite tone returning like a velvet shroud over a blade. "Bring Vegeta to me alive so he can watch me destroy his precious hopes. Anyone else standing beside him... tear them to pieces."
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Miles away from the tension suffocating Frieza's flagship, the quiet expanse of Namek was broken only by the rhythmic rustle of grass underfoot.
Having hidden their Ki to remain completely invisible to Frieza's scouts, Krillin and Gohan pressed forward on foot, guided by Dende. The small Namekian child walked with a fierce, quiet determination, leading them toward the northern continent.
"Is it much further, Dende?" Krillin asked under his breath, keeping his eyes constantly sweeping the teal skies for jetpack vapor trails.
"We're getting close," Dende replied, his voice small but steady. "The Grand Elder lives in a tall stone tower atop the highest spire in this sector. He has kept the One-Star Dragon Ball safe there for years."
Gohan adjusted his battle strap, looking down at Dende with concern. "Are you going to be okay? After... after what happened at your village?"
Dende's hands clenched into small fists at his sides, his eyes dipping toward the ground for a fraction of a second before he looked back up. "I have to be. You saved my life, and you're fighting to protect our home. The Grand Elder is the father of all Namekians; he possesses incredible magic. He can draw out the dormant power hidden deep inside your souls so you can fight back against those monsters."
Krillin's eyes widened. "Wait, unlock our hidden potential? You mean like a massive power boost?"
"Yes," Dende nodded, pointing toward a massive, solitary rock pillar rising out of the mist in the distance, crowned with a distinctive, dome-shaped stone dwelling. "That's it. The Grand Elder's tower."
Krillin let out a breath he felt like he'd been holding since they landed on the planet. "If he can boost our strength and give us a Dragon Ball, we actually have a shot at surviving this."
Keeping their footfalls silent, the three of them began the steep climb up the winding stone steps carved into the spire, completely unaware that Vegeta and Escallion were already sweeping the adjacent sector for their next target.
Vegeta suddenly dropped onto a mossy ridge, raising a single gloved hand. Escallion landed silently beside him, his boots barely making a sound on the rock.
"There," Vegeta whispered, nodding toward the basin below.
Nestled around a small, turquoise lake was another Namekian settlement. It was larger than the previous one, with several stone domes scattered around a massive ajisa tree. But unlike the quiet village they had struck before, this one was on high alert. Armed Namekian warriors, stronger and far more heavily built than the local farmers, patrolled the perimeter, staffs ready.
"They're jumpy," Escallion noted, his dark eyes scanning the guards. "They must have heard about the other villages being attacked."
"It doesn't matter," Vegeta sneered, eyeing the largest stone hut at the center of the plaza. "Frieza's search parties haven't hit this sector yet, which means the Six-Star Dragon Ball is still inside."
Vegeta looked back at Escallion, a cold, calculating look on his face. "No loud Ki blasts. We drop in, wipe out the guards in close quarters before they can raise an alarm, take the sphere, and move. Got it?"
Escallion nodded once. "Understood."
In a simultaneous, silent drop, the two Saiyans plunged off the ridge and into the center of the village.
Before the nearest Namekian guard could even shout a warning, Escallion closed the gap, a swift palm strike crushing the warrior's sternum and dropping him instantly. Beside him, Vegeta spun with lethal precision, snapping the neck of a second guard before the warrior's staff even hit the ground.
Within seconds, the remaining three guards rushed forward, but they were vastly outmatched. Escallion stepped inside a heavy punch, driving a sharp elbow into a guard's ribs before blasting him back into a stone wall with a compressed palm wave. Vegeta finished the last two with brutal, efficient strikes, leaving the plaza completely silent once more.
Vegeta kicked open the heavy door of the central hut and stepped inside, returning a moment later holding the large, glowing Six-Star Dragon Ball.
"That's four," Vegeta said, a dark grin spreading across his face as he held up the amber sphere.
"We aren't taking this back to the trench," Escallion said, eyeing the surrounding landscape. "If Frieza stumbles onto one stash, he gets all of them."
Vegeta grunted in agreement. "Smart. We split the risk. We submerge this one in the lake right here at the bottom of the rock wall. Even if they search the village, they won't find it."
Escallion took the heavy Six-Star sphere and waded into the deep, murky waters of the turquoise lake, sinking it into a dark rock crevice at the bottom.
As Escallion surfaced and wiped the water from his face, a sudden high-pitched hum echoed through the sky above. Both Saiyans froze.
Cutting through the clouds directly over the basin was a solitary figure in a white cape—Zarbon, scanning the terrain visually as he flew past. He hadn't spotted them yet, but he was actively searching the sector.
Vegeta's eyes widened slightly before a cruel, ruthless grin spread across his face as he ducked back into the shadow of the ridge wall.
"Get out of the water," Vegeta muttered under his breath, watching Zarbon's shape against the sky. "Look who finally decided to come out of Frieza's shadow."
Zarbon banked sharply in the sky, his eyes catching the dark, motionless bodies scattered around the Namekian plaza below. He cut his thrusters and dropped from the clouds, his white cape snapping behind him as he touched down with heavy precision in the center of the ruined village.
"Another slaughter..." Zarbon muttered, stepping over the fallen guards. His hand drifted toward his belt before he remembered his scouter had been destroyed back at the flagship. "No energy signatures, no ship, no—"
"Looking for someone, Zarbon?"
Vegeta stepped out from the shadow of a stone hut, his arms crossed over his chest, a lethal, mocking sneer plastering his face. Escallion stepped out from the opposite side of the basin, locking Zarbon in a dead trap.
Zarbon's eyes widened in brief shock before his aristocratic composure returned, his lip curling in disgust. "Vegeta... and your pathetic stray dog. So it was you two who butchered Dodoria."
"Dodoria was soft," Vegeta scoffed, uncrossing his arms and cracking his knuckles. "And you, Zarbon... you always thought you were special because you sat right at Frieza's side. Let's see how special you feel when we rip your head off."
"Arrogant monkeys," Zarbon spat, tossing his cape aside. "You think a small power boost puts you on our level? I'll show you the true gap between us!"
Zarbon launched forward like a missile, his high-speed kick tearing through the air toward Vegeta. But Vegeta didn't back down; he blocked the blow with a crossed forearm, the shockwave shattering the ground beneath their boots. Before Zarbon could follow up, Escallion closed in from his blind spot, driving a heavy, brutal right hook directly into Zarbon's ribs.
Zarbon grunted in pain, stumbling back as the force of Escallion's strike buckled his side armor. Vegeta didn't give him a second to breathe. Pressing the advantage, Vegeta drove a vicious upper-cut straight into Zarbon's jaw, followed instantly by Escallion's sweeping leg kick that sent the elite guard crashing headfirst through two stone huts.
Zarbon erupted from the debris, coughing up purple blood, his pristine face bruised and battered.
"Impossible..." Zarbon choked out, rising unsteadily to his feet, wiping the blood from his lip. "How... how could a couple of filthy Saiyans gain this much power so quickly?!"
Vegeta landed lightly beside Escallion, laughing maniacally. "Is that all you've got, Zarbon?! Is this Frieza's elite guard?!"
Zarbon's face twisted into an expression of pure, desperate humiliation. He closed his eyes, taking a deep, ragged breath.
"You forced my hand," Zarbon growled, his voice pitched lower, losing all its refined air. "I hate this form. It's ugly, barbaric, and crude... but it gets results."
Zarbon's body began to swell. His veins bulged violently against his skin, his graceful spine hunched over, and his sleek features mutated into a massive, hideous, reptilian nightmare. His muscles expanded to twice their original size, a terrifying, suffocating aura exploding from his skin and cracking the earth beneath him.
"Now... let's see you laugh!" Transformed Zarbon roared, his voice deep and guttural.
He vanished from sight with terrifying, blinding speed, reappearing directly between the two Saiyans. Zarbon swung both of his massive, reptilian arms outward, his right fist catching Vegeta squarely in the chest, while his left backhand slammed straight into Escallion's face.
The double impact blew out a shockwave that flattened the surrounding trees. Vegeta and Escallion were thrown back across the plaza, skidding through the dirt before digging their boots into the rock to stop themselves.
"He's heavier... faster," Escallion noted coldly, wiping a trickle of crimson from his jaw as he regained his stance beside Vegeta.
"I don't care how ugly he gets!" Vegeta snarled, his eyes burning with rage. "Flank him!"
Vegeta shot straight up into the air, drawing Zarbon's attention, while Escallion stayed low, gliding along the ground at maximum speed.
Zarbon leaped toward Vegeta, his massive jaws open in a roar, but Vegeta threw a rapid succession of Ki blasts directly into Zarbon's face, blinding him in a flash of smoke and explosions. Through the blinding haze, Escallion appeared beneath Zarbon, driving a lethal, ki-infused palm strike directly into Zarbon's solar plexus.
Zarbon gasped for air, his momentum instantly halted in mid-air. Capitalizing on the opening, Vegeta dropped down from above with a double-axe handle, hammering his locked fists onto the back of Zarbon's neck.
Zarbon crashed into the stone plaza like a falling meteor, leaving a crater fifty feet wide.
Before Zarbon could push himself up, both Saiyans landed on opposite edges of the crater, their palms raised and glowing with concentrated Ki.
"Die!" Vegeta roared.
A dual stream of Ki shot from their hands, converging directly on Zarbon's position in a deafening, blinding explosion that rocked the entire valley.
When the smoke finally cleared, Transformed Zarbon lay collapsed in the center of the scorched crater, smoking, bloodied, and barely breathing as his body slowly shrunk back into his base form.
Vegeta stepped to the edge of the pit, looking down at his fallen enemy with a dark, triumphant smirk. Escallion lowered his hand, his dark eyes calmly scanning the horizon to ensure no other scouts had started converging on their position
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A/N: With Vegeta's power level being roughly 26,000 and Escallion's being about 22,000. In canon, Vegeta jumped from 18,000 (Earth) to 24,000 via a Zenkai boost after healing from the Earth battle. Adding weeks of recovery, travel time, and joint pseudo-training with Escallion pushes him slightly past his raw canon baseline to 26,000.
Starting at 16,000 on Earth, Escallion received a smaller Zenkai boost after recovering, plus the benefits of light sparring/pseudo-training alongside Vegeta during their trip. Pushing his power to 22,000 puts him right on par with Dodoria's, allowing him to dominate Dodoria single-handedly in close-quarters combat.
So it's safe to assume that they would be able to overwhelm Zarbon together and take him down. However, this means no Zenkai for Vegeta or Escallion, stunting their growth.