Ch. 69: Vegeta Vs. Zarbon, The Beast

Zarbon mercilessly headbutted Vegeta until the Saiyan had blood running down his forehead, before tossing him into the air. Vegeta flew into the sky like a broken toy for a moment before he managed to get his bearings and flew back towards Zarbon, his fighting spirit still going strong. 

Zarbon met him in mid-air, and they matched fists to fists, each blow creating a shockwave that impacted their surroundings, nowhere near the level of Gohan's power spike, but not small, either. Unfortunately for Vegeta, the tides of the power gap had turned against him, and he was slowly beaten back before Zarbon managed to knee him in the gut, putting distance between them.

"Haah... haah." Vegeta panted. Blood was running into his eye, and he knew that he was losing the fight, but he wasn't about to give up. His pride wouldn't allow it. "RAAH!" He felt Zarbon's energy rather than using his eyes, and shot a ki blast at the approaching figure. It hit head on, surprising Zarbon enough to buy Vegeta a few seconds. With a shout, Vegeta powered up and went on the offensive again, but it didn't last long. Zarbon was physically stronger than the Saiyan, after all. Vegeta was kicked down to the ground, spitting out blood. 

"RAAH! YOU DISGUSTING SAIYAN!" Zarbon shouted, kicking Vegeta through another small hill.

"Who are you to talk about disgusting!?" Vegeta shot back, literally, by firing off dozens of ki blasts to match the ones Zarbon was shooting at him. The landscape became littered with hundreds of explosions, and a few on them found their mark on Vegeta. Flying through the explosions, Zarbon grabbed Vegeta in a headlock.

"Enough! I'm through with this little game!" Zarbon told Vegeta.

"R-Really!?" Vegeta shouted, coughing up blood, barely able to breathe. He channeled a bit of energy into his elbow, before elbowing Zarbon's open stomach, releasing the ki in a small explosion that forced the two of them apart. "I'm done with you!" Vegeta shouted, kicking Zarbon in the face. Unfortunately for Vegeta, blasting a hole in Zarbon's armor had cost him much more energy than he'd expected it. He didn't have much left over, and his kick was too weak to do much more than mildly annoy the huge alien.

"That's it! It's lights out for you, Vegeta!" Vegeta could barely see. His body would barely move, while Zarbon was only lightly injured. 

"No AGH AGH NO AGH! AHH!" Vegeta screamed, thrashing about as Zarbon put him in a chokehold before dive bombing towards the ground. Once he was close, Zarbon let go of Vegeta, throwing him into the ground with a definitive "BOOM!" Vegeta managed to get off a ki blast toward Zarbon as he fell, but it missed its target.

Zarbon watched as the crater that Vegeta made was filled with water, remarking "Perfect. If he was still breathing after that, he won't be for long." He transformed back into his 'beauty' side before continuing. "Oh well. Serves him right, I hate transforming. I'd better get back to Frieza. He'll want to hear about this."

...

"You guys can heal other people?" Krillin asked, watching one of the villagers healing Gohan, and then Nappa's injuries.

"It is a rare ability among our people, but a few people from every village have... had this power in case of an emergency." The Namekian elder explained to him.

"That's pretty amazing." Nappa thought aloud. Krillin agreed.

"Uhn..." His wounds healed, Gohan slowly roused from unconsciousness. "Krillin... Namekians... NAPPA!" Gohan immediately shot up, ready to go on the attack, but Krillin stopped him.

"Gohan, calm down. Nappa may not be a good guy, but we had him all wrong. He's been protecting this village from that Frieza guy's patrols." Krillin explained.

"Really...?" Gohan asked suspiciously.

...

"It's just up ahead. On that bluff." Dende guided us.

"I can see it. Wow, it's really conspicuous." I thought aloud. Seeing it in person, the Grand Elder's cabin was on the top of the highest mountain we'd seen so far on Namek. It really was no small surprise that Frieza hadn't already found and attacked the place.

"You're right. This isn't exactly a hiding spot." Piccolo agreed with me. As we landed on top of the bluff, the door to the building opened and Nail stepped out.

"Nail! I'm so glad you're okay!" Dende said.

"For now, yes. The Grand Elder has been waiting for you both. We have a lot to discuss." Nail said, sounding a lot like Piccolo.

"Wait, so the Grand Elder knows everything that's been going on, on Namek so far?"

"Yes."

"Then he knows that it's idiocy to stay in a place this conspicuous. You need to move, now." Piccolo said bluntly.

Nail shook his head. "You aren't wrong, Namekian from Earth, but things aren't so simple. The Grand Elder is very old. He knows that his time is running out, and he is too weak to move. There isn't much I can do for him besides staying by his side and protect him until the end." Nail told us, anger in his voice.

"Oh no! I knew he was old... but I never thought..."

"You know you'll probably die." Piccolo told Nail.

"Dying by the Grand Elder's side... That would be an end that I can accept." Nail told Piccolo. I could feel Piccolo approve of this. It suddenly made sense why Nail's fusion with Piccolo in the future ended up making Piccolo so much more powerful in the original canon. They were remarkably similar. "Please, come inside." We followed Nail inside. The place was pretty simple. Right inside the doorway, there was an elevator-like thing that moved with the word 'up,' whether spoken in Namekian or in the common tongue. Going up via the elevator, we ended up in a room with nothing but a chair and a window, both of which were far too large for a single normal person. 

But the person sitting in the chair was far from normal. He was the Grand Elder of Namek. The only person on this planet who could tell exactly who I was. This meeting was likely going to be the most difficult moment for me since the moment I left the Core for the first time.