Ch. 70: Namekian Grand Elder
"Hello, warriors from Earth." Guru started, eying me. He'd already seen through me. Could he really see all of my seals that clearly? Ancient Namekians really were terrifying.
"Frieza and his men have come to Namek. Because of them, nearly all of my children..." He coughed. I remembered something about how Guru originally got an extra few hours of life curtesy of the Earth Dragon Balls in the canon, because his death in the future had been of sadness for his lost children. With the large man in front of me coughing like that, I could tell that was probably the truth. "They've been murdered." He finally managed to say.
We said nothing, though the weight of that declaration was keenly felt by all of us. "They will stop at nothing until they have gathered all the Dragon Balls."
"You're right." Piccolo agreed.
"To us, the Dragon Balls symbolize wisdom and power. The ability to create them was something given to us long, long ago. This Frieza sees them only as a tool to serve his own greed."
"You're right. He's not going to stop until his evil wish is granted. Even after it is, he'll probably destroy this planet to ensure that the balls are never used again. That's why we can't let him have it. We'll hide it from him, until we can steal the balls he's collected from right under his nose." Piccolo told Guru.
"So you, too, are collecting the Dragon Balls?" Guru asked.
"We don't need them, no. We have our own set of Earth. Our goal is to ensure that this... evil... contaminating Namek does not have their wish for immortality granted. That's it."
"Impossible. Another set?!"
"When the storm hit Namek, a single Namekian managed to escape on a spaceship, headed for Earth. Eventually, he chose to live there, creating Earth's set of Dragon Balls." Piccolo explained.
"Aah, yes. The child of Katas... Kami, his name was. I'm pleased to hear he survived. He was a gifted child from the Dragon Clan. He did have the power to create the Dragon Balls. I'm guessing that you're his child, then, warrior?" Guru asked.
"It's... complicated." Piccolo said, scratching the back of his head.
"Alright, then. Come here and I will read your memories, with your permission, of course." Guru offered to Piccolo. After a moment, Piccolo accepted and walked over to Guru. Guru placed his hand on Piccolo's head. "Clear your mind, so I can see." He said softly. Piccolo closed his eyes. I could feel Guru use some sort of spirit power, similar to telepathy, but stronger, to read Piccolo's memories like a book. Naturally, I was capable of this technique as well, but I really did hate it.
"What a terrible thing. A Namekian at war with himself, torn in two. You have grown quite a bit since then, though, Evil King Piccolo." Guru said in a grave voice, though he gave a little chuckle at the 'Evil King Piccolo' part. "I see that the only reason you were almost defeated on Earth was because your powers were split at the same time you separated. Had you reunited, you would not have been defeated by and normal Saiyan." Guru told Piccolo, who gritted his teeth, before gently pushing the Elder's hand away from him.
"I never thought about it. You may be right, but I have no use for that old fool." Piccolo said harshly.
"It is your choice, Piccolo." Guru dropped the issue, "I have seen your mind. Your heart may not be entirely pure, but your intentions are true. You have proven yourself worthy to receive this Dragon Ball, young Piccolo."
"Thank... you, sir." Piccolo said after a long moment, still struggling with the whole 'Kami' thing.
"You're lucky that you have another set of Dragon Balls on your planet. These will likely not be usable for much longer."
"Grand Elder!" Dende gasped.
"It's fine, Dende. It may be for the best that these Dragon Balls disappear with me before they are used. If you aren't the ones to use them, then..." Guru trailed off, but the message hung in the air anyways 'Vegeta or Frieza will.'
"We'll guard this Dragon Ball with our lives, Grand Elder. I can promise you this, Vegeta and Frieza will not get their wishes granted." Piccolo told Guru.
"Thank you... I know you do not feel as if you are one of us, Piccolo, but you do your people a great service." Piccolo didn't respond. "Indeed, you are brave, and strong. Stronger than even you know, for much of that strength is still sleeping."
"Still sleeping?" I asked, silently telling Guru that I won't stand in his way if he wants to awaken Piccolo's power.
"Young Piccolo, allow me to awaken this power for you." Guru placed his hand on Piccolo's head once more, meddling with the Namekian's soul once more. This time took longer, since he was aligning Piccolo's soul with his body. At a certain point, I stopped the Elder Namekian myself, sensing Piccolo's coming increase in power.
"RAAH!" Piccolo shouted, feeling the changes taking place. In an instant, his power level skyrocketed from 11,500 to over 30,000, almost tripling. Had I allowed it to keep going, Piccolo's power level would have likely topped up around 60,000 or so, then begun growing even beyond that as his soul adjusted to the increased power. That would have pretty much allowed him to single-handedly kick Recoome, Jeice, and Burter's butts when the time came, so long as the fights stayed one-on-one. I couldn't allow that, so I annulled a bit of it. As his soul adjusted, he'd probably get even stronger than he'd have been capable of before I messed with it, but power levels broke through to a whole different level when Frieza hit the chessboard, so I figured it'd end up fine.
"I FEEL GREAT! I FEEL AMAZING! THIS IS INCREDIBLE!" Piccolo shouted, feeling his new power. Guru only coughed in reply, "What did you do?!"
"I unleashed your sleeping potential. Part of it, anyway. The more there is, the harder it becomes. You should get even more powerful as you adjust to it." Guru explained to Piccolo.
"My sleeping, potential? Then, can you do this for others as well? Starting with her?" Piccolo asked, pointing at me.
"Absolutely. Come here, child."