Ch. 117: Death of the Dragon Balls

"And that's all seven. Someone should go wake Vegeta." Krillin said, digging up the last Dragon Ball. Unlike in the canon, we'd agreed to grant Vegeta's wishes, with restrictions, so we weren't going to actually call on the dragon until he got there. 

"We need to talk about the wishes that we're going to make before we actually make them. I can speak Namekian, so I should theoretically be able to summon the dragon, but unless we have our wishes planned out in advance, there's not much point." Piccolo advised. 

"That's if the Dragon does speak Namek." Nappa reminded him, "I think we should just take them to the village and call the dragon there, just to be safe."

"When we call the dragon, it creates a whole spectacle. Lightning, darkness, and high winds. Everyone on the planet will know pretty much instantly that the dragon's been summoned." Krillin told Nappa.

"Yeah, and that'll probably bring Frieza running. I'd personally prefer to fight him here than in a populated area." I added.

"We won't lose anything if Piccolo can't call it out on his own, after all. If he can't, then we'll take them to the village." Raditz agreed. Nappa hadn't thought about that, but it made him immediately back down. He didn't want to trouble the village either, especially if there was a chance of Frieza being on their heels.

"But what should our wishes be? I know we'll wish Pigero and Yamcha back with one of them, and Vegeta's wish, but we get three, right?" Gohan thought aloud.

"That's what Nail told us." Piccolo agreed.

'Use the extra wish to wish me to Namek. I'll take out Frieza.' A voice suddenly echoed in everyone's heads. 

"Pigero!?" Gohan recognized the voice instantly. 

'Pigero, I'll be the first to admit that you've grown strong since you came here, but Frieza is on another level. I don't approve of you fighting Frieza, but I won't stop you.' Another voice. This one belonged to King Kai. Surprisingly enough, King Kai didn't try to stop Pigero from fighting Frieza. Pigero must've grown strong while in otherworld. But it didn't matter. No wishes were going to be made, so even as they discussed it, all of their discussions were in vain.

While I asked Shay to ask the girls to compile a reading on Pigero's power level, the others eventually decided to use one of their wishes to fulfill Pigero's request.

A few moments after the conversation about Pigero's request ended, Vegeta walked out of the ship. Sometime around when Pigero had contacted us, Nappa had gone in to tell him that the Dragon Balls were all collected.

"Nappa told me that the Dragon Balls are ready. Let's do this. The sooner I become immortal, the sooner I can kill Frieza." Vegeta said, sitting on a nearby rock.

"What about my dad?" Gohan asked him.

"Kakarot's still in the tank. It's an older model, so I have no idea when he'll be fully healed." Vegeta answered offhandedly, "It doesn't really matter, either. After we make me immortal, he won't be fighting Frieza anyway."

"Good to hear that my brother will be okay." Raditz said, "Piccolo, let's get started."

"Hmph." Piccolo scoffed, but turned to address the Dragon Balls anyways. "Alright." Then, he began to speak in Namekian.

...

"Dende, it is time." Guru told the young Namekian keeping him company. Nail was still out, but the tyrant's energy had already begun its race back towards the earthlings, and the Namekian warrior's strength was steadily returning, likely with the help of Hanna's subordinates. He'd be fine, and Guru could feel the Dragon Balls beginning to activate. Piccolo had likely been the one to ask Porunga to reveal himself, but the dragon was never going to show. That was Guru's deal with Hanna's subordinates, and he wasn't about to renege.

"No, Guru! Please don't leave us!" Dende cried, but...

"Do not cry, my child. All things must end, including me. My will lives on... in the hearts... of all of you..." As the sky around them grew dark, and lightning began striking everywhere, the wind picking up, Guru died. 

Dende didn't notice the sky lighten. He didn't notice the winds dying down, or the sounds of lightning stop. His focus was entirely on the old man in front of him, who had just breathed his last breath.

'I'll be back. I'm sorry for this, my child.' Guru thought as his consciousness faded to black.

...

As Frieza blasted away from Nail's location, Nail's consciousness began to fade. He could sense the warriors that Guru had told him about on their way, but they weren't going to make it to him in time, he knew it. He was dying, but that was fine, so long as his people, and the Grand Elder, were safe. 

After Nail had fallen firmly unconscious, a young girl appeared right beside the unconscious Namekian.

"You'd better be grateful for this, Guru." She kneeled beside him and placed her left hand on the Namekian's chest. Slowly, a light flowed from her hand into him. She was transferring energy into Nail's body, bolstering his lifeforce. As she healed him, her energy forced Nail's body to heal itself, but the process was slow going.

"Urgh. My divine energy is bolstering his body, but if I lower my energy's potency then i might end up detectable. Mistress isn't going to be pleased about this... I'll seal his consciousness for now. The other Namekian warriors coming this way should be more than enough to keep him safe until his new strength is rendered moot." Chelsea muttered to herself.

Chelsea was the oldest of the Core Girls, which meant that she'd more-or-less needed to figure out spirit control from scratch while doing her job of protecting Hanna from herself. As a result, while her energy and control of it were well within the range of the divine, her skills at healing tended to fall short.

She hadn't been willing to send another girl, though, in case they dropped their guard somehow and got noticed, since the other girls tended to be unfocused, so Nail had ended up getting an unexpected boost to his power.