Chapter 54: Senseless

We took off as planned. As soon as we were in space, I projected to King Kai’s planet, along with Piccolo.

“Ah, Joshua and Piccolo.” King Kai said.

We both bowed formally to him.

“So I’m curious as to why Whis calls you Lord Joshua.” King Kai asked.

“Oh, right. Haven’t actually filled you in yet.” I said as Whis touched down.

“Lord Joshua, it’s good to see you.” Whis said with a bow.

I returned the bow, as did Piccolo.

“Let’s get up to speed, then.” I said as we all stood back up.

I spent the next hour explaining everything that had happened in the first timeline and the Ranger dimension. Then I explained everything up to talking to the current time. Whis looked perplexed.

“So, first thing I guess I’d need is to re-unlock my powers.” I said.

“That’s not going to be a simple thing.” Whis said. “Drakkon said he stopped the feedback loop on your powers from the future. The first question is, can we even trust him? You mentioned before that your powers got blocked by what was essentially an existential crisis. Now here you are, in a similar situation, with no access to your powers.”

“Great, last time it took an act of another god to make me regain access.” I sighed.

“Well, there are plenty around.” Piccolo said. “What’d the last one do?”

“She danced with me.” I said with a sigh.

Piccolo blanched. No, his skin didn’t turn white, but a paler green.

“Danced?” He asked.

“Yeah, danced.” I said. “But that’s beside the point. Even if we don’t trust him, we’d have to make sure, and we’re on our way to Namek. Not exactly easy for Whis to catch up with us so he can check either.”

“Not really a problem, but I see what you’re getting at. I can’t come running to give you a diagnosis every time you want one.” He elaborated.

“If he wasn’t lying, that still leaves you in the same boat.” Piccolo said.

“Right, Whis can’t come at a moment’s notice and check on my training. That’s why I’m going with you to Namek. If Guru can unlock my hidden potential, it may unlock my powers.” I pointed out.

“And if not, you still have that Ultra Insect thing.” Piccolo stated.

“Ultra Instinct.” Whis corrected him. “A technique that even gods have problems mastering.”

“I can only keep it up for a short period. Way shorter than the Kaio-ken. Problem is that the drawbacks of a mortal using that kind of technique when their body isn’t trained properly...” I started.

“Yes, that would be catastrophic.” Whis said.

“What?” Piccolo asked.

“Well, whereas the Kaio-ken recoils on the person’s body if they don’t keep in proper balance, with Ultra Instinct, if the body isn’t trained to properly maintain it, it’ll recoil and could potentially kill a person.” Whis explained.

“I’m guessing that’s why you wouldn’t use it on the Saiyans when they got here.” Piccolo said.

“No, they weren’t a match for me in the first place.” I laughed. “You missed it, but I barely let out my energy when I powered up.”

“Wait what?” Piccolo said.

“Hmm ... I shall be at your space ship shortly to run the test.” Whis said. “Then I will leave you to your machinations until you’re ready to train.”

With that, we disconnected. About ten minutes later, Whis appeared in a flash of light. While this startled Bulma, the rest of us were waiting. We said nothing as Whis put his staff in front of me and it glowed.

“There’s definitely no feedback loop from the future. That much I can say that Drakkon was right about. However, I can’t tell if one was ever there.” Whis said. “So you’re in the same boat of uncertainty.”

“Thank you, Whis.” I said.

I pulled a bar of chocolate out of my pocket and tossed it to him.

“Thankfully, I remembered to grab this before we left.” I said. “It should suffice as payment for your input.”

“What?” Bulma asked as Whis unwrapped it and took a bite.

Whis’s eyes lit up as if he had just tasted the best thing in the universe.

“My word! This is glorious!” Whis said.

“You haven’t had it in the other timelines?” I asked.

“Not yet! This is wonderful!” Whis said.

“It’s called a chocolate bar. Bulma will be happy to supply you and Lord Beerus with more, as long as you promise to keep her and her family on Earth safe.” I pointed out.

“I’m sure Lord Beerus would be happy to do so once I wake him. He may be mad at me for waking him early, but I’m sure the food on Earth will be worth it.” Whis said.

“Wake him in 6 months and bring him to Earth, then. We should be back by then.” I said.

Whis pocketed the chocolate before vanishing in another flash of light.

“Who’s Lord Beerus?” Bulma asked. “And why am I paying his food bill?”

“One of the strongest beings in the universe, and because he’s going to keep you safe from all the things that you wouldn’t believe are out there.” I said with a grin.

The trip to Namek had taken the same amount of time for us as it had for the Z Team the first time around. I was warned ahead of time that Freeza was already there. However, instead of instantly hiding because of Vegeta and Cui, I was pretty relaxed by staying out in the open.