Humans are remarkable creatures. Despite having no natural transformations, they are incredibly resilient and have a tendency to push themselves to the brink and past when they have a goal. Combine this natural urge to grow with the godly training of a Kai, and you have something quite potent.
Of course, they are not the only ones with talent...
The Kaioken was something else entirely. At the cost of stamina, the body was allowed access to more energy at once. Granted, Earthlings could access as much of their power as they wanted, and indeed could, given enough time, create a ball of ki far stronger than even a Super Saiyan, but the key word there was *time* something not always available in the heat of battle.
The problem with the Kaioken was not so much the stamina drain, but the manner in which the stamina was depleted. By forcing the body to provide more energy at once in such a manner, the body's tissues became damaged, thus why the technique was recommended for use only in short bursts, and King Kai specifically warned the Earthlings about not going over the two times increase.
Piccolo, though, was another matter entirely. It quickly became evident that, even taking into account the greater stamina and recuperative capabilities of an Otherworld body, Namekians were almost scarily well-suited to the strains of the Kaioken because of their physiology and regenerative abilities.
"Amazing," breathed Gohan as he saw his mentor summon reserves of power that were nothing short of incredible. He easily handled fighting Yamcha and Tien, the latter of whom was making expert use of the Witch-Arms technique, to the point that it looked almost like he was toying with them. Even when the other two kicked on their own Kaioken, the Namekian easily knocked his own a level up, handling the change in the spar like it was nothing. A smirk appeared on his face, the fight sparking a sense of enjoyment in him.
Chi-Chi, having gotten over her death fairly easily, was rather put out when she discovered that King Kai had no books of academic note in his small dwelling. She had conceded after a while that death was indeed a valid reason to not study, and busied herself cooking meals for all present.
So it was that the small planetoid of North Kai came to be inhabited by a Namekian, a half-Saiyan, the last scion of the three-eyed race, a jianshi, and three humans.
While meditating one day, Piccolo came to the realization that he was no longer just Piccolo. He was... something more, now. He had a purpose in life. He chuffed lightly as he also realized he was indeed no longer the Demon King. The thought...brought a smile to his face. He stood up from the shadow of the tree and lightly dusted his pants off, preparing for another day of training.
Again, Chiaotzu unexpectedly exploded. Coughing violently, the tiny warrior grinned sheepishly as the technique he had failed to control once again blew up in his face, quite literally. Tien was busily sparring with Yamcha, who looked decidedly tired. Piccolo quickly located Gohan in the shadow of King Kai's house, fast asleep in his mother's lap. The sight of his young protege so peacefully oblivious to the world (despite Piccolo's best efforts to "potty-train" him of the habit) brought yet another smile to the Namekian's face. He walked over to the Asian woman, sitting down next to her gently.
"He looks so much like his father when he's asleep," Chi-Chi said quietly, stroking her son's hair lovingly.
"He has his appetite too," noted Piccolo. "Though I can't credit his father for his intelligence," he added wryly. Chi-Chi looked up and half-smiled knowingly.
"Yeah, that definitely didn't come from my husband. Would you believe he thought marriage was a food?" she laughed.
"I wouldn't put it past him," chuckled Piccolo.
A few minutes of silence passed, then Chi-Chi looked back up at the former Demon King. "...I'm pretty sure you know the question I'm going to ask, but I'll ask it anyway...what happened during the year you had Gohan?"
"...You're right, I knew this was coming..." the Namekian said. He sighed. "Truthfully...I planned to brainwash your son. I won't sugarcoat it. I saw great irony in possibly training Gohan to kill his own father. Then...I don't know. At some point during that year, your son became something of my own son in my eyes." He glanced down at the young half-Saiyan with something approaching fondness. "He's so pure and kind-hearted, he gave me a chance to redeem myself, despite being the very incarnation of Demon King Piccolo. And despite everything I put him through, he never hated me. He never, ever thought me a monster, though I more than earned the title."
Panic flooded the aging doctor as he floundered around for the shut-off switch. The two Androids were far too rebellious despite his best efforts to squash that out of them through stringent reprogramming. With the issue of his bots shorting out before being able to collect any sort of data on the fight between Goku and that mysterious other alien, he couldn't afford to take chances. By sheer luck, just as 17 was about to rip his head off, he stumbled backwards and fell onto the shut-off button. Both Androids crumpled to the ground in a heap, the light leaving their eyes. The old man took a deep series of breaths to calm himself before standing up and activating 19, ordering it to place the other Androids back in their pods. He paced around and around, trying desperately to think of a solution, but none came to mind. Finally, he shouted hoarsely in frustration and banged on a table. "Why must I be stopped at every turn?! I deserve my revenge! He killed my son! My one...and only son...my precious boy..." Dr. Gero collapsed back onto the floor in floods of tears, mourning the loss of his son, a beautiful, kind, and thoroughly innocent soul, who simply was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Android 19 observed this all with unblinking eyes. Its central unit buzzed with algorithms, trying to come up with a solution to the problem before it. A console beeping on the other side of the lab alerted it to a report by one of the nano-bots. A recording of the Z-Fighters discussing a trip to a place called Namek with something called Dragon Balls...
Worlds burned beneath the ship as it hovered in space. The true Lord of Demons smiled most foully as he watched the populations of the planets try to leave via any means possible. Small ki blasts destroyed the rats fleeing the balls of fiery destruction.
"Enough, Dabura. Buu is not here, so it's pointless to linger. Come along, let's go to the next quadrant!" With a last glance at the destruction before him, the Lord of Demons swept his cape behind him and stalked back into the ship.
Below them, lives ended.
"My brother was slain? How?"
"It's not clear, my Lord, but the last transmission from his ship indicated that there was a power level much higher than his shortly before it was destroyed."
The tall, purple-skinned alien paced across the bridge of his spaceship, thinking. "Did any of the bugs in the scouters pick up anything of importance?" he asked.
The lackey gulped slightly. "Y-yes, my Lord. There was mention of a planet called Namek, sir, and..." The servant trailed off.
..."And?" prompted the Lord.
"...There was mention of a...Super Saiyan, my Lord."
An eyebrow rose. "Oh? Quite interesting..." He paced some more. "Send a message to my father and inform him of my brother's death. Let him deal with the so-called Super Saiyan. If Frieza simply blew up the planet without thinking, I would much rather not have to deal with my hotheaded brother. He's far too disposable with employees that aren't his own. This Namek sounds like it might be interesting, though..."
He woke in an immaculate room, with bright lights, slightly dimmed, installed in the ceiling. No natural light illuminated the interior, and only one door was visible. Upon closer inspection, he saw it had scratches on it, like something had tried to claw its way out. With sudden horror, he realized that the marks looked like...human hands clawing at the paint. He scrambled up onto his feet and ran to the door, trying desperately to get out and away before the monstrous man appeared, but he was a fraction of a second too late - the door swung open and connected with his skull, sending him flipping backwards onto his spine. The impact knocked the air out of his lungs and he wheezed wetly at the sharp pain.
"You're awake, I see. Good, we can begin." The deep voice chilled Franz to the bone. He slowly tilted his head up and saw to his horror that the giant man was in the doorway, again in an immaculately pressed suit. He carried a small capsule in one hand, and a sandwich in the other. With efficiency and speed, he quickly consumed the rest of the sandwich and closed the door behind him.
He threw the capsule at the floor and it activated, revealing two chairs and a table, one chair being larger than the other. The man sat in the larger one and motioned for Franz to sit in the other one. "Don't bother with the door, the knob is DNA coded. You'll get nowhere. Now please, sit."
Franz stood shakily and stumbled over to the chair.
The giant of a man interlaced his fingers and rested his chin upon them, studying Franz's face. He snorted abruptly. "You humans are an odd species. You quarrel over inconsequential power on a tiny planet in the middle of nowhere, often never thinking of others of your kind as anything more than stepping stones or, worse, obstacles. You fall into the latter kind, unfortunately for you."
Franz could do little other than gulp in response.
"I will get straight to the point. As I've already told you, your little assassination attempt failed. I'm pretty sure you know why. Like I told you before, you have two options. You can die painfully or you can turn yourself in, along with all your co-conspirators. If you refuse...well, I might have a video that will change your mind in this regard." The man removed a capsule from his pocket and threw it on the table, where it opened to reveal a computer. A few taps brought up a video file. Howls of pain and absolute despair played from the speakers as Franz watched the man on-screen be slowly tortured to death.
It was at this time that Franz's bowels ignored common decency and he wet himself. The giant of a man wrinkled his nose in disgust. "Have some decency, for the love of all that is good and holy. You've got an hour to make up your mind. Make sure your choice is the right one."
The arrest of the CEO of SoroVestrin and the heads of a number of other tech companies made news across the world. The absolutely broken look on the faces of several of them inspired many conspiracy theorists to make wild accusations against Capsule Corp, but the fact that an assassination attempt was made on Bulma Briefs quickly drowned out those admittedly far-fetched claims.
Much ado was made of Bulma's new bodyguard, who took everything very seriously and had no issues throwing invasive reporters bodily into the nearest tree. After he made a human pretzel of someone who tried to rush the stage she was speaking at, the press clamored for more information on this mysterious man. It was quickly discovered that he was missing one leg, something that drew even more wild speculation - perhaps he was a victim of the fighting against King Piccolo, or maybe he was a veteran of the war against the Red Ribbon Army. Of course, his striking similarity to the man who had destroyed West City and much of the armed forces of the world was noted, but quickly thrown out as of course the man who did those horrible things had both legs.
Whatever the case, the companies who were involved in the assassination attempt quickly folded as their stock plummeted. Capsule Corp immediately bought them out at rock-bottom prices. Thus, Capsule Corporation's domination of the tech sector was practically absolute.
It was 6 days before the ship carrying two of the last full-blooded Saiyans arrived on Planet Namek. The prince of the warrior race was the first to step foot out of the ship and survey the surrounding area. He was followed by Goku, who was comically eating a large drumstick.
"I sense several small power levels over there and one much larger near a very low one in the distance. I think it would be more efficient to go to the larger level first, Kakarot," the prince said, indicating the directions.
Goku finished the last of the drumstick and tossed it into a trash bin in the ship. "So this is where Piccolo's from," he said as he looked around. "Alright, let's go - " he stopped short as he felt a massive power level approaching from a great distance above them. "...what in the world is that?" he asked, perplexed. It felt like Frieza, but much, much bigger than anything he had ever felt from him.
"Tch...it figures that *he* would be here just as we arrived..." Vegeta spat. "That is Cooler, Frieza's brother..."