Part 15, Chapter 75.

PART FIFTEEN: THE END OF THE FIRST DAY

Chapter 75

Translated by npberryhill

Freeza and his squad of soldiers had just found the third Namekian village, but strangely, it was empty. Still, it mattered little to them and they immediately headed to another village. Along the way, though, Zarbon noticed that the Nameks he had been detecting on his scouter began to disappear one by one. However, he decided not to say anything about it to his lord, who, since transforming, had become quite a bit more frightening.

When they arrived at the fourth village, also deserted, Freeza began to get agitated. One small alien in his squad had been scanning the entire area, set to detect even the smallest force, but so far had found nothing.

“Bizarre,” the alien said. “I finally found something, but it’s just one reading. Earlier there were over a dozen different signals.”

“Keep looking,” ordered Freeza.

After a few seconds where the small alien continued searching in every direction, he turned back to his master.

“I can’t detect anything. Each of the villages we saw before have somehow disappeared completely. They don’t even show up on the scanner anymore!”

“Yikes!” said another soldier. “So they are able to somehow hide from our detectors? Or maybe they just fled elsewhere?

“Damn, they probably have telepathic powers and warned each other.”

But Freeza’s face had begun to warp with anger. “I’ve had enough! I'm going to crush this planet!” said the tyrant, whose little remaining patience had just been spent.

Suddenly, from above, a strangely familiar voice interrupted their discussion.

“Destroy, kill, crush...destruction is all you know.”

The confident voice spoke with a calm but threatening tone.

“But as long as there is even one of my people alive, Namek is not destroyed!”

Turning and looking in every direction, the alien invaders discovered the same Namek warrior from before, sitting on top of a mound of dirt.

“Yours, on the other hand, ends here,” he concluded.

“You again! My, you are annoying!” Freeza said, pondering this sudden turn of events. "Strange...I thought I killed him and yet he appears in perfect physical condition.”

“Er...has he gotten taller?” asked one of the shorter soldiers.

“The balls that you are looking for are now worthless,” the Super Namek said softly, still seated.

“Cut the insolence and give us all the Dragon Balls! Now!” Freeza yelled.

“Since you don’t seem to understand my warning, let me make it a bit more clear.”

The Super Namek then stretched his hands forward. A few meters ahead of him a ball of energy appeared, which moved toward the center of the village then suddenly flashed in a ray of light that blinded everyone. Then, the attack broke apart, becoming individual energy blasts that targeted each member of the group of invaders. All but Freeza were instantly disintegrated by this strange and powerful technique.

Stunned, Freeza didn’t even have time to see the members of his squad being ripped apart. Before he could, a powerful fist pounded the middle of his chest, sending him crashing against a rock wall, which then came tumbling down on top of him.

Freeza got up slowly, revealing the burns he had received from the last energy attack. In the distance he now saw the remains of Zarbon's body, lying between two of the Dragon Balls he had been carrying. He gritted his teeth. That last attack was powerful enough to provoke both his wrath and his desire to pummel his opponent. 'I'd better take care of him in melee,' thought the tyrant.

He rushed at full speed towards the Namekian giant, but the tall green man didn’t move until his opponent’s fist was mere inches from his face. With a swift stroke, he grabbed the hand of Freeza easily, stopping it as if he were catching a fly between his fingers. Freeza tried to get free by struggling with his other hand, but in vain. The Namek was simply too strong, and as he began to shake Freeza’s wrists the tyrant still couldn't break the hold. The invader was trapped. Although he tried with all his might to force himself out of it, it was all in vain.

The Super Namek shook so hard that the tyrant was forced to kneel on the ground; being in such a humiliating position for the first time in his life made him furious. Instantly, he received a violent knee under his chin, followed by a punch in the stomach that made him fly away, landing with a heavy THUD on the ground.

“Oh, you’ve made me angry this time! It’s time I reveal my true power!”

Strangely enough, the Super Namek decided to allow it. He watched as Freeza’s face contorted, concentrating all his strength into the metamorphosis. First, the tyrant lengthened his shoulders. Then his head flung back, his nose disappearing and merging with his mouth, which stretched wide and grew forward. Now that it was finally over, Freeza smiled and floated into the sky.

“Transform yourself again...as many times as you like. It won’t change anything,” the Namek said calmly.

The enraged Freeza, now grinning, approached slowly, as if he wanted to fight in melee. But at the last moment, he pointed two fingers towards the Super Namek. He shot a purple beam of energy that flew at full speed towards his opponent. But at this distance and speed, the Super Namek couldn’t avoid them in time, so he instead crossed his arms defensively. Freeza maintained the barrage of quick shots, each one continuing to pound on the Super Namek’s protective block.

But what Freeza did not notice was that his attack did absolutely no harm to the warrior. After several long minutes of relentless attacks to no avail, Freeza fired a bigger blast of energy that exploded on contact with the Namek. But with the sudden advantage of the smoke surrounding his arm, the Namekian extended it forward. The Frost Demon, taken completely by surprise, failed to dodge the unexpected attack. A powerful hand then gripped his face, the arm reaching great lengths as it stretched. Then it slammed him into another rock face, finally releasing him and allowing Freeza to fall to the ground.

Freeza got up immediately, shouting, and rushed the Namek once more. But the Namek flanked him with a terrible kick in the face, causing him to fly off in the opposite direction.

He managed to recover in mid air, but immediately received a blow in the back and, before he could counter, another blow to the head which knocked him down. Still on all fours, the Namek rushed in and kicked him in the ribs, causing him to roll several meters. The Namek then walked casually over to where he lay. When he was close enough, Freeza sneakily tried to land a punch. But he was not even close to fast enough. His opponent grabbed his fist once more, overpowering him and forcing Freeza onto the ground again. He then fired a wave of energy directly into the monster through skin contact, searing him from the wrists to the elbows and making the tyrant scream in pain. He had never felt such frustration and humiliation. The Namek then flung a kick in his stomach, sending Freeza flying through yet another rock formation.

A few seconds later Grand Nail felt another large increase in power. The earth shook and there was an explosion where the invader had last been seen. Then a puny being, one very different in appearance from the last two monstrous transformations, appeared. It looked altogether much weaker, but his arms were healed. Yet the Namek could tell that this form was hiding a lot of power.

Freeza instantly charged the Namek, who did not defend himself, and landed a right hook to his cheek. The shot sent Grand Nail flying, but he stopped himself just short of falling into the ocean. Quickly regaining his balance, he looked up to see Freeza gaining altitude and pointing a finger at the sky. Then, above it, a small ball of energy appeared.

Freeza was determined to finish it all in one stroke, without any more delay. He would have liked to draw things out and bully his opponent, making the Namek suffer and taking his time, but he had been too humiliated to allow him to live longer.

The Namek just sat cross-legged on the surface of water and concentrated. He, too, was determined to finish this right now. He knew that Freeza was going to put all his energy into this latest attack. He would do the same. Around him, drops of green water floated up from the ocean and began to revolve around his body.

“Die with your fucking planet!” Freeza cried, while the energy above his head expanded.

“He who lives by the sword...shall die by the sword!” the Namek said softly, opening his eyes. “What...I can’t move!” Freeza cried, taken aback.

He was about to launch his most devastating attack. He didn’t understand how he had suddenly been stopped. No psychic force had ever managed to contain him like this before! But, he had put all his strength into the attack, the force that was supposed to be the most powerful in the universe! It was impossible!

“Go to hell!” The Namek finally yelled. He then flung the concentrated energy blast he had been charging at Freeza.

“No, NO, NOOOO!” the tyrant cried, seeing the overwhelming blast zoom into view.

The Emperor of the universe was reduced to dust at once, and as if that was not enough, his own energy ball above his head exploded in turn.

And finally, for the first time in several hours, the Super Namek heaved a sigh of relief.

A few days later, a ship arrived. Curious, the newly formed Super Namek left immediately to meet whoever they were. When he arrived, he found it most perplexing that the ship was clearly of Namekian origins and was carrying three persons. Unlike the previous group, these all had light pink skin and, more importantly, didn’t emit an evil energy signatures. But Grand Nail was still wary. Why were these strangers arriving in a Namekian spaceship? With a great crash, his dark cape still whirling through the air above his head, he slammed into the ground on one knee, his right palm bracing against the Namekian soil. Instantly, two of the people fell to the ground, frightened by his mere presence. It was exactly what he wanted. The third, who had shot into the air out of shock, was merely hovering nearby.

“Hello, Mr. Namek!” the small one said with a smile. He had begun to land, having apparently decided that he was no longer afraid.

But the warrior ignored his salutation and immediately asked:

“This Namekian ship, who did you steal it from?”

“Uh? No-one, sir! It was given to us by another Namek!” the little bald man timidly replied.

“Actually, now that I think about it, we didn’t exactly ask his permission” the child continued innocently.

But after the recent attacks by Freeza, Grand Nail was unwilling to trust any visitors, presuming them all to be aggressive. He reasoned that these had to be a part of the same group as before, that it couldn’t be coincidence.

“You'll pay for--”

ZOOM! He suddenly stopped, feeling a force more powerful than these three approaching the planet. Then, almost immediately, a capsule ship streamed across the sky above him, crashing nearby.

“Oh, no! It’s the Saiyan...it’s Vegeta!” the bald man said, clearly in fear. “Has he already recovered from all his injuries?”

“And I sense another one following” the Super Namek said softly. “The beginning of a second attack?”

“Mr. Namek, we’re not with him! He’s our enemy!” said the child.

“He killed our friends, and one of them was Namek, just like you!” said the bald one.

“Yes, and we came here to revive him!” ended the woman.

‘Ah...allies then?’ the Namek thought. Interestingly, these people seemed to be referring to the Namek who had fled the planet before the great cataclysm! Unless they were all incredible liars.

“You talk too much” retorted the Namek. “Let me read your minds.”

But he didn’t expect them to agree to the suggestion. Surprised, he walked over and put his hands on the heads of the child, the bald man, and then the woman.

After a minute of reading minds, the Namek came to the conclusion that their intentions were pure and sincere. “Ah, I see. An amazing story.”

Pausing briefly, he began again. “There were Dragon Balls here, up until a few days ago! At that time, I was not the only inhabitant of this planet.”

After a few long seconds of silence, the child spoke up, asking what had happened. For the first time in days the Namek had someone to talk to and, surprisingly, he was glad for the company. He proceeded to tell them the whole story of how the Nameks fought the invader, Freeza.

“You're amazing! The Saiyan will have no chance against you!” exclaimed the bald Kulilin once the Namekian’s story was finished.

The short earthling was very concerned about the presence of his former enemy, in addition to Vegeta’s new accomplice who seemed equally powerful. But alongside the Namek, whose power seemed like far overkill, he felt safe.

“You can create new Dragon Balls, right?" the young woman asked.

“Unfortunately, I am a warrior, and I lost some of my Namekian abilities...I can no longer make Dragon Balls...and neither can I have children of my own. Now, I am the last of the Nameks. I'm sorry about your wish. You have made this trip for nothing."

The three Earthlings were silent for a moment, allowing the sad truth to sink in. It meant a lot to them.

It was like their dream of making things right had suddenly come crashing down, a hope that in a few seconds had entirely collapsed. Reality, a harsh and different reality, had struck them hard. It was as if suddenly everything they had known was transformed into a world that only existed in their nightmares, a world where the dead could never be resurrected. It was at once clear to everyone: neither Yamcha, Tenshinhan, Chaozu, Piccolo, or Kami-sama could ever return to Earth again.

“We will return to Earth, then. Too bad.” Bulma said. She rose, followed by Kulilin and Gohan.

“Say, Mr. Nail!” said the small boy. “You look a lot like Mr. Piccolo. I'll help you if I can!”

“Thank you. But I'm not really Nail anymore.”

He thought for a moment.

I’ve decided to call myself Gast Carcolh.

Gast accompanied them to the ship and even came onboard, wishing good luck to the Earthlings and see them off on their journey home. When they had finally left, he snuck up behind the two warriors who had been spying on him and the earthlings.

“I will take the spaceship of your ex-chief and go scour the universe in search of a solution to revive the Namekian people,” he said, putting a hand on the shoulder of each stunned man.

“You should be quite familiar with how this works. Come with me or I kill you, understand?”

Back at the tournament. Gast’s gaze was focused on the dark-haired warrior...this guy, the Vegeta of universe 13, looked just as unsympathetic as the one he knew. Yet when he looked at the one from universe 18, Gast found that his expression seemed quite different. Equally surprising was that he was there with the Namek’s own friend, Gohan.

Outside, everything had calmed down. Universe 2 had ceased their partying, and Universe 16 and 18 parted ways. Son Gohan was the first to enter into their rooms. There was no bed, but in the wardrobe was everything they needed: bed linens, duvets, mattresses, etc. Along with Uub, Pan, and Videl, Gohan began to unfold the sheets and mattress. But Bra preferred to let them take care of the set-up, deciding to just sit at the only table in the room and wait.

“I will not share my room,” Vegeta insistently said. He was already turning to leave when Goku replied.

“No worries,” the other Saiyan said, heading for another room. “The apartment is big. Plus, Piccolo wants to sleep outside.”

Vegeta then left, his arms crossed. There were five other rooms. There was one room for him, then it was up to the four others to share; as Trunks and Goten had probably intended to do already. Bra would perhaps change her mind and sleep alone in another room, unless Gohan and Videl had the same idea, taking Pan with them of course. Vegeta laughed as he entered one of three rooms at random and settled there. Sharing was something he would never do, not with Goku, or worse, Piccolo. Although, either of them would be a favorable outcome compared to the two "teenagers".

The Vargas, who had changed the shape of each complex to perfectly suit its particular guests, had made things quite convenient. The apartments were modified and developed in different ways for each universe. The universe 18, to accommodate its many participants, had been entitled to many rooms. It was the same for the 19, while 20 did not even get an apartment. Universe 19 had a real complex, a huge place that had built underground. But since the middle of the day when they left, it had been removed and all the other apartments enlarged.

The details were as follows:

Universe 1, that of the Kaioshin organizers, had one apartment for each of them, as they were, after all, the gods of the gods. Although perfectly comfortable, they weren’t extravagant royal suites though. Rather, they were five simple sizes, which suited them as perfectly reasonable. In the basement, multiple premises had been dug for the Vargas and Nameks who were there taking care of the logistics.

Universe 2 also had a large apartment. It contained so many different people that the corridor leading to the arena had been altered by the addition of several doors. That way everyone had access to the stadium and their quarters without disturbing anyone else.

Universes 3 had had four small apartments, with four doors leading to the main hallway. Obviously, at the beginning of the tournament, and to preserve the anonymity (and knowledge of his presence) of Baddack, one of the doors had been walled outright.

Universe 4 had a single apartment which Buu was busy changing himself. No Varga dared to question the fact that the Djinn was capable of modifying their material, not to mention their suspicions the he was the one behind their computer glitches. He had transformed the apartment into a standing classical round without any den furniture.

The participant from Universe 5 was satisfied with a small apartment, which he had entered shortly after his arrival and not left since. Some organizers even wondered if he was still there.

For Universe 6, the two groups each had an apartment with a small bedroom per person.

Universe 7 and its sole participant had a simple flat, the same as universe 4.

There were many people in Universe 8 to accommodate, but it was no problem. The soldiers had one dormitory and bathroom. The masters, however, each had a suite to themselves.

Universe 9, like 16, 18, and 19, had one main room apartment with several adjoining rooms.

Universe 10, as previously explained, consisted of two apartments, furnished rooms, and dormitories. But now everything had "melded."

Universe 11 had a common room and three bedrooms. The Djinn from that world had also decided to alter his room’s appearance, but with much less elegance and skill than the universe 4 Buu. The “new” room was layered with a pool of candy which completely covered the floor.

Universe 12 had asked to have its apartment changed. It originally had two rooms, but the second participant asked to remove his own, and spent the night sitting in the common room.

Universe 13 had a living room and a bedroom for each person.

Universe 14 had a room and two bedrooms.

Universe 15 had a bedroom as well as a delivery room...prepared to handle childbirth. But clearly, in vain.

Universe 17 had a living room and two bedrooms; the Vargas decided to keep the second room even though Cell did not seem to care about the death of his child.

Universe 20 was empty.

The two Piccolos, still levitating outside, had noticed the subtle movements of the Cold Family’s minions. It was obvious that the goons were searching for something. One of them risked venturing to Universe 1’s space, but he was quickly spotted by South Kaioshin.

“Hey, you!”

“Uh...I’m looking for the bathroom,” said the soldier.

“No, you’re looking for the Dragon Balls. Tell your master that next time, it’s the exclusion of the entire Universe 8.

The little soldier was afraid. He trembled and sprinted immediately to his universe, the bearer of bad news.