PART EIGHTEEN: THE NIGHT OF REST

Chapter 88

Translated by Ledgic

Vunnvenly. This sumptuous planet accommodated one of the most gentle people of its galaxy. For thousands of years, they built lavish palaces, skyscrapers and monuments... Then they were conquered by the Frost Demons who also saw this planet as a work of art. However, they didn't destroy it; they settled there. Vuunvenly gained new visitors and a higher reputation, both in beauty and in culture. In years that followed, many aliens eventually resided there to establish their retirement. Vunnvenly quickly became the capital of universal culture, a gem of beauty, and at the same time, the capital of Lord Freeza's empire.

In innumerable universes, this universal multicultural center escaped from the destruction and even the reign of the Frost Demons....however, in certain universes…

Universe 8, more than thirty years ago...

Lord Freeza hovered several hundred feet above the ground. Frightened, he contemplated the damage caused by a surprisingly formidable warrior: a Saiyan. The mighty Frost Demon decided to confront the warrior himself, as he believed he was more powerful than any Saiyan he had known, more powerful than even the Ginyu squad put together. These were five, five against one Saiyan and one of his friends... But Freeza had to transform, reach his original form in order to fight and eliminate the Saiyan. The fight had resulted in the total destruction of the city.

Once prosperous and joyous, it now resembled a large battlefield. Everywhere he glanced, all he saw was desolation, ruins, and thick smoke rising high in the sky. He looked below him: surrounded by a dozen of large craters stood the Ginyu commando, waiting for their master to inquire a little refreshing news. Gritting his teeth, the Frost Demon descended from the air, landing smoothly on the ground below.

The commando approached. Kneeling, their leader Ginyu lowered his head as a sign of submission. His armor was cracked and the purple mutant showed numerous scratches on his body. Behind him, a little more damaged than his leader, Butta held Jeice in his arms; he was unconscious and injured. To the right of Butta, Reecom stood slightly behind. He was the one that seemed to have received the most damage. His armor was shattered and his tunic was torn on his whole right side. He had numerous scratches. As for the latter, even their best medical units could no longer do anything for him...

Freeza was furious! Fists clenched, he screamed:

"The capital of my empire! Destroyed! A jewel of beauty, of magnificence! There's nothing left!"

The fact that most of his own attacks were responsible for half the damage was only a small detail. He needed a scapegoat and he certainly wasn't going to blame himself! Ginyû looked up toward his boss:

"It's my fault, master. I wasn't able to contain the Saiyan. I take full responsibility!"

Freeza powerfully struck the ground with his tail, ejecting pieces of rock and dust into the air.

"Oh really?" he replied rhetorically, straightening up his body.

His anger was so terrible that Ginyû only saw one way to calm him down.

He pointed his finger toward Ginyû. Behind Freeza, some warriors of his army showed.

Ginyû was paralyzed. It didn't take a genius to anticipate what was coming. He hesitated a moment, wanting to react. In the end, he decided to do nothing. About a second later, a violet beam pierced him clean through the middle of the chest. The purple mutant tensed, his muscles stiffening all at once, cutting off his breath. Around him, the other members of his team were shocked. Butta dropped Jeice, who as of yet, still remained unconscious. The captain's muscles eventually lost all power and dropped. He then fell back, motionless.

"Time to find a new name for your squad! You're done dancing!" cried Lord Freeza. "Go and burn that body!"

No conscious Ginyû Force member moved however. One, it wasn't their job to burn the body. Two, it was also their commander, who of which they had great respect for. They would never do such a thing.

As nobody moved, one of the men of Freeza decided to take initiative. The young Pôar took a slow, halting step. Realizing that no negative remark was made to him, hurried up. He lifted Ginyû's left arm over his shoulder, then dragged him inside building. Slowly, he reached the destination: an incinerator. He dropped the body to program the machine. Ginyu layed face down then Pôar looked at him for moment...then struck his foot hard into the captain's. The idea seemed satisfactory: it was such a pleasure to be able to kick someone who was thousand times stronger than himself without punishment! However, he hurt his foot kicking it against the chest piece of Ginyû's black-plated armour.

He spat on the body, insulting the captain with cursing names before he went back in front of the machine to finalize the sequence of incineration. When Ginyû's was ready, he turned his body to face the opposite way. He now lay on his back, inert.

On his back?

Pôar approached, kneeling down to inspect the body. The one thought dead, Ginyû, suddenly opened his eyes and shouted something. Everything was confusing in the mind of the young Pôar. A blinding flash and an impression of suffocation as something went in and out of his mouth, blurred vision, which was followed by an extremely sharp pain in the middle of the chest...His vision was blurry...something was wrong. He was now cold, and lying on the ground in great pain. He tried to listen, but heard nothing reassuring. He felt himself being carried and placed on a surface that seemed even softer than the floor. Then a sense of movement as if he were on a treadmill. The sensation of cold disappeared. Heat, reassuring at first glance, enveloped him completely. Warmth, initially so soft, gradually began sting him, then began to burn. He no longer had anymore strength to shout, or to struggle. A few seconds later, and the process was finished...

The body of Ginyû was no more, but his mind lived on in another body due to his signature technique: Body Change. Ginyû had become Pôar, and Pôar had died in his place.

Freeza sat in his antigravity capsule, his head leaned forward, lips touching his fingers intertwined, he was still reflecting on the valueable information he learned earlier. For him, there was only one conclusion he could think of following the random exposition of Majin Buu:

'It's obvious now...Captain Ginyû is not dead. He's hiding amongst my men! But which body is he in now?'

He thought of the people closest to him, immediately forgetting about his father and brother. There were still remaining members of the Ginyû Force among his empire, soldiers working under Coola, and the more or less important crew members of his vessel...

But it was impossible to know for sure...

Ginyû was very intelligent, and a fine tactician, always thinking several steps ahead. His acting abilities were impeccable; he knew how to adapt to any situation no matter what role he had to play.

To be in the pathetic body of Pôar didn't limit, or bother him much; it was a situation far better than death. He thought of it as a preliminary stage and as a provisional body. However, he knew he could not simply change bodies again so quickly or it would arouse suspicion. Ginyû played the role of Pôar for several days until he heard talk about an assault on a planet; a planet who's name he did not recognize.

War and battles were the perfect pretexts! Pôar went to register as a volunteer for that particular battle. Ginyû calculated and prepared a plan in perfect detail. The leader of the strike force was a being named Nemokid. He was the captain. Although his strength his was still miserable to that of his old body, it was much greater than the one he currently possessed. He was always protected by his two bodyguards, hidden in an outpost shielded from the frontlines. It was easy for the small body of Pôar to slip away unnoticed and hide in the shadows, as well as being able to move quietly and accurately to reach the captain. Then, in a strong voice, he shouted:

"The enemy is here! They took us back!"

Under the orders of the trembling Nemokid, both bodyguards went out. The results were as expected: he was alone. Ginyû slipped into the room and immediately used his special technique to switch bodies with the captain. He was now Nemokid. Now facing him was Pôar, who didn't understand the event that had just transpired; all he knew was one thing for certain: he had been had. The new Nemokid eliminated him with an energy attack of weak potency, but sufficient enough to destroy him.

When the two bodyguards eventually returned, they found the remains of Pôar and stared at them. Ginyû intervened rapidly:

"This traitor attempted to eliminate me on behalf of the enemy! Clean this mess up! I have a battle to win."

Ginyû was ready to play each of his roles as he was needed to. Nemokid was there to win the battle. And that was precisely what he was going to do, while at the same time Nemokid's army was losing ground. Following this assault, Ginyû meticulously considered his next step. Nemokid was rather old; close to retirement in fact, which would prevent him from being on the battlefield with beings more powerful than himself. He would be required to change bodies once again in the near future. In addition, he had no idea what Nemokid's life resembled, if he had a family, an occupation... These types of things would definitely pose a problem...

Back in the capital, Ginyû recalled a promise he once made to a sick, old friend who had been bedridden for many years. This was a perfect opportunity to cover his tracks once again. He's known it for several decades: like him, the soldier took part in many battle before falling ill. It was one of those rare people whom Ginyû had absolute confidence in: a true friend.

He was kept on artificial life support; the room become somewhat of a second home for him. Without the life support, he would only have a few minutes to live. His mind would live on, but in an almost catatonic state.

Ginyû wasted no time and told him everything without hesitation. Fortunately for him, his friend could still hear and understand him completely: he proposed the body of Nemokid to him; an old soldier ready for retirement.

Freeza's new investigator, Nabana, did his job well. He researched many things and eventually discovered the name of the patient whom the captain had gone to visit thirty years ago. It was a strange fact since, in the years preceeding this moment, Nemokid had never visited anyone in that capital.

To study the archives to find Captain Ginyû was not an easy task. After only the first few hours, Nabana realized that to follow dozens, then hundreds, of lives to find the detail which would unmask Ginyû, would require a huge stroke of luck. He used his head, his logic, and relied partly on chance.

If this 'Nemokid' was Ginyû, and he had gone to visit someone who was ill, was it to change bodies? Freeza had guessed it: many people would give anything to be able to enjoy a relaxing life, away from the danger and stress of capital wars. And if he were to survive?

The dying man who could aquire the body of a retired man would have no reason to reveal the truth. 'Ginyû took the body of the patient to get rid of that Nemokid; he would have been forced to the take the body of a nurse then...' thought Nabana. The investigator sought the first nurse who returned to visit the patient after Nemokid left... No... Not the first; it was too easy. The second rather...

Since Ginyû was highly intelligent, Nabana suspected it. It was a necessity that he should try to think as the captain would in order to find him. Ginyû would've never taken the first body to come his way... Nabana checked further reports on the second male nurse: after two medical errors in the same day, then a so-called memory loss prevented the investigator to find his home that evening; he took a leave of sickness.

Six months later, he was killed in a terrible accident in front of the eyes of his seven-year-old son... A son who, after some research, aquired perfect scores on tests in his class, while he was, in the opinion of Nabana, 'a psychologically immature retard.' Translator's Note: "Retard" was the actual direct translation. Hopefully this didn't offend anyone!.

For several hours, Nabana searched through reports, statements, notes, and other administrative documents conceding the son of the nurse. He didn't find anyway until his arrest at the age of twenty-two years old, following many small offences, followed by a robbery gone awry. Psychological studies that followed showed that the young man suffered from a serious case of double personality syndrome. One of them had completely supplanted the other: there was more to this podigal son's perfect scores; he wasn't absolutely certain he was the right person to be part of the forces of order.

In epoch, it was insanity. Today, Nabana knew that it was the truth. Ginyû had acquired the body of a member of the police force... But which one? Nabana had to check each of one of them, and it was going to take the rest of the night.

Captain Ginyû felt safe after so many years. Sixteen years after his "death", he was still alive and nobody knew. But he knew he'd be an idiot to to leave any shadow of a doubt behind him. He wouldn't allow any errors.

From now on, in the body of a police officer, he started to prepare a vast plan in order to regain rank and power.