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Dragonball Volume 23 Summary

New Characters:
The Ginyuu team: A group of silly super mercenaries hired by Freeza
to help get the Namek Dragon Balls. Designed as a parody of
5-man rubber-suit teams. First mentioned in book 22. The
names are probably a scrambling of Cream, Butter, Juice,
Gourd, and Gyuu (beef).
Rikuum: The big, effeminate muscleman
Baata: The big, masculine muscle lizard
Jiisu: The smaller pretty boy, throws a "crusher ball"
Gurudo: The little four-eyes that can control time
Ginyuu: Group leader, can switch bodies

Fighting styles:
Ki o Kaihou: Kuririn's cutting energy ball.

Other notes:
The kanji on Gokuu's gi now reads "Go" -- first kanji for "Gokuu."

Story:

Saichourou refuses to hand over the Dragon Ball to Kuririn, citing
the many deaths of his people at the hands of Freeza's group. Dende
mentions the Earth's Dragon Balls, which means that the Earth must have
a Namek on it. Kuririn explains why he's on Namek, and the elder is
afraid that the Saiya-jin is actually a Super Saiya-jin. He asks
Kuririn to stand where he can put his hand on his head to read his
thoughts from the past. Now, the elder decides to hand over the Ball,
which may not do them any good, since the elder is getting near death
himself. Kuririn accepts this, because if he has the Ball, it at least
can not be abused. Then, the elder states that if Freeza comes here,
Nail will have to fight to the death. So, the elder wants to give
Kuririn some sleeping power to help him. Kuririn asks about this, and
is force-fed more power than he's ever felt before (which is to be used
for running away.) The man gives his thanks, but notices that the power
is quickly gone (which is why it's called "sleeping power".) Kuririn
asks if one more person can get this sleeping power, and given the ok.
He's also told to keep the Dragon Ball. He tells Dende to stay here while
he goes to get Gohan, and Dende tells him to take care. As he flies
off, Kuririn is impressed with this new power.

Back at the cave, Buruma tells Gohan to take a break from practicing
to look at the Radar at the one Ball racing towards them. The child
affirms that it's Kuririn, who must have gotten to the main elder. But,
Freeza only has 5 of the Balls, and the last one is in the village that
Vejita had trashed. Vejita isn't there now, and Buruma thinks that the
Saiya-jin had failed to find that Ball. Gohan asks for the Radar, and
goes to pick up the last Ball. In Freeza's ship, the minion and Zarbon
are discussing Vejita, and the fact that the Saiya-jin won't fully heal
for 30 minutes. Zarbon goes to talk to Freeza, and the minion expects
Freeza to torture the location of the one Ball from Vejita. Then,
Freeza stops faking it and kills the minion. Zarbon and Freeza
investigate the noise, and think that their enemy has escaped the ship
-- Zarbon is ordered to chase after him. Vejita discovers the Balls,
and gloats.

Gohan finds the blasted village, and views the wreckage for the first
time. He curses Vejita, and looks for the Ball, which surprisingly isn't
indoors. Zarbon angrily searches futilely for Vejita but can't believe
that the guy is this fast. Freeza states that if Vejita has escaped,
Zarbon will die. Inside, Freeza insults the aliens, counts the Balls,
and figures that he only needs to get one more. But, how to get them
outside? -- he decides to create a diversion. He yells that he's still
inside, and blasts a new hole. Freeza thinks that Vejita has gotten the
Balls and is flying off, as Vejita runs back to the Balls and throws
them from the ship. Since they believe he's flown away, he swims off in
the opposite direction. Freeza is furious at the loss of HIS Balls, and
gives Zarbon one hour to get them back. Vejita surfaces near where the
Balls have landed, and is pleased with his throwing control. As he's
hiding the five, he's planning on getting the other two. Then, he
senses a great power that isn't Zarbon's.

Flying back, Kuririn is laughing madly, and telling Gohan to wait for
him. Vejita wonders why the Earthling is on Namek, and why he has the
Dragon Ball. Whatever the reason, Vejita plans on getting the Ball.
Kuririn is happy with his speed, Vejita is happy at nearing his goal,
and Zarbon is cursing the loss of his scouter. He sees something that
isn't a Namek, or Vejita, but it has a Dragon Ball. Then he sees Vejita
and chases after him. Vejita senses Zarbon behind him, and likes the set
up. Kuririn lands, and Buruma screams about being surprised. Then she
notices the Ball. She's impressed with the size, Kuririn says that he's
spoken with the elder, and asks where Gohan is. She answers as Kuririn
senses someone approaching that isn't Gohan.

Kuririn is overwhelmed by the Saiya-jin's power. Vejita demands the
Ball, in return he'll let them escape. Otherwise, he'll kill both
Kuririn and the girl. Zarbon arrives. Buruma asks who this hunk is,
and Kuririn answers that it's the ultimate evil. Zarbon thinks that
Vejita is working with the humans, which amuses the Saiya-jin. Kuririn
is surprised at seeing Zarbon becoming a monster. They fight, Zarbon
expects Vejita to escape, and gets blinded. During the battle, Kuririn
and Buruma decide to escape to somewhere safer, but Vejita stops them.
Zarbon is now messed up, and pissed. Vejita tells Zarbon that the alien
is near death, which the alien can't accept because he'd beaten the
Saiya-jin before. Vejita explains that Saiya-jin get stronger if they
are badly beaten up and can then heal. This explains a lot about Gokuu
to Kuririn. This doesn't impress Zarbon, who attacks again.
Zarbon dies, with a final wish that Freeza be beaten. Vejita asks if
Kuririn wants really wants to fight him. Kuririn gives in, and Vejita
happily flies off, keeping his promise to not kill them. Kuririn prays
that Gohan has found the other Ball. Buruma wants to do some
blame-laying, and they wait for Gohan to return, hoping that the boy
doesn't meet up with Vejita along the way.

Gohan and Vejita sense each other, and the boy tries to hide. Vejita
shouts a warning to whoever is out there to reveal themselves or he'll
blow up the area. Cursing, Gohan steps forward. The Saiya-jin
recognizes Kakarot's kid, Gohan sees that other guy has a Dragon Ball. It
was a present -- Gohan is afraid that Kuririn is dead, but Vejita says
that's not the case. Vejita lands, asking what the toy is in Gohan's
hand. The boy stammers that it's a watch. This amuses the Saiya-jin --
that Earth's science is so primitive. Vejita asks if Kakarot has come
to the planet, which he hasn't. Then, Vejita spares Gohan because,
including Gokuu, they're the last three Saiya-jin. He drops Gohan, and
flies off. The boy is in pain, but happy that the other Ball hadn't
been found.

Buruma wants them to hide in the Capsule house, Kuririn wants to wait
for his friend. Gohan arrives and everyone celebrates over the recovery
of the #4 Ball. Swimming underwater, Vejita is already making his
plans, but he can't find the last Ball. Suddenly, he realizes that the
shit kid hadn't been holding a watch after all. In a rage, he rushes
back to the cave, but his quarry have locked their power down at 0. He
fumes over this, and the futility of not having all of the Balls. Gohan
reassures them that they're safe, but Buruma complains about the loss of
the house and the need for a toilet. Kuririn wants to take Gohan to
Saichourou, to get extra power to face Vejita. Buruma later grouses
about how the "lady" has been left on her own. Kuririn and Gohan fly
low and slow, to avoid being detected, since they can't defeat Vejita on
their own.

Vejita drops his new Ball with the rest, and fumes over having let
the damned brat get away with that other Ball. He considers his
options. In 3-4 days, Freeza will get help, and a new batch of
scouters. He decides to wait for the kids to reveal themselves. Two
days pass, and Gokuu continues to train, having reached 100 g.
Gokuu has finally reached the point where he can fire a Kamehame-ha
that can't kill him. He's been battering himself to within seconds of
death, and then eating a Senzu seed to recover. Being a Saiya-jin, when
he heals, he gets even stronger. However, the last set of blasts almost
finish him off. He has a little more than 2 days left, and by the
end of it, he has only three 3 seeds. One more day passes, and Gokuu's
feeling great so he decides to take a rest. After turning off the
gravity control, he impresses himself, and is overwhelmed by: how light
he feels; how strong he feels; and how much he's surpassed the 10 g
Kaiou-ken techniques. In one more day, he'll be at Namek, so he bathes
and goes to sleep.

4 days have passed, and Zarbon hasn't returned -- he's either dead or
run away. However, the Ginyuu Team should be arriving soon with the
scouters, and Vejita doesn't have yet seemed to have activated the 7
Balls. With the scouters, Vejita will be easy to find. Gohan hopes
that Saichourou is close, and Kuririn hopes that the elder hasn't died
yet. The runt decides to risk alerting Vejita, and picks up the pace --
they'll now arrive in 1 hour. Finally, Vejita knows where they are
-- Kakarot's brat and the bald runt. He expects that they've left the
Ball with the woman, but he takes one of his own just in case. Now,
he's psyched.

Kuririn tells Gohan to keep trying a bit more, and he hopes that
Saichourou can give the boy the sleeping power. Between the two of them
and Gokuu, they might have a chance. Vejita is right behind them.
They've almost reached the mountain when they sense Vejita. The runt
says he'll stall Vejita while the boy gets strong. Vejita appears, and
Kuririn is impressed with his speed. Kuririn states that he can't beat
Vejita, which the Saiya-jin replies is obvious. Vejita demands the #4
Ball back, then realizes that Gohan has escaped to the nearby mountain
top. He thinks that the Ball is there, and rushes past Kuririn. Inside,
Saichourou is impressed with an Earthling's having so much power. Then,
Nail notices who's arrived outside. Kuririn and Nail try to face Vejita
down, while Vejita wonders if Nail wants to die. Gohan is given the
sleeping power, which alerts Vejita and makes Kuririn happy. Vejita
thinks that Kakarot has made it to the planet and tells him to come out,
but can't believe that's it's Gohan with this power. Saichourou tells
Dende to tell the others that a massive power is approaching Namek --
they puzzle over this until Vejita recognizes the force as belonging to
the Ginyuu Team. Freeza must have summoned all 5 of the team, and
Vejita madly demands the last Dragon Ball, which is their only chance.
Kuririn refuses, but the Saiya-jin tells them about the strength of the
fabled mercenary team. If Vejita becomes immortal, they might be able
to survive the upcoming battle. Nail comments on the approaching power,
and lets them know that the Namek Balls can grant 3 wishes. So, Kuririn
breaks down and they rush back to Buruma's hiding place (the runt curses
a lot.) Saichourou wants Nail to leave also, adding that the elder will
be ok on his own for a while.

5 Saiya-jin ships smash into Namek's surface, near Freeza's ship.
Kuririn pops in long enough to grab the Ball and leave, with the group
noticing that the enemy has arrived. Buruma is left alone, stuttering
about seeing Vejita. The Team makes their customary appearance, with
each member shouting out his name. Freeza recovers from the campy
display, and tells them that he wants the Dragon Balls, and an alive
Vejita. Ginyuu states that with their improved scouters, he can sense
Vejita a long ways away, in the presence of two others. Freeza replies
that those two can be killed. Jiisu hands over a box of scouters, the
Team yells "Fight!! O---hhhh!!" and they fly off. Vejita senses them,
and doesn't like the Team's greater speed.

The Capsule Corp ship alarm goes off with 20 minutes left before
reaching Namek. Gokuu puts on his new gi, hopes that the others are
still alive, and has 10 minutes to worry about what's happening on the
planet. (NOTE: His new gi has the kanji for _______ on it.
Vejita and Ginyuu arrive at the site of the Balls at the same time
(they exchange greetings, while the heroes curse the bad timing, and are
impressed with the Team's abilities.) Kuririn dislikes having to admit
that Vejita was right, and notices that Gurudo is the only one of the
team that doesn't have overwhelming strength. Ginyuu wants Vejita to
hand over the Ball, and Vejita hopes that his real power doesn't show up
on the scouters and his throwing the Ball will take them by surprise.
Doesn't work. They want the one Kuririn holds, and Vejita tells the
runt to smash it. Kuririn yells "shit" as he brings his fist down.
That doesn't work, either. Vejita swears other Gurudo's control over
time.

Now, it's the victims' turns. Ginyuu taunts the heroes, but Jiisu
goes a little overboard and Ginyuu admonishes him. Kuririn asks if
they'll have to fight, and Vejita replies that they can't run away.
Ginyuu needs to take the 7 Balls to Freeza, so the rest of the team
use jankenpon (scissors, paper, stone) to decide who gets to kill the
two humans, and who gets to capture Vejita. The group grouses about
this, but Ginyuu gets them to do a group cheer, and they start the
janken (Gohan thinks they should try to run away at this point.) Rikuum
is jubilant over getting Vejita, while Gurudo has to settle for the
mere humans. Ginyuu then laughs as he flies towards Freeza. Gohan
wants to blast Ginyuu, but Vejita tells him to not waste the energy.
Vejita calls a war council, and tells the other two to control their
power against Gurudo, and asks if Kakarot really hasn't come to Namek.
Kuririn verifies this, but adds that Gokuu is on his way. Gohan is
furious over not being able to resurrect his friend Piccolo.

The Ginyuu team fighters saunter forward, wanting to play. Rikuum
lets Gurudo go first, and the four-eyes complains about having to fight
garbage. Vejita is annoyed, Kuririn wants Gohan to use the image
training from when they were on the spaceship, and Gurudo is going to
finish this quickly. Kuririn announces Ki o Kaihou, and the fight
starts. Gurudo then stops time to avoid the blasts and return the
attack. However, the humans have separated too far for him to take them
out in one shot. He starts time again, and the heroes locate Gurudo
for a punching assault. The 4-eyes stops time again and starts to
panic (it'll take lots of energy to blast away with time stopped.) He
runs and hides, planning to fire while unseen. But, he gets sensed and
has to stop time again. He's really upset that the garbage is putting
up this much of a fight, and can't understand how they located him
without the use of the scouters.

Commenting that the little humans have power levels at 10,000, the
rest of the team come closer to watch the battle. They make fun of
Gurudo, while Vejita fumes. Gurudo uses the only nearby tree to make a
spear that he launches at Kuririn, daring the runt to escape in time.
Neither human can move, no matter how hard they try. The tree almost
reaches Kuririn when Vejita makes his move. With Gurudo decapitated,
the control over time is broken and Kuririn escapes. Gurudo is annoyed
with Vejita's breaking the rules of the game. But, Vejita replies that
he never agreed to abide by those rules. Gurudo threatens the Saiya-jin
a bit before being finished off. Kuririn wants to know why he was
saved, and Gohan thanks Vejita, but the bad guy says he did it only to
even the odds against the remainder of the Ginyuu team.

The rest of the team complains about this unsporting behavior, and
the fact their Special Fighting Pose (tm) can't be performed by only four
people. Ginyuu will have to develop a new pose. Jiisu and Baata use
janken to decide who gets to fight the humans next, while Rikuum claims
Vejita. Kuririn and Vejita curse this silliness. Then, Rikuum wants to
take on all three of them, which angers Jiisu (who wants to have a shot
at the fun of killing them.) Rikuum performs his introductory poses,
followed by Vejita's powering up to almost 20,000. There's a bit of
fighting, and it looks like Vejita has won. Gohan and Kuririn are
justifiably impressed. But, they sense that Rikuum is still alive.
The Ginyuu fighter strolls out of the smoke (H --- i!) with virtually
no damage. (But, there's a stench and lots of dust, which bothers Jiisu
and Baata.) The "Rikuum Kick" sends Vejita flying. There's some
fighting, that makes Rikuum happy with "Vejita-chan." In the resulting
chase, Rikuum announces a "speed-up," before smashing Vejita into the
lake. After burying Vejita head first in the ground, Rikuum asks if
he's all right, hoping that death hasn't cut into his fun. But, Vejita
blasts him again. With almost no hair left, Rikuum is really starting
to enjoy himself. Rikuum taunts the Saiya-jin, who curses the Ginyuu
fighter as being a monster. Kuririn tells Gohan to get ready to attack,
to help Vejita and to give themselves better odds.

Meanwhile, the Capsule Corp. ship announces planetfall on Namek in
two minutes.

End of book 23.

-- Curtis H. Hoffmann Sept. 11, 1993