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New Characters:
Third-stage Freeza: An extension of the Second-stage Freeza: more
powerful, but looks like a parody of the creature from _Alien._
Fourth-Stage Freeza: The ultimate form, this is what Freeza
originally looked like. It's been a long time since he's had
this shape.
Bardock: The Saiya-jin that fought Freeza in the final battle on
planet Vejita. The most likely person to be Son Gokuu's (and
Kakarot's) father. Killed by Freeza.
Fighting styles:
Other notes:
Freeza destroyed the planet Vejita 30 years ago, leaving Nappa,
Radits, and Vejita as the last of the race of Saiya-jin.
Story:
Kuririn and Gohan are happy with Piccolo's performance, but
Vejita
is upset at being outpowered by someone that he'd once killed.
The two
Earthlings expect to not die after all. But, Freeza then gets in
a few
punches, and Kuririn now sees the alien's real spirit. They
banter a
bit, and Vejita realizes that he can't beat this monster. Piccolo
throws off his heavy clothes, stretches, and says that he's going
to
fight for real, too. This surprises Freeza (who thought that this
HAD
been for real, and he didn't know that Namek were this good.)
Kuririn
can't believe that Piccolo had been fighting while wearing the
heavy
mantle and cloak.
However, Freeza states that he hasn't been fighting seriously,
himself. He has two more forms he can take, and he takes a couple
of
pages to switch to the next step up. The Third-stage Freeza
overwhelms
everyone with his power level. They talk about this, and the fact
that
Piccolo has already taken some damage. Gokuu curses the
situation, and
the fact that Freeza is so strong. Freeza teases Piccolo, and
then
attacks. Piccolo tries running away to get some distance, but
Freeza
appears in front of him ("Well, well. Long time, no
see.") With just
his ki-ai, Freeza starts doing real damage, and Piccolo is amazed
at the
speed. Freeza does his Hokuto no Ken impression, as the others
futilely
watch on. When Kuririn tries to help, Vejita stops the runt and
demands
that Kuririn half-kill him. When Dende heals him, Vejita hopes to
become a Super Saiya-jin. Gohan attacks Freeza at full power, and
Kuririn cheers him on. But, it's not quite enough. Piccolo saves
the
boy from his own blast, and Gohan thanks him. Freeza thinks that
this
had been a bit close, then realizes that the boy is a Saiya-jin.
However, the only Saiya-jin since their planet was destroyed
about
30 years ago, are Vejita, Radits, and Nappa.
Piccolo is pleased with Gohan's new strength, which,
unfortunately,
has been completely depleted. Freeza decides that the only one
that
could have had a Saiya-jin child is Radits. This means that only
Vejita
and the boy remain as threats to him. He discounts the
possibility of
them becoming Super Saiya-jin.
Meanwhile, Vejita is explaining that since he's a Saiya-jin,
if he
gets half-killed, and then healed, he'll become even stronger.
So, he
wants Kuririn to attack him. He promises to not kill Kuririn in
revenge. Then, Freeza announces that he's going to do everyone a
big
service and will take on his true shape and achieve his ultimate
power
level. The thought of Freeza as an ugly, drooling monster causes
Kuririn to ignore the possibility that Vejita will be a problem
later,
and blasts him in the chest. Vejita is pleased with the results,
and
expects now to become a Super Saiya-jin. Gohan wonders why
Kuririn
fired, and Piccolo says that they'd better move back. Gohan takes
Piccolo to safety ("Piccolo-san, are you ok?" "I'm
just great.") and
is going to get Dende to heal the Namek.
But. Vejita can't understand why Dende won't heal him
(something
about the Saiya-jin having killed an entire village of
Namekians.) Dende
leaves to save Piccolo, and Vejita collapses to die. Kuririn
tells
Gohan about why he shot Vejita, as Dende flies off leaving Vejita
limp on
the ground. Piccolo asks if Dende can really heal him. One island
over, Freeza sees Dende working on Piccolo. Recovered, Piccolo
asks if
he can heal people too, but is told no, that he's a fighter, not
a healer.
Kuririn and Piccolo try to convince Dende to overcome his hatred,
and
heal Vejita. Then, the huge release of energy signals Freeza's
final
change-over.
The group talks about Freeza's new power, which is so great it
could
destroy the planet. Gohan tells Dende to heal Vejita now. But,
instead
of thanking him, Vejita kicks Dende around for not reviving him
sooner.
The Saiya-jin is now convinced that he's broken the barrier.
Kuririn
has trouble accepting that the cute little lizard boy is the
Fourth-stage Freeza, but the outer appearance masks so much power
that
Piccolo is sorry at having wasted the Dragon Ball wishes to be
brought
back to life.
The first finger blast kills Dende, to prevent anyone else
from being
healed. In the healing tank, Gokuu is wondering who just died,
and
curses Freeza's strength. Freeza teleports, and the group
attacks. He
teleports again, and Vejita tells them to look backwards. Gohan
is
singled out for a killing blast, and Vejita has to save the boy
(insulting him at the same time.) Piccolo wonders how the
Saiya-jin got
so fast so quickly. Gohan thanks him, but Vejita says he did it
just to
have an audience. Piccolo asks if Vejita thinks he can really
beat
Freeza, the answer is "yes." Freeza asks about this,
and Vejita claims
to be a Super Saiya-jin. Freeza laughs at the good joke. Piccolo
repeats this, and Vejita attacks, saying that Kakarot won't be
the next
one. However, during the fight, Freeza warps out and Vejita can't
follow him. This means that Vejita isn't an actual Super
Saiya-jin.
Mere speed isn't going to defeat Freeza. In a rage, Vejita says
that he is
too a Super Saiya-jin, and fires off a new blast. Piccolo tells
Vejita
to not destroy the planet. Freeza kicks the blast away, and
everyone is
stunned. Vejita loses control and cries in frustration.
Freeza starts pounding on the helpless Saiya-jin, asking if
anyone
else wants to try to save him. Gokuu thinks about how close
Vejita had
gotten, and how strong Freeza is. Then, the medical tank
announces that
he's fully healed. The extra strength, the nice breeze, and the
danger
in the air all feel good to him. Freeza and company are nearby.
Freeza
discards Vejita, annoyed at how fast the fun has come to an end.
Before
Freeza can deliver the killing blow, Gokuu arrives, chatting up
his
friends. They can't believe that this is really Gokuu. The hero
stops
Freeza, who wonders where this garbage has come from. Vejita
calls him
"Kakarot," meaning that the guy is a Saiya-jin. There
was one guy, on
planet Vejita that looked like this when Freeza fought him
(Gokuu's
father, Bardock.) Vejita realizes that this isn't merely Kakarot,
but
that Gokuu is now a Super Saiya-jin. Freeza thinks about the
possibility of another Saiya-jin in existence. He attacks, but
Gokuu
drops him. So, Freeza fires his finger blasts, and Kuririn yells
out a
warning. But, Gokuu deflects them. Freeza is surprised, and
Vejita
tells them the reason that this is possible (and that Freeza will
now be
defeated.) On the other hand, Freeza is tired of hearing the joke
about
Super Saiya-jin, and uses his finger blast to kill Vejita.
Gokuu asks why Freeza attacked a helpless person, and Vejita
coughs
out that Gokuu has to make the last step. Gokuu doesn't
understand this
talk, and Vejita explains that Gokuu's parents came from planet
Vejita,
which Freeza had destroyed. With his dying breath, Vejita begs
Kakarot
to become a Super Saiya-jin and defeat Freeza. Gokuu blows out a
grave,
says a brief eulogy (basically, he respected the guy, but
disliked how
he acted,) and buries him. Now, Gokuu plans revenge for his
planet.
Piccolo tells tells Gohan and Kuririn to move farther back, and
Gohan
implores his father to not die.
The fight is brief, and Gokuu burns his hands on the blast
that
pushes him deep into a mountain. On the other world, Yamcha asks
what's
happening, and Kaiou-sama tells them that Vejita has died.
However, the
good news is that Gokuu's ace card may allow him to win. Freeza
can see
how Ginyuu had been defeated. They banter a bit. Then fight a
bit.
Freeza thinks that this won't take long, and Gokuu stays at the
bottom
of the lake, thinking. The hero wants to overcome the alien's
speed
advantage. His friends worry about this. Then, Gokuu makes a pair
of
small Kamehame-ha's, and guides them in the water. Freeza is
wondering
what's taking so long. Finally, the first 'ha' is sent up, and
Freeza
mistakes it for Gokuu. The second one is launched, and it's not
Gokuu
either. Freeza is then blindsided, through a couple of hills.
Didn't
affect the alien much, though. He is very excited at having this
kind
of fight, and he wonders how he's going to cook Gokuu. (Playing
on the
fact that the Saiya-jin all have foods for names.)
There's a little more bantering, then Freeza launches some
rocks to
distract the hero long enough to blast him. Gokuu can't move,
Freeza
tells him to die, and he hits the planet. The others realize that
Freeza
had just been playing around until now. Piccolo tells them to not
worry, because Gokuu hasn't been fighting for real, either.
Kuririn
asks how he knows, and Piccolo tells him to look backwards. The
hero
mentions that the blast was a bit powerful, and he returns to
face
Freeza. They tell each other that both of them are just warming
up.
Back on Earth, Chi Chi is grousing about Gohan not studying, and
is
instead out playing around on some strange planet with Gokuu. Her
father mentions that maybe they're on the ship on the way back
home.
Freeza suggests that he and Gokuu find a nice little island for
some
hand-to-hand combat. Gokuu thanks him for the service, and the
alien
offers a bigger service -- to fight without using either hand.
The
hero is impressed, stretches out a bit, and is told to attack any
way he
likes (i.e. -- Freeza is taking a handicap to make the fight more
even.)
Things go smoothly for both sides until Gokuu bites Freeza's tail
(he
hates the taste) and the alien punches him in return. Gokuu
mentions
this, and Freeza says that the service has ended. They flatter
each
other, talk about the 'easy' fight with Ginyuu, and Freeza states
that
he's only been using 50% of his max power. Gokuu thinks he's
joking.
The others are wondering what's going on at the distant island,
and are
getting worried.
Freeza starts concentrating, and Gokuu realizes that the alien
isn't
bluffing about his power. Gokuu takes a battering, and Freeza is
impressed that the guy isn't dead yet. Everyone else is getting
concerning with Freeza's strength, Yamcha asks Kaiou if Gokuu is
still
wearing the heavy training clothes (he's not, which means that
Gokuu
doesn't have that as an excuse for getting beaten up.) But,
Tenshinhan
tells them to not worry, because Gokuu can use the 10g Kaiou
techniques. Kaiou-sama cuts their jubilation short, because
that's what
Gokuu is doing already.
Freeza uses a slashing energy attack that surprises Gokuu with
its
destructive force against the planet. The alien had used this to
destroy planet Vejita, and Gokuu considers defeat. Kuririn and
Piccolo
try to figure out what Gokuu is thinking. On the other world, the
dead
guys are starting to panic, too. Looks like Freeza is going to
win.
Gokuu decides to take the risk to his body and step up to 20g
Kaiou
techniques. He pounds on Freeza a bit, and then unleashes a
Kamehame-ha.
Freeza is now angry, and in a little pain. Gokuu is a little
stunned.
End of book 26.
-- Curtis H. Hoffmann Sept. 19, 1993
