Dragon Ball volume 22 summary and personae list.
New Characters:
Dende: The young Namek-jin that Gohan saves from Freeza.
Saichourou: The ultimate village elder, a massive old Namek-jin who's
the one that had created the orginal Namek Dragon Balls. When
he dies, the Namek Balls cease to function.
Nail: Saichourou's aide and bodyguard.
Cargo: The Namek kid that lived in Dende's village. His death
triggers Gohan into saving Dende.
Fighting styles:
Other notes:
Sentouminzoku Saiya-jin: What Vejita calls himself now that he's a
little stronger than when he was on Earth.
Story:
The fighting Namek arrive. The Namek complain about the disruption
of the peace, Freeza still wants the Ball. Dodoria assesses the
fighters at about 1000 -- no challenge. The one elder realizes that the
aliens are dependent on the scouters for sensing other peoples' power.
The minions are looking forward to an easy fight. Kururin and Gohan
also know that the Namek are hiding their real power. After the minions
get trashed, Zarbon asks if these Namek are really 1000's, and Dodoria
wonders why the levels have jumped up to 3000 each. Kururin is happy.
Freeza is amused, Dodoria decides that the Namek are using power
control. The elder looks around, finding the three remaining scouters,
and then tells the two kids to quickly let go of him. Dodoria gets
ready to take on the three fighters, when the elder makes his move.
Dodoria thinks that the elder just wants to get beaten up first. Then,
Zarbon catches on to what's happening, and Kururin tells us that without
the scouters, the aliens are at a serious disadvantage. Dodoria wants
to kill the elder out of spite, but Freeza wants that Namek kept alive
-- the three fighters should die, though. Dodoria expects to kill the
three within 10 seconds, but they don't believe this. The alien has fun
for several pages.
After the job is done, Freeza states that it's useless to try to run
away, and if the Ball isn't turned over, the two kids will be next.
The elder succumbs, and gets the Ball. Gohan is losing control, and
Kururin tries to get the boy to settle down. When Freeza gets the Ball,
he says that he only needs two more. The elder complains a bit, then
Freeza announces that everyone else in the village can die now. The
elder comments on the breaking of the promise, which Freeza blames on
the desire to make his wish. Zarbon asks how they're going to find
the remaining Balls, but that's just a matter of locating the remaining
villages. The elder tries to create a diversion to let the kids escape,
but Freeza kills Cargo right away. Dodoria breaks the elder's neck, and
Kururin tries to tell Gohan to keep from giving their position away.
As Dodoria moves to kill Dende, Gohan yells "stop," and rushes
forward. This makes Dodoria pause long enough to get kicked in the
face. Kururin curses Gohan. Dodoria keeps getting knocked down, and
Kururin tells Gohan to run away as he grabs the Namek kid. Freeza
notices that the two humans aren't from Namek. Dodoria curses, Freeza
tells the alien to catch the kids, Kururin curses over not being able to
escape, and Freeza wonders who the hell the intruders were. Gohan and
Kururin both know that they can't outrun Dodoria, and Kururin remembers
a delaying tactic. He passes off Dende, and then uses Taiyouken to
blind Dodoria. Kururin celebrates, then they hide. When his eyes
recover, Dodoria can't find the quarry, and decides to blow up
everything to chase them out. The wreckage assures Dodoria that the
kids are killed, but he'd really like the bodies to show Freeza. So,
Dodoria rushes up.
Kururin decides to take Dende to Buruma, Dende thanks them for saving
him, and Kururin says that it was all Gohan's fault. And yes, Dende can
fly on his own. Dodoria wishes for the scouters, which would make
finding the last 2 Balls a lot easier on this big planet. Preoccupied,
Dodoria is vulnerable to Vejita's surprise attack. The two exchange
words, and Dodoria wants Vejita's scouter. Vejita explains that he's
learned a lot while on Earth, and he plans on taking out Dodoria and
Zardon in order to get the Balls. They threaten each other, and finally
Dodoria attacks. However, Vejita is standing behind him. Vejita is
MUCH stronger now, having nearly been killed while on earth. He's now a
Sentouminzoku Saiya-jin (ie. -- stronger.) Dodoria wants a reprieve, in
return for which he'll tell Vejita something about Vejita's planet.
Seems that the planet hadn't actually been wiped out by a meteor like
everyone thought -- the Saiya-jin had gotten uppity, so Freeza had
decided to wipe them out. However, Vejita was known to be a formidable
opponent, so he'd been spared to be enlisted in Freeza's ranks. Dodoria
wants to leave while Vejita is still in shock. Vejita states that's
he's really just upset at the idea of being a slave to Freeza like
Dodoria is. The alien runs away yelling for Freeza, and Vejita kills
him while saying that Freeza should be afraid of Saiya-jin. He then
gloats at being so strong, and remembers the alien's comment about the
two kids that suddenly showed up. Vejita's not sure which two strong
kids would have come to Namek, or why. But for the moment, he has to
interfere with Freeza's plans.
Kururin and company are getting closer to Buruma's camp when they
notice something coming up on them fast. They hide their powers, and
Vejita senses all of this. He approaches them, and they recognize
Vejita and see that he doesn't have his scouter. Each side wonders
what's happening, and it looks like Vejita has found them until a large
fish leaps out of the water. The prince curses the delay, but knows
that without their scouters, Freeza isn't going to find the remaining
Balls very quickly, either. In relief, Kururin's group flies off to
Buruma's camp, but are dejected at the thought that they're not strong
enough to get the Balls to bring their dead friends back. In the camp,
they find the Capsule house that Buruma's set up. She berates them for
running around to have fun, leaving her on her own. Eventually, she
sees someone that looks like Piccolo, and asks if Dende is a Namek-jin.
The Namek had been saved by Gohan, and Buruma remembers to tell them
that Gokuu will arrive in 6 days. She explains how this is possible,
and they celebrate, with Kururin happy at their improved chances.
Vejita senses a strong level of power, marking a village with 20
people, and possibly one of the Dragon Balls. He gloats over getting to
it first. He arrives, and demands the Dragon Ball. The villagers wonder
what's going on, and the elder says that no evil people can be given the
Ball. Vejita says he'll kill them then. Buruma has been briefed, and
Kururin says that there's nothing more they can do right now. They
realize that Dende isn't eating, and the Namek replies that he doesn't
need food, just some water. Kururin then asks why their were farmers
growing food in the village. Finally, Dende gives his name, and asks
where the humans are from. But before answering, Gohan senses a strong
power, which marks the death of many of the 20 Namek at the hands of
Vejita. Kururin is frustrated at having to face the combined strengths
of Vejita and Freeza without Gokuu's help. They talk about the fates of
the Namek as the two sides fight to get the Balls, and Dende demands to
know how the Earthlings know about the Namek Dragon Balls, while
deciding to ask Gohan to help Dende's people.
The village elder refuses to get the Ball for Vejita, so he kills
that Namek, saying that he can find it by himself. Buruma completes her
recap, and Dende wants to take them to Saichourou -- The main village
elder. Vejita happily examines the Ball he's found [Note: It's the #4
Ball, the original of the one that Gokuu thought contained his dead
grandfather's soul.] He hides it in the lake, knowing that Freeza
can't find it without the scouters. He then wonders how he's going to
get the rest of the Balls from Freeza.
Zarbon comments on Dodoria's tardiness. Freeza thinks that if
the two brats have killed that idiot Dodoria, it's a good thing. They
decide to give Freeza the 5 Balls, and then Zarbon and the remaining
minion will go seperately to the two remaining villages to win the last
two Balls. The two fighters split up, (the minion has a 3 hour trip,)
and Freeza broods over Vejita's presence, and his plans to get all 7
Balls. He takes his 5 back to his ship, to wait.
Buruma ponders over the existence of an ultimate village elder, and
Dende explains that this is the Namek that had created the original
Dragon Balls. Dende is this elder's 108th generation offspring. Buruma
asks how Namek are born -- eggs spit from the mouth. Which means that
the elder is female. Dende asks what "female" means. Turns out that
Namek only has one sex, which Buruma considers boring. Kururin wants to
talk to an elder to assist the Namek, and Dende points out the location
of the #4 Ball, but that's where Vejita has probably killed everyone.
That means that almost none of the Namek are left alive. So, they've
got to find the Saichourou, but that will take 30 days to walk. Gohan
will stay behind, Kururin and Dende will fly and risk the chance
of Vejita sensing their power eminations.
As they fly, Kururin compares Freeza and Vejita, and thinks that
they'll have to hold out for 5 1/2 days for Gokuu, after they get the
Ball from Saichourou. Which is a matter of hoping for a miracle.
Gokuu has finished training at 20 g, and is about to step up to 30 g
when he is contacted telepathically by Kaiou-sama. Kaiou catches on to
the fact that Gokuu is in a ship heading towards Namek, and states that
there's some guests on Kaiou's planets. Some people that Gokuu knows.
Gokuu starts to guess, and Kaiou replies that he's going to teach the
newbies his techniques. This makes Gokuu happy. Yamcha wants to talk,
and is told to touch Kaiou's shoulder. Yamcha recaps the fact that the
heroes are going to Namek to wish the dead friends alive. Gokuu guesses
that Tenshin, Yamcha, and Piccolo are at Kaiou's, Piccolo grouses about
Gokuu having all the fun. The remaining person is Chao-zu, (not
Kami-sama, like Gokuu had guessed,) who'd gotten his body back (makes
Gokuu more happy.) Gokuu states that he's currently training to become
stronger, and has to explain why he's going to Namek: not only has
Vejita gotten there first, but someone as strong, named Freeza, is also
there. Kaiou has heard of Freeza before, and needs to examine the
planet. Ten wants Yamcha to explain what's happening. Kaiou locates
Namek, and recognizes Freeza as the ultimate in evil. The creature is
close to the two Earthlings and one Namek. Gokuu is interested, but
Kaiou wants the hero to stay away from Freeza. Then, Piccolo says that
if they're wished alive, the dead friends want to come help fight.
Kaiou yells at him, but Piccolo responds that there's no time and they
have to start training right away. Kaiou will do this, but he turns it
into a test, that shows that Piccolo and Tenshin are the two most able
students of the Kaiou techniques. Gokuu keeps training, and kicks the
gravity level up to 50 g.
Kururin is getting impatient, and Dende says they have 5 hours left
to go. Vejita can't find the next village, but he does sense two people
flying nearby. Kururin senses Vejita, and is surprised at the guy's speed.
He and Dende hide and mask their power. However, Zarbon is also closing
in, and Vejita decides to take on Freeza's minion, instead. Zarbon
complains that finding the village would be easier with the scouter. He
sees Vejita. They greet each other, and Vejita says that Dodoria is
dead, and Zarbon is next. Zarbon wants to know why Vejita doesn't team
up, and Vejita answers that he has his own plans, with include taking
the Dragon Balls. They bluster a bit, and then Vejita decides to
demonstrate the true power of a true Saiya-jin. They fight for a while,
and then Zarbon gets annoyed with Vejita's flicking his blast out of the
way. A little ways a way, Kururin is angry at the level of power that
Vejita and (probably) Freeza's minion are demonstrating, which
overwhelms his own. He decides to take the opportunity to reveal his
own power and rush off to Saichourou's location.
After some fighting, Vejita gloats, and Zarbon replies that he hasn't
been fighting at full power. He wants a chance to change into his real
form, and Vejita laughs at this. He then waits for the change over.
From his beautiful, effeminate form, Zarbon changes into a monster
uglier than Dodoria. They fight some more, and Vejita wonders what this
new Zarbon really is. Before killing Vejita, Zarbon wants to add that
Freeza is a changling, too. Zarbon claims victory, and creates a new
lake with Vejita's body. He decides that Vejita has drowned, and goes
back to tell Freeza. [Note: Zarbon prefers masking his power by wearing
the human-looking body.] Vejita then surfaces, complaining about
being stronger than this.
Meanwhile, the other minion has found the village that Vejita had
destroyed, and returns to Freeza to report. At Freeza's ship, Freeza
asks if Zarbon had found the village, and the fighter answers no, but
that he had found and killed Vejita. Freeza is very impressed, but
Zarbon doesn't have the corpse to prove it. The other minion rushes in
to say that Vejita had grabbed the next Dragon Ball. But, Vejita hadn't
had the Ball on him. Freeza tells Zarbon that he'd better hope that
Vejita wasn't dead. The minion is told to summon the Ginyuu Combat team
(it'll take them 5 days to reach Namek.) Zarbon wants to know why, and
Freeza answers that he has a hunch that he'll need them. They talk
about this (revolves around Vejita's strength as a Saiya-jin, and the
appearance of the two kids.) Freeza thinks to himself that the last
thing he needs is a Super Saiya-jin on the planet.
Desperately trying to not die, Vejita crawls from the lake. Zarbon
thinks about the Ginyuu team, then he sees the body. Vejita is still
barely alive, and the alien carries the limp form back to Freeza's ship
for questioning. One day passes, and Gokuu is still training. He's
still on 50 g, which isn't good enough for facing Vejita. He takes a
rest.
The next morning, Kururin wakes up Dende and they keep going. Dende
gives him directions, and they quickly locate Saichourou's house atop a
tall rock pillar. The lack of people outside concerns Dende, but then
the door opens and Nail steps out. The two were expected, and are told
to come inside. They have to hurry, because Saichourou is old and
getting close to death. (Kururin comments on Nail's looking like
Piccolo.) They enter and levitate to the next floor. Saichourou is
told that Dende has arrived, and Kururin is impressed at the leader's
size. The elder remarks on Kururin's being an earthling, and thanks him
for saving Dende. Kururin says it was nothing.
End of book 22.
-- Curtis H. Hoffmann
Sept. 4, 1993
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