Dragon Ball volume 26 summary and personae list.
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 (ie -- 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 jubulation 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
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