Dragon Ball Manga Volume #9.





New Characters:

   Uranai Baba: The little old crone who floats around atop her crystal

              ball.  She has a very elaborate estate/fighting complex

              where she will answer any question for a fee.  Either you

              pay 10 million zenii, or fight her five warriors.

              Apparently, no one has ever had a question answered by

              winning the combats.  Is Kamesennin's older sister.

   Son Gohan: Gokuu's dead grandfather.  (Also the name of the son of

              Gokuu and Chichi, who appears much later on in the series.)



Fighting styles:

   Rouga Fuufuu Ken: Yamcha's "Wolf Wind Attack."



Other notes:





Story:

   Volume 9

   Gokuu starts clicking the Radar, looking for the next Ball.  But the

Radar is busted again.  In the flyer, Gokuu's friends prepare for battle

against RR's hordes.  They land some distance away, and argue over

Oolong's faked stomache ache.  But before they can walk very far,

Kuririn sees an approaching enemy.  They hide in the bushes, but realize

that their flyer is still visible.  So, Pool is sent out to retrieve the

flyer in capsule form.  Gokuu is complaining about having to return to

the big city to find Buruma and get the Radar fixed again.  Below him,

the group recognizes their friend and yell out to him.  He wants to know

what they're doing out here, and they have the same question for him.

Yamcha says Gokuu is lucky they'd found him before the fighting started,

and Gokuu dumbfounds them by replying that the fight is already over.

Pool is set out to confirm this, and the group starts wondering about

this little boy who can single-handedly defeat an entire, well-equipt,

army.  Gokuu replies that he'd been to the top of Karin Tower (and that

he also knows the secret of the Chousei water,) which makes Kamesennin

wonder even more about a boy that could do something that had taken him

3 years to do.  Kuririn wants to know what Kamesennin and Gokuu are

talking about, and Gokuu suddenly realizes that Buruma is with them.

They return to the island so that Buruma can get her tools.  Along the

way, everyone comments on how much Gokuu has improved.

   But, Buruma can't find anything wrong with the Radar.  Gokuu is

grousing about only having the 6 Balls, and not being able to find the

last one, when Kamesennin says that if they find Uranai Baba, she can

tell them where the last Ball is.  The old man shows them where to go on

a map (Gokuu can't understand the concept of "maps.")  But, Oolong and

Buruma refuse to go along on the trip.  So, Pool, Yamcha, Kuririn, and

Gokuu head off by themselves.  Kushami wonders about Kamesennin's

comment, "I wonder if Gokuu is strong enough for this...")

   Along the way, the group stops to get Gokuu a new set of clothes to

replace the damaged ones he's wearing.  [Notice that Groucho Marx lives

in this town.]  Yamcha is paying, so he wants to the clothes to be very

cheap.  The first outfit isn't quite right, so they ask the tailor to

make a copy of the old outfit, with a hole in the back for the boy's

tail.  Since it'll take an hour to finish, Gokuu rushes off on Kintoen

to get Upa, so that the young boy watch them find the last Ball.  Upa is

introduced to everyone, and Kuririn comments on the "cute girl."  This

earns him some ribbing for having Gokuu's problem of not being able to

tell the difference between the sexes.  Gokuu changes on the street

(Yamcha tells him to not play with himself.)  Gokuu is happy with the

new shoes, too.

   When they finally locate Baba's house, they wonder about the tough

guys standing outside the door.  The ghost-butler asks if they're there

to ask a question (Gokuu gets Baba's name wrong,) and Yamcha thinks that

there's something wrong here.  A rich couple comes out, happy with

their answer.  The toughs go in, there's a lot of screaming, and they

come out looking beaten-up.  So, the group of friends are a little

concerned when it's their turn.  But, the ghost won't answer any

questions.  Inside, Gokuu asks if the old woman is really Baba, again

getting her name wrong.  He asks if she can answer any question, and she

says, "Yes, for 10 million zenii."  But, since they can't pay, she gives

them a chance to face her 5 warriors.  Since Yamcha, Kuririn, and Gokuu

had done so well in the Tenkaichi-Budoukai, they are all over-confident.

Yamcha asks about the rules, and Baba says that the only rules are:

one-on-one combat, and "if you quit, you lose."  Pool and Upa don't want

to fight, and Baba is surprised that it'll be three against five.

   Kuririn goes first.  The fighters are brought out one at a time:

      Dracula-man

      The Invisible Man

      The Mummy

      Akku-man (A devil)

      A mysterious ghost (wearing a cat mask, and a halo.)



   Dracula-man starts out, and is very fast.  All Kuririn has to do is

surrender and he'll receive a transfusion.  Because of the halo-shape

puncture wounds on his head, Yamcha gets Kuririn to start praying (looks

like a monk) and everyone laughs at him.  Then Dracula-man knocks

Kuririn out of the ring and wins the first round.  Gokuu wants to know

why his friend lost so fast, and Baba asks who'll fight her man next.

Yamcha asks if it would be ok if Upa and Pool can fight as one person,

since they're so small.  Baba lets them.  Upa eats some garlic, and Pool

does some shapechanging -- they win this match.

   Baba is amused, and Yamcha (still over-confident) goes next.  The

teenager is waiting for his opponent to arrive, but he's already in the

ring and we now learn that he's The Invisible Man.  Gokuu wants to know

why Yamcha is acting so funny, and Kuririn has to explain the concept of

invisibility to him.  Then, Kuririn yells at Gokuu to rush off to get

Buruma and Kamesennin.  As they wait, Yamcha starts listening for his

opponent's footsteps, and gets in a few good shots before Baba catches

on and starts singing about how cute she is.  Baba then asks if Yamcha

is going to give up.  But, Gokuu arrives first, and Buruma yells at

Kuririn for having been dragged to the shiai (fight.)  Buruma and

Kamesennin are a little slow in noticing Yamcha getting beaten up.

Kirin positions the two with great care, awaits his moment, and then

pulls down Buruma's tank top, causing Kamesennin to suffer a nosebleed

so great as to coat the Invisible Man.  This gives Yamcha his chance,

and he uses Rouga Fuufuu to get in a few shots before the Visible Man

surrenders.

   Yamcha wins, Buruma yells at Kuririn for showing off her breasts,

Kuririn says he did it to save her boyfriend, and Kamesennin berates

Kuririn for trying to kill him by hemmorage.  However, Kamesennin also

thinks it was a nice move, and is happy with the boy.  Baba reminds them

that they have 3 more fighters to face.  Buruma asks if the old crone is

Baba, and Kuririn fills in the background details.  Then, Kamesennin

says it's been a long time since he's seen his older sister -- Uranai

Baba.  Baba replies in kind, and asks if Kamesennin is still a

sukebe.  Kuririn thinks that since the two old folks are related, that

the fights will be called off, but Baba disagrees, and Yamcha replies

that he's up for the next contest.  However, they have to go inside to

find the next guy (and Buruma now gets introduced to Upa.)  In the

building, Yamcha is told that this is a place of bad magic, and when he

asks Kamesennin for advice, is told "Don't die."  Baba points Yamcha to

a door, and takes the rest up to the observation deck.  When everyone is

in place, Baba shows that the pool below Yamcha is not filled with plain

water.  Yamcha agrees that this is a "bad magic" place.  Here, if you

die, you lose.  Then, Mirai-kun (The Mummy) appears.

   The fight starts, and Yamcha thinks that since the Mummy is someone

that does a lot of pushing, and the footing is bad, he'll have to rely

on speed.  Pool yells to his friend to not die.  However, the Mummy is

too fast (Kamesennin is surprised to notice that Gokuu isn't shocked at

the Mummy's speed.)  When Yamcha is almost knocked off the tongue, the

Mummy asks him to surrender.  Instead, the group yells encouragement as

the boy tries Rouga Fuufuu.  But, it fails and he's again asked if he

wants to surrender.  Baba gloats until Yamcha seemingly wins by pulling

the Mummy off the tongue.  Then the Mummy recovers again and they fight

some more.  Eventually, Yamcha has to surrender to avoid being dropped

into the pool.  Baba is happy.  Buruma is pissed because Yamcha failed.

Yamcha apologizes, and Baba asks who the last fighter will be.  After

Gokuu cheerfully volunteers, Upa tells him to please not die.  Then,

they banter before Baba tells them to start.  The Mummy is concerned

when he realizes that Gokuu LIKES fighting.  After getting in a few

blows, the Mummy thinks he's won.  Then Gokuu stands up and says it's

his turn now.  Pool and Kamesennin are shocked at Gokuu's stamina and

lack of visible damage.   With one punch, he drops the Mummy, and asks

if this means that he's won.  Baba grudgingly says it does.  The rest

are having trouble realizing that this is their friend, and the old man

reminds them that the boy had single-handedly defeated Red Ribbon. Gokuu

then asks if he needs to beat 2 more people, and Baba angrily says

"yes."

   Akku-man wonders what the deal is with the kid, and the ghost laughs

to himself.  Gokuu wonders at the weird-looking devil, and Kamesennin is

concerned (if Akku-man is number 4, then fighter #5 has to be REALLY

good.)  They start, the demon surprises people at being able to fly, but

Gokuu is still too fast.  They fight.  Kamesennin says that Akku-man

shouldn't be underestimated, having won the Tenkaichi-budokai twice in

the past. Finally Akku-man unleashes his secret weapon -- his power is

to cause the least bit of evil in a person's heart to expand and cause

the victim to explode.  Baba tells Akku-man to stop, but it's too late.

Akku-man laughs -- "Explode!"  Gokuu wants to know where the strange

light came from.  The magic has no effect, and Gokuu is shown to have a

pure heart.  Then, Akku-man uses his pitchfork, and Gokuu has to get

serious.  Which appears to have been a bit more serious than he'd

thought.  Kamesennin can't believe the boy's speed.

   Since Gokuu has won, he needs to face the final fighter.  But, the

ghost asks Baba to move the combat back outside to the fighting circle.

She asks if he can win, and the ghost reassures her.  Kuririn wants to

know why Gokuu is suddenly looking so strange, and the boy replies that

there's something comfortable about the ghost's smell.  At the ring, the

ghost has to tell Baba something that makes her very amused (the ghost

has met Gokuu before.)  Kamesennin also thinks that the ghost seems

familiar.  Then, the last fight starts, but the ghost wants them to bow

to each other first.  Gokuu still doesn't know what he recognizes about

the ghost, but the two of them seem to be evenly matched.  Everyone else

is impressed.  Gokuu gets thrown up into the air, then kicked to the

ground.

   The ghost plummets after the boy, laughing.  But, he stops laughing

when Gokuu leaps back up.  Then, Gokuu takes the full power of the

ghost's kick without moving.  Gokuu is having fun, and the ghost is

getting worried enough to use Kamehame-ha (a technique that only Gokuu,

Kamesennin, and Gokuu's dead grandfather know how to use.)  So, Gokuu

uses "One Pattern" to evade the shot and leap upwards.  The ghost thinks

he's vaporized the boy, Kamesennin finally understands, and Gokuu issues

a challenge to the ghost.  The ghost laughs, preparing to use

Kamehame-ha again, but Gokuu gets in his Kamehame-ha first.  It looks

like Gokuu has won, and Baba is upset.  But, the ghost starts laughing,

and then grabs Gokuu's tail.

   Yamcha has to tell everyone else that this is Gokuu's single weakness

(when his tail is grabbed, Gokuu loses his strength and collapses.)

Somewhere else, Pilaf and his two assistants are watching the fight via

satellite dish.  Pilaf now know's Gokuu's flaw, and plans on exploiting

it to get the other 6 Dragon Balls.  Pilaf has the last ball in a box

that is lined with a material that renders it invisible to Dragon Radar.

So, Pilaf orders his crew to drive out to Baba's estate.

   Back at the estate, the ghost is flailing Gokuu around, and asks the

boy to surrender.  This is when Kamesennin realizes that the ghost is

actually Son Gohan -- Gokuu's dead grandfather.  Gohan is about to kill

Gokuu, when the boy's tail snaps off.  The group reacts to the idea of

Gohan trying to kill Gokuu.  Realizing that he's blown it, and seeing

how mad Gokuu has become, Gohan gives up.  Baba takes this gracefully

("Oh well, can't be helped.")  The ghost says that Gokuu is strong, and

the boy is puzzled that the ghost knows his name.  The ghost says he

also knows that grabbing the boy's tail is his one weakness.  Gokuu

starts to realize who the ghost is when it removes it's mask to reveal

Son Gohan.

   Gokuu greets his grandfather (who really is dead, hence the halo.)

Gohan had been working for Baba as a talent scout for getting fighters

for her, and had one day left on his contract with her.  Baba knew that

Gokuu would come in time to meet the ghost, because she can see into the

future.  Gohan thanks Kamesennin for taking care of the boy for him, and

asks about him.  But they're interrupted (neither old man wants to give

away how much they care about the boy,) when Gokuu wants to show him

something -- Gokuu has Gohan's Dragon Ball.  The ghost marvels over the

other Balls, and Buruma has to tell the ghost about the properties of

the Balls.

   Now that the Balls are about to be brought together, Kuririn tells Upa

that Bora can now be brought back.  But, Upa thinks that since Gohan is

here, and is also dead, that Gohan should be brought back, instead.

But, the ghost is happy remaining a ghost, having found his own stash of

pichi-pichi girls (Yamcha uses the opportunity to heckle the old sukebe,

Kamesennin.)  Upa thanks Gohan, Baba thanks Gohan, Gohan thanks Baba.

Everyone says their goodbye's, and then Gohan is gone.  (In the TV

series, this is a much more emotional sequence.)  Apparently, Gohan

still has Gokuu's tail, and the boy promises to grow up strong (which

makes Kamesennin a bit concerned.)

   Baba uses her crystal ball (which can change sizes, as well as

float,) to locate the last Dragon Ball -- it's in an approaching car,

200 km away.  This confuses Buruma, who still can't locate the Ball with

the Radar.  Gokuu is happy with knowing where the Ball is.



   End of book 9.





                                                -- Curtis H. Hoffmann

                                                   June 20, 1993