The Little Storm That Couldn't


There are some advantages to being in the Florida panhandle, such as being able to enjoy the stifling southern climate without having to worry about an abundance of hurricanes trundling on over to unleash their storm-fueled whup-ass on our fair land. No, it's mainly the people in southeastern Florida that need to flee inland when the hurricanes come. Sure, there was only a 20% chance that Hurricane Floyd could come bother us, but hey, what are the odds? (20%, that's what they are.) Ah, well. Came through it without it even cooling down much in the evening. Looks like our fair state comes through triumphantly once again. Well, the part of it that I'm in, anyway.

Now, the rest of the east coast, on the other hand...

I had a rant around here somewhere, about something. Oh well, I'm sure it'll come back to me eventually.

In Dragonball Z news, more fighting! Captain Ginyu has Goku in a hold, thanks to henchguy Jayce running interferance. Jayce, having by this point finally acquired a clue, urges the Cap to finish off the hero... but Captain Ginyu, unwilling to accept the assist from his henchman, releases Goku, thus making what'll probably be his first, and last, Big Mistake.

Wanting to finally test the true depths of his power, Captain Ginyu urges Goku to take off the kid gloves and show them both what he can REALLY do. So Goku does, in the trademark 'power flaring up all around' that we've come to expect from Dragonball Z. And he keeps at it. And keeps at it. And keeps at it. As the two villains stare in increasing panic at the rising numbers their Scouters reveal, and make horrified comments about Goku's enormous power level. When Goku finally surpasses even Captain Ginyu's immense 120,000 level, the Captain totally loses his cool, and starts running around yelling about how this is impossible, hurling boulders at Goku (which Goku disintigrates casually), et cetera.

When Goku finally tops out at 180000, half again as powerful as Captain Ginyu, he offers the villains a choice; say they're sorry and leave, or he'll have to pop open a giant can of whup-ass. Captain Ginyu balks, even though he realizes what Goku must be; not just a Saiyan, but a SUPER-Saiyan. Uh, yeah. But then, thanks to Jayce's advice ("Captain! He's got you rattled; he's made you forget about STYLE!") and his own realizations, Captain Ginyu pulls it together. After all, Super-Saiyans should be mindless killing machines, and Goku clearly isn't. So he's obviously too nice to use the full extent of his destructive power... Besides, a villain, apologize? Not likely.

Meanwhile, Gohan and Krillan get back to where they left Bulma, to find her gone. (Krillan: "Geez, you abandon a woman in the wilderness and she's STILL gone when you need her.") Uh, yeah. But Gohan quickly notices the unique marks of the landing pads of the airbike Bulma used to go exploring, and the two head off to try and track her down.

Meanwhile, in Yet Another Subplot, Naihl returns to Guru's place (Naihl being one of the few surviving green antennaed Namek alien-bois on the planet Namek), and is scolded slightly by Guru for abandoning his mission. Even though Naihl knows he doesn't stand a chance against Freeza, he is determined to be there at the end. Guru does, however, send Dende the Mini-Namek away on a mission of his own (presumably to carry the Dragonball Password to the heroes). Dende passes Freeza as he heads away, but Freeza lets him go, deciding such a little fellow is probably irrelevant.

What follows is a bit of random dialog, as Freeza wanders right up to Guru's place and politely knocks, then engages in a bit of chatter with Naihl trying to get him to cough up the password. Then some other surviving Nameks appear and Freeza disposes of them with his Horrible Breath Attack or something of that nature. Naihl tries to persuade Freeza to leave Guru alone, but the arch-villain will have none of it, and simply blasts open the side of the Eldest Namek's house and floats up to say hello. Most likely he's going to ask very nicely for the password. And then he's going to start blowing stuff up. Shock. Surprise.

Rant 'o the day contains no additives, preservatives or alien spores of any kind. Use only as directed. Do not expose to direct sunlight. Do not fold, spindle, multilate or remove identifying tags. Handle with care. Contains less than 3% milk fat by weight, not by volume. Certified 'Syndicate Approved'. Squeeze the lemon. Four out of five dark elves surveyed agree: It's surl-a-riffic!

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