#leemo

So after the destruction of Planet Vegeta, uh all of Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, and Dragon Ball Super happened. This is kind of a weak point for this movie, because it's story is rooted in Goku's origin tale, but the climax takes place when Goku's a middle-aged man, so a lot of lore has happened in between. There's a similar thing going on when Raditz and Frieza show up in DBZ, and when Broly made his debut in the 1993 film, but Goku was 24-30 in those stories, so it wasn't quite as big a strain.

The thing is, the stuff we had to skip over was extremely important, and the movie simply can't go over all of it. If someone who knew nothing about Dragon Ball watched this thing, they would probably think that this is a story about Goku and Vegeta trying to avenge their people by defeating Frieza, except that already got dealt with in 1991. Goku, Vegeta, and Frieza have each been killed and resurrected... twice. This movie doesn't have time to explain all their baggage, much less how Goku and Vegeta became pals. So no one even tries to fill in the audience on who this big purple cat man is. You either saw Battle of Gods or you just have to roll with it.

And you know what? Good. No one was there to explain Ox King or Mr. Popo to me when I first got into this thing. I've been watching this stuff for a quarter century, and I still don't know what the fuck Tien's third eye is all about. Context is for the weak.

Anyway, this scene takes place on a private island Bulma bought some time ago. She had a resort built here so Goku and Vegeta could spar without damaging West City. And the food is good, so Beerus and Whis tagged along, although neither of them really have any impact on the plot at all. Whis asks Goku why he wants to get stronger, and Goku explains that he's feeling inspired after the recent Tournament of Power arc from the tail end of the DBS anime. Vegeta, on the other hand, is only concerned with Frieza, who was restored to life during that storyline. Frieza's more powerful than ever before, and Vegeta expects him to get even stronger and menace the Earth again.

Sure enough, Bulma gets a call from Trunks as Capsule Corp, who informs them that Bulma's collection of Dragon Balls and the Dragon Radar have been stolen by goons wearing Frieza Force uniforms. But the joke's on them, because Bulma only had six of the Dragon Balls collected. The seventh is on the Ice Continent, so they know exactly where to go to intercept the thieves. Beerus doesn't want to tag along for the trip, so Bulma leaves her infant daughter Bulla with Beerus.

So what was Bulma planning to wish for? She admits that she was going to ask Shenron to make her look five years younger. Why only five? Because if she got too young all at once, people would think she had work done.

So what does Frieza plan to wish for? Immortality was what he wanted on Namek, but not this time. No he only wants to grow about five centimeters taller. Why not just use his second or third forms to be tall? Because he wants to be taller in any of his forms. Why only five centimeters? Because he wants it to seem like he's still growing.

I've never been too happy about this gag. I mean, it's a good gag, but I liked it better the first time, when Commander Red planned to use the Dragon Balls to make himself taller. It does add some complexity to Frieza's character, though, since he's not just stubbornly trying the exact same routine that got him wrecked on Namek, and then killed on Earth, and then re-killed on Earth again.

This time, he's not trying to take the Dragon Balls by force, because he knows Goku and Vegeta are too powerful to challenge head-on. So he's using stealth instead. The minions he sent to Earth are weaker guys, which mean Goku and Vegeta wouldn't sense their ki. And it seems like Frieza's plan is to just sneak down to Earth, make the wish, and head out before anyone can stop them.

And he's not pursuing the same wish he had twenty-odd years ago. Really, Frieza was never that interested in immortality in the first place. He only decided to wish for that because it was the one thing he didn't already have. But now he's been dead twice over, and that's given him a new perspective on life and death, and he seems to think being unable to die would be similar to the unending torment he experienced in hell. Neither does he seek an invincible body. I'm not sure Shenron could give him greater strength, but Frieza feels that would take all the fun out of "the game". If nothing else, it's interesting to see Frieza consider this at all. Back in the Namek Saga, he never thought about wishing for greater power, because he believed he already was the strongest in the universe. Now that he knows otherwise, he seems fairly content with that.

Meanwhile, we meet the last two players in this drama, Leemo and Cheelai. They're operatives in the Frieza Force, but they're not warriors. Leemo's been with the Frieza Force from the beginning, and Cheelai's a recent recruit, having joined up to avoid the consequences of stealing a Galactic Patrol ship. Their orders are to find more warriors to join the Frieza Force, since their ranks are pretty threadbare. Remember, when Frieza destroyed the Saiyans, they made up half of his fighting force. The other half was still quite formidable, but all of his best troops ended up getting killed during Frieza's disastrous invasion of Namek. Then Frieza came back and tried to attach Earth in Resurrection F, and he brought like a thousand soldiers with him, and those guys all got killed as well.

As Cheelai observes, Frieza is down to women and old men like herself and Leemo. There just aren't many warriors available in the universe these days, because all the good talent got killed off a long time ago. As they discuss this, Leemo picks up a distress signal from Planet Vampa. Thinking their might be a reward for it, they head over to answer the call, and find...

Paragus! Also a bunch of alien monsters. Fortunately, Paragus isn't alone...

They also find Broly on Vampa, and he's all grown up and stronger than ever. Their scouters measure Paragus' power level at 4200, which isn't too impressive these days, but it's way better than anything the Frieza Force has at the moment. And Broly's power is too high for the scouters to measure, so they definitely want him to come along. On the way to Frieza's ship, Cheelai feeds Broly rations and takes a liking to the big guy.

When the four of them report to Frieza, Paragus explains that he had to cut off Broly's tail because of the frequent full moons on Vampa, which cause Broly to lose control of himself as a giant ape. Occasionally, Broly still loses control of himself anyway, but Paragus can rein him in using...

... a shock collar, which he can activate with a remote control. Leemo and Cheelai are horrified to learn of this, but not so horrified that they turn down the generous reward Frieza gives them for their discovery.

Now, one thing that always bugged me about this movie is that Frieza immediately starts making plans to use Broly against Goku and Vegeta. He wasn't planning to attack them this time around, but now that he has Broly on his team, it seems much more favorable. Later, when the fighting starts, Frieza is disappointed to find that Broly can't transform into a Super Saiyan, but why would he expect Broly to be able to do any of that? Sure he's a Saiyan, but Goku and Vegeta have mastered power levels far, far beyond what other Saiyans have ever dreamed possible.

But I keep forgetting that Frieza can sense ki these days, the same way Goku can. Back in the Namek Saga, Frieza had to rely on scouters like the rest of his goons, but when he trained to become Golden Frieza in Res F, he learned to sense energy. So when he sizes up Broly, he's not just guessing at how strong this guy is. He can actually perceive the untapped potential in Broly's body, and he seems to recognize that Broly would be capable of giving Goku and Vegeta a hard time. So it makes sense.

Anyway, Paragus is happy to cooperate, since he still despises King Vegeta for what happened, and he's down to attack Prince Vegeta to even the score. And Broly has to do whatever Paragus wants or he gets another shock.

Later, Cheelai tries to get to know Broly better, but Paragus forbids Broly from speaking. While they argue over this, another henchman tries to drunkenly hit on Cheelai. I really like how Leemo tries to defuse the situation here. He's not a fighter, so it suits his character that he'd try to employ a nonviolent solution, like offering to buy this guy a drink. Being a noncombatant in the Frieza Force, he's probably grown accustomed to swimming with the sharks like this. But it doesn't work, and then Broly steps up to use a non-nonviolent solution, which is violence.

But Paragus doesn't want to offend his host, so he gives Broly another shock. Cheelai confronts him over this, and while she chews him out, she swipes his remote control. Then Paragus gets summoned to talk with Frieza. While he's gone, Cheelai destroys the remote, and they listen to Broly tell the story of his green fur wrap.

It's a pretty simple story. The closest thing Broly had to a friend on Vampa was one of the large green creatures on the planet. Paragus used the creature to train Broly, goading it to attack, and then having Broly dodge it. But over time, the creature became accustomed to Broly, and they became pals. But Paragus wanted the creature to be hostile, so he shot its ear off with a laser pistol to piss it off. Ever since, Broly has kept the ear and wears it as a memento of their friendship.

I like how easily Cheelai and Leemo sympathize with Broly in this movie. They're not good guys at all. Cheelai's an opportunistic thief, and Leemo's a cog in Frieza's evil empire. But they're not heartless, and Broly's story is so tragic and innocent that you can't help but feel for the guy. Leemo compares Paragus to his own rotten father, so you can tell that he can relate to what Broly is going through. And Cheelai can tell when someone's being used. Paragus can dress it up all he likes, but he's just using Broly's power to serve his own selfish interests.

Moving on, Frieza's team on Earth have located the seventh Dragon Ball, and Frieza's fleet moves in to join them for the wish-making. But Bulma, Goku, and Vegeta get their first. They probably would have arrived sooner, but Bulma wanted to stop somewhere to buy cold-weather gear. Let's just take a moment to admire her safety-yellow snowsuit. She looks like a baby duck in this thing and it's great.

Frieza confronts Goku and Vegeta and introduces Paragus and Broly. I never really noticed these guardsmen who stand by while Frieza steps out of the ship. Paragus should have gotten one of those uniforms, since that pink shower curtain he's wearing looks dumb as hell.

I mean, look at Goku. Bulma got him a sweet blue coat and he looks like a million bucks. He tries to convince Paragus and Broly to get along as fellow Saiyans, but that doesn't get him anywhere. You'd think he'd know better by now.

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It was cold. Mo didn’t need to be outside in order to see that, his cozy spot on an arm chair while gazing out of the fogged up window could tell him that much. There was fuzzy, pearly snow covering every inch of the street and lampposts, a white haze tinted everything in an otherworldly glaze. Yes, Mo knew it must be absolutely miserable outside.

So why, Mo tiredly questioned to himself, is Lee trying to convince him to go outside?

“Come on, dude. It’d be cool!” The boy who's currently just wearing sweats and a blue t-shirt had been trying to convince him for a good twenty minutes now, Mo is sure.

“Yeah, cool. Totally cool. In fact, so cool it’s cold.”

Lee leveled him an unimpressed look, “that… was not funny. Plus, you said we could-“

“No, I said we could if it wasn’t a blizzard. I don’t need you getting sick, with your feeble body.” Mo shifted to face Lee.

Predictably, Lee bristled. Shoulders pulling up to his ears. “Ugh, I’m not that skinny, dude.”

Mo stared at Lee.

“Oh, don’t give me that look! I’m not!”

Mo continued to stare at Lee.

Lee huffed. “…oh whatever. Anyway, you promised-“

Mo’s eye twitched. “I did not promise-“

“And so, I’m gonna go out. To your roof. With or without you.”

Stubborn as always, his Lee. Well… Mo had said, earlier, that if it slowed down they might be able to go out to the roof and watch the snow fall. And it did slow down… ugh. Mo sighed.

Lee was already walking up the stairs to Mo’s room, steps creaking as he went. “Lee, c’mon man. Put on some warm clothes, first!” He hurried to follow the soon-to-be-eighteen year old. “Man, put on a damn coat.” He said, once he met Lee at the entrance of his room. Lee stopped midway from crossing the bedroom to the window, and turned to glare at Mo.

“If I have to, then you do too.”

Mo shrugged. “Okay.” He tells Lee to wait, walks out across the dark hallway to a closet, and rummages through the coats before finding a thick, fluff-on-the-inside brown jacket and black coat for himself. He can hear Lee’s light footfalls trail to the doorway. Mo threw the brown jacket to Lee, and the brunette squawked as the sound of fabric smacking a hard surface sounded. Mo couldn’t help but chuckle.

He heard a low grumble, and he swears it sounded like “ugh, you ass.”

“Mhmm…” Mo hummed in response. “Oh and put these on.” The gloves and scarf he had scavenged for hit their target and another squawk let out behind him.

Soon enough, Mo was buttoned up in a black coat and a beanie snug around his head. He turned around, and saw Lee’s scrawny self swallowed in the overly fluffy big jacket, with too-big black gloves and an scraggly red scarf hanging around his shoulders. And Mo couldn’t help but let out a little chuckle as he saw Lee’s face, which… quite honestly reminded him of a grumpy, unimpressed cat. His brows furrowed and an angry frown pulling at his lips.

Lee huffed. “Dude.”

“Yeah, yeah, sorry.” He was not sorry. He’s pretty sure Lee knew that, too, if his brown eyes narrowing was anything to go off of. The guy was just too easy to annoy, it was cute… Mo cleared his throat in the silence, before shoving Lee through the door and into his bedroom, ignoring any and all complaints Lee had about the manhandling. He swiftly unlatched the window, and slipped through out into the cold.

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Lee followed Mo, ducking through the window and out into the little platform before turning to climb up, onto the top of the roof. Lee remembered they used to climb all sorts of things when they were younger. Trees primarily, but sometimes they’d climb the roof on Mo’s former house, too. That roof was flatter than this one, but this one’s not much harder. It was also Lee convincing Mo to climb things, back then too. Lee always had more of a penchant for danger out of the duo, and that little fact always made Mo grumble.

Once the two seventeen year olds were sat, hip-to-hip, shoulder-to-shoulder, Lee shivered. Hard. Mo let out an exasperated sigh that got swept up in the howling winds, and Lee’s attention shifted from Mo’s lips to Mo’s hands as the shorter male grabbed onto Lee’s scarf, and started wrapping it snuggly around his neck. “Ugh, dude! I could’ve done that myself.”

Mo stared up at Lee, almost like he was daring Lee to further protest the warm feeling in his chest blossoming under Mo’s caring hands… or, maybe just looking at him. Because Lee said something, and you look at people when they talk to you. Lee huffed, glancing away, face growing warm.

It’s just the biting chill of winter, Lee told himself.

When Mo was finished fixing his scarf, Lee couldn't help the feeling of coldness that followed the absence of that touch.

The trees along the road swayed with the wind, and the roof was covered in a thick, fuzzy blanket of snowfall. The sky was pitch black, with no moon or stars but the white particles that descended slowly, at a leisurely pace. Everything but the ground below, the tops of a few trees along the empty street, the roof itself, and Mo, was caught in a hazy cold film. And despite the shivers, Lee couldn’t help but mumble the word, “beautiful,” as he stared out at the night sky.

Mo hummed a low note in response, and Lee glanced at him, but Mo was already looking at him. No particular expression in his brown eyes or thick brows, just… looking. Staring, with a small glint in his eye that Lee couldn’t understand for the life of him. And Lee couldn’t help but stare back, as well. Eyes catching on the way Mo’s lashes sparkled with frost, a flush painting his nose, cheeks, and ears in a pink glow. Little puffs of air trickled out between lips that had the beginnings of a mustache.

“So… what’re you going to do, after high school?” The question was so sudden Lee almost jumped. Almost.

He shrugged. “I dunno, dude. I think I’m gonna take it easy, or something.”

“And what? Just going to wait for somethin’ to find you at home?” Mo lifted an eyebrow up.

“Pfft, ass. No, maybe… I dunno. I don’t really know what I wanna do, and… nh-nevermind.”

That made Mo glance back at him, side eyeing Lee. “Hm? What is it?”

Lee avoided his gaze. “It’s nothing, Mo.”

“No, what is it, man?”

Lee closed his eyes, tightly. So tightly he sees sparks, before letting out a slow breath… he can do this. Mo won’t- won’t look at him strangely, right? Right. Totally, yeah. “I… okay, this is gonna sound really weird. But something feels… feels like something big, is gonna happen. Soon.”

Mo didn’t respond. Lee didn’t look to see his reaction. “I knew it sounded crazy.”

“Wh- no, Lee. Well, I mean… yes, it does-“

Lee frowns harder.

“No, wait let me finish. It does sound a bit crazy. But I don’t think you’re crazy, alright? And maybe you are right.”

Lee didn’t respond, just stared straight ahead. Fear. That’s what was making his stomach feel queasy, right now.

“Lee, is it somethin’ bad?”

He shrugged and finally met Mo’s concerned eyes. Honestly, he doesn’t really understand it. The feeling, that little shiver along his spine that said something major was going to happen. “…it doesn’t really, I dunno… feel all that good, I guess.”

“Well…” Mo trailed off, staring down a tree in front of him. That poor tree, Lee thought. The aforementioned tree gave a shudder.

“Well, whatever it is,” Mo began, and turned to look Lee in the eye. “I’ll be here.”

He said it so seriously, Lee couldn’t help but grin. “Really?”

“Of course, Lee. I’ll always be here.” Mo smirked. “We made a pact, remember?”

Lee groaned, “ugh, do not remind me of that. Dude, that was so embarrassing.”

“Us swearing we’ll always be together is embarrassing?”

“Yeah! We weren’t even friends for that long,” plus Lee got on his knee when he pinky-promised Mo that. Now that is embarrassing.

“You were so small then. Practically infant sized.”

Lee’s face burned. “Dude!” He slapped Mo’s shoulder.

“Heh, and now you’re the size of a bean pole.”

Lee squinted at Mo, glaring.

Mo just laughed harder.

And slowly… Lee’s frown broke, twitching up into a grin as he laughed alongside Mo.