Dragonball ZT RPG

March of the Saladmen

Opening
Last time on Dragonball ZT, the heroes, having landed on planet Arlia, linked up with Kukem and briefed him on the situation from Earth, including the loss of the Dragonballs and the birth of the Super Saiyans. Kukem's surprise was short-lived, however, as he updated everyone on the failing state of Arlia's resistance to the renegade Saiyans. Identifying the weakest threats to the north in Weevil City, the group departed with haste. After several encounters with some resistance fighters, the group was able to convince the Arlians that they were there to help, and pushed forth to engage Bok and May, the first of the Saiyan threat.

A fierce struggle ensued, and the heroes were only barely able to gain the upper hand, silencing the two Saiyan warriors for good. But within moments a new presence emerged from above: the Rumble Gang was back, and they were none too happy to see the people who knocked them off Snake Way. Thankfully, Arlian resistance fighters were able to calm the tensions between the two groups before they came to blows. Now, with three Saiyans to go, and time working against them, both groups want the same thing: save planet Arlia!

Episode Summary
Weevil City was slowly being cleaned up after the two Saiyans, May and Bok, devastated the farming capital of Arlia. After the battle with May and Bok, the Earthlings were enlisted by the Arlians to help take back their planet and were forced to call a truce with the Rumble Gang. Off to the west, in the city of Dytiscidae, two more Saiyan warriors attacked the resistance headquarters. Dytiscidae was a northern seaside town known for fishing and other aquatic farming. It had boats, a seaside refinery, and a small air control field for the Arlians that can't fly.

The group had gathered in a quiet meal hall, preparing for the attack on the next two Saiyans, less Kanch who was outside assisting with the cleanup. Their map of Arlia that Kukem had supplied was out on the table. It had only been a few hours since they defeated the first group of Saiyans, but there was little time to waste. The reports came in quickly that the anomaly that appeared in the western sky over the mountains was indeed an attack that levelled the western portion of the planet. In the hours that followed, several strange weather phenomena began to appear. More dust and wind, small earthquakes, and the occasional electrical storm.

"This place doesn't match up with what I read about Arlia..." Kukem muttered, shaking his head.

Sighing, Tnsumi turned to look at his cousin, "Alright, there's no point in holding this back any longer, Kukes. This planet isn't even supposed to be here, let alone planet Vegeta. At this point the timeline is already beyond polluted, I don't think telling them is going to make a difference."

Kukem only shrugged as Tnsumi turned to the others to explain. "Kukem and I are from the future," he stated matter-of-factly, "one which almost certainly no longer exists, at least from the present's point of view. We were members of something called the Time Patrol, an organization created with the support of the Supreme Kai of Time to prevent interference in the timeline."

"A future which doesn't exist? How does that work" Jamaros asked, tilting his head. Vulcan's reaction was a much less enthusiastic belch, as he quickly grew bored and began looking around for anything shiny to play with.

"Long story short," Tnsumi interjected, "we kind of disrupted the timeline when we travelled back a few hundred years prior to this, and somehow ended up being brought to Age 752, instead of our departure point of Age 852. Someone," he paused, glaring at Kukem, before finishing, "put in a typo when we were trying to leave the 500s..."

"I can't help it if I have fat fingers!" Kukem exclaimed, raising his hand and wiggling his fingers.

Tnsumi stared at his cousin for a second, blinking, before continuing, "The only way we have any hope of returning to our original timeline is with something like the Dragonballs, though right now, there's far more pressing concerns to address, such as getting Earth's Dragonballs back, and reviving the people who died on Earth."

The others nodded in agreement, so Tnsumi carried on, "In any case, I'm not so sure we're going to be welcome back in our original timeline to begin with. The Time Patrol, not to mention the Supreme Kai, do not take kindly to messing things up... regardless, it looks like this timeline is here to stay, and we're at least partially responsible for everything that's been happening. We can't just leave things here like they are without helping to fix it."

Kukem piped up, "Plus, even though we're off the rails as far as our original timeline is considered, there's a few things Peezer and I know from our history classes that may come in handy here!"

"Like you ever paid attention in history class..." Tnsumi muttered, rolling his eyes.

"I do too..."

"What are you lot rambling on about in here?" Ruff growled, walking over. He and the other dog-like aliens of the Rumble Gang had entered the mess hall and proceeded to sit down across from everyone. Kukem opened his mouth to say something, but Ruff cut him off before anything coherent came out, "Interesting... but I really don't care. We are getting ready to head out. Me and the boys here are going to head out soon and do some recon work around Adephaga City to find the head honcho of these disgusting monkeys. Uh... no offense to you three... kinda. Seems this Paragus is quite strong, so after talking to the Arlian commander, we think it would be wise if we are the ones to take him out. After all, we have already beaten a ton of Saiyans... and these guys here," Ruff pointed to the map on the table, "don't really seem to be worth our time.

Tnsumi tried to point out about the various Saiyan transformations, but Ruff brushed him off. Suddenly an Arlian commander entered the mess hall and came right over, "My apologies, Mr. Ruff, but we have reached word that there is a lot of commotion down in Adephaga City at this moment. We request that you and your men dispatch as soon as possible."

Ruff chuckled, "You hear dat, boys? We have gotta go save these people from the evil Saiyans. Hey, little heroes, when we're done, we'll come help you out. Heheh, heh, heh..."

"Uh, yeah," Bumble responded, "We'll probably help you out 'cause you'll need it..."

Tumble sighed, "C'mon, you fleabag. You don't have to explain thing to the little guys... it ruins the joke, man."

"Stay alive so we can spar later," Jamaros coolly responded to Ruff. "If not, I'll make sure we provide a proper burial for you."

As the Rumble Gang left, the commander turned to the Earthlings, "I guess that leaves you to help liberate our leader. She's help up in our headquarters, as you know, in Adephaga City by those two Saiyan warriors there. Reports indicate that the two Saiyans are very strong.

"We have gotten word that they are close to breaching the compound's defenses and it will only be a matter of time before they find Cicadea and kill her. You must stop them before they do. The very future of our people depends on her."

As the heroes mulled over how best to tackle the situation, the commander grew impatient, "Please hurry. Cicadea is running out of time!" That was the jolt they all needed, and everyone launched into the sky outside of the mess hall to the east.

The sky was darkening as evening approached. The city of Adephaga appeared on the horizon as the clouds began to move across the sky. The lights of the city were visible along the silhouette of the buildings growing larger in the distance as the group approached. The sea was visible just past the city and there appeared to be a few ships in the harbor. "I think that the compound is in the northern part of the city," Kukem yelled out to the others, pointing ahead. The section of the city he pointed to was lit up more than the rest. Even from this distance, there was more commotion in the area. The occasional explosion in the air above clearly marked the battle that was raging below. "I think we will be able to-"

A wave of small energy blasts sailed by Kukem and the rest of the group, narrowly missing them! Another series of blasts were fired from the ground below. The darkness hid whatever was attacking from the ground. More and more blasts began to appear raising up from the ground aimed at the heroes. "Not again..." Tnsumi muttered, thinking it was the Arlians again. Vulcan immediately chose to land on the ground and the others quickly followed suit. As they landed, however, it was revealed to be well over two hundred yellow Saibamen attacking!

"What'll we do?" Kukem yelled, as a few blasts dinged off his armor.

"Kukem... use Heaven's Reign!" Tnsumi yelled back, "They're just bloody Sibamen!"

"Oh yeah!" his cousin responded, sadly somewhat surprised. Vulcan immediately tried to Mental Control five of them to no avail, while Tnsumi and Jamaros both moved at Mach speed and began piling Saibamen up into a pile in the middle of them, Tnsumi shoving them with his hands while Jamaros kicked furiously. Kukem began charging up Heaven's Reign while the piling continued, and Vulcan was able to convince three of the Saibamen to join him. After a few moments Kukem's attack finished charging, as Tnsumi and Jamaros both had moved multiple dozens of the small creatures into one large pile.

"Join me, and we can rule the world!" Vulcan yelled to his Saibamen minions, who he then convinced to stack on top of each other. He convinced one other Saibaman to join him with his Mental Control before he and the four of them ran away from the incoming attack. Tnsumi and Jamaros both finished collecting what remaining Saibamen they could before jumping back themselves and Kukem raised his hand high, launching a large energy blast high into the sky which exploded, sending energy beams all over the pile of Saibamen and reducing hundreds of them to vapor. Vulcan succeeded in calming down his own Saibamen survivors, convincing them to join his cult of Vulcunism, and as the dust settled, ten other Saibamen could be seen having survived the onslaught. Tnsumi shook his head and launched ten small ki blasts out, striking and killing the remainder.

Agreeing to continue on foot, the heroes approached the city. A large wall, five stories high, had been jerry-rigged ahead in place to stop any outside forces. Torches lit the wall every hundred meters. In the dim light, several portholes had been dug out of the wall to accommodate defensive positions. Green Saibamen were stationed along the base of the wall behind chunks of rocks. In the portholes, yellow Saibamen were stationed. On top of the wall, several larger, red Saibamen were perched. The yellow Saibamen began to take aim at the group, and Kukem yelled out, "Now what?"

"It's a wall, cuz. We can just jump over the wall!"

"But what about the Saibamen???" Kukem responded, energy blasts zipping past and around the group.

Tnsumi turned around and stared at his cousin deadpan, and without looking he raised his hand behind him at the wall and fired a single energy blast, killing one of the yellow Saibamen. "What about them...?" While they argued, Jamaros ran up and punched two of the green Siabamen, killing them as well. Kukem still seemed somewhat unconvinced, so Tnsumi turned around and fired seven energy blasts out, killing the remaining green Saibamen, while Jamaros reached the wall and killed two more yellow Saibamen with his fists. "Enough of this, we're losing time," Tnsumi muttered, quickly eying the rest of the enemy positions and shooting another wave of seven energy blasts; all the red Saibamen and the remaining yellows ones fell silent. "Let's go!"

As the heroes entered the city and approached the compound, the Saiyan attackers were nowhere to be found. Scorch marks decorated the ground and surrounding building, and dead Saibamen and Arlians lay scattered everywhere. The compound, a large dome-shaped building that resembled a hive of some insect back on Earth, was on fire. The well armored doors were dented and starting to buckle. In the early evening light, there appeared to be some commotion happening around the compound. "Where the hell have they disappeared to?" Kukem asked, looking about. With the area now quiet, the lookout slot on one of the compound doors creaked open and a set of insect eyes stared out into the fire lit darkness of the city. Vulcan immediately ran at the eyes, telling what appeared to be an Arlian in distress about Vulcunism, and used his Mental Control over his Saibamen to make them meow like cats. With a strange incantation, he then stacked the Saibamen up two-by-two - although one particularly dimwitted Saibamen chose to stand on its head - and they proceeded to dance.

"Are... are you the ones sent from the Outpost?"

"If you mean Weevil City, yes, we're the ones they sent," Tnsumi responded.

The door creaked open and the Arlian warrior stepped out into the night air. The smell of burnt insect and cabbage lingered all around. "Thank the creator! Those Saiyans have destroyed so much. Out headquarters has suffered serious damage and our leader, Cicadea, has been injured. We had to devise an elaborate decoy to lead them away from the compound so we can move her to safety. I don't know how much time we have, but we are moving her now."

Tnsumi nodded, "Bring me to her, I have something that can help." The group followed the Arlian inside and within was a female Arlian, wrapped in swaddling, lying unconscious. Tnsumi moved forward and took one of his two remaining senzu beans, then placed it in her mouth and assisted her in swallowing. Moments later and to the amazement of the Arlians inside, Cicadea awoke and appeared to be fully healed.

As Cicadea thanked Tnsumi, Kukem turned to the Arlian that brought them inside, "Where did the two Saiyans go?"

"We set it up that they think we transported Cicadea across the straight to the west to one of our hideouts in the Tettigoniidae Forest. It will only be a matter of time before they figure out that the hideout is abandoned, and they will be back." The heroes immediately agreed that they should set off to intercept them, and the Arlian nodded vigorously, "Really?! That's a great idea. That surely gives us just enough time to move Cicadea. I will let the commander know. Just beware of the smaller Saiyan. He's ruthless."

While Vulcan convinced one of the Arlian commanders to follow them, Tnsumi noted that the Arlians should contact Weevil City and have Kanch available to link up with them to ensure Cicadea's safety, before linking back up with them. The heroes then departed the compound and Kukem tapped his scouter which made a beeping noise. He turned to the west, grumbling, "I was so focused on where they were supposed to be that I forgot that my scouter can tell me where they are. Sure enough, they appear to be over there. Looks like they are still moving away from us. They mustn't have found the hideout yet. If we hurry, we can reach them before they figure it out."

As the heroes left, the Arlians began moving off to the east, desperately hoping that they have enough time to hide their resistance leader so that she may help her people retake the planet and rebuild themselves into a better civilization.

The evening light was dim over the Tettigoniidae Forest as the clouds rolled across the sky. As the heroes hovered over the forest, flashes of light could be seen off to the left. Small, muffled explosions reached the ears of the group as the Saiyans attacked a structure that was now on fire in the forest below. The stars had begun to appear in the sky and a cool breeze brought the scent of burning wood into the air. "Typical Ronc, set fire to something right away," Kukem mused. "They are strong. I hope you guys are ready for this... let's go."

As the group touched down, a large Saiyan was firing blasts at the now fully engulfed structure. There was no noise coming from inside and there didn't appear to be any resistance fighting back. He looked behind him as his scouter went off. "Kukem? I see you've finally brought you little rag tag group of brats with you to try and stop us. Think you'll have an easy time with us? Did you forget that we're twice as strong as May and Bok? You punks don't stand a chance."

Tnsumi couldn't help but snicker, eventually laughing a bit, which caused a look of confusion to sweep across Ronc's face. "How's it feel to know you've been outwitted by a bunch of cockroaches, bud?" When Ronc looked even more confused, Tnsumi continued, "Do you see any Arlians here? Hell, does your scouter show anything here?"

Before Ronc could retort, the other Saiyan appeared from behind the burning structure. He's smaller, leaner but still looks incredibly intimidating. He ran a hand through his hair as he spoke, "Ha! I was wondering when you lot would show. I guess the three of us will have to teach you a lesson."

"Three of you?!" Kukem just barely got the question out of his mouth as another Ronc appeared behind Teebs, towering over the smaller Saiyan. "What?!? How are there two Roncs?"

Jamaros took a decidedly different reaction. "Aww, his two brain cells split."

The second Ronc growled, "Time to pound you punks into the ground!"

Vulcan immediately directed his Saibamen followers to grab Teebs and Ronc; while Ronc was able to be captured, the two attacking Teebs were less successful, and paid with their lives as Teebs punched them. Ronc struggled to escape to no avail, while Jamaros activated his Kaio Ken x5. The second Ronc punched Tnsumi in the face, which Tnsumi tried to evade as best he could, but wore it anyways. Vulcan's remaining two Saibamen used their self-destruct ability and a brilliant light erupted from them, a large explosion surrounding Ronc and doing considerable damage to the large Saiyan. Jamaros and Kukem both tried to capitalize on it and struck at Ronc, but he was able to evade both attacks.

Vulcan turned to the Arlian Commander and directed him to get more troops, then activated his own Kaio Ken x5, to which Teebs struck Vulcan in the jaw, while Ronc attacked Tnsumi's face yet again. Jamaros upgraded to a Kaio Ken x10 as the second Ronc uppercut Tnsumi's chin. Having enough of being a human punching bag, Tnsumi struck back at Ronc, increasing his strength three-fold and using a triple uppercut on the Saiyan's testicles, causing the large man to fall to his knees clutching his groin. Vulcan too increased to Kaio Ken x10, and Jamaros stepped in front of Ronc and launched a massive Lone Wolf Bite from his mouth, putting the singed Saiyan on the ground. Kukem, meanwhile, tried to blast Teebs, and while he hit the small Saiyan, his attack did negligible damage.

Vulcan attempted to use Mental Control on Ronc to punch himself, but it didn't work. Teebs laughed at Kukem's attack, then launched a Rutabaga Rampage against Jamaros to help Ronc, striking several times. Ronc, now in a Saiyan Rage, stood up and screamed "Harvest Crunch!" as he hit Tnsumi with a front kick, followed by a fast uppercut, and then finished off by slamming Tnsumi to the ground, creating a small Tnsumi-shaped crater. Jamaros attempted to punch Ronc in the back of the head but missed, while the second Ronc used a flying face punch to Jamaros in response, catching him midair. Tnsumi's own Saiyan Rage kicked in at this point and he stood, powering up. While Vulcan used his Aviary Strike against Teebs, Tnsumi doubled his strength and used his Fury Kick on the enraged Ronc.

Vulcan again sliced at Teebs with his Aviary Strike, but Teebs was having nothing of it and counterblasted before Vulcan's attack could land. Teebs then launched his purple Beetdown Blaster at Vulcan, scoring a second hit before Jamaros could use his own counterblast in time. Ronc kicked Tnsumi in the face, who was unable to react in time, and Jamaros tried to use his Speed of the Hunt strike against Ronc, but missed, and instead wore a reactive punch to his chest. The second Ronc piled more strike onto Jamaros, and Tnsumi swept up into the air, then came down hard with a roundhouse kick to Ronc's head, twice the speed and three times his normal strength connecting and sending Ronc into the ground, skidding and skipping away through the dirt. Vulcan used a similar double speed and triple strength with his third Aviary Strike against Teebs, slowly whittling the Saiyan down, and Jamaros jumped over to Ronc and delivered a devastating punch to his face.

"Ronc, go!" Teebs yelled. "I'll hold them off. You have to tell Paragus about this group."

"Right!" Ronc responded. Summoning all his remaining power, Ronc rocketed off to the south. By this point Ronc was only barely hanging on, while the heroes were all extremely worn out.

Teebs then turned and yelled at the second Ronc, "Time to turn up the heat!"

Teebs suddenly became enveloped in a white light as he began screaming, and Tnsumi powered up a second time. Jamaros took to the air and chased after Ronc, his Wooden Hammer knocking the Saiyan out of the sky, Ronc hit the ground hard, but got up and flew away at Mach Four. Vulcan also took off towards Ronc at Mach Four, just barely keeping up. The second Ronc, now visibly on fire, pummeled Tnsumi, who again failed to block in time. Kukem was able to punch the second Ronc and do some damage, while Teebs took after Jamaros and fired another explosive Beetdown Blaster. Tnsumi yelled out, "See how you like it!!!" and struck the second Ronc with another Triple Uppercut to the testicles, while Jamaros called out Ronc for being a coward and continued to give chase, using his Wooden Hammer this time to knock the Saiyan backwards towards the quickly approaching Vulcan. Vulcan delivered on cue, using his Aviary Strike as a thrust and skewering Ronc, bisecting him from head to toe, killing the Saiyan instantly.

Seeing the death of his friend, Teebs went into a berserker rage similar to May before, moving almost instantly next to Vulcan and striking repeatedly with his Rutabaga Rampage, sending Vulcan reeling into the ground. Tnsumi continued with his Triple Uppercut, this time to the second Ronc's chin, while Jamaros tried and failed to use his Wooden Hammer on Teebs. Vulcan, in his own rage, launched up at Teebs with a double speed, double strength Aviary Strike, only barely missing and cutting through some of the Saiyan's hair, but receiving a punch to his ribs for his efforts. The second Ronc continued to press his flaming attacks on Tnsumi, while Kukem began powering up his Devastation Cannon. Tnsumi again tried a double strength Triple Uppercut, but the second Ronc was able to evade the blows. Vulcan, seeing no other option, increased to Kaio Ken x13, his body screaming at him from the strain, as Teebs launched another Beetdown Blaster at Jamaros.

Suddenly, Tnsumi gave everything he had for a final Triple Uppercut set, striking the second Ronc's chin to life him up, followed by the solar plexus to collapse him in, and finishing with the ground to flip the duplicate over into the ground. Unfortunately, Tnsumi had no picked up on the second Ronc's purpose - that being a living, ticking time bomb - and as the last punch connected, the Saiyan exploded much like the Saibamen earlier. Kukem was able to intervene and knock Tnsumi away at the last second, taking a considerable amount of the blast himself, though he survived. Meanwhile, Jamaros pulled out his Wooden Hammer a final time, doubling his speed and tripling his strength to connect with Teebs' jawline with so much raw physical power that the smaller Saiyan exploded into a pink mist, ending his reign of terror for good.

With the two Saiyan defeated and the resistance able to move their leader to a secured location, the heroes gained the upper hand on the last of the Saiyan invaders. Kukem turned to the south and tapped a button on the side of his scouter. The little device beeped several times, displaying several power levels in the south, two of which were very low. "Uh-oh. It doesn't look good for the Rumble Gang. Looks like two of them aren't doing so hot against Paragus." In the distance, the dark sky flashed a brilliant silver and Kukem's scouter beeped again as one of the power level readings disappeared from the scouter. "Oh shit! I don't know who that was, but they are gone now! Christ, it looks like the other two are fleeing and-" another beep cut Kukem off. "-Holy crap, one of them is so weak he could go at any minute!"

Kukem turned his head as if he was watching something in the distance travelling to the east. It looked like they were headed back to Weevil City. Kukem looked back to the group. "This isn't good. If the Rumble Gang had that much trouble with Paragus, and they have been fighting all those Saiyans on their home planet, we might be in for a real problem."

Jamaros muttered, "I didn't actually plan on having to give them a burial, now I'll have to find the body..."

Kukem continued, "Should we retreat back to Weevil City too and find out what's going on, or should we press our attack and head down and take on Paragus? He's gotta be in rough shape, but then again, so are we."

Tnsumi shook his head, "We're in no condition to fight, we'll all need some time to recover as well." The others nodded in unison.

As they stood on the burning battlefield in the forest, they prepared for their next move and started returning to Weevil City. A final showdown with Paragus was coming, but are they ready?