Dragonball ZT RPG

4 Stars on the Horizon

Opening
Last time on Dragonball ZT, the heroes awoke to find their Dragonballs stolen and Vanforte nowhere to be seen, and quickly discovered a struggle at Capsule Corp headquarters in West City. They made haste and found Vanforte and his two henchmen, Ri and Kastly, had stolen the Dragon Radar and were planning on using the Dragonballs for Vanforte's own ends. While Vulcan worked to see how much zeni he could gain with his new parlor tricks, the heroes did what they could to stop Vanforte, who transformed mid-battle into a powerful alien known as Sagi-Shi.

Kastly and Ri were no match for the heroes, but Sagi-Shi was proving a different beast altogether. Just when it seemed all might be lost, a pair of pods appeared from the sky above and landed nearby, the Saiyans Tnsumi and Kukem emerging to assist the heroes in their fight. Even more henchmen arrived and were quickly dispatched causing Sagi-Shi to finally flee, Dragon Radar and Dragonballs in hand.

The heroes were able to acquire some new equipment from Bulma and Dr. Briefs, and were given some much needed recovery time before they set out to discover exactly where Sagi-Shi had gone, and what his true intentions were...

Episode Summary
Conch, Jamaros, and Vulcan had been left feeling betrayed by the fighter formally known as Vanforte. When Vanforte revealed he was an alien and had been planning all along to find a way to overthrow his planet's ruler, the team had been broken for a second time. A week after the attack on Capsule Corp, the heroes had been recovering and trying to locate Sagi-Shi. Tnsumi, needing healing, had been in the Capsule Corp's healing chamber on and off for a few days while the other had been trying to track down Sagi-Shi. Unable to locate him, they instead focused on trying to locate a Dragonball before the alien. Bulma had additionally located an early prototype for her Dragon Radar and began to replicate the small handheld device to assist in finding the Dragonballs. Unfortunately, the older prototype was only able to scan a single area at a time.

The heroes gathered in the early afternoon within the atrium of the Capsule Corp building. There were lots of trees and some wildlife within, and an area for training. The heroes were huddled around Bulma who was getting a table-sized machine - the prototype Dragon Radar - up and running. She seemed confident that she could get it running, while consulting her design notes. "Hey, you guys can probably find Sagi-Shi if he is hiding by using my radar, if I ever get the blasted thing working!" she exclaimed. While the heroes talked amongst themselves about what to do next and how they'd gotten to this point, Conch in particular appearing to be depressed about Kami's mentorship, Bulma chose to smash the machine with a large wrench. It finally sputtered and whirred to life. "Ha! That did the trick!" The table sized Dragon Radar began flashing a map of the nearby southern mountain range. Deep within them, a glowing green dot could be seen blinking. "Wow, there's a Dragonball closer to us than I thought!"

The heroes decided the Dragonball was the best course of action, but before they took off Bulma returned them the three capsules, now repaired, which they had initially found in Vanforte's lodge: a small 3-room tent house, a food processor, and a supply of five food packs. Fifteen minutes later the heroes found themselves roughly in the area the map indicated. Looking down, Vulcan spotted in the depths of the mountains, under a large cliff outcropping, a ledge that was framed by four stone pillars. The weather had eroded some of the detail away over the centuries, but the intricate carvings of mystical beasts were still visible. Behind the stone pillars, two torches burned on either side of the large stone temple doors. The warm orange light flickered and cast shadows that danced along the wall. After some brute force, the heroes were able to figure out that all four of them pushing together would open the doors and allow them entry.

A large room opened before them, with several columns supporting the stone roof. Along the walls, more torches burned and cast a dim light through the entire room. Along the right wall, there were signs of broken relics that may have once been part of an ancient civilization that was lost over the last hundreds of years. The same intricate carvings that were on the outer columns decorated the inner ones, only the details were not worn away. At the back of the room, there was a small altar atop a raised platform made of polished stone. A large tapestry hung behind it. Vulcan was able to easily identify something sparkling within a pile of debris, and Jamaros pulled it out, revealing 10 gold coins that he gave to Vulcan. Vulcan also noticed that there was a recurring four-legged beast of some sort in a lot of the carvings, and that a slight breeze was emanating from behind the tapestry. He charged forward, entering a passageway behind the tapestry and into a short stone hallway. Tnsumi, his focus on the beast in the carvings, didn't notice Vulcan and Jamaros disappearing behind the tapestry, and was almost left behind.

The next room was huge, easily the size of two football fields, with the ceiling stretching up into darkness. Every ten feet along the walls more torches lit the room. To the left, a pile of large stones seemed to have crumbled, as if they had been, at one time, built into a stone chamber. Beside it, another small dressing altar and a chest sat, covered in thick dust. The right side of the room had a pool of water that looked as if it was fed from behind by a crack in the wall above it; a frosty mist glittered in the air above the pool. There were rows of stone benches arranged around the pool and several unlit torches that lined the perimeter of the half-moon shaped stone pool. Occasionally, drips of water fell to the stone floor through the room and there was a slight breeze. The far end of the room was a bit dimmer, as the torches on the far end weren't all lit. There was a gate in the archway at the back end of the room that prevented anyone from going further into the cave, and more carvings lined the walls. Again, Vulcan was quick to spot everything in the room and sliced the chest's lock with his sword, revealing a diamond the size of a baseball. Jamaros took one of the torches and lit the remainder within the room, while Tnsumi noticed what appeared to be some form of currency within the pool, to which Vulcan immediately dove headfirst within the freezing water and collected it, suffering only minor injury from the temperature.

The gate blocking their path forward was large and made of metal, on very sturdy hinges with a locking mechanism on the right hand side. Two holes in the wall were on either side of the gate, and after Jamaros initially reached in, Conch used his ability to stretch his limbs and grab a lever within each hole and pull them at the same time, releasing the lock on the gate. This led them team into a long wide corridor about forty feet wide and two hundred feet long, with torches along the left wall. Along the right wall, there was a row of four basketball-sized holes. The ceiling was only twelve feet high in the passageway, and at the far end, there was a rock pile in front of the arch that led into the next chamber; it appeared that the ceiling had collapsed at some point. As Conch felt around within one of the holes, four Were-Rats piled out of the rocks, one instantly mistifying as Jamaros punched it. The others lasted barely seconds longer, and Jamaros and Tnsumi set out clearing the rocks ahead. This led to a stone staircase which descended into darkness. Jamaros took his torch and began lighting the ones within the stairwell, while Vulcan chose to simply roll his way down the stairs into the darkness beyond, injuring himself slightly on the way down.

After twenty minutes of careful descent, the rest of the heroes arrived into a large cavern, lit only with a few torches, with the remainder of the cave completely unlit deeper in. There were stalagmites reaching into the darkness above from centuries of minerals dripping down from the cave ceiling above. The ceiling was in darkness, no light reaching above. Towards the back of the room, the stone floor could be seen descending into a pool of water. By powering up, Tnsumi used his ki to light the cavern, revealing a small ledge twenty feet in the air, with a stone level on the wall. Vulcan could see that the water had a tunnel underneath it, and he again dove in headfirst and beginning to freeze. Jamaros made his way up to the level and pulled it, causing the pool to flush with Vulcan bracing himself in the tunnel against the current.

Everyone made their way in and pushed forward as the tunnel sloped up and opened into a circular room, with four pressure plates surrounding what appeared to be a pile of rubble. The four pressure plates were situated at the point of a compass and the stone floor was carved in such a way that stone grooves flowed from the pressure plate to the centre of the room where the rubble lie. Across the room was a large set of double doors with four glass orbs recessed into the wall. A faint message was carved above the doors which Vulcan read aloud, "It's all a matter of perspective." Jamaros stepped on a plate first, and the rubble formed the word Paste. Tnsumi was second, but he saw the word Wisdom, causing him to remark sarcastically about Jamaros's ability to spell and read. Jamaros moved to a separate plate and the word Brush came up. Tnsumi made a snide remark, to which Jamaros punched the other Saiyan with some force. Tnsumi eventually retaliated with his own fists, and Vulcan had to get between the two of them to stop any further escalation. Once Vulcan saw the word Theme within one of the orbs, it became apparent what was happening and an orb lit up when Jamaros spoke Tooth aloud. Three more themes later and the doorway opened, allowing them to advance.

The group found themselves in a small room that branched into two corridors. To the left, there was a downwards slope and a small torch on the wall. To the right, there was a staircase that goes up and around a corner, with a small torch every so many steps. Tnsumi and Conch made their way up the stairs, while Vulcan and Jamaros took the slope down, arriving at a locked door with a large keyhole set in an iron lock. They backtracked up the stairs, but when Tnsumi asked if they found anything, Vulcan was quick to answer, "Nope." As the group continued up the stairs they came to a large cave filled with bones, skulls, and crates. Large stalagmites reached up into the darkness all around the room, and torches lined the walls; somehow they never seemed to go out, no matter how strongly they flickered. At the far end of the room, a large opening was carved out of the wall. Tnsumi made his way into the opening and used his ki to light the area up, revealing a large four-legged monster the size of a large hippo charging towards him. It had brown, leathery skin, a boney head shield and spikes on its back. It had large fangs and small red eyes, while its legs were muscular, and there was bone armor protecting most of its body.

Tnsumi jumped back out of the opening and around the corner, the monster losing sight of him but identifying the rest of the heroes. Jamaros punched it quite hard, injuring himself slightly on its armor, as Vulcan tried unsuccessfully to Mental Control it. Tnsumi took the opportunity while it was distracted to jump atop the beast and tried to break it in, and while he was able to grab a perch successfully, he was flung aside as the monster bucked wildly. He got up and used a precision Ki Force strike to the beast's midsection, but then Conch surprised everyone by choosing to speak to the creature. He was able to get his point across to the monster, stating they were only seeking a golden orb with stars within it, and in return it made its way back into the depths of the cave, returning with a golden key. Conch thanked the creature and patted it, and while Vulcan tried unsuccessfully once more to tame the beast with his mind, it disappeared back to its home.

With key in hand, the group returned to the door downstairs - Tnsumi rather exacerbated that Vulcan hadn't told him about it in the first place - and they entered a decent sized room with a few torches on the walls. The room also had a stone wall at the back and another locked door. The wall had a riddle engraved on it which read, Use your head to paint me red, inside of thee resides your key. Vulcan was able to quickly decipher its meaning and made a thin slice on his wrist with his sword, drawing blood which he then smeared on the wall. Suddenly a blood-duplicate of Vulcan emerged ready to fight, but before any blows could be exchanged Tnsumi did the same thing, wanting to test himself against his own power as a blood-duplicate of his own appeared. Vulcan was able to easily convince his blood-duplicate to fight for him by giving it a single gold coin, while Tnsumi exchanged blows with his own until Conch had the idea to tell the wall that he loved it, causing the wall to inexplicably blush; the blood fighters both disappeared into nothingness, and the door creaked open to reveal the final room.

Inside, the 4-Star Dragonball could be seen resting under a shaft of bright light on a pedestal. High above the room a crack in the stone wall could be seen letting the light in. Conch took the Dragonball and the group departed through the crack in the ceiling, and Tnsumi suddenly noticed that there were several evil power sources emanating from West City. The heroes launched back to the city to find it ablaze and in shambles, more of Sagi-Shi's henchmen causing massive amounts of damage, killing people and destroying buildings. Tnsumi was able to pinpoint two of them at a sports stadium, three at a shopping sector, and five of them at the monorail station. Tnsumi, Conch, and Jamaros made haste for the smallest group, while Vulcan departed on his own for the group of three.

Tnsumi landed first and immediately told the two henchmen to stop, powering up as he did so as a show of force. When the henchmen sneered at Tnsumi, he reacted by launching two Reokun Ki energy attacks from his palms at the two of them; one landed and eliminated one henchman, while the other was able to evade. Knowing Vulcan was in distress, Jamaros immediately departed to assist his friend, while Conch lit the remaining henchman up with a Makouhou Beam and obliterated him, before he and Tnsumi took off to help the others.

Vulcan was able to power up but caught the attention of two of the henchmen who connected with powerful energy blasts, cutting into the bird-human's stamina. He retaliated by reducing one of them to ashes with his Pink Fluffy Kittens, but missed the second. Jamaros arrived at this point and was able to grab the second henchman, holding him steady while Vulcan unsheathed his sword and deftly decapitated the man in one fell swing of his blade. The final henchman attempted to flee, but Jamaros was having nothing of it and threw the headless corpse at the man as hard as he could, killing him. Tnsumi and Conch had just arrived by this point and seeing the needless slaughter of the fleeing man sent Tnsumi into a Saiyan Rage against Jamaros. Before they could come to blows, however, the others reminded them that more henchmen were still alive, and they made haste for the monorail station.

It was here that Tnsumi finally made some headway, convincing the other henchmen to cease their needless destruction. But before Tnsumi could get the location of their boss out of them, a blast from above reduced the remaining henchmen to ashes. Tnsumi looked up and saw a group of five much stronger men, ranging in Power Levels between 22,000 and 32,000. They were ready and eager for a fight, and the heroes were all too happy to oblige...