Pop. Pop. Pop-pop-pop. Bang!
Gunfire fills the streets of West City. Hundreds of thugs and marauders cause mayhem, and hundreds more make land on the City's coast. Screams echo and lost children weep. Those brave enough to face the invaders make barricades where they can.
From a rooftop Mai scans the battlefield with her military binoculars. Monitors within them provide feedback on her surroundings. It isn't going well.
"Commander Mai," a man's voice calls out to her.
She turns her head. He's holding a jetpack in his hands.
"It's an older model, but it's the only one I could find that works," he tells her.
Mai nods. "You've done good, Comrade. Is the heavy armor ready to mobilize?"
"Just about, ma'am. Though commander Shu is already prepared to deploy, the turtle is online."
Mai straps on the jetpack. After she does, a piercing shriek hits everyone's ears.
"Up there!" someone shouts. He points toward the clouds.
Mai examines it with her binoculars. "They've got a dinosaur?"
The flying pterosaur makes a striking silhouette from above.
She looks around to find her volunteer soldiers trembling in fear. Mai had forgotten the gap in experience between them. She might have been a trained soldier, but most of them had barely held a gun before.
"Stay strong," she tells them. "Combat is frightening, but remember why you're fighting and you'll find your courage. Fight for the rice your children's hands will harvest! Let the blood that is spilled make those fields all the more bountiful!"
"Yeah!" the men shout. Some are confused, but they keep the spirit.
With a departing salute, Mai hops backwards and ignites the jets on her back. She leaves a trail in the air, and the militia do their best to follow her example.
Elsewhere in the city, Bulma and her father rush to reach their home and headquarters. Men grapple with each other in the streets and burning bottles are thrown into buildings.
The wheels of the Capsule Corp Vehicle zoom by them, dodging on a dime. Bulma and her father hold tightly to the car's frame for stability as the driver wastes not a moment.
"Careful, Cynthia!" Bulma tells the driver.
She almost regrets the command. The driver slams the gas to the floor jolting Bulma back. The surrounding city becomes a blur. Nothing between that car and Capsule Corp mattered.
Until it came. The beast from the sky. With a terrible shriek as its only warning, the mighty pterosaur slams down upon the roof of Capsule Corp. The building rumbles with its landing and large concrete debris falls from its walls.
The car slams to a skidding stop.
"Wha-What's that!" the woman driving cries out.
All three of them remain stunned for a moment. A thundering voice cries out from the beast's back. It echoes across the city so that all can hear it. Horace, mean, it calls out to them.
"Hey West City! I've been a busy babe, but your new Queen's finally made time for you! If you want to know real freedom, follow my lead! As for the rest of you cowards, you can clean the shit off of my boots!"
Boom!
The woman mounting the beast lets off a rocket that soars high into the sky, then downwards and into the foundations of a tall building. It collapses, sending plumes of smoke into the air.
She leaps from her winged mount, tossing a capsule into the air before her. A cloud of smoke bursts. Out from it shoots a one wheeled bike, the woman its rider. The bike buckles as she slams against the road. In the next moment it bursts forward with a crack in the air. It passes by the Bulma's car in a flash. Each strand of curled hair on their heads lags behind in her wake.
"That woman… It couldn't be," Bulma mumbled.
Launch. Bulma knew it was so. It was beyond understanding at the time, but it was reality. She shook her head, casting the moment aside.
"Cynthia, let's go," Bulma tells the driver.
But the woman is still stunned. Her bangs fell over her face and her mouth gaped. Her entranced gaze lingers in the direction of the 'new queen'.
"Cynthia!" Bulma commanded.
Click. The door swings open. Cynthia steps out with a stagger. Her hands clench into nervous balls and her heartbeat raises.
"That woman…" Cynthia repeats Bulma's words to herself.
The image flashes in her mind, clearer than the world around them. Those blonde flowing locks waving in the wind like a flag of anarchy. The sparks from the road and the burning of rubber. Freedom.
She walks a few steps, then with a wince she sprints in pursuit. She wants to follow her. She wants to know that freedom too.
All the while, Bulma stares from her seat. A dumbfounded expression lingers on her face. It was just one nonsensical moment after another. Without wasting another moment, Bulma takes the wheel. It's then that she notices the winged beast's stare. It watches, as if assigned to protect Capsule Corp from any foolish enough to intrude.
Then something else catches Bulma's attention, only twenty feet beneath the beast's feet a woman with short blonde hair stands on a balcony waving.
"Hey sweetie! What's going on? I heard a bunch of banging. Oh hun you're here too. Did the meeting go alright?" she says without a hint of distress.
"Get inside, mom!" Bulma shouts with desperation.
It's too late. The creature had turned its attention to the woman. It raises a single sharp foot into the air, ready to crush the woman ignorant of her danger.
"No!" Doctor Brief shouts.
"No? Don't go inside? Make up your minds, you two."
The foot crashes down.
Boom.
It happens as fast as a bullet. A cloud of debris, and cutting through it a smear. The only hint of what transpired lingering in the trail of smoke. Doctor Brief and Bulma snap their bodies to where the trail ends. Mai, with Bulma's mother in her arms. They're in the air, pressed against a nearby apartment building. The soldier-girl's eyes clench and her teeth grit. Pain, the source visible in the cracks in the concrete emanating from her boots. Her calves turn red, flesh torn from the impact.
Before she passes out, the bitter beast makes its move. Its wings thunder as it ascends into the air, then it dashes in pursuit of its stolen prey. Mai uses the last strength she can muster to push off from the wall.
It's barely enough.
The beast smashes the spot into oblivion. Shards of stone fly like a grenade, specks grazing the two in the air. The path the jetpack takes spirals as Mai's consciousness fades. They end up slamming into Doctor Brief with a thud.
"B-Bikini, are you… alright?" Doctor Brief says with strain.
His wife pops to her feet and waves dismissively. "Course, dear. Just a few scrapes. I'm more worried about that sweet girl."
Doctor Brief grabs hold of Mai's shoulders. She's out cold and bleeding profusely from her legs.
"Can you hear me, Mai?" he asks her.
The shriek of the beast hits their ears again. It crushes the remaining wall within its feet and the whole structure collapses with a pop. It's furious. With a swoop of its wings it flings back in preparation to finish them off.
Doctor Brief and his wife huddle with the unconscious Mai between them. Beside them, Bulma takes a step back. Her breathing freezes, cold tension gripping her throat in anxiety. The beast had cornered its prey.
It dashes.
But then…
Boom! The ground explodes beneath it. A massive metal hand strikes the beast in its belly. It recoils in the air, flapping down a mighty gust to escape. It blows the dust from the scene to reveal the rest of the mechanical giant.
It's round, almost spherical, with massive iron armor on its back and belly. Two thick stumpy legs plant into the ground while its long arms sway wide in a defensive posture. A small bulbous window sits on the machine's tiny recessed head where the pilot sits. A little dog man is barely visible behind the glass.
PILAF MACHINE G4 TURTLE
It's the imp's latest masterwork. A building sized mechanical suit designed for one purpose, crushing Son Goku. Its destined battle would never be known. Now it stands in action with only one goal in mind, protecting its comrades.
"Sh…Shu…" Mai mutters in her delirious state.
The great pterosaur scowls, red light shimmering in its eyes. It swoops around the slow titan as if sizing up its new opponent. Hatred brews within it. Claws flex and snap down in a frightening display. The Pilaf Machine remains cautious, keeping itself between the dinosaur and the Briefs.
Then, the strike comes. It shoots toward a shoulder from behind. The clang echoes for a mile and the burst of air cracks windows nearby. The giant totters on one leg.
But the turtle doesn't topple. The hovering leg slams back to the earth. A crater forms where it stomps. The mechanical arms grapple the beast before it can retreat. With a heave, the dinosaur is lifted into the sky, and with a thrust it's sent plummeting deep into the ground.
The beast cries out, limbs frantically scrambling for purchase while the turtle's giant back cannons initiate a final attack. The light within those massive barrels is the last thing it sees.
Thoom! Bam!
The creature's position is annihilated in a burst of energy. The explosion brightens the city like a second sun, and the pterosaur is no more.
The dust settles. Capsule Corp remains only a short jog away from Bulma. She could take control of the situation and save her city. She wouldn't let them take it from her, either of them.
She starts moving, but no sooner the entrance collapses. The rest of the structure follows suit until her home becomes rubble.
"Just leave it, Bulma!" her father calls out to her. There's tears in his eyes and a pleading hand outstretched.
He has Mai still clutched in his arms, and his wife wipes the blood from her wounds as if she were her daughter. The scene makes Bulma tremble. Conflicting emotions battle within her, confusion, frustration, grief.
"Dad! We can't!"
"She saved your life!" he scolds. "...your mother's too."
The two challenge each other with shaky gazes.
"I'd rather put our lives in the hands of someone like that. Wouldn't you?" he adds.
Bulma struggles to come to terms with the rapidly changing situation. It had only been hours ago that her father put his trust in her. Now so quickly it had fallen into another's hands. Had he ever really believed in her, or was that a father's comforting lie?
The hatch of the turtle mech opens. The small dog pilot stares at his comrade with puppy dog eyes.
"Mai!" he cries out.
"She'll be alright," Doctor Brief assures him. "I can take care of her. Go on, do your duty. She would want that."
The dog wipes his tears and nods. The hatch shuts and the mech turns toward city hall. Thud after thud it marches toward victory. Seeing it all, Bulma collapses. She'd lost her pride, her home, everything. It wouldn't have gone this way had… had Goku been there, had any of her friends been there…
"Where is everyone? Where the hell did they all go?" she says to herself.
Far away, the beast's master stops in her tracks. The single wheel of her ride leaves burning rubber on the pavement. A look of fear covers her face as she watches Capsule Corp for signs of prehistoric life. When none comes, she grumbles in disgust and mourning.
She turns that sick feeling in her chest into fury, a destructive rage that could crush the world.
"Alright, you cowards! No mercy!" she shouts.
"None will be necessary. I will destroy you all," a stoic voice calls out.
Launch snaps her attention to the sound of it. It comes from atop the stairs of city hall. Several dead bandits litter the steps and their blood stains the mayor-governor's clothes. The other council members cower behind cover while their leader descends the steps.
"Tch! Get a load of this asshole," Launch mumbles. "Hey, big boy! You the boss or somethin? If so, I'll be taking that oversized head of yours."
She twists the wheel of her ride to face the governor and revs the engine.
"I have three instructions to carry out," the governor says, smacking his fist into his palm. "One, to administrate this region. Two, to find and eliminate threats such as yourself. Three, to fulfill the will of the crane."
"The hells some dumb bird got to do with anything?" Launch asks, half caring.
The mayor-governor stops. Lights flash beneath his glasses. "I have two instructions to carry out. You heard no such classified third order."
Launch lifts her shoulders in acceptance. "Yeah, whatevs. Won't matter anyways…"
She throttles the gas with a grin.
"cus I'm about to end your career."
The bike shoots up the steps. She hops it over the last few between them so that the tire lands squarely in his chest. To her surprise, he doesn't move an inch. Sensing the immediate danger, she leaps from her bike. Just in time. The governor's hands smack together with thunder, crushing the vehicle with ease and discarding it.
"You're a tough bastard, ain't ya?" She says with a hint of panic.
A capsule toss later and she's armed with a shotgun. He throws a punch her way, but she rolls beneath him.
"Bang."
Bang!
The shell blows through the clothes on his chest. She smirks at her work, but that quickly turns to fear-lined shock. Instead of flesh beneath his skin, she finds an unscathed metal body.
"Uh-oh!"
She springs into the air, narrowly dodging his descending fists. They shatter the steps where she stood. Her feet land in a stumble, causing her to fall back a few paces. The giant man gives her no reprieve. She can't dodge his next move, a swift kick across her gut. He punts her like a ball, cracking ribs in the process.
"Queen!" several voices shout in unison.
She lands in the arms of a bear person, clutching her side in pain.
"B-Bear Gymnast…" she mutters.
"Don't speak, Queen," he tells her with tears.
The bear wraps her bearskin cloak over her body. Several other bear people gather around, each dressed to fit a different role according to their name. Bear Punk, Bear Chef, and so on.
A deafening low growl emanates from behind the bear group, accompanied by the snarls of the bears in front. A giant head slowly emerges, rising into the air with its hulking body until it stands twenty feet into the air. A grand bear, greater than any other. Scars carve paths across his fur and face. His teeth shine white with murderous hostility.
Bear King.
He doesn't give the governor warning. His pawed hand grips the hilt on his back, and with a single motion he slashes his massive scimitar at the governor.
Clang.
The council watches in frozen horror as their leader flies above them, an arm detached and his torso in shreds. He falls upon the top of the steps with a clattering boom.
Though to everyone's surprise, the Governor sits up unphased. There's a grenade launcher in his remaining arm, and with the pull of its trigger it fires.
The bomb flies through the air on a trajectory landing it in the great bear's mouth. The mighty bear's mind processes it in slow motion. Fearlessly he awaits his potential demise.
But…
Fwoom…
A ribbon unfurls before the bomb, held by the blonde woman who'd lept to catch it. It cradles it like a sling, and likewise it spins. Launch's whole body rotates in the air to send it. With a battlecry and a fling, the bomb is returned. She watches with satisfaction as she descends back to the ground.
The bomb disappears in the governor's open torso.
Boom.
The bomb finishes the fight. All that remains of the governor is the shell of his legs. The provisional government's leadership ceases to exist. The blonde woman makes it up the last steps and stands over his remains. A conqueror. The council falls to their knees, and behind her the bears all kneel in reverence. The rising sun now fills the world with a beautiful blue hue and striking yellow light.
