Bringer of Death

Future Saga, Part 3: Master and Commander

Future Saga, Part 3: Master and Commander

"It was a risk coming here. I hope it was worth it." Darkness concealed the identity of the speaker.

Another voice replied softly.

"I know. Mother would have come apart if she found out, but I think I'd be a fool not to use everything at my disposal to protect this world."

"I see exactly where you're coming from. I'm just not sure it's safe."

The two voices remained silent for a moment in the cool night air.

"Well, what now? I can't imagine you have any suggestions I haven't already thought of."

"I don't want to see you again. Face to face...it's too much, too big of a ripple. We need to keep that to a minimum. Maybe we can find a place where I can leave you information if there's a real problem."

The other speaker took a deep breath. "That sounds all right to me. I didn't come all this way to see you; I came to make sure everyone is safe."

"About that...since you're here," the other voice said hesitantly, "there is something I ought to warn you about."

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The front-end loader, big enough to pick up a station wagon, screeched and groaned as it scraped along the pavement.

Kara shook her head at the sight, still finding it hard to believe.

The sight was astounding because there was no tractor behind the gigantic scoop. Instead, a lone, dark-haired figure was bent low, grunting with exertion as he maneuvered his giant-sized shovel through the rubble. Gohan had been at this for hours.

"Trunks!" he shouted, pausing.

A few blocks away, a crumbling skyscraper had been collapsing in on itself, story by story. One of the concrete walls suddenly exploded into dust as Trunks walked through it, then dropped a dozen stories to the pavement like he was stepping off the side of a low porch.

Gohan gave a tired grin. "Say, have you seen any more front-end loaders? I don't think this one will last much longer." Although Kara was perched at a safe distance, she could clearly see what he was talking about. His fingers had dug deep gouges in the forged steel, and the formerly smooth surface was beginning to buckle.

The light-haired superhuman laughed. "We're going to run out of these things if you don't start taking better care of them." There was a slight pop, and he disappeared. A few seconds later, he floated through midair and rounded a building more than five blocks away, carrying an entire tractor with one hand.

Without warning, he suddenly swung it back, then sent it flying with an underhand toss. It flipped end-over-end, rising above the tops of the remaining skyscrapers, before plummeting toward Gohan like a nuclear missile. He lifted both hands casually and caught it, then flipped it upside-down on the pavement with a deafening THUD. The pavement shuddered.

By the time the girl had turned, Trunks was already back where he had started. "You know, I think I spotted a full-size dump truck half a mile south of here. If you just rip the entire bed off of that, it should last you quite a while," the light-haired Saiyan suggested.

Gohan leaned in between the tractor and the bucket and gave a yank. The screech of steel ripping like paper was deafening, and Kara winced. "This will do for now," he answered, pulling the steel bucket free.

"Suit yourself." The younger Saiyan smirked, flashing a wink towards Kara before heading back to continue dismantling the crumbling skyscraper.

Both superhumans had been working for over a week now, clearing out the city. Removing the mountains of rubble and debris from collapsed buildings was only the beginning; there were thousands of abandoned vehicles and heaps of trash. Worse, many of the buildings that were still standing were too unstable to remain, and they had to be dismantled without causing damage to surrounding blocks.