(Early Monday morning)
(Somewhere in the Dunes)
It'd been a long weekend for everyone and right now the entire world was getting set for another round of work. In countless cities across the globe, people were either slowly starting to wake up to the morning sun or were still tossing and turning around in their sleep. This only counted for the half of the planet that was still shrouded in darkness.
On the other half of the planet though, in a village situated on the very edge of the largest desert on the mainland, a small village was experiencing one of the worst wakeup calls they could ever imagine. This came in the form of rapid footsteps, gunfire and screaming, as two trucks filled with armed men and a tank trundled into the Mid Eastern town and began raiding homes left and right.
Armed to the teeth and bearing the colors of bandits originating from parts unknown, the men dressed in desert military uniforms, turbans and goggles, busted down doors up and down the main road and began harrying terrified villagers onto the streets. Screaming and barking orders at the defenseless civilians, they separated both the men and the women from each other, while also making sure the children were accounted for.
Minutes upon entering the settlement, the bandits armed with AK-47s, Uzis and a whole bunch of other automatic weaponry corralled every individual townsperson to the side of the road and began forcing them into herds. As soon as they had the women fenced off by a squad of soldiers, they then began putting the men up against the wall, where they forced them to put their hands up and turn their backs to them.
It was complete and utter chaos. On top of the rumbling of the tank's engine at the end of the highway and the soldiers screaming at the civilians, the women and children were crying, and the men were attempting to fight back against the invaders. But to no avail. All they could do was plead and shout as they were lined up and prepared to be subjected to a firing squad.
The leader of the bandits, a man armed with a saber and wearing a red beret, marched down the road with an armed escort, his chin held high, and a pistol in hand. Upon inspecting the large group of women on one side of the street and the men on the other side, he then raised his gun and fired it into the air. His shots silenced some of the noise, leaving only the children and a couple of the captured civilians to stare fearfully in his direction and whimper.
"Enough! I'm getting tired of all this crying!" the bearded commander shouted, waving his gun around and glaring over his frightened hostages. "As of right now, this entire town belongs to us!" He slammed the butt of his gun against his chest in a tribal gesture of warning. "Your economy, your farmlands, your infrastructure… all of it belongs to us! And to make sure that none of you even think of rebelling against our will…" He then pointed across at the men lined up against the wall, "This group over here will be put to death!"
"No! Please!" one of the mothers on the other side cried out. "Don't do this!"
"Please! Have mercy!" a man on the wall shouted, only to receive a rifle butt to the back that sent him crumpling to the ground.
A new wave of cries washing over the area, the commander snarled and turned his ire on the prisoners, "SILENCE! You will do as I say!" Shouts and cries beseeching him to show restraint continuing to fill his ears, the man merely spat on the ground and pointed towards a couple of his masked marauders standing nearby. "You and you! Bring four more!" As soon as he gave the order, the bandits grabbed four more men from the crowd they'd separated and forced them to the length of wall as well.
It was here over a dozen male villagers were now lined up, all with their hands against the stone and their backs turned to their captors.
Smirking at the uproar of further screaming and pleading, the commander leered at the women before marching towards the lineup. Grabbing a poor farmer by the back of the robe, he violently dragged him across the dirt road and forced him to his knees, where he then loaded his Beretta and pointed it at the back of the terrified man's head.
An excited look filled the commander's eyes as his two dozen bandits and subordinates stood back and watched the show. "All those who defy us will be swiftly punished."
From his position and this range, there was no way he could miss.
But just as his finger was pulling back on the trigger, a red beam suddenly shot down from the sky and smacked into his gun, knocking it out of his hand. "GAH!" Shouting and gripping his wrist as he stumbled backwards, the man in the beret looked up with a start and shouted to the heavens. "WHO DID THAT?!"
While the bandits scattered around across the main street were looking around wildly for a sniper, a figure suddenly teleported directly in front of the commander and made her presence known. Appearing before the stunned crowd in the form of a green blur, the blue-skinned, orange haired form of Zangya suspended herself in front of the gang's leader, her arms folded and hair bellowing upwards.
Adorned in a tasteful purple suit with a skirt, a white shirt and purple heels, the appearance of the pointy-eared Hera startled the commander out of his wits, and forced him to take a few steps back. When he looked her over and met her glare with his own, the wide eyed outlaw gritted his teeth and reached for his sword. "Demon bitch! You will die!" He drew his saber with a shout and pointed it at her.
Zangya rolled her eyes in response as the tip of the weapon was practically brushed against her nose. "Yeah. Sure." She then grabbed the sword and melted it with a quick burst of ki, leaving it as just a stump and a handle.
When the commander retracted his now blunt weapon in disbelief, he took one disbelieving look at it before glancing back up at the new arrival. As soon as he did, he was promptly greeted by the woman's knuckles, which caved in his face and sent him blasting across the village through every single wall standing in his path, and didn't stop until he was bouncing across the fields of crops.
Judging from the distance he'd covered, it was safe to say the man would be drinking all of his next meals in Otherworld through a straw.
Lowering her fist, Zangya then heard the distinct sound of assault rifles going off and looked to her left to see the commander's two bodyguards opening fire on her. Rolling her eyes when their bullets bounced harmlessly off of her skin, she walked over to them and uppercutted one of the pricks the chin, sending him flying over the village's rooftops. After that she threw a hook at the other one and sent him into a building, which collapsed right on top of him. Seconds later, all hell broke loose.
The soldiers that were holding the men at point turned on the demon woman and opened fire. But just before any of their bullets could hit, the Hera held up a finger and fired a barrage of multiple red beams that cut the swath of soldiers down like paper. As soon as their bodies hit the ground, Zangya then turned towards a distant rooftop, took aim with her hand, and fired a red blast up at a sniper, which she disintegrated. Upon wiping him and a portion of that building's roof out, she then focused her attention on the soldiers holding the women hostage.
The moment she saw a couple of them point their weapons at the prisoners and a couple more move forward to try and engage her, Zangya narrowed her eyes and reacted instantly. In a scene taken straight out of Man of Steel, the woman darted towards the soldiers in a blue blur, smashing them one after the other and sending them crashing to the ground at super speed before dealing sweet justice to the last. Holding the bandit by the throat above the floor, she allowed the man to kick and squirm helplessly for a few seconds. After that she dropped him on his ass and kicked him across the face, knocking him out.
Upon dispensing swift, lightning fast righteousness over the evil men, Zangya then turned her attention to her final opponent. Its engine growling loudly as the men inside of it fired it up, the T-72 battle tank began rumbling down the street towards the woman, forcing the now freed villagers to run for cover. As soon as the road cleared, the unflinching Hera moved into the center of it, while the terrified townspeople watched from behind walls and fences as their unlikely savior faced off against the metal beast.
Stopping in its tracks, the tank's gun rotated and aimed at the orange haired woman. As soon as she was standing squarely in its sights, the officer inside the vehicle's turret wasted no time in dillydallying.
"Target at twelve o'clock!" the officer in the goggles shouted, kicking his gunner in the back shoulder, "Do you have her?"
"Target marked, sir!"
"Then fire!"
"Yes, sir! On the way!"
A loud 'bang' immediately followed when the massive gun fired, hurtling the armor piercing projectile towards the Hera at a ridiculous speed. A split second later, a large explosion impacted the woman, temporarily blocking out view of the street around her. When the men in the tank thought they'd killed her, jaws soon dropped all around when they saw Zangya's form emerge from the smoke with a smile on her face and looking completely unscathed.
Dusting off her shoulder from the shrapnel, the Hera then started strolling towards the tank with her hands in her pockets and a spring in her heeled step.
"R-Reload!" the sergeant shouted.
"Gun loaded sir!"
"Then hit her!" the vehicle commander shouted, at the same time the assistant driver opened fire on the demon woman with the machinegun. But no matter how much metal he poured onto her, he didn't even come close to stopping her.
"On the way!" Another deafening thunderclap sent the tank shell rocketing down the street, striking Zangya in the face with a loud 'ping' but ended up ricocheting and flying off into the horizon.
Three more times the tank fired as Zangya casually strolled towards it. But each and every time the massive gun let loose a round at the woman, the shells either bounced off of her and flew off into the distance, or exploded uselessly against her. When she eventually stopped three feet in front of the gun, the men were so stumped by the sight of her still standing that they all but pissed themselves in terror.
Shaking in their boots, they tried for one last round, the gun flashing as it blasted another tank shell into her face at pointblank range, only for it to ricochet off of her forehead and shoot up into the sky. When the whistle of the high-velocity round echoed into the distance, the Hera smiled one last time before raising her hand and holding it towards the front of the armored war machine.
"You guys have had your shot. Now it's my turn," Zangya said, a mischievous grin forming across her lips. "Bang."
A split second later, a red blast engulfed the tank and disintegrated it, sending its pieces scattering down the street and out of the village. After the explosion went off and filled the air with thick black smoke, it left behind a road littered with bodies, discarded weapons, and a burnt trench along the highway eight hundred yards long.
Upon eliminating the threat and sensing no more bandits in the area, as they'd all been killed save for one, Zangya lowered her hand and turned her attention to the village. As soon as she saw the liberated townspeople emerge from their hiding spots and begin to gather, all of them whispering as to whom their savior could possibly be, the orange haired woman smiled and waved at them. Once she did, she levitated off of the ground and took off into the clouds, where she then began a westerly flight in the direction of the other side of the continent.
The villagers didn't even have time to thank her for saving them, but they nevertheless cheered as the mysterious angel vanished over the horizon.
After getting up super early that morning at the chime of four to watch Gohan train for a little while, Zangya had then gotten herself dressed up for a big day out. Apparently her bosses over in the capital were sending her out on a job to West City to show her a new line up of dresses they wanted her to market to the public. Knowing there was a big pay behind the trade, there was no way the Hera could possibly refuse their request. However, the early morning wakeup call did mean she ended up losing a few hours of beauty sleep, leaving her slightly crabby and a little bit groggy.
Of course, while she'd been flying towards West City on what was supposed to be an eventless route, she'd unexpectedly come across a group of bandits invading a small village. Upon seeing the amount of firepower they were packing and getting a gist as to what their intentions were, the Hera then wasted no time in stepping in before things got out of hand.
They were all being dicks anyway.
"That was a pretty fun workout," Zangya thought, feeling significantly cheered up after beating the stuffing out of every single armed assailant in that town. Exhaling pleasantly from what was more of a skip through the tulip fields than a warm-up, the woman allowed the wind to whip freely at her hair as she picked up speed towards her destination.
She was making good time either way. By her estimate, the alien warrior probably had a few minutes to get herself a cup of coffee or tea before showing up at the conference when she eventually reached town.
Why was she worried? With clear blue skies overhead and a cool breeze licking at her skin, what could possibly ruin a perfect morning like this…?
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