The Great Saiyagirl in: Mechanical Mayhem!

"Saiyagirl! Hey, Saiyagirl!" Gira's young ward, Skivvy, poked her in the side of the head. She had been meditating on a cliffside for the entire afternoon, hovering a few inches above the ground as she sat cross-legged. As soon as her concentration was broken, however, she set down on the grass. Opening her eyes, she turned to the young man.

"Skivvy, you don't have to call me that when we're not on a mission." Gira sighed, but smiled slightly at the interruption. While he didn't know the particulars of this hero business, the Saiyan liked his enthusiasm. It was part of the reason she took him on as a sidekick to begin with.

"Good point! Let's go on a mission now!" Wasting no time, Skivvy hit the red button on his watch, changing instantly into his Great Saiyalad gear with a grand pose. It appeared that he had been taking notes on the Great Saiyagirl's signature brand of hero-ness. Gira stood up, brushing the grass off of her backside.

"Rarin' to go, huh?" She grinned excitedly. Skivvy was just the person she needed to spur her into action. He reminded her of the reason she became a hero to begin with.

"Skivvy, why did you want to be a hero?" The young Saiyan already knew the answer, but she wanted to hear it directly from her sidekick's mouth. The earthling blinked at his mentor for a moment, but soon grinned from beneath his helmet.

"To protect the peace in West City! And also, because supersuits and poses are the coolest!" He confidently placed his hands on his hips, puffing out his chest in a show of his resolve. Gira laughed at his response. It was expected, but the way he said it made Gira feel giddy.

"Good answer!" Pressing the red button on her own watch, Gira threw out her arms in the deepest dab she could muster. In an instant, her supersuit appeared on her body. Pointing towards the city in the distance, she declared their mission.

"Today's mission; hero patrol! We'll help anyone who needs it! What's the first rule of being a hero, Saiyalad!?" Gira looked over her shoulder at her ward. Leaping through the air, Skivvy landed next to Gira and mimicked her pose, pointing towards the city.

"No job is too small for a hero!" He looked up at the Great Saiyagirl for approval. She gave him a firm nod.

"Correct! And no job is too big either, for that matter." She prepared to take to the skies, but Skivvy tugged on her cape, stopping her.

"Can I do the honors?" He gazed up at Gira hopefully. The Saiyan nodded.

"Go for it!" She prepared to take off as Skivvy took his place on her back.

"Saiyasquad, move out!!!" The junior hero shouted triumphantly as he pumped his fist in the air. On cue, Gira and Skivvy took off towards the city. As if she was waiting for the perfect moment, Kaci, or Oracle as she was known while they were on missions, contacted the two via their closed comms.

"Saiyagirl, trouble downtown." Hearing this, Skivvy frowned.

"Saiyagirl AND Saiyalad here. What's the situation?" He couldn't believe that Kaci forgot about him! He made up one third of the team after all.

"Sorry Saiyalad. The tech festival has come under attack by a mechanical monster. Some kind of octopus looking thing. It can charge its tentacles with electricity, so don't let it get a hold of you!" Gira frowned slightly when she heard this. A mechanical monster attacking a tech festival? That could only be the work of one man. Skivvy and Gira looked at each other. It appeared that they both knew who it was; The Machine King.

"You safe, Oracle?" Gira knew that Kaci herself planned on attending the tech festival.

"Yes. I ducked into an alley to make this call. I'll support you as much as I can from here. Hurry, though. He has hostages. It seems our machine-loving friend is after someone in particular."

"On our way. Hang in there!" Gira looked back at her sidekick.

"Hold on tight!" She didn't have to tell him twice. Skivvy couldn't fly, so a fall from this height would do a lot more than hurt him. As soon as Gira felt his grip on her shoulders tighten, Gira kicked her speed into high gear, covering the distance between West City's outskirts and downtown in seconds. Once she arrived at the venue, it seemed that most of the civilians had fled. She could see a few of them in the tentacles of the mechanical octopus that Kaci mentioned.

It appeared that this creature noticed her as well, since it held out the civilians in front of it like a shield.

"Not so fast, Saiyagirl! You wouldn't want these innocents to be fried on your account, would you?" Gira stopped in her tracks at the sound of her arch-nemesis' voice.

"Let them go, fiend! Your fight is with me!" Skivvy popped his head out from behind his mentor's.

"Yeah! Let 'em go or face justice!" He screamed out, throwing a fist in the mechanical menace's direction. A raspy cackle sounded from the machine's intercom.

"What's this? I didn't know the mighty Saiyagirl was running a daycare service. Where did you find this one? In the nursery?" The Machine King could barely contain his laughter. Skivvy was positively trembling with rage.

"What did you say!? Come out of there and i'll show you what I can do!" Skivvy was clambering over Gira's back, wanting a piece of the villain immediately. Gira landed on the ground, her ward hopping off of her back before making a run at the machine. The young Saiyan grabbed onto his cape, however, causing him to gag as he was choked by his metaphorical leash.

"Think a little bit, Saiyalad. He has hostages. We have to play this smart. He's just trying to get you riled up so you'll make a mistake." She let the young hero's cape go and glared up towards the machine.

"So, you've reduced yourself to taking hostages? Gotta say, I didn't expect even you to sink that low." Gira crossed her arms, trying to keep her body language non-hostile. The Machine King twirled the unconscious civilians around as though they were mere playthings.

"When faced with someone who has no physical weakness, one must... "play smart," as you so eloquently put it. You are correct. Hostage taking is normally not my style... but... one must do what needs to be done to succeed. I'm sure you understand." The scientist's voice was dripping with glee. This was the first time he ever had Gira on the backfoot.

"Can't say I do." Gira replied simply, not moving an inch.

"We both know how this is gonna go, so let's skip to the part where you put those people down and I take you to jail... unless you want me to break another one of your toys." Gira's gaze remained locked on the machine, but she spoke into her helmet quietly.

"Oracle; the usual. Track down the machine's power source." The Machine King merely laughed at Gira's words.

"Oh, you'll find that things are different this time. I'll cut right to business. I want the one you call "Oracle." Or... Kaci Williams. I know she is here. I've been tracking her down for weeks. The little girl covered her digital tracks well, but all it took was for her to make a single mistake." Gira could hear Kaci's gasp from her helmet.

"Me...?" Gira spoke into her comms to reassure her friend.

"Relax. He's not gonna have you. He'll have to go through me and that's not happening." She looked up at the machine.

"I don't know a "Kaci." You gotta double check your intel." The Machine King didn't even let the Great Saiyagirl finish.

"Lying? I didn't think that was a hero's way. Here's my offer; your friend for these people. Oh, and every minute you take to make your choice, i'll fry one of them. You don't want that on your conscience, do you?" He chuckled maliciously as he gave his nemesis his ultimatum. Gira growled and prepared for battle. She didn't make her move, however. She couldn't risk the hostages being caught in the crossfire. Even if she beat the machine in one shot, there was no guarantee that the Machine King wouldn't be able to electrocute them anyway. She needed to take down the power source to make sure of that. Skivvy looked up at his hero.

"Saiyagirl... what do we do?" Her sidekick's words caused Gira to swallow the lump in her throat. She didn't know how to tell him that she had no clue. Maybe if they had the element of surprise, things would be different. That opportunity was long gone, though.