The air in the sewer was thick and heavy, smelling of rust and decay.
Bulma pulled her collar up over her nose.
It was a tactical environment now, not a social one.
She reached into her pouch, selected a capsule, and clicked the button.
POOF.
Aflashlight materialized in her hand.
She immediately tossed a second capsule toward Launch.
"Catch."
Launch snatched the device out of the air as it expanded into a matching light.
She didn't turn it on immediately. Instead, she shone the beam right at Bulma, analyzing her savior.
"You're loaded."
It wasn't a question.
"Perfect skin, expensive haircut, clothes that actually fit."
Bulma didn't flinch under the scrutiny.
"I'd appreciate it if you didn't plan on robbing me right now, i have more useful things to do than empty my pockets."
Launch grinned, a dangerous spark in her eyes, and dimmed the light.
"Relax, Princess. I have a code." Launch replied, checking the empty magazine of her gun.
"I don't rob the person who just saved my hide. At least, not on the same day."
"Comforting."
"Don't get comfy. The two jerks on my tail? A locked door won't stop them. They're coming down here, and they know these tunnels way better than we do."
She turned to Bulma, extending an expectant hand.
"But you know what? Let 'em come. I'll stomp that filthy bear rug into a bath mat and turn the witch into Swiss cheese. Just get me something that shoots. You got a spare assault rifle in that fancy pouch? Maybe a grenade launcher?"
Bulma shook her head.
"I have tactical gadgets. Defensive tools. Some can be lethal if used creatively. But actual firearms? No. The Capsule Corp ballistics line is bio-locked. My DNA signature doesn't have clearance to open Class-A weapon containers. I'm not of legal age yet."
Launch stared at her, her jaw dropping slightly.
"You've gotta be kidding me. You're roaming a lawless dump with a magic fanny pack, but a terms-of-service page is what stops you from packing heat? Wow. You really are a goody two-shoes."
She stepped closer.
Her expression shifted from mockery to suspicion.
She leaned in, studying Bulma's face.
"But don't think you're fooling me, Princess. Girls like you don't jump into a sewer in the armpit of the world just for the view. You're after something. Something big."
Bulma kept her light trained on the darkness ahead, refusing to engage with the accusation.
"My motives are my business. Right now, the only thing that matters is finding an exit before they flush us out."
The sound of heavy splashing echoed from the tunnel behind them.
It wasn't the erratic skittering of rats.
It was the walk of something heavy.
"Kill the light." Bulma whispered instantly.
They clicked off their flashlights and pressed themselves flat against the slimy brickwork of a T-junction, holding their breath.
The darkness was absolute, save for the faint reflection of distant grate light on the black water.
"It's them." Launch hissed, her voice barely audible.
"The bear and the bitch."
"They neutralized the binding polymer." Bulma noted, her brow furrowing in the dark.
"They're stronger or smarter than they look to get out of it that fast."
"Great analysis, Einstein." Launch muttered, gripping her empty gun like a club.
"But unless you've got more of that pink snot, we're dead. They won't fall for the same trick twice. You got a Plan B?"
Bulma looked down at the murky water swirling around their boots. She felt the cold dampness on the walls.
A smile touched her lips, invisible in the gloom.
"I do." Bulma whispered.
She reached into her pouch, brushing against a capsule.
"This environment isn't a trap for us."
/////////////////////////////////////////
The sewer tunnel magnified every sound, turning Grizzlo's deep voice into a booming announcement that rolled through the darkness like thunder.
"Hey! Blondie! And you, the girl with the... blue hair i guess? Kids these days. " Grizzlo shouted, cupping his hands around his mouth.
"Why don't you two just come on out? We can talk about this over some nice, lukewarm prison rations!"
He waded through the water, kicking aside floating debris with zero concern for stealth.
"I'm telling you now, ladies, you don't want to make me run! My knees aren't what they used to be. The longer I have to chase you, the crankier I get. And trust me, you wouldn't like me when I'm... bear-ly holding it together!"
He let out a hearty, wheezing laugh at his own joke, slapping his knee.
"Get it? Bear-ly? Because I'm a—"
"Shut. Up." Diesella hissed, spinning around and flashing her light directly into him
"You are embarrassing me. And worse, you are broadcasting our exact position! Do you have a death wish, or are you just stupid?"
Grizzlo waved her off with a dismissive hand, still chuckling.
"Relax, Dee. What's the point of the daily grind if you can't have a laugh now and then? This is just a job, same as any other. Reminds me of when I used to work the floor at the canning factory. Punch in, punch out, deal with the occasional rat problem. No need to be so stiff about it."
Launch stepped out from the shadows of a large drainage pipe, splashing deliberately into the center of the tunnel.
She stood tall, hands on her hips, staring them down with a defiant sneer.
"You looking for me? Here I am. Now what?"
Diesella stopped instantly, her flashlight beam cutting through the darkness to illuminate Launch's face.
She swept the light left and right, scanning the empty tunnel behind the blonde bandit.
"Where is the other one?" Diesella demanded, her hand hovering over her holster.
"The girl with the blue hair. Where is she hiding?"
Launch cracked her neck, grinning widely.
"You want to know?" She spat into the murky water.
"Come over here and beat it out of me."
"With pleasure."
She tensed her legs, ready to lunge forward and pistol-whip the answer out of the thief, but a massive, furry arm shot out and blocked her path.
"Whoa, hold your horses, Dee." Grizzlo rumbled, his tone unusually serious.
"Get out of my way, Grizzlo, she's unarmed and alone."
"That's exactly the problem, that other girl... she had some real weird cards up her sleeve. She took us both out with a toy gun and some pink gum in two seconds flat. She's smart."
He gestured around the dark, echoing tunnel.
"If the loud one is standing right here, chest out, begging for a fight... it means the smart one is waiting to spring the trap. I didn't survive twenty years on the factory floor by sticking my hand in the machinery without checking the safety switch first."
Launch's grin faltered for a fraction of a second.
She looked to the side and clicked her tongue in annoyance.
"Tch."
"Sharp instincts. For a former floor manager." A voice echoed from the darkness above
Grizzlo and Diesella snapped their heads up, their flashlights cutting through the gloom.
There, clinging effortlessly to the rusted pipes on the ceiling like a spider, was Bulma.
Her Gecko-Grip gear was locked tight against the metal, keeping her completely dry and out of the water.
"But you forgot one little detail about this place."
She held a small, yellow capsule between her fingers.
"Conductivity."
Grizzlo's eyes widened as he looked down at the knee-deep water swirling around his legs.
"Launch, jump!" Bulma shouted.
Launch didn't hesitate. Trusting the command on instinct, she leaped backward with superhuman agility, landing on a raised concrete maintenance ledge just inches above the water line.
Bulma dropped the capsule.
SPLASH.
POOF.
A device resembling a tesla coil materialized in the water.
ZZZZZRRRRRRRRAKKKK!
A massive arc of blue electricity exploded outward, using the dirty sewer water as a perfect conductor.
The tunnel lit up like a strobe light.
"GYAAAAAAH!" Diesella shrieked as her muscles seized up, the current coursing through her body.
Grizzlo roared, his massive frame vibrating.
"GAAAAAAAH!"
The two lieutenants convulsed for five seconds before the charge dissipated. Smoke rose from Grizzlo's fur and Diesella's hair stood on end. They collapsed face-first into the sludge, twitching but unconscious.
Bulma deactivated her gloves and dropped gracefully onto the dry ledge beside Launch.
"High-voltage stun trap." Bulma explained, checking her watch. "
"Non-lethal, but they won't be waking up for at least twenty minutes. Let's go."
Launch stared at the two fried scrappers.
"Yeah, you're scary. Like… the good kind, I guess."
Bulma and Launch didn't wait to check for a pulse.
They turned and splashed through the water, heading for the distant ladder at the end of the tunnel.
"It was a simple calculation... biology plus electricity equals—"
SPLASH.
A heavy, wet sound echoed from behind them.
It wasn't the sound of a body slumping.
It was the sound of a mountain rising.
A growl vibrated through the tunnel walls, shaking the rust off the pipes.
Bulma and Launch froze mid-step.
Slowly, terrified, they turned around.
Grizzlo was standing.
Smoke was rising from his fur in thick, gray plumes.
His tactical vest was scorched, but he was standing.
He cracked his neck with a sound like a gunshot.
"Okay. Now I'm actually ticked off."
Bulma's jaw dropped.
"T-That's impossible! That should've dropped him! He shouldn't even be moving!"
Launch yelled, grabbing Bulma's shoulder and shaking her.
"Or, maybe it's because he's a friggin' one-ton grizzly bear?!"
"That... is a scientifically valid varia—."
"ROAAAAAAAR!"
Grizzlo dropped onto all fours, transforming from a bipedal uncle into a locomotive of fur and muscle.
He charged, kicking up a tsunami of sewage water as he barreled toward them.
"RUN!" Both women screamed in unison.
They tore straight through the sewers as fast as they could, but Grizzlo was fast, faster than either of them.
As they ran, Launch spotted a gallon drum lying along the tunnel.
"Eat this, you oversized rug!"
Launch screamed, grabbing a rusted 50-gallon drum floating near the wall and hurling it backward with surprising strength.
CRASH.
Grizzlo didn't even blink.
He smashed through the metal barrel with his shoulder, sending twisted scrap flying into the water, and didn't lose a single step of momentum.
If anything, the impact seemed to make him faster.
"He's fast as hell! How is something that fat moving this fast?!" Launch yelled, her voice cracking with panic as she pumped her arms.
"Bears can sprint up to thirty five miles per hour over short distances!"
"I don't need a nature documentary, you nerd! You got a plan or what?!"
"I'm thinking! I'm thinking!" Bulma cried out, her eyes darting around the tunnel for any advantage.
"ROAAAAAR!"
Grizzlo launched himself into the air, a massive shadow blocking out the dim light of the tunnel.
He landed with a catastrophic splash exactly between them, the force of the impact sending a wave of sludge washing up the walls.
"Split up!"
Bulma dove desperately to the right.
Launch rolled to the left, skidding across the wet concrete.
Grizzlo stood up, shaking the water from his coat.
He glanced to his left.
Launch, who was already far.
Then he glanced to his right.
Bulma sprinting deeper into the sewer, fumbling with a capsule as she ran.
The blonde's all noise and gunfire. The blue one's the real problem, full of tricks. I'll take her out first.
He ignored Launch completely.
He turned and thundered straight toward Bulma.