36Extensive Darker Future Summary:
After Trunks had effectively destroyed the androids and Cell in his time, peace was supposed to return; however, political mistrust and tensions slowly begin to increase as a result of the long terror of the androids, threatening the world constitutional monarch and sectors of Earth. In an accident with the time machine which was intended to go back in time to check on the status of the saved alternate timeline, the half-saiyan somehow ends up going further in his timeline. In that period, he sees everything that was once unified, completely separated with the appearance of contractors, multiple gates, and distrust everywhere...now the question is...how did everything end up like this? (A Darker Than Black and Dragon Ball Z Crossover; Future Trunks x Misaki Kirihara)
Rated M for unnecessary, unpredictable, sometimes turning-your-guts-into-liquid kinda gore...and perhaps a little of something else..hmm...maybe?
A\N...
I really...really...needed to start on some of my other ideas. As much as I love working on my first fanfic, Rosario Plus Gohan; I can no longer delay the need to get at least another of my ideas in another exciting, hopefully entertaining fanfic that involves our favorite post-apocalyptic hero.
I honestly saw a good potential for a crossover such as this. People might say otherwise because of a power difference between saiyans and contractors, blah...blah..blah; however, this fanfic is not so much focused on the battles but rather on Trunks' experience to prevent what he sees as a unfortunate future...if it is even possible to prevent, that is...plus, I do believe that certain contractors can become a real pain in the ass for the half-saiyan. We'll just have see how everything turns out.
Another important thing to note is that this isn't another dimensional switch crossover or anything like that. It's still set in the Dragon Ball world except in a even more advanced time. So of course, things are going to be a little different in terms of the technology, military power, and...obviously, the covering of real stars with contractors' stars.
Overall, for the most part, it'll be somewhat close to the Darker than Black canon except for major tweaks and exceptions. It should be interesting especially considering this is AU for Darker than Black.
One last thing to mention is to not expect consistent updates (New chapters are on a free-time basis, so it might be a short time or a long time to wait until the next chapter).
Disclaimer: I do not own Dragonball Z or Darker Than Black. All are written respectively by Akira Toriyama and Tensai Okamura. All characters portrayed are of their respective anime and manga.
'bzzt...With the death of King Fury which has been speculated to be caused by the androids early on, high officials of each 43 sectors of Earth meet to discuss the next royal king or queen of Earth; however, some members propose to throw out the constitutional monarch in place of separate nations in order to maintain better protection of its citizens especially with a population that has significantly decreased. Other members are opposed to the idea saying it could bring about a higher chance of corruption...investigators are also still questioning about the destruction of the androids. Many are eager to find the one who was responsible for ending the terror while others are more worried about future Red Ribbon...bzzt!'
The blue short-haired woman with increasing stress visible in her eyes, Bulma, sighed as she turned the TV off by a click of her remote by the side of the stove, she then resumed cooking a pot of curry with a wooden spoon. It was kinda sad, 3 ½ years and people still couldn't move on without talking about the androids. She couldn't blame her friends and billions of others...when you had to live a life of fear for the longest of time, it couldn't have been easy to stop and settle down.
Speaking of which, she just wanted to slap the hell out of these politicians! Instead of bickering, they should keep focusing on the recovery of cities and provide support to citizens that need it! While some of the major cities such as West City, which she was located in, was recovering fast...other small cities and villages still needed big help and support.
She did all she could to help within the last three years such as providing families who lost their homes with mobile capsule homes, food capsules, and anything that could be transported easily. Her son, Trunks, helped immensely by helping transport and finding those in need. It was still particularly stressful though having to produce capsules with the limited staff she had on hand...they too had their own problems which did not make things any better, so of course, production was slow and it didn't come cheaply either.
Burma lifted her wooden spoon and took a sip to check the taste. She frowned a bit and then continued to stir with one arm while picking up salt in another hand. She added a little salt but before she attempted to taste it, the front door unlocked with a fast creak and inside came the twenty-five lavender-haired warrior with a small smile to his face. His hair grew just above his eyes where it had been neatly cut. He wore his usual black torso shirt with a small overhead purple Capsule Corporation jacket. Appearance wise, he didn't look that much different from the time he first left for the alternate timeline, other than a toner body.
"Trunks! Well that was quicker than usual! Were you able to help some people in the East?" Bulma asked, glad that her son was going to be available for dinner on time.
Trunks looked at his mother with a small smile of success. "Yeah...I was a bit surprised, but they're actually doing a lot better than other areas. Most of them were just villages which didn't need much except for some food capsules and a few extra clothing..."
Bulma smiled, happy to see that there was improvement in some areas at least. "Glad to hear that! Hopefully, everything and this city will be as bustling as before!"
Trunks nodded as he plopped to the nearby couches in the living room. He let out a large sigh of relief as his body loosened up and his head rested back. There was a long silence with only the sounds of curry boiling and the aroma filling the entire house. The half-saiyan didn't bother turning on the TV as he knew their was only one channel that was still alive and ongoing. All that had been going on was updates from a disputing government, questions about the androids, and evaluations in the progress of cities.
The half-saiyan closed his eyes and sighed. Was it going to return as it was before? More than half the world population was dead...no dragon balls...political tensions are rising...and...
...he was the last z-fighter on the planet...
He furrowed his eyebrows. No! Now was not the time for such thoughts! He could only move forward, continue to grow stronger, and help protect what was left of humanity and the planet. Dwelling on his mistakes and the losses would only make him depressed and undependable. It would be a shame to his father, he knew for certain, as well as everyone important to him...
His master...Gohan...
Trunks eyes opened filled with agitation of himself. He stood up from the couch and sighed again, most irritably. He needed to get out of the house and at least take a walk or fly around a bit to clear his mind. He felt a bit guilty for leaving his mother just after he came back but the last thing he wanted was to let his mother get worried during dinner. Though she showed little signs of worry over her son, inside Trunks knew that his mother did get worried...a lot. He could easily sense it.
With that, he walked back to the front door, but was stopped as his mother sensed his son leaving so soon. She didn't even need to study her son to know that there was something troubling him.
"Ah! Where are you going? Don't tell me you're leaving again?" Bulma asked she quickly turned her head back to see her son reaching out to the door.
Trunks gave an apologetic smile to his mother as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Sorry mom, I won't be back long...I just have to get out a little, that's all..."
Bulma sighed as she closed her eyes and waved. "Alright, but don't blame me if your curry gets cold!"
The half-saiyan simply nodded as he opened the door and closed, leaving the mother by herself and the curry. She sighed as she lifted a spoon filled with curry again.
"I swear...he's still uptight no matter how much I see him...he seriously needs to get a girlfriend..." she muttered with slight amusement in the thought. She advanced to taste the curry and it didn't help her mood at all to find that it still was lacking taste, even with some salty help.
The half-saiyan flew to the south side of West City where it had transformed into an eerie ghost town with broken and abandoned hover cars to the side of cracking roads, damaged infrastructure, and even a noticeable large crater which had probably occurred some time when he struggled against the androids. The entire place looked even spookier during the nighttime.
Why was he here? Well it was the only area that he could easily fly to without strange and fearful looks from the remaining civilians of the city. He avoided flying when ever he could because many people had easily mistaken him as an android since they too could fly despite the knowledge of them being destroyed. The fear of the androids stuck with many people despite it being three years since he had destroyed them. It was a bit painful to see the tensions in some of the people he met but hopefully with time, everyone would forget about them as if they were a bad nightmare.
Hopefully...
Trunks stopped as he levitated above an old, abandoned TV station and slowly floated down to the rooftop. He inhaled deeply for a couple of seconds before exhaling into what seemed to be a cold night. Even though he was in was pitch black area because of the damaged access to power, the stars and a full moon were bright enough to illuminate the area a little. It made the broken scene a little serene but not enough to cover up the damage that the androids had done.
Now focusing on the present and future, how could he ensure that the world could heal for long periods of time? Peace wasn't going to last...he had to accept that and he also had to accept that even he couldn't continue protect this world forever...
'You need to get a girlfriend, Trunks! Seriously, how long are you going to wait?'
His mother's words somehow managed to randomly get to his ears. Obviously at a time when people are still recovering and the world population is not in its former prime, getting a girlfriend or even meeting new people was way at the bottom of his priorities. He had repeatedly explained that to his mother who always brought it up.
He admitted that he was feeling a bit lonely, but he couldn't let his feelings get away in this at all. He had to stay strong for the sake of everyone. Besides, he felt an obligation to look out for his mother despite whatever she had said of worrying about himself. She was the only family he had, after all.
He sighed once more and then glanced at the sky, seeing each and every star that appeared next to each other.
"Well...at least the stars are unified..." he commented with a slight chuckle.
Feeling a little better now, he decided to head back to the more lively part of the city whose lights could be seen, separating the recovered areas from the damaged areas.
Before he attempted to fly away, a sudden fragile and small hand touched the back of his shoulder...at least, that's what he thought he felt.
He quickly turned and was about to back away until he saw nothing behind him. He furrowed his lavender eyebrows and took a good look around with his pupils while sensing the area. He didn't sense a single living soul anywhere which made him slightly confused.
Trunks closed his eyes and sweat-dropped. Maybe he was a little too uptight...
One month later...
"Are you sure this is a good idea, Trunks? I know this won't affect our timeline, but you can't be going in other timelines as you please either," Bulma explained as she and her son stood with a large yellow time capsule machine that stood over them.
Trunks nodded, all prepared with a few handy tools and his repaired sword that was in its sheath behind his back. He looked at his mother confidently.
"It won't be long, I promise. I want to see how the other timeline is doing. Since it's been a few years, I didn't think it would hurt..."
Bulma closed her eyes and sighed as she dropped a little and put a hand to her waist. "I guess it wouldn't hurt...just as long as you don't get involved anymore. We need to focus on our timeline...okay?"
Trunks smiled a little and nodded with confirmation. "I got it..."
The window dome of the yellow time capsule opened allowing the half-saiyan to jump in and set the coordinates and proper numbers that he had gotten all too used to by now into the control board. Seeing how it has been three and a half years, he made sure that he was set for the correct time since he had first appeared there. Obviously, his own self at that timeline would have been probably four years old; therefore, he wasn't going to take the chance to meet himself...that would be just...weird...
"Remember! The time capsule only has enough power to make two trips in time, so be careful not to screw up your coordinates or else you're going to have to wait another month once you get back. This thing takes a chunk load of power when recharging!" Bulma warned, unwilling to let this machine kill her financially in a time when rebuilding of her company was crucial.
Trunks once again nodded to his worrying mother about the dangers. "Don't worry mom, I've already done this twice before..." he reassured.
Bulma sighed as she put her hands to her forehead and dragged it through her hair. "Maybe it's just me...everything is just sucking the life out of me..."
Trunks chuckled. "You'll be fine, mom," he assured. He knew his mother was a tough bird when she wanted to be, though, she could also be pretty relaxed. It was as balanced as Gohan's mother, ChiChi, could never be.
"Alright, I better get going now..." he stated as the overhead glass dome began closing and sealing tight. He pulled up two fingers to his mother as he gestured his patented goodbye and good luck sign.
Bulma grinned and waved away as the high power engines of the yellow machine began to hum with lights flickered all over the machines like LED except brighter.
The half-saiyan double checked the set timeline he wanted to go to and then hit the initiation button. The machine hummed louder, now pulsating the ground and leaving gusts of wind blowing in all directions around it. Bulma continued to wave at his son as the time machine began to levitate.
Trunks smiled to his mother and glanced down at his panel to make sure everything was fine, until he noticed something wrong...
Very wrong...
The coordinates were completely different than what he thought he had inputted. He swore he had entered the right timeline and even double-checked! Yet...it somehow was pointing further into the future...MUCH further...Was it his eyes that were deceiving him or was it a minor glitch in his display that pointing to Age 1032?
He tapped the digital output to make sure he wasn't seeing things...
'Engine fully ready...Traveling to Age 1032 in 3...'
Trunks eyes widened in horror as the machine's lovely female voice announced the departure. Quickly he attempted to override the departure by entering a couple hundred keys as fast as he could muster his saiyan speed...but the machine's message was clear that it was too late to override anything...
'Override is not possible...departing in 2...'
No, no, no, NO! Trunks screamed in his head as he desperately wanted to find anything that could force the machine into submission.
The half-saiyan glanced at his mother who had stopped waving and was looking perplexed at her son's rather swift and freaked-out movements. She wasn't sure what was the problem and was clearly unaware of the machine's messages that could only be heard in the glass dome. She had checked everything the week before to make sure it was ready for departure. She even saw Trunks punch in the coordinates properly.
'Well, I'm glad I'm not the only stressed out though...he probably forgot something. Oh well, it's too late for that but I'm sure he'll be fine...' Bulma thought to herself.
The half-saiyan clearly saw that his mother didn't see anything wrong...and so, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. It looked like it was futile. He could break out of the machine before it would depart but then it would be lost...and his mother would certainly kill him. There was no choice but to wait until the time travel and then take the next trip back to this time. His mother would probably still kill him once she finds out he came back wasting the opportunity, but at least the time machine would be back.
'Departing in 1...'
"Well, this is just freakin' perf-"
Trunks' rather frustrated sentence ended abruptly as the machine finally dematerialized quickly into space with a loud buzz, leaving a ingenious scientist left with only the wind and some leafs blowing. It was time for worrying to kick in as she wondered why her son had freaked out so suddenly. Though she had to admit, it looked kinda silly being in a glass dome where she couldn't hear him. On a serious note, maybe something did go wrong...
…
Nah...she made sure everything was running fine...that is...unless someone tampered with it...
...Nah...
244 years later...
Two women most likely in their late twenties or early thirties looked to the sky of stars with seemingly uninterested eyes. Both of them sat on a lone bench that faced a small lake as well as a large number of trees which surrounded a lot of the green area. It was absolutely serene in the nighttime to say the least. The stars reflected on the lake's water making it look like it was glowing. The trees were bristling as a light wind bended them to the east. The grass below their feet twinkled with sprinkles of water that remained on them.
"...you know, you can't deny that this isn't beautiful. I should be glad that our observatory is located so close to such a natural area..." the woman to the right of the bench spoke. She had medium length, brown wavy hair that was loose in some areas around her face but mostly tied to the back of her head. Along with brown eyes, her face showed that of an someone fighting to keep her complexion as youthful as possible, which somehow included wearing bright-pink lipstick. She wore a loose lab-coat which to say the least didn't hide the revealing clothes that laid underneath. It was obvious she was some sort of scientist, though less modest than the friend sitting next to her.
Said woman sighed as she closed her brown, serious eyes and adjusted her grey-framed transparent glasses. Much to the opposite of her friend who wore loose clothing, she wore a a blue business uniform that showed very little skin. The back of her brown hair was tied into a long pony-tail. Overall, her presence indicated a possible work-a-holic and a tightly knit woman.
"Yeah," she agreed picking up her can of soda and gulping down a sip before continuing, "...but the stars are still fake..."
It may be weird to say something like that when the stars clearly seemed real, but 10 years ago, the sky was altered with the appearance of Hell's Gate, a chaotic area of space close to Central City that caused all the stars to be replaced with fake stars. Each star represented a contractor, beings with supernatural power as a result of Hell's Gate.
It's a mystery of how Hell's Gate appeared, but what both girls know, of which is kept secret from a majority of the public, is that it has brought up the existence of contractors and other inhuman beings. There's not much else to say though as even researchers are continually perplexed by the gate and its upbringing. For now though, the chaotic area is only a space hidden to the public especially of Central City residents by a large surrounding wall which is meant to keep all curious individuals from entering the gate.
The loose-clothed woman lowered her head and sighed, a little disappointed in the lack of fun that her friend had obviously not been enjoying in her time off. Well, being in her most dreamed position as Chief Section Police of Foreign Affairs, she took her job seriously...too seriously.
"Misaki, You really need to loosen up! You're going to get wrinkles if you don't stop thinking for at least a day about contractors, fake stars, or anything else you usually chase after!" the scientist warned with a hint of tease.
Misaki smiled a little though somehow maintaining her collected mannerism. "Well Kanami...you try being in my shoes for a moment and stop thinking about some of the scenes contractors left..."
Kanami's eyes widened as she began waving her hands with shake of her head. "Nooooo thank you...I'll probably end up growing white hair. I'm perfectly happy in my position as head staff of the observatory. I couldn't handle dealing with contractors directly which you have proven to be efficient at," she complimented.
Misaki simply scoffed, "Are you saying that I'll be growing older than you?"
Kanami lips turned to the side as she thought. "Well no...maybe..."
The police chief rolled her eyes as she turned back to the stars from the silliness of her friend. She couldn't wait to get back to work with her team. Having breaks such as this time were nice, but it didn't keep her mind off the existence of contractors and murders, hidden assassinations, and hidden political wars that were being waged...especially one particular contractor...
"So how is it going with that contractor you're so obsessed with, BK201?" Kanami asked began pulling out a pocket of cigarettes.
Misaki frowned. "Not much unfortunately, as you've told me before, there hasn't been any activity for a while now...and I appreciate if you didn't smoke next to me..."
Kanami froze as she was pulling on roll of nicotine out of the cartridge. She slowly pushed the roll back down with a sigh knowing full well of her friend's dislike of cigarettes. She couldn't count the number of times her strict friend gave a lecture of how bad it was for the environment, health, and everyone around.
"You really need to get over him...though I can understand why you're so interested in finding more about him. I hear he's also known as the Black Reaper, is that true?" she asked, hoping for her view.
Misaki groaned as she heard that alias so many times, especially by her teammates. "I don't know...all I care for is the facts. I don't particularly believe that is relevant though..."
Kanami frowned herself and sighed once more. "You're no fun..."
"Hey, in my defense, I don't have to watch an old priest all day long," Misaki countered with a grin.
Kanami simply shrugged. "We all have our specialty, this is just mine...though you're right about the priest...It can sometimes feel awkward, especially when you arrive early..."
Both of them giggled in thought of that, then silence reigned for a few moments as the crickets and bugs increased in volume around them. They'd have to start to leave soon even though chatting with each other has been pleasant.
Misaki's eyes blinked as suddenly a star, just meters above the lake from her reference, started to slowly fall in a straight line.
Kanami inwardly pulled her lips to the side. "Looks like a contractor has died..." she stated softly.
Misaki nodded thinking nothing of it. To her, it was normal, however sad it may seemed...then again, more than not, the contractor that had just died probably was just like the rest...killers who think rationally, in other words, for the sake of their own survival.
"Can you ID it?" Misaki asked.
Kanami nodded. "My colleagues are probably already keeping record of which ever contractor that was...you can certainly join us if you're so interested..."
Misaki nodded but something was off about the twinkling shard that was descending down the sky. Maybe it was her, but falling stars usually streak down fast, yet this star was descending unusually slow and also downward as if it were some spaceship.
As far as she knew, spaceships didn't shine that brightly and it certainly wasn't...blinking red?
"Kanami...are you seeing what I'm seeing?"
The scientist could only nod her head her with a confusion apparent on her face.
"That's definitely not a star...and it seems to be actually moving down into the woods ahead of us..." Misaki hypothesized as she squinted through her glasses.
"Hmm..." Kanami hummed with a varying degree of interest, though not enough to feel adventurous in checking out what's going on. As for her friend? That was a entirely different question.
To head scientist's surprise, the police chief stood up quickly from her bench and quickly shifted through her pockets before pulling out a small bean sized capsule that had the number one printed on it. Before her friend could ask what she was planning, she clicked it and threw it on the ground in front of her.
BOOOF!
In a cloud of smoke, a small black motorcycle appeared without any tires except for an unusual flat base'. It had been once encased and compressed in the convenient capsules that could be found all over the world today.
She grabbed the black helmet that was lodged with the motorcycle on the side and promptly put it on. Kanami quickly reached out for her.
"Hey wait! Where do you think you're going? It's probably some emergency landing by some hover-mobile," she explained.
Through her helmet, Misaki spoke with suspicion. "It could be that, but I'm pretty sure only higher-level transportation such as an air carrier or mass shuttle is able to descend from an altitude like that. Plus, the city isn't far and there's an emergency landing there. There's no reason for something to descend around this area! I'm going to investigate..." she explained with a firm tone that clearly meant she wasn't going to idle around.
Kanami raised her hands in defeat as she sighed. "Fine, just be careful okay? Knowing our messed up society today, anything is bound to happen..."
Misaki nodded through her helmet, then adjusted herself onto the bike, turning on the engine and revving it up. The bicycle slowly levitated as flat base began glowing and exerting a wind propulsion that pushed at the ground with great force. The chief woman waved goodbye to her friend and then accelerated across the lake, making small ripples form in the water.
The scientist watched until she could no longer see her friend in the number of trees that laid ahead of the lake. She sighed while putting her hand to her forehead.
"Why is it that no day is without some problem appearing? She should be focusing on getting a boyfriend, for pete's sakes," she said to herself as she shook her head sadly, but to be fair, she didn't get a lot of time to spend with her boyfriend when you have to watch fluctuations in the stars all day.
As she prepared to exit the scenery, she stopped as something bugged her about the space shuttle that landed...it seemed to be floating down a little too straight forward right? Not only that, but she could have sworn she saw the outline of the craft for a moment and it looked like some kind of cylindrical shape.
…
...Nah...There hadn't been cylindrical crafts in centuries! she thought as she mentally shook her head, but she twisted her lips with some uncertainty.
...I think, Kanami added to her thoughts.
A\N: ...And so it begins! Now that some of the boring stuff is out of the way, hopefully I can get to the more exciting parts that will come.
Again, don't expect consistent updates. It all depends especially when I have another fanfic that I am working on.
Well, hope you enjoy!