Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Avenger: A Chaotic Future Side Story ❯ Part One: Lost ( Chapter 1 )

I DO NOT OWN DRAGON BALL Z OR ANY RACES, PLANETS, OR CHARACTERS RELATED TO IT. GALDRIA, HEVA, TIRIS, IQUELA, MIURA, ZELLIS, SETH, CLEF, HANZO, TWILIGHT AND ALL RELATED CHARACTERS, RACES, OR PLANETS WERE ALL CREATED BY ME.

 

Dorian, Prince of Galdria and Heir to the imperial throne, is stranded on Earth. There is no way to return home, and his natural Galdrian energy is slowly weakening, being drained from him by the very world he must now protect.

 

Human beings are weak, and they cannot stand against the destructive powers of Androids 17 and 18, who have kept the people of Earth beaten and afraid for far too long. But no more, for if there is no one among the humans who can face 17 and 18 in battle, then Dorian himself must take up their struggle.

 

The Androids must be stopped…

 

 

 

“Avenger.”

(Dorian's Tale)

 

- A “Chaotic Future” Side Story -

 

 

 

PART ONE:

LOST

 

 

 

Dorian had lost control.

 

The flashing of red emergency lights flooded the small bridge of his Galdrian cruiser as he stood over the erratically sparking flight controls, his hands a blur as they tore across the panel, trying in vain to correct the ship's sudden change in course. Sweat ran freely down his pale face, dripping onto the overheating controls to be evaporated almost instantly. Without warning, the ship's gravity-regulations system failed, and Dorian felt his stomach lurch as his body tried to overcompensate for the sudden change in pressure. His vision blurred, and he momentarily fell to the cold metal floor of the control room, his body trembling from fatigue and, admittedly, fear.

 

What could have happened? the Galdrian Prince thought frantically, his shining blue eyes wide with panic as he staggered back to his feet, dashing the short distance to the ship's communications system. Before Dorian could transmit a distress call, however, the entire chamber seemed to lurch to the left, causing him to fall to the floor once again as he slid away from the controls, cursing as he fought to find any handhold on the smooth, metal flooring of the bridge. After what seemed like an eternity, Dorian managed to pull his way up the steep slope to the communications system, and he finally allowed himself a sigh of relief.

 

That was too close, he silently admitted, running a trembling hand through his sweat-drenched, dark blue hair. Okay, I need to send a distress signal home. Once I do that— Before the young Heir could finish his thought, a sudden flash of light and sparks shot out from the control panel, blinding him and burning his face and eyes. He cried out as the ship shook violently, a sure sign that it had been drawn into a nearby planet's atmosphere. Heat began to build up within the small ship, causing the already-perspiring young man to sweat even more, and just as it seemed that his flesh would be seared from his bones in the relentlessly scorching temperature, the Galdrian vessel once again reeled to the side, tossing Dorian and several pieces of heavy equipment around the chamber as if they weighed nothing.

 

As the blue-eyed Prince of Galdria struck his head violently against the unyielding metal of his ship's ceiling, one final thought passed quickly through his mind:

 

I'm going to die…

 

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The ship fell.

 

Down through the unknown, blue planet's atmosphere the Galdria cruise sped like a bolt of light, illuminating the darkened night sky with a surreal display of yellow, orange, and red flames. Over oceans, over forests, deserts, and several small collections of shanty-like structures, Dorian's dying space craft screamed in agony before finally colliding mercilessly with the planet's surface, kicking up an enormous cloud of smoke and debris. Errant sparks and tendrils of flame shot out from the ruined ship, accompanied by the hiss and pop of exploding electronic devices.

 

Moments later, a group of barely a dozen wary, frightened men and women emerged from somewhere in the darkness, moving cautiously forward, searching for any sign of the mysterious disturbance's whereabouts. Having seen the falling object, and mistaking it for a shooting star, the inhabitants of a nearby “village” had emerged from their shelters, praying that the streak of light in the sky would prove to be some sort of portent, some signal that hope still remained out there somewhere.

 

These were a beaten and weary people.

 

“I think it came down somewhere over here!”

 

“No, no, it was further this way, I tell you!”

 

“You're both idiots! I saw it hit over there!”

 

“Quiet, all of you!” a powerful voice commanded. A tall, broad-shouldered man pushed his way to the front of the assemblage, a blazing torch held out before him as he surveyed his surroundings. In the fire's light, the massive, bearded man's piercing green eyes glowed ominously, for he alone considered this evening's events to be a sign of harder times to come. “Whatever that thing was, it came from the west and was moving east.” Lifting one large, heavily-muscled arm, the bearded-man pointed to the east. “That's where we'll find it. I need a two or three good men to come with me, and the others will take the women and children back to the village.” His eyes narrowed into a glare that tolerated no objections. “Well, get on then!”

 

After several moments, the man, who seemed to hold some position of authority among the others, and his selected companions set out to find the source of their night's disruption. After making their way silently into the dark forest that surrounded their small hovel-village, the four nervous men could barely make out a bright, yellow-orange light in the distance, barely a mile or so off.

 

“My God,” the bearded leader exclaimed, running a calloused hand through his shaggy mane of thick, dark hair. He and his three comrades had stumbled out of the forest into a clearing that, as far as any of them could recall, had not existed only days before. The trees all around had been incinerated, and it was a miracle that the whole forest hadn't been ignited. In the center of this newly-made clearing burned a fire the likes of which none of the men had ever seen before. Tendrils of orange flame, as if they had a mind of their own, whipped to and fro, accompanied by billowing columns of jet-black smoke. Jagged bolts of electricity coursed around the object that was the source of the inferno, shooting out in all directions as if hoping to catch some pour soul off guard.

 

“What the hell is it?” one of the villagers asked, shading his eyes as he peered deeply into the insane display of fire and lightning before them, all the while keeping a safe distance.

 

Another of the men, feeling slightly braver than his companions, took a few tentative steps forward. “It looks like some sort of machine…” His voice trailed off as a spark of hope ignited within him. “A… A plane, maybe?!” he asked excitedly.

 

In the years since the androids, 17 and 18, had all but taken control of the planet, no one had seen any sort of manmade aircraft in the skies. It was as if the two artificial humans had declared themselves rulers of not only the cities and people of the Earth, but of the sky as well.

 

“No, it doesn't look like any plane that I've ever seen,” the leader commented as he moved forward to stand beside the now-crestfallen man. “But still…” A moment of silence passed over the clearing, interrupted only by the dull roar of the burning spacecraft. “Pol, Erik,” the bearded man barked suddenly into the silence, “go back to the village and gather anyone who's able-bodied enough to help us! We need water, lots of it, or even dirt if that's all you can find. Bring medical supplies, and something that we could use as a stretcher. Well, what are you waiting for, get to it!”

 

When the two named villagers had departed, the remaining man turned to face the green-eyed leader. “Do you really think that there's someone in there? Do you really think that… That they're alive?”

 

“I don't know, Goran,” the black-haired, massive man replied. “But we can't just stand around if someone is in there, can we?” When the man called Goran nodded his agreement, the village leader furrowed his brow and gazed long and hard into the raging flames. Something was gnawing at him, from somewhere deep within his mind, something that pushed him to request aid from the village. I can't explain this, but whatever has happened tonight, it'll change all of our lives for a long time to come, he silently admitted. And, though it may not necessarily be a change for the better, I'm willing to take my chances…

 

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Several years earlier…

 

Ellia pouted.

 

“Why can't I go with you?” she pleaded, not for the first time. The Galdrian noblewoman crossed her arms over her chest, closing her purple eyes and turning her head away from Dorian as he placed a hand comfortingly on her shoulder. Slowly Ellia opened one eye to stare defiantly at the Galdrian Heir, who let out a sigh of exasperation.

 

This had been going on for hours, which was exactly why Dorian had wanted to keep his leaving a secret from Ellia until the last minute. Despite her age, the Galdrian Prince was forced to admit that Ellia had a tendency to act like a spoiled child, and it was hard to remember that, like Dorian himself, the seemingly-young noblewoman was actually in her late-twenties.

 

“Ellia, I have to go on this expedition,” Dorian told her again, for what was probably the hundredth time. “And I have to go alone; you know the rules.” It was hard to say, but it was the truth. Dorian was the next in line for the imperial throne, and it was his duty to see as much of the universe as he could for the next decade, to broaden his horizons before returning home to Galdria to assume his official responsibilities as Heir. Telling his favorite cousin that they wouldn't be seeing each other for ten years was a task that Dorian had really hoped to avoid.

 

Ellia, after all, could be very hard to persuade.

 

“Listen,” he continued, brushing a strand of pale blue hair out of Ellia's face and tucking it gently behind her ear. “This trip isn't going to be any fun for me, either. At least you get to stay here, and have all the comforts of home, right?” Slowly, Ellia nodded. “I, on the other hand, am going to be holed up inside my damn ship for ten years! Does that sound like a good time to you?”

 

“You don't have to talk to me like I'm a little girl,” Ellia suddenly retorted, shrugging Dorian's hand off from her shoulder. “But… I understand what you mean, I guess.” Then, in a startling show of affection, Ellia gave her cousin a brief hug, pulling away after only a moment. “Just don't do anything stupid, okay?”

 

Dorian nodded, patting Ellia on the top of the head. “Okay. But the same goes for you, understand? Ten years is a long time, do you think you can stay out of trouble for that long?”

 

“Sure, no problem,” the purple-eyed young woman replied with a slight smile.

 

“Okay, it's a deal then,” Dorian said with a chuckle. “And don't think I won't hold you to it.” With that, the Prince of Galdria turned his back on the noblewoman and began his trek toward the palace spaceport. Before he'd gotten too far, a voice stopped him in his tracks.

 

“Dorian,” Ellia said, locking eyes with her cousin. “I'll see you soon.”

 

“Yeah,” Dorian responded with a confident smile. “Soon.”

 

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Dorian awoke in pain.

 

His bloodshot, shining blue eyes snapped open, taking in the unfamiliar scenery around him. He was laying in a bed, or rather a large cot, covered in layers and layers of heavy, soft blankets. The room seemed small, though, dark as it was, it was hard to guess at the chamber's actual dimensions. A small window let, to the right of the cot, was the room's only source of light: that of the moon and stars.

 

“Who is she?” a quiet, feminine voiced asked from the darkness.

 

Dorian nearly jumped out of his skin, so startled was he by the sudden sound in the oppressing stillness, and as soon as he moved, the Galdrian Prince regretted it. Searing pain tore through his limbs, eliciting a gasp of shock and agony from his burned lips. He immediately lay back down, clenching his eyes shut and doing everything in his power to block out the waves of hot pain that coursed throughout his battered and burned body.

 

“Don't move, okay?” the voice asked again, accompanied this time by a movement in the shadows to Dorian's left. Into the faint light cast by the full moon, a young woman came into view, her brow furrowed with concern. Due to the inky blackness of the poorly lit room, though, the injured Galdrian was unable to make out any of the strange girl's features. She knelt beside his bed, pulling a cold, wet rag from a bowl of water on the floor and gently placing it over Dorian's forehead. “You're hurt pretty bad, stranger. We weren't sure that you were going to pull through… It's been seven days since your… uh, accident.” Her soft voiced stopped for a moment as she studied her patient in the shadowy darkness. “Do you remember anything?”

 

Despite the young woman's inquiry, Dorian remained silent. Where am I? he wondered frantically, cursing his broken body as he attempted once again to move. A gently hand on his chest prevented any more efforts, though. My ship… I must have crashed on this planet…

 

“So… Who is she?” the girl repeated in her soft voice. It was obvious, even to Dorian, that the mysterious young woman was merely trying to make conversation, perhaps to keep the injured Heir's mind off of his numerous wounds.

 

“Who?” he said, speaking for the first time since regaining consciousness. His voice sounded dry and scratchy to his own ears, and apparently the woman heard it as well, for almost immediately a glass of cool water was pressed to his scorched lips. When he'd drunk his fill, Dorian repeated his earlier question.

 

“You called out a woman's name while you were unconscious,” the girl explained, setting the now-empty glass aside. “You kept calling for her.. `Ellia,' I think it was.” Since Dorian apparently chose not to answer, a heavy silence once again dominated the moonlit room. Finally, she spoke again. “Is she your girlfriend?”

 

To his own surprise, Dorian actually laughed, which caused yet more jolts of pain to shoot through him. For several minutes straight, all that the blue-haired Prince could do was laugh uncontrollably, nearly hysterically, so amazed was he to still be alive. Tears of shock and relief ran freely down his face, stinging as the trickled steadily through his numerous burns and abrasions. His reaction must have startled his young hostess, for the girl leapt to her feet and jumped back, raising her arms defensively before her. The battered Prince immediately regretted his surprising response, and he voiced his apology as the young woman sat down beside his cot once again.

 

“No,” he explained, once again clenching his eyes shut, trying in vain to ignore his numerous pains. “Ellia is my cousin; my father's cousin, actually. We're close to the same age, so we played together a lot while growing up.” With his mirth finally dying down, Dorian found his mind filled with a deep, growing dread. After another moment of silence, he voiced the question that had been gnawing away at him. “Where… Where exactly am I?”

 

“This is Lant Village, on the planet Earth,” the girl replied, her voice grave. “And if the weird clothes you were wearing and the strange aircraft you crashed here in are any indication, I'd say that you're very, very far from home…”

 

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Weeks passed.

 

Everything passed by as a haze to the recuperating Prince Dorian, though, much to the surprise of his saviors, the terrible wounds and burns that had covered most of the blue-haired young man's body were healing miraculously fast. It was Dorian's Galdrian blood, using his reserves of energy to increase his recovery speed, but rather than disclose this fact to the kind humans who had rescued him, the Galdrian Heir chose to let them think their own care was entirely the cause. Even after spending so many days with these strangers, Dorian could hardly believe the lengths they went to in their efforts to make him well again, despite their own lack of materials and money.

 

Through bits and pieces of conversation with Erin—the young girl whom Dorian had met when first awakening—and her father Viktor—the large, village leader to whom Dorian learned he now owed his life—the Prince of Galdria was slowly beginning to understand the dire circumstances that the people of Lant Village were forced to endure. If they were to be believed, this was the story as Dorian understood it:

 

Three years earlier, two immensely powerful fighters had appeared seemingly out of nowhere to begin a reign of terror that the people of Earth were suffering under still. All of the planet's strongest warriors were cut down by the two creatures, a male and a female who later identified themselves and Androids 17 and 18, and with no one left to oppose them, the siblings wasted no time subduing the rest of the population. Most of the planet was in shambles, with hardly any people left alive at all, and Dorian was surprised to learn that Lant Village, despite their lack of food, water, and basic supplies, was probably one of the most prosperous human habitations on the face of the Earth. The villagers owed their incredible good fortune to their isolated location; it seemed that the androids had simply been unable to find them.

 

So far…

 

For the first several days after regaining consciousness, Dorian was accompanied by Viktor and some of the other villagers as he went through the wreckage of his ship, tossing the parts he thought may be useful to one side and everything that was irreparable to another. Precious little had survived the crash, though, and the stranded Prince was nearly overcome with fear when he realized that he would be unable to return home, or to even transmit some form of distress signal. He knew that given enough time he would be able to cobble together something from the remains of his ship, but it would take many, many years.

 

Dorian was hopelessly lost…

 

To be continued…

 

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Coming soon:

 

After years of living undisturbed by the androids' evil reign, the unthinkable occurs: 17 and 18 discover Lant Village! With his Galdrian powers diminished, will Dorian be able to defend his newfound friends, or will he become just another victim of the androids' killing spree?

 

“Avenger.”

(Dorian's Tale)

 

PART TWO:

RUIN