Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Avenger: A Chaotic Future Side Story ❯ Part Two: Ruin ( Chapter 2 )

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.

 

“Avenger.”

(Dorian's Tale)

 

- A “Chaotic Future” Side Story -

 

 

 

PART TWO:

RUIN

 

 

 

Dorian wiped the sweat from his brow.

 

“How you doing up there, boy?” Viktor shouted up from the ground with a slight chuckle. The mountainous man used his right hand to shield his eyes from the sun as he watched the Prince work, a small smile gracing his stern features. It had been over a year since Dorian had fallen from the sky, and in that time the blue-haired young man had proven his worth dozens, maybe even hundreds, of times. There was no job in the village that Dorian wouldn't do, though even he'd admit that he was much better at some than others. In fact, in Viktor's opinion, the stranger from space was a harder worker than most of the villagers.

 

“I'm hot, dirty, sore, and hungry,” Dorian replied affably, swinging his legs to hang over the edge of the roof he was helping re-thatch. The Galdrian Heir leapt lightly down from his perch, landing easily on his feet beside the village leader, who clapped him firmly on the back as they headed toward the home shared by them and Erin, who was preparing a lunch for the two men. “The damage really wasn't so bad,” Dorian commented, using a rag offered by Viktor to wipe the sweat from his dirt-streaked face. “Luckily after the lightning struck, everyone was pretty quick in putting out the fire.” He coughed suddenly, spitting out a mouthful of dirty saliva. “The ash though, and the soot… I hate to imagine what my lungs must look like right now.”

 

Three days earlier, a massive storm had torn through Lent Village, leveling several of the small structures and damaging many more. Much of the surrounding forest had also been ravaged by the tempest, and crews of volunteers were out cutting the fallen trees into sizeable loads of firewood to support the village through the coming winter.

 

Sometimes word reached the village of the world outside, and of the continuing chaos brought on by 17 and 18, who seemed unstoppable. Every time that news of this sort came, Dorian was filled with rage; why should the kind people of this planet, strangers who taken him in, saved his life even, be forced to bear this burden of violence? For the first few months, the Prince was determined that, when he'd sufficiently recovered his strength, he would go out and face these androids personally. But time passed, and his powers never returned fully, for he had used too much of his remaining Galdrian energy during his recovery after the accident.

 

And the Earth, he found, did not generate the kind of power that he needed.

 

“How's the rebuilding going?” Erin asked when the two men entered their home and sat stiffly at the small table. Her eyes, which were a stormy grey, took a quick glance over Dorian's shirtless body, admiring his nearly perfect physique and smooth, sun-bronzed skin. In what seemed to her like a miracle, not a single scar remained on the Galdrian's body, despite the severity of his burns, which were bad enough to have killed anyone else. When she noticed Dorian watching her, a sudden blush came to her cheeks and she immediately set the trays of hot, though meager, food down upon the table before her father and the blue-eyed Prince. When they began eating, Erin quickly left the room, obviously embarrassed.

 

Her father remained oblivious to the entire event.

 

The meal was simple, bland even; much different from the extravagant feasts that Dorian had once been used to in the imperial palace on Galdria. After an entire year of such fare had actually improved Dorian's physique, though, so he found very little to complain about. Constant work coupled with very limited food supplies had chiseled the young Galdrian into top shape, and this, added to his greater-than-human strength, had worked to make Dorian very popular among the workmen of the village. If something was too heavy for one of them to lift, they merely had to call the Prince over, and when building supplies or materials had to be taken to the top of a roof or cliff, the blue-haired young man was the prime candidate, due to his ability to defy gravity.

 

Later, as the sun set beyond the western horizon, Dorian slipped silently from the village and into the surrounding forest, seeking out the small, cleverly-concealed cave that he had discovered months ago. It was here, in the secluded darkness of the night, guided only by the dim glow of an oil lantern, that the stranded Galdrian Heir worked tirelessly on a project which he had kept even from his newfound friends in Lant Village: the construction of a long-range, interplanetary transmitter. From the charred remnants of his decimated space craft, Dorian had managed to retrieve a handful of parts that, he hoped, would still be usable, though he often found himself overcome by a deep shadow of hopelessness. Unfortunately, even with this handful of Galdrian technology, Dorian knew that he was far too distant from his home world for any message to ever be received.

 

Sweat ran down Dorian's face as he tightened down a bolt on his makeshift transmitter, his eyes straining to see in the dim, flickering lantern light. Sitting back on his heels, the blue-eyed Prince of Galdria let out a long-held breath, wiping his brow on the back of his hand. How long had it been, really, since he'd spoken to his parents, or to anyone from his own race, for that matter?

 

In the oppressive darkness of the small, cluttered cave, Dorian remembered…

 

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Two years earlier…

 

Ellia smiled emptily.

 

“Don't worry, Ellia,” Dorian said with a slight smile as he noticed his cousin's reticence on the view screen. “I'll only be gone for a few more years, right? Don't tell me it's really been that dull without me.” He gave Ellia a quick wink, hoping to elicit some kind of response from the girl, but to no avail. Finally, the amethyst-eyed young woman spoke.

 

“Dorian, I…” her voice, sounding strangely subdued, trailed off as tears sprang to her eyes unbidden. Before the Prince could respond to this unusual outburst of emotion, Ellia continued. “I've… I've met a man.”

 

“Oh?” Dorian stammered, unable to say anything more, so surprised was he by this odd confession.

 

More silence followed, and Ellia turned her face away, hiding her tears from Dorian. A bit of static coursed across the screen, most likely due to the extreme distance between the Galdrian Heir and his father's cousin. Even across such a vast expanse, the tension was thick.

 

“Ellia, what's wrong?” Dorian prompted finally, raising a curious eyebrow. “What's happening?” Several thoughts were, at this point, tearing through the blue-haired young man's mind: Has this man hurt her somehow? What is she hiding? Who could she have met? Do Mother and Father disapprove?

 

“Dorian… I love him,” Ellia spoke faintly, wiping the trails of tears from her pale face. “This man, he… He isn't like us, Dorian. He's different, but…”

 

“But what?” Dorian asked into the sudden silence that followed Ellia's words.

 

“I don't know how to explain it; all I can say is that I love him. I hope you can understand.” Finally, Ellia raised her shining eyes to the screen, and in them Dorian saw that her words were true. This man, this stranger that his cousin had spoken of, had somehow managed to steal her heart.

 

“Well,” Dorian said, smiling at Ellia's obvious discomfort. “You know, of course, that I have to approve of him first.” The teasing tone in his voice wasn't lost on Ellia, who flashed another hollow, empty smile. “I expect you'll arrange a meeting between us, when I return? How else will I be able to tell whether or not he's worthy of you? After all, you are a noblewoman,” he finished with a laugh.

 

“Dorian, I'm sorry,” Ellia replied humorlessly. “I won't… We won't be here when you return. Pare and I are leaving, as soon as he's well enough; we're leaving Galdria,” a look of steely determination stole across Ellia's delicate features as she continued, “for good.”

 

“You're what!” Dorian shouted, gripping the sides of the view screen with both hands and pulling himself closer. “What do you mean you're leaving? What will Mother and Father think?”

 

“They can't know about this, Dorian,” Ellia responded harshly, shaking her head. “The situation is very sensitive; I can't risk them finding out about us. They'd kill him… They'd kill both of us!”

 

“You can't be serious! Why would they kill you, Ellia? You're family!” Dorian countered, his eyes wide with disbelief. “Just what kind of person is this man, this Pare? I've not heard of him before!”

 

“Dorian, I'm so sorry. I'll miss you, and I'll always remember you.”

 

The monitor went blank as the communication was ended, leaving Dorian all alone in the darkness of his space cruiser. He sat back in his seat, running a trembling hand through his sweat-dampened blue hair, closing his eyes to ward off the headache that he felt hurriedly approaching.

 

He never saw Ellia again.

 

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An explosion rocked the cave.

 

Dorian leapt forward, using his body to cover his transmitter as a shower of dirt and debris cascaded down from the cave's ceiling. After the first tremor had passed, the Galdrian warrior dashed quickly from his secret workshop, leaping high into the air as he scanned the surrounding area for any indication of what may have caused the mysterious quake. As he turned his attention toward the village, Dorian felt his stomach twist.

 

There, on the western horizon, a faint orange glow lit the dark night sky. Sensing that something was dreadfully wrong, Dorian coursed through the sky toward Lant, his body surrounded by a flickering aura of bright blue Galdrian energy. When he neared the settlement, a second explosion rocked the night, prompting the Prince to increase his already-substantial speed. Upon reaching the village, Dorian dropped from the sky to land easily in the middle of the small town square, his eyes darting from side to side, in search of whatever, or whoever, was the cause of this chaos.

 

Lant Village was in flames, and precious few of the ramshackle structures remained standing. All around him, the villagers ran to and fro, their arms loaded with everything that they could carry as they sped off into the darkness, fleeing from some unknown terror. Dorian closed his eyes, trying his hardest to sense anything unusual, but was interrupted by a familiar voice shrieking his name.

 

“Dorian!” Erin cried, struggling in vain to lift a burning, fallen beam from off of her father, who lay unmoving on the ground several yards away. “Please, help me! I can't lift it!” Tears coursed down the girl's cheeks, cutting clean paths through the soot and blood that stained her face.

 

In an instant, Dorian was at Viktor's side, using his inhuman strength to easily toss the debris aside. Erin immediately knelt beside her father, laying his head gently in her lap as she wept, praying that he'd regain consciousness. The large man's face was pale, and an excessive amount of blood could be seen flowing from a terrible gash in his forehead.

 

“What's going on here?” Dorian asked frantically as screams punctuated the confusion around him. “Are we being attacked?”

 

“It's them,” Erin replied harshly, nearly spitting as she continued. “Those damned androids, Dorian! They've found us…” Her voice trailed off as she was overcome by grief. “Somehow they've found us…”

 

So, it's finally come to this, Dorian thought grimly, standing to his feet. I'll do everything in my power to stop them… They won't get away with this!

 

“Dorian, wait,” a quiet, pain-filled voice protested. To Erin and Dorian's surprise, despite his wounds, Viktor staggered to his feet, gasping once or twice in pain as he did so. “I know what you're thinking, but I will not allow you to throw your life away. Not like this…”

 

“But Viktor,” Dorian objected through clenched teeth, “I have to—”

 

“You have to get Erin and the others to safety, understand?” Viktor interrupted, grabbing Dorian roughly by the shoulders. “With this undertaking, I am entrusting you.” As he spoke, several of the men from the village gathered around, each holding some makeshift weapon in their hands as they nodded their agreement with their leader. “Take the women and children, and whoever else you can find, away from here. Go west, and in a week's time you should reach West City…” He paused for a moment, a distant look clouding his usually clear eyes. “Or rather, what used to be West City.”

 

“Viktor's right, Dorian,” another man, Goran, said. “We're trusting you to get our families to safety. Please,” he continued, a wry smile on his lips, “don't let us down.”

 

Before Dorian could make any comment, however, an orb of scintillating, white-hot energy descended from the sky above, striking the ground only feet away from the gathered villagers. Errant energy, dust, and fragments of sharp stone exploded all around Dorian and the others, knocking everyone to the ground in an instant. As the smoke cleared, a pair of figures could be made out standing calmly in the center of the burning village.

 

“You see, 18,” a male's voice said, tinged with humor. “I told you we missed some. I'll bet that there're a ton of little settlements like this hidden all over the place.” Through the cloud of dust and debris, a young man with long, dark hair and eyes of icy blue stepped forward. From his arrogant posture and his slightly mismatched outfit, one may have mistaken this man for nothing more than a simple teenager, but it was those eyes; those lifeless, cold eyes that made all the difference.

 

“So what?” answered a husky, feminine voice. “You were right this one time, big deal. What fun is this, anyway?” Coming up to stand beside the first figure was a young woman so gorgeous that, for a moment, Dorian forgot that he was facing the enemy. The beautiful girl's figure was flawless, and her pale, lovely face, framed as it was by golden, shoulder-length hair, seemed too incredible to be true. When she spoke once again, her heartless words snapped Dorian immediately out of his stupor. “I mean sure, we can kill all of these humans, but what's the point? I'm getting bored.”

 

“What about them?” the male—whom Dorian remembered was called 17—asked, gesturing toward Viktor and the others, who had all managed to regain their footing. “They look like they could be a lot of fun, 18. What do you say?”

 

“Sure, why not,” the blonde young woman replied, brushing a stray lock of hair back behind her ear. “Wait just a minute, 17,” she said, turning her eyes, which were the exact same as 17's, toward Dorian. “I'm picking up a pretty high power level from that one. What do you think?” She put her hands behind her back as she strolled casually forward, stepping out of the gloom and approaching Dorian, who remained crouched on the ground, his arms wrapped defensively around a blushing Erin.

 

Now that Dorian had a chance to see Android 18 more clearly, he found himself appalled by her perfection, rather than enraptured by it. Two long, slender legs—covered by tight, black leggings—descended from a short denim skirt, which hugged her hips sensuously. The matching denim vest that she wore over her black undershirt did nothing to disguise the rest of her body; in fact, this subtle covering made her seem all the more alluring. But all of this—added to her frighteningly flawless neck, face, and hair—made the female android seem monstrous in her perfection.

 

And those cold, lifeless eyes…

 

“So, do you want to play with us?” 18 asked, her voice taking on a flirting, innocent tone as she stopped mere feet away from Dorian. “I'll bet you could show us a good time.” She knelt down until she was eye level with the trembling Prince of Galdria. “You must be the one we sensed.” When she saw the shadow of confusion that passed over Dorian's features, 18 let loose with a musical laugh that made everyone's blood run cold. “Surely you must have realized that it was you who drew us here? Do you really think that all these weak humans, even put together, would be enough to set off our scanners?” She shook her head as she stood to her feet, placing her hands on her hips as she studied Dorian, her head tilted slightly to the side. “It took us a while to find your exact location, but as you can see, it was only a matter of time. And now—”

 

Before 18 could finish her sentence, the roar of a shotgun echoed through the night. The blast, fired by a young man from the village named Pol, struck the artificial human dead on, and the hundreds of buckshot pellets that accompanied the thunderous discharge tore easily through 18's clothing, eliciting a grunt of annoyance from the android, but nothing else. Her pale, perfect skin remained unharmed, though her features became contorted with rage as she turned to stare Pol directly in the eye.

 

“You've ruined my clothes, you bastard!” she shouted, thrusting her arm forward and firing off a discharge of energy that easily tore through the young man's chest, killing him instantly. “17, let's get this over with. Just kill them all.”

 

“Sure,” 17 replied with a grin. “It's about time, if you ask me.” With barely even a tilt of his head, the black-haired android sent a wave of energy exploding outward from within his body, directing the attack toward the gathered villagers. Dozens were killed as they attempted to flee.

 

“Dorian, go now!” Viktor shouted as he ran to stand between the devilish androids and his daughter and newfound friend. “Please, get everyone that you can out of here, do you understand?” Dorian was about to protest, but was cut off by the hulking, savage eyed man who stood before him. “God damn it Dorian! Get my daughter out of here!” With a cry of anger and hatred, Viktor bent over and picked up the very same beam of wood that had kept him pinned to the ground only moments before. Wielding the piece of wreckage like a club, the dark-haired village leader ran toward the androids, who stood calmly watching with faint smiles stretched across their lifeless lips.

 

Quickly, taking advantage of the moment, Dorian picked Erin up into his arms and leapt into the sky, soaring over the androids' heads as he flew toward the rest of the escaping villagers.

 

“Everyone, follow me!” Dorian cried out as tears poured endlessly from his shining blue eyes. “Come on, leave no one behind!”

 

As they continued to cruise easily through the air, Erin buried her face against Dorian's chest and wept as everything she knew was ripped away from her. Her father, her friends, even her village were gone, and the future seemed far too horrible to comprehend. Dorian held the girl close as he tried unsuccessfully to swallow his own grief, and he clenched his teeth as a low growl of rage escaped his lips.

 

This is not over, he swore as he led the ragged group of survivors away from the decimated remains of their precious Lant Village. I swear to you, Viktor… I swear to all of you who sacrificed yourselves so that we could live on…

 

I will avenge you all.

 

To be continued…

 

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Coming soon:

 

Finally, the face off that we've all been waiting for! Dorian, filled with rage after the destruction of Lant Village, rushes to stop 17 and 18 as they attempt to destroy Korin Tower! Will the Prince of Galdria be successful, or will he find out that the androids are far more powerful than he could ever have imagined?

 

“Avenger.”

(Dorian's Tale)

 

PART THREE:

“AVENGER”