from carnage & stardust

chapter 5: the dark

AN: *cracks fingers* it's high time for another update, going to channel this leo in venus energy as a fixed sign


Marron awoke to the sound of commotion from below. Her brows knit as she tried to toss and turn in her sleep, but to no avail – the lights were flicked on by a sleepy Erasa who glared over and out the bay window to the sight of people brawling out in the dirt ridden streets.

"Rise and shine cupcake," Erasa replied flatly as she handed Marron a mason jar full of water. "It ain't much but it's better than nothing."

Marron's eyes squinted from the light that suddenly shone in her face. Right…it was her first night down here. How long had she slept? She felt as the bandage that rested on her face slipped off of her face as she continuously tried to reapply it.

Erasa crossed her arms as she closed the curtains. "Fucking hooligans," she muttered under her breath. The woman turned to the younger blonde who was staring wide-eyed at the sound of clanking and wails. And though Marron's senses urged her to bolt to safety…she remembered she was safe where she currently was.

"Alright, get up," Erasa clapped as she turned towards the small kitchenette and turned the knob on to the small radio. Immediately, there was a wailing noise rasping through the small speakers…an android alert. "Looks like we got a busy day ahead of us."

Marron rubbed her eyes as she looked back over to Erasa as she pulled out some dry food from her storage. Her stomach growling as she watched as Erasa prepared a meal.

"6 miles off of Blake Bog, android activity has been spotted…remain careful and seek shelter as soon as possible."

"What's the plan?" Marron asked, her legs now crossed over each other on the couch, watching as Erasa handed a small plate to the younger woman. The food was not the most appetizing, if Marron were all too honest. But anything hitting her system would be better than nothing.

Erasa took a bite of the mushy food. "For you, nothing…" she said between chews, "after the shit that happened yesterday I need you to lay low here until we need you."

Marron took a small bite out of her food, not really being able to really taste the pure blandness of it all due to the ravenous hunger that ripped through her. "So what do I do, stay holed up in here all day?"

Erasa licked her teeth, as she placed the small plate down on the kitchenette counter. Though she would love to utilize Mare in her missions outside of the underground, she was far too much of a liability as of right now. She needed to get a lay of the land before being let out with her on another mission.

And on top of that, she encountered Trunks.

Erasa only knew of the kid through word of mouth from Videl, but to her knowledge he was sly and sneaky, however according to Gohan, he had no idea of the underground…and remained above ground with his mother. Erasa and Videl both decided it'd be better to keep it that way.

" You can run some errands for me while I make some cash," Erasa said as she waltzed into the restroom, tightening her robe around herself. "Just make yourself useful, I'll give you a list of things to complete and you just make sure it gets done, got it?" Erasa said.

Marron listened to the faucet rush with water as the woman started to get ready for her day. Her first day alone? Isn't that a bit soon? As Erasa fixed on her combat boots and leather jacket, her azure eyes looked up to the girl. "You will be okay, it's a simple task."

"You say that but I don't even know my way around here," Marron huffed, watching as Erasa tossed her blade sheath over to her. Marron's reaction speed was not nearly fast enough to register what was happening.

"Gotta be quicker than that, kid," Erasa chuckled as she shook her head. "I left some cash in your jacket, get some grub from the bodega nearby for the week," she continued as she snatched a satchel from the entryway. "I can't imagine you will mess that up."

Marron nodded warily, watching as Erasa nodded her head out. "See ya later," Erasa signaled herself off with two fingers to her forehead before shutting the door behind her.

As the girl tried to steady her waking self to what just happened, she groaned, rubbing her face in an attempt to wake up. She will simply just have to figure out what the hell Erasa even likes to get to eat.

That's the cost of what was essentially freeloading.


Marron slipped on her now laundered hoodie and tactical clothes she had worn the day prior, the layer of grime that was previously on them was no longer so pungent to her nose– and instead had a slight citrusy scent that lingered.

As she made her way down the creaky metal staircase, she kept her eyes out on the streets, carefully walking towards the sidewalks and looking at the signs in front of each of the makeshift shops. Some were far more elaborate than others, it was clear which store ran the block based on how the set up of each of the shops were.

She could only assume that this set up created a sense of normalcy for the humans that lived before the androids took over. If you squinted, you could see it was like a normal society…with drugs, sex and all of the other things you would find in the underbellies of the world.

As she continued to walk about, Marron swore she could hear the sound of a sword clanking behind her. A tall figure seemingly a few feet away from her. The blonde kept her guard up, watching her periphery carefully as she felt the presence get closer. Finally, when it became too much for her to bare she stopped dead in her tracks.

Marron whipped around, finding the hand that snatched her arm. Two sapphire eyes glaring down into hers. She knows these eyes, shrouded in the darkness of the damp caverns of the underground. The owner of these eyes currently held one arm over her head, and Marron drew her blade from the sheath strapped to her thigh.

"You…" his voice trembled as he watched her other hand. "What are you doing down here?"

Marron's movement was quicker than he anticipated, her blade pressed against his neck– but not yet drawing blood. It was Trunks…

"Unhand me," she hissed at him.

His eyes were wavering slightly. This girl, whoever she was, had quick enough senses to respond to fighters like him–either she had seen a lot–or she was not a normal human. Regardless, the prospect of another capable person surged excitement within him momentarily.

Trunks released her, feeling as she drew the blade back. However, she wasn't running away, her gaze stuck onto his eyes before falling to his lips and then quickly averting her gaze from him feeling the quickening of her heartbeat at the slightest glance.

Trunks took a step back, watching as Marron jolted, turning on her heel as she began to walk away again without a word.

"Look, I'm not sure if you know what you're doing down here," Trunks was quick to tail behind the shorter blonde. His stature towered over her as they traversed down the back alleys. Trunks looked at the groaning beat up bodies reaching out to him in a desperate plea.

"What business operates here is not my business," Marron was firm. Her eyes flicked to the overpowering shadow that Trunks casted over her, keeping all five of her senses on high alert. "My only concern is to survive."

Trunks' brows furrowed. He hadn't been down here for even an hour and he could smell the agony that emanated off the people that stayed here. It was all dizzying and confusing how just a few miles off of West City was one of these underground societies."Yes, but at what cost?" He asked.

Marron whipped her head around to meet his gaze. Even in the darkness, Trunks could see her ice cold expression pierce through him, it was unnerving. "Do you have some moral obligation to be down here…does your friend know you are down here at this moment with me?" She pressed, watching as he made himself smaller at the mention of Gohan.

"No…and I need you to keep this quiet," Trunks said in a hushed whisper.

Marron's expression broke, something of amusement broke across her face. He was so naive, for as big and strong as he was. "...I take it you haven't been down here before?" Marron asked, her sly tone was velvety smooth.

Trunks wasn't entirely sure how to take her question, was she mocking him? She was a fresh face, he could tell by the uneasy way she interacted with the way of the land, so she was just as new as him to this space. "No, and you haven't been here long–"

"So what?" Marron scoffed.

"Look…" Trunks began as he held his breath, "if you…help me out, I'll make it worth your while."

Marron's ears perked up at that. Wherever she could find a new avenue of benefits she was willing to take, she paused as she paused her walking closer to him to meet him in the eye. "Alright," Marron began, "I'll hear you out."

Crap…he didn't think this far. Trunks watched the shorter girl observe him carefully. "Look– you aren't like everyone else down here," Trunks pointed out carefully as he watched carefully for any on-lookers. "You and I know there's something shady going on down here."

"Are you suddenly the expert of the landscape down here after being here for what…ten minutes," Marron still wasn't convinced as to why she should even attempt to help him.

" No, but I think you're wrapping yourself up in something you don't know the scale of," Trunks grit his teeth. A memory flashed of when he found the scrap metal from the Red Ribbon Army in her possession – Gohan wasn't giving him the full truth, and Trunks was insistent on finding out just what he was hiding.

"What the hell does it matter , the world is fucked boxer boy…look around, " Marron motioned to the end of the alley where most of the people were sprawling about. "Do you think any of these people think about what the ulterior motives of some grimy underground city are?"

She was just about tired of this self-righteous kid trying to make her question everything. "And just who do you think you are," she began poking him directly in the chest. "For once in my life, in most of these people's lives, they are living a life ," her nose scrunched as the fire within the pit of her stomach grew stronger.

There was vitriol laced behind her every word, Trunks could feel the acidic nature of her voice stick to his every sense. He struck a nerve, and triggered an ire like he'd never seen. "You know nothing of struggle, when was the last time you had to scrape together enough to make it through the night— the last time you didn't have a place to call your bed."

Trunks' expression hardened just a bit watching as the rage took over, yet he remained quiet as he noticed a few people gathering closer to them. "And you know what, why the hell did you come down here to find me– fucking leave me alone, I'm not helping you," Marron replied before turning on her heel, she was about to storm off but she realized she attracted the attention of some leery looking individuals.

Marron's senses quickly heightened at the sight. Shit, why did I go into the alleyways– Erasa told me to not come back here. Three large looking able bodied men were approaching her, with a gaze that elicited disgust within Marron. As she turned her head, she watched as the very man she was just giving a verbal barrage to stayed put.

"Let us take care of her for ya, kid," the man said with a wide, unnerving grin spread across his face. "Little bitches shouldn't talk back, now should they." His voice was gruff and he reeked of some kind of alcohol. In truth, Marron and Trunks both were dwarfed in size in comparison to this man.

Marron watched Trunks carefully, unsure of what he was going to do. Was he going to help her? She was tempted to dismiss him completely but Marron knew that she wouldn't be able to take these men on, at least– not without some serious evasion. But she had hardly any idea of the lay of the land, and the low visibility made it much worse.

"You aren't doing shit," Trunks called their bluff watching as the men looked on to him with amusement. "Leave before I make you leave."

Marron furrowed her brows, In her eyes it'd be best to stay quiet and not attempt to trigger the men. They were both at an apparent disadvantage…at least in Marron's perspective. She took a sharp breath in and readied herself.

One of the burly men pounced towards her. Marron evaded watching as he fell onto the ground. However, in the time it took for her to evade one man's grasp, Trunks had quickly taken care of the other three within a blink of an eye. "Wha–" Marron paused as she watched him dust his hands off.

Surely that would have taken her far longer than mere seconds to clear them out.

"What did you do?" she asked, watching as Trunks stepped over the pile of bodies, Marron tailing closely behind him

"I thought you wanted me to leave you alone," he replied, there was a sense of amusement in his voice as he flipped his hood up over his head making it towards the main streets.

"Well–" Marron paused, as she tilted her head realizing she was doing exactly what he wanted her to do. "I want to know."

"I'll teach you if you help me," Trunks replied, stuffing his hands into his pockets. "The choice is yours."

"What do you want me to do," Marron scoffed. He couldn't be seriously thinking she had any leverage down here? She was just as new to this land as he was.

"I just need to know what kind of people my mother is dealing with–" Trunks said simply, his eyes boring into the girl. He recalled distinctly the red ribbon scrap metal, and seeing those same boxes in his mother's possession set alarms in his head. "Those boxes you were carrying…they were scrap metal my mom is using."

His mother, Gohan…even this girl to an extent, knew something he didn't. And, this was technology that his mom was reconfiguring for their own gain. Trunks simply needed to know that his mother wasn't being extorted for some nefarious deals.

Marron feigned shock. " Look , I don't deal with the granular – It was my first mission and I was just following orders…I don't know anything about that stuff."

Trunks didn't like that answer. He held back a grin as he leaned closer to her, his deep blue eyes meeting with hers. "That's fine, cause you'll find out for me," he replied, somewhat smugly – much to Marron's surprise.

"And what if I purposefully give you the wrong information to throw you off?" Marron asked, inching closer, not breaking her serious poker face against him.

A smirk fully emerged past his lips. He was confident he could read this girl, despite her fickle disposition. "You won't," he retorted, watching as her blank expression broke.

"Ohoho, you seem so sure," Marron replied with a chuckle. Quite frankly, Marron was not too convinced that this boy understood how things worked– she wasn't going to just give into what he wanted just because he had "money" and good looks.

Trunks could feel as his short lived patience whittled away with each passing second. "I looked for you ," he insisted. "You've got something, I can't get anywhere else."

"And just what is that?" Marron pressed.

"You don't have that much skin in this game yet."

Marron bit her lip, anxiety thrumming through her. "If I get caught, do you realize what that means for me– I have too much to give up now," Marron replied. She couldn't believe herself actually considering helping him. Either he had an intense charisma, or she really was easy to lead on. "You don't know how hard is it—I'm lucky they took me in."

Trunks chose to skip over those words for a moment. He knew if he could get intel on what his mother was doing down here, he would help her out. But– the mention of getting caught…made him grow ever more curious. "Why—did they ban you from talking to me or something?"

Marron ignored his question, not wanting to draw more suspicion to the already questionable statement. "Look, the point is kid… I don't know."

Trunks observed her, under this better lighting he could see that this girl was not much older than him. She had scars, as did he–but her body and skin were full of youth, brimming with the energy and hormones of a teenager. Perhaps he was more sensitive to it as a young adult himself."Can you stop calling me kid?" Trunks asked, looking the girl up and down. "How old are you?"

Marron furrowed her brow. "I'm seventeen," she replied. Though mentally, she felt she was far older than that– perhaps it's the constant movement and constant fighting. She wasn't sure what the concept of "age" really meant.

"I'm eighteen , so that makes you the kid here." Trunks snorted as his hands dug into his pockets.

"So then what do you want me to call you?" Marron asked, her voice brimming with annoyance.

"Trunks is fine," he grinned. "And you–"

" Mare is fine," Marron replied, "I will get you some info, but I can't promise it will be anything substantial." In truth, she hadn't the slightest idea where to even begin looking for the information. He was making quite the tall ask of her.

"Then I'll teach you some real martial arts," Trunks responded, as he stretched his arms behind him, tailing closely behind her as they arrived closer to a more busy avenue.

"I'd much rather receive a form of payment for my services," Marron stated, not even casting a glance behind her to look at him. In truth, she should have bargained for that in the beginning–however this Trunks and Gohan individual knew something. Marron simply couldn't identify what yet.

"We can arrange that," Trunks hummed. Though he was not primed and groomed for taking over the now fallen business ventures of capsule corporation…Trunks still held some sense of business acumen. Though primarily through transaction interactions such as the one he was having with her. "But, if you're going to spy for me–I'll need you to be more capable than what you've shown me thus far."

Marron's eyes darkened at his words. "Are you implying I'm weak?" Her tone of voice now shifted as she stopped in her tracks once more to gaze upon the taller teen.

"I'm not implying you're strong… " Trunks squeezed out, feeling himself become just a bit smaller under her icy glare.

Marron took a deep breath, in some way trying to regain her composure before she blew up on him for unwarranted reasons. She turned on her heel, ready to dismiss the conversation as done. "I'll get you some info by next week,"

"Okay, and one addendum," Trunks added, a cheeky smirk in tandem with his glance over to her. "Help me sneak in here."

"Why can't you get in yourself like you did today?" Marron's response to him was a rather shocked one, he certainly wasn't incapable of doing such a thing himself.

"Do you realize how hard it was for me to get in here undetected?"

"Hm…I should feel honored, being followed in here by you of all people just to hunt me down."

"Your energy signature is so distinct—it's hard to miss," Trunks commented somewhat amused.

"My what?" Marron's voice was bewildered, but Trunks was quick on her heels in response.

"I'd answer but that will be part of your training, I'll give you more information when you get back to me."

"And just how exactly do you expect me to do that?" Marron licked her teeth at the question, her nimble looking arms folded neatly across her chest. Surely, he thought of that much ahead?

Trunks shook his head, a small sigh escaping his lips. He could be rash in his decision making, but he certainly wasn't flying into things completely unprepared. Like his mother, he tinkers and helps where he can—albeit nowhere near her skill level. He pulls a small device from his pocket, placing it in Marron's hands.

"Don't let anyone find this," Trunks cautioned. "Especially those people."

"Those people?" Marron looked at the small device in marvel. She admits she grew up in a world with hardly any advanced technology– so something that was so basic to Trunks was a technological wonder to Marron.

"You know who…" Trunks said as he stuffed his hands back into his pockets and stared at Marron long and hard. Under the green and red hues of the underground's artificial lights, he could see her just a bit more clearly than before.

She was definitely an interesting character–though not entirely trustworthy…he'd keep her around…if not just to figure out who and what is going on in these illicit parts. "Don't worry, I'll reach you when I need you…" He said as he walked off, leaving a somewhat bewildered girl behind staring down to the small machine.


Marron managed to scavenge for enough food at a good deal eventually, coming home with bags of food to be stored away, but she quickly dropped the food, and remaining cash in the kitchen – not really bothering to put them away for the sake of urgency she suddenly felt.

She bolted into Erasa's room, her eyes scanning the room in search for something. She didn't want to tear her room apart so as to not give anything away but the only semi-private thing in her room was her nightstand. Marron cautiously walked up to it, slowly opening it as she kept her ears open listening to the entryway door. It's been about two hours since Erasa was last here…she could come back soon.

That's when Marron found a leather bound notebook hidden under all of Erasa's knick-knacks stuffed away in her drawer.

Marron carefully flipped through the logs stuffed into Erasa's nightstand: finding a bunch of receipts from an unknown recipient. The names were all scratched out, as if they were afraid someone like Marron would be snooping searching for more information.

Bulma Briefs…Bulma Briefs….

Why couldn't she find anything for Bulma Briefs?

Marron screwed her eyes shut, trying to desperately remember who or what the point of contact's name was from her first night. She recalled Erasa mentioning it, but Marron hadn't been listening fully, too excited and nervous at the prospect of working towards something. And the fear that took hold when she tried to evade danger.

Damn it, she needed to remember. She had the damn box it should have had some kind of indication on who it was for, and where it came from! But as Marron flipped aggressively through the log book she did find someone else that piqued her curiosity,

Twenty or so logs for a Marcus Devilman under leisure services . Marron pressed her lips together, as she carefully looked at the dated logs and times that were listed for repeated instances days and weeks on end.

Marron shut the book in a panic, shoving it back into the drawer as she covered her face, feeling the red hot sensation overtake her.

That's what she gets for snooping.


AN: seeeee I told you I'd update, here it is 3 Things are getting INCH resting let me know your thoughts! :)