In honor and respect of Toriyama Akira, may you rest in peace.
Your work has changed people's lives and even the world.
Another World Deserving of Hope
"ZAMASUUUUU!"
All it took was one sword, powered by the beliefs and hopes of Earth to destroy the threat that had plague the world for a long time.
"Everyone to the Time Machine, NOW!" Goku yelled.
All it took was one button, one Omni King, for all of his universe to disappear...along with all the hope it bears.
"Crap, something's pulling us!" Vegeta cursed as his and Goku's grip on the Time Machine began to slip. "Kakarot, we're going to slip!"
"Agh, not like this!" Goku gritted his teeth.
And all it takes was one blast for things to go the unintended course...
"Tou-san! Goku-san!" Trunks began to panic, turning to his mother for any solution. "Kaa-san, they're going to fall into the rift!"
"I-I'm doing all I can, the Time Machine was hit by that blast!" Bulma replied, sweating as she tinkered the consoles. "Damn it, damn it, damn it all!"
"Trunks, the Time Machine...!" Mai warned as her eyes widened. "It's not going to hold on!"
As she said, the Time Machine was slowly getting shredded by the uncontrollable torrent of the space-time rift. Trunks' irises shrunk, it wouldn't last long until they reach the present. Losses were...unavoidable. Quickly, he fastened up the seatbelts for Bulma who was caught off guard and dashed towards Mai. He embrace her and prepared himself for whatever was going to happen.
"Gahhhh!"
"Damn it!"
At that moment, the rift had pulled both Goku and Vegeta into the unknown as they all watch hopelessly. "Vegeta, noo!" Bulma yelled, trying to reach him but was too late.
"Mai, hold on!"
The rift's torrent became stronger as the Time Machine was ripped apart, taking both Trunks and Mai flying into the chaotic patterns of space and time. Bulma could only watch yet again as her eyes began to water.
"TRUNKS! MAI!"
And at that very moment, a certain creature belonging from a completely different universe pulled both Trunks and Mai into its world...
Snow White scouted the ruined lands for any sightings of Raptures. It was the usual, some Raptures here and there needing to be eliminated but so far, nothing was out of ordinary.
She looks over to the sunset, pondering.
The objective to reclaim the surface was still far, very far. But hope already showed its face in a form of a man from the Ark. The Commander is a special individual, he wasn't like many other commanders. His kindness and bravery was a breath of fresh air in a world desolate of any hope.
It was no wonder he was adored by many Nikkes. Such a person is very unlikely to come by especially in an age where Nikkes are still considered to be weapons of war. Even for the Pilgrims, it was no exception. He treated them the same, like equals.
It was...amazing.
Snow White huffs out a puff of cold smoke, temperature was going down. She stares at the sky, wishing a miracle to happen. She knew it was foolish, she knew it better than anyone else to wish from her heart for a better tomorrow. Even if the Commander is the hope of humanity, the dreams of reclaiming surface still remains that; a dream.
She blinks as she look down, shaking her head. Better not to dwell on it any longer, there are things more important at hand. She continues her journey to cleanse the surface of any Raptures.
That was when she saw a comet hurling towards the horizon with breakneck speed. Her eyes widened and before she could react, the comet plunged onto Earth causing a devastating destruction that even from where she stands, she could feel the tremor.
Balancing herself, Snow White frowned towards the direction of the comet. She puts on her sensors and her eyes widened once more when she detected an abnormal amount of Raptures heading towards the comet. She immediately prepared her equipment and braced for the worst.
Snow White of course knew that heading towards where the comet fell would be foolish, no one is stupid enough to just jump into a herd of Raptures even if they're specially-made Nikkes. Unless they were very powerful ones suited for terminating huge crowds of Raptures, investigating now is out of question.
All she could do currently is prepare herself and go back to report others. There might be Raptures heading her way as a result of this anomaly so she needed to prepare if...no, when that happens.
However, as she was just about to head back, her sensors blared out of nowhere.
"What..." Slowly, her eyes widened.
The huge amounts of Raptures began to dissipate. The numbers were dwindling down fast, too fast. When she turned towards the direction where the comet fell, she was caught off guard when a huge beam of light went pass her by hundred meters. She was slow to react as the force from the beam of light sends her flying.
"Gahhh!" With one eye closed, she tried to reposition herself from the wind pressure in the air and landed down skillfully.
She slowly stands up, her legs and arms shaking as she had never felt such powerful blast before, not from Nikke, not from Raptures, not ever. Her instincts were practically screaming at her, she had never felt this before. Powerful, too powerful.
Her sensors detected zero Rapture presence for dozens of miles. Every single one of them which could even amount to hundreds of thousands, gone. Not a single trace of Alva Particles were detected, they all disappeared just like that.
"Snow White, what was that!?" Her comms resounded, Snow White stares at the trails of destruction before looking at where the blast went to, seeing the clouds parted unnaturally.
"I don't know..." Snow White steeled herself as she grips the pistol grip tightly. "I'm going to investigate."
"What!? Are you out of your mind!?" Even the calm (but perverted) Rapunzel lost her composure. "Please hold on! There should be Raptures-"
"No, there's none." Snow White replied.
"W-What? Are you sure?"
"Yes...they were all gone." Snow White discarded a magazine and uses a new one. "I need to investigate, no matter how dangerous it is."
"That doesn't mean you have to go!" Rapunzel snaps back. "Please just...hold on. We don't know what is happening."
"..." Snow White was quiet, even she does not know what to make out of this situation besides investigating.
"Snow White." It was Scarlet, her voice lack of the playful and drunken tone it usually has. "We shall hie as well, 'tis dangerous to do so alone."
"...Like I said, I detected no Rapture presence. It's unnecessary but..." Snow White looks back at the sunset. "But fine, I'll wait for you guys."
"Rapunzel, prepare thy equipment. We're going. Now." Scarlet's serious tone took Rapunzel by surprise but agreed immediately.
"Of course, let's go."
The Ark was in chaos.
The sudden surge of the D-Wave and earthquake was unprecedented, however what concerned a certain Nikke more was what came after. Another surge-no, it would be perfectly described as a seismic wave.
The seismic wave of energy that came after was more than concerning. The amount of energy being output was no joke, it was enough to power up Earth's civilization indefinitely. Such newfound source of energy is incredibly beneficial for humankind, but it wasn't all good news.
The appearance of such energy could be a danger.
A danger not just to humanity...but to everything this world stands for.
Enikk deems this as a threat unlike no other.
Not even the Raptures.
Snow White, Rapunzel and Scarlet slowly walks towards their destination warily. Snow White's report regarding the ridiculous amounts of Rapture was not an exaggeration. Rather, it was an understatement. They were still miles away from their destination yet they already came across parts of Raptures littered across everywhere.
It was like they were walking on mountains of Rapture corpses.
"This is..." Rapunzel commented, looking around as she grips her scepter in anxiety and fear. "What kind of Nikke could've done this?"
"Bold of thee to assume 'tis a Nikke...or a Rapture." Scarlet replied, her serious frowning face scour the surface with tension. "Snow White, thou quoth a comet fell?"
"Yes, that's what I concluded." Snow White replied, looking around with her rifle following in sight. "It came out of nowhere and once it crashlanded, it sends out beams of light. Had I got hit by it, I wouldn't be here explaining."
"Could it be...aliens?" Rapunzel followed, "It couldn't be, right?"
"Never be ridiculous." Scarlet said. "We hast enough problems as is, adding aliens shall compose things far too complicated."
"..."
"..."
The prospect of such thing was there, but the Pioneers decided not to discuss that topic any further than necessary.
As they made their way towards where the comet fell, they came upon a crater where they could see trails of whatever beam was sent. Strangely enough, the closer they were towards their destination, the less remains of Raptures can be seen.
Their footsteps resounded as their surroundings were serenaded by this haunting howl of an empty field. As they walked, their feet crush onto the ground with a strange sound. That was when they realized that the dirt or dust they stood on were actually metallic dusts from Raptures.
"Caution is advised." Snow White warned.
When they arrived near the epicenter of the crater, they saw a figure standing. Their eyes immediately widens upon seeing a strange man standing amidst carcasses of Raptures in a bloodied form. His blue hair was soaked with blood, and he was huffing in exhaustion. Noticing the Nikkes, the man glared at them with bloodshot eyes.
He pulled out his sword, "Zamasu...ZAMASU!"
"It's a human!?" Rapunzel noted, shocked. "Don't tell me..."
Before they could react, a Rapture ambushed the man from behind. However, the Rapture was completely destroyed by a single slash, completely sending its circuitry and metallic parts fly across the crater. The man then opens his palm towards the remains and Snow White quickly detected an absurd amount of energy accumulating. Not before long, the man released a blast.
The blast was powerful enough to disintegrate the Rapture but it's also really destructive as the beam of light similar to what Snow White witnessed earlier. It carved through the terrain like a knife through butter and left the same trails as they saw around them.
"W-What in the..." Even Scarlet who was composed earlier was shocked.
"Scarlet, Rapunzel." Snow White with shaky hands pointed her rifle towards the man. "That's not a human..."
The man then turns toward their direction, frowning at them as he raises his palm, sending alarms into their being. However, the man stopped as he observed their figure, the crazed look in his eyes slowly disappears and soften into a realization.
"W-What...?" The man's form weakens as he drops his sword, his eyes half-lidded and it seems he was about to pass out of exhaustion. "You guys are not..." The man smiled, as if he was relieved. "I'm...glad..."
The man then passed out, dropping into the ground. Blood slowly pools around him.
"I...I couldn't pull the trigger." Snow White noted, eyes widening. "That means..."
"He is a human?" Scarlet realized. "Yet what kind of...?"
"I can detect his pulses...he's still alive." Rapunzel said, confirming their suspicion. "Let's help him."
"Didst thou not witness what the man did so?" Scarlet questioned. "E'en would he is a human. What he didst is not what any humans are capable of."
"I concur." Snow White seconded. "We are not sure of the man's origins...we must be careful."
"..." Rapunzel was quiet. "I'll check him."
"Rapunzel, wait...!"
Rapunzel walked towards the man, checking his pulses again to confirm as well as his injuries. "He's harmless, for now." Rapunzel carefully observed the man. "He is in need of medical attention." She looks at both Snow White and Scarlet. "If he did wanted to kill us, he should've done when he had the chance earlier. But he didn't."
"..." Scarlet narrowed her eyes before sighing. "Fine, we shall tend to the man's injuries."
"...fine." Snow White conceded.
"He lost quite a bit of blood." Rapunzel noted, lookin over his body in interest as well as the blood stains around them. "It seems he's been losing blood for hours."
"Impossible, he should've bled to death by now." Snow White replied.
"All logic goes out of the water when he surprised that Rapture." Scarlet said, looking at Snow White. "He is clearly no normal man."
"...right."
"He seems to have been suffered from 3rd degree burns all over his body and an intense concussive head injury...that explains his impulsive behavior earlier." Rapunzel positions the man properly. "But none of these injuries were inflicted from Raptures, they're from a different source." She frowned, "There's no doubt about it, he's a human...but what kind of human capable of doing...all this?" Rapunzel was baffled.
Scarlet frowned, sliding her fingers on the pool of blood, feeling the authenticity of the blood. "Well, we're going to find that out once he wakes up."
Snow White looks at the man before lifting her head towards the sky.
The arrival of this strange man will cause some event, there was no doubt about it. What was supposed to be a normal day turned into one of uncertainty, just like the future. What kind of future awaits them...?
Trunks had landed on a world ravaged by creatures known as Raptures, a world similar to his own. A Gatekeeper had pulled him and Mai into this world, unknowingly pulling someone capable of liberating the world from threats. In search of a way home, Trunks befriends those he meets and vowed that the world he was currently in doesn't suffer from the same fate...
Essentially, I went into this trying to make it longer but I don't know why, nowadays I can't exactly write longer chapters anymore. Every time I did, I always end it in shortly. But I hope this serves as a satisfying prelude.
So which chapter of Nikke does this takes place in?
To be perfectly honest with you guys? I don't know, I haven't played further than chapter 14. I may need to get back to Nikke just to see where the story goes.
I won't guarantee any updates soon, I did this on a whim after Akira-sensei's passing. It's tragic, we all lost someone who changed our lives and the world. But his work will live on.
Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it.
I apologize for the lack of polish. Again, I wrote this on a whim but I will come back and revision this prelude. And yes, I struggled to write Scarlet's dialogue since she uses an old dialect. I hope the characters are in-character, if not I apologize again.
That's all and see you guys.
Revision 11/4/24: Some fixes and changed Scarlet's dialogue to suit more of her manner of speech in the game.