The Endless Nightmare

[Freeza9000]

This is basically a what if scenario had Future Trunks remained in the Present timeline after Zamasu's defeat. Tell me what your thoughts are and what improvements can be made. Harsh, mild is welcome!

The Endless Nightmare:
[spoiler]It hasn't been very long, possibly about nearly nine months since Zamasu's defeat, and while he, Goku, and Vegeta were all semi successful in their bout. It ultimately wasn't enough, and it was only through the omnipotent god Zen-Oh's assistance that they were able to truly defeat Zamasu. But unfortunately, not only did the remaining human survivors on Earth dealt with a bone crushing death, but his entire timeline and universe he sought to protect was obliterated in the blink of an eye, and erased from existence. While all may have been lost, he still had Mai, and they managed to stop Zamasu's insane genocide once and for all. So it was an overall bitter-sweet victory for himself and the crew.

Soon after, Trunks ultimately decided to stay in the present, believing that he'd messed with time long enough, and that nothing else good would come from it, he'd already lost his world, time, and broken the taboos of the gods more times than he could count. Why continue to do so? Even despite being offered the opportunity of being transported to a new timeline before Zamasu, aka Black's attack. Which at first he accepted, but after further contemplation, he decided to decline, coming to the conclusion that it would practically feel like glorified facade, it would never be the real thing. Plus he felt he owed it to Goku, his father, and everyone else for their efforts in helping him deal with Zamasu and Black, to stick around and aid them in any future threats that may come their way.

Ever since, the Saiyan hybrid had began adjust to life in the present, with his mother of this time, helping him secure his own place, as well as any other necessities one would need for their daily lives. He didn't feel right accepting all these things from her, but she insisted and rather than debate, as he would never win with her anyhow, he simply allowed her to do so. Overall, life had been quite peaceful, so peaceful that it almost felt like an anomaly to him. As for the majority of his life, all the hybrid was ever used to doing was surviving, and fighting, but now? All that was almost nonexistent. In spite of this though, he did continue to keep up with his training, in part due to his father's wishes.

Life was only so peaceful for the half breed when he was awaken. His dreams, however, was a completely different story. As tonight was yet another restless night. Tossing and turning in his sleep, gripping his pillow, gritting his teeth, even breaking out into sweats. While the fighting may have come to an end in reality, the war in his dreams was far from over.

Trunks found himself back in his post-apocalyptic world, running through the ruined and debris ridden alleyways of what was left of West City. Water splashed beneath his boots as he stepped over a puddle in the middle of his sprint, he could sense something was chasing him. "Sinner.." He heard a disturbingly sinister, yet familiar tone pierce his mind repeatedly, filling him with dread, but he decided to ignore it as he proceed to run even faster. Making it out onto a desolate road in the middle of the decrepit city, dark greenish clouds glided above in the sky as he attempted to figure out which way he should go, before hearing yet another familiar voice call out his name, but this time it was soft and comforting. "Trunks!"

He turned into the direction of which his name was yelled from, as his eyes widened and he smiled in relief, it was a woman with long black hair wearing a dark blue trench coat and a army green hat. "Mai!" He began to run over towards her as she waving over to him. But once he arrived before her, a thick dark cloud of mist appeared directly behind her, as two glowing red eyes became visible within it. He could swear he felt his heart drop from within at the sight of this. "MAI! BEHIND YOU!" He attempted to warn her, as she turned around with a gasp, feeling a hand grip her by the throat tightly, and lift her off the ground as she struggled for air. "RELEASE HER!"

He immediately withdrew his sword from his sheath, as an electrified golden aura of energy exploded all around him, causing his hair to turn yellow and become spiked up, going SSJ2 initially. He wasted zero time leaping forth as he attempted to go for a slash upon the clouded being, but just as quickly as he acted, he was just as quickly sent flying back from a powerful ki blast that sent him crashing through one of ruined buildings, which caused clouds of dust and debris to be formed and scattered amidst the immediate area as it crumbled on top of him. Although dazed, and sore, the young Saiyan managed to pull himself up off the ground whilst gripping his arm. He could only stand helplessly as he watched the clouded being hold Mai up by her throat.

The dark clouds soon began disperse from around the figure, revealing the fallen deity that was Fused Zamasu, grinning at Trunks mockingly. "Filthy mortal...not only are you a sinner...but a failure as well!" A purple glow of energy began to form within his hand as he held Mai firmly as she continued to struggle. "T-Trunks..." She barely managed to mutter out as she reached out her hand for him, viewing him out of the corner of her eyes. Trunks attempted to move desperately, but he couldn't, it was as if a mysterious force was halting from any at all potential movement. All he could do was watch on as Zamasu held up his glowing palm in front of Mai's face as she expressed a terrified visage. "Begone." A blast was unleashed that obliterated her entire being as Trunks watched on in horror. "MAI!"

He finally found himself able to move, and soon ascended into Super Saiyan Rage, unleashing a scream of fury as a huge burst of energy crackled through the atmosphere, and the earth beneath him tremble. Leaping forward with gold and blue aura's engulfing him, he gripped his sword tightly within his grasp and prepared to cut Zamasu down. But as soon as he was within distance, and the slash was swung, the fused deity vanished completely. "What the!?" He then began to hear endless amounts of sadistic laughter all around him, before looking up into the sky with a gasp, as green silhouettes that resembled Zamasu's face began to spread across the sky endlessly. "No..."

Was all he could say, as he noticed a massive ball of red energy being not only formed, but charged within one of silhouettes mouths, before unleashing it down to the earth below in the form of an immense beam of energy, which in turn was followed by a storm of even more beam blasts. The ground began to tremble all around the Saiyan, as everything was either destroyed or crumbled. He attempted to maintain his balance before ascending off the ground as it began to crack and give way beneath his feet. But once he was able to stop for a brief moment in order to take a glance back up into the sky, an immense red beam of energy was already heading straight for him with little time to react.

He attempted to dodge it, but once again found himself halted by the very same incomprehensible force he felt earlier on. "NO!" Withing moments the hybrid was consumed within the blast itself, as screams of unimaginable agony could be heard, before he was utterly obliterated almost instantaneously.

The shock of this awoke Trunks immediately, sitting up with widened eyes as he quickly reached for his sword, which was sheathed to the side of his bed, and drew it forth by it's hilt. "Zamasu!" There was nothing there, only the highlights of moonlight which pierced through the cracks of his blinds, causing the otherwise dark room to appear somewhat illuminated.

Still panting, he slowly proceeded to lower his sword to his side, as he applied both his hands against his sweaty face. "Dammit...they just won't end..." This had become a nearly nightly routine over the past week, he almost began to contemplate on whether he really was a sinner, and that Zamasu was haunting him from beyond the dead. As it seemed the young Saiyan hybrid would be continuously haunted by his past sins and failures for the rest of his days. Tears of frustration began to well up within his eyes, as his hands raised to up to grip his hair firmly. Feeling a sensation of dread and regret building up within him. "...Forgive me.."[/spoiler]

[Gog]

First things first, I do feel like it would have been better if you had either cut out the first four paragraphs of the chapter or had conveyed all of that information in a better way. It's not engaging, and I'm sorry to say it. Maybe you could have show off a bit of Future Trunks life in the present timeline? I do feel like the chapter itself just isn't big enough for what's going on, it just feels rushed for the entirety of it. It'll help a lot if you were to add more description to it as well.

However, the biggest problem I have with your story, is that simply put it it's the language you use to convey it. It's, unfortunately very generic. Language is how a writer helps to shape the flow, tone, and the pacing of their story. It's not engaging on a whole. That's definitely what you need to work on the most. Even then this is an interesting idea for a story, and I'm excited to see where you take it.