Authors Note: Hey everyone! Just wanted to let you know that there is quite a bit of background information in this chapter, which is probably why it's outrageously long. It is all important so just bear with me. Make sure you take it in, please =). Also, I would like to emphasize that any other copyrighted characters that may be mentioned offhand in this chapter, I do not own. Anyway, on with the story!

Chapter 2

Trunks flew silently beside his father, headed toward what they assumed was the capital city. They had consulted a map to try and figure out exactly where the power levels they felt were coming from, just to get an idea of what the terrain was like. After that they had taken flight immediately, neither wanting to prolong whatever was ahead for them. Trunks struggled to rid himself of the tense energy that was making his body rigid, clenching his fists in order to stop himself from blasting something. Everything was so quiet! Neither the chirp of a bird, nor the mindless chatter of people could be heard anywhere, and it was putting him on edge. Not to mention, his mind was still recovering from that shock back at the ruined city, which didn't help. Reaching up to rub his temples, he tried to block out the images that raced through his brain, but it was no use. He suspected that it would be a long time before he could even think about forgetting the horror he'd seen there. Hell, he'd be lucky if he could even sleep at night. Sighing to himself, he gave up. Too bad he didn't have his dad's skill for blocking out unpleasant events.

"Down there," shouted Vegeta, trying to be heard above the roaring wind. He pointed to the distant ground, signaling that they should land. Trunks nodded, sensing the Kanassans near there, and began his descent, Vegeta in front of him.

Landing on the ground without mishap, they stood in silence for a moment, each Saiyan scanning his surroundings. Most of the Kanassan power signatures were concentrated not here on the surface, but underground. Trunks was puzzling out why that would be when he registered five people coming at them from all sides, Kanassan, from what he could tell. They were a fish-like race of people, with scales that covered their entire bodies, and muscular builds. Around the same height as a human or Saiyan, they possessed more power then the average human being, but they weren't a match for Trunks. He was deeply saddened over what had happened to their planet, but these guys obviously weren't going to listen to reason, so he had no choice but to defend himself. He smiled, feeling confident for the first time since he'd gotten there. However, just as he started forward to meet the challenge, Vegeta grabbed his arm and held him in place. The prince of all Saiyans leaned toward Trunks, hissing a warning through clenched teeth.

"Don't get too cocky, boy. They may be pathetic physically, but they have special psychic abilities. They can read your mind, so don't think, just act. Let your instincts guide you or they'll just anticipate everything you do. Understand?"

"Yeah, got it," Trunks replied, too surprised to say anything else. Before exiting the spaceship he had briefly scanned through the information about Kanassa in the ship's directory and it had said something about psychic ability, but he'd thought that was just a myth. Shaking his head to clear it, he let go of any remaining thoughts he might have, giving himself fully over to the natural instincts of his Saiyan blood. Trunks transformed into his super Saiyan form effortlessly, Vegeta following suit almost as fast. He had one more level to ascend than Trunks did, so naturally it took him at least a few seconds longer.

There they remained among the city wreckage, side by side and standing tall. Twin golden auras surrounded their powered up forms as they awaited the approaching enemy, blue green eyes fixed straight ahead and gleaming with intensity. At last the Kanassans closed in around them, blocking all avenues of escape except for the vast sky. They halted just a few feet in front of the Saiyans, looking enraged and eager to kill.

"Disgusting Saiyans! Your final hour begins now! How lucky we are to be graced by your presence, prince!" spat one of them, shaking with rage.

Another of them, wearing an expression of anger identical to his kinsmen, spoke. "And you brought your little whelp, how nice. So the rumors are true! Your bastard, half-blood son truly does exist!" Trunks flinched, forgetting himself for a moment, but he quickly slipped a serene mask on his face, banishing all thought. This wasn't the first time he'd been called a bastard; it was of no consequence now. He forced himself to believe that were true.

Vegeta growled like a feral animal, anger getting the best of him. "All right you sniveling pile of filth! I'll have you know, my son could wipe the floor with all of you effortlessly! He has more power in his little finger than you possess in your entire body, as do I, so I would think twice about insulting him like that again! Got it?!"

The Kanassans made a low growling noise deep in their throats, almost as if they were wild animals about to charge. "Why should we listen to you!?" screamed the one who had first spoken. To Trunks, he appeared to be the leader of this ragtag group of people. He seemed a bit bolder, and the others looked to him in uncertainty. All but the lead Kanassan stayed well back, looking apprehensive.

"Daren…," murmured one of the Kanassans, to the bold one.

"What?! Don't tell me you're chickening out on me!" he shrieked incredulously, blue scaled face turning a deep shade of red.

"But he's right…."

Another Kanassan cuffed the man on the back of the head, sending him sprawling forward and ruining any chance they had at maintaining their dignity. Vegeta laughed and laughed, the thundering sound almost akin to that of a mad man. Obviously, he found all of this hilarious. Trunks couldn't help but chuckle himself. It was pretty funny. Idiots….How the hell were they suppose to take these guys seriously, even if they were psychic?

After he had calmed down enough to speak, Vegeta turned back to the Kanassans, who stood and stared with mixed expressions of anger and bafflement. "Who do you losers think you are anyway, huh? Did the little weaklings want to play warrior, is that it? So much for your people. As far as I'm concerned, if you guys are all that's left, the Kanassan race is as good as dead!"

"As far as I'm concerned, we are the only ones! Our so called commander is a weakling! He thinks you'll save us all from terrible peril! Ha! You're the ones who destroyed us in the first place, and that's why we're going to destroy you!" seethed Daren, clenching his fists.

Trunks exchanged a glance with his father, whose face was as perfectly smooth as his own probably looked, but he could see the shock in his eyes. Save them? Why? From what? Not to mention, who was this commander?

Daren smirked and answered their unspoken thoughts, obviously taking advantage of them as soon as they'd forgotten to guard their minds. "Why should you care? You won't live long enough to need the knowledge!"

The group of Kanassans sprang forward as a unit, combining their efforts and coming at the Saiyans. Trunks and Vegeta spun around at the same second, each facing a different direction, silently vowing to guard each other's backs. Two Kanassans, one of them Daren, barreled toward Trunks with a roar, who dodged their punches without thinking. He supposed that was what happened when he let his Saiyan instincts rule him.

The duo stopped and readied blasts, collecting golden energy in their hands to form twin beams. Trunks held out his hands and deflected the blasts, causing them to go off over his shoulders in different directions. Before he knew it, the Kanassans were speeding toward him, using the blasts as a distraction in order to get close. Without warning, one of them connected with his head and sent him flying into the remains of a nearby building but he quickly rose and rushed back toward them again, undeterred. Extending his arms, he performed the hand motions of an attack, stretching both palms in front of him to form a diamond at the center.

"Burning attack!" he shouted, golden blast of energy shooting out toward them. With a scream, they were both engulfed in the glowing mass, only to collapse when it left them, bloodied and broken. Trunks landed on the ground and assumed a defensive stance, skeptical. Was that really all it would take? Somewhere behind him, he heard Vegeta shout the words to his Galick Gun attack, then the screams of the Kanassans as they were charred by the beam of light.

Trunks, fairly certain that they wouldn't be getting back up, powered down and stepped cautiously forward, peering at the two still forms on the dusty terrain. Had he killed them? The battle had been unavoidable, but still, it was a little sad. They were only trying to do what they thought was best for their home. Was that so wrong? It was no less than what he would do if he thought the Earth was in danger.

Daren stirred on the ground in front of Trunks, struggling to lift himself with weakened arms. Lifting his head, he stared at the young Saiyan in disgust. "You dare to pity us now, to pity me? I don't need it, nor do I want it, you filthy little maggot!" he croaked, somehow managing to invoke wrath into his voice, even in this state.

"Take me to your leader immediately," ordered Vegeta, causing Trunks to jump about a foot into the air. He hadn't even realized he'd been there…that wasn't good. He needed to keep his guard up at all times in this place.

"That bastard is no leader of mine! He's a fool, believing such a vision could be true! How could you save us when you have destroyed us not once, but twice?! It's all you're fault! We had just started to rebuild…we thought maybe, just maybe, we could have a new beginning after all, but then we found out that some Saiyans had survived the destruction of their cursed planet. We wanted to destroy you! Lord Braeden saw the truth, but then that fool Crion didn't think it was right, his followers along with him…"

Trunks shot his father a puzzled look, and was slightly relieved to see that Vegeta looked just as lost as he was, and agitated; his dad was quickly losing what little patience he had. No surprises there. At least Trunks wasn't the only one who had no idea what this nutcase was talking about. They had to find these leaders he spoke of so they could clear things up. More and more questions were piling up, with no answers to any of them. It was frustrating beyond belief.

"Ugh, shut up already! This babbling is not doing us any good at all! Now where the hell is your leader?!" screamed Vegeta, red in the face. Trunks raised an eyebrow and hid a smile. At least some things never change.

Daren, who was getting weaker by the second, scowled and struggled to push himself up even farther. The man was practically shriveling with fatigue; Trunks could see the obvious signs. The man could hardly even control his own limbs anymore, but he refused to back down. As much as Trunks disliked him, he had to admit, his resolve was admirable. His voice now sounded feeble, as he spoke. "Now listen, you…"

"Enough!" bellowed a thundering voice, stopping the two Saiyans and Daren in their tracks. All three men turned their heads in the direction of the speaker, coming to rest on a lone figure who stood between two crumbling stone pillars, the remains of a once majestic building. He was a tall man for a Kanassan, with scales of brilliant turquoise and keen violet eyes. His intelligent gaze slid over them all, resting on Trunks for longer than the others, or so it seemed to him. You could get lost in those eyes, and he didn't mean that in the trashy romance novel way, not in the least. Those eerie violet eyes held his gaze, and try as he might, he could not pull away. It was as if his mind was locked within the powerful psychic's grasp.

"Hey, what the hell are you doing?!" shouted Vegeta from beside him. Before he knew it, his dad had grabbed him by both shoulders and shoved him behind him, breaking whatever connection he'd had with the man.

"What's the big idea? You merely looked at him, and all of a sudden he couldn't even move. Why is that?!" Vegeta seethed, going into protective psycho mode, though Trunks had to admit, he kind of liked it when he did that.

"I beg your pardon?" questioned the Kanassan, who had stepped closer and stopped a few feet away from them. All of a sudden, comprehension dawned in his eyes. "Oh, I see. I apologize for that. Because I have such powerful psychic talent, sometimes I capture people with my gaze by accident," said the man, looking sheepish and apologetic.

"W-What the hell are you doing here?" asked Daren vehemently.

"You know well why I am here, Daren," replied the mysterious man, glaring down at the Kanassan who had now collapsed fully on the ground. "Don't even bother to speak any longer; you're only wasting what little strength is left in you. Now just settle there quietly. I have summoned the medics to come for you shortly. I hear them now, walking this way. If you will follow me please, we have much to discuss," finished the man, beckoning to Vegeta and Trunks with a finger.

"Wait a second. Who are you? You cannot expect me to simply go with you without even knowing who the hell you are!" shouted Vegeta.

The man shot him a slightly miffed look, and Trunks suspected that he would have raised an eyebrow, if he'd had any. "I thought you realized. I am Crion, leader of the Kanassan people, and the one who will show you the path to your destiny."

Trunks spun Vegeta around to face him before he could launch into a rant about how overrated destiny was, which he no doubt would have. With the amount of power Crion possessed, he probably already knew everything he was going to say, even though Trunks was trying to block him out, so he spoke to his dad in a normal volume, knowing that whispering was futile.

"Come on dad, we have to figure out what's going on. He seems to be telling the truth. If he wanted to harm us, chances are, he would have tried already, right? He did have me pinned back there, after all."

"Damn it, I know that! His psychic powers probably could have held you and I in place at the same time if he'd wanted to. Fine…let's go, but keep your guard up. I don't like the look of this," he said, shooting a suspicious glance at Crion, who only smiled faintly.

"Follow me," said Crion, turning to walk back through the pillars he'd passed earlier, Vegeta and Trunks following him at a comfortable distance. Soon after, they came to what was once a street, though now it was littered with wreckage like the rest of the landscape. They had been walking along for a few minutes when Crion halted next to a half demolished wall, lifting what looked like a crushed TV screen. It turned out that there was a hidden keypad underneath, and the Kanassan leader tapped a code into it.

A hidden metal hatch located under a pile of debris creaked and sprung open, revealing a hole about five feet wide which led to a passageway. Crion walked over to it and stepped down onto what appeared to be metal ladder rungs attached to the wall, and started into the tunnel. Vegeta signaled Trunks to stay put while he went in first, placing himself between Crion and his son. Silently appreciating his kindness, Trunks stepped down onto the first rung and went after them, working his way through the dimly lit tunnel.

After about an hour of twists and turns through tunnels, and several complaints from Vegeta, they finally arrived at a more open, lit area, and the path they had been following forked two different ways. One had a sign inscribed with the words "Salvation" with an arrow pointing down the path, while the other, which they turned down, took a sharper turn and ended about a dozen feet in. Crion came to yet another keypad and placed his palm on the scanner, next lowering his eye down to it to be identified. At last, the sturdy steel door came open, and Crion led the way inside.

The chamber was very large, and well protected, the walls somehow coated with a layer of metallic substance, giving the room a shiny, chrome-like appearance. There were crates staked up here and there along the walls, and pieces of technology, including computers, radar scanners, communications devices, and even a few Frieza era scouters.

"All right, I want answers. Why did you lead us all the way here, and what exactly is here? Is this place the reason you were able to avoid extinction?" asked Vegeta, launching right into it as soon as Crion had stopped and turned toward them.

"Yes," replied Crion, in a somber voice. "This is indeed out safe haven, our salvation, as we have named it. You saw the path which leads to where the civilians live as we passed to this one." Trunks recalled the sign he had seen by the path. The name did make sense; after all, it was exactly what they called it, their sanctuary.

"This is merely where we store our supplies, for I figured it would be wiser if the people did not see you. Not all of them know of my vision, you see. There's no need to frighten them any more than they already are," continued Crion.

"What vision are you talking about? What did you see?" asked Trunks, beating Vegeta to the punch. He loved his dad, but let's face it; the man was about as diplomatic as Han Solo with his faithful blaster rifle.

Crion gazed earnestly at Trunks and answered, though he noticed that the Kanassan tried not to look too directly at his eyes, attempting to avoid another mishap. "In order to understand that, you must first hear the whole story of our survival and the events afterward. It started when our previous leader had a vision of the downfall of our race. We are always taught to except our fates as they come, but this we could not ignore. And so, we set out to reshape our destinies. It was decided that much of our population would be concealed beneath the ground, with safeguards in place which would hide their power levels. The warriors of the planet and a portion of civilians would be above ground, to attempt to defeat the Saiyans who were sent, yes, but largely, they knew they were doomed to die. They knew it was so, yet they were happy to make that sacrifice. It was necessary that there be enough people on the surface to fool the Saiyans who came, and fool them it did. However, one thing did go awry…"

Trunks waited for the rest of the tale, enthralled. Lately he had noticed himself absorbing any kind of knowledge like a sponge, especially things this interesting. All of a sudden, Trunks noticed that his father's face had lit up with comprehension, and then Vegeta began to speak.

"Bardock," he uttered, but that one word was enough even for Trunks to understand somewhat with his limited knowledge. Now there was a name he knew; Goku's father, if he remembered right. He'd been part of the band of Saiyans who had gone to eradicate planet Kanassa, but Trunks didn't know much more than that.

"You are correct," murmured Crion, who then fell silent and waited for Vegeta to explain. He seemed to understand that the Saiyan prince needed to take charge every once in a while.

"There were reports that ever since Bardock had returned from Kanassa, he'd been acting strange," began Vegeta, in a matter of fact voice. "On top of that, in the report he and his comrades handed in to Frieza, there was a single Kanassan survivor left on the surface, who struck Bardock and claimed he had given him the power to see into the future. Of course everyone dismissed it as nothing more than a hokey myth, but some believed there could be truth to it. There was even talk that the only reason Frieza had the Kanassans destroyed was because he feared their power. Certainly makes sense. I suppose that's why he never came back for this planet. He never wanted it; he just wanted all of you gone. Just like us," Vegeta seethed. That similarity must have hit a little too close to home.

"Yes. Our fates are similar, the Saiyans and Kanassans. The only difference is, we foresaw our end and were able to change it. It is one of the reasons why I do not loath you as some believe I should. You were all pawns just as much as everyone else was. Who are we to blame the Saiyans for that? You and your race did not do this to us, Frieza did. Unfortunately, there are others who do not believe as I do, those who want revenge above all else on what little remains of your race. Which brings me to this recent tragedy," Crion concluded, bowing his head as if in sorrow.

Two divided groups of the same race on one planet, each led by a supreme leader. That could only mean one thing, Trunks thought grimly. "Civil war," he murmured. "Some of you are for revenge on us, others for peace with us. Am I right?"

"That is correct. What is left of our race has been divided and split yet again, all thanks to a single man who holds them together. His name is Braeden, and the ones you fought earlier were followers of his. He is a ruthless, merciless man, different from most of us. His physical prowess far exceeds any other of our race. However, the gift is not with him. Psychic powers were denied him, yet he received raw power instead. We are holding our own against his forces, but only because his focus has been on all of you. This war is nothing to him, merely a means to an end. He despises the Saiyans more than anything, yet he is doing the very same thing that he hates you for. What hypocrisy!" He spat the last word, angered. Normally the man seemed to be a calm soul, but this upset him. How could it not? Trunks would be concerned if it didn't.

"Let me guess. You want us to get rid of him for you," Vegeta drawled, in a cynical tone.

"It is imperative that he be destroyed, if I am to preserve what is left of my people. I have foreseen this, as you know. If something does not change, if I had not approached you both with this, you would have almost surely fallen, and we along with you. You Saiyan warriors are our last hope, and I do not say that lightly. I have reviewed every option, made every move possible, and this is the only way left to us. I cannot guarantee that this will change anything, but we must try. I must remain here, all of my Kanassan force must, but wherever Braeden may go, you have to follow. If you were to have someone who could read the future there, who could be in close proximity with the rest of the Saiyan race and Braeden, the tides may be turned. We must all put hope into a single source. Perhaps even a single young man," he finished in a softer tone, and Trunks was startled to see that, during that last statement, he'd been looking at him. Crion gazed at him even now, those piercing violet eyes meeting his own cerulean ones.

What did this mean? What could he possibly do that would change the lives, the very destinies, of so many people? He was reminded of Bardock, who had been forced to foresee his own end and that of the Saiyans. No matter how hard he'd tried, he hadn't been able stop the inevitable from coming. Was Trunks destined to have the same thing happen to him? Would he try to change what could not be changed? Wield a power that should not be his? Trunks blinked rapidly, feeling a cold sweat break out upon his body. He didn't know where all of this was coming from, but somehow those piercing eyes caused him to think unsettling thoughts, and he couldn't help but believe he was headed in a direction he could not hope to turn from.

"Do you understand what I am saying to you, young one? Do you want the chance to change your destiny?" Crion murmured, staring intently at the young demi-Saiyan. Trunks was vaguely aware of Vegeta shaking his shoulder, and the young prince even thought he heard him ask if he was alright, which normally would have surprised him a bit, but it didn't matter anymore. Nothing really did, except for this. He knew what Crion offered, and he had no choice but to take it. Slowly, he nodded, pushing the fear to the back of his mind and trying to swallow over the lump in his throat.

"I'm ready. Let's do this."

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How will Vegeta react to this, I wonder? Guess you'll just have to wait and see.

Yeah, another cliffhanger. I like those (evil smile).Makes things more interesting and keeps you guys wanting more. Don't worry, you'll get much more!

Yes, I borrowed one of Future Trunks' techniques for this Trunks. Why? Because I can. End of story xD. But seriously, who's to say he couldn't learn them?

Anyway, thanks for reading the latest installment, reviews are much appreciated =).