Author's Note: Hey there everyone! Back for another chapter, I hope the wait wasn't too long. For those of you who noticed my lack of time for Raven, don't worry. As Obelisk of Light said, this is not the time for extended flashbacks. I still have something planned for her; something that should clear up her character for you. I have had her entire story plotted out ever since I created her character months ago, so I'll do my best to make some of that clear to you before this story ends. Anyway, I'll stop yapping. On with the story!

Chapter 21

The surface of Kanassa was just as he remembered it. Vegeta looked out upon the wide expanse of land before him, desolation and ruin still making its mark on the once great cities that now crumbled at his feet. It seemed like a lifetime since he'd been here, though it had only been a few days at most. All was quiet and as still as death, just as he had left it. The only difference was, there didn't seem to be many troops on the move. As he'd taken off to their spaceship to leave Kanassa, there had been troops from both Braeden's and Crion's sides clashing in skirmishes; now there was nothing, except for the occasional blip of energy signaling a group of Kanassans here and there. Whether that was good or bad, he wasn't sure, but that damn Crion sure as hell better not be dead. He needed him.

The other Z fighters stood silently, wearing varying expressions of shock and horror; all except for Future Trunks and Raven, of course. This was nothing new to them, but of course the reaction of the others would be less than stellar. They hadn't lived their lives constantly surrounded by death and destruction the way he and the two others had.

Goten took a shaky breath, his face pale, while Piccolo wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead. So, mister stoic Namek wasn't as unaffected as he pretended to be. The prince smirked, but it felt empty, even to him. Was he so weak right now, he couldn't even conjure up sarcasm? As he gazed down at his teenaged son, face tensed, yet void of expression, lying so motionless and pale in his arms, he couldn't deny it. He probably was. It disgusted him how soft he'd gotten, but he couldn't help himself. That of course, only served to piss him off even more.

"This is…horrible," Gohan murmured, solemn and sad. "Was it like this last time?" he asked the Saiyan prince, though the look in his eyes told Vegeta that the young man already knew the answer. Nevertheless, he answered anyway. It was something to occupy himself with, if only for a few seconds.

"Of course it was. Planets don't come back to life overnight, you know."

Future Trunks stared straight ahead, a numb, steely look in his cerulean eyes. His eyes passed over the ruin of the planet solemnly, without surprise; he'd seen it all before and knew there'd been no way to stop it. "Even after all this time, the desolation the Saiyans wrought has stuck like glue. It takes a long time to heal a whole planet. Even ours is still destroyed just like this in some places."

A harsh wind blew through the air, tousling their hair and rumpling their torn, battle scarred clothing. Death was in the air; not that he had expected any different. The smell of decaying flesh drifted among each of them, the blowing wind making the putrid stench even more prominent. That was how war went, and that was how it would always be. Nevertheless, he sensed no battles raging on in the vicinity; nothing of importance anyway.

For a few moments longer all was silent; Vegeta watched as every one of the warriors bowed their heads in respect, paying tribute to all of those who had lost their lives in the tragedy caused by the Saiyans and afterward. The Saiyan prince looked out toward the horizon, the landscape he saw along the skyline much the same as the one right in front of him. The entire planet wasn't this bad, he knew. But, it might as well be. Many of these destroyed cities were doomed to stay ghost towns for the rest of eternity, until they withered away into nothing and blended with the sand. He'd witnessed such things himself, and no doubt he'd caused it on all of the planets he had conquered. The ones he hadn't destroyed, anyhow. It would take a long time for the Kanassans to repopulate themselves, and in turn, their planet. There was nothing they could do about that.

He'd done everything asked of him and more by getting rid of that damn nuisance, Braeden. The least that old fool could do now was return the favor and heal Trunks. If it could be done. No. It will be done. I'll see to that. His son deserved no less. Vegeta knew better than anyone that he was a cocky, prideful son of a bitch, but he wasn't stupid. He knew that if not for Trunks, they very well may not be here right now.

Suddenly Gohan raised his head, looking out to their right just as Vegeta sensed several new power levels. It wasn't far; perhaps a few miles away. Who were they? One of them held too much power for a common soldier, not to mention there was an eerie aura of mystery about it. He'd felt this before; he'd bet his soul on that. What was left of it anyway, he mused with a grim parody of a smile.

"What is this power…? It feels…strange," Raven mused aloud, voicing all of their mutual curiosity.

"Well whatever it is, it's not normal. It's got this whole creepy feel to it, you know? Not raw power really, but something else. All of the guys I've felt so far on this planet feel kinda like that, but nothing as powerful as this. Feels a little like Trunks ever since he got his powers," Goten said, narrowing his eyes as he lost himself in thought.

Of course! How stupid could he be?! He should have recognized that familiarity immediately! Vegeta smiled, a genuine smirk of victory, and gave a cocky chuckle. Now there was the start he'd been looking for. If the old man was as powerful as he claimed, there had to be something he could do for Trunks. "Well well, what have we here? He's alive after all."

"Crion!" Goten exclaimed, as if the answer had been on the tip of his tongue. "I thought that might be it, but I wasn't sure."

"But who are the others with him?" Piccolo questioned. "We should be careful. We could be completely wrong here. What if they're just masking most of their power levels, and they're just trying to lure us to them? Maybe it's not Crion at all."

Vegeta laughed harshly, half amused and half annoyed. "What's wrong, Namek? Getting skittish in your old age? It's Crion all right; no one else could have an aura like that. As for the others, I don't care. They aren't even close to him! If they decide to pick a fight with us, they'll greatly regret it. You can sit here clucking like an old maid if you please, but I have work to do." True to his word, Vegeta took off in a mad dash toward Crion's energy signal, honestly not giving a damn if any of them followed. Apparently though, they smartened up because almost immediately Trunks took off after him, followed by Raven and everyone else. He didn't give a fuck what he found once he got there as long as Crion was waiting. He'd take care of whatever else got in his way.

Within about a minute or so of speeding through landscapes in various states of destruction, Vegeta closed in on the energy signal and smiled, triumphant. It must have given his face a pretty creepy cast, because he felt rather than saw several of the others flinch from beside him. At another time he might have found that amusing, but right now he was too focused, and far more relieved than he cared to admit. The man was alive; thank whatever god that was up there for that.

There among the ruins of a skyscraper, magnificent even upon a fallen chunk of rock, sat Crion, the very picture of serenity. Ramrod straight and as placid as ever, the Kanassan's turquoise colored scales glistened in the light of the sun, his vivid violet eyes scanning them all with a look of mild interest. He did not seem surprised however, though that didn't come as a shock to Vegeta. The bastard probably knew they'd been coming.

Crion stood just as the Z fighters landed a few feet in front of him, making his way down off of the rock to approach them. Goten gaped open mouthed at the Kanassan, awed, as Gohan locked his eyes onto the man, looking a bit like a kid in a candy store. It was kinda pathetic really, but as a scholar, this planet and the Kanassan's themselves were a gold mine of information. Even though they had come on such a grim occasion, the young man couldn't help himself. When it came to knowledge, he was like a female version of Bulma, Vegeta mused with a snort. They both sucked as much information as they could out of anything. Not that Vegeta could relate to that. All he'd been interested in asking himself when he'd visited various different planets were two simple questions: "How long will this take, and how much fun can I get out of it?" Demented thoughts yes, but could you blame him? He'd had the master of demented everything as a role model.

The Kanassan leader stopped in front of Vegeta, though his eyes strayed from person to person; he spent at least a few seconds studying every person, every face. So piercing was his gaze, Raven backed a step away then stiffened, forcing herself to stand her ground. He seemed to be analyzing her, and the woman didn't like it. That he could understand. Perhaps he could get along with this Earthling.

As Crion's eyes moved over Future Trunks's form, he didn't seem as surprised as Vegeta thought he should; there was mild curiosity in his measured gaze, yes, but not surprise. This was the guy with visions he was talking about, so Vegeta wasn't overly shocked about it. Just like everything else he wasn't overly shocked about when it came to this guy…that was starting to get annoying.

"Greetings, my fine warriors. I have been awaiting your arrival," Crion murmured in his soft, slightly grating tone of voice. He inched closer to Vegeta, swung his gaze toward him, and did something the prince would not have expected in a million years. He bent at the waist and bowed; so low his forehead almost touched his knees. The leader of this broken, yet ever resilient people let go of whatever standing he had as a world leader and bowed. To everyone there but most of all, he bowed to Vegeta, Prince of all Saiyans. Perhaps the others would not understand the significance of that as much as Vegeta did, but it was there all the same. After all, he'd been the crown prince when Planet Vegeta still lived. The laws and customs ranged from planet to planet, but the basics were all the same. In Saiyan culture, bowing to another was the highest sign of respect you could give, especially between leaders. No doubt the Kanassan knew this.

Crion straightened and took a step back, now addressing them all. "I thank you. All of you. Because of your actions, Braeden plagues us no more, and his civil war has all but died along with him. What remains of his troops are scattered and worn. All we must do now is capture them; or kill them, if we must." The Kanassan leader looked with sorrowful eyes upon the comatose young man lying in Vegeta's arms, and the Saiyan prince thought he saw a flash of guilt pass over his face. "I know why you come. I always have."

Vegeta's eyes narrowed as he struggled to understand, because surely he couldn't be right about the significance of those words. What did he mean by, "I always have?" The prince thought he knew the answer, and he didn't like it one bit.

"Don't tell me…you knew? Even before all of this bullshit started, you knew exactly where it would lead Trunks, didn't you? If you value your life, you will not lie to me! Tell me the truth!" Vegeta shouted, suddenly wishing his arms weren't occupied with holding his son. If they hadn't been, he would have punched him in the face. His fists clenched tightly, instinctively. Maybe he still would.

The others seemed to catch on to what he was implying; emotions ran high, varying from anger to disbelief.

Confirming his suspicions, Crion hung his head mournfully. To the man's credit, he did seem ashamed, but this shame was nothing compared to what Vegeta would do to him if he didn't fix this now. "I knew that if all went well, this would be the result. I wish I could have told you the truth then and there, but if I had, your actions may have been different. If that had happened, all might have been lost. I couldn't risk it."

"So you could risk Trunks's life then, is that what you could risk? What the hell kind of bull shit is that?!" Goten screamed, shaking with rage.

For once, Vegeta tended to agree. The Saiyan Prince let the rage flood over him until he was almost bursting with anger, with malicious the intent of wringing the man's neck. His son would be no one's scapegoat. Not now, not ever. He would pay for this but for now, regrettably, he had to wait. If the idiot could help Trunks, then Vegeta had to keep him alive; there was no getting around it. Nevertheless, it never hurt to give someone a nasty little push in the right direction.

"Remember what I told your sorry ass that day when I left for Earth? Let me refresh your memory. I swore that if my son died as a result of that cursed power you gave him, that I would kill you. I wouldn't want to break a promise, now would I?" Vegeta seethed, so ice cold even a flaming meteorite would be hard pressed to thaw him out.

Crion merely nodded, neither denying what had been said, nor defending himself against the words. "Of course not. I truly am sorry for things having to be this way, but there was nothing else left to do. I would have trapped that poor creature myself if I had held the power, physically and mentally, to do so. Alas, I could not. My prime is long behind me, and I grow old and weakened. Perhaps it does not seem so, but it is true. I wish I could have taken him down myself, but his physical powers were far beyond mine. Without physical prowess on my side, I may as well have been powerless against him. However, Trunks…he has power both physically and mentally. I daresay, because of that, he has surpassed me. That is the reason you were able to defeat him."

The Kanassan sighed, rubbing his eyes wearily. "I fear it must be partially my fault that Braeden turned out the way he did, so naturally I feel responsible. If I do not succeed in bringing Trunks back to you all, then please; do with me as you wish."

Vegeta was suspicious. He couldn't believe the man had actually agreed to his own death. Not that it mattered either way, but that wasn't the point. "You'd damn well better have a plan," he replied, voice nothing less than that of an authoritive tyrant.

"I do. I have been preparing for this even before I met Trunks and yourself. Letting this brave young man die was never my intention. I vowed that I would do all in my power to bring him back to you. I have no intention of breaking that promise," Crion said. Even Vegeta, though somewhat grudgingly, had to admit that the man sounded sincere. Everything he'd said thus far was sincere. Damn it all to hell.

"What exactly do you plan to do with him?" Piccolo asked, voicing the question on everyone's lips. "I already tried to draw him back to the outside, I couldn't do a thing." Much to the Saiyan's amusement, he looked and sounded slightly irritated. Oh look, how cute. The Namek's feelings have been hurt, Vegeta smirked to himself, glad that he could once again adequately put sarcasm to use. It was the one thing that always kept him going when all else seemed lost.

"With all due respect my dear Namekian, your powers are not on the same level with mine. If there is one thing I am capable if doing, it is dwelling within one's mind. I cannot guarantee if I will succeed; my vision, unfortunately, does not see that far. However, I can promise one thing," the Kanassan declared, the utmost confidence almost making him swell within his light-weight armor.

Crion turned his head and met Vegeta's eyes, violet clashing against steely onyx. In that one eerily clear moment, Vegeta felt he could see anything, understand everything; anything that had ever seemed too baffling for him to grasp now felt closer, as if he could reach out and touch all of the knowledge he had ever sought. He couldn't explain it, but in a rare moment of wonder, he didn't care. Everything seemed clearer; everything somehow seemed right. "I will do anything and everything within my power to bring him back to you."

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Alrighty. This was going to be the second to last chapter, but I've decided to extend it. It would have been far too rushed to put it all into one chapter. So, this story is now an extra chapter longer. Be happy about it ^_^

Thanks for reading, and as always, reviews are appreciated.