Disclaimer : Toriyama-san's characters are his... The other ones... are mine :p

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ASURA
Chapter Two: The Gathering

I JUST DON'T CARE ABOUT YOUR PATHETIC EXCUSES, PARAGAS!!

Vegeta's loud and raging shout achieved to wake up Goku, who sat on his bed and rubbed his eyes. He peered an asleep eye through the window and saw Vegeta who was walking with a fast pace towards the ship, Paragas running after him, and his son Broly, following calmly.

"Your Magesty...", Paragas mumbled, "it's just a question of time, we will surely--"

"TWO WEEKS OF RESEARCHES ABOUT THIS LEGENDARY SUPER-SAIYA-JIN, AND NO RESULT!!!" Vegeta interrupted him harshly. "I'M FED UP OF YOUR EXCUSES, I RETURN TO EARTH!".

Paragas was desperated. Goku flew from his window and landed in front of Vegeta. The latter stopped and straightened, annoyed. Paragas raised an eyebrow, surprised by Goku's arrival and wondering which kind of problems could happen now.

Goku spoke calmly: "I understand your reaction, Vegeta. Though, before leaving, I guess there are interesting things that need to be worked out."

Paragas was puzzled by this unexpected help from one of his enemies. Goku winked to him, much to his surprise and suspicion. "I'm sure that Paragas is hiding us something... about Broly for example".

Paragas felt something like an acid bubble in his stomach, but tried to register no emotion on his scarred face. Curiosity had gathered almost everybody at the place before the ship. Paragas felt sweat in his back, but went on, replying on a funny tone that sounded fake to Goku: "hiding something about Broly? But... there's nothing to hide." He turned to Broly who looked down at him with a questioning calm gaze. "Broly is a nice guy, a strong saiya-jin, ... But...", he turned to Vegeta, "if Bardaku's son means that Broly would be the Super Saiya-jin, it's stupid, Broly is weaker than me."

Vegeta considered Broly while Paragas was talking. His softness was annoying him to no end, but he had sensed some fighting skills in Broly, so there was perhaps some hope for the boy to become a good fighter anyway.

Paragas was talking to him, an arm showing the palace to lead Vegeta away from the ship, while mocking Goku's suspicion. Vegeta didn't want to listen to Goku. Actually, he didn't want to show he could listen to some of his advises. He started walking back to the Palace with a slow pace, escorted by a shining Paragas.

He hadn't made two steps that a familiar voice burst apparently from nowhere with rage: "It's a LIIIIIIIIIE!!!!!!". They all startled and turned to the direction of the cliff behind the ship, where the voice seemed finally to come from.

They all saw someone flying fast in their direction, then, when above them, the newcomer touched at his belt and dropped on his feet, a hand on the ground as if bowing before Vegeta. Purple hair... Trunks.

Then, Trunks raised and stood before them, gazing Paragas with an uncontained hatred. At that moment, they all gasped when taking a good look of Trunks.

The first thing that hit their mind was the length of his hair, attached in a ponytail behind him. Two long locks of hair around his face were showing that his hair was actually reaching his waist. He was wearing a torn blue jeans and a grey tank in no better shape. His clothes seemed to be worned out by time and dust and some dried blood spots were staining here and there. He was wearing some black kombat-shoes that seemed to be worn out also by time and countless fights. He had a sword on his back, but also something looking like a gun, resting on his side. On his belt, around his waist, was also a strange device. He had a bandana on his forehead to keep preventing his hair from coming down his face.

But most of the surprise they all got were from the look in his eyes and his face. Gohan blinked several times. He had seen Trunks with them the day before when they had brought some food to the slaves, but it was as if, in one night, Trunks had grown old of 10 years. His face seemed sharpened and more adult, but also wearing some scars, still inexistent the night before. A long, sinuous scar was barring his face from mid-forehead, till the bottom of his left cheek

His body was taller, but thinner than the day before. The muscles under his skin seemed to have elongated and were more nerves than flesh. His skin on his arms and throat was also displaying scars and burns.

Paragas' complexion was white. He didn't even notice he had stepped backwards. Vegeta DID noticed, as for him, but returned his attention to Trunks. He frowned. The boy had no ki...

"Paragas, you are done!", Trunks said with a voice lower and sharper than the voice they were all used to. Paragas blinked, trying to understand how this could have been possible, then tried to recover: "what are you talking about? I don't understand a word you say, it's NON-SENSE!!"

Trunks made a step to him, smiling coldly: "oh, I think you DO understand actually..."

"Who are you?", Vegeta said to Trunks with a scornful tone. Trunks turned to him cold eyes where you could read some astonishment. "What?"

"Do you think you can fool me?", Vegeta went on. "you have no ki at all, and don't exactly look like Trunks. You're no more than a cyborg!". Trunks continued to stare at Vegeta coldly, then smiled a little and turned to Paragas: "Ask him the reason why I don't have a ki any longer. Heh, Paragas?"

Paragas was trying to act innocent: "son, I have no idea what you are talking about". He was slowly trying to deactivate the device lowering Broly's strength. He was suspecting a fight in the next moments. Broly was gazing at Trunks clinically. Trunks felt his gaze and returned it with hostility. Broly clenched his fist and barred his teeth slightly.

Trunks turned to Paragas again, his eyes full of hatred: "Ten years...", he almost whistled between his teeth.

Gohan blinked and stared at Trunks. Had he heard right? He could swear he had never seen much hatred and despair into someone's eyes. He frowned anyway. Something was wrong in Trunks' eyes.

"I've been waiting for that moment for TEN years, Paragas!!!", Trunks went on. The wind blew softly in his hair, making realizing how long they had grown. Gohan gasped softly. He knew what was wrong with Trunks' eyes.

On the side of his head where the long and old scar was, his eye looked dead. Gohan remembered the way Trunks had turned to Broly, some seconds earlier. He could have simply stared at him from the corner of his eyes, but he had turned his head too, as if he couldn't see him otherwise. Gohan realized he was true: Trunks was one-eyed...

Everybody turned to Paragas, but before anyone could do anything, the latter fired at Trunks.

*****

"I've been waiting for that moment for TEN years, Paragas!!!", was Trunks' voice. Paragas was thinking fast. He was unable to understand how Trunks had survived, and especially, how he had escaped, but his time was short now. The boy, now a man, was right: he knew perfectly why he had no ki any longer, and he was going to use that advantage. Trunks, as a saiyan was a fast and resistant opponent; but as a mere mortal with no power, he would be easily killed.

Anyway, it was too late to play the innocent. He would kill the prince heir, and let Broly take care of the rest. He gathered rapidly his ki in his hand and fired at Trunks.

*****

Trunks saw the blast coming but didn't move. He knew that in his state, he was no match for Paragas if the latter used his power against him, so he just stayed and hoped.

There was a ki flash. The blast was destroyed before hitting his body.

All the Z-warriors had been caught off-guards and didn't reach Trunks soon enough to protect him. They were all surprised when the light went off to see Trunks still standing and alive, staring at Paragas with hatred. Before him, half his size, was standing a young blue-haired boy, his arm straightened and the palm open in a shield mimic.

The boy raised his head and smirked at Paragas who was still startled. Trunks smiled also to him: "do you think I'd be stupid at the point of challenging you with no power and no backups?".

He moved his arm very fast and the gun at his belt seemed to jump to his hand. The next moment, he was firing at Paragas.

Paragas had hoped to be fast or resistant to the classical-type of bullet, but he never recognized the material of the ammo. He just saw the result: the ammo went through his armor and pierced through his shoulder.

One of the guards took his gun and aimed at Trunks. There was a shot sound, but the guard was the one who fell on the ground, twisting in agony. A newcomer jumped from behind the cliff and landed on Trunks'side

The gun, still smoking from the previous shot, was held in a firm hand, and moved quickly to another direction to aim another guard, as a warning.

The Z-warriors got a clear view of the new comer: A tall, strongly built Saiya-jin in his mid-forties, with thick black hair held in a ponytail. His face was crossed by a long old scar, coming from the right side of the forehead, til the left side of the jaw. Indeed, his whole body and faced seemed worn out by pain and fights more then by age. He was wearing some kombat-cloth and a Kevlar suit. He had the same device than Trunks on his belt and a scaouter on his left eye. The look in his eyes showed that he had gone through Hell... exactly as Trunks.

"Long time no see, Paragas", the Saiya-jin said with a smile, still gazing at the guards.

"You...!!!", Paragas hissed.

Trunks was still aiming Paragas, who was holding his broken and bleeding shoulder. He smiled coldly and victoriously: "Next time, I'll blow your head!"

Paragas smirked, his fingers reaching for the deactivation-button for Broly's restraining collar: "kid, you can't get me twice with a weapon like that". He wanted so much to destroy the young prince with his bare hands, he realized he should have killed him the day before. But he realized also that if he tried now anything against the prince, one of the warriors would interfere. They were still surprised by Trunks and wouldn't defend him as automatically as before, but he suspected that at least one of them, Goku for example, would do something. His only hope was in Broly.

"CAN SOMEONE EXPLAIN ME ALL THIS?!" Vegeta finally exploded.

Trunks kept on staring at Paragas: "You should tell them about the comet which is supposed to hit this planet today..."

The Z-warriors all gasped and turned to Paragas, expecting an answer. Trunks didn't let Paragas the time to retort, and went on: "You should also tell them about the Asura."

"Huh?", Paragas retorted, still trying somehow to look somehow innocent

A shotgun punctuated his question. The older Saiya-jin had just fired on another guard who had tried to take his gun. Gohan blinked. Trunks remained his gaze fixed on Paragas, and breathed deeply.

"You should tell them about all the souls you sent to Hell for your twisted DELIGHT!", he had almost yelled on the word 'delight'.

Trunks was now breathing more deeply, looking at Paragas with pure hatred in his eyes. Goku realized that usually, in this state, Trunks would be near the point of Super Saiyajin, level 1. But here, he was still feeling no ki from the boy.

Vegeta was staring at Trunks and Paragas, one after the other, just glancing at the blue haired child near Trunks, and stopping his gaze on the older Saiya-jin.

Paragas regained composure when his fingers touched the remote button for Broly's collar. "you are a fool. All right... I do know why you have no ki. But even if I don't know how you managed to escape, let me tell you that it was a mistake from you to come back here in your state. What did you want? Taking your revenge? Did you hope to be a match for us?"

Trunks was staring Paragas expressionless. Paragas didn't know if the man in front of him wasn't realizing, or hiding his own doubts. He went on: "I don't think you escaped unharmed. I think your mind snapped during your journey there. Did you truly believe that leaving Asura would turn you back to what you were before going there?" He paused, while all the Z-warriors were trying to follow. "Haven't you realize you'll NEVER BE A SAIYA-JIN ANYMORE IN YOUR LIFE!". He pressed the button.

His voice echoed, as if bringing some dark threat of destiny. The Z-warriors stared at Trunks, none of them able to realize exactly the meaning of Paragas' words yet.

"And neither will you, Hiro.", Paragas went on calmly, gazing coldly at the older Saiya-jin.

If Hiro and Trunks were hurt by the words, they didn't show it. Trunks just crossed his arms in a pose made-in-Vegeta, moved his head on aside and smirked. "This has no importance...".

Vegeta, who was staring at Paragas, turned to Trunks, unbelieving. Was the boy not able to realize the true meanings of such a consequence? If what Paragas had just said was true, ...

Broly was gazing down at Trunks, recalling the events of the previous night, remembering how he had crushed and torture the young boy... How he had felt Trunks' life slowly fading away with the pressure on his throat. How Trunks had tried to fight back, and the long agony before he had finally felt the boy's body becoming limp in his hold. And the weird joy he had fell when his father had told that the Prince was still alive and would be sent to Asura.

And now, staring at the man in front of him, he realized that it would be even funnier to kill him, now that he was just a mere mortal, and especially aware of that. What an humiliation it would be for him...

Repeating his thoughts into a loop, Broly was slowly raising hi ki.

"The only importance is my revenge... OUR revenge!", Trunks finally screamed with a strength surprising for someone with no ki.

Suddenly, there was a sound behind Trunks, and echoing on the walls of the ship and of the castle, to finally give the feeling it was coming from all the directions around them. A soft bristling, like wings of hundreds of insects.

Neither Trunks, Hiro, or the kid moved, as if they knew what it was. Broly scanned the surrounding , distracted for a moment from his train of thoughts concerning Trunks. He couldn't feel any ki, so he relaxed, even if the noise amplified. Paragas, as for him, was tensed, as well as the rest of the Z-warriors. Only Gohan relaxed when he realized that Trunks wasn't registering any worry at all, but a growing assurance.

"There are some old friends who want to have a talk with you", he just said, smiling coldly.

At that time, they were hundreds. Surrounding them, flying at various heights in the air. The Z-warriors all heard the arming "click" of hundreds of guns and various weapons. Paragas guards were suddenly hesitant, holding their guns like people in the sea after a sinking would hold a piece of wood to prevent drowning.

Goku and Vegeta got a look at the gigantic army that had just appeared, while Paragas was moving backwards, his eyes widened with surprise.

Most of the warriors were wearing outfit alike Trunks'. Some of them had strange costumes, all worn out, and full of dust and blood. Those weren't an homogenised group. Vegeta recognized some other Saiya-jins among them, also some species he had met in the past, and also a large variety of species he had never heard about.

Three of the warriors landed around Trunks by manipulating the device on their belt. One of them was a woman with long dark blue hair held in a ponytail and orange-golden eyes. Another looked human, like a mid-thirty brown-haired man with a scaouter on his left eye. The third one looked barely human at all. His head was elongated, with no hair except for a kind of shell-diadem at the back of his head. He was wearing a long robe that had probably once been red and golden. His skin was extremely white and had some dark square-patches at the level of the temples.

The only common points of them were the look in their eyes. Vegeta frowned when he realized that whatever had happened to Trunks, he seemed to fit perfectly among that group, as different as they might be. Vegeta noticed something interesting. The warriors were displayed around Trunks in a specific pattern, as warriors protecting their leader and awaiting from his orders. It was funny in a way as Trunks was the smallest of the men, though he was sure his son was at least three inches taller than the day before.

*How could the boy have grown so fast?*, he wondered.

Vegeta felt something on his side, and turn to see Broly who had his gaze locked on Trunks. His ki was rising slowly, but continuously. He had already passed the level Vegeta was used from him.

Vegeta turned again towards the new group of warriors. All the adults were gazing Paragas or Broly indifferently. Only the blue-haired boy looked tensed while fixing Broly. Vegeta realized that the kid was the only one displaying a ki.

And he was sure he had already seen that kid somewhere, but... where?

TO BE CONTINUED...

*********************

All right... Second chapter... So far this is what you probably read (with some corrections) on the FANFIC TIME of the FUTURE TRUNKS DOMAIN. The good news is that there will be new chapters to come :)

(yet, I wonder... Are you really interested in that story? For I got only ONE review for chapter one.... Booo hooo hooo hoooo ;__; )

Alana Chantelune: yep, I'll translate it into French ;) Happy? :D

::Roselyne::