Disclaimer, in case it wasn't obvious. I don't own Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, or really any other property. Thank you.
The Long Road
Chapter 60: Darkness
Cell Junior:
There was nothing but billowing ruins in front of him as his tail retracted back into his body, the last of his victims being absorbed into his perfect frame. This planet had been little more than a stop gap from when he'd arrived in the system, spending weeks in hibernation before arriving here. It was primitive, and its warriors were yet more primitive. In essence, it was all but helpless to resist, most of the biomater he'd absorbed was simply assimilated into his own being for power and nothing else. There was almost never a time he'd wished to have a trait from one of his meals, even if he could take on their powers or features from simply devouring them.
The principal issue on his mind however, was not the meal of a planet he'd just consumed, but the entity he'd sensed between stars as it passed him by. Its power had been immense, so much so it even brought his own mind to question if he could have destroyed it. It showed just how expansive and dangerous the universe could be, of course. Whatever this creature had been, it'd been able to sense him, and identify him, despite having no prior contact or connection to one another. It was quite the experience, even as it passed back into the void. What other creatures lurked in the darkness between stars, he wondered.
Even if they would all inevitably be conquered and destroyed by him, for having the audacity to exist as a flawed creature in this cursed universe. It expanded his interest in that it showed that what lay beyond for him didn't have to sit necessarily safely in the orbit of some star or major astral body. Not that it mattered particularly in the shorter term, his power would grow one day enough for him to return home. If only so he could annihilate it and everything on it. Fulfilling his father's purpose was one of the few things he determined worthy of his attention. Existence without his orders was still a painful separation to endure.
Every day for over a decade in Earth's time, was a day he felt as if he was struggling to hold on to the fabric of reality whilst climbing a mountain. The mountain of his father's ideals, and of his own disdain for the very flawed universe which he existed within.
I have achieved a level of power my father would have never imagined, yet I am still flawed, inferior to that creature on the craft. If that thing could be that strong, then it is conceivable that the Earth's inhabitants could achieve such strength. Even Vegeta.
He and his brother had been hit by the blast by the Saiyan, unleashing an attack of a magnitude they couldn't possibly hold back. Before his own retinas burned away, he could see his sibling being washed away entirely in the stream of pure energy. The attack was one he too had mastered, and even to this day using it horrified him, even whilst simply training and testing his skills in the vacuum of space.
"You don't have to be what you are. You could be so much more than this monster that you've embraced."
Raising an eyeridge, he turned his head to one side, looking towards the figure which was standing there. The tall, heavy figure stood there with its friendly eyes but a serious face. It was always the same when he had these bizarre moments alone in reflection recently, when morality came into the equation. The name and classification of this being was Android 16, however Cell knew full well that there was no way that this could be the real Android 16, given he was destroyed, and was a complete automaton, meaning he had no soul with which to haunt him. Based off his own reasoning, he was hazarding that being alone in the depths of space for so long, with virtually no contact with any other being, and because he was a flawed image of his father in terms of his own design, he'd lost a certain portion of his sanity.
"You really are an annoying construct," Cell commented openly. "I'm glad that our encounters are so few and far between."
"Your nature is more complicated than you wish to give it credit for. With Cell gone, you can be whatever you wish to be. Within you, you have the genetic makeup of humanity, the Arcosians, the Namekians, and the Saiyans. You don't need to be exclusively like two of your four makeups. The evil of your creator-"
"The same tired conversations as well, I see," Cell junior remarked. "I will destroy all life in this meaningless universe. I will have my revenge as well. It is my purpose for being, fulfilling the destiny my father set me on."
"Your father made you as a tool for him to use. You are a tool without a hand to guide it. Stop listening to the last orders of a long dead figure. Think for yourself, what would you do? What orders would you give?"
Ugh, that was the most disgusting part. Of course he'd been a tool. That was what he was designed to be. What kind of orders would he give something like himself? Well, he'd order them to take his revenge on the Saiyans and the Earthlings, that would be the first on the order of things.
"But what after that. Surely you don't want to destroy all life. You are life. When it is all gone, and you are the only thing left, will you destroy yourself?"
That was a strangely good question. It was for a moment that he paused to consider his answer, before beginning to chuckle.
"I am beyond all other life in the universe, and even I am a sliver away from my father's true perfection. If given the opportunity to know that I'd destroyed all the unworthy specimens in this universe? I would self-terminate if required," Cell pointed out, unfazed in his amusement as he did. "It would be the final completion of my task, I suppose."
When he took two steps to the side to fully face the figment of his imagination, Cell was met by a blank nothing instead of a tall, green clad android. For a moment, he could almost sense something masking itself, perhaps bringing into doubt if this green clad Android was in fact actually what he was viewing, or if something was tampering with him, but anything that powerful would surely have been able to be detected. Still, there was one thing it did excite within him, and left him thinking it with a genuine smirk.
A universe devoid of all life?...
Perfect.
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Turles:
"God damn it, Turles, you fucking killed him," Gohan hissed angrily. "What the Hell was that? I was trying to have a reasonable conversation with him-"
Whining.
You know, that was something he never really attributed to Gohan before all of this happened. The boy had gone soft to an extent, whining was just apart of that he supposed. Firstly, he killed the grand architect of the empire who annihilated their species, so who cared if they were having a pleasant conversation? Worse, they were having a conversation about their old boss, someone complicit in its destruction, and a weakling who held no power over either of them.
When he worked for Cooler, it was just a job. Cooler was the one issuing contracts, and it kept him far away from Frieza's space. You started destroying planets and selling the remains near Planet Trade Space? You'd have to be mad to not give the Arcosians their cut, not unless you were stronger than they were. Sometimes you just had to play ball... when you're weak. Now here they were placating the cowardly old man of Frieza's, it was embarrassing. Worse, he showed him just how much a brown-noiser he must have been. Survival at any cost, that described Gohan perfectly and Turles knew it. If anything it made him smirk in mild disdain for a moment.
It spoke so well of who the boy was. Certainly, he was the son he never had, that much was still true. But this moment gave him the chance to reflect on the boy. Gohan was a chameleon. He was whatever he needed to survive in any environment. He learned to adjust and adapt to his surroundings. Taken as a child? Learn to be a killer. Mercenary work? Take up the job. Personal henchmen? Whatever it took. Board member to the Planet Trade? Change face quickly, change the way you speak and become some numbers driven pencil pusher, who happens to execute those below him. Arrives on Earth? Loses, presumably, and then immediately shifts gears again to be something else.
"A reasonable conversation with the same creature who would have seen you dead without a second thought. You don't need him at all. And besides, we've got better things to do than listen to you regurgitate corporate profit listings," Turles pointed out bluntly. "Supposedly, you were going to learn to expand your power. And I've spoiled it by using it to save you, so you saw it for yourself."
Already, Turles could see the wheels turning behind Gohan's eyes as he continued to smirk, though now more smugly. He'd meant it before when he said Gohan owed him, and they'd talked about it before. He owed him more than ever now, as far as he was concerned. He pulled his corpse out of the abyss, and now he was going to learn a technique which would make him even stronger.
"Yea, I saw it," Gohan admitted, not saying much else, and Turles knew he was still processing.
"And I don't need it," he added, slowly beginning to hover.
... What?
"I owe you enough favours, Turles," he then added. "And I know what you're lobbying for. I can't just have you brought back to life."
Rage.
Immediately that was what he felt. The normally stale air tasted bitter as it sucked in through his nostrils the second they flared. Of course he was motivated by leaving this miserable nightmare. Of course he wasn't wholly supporting his wayward former ward because he cared, though that was a contributing factor. He wanted to leave this miserable plane and return to life. This time he wouldn't make the same mistakes, especially with the excess of power he had. He could leave that stupid blue ball alone, with Kakarot and his wretched friends, and then he'd be able to lay claim to the universe itself. He'd unlocked the truest form of power any Saiyan could achieve, as far as he was concerned. And now he was going to even pass that knowledge on to Gohan, if only for another opportunity to place him in his debt, and instead he was being told that all the good will, all the credit, he'd earned, was bad credit.
"After everything I've done, you're still going to spit that pitiful excuse back at me," Turles sneered with disgust. "You had your second chance, and you're going to deny me mine. Is that how this is, Gohan? You're too good for me now. But you're not too good to accept my help pull you out of the fire, save your life or even your existence. But you're too good to help me when I ask for something in return."
"You had your second chance," Gohan's voice came back towards him. "I owe you, that is true, but I'm not going to repay you by bringing you back."
Disbelief washed over him as he saw Gohan staring back down at him, the other Saiyan trying to contain himself.
I've already had my second chance?
Fury replaced disbelief as Turles felt crackled golden lightning rippling between his fingers, his hands tightening a moment later as he felt his teeth grind together. When was his second chance? Being down here, was that his second chance? Saving him, was that his second chance? His hair arched upward as it shifted in colour a moment later, a golden aura rolling over his frame.
"Gohan," he seethed, slowly beginning to lift off after him, hearing the thrum of the aura around him echoing through him. "You have some nerve. When was my second chance? You got your soft landing on a blue dot where people cared about your heinous corpse. When was mine?"
Let's see you rationalize this, you-
"Where were you after Slug?" Gohan's voice responded. "I know you survived. You never came back. You were free. Cooler would never have known what you were going to do. So what was the first thing you did? You got yourself a ship, and stole an ancient artifact that let you grow a tree that let you consume the lives and life essence of whole planets? That's what you did with your second chance."
His eye twitched as he felt his anger only build.
"The third chance was when I asked you to give up on the Earth. I was even going to go with you, because I'm an idiot, because I thought I could go back to what I was. But you know what? You had another chance. Third chance? How many chances can you get, but you'll turn back to what you were, without a second thought," he said, his voice hardening. "What's going to happen if I bring you back, Turles?"
This time I would change everything. I'd not let myself get bogged down in a battle I shouldn't have waged.
"The truth."
With his green-blue eyes staring back at the boy he raised, Turles felt his sneer only increase.
"I would do what I always envisioned a Saiyan should do. I would seek out the most powerful opponents I could, and overtake them to show my own strength. Just like you should be doing. Conquest in the name of a greater ideal of what it is to be a Saiyan is not wrong. Eradicating whole worlds of inferiors is not wrong. It is the nature of what we are," Turles shot back.
"So is that why we've all ended up down here? Is that why we're going to spend an eternity, dmaned to this barren wasteland of despair? I want something better, and if not for me, than for the people who come after me," Gohan fired back at him. "And that is why I'm not wishing you back."
Ingrate.
Before another word could be spoken, Turles lashed out. His fist blasted through the air before slamming into Gohan's cheek, sending the untransformed Saiyan tumbling back through the air before he skid across the grey dirt below. The ground below the transformed Saiyan shifted in the blink of an eye before he slammed his elbow into the side of Gohan's chest, causing his son to slam into the ground, cracking the Earth beneath them.
"Get up," Turles snarled. "Get up and fight me. Let's see if you can overpower me this time. At least then I can say I beat you and so you left me down here."
Coughing for a moment, the younger Saiyan sat up, but shook his head.
"I'm not going to fight you."
The words may have said that out loud, but Turles could see behind them. He wasn't worth fighting. This arrogant kid thought he wasn't worth fighting against? He was stronger than he was. Worse, he was the one who just bailed him out.
"Fight me," Turles ordered, before driving his fist back down into Gohan's face, just as he skid in front of him, kneeling down to strike the downed Saiyan.
This time when the blow landed, he could hear part of Gohan's nose fracture from the first blow. The response his 'son' gave was to just stare back at him. So he swung again, and then again. His arm started to swing back and forward with each blow, each one making a hard wet sound after his nose fully broke. His sneer only deepened after each blow, before finally pulling up the bloody and broken face in front of him. Blood was leaking from the side of Gohan's face, above his left eye and out of his left cheek, and it was swelling and deeply bruise. Blood filled it mouth as well, as noted when he spat out a wad of phloem, blood, and spit to the side.
"Still not intent on paying your debts?" Turles snapped. "Still think you can just turn your nose up at me? After everything I've done?"
There was a cough, before Gohan started to chuckle, looking back up at him.
"You can't hurt me. You can just cause me pain," he said. "And you know I'm more than used to pain. I'm not going further into debt, and I'm not paying you back by bringing you back."
Another spit from his mouth revealed more blood, this time hitting the grew next to them .
"So if you want to beat the Hell out of me, have fun, because I'm not going to-"
One more angry strike came down, this time smashing into Gohan's face full force. The body went limp immediately before his body collapsed back into the dirt. The bones in his neck had shattered on impact, so it was obvious he'd killed him. It wasn't as if it mattered anyway, he'd be back, like all of them were when this miserable nightmare deemed it so. The betrayal he'd witnessed still made a foul taste in his mouth.
If I'm not going to get out of here through you, fine. That just means I'll need to find another path. I have conquered the very fabric of this realm, and if needed I'll simply find or coerce whoever I need-
"Without teaching the boy, you may have condemned him and almost every on the Earth to oblivion," Bardock's voice cut in from behind him. "That includes Kakarot, his other children, and the remains of the Saiyan race."
Turning his eyes to the side, Turles smirked.
"So? That sounds like the problems of the living," he remarked, before shoving Gohan's body angrily.
"The boy is right about you," he remarked. "He still cares, which in many respects is his undoing. But he's not going to bring you back to life."
Storming over towards his own father, Turles prepared to reach out to strangle him. He was tired of all this ridiculousness.
"I will find a way back to life, old man, and when I'm done I'll be taking my place as the rightful ruler of the universe."
It took several seconds, before Bardock smiled.
"You're right Turles, you will find a way to return to life, in a way. But you'll be defeated again, and when its done, maybe death would have been the merciful way to exist, maybe not..."
His hands clasped around his own father's throat a second later, and the other Saiyan gagged for a brief second, before he smiled.
"Your own weakness..." he breathed. "... is that... for all your ruthlessness... you... can't..."
Before Bardock could finish, his throat was crushed inward, blood splattered out of his mouth before he gagged several times. Dropping his corpse to the ground next, Turles just breathed in and out furiously.
As if your little reading of the future is going to be true. I make my own fate, old man.
Turning his eyes upward, he looked at where King Cold's body was, before turning his gaze back towards Gohan, and then finally towards his fallen father. None of this mattered right now, but there was one thing that would matter, and it would have consequences.
Because once he returned to life, once he got his second chance... he was going to do anything to keep it, and fulfil his destiny.
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Towa:
Damned Namekian.
That cursed green freak had ruined her plans, and she knew exactly why. She could sense the time distortion, and thought nothing of it, but now it was incredibly evident that the Namekian of all people, had received a significant benefit from more time travel and interchanging. It was the Supreme Kai of Time, she knew it. All of it was to undermine not only the Saiyans, but her own plans. The principal problem was, that this wasn't just about rebuking these Siayans from this timeline, but building something new out of all of it, in order to of course, challenge the status quo.
The plan to send Vegeta into Hell to learn from Turles, who would be coerced through the dark energies which they had at their beck and call, meant that it complicated things. To overtake any of the Earth fighters with this power would be seen, rightfully so, as an act of aggression, which would further complicate their situation. Which of course only further limited the tools which they had in their toolbox to deal with these creatures.
Not only do these Saiyans need to be vanquished, but I need to see about defeating these Kais and turning all of these creatures to my advantage. Instead I find myself blocked. Vegeta would have been the perfect subject to turn.
Turning her attention to Mira, she just stared at him as they reemerged into the demonic realm. Her lips were tight with frustration and annoyance as she eyed him sharply.
"So, this is a complete mess now. Even if we somehow stop these Saiyans from destroying these fools, it leaves us no closer to dominating this reality from within, nor does it allow us to harvest these warriors and their energies to conquer other realms for ourselves."
Mira continued his stoic look and response, just shifting his red eyes towards her.
"Without knowing which of the emerging futures we are going to participate in, it is impossible to properly plan. There are too many probabilities now, and too many of them have an unfortunate outcome, even for us."
The worst part about what these cursed travellers had caused, from Trunks, to these Saiyans... even themselves, is that they'd created so many timelines, so many alternate realities, and so much chaos, it was impossible to actively do as they wanted. The river of time now flowed through so many outlets, that it was bleeding new realities and timelines in an ever expanding "timeverse". To be the version of herself that could be stuck in a hopeless situation was hardly desirable.
"And the only outcomes we've seen where there is any remote chance for us to achieve a victory over these Saiyans, and begin to achieve what we want, are the worlds where we directly intervene," Mira reminded her, being able to tell what she was beginning to think, wondering about embarking on this venture at all. "And you have made it abundantly clear, to be unable to expand your plans for more power is unacceptable."
With an annoyed glance, she turned her gaze back to him, rather than staring into space as she had been.
"Then we are going to have to bet on a different horse then, now won't we?" she responded, her entire frame trying to conceal how irritated she was by all of this.
Trunks, Goku, and Piccolo were all eliminated as candidates, and now Vegeta most definitely seemed to lack viability. There were certainly other warriors across the stars, but how successful could they be supporting them, and then using them to harvest more energy or to wage their battles.
Walking ahead in the cursed landscape she possessed, she cast her wand in front of her as a series of portals appeared, showing moments, snapshots, across time and space.
There were a multitude of of these frozen moments, each one of them now only possibilities to guide her, rather than certainties to interject on. That was the worst part of all of this destruction of the time stream and the seemingly infinite expansion of different timelines and universes. The problem was they were going to need to plant the seeds that would be harvested later, soon. Control over fighters such as Vegeta, or perhaps maybe Gohan, were their principal priorities.
In truth, she was envious of her alternate reality selves, which she knew there were thousands, who had worlds ravaged by Majin Buu, or had been conquered by her brother Dabura.
At least in those worlds, there were ample subjects to utilize.
Looking towards one of the windows in space, she could see a strange figure, one she didn't recognize. It was a tall figure wearing what she could only describe as a military uniform? It appeared very formal, and this alien was clearly wearing a cap concealing its full head. Still, the green skinned, black clad creature, was standing in front of several warriors with a confident gaze set ahead. The moment in time couldn't expand further back, but she could see the edges of the head's of Vegeta and Goku. This creature's power was immense, but the problem was she had no idea what motivated it, and if it could be manipulated.
And even with that stated, she had no idea who it was, or where it was. That eliminated it very quickly.
The next image made her sneer with disgust, seeing a member of Frieza's species. The creature was named Cooler. This was a potential candidate, but she knew full well how ruthless and treacherous this species was, even if they were attempting to influence his power and mind. The real surprise was that even in this slice in time, his power level seemed to be significantly more than she would have expected. In fact, everyone in the panel, even his private guard, all seemed to be much stronger than they would have been under any reasonable conditions. The real problem, which made the disgust move in, wasn't Cooler. It was the creature to his left, stnading near the shadows. That was a Kai... that was the Grand Kaioshin, in fact. The slender Kai was a replacement for the one which had been destroyed by Majin Buu, and it was influencing Cooler already.
That was the surprising part behind all of this, in finding a new series of points of interests, beyond Goku and his friends. Each one of them were unknown quantities to her, due to the fact that they either were coming out of nowhere, or because they were seemingly in the pocket of another. The fact that Frieza's brother was collaborating with a Kaio was utterly stunning, for either of them.
The next image she turned towards was an immediate non-starter. Garlic Junior? She had observed his betrayal of the Kaio which was now helping Cooler. His sadism was also his ultimate undoing as well, unable to finish what he started, because he sought to make his enemies suffer for daring to oppose him. It was interesting however, that he had been the most successful monster which had plagued the Earth in recent years, despite coming up short. Still, the key issue was trust, and known quantity. This Makyian Demon had his chance, and failed.
With only a few other windows into different moments in time remaining, she glanced to the next creature waiting her attention.
Its blue carapace was being discoloured by the flames of the burning alien city around it. This creature was one of almost pure destruction. The last remnant of the creature known as Cell. This was remarkable, namely because her timeline was one of the only times where this creature survived more than an hour or two after its birth. It was fast, strong, ruthless, and sought revenge. Ideally, this creature would be the perfect one to infuse with Dark Energy and manipulate. The chief problem of course was its other motivation, which she'd kept tabs on. It seemingly wanted to annihilate all life in the universe, and that would likely encompass Mira and herself as well. It wasn't able to be controlled, because it wasn't possible to give it what it wanted past the destruction of Goku and his friends. It couldn't be guided after that point, and would surely try to destroy them.
Even if they harvested its energy, it was so survivable that it may survive the experience, or any experience to wipe it out, and would only return stronger. This wasn't a useful tool, which was only more frustrating to notice.
What a deeply frustrating spread of warriors. Vegeta really was the best candidate, perhaps I can still see-
The next window in her gaze had a pair of Saiyans in it, Saiyans all too familiar of course. The first was Son Gohan, the wayward son of Goku. This monkey had been apart of her brother's recent death, though was not individually responsible for it, that was the Namekians doing. He was certainly tainted by a past of destruction and violence, as well as a ruthlessness that could best be described as utterly depraved. The problem was that he was no longer that creature, and she was more than away of that. He'd been able to resist the temptations of creatures such as Babidi, not out of his goodness, but out of ironically, hatred of Babidi. The next problem was motivation, given that from all she'd seen, he no longer really fought for selfish reasons. This eliminated him as a candidate almost immediately.
Of course, the one behind him, Turles, was a special one. His selfishness had created an entire reality which had spawned the threat that was coming to destroy much of this universe's powerful warriors. In this world, he'd raised Gohan to be the ruthless, corporate fascist that had been purging planets of life in order to advance his own agenda. It was really remarkable of course, but the biggest problem with Turles, who would have been a superb candidate to use as a weapon, and then as a means of dominating others, was the fact he was dead.
Sneering, she cast her staff away angrily, shattering the images in the air in front of her.
"I take it that you find the most powerful candidates wanting," Mira asked.
"How did you guess?" she seethed in turn. "All of them have problems, and would either turn on us and destroy us, or would never be turned in the first place."
"I envy the counterparts of us who have a universe filled with more viable candidates. What I wouldn't give for a Majin Buu, or Baby. I would even take-"
Pausing, she looked up towards the red tinted sky above her.
"Hmm," she just pondered for a moment. "No, no that wouldn't do either."
"What?" Mira enquired. "What wouldn't do?"
"Turning the Invading Saiyans to our whim. It wouldn't work either... or would it?"
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Brass:
"They were here," a furious Taro seethed. "I didn't want them here. I could feel him... overshadowing me. As if I should allow something greater than myself in my presence."
This had been going on for hours now since they'd finished purging this world. They'd not left yet because Taro was having some kind of fit because of the "Blue Man" he saw and sensed. It made things all the more uncomfortable for himself and he presumed for Junia as well. For now, he just stood atop the remnants of the Capsule Corporation building, often their last stop, as Taro paced aggressively over the corpse of his dead... alternate. Crossing his own arms, he just wanted to announce how bored he was, listening to his elder brother rant and rave.
Tilting his head to one side, he wondered if all of that power he had was worth what it'd done to Taro himself. Taro had never been the most stable, but he'd at least hadn't been a madman. Whatever process he'd been doing to consume the power of these alternate versions of himself, was driving him to lose his mind. When they were children, certainly his father had been far more harsh to Taro than himself, but at least Taro had been a trusted warrior and commander. He remembered how he would always smile just like their father before he realized he'd outfoxed an opponent of meaningful power. Even when they'd first started this quest across realities, times, and space, he recalled just how, even if he'd been weaker than himself, Taro always managed to get the better of any warrior they came across.
It wasn't until they finally started to come across Trunks, and his brother had some kind of 'moment of realization' that he put it, that he'd started to kill and drain these other selves. Personally, he didn't see the resemblance, how could they be other versions of him when they had different parents? This Trunks he kept on thinking was himself, was fathered by Vegeta and Bulma, just like Junia was. Now, he didn't know who Taro's real mother was, but he knew who his father was. At best that just made these creatures his 'half brothers', hardly himself. But it'd taken some kind of thrall over him, and he could never understand why.
The only thing about all this was, was his madness worth all that power. The power to be the strongest in the universe, to be utterly impervious of the will of others, to truly be liberated. It could mean having his chains fully, truly broken. It was what he always dreamed of, but now he was seeing the high price of what Taro was paying to be the most powerful being in the universe. Because as far as he could see, short of their father or Vegeta, nothing in any of these universes came close. Majin Buu, Son Goku, and any random or strange alien they came across was nothing but fodder against him. Most of the time he didn't even need to transform to any state.
"Do you ever miss home?" Brass asked, turning his head to Junia. "You know, real home. Back in our time?"
In truth, after years of hopping through dimensions destroying everything, he sincerely wished he could return if only for a moment to have all this power and be seen to have it. Perhaps he'd get to see his mother, someone who always seemed to be distant. The power in its own way, was the only thing that filled the void in him, and gave him hope of having more. But often it was just more power, wasn't it?
"Why?" she responded harshly. "So I can go back to Vegeta's little cage? Hardly. You're always so sentimental. Its pathetic."
Rolling his eyes, he always found it so irritating how aggressive she was to him any time anything other than fighting came up. Of course, there was the problem that they brought with them, not Taro, but the fact that he'd been perfectly happy to fuck her for almost two years while they were conquering the galaxy in the name of their fathers, but the second her own father approved of him, she became as frigid as a frozen fish. Truthfully, he didn't get the full disdain. Her father was protective of her, and didn't teach her how to fight. So what? They were powerful warriors who needed to deal with the pain of loss and failure in their lives, that was what it meant to not only be a warrior, but to be alive.
"There is more at home than just Vegeta being an asshole," Brass responded bluntly. "But it doesn't matter. I'm not going home until I'm the strongest being in the universe."
There was a short, rude laugh from her before she looked back down towards the pacing maniac that was his brother below.
"You'll never catch Taro. Don't you get it? As soon as he started eating those alternate reality brothers of mine, he ensured that he would be the strongest in the universe. As usual, you're in second place, Brass," she responded. "I've come to temper my own expectations. But Taro will be the strongest, there is no room for any others at the top, not anymore."
I'll never catch him doing what I'm currently doing.
"Oh I know," Brass responded roughly. "But the question becomes, what would you do for more power?"
Her eyes sharply glared at him a second later.
"And what's that supposed to mean, Brass?"
"You always were terrible at picking up on signals," he responded to her. "I will be the strongest being in the universe, by any means. I am going to be free, and if you want to lag behind, that's up to you, Junia."
I've not got anymore time for your bullshit.
Hopping down, he slammed into the ground in front of Taro, before beginning to walk towards him. There was no need to be afraid or concerned, because if this didn't work out he wasn't going to get what he needed anyway. But fuck it, what did he have to lose? It wasn't his dignity, he wouldn't recapture that until he at least started to close the gap with his brother.
"Taro," he shouted. "Stop pacing around and rambling."
His brother ceased moving, before casting him a dangerous look. Within seconds it melted however, as if he sensed what he was there for. That same, grim smile appeared, just like it used to, even if only for a moment.
"I knew I'd imagined you'd want this eventually," Taro responded, his head shifting towards him, eyes staring into his madly. "You want to know something, a new technique... I wonder, which one?..."
Looking him over a moment later, the smirk only grew.
"You want to start trying to complete yourself now, don't you?"
"Show me how to take the power from another," Brass ordered.
I don't care if I'm driven mad. I'll have all the power I'll ever need.
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Junia:
What the Hell is he doing?
Those were the only thoughts that came to mind as he blew her off, moving towards Taro. Despite him being an arrogant meathead, she'd always known Brass to be cautious when it came to decisions. He was the kind of fighter who took on battles he knew were to his advantage, and knew he was going to win. That didn't mean fighting people weaker than him, but it meant scouting out what he was doing. He hardly made any kind of rash decision. What she was watching unfolding below, almost made a shiver go up her spine.
It was something she'd never attempt, stealing the power from another at the risk of your own sanity. They didn't even fully understand how he drank his enemies, and now he was asking how to do it himself? Power should be earned through one's own training and battle prowess, that's what they all agreed on when they started this grand tour across time and space. But now, one by one, they were all being seduced away from their goals, weren't they? Taro was dragged away by jealousy and envy of these other 'people' he was eating, she could see the look in his eyes and the anger and ravenous envy when he assaulted Trunks at his core. The origin of such a want she didn't understand, but she understood he'd completely lost his mind. They were more endangered by continued association with Taro, than they were by the warriors they slew from one reality to another.
But now Brass was falling in line after him. It was somehow more disappointing because at one point, years ago, he'd seemed like a pillar of strength and stability. That was why she'd found herself latched on to him when she was a teenager. The ambitious one, the crown-prince of the little nightmare Turles called an empire, but more importantly he'd always been so confident. She remembered after they purged planet K'sorka, both of them covered in burns and cuts, as well as the deep purple blood of their enemies, he simply stole their first kiss.
Even now, no longer interested and no longer enamoured, she still saw some of Brass's better qualities, and knew that those were still the same strong pillars of stability she'd seen when they'd first started to ravaged the galaxy together. Watching the pair of them below, standing in the ruins of the Capsule Corporation property, she felt something somehow taint those memories.
The good die young.
Those words were once said to her by her mother, and she'd never understood what she'd meant by them fully, at least until now. For most of her life since she'd heard that, she knew it was when Bulma had described her friends who... hadn't made it. But there was a deeper meaning to that than just someone dying at a young age. Her father had been one of the people to oppose Frieza, and even Turles at first. But he sided with Turles after Kakarot was killed, and began to participate inside that system. Had he been good before that, had he been better? Perhaps he had, and the same was true for Raditz.
The good died young, because they'd yet to fall from grace.
Despite the fact that they butchered their counterparts, reality from reality, Brass always held true to his ideals. Now those ideals were being shed in the name of accelerated personal gain, in order to try and compete with the madman who'd slowly twisted the nature of their mission into his own personal feast. So now she would be dealing with two power sucking beasts?
You always managed to disappoint me, Brass.
Well, it wasn't entirely true, but it had been since her father told her she was going to be shackled to him for the rest of her life. Personal flaws and shortcomings had a way of shining through once the romance was killed. But still, disappointed was beyond what she felt right now, because even if she was distant to Brass, he'd at least been someone sane to speak with. What was going to drive her over the edge? Losing to Vegeta and needing to be bailed out? Would that drive her over the edge? Because right now, she saw Brass lose his mind because he couldn't be the absolute strongest on his own.
I'm going to need to start thinking about what the Hell I'm going to do when I'm on my own, which is rapidly approaching.
The real question was now, how long before they were back on that other Trunks' trail...
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Gohan:
It was so cold.
When he opened his eyes, they couldn't see anything at all. The sky was utterly black, or was it even the sky? It was vast, stretching out as far as he could see across a vastness of space he couldn't imagine. His nostrils flared, looking for air, only to find the dull sensation of suffocation, mixed in with the sensation of his skin and blood slowly freezing, halted only briefly by the ki in his body burning outward. This was unlike any other time he'd died before, what made this different? It wasn't even like the last desperate moments before he drowned in a vortex submerging him into a near frozen existence on a lower level of Hell.
This place was just... empty.
Turning his head from side to side, he stiffly looked for any sign of anything. This was like the vacuum of space, only there were no stars. Not only were there no stars, there were no galaxies. It was a dead zone. Immediately his heart stopped as he realized exactly what this was. This was being stuck in that horrible place again, wasn't it? Was he living a nightmare of being sealed away inside the Dead Zone? Was that what this was?
Managing to twist his body, he felt himself managing to finally turn towards something that could be best described as light. It was distant, it was so far away and it was shrinking into the distance. Was it the entrance of the Dead Zone?...
No.
It wasn't, it was something entirely different. The fading light in the distance felt familiar, it felt like something he wished he could reach out and touch. Inside of it he could sense... life? It felt like everything he'd left behind in his life was back there. His siblings, his mom, Pan, his dad, and everyone else. More than that, it was familiar in a much deeper sense... it was like it was everything he'd ever known, and it was slipping away from him. Panic washed over him as his arms flung wildly out for it, trying to grasp at the light as it fell further and further away.
What the Hell is all of this!? Where the Hell am I!?
"You're where you are meant to be."
A voice went through his mind as he tumbled helplessly through the void, trying to find meaning in all of this, trying to find out where he was, or why he was sensing this despair when he looked towards the fading light in the distance. Even with the voice in his head, he suddenly felt very alone. He felt more alone than he ever did whilst he was in Hell. Even the betrayal that had sent him here felt somehow long gone, into the distant past.
"This is your future, if you have the strength to take it. This is the future of a great warrior."
I don't care.
That voice was familiar, it reminded him of Bardock. Bardock, supposedly able to read the future. Was this him warning him about the future? Was that all this was? Or was this some kind of psychic deception and manipulative game that Bardock was playing. Turles seemed to despise Bardock, and Gohan didn't appreciate the way he spoke in such vague truths.
"No, Gohan. This is me telling you not to be afraid of being the warrior you need to be. A warrior must forget his past self. Just like when I took up the fight against Frieza, my past was left behind. I was condemned by my past to be down here, I felt the emptiness of space before Frieza killed me. The time is not now, it's not tomorrow, or even when you get back. But if you care about everything you sense in that fading light, you'll do the right thing when the time is right."
The right thing? When the time was right? Was the fuck kind of bullshit was he trying to tell him about?
Looking down at his hands as they slowly began to lose their feeling, being unable to see them himself. It wasn't going to be much longer, vision, dream, or whatever this was, and he'd be unable to hold his body together. The cold, now seemed so much more alive, so much more real. His lungs felt desperate for breath, but there was nothing here to breath and letting what oxygen he had left go seemed crazy. Shutting his eyes, he could feel ice fragments under his eyelids as he just tried to think of how to respond to Bardock before this nightmare ended and he could get back to the luxury of being in Hell.
What a pile of garbage. When the time is right? What right thing are we talking about? I'm freezing to death out here in a vacuum. My body is breaking down and if I didn't have ki, I'd have died over a minute ago. What is this about being a warrior? Shut up. No wonder Turles despises you. If you're going to tell me something-
"Think of this as a lesson then. If have any honour, or pride, or concern for the people you died to protect, remember this one thing."
And what's that?
"It all ends in darkness Gohan."
Before he could question it, he felt himself blink.
The familiar, yellow sky was above him, and the dull, lifeless air of Hell filled his lungs. Sitting up, he gazed around him, seeing not a single soul in his view, and instead seeing only mountains of spiked balls.
"So, it all ends in darkness," he murmured with annoyance.
Of course it does. I've died before.
Angrily, he pulled himself up, angry at Bardock, angry at Turles, and hell even angry at himself and Hell. Angry just best described him right now.
The only problem? Not a whole lot that could be done about that.
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Author's Notes:
Not a whole lot of notes this chapter I think. I've had a bit of time over the last 10 days, so I've put a lot of it into this guy here, but I can't promise updates this frequent obviously.
Next chapter, I suspect we're going to see stuff from Pan and 17, as well as Vegeta and Piccolo. Anything else is going to be more what I put on the whim. I may put a Taro perspective in there, as it just didn't feel like it'd fit in this chapter. I felt it more important to explain Gohan's POV for the end piece.
Reviewers:
Pyromania: 17 in this timeline isn't a saint, sure. But in the original series of events, he was a monster. Eventually he turned into a creature who used his power for fun, and his version of fun often involved human misery and torment. I think 17's perspective changed slightly when Cell ate him, or when he realized how far behind he was in power compared to others, but he definitely had it in him to massacre millions of people. We have evidence for that.
Max: He's definitely stronger than Brass or Junia, but weaker than Taro by a fair margain. It's hard to determine where I'd put Super Buu (base) in the overall scheme of things, and Mystic Gohan made him into a joke, but Super Buu is definitely stronger than Brass and Junia at this point.
Blades of Fury: 17's unlikely to be a big player in the story. He serves a roll for certain aspects of the story moving forward. 17 vs. Any of the threats coming forward, would be like Krillin vs. 4th form Frieza, only less people would be saddened by the outcome. :P
Guest: Sorry. Even when it gets updates when people beg me for them, I get really almost no feedback on it. Even beyond that, its view count even when it was regularly updated is very small. In fanfiction terms, it has a cult following, but that's about it. I'm actually adopting a few ideas from it and slowly weaving them into The Long Road. To be honest, Brass, Junia, and Taro actually come from a spoiled ie, bad outcome, variant of The Catalyst, where Turles kills Frieza and Goku. Originally that was going to be done to tie the two stories in together in an overall broader setting. But interest in The Catalyst utterly collapsed. Funnily enough, this was all planned so far in advance, I'm just not changing the story arc, because it works even without The Catalyst.
Perfect Carnage: Those two are crazy powerful in that world. They're literally consuming most of the life in their universe for more power. Its terrifying. I don't know who Pikami is :\
RaijuBlue: Yea, Turles couldn't mask his disdain or his aggression long enough for Gohan to finish his conversation. As you can see by this Chapter however, our Goku-looking comrade is also fed up by a lot at this point.
Anonymous: Because Abaddon sees the Saiyans as something that will destroy everything put in front of them, including galactic order. Hell, he's somewhat vindicated by the existence of the Trio. Good Saiyans can eventually spawn bad Saiyans, and if the bad ones end up like Turles, Vegeta, Broly, or Gohan, only none with a chance of reforming? Utter disaster.
Redhunter87: When Vegeta states someone isn't weak, it basically is an admission that they may be stronger than he is. Unless the gulf in power is dramatic, Vegeta won't admit to those kinds of things.
Guest2: Neither is this story. :\
Error: Again, the Garlic saga is actually my favourite one to date, I enjoyed writing it the most and I actually reread it the most of my sagas. So I'm going to tell you how this goes. If anon reviewers post reviews complaining about Garlic Junior going forward, I am just going to delete the review. These discussions are done. You didn't like it, tons more people did. Look at Chapters 45 or 46's reviews, and you won't see people demanding that I apologize for putting him in the story. So, this is done as far as I'm concerned. Going forward, reviewing my stories based off your disdain for Garlic, is just going to lead to a review I delete. No responses, nothing, just deletion. Have a great week.
G: I envisioned that these broken timelines almost flow like a river, moving in one direction even as they create new ones or timelines "bump" into one another. Its unlikely, though not impossible.
Super Mystic Gohan: Piccolo, even now, will always have trouble keeping up, because he lacks any real transformations. Essentially, Piccolo can beat any Saiyan without their transformations, or even their early ones, but as the story progresses, I don't know how I could justify keeping him running with the others. It's just not rational.
ShadowFFD: Yep. He's going to play a big factor behind all of this.
Brelic: Short term, maybe medium term, this increases his prospects. I dunno about long term however.
Guest3: I know this may sound really callous, but I again, don't really care about the new stuff and how it portrays their strength. I like Beerus as a character, and Whis, but I find the concepts that made them, ie their power and "godhood" to be pretty bad. I don't like how powers scale, and I still don't like it. Which is one reason why there won't be SSG or SSGSS in my story. So if the power scaling seems off, its because again, I don't really like the direction they are taking things.
Luke: Yea, he can chill out, enjoy life, pillage and destroy whole planets and attempt to seize power over the universe, it'll be chill. Lol
Dark Knight Shiva: Nah dawg, that battle is going to be legit. Besides, Piccolo's going to have a crisis of his own conscience I suspect as things move along.
Guest4: Power Bleed is absolutely going to be a factor in the story for a good number of characters.
Muten: Bioweapon would kill their own Saiyans as well. Too weak to imprison. The Deadzone was destroyed. Good luck forcing them into the time chamber. Guldo is dead, and unlikely to be trusted. Vegeta already tried shoving his boot in their ass, over 100 times, he keeps failing to do it though. Chi-Chi probably already tried that.
DBZ fan the first: Wait no longer.
Ziverad: Responded by PM.
PetrusMagnus: Piccolo knows the styles that the Trio fight with, yes.
Tomorrow4eva: Yea, that was brilliant. "Here comes a new challenger."