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 61:

Goku:

It'd been hours since he got here, and all Goku could find for himself was throwing punches into the darkness around him. If some neat kind of new training or hidden knowledge was coming, he was either missing it right now, or there was some kind of delay. If this room wasn't doing much right now, at least he could work on himself. There was always room for improvement after all. After a series of jabs, Goku sighed, starting to stretch again.

[i]Alright, after this next round, it'll be time to go Super Saiyan.[/i]

With a swing of his foot into the air, holding it in place, Goku tracked out a path across the circular, darkened room, before swinging into action. Kicks, thrusts, and punches attacked the invisible enemy around him before his fist landed true, slamming into a face he'd not seen, but certainly felt. A familiar cry shrieked through the air before a dull thud carried through the room. Blinking several times, the Saiyan from Earth was left shocked until he realized that he'd just hit someone, probably someone who was supposed to be apart of how this room trained him!

Immediately the room was lit up as he transformed. Golden energy illuminated all as he looked down.

"Oh man, I'm sorry, I didn't hear you come in and it was pitch black in... here..."

There was a long pause as Goku started to sit up. As in, there was a long pause because he was looking almost in a mirror at himself. There was a long pause as the opposite of him stood up, looking squarely back at him with a friendly smile, brushing the small bruise forming on his cheek.

"Hey, that's no problem. Man, I should really be more careful when training. I guess I should say both of us," he laughed, before uncomfortably rubbing the back of his head. "But, I got the call to come here from my world because apparently you guys are in for a real fight. Apparently in my world we all progressed a lot faster than you guys have though, so I'm going to be teaching you a few tricks?"

Faster than he had? That's crazy. It wasn't that he didn't believe he could get stronger, he knew he could and proven that a lot. The surprise to him was that this version of him was implying that they'd advanced even faster. That didn't seem possible, but then again here he was literally talking to himself. As in, literally talking to an alternate reality copy of himself. Part of him wanted to know what happened, but what he really wanted to know, was what this guy... uh, himself? Could teach him.

"Well, first things first, I guess you know the Spirit Bomb," Goku's counterpart remarked. "And you can clearly become a Super Saiyan, and maybe even a Super Saiyan II?"

"Well, yea to the Spirit Bomb. But what's a Super Saiyan II? Is that like an Ascended Saiyan?"

There was a moment on his counterpart's face that he realized that things were very different.

"So you never learned how to ascend past an Ascended Saiyan? Did you guys fight Buu?"

"No, we managed to stop him from being released. You guys beat him? The Supreme Kai implied we wouldn't stand a chance. We fought Babidi, and his monsters Dabura and Broly. Ascend past an Ascended Saiyan? Huh?"

There was some confusion on that part. How did someone just ascend past that point?

"Broly?"

The two exchanged off glances again, trying to read the other to know exactly what they knew.

"I think if I got it right, that Broly was a slave of Babidi, who was the son of one of Gohan's first... mentors, a Saiyan named Paragus."

"Wow, wow, wow? What? Gohan had a Saiyan mentor? That's weird," Goku responded. "In my time, he just had Piccolo and then me. Oh! And kind of the Elder Supreme Kaio I guess."

Piccolo? Himself? The Supreme Kaio? That meant Raditz never took his son in this version of him's world. That was incredible. What made them different? How did he save his son and he couldn't? And what happened to him? What kind of man did he become? Dizzying questions, unrelated to his goal came to mind.

"We could talk all day," Goku's copy responded, before his hair flaired upward and blasted into gold. "But I'm not here to talk about it, sadly. I'm here to help you save your world by training you."

"I need to learn more than just how to be stronger, I need to learn how to fight differently. The threat we have coming already knows our moves?"

"Oh man, this is going to be fun," Goku's mirror grinned. "We can learn together then I guess."

Goku could feel it in the air, the electricity as his mirror image let his hair spike upward more. The power around them swelled. Immediately he pressed his own power forward, surging as well as electricity rippled past him as well, before both of their auras expanded outward. The room didn't quake, as often whole continents did as their powers were released in tandem. Energy rolled around the half sphere of a room however, turning the darkness into golden light. Smiling, Goku knew that they were both holding back.

This is gotta be what Piccolo feels like when he trains with himself. He's lucky, he's always got a good sparring partner.

"So, you want me to go easy on you?" his counter asked, a knowing smile coming across his face. "We can start slow if you want."

Smiling cunningly in return however, he let the comment roll past him as the Saiyan Warrior prepared himself. Even with everything at risk, this was going to be fun. Just how much stronger was this version of himself? Better yet, what else did he know? What was more fun, was the idea that he might know a thing or two that his alternate self didn't, and that was just as exciting.

"Only if you insist," Goku responded, a surprisingly clever look crossing his features as electricity zapped through the air around him, bracing himself as he assumed a defensive fighting posture.

In a blur of motion, it all started.

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Piccolo:

This body was incredible. Vegata's golden energy clad fist shot past his head as he tilted to the side, evading it entirely. This Piccolo... well, not even this Piccolo, he himself, had become the most powerful version of himself he'd ever seen even while in the service of the Supreme Kai of Time, after his violent death at the hands of Brass. But it still wasn't going to be nearly enough. As he was right now, he doubted he could defeat Junia or Brass, and that didn't even begin to factor in to account Taro, the monster at the head of the pack.

Of course, he had all the memories of having been there in the world where these things came from. He remembered Goku dying to Frieza, and Turles transforming. He remembered what happened when the Saiyan found his way back to the Earth and essentially dominated it. Goku's death was tragic, and his own one followed shortly after. Then when he had the chance to help another world, he took it on himself even from the afterlife.

The main problem was, that he'd helped a dozen worlds. He'd trained with them, and even fought alongside them, and they always fell, and every time he came across the trio again they were stronger then they were before. They slaughtered his friends over a hundred times, and that wasn't even counting all the splinter realities they'd created of themselves as well. They'd ruined space and time, the damage was too vast to ever fix, but maybe, just like the Supreme Kai of Time said to him years ago, the original perpetrators could be brought to justice. It was what he wanted, after seeing all the pain they'd cause so many, and all the realities and timelines they'd utterly ruined.

Throwing his fist up, he shoved one of Vegeta's kick's aside, before landing a blow on his cheek. The Saiyan flipped back, his body sliding against the surface of the Other World Training Academy. Blue-green eyes flashed up at him dangerous, the Saiyan almost snarling.

"What was that, Namekian? You're not even launching an offensive!" Vegeta spat. "You're hardly helping with my training progression, or even my fighting style. What a waste!"

Crossing his arms, his cape flowing behind him, Piccolo stared back at Vegeta, unable to hide his annoyance. Right now he was still trying to feel out exactly what Vegeta could do. This was what was all-important right now. There were other things to be concerned about as well, specifically on the Earth. Before he'd found himself... united, with this other mind of his, he'd never really trained anyone independently of an outside source. The similarities between this Pan and the Gohan of... another world, couldn't be discounted. But the real problem was abandoning her to the extent which he had. His heart hadn't softened as much as it should have, and the bond with the girl wasn't as strong as it'd been with Gohan.

Of course, he had memories which were a sharp contrast to the one's of this world. The Gohan of this world was a battle-scarred, perhaps even tormented, figure. The Gohan of this other Piccolo was a bright kid, who cared about his friends and family more than anything, and died trying to protect it from a monster.

Heh, maybe they aren't so different.

The fact Gohan sacrificed himself to do the same in this world, showed something touching to the Namekian. Despite it all, the kid still found a way to work out.

Still, an annoyed and barely motivated Vegeta was in front of him right now, and he needed to address it. This was going to help him fully grasp the Saiyan's power and what he had to work with, and understand the full breadth of his own abilities. Grasping his Turban, Piccolo discarded it without a thought, before grasping his cloak and tossing it aside as well. Reaching up one hand to the side of his neck, he simply cracked it from side to side, the entire time staring down Vegeta.

"Alright, Vegeta," Piccolo said bluntly. "You want to turn things up? That's fine. You just better not be mad when you realize how much you have to learn."

A sneer came across Vegeta's features at the remark, but it wasn't made to disparage Vegeta. The last thing he needed was for Vegeta to have a meltdown because he might have fallen behind someone. Otherworld fighters were now watching them from the sidelines, all of them fascinated by what was unfolding. This wasn't their first gallery of course, but more than a few of the higher power levels were now watching. Of course, the fact they were behind them, despite training for hundreds or thousands of years, may have been annoying.

Lucky I'm not them.

A golden aura burst around Vegeta as electricity caught fire seemingly in the air. The power level around them accelerated immediately as Vegeta turned up his ki with only a small flinch across his features. This wasn't his full power by any means, and Piccolo knew it.

"I know that's not all Vegeta," Piccolo commented. "We're taking off the kid's gloves."

"I know you're power has increased Namekian, but you'd be a fool if you thought you could face the full might of an Ascended Super Saiyan," Vegeta scoffed. "Now-"

"I'm going to emulate how Brass fights," Piccolo commented. "Not perfectly, but I've fought him several times."

There was a confused blink on Vegeta's part, staring back at him without much of an understanding. Now wasn't the time to explain.

"Brass is one of those Saiyans, just encase you didn't know. So power up, and let's see if you can learn to get around at least some of what these guys can do."

Energy crackled through the air around them again as Vegeta slowly began to growl, his ki coming to the fore. Air swept past them as light emerged from his core even. Light blasted in all directions in a blinding fashion. Black eyes stared into it though, undeterred as Piccolo sensed the great tide of Vegeta's power rising. The familiar thrum of a Super Saiyan aura echoed out of the light even as it began to fade. Standing there at the centre of this was of course, Vegeta.

"How?" South Kai whispered from the side. "How can someone have that much power?"

Piccolo turned his head, staring back towards the Kais looking on, before looking towards some of the Other World fighters, and then back to Vegeta.

"Namek," Vegeta breathed, easing himself into a more relaxed posture, the exertion of bringing out his energy fading as he prepared himself. "Just remember that you were the one who wanted to see my full power."

It was much stronger than he'd imagined it'd be by this point. He liked to imagine before that he could have held his own against Vegeta, but since Garlic and Broly, his power had grown significantly faster than his own, likely in part due to his near death injuries. Well, in one case an outright death. But part of this training was going to have to be getting Vegeta to learn to fight an opponent stronger than him. Because they were going to be stronger than all of them, and they had to come to grips with that. Every battle they'd won so far, they'd won on being stronger than their adversaries, and in this case that just couldn't be the case.

Even he was going to be weaker, he suspected, by the time they got here.

"I've seen better," Piccolo remarked. "So, let me show you how Brass and Junia treat you every time they fight you, Vegeta."

There was a sharp glare from Vegeta, before Piccolo tensed himself, and beginning to unlock his own Ki. Green and white energy wrapped itself around him until the green overtook the white, and beneath him the ground immediately cratered. The force of the energy emerging washed away the Kais and the fighters who were observing them in a hurricane of destructive emerging energies. His entire form trembled to contain the energy within, his new body holding itself together with the combined essence of two Nails, two Kamis, and three Piccolos. Green lightning crackled through the air amidst the apocalypse seemingly happening around him. It was only when the planet began to almost crack open, that Piccolo's power finally ceased.

What was left opposite to him, was a speechless Vegeta.

"What did you learn inside that room?" he whispered, blinking several times with widened eyes. However, it took only seconds before his eyes darkened. "Who did you fuse with to acquire all of this?"

It wouldn't be fitting to simply say "myself", so instead Piccolo slid one foot forward, implying he was going to take the initiative in this bout.

"It wouldn't matter if I told you, Vegeta," Piccolo remarked. "Now get ready to fight."

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Goku:

A crack echoed through the empty space of the room as the orange clad double from another time and place went flying back, his body slapping into the stone wall of this strange, reality bending room. Falling to his knees, his double smiled up at him, breathing heavily from their latest exchange. It was strange, very strange, to Goku that he seemed to be the stronger of the two of them. Every time they clashed, he came up the winner, even though it was painfully close.

He was guessing his counterpart was holding back, and was on edge for any sign that he'd slip and increase his power.

"Man, you're really tough," his counterpart admitted. "At your base, you've gotta have more power than me. You really know how to turn things up. Once you're able to go beyond, you're probably going to be able to beat me."

Cracking his neck back and forth, his other self just smiled back at him.

The part where he said go beyond told Goku that there was the form beyond an Ascended Saiyan, that thing he'd mentioned before. Even now as the other Goku slowly began to prepare himself, bracing himself to begin drawing power, he couldn't help but feel a chill run up his spine, sensing ki beginning to draw up through the air.

"Because under the right circumstances, this form gives you more than enough, to push yourself to the very limit. Since this is a Super Saiyan II, I call this-"

It was almost blinding seconds later. The energy in the air seemingly caught fire as the electricity doubled. Goku was looking at more than just the appearance however, he was trying to sense the changes he felt in his counterpart's ki while he changed more than the Saiyan had originally imagined. Eyebrows disappeared and the colour of his eyes deepened, but his hair went wild, extending back. Standing there, with an incredibly loud pulsing noise originating from him, was something beyond what he thought possible.

"This, is a Super Saiyan III," he said, his voice deeper than it'd been somehow.

The words came to Goku immediately, without much of a thought.

"That's a crazy amount of power, oh man," he breathed. "You've gotta be unstoppable like that! I've gotta get that down, oh man!"

Already he was excited by the prospect of leaping into that form, and using it to bludgeon any adversary, or test his limits against the strongest fighters to cross his path. But the look on his other self's face told him that there was a price.

"This form is very powerful, and can make the difference, but it also consumes energy at a much faster rate than you can sustain over a long period. If we were to fight right now, I'd probably win. But I'd need to win very quickly, or I'd not only drop out of this form, but probably any others below it as well. This was a major problem when I fought Buu."

Immediately scenarios came to mind. What if he'd fought Broly with that form, and it'd given out just when things looked to go his way? Against Garlic junior it might have even been useless. It was a very measured way to look at things, but it was the right way to look at them. This form that he was using was likely already used before, against the Trio of Saiyans coming as well. It couldn't be the be all end all of the battle ahead, but if he could master it, it might be a tool in the toolbox that he could use.

The problem is, I don't think there is enough I can gain in raw strength to beat these guys, even with that form. Which means that there needs to be another way.

"In my world, we've not seen any of these guys yet, that you're supposed to face that is. But we've faced some pretty scary stuff, what with Buu, Hirudegarn, and a few others dropping in, so I think I can give you some good advice. You might not be able to win on just bashing your head against the wall and fighting them on a strength basis, but rely on your friends, trust in your friends, and together you guys can bring down enemies which you didn't think you could on your own. But you already know that."

"It's not worked for a lot of other world's though," Goku reasoned, and rightly so. "How many times have we gotten killed?"

Raising a brow and bringing his hand to his chin while looking up, his alternate self, still with long golden hair seemed to think.

"You know, I really hadn't thought of it that way. Huh. Well, all you can really do is try then, right?"

Immediately a hand went to his own face as Goku sighed.

"We really need something else past all of that. I've died while trying before."

"Well, the only other thing I can really recommend, is find out not just how strong Taro and his friends are, figure out what their source of power is. In their own world, before they left, they were barely more powerful than Frieza. Something would have made them gain all of this power over a short period beyond just fighting."

Nodding in turn, Goku braced himself.

"Alright, now I'm going to start trying to get this Super Saiyan III thing down. Don't laugh if I can't get it done first time."

"Hah, it took me a hundred times, and I was dead when I did it. But this time at least you've got someone to teach you. Look, started it like this..."

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Gohan:

Days passed, and it was strange to be so alone. There was no Turles, no Bardock, or anyone else out this far in the depths of Hell. When his eyes scanned the wastes, he saw nothing but spiked balls and a yellow and red sky. In the distance, into the eternity that was this realm, he could see the firestorms raging, preparing to sweep over this section of the realm again. When they arrived, his flesh would be melted from his bones, and he'd die in utter agony, again.

"This place really isn't so bad," a voice commented from behind him. Turning his head and glaring, Gohan recognized the voice almost immediately.

Clad in blue, the red skinned devil walked over to him before crossing his arms, staring out into the wastes.

"It reminds me of my own realm, outside of the mandatory death, that is," Dabura remarked. "I find it remarkably strange that you ended up down here. Of all the other creatures I've found in this place, you are the only one that feels like the awkward fit."

Rising from his perch on the rocks, Gohan turned towards the demon, his eyes steeled on the Demon King, preparing to power up at a moment's notice. There was something different about the Demon Lord however, and Gohan was trying to place his finger on it.

"What is it that you want, Dabura?" Gohan asked. "Because if you and your band of idiots think-"

"I am not apart of a band of anyone anymore. I am here to speak with you, Son Gohan. Warrior to warrior."

There was a long mental pause on Gohan's part as he tried to trace back what he'd meant. It was hazy for a moment, as memories flashed to the fore of him doing battle with Dabura, Bojack, Cell, Garlic, and others. The squawking of Babidi's voice in the distance almost made his brain itch at the thought, before he remembered the last moments of his confrontation with Dabura.

"I didn't beat a warrior. I beat a slave."

For some reason, Gohan felt the ends of his lips curl up into a small smile. It was strange, but the day his own chains were broken from the life he'd lead, he couldn't describe as good. He hadn't been an honourable warrior of any sort, he'd been a thug. If anything, he'd been the slave master. Now, a creature described as a King of the Demons, was standing there in front of him, and he knew what was being said to him. Dabura, despite being a demon, had broken his own chains, and was free. Even if it was in death, and even if it was in this place, the demon could suffer all of eternity by his own will, and not that of Babidi's.

"Warrior to warrior," Gohan nodded in turn, his smile staying in place. "I'm glad that we can talk on that level."

"As am I, which is why I am here. Your victory over me here, in this world of darkness, showed me how far I'd fallen. Before I encountered Babidi, I was not only the Lord of the Demons, I was a great ruler of a whole section of reality. I wanted for nothing, and my lust for power could never be quenched. My greed lead to my own slavery, to that wretched creature Babidi. Even in my death, I couldn't break it, because my arrogance wouldn't allow it."

"Don't worry about it," the Saiyan responded. "For your own sake, its good you snapped out of it."

"My decision was brought on, because you opened my eyes to what I'd become. I am here, Saiyan, to thank you for that. Though it is no longer possible for me to catch you in power to challenge you again, I would ask one favour of you."

Turning his head towards him, Gohan raised a brow.

"They will wish you back, and soon. Perhaps a month or two longer, if my understanding of how Dragon Balls work are correct, at least how Garlic described them."

Here we go.

This was the part where he begged like Turles. Where he asked him to allow him to return, perhaps even as an incentive to fight him again once he'd trained. He had no desire to fight Dabura again, and just the thought of how this was about to go soured his attitude immediate. The smile disappeared as the Saiyan stared back impassively, before he crossed his arms.

"Yea, I'm guessing they will. What did you need?" he deadpanned.

"After they bring you back, the only thing I ask of you is to find a way to never return here," Dabura told him. "This wretched place is for the honourless and forsaken. This is a place for those who let darkness guide them through their lives, and you are not of that mould. You defeated Broly through a resolve to save your friends and family, I know this. You fought Garlic junior and died defending your daughter, something that disgusting imp of a demon brags about to no end. And here, I know you fought to keep yourself from the void for a chance to return home to them."

Slowly, Gohan blinked as the words were said, and he was left... speechless. He swallowed a lump in his throat as the demon spoke about him in some kind of high regard. It was bizarre, and alien to him. Every moment he was down here, he felt like he'd damned himself by his actions, and was getting what he always wanted to avoid. He was being punished for all the horrid things he'd done, and the horrid thing he'd become before he came to the Earth again. Now this creature, a demon of all things, was stating how he didn't deserve to be here.

There was no greedy demand for more life on Dabura's part, and it wrecked the protective bubble he'd made for himself. It was a sharp jab against his cynicism.

"I don't think I'll have much of a choice," Gohan admitted. "I've earned my place here, according to King Yemma, and the numbers don't lie. I... I've done terrible things, to hundreds of billions of people. Even the best things in my life are tainted by everything I've been. There is no way out for me. At most I'll just get a temporary reprieve, until I die again. Then this is going to be my eternity."

The demon just smirked back.

"Nothing in the universe is set in stone, Son Gohan. Defy the judgements that the universe has placed on you, and defy the man you were, by being the warrior that defeated the others and myself. Perhaps then, one day, the record may be reset."

Walking past him and staring out into the tempests beyond, Dabura just seemed at peace with himself.

"The road is long, but there is eventually an end to it. You will need to be on the journey long enough to find its end."

Standing behind the demon, looking past the former slave towards the fire storms again as well, seeing them edging ever closer from the endless expanse, he felt a small portion of the weight lift from his shoulders.

"This was unexpected," Gohan responded. "All of this. You really have a change of heart just because I beat you?"

"Yes," Dabura answered. "The best way to know someone, is to fight them. Knowing what you've accomplished, and why you've accomplished it, and having locked in a desperate struggle with you, I know. Now, perhaps you should get back on the Long Road, and find your destiny."

When Gohan's eyes looked back towards the storms, and away from Dabura's back, he for a brief moment, didn't see mountains of fire coming to consume him, he saw the impossible challenges ahead of him.

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Author's Notes:

Man, where to begin. First of all, sorry about the really, really long turn around for this relatively small chapter. I've been busy with tons of work lately, and my personal life has been a mess. My older dog is unfortunately on her last legs, so that's been really stressful, which hasn't helped production times. On top of all the depressing stuff like too much work, sick pets, and just an overall sense of depression, I've been busy in general, so that doesn't help either. However, despite all of this, no, the story isn't on hiatus, no, it's not been abandoned or cancelled, and yes, there will be more content coming soon.

I was originally going to continue making this chapter bigger, but the last scene I wrote really felt like it fit for an ending to the chapter.

Now then, on to other things. I firstly want to address a few things. I like this Saga, but I actually think I've missed the mark in a few regards. I felt I needed to mix up my writing style during it, which had mixed results. I also kinda caved to pressure to expand the importance of a lot of peripheral cast members, which is fine, but also kinda drags out the story to an extent, which is something I can't immediately address this saga. Too many characters just takes it too damn long to move. Gohan is also a major underpinning of the story, and though his death in the prior Saga was really an important moment, and plays on a LOT of stuff moving forward, it has kinda hurt this Saga's progression as well, as let's be real, he's the most compelling character in the story. When Gohan's not around, the rest of the cast kinda suffers. So I can't wait to bring him back.

So as a result, this Saga's kinda ended up being the Warlords of Draenor, or Mysts of Pandaria, of my current story. Some good ideas, that all individually can work, but I feel don't really come together as well as I'd like. The Saga is still going to be finished, I still think it'll be good, but I'm not entirely happy with it, and it definitely shows some vulnerabilities in the storytelling.

Anyway, on to the answers:

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Reviewers:

ShadowFFD: Hopefully I can get to the Brass-Taro-Junia stuff next chapter. That's going to be a really fun set of chapters to write before the finale.

Cosmic Horror: I feel incredibly bad for them as well. Sometime's people just don't have happy endings to their stories :\

Weapon Frayer: That's really hard to kinda place. I can say that Taro is far and above everyone else, and probably all of them put together. Brass and Junia? More complicated.

Hek'UnnSkipper: My head. O.O

Brelic: No spoilers are coming from me at this point :p

MaximumSSJ: Taro has different objectives than just pure power. He sees Brass's quest exclusively for strength as being childish, he's beyond that. He wants to be the purest form of himself in all of existence, the objectives are different.

Max: Uhhhhh

Luke: You're welcome :D

Blades of Fury: JNR?

DBZfanthefirst: Sorry to disappoint :P

RaijuBlue: I think I responded by PM?

P: Sure.

Thanasi: Sorry to hear that you're bored.

Super Mystic Gohan: Cool :D

tomorrow4eva: Most chapters are there to put stuff in place for more stuff going forward, I'm just trying to build up to the big confrontation at the end.

Akum: Sorry for the delay.

G: I dunno if that's true. I'd like it to be true, but I dunno if that's the case.

CrimsonWing67: fr?

DarknessRising: I will spoil one thing. Turles's ain't participating in the big fight. Don't expect it. :P