The Long Road

by Drakthul

AU: Abducted at the age of three and a half, taken through thirteen years of bloodshed and strife, Gohan finds his way back to Earth... to finish a backlogged contract. On Earth, he will either overcome what he is, or be destroyed by it. Rated M.

63. Chapter 63: Utopia

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 63: Utopia

Brass: Source Timeline XXV Age 774

Silence.

It was so loud it was defeaning as he stood there, looking at the mangled body laying there on the cold ground of the 'palace' his father had made for himself. But the silence mattered more than anything right now. He could feel his uncle Raditz's hand on his shoulder, holding him in place. It was a strange sensation, because he'd never had anyone try to comfort him before... except his mother. But right now even Raditz was holding him like he needed support.

"Foolish boy, I warned you," he said quietly under his breath. "Stay down..."

Blood pooled around the floor as he struggled to move, trying in slow desperation to pull himself up. The shadow that was slowly being cast over the body in this now damaged, but once opulent place. Brass swallowed heavily, seeing his brother like this. So much of what he'd learned came from him, and in a lot of ways ever how to fight. He always felt safe around his big brother. In the quiet moments away from this place his father had built, he could even see just how sad his brother was. He knew why, and it even rubbed off on him.

Gohan hated the killing.

And that was how all this started, and this was how it ended.

The shadow which loomed over Gohan laboured intensely, brushing some blood away from his mouth, the golden aura around his body pulsing intensely. His dress armour was cracked on the side from several blows Gohan had landed earlier in the fight, but it didn't matter. A bloody hand grasp Turles's boot, and the older Saiyan just looked down, tired but stoic.

"You think just because you became a Super Saiyan, you could stop me?" he asked, his tone burning with anger. "After all I've done for you? Saved your life multiple times. I brought you into the fold. I let you be a real Saiyan, and this is how you repay me?"

Kicking the hand away, Turles slowly began to circle him.

"And for what? Because you got tired of the job I gave you? When I was your age I'd already helped wipe out eight planets."

Wheezing as he tried to get up, ending up on his hands and knees, Gohan spat blood up from his mouth, just breathing heavily.

Please stay down, Gohan. Please big brother, he's already really mad, you're just going to make it worse.

"Yea," the younger Saiyan wheezed. "I guess I made a mistake. I didn't think you were this much stronger."

Turles stopped his pace for a moment, sneering a second later.

"Just like your father," he remarked coldly. "And what made you challenge me, boy?"

Slowly pulling himself back onto his knees, Gohan's entire form listed dizzily about, listing from one side to the other as he tried to remain sitting even. Blood was leaking from the cracked remnants of his armour, and from his eyebrow, hairline, lip, and nose. The beating had been severe, but for whatever reason, Gohan started to smile.

"Because it was the right thing," he managed. "You'll keep on killing... people and enslaving them..."

Gohan's breathing seemed to start to break down at that point, and Brass moved to help, wanting to close the distance, but instead he felt his uncle's grip on his shoulder tighten like an iron grip. Turning his head and looking up, he could only see the eyes of a desperate man standing there, trying to keep his own calm in place, and slowly failing.

"Someone had to try and stop you," Gohan finished. "And I won't stand by anymore."

A trembling leg tried to move out from beneath him to stand.

"And my dad taught me to never give up," he finally breathed, his voice hitching as he spoke.

Raditz's voice finally spoke up.

"Enough of this," he commanded. "The boy is finished. Gohan, sit down and-"

But the other Saiyan kept pulling himself to his feet, and all Brass could do was watch in horror and wonder why. Their father... his father, had proven he was the strongest. The strongest always won, and they made the decrees, they made the rules. The strongest were deserving of their power, and the weak were either unable to cope, or unworthy of coping, that was what made them weak. But Gohan never seemed weak until now, and the passive distant attitude he always felt towards them didn't settle in. Instead, all Brass could do was watch in... fear... for someone he cared about.

"You're father is dead. He died first at Frieza's hands, and then at mine when he rejected what we were. Your father was not worthy of the title Saiyan," Turles snapped, pointing a finger at Raditz, silencing him as he spoke, his finger alone seemingly filled with rage. "And you will submit, or face the same fate."

Gohan's shoulders slumped as his head slowly bowed down, either in submission, or because his body simply was running out of blood and he needed medical attention. The eight year old watching this however, felt a small fraction of relief wash over him as Gohan's form slowly regressed.

"I took you on as if you were my own son, not just blood," Turles snapped. "You make me look as if I am a fool in front of my brother, and my true sons."

It was then that Brass looked to one of the pillars in the distance, and saw Taro standing there, watching this unfold passively, his blue eyes scanning his father and Gohan, clearly not distraught at all, just cold.

"My father is dead," Gohan managed. "And you may look like him, but you're nowhere near the man my father was. He died a hero, and a good man..." taking a deep breath, Gohan stared up at him, defiantly. "When you die, you'll be remembered for your cruelty and greed."

Pointing a single finger down at Gohan in a lightning quick motion, a purple beam pierced his brother's chest, and it felt as if the beam pierced his own. Blood shot out of his sibling's mouth immediately before his body slumped to the ground unceremoniously.

GOHAN!

Breaking free from Raditz, he blasted off in a blur of purple energy, colliding with his brother's body as he grabbed him, trying to look for any signs of light. He clutched the wound quickly, before looking up at Gohan's face, looking for any signs of anything. All he saw in turn was a pained, agonized look, as he desperately tried to breath, gaping and gasping, but not being able to collect air. After several seconds, the attempts at breathing slowed... but Gohan's eyes turned towards him. Swallowing painfully, Gohan reached out his blood covered hand before grasping his own. He felt him squeeze as he looked at him, and the barest hint of a smile crossed his lips as he fought on to be strong.

Time seemed to stall for Brass in that moment as he stared into his brother's eyes, and watched the life disappear from them. The hand which had gripped his, went lax, and he was left there, trembling as he tried to look for any signs of anything from his brother.

Slowly, Brass turned, and just stared at his father. For the first time, he could see something akin to remorse, if only a hint, written across his father's face. It was hard to tell, but his own face felt... wet? What was happening to him? His heart was racing still, and his breathing felt erratic.

"Have the boy buried," Turles ordered his uncle.

With that, his father started to walk away, only with words echoing from his as he walked away.

"And stop crying, boy. Saiyans don't cry."

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Brass: Age 873 Planet Petro

"Ten!"

"Fourteen!"

"You bastard," Junia laughed before the quickly grabbed one another's arms, pulling in each towards the other side, their legs shooting out like lightning as they kicked the opponent's opposite of them.

Bones shattered on the intended alien targets, their body flipping through the air before landing dead on the soil of this soon to be sold world. His father had personally put a contract out on Planet Petro, and so that was what was getting done. Super Saiyan auras burned around him, and his wonderful companion while they stood there over the bodies of a total of twenty six of the planet's finest, last line of defence. These alien's all had strange faces, wrinkled and with blue skin and red eyes. It was kind of disgusting, and the fact they put up any fight at all was hardly inspiring.

"Nothing like a fight to the death to get the blood pumping," Brass commented, cracking his neck from side to side before walking over to Junia, and smiling deviously. "Wanna celebrate?"

The lax, smooth smile in response she gave him was priceless. It was strange, but he'd never found himself so lucky as to get assigned on missions with Junia. It wasn't often that you could say that you found a soulmate. Hell, right now all he could think of was how lucky he was that he was powerful, young, and able to do a hell of a lot more than fight when he was on missions.

"Calm down," she rolled her eyes, even as he moved in to kiss her. She dodged him this time, sidestepping him before walking past him. "We'll celebrate once the job is done. Besides, I have to work out more before we do try to have fun. After all, you always tire out before I do."

Brass blinked as she gave him a cheeky smile, propelling herself up and towards the planet's orange clouds, a sonic boom following after her as her body blasting off in a wave of golden light. Blinking several times, he felt his eyes narrow on her as she disappeared from sight, clearly going to finish the bombardment. The 17 year old Brass cracked his knuckles a moment later, as if he'd somehow been challenged to a fight. This was of course, more important than a fight, the fight was already done. For the teenager, this was the prospect of having sex sooner than later, and to be honest he was really motivated after having just finished his other favourite activity, fighting.

Energy swirled around him as he took off like a bullet after her, his body booming through the air as he looked to gain ground. As soon as he came into her orbit as they passed through orange clouds, he circled around her, watching as she flipped out of his path, moving in towards their targets.

"Don't think you can city-steal me on the kill meter!" he shouted after her, energy gathering in his palms.

Before he could discharge however, she'd already let loose a series of blue bolts towards a dozen targets below. Orbs of fiery destruction suddenly emerged on the surface of the world, swallowing whole cities in the intense blasts. Tracing his own targets, he tossed two energy orbs, both fracturing in the sky before their fragments were cast across a whole continent.

The two landed abruptly on the ruins of a shattered mountain range, the fireballs still rising into the sky in all directions. He grabbed her arm and pulled her into a fierce kiss, which was returned immediately. Nothing was better than languishing in your glory and accomplishments. It was basking in the glow of victory, and maybe doing more than just basking. The fires of the energy waves were hot against his exposed skin and armour, as he immediately began stripping off his own attire.

"I want you even more now that this planet is burning," Brass admitted, breaking their kisses.

She'd already discarded her cap, and was working on her armour feverishly herself. Her only response was to kiss him again, grabbing him herself and pulling him in towards her.In times like this, he was happily reminded how toxic her relationship with Vegeta was, if only because it meant he was never around. Why? Because without having to worry about her old man, they got to have a lot of fun.

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Junia:

The sky was tainted with the embers of a burning surface, creating an incredible sunrise for her to look out towards as she slowly started to pull herself up. Shifting Brass's arm off of her as he continued to sleep lazily, the Saiyan woman stood to her full height before stretching out. Brass was a good distraction from what was waiting her when she got back to Earth. She'd heard Vegeta had been recalled by Turles for some kind of series of meetings, which was always frustrating for her. The longer he was around, the worse it was for her.

Envy ruled her when it came to Taro and Brass. Turles had trained them, along with Raditz, to be among the greatest killers in the galaxy. They were warriors beyond compare, and she was lucky to be in the same league as them. In fact, she received most of her training from Taro and Brass themselves, given that her own father wouldn't bother training her... at all. She wasn't worth him time, and he saw 'no point' in it. Everything was about him, his ego, and his desire to be stronger than Turles. Training her was seen as some kind of weight that would burden him.

It was all the more insulting, because all she'd ever wanted when she was younger was to fight by his side. But now that didn't matter. She knew how much Vegeta hated Turles, so she'd never minded hooking up with Turles's favoured son, if not for the fun of having sex, then to stick to it her father. She already knew he disliked Brass, calling him "Kakarot II" from time to time, implying he was soft. Her mother, the weak woman that she was, was still shackled to Vegeta for protection from Turles most likely. Two creatures who were only together for their own gains, created her. That was the best she could summarize why she, a Princess of the Royal House of Vegeta, was regulated to being unimportant.

These were the thoughts that bombarded her every time she awakened, to be honest. Even as she started to get dressed, she tried to clear her mind of it. She gave a passing glance to Brass as he started to stir, sitting up and rubbing his forehead. Despite the fact that she was pursuing this fun distraction, she couldn't help but feel her standards were lowered by being with him. It wasn't about the fact he was stronger than her right now, or that he'd trained her, that wasn't in the equation. It was how childishly he looked at the world, and how possessive he was. She could see in his eyes he was following her around like a puppy since they'd had sex the first time. It didn't enhance her perspective of men overall either, but it could be fun from time to time... and as she said, it was a distraction.

With a long, loud yawn, Brass started to stretch himself.

"Well, another day, another planet," he finished, his voice distorted by the yawn as he spoke. "But, at least we had some fun. When we get back to Earth, I'm going to see if we can get a more fun assignment."

"Not another diplomacy job," Junia deadpanned. "You only find those fun because you enjoy deliberately ruining them so you can fight more people, and make your father mad at the same time."

As he started to rise, uncovered still, he smirked at her.

"They're not worthy allies if they can't stand up to a Saiyan. Remember, the strong are the ones in charge, be glad you're strong."

With that, he walked over, brushing past her before starting to get dressed himself.

"Besides, we could do other fun things. Take leave. Maybe even think about the future."

"I'd need a future to consider it," she shutdown the conversation, before starting to walk towards an open space, tossing her capsule out and revealing her space pod. "This is fun, Brass, but its not going to be forever."

With that, she sat in her pod, before her smirk increased.

"You're too weak to keep up with me, after all," she boasted, knowing it wasn't exactly true, but wanting to see how indignent Brass got before her pod closed.

It worked beautifully, of course, the other Saiyan giving her an annoyed look as he pulled his own capsule out, just as hers started to levitate.

"Head to Earth," she ordered.

The worst part about going home is seeing mother. I'm sure she'll be as gloomy as ever.

She knew the stories, she'd heard them from her. The story of barely surviving Namek, the story of how her lover was killed by Turles, and how Vegeta effectively bought her if only for his own gain. Then there were the stories from the 'better' times. They were hardly better, the humans, the subjugated creatures they presided over on Earth, looked Saiyan, but had nothing in common with them. In a way, she despised her father even more for mixing her blood with a human's, even though at this point it was entirely necessary.

Looking in the reflection of the pod, she could only see the features of her father staring back at her, and a trace amount of her mother's. The only thing she really got from her was her nose, and how her hair was. It was a grim result either way, because what little she could see of her mother reminded her she had weak blood mixed in her veins, and what she saw of Vegeta, she saw a man she once idolized, but now didn't respect. Worse than that, she was growing to almost hate him, the more she reflected on every interaction with him. Every single one that came to mind was negative.

She was weak, and so he wouldn't train her to get stronger. She was part human, so he looked down on her for that as well, even though that was his fault. But it was his selfishness she hated the most.

I've got to stop thinking about this again.

It was getting almost obsessive, and she needed to draw her attention away. The atmosphere outside suddenly swooshed around the pod as it shot into the sky.

"Entering suspended animation for two week journey," the onboard computer informed her.

She could use a dreamless sleep right now. The suspended animation was more than welcome.

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Taro: Earth

Always the son with the expectations, yet always the son to be promised little for his future. It was the raw talent his brother possessed, that placed him ahead of him in succession. It was sickening to imagine that he'd been passed over for Brass, but not unsurprising. His father was still fucking Brass's mother, if one could even call it that. The death of her eldest son by his hands certainly created harmony between the two, he was sure. Either way, it didn't matter, because he was the one given the responsibility to listen and oversee administrative issues regarding the humans. It was his job to help plot out where they next purged, conquered, or sold, and it was his job to help determine terms with outsiders, such as Vegeta.

Yes, Vegeta was loyal to his father, but only if you considered 'loyal' to mean 'would betray and slaughter at first chance'. Every time the pair met, it was tense, and every time they met, he had the misfortune of being the one who needed to be there. Really, he didn't see anyone as being loyal to his father's cause, save his father and himself. One day his loyalty would be rewarded with the title of heir, of that much he was certain. Brass was too strong headed, and ambitious to be left in waiting for long. For himself however? He could play the long game, he could politic as his brother could not, and he could understand situations more appropriately. After all, he was gifted with a mind clearly beyond his brother.

If anything, the amount of Gohan that was in his brother, should have disqualified him anyway.

My parentage can only be held against me for so long.

Stoically, he watched as Vegeta and Turles sat across from one another at a far more 'even' scenario than he knew his father ever wished to see. Placating Vegeta was the only way for this kind of discussion to even happen. His father wanted to have better ties with Vegeta, and thus they were talking about some kind of division of power. He doubted his father wanted to, but it was about legacy. The Saiyans of the future, would look towards the leadership of this moment, to understand how their world was created. No one here was immortal, they would all flag and die over time from age, if not in combat. There would be Saiyans going forward, and they would inherit this fledgling empire and legacy.

"I'm not interested in closer ties with you, Turles. In fact, I'm not interested in you at all. Kakarot's twin? Who cares. I have more important things to do, testing my strength across the universe."

"Pitiful strength," Turles retorted. "Certainly, you are strong Vegeta, but your power is hindered by your arrogance and pride. If you agree to stand with me, I will agree to honour you with the position of Prince of this planet, and I'll even give you as much autonomy as you want."

"And in turn for all of this, what do I gain?" Vegeta shot back. "Platitudes and little else. I'm uninterested in all of this. All I care about is strength."

"Dare I interrupt?" Taro asked, stepping forward, looking over the two of them before smirking 'cleverly'.

It was all about positioning.

"Vegeta doesn't care, father, about supporting you further. My father, Vegeta, doesn't care about giving you more opportunity for power. The two of you have incompatible goals, but the future... it's the future that matters for our race. The two of you are the only qualified candidates to oversee us as we rebuild from the ruins of what we are now. Strength determines leadership. But our race needs unity, if we are to survive. The two of you killing one another eventually doesn't serve the cause."

Crossing his arms, he looked between the two before looking forward.

"The future requires sacrifice from those of us who are already here. The humans often had rival families, often with real issues and blood feuds, come together and unite through the marriage of their children. It established an ending of hostilities, it created a united investment on both parts. So I would propose, that Vegeta be given the same opportunities you have, father. Give him some of the seeds from the Trees of Might, allow him to begin his own power gain. In return, he will give his support, and offer Junia to marry me, your eldest son, and unite the House of Vegeta with our own."

"The Warlord Turles, saviour of our race, conqueror of the Earth, legitimized and partnered with the Prince of All Saiyans. The humans will always be the subjects going forward, but our species can use them to perpetuate without any real side-effects. There are multiple examples," he proclaimed, his tail unfurling from his waist. "It is a bargain that will have both of you gain, because in sixty years the two of you will be ailing and dying, but the race? The race will live on, and will remember your legacies."

His self-confident smile only dimmed for a moment when he saw the way Vegeta and Turles were staring at one another, as if something was left unsaid in all of this. Looking up, he saw Bulma in the archway, staring at him from the side. Vegeta's mate, the shrill woman, as his father described her, was always someone who he felt uncomfortable around. He'd caught her staring at him more than once in the multiple meetings they'd had since he was a child. Even now she turned her gaze back towards Vegeta as soon as it was obvious he was staring back at her.

"An excellent idea," Turles remarked. "Legitimacy in exchange for what Vegeta wants, more fighting power."

Vegeta stared back at him, but was clearly not sold yet. He briefly exchanged a glance with his woman, before staring back at Turles.

"Brass," Vegeta commented. "I'll accept the Tree of Might as a gift, in exchange for Junia. Give her to the boy, her power is of little consequence to me."

Taro froze in place as the remark. It wasn't Vegeta's acceptance of the agreement, it was the remark that he wanted Brass to get Junia? Vegeta hated Brass, more than he hated Turles as far as he could tell. Vegeta was often indifferent to him, so he assumed that he would achieve his objective, but instead Vegeta opted to give her to Brass. His fist closed tightly before he glared intensely at Vegeta, who stared back at him daringly. When he looked towards his father, waiting for some defence of any sort, Turles just nodded in agreement.

"I concur, Brass will be acceptable. He's already my heir," he pointed out, before shooting a glare towards him. "And he's already been with the girl for over a year."

Vegeta seemed to stiffen his posture at the last remark, clearly not knowing there. It was impossible for Vegeta to hide his anger, and it was very obvious the last remark made him want to spit fire and blood. Even if he showed a complete lack of care for Junia, and he doubted he really cared at all even deep down, the very prospect that Brass had been with her without his permission was infuriating to him. Which only further drove him to question just why he would have chosen Brass for this little arrangement.

But his own frustrations were too high now.

He bowed his head to Turles, but not Vegeta.

"Father, if you'll excuse me," he offered, before ignoring any response anyway, and beginning to storm from the room.

It wasn't that he cared about Junia, really he didn't. It was about how important it was going to be to him that he have the only other Saiyan as his woman. It was about positioning for later, and exploiting Vegeta's disdain for Brass to the fullest. None of that had worked out, and it only further added to his stigma. Vegeta would rather have someone he despised have his daughter, than him, if only because his brother had what? Was it about power? That was the only thing he could think of.

One day, I'll be the one sitting at the top, you know that? And when I get to the top, this insult will be remembered. I will be the only one anyone could imagine being King.

Angry thoughts flooded his mind as he stormed past Bulma, his features very cross indeed.

Even the Gods will know my name.

With his cape flowing behind him, he slowly rose into the air, contemplating his next move. It likely would start with finding more weaknesses to exploit.

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Brass: Two Weeks Later, Earth

It was great being the best.

Well, being the best other than Turles, that was. He had to always be careful with that kind of thought process right now, if only because a slipped word could lead to a lot of trouble, even for him. Even then, the clear blue skies, often filled with white clouds, were a welcoming presence now that he'd returned home. His raiding across the universe had taught him a thing or two about most planets, in that they sucked. The Earth, despite a few battle scars here and there, was a marvel in the stars. It was beautiful and nurturing, and deceptively dangerous as well. A perfect place to rule from, a true Utopia among the stars.

If only I could get stronger than the old man, then I'd be ruling it right now.

But even now as the night slowly descended, he couldn't help but let his thoughts drift to his future, his very near future. The more power he gained, Tree of Might or not, the more he secured his future. He was going to have Junia, and he was going to have all the power needed to become the strongest being alive. It was different perhaps then his father imagined. Turles wanted power to tell others what to do, to be the ultimate authority on everything. Truthfully... Brass just wanted to fight. He wanted to fight bigger and better opponents. Hell, he wanted to become the strongest being in the history of the world, no the universe, if he could. But beyond the joy of getting stronger, he didn't want to do it to rule over others, at least not directly. The more power you had, the more power you had over your own destiny. If he became the greatest Saiyan to ever live... perhaps he could decide what he wanted for himself, because right now it was very much not the case.

One day I'll surpass you father.

When he walked out of his room's interior to his balcony, he felt the dying light of the sun wash over him briefly. Closing his eyes, he just took in the last embers of light and relished in it. Breathing in and out deeply, he imagined himself running in a field, free of all responsibility and constraint. But slowly it shifted and mutated into a darkened palace, with Gohan's bloody hand clutching his as he looked into his eyes.

Immediately his eyes shot open, breathing out as he did.

"Shit," he murmured. "You should have stayed down, Gohan."

The last words were utterly in almost a whisper, repeating what his Uncle Raditz had stated.

Suddenly, the celebration of returning home to this perfect gem of a planet, died a little as he was reminded of his brother's grim fate. Worse, it reminded him of why he never saw or spoke to his mother. She'd loved him once, until he became the 'monster' that he was. He was genuinely surprised she was still alive, and he wasn't sure if he should be thankful of that or not. His father kept her alive, as far as he could tell, to somehow take somethign away from Kakarot, who was already dead.

A buzz came from the door behind him, implying someone was demanding entry. He didn't recall calling for anyone, so he ignored it, until another another buzz rang through.

"Open," he commanded the room.

The door slid open, and Brass was met with a familiar figure, and it immedaitely made a chill run up his back.

Vegeta.

The Prince of All Saiyans marched towards him, the look on his face twisted into a grim, bitter gaze.

"Boy," he started, his tone blunt. "Turles's youngest rat, the one who reminds me of Kakarot. The one who has been involved with my daughter, without my permission."

Shit.

Now it was just a metric of measuring how badly the beating was going to be. He couldn't afford to kill him, he doubted that, not with his father's protection, but he could estimate that he was going to have some broken bones.

The things one does for the love of a beautiful Saiyan woman, right?

Nervously, unable to conceal it, he stepped back, his feet taking a defensive position. His hands were now locked together as he folded his arms, trying to make it appear he wasn't immediately preparing to defend himself in battle.

"It's not so much that I was getting involved on my own. Let's just say, my advances were appreciated, and not uninvited."

Well Brass, those are words we use when we're getting ready for a trip to the healing tank.

Vegeta's visage flinched with overt disgust, his lip curling before he just shook his head.

"I'm not here to kill you, boy. The girl isn't going to amount to anything on her own regardless of her dismal taste. I'm here to tell you that she's yours," Vegeta remarked. "You've taken the problem off of my hands. Your father made the arrangement with me as apart of a larger agreement."

"Are you saying that I'm now betrothed to Junia?" Brass asked, almost bewildered.

"I would prefer that you never use those words again," Vegeta pointed out, before his frustration showed through even more. "In fact, I would prefer it if we never met again. I am not going to be here for any ceremony. I have better things to do with my time. With what I received in turn, I am going to go back out into the stars for as long as I can, until I have acquired enough power."

With that, Vegeta turned and began to leave.

"Does Junia know yet?" Brass asked, blinking in shock, trying to let the information sink in. "I can tell her if you want-"

All Vegeta did was just simply leave. He never bothered to answer him at all.

I... think that actually went my way.

As soon as he was sure Vegeta was out of hearing distance, Brass let loose a single laugh, before closing his fist.

"Yes!" he laughed. "That's called lucking out! Gods of Destruction I can't believe that kind of luck lining up for me. All I need to do next is find a way to my next level."

With a self confident smirk, Brass started to walk out of his room towards his opened door, his shoulders moving from side to side confidently as he walked, his black eyes focused forward. Damn right that seemed like it was all working correctly. Hell, he didn't even have to see his father-in-law ever again? How much more better off could he be? Betrothed to his heart's desire. That took care of half of his long term plans.

I wonder what dad gave Vegeta to let this even happy. I wonder why the old man even cared enough to make a trade. Fuck it, who cares? I'm going to get the real gem from this planet.

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Junia: Capsule Corporation Compound

The fact her father was standing in front of her right now, his arms crossed and looking at her with disappointment, told her that she'd found a way to displease him again. Becoming a Super Saiyan on her own wasn't enough to impress him, it seemed. Conquering planets in the name of the new Saiyan hegemony that Turles had seemingly found, which he had left her in the care of along with her mother, didn't seem to be of any consequence either.

"Father," she greeted formally, but her voice was tight. "I am surprised to see you."

Ever.

The Prince just remained there, looking back at her with scrutiny.

"Your mother and I came to a conclusion regarding you," he said, without a spec of familial association in his voice. "You've been give over to Turles's boy, the stronger one, not the effeminate weak one."

What?

For a brief second, it took her a few moments to try to calculate everything that was said. First, it was doubtful her parents came to a conclusion without screaming, or it was that he came to a conclusion. But what was next, was the fact she'd just been traded, as if she were on a meat market somewhere. More strange, she was traded to Brass? How was that conclusion come to when they'd just gotten back today? He made the deal with Turles clearly, and her stomach twisted in disgust as the gravity of the discussion was coming into play. Why would he even agree to that? He hated Brass.

"And why exactly has this been decided?" Junia asked stiffly. "Without consulting me, or what I want-"

"Because in exchange, I am receiving several seeds from the Tree of Might, so that I can increase my power. This is the first time you've been useful to my quest, congratulations," Vegeta remarked bluntly.

Traded for some seeds? That's all I was worth? Just something to be discarded for not being of use?

It took her several seconds to digest as she stared back at her father, her own armour feeling suddenly tight as she tried to keep her ki down, despite how furious she was on the inside.

"You're pathetic," she finally announced. "You're a pathetic, petty creature. You're as much as Prince, as you are a brave warrior. You never even trained me, because your so self absorbed. You've never been there for anyone but yourself, and now you're just throwing my life away to suit your purposes? What an unbelievable disappointment you are."

The stoic look on her father's face however, didn't change. For a moment she almost assumed she'd just thought the words to herself, rather than having spoken them, but she knew that she'd said it. For a brief moment, she felt the urge to simply attack him herself, but she knew when she was outclassed, entirely.

"Are you done?" Vegeta simply asked her, unconcerned by a single word she'd made. "Or are you going to be foolish enough to take things a step further, and fight me? I thought not."

Walking past her, his case shifting behind him as he did, Vegeta turned his head to her, before smirking.

"Besides, you were already spreading your legs for Turles's boy anyway. If you're rutting like an animal with low class trash like that, why should I bother keeping you around? If we're talking about disappointments. You deserve to be shackled to the boy. You're not my problem anymore, girl."

All Junia could do was stand there, her hate growing with every second. It extended past just Vegeta, but to the new jailor she was now latched on to. That's all she was to everyone, property to be traded for their own perceived gains. Her own mother had little to do with any decisions Vegeta made, she'd learned that a long time ago. This was him, just like it was always about him. It was no longer just enough to be the strongest warrior in the universe, besides Turles. This was her father's last play to overtake the overlord who presided over all of them, and she was just another chip in his game.

A chip he'd ignored most of its life, and didn't give two shits about.

When she turned to look where he'd been, standing there in the hallway with hatred burning through her black eyes, she felt her breathing beginning to heave. Energy began to form around the tips of her fingers, before it started radiating off of her entire body. It wasn't just about the fact her pride and dignity, personally, were now compromised. It was that they were compromised for her own father to make gains. Her eyes turned a familiar blue-green as her hair shot upwards, unable to contain her rage. The entirety of the hall started to shake as she tried to keep herself under control.

I'll kill him.

Seething with more and more anger, her hand started to tremble as she felt more ki forming around her. The panels on the ceiling began to rumble as well as dust began to shake free from them, before being sucked down the hall by the exertion of the force from her body.

I'll kill him for this. I don't even need his training, or anything from him. I'll rip him apart for this. My whole life is just some pitiful object to him to be bartered, and without a shred of honour. I am the one who suffers the indecency, for his gain?

Finally doors began to shake free from their latches as they slipped out across the entire hall.

I'm done here.

Firing straight up, her body blasted through the ceiling and the floor above it, before she spiralled into a window, shattering through it as the room she'd just been in caught fire. A cry of fury escaped her lips as she took herself higher into the air. Briefly, she saw herself in her mind's eye annihilating the planet, but it was just a fantasy. In truth, she was impotent hanging up there in the air, utterly defeated. She didn't have enough power to resist her father's wishes, or Brass's, or Turles's. For all the strength she had, she was utterly powerless.

Powerless, and forgotten.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

Taro: Turles's Palace, two days later.

The same familiar pillars stood exactly where Son Gohan had fallen. The boy had been his 'brother' in many respects, but unlike Brass they couldn't claim the same parentage. All the same, this place always seemed like the best place to confront his father whenever they'd had an overdue discussion. For the last two days, he'd been slowly brooding over his position. He'd done everything right, he brought up the subject at an opportune moment, played against Brass's weaknesses, and he'd positioned himself more favourably with Vegeta. Everything was set for him to be the one placed in the favourable position with Junia, and Vegeta's House. Instead, it all went to Brass, just like inevitably everything did.

Who is the loyal adviser, father? Whose the one who has spent years enhancing your position, and always you grant your favour to the entitled idiot.

Pacing across the tiled floor, still bearing some cracks from where Gohan's body was brought low the first time during the battle between Turles and himself, Taro just waited grimly for his father to arrive. This Hall was the passageway through the heart of his palace, and was traversed several times by his father within a day. It didn't take long.

The familiar sound of Saiyan armoured boots echoed through the pillars as Turles came into view, and Taro ceased his pacing. When the two of them made eye contact, it was evident right away that things needed to be discussed. Without hesitation, the elder Saiyan approached him with a serious look about him, and that was good, because this was a serious discussion.

"Obviously you want something," Turles remarked, stopping in front of him, his white cloak dragging on the floor behind him. "You always do when you're stalking these halls. What is it?"

The truth has a strange way of coming out, doesn't it? Here I am, about to talk to my father where he killed one of my brothers, about how he has been impeding my plans. Oh well, nothing ventured, nothing gained.

"Have I done something to wrong you in my position, father?" Taro asked. "Have I not met your expectations?"

A smirk immediately crossed his father's features, but his own ones remained passive.

"I'm not kidding," he deadpanned. "What has happened for me to earn your active work against my agenda."

"Firstly, your agenda is to serve me," Turles was quick to counter. "And secondly, your plan was flawed. Vegeta would have never agreed to have you marry Junia, no matter how much he despises Brass. The soft fool, despite his outward appearance, would be unwilling to commit his daughter to you for obvious reasons."

"Obvious how? Vegeta cares little for your empire, or your games. He only wants your power, that is why you've always had such limited control over him," Taro pointed out coldly. "You made that play for your own legacy, and I made the play for future position. But every time I try to establish myself, you simply give Brass even more favour."

"I know you father, I've been managing many of your affairs for years," he pointed out suspiciously. "I know that you played a calculated game-"

"Do you love this Junia girl, is that why your so raw about this, boy?"

"Hardly," The younger Saiyan responded, his voice as calculated as before. "The girl is useful in so far that she has Saiyan Blood, and royal ties to the dead empire. One day, when there are more Saiyans, positions and titles will matter a great deal more, as well as a higher purity and quality of Saiyan Blood."

"Well, you're as ruthless as usual," Turles smirked. "But Brass loves the girl, so I've-"

"That's an excuse," Taro cut him off. "You don't care at all if Brass loves her. How does this serve your purpose?"

"It serves the legacy, boy," Turles shot back immediately, clearly his patience worn by the level of questioning. "Incest doesn't help with Bloodlines. So he was chosen for that reason."

Confusion knit Taro's eyebrows together as he tried to understand what his father had just said. How did that make any sense? He wasn't related to Junia in any recent or reasonably context, so what purpose did such a remark mean?

"How is it incestuous, excatly?"

Crossing his arms, Turles rolled his eyes.

"Allow me to explain something to you that I've never bothered to. I fucked Vegeta's blue haired witch, and that's where you come from, do you understand now?" Turles fired back. "When she wanted the midget's little love, we made an amiable arrangement that I would keep you, and she would get all the Vegeta she wanted. Do you get that now, Taro? If Vegeta and I agreed to let you marry his daughter, we'd be letting you marry your own sister. Do you get why that is a problem? Good."

It was said so... casually, and almost callously. It was an off the cuff remark for his father, but for him... for him it was something deeply troubling. His throat tightened for a brief moment while he swallowed, trying to puzzle it all together. The strange looks he received for years from Bulma took on new meaning, as well as the fact that Vegeta's attitude towards him was mildly more muted. The myth that he'd been given that his mother was just some human who Turles happened to have a brief affair with, took on a new meaning.

But what it also took on, was the man next to him.

"This shouldn't have been kept from me," he said stiffly.

"No, because then your loyalties might come into question," Turles bluntly pointed out. "Imagine you as a brat, pining to go see a woman who didn't care enough to take you with her. Your my son, and little else. My adviser, my progeny, and my lieutenant. That is your role, not the role of a dejected child attempting to escape my authority through others. Brass plays the role of heir, because he's better suited for it, and because I enjoy the presence of his mother."

"She truly despises you," Taro observed.

"Yes, that is true," Turles mused aloud, before walking past him. "But it changes nothing."

There was nothing else to say as Taro was left standing there, alone. He briefly looked towards the cracks in the tiles on the floor, remembering when they were filling with blood as Gohan lay dying. That was the destiny of really anyone who wasn't Brass at this point. His father would have only one true successor, and if it were not to be him, he would be eliminated in time. He knew it from the history of things. The only one Turles wouldn't kill would be Raditz... Raditz was too weak and cowardly to oppose him, anyone else with even the signs of a vertebra would be eliminated in time.

And yet it still leaves open questions. It still leaves me on the decline, heading towards eventual death at the hands of my father or brother. It still leaves me here. So I must change my circumstance.

Walking down the hall slowly, he paused when he reached a balcony outside, taking in fresh air. When he looked up to the night sky, he calmly just soaked in the night, before he saw the image of the scientist Bulma in his mind's eye.

"Mother," he whispered.

The answering of questions was one thing. The chance to try and obtain more power for himself was something wholly different. He knew exactly what the blue haired woman occupied herself with day and night, while Vegeta was gone. Great achievements of science were her goal, largely to assist Vegeta, or in some cases "the state", as Turles would have put it. He would need to be inspecting how things were really going at Capsule Corporation, and he intended to have more than a few seconds of chat with woman who bore him, and cost him one of his best opportunities for power in the state he was feeling increasingly isolated from.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

Brass: The Following Day

Well, he was engaged, and hadn't met the woman he was supposed to get married to since he'd been told. That was the part more than anything that was concerning. She didn't answer any of his messages, nor was he able to find her anywhere near the Capsule Corporation compound, or Turles's palace. Not that it was the only thing he was doing. Really, most of his time was being taken up by training right now. Where Taro would be busy being the elder brother, shackled with responsibilities, he was the one given the time to get even stronger. Taro trained too of course, but it was hardly to the same level or scope.

Even now, he was standing across from his uncle, who looked tired and old in the moment they stood apart. Raditz was labouring to keep up with him, looking frustrated and flustered as well. Which meant that they'd need to cut the six hour session short.

"You're getting old," Brass observed, rising from his fighting stance. "We'll train more tomorrow, when you're not so done."

A scowl came across Raditz's features as he stared back at him.

"All of you young ones are arrogant and reckless. Just because I'm getting old doesn't mean you can't learn anything, boy," he rumbled angrily, but all the same started to walk off of the field they'd been sparring in.

It took only seconds before another figure fell out of the sky, landing in front of him, her arms crossed proudly across her chest. It only took seconds for Brass to almost grin at the arrival. Well this was going to be fun. He cracked his neck to one side as he slowly started to walk towards her.

Junia.

"Well, well, if it isn't my darling bride to be," Brass announced, taking a bow before looking up at her with a smile. "Welcome to my humble training grounds."

It was only when he looked directly at her, this much closer, than he could see the look of pure indifference across her features, something he didn't understand at all. If anything, she looked perhaps even hostile towards him, another thing he wasn't exactly getting. Raising a brow towards his fiance, he just stopped a few feet from her, trying to question her without saying a word. The complete lack of a response for several seconds made him nervous he guessed? What he did, he wasn't quite sure yet, but it was obvious she was angry to him, the longer they stood there.

Ugh, she's going to make me say something.

"Everything alright?" he asked. "You seem off."

"I seem off?" her response came immediately. "I seem off to you, Brass? Why would you think that? Did you have this planned by chance? Was all of this part of your plans with my father?"

Yea, he forgot, as soon as anything involved Vegeta, it became a touchy subject. The fact that Vegeta was always a dick to him didn't matter, that was irrelevant, what was relevant was that Vegeta had 'picked' him. Which he was guessing was why Junia was so angry. It made him just give a ones sided smile in turn.

"Are you really that paranoid? I got back a few minutes after you did, and I got ambushed with the information. When your dad told me, he informed me that he didn't want to see or speak with me again. So if you're wondering if there was some conspiracy, you'll need to talk to my old man, and your old man," Brass answered her. "Now do you want to train? It'll help you blow off some steam-"

"No," she answered bluntly. "Do you think this is some game? This is serious."

He felt his brow pull towards his nose as he crossed his arms. What? He was taking this seriously. There was no game involved in all this, this was his future. Hell, if anything it meant that he was going to be the one who definitely came out on top in the leadership once his dad died. If anything, this was deadly serious considering the stakes. Yea, he wanted to be the strongest in the universe himself, and this even helped with that. But in all honesty, his happiness regarding their future union, was born by the fact he actually gave a shit about her.

"And I'm not taking it seriously? Calm down, you're acting crazy," he said, rolling his eyes. "I think we deal with enough crazy, don't you?"

The air between them felt almost... chilled. Even if she wasn't saying anything immediately hostile to him, he could tell something had changed, and he genuinely didn't understand why. What changed from the other day? Now they were going to be officially recognized as a couple. It wasn't like they'd not been fucking the other day. What was the big deal?

"If you want to train, train with Raditz," she answered him, her blue aura suddenly appearing around her. "I have things to plan."

"Well, its the first time in days since we've seen each other. Maybe you want to slow down and-"

"I'm not interested, Brass. I'm not interested in whatever you think I was," she answered him bluntly. "I'm not interested in you. And I'm not interested in being shackled to you."

In a brief flash of light, she blasted up as quickly as she arrived, and Brass was just left there on the ground, looking up at the figure as it disappeared from view. What just happened? What'd he do wrong? It wasn't his god damn fault that his father and Vegeta cut a deal. What'd the deal matter anyway? Briefly, he almost thought to take off after her, until he realized just how far gone she was. Really, he was just left holding the shreds of his dignity. Something painful pumped through his heart, but it was only in the back of his mind.

When he felt a hand on his shoulder, he blinked several times before turning his head, feeling something intense wash over him as his breathing sharply increased, and his anger and something else began to rise.

"What?" he snapped, almost snarling after he did.

Standing there, his uncle didn't flinch while he looked back at him. There was a look of sympathy on his features, and Brass felt nothing but disgust. He was being pitied.

"The girl will get over it," he reassured him. "I can see if I can-"

Yea, how many times did you tell my father that about my mother?

Ripping his shoulder away, Brass breathed out angrily before turning about to face his uncle.

"I'm done," he answered, a golden aura lighting up around him as he transformed. "If I need something, I'll call you, not the other way around."

The ground around him was shredded before he even took off, leaving a scorched hole of debris in the surface of the Earth as he twisted angrily and violently into the air, the sound of the sound barrier cracking behind him as he scowled.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

Junia:

Son of a bitch.

That was the main thing that entered her mind as she thought of her future master Brass. Did they think she was blind? She saw the kinds of existences her mother and the woman Chi-Chi lived. Anything official regarding her own people, was devolving into ownership. Worse, she knew Brass, and knew how much he could be like his father. It wasn't about love or any silly chemical reaction, it was about what was real. One thing that was real, was being caged up and used.

Her father's words, describing her being shackled to him, gnawed into the back of her mind, because he was right. He'd ignored her and done nothing for her, only now to make her just some pawn to be owned so he could get more power. She was going to be used like some breeding mare? That was going to happen like her father was going to somehow actually give a shit about her. Worse, her father cared so little about her, he'd given her over to someone he actively despised. But the worst part of all of this was, he'd tainted her. She was property now, and anyone he'd given her over to, would own her.

The only solution to any of this, was to become as strong as she could. If she were stronger than Brass, she wouldn't be his slave. If she became stronger than her father or Turles, she could just not accept their rules. It meant needing to escape in order to buy time. The problem with strength was that it took time to acquire. How long had it taken for her father to gain as much strength as he had? Decades, and purging whole worlds as well as fighting the most powerful beings alive. The same rang true for Turles, and the one named Kakarot, the one who died before her birth. She wasn't even as strong as Gohan was before his death at the hands of Turles.

Frustration knit into her brow as she was propelled through the vapour clouds across the sky, the clouds breaking on her aura before it touched her skin. When she whisped out one side of one, she spied her home. She'd been able to sense that Vegeta had left the planet, likely with his bounty, last night. Again, it was just her, and to a lesser extent her mother. The relationship with her mother had always been strange, as she'd always seen Vegeta as some great defender, protecting her from Turles and others, or at least that's how she felt. Her mother forgave her father for neglecting them, being selfish and using her. Would he have stuck around if Bulma didn't make things for him?

Junia already knew the answer to that. Her father was a beast, and would discard anyone who wasn't useful to him in his quest to overtake Turles and anyone else who could be a threat to him.

When she landed in front of her home, her cape drifting to the ground behind her as she stood silently near the front entrance, she saw the guards look at one another nervously.

"Princess," one human nodded, trying to conceal his concern, clearly detecting her mood.

She breezed past them at a brisk pace, ignoring them as she started to move through the different levels of the large, dome shaped building until she came to the destination where she knew her mother would reside. The laboratory was as chaotic as ever, with different training droids for her father scattered about, as well as old, strange projects. The huge space was dedicated to her mother's nature more than anything.

"Mother," she spoke up, seeing a blue haired head pop up from beneath a large panel.

"Junia? You decided to come home. You know windows and ceilings aren't free," she chastised. "Have you calmed down at all?"

"I'm not here to talk about that," Junia responded coolly.

"Look, I know you and Brass will be a good couple. Its hard at first, but he'll keep you safe from-"

"I think I just told you I'm not here to talk about that. I'm not going to be some bird in a cage. I came to you because I need a ship that can't be traced, or ordered to come back home," Junia told her bluntly. "My only way out is to get stronger, and so I'm going to leave and get stronger. When I get back, I'll do as I please."

There was a slow horror unfolding on Bulma's features, and Junia just rolled her eyes. How traumatized did one woman need to be? How long did she need to live under the shadows of others?

"Quiet," she urged. "I can't just get you a ship. If I could, don't you think I'd have one myself?"

What?

There was a brief moment of surprise which came across Junia's face when she heard it. There was an almost bitter look on her mother's face, something she'd only seen in sparse moments over her life. Even if they were hardly close, it was odd to see.

"That monster who runs this place killed my best friend, and murdered his son. He killed everyone else I care about, and pollutes and corrupts everything he finds useful, and destroys everything he doesn't," Bulma said. "He even ruined your father. Your father used to be a good man. Even if he always wanted to be the strongest. Do you think I'm blind? Do you think I think this is perfect?"

Stepping back and crossing her arms, Junia just felt quiet in the face of the angry words. So, this was the truth coming to the fore. Her hopeless situation didn't appear to improve, at all.

"I'm not staying here to be put in a cage," Junia reiterated almost forcefully. "And after all the years you spent down here, do you really think me stupid enough to believe that you didn't build a way out for yourself? I know you, mother."

The pause on the other side left her quiet herself. Excuses like her father had once been a good man, or all the terrible things Turles had done, meant nothing to her. What did any of it matter? It all happened before she was born, except Gohan's death. She knew Gohan, she liked Gohan, but Gohan picked the wrong fight and lost. That was why she was trying to avoid picking that fight until the time suited her.

"Get out," Bulma ordered. "If you think I spend all my time building things for myself, than your crazy. I'm not having this conversation right now, Junia. You're unhappy, I'm unhappy, the world is unhappy. That's sometimes just how life is."

To hell with that.

If her mother was unwilling to help her cause, it would mean she was going to need to find her own path. Any path that lead from Earth in an unmarked ship, was the course she would need to take. To climb into the void and hide among the stars, and gain strength was her plan. At the very least, even if she lived on the run, she would live free.

To Hell with her father, Turles, and even Brass. The dishonourable lot of them weren't worth her sacrificing everything she was, just to appeal to their demands. If anything, running away may have one added side effect. Turles might kill Vegeta for betraying him.

I can only hope.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

Bulma:

How many years ago had it been since Turles butchered her friends? It was hard to even really remember it. Krillin, Tien, Yamcha, and the others couldn't do anything against a Super Saiyan. Even Piccolo died shortly after, and Goku himself. It was just a nightmare for them all to live through while Turles "asserted" himself. Really, had it not been for Vegeta making a trade with Turles, years later, she didn't know where she'd be at this moment. Likely, she'd be even worse off than Chi-Chi, given that Turles truly disliked her. Disliked was probably the wrong word. Hated, that was a much more accurate term to use.

The world that had been born of Goku's death was a grim one. It was a grim, sad world with sad people in it. The whole world was nothing but a globe of slaves and scared people, fearing Vegeta, Raditz, or Turles's wrath. How many sentient creatures died abroad, and died because of her? She was the one who helped Vegeta's ability to train. She'd helped him by maintaining his training facilities, making new machines for him to test himself against, and giving him better and faster transport across the stars. As strange as it sounded, at first she enjoyed it. Maybe she appreciated it, more than she enjoyed it? She helped him keep strong, and he kept her safe from that beast Turles.

But the problem now was where to go? Vegeta used to love her, she was certain of that. He never showed her that, not in words or anything like that, but she knew that he cared about her and her well being. They had a partnership that went beyond the realpolitik of this grim world. They had a daughter together, and she knew he cared more about Junia than he let on. But now? Now his cruelty had grown by a thousand fold. Everything was about his drive for power, because he knew he couldn't catch up to Turles. She knew he couldn't either, not without taking the poison that Turles himself took. She'd tried to convince him that they should leave, years ago... but his pride wouldn't let him.

And now, she didn't trust Junia's attitude, from the world she'd been made in. She didn't trust Vegeta anymore, and was afraid he didn't see her as useful any longer. Which meant she was increasingly alone, and increasingly powerless to alter anything about her own fortune. This was where she hit the wall. This was where she really didn't have any... future. But that was almost fitting in its own respect, as she looked back on her life.

With a hand tracing over a capsule she'd finished years ago, her eyes couldn't stop staring at it, with its blue label that simply said "002" on it. The second one she'd ever made, the thing she'd made to leave this place with Vegeta and Junia, hoping she could have convinced Vegeta of all people to take them away from all of this. She'd never had the courage to use it on her own.

Her memories of this place were once so amazing. This world, that was. She remembered when she first met a little boy with a monkey's tail, while she was searching for the Dragon Balls. She remembered when she met Yamcha, and over time the others. She remembered that they'd conquered their fears with every monster that came at them. King Piccolo being the worst they faced on the Earth, and Goku managed to come through and stop him, even as a boy.

They stopped the Saiyans on Earth, and then everything started to go... wrong.

On Namek, it was that monster Turles that attacked her. That was the beginning of the end for all of it. That was when her memories turned sour, with only one shining silver lining.

She watched as her friends died after Frieza was defeated. She watched as Turles took control of everything like a corrupting pool of evil, he sucked everything into him and ruined it. He ruined her even. The only glimmer of light for anything after Namek was Vegeta. The man who saved her from a fate worse than death. But now that light had dimmed, if not extinguished, and here she was. Here she was with nothing to show for anything, nothing but this capsule.

It wasn't that she didn't want to help Junia... it was that she didn't want Junia to become her father, or worse, to become like the people she'd been trained with, or raised with. What was the point of leaving this place, if she would just take it with her no matter where she went? How selfish would it be, to destroy another world, just to satisfy her want to save her daughter? No... This was... done.

Looking over her lab, she quietly wished it was the haven it always had been to her. Clicking the top of the capsule and tossing it, the small object bounced several times before appearing in a poof of smoke. The long ship filled her lab's massive empty space almost immediately, leaving her to looked over it, tracing a free hand over the side of the expanded time machine. The first model could only ever house one, but this was the one she'd built to house three.

It was meant for her, Vegeta, and Junia. Now?... Now it only needed one occupant.

For a moment, she thought she could leave a message for Vegeta... but she knew it wouldn't matter. What would the words matter? All that mattered to him now was power, and she knew that.

[i]It's time to go.[/i]

Just as she moved to grab the latch, she heard something behind her, and her entire body froze.

"Junia?" she asked, looking back slowly.

"No," a voice came back to her as the sound of boots clicked against the ground. Something dark shivered up her spine as she felt her hair slowly stand on end. "But it most certainly looks as though you've been busy... mother."

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Taro:

The walk through the Capsule Corporation had been... bloodless so far. Every human guard here recognized him immediately, and rightfully quaked in fear when he even cast a glance towards them. It was time to play the game, and he wasn't insane enough to think he could do it all on his own. Part of playing the game, meant understanding his role in all of this, and positioning himself for something more than just being an adviser who was felled by the ambitions of his brother, or father. Part of that would mean meeting his mother as his mother for the first time. It was strange to think of Vegeta's blue haired harpy as anything other than an irritating influence in his ear.

It seemed preposterous to him that he came from her. Briefly, his eyes scanned to some of the hairs dangling from his forehead, noting how human they looked. Worse, they almost had a resemblance to hers. It was something he'd not thought much of, given there was no reason to. It made his nostrils flair and his eyes widen for but a moment, taking in the similarity for the first time and realizing just how... strange this all was. It was striking to him that he was never told this. Something closer to anger, than to sorrow, boiled up from his stomach as he walked through the final levels down to the basement where he knew the laboratory would be.

Only when he entered did he immediately see what was before him. Casually he began to walk towards the very obvious craft and the blue haired woman who was standing next to it. Suspicions as to what it was were the first thing to cross his mind, ever the lieutenant of his father. Even if now he was going to position himself to betray his father, he was still working in his habits. The design didn't make sense to him, unless it was perhaps going to be a space craft? An unregistered space craft, he suspected. Which meant this was highly illegal.

"Junia?"

For a moment he almost felt venom replace blood in his veins as soon as she said that. Junia, the beginning of his problems, but worse, something more profound now. If she was his sister, if this was all true... then she was somehow different than he was. To best describe it, favouritism. The favoured daughter, the one worth keeping perhaps? Well, how fascinating. It lead him to question yet more of his own self, his own origins, perhaps even his worth. Was there something that made him a pariah, somehow, even to his father? Was it the fact that this woman's blood was apparently his?

"No," he commented slowly as he continued his approach. "But it most certainly looks as though you've been busy... mother."

Her entire body froze in place in front of the door of the craft, and he could sense the anxiety. Stopping only a few feet away, Taro crossed his arms while staring at her back, waiting for her to turn and confront him. It didn't happen. Instead, it was like time shut down, even as her arm slowly moved from the craft's handle back to her side. He could just hear her breathing before her face slowly turned towards him, looking frightful. It was somehow... satisfying, to know that. Fear was a powerful weapon against anyone, ally or friend. The fact she was on a back footing was an advantage.

"You can stop staring dumbly at me and say something," Taro pointed out bluntly. "Clearly we've not talked as mother and son."

"... I..." there was the long pause as she stared back at him, trying to find words he guessed. "How did... you find out?"

"When father and Vegeta ruined my plans to engage myself to Junia, and given that Vegeta hates Brass, I determined that something was wrong. Father decided to be so gracious as to tell me for the first time in my life when he explained why I was denied."

"... Taro, I can't just explain to you-"

"You should just explain to me, if you have much intention of leaving this room alive," Taro responded coldly. "I am giving you the benefit of the doubt at the moment. Because I would like us to be good friends. But if we cannot be friends, than we must be enemies. And right now you do not wish to be my enemy."

Threats, another easy placement for advantage. Humans always caved in when under threat for their lives and...

The look on her face changed. It went from fearful to something else, almost defiant.

"Your father is a monster. He looks like the best friend I ever had, and killed him. Every time I think of Goku, your father ruined it for me. He's ruined most of my life, and killed most of my friends. He's such a primitive, thoughtless brute that he attacked and raped me on Planet Namek."

That was something which left him standing there cold, the information being taken in was something that was... unexpected. Perhaps some foolish human woman he briefly had sex with, or a fling of some sort, was something he suspected. A woman he'd briefly been attached to and killed he could have even seen. But to be the product of rape. Well, he would hardly be the first or last. But he was very quiet all the same, staring back at her with a cold gaze.

"I can put the next part together-"

"I left you behind with him as part of the arrangement with Vegeta," Bulma said bluntly. "I won't hide from it. I didn't want you. Everything about you reminds me only of my own pain. I wanted to forget that you were ever mine. I knew none of it was your fault, but every time I saw you, you just reminded me of him. If I kept you, or even tried to see you... even if I could have... it would have made me face the man who raped me and killed my friends on a constant basis."

It was easy to understand, but at the same time something gnawed at his mind. This was the story of his life. To be the one left behind. To be the one who needed to stand on his own, because no one was there to hold him up. But to find out that no one was holding him up because he caused them pain by existing, was new. It wasn't angst, or a conflict born in him in that moment. It was a growing sense of disdain. It didn't matter if it made sense. It didn't matter if this weak woman had abandoned him.

What mattered, was he was looking at the very weakness that was where he came from. She'd been too weak to see him, and too weak to confront Turles at all. She'd been so weak she simply hid herself behind Vegeta at every turn, and increasingly couldn't. She was just some terrified human, and she was undeserving to be the same blood as him.

"And where were you going to take this ship? An unregistered ship at that?"

In a quick motion, she tried to grab for the door, but he intercepted her arm in a blink.

"Now mother, that wasn't very smart," he growled.

You now even run from me.

Breathing heavily, she looked into his eyes and said something which actually struck a nerve.

"If your not like your father, you'll let me go," she said. "There isn't anything left for me here."

How familiar. How typical as well. Everyone was now looking for their own out, weren't they? Everyone but Turles and Brass. Even Vegeta was running from the fact he was weaker than Turles, in his own respects.

"I could use this ship as well, mother," he stressed the last word as he stared down at her. "After all, my own skin is on the line soon."

Immediately she shirked his gaze, before looking back at him intensely.

"You can't go where I'm going. Why would you even want to?"

"Because as I said, I'm going to need to save my own skin. I'll be dead very soon if things don't change for me, and I sincerely doubt that they will, given my parentage. Given the fact that you helped put me in this situation. I think it only fair that I simply take what I am entitled to."

After I use this ship to get to a safe distance, another galaxy even perhaps, I can-

"You can't come," she finally said. "I won't take yuo somewhere that would be peaceful just for you to destroy it. All of you are too dangerous. All you know is death-"

Instinctively, he grabbed her throat, hoisting her into the air and slamming her back against the side of the ship as he looked into her eyes as fear kicked in. Her legs kicked out at him, hitting his chest impotently as he glared. This woman, who put the guilt of his father's apparently crime on her, was now claiming he was the tainted one? He? The son who was used and then left discarded for history? The son she'd left behind? Of course. Of course he was going to be left behind again. But this time it wasn't her choice.

"Can't... can't... bre... breathe," she barely whispered.

Cold iron met her gaze as Trunks watched the womb that gave birth to him struggle, her eyes starting to widen with increased panic.

"...Trunks... stop..." her voice cut through again as her hands grabbed his wrist, desperately trying to pry him away.

Trunks?

For a brief second he almost let go as he watched her weaken, calling him Trunks? The struggle behind his hand became more frantic for a moment, before gradually it all weakened. Her grip on his hands almost died entirely, and her legs stopped flailing at him. His eyebrows knit together before he saw the light in her eyes slowly vanish. When he let go, a human sack collapsed to the ground, already vacated. It was hardly the first time he killed, and when he pulled back his gloved hand, he just looked at it for a brief second, before looking back at the body.

It was almost a dead space for his own thoughts as he stood there, unable to move himself for some reason. It was hard to regain his composure as he felt his nostrils flair once, before he knelt down next to the body.

"You made me do it," he told the body before looking her over once, grabbing several capsules from her lab coat.

Looking up at the ship, he traced his hand over it briefly, before grasping the latch to pop open the side of the craft.

I will do whatever I want, and nothing will get in my path... I will not be cast aside.

... but I need a plan.

Not like Gohan, or the other Saiyan Kakarot who died prior. He wouldn't be done away with as if he were human trash who'd outlived his usefulness. Stepping over Bulma's body, he entered the craft and slowly began examining the controls, but one word followed him as he did, in the strange voice of the body outside of the ship.

Trunks.

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Brass:

Fruit from the Tree of Might. That was the only way anyone could ever gain enough strength to challenge his old man. Why? Because Turles had been consuming the fruit for decades now. Its effect on his strength was seemingly unending. The fruit of the Gods gave the benefit of near pure power, and sucked the very life energy out of the planets it was placed. Which left everyone else in the dust, even Vegeta was left behind and was now desperately going try to catch up with his own Trees. There was one thing he always appreciated, which was the idea of being the strongest, but being the strongest by your own arm.

To quote Gohan...

You didn't earn that power, you stole it.

They were some brave words. Brave words from the last man to challenge his father and almost win. Hell, he was going to succeed his father anyway, but it wasn't about that. It was about the challenge. What challenges were there for him now? Beating up his uncle Raditz? Hardly. Fighting Vegeta? That wasn't viable any longer. He could already beat Taro and Junia. Where did it leave him, here at the height of his power until his father died? It left him either pining for his own seeds to go plant, or to wait for his father to die of old age in 40-60 years, and then hope he hasn't squandered all of the seeds for himself by that point without any chance of harvesting new ones.

What great choices.

While sitting back and looking at the sky from the top of one of the neglected cities his father had fought with the locals over years ago, Brass closed his eyes briefly and just let the fresh air in through his nose. Dealing with Junia was going to be a bag of fun now as well, he could easily tell. The last conversation ended... badly. The idea of Junia just getting over anything was also ridiculous, and he knew that. How long had she resented her father? Yea, he was going to have good luck with that one. Which meant that he'd better get used to have a cold bed, and an obstructive entity around him. The future wasn't exactly looking great.

Hell, his own mother hadn't talk to him in years either.

"What I wouldn't do for a chance for more power," Brass grumbled.

One of his eyes cracked open however as he sensed a power in the distance, approaching rapidly. It was obvious who it was, and he couldn't help but roll his eyes.

Taro.

The big brother who never was quite his equal in strength, and always his father's cold ambassador. More summons from his father right now were the last thing he wanted, given how badly his father fucked him over without even realizing it by cutting that deal with Vegeta.

As soon as his brother landed though, he got the sense that this wasn't normal business.

"What?" Brass asked, staring at the clouds again, beginning to just stretch out as he tried to get his mind back onto his problems.

"Is that any way to greet to your brother, Brass?" Taro asked, raising a brow. "You're not even standing to address me. Its very rude."

"And you're tall, and look dumb. What do you want?"

That was enough to get the cold man's blood itching in his veins, Brass hazarded. The bleak look on Taro's face grew more bleak, and Brass just smirked to himself.

"I came here with a proposition for you, but if you're too busy staring at the clouds, I can go."

"What does father want?" Brass sighed. "Is he too busy getting ready to go back out into space to make sure Vegeta can't get a lead, and wants me to do something?"

"Father can rot," Taro responded to him, uncharacteristically. "I came here to talk to you about a chance we have to shirk off the old fool, and Vegeta."

It took Brass a moment, blinking before turning his head to Brass and starting to rise. There was no way he just heard what he thought he heard. Did he just hear that Taro was planning on betraying his father and Vegeta? Well that was most definitely something that Brass was fascinated by. Of course, Taro would think that he'd be in charge after the dust settled. Then there was the added fact that it was suicide. He believed the term their father always used was "I can always make more of you", if he wasn't mistaken. He even killed Gohan, and Brass knew for a fact that he liked Gohan more than any of them.

"Mutiny against father? From you, Taro? Are you really that petty? You're just trying to drag me to the grave with you, how adorable. Father must have said something to finally spook you, and make you realize just how expendable you are?"

It was amusing. Taro was always the cold one, always the one being the most adherent to everything their father said. Brass knew that Taro was constantly vying for position to be the one that replaced their father. So that meant he felt his opportunity was shrinking, and was looking to go out with a bang? That wasn't his style. Hell, that wasn't either of their styles.

"No, Brass, I've come into possession of something else, something new. A means of... travel, we'll say," Taro started. "Which we can use to become stronger than Father or Vegeta ever dreamed."

Now that was something that interested Brass. The idea of more strength was most definitely interesting. The idea of being strong enough to shirk off anyone's rules and command the world around him was a distant dream he, and probably Taro, always had. The idea of being the mightiest warrior alive by the strength of one's own power, was what every Saiyan should strive for. But what the Hell was travel going to do for them? Kakarot had "instantaneous" movement, and Turles still killed him.

"And how is it going to do that?" Brass asked, crossing his arms and looking back at Taro skeptically. "Are we going to fly into the vacuum and get stronger like Vegeta did? Remember, he came back stronger, but still weaker than father. The Tree of Might is something that can't be challenged for strength-"

"We find opponents to increase our own power levels. A Saiyan increases his power with every battle," Taro reasoned.

"And where will we find stalwart warriors who are worth two shits to fight? Most slaughters I participate in, are hardly battles."

Pulling a capsule out of his armour, Taro smiled back at him with a light in his eyes he'd never seen, just as the wind brushed past both of them, blowing their capes into the wind. Immediately Brass's eyes focused on the capsule and then looked back at his brother questioningly. Just what was that supposed to be? How did that answer his questions?

"A vehicle of incredible potential has come into my possession, brother. A vehicle that will let us cross through time and space itself, to seek out opponents of worthy standing. Opponents like Frieza, Kakarot, Vegeta, and Father, all in their prior states. We can simply use it to plot courses through different moments in history... and even the alternate histories that come about because of our interference. We will fight the mightiest warriors alive, again and again... until we are strong enough to return here, to this moment... to kill our father and Vegeta."

That was enough to give Brass pause as he looked in his brother's eyes, seeing what he was saying. They would use this time machine to jump back to different moments in time and space and just kill whoever they needed to, in desperate battles. They'd work on one set until they were strong enough, and then move on to another set? Just how many timelines and realities could exist with warriors of different calibres? Just how strong could they become by doing this?...

But even if it doesn't work, think how much I can learn. I can learn how father fights, and how Kakarot and the others fought. I can increase my own power until I am the strongest being who has ever lived. Maybe.

"And you're sure it works."

"Yes," Taro answered. "I'd stake my mother's life on it."

Well, that was grim, and dry humour that Brass wasn't expecting. Rolling his eyes, he smirked against the wind.

"Just the two of us then? Brothers of destruction rolling through time?" he almost laughed. "You realize how ridiculous this sounds, right?"

"And if someone from another world heard from us that father used plants to destroy worlds and devour all of their power, you'd think them mad too... if you'd never seen it happen," Taro reasoned. "This is our opportunity... brother... don't you wish to reach out and take it?"

What was there to lose? Even if he came back here and determined he wasn't strong enough, then what? He'd just not fight Turles, and go back for another spin, wouldn't he? There was no real losing in any of this. Except he didn't really care if he killed Vegeta, beyond proving he was stronger. That made his own mind spark with an idea. A slanted smirk came across his features. He was going to have to deal with his darling bride to be regardless of if he killed their father and Vegeta. She claimed she wanted strength for herself, and power?

Well...

"I think we should ask one other if they want to come," Brass commented. "Junia."

The look on Taro's face was once in a lifetime. The slanted smirk mirrored on his brother's features before he nodded, staring back at him with the same sinister edge he always saw in their father.

"I agree," he answered. "Its fitting. Almost like one of those human tragic plays or paintings. Or better yet, a Saiyan Proverb. The Son Kills the Father."

Brass knew it well. It was something that their father had mentioned more than once. In old times, Saiyan males would go on to kill their fathers, if they could. Of course, Junia wasn't a son... but the analogy made sense all the same.

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Junia: Ruins of Central City

Where is it?

Her eyes flashed over the bunker's remains all around her. Turles never bothered to rebuild this city. But inside of its ruins, there was supposed to be a gift. The last Planet Trade space pod to be on the planet, which meant it couldn't be tracked by any internal electronics. The only problem was she couldn't find it. Every piece of information she'd dug up so far, said it was in a government facility somewhere here.

Unable to contain her anger, she snapped her wrist out, pointing it towards a worn away wall. The force of ki she shoved through the air shattered the old concrete as if it were glass. The sound of tumbling bits of human construct rattled through the old building while her blue eyes scanned.

This is the last opportunity. If I can't find this, I'll need to-

Her thoughts were cut off as she sensed two powers behind her. Turning sharply, her hair turned gold as an aura flashed around her. The familiar thrum of the aura filled her ears as she prepared herself. Her eyes narrowed seriously towards the location of the power, until she heard an amused chuckle from the other side. Familiar powers showed themselves as Brass and Taro.

And right now, just because they were familiar didn't mean they were friendly. Part of her wondered if they'd come here to drag her off kicking and screaming, or unconscious, back to Turles's little palace.

"Come now, Junia, do you really want to fight me right now?" Brass scoffed. "Look, it'd be fun, but I think we'd know who'd come out ahead, especially with both of us here."

Walking into the dimly lit area, Brass looked to be in a much better mood than she'd expected. When Taro emerged next, she just stared back and forth between the two of them.

"Why are you following me?" she demanded.

"I'm not following you around. We needed to find you-"

"For what?" she demanded.

"Such a lovely couple the two of you make," Taro observed, smirking as he did. "I'm sure you'll be so happy together."

A half disgusted glance left her before she slowly relaxed her stance, but didn't shake off her Super Saiyan form. She needed to be prepared if this was some kind of a game they'd decided to play. Right now, the last thing she needed was to deal with Brass and Taro when she was trying to get the Hell off this planet.

"What?" she demanded. "Spit it out already."

It was Taro who stepped forward, and he looked confident as he did.

"We've obtained a new vehicle. One which will allow us to gain more strength than Father or Vegeta could hope to muster. It will allow us to travel back in time and between timelines, to fight the strongest opponents we can find. We will gain strength with every battle until we can return home, to this time, and kill Turles... and Vegeta."

"We will travel to as many times as we need to, until we have obtained all the power we need. Father and Vegeta will not be prepared," Brass chimed in.

The idea of her father's body laying lifeless at her feet immediately hit her, but she didn't broadcast her own smile. Instead, she looked to Brass, to see his expression, looking for any sign of deception. She could read Brass like a book, and within seconds she knew what Taro was saying was true. Which meant the dream of breaking her chains, the dream of killing her father was going to come true. Not only was it going to come true... she could fulfil another fantasy she'd always had. One day, she could become the most powerful warrior to have ever lived. She wouldn't just supersede her father... but Brass and Taro as well.

I could become the strongest being in the universe...

It would fix everything. It would rid her of her father, and allow her to become the warrior she always imagined. It would let her make decisions for herself, and everyone else. It would be to become what she'd always striven to be. Ironically, the three of them would almost be in competition for who would come back the strongest, wouldn't they? That was fine by her. She might have been starting a bit behind, but she'd made up how much of a distance even now, compared to when she started, considering how much later her training had begun?

She matched Taro's smirk a moment later, feeling excitement rush through her.

"When do we start?"

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Taro: Central City, an Hour Later

I wonder if there is someone out there watching this unfold. I wonder what they'd think of me? The great deceiver, perhaps they'd name me? Or would they call me Matricidal? I have killed and exploited my own mother's death. I've taken my destiny in hand, and I've pulled my brother and sister into my plans. Father won't even realize what's happened by the time we're gone, and when we get back? It'll be either as if no time has passed, or he'll have been left wondering what happened. I think I'd call it genius.

What do you think?

Pausing as he went over the machine one last time, reading over Bulma's instructions, he looked up in the mirrored glass of the cockpit. What did who think? Heh, he was so excited he'd almost lost track of himself for a second. It'd been a grim few days for him... but this was going to be the beginning of something new. And by the end of all this, it was going to be him at the top. He would deny his father his heir, and safeguard Junia as well. Better yet, if he could acquire more strength than either of them, it was going to be him who decided their fates.

And they were both so bullheaded and straight forward, they wouldn't understand even how to obtain optimal amounts of knowledge and power in these new timelines. If he really needed to know something, he could simply obtain it. There was a technique his father had taught him, about taking in people's experiences and reading their thoughts. Apparently Kakarot had mastered it at some point as well. Well, he suspected he could take it a step further... if needed. Nothing like acquiring a tactical advantage over his own would-be masters.

Trunks.

There was that name again. He visibly darkened as he glared into the mirror, sliding his hand over the glass a moment later, trying his best to contain his rage. He wouldn't be set aside by anyone, and he certainly was never to be something to be left behind and forgotten. Not in this time, and not in any timeline going forward. He was going to be the master of it all.

Besides, who could possibly stop us? Three Super Saiyans at the right moments in our history? Even in other histories? Those two being there doesn't just help me keep an eye on their progress and manage them... it insulates me. None of us will really fall in battle as long as we're together.

The door to the ship popped open and Taro turned his head towards it.

"Are you ready to leave yet? Junia's getting testy."

"I'm getting annoyed that you keep staring at me, Brass," she spat back.

"See? She's getting testy."

Rolling his eyes, Taro looked back at his brother with a steely gaze.

"I think I have it all sorted out. Everything should be fine," he answered. "We'll leave in a moment."

I think we'll cheat though. The first timeline we go to... I want to kill father. I want to know what it feels like. I would like it to feel different than when I killed mother. I don't want it to leave that pit in my stomach. I want to feel something better than that.

Walking up the steps onto the ship, the door sealed behind them as he moved to the captain's controls.

"I think I know which sequence it is."

"Think?" Junia asked from behind. "We better not be heading into some random-"

Even as she was speaking, he was already dialing things in, his hands gliding over the controls before he set in the final sequences necessary. Before her words were even finished, the world around them began to slide away, warping in almost slow motion as they, and the ship they were in, plunged into a sea of nothingness... They plunged into the ocean between times, and as they did, he could swear he could almost feel the universe shredding around them...

The sensation of feeling his own atoms buzzing almost was enough to bring a shock to his face as his breathing hitched.

Incredible.

When reality slipped back around them, covering them like a familiar sleeve, he looked out the window to see several shocked figures outside the craft, standing on Planet Namek's soil.

Smiling, he pointed down at Turles and then Vegeta.

Turning his head towards his siblings, both of them reeling, trying to get their bearings after the jump through existence itself, he couldn't help but add.

"I call Turles."

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Author's Notes:

It's gonna be a really big Author's notes this time, so I am sorry if you guys don't like it. Just some stuff to go over.

Originally this story arc was actually going to be a bridge between my other story, The Catalyst, and this one. Even though that story isn't likely to be continued or finished, I really didn't want to change course on something I'd already hinted at for The Long Road. Also, this chapter, "Utopia" was originally going to be its own short story, with a lot more detail. I'd planned on making 5, 40 page chapters, going over how the world works and the people in it. I kinda abridged it, narrowed it down to this one chapter really documenting them "leaving" that world, and kinda creating an image of who these people were before they started causing a rampage across the universe. They've evolved, all of them, since they left. All of them are more jaded, all of them more bitter, and Taro lost his mind. Expect to see flashbacks for them at different points over the next few chapters, to flesh that out as well.

In The Catalyst, there was a scene where it was implied that Turles was interested in Bulma, and disinterested in consent. Nothing ever happened, but its implied that Vegeta was given knowledge from another reality to intervene, so he does. There was actually going to be an arc in The Catalyst with these three, taking place with a much earlier incarnation of them. It was going to happen around the Cell Saga, and actually only Taro was going to be that bad of an apple by that point. Funnily enough, he was originally slated to get killed by Cell of all people.

Also, for those wondering, the Piccolo who merged with Piccolo in the Long Road, is basically alternate Catalyst Piccolo, mixed with an alternate canon Piccolo.

But yea. I really wanted to make this chapter work out and shine, so I do hope it does. It was really hard to write these guys as being the same essence as who they are now, but different and less far along the path. But its been something I've been really waiting to write for a long time. This chapter's been on my mind for like a fucking year.

I also wanted to get across that none of these three really got into this reality hopping thing just for the fun of it. Really, they're all running from something in their own way, and trying to fill the vacancies in their life with this activity, in a hopes that it'll give them what they need to fulfil their desires. Almost all of their desires of course, are incompatible with the other's as well, compounding kinda how tragic it is... they really need to all try to kill one another one day.

I really found that a song called "About Today" by The National, really inspired me at many instances while writing this chapter. I really felt it has a tone that almost mixes... regret, misunderstanding, and a series of other things together. It even kinda fits when Gohan dies at the beginning really... Poor Gohan. He just wanted to make his dad proud, and he did. This Gohan could never become TLR Gohan. I really recommend giving it a listen, kinda different sound to it too. Managed to really bring the right emotion to my writing a few times.

I really hope everyone enjoys, and I'd appreciate it if you reviewed it and let me know what you think. If you didn't like it, also lemme know why. I do get the feeling that it may be a bit "insider" as a chapter, given that there isn't a huge amount of context for their world. But, I did put a lot of effort into it.

Either way. I hope you guys enjoy it. *Holds out Review cup and looks up with innocent eyes*

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Author's Notes:

Weapon Frayer: Answered by PM, but an answer for everyone. Yes, and those fusions still fell short.

Blades of Fury: Krillin is canonically, the strongest human apparently :\

DBZ Fan the First: Hope you were on the edge for this one too.

Jordino: I can't spoil anything regarding the fight. You'll have to read to find out, but I make no promises for certain things. I can say there will be big moments, but I won't say that they are or aren't transformations of any sorts. There is more to a battle than raw power, after all.

Pyromania101: Indeed!

Maesde: Gohan is gonna be a 'uuuuuge part of the battle coming up. You'll see ;)

BugzAttack: Goten plays a 'uuuge roll too. Expect good things!

Hek'Unnskipper: The Trunks in our story right now, the Future Trunks, is the Trunks that appeared in mainstream DBZ.

MaximuSSJ: Goku did not definitely learn the fusion dance. I wouldn't expect to see Fusion in the story really. :\

Kuma Dzurui: Wait no longer!

Sekhelmet: Goten's gonna stomp those three. No problem. Easiest, battle ever. It's gonna be like putting some of Frieza's henchmen up against Super Buu it's gonna be so one sided.

Akum: Thanks :D

MaxrideLover: Thanks. I hope you enjoy the reread.

Cosmic Horror: All of the trio can at least Super Saiyan II.

G: I did!

Luke: I couldn't. Though you'll notice, most of my stuff is either things people usually kinda miss the mark on, or really random things. I'm weird in terms of how I choose my writing subjects I guess.

ShadowFFD: I flip between yes and no depending on my mood. If he did, than his reality fragmented and I guess he'd still be alive in one timeline, and dead in the others. So probably, which means he got eaten by Taro, sadly.

Sirius Plotter: Nope, both Goku's are alive! Everyone is happy! :D

FireFnBrimstone: The last fight of this arc is really kinda going to be impacted by the last fight in the Hell arc. I kinda experimented with multiple people all going at one person at one time, which really will help writing it. I also draw out scenes if I have too, but it wasn't needed in that world. What's left unwritten, can sometimes tell volumes.

RaijuBlue: I really wanted to write the scene with 17 and Pan, as I really feel like they make a hilarious duo, even if it may not be the longest term. It does give 17 something to do briefly, for the first time ever in most of my stories.

Super Mystic Gohan: It took me FOREVER to learn how to write Goku. He's OOC sometimes in this story, and that makes me mad even. Genuinely, hardest character to write. I'm glad I finally kinda captured the character even, but yea, he's not universally well written in this story, and I wanna apologize for that... and I'm doing so, by writing him much better now. Expect big things for Goku this time around.

Tomorrow4eva: By the time the Long Road finishes, I'm gonna genuinely be getting on in my years here. I've written fan stuff for over 10 years. Eventually I may wanna write something original, and after TLR is done, that may be a serious thing on the burner. Obviously completely different nature to what I write now however.