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 69: Of Gods and Saiyans

Taro:

The office around him was so mundane. Certainly it was too mundane to be the central administration for the man who judged all souls as they passed into the next life. A few hours ago being here would have been utterly impossible. Losing to Super Saiyan Blue Kakarot or Vegeta would have been understandable, as would losing to a creature like Golden Frieza or Beerus himself. But to lose to a band of low ranking adversaries who used their cleverness and willpower to carry them to victory... That was the ultimate humiliation. Everything was lost now. Or was it?

Standing here now looking over the short line in front of him, Taro's eyes, now both intact, began scanning his surroundings. He knew he had perhaps the only source of power great enough in Hell to rend open the golden clouds above. Which meant that his goals... his ambitions were still very much within his reach. Once he returned from Hell to this quaint little office, he would kill the judge of the dead, before he took his place walking in the world of the living once more. And from there he could settle his very recent account with Kakarot and especially Vegeta. This wasn't over yet, they were fools if they thought he would be denied his dreams.

And even more foolish if they thought something as pitiful as the afterlife was going to hold him.

Ahead of him he could see horned, red skinned incompetent he was sure he'd be murdering soon. It would be just another body on the path towards true eternal existence. How he would relish acquiring his revenge. One of the ogres looked at him nervously and Taro in response just gave a dark smile, before raising his hand and motioning his fingers in a 'hello'. Truthfully, he'd bite the thing's neck out if it came within two metres of him. Unfortunately, it seemed to realize this, swallowing heavily and stepping back.

"Junia, daughter of the Saiyan Prince Vegeta and the human woman Bulma from another time, you are guilty of 102,000,000,227 counts of homicide across multiple dimensions of time and space. You've also committed 487 counts of patricide, 273 counts of fratricide, as well as the annihilation of forty planets in your own time, and the shared responsibility of destroyed hundreds of Earths and other worlds across the bands of reality you have created."

This caught his attention. Taro's eyes locked forward, seeing the back of his sister's head. Oh there were going to be other inmates down there for him to punish for their misdeeds. Brass had betrayed him, he sensed his energy flow through Gohan before it blew his eye out. Junia had even more obviously betrayed him. Punishing his father Turles and thousands of others was going to be on the list most definitely. And most of all he intended to punish Son Gohan. Hell was a living, waking night already. He was going to see what he could do to spoil that nightmare even more before he left back to the world of the living to reap his revenge on them all. Beerus, Whis, Kakarot, Vegeta, Piccolo, and anyone else he deemed worthy of experiencing true terror for their sins against him.

"Do you have anything to say for yourself?"

"My only regret was dying," Junia's voice echoed through the room, even from behind Taro could sense her cold gaze.

So much changes, so much stays the same.

With the gavel slamming against the desk, he heard Junia scream as her body plunged into the darkness below. Opening his hand, Taro briefly looked into a ball of ki before looking ahead once again. If he wanted, King Yemma himself would be little more than fodder for him to burn through before any judgements took place. Simply put, he was not going to be going anywhere he didn't choose to. Though he was enamoured with the idea of torturing Son Gohan and the others in the afterlife for allowing this to have happened.

I still can't hear the Choir, but their power has returned to me. I'll have them back in my hands soon, and-

Taro took several steps forward, smiling with a sinister edge towards King Yemma before he felt something in the back of his mind. Upon the massive oak desk in front of him, his eyes caught glimmer of a movement. It took only a brief second before he saw the two creatures who'd been such an annoyance for him to contend with. Confidence turned to a familiar sneer as Taro eyed the two gods who now stood upon King Yemma's desk.

"It took you long enough to get here, Whis and I were getting bored," Beerus remarked, looking at his sharpened claws. "Quite the performance you managed to put on up there with the Earthlings however. I will give you that."

Taro chose not to say a word as he eyed Beerus and Whis with a deadly edge.

"However, I thought it very important to reward you for your service to us, by speaking with King Yemma on your behalf, and explaining how you are not a single being any longer, but many beings. Many of whom are totally innocent of the crimes you'll be convicted of. In fact, almost all of them," Taro remarked lightly. "So, we found a solution to this problem-"

Clanging his staff against the top of the desk, Taro felt something stirring inside of him. His hand seized up first before he felt something being pulled through him on every direction. A rasping hiss vented from his lungs as Taro fell to the ground, riving in discomfort as he felt his soul being pulled apart. What had been apart of his mind once, began to assume physical form.

Glowing white light burst from his chest, pulsing in front of him. It was empty now, empty and cold. The warmth in his being was rising in the air with the beacon of golden-white light emerging from his body. A trembling hand reached out for it as his mind almost became an echo-chamber. Even wondering what was going on was painful as his own thoughts echoed throughout his head, as if no one was there to listen.

No... No that's not possible. They'd couldn't have.

The world flashed white as Taro lay there. It was blinding and almost hurt his eyes. A hand came up to shield himself as he stared at the back of his hand. It felt different. It was almost like it wasn't his, it wasn't right. Everything felt heavy for some reason. The echoing in his skull was almost impossible to deal with. It was then filled with a silence between his thoughts he couldn't imagine. When the light faded, Taro looked around the room at...

Trunks.

Rising to his feet, he looked quietly around the room at adults, children, and teenagers. Each face was familiar. They all started backing away from him as Taro tried to piece together what had just happened. A sick feeling entered his stomach as he felt himself breathing erratically, his eyes shooting up towards Whis who was smiling in the most condescending way back at him. There was only one figure in the crowd that shouldn't have been there, the Supreme Kai of Time.

"You have no idea what a nightmare it was in there," she beamed, before turning to one of the Trunks he recognized over all the others. The one who'd made it all. He'd made his time and a half dozen others and lead to the expansion of all of this. This was all only possible because of him. And he knew his downfall was all his fault. A golden glow wrapped around him as electricity ran up his body. Despite the weight of his limbs Taro pointed his hand out, crimson energy gathering as he pointed towards the Kai.

"YOU!" he shouted, before the beam emerged. Two other nearby Trunks transformed, looking prepared to fight.

I'll kill you all. None of you are going to escape this-

The beam was knocked into the air, blasting a hole in the waystation's roof before a purple figure appeared in front of him, grabbing his outstretched hand before he could fire again. His hand struggled to hold its form before by the thumb it was pulled aside effortlessly by Beerus.

"We knew you'd cause trouble when you got back here," Beerus remarked, raising his free hand and pulling his index finger against his thumb.

Flick.

Pain exploded across his forehead as Taro's body was flung back. Force vibrated through every atom in his body, almost causing his atom's to resonate. The world shifted to black and returned to colour within a few seconds as he tried to blink, only to find his eyes were unresponsive. The past few seconds had disappeared from his recollection while he lay on his back on a stone floor, trying to move his face at all, or even get up. Each time he did anything it felt like he'd become living spaghetti, barely held together at all.

Slowly a shadow loomed over him as his eyes spied the hazy image of the cat-god himself. He was too weak to even make a fist. What had happened to him?... All his power... all the choir. The room full of purple haired Saiyans behind them were barely registered for several seconds as he felt his heart stop. It was all gone.

"I could destroy you right now," Beerus admitted. "It would remove you from the very universe, even the afterlife. Everything you are would face an oblivion you can't understand."

Destruction seemed preferable. The gambit had failed, all of his dreams, his purpose, had been stripped away from him by these low level cretins. He had been standing at the gates of what he could only describe as a Utopia. Now he was standing on the precipice of existence, something he couldn't wait to end. It was better to be deleted from all existence than to continue with the shame of defeat. A defeat he would never be able to recover from. Each one of the purple heads back there was a piece of himself he would never reacquire. An eternity of being left... incomplete... was agony.

A trembling hand pressed against the stone path beneath him as Taro started to slowly pull himself up. Looking ahead resentfully, he didn't need to tell Beerus exactly what he thought. Breathing in and out heavily, he felt his free hand clench into a fist. If this was how it all ended, so be it. A flick of the purple god's tail however, left him with a surprised look while the God turned away.

"But I would only do that if you were in any way a threat to the universe, or myself," Beerus remarked. "Destroying you now is pointless. You're already dead, and taken out of play. If anything maybe an eternity here will teach you some humility. I think I'll leave this in King Yemma's capable hands."

With each footstep the disrespectful god made, Taro felt the world closing in around him more and more. Yellow skies, grey dirt... torrents of fire and blood. An endless landscape without any food, or water, or experience beyond being trapped with lesser nightmares and failures. His own failure was now so near to complete his heart almost stopped in his chest, if it were still beating. Beyond the small purple figure lay the desk where they would judge him.

Only a few minutes ago he could have judged the entirety of reality. And now he was going to be judged by that Red oaf behind a desk. And judged in the midst of his wayward selves. They would relish in his punishment, a nightmare he truly didn't deserve. He was only to be punished because he failed. He'd committed no sins, no crimes, to earn the hell he was going to find himself in. He was take oblivion over such a fate.

His Super Saiyan aura emerged once more, his long hair arching upwards as an intense thrum roared past him, all the while electricity rippled up his form. This wasn't to be his end, no. The shame of his defeat had earned him another fate. Power rippled up his arms before they moved into several other positions rapidly, before pointing them forward.

"Burning Attack!"

The golden bolt launched from his hands, and in a flash of motion it was batted aside, flying into the clouds to his right. He didn't even hear the blast before an elbow hit him in the stomach. Sweat formed along his brow immediately as he felt himself almost fall inward. His hair changed back to black as he felt his knees almost give way. There was a struggling choking noise he felt move through him before Beerus lazily flipped around him. In the opposite place to where the elbow had landed, a kick then struck his back. His body broke the sound barrier multiple times in a second as he launched forward helplessly before one final hit landed. Face first he crashed into the stone floor, cracking into it.

A trembling hand moved up, blood oozing from a wound on his forehead. Trying to get up once again, the entirety of any energy in his body failed, and he just fell back into a puddle on the ground. His chest was labouring while he stared up as Beerus landed atop the desk once again. All around him blue eyes stared at him, some with resentment and anger, but there were a small ground he despised most of all. Some of them were looking at him with pity. They felt bad for him. The very idea that he would be pitied was worse than the miserable fate he found himself in.

With a bit of luck he'd infuriated Beerus enough-

"Normally, I would have found your disrespect alone enough reason to see you destroyed," Beerus remarked lightly. "But I think you'd already done the math on that, hadn't you?"

Taro felt his brow twitch as his eyes locked onto the purple figure. Blood trickled from his lip as he sneered at the god, feeling panic beginning to push through his veins. What was he implying? Of course his fate was to be obliterated.

"I think that King Yemma is a good judge of character, and entirely capable of handling it from here. I think I'd prefer to simply take a backseat to the proceedings from here on out."

No.

His trembling hand barely managed to push him up from the prone position he found himself in. Or rather, it pushed him up high enough that he could look above the desk and see the great red judge staring back at him.

"I think it fitting that you continue everything as normal, King Yemma," Beerus remarked, turning his head to the figure.

"Oh! Well, yes, I would be more than happy to," the Ogre boomed before pulling up a file folder and beginning to flip through it. "Oh, you have certainly been up a lot of poor choices. Over 500,000,000,000 dead? My god. And the eating of your half brothers? Both literally and figuratively?!"

Dropping the book, the giant sneered at him.

"I don't need to read anymore after that. What do you have to say for yourself?"

Taro managed to stare across the room, looking at his fellow Trunks, looking at Beerus and Whis, and then looking to the Ogre King presiding over him. This was his fate. To be plunged into eternal damnation. He'd seen a thousand timelines, and hundreds of thousands of worlds. He'd slain Gods and beings who would defeat the Gods. He'd taken upon so much onto himself... the very fate of existence was on his shoulders..

And it still is...

Unable to help it, Taro felt his lip curling upward into a smile. No, this wouldn't be his prison for an eternity. He wasn't even imprisoned at all. He was still out there... out there by the thousands, by the millions. And he was growing every day. His dream was growing every day. He wasn't a prisoner here... no... he was something more. And one day this time, this world, would be what he imagined it to be. His suffering would end, and his dream would be realized... even if he wasn't there to experience it.

"This doesn't matter..." Taro remarked before looking down at the broken stone on the floor.

A furious whirl of air shifted past him as the gavel was raised into the air aggressively. His eyes didn't need to look up to see the judging stares around him. Irrelevant ideals of moral superiority permeated their thoughts, even the thoughts of beings as destructive as Beerus and Whis.

My Kingdom awaits me beyond this perspective. I live. My dreams lives. I will live to see Utopia... even if I don't here.

When the mallet hit the desk, the world beneath him turned to blackness before he felt the tendrils of an unstoppable force of gravity grab hold of him, and drag him down into the fate he didn't deserve... The only thing escaping the darkness below was his laughter.

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Abaddon: The Planet of the Kais

They'd stopped them.

It was a relief which words couldn't describe. Watching the battle unfold from this world had been tense to say the least. The last thing he wanted was the annihilation of humanity just to cleanse the Saiyans from the Universe. And worse, if that mad man had gotten what he'd sought, it'd have been the realization of all of his nightmares. The Saiyan was going to bring about an end of all creation, usurping the Gods. It was a portion of the power he'd seen when they'd been created all those years ago. It'd been the strength he'd seen kill the Supreme Kai's of his generation, and it was the power he spent all of his energy trying to destroy.

The fact it was other Saiyans that stopped him wasn't lost on him, but it didn't change the nature of what they were. Vegeta could easily transform into the same kind of monster he'd just seen. Son Gohan was another candidate as a monster who could push to overrun the cosmic order. Worse, even their children could do this. He was left here sweating even now, not at the idea of Taro destroying everything, but at the idea that the universe itself was still at risk every second a Saiyan was in it.

And even at greater risk for every moment they were on the Earth.

A wary eye looked towards the elder Kai however. This was another Kai, one even older than Shin. The resemblance was uncanny as well. This was the secret within the Z Sword. It contained a god, at least if it was the same across multiple times, and he didn't doubt it.

"It is an honour to have you here," Shin nodded several times towards the elder.

"Well, you youngin's certainly have made a right mess of everything, haven't you?" the cranky old buffoon started.

A perfect way to introduce yourself, you wrinkled old oaf.

As if picking up on his thoughts, the old crone turned his head towards him.

"And you're the Diaokaio of this time? Well... I didn't realize things were this bad," he commented. "You really don't have the look of someone right for the role. How many species and worlds have you made? And of what demeanour do they have?"

Abaddon's eyes coolly regarded the Old Kai while Shin cleared his throat.

"It's complicated. Daiokai was-"

"I can sense something off with you," the elder Kai commented again. "Not you, him."

A frail finger pointed accusingly at him. Abaddon just rolled his eyes. To have returned to the role he was made to fulfil had been an awkward place to be sure. To have slumbered and stowed away for eons with his shame. How could he have turned back to the life which had been generated for him, when so shortly after his creation he'd failed in the very role he was supposed to be in charge of. The destruction of so much, so many things annihilated prematurely due to his folly. An entire race of dangerous monsters who could consume them all if they weren't careful...

And I don't even have the power on my own to stop them. I have to entrench another evil, to stop the greater evil I have created.

And this frail old buffoon was pointing his finger accusingly towards him.

"I don't need to explain myself to an old outsider," he commented simply. "For the first time in an era, the natural order is close to being restored. An era of peace, tranquillity, and creation will soon be upon us."

And it was true.

All of this destruction, not just on the Earth but across the universe, would lead to an era of creation unlike that which had been seen since the era after Majin Buu... or after the First Saiyans. The Saiyans he thought to be dealt with. They had contributed to the destruction. Frieza's organization had ravaged the North Galaxy, utilizing the Saiyans to do so even. The worst events beyond the thousands of worlds scorched or destroyed, being the destruction of the Magnons on planet Spector. Now it was simply referred to as... the Hole.

A permanent ulcer of the face of a galaxy which could never be mended or healed, all thanks to the Saiyans, and Frieza. That was before you counted the rampant destruction weaved across other galaxies by other forces of destruction. Without a God of Destruction's real participation, a great sweeping change would come. Time itself was wounded even by his mistakes, which meant that even there creation would be needed to fix the wounds in reality itself.

There cannot be Saiyans in this new world we're going to need to build. They will destroy it, and then destroy us.

The faces of his cosmic comrades were still etched in his mind as he felt his hand almost twitch at the thought.

"Hm," the old timer sounded before shrugging. "Oh well. I guess you young, untrained Kais will be fine without any wisdom of guidance I suppose."

Immediately Shin stepped forward, his eyes wide with an earnest gaze of desperation.

"No please! We'd love to have you here!"

Eventually, after all this... Things would need to change. Perhaps he too couldn't be apart of the future. Perhaps the future belonged to these two, Shin, and this ancient teacher. Could he truly be Daiokai after being so... compromised. Perhaps the old Kai was right in a way. He was tainted by his actions, both in creating these monsters, and in creating their downfall. His guilt would be always following him. The Gods were supposed to be beyond such things, weren't they?

And here I stand atop my mountain of ash.

"Shin," Abaddon remarked, nodding his head. "Perhaps you and the Old Kai can watch over the celestial realm for some time... I have important matters to attend to."

Shin blinked several times before looking at the Supreme Kai, who just shrugged in turn.

"Of course, I will be happy to. It is a role I have had for years, but D-"

Raising his hand to silence the question, Abaddon gave a small smile.

"We all have our roles to play, Shin. Simply play yours."

I must find Cooler. The Saiyan problem may escalate before it gets better.

And in a flash of matter, Abaddon disappeared.

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Gohan: Hell

The bleak landscape stared back at him, as much as he stared at it. The contrast between it and the world he'd just been in was stark to say the least. Ash from a recent fire tornado, one of the small ones, rained down from above on him as he stared out over the wasteland. It felt all the more miserable now, having just been in the living paradise of Earth, was too stark. His soul felt dirty from the toxic sludge he'd taken onto himself just to fight that monster as well. It was hard to describe the empty hole it left behind, and how that made him feel almost sick.

The moment that Taro had hit him with the final attack, it was like a weight was lifted off his shoulders for the briefest of moments, until he found himself back inside the waystation. There was something about being weightless, even as his body was disintegrated. It was little different than from when a fire tornado simply annihilated his frame regardless.

Taking a shallow breath, Gohan felt himself sigh as his eyes were cast around his prison, a prison he'd apparently earned for all eternity. All because he'd made several mistakes.

Mistakes? I'm drenched in blood.

Self pity quickly turned into, well, self pity of another form. The stale world around him just made him angrier. He'd done this to himself, and worse yet there didn't appear to be an out. There wasn't a way to avoid being stuck in this miserable nightmare. He just saved the fucking gods as far as he was concerned, and they still cast him back down into this... this cesspool. He'd changed and he'd done everything he could to try to make this right. And this was just telling him there was no making any of it right.

This was going to be his future, even if he was wished back, wasn't it?

Firestorms in the distance picked up the stale air, brushing it past him in a warmed breeze from hundreds of kilometres away. It sent a shiver up his entire body despite its warmth, if only because it was a fleeting reminder that this was where he was stuck. Even if he got out of here he was stuck down here. How much penance did he need to pay? How many lives did he need to save? How many threats did he need to stop?

He stopped, or helped stop Turles, Broly, Garlic Junior, Brass, and Taro. How much more did they want from him? What did he have to do?

"You can't bring them back," a familiar voice came from behind him as Gohan's head turned sharply towards the familiar image of Bardock.

"Can't bring who back?"

"The people who haunt your dreams," Bardock replied evenly. "The people screaming for mercy, who screamed for justice when they arrived in the afterlife. Even if you could, you couldn't change the horrors they faced as you destroyed their worlds and killed their families-"

"And you're one to talk!" Gohan spat immediately. "You've done the same things I have-"

"And I'm stuck down here," Bardock reminded. "Just like you."

For a brief second, nothing else mattered. Pan, his mom and dad, everyone else he knew and fought along side. The only thing that mattered in his whole world was escaping this. There had to be a way out of all this. There had to be some kind of debt he could repay, or task he could complete. He didn't belong down here anymore, he wasn't who he used to be anymore. Something cold grabbed his heart in the midst of a stronger breeze as he felt his eyes deaden as uncertainty started to rush through him.

He was afraid of spending another day down here, let alone an eternity. Was it just a question of staving it off then? Running for as long as he was alive before it was just... over. And once it was over he would spend every moment of eternity down here, awake, suffering and in a limbo filled with the most reviled creatures in history.

"You'll just make things worse," Bardock warned him. "If you are a better person, you'll do the right thing not to avoid being here, but because it is the right thing."

What was that supposed to mean?

Cryptic psychic babble again.

A frustrated hand opened as Gohan turned his head towards the man who so resembled his father, both of his fathers. Bardock stared passively back at him, unfazed. at the prospect of being "killed" again. Of course he would. If anything maybe it'd shut him up. He just wanted to go home. Home the real world, where the air was fresh and the wind wasn't kicking up ash. Home to a world where he had people he cared about, and who gave a shit about him who weren't murderous monsters themselves.

Shaking his head slowly, Bardock just half smiled.

"You've got a lot to learn still, kid-"

A flash of light emerged as Bardock's body was vaporized in front of him. A remotely surprised Gohan was left to stare at where he once had stood as the golden light slowly faded from the blast. Turning his head slightly to the side, Gohan heard a small chuckle.

"Grandpa can be a pain in the ass in some worlds," Brass chuckled. "Dad always called him a manipulative bastard. Probably right."

The Saiyan he'd killed only hours earlier, whose power level had been higher than his own, started to make his approach with a lazy smile, cracking his knuckles.

"I thought I sensed something different about you. And here you are," Brass chuckled. "By the way, I'll take credit for an assist with taking Taro's eyeball from him."

Yea, that power had been familiar when he sensed it running through him in his last moments standing on the Earth. The brawny half-brother from another world was seemingly not coming to beat the Hell out of him, at least.

"Thanks," Gohan remarked shortly. "I thought I used the gift wisely."

The smirk on the other Saiyan only seemed to extend.

"So, what do you say? Want to get out of here? I don't intend to stick around this miserable wasteland. There are places in the afterlife that are way more interesting."

Get out of here?

When Junia landed behind him, Gohan felt his nerve rise as he looked between the two of them.

I'm guessing they've not heard the bad news about the sentence they got. Which is weird, as they tell you pretty clearly this is a forever thing. Unless these guys know something I don't.

"You know a way out?"

"Yea, I think we'll need your help," Brass remarked. "Besides, I think you owe me, am I right?"

Looking back towards Junia for a brief moment, he noticed the half irritated look on her face, directed at Brass himself.

Yea, he's definitely Turles's kid. Favours and intimidation, isn't this just gonna be great...

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Author's Notes:

Only 10 pages long. What a weird experience given the last four chapters. Lol

It's always really hard to follow up such big chapters too. The followups always feel underwhelming to me, lol

I think there is only going to be 1-3 more chapters before the Dragon comes in. I'm really excited to bring Gohan back to life. He's been dead for years in our time. I've got a few things I wanna get written before he comes back in. 17, Pan, and Piccolo would be one. After he comes back I've got a really good couple scenes with Chi-Chi planned, and others. I'll have to brush off the dust from my drama cap and get that one sorted out. It's gonna be a while before any major threats really appear, there is just lots of character development to work on for the next little while.

We're also going to get to deal with the last bits with the alternate reality cadre. The Trunks', Brass, and Junia all have things to be apart of. Taro may pop up in one chapter, but he's a shadow of what he was before his defeat at the hands of Vegeta.

I've got a few micro-sagas which this is starting the setting for, and a lot of the development is starting the setting for. I'm also really excited at a few of the plotlines I've got coming up, and how they'll all tie into the next few sagas, before reaching their conclusion at the end of the story. We're a while from the Ending, we've still got a bunch to deal with. But the ending is all planned and in place. The worst part is I think about it more than the rest of the Saga's coming up, so I've gotta get myself hyped for the preceding stuff more, if only because I think the ending is so good! Lol

I want to thank everyone who reviewed last chapter, as it's the largest number of reviews I've ever gotten on one chapter before. The kind words and messages of support (and criticisms) were all great to read.

This was a tie up chapter of course. The next couple after this I'm hoping are going to be a lot more important. Next chapter will be a little longer, and deal with people who aren't dead, and it may not be immediately after the battle either. Time's gotta get marchin' forward. It's been roughly the same date, story wise, for over a year, lol

I feel guilty that my review responses are almost as big as the chapter. But last chapter was my most reviewed chapter ever, so... it happens?

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Reviews:

Guest1: Yea. That was honestly really hard to write. I'd say its the hardest chapter I ever wrote.

Guest2: Thank you!

YouKnowTho: You're just saying that. I personally think Chapter 45, and Chapter 30 have some charm to them too. It probably is, but I dunno about that. Size isn't everything. Though I do think it was very good. But of course I would. lol

0 Jordinio 0: I don't think Gohan will be the same again after this. I think some of what was in him kinda changes you, it lingers, and I think his body would have adjusted to handling all that power. So his base power may have actually gone up, but I don't think he's got a special transformation.
Perfect Carnage: I wouldn't say the Great Saiyaman is stuck in Brass forever... Don't worry, his role in the story is going to pick up again soon. I kinda left subtle hints that Vegeta was going to be more important in the chapter near the beginning and middle. I was wondering if anyone noticed the Vegeta perspective being so prevalent early on. Everyone keeps expecting to see Cell Junior show up! I'll dash some hopes on the rock. His role in the story is incredibly important, and won't just be so cheaply tossed into a scene for shock value. When he shows up, it won't be to intrude on other's spotlight I can assure you!

SortaCore: Answer via PM!

Leo the Zodiak: I'm happy to hear :)

megacharizat: One sitting?! You're mad! Who am I going to pair with Gohan? Why is everyone so concerned with a genocidal maniac getting his rocks off. Slobodon Milosevic died sitting in a jail cell awating sentencing, for instance. One thing I want to point out is, if Gohan didn't have all this power at his fingertips, and didn't have the relations he did, he'd have been executed or jailed multiple, multiple times. And Junia was already involved with Brass, and saw Gohan as a kid. She'd just jump his bones because he's a Saiyan? Two warped people don't make a good couple, I think it'd be utterly self destructive, just as self destructive as Gohan x Videl at this point. I don't really see a lot of chemistry there either. So in short, I don't think you're getting your sex scene between Gohan and Junia, lol.

Hek'UnnSkipper: I can't wait for Gohan to come back either. There are a ton of scenes and chapters he's going to be in in the fallout of all the shit he's been involved in running up to his death and during it.

Taitanorules555: If we do, it'd only be as a cameo.

Super Mystic Gohan: Another guy doing it in one sitting? Crazy! Even I couldn't!

Guest3: Thank you. :)

Pyromania101: *Continues beating the horse which lay dead at his feet*Huh? Oh. Uhm... Drama! Yes, plenty more coming up. I've got a whole battery of things that'll need to get dealt with. Life, death, Chi-Chi, Videl, Pan, 17, Piccolo, Gohan, Vegeta, Junia... they've all got tons of stuff to sort through!

Bobamon: The story's not over! There are whole SAGAS left to do! Most important of course is going to be the Cooler Saga. You heard it here first, I am confirming that there will be a Cooler Saga!... Just not now ;)

Bman66: Yea, I was really proud of the ending when I looked through the whole story while doing my consistency readthroughs. I liked following the twisting path to its conclusion. :)

Kacarrot: I originally planned the Saga to only have 3 fighting chapters at the end. Brass, Junia, Taro, that's it. Only when I was writing Taro's chapter did I sit there and go "Shit, I gotta write two." And then two turned into three. I actually consider it a failing on my part. I really didn't want it to turn into three chapters. Still, it worked out very good, and people seemed to have enjoyed the climax, so I'm happy! I still love the scene where Gohan breaks the Zed sword (lol). Just how Taro vaporizes him after the fact, but Gohan's still like "Hah, gotcha bitch", lol

Trenttp100: Thank you! I really loved writing Vegeta's Final Flash at the end where he shoots Taro in the back. It was fantastic, especially since Taro was so consumed in stopping the Big Bang Attack already. Thoughts of vengeance just evaporated along with him, lol

Luke: Yea. Remarkably high throughout the Saga. Lol

Maesde: I think Junia's death this chapter was perfect. Even if she didn't say it aloud, she saw in Vegeta what she'd been blind to for a long time. When she gives him her remaining energy to save him from the pending blast, I thought it was a great growth for her character, and great for Vegeta as well.

Maddog631: Thanks! Goku's still such an important character, and a lot of stories neglect him. That's one reason why he got the big W over Garlic Junior, beyond just the emotional connection to Gohan and avenging his son. Goku is Dragon Ball, and so I would say that you will see him win a few more battles at the very least.

Fated1990: The Prince of all Saiyans gave Taro a chance to kneel, and he didn't take it! It didn't need to end that way :P

a guy: Whis saved Abaddon and Shin.

Ronden Kiagre: Trunks has a lot on his plate. I think he's got other things to take care of first. But all those other Taro's out there are definitely a threat to existence, and they may never stop. I could write a whole story about it, but I just don't have the time. And yea, definitely was aiming for the devourer of souls :D

Ardee: The Chrono Cut essentially breaks a piece of time and space off, and shatters it. If you are hit by the wave cutting through it, you die. If any of your alternate selves are hit by the wave, you all die. So the other potential yous, responding differently in different fragments of time, can get you killed. It happened to Gohan twice but he was already dead. So Taro actually made a few new timelines, and in two of them... he did erase Gohan, and may have won the battle...Time disruption is a funny thing like that...

Guest4: Oh he did, but Taro sees through Gohan to an extent. Gohan would have taken that Senzu bean Pan had, if Pan had known what he meant, and left Videl a cripple in a hospital. The only thing he really put above himself, was Pan, and even then it was really because she was too incompetent to know what he wanted. Her sticking around served no purpose. Even though he loves her, I gotta admit, there is a part of Gohan who would throw everything away to save himself... If circumstances were correct. He'll fight to the death if he has no other options. King Yemma was somewhat right when he judged Gohan. Gohan's insecurities and fears definitely guide his actions, and have his whole life. Though I would add that I don't think Gohan died like a coward against Garlic, Taro does. :)

Heseltine: I really love writing Videl and Gohan. Videl's whole life was warped and put on hold because of Gohan, and Gohan's whole life well, you've read the story! I like the tension, awkwardness, subtle and open hostility between the two, and the bizarre understanding they have, lol.

Brelic: I'm sure Gohan will keep his word to Turles. ... ... ... and there will be no consequences to anyone if he doesn't too. I mean, Turles is stuck in Hell, am I right?

Blades of Fury: Yes, yes he is. It's gonna be the best of the micro-sagas I've got planned, and it does show for every two steps forward, some people take one step back...

Oceans Realm: Taro just lost 99% of his strength. Lol

iikd: I updated!

Aw Me Gosh: I'm glad to see the enthusiasm lol

Dead Survivor: Thank you. :)

Sekhelmet: When you see the Spirit Bomb come out, everyone knows that it's not gonna finish the job. Lol

Deadman19: Thank you!

ShMikeX: I can only answer question 1 and 4. Nope!

Guest5: Oh man, such a huge review. I would have normally answered this via PM. Junia and Gohan have different paths and different redemption. It's deceptive, much like the differences between Gohan and Vegeta. Vegeta has pride and honour, and is out for greater purposes and goals (even if selfish). Gohan has/had no pride or honour, and was out purely for his own material gain and survival. The animosity often seen between the two was born from this. Junia has a lot more in common with Vegeta (don't tell her I said that), and has known better versions of Gohan. And I'm glad that you caught on that Vegeta saved the world back when he fought Junia! That was the beginning of it all. His evolution as a character saw him save everyone, by displaying mercy and compassion, even if he did so in his Vegeta-like fashion! I was worried no one would have caught that! Great!

ChippedNotBroken: I am super excited to get to Gohan's return to life, so that we can continue down the Long Road with the next entries in the story! :D

FlamelegendVargas: Always double tap... And good play, lol

Nexus the 13th: Thank you. :)

bestezrealeuw: I think his monologues got better near the end once he realized he wasn't a god, and was desperately trying to scratch his way to victory, lol

Guest6: I tried!

AnxiouslyAntisocial: I appreciate that you look forward to updates. I love making them as much as you love reading them!

Guest7: Ah the power level brigade has arrived. I disagree with your concept of power levels. I look at the story from a perspective which is different. I think power levels are inconsistent and purely used as a writing mechanism by Toei and Akira Toriyama. So, agree to disagree.

Guest8: Beerus, if he was arrogant enough to challenge the Chrono Cut, and before he saw it used the first time would have been, would have been killed in it. If Taro had enacted his plan and got Instant Transmission, Beerus would still have killed Taro, because he would have seen Taro using the Chrono Cut, and avoided it, rather than challenge it. But yes, the Chrono Cut tself would have killed Beerus, if Beerus let it hit him. You can disagree with that, it's okay. But in this story that's how it works. :)

thomasthetmc: I will be giving you more Pan, Gohan, and Videl collectively once Gohan comes back to life. And it's funny... I wonder what Chi-Chi will do... ... ... ...

Suna no Ken: An inspiration? I don't get that one often! I like to think I'm more of a bad example, but I'll take inspiration! Lol

asdf: Almost all those characters listed would be destroyed Taro, at his current state. Taro would have achieved his goals by not fighting them, so at least he's got that going for him, lol

lil dynamic: Yea, it's honestly incredibly difficult doing such huge chapters. I'm on burn out from fight scenes due to the last 5 chapters too. Lol

DtotheZ: I think Broly's burned too many bridges to get anyone but Paragas to help him. And even if he were a SSG, he's not that strong at the moment compared to everyone else. Brass would be a stronger SSG than Broly, but none of them could do it anyway, as they don't know about it.

Dr. Blue22: Pan and Videl have a really awesome role in an upcoming Saga. If I get it right, I think the two intertwined sagas I have planned will be some of my better work. :)

GoldenFireFox: It's not Mystic Gohan! It's the Great Saiyaman!

Hoopoe: I just don't see how Gohan and Videl (in this timeline) could fix things enough that they'd have any real romance. Gohan mega-fucked her life up, assaulted and humiliated her, and worse he still tries to control her. He's not a healthy person and neither is she. It's a very ugly part of the story, it's an open wound Gohan can't seem to close, because nothing he understands would work to fix that. Videl herself, gets healthier the less she's around Gohan, or any of the drama he's brought along with him. If Gohan hadn't totally fucked her life up, you really could have seen a pairing between the two, but I just don't see how I could remain intellectually honest and pair them at this point.

Rblade: Hey! Thanks! I always feel bad when I can't produce enough content for people, so thanks for making me not feel as bad. It didn't work, I still feel awful for delays, but the attempt is appreciated ;)

Kinoha: It's the best fic I've written in the 15 years I've been writing, how ironic! Lol

G: Does it? It's the 11th most reviewed story on the site for Dragon Ball. That's a lot! I like my story aton obviously, but I'm just appreciative that people like it as much as they do. Lol

Austin-flare-potter: Thank you! One of my big goals was to tie this tainted version of Gohan to the canon one. I really wanted it to feel like "this is just another, unfortunate path". I think TLR Gohan would be really resentful of Canon Gohan for tons of reasons...

Laze44: Read more books!

.315: I really loved Cell outthinking Gohan in Hell, it was a lot of fun.

DZ: Lots!

Masvan: Beerus would have killed him, and destroyed the Earth most likely. That's the most probable outcome, Taro was grasping at straws near the end to pull off a victory, it was possible! But just super unlikely.

CrazyScythe: I did my best, Scythe! I really wanted to make this Saga something people could enjoy. I tried! Lol

Storybook thumb: I write with a very picture centric view in my mind. So I'm glad it reads like I see it! Lol

AK2198: I try not to disappoint! I'm glad you're enjoying it as much as so many other great Fanfics out there.