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 75: Alive

Son Goku:

The sky turned black as the gigantic flowing stream of energy rolled up through the clouds. The familiar form of Shenron twisted and turned in the air as golden light slowly began to take shape in green and yellow scales. Clawed hands materialized before the great horned head of the ancient being took shape. The coiling and twisting form of the dragon continued to emerge from the focus point of the Dragon Balls as its body loomed over the skyline of West City.

It was a familiar sight for Son Goku as he stood there with an assortment of friendly faces. Well, mostly friendly faces, he was pretty sure that Vegeta had something closer to a cold glare, or scowl on his face. But he knew Chi-Chi, Bulma, Yamcha, 18, Maron, Oolong, Puar and his father-in-law the Ox King were all standing there, looking at what had once been the rarest sight on Earth. Over the years, the Dragon was seemingly summoned more and more, especially once Dende became the Guardian of the Earth.

For Goku though, often the sight of Shenron… ever since coming back to life after being killed by Raditz… had been the precursor to disappointment. He could still remember how Chi-Chi was standing behind him when they'd tried to use the Dragon Balls to find and bring Gohan home after Frieza had been killed. But it'd been two years since that happened.

That is not within my power to do. The one named Gohan cannot be retrieved by me at this time.

He still didn't understand why. But that didn't matter right now. Keeping all of his questions to himself, Goku just wanted to resolve the current problem. It was time to get Gohan home, they could find out about his granddaughter and any other secrets Gohan had been keeping soon, but Bulma was right in his estimation. The first thing they needed to do was get him home. They'd never really seen anyone come back from the dead after this long, who'd been in… that place. It was uncomfortable to admit that his son was in Hell.

Because it really reminded him for all the good things Gohan had done, saving them all, saving the Earth multiple times, stopping an immortal from terrorizing the universe, and stopping time skipping serial-killers, he was still someone who'd blotted out countless lives. So many that he was sent to the worst place imaginable. And if… when… he died again; he probably would go back there. All because he'd brought him into the world and couldn't protect him.

"I am the Eterntal Dragon. You have disturbed me from my slumber, speak your two wishes and they will be granted," the familiar voice boomed.

There was a brief pause from Goku as he thought about how to phrase the wishes. It was actually kind of hard, even. Just how did you phrase that? Well, one was easy.

"Oh! I got it, Shenron! I wish that everyone killed by Garlic Junior and his minions were brought back to life!" Goku shouted, a smile emerging across his features as he announced it.

"It shall be done."

The dragon's eyes glowed red as its body began to shine with golden energy. A single wave of invisible force pushed past all of them, rolling over the surface of the Earth as Goku sensed lives which had been lost being rekindled, his senses were turned in, looking for any sign of Gohan where he'd found him after Garlic had killed him. There was nothing, but that didn't mean he hadn't been wished back.

"Dragon!" Vegeta's voice shouted from behind. "Bring back everyone killed by the Trio of Saiyans, led by the monster Taro, who came here to kill everyone."

"As you wish."

Again, the Dragon's eyes glowed red as golden energy emerged around it from the effort. Another wave of force blew past them as Goku was left feeling almost confused as he sensed the creatures killed by Taro, Brass, and Junia sparking back into existence. The Supreme Kai of Time was the first he noticed, before he sensed Trunks. Oh man, he sensed a lot of Trunks. The weird demons who came to help them came back into his senses as well. It took only seconds for some of these powers to vanish, clearly returning to their own dimensions. Junia was the most surprising power he sensed, and that brought a smile to Goku's face. He remembered her from when she was playing defence for him to stop Taro.

I guess that makes sense. She got killed by Taro.

And finally, even if it seemed off, he could sense Gohan.

Relief washed over him as he nodded to himself before turning to the Dragon, its power spent. It hovered in the air, its body still coiling as it looked down at them once more, the golden energy around it becoming increasingly tense. The eyes of the titanic creature started to glow once more as a deep noise rumbled from its core.

"Your wishes have been granted."

In a flash of light, the dragon vanished, before the seven dragon balls rose into the air, sparkling of energy before shooting to the far corners of the Earth. It was still amazing to him in some ways, despite having seen the Dragon so often, to know that such a being was summoned and only existed to grant wishes to those who could collect the Dragon Balls.

Krillin.

The thought hovered at the edge of his mind as he realized that his friend was dead, and would be dead until someone found the missing Namekian Dragon Ball, or had some other means of reviving him. Still, today was a good day, no matter how they cut it.

"Wh-where is he?" Chi-Chi asked. "Where are any of them?"

"They come back where they died," Goku offered. "With a few exceptions of course. Man, I wonder where Trunks is going to-"

A Trunks appeared almost immediately in front of them, followed by another three dozen.

I guess they come back where Taro killed them?

Bulma's breath caught as she saw them, though he didn't hear anything from Vegeta.

"Where… where am I?" one asked.

"What's going on? I'm alive?"

"We're alive."

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Junia:

Eyes were drawn over a world that was less visibly pleasing than where she'd spent her last two weeks. They didn't sleep. Really, the deaths from before had been their slumber, hours of rest from the nightmare they experienced, moments of oblivion which seemed like seconds, but always brought about renewal. Certainly, fools were being killed for interacting with the wrong people, but the were no fire tornados. There were no natural, horrifying disasters which just killed them. The Ogres themselves seemed confused as to what to do in such a serene place. It was as she'd thought before, peaceful, tranquil even.

Out here it was so cold. Already the local ecosystem was changing since the annihilation of several important mountain ranges. Rainfall patterns had changed, and the land looked more arid. But there was no mistaking it, this was where she'd died. The last moments of her life had slipped from her fingers as she'd given her energy away. Her return to this level of existence, life, had never been something she could have dreamed of. At least not while alive.

There was a heart beating in her chest. Real air filled her lungs. Her senses touched a real breeze which grazed across her shoulders, and felt the warmth of real sunlight. It transcended almost anything she'd ever felt. Physically, it was the most incredible feeling she knew she could have experienced. It was to feel unreal, as if reality wasn't true. But she knew this wasn't a dream, because there were no dreams for her anymore. Well, that remained to be seen now.

Taking her first step forward, her legs almost didn't feel real. Namely, because real muscles tightened, real blood flowed through her veins, and real, living tissue responded to her commands. It was enough to make her heart stop, if only for a beat.

I'm. I'm alive.

There was another true thing to her as she stood over the desolated wasteland of where the battle against Taro had concluded. It'd been true in the afterlife as well, though not quite as pronounced as it was here. Ever since fighting with it, and even before then, she'd become distant from anyone she'd ever known. Brass was a man who loved her, who she'd turned her back on, and really used earlier in her life. Taro was someone who'd been driven mad by the pain of the idea that he was a mistake. Her mother had become distant before her… end. The fact she'd killed her father hundreds of times, showed up until she'd finally lost to him, what she thought of him.

And now here, she was alive, and she'd never felt so alone. Worse, inside of her, she felt like pieces of her were gone from what she'd experienced before the great changes to the next life. To be alive, but to be empty. To be alive, but to be without anyone in the world. That was what she felt in this exact moment. Her entire life had been about staying strong, and now she was. She was the survivor.

Brass, Taro, and eventually Gohan, her only real allies at any point. They were trapped like rats, condemned to Hell or to an oblivion even beyond that in the latter's case. She was the last one left, the last one standing. Almost mechanically, she looked down at her pristine, restored Saiyan armour and uniform and just remained silent, almost unmoving as she stood there in the direct sunlight. Memories that weren't her own came to the fore, as Gohan returned to life before he fought and killed Brass. The moment of joy at the escape from an unending prison.

And she felt almost none of it. This felt as empty as the world she'd just left. It felt as empty as she did.

What were her plans? Where did she go from here? What was her purpose? What did it matter? Footsteps finally took root in front of her as she drove herself to do something other than stand there, stunned in the sunlight. The impulse to fly, or go in any direction wasn't even fleeting, it didn't exist. Images of the battlefield where she'd confronted her half-brother were the only things of note coming to the fore, beyond feeling and remembering the sensations of being killed by Taro twice.

Once as herself, dying as her energy left her body and flowed into Vegeta, and once when she- when Gohan had shattered the Z-sword and then been killed by Taro. It felt just as real, just as experienced, as her own demise. It was enough to get her hand to reach up, covering half of her face as she cringed. She thanked any Gods that were listening that she only had broken pieces of Gohan's memories, rather than all of them. It was jarring to sense and remember things from the perspective of another person who wasn't her.

It took days to finally walk past the seemingly endless array of destruction. Natural survival instincts seemed to have disappeared while she numbly staggered through life itself, moving past the great scars left on the surface of the planet, left behind by Taro's destructive power. She'd never taken the time to appreciate the destruction while she was alive, anywhere. But she knew Gohan had. The faded memories of her counterpart had the suppressed guilt and shame of staring out over worlds as they died while he died on the inside along with them. For the first time in her life, she looked at the marred damage left on this world and the nature that covered it, with the self loathing Gohan had. Taro had done this to a thousand worlds, and so had she. By association and by action she'd done thing, cleansing worlds of life for profit, or destroying different Earths for her amusement or resentfulness.

The only break she'd taken, as she was too afraid to dream, fearing what would become of her, was when she'd scaled a huge cliff-face, and looked out over ground zero of where the Spirit Bomb had detonated, seeing the gigantic scale of devastation it'd taken to try and stop Taro. She knew, even if she'd not seen it, it'd been Vegeta which had stopped Taro, finally. The Vegeta who'd beaten her, and showed her mercy and understanding, the one who'd defended her, and had been willing to die along side her, had finally put an end to the madness she'd helped start. It wasn't only fitting, but it brought shame to her.

How many times did I kill you because of my own weakness?

Perspective. It'd been something she'd lacked until she came to this world. It'd framed it all in a new light, but that light wasn't uplifting, and it didn't bring her strength. Instead, it was sending her into a spiral, back into the abyss of her mind. At the very fringes of the darkness, she could almost hear a single word whispered that brought her running back to the reality around her.

Janemba.

Immediately she felt herself seize, her right arm trembling at even the thought of the name, of the word. Her hands gripped her face as she choked back a pained noise as her mind felt sick, and pained all in one moment. It wasn't there, not anymore, but the emptiness it left in its wake as they'd separated wasn't something she could touch. It was too dark, too deep, and too distant. Even with her memories, and parts of Gohans, what was lost from not be apart of that… thing… felt endless. Worse, she knew it was poisonous. The only thing it could have left behind was the sickness it was. Even now, she knew her feelings might not have even been her own. They might have just been the corrupted, perverse reflections of what was her own feelings.

I'm not even me. I'm no one anymore.

That was the irony, wasn't it?

She was alive. But that was just in body. Truthfully, she'd died her true death not long ago, when fighting Janemba.

The word, even in her thoughts, made the tremors worse in her right arm just thinking about it. For a brief second, she almost thought the sky became a mirror, reflecting back on her.

Whatever she was now, it wasn't enough. It was an empty shell, something which no longer had purpose or meaning. She was just an echo now, as much as it had been a twisted reflection of what she was.

Hunger, thirst, they were just things to her now. She felt numb, her living body being at first a blessing, and now just a burden. Sitting there on the edge of the cliff, she felt the sun beating down on her for the fourth day in a row, her eyes almost becoming glazed over. She couldn't even sit she'd become so exhausted. Her eyes fading into near slumber, fear was the only thing keeping her awake.

A fear to dream.

Was that all that was left of her now?

Something slipped beneath her, and she was too weak, too drained to do much about it. Her consciousness was already rapidly depleting before her body fell into an abyss, her eyes closing as she melted away in the sunlight, desperately trying to avoid the world of her own dreams.

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Goku:

It'd been a few hours since the Dragon's wish, and it was complete crazy here. There were Trunks everywhere. It was shocking. Some of them were old even, like, in their 50's! It was a complete shock to him to see such a similar, yet completely different group of people. All of them seemed to be pestering Vegeta and Bulma too, talking to them about any assortment of things. There was something he noticed though, Vegeta seemed to be waiting for someone. Even after their Trunks arrived, and even after the Future Trunks arrived whom they knew, Vegeta seemed off. Goku was never the best at catching on, admittedly.

But right now, he was trying to catch on to what was happening with Chi-Chi as she stood there, looking out towards the declining sun in the distance.

"Hey Chi, what's wrong?"

"Where is he?"

"I sensed him," Goku reminded, his tone friendly and reassuring. "He might just be taking some time to himself. He's been through a lot."

That answer went over about as well as a lead balloon. Chi-Chi just looked away; her eyes declining. The only one here who seemed to be taking it in stride was Goten. Goku knew what happened when the pair of them had confronted Brass and managed to win. That was a huge point of pride for him, knowing that despite the hurdles his kids had, they'd come together. Still, even Goku realized that Goten seemed to be anxious, he was just taking this well.

In all of this, maybe he looked to be the biggest fool of all as they were all waiting here as more and more Trunks seemed to arrive from all over the world. Which was crazy seeing them all together. The noise of their conversations was loud too. For a few minutes he almost thought he'd not hear Gohan arrive, but he knew how ridiculous that was. It was a matter of sensing energy that would have been his main means of sensing him.

The only other full Saiyan here had begun to approach him. Vegeta's stride was conservative as he nodded to several alternate reality versions of his offspring.

"I notice that your boy and the girl haven't arrived yet," Vegeta remarked.

Now that was interesting. Even Goku picked up what Vegeta had just said. He was curious about the surviving member of the Trio. Or rather, the only one to be brought back. She'd been the one to defend him long enough to launch the Spirit Bomb, and of course he knew she and Vegeta had fought prior, and he'd won. To be truthful though, he didn't expect Vegeta to be that worried about anyone.

"I don't sense her energy anymore," Vegeta then added, his arms crossed as he looked into the distance.

"She's probably gone underground," Goku remarked. "And to be fair, Gohan's power's pretty faint too."

"You know you can transmit to him at any moment," Vegeta pointed out, eyeing him suspiciously. "Your woman and your annoying child won't stop bothering my wife until you do. Save us all the time and effort."

It'd crossed his mind, feeling the faded, reduced energy of his son out there, but it was also a matter of what Gohan wanted. Much like Gohan, Junia hadn't come running to them after her resurrection. It might be for the same reasons, even. Maybe it was for something completely different. The truth was he didn't want to just grab him and go, he needed to give him space if that was what he wanted, at least for the moment.

"I'm sure he's gonna show up on his own soon," Goku said, before grinning and rubbing the back of his head. "I mean hey, what would happen if I just teleported to where you were and tried to grab you, right?"

There was a dim look given to him in response by Vegeta, who clearly wasn't amused or impressed by his answer. Small-talk wasn't either of their strong suit. Vegeta just flat out didn't practice it, and Goku was awful at it, so this was the only outcome there could be.

"You are a moron," Vegeta remarked coolly before walking back towards the crowd of people recently returned from the dead.

Why did that feel more honest than usual.

Looking back towards his own family, seeing Goten talking with a host of his friends? Or rather, a host of his friend? That was a bit too weird to think about. Man, there were really a lot of Trunks. Waving with a smile towards a group of them, Goku made his approach, trying to be social in the midst of everything. The best thing to do was not to bring up Taro.

"Hey Goku!" the first one announced. "I can't believe you guys brought almost all of us back."

"So, you guys were the Trunks inside Taro, huh?"

Well, that lasted all of two seconds.

The entire atmosphere around him went from jovial to awkward in only a fraction of a moment before he rubbed the back of his head again.

"I mean. I guess, right?"

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Vegeta:

Training had become interesting for the for time in a long time, as far as Vegeta was concerned. Things had been stagnant for him for some time, fighting against digital opponents and machines, or with Kakarot. But at the very least now, in the days following the wish from the Eternal Dragon, Vegeta had something refreshing to come to the fore for him.

Exhausted bodies of a dozen of his strongest sons lay on the floor of the gravity chamber, with one still on his knees, trying to build up the strength for another go at him. Vegeta himself felt exhausted. The entire Capsule Corporation must have been rumbling from the scuffle. Everywhere he turned there was a Trunks looking at him. Each one had a different fate, some of them weren't even warriors, something which confused Vegeta genuinely. What good was any Saiyan who couldn't fight? Even showing his more sympathetic side, Vegeta just couldn't understand that. Still, it'd been mostly Bulma running around trying to find all of them accommodations, though he doubted they'd be here long. With Taro defeated, and the Gods back in order, he had a sneaking suspicion he knew what would be coming soon.

All of these transplants would be going home. They all knew it to some degree, he thought as well.

Landing on the deck of the training floor of the training craft, Vegeta just brushed his shoulder in order to show how strained he was, acting as if he'd not exerted himself. Truthfully, they almost had him there, but they didn't need to know that. Besides, only two of them had fought him one on one in the training room, and that meant that two were substantially more powerful than the others. One of course, was the supposed original Trunks.

The one who started the fracturing of all time, creating endless timelines with endless possibilities. That was the son who'd come to his feet first, managing to start walking towards him before outstretching his hand.

"Well played," he offered.

If it were only a few years ago, Vegeta would have shirked off his good showing. Instead, he took his hand stiffly, before retracting it, not saying a word further. This was the full regiment of training today as far as he was concerned.

Walking towards the exit, he was surprised to hear the other Trunks he'd fought individually speak up, the son he'd thought was his only alternate reality son from another reality. Trunks had managed to pull himself up, though he'd clearly acquired a few more injuries than he'd wanted, particularly on his ribs and left arm.

"No one's talking about it," he rasped. "But something happened in Hell. We only saw a glimpse of it, but Junia and Gohan were at the heart of it," he spoke up. "I think that's why they've not come back. Something happened to them and I'm worried."

Vegeta paused before he looked at the boy who'd been trained by Tien originally. Turning his eyes to the original, before looking at the others, they all just seemed to be quiet. If it was enough to get them to not speak about it, he was curious as to what the Hell they were talking about. Crossing his arms, the Saiyan Prince kept his attention tuned to the source of the remark. Even he had developed some sympathy for Kakarot's brat, though that wasn't the centre of what drew his attention. Even if he hated to admit it, ever, about anyone, Vegeta had hoped for a better fate than Junia seemingly had acquired.

"Don't say half of what you were going to tell," Vegeta remarked, annoyed. "Out with it, if its so important."

Another Trunks spoke up, his own perspective haunted for a brief second.

"It disappeared before we left the afterlife."

"So? We know Junia and Gohan fought it and Junia's power reappeared afterwards."

"Whatever that thing was, it's in the past now."

"Out with it," Vegeta demanded, the Trunks in front of him all stepping back defensively at his brief outburst.

It was confusing to track which one of the near dozen copies in the room was speaking, but it was the one of the weaker ones who spoke up, his voice sounding reluctant as he spoke.

"I was there with her when we got there. I heard what she called it when I asked what it was. It wasn't just what they were fighting, what we were fighting. It was everything. It was the clouds, the ground, it was in every reflection and in everything. She called it one thing. All she said was… Janemba."

Janemba? What kind of ridiculous name is that?

But as soon as the word was uttered, it was enough to silence everyone in the room expect him. Putting the math together himself, Vegeta immediately knew whatever this thing had been, and whatever reason it was in Hell, didn't matter. If it was enough to scare everyone into this room into silence, when he knew mentioning Taro had not… something was off.

"What is this Janemba you mention?" Vegeta demanded.

"That's the only word that can describe it," the original Trunks remarked. "It killed everything it touched. I could feel it beneath my skin every time I looked at it. Junia and Gohan had been fighting it for hours before we got there and I remember them being completely out of it. It was killing everyone like they were nothing. It completely rewrote the afterlife and no one could sense its strength or power. The last thing I saw was it cut reality in two."

Cut reality in two?

"After that. We were all killed in a blast after reality cut in two. When Hell and the floor of the afterlife started to reform, the only power we sensed was Junia's out of her and Gohan. I think Junia's was the first power to reappear."

"Hell was destroyed? The floor of the Afterlife? What are you talking about?" Vegeta asked, the description sounded insane. "How did this thing cut reality in two? What are you even talking about?"

There was only one answer.

"Janemba."

There was an urgency suddenly for Vegeta as this was described to him. Kakarot's idea of just waiting around seemed to be fine before. Now, Vegeta wondered very much what the Hell those two were doing. Especially if they'd been fighting this "Janemba" thing.

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Junia:

It was a barren wasteland. Not the one she'd grown accustomed to until a few weeks ago, but the place she called home. Even now as she looked over it, the lifeless expanse of an endless sea of desert and uninhabited waves, Junia's eyes just traced over what lay in store for her. This was what she had to go home to. To come home alone, without any heirs of Turles. She would come home to a world which also no longer had anyone she wanted to see either. Her father was stronger than she was, and so was Turles. Her mother was dead, so here she was. The last one standing of a trio of strong, able bodied and minded Saiyan youths who ventured too far and found their limits both mentally and physically.

Standing there, she felt as empty and helpless as she did on the surface of the Earth. The emptiness of it all felt a thousand times more pronounced. She could barely bring herself to raise her hand to look at it in the sunlight. Nothing compelled her. It was the sense of being truly alone. In her mind's eye she could see Brass, Taro, Gohan, and the former world's Vegeta all looking at her briefly, mockingly even. They knew who truly had been left holding the bag for everything. She was. It didn't even rouse anger in her as it should have. What was the point of any of it?

"I agree," a voice whispered through the air around her, it was unfamiliar, but grated on her despite how surprisingly smooth it was.

Her eyes darted in every direction, feeling something uncomfortable in her gut at its pronouncement. It was foreign, but familiar. But the noise didn't come from somewhere, it came from everywhere. It took hours of just listening to the waves crashing ahead of her for Junia to finally realize it was nothing. Turles and Vegeta didn't even show up for her return.

Walking towards the waves, she felt her bare feet touch the cold wet sand before water rose up to her ankles. Walking forward step by step, she felt the water rising higher and higher. Only when she stopped at her waste did she look into the surface of the rising water as another wave passed by, seeing her reflection.

Seeing Janemba.

It's yellow eyes and black pupils stared back at her, as she felt her gaze intensify on it.

You are aren't real. You are here. He killed you. I saw it. I felt you die.

The creature just grinned back at her, before it started to chuckle from the corner of its mouth, and she could hear it. Raising her hand, she looked at it as it started to tremble, seeing her flesh taking on a red tone. Immediately her breathing started to become erratic as she started to panic. Why? How? She knew it left an emptiness in her mind, but it wasn't there. It wasn't real anymore.

Real and unreal. Knowable and unknowable. Interlinked. All consuming.

The familiar nature grazed the edges of her mind as she felt herself beginning to snap. When she looked up, she could see Gohan standing in the water ahead of her, walking further and further into the waves. Above the waves, she could see Brass floating there, a smug look on his face as he watched, Gohan just disappear below the waterline.

When Brass's eyes turned to her, amusement dripping from his gaze, she looked at the surface of the water, realizing he had no reflection.

Before he could say a word, with more accusation than reverence, Junia said the word that first came to mind.

"Janemba," her voice said scornfully before the smug reflection's eyes turned to the all too familiar colour of yellow and black.

Yellow tendrils of fatty, putty like substance started to run up her legs from below. As it started to pull her beneath the water, she felt water filling her lungs as she was pulled further and further towards the abyss.

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Junia:

Her breathing hitched as her body lunged forward, a cold sweat drenching her as she looked around the room she found herself in. Familiar walls, they were from a capsule building. Her skin felt almost like burnt leather, like she'd been in the sun for days. Looking to the corner of her eye, she saw an IV bag with water in it? They were trying to hydrate her? She felt confused, her eyes trying to focus on anything in the room in general before she felt dizzy. Trying to wipe the sweat off her, she tried to get up, but her legs immediately failed before she came crashing to the ground, her breathing ragged.

The sound echoed through the building before a door immediately opened. Looking up, she saw her mother staring back at her, a look of surprise and concern written on her fears. That was a look she'd not seen… in a very long time. Most of the time she saw Bulma screaming, begging for the lives of Vegeta and Trunks before Taro or… herself… would kill her. It'd been easy to justify, because it wasn't her mother of course. The fact she looked concerned for her this time brought her shame for the first time in as far as she could remember almost. Still dehydrated, weak, and burnt, Junia tried to pull herself up.

"Vegeta! Vegeta she's up!" Bulma called before starting to walk towards her, kneeling down next to her.

"Relax, Vegeta found you passed out in the middle of a wasteland just laying in the sun. We've been getting you hydrated. I'll get you some water to drink as soon as we get you back to bed."

Turning her head towards the woman, Junia didn't give an affirmation of any sort, instead turning her head away again.

I need to get out of here before it happens again.

As soon as Vegeta entered the room she froze, seeing the stern look on his face. Her breathing, ragged as it was, left her just laying on her front, her attempts to get up ceasing immediately. Briefly, she felt like she was just a child again. The full blooded Saiyan standing there looked at her mother, before looking back at her.

"Where is Kakarot's boy?" he asked, his tone seriously. "And what the Hell is Janemba?"

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Author's Notes:

I shouldn't be surprised that not as many people reviewed Chapter 74, but still, I appreciate all the feedback! I'm gonna say that Navarone2013 had the one I laughed at the hardest when he simply put: "Until they took their clothes off" lol. One thing I find interesting, is Chapter 74 of The Long Road, is probably the most read the story's been in a single update in a short period of times, so the limited feedback scares me, lol.

I'd wanted to have something genuinely different. In general, I want every big fight in TLR to be different than one another. Turles's battle was different than Broly's. Broly's was different that Garlic's. Garlic's was different than Taro's, ect. I've been writing this thing for years.Like, over six years, which is crazy to me. I've been working on the current Saga (which I have to stress, does not mean we're going into another resembling a battle anytime soon), in terms of its design and layout, and how it ties everything together for Gohan's character development. In think I've got what I want down, so I'm excited to work on it. Tons of drama and development coming. I've got 2 chapters with villains to setup what's coming, but I want to stress again, don't expect big fight set pieces again for a while. Like, maybe Chapter 96-100 when I get that far, which is a long time.

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Reviewers:

Blades of Fury: I dunno. I think they're gonna be pretty normal, knowing everything about the other on some level. I think they have bigger problems than relationships, lol.

Perfect Carnage: I don't watch TV for the most part anymore, lol. I think the last thing I watch was "The Boys", which was great.

KagariAsuha: Trust me, I'm relieved that Hell's basically over now too. The next two Sagas have all their beats plotted out perfectly, and I love how they tie into everything. I was worried for a bit they'd not connect seamlessly, and now I think it's going to be a fucking blast, lol.

Thomas-The-TMC: Thanks! It was so hard to not give Janemba any real dialogue, and giving him zero perspective. If I'd been able to do one of the two, then I think I'd have explained too much, and in a lot of ways kinda ruined the chapter in my eyes.

Hek'Unn'Skipper: Why? Who doesn't want more Janemba? Kidding, lol

RoxaShadow: Hey, reviews like this make it hard to be humble, lol. That was definitely one of the more difficult things I've written. It's a weird one, with a crisis of the mind and reality, as well as confronting something that's not motivated in the same ways we are. I really enjoyed writing Janemba for being that different. As I think I mentioned in the chapter, it made me uncomfortable enough that it cost me sleep, lol.

Guest1: "He came, he saw, he Janemba'd" lol. As for the messaging in it, yea, I wanted to have his death and destruction be a new beginning for Hell. A level of existence no longer swamped in the essence of nightmares, even the lower level of Hell just doesn't exist anymore. Obviously I based what Hell is now, on where Frieza's imprisoned in Dragon Ball Super, but I really felt like it was a perfect way to close out that part of existence. In a way, Gohan on his way out of Hell, improved the existence of every being there.

Iikd: Thanks :D

VargasREborn: Thanks! Janemba! Lol

Narelcollie: Thanks :)

Super Mystic Gohan: Dead for good? Not yet. :P Gohan's fate's going to be described next chapter.

Sigmakleim: The Apocalypse happened. He did his variant on the Soul Punisher, basically. Nasty problem of sending his energies across time and space throughout the afterlife.

Guest2: Thanks for the review!

Dharshan: How can I use the incarnation of Evil itself as anything else? :P

Ninjaguy67: Hahaha. I lured everyone in with the first half, lol.

Navarone2013: The clothes had to come off. Though I think it's more that they reformed themselves through the reality which they had become apart of, and just didn't come with their clothes again lol.

Guest3: Indeed, he did.

Austin-Flare-Potter: I'm glad you enjoyed! I too thought it was creepy.

Narelclolie: Now where ever I go, the Killer's song "The Man" has to play in the background until I get beat up. Lol

Maximussj: Wow indeed.