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 76: 680,000
Son Goku:
It'd been hard to train for at least two days now. Yesterday had been difficult because, well, things were getting stressed that Gohan hadn't come home yet, despite being alive. He was too preoccupied about it. Training for more than a few minutes, even when he was training with a few Trunks, just felt empty. For the first time he could think of, his motivation was just… bleeding away. It reminded him almost of when Gohan had first gone missing as a child, after he'd lost to Raditz and been killed. This time there just was more information available. He could see his wife was distraught. He knew he had a granddaughter out there somewhere whom Gohan hadn't mentioned. He knew Gohan had been through Hell for almost an entire year, and there really hadn't been anything he could do about it.
Anxiety wasn't something that normally encroached on his thoughts, but there was a nervousness he felt all the time now. The few times he'd sensed Gohan's energy, he stayed true to his principals and didn't immediately teleport to him, but that was starting to get to the point of too much for him. He'd already resolved to instant transmission the next time the power emerged.
It was so strange that things felt so close to when he and Chi-Chi had been dealing with Gohan being gone… and that took until almost after Frieza was defeated on Namek. They didn't have any time. He came back to life, he beat Nappa and Vegeta. He went to Namek, he fought Frieza, but all of this took a year. It took him a year before he could really be with her and try to find their footing. Training had been an escape for him, even he'd admit, during that time, but his motivation was sapped. If it wasn't for the Androids coming to kill everyone, he might not have trained for the first time in his life. He tried the Dragon Balls to fix things, he tried using instant transmission any time he thought there was a power out there. But now he was keeping that urge in check, and it made him miserable. And it made Chi-Chi miserable.
I'm going to have to grab him the next chance I get.
Looking at the Capsule Corporation Building, Goku quietly couldn't wait until next year to use the Dragon Balls to restore the mountains and damaged to the Earth that it'd suffered over the last two years. There'd been problems with crops and a whole host of changes. Between Taro and Garlic, things were a total mess. Still, Bulma and Vegeta were really nice to let them live here. He knew of course that Vegeta pretended that he wasn't glad to have them around, and they butt heads sometimes, but the extra training never hurt and he knew it.
Breathing in and out once, Goku felt himself just try to relax and unwind before he started training today. He'd need to track down either Vegeta or a few of the Trunks before getting started. For some reason, Vegeta himself seemed really fixed on helping that Junia girl. He also mentioned some weird name that the Trunks had said a few times so far. Janemba? What a weird name. They all seemed really uptight about it too since Vegeta had brought it up. Personally, he didn't get it.
Turning around and looking at the training ship, Goku considered for a moment how much he didn't like using the artificial gravity room. Sure, you got all that extra punishment from the gravity, but training was just as spiritual as it was physical, and in many senses, he didn't think Vegeta fully understood that still. Whenever he proposed training out over the ocean, or in the artic, Vegeta seemed to scoff at him and just call him a wimp for not wanting to train in 500+ gravity.
Oh well, there wasn't much to do about it n… now…
A cautious looking figure landed next to the Capsule Corporation ship, and it took Goku several seconds to recognize him. There was a pretty big difference in his hair, standing further straight up. Dress pants and a button up shirt? Glasses? There was also a lack of the most familiar scar over his eye. His entire posture seemed different beyond just the cautious. The way he stood wasn't the same, or even the way he walked and moved.
Gohan?
Gohan had the gait of a trained killer, and Goku always noticed that, he walked and moved like a predator. Gohan now seemed to stand there almost like someone who wasn't even ready to fight. Heck, he almost looked stiff in his motions, like someone who had a rigid structure to their life. It felt alien looking at this young man, and Goku was slowly beginning to suspect that this wasn't the Gohan he knew.
"Gohan?" he asked cautiously, walking towards him. "Is that you?"
The figure smiled, and it was a strangely familiar yet soft smile. It wasn't something filled with regret, or grief, or cynicism. It was a real, genuine smile. It almost mirrored what he remembered Gohan smiling at him like when he was a kid. Or at least, it bore the look of innocence that Gohan had once had when he was a kid. There was a lump in his throat as he began believing this was some kind of dream.
"Yea, it's me. But I think I'm not the me that your looking for," he responded honestly, walking towards him as his eyes scanned his surroundings. "I noticed my home in Orange Star city isn't really my home. I can't find my wife or daughter, and everything's a bit off. So… I guess the Dragon brought me back to this world, rather than my own. I sensed all the Trunks here too, it's pretty crazy."
There was something painful hearing all of this. Wife and kids? Home in Orange Star City? It sounded like a life that was a lot better than the one they'd managed to give him… here…
"I thought you were… my Gohan," Goku admitted honestly. "When I sensed your energy. I was wondering why you'd not come to see us. I guess your wife and kids is a good enough excuse."
There was a degree of brevity to his tone as he smiled nervously, unsure of what to say. Just what did you say? Hey, how was your life? I hope I did a better job in your world than I did in this one? He knew him from a world where he didn't fail, didn't he? He didn't bear the scars that Raditz and the Planet Trade left on him. He wasn't raised by Turles and other monsters amongst the stars.
Man, I don't even know how Chi is gonna handle this.
"I didn't want to intrude after I figured everything out. I know you guys have your own Gohan. I'm… guessing the Dragon didn't bring him back," he said nervously. "Which means that we weren't dreaming when he killed Janemba-"
"Janemba?" Goku asked, his eyes widening, remembering the name which Vegeta had mentioned before. "What happened?'
"Gohan, your Gohan, destroyed himself to stop Janemba from spreading through existence like a cancer. I was killed, or the body I was sharing with another Saiyan, Brass, was killed in the blast. He destroyed Hell and almost all the afterlife when he died until it reformed. We all came back, but Gohan and Janemba… they're. Gone."
It took Goku a few seconds to digest exactly what was said as he felt his heart starting to race, seeing the sincerity in his son's face. In his other son's face? They'd used the Dragon Balls to bring him back and… and it couldn't? The Dragon failed to help him again? Something sick coiled inside him as Goku felt himself almost lose his balance. He was gone? Entirely gone? He never came back? There wasn't a chance to fix things?
He felt the other Gohan's hand on his shoulder, steadying him. He hadn't realized just how out of it he must have looked.
"He saved everyone," Gohan reassured him. "If it helps, he did the right thing when the time was right."
In the distance he could hear Chi-Chi as something worse than fear slowly dawned on him while looking at this… this perfect reflection of who his son was supposed to be.
Oh no. Chi-Chi's… but he's gone. It's-
"Gohan!" a voice called, filled with relief, excitement, and joy.
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Gohan: …
Had it all been a dream? It felt that way. Life, death, consciousness. It was all so vague, so far away somehow. What was it to imagine nothing, but to have lost all sense of time and scale? It was like wandering alone, but having forgotten for how long. Eventually, the path itself seems endless, like an unending road that his feet traveled down. Where was the end to it? When was the end to it? There was no outside thought, no purpose, no memory or understanding of who or what he was.
It was to dream so long that one forgot what it was to be awake, and Gohan had long forgotten what it was to… be.
For the first time seemingly, he sensed a cool breeze brush over his skin, bristling the fine hairs on his body as his hair gently brushed in the breeze. When his eyes started to open, it was almost as if he had a realization that he had eyes. It took a hundred strained blinks to adjust to the bright blue sky and brilliant light coming from seemingly the white clouds above, but he couldn't see the source of the light. The breeze brushed long grass against him as he lay there, and flower pedals were gently carried through the air.
When he started to move, it felt like his body had been made of stone, it was stiff and unwieldly, but instinct and second nature took hold, letting his body start to pull itself up, as if it was pulling itself together for the first time.
Who am I?
The crisis became all too real as he tried not to panic. Everything was so unfamiliar; it was so strange. Even if it was tranquil and calming, that didn't matter because he had no reference for any of it. He had no reference of anything at all. Looking at his hands, not even the vaguest notion of who or where he was came into view. No names, no places, but an understanding that he'd known what those things were. It felt like he'd lost everything, and everyone, but more than that, it was as if he never knew who they were to begin with.
Resting his left arm on his knee, he pushed back the sensation just to cry. It felt like he was in grief, for the person he was. Closing his eyes tightly, he tried to just exist where he was. The endless meadow before him offered little comfort beyond the calming motion of the wind. There was a pain in what he used to be, resonating out from within. Regret, grief, sorrow, guilt, he felt himself almost drowning in it without any mechanism to shield himself from it. There were no justifications, or defense to anything he'd done.
And yet, he didn't even know what he'd done.
"You," a voice emerged, sounding astonished. It… it's really you, isn't it?" the voice asked.
Turning his head slowly, Gohan's eyes made contact with something that immediately repulsed him. The pale blue-green creature was staring back at him, red eyes piercing through him. It smirked at him devilishly before beginning to slowly circle him, looking him over with delight.
There was something… familiar… It was hard to concentrate. It was dark, there was fire… he could hear a girl screaming, and he could see the outline of a monster. For a brief second he felt his head throbbing, like… like…
Like he's beating me to death.
"After all this time… I'd wondered if you'd ever come back, so the rumours were true…" it chucked. "How does it feel to be back where you belong?"
Not even bothering to follow the imp's movements, he felt his head just tilt down.
"I don't know… I… I don't know where I belong," he answered truthfully. "Who are you?"
The imp stopped in front of him, his eyes widening in confusion at first before brightening to something much closer to pure delight and amusement. A shark toothed grin then appeared as he continued to stare at him, a low, sick chuckle started to reverberate from his chest. Every moment he was grinning at him, every second of that sick chuckle, Gohan could take grasp of something from before.
"Son Gohan, at long last we meet."
"Nothing to say then? I killed your lover. I killed your father. I nearly killed all your friends. I've taken the girl. And all you do is give me the silent treatment? I'm hurt. Even Goku had more to say before I disposed of him."
Anger.
Gohan felt his chest heave before without thinking he pointed his hand out. The demon stared back at him in surprise as a purple flare of energy burned in front of him before the little monster was blasted across the meadow, a trail of burnt flowers and grass left in his wake before a mushroom cloud blasted out in the distance.
Starting to pull himself up, Gohan felt himself taking in his surroundings, his memories still vague, still faded… they were hidden from him, as if trapped in a time long before this moment. Every time he reached for something it felt like he came so close, but couldn't place his fingers on it. Stumbling forward, he almost felt dizzy as to where he was. The expanse in front of him was endless. But he had no idea… where… where he was? Because right now he didn't understand.
"Well, look who it is," a voice emerged, an unfamiliar one…. But what wasn't now?
Turning his eyes to the right, a blue skinned figure holding a staff was staring at him, a broad smile on his sealed lips.
"Who are you?" Gohan felt himself asking. "Where am I? How did I get here?"
"To answer the latter question, that doesn't really matter at the moment. To answer the former? You can call me Whis. I believe we've met."
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Chi-Chi:
She'd not even reached them before she knew something was wrong. The way Goku was standing, the way Gohan appeared. The offsetting moment for her when she arrived was when he turned and smiled at her. It wasn't that Gohan wouldn't have done that. It was that she knew who her son was, or what he'd become. She knew what her son had been. Everything about him right now as two things. She could see the young boy she'd lost, and she could see what she'd always wanted Gohan to become.
And she knew immediately that it was not only too good to be true. But worse, it wasn't him.
"Hey mom," Gohan said. "It's good to see you."
Her footsteps stopped when she stood next to Goku. It wasn't possible to fully contain what she was feeling, the chaos of all of it. What did she feel? If this was related to all those Trunks, that meant this version of her son was from another world. She could tell right away he was from a world where she'd raised her son to be the man he was meant to be. He had a good home, and a good life. He'd not been forced to do things beyond words to survive. People hadn't failed him, at least not in a fundamental way. It hurt looking at him, because it played on her envy. It tapped into her regrets, and her insecurities. But it also meant her son wasn't here. This was someone else's son.
The lump in her throat swallowed down as she looked over him one more time before looking up at him. She could tell he could see the pain in her expression.
"I'm guessing that you're not him," she said, her words were tense as she held it together.
"No," he confirmed, his expression turning more serious as he was left standing in front of them. "I was just talking to dad about it. I don't know everything, but I know a bit about him. I also am guessing why he's not here."
Why, though? Why was her son not here? When they had all these questions? When she was going to try and fix things, or when the nightmare of him being dead was supposed to be over. Now all she got was that he wasn't coming back? It was strange to think of. Normal people didn't get their sons or daughters back after they died, did they? But to her, the final death was always so distant. Her son was alive somewhere, out there, just not really. They'd use the Dragon Balls and bring him back to life along with anyone else. It was a fixable problem. Now? Now it wasn't fixable, was it?
When she looked at Goku, she could tell that he was staying quiet and she knew why immediately. Goku never liked talking about these kinds of things. He wasn't coming back. It wasn't a question in her mind, it'd rapidly came to secured knowledge, and her stomach felt sick immediately. While she felt deflated and defeated. They barely had him in his entire life, and she knew that her son wasn't the man she'd wanted him to be. The truth was that she'd seen glimpses of her son, her real son, only at times. When the bitterness and pain were below the surface. She remembered after he'd stopped Broly, everything seemed like it was coming together. Their lives would go to normal, and Gohan would find his footing somewhere.
Then Garlic happened.
That little monster had brought about this. Whatever the reason for him not being here now, those things were set in motion by that sick devil.
"He's not coming back?" she asked to confirm, looking at Goku and then back to her other son.
"No," the mirror of her son answered quietly. "At least, I don't think so."
Her nostrils flared as he spoke before she just smiled through the pain. Well, this was it. Goten and Kiko were still here. Her husband was still next to her right now, and someone who… was her son, at some point, was here. The disappointment that her hopes had been so high was the most painful thing of all. Why? Because her whole life, the only wish she'd ever wanted the Dragon to grant, was never granted. No matter what the circumstance, the Dragon never brought her son home to her.
It was too much to cry right now. The worst thing in the world to her in that fraction of a moment in time was somehow just rejecting the person in front of her, even if out of instinct she wanted to. Everything here was painful, like grabbing a burning pot, but strength was more than just fighting, or being strong.
Right now, even if this was Bulma's property, this other image of her son was their guest. He was someone who undoubtably was missing his own family, and the people from his world. All the tragedy she'd seen in her life relating to her family for once let her see past herself, and see the pain this other person had to be in. Even if she didn't want to broadcast her own pain, whether that was evident or not, she wanted to help console this person. She wanted to console her son, and this man was who her son could have been.
"I was going to make dinner, when Gohan… my Gohan… when you, got home. Please, come join us. Have you met Goten and Keiko yet?"
He seemed to be confused for a moment before looking at Goku.
"Goten and Keiko? Who… who's Keiko?"
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Gohan: …
This guy was just hovering around him while he walked, and it was weird. Being around him seemed to keep everything else away. In the distance he could sense familiar energies, as well as very strange ones which he couldn't recognize. Memories which were lost, were slowly fading back into view. Some memories which weren't even his own were there. It felt like he was lost in what was his history, and what was Junia's. Amidst all of that as well, he could feel a hole in his mind, an empty void, that seemed to almost whisper a name on the tip of his tongue.
"What do you want?" Gohan finally asked, sounding exhausted before turning to the blue skinned creature.
"Me? Oh, I don't want anything. I just thought it'd be nice to come check on you. I made a promise to your father that I would. I do try to keep my promises! Even if they take a while to fulfill."
That was something to make him pause. Kakarot… No wait. Goku? His father, the image became clearer in his mind, memories became active, letting him relive experiences he almost wanted to remain buried. His humiliation at the hands of this father when he returned home. His father nearly killing him before his transformation. His betrayal of his father. Avenging his father against Paragus's bastard. And his father avenging him against that little shitty imp. Other moments flooded to the fore before he looked at Whis again, trying to hold it together while he was rediscovering who and what he was.
I'm a monster.
For the first time perhaps the most honest thing in the world was said in his own mind. It was for a few seconds, being an outsider looking in. The nightmares he was plagued with from his actions weren't some punishment from the outside, they were his conscience, screaming at him for all the horrors he'd unleashed for his own survival. The shame and guilt he felt every day was masked by his instinct to survive, and his instinct to thrive. But it was something he could never escape. He looked over his shoulder every moment.
And now, when he looked over his shoulder, he swore he could feel Janemba's eyes on him, chilling him to the core.
"That feeling will take a while to go away," Whis remarked. "I actually saw what you did. It's remarkable that a mortal being was able to contain such a thing as Janemba."
The word caused him to stiffen before his eyes widened while staring at this Whis, trying to gauge what he wanted, or why Goku had sent him here. It was unnerving. Another being beyond his comprehension? Another thing for him to deal with? Was that what this was? Between Taro and… that thing… he didn't know how much more of the strange, extra reality driven threats he could deal with.
This Whis… he was with… Beerus?
"That's right," Whis said with a smile.
"Will you stop that?" Gohan shot back, his teeth grit. "You know who I am. I know who you are. You know about Janemba. Great, what did my dad send you here to do? Bother me?"
"Bother you? I suppose so. He asked me to save you, actually," Whis laughed. "I'm reasonably certain I am one of the few beings in existence that can help fix your problem, without fracturing time and space into quadrants. Admittedly, you reasonably don't need saving. You have come back into existence, just as anyone judged to be Sent to Hell does. It just took an extended amount of time due to the strains placed on you, and the nature of your destruction. The afterlife needed time to coalesce your energies and form them back into what you are. Admittedly, 680,000 years is a long time."
Gohan's jaw fell slowly open as he heard the years. 680,000 years? As in, the Earth rotating around the sun 680,000 times? Over a half a million years? It was enough to cause him to have a panic attack on the spot. He'd missed everything. Everyone was gone now. Any chance of leaving this place was gone. But worst of all, he didn't get another chance to see any of the people he cared about. The first image to organically come to his mind was Pan.
Memories came flooding into his mind as he felt himself seize up. It'd all gone wrong. She was supposed to be with Videl, which would have been a crisis in and of itself… but he could see now, when she'd told him that Pan had been taken by a Green Figure. PICCOLO.
What the fuck happened while he was gone?! Where… She was dead now, wasn't she? Maybe he could find her? She'd be in the afterlife, right? Would she remember him after so long? It'd been… an eternity since she'd seen him. Probably the only thing that was better for having known him… and even then, maybe not.
After what I did to Videl, after what Pan saw between us later. After the horrors that Garlic did. I did her no favours. I only had to save her because I was her father. Another life that would have been better if they'd never known me.
"Reincarnated multiple times, I doubt she'd remember who you are at this point beyond a vague notion of knowing you from somewhere," Whis remarked. "Or was that Videl? I can't keep them straight."
Twisting, Gohan lunged, throwing a punch which was caught out of the air by a hand moving so fast he couldn't even see it. Before he knew it, he was standing alone, his eyes just wide with shock before Whis walked up behind him, tapping him on top of the head with his staff.
"Apologies, Son Gohan, but I'm not here to train you. As I said, I am here to pay back a favour to your father."
"And what's that?" Gohan spat, his head turning for his gaze to fall upon the strange creature who was reading his thoughts and treating him like a fool.
"I only treat you as you are," Whis commented, a smile creeping across his face. "Apologies, you did make that one very easy."
Shoving the staff away, Gohan seethed before crossing his arms, trying his best to keep it together. Anger was bubbling up at his treatment. His personality and memories were flooding back into place as his fury at everything was being born out. Hatred for the fact he was stuck here. Dead. Forever. And he'd never see another person he knew except the monsters he'd been stuck in Hell with, as well as Garlic.
Where the Hell am I though? This isn't Hell.
"I'm afraid to say you don't need the full explanation of that," Whis remarked, almost floating in front of him. "But this timeline does require you to not be here. Two of you in the same timestream permanently wouldn't work very well. Oh, and of course, I am the one who sent you back in the first place. So, my former self knows that I sent you back. That's a strange thing, isn't it? We usually leave time management to the Supreme Kai of Time."
What? Sending me back? I don't understand.
"You don't need to. There are already enough ruined timelines, thousands of trillions of them now. The splintering only gets worse as the future progresses, I am afraid to say. Consider this your reward for the role you played in stopping Taro. Though I would say Janemba as well, but we all know that selfish streak of yours had a hand in creating that problem," Whis chuckled, before pointing the end of his staff towards him. "Hold still!"
"Wha-?"
The blue ball on top seemed to glow for a few seconds before he felt his lungs suck air in for the first time in… eons, really. Blood, stagnant in his body, started to pump through him as muscles became real and flesh became alive once more. It was… it was incredible. The breeze on his skin felt more alive than it could have ever. His anger washed away with amazement as he fell to one knee, trying to keep up his strength.
"I… I… I'm alive," he breathed, his lungs desperately gulping in real, fresh air for the first time in so long. "But… but how?"
The question didn't have an answer, all he was met with was the smile from this thing looming over him. Alive in a world he didn't know? Hundreds of thousands of years in the future? Was that what his father had wanted? But he mentioned sending him back? But how? How was that possible?
"I hope that feels better. I think it looks like it does. Would you like a glass of water by the way? You must be parched. When you meet me again in the past, we really must do lunch sometime. I love Earth's cuisine, it's absolutely divine. Though I will say that it can be extremely dangerous to the waistline. But it's just so tasty."
Pulling himself up, Gohan was breathing through his mouth as he looked around, feeling the fabric of his shirt against his skin for real for the first time, as well as the jeans around his legs.
"Why are you sending me back? Is it really all my father?" he asked coolly.
"In a way. I told you, it'd be hard to explain. Think of it as a reward for your universe's service in stopping the trio. Your reality now has a chance of not ending up as a complete disaster."
I'm going to prevent a disaster? Oh no… more fighting. No, please I don't want to do this anymore.
"Relax," Whis laughed. "Nothing's set in stone, except for the paradox that more or less guarantees your future. But your fate alone isn't what's important. There is more happening beyond what you see or know here, as well. I would offer more advise, but I really did plan on not breaking the paradox loop. Time will continue to progress forward here so long as I send you back in the state that I always have before. Which means no splintering of timelines. The Supreme Kai of Time would just scream at me if I accidentally created another timeline again. It's just more problems ontop of more problems. At least your reality didn't get sucked into the timeline wars-"
"Timeline wars?"
"You see, that's me just slipping up and mentioning things I shouldn't. Now, hold still, it's time to go back."
Everyone is going to be waiting for me?
"Oh, and I forgot to mention Gohan. My resurrecting you here was a one-shot ability. I doubt that Shenron would be able to bring you back now regardless. So, I'd avoid dying if I were you. Did I just break the rules, or was I supposed to tell you that part? It's hard to remember, it's been so long."
This thing is a nutbag.
"If I get the coordinates and time wrong, just call me. At worst you'll just be in space, thousands of years in the wrong time. But I can fix it, I promise. Grab me in the time you are in and I should be able to sort it out."
"But… I don't know how to get a hold of you," Gohan said, fumbling for words in all of this madness.
"Hold still!"
Wait! No no no-
The world flashed violently as Gohan felt reality bleed away all around him. Time and space seemed to just become an ocean he was falling through.
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Author's Notes:
We've got 2 chapters coming up that actually don't focus on the current cast. I do want to stress that if people are worried about another big fight or anything starting up, from focusing on the villains for a bit, please don't. We're not looking at things getting anywhere near that point for quite a while. But with that being said, I've also gotta start going over events outside of the Earth and how they impact things.
I was debating how quickly to send Gohan back, and he's not going to show up right away on Earth. But the truth is, I didn't want him stumbling around the future, after stumbling around Hell for that long. lol
Funnily enough, Chapter 77 is named for the song which the character is based on, "Cult of Personality", where as Chapter 78 is based off a song from Movie 5: Cooler's Revenge, called "Reminded".
Not spoiling of course, major subjects from within those chapters, of course. Lol
I may be undertaking a project if I get time, to rewrite the first 15 chapters of this, and The Catalyst in my current writing style, but it'd slow down production. But, if I do go ahead with that project, it'd need some basis of support. Please let me know if I should do this, I am considering it.
ALSO: Big shout out to RoxaShadow, his latest story, "Talking with a Monster" is great. I rarely promote in my stories, but this one's definitely one that's worth reading. It's very good.
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Reviewers:
KagariAsuha: All down to preference. I'm not sure if she is or isn't, but she has a role to play. Yet another puppet whose strings I pull! O.O
ArkT: Thanks ARKT! I just put a lot of work into it, so was kinda disappointed at the lackluster response. My latest Cataylst Chapter had like, 1/3rd the traffic and 50% more reviews, lol. It's confusing to me XD
Guest1: We're a good 20 chapters at least from any real fights.
Blades of Fury: He needed some time off alright. *hits the drum roll*
Nareclollie: Thanks!
Sigmakleim: Or is he? :O
Luke: You're the one who got it :D
Yasho360: Janemba? JANEMBA! Lol. Janemba's legacy will be felt in the story.
Hek'UnnSkipper: I hope this met expectations.
ILiekFishes: Long live out Trunks Motherland, built by the Trunks Mighty Hands! Lol
Iikd: I'm trying to keep production up, but this time of year is really busy at work, so my ability to write is being ground into the dust atm.
Maydae010401: I think I mentioned this by PM, but I'm more depressing than interesting to talk to, lol
Kuma Dzurui: Hey! Thanks for reviewing, I appreciate it. A lot of my plot structures are just built on "this happened, how would it impact the characters? How would it change how they are, and what does that lead to?" :D
Guest2: What a great review! I'm glad you caught the symbolism I was putting in there, where Gohan sacrifices, but fundamentally changes Hell to something… less awful? I try to have these things all intertwine so that they tie together. Taro's defeat had a lot to do with Gohan and Vegeta just growing as characters, and being better people, as you point out. Junia's a different character than Gohan, she's just not going to be his clone. IN fact, I'd argue morally she's probably superior to him in many respects, in so far that she has more remorse than he does.
Guest3: Another great review! I don't know about Majin Buu much for the purposes of this story, he's going to play a bigger role in my other story, The Catalyst. But for The Long Road, I just dunno. I haven't speculated as he's not really apart of it. :)
Also, Beerus is a lazy cunt. lol
Super Mystic Gohan: Gohan and Junia meet you say? I wonder what could happen there…?
DBZfan the First: Thanks!
SSJViper: Gohan's reaction to all of it is only going to grow once he has time to himself…
Navarone2013: I should make a chapter that's just one giant sentence. Lol. I hope its because people were gobsmacked, and not because they thought my story was shit, lol.
Maximussj: Much of this was answered by the chapter, lol.
G: I have been. :|