> Dragon Ball Z: Magic's New Life > by Blackdrag-rose > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Prelude: Displacement > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Twilight Sparkle was currently pacing around the workspace that rested in her castle, something she was still surprised by when she thought about it, where she was pausing every so often to look at her notes and think about the spell she had cast not that long ago. The spell was designed to tap into the power of the Tree of Harmony, without any trinkets like the box she and her friends had opened before dealing with Tirek, so she could figure out more about dragons and their connection to the force of Harmony that lingered in the Tree. Of course part of her wanted to sample the Tree, collect part of it to see what she might learn from it, but she had shelved that idea for some time and focused on seeing what happened when Spike and another dragon, like Ember for example, were added to the spell she had created for this occasion. It had taken her some time to convince the Dragon Lord to come to Equestria, to leave her duties behind and relax for a day or two, as there had been no telling how long it would take to complete her spell, but in the end Twilight had convinced her to come and join Spike for the experiment. What she wasn't expecting, however, was for a surge of magical energy to overpower the cavern that the Tree was in, like a reaction to her own magic when she thought about it, leading to Spike and Ember disappearing in a flash of light, as she was sure that neither of them were in Equestria anymore, much less this world, so they were gone and it was her fault. "It's okay... it's okay, I can figure this out." Twilight said, speaking to herself as she glanced at the notes she had made since returning to the castle, of which there were dozens upon dozens of pages scattered around her, some with the same thing written on them as she tried to solve what in the world happened when she cast her spell, "and if not, two heads are better than one... Starlight should be arriving soon, and a fresh set of eyes might be just what I need to solve this." Twilight knew that Princess Celestia and Princess Luna had experience in dealing with the Tree of Harmony, since it was where they found the Elements that they used against Discord a little over a thousand years ago, but this was different from everything she had been told since she and her friends discovered the Tree. The magical surge had caught her off guard, as it had come out of nowhere and ruined everything before she had a chance to react, sending Spike and Ember to another world, since she couldn't find a trace of the magical energy that should have been around them. How she came to that decision was due to the fact that she had checked the Mirror Portal to the world that Sunset Shimmer lived in, even if it was for a few seconds, and found nothing wrong with that world, so her new theory was that there was another world, or maybe multiple, that the dragons could have ended up on. Of course part of her was coming to terms with the fact that there were other worlds out there that were full of magic, or at least connected to their world in some manner, and now Spike and Ember were lost among the stars, possibly being sent to a world full of danger with no hope of returning to their home world. It was why part of her notes were on creating a 'recall' spell, the counter to the spell that had potentially sent her assistant and the Dragon Lord to another world, and right now she was only seventy-five percent sure the spell would work, which would either bring Spike and Ember back to her, it might fail and do nothing, or it might backfire in some manner and put her in a world of pain. She sighed for a moment as she pulled some of the pages over to her and looked over them once more, taking a moment to double and triple check the spell formula she had created, though in the end she couldn't see anything that might make her worry about her chances of recalling Spike and Ember, hopefully before they were hurt. As she thought about that, as she ended up standing still for a few moments as she stared at the pages, Twilight quickly decided that the spell was good for now and that she needed to run a field test, to see if it worked as intended or if she needed to alter it in some way so it could find the missing dragons. Not a few moments later she gathered her notes and placed them in a pile off to the side, making her workspace look a little nicer than it had been lately, before she headed outside by using one of the balconies that were attached to her castle, allowing her to open her wings and take to the skies for a time. She knew that she wasn't the best flier in Equestira, despite the training that Rainbow Dash had given her on the subject, but it was good enough to get her to the Everfree Forest and allowed her to head for the cave that the Tree of Harmony rested in, which she knew by heart thanks to all the times she and her friends had visited it. It only took her a few moments to track down the cave, as she avoided using magic since it might interrupt things if she tried to teleport into her destination, and Twilight landed without delay, allowing her to walk into the cave as she sought out the Tree of Harmony. Finding the Tree was rather easy, as it was a crystalline structure, held six different colored gems in it's branches that were the Elements of Harmony, and it happened to be at the very end of the cave, though once she found it Twilight came to a stop some distance in front of it and gathered her magic as she recalled the spell formula again. Not a few seconds later the area around her filled with magical energy as she sought out the surge that had ruined her previous spell, as it was the key to figuring out where the pair had gone and pulling them back to this world, or at least that was her theory since this was the first time she was doing something like this. Teleportation magic was a risky thing to work with, because one could end up somewhere else and not where they intended, like she could teleport to Canterlot and end up in the Crystal Empire if she was a novice at magic, but thanks to all the lessons Princess Celestia gave her over the years she didn't have to worry about it for the most part. The tricky part was that she was messing with teleportation magic that involved someone being sent to an entirely new world, which happened to be outside her area of expertise, and given what happened earlier she knew there was a chance that she might end up being among the lost as well, but she was intending on overcoming this challenge and bringing both Spike and Ember home. As she thought about that, however, she heard the sound of someone else coming, no doubt Starlight when she thought about what she had left back in the castle, though before she could say anything the magic in the cavern surged to life as soon as her student walked into the cave. How Twilight knew that was due to the fact that she suddenly lost control of the magic, how she had no idea since this wasn't supposed to be overly tied to her concentration, meaning she made some sort of mistake without realizing it, and it lead to the magic cracking the air in front of her. This reminded her of what she had been told about her human self's first attempts to learn more about magic, the eventual creation of a dark form that opened portals between two realms of reality, and had to wonder if she was doing something at the same time, but for now she focused on sealing the rift. It should have been simple, using her magic to force the rift closed, just like what she read in Sunset's tale of what happened, though it seemed to react to what she was doing as bits of magic rushed by her, leading to the sound of Starlight being knocked out, or at least she hoped so, to which Twilight braced herself as she felt it closing, all while dragging herself towards it. In that moment she knew what was coming, she was going to be sent to another world and have to find her way back, all before she could figure out what happened to Spike and Ember, to which she forced herself into the rift and closed her eyes while hoping that this would close the crack in reality, all while having no idea what would happen when she finally reached the other side of the rift, or where she would eventually end up. Frieza was in a good mood right now, as his forces were in the middle of taking over another world that would be sold to the highest bigger, just like the ones before it had been, all while the planet in question would be part of his empire and be under his thumb for the foreseeable future. He usually left the act of rebuilding the planet and selling it to the Heeters, a group of four siblings who were among some of the richest individuals in the entirety of their universe, though he only put up with them since the money they made him was quite good, and the intel they provided on occasion was too good to pass up. He recalled when he sent the Saiyans to Cereal, one of the many planets that fell under his control, and they took out the race that lived there, which allowed the Heeters to come in and rebuild it for another race, the Sugarians if he was right, which was what his forces did to every planet they encountered, they conquered it and the Heeters, who waited near his next target, moved in afterwards to sell it. Of course at this point most of the Saiyans were dead, as he destroyed them and their planet years ago, after hearing a tale about the so called 'Super Saiyan', a being of immense power that would bring ruin to his whole empire, and to this date only three of them were left, all working under him as they continued their job of conquering worlds. That was what they happened to be doing right now, wiping out the last of the resistance on a backwater planet that Elec, the head of the Heeters, said would pay well if they took it over, and Vegeta was at the head of the pack, beating up the current inhabitants of this planet so it could be claimed by the empire, while the Frieza Force was gathering to attack one of the other planets. "Lord Frieza, it looks like Vegeta and his team will be done clearing the planet in a day, two at the most," a voice stated, where Frieza took a moment to glance at part of the mirror in front of him, as he was in his personal room of his flagship, and found Zarbon standing near the door, one of his most trusted followers in the entirety of his empire, in addition to Dodoria and the five members of the Ginyu Force. Zarbon was a member of one of the more humanoid races the Frieza Force had faced and taken down in the past, where he had light blue skin and golden eyes that some said looked reptilian at times, though he also had long green hair that was tied up in a braid, resting on the left side of his body, and he was reportedly one of the most handsome beings of his home planet. He also wore the attire of a soldier, an elastic chest piece with shoulder guards that pointed downward, not to mention having the option to have crotch and leg guards as well, which Zarbon had switched for a simple blue leggings and brown boots, though he also had a pair of orb earrings, a tiara, and a blue cape. Frieza himself was shorter than most of his soldiers, as to some he looked like a child and held their tongues, least he end their lives for insulting him, while he had a chestnut shaped head with two straight black horns that rested at an angle, he had a thick tail that had a spiked end, and he had three talon-like toes as his feet. He also had purple gem-like sections on his head, shoulders, and chest, both his upper arms and legs were pink colored with thin lines on them, not to mention his cheeks were like that, and he had lilac colored skin, all while wearing black shorts in addition to his purple colored battle armor. Everyone in the Frieza Force wore the standard battle armor, which had no shoulder guards, while all of the higher ranking members had the luxury of having the shoulder guards, though everyone was required to wear a Scouter, a device that was worn over one's left ear and placed a small glass screen in front of their left eye, where Frieza's was red and it rested over his eye. "Good. We'll be done with this planet in no time and then we can move onto the next one," Frieza remarked, turning his attention back to the area that was outside his ship, a grassy plains with a clearing he had ordered the ship to land in not that long ago, though he knew Vegeta, Nappa, and Raditz were out there, following his orders to clear out the natives of this planet, "How much is Elec planning on selling this planet for again? Five hundred million Pol?" "That's what his reports say, and we'll be getting our usual twenty-five percent of that." Zarbon answered, knowing it was best to answer whatever questions his Lord had for him, as it was unwise to annoy the Emperor of the Universe, as even he and the other higher ranking members were expendable and could be disposed of if they displaced Frieza, which was something he avoided doing. "Someone must be desperate if they're willing to pay that much for such a planet," Frieza said, though this planet might be the cheapest one that Elec had sold for him over the years, as the first one that sealed the deal on their partnership was a planet that he sold for a staggering seven hundred and fifty billion Pol, a true test of his abilities, even though he wasn't very generous with his cuts, offering him between a tenth to a fourth, depending on the planet, before he shook his head for a moment, "Zarbon, have the crew open the hatch. I'm going for a flight, but I want all of you to stay here, just in case some of those ruffians decide to attack the ship." "As you wish, Lord Frieza." Zarbon replied, where he bowed his head for a few seconds before departing from the room, as he knew that his boss could do whatever he wanted, because his power was far too immense for someone to challenge or even overcome, so it was best to stay out of his way and make sure all of his orders were obeyed without question. What Frieza meant by 'flight' was that he was going to use a state of the art hover pod that floated a fair bit off the ground and take to the air for a time, allowing him to take in the sights before whatever was left was destroyed by the Saiyans, or do whatever he wanted before returning to his ship to enjoy some wine and dinner, since it happened to be evening right now. His hover pod was a spherical device that had an opening carved into it and had a seat in it that made it look like a floating throne, which happened to be how he designed it, where it had a point at the bottom for the gravity mechanism and three oval shaped extensions that were purely decorative, though the tip of his tail hung over the left edge, which he was fine with. His reasoning for this flight was because he wanted to see if Elec and his family were here, watching Vegeta and the Saiyans tear down the rest of the people that were resisting on this planet, though most of the time he hung back before being called in to start his 'rebuilding' efforts, to sell the planet to a client for a good price. He was still surprised by the price that this planet fetched, at least according to his broker, but he wouldn't be surprised if he found spotted Elec or his team during his flight, no doubt getting things ready for when the planet was purged, but decided to wait and see what he might find later. Once everything was said and done Zarbon informed him that the hatch was open, to which Frieza climbed into his hover pod and activated it, allowing him to hover above the floor before he made his way to the center of his ship, where the circular hatch to the outside was located, and his soldiers lined the path while bowing their heads. He paid them no mind as he reached his destination and floated outside the ship, where he tapped his Scouter and found that Vegeta's group was fighting to the north of his ship, a large circular device capable of flying through space, to which he headed to the west for a time, as to avoid the Saiyans altogether. The Scouters were capable of two things, the first giving his forces the ability to communicate across great distances, as one could call another soldier or superior that was in an entirely different part of the universe, while the second function was to detect the Power Level of everyone who might be on a planet, like how he could find Vegeta with ease. It was rather handy since it told him the overall power of those it found, the direction each of them were in, and the distance between the user and those they were tracking, useful for tracking down certain targets, such as the Saiyans, and other things, hence why he made it a requirement for his soldiers to wear them at all times, with a few exceptions. As he thought about that, and tried to find the power of Elec's group, a brand new source of power suddenly appeared on his Scouter and he found that it was coming from the atmosphere, meaning a potential enemy was coming to this planet, or someone at the very least, causing him to pause his hover pod and turn his head towards the sky. In that moment he discovered a rainbow colored object, an odd thing based on what he had seen over his many years in this universe, which was surging towards the planet's surface, almost like it might be an asteroid or something, possibly an Attack Ball when he considered that someone might be inside what he was seeing. His forces used the spherical ships, which were sized to fit a single person, when they were being sent out on solo missions to new planets, like when a Saiyan was sent to lay waste to a planet, or allowed them to travel between worlds his empire owned, though since he hadn't called for anymore soldiers he was quick to assume it was an enemy coming. Of course he knew that it was only a matter of time until Zarbon or some of his soldiers arrived to see what was going on, since their Scouters would pick this up as well, though he stared up at the object and wondered what it could possibly be, given everything he had considered since leaving his ship. Not a few moments later it burst out of the air and slammed down into a part of the plains that was right in front of where Frieza was positioned, kicking up some bits of rock, dust, and other debris as the meteorite slammed into the planet, but as the dust died down he floated over to the area, just to see the site with his own eyes before he returned to conquering the rest of this planet. What he discovered in the crater, however, caused him to pause for a couple of seconds, as there was a young girl, possibly three years old by his reckoning, though the interesting thing was that she wasn't a normal girl, as her face was pushed out like a muzzle and she had hooves in place of her feet, or maybe that was normal since he was using a humanoid, such as Zarbon, as a comparison. Her body was a lavender color while he discovered that her hair and her tail, as she had a tail that looked like it belonged to a horse or a pony, maybe the latter, were made up of three colors, as in most of it was sapphire blue with two streaks of another color, one being purple and the other being raspberry, or at least that was what he assumed based on what he was seeing. She also had pony ears on top of her head, meaning she had to be either an anthropomorphic race or a hybrid of two races, and as the dust cleared he found that she was wearing a tattered robe, no doubt ruined by her breaching the atmosphere earlier, before he tapped the Scouter and found that it was still reading her Power Level. It was quite impressive, as the lowest number was around five thousand and the highest was ten thousand, far stronger than what a Saiyan's child could produce at that age, even if they were an 'elite', and since the reading of the meteorite had been far larger he knew there was some lingering power within her... but as he tilted his head, to lift her with a bit of his telekinesis, she opened her eyes and stared right at him. "Wh... Who are you?" the little girl asked, where there was a bit of fear in her voice, which made sense due to the fact that she was staring at a stranger and not someone she might know, even though there was some idea forming in her head, that much he Frieza could see by looking at her, "Are... are you my daddy?" Frieza froze as he heard that, as it was a question no one had asked him in his long years of traveling the universe and taking control of the planets that were around his forces, and he had a feeling that some god was playing a prank on him, just to make his life miserable for the foreseeable future. > Prelude: Discoveries > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Frieza sat there for a short period of time, as his mind was reeling from the fact that this little girl asked him if he was her father, allowing him to see that she had no idea where they were and that she was surprised by the form of her body, so she was in the same position he was in, about her species, before he regained himself. "I... cannot say right now." Frieza said, referring to the question she had asked him, even though he wanted to say no and just take her elsewhere so he could figure out what to do with her, but for now a glimmer of hope seemed to be the best course of action, where he turned his hover chair around, "but, if we return to my ship, we might be able to figure out the truth of the matter." The young girl seemed happy with his words and started to follow after him, where Frieza found that walking was a bit of a problem for her, as if her hooves were uncomfortable for her, though instead of helping her he simply floated nearby and watched as she fell and picked herself up again and again. He had assumed that this body was natural to her and that she would be able to walk without problems, though after seeing this his new thought was that what he was seeing was due to her age, as she would grow into this in time, like most species that were capable of walking. She proved him right not even a few minutes later, as she seemed to get the hang of walking with her legs and hooves, instead of falling down every now and then as they moved, meaning the girl was smarter than he initially thought, though it remained to be seen if she could access the power he had seen. Since it looked like she couldn't use her power, in the art of flying anyway, Frieza made the decision to slow down his hover chair so she could catch up with him, giving him time to think about things as he kept an eye out for Elec and his family, just in case they took an interest in her. He knew that if the Heeters found out about her, and the power she contained, it would only be a matter of time until Elec tried to take her for his own purposes, either as a sister to his family or a soldier that didn't question his commands, so he kept her nearby as he moved back in the direction of his ship, just to keep her from them. Frieza was able to return to his ship after some time, since he had to stop every now and then, though he was pleased to find that the girl knew that now wasn't the time to talk or discuss things, as she was curious about things and glanced at the ship when they reached it. Given that he had a guest he tapped a button on his hover chair and caused the main door to open up, a section that had stairs leading inside and was positioned below where his quarters rested, though while it looked like his ship had a single floor it actually had three. The uppermost floor, where his quarters were located, was all his, the middle floor held the sleeping quarters for the soldiers that worked aboard his ship, with both of his top soldiers having their own room on that floor, which were slightly larger than the quarters of the soldiers. That rest of his staff lived on the bottom floor, which also happened to be where the components that let the ship fly, the healing tanks in case the soldiers got injured, lockers containing armor, Scouters, blasters, and the kitchen rested, though he also had a small area for relaxation, for any off duty soldiers. As he thought about that he found that several of his soldiers were waiting for him to return, forming a line on either side of the entrance as they saluted him, with Zarbon on the left and Dodoria on the right, though as his chair floated up the steps he could tell that some of them were taking a moment to glance behind him, where the girl seemed frightened by all of his soldiers. "Don't worry, my ship is the most secure place on this planet," Frieza said, which was the truth, because with Vegeta and the other two Saiyans dealing with the inhabitants that were on the run he didn't have to worry about anyone coming to avenge those who had fallen since his assault started. The little girl paused for a few moments, staring at the imposing figures that were around her, before rushing up to the area that Frieza was moving through, entering the ship without delay, though as he considered what to do with her, even if his plans were to make her a soldier, Zarbon caught up with him. "Lord Frieza, you have a visitor, who is waiting in the third floor," Zarbon quietly said, as if this information wasn't for the rest of the soldiers that were around them, and he could tell that his right hand seemed a little worried about who was in the ship, meaning it required his immediate attention, "I'm not sure who she is, but she's not one of the residents of this planet, that much we can tell at a glance... even if she was wearing some odd clothing." "Must be one of Elec's dogs. Oh very well, I'll deal with our guest," Frieza stated, as based on Zarbon's brief description of the figure in question he had to assume it was Macki, Elec's sister based on what he recalled, but then quickly dismissed it, as she was generally accompanied by her brother, Oil as he recalled, so it had to be a servant, before he lowered his voice for a moment, "While I do that, however, I want you to run a couple of tests on this little girl... she suddenly crashed near our ship, like she was inside a Attack Ball, with no damage being done to her. According to the Scouter her power level is rather high for someone of her age, far more than a Saiyan brat would have anyway, and that, alone, is why I brought her back to the ship. I want you to verify this information and learn whatever you can about her, though I'll deal with her once I'm done with whoever boarded my ship." Zarbon bowed his head as he held back, allowing Frieza to access the upper levels of his ship as he left the girl behind, all while noting that she seemed interested in the components of his vessel, before he focused on figuring out who dared to board his ship while he was away. What he discovered was a short and petite looking lady when he reached the third floor, who had short pinkish-red colored hair and pink skin, or maybe it was a mix of pink and purple, though she wore earrings that reminded him of what Zarbon wore. She was wearing a purple robe that had a golden outline, a golden yellow sash, blue pants with blue leggings, and white boots and gloves, before noticing that she had a black sleeveless shirt under the robe, even if she wore the robe in a strange way, the shoulder sections had been pulled down to her elbows. He had no idea who the lady was, as this was the first time he had seen her, and his Scouter didn't pick up anything, which meant she either had no power inside her, which was unlikely since he wasn't getting anything on her, or a god had decided to come, as it was said that mortals couldn't detect godly power. "Frieza, it seems you've been busy... dominating another planet I see." the lady commented, glancing out the window for a moment as she looked at the planet they were on, no doubt knowing exactly where the Saiyans were located, though at the same time he made no move to emerge from his hover chair. "I am only doing what my family has done for ages," Frieza replied, as his ancestor, Chilled, had started their family down this path and everyone following him followed in his footsteps, especially when he considered his father and his brother for a few seconds, before focusing on the lady once more, "Tell me, what sort of business do you have with me? I'm very busy right now and my attention is needed elsewhere." "You mean figuring out who landed near your ship and why she has the power that she has?" the lady asked, which told him that she already knew about the girl that was two floors below them, in fact he was sure that she knew exactly where the girl was, and he remained silent as he considered what to say to that, causing the lady to speak again, "Lord Beerus sent me with a message: keep her safe, otherwise he'll come and bring an end to your existence." Frieza froze for another moment, as hearing that the God of Destruction knew about the girl, and had an interest in her, to the point of threatening him if something happened to her, was something he wasn't expecting to hear, though before he had a chance to say anything the lady headed down the stairs and departed from his ship. Part of him was tempted to just take care of the stranger before she did anything, but another side of him prevailed, because if she had a message from Beerus that meant she was either connected to him or even served under the imposing god. Frieza knew that angering the deity in question was a bad move, as he could easily wipe him and his empire out, in a matter of moments, and it wasn't worth drawing his ire by taking out his messenger, to which he simply moved his hover chair after her and watched as she left the ship. Once the stranger was standing outside the ship she leapt into the air and seemed to be flying towards the atmosphere, before she shuddered and disappeared, vanishing in the blink of an eye, though he had a feeling that she or Lord Beerus would be watching over him and the girl. A few seconds later he made his way over to the section of the ship that the girl was currently resting in, finding Zarbon, Dodoria, and several of the technical members of his team, basically fighters that doubled as medics, were tending to the odd girl, who was sitting on a table. "Dad, why did mom leave?" the girl asked, causing the soldiers to freeze for a moment, as this was the first time they had heard her say something like that, while Frieza noted that she must have seen the lady leave the ship, most likely due to one of the soldiers having a video field to the outside, before a worried look appeared on her face, "D... Did I do something wrong and cause her to leave?" "Oh, she and I aren't married... in fact, she only came to deliver a message." Frieza replied, wondering why the girl's first opinion of someone like him and the lady were that they were her parents, especially since she was smarter than most of the children that were her age, that much he could tell from listening to her speak and watching her glance around the chamber they were in, "However, it would seem that, for the time being, I will be your father." While Zarbon, Dodoria, and the others were surprised by this information, especially since they were sure he had said 'no' to her at some point, though he decided to see the others had learned during his brief conversation with the lady, where it was hard for them to do anything since she was so interested in everything around them. He was interested in figuring out what the girl ate and if there was a way to draw out her power, to show it off to everyone that happened to be aboard the ship, before discovering that the girl knew her name, it was 'Twilight Sparkle'. With that done Frieza made his way over to the cafeteria and Twilight joined him, looking like she wanted to hug him and seemed unsure of what to do when she saw his hover chair, but at least she understood not to rush into things as everyone followed them. Once they were inside the part of the ship he wanted to be in he had the chef prepare a sample platter, just to find out what Twilight could eat and what had to be avoided, and as that happened he emerged from his hover chair and sat in a seat, find that Zarbon stood near him, just to be sure the newcomer did nothing. As much as he appreciated the gesture Frieza knew that there was no way Twilight could harm him, her power was far too low for it to do anything to his body, allowing him and the others to see that not only did she have no problems with the food that was prepared, but she also ate in a polite manner, causing him to smile as he wondered what the future held for him and Twilight. While that was going on a group was watching Frieza and everything that happened to Twilight, as the lady hadn't been joking about Beerus sending a message, because the god in question, a purple anthropomorphic cat with no hair, just so happened to be sitting on a chair, watching a crystalline screen that showed him what Frieza was up to. "This is amusing, seeing Frieza react to everything Twilight does towards him." Beerus said, letting out a chuckle as he and his companions watched what was going on, as his teacher was standing behind the couch and his counterpart god was off to his left, before he glanced at the opening as the lady rejoined them, "Chronoa, you should have seen how Twilight reacted when she was told you weren't her mother... she looked so heartbroken." "Not to mention that she seemed surprised to learn that her 'father' wasn't married," Beerus' teacher added, as he had caught that part of the scene and knew that it would bother Twilight for a number of years, that her new father didn't have a wife and meant that she didn't have a mother. "Please, I'd rather marry Lord Beerus, rather than the likes of the tyrant known as Frieza," the lady, Chronoa, replied, as she really didn't like Frieza and would have been tempted to sic Beerus on him, if he wasn't important to the future of the universe, before she sighed as she sat down on the couch and stared at Twilight as she ate her food, "Why couldn't she have landed on your planet, Beerus? We could have had some fun, teaching her to master her powers and then sending her out into the universe to aid the mortal warriors in some way... instead, we have to watch the emperor darken such a brilliant light." "Why are we watching her as she goes about her new life?" another figure asked, which happened to be Shin, the God who stood as Beerus' counterpart, as in a God of Creation to spread new life, though he was currently staring at the screen he had hastily created after Twilight's unexpected arrival. "Because Zeno's rules are clear: if anything or anyone arrives from the strange universe, such as Twilight, the Gods that watch over the universe it lands in have to watch over them," Beerus replied, in fact he had been woken up early because of this, as Whis, his mentor and Guide, had reminded him of the rule before heading out to make this viewing area so he and the others could observe what happened to Twilight, causing him to sit back as he stared at her, "in Chronoa's version of these events I would have likely become a parent... pretty sure I'd be driven mad by such a thing... but Twilight ended up near Frieza, so there's no much we can do about it. All we can do now is watch and observe, and if someone from the other universe comes looking for her, well, we can dump her on them and I can get back to sleep." As Shin thought about that information, and what it meant for them, Beerus turned his attention to Twilight, wondering if his words were right and that he would have been driven mad by the concept of being a father, or would she have broken him in some manner. He noted that Chronoa was saddened by everything they were seeing right now, making him take a moment to wonder if she might have been looking forward to being a mother to someone like the strange arrival, but he decided not to think about it too much. One other thing he noticed, out of the corner of his eye, was that Chronoa found a figure floating outside Frieza's space ship, a feminine figure with light blue skin and long white hair, who wore a red suit with black markings on the chest and a black cape of sorts attached to it, while also carrying a staff of some kind. He had no idea who she was, and Chronoa seemed surprised to see her, but right now it seemed like she was watching Twilight as well, so he figured that there was no reason for him to worry as he focused on the scene in front of him. Beerus had to admit that he was interested in seeing if Chronoa was right, that such a bright star would go out while living under Frieza's iron rule, especially given his desire to conquer all of the planets in the universe, hence why he relaxed as he readied himself for something special. > Prelude: Meeting the Saiyans > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Frieza found that Twilight was eager to sample everything that had been prepared for her, and that she stopped for a slip of water every now and then, showing him that she wasn't like the Saiyans, who devoured a lot of food and would be doing so once they returned to the ship. While she did that he made sure some of the soldiers checked her out, making sure her vitals were fine, that she had no allergies or reactions to anything, and whatever else they had to do in their attempts to research her odd species, as none of them had seen anything like her before. He had seen a lot of odd races over the years, on the planets his forces had conquered, but she was definitely new, plus there was the fact that her power was far stronger than most of the races Vegeta and the others had taken out, especially since she was only three years old. That fact, along, was enough for him to consider taking her in and raising her to be a soldier for his army, because he was sure she was going to get stronger as she aged and had to wonder if she was like him, as he was far stronger than his own brother and his father, so she had to be stronger than the rest of her odd species. For a moment he felt that this was both fortunate and unfortunate at the same time, as the latter was due to the fact that if there were more like Twilight out there it would have been nice to have more in his employ, while the former was more due to the fact that they might have rebelled against him, so with only one member left he didn't have to worry about such a thing happening. As he sat there, watching Twilight and wondering what, exactly, he was going to do with her, one of the soldiers informed him that Vegeta and his companions were returning, which was far sooner than what he initially planned and he tapped his Scouter for a moment, finding the local power levels had disappeared. Not a moment later the Saiyans entered the chamber they were in, where he found Vegeta, a slim man who was well-built and stood at around five feet four inches, with his hair colored black, the natural coloration of a Saiyan's hair, and spiked upward, in a prominent widow's peak, but why it was like that Frieza would never understand. Standing near Vegeta was a taller Saiyan who was far more muscular than he was, though unlike all of the other Saiyans Nappa didn't have any hair, it having been burned off in an attack on one of the other planets, though he did have a small black mustache. Rounding out the group of Saiyans was Raditz, who was also taller than Vegeta and he had extremely long spiky black hair that reached the back of his knees, though he was also the weakest of the three Saiyans, much to his annoyance, and all three Saiyans still had their brown furred tails, which were wrapped around their waists. From what Frieza knew Vegeta was once the Prince of the Saiyan race, Nappa was a general in the late King's army, and Raditz was, well, the runt of the litter, a weak warrior who got lucky by escaping the destruction of his home planet, but for right now he was interested in hearing their report. "Lord Frieza, another planet is yours." Vegeta stated, where he and the other Saiyans bowed their heads towards him, as everyone knew to show respect towards him, otherwise he might blow one or more of them away to send a message to the rest of the crew, "The worthless maggots lead us right to the last stronghold, where everyone had gathered, and the three of us were more than enough to take care of the mess." "That would explain why you are here, and why the local readings have disappeared," Frieza said, though as he said that he could see Twilight's ears perk up as she glanced over to them, tilted her head for a moment as she noticed Vegeta and the Saiyans standing there, even if she had no idea who in the world they were, "Excellent. Now go and rest, we'll be sure to find another planet to send you to." Praise was something he tried not to give out, as while it was impressive that the Saiyans had been able to clear this planet out so quickly, even if they had gotten lucky, he knew that giving Vegeta some words of praise would make him arrogant or even more dangerous than he previously was, hence why he gave them nothing, where they remained neutral as they bowed their heads. "Dad, who are they?" Twilight asked, her curiosity getting the better of her, as she was in a strange place and had all sorts of odd people to stare at, including the three newcomers that seemed to be eager for something, though that was when everyone paused for a moment. "Wait, did she just say 'dad'? Does that mean...?" Raditz inquired, though it didn't take long for all three Saiyans to figure out what was going on, despite the fact that Vegeta seemed unable to accept what he was hearing, where Frieza had to wonder what they would do when they learned of the power that was slumbering inside her body. "Yes, this is my daughter, Twilight Sparkle," Frieza stated, silently enjoying the looks that appeared on the faces of Vegeta and his fellow Saiyans, as while they knew she had to be adopted, since they looked nothing like each other, they also had to understand that she was special, before he considered the last piece he had to share with them, "and, according to the Scouter reading when I found her, her power level is at least ten thousand." "T... Ten thousand?!" Vegeta nearly exclaimed, barely managing to keep his surprise and shock in check, though he knew that most Saiyan children were born with low levels of power, while some were born even stronger than others, with the rumor of there being one even stronger than everyone else, but hearing that a three year old was this strong shocked him quite a bit, which Nappa and Raditz echoed a few seconds later. Twilight tilted her head for a moment, as she wasn't sure what was going on or what her father was talking about, but at the moment she figured that it would be best to say nothing as she listened to them talk, because it would allow her to learn more about the situation that was happening. "Indeed, and I'm convinced this is the tip of the iceberg... who knows, she might be as strong as I am," Frieza added, which would really put the nail in the coffin for Vegeta, as the Saiyan Prince knew of his power, understood that Cooler, his own brother, was powerful in his own right, and suspected that his father, King Cold, was strong as well, but hearing that this girl, a stranger, might end up stronger than him really caused Vegeta to pause. "Lord Frieza, does this mean you want her to join the Frieza Force?" Zarbon asked, because while he suspected that such a thing was the case, given that their boss was always looking for new soldiers to add to his forces, he wanted to be sure of what his boss was saying, especially since Twilight was much younger than Vegeta was when they recruited him into the Frieza Force. "In time. For now, I want to teach her what it means to be a member of my family," Frieza replied, his tone showing them that he wasn't annoyed by the remark, as he had been expecting someone to ask such a thing before they left this part of the ship, before he considered something about the planet they were on, and who would be coming once he learned that all of the natives had been cleared out, "but, if you want to test her power for yourselves, we can arrange for a brawl in the morning, giving everyone some time to rest from their ordeals." Based on his many years of experience he knew that some fighters didn't have the heart or desire for battle, so they just stayed in a weakened state and only awakened their powers when something forced them into action, so if Twilight was similar to some of those fighters, and he was sure of it, this would awaken her power. Of course his words also told them that he knew the Saiyans were winded and that they wouldn't appreciate fighting while they were exhausted, or maybe they would, he could never figure the warrior race out, though none of them said anything and simply bowed their heads as everyone else did the same thing. Twilight, on the other hand, was still confused by what was going on and didn't know if it was appropriate of her to bow her head or not, since she was his daughter now, though he intended to let this slide for the time being, at least until he and his family figured out a couple of things. His current plan was to let her see what he was expecting of her, hence why he had one of his soldiers hand her a tablet that had training videos, so she could get an idea of what he was looking for, and it was even linked to the Galactic Patrol database, holding information on how all of their inmates fought before being captured. As Frieza had Twilight shown to his section of the ship, where a new room would be made in due time, Twilight scanned the articles and took in the information, figuring out exactly what her father wanted from her, though at the same time she found mentions of someone called 'Moro' and his odd powers, causing her to smile as she read what she could, all to be prepared for tomorrow morning. When morning arrived Twilight let out a yawn, as she had fallen asleep while reading the tablet that had been offered to her the previous day, before discovering that some of the soldiers had been hard at work making a room for her, as based on what she could see her father's level could be modified at a moment's notice. His section had been sealed off and they had added some walls to give her some privacy, though her room had a bed, what appeared to be a dresser, a desk, and a few other things that she would have to look into once this morning's events were over. She found that one of the soldiers must have moved her to the bed after she fell asleep the previous night, exhausted from her studies, and that a blue suit had been made ready for her, to replace her old robes, which she wasn't sure how she had acquired in the first place, but it was nice since the old stuff was currently falling apart. In addition to that she found a white pair of gloves, like those that the Saiyans and all of the other members of her father's force wore, though no boots were among the provided armor, as her hooves likely made it hard for the current boots, though it appeared that no armor was ready for her, which she was okay with, as it appeared that she suddenly showed up with no warning and it meant they had nothing to fit her body, but would have something in due time. After changing into her new attire, and wondering what else would be given to her in time, she grabbed her tablet before heading down the stairs that lead to the lower levels of her father's ship, as it appeared that her father was busy talking to someone, meaning she could roam a little before worrying about something to eat. She discovered all sorts of machines in the rooms she walked by, where she had no idea what each of them did since this was her first time seeing them, though a few of them she was able to guess at, because one room seemed to be a healing area, based on the pod shaped devices inside it. Twilight could see that the ship was fascinating, even though this was the first time she was laying eyes on such a vessel, meaning she was going to have to figure out if there were other ones and what the differences were, before she paused at what appeared to be a window and stared outside. The three Saiyans were outside, where two of them were off on the sidelines as they watched the other one, though if she recalled what her father had said the one with the pointed hair was Vegeta and next to him was the bald one, Nappa, meaning they were watching the long haired Saiyan, Raditz, as he swung his arms and legs at an imaginary foe, like he was training. It reminded her of what had been said the previous day, that the Sayians might fight her and see how strong she was, as her 'power level', whatever that was, seemed to be far stronger than what they were expecting when they stared at her small body, causing her to tilt her head for a moment before shrugging as she headed for the eating area. What she discovered was that her father's staff, both those who stayed on the ship and those who went out to fight, were expecting her arrival and offered her a seat before bringing some juice to her, as they were getting breakfast ready and it would be out in a few moments. Twilight was fine with that and sipped on the drink as she continued to study the tablet that had been given to her, watching scenes from the various fights that her father's soldiers had been in, which made her wonder who had filmed the fights in the first place. One thing she became very aware of was her love of knowledge, as in reading, studying, and possibly experimenting with what she had learned, to either confirm or deny something, and using the tablet gave her access to more than just fighting techniques and the Galactic Patrol database, it gave her access to all sorts of things. Even when the food arrived she only half paid attention to it, as while she ate most of her attention was on everything that the tablet had to offer her, though she consumed the knowledge at a slow pace, as she knew that part of this morning would be taken up by the fight that had been set up. One thing she noted was that many of the other soldiers claimed that Raditz was the weakest of the Saiyans and that this wouldn't be a fair fight, causing her to wonder what they meant since he was more experienced than she was, but decided to focus on her meal and studies before being dragged into a fight with a Saiyan. "Is everything to your liking?" a voice asked, where Twilight raised her head for a moment, as she was engrossed in what she was reading about, and found that her father must have finished his meeting, as he took a seat near her, finding that the plates were cleaned of everything that had been on them, as while she might have been preoccupied with her reading he could see that she had the appetite of a Saiyan. "Yes father, very much so." Twilight replied, taking a moment to set down the tablet before finding that she had eaten four plates of food, even though they had been small portions since she was only three years old, but decided not to let that fact bother her in the slightest, "Guess I was too focused on my studies to notice how much I had eaten." "You don't have to worry about that, as we have more than enough food for three Saiyans... one more won't deplete our stores in the slightest." Frieza said, which was the truth of the matter, whenever he had Vegeta and his fellow Saiyans with his group he always made sure that enough food was stored on the ship before reaching their destination, so adding one more who ate like a Saiyan didn't worry him at all, as he had been told they had enough food for at least five members of the warrior race, "Are you ready for your little sparring match with the Saiyans?" Twilight nodded her head, as while she had no experience in fighting, save for reading everything on her tablet, she was also interested in seeing what might happen when they engaged each other, since fighting seemed to be a big part of her father's life, or those of his soldiers. Of course she suspected that her father knew that she was going to lose and might be using this as a chance to teach her some important life lessons, though she was eager to put her recent studies to the test by seeing how well she did against the Sayians, or at least Raditz. The only reason she thought of such a thing was because he was the only one who was doing any training earlier, given what she had seen during her earlier observation of Vegeta and Nappa, and due to her age she doubted the others might desire a fight with her, so they were pushing him to face her and see what she was capable of. Other than that there wasn't much else for her to do, as her father seemed focused on something else right now, so she picked up the tablet once more and picked up from where she left off, figuring that she could get some of her studies done before it was time to face her opponent. Once it was time to go her father got up and beckoned for her to follow, where she found that he liked that hover chair of his and didn't like to walk, if he could help it, before they headed outside and found that the Saiyans were waiting for her to arrive, causing her to hand the tablet to Zarbon as she stepped forward. "You may begin when ready." Frieza stated, where he and his forces stood some distance away from the ship, as he knew that two of the three Saiyans could be destructive in a fight, given that Vegeta and Nappa were far stronger than Raditz was, so he didn't want any damage to befall his ship. Twilight said nothing as Raditz shifted into his battle stance, which was the first position someone started in when they partook in a fight, though his was rather relaxed, as he hadn't raised his hands or did much, making it look like he had let himself open to attack. She instantly knew what he was doing, he knew that she didn't have any existence in fighting and this was his way of showing her that nothing she did would do any damage to him, though she didn't let that bother her at all as she stood there, as she didn't have her own battle stance and could only stand there. A few moments later Raditz made the first move and approached her, where he swung his fist at her and Twilight found that he was testing the waters with a lame attack, which she was able to dodge rather easily, though as she expected he picked up the pace and loosed a series of punches at her as he forced her backwards. Given her lack of experience, despite her studies, all Twilight could do was dodge to the best of her ability, as she had no real idea on how to use her body to fight someone and this seemed to be the best option that was available to her right now, though she suspected that her father would have someone train her after this battle ended. What Twilight wasn't expecting, however, was for Raditz to use his tail against her, as in it was capable of moving around and doing things, besides being a belt, and the sneak attack knocked her backwards for a few seconds, which gave her foe the time he needed to gather his energy above his right hand, forming a sphere that he fired at her, causing her to raise her hand as smoke and dust filled the area around her. Frieza knew what Raditz's attack was, as he called it 'Saturday Crush', though he had no idea why he called it that and, if he was being honest with himself, he didn't care as much as his soldiers did, but based on what they had seen it looked like the Saiyan was trying to prove himself in some manner. As he thought about that his Scouter reacted to Twilight's power, though instead of what he had seen earlier it was now larger than before, by a bit since it was resting at eleven thousand five hundred, as if she had eaten Raditz's attack and added his power to her own. When the smoke cleared he found that she was just fine and that she was eager to resume the battle, to which she and Raditz went back at it, though this time he found that she was baiting the Saiyan into using more of his energy attacks, making him wonder what her plan was, since this was her first true battle. The second Saturday Crush seemed to hit this time around and knocked Twilight away from the ship, meaning whatever she did wasn't complete, though that didn't stop her from trying to make the move work as she engaged Ratitz some more, even if it was currently in a defensive manner. He suspected that the Saiyan was going to win, due to his experience anyway, but Twilight's sudden power boost, which seemed to be permanent, made him realize that if he whipped her into shape with some training she might become one of the best soldiers in his army, especially when Twilight's next hit knocked Raditz out and earned her her first victory, to which he nodded as Vegeta looked on in disbelief, as the future was looking bright for him. As all of that happened another force observed the young pony girl with interest in his eyes, where the figure floated in a dimension where it was him and only him, forcing him to observe history to make sure he didn't go insane, and during one of his viewings he discovered the arrival of Twilight Sparkle. The figure observing her right now was a well-built male who wore a heavenly blue colored overcoat that had golden details on the chest area, while wearing dark blue pants and blue shoes that had a curl at the end, and his belt bared the letter 'D' on it, which was the first initial of his name. In addition to that his red hair was spiked, where a pair of them were styled to look like demonic horns, he had red colored eyes and red markings below them, he had what looked like a golden tiara with a ruby at the center of it, and he had a white bone staff with a crimson orb at the top, which he was currently staring at. The crimson orb was designed to do multiple things, like aid him in casting his magic and whatnot, though right now he was using it to observe a specific moment in history, which was already causing all sorts of disruptions to the timelines, which he knew had to be freaking out Chronoa, given her post as the Supreme Kai of Time. The crystalline realm he was trapped in was boring most of the time, given that he could interact with no one, though right now he observed Twilight as she fought Raditz, her body learning from the experience at an alarming rate that she made sure her foe didn't discover. She was a cunning individual, even though she was only three years old, which told him that she must have been incredibly smart before whatever happened to her brought her to Frieza, especially since it left such an imprint on her motions, and her current foe allowed her to grow a little without most realizing it. He suspected that her 'father', Frieza, knew about her ploys and what was happening to her right now, though he didn't seem to care that much and had to be thinking of using her as a soldier, just like what happened when he found Vegeta, Nappa, and Raditz after the destruction of Planet Vegeta. Raditz, on the other hand, didn't seem to notice what Twilight was doing, not that he was expecting anything different, while the other Saiyans were watching and trying to figure out what in the world the little girl was planning right now, meaning they would be in for a surprise later on. The figure chuckled for a time as he continued to observe Twilight, as it seemed like things were going to be interesting and she would be the cause, or something that set events in motion, and he was eager to see what else happened to the young girl and the people she interacted with. > Prelude: Family of Conquerors > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Following the battle with Raditz, a victory for someone with no experience, Twilight found that her father ordered the rest of his force to get ready to depart from the planet, as they were done with whatever they had been doing before her arrival, while she found herself in the training area. The reason was due to the fact that Vegeta and his fellow Saiyans had been ordered to help her learn all of the basics of fighting, because while her first attempt was nice, and she knocked Raditz out for a time, such a thing wouldn't work against the more experienced foes. Of course the found that he didn't seem to like her all that much and left her to either Nappa or Raditz, which she was fine with since both of them seemed interested in teaching her, even if they might be feared of what her father could do to them if they ignored his orders. Vegeta, on the other hand, she figured got special treatment like Zarbon or Dodoria, since he was roughly near their level, based on what one of the others told her, hence why he got away with his actions. While they were doing that, however, she overhead one of the soldiers talking about someone named 'Elec' and figured he was speaking with her father at the moment, though it wasn't long before her father gave the order to depart and she took a break to watch as the ship took off, leaving the planet behind. "We're heading to Planet Frost, our home planet." Frieza stated, as he knew that Twilight had to be interested in what was going on and this was his way to stop the questions before they erupted from his daughter, something he needed to get used to thinking about, "Father should be there, waiting for my return... hopefully we can avoid my brother, the prick." "Yay! We going to meet father and uncle!" Twilight said, reminding Frieza and the others that she was still only three years old and, while she was likely far smarter than most of the children that were age, she had no memories to speak of, save for what had been created within the last day, so this excited her to no end. Frieza wanted to tell her that he and his brother weren't on good terms, in fact both of them hated each other, with him hating Cooler far more than his brother hated him, hence why he was hoping to avoid his brother, but, after seeing how excited Twilight was, he decided to hold his breath and say nothing. Of course he also noticed something else, she was a little sad about not having a mother, something he wouldn't be able to remedy at all, in fact most of the ladies in the rest of the universe would rather stay away from him out of fear, knowing if they disappointed him he might end them. Due to that fact there was no way he could give Twilight the one thing she might desire more than anything, not that he was even bothered by such a thing, but he knew it was going to bother her for some time and might strain their relationship more than anything else. Fortunately it looked like she was more interested in learning how to fight and it took her mind off of what might be going through her mind right now, allowing Frieza to focus on his own problems, namely what he might find when he reached his home planet. One thing Twilight discovered was that Vegeta and the other Saiyans weren't present, rather they departed in spherical ships, meaning they were either heading to the same destination that they were or her father had another mission for all three of them to focus on, causing her to focus on the journey they were on. Fortunately, in the grand scheme of things, the planet he had just attacked and sold was only half a day from his home planet, a planet that had been missed by his father's scientists and map makers, how he had no idea, but now the race that would be moving in would be under their thumb. From space one could see that it was a planet that had advanced far more than most of the ones in the same star system, in fact the same could be said for the rest of this portion of their galaxy, as there were cities that dotted the landscape and no pollution to speak of. The Capital, as it was called, was one of the most advanced and largest of the cities, befitting the domain of an emperor, and whenever the people saw him they stopped what they were doing and bowed their heads, often kneeling to avoid annoying him. Since he had to speak with his father that meant they would be heading for the palace, the large structure that rested at the highest peak, where he knew a landing pad was located, though as they did so he made sure Twilight was looking out at their domain from the main viewing chamber. When they reached the palace, a place made of special marble that was far better than the material used to craft all of the outposts his forces set up across the planets they took control of, the landing gear extended and they touched down on the landing pad. Sure enough Frieza found that a number of his servants, a mixture of Frieza Force soldiers and a number of palace servants, came out to greet him and his entourage, so it wasn't long before his personal security, as in those who usually traveled with him on his conquests, disembarked first. Once the lesser soldiers joined the ranks of the servants, and formed two lines that stood at attention so they could bow as he passed, his higher ranking officers flanked him and his hover pod as he finally made his appearance. As his servants bowed their heads, while Zarbon and Dodoria stood on either side of him, many found Twilight walking behind the hover pod, though because they feared him no one dared to open their mouths and simply waited for the group to walk by. As they did that, however, Frieza spotted his father standing in the doorway of the palace, a figure who was two to two and a half times as tall as he was, with purple skin that was covered by the black force armor he wore, with a red cape, all while he had white bracers on his arms and legs, though he preferred to remain in the shadows and those here were the only ones who knew of his existence. "Frieza, it seems that you've returned from your conquest." his father remarked, where he had a smile on his face, as that meant that more wealth was being added to what they had and meant their influence was spreading all over the vastness of the universe, all while noticing the odd addition that was walking behind his son's hover pod. "Another planet has been conquered and sold, father." Frieza replied, as the only ones that didn't use his titles were his father and his brother, both for their own reasons of course, though his statement was true, he and Elec had talked about the planet he had found Twilight on earlier and it had been sold without much delay, "Along with an unexpected prize. Father, meet Twilight Sparkle, my daughter." Sure enough that shocked everyone that hadn't heard the news, in fact many seemed to wonder if he stole her and made her his daughter, but their fear made them keep quiet as Twilight focused on the figure in front of her, who stared down at her for a few moments. Twilight wondered if her grandfather disapproved of her, as he didn't seem happy at all, though she said nothing as he beckoned for the pair to follow him, leading to her father ordering the others to tend to the ship before returning to their various duties, causing them to bow as he departed. She discovered that the palace was neat and tidy, meaning the servants did a great job cleaning everything and ensuring that nothing was damaged or out of place, or whatever their tasks were, but she was still worried since her grandfather wasn't saying anything. The area that the three of them stopped in, as all of the other servants were dismissed as they entered the palace, seemed to be the dining room, one large and fit for a king based on what she was seeing, and the table was set for six people, even though there were only three in her family, four counting her. As they entered the room, however, Twilight found that one of the chairs was larger than the rest, which had to be the one her grandfather used, and sure enough he turned and sat down in it, where she found that he was smiling as he drew out a Scouter and placed it over his left eye for a time, no doubt reading her power for himself. "Let's see here... ten... eleven... twelve... thirteen thousand?" her grandfather remarked, confirming that he was reading her Power Level, something that seemed important to the Frieze Force based on what she had seen so far, though as he said that she found her father taking a seat nearby, no longer sitting in his hover pod, "My son was right, you were something we weren't expecting to find." "It's because of my Power Level, which is far stronger than what a child of my age is supposed to have, isn't it?" Twilight inquired, because that was what she was able to figure out on her own, from just observing the people around her and listening to what they were saying, or how they reacted to things that happened, "It might also be because of the fact that I'm far smarter than most children my age." "A genius in terms of intelligence and power, how wonderful." the figure said, as he wasn't too surprised by her talking, in fact he had suspected that she was either too young to speak or had been waiting until they were alone to say something to them, to which he smiled for a moment as he removed the Scouter and then picked her up, letting her sit on his knee as Frieza watched them, "She certainly takes after you, Frieza." "Who takes after who, father?" another voice inquired, where Twilight turned her head for a moment and found another figure standing in another doorway, who was taller than her father, but not as tall as her grandfather she noted, and had deep purple colored skin, different from what the other members of her family had, though while he also had white bits of armor, a natural occurrence for the family, he wasn't wearing the Frieza Force armor. "Ah, Cooler, I was about to call for you. Allow me to introduce Twilight Sparkle, Frieza's new daughter." her grandfather said, where Twilight focused on the figure in question and found that while her grandfather and father had horns, even if they were a bit different from each other, her uncle didn't have any to speak of and he had red markings near his eyes, yet another thing to help tell them apart. "Daughter? Dear brother, I do hope you didn't steal her from someone." Cooler remarked, confirming that he didn't have a good relationship with her father, though her grandfather seemed fine with that, as he didn't say anything to that, where he took the seat to her right, placing him across from her father. Frieza told them exactly what happened, he was busy overseeing the conquest of another planet and Twilight slammed into the nearby area, like she had been riding inside an Attack Ball or something, where he found her, took a reading of her power, and then, after being asked if he as her father, took her back to the ship. He then got into his meeting with the female figure who turned out not to be her mother, something that had disappointed her and still did right now, though she did find that her uncle was amused by the story. They were then surprised to hear that she had bested Raditz outside the ship, because he clearly underestimated his opponent due to the fact that she was only three years old, even though her Power Level had started at ten thousand and was now thirteen thousand. Cooler also learned that Frieza intended on making her into a member of the Frieza Force at some point, no doubt when she was old enough, though he said nothing to that, choosing to think about what he was learning before speaking his mind. It gave Twilight a chance to learn and remember their names, as she knew that her father was Frieza and her uncle was Cooler, though it was thanks to her uncle that she learned that her grandfather was called Cold, often King Cold by those who served under them, before finding that her grandfather chuckled. "You know, this means that she's 'Princess' Twilight Sparkle." Cold commented, his tone showing that, while he might be more like Frieza to some degree, he approved of her joining the family and that such a thing meant she had her own title as well, something that surprised Twilight when she thought about it. "Yes, but that doesn't solve the problem that my brother forgot to address: she needs a mother." Cooler stated, because while he knew that he had turned out alright and his brother hadn't, due to the fact that he had spent a good deal of time with their mother and his brother didn't, mostly due to her dying after his little brother was born, a few years after he was born anyway, he felt that Twilight needed such a figure as well, least she turn out like his brother. "I might be able to assist you in that regard, my Lords." a voice said, something that caused the four of them to turn their heads for a moment as they sought out the speaker, especially since no one else was supposed to be in this room, where they found a figure standing near the door Frieza and his father had passed through earlier. The speaker was a blue skinned individual who was clearly female, it was hard to mistake her after hearing her voice and seeing her form for the first time, especially since her red suit had a V shaped cut that exposed part of her chest and had silts that exposed the bottom of her breasts. She had what looked like a golden infinity sign accessory on the back of her hair, like a hairpin in her white hair, the right side longer than the left since it hung a little in front of her chest, and she wore a golden brooch near her neck. Frieza found that she was wearing a white open leg cape that started from her waist and stopped near her ankles, which ended in jagged points, before noticing that she was wearing red high heels, which was why the cape didn't touch the ground. After taking all of that in he found out one more thing, that she was beautiful in her own right, especially with her curvaceous and slender frame, and that was including her purple eyes, and she seemed to have a strong personality that resonated with what his family was well known for. Frieza had to admit that he might be smitten with the figure, while his father raised an eyebrow and his brother simply watched what was going on right now, though Twilight, who was the subject of this discussion, seemed interested in the figure while keeping her distance. It made sense when he thought about it, the last lady she thought was her mother just turned her down before disappearing from his ship, so she wasn't doing anything in the off chance that this one decided to break her heart as well, though he felt that she might be overthinking things, given what they had heard. There was also the fact that she had gotten in here without any of the servants reporting anything, so she had figured out some way to slip into the palace without the alarm being raised, something he would have to address at some point in time. There was one thing he wanted to know, the lady's Power Level, because if she wanted to be Twilight's mother, which meant being known as his wife to most of the known universe, she needed to be strong, otherwise people would think he was going soft and question his judgement, leading to a lack of fear and respect. He tapped his Scouter and it started to read her Power Level, though he wasn't expecting it to fizz out and blow up, which was the device letting out a small bit of smoke before it shattered into pieces, though such a thing caused two of them, as in him and his father, to smile as his brother remained silent. "What did you say your name was?" Frieza asked, because the Scouter breaking was a good sign, showing them that the lady was strong, likely incredibly so since she had the bravery to come here and speak to them about becoming Twilight's mother, and he was eager to learn more about her. "I didn't, but allow me to correct that error. I am Towa." the lady replied, where she bowed her head for a moment, which showed them that she understood who they were and was treating them with all the respect she could muster, since she had been a little rude with her sudden and unexpected arrival. Frieza opened his mouth to say something else, since there had to be more to Towa than just her name, though he closed it as Twilight was let down, as Cold realized that she wanted to do something, and she stared at the figure who had told all of them her intentions. For a moment it looked like Twilight might abandon the idea entirely, especially after the first lady shot her down before leaving, though in that moment Frieza noticed that the newcomer smiled and made herself look like she understood what the young girl was going through. He wasn't sure what to think of that, but it caused Twilight to tear up for a few seconds before she rushing over to where Towa was standing, who lowered herself to her knees so she could embrace Twilight, as she came in for a hug and she did her best to calm her down. In the end he guessed that this was the best they could do right now, he wasn't about to go out and let some powerless person become his wife, even though he knew that Towa would have to prove herself before he reached that point, but at least she could deal with Twilight, which was fine for now. He was looking forward to what the future held, now that someone would be watching over Twilight while he focused on his empire and making sure his brother didn't get in the way of things, especially since there were more planets to take over and sell, causing him to smile as he eagerly awaited what might happen next. > Prelude: Lessons > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Following Twilight's acceptance of Towa as her mother, since she seemed more accepting of the idea than the other lady, Frieza did the first reasonable thing, at least in terms of his family due to their position, which was testing Towa's power out, to be sure she had the power that the Scouters claimed she had. Cooler had an idea on how to do that and that was by having her face a number of soldiers, though since her power was enough to break a Scouter that meant it had to be someone strong, and by that he meant either the Captain of the Ginyu Force or a member of his own unit, the Armored Squadron. In the end he and his brother actually agreed to call in both Captains for this test, where they were fortunate to discover that both Ginyu and Salza were available, as Cooler had his men nearby at all times while Frieza only called on the Ginyu Force when he either needed them or had a task for them. With that in mind they headed outside, to an area that had been designed to be a training ground for the royal soldiers, since Frieza didn't train and Cooler only did it to stay in peak physical condition, though it did give Twilight a chance to see all of the various races that worked for her family. When they arrived at their destination she discovered a group of five individuals, ranging from a small green person to a rather fall blue person, with a pale skinned individual, a red skinned figure, and a purple skinned person who had a pair of black horns sticking out of his head, off on the left side of the circular building. On the right side she found three figures, a dark green figure, a brown reptilian figure, and a light blue humanoid figure, who Twilight had to assume were the force that followed her uncle's orders, the Armored Squadron. Based on what she was seeing the purple horned individual had to be Captain Ginyu, who held the respect of both his team and those tending to them, while she guessed that the light blue one off on the right had to be Salza, her uncle's captain, who also commanded respect. As they walked into the arena Twilight found that the soldiers of the two squads paused for a moment, bowing their heads towards her father and her family, and when her grandfather nodded his head the soldiers backed off immediately. As everyone moved into position Towa stepped forward and jumped down into the arena, where she found that both of her opponents were ready for a fight, which was why they had been called here in the first place, hence why she held her left hand out as she focused on them. "Now then, let's see how strong she really is." Cold commented, as while he trusted the Scouters, and breaking them was a good way to tell when someone was really strong, he wanted to be sure they weren't being tricked in some manner, due to his family's position as the leaders of the empire that Frieza ruled over, "Towa, Captains, you may start when ready." For a few seconds nothing happened as Ginyu and Salza stared at Towa, giving Twilight a chance to study them and their stances, before the battle started in full force as the two Captains rushed towards their opponent, showing everyone that they were taking this seriously. Towa let her opponents get closer to her before she bothered to react, using both of her hands to block the incoming punches that were aimed at her face and chest, as if their attacks were slow to her, and in the next moment, before they had a chance to recover, she swung her right fist and knocked them both back. After that she called forth her energy, forming spheres of dark energy above her hands that she released not a few seconds later, where the observers found that the blasts rushed forward and separated into five smaller orbs that struck their targets, or tried to as Ginyu and Salza dodged her attacks. As that happened she noticed that the two Captains where splitting up while also not using their own energy abilities, like her own, no doubt out of fear that they might be punished if they wreck the place, where she could tell that they were planning on distracting her while the other attacked from another direction, a worthwhile strategy in her mind. In the next few seconds Twilight watched as something interesting happened, her mother loosed a small energy blast that seemed to do nothing to Salza, without him knowing, while Ginyu swung at her, but in the following second she switched spots with Salza, causing him to take the punch to the face as his ally noticed that they had suddenly switched spots while he was distracted. "I see... she used her energy to switch spots with Salza, giving her an advantage in this fight." Twilight commented, where Cooler could tell that she was far smarter than most children that were around her age, confirmation on what he and the others had learned so far, and yet she had figure it out a lot faster than anyone else, even those that were used to fighting or training, "Fascinating." Cooler said nothing as he and the others watched Towa fight, as he could tell that she had experience fighting enemies, which he expected from a Demon, something he realized after her arrival and only knew that due to his own experience with a member of her kind, a shady male who disappeared shortly after seeing him. He didn't know much about the race in question, though he was interested in why one would suddenly come to their planet like this, other than for Twilight, a fact that he could see because she was possibly one of the smartest children in the universe. He knew that it would take some time to teach her everything, in fact they needed teachers for her since he knew his brother wouldn't do anything to help her, because Frieza was expecting to turn her into a weapon overnight, but he intended on showing her how to act, instead of how his brother wanted. For that he knew Twilight needed a mother to help stir her right and right now he felt that Towa was a perfect fit, especially since she was doing quite well for herself against both Ginyu and Salza, which even his father could tell by watching the fight, but he knew his brother was smitten, he was likely feeling love for the first time and it made him smirk a little. It seemed like Twilight's arrival was a good thing, maybe she would teach Frieza a lesson at some point in time, and they had gained an ally from the Demon Realm, who overcame both of the Captains, much to Twilight's joy, where he found himself looking forward to whatever challenges the future might throw at them. Following Towa's victory over Ginyu and Salza, surprising the soldiers that had witnessed it since they hadn't thought such a thing would happen, Frieza officially announced that Twilight was his daughter and Towa was his wife, though as the rest of the empire soaked in that information Cooler got to work teaching Twilight what she needed to know. He knew she had no idea how the universe worked, other than what his brother had showed her after her arrival, so he did his best to teach her what he knew and make sure that she knew there were two figures their family preferred to stay away from or stay on the good side of. Those two beings were known as Majin Buu, who hadn't been seen for a long time and people who knew of him preferred it that way, least multiple planets or even galaxies perish in his thirst for violence, and Beerus, a powerful being known as the 'Destroyer', both because of his habit of destroying planets and because he happened to be the God of Destruction for the entire universe. Cooler informed her that, under no circumstances, was she to engage either being or anger them in some way, least the empire be caught in a path of destruction, though he was pleased to see that, while it was wrong to tell someone of her age this, Twilight understood her grandfather's wishes, as Cold was the one who put that rule in motion a number of years ago. In addition to his teachings on how the empire operated there were lessons on the hierarchy of the Frieza Force, starting with the lowest ranking soldiers and ending with his most trusted warriors, split between special bodyguards and his own special force that solved his problems, finding that she devoured his information with ease. He also started to teach her how to use her energy like Towa had done in her match, only to find that Towa was a better teacher than he was expecting, she had a grasp on the power that she and certain others could fire off, much like how his brother could fire beams of red energy at those who annoyed him. Twilight was, of course, interested in what her mother had to teach her and when Towa started to delve into how to tap into the power that was inside her, the energy that she saw during the match, and draw it out of her so she could use abilities like everyone else. Towa found that Twilight was a fast learner, she soaked in the information she was given, thought about it and the examples she was being given or had seen, and was able to replicate, to a degree, whatever was asked of her, starting off with tapping into her power to use it as small little energy blasts. She also knew that Twilight had another source of power, magic, something she was familiar with, far more than Ki, as it was called by some races, and informed her that when she had mastered her energy control, as in to an acceptable level so she wouldn't be overwhelmed by the rest of their training, she would teach Twilight how to use her magical powers. Frieza, as Cooler expected, showed little interest in actually training Twilight and showing her how to use her powers. in fact he knew it would happen since his brother was an entitled brat who always got what he wanted, but Towa seemed fine with the idea of teaching Twilight on her own or with him, though as the first week ended and the second began he found that his niece had a question for him. "Uncle, why does father never come to my lessons?" Twilight asked, as while she understood that her father was busy, due to his position, she had to wonder if she had done something wrong or had displeased him in some manner, as he never bothered to come and see how she was doing with her lessons. In that moment Cooler found that he disliked his brother a little more than usual after he noticed the worry that was on his niece's face, where it was clear to him that Twilight had to be wondering if her father thought she wasn't worthy of his time, which someone her age really shouldn't have to worry about. "Because he's..." Cooler started to say, where he stopped himself for a moment as he remembered that he was standing near a three year old who was only finding her footing, so to speak, and wasn't used to all the various vulgar talk that the races of the universe used to show they were displeased with someone, all while Towa paused the next lesson, most likely out of sheer curiosity, before he sighed for a moment, "Because he's a busy man, and while he should come and see how you're doing, as you are progressing at a wonderful rate, his position as the ruler of our empire makes it hard for him to spend time with his family." "Okay... maybe I should enlist in the Frieza Force, so I can work with him and the others." Twilight said, even though the last part of her response seemed to be more like a comment to herself, something Cooler and Towa noticed since she wasn't even attempting to keep her ideas to herself. "While I adore the idea of you working with your father, perhaps we should wait until you're older?" Towa inquired, which caused Cooler to raise an eyebrow for a moment as Twilight smiled, showing that she liked having someone agree with her idea, even though it would be somewhat odd for the empire's heiress to work under the current leader, "Now go get ready, as we'll be testing your Ki control today... maybe we'll get you to levitate a little." Twilight smiled and walked over to where she kept her study materials, for her history lessons and whatnot, storing her stuff away so she could head into the training area her mother had made for them, a protective ring that would stop any stray Ki blasts from hitting the rest of her father's city. "Twilight adores you, Towa... probably a combination of being turned down by the other lady and the fact that both of you are researchers." Cooler commented, as he had seen Twilight's eyes widen when he took her to the library one time, just to get her out of the palace for a couple of hours, since she seemed to enjoy learning about her powers, allowing him to see that there was more to his niece than he originally believed, "Though working in the Frieza Force might not be a good idea, given how my brother intimidates his soldiers." "That's only if they fail, and trust me, I did my research just in case Twilight asked about it." Towa replied, though as she said that she stared at the area that Twilight was in with a smile on her face, because she was enjoying her time with both Cooler and her new daughter, and even Frieza for that matter, even if he preferred to remain busy with finding planets to attack so Elec could sell them, "Twilight isn't the type to allow failure, rather she's of the type that overcomes and even improves her abilities as she meets the challenges set for her." Cooler said nothing to that, as he agreed with her assessment of his niece, so far she had met the challenges that both of them had set for her and impressed both of them, though in the next few seconds he stood back as Towa walked down to where Twilight was sitting. Since she was still new to wielding her inner energy, which he personally felt was magic and Ki combined, she preferred to start her lessons my meditating for a short period of time, allowing her to draw out her inner energy or strengthen her ability to access it. At the same time, however, Towa knew she was making surprising progress in using her powers, so much so that she was sure that within a year she would have taught Twilight everything she might need to know about Ki and what she could do with it, which would be when they started developing skills to help in on the battlefield. What she was referring to were Ki attacks like her father's beam, which she only knew of thanks to the stories her uncle told her about, the powers that the Captains used against Towa in their battle, and the skills she used as well, because if Twilight wanted to help her father in the further this was necessary to keep herself safe. As they did that, however, Towa stopped as she noticed something and raised her hand, where Cooler came to a stop not a few seconds after her motion and glanced at the area, wondering what was up, before his Scouter activated and zeroed in on Twilight, who seemed to be gathering her Ki. He noticed that Twilight was floating a little above the ground, showing that she must have completed that part of her lessons, or at least the basics anyway, but it was what was around both of her hands that caught his eye, purple energy that had to be her Ki. It appeared that she was a natural at this, tapping into the power inside her with only a week's worth of training, though Towa made sure they just observed her, because this would tell them if they needed to step up her lessons or pull back to prevent her from burning through everything in just a year or two. As such they silently watched Twilight as she worked, where she raised her hands for a moment and formed a triangle with her hands, while keeping the palms from touching each other, though it wasn't long before a sphere formed in the space she had created, causing her to quickly pull her hands apart as she formed a lance in front of her. Towa stared at the purple lance, which crackled like it was made of lightning or something, and realized that she and the others might have misjudged how strong Twilight might be, though as she grasped the Ki weapon for a moment, spinning it like an actual weapon, Towa knew what was coming and reacted accordingly. As Twilight turned, to hurl the weapon at the wall behind her, a dark swirling mass appeared in the air in front of her and it swallowed the lance before it could hit her destination, before Cooler found that she had opened what he assumed was a gate to one of the planet's moons, as there were two. Based on what he could tell it was the furthest of the two, which happened to have white stone while the closest was more of a purple color, like Frieza's gem sections, though his attention was on Twilight's weapon as it sailed off into the distance, meaning it had to be propelled by her power or something. A few moments later it collided with one of the hills of the second moon's surface, as it had rough terrain, before detonating with enough force to blast a crater into part of the moon, about three Raditzs' wide by his reckoning, causing them to look at Twilight. Cooler understood that they needed to teach Twilight better control, least she do something that might wipe out part of the palace or the surrounding area, though he was also eager to see what his niece might do in the future, once she was in control of her innate powers. > Interlude: Birthday > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Following Twilight's little display of power, something that surprised those who ended up seeing it, Towa spent some of their time teaching her about the various elements that one could call upon, such as fire, water, earth, wind, lightning, light, and even darkness itself. Her reasoning wasn't to make Twilight stronger than she already was, rather it was because she was interested in what sort of affinity her daughter might have for the various elements that made up their universe, in addition to the Ki that every living being had, even if they had different names for it. The Lightning Lance, or whatever Twilight was going to call it, was just the first step in figuring out what sort of affinity she had, though what came next came as a total surprise to Towa as Twilight displayed the power to tap into fire, control water, summon the earth, harness the wind, call forth more lightning, and even, against all odds, tap into light and darkness. Of course there were more things to learn besides the various elements that existed in the universe, and Towa was more than willing to see how Twilight took to her lessons before advancing to another section, but she did feel that going too fast was a bad thing and made sure her daughter understood the current lesson before moving on. It was during one of those lessons that Frieza floated into the area that they were using as Twilight's practice range, so she didn't damage the palace with her magic or her Ki attacks, allowing him to stare down at her while she carefully practiced calling forth her energy to fire off small Ki blasts. "So, how's the training going?" Frieza inquired, because while he, personally, never needed to train in his life, he was gifted with far more power than Cooler or even their father, he knew Twilight enjoyed learning and figured that this would help shape her into the weapon he had dreamed of her being when he first found her. "She's skilled in more elements than I thought... her affinity isn't a single element, but magic itself." Towa replied, as while Frieza would know that if he bothered to spend time with Twilight, overseeing her training with her and Cooler or helping her understand her powers, she simply answered the question as she watched her daughter, "While interesting, since it is rare to find someone like her... in fact, she might be only the second I've seen in the entire universe... it also makes teaching her much harder than one might assume. The way she absorbs information is also amazing, though I need to slow her down so she can understand everything she's learning, otherwise she'd be running around like the other children her age, messing things up while playing. With all of the training she's been doing, and the powers she's been learning, I do have to wonder if she'll care about the fact that her birthday is coming up, or if she'll just go about her studies without a care in the world." Frieza thought about it for a moment, Twilight was at the young age where children cared about their birthdays, or at least until they reached being a young adult and learning about how the world worked, and she might be expecting them to do something on the day they discovered her. Knowing Cooler he was likely all for the idea and had no doubt convinced their father that it was the right thing to do, at least for a couple of years anyway, and Towa seemed to agree with the idea, even if she had no idea how Twilight would react to it since she had no friends. That was a consequence of being his daughter he supposed, anyone her age that tried to befriend her were just out to get something from her, though, much to his joy, there weren't many children on his planet right now, so he didn't have to worry about her forming useless bonds. He also knew that it would be a waste of time and money if they went about making a party for Twilight, even a small one at that, though he could tell that Towa was silently judging him, or at least he was sure about that even though her eyes were on Twilight as she blasted her target with a surprisingly accurate display of accuracy. In the end, however, he decided that crafting one and allowing Twilight to have some fun might be the right thing to do for a time, at least until she told them it was no longer necessary, before he excused himself, as he knew Elec was on his way and both he and his father wanted to talk with him about the planets they had conquered recently. "Would be nice if he showed more interest in her." Towa commented, as while she knew that Frieza didn't care about those who served him, he even had no love for his own brother and father at times, part of her had been hoping that spending a bit of time with Twilight might have changed him, but it looked like that egg hadn't cracked yet, causing her to jump down into the training area, "That's enough, Twilight. You can stop now." "Did I... do good?" Twilight asked, to which she stopped firing at the target and huffed, as while she was getting stronger as the days went by, and was able to train for longer periods of time, her mother always stopped her every now and then so she could rest and move onto something else, even though it was exhausting work. "Of course you did sweetie." Towa replied, where she smiled as she hugged Twilight, as they had really bonded over her love of learning, something she liked to do when she had the time, before taking a moment to pull out some of the tomes they were currently working on, as there was more for her to understand if she was going to help her father, an idea she hoped Twilight would grow out of at some point. Twilight grinned as she laid eyes on the tomes, as she loved to learn everything that was inside them and knew that she would understand everything inside them in due time, she just had to be patient and not rush into things, though it made her eager to see what they might be learning today and what the future held for them. Twilight found that the days turned into weeks and the weeks turned into months as she learned everything that both her mother and her uncle placed in front of her, as she was eager to learn about everything, no matter what it was, despite the fact that they wanted to go slow so she fully understood the material. At the same time, however, she found that there were a number of days where her father showed up to see how she was doing, though most of the time he remained busy with his work, as even her grandfather came to watch her more often than her father did. She wasn't too upset by that, as it had to be hard running a galactic empire and ordering around all of the people that lived in it, and any rage she felt over it was turned into energy that fueled her learning, so she could become worthy of his attention while making herself ready to join his force in the future. When her uncle mentioned that it might be a bad idea, her joining the Frieza Force, she had to remind him of the fact that the Sayians deployed their own children when they were young, around her age most likely, and that most, if not all of them, ended up coming back alive with planets to sell. Other than that none of her family had anything to say about her desire to join her father's force, to use her power to aid him in his quest to own everything in the entire universe, to the point where she found that an entire year had passed, as in from the moment she appeared on that one world, and found that her family had her join them as they departed for one of the other nearby planets. "Twilight, today we have something special for you." Frieza said, as he had been talked into doing this by the rest of his family, several times over the last couple of months until he finally agreed, though the reason they were going to another planet was for a change of scenery, since Twilight had been stuck on the same planet for the last year. That caught Twilight's attention, causing her to raise her eyebrow as she noticed that they were flying over a planet that had a number of towns and settlements, meaning she might be meeting new people today, before she found that such a thing wasn't the truth. It appeared that they would be touching down in what appeared to be a clearing in the middle of a nearby forest, which was close to a tall mountain that looked like it had some ruins carved out of the stone, something she was far more interested in than the idea of making friends. As she stared at the area they were heading towards Twilight understood what was going on, her family had set something up for her and it made her wonder what in the world they had planned, as she knew most of their birthdays had come and gone with no one really celebrating them, so it couldn't be that. Her best guess was that this had to be some sort of vacation and, at least for today, her father and the other were more interested in tending to her own interests, hence why they picked out a ruin that seemed to be part of an ancient or long forgotten culture, which only raised her interest even more than before. Something that surprised her was when they landed only she and her family walked off the ship, as in the rest of the crew stayed aboard it for some reason, though what really caught her off guard was the fact that there was a large table set for a number of people, with a fresh cake on top of it and several dishes around it. "Happy birthday Twilight!" Towa said, as they had put a lot of time and effort into making sure that it was everything she could ever want, as there was cake for everyone to enjoy, dishes that were Twilight's absolute favorites while also being pleasing to those celebrating with her, and, most importantly, a couple of presents that were safely aboard the ship, just kept locked up before she noticed them. "Towa informed us that it is customary for children your age to experience such an event while they're young, and all four of us came up with a wonderful day for you." Cold stated, as there was plenty for them to do and plenty for Twilight to enjoy, which was all thanks to Towa doing some investigations before even attempting to set everything up, "I recalled that you liked to learn about the past and the ruins of this planet seemed to be the best of them all, so once we're done with the cake and food we can..." In that moment, as everyone stepped out onto the ground and left the ship behind, a group of insect winged individuals flew down into their camp ground, where Cooler and Towa blasted a few of them as Twilight noted that they wore some dark clothing, before one napped her and flew off before her family could stop them. "These mongrels have no idea who they're messing with!" Frieza stated, though at the same time the crew, who had been in the middle of getting things ready for the rest of the birthday celebration they had planned, dropped everything, as in putting all of the gifts back, before marching outside and blasting the interlopers down. Twilight, on the other hand, found herself thrown into an iron cage after being brought to what looked like a palace, or at least it sure seemed that way based on what she had seen so far, and the insects who kidnapped her were kneeling right now, facing a black armored figure who wore a silver crown. "So, let me get this straight: Frieza and his men have landed on our planet, and, instead of directing them to the city of my sworn enemy, you kidnap some worthless girl?" the King remarked, where it sounded like he was displeased with the few scouts that had brought her here, and if that was what he wanted of the group Twilight could see why he wasn't pleased at the moment. "To be fair, sire, we heard someone mention a 'birthday' before we swiped her." one of the scouts replied, showing that they didn't fear whatever punishment their ruler had for them, which was a bad thing since they had screwed up worse than any of them even realized, "Figured she would be of use to us in the end." "My parents, my uncle, and my grandfather are going to tear you guys apart." Twilight stated, where she was hoping that if they put two and two together they would understand how deeply they had screwed up, maybe let her go before anything terrible happened to this planet. "Wait a minute..." the King said, where this time he actually looked at Twilight and the attire she was wearing, as while it was the usual armor that someone in her father's employ wore, save for her mother, hers had an emblem on it that told all who looked upon her that she was special, before his eyes widened in fear, "No... it can't be... your father is Frieza! You morons stole the daughter of the galactic emperor?! How did you even accomplish that?" As the scouts opened their mouths, however, the door shuddered as a blade made out of energy pierced it, stunning the watchers for a moment as it resumed moving a few seconds later, where Twilight watched as it slashed through the metal with ease, even though the black coloration of the Ki told her it was her mother. A few moments later the ruined door just burst open as Cooler smashed it down with a charge, where he dusted himself off as King Cold and Frieza walked into the chamber, much to the surprise of those who were looking at them right now. Frieza stared at them all for a few moments, taking in the number of foes that were around them and found that they were stunned by her arrival, to which he walked over to where Twilight was resting as King Cold crossed his arms, looking at the other King with a disapproving look in his eyes. A moment later the cage was shattered, as Frieza gripped the material and broke it with ease, allowing him to safely extract Twilight as his brother, father, and his new wife kept the King and his guards in line, who stood there with fear in their eyes, as they knew they had screwed up and that it was going to cost them dearly. Twilight, however, could see that everyone was angry, as her uncle looked ready to crush the guards to past, her mother looked ready to use her terrible powers to devour them with darkness, her grandfather, while the calmest of them all, did given off the aura of someone who was pissed, and her father looked ready to end them all. "You know, we had this whole day planned... and now you, and your idiotic forces, have ruined it." Frieza stated, where it was clear that he wasn't too pleased right now, as while he didn't care too much about the event he did know that it was an important one for his daughter and he couldn't allow this, to which he raised his left hand for a moment, "No one, and I MEAN NO ONE, is allowed to kidnap my daughter or harm her in any matter... to do so is to invite death to the planet that dared to do such a thing." What happened next was that he loosed a beam of energy that tore through the area that the King was in, killing him in a matter of seconds, though with that done he informed Twilight that she was safe as they departed from the planet, but he promised her that things would be different from that day forward, causing her to nod as they headed home to salvage the day and prepare for the future. > Growing Up: Saiyan Rematch > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Following the interruption of Twilight's birthday on another planet, where she decided not to throw any parties after that since everyone seemed to want a piece of her, Frieza decided to focus on her lessons, both in terms of actual training and on how the empire operated. This time around everyone chipped in to make sure she understood everything she needed to know, about the ships that they and their warriors used, Attack Balls were what the single occupant vessels were called, the politics that existed in the universe, and the skills she needed to ensure her safety. It was a refreshing turn of events, to have her father suddenly care about her lessons, where Twilight endeavored to make sure she lived up to his expectations by letting nothing stop her from reaching greater heights. In addition to all of that her family made sure to give her the presents that should have been opened on her birthday, which were mostly clothes so she didn't have to wear her armor all the time, books to read in her off time or new material to study, and a few other odds and ends that went into her room. Sure, her father didn't actually train with her, but from what Twilight was told his power was far greater than what both his brother and his own father possessed, meaning he was liable to blow up the entirety of the training grounds that they had prepared for her, and her discoveries of his power left her with many questions. "Father, why didn't you just destroy the planet that those insect people lived on?" Twilight asked, because after some time she came to understand that there were entire worlds that her father simply destroyed, either due to the fact that they were worth nothing to the various buyers or due to the fact that something pissed him off. "Because, despite ruining your birthday and angering the entire family, the planet is worth selling to someone, or so Elec told me." Frieza answered, though while he assumed that either Towa, with her time powers, had shown her the events she was asking about or his father and brother had told her during their own lessons, he also knew she wouldn't leave the matter alone and just decided to answer it, "Besides, I sent some of our forces to clear out the rest of the city... should make selling it far easier, now that the population's been dealt with." That told Twilight much about how the empire worked, if you angered it's leader there was a chance he'd either wipe out the entirety of the planet, and everyone living on it, or he'd send his soldiers to clean up those who annoyed him, which meant that Vegeta and the other Saiyans had likely done the deed. "Will such a thing be expected of me in the future, whenever I take over as ruler of the empire?" Twilight inquired, as she had no idea if she had the guts to just use her power to end an entire planet like her father did on occasion, even though both her grandfather and her uncle knew that great and terrible power resided inside her, hence why they joined her mother in making sure she knew how to control all of it. Frieza considered the question for a time, as during the reign of his father and their ancestor, Chilled, neither had blown up any planets, in fact his father considered what he did to be wasteful, even if it did secure their position as the greatest force in the entire universe, before he sighed. "Truthfully, I have no idea. Time, as Towa says, will tell." Frieza replied, as this wasn't a question he could answer right now, because there was no way for them to tell what the future held in store for them, especially since Towa confirmed that she didn't have the power to peer into the future, and he suspected that even if she did she wouldn't use it, since she loved her time with Twilight, "Besides, it'll be some time before you have to worry about such things, so just focus on the lessons we have for you and continue to grow as a person." "As you wish, father." Twilight said, though in that moment she reached into a book bag she carried most of the time, as it held a few of the tomes she was currently working on, plus her personal tablet, and pulled out something Frieza wasn't expecting to see, schematics for new parts of his main ships and, more importantly, transactions of his deals with Elec, "During my time off I've been studying the various components that go into our main ships and found a way to improve them so we spend less time in transit, meaning we could potentially reach other planets much faster now. In addition to that I've discovered that Elec has, on every deal you've had with him, stiffed us on the payment for claiming the planets he eventually sells for us... we've been getting about five to ten percent per planet, despite what he claims, when at times we could have gotten between thirty to forty percent." "Leave it to you to notice my little trap." Frieza commented, where he chuckled for a moment as he went over the pieces of information that his daughter had worked on for either weeks or months, before presenting it to him anyway, because it meant she was a prodigy in more than just fighting, which was when he noticed the raised eyebrow Twilight was giving him at the moment, "I've known about Elec and his greed for a long time now and know that, in due time, he'll try to take both my empire and my forces from me, but instead of dealing with him right now I've been working with him, giving him a false sense of security so that I can take care of him at my leisure... besides, he's the best broker in the universe, and it would be a real shame to lose him so suddenly." "Oh, I understand now." Twilight remarked, because she had laid eyes on Elec once since she was taken in by her father and, if she was being totally honest, she instantly felt like he wasn't trustworthy, so learning that her father had a plan to take care of him meant she could focus on other things and not ruin the surprise, "Now, I know these schematics look a little odd, but if I've done my math right... and I always do my math right... we should be able to produce new cores that will allow us to travel through space faster, without producing any harmful chemicals." Frieza found that the plans weren't too different from the current energy cores his larger ships used to transport himself, or his family for that matter, from planet to planet, in fact it looked like Twilight had made the cost cheaper without risking the integrity of the machines in question, meaning they could save money and produce better cores at the same time. While he looked at her schematics, however, he had to wonder how she had been pulled into studying the ships in the first place, as it seemed like an odd thing to take an interest in, causing him to wonder if Cooler had done it to give her more other than all of the training they were doing. In the end, however, he decided not to worry about it too much and promised her that he'd hand them over to his scientists later that afternoon, as part of his plans today would take him over there and he was sure they'd be interested in what his daughter had done to the core's schematics. At the same time he had to wonder if there was a chance that she might be able to modify the Attack Balls, make them faster than before so they didn't waste a lot of time waiting for certain soldiers to arrive at their destinations, before deciding to keep his mouth shut, least he give her more ideas to consider. Other than that the day seemed to go by rather well, as Twilight was learning how to become a skilled warrior and head of the empire, in case Frieza ever decided to step down and let someone else take over, before they found an interesting sight, Raditz entered the training grounds on his own, as Vegeta and Nappa were nowhere to be seen. "Raditz? Well, this is a wonderful surprise." King Cold commented, as none of them had sent for anyone to come here, while Twilight was training no less, so he was interested in why the weakest of the Saiyans would have come here, without either of his superiors no less, "Is something wrong? Are we under attack?" "No, I... just wanted to fight Twilight again, now that she's mastered the basics of combat." Raditz replied, because he had heard that she had improved over her time in the empire and he, as a Saiyan, was eager to see how well she handed herself against a veteran of multiple worlds, as while she had caught him off guard the last time he had given her the win since she was Frieza's precious daughter. "If that is what you wish." Twilight said, as she had been in the middle of learning one of her mother's skills, one that she felt would come in handy at some point in the future, though she also knew that fighting others would allow her to grow more as a warrior, hence why she changed her stance accordingly as her mother stood off to the side. Frieza said nothing as he and the others stood near Towa, allowing Raditz to jump down into the training arena, where it was easy for them to tell what was going through Raditz's head, he had been beaten by someone who was far younger than him and now he was here to reclaim his honor, in the Saiyan way. A few moments later Raditz rushed at her, where he swung his fist down with the intent to crush her into the floor and end this in an instant, though Twilight, having spent a great deal of time learning how to fight, stepped to her right. Such a thing caused Raditz to punch the floor and not her, causing him to recoil after hitting the hard ground for a moment, which was exactly as Twilight intended as she returned the favor, ducking under another incoming punch before slamming her fist into his chest, sending him backwards a little as she shifted her stance. For the next couple of moments the observers watched as a similar scene played out, Twilight would present a defensive front and Raditz would take the bait, swinging and missing every time he tried, which showed them that he was truly the weakest and most idiotic of the Saiyans that remained in the known universe. Twilight, on the other hand, punched and kicked him whenever he opened his defenses like that, knocking him away from where she was standing at the time, though Frieza could tell that while this was a decent showing of her skill she would need to face either Nappa or Vegeta to fully display her skills, eventually causing Raditz to jump backwards for a moment, to put some distance between them. "You've gotten stronger, Twilight, but you shouldn't underestimate a Saiyan warrior." Raditz stated, where he gathered his Ki for a moment as he raised his hands, showing them that he was going to use a Ki attack this time around, though such a thing didn't worry her at all as purple energy gathered above his hands, "Take this: Double Sunday!" In that moment he fired two beams of purple energy at Twilight, knowing full well that she would either dodge his attack or use her own Ki to counter it, though he was planning on rushing her while she was distracted by the smoke, because it seemed to be the only way to take her down. Twilight, on the other hand, readied her own power for a moment as she activated the skill she had slowly been perfecting since her ruined birthday party, causing her to raise her right hand for a moment as she focused on the incoming beams of energy. The observers watched as she sucked in the energy of Raditz's attack, reminding them of what she had done the first time around, with mixed results Towa recalled Frieza telling her in the past, but this time it looked like Twilight had all of the basics under control. It was an amazing scene to witness, seeing Twilight take the power of her foe's attack and basically erase it in a matter of seconds, though at the same time Towa had to recall what she had been told, it wasn't 'erasing' the attack, rather she ate the power behind it. Such a thing caused King Cold to tap his new Scouter, one designed to actually read Twilight's power level with ease, and nodded his head a moment later, confirming that Twilight had boosted her considerable power by devouring Raditz's own attack, making Towa wonder what her daughter might do if she turned it into a passive effect, which sent a shudder down her spine as she considered the idea. "My turn." Twilight replied, where a smile appeared on her face as she rushed towards Raditz, who took a step back as he realized that his attack had been taken apart by his opponent, before kneeing him in the chest with her left knee, which knocked him into the air above them. In the next moment Raditz found fireballs racing through the air, blasting him further into the air with each strike, before the wind wrapped around him and stalled his progress for a couple of seconds, which was when Twilight grabbed onto him with hands made of water, which somehow grabbed him and slapped him into the arena floor. "That's enough. Twilight is the clear winner." Frieza stated, though while he enjoyed seeing a Saiyan be wrecked like that, something that would have ruined Vegeta's mood if he realized just how strong Twilight really was, he knew when to stop, otherwise he was sure his daughter would take after him in terms of combat. Twilight nodded as she stepped back and released her power, allowing her to help Raditz onto his feet, who ignored her hand as he stood up and walked out of the training arena, where Frieza knew that things were going to get more exciting for them in the future and he was eager to see what might happen next. > Growing Up: Planet of Knowledge > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- After showing her father that she had the skills to protect herself, and topple someone of Raditz's low power without any problems at all, Twilight found that he granted her deepest wish without delay, allowing her to enlist in the Frieza Force to aid the empire in subjugating the rest of the universe. The only thing she wasn't too pleased with was that her father, uncle, grandfather, and many of her father's high ranking soldiers in the force considered her to be a high ranker as well, as in the third hand of the Emperor, given Zarbon and Dodoria's roles. In fact some of the soldiers gave her a title to match her new position, even if she wanted to work her way up like everyone else, and that was the 'Emperor's Shadow', while some took it a step further by calling her the 'Shadow Princess'. She did have to wonder if they were calling her that due to the fact that one of her powers, a copy of what she learned about Moro before he was imprisoned, could be considered an 'evil' power, so 'shadow' meant 'dark', the 'Princess of Evil' in some twisted sense. In the end, however, she decided not to think about it too much as she focused on what her mother had done after they told her about her enlistment in the force, she started to study armor from different points in history, from a variety of planets, to design a set of armor for Twilight. What Towa settled on was a suit of armor that looked more like a combination of what a princess might wear and what a warrior might wear, as it had what could be described as a plated skirt that reached her knees, black bracers with silver inlay for her arms, almost reaching her elbows, and matching metallic boots for her hooves, since she couldn't use actual boots. The chest armor was identical to what someone in the Frieza force wore, only colored to match the rest of the gear and, interestingly enough, she discovered that it didn't have shoulder pieces, where her mother told her that they'd likely get in the way and that they didn't suit Twilight at all. She also gained her very own Scouter, this one colored purple so everyone knew it was hers, not that she needed to worry about someone stealing it since they knew better than to mess with Frieza's daughter. Once Twilight was set up in her attire, which was comfy enough that her mother even told her she could wear it whenever she wanted, as in both on duty and off duty, her father informed her that he had spoken to his scientists and mechanics about her schematics for a modified core. Twilight had been surprised to learn that they were more than willing to work on the plans in question, more in the sense that it was a worthwhile project and less because everyone was scared of who her father was, and was pleased that it worked like a charm. Their main ships were going to be outfitted with the new cores she had designed, cutting the amount of time needed to move from one planet to another down in half, or maybe closer to just a third, but Frieza was perfectly fine with it, even though the scientists were eager to see if she had anything else. Frieza and Towa weren't at all surprised when they found that she had downloaded schematics for the various devices and ships that were in the empire, finding new ways for most of them to be improved to another level, save for the Attack Ball, as the only way to really improve them was to make them bigger for many of the alterations. In the end, after seeing what she pointed out to him and Towa, Frieza had to agree that only the minor changes to the Attack Balls would be possible, mostly additions to help keep track of the occupant's health and condition, so if one was returning, and the user was seriously harmed, they could be rushed to a healing tank in no time. Following that Twilight got a lot more serious about her training, taking to practicing with her new armor on so she wouldn't be weighed down by it in the future, even though her mother claimed that it was made in a way that matched her father's own armor, but she wanted to be sure she could fight without being slowed down. Occasionally she faced off against either of the Captains that served her family, finding that Ginyu and Salza were equal in power, though while her father had five members in the Ginyu force she could tell, with a single glance, that the Armored Squadron had three individuals of near equal power. They were good foes for her to fight against, since their powers were beyond what an ordinary soldier had to offer, due to the fact that she had faced fifty of her father's lesser soldiers and beat all of them without breaking a sweat, in part due to their power level of thirteen hundred, roughly around Raditz's level. According to her family her power level was far higher than most of the lesser members of the Frieza Force, in fact the only ones who stood above her right now were the members of her family, as her grandfather and uncle were somewhere over a million, her mother was around their level, and her father's 'final form' was even greater than all of them. The interesting fact she learned was that her father, uncle, and grandfather each had multiple forms, mostly used to seal all of their immense power, though Cooler had long since stopped doing that, as his true power was more than enough for his purposes, and no one outside of their family knew about the ability, so Towa and Twilight said they would say nothing about it, keeping it as a family secret of sorts. In addition to all of that Twilight had some ideas for how their empire worked, as instead of wiping out the population of a planet, like the Saiyans did so the planets could be sold to someone else, they could instead focus on integrating all of the native people into the empire. It was a bold idea, one that could easily backfire given how some species didn't like Frieza or his empire, and she had countermeasures to her own proposals, as in they could study a planet before attacking it, as it would allow them to see if there was an ongoing threat they could deal with. The idea was simple, they could side with one group and take down the other, thus allowing the survivors to be integrated into the empire as citizens, which caused her to mention the idea to leave outposts on each planet in case someone came to attack one while they were gone. All of that meant that her father would be able to add all sorts of people to their growing empire, be it soldiers, scientists, scholars, or whatever else he was looking for, instead of sacrificing all that potential by attacking the planet. Twilight knew that changing how the empire worked would take time, or not even work at all, but she was willing to try it out, for the betterment of their forces and the rest of the empire, and she even left the clause that if the whole planet was against them they could tear them down like normal, but she figured she'd wait and see what happened next. When Twilight's fifth birthday came around Frieza had a surprise for her and the others, he was taking her to a planet that he suspected she would be interested in, a planet that some of his scouts had found not that long ago and reported back to him without delay, allowing them to near a light blue planet with their newly improved ship. "So, where are we going?" Twilight asked, as most of the time she knew the planets that they were going to, due to the fact that most of them were renamed into a series of numbers, like how Kanassa was renamed to Frieza Planet 79, even if one of the other soldiers claimed it was actually 419, despite the official labeling, so this one was new to her. "Alexandria, the Planet of Knowledge." Frieza replied, where he had to resist the urge to chuckle as he glanced to his right, as that was where Twilight usually stood whenever Zarbon and Dodoria weren't nearby, even though right now they were near the door to the main control room, because he could tell this information interested her, "We discovered it thanks to a group of scouts who were looking for new planets to work on, as they landed and spoke to some of the natives about it so we could learn more about the planet as a whole... I figured it was a good place for your first mission. We're going to land near one of the settlements and you're going to try your hand at convincing one side to join our empire, as we have learned that there are two opposing factions on this planet." Twilight couldn't help but smile as she stared at the planet they were descending on, as while she knew there were many in the universe this was a special one, because a planet of knowledge meant they knew far more about the universe than the rest of the people who called this massive place home. There was too much for her to be excited by, as she could learn so much about everything if she stayed in this place for any amount of time, yet at the same time she had a feeling she knew who the two forces were, given the nature of this planet. She remained silent for a time as they landed on a cliff that just so happened to overlook what had to be a major settlement on the planet, a large city that had a number of buildings, one of which had to be a library where they held all of the information they had gathered, while noticing that they didn't have any palaces, as if knowing that power corrupted. As the ship came to a stop her father informed them of his desires, Twilight was to go out and see what needed to be done to fulfill her unique approach, picking a side and taking the other down, though as she did that he Zarbon, Dodoria, and Towa would survey her actions from afar, so the rest of their staff had the day off as they watched her complete her mission. With that in mind Twilight left the ship and flew over to the city, where she was thankful for her mother's lessons on flying as it allowed her to cut out an unneeded walk, allowing her to land in what seemed to be the entrance of the city as she found some civilians, lizard people dressed in fine clothing, stopping to stare at her. "Please, don't be alarmed, I'm just here to... admire the city and explore the knowledge you've been collecting." Twilight said, because while she was a soldier in her father's army, possibly one of the youngest while not counting the Saiyan brats who used to do some of the dirty work, she couldn't help herself in this situation, there was too much potential knowledge for her to gleam from the libraries. "Ah, you've heard of Alexandria and the knowledge we've accumulated, stored in seven grand libraries that are scattered all over the planet?" one of the lizards inquired, where Twilight found that he spoke quite well, though her eyes lit up when she heard him mention that there were seven libraries on this planet, meaning she was near one and there were six others for her to study from when she had the time to do so, "I see, you're a seeker of knowledge as well... sadly, you might have come too late to enjoy our libraries, as we, the Enlightened, have been threatened by another faction of our kind: the Burners, who have been raiding the smaller settlements, rounding up our innocent people, and are either burning them at the stake, executing them to prove a point, or are forcing them to watch as they burn their books to break their spirits." "How awful." Twilight replied, as it was incredibly awful, that one faction of their own kind was actively destroy the pieces of knowledge that had been spread to the rest of the planet, and she was also sad to hear that even the innocents were suffering, all while figuring that the majority of this species were scholars and researchers, "They haven't destroyed any of the major libraries, have they?" "No, they are protected with powerful seals and barriers... the keys to break them, however, are stored in this city, which is why our enemies are coming here first." the lizard said, though as he did that Twilight could see that many of his kind were depressed, as they knew they didn't have the strength to stand before the might of the Burners, before all of them focused on her for a few seconds, their minds racing as they realized what this meant, "I hate to ask this of someone like you, and I mean that in the sense of one of your age but... can you help us?" As Twilight opened her mouth, so she could tell him that such a thing was part of the reason why she was here, they heard the sound of a horn and the looks on the faces of the Enlightened turned into despair, meaning the Burners were coming, to which she followed the one she had been speaking to and found a path leading down to an open plain, where a army of red scaled lizard people were standing. "Enlightened, we have come to lay claim to your precious libraries and condemn their heresy to the flames!" one of the red lizards exclaimed, where Twilight found that he was armed more like a war general, as he wore silver armor that was more like a combination of a warrior's attire and what a king wore, complete with a flowing red cape, meaning he felt that burning all this information would make him ruler of Alexandria, "Behold!" In that moment Twilight and the others realized what was behind him, there were carts full of books and scrolls that were ready to be set on fire due to a number of torch bearers that happened to be standing near them, especially since each of the carts had a stake that other lizards, be they children, adults, or even the elderly, were chained to. "Your precious heretics have been captured and will be purified with your dark heresy!" the Commander continued, as if he was putting on a show for everyone right now, likely assuming that he'd go down in some sort of acceptable history as soon as all of this was over, since he clearly hated books, "Lower your heads and renounce your heresy... I might let many of you live, but only if you obey my commands from this day forward and lower the barriers protecting the rest of your foul and unholy heresy!" "By my father, you're an annoying person to listen to." Twilight remarked, as this was more than enough for her, hence why she leapt over to where he was standing, because he had moved to the front of the line to demand the attention of his targets, which had worked quite well, and landed near the foul lizard, "At least you made it easy for me to locate the people I'm here to defeat, so there's..." Twilight never got to finish that remark as the Commander walked up to where she was standing and smacked her with the palm of his hand, as if he was showing everyone that not even strangers could stand in the way of his quest, though instead of her falling to the ground something else happened. As she looked back up at him, with the darkest and angriest look he had ever seen in his entire life, the lizard noticed that the purple color of her eyes shifted in an instant, taking on what could only be described as an angry or fiery red, like her anger was about to erupt. In the next moment he and the rest of the people in the area felt the air shudder, meaning she had to be up to something, as her body started to change before his eyes as well, as it turned a bone white as her hair and tail burst into flames. Such a transformation, as that was what they must have just witnessed, caused some of his soldiers to back off as several dropped their torches as they took a step back, causing the figure, an avatar of wrath, to wave her hand as all of the torches went out. In the following moment energy danced around her body as Twilight warped the civilians and their knowledge, both the books and scrolls, into the city, leaving only the Burners and their Commander in front of her, before she started to walk towards those who wished to destroy the precious knowledge this world had. The Commander watched as the ground below her was blackened by the flames that the girl was using, as if her energy was burning away anything around her with the intense rage she was feeling towards him and his large army, to which he raised his right hand for a moment. His intent was to use his own power to wipe her out, as while he had a blade resting in a scabbard on his belt, used against those who got close to him, he had a feeling that this was the best way to eliminate a potential threat to his mission to become ruler of this planet. As such he loosed a burst of blue energy into her face, only to find that she simply walked through it as if it was nothing to her, though at the same time he noticed something odd in his men, all of them were starting to get weak, as a few stumbled as if they had been on the field for a long time, despite the fact that no one had actually fought anyone since capturing the other settlements. Despite that fact he found that his soldiers looked like they were going to collapse any moment, as if something, or someone, was draining their energy from their very bodies, causing him to stare at the young girl that was approaching him, the young figure that was tearing apart his forces without actually fighting anyone. In that moment he glanced up at a part of the sky that had a ship watching from a distance, one that the Enlightened had claimed was the personal ship of Frieza, the galactic emperor, something that had caused him to silence the figure before putting his plan into motion, but as he realized who had to be in front of him the girl brought her right knee into his chest, causing him to collapse not a moment later. "Who... are you?" the Commander asked, because he felt that he deserved the name of the one who had ruined all of his plans in a single moment, all while his soldiers collapsed behind him, no doubt dead when he considered the power that was crushing him with the sheer power of her rage. "Scum like you doesn't deserve to know who killed you." Twilight hissed, her power forcing him to fall to the ground as she talked, causing her to reach down and grab him by his neck so she could stare into his eyes as he expired, though when he did so she growled and tossed his body off to the side before letting out a roar that shook the air around her. Frieza and the others, who had been watching patiently and had moved once they noticed the change in Twilight, arrived in time to see her do that, only for her to stumble for a moment before she collapsed, though as Frieza caught her he and the others watched as her body returned to normal. "Brother... we may want to rethink her training. She's not emotionally ready for this sort of thing." Cooler stated, as while he had initially agreed with the others, that Twilight had seemed far more mature than they expected of someone of her age, this mission had revealed that she might not be ready to join the Frieza Force or the rest of their forces. Frieza was torn on this matter, on one hand he sort of agreed with his brother, an odd thing since they hated each other to the point of ignoring each other at times, while on the other hand he was amazed by the sheer power that was resting deep in Twilight's body, a rage form that was unlike anything he had seen. One would have expected such a state to have driven all rational thought from her mind, and for the most part it looked like the transformation had done that, but her desire to punish these lizards, the Burners as they called themselves, might have been the key to her keeping some part of her mind intact as they collapsed around her. As he looked at the battlefield, if it could even be called that, he found that something had changed in his daughter, the power she had been nurturing all this time, to absorb the energy of others and make it her own, had grown due to her anger, as none of the lizards were alive, in fact his Scouter had read zero energy from them just before each expired. Twilight had killed them not by fighting them in combat, like they had trained her to do, but had slain a force of at least one hundred and fifty to two hundred soldiers, not counting the Commander, by siphoning the energy of all those who disrespected knowledge, meaning she was now stronger than before. Towa, on the other hand, only smiled as the rulers of the empire tended to Twilight, as her power was far stronger than she had thought and, with enough time, she was sure that her daughter would be able to surpass the sheer rage needed to use this form, causing her to wonder what the future held for them. > Growing Up: New Information > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Following the events on Alexandria, where the Enlightened were more than happy to side with the Empire and even had a plot of land in mind for them to set up their base on, Twilight found that she spent most of her time training with her family, to ensure she didn't have a repeat of her episode on another planet. After hearing what had happened she agreed with all of them, her actions, though successful in the end given the nature of her mission, could also be seen as a failure and meant that she needed to hone her skills further before worrying about taking to the field during a mission. Her rage had been so great that it caused her family to rush in and see if they needed to calm her down, by knowing her out no doubt, and she also suspected that if it had lasted for a longer period of time she would have turned on them, since her mind would have been clouded by all that rage. It was for that reason, and many others, that Twilight considered her first mission to be a failure, and she spent some time alone going over the fact that she had killed so many individuals while consumed by her rage, especially what it might mean for the future. Despite her actions Twilight found that she was given opportunities to return to Alexandria, where she approved of her father keeping the name for once, allowing her to relax and just read more about history for some time, taking her mind off of everything that had happened when she lost herself to her rage. What surprised Twilight was that the various libraries of the planet had lore about other planets they couldn't have even known about, where one of the Enlightened told her that part of their power was the ability to view other worlds, as in they could project their spirits to another level to observe other planets. The Burners, having turned against them and what had to be their purpose in the universe, had lost the right to use that power, which her new companion told her might have been a reason behind them fully supporting the Commander, in a misguided path to get their power back. In addition to that he did have many things to share with her, like the destruction of Planet Vegeta and the legend of the 'Super Saiyan', a warrior of immense power that the race believed could topple her father, a fact he wasn't too sure of now that most of their kind were extinct. There were other planets and lore to share with her and she found herself delving into each one, though while she did that the lizard informed her that they had no idea where she had come from, as that was one of the greatest, and likely unsolvable, mysteries of their universe, though she wasn't disappointed by it. Twilight had already accepted that where she came from might not even exist anymore, as it's possible she came from the furthest fringes of the universe, from a planet none of them knew about, and might be the sole survivor of the planet's destruction, hence why she was able to move on so easily, even if it was sad that her home and people might be gone, and all that knowledge had been lost. Other than that Twilight found that the rest of the Frieza Force did what they were told, usually tending to the planet while seeking more worlds for them to conquer, because the universe was vast and there were all sorts of planets that were out there, just waiting to be discovered. Towa joined her in her information runs, allowing her to see what Alexandria held for herself and even talk with her daughter about some of the items they read about, showing their new allies that they were both researchers at heart, which caused the Enlightened to nod their heads, and that this place was worth protecting with their lives. The best part was that there were seven libraries and none of them held exactly the same thing, as each one seemed to be observing another part of their universe, where Twilight realized that they had placed themselves right in the center of everything, which many would see as arrogance, before dividing the rest of the universe into the sections to watch over. Of course there was much that the Enlightened didn't know, especially when one took Twilight's existence into consideration and the fact that some of her powers were unlike what some of the other magic users had access to, even she found that to be interesting as she learned more about what others did with their magic. Such a thing lead Twilight to the powers that the demons possessed, since her mother had powers that were different as well, at least in terms of what her father, uncle, and even grandfather used, and found that the libraries were scare on the information she was after, something that caused her to ask her mother. "I had a feeling you'd ask me at some point, Twilight." Towa commented, because her daughter wanted to learn about all things in the universe, even though she had a feeling that such a quest might bring Twilight to ruin at one point, but for the time being she was willing to share some information with her, causing her to chuckle for a moment, "Well, first off we demons have our own measurement of energy, that being 'Kiri', though each demon has their own idea of what that very idea means, as some say that one Kiri is equal to fifty thousand power... for example, your rage form is staggering strong, about a hundred thousand at max, which to some demons would be two Kiri." "Sounds worthless. Shouldn't it be more like one Kiri is twenty-five thousand?" Twilight inquired, as it seemed like a more reasonable way to go about mentioning the count in terms of demonic energy, instead of it being represented as a smaller number and making people seem weaker than they really were. "Funny you should mention that, as that's how I've considered the measurement... more fair, wouldn't you say?" Towa said, though she knew there were demons who considered it in a different light than that, as she knew one demon who counted them in terms of 'one Kiri was ten thousand', where she found that Twilight did agree with her and allowed her to consider the next piece of information she figured she'd share, "Anyway, we demons usually gather the energy of others to do one thing and nothing else: to break the seals that are either imprisoning them or are binding something else... in fact, if I'm recalling my facts right, Demigra should be working to undo his own prison, even though he's in a very special one that should be quite hard to break." "Who? Some sort of demonic god?" Twilight asked, because she had a feeling that she would be doing this a lot more often as they talked, asking questions so she could figure out everything her mother was talking about, especially since talking about her kind seemed to be something she greatly avoided, before she found that her mother laughed. "Goodness no! Demigra is... well, a traitor to the true ruler of demon kind, a position currently held by my brother Dabura, who should be in the Demon Realm right now." Towa stated, though she knew that Demigra liked to think of himself as a being worthy of ruling over every single member of their kind as the Demon King, even though the reality was that he was just someone trying to move above their station and dethrone their rightful ruler, "However, Dabura is merely standing in as the Demon King right now... the one who truly rules over demons like myself is Mechikabura, known as the Dark King, Master of the Demon Realm, and the God of Evil... in essence, HE is the Demon God that almost all demons worship and serve with every fiber of their being. In fact, before he and the vast majority of the Demon Realm were sealed away by Chronoa, he used to bestow power on his followers in the form of the 'Demon God' form, a massive power boost to our own Dark Forms, and usually some additional power to our base forms so we'd become more useful to him... it has been years, countless millennia to be exact, since I've used such a form." "So does that mean I'll be learning how to tap into this power as well?" Twilight inquired, as such a thing interested her as she considered the form she currently had access to, or didn't since she hadn't used it since her episode some time ago, so part of her was hoping for a new form she could actually control, "I mean, my father is the Emperor of the Cosmos, who many see as a demon in his own right... some people even call him and his family 'frost demons'... and you are a demon from the Demon Realm... people are going to be expecting a lot from me." "Twilight, I..." Towa started to say, though before the rest of her statement left her mouth she considered something, the fact that her daughter had the power to absorb energy and add it to her own, a power that evolved after the activation of her rage form and one they really had no idea what the limits were, which could be good or bad, "Very well, I'll look into if it's possible to grant you a Dark Form... or if I can still use my own as a reference for you to work off of... and we'll go from there. That's all I can promise you right now." As Twilight nodded, showing that she was fine with her mother doing some research before getting back to her, Towa did a bit of explaining about the factions that made up the Demon Realm, those who served Mechikabura and the few who were against him, of which she was on the former. Most of her allies were hanging out in the Demon Realm, which was all due to the power of the seal that had been placed on the entire realm, while her brother and herself were free to come and go whenever they pleased, though for right now she had put her own plans on hold to raise her. Demigra's faction, so named Demigra's Army, opposed the rule of Mechikabura and everything he stood for, especially whatever his plans were, though as far as Towa knew he only had one confirmed ally, a sorcerer by the name of Chamel, though there were rumors of another demon serving him and they were trying to figure out who it was. Twilight noticed that everyone who served Mechikabura happened to be some sort of sorcerer, in fact all of the named ones her mother mentioned seemed to be of that class, using magic to do whatever it was that they wanted, making her wonder just how strong the others were, given her other uncle was the stand-in king of the Demon Realm. Towa also pointed out that those who used their Dark Form, called Dark Demon by some, usually experienced some form of wardrobe change as well, she still wasn't sure why such a thing happened but assumed that it was just due to the nature of the power in question. Things got more interesting when one took on their Demon God form, as it usually involved their hair becoming more like horns, and in some rare cases the user actually grew real horns when using the transformation, while also gaining markings near their eyes and their tool, like her staff, would change form as well. It, too, came with a change to one's clothing, which was a common theme among the transformations a demon could use, though she had heard rumors of there being a secondary state of the Demon God form, one stronger than the previous with a whole new look for the one using it. After that there was a more legendary form, or made up since the one who talked about it was Demigra, which he called the 'Final Dark Form' and explained that it was obtainable when a Demon God utilized all of their divine power, all to make a new terrifying visage, but Towa reminded Twilight that none of the existing members of her kind had the power to even achieve the Demon God form, so the 'Final Dark Form' was just a myth. As they moved onto another subject Twilight was sure that if Demigra had been telling the truth it was in an attempt to gain a power to topple Mechikabura, before turning her attention to the rest of the tomes they had picked out as she wondered what the future held for them and the rest of her family. > Growing Up: Time Passes > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Following their visit to Alexandria, and the discussion they had, Towa went about her studies on whether or not Twilight could be given her own Dark Form, even though there was one aspect of things that worried her, the rage that had been awakened during Twilight's first mission. It was possible that giving her access to the dark energy that she and the other demons used would cause her daughter to go berserk, no doubt mixing with her Rage Form to create something that was far stronger and darker than what they had seen so far. Towa shuddered for a moment as she recalled just how brutal her daughter had been when she used her first transformation and it frightened her to think of what might happen if Twilight were to mix the two, whether it be on her own or her rage taking over to do it itself. The idea of a Dark Twilight going on a rampage was both interesting and worrisome, since there was no telling if she'd be able to tell friend from foe, so it might do more harm than good in the grand scheme of things and could scar her daughter mentally if she did something to one of her family members. It was for that reason that she insisted on Twilight gaining control of her emotions and not letting them rule her mind, as it would allow her to tame her rage, and use the Rage Form without becoming going berserk, and open the way for her to start learning how to channel the energy needed to use her own Dark Form, if they got that far. This time around everyone, and Towa meant everyone, chipped in with her training, as Cooler seemed to be focusing on her techniques, King Cold showed her swordplay since he found it relaxing, she focused on meditation and magic lessons, and Frieza, interestingly enough, let Twilight fight him. Towa wouldn't have called it a fight, rather it was Frieza dodging Twilight's attacks or simply flying away before she could hit him, so while it was considered training for their daughter the same could not be said for Frieza, who didn't believe in training since he was the strongest of them all. Such a thing caused Towa to mentally chuckle, because at the rate Twilight's power was climbing right now she was sure that their daughter would match his base form by the time she was twelve, thirteen at the latest, and after that Twilight would only grow stronger, no doubt to the point where she would surpass her own father. Twilight's innate power and magic were powerful, and her ability to absorb energy and make it her own made her even more frightening, but what really intrigued Towa was the bottomless well of potential that her daughter possessed, meaning it was possible that she could become the greatest fighter in the entire universe, at least among mortals anyway. Much like her husband, not to mention his entire family, Towa wanted nothing to do with Beerus the Destroyer, a being who could and would destroy them if he so desired, so she focused on their lessons and less on the potential danger they'd be in if Beerus suddenly decided to show up. Towa also spent some time researching the now lost races of the universes by seeing what Alexandria's libraries had on all of them, mostly to create mirage opponents for Twilight to train against when the others were busy, because at the start it was mostly a Saiyan warrior, given she was more familiar with them. She found that it was a great way to test Twilight and allow her to train against different types of opponents, that way no one surprised her in the future, before she found one of the more interesting foes the Saiyans had decimated in the past, with only a single living member of the race known to the Enlightened. The Cerealians, while pacifists save for when they're attacked by someone else, were excellent snipers, a fact made possible due to their evolved right eyes, and Towa made sure to make several mirages of them so Twilight had an idea of what to expect from opponents like them. It was always interesting to watch her daughter tackle each obstacle or challenge that was presented to her, usually allowing the mirages to show her a little of their power before figuring out a way to either deal with them or eliminate their advantage before moving in to finish them off. In addition to all of that Towa found herself spending a lot more time with Frieza, in fact she usually joined him whenever he talked with Elec Heeter, leader of the Heeter Force and head of his family, who was a turquoise skinned individual that dressed well and was usually accompanied by his siblings Oil, Macki, and Gas. Oil happened to be the fattest member of the family, who seemed to dress like a sumo wrestler with white pants, including a sleeveless red jacket, while Towa found that Macki was the only girl of the group, older than Twilight, like all four figures in question, who dressed well, though not as well as Elec. Gas, on the other hand, was the shortest member and seemed to be their best fighter, someone who even Towa knew would give Twilight a run for her money, though he always frowned and seemed to be in a bad mood when he and his siblings were in Frieza's presence. Towa assumed that it was due to her husband or his forces wiping out most of the species tht the Heeters came from, a terrible hobby of his that she knew might come back and bite them in the rear at some point, hopefully not when she considered everything he had done in the past. The Heeters, for the most part, ignored her during their talks, only acknowledging her when Frieza first introduced her to all of them, but she, much like Twilight, had figured out that they were stiffing them with their low payments so they could pocket all of the profit, though she said nothing and let her husband set his trap for the Heeters. While going over their lessons, and making sure Twilight got enough sleep and food since there were times were she just focused on her reading, instead of anything else, Towa found that she was growing quite well, going from the little girl she had first met and was growing into a fine teenager. Such a thought was due to the fact that the years seemed to be flying for all of them, or maybe it was the fact that Towa was trying to find so many new challenges for Twilight, by even using a bit of her power to peer further into the past, that made her realize that time was flying by so quickly, despite their home having the same year cycle as the planet known as Earth. By this point in time a number of years had gone by since they assigned Twilight her first mission, as now she was ten years old and was taller than she was when Towa first met her, the day they became mother and daughter, plus the fact that she was starting to mature into a fine young lady, with her own breasts starting to grow in as well. Sure, it took Twilight some time to come to terms with the fact that she was maturing, since it brought changes to her body and they weren't totally sure what it meant since they had no information on what happened to her race when they matured, but Towa was sure they'd make it work. Twilight also spent some of her time going over the various schematics for the machines and devices that ensured that the empire ran smoother, such as tearing apart a blaster that the soldiers who couldn't use Ki used in combat, as she found a way to make it even better than before. Not only did it get a makeover, in terms of appearance, but she told them that it was stronger than before and her father had someone test it against the ordinary blaster, finding that while it still looked like a wrist mounted device it dealt far more power than it's previous form. In addition to that she figured out how to add a bit of stability to the Scouters, mostly in the sense that they had a greater limit before breaking, so they should, at the very least, be able to scan most of her father's power before shattering, in case he was ever in a fight. She also figured out how to make several additions to the ships that their forces used when transporting either her family or more soldiers to their destination, though they were more for utility and less like the core she had upgraded previously. She also did something that surprised Frieza, as Twilight was able to figure out a way to make her tablet into something more, because if she entered a command it changed into a katana with a scabbard, while if she put in another code they found that it turned into a blaster, more like an actual hand held gun and less like what the soldiers used, just to give her some options in the field. Towa also found that their lessons were helping Twilight in her quest to control her emotions, to the point that she was able to start with the basics of using the dark energy that demons could utilize, as she was starting small in the off chance that things went south and she accidentally caused her daughter to go berserk. Considering the fact that all of them were evil, with her being a demon who served Mechikabura in the past, Frieza and his family being planet conquerors who sold them to the highest bidder, and Twilight was following in her father's footsteps, Towa was sure it would work. She knew Twilight was trying to be better than her father, to not exterminate everyone on the planets she went to, and so far such a thing hadn't been required of her, as they managed to use her method to great success, which was odd but she wasn't about to complain about the situation. With all that in mind she was sure that Twilight fell under the category of someone who was evil, using her power for her own benefit or to gain whatever she wanted, hence why she was so sure that giving her a small portion of dark energy would be possible, without anything bad happening. When the time came to finally do it, however, they made sure to fly off to another part of the planet, leaving the ship some distance behind with their soldiers since everyone wanted to be safe, before they landed in a clearing and Twilight stood still for a moment as Towa stepped forward. "Okay, we have agreed that you are ready to receive some dark energy." Towa said, where she called out her staff as she said that and strands of darkness gathered around the tip, clearly showing everyone that, out of everyone, she was still partly on the fence about this, despite her various calculations, "Are you ready, Twilight?" "Ready when you are, mom." Twilight replied, because she had spent years preparing for this day, getting ready for when her mother would finally imbue her with some of the energy that all demons had and was used by all the sorcerer demons who served Mechikabura, even those who now stood against him, just to see if she could obtain a Dark Form or learn that it was just a foolish dream. Towa nodded as she swung her staff and let the tip touch where Twilight's heart would be, directing the dark energy into her daughter's body and the others watched as the darkness surged into her without wasting time, causing them to stand still as they waited for something to happen. Sure enough she found that a vortex appeared around Twilight, which was a common thing to see when a demon sorcerer used their dark energy to empower a villainous figure or grant someone a bit of power, though that was Towa's cue to back up a bit to let the process finish on it's own. As that happened Twilight just closed her eyes and let the darkness seep into her body, allowing her power to work it's magic as the energy settled down, even though she could feel part of it surging up into her head for a moment, no doubt to affect her personality as her mother warned her might happen. Part of her was fine with that, as the empire now had two demons ruling it, one an actual demon and one a demon only because people called him by such a title, and people were expecting her to be just like them, a chip off the old block, while the other part was simply interested in what might happen next. When the darkness finally faded Frieza and the others found that Twilight didn't look different at all, a thought that was quickly banished as she opened her eyes, revealing a darker look in her eyes, before she grinned like Frieza did when he dealt with people, making him wonder what the future held for them and his changed daughter. > Growing Up: Battle for Griea V > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Following the short ritual to imbue Twilight with a small amount of dark energy, which went off without a problem, Frieza found that she remained mostly the same, she continued to train and learn from Towa and the others, while spending a good portion of her time in the libraries of Alexandria. When they sent her on missions, however, that was when he and the others found that she was more ruthless when it came to carrying out whatever her orders were, allowing her to focus on her objective and ensured that the planet's people sided with the empire or were wiped out if no one wanted to join her family's growing empire. She was deadly with her power and her weapon, the latter used when she didn't feel like fighting with her hands or hooves, and her ability to help capture worlds put her on a higher level than the Saiyans, where Towa knew that Vegeta, at the very least, disliked her with every fiber of his being and forced himself to keep it under wraps, all to ensure nothing bad happened to him or the others. As far as Frieza could tell the ritual had empowered Twilight, while at the same time making her more ruthless, a phase Towa said she'd grow out of in due time, but she remained mostly the same as before, which was good since he had grown to love her. Once upon a time he had viewed her as a weapon to be turned against the universe, though now she was a sparkle that he had come to love whenever he looked upon her or spent time with her, an irreplaceable daughter that he'd do anything to protect, not that he needed to do anything since she was capable of defending herself. Speaking of the Saiyans he knew that they were having trouble with some of the more recent assignments he gave them, as it took all three of them multiple days to take over a planet, in fact they went out of their way to exterminate everyone on the planets they were sent to, hence why it took them so long. Both he and Twilight were annoyed by that fact, as he had agreed that saving some of the population and conscripting them into the empire, in whatever manner their new citizens were comfortable with, was good for everyone, so killing potential allies left a sour taste in his mouth. The funny thing was that Twilight, at the age of ten, was able to do such a thing on her own and, with her eleventh birthday having come and gone, she really didn't need help taking over a planet, but accepted the aid of the soldiers to make sure nothing escaped her grasp. He knew that such a thing had to be chewing them up inside, knowing that they had been surpassed by someone like Twilight in no time at all, and Raditz seemed to be thinking of something, but refrained from speaking of it for the time being, making them wonder what in the world was on his mind. In September of Age 761, according to Towa since she was keeping track of that sort of thing, Frieza gathered the Saiyans and gave them their next mission, to head to the planet of Shikk and either bring them into the empire or eradicate them all, just as he told them in the past... only to be disappointed when they didn't report their success at the end of their first day on the planet. "Lord Frieza, it seems that the Shikkians are putting up quite the fight." Zarbon reported, as he and Dodoria were tasked with keeping an eye on Vegeta and the other Saiyans, from a monitoring station on Frieza Planet 79, one upgraded thanks to Twilight's enhancements, where he found that the three main members of the family, their Lord, his wife, and, even more importantly, his daughter, where relaxing before dinner. "Really? They're having trouble with a race that only uses blasters as their main weapon?!" Twilight remarked, causing her to sigh for a moment as she listened to what Zarbon had to say, all while noting that Dodoria wasn't present and was no doubt keeping an eye on the readings they were getting from Shikk, "Gah, they're useless!" "Vegeta and Nappa have skill, or would if they applied themselves to their training like you do, though Raditz must be the one slowing them down again." Frieza said, where he, too, was annoyed with the report, despite the fact that it was more like disappointment since he was so used to good news from his daughter and those who worked under her orders, while Towa frowned as well, since she was expecting the Saiyans to have finished the planet already, "Zarbon, how do you feel about all of this?" "I would have finished the mission in a single day, my Lord, maybe even sooner... depending on how the Shikkians reacted to the offer to join the empire." Zarbon replied, as he knew that he wasn't being asked his opinion on the Saiyans, which seemed to be what they were talking about, rather the question was about how he would have tackled being given this particular mission. Frieza was happy to hear that, as there was always the chance that the Saiyans were ignoring his orders and were simply attacking the planet like they did in the past, taking everyone down before reporting their success, but he figured that they could simply wait and see how long it took for them to complete the mission. As it turned out it took the Saiyans three days to clear the planet of targets, where Zarbon reported that no one else was alive on the planet, so since they disobeyed his orders or had carried them out to the letter by eliminating those who didn't want to join the empire. Frieza, of course, was slightly disappointed in all three of them and silently realized that their rate of growth wasn't going to be enough to keep all of them alive, in fact he was sure that the next planet he had lined up for them, after a bit of rest, might end up being the end for Raditz. It was during that meeting, to discuss their next assignment, that Twilight and her parents learned a new bit of information from the weak link, there was a fourth living Saiyan on a nearby planet, nearly three weeks away, who would be of great assistance to them if he could track down his brother. In the end they sent Raditz off to track down Kakarot while letting Vegeta and Nappa rest, since the next planet might be a bit harder for them since it would only be the two of them and no one else, though after that Frieza and his family left the planet for their own reasons. Suffice it to say that, when the time came from Vegeta and Nappa to make their report on what Raditz was up to, Frieza, Towa, and Twilight, not to mention King Cold and Cooler, were disappointed in the news they received, since everyone was expecting them to have good news. Apparently Kakarot didn't exist and someone called 'Goku' had taken his place, where Twilight guessed that he must have suffered a head injury at some point, caused at an early age to make him forget who he was, and he was weaker than the Saiyans had thought, since he teamed up with a Namekian. Twilight couldn't help but laugh when they finally got to the bit of news they were waiting for, Raditz, the weakest of the three Saiyans, had been brought down by his own brother and the Namekian, killed by the very person he was meant to recruit into their cause, and the only good thing was that the other Saiyan had perished before the message had been terminated. Vegeta and Nappa asked if it was okay for them to head to the planet in question, Earth it was called, to decimate the population and claim the planet for the empire, something Frieza was fine with, mostly because he had a feeling it might spell the end for the other two Saiyans and would allow him to never worry about them again. Of course there were several planets on the way to Earth that Frieza asked the Saiyans to conquer as well, because now that their weak link was gone they should be able to do much finer work for him, to which Vegeta agreed since it meant he and Nappa wouldn't be hounded by him or Twilight. The route in question would have taken them about a month or two to get to Earth, but Twilight charted the new path for him and his companion, revealing that it would take roughly a year, or thirteen months to be exact, and when Nappa questioned her decision she answered without pause. Since there was a Namekian on the planet in question that meant there was a chance that the Dragon Balls, mythical spheres that held the power to grant wishes, something she and her mother wished to confirm whether or not they worked, purely because all of the studying they did couldn't confirm it one way or the other. Based on the last bits of dialogue from Raditz's Scouter some people talked about Goku, or Kakarot if the Saiyans preferred, and that he was dead, like they said, and if the balls did exist it stood to reason that they might be able to revive the dead, which they could confirm or deny by the time they got to the planet. Once they had the list of planets added to their ships, and informed them that ships would be heading to each as soon as the signal was triggered, the Saiyans departed with their heads held high, as they intended on killing Kakarot, if someone brought him back to life, and taking the planet for the empire. Following that nothing nothing happened out of the ordinary, save for Twilight's twelfth birthday, allowing them to focus on what sort of assignment to send her on next, where Frieza had to smile when Towa presented her idea to him and the others, the Griea star system. The area in question contained a set of five planets that bared the same name, which was due to the fact that they were roughly the same planet when one looked at the environment, though out of the five only the fifth planet had any life to speak of. That was due to their last readings of it and the other planets, so her plan was to give it to Twilight as one of her missions, as she felt that it was the best place for her, while they could send a few people to the other four to verify or disprove the existence of life on it's brethren. During the time period that she planned on the three of them visiting the planet, along with their soldiers, Cooler and his force would be heading after another couple of planets that should be theirs in no time at all, while King Cold would be watching over the main planet. When the day of their visit came Twilight found herself standing on the outskirts of a large jungle that clearly had some sort of ruins built into it, she could see the stonework from where they landed, though while it was off to her right she also found another jungle off to her left, like this was a battlefield. "You aren't allies of the brutal king, Moloch, are you?" a voice asked, where Twilight found that it was a light blue figure who spoke, a person who had a humanoid form, like most of the species in this universe, though he had scaled hands and claws, mimicked on his feet like they were lizard or dragon claws, and there were some scales on his face, giving him a more reptilian form, complete with a tail resting behind him. "No, we are not. We are the Frieza Force, and this is Emperor Frieza himself, or Lord if you prefer." Twilight replied, where Towa still felt it was so weird how Twilight switched from calling him her father and calling him Lord when talking to those they were trying to recruit, "Can you explain the situation to us? We might be able to help." Moloch, as it turned out, was a demon king whose race had crashed on Griea V a long time ago, where they had been at war with them for a really long time, though Towa knew they weren't actual demons, otherwise Dabura would have come to smite this Moloch for his arrogance. The king who ruled over the kingdom that the figure, a Grieaian in Twilight's eyes, was a soldier of had sent them out because a scout found that another force was on it's way to do battle with them and he had spotted the ship before hand, so he came to double check the situation. As Frieza listened to the situation it was easy to see that Moloch didn't serve others and was only focused on his own growth, while the kingdom this man represented was more important to preserving the history of the world and it's people, which would win over Twilight and Towa since it was all new information. He knew that they could have to speak with the other king at some point, to go over terms like all of the other planets they were able to speak with, but this would prove that joining the empire would be beneficial to all of them, just as Twilight planned, so for now they departed and followed the figure back to his forces. Of course Frieza himself remained on the ship as the others headed out, he never sullied his hands, which left Twilight to discover why the Grieaians had called Moloch's people 'demons', as they had antlers growing out of their heads, wicked hooves in place of feet or claws, and thick hides that looked hard to deal with. Twilight found that the Malians, her name for Moloch's species, attacked without even waiting to see what their foes had done in preparation for their arrival, causing the rest of the Grieaians to rush at them in kind, though while many fighters had weapons in their hands other preferred to fight with their fists. Twilight, however, decided not to bother with either of her personal weapons, rather she targeted the Malians that were in the middle of the pack and crashed into them with a swift punch, finding that many readied energy blasts to end her, which was a foolish mistake for those who turned to face her. She kicked and punched her way through the couple of enemies that were around her, many of them finding that all of their energy was leaving them as she seemed to get stronger and stronger in their eyes, before she noticed a figure on a nearby ridge who had to be Moloch. The figure in question was taller than her, not to mention skinnier, though even she could tell why he was treated as the ruler of his kind, his energy was immense, in comparison to the others, and his own antlers looked more like a crown, a sign the others must have took to heart when they noticed it, though he had a single weapon, a dagger oddly enough. With her target spotted Twilight burst into the air and flew over to the ridge that Moloch was standing on, who seemed displeased with the arrival of her forces to aid the Grieaians, though he stopped watching the battle, which her army was currently winning since they were better trained, and turned to face her as she finally landed. "So, you are the one who brought these soldiers to this planet and ruined my plans within moments." Moloch remarked, to which he shifted his stance, showing her that he intended to fight her in some manner, which was fine with her since taking him down was the easiest way to complete her mission, "You shall pay dearly for your transgressions." Twilight didn't bother to say anything to that as she shifted her own stance for a moment and raised her arms, to show him that she was ready for battle, before the two rushed at each other and swung their fists, which connected not a second later and caused the air to shudder for a few seconds. After that the pair separated and clashed a few more times, moving from one point of Moloch's observation point to another, allowing Twilight to see that he was strong and his energy was stronger than all of his followers, to the point where one could say his soldiers had little to no energy of their own. Thanks to her own usage of a similar power she was able to figure out that he had his own way of siphoning the power out of his followers, or at least enough to make him the strongest of them all, and when faced with a stronger foe he decided to increase what he was draining from his soldiers. Such a thing lead to many of them faltering at the wrong moment and caused them to fall to either the Grieaians or the Frieza Force, crippling whatever plans Moloch had set into motion before their arrival, though she continued to go on the offensive as she punched him in the face, brought her knee into his chest, and even shattered part of his antlers, before knocking him into the stone below them. He was strong, Twilight had to give him that much, but she was stronger and better trained than he was, in both combat and how to use his powers, which caused Moloch to resort to his weapon as he pulled the dagger out and stabbed her in the side, actually puncturing her armor and her body in one swoop, though as she kicked him backwards he did something odd, he licked her blood off the blade. In the next moment it became clear as his energy exploded, where she found that Moloch grew a pair of black feathered wings from his back, a long pointed horn grew out of his forehead, and parts of his arms and legs bulked up, like they had been strengthened. Twilight didn't need to be told what she was seeing right now, Moloch, and maybe his entire species, had the innate power to digest the blood of those they harmed and incorporated their power into their bodies, or at least a portion of it, but she wasn't sure this counted as 'her' power, since she didn't have wings or a horn like her foe now had. Moloch was pleased with the transformation, in fact he was surprised by how much power had been given to him by completing his ritual, and when he brought his fist down on the ridge it shattered under the weight of his newfound power, causing them to take to the air. "Do you see this?! You cannot hope to defeat me now!" Moloch stated, showing her that he believed that he was now above all of them, including her for that matter, something that caused Twilight to chuckle as the air around her started to shake, confusing her foe since he wasn't familiar with what she was about to do. "Then let's try this!" Twilight replied, where the air caught on fire for a moment as she embraced it, allowing herself to take on her Rage Form once more, though thanks to all of her training it was less of a berserk form and more of a power boost, like all of the others that were used by the races of the universe. Moloch barely had a moment to understand what was going on as Twilight rushed through the space between them in just a few seconds, almost disappearing from his sight as he realized he had used his ritual too soon, though the first thing she did was blast the hand that held the dagger clean off, erasing it and the weapon from existence. As he came to terms with that fact Twilight struck him in the chest with her elbow, causing him to stagger for a few seconds, which was perfect for her as she appeared behind Moloch and kicked him in the back so hard that he went flying down into the ground, hard enough to blast a crater into the stone. Moloch barely had time to do anything, other than cough, as Twilight handed on his back and gripped both of his new wings with her hands, where he started to plead with her, to not do what she might be thinking of doing, but she did it anyway as she crushed the bones and tore them out. While that happened Towa, who was with some of the others fighting the Malians, shuddered for a moment, as adding dark energy to Twilight had turned her Rage Form into more of a 'Brutal' Form, as Twilight was merciless in this form, and she proceeded to grip Moloch's new horn before breaking it with the side of her hand. In the next moment Twilight drove the horn into Moloch's stomach, with enough force to push him backwards onto the ground, though as she took another step forward something weird happened, her form shattered, as she returned to her base form, which caused Towa to raise her eyebrow as she noticed that Twilight was huffing, an unusual scene, before she collapsed where she stood. "TWILIGHT!" Towa exclaimed, as she knew something was up, because there was no way that her daughter was tired or exhausted after such a short battle with Moloch, in fact she was sure Twilight hadn't used a lot of energy to beat her foe into his current state, though when she landed and placed her hand on her daughter's head she instantly pulled back, as it was burning, worse than when someone had a fever. "How much of your life did you burn away, little warrior? A few weeks, or maybe a few months?" Moloch remarked, which told Towa that he had done something to her daughter and it made her angry with him, though at the same time Frieza and the Grieaian who first came into with them approached them as well, both surprised by the scene even though one of them was also outraged as well, "You would have had a year left, had you not used that form of yours... now there's no telling how long you have left, since you burned so much of it away!" "It can't be... Warrior's Bane?!" the Grieaian asked, showing them that he recognized the symptoms that Twilight was now experiencing and what Moloch had just said, while at the same time Towa noted that it had to be an extinct item that had been found by his people's enemy, "How did you find some? Every herb was burned to ash and the antidotes were all destroyed, as per the terms of the treaty you just violated." "Does it matter? The only sample was on my dagger, intended for your king, and whatever was left on it was destroyed when she blew it away." Moloch replied, though he had the widest smile on his face as Towa and Frieza glared at him, as both of them were incredibly angry with him right now, showing him that he either didn't care about his fate or that this was better than he could have hoped for, "You will NEVER cure her, for she is..." Frieza didn't let him finish as he used a bit of his energy to make a small marble that entered Moloch's chest, though that was when he sent him flying into the air before he collapsed his hand like he was crushing something, causing the energy to detonate with enough force to blow Moloch to pieces. The Malians submitted once their leader was dead, allowing the Grieaians to claim victory and take the survivors into custody, though at the same time the one who met them first quickly told Frieza and Towa that he was also a medic, since there was no telling what their enemies might have in store for him and his people. There were herbs and remedies that could temporarily diminish the power of the poison that was now coursing through Twilight's veins, but with every herb and antidote destroyed there was no way to cure her, so the best he could do was ease the pain. He also informed them that the reason the poison was called Warrior's Bane was because of the fact that it targeted one's abilities to use energy, like what Moloch had been doing earlier, and it also had the same effect on magic users, so the more power one used, when infected with this poison, the more of their remaining life span they lost as a result. In the end Frieza vowed that he'd do anything and everything in his power to cure Twilight, as there had to be some way for them to save her without the herb that created the poison, he just had to figure it out before he and Towa lost the light of their lives and drove them to madness. > Interlude: Saiyan Discovery > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Twilight groaned as she opened her eyes and found that she was staring up at the ceiling of what appeared to be her room, the one inside her father's ship to be exact, along with the fact that there were a few medical machines resting nearby, all of them she recognized and found that they were attached to her. "Wha..." Twilight started to say, though before she even finished the first word of her comment she recalled exactly what she had been doing before suddenly blacking out, her forces had been helping the Grieaians with the Malians and she had been tearing Moloch apart, only for her world to black out all of a sudden, which was the last thing she remembered before waking up here. "Please, don't get up too fast." a voice said, where she found that someone was tending to her right now, the Grieaian she had first encountered when her forces landed on his planet, who was now dressed in the medic attire of her father's force, which was the upper half of the armor and the lower half was a gown of sorts, instead of wearing the armor that he had been wearing previously, "You'll find that your body is much weaker than it was before the battle with Moloch, which is perfectly normal given that he used a poison on you that shouldn't even exist anymore, and I have a few remedies that will ease the pain, but... sadly, you won't be able to train, fight, or use any of your powers anymore, as it'll stir up the poison and chip away at your remaining life." Twilight remained silent as she heard that piece of information, as she and her parents had assumed she'd have a long life, much like the rest of her family when one considered her father's side of things, but now she was learning that she'd likely be dead in the very near future. It was a dreadful thing to even think about, that she had thought she had more time to learn about the universe and expand her power, not to mention the power of her family's empire, over her many long years, only to have her future ripped away from her in an instant. Twilight could only imagine how her parents had taken the news that she was going to die at some point in the very near future, it even made her wonder how her uncle and her grandfather were taking the news, not to mention what all of them would do to keep her alive. The only reason she even thought about such a thing was that her father had ensured that all of their allies knew that messing with her was a bad thing and her mother had told her of the time she spent messing with some of the ancient timelines before being forced to go into hiding so the Supreme Kai of Time didn't catch her. Those two, together, would do anything and everything to ensure her safety, hence why Twilight was so sure that both of them were already working to figure out a way to get around this, before the poison in her body ravaged her to the point where she closed her eyes and never opened them again. "Twilight, you're okay!" a voice nearly exclaimed, where she found that her parents had arrived, and that it was her mother who had gotten the first word out while her father was glancing up from the tablet that he happened to be carrying at the moment, no doubt finishing up a call with the rest of their family, "Alirinn said that it would be some time before you would wake up, given the amount of damage that the poison did to your body... gave us quite the shock when you fell on the battlefield. Alirinn has been tending to you since that point, as his king agreed to join the empire and he offered to do anything and everything to fight the poison." "I just wish there was more I could do... I can make elixirs to fight the poison, or to fight some of the later symptoms one will face, but I can't actually deal with the poison." Alirinn stated, where he looked at the screens and nodded, showing that while he might have come from a civilization that was less advanced than the empire, given what they had seen just before the battle, he had adapted quite well, meaning Towa had given him a crash course on everything so he could do his new job to perfection, "With the burning of the actual herb, to ensure that it would never grew again, and the destruction of the antidote containers, to prevent someone from recreating the poison from scratch, there isn't much more I can do to combat the Warrior's Bane that's coursing through her veins." "You know, it's funny you should mention a 'wish', as Vegeta and Nappa have landed at last." Frieza said, as he had been keeping track of the Saiyans since the day they left for Earth, though while most of the planets they placed on their list had been blown up, likely Vegeta getting back at him in some manner, the pair had, at long last, reached their destination and were about to find out if the Dragon Balls were real or not. "Oh, do we have a far viewer up and running?" Twilight asked, as she hadn't come up with a good name for the device in question, a newer item that could allow her and the others to watch whatever was happening during an attack on one of the other planets, instead of just reading the information provided by energy readings. "It's operational... for now." Towa remarked, because if she knew Vegeta there was a chance that he was going to break it with one of his energy blasts, just to keep them in the dark about what was going on during their time on Earth, but she had to hope that it would remain intact until they figured out if the Dragon Balls worked. Twilight carefully pushed herself into a sitting position, since she didn't want to lay down anymore, as her father enlarged the tablet he was holding, turning it into a screen they could watch, another of her inventions since there were all sorts of things she found to change or improve in the empire. The scene started in what appeared to be a village or city, a modern one that seemed to be the home of some Humans, blasting craters into the ground and knocking some vehicles with four tires off to the side, though what interested Twilight was that there appeared to be some beast people with them, as she spotted what appeared to be a wolf man and a cat girl. As the Saiyans emerged from their Attack Balls most of the people seemed to gather around the craters they had formed, while some either stayed back or hightailed it out of there as fast as they could, in fact the cat girl seemed to understand that something bad was coming and fled. Twilight was happy to see that her instincts were correct, she was able to get out of the city before Nappa used his power as a 'greeting', blasting away the entirety of the with a single thrust of two of his fingers towards the sky, leveling the entire place as Vegeta likely told him it was a foolish measure since it could have eliminated a Dragon Ball. When the Saiyans flew off in a direction, using their Scouters to track down their target, a small ball flew after them, which was the device they were using to watch them, though Twilight noted that Earth likely had less gravity than the worlds she was used to living and training on. As it turned out their destination was a more deserted part of the planet, because it seemed like there were no animals despite the vegetation and some pools of water that were nearby, where they found a green skinned Namekian in some martial arts clothing, according to Towa, and two small figures, one who had to be a kid and another seemed to be more like a dwarf. The kid had black hair and the dwarf had no hair at all, with the former wearing the attire that the Namekian was wearing, like he was his mentor, while the latter was wearing an orange version, though he also had six dots or markings on his forehead, an odd thing for sure. Another interesting fact was that the Namekian had no idea that he was a Namekian, like he thought he had been a demon or something, though Vegeta decided not to sully their hands by having Nappa plant the Saibamen, short green planet monsters that were roughly as strong as Raditz, a tool that the Saiyans had discovered and brought into the Frieza Force when they were dominated. Twilight hadn't trained against them when she was younger, she had been far too strong for her parents and family to worry about such a thing, but with six of them it looked like they were going to beat up the trio to get the information they needed to confirm or deny whether the Dragon Balls worked. Three more foes showed up before the battle actually got started, a bald humanoid figure who had three eyes, as in the two normal eyes and one in the middle of his forehead, an even smaller white skinned person who could float in the air, and one more humanoid figure who had a few scars on his face while wearing the same orange attire that the dwarf was wearing at the moment. Twilight watched as the group of six took turns fighting against the Saibamen, or at least that seemed to be the plan at first, as the three eyed figure fought one of them, knocking it around with his energy as it tried to use some of it's acid to take him down, with the Saibaman being wiped out with another blast of energy. Such a thing proved that the Humans might be just a tad bit stronger than the Saiyans expected them to be, meaning they must have heard Raditz mention that his comrades would be coming, causing the group to switch to the scarred male who got ready for another Saibaman. Again the Humans proved that maybe their data on the power levels of the planet weren't as weak as one might assume, leading Twilight to wonder if they might become a formidable force at some point in the future, before the fighter blasted his target right into the ground. As he celebrated his victory, however, the still alive Saibaman leapt up and latched onto him, utilizing the rest of it's energy to detonate itself with enough force to blast a small crater into the ground, ending with the Human having fallen as well, leaving a body behind that was no longer moving. Truth be told Twilight really had no idea that the Saibamen could self-destruct like that, as the Saiyans had reported nothing of that sort to the scientists or researchers, so either they knew and kept quiet or had no idea and were surprised by this as well, though the smug look on Vegeta's face told her it was the former. Such a thing caused the dwarf to get angry as he found that their friend was dead, as he released a burst of power that he maneuvered into the air and let it burst into what looked like a shower of energy blasts, targeting the rest of the Saibamen and both of the Saiyans. They were lucky that the device managed to avoid being caught in the attack, despite the fact that three of the remaining four Saibamen perished, though the last one managed to survive and went after one of their foes, the kid to be exact, only to be caught by the Namekian and taken out with a quick punch to the gut, followed by a Ki blast from the mouth after being thrown into the air. Of course Vegeta and Nappa, who had also been targets of the attack, had emerged with little to no damage, save for a few minor scuff marks on their armor, displaying the terrifying difference in strength between the bald Human and the Saiyan warriors. Nappa went on the offensive immediately, which Twilight knew was due to Vegeta, the Saiyan Prince, not wanting to sully his hands until he felt that the time was right for him to do so, where the bald Saiyan's power surprised the fighters who had gathered to fight the pair. The first attack came with Nappa rushing them and swinging his right hand in a chopping manner, removing part of the three eyed warrior's lend arm in the process, everything from the fingers to halfway up to his elbow, even though it did look like the Namekian tried to prevent it from happening. Even when the fighter tried to flee Nappa tracked him into the air and intercepted him, kicking him down into the ground hard enough to do a bit of damage to his foe, and when the dwarf tried to join in Nappa just swung his arm and his Ki carved the space in front of him out of existence with a single blast. It was clear that, despite whatever training the fighters had gone through, none of them were even ready for the might of Nappa, meaning that fighting Vegeta was out of the equation since he was even stronger, but there was always a chance that Twilight might be wrong. The little white fighter, however, used the attack generated by that attack to get behind Nappa and latch onto his back, an attempt that was successful until he gathered his energy and detonated himself as well, in an attempt to blast Nappa to death, which only succeeded in scuffing up Nappa's armor. When Nappa moved in to kill the three eyed fighter both the Namekian and the dwarf attacked him while he was in the air, something that seemed to be designed for the kid to attack him next, which he didn't do since he seemed scared, so it caused the other two to fire Ki blasts at Nappa while he was distracted. Nappa, as expected, dodged the attacks and was then caught up in another blast from the fighter he had tried to finish off a few moments ago, which actually broke part of his armor off, a bit of the shoulders, and came with the fighter expiring, like he had used his life force to power the attack, spooking his comrades in the process. As Nappa moved in to end the shorter fighter, since they still needed the Namekian to ask about the Dragon Balls, Vegeta stopped him as he noticed that two of the remaining three fighters mentioned that they were waiting for someone to arrive, which was Kakarot, or Goku as the Humans called him, who had died during the battle with Raditz. This was the confirmation that they were waiting for, as the dwarf informed them that someone had gathered the seven spheres and had wished Goku back to life so they could deal with the incoming Saiyan attack, though as the information caused Vegeta to stop the attack on the fighters it also caused Frieza to get up and head outside, as an idea had come to mind and he wanted to discuss it with someone else. The next three hours were full of boredom and Twilight decided to sleep through the wait, since she needed it and her mother promised to wake her up when something interesting happened, which was where Nappa, for some odd reason, discarded his chest piece and assaulted the fighters again. Apparently the fighters had this plan to grab onto Nappa's tail and utilize the Saiyan weakness to their advantage, as grabbing hold of a Saiyan's tail usually weakened them, and might actually explain how Raditz perished, but Nappa, like most adult members of his race, had trained themselves to be rid of that weakness. Such a thing allowed him to punish the Namekian that dared to grab onto his tail with an elbow straight to the head, knocking him out for a time and allowed Nappa to go after the remaining two fighters that were likely going to be killed in no time at all, given what they had seen so far. What was surprising was that the dwarf was a skilled fighter, as he was able to sort of keep up with Nappa and even get a few decent hits in while they clashed, something that happened to impress Vegeta in the process, before he channeled his Ki into a disc above his head. Twilight was impressed that the attack happened to have enough power to harm Nappa, as he dodged at Vegeta's quick statement about it, ending with a cut on the left cheek even though the disc itself sliced through a nearby peak like it was made out of butter, causing Twilight to jot down some notes about it. Apparently the Namekian was capable of recovering quickly, as he fired a blast at Nappa's back and it did a bit of damage, but as he started to retaliate he paused as the fighters informed him that the last member of their group was coming, as in Goku was about to arrive. In the next moment Vegeta made a comment about Namek, or, to be more exact, the Dragon Balls that were rumored to be on the planet, which Twilight knew her father had thought about earlier, as he had returned to the chamber after his call was complete. Nappa proceeded to continue his domination of the fighters that were in front of him, even though the kid seemed to snap for a moment as his power allowed him to knock Nappa into a rock wall that was nearby, which only enraged him to the point where he desired the death of the kid. To achieve that result he quickly gathered his power and released a beam of energy from his left hand, which stunned the kid in fear once more, though it also caused the Namekian to rush in and use his body to protect the kid, effectively trading his life for the little one's, as when the smoke cleared he collapsed on the ground with his shirt torn to shreds. In his rage the kid fired a rather powerful beam of energy at Nappa, who smacked it to the side in an instant, even though his hand did shake in response to that, but before he could do anything else a cloud flew down and saved the kid, which was the moment that another figure appeared near Nappa. It was a tall figure with spiked black hair, almost like a Saiyan, and he wore a similar set of clothing to what the the downed dwarf were wearing, though based on the expressions of the remaining two fighters it was easy for Twilight to tell that this was Goku. He was clearly enraged by the deaths of who she assumed were his friends, to the point where the earth around him started to shake and Vegeta was reading his power with his Scouter, before it all suddenly ended and Vegeta informed his follow Saiyan about the power he possessed, where Twilight caught it as 'over 9000'. Such a thing meant that his speed and power made him stronger than Nappa, allowing him to get behind the Saiyan and knock him into the ground with a kick, causing Nappa to essentially go berserk as he tried to catch Goku, who dodged his attacks, and even stood on his head for a moment, before striking him several times to the point where they even exchanged energy blasts. Just watching the fight made Twilight want to be part of it, as Goku seemed like a worthwhile person to fight, even when he seemed to outmaneuver Nappa when he tried to deal with the kid and bald fighter, seemingly crushing his spine with a hit to the back so he could hold him up in the air. In the next moment Vegeta, accepting Nappa's hand as he asked for help, hurled the injured Saiyan into the air and just loosed a beam of energy at him, quickly wiping out the bald Saiyan and leaving nothing of him behind, which reduced the number of Saiyans to just two, Goku and Vegeta. After that they departed for a more desert like area, which was full of nice rocky formations as the two set up their stances on two locations, though Twilight did notice that they did have a bit of a conversation, about what she had no idea since the sound system on the device wasn't the best. Once they wrapped up whatever they were talking about the two Saiyans engaged each other, clashing in the area that they picked out, as it was different from the area that had been the training grounds of the Namekian and maybe the kid, though from what she could see both Saiyans were evenly matched, even if Vegeta should be stronger. That was based on his power level, as it was higher than the other two members of his race, back when Twilight went over their power levels, though all three of them were interested in the red aura that surrounded Goku during the fight, as it seemed to be some sort of power that allowed him to boost his actual power. Vegeta seemed to have the upper hand, matching the speed and power of his foe quite easily, even tearing off part of his shirt in the process, before Goku ripped it off and seemed to stack his enhancing power even more than before, which did allow him to put up a fight as he overpowered Vegeta. With the thrashing that Vegeta was getting he eventually snapped and leapt into the air, gathering his energy into what he called his 'Galick Gun', why Twilight had no idea and he offered no answer to her question, forcing Goku to charge his own energy in a similar manner. A collision of their beams was what they witnessed, the sheer force of the collision shattering nearly every rock around where the two were positioned, Goku on the ground and Vegeta up in the air, though based on what they were seeing it looked like Goku was able to push his power even further and sent Vegeta flying. Such a thing lead Vegeta to do something Twilight had only heard about, he used some of his power to create an orb that would expand upon mixing with the atmosphere of a planet, creating what was essentially an artificial moon, allowing him and any tailed Saiyans to transform into their other form, the Oozaru, or the Great Ape as many called it. Sadly they were unable to watch what happened next as Vegeta's transformation into the form allowed him to crush the viewer before Twilight could get a glimpse of what was going on, causing Towa to sigh as she collapsed the screen that all of them had been watching. "Aw, I was hoping to see the end of the fight." Twilight said, because if she was going to be stuck in a state where she was forbidden from fighting, since it aggravated the poison in her body, she needed something else to do and watching others fight seemed to be the next best thing. "It is disappointing that we won't be able to watch the end of their clash, but Vegeta has provided us with the very piece of information we've been searching for." Frieza replied, as he didn't care as much as his daughter did, because there was a far more valuable item they had learned by watching the battles that had taken place, where he found that Twilight and Towa glanced at him with understanding on their faces, "That's right: the Dragon Balls. We're heading to Namek!" Towa realized what her husband meant, if the Dragon Balls had the power to revive the dead, like they had confirmed just now, there was a chance that they might hold the power to cure Twilight of the poison and save her, and she could only hope that they were successful in their mission. > Namek: Arrival > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Even with the improved engines that Twilight had designed, and her father's was one of the first ones to be upgraded due to his position, it took them a month to reach the portion of the universe that Namek rested in, something that made all of them nervous when they considered how much time Twilight had left. Alirinn had given them the bad news not long after they watched the Saiyans fight on Earth, when one was infected by the Warrior's Bane it usually left them with a year left to live, but, with all of the energy Twilight had used to topple Moloch, half of that had been burned away, at the very least. By his estimates they had less than half a year to find a way to cure her of the poison, though he also informed them that reaching this point normally came with a secondary phase of symptoms that weakened the host's body even more, as it often left them too weak to do anything and, in rare cases, the infected would cough up blood, though coughing was one of the minor symptoms. To ensure she didn't expand too much energy, and used only what she needed to, Frieza asked Twilight if there was a way for her to make some sort of hoverbed or something for herself, and the month trip gave her the time to make such a thing, complete with scanners for Alirinn to do his medical work. During that time, however, Twilight could feel her condition worsening, just as Alirinn described, as there were days where she felt sluggish and other days were the poison filled her with energy, all to trick her into thinking she was fine so she'd burn more of her power. One thing she noticed was that during her sluggish days it also affected her mind, another way for the poison to trick the infected into making terrible decisions, as it meant she was slower to react to what she was doing and Zarbon had caught her using magic while her parents were discussing something. Twilight was sure that the poison was the work of some god that loved to see mortals suffer, after everything she had learned since being stabbed by Moloch, and it made her angry when she found that she was just shortening her lifespan every time she did something stupid, after being told what not to do. After the first few instances Towa decided to stick near her, as Twilight was losing precious time each time the poison tricked her mind into doing something stupid, so this was their best way to make sure she kept as much of her remaining lifespan as she could. During the trip Zarbon and Dodoria noticed something they usually didn't see, their Lord decided to forgo the device he used whenever he visited a planet and opted to walk as he tended to Twilight's well-being, whenever he wasn't busy with making sure everything in the ship worked or speaking with his family. What surprised them, and secretly delighted both of them, was the fact that he actually cared about her, as there were times where they worried that he saw her as a pawn in his various schemes, but this erased those worries and filled them with hope for the future. What really surprised them was the fact that Lord Frieza was actually talking with Cooler like he was a brother and not some nuisance that he wanted nothing to do with, as Cooler asked if there was anything he could do to help Twilight and their boss informed him that, at the time, he didn't need help and that he'd call if things changed. Of course both of them knew that he'd call Ginyu before that happened, and Cooler understood that as well, though it was surprising to see both brothers talk without cursing the other out or saying any of their usual remarks, a custom they were used to long before Twilight entered their lives. Twilight had been a good influence on all of them, both Frieza and his family and Towa, and it was easy to see why they would be so eager to make sure she survived this without anything terrible happening to her, something that caused the pair to put forth their best effort to make sure that reality happened. As such, when they finally spotted their destination from the control room, everyone rejoiced for a time as they realized that part of their mission was successful, the journey was over, though Zarbon was quick to remind them that this was only the start of this operation. Now that Namek was in sight they had to do a scan of the planet and locate the locations of the Dragon Balls that would allow them to heal Twilight, though what they discovered was that there were a number of settlements scattered across the planet. Of course none of them were surprised when Twilight and her parents came to the command room, though it was more due to Twilight being interested in Namek, finding that it had three suns and had to be tidally locked with no day/night cycle, meaning, with all her research, that they'd find the Namekians in the part of the planet that was on the sunny side. Zarbon confirmed that with part of the scans the soldiers had run, though it would be some time before they had an idea as to where the Namekians were actually living, causing Frieza to sigh as he gave the command for them to head down to a clear area that they could land in and make their base in. While they flew down to the planet's surface Towa noticed that the energy of the Namekians, or what she could tell right now, wasn't anything to be excited about, though there were two figures they would have to check on at some point, as they appeared to be the strongest of them all, or at least she was sure of that fact. "Some of us will be heading to the nearest Namekian village, while the rest of you will stay here and monitor the situation accordingly." Frieza stated, as he knew that if Vegeta survived his battle on Earth there was a chance that he'd come to this planet to find the Dragon Balls, all so he could wish for immortality no doubt, so he was planning on ensuring they had a window of sort to catch him before he arrived, "Zarbon, Dodoria, you two are coming with us as well... I'm not expecting any trouble, but, given our situation, it is better to be safe than sorry." His right and left hands saluted him as they headed for the exit as well, finding that Frieza was no longer opting to use his own hoverchair, rather he was walking on his own, for the first time in a very long time by their reckoning, before finding that it had been replaced by a hoverbed of Twilight's design. Sure enough the weakened princess was resting on it, where Alirinn was tending to her vitals and doing his best to counter the Warrior's Bane that was coursing through her veins right now, with Towa standing nearby and Frieza stopped to make sure she was fine. Clearly part of him didn't want to take her out into the field once more, not after what happened on Griea V, but, at the same time, he was worried that the Namekians might not listen to him if he didn't present convincing evidence about his desire to have a wish granted. He was only taking her for that reason, to help convince the Namekians that he was telling the truth, because he really didn't want to endanger Twilight's remaining lifespan anymore than necessary, which they understood after everything they had seen so far. Once everyone was ready to go, as they had assembled a group of at least fifteen soldiers, not counting Zarbon, Dodoria, or his family of three, Frieza departed from the ship with all the haste he could muster before he and the others lifted into the air and headed in the direction of the closest reading. What he discovered was that Namek was quite peaceful, with very few trees and vegetation, making one wonder what in the world the Namekians ate since it didn't seem like food was grown on this planet, but he knew someone was thinking about it despite her condition. Twilight quickly theorized that they survived mostly on water, so a planet like this, that was mostly water with scattered islands that could form an archipelago, seemed to be the best thing for the Namekians as a whole, and if they were growing anything it was likely to help improve the rest of their planet. Frieza and Towa had to admit that it was refreshing to see the brilliant side of Twilight, since they hated seeing her so weak that she couldn't do anything but sleep and try to recover her energy, and such a thing pushed them forward, causing them to focus on the task at hand as they tracked down the Namekians. Luck was on their side as they discovered a small settlement of about ten green skinned figures, like the one that Nappa had fought before Goku punished him and Vegeta killed him, who lived in white round houses with small spikes on top and a few of them seemed to be working in a nearby field, causing them to land on the outskirts without delay. "Please pardon our intrusion," Frieza said, as the Namekians had turned the moment he and his group had landed, which saved them a bit of time since there was no telling when the Warrior's Bane would act up again, though as the rest of his group landed he did notice that some of the locals were afraid, "but we mean you no harm. We heard about your Dragon Balls, especially the vast power that they possess, and have come to collect them so we can grant a very specific wish, as my daughter was poisoned not long ago and it's eating her from the inside out... we're here to cure her, as the method to cure her poison was destroyed by the people of the planet she had been poisoned on." "How do you know of the Dragon Balls?" one of the Namekians, their leader based on how the others acted, inquired, as if they were worried about evildoers coming to abuse the power that was contained inside all of the magical spheres that granted wishes, though Frieza knew that if Twilight hadn't been struck by some incurable poison he'd likely be looking for immortality for himself. "During a scouting mission to a faraway planet, one of our soldiers encountered a Namekian and learned that the planet had it's own set of the spheres." Towa replied, which wasn't a total lie, as Vegeta and Nappa had been sent to do one thing and had managed to disobey them in some manner, even though her husband was willing to forgive Vegeta since he had, in the end, given him the key to saving Twilight's life, "Unfortunately the Namekian in question was killed during a battle and his Dragon Balls were rendered inert, hence why we came here, looking for the original set so that we can cure our daughter of the poison that's coursing through her veins." "I see. I'm sorry to hear that another Namekian has fallen, and that your daughter is sick, but we cannot hand the Dragon Ball over to such evil people." the Elder stated, though as those words left his mouth he considered the people in front of him, finding that while most had a faint bit of light inside them, like a small flame, it was smothered by the darkness that was their evil nature, before locating one that was different from the others, "There is one among you, however, that is far less evil than the others, who carries a beacon of light inside them... I cannot give the Dragon Ball to any of you, but, if the one with good in them stepped forward to complete a trial of combat, I might hand it over." "One with 'light' in them? Who could that..." Frieza started to inquire, though in that moment he and Towa instantly figured it out, something that filled them with utter dread when they stopped to consider what the Namekian was asking, because such a thing meant cutting down on the amount of time someone special to them had, "No..." "You are referring to me, right?" Twilight asked, where she shifted on her hoverbed for a moment as Alirinn made sure she was able to climb off of it without too much happening, allowing the Elder and the other Namekians to see that she was, as Frieza said, weakened from the poison that was coursing through her veins, before she touched down and glanced at all of them for a moment, "So, who do I have to fight for the right to claim the Dragon Ball?" The Elder explained that, since this was a trial of combat, all she had to do was best the clan's greatest warrior to claim the Dragon Ball, along with the fact that there were six villages in total, six clans to be exact, so all they had to do was fight all six of the warrior Namekians to earn the right to claim each sphere. Of course some clans had multiple warriors and they would pick the strongest of them all as her challenger, causing Twilight to nod her head as she listened to him, though he made it clear that killing wasn't allowed and would force her to forfeit her right to the wish granting orbs. He also had her fight the warrior, a younger Namekian who was likely twenty years old, since he looked like an adult and not an Elder, who wore an open purple vest, no shirt, and the white pants that seemed common for some of his people to wear, over on a nearby island, so they didn't wreck the entire village. With all of the rules in mind Twilight and her foe crossed over to the area in question as her father, mother, and the rest of the group stood near the Elder, allowing them and the remainder of the villagers to watch the battle that was about to take place. The pair stared at each other as Twilight shifted her stance, allowing her foe the time to do the same, where she quickly found that he was sizing her up, just as she was doing to determine the best course of action, despite the fact that using her power was far too dangerous given her situation. In the next moment she made the first move, as it seemed that her foe was actually waiting for her to do so, where she swung her fist at him to test the water, finding that he dodged her first attack and backed away a little, allowing him to continue studying her movements before attacking. Towa and Frieza were able to notice the vast change in her fighting style instantly, the poison had forced her to slow down, as if she was weighed down by something heavy, while at the same time it was no doubt sapping her strength now that she was fighting. It was the worse case scenario for them, obtaining the Dragon Balls while cutting down on the amount of time Twilight had left before the poison claimed her, but they trusted their daughter as she carefully attacked her foe, finding that some of her attacks did catch the Namekian off guard. In the following moments, however, the Namekian spotted an opening and delivered a powerful uppercut into Twilight's chest, something that was mostly absorbed by her armor, but the rest of it caused her to cough up some blood, much to the surprise of everyone watching them. "By the Grand Elder, I'm so sorry!" the Namekian said, as he wasn't expecting his attack to do such a thing to her, though at the same time it told the Elder that Frieza and Towa were telling the truth, their daughter was sick and both of them were worried that serious damage had been done to her just now. "Not... your fault... it's... the poison." Twilight replied, where she staggered back for a moment, cursing the poison again as she realized that she could have avoided that attack with ease had her body been in perfect condition, before shifting her stance once more, showing her foe that she was ready to continue. This time around Twilight pushed herself more than she should have, going on the offensive without delay and surprising the Namekian in the process as she punched him in the gut, causing him to bend low for a moment, before delivering a blow to the back that knocked him down. "That's enough." the Elder said, as while he would normally let the battle play out, to prove the desire of the one who was seeking the Dragon Balls, he did notice the strain that it was putting on the young warrior and knew that if it went on for too long they'd be doing more harm than good, "I will retrieve the Dragon Ball so you can be on your way." "My thanks." Frieza replied, because while he could have just ordered the Namekians to be killed, instead of forcing his poisoned daughter to fight and reduce her already weakened lifespan, he had to admit that this forged good bonds with the locals, as they might be more willing to aid their quest now, before he turned towards Alirinn, "How is she?" "The armor tanked most of the damage, but she's lost more of her lifespan... at least a week is gone, maybe two at most, based on what I can tell." Alirinn stated, once more reminding them that he was the only one here with any knowledge of the symptoms and signs of the Warrior's Bane poison, that he was able to tell what was going on in no time, though at the same time Frieza wasn't about to question why he bothered to learn about it since the herb had been destroyed, since it was helping him save Twilight's life. As Frieza thought about that he realized that with six trials that they needed to overcome, counting this one, that meant Twilight was going to lose a month and a half of her remaining life, which was already down to five months thanks to the flight that brought them here, while if the two weeks option was accurate she'd lose three months. It was maddening to even consider, asking the very person who was sick to make her condition worse just so they could get the Dragon Balls, but even as he considered that he noticed something, Twilight had a faint smile on her face, as if she felt that the risk was well worth it. Such a thing pained him more than he was willing to admit, as they were literally playing with fire right now, because the Elder of this village had stopped the battle before it went on for much longer and there was no telling if the other five would follow suit, so they might lose even more time if they were stronger than this warrior. They could lose a lot more time if the other Elders let the battles go on for longer than this one, which worried both him and Towa far more than they were willing to admit, but he kept his thoughts to himself for a moment as the Elder brought out a large sphere that was twice the size of his head. The orange sphere had to be the Dragon Ball, which seemed more clear than he thought it would be and it had seven little stars inside it, where the Elder indicated that there were seven in total and the last one required no trial, causing Frieza to take it, as they were one step closer to fulfilling their mission and he hoped Vegeta would remain off world until Twilight was healed. > Namek: New Visitors > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Frieza found that going from village to village, while the best plan available to him and the others right now, had a bit of a downside to it, which was that it took them a day to go from one village to another, forcing Towa to use her magic so she could return to the ship, report their progress, and then return with food. Since Namek was tidally locked they had to rely on many of their instruments to figure out when a day was over, as the Elder of the first village informed them of how long a day lasted when Twilight asked about it, though it still came as a surprise to everyone. Spending a day traveling wasn't the best thing in the world, given their time constraints, though the only good thing was that the Elder informed them all of the trials were different and unique, as his was the Trial of Combat, while the other six involved Strength, Will, Wit, Heart, Spirit, and Truth. Such a thing came as a surprise to Twilight when she listened to what the first Elder had to say on the matter, though she knew it was a good thing since some of the trials meant that fighting wasn't a requirement, which would allow her parents to relax a little as they moved from village to village. Twilight, despite that fact, kept pushing herself to make sure they got the Dragon Balls, first the Seven Star, then the Five Star, and finally the Two Star, though she did so with a smile on her face, as the trials were interesting and she wanted to learn more about the Namekians as a people. The Trial of Strength, for example, was usually a test for one to overcome a creature and return with a trophy, though she found that the Elder of the second village tasked her with recovering a crab egg from a nearby nest, as that was proof enough, where Twilight decided to distract the massive crab before rushing over to the nest. She figured the change in the trial was due to how peaceful the Namekians were, and how they seemed to be at peace with the rest of Namek, so she remained true to their version of the trial and returned with her trophy, allowing her to claim her prize. The Trial of Will seemed to center around preventing innocent creatures from being harmed by a threat, such as someone hunting an endangered species to extinction, though to make it work one of the soldiers offered to play the part of the threat as a younger Namekian played the prey, which she easily passed. Out of the four trials she eventually took place in Twilight found the Trial of Wit to be the easiest of them all, because the Elder of that village asked her several questions that were riddles, like one that was about what sort of creature walked on four legs, then two, and finally three, and she answered all of them correctly. While they were doing that Alirinn kept track of how the poison was progressing, because while some trials simply needed her to answer some questions or figure something out, which she excelled at, some did require her to use her energy or bits of her magic to pass. He discovered that his initial estimates about how much time Twilight had left was off, due to the fact that her fights and energy usages were taking almost two weeks from her every time she did something that agitated the poison in her system, severely cutting into how of her lifespan was left. For Frieza and Towa that was a massive blow, as six trials meant she might lose three of her remaining five months of life, since they had no idea what the last couple of trials might have her do. The other thing they had to be wary of was the fact that Vegeta was bound to arrive before they found the last Dragon Ball, as Frieza knew that the lure of immortality was too appealing for someone like the Saiyan, due to his position in life, hence why he had his soldiers in the ship keeping track of incoming ships, just in case he was right and Vegeta showed up. While they were wrapping up their visit to the fourth village, however, Frieza got a message he had been expecting, only it was far different from what he was used to getting, hence why he and Towa turned their attention away from the trial so they could figure out exactly what was going on. "Appule, report. What's going on?" Frieza asked, though at the same time he noticed something odd, his Scouter spotted three individuals landing some distance away from where his group was located, in fact he was sure that both Zarbon and Dodoria must have noticed it as well, making him wonder if the crew had missed something important. "My Lord, it appears that we have some unknown visitors... and I've gotten word that Vegeta landed on Planet 49, all of his wounds were tended, and now he's on his way here." Appule replied, confirming his suspicions on the matter, Vegeta was no doubt coming to claim immortality for himself so he wouldn't have to serve under him any longer, and with how the Saiyans grew under pressure such a thing would be bad for them if Vegeta grew too much, "Cui isn't far behind him, and he's sure that Vegeta means to betray us for the Dragon Balls." "The prospect of immortality, and the power one can obtain with eternal life, must be calling to him." Towa said, though she had to admit that even demons had fantasies of claiming such a power for themselves, even if it was to overcome the power of Mechikabura and forge their own destinies, despite the figure being sealed away, "What do you think, darling? Should we wait and see what his true intentions are, or should we label him as a traitor now and let Cui deal with him, or at least weaken him while we track down the Dragon Balls?" "What to do indeed." Frieza remarked, because part of him wanted to punish Vegeta for going against part of his orders during his time on Earth, though at the same time the other side wanted to see what the Saiyan would do after landing on Namek, just to see if he was truly going to betray him, Towa, Twilight, and the empire, "For now, keep the line open so we can hear what he's doing... if he betrays us, and starts going after the Dragon Balls, I want to know as soon as it happens so we can snip the problem in the bulb." He was practically making Cui a sacrificial pawn right now, he didn't have much of a choice since he had no idea if Vegeta would betray them or if he was coming to help them claim the remaining Dragon Balls, though Towa agreed with him, it was the best move they could make at the moment. "As you wish, Lord Frieza. What about the other signatures?" Appule inquired, speaking of the three incoming individuals who had appeared on their radar before discovering that Vegeta was on his way to Namek, as their usual orders were to engage and destroy, though after Twilight joined the Force many of their orders had changed. "I'll send two scouts to the area they land in and see if they're hostile or not... wouldn't want any hostile enemies to come and attack the Namekians while we're here." Frieza replied, as it was the easiest way for them to figure out what to do, if they were hostile his soldiers could take care of them and if they were tourists from another planet they could welcome them with open arms, hopefully to avoid any potential fights, "Hopefully things go smoothly..." "That's enough... you have passed the Trial of Wit." the Namekian Elder stated, where Frieza and Towa found that Twilight was pleased with her success, something they were becoming familiar with after everything she had done so far, though this time he already had the Dragon Ball, the Three Star sphere to be exact, pulled out from where it was held, which he allowed them to take, "With four of our Dragon Balls in hand you might not need to worry about the trials from the other two villages... depends on their preference, sticking to our long tradition or helping some grieving parents out." Frieza nodded for a moment as one of the soldiers took the Dragon Ball, handing it over to Dodoria since he and Zarbon were the best guardians for them, and whenever they obtained another one he could have Towa carry it, before he thanked the Elder as Twilight returned to her hoverbed. It pained him to do this, allowing her to tackle the trials when she was poisoned with something that was killing her overtime, but the Namekians had stated their terms and there was no going back at this point, not if they wanted to maintain good relations with them. Even Towa, a demon, was pained by watching her daughter risk her remaining lifespan to obtain the other Dragon Balls, despite the fact that they were coming in with more than enough time if Alirinn's readings were accurate, as he informed them that he'd tell them if Twilight got close to one month of life left. It was for that very reason that they were hoping the next two villagers were willing to hand over their Dragon Balls without requiring Twilight to tackle another trial, so they could save time and not force her to lose more of her lifespan in the process, but he guessed they would find out soon enough. As they started to get ready to depart, however, Vegeta and Cui finally landed as the other newcomers did as well, to which he ordered two of the soldiers to go investigate the area in question, as it was time for them to see if new enemies might have arrived or if tourists might have arrived. Frieza decided to move outside the village for the time being, as he wanted to be sure of Vegeta's intentions before making his next move, where they silently listened in on what he and Cui were saying at the moment, Cui mentioning the disrespect the Saiyan showed towards him, his superior, and the heads of the empire as well. Cui seemed to think that Vegeta was going to betray them at any moment and wanted to take care of him now, which they would have to deal with since this would allow Frieza to determine whether or not the Saiyan was truly on their side, as with immortality in sight they were sure he'd betray them. Based on what they overheard it sounded like Vegeta was angry at Cui, which made sense considering that they had been near equal in power for a really long time, before the Saiyan powered up on their Scouters, as Zarbon was tracking him while the others focused on the remaining villages and the newcomers that their scouts were looking for right now. In the end, however, Zarbon's Scouter blew up after some time, something that surprised them and the Namekians that were watching them right now, where Frieza informed them that nothing was wrong, simply a malfunction in the device his subordinate was wearing, before he focused on what had happened. "The Scouter clocked Vegeta's Power Level at twenty-two thousand... must be a malfunction." Zarbon remarked, though at the same time he heard Twilight cough for a moment as she listened to them, in fact it was one of the only things she could do after the battles she had been through. "Zarbon, your Scouter was one of the older models, ones that could barely handle a reading like that." Twilight said, where she paused for a moment as Alirinn dealt with the blood that had come up during her cough, a sign that her body was getting weaker as time went on, before she turned her head towards Dodoria, who happened to have one of the newer Scouters, even if it was still behind the newest of them all, "Dodoria, can you get the right reading?" "Of course." Dodoria replied, where he handed one Dragon Ball over to a soldier before tapping his Scouter, allowing him to lock onto the area that Vegeta was in, before he frowned as he noticed the reading that he was getting right now, as it meant Zarbon had to be telling the truth as to what Vegeta's power actually was, "That... that can't be right! This Scouter must be broken as well." "Dodoria, need I remind you that the newer Scouters were made by Twilight?" Towa inquired, as saying they were broken meant that one might as well be saying that her daughter had been wrong in some manner when she made them, and all of them knew that Twilight got annoyed when one thought she happened to be in the wrong about something. "N... No, of course not. The Scouter says that Vegeta's Power Level is twenty-four thousand." Dodoria stated, reminding the rest of the group that Towa could be just as scary as Frieza when she was annoyed, and yet still be outranked by their daughter at times, as Twilight was the scariest of them all at times, so he wanted to make sure she stayed calm. "Cui's doomed, sadly." Frieza said, though while it was an acceptable loss, since they weren't losing anything of value, this told everyone exactly what they needed to know, Vegeta was betraying them so he could get his hands on the remaining Dragon Balls, before noting that Twilight shifted her head in the direction of the pair, no doubt sensing something that he and the others couldn't, "Okay, scratch that, he's likely already dead. If Vegeta's searching for the Dragon Balls we might as well inform the Elder and see if he can't warn the other villages of our little traitor's existence, so they know not to engage him if he comes looking for the remaining spheres. I had a feeling that he'd betray us, but I never imagined that he'd be so brazen in doing so... if we had the time to punish him I'd suggest tracking him down, but for now keep an eye out for him as we track down the remaining Dragon Balls." As one of the soldiers told the Elder about Vegeta, so he could somehow inform the others of his kind in case they were visited by Vegeta, another one informed him that the next village was actually closer to their position, to which Frieza and the others moved into the air before heading in the direction in question. This was potentially good news, that another village was closer than the others they had tracked down, meaning they might be able to get two Dragon Balls in a single day and, more importantly, maybe cut down on how much time spent traveling. Of course he had to wonder what the two soldiers he sent off were doing right now, were they able to track down the newcomers and figure out exactly why they had chosen to come to Namek in the first place, as he hadn't heard anything from them, nor had his other soldiers found any readings of them being beaten. He did glance back for a moment and found that Twilight continued to take in what they were flying past, even spotting a small outcropping that had a cave at one point, where he was glad that she was able to take her mind off of the poison and simply enjoy herself, for however long he had no idea anymore. It took some time, but Frieza was able to smile as he spotted the village that they had tracked down with their Scouters, as there were some Namekians tending to their own gardens and whatnot, meaning one of the remaining three Dragon Balls had to be nearby, and, sure enough, upon landing on the outskirts they found several figures emerging to see what was going on right now. "Hello Namekians, my name is Frieza. As you can see, we're collecting your sacred Dragon Balls to grant a wish that is very important to us: healing my poisoned daughter." Frieza said, which was basically what he said whenever they visited one of the villages that his forces were currently tracking down, all so they could cut down on the amount of time wasted since there was no telling when the poison would act up, or when Twilight would be wracked by pain, "We were hoping that, with four of the seven Dragon Balls, that you might be willing to aid us in our quest to cure her of the poison she's been fighting for some time now. There's also a Saiyan warrior, by the name of Vegeta, that you need to keep an eye out for, as he's learned of their existence as well and might be looking for the spheres... though he is wearing our armor, the attire of a Frieza Force soldier, he is no longer part of our group." The Elder, who wore a red open jacket, a white ring of sorts around his neck, and purple sash in addition to the white pair of pants, glanced at the other Namekians for a moment and started to speak in their language, something Frieza and the others had seen before this point, even Twilight was taking notes on it, before he turned towards them again. "This village is mostly made up of elderly and the young, with three middle aged Namekians who are currently working in the field." the Elder stated, as while Frieza had determined that there were ten of them in this place, thanks to the reading his soldiers got with their Scouters, this allowed him to figure out one thing, this village might not have a warrior for them to use in the trial, much less defend themselves against Vegeta's impending hunt, "Normally we would ask that you take part a trial to prove yourselves worthy of taking the Dragon Ball, but, with danger closing in on our villages, we might be better off handing them to you at this point... you have, of course, already be found worthy by four Elders. You should be able to fend off this invader, right?" "Indeed. There are five of us with enough strength to take down Vegeta: Zarbon, Dodoria, myself, my husband, and our daughter, Twilight." Towa replied, which was the truth of the matter, both she and Frieza could easily kill him, while both Zarbon and Dodoria could still take him right now, if his power didn't grow more than it already had, though she also knew that once her daughter was healed she would be able to do so as well, something that shocked the Elder, "Don't be too surprised, as Twilight is incredibly strong for her age... in fact, if it wasn't for the poison she's been inflicted with, which we are seeking to get rid of, she would be able to take care of Vegeta on her own... actually, I'm sure she'd love the idea, as she loves to fight as much as she loves reading and researching." "I'd... welcome such a... challenge." Twilight said, because she had only fought Raditz and was mildly annoyed that she now had no chance to fight Nappa, since Vegeta had killed him, but she could forgive him a little if Goku was still alive, since a new Saiyan made things more interesting, before she coughed and found more blood in her hand, causing Alirinn to rush over and uncork a potion he had concocted to help mend her body. As that happened, and Twilight carefully drank the potion, one of the little Namekians walked up to where she was resting, where he raised his hands towards her and focused on something, as small waves of energy seemed to radiate from her body as they watched what was currently going on. "I... I don't believe it... a small portion of the poison has been dealt with!" Alirinn remarked, as his scans indicated that the Warrior's Bane was still near full strength, something Twilight and Towa had helped him with so he could keep track of it's power and terrible influence, but it was definitely somewhat weaker than before, meaning they might not need to track down the remaining Dragon Balls, "How'd you do that?" "Dende is skilled in the spiritual arts of our kind, and some of us have felt that his healing skills are only an indication of his latent powers." the Elder answered, where Dende smiled for a moment, as he was pleased to have done some good for the weakened girl that was in front of them, before he considered how else they might be able to aid them, since while the vast majority of them were evil he did detect that they weren't here for selfish purposes, like immortality. "Lord Frieza, we found the other newcomers." one of the soldiers that had been sent out said, where they found that the pair returned with two figures that Frieza, Towa, and Twilight recognized, those being the bald dwarf and Goku's son, but none of them were actually surprised, because if a Namekian had landed on Earth it stood to reason the ship might still be intact for them to use, "They claim to have come here in search of the Namekian Dragon Balls." This, of course, presented a problem to Frieza, because if the Earth's version of the wish granting orbs were inspired from the original pair, the Namekian set, that meant there was only one wish, one shot at riding Twilight of the poison, though he did have to consider the other fact they had discovered, Dende's healing weakened it. "Look, Gohan, Bulma, and I didn't come to cause any trouble. We just want to bring back our friends that were killed by Vegeta during his time on Earth." the bald fighter stated, as he could tell that all of them were strong and death would be theirs if they fought any of the soldiers that were around them right now, while at the same time the Elder withdrew the Six Star Dragon Ball so Towa could take it with her magic, "Do your Dragon Balls grant multiple wishes by chance?" "I don't know. Only the Grand Elder knows for sure." the Elder replied, which Frieza and the others knew to be the maker of the Dragon Balls, where on Earth it would have been the slain Namekian who perished protecting the boy, Gohan as the bald warrior called him, before an idea came to mind as he glanced at Dende for a moment, "Dende, can you fly to the Grand Elder's and ask him about the Dragon Balls? If they can grant more than one wish we simply must know." "Please, allow Krillin and I to go with him. Vegeta's landed on the planet and might cause trouble." Gohan said, though as he said that he realized that working with a group of evil people was a bad thing, maybe entirely stupid given that there was a chance they could betray them, he did know that this was the best chance they had to make sure everyone got their wish granted if the Grand Elder gave them good news. "Very well. Dodoria, go with them and ensure no harm comes to them." Frieza stated, as there was no reason for them to play around right now, with Vegeta having rebelled there was a chance he'd seek out one of the remaining two Dragon Balls they were looking for, or seek out his forces to destroy them, so this would keep Dende safe. As Dodoria nodded, and allowed Towa to take the two Dragon Balls he was holding onto, Frieza had a feeling that things were about to change on them, in what way he had no idea, and hoped that this time around nothing happened, but he knew that the following hours and days would tell him whether or not he was right. > Namek: Immediate Disaster > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Um, Mister Dodoria? Do you mind if I ask you something?" Gohan inquired, though as he said that he, Krillin, Dende, and the figure he was interested in talking to departed for the Grand Elder's location, so they could figure out if the Namekian Dragon Balls could grant one or more wishes. "You just did, kid." Dodoria replied, where he noted that the two small individuals were incredibly weak, thanks to what his Scouter was reading right now, and mentally he was annoyed that he was the one being tasked with this mission, but with Twilight's life on the line, given that they knew next to nothing about the Dragon Balls, he wanted to succeed, before he chuckled as he noticed the look on Gohan's face, "Go ahead kid. What's bothering you?" "I don't want to sound disrespectful, but... who was that person on the hovering bed?" Gohan asked, where Krillin found that he was curious as well, as two of the figures had been overly protective of her, from what he could tell anyway, despite the fact that none of them seemed to resemble the others. "Twilight Sparkle, daughter of Lord Frieza and Lady Towa, heiress to the entire galactic empire." Dodoria stated, which was all that needed to be said on the matter, as most of what he could say would be lost on the pair, but at the very least they did understand why she was so important to his bosses, "She was poisoned by an incurable poison... or so we thought, since Dende did some damage to it... and we came to collect the Dragon Balls to deal with it." "Didn't the inhabitants of the planet that poisoned her have the cure for it?" Krillin inquired, as Gohan's question got him a tad bit interested in the odd girl and her power, something that would have caused him to stagger had they been on her father's list of targets to take down. "They did, or at least until someone burned all the herbs that produced it and destroyed all the antidotes to it." Dodoria remarked, as that was what happened not all that long ago, even though it sure felt like it since a couple of months had gone by since their visit to the planet in question, causing him to sigh for a moment, "We're still not sure how he had a bit of it left, but the dagger it was on is long gone, so we can't use it to produce a cure for her condition..." In that moment Gohan and Krillin came to a stop, causing Dodoria and Dende to do the same, though they were looking off to their left and informed their companions that Vegeta was on the move, in fact he was coming straight for them, to which Dodoria had them head down to a nearby patch of land as he locked onto Vegeta. As the trio landed, however, both Gohan and Krillin noticed something odd happen, the Scouter blew up and caused Dodoria to look around as he tried to find out where Vegeta was located, as if the Saiyan was behind the device being destroyed. Gohan considered the scene for a couple of seconds and knew that Vegeta wouldn't resort to hiding and blasting the Scouters, in fact he was still closing in on their location, though as he and Krillin lowered their Ki to nothing, to remain undetected, he recalled seeing a small Ki blast that flew through the air before it connected with the device. He had to wonder if there was a sniper hanging out nearby, and if so he had to wonder where in the world the figure was hiding since he didn't detect anyone else in the area, as if they knew how to hide their Ki and only revealed it for a brief second to hit their targets. After that came the moment that Gohan and Krillin were waiting for, Vegeta appeared above Dodoria and struck him hard enough in the back to send him flying towards another island, far away from where the pair and Dende were hiding, though they watched for a time as Dodoria hit the water and had to climb out. From what they could see Vegeta was still arrogant and believed that he was the biggest dog around, in fact the pair quickly realized that he was stronger than when he was on Earth, a bad sign for everyone since they needed Goku's help to force him to retreat, even with great injuries to everyone involved. From what they could tell Vegeta had been waiting for one or more of the soldiers surrounding Frieza to depart so he could pick them apart, piece by piece, though that caused Gohan to realize something else, none of the other soldiers were rushing over to help Dodoria. Sure, they had flown for about ten or fifteen minutes, but with the remainder of Frieza's group having Scouters he would have expected some to have noticed the arrival of Vegeta and come running to help Dodoria take them down, but that hadn't happened yet. In that moment he had to wonder if the mysterious sniper was still hanging around and might have already taken out the rest of the Scouters, just to blind Frieza's army in the process, and Vegeta confirmed his thoughts when he mentioned that he wasn't getting a signal from the rest of the enemies on the planet. With that in mind Vegeta actually removed his Scouter and squished it with his left foot, showing them that he must have learned how to sense Ki was well, another bad thing for Gohan and Krillin, before Dodoria attacked, reminding them that the Saiyan was now a traitor to Frieza's army. The pair expected Dodoria and Vegeta to be evenly matched, since their energies were similar to each other, but that simply wasn't the case, the latter avoided the former's attacks with ease, especially one powerful burst of Ki energy that erased part of the landscape, proving that the battle on Earth had boosted Vegeta's power to new heights. In fact Vegeta managed to get behind Dodoria and caught both of his arms, even jumping before catching the second so he could pull his arms behind his back in a rather painful manner, something that caused Dodoria to groan in pain as he quickly cut his foe a deal. That turned out to be the fact that the planet the Saiyans called home hadn't been taken out by a meteor, rather it had been destroyed by Frieza himself, to prevent an uprising from the warrior race, though instead of being shocked Vegeta was just annoyed that he let himself be used for so long. The trio observed as the Saiyan unleashed a powerful blast into the air, as Dodoria had been freed so he could talk, and he wiped Dodoria out with his Ki blast, leaving nothing of the other warrior behind, as Gohan confirmed he was dead, causing the Saiyan to laugh as he moved out once more, causing the trio to carefully move as they wondered how they were going to tell Frieza the news. After Dodoria left with the newcomers and Dende, on a mission of great importance, Frieza had relocated the group he was leading to another island, about ten minutes from where the previous village was located, to consider his options and plan out there next move. The reason for this pause was because one of his soldiers reported that Dodoria's signature had gone away, as in his Scouter had been destroyed, because many of them believed that, while Vegeta was now strong enough to wipe out the lesser soldiers with ease, he was still no match for someone of Dodoria's power. After that, however, he and Towa found that they were under attack by someone, as his Scouter was blasted to pieces and the remainder were taken out as well, leaving his group with no way to actually find the remaining village or the remaining two Dragon Balls, one he was sure was in the final village and the other was with the Grand Elder. In his mind it made sense, as warriors had to prove themselves to the Elders of their kind, to be worthy of a wish, and it seemed reasonable to think that the path ended with the Grand Elder himself, a final hurdle of sorts. The destruction of their Scouters, however, derailed their plans entirely and caused him to realize that they would need to call for additional devices to be brought with all the haste that could be mustered, meaning he was going to have to call in the Ginyu Force since they were the closest to Namek. "Time for a chance of plans: Zarbon, I want you and our soldiers to head out and find the last village, but don't bother the Namekians, just come back and deliver the location to us." Frieza stated, where he found that his soldiers saluted him as he turned to face them, while at the same time Towa and Alirinn were focused on Twilight, who seemed to sense something had happened in the surrounding area, making him wonder if she had figured out how to use another power, "Towa and I will be returning to the ship so Twilight can get some rest and Alirinn can make sure her vitals are fine... wouldn't want the poison to sneak up on us in some manner." "As you command, Lord Frieza." Zarbon replied, where he wasted no time in handing over the pair of Dragon Balls he had been carrying, allowing Towa to levitate them with her magic as well, giving her all five of the spheres they had found so far, before he fell in with the rest of the soldiers as they leapt into the air and started to go over the directions that they would be checking out to find the last village. With that done Frieza and Towa took off, allowing Alirinn and the hoverbed that Twilight was resting on to follow after them as they headed back to the ship, as it was time for him to call Ginyu, something he hadn't considered when he decided to come to Namek in search of the Dragon Balls. As that happened, however, he heard his daughter mumbling as they flew, as she had to be feeling something at the moment and wondered what she could have learned since her visit to Griea V, but all he could make out was that 'signatures were disappearing'. Frieza recalled what the Earthlings had been capable of during their viewing session of Vegeta's time on the planet, that they knew how to accurately track their foes, something Twilight claimed to be Energy Sensing without a Scouter, and if she had figured out how to do it, without someone teaching her, it meant she really was a prodigy and a genius. Of course her words still worried him, because it meant that Vegeta was killing their soldiers at an alarming rate, which told him that the Saiyan either had a Scouter or was able to sense energy as well, though at the same time he realized that he might have to call on Ginyu anyway, given how things might be going right now. Fortunately, since they were moving faster than before, they were able to track down their ship and headed inside, where he and Towa returned to their chamber, since it was the most secure place to store the Dragon Balls, while Alirinn took Twilight next door to continue his task as their daughter rested. "Twilight said that Dodoria's energy disappeared, several of our soldiers had disappeared, and that some Namekians have also disappeared." Towa said, as she had been listening to her daughters remarks during their flight and realized that she must have, somehow, learned how to sense energy from observing the battle on Earth, because Twilight had watched the recording a few times to understand everything that had happened, "Vegeta's killing everyone and anyone that crosses his path, regardless of who they are or if they have anything for him to take... it wouldn't surprise me if he found the location of the sixth Dragon Ball while we were flying back to the ship." "Yes, it seems that he's turned on us, and at the worst moment too." Frieza remarked, due to the fact that they had five of the seven spheres needed to make their wish for Twilight, so if Vegeta did track down the last village it meant that her fate was literally in his hands, especially since they had no idea where the seventh sphere was located, "If he's tracking down our forces it's only a matter of time until he's found Zarbon, who should be able to beat him on his own... if Zarbon forces himself to transform it'll be over in seconds... we might be able to snip this problem in the bud early, though we'll have to keep him alive until we get the other Dragon Ball. I'm thinking of calling the Ginyu Force, if only for additional Scouters... if this get worse, well, they can deal with whatever our problems are." "Transform, you say? Zarbon has such a power?" Towa inquired, as this was the first time she had heard of it, in fact she was sure the only ones who knew he had access to such an ability were likely her husband and his family, since she felt that if Twilight knew she would have shared it with her at some point. "Yes, it drastically raises his power, but his beautiful form, as he calls it, is sacrificed for a more monstrous form, or so he told me." Frieza said, as he recalled the one time he witnessed the form in question, something that put Zarbon on par with the second lowest member of the Ginyu Force, as the five members of that group were monsters in their own ways, causing him to sigh for a moment, "If he's forced to transform he might accidentally kill Vegeta... which will really force us to look high and low for the potential Dragon Ball he might have found..." Towa could tell that Frieza was worried and she shared his thoughts on the matter, if they eliminated Vegeta now it meant they would lose precious time searching for the Dragon Ball he likely found, especially since Twilight claimed a number of their soldiers had perished so far, but if he stayed alive for too long he'd become a real thorn in their sides... though as she considered their options there was a knock on the door. "Lord Frieza, Lady Towa, it is Zarbon." a voice said, which was one they were hoping to hear back from, given what their daughter had claimed might be happening to the rest of the planet, though at the same time Towa found that an hour had already passed since their visit to Dende's village, meaning worrying made time fly. "You may enter." Frieza replied, where he and his wife turned for a moment and watched as Zarbon entered their section of the ship, discovering that he was scuffed up, like he had gotten into a fight with someone and they suspected that he might have clashed with Vegeta, which would be good news for them, "Have you located the other village?" "No sir. In fact, Vegeta admitted that he took out all of the soldiers before coming to face me." Zarbon answered, which came as no surprise to either of the figures in front of him, in fact they had been expecting to hear this news since those two small warriors were on their way to the Grand Elder's to learn about the Dragon Balls, "He also informed me that he was able to take down Dodoria without breaking a sweat, so to beat him I had no choice but to transform... I returned him to the medics, who are going to heal him until he's conscious, so we can get some information out of him." "What of Gohan, Krillin, and Dende?" Towa inquired, because if Dodoria was dead there was a chance that the Earthlings and their Namekian friend were dead as well, preventing them from learning more about the Dragon Balls and what they were capable of. "Vegeta made no mention of them, so I'm assuming he told them to either run or hide and they continued on their way to the Grand Elder's place." Zarbon replied, as he had no idea which option was the right one right now, even though both were totally possible since Vegeta seemed to be in the mood for killing people, where he paused for a moment as Alirinn was admitted into the room and Twilight was brought close to the Dragon Balls, "How is she doing?" "Tired, all things considered." Alirinn stated, though as he said that he did turn the tablet he was working on so they could see the information he had for them, that despite everything she was just fine and that her body needed some rest, even after Dende's healing, "If we could figure out how to boost Dende's power we might, just might, have a shot at healing her without the rest of the Dragon Balls, even if there are two more out there for us to find." "Alright, I'm ordering Appule to contact the Ginyu Force and ensure they arrive in no less than five days... we can afford to wait for a couple of days before recovering the other spheres." Frieza said, as he really didn't want to put the search on hold right now, but with the limited amount of soldiers that were left on the ship, those vital to ensuring it flew and that all of the systems worked, he wasn't taking any chances and found that Zarbon saluted him as he spoke, while Towa was just surprised that he'd call in his special force so soon, "I have a sense of foreboding that I can't seem to shake, that a Saiyan has come into his own and will one day become my rival... Vegeta was, of course, the most likely candidate, but I suspect that the one on Earth might be who I'm thinking about. If his friends are here there's a chance he'll come as well, so I'm leaving him to Ginyu and his soldiers... they should be able to nip the problem in the bud if he arrives." Zarbon bowed his head as he went to relay his Lord's orders to Appule, while at the same time Frieza and Towa focused on what they would do once Vegeta had been healed to the point where he was able to regain consciousness, given that he knew where to find one of the last two Dragon Balls. With it in hand, the information from the Grand Elder, and the last Dragon Ball, once they figured out where it was hiding, they would be able to heal Twilight and move on with their lives, as she was all that mattered to them right now. Frieza knew that if the spheres could grant multiple wishes it would allow the Earthlings to revive their friends, or maybe one of them so they could get their Dragon Balls back, but that should be the last time he or his family would have to interact with Gohan or Krillin. Towa, on the other hand, couldn't believe their luck and hoped that it lasted since they were in a race against time, though she was surprised that Chronoa hadn't butted in to help save Twilight, given her uniqueness to their entire universe, despite the fact that this proved that she was far better suited for this role and Chronoa wasn't. Time went by slowly, especially since it seemed like Vegeta was slumbering inside the healing waters of the healing tank, though after some time went by the ship was rocked by an explosion, something that caused Twilight to open her eyes as she glanced at her parents. Frieza and Towa, who had been getting a report from Zarbon, rushed out with him to find that the medical section that Vegeta had been stored in had been utterly destroyed, in fact there was a hole leading outside, a hole that would ground the ship until it was fully patched. Zarbon rushed outside immediately, starting to search for their target since he knew he was important to what they were doing here, while Frieza and Towa glanced around the hole, just in case Vegeta was hiding somewhere in the medical area he had destroyed. They knew that this was the worst possible thing to have happen right now, since losing Vegeta meant they will have lost one of the Dragon Balls, hence why both of them were some interested in tracking him down at all costs. As they did that, however, neither noticed as the Saiyan rushed by the door, as he wasn't worried about them hearing him since the flames and sirens were drowning out the noise of his movements, before he reached the chamber that held the Dragon Balls... where Twilight coughed as she noticed him enter her parents' chambers. "Vegeta..." Twilight weakly said, though in that moment, as Vegeta noticed Alirinn standing nearby, she braced herself as she raised her hands, her magic igniting as she pulled her doctor over to the Dragon Balls and surrounded them with one of her barriers, because while she knew her health was important she wasn't about to let him leave with the spheres she and everyone else had claimed so far. "So Dodoria was right, you are weakened!" Vegeta remarked, as he knew that Frieza had used Twilight and her power to intimidate him and the other Saiyans, but now, with her knocked down by the poison she had been inflicted with, she was no longer a threat to him and his schemes, "I'm going to enjoy taking the Dragon Balls from you!" Vegeta wasted no time in rushing up to where Twilight was resting and pulled her off of her hoverbed, where he quickly slammed her into the floor and she coughed up blood, though before she could react he pressed down on her chest with his left boot and placed his right on her left arm. In that moment he forced his right foot down and Twilight felt the bones in her arm break under the pressure, but as she tried to scream Vegeta gripped her mouth, covering it with his glove so Frieza and the others would have no idea he was doing this. Twilight, on the other hand, could feel her ribs cracking under the pressure of Vegeta's boot, confirming that the Saiyan hated her with every fiber of his being and likely wanted to be rid of her at all costs, and one eventually cracked under the pressure, dealing damage to the inside of her body, which had to be what he had planned. When he found that she refused to lower the barrier, even if it meant eating up more of her life in the process, the Saiyan picked her up off the floor and hurled her into the wall, causing her to crumble into a heap as her magical barrier dissolved in a matter of seconds. Once it was down Alirinn rushed at Vegeta, intending to take him down before he caused more trouble, though he failed to do anything as the Saiyan blasted him in the chest and knocked him into the other wall, where Vegeta smirked as he left nothing of the foolish Grieaian behind. With the pair dealt with, one definitely dead as Twilight was fading in and out of consciousness, with blood all around her, Vegeta did the only thing he could think of, he called into the ship, alerting the others to what was going on, before loosing a burst of energy that destroyed the engines. With flames and smoke eating at the insides of the ship, the perfect cover in his eyes, the Saiyan loosed a second blast at the big glass window and tore part of it apart, allowing him to pick up the five Dragon Balls and hurl them through the opening without wasting time. Once all five of them were gone he followed after them, because he didn't want to be around when Frieza found out what he did to his daughter, though instead of fleeing by air he made sure to head under the water, as a short swim would keep him safe for some time and keep his enemies from discovering his position. As he did that, however, he had to wonder where he might find the last Dragon Ball, the key to immortality and freedom from Frieza, though for the time being he focused on his immediate problem and quickly disappeared before anyone noticed him. When Frieza and Towa finally reached their chamber, however, they were horrified to find that Alirinn was dead, all five of the Dragon Balls were gone, and, more importantly to them, Twilight was resting off to the side, unmoving, though as they realized how much damage had been done to her they found that she was still breathing and rushed her to one of the other healing pods. "How long until she's healed?" Frieza asked, as this was truly the worst possible thing they could have suffered, Twilight was seriously wounded and, had it not been for her faint heartbeat and faint breathing, he would have assumed Vegeta had killed her to get revenge on him and his entire family. "Couple be a few hours... couple be a few days... hard to tell, Vegeta did a number on her." the doctor replied, which he knew wasn't the news that his boss wanted to hear, but the reality was that he had no idea since Twilight had never used one of the healing tanks, so it was hard to say how her body would react to the procedure. "Screw this, I'm heading back to Griea V." Towa stated, where she pulled out her staff once more and weaved her power into a portal that Frieza found went back to the planet in question, likely a portal through space and time, causing her to look back to him for a moment with fierce determination on her face, "I'm going to do what I should have done the instant Twilight was poisoned: finding an antidote or herb that won't be missed if I take it." Frieza wished her well, even embraced her for a few moments, before she slipped into the space between time and space, or whatever it was she was doing, before he growled as the portal closed, allowing his soldiers to see that he was livid, as he was going to kill Vegeta the next time they crossed paths and was looking forward to when it actually happened. > Namek: Terror Filled Days > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Zarbon found that tracking Vegeta, without a Scouter, was like finding a needle in a haystack and, given Frieza's mood when he headed out into the surrounding area to find their target, he was sure that his Lord was going to kill someone for what had transpired on his ship. He couldn't believe that Vegeta would recover so quickly, even if he played them the entire time, nor could he believe that several important components of the ship had been wrecked in the Saiyan's plot to steal all five of the Dragon Balls, leaving Twilight in a wreckage on the floor. He had never seen his Lord that furious before, his rage was nearly as strong as what he saw when the princess engaged her rage form for the first time, and right now the only way for him to soothe that rage was to find Vegeta and the stolen Dragon Balls. If fact he was worried about the fact that he might have to pay for all of this with his life, since he brought a wounded and unconscious Vegeta to the ship so they could get some information out of him, but that depended on his Lord's mood when he finally returned. What shocked him, however, was when he spotted someone flying off in the distance, the one called Krillin, who just so happened to have the final Dragon Ball in his hands, as he was sure that Vegeta had found the sixth, though following right behind him was none other than Vegeta. "I don't believe it... I might have saved the day!" Zarbon stated, where he burst through the air and followed after Vegeta, as this would allow him to take down his target, beat the information out of him, and then return him, with the seven spheres, to his Lord so they could finally heal Twilight of the poison in her body. Sure enough Vegeta seemed to notice that he was following him, which was fine with Zarbon since it might force him to land nearby so they could deal with each other, but the Saiyan kept flying and he followed him, all the way until they and Krillin landed near a cave, with a lady with blue hair and an odd set of clothing sitting nearby. "Ah, Krillin, good, you're alive." Zarbon remarked, as he and the others had been worried about his fate since he and his companions might have been slain during Dodoria's clash with Vegeta earlier, where he believed that this lady was the one called 'Bulma', based on what he and Gohan had said earlier, "Are Gohan and Dende alright?" "Yeah, we just, um, ran into trouble." Krillin replied, which was partly the truth, as with Dodoria's death they had quickly returned to Bulma before coming up with a plan of attack, where he had left Dende at the Grand Elder's to figure out the information on the Dragon Balls and get a power boost for later, while Gohan was clearly somewhere else, "Don't worry about Gohan and Dende, they're safe." "Good. Now then, Vegeta, you've made quite a fool of me lately and now you're going to tell me where you've hidden the Dragon Balls, before I bring you to Lord Frieza." Zarbon stated, informing the Saiyan that he was in deep trouble, as Frieza was beyond furious and would want to kill Vegeta with his own hands, or maybe keep him in constant pain so Twilight could have the honor, since it was her life on the line right now, "Will you go peacefully?" "Don't be absurd! I won't give you anything other than a beating!" Vegeta said, where he knew that Zarbon was sure of his power, as he had beaten him during their previous battle, but he had also realized something, by recovering from such a beating his own power had risen to new heights, meaning their desire to obtained the Dragon Balls had given him more power to turn against Frieza's forces. Zarbon was torn between chuckling and sighing, though he settled on transforming without delay, allowing his muscles to expand and his body to bulk up before his face turned monstrous, hence why he hated this form with a passion, but this was the edge he needed to bring down Vegeta. This time around Vegeta dodged his first attack by dropping to the ground for a couple of seconds, though as he spun around to crush the Saiyan, by punching the area he was in, Vegeta burst into the air and avoided the attack so his fist shattered the ground below him. Following that he also burst into the air so he could chase his foe, only to find that Vegeta had grabbed some dirt or sand so he could drop the material and let it fall into Zarbon's eyes, blinding him for a couple of seconds as he tried to get rid of it all. Vegeta took advantage of that fact by striking him in his back, crushing part of the armor with ease, before delivering a powerful bash to his head, sending him down into the water below for a few moments, even though he followed it up with a barrage of blasts that tore into the area around where he crashed. A few moments later, after tanking several hits from the barrage, Zarbon burst into the air and forced Vegeta to stop by rushing at him, even though they both landed near Krillin and he found that his armor had been ruined, it was in tatters, causing him to be more annoyed with Vegeta. "Ha, it looks like I'm about to take you down as well, Zarbon!" Vegeta remarked, as he couldn't believe both his newfound power and the fact that the sand he dropped into his foe's eyes had been so effective, even though this might be the last time he even did such a thing since it wasn't what a warrior did. "Don't be so sure of yourself, Vegeta, as my power is still greater than yours!" Zarbon replied, because while he knew that the Saiyan was growing with every battle he was in, hence why Lord Frieza was worried about the race, he refused to even consider that his foe had already outclassed him in a matter of moments. "And here I thought you knew everything about the Saiyans. When we come back from the brink of death our power grows substantially," Vegeta stated, where Krillin realized why Goku continued to grow stronger after each coming back from near death, and that Gohan was the same way since he had Saiyan cells inside him, but the shocked look that was on Zarbon's face caused him to grin, "thinking about it, it was pretty careless of you to heal my wounds, since it's coming back to bite you and Frieza." Zarbon growled and rushed Vegeta, as he wasn't about to let the Saiyan win, and their quick clash ended with Vegeta just driving his fist into his chest, shattering the armor in the process, before blasting a hole through his body, causing Zarbon to revert to his base form as he expired on the ground. "Another one bites the dust. Baldy, what's this about you working with Frieza?" Vegeta inquired, because if he was actually allies with the figure he hated he might just blow him, the lady, and anyone else they brought to Namek apart, which had to be Kakarot's brat now that he thought about it, though he made sure to obliterate Zarbon's remains, just like he did to Dodoria and the other soldiers. "Look, we're only trying to revive our friends and it seemed like staying out of their way was the right call." Krillin stated, as he didn't want to die and this had, at the time, looked as if it might be the best way for them to make the wish that they were after, since reviving one of their friends might save them a lot of trouble, "Besides, one of his soldiers told us that his daughter was sick with some sort of poison and that they were here to cure her of it, since the cure no longer exists on the planet she was poisoned on." "You idiot! Frieza doesn't care about Twilight! It's all an act to get what he wants from her and everyone else." Vegeta said, though at the same time he eyed the Dragon Ball that the bald Earthling happened to be holding, the key to him obtaining immortality so he could figure out how to defeat Frieza without the fear of dying, "If you give him that Dragon Ball he'll be one step closer to claiming immortality and destroying the known universe! Give me the sphere and I'll keep it away from him, and if I manage to get all seven of them I'll wish for it and take him down... you have my word that I won't kill either of you or bother your planet again." Krillin weighed their options, help Vegeta and be seen as an enemy, or help someone like Frieza, before deciding that, due to his and Bulma's lives being on the line since he knew the Saiyan could kill them in an instant if he wanted to, he might as well save themselves, to which he hoped that Gohan was having better luck than him right now. Frieza found that the next couple of days went by without ease for him, as his heart was fully of worry and nothing he did seemed to do anything to calm him or his nerves, causing him to frown whenever he stared at the holes in his ship or the bloody stain that was resting in his chamber. Towa had yet to return from her return visit to Griea V, no doubt searching for the one herb or antidote that wouldn't affect the timeline of that planet if she stole it from the past, which was kind of odd given her powers, but he guessed she was being through in her search. With that in mind he reminded himself that once they were done on Namek they were going to have to return to Griea V and inform Alirinn's people of his death, and that Vegeta had wiped out his corpse, so there was nothing to bury, which might upset them greatly. He also found that Zarbon failed to return as well, where he suspected that either Vegeta had done him in or there was another strong foe who had sprung up before disappearing after taking him down, though it pained Frieza to have lost him and Dodoria, as they were some of his most trusted officers. As he thought a out that he also considered the fact that Twilight was slowly healing, making him curse the fact that they hadn't even taken the time to make sure her body had no problems with the various healing tanks, but, for the most part, she had survived her encounter with Vegeta and that was all that mattered. "You seem distracted, brother." Cooler commented, as Frieza had decided to report everything to both his father and his brother, the latter being against his own initial thoughts before figuring that it wouldn't hurt to tell Cooler while telling also telling their father, hence the reason for the three way call. "You'll have to forgive me, I... wasn't expecting this expedition to take so long, or take so much from us." Frieza said, where he didn't even bother to play around with his brother and throw names at him while they talked, which Cooler noticed at the same time as their father, even though Frieza noticed that they were worried about him, "Like I said, we've lost all of our Scouters, half of our crew, plus Zarbon and Dodoria are dead, Alirinn was slain by Vegeta, we've lost all five Dragon Balls that we found, and Twilight's currently in a healing tank... there's a lot on my mind." "Would you like me to order my soldiers to make for Namek?" Cooler asked, as he could tackle the planet that he was in the middle of heading to on his own, in fact he had outfitted his own ship with a larger Attack Ball for himself just in the off chance that something like this happened, either to send his soldiers or himself, "At full speed they would arrive in about three days. Or I could leave them to take care of the planet we're heading to and use my own pod to reach Namek in, oh, two days max." "I appreciate the offer, Cooler, but the Ginyu Force will suffice for now." Frieza replied, though this was likely the first time his brother had actually done such a thing without asking for anything in return, reminding him that Twilight meant the universe to him as well, in fact she had, against all odds, brought them together in an odd turn of events. "Still, with the damage done to your ship, you won't be able to leave Namek anytime soon. Shall I send a replacement ship or a ship with the parts to repair it?" King Cold inquired, though at the same time he was happy to see that his sons were so united in wanting to make sure Twilight survived this ordeal, even though he wished that she wasn't stuck in this foul situation, since he wanted to see her healthy and safe again, "There's an outpost not far from Namek that can get either option to you in no time at all, roughly the same about of time that it would take Cooler or his soldiers to get there." "Might as well... with the engines destroyed, the hole in the medical station, and the hole here, this ship isn't going to be flying anytime soon." Frieza said, though it also pained him to admit that they were in need of assistance right now, due to his feared reputation in the universe, but he knew that fixing the ship would ensure that his remaining soldiers survived once Twilight was cured, causing him to sigh for a few seconds, "Vegeta really did a number on Twilight... if only we had the healing powers of Dende on hand, as he'd be able to fix her up in no time and it would be good experience for his own powers... it might even help take down the Warrior's Bane. Unfortunately I haven't located him since he left with Dodoria and the Earthlings, and with Vegeta having killed most of the Namekians it's possible that Dende's been slain as well." This was one of those moments where he wished he had Twilight's skill at detecting energy, as it would help figure out the area that Vegeta was hiding in so he could punish him, and get the location of the Dragon Balls from him since the spheres were vital to their entire reason for coming here. Frieza knew that if his daughter was up and about she would be able to find him in no time, but for the time being she was stuck inside the healing tank, her body slowly being healed after being beaten by the Saiyan they had captured. He didn't need Alirinn here to know that she had lost more of her lifespan before he escaped with the Dragon Balls, in fact she likely used her magic to keep them safe and that was why Vegeta beat her up, so he could tear more of the ship apart to flee with the spheres. After all of this Frieza was thinking of just killing the Saiyan if he spotted him or they crossed paths again, because no one was allowed to harm his daughter in this manner and get away with their actions, and this time he was planning on making sure to live up to his promise. The only good news was that Vegeta hadn't gotten his wish yet, since he hadn't returned with confidence to take him down, but Frieza was hoping he'd make a mistake and be punished accordingly, though he just had to be patient and wait to see what the future held for them. Gohan and Krillin had moved Bulma to another position after discovering that Vegeta knew where to find their hideout, as this one was on an island that had an oddly formed split down the middle of it, enough to keep her safe, and the Dragon Ball that Vegeta had missed in the ruined village, while they departed for the Grand Elder's place. Of course, since Vegeta had the power to sense energy now both of them had refrained from using too much of their own power, forcing them to make the long journey to their destination by jumping from island to island and running for the most part, allowing Krillin to find that Dende might have been mistaken about the amount of time needed to get there. His reasoning for this visit was that they might be able to boost Gohan's power by having the Grand Elder release his inner potential, just like he did when he went to the house with Dende, since it might give them a chance at defeating Vegeta. Of course whenever they reached an island that had no nearby positions for them to jump to the pair had to fly for a time, using as little energy as they could since any significant amount would cause Vegeta to pinpoint their location and come running. Eventually, after four days of their slow progress, Krillin decided that they were going to have to chance it, as Vegeta was far enough away for them to go at full speed for the amount of time needed to get to the Grand Elder's place, which was what he and Gohan did after eating their meager breakfast. "There, I see it!" Krillin commented, as it had taken them about fifteen minutes at full speed to reach their destination, while he was sure it would have taken another hour or so had he not decided to make a run for it, but this meant they might be able to survive this planet and get home without drawing any unwanted attention, before he felt something, "Oh you can't be serious... he's gaining on us?!" "It's Vegeta! How'd he find us so quickly?" Gohan asked, because they knew he had been a large distance away from where the Grand Elder's place was located, and even with full speed it should have taken him an hour to reach them, meaning he must have been burning his energy to catch up with them. "Had I known he could fly so quickly, I wouldn't have suggested the idea... anyway, I'll hold him off." Krillin replied, as they both knew that he was no match for Vegeta's new strength, even his own boosted power was nothing before the might of the Saiyan who was rapidly approaching, though Gohan nodded and took off, rushing towards the house so he could have the Grand Elder unleash his potential. Sure enough Krillin had just a few seconds to think about his decisions before Vegeta showed up, at the same time Gohan made it to the house that was their final destination, and he discovered that the Saiyan tended to thrive in situations like the one they had forced him into, reminding him of Goku again. Vegeta then asked about the last Dragon Ball, the Four Star ball that Gohan had stolen from him not that long ago, to which Krillin replied that they had no idea it was actually his, since he was playing the middle ground with both Vegeta and Frieza, just to ensure he, Gohan, and Bulma survived this. Krillin told him that he knew where the Dragon Ball was located, something they could exchange for their freedom, which Vegeta did agree with since they were mere guppies to his boosted power, before he sensed Gohan's awakening, meaning the Grand Elder was done with his work. Vegeta, on the other hand, seemed to think that it was Goku himself and rushed over to the building in question, forcing Krillin to follow after him since there was a chance that he might attack the house and kill the Grand Elder before the Dragon Balls were used. As they landed Vegeta came face to face with another Namekian, this one different from the rest in terms of power, but as he got ready to take him down Gohan, who he thought was Kakarot due to his power, stepped out, only to be surprised as Krillin found Dende exiting as well. "The Grand Elder says that someone is approaching the planet!" Dende stated, something that caused them all to glance up at the sky for a moment, where Gohan realized that there were five Ki signatures coming their way, something that freaked out Vegeta when he recognized who they belonged to. "Listen up, I'll amend my earlier promise: help me get immortality and I won't lay a hand on you guys or Earth!" Vegeta said, as the arrival of the Ginyu Force was the last thing they needed right now, because they were terrifying in their own right and right now he knew that challenging them was a bad idea, causing him to see that Gohan and Krillin were surprised by his sudden outburst, "The energies we're picking up belong to the Ginyu Force, five warriors of incredible power who are just as strong as I am, maybe even stronger, with their leader being the strongest of them all, and they're going to use new cutting edge Scouters to track us down and kill us. Give me immortality and we might stand a chance of defeating them." "Also, if you're worried about the wishes, our Dragon Balls can grant three." the Namekian, Nail, stated, though he could tell that Vegeta wasn't lying right now, the five energies were incredibly strong and would prove to be quite the challenge for the group if they didn't have a plan to deal with their incoming foes. Krillin knew this was a bad idea, but, given the danger that was approaching, he guessed it was a risk they needed to make, so he and Gohan flew off with Vegeta on their tails, though Dende, having boosted his power thanks to the Grand Elder's actions, followed after them as well, no doubt to aid them in using the spheres. Other than that he guessed Dende might be able to use his healing powers more than before, which would be another benefit if the Ginyus were as strong as Vegeta claimed they were, though he also had to wonder what was taking Goku so long to land. With the four of them he had a feeling that defeating the Ginyu Force would be a possibility and not a dream, but for now they might have to deal with giving Vegeta what they wanted, and getting two of their friends back, and, hopefully, get off the planet before being dragged into combat, as the discovery that the Namekian Dragon Balls could grant three wishes was a boon for everyone right now. Vegeta even had an opinion on that matter, that giving Frieza the knowledge that there were three wishes, and not one like everyone had originally assumed, would spell utter disaster for the rest of the universe, so they agreed that it would be kept between them, even if they were captured by their enemies. He just hoped that their luck would hold out long enough to see them depart from Namek, and finally send Vegeta off into space so they never saw him again, though he had a feeling that something bad was about to happen and hoped that this time he was wrong, even though he would find out soon enough. > Namek: The Ginyu Force > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Frieza had been content to remain inside his ship, either discussing things with his father and brother via video call, like he did when making his report, or just watching over Twilight while she was in the healing tank, silently hoping that her body would be healed in due time. Without Scouters there was no way for him to track down Vegeta or the Earthlings, not without wasting vast amounts of his precious time and possibly opening the ship up to attack once more, in the off chance Vegeta was silently watching them, waiting to do more damage to cripple them. Towa had yet to return as well, meaning she had run into her own problems while she was searching for an herb or antidote that wasn't important to the timeline of the planet that their daughter had been poisoned on, but he suspected that she'd be back in no time at all. Other than that he found that there wasn't much he could do besides wait for something to happen, though this did mean that Vegeta had failed to get his wish granted as well, informing him that the Dragon Balls were still out there, waiting to be used. On the fifth day, after calling for the Ginyu Force to come to Namek, his remaining soldiers informed him that the squad was about to land and he headed outside as soon as he saw five Attack Balls hit the ground right in front of where his ship was resting, to which Frieza emerged from the center of his ship and waited. Sure enough Ginyu and his soldiers had arrived, emerging from their pods and landing on the edge of his ship, which was usually when they performed some sort of 'show' for him, a series of poses since Ginyu loved them, though it was sad that Twilight was unable to watch this time. Ginyu, of course, stood at the front of the line and stood in the middle, while Jeice, a red skinned figure with long white hair who served as his right hand, stood to his left, followed by Burter, a tall blue alien who claimed to be the 'fastest in the universe', even if he wasn't. On Ginyu's right stood the short green alien Guldo, who had four eyes, preventing him from wearing a Scouter, and the power to stop time, and a giant muscular figure who was the muscle of the force, the warrior known as Recoome. Once upon a time there was a sixth member of the force, Bonyu was her name, but she couldn't agree with Ginyu's odd habit of striking poses, in fact she found it detestable, so she had asked to be transferred to Cooler's forces, which was the last Frieza had heard of her. Speaking of poses each member ended up striking one in front of him, the outer two pointed towards the middle while the two closest to Ginyu raised their hands in the air, and the captain himself bent down so he could look at Frieza from between his legs, the oddest position he had seen so far. "Together we are... the Ginyu Force!" the elite soldiers declared, with Ginyu kneeling on the ground and pointing down at the floor, Guldo standing with a fist raised to his chin, Jeice striking an action pose with his fist raised in the air, Recoome showing off his back and pointing diagonally off in the distance, and Burter standing on one leg as he held his arms out to his right and left. Frieza really had no idea what had prompted Ginyu to start doing all these poses in the first place, though he wasn't about to argue since his men seemed to enjoy it, in fact it was almost like a morale booster for them, so he waited for just a few seconds before speaking as he found Burter getting tired. "My, you guys certainly put on a show this time." Frieza remarked, which was true, each pose show seemed to be odder than the last, making him wonder how in the world Ginyu could keep this up for so long, but, once again, he decided not to focus on that as the elite soldiers relaxed and stood at attention. "Thank you, Lord Frieza." Ginyu replied, though at the same time he and the others noticed something odd, Zarbon and Dodoria were nowhere to be found, in fact both Lady Towa and Twilight weren't present either, making him wonder if the mission had failed in some manner, "What will our mission be, this time?" "As you know, Vegeta has turned traitor and has made off with the Dragon Balls we've collected, not to mention that he's killed Dodoria and likely Zarbon," Frieza said, something that the soldiers confirmed, as they had been briefed on part of what had happened on Namek so far, but based on what they were seeing right now it looked like things had gotten even worse since their last transmission from their boss, "we've also lost all of the soldiers capable of fighting, he's wrecked part of the ship, he killed Alirinn, and he... he beat up Twilight while she was unable to fight back, who is currently resting in a healing tank." "The coward!" Ginyu stated, while at the same time his soldiers voiced their outrage, as they adored Twilight and wanted nothing more than to serve her in some manner, though he raised his hand and the others stopped as soon as he did it, so he could focus on what their mission was going to be, "Shall we kill him?" "For now, no... subdue him and bring him to me. If you find the Dragon Balls, bring them back as well." Frieza replied, as he wanted to be the one to actually kill Vegeta, after everything he had done to Twilight and his forces since defecting not that long ago, before he realized something important, "Oh, the items in question are orange spheres that are as big as one's head and have stars, ranging from one to seven according to one of the Elders, inside them." "Sounds easy enough, as my Scouter has already locked onto his position." Ginyu said, as he had tapped it as soon as his boss informed him that he wanted to track down Vegeta, though it was interesting that the Saiyan was close by, not all that far from where the ship was located, and that there were others near him, "It looks like there are three other sizeable power levels near him, though it is hard to tell if they're being chased or if they're working with him." "Three? Must be Dende, Gohan, and Krillin." Frieza commented, in fact this was good news, even if the two Earthlings had disappeared after Dodoria's clash with Vegeta, because it meant there might be a chance of them using the Dragon Balls to cure Twilight, whose restoration would bring Towa running no doubt, "I do not know whose side the two Earthlings are on right now, so I want you five to figure it out and either bring them in as allies or knock them out so I can execute them as enemies... Dende, on the other hand, holds the power of healing and was able to weaken the Warrior's Bane that had been wreaking havoc on Twilight's body." "Capture Vegeta, determine if Earthlings are friend or foe, save Dende, and find the Dragon Balls." Ginyu said, counting the items that were involved in their mission right now, though some of them seemed far easier than he thought they'd be, to which Jeice delivered the new Scouters before they departed with their usual cheer. Frieza said nothing to that as he headed back down into the ship, because with the Ginyu Force here his problems should be solved in no time at all and they should be able to heal Twilight in no time, he just had to be patient and wait for them to return with news of their success. After locating and recovering the stolen Four Star ball, which Vegeta found was resting with the lady from Earth, he took over and forced the trio to follow him as he zeroed in on the area that he hid the other Dragon Balls in, fearing that the Ginyu Force would catch them, even though he failed since all five warriors landed right in front of his hideout before he and his allies could use the spheres. "Hello Vegeta. I'm guessing you three must be Gohan, Krillin, and Dende," Ginyu said, though at the same time he eyed the two spheres that were in front of them right now, one being held by Vegeta while the other seemed to be in Krillin's hands right now, if he was getting their names correct, since Dende was the Namekian standing near them, "I don't suppose the spheres in your hands are Dragon Balls?" "Looks like we beat them to where the other five are resting, since they're right behind us." Recoome commented, as he turned his head for a moment and spotted the very spheres that Frieza was looking for, meaning all seven were finally in one spot and should be easy for them to retrieve the wish granting orbs. "And that means the two they're holding are the last two." Ginyu stated, though he was pleased to discover that his earlier thoughts were right, this mission was going to be the easiest of the assignments their Lord had given them over the many years they had served him, before he focused on Vegeta for a few seconds, "You know, Vegeta, you're lucky that Frieza still wants you brought to him alive, especially after your stunt... beating up Twilight and leaving her in a healing pod for the last couple of days, while she was sick no less, was really cowardly of you." "Oh, she survived? Maybe I ought to go back and finish the job." Vegeta said, though this was bad for him, as it meant that Frieza was only sparing him so he could kill him with his own hands, hence why he had been hoping for immortality before encountering the Ginyu Force or even Frieza himself. Upon seeing that Ginyu was displeased with him, and that his soldiers were the same way, Vegeta did two things that he felt might cripple Frieza's chances of obtaining immortality, he hurled his Dragon Ball as hard as he could and ordered the bald Earthling to crush his, where Burter caught his and Guldo was suddenly holding Krillin's. "Damn, so the rumors about him being able to stop time were true." Vegeta remarked, where he noticed that Ginyu was pleased with this turn of events, since it meant that they were now full of fear due to the fact that Frieza was about to have all seven Dragon Balls, but, at the very least, he had no idea that the spheres granted multiple wishes, before finding that Dende walked over to the five warriors. "I'm not a fighter, but I can mend wounds... I might be able to help Twilight." Dende said, though at the same time he and Vegeta found that Gohan and Krillin joined him, but, instead of saying anything, Vegeta found that both fighters seemed to have an idea on how to survive this encounter. Ginyu nodded and found that his soldiers wanted to fight Vegeta until he was down for the count, causing him to sigh as he claimed the seven Dragon Balls and informed them that they could decide how to do this amongst themselves, as he flew off while using his telekinesis to lift the spheres. With him gone Dende moved off to the side, allowing him to be safe and untouched when the fighting started, though while the four remaining soldiers played a game of rock paper scissors to determine who would get the honor of fighting Vegeta. They did, however, allow him some time to come up with a way to fight his opponents, a bit of a personal strategy session he guessed, so while they determined who might fight him he realized what was going to happen next and prepared himself accordingly, silently building his power without allowing the Scouters to pick up his intent. Once both of the Earthlings were ready, as they were still on his side, the three of them burst into the air, surprising the elite soldiers for a moment while remaining on the ground, before he, Gohan, and Krillin fired blasts of energy straight down on the ground, targeting the Ginyu Force before they could react. Of course, as Vegeta expected, Guldo seemed to pause time and get out of the way as the others tanked the attack, but it proved to push him from the rest of the group, hence why Vegeta beckoned to him and his allies continued to lay on their assault, forcing Guldo to use some sort of paralysis to stop them, opening himself up to an attack from behind as Vegeta removed his head with a swing of his left hand. "One down, three to go." Vegeta remarked, though he tuned out Guldo's last words as he obliterated his body and then his head, just to make sure there was nothing left of the soldier, allowing him to turn towards Gohan and Krillin, who had landed nearby as they focused on their remaining enemies, "That was a clever move... too bad they're going to report this to their boss, whose going to tell Frieza you've betrayed his top warriors." "Depends on whether or not they want to tell their boss that one of them is dead already." Krillin remarked, because he had a feeling that the remaining warriors were too prideful to admit when something like this happened, so they had time before Ginyu was told of their betrayal, maybe enough time to deal with their remaining enemies, who had minor damage from their attack. "Still, I don't know how long we'll last... dad should be here soon and he might turn the tables on them." Gohan added, as they knew his father was nearly there, in fact he was sure that his father's energy was drawing closer to Namek, meaning if he and the others survived for some time they would be able to deal with the remaining three enemies. In the next moment Recoome stepped forward and started to pose, doing some sort of t-shaped pose with one foot on the ground, another pointed away from him, and his body was positioned as if he was planking, which had to be one of the dumbest things any of them had seen. Vegeta, on the other hand, summoned his inner power and surprised the rest of Ginyu's soldiers as his energy pushed dust away from him, where he burst forward and struck Recoome in the side of his face, knocking his Scouter off before he assaulted his foe's body. He knocked the warrior into the ground a couple of times, just to be sure he wasn't moving, before picking him up by a leg and hurled him off into the distance, though after that happened Vegeta raised his arms and pointed his hands outwards, energy building up all around him for a couple of seconds. Once he was sure that enough energy had been built up he moved his arms until the edges were almost on top of each other, while his palms were touching and his energy danced between them and his fingers, before he released a powerful burst of yellow energy that tore the surrounding area to shreds as it smashed into Recoome and blew up the area he had crashed into. For a moment it seemed like Vegeta had taken out Recoome in a violent display of power, but the warrior emerged with the chest piece of his armor destroyed and his under attire had pieces taken out, where he posed to assert his dominance over all of them, even if he was a little hurt right now. Following that Recoome went on the offensive, delivering a rather powerful kick to Vegeta and knocked him backwards in the process, before the two clashed with each other in the air, but Gohan and Krillin knew that their ally was losing, as his foe was much stronger than him. At the same time, however, they found that Vegeta was putting up quite a fight against Recoome, who just tanked his attacks without a care in the world, which was alarming since it made them wonder if their attacks would even tickle the warrior. Krillin was sure that he could do some damage with one of his attacks, but it required their foe to stand still and part of him didn't want to use it since they still had two more foes once he was taken care of, though Gohan, despite his inexperience, rushed into battle as well, as Vegeta needed to survive so everyone survived. As Recoome planted Vegeta in the ground, a devastating attack, the pair got ready with their own attacks, finding that this might be the moment they had been waiting for, and when their ally was pulled out he blasted Recoome's head, which just wrecked some of his hair and his face. Recoome decided to just go full into the battle as he prepared his own attack, a Ki blast from his mouth that would decimate the surrounding area, though as it happened Krillin slammed down on top of his head, trapping the energy inside his mouth, while Gohan flew over to save Vegeta, as a bit of energy managed to get out and this saved their ally from harm. After that the three of them blasted Recoome before he could recover, since this might be the only chance they might have to take him down, and even if he fell they had two more foes to deal with, who may or may not allow Dende to heal them so they could continue to fight. Shockingly enough Recoome was still alive and he seemed to be enjoying the fight, even though Gohan and Krillin were running out of ideas on how to take him down, not to mention the fact that Vegeta was running on fumes right now. Krillin had no idea if they were going to survive this battle, as Recoome was going to kill them, but even as he thought of that he also hoped that Frieza was unable to use the Dragon Balls, mostly because if they survived this it would give them a fighting chance to fulfill their mission. After Ginyu and his force left, tracking down Vegeta and, hopefully, the stolen Dragon Balls, Frieza remained outside the ship, because there was a chance that his special force would return in no time and deliver to him the items that would let him cure Twilight at long last. Once she was healed they could head home and continue with their lives, without having to worry about her dying due to some deadly poison, as his brother and his father likely had some plans for her once she was safe, and Towa would be happy to see Twilight return to her former self. Frieza considered how to fix the problems of Namek, as in reviving those who perished during Vegeta's search for the other Dragon Balls, but that all depended on if the wish granting spheres could grant more than one wish, which only Dende and the Grand Elder could confirm or deny, so it was good that Dende was nearby. Other than that there wasn't much for him to do but wait for Ginyu and his force to find Vegeta, no doubt beating him into submission as much as possible before getting the whereabouts of the Dragon Balls from him, though he realized that he was going to have to replace Zarbon and Dodoria, which was going to be very annoying when they got home. As he checked the new Scouter, finding that it matched Twilight's specifications perfectly, he found that someone was on their way back and turned to face the direction in question, only to find that Ginyu was landing with all seven Dragon Balls, a feat he considered impressive since he sent the force out not that long ago. "Excellent work, Ginyu." Frieza said, as he was impressed that the Captain and his soldiers had been able to find the seven spheres so quickly, meaning either Vegeta had been willing to share or they had gotten lucky, where the latter was likely the most accurate given that the other members of the force weren't here, "Not only did you find the seven spheres, but you and your team were able to find them so quickly... did Vegeta give them up willingly or did you have to get rough with him to track them down?" "We got lucky and beat him to where five of them were resting, before Burter and Guldo claimed the others before any harm came to them." Ginyu replied, though as he said that he lowered the spheres onto the floor and released them, so they rolled over to where his Lord was standing, something he and his team were still surprised by since he had stopped using his hoverchair not that long ago. "At last, we have all seven Dragon Balls, meaning we can finally cure Twilight of the poison!" Frieza remarked, though he was pleased with this development, as it also meant that they could finally head home and resume their lives at long last, to which he braced himself for what he was about to do as Ginyu stood off on the side, watching him as he waited to see the power of the wish granting spheres, "Dragon Balls, grant my wish: I wish to heal my daughter, Twilight Sparkle, of the poison that courses through her veins!" The Dragon Balls remained lifeless after he said those words, though it was hard to tell if this was supposed to happen or if there was something that needed to be done before they could grant someone their wish, causing Frieza to realize he might have jumped the gun in some manner. To make sure he contacted the soldiers that were watching over Twilight's healing tank, where he and Ginyu found that she was still unconscious and that there was no change to her vitals, in fact Alarinn's machine indicated the poison was still lingering inside her body. Normally this would cause Frieza to simply blow up the planet and keep going on a search to heal Twilight, but he knew that the Namekians likely had some sort of code or phrase to ensure no one else used their Dragon Balls, in case invaders tried to steal them. As such he tapped his Scouter and found that there were two more Namekians far away from where they were located, meaning it had to be where the Grand Elder resided, given the Power Level he was reading, with likely the last of the warrior Namekians, based on what the other had. "Ginyu, stay here and keep Twilight, and the Dragon Balls, safe... I don't expect Vegeta to return, but it never hurts to be safe given our time constraints." Frieza stated, where his Captain saluted and confirmed his orders, which he had come to expect from him after their many years of working together, before he floated into the air and focused on the location he needed to visit, "I'll return once I know how to use the Dragon Balls properly." As he did that, however, Frieza could only hope that they made it in time, because without Alirinn there was no way to tell just how much time Twilight had left, given his experience with the foul poison, and prayed that the Grand Elder held the information he was after. > Namek: Unexpected Arrival > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Vegeta found that none of them, as in himself and the Earthlings, the latter having found a way to boost their power in such a short period of time, stood a chance against Recoome, as the muscle warrior was just beating them up and was capable of crushing the pair from Earth with little effort. The only reason all three of them were alive was because the Ginyu Force was under orders to bring him in alive, while Jeice and Burter were keeping Gohan and Krillin alive so Frieza could punish them for turning on them earlier, which allowed him to take down Guldo. Of course the only good thing about this was the fact that they were allowing Dende to mend their wounds, giving him and Gohan more power thanks to their Saiyan heritage, though he made sure the inexperienced Saiyan hid his power as well, because if the Ginyu Force figured out that they were getting stronger they'd stop allowing this to happen. He also knew they were running the risk of their powers appearing on the Scouters that Jeice and Burter were using, as Recoome's had been destroyed earlier, but it was well worth the risk since it meant they might have a chance of surviving this once the three warriors got bored of this fight. As he considered that, however, he and the others, both his allies and their enemies, noticed that a new ship, not one of Frieza's based on the shape, landed on the planet, though not a few moments later Kakarot, in all his glory, appeared near Recoome's position, showing off a speed he didn't have back during their previous battle. "Hey guys, I'm glad you aren't seriously hurt." Goku said, as he had felt three great Ki signatures near the area that his son, best friend, and Vegeta were in and had worried that he'd find them in a state of near death, though it looked like someone might have healed them before his arrival, causing him to turn his head for a moment, "What happened?" Krillin quickly explained what they knew, something that prompted Goku to put his hand on his head to 'read his mind', a power he knew his friend didn't have and suspected someone else must have helped him out, likely King Kai, before he told him of Dende's healing powers, meaning they didn't need the Senzu Beans right now. "If what you showed me is true, we're going to need everyone to fight together to have a hope of bringing Frieza down, if we have to fight him anyway." Goku remarked, though at the same time he held a hand out to stop the other from moving to help him as he turned towards Recoome and his companions, as he could tell that they were evil and that they needed to be stopped before they hurt other people, which was when Dende landed near Gohan and Krillin. Vegeta realized that the other Saiyan was hiding much of his power from the Ginyu Force, in fact Jeice and Burter claimed his power was only five thousand, when he knew it was far stronger than that, causing Recoome to start his poses once more as he got ready to fight. As he launched his first attack Goku showed off more of his speed as he seemed to disappear from the area, avoiding Recoome's attack, before reappearing behind the two bystanders so he could warn them that this would be the death of them if they continued to fight, but after that he returned to his foe. Sure enough he discovered that his foe was displeased with his actions and posed as he prepared another attack, one that he was sure would be enough to take care of Goku, or at least seriously wound him so Dende could get some additional practice in. Such a thing prompted Goku to strike him right in the chest while his defenses were down, causing him to collapse in a heap with his rear in the air, surprising all of them for a moment, as those who knew him realized he was far stronger than they remembered while Jeice and Burter were caught off guard by their friend's downfall. With that done Goku make one last attempt to get Jeice and Burter to leave the planet, only to find that they were annoyed with his actions and rushed over to challenge him, where he discovered that Jeice loved to talk as Burter watched, which let Goku punch the former in the face due to his lowered guard. As the pair attacked him, however, he blocked both the elbow and the kick that were coming his way, using the sides of his arms to block what he felt were slow attacks, before he kicked Jeice away and then dropped low to swipe out Burter's feet. With that done he spun around, allowing himself to stand once more, before he thrust his hands out towards the two warriors and sent them flying with a powerful Kiai attack, which was where one could affect the air currents with their Ki to produce powerful shockwaves. Such a thing surprised the pair, since neither of them were expecting such a power from him, though Goku remained standing still as the pair spoke using their Scouters, as it seemed like they were coming up with a plan of attack and he was eager to see what they might have come up with. As it turned out Jeice fired a large Ki blast down at him, his 'Crusher Ball' as he called it, though Goku waited for it to reach where he was standing before knocking it off to the side with a swing of his arm, though as Burter dodged the deflected attack Goku appeared behind him not even a second later. Burter, enraged by Goku's actions, went on the offensive once more and forced the Saiyan to dodge his blows, even if it was just Goku dodging them, and Jeice rushed in to assist him, all due to the fact that he was annoyed with someone making fools of them. After a short period of time Goku decided to lash out at them in a different manner and kicked Burter in the back, breaking part of his armor in the process, before elbowing him in the back of the head to send him flying straight down to the ground. With those two attacks he rushed down to the ground and raised his hand to both hit his foe in the stomach and catch him with a single hand, something that came as a surprise to Jeice and the others as he dropped Burter on the ground, before turning towards the remaining fighter. Jeice, freaking out over the fact that someone like Goku was beating them up with such little effort, departed from the area and headed back to the ship, though Vegeta, upon learning that the other Saiyan was still a fool who didn't kill his enemies, blasted both Recoome and Burter to pieces, leaving nothing of them behind. "Your sentimentality will be your downfall, Kakarot, especially since Jeice is going to bring Ginyu to finish us off." Vegeta said, as he suspected that even with his newly heightened power, thanks to Recoome beating him up and Dende healing him, he and the three warriors stood no chance of defeating the leader of the Ginyu Force, before he sighed, "Not that it matters in the end, since Frieza has the Dragon Balls and likely already made his wish for immortality, meaning we're dead no matter what happens next." "Not really. I mean, the sky hasn't gone dark since the Dragon Balls were stolen... the Namekians must not have given him the incantation to summon Shenron." Krillin remarked, where this was one of those times where he was glad he knew how things worked on Earth, as something like the special words to summon the wish granting being sounded like an aspect that couldn't be changed, and he noticed that Dende remained quite, a good move since Vegeta was nearby. "So all we have to do is head back to their ship and find the Dragon Balls, before figuring out what to say." Gohan said, as it sounded simple, in fact it might be since most of the soldiers had been wiped out by Vegeta, while Ginyu, who was likely on guard duty near the ship, was on his way here, which left Frieza traveling towards the Grand Elder's place to figure out what to do next, meaning they had a chance. As Vegeta listened to them, however, he realized one thing, that being the possibility that they might be able to make one of them immortal, himself since he was the Saiyan Prince, because beating Frieza would no longer be an impossibility at that point, but all he could do for now was brace himself for what was about to happen next. While all of that was going on Frieza zeroed in on his target, finding that it was further from all of the villages than he had thought, though he did discover that using his own power had been the right call since it allowed him to travel faster than his own hoverchair did. Such a thing brought an amusing thought to mind, Twilight going over the plans for the device several times in the past and coming up with several ideas on how to make it better for him, but they never went through with any of the changes, mostly because he didn't think the device needed any improvements. Now he realized that if he had left her make those various changes it would likely be faster than before, not to mention whatever else came to her mind, since she was the smartest girl in the entire universe, something Towa agreed with when she noticed how quickly Twilight took to all the subjects she was taught. It pained him to even imagine a universe without his daughter, smiling as she learned more about the other planets and their people, the grin as she charged into battle and enjoyed herself against powerful foes, and all of the other moments they had shared, hence why he focused on his personal mission. Eventually, however, he spotted a lone structure on stop of a pillar of earth, like some sort of castle or something if it was placed on another world, to which he quickly landed and found that the two Power Levels were still present, where one of them belonged to a warrior Namekian who stepped out of the house. "Can I help you?" Nail inquired, though he didn't need the Grand Elder to tell him that this figure was strong, in fact if he were to fight him it would no doubt end in him being utterly destroyed, but, for the time being, he continued to stand his post and ensure that no harm came to the Grand Elder. "I have gathered the seven Dragon Balls and nothing happens when I try to make a wish on them, so I've come here to ask what the next step might be." Frieza replied, as he had a feeling that the Namekian knew of him somehow, he wasn't even going to question it at this point, so he was hoping that they could have a short discussion before making his way back to Twilight and the spheres they had gathered to heal her, "I know, I know, you can't help someone as evil as me... trust me, I get it... but Twilight Sparkle, my daughter, is the only one your people have allowed to tackle the trials and right now she's in no condition to fight anymore. So I have come to ask you and the other Namekian what sort of next step we must go through in order to use the Dragon Balls... is there a place we must take them, a certain arrangement that they have to be placed in, or some sort of code one must utter to use them?" "I cannot help you, for I am the final trial before one can be granted the last Dragon Ball, which we gave to the Earthlings and was taken by one of your soldiers." Nail said, because there was nothing in this world that the Grand Elder didn't see, in fact he was saddened by Vegeta's slaughter of the other Namekians, before he realized a piece of information that he had to tell the figure in front of him, "Know this, the Grand Elder is inside this house and he is the creator of the Dragon Balls... in fact, his very life is tied to them, so if he dies the spheres will become useless to you." "So he is the one I must talk to?" Frieza inquired, as that sounded like what was going on right now, he had to speak with the one who actually created the seven wish granting spheres, where the Namekian nodded his head for a moment as he headed inside the building, though with the door open he followed after him and floated up to the second floor, only to find an obese Namekian that was taller than the others he had met, "Grand Elder, I wish to know how to use the Dragon Balls so I can heal my daughter of the incurable poison that courses through her veins... must I prove myself, like the trials we had to overcome earlier, or will you tell me how to use them?" "You must prove yourself against Nail, just like Twilight proved herself for the other Elders." the Grand Elder replied, but as he said that he knew that telling Frieza what he wanted to know right now, instead of taking some time to ensure he was further away from his ship, it might be disastrous for all of them. "Fine... I give up. I'll play your game." Frieza said, mostly because he was tired of this, having to do the trials to prove that he was worthy enough to use the Dragon Balls and save his daughter, and figured that he could comply this one time, as his daughter's life was on the line and there was little else he could do to convince them to help him, "So, I guess we'll fight on one of the nearby islands?" "Yes, just a few minutes away to ensure we don't accidentally harm this place." Nail stated, though he was surprised to see that Frieza was willing to do this, meaning the person he was trying to save had to be incredibly important to him, enough to make him abide by the customs of the people who owned the Dragon Balls. Frieza followed after the Namekian as he lead him a few islands away from where the Grand Elder was resting, though while he knew the 'fight' wouldn't be too hectic to warrant such a thing, given that he was sure Nail wouldn't be able to harm him at all, he wasn't about to take the risk of causing the Dragon Balls to disappear. The warrior landed on a decent sized island, compared to the others he had seen so far, before removing the blue jacket he was wearing and tossed it off to the side as Frieza landed, showing that he was getting ready for the final trial. Frieza discovered that Nail's power was at about forty-two thousand, quite a surprise since most of the Namekians he had scanned so far, before the destruction of his old Scouter, were at about three thousand on the scale, while the Grand Elder was weaker than that, no doubt due to the fact that he seemed close to the end of his life. While Nail got ready Frieza also took the moment to think about his own Power Level, that of five hundred and thirty thousand, meaning there was no way for Nail to actually defeat him, but he wasn't about to argue with the customs of the Namekians and got ready for a brief fight. Sure enough it got started a few seconds later, where Nail rushed forward and swung his right arm at him, using the edge of his right hand to hit Frieza's neck, where they both found that nothing happened as the attack hit it's target, allowing him to elbow Nail in the chest with his left elbow, though he did refrain from using all of his power since it would seriously hurt the Namekian. "Is that all I must do, or is there more to be done?" Frieza asked, not because he was displeased with Nail, in fact he was impressed by the fact that he hadn't collapsed due to the blow to his stomach, but more due to the fact that he needed to get the next step so he could get back to Twilight. "N... Not quite. I have a few more things that I must test." Nail replied, because the Grand Elder told him that this was all necessary, in what way he had no idea since there were certain things only the elderly Namekian knew, so he readied his arms for what was about to happen. Frieza sighed as he readied himself for whatever tests Nail had in store for him, though at the same time he hoped Ginyu and his soldiers were having a better time than he was, since they seemed to be making more progress right now, and only hoped that by the end of the day they were able to save Twilight. Ginyu, in fact, was not having a good day, not when Jeice informed him that Guldo, Recoome, and Burter were dead, which crippled his force since he was now out three valuable members and their Fighting Pose was now broken, something that really pissed him off since just he and Jeice didn't work. Such a thing meant he had to leave Twilight and the Dragon Balls in the hands of the remaining soldiers, who he tasked with standing guard until his return, before heading off with Jeice to see who dared to take down the members of the Ginyu Force. What he found was an Earthling who wore the same attire as the dwarf, Krillin he recalled, and seemed to have a low amount of power, causing him to realize that he had the power to control his power at will, a rare ability given the planets and races he had come into contact with. Goku, as the figure was known as, let Gohan, Krillin, and Dende go before Vegeta up and betrayed him, departing for another part of Namek, leaving Ginyu and Jeice to deal with the main problem, even though he'd be hunting the others down in due time. The two had clashed for some time, mostly for him to see how powerful his foe was, and he had to threaten Jeice not to get involved, as he was a firm believer of playing fair and double teaming someone like this, a skilled warrior who loved to fight, seemed disrespectful. Ginyu had determined that Goku was saving his power for a fight with Frieza, a foolish notion in his mind when he considered it, and managed to get him to show him whatever his true power was, which he felt might be eighty-five thousand at maximum, still less than his own power. He and Jeice were further surprised when Goku, who had surrounded himself with red energy, passed that point and kept climbing, surging past his own Power Level of one hundred and twenty thousand within no time at all. The real shocker was when it stopped around one hundred and eighty thousand, far more than he or Jeice thought a Saiyan was capable of producing, though it explained how he was able to take down both Recoome and Burter, as he learned that Guldo was done in by Vegeta of all people. While he was shocked by this information, that there existed someone other than Princess Twilight and Lady Towa who might be close to Lord Frieza in terms of overall power, or were fast approaching his Lord's base level, this presented the best opportunity for him to gain more power for his boss and the empire. "You know, I'm glad I found someone of your caliber on Namek." Ginyu remarked, as he had done this a lot when he was just starting out, before finding his current form and joining Frieza as his trusted Captain of a special force, and the only ones who knew of this technique were Jeice, their slain friends, and their Lord, though as he took his Scouter off and just tossed it to Jeice he realized Twilight might know about it. As Goku started to wonder what was going on Ginyu gathered a lot of his power into his right hand and then, before his foe could stop him, he stabbed himself in the chest, piercing his armor as purple blood burst out of his new wound, but as the Earthling stood there in shock Ginyu shouted 'Change, now', allowing him to swap bodies with Goku by firing a beam of energy out of his mouth that linked them for a moment. "Ah, much better." Ginyu said, where he found that he liked his new body already, even if it would take some time to get used to the new voice and all of the power he would command in time, before Jeice floated up to him and handed him his Scouter, which he quickly put on as he faced his old body, "As you can see, Goku, I've made a switch: your body for mine. Your Power Level is now mine, and by extension Lord Frieza's, while that wound and death is yours to deal with." With that done he and Jeice turned and flew back to the ship, as he wanted to make sure everything was fine before even worrying about Vegeta, Gohan, Krillin, or Dende, traitors that needed to be dealt with at some point before their boss returned to the ship with news on how to use the mysterious Dragon Balls. He discovered that his new body was far faster than his old body, confirming what Jeice had told him when Goku first arrived on Namek, meaning he would be of greater use to Lord Frieza once they were done here. At the same time he knew that this body would finally give Twilight a better fight than when he and Salza challenged Lady Towa all those years ago, as he already knew that she wanted to fight him in combat one day, so having the body of a Saiyan might be the key to giving her some excitement. He also knew that such a thing might be a bad thing for Lord Frieza, as Twilight had a rather powerful ability that allowed her to absorb energy, so if they clashed too much she'd likely catch up to her father in no time, as terrifying as it sounded. His thoughts were interrupted by their arrival in the area around the main ship, where he and Jeice discovered that most of the soldiers had been wiped out, as there were craters around Lord Frieza's vessel and his Scouter indicated that there were only two Power Levels, Gohan and Krillin, even if this screamed Vegeta to him. "Hey, Goku! I had no idea you already beat that Ginyu guy," Krillin said, emerging from behind the rocks that he had picked as their hiding place, as he and Gohan had moved once they felt someone closing in on them, where Ginyu realized that the pair must have hidden their powers and he picked up on the last remnants before they disappeared entirely, though that was when Krillin noticed something, "and got his partner Jeice to join our side. We tried to use the Dragon Balls, but it seems like the incantation to use the Namekian ones is different from what we use on Earth..." That, alone, was enough to set Ginyu off, that the Earthlings had the audacity to use the Dragon Balls and take away the wish that would allow Twilight to be healed at long last, as he struck Krillin and knocked him backwards, causing Gohan to inform everyone that he wasn't Goku. "Yes, I am Captain Ginyu, and I swapped bodies with Goku... his Power Level is now mine." Ginyu remarked, though as he said that he glanced at the ship for a moment and found a weakened power that was growing weaker as time went by, a fact he was annoyed by as he turned towards the Earthlings, who found that he was angry with them, "Tell me, did you do anything inside the ship?!" "No sir, we just found the Dragon Balls outside and tried to use them... we never went inside." Gohan replied, though as soon as he said that Ginyu rushed towards the ship, to which they and Jeice followed after him without wasting any time, as it seemed like this was serious and that Vegeta was behind whatever the body snatcher had considered. What happened next was that Vegeta hurled someone down to where they were standing and Ginyu reacted instantly, as he found that Twilight had been removed from the healing tank and caught her without delay, even though he found that she was getting weaker as time went by. He considered the possibility that Vegeta had tormented her some more, before their arrival outside the ship, but quickly discarded that notion, as Gohan and Krillin hadn't heard anything and there was no way Vegeta would have kept quite in such a situation, meaning Twilight must have tried to use her magic and cut into her remaining lifespan on accident. In the following moment he realized Dende was still nearby, in fact he must have been hiding himself in case things went south, and had Jeice take Vegeta as he rushed Twilight over to the little Namekian, who claimed to be a healer and set Twilight down in front of him, as her remaining time was shrinking and Frieza would have his head if something happened to her. As Dende started to tend to her, dealing with her earlier wounds while seeing if he could deal with the infernal poison, Ginyu growled and rushed into battle as well, as he was going to kill Vegeta, only to find that the two Earthlings got in the way again. As he clashed with them, however, Goku arrived with his old body and Ginyu discovered a shocking truth, he had no idea how to pull out the full power he had witnessed earlier, allowing Krillin to score some easy blows on him while Gohan had to force himself to fight. While that happened he was made aware of another startling fact, Vegeta's full power was much higher than Jeice's, as the Saiyan was able to pick apart his second-in-command with ease and dealt a damaging blow to his chest, before wiping him out with a blast of energy, leaving nothing behind. After that the Saiyan turned and crashed into Ginyu as well, showing that he wanted nothing more than to kill him and 'Kakarot', which had to be Goku's Saiyan name when he thought about it, and he proceeded to beat him into the ground with no problems. Such a thing told him that the only course of action was to change bodies once more, so as Vegeta rushed down to end him Ginyu called out his activation command for the technique, though this time Goku got in the way and actually switched them back to their old bodies, much to his annoyance. Twilight, though weak from everything that had happened so far, was able to creak her eyes open in time to see Goku throw a frog up into the air as Ginyu made his move, trapping him in a frog's body, though Vegeta wiped it and his old body out, causing a tear to roll down her face as she slipped into unconsciousness again. > Namek: Wishes and Wrath > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Vegeta, despite the fact that Frieza was no doubt on his way back to their position, was pleased with the deaths of the five members of the Ginyu Force, because it meant that the only remaining threat on Namek was Frieza himself, since Twilight was still poisoned and that meant she couldn't fight. One thing he disapproved of was the fact that Dende, as the pair of Earthlings called him, was wasting his healing powers on her, especially since she would be dead soon enough, but, in the end, he decided not to bother since this ability might come in handy during the upcoming fight. Another thing he wasn't too happy with was the fact that the Earthlings had no idea what the incantation for the Dragon Balls were, meaning they had no idea how to grant wishes, but given their connections he knew one of them might have an idea as to what to do next. That was, of course, if Frieza refrained from killing the Grand Elder, since apparently he was linked to the spheres and if he died in some manner the Dragon Balls would disappear, or at least that was what the Earthlings claimed. Eventually Dende stopped tending to Twilight and walked over to where Goku was resting, where he rapidly mended his wounds as well, though this time it was much faster since his power had been unlocked by the Grand Elder and he found that the more he used it the easier it came to him. "Now that Kakarot's at full strength again we can focus on figuring out the incantation." Vegeta remarked, because they had no idea how much time they had until Frieza showed up to take them down, for tearing down his soldiers and killing the rest of the Ginyu Force, so someone needed to get the incantation fast, "Dende, do you know it?" "No, but I can fly to the Grand Elder's and get it from him." Dende replied, which wasn't the whole truth, in fact the Grand Elder had given it to him during his power boosting session, so it could be given to Gohan and Krillin when they finally obtained all seven spheres, but he wasn't about to let Vegeta know that. "Good. While you do that the Earthlings will guard the Dragon Balls while I get a bit of sleep in, I've been without it for some time now... but first, you need some battle wear." Vegeta said, directing the comment to Gohan and Krillin as Dende left the area, though at the same time he recalled what he had seen inside the ship as he turned towards Kakarot for a moment, whose power was definitely on another level now, just like his had been after Dende's sessions, "You should join them as well, Kakarot, since your detection abilities are far better than all of ours, so you should be able to tell when Frieza is on his way back to the ship." "Vegeta, you lied to us earlier: you said Frieza doesn't care about Twilight, yet everything we've seen so far indicates that he does care for her." Gohan remarked, because he had been thinking about what he and Krillin had seen so far and had come to realize that they had been played by the Saiyan, using his fear of Frieza to drive them into making a really bad and terrible decision. "Look, Twilight is Frieza's daughter, that much is true... but he's also all about power, and he'll no doubt give her up since immortality is within his reach." Vegeta remarked, as he felt no reason to withhold what he suspected now, since he and the Earthlings were in the same boat now, though at the same time he knew that this bit of sentimentality would be the Emperor's downfall. Vegeta's plan was rather simple, they were going to wait for Dende to come back with the information they needed to use the Dragon Balls, as once that was in their hands they could move the orbs to another island to give themselves a couple of minutes before their foe arrived. After thinking about that he ordered Gohan and Krillin to follow him as he headed into the ship, where he made his way to where the battle wear was stored and had the pair strip down to their underwear so they could put on the undershirts he pulled out for them, not to mention a pair of gloves and boots for both of them. He discovered that they were in luck, the Litts, as in the smaller soldiers, were the same size as Gohan and Krillin, so their battle jackets would work for them, before he explained their flexible nature again, as when he transformed into his Oozaru form on Earth his armor grew and shrunk with him. It was designed to do that, as there were some races in the empire's employ who had the power of transformation, and even the shoulders were much more flexible than Krillin was expecting, as Gohan tested it out after putting on the armor, all while Goku carried Twilight to her room and set her down on the odd hoverbed. Once that was done Vegeta made sure that they knew what to do while he was resting, keeping guard over the ship and the Dragon Balls that they were here to obtain, though after a few minutes of him being sound asleep Goku found that Dende was still in the surrounding area, as in he hadn't left at all and figured out how to hide his energy entirely so Vegeta would have no idea that he was still here. "Please don't be angry, but I already know the incantation for the Dragon Balls." Dende said, where Goku, Gohan, and Krillin smiled as they heard that piece of information, though at the same time their friend glanced at the ship as he spotted the Saiyan who killed his people napping by one of the windows, "I didn't want Vegeta to know that the Grand Elder had given it to me when he unlocked my powers... he would have forced me to say them and grant his wish." Krillin understood the situation and came up with a decent idea, they should move the spheres to a nearby island and then summon the Namekian dragon to grant their wishes, since Nail had said there were three on this planet, so once everything was said and done they could depart from Namek without Frieza chasing after them. With four of them it was easy for them to move the seven large Dragon Balls over to a new location, all without Vegeta noticing what they were doing, though once all of them were in place they realized something terrifying, Frieza was already heading their way. That discovery caused Dende to raise his hands towards the wish granting spheres and spoke in the Namekian language, the key to summoning the dragon that was connected to the seven orbs, where they glowed for a few seconds before the sky darkened, something Gohan, Goku, and Krillin recognized from their Dragon Balls. In the next moment a beam of light surged out of the Dragon Balls and rushed into the air, causing them to divert their eyes for a second or two before they were able to open their eyes, only for their jaws to drop as they stared at the dragon in front of them. The Namekian Shenron was buffer and more intimidating looking than the one they were familiar with, in fact Dende was surprised by this discovery as well, as this was the first time someone had collected and used the Dragon Balls in a long time, before informing them that this was Porunga, meaning the 'God of Dreams' in the Namekian language. "Thou who hast gathered the Dragon Balls, speak forth thy wishes... I shall grant thee any three wishes that are within my capacity to grant." the Namekian dragon, Porunga, stated, with a voice that sounded like he was friendlier than Shenron was, a shocking discovery when those from Earth considered how their dragon acted, but this confirmed what Nail told them before the Ginyu Force landed earlier. Krillin got to work immediately, asking Dende to tell the dragon to wish for the revival of everyone who had been killed by the Saiyans during their attack on Earth, though as he did that Porunga had some bad news for them, he was only able to revive one person at a time. Such a thing came as a surprise for the Earthlings, as they were used to Shenron being able to bring back multiple people whenever they made such a wish, and since there were four dead friends for them to revive it meant someone was likely going to be left behind. Goku, however, had a solution to their plight, they could revive Piccolo, as his life was linked to Kami, and they found that he had the same idea, as Piccolo contacted them via King Kai and said the exact same thing almost at the same time. In addition to that he was sure that a fight was going to break out as soon as Frieza realized they had betrayed them, so he wanted to use the second wish to be used to bring him to Namek so he could join the fight, before stating that healing Twilight might be a worthwhile third wish, it might even save their lives if the Emperor was in a forgiving mood. The first wish was granted without a hitch, though the second one was made in a hurry since Frieza was getting closer, so Piccolo appeared on another part of Namek and would have to fly to their position, though before the third wish could be made Vegeta landed nearby with an angry look on his face. "So, this is the true form of the Dragon Balls." a voice said, where Vegeta turned his head and found that Twilight, despite being weakened from the poison, had sensed the dragon being awakened and woke up so she could see this with her own eyes, though in the following seconds she fell to her knees and coughed up some blood into her hands, but right now she seemed more interested in Porunga, "Amazing! With this I can be cured at last!" "Ignore her. Grant my wish for immortality and we might survive what's coming our way!" Vegeta stated, because he knew that if Dende granted Twilight's wish there was no way she was going to let him leave this planet, not after betraying her father and beating her up while she was unable to fight back. In that moment, as Dende considered whose wish was more important, and he was planning on Twilight's since she and her father had done nothing to his people since their arrival, Porunga's shape distorted as he vanished, where he found seven stone orbs, the lifeless Dragon Balls, that crashed into the ground. "...we're too late... the Grand Elder is dead." Dende said, though it was hard to tell if he had perished due to old age or if he had been affected by Vegeta's slaughter of the other Namekians, not that it mattered in the long run since they had lost the Dragon Balls in the process. Vegeta growled and turned on Twilight, as he no doubt felt that it was her untimely arrival that cost him his wish, but as he started to attack her once more something collided with his side and caused him to crash into the wall, where they found that it was none other than Frieza himself who kicked Vegeta into the wall. "Let me repeat myself, Vegeta: No one is allowed to touch my daughter!" Frieza stated, as he was incredibly annoyed right now, due to the fact that it looked like Nail had tricked him into wasting time so the Earthlings could use the Dragon Balls, even though he found another one standing nearby, who reminded him of Bardock, a Saiyan who tried to rebel against him before the destruction of Planet Vegeta. "So... Sorry, dad... I... couldn't stop... them." Twilight said, though she knew that this was all her fault, if she hadn't been poisoned by Moloch they wouldn't have come here seeking to heal her, but they could have come for immortality for her father, and her father had lost so much because of one careless mistake she made. "Twilight... don't worry, you're going to be alright. Towa said she was searching the timelines for a cure and I'm sure she'll be back in no time." Frieza replied, where he knelt down by his daughter and found that her readings were worrying, she was getting closer and closer to death as time went by, all thanks to Vegeta forcing her to defend herself in her condition, though any sadness he felt was turned into rage as he glanced at the Saiyan in question, "Dende, tend to Twilight's body while I deal with these pests... we can put their suffering to use by boosting your healing powers, as that might be the only way to keep Twilight alive until Towa arrives." As Dende moved out of the way, taking Twilight with him as he found a good spot to work in, Goku set down the sack he had been carrying and informed him that there were three Senzu Beans inside them, which should restore his energy if he ran out of juice, before he focused on Frieza. While that happened Frieza rushed at Vegeta with rage on his face, showing that he wasn't pleased with what was going on right now, and swung at the Saiyan with his right fist, finding that Vegeta was able to block the attack as his energy flared to life. After that happened Frieza repeated the same with his left fist and found that the same thing happened, Vegeta was capable of actually intercepting his blows, which was actually impressive when he thought about it, since there weren't many who could keep pace with this form. Their energies wrapped around them and the surrounding area for a time, where his Scouter informed him that Vegeta was now stronger than Ginyu had been before his demise, causing him to realize that the other Saiyan had to be the same way, before it shattered under the strain of their energies. Once that happened the pair jumped away from each other, allowing the others to see that there was a chance of them maybe beating him in due time, meaning they had no idea he could transform and unleash more of his power, where he had to wonder if he might need to do such a thing. "Come now, Frieza, if we're going to battle you might as well transform." Vegeta remarked, where Frieza was surprised by the fact that Vegeta, of all people, knew about his ability, as the only ones who knew about it were his father, his brother, Towa, Twilight, Zarbon, and Dodoria, meaning someone had let it slip when they weren't supposed to, "Zarbon told me about your ability during our first battle, but with my recent power boosts I have more than enough power to wipe the floor with you." "I see. Well, as it turns out, you aren't the only one who wishes to see such a thing." Frieza said, though in that moment he glanced over to where Twilight and Dende were resting, as his daughter had expressed an interest in seeing his forms in the past, something that caused Vegeta's group to tilt their heads for a moment, "Dende, move Twilight to another island, and make sure she can see this... I'm about to transform!" Dende, upon hearing that, carefully picked up Twilight and the bag of Senzu Beans, whatever those were, before moving to one of the other small islands that were around where Frieza was planning on fighting, though as he landed he made sure to prop Twilight up so she could witness this. With that done Vegeta informed the Earthlings that there were some races in the universe that had the power to alter their shapes, either for the sake of camouflage or to prevent them from wasting energy, where Frieza admitted that his reason was because he had too much power and couldn't control it at all, hence his current form. The first thing Frieza did was blow apart his battle gear, as it was in the way and wouldn't remain once he transformed into his Second Form, though as Vegeta remarked that it wasn't much of a transformation he called out more of his energy and his body started to change accordingly. His chest bulked out and became larger than before, his arms and legs grew longer as the seconds ticked by, before his neck grew a little longer, his face changed a little, and both of his horns also curved until they were pointed at the sky. With the transformation done Frieza huffed for a moment, as this usually took a bit out of him in the process, before he stood straight up and stared down at the enemies that were in front of him, finding that Vegeta, Gohan, and Krillin were shocked by the change, but Goku was just excited for some reason. "Aw, you look like grandfather now." Twilight remarked, as she was a little disappointed that her father's next form wasn't anything new, it was just a repeat of something she had seen in the past, making her wonder if she'd be disappointed with the remaining two forms her father had. "Well, you'll be excited by the other two, I promise." Frieza replied, though he wasn't too surprised that Twilight was sort of disappointed in his Second Form, since it looked so much like his father's form, though at the same time he found that the trio that was scared were frightened by his comment and Goku was excited beyond belief, "Let me be clear, my Power Level in my previous form was five hundred and thirty thousand, while this form's power is roughly one million... and both of my remaining transformations are even stronger than this one. Observe." In that moment he gathered his power and raise his left hand as quick as he could, his energy blasting the entire island he was on to pieces as his opponents forced themselves to flee before they were caught in the attack, though when the rest of the smoke cleared they found that the island was gone, hence why he had Twilight be taken elsewhere. In that instant he considered how to go about this, as Dende was capable of healing his foes and that meant, in due time, he would have the power to deal with the Warrior's Bane now that the Dragon Balls were gone, but to do that he had to beat Vegeta and his allies up so the Namekian got the experience required. In the end he decided that it didn't matter too much, since all of them would be offered to Dende for healing in due time, so he targeted Krillin as he burst into the air, surprising them all with his speed as he kicked the Earthling in the chest and caused him to cough up some blood, before getting behind him as he grabbed his head and sent him flying straight down into another island, leaving a crater in his wake. Gohan seeing that happen, rushed into battle to do something for Krillin, where Frieza got in his way and discovered that the young Saiyan's rage broke after seeing his friend being punished like that, as he delivered some decent punches and kicks to Frieza's head and chest, before sending a burst of energy into his chest that sent him flying down into one of the other islands. Once he hit the ground Gohan released a volley of blasts that rushed down and slammed into Frieza's body, blasting part of the area around him to bits in the process, though as he picked himself up he realized that the boy was far stronger than he originally thought. Frieza realized that Gohan, in due time, would be a worthwhile foe for Twilight, due to the fact that his rage allowed him to output great amounts of energy and she, of course, would gobble it up once she was no longer burdened by the poison they were trying to cure. With that in mind he returned to the task at hand as he rushed up to where Gohan was floating and punched him in the stomach, causing the boy to stagger for a moment, given that he really couldn't control his power after transforming into this particular form, before kicking him down towards the water, even though he knew Gohan was going to hit the ground instead. As he did that, however, Vegeta blasted his backside with a burst of energy, igniting the sky around him with the force of his attack, though he found that it really didn't do all that much to him, not after what happened when Gohan struck him, causing him to turn around with a frown on his face. "That's right, Vegeta, I still have to pay you back for earlier." Frieza remarked, where he rushed through the air and quickly delivered a powerful knee jab to the Saiyan's stomach, causing him to cough in surprise of his speed and power, before he gripped his target's head and flew down towards the ground, smashing him into the island in question. That wasn't the end of it as Frieza yanked Vegeta out of the crater and let go of him, where he spun around and kicked the Saiyan in his left arm, something that allowed him to hear what had to be the bone cracking under the pressure, before he punched him in the chest and knocked him into one of the raised sections of earth. As he started to get ready to blast him something interesting happened, he sensed something coming, no doubt Twilight helping him in some manner as she and Dende watched the battle when the latter wasn't healing the injured warriors, and dodged accordingly. What it was, as he found out, was a disc made of energy that he recalled from what he and his family had seen while watching the Saiyans as they attacked Earth, but as he jumped into the air he found that part of his tail was cut off, confirming that it was a rather dangerous move to stand against. Sure enough it came from Krillin, who had been healed by Dende while he dealt with either Gohan or Vegeta, who launched several more discs at him in rapid succession, which he avoided by dodging them all, since he didn't want to be damaged anymore than this, before chasing after his new target. Krillin had another trick up his sleeve, some sort of blinding attack that he rushed straight into, though Frieza found that both Gohan and Vegeta combined their energies together and blasted him while he couldn't see it coming, though he was able to emerge without too much harm to his body. "It seems that the lot of you have honed your talents quite well." Frieza remarked, as he wasn't expecting them to have all the power they currently had, because it seemed like the two Saiyans were getting stronger as time went on and he knew it was only a matter of time until Goku joined in, as he seemed distracted by something else. As he said that, however, a new Namekian, Piccolo based on the video of Vegeta and Nappa's battle on Earth, appeared in the area and seemed like he wanted to fight him as well, to which Frieza decided one more was perfectly fine since it did help speed things along, before his new foe punched him in the side of his face and sent him flying into an island, much to the surprise of everyone in the area. "I'm here to take you down, Frieza." Piccolo stated, informing them that he either knew why he was keeping them alive or he didn't care and wanted to kill the emperor for the deaths of his people, though as he did that the others gathered near him as Goku joined in, showing that he was ready to start fighting as well. Frieza sighed as he stared at the group for a moment, knowing that this was going to get chaotic with five foes and three of them were Saiyans, who thrived in conditions like this, but, at the same time, he was willing to do anything to save his daughter and hoped that things continued at the pace they were going. > Namek: Frieza's Final Form > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "I must say, Piccolo, you've certainly gotten stronger since Vegeta and Nappa attacked Earth." Frieza remarked, which was the truth of the matter, somehow, against all odds, the Namekian was far stronger than when he faced the Saiyans, where he had perished saving Gohan if his memory was correct. "You know my name?" Piccolo inquired, something that seemed odd since he was sure Gohan and Krillin hadn't said a word about him to the Emperor, in fact the only ones who knew of his revival were them and Goku, plus Vegeta since he likely had some words with them about using the Dragon Balls, "How?" "That's my doing." a voice said, where the warriors from Earth and Vegeta noticed that Twilight had raised her hand, as they were close to where she was resting and she was able to listen in without using her powers to listen in on their conversation, but at the very least Frieza was glad that Twilight seemed to be getting better, "I outfitted many of the Attack Balls with little drones that allowed us to watch the battle on Earth live... with limited sound, sadly... though we were unable to watch all of it since Vegeta crushed it during his transformation into his Oozaru form." As the Earthlings absorbed that information Piccolo made his move as he rushed through the air and assaulted Frieza once more, delivering powerful punches and kicks to his body as he pushed the Emperor around part of the area they were in, as he wasn't about to let this opportunity pass him by. Frieza scored a few lucky hits, knocking his foe backwards a bit, but this did confirm one thing for him, Piccolo was definitely stronger than Vegeta was, something that prompted the Saiyan in question to actually rush into battle and attack him as well. He was fine with that tactic, as it allowed him to deal all sorts of damage to some of his enemies while tanking what another happened to be dealing to him, though he did find that Piccolo was able to deflect one of his energy blasts by swinging his hand at it, sending it off to his left. In fact Piccolo loosed a powerful burst of energy into the air, something that raced into Frieza's chest and blew up the area he was in, a fact he was becoming familiar with, though at the same time he knew that it might be time to stop playing around with all of them and move into his Third Form. Before he did that, however, Frieza upped his power once more and swung his elbow into Piccolo's face, stunning him as soon as his blow struck his target, allowing him to punish Piccolo accordingly with a number of powerful blows to his chest and limbs, ending with a blow that sent the Namekian down into the ground again, while kicking Vegeta down into one of the islands that were scattered around them. "You'll have to forgive me, Piccolo, for suddenly springing more of my power on you... I deemed you worthy of seeing even more of my strength." Frieza said, though at the same time he had to wonder how strong Goku was, since he hadn't made a single move to join the fight that was going on, but he did have a way to make the Saiyan join the battle, which was revealing his next transformation to them all. "Yeah, well I've been holding back as well." Piccolo stated, where he removed the odd winged cape and turban had been wearing since his arrival in the area they were currently fighting in, his casual attire based on what Frieza could see, and just dropped them to the ground as he cracked his neck and knuckles for a few seconds, "Though if this is the height of your power, well, I won't have to worry about Goku getting involved and ruining my revenge... I'll be able to take you on on my own." "That's right, you weren't here when I mentioned the fact that I had more than one transformation." Frieza remarked, as he had told Vegeta and the others shortly after he started fighting them, though at the same time Piccolo stopped what he was doing as he registered what he had just been told, to which he started to gather more of his energy as his foe stared at him in shock, "Allow me to show all of you my Third Form!" Twilight watched as her father braced himself as three curved spikes burst out of his back, two near his shoulders and the third located lower on his spine, before his shoulder pads popped off his arms and pointed outward, which was followed by his face pushing out a little as his head grew longer, arching backwards as four spikes grew out of the larger casing he had created. "Wow." Twilight said, as while her father looked more monstrous this time around, an interesting contrast to his previous form that looked like something she was familiar with, she actually thought he looked cool like this, making her wonder what sort of form he'd take once he unveiled his last form. "This form is far stronger than my last one... we don't even have a Scouter that can accurately measure the power that I possess when I use this form." Frieza stated, though this time around he was pleased to find that Twilight approved of his transformation and wasn't disappointed in what she was seeing, while at the same time discovering that Piccolo and the rest of the warriors, again save for Goku, were terrified of his power, "Let us start the next round." Piccolo, sensing what was coming, burst into the air to avoid the incoming attack that Frieza had prepared for him, where Frieza smiled for a moment before taking off as well, something that caused the observers to glance around the area for a few seconds before discovering that he was able to cut off Piccolo with ease. Following that he went on the offensive, as in he fired off small beads of energy from his fingertips, from his pointer fingers to be exact, which tore through the fabric of his foe's legs and the leg itself, along with his arms, chest, and even his cheek, though he refrained from hitting his vitals, since he wasn't trying to kill most of his opponents. He wasn't too surprised when Gohan rushed into battle once more, as he was Piccolo's student when Frieza recalled what they had seen during the recording, though it was an attack fueled by his rage, causing him to stop tormenting Piccolo and move out of the way, only for the little brat to burst higher into the air before releasing a powerful burst of energy at him. The blast zeroed in on him and he held his hands out, even though it did crash into him and push him down towards the ground, reminding Frieza that Gohan's rage made him strong, to the point where he wondered how much power Twilight could siphon from someone like this, before he determined that this wouldn't be the end of him. In that moment he forced the attack backwards, sending it flying through the air as it zeroed in on Gohan's position, but before it could actually make contact Piccolo blasted it with a small energy blast, allowing it to detonate before it hit his student and did some serious damage. While he was focused on that Vegeta rushed in and tried to actually do something to him, where Frieza decided to vent his anger for the Saiyan by crushing his arms with a kick to both of them, holding enough power to break the bones, before he grabbed onto his head for a moment. In the following instant he delivered a series of headbutts to Vegeta's head, who tried in vain to do anything to stop him from doing what he wanted, and after the tenth blow he hurled him into the air before unleashing a flurry of small blasts at his body, tearing into his arms, legs, and chest like he did to Piccolo. Out of his current set of foes Vegeta was the only one he really wanted to kill right now, as there was no telling how much time the Saiyan had stolen from Twilight thanks to his various beatings, so he was making him suffer as payment since it would allow Dende to get more experience in healing. Speaking of which he could see the little Namekian tending to Piccolo right now, which was good to see since it meant he was gaining far more power to combat the Warrior's Bane his daughter was dealing with right now, before he blasted Vegeta in the chest, tearing a hole through his body and armor. With that done he let Vegeta fall to the ground, where Gohan and Krillin caught the Saiyan and hauled him over to Dende's position, though at the same time he realized the best way to get the last warrior to enter the battle was to use his final form at long last, something he hadn't used in a long time. "I know I only just assumed this form, but I'm taking on my final form, my true form, at long last!" Frieza stated, though of all of them only two seemed interested in his words, Twilight wanted to see it and Goku seemed excited about the idea, which was when he gathered his energy once more as the air around him shuddered. Twilight coughed as she watched this transpire, where she found that her father had to undo the seals or bindings that he had placed on himself to restrict his power into the forms they had seen so far, or whatever he had done to create his other forms, and his power was rising at an alarming rate. When her father reached the point he was reaching for the area around him exploded in a violent display of energy, shattering the rest of the island he had been standing on, where smoke and dust filled the area for a time as everyone focused on what might emerge this time. The Third Form fell away like a shell, cracking and breaking to reveal Frieza's true original form, a sleek body that was much like his First Form, the one Twilight grew up seeing all the time, even though he was actually taller in this form. He had a white color to his body, which was more like a lizard's as Twilight realized his tail had been healed as well, and she knew her father looked sort of harmless in this form as she took in the purple sections that were still present. Her father was, as Twilight put it, a textbook example of why you never judged someone by their appearance, as his power was far greater than any of them could have predicted and even she realized that he had more power than what she and the others were feeling right now, especially when he raised a finger and fired a small blast at a nearby island, blasting it apart in a matter of seconds. "You know, Twilight, I was planning on facing you when you were older, and more experienced... think of this as sort of an early viewing of my true power." Frieza said, as he knew his daughter had to be excited about the prospect of fighting him in this form, after seeing his brief display of power to all of them, before he focused on the foes that were in front of him and what he was going to do next, since Dende likely needed more experience for his powers, "Now then, who shall I fight first?" "How about me?" Goku replied, where this time around he moved over to where Frieza was standing, surprising the others for a moment since he had remained near Dende for the most part, watching the battle take place without actually doing anything to stop Frieza, before Vegeta floated up as well. "No one's killing Frieza but me." Vegeta stated, where he wasted no time in rushing forward, as Dende's healing had given him the power boost he had been hoping for after seeing Frieza's previous form, because he now believed that he could stand toe to toe with the Emperor and bring him down. Frieza found that, despite his boosted speed, Vegeta was still slower than him and he was able to avoid his attacks with ease, who growled and followed after him when he moved from one spot to another, in fact it was quite humorous when he took a moment to think about it, and by pushing his speed just a little bit more he was able to confuse Vegeta. Such a thing was more than enough to cause the Saiyan to be enraged by his actions and fired a beam of potent energy down at the area he had chosen to stand in no a moment ago, where Frieza did nothing as he watched it come at him. After thinking about it for a few seconds Frieza jumped into the air and kicked the energy blast up into the air, sending it into space where it would disappear in no time, allowing him to land for a moment as he considered what sort of beating he was going to give Vegeta for hurting his daughter. As he did that, however, he found that Vegeta was stricken by fear, in fact it seemed like the power of his true form was making him have second thoughts about even challenging him in the first place, only for Frieza to rush up to where he happened to be floating, kicked him in the face, before spinning and delivering a powerful downwards kick that sent him down into the ground once more. After that happened Frieza rushed down to where Vegeta was resting and punched him in the stomach, hard enough to break the area around him in the process, but as he moved to deliver another blow Goku appeared nearby and grabbed his arm, as if to stop the beating that the Saiyan deserved. The two stared at each other for a moment before Frieza lashed out with a kick, to test the waters, only to find that Goku was able to drop down, avoiding his attack, while at the same time lashing out with his own kick at the same time, which hit him square in the face. Such a thing came as a surprise to him, as the Saiyan had avoided fighting him and yet, despite that fact, he was somehow stronger than Vegeta and the rest of the group, where he straightened himself before firing off several smaller beams, like the one he showed off after his transformation. Goku surprised him again by getting up off the ground before using the palm of his hand to deflect all of the beams coming at him, a feat he considered impossible, for a foe anyway since he had a feeling Twilight could pull it off at some point. While he wasn't one for fighting, in fact he hated training with a passion, Frieza had to wonder if Goku might actually be the only person outside his family that would allow him to use his full and unrestricted power, a thought he shelved for the time being. A few seconds later Goku rushed at him and they collided with each other, the sides of their arms clashing without delay, causing Frieza to lash out with a few punches, all of which Goku seemed to avoid rather well, and a kick that caused his foe to jump back and burst into the air. While his opponent's speed was impressive, because he could keep up with him, he kept on the pressure as he gathered more energy and fired a pair of beams out of his eyes, trying to strike Goku since he was doing this to inflict some damage that Dende could heal. Goku avoided them with ease and actually appeared behind him, where Frieza had to move to avoid the swing meant for his neck, though he did it by diving into the water for a couple of seconds so he could emerge from his foe's backside and fired a blast of energy at him. Sure enough Goku decided to test his power out by holding his hands out to stop the attack in it's tracks, where it slammed him into the raised rock wall behind him and pushed him through it, before he was able to stop it and deflected it into the air. Such a thing confirmed something for Frieza, this Saiyan, who had been on the sidelines the entire time, was somehow stronger than everyone else, meaning his own potential was far deeper than Vegeta's had been, since one beating for him seemed to be worth two or three for Vegeta, in terms of how their power grew. "I'll admit, I never expected to meet someone who could actually put Ginyu to shame... not counting Twilight, since she's a very special case." Frieza remarked, because at only thirteen years old his daughter was likely approaching the point that she could fight on par with the form she was the most familiar with, though, given that she seemed to be like a Saiyan, he had to wonder if the constant struggle to overcome death was boosting her power, something they would only be able to figure out once she overcame the poison, "However, you cannot beat me." "You say that, but you never know what the future might hold." Goku replied, showing him that the Saiyan was excited by what they were doing right now and that he really had no idea if he was capable of overcoming his terrifying power, which made Frieza wonder if he was just someone who loved battle, regardless of the consequences. In that moment Frieza launched his next attack, a push of energy from his eyes that shattered the rest of the area that his foe was standing in, though he found that Goku was able to dodge the attack once again and replied in kind, as in using the same ability to push him down into the water. Such a thing couldn't hold him for more than a second or two, where he got behind the Saiyan and kicked him right in the side of his head, sending Goku down into the water as he floated in the air, because instead of coming up immediately his foe remained underwater. For a few precious seconds it seemed like his foe wasn't going to do anything, causing him to wonder what he should do next, before he found the water rumbling and turned his attention to it as something burst out and rushed towards his position. Frieza instantly realized that it was just an energy blast and turned towards the second instance that emerged from the water, only to find that it happened to be the same thing, but before he could process that information something, Goku he realized, kicked him in the face with both of his feet. Such a blow sent him flying through the ground that was diagonally below him, the ground that was underwater near it, and caused Frieza to crash into another island, allowing him to emerge without having to do anything special, though his body was mostly unharmed, save for a few minor marks from the rocks. While Goku was distracted by the fact that he had taken no damage from the attack Frieza decided to toy with him a little more, by using his telekinesis to lift a number of nearby rocks into the air before sending them flying at his foe, mostly as a cover for his true goal. Sure enough Goku was able to avoid some of his attacks and even crushed others with a simple kick or punch, proving that he was skilled in the art of battle, though at the same time it opened up a hole in his defenses that Frieza was waiting for. Such a thing allowed him to get behind the Saiyan while he was distracted, surprising him in the process, before surrounding him with some of his energy, a paralysis sphere that he sent down at the water, allowing it to detonate upon impact, since tearing apart too many islands might annoy Dende and any other surviving Namekians. What surprised him, however, was that Goku was able to survive the blast with minimum damage to his body, which told Frieza that he either put forth too little power or his foe had escaped right before the explosion, where he suspected that the latter might be more realistic. Following that he brought Goku down to the ground level, allowing the Saiyan a moment to wonder what he was thinking about, since Frieza had said nothing before landing, though his mind was on the fact that, unless he did some serious harm to his foe, he was just wasting time right now. Twilight was literally dying while he fought Goku, unable to do much damage that would warrant sending him over to Dende for healing, though it also meant he was more resilient than the others were, which was actually quite annoying when he thought about it. With that in mind Frieza rushed at his foe and swung at him without delay, once more finding that Goku was able to avoid some of his attacks and even had time to do his own, but the only thing he really didn't expect was the edge of his tail hitting him in the face. It told him that Goku was used to fighting enemies without tails, but he regained himself almost instantly, bounced back without wasting time, and grabbed onto Frieza's tail before spinning his around so he could hurl him at one of the rock walls, which he smashed his way through before rushing back to his foe. As soon as they were close to each other Frieza found that he and Goku were roughly evenly matched, as the Saiyan had scored a few blows to the side of his face that really didn't do much, causing him to use his tail to try and slow him down, so he could do some damage to him. Goku, however, despite falling to his knees ended up biting his tail and forced him to make sure there was no lasting damage, as it hurt more than he was expecting it to, which actually opened him up to a few of Goku's incoming punches. Such a thing caused him to strike him in the face and knock the Saiyan to the ground, a state that only lasted for a few seconds since he got back up a few seconds later, but he did offer Frieza a little advice, that he placed too much confidence in his strength and needed to keep his defense up. Frieza, in turn, asked Goku if he'd be willing to work for him, since he needed to replace Ginyu and everyone else that had perished so far, plus he wouldn't have to worry about Earth if it was part of the empire, but, as he expected, the Saiyan refused his offer. "I see that you are holding back quite a bit of your full power, still no doubt sizing me up to determine how much power is needed to catch up with me," Frieza remarked, because he had seen enough of Twilight's training to realize when one was holding back, even if he had his own reasons for doing so, and Goku even confirmed that his words were true, before he considered his next words and the effect they'd have on his opponent, "however, I'd estimate that half of my maximum power will be enough to finish this fight and give Dende the experience he needs to heal Twilight." As Goku assumed his stance, to show he was ready to fight, Frieza held his arms out and stood still, studying his foe while the Saiyan measured him, mostly to see if he might be bluffing or if he was telling the truth, and the moment Goku's eyes widened in surprise Frieza made his move, elbowing him in the face. Following that attack he patiently waited for his foe to stand up before dropping down and spinning, using his feet to attack the sides of Goku's legs, forcing him to the ground as he used a hand to stop himself, but Frieza didn't mind that as he grabbed his foe with his tail. That allowed him to pull his foe close and elbow him right in the chest, causing him to cough up some blood in the process as Frieza walked away, just a little, causing his opponent to rush at him with his fist raised, though it never hit as he was kicked in the face, which showed him that Frieza was paying more attention to him than he realized. In fact he had noticed some quite odd about his foe, he used the same red aura they had seen during his battle with Vegeta on Earth, which seemed to be how he was able to keep pace with him after he raised his power again, not that it mattered since another attack or two would knock him down and Dende could finally get to work. To drive the point home he gathered some power in his right pointer finger and swung it at Goku, in a diagonal manner, to which everyone watched as the ground and raised rock below him was carved in half, something that caused Goku to call forth the red aura, only it seemed stronger this time around. "Kaio-Ken!" Goku said, which was when the area around him shuddered as he activated the aura, something Frieza knew Twilight was no doubt taking notes on, even in her condition, though since this was something he had seen before he had a feeling nothing important would happen. "Kaio-what?" Frieza asked, as this was the first time he had heard those words, in fact the only ones who likely knew about it were those from Earth and Vegeta, since he had faced Goku back on Earth and likely experienced this as well, so he had to say something about it. In the next moment Goku rushed at him and punched Frieza square in the right side of his face, which was far stronger than what he had experienced so far, before he delivered a second strike to the other side and knocked him into the air, allowing Goku to pull his hands together on his right side as blue energy gathered... where Frieza found a beam of blue energy barreling into him as the air ignited around him, with enough power to blow everything away. "No seriously... Kaio-what?" Frieza inquired, though as he said that he noticed that his hands, which he used to tank the attack, were smoking thanks to the power of that attack and stung as he moved a couple of his fingers for a moment, as it made him realize that he had underestimated his foe. 'Kaio-crap!" Goku replied, though he was surprised by the fact that his attack, while having some noticeable impact on his foe's body, hadn't really done all that much and made him wonder if he was utterly doomed, even though there was one more move in his arsenal that could be used at this point. "I thought so." Frieza said, where he rushed to where Goku was floating, grabbed him by the head, and hurled him right at the ground, blasting a crater into one of the islands that were still around them, while finding that his allies were still safe, meaning Twilight was fine and was still watching the fight. He hoped this was enough to convince the Saiyan to stop fighting and just admit defeat so he could have Dende work on him, as all the damage he had done should be enough to push the little Namekian's healing power to new heights, he just had to wait on Goku before worrying about what might come next. > Namek: Goku's Trump Card > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Frieza floated in the air for a few moments, as while he could have Dende tend to his own injuries, which would be a good bit of experience for him, he was more interested in ensuring Goku was done with the fight, especially since the longer they took the more time Twilight lost. "Tell me, Goku, are you done yet?" Frieza inquired, because with all the energy that had been poured into the last attack he was sure that his foe had burned through the last bit of his power, though he had considered the same thing before the red aura had flared to life and resulted in that last attack, "If so Dende can heal you and we can be done with this... I still have a daughter whose in need of saving." "If you're willing to wait, I still have one more move to use." Goku replied, though at the same time he pulled himself out of the crater he had been knocked into after his last stunning failure, finding that his body hurt and was likely in desperate need of repair, hence why an idea came to mind as he glanced up at the Emperor for a moment, "I'll warn you, it requires a bit of time to prepare, but if that fails, well, I'll admit defeat." "And I'm assuming that you need to be in good condition for it to work?" Frieza asked, making him wonder what sort of skill or power he was planning on using this time, especially since he was sure it was one that he, Towa, and Twilight hadn't seen before, to which Goku nodded and he sighed for a moment, "Very well. Dende, you can get to work... I'll be standing over on another island while I wait for you to get ready." Goku breathed a sigh of relief as he sat down, allowing Dende to come over and check on him before using his power to mend his wounds, though at the same time Piccolo and the others, including Vegeta as it turned out, landed nearby, no doubt keeping their eyes on Frieza as he remained true to his word. "Goku, I'm assuming you have a plan to beat him?" Piccolo asked, because while he knew that the Saiyan was having a hard time fighting Frieza, just like they had experienced before Goku stepped in to face him, though they knew that the imposing figure was far stronger that any of them could have prepared for. "Yeah, I do: the Spirit Bomb." Goku replied, though as he said that the only one who was confused by his words was, of course, Dende, but he could tell that while Piccolo might have overheard the name he had no idea what he was talking about right now, while Gohan and Krillin understood, "I'll have to assume a stance that allows me to gather the energy of the plants, animals, and living things of the planet so I can condense it into a ball of energy... Vegeta, you remember being hit by it, right?" "It nearly killed me, I'll have you know... but, if you do it right, this might work." Vegeta remarked, as he hated the move in question due to all the pain that it had put him through, in fact had it not been for Kakarot allowing him to leave he was sure that the bald Earthling would have killed him, but, at the same time, he knew that if the other Saiyan was given the time to work they might eliminate Frieza at long last. "Should we try a distraction of some kind?" Gohan inquired, because while it seemed like Frieza was fine with them trying everything they knew to try and bring him down, since it usually ended with him punishing them and letting Dende heal all of their injuries, he had a feeling that they might be able to confuse their foe in some manner, "Or maybe we should have another move prepared in case the Spirit Bomb fails..." "Oh, I get it: the Special Beam Cannon." Piccolo said, as he was starting to see what Gohan was talking about, the young Saiyan was thinking about linking attacks together to get rid of their foe, meaning hit Frieza with the Spirit Bomb and then, while he had to deal with that, hit him with a second attack, one that could smash through him and detonate the attack in the air before it hit the ground. "Vegeta, can you use that move you used against Recoome? The one with the lightning?" Krillin asked, because if they did this he was concerned it might blast a hole into Namek, one it might not be able to recover from since this planet was far different from Earth, so a Spirit Bomb formed here would be different as well, so by using Vegeta's move they could force Frieza into the air. "With Dende's healing, and the rest we've had, I should be able to hit him, or keep him distracted." Vegeta said, though at the same time he thought about the move and wondered if it should be more of a permanent addition to his arsenal, and if so it needed a name, especially since these fools named all of their attacks, but the only reason he was considering even working with them was so they killed Frieza. Goku realized that this might be their best shot at winning, as with the Spirit Bomb capable of dealing massive damage to evil souls, like Vegeta for example, someone of Frieza's caliber would suffer even more if the attack blew up on top of him, which was what Piccolo's attack was for, to ensure their foe couldn't escape, so he made sure that he, Piccolo, and Vegeta ate the three Senzu Beans to ensure they were prepared for this. "Any time now, gentlemen." Frieza stated, as he had seen Dende heal people quickly before and knew that it didn't take him this long to restore someone's body to a pristine nature, even if he was giving them some time to have one last talk amongst themselves, so with Twilight's life on the line he was hoping to get this over with. Goku nodded as Dende finished healing his wounded body, to which he jumped into the air and moved over to another part of the island that his foe had picked out, where he landed on a higher point before raising his hands towards the sky, as it was time for him to get started on his part of their plan. While he did that Piccolo and Vegeta moved as well, where Frieza found that the former decided to position himself on another nearby island, though as he shifted his stance he did raise two of his fingers to his forehead, the ones on his right hand anyway, as he gathered his energy. Vegeta, on the other hand, moved high into the air for a few moments before holding his arms and legs out, like he was a star of some kind, as he also started to gather his energy, meaning they must have come up with an idea to add their attacks to whatever Goku was preparing. In addition to that Frieza discovered that Gohan and Krillin weren't joining the battle, though he guessed it made sense given that one was far weaker than the others and the younger one was likely stunned by his power, which told him he had three attacks to watch out for. As he watched them, however, he could only hope that Towa and the rest of his family were having fun, since watching all of his foes wasn't as exciting as fighting them, and, more importantly, that this ended with him healing Twilight so they could get on with their lives, he just had to be patient with his foes and not rush blindly into things. While all of that was going on on Namek, however, King Cold sat in his private chamber of his own ship, because while he had agreed not to get involved with Frieza's venture on the only planet that had the ability to save Twilight's life, due to the fact that he trusted his son and his force, he had changed his mind. "Are you sure you don't want me to come along, father?" Cooler asked, as right now the two were in the middle of another video call, because while they usually didn't show concern for the other members of their family it was something that had changed after Twilight came into their lives, "I can leave my forces and make for Namek without delay... they'll be able to take care of the rest of our enemies in another day, without needing any additional help from me." "While I would enjoy your company, Cooler, this is a venture that only one of us need to tackle." King Cold replied, where he sipped on some of the tea that had been prepared for him, his crew knowing that he needed something to drink so he remained calm, especially after the discovery that he made when he checked the station that was scanning the powers on Namek, or tried to anyway, "I'm just... well, worried about Frieza and Twilight. As far as we can tell everyone in his crew has been slain, the Ginyu Force seems to have been wiped out entirely, Towa's energy is gone... no, I don't think she's dead, otherwise Frieza's energy would have gone wild by now, so Twilight's safe as well... and it seems like Frieza's gone into his true form, based on the wrecked monitor that scanned it. Something is going on on Namek I mean to find out what that something is, hence why I joined the crew whose been assigned to pick them up, given their wrecked ship... and, if he's still alive, kill Vegeta myself." "My brother's using his base form?!" Cooler exclaimed, where he was fortunate that they were alone, both of them sealed their chambers when making calls like this, to ensure that no sensitive information was leaked to the outside, though this was the first time he had heard of his brother doing such a thing, "I can't imagine that Vegeta could have forced him to do such a thing... not unless something happened to Twilight... which means he must have run into someone who forced him to transform back to his base form." "Indeed, and, if such a thing is happening, I would like to see this challenger with my own eyes, before determining if they need to be taken out." King Cold said, where his own father, grandfather, and ancestors usually cut down anyone who dared to stand against them and their growing empire, though with Twilight growing up around him and the others even he knew that everyone had changed to some degree, just as they had changed her, before noticing the look that was in Cooler's eyes, "What? I can't help that I'm like this, focusing on securing my legacy and my empire against those who might seek to do it harm... you can blame my father for that... but Twilight is a special flower, one that I would like to see bloom once more, and her influence on us has been rather interesting." "Indeed. Take my brother and I, as before her arrival we couldn't stomach each other, but now we can have conversations without cursing the other out." Cooler replied, though he couldn't shake the fact that his brother was actually fighting a foe that required his base form, as such a thing worried him more than he was willing to admit, which again was strange for him since he usually didn't care about his brother, "I also never saw him settling down and marrying someone, but here we are, with Towa having filled that position while becoming Frieza's consort... things have changed, hence why I offered to leave my ship and head to Namek before anything else happens." "Towa has been an excellent addition to the family, and she's been a wonderful teacher for Twilight." King Cold remarked, in fact they were fortunate that she had come to them after the first lady ruined his granddaughter's hopes of discovering who her mother was, otherwise there was no telling how things would have played out for them and the newest member of their family, before he sighed and finished his tea, "We'll be arriving in the space around Namek in about six hours, where Frieza should be done with whoever he's fighting right now... depending on what I discover, we might have new allies to replace all of our missing soldiers, or I might find them surrounded by the bodies of those who annoyed them. Once Twilight is healed, and no longer has to worry about that dreadful poison, she'll likely kill their foes by draining all of their energy from them, just like when she accessed her Rage Form for the first time... what a day that was." Cooler agreed with that, as it was a day that informed them that Twilight, at the time, wasn't ready for the path she wanted to take in life, even if things had changed since her first visit to Alexandria, but even then he couldn't help but wonder what was going on on Namek right now. He couldn't imagine a foe that would require his brother to use his base form, something he only knew about since Frieza had told them about it after telling Twilight about the forms he possessed, other than showing it off to Twilight once his foes were taken care of. He then recalled the legend he had heard about when Frieza blew up the Sayan home planet, the legend of the Super Saiyan that had caused his brother to wipe out the race, and wondered if either of the surviving Saiyans might have figured out how to achieve the legend, which, if that was true, meant it was a problem they had to deal with before it grew out of control. He was also worried about Twilight's safety, because the poison was still coursing through her veins, based on what his father had said so far, so there was no telling how much time she had left and he could only hope that Frieza was able to accomplish his mission. King Cold was worried as well, even though he didn't show it due to his neutral expression, though he had faith in Frieza's ability and suspected that when he reached Namek they would find that Twilight was fine and that they were ready to come home, he just had to be patient and wait for their arrival. Frieza stood on the island for some time, watching as nothing seemed to happen while Goku had his hands raised, save for lightning arching off of Vegeta's attack and the ground around Piccolo cracked, though he was starting to wonder if this last move of Goku's was just him wasting time. He had given him plenty of time, almost five minutes worth of time, and right now he was starting to wonder if he had been fooled in some manner, because while two of his three opponents seemed ready to fight him, while putting the last touches on their attacks, the same couldn't be said for Goku. It really didn't look like he was doing anything other than standing still, in a form that one could assume was meant to gather energy, despite the fact that nothing seemed to be happening, so he guessed the little discussion he had with the others must have caused him to change his mind. Either way he knew that they had some time to spare, since Twilight seemed to be just fine, despite the poison in her veins, and once he smashed whatever plan they had come up with he could focus on ensuring Dende healed Twilight until the Warrior's Bane was completely gone. Of course even his patience had it's limits, since he really thought that his main foe was just wasting time right now, and it seemed like Piccolo and Vegeta might be feeling the same way, or the pressure of their attacks was causing them to be in pain as they held them in until the time was right. "Any day now, gentlemen." Frieza remarked, because he wanted to get this over with so he could focus on his daughter, as healing her was the whole reason he had come to Namek and was even bothering to fight these warriors, whose wounds allowed Dende to grow his healing powers quite well. As he said that, however, Twilight coughed violently, a reminder of the poison in her veins, and as Dende tended to her all of them found that Frieza turned his head to make sure she was alright, which was when Goku noticed that his attack was ready and silently nodded his head before their foe noticed. "Final Flash!" Vegeta shouted, as his name came from the fact that this was the last thing his foes would see if he used this against them, where he fired a massive beam of yellow energy from his hands that rushed down towards the island that Frieza was currently standing on. Frieza, upon hearing that shout and noticing the attack coming his way, decided not to let it hit him and jumped into the air without delay, though at the same time Twilight glanced into the air and found a massive orb of energy resting above all of them, which her father hadn't noticed yet. In that instant she realized what Goku had been doing, his stance was so he could channel either his energy or the energy of the surrounding area to form the sphere, while the others were there just to distract their opponent so he didn't realize what he was doing. With the massive orb having a diameter of about fifty meters, or a hundred and sixty-four feet, Twilight understood that her father was going to be struck by it and would no doubt experience great harm if it detonated on top of him, which seemed to be the plan that Goku had come up with while Dende was healing him. In the next moment she knew how to deal with this, even though using her power to do so would weaken her greatly, possibly even kill her in the process, but she owed everything to her father and she wasn't about to let something like this happen, not after everything that had been lost so far. With her mind made up Twilight gathered her magic again, feeling the searing pain of the poison this time around as the Warrior's Bane reacted to her power, where Dende watched as she disappeared and Frieza appeared in her place, finding that she had switched places with her endangered father. Twilight, on the other hand, found the sphere coming down at her, where she braced herself as she raised her hands and activated her absorption ability, intending on siphoning all of it before it crushed her into the ground, though while it would give her an explosive growth to her own power she wouldn't be able to enjoy it. Draining this much energy was likely going to be the death of her, given the fact that the sphere had been made to kill her father, and while she didn't want to die, as there was so much more of the universe she wanted to explore and learn about, while fighting some strong foes, she wanted her father to live even more. With that in mind she sent her power out and latched onto the massive sphere that was above her, starting the process of devouring it like she had done since discovering Moro's powers, but before she could do too much something pierced her chest, tearing right through it and striking the sphere as well. Frieza realized that the attack existed after Twilight moved him out of the way, though he wasn't expecting Piccolo to lash out at the sphere, causing him to realize the other warriors had tried to kill him with it, before the sphere exploded on top of Twilight and forced them to shield their eyes for a time. When the light faded, however, he spotted the smoking body of his daughter falling towards the water, where he burst into the air and caught her before she could hit the water, allowing him to land on another island as he gently set her down and looked over her body. What he found filled him with dread, as there was a hole where her heart should be, made thanks to Piccolo's attack hitting her, even though he suspected that he was their intended target, and her vitals were totally gone. Frieza fell to his knees as he stared at Twilight's lifeless body for a few seconds, unwilling to believe that this was even happening right now, and as he started to despair over losing his daughter, the light of his life, something within him stirred, a rage unlike anything he had felt before. As a single tear was shed his expression turned into one of rage as he glared at Goku and his companions, as he was going to kill most of them, just to make the Saiyan suffer for his actions, before making his way to Earth to revive Twilight, he just had to clear out some vermin before doing so. > Namek: Rage Unleashed > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Goku had been so sure that the plan would have worked, as Frieza had no idea that the Spirit Bomb was even above him and, with both Vegeta and Piccolo helping out, the Emperor should have been caught in the attack, but, at the last second, his sick daughter had traded places with him and got herself killed. "I don't understand. How did she trade places with him?" Goku asked, as this was the first time he had seen her move in the entire time they had been fighting Frieza, in fact he recalled Krillin saying something about her being poisoned, though as he said that Piccolo and the others gathered near him as they prepared for what was coming next. "Magic. Twilight Sparkle is from an unknown race that not even the scholars of Alexandria, the Planet of Knowledge, know anything about, save for her incredibly strong magic." Vegeta said, because out of everyone here he was the only one that had the most experience with her and her powers, which was sort of why he was glad she had been weakened by the poison, as her other ability would have complicated things greatly, "I'm not surprised by the fact that she could use some of her power to trade places with her father, though with the poison in her veins I was assuming Twilight couldn't do anything without killing herself." "So how screwed are we? I mean, we just killed his daughter." Krillin inquired, as part of his earlier actions had been so he and Gohan could survive their visit to this planet, including Bulma for that matter, who was safe on another section that was far away from here, but with Twilight's death he was sure their lives were forfeit. In that moment Frieza stood up and caused the warriors to stop their conversation, as they could tell that he wasn't too pleased with what had happened after Goku attempted to use the Spirit Bomb to crush him, or blow him up thanks to Piccolo's Special Beam Cannon, before he turned towards them. "Gentlemen, I have only one thing to say to all of you: I'm going to murder most of you!" Frieza snapped, where they found that he was totally enraged by the fact that Twilight was dead, in fact the ground around him cracked under the pressure of his anger, though that was when he raised his hand for a moment, "I'll spare you for now, Piccolo, but as soon as I use the Dragon Balls on Earth to revive Twilight I'm blasting your planet to hell as well! For now, I'll start with the one whose caused me the most grief!" As the group got ready for what was coming their way, since it was clear they had messed up, Frieza loosed a blast that tore through Vegeta's chest, surprising him in the process, as he thought someone else might be attacked first, before he collapsed on the ground. With the Saiyan dead Frieza rushed over to where his foes were standing and found that Piccolo carefully stepped back, either because he was scared or because he didn't want to be part of what was coming, though he did stop by Vegeta's body for a few seconds to be sure that he was dead. With that done he found that Gohan and Krillin were totally terrified of him, as they should be, before finding that Goku was rushing him, where he caught the incoming punch that was aimed at his head and punched the other Saiyan in the chest, causing Goku to cough as he hurled him into a rock wall. After that he decided that, to really show Goku that he had messed with the wrong opponent, to instill a level of fear and despair into the Saiyan, where he raised his hand and called forth a marble of energy as he focused on Krillin, where the Earthling staggered backwards as it entered his chest, causing him to float above the ground for a moment, to their surprise. "Frieza, stop! You don't have to do this!" Goku stated, as he was already worried about his best friend, who was currently struggling to figure out how to save himself from the danger the Emperor had put him in, while Gohan and Piccolo had no idea what to do in this situation. "YOU TOOK MY DAUGHTER FROM ME!" Frieza snapped, showing them that he was beyond angry right now, in fact Goku could see that he must have reverted to an old personality or something to cope with Twilight's death, before he turned on Krillin once more, "So I'm taking away what you care about... one piece at a time." As Goku called for Frieza to stop, which went unheeded, Frieza raised his left hand and Krillin moved up into the air, where Krillin made one attempt to call out to Goku before the Emperor, upon reaching a desirable position, collapsed his hand and caused the bald Earthling to explode, leaving nothing of him behind. "With him gone the brat is next... I think I'll torture him, nice and slow, just so you feel my pain." Frieza remarked, though as he said that he knew it wouldn't do much to dull the pain that was in his heart, it would only make him feel better for the time being, causing him to turn towards Gohan, who took a step back for a moment. "I... won't let you... get away... with this!" Goku stated, where Frieza noticed something odd about him, he seemed to be experiencing the same surge of anger that he was feeling right now, though the only difference was that his anger looked like it was affecting the area around them. What he meant by that was that the air seemed to be charged in some manner, the water moved in response to what was going on right now, and lightning flashed every now and then, cutting through his rage for a time, because he was curious as to what his foe was doing. As that happened the ground below Goku's feet started to crack and break, where pieces of rock actually lifted into the air while he stood there, struggling with his own anger, before the strangest thing happened as he and the others watched this event transpire. That oddity was the fact that his hair, for a brief moment, became golden before returning to normal, though that wasn't the only thing that changed about that part of him, as the strands of his hair started to spike upwards, staying like that due to his anger or whatever power he was channeling. After some time he let out a powerful yell as his hair and his aura turned golden, while his eyes turned green, though everyone could tell that he was incredibly angry and that this was the result of that anger. In that brief moment of clarity, brought on by the transformation he had witnessed, Frieza had to wonder if this might be the legend that caused him to destroy Planet Vegeta, the 'Super Saiyan', though all it did was fuel his desire to kill Goku so he could rid the universe of his kind. "G... Gohan, take Piccolo and Dende and get out of here." Goku struggled to say, as his anger was running hot and right now it was overtaking most of his mind right now, though as his son stood there he growled and turned on him, showing Piccolo that this was different from what they had seen in the past, "Beat it, before I lose what's left of my sanity!" Frieza stood there for a moment, as while he knew for a fact that the Saiyans only had the Oozaru transformation, he had seen it many times and had used the giant apes to wipe out a number of the more annoying races of the universe so his forces could take over, like the Cerealians. Twilight, on the other hand, had been a firm believer that such a thing wasn't true, that they would run into a Super Saiyan at one point in time, even though there were other tales she knew about, all due to her visits to Alexandria, not that she told him what she knew. If Goku was a Super Saiyan now it meant that Frieza's earlier thoughts to nip this problem in the bulb had been correct, as the warrior race believed that it was the only thing he feared, the only thing other than Beerus or Majin Buu that could beat him. As the others fled, however, Frieza shifted his stance and raised his hands, showing that he was going to fight and destroy him, because his plan ended with the loss of his daughter and he wasn't about to forget that. What surprised him was the fact that Goku was able to cross the distance between them in a second, grabbing onto his right arm to stop Frieza from firing on Gohan and the others, since he had threatened to kill each of them before heading to Earth to destroy it. With that in mind Frieza focused his attention on Goku as the Saiyan punched him square in the face once more, where he determined that it was definitely stronger than his previous attacks, something that worried him just a bit since it might stop him from fulfilling his own goals. As Frieza was knocked backwards by the attack, however, his foe rushed through the air and smashed both of his fists, linked together into a ball shape, into his chest, sending him down into one of the surrounding islands, blasting part of it to pieces as he crashed into it. Frieza destroyed the rest of it with a burst of energy as he surged into the air and launched a powerful burst of energy at Goku, intending on wiping him out so he could collect Twilight's body and wait for the repair team to arrive. He found that nothing happened to his foe's body, meaning he must have moved out of the way and waited for the blast to disappear before moving back into position before Frieza noticed his movement, or he actually tanked it and showed him that it meant nothing to him. Following that his foe pushed him through the air with the same energy push he had used back at the beginning of their battle, only this time it was far stronger than what Frieza had experienced so far, which seemed to be a trend right now, that the transformation had boosted his speed and power to new heights. With that fact in mind Frieza rushed at his foe without delay, as he was going to break him no matter what, only to find that Goku's rage made him a more effective fighter, as he slipped through his defenses and elbowed him in the face showing him that his defenses might not be as effective as he previously thought. After that Goku moved into a series of attacks, punching and kicking at Frieza before he even had a chance to move out of the area he was being pushed through, and when he found an opening to use his foe simply countered his blows with far too much ease. In fact when he backed away Frieza found that Goku was able to avoid his smaller beam attack, the same he had blocked not that long ago, though he expected his foe's rage to make him make terrible decisions, like he had seen so far, and the one time Goku stood still he was able to hit him in the head, with no effect. "You have all this power, enough to destroy entire worlds, and yet you can't kill me." Goku remarked, almost as if he was actually looking down on Frieza, as if to suggest that the Super Saiyan was him, before the angry expression returned as he focused on his foe, "I, a Saiyan raised on Earth, have come here to defeat you... a legendary warrior whose serene heart has been awakened by unbearable rage... that is the Super Saiyan!" "If you say so... you are, at least, what you claim to be." Frieza said, though at the same time he realized that his day had gotten worse in the span of a few minutes, as not only did he lose Twilight but now he was being beaten by a Saiyan who had unlocked the legendary form he had been dreading for a long time, causing him to raise his hands into the air above his head as Goku brought his hands to his right side, "I have one last move to use, if your willing to stand still." His Death Ball possessed enough power to blast an entire planet to pieces, and even if he didn't use it's full power it could do some serious damage to a planet's core, though given what his foe was he intended on blasting Goku to hell, hence why he hurled it at his foe as soon as it was ready. Sure enough Goku, fueled by the rage of his new form, stood still as he let the attack come at him, only to shift his stance at the last moment as he struck it, sending the orb straight down at the water below them, causing a look of surprise to appear on Frieza's face as it hit the ocean. A few seconds later they had to divert their eyes as the ball exploded, blasting it's way down into the core of the planet, and when the light disappeared he found that there was a massive hole in the ground, which was filling with water as yellow energy danced around the peak that was directly below them. In that moment Frieza was glad he hadn't poured too much power into the attack, because at full power it would have wiped out Namek in an instant, while the weakened version left them with some time to get to safety before the planet was destroyed. As he thought about how foolish Goku was for hitting his attack into the ocean, however, he spotted a familiar portal of energy that reminded him of what Towa did earlier, when she left for Griea V, and, sure enough, he found that his wife had returned to Namek, only she was surprised by what was going on... though as Goku noticed her Frieza thrust out his hand and sent the Saiyan flying, before his rage caused him to do something even more foolish. "Darling, what's going on?" Towa asked, as she had been busy searching for the one thing that could save Twilight, if they failed to get their wish granted with the Dragon Balls, a quest she had failed in since she was unable to actually track down an item that wouldn't alert Chronoa to her activities. "Long story short, Twilight's dead... Goku and his friends caused her demise, so I killed one and apparently awakened the very legend I sought to destroy." Frieza replied, though while he was annoyed that Towa was showing up now, when she could have arrived sooner and might have been able to stop Twilight in her tracks, his anger right now was focused on the Saiyan who was recovering from his move, where Towa rubbed her right arm for a moment, "I'll need to use my full power to take him down... find Twilight's body and wait for me, as one of my father's ships is on the way and we can use it to get to Earth." As Towa realized that he was talking about Piccolo, and the Dragon Balls of Earth, she nodded and flew off in the direction he had been pointed in, allowing Frieza to focus on pulling more of his power to the surface, because while Goku's power as a Super Saiyan was great he knew his full power would best him. In the following moments his muscles started to grow, due to the fact that his full power caused such a thing to happen, which seemed to stall the Saiyan as he took noticed of his new changes, in fact he actually stopped in his tracks to let him power up. Frieza found that it looked like he might be talking to someone else, someone who wasn't present, meaning he was either mental, due to the rage causing his more forgiving side to conflict with his inner rage, or there was some sort of being observing their fight, no doubt afraid of what might happen when it ended. In the end he determined that it didn't matter, he was going to end Goku here and now so he and Towa could leave for Earth, to try and bring their daughter back to life with the other set of Dragon Balls, to which he finished bulking out, meaning his full power was on display for all to see. With that done he rushed forward and punched Goku right in the center of his chest, causing the Super Saiyan to cough in surprise as he experienced his full power, though for Frieza that was only the beginning as he kneed his foe in the head and released a volley of attacks into his body, showing his superiority. As it turned out Goku seemed to think his attacks tickled, where it was clear that his rage was making him lose his mind in some manner, though Frieza refused to be buy into his cheap tactics, those designed to incite anger in his foes, where he went on the offensive once more. He used his superior speed to flash around the area they were in, mostly to keep his foe trapped in one place while he tried to come to terms with what was going on right now, before he thrust a hand out and used his power to send the Saiyan flying down into the ground, blasting a crater into a crumbling island. Of course Goku got back up into the air not a few seconds later, where Frieza attempted to grab hold of him so he could fly around for just a few seconds and drive him down into the ground of another location, but he broke free, punched him in the head, and then grabbed onto his tail to spin him around. As he expected Goku tossed him towards a larger island and he crashed right into it, allowing him to pause for a few seconds as he noted that the world was literally falling apart around them, all due to the Saiyan's foolish nature or his foul pride, before Frieza rushed into battle once more. This time around he gathered his energy as Goku did the same, as he intended on smashing the Saiyan into the ground and leaving him there so he could blow up with the planet, though Frieza found that the beam attack stalled him while also disrupting his foe's vision, allowing him to move off to the side and attack the Saiyan from the side. His attack worked out quite well, as he was able to send the Saiyan down into the ocean that was below them, though his enjoyment was, as he quickly discovered, short lived as he watched as the sky darkened, which wasn't a symptom of what happened to the planet's core earlier. He had personally destroyed several planets like this, throwing a Death Ball down to see how each of the cores reacted to his attack, so he knew that the sky doing this wasn't part of the planet falling apart, meaning there was something else at play here, before it dawned on him. Against all odds the Namekian Dragon Balls had been restored, not to mention the Grand Elder since he was tied to them, meaning if he could track them down he might be able to actually revive Twilight and escape with her and Towa before the planet actually exploded. As he considered that, however, Goku raised out of the water, showing that his shirt and the undershirt had been blown away by his attack and part of his leggings had been ruined as well, though he refused to stay down, causing Frieza to growl for a moment as he summoned more of his power. "Why won't you admit defeat?!" Frieza remarked, as he had proven that, while his full power put a strain on his body, he was still stronger than the Super Saiyan and that this battle already had a victor, though as he turned to face the Saiyan he also noticed something that confirmed his thoughts, the Namekian dragon was alive, causing him to abandon the fight as he rushed towards it, "Dragon, I beseech you, grant me my wish: bring my daughter, Twilight Sparkle, back to life!" As Goku followed him, however, they both discovered something that shocked them, Dende was near the dragon and had finished speaking in the Namekian tongue, where the Eternal Dragon responded to his wish and not Frieza's, something that was followed by him, all of the revived Namekians, and even a revived Vegeta disappearing, leaving only him and Goku for some reason. "I guess you have to speak the language here to get your wishes granted." Goku remarked, though as the Dragon Balls and their Shenron disappeared, no doubt following the Namekians to Earth when he considered what he knew about the wish, he found that the sky returned to normal. "So, someone on Earth used the Dragon Balls there to revive those who perished on Namek." Frieza commented, where he let out a sigh of relief as he considered this information, because while his forces would remain dead, since none of their bodies had been left behind thanks to Vegeta's actions since his untimely arrival, the most important part had, in the oddest manner possible, been completed, "My darling Twilight lives again, I'm sure of it..." Instead of waiting for him to finish talking Goku punched him in the face, always the face he realized, causing Frieza to stop in his tracks, as he was about to thank the Saiyan for actually granting his wish, even if that might not have been the intent of the wisher on Earth, before deciding that it was time to finish the job. With that in mind the two of them engaged each other once more, Frieza elbowing the Saiyan in the face and Goku kneeing him in the face, before he was punched right in the stomach and coughed up some bile, which didn't last for long as he was knocked into the water. Frieza found that the more time they fought the more his foe seemed to become adjusted to his increased power, as Goku was able to avoid several of his attacks and delivered powerful blows to his body in return, though even then he was able to hit him several times, not that it mattered since his foe seemed to be winning. In fact he was kicked around as if he was nothing more than a ball or something, where Frieza blasted his way out of a rock wall before landing nearby, showing that he was hurt and that most of his energy had been expanded. Goku stood there for a moment before he straightened himself, which was weird since they were in the middle of a fight, a fact that made Frieza wonder what in the world was going on in his rage ridden mind, before discovering that his foe had had enough of this fight, as he determined that there was no point in fighting him now. He went on to inform Frieza that he was satisfied, as his pride had been shredded by the fact that he had been beaten by someone stronger than him, a Saiyan no less, the very race he had looked down on and destroyed out of fear. Goku seemed to think that he knew what fear was and that he should go cower in a hole somewhere, and as he dropped out of his Super Saiyan state the Saiyan informed him of one important fact, that he was heading back to Earth and that he never wanted to see him again, as if warning him that he'd kill him if they crossed paths again. There was also the other side of the coin, the unspoken part he didn't say, that after all the time and effort he put into trying to heal Twilight that he wasn't allowed to see his daughter again, which really just annoyed Frieza when he thought about it. As Goku started to leave, no doubt heading back to his own ship, Frieza called forth his energy and created a red disc, much like the one Krillin used to cut off part of his tail earlier, before sending it flying at Goku, who seemed to sense it coming as he dodged, with a cut appearing on his right cheek. Such a thing reignited the rage inside him as he assumed his Super Saiyan form, in fact Frieza heard him call him a fool as he did so, hence why his attack was coming down from behind to cut his foe in half while he was distracted, though it missed as Goku sensed it coming. With that Frieza gave chase with his new attack, the Death Slicer as he decided to call it, where he found that he could manipulate it far better than Krillin could do with his and, at the same time, it homed in on his target, a worthwhile ability since it meant there was less work for him to do. He discovered that his foe's plan seemed to involve him flying all over the sky, with the disc following him, before heading down to try and use the disc against him, though he had it follow the Saiyan and thought he got him in the air, only to hit an afterimage in the process. Goku appeared nearby, where he said something about being disappointed in Frieza if this was the best he could offer, causing him to create a second one before sending both at his target, once more causing Goku to flee as his attacks homed in on him, though with two discs he had a greater chance of winning. Goku did blast the ground and create smoke to blind him, which he dodged and was elbowed in the top of his head not a second later, creating another crater in the ground, causing Frieza to rush up so he could kill his foe, only to pause as one of his discs sliced through him, just above his waist, while finding that he also lost half of his left hand as his tail was slashed to pieces, causing him to collapse on the ground. "Such a miserable end doesn't suit you, Frieza, even if you brought it upon yourself." Goku stated, sounding disappointed in how the battle was ending, as if he expected more from the terrifying Emperor, while at the same time Frieza huffed as he used his energy to try and seal his wounds, to stop himself from bleeding out and dying, "Well, I'm heading home... you can share your fate with the planet that your energy destroyed." "P... Please... h... help... me." Frieza moaned, which was the last thing he, as the Emperor of the Cosmos, wanted to do, but in his current situation there wasn't much his dwindling energy could do to save his life, he had expanded too much power during the fight with Goku and he was going to die if things didn't change. "It's always about you, isn't it!?" Goku snapped, revealing that he was still enraged and might not help Frieza, which he did understand if that turned out to be the case, especially given what happened earlier, so for now he let the Saiyan rage for a time, hopefully to get it out of his system, "How many people have you killed while they were begging for their lives, just like you're doing right now!?" "I just... wanted to heal my daughter and see her smile again. What's wrong with that?" Frieza replied, where he didn't try to invalidate what Goku had said, because before Twilight arrived he did just that, killed for fun and often listened to several of his targets begging for their lives before he killed them, rather he focused on the one aspect they shared, the fact that they were fathers. In that moment something unbelievable happened, Goku actually imparted a small bit of energy unto him, allowing him to seal his wounds so he wouldn't bleed out, before informing Frieza that this was all he got, as he was on his own after this point in time. "Given your power, I'm assuming you can survive in space... you should get out of here while you can." Goku said, though at the same time he seemed to be thinking about something, no doubt the fact that Frieza had killed Krillin and had also threatened to kill everyone else he knew and loved, before he glanced at his foe for a moment, "Don't even think about attacking me again... I'll kill you for sure if you try." Frieza said nothing to that as Goku flew off into the distance, where he simply sighed as he used what little energy he had left to make a shield around him, just to be sure that when the planet blew he would survive until reinforcements showed up, and prayed that Twilight and Towa were fine as he closed his eyes to embrace the eventual end of Namek. > Namek: Surprising Aftermath > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- After returning to Namek, only to discover that the planet was starting to break apart, Towa had flown off in the direction that Frieza had pointed in so she could find Twilight's body, something that had filled her with dread, only to be surprised when the sky darkened and a glowing dragon appeared in the distance. In that very moment she realized that it had to be the true form of the Dragon Balls, that one had to gather them and likely recite some code to summon the dragon that she was seeing, something that also drew her husband's attention for a time. What she discovered was that he didn't get his wish, as it appeared that Dende had found his way to the dragon first and finished speaking his wish, where she found that he and many of the other energy signatures that had appeared on Namek started to disappear. In fact, as Towa paused for a moment, she found that the same thing was happening to her and she turned her attention to the area that her daughter was resting in, only to let out a sigh of relief as she found that Twilight's body was being affected as well. A few seconds later Towa disappeared and found that she reappeared in an area that was mostly flat and seemed to have a number of trees around them, only to discover something interesting, the Namekians were here as well, including Gohan, Krillin, a Namekian who seemed familiar to them, a lady who must be Bulma, and Vegeta, before rushing over to where her daughter's body had appeared. "Where... are we?" the Earth lady asked, showing that even they were stunned by the sudden shift from Namek to what could very well be an entirely new planet for her and her group, though Towa suspected that they might be on Earth, since it seemed like the only other place one might move an entire race to. "This, everyone, is the planet known as Earth." the largest of the Namekians stated, something that surprised the people from the planet for a few seconds, not to mention the rest of his kind, while Towa was happy to see that she was correct in her thoughts about where they had ended up, "Allow me to fill you in on what has transpired." "Before that, however, I'm putting an end to a threat, before she wakes up." Vegeta remarked, where he stepped out from under the tree he had appeared under, as he was gathering his energy for a powerful blast that would, if he hit his target, eliminate who he felt was the only danger left right now, something that caused Towa to step in front of him, "Stand aside, Towa, or I'll kill you and your daughter at the same time!" "Normally, I would beat you up for suggesting such a thing... but I won't." Towa replied, though as soon as those words left her mouth the air around them shuddered, filled with a familiar energy that she recognized instantly, which shocked the Saiyan as everyone else realized that something was about to happen, "She, on the other hand, will!" Sure enough purple energy surged around where Twilight was resting, as Towa had noticed her moving earlier and didn't have a lot of time to celebrate her daughter's revival due to Vegeta trying to kill her again, where they noticed blue bits of energy mixed into the aura as Twilight's body twitched. After that the energy seemed to wrap around her as Twilight was lifted into the air for a moment, where Towa watched as her chest started to move again, while the hole that had been there previously had been sealed by whoever had brought back to dead of Namek. Towa was overjoyed to discover that her daughter was fine, as her arms and legs seemed to be moving just fine, her body seemed pristine, and once Twillight touched the ground her eyes snapped open, even though she was shocked by this discovery. In fact she was more than fine, as from what she could tell Twilight's energy was far stronger than when she fought Moloch on Griea V, where Towa realized that her daughter might be more like a Saiyan than they originally believed, as overcoming death must have given her a massive power boost. Not only was Towa surprised by this discovery, and she was sure her husband would be in due time, those from Earth who could feel energy were taken aback by the fact that Twilight held this much power within her, which only made her wonder how strong her Rage Form might be with this power boost. "I'm... alive?!" Twilight remarked, as she had found that when her life expired on Namek her soul had been taken to some sort of afterlife, where the souls of the dead had to wait in line to be judged by some large figure who sat at a large desk, which she was able to avoid by what appeared to be her timely revival, "Fascinating." Towa wasn't surprised to find that the first thing Twilight did upon being revived was throwing a couple of punches and kicks at the empty air, confirming once more that she was alive and well, though before anyone else could do anything she was interrupted by Vegeta's sudden charge. He threw a punch at her, confirming that, as Frieza's daughter, he hated her as much as he hated her father, though as the others started to move to stop a fight from happening Twilight just ducked under the fist and avoided it entirely, surprising Vegeta in the process. While Towa understood that her daughter was both a scholar and a fighter, skilled in both fields, it came as a shock to discover that she was able to fight so easily, after all the problems she had been through, before she struck the Saiyan in the chest and sent him flying into a nearby tree, breaking it in seconds. After that happened Twilight bounced on one hoof before switching to the other, showing them that she was getting used to the fact that she was alive again, where Vegeta burst out of the area he had been knocked into and rushed at her, throwing a few more punches and kicks at her. Twilight, on the other hand, raised her arms and blocked his attacks with ease, causing the others to watch as she moved with grace and accurately parried the attacks without doing any damage to her arms or legs, reminding Towa of just how strong her daughter really was. It was amazing just how much of her had been sealed off by the poison, unable to be used for fear of it dealing more damage to her in the long run, and Vegeta seemed to be realizing that this might have been a bad idea in the long run, not that it mattered as Twilight knocked him backwards. As that happened she grabbed his head for a moment and smashed him into the ground, the sheer force of which breaking everything around them while Towa found that she had moved them away from the others so she could deal some good damage to him. After that Twilight did something else, she gathered her power for a few seconds and transformed into her Rage Form, causing Towa to wonder if it was time to stop her before something bad happened, since she was clearly pushing herself after discovering that she was alive, only to discover that Vegeta had a blast at the ready. In that moment the warriors from Earth found that she wasn't planning on moving, rather Twilight stood her ground and held a hand out towards the attack, where it broke apart before their eyes and she absorbed the energy as if it was no big deal to her, before rushing over to Vegeta, grabbed him by the head, and slammed him right into the ground again, her way of repaying him for his actions on Namek. "It feels so good to be at one hundred percent again." Twilight remarked, though at the same time she realized that her power was greater than before and that there was nothing wrong with her body, meaning the Warrior's Bane had been flushed out with her death, causing her to realize that she must have absorbed the power of Goku's attack, before she let out a sigh as she powered down, "So, what happened after I died?" "Let the Grand Elder tell his tale, sweetie," Towa replied, as she had a feeling that the Namekian Grand Elder would be able to tell everyone what was going on right now and give Twilight everything she wanted to know, even though she knew that her daughter was being strong, for someone who had just died and had been revived, as she suspected that when they were alone those walls might come down. Sure enough the entirety of the Namekian race was informed of everything that happened on Namek, going from Vegeta slaughtering many of them to track down the Dragon Balls, most of which were in Frieza's hand before his arrival, to the deaths of everyone who served the Emperor, to the final fight and the wish on Earth that brought everyone who died on Namek back to life. Twilight learned that, while many Namekians were enraged by Vegeta killing their kind, they also saw no need for further violence between them, as it would only breed more hate and conflict, though she found that he stood on the edge of the area, no doubt so he could leave if things got hairy. Piccolo, on the other hand, was greatly annoyed by what he discovered, because during their time on Namek he had joined the fight thinking that Frieza had been the one to slaughter his people for the Dragon Balls, only to find that it was actually Vegeta who did the deed, not the Emperor as the Saiyan had lead them to believe. He and Gohan apologized for their actions, and Gohan also made sure to add in that he was sorry for not stopping his father when he had a chance, where Twilight said nothing to their apologies as she listened to the Grand Elder, showing them it would take more than an apology for her to forgive them for what happened on Namek. Twilight also refused to forgive Vegeta for his part in everything that happened, and she wasn't the only one since most of the warriors from Earth were annoyed with him as well, but, for the most part, no one said anything as the Grand Elder went on and told them the rest of the tale. She listened to the wording of both wishes that had been made, the first to bring back all those who had perished on Namek, so while Vegeta had left the bodies of the Namekians intact, ensuring they were able to be revived, he had also blown away the bodies of everyone who served her father. Based on what she was learning the Dragon Balls happened to have their own restrictions, depending on the state of those who died and were targeted by a wish, which made her take a moment to wonder if the poison could have been cured or not. It would have been annoying to go through all that effort, to gather the seven Dragon Balls, only to learn that Porunga was unable to deal with the Warrior's Bane, so she guessed that dying might have had it's benefits, but she decided not to worry about that as the Grand Elder finally finished his tale. In the next moment they found seven stone spheres landing around the area, the used Dragon Balls no doubt, something that was impressive given the distance between planets, which caused the Grand Elder to elect Moori as the next Grand Elder, who bowed his head to acknowledge it as his predecessor faded away. As that happened Twilight considered both the Dragon Balls of Namek and the ones of Earth, as there was so much one could do with items with that kind of power, and she already had a few ideas on how they might be used, but for now she had to wait, as both sets were all in stasis and couldn't be used for some time. "So, why aren't Goku and Krillin here?" the Earth lady, Bulma, inquired, mostly because that was information that wasn't said during the tale, hence why she glanced over to those who were on the planet as well, since they might know what had happened to both of the figures. "Krillin... Frieza killed him, and dad stayed behind to avenge his death... oh, and dad transformed into a Super Saiyan in the process." Gohan said, something that interested Twilight and caused her to mentally curse as well, as she had figured that the legend was real in some manner and was annoyed that she had missed seeing it in action, while it also shocked Vegeta that the other Saiyan had been the one to realize the ancient legend, "As you know, someone whose been brought back by the Dragon Balls can't be revived again, so Krillin, whose already been revived once before, couldn't be revived with the wish that brought the Namekians back." Dende revealed the difference between the sets of Dragon Balls, as the set from Namek could revive someone as many times as they wanted, so long as it wasn't a natural death, like old age, though while they were talking about that Bulma started to talk to someone else. Apparently someone called King Kai was allowing another of her friends, Yamcha based on what Twilight heard, to talk into her mind, where he informed her of what was going on on Namek right now, as in the planet had exploded and took Goku with it. Bulma wasn't too shocked by that, after discovering the difference between the Earth Dragon Balls and the Namekian Dragon Balls, only for King Kai to inform them that she was out of the loop, as when someone was revived with such a wish they were brought back where they died, which meant they'd be revived in the middle of space. Such a thing meant that both Goku and Krillin would suffocate in seconds if such a thing happened to either of them, meaning the wishes would be wasted on them, which caused everyone to wonder how they could bring the pair back to life. Twilight, on the other hand, figured out how to save both figures from such a fate with ease, though what stopped her in her tracks was whether or not she wanted to bring them back, given their part in what happened on Namek, before she mentally sighed and decided to help, just so she could clash with the Super Saiyan upon his return. "Listen, just ask the dragon to move their souls over to Earth... the rest is simple." Twilight remarked, because if Namek no longer existed than the next logical step was to move the souls of those who died to a place that would allow them to live once they were revived, something that caused the others to realize that she was right. "Miss Twilight, thank you very much." Gohan said, where he held his right hand out like he wanted to shake her hand, as if he saw something other than Frieza's daughter in her, especially since Towa also noticed that he seemed to ignore the dark look in Twilight's eyes. "Don't mention it... and don't call me 'miss', it makes me feel old." Twilight replied, though she was polite and shook his hand, mostly because she wanted to remain on their good side for the foreseeable future, as they needed the Dragon Balls to revive her father as well, as he hadn't been mentioned and while she knew he could survive in space, due to his own innate nature, there was no telling if Goku had killed him before Namek exploded. Moori asked Bulma if there was a place where he and his people could reside until the Dragon Balls were ready to be used once more, where she offered to bring everyone to her place, including Twilight, Towa, and Vegeta, despite the fact that the Saiyan had twisted events to suit his own goals and got the Namekians killed in the process, meaning it might be to keep a close eye on him, in case he caused more trouble. Fortunately they had been dropped off near a city, which meant that she was able to head in and use a telephone to call her father, so he could bring one of their ships over and pick everyone up, giving everyone some time to think about what had happened. In the end Twilight agreed to join those who were heading to West City, because after everything she had been through, including what her mother had gone through, she determined that some time to rest was the best course of action for them, plus she was interested in what sort of technology this planet had access to. The fact that someone on this planet was able to turn an Attack Ball into a larger ship, and actually improve the speed despite the sheer increase in size, had made her far more interested in the planet than she should have been, not to mention she could keep an eye on Vegeta for the foreseeable future. Of course Gohan and Piccolo took the opportunity to confront Vegeta about his actions on Namek, both of them annoyed that they had been tricked by the Saiyan, but, since they were far away from where everyone else was situated, Twilight had no idea what they were saying, only that they were doing this while they had the chance to do so. The ship in question happened to be a large vessel that had four propellers, instead of the technology Twilight was used to seeing everyday, but Bulma informed her that it was actually quite fast, faster than a civilian vehicle anyway, hence why her father was able to get to their location without wasting too much time. There was also someone else aboard the ship, a lady name Chi-Chi who dressed in more formal attire, at least for someone of this world, who came in search of Gohan, as she had been worried about her son and had come to check in on him upon hearing that he and Bulma had returned from their trip to Namek. Once everyone was aboard the ship, which had two stories and more than enough room for the entirety of the Namekian race, they departed for West City so they could get some well deserved rest before worrying about the future, not to mention finish processing what had happened on Namek earlier. The only thing Twilight was disappointed by was the loss of her tablet, but the prospect of discovering new things brought out more of her old self, in Towa's eyes anyway, and that was a good thing to see, especially after everything she had been through since Griea V. West City, as it turned out, was a metropolis, hosting a large number of people and structures that were houses and also places that people worked in, before finding that their destination was a domed shaped building, which was larger than all of the other buildings, a place called Capsule Corp. Upon their arrival Twilight discovered that it had three floors, which was more than enough room for everyone, and a basement, where on the first floor there was an Atrium that held a large number of creatures, such as dinosaurs, cats, dogs, and other animals. Dr. Briefs, Bulma's father, took a liking to Twilight upon discovering that she was the one who outfitted the Attack Balls with some of the newer additions and that she was the one who had been improving her father's empire for some time with new inventions, so it was more because both of them were scientists in their own rights. As the others got settled in he showed her his own invention, cylinders that had a button on top to be used, called Hoi-Poi Capsules, or just Capsules, which could store practically anything inside them, as in planes, like the one he used to come get everyone, to houses and other items. Twilight had a feeling that, until it was time to use the Dragon Balls, living on Earth wouldn't be a bad thing, they just had to be patient and hope Vegeta didn't do something stupid, like what he did during their time on Namek, so for now she decided to enjoy the food, and the free rooms, as she waited to see what the future held. > Interlude: The Wishes > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The first thing Twilight did, after a good night sleep following the feast that Bulma's family provided for everyone, was take off her battle attire and slip into some casual clothing, such as a stripped blue shirt and purple pants, though she already had plans to remake her preferred attire. Following that she learned as much as she could from the Namekians, such as the fact that they could survive off water alone, hence why none of them had really eaten during the feast, which Bulma did know about so they didn't have to waste food on them. Moori was fine with sharing information with someone like her, as she did them no harm and came to their planet with good intentions, she just wanted to be healed, though she did have to inform her new allies, as they weren't friends right now, about the poison and how she came to be poisoned in the first place. Towa also shared some information with them as well, as she had been present when everything happened on Griea V, so in the end they knew more about the Warrior's Bane and why her parents had been so bent on healing her, to the point that he was even willing to spare Gohan's group after siding with Vegeta, given that the Saiyan had made a mess of things for everyone. After the first week Twilight found that she was able to head outside and explore, as Bulma had said that she didn't need to stay inside her family's place while they waited for the Namekian Dragon Balls to become active again, though she was able to discover why not a few minutes after leaving Bulma's place. While there were a number of Humans wandering around the city, which made sense due to the fact that they seemed to be the main species of this world, though it was the other race she noticed that interested her greatly, due to the fact that they were beastmen, a cross between Humans and animals. There were all sorts of species mixed into the population, in fact the king of the entire planet was known as King Furry, a blue furred dog who was around as tall as Krillin, while she saw dogs, cats, bulls, horses, and other races mixed into the beastmen population. Such a thing explained why Bulma was fine with her going out into the city, most of the people thought she was another member of the other species, which she guessed could be called the Beastians, just with some special colors thrown in. Of course they were few and far between, as there seemed to be about seventy-five Humans for every Beastian, but it was interesting to see something new while she waited for the Namekian Dragon Balls to become active. Such a thing lead her to ask Bulma about them, who wasn't at all surprised and informed her that some of them weren't natural born Beastians, borrowing her term for them, rather some were actually Humans who took Animorphaline, a drug that permanently transformed them into their new forms. It was created by Magical Pharmaceuticals and created a craze when she was younger, in fact there were rumors of King Furry taking some, all unconfirmed since no one wanted to say anything bad about the King, though the company had been silent for some time. In fact Bulma had a sample of it that she had been planning on taking at one point, but, since she was only ten when the fad happened, she had decided to hold off in the off chance that it hurt her body in some manner, only for the fad to disappear overnight. As such she had stored it away, in case she changed her mind and wanted to walk on the wild side for a time, as they had the Dragon Balls and she felt that Shenron might be able to undo the transformation if she didn't like the results. Towa knew that Twilight was up to something, especially when she asked for the sample and claimed the capsule that held the drug, to which she joined her daughter and found that several ideas had sprung into her mind after her discoveries, as it might be an interesting distraction. What she discovered was that Twilight was able to obtain a section of the first floor for a personal lab, in fact Dr. Briefs had one set up on the first floor with a window to view the animals, to sort of relax if he got too stressed out during his work, so it was easy for him to convert part of the outer ring into such an area for her. Towa joined her in the new lab, where she found that Twilight was studying the sample of Animorphaline she had gotten from Bulma, finding that the DNA inside the substance was just a jumbled mess of parts, meaning it was set to random. There was no telling what one could become if they took it, as Bulma could have become a donkey, a lizard or raptor, or even a Human sized bunny, though Twilight was able to quickly find a way to change that fact, by separating the various species from each other and isolating each one in a pure state. Towa wasn't even surprised by this fact, her daughter was a genius when it came to science and fighting, and she wasn't even shocked when Twilight asked her if there was a way for them to assume control over the company that made the drug, as it would hinder what she had in mind. Upon asking the Briefs family about the company they were able to find that Magical Pharmaceuticals had suffered over the years, to the point where many of it's higher ups had disappeared, making one wonder if they had been linked to the Red Ribbon Army or something. With that fact in mind the pair were able to head over to the headquarters, positioned on the edge of West City, and found that it was easy to take it over, in fact the remaining employees were happy to have some form of leadership after the old executives disappeared on them. Twilight's base plan was simple, her mother, at least until she was far older and could assume control, would be the face of the company, while she was the brains, meaning she wouldn't have to worry about someone coming in and ruining her plans, which involved seizing the rest of the Animorphaline that was inside the facility. As they did that Twilight revealed the other part of her idea, the creation of what she called 'TF Foods', as in items that allowed one to temporarily change their form by consuming them, though instead of being the entire change she intended on it being a partial transformation. As Twilight explained everything she had planned, however, Towa smiled, as it seemed like her daughter was back to her old self, that she had overcome whatever trauma she might have had after dying and being revived, and she had a feeling that her new concept would do wonders for the company. It took her a week of hard work to get the items they needed to start the production of her new products, plus ensure that all of the legal paperwork was taken care of, but Twilight was happy to see the employees making the items she had come up with, without deviating from her blueprints. Of course they had to do a sample test to make sure her new substance worked as intended, where a few volunteers came in to test some of them, allowing Twilight to observe as one person grew a pair of bunny ears and a tail, another had the ears and tail of a tiger, and the third followed the path of the cat, in terms of ears and a tail. For the test Twilight had created simple cookies to demonstrate the altered drug, which only delivered a very small amount of it into the systems of those who ate or drank the items in question, the first dose being just enough for the subject's ears to change while they grew a tail, and that the time limit of twelve hours worked like a charm. In addition to all of that she also produced small purple pills, which were designed to cancel out the changes one had undergone before the time limit was up, like if someone took a product during a party and had an important meeting the following day, so they could take one and return to their original form. Once everything was set in stone, which didn't take too long to accomplish, Twilight returned to the Capsule Corp building and found that Bulma wanted to talk to her for a few minutes, to which she simply followed her host back to an area they could talk in for some time. "So let me get this straight: you've figured out how to modify the drug and make it into a temporary change, instead of the permanent one we're used to?" Bulma asked, as she and her father had heard the news as soon as it went live, informing the other great scientists of what was going on in the world, though it made her realize that Towa had been telling the truth, there was more to Twilight than what one could see, "And, according to what we've heard, you've also stabilized it so that there are different variants, one for each animal that exists in our world, plus making it so that there's a time limit before the change wears off?" "Not to mention the cancellation pills." Twilight added, since that was an important part of the package, though she was far more interested in the fact that the people of Earth were more accepting of her ideas than she thought at first, so her new products might be around for some time, "I also changed the name of the drug to 'Animorph X', to show that it isn't the same as Animorphaline... I also have a few more ideas on potential products, like Pleasure Island Brew, coming out in the near future." Twilight chuckled as she noticed the look on Bulma's face, she seemed confused as to what she meant, but she didn't even bother to explain herself, as she knew that it would become clear in time, making her look forward to what the future held for them and the Namekians. As it turned out a year on Namek was one hundred and thirty days, far shorter than the three hundred and sixty-five days that formed what the people of Earth were used to, something even Twilight was used to, so in addition to her new work Twilight also resumed her training. She had been interrupted thanks to their visit to Griea V, and Moloch's poison, so she returned to the basics for a time to make sure she actually remembered everything, since the brief skirmish with Vegeta hadn't been enough to verify anything for her. During her time doing that she discovered that Gohan wasn't allowed to do any training, which had to suck for someone with his strength, as he was likely the best challenger on this planet until they brought his father back to life, while Vegeta and Piccolo did their own training as well. She knew that Vegeta wanted to take her down, mostly due to who her father was, but, as time went on, he seemed to see her as more of a wall that had to be overcome in some manner, which was fine with her, since she was figuring out how to use her empowered siphon ability in her base form. By the time a hundred and thirty days were up they were able to confirm that the Namekian Dragon Balls were ready to be used, hence why everyone gathered in front of the Capsule Corp as Dende called forth Porunga, where everyone from Earth stared at him in shock and amazement. "So this is the original Shenron..." Bulma said, though it was clear that she was surprised by how buff he looked, when the Eternal Dragon of Earth was more serpent like and had no muscles to speak of, and while the Namekians were surprised by his appearance as well, since they almost never used their Dragon Balls, they were less shocked than their friends from Earth. Twilight and her mother stood near one of the trees, just because she was interested in seeing what they wished for, while Vegeta stood off to the side as well, as he was waiting for Goku to return so he could see the Super Saiyan with his own eyes and then beat the stuffing out of him before leaving for the stars. "Friends, we have plenty of time to locate a new planet to call home. Go ahead and make your wishes." Moori said, as he knew that many of the Namekians wanted to find a brand new planet to call home, he even shared their thoughts a little, but the warriors from Earth had lost some of their friends in the process and he had decided that reviving them was the best course of action, before leaving with their Dragon Balls. As Gohan thanked the new Grand Elder for allowing them to do this, and the other Earthlings smiled as well, Bulma asked Dende to tell Porunga that their first wish was to bring the souls of Goku and Krillin to Earth, since the next two wishes involved reviving those two. "I have summoned the soul of the one called Krillin, but I cannot summon the soul of the one called Son Goku." Porunga stated, something that immediately caught their attention, since many of them had assumed that he had been caught in the blast that wiped out Namek, even King Kai seemed surprised by this information since he was listening in on what was going on so the others on his planet could be revived, "I am unable to call forth the souls of the living." Gohan had to wonder if whatever ship his father had used to take off might have been damaged, as he knew Frieza's had been wrecked and the one he arrived in could have been sent flying due to the blast caused by Namek's destruction, so while Moori suggested that they call him to Earth anyway Bulma had Krillin revived, who Twilight found was wearing one of the battle suits she had designed. "And now, bring Son Goku home!" Bulma said, as they were ready to finish off the first round of wishes and get back to waiting for another one hundred and thirty days so it could be done all over again, where everyone braced themselves for what was going to happen next as Porunga's eyes glowed once more. "The one called Son Goku refuses to be wished back. He says that he will return in due time." Porunga stated, which came as a surprise to Twilight, that the people targeted by a wish could actually refuse it, an interesting piece of information she decided to file away for later, all while the old man called Roshi claimed that his decision was due to being afraid of his wife, causing Chi-Chi to draw a sword as he said he was just joking. "Well, before they say something else, can you revive my father, Frieza?" Twilight asked, because while she and her mother knew he couldn't have been killed, not by Namek exploding, she wanted to make sure he was alive before trying another wish that she had thought of while she was waiting for this day to come. "As I said, I cannot revive the living." Porunga replied, confirming that her father was alive, while at the same time shocking the people that were around her and Towa right now, because many knew about Frieza and what he was capable of, even if Twilight had been forced to correct them multiple times to stop Vegeta from messing things up. "Then can you bring him to Earth, or bring us to him?" Towa inquired, because either way would help them out, since she wanted to bring the family together again and this seemed to be the best way without revealing her time powers to those that were around her and her daughter. "I cannot. The one called Frieza is drifting in and out of consciousness, and his body is currently moving... I might spell the end of you two if you warp to a place with no oxygen." Porunga stated, confirming that he had no idea that Towa had all sorts of magical abilities that would be able to counter such a thing, or if he did he didn't feel like sharing it with the people that were behind them right now. "Very well. One last inquiry: can you bring the souls of the Ginyu Force... those being Guldo, Recoome, Burter, Jeice, and Ginyu himself... along with Zarbon and Dodoria, to Earth?" Twilight inquired, because there were so many people she had to revive, since Vegeta had killed most of them, and while she wanted to revive the entirety of her force she also knew that the Eternal Dragon might have a limit, hence why she was sticking to seven souls. Porunga confirmed that he was able to do so, since he had been prepared to bring two back as per Bulma's wish, and it was an easy feat for him to move the seven souls over to Earth's section of the galaxy, he even went one step further by taking a moment to put Ginyu's soul back in his body. As Porunga returned to his Dragon Balls, however, Twilight wasn't displeased by this turn of events, because she could wait for a time to use Earth's set to revive the people whose souls she had asked him to move, though at the same time she didn't have to worry about her father anymore. She and her mother knew that if her father's body was moving it either meant that he was heading home, straight to the heart of the empire, or he was on his way to Earth to come and pick them up, no doubt accompanied by her uncle and grandfather since her Vegeta had crippled the ship they had been using. She also knew that Moori and the other Namekians might feel sorry for her, since her wish to be reunited with her father had failed, but she told them that this was fine as she found that Bulma's group was preparing their next wishes once it came time for them to do so. She had to remind herself that Bulma had created something called the Dragon Radar, a circular device that allowed one to pinpoint where, exactly, the Dragon Balls were located, meaning it would be child's play for her and the others to track down the Namekian set, even though they were now scattered across the planet. While they had been waiting for the spheres to become active Bulma had discovered that the two sets of Dragon Balls had nearly identical magical signatures, hence why the radar had quickly picked up on them back when she, Gohan, and Krillin first landed on Namek. To be sure that none of them confused the two sets she had added a setting to allow one to switch between which set they were looking for, so for now it was set to help them find the Namekian set of spheres, causing the remaining Z Warriors to chuckle, as it would take an entire day to find all seven spheres. Such a thing told Twilight that they were used to this sort of thing, gathering the orbs to either revive the dead who were slain by the current villain or to right a wrong that had been committed previously, but she wished them luck in their venture as she set her sights on her own plans. As everyone started to go their separate ways, however, Vegeta took one of the spherical ships that Dr. Briefs had made and headed off into space, where Twilight had the feeling that he was searching for Goku and, more importantly, he would likely return before the other Saiyan did. Twilight found that the days passed quite fast, as she spent most of her time training and doing her work, and it wasn't long before another Namekian year was up and their Dragon Balls became ready for use once more, shocking the people of Earth in the process since it wasn't what they were used to. This time they brought back the three remaining warriors that were on King Kai's planet, those being Yamcha, a Human warrior who wore the same gi that Krillin and Goku wore while having a few scars on his face, Tien Shinhan, the warrior with three eyes, and Chiaotzu, the little warrior who blew himself up during his attempt to kill Nappa. Such a thing meant that the Namekians no longer had to stay on the planet, since the people of Earth had revived all those who had been slain, but since they had to wait another of their years there was nothing they could do, though Twilight found a problem with the situation, it left them with two wishes to use after they teleported themselves to a new planet. She was able to convince Moori to allow her to use the other two before they made their wish, granting her the chance to bring back both Zarbon and Dodoria, though as she waited for their spheres to become active again she found that the Earth's became ready for use and went out to find them, Bulma even gave her the radar to help her search. Such a thing meant that she and her mother had to visit the frozen caps of the world, travel above a desert, traverse one of the forests, and even delve into the depths of an ocean to claim the seven orbs, even though some of them were out in the open, in plain sight, meaning she was able to take them before anyone else did. It gave her a chance to see Shenron when she had all seven of them and recited the command to summon him, discovering that he was a serpent dragon with green scales, much like Porunga, who might be happy that someone other than the Z Warriors was calling him. He granted her wish to bring back the Ginyu Force without delay, who were surprised to be alive and were overjoyed to see that she was alive, given what Vegeta had done to her back on Namek, and once that was done the dragon disappeared, just like his Namekian counterpart. As they headed back to West City Twilight told them that they might as well settle down for a time, as once her father arrived they would be leaving the planet and returning to the empire, causing the Ginyus to nod as each one planned out what to do for the foreseeable future. When the time came for the Namekian Dragon Balls to be used Twilight was able to revive Zarbon and Dodoria, leaving the Namekians with a wish to transport them to a new planet, allowing them to go about their lives as they waited for her father or Goku to return, whoever came first. While that was happening King Cold spent days searching the scattered fragments of the planet known as Namek, as he was sure Frieza, at the very least, was somewhere among all of the small earthen pieces, because if Towa was with him she would have teleported them aboard the ship a long time ago. His crew knew better than to question whether or not his son was still alive, because, as the Emperor of the Cosmos, his power was beyond everyone else's and his abilities were only outclassed by Twilight herself, so surviving Namek's destruction was within his powers. After hearing of the planet being destroyed King Cold had found that Cooler had jumped ship, leaving the planet his forces were dealing with to catch up with him, and had spent most of his time flying outside their main ship, searching potential areas that the crew found during their scans, even if they came up empty. Even with Cooler helping them it took some time to actually search each of the scattered fragments that the crew could find, where they found that Frieza wasn't present and they moved on after King Cold was sure an area had been thoroughly searched. Eventually, however, Cooler discovered his brother's whereabouts, causing King Cold to hold back a gasp as he found that his youngest son's body had been wrecked, the lower half was missing, half of his left hand was gone, and it looked like his head had received some serious damage. Following that King Cold found that their next step was to give Frieza cybernetic enhancements to ensure that he could walk and talk again, replacing his body with pieces designed to fit his unique frame, as the doctors claimed it was the only way to actually save his life. As such they landed on one of the nearest planets that they had an outpost on and he quickly ordered the scientists to get to work, some constructing his new body parts while others worked on Frieza's body, doing everything in their power to prepare him for when it came time to add his replacement parts. Since most of the items in question weren't being made right now, there had been no need for cybernetics despite Twilight setting the groundwork for such a thing before her visit to Griea V, it would take some time before Frieza would be able to do anything, so for the time being he was contained in a healing pod. Even then King Cold kept their people working, making sure the rest of the universe thought that nothing was wrong, as Elec might plan something if he learned what had happened to Frieza, while he could see that Cooler wasn't too happy about the situation. It eventually came to a point where Cooler punched one of the walls of the room that he and his father talked in, as for the time being both of them were waiting for Frieza to recover, no matter how long it took, where King Cold remained calm as he sipped on his tea, even though he was seething inside. "I should have gone with them... none of this would have happened if I went with my brother." Cooler growled, showing his father that, while he was normally the calmer of his two children, right now he was enraged by their discovery, not to mention the fact that they had learned nothing of Twilight and Towa's whereabouts, which was eating him up since they had no idea if Frieza had been able to cure the Warrior's Bane or not. "It's hard to say how much of a difference you would have made... given the state of Frieza's body, I can only assume that a Super Saiyan did him in." King Cold said, where Cooler stopped in his tracks, because most of the people in their family, or at least his father's side, had assumed that the Super Saiyan was just a myth that had been wiped out with Planet Vegeta's destruction, and the destruction of the Saiyan race, "Need I remind you that the only beings that could have beaten him in battle are Majin Buu, whose been missing for a long time and would have left nothing of him behind if they clashed, and Lord Beerus himself, who would have utterly wiped Frieza out as well? No, the brutal damage we discovered belongs to a Super Saiyan, that much I am sure of... must be that warrior from Earth that Vegeta fought and lost to." "So what you're saying is that you were worried that the Super Saiyan would have killed us both?" Cooler inquired, as he realized that his father knew he was strong, in fact while he didn't have Frieza's ridiculous strength he was sure that his own fifth form matched up with his brother's base form, maybe ten percent at max, and was worried that if he fought the Super Saiyan it would have resulted in his death. "Given how enraged he was, I would say father is correct." a voice said, where they found Frieza, now baring his additions and new limbs, walking through the door of their room, though it was clear that he must have asked the staff not to give the pair any news of his awakening so he could practice moving with his new body, "Son Goku was strong, enough to force me to use my full power against him, something I've never done before, and the battle ended in my complete loss... but, in the end, there's some good news: set a course for Earth!" "Frieza, do you mean...?" King Cold started to ask, though at the same time he couldn't bare to finish it, because there was a chance that he might be overthinking things and could be raising his hopes with no clear evidence of what he wanted, all while Cooler raised his eyebrow for a few seconds. "Despite his rage Goku informed me that they used the Dragon Balls of Earth to bring back those who died on Namek... so while my forces couldn't return, thank you Vegeta, Twilight was revived." Frieza stated, something that stalled his father and his brother for a moment as they heard it, as the news made them more eager to find her and bring her home, and Towa for that matter, causing him to think about something else for a moment, "He also told me that the last wish made on the Namekian Dragon Balls was to take everyone on Namek, save for him and myself, and transport them to Earth... tell me, why would the dragon transport a dead body?" They understood immediately, that Twilight had been included in the revival wish and had been relocated as well, which caused King Cold to march out and order a ship to be made ready, as the three of them, Cooler insisted on going as well, were heading to Earth, as it was time to bring the rest of their family home. > Interlude: A Strange Encounter > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- By the time that the Namekians left the Earth, heading to their new planet, Twilight found that enough time had passed to the point that Age 762 had finished, which meant that her fourteenth birthday had come and gone as well, something she had decided not to celebrate since it was only her and her mother. Instead she spent her time practicing her skills, those she had started to learn in the past and what she was currently developing, and reading the various books that she could get her hands on, just to see what the people of the Earth thought about everything in the universe. Part of her desire to learn was so the people of this planet didn't see her as ignorant, though Bulma informed her that many people happened to think of her as one of the smartest people on the planet, since no one else was able to do such a thing to the animal drug that she had taken over. Her mother, of course, continued to stand as the head of their company, since she legally couldn't take control until she was at least eighteen, but that just allowed her to keep up with her training as she tried to figure out her new moves and continued to improve her existing abilities. One thing she had to do during that time was help the Ginyus, Zarbon, and Dodoria get used to living on Earth, despite the fact that they weren't planning on being here for too long, and, true to form, she found that Ginyu's squad had ideas on what to do while they waited for her to order them around. Recoome decided to become a martial artist, even though it meant he had to do away with his armor since it was illegal and he had to wear a gi of his own, Jeice, upon playing a game of baseball with some of the Z Warriors, who were surprisingly welcoming to them, went with it and figured he could play it for a time. Burter, shocking no one, went on to become a track runner, as even with his power brought down to the level of a Human he was still faster, even though everyone was shocked to find that Guldo decided to follow Tien and Chiaotzu so he could learn more about their powers and maybe train himself to use his own powers better. Ginyu picked being a dance instructor, as there was a surprisingly large amount of people, Human and Beastian alike, who wanted to learn such a thing and he was more than willing to help them during his time on the planet, especially since they weren't shocked by his horns or appearance. Zarbon and Dodoria went on to help Towa, more as enforcers and even business people, as they had observed Twilight's father during his meetings and they knew how to help out, causing her to chuckle as everyone settled into their new roles for the time being. One thing she discovered was that most of the Z Warriors decided not to challenge her, as they knew by this point that she was Frieza's daughter and, more importantly, she was likely near his level of power, something that Gohan, Krillin, and even Piccolo weren't willing to deal with, so she trained by herself most of the time. Despite that fact, however, they did spend a lot of time split between doing things on their own, living their lives without having to worry about fighting for the sake of the world, and hanging with her or Bulma every now and then, since the Human likely to hold large parties on her birthday. Twilight knew that they were trying to befriend both her and her mother, since they were dangerous figures and the Z Warriors wanted to be sure neither of them tried to destroy the world, though she had no plans to do that, given that she still wanted to use the Dragon Balls at some point. She found that their company wasn't too bad, in fact it was a nice change of pace from what she was used to, since she was used to more people being around her, though she also refused to let Bulma throw parties for her, due to the fact that both she and her mother were waiting for the rest of their family to arrive. In addition to all of that they kept Towa's time powers a secret from the Z Warriors, even though they knew that she was strong in her own right, since she was Frieza's wife, where fortunately that seemed to be enough for Piccolo and the others, allowing them to go about their days in peace. While hanging out with her new acquaintances, since she wasn't about to call them friends, Twilight completed her work on several things, such as a new set of battle gear for herself, for whenever she got into a real fight, and new products for her company, like the Pleasure Island Brew. In fact, as a gift to repay Bulma for allowing her and her mother to stay until they were ready to move into a new place, Twilight brought her a case that had six bottles, where Bulma humored her, as she knew about them and what they did after reading what others said about it. Sure enough she opened one and drank a bit of it, where Twilight watched as her ears pulled back and morphed into brown furred donkey ears, which she touched for a second to verify that they were real, before a brown furred donkey tail with a blue tuft grew out of her spine. Bulma was weirded out by the change, in fact everyone else was surprised when she showed them off to them, since some of her friends happened to show up that day, where Twilight reminded her that the changes would go away on their own after twelve hours had passed. Of course if she drank a second bottle the next stage of the transformation, her feet and legs, would occur and she'd be in that state for sixteen hours, but Twilight left that up to her as she placed a small pill container on the counter, the purple ones that would cancel the changes sooner. Other than that nothing much happened, other than the fact that Twilight was sure that something happened on what all of the Earthlings called the Lookout, where the god of this world resided, where someone powerful took care of someone else in no time at all. She also found that life on Earth was far more boring than what she was used to, as their events were few and far between, as nothing really happened since the arrival of Nappa and Vegeta, so they were able to move into Age 764 with no villains or troublemakers showing up. It was in that moment that she almost wished that she and her mother had returned to space with the ship that Vegeta stole, since they would've eventually run into one of her father's ships or find a planet they recognized, since traveling with the rest of their forces had been more exciting than this. Other than those events Twilight also found that Vegeta returned to Earth sometime after her fifteenth birthday, where Towa remarked that she was growing into a fine young lady, though all Twilight cared about was that Vegeta had grown stronger during all the time he had spent in space, unable to find Goku. As Twilight sighed she really had to wonder if she made a mistake by remaining on this planet and not making an attempt to leave with her mother, by making a ship of her own and blasting off, before returning to her work as she hoped that the future would change and something exciting would happen to this boring planet. Vegeta, after having returned from his time searching for Kakarot, had been enjoying the free food and board that Bulma offered to him, either because she was attracted to him or she wanted to keep him from rampaging, only to discover that things had changed since the last time he had been on the planet. Apparently Twilight had actually done what she said she would, Zarbon and Dodoria were alive and working for Towa in the company she operated, while all five members of the Ginyu Force were out there as well, living their own lives while waiting for something important to happen. It came as a shock for him, since he wasn't expecting any of the seven individuals to simply stop fighting and do something like this, as it seemed out of character, but Bulma informed him that the Ginyus trained with the right and left hands of Frieza when they had time to do so. Despite that fact he was able to relax a little, his training in space had allowed him to bypass all of them, meaning if they tried to take him down he wouldn't have to worry about them, even though he was worried that it was part of some elaborate plan of Twilight's that he hadn't figured out yet. When he thought about the figure in question, however, he noticed that Twilight and Towa weren't present and it quickly worried him, since there was no telling what the demonic pair might have in mind, causing him to turn towards Bulma as walked outside to join him and the others, Krillin and Yamcha to be exact. "Bulma... where are Twilight and Towa?" Vegeta asked, as he had noticed the woman coming out of the main house after spending some time inside it, though while his ability to sense Ki, as the Earthlings called it, told him that they were inside the house he just wanted to be sure before something happened. "Relax, they're in their lab, sound asleep... I slipped them some heavy duty sleep medication, since they've gone about two to three days without any sleep." Bulma replied, which was actually kind of impressive that the mother and daughter were able to go so long without their bodies shutting down from the lack of sleep, though since both of them weren't like her, as one was a pony and another was a demon, she guessed it might be possible due to their unique bodies, "I don't know what they're working on, but it seems like the pair have been putting in some long hours to get it done... I might go back to see if I can figure out what their little project is." As Vegeta opened his mouth to say something his senses went crazy as he glanced up at the sky, which he suspected that the rest of the group that could detect Ki were doing right now, because Frieza's Ki was closing in on the planet, and he wasn't alone, causing him to realize that King Cold and Cooler were coming as well... causing him to take to the air so he could figure out where they were going to land. While he was doing that, however, Frieza stood in the main chamber of the ship that was approaching the Earth, which he discovered had been further away from Namek than he originally thought, meaning the Earthlings must have figured out how to get from planet to planet quicker. Such a thing made him realize that Twilight might have already discovered how to make the same thing in no time, given her habit of studying and tinkering with all sorts of mechanical objects, though it also meant it took them far longer to reach their final destination. Both his father and his brother were anxious to reach the planet, since both longed to see Twilight and Towa again, the lights of their lives that had been stolen after the wish to move everyone on Namek to Earth, but he was focused on something else. He had updated their scanners with bits of information that contained Goku's energy, captured from one of the stations that had been keeping an eye on what was going on on Namek, and he could see that the Saiyan in question was traveling back home as well, though they were going to reach Earth first. "So, this is Earth." Frieza remarked, turning his head back to the planet that they were descending on, the pilot picking an area that seemed to be like a desert or wasteland, not too far from a city based on their readings, but he found that none of them had found the reading he was looking for just yet, "Not a bad little planet." "We have three hours until this Son Goku returns. Shall we wait for him?" King Cold inquired, where the ship landed and all of them disembarked immediately, the soldiers standing at the ready since they were waiting for their next command, all while Cooler seemed to be scanning parts of the surrounding area. "I know you'd rather choke the life out of him, father, but I just want to find Twilight and Towa and go home." Frieza said, because he had considered their options on the way here and had decided, after a lot of time weighing each idea that came to him during the flight, that he just wanted to put their family together and focus on raising Twilight so she could take over as the empire's next leader. "Also, we don't have to worry about our clan being the strongest in the universe... knowing Twilight, she's likely been doing all the training she can," Cooler stated, as he knew that their father cared about that sort of thing and would continue to do so, though at the same time he knew that Twilight was far more important to all of them, more than their standing in the universe, before he glanced at his brother for a moment, "in fact, by now I would assume that she's roughly as strong as your Second Form, brother... maybe even that monstrous Third Form of yours." "No, knowing Twilight, she's likely found a way to overcome the need of her Rage Form and integrated it, and the absolute power of her siphon ability, into her base form." Frieza remarked, though he wasn't arguing with his brother's point on the matter, rather he suspected that his daughter might have grown far stronger than any of them were even thinking about, and he knew that both his father and his brother were surprised by his thoughts, "I suspect she's already caught up with my base form... as in the level of power I had before I clashed with Son Goku on Namek... and it's due to her training, her power to absorb energy, and the energy sphere that Goku tried to use against me." As Cooler listened to his brother he spotted a newcomer landing nearby, a tall boy who had lavender colored hair, short to be exact, an indigo jacket cut to show one's midriff that rested over a black shirt, dark gray pants, golden yellow boots, and he had a broadsword on his back, judging by the scabbard he was currently wearing. "Can we help you, Earthling?" Cooler asked, because while he was armed, even if a sword meant little to the likes of them, he doubted that the figure in question meant them harm and would be on his way after he sated his curiosity, since this had to be uncommon for the people of this world, unless Twilight advanced things further than they thought. "I'm here to kill you... three?!" the figure replied, though at the same time he stared at them, recognizing Frieza and King Cold based on everything he had been told before he came to this location, in fact it wasn't long before he was able to recognize the ship that was behind them and a number of the soldiers that were waiting for their next important command, but he didn't recognize the figure standing next to his targets, "Who are you?" "I am Cooler, firstborn son of King Cold, former heir to the empire's throne," Cooler stated, where Frieza noted something he was somewhat shocked by, his brother wasn't annoyed about that anymore, rather he had fully embraced the idea of them preparing Twilight to take over at some point in the future, "I can tell that you are aware of who two of us are, since I see that you're staring at my brother, Frieza, and my father, King Cold, while you have no idea who I am... but you're arrogant in thinking that you have the power to actually take all three of us down." "Indeed, plus we aren't here to do any harm... we're just here to pick up my daughter and my wife, who have been living on this planet for some time, before going home." Frieza added, figuring that he might as well throw in his own thoughts before something happened, something that caught the figure's attention with ease, meaning that while the stranger knew about two of them he was surprised by Cooler's presence and the fact that he had other family matters, "I'm not here to kill anyone, since that's what you seem to think we're here to do... just leave us to find Twilight and Towa and we'll be out of your hair." "Let's say I believe you... you will just destroy the planet once you finally retrieve them." the figure said, showing that while he had no idea who they were talking about, since this was the first time he had heard of Frieza having a daughter or even a wife, he wasn't about to let them do whatever they wanted with the Earth, before he smirked for a moment, "Besides, I know that you and your army are waiting on the Super Saiyan, Son Goku, to arrive so you can kill him, before moving onto the rest of the planet... however, that is an error in your logic, as there's another Super Saiyan... me... and I'm here to stop you before you kill anyone." "Oh by our ancestors... get lost before you push us past our limits." King Cold remarked, because the figure was annoying him and his sons, due to the fact that they were here, peacefully no less, and he was trying to stir up trouble by provoking them into attacking him so he could have the moral high ground no doubt, but he was hoping the odd Earthling would get lost before one of them snapped. Cooler agreed with his father, that the more the figure annoyed them the greater the chance that one of them would likely snap at him, though before he or his family could do anything that decided the fate of their visit to this planet, or give an order, one of the soldiers stepped forward and asked the Earthling to leave. In response to that remark the figure struck him in the chest with a punch, causing the Armored Squadron and the others to burst into action, where he quickly drew his sword and slashed through them with precision, as in no wasted movements and no hesitation. It was quite the shock for them that Salza and his men were annihilated in no time at all, given that they were the best of the best, but even as he moved their men down Cooler noticed that he obliterated their bodies for some reason. Following that the Stranger returned his sword to it's scabbard and quickly changed his stance, where they found that he was gathering his power as his aura changed into a familiar gold that Frieza instantly recognized, before his hair became spiked and became a familiar yellow while his eyes turned as well, taking on a green color. Of course he and his father were surprised that this was the legendary form that the Saiyans talked about, though Frieza's response to it confirmed that it was, in fact, the form that had allowed him to be beaten on Namek, though despite the pain he was likely remembering he was smart enough to beckon them into action. Together the three of them gathered their own energy, without wasting even a single second, before loosing three energy blasts that swirled around each other, merging into a single attack that rushed at the Stranger that dared to challenge all of them and state that they'd die by his hand. With the resulting explosion it was hard for them to tell whether or not they had actually done him in, even though they were hoping that Twilight would have caught their energy signatures flaring to life, since she and Towa would come running in no time. In the next moment they found that he must have dodged their attack, since the rocks behind him suffered the damage of their combined attack, where Frieza quickly charged and threw an energy sphere down at him, something that he actually caught and pushed up as he walked out of the new crater that had formed in the area around his position. Cooler and King Cold loosed a pair of energy blasts as that happened, where they slammed into the sphere and caused it to explode, just above his head and meant that he should have been taken out, but as the smoke cleared they discovered that they were wrong, the Stranger had moved over to a nearly rock pillar called out to them as he loosed a blast of energy down at the ground. As they leapt into the air, however, the family realized his true intentions as he dropped down on them and quickly swung his sword downwards, cutting through Frieza's body, from head to toe, like a hot knife cutting through butter, before he slashed him to pieces and wiped his body out with another blast, leaving nothing but ash behind. "You killed my brother! I'm going to kill you, you bastard!" Cooler shouted, where he quickly raised his own energy as he shifted into his Fifth Form, his own transformation beyond his base form that he used all the time, where he grew taller in the process as four horns grew out of his head to form a crown, while spikes appeared on his forearm covers and parts of his shoulder armor grew larger, with a mask covering his face as well. King Cold had felt the ground shake in response to Cooler's transformation, something he had said he obtained during his visit to the planet he had been working on while Frieza was on Namek, but, as it turned out, not even that was enough to overcome the mysterious Stranger. It wasn't that he didn't have confidence in Cooler's power, in fact he knew that this new form already surpassed Frieza's full power before the cybernetics were added, but if the figure was able to take down Frieza, and his new power, he knew his eldest son wouldn't last long either. It was for that reason he charged into battle as well as Cooler attacked the Stranger, because while he was the weakest of the three he could still do something to avenge his son's death, especially since Twilight would be here any second and would likely inform them how to use the Dragon Balls so they could revive Frieza. Sadly it wasn't meant to be as King Cold found a hole being blasted into his chest, tearing through both his armor and his heart in an instant, causing the already enraged Cooler to go berserk as his father fell onto the roof of their ship, who didn't last much longer as the Stranger hacked him apart. The Stranger wasted no time in using a couple of attacks to blast Cooler's remains to ash, before turning and wiping out all that remained of King Cold, plus his ship for that matter, leaving nothing behind for someone to stumble upon, causing him to power down before heading off to meet the heroes of this world... all while having a feeling that something bad was about to happen in the very near future. > Interlude: Rage and a Message > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Twilight had to admit that maybe she had been working long nights without rest, even if it was just for the last couple of days by her reckoning, and that part of her was fine with the sudden sleep she got, no doubt thanks to Bulma interfering in some manner, but the explosive release of Ki had snapped her awake. Someone was fighting, an unknown warrior she had never encountered before, though she recognized who they were fighting against, as she felt the Ki of her father, her uncle, and her grandfather, not to mention a number of Frieza Force soldiers and the Armored Squadron. Such a thing caused her to wake her mother up, since she was still figuring out the ins and outs of sensing Ki, who quickly realized who had landed on the planet and rushed out the door with her daughter, as there wasn't a moment to lose now that the rest of their family had arrived. Twilight expected either of Bulma's parents to see them as they left their lab, which she made sure to lock up just in case as her mother grabbed her staff, but neither showed up, so she and her mother were able to take to the skies and leave without being stopped, causing them to fly as fast as they could to where their family had landed. As they flew, however, Twilight felt the signatures of the normal soldiers disappearing in the span of a few moments, not to mention the three members of her uncle's own force vanished as well, though she had to stop as the unthinkable happened, her father's Ki, which was stronger than ever before, disappeared from the world. In addition to that she felt a powerful energy had appeared out of nowhere, the mysterious signature she had felt to be exact, while her uncle's power had also surged to new heights and she felt her grandfather, who never fought during her time in the empire, raise his own energy as well. After that she felt more knives going into her heart as she felt her uncle and her grandfather's energies disappearing in a span of a few moments, as if they were done in by the same figure that had attacked them, which should have been impossible since all three fought him at the same time. Yet the terrible reality remained that all of their remaining family members had been taken down in the span of a few moments, something that would send the rest of her father's empire into chaos if they knew that everyone who ruled it had been slain in battle. Towa recognized the signs of her daughter's impending rage instantly, as the look on her face changed and her eyes, the first instance of her going into her Rage Form, were starting to follow suit, where she continued to follow the energy for a time, hoping that this was just a sick joke... only to arrive in a barren area that once held one of their ships, including a few craters that people had likely been standing in not all that long ago. "Mom... I need to see what happened here." Twilight growled, as she knew that her mother had some access to her time powers, even though someone was doing everything in their power to block her from doing anything that might mess with the timeline, and that using them for a few seconds would allow her to verify what had happened here. Towa knew that nothing good would come of this, other than Twilight insisting until she either got her way or figured out how to use time magic, and that thought scared her more than she was willing to admit, so she focused her energy and swung her staff, creating a mirror that allowed them to view what had just occurred. What they discovered matched what Twilight had felt earlier, her father and the rest of their family had arrived on Earth, joined by some soldiers and the three members of the Armored Squadron, only to be bothered by some mysterious stranger, who slaughtered the soldiers in record time. As Twilight stared at the figure, watching as he cut down her father, her grandfather, and even her uncle, who were likely only coming to pick her and her mother up, Towa could see that her anger was rising as time went by, in fact her rage was boiling to the point where she knew that something bad was going to happen soon. The only interesting thing they discovered by watching what happened to their family was that there was a Super Saiyan who did the deed, in fact both of them were sure of that fact given what Gohan had said about the fight on Namek. Once they were done viewing what had happened not that long ago, however, Towa could practically feel the air heating up, another sign of Twilight getting ready to enter her Rage Form, one only seen if she spent more than a few seconds building up to it, and, sure enough, her daughter burst into the air without delay. Sure enough she found that Twilight had already figured out where the stranger had gone and, based on what she could tell, he had everyone they knew, in terms of the Z Warriors, hanging out near his position, but Towa knew her daughter was only interested in one of them and flew after Twilight without delay. Twilight was going to kill the Stranger for taking her family from her, that much she knew, and that she would likely stay on Earth for the length of time needed to revive everyone important to her, which should only be a couple of days since she would word the wish to revive all of them at once. It pained Towa to see her new family fall like that, she admitted that much without saying a word, but she was more concerned for Twilight's mental well-being, since most of her loved ones had been taken from her, and wondered if there was anything she could do to stop what was coming next. As she considered that, however, Twilight dropped out of the sky and landed in the area that the others had gathered in, in fact there was a small portable fridge resting nearby, though as Towa landed nearby she quickly spotted the figure that her daughter had been focused on, who was surprised by their sudden arrival. "YOU BASTARD! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU FOR KILLING MY FAMILY!" Twilight snapped, where the heroes of Earth paused for a moment as they felt the staggering pressure of her power as she landed, all while she focused on the individual who had wronged her, who was getting up from the rock that he was apparently sitting on. "Wh... Who are you?" the Stranger asked, revealing that he had no idea who she was and that likely meant he had no idea who her mother was, though Towa stood near Bulma and the others, as it would give her a good view of what was about to happen and, at the same time, ensure that she was out of harm's way. "This is my daughter, Twilight Sparkle, heiress to the galactic empire, and, more importantly, the daughter of Frieza, niece of Cooler, and granddaughter of King Cold," Towa replied, figuring there was no harm in telling the young man the truth, since there was a chance that the others might have already told him what they knew of the people he had just killed, though she had to smirk a little as she faced the Stranger for a few seconds, "also, she's very... well, angry is hardly enough to describe what she's feeling right now." The Stranger barely had time to do anything as he understood what Towa was saying, as Twilight burst through the space between them, crossing the gap in literally seconds as she displayed her superior speed to everyone, and appeared below him as she swung her first into his chest. The sheer power of the attack told the Stranger all he needed to know, she was far too strong for him to take right now, in his base form anyway, and that if he wanted to have any hope of surviving this he needed to take her seriously before something bad happened. In the next moment she spun around and kicked him in the side of his left arm, sending the Stranger flying through the air before colliding with a rock wall, of which there were a fair number of them around where he had brought the others after killing her family. Twilight stood there for a moment, just to see what her target did, and sure enough she was rewarded for showing a bit of patience as the Stranger quickly transformed into his Super Saiyan form, blasting the area around him apart with the power of his change. In the next moment he rushed at her with his sword drawn and swung at her without delay, where Twilight simply raised her hand and stopped the blade with a finger, without even bothering to surround it with her Ki, surprising the Stranger in the process as he realized that she really wasn't a foe he could take lightly. As he processed that information she switched her stance, grabbing onto the edge of the sword with ease and pulling with her left hand, something that caused him to let out of his weapon as he realized what was going on. At the same time, however, that wasn't her actual plan, rather it was a distraction that allowed her to grab onto the Stranger's face with her right hand and slammed him right into the ground, breaking the stone below her as her target struggled to understand what was happening right now. As he laid there for a few seconds, thinking about what was going on, Twilight let go of him as she raised her left leg and prepared herself as a mass of darkness started to gather around her hoof, before she slammed it down into his chest while releasing the power she had quickly gathered. The result was a mass of darkness that covered the ground all around her while gravity crushed the Stranger more than before, while at the same time causing Towa and everyone else to back away as the darkness reached for them, before she reached down into the mass, grabbed her foe, and hurled him into the sky. As she followed him, however, she found that the Stranger readied his sword once more as he swung it several more times, unleashing a flurry of blows to cut her down, where Twilight dodged them with ease and bypassed his defenses. In the next moment she spun around, causing her foe to turn his head as he realized that he had missed her and that more pain was coming his way, where she kicked him in the chest and sent him crashing down into the ground, smashing a rock pillar to pieces in the process. With that done Twilight floated down to the ground and stared at the pillar, silently daring the Stranger to emerge so she could beat him up some more, even though she was going to make sure he was dead by the end of this. As everyone stood there Towa noticed something odd, the darkness was starting to behave weird, as it was starting to emit from Twilight's eyes in some strange dark purple mist, while her eyes seemed to be gaining a eerie green color that was around her now crimson eyes, but before she could say anything the ground shook. "Buster Cannon!" the Stranger called out, where Towa found that he had gathered a good bit of energy in his hands, as it meant he was no longer focused on his sword and how ineffective it was, before firing it right at the area that Twilight was standing in, fully intending to take her down before she actually killed him. Twilight, as Towa expected, just stood there as the attack came barreling towards her, where the Z Warrior's watched as the beam attack sputtered out and faded away, almost as if the figure had failed to charge it enough so it could hit his target, but, thanks to her experience, she knew better. Towa could tell that this wasn't the Rage Form that she had seen in the past, even though the form her daughter was starting to use had utilized the same passive drain power that had done in so many when she first used it, making her wonder if it was time to stop her before the dam broke. In the next moment her daughter raised her left hand and made a jerking motion as she quickly moved her right hand, which she balled into a fist, to her right side, meaning she had something in mind for her foe. Sure enough the Stranger came bursting out of the area he had landed in a few moments ago, looking like he was being dragged by some sort of force, and when he got up close to Twilight she swung her right hand and struck him right in the chest. The result of that seemed to cause the air itself to crack, likely Twilight's magic going wild due to her anger, before the very ground around them started to shake violently, as if an earthquake had been triggered, and she was sure some damage had been done to the Stranger in the process. As the ground vibrated, breaking and collapsing in areas as she confirmed that an earthquake was happening, causing Piccolo and the others to take to the air while Yamcha carried Bulma, they also found that Twilight's foe was blasted backwards, due to the force of her attack. In the next moment something bad happened, in Towa's eyes anyway, Twilight stumbled for a second before raising a hand to her face, as if she had been hit in some manner, but that was further from the truth, the sheer power of the emotions she was feeling right now was far more than she could handle. It wasn't just anger her daughter was feeling, it was pure hatred for someone and her power was responding to that emotion, like how her anger had brought about the Rage Form she was familiar with, though this one was truly connected to the darkness, all while black crystals started to grow out of the shadows. She had never seen something like this before, making her wonder if it was connected to Mechikabura or if it was one of Twilight's own powers, and she could see that the others were surprised by what they were seeing, making them wonder what in the world was going to happen next. As she thought about that the dark look on Twilight's face became more twisted, like some dark hateful being had taken hold of her daughter, and as Towa watched the Stranger get back up it only took Twilight a few seconds to resume their fight, striking the figure harder and faster than ever before. As Twilight gained the upper hand, knocking the Stranger's punches away from her while delivering punishing blows to his body, Towa knew that both her anger and her hatred were clouding her mind and that, if nothing changed, she would likely lose herself. Such a thing was the downside of using so much Dark Energy, as many demons lost their minds when learning how to harness the power of this power, most failing to amount to anything and becoming servants of the other sorcerers, while those who were able to bypass this stage went on to become her old allies. Twilight, despite her mental skills, was still young and inexperienced in this particular art and Towa was worried that if too much time went on the rage and hatred would consume her daughter to the point that she was a shell of her former self, hence why she was looking for a way to end this before they reached that point. In the next moment Twilight picked up the Stranger and hurled him into one of the black crystals, one that was wider than the other, denting the crystal as he collided with it, though after that she raised her right hand towards him and started to gather her energy into an orb, meaning death was coming at long last. "That's enough." a calm voice said, where Towa found that Goku had appeared out of nowhere, though he was wearing an odd chest piece over where his gi's shirt had been, before it was destroyed during the battle on Namek, and he lowered his right hand from his head, as two of his fingers had been up there, if her eyes hadn't deceived her, "I understand that you are angry, Twilight, but you can't kill him: he has important information that needs to be shared with us." "You... you already know?" the Stranger asked, clearly surprised by this turn of events, though at the same time he was all too pleased to have some sort of distraction to keep Twilight away from him, who had stopped in her tracks as she turned to look at the new arrival. "No, but your friend... or was it boss... told me that you were in danger and I came here using a new technique I learned while I was out in space." Goku replied, though while he was still processing the events that had lead to this happening, and the sheer power that was coming from Twilight right now, he knew that if he presented a calm front he might be able to talk her down and stop her from destroying the Earth in her rage, "I know I'm the last person you might want to right now, especially given what happened on Namek... I'm sorry for everything that happened, by the way and I'm willing to talk about it... but you need to calm down before you lose yourself in your anger, or someone precious to you. Trust me, I lost someone important many years ago, because of my own enraged body, and I don't want you to suffer anymore than you already have... let me help you." Twilight growled for a moment before part of her understood what Goku was talking about, that in her rage she would no doubt lash out at anyone who tried to stop what was coming, in fact her mother would likely try and stop her before she unlocked her next form, the Dark Form, and that she'd no doubt hit her in her rage. A moment later she dismissed her power and let out a sigh as the darkness faded away before their eyes, though as the Stranger stepped forward she just turned her head towards him and he backed off, scared that she'd kill him before he did anything else. In that instant, as she huffed from overusing her darker powers, she told Goku that she was giving him ten minutes to talk with the Stranger while she made up her mind on what to do with him, which was just a message to the figure to get his message out before she killed him. With that done, and the pair understood what her conditions were, she jumped over to one of the pillars that were around them and sat down, allowing her to go over everything that had happened recently and what it meant for her and her mother. As she did that, however, she discovered something that she wasn't expecting to find, everything she had felt since she and her mother discovered what happened to her family had actually awakened her siphon powers, pushing them to far greater heights than before. Her mother had told her at one point that, with enough time, effort, and practice, that she would be able to integrate the full power of her siphon ability into her base form, negating the need for her Rage From, though that thought caused her to silently practice with it as she observed Goku and the Stranger. She decided to pick one of the Z Warriors as her guinea pig, Piccolo to be exact, where she carefully extracted small and large bits of energy from him while he waited with the others off to the side. This was mostly to make sure that everything worked as she thought it did, and while the Namekian seemed to sense the larger pulls he either didn't feel or ignored the lower ones, which she found to be good information for later. While she did that Twilight found that the first thing that the pair did was have a miniature Super Saiyan brawl, as Goku turned into his form before the Stranger did the same, where she found that the latter swung his sword and discovered that Goku parried it with a finger surrounded by Ki. Their 'clash' didn't last too long, especially with the wounds that she had dealt to the Stranger, though he seemed pleased with Goku's power, especially when the Saiyan revealed that he had learned a skill called 'Instant Transmission' on Yardrat, telling Twilight how he survived Namek. She knew her father might have tasked the Ginyu Force with traveling to the planet in question to find other ways for her to overcome the Warrior's Bane, but he had called them in after Vegeta's betrayal, so Goku had used one of their pods to survive. It also meant that the pod in question was out there, in the vastness of space, and that it was on it's way to Earth, no doubt where they were currently standing, meaning she would have to recover it once it finally landed. All this information caused the Stranger to ask about Twilight and Goku told him everything that he knew, causing him to realize that he was in the wrong, even though it was far too late for him to take back what he had done, but for now she let him get on with his message as she decided on using a lance made out of lightning to put an end to him as soon as he delivered his message. After that Twilight got all of the answers she wanted, the Stranger was, in fact, a time traveler who came from roughly twenty years into the future, using a time machine that his mother invented, along with the fact that his name was Trunks and that he was, shockingly enough, Vegeta's son. After that Trunks, or Future Trunks she guessed, informed Goku that in three years, on the twelfth of May at approximately ten in the morning, on an island about nine kilos southwest of Metro South, a fearsome duo was going to arrive, a pair of monsters with unimaginable power would appear. According to him they were created by Doctor Gero of the Red Ribbon Army, something Goku had dealt with in the past, and that they were called cyborgs, even though many in his time referred to them as androids and caused him to claim that the term didn't matter, only the pair of monsters mattered. Future Trunks also informed him that the pair he was warning him about also killed the man who made them, not to mention a large chunk of the population and all of the Z Warriors, as he was the last one fighting, where he quickly went into when and how everyone died, along with the fact that Goku never reached the battle, he died of a heart disease that he brought the medication for, since a cure didn't exist in this era. Twilight also learned that Future Trunks really had no idea who she was, that he had no idea Frieza was married in this era and that he even had a brother, making her wonder if his timeline and her timeline were different, though she was still angry with him and would kill him once everything was said and done. As the pair finished their conversation, however, Twilight went over the story and realized that there were either flaws in Future Trunks' knowledge about what was about to transpire, given her existence, or he had condensed everything to make sure Goku realized just how deadly the androids actually were. With that done Future Trunks did the only thing he could do, he fled from the area as Twilight stood up and held her hand out, lightning dancing into a lance as she took aim at the figure who was currently disappearing, as she loved a moving target and knew this would be fun. Twilight pulled her arm back for a moment before hurling the lance through the air, fully intending on killing her target before he could flee, but as that happened the space between her and Future Trunks seemed to distort, something only she and her mother seemed to notice. Such a thing caused the lance to freeze before disappearing before her eyes, which revealed much to her, someone strong must have been passing by the planet and stopped her attack before it could kill her target, causing her to growl for a moment as she lowered her hand. While she wondered who could have done this, however, she learned that Piccolo had better hearing, compared to what an Earthling had, and that he knew everything that Goku had been told, meaning he was able to explain everything to the others, while withholding Future Trunks' name. Sure enough everyone else was surprised by this information and most of them failed to comprehend everything that they had been told, as in no one believed that the Stranger was a time traveler and that he had a time machine. Twilight glanced up at the sky for a moment and found Future Trunks in a yellow machine that almost looked like a yellow egg timer, why it was designed like that she had no idea, where it looked like he was doing his best to help convince them to believe what they were being told. She considered using more of her Ki to blast him out of the sky, which could cause him to be set adrift on the current of time, but before she could do anything his machine just faded in and out of reality before disappearing entirely, meaning he was fleeing to his own era to escape her. After that happened Goku told the others how he survived Namek and took a few seconds to show off his new Instant Transmission technique, where he had to visualize a person and sense their Ki, before disappearing and then reappearing over a few seconds, causing him to show off the pair of sunglasses he had borrowed from Roshi, who was far away from their current position. "You know, I've been thinking: shouldn't we use the Dragon Balls to figure out where Gero is so we can kill him before the androids are completed?" Bulma asked, because if the pair were as strong as the Stranger made them out to be, and that they were responsible for so many people being killed after being activated, she felt that taking him out now would save all of them some grief and their very lives. "Say something like that again and I'll kill you first!" Vegeta snapped, confirming what Twilight had been thinking once she considered what the others might say on the matter, in fact she wasn't too surprised to find that the Saiyans were eager for battle, given what they lived for before her father blew their planet up, before the Earthlings started to agree with him and Goku on this matter. "Oh for... Twilight, you agree with me, right?" Bulma asked, because she was the only one who had said nothing while they learned what was coming in three years, in fact she noticed that Twilight and Towa weren't as concerned as everyone else was about the discovery of the androids, making her wonder what they were thinking about. "Not really... in fact, I'm actually excited to meet these androids." Twilight replied, knowing that it would upset Bulma, that someone like her would side with the likes of Goku and Vegeta on this matter, though if she was being honest she didn't care all that much, especially since her last real fight was with Moloch, before she leaned against a rock and crossed her arms as she stared at them, "But, now that I think about it, why should I care? Earth's not my home, as I'll be able to build a ship with Goku's pod, whenever it arrives, and we... as in my mother, the Ginyus, Zarbon, Dodoria, and myself... will be gone in a month's time. There's no reason for us to stay and defend Earth from these monstrous androids." Of course there was something they could offer her for her aid in this venture, something they seemed to think about, but to drive her point home she and her mother flew off without saying anything else on the matter, causing Piccolo to burst into the air and catch up with them before they got too far, though they were out of range of the others, meaning this conversation would be between the three of them. "The Dragon Balls... help us defeat the androids and I'll convince the others to let you use the Dragon Balls, once the pair of artificial monsters have been taken care of." Piccolo said, because he knew that Twilight was strong, possibly one of the strongest fighters on the entire planet, and that they would need her power in the future, hence why he was willing to offer her the wish granting orbs, even if she didn't like him or the others all that much. "Hm... I can get behind that. You've got a deal." Twilight stated, because that was what she was hoping would happen, that one or more of the Z Warriors would offer her the Dragon Balls so she could have a wish granted, since she had to undo everything that happened today, or at least what had happened to her father, uncle, and grandfather, causing them to return to the group to go over their plans to make sure they were ready for the androids' arrival. As everyone talked about their plans to prepare for the upcoming battle, however, she got an invitation to join Goku and his group, Gohan and Piccolo, in their training, something she accepted since it would be a good way to gain more power quickly, before leaving with her mother, allowing her to grin as she wondered what would happen when the androids finally showed up. > Android: The Fated Day > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Twilight found that the three years between Future Trunks' arrival and the day the androids were supposed to attack went by faster than she originally thought, though she suspected that training with Goku, Gohan, and Piccolo had something to do with that fact, given that they were determined not to die like they were told. It was interesting to watch Gohan, who started as a total novice based on her observations, learn and grow into a skilled fighter as time went by, as it seemed to take him a day or two to learn where he was lacking so he could improve his style. The other aspect Twilight discovered was that he seemed to have a hard time dodging, which was fine since everyone needed something to work on, though her focus had been on training due to Goku usually used his Super Saiyan form when facing her. It had showed her that he was treating her like a worthy foe and not someone who needed the 'kid gloves', which she was more than willing to clash with since it allowed her to boost her skills to the next level. In addition to that she trained with her mother for some time, as Towa wanted to make sure she was ready for what the future held for her and not be caught off guard again, plus it gave her some time to actually control her emotions so they didn't have a rage moment happen in the future. While they were doing that she knew that Tien was doing some intensive training on his own, as he was far stronger than his small friend and didn't want Chiaotzu to get hurt, while Krillin was just training with Roshi, firing the blue energy beam that several of them knew at the ocean. Yamcha's idea of training seemed to be hitting the gym or taking some time to head over to the island to train with Krillin, though Twilight suspected that if he kept it up he'd be the weakest of all of them, since his power was growing the slowest out of everyone. Vegeta, on the other hand, had Dr. Briefs build him a new gravity room in the Capsule Corp building, one that could go up to 300G, three hundred times the gravity of Earth, which seemed to be his preferred method of training, all on his own with no one to spar with. Still, she knew that, as a Saiyan, he'd grow stronger as time went by, though she did have to build another room that was connected to the new gravity room, a healing pod room that was on par with the newest on that had been on her father's ship. Such a thing surprised Bulma, as while she knew she was smart she was taken aback by the fact that she could build one of these machines from memory, though Twilight had another reason to build such a machine, one none of the others knew about. Her mother had opened a time portal back to the events of Namek and snatched her tablet while everyone was fighting over the Dragon Balls, allowing her to pick up on her notes and improvements, which was partly how she was able to do such a thing, even though she was smart enough to do it on her own. The reason she needed the tablet back was due to the fact that she had created plans for a much more advanced healing pod, one that was vastly superior to all those that came before it, which she and her mother built in private in a mountain lab they had created. In addition to the healing pod there were other things they were planning on adding, basically making an underground ship of sorts that all of them could use once everything was said and done, but for now she was focused on the healing pod. Her official reasoning for building a pod for Vegeta was so his power grew and she could feast on it from time to time, but the true goal was so that she got close to where the Dragon Radar was located, as after striking a deal with Piccolo earlier she had asked Bulma about the wish granting orbs. It was in that moment that she learned about the restrictions that the Eternal Dragon had, what he could do and what he couldn't do, and Twilight discovered that the Namekian had tried to pull a fast one on her with his deal, as Shenron couldn't revive people who had died more than a year ago. That meant if she had waited for three years, to deal with the androids like Piccolo had wanted, she would be unable to revive the rest of her family members, hence why her pretending to be on the Z Warriors' side to get close to the device. With it in hand she and her mother took a few days off, with the excuse that they wanted to see more of the world while they rested up before getting back into training, and went off to collect the seven spheres again. It had taken some time for them to actually find the Dragon Balls, since they liked to land in really weird places, but in the end Twilight had them all in her possession once more and summoned Shenron without delay, who listened to her wish as she and her mother stared up at him. Shenron was able to fulfill her wish, however he hesitated because of the fact that Frieza was in a bad state at the moment of his death, since Future Trunks had sliced him to pieces before wiping him out with a Ki blast, though they were prepared for that. Towa produced a container that would hold her husband's pieces until they got him back to their lab, where they would be able to deposit them into the new healing pod, as Twilight was positive that it would be able to bring him back at one hundred percent, without any modifications that had been made to save his life. Shenron, seeing that he was unable to persuade her to do something else, did as she wished and brought all three of her missing family members back to life, or two intact ones and the pieces of the third, which she and her mother collected as the Eternal Dragon disappeared. After that the pair lead the revived Cooler and King Cold to their base of operations near West City, though Twilight wasn't worried about this biting her in the rear, as she didn't trust Piccolo to keep his word, but she shelved that train of thought as they reached their destination. As she worked Towa informed told the pair everything that had happened since they were teleported to Earth after the wish on Porunga, even though both were annoyed by the fact that a time traveler had been the end of them, Cooler even deemed it unfair, while being pleased to hear that Twilight nearly ended him during their brief skirmish. Twilight merely whistled a tune as she worked, one that Towa was sure was a metal song, before she stepped back and observed the pod that held her father, full of green liquid that aided in the healing process, to the point that the pieces of her father seemed to fuse back together and formed a single mass. The missing limbs were regrown in a matter of moments, causing Towa to realize just how smart her daughter was, that she was able to make such a thing in no time at all, and it wasn't long before Frieza himself was reformed, back in his 'First Form'. As his eyes snapped open everything around him cracked and shattered, hence why Twilight had built the pod away from all of the other important machines, allowing her father to emerge after breaking the pod to pieces, where Twilight had a towel at the ready, not to mention some modified armor for him. "Twilight..." Frieza said, where the others noticed that he looked like he was on the verge of tearing up, even though none of them were known for such a thing, before he ignored the materials in Twilight's hands and embraced her without even wasting a single second, "Oh thank the gods that you're alright..." That moment reminded Towa that there was only one person that her husband valued more than himself and would do almost anything to protect, Twilight herself, and she shared such a thing with him, given what she had planned on doing to the timeline of Griea V to get the cure that she never got. Of course this was one of those rare occasions where she and the others joined in, as it was rare for Frieza to lower his guard and be emotional like this, a family reunion hug of sorts as she thought about it for a few seconds, and it was over before she knew it. Towa told Frieza what she had told Cooler and King Cold, that the people of the Earth were going to be slaughtered by two androids in the near future, as the Stranger from the future came to warn Goku of it happening so he could prevent it from occurring. She wasn't too surprised when she heard that all three of the frost demons told her that they didn't care too much, as the Stranger's actions had soured any relationship they might have with the Earth, but Twilight was interested and that was the end of that. She told them that she was going to finish her training, there were two more years left, then observe the androids as the Z Warriors clashed with them, though once that was done they would plan out what to do next, as she hadn't thought that far ahead yet, causing Frieza to nod his head and assist Towa with her work as he waited for the years to pass. As those two years went by Towa found that her daughter blossomed into a fine young lady, as she now stood at about six feet five inches, roughly the same as her when she wasn't wearing her high heels, and she was far more mature, in terms of her body anyway. She realized that Twilight now had a slender frame, another aspect that they had in common, which made people who didn't know her assume she wasn't a fighter at all, only for her to surprise them in no time at all, and her breasts had grown as well, to a fully grown b cup. Twilight, as per the usual, designed a new version of her armor that took her recent physical changes into consideration, while at the same time ensuring that her movements wouldn't be at all impaired by it, causing Frieza to nod his head as he watched her work. In addition to all of her training Twilight made sure that the work on their mountain lab went along as planned, producing a home that would become a ship once she was ready to leave the Earth, all while she and her mother kept the Z Warriors away from the mountain, just in case they had noticed Frieza and his family being revived. Towa, to ensure that none of Frieza, Cooler, or King Cold's skills went rusty, carefully used her powers to move them off the planet, taking them to a place were those who wanted to train could, as she knew that Frieza wouldn't, he didn't seem to care that much, but it was an option if he ever wanted it. Eventually May 12th arrived and, much like the rest of the warriors that had trained for the day, Twilight left the lab to see what sort of battle would take place, though she did don her armor and wished her family well before doing so, not that the armor mattered since she wasn't planning on fighting, she was just being safe. She quickly found Goku's group as they flew through the air, so she got close and noted that Gohan hadn't grown at all, either due to his Saiyan genes or because he was a late bloomer, as it was a possibility when she considered it. Goku and Piccolo chatted about their chances of all of them surviving this battle, where she found that Goku really had no idea until they saw how strong the androids were, though Piccolo seemed worried about something he couldn't place his finger on. Twilight simply kept quiet as she spotted Krillin ahead of them, who admitted that he wasn't as excited as Goku was, before they found the island that would soon be attacked by the targets that Future Trunks warned them about. Interestingly enough the island had a large city on it, meaning the androids must have come here to either test their own power out or to cause chaos to force their target to come to them, though Gohan figured that they could force the pair of androids to move to another place when they finally found them. She also located two familiar Ki signatures that just so happened to be coming from a nearby mountain, in fact the only mountain on the island, where she discovered Tien and Yamcha standing on a area that allowed them to keep watch over the city. Standing nearby was Bulma, who was carrying a little baby boy, while behind her rested a red sky car, the vehicles that hovered above the ground and could fly through the air with ease, where the others were surprised to see her and the baby as they landed. Some of them guessed that it was Yamcha's, since they had been dating even before Vegeta showed up, and Goku almost blew Future Trunks' identity by saying that the baby's father was the other Saiyan, but fortunately no one was bothered by his outburst, even though Bulma was a little sour about the surprise being ruined. Vegeta, on the other hand, was still missing and would likely be late to the fight, though Bulma was sure that he'd be here at some point in time, causing everyone to settle around the area they were in as Twilight landed nearby, staring out at the city as she thought about the mysterious androids. "Boy am I glad you're here, Twilight." Krillin remarked, because he knew that she was incredibly strong and that, with her on their side, there was a fair chance that they would survive the battle they had been warned about, since he believed the tale about the androids and their terrible power, "Ready to take down some androids?" "Yes... that's what I would say if I was actually here to participate." Twilight replied, something that caused the others to pause what they were doing and turn towards her, even Goku tilted his head in confusion, as he had expected to see her in the fight against the androids, causing her to glance at Piccolo for a moment, "He tried to trick me into helping you for nothing... don't even try to defend yourself, Piccolo, as you tried to trick me into helping you guys while gaining nothing for my time." "So, you figured out that the Dragon Balls can't revive people who have died more than a year ago." Piccolo said, though at the same time that explained why he and the others had spotted the sky going dark suddenly two years ago, Twilight had used the spheres to bring back her the family members who had been slain by the future warrior, "I'm surprised that you didn't summon Shenron again to wish for something else." "Actually, I asked Bulma and she answered my questions about the Dragon Balls." Twilight stated, though at the same time a few of the other warriors glanced at Piccolo, as they couldn't believe that he would try to pull such a thing on her, where she focused on his other remark, "Also, the only other wish that I could possibly make is for immortality, to ensure that what happened with Moloch never happens again, but even then I'd probably wait until I'm twenty-one, a fully matured adult, before doing such a thing. Anyway, I'm just here to watch and observe your fight with the androids, so don't expect me to lend a helping hand... unless I'm in the mood to do so." As she said that someone else arrived, which turned out to be Yajirobe, the fat samurai who lived on Korin's Tower and who served as a deliveryman for the mysterious Korin, as he delivered small bags of Senzu Beans to the heroes whenever they were about to face a new threat. With his mission complete Yajirobe departed in his sky car as Goku handed the bag to Bulma for the time being, since she was just waiting to see the androids and that meant they would be safe with her for the time being, where Tien informed them that he wasn't feeling any strong powers in the area they were in. Yamcha, ever the coward in Twilight's eyes, picked up on the topic and claimed that the Stranger from the 'future' had been pulling their legs the entire time, and that whatever trick he had pulled had fooled everyone, causing her to sigh as Bulma informed all of them that it was only ten o'clock. With that in mind there was no way for them to tell which option was right, there was a chance that things might happen differently, though Twilight descended into the city, just to see what in the world might cause the androids to attack this place first, instead of one of the other cities. It was purely to kill time, as she hated standing around and doing nothing with her time, though as she did that she heard an explosion and found that it was Yajirobe's vehicle, meaning someone had attacked him and she found two figures that rushed down into the city. "Interesting... I can't sense them at all." Twilight remarked, because as soon as the explosion happened she tried to sense the person that did the deed, only to feel nothing save the power of the Z Warriors as they reacted to the event, where her mind was already hard at work figuring everything out on her own, "I would have to wager that the androids have had a few devices installed inside their bodies to produce energy, an energy unique to them while also preventing Gero's foes from being able to sense his creations... if that's the case they likely have another smaller device installed inside them to turn that energy into Ki, given that he wants Goku dead." "I heard you were smart, Twilight Sparkle, but this is amazing." a voice said, where she turned for a moment and quickly discovered that she had company, two figures who were different from the other Earthlings, an old man with a black shirt, orange shoulders, and brown baggy pants, while the other was an obese male with white skin and attire that was similar to the other figure, save for his shirt being open, "You instantly understood our nature, despite this being our first ever meeting... how odd." "And the androids reveal themselves to me, despite my desire to simply observe." Twilight commented, where she was a tad bit amused by this turn of events, because while she wanted to measure her own power to the two androids, since they were supposed to be strong, her desire to observe for a time was more relevant. "I'm curious, how were you able to discern that we were androids, not to mention anticipate our arrival on this island, in no time at all?" the Old Android inquired, as Twilight called him that due to his age, and the other one would be the 'Fat Android', where she noted that the obese one was silent and likely only talked when he was addressed or something of interest happened, "Tell me, are you psychic?" "How about this: if you survive the battle with Son Goku, and his friends, I'll tell you what you want to know." Twilight said, showing them that she was willing to play ball, they just had to fulfill a condition to learn how she knew of their existence and where they would strike first, causing the androids to share a look for a few seconds before nodding their heads as they focused on her, "Good. Now then, let's summon the players and get things started." Twilight could feel the Z Warriors in different parts of the city, hunting for a foe they couldn't sense, before releasing a bit of her power, something that instantly caused Goku and everyone else to move towards her current position, and sure enough they landed in the area around her without delay. "I know that I said you shouldn't expect me to fight, but, when the androids landed near me, I figured I'd give you a hand in getting things moving." Twilight remarked, where she dismissed her power as soon as everyone was standing nearby, as this was the only thing they should expect from her, before turning to face Goku, who was interested in the pair that was standing in front of them, "They're here to fight you, Son Goku, just as we expected." "Good to know... though if we're going to fight, we should do it where there aren't people." Goku said, though at this point he was fine with any help he and the others got from Twilight, especially since it had saved them some time in tracking down the androids, before they decimated the city like Future Trunks had told them. "Someplace uninhabited? That's fine, but there is no need to go to the trouble of relocating." the Old Android said, which meant that he was going to do something to destroy the city and turn the entire island into a barren wasteland so they could do battle with each other, especially given the light in his eyes. Twilight, being the first one to react, called forth her power as she surrounded the two androids with magic, trapping the pair in a dome made out of her magical energy, just in time for the Old Android to fire laser like beams out of his eyes, a fatal move since her was able to siphon the entirety of his attack before he stopped. "I... what was that?!" the Old Android remarked, as there was nothing in his data about Twilight's powers, in fact he had assumed she was just a warrior with no noteworthy skills, almost like Yamcha, but now, after observing her power with his own eyes, he had a feeling that their data was insufficient and that they might be in incredible danger. "One of Twilight's abilities. That's all I can say." Piccolo stated, where he counted them lucky that Twilight had decided to lend them a little more aid, though Goku wasted no time in taking to the sky and leaving, causing the androids to follow as he and the others did the same thing. Twilight stood still for a few moments as she spotted a pale skinned figure, female to be exact, lurking in the shadows of a nearby alley, who was wearing a teal army coat with a belt that had a red letter 'R' on it, and she was sure she was silently observing her, but instead of worrying about her she followed the Z Warriors to witness the upcoming fight and see who came out victorious. > Android: Fighting the Androids > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Twilight found that they flew for a short period of time, making her wonder where Goku was planning on stopping since the continent in front of them had a few decent places to fight, like the desert they were approaching, but he seemed to have a plan and she wasn't about to interrupt it. "That's far enough, Son Goku. Just how far are you planning on going?" the Old Android demanded, where she could tell that he wasn't too happy about the flight, as if he was running low on energy from just flying from place to place, before taking a moment to glance down at what was below them, "This location is more than adequate for our purposes... I'm afraid that the choice of picking where you'll die is no longer up to you. We will stop here!" In the following moment he and the Fat Android stopped flying before descending down to the wasteland that was below them, causing Twilight and the Z Warriors that were present to do the same thing, where she glanced around for a time, finding that there were a few mountains that one could hide behind if need be. It was such a basic strategy, since no one in her group could sense the energy of the two androids it made sense for them to pick out an area that would allow them to do such a thing, to eliminate their foes one by one. Given what happened earlier she suspected it might not come to that, not if they were able to break both of their opponents, but she kept her senses open, since there was no telling what they might be planning now that their plans were known to the Z Warriors. In addition to all of that Twilight noticed that Goku was starting to huff, just a tiny bit, making her wonder if he was finally feeling the symptoms of the virus that Future Trunks had warned them about, and if so she kept her mouth shut. Given his hand in trying to kill her father, and the fact that Future Trunks claimed that Goku would have killed her family had the future warrior not intervened like he had, she was more than willing to let him suffer for some time, all while she stood off to the right of the Z Warriors and got ready to observe the upcoming fight. "Alright, before we begin fighting, tell me something: how do you know about all of us?" Goku asked, because during the flight they found that the Old Android had called each of them by their names, just like he used his and Twilight's back on the island, and he was slightly curious how that was possible. "Very well, I shall enlighten you, though you will regret your curiosity." the Old Android said, where Twilight got the feeling that his companion only talked when addressed or when he wanted something, since the Fat Android had been silent for a long time, just silently observing everyone that was around them as he wanted for something to happen, "You see, you and your companions have been under surveillance for quite some time, by means of a microminiature insect-like drone... it was present for your matches in the World Martial Arts Tournament, as well as your battles with Piccolo and Vegeta. Even after the fall of the Red Ribbon Army, you have been the subject of continuous research, all designed to figure out what sort of Android would prevail... it is not wrong to think of this as us holding a grudge against you, for destroying the dreams of the Red Ribbon Army, until Docotor Gero was all that remained." "You know, the way your speaking makes it seem like you, yourself, were Doctor Gero." Piccolo stated, though at the same time Twilight recalled the list of scientists she had seen in the past, and the pictures that came with each name, and quickly realized that the figure they were talking to really did look a lot like the madman in question. "Don't be ridiculous! I am Android 20, and this is Android 19... we were created by Doctor Gero, who, sadly, died a long time ago and is no longer among us." the Old Android, or rather Android 20, replied, showing them that their creator had given the pair a number after making them, while at the same time Twilight had to wonder what the numbers of the real androids were, the ones that caused Future Trunks so much grief, since she felt it couldn't be these two. "So does that mean you followed him all the way to Namek?" Twilight asked, because if Gero had tasked his drones to just follow and record the battles they had seen, transforming that information into data to prepare themselves for this day, it stood to reason that there was a chance that he might have witnessed the battles on Namek. "Of course I did!" 20 stated, where Twilight had a feeling that her thoughts were right, this android was made by Gero and likely held his brain, a form of eternal life so he could bring down the person who brought about the end of the army that he had been working for, before he considered something and glanced at the other android for a moment, "19, what is 'Namek'?" "Data not found." 19 replied, something that caused several of the Z Warriors to smile for a moment, because it meant he and his master didn't have a vital piece of information, one that would allow them to survive the battle that would soon happen, all while surprising 20 with his statement. "What do you mean 'data not found'?!" 20 demanded, because he was under the assumption that the drones had followed Goku everywhere and had gathered all sorts of information on the fighter, where Twilight realized his error, both he and 19 were based on Goku before the events of Namek and not based on the power he had gained after the training he did in preparation for this day, meaning the pair was screwed. "Insectoid drone destroyed during Saiyan attack." 19 answered, which was all they needed to hear, as it meant that the pair hadn't been made with Goku's recent discoveries in mind and that they were doomed to be destroyed in battle, but it did cause Twilight to wonder if these were the androids the Earthlings were destined to die to. "Not knowing about the Super Saiyan transformation will prove fatal for you." Piccolo remarked, though at the same time he and Tien backed up, since they knew what was coming, while Twilight simply stood still and braced herself, since this was the battle she had been waiting for. In the following moment Goku transformed into his Super Saiyan form, showing them that he was ready for a fight, but, interestingly enough, Twilight found that 20 informed him that his new power was still within manageable levels, that even 19, alone, would be enough to end his life. Sure enough the two engaged each other, where Twilight found that 19 thrust his hands towards Goku, who dodged the attack with his faster speed, allowing her to see that he had black orbs on the palms of his hands, causing her to wonder what they were for. Goku, on the other hand, lashed out with a few punches and kicks as he showed the pair that he wasn't to be underestimated, especially when he grabbed 19's head, after the latter tried to charge at him with a headbutt, before kicking him up into the air and following his target so he could end the fight. Sadly he failed to hit the android as 19 turned and actually grazed him with a punch to the face, which didn't seem to do much to him as he returned the favor, though this confirmed something else as Twilight glanced over at 20, he was shocked by Goku's new power and that meant the pair were toast. As they observed Goku thrashing 19, however, Gohan finally arrived, which meant that Yajirobe was no longer in danger, not that Twilight cared all that much as she turned her attention back to the battle, focusing on the devices on the palms of 19's hands. In addition to that Twilight noticed something that was slowly being found by Piccolo and Gohan, who had trained with her and Goku for three years, Goku's movements were getting sloppy and he was exerting his full power at the very beginning of the fight, like he was rushing it for some reason. In fact even she knew the Saiyan was supposed to be far stronger than this, meaning the heart virus must have reared it's ugly head at long last, but she continued to keep her silence as her companions continued to talk about the androids, discussing 19's odd strategy. In that moment she, of all people, understood what they were seeing, these two must have been built to absorb the energy of their foes or any citizens they came across, though they had to make contact to do so, and only she knew that secret. In the end Goku, after knocking 19 down to the ground, gathered his Ki without wasting time and fired a Kamehameha at his foe, who grinned and raised his hand to intercept the attack, though Twilight beat him to it by using her own power to absorb the attack, much to the surprise of the androids as it totally disappeared. "Goku, they can absorb Ki due to the devices in the palms of their hands, so I'd recommend not using Ki anymore... also, I'd recommend not letting them touch you." Twilight stated, though she intended for this to be the last helping hand that she would give to the Z Warriors, as it would tip the scales more in their favor, or not since there was no telling how long it would take for the heart virus to kick in. As Goku considered that fact 19 rushed up into the air and struck him with a knee to the chest, and a slap to the face not a few seconds later, before he brought his hands together above his head to hit Goku hard enough to send him down to the ground, though as he readied another blast he stopped himself, recalling her words, causing him to huff as he gripped the area above his heart. "Of course... it's the heart virus!" Gohan stated, though as he said that Krillin tossed a Senzu Bean over to Goku, who ate it without delay, which drove him to his knees instead of healing his body, something that caused the group to glance at the boy for a few seconds as he figured out what was going on, "Dad never got sick, so he never took the medicine... it's back home, right where he left it. Twilight, can you..." As the group turned towards her Twilight held up her right hand and revealed an orb of magic that just so happened to contain the container of heart medication, as during the three years of training she had visited Goku's place enough times to locate it, engraving a magical sigil on it so she could teleport it to her at any moment. "You know, I debated on whether or not I needed to do anything with this... but now, well, I think I'll take away your only hope, just like you took my father's away." Twilight commented, showing those that had been on Namek that she still held a bit of a grudge against them for siding with Vegeta and stealing the Dragon Balls, the only cure for the poison, where she gathered some of her magic around it as a crack appeared in the orb, "Say goodbye to your precious cure!" As she said that, however, something strange happened as the sphere disappeared, though at the same time it looked as if someone had stopped time to make sure she didn't destroy Goku's medication, causing her to frown for a moment as she lowered her hand. There were a few people in the entire universe who had the power to mess with time, the majority of whom wouldn't stand in her way as she did something like this, meaning there was only one figure who would dare to interrupt her. Sure enough she turned her head for a moment and found the short lady who was wearing a purple dress that showed off her shoulders, who happened to have the sphere above her hand, confirming that she was behind taking it from her. In the next moment it disappeared, as if returned to it's place in history or something, meaning she felt Goku was important to the timeline or something, but she simply frowned at the lady as she disappeared before she could say a single word, allowing time to resume for everyone else as they noticed that the sphere was gone. In the following moment 19 struck Goku again and this time he knocked him out of his Super Saiyan state, though as the Z Warriors moved to help him 20 intercepted them and loosed a small pair of eye beams into Piccolo's chest to down him, a useless move when she realized he was faking it, though before anyone could do too much Vegeta, of all people, arrived and kicked 19 backwards. "The task of defeating Kakarot is mine, alone... you junkyard puppets have no place in that." Vegeta remarked, where he and the others found that Piccolo stood up after that, revealing his plan to lower 20's defenses by faking his injuries, but now that Vegeta was here his plan had been ruined, who focused on Goku for a time. Twilight tuned him out as he walked, as it was mostly Vegeta talking about Goku ignoring the symptoms and tapping into the Super Saiyan form when he shouldn't have, before he kicked the wounded Saiyan over to the group, causing Yamcha to volunteer to take him home and left as 19 readied himself for battle once more. "19, you need not chase after him... we can save the best course for last." 20 stated, stopping his underling from rushing after the pair that held the target they had been designed to kill no matter what, though in that moment he glanced back at Vegeta, Twilight, and the rest of their foes, no doubt evaluating who was more important, "Now that Vegeta has joined us, things should be interesting for a time... especially since we have no idea what Twilight is capable of or the power that slumbers inside her. We might gain enough power to destroy Son Goku if we siphon her power." "20, please permit me to deal with him and Twilight." 19 said, where he bowed his head to his superior, showing that he was the minion in this sense, though at the same time Twilight found that Krillin felt that it might be in their best interest to flee, because while the timing was off on things they were discovering that the future was coming true anyway. "Greedy pig. How about this: you get Vegeta, I get Twilight, and then we split the remaining four?" 20 remarked, showing them that he either had problems with his subordinate or this was how they usually interacted with each other, though as soon as those words let his mouth 19 grinned, nodded his head, and turned on Vegeta, "I'm afraid that you have no hope of surviving, Vegeta, as we know all of your techniques and your fighting style." "You see, that's the type of thinking that'll get you in trouble... especially against the fathomless depths of a Saiyan's true slumbering power." Twilight stated, though she found this to be humorous, that despite her attempt to simply watch the events they had been warned about unfold she was being dragged in anyway, not that she was even worried about such a thing when she thought about what she had seen so far. "Indeed. Besides, I'm curious if machines like you can feel fear." Vegeta said, though while he was annoyed that the only one who understood his people was Twilight, the daughter of Frieza himself, he was more interested in tearing these two machines down, hence why he called forth his inner power so he could deliver fear to his foes. Twilight raised an eyebrow for a moment as his hair and eyes started to change as well, while the ground cracked as he changed into the Super Saiyan form that many had assumed was exclusive to Goku, where she realized that any Saiyan, with the right level of power, could awaken this form if they experienced an emotional event. "For the Earthlings wondering, my heart is serene and pure... pure evil, anyway." Vegeta remarked, though Twilight knew it wasn't totally true, he wasn't anywhere near what her parents were capable of or what she was capable of, but she kept her mouth shut as the two androids stared at the Saiyan warrior, "I dedicated myself to my training, focusing solely on it and nothing else, and made it as ruthless as I could so that I could overcome my limitations, all of which were made painfully obvious to me... and in that self-loathing I awoke the power of a Super Saiyan, which will allow me to overcome Kakarot and reclaim my pride as the Prince of Saiyans." He was cut off as 20 ordered 19 to take care of him, where Twilight watched as Vegeta tanked the punch to the face and smirked as he stood straight for a time, showing that he was clearly stronger than his foe, before putting his boot through his opponent's chest, hard enough for them to see it on the other side. That was actually impressive, somehow bending the body of 19 to allow everyone to see his boot coming out of the android's backside, despite the fact that his attack had no effect on how the figure operated, before he went on the offensive, knocking him around with a few hits. Such a thing knocked loose his hat, which was actually a cover for a brain container that seemed unfazed by the blows, while 19 just continued to be tossed around like a doll, much to 20's surprise and shock, especially since he thought they had done in Goku earlier. In fact he was able to knock his foe up into the air before flashing behind him, striking 19 hard in the back, a blow that send him straight down into the ground and blasted a decent sized crater into the stone, following him down into the crater, where 19 actually managed to get a grip on Vegeta's hands. It seemed that Vegeta was testing the theory, to see if they absorbed energy, and upon proving it he jumped up and put his feet on 19's face, allowing him to actually tear off his foe's hands, crippling the android's systems in the process, which caused him to flee up the hill. It was amazing to see that the android could, in fact, feel fear, especially when confronted with Vegeta's power, though as 19 fled Twilight chuckled as he stumbled, as while it could be seen as his newfound fear it was actually her performing a test. Her experiment just how had proven her right, Gero had figured out a way to power his androids and that there was a device inside them that allowed them to transform that power into Ki, even if they, themselves, didn't have any to feel. Such a thing meant she could steal the power of 19 and 20 whenever she wanted to, as in the unprocessed energy that could be turned into Ki, and thanks to her passive drain no one knew the truth behind 19's stumble, meaning they all thought that it was just pure fear. In the following moment Vegeta burst into the sky and gathered his energy in front of his right hand, releasing what he called his 'Big Bang Attack', an explosive blast that formed an orb that rushed down to 19's position and exploded upon impact, blasting the android to pieces in the process and leaving nothing but his head behind. "Sorry, android, but you have no hope of beating us... much less Twilight... really, it was foolish of you to even say that you could take her." Vegeta remarked, where he landed close to where the last android was standing and let out a sigh as he returned to his base form, though in the following moment he glanced over to the figure who was watching all of them, as he had expected her to have struck 20 down by now, "What's wrong, Princess? Scared of a little android... is he leaving you quaking in your boots?" "You know, I'm going to enjoy this more than I should." Twilight stated, though in the next moment she focused her power and everyone watched as the sky darkened before their eyes, like someone had summoned Shenron despite the fact that there was no dragon in the immediate area, while her aura turned black with a dark purple outline. Vegeta found that he barely had any time to move or do anything as Twilight raised her left pointer finger and pointed it up at the sky, where the darkness surged out of the ground and formed a dark cube around him, trapping him in a void before he was assaulted by a series of blows that he couldn't see coming, and after a few seconds it disappeared as he returned to the battlefield, having fallen to his knees in shock. "Wh... What was that?!" 20 asked, as it seemed like the attack happened in the blink of an eye, without the Saiyan being able to do anything to protect himself from it, meaning that if Twilight used it against him there was no way for him to survive, confirming that it was foolish to even challenge her, all while the sky cleared in an instant. "I call it 'Black Coffin', a technique that uses darkness to envelop my foe in a torrent of gravity, which takes the form of a box, before hitting one from all sides in an instant." Twilight explained, though as she said that she realized that she was a little disappointed in the effects of the attack, making her wonder what might happen if she charged it more, would it produce a more potent effect, before she walked over to where 20 was standing and grabbed him by his throat, "Now, you're going to be a good little artificial human and run along to wherever the other androids are, the ones you made to kill Goku, before you two came to attack the island earlier... and here, how about I give you a little boost!" As soon as the last word let her mouth she pulled her arm back and hurled 20 through some of the mountains that were in the area, though at the same time Twilight had extracted a good chunk of his inner energy, just like she did with 19 not a few moments ago, allowing her to devour his energy as Vegeta ate a Senzu Bean. "How could you do that?!" Piccolo demanded, because while he knew that Twilight had said that she was simply going to watch them, that she wasn't going to get involved, he had been hoping that 20's actions would have persuaded her to join them, for the time being, but now it seemed like she was just messing with them, all while Vegeta took off as he followed the android. "These weren't the world destroying androids you idiots, meaning part of the information was wrong... so, to track them down, it's best to let 20 lead you right to them." Twilight replied, as this confirmed that Future Trunks was wrong, there was another set of androids out there, meaning the future versions of 19 and 20 likely fell to the Future Z Warriors before they were annihilated by the real enemies that Future Trunks had warned them about. Piccolo stood there for a few seconds, clearly thinking about her logic as Tien and Gohan did the same thing, though as they did that Twilight took off and followed after Vegeta, as he was following her path of destruction, shouting at 20 as he tried to locate the now hiding android. Truthfully she didn't have to play hide and seek like the rest of them, rather she knew exactly where 20 was located, as when she stole his energy from him she also slipped in a tiny bit of her magic, which was allowing her to track his movements, not that she'd share it with the others. Of course she knew Vegeta wouldn't sit still and allow a foe to run away, even if 20 wasn't their true enemies, and he gathered up some of his Ki so he could wipe out the entire mountain range in an instant, no doubt assuming that the android would show up to absorb his attack. She watched for just a moment, allowing the android to emerge before siphoning the attack, just to prevent the smoke from shrouding their foe's path, causing Vegeta to growl as he gave chase once more. As the others caught up to them Twilight decided to observe them from above, mostly because she was hoping 20 would escape and show them to where the other androids were being held, and, based on what she could see, the android seemed to be considering her words as he silently moved around the area. Fortunately she didn't have to wait too long as 20 ambushed Piccolo from behind and started to drain him of his energy, all to gain the power needed to take down Vegeta, though it was short-lived Gohan showed up and struck the android right in the back of the head. Such a thing loosed his own head protector, which fell into the abyss while all of the Z Warriors showed up to tackle him, though Krillin passed one of the Senzu Beans to Piccolo, who quickly restored his stolen energy to a full tank before descending to fight the android. He even told Vegeta not to interfere with his fight, which was simply a tactic to make 20 lower his guard as he struck him with a knee to the chin, surprising the android since he clearly wasn't expecting it to happen, which impressed the others in his group. Twilight continued to watch as Piccolo beat up the android, in fact he even slashed off 20's right hand at one point, though this validated her earlier thoughts, there was no way that 19 and 20 were the world ending androids they had been told about. As she considered this turn of events, however, Future Trunks arrived and was shocked to see 20 glaring up at him, a fact that caused him to get some information out of the Z Warriors, which was when Twilight floated over and informed him of the two androids that weren't the ones he warned them about. In the following seconds he confirmed that fact, the two he spoke of were not the now destroyed Android 19 and the soon to be destroyed Android 20, causing her to inform him that he had to share what the real targets looked like so they knew who they were looking for. As he got ready to do so, as he knew it was unwise to ignore her demands, Twilight spotted Bulma flying their way, in her ship no less, something that caused 20 to inform all of them that 17 and 18 would be the deaths of them. In the next instant he released a final burst of energy that was designed to decimate the area around him and knock the ship backwards, where Twilight absorbed what was coming at her while leaving the rest for the others to deal with, and when the smoke cleared he was gone. While everyone recovered from the attack, with Future Trunks rushing to save his mother, his present self, and Yajirobe, who was likely with Bulma so he could be taken back to West City, Twilight turned her head and focused on where 20 was going, and what he was about to do. "So I was right, the real threat is still out there." Twilight remarked, all while Future Trunks tried to reason with his father, for all of a second as Vegeta ignored him, before finding that Bulma echoed her earlier thoughts, 20 looked just like Gero, so he had converted himself for his revenge against Goku, before the others discovered that most of the things he told them were different from his own timeline. Apparently their targets should have been 17 and 18, the former being a young male with long black hair and a red scarf while the latter was a female type who wore clothing similar to what Future Trunks was wearing, plus they had gold earrings for some reason. As he explained himself Piccolo inquired if they were able to drain energy from their palms as well, which came as a surprise to the future warrior as he revealed that he had never heard of that model before, rather the androids he had warned them about had infinite energy. He then asked about Goku, since he expected him to be here as well, only to be caught off guard by the fact that the heart virus was only now showing up in this timeline, causing him to realize that what he had done had shifted everything so that his knowledge was practically useless. While he mauled over that information Vegeta asked Bulma if she knew where Gero was headed, who thought about it for a few seconds before saying that there was a rumor he had built a lab in the mountains near North City, but, as Twilight expected, he was more interested in how skilled the androids were in a fight, rather than destroy them while they were offline. As Vegeta and Future Trunks flew off in the direction of North City, however, Twilight departed as Bulma learned that the future warrior was actually her son, it was a conversation she was uninterested in right now, as she was more eager to see what might happen when they finally tracked 20 and the other two androids down. > Android: Gero's Secret Lab > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Twilight, knowing exactly where North City was located due to her studies of the Earth and it's people, flew towards it as Piccolo, Tien, and Krillin followed after her, though at the same time Gohan was taking Bulma, Trunks, and Yajirobe home, not that she cared since it didn't impact her at all. "Hey Twilight, I've got a question: do you think one could become stronger if they used your product?" Krillin asked, as he had been thinking about ways to increase his power so he could be more useful in the battles that were ahead of them, also due to the fact that they had no idea if Gero was going to activate the other androids, and the food products she had created seemed to be his only lead. "It's theoretically possible that one could use one of the TF Food products to do such a thing, but you'd likely have to give up your humanity and fully become a Beastian," Twilight replied, as she had created the line of food items to allow the rest of the Earthlings to experiment and see what it was like to have certain animal traits, like a tail or even wings, and hadn't even considered that there might be a combat aspect to them, "I guess if one wanted more speed they could focus on a cheetah, a gorilla if they wanted more strength, maybe an alligator for a thicker hide... if you wanted to be stronger overall, and not focus on a single attribute, I guess you could pick a dragon and go from there." "Just how many types of animals did you include in your product?" Tien asked, because he had been focused on training for this day and hadn't paid too much attention to what Twilight had been doing in her spare time, as it sounded like she had done something outrageous, especially since he knew of TF Food's original limited variety and had to wonder how much had been added to it. "All of them!" Twilight remarked, which was the truth, she had tracked down the DNA of every living animal on Earth, from cats and dogs to dinosaurs of all types, to even two styes of mythical dragons thanks to her mother's aid, and added all of them into the products her company carefully produced. Krillin thought about that for a moment before having them stop, where he divided up the remaining six Senzu Beans, two for Piccolo, two for Tien, and two for Twilight, purposely leaving none for himself as he zeroed in on the city itself, showing them that he was actually following up on his idea. She really didn't mind that though, he was, after all, the weakest fighter in his entire group, so if he wanted to go do something to empower himself, well, she wasn't going to stop him, but she did pocket her beans for later. Piccolo and Tien were focused on the flight, no doubt knowing that Krillin would return in due time, as he was more courageous than one might assume, based on what the latter told her a few seconds after the bald warrior departed from the group, but she simply shrugged. Given everything she had seen so far it was a wonder that Krillin bothered to help his friends tackle the various threats that plagued their world, given that most seemed far above his personal power, but she wasn't about to argue with his beliefs. Even with Vegeta and Future Trunks speeding ahead of them, wasting energy with their Super Saiyan forms, Twilight and her followers reached North City ahead of the pair, because Vegeta had no idea where he was going and his son was likely trying to give him directions. Piccolo and Tien, as per their earlier decision, split up so they could scout out the vast number of mountains that were around the city in question, where Twilight just stood there as they departed, making it look like she was scouting the area as well, before she picked up on her tracker. Gero was coming from another path he must have devised in case someone tried to follow him back to his secret lab, in fact he had to be closer to it than she and the others were, though she smiled for a moment as she silently moved through the air, zeroing in on where he had set up his lab. In fact Twilight was able to track him down rather easily, while finding that none of the others realized where he was located, and Gero paled as he noticed her floating in the air with a smirk on her face, though all she did was gesture with a hand for a few seconds, telling him to get a move on. While he stared at her, clearly debating what to do next, she silently created a sphere shaped object near her, about the size of her fist with a yellow slit, a skill she had created during her three years of training for this very day, so called her 'Phantom Eye' skill, and the best part was that it was invisible to everyone else. As 20 moved into a high cave, something most people would ignore if they saw it, Twilight sent the eye into it while she closed her left eye, allowing her to see what was going on, as it allowed her to see a metallic door with a number pad, one that he input a code to open, which was 5201. As the door opened Gero paused for a moment, just to be sure that she wasn't going to do anything to him, while being unnerved by her expression, before entering his lab, where her silent spy had entered it ahead of the android the Z Warriors were tracking. What she discovered was that there were three pods lining the right wall, one of which was open, likely 19's container since the two to the right of it bared the number 18 and 17, as if counting down, before her grin widened as she noticed a fourth container with '16' printed on it. She determined that this was likely another change from Future Trunks' timeline, as he'd likely be surprised by the discovery of another android, in addition to the two they had fought earlier that morning after they landed on the island, while finding that his lab was on the small size, making her wonder if there was another one somewhere else. Gero mentioned something about the past and issues, though he seemed more afraid of Twilight than anything else, but, in the end, he released 17 from his container, who almost seemed like a ranger of some kind, before being surprised by how nice the android was, causing him to awaken 18 as well, all while holding onto a remote that seemed important to the pair of androids. "Good morning, Dr. Gero. It seems that you've become an artificial human as well." 18 stated, where Twilight found that she and her brother, as they seemed like siblings and not strangers, seemed to be playing Gero and were acting as if he had 'fixed' them, who mentioned their incredible power, the perpetual energy reactors, and that they were only now positively responding to his orders. "Yes, I desired eternal life, but, since the Dragon Balls always eluded me, this was the next best thing." Gero said, where it became clear that, in order to deceive his targets, he purposely made it seem like he and 19 were following the orders he had given them, as if the android maker was dead and gone, but now, thanks to the blows he had received, his original persona had returned in full force, "Now then, I'm going to put you two to work right away. Twilight Sparkle is literally on the other side of the door, no doubt summoning reinforcements from Son Goku's friends, so I need you two to take care of them." "Twilight Sparkle? She's here!?" 17 remarked, almost like he had been a fan of her work before Gero captured him and his sister, though there was a chance that he knew of her because of the files that had been uploaded into his system, but as that happened Twilight's energy, which she had been building for a while, called forth the others, while she dismissed her eye as she input the code and opened the metal door, "Well I'll be, you were right... she is here." Twilight's actions of opening the door allowed the pair to steal the remote that was in Gero's hands and crush it, which meant it had been some sort of deactivation switch so he could turn both of them off after they did their job, the only one based on his reaction. Gero spoke about how this was bad, since 19 had been destroyed and how he lost his hand, which came as a surprise to the androids since they had no idea he had made another one after them, save for himself anyway, before realizing that he had used the older models for himself and the now dead 19. Twilight was actually pleased to hear them talk, instead of wanting to fight immediately like Future Trunks had told them previously, because it meant there was a chance that they might be able to reason 17 and 18 and see if they were like what the future warrior had said, since he had been mostly wrong so far, on a few subjects anyway. In the following moment 18 discovered 16's container that was resting on the ground, instead of against the wall like the others, where Gero actually paled, stating that this android held the power to destroy the world itself if they weren't careful, which only interested them even more. She wasn't too surprised to find that, after Gero continued to press their buttons, 17 stabbed him in the chest with his bare hand before removing and crushing his head, where Future Trunks instantly went Super Saiyan and blasted the lab to pieces with a powerful blast... though when the smoke cleared they found that the two androids were fine and that the last container was safe, while Twilight's group floated in the air near the now ruined mountain. "That settles it, you're definitely Vegeta's kid... only he'd do something stupid like that." Twilight stated, because so far she was vastly disappointed in the future warrior, in fact it sure seemed like most of them were near or over his level of power while he, himself, hadn't grown at all, and his actions were only a waste of energy, "Look over there: the androids, and the third one, are unharmed." 16, as Twilight discovered, was twice as tall as the two androids that were near him, who had a reddish orange mohawk and wore a black bodysuit with lime green gloves, which showed off his hands, boots, and a chest piece that had a pair of large shoulder sections and a ring near the neck area, complete with the insignia of his maker on his chest. From what she could see he was more of a silent type, as he was taking in the area and listening to the pair as they informed him about what had happened, about Gero mentioning that he'd bring about their deaths if they turned him on, before finding that he, like all of the androids, was programmed to end Goku's life. While they were talking Twilight found that both 17 and 18 were looking at her, no doubt because of the fact that she was a total mystery to them, they knew nothing about her skills or powers, other than the fact that she was a fighter like the others, so they were being cautious around her. After doing that for a few moments 17 and 18 decided to move, causing 16 to follow after them, where the Z Warriors, lead by a now angry Vegeta, gave chase while Twilight stayed behind for a time, just to see if there was anything to salvage from the lab, or what was left of it. What she discovered was a busted ladder leading down into the ground, which seemed to be connected to a tunnel that brought her right to another lab, one that seemed to be operating on it's own and with it's own perpetual energy reactor, causing Twilight to grin as she noticed what was resting in a large tube nearby. "Gero, you absolute madman... of course he'd do something like this." Twilight remarked, because if the artificial humans were becoming a problem to control it made sense that he'd try to blend the DNA of the greatest warriors he knew into a mesh and see what sort of monster he could create, one that, if it started in a test tube, might actually listen to him and not rebel, as she could see a little green thing inside it. The nearby computer confirmed her thoughts, the little spy drones that were gathering information on the Z Warriors and their enemies were also collecting DNA samples of those very people, allowing him to create a warrior that was a blend of them all, or allowing the computer to do it since Gero seemed to have forgotten about this place. As she thought about it Twilight realized something else, if this existed in this timeline there was a chance that it also existed in Future Trunk's as well, meaning whatever was being made was likely already complete in his period, only he hadn't encountered the beast yet. Such a thing meant that, if she wanted to, she could warn him so when he returned to his time period he could hunt it down, after taking out his own androids, as Twilight had figured that part of the reason for him returning was likely to search for a weakness in Future 17 and 18. At the same time, however, she knew that she couldn't just show all of this to the Z Warriors, because it was connected to Gero and that meant, after everything they had been through, that Krillin and his friends would tear everything apart to ensure his creations were stamped out. As she thought about that, and considered how to move forward with this discovery, Twilight also found blueprints that seemed to be about the two androids that Gero had just awakened, while finding that the ones for 16, 19, and 20 were in a nearby container. She quickly realized that one could figure out a weakness if they studied the blue pieces of paper that were resting nearby, the very thing Future Trunks was looking for when she considered him for a time, though it caused her to come to a decision on the matter. Twilight decided not to bother reading the blueprints for the time being, since it would take the fun out of fighting 17 and 18, if she actually decided to engage them, so for the time being she rolled both of them up and carefully stored them nearby, figuring that she'd get to them later. With that done Twilight turned to the computer and quickly put in a code to ensure that the drones returned, even making sure that their entry point was safe, before weaving her magic into the surrounding area and sealing it, to prevent the others from finding and destroying everything in here, as there was no way she was going to let all of this go up in smoke. Once that was done Twilight took to the sky and headed off in the direction of the others, where she quickly found that she had missed nothing, as the androids were hanging out on a side road and her companions landed, just in time for her to see Vegeta get knocked into the side of a mountain. "It seems like things never change." Twilight commented, where she landed without delay, allowing her to see that most of the Z Warriors were unsure of what to do in this particular situation, though as she considered the scene in front of them a newcomer showed up, which turned out to be Krillin, who was sporting a pair of curved ivory antlers on his head, one on each side, and a serpentine tail that matched the eastern dragons, "Seems like you made up your mind." "Yeah, I went with something that resembles Shenron... you know, dragons and power." Krillin replied, where he felt just a little weird like this, walking with a tail, green that matched the Eternal Dragon while having red colored spines that went down the length of his brand new appendage, though at the same time he guessed he knew how Goku felt when Bulma met him, "Though, now that I see Vegeta being beaten, I wonder if I might have wasted my time..." Twilight knew why he stopped short, he was focused on 18, who he must have found stunning based on his reaction to her mere presence, to which she turned her attention back to the fight as she found 18 beating the stuffing out of Vegeta, not that she expected anything different given his past with the Frieza Force. She also noticed that part of the road had been blown away, along with a truck by the looks of it, meaning Vegeta must have attacked 18 with his Ki and missed, or she dodged his attack with ease, but despite that fact he seemed to believe that he had her on the ropes. While that went down, however, she also glanced off to the side and found that 16 seemed to be looking out at some birds as 17 switched from observing her and Krillin to watching what his sister was doing right now, no doubt making sure that no one tried to interfere with the fight. She was perfectly fine just standing and watching what was going on, because Vegeta was being hit by 18 repeatedly as his attacks did nothing to her, in fact he was currently losing, causing her to smile as she watched it happen, while noting that even a Super Saiyan was unable to stand before the androids. In fact the only thing Vegeta was capable of was just wrecking 18's jacket, something that seemed to annoy her as she hit him even harder than before, to the point where she spun around and struck his left arm with the side of her left leg, an attack that broke his arm in an instant. Sure enough it had the reaction Twilight was expecting, Future Trunks leapt into battle as he transformed into his Super Saiyan state and drew his sword, where the edge was chipped as 18 defended by raising her arm, the metal breaking as easily as Vegeta's arm. 17, following suit, struck him from behind, knocking him into the ground, causing both Piccolo and Tien rushed into battle, while Krillin was terrified of what was going on and stood off to the side to avoid drawing attention to himself. Piccolo was knocked aside with a single punch, the backside of 17's left hand, while Tien was grabbed by the head, like 17 might be choking him, and Vegeta made the foolish move to ignore his foe, leading to 18 grabbing his foot and tossing him right into his son, as if he was a bat or a trash bag. By the end of it 17 had taken down both Piccolo and Tien on his own, while 18 knocked Future Trunks out and crushed Vegeta's right arm as well, forcing him out of his Super Saiyan state in the process, meaning most of the Z Warriors were down for the count, though they weren't dead yet. "So, why didn't you jump in with the others?" 18 inquired, because Twilight seemed to be the strongest of them all and she was able to tell that just by looking at her, as the figure seemed to be far more imposing than the other warriors, while at the same time Krillin, despite his recent changes, was still nervous about everything. "I didn't want to interrupt, especially since you said you didn't want to be bothered." Twilight replied, which was the truth, she knew what had been said and didn't want to bother the androids, especially since she had been enjoying watching as Vegeta and Future Trunks were taken down by the pair, "I was actually just following them, watching as they dealt with all of Gero's creations, smiling in satisfaction as some were beaten into the ground... now that the battle's over, well, I guess I'll be on my way." "That's it? You aren't going to fight us?" 17 asked, as he and his sister knew that she was one of the strongest fighters on the planet, because she knew Goku and that meant she had likely trained with him, and both had been expecting her to do something to them after the Z Warriors were knocked down, "Aren't you going to 'avenge your friends' or stop us from killing Son Goku?" "Please, I have no 'friends', nor would I be friends with these idiots in the first place... trust me, the less you know about it the better off you'll be." Twilight said, informing them that it would be a bad idea for them to ask her what she meant, in fact it might lead to the deaths of the fallen warriors if she said anything, though she was only staying her hand since she knew most of them would get stronger after this defeat, "You are welcome to kill Goku, in fact I might help you out in the future... however, if you really want a fight, I guess I can spare some time to exchange blows with the three of you if you really desire such a thing." 17 and 18 stared at her for a few seconds, clearly debating whether or not this was worth their time or not, while she did the same thing, silently wondering if their cores could produce unlimited energy, meaning unlimited Ki for her to steal and empower herself with, before finding that the pair stood down. "Nah, I think we'll pass... besides, we're more interested in Son Goku right now." 17 remarked, as he figured that he, his sister, and their new friend could deal with Gero's main target before worrying about someone that he deemed unwise to approach, even though he must have annoyed her in some manner, "Maybe we'll fight once he's taken care of." "Very well." Twilight stated, where she turned her back to the androids and Krillin found that neither dared to move, like they were frightened of her and kept their uncaring expressions with ease or they just didn't care about her at all, but as she got ready to leave she paused and turned towards Krillin, "I'll be back if anything interesting happens." Krillin said nothing as Twilight took to the air and departed with ease, as in she suddenly disappeared and reminded him that her power and speed were far greater than his own, causing him to turn back to the androids as he wondered if they were going to hit him if he helped the others onto their feet. "So, um, can I talk you guys out of killing Goku?" Krillin asked, because he had to hope that there was something, anything, he could do to convince them not to hunt down his friend and kill him to fulfill Gero's final orders in their own manner, even if they had told Twilight of their desire to kill their kidnapper's target. "No chance. We were made to kill him, after all." 16 stated, though as he said that he mentally wondered if they would have been able to beat Twilight if the others had decided to fight her, given the lack of data they had on her and the fact that his internal power sensor judged her to be incredibly powerful. "However, it is cute that you care so much about your friends." 18 added, as she could see that Krillin was worried about all of his friends, both those who were resting nearby and those who weren't present right now, to which she placed a kiss on his cheek for a moment, surprising them for a few seconds, "Go ahead, heal them with those Senzu Beans... we've got things to do." "You know, we should move to another road... maybe we'll find a car to use... and I'd love to try one of her products, if we find some along the way." 17 remarked, where Krillin realized why he had been the subject of the male android's attention for some time, he was more interested in his new additions and what it might feel like to have them, before he, his sister, and the tall android took to the skies and flew off. Krillin stood there for a moment, surprised by 18's sudden gesture, before gathering the Senzu Beans he had and moved down to where the others were resting, as it was time to heal them and figure out what to do next, since fighting the trio wasn't the answer, and he could only hope that things turned their way in the near future. > Android: Pieces Moving > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- It took Krillin some time to actually use the four Senzu Beans on his wounded friends, meaning he didn't need the two that Twilight had flown off with, which he was sure they wouldn't be seeing again, but in the end everyone was healed and were able to listen to what he had to say about after all of them had been taken down. "So, those things knew about the Senzu as well... it means that they were letting us know that we weren't worth killing, as they were just toying with us." Piccolo commented, which just annoyed him when he thought about it, because he and the others had used their full power and it wasn't enough to do anything to the pair of androids, even though his focus was on who was missing right now, "Plus we just lost the only one who might be able to defeat them on her own... I was hoping she'd do something to them, in spite of the mistakes that we made in the past, but I guess I was putting too much faith on her changing her mind at such a critical moment." "I understand why you tried to make a deal with her, but you should have known she would have figured it out and turn on us." Tien remarked, though he had no idea how they were going to convince Twilight to change her mind and join the fight against the androids, because he agreed with Piccolo, she was the only one who could do anything to them right now, before he glanced at Krillin, "Also, did you really have to eat before we found Gero's hidden lab?" "What? I thought it was going to help me get stronger... turns out Twilight was right, I'd need to become a full Beastian to get any worthwhile benefits." Krillin stated, where his tail flicked for a moment, something he was still getting used to since this was the first time such a thing had happened to him, before he considered what he had done back in North City before he regrouped with the others in this area, "Though I have to say that the dragon soup that did this actually tasted great..." In that moment, before he could finish his statement, Vegeta burst into the air and left them to their own devices, though as Trunks started to move Piccolo stopped him, which caused the future warrior to stop for a moment before sighing as he admitted defeat once more. "Trunks, you have to realize that Vegeta had finally gotten his pride back, and now it's been shattered by someone that's stronger than him, by a woman no less." Piccolo stated, though what was impressive was that the same couldn't be said for Twilight, as Vegeta seemed to see her as more of an obstacle that had to be overcome, an insurmountable wall due to how strong she was, and didn't seem annoyed that she was stronger than he was, "Honestly, it must be eating him up, hence why he left so he could vent in peace... also, Krillin, don't let your emotions get the better of you. I know you must be blaming yourself for not jumping in... I mean, you even went through the effort to use something of Twilight's to gain a potential power boost and it failed to do anything... but there was nothing you could have done, not when they took Tien and I down in a matter of seconds and Trunks was beaten with one hit." "I know, we're talking about the man who killed most of Frieza's family... and now I'm glad Twilight is gone." Tien said, as he realized that even mentioning that would be enough to get on the demon pony's bad side, or even earn them a ticket to the Other World if she was in an annoyed or angry mood, causing him to turn to the future warrior, "Oh, by the way, Twilight's already revived her family, who no doubt hate you with every fiber of their beings... just be careful if you ever go near her after this. "Just perfect... also, I hate to say this, but the androids are different than the ones in my time... the ones in my time don't have the monstrous strength that these ones had." Trunks added, though that just worried him more than he was willing to admit, because he had no idea how such a thing could have happened, especially when he considered the fact that the androids had spared them, a fact that his androids wouldn't have done if given the chance to do so, "So, what do we do now?" "You three should head over to Goku's and move him before the androids find him... once's he's over his illness, we'll need some sort of strategy to take them down." Piccolo said, though at the same time he was considering all the options he and the others had right now, because with Twilight doing her thing, and no doubt ignoring them, they had limited methods to take down the androids and restore peace to the world. "Piccolo... you've got some sort of plan, don't you? Care to share with your friends?" Krillin inquired, because out of the rest of the team, not counting Gohan and the missing Twilight, Piccolo was the smartest of them all and he could tell that he had an idea in mind, maybe even the very one he was thinking of right now. "Friend!? Don't get the wrong idea, I was never your 'friend'!" Piccolo replied, something that caused Krillin and Tien to recall something while Trunks just stood there with a blank look on his already confused face, while at the same time he let his aura surround him for a time, "Remember, I am of the Mazoku! If we ever had a truce, it was so that I could further my goal of conquering the world!" As Piccolo burst into the air, and Tien remembered that he was the reincarnation of Piccolo Daimao, Krillin realized that he had been right, the Namekian had a plan in mind, where Piccolo was likely heading to God's Palace to fuse with his other half, recalling what the previous Grand Elder of Namek had said on the matter. Krillin also determined that his statement to 'conquer the world' no longer held the sway that it used to have over everyone in their group, as Piccolo desired to be the strongest warrior in the entire world, even though he'd have to settle for second best. He was like Vegeta, in an odd way, and right now he was feeling that without Twilight there was no way they were going to be able to win against 16, 17, and 18, so he was cashing in his 'last resort', the God and the Devil becoming a 'super' Namekian that held the power to do what Piccolo couldn't do on his own. In that moment he was glad that Twilight had revived her family before this point, as it would have pissed her off to no end if she had actually waited to use the Dragon Balls, and after everything that had happened in the past he didn't want to see her pissed off side again. With that in mind, however, he, Trunks, and Tien started to make their way over to Goku's, where the pair informed their future friend that they knew about his parents and that he didn't have to hide it from them anymore, though they knew Vegeta would return at some point and aid them, they just had to pray the androids didn't destroy everything on their way to Goku's place. Kami stood on the Lookout, the place where he was able to watch over the entire world, to the best of his ability anyway, and observed Piccolo and his allies as they seemed to split into multiple groups, a few one man teams while some were in groups of two or three. When Future Trunks arrived he had observed him and learned about the threat he came back to warn them about, while frowning as the young man killed Twilight's family, but after that he kept his watch over the planet as he tried to figure certain things out. Such as something that happened four years ago, something he was still struggling to understand since there were no answers to it, though even he had to admit that his observation powers weren't as great as everyone claimed they were, as even he missed things when he wasn't looking down at the planet. He knew where most of the Z Warriors were going right now, in fact waiting for Goku and utilizing his battle trained mind seemed like the best course, he'd come up with something in no time at all, likely the time chamber he had used once in the past, hence why Mr. Popo had made it ready, just in case his intuition was correct. On the issue of Twilight, however, he was displeased with Piccolo, as he could have done things differently when she lost her family, though he didn't have much time to think about it as Piccolo reached the Lookout and landed nearby, using one of his skills to recreate his usual attire, the shoulder pads, turban, and cape, in a few seconds. "Kami, I assume you know why I'm here?" Piccolo inquired, speaking to the older Namekian who was in front of him, while at the same time maintaining some level of respect towards the figure that was behind him, a being known as a genie to some and to others a monster, or at least among the Z Warriors, as he bowed his head a little towards the figure. "Yes, I can sort of perceive what you're thinking, since your father and I used to be one." Kami replied, as the pieces of his past had been pulled together thanks to the arrival of the Saiyans, not to mention everything that had been gleamed due to Krillin, Bulma, and Gohan going to Namek, though he refocused on the current issue, since Piccolo wasn't here to talk about the past, "To be honest, I never imagined that this day would come... that you and I would merge together and go back to being a single person." "No, you are nothing more than a catalyst, allowing me to acquire the power boost I need to take care of the enemies that stand in my way." Piccolo stated, as that was the truth of the matter, he was far stronger than Kami was and this wasn't about becoming who they once were, rather he was focused on his own goals and what needed to be done, especially due to the fact that the world was at risk again, "Your only purpose right now is to keep the Dragon Balls active, so the heroes can revive anyone who dies during these troubling times." "Indeed, I am well aware of the gap in our respective powers... as you faced terrifying foe after terrifying foe you grew far stronger than I." Kami said, showing that he understood what Piccolo was saying, in fact he had harbored such thoughts for some time now, that this day might come sooner than he was expecting, before he sighed as a weak smile graced his face, one that was mostly because of what was happening, "Both Vegeta and Future Trunks, who have gained impressive strength to face the androids, were beaten by those very foes... I fear that even Goku, once he's over his illness, won't be able to stand before them either... it seems that the time has come for the God and the Devil to become one. It's a shame that all of you wronged Twilight so much in the past, as we could have used her aid against the threats this planet is facing and will face in the future." "Please, she's the daughter of Frieza himself! I might be evil, but she's the daughter of two vile demons... she's pure evil, we just haven't seen her true colors yet." Piccolo remarked, because King Kai had told him and the other slain warriors about how evil the tyrant was and, while neither he or his family had shown their true colors, he was worried that it was only a matter of time until they did so, "We're all just toys to her!" "She may be Frieza and Towa's daughter, but it's hard to say how evil she really is... or if she's even evil at all, like you like to think she is." Kami remarked, where he stole a quick glance at the lower realm for a few moments, finding Twilight in the middle of what appeared to be a sea of dark flames in the far north, likely some form of training that Towa was in the middle of helping her with, as her mother was off to the side, before he focused on Piccolo again, "You seem to think that she'll dominate the world at some point, that she'll turn against all of you and crush you beneath her heel, or that all of you will be enslaved by her will... I can tell you that you're wrong. While she may not like you, Goku, or the others, she was looking forward to fighting the androids, in fact she's almost like a Saiyan in that regard... she even returned to her own training, likely to vent her frustration at 17 and 18 not being like Future Trunks told all of you... but I don't think you have to worry about her turning against all of you or the Earth." Piccolo stood there for a moment, surprised by the fact that Kami was siding with Twilight, of all people, but said nothing in regards to that, in fact he seemed to understand that he might be wrong about the demonic pony girl and lowered his head, almost as if he was ashamed by his actions. "I know that you are impatient, and are awaiting my answer, but I must observe the lower realm for a time." Kami said, as while there was so much more he wanted to say about Twilight and her treatment at the hands of the Z Warriors, in fact he was sure he could talk Piccolo's ears off, he decided to focus on the matter he had been observing for some time now, along with the androids, "I know you and the others were told that the androids would destroy the world, but so far they have shown nothing of the evil that Future Trunks described and I wish to see if us merging is even necessary. I know it's possible that irreparable damage might be caused in the meantime, but I want to make sure of a few things before I willingly give you what you are seeking." Piccolo stared at Kami for a few moments, who reminded him that the Z Warriors were the ones to start the fight with the androids and that they had been spared by their foes, before he sighed and went off to meditate as he waited for Kami to verify whatever was on his mind, all while wondering what the androids were currently up to. While that was going on 16 followed 17 and 18 as they flew through the air, heading into the cold north for some reason, as the nice environment eventually turned into a snow covered area with nothing to really see, hence why they were able to focus on their flying. 18 was more interested in helping 17 get over his car fascination, since he seemed dead set on getting one so he could drive all the way to Goku's place, a waste of time if someone asked her about her opinion, though he had agreed to stop in whatever town or city they discovered so she could replace her ruined attire. Basically she'd get some new clothing, something that didn't have the insignia of the Red Ribbon Army on it, and he'd get a vehicle to ride until it was out of gas or until it broke down, as there was no way of knowing if the first one they saw would be a more modern vehicle that floated or one of the older gas ones. Of course the siblings knew that 16 didn't care at all, he just wanted to kill Goku before worrying about what might come later, so neither asked his opinion on the matter as they kept their eyes open, since there was no telling when one might show up on their radar. Eventually 17 tracked one down, an old delivery vehicle that had four wheels, a gas powered car by the looks of it, that was well maintained, though while he could care less about the pink color that was on it he planned on remaining true to his word, to which they headed down and found that it was part of the Lucky Foods company. "Oh no way... you guys have some of Twilight's products in here?!" 17 remarked, as once they landed he opened the back door and found a fair number of boxes, each one containing a number of different food containers, while some contained the very products he was interested in after seeing what happened to Krillin, while the owners of the car were currently off on the side, getting coffee from a vending machine, "16, empty the vehicle." His statement was so that they would have a place for the larger android to sit and he complied without wasting time, just picking it up with ease and opening the end so they could place the boxes on the ground, though once that was done 17 did a bit of snooping, picking out two boxes, containing a container of each product Twilight had made, before he and 18 took their places in the front of the vehicle and drove off. "I can't believe you actually took them." 18 stated, as the boxes were back with 16, even though most of the boxes were back with the pair that actually owned the vehicle they had stolen, carefully placed so that they could be picked up and moved to a new location when another car came this way, since the men were likely calling in the robbery. "What? I couldn't pass up the chance to actually try out her infamous products." 17 replied, because before they were taken by Gero, and turned into their current forms, he had been slightly interested in the TF Food line that Twilight had created, as some of the people they knew had expressed their interest in the food items, "Besides, did you see how Krillin looked with his new additions? I've got to try one of them at least once... I have to know how it feels." "...Fine. Have it your way." 18 said, because in the end it didn't matter to her all that much, as they had agreed on the terms of their agreement before reaching this part of the world and her brother had already gotten his end, meaning his first stop should be to track down some clothing for her to replace what Vegeta had wrecked earlier, "Anyway, do you have any idea where Goku's place is located?" "Nope. Figured that would be part of the fun, getting directions and just sticking it to Gero." 17 admitted, as such a thing really didn't matter to him, he just wanted to have a fit of fun before worrying about the Saiyan warrior that Gero had made them to kill, because all of the data pointed to Goku being the strongest of him and Vegeta. "I do. Goku's home is located in a mountainous village in Section 439 East." 16 commented, where he found that both of his companions turned to glance at him for a moment, no doubt surprised by the fact that he was talking again, since they were used to his silence whenever they talked, especially since there were times where he didn't talk at all, even with one or both of them addressing him, "According to the map that Gero installed in me there is a picnic area just up the road, on the top of a hill, so if you wish to experience Twilight's food it's a good place to stop... there is also a town an hour away where one can find clothing." 17 chuckled as he followed 16's instructions, finding the area in question in no time at all, which would allow them to see if the cops were coming and react before they had a chance to reach them, before stopping at the picnic area, which had no one for them to worry about, due to the fact that there was no one on the road. Once they reached their first destination he came to a stop and allowed the others to climb out, while he went around to the boxes and opened each one so he could see what sort of options he had to choose from, as his earlier thoughts were right, they had one of each product Twilight had made over the years. While he looked at his options for a few moments, since there were so many to pick from, one of them was taken by 18, as she grabbed the container of Pleasure Island Brew before walking to the nearby table, simply because she felt nothing would happen and this would help her kill some time as she and 16 waited for him to finish up his desire to waste more time. As 17 narrowed down his choices, however, 18 pulled out a bottle, removed the cap, and drank some of the alcohol as 16 informed her that it would do no harm to her body, meaning she didn't have to worry about getting drunk from this, a perk of being an android she guessed. She had assumed that nothing would happen to her because she was an android, hence why she assumed 17 was simply wasting his time, though that was before her ears pulled back and arched up into brown donkey ears, while a donkey tail emerged from her spine, poking through a small hole in the back of her pants, with had a blond tuft at the end. "Oh my god... you have got to be kidding me!" 18 remarked, where she tugged on one of her ears and found that it was real, it was really her old ear, and she did the same to the tail and found that it was a little painful, meaning the products worked on androids as well, as much as it surprised her. "You are a biotechnological type, as your organic matter was reconstructed to it's new state," 16 replied, which, according to his limited knowledge that Gero had installed inside him, meant that they still had DNA and could reproduce if either of them wanted to, though the main part was that the Animorph X, which affected one's own DNA, could change the pair of androids he was traveling with, "I, however, am a mechanical type... purely metal. You two can be changed with these odd products, even to the point of becoming Beastians if you so desired, because Twilight's food items modify the DNA of the one who eats or drinks them, while I, having no DNA to speak of, will remain in my current state." "A warning would have been nice!" 18 stated, because if she had known about this, that she and 17 could be altered with Twilight's odd products, she wouldn't have bothered grabbing the case or even drinking any of the alcohol, and now she was stuck with these ears and a tail for twelve whole hours, if what she heard in the past was true. "Come on sis, learn to live a little." 17 said, in fact he was fine with this discovery, as it meant he had nothing to fear, due to part of him wondering if such a thing would actually work for him since he was an android now, before he pulled out a fiery red colored cake that looked like it had flames on it, "Dragon Chili Trifle... perfect." 18 discovered that it was a cake of some kind, one that her brother pulled out and cut into it without delay, as there was a knife inside the box, before removing it and placing it on a plate he had also found inside another box they had missed earlier, before he started to eat his treat. His sister and 16 watched as the effects took hold rather quickly, a pair of ivory horns grew out of his forehead and arched backwards, almost looking like spikes in some manner, before his balance shifted as a thick tail grew out of his spine, one that had blue scales on it. 18 studied it for a few moments and realized that while it looked like Krillin's, who had gone out of his way to do something for the strength to stand up to them, it was also different, since this looked like it belonged to a fierce warrior and not some deity. 16 explained that there were two types of dragons that had likely been the inspiration for Twilight's creations, the eastern serpent-like dragons and the western winged beasts who were said to have four limbs and a pair of wings, but he had no idea how she had recreated both to use them in making her strange food. 17, on the other hand, was perfectly fine with this discovery, in fact he said that this felt amazing and that he really didn't understand his sister's opinion on the matter, since she hated her additions, especially since this van had no purple pills for some reason, meaning they just had to be patient and see what the future held. > Interlude: New Discovery > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- While everyone else was moving around, either gaining power or actually moving so they could stay ahead of their foes, Twilight remained in the far north for a long period of time, allowing the Z Warriors to go about their business as 16, 17, and 18 did whatever they wanted. She, on the other hand, was focused on something else, as while she had Gero's lab to study and learn from, which she planned on doing at some point, her attention right now was on the sea of black flames she had created after reaching this area. The flames were a manifestation of the darkness that had been growing inside her, since the day her parents allowed her to tap into the dark energy that her mother and all Demons tapped into, though they did no damage to her or the surrounding area. She knew none of the Z Warriors were coming her way, in fact they were going off in different directions, allowing her to clear her mind as she focused on the training she was currently doing, pushing herself towards a single point she wanted to reach. Of course she wasn't alone, as her mother was floating in the air nearby, as her staff was enchanted so she could sit and observe whatever interested her, so it was resting in an horizontal line with Towa sitting on it, observing the area that she was currently working in. Towa, on the other hand, was nervous, as Twilight was smart and she had figured out how to cultivate the small bit of dark energy she had given her all those years ago, which partly explained her sudden and rapid growth in power, even though most of that seemed to be because of her own inner strength. She had been expecting something grand from Twilight, as her daughter was the type to overdo certain things, but even then, despite knowing such a thing, she wasn't expecting to see all of this, demonstrating that one couldn't underestimate Twilight no matter what. Even then this was actually a bad thing in the long run, as with this much dark energy there was a chance that one of the other Demons might notice her and come to investigate, and depending on who it was things could get hairy. She was sure that many of her former allies were annoyed with her leaving them and the mission, to release Mechikabura from his prison and aid him in taking over all of time, but now she was more interested in placing one of her new family members on the universal throne, namely Twilight. Still, what she was seeing right now was far more than what she was expecting and knew that Twilight would be able to make her Dark Form in no time at all, though if she progressed further she was going to have to step in, because if she was able to hit the Demon God form they were in big trouble. As she thought about that, however, the sea of darkness seemed to shudder as her daughter was surrounded by what looked like a pillar of dark energy, meaning she must have succeeded in doing whatever she had been trying to do since she came here. Towa watched as the massive sea started to soak into the object that had appeared in the center, which would break apart and reveal what Twilight's Dark Form looked like when the time was right, even though she knew that it was going to be very powerful, if her base and Rage Forms were any indication. After some time the sea seemed to vanish as it was sucked into the swirling mass of energy, leaving the entire area without any harm done to the ground or even the various trees, before discovering that the pillar itself was starting to die down, no doubt being drawn into Twilight as well as it helped her fulfill her purpose. As everything disappeared she found that Twilight was still positioned in the same spot as before, only this time her armor had a crimson infinity sign near her collar area, the tips of her gloves and boots were crimson as well and stopped just beyond her wrists and ankles, before gaining a waist cape that was a lot like hers, black on one side and red on the inner side. When Twilight opened her eyes Towa found that she looked the same, though her hair had darkened, taking on a black tint due to all of the darkness she had gathered, something that put a smile on her face as she realized that her daughter had made her Dark Form a reality. "Twilight... it seems that you were successful." Towa remarked, because that was the truth of what she was seeing, even if it was immensely powerful, enough to where she was far stronger than her father was in his final form, no doubt shocking the Z Warriors and however could feel Ki, though as Twilight carefully looked over her new form a black crystalline staff, that ended in a golden spiral cage that contained a crimson orb, appeared nearby. "Yes, it sure seems that way... so this is a Dark Form." Twilight commented, where she had to wonder why her mother, in all the years she spent training and growing her skills to be of use to her father, never bothered to show it off, all while she grabbed her demonic weapon, a sure sign that her new form was complete, and spun it a little before quickly reverting to her base form, "Sadly, there's no one on this planet for me to test it's strength out on, so for now it's more like a stepping stone on the path to learning how to tap into the next state... it's a shame the androids didn't want to fight, as I'm sure they would have been good practice for my new transformation. I hope I meet a strong warrior soon." As they started to walk away Towa told her that she was sure that some new warrior would show up at some point in the near future, as it seemed like things were happening at different times or not happening at all, given what they had seen so far, and she was curious as to what might show up to fulfill her prediction. As that was going on Krillin and Trunks were sharing the recent events with Yamcha, Gohan, and Chi-Chi, all while using a transport ship that had a ramp so they could carry Goku over to Roshi's, as the androids were on their way and there was no telling when they would arrive. In no time they were made aware of the reality of their situation, that Piccolo might be merging with Kami in the near future, Tien was on his way to check on Chiaotzu, hence why he was no longer with them, there were three more androids and they were stronger than the two in Trunks' time, and Twilight was gone. He also told all of them about how Twilight had just left after everyone got knocked down by the androids, along with sharing the brief talk she had with the trio before leaving, causing the others to look down at the floor for a moment. Krillin, however, was hopeful that she would return at some time and side with them against their foes, in whatever manner she deemed appropriate, but he didn't voice his opinion since he knew the others were of the opinion she wasn't going to return. At the same time Trunks informed them about many things related to time travel, or his discoveries since he was still new to this, and how going further back to stop the androids from being activated wouldn't affect this world, which Gohan was able to understand, even though he knew Bulma, Twilight, and Towa would be the same as well. "I'm still not sure why things have changed so much... is it because of Twilight and Towa's presence?" Trunks inquired, as it seemed odd for those two to be here, in fact they weren't in his timeline at all, which only made him wonder about them, though he also suspected that it might be that Twilight and her mother left before the androids wrecked everything in his time, hence why his mother never talked about them while he had been too young to remember them at all. "Well, you have nothing to fret over... I'm just grateful that you came back and saved Goku's life." Chi-Chi said, because to her that was more important, keeping her husband alive, even though she knew that he'd do something about the threat they were facing, he always seemed to have a plan, though she was going to have words with him about Gohan's studies once he was cured, "Oh, we should probably tell Bulma what's going on as well." Krillin, Gohan, and Trunks glanced at each other as Yamcha focused on driving the vehicle, as they agreed with Chi-Chi on this matter, to which they decided that Krillin would be the one to call her, causing him to sigh as he slipped into the side seat and picked up the phone, calling Bulma without any delay. "Krillin?! What's going on... are you guys alright?" Bulma asked, showing that she was concerned for her friends, since she had heard nothing from them since her vehicle had been wrecked by Gero and Gohan had carried her and her baby to safety, including Yajirobe when she thought about it, "Where are you calling from? I figured that Gohan would have come back by now and I tried calling Goku's place, but no one was answering." "Yeah, about that, we're moving him to Roshi's for the time being, since there are more androids than what we thought and we need a new plan of attack." Krillin replied, even though he, personally, thought that they could just ignore the androids and focus on whatever the real threat was, because it sure didn't seem like they were as evil as they were told. "Good to know. Now, is my grown up son from the future with you?" Bulma inquired, something that interested the group, as it usually meant she had some sort of news for someone and Krillin instantly switched the communicator to a speaker, so everyone could hear her and reply to whatever she had to say, "Listen, someone out in the provincial area called us not that long ago and said that he found a strange vehicle that he was interested in claiming, so he called us to figure out how to get it to start, only for us to discover that he had no idea what model it was. Of course we were worried he might be trying to pull a fast one on us and asked if it really was one of our vehicles, where he said that it had the Capsule Corp logo on it and he even agreed to send us a picture... get this, it's a picture of the time machine that you came back in, and it's even taken some damage along the way." "But... that's impossible. I have the time machine in it's capsule." Trunks said, in fact he even pulled out the container that held the capsules his mother had given him, a container that could hold three even though he only had two items, the first being his time machine and the other being his mini refrigerator, though as he said that Bulma sent over the picture, only for shock to appear on his face as he stared at another time machine, "There's no mistaking it... that's a time machine, nearly identical to the one I used to come back to this era... and before anyone asks, my mother was only able to make the one in our era. Where in the world did he find this?" Bulma informed them that the man who took the picture said it was near Section 1050 West, where Trunks declared that he needed to see it for himself and see what sort of information it might possess, while Gohan and Bulma said they'd come as well, just to help him check it out. Of course Chi-Chi was worried that something bad might happen to her son, but both he and Trunks told her it would be fine, there was nothing dangerous in that direction, causing her to pull back as they opened the door and flew outside, allowing Yamcha to continue towards Roshi's as they headed elsewhere. While they flew Trunks answered the questions that Gohan had for him, about how bad the future was, the death and destruction that his pair of androids had caused, and the overall feeling of hopelessness that many of the survivors felt as many prayed for something to come and deal with the androids. His true reason for coming back this time around was to join the battle with Goku and the others so he could learn the weaknesses of 17 and 18, the ones who were wrecking his era, and if they could find some sort of blueprints it might help them take the androids down in both eras. Trunks even had to wonder if there was a device that Gero had created to control the pair, or maybe turn them off, but for the time being he shelved that thought as they reached the area that the other time machine was resting in, and it wasn't long before Gohan spotted it, allowing them to fly down to where it was resting. As he looked at it Bulma arrived not too long after they did, where Trunks pulled out his time machine's capsule and activated it, allowing them to see that the machine was a near perfect replica of the one he had been using the entire time. He also brushed off some moss on the damaged one and found that it, too, had the word 'Hope' written on one of the engines, something his own mother had written on it just before he traveled back to this era, meaning that, against all odds, it was another one invented by his mother. He, of course, knew that such a thing was impossible, given that his mother was only able to make the one, so he was confused as to why there was another one in this era and close to where they had been passing through, though as all of them thought about what it might mean Gohan investigated the glass and he slowly opened the hatch. As he climbed inside, however, he found two halves of a purple spiked egg or sphere of some kind, something he was sure none of them had seen before this point, which he handed over to Gohan and his mother, who both confirmed that it had to be an egg of some type. "You don't think that whatever made this hole came out of the egg, do you?" Gohan asked, because that seemed to be the picture that was being painted right now, something must have come back or had been sent back in time by someone, for what purpose he had no idea, and whatever that was had likely damaged the time machine. "I have no idea... let me check the systems." Trunks replied, where he slipped down into the chair and looked at the couple of consoles his mother had told him to study before he even used the machine for the first time, to be sure nothing went wrong when he finally used it to travel back to this era, only for surprise to appear on his face once more, "The fuel level is down to almost zero... in fact it's at less than a percent... and according to this reading this time machine arrived from... Age 788?! That's three years into the future, at least from my own era... and it arrived in this era four years ago... no way, it had been in this era for a full year before I even arrived to warn you about the androids." Trunks had a feeling that he had discovered why things were so strange in this timeline, something had come back to this era and was messing things up more than he had, causing him to wonder what was going to happen next as he continued to study the time machine and it's strange mysteries. After finally creating a new form, and succeeding in that venture, Twilight returned to the hidden lab that Gero had created, where she showed her mother the way and they both agreed on one thing, there was no way they were leaving this behind for someone to destroy. Towa had the idea to recall the rest of the drones, as most of them were still out there, somewhere in the world, though that was only stage one, as she was thinking of moving the entire lab into their mountain home, since it was large enough to accommodate the entirety of the lab. Such a thing meant that they had to wait for all of the drones to return to the lab, though as Twilight tapped into the computer in question, taking a look at most of the systems that had been installed inside it before Gero's death, she felt two things happen. The first seemed to be a fairly large number of small Ki signatures disappearing in the span of a few moments, like a city was being attacked, before she felt Piccolo's Ki change, as if he had done something to make himself stronger all of a sudden. She and her mother glanced at each other for a moment, as both of them had felt the same thing, before she got up and headed outside, leaving the lab work to her mother while she checked out what was going on, where Twilight landed in a city on the way and found that there was a news broadcast about what was going on. Gingertown, which was located near West City, was under attack by some unknown figure, as the people had vanished without a trace and the only thing left was all of their clothing, though those who had been sent to investigate claimed that most of the citizens were gone. What she found to be interesting was that even the Beastians were gone, as usually they were left alone when a threat to the planet attacked, or at least Bulma informed her of that when she listened to what all of the Z Warriors tackled before the events of Namek. Such a thing made her take a few moments to wonder what was going on, especially since her senses informed her that so many people were dying right now, while she could see that everyone was shocked by what was going on, since they didn't have enough information to go on. There was also a growing Ki signature, an amalgamation of people she had encountered so far and included most of her family, which annoyed her to no end since she had a feeling she knew whose creation it was, near the area that the others were disappearing in, causing her to get a move on. Twilight was able to reach the city in question in no time at all, where she heard a bunch of gunfire and found that most of the survivors were slain, due to all of the scattered clothing since the beast devoured everything about those it attacked, causing her to land near the figure that had caught her interest. "So, you're the one I've been sensing recently." Twilight remarked, staring at the figure in question, a tall green being who looked like a cross between an insect and a humanoid, with insectoid horns that resembled her father's base form just a bit, segmented armor, a beak-like mouth, three toed feet and three fingered hands, strange wings like a beetle, and a tail that had a stinger at the end, "Let me guess: Gero's computer in the basement lab made you?" "Correct. You must be this era's Twilight Sparkle." the figure replied, where Twilight found that he was currently stabbing a person in the back, as the man was drained of everything inside them while leaving his clothing behind, showing that the tail had another purpose, to give the beast nutrients so he could grow, "I am Cell, and I came back to this era to achieve my perfect form, which involves finding and absorbing two very special creations..." "17 and 18, right?" Twilight inquired, because she could tell, by looking at the blueprints in the lab she had found, that the two were incredibly important to everything Gero had been planning, especially given their energy cores and the fact that they possessed infinite energy, which anyone could make use of if they knew how to use them, causing Cell to pause for a few seconds as he listened to her talk, "Based on what I've seen so far you have been carefully absorbing the bioenergy of people to satiate yourself and gather the power that will allow you to stand up to the other two androids. Of course taking out an entire city's worth of people will no doubt catch the attention of the Z Warriors, especially since it caught my eye not all that long ago... in fact, it feels like a few of them are already on the move. I'm actually surprised that you even took down the people who were in the middle of enjoying their various TF Foods, since their DNA is unstable due to ingesting some of my product." "You are correct, they are my final targets... it seems that the tales about you are accurate: you are smarter than most of the Z Warriors." Cell said, showing that he was familiar with her and how she went about her life, which had her wonder what his era was like, given that he knew of her and Future Trunks didn't, "As for the Beastians and the semi-beastians, it matters little if they're in the middle of transforming or not, as the stinger at the end of my tail allows me to digest every type of person in the world, with no exceptions. Now, I must ask: are you going to stand in my way, or are you going to let me pass without any trouble?" "Oh, you can go about your business... I'm just observing the Z Warriors as they deal with the androids, or fail to since the pair beat them earlier." Twilight said, though as she said that she had to wonder just how strong Cell could become once he absorbed both of the androids he was looking for, as he was strong now and there was no telling how much stronger he would become, something that caused her to chuckle, "You know, with your strength it'll likely cause Goku, Vegeta, and a few of the other Z Warriors to improve themselves... I can't wait to see what happens next." Cell seemed surprised by this information, that Goku was alive and that the androids hadn't beaten Vegeta to death, even if Twilight felt that they were welcome to do so if they decided to do so, though before either of them could do anything else they were interrupted by Piccolo landing nearby. "Twilight, I should have known you would beat me here." Piccolo remarked, not that he was even surprised anymore, as she was far better than everyone else when it came to sensing energy, she was even better than Goku in that regard, meaning she had to know of his merging with Kami, or at least the boost to his Ki that he got from such a thing, "Tell me, can you take this thing down before it kills more people?" "I mean, I probably can in a second. The real question is this: why should I? After all, I told you that I was only interested in observing you guys fight the androids." Twilight replied, where she noted that it seemed like his personality might have been altered a little since the last time she saw him, making her wonder what in the world he had done in such a short period of time, before focusing on the rest of her thoughts, "Besides, I've gotten my wish on the Dragon Balls, so I have no real reason to help you out. So I'll ask again: why should I change my mind?" "Because he's killing people... and it's the right thing to do!" Piccolo stated, because while he knew that she didn't like him and all of the other Z Warriors, he had to thank Kami for talking sense into him before they merged into a single being, he was hoping that she'd do something to protect the world she was calling home. "Piccolo Daimao is worried about people? You must have affected him more than I thought, since this is different from my own era." Cell commented, where he couldn't tell if that was a good thing or a bad thing for him and his plans, though if Twilight remained neutral there was a chance he'd find his targets in no time, as he knew that she was likely the best foe to test his perfect form on. "Oh, I haven't changed anyone... they've done that themselves." Twilight said, as she was only going to take credit for such a thing if she had actually had a hand in changing someone, because she assumed Gohan was responsible for what had happened to Piccolo's personality, before she considered her own words for a few seconds, "Okay, maybe I changed how my father and mother, plus uncle and grandfather, went about things, but everyone on Earth is, for the most part, just the same as before. Also, 'right thing to do'? Need I remind you, Piccolo, that I'm the daughter of the Emperor of the Cosmos and one of the most powerful Demons in the entire universe, the latter being so powerful that she was likely the second in command under Mechikabura, the Dark King, himself? The 'right thing to do' is whatever I want, whenever I want, as there is no one in this world that has the power to stand up to me and my power... hence why I'm simply observing Cell while I figure out what my next move might be." With that said she jumped backwards and landed on the roof of a nearby building, allowing her to glance down at the pair, which was when Cell revealed his hand by summoning his Ki, breaking the ground around him as Twilight confirmed that he held the signatures of several different individuals inside his body. Piccolo, however, demanded to know what was going on, since he didn't have Twilight's knowledge of who was in front of them right now, and when Cell refused to say anything the Namekian informed him that he would perish here, before calling up his own Ki as he released a burst of energy that was more like a outwards blast. Twilight didn't bother to shield herself from what was going on, she could tell at a glance that this was more of a measuring contest between the two fighters, as Cell had shown his power and now it was Piccolo's turn to do the same thing, though she did note that Cell was surprised by this turn of events. In the following moment the Namekian gathered more of his power and actually blasted his foe with a powerful Ki blast, where this time Twilight shielded herself as the blast tore apart the entirety of the city, leaving nothing but rubble behind in certain places, though she found some of his energy coming at her and devoured it without moving at all. Other than that the attack produced a shockwave that rocked the atmosphere, where Twilight was sure that the androids and the Z Warriors had felt it, before even sensing it, though Cell showed that he was durable as he emerged from part of the wreckage with minimal damage done to him. Instead of rushing at his foe, however, Cell burst into the air and stared at Piccolo for a time, where he raised two of his fingers to his head, causing Twilight to realize that he was preparing the attack that had pierced her back on Namek, the 'Special Beam Cannon' as Piccolo called it. Such a thing surprised Piccolo, since this was a move that only he knew how to perform, before Cell fired it right at it's creator, who stood there with shock on his face for a few seconds before swinging his right arm to deflect the attack. Of course it ended up rushing towards where Twilight was floating, not that she was worried about such a thing as she devoured the attack without even moving, though this did cause Piccolo to consider what was going on before the pair rushed at each other. After that the two clashed as Twilight floated nearby, where she found that Cell went on the offensive and swung at his foe, while Piccolo dodged his attacks and displayed his greater speed before spinning and kicking Cell in the backside, which was able to knock him towards the ground. Twilight frowned as she took in his enhanced power, as he was unable to stand up to 17 not that long ago, maybe just an hour or two based on her observations, and yet here he was, standing up to someone who was far stronger than the rest of the Z Warriors. In that moment she recalled what had been said when they arrived on Earth after the Namekian Eternal Dragon brought everyone, save for her father and Goku, to the planet, Dende had said that Piccolo had merged with another member of his kind, Nail she believed, and Krillin had mentioned that Kami happened to be one as well. As the pair battled Twilight realized something, Piccolo had assimilated the other Namekian to gain a power boost so he could stand up to the androids and the new threat he had discovered, though it meant that the Dragon Balls no longer existed, which would likely annoy his friends. Piccolo kept asking questions, about who had sent Cell back in time with that time machine, surprising Twilight since this was the first time she had heard of a second one, before finding that Cell had no desire to answer his questions as he charged a Kamehameha, judging by the movements he was making. Twilight could tell that it was more of a diversion, since it held a lot less power than what she had experienced in the past, though as Piccolo dodged the attack it struck the ground, which was Cell's target, kicking up a lot of smoke in the process. That was when Cell played his hand, attacking Piccolo from behind as his foe's vision was obstructed by the destruction his attack had produced, where he grabbed onto his foe with his arms and legs wrapped around him, surprising the Namekian in the process. In the next moment his tail rushed right at Piccolo's chest, intending on stabbing him to drain all of his bio-energy, where Piccolo was able to turn ever so slightly and let it stab his left arm, which started to shrivel up as it started to drink his energy, but before Cell could get too far along he was headbutted by his foe, who he dropped. Twilight watched as Piccolo huffed as he landed nearby, his left arm entirely useless based on what she could see, though at the same time she knew of the Namekian's ability to regenerate limbs, so he had something in mind since he hadn't pulled the ruined one off yet. Cell, on the other hand, was pleased with this turn of events and informed Piccolo that this was his end, since he wouldn't be able to fight with his wrecked arm, but before Piccolo allowed himself to be devoured he tried once more to ask for more information, causing Cell to stop in his tracks. In the end he decided to go with it, since it was more for Twilight to better understand him and his goals, even if she had guessed them outright, as he told Piccolo of his name, the fact that he was made by Gero's computer, and went into detail about how he was created, using the cells of the greatest warriors available. Due to the amount of time needed for the research the computer was left to continue the work, with cells being collected from all of the various battles that had taken place, especially from the Saiyan attack and the arrival of Frieza's family, before revealing the existence of the drones to Piccolo, even if he was surprised that there wasn't one here to see this battle. Cell even admitted that it would take twenty-four years before he was fully constructed and explained that he had taken three years to go from an egg, to a larval form, before reaching this form again, before revealing that he was after 17 and 18, the keys to his final perfect form. "Honestly, I have no idea how the Trunks of my timeline was able to beat the androids, but he was able to." Cell stated, as he sounded annoyed by that fact, and Twilight couldn't blame him when she considered his goals in life, before he let out a chuckle, no doubt remembering how he killed the Saiyan in question, "He was, however, in possession of a time machine and I used it to come back to this era... why this one, well, the machine was set for this era and all I did was press a button to activate it. Anyway, I was told that I would obtain unimaginable power if I absorbed the androids, though it is hard to say why I desire such power... maybe it's my Saiyan DNA, or maybe it's the Frieza side of me..." "You know he's faking to get all this information out of you, right?" Twilight asked, because Cell had revealed a lot to the Namekian he was planning on devouring, who was clearly faking his defeat so he could figure out what was going on right now, and with that information under his belt it was only a matter of time until he attacked. "Even so, the information was for you, Twilight." Cell remarked, as he knew most of the skills and techniques he was able to use, meaning he knew what the people his DNA was drawn from were capable of, so he was talking to help Twilight out, where Piccolo growled as he removed his ruined arm and a new one burst out to replace it. In the following moment Future Trunks and Krillin landed nearby, where Cell refused to fight three on one as he lifted up into the air and released a Solar Flare on Piccolo's group, though Twilight was smart enough to look away before he was able to release it, allowing him to flee while she smiled and looked forward to what the future held for this world. > Cell: Hunting Cell > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Twilight found that, after the trio recovered from the Solar Flare, Piccolo's plan was to wait for Vegeta and Tien to arrive, as both fighters were on their way to the ruins of Gingertown, allowing him some time to get his thoughts in order, though at the same time she found someone glaring at her. "You... You're nothing but trouble." Trunks stated, as he had realized that Cell had been able to get away due to Twilight doing nothing, even though he knew the being's name thanks to Piccolo saying it before the figure had disappeared, so right now she was more of a foe than a friend in his mind. In the next moment Twilight punched him in the chest, causing him to cough in pain as it happened, before she grabbed the side of his head and slammed the future warrior into the ground, surprising the others with her sudden movements, but this was a reminder that she wasn't to be annoyed. "Know your place, Trunks, before I decide to put you in the ground for what you did three years ago." Twilight stated, as she was only staying her hand right now because she wanted to see the outcome of what happened between the trio of androids and the Z Warriors, and Cell now that he had revealed himself to them, before she let go as the late arrivals landed nearby. Piccolo quickly informed the others as to what was going on, making sure to share all the information that Cell had given him before his departure, even though he was worried about why Cell wanted to be on Twilight's good side, and he could see that all of them were struggling to accept what they were now learning. Trunks openly wondered how they were going to track Cell down, because he had already hidden his Ki and there was no way for them to figure out where he was until it was too late to go anything, where the others said nothing to his comment. Tien, on the other hand, was more worried about what was going to happen if Cell was able to track down and absorb the two androids he was currently looking for, even if he was happy that they had no Ki to sense, so it made it near impossible for their new foe to find them. Piccolo added that this was bad for the rest of the universe as well, because Cell had the DNA of Frieza's family inside his body and that meant he likely had the power to breathe in space as well, and with all of the Saiyan blood in his system he'd no doubt head out to find a foe worthy of facing his final form's power. Out of all of them Vegeta was taking the news of Cell and his growing power poorly, in fact he seemed annoyed by the fact that so many warriors were now above his level of power, especially Piccolo merging with another Namekian to get ahead of him, and it brought about something Twilight was expecting from him. "I don't care what you cowards do... in fact, let Cell absorb the androids, as it'll save me the trouble of hunting them down in the future." Vegeta stated, as if he held the power to stand above any of the foes that were now wandering this world, though Twilight knew he'd need to do some intensive training to even overcome the androids, which wasn't possible in the unknown time frame Earth's warriors currently had, "I will find a way to kill each and every last one of them... that includes you, Twilight... I swear, I will find a way to go beyond a Super Saiyan and gain newfound power, and then I will topple you at long last!" "You're more than welcome to try, Prince." Twilight replied, though she had to smirk as she said that, because there was no way that Vegeta would be able to overcome her own newfound power, and even if he did she knew that she would find a way to overcome him in no time at all, all while her usage of his old title was more of a taunt. Vegeta, wisely, didn't fall for it and burst into the air, leaving them behind to talk about what to do next, since the last few minutes had been Piccolo telling the others about what Cell had told him, but even then he knew that they needed to get stronger to face the dangers that were coming their way. "Twilight, can we count on your aid to stop Cell?" Piccolo asked, though this time he held his hand up to stop a retort that he knew was coming, especially after what she had said during his first meeting with Cell, and while he and the warriors of Earth had nothing to offer her he still had to try and convince her in some manner, "Listen, I know you don't care about what is right and what is wrong, only doing whatever you want, but you have to admit that allowing him to do whatever he pleases isn't right... he might go after your family, once he discovers where they are located." "So you're pulling the family angle this time, are you?" Twilight inquired, taking a moment to cross her arms as she talked, as while she knew Cell was strong, more than the majority of the Z Warriors, she also knew that he was far weaker than her newfound power, and since he seemed to respect her, or even fear her, it seemed unlikely that he'd go out of his way to annoy her in some manner. "If he absorbs your family, like what he did to the people of this city, they're as good as dead... and, since they've already been revived with the Dragon Balls, we can't wish them back." Piccolo stated, as the logic was sound when he considered it, especially when he focused on the power of the wish grant orbs, but at the same time he didn't mention the fact that the Dragon Balls didn't exist right now, because he had a feeling Goku would do something about this once he learned of his actions, "Plus he'll gain a massive power boost if he does so..." "I'll consider it." Twilight replied, because while she didn't care much for the Z Warriors, not after everything she had been through since Namek, she was willing to inform them that she might go after Cell, at some point since she was still in the observation mood right now, before she considered something, "Also, I've already found Gero's secret lab, the one that Cell is located in... don't worry, my mother and I are taking care of the area so it can't be used by your enemies. No, I'm not handing over any of the information inside it, namely the blueprints for the androids, because I'm fairly certain that you'll just take them to Bulma, who will build a remote for the androids and then one of you will break it for no reason." Piccolo sighed as he heard that, though he made no move to stop her from leaving the area, rather he decided that they would separate into two teams and search for Cell, he and Tien would go one way while Trunks and Krillin went the other, and that they would meet up at Roshi's to rest and swap information, though he could only wonder what sort of damage Cell would do in the near future. Cell spent the next three days carefully tracking down the locations of the towns and cities that were scattered around the continent, as there was so much preparation work he had to do before he worried about the androids, namely devouring more people and adding their power to his own. The only city he refused to harm was West City, partly because it was the home base of the Z Warriors and Bulma would no doubt call in backup if things went south, though it was mostly due to the fact that it was Twilight's base of operations, meaning he should steer clear of it. He knew that she would be the death of him if he crossed her, hence why he was so eager to stay on her good side and hand over information to her, though that also allowed Piccolo and his friends to learn about him as well, which was fine since he had been planning on telling them it at some point, just to mess with them. The only thing that worried him right now was that Piccolo was stronger than him, a fact that could have cost him dearly had their battle gone on for much longer, hence why he hunted down more targets to feed on, as eventually he'd gain the power to stand before him and overpower both him and the androids he was looking for. When he assaulted the first city, however, he discovered that some of the people fell while running from him, which wasn't uncommon when many of them noticed what he looked like, though he did notice that they stopped rather suddenly, as if they were hitting an invisible wall. Cell quickly discovered that Twilight had found him first, something he wasn't even a tad bit surprised by, meaning there was a chance that she was doing something to make sure he was nice and strong for the moment she deemed him to be a worthy foe. Such a thing meant that she had to be siphoning the energy of the runners, stopping them in their tracks so no one could radio in what was going on, while he found that his meals were left alone, as in he drained a full amount every time he tracked someone down. He only had to wonder why she was aiding him like this for a moment before it dawned on him, she was likely excited by the notion of his final form and wanted to see it in action, possibly even fight it herself, before realizing that he could also be overthinking everything and this was just an odd turn of events. Either way he wasn't about to complain about the results he was getting right now, as each person who fell allowed him to grow stronger as time went by, meaning it was only a matter of time until he grew strong enough to overcome Piccolo and the pair of androids that he needed to absorb. While he was doing that, however, Cell made sure to keep track of what the Z Warriors were doing, where they were going at any given moment, and how many were coming at any given time, as the first time it happened he rushed to a roof and hid in the shadows for a time, only to find Piccolo and Tien had come looking. He remained silent as Twilight floated down to talk to them, indicating that she had arrived some time before them and couldn't find him as well, though he could tell that both hesitated to believe her, given her nature, so he simply waited both of them out. Sooner or later they left for one of the other cities that dotted the continent, or even Roshi's place to wait for news about what he was doing, allowing him to move to another city as swiftly, and as carefully, as he could without drawing unnecessary attention to him. Cell also had to hide from Trunks and Krillin as they flew by at one point, where he used the trees as cover to make sure he stayed hidden, though he was delighted to see that both of them were annoyed and frustrated by what was going on, which was good news for him. After that he spent those three days doing the same thing repeatedly, tracking down more cities until the point that even Twilight stopped showing up to check on him, which was great since he didn't need her assistance to hunt his targets, but around that point he was stopped by two strange figures. The first one looked like a human with a black shirt on and what looked like green pants that resembled his own color scheme, where he could tell that the male was a fighter, instead of a civilian, with pink colored eyes and short spiked green hair that was almost military like. The second one seemed to be a human as well, though she had a curvaceous body and long bushy auburn colored hair, in addition to a turtleneck dress that was sleeveless and had a red and blue checkered pattern, six squares anyway. She was also wearing black detached gloves, a pair of golden hoop earrings, a red heel boot and a blue heel boot, and opaque black tights, though she wore a white scientist coat over all that and had some glasses in front of her blue eyes. While he felt no Ki from either of them, meaning they were capable of completely hiding themselves, he knew not to lower his guard, because making yourself seem like a weakling was a great way for someone to get the better of another, at least to some degree, and right now he didn't want any nasty surprises. "You've made good progress, Cell." the male said, though he spoke in a tone that sounded familiar to his own while being far more mature, like what he imagined his perfect form might sound like, but if such a thing was true than it meant that this might be a version of himself from the future, a different one than his own, "What do you think, sister?" "He only got this far because of mother... I'd like to see him do anything without her watching over him so she can see his final form." the female replied, where it sounded like she was more like a researcher, as in the get up reflected her nature as a scientist, though her words shocked Cell, just as he knew they would have shocked anyone else if they heard such a statement, before she considered something else, "Though I will admit that he is making good progress, even with the unexpected help that he's getting, and he should be able to do quite well if events play out like we've heard. With that in mind, brother, it would appear that we arrived sooner than we had originally planned, far away from the figure that we're supposed to be keeping an eye on... and our brother is missing as well." "Don't worry about it, we'll get started on our mission once we're done here... Mira, on the other hand, is likely checking on grandma." the male said, causing Cell to wonder if there was some sort of game or special event someone was holding in the very near future, given the lady's statement, maybe something he'd hold so he could celebrate obtaining his perfect form, before wondering who this 'Mira' was, "Good luck in your quest, Cell... you're going to need it." Cell really had no idea what was going on, and before he could ask the pair anything they disappeared rather suddenly, a fact that made him realize that their remark about their mother had to be accurate, before he shook himself and moved on to his next destination, intending to focus on the androids before anything else. As that was going on 17 and 18 continued along the path that 16 gave them so they could reach Goku's place, as he had a map installed in his system as well, meaning Gero had given him every advantage that he could think of, even if some did seem a little odd when they first discovered them. With that in mind 17 made sure 16 kept a timer running for him and his sister, mostly so the pair knew when their transformations were going to run out, which came as a relief to 18 when her ears returned to normal and the donkey tail disappeared. 17, however, kept at it just so he could fully experience what all sorts of people went through, since it was something he hadn't really experienced until now since Gero had kidnapped the two of them just as the sensation exploded, so his timer was so he knew when he was getting close to his changes ending so he could fix that. 16 was more than happy to help, since it seemed like he had developed his own habit of looking out at the birds and watching them as they went by, or whenever they stopped to like 17 do his thing, and was slowly building his own mental library of birds, likely something he looked at whenever he closed his eyes to rest until his companions called on him for directions. 17, upon reaching the point where the first changes would wear off, almost twelve hours after first ingesting some of the TF Food item that had done this, stopped the van for a time and took off his shoes before diving into another slice, since 16 told them that the second instance usually targeted one's legs and feet. Once he did that 17 braced himself as his toes started to change, as they bulked up a little before pushing out into sharp claws, with the largest toe on each foot being pulled up the side of his new feet, before the sensations moved onto the rest of his legs. His feet arched, as if he was wearing heels, only to find that he now had the scaled feet of a dragon, powerful and deadly, before it moved up his legs, shifting his bones as it worked it's magic on 17's body. He enjoyed the transformation, as he felt powerful and believed that no one could stand in his way, in fact he was the strongest of his group, and by the end of it he had his own pair of blue scaled dragon legs, which took a bit to get used to. Once he was done with his little stop, and 16 set the sixteen hour timer so he'd be able to catch it before the changes faded, they got on the road again, even though he did get off the road to stop in a small city so 18 could slip into one of the stores and get some new clothing. She ended up returning sometime later, wearing a brown country style vest and leggings, which she absolutely hated by the looks of it, to which he sighed and told her that when they got to an actual city they'd find some better clothing for her, since he didn't want to upset her anymore than she already was. As the trio departed from the city, however, one of the police hovercars came after them, where 18 jumped out and struck it's engine with a downwards punch, doing just enough to send it into the side of a rock wall without killing it's two passengers, as it was still intact. With that done she returned to the van and slipped back into her chair as they continued on their way to Goku's place, as he was sure to provide them with some entertainment while they figured out what to do with the rest of their lives, since she and her brother wouldn't spend it conquering the world or listening to Gero's orders. Eventually they reached the point where 17 stopped and devoured more of his chosen treat, where 18 wondered what he saw in them to even allow the changes to happen to his body, where the third instance resonated with his arms and his hands, just as 16 predicted, though they weren't surprised in the slightest. His skin turned blue and scaly as the seconds went by, where he found that his new additions were tougher than his old arms, even when he took the modifications that made him into an android in the first place, which made him feel stronger than before. After that his fingers shook as they became more like claws, while still possessing his old hand structure, meaning he wouldn't have to worry about losing the usage of his hands, causing him to chuckle as he swung them, smashing a rock to pieces in the process. With that done he returned to the van and found that he'd have to be a little more careful with his new fingers, though he understood why, out of every creature available to him, that Krillin would have picked such a wild creature, as he certainly felt far stronger than he previously did. During their journey 17 also decided to go off road for a bit, as 16 said there was a better road in the distance and that it would help them on their journey, where he smiled as they drove through a forest that seemed to excite 16, or at least to a degree that wasn't his usual expression. 18, however, decided that the bumps were uncomfortable and emerged from the van for a moment before blasting the forest, creating a clear path for them to use so they could reach the other road and get to Goku's far faster than before. Such a thing annoyed both 16 and 17, for their own personal reasons, though the one who reacted to her destruction was 16, who slipped one of the Pleasure Island Brews into her mouth and made sure all of it went down her throat, causing her to cough as she regained her donkey ears and tail. 17 realized that 16, while being completely mechanical, actually had his own personality matrix and that he was capable of doing things on his own, even if he had remained passive so far, so this meant he was a nature lover and that anyone who disrespected nature was to be punished, something he agreed with. As such, during the remainder of the ride, 16 made sure to punish 18 for destroying the forest, basically forcing more of the brew on her at regular intervals, mostly so she kept the donkey ears and tail, as he was kind enough to make sure she didn't gain more features. It was basically him showing the world what he felt her true nature was, even though 17 had a feeling she was mentally cursing the other android out while it happened, since she hated having any donkey features, in fact it might be that she didn't like the feeling of changing, but he mostly ignored her. 17, on the other hand, continued on his exploration of what it felt like to be a Beastian as more changes washed over him, he could feel his chest bulking up and becoming scaly, with his lower body following suit, becoming more like the beast that 16 told him about, as many had their theories on dragons and Twilight had done something with hers. 16 even had to come over to where he was standing at one point and tore open two vertical holes in his shirt, as his back had started to push out and he quickly found that it had been a pair of large leathery wings, scaled like the rest of the new additions, hence why the other android ripped his shirt, to make some room for his newest additions. Sometime after that, however, they finally reached Goku's place and 18 headed inside to see if he was here, though while she did that 17 took to the air and ignored most of the abilities he had, mostly testing out the new wings for a time, leaving 16 to keep an eye on the area... though he eventually landed and folded his wings close to his back, which he didn't know how to do before this point, meaning people did gain new information by eating Twilight's odd food. "Hey, 18, is anyone in there?" 17 asked, because while he'd rather be doing his own thing right now, and he still could after his sister answered his question, he wanted to know if their target was here so he could have a bit of fun before 16 tried to steal all of it for himself. "Nope. Looks like they bolted when Chi-Chi learned we were coming." 18 replied, where she stepped out and revealed that she must have raided someone's closest after verifying that no one was home, as she had switched to a black mini vest with a gold triangle pin on the left side, a white undershirt, a pearl necklace, dark teal jeans with a brown belt, and she had a pair of black flats with orange socks on, "Also, it looks like Goku married a princess or something, based on some of the clothing I noticed." "Hey, at least you found something nicer to wear." 17 remarked, as while he had joked a little about her western attire he knew it wasn't in his sister's tastes, so the new attire, handpicked from what was available, meant she had to be happy and would likely focus more on tracking down Goku, before he sighed, "16, any ideas?" "I do not feel his energy... but I suspect that they have either fled to Capsule Corp in West City, or to Muten Roshi's island house in South District F." 16 answered, while at the same time the siblings walked outside and waited on him to tell them which of the two was the closest, since neither of them knew the answer, but now the game was getting tiresome and that meant 17 or 18 might be changing things up in the near future, "Of the two, the island home is the closest." 17, upon hearing that, decided that it was time for them to stop using the van and just fly to the island, something that both of his companions agreed with, though 18 tossed her old western attire into the vehicle before removing the container that held the last bit of 17's desert. With that done she moved the van away from Goku's place and blasted it to pieces, wrecking the rest of the items that were inside and wiping away her old attire, though neither of the other androids bothered to say anything to that, since this allowed her to relax a little. After that they took to the air, where 17 mentioned that he'd like to get a boat a some point, as he found the more peaceful and slow journey to a destination to be more fun, but, for the time being, that would be put on the back burner, as he was eager to clash with Son Goku. Of course, with night approaching, he suggested that they take a break somewhere and actually get some rest, even if they didn't need it, since he was certain that their target wasn't going anywhere and that they would be able to catch him in no time. As the others agreed, however, he had to wonder where the Z Warriors were, since he expected them to be trying to track him and his sister down for another battle, and had a feeling that they'd bump into them at some point, they just had to be patient and see what tomorrow had in store for them. > Cell: Island Battle > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Piccolo stared at the television screen as he thought about the last couple of days, the fact that they had tried, and failed, to track down Cell and stop him from devouring more people, meaning his power had to be staggering and that the time he spent merging with Kami might have been a waste. Yamcha had offered the idea to fly using one of the capsule ships, the very same he, Chi-Chi, Krillin, and Gohan used to transport Goku to Roshi's place, and when they tried it Cell had devoured the entirety of the city he had been attacking and moved without them being able to get halfway to their destination. Gohan had joined them at one point, because he wanted to do more than just sit around and do nothing, but for the most part it seemed like there was nothing they could do to catch up with Cell, as he seemed to be one step ahead of them at all times, much to their annoyance. The only one who seemed to have any luck figuring out where he was and getting there in record time was Twilight, as Piccolo discovered her at every location that Cell attacked, though even with that in mind she missed Cell as well. Of course Piccolo considered the fact that she was helping Cell out, but dismissed the idea entirely, as she would have no doubt done them in to give Cell a power boost if that was the case, meaning their foe was far more clever than he gave him credit for. During one of their flights, however, Goku appeared in the ship and informed them that he was planning on taking Gohan, Vegeta, and Trunks to a special place where they could get a whole year's worth of training done in a single day, which Piccolo, thanks to Kami's knowledge, knew to be the Hyperbolic Time Chamber. It was also called the Room of Spirit and Time, though in all honesty he didn't think the name mattered, the concept was that one or two people could enter it at a time and train, where one day in Earth's time would be one year inside the chamber, and he had to remind Goku that he had been unable to survive more than a month's time, back when he was a kid. Still, the Saiyan was determined to use it and he had wished the warrior and his son well, since this might be the key to overwhelming Cell, while he and the others quickly returned to Roshi's so they could check the news, to keep an eye on Cell's movements. What was annoying was that Cell let himself be seen on the cameras before killing the cameramen, taunting Piccolo and the Z Warriors because he knew they wouldn't be able to catch up with him, so there was nothing they could do but watch the news and feel more faint Ki signatures fading. In fact it was nearly one day into the training on the Lookout, almost four days after the event Trunks had warned them all about, that Piccolo found that their time on Roshi's small island came to an end, as he was the one watching the news as the others slept, only for him to be bothered by the sound of a group landing outside, the three androids that had been awakened not that long ago. "Yo! Is Son Goku here?" 17 inquired, where Piccolo was surprised by their arrival, since he had no idea that Gero knew that this island even existed, even with the aid of the little drones that Cell had mentioned back in Gingertown, though he was more surprised by the fact that 18 had the ears and tail of a donkey while 17 was mostly dragon at this point. "One moment." Piccolo stated, though in that moment he turned towards the slumbering warriors and got ready to raise his voice a little, but as he did that he had no idea if this was a good thing or a bad thing, especially since he was the only one right now who might be able to tangle with the androids, one on one anyway, "Get up, we have visitors." "17, 18, it does not appear that Goku is here." 16 remarked, something that Piccolo took note of as the Z Warriors woke up to see that the androids were outside, while at the same time Roshi and Chi-Chi were likely looking from the second floor, but this did tell Piccolo that one of the androids had a power radar. "Indeed, Goku is not here. You might as well leave." Piccolo replied, though knowing the androids he suspected that they might be in the mood for a fight and would no doubt lash out at them for wasting their time, even though he knew that if he told them where to find Goku it would ruin the plan that the Saiyan had come up with. "No, you know something, don't you?" 17 commented, where 18 simply stared at Krillin, Yamcha, and Tien as they joined Piccolo outside the house, even though it was clear that all of them were afraid of the fact that they were here, where his statement was due to the fact that these were Goku's allies, meaning they had to know something, especially since 16's radar couldn't pinpoint his location, "However, if you decide to withhold the information from us, I'll force you to tell us what we want to know." "Is that so? Well then, there are a number of uninhabited islands over in that direction... the perfect battleground so we don't endanger others." Piccolo said, gesturing off to the right with a finger, indicating where they should go for a time, all while wondering if he'd be able to do anything against all three of them, as before his power up he couldn't do anything to 17, so there was a chance that his life would end if he did this, "Krillin, you and the others should stay here, since they're too strong for you, but that's all I have to say on the matter... if you follow us, and something happens to you, well, that's on you." As he expected Krillin was the only one to actually step forward as he flew away from Roshi's place, followed by the three androids, though it didn't take them long to land on the island that Piccolo had picked out, as it was a good distance from Roshi's and allowed them some room to fight. "Just so you know, I'll definitely kill you this time around." 17 said, though at the same time he noted that Krillin had no intentions to fight with the other warrior, who was removing his extra attire so he could fight with ease, because the short warrior was standing near 18 and 16, the former sitting on a rock to watch them as 16 observed the surrounding area, no doubt looking for a few birds to observe. "Just you? Very well, a one-on-one is fine with me." Piccolo remarked, as this was a good turn of events, because if he was able to wipe out just one android it would prevent Cell from being able to obtain his perfect form, and depending on how much power he had left he might be able to kill all three before their true foe found them, before he noticed Twilight float down to where they were standing and land near the androids, "How did you find us so quickly?" "I was planning on visiting Roshi's, since I figured some of you would be there, then I saw you making your way here and followed after you." Twilight replied, which wasn't exactly the truth, her mother had been keeping an eye on things for her while she did her work and had warned her ahead of time that Piccolo would be meeting the androids soon, though this was the only time she was planning on doing this, before she glanced at the transformed android, "Hey, 17, are you enjoying your new form?" "Are you kidding?! I love how all of this feels!" 17 said, where Piccolo got the feeling that he was drunk on power, which meant that Krillin might have been right to seek the form of a dragon before discovering the cost he would have to pay for it, while he shifted his stance to show them that he was ready for a fight, "Not to mention that I've got the rest of the cake that did this, so I'm one step away from a full transformation... even if it's temporary, since we don't have any of the pills you made that would allow one to make their changes permanent." In that moment Piccolo, taking advantage of the fact that 17 was somewhat distracted, summoned his Ki and found that 16 understood that he had fused with Kami, or at the very least knew that his energy was no longer the same as what his information claimed it was. Since he even mentioned it, shocking the other two androids even though 18 seemed to be in the middle of talking to Krillin about something, Piccolo took advantage of the opening and rushed forward, getting right behind his foe and elbowed him in the back of the head. He found that his foe was much tougher now, thanks to the new scales and muscles that had been empowered by his new form, even though 17 staggered forward after his attack and he lashed out without delay, jumping and thrusting out with his left foot to kick the android to the ground. Unfortunately his next attack was stopped before it even began as he found that 17 had full control over his new tail, as the android grinned as he swung it and knocked Piccolo's feet out from under him with a swift attack, meaning he had to be careful since his foe was learning all sorts of new movements. With that done 17 went on the offensive without wasting time, as Piccolo had shown him that his strength was greater than before and it interested him, where he found that the android's power was greater than it had been last time, likely due to his beastification, or whatever Twilight called this process. Both 17's punches and kicks were tougher than before, in fact Piccolo was sure that if he had been human his body would have been bruised from the ordeal, to the point where he was positive that the heavy strikes would have broken bones, and he had to be mindful of his foe's new tail and both of his wings. His reasoning for that was due to the fact that 17 used one to lash out at him, like he was trying to uppercut him or something, or maybe like a shield to counter his attacks, though he was able to knock the android back onto his rear as he slipped a punch through his defenses, striking him in the face to do so. This time he wasted no time in gathering some of his energy as the android struck the ground, as he released a powerful Ki blast to try and wipe him out, which did blast half of the island to pieces in the process, only for him to frown as he found that 17 had jumped into the air to survive, so his attack had done nothing. He did, however, consider the fact that Twilight was nearby, meaning she could have teleported the android into the air to keep the fight going for a time, but he just grinned as he gathered his Ki and started to hurl blasts into the air around his opponent, where Twilight found that they hung in the air surrounding 17, who stopped dodging once he noticed that none of them were actually aimed at him. "Now, drop dead! Hellzone Grenade!" Piccolo shouted, where he shifted his stance by gesturing to 17 with his hands, while at the same time commanding the floating spheres to turn purple and light up the sky, something that surprised most of those who were watching the fight. Twilight, on the other hand, noticed that as the energy blasts rushed towards 17, intending to blow him to pieces within a few seconds, an energy barrier surrounded 17 as he was shrouded from Piccolo's sight, causing her to make no motions as she added a layer over the shield. Such a thing allowed her to siphon the attack as the sky lit up, while the ground was destroyed due to the shockwave that was released after the blasts struck their target, because she left just enough power in the orbs to convince Piccolo and everyone else that everything was alright. As such she and the androids, plus Krillin since he was hanging out here, had to move into the air to avoid getting caught in the shockwave, but she was interested in the fact that this would no doubt bring Cell flying to their location, which she kept to herself. Twilight figured that this would be far more entertaining if she kept their foe's arrival a secret from Piccolo, as it might result in some fun and some energy for her to siphon, but she did focus on the fight as she wondered what else the pair had up their sleeves. Piccolo, on the other had, was surprised to find that his foe emerged from the blast zone and that a green barrier with a bit of lightning arcing from one point to another, meaning he must have used it to tank his attack, something that made him wonder if it was a one time thing or if he should be expecting to see it more often. "Aw, that's too bad... you were so close to actually hurting me." 17 remarked, where Twilight noticed that he had no idea that she had added a nearly invisibly layer of magic to his barrier to siphon Piccolo's worthless attack, even if it had a cool name, meaning he felt secure in the fact that his ability had done the work for him, even though he focused on another aspect of their fight, "Unfortunately, someone blew up the island, meaning we have to move to another one to continue... unless you'd rather tell me about Son Goku's whereabouts and save yourself the trouble?" "I wouldn't count on it, most of the Z Warriors are in the dark about Goku's location... even I don't know where he is, which shows you how much they trust me." Twilight commented, though while she suspected that Piccolo did, in fact, know the location that the Saiyan in question was hiding in, she was playing it like Goku had just left and told no one where he was going, and she could see that the Namekian was pleased with her actions. 17 sighed as he asked Piccolo if he was willing to tell him where Goku was, even if it was in the right direction, but, as they expected, he refused to tell them anything about Goku, while Krillin kept quite and found that, for the most part, he was ignored by the three androids, even if 18 let him stand near her. In the next moment he turned to his sister and did what Twilight was expecting, he took the last piece of the TF Food he had been devouring for some time and quickly ate the rest of it, where he staggered back as his last change washed over the android. Piccolo watched as 17's face pushed out while scales washed over the new muzzle that was growing in, though in addition to that his teeth sharpened, becoming more like a predator's teeth, while his eyes became slits and his hair disappeared in no time. Twilight knew that if he had done this by using the original form of Animorphaline it would have been an instant and permanent transformation, but with Animorph X this was still temporary, and if he wanted to make it his true form he would need to ingest a red pill that was designed to do such a thing. With that done 17 let out a roar, releasing a shockwave that surprised Piccolo and Krillin, before he turned around as both he and his foe shifted their stances as they got close to each other, showing that they were going to continue their battle now that he was finished with his dragon transformation. The two stood there for a moment, clearly watching the other as they thought about what moves to use next, before 17 threw the first punch and struck Piccolo square in his jaw, causing him to stagger backward for a moment as he regained himself and lashed out with his own attack, missing the transformed android. Twilight found that 17 wasn't playing around anymore, as previously he was just trying to be nice and spare Piccolo so he could get the information he desired, but now that was no longer a thing as he lashed out at the Namekian and his foe replied in kind. What happened next was a series of punches and kicks as the two moved all over every inch of the island, where 17 was displaying the full strength of his new form while Piccolo, despite that fact, kept pace with him and even pressured the dragon android, to the point where both ended up delivering powerful punches to the other's chest. She, on the other hand, was fascinated by what it was like to fight someone with infinite energy, meaning infinite Ki and infinite stamina, and as soon as Piccolo went down she was planning on jumping in, because while she wasn't going to kill them she wanted to fight either 17 or 18, maybe even 16 as she thought about it. In the end, however, she knew it wasn't meant to be, as Cell arrived in the area and she could see him watching the pair as he waited for an opening to appear, in fact she was the only one who seemed to know he was here, something that caught Piccolo's attention after he and 17 paused for a few seconds. "What the hell is going on? Who is this strange looking fellow?" 17 remarked, though it confirmed something for Twilight and the others, he and his sister, not to mention 16 for that matter, had no idea who Cell was and that he was here to absorb two of them to obtain his perfect form. "Wh... What have you done to yourself, 17?!" Cell asked, showing that he was surprised by what he was seeing right now, as he wasn't expecting the two androids to bother with such a thing in the first place, though at the same time he was less impressed by 18's donkey additions. "He partook of some Dragon Chili Trifle, enough to give him a full dragon form." Twilight answered, where Cell glanced at her for a few moments, clearly debating whether or not she was actually on his side or if she'd turn against him, since she was near the androids he was after, but for now she focused on explaining things to him as Piccolo told the androids what he knew about Cell, "Of course, with that in mind, you'll either have to wait for the transformations to disappear on their own... 17's got an entire day left, since he just ingested the rest of the treat that did this, and 18's got about ten hours left on her transformation... or you can go find some cancellation pills to use. The question is, can you afford to let them out of your sight?" Cell knew what she was talking about, the androids didn't have a Ki signature and that meant it would be impossible to find them again if he left to track down a city that actually had some of her odd food in stock, since they'd have the pills as well, causing him to focus on the pair he was interested in. "You are right, I cannot afford to lose them again... I'll just have to injure them in some manner before retrieving some of the cancellation pills." Cell remarked, though at the same time he held his arms up and started to call forth his energy, as this would intimidate Piccolo into standing down so he could focus on beating down the androids, where he let out enough force to shatter the large boulder he had been standing on until he jumped down to talk with them. With that done Cell lashed out at 17, finding that while the android's body was tougher than he expected, no doubt due to his transformed body, he was still stronger than his target, meaning he wouldn't have to worry about 18 or the android she was standing near, one he didn't recognize, and he was able to grab 17's wrist to slam him into the ground. "So, um, would this be a bad time to mention that I still have my pills from when I got my tail?" Krillin commented, though he made sure Cell was preoccupied in his fight with 17 and Piccolo, the latter having jumped in to do something, anything, to stop the monster from achieving his goal, meaning they shouldn't be able to hear his words, "I let the transformation wear out on it's own, but I still have the two pills I was given after my purchase." Twilight said nothing to that as she noticed that Cell had, in fact, turned his head a little as he heard that, confirming that he had Piccolo's DNA inside him and that he likely had the Namekian's sense of hearing, even if Piccolo made no move after Krillin uttered his statement. In the next moment she decided to step forward and joined the fight, where everyone stopped what they were doing as she walked away from the androids, no doubt wondering what she was going to do and who she was going to hit first. She was, of course, surprised that Krillin wasn't more careful with his words, in fact he knew of the fact that Cell was comprised of the DNA of the galaxy's greatest warriors, or most of them since her DNA wasn't in the mix, but she decided not to say anything about it as she focused on her target. Once she got close enough, however, she shifted her stance and threw a punch, the signal that the battle was back on as she found everyone else resuming the actions they had been in the middle of before she started moving towards the bio-android. Piccolo found that he and 17 couldn't match Cell's new power, his speed and strength were off the charts thanks to those he had absorbed before this point, but the most shocking part was that Twilight was able to stand before him, reminding him of the fact that she was Frieza's daughter, a being of unparalleled might and potential, only to find that Cell was happy to clash with her. As they threw punches at each other, causing the ground to shake a little in the process, Piccolo came up with an idea to take down Cell while he was distracted by his foe, an attack that would use up most of his remaining Ki to blast half of the island apart, but, if he fired it right at Cell's unprotected back, it might succeed in wiping him out. He took a moment to glance at 17, who seemed to have his own idea on what to do next since Cell wasn't focused on them right now, rather the monster's golden aura and Twilight's dark aura seemed to be dancing around each other as they clashed, a sure sign of two fierce warriors engaging each other. Piccolo also knew that this was a gamble on his part, as Vegeta had said that Twilight had the power to absorb Ki, in fact they had seen it once back when she was revived, but he was going to have to risk it and hope that Cell had no information on her abilities. With his decision made Piccolo brought his hands together in front of him, the fingertips touching as he kept his palms away from each other, before calling forth most of his Ki as the area around him shook, where 17 and the others quickly made sure they were off to the side as he prepared himself. "Eat this! Light Grenade!" Piccolo stated, where he thrust his hands out towards his target and released the energy that he had gathered, producing a yellow blast that rushed right towards where Cell and Twilight were fighting, one that would produce a massive cover that would shroud part of the island, the section his target was on, and, hopefully, kill Cell while most of his focus was on his foe. Sure enough his attack blasted the area his target was in, wiping out everything in front of him in the process, though at the same time 17 loosed a trio of blue Ki blasts that separated from each other and quickly slammed into the same area from three different sides, while Krillin, working up the nerve to assist them, loosed a Destructo Disc straight into the smoke, as he wanted to make sure Cell was truly dead. "Aren't you being a little too reckless?" Twilight asked, where Piccolo, Krillin, and the androids found that she had raised a hand towards them and was now lowering it, where it looked like Cell had maneuvered her around to try and force her to take their attacks, forcing her to siphon them to avoid taking any damage, though Piccolo sweated a little as he realized that all they did was make her even stronger, "I mean, if I hadn't been paying attention, all those attacks could have done some damage, even if you succeeded in blowing away part of the island." "Also, surprise!" another voice said, which was the moment that they found that Cell was in the air and that he loosed his own blasts down at the ground, covering the entire area in smoke since he didn't want to kill either of his targets, though as Piccolo and the others braced themselves Twilight knew exactly what would happen next. In the next moment Cell grabbed Krillin by the face and slammed him into the ground, ducking down to avoid a swing that came from 18, showing that she was more aware than he thought, before he quickly patted the fighter down and found a small pack in his right pocket, containing two purple pills. With those in hand Cell tossed Krillin away before focusing on his targets, where he turned on 18 first, she was the closest to him right now, and tore open the pack so he could grab one of the cancellation pills, as he grabbed her by the mouth and shoved it in, forcing her to swallow the pill against her will. It took a couple of seconds to work, just like Twilight had told him when she mentioned the small purple items in question, but 18 lost all of her unwanted donkey features, returning her to her pristine form in no time at all, though instead of him absorbing her right away Cell focused on her brother. Of course he had to move fast, as the smoke was clearing faster than he thought it would, so he blasted the ground a few more times and did his best to separate 17 from Piccolo, though as he did that 17 struck him hard in his chest and he dropped the pack, causing the other android to wipe it out before the pill could be used against him. Piccolo decided to go on the offensive at that point and blasted Cell with most of his remaining energy, to no effect as the bio-android punched the Namekian hard enough to break his neck and knocked him to the ground in a matter of seconds, causing him to chuckle a little as he picked his fallen foe up. "It seems that I don't know my own strength anymore... we really have to finish our fight, Twilight." Cell remarked, though at the same time he blasted Piccolo in the chest, because he wasn't important anymore since he had merged with Kami, and then tossed him into the water as he turned towards the androids he was here to absorb, all while Twilight kept an eye on him, "Now then, shall we continue to needlessly fight? Or will you willingly submit?" In the end it was futile resistance, as 17 attacked him again and Cell knocked him into the ground, where his tail stalled for a moment as the tip started to widen, because when he found his targets he would grasp them with this specific function and devour them, but before he could do anything 16 tapped his shoulder and punched him in the face. The force was just enough to send him flying and drop 17, where the android informed them that he would deal with this foe, as by his calculations they were equal in strength, though Goku would have to wait for another day. Twilight watched as the pair clashed by headbutting each other before Cell knocked 16 away with a punch and then lashed out with his tail, hitting his foe in the neck, but, since he was purely metal, there was nothing for Cell to suck away and 16 grabbed onto the tail so he could lift the creature into the air before hurling him into the floor. In the following moment she was able to confirm that he had Piccolo's cells inside him, as 16 tore off half his tail and Cell was able to regrow it in seconds, before he knocked the android around like he was a simple toy, at least until 16 revealed that he could launch his fists like rockets. Such a thing allowed him to hit Cell square in the face, stunning him so the android could flash forward and reattach his hand, before grabbing onto his foe and hurling him right into the ground, creating a deep hole as he detached both hands this time and pointed them at the hole, transforming his inner energy into a powerful Ki blast that barreled into Cell while also blasting the underside of the island to pieces, though the island itself remained intact. "'Hell's Flash', eh? An oddly appropriate name." Twilight commented, though as she said that the androids argued about the fact that 17 and 18 should run while 16 dealt with Cell, while the pair told him there was nothing to worry about, but it was in vain as Cell emerged from one of the holes and clamped his open tail mouth down on 17. As Cell started to drag him into his tail, to devour him and obtain his next form, he discovered that it might have been a bad idea to do so while 17 was in his transformed state, as 17 had the bright idea to spread his wings and stop the rest of the tail from chowing down on him. In addition to that he started to thrash about with his own tail, hitting the bio-android to the best of his ability as 16 and 18 started to move so they could stop what was going on right now, causing Cell to turn for a moment and release a wave of energy that carved up the ground between them. He was stalling for time, that much Twilight could tell at a glance, causing him to slam his tail into whatever was around him as he fought against 17 and his wings, a feature he hadn't been expecting and was now paying the price for trying to absorb him. In the end it came down to him gripping both appendages and forcing them back into 17's body, or at least to wrap himself with his own wings, a fact that allowed him to succeed in sucking 17 up into his body at long last, much to everyone's amazement. Not a moment later Cell started to transform, the black spots glowing white and flashing for a time, though as his energy went wild he gained four fingers and a thumb on his hands, his feet turned into organic boots, while his face and body became more humanoid, as he stood straight at long last, and his energy skyrocketed, something that caused Twilight to smile as she looked forward to what the next few hours held for the planet. > Cell: Newfound Power > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Twilight stared at Cell as the light of his transformation died down, where she found something she wasn't expecting to see, his arms and legs had scales on them, matching his body color in those spots, while at the same time his hands did look a lot like 17's talons. His body had bulked up, though it was impossible to tell if that was due to it being an effect of absorbing the first of the two androids or if it was due to 17's Beastification, in fact it could be a combination of the two as Twilight thought about it. In addition to that she discovered that Cell's feet and legs were more affected by 17's form than any of them might have expected, as he had gained two new toes, the main four resting on the ground, just like 17's had, and the last one was located a little further up his legs, which had buckled and were more dragon shaped. Of course when she thought about his toes Twilight actually meant his talons, sharpened like his new fingers were, and as she looked over him she could see more scales on his tail and his face, meaning 17's influence was leaking out into Cell's DNA. Cell hummed for a moment as he took in his new form, no doubt feeling overjoyed by the fact that he was able to absorb one of the two androids that would give him his perfect form, which made this his 'semi-perfect' form, though as he did that Twilight discovered that Tien was nearby, not that it mattered. She really had no idea why he was here, since he didn't care about the androids like Krillin did, though with that in mind it was easy for her to decide that it didn't matter in the grand scheme of things, hence why she focused on those who were of more importance right now. 16, sensing that Cell would come after 18, started to move and the bald fighter followed after them, no doubt looking for a way to help save 18 from the monster that was now baring down on them all, but they ended up getting cut off as Cell instantly rushed over to them. His speed was impressive and that meant his strength had to be even greater than before, which she was far more interested in seeing right now, hence why she remained where she was standing while Cell stared down at 18 for a couple of seconds, while ignoring her companions. "I will admit, I had no idea that my power would skyrocket so much after absorbing 17... it only makes me wonder what I'm capable of." Cell remarked, though his voice had changed as well, as he no longer sounded anything like his imperfect form, as Twilight was going to call it from this point forward, meaning his perfect form would also sound different as well, before he glanced at her for a moment, "Twilight, care to explain my changes?" "You absorbed 17, whose body and DNA were heavily influenced by the Animorph X in his body, due to the TF Food that created his imposing dragon form." Twilight remarked, though while she knew that Cell might have already figured such a thing out on his own, he seemed smarter than most of the fighters that crossed her, it was nice to have someone ask her about a subject, while 18 knew better than to run at this point, before she considered something, "If this is what we're seeing right now, after you absorbed 17, I wonder if you'll get your own dragon form when you absorb 18..." In the next moment 16 lashed out and struck Cell in the face and found that his punch did nothing, the creature was just staring at him with a smirk on his face as he blasted the android in the face, tearing off the upper right part of his head, revealing the insides of his head after he hit the ground. In the next moment 18 did something that Twilight really wasn't expecting, she raised her right arm and placed her right hand in front of her chest, where she informed Cell of her intent to blow herself up if he came any closer, meaning there was some sort of inner command or function that allowed her to self destruct. Cell decided to use 17's voice in an attempt to convince her that everything was fine and, more importantly, that she should allow herself to be absorbed as well, stunning the android while 16 told her not to believe the lies she was hearing, meaning he had to be the smartest of the three. The key that allowed 18 to finally snap out of it, or decide that Cell was screwing with her in an attempt to shut her down so he could absorb her, was when he addressed Gero with respect, something that she and her brother would have never done, given how he ruined their lives. Cell, however, wasn't too worried about that revelation, as he informed 18 that he could still catch her before she had the chance to blow herself up, though as he stepped forward Tien moved into the air and started to gather his energy, while at the same time causing Cell to glance up at the figure. "Oh my god, it's Tien! What, were you annoyed by Piccolo's death?" Cell remarked, though as he said that Twilight had to wonder if the rest of the Z Warriors had a death wish, since the Namekian was down and the three-eyed warrior was going to fall next, while Krillin seemed to be smart in keeping himself hidden, before Tien focused and moved his hands, "C'mon buddy, you can't be serious... with your power level you'll do nothing but hurt yourself. I mean, you're no android, you certainly aren't a Namekian, and you certainly no Super Saiyan... you're just a human whose throwing their life away." "Yeah, well, you know what?! Screw all that, and screw you!" Tien replied, his tone revealing that he was annoyed with the scene in front of him, especially since Twilight was simply watching Cell and not stopping him, before he made sure that all of his energy was ready for what he was about to do, "Shin... Kikoho!" Twilight found that a large energy blast rushed down at where Cell was standing, who claimed that this was adorable just before the attack struck the area he was in, but even then her reaction speed was far faster as she surrounded Cell with a faint sphere that only he could see. Her purpose in this was making sure not to waste the energy that Tien was willing to use to keep Cell 'contained', though after the first blast, leaving a square hole in the island while Cell was pushed deep into the depths, Tien turned and told 18 to either 'blow herself up or leave' and that he didn't care what her decision was. His reasoning was because Cell came rushing up towards the surface, causing Twilight to see that Tien was literally a moron as he fired his attack down at the new crater as Cell tried to escape his temporary prison, but the creature was fine with this since Twilight's faint barrier was helping him out. While that happened Twilight found that Krillin left with 18, carrying the wounded 16 away as they fled to another island, no doubt to hide and force him to move on, a trick of sorts to be sure he didn't absorb the last android, while Tien lashed out with his attacks several more times, either unaware of the damage he was doing to himself or uncaring so he could screw over Cell. Eventually, after a few more moments, Tien finally stopped firing his Shin Kikoho as he huffed for a few seconds and just fell out of the air, something that caused Twilight to drop the barrier she had cast while Cell emerged from the hole that he had been forced into, only to quickly discover that 18 was long gone. "Don't worry, I know the general direction she traveled in." Twilight stated, because she knew what was going through the creature's head right now, he was more interested in obtaining his perfect form and that meant his focus was on 18, who had fled for the time being and would do everything in her power to stay hidden, before noticing that Cell turned towards Tien for a moment, "I wouldn't worry about him... with all the power he used, and the life force he mixed into each attack, he's going to die on his own." "That might be so, but I'll feel better with him gone." Cell replied, where he raised his left hand for a moment and got ready to blast the three eyed warrior into oblivion, though before he could do that a figure suddenly appeared near Tien and even Twilight turned her head, finding that Goku, of all people, had decided to come here, "Son Goku?!" "So you're Cell, after absorbing one of the androids no doubt." Goku commented, though in that moment Twilight noticed something odd about him, he was actually worried that Cell was stronger than he was, and the reason for that being odd was due to his excited nature back on Namek, when he faced her father and his final form, "Truth be told, the way I am right now, I won't be able to give you a good fight... but, if you wait for a day, I'll be able to mop the floor with you in no time. Twilight, are you still observing the situation?" "Yep. Looks like you talked with Piccolo, at the very least." Twilight replied, which meant that he knew what happened in Gingertown and her conversation with everyone else, meaning that they didn't have to waste time talking about it and could focus on what was going on right now, causing her to shrug for a moment, "What can I say, strong warriors excite me... even those I'm observing and not fighting." Goku looked like he had more that he wanted to say, though before he could do so the three of them sensed something and he reacted immediately, grabbing hold of Tien before disappearing from the area, only to reappear over by where Piccolo had been tossed, causing Twilight and Cell to realize that the Namekian was still alive. It made Twilight take a moment to wonder how durable Piccolo actually was, which would give them an idea as to how durable Cell might be, while Goku just picked him out of the water, no doubt informing the pair that he'd get them some Senzu Beans when they returned to the Lookout. After that Goku disappeared with Piccolo and Tien, using his Instant Transmission to leave the area before Cell had a chance to even do anything, leaving the creature floating above the hole that Tien had made with his attack, who was lost in his thoughts, meaning this technique wasn't one that he had learned in the other timeline, before his demise. Not a few seconds later Cell informed her that he was going to be hunting 18 again and she pointed him in the direction the android had gone in, causing the two of them to move towards an archipelago, an area that had a lot of islands that were close to each other, with some water separating them. "You'd think tracking her down would be easy, since Krillin is with her, but even he's hiding his Ki." Cell commented, as he glanced down at the many islands that were around them and realized that if he tried to search one there was a chance his target might leave, especially since she might use the short warrior as a decoy, before he turned his head towards Twilight for a few seconds, "If I start firing at the islands are you going to sit there and watch, or are you going to eat them before they hit their targets?" "You'll just have to wait and see." Twilight replied, though now that she knew that Cell was planning on flushing 18 out by blasting the islands around them, a plan that might actually kill his target if he wasn't careful, it gave her a chance to send out her magic and silently form invisible barriers over every island, just in the off chance he was telling the truth. Cell floated there for a moment, clearly debating whether or not she was going to stand in his way, before firing a blast at the nearby island, resulting in the entire landmass being consumed in the explosion given the size of the dust cloud, only to find that, when the smoke cleared, that it was still intact. Twilight smirked for a moment as Cell discovered that she was keeping the islands safe, even if she really didn't care about them, and found that he seemed to think of this as a game, as if he thought that she had been paying attention to his movements before saving the island after his attack. As such Cell fired more blasts down at the islands that were around them, picking them at random to see how Twilight would react to his motions, only to find that she made no effort to move as her power shielded the islands, keeping them safe from all of the incoming blasts. After a few moments he realized something, she was just toying with him and wasn't taking this very seriously, causing him to stop firing at the islands as came to terms with the other aspect of this situation, she was likely absorbing the blasts as well, meaning he was just making her stronger as time went on, meaning he would have to figure out another way to accomplish his goal. As he considered what to do, however, he and Twilight found that Vegeta flew up to where they were floating, who was in his Super Saiyan form, though at the same time they discovered something interesting, he had a smirk on his face that meant he felt his power was enough to take his foes down. "You must be 'Cell'. We'll land here." Vegeta remarked, where Twilight found that his confidence had been restored, as the last time she had seen him he was moping over the fact that 18 had beaten him and showed that his power was nothing to her might, so she was curious as to how he had regained his old self before coming here. "So tell me, Vegeta, why are you here?" Cell asked, though at the same time he followed the Saiyan down to the ground of the island he had picked out, one that seemed to have a good area for them to fight in, or for 18 to hide in, before he took a moment to think about what had happened before Piccolo discovered his existence, "If you're here looking for another broken arm you could always help me find Android 18." "No, I just heard about what you've done and just had to come, to tear you limb from limb." Vegeta said, where he took a moment to study Cell's body, no doubt connecting what he was seeing to what was described back in Gingertown, and it was easy for Twilight to tell that he wasn't too pleased with what Cell's semi-perfect form looked like, "Also, you're ugly... I mean, I wish Dr. Gero... or was it his computer... had put some more thought into giving you a more impressive second form... to think that my DNA is part of such a hideous beast." "Are you being serious right now, or are you being stupid again?" Twilight asked, as it sounded like Vegeta was ignoring all of Cell's dragon features, no doubt focusing on the parts that could be associated with Gero, and she could tell that the bio-android was annoyed as well, meaning he liked the changes like 17 had. "Look Vegeta, I'm in the middle of something important right now, so I don't have time for whatever this is." Cell stated, as he was definitely annoyed about how Vegeta was treating his altered form, calling it ugly when it was actually deadly to his enemies, before noticing that Trunks, who was now wearing his own battle armor, landed nearby, where Twilight noted that his hair was longer, "I also don't like how little appreciation you have for my new form... however, if you could bring back someone substantial... like Goku, for instance... I might forgive you for your transgressions." Vegeta stood there for a moment before he started to call forth his power, showing that he was angry with that remark, as it caused him to bulk his muscles slightly and his hair became more rigid as he powered up, which caused Trunks to sigh and informed Cell that he had, unwisely, pressed the 'Goku Button', allowing his father an opening to punch Cell right in the chest while he was confused. Twilight raised an eyebrow for a moment, as Vegeta's new power was far stronger than what Cell had in his semi-perfect form, in fact it was virtually impossible for him to have gained so much strength in such a short period of time, making her wonder what in the world he had done to gain this power. While Cell was dealing with a powered up Vegeta, or 'Super Vegeta' as the Saiyan claimed, Twilight floated over to Trunks' position and asked him if he knew what his father was doing, where she learned that this was what they called 'Super Saiyan Second Grade', but he had nothing else to share with her. All that told Twilight was that the two Saiyans had found a way to overcome the wall of the Super Saiyan form's power, not in the sense of it being a new transformation and more of a power boost, but she found that it was enough to stand up to Cell's semi-perfect form. As Vegeta delivered an uppercut to Cell's chin, sending him into the air after answering his question with 'Sure you can', she had to wonder how in the world they had been able to obtain such a form in such a short period of time, due to her being sure that Trunks had access to it as well. She knew that both his boosted power and the new form meant that if he or his son found 18 there was a good chance they'd kill her without wasting a single moment, preventing Cell from being able to gain his perfect form, something that had to be going through Cell's mind right now. At the same time, however, she found that she wanted to face Vegeta and his newfound power, because if he was able to pressure Cell it really made her wonder what might happen if they clashed, not to mention how much power she could steal from him before one of them submitted to the other. As she considered that, however, Cell seemed to be having a hard time fighting Vegeta, as he threw punches and kicks while the Saiyan simply dodged him with that annoying smirk on his face, leading to his foe to grab his arms or legs and hurl him into either the ground or one of the rock walls, showing that he was dominating his foe right now. This was strange, there was no way that someone, other than herself and her father, could grow this fast in such a short period of time, even if the person in question was a Saiyan, making her wonder what the pair had gone through to obtain this power, all while Cell was knocked through a rock wall and plowed into the ground. Cell, after taking a few seconds to think about this situation, decided to pull out all of his power as he shook the entire island with his aura, but all he was able to do with that power boost was rush past Vegeta's lowered defenses and punched him in the side of the face. All that did was draw a bit of blood from the Saiyan, who wiped his mouth before tearing into Cell, leading Vegeta to go to town on the creature, his powerful attacks dealing painful damage to the bio-android's body while sending him flying with each hit, to the point where Cell was knocked down into the water near the edge of the island. Twilight knew what Cell's plan of attack would be, because if she had been in his shoes, with his abilities and form, she would wait until her foe got close and then burst out of the water without saying anything at all, all to hit her foe with the tail and drain them before they got away from her. Cell proved her right not a few moments later, after Vegeta landed on the only bit of land near the water and called for him to emerge, but in the end it was a failure, because while he did grab onto Vegeta's right leg, holding him upside down, he was unable to actually hit him with his tail. That was due to the Saiyan catching the tail between his left arm and left side, as he dodged the stabbing motion, causing Cell to worry that he'd have his tail torn off twice in the same day, only for Vegeta to punch him hard in the chest before spinning and kicking him back into the island. In that moment he informed Cell of a new fact, that Trunks was almost as strong as him, confirming Twilight's thoughts on the matter even though she really had no idea how they could have gotten so strong so fast, though Cell resorted to using the Galick Gun, Vegeta's own technique, to try and obliterate the Saiyan. The blast in question only tore the area around him apart, as in the rocks and boulders, so it ended up burying Cell in rubble for a time, though when he emerged he found that Vegeta had taken no damage, causing him to go on the offensive for a single second as his foe kicked him in the side of the head and knocked him down into the ground once again. As Twilight considered this, however, she heard that Vegeta was disappointed in Cell and had an idea, they could appeal to the innate Saiyan desire to face strong foes, in fact she realized that he likely had no idea that this was Cell's semi-perfect form, causing her to float over to where the Saiyan was standing right now. "You're right, Vegeta, it would be a shame to end the fight now... it's also a shame that you won't be able to fight Cell in his perfect form and see it's full power." Twilight remarked, where she turned her head a little and found that she had his full attention, because he knew she was smarter than everyone else, that was proven time and time again before the events that lead to them heading to Namek, and if she was talking it meant he should listen, "This is Cell's semi-perfect form, which he was able to achieve after absorbing Android 17... if you want a worthy foe, well, you can do what he suggested earlier and help him find 18, since he'd be able to obtain his perfect form." "In summary: he gets the android, and I get a proper challenge?" Vegeta inquired, though as Twilight gave him a slight nod, it was refreshing to have someone actually understand her without asking too many stupid questions, a smile appeared on his face as he glanced down at Cell, who was currently focused on the pair, "Very well, Cell, let's go find an android." "So I'm going to be the voice of reason and say 'Absolutely Not'!" Trunks stated, as he had been watching them and knew things were going downhill now that Twilight had decided to inject herself into the battle with Cell, ruining their chance for his father to kill the creature, and he had even pushed himself into the new form to appear nearby, before they could move out of the area, "Don't you get it? They're just playing you!" "To be fair, I haven't lied since I got here." Cell remarked, which was the truth, he had told everyone the truth whenever he did something, with maybe the only exception being his attempted deception of 18 earlier, but only Twilight and Krillin knew about it, though it was annoying that Trunks had picked now, of all times, to make his move. In the next moment multiple things happened as both Trunks and Krillin, the latter confirming that the androids had to be close at hand, attacked him, the first blasting him as the second tried to hit him with his Destructo Disc, though that lead to him discovering 18 as she was running away from the battle. Now Twilight understood why Krillin had shown himself, he also knew what was at stake and wanted to make sure Cell was unable to obtain his perfect form, though he did make sure to move to another area before his firing his attack, making it so that Cell might miss 18's movements. Twilight grinned as all of them moved as she expected, Vegeta attacked Trunks to stop him from interrupting Cell's attempts to absorb 18, while at the same time Krillin and 16 moved after 18 to protect her with their abilities, since there was no telling when their foe would come for her. It was madness, one group trying to catch 18, another trying to flee while leaving no trace for Cell to follow, and one warrior either attacking Cell or clashing with his father to stop him from being stupid, in fact Trunks used a blast to send his father flying so he could focus on beating up Cell, much to Twilight's joy. She also found it to be amusing that she, the ringleader behind the chaos that was happening, was utterly ignored by the warriors that had been affected by her earlier words, allowing her to watch as Cell got the stuffing beaten out of him by Trunks, before he unleashed the Solar Flare on his enemies, though since she knew the signs to look for she was able to avoid being blinded. Even though Krillin was more used to the technique than she was she could tell that he, Trunks, 16, 18, and even Vegeta, who was flying towards their position thanks to his son's attack blasting him out into the water, were blinded by the attack, just as Cell had planned. Despite that fact Krillin did his best to keep 18 safe, though Cell knocked him to the side with a swing of his tail, allowing the bio-android to accomplish his goal as he opened his tail and grabbed 18 like he had done to 17, swallowing her in no time at all. Once again she found that his body glowed as he assimilated the last component he needed to achieve his perfect form, the sheer force driving away the clouds above the island, but that was before it condensed into a green transparent sphere that protected him from Trunks' incoming blasts and shook the planet with the sheer intensity of his power. Eventually the lights died down and she found that Cell's body had become sleeker and more toned than before, instead of becoming even bulkier, like he had when he obtained his semi-perfect form, though 17's Beastification had overwritten the actual form he was supposed to have. His tail had sealed up, since he had absorbed the two androids he was after, and had become thicker than before, more like a dragon's with the scales on it and the spikes running down the length of his spine, similar to 17's when she thought about it. Cell had regained his wings, only this time they were exactly like 17's, like what a western dragon was supposed to have, though while the main color of the limbs, the fingers as some called them, was black, like parts of his body, the leathery bits were more tan colored. She also found that he was supposed to have what looked like high resting crown pieces on either side of his head, the dome they were used to seeing, though now those additions had been twisted into ivory horns that coiled backward. As the rest of his body was covered in scales, colored green with black undertones, Cell's face pushed out into a dragon's muzzle, completing the transformation into a powerful dragon Beastian, causing him to let out a powerful roar that shook the island and caused Twilight to look forward to what the future had for them. > Cell: Perfection > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Twilight stood on one of the remaining rock formations as Cell studied his altered perfect form some more, no doubt feeling the power that rested inside him, while Krillin, doing the dumbest thing possible, attacked Cell in the back by punching his head with all his strength, which did nothing to his target. She could tell that he was outclassed in that moment, which he clearly couldn't tell on his own as he lashed out with a few kicks to the back of the head, only to discover the truth of the matter, he was unable to do anything, especially when he fired a Destructo Disc at Cell's neck and it shattered on impact. Cell, for the most part, allowed him to do so as he tested the waters by punching and kicking the air in front of him, were Twilight found that he was definitely faster than his previous forms, something that meant that Vegeta was totally screwed since it meant his power was greater than before. In fact the Saiyan in question was just floating nearby, a smile on his face as he silently watched Cell make sure everything was in order, though she could tell he wasn't too impressed by the form itself, as he was hoping for a better challenge than when he faced Cell's semi-perfect form. In the next moment Cell lashed out with a kick and struck Krillin in the neck, the sheer force of which sent him flying with ease and caused him to crash into a raised rock area, an attack that nearly killed him and left him with his face staring right at the ground, causing Trunks to fly over to check on him. "Are you proud of defeating a worthless piece of trash like him?" Vegeta asked, where he had landed after Cell struck the warrior of his decision, though at the same time 16 seemed to be debating whether or not he should lash out at their foe or if he should stand down, since his power was nothing compared to Cell's new strength. "I'm sorry for disappointing you... perhaps you'll help me warm up?" Cell said, though as he spoke Twilight found that his voice was far better than before, more graceful in a sense, and while he was surprised by his new voice he discovered that he enjoyed it, where he raised his right leg, like it was resting on an imaginary rock, while crossing his arms as he held them out, showing that he was ready. His preparation allowed him to block Vegeta's incoming kick with ease, where it was easy for Twilight to see that both of the fighters seemed happy about what was going on right now, though she could also tell that Cell was keeping most of his newfound power to himself, since this, to him, was just a 'warm-up'. The pair continued to dance as Vegeta found that Cell was allowing him to take the lead and he did so without delay, throwing punches and kicks at his foe as they moved through the area that Cell had flattened during his transformation a few seconds ago. Cell, for the most part, kept up his guard and kept his true power to himself, blocking attacks as he got used to how his new form felt as he used moves that he used in both of his previous forms, no doubt to make sure everything was fine, especially when he added in swinging his new tail at his foe and using his wings as shields. It was an interesting display to watch, while at the same time 16 seemed to think that Vegeta had the upper hand, based on what Twilight was seeing due to his facial expressions, while the Saiyan clashed with his foe with all his might, until the point that he caught on to the fact that his foe was fighting with only a fraction of the power he commanded in his perfect form. Vegeta, true to form, demanded that Cell stop holding back so he could actually enjoy himself, where Cell obliged him not a second later, as he flashed behind the Saiyan with his arms crossed, something that caused his foe to kick at his head and find that nothing happened, his attack did nothing to his foe, who returned the favor and kicked him through several bits of rock before sending him into the water. "As fascinating as this 'Super Saiyan Second Grade' form is, I'm more interested in your perfect form." Twilight commented, as she could tell that Cell, with the power of the form he had been seeking for a long time, even if it was altered due to 17's beastification, was far beyond Vegeta's current level of power, meaning that Cell was now the strongest being on the planet, under herself anyway. "And I am eager to show you my newfound power!" Cell remarked, because he had used Vegeta as a warm-up for the main event, the true wall that stood in front of him and every warrior on this planet, as Twilight Sparkle was the strongest being on the planet and even he knew that, but with his perfect form's power he might finally have the upper hand, "That is, of course, if Vegeta's done throwing his life away... I might need to kill him, or just incapacitate him, before we can get on with our bout." "By all means, go right ahead." Twilight replied, because it should be interesting to watch the pair fight some more, even if she knew Cell stood above both Vegeta and Trunks, in fact he was likely going to either crush their spirits or just kill them, but it would allow her to observe for a few more moments before it was her turn, "I could care less about him." "As you wish. Hey, Prince, I'm giving you one last chance to entertain me... I want you to hit me as hard as you can... do I make myself clear?" Cell asked, turning his attention back to the Saiyan that was pulling himself out of the water that he had been knocked into, who had survived the last couple of attacks, even though they had been designed to show him the difference in their strength. Vegeta said nothing as he floated into the air for a moment, showing them that he was considering Cell's statement as he did so, before he spread his arms and legs out, something that caused Twilight to remember part of what happened on Namek, the attacks connected with Goku's annoying trump card. "Cell! Even if you have obtained your perfect form, do you have the guts to challenge this?" Vegeta shouted, where they found that his golden aura flattened the rocky area around him and left a circular crater in the water, which was being pushed away from him with the amount of power he was currently charging, "Too much for you, huh? You're a coward if you dodge this!" "There's confidence, and there's desperation... this is certainly the latter." Twilight remarked, though at the same time she floated down to the area Cell was standing in and stood some distance behind him, giving Vegeta another reason to put his full power into his attack, all while she smirked as she silently readied her own power. "True, but at least he's trying." Cell stated, where he paused for a moment as he found that the Saiyan pushed his power to the max, as he now looked like a shining star from where he was floating and bolts of lightning arced off the sphere he was building between his hands, as he brought them together after some time, "That's much better... I can actually feel that!" "In mere moments, all you'll be feeling... IS OBLIVION!" Vegeta replied, though it was easy for Twilight to see that he was actually straining himself to pull out the necessary power to make sure this attack had all the power it needed to blast his target to pieces, given his comment. "That or disappointment... go ahead: flip that coin." Twilight remarked, mostly because it would annoy Vegeta and she found that he wasn't too happy with her comment, in fact it looked like she had annoyed him even more, while she found that Trunks tried to stop his father and Krillin pulled him away as 16 moved, they knew something was coming and didn't want to be caught in the blast. Sure enough the Saiyan shouted the name of his attack, calling it his 'Final Flash', as he released a massive burst of yellow energy that tore apart everything around it as it barreled towards Cell's current location, who stood there and made his own comment on the matter. Such a thing happened to be 'how cute, he named it... oh..." before the blast struck the area he was standing in, where she found that Vegeta wasn't skimping on power, as the beam stayed exactly the same as the Saiyan pushed it into Cell and let it head straight towards her. Twilight, on the other hand, simply stayed still as she quickly expanded her power, forming an invisible net that would ensure nothing went by where she was standing, allowing the massive attack to strike it as she siphoned all of it, finding that it was fairly strong. She had hoped it would be strong since Vegeta was far stronger than he had been not a few days ago, in fact she felt some of the force behind the attack and let a smile creep onto her face, because it almost felt like her net was being pushed back a little, but, in the end, she didn't have much to worry about as she worked her magic. The area in front of her and around her buckled under the weight of the power, which was likely part of the attack, but at least she didn't have to worry about Vegeta blasting part, or all, of this planet to pieces, and after a couple of moments she found that it stopped, meaning the Saiyan must be done for the time being. "It's over, Cell. That hit will spell the end of you." Vegeta stated, where the smoke partly cleared for Twilight and she found that the bio-android was missing his right arm and part of the right side of his body, a chunk of his chest had been taken out, likely he moved to avoid being wiped out by the Final Flash, "And I get a bonus: Twilight's gone as well." "Sorry to burst your bubble, Prince, but I'm still around." Twilight said, though as she said that she quickly found that Vegeta just laughed as he stared at the damage he had done to Cell, no doubt to avoiding realizing the fact that she was alive, but she knew his fun was going to be short lived, based on whose DNA was part of Cell's body. "You think this is FUNNY?! It's not... as funny... as your face." Cell remarked, where Vegeta paused for a moment as Cell let him in on the fact that only he and Twilight seemed to understand, he braced himself and his new arm burst out of him, similar to how Piccolo regenerated his lost arm earlier, causing him to flex it for a moment. Vegeta, in desperation, launched a volley of blasts at Cell, a final attack with little to no power in each ball of energy, where Twilight set up a tunnel for Cell to walk through as she absorbed the last bits of the Saiyan's energy, who found that Cell was able to walk through his attack and struck him in the face. As Twilight dispelled her magic for the time being she and the others watched as Vegeta tried to get back up, only for Cell to kick him up into the air with ease, only to burst into the space above him and deliver a powerful elbow hit to his foe's backside. Such an attack did a lot of damage to Vegeta, as it was easy for Twilight to see the blood as she suspected that the Saiyan's spin had been broken in the attack, if not it had taken a lot of damage, while Cell sent his foe crashing down into the ground, causing Vegeta to slip into unconsciousness as his hair and his aura returned to normal. Twilight thought that it was actually quite interesting how Cell's semi-perfect form couldn't stand before the might of Vegeta's Super Saiyan Second Grade form, but as soon as the bio-android was able to obtain his perfect form the Saiyan was beaten in no time at all. As she thought about that, however, Trunks started to power up even more than before, causing his body to expand far more than what his father had done for his preferred form, while his hair became even spikier and wilder than before, but even as his power rose Twilight realized just how stupid Vegeta's son really was. With the increased muscle mass she knew he would be unable to access most of the speed that came with the power he possessed, the 'Graded' forms meant that a Saiyan was sacrificing speed for additional power, so while his strength would be far greater than Cell's, in fact it might be enough to take him down, his speed meant he'd be unable to touch his foe. As she thought about it Twilight realized that, while Vegeta was an idiot at time, he must have seen Trunks utilize the form and realized it wasn't the key to defeating the bio-android they had trained to fight and destroy, meaning he was smarter than his son. Now if either of them had used this form, likely called Super Saiyan 'Third Grade', against semi-perfect Cell they would have wiped the floor with him, but even with that fact in mind she focused on what was going to happen next as she landed on a rock wall. Apparently Trunks was tasking Krillin to take Vegeta to Roshi's and to give him the last of their Senzu Beans when the time was right, as the short warrior left with the downed Saiyan as Trunks floated down to where Cell was standing, who just walked up to where his would-be foe was landing. Sure enough the two clashed after that point, not even wasting time to speak their minds, where Twilight instantly realized that even Cell recognized what was going on and that he had lowered his power to match Trunks' dumb decision, a pity fight in a sense. Even then he dodged some of Trunks' attacks with ease and delivered powerful blows to his chest and body, not enough to actually cripple him since he lowered his speed and his power to give his foe a fighting chance, though Trunks didn't seem to realize that Cell was pitying him and his inexperience in terms of fighting. Twilight almost couldn't bare to watch the fight, it was just stupid when she considered the nature of the Graded Forms, but she did so as the two 'danced' around in the air, headbutting each other or locking hands before trying to overpower the other, especially since this provided her with a good chance to siphon some energy from Trunks in this form, since she felt this might be the only time it would be used. Eventually Cell got tired of the fight as well and picked up his speed, allowing him to avoid Trunks' brutish attacks, which sent him into rocks as he completely missed his foe, causing him to float in the air for a moment as he openly wondered how this was even happening. "It's because your green... and not like Cell, you idiot, I mean you're a novice at fighting." Twilight stated, where Trunks and Cell turned as she spoke, because both were interested in what she had to say on the matter, even if the latter knew that she had already cracked the code on the Graded Forms, "You're surrounded by all sorts of fighters who have seen more action in a week than you've seen in your ENTIRE LIFE... I mean, I even fought armies on Tuesdays and spent Wednesday in either the library or training for my next fight. By the time Goku was your age he had defeated entire armies, apparently several 'demons', and even sent a rabbit Beastian to the moon... don't ask, Bulma told me a lot about Goku's past. Also, that form's not even new or special... Cell, do you mind?" Cell did and powered up into a bulky form that matched what Trunks was using, sacrificing speed for brute power, and he even threw in a little impression of Trunks, about him trying to get Vegeta's love or something, before powering down as Twilight told him to stop using that worthless form... which he did so without delay, powering down to his base form in no time as he landed nearby with a depressed look on his face. "Before I decide what to do with you, I have a question: how did you and Vegeta get so strong in such an incredibly short period of time?" Cell asked, echoing the very same thought that had been plaguing Twilight since Vegeta arrived with his improved speed, how the Saiyans had got so strong and was Goku using the same method to gain the strength to rival the being that Gero's computer had created, but Trunks said nothing as he stood there, waiting to be killed, "Okay, how about this: if you had more time, could you get even stronger than you currently are?" "They should be able to... I mean, Saiyans are a warrior race that have no limits." Twilight remarked, as she recalled the studies she did back in the libraries of Alexandria, some of which had entire sections dedicated to the Saiyans and their various myths, and if any of them were to be believed the Saiyan race had the power to challenge some of the strongest races in the universe, as there was even a 'god' among all of the various stories, "I bet if you give them some time they'll be able to get stronger than they are now... actually, I'm positive that Goku's training to do such a thing at this very moment, wherever he's currently hiding anyway." "She's right... Goku's training to defeat you as we speak, and any additional time you give him will likely be used to make sure he's strong enough to do so." Trunks admitted, though it did worry him that Twilight knew so much about the Saiyans as a whole, in fact he had thought his father was the expert on their kind, making him wonder what in the world she might have in mind given that she seemed to be working with Cell, even though he didn't quite agree with her statement about Saiyans having no limits. "Well then, I suppose the next step is to throw a tournament... I've got some ideas that might make this fun, and ensure all of you get stronger in no time." Cell stated, showing Twilight that he had an idea in mind and that there would be no way for someone to stop him from the path he was deciding to walk down, where he opened his wings, showing them that he was planning on taking off, before he turned to look at them, "I think I'll hold it ten days from now... where, well, I'll let you know with a special broadcast, so be sure to check the news and prepare yourselves accordingly. Twilight, I think this will be the best way for us to have our own special fight." Twilight said nothing to that as she nodded her head and grinned, she was looking forward to clashing with Cell's might in the near future, causing the bio-android to take off as he headed for wherever he was planning on setting up the ring that would house his special tournament. "Why didn't you stop him?" Trunks asked, because he was honestly confused as to whose side she was on, as there were a few instances where he was sure that she was on the side of the foe they were dealing with, other times it seemed like she was on their side, ensuring they survived when death should claim them. "Because I'm interested in this tournament, who might show up, and the power that will be on display." Twilight replied, as it was easy for her to tell that Cell wanted a good fight to see how strong his perfect form was, against the strongest foes this world had to offer, and she was already planning on entering, before she found that Krillin and Vegeta were coming towards them, "So, now that Cell's gone, can you tell me how you gained so much power so quickly... or am I going to have to track Goku down myself and get the information out of him?" "Relax, there's a chamber up on the Lookout called the 'Room of Spirit and Time', or the 'Hyperbolic Time Chamber' if you prefer," Krillin stated as he and Vegeta landed nearby, because right now he had to agree with Piccolo's earlier thoughts, they needed her on their side, meaning it might be time to give up some of their information now that Cell's not around, all while knowing that this could come back to bite them given her insane power growths, "basically, you can go inside and do a whole year's worth of training in a single day... one day out here is one year in there... it's how Vegeta and Trunks got so strong, and how Goku and Gohan are going to get stronger as well. And before you ask, most of us didn't even know such a room even existed until recently, when Goku arrived to pick up Gohan and talk with Piccolo about it, so it's not like we were hiding it from you or anything." "Seriously? You guys have such a chamber on this planet?" Twilight inquired, as the researchers of Alexandria had told her that there were supposed to be many of them in the universe, hence why they were trying to track them down so such a thing could be confirmed or denied, but this was the first time she had confirmed the existence of such a place, "I have got to see this with my own eyes." "Okay, seriously, this 'Alexandria' you mentioned sounds useful... and incredibly unfair at the same time." Krillin stated, as it made some reveals kind of bland and boring when they tried to tell Twilight anything, because she knew about it before they learned anything, but he couldn't themselves lucky that she wasn't trying to kill them, given how she disliked most of the Z Warriors. 16, on the other hand, asked that they take him to Capsule Corp so he could be worked on, as he might come in handy when it came time for them to fight Cell, where Twilight agreed, as she had the blueprints that would help repair him, and she had a feeling that she could use this to help her prepare for what the future held for them. > Cell: Message of Terror > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Following Cell's departure from the island that he fought Vegeta and Trunks on, and obtained his perfect form, Twilight and the rest of her little group returned to Capsule Corp with the injured android that had insisted that he be brought here so he could be repaired for the tournament Cell wanted to throw. Twilight wasn't expecting either of the Saiyans to be happy with her, given that she could have done something to the bio-android they had fought and lost to, but she really didn't care, as neither of them could touch her with their current level of power. Krillin, on the other hand, was more than happy to have her flying nearby, since it seemed like Cell had invited her to participate in his tournament as well, so in his eyes it meant that they were on the same side, at least for the time being, and he hoped they could persuade her to change her ways, just as Goku seemed to do to others. Other than that he found that no one had anything to say, each of them were lost in their own thoughts about what happened before Cell flew off, along with wondering how strong Goku and Gohan would be once they emerged from the chamber that they were currently training in. Eventually, however, Twilight landed outside Capsule Corp and the others did so as well, where she found that they were found by Dr. Briefs in no time at all and Krillin filled him in, at least due to why there was a wounded android with them, all while the Saiyans stood nearby, watching over him and Twilight. "I would love to help, but we don't have any of the blueprints that went into making you." Dr. Briefs said, as he had been the one to welcome the group when they arrived, even though he was still surprised to find that there was an android among the group, since he had heard from Bulma about who the villains were this time, "I can take a look, but, to be honest, I can't promise that we'll be able to do much." "I'm sure I can find something for you to gleam some information from, in Gero's secret lab." Twilight commented, which she knew to be true, as she and her mother had found that there was far more in the underground section of the lab than what they originally assumed, as she had found the blueprints for other androids, scrapped ones anyway, papers for 16, and also notes on an 'Android 21', "However, I'm not going to simply hand them over to you, rather I'll exchange what I find for the time machine that came from Cell's era." "You know, without the technology to actually make the power source, you won't be able to use it." Trunks stated, though while he didn't trust her, as he trusted the Z Warriors and his father more than he trusted her, he had to wonder why she even wanted the damaged time machine in the first place. "Even so, there's so much I can learn from it." Twilight replied, which was the truth of the matter, even though she had her own ways of making sure the machine was operational, she just had to ask her mother for some assistance, causing her to turn towards Dr. Briefs for a moment, who happened to be considering the offer she was giving them. Fortunately Bulma returned not a few seconds later and her father filled her in on what was going on, causing her to sigh as she said it was fine, the deal was perfectly fine in her eyes since it allowed them to repair 16 and get him ready for the tournament that Cell was planning on holding. With the deal struck Twilight departed from the building and headed back to the area that they had set the lab in, just so those who knew where Gero's lab had been would be unable to find it, as she didn't trust Trunks enough to let him know where it was located. Sure enough she found her mother hard at work on some of the screens that were around the lab, going over all of Gero's files and plans for the future, though she did take a few moments to uninstall the files that would insert the 'Kill Son Goku' command into anything else they made, since that was no longer a requirement in their eyes. Twilight already had new ideas on what to do with Cell, or the Present Cell, but in order to get everything done she needed the time machine and it's power to fulfill part of her plan, though for now she focused on the task at hand, picking up the newly discovered blueprints that her mother had found. It amazed her that there was so much to discover in this lab, all hidden by Gero before he turned himself into an android, because so far they had found the plans of 16, a trio of androids that were numbered 13, 14, and 15, and the plans for the mysterious 21, one of the few female androids based on what she had read so far. The scientist had so many ideas so he could get his revenge on Goku, based on what she and her mother were finding during their studies, and while she knew that many had failed, due to the labeling or comments, it provided her some insight into how his mind worked. Of course all of this made her wonder what in the world he might have accomplished had he not been a part of the army that Goku had clashed with, what he would have added to what already existed and, more importantly to her, would he have worked with her on any of her projects. Part of her wanted to say yes, they would have worked on many things to either improve this world or take it over without engaging the Z Warriors, but it was something she would never know, not unless she or her mother worked on time itself to make such a timeline to study. With that thought in mind she copied the blueprints that went into making 16, since she didn't want to hand over any of the originals, before wishing her mother well and returned to Capsule Corp without delay, where Bulma exchanged the capsule that held the ruined time machine for the documents they needed. While Bulma and her father got to work on 16, hooking him up to several machines so they could figure out what was up with him and compare the blueprints to their own readings, Krillin and the others switched into their more casual wear, as there was no telling when Cell would make his announcement to the world. Twilight, on the other hand, felt Cell flex some of his energy for a time, where it felt more like he might be crafting something and less like he was trying to blow up the area that he happened to stop in for a time, causing her to remain silent while she traced his unique signature. Based on what she could tell he was hanging out in an area that was wide open, something that was easy to determine when she looked at a map and compared the direction his energy was coming from, though the others seemed to be ignoring him at the moment. Part of her was tempted to go out and see what in the world he was doing, even though it had to be setting up the ring that the tournament would be held in, though she also found that no one else seemed interested in what the bio-android was doing, mostly they seemed to be waiting for the announcement to be made. At the same time, however, she knew that someone was watching them, not King Kai since he was too lazy to do his own job, and wondered who they might have caught the attention of, especially since she glanced outside for a few seconds, as it seemed like someone was out there, before returning to her thoughts as they waited for Cell to finally make his grand announcement to the world. While the Z Warriors were resting and getting ready for what the future held for them, however, the pair that had spoken to Cell not that long ago landed on one of the roofs that allowed them to focus on the Capsule Corp building, though they had to be careful of one person while they did so. "We barely did anything and she nearly caught us... mom wasn't wrong, her senses are extraordinary." the male said, all while he and his sister stood still as a shimmering dome surrounded them, a device made to conceal them while they and their brother waited for the event they were here to see unfold, though it meant no one could see this place since it was an invisible barrier. "I'll say... I know she told us what to expect, but it's another thing to see it firsthand." his sister remarked, as they had done a lot of training with their mother and it was easy to see that her lessons about her past self were incredibly accurate, her senses were superior to the Z Warriors, who had no idea they were even there, and she had nearly spotted them, "Luckily she gave us this device to make sure we can stay safe for the rest of our time in this era. Mira, everything was fine on your end, correct?" "Yes. Grandmother is fine." a new voice said, where the pair turned and found a blue skinned male, with a lean body that clearly showed some degree of muscle so everyone knew he was a fighter, who also had short white hair and wore a black gi with no markings on it, though he had a crimson jacket over it that was currently open, standing behind them, "Cell, 21, how are things going with our targets?" "First off, I told you to call me 'Calas' during our time in this era, just like how sis likes to be called 'Houko'." Cell, or Calas, stated, while their sister carefully pulled out a few capsules, all prepared for this event, and activated them without even a single bit of noise, meaning no one would know they were up here as she set up three private beds, a food and rest area, and even a shower cell that was fully stocked, "Second of all, mom nearly spotted us... turns out even her past self is good at sensing any and all disturbances. Third, they aren't 'targets', they're 'people of interest'... and fourth, we haven't seen any of the figures our mother asked us to keep an eye out for." "There's a chance that the other Demon Gods might attempt to disrupt this timeline, so we're here to make sure things go as smoothly as we were told... and not to interfere unless it's absolutely necessary." Houko added, as she had paid close attention to their mission briefing before they were sent back with their supplies, given that her brothers tended to forget things from time to time, or at least pretended to given what she had experienced so far, where she sighed for a moment as she took a seat, "I doubt any of the Demon Gods would attempt to assassinate our mother, but, to be on the safe side, we're here to make sure they fail in such a thing... if they show up, anyway." "One is already here: Robelu was stalking our mother on the island that 19 and 20 attacked." Mira said, though he couldn't fault his siblings for missing the figure in question, the Demon Gods either stuck to the shadows and used minions to take down their targets or carefully followed them before making themselves known, and he could see that his siblings were a little ashamed for missing the demon, since he always told the truth, "I do not know if Demigra and his allies will attempt to assassinate our mother, like the Demon Gods are likely planning right now, but we had better keep an eye on them, just in case they show up to mess with the timeline." "The Demigra Army and the Dark Imperial Army... they're likely to fight each other before going after mother, but stranger things have happened." Calas commented, though this was additional stress they didn't need right now, as Robelu and her boss were essentially wildcards and could no doubt ally with whoever was beneficial to whatever their end goal was, if the history their grandmother had taught them was correct, "Are we sure that this is the period in time that both armies are interested in?" "Yes, I studied the energies of our enemies and this is the era that they're the most interested in." Houko replied, as while there were multiple points in time that the two forces were interested in, even if the Demon Gods had points in every era of importance, this one seemed to have more activity than the others, hence why she and her brothers arrived before the main event to try and stop their foes before something happened, "We just have to be patient and keep an eye out for any and all suspicious movements... there's no telling when or how the Demon Gods will announce themselves, and the same applies to Demigra and his allies as well, so keep your guards up and keep an eye on the people we were told to watch over while we're here." Mira and Calas nodded their heads in agreement, as they had been sent back for a reason, two if they considered that this could count as Time Patrol homework, and it was time for them to focus on their mission and not get distracted, to which they braced themselves for a long wait. For a time nothing interesting happened, as Twilight found that Cell seemed focused on making sure his area was ready before he departed, or maybe he was figuring out where it was located, before the day ended with Cell staying quiet and the Z Warriors got some sleep. While she could have turned in as well, to prepare for what the next few days held for them and the planet, Twilight knew that someone was watching her and glanced out the window for a time, wondering if doing so might allow her to see whoever it might be. Such a thing made her think back to the figure she had seen on the island that Future Trunks had told them that the androids would attack, a stalker who had since disappeared from her sight, so all of this made her wonder if the demon in question was lucking somewhere, watching her like a creepy stalker or some sort of scout. Her scan of the area indicated that nothing new was out there in the darkness, just people sleeping while being blissfully unaware of who had descended upon the world, before she sighed and cancelled the scan as she quickly headed for bed, as she needed some rest to prepare herself for whatever Cell might do next. When morning arrived, however, Twilight felt Cell moving as Bulma and the others sat down for breakfast, causing her to wonder if now was the time of his announcement, and, sure enough, it happened not a few moments later as he broke into a television station, ZTV to be exact, and made his way to the floor that addressed the whole world, causing Krillin to change the channel until the bio-android came to a stop. "Good morning, humans," Cell said, though at the same time he actually killed the news reporter who was sitting nearby, a fact that surprised the rest of the crew that happened to be working in the building at the time, even stalled them while he got ready for the announcement he was going to share with the world, "I will be interrupting your regularly scheduled programming for a few moments. For those of you who are bored with your peaceful lives, this news is for you, as I'm here to tell you how your lives can be filled with excitement! For those of you who don't know me, I am Cell... you might have heard of a monster whose been murdering townspeople over the last few days, or however you've been phrasing it... well, I am that very being. I would like to thank the fallen for their sacrifice, as I absorbed their life force to become the being that you are seeing before you, but not to worry, I won't be requiring anymore people to lay down their lives for me." Cell paused for a few seconds, allowing everyone to let his words sink in as they realized that the figure that the now dead reporters had mentioned was standing before them, all while Twilight and her acquaintances waited for him to reveal his announcement, which might involve the destruction of the world in some manner. "However, that's not what I'm here to talk about. I'm here to tell all of you that I will be holding a martial arts tournament in nine days' time, at noon on the 26th of May." Cell stated, where it was easy for them to tell that the people around him were taking notes on what he was saying and where he was planning on holding his tournament, though he didn't seem to mind at all, meaning this had to be part of his plan to draw attention to his event, "I'm calling it the 'Cell Games', and it will be held in a ring near Central City at 28 KS Point 5... if you don't know where that is, blame the cartographers. Now I must clarify something: the Cell Games won't have a bracket system, like the Tenkaichi Budokai, rather I will be your only opponent, meaning you can bring as many contestants as you want... I'll fight all of them, one by one, until they are ringed out, forfeit, or I kill them. Therefore the more fighters you have the greater chance you have at beating me, because for all my power I might just succumb to my injuries and fall before whoever you bring to face me... however, I must tell you that if I beat all of the challengers, well, I'll start killing everyone on the planet until no one is left." Twilight realized what Cell was doing before the others did, he was trying to instill fear into the population so they found and sent all of their fighters at him in an attempt to bring him down, just so he could have some fun before trying to blow up the planet. In fact, as she thought about that, Cell showed them what would happen to those who came to challenge him, as he used a small Ki blast on the wall behind him and tore part of the wall to pieces, even though it headed out and tore most of the city behind him to pieces, killing who knew how many people as buildings collapsed. With that done Cell flew off, no doubt to head out and wait at the ring for nine days, an interesting number when she thought about it, but it was easy for her to tell that he wanted to enjoy himself and this was to ensure the Saiyans were strong enough when they came to challenge him. Of course that was depending on whether or not she beat them to the punch, as in would she step into the ring before them and face Cell before either of them could do the same, causing her to mentally chuckle as she wondered what expression would grace their faces if she did so. "I know you said that Cell's body was influenced by 17's dragon beastification, but I wasn't expecting that." Bulma said, as the figure in question was imposing and graceful, not to mention he showed the people of the planet how strong he was, and it was easy for her to tell that he was enjoying his new form. "Yeah, and unfortunately it seems to have helped make him even stronger than before." Trunks commented, because while he and the others knew that Cell's perfect form was powerful, given his statements to them, he also knew that taking on 17's beastification might have made things far worse for him and the others, causing him to turn towards everyone, "I think it's about time that we returned to the Lookout and see how Goku and Gohan are doing... plus it'll give you a chance to see the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, Twilight." As they got ready to leave, however, Twilight found that she was excited to see just how much stronger the pair might have gotten during their training in the chamber, especially given Vegeta and Trunks' power after their training, and what might happen when it came time for them to participate in Cell's tournament. > Cell: To The Lookout > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Once everyone was ready to go, and Trunks also got a haircut since Bulma said his current style was too long, Twilight flew out of West City with the group of fighters that were planning on regrouping with Piccolo and Tien, who Trunks had said had been left up there for some time. While they did that Twilight found that people were panicking, which was to be expected when she thought about Cell's message and the people he had killed to make sure the rest of the world knew that he wasn't playing around, and by that she meant riots were going on. The people of the planet were running around like chickens who had lost their heads, looting stores, crashing cars and other vehicles, actually fighting the police, and doing whatever else they wanted, since they seemed sure that the world was going to end in nine days. Society was committing suicide below them, where she found that the Z Warriors, excluding Vegeta, wanted to stop and help, but ultimately held back since they might make things even worse than they already were, causing them to fly without many a single stop. None of her acquaintances wanted to talk right now, allowing her to focus on the area they were flying towards, which had an ivory tower that reached high into the sky and above it rested a bowl shaped structure, floating above everything, and on top of it rested a flat floor with a single large building. "Cell's done nothing but return to his ring after making his announcement." Piccolo stated, speaking as the group landed in front of him and Tien, where Twilight was more focused on the pitch black skinned individual who seemed far more than what his simple appearance suggested, to the point where no one else focused on him, "We still have some time before Goku and Gohan emerge from the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, so you should relax or get some sleep, if you couldn't sleep after what happened yesterday." "How long until they emerge?" Twilight asked, because while she understood that this chamber allowed one to get a year's worth of training in a single day, an amazing feat when compared to the information that was in Alexandria, she had no idea when the pair had entered and had no idea when their training was supposed to end. "They have three hours left before their day is up." the mysterious figure replied, where Twilight noticed that he wore a white turban with a sapphire set in the center above his forehead, a maroon sleeveless vest that exposed his chest, a red sash, white trousers, and red shoes that were more like slippers, though she had to wonder if he was some sort of shadow god lurking in Kami's shadow. "They don't have to take the entire day... that's just being greedy." Vegeta remarked, where he crossed his arms as he and the others spread out, even though it was only him, his son, Piccolo, Tien, the mysterious figure, and Twilight, though the others didn't seem to care about his attitude, figuring it was better than him turning on them, "Don't even bother with the chamber, Piccolo, as only a Saiyan like myself and Kakarot can truly benefit from training inside it... or Twilight, since she's different from everyone else... but, if you must train, and be a colossal waste of time, I can let you have a day in exchange for the other eight." "Nice try, but you can only spend up to forty-eight hours inside the chamber." Piccolo replied, showing that he didn't care for the Saiyan's words, in fact he had more information on this matter than Vegeta did and he could see everyone, save for Twilight, was surprised by what he had to say. "Such a strange restriction... during my studies in Alexandria I found references to chambers like this that have no strange limits like this." Twilight said, where she found that the Earth had strange restrictions on the various things she learned about before she was poisoned and her parents took her to Namek to be healed, such as the Dragon Balls and now the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, before finding that the others were staring at her, "You could train in one for ten days and get ten years of training out of it... I was planning on exploring the universe to track them down, to see what each one had to offer someone who decided to use them, but I'll have to wait for another day." Twilight would have said more, but before she could do so she felt a surge of Ki that came from two individuals leaving a realm that was sealed off from the rest of the world, another dimension basically, and she could tell that Goku and Gohan were already stronger than Vegeta and Trunks. A few moments later the others noticed that the pair had returned, in fact some of them were shocked since they weren't expecting them to come out for another three hours, which happened to confuse Vegeta despite his desire to head back inside the chamber for some additional training. Twilight turned her head as soon as she heard the pair approaching, as they were talking about Cell and his explosive power growth, where she found that they were wearing some of the armor that Vegeta and Trunks were wearing, only their attire was damaged in a few areas, no doubt due to all the training they must have done. The shocking part was that they happened to be in their Super Saiyan forms, only it felt nothing like what she had felt before, as if they were far calmer than she expected from them, almost as if this was now their base state and their true power was suppressed for the time being. Goku, rightly confused by what was going on, asked the group what they had missed and Twilight filled them in, with both Trunks and Piccolo cutting in to add their two cents on what Cell was doing, to the point where the mysterious figure, who was called 'Mr. Popo', brought out some food for everyone so they could eat while they chatted. "A tournament... this will be exciting." Goku said, speaking once he was done eating and the tale was over, while Gohan finished off his own meal and seemed to be going over everything that had been said, though in that moment Mr. Popo brought out his gi, which had been left when he switched to his armor, causing him to head into the building to change in private before returning with his original attire on, "I'm planning on fighting in my original clothing... the armor's nice, but I like my gi a lot more." Gohan seemed to follow suit, only he asked Piccolo to make him something like his, where Twilight watched as he used a move to materialize an identical set of attire on the young fighter, minus the turban anyway, something that made him look like a miniature version of his mentor. "Kakarot, can you defeat Cell or Twilight?" Vegeta asked, because he knew the other Saiyan longed for a real fight with the devilish pony girl who was standing near them, instead of the training they had done to prepare for the androids, and now he might have the power to defeat their foe and topple Twilight. "Let me go check real quick." Goku stated, as the only one who seemed to use his Saiyan name was Vegeta and he was fine with that, though in that moment he raised his fingers to his head and disappeared after tracking down Cell's Ki, all while he knew that the others would wait for him to return before they did anything else. Twilight said nothing as she studied the structure that was in front of them, where Mr. Popo informed her that there were several rooms inside it, special rooms that needed a guide for someone to reach in order to use them, meaning either he or Kami must have helped the Z Warriors to prepare for the Saiyans. In addition to the Hyperbolic Time Chamber there was the Pendulum Room, or the Room of Time, which allowed one to send their spirits back in time to train, or to a point in the present or even the future, causing an idea to form in her mind as he explained it to her. There was also a room that held a teleport device that Kami had used a few times in the past, so she guessed that it was like a Room of Space, though now it went unused since Piccolo had merged with his other half to combat the androids, and Cell when she took a few seconds to think about it. There were several planets and species, all of which she learned about due to her time carefully exploring the libraries of Alexandria, that she wanted to clash with and learn from, so discovering these rooms meant she would be able to keep her mother's abilities a secret from the Z Warriors for some time. A few moments later Goku returned and informed everyone that Cell was stronger than he had assumed and suspected that, as he was now, there was no way he could beat their foe, though Twilight was another manner, one he wanted to fight at some point in the near future. Despite that fact, however, he was sure that they could make due with nine days of training outside the chamber, in fact he was sure everything would work out in the end, especially since Twilight was still here, who he suspected was hiding another level of power from them. Twilight informed him of the fact that she was only doing this because she wanted to, not because she had forgiven him and his friends for their past deeds, where he gave her a nod, showing that he understood what he was hearing right now. He also asked about Cell's new form, due to the fact that he wasn't expecting all of the dragon aspects that the bio-android had, where Twilight explained it to him, like she had done for the others, while his friends kept quiet as she talked. She said nothing else after that, as while she had several ideas on what to do she figured this was something he could worry about before the tournament started, though at the same time Goku informed the others that they could use the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, as in all of them had room for improvement, and then departed with Gohan, as it was time for the pair to head home. As the others discussed what might have happened inside the chamber, since Goku was so calm, Twilight felt the entirety of the Lookout shudder as the Saiyan unleashed half of his total Ki, she could tell that much from here, while everyone else seemed shaken and disturbed by his power. She found that the energy disappeared as quickly as it appeared, likely due to the fact that Goku was done with whatever he was doing right now, and as she tracked his Ki she found that both he and Gohan departed, no doubt heading back to their home for a time. Vegeta, true to form, demanded that Piccolo either get inside the chamber or he would be taking his turn now, so he could utilize all of his time and grow even more powerful, even though his son planned on heading in with him to maximize their growth. Other than that it seemed like Tien and Krillin decided not to bother with the chamber, at this point everyone else was growing too fast for them to keep up with, so Twilight ignored them as she focused on her own training, she simply sat down some distance from where the building was positioned. Her focus was on image training, allowing her to envision foes that might be worth fighting and clashing with them as she came up with new strategies and techniques, a change of pace from actually beating up someone with her fists or some of her moves, though one of her foes was Vegeta, causing her to chuckle as she focused on her training. When her mother arrived sometime later she and Mr. Popo kicked her training into high gear, and by that she meant that the pair brought her to the Room of Time to allow her to head back in time to a planet of her desire, during an event of her choosing, and she had a perfect target. She had read about a race of snipers called the Cerealians in the past, who had lived on the planet of Cereal and had been exterminated by the Saiyans, as per her father's orders so the planet could be taken and sold to an easily fooled race called the Sugarians, all handled by the Heeters of course. While she knew the race was no longer around, and their power no longer existed in this era, she could utilize the power of this room and her mother's own power to head back to when the Cerealians were exterminated and fight them, plus with her magic she could easily create an illusion to make herself look like a Saiyan if she wanted to. Towa had suggested such a thing in the off chance that their combined skills somehow influenced the past and made some slight alterations to the present, given that Chronoa would likely interfere, but Twilight was sure no harm would come of this and made sure her armor was prepared for what she was about to do. With her mind made up they sent her back to when the Saiyan invasion happened, during the point where night was coming and the moon was out, hence why she could see several Great Apes ravaging the planet, before she spotted the Cerealians, pale skinned individuals who wore some odd attire, had green hair, and, if memory served, their right eyes were a deep red color. Sure enough the Cerealians were fighting back against the Saiyans, in vain it looked like since the latter had the upper hand and she could see that the snipers were making sure each one had some distance from their attackers, though such a thing didn't matter as a Saiyan caught one and crushed the poor fool to death. She chuckled for a moment before bursting into the air, finding a lone sniper on one of the buildings and kicked him in the chest, hard enough to cause him to stop his attack and cough in pain, before bringing down her elbow on the top of his spine and drove him down through the building he had been standing on. After that Twilight turned her attention to the rest of the ongoing invasion, situated right in the city that all of the Cerealians happened to live in, an odd fact considering there was a whole planet available, though it was currently falling apart as they fought the rest of the Saiyan forces, who seemed to be too much for the snipers to handle on their own. Part of her wondered if she should change tactics and engage the Saiyans instead, since their invasions might be better in terms of training, but before Twilight could make up her mind a blast of finely honed energy struck her in the chest, likely from a Cerealian who saw her take down their friend. Normally such a thing would have done her in, as she knew that the snipers of this planet were incredibly strong when backed into a corner, but since she now had a passive drain going at all times the Ki attack that struck her was weak by the time it struck her. Still, it stung a little and caused her to switch things up, instead of focusing on just one side of the conflict, and aiding the other race, Twilight turned on both of them, since it would push herself to improve her skills against multiple opponents, even if they were still weaker than what she fought in the past. She found that the Cerealians she got close to could, in fact, fight her with their fists and feet, like a normal foe would, though while each had some level of strength she knew they weren't as strong as the Saiyans and that they were far weaker than she was, meaning it didn't take her long to take her foes down before moving forward. Eventually Twilight returned to the present, as Mr. Popo explained that one could see this like a game, they would return to the present either by a time limit expiring or by sustaining serious damage to their 'avatar', meaning it was impossible for someone to take real harm during a training session like this. With that in mind Twilight found that she wasn't too exhausted and went back to the same period, this time testing out a few of her other skills against the Cerealians, calling forth the elements as she shocked dome with lightning, slashing at a couple with the wind, using water to pierce others while shielding herself from snipers, and even creating flaming bats that struck down her foes. It gave her a chance to see if her image training paid off or if her attacks were worthless in the grand scheme of things, though she didn't stop at the base four elements, as her mother had told her countless tales of the power of darkness and the power of light. Thanks to her mother's training and how she wielded the other elements it was easy for her to manipulate the shadows to some degree, which she used to berate the fighters that were around her right now, since they weren't used to enemies springing out of the shadows to fight them. Since she knew about darkness it was easy for her to figure out how to call upon the other one as well, channeling a light based power to strike down her foes, giving her a chance to see if the tales were true or if it had been blown out of the water, made to be some far more powerful force. In addition to all of that she struck out with her Dark Form, just to see how it actually held up in actual battle so she could work out any kinks, though Twilight made sure to take breaks every now and then to be sure she didn't exhaust herself or fall at the wrong time... to the point where two days went by without incident, causing her to take a break for a day or two to recharge her batteries. "Oh, hey Twilight, I didn't realize you had stayed here for the last few days." a voice said, where Twilight found that Goku, in his civilian attire and not his gi, had come to the Lookout and was currently talking with Piccolo about something, as she and her mother had emerged from the structure at long last. "I tried out the Room of Time... quite an interesting room." Twilight replied, which was the truth, she had been interested in testing it out and found that it had given her plenty of time to do whatever she wanted, testing out her skills and most of her abilities without revealing anything to the people of Earth or the Z Warriors, "So, what did I miss?" "The army tried to kill Cell, and failed, so I came to ask Piccolo if he and Kami could become two people again... I'm afraid that such an idea won't work." Goku answered, something that was quite refreshing, he was truthful and never lied, but it was interesting that King Furry would authorize such a thing in the first place, though it did give Goku the drive he needed to bring back the Dragon Balls, given the grin on his face, "However, what Gohan told me about the other Namekians has lead me to a new idea: I'm going to track them down and see if I can't convince one of them to come back, to become our new Kami and restore the Dragon Balls." Twilight raised an eyebrow as she considered it and let him get on with his plan, where he tried to focus on the Namekians for a few seconds and found that it wouldn't work, causing him to focus on another person, King Kai, where he vanished with his Instant Transmission. While they waited for him to come back with his news, either good or bad, Twilight quickly found that Piccolo's power had definitely increased, meaning he must have been successful in the chamber, though he was still weaker than both herself and Goku, while Vegeta was likely in the chamber, training without his son since Trunks was standing near Piccolo. At the same time she had a feeling that Goku might find some resistance when he met the rest of the Namekians, since it was because his son and Krillin annoyed her father, by siding with Vegeta, though she also knew they were forgiving and that he'd likely be back in no time at all. Other than that there was nothing else for them to do but wait for Goku to return, so she simply sat back and relaxed for a time, where her mother sat nearby and stared at the sky, simply because they were curious what might happen when the Saiyan returned. It took a few minutes before anything happened, where they found that Goku returned with Dende, of all Namekians, but before anything else happened he told them he'd be right back and disappeared on his own, only to reappear with both Gohan and Krillin, all of whom were happy to see each other, even though she had to interrupt them to sake her curiosity on the matter. "So, can you really create a new set of Dragon Balls?" Twilight asked, because she was curious to see if Goku's plan would work or not, not that she cared about those who had been slain by Cell so far, and while she knew that Dende wanted to catch up with everyone, since they were friends, this was far more important. "Yes, and it'll take about one hundred days to make a whole new set," Dende answered, though at the same time he did want to see what was going on with Twilight, as she and her parents had peaceful during her time on Namek, but at least Goku had good intentions this time around, "however, after having learned about the events going on with Cell, I can use the existing set of Dragon Balls and empower them instantly, instead of having to make a new set. Now, before we get started, I need to know if you just want me to awaken the Dragon Balls or enhance their powers before awakening them, just so I know what needs to be done." As Twilight expected Gohan and Piccolo inquired if they could up the number of wishes from one to three, to make their spheres more like New Namek's set, while ensuring that the wish to revive multiple people remained intact, something he was able to confirm, even though a mass resurrection wish would cost them two wishes. She considered it to be a good trade off, the amount of power needed to do what they wanted made sense when she thought about it, though she did have to ask about reviving someone who died more than a year ago. Dende informed her that it depended on the one who made the set of Dragon Balls in question, so if he went about changing that rule it would take him years to do such a thing, though she didn't have him make that change, she was simply sating her curiosity. It also meant it was a good thing that she went behind the Z Warriors' backs to get the spheres and bring her slain family back to life, though once she had her question answered Mr. Popo brought out a small statue of a serpent dragon for Dende to work on. He stood off to the side for a time, focusing his mind as he worked his magic on the statue of Shenron, before chanting in the Namekian language and caused the statue to glow, something that was followed by a burst of light heading up into the air before splitting apart into seven orbs that went their separate ways. "There, the Dragon Balls should be reactivated." Dende said, where he was pleased with his actions, in fact Goku and a few of the others were surprised by what he had done, though at the same time this confirmed what Twilight heard during her time on Namek, that he was incredibly talented and it made her wonder what he'd do in the future. Goku informed the others that he was going to go collect the Dragon Balls, so that way they could be ready for when Cell was taken care of, though before doing anything else he paused for a moment, as if he had a thought about something and was going over the details in his head. "Hey Twilight, do you mind using the Time Chamber with Gohan for his last day?" Goku asked, because he had a feeling that, out of all of them, Gohan might be the only one who could befriend Twilight and get around the anger that she had for everyone, maybe not all of it given what happened, plus she had to be interested in Gohan's new power. "I'll consider it, on one condition: I want you to take me to King Kai." Twilight said, as she wanted to give that jerk a piece of her mind, namely beating the stuffing out of him for a few minutes as payment for what happened back on Namek, and this was her best chance to get what she wanted without asking her mother for assistance. Goku considered it for a few moments, as he knew she was annoyed with King Kai, before he agreed, because there was a chance she just wanted to talk to him about what happened on Namek, plus getting on her good side was a good thing, so he had her place her hand on his back as he teleported them to King Kai's planet. "King Kai, you have a guest." Goku said, because he wanted to get this over with so they could get back to Earth and ready themselves for the Cell Games, though he was hoping that this would help rebuild Twilight's trust in him and the others, even if total forgiveness happened far in the future. "You came back to train, didn't... you?" a voice asked, where Twilight found that the speaker was a short individual that had blue skin, sunglasses over his eyes, odd antenna on his head, and a symbol of some kind on the front of his black robe, who instantly paled as he noticed who was on his rather small planet, "Wh... What are you doing here?!" "I asked Goku to bring me here." Twilight replied, taking a few seconds to walk up to the shorter figure, who was scared of what might happen next, where she stopped in front of him and delivered a few slaps to his face, shocking Goku since he thought she'd talk to King Kai, but a glare from her stopped him in his tracks, allowing her to grab King Kai by the face and slam him right into the ground, "Did you seriously think that I would forget about you, the person who influenced all of the madness that happened on Namek and ended up getting me killed? I ought to just kill you right now and be done with it." "You... can't treat... me... like this! I'm a... god!" King Kai struggled to say, showing Goku that Twilight was serious, she might kill him for everything that happened to her and her forces of Namek, but even when the Saiyan tried to move he found that her powerful aura seemed to stop him in his tracks, allowing her to focus on him. "You're no god... you are a lackluster deity who watches over the dead and who does a poor job of maintaining peace in the part of the universe that's your domain." Twilight remarked, where she applied some additional pressure and the ground below King Kai cracked around him, showing everyone, Goku and a few animals who lived with the short fat figure, that she wasn't to be messed with, "Anyone, and I mean ANYONE, could do a better job than you and I'm sure that the rest of the universe would thank me if I blew you away right here... but that would be too easy. I want you to cower here, day after day, in fear as you wonder when I'll be back to kill you for everything that happened on Namek... trust me, I have a couple of ideas on what to do." Goku had no idea what to say to this, in fact he was totally surprised by how much Twilight ruffed King Kai up before she let go of him, but she was more than willing to leave after that point and he teleported them back to Earth, causing him to wonder what the future held for them. > Cell: The Last few Days > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- As the people of the world slipped from despair to hope, the former caused by Cell's remarks on television and the death of the army that came to destroy him, while the latter was due to Mr. Satan declaring that he would be facing off against him when the time came, the Z Warriors and their acquaintances got ready for the big day. Goku remained true to his word and went out in search of the seven dragon balls, deciding not to go too fast since they still had a number of days before the day of the Cell Games started, leaving the others to do whatever they wanted for the last few days. Most of the group decided not to bother training, since they were leaving Cell to Goku and Twilight, one of them was bound to kill him and save the Earth from being destroyed, while Vegeta retreated to the Gravity Chamber to do his own personal training. Krillin claimed that Cell's power was much too great for most of them to deal with, hence why they decided to stand down this time and just let things take their natural course, even though he, personally, was planning on retiring from fighting to get a real job after this. Twilight, on the other hand, focused on her own training and preparations for the Cell Games, making sure that her skills were sharpened and ready to go, all without revealing anything to the others, while finding that the Ginyu Force had an order for new armor, which she was able to do with ease. "Let me guess: you guys want to challenge Cell?" Twilight asked, where she put the finishing touches on the armor that all of them were wearing, which also included new leggings since this was a new version she had made, while the Ginyus stared at everything that was around them, her brand new lab that also contained the future time machine. "That's right. We've been training since Future Trunks arrived, and this is the best chance we have at showing you the fruits of our labor." Ginyu replied, though as he said that he found that Twilight's state of the art armor was far better in all aspects, going beyond what he had seen in the past, and that she was able to produce five sets in no time at all, though he wasn't lying, he and his team, along with Zarbon and Dodoria, had been training under Towa's watchful eye, whenever she had time to do so. "Well, he's accepting all participants, so you're in luck... even if he might be out of your league." Towa stated, as while she knew the seven revived warriors had trained to be of better use to Twilight and her family, each growing stronger over the three years leading to the day the androids would be activated, she knew they were no match for Cell's perfect form, so it really was them putting on a show before being knocked out. "Even so, we have to prove that we're useful to our bosses, hence a showcase of our new skills." Jeice said, because when it came time to actually leave this planet, once Twilight had grown tired of it all, they needed to be ready to return to their old positions in the Frieza Force, as Zarbon and Dodoria would return to being Frieza's right and left hands while he and the other Ginyus would reform their old force. It was a reasonable idea in Towa's mind, plus Twilight seemed interested in seeing if they had developed anything new over the years, as she had a firm understanding of their old moves and techniques, but before she could say anything else on the matter she found that someone else had come to talk to them. "Towa, you have a visitor." King Cold said, which immediately drew their attention, as while the Z Warriors could feel Ki none of them knew the location of their home's entrance, so it was hard to imagine that one of them had come looking for them, meaning someone she knew must have come to talk with her. She suspected that it was one of her former comrades, one of the other Demon Gods, even if it was odd of them to not just bust their way into her new home, but Towa thanked him and headed for the main door immediately, only to pause when she realized who was on the other side of the metal door. "Demigra?!" Towa asked, as she recognized the blue robed figure with red hair horns in front of her, especially with his bone staff in his right hand, something that made her wonder why in the world he was here, now of all times, even though she was sure that it involved her daughter in some manner, "What are you doing here?" "Peace, Towa. We're only here to talk." Demigra said, where Towa found two more figures behind him, a female demon who had pale skin and long navy blue hair, Robelu she recalled, and a male demon who had red hair that was spiked in the back, whose attire was more a mix of a robe and civilian wear, Chamel if her memory was correct, "Surely you must have felt the temporal disruptions that have been happening lately?" "Hard not to. The Demon Gods must be plotting something... or their future counterparts are up to no good." Towa replied, as before she became Frieza's wife and Twilight's mother she had been plotting how to find the necessary energy to break the seal of Mechikabura's prison, even if it meant being a Timebreaker and wrecking all of time to do so, but she had put an end to those activities after seeing her daughter grow up, though she was still in tune with her time powers, before she realized something, "Wait... are the disruptions so bad that you were able to free yourself from the Crack of Time?" "Much to Chronoa's continued dismay." Demigra stated, as he and Chronoa had history with each other, in fact he had raced against her to become the next Supreme Kai of Time when Aeos decided to retire, or straight up disappeared, such a thing depended on which version of the story one believed, and he had lost the race in the end, "I understand that we don't have the best history with each other, Towa, but we mean you and your family no harm... would handing over our weapons convince you of our intentions?" "Truthfully? No, it wouldn't... but it's a start, I guess." Towa said, as a Demon's weapon was a vital part of their being, she had taught Twilight that several times over the years and her daughter understood it, making her wonder what Demigra was planning if he was willing to hand his over without any fuss. Sure enough, much to her amazement, Demigra held out his staff and let her take it without any sort of resistance, in fact Robelu pulled out a bone wand and Chamel shifted his black iron staff, items that they handed over without offering any resistance on their parts. She was still wary of betrayal, that the three Demons were planning on doing something to both her and her family, but to ensure some level of safety she channeled some of her power and sealed the weapons inside a bubble of time energy, separating them from this point in history. What was odd was the fact that she was able to tell that these were, in fact, the true weapons that Demigra's gang used and not copies meant to persuade her otherwise, which really made her wonder what in the world was going on right now, especially since Demigra was never this personal with his plans, not unless he was certain of his success. Usually he had his underlings deal with whatever dangers or pests he needed them to deal with, or pieces that needed to be gathered for his plan to work, hence why she was on edge since she knew he had to be planning something. Still, since he wanted to talk, she was willing to listen and beckoned him inside, where she found that Frieza and his family were surprised by the sudden arrival of three more Demons, where Zarbon and Dodoria quickly had some tea set while she sat in the living area, with Demigra's group across from her. "Talk, Demigra. You must have a reason for coming here." Towa stated, though she was mentally still trying to figure out what sort of motive the wannabe Dark King had for coming here, to her home, to speak with her, especially since she felt that he should have been hiding and plotting his next move against either Chronoa or Mechikabura. "We have come regarding your daughter." Demigra replied, something that caused Towa to raise her eyebrow as Frieza and his family shifted their stances, as they didn't appreciate anyone talking bad about Twilight, while his followers simply took their cups and drank some of the tea that had been offered to them, "Before you jump to conclusions, allow me to say that we are not here to harm her in any way... though she is in danger of being targeted by our future counterparts, as we've detected several rifts in space-time cantered around this specific era." "It sounds like they fear that Twilight will seek to replace Mechikabura at some point." Frieza commented, as he recalled all the information that Towa had shared with their daughter and made sure he knew it as well, since she had said there was a chance that her former comrades might come to bother them. "You are correct, they are worried that a monster has been unleashed upon the universe... or will soon be released, and that Mechikabura is one of her targets." Robelu stated, though as she said that she weaved her hand for a moment and created an image for them to see, which was her, on a roof, staring at herself in an alleyway, who just so happened to be locking eyes with Twilight after 19 and 20 flew off, "I found my future self observing her earlier, back when the androids were encountered on the island Twilight and the Z Warriors were told about, and I refrained from talking to her since she would have assumed I was the one stalking her... and I'm not the only one we've seen." "Putine, Gravy, Dabura, Salsa, Shroom... even yourself, Towa." Chamel said, where he added his magic to the mix and let the image change before their eyes, allowing Frieza to see a number of Demons that were clearly hanging in the sky that was far above Twilight, either during her time near the androids or when she was near Cell, while Future Towa seemed to have a figure with a black cloak bottom and white chest piece following her, "We've tried to figure out what Twilight has done to warrant them focusing on her, and that's not counting overthrowing Mechikabura, but... well, we are unable to see what she might have done, as her future has been shrouded in pure darkness." Towa took in that information, as the meaning of the word 'darkness' in this situation could mean that Mechikabura had won, Chronoa had shrouded that future so no one could see it, it had been destroyed, or who knew what else, and while she thought about that she took her time studying Demigra, who seemed far too calm, before she realized his intentions with a start. "You can't be serious." Towa said, because if she was right, and she had to wonder if she might be overthinking this whole thing to even consider such an unreal event, this could literally change things in a way that none of them were expecting, especially if Chronoa was watching out for Demigra's plans. "Hey mom, the time machine's all cleaned up. If things go as planned, we can use it by the end of the..." Twilight said, as she walked into the living area, on her way to the kitchen to get her own drink since she needed a bit of a break before she returned to her work, before she noticed that they had guests and that she recognized one, "day. Okay, what's going on here?" "Twilight Sparkle, heiress to the galactic empire and soon to be Empress of the Universe, I am Demigra," Demigra replied, where Towa found that he was more than willing to list some of Twilight's titles, especially the one she and Frieza were in the middle of raising her to take over when they returned to the empire, though he and his followers stood up and took a moment to walk over to where she was standing, before kneeling and bowing their heads, "Robelu, Chamel, and I pledge ourselves to your service, to aid you in whatever manner you see fit and to the best of our individual abilities." Twilight stood there for a moment, taking in the fact that Demigra was kneeling before her, before asking everyone to clarify what was going on, just so she fully understood things since she knew the Demon in question wanted something big and it confused her as to why he'd bow his head to someone else. Towa informed her that the other Demons Gods were making a move, or would be in the very near future, and the trio had come to assist her in dealing with the threat, though she was also surprised by the card that Demigra was putting on the table. It was as if he or his followers had seen something and he had no desire to be caught in the crossfire of whatever he had seen, to the point that he'd seek her out and swear to serve her daughter, who would inherit the empire soon enough, once they left this world behind. Towa couldn't figure out what could have driven him to do such a thing, as he was so focused on his own goals and crushing whoever stood in his way, though it mattered little to Twilight as she decided to take them on as her new allies, but she made it clear that if they betrayed her it would be the end of them. It was both a threat and a promise, something that caused the trio to bow their heads in acceptance, though it also caused a change in Twilight's movements as she asked everyone to follow her to the time machine, as well as returning the weapons to their original owners. She explained the situation to their new allies, that this had come from another future, different from the one that Future Trunks had come from, causing her to pause and ask if they knew who she was even talking about, only to be pleased when Demigra informed her that they did, in fact, know of him. Her purpose in claiming this time machine was so that she could use her mother's time powers, and the energies of the machine, to either open a rift in space-time that would allow her to return to Future Cell's era or recharge the machine to allow someone to go on a round trip to that point and then return to this era. Robelu asked why she was so interested in Future Cell's era and Twilight informed them of the fact that there was a lab in his era that held the complete information on him, the sequence that allowed the computer to perfect his initial form and larval form, and if she had access to that she would be able to integrate it into her own lab. In a way it was her way of making an even more perfect Cell, one who didn't have the same restrictions and requirements of the one she was familiar with, and, given Gero's habit of collecting information, it was possible that going to Future Cell's era would give her more information than she was planning on obtaining. With her desires in mind the four Demons readied their weapons as they positioned themselves around the machine, as each one stood in the four cardinal directions and at an equal distance from it, where they channeled their energies for a few moments and Twilight found that a swirling blue mass appeared in front of the time machine. "With the four of us we should be able to maintain the space-time rift for a few hours, without tiring, but Chronoa will no doubt zero in on it once she feels our energies." Demigra explained, as he wasn't too surprised that the four of them were able to do such a thing in such a short period of time, as both of his followers were skilled in this field, he was skilled at it, and he knew Towa was a master at space-time manipulation, but he did have to tell Twilight of who would be coming once she felt their Ki, "With that in mind, you'll likely only have between five to ten minutes to travel to Future Cell's era, track down the lab and the information it holds, and get out before she decides to intervene." "Alright, let's do this." Twilight said, because with that information in mind she knew this might be her only shot at getting the information she was after, to which she held out her hand and summoned her staff, surprising the three newcomers with that fact, that she had progressed to that point in such a short period of them, before jumping into the space-time rift they had opened for her. As she passed through the rift everything around her seemed to distort for a time before she arrived in what appeared to be a destroyed world, as in a version of Future Trunks' post apocalyptic world, where the buildings were destroyed, a fair number of the mountains had been blasted to pieces, and everything was in ruin. Since this was Cell's era Twilight knew not to expect there to be any Ki signatures, as he must have killed everyone before going after his version of Trunks, and, true to form, she felt no one else, meaning she was alone in this world and wouldn't have to worry about certain people coming to bother her. With that in mind Twilight burst into the air and surged off in the direction of Gero's lab, or at least the hidden one that she had found under where 16, 17, and 18 had been stored away, though she hoped it was still intact, otherwise this would be a waste of her time. Given Demigra's warning she kept her senses open and made sure of where the rift back to her era was located, the only thing generating energy right now, since there was no telling when Chronoa might show up, or anyone else she might send to stop her from completing her task. After a few moments Twilight smiled as she found that the mountain was intact and that the main lab was pristine, despite the destruction that was outside the lab, where she found the ladder down into the depths, made her way down to the secret lab, and quickly tapped into the computer as she inserted a drive, one that would allow her to download what she was here for. "You made great time, Twilight." a familiar voice said, where Twilight turned around after imputing the final code, which would allow her to download everything that was on the computer, and found an interesting sight, she came face to face with an older version of her, who was at least twenty years older than her and yet it looked like she was roughly around twenty-five, likely having either learned their mother's secret or wished for immortality. "I wanted to get this done before the Cell Games started... you knew I would be coming because you did the same when it was your time to do so." Twilight remarked, though out of all the things she expected would happen, in a world without anyone for her to be worried about, this was one of the events she thought might go down and was still surprised to see her future self standing nearby, wearing a black suit that resembled her armor, "However, because of the differences in our timelines, you may or may not have encountered Cell or taken part in his Cell Games, which means you likely either fought the androids or left with father when he came to pick mom and us up... or something else happened in your era, something different than what I've gone through." "And you would be right." Future Twilight replied, where she smiled for a moment, as if recalling how nice it was to talk to someone who understood her and didn't try to force her to do things their way, or maybe there was something else she was thinking about and likely wouldn't share it with her past self, before she pulled out a pouch and tossed it to Twilight, who caught it, "I have placed a drive in that pouch, one that can be used with the computer you have no doubt taken over in your era, which contains some blueprints that I think you'll find to be interesting, considering why you're here... and, in the off chance that things go differently for you, I've included a sample of an interesting creature that will help you do what you're thinking about." Twilight raised an eyebrow for a moment as she double-checked the pouch's contents, finding a drive similar to hers and a hand sized cylinder container that had a small bubblegum pick shard inside it, like it was suspended from time itself since it wasn't moving. "Fascinating. If you're giving this to me, it means that I'll most likely meet the creature this came from." Twilight said, a fact that made her wonder what sort of being it might have come from, while at the same time finding that her future self was still leaning against the wall that seemed to be her favorite spot, at least in this area anyway, before she considered what this meant for her, "It also means I'll do the same thing you're doing right now: take a sample through time to give it to a past version of myself so they can either do the exact same thing we're thinking of or do whatever they're thinking about doing when we finally meet them. I wonder how many of us there are right now?" "A fair amount, though the gods don't seem to care." Future Twilight remarked, making her wonder what sort of side effect there might be to having multiple of her running around, across different timelines that usually didn't intersect with each other, before she mentally counted something that she knew about, "There's the Goddesses of Destruction and Creation... Goku's sister... the Queen of Dragons... Gohan's sister... Vegeta's daughter... the succubus... the hero of Earth, Satan's daughter and Videl's sister... and the Dragon of the Abyss, to name a few." "...and now I suddenly want to exterminate multiple timelines... the me that's Goku's sister must be infuriating." Twilight commented, as she wasn't sure what to make of the information she was being given, even though it was interesting to hear about what sort of positions or beings her other selves had become, as she must have landed in different times and different locations to cause something like this, "Also, a succubus? Really?!" "Yes, she somehow landed on a planet called Hell... no, not the one in the Other World that had the line we experienced... and was raised by two succubi." Future Twilight said, causing Twilight to wonder what sort of events the figure near her had gone through in her timeline, since they had to be different from what was happening to her right now, before she shook her head for a couple of seconds, "Trust me on this, you really don't want to know what she's been up to since she landed there... nor do you want to know what she's doing right now." Twilight was about to make a remark to her future self, about how she shouldn't have said that since it made her want to know what in the world was so bad that another version of herself would recommend such a thing, but before she could say anything her future self sensed something and disappeared without saying anything else. It made her wonder what in the world she could have sensed, though that was when she found someone new standing to her left, a lady who looked a lot like the lady who tried to stop her twice in the past, but before lashing out she stopped herself. This was someone new, who had short aquamarine hair and teal colored skin, with some sort of golden hat of sorts with miniature clocks on it, all while her clothing, while identical to the annoying time lady, was dark blue colored. She couldn't feel the lady's Ki, just like she couldn't feel the other lady's whenever she saw her, causing her to wonder if they were on a higher plane of existence of something, before focusing on the newcomer. "So you are Twilight Sparkle... fascinating." the newcomer said, almost as if she had been watching Twilight for some time and that she had forced herself into meeting with her, instead of watching from the sidelines, though it was possible that she was also seeing something else that Twilight couldn't see at the moment, "I am Aeos, the former Supreme Kai of Time, and, as you no doubt guessed, I have been keeping an eye on you for some time now." "You mean like the other lady who wears similar clothing to what you're wearing?" Twilight inquired, where she turned her head to the computer for a moment and made sure everything was going well with it, downloading everything that was on it so she could use it once she got back to her own era. "Yes, I'm well aware that Chronoa has pissed you off... wrongly, might I add." Aeos replied, something that caused Twilight to stop for a moment and focus on her once more, where she held a hand out and a purple scroll appeared above it, one that she flipped around like it was a coin, "You see, I was interested in who was making so many alternate timelines... your alternate selves have been busy... and when I first found you I realized that the single timeline I was trying to protect was no longer valid. Your timeline... well, it is the proper timeline now." "Let me guess: you're going to take this Chronoa down and replace her?" Twilight asked, though such a thing was far more interesting than she originally assumed, the old keeper of time was coming out of retirement to deal with the one who was apparently messing up with her important job, and it sounded like Aeos was planning on making sure nothing foul or bad happened to her again. "Maybe... time will tell. Also, you may count me as one of your allies, as your life is incredibly important." Aeos said, which came as a surprise to Twilight, since this was the first time that someone other than her family had said something like this to her, before Aeos caught the scroll and it ignited in blue fire, causing her to focus on Twilight once more, "I cannot wait to see what sort of reality you end up creating." Twilight said nothing to that as Aeos faded away, just like her future self had done, causing her to chuckle as she went back to her work, as the gods themselves seemed to favor her more than everyone else, and it made her eager to face whatever the future held for her and her family. Cell sighed for a moment as he stood in the middle of his arena, the same thing he had been doing for the most part since he delivered his message to the Z Warriors and the rest of the Earth, where he wondered if giving everyone nine days was far too much time. The only thing that made him not regret his decision was the fact that Twilight was going to come and fight, as she had been excited by his perfect form and the power it possessed, meaning he might have a wonderful fight in the very near future, a warrior who could keep pace with him and stand her ground against his might. Son Goku was the one everyone was interested in tearing down, in fact he was sure Gero had thought of ordering him to kill the Saiyan once he had been born, but he, on the other hand, was far more interested in Twilight and the unfathomable power that had to be dwelling inside her. His bout with her when he was tracking down the androids, even if it was mostly a pretend one to fool everyone else, gave him far more excitement than the idea of clashing with Goku and his pathetic friends, which did make him wonder if she was his match or if he'd actually overcome her. As he considered what sort of battle he would have with Twilight, and who might be the victor, he discovered that he had a guest visiting the ring, a slender female with blue skin, a Demon based on Twilight's mother's appearance, who wore a black flowing sleeveless robe, a golden belt with a demonic 'P' in the middle of it, a pair of black arm covers that had to be from a robe, long teal hair, and a yellow cape that moved with the wind. "Can I help you?" Cell asked, as while he knew it wasn't time for the Cell Games, in fact he had gone out and stole a clock from one of the cities he had exterminated before obtaining his perfect form, he still felt it was odd to get people after the army had been taken care of, at least civilians anyway. "Indeed you can, Cell... you are Cell, correct?" the Demon replied, where he noticed that she was holding a staff in her right hand, one that ended in a point and had a small blue orb floating above it, with three pointed tips surrounding it in the three other cardinal directions, plus she had crimson red markings under her eyes, though she waited for him to nod his head before speaking again, "I am Putine, and my comrades and I need you to kill someone for us... specifically we need you to kill Twilight Sparkle during your grand Cell Games." "Okay, I have to ask: what has she done to wrong you and your mysterious comrades?" Cell inquired, because while he felt that such a thing might happen during the battle with the figure he wanted to fight, there was a good chance that his new power might actually kill her, he was curious as to why Putine and her allies desired such a thing in the first place. "I was told not to say anything, but just know it would benefit everyone greatly." Putine said, something that didn't fill Cell with the need or desire to actually kill Twilight, even though he was sure that would change once their battle started, but he said nothing as the figure thought about the task that she was asking him to provide for her, "I can, however, tell you that my comrades and I will be watching the entirety of the Cell Games and will aid you in this endeavor, if you decide to kill her for us. We know there are certain moves you have learned or gained over the years, even those embedded in the DNA of the galaxy's greatest warriors, and one of them will allow us to blindside her, as she would be focused on you and nothing else... if you help us we can give you whatever you desire: incredible power, the greatest challengers that any of the timelines have to offer, immortality if you so desire. Name it and it'll be yours." "Out of curiosity, would that include being able to fight warriors or even teams of powerful fighters from the timelines, in a melee to improve my great skills?" Cell asked, as while he didn't trust the figure in question, she refused to mention why it was so important for him to kill Twilight on behalf of her and her comrades, he did find the concept of a massive version of the Cell Games to be interesting, especially since he was nearly invincible with his combined cells. "You mean like a Space-Time Tournament of sorts?" Putine inquired, where she tilted her head for a moment, as if she had to think about the question that had been asked and what it might meant for her comrades, since Cell was sure that they were the higher ranking members of her group, meaning she was the bottom member and listened to what they had to say, and had to go to them about matters such as this, "Sure, I don't see why we can't do something like that for the one who dealt with the thorn in our sides... and, if we free Mechikabura, creating such a tournament would be easy. Does this mean we can count on you, Cell?" "Listen, you can't confirm if such a thing is possible, so I can't agree to the offer... but, if you can confirm that you can put together a 'Space-Time Tournament', I'll consider the job." Cell said, as he wasn't going to agree to anything unless he was sure that it wouldn't come back to bite him and that he had assurance that Putine's comrades were willing to aid him like she claimed they would, even though he knew the move she had mentioned earlier, the one that might be able to kill their target in no time. As Putine nodded her head she disappeared into what looked like a rift of some kind, which closed in a matter of seconds, causing Cell to focus on the Cell Games once more as he wondered what in the world was even going on anymore, even though he was looking forward to the big day more than he had been a few minutes ago. > Cell: Final Training > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- When Twilight returned to the present, allowing the portal to Cell's future to close behind her, she handed her mother the drive that contained everything she had been downloaded from the computer and made sure to give her the pouch as well, along with her desire to get to work on them upon her return. Towa knew what was on her mind, she wanted to see the power of the Hyperbolic Time Chamber with her own eyes, as in she wanted to experience it for herself, and if she wanted she also had someone who could join her, for a time anyway. Goku was strong, and was growing stronger over time, but he was out of time in the chamber, while most of the other Z Warriors didn't care about it, after discovering how strong their foe was, leaving him with a single option that wasn't her family or her new allies. Gohan was just as strong as his father, but the difference was that while Goku had deep depths to his power, and explosive growth when backed into a corner, his son's potential was unfathomable, just like her when she recalled what her mother said on the matter. It stood to reason that her best training partner would be Gohan, especially when she considered that his anger seemed to be the key to drawing out more of his power, due to his Saiyan heritage, which was why Twilight left her family and allies to their business as she flew out to Goku's place. Of course, as she soon discovered, Chi-Chi was against Gohan training, in fact she seemed to dislike the fact that he was a fighter while both she and her husband were fighters, though instead of trying to convince her Twilight just let Goku talk to her about what was going on. She thought it was stupid for Chi-Chi to even think of such a thing, even though she could see the logic in wanting her son to be more than his father, since Goku just continued to train and fight without thinking about what the future held for him, but decided not to get involved. She could easily talk Chi-Chi into agreeing to allow Gohan to come with her to the Lookout for a day, in fact Twilight was sure if she did such a thing it would be over in a few seconds, but Goku was able to do it without too much time passing. With Chi-Chi convinced that all they would be doing was some training, and that he wouldn't be fighting against Cell, why she thought that Twilight had no idea, Goku used his Instant Transmission to get them to the Lookout, where Piccolo was hanging out until the big day. Upon seeing them arrive, however, he escorted the group to the door that lead to the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, where he and Goku allowed her and Gohan to enter before quickly closing the ornate door, though Twilight stared at the lone structure they were in before glancing out at the seemingly endless void. "So, this is the inside of a Hyperbolic Time Chamber... complete with a building that has sleeping arrangements, food, and even a bath." Twilight commented, in fact she was a little surprised by what she was seeing right now, though it was good since endless training without rest was bad for one's body, before she stepped out into the endless void before turning to face her temporary training partner. "I know you decided to take my father up on his earlier comment, about training with me, but are you sure that you want me to be your training partner for a whole year?" Gohan asked, though as he said that he took off the mantle he had been given as part of his new clothing set, thanks to Piccolo replacing his old attire after he had trained with his father, because he suspected that Twilight would drag him out if he wasted too much time. "Personally, I'd love to train against your father, but he's used up his time in here, and I'd likely kill Vegeta or Trunks if I was left in here with either of them, so you're the only one left." Twilight replied, because Gohan's current power was greater than what both Vegeta and Future Trunks had right now, which had to be his latent power coming to the surface, in addition to gaining the power of a Super Saiyan, so by training with him her power would grow faster than before, "Just know that I won't go easy on you, as we have precious time and can't afford to waste any of it." Gohan sighed as he jumped out of the housing area and moved away from it, though he was worried about his chances of even being the perfect training partner that Twilight thought he'd be, as there was no telling what sort of powers or skills she had access to, since she had kept all of that to herself. In the next moment he and Twilight shifted their stances, as he knew that clashing with her was unavoidable at this point, before rushing at each other, allowing him to see that Twilight swung at him first and that her punches were far stronger than his father's had been. Such a thing made sense when he stopped and thought about it, she was supposedly the strongest fighter among them, far more than anyone he knew, and her power matched what he knew, even though his father had told him that he thought she was hiding a power that none of them had seen so far. Gohan wasn't sure if that had been his father's hope, that Twilight had improved her skills to the point that she had gained a new form or something, but right now he had the feeling he was going to figure something out as he clashed with her, if she deemed him worthy of such a thing anyway. Twilight, sensing that her opponent was focused on thinking about certain things right now, opened her fist and grabbed onto Gohan's outstretched hand before he could do anything to stop her, allowing her to turn and haul him over her head in an instant, ending with him crashing into the ground. "I know you would rather be studying something right now... trust me, I get it... but you have to take this seriously, before you get hurt." Twilight commented, where she pulled Gohan up, let go of him, and then kicked him with the side of her left leg, sending him flying through the air while making sure he went further away from the living area, showing him that she was all he should be thinking about right now. In the very next moment Gohan knew she was being serious, as he found a slim mass of energy coming at him, one that he could have sworn looked like a lance made of blue lightning as he dodged it, though it surged off into the distance and blew up in the depths of the void, kicking up hurricane level wind. If this was the real world he knew that such an attack would have leveled an island, as in one the size of the one that 19 and 20 picked as their target to exercise their powers, and it made him finally shiver as he looked into her cold eyes and knew that she'd kill him in an instant if she desired such a thing. He felt fear creep through his body as he finally understood just how terrifying she could be, to the point that she put her own father to shame, all while Twilight moved her right hand a little and the air around her seemed to get colder, to the point where she created several fist sized shards of ice and sent them at her young opponent. Gohan forced himself to move as he raised his arm and fired Ki blasts at the incoming projectiles, blowing them to pieces before they could hurt him, but as the smoke cleared he discovered that his opponent was already on the move. Twilight had moved to his right in the span of a few seconds, showing him that her attack had been more of a distraction and he foolishly fell for it, though how could he not when he had no knowledge of her skills and abilities, but he let his fear fuel him into acting, going on the offensive before Twilight could. He discovered that she was perfectly fine with that and switched to the defensive, either eliminating the movements she had planned for her assault or putting them on hold until an opening showed itself to her, where she dodged his attacks and even parried a few with ease. Gohan suspected that she was testing him, to see if he was actually a valuable partner when it came to training, and was studying his reactions and movements, maybe trying to see if there was more to him or his inner power that he wasn't showing her right now. At the same time he knew that keeping her on the defensive meant she wasn't able to concentrate and fire off any of her more powerful attacks, meaning she had to resort to simple blasts of energy if she wanted to attack him like before. The problem he was discovering was that Twilight's speed was greater than his own, again it made sense due to the fact that her power had to be greater than what everyone thought it was, which meant he had to pull out all of his power to even stand his ground, even though she was pushing him back as the seconds went by. Despite that, however, Twilight found an opening in his defenses and slipped through it, as in she grabbed his head with her right hand and slammed him into the ground, much like she did when Future Trunks ticked her off, before he felt an odd shiver course through his body before she backed away... but as Gohan picked himself up he found that they were in one of the main cities of the world, much to his confusion. "Wh... What in the world?! We're in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber... right?" Gohan inquired, because while he knew that Twilight was strong, in fact he was currently rethinking what he and the others knew about her powers, this was outside the realm of reality when it came to Frieza's daughter, or maybe it wasn't based on what he was seeing right now since he was sure there were people on the streets. "Gohan, until you take this seriously, and use your full power against me, I'm going to slowly exterminate humanity, city by city, household by household." Twilight replied, as there was no reason for her to answer him, because it wasn't important to what she was trying to do to get the best opponent for her own training, all while she held up her left hand and pointed her pointer finger to the sky as she gathered some of her energy, "I wonder how many innocent people will die before you make up your mind." In that moment Gohan found that Twilight was planning on wiping out this city first, as the attack she was building was a burning sphere of energy, almost a literal sun when he stared at it, that was roughly as large as the Capsule Corp building, before sending it down into the ground. The detonation that followed resulted in the total destruction of the city and the deaths of who knew how many people, though this confirmed something else in Gohan's mind, Twilight didn't care about the people of the Earth, to her they were pawns to be used however she saw fit. Shockingly enough some people survived that attack and started to move, as if fearing that more destruction and death would happen to their fair city, though he turned to his opponent and demanded that she stop tormenting the innocent. Twilight, of course, ignored him as she went to town on the rest of the people that were below them, raining blasts of energy down on the ruined city and struck each of them before they had a chance to get away from her, though she also wrapped rings of dark energy around Gohan, which bound him to his spot. The plan was to make him sit and watch, allowing his anger to build until he reached his breaking point, since she figured that the explosion of energy would break her spell, and for a while nothing seemed to happen as he tried, in vain, to break out of his bindings and stop her from tormenting the world. With that in mind she switched to people he knew, blasting all of them as she looked for a reaction of some kind from him, and while it was clear that she was on the right track it was also clear that Gohan needed something specific to trigger what she was after. In that moment Twilight decided to explode 16 to see if it might do what she was after and found that it stirred something inside the boy, she could practically feel the anger radiating from him, and to really drive the point home she used her power to crush his head into a thousand pieces, right in front of her opponent's face. Such a thing seemed to be the final straw as Gohan's anger ignited and his aura flared to life once more, as he let out what seemed to be either a scream of anger or maybe a roar of some kind, but it had the desired effect she was after as she found that Gohan's hair was spikier than before, save for a bang resting in front of his right eye, and his aura had blue lightning dancing around it every now and then. This was no mere Graded Form, like what Vegeta and Trunks had created during their time in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, rather Twilight realized that this was a whole new transformation, a Super Saiyan that has ascended past a Super Saiyan, a 'Super Saiyan 2' she guessed. "Well now, it seems that I've finally got your attention." Twilight remarked, because now that Gohan's full power had been brought to the surface, in fact he was far stronger than she could have imagined him being, she knew that it was time for her to begin her training in earnest, as this would give her what she was looking for, "Now we can begin training for re..." In that instant Gohan, having already shattered her spell with his new transformation's power, crossed the distance that was between them and struck her right in the stomach, hard enough to where she was sure that without armor he would have broken a rib or two, before he kicked her down into the ground with his new power. "I'm going to make you pay in blood for what you did to the people of Earth." Gohan stated, showing Twilight that more of his Saiyan genes were showing right now, as the transformation had brought the fierce and unforgiving nature of the Saiyan race to the surface, changing him into a fierce warrior who was planning on killing her, before the sky cracked and broke in an instant, the Earth vanishing as they returned to the chamber. "I knew you were strong, but even I wasn't expecting this... your attacks were enough to force me to break the illusion that I had placed on you." Twilight remarked, where she pushed herself up off the ground and stretched a little, because while that attack had hurt she was far more interested in Gohan's new power, who was staring at her with a slight look of confusion on his face, "Don't get me wrong, I could easily wipe out the cities of this planet and exterminate everyone else... in fact I could do it in a day with my family helping me out, if I wanted to make a game out of it... but I needed you to believe that what you were seeing was real, hence the illusion to make it seem like we had warped outside the chamber. Truth be told this is the first time I've used my illusion powers against someone... I'm glad it worked so well, especially with the results you have given me recently... but don't think your new form will give you the advantage!" Gohan raised an eyebrow for a moment as a surge of darkness surrounded Twilight, who chuckled as she shifted into her Dark Form, for the first time since she unlocked the ability to use it, though once she was ready to go the two rushed at each other and clashed, their energies causing the air to shudder as they started the real training. Piccolo, after escorting the pair to the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, returned to the main courtyard of the Lookout without delay, mostly so he could return to his meditation as he readied himself for whatever the future held for the planet, since he had no idea what might happen during the Cell Games, only to find that Goku was sticking around. "I figured you would have gone home or something." Piccolo remarked, though at the same time he knew the Saiyan as well as Krillin and some of his friends did and knew that he likely had some sort of plan in mind, given that Cell was quite strong in his perfect form, not counting his beastification due to absorbing 17. "Chi-Chi told me to stick around and bring Gohan home the moment he was done training." Goku replied, which made sense due to the fact that his wife was concerned for their son, even though he knew Gohan could handle anything and everything that Twilight threw at him, since he had seen the depths of his son's power and knew he would be alright, even if his partner might be stronger than they assumed, "So I thought I'd just relax up here, maybe chat with Dende and Mr. Popo, and wait for them to finish whatever training Twilight has planned... there's nothing else to do while we wait for the Cell Games to begin, especially since I've already gathered the Dragon Balls." "Honestly, I'm glad she's still on our side, despite our various failures... going to need to apologize to her at some point in the near future, to stay on good terms with her." Piccolo commented, where he was mostly speaking to himself, as his mind was on what they needed to do once Cell was beaten, due to the fact that it looked like Twilight might be the one to beat Cell, instead of Goku like everyone was used to, "At the very least Cell has remained where he built his ring, instead of heading out to strike fear into the rest of the remaining people who call this world home." "Really? I would have thought he'd do something other than stand around... that's got to be boring." Goku said, though he knew that if it had been him in that situation he would have hauled in a bunch of devices to aid him in his training, just so he could make sure he was ready for whatever the big day had to offer, "Are there any other challengers coming to the games, or is it just us?" "Hm..." Piccolo replied, showing that he was focusing on the planet that was down below them, as he had inherited some of Kami's powers to watch over what was below the Lookout, no doubt because he could help the new God of Earth learn how to use this particular skill, before locating Mr. Satan on a balcony with his young daughter, the former not even a little concerned about Cell. Piccolo considered what Krillin and Yamcha had told him while they were hunting for Cell, back in his imperfect form when 17 and 18 were still at large, about someone who happened to be the 'World Martial Arts Champion' due to the fact that he had won multiple Tenka'ichi Budokai, during their time on Namek and their preparations for the androids. Since he was the 'strongest' on the planet, in the eyes of the population, he knew that Mr. Satan had likely been called to deal with Cell, or the people had looked to him to do the deed since they didn't know about the Z Warriors. If he was planning on doing battle in the Cell Games it certainly didn't look like it, in fact it looked like he was enjoying his dinner with his daughter at the moment, using his wealth and fame to do whatever he wanted while the world around him burned, since the people had gone quiet after hearing he was entering the Cell Games. It also looked like he might be preparing to utilize some of Twilight's TF Foods to boost his power, no doubt because of Cell's dragon form, and had even gotten his daughter some, maybe the fox variety given some nearby boxes, but she didn't seem interested in them. He also remembered overhearing Twilight mention something about people below eighteen shouldn't take any Animorph X, in whatever form her products take, otherwise it screwed with their body in some manner, but after seeing that scene he pulled his attention back to the Lookout. "As far as I can tell, we might be the only ones getting ready to face Cell in his 'tournament'." Piccolo said, because right now he didn't see any powerful fighters that weren't in their group getting ready for the Cell Games, meaning it was them and Twilight, plus Mr. Satan he guessed, against the creature Gero's computer had created, odds that he was fine with, as their temporary ally was the best they could ask for. Despite that fact Goku was excited for the big day, he wanted to see Cell's full power and whatever power Twilight was in the process of unlocking with her own intense training, causing him to get to relaxing as he waited for the day of the Cell Games to arrive, as he was sure it would be one they wouldn't forget for a long time. > Cell: Warm-up Matches > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Goku found that Twilight remained true to her word, she trained with Gohan for an entire day and made sure he left the Hyperbolic Time Chamber when his time was drawing to a close, though he and Piccolo found that he was no longer in his Super Saiyan state when he emerged. Such a thing told him that Twilight's training must have been intense, forcing him to power down to his base state, causing Goku to wonder just how much stronger his son had become by facing off against the pony girl and what he might have learned during that time. At the same time they found that Twilight remained inside the chamber, spending the last day alone so she could make the most of her time before the Cell Games started, which only made Goku interested in what sort of power Twilight would emerge with. In fact he was discovering that she might be the only one that could stand before Cell's great and terrible power, meaning it would be in their best interests to let her take the lead this time around and not get in the way of whatever she was planning. When the day of the Cell Games arrived, however, Goku teleported up to the Lookout and found that some of their group were already ready to go, before everyone stopped in their tracks as Twilight emerged from the main structure, having taken the time to change into a pristine version of her armor. "Today's the big day. I hope you're ready to face Cell, Twilight." Goku said, because while he wanted to have a go at Cell, as he was excited to see what sort of power the bio-android had to offer in his altered perfect form, he also knew that she wanted a proper fight, due to it having been a while since her last fight, and this was the best chance for her. "I'm as ready as one can be." Twilight remarked, as her training with Gohan had beneficial, despite the harsh beginning she had to put him through to unlock his hidden power, just like her training on her own had given her more power as well, so she was far stronger than she was letting the others see right now, causing her to float into the air, "Come, let's pay Cell a visit and get the games underway." Twilight wasted no time to departing from the Lookout, zeroing in on the area that the arena had been built in, because she could sense Cell's energy and found that he hadn't moved at all, in fact if he did anything it had happened before this point in time. While she did that Goku and the others followed after her, even though she found that Vegeta had left the Lookout and was rushing through the air, meaning he would no doubt reach the ring first, and he wasn't the only one that was moving right now. Twilight could sense her family and her new allies moving, plus she suspected that Aeos and the hidden watchers would be observing the Cell Games as a whole, not to mention she knew that a foolish human would also show up, given what was on the news before she went into the chamber. Either way it excited her to no end, as it was time for her to face one of the strongest foes on the planet and see how she measured up to him, especially with the various bits of Saiyan genetics that had been added to his genetic makeup. It didn't take her too long to reach the area that Cell had constructed his ring in, where she found that he had flattened it to make a pure marble white square shaped ring, which resembled the tournament arenas that Goku and the others had fought in, and, sure enough, she found some camera people waiting on a cliff. Since she had arrived sooner than the others, who were some distance behind her, Twilight stopped and observed the scene in front of her as a black car with red letters drove close to the ring, where a tall man with a rather muscular body, wearing a brown gi and a white cape over it, stepped out of the vehicle. Based on his black afro, and the championship belt around his waist, she had to assume that this was Mr. Satan, the World Martial Arts Champion, who also stood as the hero that the people were looking up to, where the car drove away and left him to his match. He seemed to make some motions in Cell's direction, indicating that he would be the one to take him down, which his fans had to be eating up right now, though she knew that if he dared to face Cell he'd likely end up dead. As he taunted the bio-android, mocking him for becoming a dragon Beastian since it 'showed' everyone that he was a coward, as it seemed to make sense to the man, she realized that she had passed Vegeta at one point and had arrived sooner than he had, or he had gone somewhere else before coming here. Mr. Satan beckoned for the cameraman and the announcer to come over to him and when they did so he lashed out at Cell more, making sure everyone watching knew his opinions on the matter, especially since he claimed that Cell used all sorts of 'tricks' to blow the city up and defeat the military, all while Cell just ignored him as he glanced at Twilight, which put a smile on his face as Vegeta finally showed up. "So, Prince, are you going to take part in the games, or are you just here to watch?" Cell asked, because if it was the former he was going to break him in no time, given what happened the last time they fought and the power he was feeling from the Saiyan, even if he was hiding his power from him, but as the announcer informed them that five minutes were left he found 16 landing nearby, with the Capsule Corp logo over his actual logo. In the next few moments Goku and the others landed on one side of the arena, surprising the ordinary people with their sudden arrival, though that was when Twilight floated down to a small hill that had survived Cell's previous destruction of the area, followed by her family and new allies landing behind her. As they discussed their plan, however, Mr. Satan told all of them that there was no way they were going to fight Cell, he had, after all, arrived first and, as the World Champ, it was his duty to face off against Cell, who was more than willing to deal with him for a tiny bit. Goku considered telling him that he'd die out there, to save Mr. Satan's life, but decided not to, as he seemed like someone who would ignore what his peers or other people had to say, so he stood back with the others as the man focused on Cell. Such a thing involved him taking off his cape, showing off the championship belt, before using a capsule to pull out a bag that he withdrew a number of tiles from, fifteen that he moved to break with the edge of his hand, even if he ended up breaking fourteen of them, a fact he seemed pleased with. Twilight, having heard what one of her alternate selves had to deal with in their timeline, frowned as she stared at him for a time, mentally moving the timeline where she was Mr. Satan's daughter up the list of those she was planning on ending in the future, before noticing that someone was going to speak their mind about this stupid show. "Gods, this guy is a moron... Cell might just kill him to get rid of an annoying pest." Frieza commented, something that was followed by everyone in Twilight's group nodding their heads in agreement, they knew that Mr. Satan was dead no matter what, not unless the bio-android showed mercy and spared him to kill him later. "Hey, idiot, don't make such stupid claims." the announcer stated, clearly hearing what Frieza had to say on the matter, a fact that stopped everyone in their tracks as Cell chuckled, since he knew they were foolish to say such a thing to him, the Emperor of the Universe, "You wouldn't last five seconds against Cell!" In that moment Goku and the others knew what was coming, some even calling for Frieza not to do what he was thinking, but Twilight just grinned as her father loosed a blast into the cameraman's chest, killing him instantly, before he turned towards the now scared announcer. "Call me an idiot again and I'll kill you for real." Freiza stated, where the figure nodded his head as he mentally freaked out over what he was seeing, even if Mr. Satan seemed unfazed and claimed that it was all tricks, causing everyone to sigh for a moment, as there was no convincing him that he was in the wrong. 16, having nothing to do right now, walked over to the fallen camera and lifted it up, acting like a temporary cameraman for the rest of the world, which was when Mr. Satan went on the assault, kicking at Cell's muzzle with a 'Dynamite Kick', a barrage of punches to the chest, and even a powerful elbow blow aimed at the head, causing Cell to swing his arm not a second later and sent Mr. Satan into a tall hill. "Now that the trash has been dealt with, whose first?" Cell remarked, where the heroes and Twilight's group found that Mr. Satan was still alive, even though his face was bruised from hitting the side of a hill, causing him to stagger back to the arena for another round with Cell, and it wasn't long before he turned to face the one he wanted to fight, "Twilight, will you be my first real opponent?" "Not quite. You have some opponents that want to tackle you first." Twilight said, though as she said that five figures that had been hiding behind her group jumped into the air as her mother brought out a small music player and hit play, likely to play a theme that the individuals had prepared for this day. Frieza couldn't help but chuckle as the Ginyu Force landed in the ring and Cell faced them, where he found that they were doing the same poses they had used when they landed on Namek, meaning they must have been ones the group liked, before Cell chuckled as he created four copies of himself, making it five on five. Twilight realized what this move was, due to the fact she had done her research on the Z Warriors and their abilities, as she informed them that it was the Multiform technique, one that allowed the user to make multiple copies of themselves while it cut into their power, so each Cell held a fifth of his total power. In the following seconds Twilight felt time shudder as Guldo, of all people, made the first move as his friends touched his shoulders, or rather the shoulders of his new armor, causing them to move through time to strike Cell and his copies before they could react to what was going on. It was a good idea, because out of all the powers Cell had access to, thanks to the various DNA samples that had been used to construct his perfect form, he didn't have any of the powers that the Ginyu Force possessed, and since they were dead in his era he had no idea that Guldo could even do such a thing. The fascinating thing that Twilight discovered was that Guldo, by training with Tien and even getting some lessons from her mother, was able to evolve the skill so he didn't have to take a breath, meaning he had figured out how to use it with a new activation movement to improve his actual combat abilities. By allowing his friends to place their hands on him he was able to draw them into the moment he wanted to freeze, which was followed by them striking at Cell and his copies in the next few seconds, a fact that caused them to reappear as time resumed, surprising those who weren't in the know by what they had done. While it might not have done a lot of damage to Cell or his copies, as they were still pristine, Twilight could see that the bio-android was surprised by their tactic, not to mention the fact that each warrior hit harder than the likes of Krillin, causing him to smile for a moment. Such a thing meant that he was pleased with their current power and would take them somewhat seriously, since he needed a worthy challenger to make him use his full potential, though it meant they would have some entertainment before the real battle began. As Cell and his copies moved to strike down the Ginyu Force, since the odds were still stacked in his favor due to his level of power, the five warriors shuffled themselves as time shuddered again, leading to them uppercutting their foes into the air before following after them. When they shuffled themselves again Twilight instantly understood the plan, they wanted to keep Guldo safe so they could slip in and out of time without Cell catching on, and even if he did figure out the ploy the constant moving the five of them were doing meant it was hard to keep track of the smallest warrior. Their movements were so well practiced that each member of the group could do it without talking, showing how much they trusted each other, while also allowing them to utilize his small power over time to their advantage against their enemies, meaning they would be far deadlier when they returned to the empire. Obviously they trained to attack the same person at the same time and to attack multiple people at the same time, showing that Ginyu had planned for every possibility, since the five of them struck their targets higher into the air that was above the ring. They knew that ringing Cell out wasn't possible, not with the power of flight, and they likely also knew that beating him into nothingness was outside the scope of their powers, but even with the odds stacked against them Ginyu and his men kept on fighting, trying to take Cell down. Twilight was sadly proven right now even a few seconds later as Cell figured out part of the timing that was going on and punched Guldo in the face as his copies were struck by the other warriors, a fact that surprised them all since they didn't think he was capable of such a thing. Such a thing was followed by Cell grabbing onto the smallest warrior and hurled him down to the ground with all of his fragmented might, ending in Guldo being the first one to be ringed out, causing him to groan for a moment before being disappointed in himself for failing his friends in this battle. Following that one of the Cells disappeared, making it four on four as he evenly distributed his power again, a fact that was followed by the others going on the offensive as the remaining members of the Ginyu Force rushed at them in return, showing their foe that they weren't going to go down without a fight. Recoome, for example, blocked an incoming attack and struck his foe in the back of the head, sending his Cell back down to the arena and followed after him without delay, while at the same time Ginyu and his opponent flashed around the air as both sought openings to use against the other. Jeice and Burter rushed into the air as their foes found them passing right by them and followed without delay, where the pair separated from each other and then struck their opponents by making a fourth of a circle in the air. The plan was simple, based on what Twilight was seeing, they were grouping up two of their foes and making sure they were stuck in the same area for a time, where Burter picked up his speed and rushed all over the place as Jeice stood in one spot, focusing his energy for whatever they had planned. Once the speedster was pleased with his results, in his attempts to confuse and distract his opponent, he stopped by Jeice and both combined their energies into a single mass before firing it, attempting to blast both of their opponents into oblivion. Sadly the two Cells moved out of the way and let the attack pass by them, causing Twilight to snatch it with her power, as it was heading off into space and she didn't want to be wasteful, before both were knocked out of the air by their foes, a fact that lead to them crashing into the ground near Guldo. Recoome went on the offensive more than before as he and Ginyu found out that three of them were knocked out, since the Ginyu Force were honorable warriors and stuck to the rules that their opponents used in battle, where he swung at his foe as the other two Cells disappeared. With the two remaining foes at half of Cell's full power Twilight knew that it was only a matter of time until he and Ginyu were ringed out, despite their attempts to bring down their foes, but she was impressed that their skills had grown so much and knew they would do her father well in the future. Cell dueled with Recoome for a time, blocking his attacks and slipping his own blows through the warrior's defenses, and even when the muscular warrior called on his aura the bio-android continued his assault, before he and the other Cell directed Ginyu's Milky Cannon blast into Recoome's chest, stunning the pair for a few seconds. In the following moment the pair were knocked out of the air and landed near the rest of their team, though as some of the watchers expressed their shock Cell landed as his last copy disappeared, returning him to his full power as he took a moment to glance at his now defeated foes. "You guys fought well, but, sadly, you were no match for me, even with the Multiform Technique." Cell remarked, showing the Ginyu Force that he appreciated the warm-up they had given him, in fact he seemed ready for anything as he turned his head to look at the rest of the assembled warriors, "Now tell me, who's next?" "Me." Twilight replied, where she floated into the air for a moment before moving down to where Cell was standing, who smirked for a moment as he realized that the greatest fight of his life was about to begin, and as she landed she swung her right arm and her staff went flying, only to be caught by her mother. Goku and the others braced themselves for what was going to happen next, because while Cell was strong they had no idea how much stronger Twilight had become due to her training, meaning they were in for the show of their lives, they just had to be patient and wait for one of them to throw the first attack of the final battle. > Cell: The Main Event > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "You know, Twilight, I half expected you to let the others fight me first, to get them out of the way." Cell commented, as it would have tied into what he told the rest of the planet, to bring as many warriors as they wanted to bring him down by wearing him out, but at the same time he was more than pleased with this turn of events, "I am, however, glad that the other half, the one banking on you fighting me near the beginning, won out." "Please, like I'd let someone else have a shot at you and risk losing such a promising opponent." Twilight replied, though as she said that she glanced at the others and made sure that they were staying where they had landed, before turning her focus back to the bio-android that was in front of her as she shifted her stance, "Shall we?" "By all means, start when you're ready." Cell said, where he shifted his own stance, raising his arms as he made sure that his senses were at the ready, since there was no telling what sort of moves and techniques Twilight had, as she kept her cards close and hidden, meaning he was at a disadvantage this time. Twilight said nothing to that as she leapt forward and spun around, where she kicked at Cell using the side of her right leg and found that he raised his arm to block the attack to the best of his ability, as while they were both using a low amount of their true power she found that her base strength was slightly greater than his. As Cell realized that fact, which put a bit of a smile on his face, both he and Twilight swung at each other, their fists colliding in the space between them as she pulled back, using the force to propel herself backwards so she could touch the floor for a moment. Cell was amazed by just how well she moved in those short few seconds, using her hand to catch herself before she even hit the marble floor, along with shifting it so she could propel herself onto her hooves, showing him that she was a skilled warrior. In the next instant the two were at each others' throats again, punches flying as both warriors tried to gain the upper hand against the other, though at the same time both knew that such a thing wouldn't happen at the very beginning of the fight, which just made them more excited for what was coming up next. As he thought about that Twilight actually dropped down and let him pass over where she was resting, using her hooves to kick him up into the air for a moment, showing him that if he didn't pay full attention to what she was doing she would use those openings against him, without any sort of delay. In the next moment he found two Ki spheres rushing toward where he was located, once again showing him that Twilight was a skilled opponent, she was planning two to three steps ahead and if he became distracted for even a second she would get ahead of him. It was exhilarating, fighting a foe that was like this and not a hothead like Vegeta, or a novice like Trunks, and he wanted to see more of what Twilight had up her sleeves, since there had to be more than this considering who her father was. With that in mind Cell swung his hands and knocked the Ki blasts off to the side, allowing them to detonate in the air and away from where he was floating, though as he did that Twilight appeared behind him, upside down no less, and struck his right shoulder with her leg, sending him all the way down to the ring. In the next moment he raised his hands and his clawed fingers dug into the marble flooring as he landed, cracking some of it in an instant, before Cell turned his head as Twilight landed nearby, as calm as one could be during a battle to the death, causing him to chuckle for a moment as he stood up. "Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the warm-up with the Ginyu Force... but boy am I enjoying this one even more." Cell said, because fighting Twilight for a few moments had proved to be far more interesting than the warriors who came after the terrible annoyance that was Mr. Satan, even though the five warriors had been a great way to open the Cell Games, but as he considered what might happen next he braced himself, "Tell me, Twilight, are you ready to take this up a notch and get serious?" "Go ahead and power up. I don't mind at all." Twilight replied, though as she said that the Z Warriors and the others took a few seconds to process what she had said, as it made her sound like she was being arrogant and overconfident at the same time, while her family didn't seem worried at all, because they knew her better than anyone else. "Are you sure? I wouldn't want to seriously hurt you and bring an end to this fight prematurely." Cell stated, showing her that he valued her as a foe and wanted a real fight with her, instead of what he got when he was hunting down the pair of androids, along with the fact that part of him was worried that he'd mess her up in some manner if he used his full power while she was roughly at half her full power. "Trust me, Cell, if you can do some serious damage to me I'll give you exactly what you want." Twilight remarked, where she was referring to her base power, that she would reveal all of her base power to him, because she wanted to save her Dark Form in case Cell happened to be hiding even more of his power from her, to which she shifted her stance and got ready for her foe to play his cards, "Until then, I think I'll stick to my current level of power." Cell stood there for a moment, clearly debating whether or not she was messing with him in some manner, to get under his scales and piss him off, or if she was telling the truth about her power, the latter meaning that whatever training the couple of Saiyans had done had been completed by Twilight as well. In the next second he decided to power up anyway, where he raised his power to close to the highest point he could reach, mostly to see how he measured up before pulling out every drop of his potential to fight her, where the watchers found that his body was engulfed in a golden aura. With that done he and Twilight approached each other before he swung his fist and struck her right in the side of her face, showing everyone that his speed at this point was unmatched, though that was when his eyes widened as Twilight stood her ground, as she didn't get sent flying, and faced him. In that very moment Cell found that all his attack had done was draw a bit of blood, just like what happened when he first fought 'Super' Vegeta in his semi-perfect form, meaning that her power might be even greater than he thought it might be, which both frightened and excited him at the same time. As he considered what to do next Twilight struck him in the chest with her fist, causing him to bend over a little before she kicked him backwards, sending him straight for the edge of the ring and caused Cell to open his wings, where using them and his Ki stopped him from being knocked out. "It would seem that you are having trouble." a familiar voice said, where Cell noticed that time itself seemed to have come to a stop and discovered that Putine was floating nearby, the former being confirmed by the fact that no one else was moving right now, so it was just the two of them talking, "I can offer you additional power... and before you answer with how that's dishonorable or whatever, just know that Twilight's hiding most of her true incredible power from you. I estimate that what you are fighting right now is half her base power, possibly a quarter of her full power considering the transformation that she's keeping from you... if you continue like this, struggling against her might, you'll never win." Cell said nothing for a moment as he considered that information, Twilight was definitely hiding her full power from him, he could tell that much due to the exchanges they had engaged in so far, but if Putine was right, and his foe was keeping most of her power from him, he was at a massive disadvantage. In the end he decided to accept the offer, because with his genes he would get used to it in no time at all, especially against someone like Twilight, and to the untrained eye it would seem as if his power had exploded from fighting her. Putine, true to form, shocked his body a little as he felt his power rise to brand new heights, though the instant she finished time seemed to resume and he made it seem like he was calling forth the rest of his body as he rushed back into the arena. This time around he struck his foe in the chest with his knee, causing her to bend a little in the process, before he went on the offensive and struck her several times with his fists, showing everyone in the audience that he wasn't to be underestimated and that he would win no matter what. With that in mind he kicked upward and struck Twilight in the chin, sending her flying up into the air above the arena, but this time Cell gathered his energy as his hands moved to the right side of his body, causing those that were familiar with the technique to gasp as they realized what he was going to do next. "Ka... me... ha... me... HA!" Cell stated, quickly charging his Ki into the attack he wanted to use before firing a beam of blue straight at his opponent while she was still stunned from what he just did, because this would convince her to take him seriously and not hold back, if he trusted what Putine had told him anyway. He expected the beam to make contact with Twilight and detonate in the air far above the arena, which would do a bit of damage to her and possibly convince her to take this seriously, but that was when he found that the beam didn't go too far beyond his target location, as it didn't go into space or anything. In the next moment Cell remembered the key fact about Twilight, that she was capable of absorbing Ki and that meant she could eat attacks made out of the energy, but he thought that she had to be facing the attack in question for her ability to work. As he considered that information he had to wonder if he might have uncovered the truth about her power, that she was actually able to absorb all energy in the area she was in, regardless if she was facing an attack or not, and if that happened to be the case his attack would never reach his target. If that was the case he needed to figure out some way to actually hurt her, a way that didn't involve using Ki attacks, where he glanced at his claws for a moment and realized that he had another method available, he just had to figure out how to get to her, or he could utilize the one move he was told about and see how Twilight handed it. In the next moment Twilight appeared next to him and struck him with her right hoof, the kick sending him flying again, but he was able to regain himself and not get thrown out of the arena, where he maintained his full speed and moved all over the arena, to utilize the Multiform technique until there were four of him in the arena. While it was true that this did divide his power equally between himself and his three copies, thus making them weaker than Twilight, even with Putine's power boost, he knew that there was no way for her to compensate for there being three additional enemies, despite her earlier claims of having fought armies in the past. What surprised him, however, was that he heard a chuckle come from Twilight as she did something he wasn't expecting from her, she closed her eyes and shifted her stance, either to piss him off by how she was treating this like a game, which was entirely possible, or to give herself a challenge. For a moment both he and Twilight remained still, simply waiting for the other to make the first move, before Cell took it upon himself to take the first move as he rushed forward, to which he and his copies zeroed in on her and attacked her without delay, mostly to knock her to the ground and force her to take this seriously. What actually happened was that Twilight moved her body out of the way of his attacks, dodging the punches and kicks he and his copies used against her, even blocking a few to show that she was capable of such a thing, something that caused Demigra to consider something. "Towa, when did Twilight start to tap into that all powerful technique?" Demigra asked, though as he did so he found that Twilight even moved into the air while keeping up her battle with Cell and his copies, all without opening her eyes to see his movements, making him wonder about a godly technique he had observed in the past. "I know what you're thinking, Demigra, but this isn't that... Twilight's senses are focused on her enemy's Ki signature, or those of her enemies in this case, and she's reacting on her own." Towa replied, as she knew about Ultra Instinct as well, including the fact that it was a skill that was incredibly difficult to achieve, and had already come to the conclusion that this wasn't the technique, though it was interesting to see Twilight do this as she fought Cell. As Cell fought Twilight, or attempted to anyway since she seemed to see this as more of a game, he could tell that there were instances of time slowing down or even stopping totally for a few seconds, Putine likely bolstering his power to new heights so he could stand up to Twilight's power. Normally he would disapprove of something like this, but when his own chosen foe was holding back and not taking this seriously, well, he needed every advantage he could get to force her to show him more of her seemingly greater power. Putine and her allies seemed willing to grant him more power so he could hold his own against Twilight, though even then he could tell that they weren't expecting his foe to be so much stronger than him, given the surprised look he spotted on his benefactor's face at one point. In the next moment he found that all four of them were knocked away from where Twilight was standing, allowing them to land in the four corners of the arena, where he paused for a few seconds to get another massive boost of power from his strange allies before charging up the Special Beam Cannon. His thoughts were that Twilight could only absorb what she was looking at, as in one of them, so three would hit her while she was distracted, but when he fired his attack he found that his foe spun around and absorbed all four attacks easily, all before rushing at each of them and knocked them into the air with a kick, followed by another to pile them on top of each other in the center of the ring. "You've used plenty of Ki attacks against me so far, so here's one in return." Twilight stated, where she held her hand out towards her foe, and the arena that was resting below him, before she grinned as she loosed a blast of energy right at her target, which hit Cell in his chest and sent him flying into the arena, which exploded upon impact. The resulting detonation kicked up enough wind that knocked everyone away from where the arena rested, though as the smoke cleared everyone discovered that she had blasted a large crater into the ground, destroying the ring as well, while Cell was only missing the right side of his body, which he quickly regenerated with ease. "You know, I would be annoyed with the loss of the ring, but this makes things much better... now if only you would get a little more serious." Cell remarked, as he was fine with the destruction of the arena, in fact he had planned on doing so as soon as he had enough fun with whoever happened to entertain him enough, but he desperately wanted to see just how powerful Twilight was and have some real fun. "Is that all you can think about? Fine, I'll stop holding back." Twilight said, where her aura washed over her as she shifted into her Dark Form without wasting anymore time, the sheer power of her energy causing many to stagger as they felt her full might for the first time, to which she held her hand out as she floated down to Cell's position, her staff rushing into her hand as she landed, "I developed this during my training for the games, so I hope you appreciate being the first opponent that this is used against. Essence of Power: Light. Essence of Power: Darkness." As Twilight said that Cell watched as something interesting happened, two large spheres, each half the size of a person, formed in the space in front of her, where the one on her right took on a bright white light while the other one seemed to be full of darkness. He could tell that no one else knew what Twilight was doing, while her mother and the other demons seemed surprised by what she was doing, meaning it had to be dangerous in some capacity, and when she moved both of her arms the two spheres started to spin in opposite directions. In the next few seconds the two spheres started to move towards each other and he found that something seemed to be forming in the center of it all, two powers combining into a single point as they created a deep bluish-purple sphere with a light gray outline. As it formed he found that the sky was also affected, turning dark for a moment as black lightning flashed in the air, causing Cell to wonder how powerful and dangerous this attack was going to be, and whether or not he needed to dodge it. "Eclipse Cannon." Twilight said, which allowed Cell to know the name of her attack, though in the following moment a grin appeared on her face as she launched it, as she knew how dangerous it was and was eager to test it against an actual foe, instead of firing it off into the depths of the Hyperbolic Time Chamber. Cell discovered that the sphere moved far too fast for something of it's size, meaning it wasn't like the Spirit Bomb or the slower moving attacks, rather it was fast and he barely had time to dodge the incoming mass, as it ate his wings and dug into his backside as it tore into the ground below it, destroying everything in it's path before colliding with a hill, which caused it to blast the area around it to pieces. "Okay, note to self: we seriously underestimated her." Putine said, meaning time had slowed to a crawl once more, where Cell kept his wing regeneration at bay for a moment since he didn't want to reveal this secret to Twilight just yet, though as she said that Cell also noticed something by him that he hadn't seen before, a dark red orb that reminded him of the file on the Dragon Balls that was on Gero's computer, with two black stars on it. "That may be so, but I have an idea." Cell remarked, as he could feel a vast power coming from the corrupted Dragon Ball, power that might be just what he needed to overwhelm Twilight and actually get some fun out of this fight, and while it might be cheating he really needed every advantage he could get to deal with her power, "Just keep doing what you've been doing and I'll keep fighting her." He waited for a second as time resumed, where he made his move and grabbed the ball before his wings regenerated, all while noticing that Twilight seemed pleased that he was in one piece, causing him to bring the sphere to his chest and found that it merged with his chest, causing black markings with a red outline to appear on his chest, like claws reaching out towards his limbs. "Be prepared, Twilight, as I'm no longer holding back." Cell stated, shifting his stance to let her know that he meant what he was telling her, who just stood there with a smile on her face, meaning she likely didn't mind what he was doing right now, where he hoped that this power boost would be enough to deal with her. As that happened, however, Cell found that this was still enjoyable and hoped that Twilight continued to provide him with some level of entertainment, especially since he was going to be busting out his actual trump card soon, making him look forward to what might happen next for them. > Cell: Cell's Trump Card > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "It can't be... a Dark Dragon Ball?! Here, at this point in time?" Towa remarked, as she had been observing the battle with a lot more interest than what she had when she first arrived with her family, because both she and Demigra had noticed a few temporal pauses before discovering the sphere that Cell inserted into his body. "It would seem so." Demigra said, though he knew why Towa was shocked by the recent discovery, she likely knew about what her future self, or at least the one from the timeline where Twilight didn't exist, was doing in Mechikabura's name, a fact that included using seven darkness-infused Dragon Balls to fulfill a wish, "This is bad. With a Dark Dragon Ball in this timeline it's only a matter of time until one of the other Demon Gods shows up to claim it from Cell... in fact, I wouldn't be surprised if they're already here, watching this match, just waiting to swoop in and claim it once everything's done." "If they meddle in the fight they'll anger Twilight, and I don't think they are dumb enough to do that." Frieza stated, as he knew, just like his family knew, that his daughter was a frightening person whenever she was interrupted, especially when she was investing so much of her time into something that interested her, so if the Demon Gods tried anything they would be walking into a death trap. The others didn't say anything to that as the fight resumed, as Cell rushed through the air and Twilight clashed with him not a few seconds later, their fists colliding with each other as black and red lightning branched outward, all while the ground itself had a small crater blasted into it in the process. While the watchers were amazed by this turn of events, due to Cell's previous attempts not earning him any ground when it came to fighting Twilight, they found that Twilight was still grinning as she clashed with her foe, approving of his new level of power. It looked as if she didn't mind him doing what he had done to equal her strength, rather she was excited by the prospect of fighting someone on equal footing and not just beating the tar out of someone until they gave up, even though Frieza knew she had glanced at the sphere that was now in Cell's chest for a moment. He knew she wanted the strange sphere, to study it and see what powers it had, compared to the Dragon Balls she had seen so far, though her focus was on beating Cell into the ground and that meant any studies would be put on hold for the time being. In fact, as he thought about that, Twilight swung her staff at the same time Cell moved his hand, the two attacks colliding with each other with enough force to push them away from each other, a collision that rocked the entire area and freaked out the humans who were trying to watch the battle. Following that the two moved all over the open area that Cell had built his arena in, both attacking the other with little to no care for the environment as the collision of their attacks blasted craters into the ground and kicked up stones into the air, fragments that were turned to dust as they rushed around the area. After a few moments one collision caused Cell to take to the air, mostly so he could get his bearings since they were moving too fast for most of them to see, before he and Twilight collided again and this time the air shook as both fighters' energies clashed with each other. This time he actually pushed her backwards, as if his power was now suddenly greater than what Twilight had, where she braced her hooves against the ground to slow her down before swinging her staff, the sheer power of her strength shattering everything that was around her as she rushed right at Cell. The two clashed as they moved into the air, higher than anyone had gone since the battle had started, before Twilight got ahead of him and knocked Cell back down into the ground, which was when the pair got a little more serious as Cell fired a beam of energy at her and she responded with a lance made of lightning. The collision of the two attacks shook the air and whipped up violent winds that nearly sent several of them flying due to how strong both warriors were, before Twilight got the upper hand once more as she caught Cell and hurled him through the air, colliding with one of the hills that were still intact. As he considered his next move, however, Twilight pointed the tip of her staff in his direction and released a burst of dark energy, a condensed beam, that tore through the air within a matter of seconds and struck the area he was resting in. The resulting explosion tore apart the area around him, kicking up a lot of dust and creating powerful winds that nearly sent some of the watchers flying, though Towa made sure to keep her family and allies safe with a barrier, since at this point she was sure Ginyu's team would have been blown away by all the pressure. It was as if two powerful beings, like gods, were clashing with each other, though as everyone waited for Cell to make his appearance once more it was clear to Towa and Demigra, at least, that while Cell was growing stronger, due to the Dark Dragon Ball, Twilight's ability to adapt was far stronger, meaning they were simply fueling each others' growth as time went on. Cell followed all of that up by bursting into the air and charged most of his energy into a massive Kamehameha, one that blotted out the sun itself and looked like something that could truly end the world, though Twilight loosed a beam into the air, once more from the head of her staff, and struck her foe in the chest, while at the same time draining the attack with her left hand, allowing her attack to hit him and take his legs with ease. "Wow, I knew she was strong, but she's standing up to Cell's monstrous power like it's nothing." Goku commented, which only made him want to fight her even more as time went on, as Twilight's newly revealed power was unlike anything he and the others had felt and he knew that she was continuing to grow as the fight went on, "Okay Twilight, I think it's time that you finish him off." "No, I don't think so. Cell, you got enough energy to keep going, or do you need some assistance from your ally?" Twilight asked, focusing on her foe while her eyes glanced at the figure that was lingering in the space behind him, using magic to hide herself from the rest of the observers, because she had felt the familiar tug of time magic being used and had found the source of it, though she had chosen to ignore her until now. "You can see me?" Putine inquired, as this was a first for her, that someone she was hiding from was able to sense that she was there and was able to tell that she happened to be aiding the person that her target was fighting against, all while she appeared behind Cell, dismissing her spell as Towa and Demigra finally noticed her, "How?" "I noticed you freezing time every now and then, but didn't react since it made things interesting." Twilight said, as if she was discussing the weather or something that was completely normal, even though the Z Warriors, save for Gohan, were lost and simply remained silent as she stared at Cell, "You haven't answered my question: do you have enough power to keep going, or do you need assistance?" "I have one more attack that I'd like to try, but... with my current energy I won't be able to pull it off, not to the degree that Goku can perform with it." Cell replied, which was the truth, he had used up a lot of his energy during the first portion of their battle, before he inserted the dark Dragon Ball into his chest for a significant power boost, and that Kamehameha had drained him of the majority of his power, giving him enough to fix his body, before he found something coming at him and he caught it, a small green bean. "That's a Senzu Bean... who the hell gave her a Senzu Bean?!" Vegeta demanded, as he knew the properties of the beans by this point in time, in fact they were really handy depending on the situation that a warrior could be in, and right now it was a bad move, especially since Twilight had given it to Cell of all people. "We gave her two back when we separated to track down Gero... I totally forgot she had them." Krillin stated, though this was one of those times where he had to agree with what Vegeta was thinking about, this was bad news and it meant that all of Twilight's work had been for nothing, "Twilight... how could you?" "Because the battle's far too interesting for me to end it now... and besides, I want to see what Cell's got." Twilight said, as while many would see the Senzu Bean as the worst tactic in the entire world, given that she had beaten her foe multiple times and it might convince him to do something drastic, like head to another part of the planet to blow it up, she really didn't care what the others thought about her decisions, "Unless, of course, you'd rather get in my way again." Vegeta, now having a greater understanding of her true power, wisely said nothing to her comment as Cell quickly ate the Senzu Bean, before someone dared to get in Twilight's way, where he felt his energy being restored instantly, just like all of the tales that were on Gero's computer, causing him to tear a rock out of the ground and lift it into the air, which he landed on a few seconds later. "Okay, let's do this! Everyone, lend me your energy!" Cell loudly stated, surprising the Z Warriors for a moment as he raised his hands towards the sky, as they recognized the stance that indicated that one was going to make a Spirit Bomb, a move that Krillin thought he wouldn't be able to use and was now being proven wrong. Twilight watched as a number of space-time portals opened up in the space behind Cell, where she found that a number of what she assumed were soldiers flew out of them and gathered behind her foe, as she assumed they were soldiers due to the armor they were wearing. As they raised their hands, offering Cell their energy and filling the air with small dark spheres of energy, she noticed a few more individuals that were like the bio-android's ally, such as one who was tall, bulky, and wore a modified chest piece that showed off his midriff, complete with a belt with a demonic G on it and a warhammer in his right hand. After that she found another male demon who wore a posh black robe with a white handkerchief near the neck, while he had red hair, blue earrings that matched her mother's, and carried a double-edged sword as his weapon, though that was when she noticed that his robe had short bunny-like ears. While she considered that she moved onto the next figure, who looked more like a teenager with a maroon bandana around his forehead, holding up his silver hair, before she noticed that he carried a scythe as his weapon and wore a black caped vest with black pants. The one who interested her the most was the pale demon who wore a red pair of pants and a red shirt, who carried a blade as his weapon and had a black marking on his chest, the same the other Demon Gods and Goddess possessed, though the reason for her focus was due to the cape wings and the infinity symbol on his belt, symbols that her mother always wore, before she turned her gaze back to Cell. "Looks like you're having some difficulties... go ahead, take all the time you need. I'll wait." Twilight said, as she could see that Cell was having some trouble forming his Spirit Bomb, either due to the fact that he wasn't 'pure' enough to use it, which she thought was a load of bull considering that it gathered energy into a single point and condensed it, or that this was the first time he was using it and needed to ensure everything was stable. While Cell chuckled Twilight noticed the arrival of two more figures, one being another version of her mother, an alternate version whose cape wrapped all around her waist, her hair now had two horns, and her staff had a green orb at the top of it, while the other was a blue skinned figure, male to be exact, with a cloth bottom that matched her alternate mother's, just without the spikes, and a red chest piece with an altered infinity sign. As she took them in, however, she noticed that the energy that was being offered to Cell was starting to gather above his head, just like what happened when Goku used this technique on Namek, though it was more black colored, no doubt due to the fact that demons were offering him their power. Based on what she could tell it seemed like the Future Demon Gods weren't aiding Cell, as in none of them raised their hands to do anything or contribute to the sphere, meaning it was possible that they had simply opened the way for all of the soldiers to come to this point in time to offer their energy to Cell's attack. When she considered that, however, Twilight knew it wasn't true, as one of them would have been enough to bring the army to this point in time, so with the number of Demon Gods assembled she knew that they had to be giving the bio-android their energy. Once the soldiers were done offering their energy to the Dark Spirit Bomb, as she was going to call it, they rushed down at the area below them, something that caused Gohan and everyone else to summon their full power, as it seemed like they were also targets of the Demon Gods, and that included her family, causing the Ginyu Force to join the battle while both her father and uncle transformed into their respective final forms. It seemed as if the Demon Gods wanted to ensure that everyone else was distracted and didn't interfere with the battle, even though many of the Z Warriors were surprised by Gohan's Super Saiyan 2 form, where she focused on her foe as she waited for him to make his move. She was curious as to why the Future Demon Gods were so interested in Cell's 'Dark' Dragon Ball, something that made her wonder if there was another Eternal Dragon they didn't know about, a topic she could ask her mother about later. In addition to that she found three newcomers joining the battle, a young man who reminded her of Cell, due to his insectoid wings, a second young man who seemed to have white fur all over his body, and a young lady wearing a lab coat who turned her skin bubblegum pink and gave herself a long pink tail, along with white baggy pants and a black chest cover. As all sorts of fights started around her she noticed something else, the one who had been following Cell around suddenly changed course as she struck the muscular Demon God in the back of his head, sending him down towards the ground as everyone else paused for a moment, since her allies were totally surprised. "What the hell, Putine? Have you gone mad?!" the muscular Demon God remarked, where he and his allies stared at the female demon for a moment, which was around the time that Ginyu blinked for a second as Guldo knocked him down to the ground as well, causing those familiar with the horned warrior to know what's going on. "Is that her name? I can get used to it." Putine said, causing Twilight to chuckle for a little as she realized that Ginyu had taken the opportunity to steal the body and power of a powerful foe while she was distracted, while at the same time the fact that Guldo wasn't confused meant they had used his time powers to get behind her without them noticing, all while the Captain raised her empty hand to her forehead and formed a V for victory, "Lord Frieza, Captain Putine is reporting for duty!" "Give me back my body you... creep!" Ginyu demanded, though as Twilight noticed that the body was standing oddly, no doubt due to who was now inside it, she noted that the Captain had empowered his technique, because he had spoken with Putine's voice and she had spoken with the voice of his previous form, meaning impersonations were easier for him and made her wonder how such a change had come to pass. In the next moment, while everyone was coming to terms with what had happened, the energy in the air condensed into a massive sphere above Cell's head, one that looked nearly identical to a miniature moon, causing Guldo to grab Putine and flee as the various warriors understood that the battle was about to end. Twilight could tell that the Dark Spirit Bomb was strong, especially as Cell sent it hurling down towards her with the intent of crushing her into dust or just crushing her into the ground before blasting everything to pieces, but she stood her ground. When it reached the halfway point Twilight just moved her staff into her left hand before raising her right towards the Dark Spirit Bomb, activating her ability while using her power at the same time, the latter to stall or even push it back while the former devoured it's energy. For a moment she expected it to start shrinking as it paused, given what she had experienced in the past, though while it stalled in the air the sphere remained the same size, which sort of made sense given that there was a lot of Ki wrapped up in one attack, so it would take longer to drain all of it. A few seconds later, however, she found that the Dark Spirit Bomb started to slowly resume it's course and was coming at her once more, only this time something was wrong about the situation, the attack wasn't even reacting to her drain ability, as if the Demon Gods had figured out a way around that. Such a thing did make some sense to her, because if their plan was to destroy her, for being a threat to whatever they happened to be planning, it made complete sense to go back to a time where she didn't have the power to resist them and one that had the perfect pawn for them to use. It was a good strategy, using Cell's desire for a good battle against him so they could have someone to form an attack they could manipulate into something that could kill her, and in that moment she understood the scene that was playing out before her. The soldiers were just a distraction, both for the others and for her, as their energy was covering the core of the Dark Spirit Bomb, a core made out of the energy of the assembled Demon Gods and Goddesses, the very item that was resisting her ability to absorb the massive Ki attack and was ensuring the attack stayed in one piece. In that instant she understood that the remaining enemies wanted her dead, to the point that they would cheat to get what they wanted, though even then she held her ground and applied more effort to either breaking the attack or figuring out a way to get around the barrier. "Should have known that the Demon Gods would play dirty." a voice said, where Twilight found that Aeos appeared in front of her, though this time around Twilight found that time hadn't been affected by anyone, especially since the sphere was on it's way down to where she was standing, "They hid a core of God Ki inside the massive Dark Spirit Bomb, as they realized that you don't have the power to absorb that type of energy... yet, anyway." "Which is why we're here." another voice added, one that came from Chronoa, who Twilight frowned at for a moment, as their past encounters had soured her opinion of the current Supreme Kai of Time, though this time around she stood her ground and focused on the task at hand, "We'll explain later, but we're here to even the odds... by infusing, or gifting you if you prefer, you with some of our own God Ki." Twilight found that the pair walked behind her before stopping a couple of steps behind her, where they called forth their own powers and extracted some of their God Ki, causing them to focus as they started the process of infusing her with the power needed to stand up to this attack. In the next moment she heard four more figures land behind her and turned her head to see that her mother, along with Demigra, Robelu, and Chamel, had decided to join them and had their left hands raised towards her, offering her a small portion of their God Ki as well. Such a thing caused Twilight to chuckle as she took it all in, something that allowed her to focus her mind for a moment before stalling the Dark Spirit Bomb as she tracked down the core that was causing her so much trouble. A few seconds later she pushed it back into the air, forcing it to get closer to where Cell happened to be standing, and, sure enough, she felt him trying to resist her power, effectively trapping it in the space between them as everyone else wisely pulled away, as there was no telling what might happen to the attack. As they faced each other, however, Twilight could feel their energies clashing and Cell decided to do something new, he used the Kaio-Ken to boost his power to new heights so he could see the sphere back down to her, but it refused to budge from where it was resting. In fact all this did was add pressure to the Dark Spirit Bomb, since two powerful forces were trying to control it from two different angles, and she wasn't even surprised when it's form started to shudder, getting smaller for a few seconds before it expanded outward, back to it's former glory. A few seconds later it repeated the motion and increased in size a few times, a sign that things were becoming unstable, before a silver light appeared inside it and bits started to pour out of the attack, even though all of the Ki was still trapped inside the massive sphere. From what she could tell it looked like the sphere was now effecting the area around them, as the ground started to shift and break, almost as if gravity was being altered in some manner, given that some of the large hills were breaking apart before their eyes. Cell continued to stain himself against her might, while Twilight focused on the Dark Spirit Bomb, and when it reached the point of no return she flexed her power some more and the sphere condensed into a single point in a few seconds, where all of the energy remained trapped in a black marble that she swallowed without delay. In the next moment a pillar of dark energy erupted from where she was standing, as there was a lot of energy inside the marble for her to add to her own, though Twilight smirked for a moment as she focused on obtaining a new level of power that would shock everyone. Towa watched as the pillar broke down without too much time passing since it appeared, as it had been about ten seconds or so, and when her daughter emerged she found that things had changed, because her attire was no longer armor, rather it was more like a elegant gown, the front part of the skirt stopping above her knees while the backside stopped just a little further than that. In addition to that she found a few interesting things, such as the diamond shaped cutout in the chest area that showed off the inner sides of her breasts, a common trait for the attire of a Demon Goddess, while the gown stopped at a red collar around her neck, but it exposed her backside. In that moment she and the others found that Twilight had a few additions in this form, as she was now sporting a pair of feathered wings on her back and a horn on her forehead, both colored to match her body interestingly enough. The strangest thing was that her staff disappeared entirely, meaning she was different from the rest of the Demon Gods and Goddesses who came before her, something that caused those who knew of the form to remain silent, save for one who just had to say something about this. "And so, in an attempt to stop her rise to power, our enemies have utterly failed... a new Demon Goddess has been born." Demigra stated, though as he said that he and the other gods, demon and Tokishin, realized that Twilight's new power was greater than her previous form, meaning Cell was totally screwed. As Cell opened his mouth, so he could talk about this for a few seconds before resuming their glorious fight, Twilight made the first move as she rushed through the air and appeared in front of him before he even had a chance to move from the area he had prepared his Dark Spirit Bomb in. In the next instant she struck him in the chest, right where the Dark Dragon Ball was located, with a fierce punch that sent the ball flying through his body and out his backside, surprising everyone in the process as it landed some distance away. As Cell came to terms with how strong she was, and that his power paled in comparison to her might, she spun around and kicked him in the side of the head, before he even had a chance to recover from the previous attack, where he was sure she cracked his skull in the process. After that she grabbed his tail and spun him around for a few seconds before swinging him towards the ground, which was when Twilight kicked him in the back and rode him down into the ground, crushing him under her terrifying might. In the next moment, as Cell tried to get up, Twilight struck him several times in the chest, leaving marks in the process, but as he staggered backward something inside him broke and he started to feel something coming up his throat, where he ended up throwing up 18. As everyone noticed that, however, Cell started to curse as he was forcefully regressed into his altered semi-perfect form, something that caused the Demon Gods and the remaining Demon Goddess to pull back, as all of them and their soldiers departed before they became Twilight's next target. Of course such a thing meant that they left behind their own ally, who was stuck in Ginyu's old body now and seemed to be whining over losing her body, but for the most part the remaining warriors ignored her, as they were far more interested in Twilight. Even the three mysterious figures were unsure of what was going on right now, meaning they were as lost as the Z Warriors, but they did drop out of the sky and land near Earth's champions, just so they could watch what was going on and witness the end of the games. Frieza, however, grinned as he and his family waited for the killing blow to be delivered, as Twilight had won and it was just a matter of time until she destroyed the bio-android, allowing them to focus on what the future held in store for them and the people of Earth. > Cell: End of the Games > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cell couldn't believe what was going on right now, as he had thought his victory was assured after taking on the power of a Dark Dragon Ball and the offerings of the Demon Gods and Goddesses who sought to kill Twilight, and yet here he was, now missing the corrupted sphere, most of his formidable power, and one of the androids he had absorbed. "So, um... can I absorb 18 again?" Cell inquired, because he didn't like being stuck in his semi-perfect form, especially after finally obtaining his perfect form and getting a feel for it's great power, and he knew that if he was stuck in this state for too long Twilight would bring an end to his existence with ease. "No." Twilight replied, though at the same time she raised her right hand a little and summoned a small bit of her power, to which everyone watched as the slumbering android was surrounded by her energy before being moved over Krillin's area, a sign that she wanted the area cleared, before she turned towards Cell again, "Don't get me wrong, that was the greatest fight of my life and it was worth waiting for so long... but let's face it, when a single powerful attack is enough to force you to lose part of your power boost, much less even a core aspect of your perfect form, the battle's over. As much as I want to continue the fight, there's little reason to at this point... especially since it looks like the Future Demon Gods took the Dark Dragon Ball with them to their timeline." Cell stood there for a moment as he realized that he was no match for Twilight, not with the power she commanded and the massive gap that now rested between them, and while he knew that he might be able to beat everyone else, save for the trio from the future and Twilight's own demonic allies, there wasn't much he could do right now. It actually infuriated him when he thought about it, that he had finally obtained his perfect form, pushed it to it's limits by fighting Twilight and being given power from multiple outside sources, only to give his foe a new form that overpowered him instantly. Such a thing made him wonder what she was going to do with him now that he was no longer a threat or even a valuable warrior to fight against, though it only lasted a second, because he instantly knew his fate without having to say anything. He was going to die here, that much he knew for certain, and he found that the future version of himself, he had figured that out as soon as he found out what his perfect form sounded like, was doing nothing, not even his future siblings dared to step out and stop Twilight. In that instant, with death literally staring him in the face, he decided to go out with a bang, taking this world with him and, maybe, taking out the one who took his perfect form from him at the same time, to which he called forth all of his power as his body started to expand and contort. "Really? That's your plan? Planetary destruction?" Twilight remarked, as while it was a worthwhile one, since it seemed to be the only path available to Cell at the moment, it was disappointing when she considered that, instead of trying to fight and die like a warrior, he was taking what might be considered the easy way out. "That's right. In one minute I'll have enough power to blow this world into nothingness!" Cell stated, though at the same time he noticed something interesting, 16 was standing near a broken camera, meaning the battle with Twilight must have ended with it being broken, while also preventing the people of Earth from despairing over this news, "However, if you, or anyone else, hits me it will cause me to instantly explode and make the end of this world come that much quicker..." "You do realize that my family, on my father's side, can breath in space and my mother's side has powerful magic, right?" Twilight inquired, something that caused Cell to pause for a few seconds as he took in that information, especially when he considered the other Demon Gods who had sided with her before his games had started, before she waved her hand in a dismissing manner, "Go ahead, blow up the Earth... my family and allies will just escape to the stars in the seconds just before you do so. However, I don't think you're going to get the chance to blow the world up." In that moment Goku appeared in front of him, using his odd move to do so, and rested a hand on his chest, causing him to understand that his plan was about to be foiled again, where he noticed that Twilight grinned for a second as he and Goku disappeared, never to be seen again. "I hope King Kai feared my retribution, since that likely killed him and his planet." Twilight commented, though instead of dropping out of her new form, like others did when they were sure of their victory, she kept it up for the time being, just to be sure everything was fine and the battle was finally over. The reason she mentioned the death of King Kai was because she had attached a small bit of magic onto Goku, so when he moved himself and Cell she quickly zeroed in on where they went, allowing her to know that the Saiyan and King Kai were no longer among the living. As everyone else started to half celebrate their victory and half mourn Goku's passing, she felt a surge of Ki and turned towards the area that Cell had been in just a few seconds ago, which was now kicking up a bunch of wind and dust. In the next moment Twilight moved to her right as she avoided a Ki blast that struck Trunks in the chest, right in his heart interestingly enough, though while it wasn't her intention to kill him she decided not to bother acknowledging it as she turned to face the center of the twisting wind. Sure enough her thoughts were right as she found Cell, in his altered perfect form once more, standing directly in the center of everything, though this time his golden aura had blue lightning arcing around it every now and then, just like a Super Saiyan 2. Twilight understood what she was seeing as everyone else came to terms with the fact that Trunks was dying before their very eyes, in fact her studies of Gero's work allowed her to understand this quicker than anyone else, especially since it was an interesting thing to discover. "So, I hit Trunks? That's acceptable." Cell remarked, where his confidence had returned in full force, something Twilight was able to figure out due to the fact that it seemed like his empowered altered perfect form, or 'Super' perfect form she guessed, even contained his power from when he had the Dark Dragon Ball in his chest, meaning she was the only one that could deal with him, "Tell me, Twilight, do you know how I survived?" "You have a small core, a nucleus to be exact, inside your body that activates your healing power whenever you take any sort of damage," Twilight said, though at the same time she started to move away from the others, not because she was worried about their safety, as she didn't care about anyone other than her family, but because it would allow them to get back to the fight without any interruptions, "as long as that's around you'll continue to regenerate, since it moves around your body to ensure it survives to fulfill it's purpose... frankly, with a self destruction type of attack, you got lucky that it wasn't destroyed in the process. Due to your Saiyan DNA you received the same boost that Goku or Vegeta would, though it's not supposed to work with self inflicted wounds or death... I would guess that, since you aren't a Saiyan, that aspect of their DNA doesn't work as intended and you could repeatedly do this to grow stronger. I wouldn't recommend it, since it seems to be a roll of the dice... as for how you got back, it would seem that you also have the Saiyan ability to learn new techniques after seeing it a couple of times, so you learned the Instant Transmission skill and came back." "Wow... I knew you were familiar with my body, since you knew about me needing to absorb the androids, but you know far more about me than I realized." Cell stated, though at the same time it was a good thing that Twilight had kept all of this to herself, otherwise he was sure the Z Warriors would have done something to ensure his core was unable to regenerate, but even as he thought about that he focused on Twilight, "So tell me, are you ready to continue our battle?" "Honestly? As much as I want to, your power is still inferior to mine." Twilight answered, as while Cell's empowered perfect form was definitely stronger than before, to the point where she was sure that he would have pushed her greatly had she been stuck in her Dark Form, it was still nothing compared to the power of her Demon Goddess form, "Your best bet is to surrender now, before one of us ends up killing the other... and I think you know who will die here if you keep fighting me and my new power." "It seems that your new form has given rise to a new level of arrogance... allow me to correct that." Cell said, though in that moment he raised his hands and placed them together in the space in front of him, before shifting his stance as he moved them to his right side, causing the people that were familiar with the attack to realize what his plan was, "You know, with the death of Trunks, I expected his father to try something... he's known for his stupid decisions, after all." "While you'll get no argument from me, as he can be stupid at times, he knows not to interfere with my battles... not unless he has a death wish." Twilight stated, as she could tell that Vegeta was enraged by Trunk's death and that he knew better than to get involved with Cell right now, though as she considered that information she shifted her stance, showing Cell that she was willing to play ball with him for a time, "Let me ask you this: are you sure you want to do this?" "Yes, yes I do. I'm going to rend you from existence and destroy this world, so I can move on to the rest of the galaxy and whatever rests beyond it!" Cell answered, because at this point Twilight's arrogance was annoying him, since it reminded him of the start of their battle where she wouldn't take him seriously, not until he provoked a response, hence why he was no longer playing around as he called upon every drop of power inside his body, "With this power I can destroy the entirety of the solar system whenever I want... but I think I'll settle for wiping that look off your face first!" In that moment Cell fired his Kamehameha straight at her, where Twilight stood her ground before thrusting her right hand forward as she countered with the exact same attack, one she had charged with just a single hand to be exact, allowing the two beams to strike each other directly in the center of the area they were in. As that happened the ground around them started to break apart, due to the sheer intensity of two great powers clashing with each other, as she found that some of the remaining hills and even a faraway mountain were cracking and collapsing as they clashed. Twilight also knew that she could overpower him in an instant, as her power was still greater than his, but she matched his strength before firing her attack, mostly to give the illusion that they were closer in strength and that her arrogance would be the death of her, a fact Cell hadn't caught onto yet. At the same time there was a reason she had used a single hand for her attack, as her left hand was currently open and she was drawing in the power of Cell's attack, weakening it little by little as the seconds ticked by, so the longer Cell dragged this out the more of his Ki she took from him. Cell, for the most part, seemed to chuckle as their attacks clashed with each other, no doubt believing that he was going to be the victor of this battle, though Twilight also found that none of the idiots, like Vegeta, bothered to rush to aid her, as they understood that she didn't need help. After a few moments of nothing interesting happening, save for Cell pouring more of his power into his attack, Twilight came to the decision to bring an end to the battle as she took a step forward, pushing her foe's attack backwards a little, not enough for him to understand that he was screwed. Such a thing confirmed that she was stronger than Cell, not that she really needed that confirmation, and once she was ready Twilight pulled her left hand back and sent a shock wave of sort that shook Cell to his core, allowing her to steal the entirety of his attack. As he started to come to terms with what had just happened, however, she changed to her right hand and released a full burst of power, doubling the size of her attack in seconds as it barreled into Cell before he had a chance to move out of the way. Cell started to scream in agony as her Kamehameha tore into his body and started to break him apart, where Twilight heard him shouting out that he was 'perfection', and some other parts about how his body was perfect, before both he and his nucleus were destroyed, as she made sure to take the latter out so he didn't return again. Once everything was said and done, and she was sure that Cell was dead for real, Twilight let out a sigh as she reverted to her base form, allowing her staff to reappear after a few seconds, before nodding to her family, allowing them to tell the others that the games were over, even though there was more work to be done before anyone could relax, causing her to look forward to what might happen next. > Cell: Aftermath of the Games > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "You did excellent, Twilight." Frieza stated, because after observing his daughter's fight with Cell, and the fact that she was able to overcome everything that had been thrown at her, that some congratulations were in order, though at the same time he hoped the Z Warriors appreciated the fact that she had saved their world. "Indeed... to be honest, I wasn't expecting you to unlock another new form, so soon after the last one." Towa said, as she had thought they had more time before Twilight would step into the realm of a Demon Goddess, meaning she would have more time to teach her how to control her powers before attempting this, before she smiled, "However, you did well with your new power... just means I'm going to need to think up some new lessons to help you learn how to wield your new power." "Thanks. I'm just glad Cell put up a fight that entertained me... also, you're going to have to add Ginyu, or Putine I guess, to the lessons, since she'll need them as well." Twilight remarked, taking a moment to glace over at the area that the Captain was standing in, because she seemed to be enjoying her new form and the power it commanded, since it was far stronger than her old form, even though the former owner of the body was trying to get it back, "We'll have to figure out what to do with the old owner of her body..." "Twilight, I would like to say something." a voice said, where they discovered that Piccolo had come over to where she and her family were standing, while at the same time the rest of his own group were getting ready to leave, Krillin holding 18 as if she was a fragile artifact or something while Tien was carrying Trunk's body, "I know you might not care, but... thank you for saving the Earth." "Whatever." Twilight replied, as she could do without his thanks, even though he seemed sincere and that meant he might have more to say to her, maybe even an apology for their crimes against her and her family, but she wasn't about to hold her breath on that front. "Also... most of us are sorry for what happened in the past." Piccolo added, as if that would change her mind or make her stop being annoyed with them, before he turned his body for a moment as the others started to move, no doubt heading to the Lookout so they could use the Dragon Balls to bring back those slain by Cell, "Still, we had best get out of here... no doubt Mr. Satan will want to take credit for defeating Cell and it would be best if we weren't here when the reporters come to check in with him and his team." Twilight considered that information and decided that she would go with the warriors, just to see what they wished for, as a revival wish would be count as two wishes and it left one, while her father informed her that everyone else in her group would be heading home. Once everyone knew where they were going they departed from the wrecked area, leaving Mr. Satan and his announcer behind, though Twilight wasn't too surprised to find 16 following those heading to the Lookout, since he likely saw 18 as family. Such a thing did make her wonder what in the world the androids would do once 18 woke up and they learned about what was going on, and what had happened after she had been absorbed by Cell, though if all three of them wanted to cause chaos she would be more than happy to deal with them. None of the others seemed eager to say anything while they traveled, in fact Vegeta kept his mouth shut before flying off in another direction, meaning he didn't want to be part of this and wanted to think about what he had discovered during the games, though she knew he'd be back to talk with Gohan about Super Saiyan 2. When they landed on the Lookout the group found that Dende was definitely waiting for them and rushed up to Krillin as he set 18 down, giving everyone else a few moments to land around the large area while Twilight found that Mr. Popo had the Dragon Balls in a container, all ready to go, though in the next moment 18 woke up and jumped to her feet without wasting even a second. "Wha... what happened?" 18 asked, where it was easy to see that she had taken a defensive stance, since several of the warriors that were around her had tried to kill herself and her brother at one point, before finding that most of them were keeping their distance, due to Twilight standing near her. "After Cell absorbed you, he gained his perfect form, humiliated two Saiyan warriors, and then threw a tournament that was designed to give him a worth foe," Twilight replied, something that was followed by a series of magical images quickly appearing before them for 18 to see so she understood what she was saying, causing her to raise an eyebrow when she noticed the Demon Goddess form and the lack of wings or horn in her current state, "I struck him hard enough and forced him to spit you out, forcing him back into his imperfect form... when he destroyed himself, however, he came back in his perfect form and I utterly destroyed him. This place, in case you were curious, is the Lookout, or God's Palace if you prefer, and we're here to bring back those who were slain by Cell, either by his hand or absorbed by them." "Okay, coming from you, of all people, I can totally buy that." 18 said, as she knew that Twilight was different from the rest of the world, especially since she discovered something no one else even dared to dream about, so if she said that there was a way to revive the dead it was a fact she could believe was possible. Twilight nodded as Mr. Popo brought out the container that held the Dragon Balls and deposited them in the area right in front of Dende, where she noted that 18 was taken aback by meeting such a figure, while 16 didn't seem to care too much, before the little Namekian stepped forward and summoned Shenron, surprising 18 as she stared at the dragon while he coiled around the air above them. "I am the Eternal Dragon. State your wishes and I shall grant them." Shenron said, confirming what Dende had told them when he empowered the Dragon Balls, the dragon was now capable of granting multiple wishes, which was good since they had no way of knowing what the future held for all of them and this world. "Please, bring back everyone that was killed by Cell." Yamcha stated, something that caused the dragon to briefly nod for a moment before his eyes glowed, where Twilight watched as 18 was surprised as Trunks came back to life before her eyes, confirming the dragon's powers to her. In that moment Goku telepathically spoke to them about the fact that he hadn't been brought back, since he had been brought back by Shenron in the past, and stopped his friends from going off in search of New Namek to find the rest of the Namekians, since Porunga could still bring him back. For the most part Twilight tuned him out and walked around the Lookout, as she felt the slight presence of someone moving around and wanted to see who it was, leaving the others to talk to the fallen Saiyan in privacy, since he likely didn't have anything to say to her. While she did that it was easy for her to tell that 18 was wondering something and kept it to herself for the time being, where Twilight assumed that it had to be about her brother, which they could talk about later, once she sated her curiosity. When she got close to the area that her targets were in she made sure to hide herself completely, only to discover that it was the three strangers she had seen in the time leading up to her becoming a Demon Goddess, and there was a temporal portal near them. Since they seemed familiar with her she dared not get closer to them, rather she heard them mention something about this being a lesson of some kind and that 'mother' was safe, before they departed from this timeline and vanished, but Twilight was sure that her spy drones had gotten a sample from each of them, allowing her to return to the others as the sky cleared. "So 17's alive, right?" 18 asked, as she and 16 stepped in front of Twilight as she walked back to the others, mostly so she could wish them well and get on with her life, though she could tell that they were planning on leaving as soon as she got the information she was after. "That's right. Anyone Cell killed has been brought back, and since 17 was still inside Cell when he died he should be back in the arena Cell built." Twilight replied, though at the same time she glanced at 16 for a moment, because with Goku dead his directive was no longer valid and that meant he would be seeking something new to do with his time, maybe heading out to work with exotic animals or something, "So what did the others wish for?" "Krillin wished to remove 17 and 18's bombs." 16 stated, reminding Twilight of what she saw in Gero's blueprints on both of the twins, something that caused her to raise an eyebrow for a moment before nodding her head, figuring that it was a good wish, even if she could have done it thanks to her information, "We will be collecting 17 before doing anything else... do not worry, we won't be killing anyone. We need time to process and figure out what to do next." Twilight said nothing to that as the androids departed from the Lookout, where she briefly returned to the Z Warriors and wished them well, allowing her to discover that Trunks would be returning to his future tomorrow morning, so he could bring an end to his battle as well. "Don't look for me or my family tomorrow." Twilight remarked as she turned to leave, because she had nothing to say to him that hadn't been said yet, in fact he knew that she didn't like him and that was enough for her, and she didn't turn back as she jumped into the air and flew off to her home. With the downfall of Cell, and the new form she had gained, Twilight knew that her days were going to be busy and she was looking forward to whatever might be thrown at her next, especially since Ginyu had gotten his hands on a nice body and it would be interesting to see what else she might learn about the other demons. Twilight found that the day following the Cell Games was one of peace for her, as she was able to spend it inside her home with her family, without having to go outside or attend the party that Bulma wanted to throw in her honor, rather she let all of them celebrate their victory as she worked. There was so much for her to focus on, as her drones had taken some samples of the three mysterious strangers and she was able to determine one thing from the hour she had spent studying them, the fact that they were the very creations that she had been working on. Her father also expressed his opinion that the female figure, in her transformed state, reminded him of the tales of Majin Buu he had discovered over the years, one of the two incredibly dangerous creatures that their family tended to avoid if at all possible, making Twilight wonder if she might be able to use the Room of Time to learn more about him. In addition to all that Ginyu was getting used to his new body, or her new body since the Captain was interested in learning more about Putine and her powers, something that Demigra had to deal with since he knew her better than most, save for Towa anyway. One the second day after the Cell Games, however, Twilight got a call from Bulma, not about the party, which interested her to some degree, rather there were a few people who wanted to speak to her and they were at Capsule Corp, and she was surprised to find that, upon her arrival, it was the androids that had called for this meeting. "I wasn't expecting to see all of you again, so soon after the games..." Twilight started to say, though in that moment, as she walked into the room that Bulma had prepared for them so they could have a private discussion, she discovered the reason behind why she had been sought out by the androids, "17, how are you feeling?" "Fine, all things considered." 17 replied, where Twilight noticed that the tip of his tail seemed to thump against the floor as he watched her take a seat in the chair that was across from him and his sister, as 16 was standing, though it was odd to see the overconfident android being so worried about something, "However, as you can see, I'm... in quite a pickle. I'm still a Beastian, despite having gone over the time limit that would cause the reversion to my human form... 16 and 18 insisted that we come talk to you about it, since you're the one who created Animorph X and should know how to undo this odd problem I'm stuck with." "Understandable. Let's take a look at what's wrong." Twilight said, where she pulled out a syringe and took a sample of 17's blood, allowing her to store it in a device Bulma had installed in the room, no doubt in case anyone in her family used one of her products, before turning to her own tablet, a replacement for the one she lost back on Namek, allowing her to run a program on it. Twilight studied the data that was coming in from the sample, where she was thankful that Gero took samples from both 17 and 18 before he turned them into androids, as it allowed her to cross reference today's sample to the past, though it did give her a bit of interesting information that was going to upset the androids. "I'll cut to the chase: 17, you are officially a full-fledged Beastian now." Twilight stated, where she noticed that 17 and his sister were surprised by this information, though at the same time it started to make sense to her, to the point where she had to wonder how she hadn't thought of it before this point, "When Cell absorbed both of you through his tail his inner workings used the same technology that Capsule Corp uses for their Capsules to shrink you down into small battery-like objects, leaving you in stasis, never to awaken again... effectively pausing your bodies at the point you were absorbed. If you had been knocked out of Cell like 18 had, well, the stasis would have been broken and your body would have picked up where it left off, the countdown to your reversion would have resumed. Instead Cell decided to self destruct and that ended with you dying, and here's where it gets crazy: because you were in your Beastian state when you died, it's possible that your soul appeared in the Other World as a Beastian, so when Shenron revived you he brought you back..." "In my Beastian state." 17 finished, where it looked like he realized what Twilight was saying, this was his form now, one he was stuck with, though it was hard to tell if this was his intention, to do this one his own, or if he had planned on reverting to his human state as soon as he had his fill of being a full dragon, "Are you sure there's nothing you can do?" "While I would like to tell you that there is something I can do, I can't. The change has seeped into your very soul, and I'm not remotely skilled enough to mess with that." Twilight said, because after Goku's discovery and usage of the Instant Transmission skill, one that involved moving one or more people from place to place, she was eager to learn more about it and any other powers that might be like it, spirit based skills to be exact, before she held a hand up to stop 17 and 18 in their tracks, "Trust me, you don't want me to try right now, as there's no telling what I could do with my lack of knowledge or experience in the field... I could terminate your existence or even transform you into an elder monster type of being, the stuff of nightmares. Being a dragon isn't so bad." "She's right... besides, you were enjoying yourself while we were hunting Son Goku down." 18 added, though at the same time it was easy for Twilight to see that there was more on her mind, no doubt that she was fortunate that her additions had been taken away before she was absorbed by Cell, likely placing herself in her brother's position to understand what he was feeling at the moment. "Can't you make a reversion drug, for a special event like this?" 17 asked, as while he agreed with 18, he did enjoy his new form and had flown with his wings to get here, part of him wanted to cover all his bases before they left the building and set themselves down their new paths in life that they had talked about earlier. "Sure, I could modify the formula to match your circumstances... except that it wouldn't work. Your DNA doesn't have the genetic markers of one whose used Animorph X," Twilight replied, where she turned the screen around after tapping it a few times, allowing the androids to see 17's readings and one she had taken some time ago from someone who wanted to help with the Beastification process, for those who questioned it, "that's why I said you were a full Beastian. As far as your body is concerned, or your genetics if you prefer, you've always been a Beastian... from the day you were born to this very point in time... that's why any drug I make wouldn't work on you." "I see... well, thank you for taking the time to see us. I... need some time alone." 17 said, though as he stood up Twilight was able to tell that he was disappointed in the fact that the decision had been stolen from him, to either return to being a human or remaining a Beastian, meaning he was likely going to curse Cell out for the rest of his days. Twilight said nothing as the androids departed from Capsule Corp, leaving them to do whatever they wanted with the rest of their lives, though she had plans for the future, ideas to think of and battles to explore, causing her to chuckle as she looked forward to what the future held for her. > Interlude: Delving into the Past > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- On the third day after the Cell Games, while the world was still celebrating Mr. Satan's success over Cell, a lie that was far from what the truth was and none of them really felt like correcting everyone, Twilight landed on the Lookout, as she had her reasons for coming here. There was something in the distant past she wanted to observe, a battle so she could figure out part of the history of the universe, maybe even partake in it if she was lucky, though before that there was someone on the Lookout that she needed to talk to. Aeos and Chronoa had come to aid her during the Cell Games, offering her a bit of their God Ki and mixing it with the fragments of God Ki that her Demon God and Goddess allies had given her, though she had unfinished business with Chronoa and was thankful that Aeos had been able to convince her to stay, instead of leaving for her realm. The two Supreme Kai of Time had retreated to the Lookout, since they didn't want to get in the way of her or those who were associated with her, since a fair amount of people had seen them, and she had come here to talk with the pair for a time, before worrying about her other objective. Dende noticed her upon her arrival and lead her to the area that the pair were waiting in, one of the towers of the large building that housed the numerous rooms she had discovered some time ago, and found a table with tea and snacks waiting for her, to which Dende departed as soon as they reached their destination. "I'm glad you two stayed for a while, instead of leaving immediately." Twilight said, because part of her had thought that Chronoa might leave while she was distracted by the aftermath of the Cell Games, instead of facing her, meaning she had to really thank Aeos for convincing her to stay, all while she sat at the available chair and poured herself some tea, "You know why we're here, right?" "You are wondering why I interfered with your attempts to kill Son Goku and Future Trunks, while allowing the deaths of Frieza's side of your family." Chronoa replied, confirming that she either knew about this ahead of time and came ready to talk or Aeos had reminded her of her sins before this point, though either way it meant that they could skip part of this and get to the heart of the discussion. "That, and she's curious as to why you would chose to work against her, when you know she's important to the safety of the universe." Aeos stated, reminding Twilight of how the former God of Time had acted around her, back when she did her trip to the future, making her wonder what sort of rules Chronoa had broken during her time living with her parents and dealing with the threats of Earth. "I was trying to maintain stability over the main timeline... Frieza and Goku had to fight and unlock the Super Saiyan form, just like certain current events had to happen." Chronoa said, though at the same time Twilight could see that she wasn't too convinced by her own words anymore, rather it seemed like she and Aeos had a long talk before her arrival and she had been able to talk some sense into her, before she sighed, "I... made several mistakes since you were taken in by your parents: I didn't do anything when you were stricken with the Warrior's Bane, I didn't stop what happened next, and I really shouldn't have interfered with you and Future Trunks." "What about me trying to kill Goku by destroying the heart medicine?" Twilight asked, because it sounded like Chronoa was sorry for most of the things she had done to preserve the timeline, even though she already knew of the fact that the main timeline had been forever altered by her various actions, meaning Chronoa's attempts to maintain stability had been worthless for the most part. "Look, he had to live so he could help Gohan unlock his Super Saiyan form... you went beyond that and got him to unlock Super Saiyan 2 early." Chronoa remarked, telling Twilight that the young fighter must have been destined to unlock the power of his new form during an intense and emotional battle, no doubt against Cell himself, before she sighed for a few seconds as she realized something else, "Thanks to everything that's happened recently, and the arrival of Demigra's team and the Dark Imperial Army... that's Mechikabura's forces, in case you didn't know... the scroll that contains the history of our universe is blank. We, as in Aeos and I, cannot see the future that was originally supposed to happen... I cannot stand in your way, even if I wanted to preserve someone's life, so... I'm sorry for being a pest." "Once our time on Earth comes to an end we will be returning to the Time Nest to continue Chronoa's training... I have decided to demote her for the time being." Aeos stated, something that surprised Twilight a little, that the former God of Time was taking back her position for an undetermined amount of time, though while she could have tormented the small god a little Twilight felt that this might be better, since Aeos was able to talk sense into her former subordinate, which meant she was better for the job, "Also, don't ask us about the rule we keep mentioning, it's only supposed to be talked of between the gods of the universe, the..." "Kaioshin and Hakaishin?" Twilight inquired, naming the Gods of Creation and Destruction respectively, the former being deities who brought life to the universe and watched over planets while the latter were supposed to destroy threats to the universe, even if the God of Destruction loved to just obliterate planets for the fun of it, "I read some stories in the vast and endless libraries of Alexandria about them... namely a purple cat who goes around busting planets for fun and loves to sleep for many years at a time." "Of course they'd know about him... should have known." Aeos said, as at this point she wasn't even surprised by the fact that Twilight knew about the Gods that were beyond the mortal races of the universe, while at the same time not saying anything to anyone else she knew, in fact she was surprised by how well she was taking Beerus' existence, "Anyway, we can't say anything without their approval... just know that keeping you alive is important." "Out of curiosity, would me becoming immortal help?" Twilight asked, because while she had no idea where she sat on the matter of the overall fate of the universe, which seemed to be what Aeos might be talking about, she was interested in what the Gods of Time might say. "I mean, it would put all of us at ease. You're not thinking of asking an Eternal Dragon for that, are you?" Chronoa inquired, as she knew that there was no way for her to really tell what Twilight was thinking, because while this could have been a simple question she knew there was a chance that the Demon Goddess in front of her was being serious, that she might quest for immortality at some point. Twilight said nothing to that as Dende returned to the tower, informing her that her mother and her allies had arrived at long last, causing the two gods to wonder what she was planning this time around as she downed the rest of her drink and departed from the tower with them following behind her. Sure enough the Demon Gods and Goddesses she knew were not far away, where she informed all of them about what was on her mind, as her father had made a comment on the three strangers who showed up to do battle with the evil Demon Gods. She had gone through her information on the person that her father said she reminded him of, and what she had learned from the libraries of Alexandria, and while she had a fair amount of knowledge on the figure in question, tales of the destruction caused by them, she had a new desire after figuring it out on her own. She could see that some of them might have an idea as to what she was talking about, all while others were still struggling to understand her motives, before she came to a stop at the Room of Time and turned to those she had asked to come here so she could kill two birds with one stone. "Aeos, Chronoa, I want you two to join your powers with the others, who will be opening the way for me to head back in time... to five million years ago." Twilight stated, where her mother and their demonic allies started to channel their power into the chamber she had brought them to, something that was followed by the beginnings of the portal forming before their eyes, all while the two Gods of Time realized what she was doing. "Majin Buu... are you insane?!" Chronoa asked, because they had just told her that she was important to the safety of the universe, something she seemed to understand despite her and Aeos not being able to share anything with her, and here she was, doing something incredibly stupid that could potentially ruin everything. "While I agree with Chronoa on this matter, as this seems like insanity... are you certain that this is necessary?" Aeos said, as she knew that the figure in question was one of the toughest foes in the entirety of the universe, in fact she was sure that if he and Beerus fought they would lose a massive chunk of their home in the process, she didn't understand why Twilight was so interested in him, given what she had no doubt read so far, "With six temporal manipulators present there is a chance we might actually send you back to that time, instead of the 'avatar' that this room creates... you could be in terrible danger if things go south." Twilight, however, didn't have much to say to that as she focused on what the others were doing and watched as they formed the way back into the past, just like she had done when she first used this room, and when everything was ready to go she leapt into the portal. A few moments later she reappeared in what appeared to be a frozen world, or at least the arctic of whatever world she had been brought to, and, like the last time, there was no way back until she either bested her chosen foes or was beaten into submission. She found one of her targets a moment later, as she and her mother had tracked down the perfect point for them to lock onto, as standing not too far away from her was a female figure that just so happened to have a beautiful body with a blue-purple mohawk, while she wore a red vest robe with an orange sash around her waist. As Twilight stared at her she noticed a few more things, the first being that her hair also reached a fair ways down her back, stopping close to her waist, while she had a pink shirt under the sleeveless robe and wore a pair of brown boots, plus earrings like Aeos and Chronoa, but it was easy to tell that she was focused on something. She spotted the creature off in the distance, a small humanoid creature that had bubblegum pink spin, with what looked like a think antenna on it's head that could be a tail of some kind, she wasn't too sure, and white baggy pants before she found that it had black shoes with the ends of the pants tucked into them. "So, that's Majin Buu." Twilight remarked, where she floated down to where the other figure was standing, who seemed surprised to see someone else on this planet, which meant that she must have brought Buu here to fight where no one would be hurt, "His power is astonishing." "He could destroy this entire planet in an instant, if it weren't for Bibidi's desire to kill the Kaioshin." the lady stated, where it was easy for Twilight to tell that she wasn't too pleased with the destruction that was happening in her universe, all the planets that fell before Majin Buu's terrible might, before she glanced at Twilight for a moment, "What are you doing here? Aeos, or whoever is in control of the Time Nest, should know better than to send someone of your importance back to this point in time, to a place where you will most likely die." "I'm utilizing a special room to come back here, so even if he does fatal damage to me I'll just return to my time." Twilight said, as if she was simply talking about the weather or something, though at the same time she found that Buu was on his way to their location and it meant that this conversation would have to be ended sooner than her plan called for, which was either due to her miscalculating Buu's speed or he had sensed her arrival in some manner, "Oh, I'm Twilight Sparkle by the way." "Aria... the West Supreme Kai." the lady said in kind, showing her that, while she might not want Twilight here, she wasn't about to argue with a total stranger when Majin Buu was closing in on their position, where she shifted her stance without wasting time and focused on the figure that was coming at them, "Prepare yourself..." Buu appeared in the area in front of them not a second later, cutting Aria off before she could finish her statement, but in that moment both she and Twilight lashed out with a pair of perfectly timed kicks, striking the being in the chest before the pair found that he seemed to take no damage from it. Twilight assumed that it was due to the odd nature of his body, which acted like rubber as their attacks sunk into him and seemed to create boot and hoof markings on his backside, as if they were attacking gum or something, meaning he was incredibly resistant to ordinary attacks. His own attacks, however, were far stronger than Twilight was ready for as Buu struck both her and Aria in rapid succession, kicking the Kaioshin so hard that she went flying through the ground itself, breaking the ice below her as if it was brittle. Twilight pulled her hoof out of Buu's chest and threw a punch at him, where he grabbed her arm before she struck him, pulled her over his head so he could slam her into the ground, and made sure to kick her with enough force to send her flying through the ice that was below them, all while cracking her ribs in the process. She had known that Buu was strong, in fact her grandfather told her everything he knew about him, but even that didn't begin to prepare her for the sheer raw power he possessed, meaning to survive this, or at least put forth some effort on her part, she needed to use her strongest form. As she considered that idea, however, Twilight reached out with a bit of her magical energy and found something interesting, it slipped off of his back without even forming chains at all, meaning that one of her greatest attributes, her magic, was useless against him. In the next moment she discovered something else that was far more important to her, there was no way she would be able to transform into her other forms, as Buu quickly reached the area she was in and stomped on her chest, pushing her deeper into the ground before rushing into the sky as he sent a blast of energy down at her. Fortunately that she was able to absorb with ease, even though Twilight now knew that the primordial creature known as Buu was an absolute monster and that she was screwed as long as she was struck in this form, confirming the stories that she had been told. The annoying aspect of this was that Buu seemed to be smarter than she assumed, as he seemed to view her as the real threat and not the Kaioshin that he was originally hunting for, as he actually surged back down to her position and struck her into the wall without delay, pushing her through it like she was nothing put a weightless rock. While that was going on Aria dropped out of the air and struck Buu to the best of her ability, releasing Twilight so she could flee, though she swung at the monster with more of her might, only to find that it didn't seem to do anything at all. With that done she and Aria pulled back for a moment, where their foe simply landed on the snow they were standing on and caused them to rush at him, intending on catching him off guard, but he caught their attacks, grabbed their heads, and slammed them together before tossing them into the ground. In that moment the pair got serious, far more than they had been previously, and found that this time Buu seemed to be willing to fight on their level, giving them some space to actually hit him, not that it mattered in the grand scheme of things since they were unable to do anything to him. Aria did her best to make Buu focus on her again, since she was his original target, but Twilight found that he targeted her far more than the Kaioshin, who was a fierce warrior and fought well, making her wonder what it would be like if the two of them clashed, instead of fighting for their lives. He was a fierce and deadly creature, his attacks were fierce and deadly as those that struck her chest cracked her ribs despite the protection of her armor, he even fractured her left arm in two places with two powerful kicks, and delivered a punch to her gut that caused her to cough up blood, similar to what she did to Cell, without the throwing up part. Being brutalized by Buu told her one thing, that she should have listened to her family about this matter, not to mention the fact that she had to get out of here before death actually claimed her, as she was convinced that something had gone wrong with the powers that brought her here, just like she had been warned by Aeos. There was no way that taking this much damage was normal for the Room of Time, not from what she had experienced so far, so she had to figure out a good way to clear the area before calling for everyone else to open the way back to her era, causing her to release a burst of energy at Buu, knocking him backwards as he defended his eyes. To ensure that he was knocked away Aria gathered her power and added it to the mix, allowing them to send Buu flying for a time, causing her to catch Twilight before she collapsed and kept her voice low as she called for Aeos, since she didn't want Buu to hear her, and when the portal opened she kissed Twilight's forehead, spreading a temporary healing power into her body, before sending her back to her era. "TWILIGHT?!" Towa worriedly said, catching her daughter as she emerged from the space-time portal and discovering that her body had been brutalized by the foe she had sought out, so while the others sealed the breach, before Majin Buu found it, she reached into the pouch that Twilight insisted she bring with them, just in case, before producing the second Senzu Bean the Z Warriors gave Twilight during the hunt for Gero and forced her daughter to eat it. Sure enough the bean worked it's magic in no time, mending the wounds in Twilight's body while restoring her energy, so by the time the portal was sealed, never to be opened again unless a rift opened, she was back on her hooves as if nothing had happened to her. "Boy am I glad I kept that bean around... would have been rather painful without it." Twilight stated, though at the same time she sighed as she considered what she had gotten herself into, by choosing to go back in time to 'face' Buu, who was more like a kid than anything in terms of appearance, a foe she didn't have the power to best, as she suspected that her current power, in any form, would fall short of his own, "Also, you guys were right... I shouldn't have fought Buu. However, it has given me new ideas on what to do for the future." Towa didn't care about that, she just cared that her daughter was fine and that no real harm had come to her, despite her foolish idea to even attempt to clash with Buu, though at the same time she knew it was only a matter of time until Twilight set her plans in motion and did something drastic, causing her to look forward to what it might be. > Interlude: Birthday Surprise > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- After her journey into the past, and getting brutalized by Majin Buu, Twilight focused her efforts on figuring certain things out, things that she preferred not to tell anyone else about for fear that they would ruin her plans, while keeping it a secret from her family since she wanted it to be a surprise. Towa knew she was looking for something in the vastness of space, a planet of importance to whatever she was planning, though most of her time was spent helping the new Putine get used to her new powers, while ensuring the former Demon Goddess didn't get into trouble. Of course their allies helped her out in her endeavors, making sure both she and Twilight knew how to wield their powers without getting into too much trouble, as controlling the power of space-time was no easy feat and it took time to fully master that power, in addition to everything else a Demon Goddess was capable of. In addition to that both Aeos and Chronoa returned to the Time Nest, as there was no reason for them to get involved with Twilight's plans, not after her annoyance of the latter stopping her from doing what she wanted back during the start of their encounter with the androids. The world itself had moved on as Mr. Satan took credit for the battle with Cell, in fact Twilight had hacked into the various systems of the companies who were involved with broadcasting everything and deleted the footage, replacing it with a small makeshift video that would convince anyone that the man was right. Sure, she could have taken credit for everything, but, in the end, she didn't face Cell for the sake of glory or recognition, rather she had done so for the sake of fighting a great foe and nothing else, which had put a smile on her face as she remembered the fight. Twilight also discovered that Krillin had scored with 18, as the two seemed to be in love and were currently looking for a place near Krillin's new job, because after seeing Cell's newfound power, and nearly dying to it, the bald fighter had resigned from fighting and was looking to be an officer of the law. At the same time both 16 and 17 were becoming rangers, protecting both endangered animals and even the exotic ones that people hunted for sport, on an island they called 'Sanctuary', though she knew that 17 was seen as a deity due to his new dragon nature. In addition to all of that she found that Chi-Chi was insisting on Gohan giving up fighting entirely so he could focus on his studies, though she was able to convince her to allow him a single training session a week, just so he could maintain his strength in case something happened in the future. While she did that Twilight also finished work on the ship that she had been working on, one that allowed her father and his side of the family to blast off into space so they could return to their empire and get things back on track, as Twilight had developed a long distance communicator and linked it back to her old home. There they learned that things weren't as swell as they assumed, as many were starting to wonder if they had died during their time on Namek, since the planet in question had blown up a number of years ago, and that it was only a matter of time until factions formed to take over the empire. As such her father, uncle, and grandfather returned to the empire without delay, and Twilight joined them as well, as she and her mother wanted to be seen as well so their people knew they were safe and sound, though they didn't stay for too long and she returned to her work without wasting too much time. Frieza was able to reign in his empire in no time at all, in fact many remembered how dangerous he was and knew not to challenge his authority, and with both his father and his brother at his side Twilight knew it would only take a few days for everything to return to normal. Of course she did have to return to the main planet of the empire for a few days, showing the engineers and workers her new ship, the engines she had created that were vastly superior to everything they had been using previously, the newer healing tank, all the improved systems she had developed, and even the gravity chamber for training before a ship got to the planet they were being sent to. Suffice to say that they were vastly impressed by what she had done, especially when she showed them her new armor and how she created it, meaning she had to spend about a week with them, showing the experts how she came up with the alterations and modifications that would benefit the people and planets of the empire, once they replicated all of her designs. Most of the stuff would go towards making the empire a far better place for their people, and the planets that were under her father's control, while helping them take down the rest of their foes so the rest of the universe was brought under their thumb, something she planned on leaving to her father for a time. As much as she wanted to return to her normal life she knew that a new threat was coming to Earth in the future, as that seemed to be what Aeos was suggesting, that even with Goku gone it was only a matter of time until something else came to take the planet down. With that in mind she wanted to be ready for whatever the future held for her, hence why she focused on her plans that would allow her to ensure that she was adequately prepared, to the point that she didn't want a party for her birthday, rather she had a journey to undertake. "Are you sure you don't want a party?" Towa asked, because while she knew that Twilight wasn't normal, given everything she and her new family had discovered since she joined Frieza's family to raise her, there were times where she wanted to take a day off to do something totally normal, a side effect of her time being a mother she guessed, "I'm sure Bulma could throw one together in no time if you wanted one." "No. Besides, she said she was busy... I think she's gathering the Dragon Balls or something." Twilight said, though as she said that both she and her mother raised their staffs as they channeled their energies, creating a portal to the planet that was her destination, as it took them some time to figure out what Goku knew and weave the spell together, causing her to chuckle for a moment as she thought about her comment, "Funny, that's what we're doing... only we're going to New Namek to speak with Porunga." Towa thought about what her daughter was planning, as it seemed like two of the wishes she wanted to make were to bring a figure from the past back to life, so since they likely died in another part of the universe Twilight needed to move their soul to the dragon, just like what happened after the events on Namek. With that in mind it made her wonder what the final wish was going to be, for it had to be some sort of ancient knowledge that couldn't be found, though what she really had no idea since Twilight had told her nothing of her plans. There was the chance that it had something to do with her journey to the past, the day she fought Buu and nearly got killed while doing so, and there was also the chance that it might not be as simple as she was making it out to be. All she knew was what Twilight had said, that they were going to New Namek to track down the Namekian Dragon Balls for whatever wishes her daughter had in mind, and while Demigra and his followers would be remaining on Earth, to keep up with Putine's training, which was coming along nicely. As the way opened, and they walked out onto New Namek's surface, Towa realized that whatever her daughter was up to had to be important when she spotted Aeos standing not too far away from where the space-time portal had brought the two of them to, with Chronoa positioned right behind her. "Peace. We're not here to mess with you... rather we're here to witness your plan with our own eyes." Aeos said, because both she and Chronoa had seen that Twilight had something planned for her 21st birthday and, since the future was no longer the same as what they had observed so far, she was interested in being there when history was forged by the one who had forever altered the main timeline with her very existence. Twilight nodded, as while she didn't trust Chronoa she did trust Aeos to keep her subordinate in line, so once the space-time portal was closed the four of them moved into the air before departing for the area that held her attention, which just so happened to be the nearby village. Towa discovered that Moori, the Namekian Elder who was raised to be the new Grand Elder, was there and that he was happy to see them again, though he did have to ask about Dende before they got to why the group was here, causing Twilight to tell him that Dende was just fine. She then explained that she was here to use their Dragon Balls, where she even demonstrated her understanding of the Namekian language to him, something she had learned from Dende over his time on Earth so they wouldn't need someone to speak to Porunga. This time Moori handed over the sphere that his village watched over, showing them that he knew she was going to do something good with her wishes, along with the fact that he used his newfound telepathy to inform the other six Elders of their coming, so all of their Dragon Balls would be waiting upon their arrival. As such Twilight, her mother, and their guests flew around the planet, finding that it was nearly identical to Namek in very way, meaning Porunga had found something familiar for the Namekians when he granted that wish, and collected the rest of the Namekian Dragon Balls without delay, allowing them to stop on an island that was far from the villages and deposit the spheres on the ground. "Well then, let's get the show on the road." Twilight said, where Towa, Aeos, and Chronoa stood off to the side while she remained in front of the spheres and called out the summoning incantation that Dende had used back during his time on Earth, since Moori had confirmed that it was still the same as before. Sure enough the sky darkened and the Namekian Dragon Balls were consumed by light, where she glanced up for a few seconds as Porunga formed before her, causing the others to stare up for a time as they took in his form, something she wasn't surprised by since the Eternal Dragons usually surprised everyone who looked at them. "You who have collected the Dragon Balls, speak thy wishes. I shall grant thee any three wishes that are within my power to grant." Porunga stated, sounding the exact same as before, meaning nothing had changed since the last time Twilight had seen him, which was good since she wanted to use all three wishes this time, instead of having it stolen by someone who misunderstood the situation they were in. "First off, I have a somewhat selfish wish that benefits the universe: I wish to be immortal." Twilight stated, because after dying on Namek, and her near death experiences between that and her clash with Buu, including the knowledge that her life was incredibly important for the safety of their entire universe, she decided to have this wish made first, surprising her mother and the others in the process. "Hm... your wish is granted." Porunga replied, as while he determined that there was some selfishness to the wish, which confirmed what Twilight had told him, he suspected that there was more good that would come from it and granted it, to which a golden light overtook her body for a moment before dying down. "Ah, everything feels... different." Twilight said, speaking to herself for a moment as she considered what this meant, a fact that made her wonder if this very wish was why the Dark Imperial Army targeted her during the Cell Games, the point she was at her most vulnerable, since they couldn't do anything during the events of Namek, before she focused on Porunga once more, "Now then, for the second wish: I wish for the soul of the West Kaioshin, Aria, to be brought to this portion of the universe." "Aria?! Twilight, she died five million years ago." Aeos stated, as while she suspected that immortality might be something the demon might wish form, especially given how she reacted to the information that her life was important for the rest of the universe, she wasn't expecting Twilight to even care about someone whose been gone for so long, "I don't think..." "I have moved her soul to this portion of the universe." Porunga said, where Towa continued to translate what was being said for Aeos and Chronoa, as she had taken the lessons as well to help her daughter learn how to speak Namekian much faster, which was why they knew what Twilight was saying to the dragon and what the Eternal Dragon was telling her while she made her wishes. "And finally, the third wish: I wish for Aria to be brought back to life!" Twilight stated, because after facing the brutality of Buu, and heading back into the empire with her father, she had done some research on Alexandria and focused on the Kaioshin she had encountered, finding that she had been a paragon of duty before her demise and suspected that using a wish to bring her back was a good thing. Porunga's eyes glowed for a moment as a figure appeared in the space in front of Twilight, where she watched as Aria was brought back to life before her eyes, just like what happened when the others were revived by the Namekian dragon, who departed as soon as the deed was done, leaving a confused Aria staring at Twilight. The pair stood there for a moment, all while the sky returned to normal, though before either of them could actually say anything to break the ice Twilight felt an unusual pain in her chest and glanced down as Aria did the same thing. In the following seconds she, Aria, and the others watched as her breasts started to push out, as they were growing before her very eyes, where Twilight was thankful that her armor was built off the normal template that her father's forces used, because the elastic nature allowed it to stretch and accommodate her now growing breasts. She had no idea why this was happening to her, given that she hadn't made a wish for such a thing and none of items she worked on in her lab were capable of this, though she did moan a little as her breasts kept growing, making her wonder how big they were going to get. After a few more moments her breasts stopped at a size she recognized, as now they were the same size that Krillin's old girlfriend, Maron she recalled, had the last time the bald warrior had seen her, and she was positive that her bra, which wasn't elastic, had snapped in the process, not that it mattered since it looked like she belonged in an anime now. "Twilight, are you alright?" Towa asked, though at the same time she noticed that her companions were blushing, likely due to the fact that they might have a transformation that did the same thing, their busts being increased as a side effect of their unique changes, not that she was any better since her own transformations did the same, and even the revived Kaioshin had a blush on her face. "Yeah, just... wasn't expecting that." Twilight replied, because she had no plans on doing such a thing to herself, despite the fact that she knew they wouldn't get in the way during battle, before she realized who was behind this, Bulma must have used one of Shenron's wishes to do this to her, even if it totally confused her, "Sorry Aria, that... wasn't supposed to happen. I had something different planned, but now I need to head back to Earth to have a conversation with the one who did this to me." "And I'm coming along... at least until I figure out what in the world is going on." Aria said, as she remembered Twilight as clear as day, from the day she was sure her life had ended fighting Buu, and yet here she was, no doubt brought back to life for some reason, meaning talking with Twilight would help her figure out what was going on and if she had to be even a tiny bit worried about this turn of events. With the conversation she wanted to have put on hold for the time being, and her mood slightly ruined, Twilight and her mother opened the way back to Earth, even though Aria and Aeos were surprised to see each other again, which was true when she noticed Chronoa was with them. A few moments later they returned to the area just outside their mountain home, causing Twilight to make her way into the city so she could track Bulma down and figure out what in the world had driven her to do such a thing. While they did that Aria glanced around the planet, finding that it was far more advanced than she thought and it caused her to fall back for a time, as something caught her attention and lead to Aeos stopping to make sure she wasn't left alone. Chronoa joined her superior, leaving Twilight and Towa to zero in on Capsule Corp and land outside it without delay, where Twilight was grateful that there weren't a lot of people around and found the area of the building that Bulma was in, leaving her mother behind to track her target down. While she walked, however, she paused for a moment to pull out a small pouch that contained a vial inside it, which just so happened to contain a potent version of Animorph X, but kept it hidden as she sealed her magical storage space and ended the room Bulma was in, her workshop to be exact. "I see you used the Dragon Balls." Twilight commented, though it was also true when she noticed that Bulma seemed to have taken a few years off to make herself look younger than she really was, no doubt due to the fact that Vegeta was her significant other in the eyes of the people and his unaging nature caused people to wonder what was going on. "Indeed. I used two on myself and the third on you... happy birthday, by the way." Bulma replied, where she turned around to face Twilight for a moment, turning her back to the table that had a cup of coffee on it, and when she glanced down for a second it provided the opportunity for Twilight to silently teleport a few drops of the drug into her drink, before Bulma focused on her again, "I finally got you back for what you did... using that donkey brew on me." "So this was all just a prank on your part?" Twilight asked, though if that was the case she wasn't going to feel very upset over what she had done just now, as giving her the Pleasure Island Brew had been relatively minor prank of sorts, which had allowed Bulma to see what it was like for herself. "Only in the sense that you didn't see it coming... it's a gift and a prank, to make you into a sexy goddess." Bulma said, as she knew about Twilight's new form and what it was called, thanks to Vegeta and the others telling her during the celebration party that everyone in Frieza's family had skipped, and had decided to make an alteration to Twilight's body to help drive that point home, where she sighed and sipped on her coffee for a moment, "You are now more beautiful than before, so you're welcome..." In that moment Bulma stopped whatever she was about to say as her fingers started to shake, where she watched as they sharpened into claws, while maintaining their humanoid form, as sapphire blue scales started to appear on her skin, going up her arms and down her legs. As that happened her toes tore through her shoes and transformed into the claws that a predator would have, locking themselves in a heel-like position as her big toes moved up her legs a little and her legs shifted on her, becoming more like 17's as time went on. Bulma shuddered for a moment as a dragon tail tore through her pants, finding that it was definitely growing out of her spine, and as her body became more lethal, just like what happened to 17 before Cell found him, she could feel the smaller spikes growing out of her spine a little as a pair of leathery wings, sized to fit her beautiful curvy frame, grew out of her back and tore apart the back of her shirt. After that a pair of curved ivory horns grew out of her head as her hair fell out, before her face pushed out into a dragon's muzzle and she gained her own predator teeth, completing the transformation into a dragon Beastian. Much like what happened with 17, back when he finalized his own transformation, Bulma let out a roar that shook part of the room, breaking the glass around her, though as she calmed down, however, Vegeta just so happened to walk by the door and stared at Twilight and Bulma for a few seconds. "Twilight... leave. NOW." Vegeta stated, where it seemed like he was interested in what he was seeing, causing Twilight to remember that Saiyans loved strong willed companions and while Bulma was strong in that category she might have just boosted her appeal to the Saiyan Prince. In the end Twilight decided not to stick around and departed from the room, focusing on leaving the building so she could focus on her plans, and as she did so she was sure she heard the sound of Vegeta pounding something, not in the sense that he was fighting someone, causing her to ignore the sound as she focused on what the future held in store. > Interlude: Full Moon Terror > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Following Twilight's trip to New Namek, and the events that happened after discovering that Bulma had made a wish on the Earth Eternal Dragon for her, not to mention her actions following that, she finally released her projects from the special containers they were in. After seeing the three strangers who arrived the day she fought Cell, even if that was when she and the others had first seen them, she had used the information she gleamed from them, due to her modified spy drones, along with the blood samples and Gero's technology, to make three small children. She had figured it out after going over everything she had seen and heard, one of her future selves, possibly even her future mother, had sent them back in time to ensure the Dark Imperial Army failed in their mission to destroy her before she became immortal. Since she had no plans to date or marry anyone this was her workaround, the creation of Calas, who was based off Cell, Houko, who was based off of Android 21 in Gero's notes, and Mira, the third figure who grew white fur when charging at the Dark Imperial Army. Her mother was overjoyed by that fact, since it expanded the family even more than before, and her father, when he heard about it, had been caught off guard by her actions, though that was only the tip of the iceberg when she considered all the work she had done before this point in time. One thing she did was publish her notes on Ki for the public to buy and study, which she proved to the scientists by using a bit to float in the air for a time, though her newfound books only contained the basics, since going too far would be a bad thing depending on who accessed the information. In addition to that she revealed a new version of her drug to the rest of the world, Animorph Z she called it, a combination of the original drug and a bit of Saiyan DNA, enough to give someone a boost to their strength when they trained or fought. This version was supposed to be a booster for warriors, since there were so many fighters in the world, and she even had a test set up since there were people who wanted to see her newest product in action, something she had anticipated before even finishing the drug. The only thing she had to do was ask Yamcha if he would be willing to take part in the test, something he would be compensated for since it was the common thing to do and she knew that he needed money since he was jobless, and he agreed without delay. The test was rather simple, all he had to do was use one of the punching machines to record the strength of his swing, a common thing that was being introduced in the tournaments of the world, where Mr. Satan's record was 140, then take the drug before training for half an hour before striking the machine again. Yamcha nodded as he took his stance before the machine and struck it, causing a reading of 100 to appear on the screen, though as the scientists took their notes he took the sample that Twilight had prepared for him when he agreed to do this. She had offered to give him an animal he liked or was attuned to and he had accepted it without delay, so when he ate the modified cracker he paused for a couple of seconds as his ears transformed into a pair of wolf ears and a wolf tail grew out of his spine, going through a hole he had prepared for this event. Once that was done he went about training in front of the experts who came to observe the drug in action, doing a few things they asked to stress his body in several ways to try and get a response out of the drug, and when time was up he struck the machine again, earning a 105 this time around. Sure enough they approved of the new version of the substance and her company started to produce her new items with ease, though after that Yamcha decided to go full Beastian, sticking to the wolf form, which likely helped him feel better and grow stronger over time. While all of that happened Twilight and the Z Warriors discovered something interesting, there were consequences of her turning Bulma into a dragon Beastian, as not six months after the event in question the pair revealed their second child to everyone else, a little girl who was a gray scaled dragon Beastian. Her name was Bulla Eschalot Briefs, a hybrid like Trunks, Gohan, and even Goten, the last one being Chi-Chi's second son that she revealed at the same time, though everyone was more focused on the little dragon and less interested in a kid who resembled a young Goku. While Bulma hadn't planned on it happening, in fact it was clear that she thought one had been enough for a while, it was easy to see that she was very happy to have little Eschalot in their lives, causing Twilight to wonder if there was more to the little hybrid, more than the ones who came before her. Even the androids had joined them in welcoming the little dragon into the world, mostly due to the fact that 18 was married to Krillin and had invited her brothers to the celebration, though they couldn't stay too long since there was an island and some animals that needed their protection. The nights following her reveal to the rest of the group were uneventful, which Twilight attributed to the fact that she, her mother, the kids, and even Aria, who was a guest until she figured out what she wanted to do, lived in a house made in a mountain near the city Bulma lived in, before one night Twilight felt the urge to stay up later than normal and stand on a balcony that allowed her to stare in the direction of Capsule Corp. "You couldn't sleep either, Twilight?" Aria asked, where Twilight found that the revived Kaioshin was wearing the pink night gown she had picked out during one of their trips to the city, since both she and her mother figured that she needed more than her original attire if she was going to stay on Earth, but it made sense for Aria to have some sleepless nights, due to the fact that she was likely remembering the day Buu killed her. "There's something in the air... what I don't know." Twilight replied, as she could tell something was going to happen soon, what she had no idea, and it interested her more than she was willing to admit, she just had to wait and see whatever was about to happen, as once it happened she was planning on heading for bed. In the next moment she and Aria heard a roar that penetrated the silent night, scaring off the animals of the forest that were near the mountain, causing Twilight to summon one of her Phantom Eyes and sent it off into the night, allowing her and Aria to observe as it raced off in the direction of West City. As she formed the window for them to observe through, a way for her to share the sight with others, they discovered that there was a hole in the eastern side of Capsule Corp, as in a large one, as if Vegeta and Bulma happened to have a fight and one of them wrecked a wall. She though of such a thing since transforming into a dragon Beastian allowed one to breath fire, though Twilight dispelled that idea as soon as they laid eyes on the one who was behind the damage, it was a dragon, just not Bulma when she took in the sheer size of the beast. The gray scales informed her that it was Eschalot and confirmed a worry she had thought of when she considered the little girl's mixed nature, her dragon tail counted as a Saiyan tail, meaning her room must have given her a direct view of the moon and that awakened the beast inside her, the Oozaru, only modified to fit her unique DNA. Of course she wasn't standing on two legs, rather the sheer primal power had overwhelmed her and forced her onto all fours, causing Eschalot to look like a beast from legend as her body enlarged to a new size, standing just as tall as Capsule Corp in this form while looking far more menacing. "No way... is that little Eschalot?" Aria asked, staring at the scene they were observing, while marveling at Twilight's ability to make such a spell in such a short period of time, before noticing that flames were building in her throat, confirming that the beast was in control, especially since Eschalot was just a baby and had no control over anything. In the next moment the beast loosed a burst of flames down one of the streets, an attack that appeared to be the result of a dragon's flames being mixed with an Oozaru's beam attack, which tore apart the ground, set everything around the now broken street on fire, destroyed the sides of some of the buildings, and waking up everyone in the area in the process. It was easy to tell that she was going on a rampage, crushing anything and everything that happened to be near her as she attacked whatever she wanted, and sure enough she found that someone had come to stop her from destroying more of the city. Vegeta appeared in the air, in his newly acquired Super Saiyan 2 form that he unlocked through training alone, and seemed to be calling for Eschalot to calm down, though Twilight knew it was a losing battle, the little baby had been overwhelmed and it would be some time before she calmed down, due to the form being tied to the moon. In the next moment Twilight guessed that destroying the celestial object might free Eschalot from what was going on and revert her back to her infant form, though she knew that going through with the idea would also kill a fair number of people, due to the tides being connected to it. She and Aria watched as Vegeta flew into the forest and left the city behind, causing his daughter to roar as she chased after him without much delay, crushing cars and damaging buildings in the process, though she caught up in no time at all, which had to surprise the Prince as Eschalot swung her right claws at him. Twilight was amused by the fact that Vegeta seemed to be unwilling to actually attack his daughter, or maybe it was out of fear that he might actually harm her, as the attack connected and pinned him to the ground in the forest he had been moving towards. As Eschalot growled Twilight found that another figure happened to be in the area, 17 to be exact, and while he didn't seem interested in fighting he was far more interested in trying to calm her down so she didn't destroy the entire forest. He did have to strike her in the side, since she wasn't listening to anything anyone was saying, though it was clear that he had some instructions for Vegeta as he carefully moved Eschalot away from where the Saiyan had brought her, causing the Prince to get up and head in a direction that was familiar to Twilight. She mentally chuckled for a moment as she dismissed the Phantom Eye and the window they had been looking through, as not a few moments later Vegeta came to a stop in front of her balcony, where it looked like he had debated coming to her domain or just ignoring 17 entirely. "Twilight, we... I... I require your assistance." Vegeta said, where it was easy for her to tell that he wasn't too pleased about having to come here and ask her, of all people, to help tame his daughter, especially since Eschalot was stronger than he thought, due to the fact that he was stronger than when Trunks was conceived and her enlarged form was her version of the Oozaru form, meaning her strength was too much for him. Twilight said nothing to that as she called her staff to her side and jumped into the air, grabbing onto the weapon as she, Aria, and Vegeta moved over to the area of the forest that Eschalot was currently trashing as 17 tried to calm her down, a fact that he was failing in as the rampaging dragon swung at him and tore the landscape up. "Eschalot, you need to calm down." Twilight stated, where she stared down at the rampaging dragon with a disapproving look on her face, as usually it caused someone to stop in their tracks and listen to her, based on what she had seen in the past, though this time around the beast just stared at her, causing Twilight to ready herself as her aura appeared around her without delay, "Don't make me do anything drastic." In the next moment she found that flames were gathered in Eschalot's throat, indicating that she was going to attack once more, causing her to sigh as she readied her power once more, though as she prepared herself the rampaging dragon did something new, she opened her mouth and her energy gathered in front of her muzzle. It was almost like she was taking the time to fire a Kamehameha, even though she knew the baby had no idea how to do anything and assumed that it had to be Vegeta's side showing, and since she had no idea how to do things the attack just kept building. At one point 17 just rushed at her side and told Eschalot to calm down, though that only triggered the dragon as she launched her attack right at Twilight, where the sphere she had been building transformed into a beam of fiery energy that barreled into her not a few seconds later. A few seconds later the attack disappeared as Twilight emerged from the smoke it left behind, as she had activated her absorption just before it struck her, not that it mattered since it wouldn't have hurt her too much thanks to her wish on New Namek, though in that instant she focused on the task at hand. As Eschalot growled Twilight weaved her magic into the space around her foe, forming magical chains around her arms and legs, including her neck and wings to make sure she was chained to the ground, in a way that didn't hurt her, before finding that the power of her chains weren't enough. Eschalot roared as her wings tore through the chains, which was an impressive feat considering the power that Twilight commanded, and started to build more power in an attack that would decimate the entire forest at the rate she was going. It was another sphere attack, just like the last one, and with how she was aiming it Twilight was sure that it would utterly decimate the entirety of the forest and part of her mountain home, a fact that displayed how out of control the young hybrid Saiyan was. With that in mind she focused on chaining Eschalot in place, sealing her movement as she worked on a sleep spell that would put the rampaging dragon to sleep, though she had to force Eschalot's head to face only her as the beam was fired, so she could absorb it and not decimate the area that was around her. Once the attack was done Twilight made her move, casting the spell she had been preparing and found that it worked not a few moments later, where the beast staggered as she loosened her chains and collapsed on the ground, though she was able to confirm that she was asleep, for now. "Vegeta, when she's ready, you bring her to me for training... she's got too much power and will need proper training to master herself." Twilight stated, because while she knew that Vegeta was skilled in his own right, especially with his own training, this rampage told her that Eschalot needed special treatment so she didn't become a terror for the rest of the city her parents lived in, much less the rest of the planet and it's people. The Saiyan Prince nodded his head, knowing that this might be better left to her than with him, especially given her power and magic, causing Twilight to sigh as she realized that her plate was going to be full for the foreseeable future, which only made her wonder what else might happen in the near future. > Interlude: Godly Tour > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- After cleaning up the mess from Eschalot's rampage, putting West City back together while repairing Capsule Corp and just saying that it was a random monster that had been dealt with, Twilight found that the first thing Bulma did was change the location of her daughter's bedroom, to prevent this from happening again. The news reported it as a monster that came through and disappeared after a short period of time, though no one in their group bothered to confirm anything, other than the fact that it attacked the side of Bulma's building as well. Fortunately it appeared that no one connected the fact that the beast had gray scales to Eschalot's scale color, otherwise things would have gone south for her and Vegeta, but the rest of the city just assumed the beast had flown down into the city, crashed into the side of their building, went on a rampage, and then left. Vegeta also considered blowing up the moon to make sure such a thing didn't happen again, though both she and Aria stopped him, as the moon was connected to the tides and there was no telling what sort of devastation doing such a thing would bring to the planet. Once everything was said and done, and Twilight was sure of that, she focused on her own tasks, the first of which just so happened to be the creation of beauty products for the growing number of Beastians that were appearing all over the world, to care for their scales and fur, since they were becoming more common across the world. While doing that she and Aria explored the world, or rather she took the revived Kaioshin to some of the sights that were of interest to her, because after some time getting used to the fact that she was actually alive, and this wasn't some odd sort of afterlife for someone of her stature, she wanted to see what the Earth had to offer. There were cities to check out, places to see, events to observe from afar without being seen, and everything else that might interest Aria, since she was intrigued by a planet so full of life, not that Twilight could blame her since Buu had killed her. After spending so long dead it was clear that she valued the new life she had been given, in fact that was one of the things she thanked Twilight for, the second chance that not many were given, even though she knew those slain by the villains of this world were brought back whenever the heroes were done with their fights. It was something Twilight had shown her, since she was interested in the Dragon Balls and the power they possessed, even though they also knew the spheres did more than that, especially after Twilight's experience when she revived Aria on New Namek. Of course Aria had been interested in Twilight's children, the fact that she'd rather make them than go through things like someone normally would, especially when she learned about all the technology that she had improved upon to make all three of her super powerful children. The fact that Twilight had samples of the world's greatest warriors, collected from her family members, the Saiyans, and even Piccolo, not to mention one that seemed to be a sample of Buu himself, made her interested in what they might do in the future. Aria was, of course, surprised by the fact that their future counterparts had come back in time to help save Twilight from the assassination attempt that the Dark Imperial Army attempted with the Cell Games, but that told her that they loved her and valued her safety above their own. The oddest thing about that was that she Gods of Time had likely helped them come back to do such a thing, given that Twilight had seen no machine when the trio returned to their own timeline, though it made Aria wonder why they would have sent them back in time in the first place. Such a thing made Twilight wonder if one of her future selves, or maybe even her mother from another time period, had done the deed, to ensure that she either survived or that she had the inspiration to make her children, but decided that, for the time being, it wasn't too important as she focused on their travels. Twilight had plans to take Aria out into the universe, to show her the planets she had been to and the various races she had come into contact with, just to show her how things differed from her era, but, for the time being, she preferred to be on the Earth. Instead she found that the revived Kaioshin wanted to fight, she wanted to train, because her time with Towa and the Gods of Time, figuring out what had happened after her demise at the hands of Majin Buu, she was curious as to when Buu would be unsealed from his prison, due to Future Kouko's transformed state. If there was a chance that Buu would break out of his prison, and she was convinced that such a thing might happen in the future, Aria wanted to be as ready as she could be, so training with Twilight, who was trying to master her own Demon Goddess state, was the best for her to grow her strength. Such a thing actually caused Twilight to pull in her family for some training as well, because she knew that they had to be growing annoyed of there being so many people that were stronger than them, none gods to be exact, and while her uncle and grandfather didn't have her father's potential she knew they could benefit from building their strength and strengthening their defenses. Frieza, of course, said nothing about the idea and remained behind to govern the empire while everyone else trained on Earth with Twilight, though she wasn't bothered by the idea, as her father disliked the idea of training entirely, but she did know that he'd come around eventually, they just had to be patient. To aid them in their training Twilight did something that only Piccolo found out about, in addition to Dende and Mr. Popo since they lived on the Lookout, she studied the Hyperbolic Time Chamber and used her powers to modify the power of the chamber, erasing the foolish restriction on how much one could use it. The reason she considered it foolish was due to the fact that it was supposed to help Earth's defenders, so they could stand against the dangers that threatened their world, so forcing them to have only two days inside it was just foolish. She was keeping it mostly the same, as in the fact that one day outside was the same as a year inside the chamber, though there was no restriction on how much one could utilize the chamber, meaning they could spend a lifetime inside it and grow their power to new heights. With how much a Saiyan grew it was now the perfect area for someone like Vegeta to train, or herself and Aria as she considered what she had done, making her wonder if her changes to the chamber might be the key to dealing with the problem that Aria was sure was coming their way in the future. During their training Aria revealed the existence of Bibidi, the one who either created Buu or summoned him, a monster who manipulated Buu into doing his wishes and held magic that could dominate his targets, or so she heard anyway, so it was important for them to ready themselves against such a power. Twilight found that there were people to aid them in doing such a thing, her mother and their demonic allies were more than willing to help them understand the power that was manipulation sorcery, as in the ins and outs so they could be prepared. The training for that allowed Twilight to build both of their resistances to the potential sorcery that might be used against them in the future, in case Aria was right and Buu's awakening was just around the corner, something none of their allies could confirm anymore. Still, she was fine with whatever training they did, as it allowed them to build their strengths and master their abilities so they wouldn't be beaten by anything that was thrown at them, even if Towa suspected that her daughter would be more than capable of facing the rest of the future's dangers. During all of that Aria took Twilight up on her offer to see more of the universe, though she had a rather odd request that she wanted to start with, she wanted to go to the Other World and see how things were going with the Kais, because she recalled them working hard during the time before her death. "Out of curiosity, why start in the Other World?" Twilight asked, because she expected Aria to pick a world full of warriors, to see how they fought, or a world that had scholars, much like Alexandria, though she was willing to take Aria there if that was her desire, as she had used the Room of Time to observe and master Goku's Instant Transmission technique, which she used from time to time these days. "All Kaioshin are chosen from the Kai, and I'm interested in seeing if there are any candidates who might be able to be raised to a new position in the future." Aria replied, though while she knew that one of the Kais, this 'King' Kai that most of the Z Warriors had mentioned when she hung out with them, was a slacker she was hoping that the others were skilled in some manner, mostly to see if a new Kaioshin could be picked out to join the one who survived Buu's rampage, "Once we're done we can see the rest of the universe and the planets that you told me about... it would be nice to see what was able to survive the rampage and grow after Buu was sealed away." Twilight nodded her head for a moment as Aria laid her hand on her shoulder and allowed her to focus, where she used her power to teleport them to the Other World, as she had locked onto a familiar energy signature and caused them to appear in an area that seemed to be a private training area, with Goku training in the air, with a halo above his head and what looked like massive weights on his limbs. "Twilight? What are you doing here?" Goku asked, stopping his training the moment he felt someone new arrive, where he landed the moment he spotted the pair standing nearby, even though he was surprised the moment he discovered Aria standing near her, since this was his first time meeting her, "And who are you?" "I am Aria, the recently revived West Kaioshin, as Twilight went to New Namek to use their Dragon Balls." Aria replied, as both she and Towa had vowed to not tell a soul about the immortality wish that Twilight had made before moving her soul and reviving her, especially since she was eternally grateful for the second chance she had been given, "I've been living with her and her family since then, taking my time learning about all of the changes in the universe since I was killed by a destructive beast that killed for fun. They've also told me a lot about you, the first Saiyan to unlock the Super Saiyan form in a long time... along with several of the bad choices you made before Cell killed you... but I'm more interested in the fact that there are good heroes in the universe these days." "Thanks... I guess." Goku said, though he could tell see something that the pair were keeping to themselves, Twilight must have used the Room of Time to head into the past to see some great foe, one she wasn't going to share with him no less, and found Aria during that point in history, hence why she went to New Namek, and he was sure that there might be a bit of a romance between the two. Twilight opened her mouth to say something else, since there was more to talk about and things that had to be clarified before the Saiyan misunderstood what they were telling him, but before she could say anything they heard the sound of someone being terrorized and she found King Kai on the ground with three other Kais near him. Based on what she was seeing right now it looked like the West, South, and East Kais were tormenting him over the fact that he had died, as if that made him inferior to them or lesser than them in some odd manner, though she stopped in her tracks as she noticed the look on Aria's face. The revived Kaioshin was absolutely furious over what they were witnessing right now, meaning that she wasn't too pleased with the current Kais of their universe, making Twilight wonder what in the world her Kais were like when they were alive, since it seemed like she was focused on preserving life as best as she could. Sure enough Aria took it upon herself to lecture the annoying Kais, as she formed a lasso with her Ki and wrapped it around them to bring them to her, something that caused Twilight to chuckle as she walked over to a shaded area under a tree so she could watch all of this without unfold, especially since the Kaioshin slapped the others when they questioned her opinions. She had a feeling that Aria was going to rip the four Kais a new one, and their boss when Twilight considered it, and she was going to enjoy watching her go to town on the figures in front of her, making her far more interested in what might happen in the near future than she had been before coming to the Other World. > Interlude: Preparing for the Future > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- After chewing out the Kais for tormenting one of their own, even if King Kai brought it upon himself for his sins against her and her family, Twilight ensured that Aria was able to see the various planets of the universe, starting with Alexandria for a day of relaxing in one of it's seven libraries. Of course there were other locations for them to visit, like surprising Frieza while he was on the main planet of the empire, where Aria learned of how Twilight had altered the army to not kill everyone on the various planets they went to, rather they took care of existing problems before integrating the remaining population and their world into the growing empire. Such a thing made her realize that Twilight really didn't like to exterminate the people of a planet, rather she liked to learn about them and found ways to save as many as she could, letting Aria see her in a new light as they continued to explore the worlds she helped bring into her father's empire. One of which happened to be the planet known as Griea V, allowing her to listen to the tale that was weaved as she learned about the battles between those native to the planet and those who crashed on it, which the Frieza Force had put an end to after everything that went down all those years ago. When they finally returned to Earth, to stay there and prepare, Twilight returned to her training, studies, and work, as she was finding that more and more people seemed to like being Beastians, to the point where it seemed like the world was going to be a fifty-fifty split between them and Humans. She also worked to ensure that Eschalot didn't awaken the beast inside her before she could start her training, where it was easy to find that both she and Piccolo were keeping a close eye on the Capsule Corp, to ensure another rampage didn't happen, to the point that Twilight left the observation to him and informed him to contact her if the dragon went crazy. While he did that, only reporting that nothing happened with Vegeta's family, Twilight spent a good portion of her time making her lessons for her children and those who would be coming to her as well, since she suspected that Trunks and Goten might find a way to join everyone else. She knew that she was going to have to speak to Chi-Chi about her second son, set up some sort of training day for him like she did for Gohan some time ago, but she pushed that off for the time being since he wasn't of age to start his training. Another thing she and the others learned was that Krillin and 18 also had their own kid, a little girl named Marron, four years after the Cell Games, though until all of the other kids in her generation she wasn't going to be a fighter, for now at least since there was no telling what 18 wanted, causing Twilight to focus on her charges. As time went on Twilight found that her thoughts were correct, as when the next generation came of age to actually start their training it fell to her to make sure all three of her children and Eschalot actually arrived, because while she knew that her kids would come she had no idea if Vegeta would remain true to his word. Most of her assumed that his pride would be too big to even allow her to train his daughter, even if he had nodded his head when she made her comment after the deadly rampage, and she was pleasantly surprised to find that he and his young daughter arrived in the area that she was using as her training grounds. Eschalot wore a blue gi, colored to match her mother's hair color before she was turned into a Beastian by Twilight, with a red belt and red wristbands, and she was excited to actually start training, because she had a feeling that the destruction caused that fateful night was her fault and she didn't want it to happen again. Twilight also discovered something interesting, Vegeta wanted to join in and grow his power by training with her, something that caused her to chuckle for a moment as she got to work, confusing the Saiyan Prince for a short time. He soon discovered that his opponent wasn't Twilight, like he had hoped, rather he was going up against her children as she focused on teaching Eschalot the basics of how to control her power and being the master of it, instead of it being the master of her, as the first step was important before they moved onto the later lessons, and whenever her kids knocked him down they'd sing 'Kidnap the Saiyan Prince' to get him motivated again. Twilight found that Eschalot was a fast learner and was far more intelligent, in both the sense of battle and computers, a fact that informed her that she must have inherited the strengths of both her parents, an interesting turn of events since it meant there were great things in her future. She wasn't too surprised to find that Trunks and Goten came to her as well, during her current training sessions, and when Gohan joined she set a rule that their training day would be the day that Gohan was given, just so there weren't too many interruptions while she worked. Twilight also discovered an annoying fact, Trunks and Goten only wanted to fight adults, the strongest around in their eyes oddly enough, and so they targeted her no matter who she was training, though while it was a good lesson for everyone it was annoying when she wanted to focus on something else. The only good part about that was when the pair revealed that, somehow, they could transform into Super Saiyans, something that surprised Vegeta, Gohan, and most of the observers, Aria and Twilight's family, but it did have an interesting side effect, the fact that Eschalot didn't have it sparked her anger and gave her the same form in no time at all. Eschalot's scales went from their usual grey and turned the same shade as a Super Saiyan's hair, while her eyes turned the same shade that came with the transformation, though it caused Twilight to restart her lessons since a burst of power, in any form, made people do stupid things and she wasn't running that risk with Eschalot. In addition to all of that, as the years rolled on, she got an interesting visitor at her company's headquarters in the form of Mr. Satan and Videl, a fair skinned girl who was seventeen when they first met, as it was six years after the Cell Games, not to mention that she had a slim build that reflected her fighter nature. Mr. Satan told her that Videl liked to fight crime, in fact she had special permission to leave her classes at school whenever criminals were active in Satan City, despite the fact that it was where they were making their home, an interesting fact since it was close to Gohan's place. In order to make good time in her crime fighting activities, and not fall behind during her studies, they had come to the conclusion that one of the TF Food's was the best course of action, though that lead to why they had come here, to her, instead of focusing on which animal Videl wanted. Apparently they wanted to place a custom order, where instead of being just the ears and tail they wanted it to be the feet of an animal, so she could speed off without delay and get back quickly, plus Mr. Satan was of the opinion that it should have a shorter time limit, so it didn't interfere with her classes. "The changes you're asking for will make the recipe unstable... you could get stuck as a Beastian." Twilight stated, as after her previous changes to the serum, creating Animorph Z for the fighters of the world, she had devoted some of her time towards researching new creatures and even producing new products for people to enjoy, so she knew the inns and outs of the drug better than anyone else. "So there's nothing you can do?" Videl asked, because while she didn't have the knowledge to understand everything that went into the various TF Food's that everyone seemed to be enjoying, rather than the fact that the time limit was necessary to some degree, she did know that Twilight was smart enough to tell them why this wouldn't work. "On the contrary, I can make a version that won't endanger you and give you what you want." Twilight replied, though she was fine with Videl and her father having their own thoughts on the drug and her ability to mess with it, instead of being ignorant about everything, causing her to focus on what she needed to tell them before they came to a decision on what to do for the young lady, "Considering that you want to fight crime, and could be called away multiple times during a day, I can create a new TF Food that will grant you both the legs and tail of a fast creature, in addition to the ears, as the legs will ensure you have the speed you desire and the tail will give you balance. Now, you won't be able to carry actually food into your school, like cake and whatnot, so I have another idea: how about crackers that you only need to eat one of to bring forth the changes... obviously you'll want to take your shoes off before using one, and maybe get yourself some clothing of my own construction that adapts to when one partakes of a TF Food." "Wait, you got clothing as well?" Mr. Satan asked, as that was something he hadn't known before this point, though he was interested by the idea since it meant his daughter wouldn't have to worry about accidents during her time in school if she proceeded down the path she was choosing to walk down. "We're actually in the process of producing them right now." Twilight said, where she tapped a key on her computer and the screen that she used to show things to investors and other people, as many people wanted to be part of her growing company and none of them bothered to try and cheat her, she found them out before they got too far, causing the pair to turn for a moment as she played a video, "Go ahead, see for yourselves." Twilight had developed several variations that did what Videl wanted, instead of focusing on the tail and ears they gave the user a different animal trait, for testing purposes of the Morph Clothing as she called it, where one tester was given a wing variant to test. Such a thing allowed Videl and her father to watch as the tester took the sample and downed it, where they observed as the back of his shirt opened, revealing two slits, before large brown feathered wings grew out of them with ease, where she could see that they were surprised by her creation. Another one took a newer blend, a dino treat that was going to be on the shelves in the near future, and while a thick tail grew out of her spine, like the apex predator type, she found that a hole opened in her pants for it to emerge from without tearing everything she was wearing to shreds. Videl had to ask if it was possible for shoes to be included in the idea, since part of her desire was for that aspect of the change, and Twilight told her it was entirely possible, she just had to research the topic in question since she had focused on the main articles of clothing. In the end Mr. Satan placed an order for an item Twilight called 'Raptor Bites', an altered version that did exactly what his daughter wanted them to, and also for several sets of clothing so Videl would have different choices when the time came, though Twilight chuckled as she did so, as Videl seemed pretty happy with her selections. She made sure that Videl knew to use the crackers once she was of the legal age to do so, since there were consequences for the underaged taking them, a fact she didn't have to worry about since most people were smart enough not to do something stupid, but she wanted to make sure Videl knew that fact. Fortunately she did and Twilight didn't have to say anything else on the matter, rather she was able to focus on the rest of the transaction, where Mr. Satan sighed as he paid for the gift he would be giving his daughter when she finally turned eighteen, making this a special birthday present for Videl. Once that was done the pair went off to do whatever it was that they wanted to do with the rest of their day, leaving her to her work as she recalled the orange star badge on Videl's attire, the same that Gohan told her about when he mentioned that he would be going to a high school in the near future. Such a thing caused her to chuckle as she realized that the two were on a collision course with each other, something she was interested in hearing about when the time finally came, causing her to glance out the window as she wondered what the future held for her and the rest of the Earth. > Buu: New Developments > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Twilight found that, save for the criminals that were dealt with by the police, nothing major happened to the Earth and that she was able to let seven years pass by with mostly peace filling her days, either training or preparing for the event Aria felt was coming in the near future. She didn't doubt her girlfriend's thoughts on the matter, as in the potential unsealing of Majin Buu, because she possessed a sample that definitely came from the creature in question and it meant that she would run into him again at some point in time, hence why she was focused on her training. Of course her parents and family had been a little surprised by her choice, dating someone who was older than her and who had been dead for a long time, but the only potential candidates were either annoyances or were already married, plus she liked Aria for multiple reasons. As such the two of them worked hard to prepare for the revival of Majin Buu, making sure the children had their fun and grew at their own pace, all while keeping an eye out for trouble, since there was no telling when those seeking to revive Buu would come to bother the planet. While she did that, however, Twilight found herself keeping an eye on Satan City, just to see how Videl was doing, since her eighteenth birthday had come and gone, plus the delivery of Morph Clothing had been completed as well, meaning she was ready for whatever her chosen future held for her. What she discovered was exactly what had been described to her, Videl, wearing her new Morph Clothing, the blue choice for her first time, rushed down the street as she zeroed in on the area that the report was coming from, as it seemed like the bank was being robbed. Sure enough she found that the lady's legs had been altered by the Raptor Treat she must have eaten after hearing that there were robbers in the bank, molded to fit the dinosaur in question, a hunter that was faster than some of the modern species Twilight had researched. From what she could see Videl's legs were covered in red scales with black slashes, a design that came with the transformation in question, and her shoes had been altered to fit over them, just as Twilight designed when she heard her request not that long ago. In addition to that Videl had a thick tail that allowed her to balance and control herself, exactly as Twilight had told her and her father, which had the same colors as her legs, and her feet ended in three talons that were sharp and avoided doing harm to the ground below her. While Twilight marveled at her handiwork, as she had done as Videl had asked and granted her a form that allowed her to get to crime scenes faster than most of the people in the city, she knew that this day wouldn't hers as she found Gohan, in his new school uniform, go Super Saiyan to beat up the robbers before running away to avoid being caught. It was hilarious when he ran into Videl, after dropping into his base form, and chatted with her for a few moments before heading off to school, eventually forcing her to do the same, though Twilight knew that Videl had a clue as to who took out the robbers, as Gohan had forgotten about his badge. As such it wasn't long before his secret was revealed to Videl, as she kept an eye on him during their classes, in fact it was an odd twist of fate that most of their classes were together, which just gave her plenty of time to observe him and form her own opinions regarding Gohan. Twilight chuckled as she let the pair go about their business, though she was pleased to see that Gohan remembered her lessons, as he moved just like all of the other students his age and didn't show his hand when it came to doing sports, as he wanted to be normal for some time and not be seen as strange. For the most part he was successful in his endeavors to pass as a normal young adult, or as normal as one could be since some of the students were Beastians, though Videl eventually confronted him about what happened and connected the dots as he left school. In an interesting turn of events Twilight discovered that Videl had linked him to one of the fighters she had seen during the Cell Games, making him far more interesting in her eyes, something that caused Twilight to chuckle as she returned to her own business, as there was no reason for her to spy on him so much. As time went on Twilight heard of the emergence of a new hero in Satan City, the 'Great Saiyaman', and it was easy for her to figure out that Gohan had done so to make sure the people at his school didn't discover his antics during his commute to and from his school. Interestingly enough he let Videl tackle most of the criminals during their classes, allowing her to have her fun and bring justice to those who would break the law, and he made sure to take care of those he found while flying on his route, as if the two had some agreement between them. During one of the weekend training sessions she had with Gohan, Aria, and many others, however, she found Videl among her students and discovered that Gohan actually agreed to take her on as a student in the art of Ki, while allowing her to join them here meant she'd be able to gain a lot of experience. During the first instance of that happening Twilight also learned about the upcoming tournament and the fact that Goku, Vegeta, and several others would be participating in it, though the glances that her mother gave Demigra told her what she needed to know without a single word being told. Something was going to happen during the tournament in question, something bad depending on who was asked, but at the same time she chuckled for a moment, as she suspected that the time of Buu was coming, before focusing on the lessons she had designed for everyone, while teaching Videl the basics with Gohan... but when everyone left, however, she and Aria faced her mother and Demigra. "The next major event for this world is about to unfold." Demigra said, confirming what they suspected without saying a single word about who might be coming, since there was a chance that knowing that fact could alter what was to come, not counting all the training they did specifically for Majin Buu, "The tournament is the key to everything." "We should join then, or at least go there as well." Aria remarked, because if Buu was the threat that was coming she and the others had to be there to stop him from being released into the universe, as he would crush and destroy everything in his path, like what she had seen before her battle with the figure, "Twilight? What do you think?" "Since so many skilled fighters are going to be there, I'm sure we'll be invited, so we might as well go as well." Twilight said, not that she had plans to actually fight against Goku and the others, mostly because she wanted to be ready for whoever was lurking in the shadows and enjoy herself before they had to deal with the upcoming threat, "I'm not going to enter the actual tournament, as I'd rather save my energy for whoever our foes happen to be, but it should be an interesting way to pass some time." Towa nodded her head in understanding, as Twilight always looked at the bigger picture and with them telling her that the tournament was the key to the next threat her daughter's focus was on the upcoming threat, plus she didn't want to waste time with trash fighters, causing her to look forward to what the upcoming weeks held for them. A month went by since the day that Gohan and Videl first met each other, giving the people who were planning on taking part in the tournament time to make themselves as ready as they could possibly be, while Twilight and her family decided not to bother participating. Fortunately her family was easily accepted by the people of Earth, not that they knew that Cooler was her uncle and that King Cold was her grandfather, meaning she didn't have to explain much when some of the public first saw them, rather they just accepted another race and moved on with their lives. Cooler explained that it was due to the fact that most of the people of Earth were used to her doing all sorts of things, especially with the Beastians being a thing again, which allowed them to go out and actually mingle with the people of Earth whenever they wanted to. Twilight also made sure that her kids were ready for the tournament, as they wanted to participate as well, though she had them promise not to use their true forms, since that would be unfair to everyone else their age, and found that they were fine with that, as if they saw this as a test of some kind. When the big day arrived Twilight flew towards the island that the tournament was being held on, which made her connect it to when she and the others tracked down the androids at Future Trunks' request, where she found that several Humans and Beastians had taken her Ki lessons to heart, but most still used their vehicles to travel. What Twilight discovered was that there was a lot more fighters this time around than anyone could have possibly imagined, as there were scores of them and reporters getting ready to record everything that happened, though her arrival had unexpected consequences. Given that she was one of the richest people in the world, in fact her wealth, thanks to the profits of her company, had surpassed most of the richest people and put her on a higher pedestal like Bulma's family, the reporters flooded her group shortly after they landed and she found that many of them had questions. Some asked if she had plans for the future, as in did she have new products in development, was she here to fight, and several others that made everyone chuckle as they were asked, where Twilight told them that, yes, she did have new products coming and didn't want to spoil the surprise, and no, she wasn't here to fight, mostly to watch and have some fun. Aria chuckled as she watched the reporters for a time, mostly because it was interesting to see how they reacted to what Twilight had to say, especially when they figured out that they were a couple, but the storm soon passed as everyone went to crowd around Mr. Satan as his vehicle arrived. Sure enough the man informed all of the reporters that he would be the one to win the tournament, no matter who came to challenge him, even if it meant going up against his daughter, who was now of age to join the adult section of the tournament. While he did that Piccolo landed nearby and joined the group, finding that Gohan was in his normal gi, as he had nothing to fear from his fellow students knowing he had some skills in the martial arts, especially since he went to great pains to keep the Great Saiyaman and himself as two separate people in the eyes of everyone else. Around that point Twilight discovered that Goku, complete with his halo, appeared nearby with an elderly witch riding on a crystal ball behind him, his guide from the Other World no doubt, who informed him that he had twenty-four hours before he had to be brought back to the afterlife. As the witch disappeared, however, Twilight ignored the get together that was happening around Goku right now, as she focused on two godly energy signatures that were new, she hadn't felt them before today, but she said nothing as Aria registered for the tournament and returned to her side once everything was in order. "No way... Aria?!" a voice asked, where Twilight turned her head for a moment and found someone who looked similar to the West Kaioshin, a male with pinkish colored skin, whose attire was a dark blue vest and a light blue shirt and pants, all while a tall angry male stood behind him with a similar attire that was red colored, "How is this possible?" "Shin... you do realize that I was revived almost seven years ago, right?" Aria replied, though while it was easy for Twilight to tell that Aria was happy to see another Kaioshin, in fact the only one who survived Majin Buu's rampage, she could see that she was also annoyed by her friend only now discovering that she was once more among the living, "Whose your new friend? An apprentice Kaioshin?" "No, Kibito is my attendant." Shin said, which confirmed something for Twilight as she focused on the newcomers, the tall one was far weaker than the Kaioshin was, and even then Shin was weaker than Aria, meaning the universe was in a sorry state if this was the God of Creation who was the counter to the God of Destruction, "And who are you?" "Twilight Sparkle, daughter of the Galactic Empire, Frieza, and Towa, a Demon Sorceress of remarkable talent." Twilight stated, though that also told her something else, the current Kaioshin had no idea that she was important to the safety of the universe and had no idea who in the world she was, meaning he was lacking in multiple ways and needed training to become the god he was supposed to be, "I'm also a Demon Goddess, and Aria and I have been dating for a long time..." Sure enough Aria followed her train of thought and they shared a kiss, causing the two newcomers to stare at them with shock on their faces, causing Twilight and Aria to pull away as she wished the pair luck, as she had a feeling that things were going to get interesting and that she was going to enjoy her time observing the tournament's matches. > Buu: Youth Division > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Twilight found that most of the people who were here to see the world's greatest fighters clash with each other ignored her as she glanced around, mostly to see if she could track down anyone who might be the villain that she and Aria were here to deal with, in addition to Aria having fun. The Kaioshin in question had decided to stay behind and catch up with Shin, not to mention the fact that those who registered for the tournament were required to go another way from the observers who were here to cheer them on, so she was on her own for now. Her mother and Demigra, along with Putine, were searching the other three corners of the area as well, as Ginyu had been trained to harness the demonic power he had gained due to stealing Putine's body and name, while the former Demon Goddess was living in one of the mountains, away from the rest of the world. With their demonic markers placed it would be far too easy for them to track down anyone who might be the key to awakening Majin Buu from his long slumber, though Twilight detected some dark Ki signatures, small ones, that came from inside the perimeter they had set up, meaning their targets were already here. With that in mind Twilight focused on finding her seat as many of the others did the same, though she also heard the sound of the adult fighters hitting the punching machines that would determine whether or not they would be one of the sixteen warriors in the tournament, or fifteen since Mr. Satan was automatically given one. While she did that, however, Roshi tried to stare at her and she knocked him on the head for it, as he was the one person she'd rather do without right now, but at least her seat seemed to be away from where he ended up and gave her a good view of the arena. The stands filled in no time at all, with all sorts of people from all over the world sitting down with snacks and beverages, before the announcer told the crowd that, due to one of the punching machines being broken, the adults would be delayed for some time, allowing them to move onto the Youth Division. What was interesting was that those in charge of the tournament were awarding the winner ten million zeni, while the second place winner would get five million zeni, though most of the kids from their group just wanted a good fight before watching the adults clash. Of course when Mr. Satan came out he made a bit of a fool of himself, which the public ate up since they believed that he was joking, before they started to bring out the children who would be taking part in the Youth Division, thirty-nine of them to be exact, causing everyone to cheer as the show got started. Twilight had told her kids and Eschalot to hold back as much as possible, since the other kids wouldn't have the same level of power that they had, and while she knew that they would abide by her wishes, especially her children, she knew that the same couldn't be said for Trunks and Goten. Eschalot went up against a girl who was eight years old and seemed to be a little on the chubby side, who showed that she was fast despite her form, though the little dragon Saiyan dodged some of her attacks, bringing her close to the edge of the ring, before getting around her and knocking her out of the ring with a punch to the back. Calas and Houko were the same way when it came time for their own fights, they wanted to save their energy for later and that meant bringing their foes to the ring's edge before sending them over the edge, though Calas put on a bit of a show while his sister quickly finished her fight. Mira, on the other hand, went on the offensive once he found that his opponent was a thirteen year old boy who wanted to beat him up, doing his best to put on a show while giving his foe a few chances to prove himself, before a jab to the stomach knocked the boy out of the running. So far everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves, which the officials seemed pleased of as they called for Trunks to do battle with a fifteen year old boy called Idasa, a blond haired boy with noticeable bangs, who was knocked to the ground by a quick spin to take his legs out from under him and a quick punch to the chest to knock him to the ground. "If you know what's good for you, you'll surrender now." Trunks stated, where he shifted his stance, showing those that were familiar with his fighting style that he was getting ready to knock his opponent off the ring so he could end the fight, since he didn't like the annoying boy at all. "Idasa, mommy knows you can do it! Beat that little brat into paste!" a large lady said, who was ready to cheer for him and any siblings of his that might be in the tournament, though as she spoke up Twilight knew something was about to happen, not in the sense that it was the villain they were looking for. "Sorry, kid, but I'm going to knock you out." Idasa replied, though in that moment, as he got up, Twilight noticed that he did something incredibly stupid and utterly dangerous, he pulled out a cracker, one she recognized as another TF Food product, and ate it before anyone could even stop him, "Just you wait, I'm going to..." In the next moment Idasa paused, as if he was transfixed by something that only he could see, before the transformation started, where everyone in the stands watched as his hands started to shake before turning into claws, like those of a wolf that was able to stand on two legs, while black fur grew on his arms. Following that the fur started to spread all over his body as his feet tore through his boots, revealing his new clawed wolf feet to the world as his legs followed suit, though as that happened it was clear that Idasa's mind was being consumed by his new inner wolf. Sure enough his body bulked up as a wolf tail tore through the back of his pants, creating a hole so his pants didn't actually drop while he was standing in the middle of the ring, before everyone watched as the changes consumed his hears and face, leaving a wolf Beastian in his place. This was why Twilight told people that those under eighteen shouldn't use any of her TF Foods, as the bodies of those that were below the age limit couldn't handle the rush of animal DNA and it always ended with them falling under the control of their new instincts, where Idasa howled as he faced Trunks. While she thought about what this meant for the tournament, however, Idasa rushed at Trunks with his claws poised to cut through whatever was in his way, where he dodged the incoming attacks and struck his foe in the chest, knocking him out of the ring, though as the announcer claimed that he was the winner Twilight got up. "Trunks, restrain him as best as you can." Twilight said, where she jumped over the edge of the stands and found that the transformed boy growled as he started to get up once more, something that caused Trunks to rush over to Idasa before he could do so, grabbing onto his arms and wrapping his legs around his to stop the beast from escaping, "Also, stay away from his claws and fangs, because in this state he's infectious and can spread it like a plague... I have something that will help him regain his mind, but there's no undoing the transformation... at least, not until he's reached the age limit." As Trunks nodded Twilight vanished without a trace, where Goku realized that it was his move, only improved to the point where the finger motion wasn't needed at all, though as he restrained Idasa, who growled and tried to get out of his hold despite their fight being over, the Youth Division continued. Sure enough it took the others a few moments to get over the fact that Idasa was now a wild animal, seeking to do untold harm on those that were taking part in the tournament, but all of them took to the ring and faced off against their foes. Some of the kids went down in a single blow, some actually put up a fight, and one even collapsed before even being hit and started crying under the pressure, though Goten's fight was against Ikose, a boy who looked a lot like Idasa before the transformation, and he was a year younger than his brother, but this time no one said Goten was doomed. After watching Idasa getting beaten, to the point that he had to cheat with an item that wasn't allowed in the tournament, the people knew that the younger fighters could prove to be tougher than the older ones and were excited for the battle to start. Goten, however, simply blocked the incoming attacks with his fingers, the sides of his arms, and his hands, though as his foe backed away Ikose made the same mistake his brother did, in fact, before the referees could stop his foolishness, he ate multiple crackers at his mother's command. This time around the new wolf Beastian had no interest in the fight, as he turned and jumped on some of the young fighters who were watching from the sidelines, those who had lost their rounds and would be returning to the stands, slashing at their arms and biting their shoulders. He was only able to do that to five others before Towa, Demigra, and Putine stopped them in their tracks with a bit of magic, separating them from the rest of the children before any additional harm could be done, causing the parents of the children to rush down to make sure their kids were alright. A few moments later Twilight reappeared near her mother and raised her eyebrow as she found a few more transformed kids trying to tear their way out of the magical bindings, causing her to lift Ikose's mother into the air before chaining her to the ground so she didn't get away. With the cameras on her Twilight told the people that this is what happened when an underage person used any of her TF Foods, it could overwhelm them and transform them into feral beasts, and that, while she had a way to tame their brand new feral nature, to bring back their minds, there was nothing to be done about the transformations. It was, to the rest of the Z Warriors, roughly the same as what happened to 17 after he died and was brought back, these kids were Beastians now, whether or not such a thing had been in their plans when they reached the legal age to actually use her product, and it was easy to tell that many were upset. Not with her, of course, rather they were upset with Ikose and Idasa's mother for encouraging such a thing in the first place, in fact the parents were willing to press charges on her for the damages that had been done to their children, especially since it could have been so much worse. With that in mind she made sure that Demigra took over things, as he had proven himself lately and he was more than willing to do as she commanded, though she did force the new Beastians to drink a purple liquid that cleared their minds of their feral natures and restored them mentally, before allowing him to leave with the group to get the legal process started. Following that the Youth Division resumed without delay, where the remaining children patiently waited for their names to be called before taking to the arena, causing Twilight to return to her seat so she could watch the battles before the adult division finally started. As it turned out Calas and Houko ended up facing off against each other and she wasn't surprised to find that Houko ringed her brother out, as she was the smartest of her three children and she usually thought about what she and her opponents were doing. Mira, on the other hand, discovered that his opponent was Eschalot, her own student no less, and the two were on top of each other as soon as the referees told them to start, filling the arena with excitement as the people cheered for them, but, in the end, Twilight wasn't too surprised to find that the dragon Saiyan knocked her son out of the arena. While her children were strong in their own right, surpassing the majority of the children with their power, she also knew that they were abiding by her wish for them to hold back, since their full power might tear everything apart, and Eschalot found a way to utilize most of her base power without drawing unwanted attention. The end of her bracket ended up pitting her against Goten, though, as Twilight fully expected, Goku's youngest son had no real sense of what he should do and shouldn't do in a situation like this, because not a few moments after the fight began, an event that started with them exchanging a number of punches and blocks, Goten fired a Kamehameha right at his foe. Eschalot, knowing that it would do some serious damage if it hit anything, shifted her stance and sent the attack up into the air, though she had to use her hands to stall it so she could redirect it, causing Twilight to absorb it before it hit anything in the surrounding area. Following that Eschalot started to overpower Goten, something that was no doubt making Vegeta a proud parent since it meant he was beating Goku in some manner, which forced him to do something stupid, he went and used his Super Saiyan form, surprising his father since he had no idea he could do that. Instead of responding in kind, since she had the transformation as well, Eschalot remained in her base form and pushed Goten back, once more showing them that she might be the strongest of the three young Saiyans, where she eventually ringed her opponent out, as Goten jumped back to avoid one of her moves and found that he was hovering above the ground. Such a thing meant that the final fight was, interestingly enough, Trunks and Eschalot, as Huoko got knocked out of the ring by Trunks during their match, but Twilight wasn't annoyed in the slightest, rather it was a good show and she knew that all of her children had room to grow, allowing them to focus on the final battle of the Youth Division. The pair waited for the announcer to indicate that the battle had started before rushing at each other, their fists colliding in the space between them as the air shuddered, something only Twilight and the others felt since they were more in tune with Ki and the powers that the kids were using. Of course the crowd was overly excited for the match, especially once it became known that the fighters were siblings, though while that happened Twilight smirked for a moment as she found that Eschalot tuned out all of the outside sounds and focused on the fight, while Trunks seemed to enjoy the show that he and his sister were putting on. Despite their training Trunks proved that he might be letting his arrogance get the best of him, as he failed to remember that his sister had a tail as she used it to take out his feet, tipping the scales in her favor in an instant, and when he got back up she went on the offensive, pushing her brother backwards. Unfortunately for Trunks his sister wasn't playing around, as when Trunks decided to use a Ki blast against her she took advantage of the opening and knocked him out of the ring with a powerful punch, much to the surprise of everyone that was watching them, which only caused the crowd to cheer for them. Sure enough Mr. Satan came out to challenge the winner of the Youth Division, the grand prize for them, and, as Twilight expected, he made a show of it before exchanging a few blows with Eschalot as she knocked him out of the ring, causing him to wave at the crowd as they thought he let her win, causing Twilight to chuckle as she wondered what would happen once the Adult Division started. > Buu: Change of Plans > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- With the Youth Division coming to a close the event staff gave everyone thirty minutes to rest, relax, and get ready for the Adult Division, where Twilight got up from her seat and simply walked around the area that the tournament was taking place on, mostly to get a bit of exercise before the main event. One thing she discovered while doing that was the fact that Trunks and Goten, being the brats they were, had a plan to take down one of the fighters, take his clothing, and impersonate him in the division that Trunks really wanted to take part in, causing her to sigh for a moment as she pulled them away from the man called Mighty Mask. With that done she pulled them over to where Chi-Chi, Bulma, and the other watchers were, as all of them had been worried when they ran off after Eschalot won the Youth Division, just to make sure they didn't go off and do something they would regret, or get them thrown in jail. Once that was done she resumed her walk, mostly to see if there was anything else going on that needed to be dealt with before the Adult Division started, though she made sure to use a bit of her power to make a few Phantom Eyes that she sent out into the surrounding area, just to see if they could find any sign of their targets. There were two figures who caught her immediate attention as soon as she noticed them, as their skin was pale and both wore nothing over their chests, showing off their muscles and even some of their veins in some places, though while one was taller than the other she noticed that they had demonic M's on their foreheads. While she thought about what this might mean for the tournament, since they were in the participants section, Twilight said nothing as Goku, Vegeta, and the others joined the Announcer and the rest of the event staff so they could determine their positions in the upcoming battles. From what she discovered there was a man called 'Killer' who was disappointed in not being able to take part in the tournament this time around, but Twilight knew that he would have been given a chance had Goku and the others not decided to come to this event. After that it was a simple matter to have her Phantom Eye float off to the side as she observed the fighters draw their numbers, to determine their positions, like how Krillin pulled the ball with a One on it, Piccolo scored Fourteen, Kibito pulled Seven, Gohan drew Eight, 18 ended up with the Nine ball, before Shin had his turn and withdrew the ball with the number Three on it. As the Announcer moved onto Spopovich, who pulled out the ball with Six on it, Twilight found that there was nothing dangerous going on in the rest of the island and focused on what the contestants were doing, with the one called Jewel pulling Sixteen, Goku scored Eleven, Videl got Five, a fat man called Punta pulled Two, Vegeta, incredibly, pulled Twelve, and Thirteen went to Mighty Mask. Twilight smiled as Aria pulled the number Four ball, something that caused Shin to pause in his tracks, meaning he was of the opinion that something different would happen when Aria drew her number, which left Mr. Satan with the ball with a Ten on it and Yamu, the other pale fighter, with the Fifteen ball. "Hello everyone, the Tenka'ichi Budokai will begin shortly!" the Announcer declared, where he emerged from the section that tall of the fighters usually stayed in when they watched all of the fights, to get a better idea of what each fighter was capable of so they could form their own plans depending on who won each match, "I will now read off the matches, and then we'll get started with the first match!" Sure enough everyone in Twilight's group was interested in Goku and Vegeta's match, though before that Krillin and Punta took to the stage, where the latter seemed to taunt Krillin for a few moments, something that ended with him receiving a single punch to the chest that stunned him, before the small warrior delivered a few slaps to the face and a kick to the head that knocked his foe out of the ring. "I figured as much." Twilight commented, as she knew that Krillin, while not caring to train for the dangers of the future, was still one of the strongest Humans on the planet and this was an excellent show of power, especially since many were learning how to wield their true power, before she leaned forward, "Now then, let's see the power of a Kaioshin." As she said that the Announcer informed the crowd that both Aria and Shin were newcomers to the tournament, which made sense due to the fact that the former had been busy until this point and the latter had no reason to come to Earth until this moment, not that the public knew that, and they stepped into the arena without delay. "Aria, you must know of the danger this planet is in. We don't have time for this." Shin said, keeping his voice low so only his old friend could hear him, especially since he was more interested in the likes of Spopovich and Yamu, due to their more evil natures and the energy he felt coming from them. "Sure we do, especially since Twilight and the others are keeping watch for us." Aria replied, though as she said that she separated herself from where Shin was standing and turned to face him, where the Eastern Kaioshin found that she was serious as she shifted her stance and raised her arms, taking her battle stance, "Besides, I'm interested in seeing just how much you have improved since our last encounter." In the next instant, as the Announcer proclaimed that the battle had started, Aria approached Shin without wasting even a second and swung her right leg at him, forcing him to raise his arm to block the attack and found that her strength was far more than what he remembered it being, all while pushing him away from her. Shin found that Aria was serious about this fight, in fact her full focus was on him as he noted that the demons she was allied with were keeping an eye on the rest of the island, without even revealing that they were doing so as he noticed two more that weren't with the main group, who were talking with Demigra if his memory served. Aria used his divided focus to punch him in the stomach, a reminder that this was a fight and that he needed to focus on her above all else, forcing him to swing at her so he could push her back, to give him some space, only to find that she used the palm of the opposite hand to push his attack out of the way. In that moment, with his defenses compromised, Aria struck him again as she took control of the fight and pushed him towards the edge of the ring, even though she did give him plenty of opportunities to prove himself to her. While that happened Twilight sighed in disappointment, as it seemed like Shin was a worthless Kaioshin, his powers were barely a shadow of what Aria had, in fact his combat capability was zero, even though she was the only one that seemed to notice it, among the watchers anyway, and it wasn't long before Aria knocked him out of the arena. "How disappointing... guess Buu really did kill all the good Kaioshin." Twilight remarked, her words drowned out by the noise of the crowd cheering for Aria and Shin, even though it was complete domination on Aria's part, though this told her that Shin lacked training, as if he had simply rested since the days of Majin Buu's rampage. Despite her disappointment Twilight was eager to see Videl's match, as she had learned quite a bit during her training with Gohan, especially how to control her newfound Ki powers, and that was in addition to the fact that Spopovich's energy, a fact she had confirmed several times now, had a dark feel to it. When the third match started it was clear to many that the advantage was with Videl, as she struck Spopovich without much standing in her way, though what interested Twilight was the fact that he happened to be tanking her attacks, even if it hurt his body, and just kept coming. Even when she struck him with a blow that should have knocked him unconscious Spopovich kept getting up for more, especially since that was when he started fighting for real and put some pressure on her, forcing her off the ring at one point and forced her to fly to avoid being ringed out. After that she landed a blow that, despite not intending to do such a thing, broke his neck and shocked everyone, only for him to readjust his head as if nothing had happened, but that only caused him to lash out at her with a shocking display of power, especially when she tried to escape to the sky and was knocked back down by her foe, who seemed to take great pleasure in toying with her. The brutality got worse as the moments ticked by, as Spopovich broke her teeth, damaged her nose, and just delivered blow after blow upon her body, to the point where everyone thought he was actually going to take her life, though as Gohan transformed, showing that he cared about her, Yamu stopped him from killing Videl and convinced his partner to ring her out. With that done Gohan, having reverted to his base form, rushed over to make sure she was okay, in fact he was willing to carry her to the infirmary as he asked his father to get a Senzu Bean for her, though he also informed the man who beat Videl up that he was going to get what was coming to him. Fortunately, since Goku had already left, Gohan was able to make sure she had all the attention she needed and, once he had a healing bean upon his father's return, he left one for Videl as he made his way to the ring as Kibito joined him for the fourth match. Twilight shifted in her seat once more, because Kibito was Shin's attendant and she was eager to see what sort of skills he had to offer, even though Shin's lack of abilities and skill told her not to expect anything from him either. What interested her was the fact that Kibito wanted Gohan to become a Super Saiyan, meaning he and Shin had taken a few moments to observe this planet and Shin was just bad at noticing what was going on, since the Kaioshin hadn't seen Aria during his studies, and she could see that people were getting ready for something. Her reason for thinking such a thing was because of the fact that Shin was watching them, Yamu and Spopovich were off on the side with a radar device and something that looked like it might absorb one's energy after stabbing their target in their chest or side, and those near Shin were observing everything. In the next moment Gohan decided to trust Kibito as he transformed before his eyes, shocking the Attendant as he went beyond his Super Saiyan form and went into the form Twilight had helped him unlock during her preparations for the battle with Cell. Once he was in his Super Saiyan 2 form, a fact that surprised the people in the stands since they weren't expecting it, Yamu and Spopovich rushed out to assault him with their draining device, though as that happened she found that Shin was raising his hands, only to stop as Aria pulled his hands down. Twilight understood what was going on without anything being said, the current Kaioshin wanted to help the pair so he could follow them to whoever their boss was, and Aria had stopped him from making a bad decision, not that it mattered since the pair actually latched onto Gohan before stabbing him, where she determined that he must have put his trust in Kibito. Once the pair had all the energy they wanted, every drop that Gohan had to offer, they took off without wasting time, to which Shin and Aria took off as well, causing Twilight to tell her children and the others to stick around, since this was no doubt what she and her girlfriend had prepared for, before taking to the skies as well as Goku, Vegeta, and Piccolo did the same thing. Even though Yamu and Spopovich had a head start on them, and seemed to be flying at unsafe speeds, Twilight knew that they would reach their destination not a few moments after the pair, though she did notice that her mother had decided to join them as well, leaving the other demons to make sure everyone else remained safe. While they did that Shin told the others about the threat that he and Kibito, who would be joining them once Gohan's energy had been restored, had come to take care of, even though it required explaining Bibidi, his son Babidi, and the monster known as Majin Buu, along with the fact that four Kaioshin fell to Buu's might. Aria confirmed as much during their journey, she died fighting the monster five million years ago and had been revived by Twilight, though knowing that Buu was still out there, sealed away, had caused her to start training in earnest, so she could help defeat the monster this time around. Babidi had come here with the sole purpose of recovering the pod that Buu had been sealed in so he could awaken the monster and dominate the rest of the universe, or destroy it, which was what Shin and Kibito were here to stop, hence why they were following Yamu and Spopovich to figure out where their target was hiding. Twilight, however, realized something before the others did, there was a demonic Ki signature ahead of them, which was interesting since she was unaware of any newcomers on the planet, and when it came time to slow down they did so and stopped by a large rock formation that allowed them to look out over a destroyed farm. One thing she noted instantly as the others hid themselves was the fact that the ground had been dug up, meaning Babidi had hidden his spaceship under this area to avoid detection, before she looked at the tip that was protruding from the ground. It appeared to be a hole of sorts that allowed one to move between the floors of the ship, where the pair were talking to a figure who was wearing a black jumpsuit with a white chest piece and a headpiece, who headed inside for a moment before returning with two new individuals. The one who interested Shin was the short dull yellow skinned individual who wore an orange cape with a blue robe and a black chest piece, who looked like an alien, though Twilight's focus was on the Demon who stood beside him, a figure that reminded her of the one who carried the longsword during her fight with Cell. She wasn't the only one who recognized him, as her mother was staring at the scene in front of them as the small figure took the energy device and talked to the pair that had delivered it to him, meaning her thoughts on who it was were right and it just annoyed her to no end. "...Dabura..." Towa commented, as she had wondered what had happened to her brother, since she hadn't heard anything from him in a long time, though it came as a surprise to find that he had been taken over by Babidi, given the mark that was on his forehead. Twilight said nothing as Babidi blew Spopovich up with a mental command, causing extreme pain in the man's body just before it happened, though as Yamu flew off the armored figure loosed a blast from his hands that destroyed him while he was in the air, causing the little figure to head back inside with the other figure, leaving Dabura behind, which was just want Twilight wanted as she flashed down to his position. "So, one of the Kaioshin's allies has come to me first. I shall..." Dabura started to say, though as he said that Twilight pulled out her staff and spun it around as she approached him, where she could see that he recognized her for what she was, all due to her demonic weapon, and before he could stop her Twilight tapped the tip against his forehead, purging the magic that held him, "What... Who?" "It is good to see that you are well, uncle." Twilight said, where she watched as the Demon staggered for a moment as he was freed from Babidi's control, no doubt surprised by the fact that he was fully in control of his body, while at the same time Towa landed nearby. "Sister... niece?!" Dabura stated, showing Twilight that he must have been under Babidi's control for quite a while, since he seemed to be struggling with the concept that his sister would marry and have a child, even if he was wrong about part of that thought process, which she would correct in due time. "I'll explain later, brother... I'm just glad that you're all right." Towa said, though in that moment she jumped towards him and wrapped her arms around her sibling, as she had missed him after seeing how Twilight's children acted, showing the rest of the watchers that Demons were capable of showing emotions as well. As Twilight nodded, however, Aria could tell that she was annoyed, maybe even enraged, by the fact that her uncle on her mother's side had been brainwashed by Babidi, and she knew that Babidi was going to regret his life choices once she got a hold of him, causing her to wonder what might happen when they entered the ship. > Buu: Into the Spaceship > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "So, um, Babidi just lost a valuable warrior and both he and his soldier killed the two we were following... so does that mean we've stopped Buu from being revived?" Krillin asked, because without Dabura it sure seemed like the villain he and the others had been warned about had less of a chance of awakening the dangerous and ancient evil, especially since Twilight seemed annoyed about how she found her uncle. "No. Knowing him, he's got other evil warriors waiting for us inside his ship." Shin replied, though at the same time he had to glance over at Dabura for a moment, who was talking to his sister, someone he was only now discovering the existence of, as he was worried that the Demon King might try to attack him while his guard was down, "We may have, ugh, freed his most powerful follower, but Babidi's been preparing for this day for a long time... I would be surprised if Dabura and Pui Pui were his only remaining soldiers." "In addition to myself and Pui Pui, Babidi has the beast Yakon, a number of unwilling soldiers, and a warrior whose heart is dark that we found on this planet." Dabura said, showing everyone that he seemed to be in control of himself and that he was no longer under whatever spell had been placed upon him, which was what Towa had been ensuring even though she trusted Twilight's skills, before he held a hand out as he materialized a familiar sword, "Based on what my sister has told me over the last few minutes, most of which I'm still wrapping my head around, you should be able to take out the others without running into trouble... as long as you stop Babidi from freeing Majin Buu, anyway." As Shin opened his mouth to say something, about the mysterious figure that Dabura had said little on, Twilight stepped into the central shaft, as it wasn't an elevator or a lift, and descended into the depths of the spaceship, finding that it took next to no time to reach the first floor, a circular room with a sealed hole right in the center of the floor and a door that Babidi's minions likely used. "I see. So that's how he's doing things." Twilight remarked, as she noted that the chamber seemed empty, save for what she had seen so far, and all of her various designs and gadgets had lead to a simple conclusion without having to see the room in action, it was designed to siphon energy for Buu's revival, "Since we're walking into his little 'ambushes' just be warned that taking damage will hasten Buu's awakening... the walls are designed to siphon harm done to us and turn it into energy." "Knowing that will not help you." a voice said, which was when Pui Pui opened the door, as it raised into the ceiling, and stepped into the chamber as Goku, Vegeta, Gohan, Towa, Demigra, Shin, and Aria joined Twilight, meaning Kibito and the others were staying outside so they didn't get in the way, "You may have done something to Lord Demigra, but my Master will correct that mistake and take all of your energy, for the revival of Majin Buu!" "Please, you are far too weak to be a proper challenge for me. Go fight one of them." Twilight stated, taking a moment to gesture to the Saiyans that were behind her, since she and Aria were saving their energy for either the final battle before Babidi or, and this was more likely, the battle with Buu. Sure enough the three Saiyans played a game of rock paper scissors with each other before determining that Vegeta had the honor of fighting Pui Pui, Goku had whoever might be on the level below them, and Gohan could have whoever this mysterious warrior was, leaving Twilight and Aria for the final floor, if there were four. Pui Pui, once again, confirmed the information that Twilight had figured out in an instant, why she had no idea, as he told Vegeta that he would suffer as his energy was drained to fuel the revival of Majin Buu, before he rushed forward as he launched a kick at his foe. Vegeta, as Twilight expected, caught the attack with his hand as surprise appeared on Pui Pui's face, where he kicked and punched at the figure as Babidi's minion tried to do some form of damage to him, only he failed to do anything as Vegeta beat him up over the next few seconds. Babidi, sensing that his soldier was going to lose the fight, teleported all of them to the planet known as Zoon, which had ten times the gravity of Earth, a fact that, in fact, did not help Pui Pui in the slightest since his foe had trained far beyond that point in his own gravity chamber. Vegeta ended up destroying Pui Pui not a few seconds later and remarked about how pitiful his match was, that he had been given the weakest foe in Babibi's crew, causing them to return to the ship as the hatch opened so they could head down to the second floor. There they found the monster Yakon waiting for them, a deep green scaled monster that had retractable claws and a hulking body, one that seemed designed to fight in the dark based on what Twilight had seen in the past, and Babidi did the same for Yakon, moving them to a planet that benefited the monster. Their destination was the Dark Star, or, as it was more commonly called, the Planet of Darkness, a place that was essentially a place of darkness that made it impossible for visitors to see while it's inhabitants could see just fine. It was a fine place for someone like Yakon to fight in, since his old home gave him the advantage over everyone else, though even as he attacked Goku it became obvious that this wasn't a fight he could win, as the Saiyan avoided his attacks with ease before going Super Saiyan to give himself some light. Such a thing had an interesting effect, Yakon actually sucked in the light of his energy and forced Goku to revert a few seconds later, though it only prompted him to do the same thing again, causing the greedy beast to feast before detonating as he reached the maximum amount he could handle, though Twilight ensured that the energy wasn't lost as she ate it. With all of that done, they descended to the third floor of Babidi's spaceship, where they found a fair number of fighters waiting for them to arrive, each of them baring the demonic M on their foreheads to show their allegiance to Babidi, and as they landed Twilight held a hand out to stop Gohan and the others from moving forward. "So, you've arrived at last... demon." a familiar voice said, where one of the figures pulled back their hood and revealed the form of Ginyu to Twilight and the others, or rather it was the Demon Goddess that Ginyu had stolen the body and identity of, meaning this fight was sort of personal for her, while she found that he wore Babidi's armor and had his mark right in the center of his forehead. "Ah, the former Demon Goddess decides to show their face again." Twilight remarked, though at the same time she did notice that the other four robed figures pulled their own hoods back, showing her that all sorts of beings had assembled to aid the figure in taking her down, allowing her to see that all of them also had Babidi's mark and armor on, "What, you here to 'kill' me again? After your last stunning failure?" "Not quite, as we're here to stall you." the former Demon replied, something that caused the others to watch as the room was altered once more, transporting them to what appeared to be a wasteland, as if knowing that if they tried to fight her near people she'd hold back, a wrong assumption on their part, "After all, you are a Demon Goddess now... the perfect target for Babidi to take control of. With your power we'll be able to get the energy we need, as you'll fight and destroy all of your companions, regardless of who they are to you, and when you're broken and beaten from their blows, well, that's when we'll destroy you." As the group of five spread out Twilight felt the tickle of Babidi trying to take control of the evil in her heart, which seemed to be a mental attack, though it caused her to laugh at the sheer ridiculousness of it all, that a pipsqueak thought that he could take her over, causing her to turn her head a little, glaring at Babidi even though he wasn't there, before flashing over to Ginyu. "Wait... what the...?" the former Demon said, because the plan that had been rehearsed for this special day had been, in a matter of seconds, ruined before anyone understood what was going on, and as they came to terms with the fact that their target was stronger than ever Twilight raised her right hand. "Disappear." Twilight stated, where she gathered her power for a second and then released a blast of energy that quickly consumed her target, erasing the original Putine and Ginyu's old body before anyone else could do anything to stop her, all while she knew that Babidi had to be surprised by this turn of events. Of course she made sure to extract her target's energy as they were destroyed, as to not waste anything, though while the smoke cleared from the explosion, confirming that the former Demon Goddess was no more, she found that Shin was, of course, surprised by her power, which Dabura shared since this was his first time watching her fight. In the next instant all of the other controlled warriors moved, where she found that three were male and one was female, the latter wield a pair of tainted blades that had a red coloration to them, who wore black cloth clothing that made it easy for her to move. The other three were from different worlds entirely, as one had large muscles and seemed to be capable of changing the size of his body, another seemed more insect like with an eye in the center of his chest, and the last one could pass as a living suit of armor that looked like it was a ninja or something. Her next target was the lady with blades, who had added a bit of energy to the edges, but, before it even got close to her, Twilight could tell that her attack was weak and it was far too easy for her to siphon the energy out as she stopped the blade with a finger, which ended with her charging some energy into her fist before swinging. Her attack obliterated the warrior before she even knew what had hit her, creating a gash in the ground in the process as all of her remaining foes, where the size changing warrior enlarged to a massive form, similar to the Saiyan Oozaru form, and declared that he was going to kill her as he swung his fist down at her, crushing the area around the impact zone as Twilight landed on his fist. "A pity." Twilight remarked, where she shifted her stance and blasted the giant's fist off without destroying everything that was around her, causing the giant warrior to pull back as he grabbed at his stump, causing her to spin around and kick at his left leg, crushing part of it as he staggered, before she loosed a blast into his chest area that expanded and blasted him into oblivion, leaving nothing of him behind. As the smoke died down the insect warrior rushed at her, showing that he was faster than most of the others, but he was far too weak for her to really put forth even a little bit of effort as she avoided his attacks, while his companion used a few fire attacks to try and take her down, causing her to group them up and waste them with a single blast, ending Babidi's attempt to take her down. "You might as well give up, Babidi, you picked the wrong opponent... wasn't even a worthwhile workout." Twilight said, as the warriors that were sent to deal with her were worthless, minor evils in the grand scheme of things, and if Babidi's spell had the power to awaken one's inner potential it didn't do much for these five warriors. She then discovered that Babidi had one more trick up his sleeve, where he used his power on Vegeta, of all people, who seemed to struggle for a few seconds before powering up to his Super Saiyan 2 form, complete with the Majin Mark on his forehead, before they were teleported back to the tournament's ring. It looked like the tournament was over, Mr. Satan had won by the looks of it, though Twilight could tell that 18 must have given him his victory in exchange for a reward so he could keep being the World Champion, since she didn't seem to be interested in fame or glory. Vegeta, having used this opportunity to regain a good chunk of his evil nature, tried to blast the arena and kill the assembled watchers to get the attention of his true target, Goku, but Twilight devoured the attack, cast a spell to make most of the people forget what had just happened, and then hijacked Babidi's spell to teleport them to somewhere else. Her chosen destination was one of the many wastelands of the world, far away from everything else, and once they were in position she waved her hand for a second and the two Saiyans departed without her saying anything. With that done Twilight focused her magic once more and her group returned to Babidi's ship, as it was time for her and Aria to head down and see if they could either stop Buu from being released or, if that failed, obliterate him before more harm came to the rest of the universe. > Buu: The Majin > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "I... I can't believe they're actually going to fight each other." Shin remarked, as he had thought that by bringing along Goku and Vegeta they might be able to stop Babidi's plan to revive Majin Buu, only to be vastly disappointed in the fact that the two Saiyans were falling into their enemy's hands. "Welcome to the world of Saiyans. They're strong warriors, but... well, they make tragically stupid decisions." Twilight said, which was a truth she had come to understand throughout the years she had spent observing them, though at the same time she found that Babidi was smart enough to open the hatch so her group could continue into the depths of his ship, as part of her had thought about blowing everything up and he decided to let her in, "Unfortunately they're battling in their Super Saiyan 2 forms, which means that the revival of Majin Buu is now an unavoidable certainty, especially since the energy Babidi's minions siphoned was from Gohan using that very form. We're probably only moments away from the seal being broken and the monster being unleashed." "You are correct, Twilight Sparkle, the gauge is almost filled." Babidi stated, speaking as she and the rest of her group arrived in the lowermost level of the large spaceship, where they found a large round brown orb that had what appeared to be veins of some kind all over it, which had to be Buu's prison, and it was attached to some sort of device, the gauge most likely, "Here, let us move somewhere more spacious." Sure enough he teleported them to a new area, literally just outside the entrance to his ship since it wasn't too far away from where they ended up, where Twilight could see that the little wizard was pleased with how things were going, since his plan was about to bear great and terrible fruit. "Since there's nothing you can do to stop Buu from being released, why don't you tell me how you freed Dabura from my powerful spell... I might let you live a little while longer." Babidi remarked, showing that he was just stalling for him, since there was a chance that Twilight could do something to stop him in his tracks, especially given what she did when he tried to take control of her with his mind control spell. "Your spell isn't absolute, Babidi, especially since Demons have a far superior method." Twilight stated, which was true, as her mother had shown her the method several times and had taught her how to avoid being mind controlled by any of their enemies, in preparation for this day, before she tilted her head as she glanced in the direction of the signatures that belonged to Goku and Vegeta, "It's quite simple, really: I just used my superior magical power and broke your spell, just like how I destroyed your attempt to mind control me... however, my abilities aren't your concern, especially with what's about to happen." As Babidi opened his mouth to say something he, along with everyone else, heard the sound that told Twilight that she was right, the gauge was full and there was smoke coming out of the holes that were along the edge of the sphere's base, before she realized that it was steam. At the same time, however, she felt several Ki signatures coming towards them at speeds that were incredible, which she realized were her children and the three young Saiyans, meaning they must have gotten bored of the tournament ground and were coming to investigate what was going on for themselves. Gohan, seeing that no one was going to stop Buu from breaking free of his bindings, summoned his full power and blasted the sphere with a full power Kamehameha, showing Shin that he was going to make an attempt to take Buu out before he was even released. Twilight and Aria, however, knew that it was a futile gesture, rather the steam was escaping from the prison at an alarming speed and was currently gathering high above where Babidi had teleported them to, so they stood there as Gohan wasted his time, even if he succeeded in knocking the sphere off it's pedestal. When the sphere came to a stop nearby, however, it opened and revealed that nothing was inside it, causing Shin to turn on Babidi and laugh at their foe, claiming that Gohan's pull power was enough to vaporize Buu before he could escape, a fact that stopped when he noticed that everyone else wasn't joining him. Shin glanced at Twilight and Aria without even bothering to pause, where he found that they were looking up at the sky and he followed their gaze, finding that there was a massive cloud of steam above them and, more importantly, there was a tremendous Ki coming from it. Babidi followed their eyes as well as everyone else focused on it, just in time to watch as it started to condense into it's true form, which was when it turned a familiar shade of pink as two arms started to form with golden gloves over the hands, golden boots over it's feet, and a large white pair of pants that were round and baggy. What surprised Twilight was the fact that Buu, for that was who the figure had to be, was chubbier than she remembered him being, plus he wore a purple cape around his neck, though he looked far more innocent and carefree than the Buu who nearly killed her. Aria was rightly confused as well, as this wasn't the creature who killed her all those years ago, something both she and Twilight agreed with as they stared at the creature as he landed and cheered, showing that he was pleased to be free once more, even if he seemed to be dancing about right now. "Is... is that Majin Buu?" Gohan inquired, because while he suspected that he was right, and this was the monster that he had been trying to help Shin stop the revival of, he wanted to make sure of that fact before they did anything reckless, all while noticing that Babidi was confused by what he was seeing as well. "Y... Yes. I'd never forget that face." Shin remarked, where he sweated for a moment, because with Majin Buu freed from his prison he knew it was over for the rest of the universe, as he would go on a spree of destruction with Babidi and wreck who knew how many planets, hence why he and Kibito had come to stop his resurrection. "No, that's not Buu we remember... oh, I get it now." Twilight said, as she had been thinking about Shin's story, what she had been told when she asked her mother about the creature, and all of the other information on Buu, before realizing why he looked like this, instead of the slim child-like form that had kicked her rear, "South and Grand Kaioshin... didn't you say that Buu absorbed them both? He must have taken on their forms and this was the result of that." "You're right, he certainly looks like the Grand Kaioshin." Aria commented, because now that Twilight had mentioned it she was starting to see the resemblance between Buu and the large figure who had been teaching her and the other Kaioshin, at least before the arrival of Bibidi and his monster, before she shifted her stance as Buu looked around, "I wonder if he even remembers us." "Pony! Buu remembers you... you and girly Kaioshin ran away when we fought." Buu stated, sounding like a child, though at the same time revealing that he, much like Aria, remembered Twilight's manipulation of the Time Room to go back to when he fought Aria, something that shocked the others who weren't in the know about what she had done, "Let's play tag!" Twilight soon discovered what he meant when Buu rushed over to where she was standing and tapped her shoulder, just like one would do when they were actually playing the game in question, before he starting to run off, instead of flying, so he could get away from her, causing her to chuckle as she replicated his own move against him, causing the creature to smile as she did that. "Buu, that's enough! I am Babidi, the son of your creator, Bibidi, and I have released you from your seal!" Babidi said, as if he had more important things to do than watch the creature play tag with someone, though at the same time Buu decided not to turn towards the wizard, showing that he was more interested in the game, "Which means I am your new master and, if you continue to disobey me, I can use my father's spell, which I learned from his notes, to seal you away again." In the next moment they realized why Buu wasn't responding to Babidi's words, he was purposely drawing him closer to where he was standing so he could scare him by making a face when the wizard got close enough, a successful one that just ended with Babidi grasping his heart while he was on the ground. With that done Buu returned to what he wanted to do, as in he wanted to play a few games with Twilight, the 'pony' as he called her, which seemed to include their game of tag and even a game of hide and seek that Aria was included in. While they did that, however, Twilight could see the gears moving in Buu's head, as part of him was definitely smarter than he was currently showing everyone, since he was in the middle of weighing Babidi's words against what he knew from before Bibidi sealed him away, especially since he glanced at the halves of his prison for a few seconds. In that moment she understood what he was thinking about, he was going to kill Babidi and likely fly off to have his own fun, in whatever manner that might be, all while she fully understood that the Buu she and Aria had been preparing for had to be buried deep inside this one. If that was the case, and she was positive that the 'Kid' Buu, as she was going to call him, was firmly locked away for the time being, Twilight theorized that they might not have to worry about him too much, they just had to find a way to calm him down and teach him right from wrong, which was around the time that Babidi's ship blew up. That was followed by Vegeta, of all people, landing nearby before he rushed at Buu, choosing to see him as an enemy, like Shin had warned them about on the way here, though at the very least the worthless Kaioshin had been pulled back by Aria and Kibito, as most of their group put some distance between them and Majin Buu. Twilight knew that the power that Vegeta possessed in his Majin Super Saiyan 2 form was impressive, even though she highly doubted it was enough to take on Goku and walk away without any damage, meaning he must have stolen the Senzu Beans after dealing a low blow to his distracted foe, but it wasn't enough. She stood nearby as Vegeta lashed out at Buu with his newfound power, punching and kicking at the bubblegum monster with all his might, though as she suspected it didn't do much in the grand scheme of things, as Buu was able to tank his blows, despite looking like he was being hurt, and when the Saiyan stopped she and the others found that the creature's body restored itself instantly. He seemed to understand that as he gathered some of his energy and blasted a hole right in Buu's chest, as it went straight through him and forced him to the ground, though in the next moment Buu got up, flexed his body, and healed the wound like it was nothing before his power. At the same time, however, Vegeta's attack really pissed off Buu as he gathered his own power into his body before letting it out as a violent explosion that rocked the area they were fighting in, because it tore apart everything that was around him and Twilight had to use a shield to ensure everyone who wasn't near her mother was safe from harm. The crater that was left when the smoke finally cleared was evidence to the power that Buu had when he was angry, as he let out a bunch of steam from some of the holes in his body before releasing his attack on Vegeta, though Twilight found that the crater was roughly the same size as the tournament's new ring and was quite deep. Babidi, of course, had his own shield sphere around him, protecting himself from Buu's mighty attack, though Twilight was more interested in Vegeta, as he had been partly caught in the attack, since most of the damage was focused on his left arm, the one that everyone he fought seemed interested in hurting. He seemed to be cursing the power that Buu possessed, or maybe he was taking the time to curse the fact that he had helped the creature break out of his prison by fighting Goku with his full might, forcing his foe to do the same thing, though as he did that Buu pulled on his belly, like it was taffy, and extracted a piece that he threw at Vegeta. Twilight raised an eyebrow for a moment as it actually wrapped around the Saiyan and wrapped around him like it was a snake or something, restricting his movements so the creature could beat him up however he wanted, a fact that happened to be interrupted by the arrival of the young Saiyans and her children, who knocked Buu back before Trunks freed his father. Piccolo joined them by slashing Babidi in half with a swing of his right arm, even though it was easy to see that he was still alive, though Twilight could tell what was coming a mile away and put both Trunks and Goten to sleep with a spell, which allowed Eschalot and the others to grab them. "Regroup with the others and head for the Lookout... we'll figure something out." Twilight said, which was the truth, as she and Aria had been prepared to destroy Buu when he was freed, or eliminate the sphere before anything else happened, but with the discovery of this Buu, who was different from what they were expecting, it made her question if they should end him or figure out a way to change his mindset. After her children and Eschalot nodded their heads, showing that they understood, and then departed with the two now unconscious Saiyans, Vegeta talked with Piccolo about what might happen when he, specifically, died, speaking once his daughter was out of the area, though as Buu showed up Piccolo departed as Twilight landed on a rock pillar to watch his resolve in the face of this creature. "Stop right there, you bloated balloon. You're fighting me still." Vegeta stated, something that actually stopped Buu, since he turned and looked at the Saiyan for a time, though as that happened Twilight could tell he had something interesting planned for the creature, since his energy was starting to build and it seemed like his body was starting the slow process of breaking up, if the little white specks she noticed were any indication, "I've also figured out how to get rid of you." Buu looked surprised by that statement as he glanced at his arms and body, finding that the specks were also coming off of him, all while Vegeta's energy started to form a sphere around him, even if he seemed lost in thought for a moment or two, no doubt making a mental thought about all of this, before focusing on his task. In the next instant he released all of his power in a spherical attack that was much like what Buu had done earlier, as if he was sacrificing himself to smash Buu into dust, where Twilight formed a barrier around her as she floated into the air so she could observe this scene. The scale of his attack, his Final Atonement based on the look that had been on his face, was far more than what Buu had done, as it covered the majority of the wasteland that Babidi had landed his ship in, showing that Vegeta was taking no chances with a foe like this. She could hear Buu making some sort of noise as the attack consumed him as well, especially since he was so close to where Vegeta was standing, and when the smoke cleared she found a massive crater blasted into the ground, with a bit of lightning arching off the stone for a few seconds. Buu, for the most part, had been blasted into oblivion, pieces of him scattered everywhere, while Vegeta had been turned to stone, as he extinguished his own life force to exterminate Buu, to which Twilight dismissed her barrier and pulled out a container that was exactly like the one her future self had given her many years ago. "Now I know what I'm doing first when I get back to the Lookout." Twilight commented, where she opened it for a moment and selected a piece of Buu that looked exactly like the one that she had seen when she pulled out the container during her trek to Cell's ruined future, a fragment that went still when the lid was sealed, allowing her to safely store it away as Vegeta's statue him the ground and shattered. She ignored Babidi, who was shouting at her, as the fragments disappeared with the wind, though in that moment she found something new in the exposed dirt, the Three Star Dark Dragon Ball, which had to be Buu's given that the Two Star had been Cell's, something she claimed with her magic, since she had an idea as to what she could do with it. "You know, you could be more focused on Vegeta's sacrifice." Piccolo remarked, as he must have turned around to see the damage for himself, though this time around he wasn't accusing her of stopping this event from happening or not lending her aid to those who were fighting for the safety of this planet, due to the fact that he had learned his lesson back during the events that lead to the Cell Games. "Why? He clearly failed." Twilight stated, where she gestured to the side for a moment and Piccolo watched as the various pieces of Buu grew before his eyes, becoming smaller versions of the creature before they leapt into the air and formed a familiar shape, causing the Namekian to flee before Buu was fully reformed. As he did that Twilight made herself invisible so she could observe the pair for a little while longer, to see if there might be a weakness she could use against Buu in the future, though she knew that things were about to get interesting and that made her eager to see whatever happened next. > Buu: Goku's Secrets > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- As Piccolo flew off into the distance Twilight found that her thoughts were right, Buu put himself back together with next to no problem at all, as if that was a perfectly reasonable power for someone like him to have, where she found that the being danced around with a smile on his face. "Buu... Buu, fix me... to like what I was before!" Babidi commanded, something that impressed Twilight as she stared at him, as Piccolo's attack had nearly killed him and left him in a state where he would perish in no time if he was left alone, hence why he was begging for his life right now, where it was easy to see that Buu didn't care, "Do it for I'll seal you!" Buu stood there for a moment, debating whether or not he should do it as he glanced around the area, where Twilight was sure he might have noticed her since he paused in her direction for a moment, before he blasted Babidi with a light beam, one that healed his body back to it's previous state. "Ah, not bad Buu. Not bad at all." Babidi remarked, where Twilight found that he glanced down at himself at the wrong moment, as it caused him to miss the fact that Buu looked like he either regretted saving the wizard or he was doing this to lure him into a false sense of security before ending his life, before the little figure growled, "Those bastards... how dare they get the drop on us and then flee before facing the consequences for their actions?! I'm going to kill that green man and the kids that showed up before Vegeta went all mental on us... oh well, I'm not going to kill them immediately, oh no, I'm going to show them true hell before I crush them." Normally in this situation Twilight would crush whoever threatened her family, especially since her kids happened to be part of the group that Babidi wanted to kill, though for the time being she was interested in seeing what sort of 'hell' the little wizard had in mind. As he climbed onto Buu's back, however, the pair flee off to put his plan into motion, where she found that the new Dark Dragon Ball seemed to pull itself, not to mention the hand that was holding onto it right now, in the direction of Buu, confirming that it was supposed to be his. With that in mind Twilight made sure to seal the sphere so it didn't leave her hand when she caught up to Buu, there was no telling with the strange magical orbs, though once that was done she started moving after the pair, all while noting that most of the Ki signatures for the Z Warriors were over on the Lookout. Interestingly enough she detected Goku over there as well, no doubt getting an update from the others since Vegeta had likely knocked him out before coming here, which he might be sore over, while she realized that Gohan was no longer on the planet, meaning he, Shin, and Kibito had fled after Buu was released. It wasn't long before Babidi reached his destination, one of the nearby cities that happened to be near where his ship had landed when he decided to send those two twisted humans out to collect energy, where he had Buu stop so he could get off his back, touch the ground of the cliff they were on, and prepared his sorcery. Do you hear me, Earthlings? I am Babidi, the great wizard, and I am speaking to you through your minds by using my great sorcery, so don't bother looking for me. Babidi stated, where she could see his mouth moving and could hear his words, though at the same time everyone else was hearing him in their minds, something that would freak out anyone if they were subjected to something like this, My apologies, but I'm looking for a group of individuals who caused me quite a bit of trouble earlier today... here, close your eyes and I will send you the images of who I'm looking for. Sure enough Twilight found that Babidi was seeking Goten and Trunks for their actions in saving Vegeta, and Piccolo for his near fatal blow, while Eschalot, Houko, Calas, and Mira were purely guilty by association, being friends or siblings to the first three he showed the world. In the next moment he revealed an image of himself and Buu to the rest of the world, before revealing that this city was his target, merely to instill fear into the people to get what he wanted, which was when he ordered Buu to exterminate the city. Buu proceeded to lift everyone in the city up with his power, levitation Twilight noted, before using his antenna to transform everyone into candy, specifically crunchy gumballs that he seemed to enjoy since he sucked them all into his mouth before chewing and crunching them to bits. Once he had devoured all of the small gumballs Buu blew at the city, like he was putting out a fire, which was when Twilight watched as the city was wiped out in a matter of seconds, to the point where nothing of it remained, and with the show done Babidi repeated himself to the rest of the world. It was around that point that one of the referees from the tournament spoke into his mind and told Babidi about those he was after, as in their names, which Babidi frowned on before blowing up the guy's head, showing everyone that he had no desire for useless information, before flying off to look for another city. Following that Babidi and Buu found another city in no time at all, which was easy to do given the amount of cities that were scattered around the planet, where he baited those he was seeking into revealing themselves before letting Buu turn everyone into chocolate. Such a thing told Twilight that the creature was a glutton by nature, he loved to eat anything and everything that was put in front of him, and once the city was done for Buu blew it up without wasting time, something that caused him to tell the people that he was just going to blow up all of the other cities when they found them. Twilight found that Goten and Trunks, as she expected from them given what she had seen during the tournament, contacted Babidi and told him that they would beat him and Buu, though that was all they told him, since speaking too much would reveal the location of the Lookout to him, leaving Babidi in the dark. In the following moments Babidi was contacted by none other than the mother of the two boys that had been knocked out of the tournament by Goten and Trunks, where he revealed that West City was going to be his next target, causing Goku to teleport down to where Buu was located, stopping the pair in their tracks. "So... you're Buu. Vegeta and I underestimated your power." Goku commented, though at the same time he said nothing as Twilight appeared nearby, as he was used to her studying their foes before making her move against them, which he was thankful for this time around since she might have ideas on how to beat Buu, "I just came to tell you that the ones you are looking for will, in time, reveal themselves, as they are busy training to bring you down... you don't have to destroy the world to bring them out, rather you just need to play some games for a few days." "No. How about they come here, now, otherwise we'll just keep killing people." Babidi remarked, showing Goku that he had no desire to listen to the Saiyan or his specific desires, where he pointed at Goku for a moment as Buu simply floated off to the side, as if the creature was ignoring him once more, "Buu, if you don't want to be sealed away again listen to me and destroy them both." "Seal me and they kill you." Buu stated, confirming Twilight's thoughts on the matter, Buu was smarter than most people gave him credit for, especially since his remark caused Babidi to take a step back, as if he hadn't considered that issuing a threat to the powerful creature would backfire like this, "But I'll fight him anyway. Pony can watch." As Babidi cast his spell to show the world what was about to happen Twilight countered it, preventing him from using the spell in question, though she did replicate it so only the people on the Lookout could see what was about to happen, and once she was done she nodded to Goku. "Now, I know that a Super Saiyan won't be able to beat you, so how about I go beyond that?" Goku inquired, though at the same time he noticed something interesting, Buu didn't seem to know what he was talking about, despite his battle with Vegeta earlier, before he thought of a good way to stall the creature and maybe convince him not to wreck the world while the kids were training, "Tell me: do you want to see something cool?" While Babidi didn't seem to care what Goku did, since he wanted Buu to kill him, Buu cared about whatever Goku had to show him and Twilight, as he voiced his excitement over the possibility of seeing 'something cool', causing the Saiyan to chuckle as he transformed into his Super Saiyan form. Buu was instantly interested in the fact that a Super Saiyan turned the hair of a Saiyan warrior golden, not to mention their aura as well, while Babidi grumbled about wasting time, though he made no move to do anything since he needed Buu and the creature was totally focused on Goku. Once he knew what a Super Saiyan was Goku transformed into his second transformation, his hair becoming spikier than before while blue lightning danced around his aura, where he told Buu that it was a 'Super Saiyan that had surpassed a Super Saiyan', or, as Twilight and the others called it, Super Saiyan 2. In that moment Twilight realized where he was going with this, he must have trained his body to the point where he was able to use his now vast power to ascend to a new level, a Super Saiyan who was far stronger than even the form that Gohan had unlocked during his training with her in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, causing her to grin as she readied herself. "And this... is... to go... even further beyond!" Goku stated, where Twilight found that she was right, he shifted his stance as soon as the words left his mouth, his Ki skyrocketed, and he let loose what she dubbed as his 'power up scream', since it seemed like he was straining his voice while drawing on every drop of power that was inside his body. Twilight found that his aura was going crazy as he called forth more and more of his power, while sweat was rolling down the sides of his face and stopped at his chin, where she quickly realized that he was going to be cutting his time on Earth short with this transformation, displaying how powerful it actually was. While he did that she found that the water below them was vibrating in a ringed pattern, connected to his new transformation, and it looked like the clouds were being pulled into where he was floating, though she determined that such a thing was a trick of perspective. His power also had another interesting effect that she wasn't quite expecting, it was shaking the entire world so that everyone felt it, even if all those who weren't familiar with Ki would think it was an earthquake, to the point where if it went on for too much longer she was sure it would have serious consequences for the planet. She could tell that this transformation was painful, just by how much screaming and pain Goku seemed to be going through in order to even ascend beyond the power of a Super Saiyan 2, all while noting that his hair was also affected by this, as it was growing longer and longer as time went on. Eventually Goku released a blinding flash of light, causing Twilight to shield her eyes as the others glanced away, though as it faded she found that the Saiyan's spiky hair was now down to his waist, while his eyebrows had vanished entirely and made his eye ridges appear to be larger than before, with a more prominent brow ridge. "Sorry about the wait, I'm not used to this level of power. I call this 'Super Saiyan 3'." Goku said, where he quickly shifted his stance as Twilight floated around him, taking notes on his new form and the power that it commanded, before moving back over to where she had been floating previously. "Impressive... terrible Ki consumption and improper balance... but still, very impressive." Twilight remarked, though as she said that Buu shifted his stance as well, showing them that he was ready for a fight, causing her to realize that Trunks and Eschalot were in West City and that this was just a diversion, no doubt collecting the Dragon Radar. In the next instant Goku rushed at Buu with speeds faster than what he was capable of in his previous forms, where he grabbed onto the creature's antenna and started beating him with his other fist, like he was an exercise punching sphere, something that came as a surprise to both Buu and Babidi. Twilight found that Goku's new strength was definitely above Buu's current level, since she could tell that the creature wasn't angry right now, and he was able to knock him around a few times before sending him flying down into the water below them. From there Buu burst out, with no markings to show that he had been wounded, before releasing a volley of Ki blasts that was similar to what Vegeta used in battle, despite the fact that the now dead Saiyan hadn't used it against the creature, but that didn't stop Goku from knocking the blasts away from him while Twilight devoured them before they hit the ground. Buu also showed that he was capable of extending his arms, like they were made of rubber or some other stretchy material, since he used it to punch Goku in the face, causing the two to go at it some more while Twilight just watched them duke it out. She also had confirmation that he was rapidly running out of Ki, as it seemed like Goku was trying to put an end to this as fast as he could, though even the Kamehameha that he fired at Buu, which tore through the creature's chest, did nothing to slow his foe down, though she did devour it before it blew something up... including the one that Buu fired and the pair hit around like it was a pin pong ball, showing that Buu was capable of mimicking one's attacks with ease. "I must admit, I wasn't expecting you to be able to copy my technique with ease." Goku commented, which was actually kind of funny when he thought about it, since he had done the same thing when he was younger, copying the various techniques of his foes to improve his chances of beating other foes, before he huffed for a moment and dropped out of his new transformation, causing Buu to huff, "Sorry, I'd love to play more with you some more Buu, as you are truly an amazing person to fight against, but my new form really eats into my Ki and I'm unable to maintain it for long periods of time... maybe the next time we see each other we'll be able to play for more than a few minutes. Now that you've felt my power, let me tell you that you'll have more fun if you wait for the chosen heroes to train for two days, three max... just don't kill anyone else and wait patiently for them to arrive, as I'm sure you'll enjoy it." Babidi, as Twilight expected, cursed at Goku as he teleported away with his Instant Transmission and switched to Buu for allowing their foe to get away before he could be killed, though the barrage of insults caused Buu to play nice for a couple of seconds before crushing Babidi's head and wiped out his body. "Pony, was he telling the truth?" Buu asked, showing that, while he might be a monster that could wipe out the world with ease now that there was no one to boss him around, he was more interested in the fight Goku had promised him, both the one in a few days and the one that he intended to have at some point in the future. "Yes. Son Goku, while being many things, is a man of his word. He's likely preparing your foes right now." Twilight said, as she had grown to know the ins and outs of the various warriors of this world, learning from the stories that others told or using visions of the past to learn certain things, and she had come to know everyone better, before she considered what to do with Buu, "I know of an area where you can set up a small residence of sorts, to rest and wait for their training to be done, without having to bother the rest of the world." Buu, despite being a monster of destruction, was willing to follow her over to a wasteland that could be used to form his residence, where she commented on the fact that he had the power to turn one thing into another and that he could use it on the surrounding area. What she meant was using a small portion of his Ki to break some of the walls and transform the rubble into usable material, clay or whatever his version of it was, where Buu nodded and did as she suggested, which allowed her to see that he was definitely smarter than his Kid form was. Once he had enough rubble Buu used his power to transform them into a whitish material that he started to work with, though what interested her was the fact that he wanted to be alone while he did this, causing her to nod as she backed away from the creature. Twilight, of course, stuck around for a few moments, just to make sure that Buu didn't wander off to attack any of the nearby cities, and once she was sure he was focused on his task she teleported to the Lookout without delay, to see how things were going. Goku, as she suspected, noticed her arrival first and beckoned her over to where he and the others were working, where Twilight found that Goten and Trunks were standing some distance apart from each other, focused on whatever lesson he was giving them before he returned to the Other World. "Before I teleported to Buu's location I was telling Goten and Trunks about the Fusion Dance." Goku explained, though in that instant he paused for a moment, no doubt remembering that Twilight was smarter than most of the people that he knew, which meant he had to be thinking about what she might know about the topic in question, "You've heard about it in your travels, right?" "Hm... you're referring to the Metamoran Fusion Dance, correct?" Twilight inquired, because she remembered reading a book about the people in question during one of her visits to the libraries of Alexandria in the past, which was one of the more interesting tomes when she considered what she had discovered inside it, all while Goku nodded his head to show her that he was talking about that technique, "I read about it a number of years ago, a technique that allows two warriors of equal height and power to merge into an incredible entity... mind you I only know about it and it's requirements, as I've actually never seen it in action." The Saiyan nodded before telling the two youngsters the poses they needed to be in for the technique to work, where he actually showed them exactly how both of them were supposed to move, performing the oddest dance she had ever seen while the participants had to go 'fu', 'sion', and 'ha' during the three stages of the fusion dance. Twilight had to admit that the dance wasn't what she was expecting it to be, in fact she wasn't sure what she had thought it might be, and could see that everyone else seemed surprised by the technique they were relying on, before Goku reminded them that they would be fused for thirty minutes and that they would have to wait an hour before using it again. Piccolo quietly mentioned that this was something Vegeta would never do, meaning Goku must have mentioned wanting to use it with him, though while he said that Twilight made a note of the entire dance and wondered if it could be altered in some manner while doing the same thing, like make the dance better. As she did that Goku told Piccolo that it was up to him and the others to make sure Goten and Trunks were ready to face Buu when the time came, as his guide between worlds came to collect him and take him back to the realm of the dead. While everyone else said their goodbyes, since this seemed to be the last time they would see Goku while they were alive, Twilight glanced at the sky and knew exactly where Gohan was, he was definitely on the Sacred World of the Kai, which only made her more interested for what the future held. > Buu: Shocking Turn of Events > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- After Goku departed for the Other World, leaving the warriors of Earth to wonder what they were going to do while Goten and Trunks trained to master the technique that he had taught them, Twilight got to work without wasting time, since she had a lot of things to do and not a lot of time to do them in. Her first act was to mark the new Dark Dragon Ball with a small portion of her magic, not even a percent so it could go undetected and spring her trap when the time was right, before she teleported the sphere back to the era it was supposed to be in, since this seemed like the wrong one. She knew that the Three Star Dark Dragon Ball was Buu's, she had confirmed it when he moved earlier, though she suspected it had come to the wrong era or even the wrong version of this era, so her spell returned it to it's true place in history. If she was right it was only a matter of time until one of the Demon Gods or Goddesses collected the sphere from the version of Majin Buu that had been it's intended target, and once it was claimed it was only a matter of time until her trap was sprung. Once that was done she traveled back down to Buu's place and found that he was using the clay they had created to build his house, brick by brick to use an Earthling saying, though his residence looked more like a dog than anything, just without the ears and tail, but Buu was pleased with it and Twilight said nothing about it. He even showed her around to some of the rooms that he had made during the construction, as there was a fully functional kitchen, she wasn't even going to ask how he knew about this stuff, a dining area, a living room complete with a television, a bathing area, an area for him to brush his teeth, and an area for him to sleep in. She found herself admitting that Buu was definitely smarter than many suspected, as he knew the ins and outs of a house, without actually entering one, and his powers allowed him to make things work as if they were actually in a building that the people of the Earth lived in. Buu even ushered her out of the bathroom for a time, where she found that he even had a curtain in place, reminding her that his power let him turn one thing into another, and that he had running water, which she decided not to question since she figured Buu didn't have an answer. What was interesting was that Buu was content to wait for the promised foes to show up and do battle with him, just like Goku had promised, and he told Twilight that he was going to spend his time hanging out in the area, no doubt using his powers to change everything into his own person playground. "Well, just be careful if you decide to head to any of the nearby towns or cities, since everyone thinks your a villain... but, given your powers, you might be able to do some good deeds." Twilight said, because if Buu was able to transform rocks into clay, and even working televisions and kitchen appliances, she suspected his power might also do other things, such as cure blindness, mend wounds, and whatnot. "Will I be able to convince them that I'm a good boy?" Buu asked, showing Twilight that, while he was a feared being that could destroy the world, even the entire universe if he wanted to do so, his current mindset must have been drawn from the Grand Kaioshin's own good personality, meaning the evil was likely being locked away for now, maybe due to her very presence for some odd reason. "If you don't destroy anything and help people... maybe." Twilight admitted, as she had no idea if this idea would work or not, because while there were smart people in the world she also knew there were idiots, and she was sure an idiot would come and ruin everything, but if they were lucky they might be able to save the world, not to mention the rest of the vast universe, from Buu's darkness, "I'm going to go check on the warriors, make sure they're on track with their training, so it'll be a while before I return... when I do, well, we can play a few games." As Buu cheered, showing that he wanted to impress her so they could play some games, Twilight headed outside and just flew on top of a cliff, allowing her to see that Buu went out to mold the surrounding area into what he desired, to make it more like a home, before teleporting to the Lookout. From there she found that Piccolo had plans to whip both Goten and Trunks into shape so they could master the Fusion Dance in a short period of time, since there was no telling when, or if, Buu would go back on his word and start ruining everything. As of now Twilight wasn't convinced this training was even remotely necessary, but, based on her prior experience, she knew that things could go south in an instant and that it was better to be prepared than to be caught with their pants down, so she was fine with them training some more. Other than that she found Aria and they pulled away from everyone else, leaving them to prepare for either the end of the world or it being saved, though once both of them were a fair distance away Aria used her own teleport power to warp them to their intended destination. Both she and Aria had figured out that Shin and Kibito had taken Gohan to the Sacred World of the Kai, the very planet the Kaioshin lived on and watched the universe from, though when certain dangers, like Kid Buu or Moro, showed themselves they headed out to deal with them, where Twilight found Gohan, dressed in similar clothing to Shin, training with an old sword for some odd reason. "I figured you were brought here." Twilight remarked, where Gohan stopped swinging the sword around and turned to face her and Aria, while at the same time Shin and Kibito were surprised to see them again, something that caused her to turn towards the pair who fled the moment Buu was freed, "As you no doubt know, Buu's been released, but for the time being I've been able to talk him into not attacking the people of the Earth, as he seems to take my words to heart, plus he's interested in the fighters that Goku promised him. I can't say how long it'll be before he gets bored, but you have time to continue your training while Goten and Trunks do their own training on the Lookout." "No way... did you pull out the legendary Z Sword?!" Aria asked, as she had been staring at the blade Gohan was holding and suddenly everything clicked in her mind, while Twilight found that it resembled a longsword, though the Saiyan just nodded his head to confirm that he had done such a thing, no doubt on Shin's wishes, "I hate to interrupt your training, but... can I see the sword for a moment?" "Um... sure." Gohan said, where he held it out and the pair found something interesting, as soon as Aria grasped it she was nearly pulled down by the sheer weight of the Z Sword, though to Shin and Kibito's amazement she was able to stop it before it hit the ground, meaning neither of them could hold the sword, "I had to utilize my transformations to give me the power to pull it out of where it was resting... trust me, even with my power and training it still took me a while to pull it out of the rock pillar it was resting in." "Which is why you were training in your Super Saiyan form, to get used to the weight, before shifting back to normal, as to give you an edge in Shin's training." Twilight commented, which was when Gohan found that Aria passed the Z Sword to her for a moment, who, while surprised by the weight of the weapon, didn't budge too much as she stepped to her right, to put some distance between her and the others, before swinging the sword with deadly accuracy, reminding Gohan of the fact that she had once carried a sword into battle, only to stop after a few seconds, "Very nice. Here you go." As Twilight handed the blade back, and took a seat nearby to observe Gohan while he trained, she thought about the fact she had just learned from handling it for a time, that being the fact that there was a soul trapped inside it, a powerful one that seemed to be the source of the weapon's intense weight. There was no power to be gained from the weapon itself, as in some energy attack or wish granting power, rather the power that Shin had told Gohan about came from training with a ridiculously heavy object, it was just basic weight training. At the same time, however, she suspected that if someone were to break the sword it would release whoever was sealed inside it, which could be either a good thing or a bad thing, since there was no telling who or what was resting inside the metal prison. This was good news for her, because it meant that one could seal a being of power inside an object and actually allowed her to form a plan of attack in her mind, for the foe she was far more interested in, and she suspected that if she combined this with Dabura's petrification power she might just succeed in her dangerous plan. Goku also showed up sometime later, showing that he could teleport here with his Instant Transmission since he felt his son's Ki, which couldn't be felt on Earth, though Twilight focused on her plans and her own training, utilizing her power over darkness to increase the weight of her staff to mimic the Z Sword, all while planning on heading back to Earth after a bit to check up on Majin Buu. When Twilight and Aria returned to the Lookout, on the day following Buu's revival, they discovered something interesting the moment they sought Buu out, he seemed to be having way too much fun with his little domain, reshaping everything before changing it again, though he also went out to explore the world. As it turned out he only attacked those who dared to attack him first, similar to what Cell did while he was waiting for his games to start, and it usually happened when he was traveling from one place to another, where the creature made sure to pull them away from the cities before taking all of his pursuers out. Of course he faced severe consequences when he tried to enter the cities, no one wanted to speak to him since they were running for the hills, but despite all that he didn't lash out at them or wipe out their homes, rather he simply moved on and tracked down another place where he might be able to help people out. Twilight concluded that her earlier words had been successful, she had, against all odds, set Buu down another path in life, where he was trying to do good and prove that he wasn't the monster that Babidi told everyone, and while everything seemed to be working against him he continued to hold his head up high. Eventually Buu encountered a young boy that was dressed in rags, walked with a cane, and seemed to be blind, where he confirmed one of Twilight's suspicions, he held the power to heal even blindness and did so without delay, something that caused the boy to express his gratitude and he even handed over a coin to Buu. The creature spent some time speaking to the boy, who did, in fact, tell the creature that he was cool, while at the same time Aria joined them and told Buu about money, something he didn't seem to care for since his focus was on being 'cool'. Twilight watched as Aria turned the coin into a container of milk, which the boy had been going to buy, why on his own they had no idea, though once he was on his way back home Buu went out to find more people to help while Aria returned to her side with a smile on her face. It was far too easy for Twilight to see why Aria was happy, because this version of Buu was far better than the one who killed her and the other Kaioshin, and as long as he remained in this peaceful state she saw no reason to bother him. With that in mind Aria decided to return to Shin's world for a time, just to be sure Gohan's training was going well, despite their earlier visit, and while she did that Twilight simply watched as Buu returned home to rest and wait for the challenger to appear like he had been promised. While she was observing Buu, however, she felt a rise in Ki and teleported to the Lookout without delay, where it took her no time at all to locate Goten and Trunks as they finally attempted the Fusion Dance, only for her and Piccolo to instantly spot a flaw in their sequence, as the latter didn't ball his fists at the proper time. The resulting fusion resulted in a kid that was just as tall as both Saiyan children, which had to be another reason for the identical height rule, while wearing a sash, an open vest over his chest, baggy pants, and pointed shoes, though he was obese and couldn't run for long. Piccolo told them where they went wrong and they patiently for the half hour limit to run out, not to mention the hour rest before the pair could attempt it again, though Twilight did learn that the kids intended to use the name 'Gotenks' when they used this technique. When the hour was up Piccolo demanded that they do the dance again, though this time around Trunks made another mistake in no aligning his fingers correctly, only for everyone to find that the fusion came out as a skinny bag of bones, resulting in more time wasted. The third time, as the saying went, happened to be the charm as Goten and Trunks pulled the Fusion Dance off perfectly, creating a warrior that was lean and fit, while having spiked hair that had black sides, like Goten's, and a lavender center that had to be Trunks' contribution, and his base power was extraordinary. "So this is the power of the Metamoran Fusion Dance... it's incredible." Twilight said, where she realized that the sheer level of power that the fusion possessed was enough to actually challenge Buu to a fight, which only made her take a few seconds to wonder just how strong they'd be as a Super Saiyan, a Super Saiyan 2, or even a Super Saiyan 3 if they were capable of pulling off the newest form. "You finally did it. We will try again as Super Saiyans once the time limit is up." Piccolo stated, though as he sweated for a moment he both agreed with Twilight, the power that Gotenks was letting off was incredible, and understood why Goku felt that this could defeat Buu in a fight. "Nah, don't underestimate me. This is enough to beat Buu." Gotenks replied, waving a finger to show that he was more arrogant than either of the kids that went into making him, where Twilight assumed it was Trunks' side speaking, before he shifted his stance and faced Twilight, who raised an eyebrow in return, "Here, I'll prove it and beat Twilight up." She understood Gotenks' reasoning, both kids likely knew that she was, by far, the strongest warrior present and felt that taking her down in battle would prove that his strength was the real deal so the others would let him go, and, to show his level of immaturity, he rushed at her before she took on her own battle stance. In that instant she decided to tank some of his attacks, just to see how well his power had grown due to the Fusion Dance, and while his power was far greater than the two who went into making him, just like they felt, she could tell, with just a couple of punches, that he didn't have the power to beat Buu. With that in mind she caught his next punch, surprising him in the process, before she slammed him into the ground of the Lookout and walked away, though when he tried to attack her backside Twilight turned and loosed a blast into his chest, sending him flying off the structure before blowing up some distance away. With Piccolo around to mend their clothing and Dende there to heal their wounds, powers that were useful at this point in time, she wasn't even a little concerned with treating them rough, since it would help them realize that this wasn't a game. After that Twilight walked over to a portion of the Lookout where she could lean against a pillar and do two things, as the first was observe Goten and Trunks as they were healed and rested for their next test, while the second was the fact that Mr. Satan was moving against Buu. Normally she would teleport down and stop him from doing something stupid, but, since Buu was in a good mood, she decided to simply observe them for a time, where she watched as the man pulled out a box full of chocolate that held a deadly poison inside each sweet cube. As she expected he was trying to save the world like he was facing Cell, or a person for that matter, and confirmed that poison meant nothing to Buu, in fact he thought the poisoned chocolate was better than what he had previously, causing Mr. Satan to let him eat all of it before pulling out a handheld game player. This was disguised as a bomb that would detonate when the man was safe enough away, though it was a minor detonation and it did nothing to Buu, who came to the conclusion that Mr. Satan was funny and that he'd be a great distraction while he waited for the challenger to arrive. The shocking part was that after the man convinced Buu to take a picture with him, one that involved Buu laying on the ground in defeat with the man over him, a victory picture, cooked a nice dinner for Buu in no time, and even helped him in the bath, he changed his own plans. Instead of trying to kill or destroy Buu he started to try to befriend him, which was easier since Twilight had started the process for him without really meaning to, though she was distracted for a moment as Gotenks was reformed in his own Super Saiyan form, only for the fusion to fly off and go around the world multiple times before returning after burning through his time. "Twilight, I can tell that something is bothering you." a voice said, where she found her grandfather walking over to her, as he and Cooler had remained on Earth to watch the tournament go down, especially with a promised fight between Goku and Vegeta, while her father went back to their home planet to make sure the empire was running smoothly, "Is it Buu?" "Yes. Despite the good that's happening to him, I can't shake this feeling of dread that's been bothering me." Twilight replied, because there were a pair of humans in the outskirts of the nearest city that was in proximity to where Buu lived, killing all sorts of people with guns while having a smile on their faces, and if things went south there was a chance that this could shake up the entire world, maybe even the entire universe, "How far is father's ship from the planet?" "He should be nearing Neptune in the next few minutes, and should be here within an hour or two thanks to the engines you made for intergalactic travel." King Cold answered, where he tilted his head for a moment as he found that Twilight was already thinking of something important, as the gears in her head were clearly turning and it meant she might have an idea of some sort. "Ask him to stop his ship and tell him that he will be receiving guests soon... something bad is going to happen." Twilight said, because those two men were going to do something incredibly stupid, she could see it happening, and she didn't want most of their group involved in whatever it brought about, hence why she was beating the disaster to the punch by getting her acquaintances off the planet. Sure enough Twilight discovered that some questioned why they were being gathered, especially given the power of the technique Goku had showed the two small warriors, but everyone also knew that if she was warning them it was best to just follow her lead and let her do her thing. As such she used her own Instant Transmission to teleport everyone onto the ship her father was using to travel to the Earth, where the distance from the planet ensured that they would be safe, in case her dreadful feeling turned out to be accurate and something bad did happen. The only ones left on the Lookout were those preparing to fight Buu, as Goten and Trunks were still training to ensure they were ready, while Twilight's children and even Eschalot were preparing to use the Hyperbolic Time Chamber when the moment arrived, because if something happened to be, and confirmed her dreadful feeling, they'd need it to prepare Gotenks as fast as possible. Piccolo also stayed behind for the time being, to oversee the training and ensure the pair had all the time that they could use before the big fight came to their doorstep, and Twilight stuck around to observe and maybe even fight this time. While they were doing that, however, Buu found a wounded puppy and brought it back to his house, causing him to ask Mr. Satan a few questions about it before mending it's injured leg, something that caused it to be happy and run around him with a smile on it's muzzle. Following that Mr. Satan went to the city and purchased some actual dog food, since what Buu had on hand wasn't good for a little puppy like this, and it wasn't long before he returned and did the unthinkable, he was able to get Buu to swear off killing people. In that moment Twilight wondered if she was overreacting, only to be proven right a moment later as the two men appeared on a nearby cliff and actually shot the puppy, forcing Mr. Satan into action as Buu just stood there with a dumbfounded look on his face, leaving the man to knock the two men down. Following that Mr. Satan found that the puppy was still alive and Buu was able to heal him with ease, but that was when things took a wrong turn as the younger man shot Mr. Satan, something that boiled Buu's blood as he ran off, though as he healed the man Buu fought with his emotions as steam started to spill out of his pores. In the following moment Buu expelled all of his evil from his body, producing a grey thin Buu that held almost all of their vast power, who killed one of the men without wasting a second, and Twilight could only watch as Evil Buu quickly beat Innocent Buu to the point that the latter used his beam to try and turn the former into chocolate, only for it to backfire... and as Evil Buu ate the now chocolaty Innocent Buu Twilight knew that things had gone from bad to worse at long last. > Buu: Majin's Fun > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Twilight... you saw that, right?" Piccolo asked, because if that was the case it explained why she had called for everyone else to leave the planet entirely, leaving only those who wanted to fight Buu behind, though at the same time he couldn't help but look at the new Buu, a slim figure that shared Evil Buu's form and the pink from Innocent Buu's body, just without the cape that the latter wore. "Yeah, I did... and the events leading up to it." Twilight replied, though at the same time she made a mental decision to not do what Shin usually did, because whatever happened next was going to be her fault and that meant it was her mess to clean up, or at least prevent if she was able to do so, all while Super Buu, as she was going to call him, let out a roar that shook the area around him. It was all the confirmation Twilight needed, Super Buu had all the power that rested inside Buu, now fully situated in a body that had been designed for battle, though his anger towards humanity seemed to be the least of his concerns, as if the anger Innocent Buu had felt was no longer relevant. She found that the bodyguard of the man who was killed, or whatever he was, forced himself up the hill that was behind him so he could get a machine gun that he then used to open fire on Super Buu, though it ended up doing nothing as each bullet went through with no damage done to him. Once the man was done with his attack Super Buu did something weird, he extended his body, like it was made of slippery goo or something, and just stuffed himself down the man's throat in no time, causing the man to gag as his body started to inflate. The moment every drop of the new Buu was inside the man's body he staggered for a moment, surprised by what was going on, before he exploded from the inside out, killing him instantly as Super Buu reformed with a smile on his face. What surprised her, and gave her hope for the future, was that Super Buu remembered Mr. Satan and the dog, since he stayed his hand from killing them, before he burst through the air and zeroed in on where the Lookout was located, to the point where his speed allowed him to reach the ledge in no time at all. "I wasn't expecting that. He can sense our Ki with ease." Twilight commented, to which she stepped forward and walked up to where the creature was landing, who seemed surprised to see her in a place like this, while at the same time Piccolo made his exit to ensure that the kids moved into the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, "Super Buu, what brings you to this place, at this point in time?" "Twilight... bring them out!" Super Buu stated, where he released a burst of energy to intimidate those watching him, a fact that she ignored since it was far less intimidating than what she felt when she and Aria fought Kid Buu, though it was nice to see that part of him still remembered her, since she had a new plan in mind already, "Bring me the ones who will fight me... I was promised a fight, and I want to kill them right now. That is why I have come to this place of power." "You are correct. The warriors are here, busy training to fight you, but neither of them are ready... you are, after all, a day early, as Goku told you they'd be ready in two." Twilight replied, because she knew that Super Buu had problems killing those who were high up in Innocent Buu's mind, like how he avoided Mr. Satan and the dog earlier, and she was one of those people as well, due to his use of calling her 'pony' most of the time, not that it mattered due to her immortality, "However, there are plenty of things for you to do while you wait for them to finish their training and get ready for your fight..." Twilight paused for a moment as Super Buu grinned and started to walk around the edge of the Lookout, looking down at the world that was below them, though in that moment she understood what he was up to, he was tracking down each and every person that happened to be alive right now. Now this was the creature of death and destruction she and Aria knew about, had prepared for, so while she walked behind him, simply keeping an eye on him while making sure Piccolo got the kids to the chamber for their training, Twilight silently worked her magic. In the off chance that she was right she made a massive invisible barrier around the Lookout, one that was wider and taller than the structure they were standing on right now, so if he tried to exterminate everyone on the planet, save for those on the Lookout, she was going to catch it before it happened. While part of her was always going to be an observer, to watch certain things happen, she realized that it made her too much like Shin and it disgusted her, to the point where she was going to start taking a more active role in what was going on, though she kept everything to herself as she followed Super Buu. When he came to a stop, back near the area he had landed in when he first arrived on the Lookout, Super Buu grinned for a moment as he raised his hand high into the air before firing off a massive burst of energy blasts that would, if allowed to rain down on the planet, kill every person that was below the Lookout. Twilight was glad she had decided to prepare for such a thing, since her barrier, fueled by her drain ability, sucked in all of the blasts as they struck it, where she could see that Piccolo, who had returned after moving the kids, was glad that she was on their side. She stood there as Super Buu tried to wipe out all of humanity with a single attack, where the grin turned into a frown as he realized that his attack had failed, though it only made him more determined to end everyone as he fired another volley, only this time he doubled it, as if that would make a difference. What it did, however, was reveal the barrier to Super Buu as it shimmered, likely due to all of the attacks that were going on in the space around the Lookout, where he paused for a moment as he found each of his blasts being drained by the barrier, as if he remembered it. In that instant Twilight thought of something, if Kid Buu had absorbed both the South and Grand Kaioshins, adding them to his body, was it possible that he held their memories inside his body, as she recalled that the prison records for Moro indicated that he had been brought down by two Kaioshin at great cost, and that one had surfaced when he recognized the power she was using. "Impossible... Moro...?" Super Buu commented, where he turned his head for a moment and glanced at Twilight, as if he knew more than a simple beast of destruction should know, in fact it seemed like he was staring through her and saw someone else, all while ignoring the fact that Piccolo was approaching them. "No, he's still imprisoned... should die any day now, if we're lucky." Twilight replied, something that caused the memory in Super Buu to pull back and let him take the reins again, though it interested her that he held the memories of those he had absorbed, even those from a long time ago, making her form a plan as he came back to himself, "Listen, I can't have you go about destroying the entire world, nor can I let you kill every human on the planet... that's bad, you know... but, if you want to burn some of your excess energy and get ready for your fight, I have an area in mind that you can use to have some great fun." "Killing... is bad..." Super Buu said, where it sounded like Innocent Buu was still in there, she could practically hear him in the creature's voice, before his current incarnation shook his head and seemed to take control of his body again, though it gave her all the information she needed right now, "What is this 'area' you speak of?" "Follow me. I'll explain on the way." Twilight stated, though as she turned towards the main structure she extended a hand and her staff appeared once more, something Super Buu ignored since it wasn't important to him, allowing her to focus on the plan in her mind as she felt Piccolo following them, "I'm taking you to the Room of Time, where you can go back to any point in the past and fight to your hearts content. Want to fight the Saiyans in their prime? Want to fight in a war that decided the fact of an entire galaxy? Do you just want to kill people and blow stuff up? I know dozens upon dozens of events that can let you have some fun while you wait for the warriors to finish their training... all you have to do is step in the center of the chamber and I'll send you to another world." "But... how will I return to face the warriors?" Super Buu asked, showing that part of his mind was focused on the foe he had been promised, while the other part, the one Twilight was interested in, seemed to hang on certain words without making itself known to the creature. "You remember the game Mr. Satan showed you? It's similar to that." Twilight said, where she admitted that it wasn't the best description of what the room did and how he'd know it was time to come back to this point in time, hence why she was going to explain it more so he understood her, "Basically you'll be sent to the point in time as an avatar of yourself... like a character, only your in full control of yourself... and you have two ways to be brought back to this point: either you suffer what would pass as death, like being blown to pieces or being beaten to within an inch of your life, or you can complete whatever task you're supposed to accomplish, such as killing everyone or blowing up the planet. Knowing you the latter is likely what will happen, but you never know what might happen... I did it several times and suffered the near death defeat a few times. I just want you to remember your intent while you're doing this." Super Buu said nothing to that as Twilight reached their destination and ushered him into the space that would allow her to send him to another point in history, where she accessed the transfer device and sent him back in time, to a battle that had two armies and plenty of people for him to attack. As he slipped into the state that came with using this room, unless one used far too much time magic like she had discovered years ago, Piccolo asked what she was up to and she simply chuckled for a moment as she explained that this gave the kids more time to train for their big battle. He understood that part of things, since he had ideas to do the same thing after discovering that Super Buu was coming to the Lookout, rather he was asking why she was messing with the creature's mind by repeating things that Mr. Satan had said before those two men shot him and the dog. Twilight explained that the memory of Innocent Buu was what she was currently targeting, part of him was still inside Super Buu since he refrained from killing Mr. Satan and actually listened, to a degree, to what she was saying, so her thought was that if she pried at that part of him she might be able to cause something big to happen. "Honestly, I'm just glad you're actually helping now, instead of watching events happen." Piccolo remarked, though as he said that he found that Twilight tapped something and an image appeared on the left wall of the Room of Time, revealing the battle she had picked out for Super Buu's first destination, something he had never seen before. "I realized that I was starting to walk down the same path that King Kai and Shin have been walking, that of simply standing off to the side and observing what was going on." Twilight stated, something that made her growl for a moment as she took a few seconds to consider that she had been starting to follow the path of the foolish Kai and the foolish Kaioshin who knew nothing about anything that was going on, before she sighed and shook her head, "I will not walk their path of inaction, not when I have the power to do so... I should have killed those men before they got close to Buu, but I didn't and now we're paying for my mistake. I will not make the same mistake again." Piccolo gulped as he remembered who he was talking to, a demon of great power who put even the gods in their place, so, instead of making her mad at him again, he decided to focus on the screen that allowed them to observe Super Buu, which was a function he was only now discovering, meaning Kami might not have known about it. The creature seemed to be in the middle of having the time of his life, slaughtering everyone and anyone who dared to get in the way, though even as he did that Piccolo could already see that Twilight's earlier words held some weight, as Super Buu held a hand to his head every now and then. To him it didn't seem like the creature knew what was going on with him, either he was blacking out when it happened or he was trying to forget what was happening to him, but her plan was already starting to bear fruit and made him realize what she was trying to do. Super Buu was the combination of Majin Buu, or Innocent Buu he guessed, and Evil Buu, so by going after the memory of the former Piccolo was sure that Twilight was trying to force the two apart again, just like what happened with those two men earlier, and if Innocent Buu regained his power they might be able to save the rest of the world without having to fight him. He realized that if that happened, and the two Buus were separate entities again, Twilight could erase Evil Buu with all of her great and terrible power, then they could gather the Dragon Balls, revive everyone that's been slain while leaving out all of the villains, and probably erase Buu from the population's memories so he could go on and become a member of society, like he had been trying before the event happened. "Twilight... that was fun. Another!" Super Buu stated, as the scene they had been watching came to an end as the creature wiped out the planet he had been sent to, while at the same time showing them that he was excited by the rush of killing people, or at least part of him based on what Piccolo was seeing, meaning Twilight's plan had to be working. "As you wish." Twilight replied, where she wasted no time in setting the next destination and sending him back in time, a fact that confirmed her statement about knowing multiple points in history as Piccolo thought about it, though before he had a chance to open his mouth she spoke first, "Don't worry, as long as I don't use my own temporal magic, or overload any of the room's systems, you don't have to worry about him altering the existing history of the universe... not that such a thing matters, since the planets I'm sending him to have all been destroyed at one point or another." "I just thought of something: can't you teleport him into a more dangerous section of the universe?" Piccolo asked, as he had thought of another way that they could be rid of Super Buu, a way that might end with him getting himself wiped out by a natural force so the Earth could survive whatever happened next. "You mean like a black hole? I mean, I guess I could do that, but would that be fair to Innocent Buu?" Twilight inquired, as while she understood where Piccolo was coming from, since he just wanted to keep this world safe from the danger that had been unleashed, she refused to do such a thing while the other Buu was still inside Super Buu, where her statement caused Piccolo to sigh for a moment, "Tell you what, if my plan works we won't need such a thing... if it fails, and Super Buu proves to be far too much for everyone to deal with, I'll try teleporting him into a black hole. I mean, I doubt that it'll come to that, as I have some new moves that I've been itching to try out in battle, but it's nice to have options just in case things go south." Piccolo stood there in silence as he observed Super Buu wiping out the population of the planet Twilight had sent him to, this time using the same attack that Twilight had stopped him from using earlier, and while it was easy to see that he was enjoying himself he could also see some conflict starting to form in his mind. Because Innocent Buu had been absorbed so recently it was possible that the memories that Twilight was targeting were causing him to fight against Super Buu, hence the mental battle that seemed to be happening right now, and that meant her plan had a greater chance of success than he thought it did. She was trying to create a division of sorts in Super Buu's mind, force the two versions of the creature to have a tug of war or something while Super Buu was slaughtering everyone in the past, or at the very least sow the seeds that would tear his mind apart, and right now the little slip ups he was displaying showed that she might be on the right path to saving Innocent Buu. Part of him was thinking about what Twilight had said, an echo of what Mr. Satan had said in the minutes before the event happened, while the evil part of him loved to decimate the people that were around him, as if he was blowing off steam while he waited for the warriors to get ready for their fight. In that moment he realized that they might not even need Gotenks to deal with Buu, as Twilight was taking her own words seriously and wanted to show everyone that she was done walking the path of King Kai and Shin, meaning that she might fight him when the time was right. When Super Buu returned from his journey Twilight had a question for him, which was did he want to take a break and get something to eat, though he turned her down after about ten seconds, meaning Innocent Buu must have been pushing for a break, before demanding to continue with his fun. She obliged him without delay, sending him back while also taking a moment to repeat the comment she made earlier, quieter than normal as if she was trying to speak to Innocent Buu or freak out Super Buu without saying much, though Piccolo understood her plan. Her words sunk into the creature's head, resonating with everything that had been side before, and the more she repeated herself to him the more Piccolo could see the mental war going on as he moved from planet to planet, acting differently as time went on. In the beginning Super Buu just annihilated everything and everyone in his path, though as time passed he started doing things differently, as on one planet he only wiped out the evil forces, another he started to prime an attack that would everything before coming to a stop for some reason, and on another he acted against his new destructive personality, as he went and healed those who were injured in battle. That last one caused Super Buu to grip his left arm for a few seconds, where Piccolo was sure that it vibrated while he did do, as if Innocent Buu was actually fighting back, before he annihilated the entire planet with a single attack, returning him to the Room of Time in the process. "We've been at this for a while now, Super Buu. Do you want something to eat before the next round?" Twilight asked, as if she was taking no note of how the creature was acting, telling Piccolo that only they could see the screen she had set up earlier and that she didn't want to tip her hand before it was time to do so, causing him to remain silent as well. "I... I... I want Mr. Satan's cooking." Super Buu stated, though as he said it Twilight got all the confirmation she needed, his voice had distorted as Innocent Buu spoke at the exact same time, showing that he was struggling to contain his other half right now, despite the fact that he forced him down to maintain his hold, "And I want candies!" "As you wish." Twilight said, where she mentally smiled for a moment, as everything was going as planned and now, with his own desires coming to light before their eyes, she could deliver the crippling blow that would crack the creature wide open, causing her to glance at Piccolo, who nodded his head, before she headed outside and departed. With the plan in motion Twilight teleported down to the Earth's surface and appeared before Mr. Satan, where she quickly informed him that Super Buu wanted him to prepare a meal for him, something he agreed with rather fast in her eyes, but the light in his eyes told her all she needed to know. He was hoping to do anything to bring his friend back, despite the fact that they had only known each other for a day, even if it meant cooking for the creature he had become after those men hurt Beelzebub and himself, only for Twilight to shorten the dog's name to Bee. She really didn't see the reason of giving a dog a demon's name, as there were references to such a demon in this world's history and even others, all different based on her research, but it was close to Buu's name and suspected that the dog might help break the creature. She returned him and the dog to the Lookout before teleporting to a few places to get the ingredients Mr. Satan needed, as he wanted to make a familiar dish, the same he had been prepared for Buu, the one he fully enjoyed, and while he got to work she went out and got a bag of Earth candies for Super Buu to enjoy. Upon her return to the Lookout she found that the creature was struggling to hold back his other half, as she found that his left side bubbled every now and then, and he accepted the candies without delay, anything to take his mind off of what was happening, before Mr. Satan served a well cooked stake, a bowl of rice, eggs, and several other items, showing that while he had no idea what Buu liked he had prepared a feast. "I recreated the first meal I made for you... I wasn't sure what you wanted, so I decided not to disappoint." Mr. Satan said, all while Bee sat in one of the chairs so he could see what was going on right now, though Super Buu was looking down at the food that had been presented to him, no doubt surprised that Twilight had convinced the man to come up here and cook for him. Super Buu sat there for a moment as he stared at the feast, though when he dug in it wasn't like a beast eating, rather he actually used the utensils and seemed to savor every bite as he dug into Mr. Satan's feast, though Twilight smiled a little as his left eye started to shift without him realizing. "...Sa... Satan...?" Super Buu said, though to their surprise it was actually Innocent Buu that had spoken up, especially since his left eye was closed like the fat one did most of the time, but as soon as that happened more of the old Buu surged to the surface, his left hand being covered in a yellow glove, the cape halfway returning, and the left half of his vest came back as well. It was the moment Twilight had been waiting for, Innocent Buu was literally trying to tear himself free from Evil Buu, which would destroy Super Buu in the process, and as the creature growled and gripped his head, a sign of the mental war that was going on in full force, she made her move. She escorted him outside, finding that his left side started to get fatter as the seconds ticked by, another sign that Evil Buu was losing ground, and once they were outside the main building, in the area Super Buu had landed in earlier that day, she focused her mind. In that instant she locked onto the Sacred World of the Kai, to Aria's signature since she was far away from everyone else, and teleported both herself and Buu off the planet, because if things went south at least the Earth and it's people wouldn't be in danger. As they appeared on Shin's world, a fact that surprised everyone, Aria made her move, where she used a Ki blade and slashed Buu vertically in half, splitting the two Buus from each other with ease, as the left half filled out into Innocent Buu while the right stayed in their slim form as pink energy surrounded him. In that moment she felt a storm of Ki that was far greater than most of the people Twilight had faced in the past, though there was one figure that this power matched, causing her to chuckle as she realized that her gamble had both succeeded and failed at the same time. "I saved Good Buu... and in doing so freed Kid Buu." Twilight remarked, where she and Aria watched the rebirth of the first Buu, the one who went about destroying everything without a care in the world, though at the same time she noticed a dark look of anger and hate coming from the creature, causing her to summon her staff once more. She wasn't sure how her plan had brought about the rebirth of Kid Buu, something she had hoped to avoid, but now that the beast was back in the universe she was going to use her full power this time around and bring him down before he had a chance to destroy anything else. > Buu: Fateful Battle > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- As the energy around Kid Buu started to condense into his smaller form, signifying that they were about to see the rebirth of a creature that was better left sealed away, Twilight planted the base of her staff against the ground and focused her mind, as she was going to use her strongest transformation and not play around. While she did that, however, she noticed that Goku was still on the Sacred World of the Kai, while at the same time Gohan was sitting across from what looked like an old Kaioshin whose hands were raised with the palms pointing at him. She suspected that someone had broken the Z Sword, as someone must have come up with the idea to test the edge of the blade and Shin went too far with it, because there was a large black cube off in the distance, Katchin she realized, which was the hardest material in the known universe and it must have snapped the sword like it was a twig. The existence of the old Kaioshin was proof of her thoughts, someone had been trapped inside that ancient blade and now that person was free to roam the universe once more, though after seeing that, and seeing how everyone was shocked by her bringing Buu to this planet, she focused on her foe. As she did that, however, Goku rushed over to where they were standing and helped Innocent Buu out of the area, where she focused on Kid Buu as he finished reforming at long last, as she recognized the child-like form of the being that had almost killed her, though as he looked around Kid Buu frowned the moment he spotted her. "That's right Kid Buu, I'm still alive. You didn't kill me!" Twilight stated, where she could see the anger and hatred in his eyes as he stared at her, no doubt assuming that she was prey that had gotten away in the past, just like how he saw Aria as well, but in that moment she released her full power, allowing the darkness to wash over her as she transformed into her Demon Goddess form, "Care to try again?" Kid Buu stood there for a moment, making her wonder if he was debating what to do or if he was just the nearly mindless monster she had encountered in the past, before he raised his hand and hurled a sphere of energy, twice as tall as a human by her reckoning, right at Twilight. She, on the other hand, caught the attack before it even hit the ground and devoured all of it in the span of a few seconds, surprising Kid Buu in the process, no doubt because he hadn't see this the last time they fought, before she rushed through the air and zeroed in on where he was standing. In the next instant she loosed a blast at her foe's legs, even though she made it look like she was actually aiming at his chest, and the explosion tore off Kid Buu's legs with far too much ease, as this was just her way to confirm that he still had the regeneration power that made him one of the most feared monsters in the universe. Sure enough he reformed them without delay and rushed at her, swinging his fists at her and struck her right in her face, knocking Twilight back a little, though it did confirm something else in her mind, his combat skills were definitely intact, as nothing was lost during his absorption of two Kaioshin and his diffusion brought about by her own hand. Of course she wasn't the only one who wanted to be part of his battle, as Aria, having released her own power in the form of a silvery white aura, punched Kid Buu in the side of his face, right in his jaw no less, and sent him flying down towards the ground, causing a circular crater to form around him. "Remember me, Kid Buu?" Aria asked, though at the same time she and Twilight stood side by side as they faced the small crater that the creature had been forced into by her attack, as this was what they had prepared for after her revival and she was itching to get some payback for her death, hence their training for this day. Sure enough the creature frowned as he noticed Aria standing there as well, another figure he no doubt assumed had fled for her life after their previous battle, though in that moment he slammed his legs into the ground with a grin on his face, causing the pair to realize what he was doing as they jumped into the air. Kid Buu's attack was an unseen one, as it went under the ground and emerged with a kick as he tried to hit them, meaning if they had dodged backwards he would have chased after them, or at least that was Twilight's guess on the matter, but it did leave him vulnerable for a time. Of course that was when they found that the creature retained some of the intelligence they were used to seeing, from those who came from him absorbing two Kaioshin, as he fired a beam of energy right at Aria while she was in the middle of dodging his previous attack. In that moment she turned and struck the attack with the side of her right hand, sending it flying off to where Twilight was positioned so she could absorb it, though after doing that Twilight shifted her stance as she got ready to use the Kamehameha, something both she and Aria had learned in preparation for this fight. Of course she had a way to make the attack even stronger, as in one hand she held the power of darkness and the other had the power of light, and when she fired her Eclipse Kamehameha Aria discovered that it was a bluish-purple beam with a purple outline, which smashed into Kid Buu and tore him apart... though as the smoke cleared his bits gathered once more and reformed him, showing off his insane regeneration ability. While he reformed Aria went on the assault, transforming the energy around her hand into an actual construct, a blade that she could actually hold in her hand, and slashed at Kid Buu as he maintained a worm shape, as if he was dancing and taunting them at the same time. Such a thing allowed her to hack him to pieces, as if her weapon were a hot knife cutting through butter, though once she was done dividing him up into small chunks Aria blasted them without delay, hoping that it would be the end of Kid Buu, because while others would prolong the fight for the joy of it she just wanted him gone so the universe would be safer. A foot formed out of the smoke and kicked her in the chest, pushing her straight down into the ground before tearing through the rest of the region as he smashed Aria into one of the rock mountains, before he backed off and released a blast that would not only tear the entire area apart, but also kill her again. Twilight flashed into the space between them and caught the blast before it could go off, where it disappeared into nothingness as she took a second to drain it, though all of this reconfirmed that Kid Buu wanted them dead and meant that, while he might taunt her and Aria, he was serious with all of his attacks. Twilight sighed for a moment as she shifted her stance and gestured for Kid Buu to come at them again, though this time around she punched him square in the face as he rushed at her, causing him to stagger backwards for a moment as she stood there, a silent taunt for him to continue the assault. As she predicted he fell for it and used the sides of her arms to block his attacks as she moved her legs, making it look like she was on the defensive while predicting his every move, but it was just her reacting to Kid Buu's Ki as she struck him multiple times as well, slipping through his own defenses. Such a thing only seemed to excite him even more, as if he realized that she was a foe who could push him to his limits, to which he ignored Aria entirely and focused on her as he rushed at her, intending on doing more damage to her before focusing on the other opponents. Twilight was fine with that, because with her immortality there was no way for Kid Buu to kill her, not unless he decided to absorb her anyway, since she had no idea what would happen if that went down, though for the time being she focused on Kid Buu as he came at her. This time she ducked below his incoming punch and struck him hard in the chest, causing the creature to cough a little as he pulled back and went on the offensive again, only to find that Twilight was ready for him as she twisted around each of his attacks, allowing her to kick him several times before knocking him backwards. He stayed down for a moment, likely shocked by how the tables had turned on him for a moment, before bursting up into the air and raining down small blasts of energy on where she was standing, though she set up a quick barrier to snag them before teleporting into the space right behind him and kicked him down into a lake that was nearby. As Kid Buu tried to recover from the attack, and go on the offensive once more, Twilight appeared above him and swung her leg downward, forcing him to raise his arm to block her attack, finding that it caused waves in the water as his defenses were pushed back a little, before she spun around and kicked him in the side, sending him flying once more. After that the two of them rushed around the surface of the lake, all while ripples showed the observers where they were at any given moment, though while Kid Buu was angry, attacking like he had something to prove, Twilight was calm and collected, moving her body with purpose as she struck her foe without him scoring a hit on her. One of Kid Buu's punches was directed down at the lake and it sent a bunch of water up into the air, though Twilight used that as a cover as she charged some of her power into the space above her right hand, creating a sphere of swirling wind energy, though as her foe realized that she was coming for him he fired a blast of energy towards her. She ate the attack like it was nothing as her sphere expanded into a more massive form, being three times the size of King Kai's planet, and sent it down at her foe while he couldn't see it coming, causing him to freeze as he laid eyes on it. Her attack, the Spiraling Wind Sphere, tore into Kid Buu and the ground before he could do anything to stop it, though it didn't get too far before it exploded on top of her foe, blasting a large crater into the ground as she found Kid Buu flying out of it, only he hit the side of a rock wall and coughed as he repaired his missing lower body again. While many would be devastated by the fact that Kid Buu was tanking all of her attacks and was coming back for more, she was still calm, because she could see that her foe's mood was getting worse as time went on, as his rage would blind him and cause him to make a mistake, or at least that would be true if he were a normal warrior. Since he was different from everyone else she needed a plan to utterly eradicate him, his body, and every atom, similar to what happened with Cell, and she had an idea of which power of hers might be able to do just that, but before that she had another trick up her sleeve that she wanted to try out first. Aria landed nearby as Twilight expanded her power, which was followed by a veil of magic washing over her as an illusion was placed, making it look like there were two of her right now, something that caused Kid Buu to raise an eyebrow as he turned his head a few times. This illusion spell made it so that her allies, if any were aiding her in a fight, would seem like identical copies to herself, right down to their Ki, so all Kid Buu could tell was that Aria was no longer there and that, somehow, Twilight had duplicated herself. In addition to that she even placed an enchantment on Aria so that she matched her level of power, just to complete the illusion, causing her to rush forward as Aria followed after her, where Kid Buu raised his arms to defend himself from what was coming. This was a lot like the Multiform technique that the Z Warriors had used in the past, only she had removed the weakness of cutting one's Ki to pieces, depending on how many copies were made, so to Kid Buu it felt like two of her were fighting him at the exact same time. As such one of them was able to punch and knock Kid Buu up into the air so the other could land a couple of kicks, only to find that their foe, even with the battle becoming a two on one, was excited by what was going on and rushed into battle, targeting whichever warrior happened to be near him. Due to how much time the pair had spent training for this day, just in the off chance that Kid Buu actually showed up in their lives, it was near impossible to tell which one was Twilight and which one was Aria, especially since the enchantment on Aria also allowed Twilight to siphon the Ki attacks that were sent her way. The only thing that might reveal who was the real Twilight to their foe was the usage of the light and dark powers that she had spent years learning how to master, hence why she focused on normal skills, such as the Kamehameha, just to keep the illusion going and keep their foe in the dark. Of course, even with that thought in mind, she was sure that Kid Buu, who had to be a fast learner like Innocent Buu, would figure out the smallest changes between them and attack Aria when he was sure that he had found her, hence why she was focused on making sure that never happened. With that thought in mind she and Aria knocked Kid Buu back with a dual kick to the chest before gathering their energies into spheres on their left and right sides, allowing them to combine their blue Kamehamehas into a single mass that they sent at their foe, tearing through him with ease, but before they celebrated Twilight found that his feet were left and that he regenerated in no time once more. "Annoying bastard... I know he's supposed to be tough, but this is annoying." Aria commented, because even with her new power she found herself wondering if it was even possible to beat the raw power of Kid Buu in a fight, especially since she was convinced that during the diffusion he had stolen some of the God Ki from Innocent Buu, who only had it thanks to the Grand and South Kaioshins who had been absorbed previously. "I know. That's why we trained for this." Twilight replied, as they had plans for when this fight happened and it was time to put them into action, though as she said that Kid Buu fully reformed and beat his chest as his Ki suddenly increased, which was when she spotted a familiar dark sphere in the center of his chest, "Of course... the Demon Gods and Goddesses from the future want to charge Buu's Dark Dragon Ball while we're fighting him, since it seems that they soak in all damage that is done to the host... and they also boost their already considerable power to new heights. I would recommend abandoning this fight, Aria, since his power and violence will be far stronger than what we had planned for, but if you want to fight him as well I won't stop you." Twilight rushed forward without delay and raised her right hand as she channeled her power, forming lightning that let out a crackle as it formed around her fingers, which she brought together like they were a blade, and stabbed Kid Buu right in his chest, just under the Dark Dragon Ball because he moved it to avoid losing it's power so soon after getting it. Her attack went right through his body and caused him to stagger for a moment, though before he could react she altered her energy and the lightning branched outward from the area that her hand had pierced, sending a lethal shockwave through the creature in the process. Of course lethal for a human was nothing to Kid Buu's terrible might, even though she found that there were a small number of smoky holes in his chest, which had to be from her attack, before she summoned more lightning to her aid in the form of a bolt that followed her hand's movements, as she swung downward and shocked him again. Kid Buu, of course, recovered in no time as he kicked her backwards and mended his body, causing her to realize that the majority of the skills she had learned for this day might not work, but that still left her with two skills that should work. In the next moment something interesting happened as Goku, channeling the power of his Super Saiyan 3 form, and Vegeta, in Super Saiyan 2, struck Kid Buu at the same instant that Aria appeared above him and punched him into the ground, and as he recovered all three returned to Twilight's side, looking to her for guidance. Twilight let out a light chuckle, as Saiyans would be Saiyans and Aria wanted her revenge for her death, before realizing that this was a good thing, considering the spells she wanted to use against Kid Buu, where she thought about her plans and, in the span of a few seconds, changed them accordingly. In that instant she extended her illusions to the Saiyans, to really confuse Kid Buu, though this time it was just a means to an end, for Twilight needed the creature distracted while she set up the first of her spells, so while this did ruin part of her and Aria's plans it also benefited them in the long run, as long as their foe didn't catch on. Of course Kid Buu would focus on the Saiyans, since they didn't fight like her or Aria, but that was okay since she could come in and attack him in return, where the moment Twilight was done with her set up she sent them out to do battle with their foe, allowing her to land on a boulder as she prepared herself. The spell in question was much like her Black Coffin attack, focusing on the gravitational power of darkness and magnifying it to an absurd level of power, so it needed a few moments of charging for her to make sure it was ready, hence her willingness to let the pair of Saiyans join the fight. Of course she had no idea where Vegeta had come from and had to guess that the old lady who took Goku back when his time was up had brought the other Saiyan here, given that a halo rested above his head, but she knew they could figure that out later and focused on charging her attack so it would be ready when the time was right. She found that, while his power was far greater than it had been at the start of the fight, Kid Buu was surprised by there being four of her now, where he glanced at all of them and seemed to debate who he should go after first, because while logic would dictate the one not fighting was planning something he didn't care to follow it. As such Goku and Vegeta were able to join Aria in lashing out at Kid Buu, striking him while dodging the attacks they had see so far, something that was due to her enhancing their abilities so they would be of use to her, so she hoped the pair appreciated what she was doing right now, since it might be the only time she'd do it. For a moment it seemed like Kid Buu understood who was who, or at least was able to see through the illusion she had cast, but that hardly helped as the trio wailed on him, doing everything in their power to make sure he was unaware of what Twilight was doing right now. They weren't the only ones fighting him right now, as Twilight found that Gohan, now dressed in a gi similar to his father's while his hair was spiked despite him not using his Super Saiyans forms, joined the battle as well, clashing with Kid Buu as he made sure his focus was on them and not on her. Twilight was curious as to what sort of form he had unlocked, especially since it looked like his potential had been brought out by whatever the Old Kai had done, though for now she was pleased with the results as Gohan knocked Kid Buu away from the others, allowing Goku and Vegeta to land side by side for a moment. What surprised her was the fact that both of them seemed to have some idea as to what to do to distract Kid Buu and that involved calling forth all of their power for a short period of time, with the intention of firing off large blasts of energy to keep their foe busy. Vegeta seemed to be in the middle of charging his Final Flash, due to the lightning arcing off of where he was standing, while Goku seemed to be preparing a full power Kamehameha to fire alongside it, where she was sure they would merge into a single attack, likely the 'Final Kamehameha'. Once he noticed that they were ready Gohan kicked Kid Buu up into the air and let them fire their attack, generating a blue beam with a swirl of yellow mixed into it, two attacks merged into a single entity, which rushed through the air with enough force that made Twilight wonder if she might miss her chance at using her attack, only for Kid Buu to punch it in the side and send it towards her. Of course she wasn't too worried about the attack as she shifted her left hand and devoured it, though once it was gone she hurled a dark ball of energy at Kid Buu with her right hand, where it rushed by him and ascended into the sky, where it stopped when it reached the clouds and expanded into a massive sphere of darkness. "Twilight... what is that?" Gohan asked, because the sphere was larger than the Earth's own moon and seemed to fill the sky with an unnatural darkness, almost as if it were a sun in some manner, though at he thought about that he was sure that gravity had been altered in some way, as while they were being forced towards the ground it looked like Kid Buu was being pulled towards the object. "Abyssal Moon, a skill that pushes the gravitational power of darkness to the highest point... in this case, those far away from it are pushed down into the ground, while those close are pulled in." Twilight replied, which was the entire point of this attack, as it was a gravity trap that could be altered however she wanted, though in that instant she readied her power once more as she raised her left hand again, where Gohan watched as she created a ball of fire that was a miniature sun in no time at all, "Sol Invictus." Gohan and the others watched as Twilight released the sphere and it expanded before their eyes, matching the size of the dark moon in no time at all, though he was grateful that she had launched it when she had, as he was sure that the heat would have ruined them in a matter of seconds. Kid Buu, on the other hand, was trapped behind a rock and a hard place as he tried to resist the pull of the Abyssal Moon with all of his might, though that might was divided in half as he realized that the second attack was coming at his backside, forcing him to turn towards it. The sun slammed into his hands, as he raised them to stop it from crushing him into the moon, though Twilight knew it was futile, as she focused her energy once more and kept the sun moving, eventually pushing her foe right into the surface of the Abyssal Moon. Such a thing meant that it was the end for Kid Buu, as there was no escaping the power of her moon attack, not with the sun bearing down on him, and as she stood there Aria joined her, where they thrust their hands towards the sky and pushed the sun right into the moon. The resulting explosion ignited the sky for a moment, causing everyone else to cover their eyes as Twilight watched as Kid Buu was fully incinerated by her attacks, his Ki disappearing entirely, and as she breathed a sigh of relief that the creature was gone she noticed that his Dark Dragon Ball had vanished, something she would worry about in the future, after they dealt with the cleanup and Innocent Buu anyway. > Buu: Cleanup and Aftermath > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Twilight stood still for a short period of time, just to be absolutely sure that her senses were telling the truth, before she let out a sigh of relief as she reverted back to her base form, as Kid Buu was truly gone and that meant everyone could rest for a time, before worrying about what the future held for them. "I... I can't believe it. You killed Kid Buu!" Shin stated, as he and the others, those being Kibito and the older Kai, had been watching the battle take place and he couldn't believe that there were so many mortals whose power had eclipsed his own, since he stood no chance against such a creature. "Indeed, and now the universe will never have to fear his return, especially since Buu has no desire to follow in the path of destruction Kid Buu caused." Twilight said, gesturing to the fat Buu for a moment, because with Kid Buu's death she knew there was no reason to talk about them as if they were two different creatures, before she dismissed her remaining illusions and glanced at Goku, who seemed sad or disappointed, "Please don't tell me that you were hoping that we could leave the fact of the world to Trunks and Goten? As soon as they learned fusion, and mastered it, they started to goof around and thought that they were the best fighter on the planet, especially since they challenged me first... suffice to say that they weren't even remotely ready for such a responsibility." "Well, to be honest, I only offered the idea since I wasn't sure what you were going to do... I didn't know if you were going to just observe or if you were going to fight." Goku replied, where he huffed for a moment as he returned to his base form, as his newest transformation really took it out of him, despite the power it commanded, where he hoped that with further training he'd be able to master it like the previous two forms, "However, that wasn't what I was thinking about... I made a wish to King Emma that Kid Buu be reborn one day, as a good guy, so we could fight him again and help him figure out how to wield his power. Is it wrong to hope for such a thing?" "Not my place to pass judgement... but it fits your character." Twilight answered, because Goku had this mindset where he spared and rehabilitated his enemies, in a way based on what she knew, bringing out the good in them and allowing all of them to grow from each experience they shared, which only made her wonder if the judge of the Other World would even acknowledge such a wish, "That reminds me: now that we're done with Kid Buu, and his evil will no longer threaten the rest of reality, we need to head back to Earth, gather the Dragon Balls, and fix the damage that's been done since Babidi arrived on the planet." "NO! You can't use the Dragon Balls! It's against the natural order of the universe!" the elderly Kaioshin stated, almost as if he had a problem with the mere existence of the wish granting orbs, especially since he marched over to where they were standing and stared at her group for a moment, as if his irritated expression would convince them to stop what he was displeased with. "You do realize that if we had done nothing Super Buu would have killed everyone on Earth, and the Kid Buu would have destroyed the planet, right?" Aria inquired, though as she did so Twilight noticed that she was gesturing to her earrings for a moment, meaning there must have been some plan in motion, by Shin or the Old Kai, as Twilight was going to call him, that she had interrupted by bringing their foe here, "I know you were thinking of allowing Goku and Vegeta to fuse using the Potara, who would have found a way to get inside our foe to free anyone who might have been absorbed after he fought Gotenks, resulting in Kid Buu's awakening. Sure, they would have succeeded and our true foe would have gone on to destroy the planet, meaning we would have needed to use the Namekian Dragon Balls to bring the Earth back... I'm just glad we could skip all of that and bring an end to this nightmare. With all the people who have died recently we should fix it and bring them back." "She's right. You're supposed to nurture life and report the evils to your Hakaishin, and yet it seems like you and Shin are in need of some lessons." Twilight remarked, where she noted that the Old Kai froze for a moment as she mentioned the God of Destruction, without naming him or anything, meaning he feared the individual in question and that caused her to realize that must have been who sealed him away all those years ago, "However, before that, we need to awaken Shenron and make our wishes... which presents a problem, because you, Goku, were already brought back once in the past, so he won't bring you back... I guess we could go to New Namek and ask Porunga to bring you back." It was in that moment that the Old Kai said something interesting, that he was capable of exchanging his life to bring back someone, effectively taking their place in the Other World in a sense, where Twilight figured out that he was thinking of gaming the system, in a manner of speaking. Because of the wording of the wish to bring everyone back the Old Kai was convinced that he would be included in the revival wish, despite the fact that he had no desire to use the Dragon Balls in the first place, though Twilight said nothing about it, mostly because the more Kaioshin their universe had the better off they would be. It did, however, show her that the Old Kai was selfish and wasn't a good role model for Shin, despite the fact that he was apparently from fifteen generations ago, which, depending on how long the other Kaioshin had lived for, meant his God of Destruction could be someone different than the one she knew about. There was also the way that he was staring at her chest that annoyed her greatly, because now he was more like Roshi in her eyes, which made her make a note to keep an eye out for his energy, just in case he decided to peak at her and Aria in the future. With that in mind the Old Kai sacrificed his life so Goku could be brought back, though once that was done they returned to the Lookout, where Twilight found that all of the kids were happy that they were back, with Trunks and Goten annoyed over losing the chance to fight their destined foe. Twilight was able to determine that the two were strong, but Eschalot was still stronger than them, while her own children had improved greatly, meaning there was some hope that both Goten and Trunks had learned from training inside the Hyperbolic Time Chamber. Once she was sure that Piccolo and the kids were fine, not that she expected them to be harmed after her stunt, Twilight and Aria locked onto her father's ship, which was where everyone else was hiding out, far from the planet, and teleported over there without wasting time. Such a thing allowed her to tell everyone that the coast was clear, they were no longer in danger and that it was okay to return to the Earth, where Bulma and the others stood at the ready as the pair returned them to the planet, along with her father since he wanted to hear the story. Of course everyone was surprised to see that Buu was still alive, save for Mr. Satan and Bee, as those two were overjoyed to have their cherished friend back, who also shared their feelings since he adored the pair, though all of this freaked Shin out since he wasn't used to the friendly Buu that was in front of him. Chi-Chi was overjoyed that Goku and Gohan were back, as she had been worried that she would never see them again, while Bulma smiled and hugged Vegeta when she saw him standing behind everyone, but before they got the Dragon Balls Twilight made sure the Saiyan Prince apologized to everyone for 'accidentally' aiding in Babidi's mission to free Buu. Frieza, Cooler, and King Cold stood off to the side as Twilight informed everyone as to what had happened, about how she found a way to separate Buu from his evil, even if it caused the first Buu, the primal Buu, to be reborn, who she had crushed with her power. Such a thing also interested the rest of her allies, as in Demigra and his followers, though even her mother, Dabura, and Putine were surprised, given that most of them knew the tales of Majin Buu and his power, no doubt elevating her in their minds. Once she was done telling everyone what had happened Dende and Mr. Popo brought out the Dragon Balls and called upon Shenron without delay, where Shin's group looked up at the Eternal Dragon as the sky darkened around them, as this was the first time they were seeing something like this, causing Twilight to chuckle as Dende asked what their wishes were. "Our first wish is simple: we want to bring back everyone whose died since the day Babidi arrived on Earth, with the evil ones being excluded." Twilight explained, which would bring back everyone who died by the little being showing off Buu's power to the rest of the world, to freak everyone out so they would give him the information he sought, where Dende nodded to show that he understood what they wanted, "Since that's a wish that will revive hundreds of people, and thus counts as two wishes as per your upgrades, that leaves us with one more wish. Our second wish is that everyone, save for all of us, to forget about Buu, his short rampage, and what Babidi showed the world, to let him have a fresh start so he can help the people of this planet in his own unique way." Dende nodded once more before speaking to Shenron about the two wishes, where the Eternal Dragon paused for just a moment before reviving everyone according to the first wish, something Shin and Aria were able to confirm with ease, and Aria confirmed that the evil souls, especially the men who triggered the arrival of Super Buu, were still dead. With the first wish done Shenron focused on the second one for a time and, after a few moments of silence, confirmed that it was done, something that was followed by him returning to the Dragon Balls and them scattering to the corners of the world once more, to be found when they were needed once more. Twilight was able to confirm that Vegeta, despite his foolish attempt to return to the uncaring and evil Saiyan he used to be before arriving on Earth, was deemed good enough to be included in the revival wish, meaning he and Goku were now among the living once more. She supposed that him being among the living again was a good thing, since there was no telling how much stronger he'd become now that he knew of her true strength, not to mention after discovering the existence of Super Saiyan 3. Of course she wasn't too surprised to find that Vegeta turned on Goku once the Eternal Dragon was gone, because he was annoyed by the fact that the new transformation had been withheld from him during their fight, though while he did that she turned to face the Old Kai and the rest of his small group. "So, Gohan's new form. Am I correct in assuming you were the one who helped him out?" Twilight asked, because she was interested in what might be done with the power that Gohan had been granted, which appeared to be awakening one's own latent powers to make them stronger than they were previously, especially given the plans she had for the future. "Yes. I performed the ritual as thanks for freeing me from the prison I was trapped in." the Old Kai replied, causing her to raise an eyebrow for a moment as she recalled the scene she had seen upon her arrival on Shin's planet, the one where he held his hands out towards Gohan while both were sitting on the ground. "Would you consider using it on me?" Twilight inquired, as it seemed like the key for her to set her plan into motion, the one she had told no one about since she didn't want to spoil the surprise when it was time, though in the next moment she found that the Old Kai crossed his arms for some odd reason, "What? You do realized that I stopped Kid Buu... all I'm asking is that you use the ritual on me and awaken my potential. It's hardly the worst thing I could ask for." The Old Kai told her that he'd think about it, meaning there was a fair chance that he'd forget just to spite her, where Shin said that he'd talk to him when they got back to their planet, as he knew they owed her for defeating and killing Kid Buu, and Aria even asked if she could get the same, since it would help them defend their universe, though such a thing lead to Twilight thinking of something else to do. "Before we head down to the planet's surface, and get back to our lives, I would like to see the fruits of your training in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber." Twilight stated, where she found that the kids turned to face her for a moment, which just so happened to be when she floated into the air in front of the Lookout's platform, though when she got a fair distance away she turned and faced everyone for a moment, "I don't want you to think of this as an actual fight, as it's more like training, but I want to see your power and see how much you learned before I took over the fight against our foe." "Lady Twilight, if I may?" Demigra said, causing everyone to turn towards him for a moment, as the Demons who followed Twilight were usually silent, save for Towa since she was more known to everyone else, though she was interested in what he had to say, "If this is just about seeing what they've learned, wouldn't you prefer to stay on the sidelines and watch while someone else acts as their intended target?" She thought about it for a moment, because it was an interesting thing to consider, and guessed that it was fine for him to take her place, since she figured he wanted to show her what he was capable of after learning of her victory over Kid Buu, to which they switched places without wasting time. Demigra, to make things more interesting, left his staff behind as he beckoned for the kids to line up and test themselves against his power, where, as Twilight expected, Goten and Trunks were the first ones to step forward, no doubt the most eager to prove themselves. The pair pushed themselves straight to their Super Saiyan 2 forms, showing that training against Eschalot and the others had, as Twilight expected, pushed them to new levels of power, before rushing at Demigra, who grinned as he raised his arms for a moment as he started to parry the incoming punches and kicks that were coming his way. Twilight observed the pair as they tried to bypass Demigra's defenses, an impossible task given the fact that he was stronger than them, though their new skills were more refined and more focused than when she struck Gotenks down, showing that one of the other kids had convinced them to be serious about their intense training. Clashing with Demigra informed the pair that they needed more power and caused them to back off, where they quickly powered down and performed the Fusion Dance, where Gotenks rushed out to fight him, though while this was a vast improvement it didn't allow him to hit the Demon's chest. Such a thing did cause him to go through the transformations he knew, those being Super Saiyan, then the one Gohan had unlocked during his training years ago, and then came the shocker that even surprised Goku and Vegeta, Super Saiyan 3. The power generated by this form meant that he was only able to use it for a short period of time, which had been designed to be their trump card against Super Buu, and for a time he was able to actually push Demigra backwards, not by much as Twilight observed the clash. It did, however, inform her that everyone must have taken their training seriously and that all of them should have more power than before, and the first test came to an end as the Demon made the fusion split apart with a well placed blow, which had to be the time limit being reached due to the power drain. Following that Mira, Calas, and Houko rushed at the Demon, showing everyone that they were faster, their swings were far faster than before, and from what Twilight could feel their base power was far greater than before, where after a couple of moments each one transformed into their own unique transformations. Mr. Satan and Videl were surprised by Calas' own unique form, since he looked a lot like Cell, causing Twilight to keep her chuckle to herself since that would spoil things for the pair, though he wasn't the only one taken aback by what they were seeing. Buu was surprised by Houko's form, which was fair considering the fact that it was drawn from a DNA sample that Twilight had gained from her future self, though he commented on something interesting, he thought he was the last of his 'kind', causing him to ask Twilight if it was possible for there to be more like him out there. As the kids pushed Demigra around for a time, who might be doing so to see how well they had improved, Twilight wondered if it was possible to use Buu's DNA and her unique food to produce more of his kind, at least to a degree that they didn't have to worry about more rampages, something she would consider, along with the addition of Namekians and even her father's kind as well. After the kids had their turn Eschalot stepped up and demonstrated her power for all of them, transforming into her own Super Saiyan form before going a step further, where her scales became sharper looking and her spine gained a series of short spikes going from her head to her tail. Her Super Saiyan 2 form was interesting, a mix of Saiyan and dragon, but that was only the beginning as she called forth more of her power and seemed to transform once more, her scales becoming much sharper than before, like she was closer to a beast, while the spikes had grown longer, mimicking the form of Goku's hair when he used the Super Saiyan 3 form. It was in that moment that Vegeta realized that he was one of the few Saiyans who didn't have access to this level of power, in addition to Gohan and the two who learned the Fusion Dance, since the fusion really didn't count, and Twilight knew he'd come to her seeking more training. Of course, like everyone else, this form only lasted for a few moments, though it told Twilight everything she needed to know, the Saiyans required far more training than before if they were all to gain the new transformation Goku had obtained. With all of that done she bid everyone farewell for the time being as she teleported Mr. Satan's group down to the planet's surface, back in their home city anyway, and found that no one seemed to mind Buu's form, which meant the wish had worked out quite well, causing Twilight to chuckle as she braced herself for what the future held for them. > Interlude: Potential Unleashed > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Twilight spent the day following the battle with Kid Buu relaxing, or, to be more exact, focusing on her company, the work that came from Buu wanting to be an actual citizen despite being different from the other races of the planet, and her own work forming the newest kind of Animorph. What amused her was the fact that those who had seen Buu already weren't afraid of him, like what she and the others had seen when Babidi introduced him to the world, rather they seemed eager to get to make friends with him, partly due to being friends with her. Many assumed that he was one of hers, as in the first in a long line of new testers who were enjoying one of her products, as if she had moved on to new species and not just all the animals that people had come to know from her company's various TF Foods, and some had asked when the newest item would drop in stores. She, of course, had told them the truth, that he was a visitor from another world, who came in peace and wanted to live on the Earth for the rest of his days, not to mention that he had bonded with Mr. Satan and Bee the dog, along with the fact that she did, in fact, have a new series of items coming out in the near future. Such a thing had caused her to chuckle, because with her father's permission she had three new items on her list, those being Animorph G, M, and N, or Glaerian, Majin, and Namekian, and she even presented pictures of the species along with the new items, so people knew what to expect. Such a thing involved using the Room of Time to travel into the past to see certain things and get the samples she needed of the three species, especially since there were no female Namekians in this age, something she could get if she traveled far into the past. At one point in the far distant past, before even her father's family formed the start of their empire, the Namekians had lived on one planet, where both genders were present, but that came to an end when the world was destroyed by a massive asteroid, and many of the escape vessels were incinerated in the explosion. Those that survived ended up developing far away from the rest of their kind, hence why the ones who landed on Namek, and moved to New Namek, went the route of having no true genders at all, they evolved in response to their environment and needs, while the same couldn't be said for the others who survived, who either walked a similar path, were wiped out, or stayed true to their origins. As she thought about that, however, Twilight briefly wondered if she should tell Piccolo and Dende, though she figured it was something she could worry about in the future, considering that everyone was getting used to the idea that Buu was going to be living on the planet for the foreseeable future. Creating one for Buu's kind, which everyone agreed to just call 'Majin', involved asking Aeos for help, as she knew an area where she could get the DNA of a female member of Buu's race, since Houko's DNA had all of the other races melded into hers, which allowed Twilight to get what she wanted. Such a thing allowed her to see that there was no true limit to how a Majin could look, as she found fat males, slim males, females with all sorts of different hairstyles, females with bodies like their male counterparts, and even all sorts of body colors, based on her readings. The Majin race was basically one that could be heavily customized to be however someone wished, that much she could tell, so she designed their Animorph with the focus that one could visualize what they wanted when partaking it and the image would be ingrained in their own DNA, so the next time they used the food item it could continue with ease. There was the added bonus that there were all sorts of people who wanted to experience what it was like to be like Buu, especially when they discovered his powers to quickly heal wounds and even cure things that were incurable, such as blindness since Mr. Satan found the boy Buu had helped, who, while having his memory erased, had an impression of him. Such a thing told Twilight that those Buu had aided in some manner, like the kid, still remembered him in some manner, despite the wish that was made on the Eternal Dragon, as over the course of the day more and more called in about Buu and how he helped them, causing people to cheer for him and accept him. In addition to that she had to track down planet Glaeris, which was the true home planet of her father's kind, despite the fact that he and his family lived on another world, where she discovered that there were female members of their race, though they were more secretive than the males. The reason behind her work to find the other genders of all three races was due to the people of Earth, they didn't like the idea of being forced into a specific gender while taking her products, so to make sure each item sold she had to find those that she was missing. Sure, it took most of the day to get everything she needed to meet the criteria the people had set for her, but, in the end, Twilight had everything that was needed to allow the people of Earth to take on brand new forms, and she knew that this was the start of glorious things. The higher ups of this world knew that space had other lifeforms, thanks to her father's family and Buu, so it was only a matter of time until either King Furry talked with her or those under him bypassed him and came to her on their own, but she expected that, in time, the Earth would become part of her father's empire. The day following her work day was when she, Aria, Gohan, and her family, all five of them since Frieza and Dabura decided to come along, teleported to Shin's world and found that the trio really didn't seem to be doing anything, rather it looked like they were resting after the madness of Buu's release and Kid Buu's demise. "Glad to see our Kaioshin are hard at work." Twilight sarcastically commented, though this was why she liked Aria more than Shin, due to the fact that she had actually gone out into their universe to try and stop the threats from wrecking everything, despite her death at Kid Buu's hands all those years ago, to which she sighed as she pulled out a container with capsules she had taken a fair bit of time to label, "Shin, starting today you have a lot of required reading to do... of course there are houses on this planet, a massive oversight in my opinion, I have created a few capsules for you, Kibito, and Old Kai, three of which have been designed to be your own homes, one is a library for you to get your information from, and a few others are for the purposes of training." Shin raised an eyebrow as he, Kibito, and Old Kai walked over to where the group was standing, where Twilight tossed one of the capsules off to the side and they watched as a white domed structure appeared out of thin air, one that was taller than Kibito and seemed to have a few domes attached that had to be extensions. He quickly found that the house, for that was what Twilight claimed it was, had a living area, a kitchen, a bedroom, a study, and a few other essentials, though he found that the study had a number of books at the ready, his first lessons when he considered what she had said. Twilight was also telling the truth when she said that she had homes for all three of them, since she must have studied the planet and found nothing that resembled a house, though each one was custom made for each of them in mind and came complete with their own study, since she wanted them to know what she knew. The library structure was two stories tall and had all sorts of tomes for them to read, where Shin discovered that some were on other planets, the races that called those worlds home, and the history of things that she thought he and the others might need to know to do their jobs, no doubt picked with Aria's help. He had to admit that she was putting in a lot of effort to make sure he, Kibito, and his ancestor were up to date on what they needed to know, and it only made him realize that she wanted to make sure they knew what they were talking about, in addition to being able to do their job, plus she even showed them how to take the structures down, return them to their capsule form, in case they wanted to move them. "I take it you and Aria are here for the ritual?" Old Kai asked, because he had spent all of yesterday talking with Shin and Kibito about the pair undergoing what he did for Gohan not all that long ago, with the pair convincing him that it would be for the greater good of their universe, because while Twilight was Frieza and Towa's daughter, a dark combination based on what he knew, her actions caused good things for the universe. "That's right. Twilight will go first, then I'll go once she's done." Aria replied, though to be honest she was surprised that he had even agreed to this without fighting or arguing with everyone, meaning he likely understood that she was important to the safety of the universe, or at least didn't want to waste time arguing with his successor. "Very well. Come on, let's get this over with." Old Kai said, were he crossed his hands behind his back as he started to walk over to another part of the area that he and Shin happened to be calling home, a flat area that held enough room for him to perform the ritual while everyone else watched or relaxed. Twilight followed him over to the area in question and moved into the area that he beckoned to, though once that was done Old Kai took a few steps back, putting some space between him and her, before he started to do this funky dance as he moved around in a circle around her. She raised her eyebrow for a moment as Gohan informed her that this was part of the ritual, in fact he had been surprised by the dance as well, causing her to let out a sigh as she took a seat, closed her eyes, and started to meditate on her own, figuring that it would help Old Kai out. While she did that everyone else simply gathered around the area, observing what sort of power she might awaken when everything was said and done, though at the same time Aria ensured that Gohan and Shin got to work on their own studies, since Twilight wanted to be that they spent their time wisely. Frieza and his family, on the other hand, took a seat and simply watched the ritual, since there was next to nothing to do but wait and see how things turned out, though Towa and Dabura talked about Twilight, because the latter was still getting used to the idea of having such a powerful niece. Not much happened for a time, save for Old Kai doing his dance and what seemed to be chanting, which allowed Frieza to talk with his family about business for a time, though after about thirty-five minutes Old Kai stopped and that drew most of their attention as Gohan realized that something was wrong. "What's wrong?" Gohan asked, because it was odd for the figure to do such a thing, since he had insisted that the entire five hours were important to getting the ritual done, especially the twenty-four hours that would come after it, making him wonder if this had failed simply because of Twilight herself in some manner. "Nothing... I can actually move into the second phase already." Old Kai replied, which was a surprise when he took a few seconds to think about what was going on, though at the same time he wasn't about to complain, not since Twilight was silent and seemed focused on her own meditation, causing him to take a seat across from her as he raised his hands, just as he had done for Gohan earlier, "We might be done sooner, rather than later." Gohan nodded and backed away, though as he rejoined the others Towa quickly realized what was going on and shared it with those that were around her right now, Twilight had her own magic and it was possible that Old Kai's ritual, which was magical in it's own right, was interacting with her power. If that was the case, and she was sure of what they were seeing, it explained why she was able to get around the five hours of the ritual's first phase, meaning if her theory was correct they wouldn't have to wait too long for Twilight to be done with drawing out her inner potential. Such a thing meant that King Cold, Frieza, and Cooler could begin their training with her that much sooner, since that was why they were here, all three of them wanted to get things started, especially Frieza, because after hearing of Kid Buu's defeat he had been convinced it was time to start training and see what his own inner power was like. Towa was proud of him, he had finally gotten over all of his objections to training, something their daughter did all the time and had grown incredibly strong over the years, so after hearing about her success it made sense that he'd want to stand with her, which his father and brother wanted to do as well to make it a family activity. Sure enough they were an hour into the second phase, roughly two hours into the entire ritual, when Old Kai lowered his hands and stood up, where he announced that the deed was done and found that Twilight pulled herself out of her deep meditation without wasting time, to which she glanced at herself for a time. "Okay, to be absolutely sure this worked, you need to power up like your transforming." Old Kai said, because that was what they had done when Gohan was done with his power boost and it had been substantial, to the point where he had been sure that Super Buu would have fallen to the hybrid's power. Twilight stared at them for a few seconds before doing so, where Frieza and the others watched as she took on an older form that she never used anymore, her Rage Form, though before Old Kai could frown at her they found that it's power was far greater than what they expected, especially with the white mixed into her aura. Aria was the first to realize what she had done, instead of allowing her potential to be unlocked in a way that granted her a brand new form, one that might cancel out or invalidate her demonic forms, Twilight had, in fact, used her meditation to meld the Potential Unleashed form into all of her existing transformations. If that was the case it stood to reason that both her true transformations, as in her Dark Form and her Demon Goddess form, were going to be far stronger than what they had seen previously, which meant her strength was in a whole new realm and that there were only a few individuals who stood a chance of bringing her down. It also explained why she wanted some training partners, as she wanted to see how this power felt so she could get used to the feel, likely to help her out in the future, so facing off against her family meant that they could all grow as a whole, instead of only one getting all the power. As Aria took her place in front of Old Kai, so he could get started on her, Twilight floated off towards another area that was within range of where the Kaioshin were stationed while being a fair distance away so they didn't endanger them, though as they landed Twilight reverted back to her base form and focused on her family. Frieza found that the method of training right now was simply attacking her, as she wanted to see if her speed had gotten any faster, though he and his brother found that her ability to dodge had grown thanks to the ritual, as she seemed to weave in and out of their blows without being touched. It made sense to Frieza, as he had no real training so his power had remained the same, while his father and Cooler had done some every now and then over the years, but even with all of that in mind they were unable to touch Twilight, showing her skills as a veteran of combat. After some time she made a chance to how she approached the fight, as at this point it was her against her father, uncle, grandfather, mother, and her uncle, where Twilight moved around and delivered light punches to an area that someone had failed in, to correct their postures or how they were attacking. The training, as they discovered, was more for them and not for her, even though all of this did give her an idea of just how much power she actually had thanks to the ritual, but for the time being she was far more focused on correcting their movements, punching and kicking when openings were revealed, and simply letting time pass as Aria had her own potential unleashed. After probably an hour of doing that, however, Twilight stopped all of a sudden and Dabura socked her in the side of the face, though she wasn't annoyed, it was her fault for faltering, rather she was focused on three temporal cracks that had formed near their position, much to their surprise. This was different from what Twilight or the Supreme Kais of Time had used in the past, even the method that the Demon sorcerers used wasn't like this, as it seemed like the cracks had been formed quickly, due to an emergency, before they burst open and an individual appeared from each one. The one right in front of her, from where Twilight landed, deposited a purple skinned hairless cat creature, anthropomorphic like her and those who used her TF Foods, who was skinny, though he seemed to be around eighteen and wore some sort of red attire that looked like it might be that of a god. A white furred anthropomorphic rabbit girl, with blond hair, came out of the rift on the left, though she had a blue version of the cat's attire, while Twilight found a reddish skinned anthropomorphic lion, male due to the mane that actually formed spiked hair like a Saiyan's, who emerged from the right rift, though he had a pair of horns on his forehead, lined up perfectly with his eyes. The lion individual was wearing a purple version of the odd godly attire, which seemed to be a collar and baggy pants with golden cuffs, not to mention brown pointed shoes, all while the girl had a binding around her chest, below the collar, and as Twilight studied them the cracks slammed shut. "Ugh... where are we?" the rabbit girl asked, showing that they were just fine from their journey, in fact they were getting up as she said that, even though all three of them glanced around to check out the area that they had landed in, all while the Kaioshin were glancing their way to keep an eye on things. "The Sacred World of the Kais. Who are you three?" Twilight answered, because right now she didn't feel anything from all three of them, meaning they had to be gods in some manner, and she wanted to know more about them before she did anything drastic, especially since they could be from one of the other timelines. "I am Caser, and these are Shandy and Saria." the lion replied, gesturing to the cat when saying the former and the rabbit for the latter, even though all three of them were surprised to see her and her family standing before them, but before he or his companions could say anything else a larger crack appeared nearby, one that freaked them all out, "Oh gods no... She's coming!" In that instant the other craft burst into another rift, opening the way between this timeline and another, though at first it didn't seem all too bad, as the figure that landed looked exactly like Twilight in her Demon Goddess form, but in the next moment she paused as the newcomer revealed herself. Her body wasn't like what Twilight's was, rather it was pink, just like Buu's was, while her clothing, for the most part, had remained intact, save for the Majin emblem that rested right on her belt, confirming the suspicions that were racing through her mind. In the next second she found that there was some difference between her and the beast, as her tail, while converted into the mass that made up Buu's body, was more like a dragon's, her wings were the same, and it looked like her legs and hooves had followed the same pattern. As the rift she had entered through closed the creature stood up and opened her eyes, revealing that, while they looked like Twilight's, the left eye was red, like Kid Buu's, while her right was violet, just like Twilight's, and her Ki was monstrous. As the twisted creature smiled, freaking out the newcomers in the process, Twilight had a feeling that another fight was going to break out on this world and that this one would be far harder than anything she had encountered in the past, all while getting ready for what was coming up next. > Interlude: Threat From Another Timeline > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Twilight stood there for a moment as she stared at the other version of her, who seemed to be taking in the sights as the rift she had emerged from disappeared from reality, all while the three youngsters stood at the ready, focused on the creature that must have followed them to this timeline. "Shandy, Saria, Caser... can any of you explain what is going on right now?" Twilight asked, because while she had an idea of what was going on, especially given her knowledge of what Kid and Super Buu were capable of, she wanted to speak with the newcomers before a fight got started. "This... creature... invaded each of our timelines, destroyed what little we had left, and forced each of us to retreat until we reached this point." Caser stated, where he growled for a moment as he stared at the creature, who didn't seem to care about him or the others at this point in time, rather she seemed content to just wait for Twilight to make the first move so they could get started, "The Destroyer of my timeline, well... let's just say he sucked at his job and focused too much on his calculations, to the point that the entire universe was engulfed in a massive war for the planets that held the remaining resources. My clan was decimated and, during the confusion, our Destroyer was assassinated, causing his teacher to track down a suitable replacement and picked me for the job... but before I could do anything more than learn a few lessons this creature burst in, slaughtered everything I was trying to protect, and caused my teacher to send me to another timeline to escape her." "Which is how he, and later her, ended up in my timeline." Saria continued, showing Twilight that the three youngsters had been united by the actions of their teachers, the so called Angels if the libraries of Alexandria were right, either to give them a chance to defeat this creature or to escape with their lives, "My Destroyer, from what I learned, was a prick that was in hot water with most of his fellows, as he was constantly scurrying in and out of their universes so he could blow up planets, almost if all of this was just a game to him and that he felt that he would face no consequences for his actions. When one of the others dared to challenge him, to get him to stop bothering other universes, the fight that occurred was one that ended up destroying multiple star systems, wiping out who knows how many people and races in the process, and, somehow, both of them ended up dead, like they were assassinated or died at each others' hands. I was taken on as a replacement as well, but, just like Caser, I was only able to get through a few lessons before he and this creature came out of a rift, where we were unable to actually do anything as the creature tore my timeline apart." "As for me, well, my timeline is entirely different from yours, Twilight, as you don't exist... rather it was just Frieza and his empire, only Frieza disappeared and chaos ensued." Shandy said, which interested Twilight, that he happened to be from another version of her universe, one that she apparently didn't exist in, though it also made her wonder where he was in this timeline, or if he even existed in the first place since someone dead in one timeline could be alive in another, "From what I understand my Frieza didn't blow away the planets or people that threatened him, rather he broke them and put them to work in his empire... at least until a lone sniper, possessing unbound power, took him down from afar. You would think that his family would take over and continue their work, but you would be wrong, as the sniper took Cooler and King Cold down as well, splitting the entire empire into all sorts of warring factions as the Saiyans and the other warmongering races reached for the vacant throne. My teacher and I don't know what happened to my Destroyer, it's like someone else died and he perished with them, but I'm also like them, I got a few lessons before they and Buulight showed up." "Makes sense that she would pick universes that were weakened from recent events, and that your teachers would figure it out before sending you here." Twilight remarked, though at the same time she focused on the creature, who seemed to snap to attention as she focused on her, meaning she had been patiently waiting for her, and not those she had been in the middle of hunting, to make some sort of move, "So, 'Buulight', what brings you to my timeline? Other than the fact that you're clearly hunting these three." "A Destroyer, a real one, is chasing us for the crime of killing and eating everyone in the Solar System... I am here for the power that you possess." the creature remarked, where Twilight noticed something odd as soon as the words left her mouth, because at first it sounded like her talking, which made sense given the creature's form, before switching to Super Buu's voice after a brief pause, meaning Buulight had a split personality, "You know, I ate everyone on Earth after my fight with the one called Gotenks: turned them into candy, drew out the Ki inside their delicious forms, and then devoured each of them whole. I absorbed the fused warrior, Piccolo, and then Gohan before moving onto you, the one whose power is unlike all of the others, who gave me a form and power I could only dream of... and now, after both 17 and 18 have been added to our body, we are the greatest warrior in our timeline, a fact that has remained true during our flight from those who seek to end us." "Got it, part of me is still inside you... even though you ate everyone dear to me in your twisted timeline." Twilight stated, where she assumed that someone, or something, had wiped out that timeline or had chased Buulight out of it, the latter being far more reasonable than the former, though at the same time she realized that the timelines that the three young warriors had come from were likely totally destroyed, given how much destruction had been caused, "Very well then, since I seem to be your true target, as I can see the way you're looking at me, I'll fight you... if I don't, well, you'll just flee into the rest of the universe, seeking people of power before coming at me while I'm looking for you. Young gods, if you want to join us, feel free to do so, but just watch where you aim... things are about to get hectic." Sure enough as Twilight stepped forward and shifted her stance, assuming her 'battle stance', she found that Buulight did the same thing, mimicking her perfectly, where they stood there for a few seconds before flashing through the space that was between them and appeared in the center of the area as they swung their fists. The collision of their attacks caused the air to shake, while the sky lit up as lightning struck nearby, though this first attack told Twilight all she needed to know about her foe and how powerful she was, which was that Buulight was incredibly powerful. It made sense when she took a few seconds to consider her foe's form, a combination of her own Demon Goddess form and 17's dragon form, though it was mixed with 18's unlimited energy generator and, surprisingly, the tremendous power that came from Kid Buu, fully unlocked without Super Buu losing himself. She realized that her alternate self, after being absorbed and integrated into the Majin's body, had figured out how to assert herself from the prison she was stuck in, creating a split personality in the process, while at the same time she had figured out how to tap into Super Buu's true power and aspects of those that the pair agreed to absorb. Even with her potential unleashed, and the power that it gave her, Twilight knew that this battle wasn't going to be an easy one and that her base form wouldn't be enough to actually stand before the creature in front of her, where she wondered if her transformations would be of any help with her current predicament. With that in mind Twilight wasted no time in taking on her Demon Goddess form, which only seemed to cause her foe to grin, like a predator finally cornering their chosen prey, where both of them stared at each other for a time, silently daring the other to make the first move, before resuming the battle. The two flashed through the air, throwing punches and kicks for the first few moments so Twilight could get a feel for what it was like to fight a mirror copy of herself, a warrior that knew her every move and action, not to mention had the same strategic mind, so both of them were coming up with new moves to make, the same ones as she thought about it. Such a thing meant that Buulight knew every move in her arsenal, knew how to counter them with ones that would overcome them, which confirmed that this was going to be a difficult fight, far more than she originally thought when she discovered that the creature existed. Even with that in mind Twilight knew that if she didn't hold the creature here, and devised a way to get rid of her, Buulight would likely grow bored of everything and go after everyone she cared about, to turn them into sweets so her Buu side could eat them while her Twilight side could take all of their Ki out of them. With that thought in mind she gathered her power and focused on the attack she wanted to perform, a faint white aura appearing around her right hand while a faint darkness did the same for her left, where she found that Buulight was doing the same thing, preparing the groundwork for whatever spell she had in mind. "Essence of Power: Light. Essence of Power: Darkness." Twilight and Buulight stated, both of them coming to a stop at an area that allowed them to stand on the same level as each other, while at the same time two spheres of energy appeared in front of them, the right possessing the power of light while the left holding the power of darkness, where she and the foul creature mixed their attacks into a deep bluish-purple sphere, "Eclipse Cannon!" The two attacks surged forward and clashed in the middle of the area that they had chosen to stop in, the sky darkening as black lightning flashed all around them, though Twilight found that the two attacks struggled against each other for a time. one trying to push the other back as they fought for dominance. It caused her to realize that two attacks of the same type, a mixture of two opposing elements, with equal power would do nothing but remain in the same area and struggle against each other, something that eventually caused the spheres to detonate on top of each other. The resulting explosion tore a chasm into the ground below them, not too deep since they were up in the air, though it was an impressive blast when she thought about it, but Twilight turned her focus back on Buulight, who seemed to be enjoying herself like Super Buu did, just enjoying the destruction that they had caused. For a moment she thought she saw an opening and readied her power once more, this time combining the two opposing elemental powers in the space in front of her before bringing them to her side, as if she was forming the Kamehameha, where she reasoned that this would be more direct than her other attack. Instead of tanking the beam like Buu would do, since he could just regenerate his injuries, or absorbing her attack like she knew Buulight could do thanks to her previous statements, her foe mimicked the attack and fired an identical beam not a few seconds later. That told Twilight far more than she needed to know, the Buu side of her foe didn't want to take in any additional part of her, as in he didn't want to absorb more versions of her or siphon her Ki, rather it seemed like he was trying to avoid taking in more of her energy. The Buu side was afraid that if he absorbed more of her, or ate her Ki like the other side of the creature wanted, it would start to tip the scales in the alternate Twilight's favor, giving her more control of the body, not to mention shutting down his side of things, and it seemed like he was worried that tanking her attacks, and regenerating the damage, would only aid the other Twilight. Normally this wouldn't do much for her, besides giving her an idea as to what her foe was planning, but she started to connect the dots in her mind, planning how to use this sort of weakness against the creature, and an idea formed in her mind on how to deal with Buulight. Of course all of this depended on whether or not Buulight had gained her immortality, which would make stalling her that much more difficult, but as the two beams collided with each other Twilight braced herself for her next idea, moving the moment the attacks detonated and covered the air with smoke. She wasn't the only one who made a move against their foe, as the three young gods burst into the air and rushed at the creature, Saria being the first to make contact as she lashed out with a rapid flurry of jabs, trying to use the smoke to her advantage as the first few made contact with Buulight's side. As Twilight moved with her own invisibility up, since her plan hinged on her foe not realizing that she was there, hence why she made sure to hide every trace of her energy as well, she had to admit that the rabbit girl was definitely a martial artist, despite their foe regaining herself with ease. Sure enough she wasn't alone, Shandy was above their foe as he swung down at her, hitting Buulight's head before she had a chance to react to his presence, and even Caser joined in on the fun as he kicked at her head as well, a fact that stalled the creature before she could react. Buulight knocked the three of them backwards, though that was only the beginning of their assault on the creature as each one summoned a purple aura as they accessed their true power, showing that they understood that keeping their true strength hidden wasn't good, where Twilight realized that they were now channeling the power of a god, a weak one at that, but it sure helped her out. The interesting thing about their auras was that Buulight either seemed frightened of them or what they were capable of, as she focused on using her own attacks to actually hurt them, flinging bolts of magic at her targets as if that would get rid of them, before Twilight appeared behind her and pushed some of her energy into their foe's body. "When did you... ah!" Buulight started to say, though that was when her heads went up to her head as she screamed, as if something was happening inside her body or mind, which told Twilight that her plan was successful, while Saria and the others were surprised by what was going on right now, "What... what did you do to me?!" "I noticed that, despite your desire to beat me into submission and absorb me, you refrained from absorbing any of my Ki attacks, like you were scared that doing so might tip the scales," Twilight replied, where she gestured to the others with her head for a moment and the young gods moved over to where she was currently floating, though she couldn't help but smirk as she stared at the struggling creature as her Buu side tried to push her Twilight side into submission, "and you just confirmed my suspicions. I'm not your main target, I'm the secondary, as you're hunting down the other versions of Buu, in the timelines that he's been released in, so you can absorb him to get more influence over my side of the body... while you enjoy the power I possess, and the knowledge I have, you don't like having a second personality messing with your 'groove', hence why you want me put to sleep." Buulight stared at her for a moment as the young gods stood near her, as Twilight knew she could utilize their powers to deal with the creature, or at least distract her for a while, and sweated for a moment as she came to terms with the fact that Twilight had figured her out in an instant, before she burst into the air and raised her hand into the air, summoning a massive sun above her. "Teranova!" Buulight shouted, where Twilight found that it looked like an advanced version of her own Sol Invictus attack, which made sense due to the fact that it was larger and seemed to have far more power than the attack she had used to help destroy Kid Buu, though not even a moment later it came down towards them. Twilight said nothing as she made a quick gesture and the young gods made their move, summoning their energies while focusing on the massive Ki attack, forming a barrier between Buulight and themselves that stalled the sun, though even as that happened she knew they only had a few moments to spare. With that in mind she brought her fingers together right in front of her, forming a triangle while gathering the power of light and darkness together once more, as she was going to use an attack that she was still working on, meaning it was unlikely that the creature knew of it. A few moment later, as the barrier was blown to pieces, Twilight pulled her hands apart and the Ki transformed into a lance made of the same energy that went into her Eclipse Cannon, making this an 'Eclipse Lance' she guessed, though she knew time was of the essence and focused on their foe. In the next instant she burst into the air and lashed out with the weapon, piercing Buulight's sun with the tip and found that she cut through it with ease, allowing her to draw in the power of the Ki attack as she drew out her full power, causing her aura to go from pure black to black and white mixed, meaning she must have mixed the power of her Demon Goddess form with the Power Unleashed form. Buulight was surprised as Twilight burst out of the 'Teranova', drawing in all of the energy that formed the attack, before finding that her foe had thrown something at her, as the lance zeroed in on her without delay, causing her to raise her arms to block it since it was faster than she expected. As it collided with her, and started to dig into her defenses while also pushing her back, the three young gods appeared around her, showing that they either knew about this attack or all of them didn't care for what it might do to them if they got caught by it. They struck her a few times, making use of the fact that she was unable to do anything, before Shandy got above them and lashed out with a powerful kick to the face, which had enough power to send her straight towards the ground, causing all three of them to gather their energy for an attack to join Twilight's. Three beam attacks, one colored red, another yellow, and the third purple, burst out of where they were positioned and collided with Buulight without delay, pushing her right down into the ground that was below her before the lance detonated on top of her. Twilight watched as the resulting detonation blasted their foe into oblivion, since it was point blank range, and while she was surprised that Buulight didn't just teleport out, since she could and blamed the shock on seeing the new attack, they found a large circular crater resting where their foe had landed, who was missing the lower half of her body and most of her left arm. "You... this power... why are you stronger than her?!" Buulight demanded, which interested Twilight, since she expected her other self to be roughly the same level of power that she was, making her wonder if the alternate her had abandoned her training and was weaker when Super Buu absorbed her, before several Ki blades pierced her body, "What the..?" "You were a tough person to track down, but we finally got you." a new voice said, where Twilight found someone who looked like an adult version of Shandy, wearing the blue attire that resembled Saria's clothing, standing behind Buulight, while standing near him was a tall figure with an odd looking robe, pale blue skin, and white hair, "Thank you, Twilight, but we'll take it from here." As Twilight opened her mouth to say something the figures completed their spell, sealing Buulight in a flash of light that, when the dust cleared, revealed that they had sealed her inside a sword, much like Old Kai, which the Angel collected not a second later, but they paused as she landed nearby. "I know who you two are: the God of Destruction and Angel from another timeline." Twilight stated, because the libraries of Alexandria, plus her father's own tales, had told her of the existence of a Destroyer God, Beerus to be exact, and this was him, while the libraries made mention of his Angel, Whis, "You do know your breaking one of your rules, right?" "Do not worry, we have special permission to chase Buulight through the timelines to catch her... we were only able to do so thanks to your assistance." Whis replied, where he stared down at his prize, a blade that looked nearly identical to the Z Sword, save for the pink coloration of the guard, meaning they had plans for the item, either locking her other self away in a place where she could do no harm or pulling her away from Super Buu, before he glanced behind her, "Also, those three are now without homes to return to, so they're your responsibility now." Twilight barely had time to say anything as the alternate gods took their prize and flashed up into the sky, leaving her and the now homeless young gods behind to explain things to the rest of Twilight's group, or at least part of it since she had a feeling that keeping Beerus' existence a secret was important, before she sighed and realized that there was a lot more work for her in the foreseeable future. > Interlude: Surprising Turn of Events > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Following Buulight being captured and sealed away by the gods of her own timeline, and their departure, Twilight turned her focus back to what they had been doing before her arrival, only this time they had company in the form of three young gods in training who were now without a master. Twilight assumed that the trio had been trained by Whis and the Angels of their universes, since each one was from a totally different universe, though by their own statements they had only gotten a few lessons before being interrupted by Buulight's arrival. As such that meant that, while they had fought well against their foe, each warrior would need additional training to master their martial arts, since she had no idea where they were in that part of their training, so she beckoned for Saria, Shandy, and Caser to join her in her training. Of course the trio needed some time to think about what they had just learned, as their homes were gone, totally destroyed, and that they were stuck in a timeline that was unlike anything they had seen before coming here, but they joined her without delay. Their training started within ten minutes of the alternate gods leaving this timeline, where Twilight shifted her stance and let them come at her, while at the same time pulling her family into the training as well so they could continue with what they had started before Buulight's arrival. Her father, of course, was still taken aback by the sudden arrival and departure of the God of Destruction that he had been warned about, something that his brother and father shared, but when it came to Shandy they were just fine, showing that they understood that he wasn't the same person as Beerus. Normally six foes would be dangerous for someone to fight, but Twilight found gaps in how they were approaching her and used that to pull one out at a time, allowing her to figure out how to improve the skills of the newcomers while aiding her family in their own training, surprising the young gods in the process. This also gave her another chance to test out the power of her Demon Goddess form, while it was strengthened by her Potential Unleashed form, while at the same time seeking to reach into the wells of potential that resided in the depths of her family, as she knew that, in time, she could draw out their true power, or at least a portion of it. Eventually Aria joined them, her own potential brought to the surface thanks to the ritual that Old Kai had performed, and her power was far greater than it had been previously, befitting someone who was a Kaioshin, though it told Twilight that Old Kai must have cut the ritual short to get it over with quickly. Once Twilight was done with their initial training, since they had only come for the ritual and got far more than they had bargained for, she, her family, and the newcomers regrouped before she and Aria teleported them back to the Earth, where she found that Saria and the others were surprised by what they discovered. She wasn't too surprised by that fact, as the discovery of the Beastians had told the trio that they would fit in quite well with the people of this world, or at least they would if they decided to stick around, since there was a vast universe of unknowns for them to explore. Of course a fair number of people just assumed that the trio were other transformed Humans, showing her new acquaintances just how popular her TF Foods really were, a concept they were still wrapping their heads around since it didn't exist in their timelines and universes. Since they were homeless now, with their timelines having been destroyed, Twilight's first action was to make sure they had actual clothing to wear, instead of focusing on their Destroyer attire, and she even included a couple of gi for each one, matching their favorite colors or their schools. She found that they were excited by the concept of just relaxing, instead of having to worry about learning how to be the Destroyers of their timelines, especially since this was now their home and their new God of Destruction was nowhere to be seen, but Twilight knew that they'd meet him at some point in time. "Hey Twilight, you certainly got stronger." Goku remarked, speaking to her group as they finally returned to the Capsule Corp, which seemed to be the general meeting place for the Z Warriors and their friends, where she found that Vegeta and a few others were present as well, like they were celebrating the saving of the universe, before he noticed the three newcomers as Vegeta did, "Sorry, I got excited by Twilight's return, as she one of the best training partners a Saiyan could ask for, and failed to notice that we had guests. I am Son Goku, a Saiyan raised on Earth... who are you guys?" "I'm Shandy, and these are Saria and Caser. We're... not from around here." Shandy replied, where it seemed like he did want to tell Twilight's closest friends about the gods who had shown up to deal with Buulight, but he also knew that, for the time being, that it would be best if they didn't say anything about them, which he and the others agreed with before they came to the Earth with Twilight, "Lady Twilight's agreed to show us around this world, observe the people, and even help us with our martial arts while we decide what to do with our futures... I take it you love to fight?" Goku, of course, pulled the trio away with a smile on his face so he could chat with them about fighting, as he taking part in Twilight's training sessions and knew that the benefits of working with her were great, so her awakening her potential only made him more excited, before Twilight found that Vegeta was standing nearby. "Something on your mind?" Twilight asked, though at the same time her family moved out to just relax and socialize with the rest of their friends, as some of them had made friends with the Z Warriors and the people of Earth, while she focused on what sort of training she would have to make to ensure the newcomers were perfectly included. "Princess Twilight, I... I would like to apologize." Vegeta said, something that caught her interested immediately, because he had been forced to do such a thing for his hand in helping Cell and allowing Babidi to complete his plans, but it meant the former prince was no doubt looking for something and she was the only one that could provide it. "For what? I've already made you apologize for everything that's happened so far... what else could you possibly apologize for?" Twilight inquired, though that wasn't the complete truth, as the Saiyan Prince hadn't said anything about the events on Namek, in fact she was still surprised that all of the Namekians had essentially forgiven him, since taking revenge on him would have just resulted in more violence, making her wonder if he was about to do it. "It's about the events that happened on Namek. I... would like to apologize for acting like a coward, letting fear and hatred rule my actions, and getting you, of all people, killed." Vegeta stated, where Twilight turned and found that he had bowed his head towards her while he was talking, showing that he really wanted something from her, to the point that he was willing to acknowledge her position, apologize to her, and even bow to her. "What do you want? I know you well enough to know that you want something from me." Twilight said, though in the next moment she found that he had turned his head a little, as if his eyes were on Goku and no one else right now, which told her all that she needed to know, something that amused her, "Oh, I see now. You want me to help you catch up to Goku's power, and by that I mean you want to learn and master the Super Saiyan 3 transformation, which will elevate your power to brand new heights... that why you're willing to do this, despite your pride. Very well then, I'll help you out... but let this be a warning to you, Vegeta, I won't go easy on you." Vegeta raised his eyebrow for a moment as Twilight joined the others, clearly wondering what sort of training she had in mind that would warrant warning him ahead of time, something that caused him to keep an eye on her throughout the rest of the celebration Bulma was throwing. While he did that he also glanced at the newcomers, as while one looked like Beerus, who he knew about thanks to a visit his father had with the God of Destruction, he didn't act like him, rather all of them acted like they were young adults, thrown into the world of gods by events they'd rather not talk about. Both he and Kakarot were thinking the same thing, clashing with Shandy and his friends would be a fun thing to do, as he could tell that all three of them were strong and it made them want to fight with the trio, which might be part of what Twilight had in mind for her special training. He also found that they headed into the Capsule Corp and came back out in casual clothing, matching the color of their godly attire interestingly enough, showing that they just wanted to fit in for the time being, as if they weren't actually gods for some reason, though after that he decided not to worry about it and focused on the party Bulma had thrown together. The following day, however, Twilight called those who wanted to train with her, or under her in some cases, to the area she had been training in for a long time, though this time she had prepared several circular areas for everyone to stand in, one for everyone that had, and even Caser's group joined them, dressed in their gi this time. "Today, we'll be doing gravity training." Twilight stated, because she had learned how Goku had managed to get so strong in the short period of time it took him to reach Namek all those years ago, while at the same time putting that together with how she knew Vegeta trained, before she gestured off to the side, showing everyone that the assembled Demons were standing near some of her advanced healing tanks, "For those who are unfamiliar with my powers, not to mention my magical abilities, allow me to say this: with the power of darkness I can manipulate gravity however I see fit, with the purest example being my Abyssal Moon attack, a force that could crush all of us with the weight of the sun if I wanted, or create a force to pull in whoever I'm fighting. Now, onto the reason why this is relevant: I have a great understanding of each of your fighting styles and current limits, so with that information in hand, and my power over darkness, I'm going to surround each of you in darkness, hence the dark circles around your feet, and you will train against the gravity that will be used against you, which will raise in accordance to your power. If you suffer too much damage, and you are freed from your training ground, my mother and the other Demons will put you in a healing pod, which will have you up and ready to go again in fifteen minutes." "For those of us that can transform, are we limited to only our base forms?" Goku asked, where Vegeta nodded his head in agreement, as many of those who had gathered for this training day, which included Gohan while Videl, who wanted to keep up with her training, was standing off to the side for now, likely debating whether or not she should use the newer Animorph products to keep up with Gohan. "By all means, use whatever form you want. As I said, your zones will react to your power, no matter the form." Twilight said, which was a fair question in her mind, as she hadn't said anything about transforming until this point and now the rest of the warriors knew that they could use whatever form they wanted, while those who couldn't transform would use their full power during their training, "The gravity will push each of you towards your limits, eventually allowing you to, in your own way, ascend to a new level of power... for the Saiyans, well, you might obtain one of Goku or Vegeta's forms, while everyone else will unlock portions of their potential in the process." As everyone got ready Twilight snapped her fingers and spheres of darkness appeared all over the training grounds, just as she had told them, where she waited for a few moments before feeling the Ki of several figures as they tackled her training, coming from the Sayians to be exact. She nodded for a couple of seconds as she observed the magic that was fueling the circles and spheres, finding that everything was in order, not that she expected any problems to show up, given that she had spent some time preparing for a day like this, before she focused on her own preparations. With the discovery of two Dark Dragon Balls, and her knowledge of what the future Demons could ask for, Twilight knew it was only a matter of time until her foes made their move, especially since Towa informed her that an alternate version of her father, in a timeline where she didn't exist, had been empowered by the One Star Dark Dragon Ball. That, with the Two and Three Star orbs she had seen during her fights with Cell and Kid Buu, meant that it was only a matter of time until the remaining four spheres were found and empowered with the necessary power to bring about whatever wish Mechikabura desired, something she had to be ready for. With that in mind she turned towards the cubes of Katchin that Aria had created before this point, because her plan had a number of steps that needed to be completed before she could invade the future timeline, the one that the Demons were gathering in, and put an end to their dark plans. Part of that required a special prison that could hold a being of vast and incredible power, one forged out of the strongest material in the known universe, a fact confirmed multiples times before even putting this plan into motion, hence why she tested her magic on the cubes. If she could mold the material in some manner, to twist it towards her intentions and purposes, the plan she had in mind would go much smoother, though there was a problem she had to deal with, how to dispose of the prison without leaving a trace for the Demons to track down in an attempt to open it again. That was where her uncle, Dabura, came into play, as she had Aria create a couple of samples from the various materials in the universe and she had him sitting off to the side of the training grounds, carefully using his spit on each one to see where he drew the line, but he claimed all items turned to stone and she was eager to see if he was telling the truth. What surprised her was the fact that Dabura was telling the truth, everything below Katchin was turned to stone in just a few seconds, and when she separated a triangle shaped section she found that even that suffered the same fate, meaning two steps of her plan were already complete. While they were doing that Twilight could tell that Goku was getting used to using Super Saiyan 2 with a living body, as he might have mastered it with his body in the Other World and wanted to be sure he didn't skip a step, which Vegeta and the other Saiyans were doing as well. Gohan, of course, was focused on training and utilizing his 'Ultimate' form, his own Potential Unleashed state, as if he was tired of growing as a Saiyan and wanted to grow as a Human, which was fine with Twilight, since he still benefited from the training, thanks to the DNA he inherited from his father, and it gave her an idea as to what sort of limits Humans had. She really wasn't expecting anyone to actually make any true progress, as in gaining a new form, but the training was great for all of them and allowed her to focus most of her effort on her own plans, while Towa, Chronoa, and Aeos joined Demigra in their efforts to peer into the future timeline. She wanted to know the instant one of the other Dark Dragon Balls were discovered and delivered to Mechikabura's space, the Demon World, because it would tell her just how much time they had left until she had to make her move and she wanted to be as ready as she could possibly be. With all of that in mind Twilight found that nothing important seemed to change as the first day ended and the next one started, though Vegeta, as she expected, returned for the next day of training and practically threw himself into the circle he had used the previous day. Frieza, Cooler, and King Cold had to return to the Empire for some time, something that sparked a new idea in her mind as she pulled out her tablet and got to designing, as she had the idea for a new version of her long distance communicator, one that could connect Earth to the rest of their domain, namely the main planet that her father ruled from, in an instant. Goku, on the other hand, insisted on having his gravity enhanced so he could have a real training session, causing her to chuckle for a moment before Vegeta forcefully deactivated his own arena to demand the same thing, showing her that he wasn't about to let the other Saiyan leave him in the dust. Twilight decided to give the pair exactly what they wanted and altered the color of their rings to show that, as they were now laced with gold, causing them to get back to their training as she worked on her tablet, though it wasn't long before both were knocked out of their arenas and forced into the healing pods. Twilight even warned them after their first bout with the enhanced gravity that it was a bad idea to continue, since such a thing could potentially shatter them beyond repair, and the pair just continued without a care in the world, causing her to realize that they were going to abuse the heck out of their innate power boosts after recovering from a massive beating to get around her training. She was proven right not even a few hours later, as they went from struggling against the enhanced gravity to actually doing some training every now and then before having to be expelled, causing them to repeat the process again and again so they could get used to what she was offering. Twilight knew that Goku's training in the Other World consisted of adding weights to his body, namely his arms and legs, and increasing them as time went on, especially when he used his Super Saiyan forms, while Vegeta preferred to train in the gravity chamber that she had added inside Capsule Corp, one that was far superior to Bulma's machine. These two were used to this sort of training and it was doing wonders for them, at least for the time being since she knew that they'd eventually encounter a wall that would require other training, so she turned her focus away from them and resumed her own work, even training every now and then herself to be sure she was ready for when her foes played their hand. She also didn't tell Goku, Vegeta, or the other warriors about her plans, since this was her battle and only her demonic allies were necessary, plus the Supreme Kais of Time, hence why she allowed them to focus on their training while she made her preparations. About halfway through the fifth day, however, Vegeta surprised everyone by actually utilizing the transformation that his rival had learned during his time in the Other World, where Twilight was able to confirm that it was Super Saiyan 3 due to the long flowing spiked hair that reached his waist and the loss of his eyebrows. "It's like I've said in the past: anything Kakarot can do, I can do." Vegeta stated, where he found that Twilight stepped up and removed herself from the area she had been sitting in, all while the other dark spheres dispersed so everyone could see that he had gotten the form he had wanted, though the instant she came to a stop he rushed forward and socked her right in the side of her face. "I will admit it, you are stronger than before, as you possess the power of a Super Saiyan 3... however," Twilight remarked, which was the moment that she struck Vegeta in the chest and knocked him backwards, the sheer power of the attack knocking him out of his new form, showing that he needed more time to master the form and it's advantages, "you still have much to learn if you want to tango with me." "Twilight, I hate to interrupt, but there's been a development." Towa said, as while she knew that it was best to leave her daughter to her training and teaching, since the Saiyans and the others could use her guidance to master themselves, this matter was about their peering into the timeline Twilight was interested in, "They've found and recovered the Four, Five, and Six Star Dark Dragon Balls... and, by all of our estimates, they're only a day away from recovering the last one and using them to grant Mechikabura's wish." With that information in hand Twilight called off the rest of the training for the day so she, the Demons, and the Kaioshin who watched over time could get ready, because they needed to be prepared for what was about to happen next, and she could only hope that they were successful in their mission. > Interlude: Dealing with Demons > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Twilight, is there anything we can do to help?" Goku asked, because after Towa told her daughter the news that she and the other Demons had discovered, something important by the looks of it, everyone in Twilight's group had burst into action to gather whatever they needed for the plan she had put together. "Sadly, this is something only we can do... the point in time we're traveling to will have foes that will snap you like twigs, so it's best if you stay here." Twilight replied, because Aeos and Chronoa had confirmed Towa's statement on the point in time that Mechikabura's forces were currently gathering in, an Age that was far into the future, so the Demon Gods and Goddesses would be far stronger than what they had seen so far, especially since they would be fighting in the Demon Realm, "I know that excites you, Goku, but I'm being serious: they'll kill you, Vegeta, and anyone else if you show up, so it's best if all of you leave this to me and the others... we'll be fine." "You talk as if they'll be far more powerful than the last time we fought, and to be honest they didn't seem very strong back during the Cell Games." Vegeta remarked, because he and the others had been able to hold their own during that point, so the Demons weren't too impressive in his mind, though he also knew that the ones from this timeline, the ones who were on Twilight's side, were definitely stronger due to all the training they did. "That's because they will be, especially with Mechikabura having granted them access to their true powers and forms, not to mention that our foes are waiting in the Demon Realm," Chronoa said, though the mere thought of what the Dark King could do with his great and terrible power made her shudder, because he had the power to literally consume everything in the universe, all of time itself, if he so desired, making her remember the terrible gamble they were taking, "Twilight's right, his forces will kill you before you even get close to him... but that's why Aeos and I have been busy getting ready for this event, as we have allies of our own that can help us out." Twilight said nothing to that, because if her plan worked out they wouldn't have to fight the Dark Imperial Army or any of the Demon Gods and Goddesses that served the Dark King, but there was a fair chance that she would have to use Plan B if the first failed, hence why she glanced at what Aeos handed her. The older Supreme Kai of Time had spent some time with everyone else and formed a familiar sword, complete with a scabbard to hold it, as Twilight was going to use it and her staff as her demonic weapons, like she had gotten stronger over time, which was true. With that in mind she held out her other hand and called her staff back to her, though it was mostly something to do while the others focused on keeping an eye on their enemies, because the moment they started to assemble for the ceremony she wanted to be there to play her cards. Everything depended on how Mechikabura reacted to her arrival, not to mention the arrival of her group, but she was hoping that he took an interest in her and listened to what she had to say, even if all of it would be a lie to get what she wanted, something that caused her to sigh for a moment. This was Mechikabura she was thinking about, a Demon whose true power was beyond anything she had experienced so far, a being who terrified even the Supreme Kais of Time and worried her own demonic allies, though Twilight steeled herself for what was about to happen next. "Damn, they're moving faster than we thought... they just claimed the last Dark Dragon Ball." Demigra stated, where Goku and the others found that he was staring at the top of his staff, at the red orb that allowed him to peer through time itself, just in time to see the Seven Star Dark Dragon Ball before the image went dark, "Lady Twilight, if we're going to do this we need to do it now... if we get there any later the plan might not work." "Alright. Everyone, take your positions and get ready." Twilight said, something that was followed by everyone else in her group getting up and moving around for a moment, showing everyone that they had truly been preparing for this since the day the Demon Gods and Goddesses interrupted the Cell Games and tried to end her life, causing her to turn towards the open space that was near them, "Mother, if you and the others would be so kind?" Towa nodded her head for a moment as she and the other assembled Demons, joined by the two Supreme Kais of Time, gathered their power and started to manipulate time once more, creating a portal to a point of time that was far into the future and had a crimson outline around it. Once the path was stabilized, and Aeos confirmed that fact, Twilight took a few seconds to brace herself, and to make sure the Saiyans didn't do anything stupid, before stepping through the portal that had been opened, as it was time to put her plan into motion. As she emerged from the portal she discovered that the sky of the Demon Realm was filled with dark clouds and had a red color to them, before focusing on the tall tower like structure in front of her, one that looked more like a twisted tree of life, especially with the skull in the lower half of it. Based on what she could tell there were a number of platforms resting on the upper branches of the tower, like the legend of Yggdrasil, but only one of them held her interest right now, the central one that happened to be where the Dark Dragon Balls had been placed to make Mechikabura's wish. As she studied the surrounding area, taking in the twisted feeling of the realm, Twilight felt the arrival of the rest of her team in an area behind her, a cliff to be exact, though as she turned her head she found that they weren't alone, as there were a few warriors and Future Chronoa behind them. One warrior looked a lot like Gotenks, in fact, given their adult form, she was sure it was the adult form of the two children merged into a single warrior, though even now he seemed immature like the one from her timeline, which was a disappointment. Standing near him was the Future Chronoa, who had a bandage that was wrapped around her head, and Chamel, who seemed surprised to see her floating there, especially when the rest of her own group appeared nearby, since he clearly wasn't expecting this to happen. The warrior that held her attention looked a lot like Goku, save for the fact that he had his Saiyan tail again, he was as muscular as the one from her timeline, though his body had fur on his chest and he had longer hair, not to the extent of Super Saiyan 3, meaning this had to be a brand new transformation for her to study later. Twilight ignored Xeno Gohan, who was wearing some odd attire and glasses, and Xeno Vegeta, who stood nearby, as she turned her focus on the tower and rushed up to the highest peak, where she found that the Demon Gods and Goddesses, including a new Putline, who had to be from another timeline, were assembled and at the ready as she landed on the edge of an arena. "Well, well, we have an unexpected guest." a voice said, where she found that it came from a very aged Demon who stood with a hunch, displaying his old age to her and the rest of his kind, and he was using a cane with a green orb at the top as his walking device, though he had black eyes, red irises, and short white hair, all while wearing a black robe with a red center, plus a white design, "Twilight Sparkle, might I see your true power?" While this was a surprise, since she had expected Mechikabura to ask why she was here first, Twiight shifted into her final form without delay, allowing him and his forces to take in her Demon Goddess form and the power it commanded, though for the time being she kept her guard up in case someone tried to attack her. "Interesting. You have my respect, for gaining this level of power on your own, in such a short period of time... unlike the rest of my forces." Mechikabura said, almost as if he was disappointed in the fact that his servants were unable to match her in terms of power, where Twilight found that they turned away in shame, no doubt silently pledging to do better before each one glanced out at the group that had assembled nearby, "Now tell me: why are you here?" "I wish to observe the resurrection of the Dark King, Lord Mechikabura." Twilight replied, which was partly true, she was eager to see the revival of what had to be the most feared individual in the entire universe, other than Beerus and Buu at least, so she was betting on him and the others buying her ploy as she set her pieces in place, "I know the others came to my timeline and made an attempt on my life, but that's all water under the bridge... also, don't mind those from my Age, as they know not to mess with me." "Good, a Demon Goddess who instills fear into the hearts of her enemies, which means we can start the ceremony at long last!" Mechikabura stated, where he turned and walked down into the sunken platform that the Dark Dragon Balls were currently resting in, allowing Twilight to see that an adult version of Dende was standing over them, only he had a device over his forehead that seemed to be controlling his mind. "As you wish, Lord Mechikabura." Xeno Towa said, where she tapped her staff on the ground and focused her mind for a few seconds as Xeno Dende started to move according to her will, something that caused the Dark Dragon Balls to glow as their power was awakened, darkening the sky like the normal Dragon Balls did when they were used. Twilight glanced around for a moment, seeing that the Demon Gods and Goddesses were weary about her, which was understandable since most of them had come to kill her before she targeted Mechikabura, something that actually used this to happen in the first place, before moving down to where the others were waiting. Sure enough she found that most of the Time Patrollers were curious as to whether or not she was an enemy or an ally, despite the fact that she told her mother to only tell them what they needed to know, just enough to stop them from attacking her. In addition to that she found four newcomers as well, all dressed in black robes with hoods over their heads, but she knew them thanks to some of the time she spent with Aeos before this point, as one was Xeno Bardock, Goku's father, another was the version of Gohan from Future Trunks' timeline, the third was Xeno Piccolo Jr., and the last was a lone survivor of her race's extinction by Chilled's hands. Chilled was her father's ancestor, a space pirate who eventually became the creator of the empire that ruled most of the known universe, something that caused her to realize that she would have to get a sample from the lone survivor and make an attempt to bring her race back as well. While she did that, however, Twilight was glad that no one had noticed that she was draining their energy, bit by bit, as it was important for the final stage of her plan, something not even the Dark Imperial Army had noticed despite knowing about her powers, causing her to focus on the individuals in front of her for the time being. "What are you planning?" Xeno Goku asked, though at the same time he made sure his Gohan let go of him so he could walk up to where she was standing, despite the fact that Xeno Vegeta decided to blow his own armor up as he took on the same form that his rival was currently in, just in case she told them that she was an enemy. "That's for me to know and for you to never find out... not until it's time, anyway." Twilight remarked, where she tapped his shoulder for a moment, finding that the red fur was real and not fake, along with the fact that it spread to his tail and he even had red trip around his eyes, making him look tougher than she expected, before she withdrew a sample from him, sealing the blood in a capsule that she linked to her tablet, "Sorry, I can't help it... this form doesn't exist in my time and I'm interested in studying it before I do anything else. You simply must tell me how you unlocked this... let me guess, Super Saiyan 4?" "One must transform into a Golden Great Ape and regain consciousness over their rage." Xeno Vegeta stated, where she could tell that he was only telling her because there was nothing she could do with this information, but that was where he was wrong, as her mind was the greatest tool in her arsenal and, if she put her mind to it, there was nothing she couldn't do with her knowledge and power. "Fascinating. I'll have to observe the transformation later." Twilight said, because if her plan worked the timelines, not to mention the rest of the universe, would be safe from Mechikabura's dark plans, though as she said that she found that the program she was running on her tablet confirmed her suspicions regarding her own group of Saiyans, causing her to let a smirk appear on her face for a moment. In that instant a surge of dark power awakened at the top of the tower and she turned her head to look at it, finding a new figure resting above them all, a dragon who had been created and fueled by dark energy, with a slender but muscular body that looked like a union of Shenron and Porunga, while having a long blue tongue and a long crimson mane. "You who have gathered the seven Dark Dragon Balls, state your wish." the Dark Shenron stated, loud enough for all of them to hear what he had to say, alarming those that were near Twilight, or at least the Xeno group since her group just stood there and watched, "Whatever your wish may be, I shall grant a single one." Sure enough Mechikabura wished to have 'all the power of his youth' restored to him, putting him back in his prime and giving him all of the power he had commanded before he was sealed away many ages ago, and while Dark Shenron told him he could complete this wish he also told him that it would take some time. As the Dark King confirmed that fact, as it was better than being told it was impossible to do so, Twilight held her hand out and glanced at the Time Patrol, silently telling them not to do anything while conveying that this was all part of her plan. Aeos and Chronoa made sure that Xeno Chronoa stood down, as Twilight didn't need her doing anything stupid, like trying to lock Mechikabura inside the Time Labyrinth, a power designed to seal targets outside the flow of time itself, something she determined would be a failure if she tried to use it. Her timing had to be spot on, because if the Dark King was allowed to leave this place there was only one thing he'd do with his power, he'd head to the Time Nest, devour the being that holds more power over time than the two Supreme Kais of Time, and gain the power to rend the universe asunder. In the following moment she felt a massive surge of pure dark power, the true power of the Dark King, and flashed back up to where Mechikabura was standing, just in time to hear Dark Shenron announce that his wish was complete before he disappeared into the Dark Dragon Balls and scattered across the timelines once more. As she suspected he was no longer an old man who needed a staff to walk, rather during the process of regaining his power he had, like all Demons, used it as a catalyst to assume his own Demon God form, allowing him to stand straight once more, all while his new form held far more power than one possessed at the start of their demonic forms. Mechikabura was in what she could only assume was his Dark King form, as his white hair was now spiky and smooth, while growing down to his chest, though in addition to that he had a golden crown of sorts that looked like two bull horns. His attire had changed to a black coat with golden inlay, a grayish-black long-sleeved shirt, slim black baggy pants, a dark blue sash, and maroon boots with a gold trim, all while having bracers on his wrists and shins, also black colored with a golden trim, and a crimson cape that was connected to a red scarf around his neck. He almost looked like a Kaioshin, in fact he could have been at one point since he had green Potara earrings, making her wonder if he had been in the running for Chronoa's position in the past, and his power was staggering, a fact that caused most to step back for a few seconds. "It feels good to have my full power again. Twilight, I understand that you are incredibly resilient... do you mind if I test out my power?" Mechikabura stated, showing everyone that he wanted to make sure it was everything he had possessed in the past, causing her to stand still for a moment as he held his hand out before releasing a barrage of dark arrows that hit her in the chest and knocked her into the wall behind her, blowing everything apart in the process, "Good, everything is in order. My power has been restored, and that means I can move forward with the next stage of my plans... come, Demon Gods and Goddesses, join my power... your usefulness is at an end." As Twilight pushed herself out of the rubble, wincing over the pain since Mechikabura's power was nothing to sneeze at, she watched as the Xeno Demon Gods, all of them, were seized by the Dark King's grasp, condensed into a small orb that was made of pure darkness, before absorbing it without wasting time. Such a thing caused his attire to morph into armor, ebony black with golden trim like his previous attire, with a pulsing dark orb in the center of his chest that almost looked like a Dark Dragon Ball, while gaining pauldrons on his shoulders, armor on the side of his legs, and the bull horns actually became horns. In addition to that he gained clawed gauntlets, his cape turned ebony black while losing the scarf, though at the same time it became tattered at the edges, and the sides of his face, near his ears, plus his ears turned black, while his hair took on an appearance that matched the Super Saiyan 3 transformation. In that moment Twilight understood the warnings that Aeos and Chronoa had given her, as this power was far more than anything she had felt so far, meaning if he escaped the universe was doomed, in fact all of creation would be doomed, causing her to make her move before the Dark King departed. In that instant she withdrew the blade she had prepared for this moment, silently activating the enchantment she and the others had placed on it, before appearing in front of Mechikabura as she drove the blade straight into his heart, much to the surprise of the Time Patrol. "Well played. You made it look like you were going to become an ally, at least to fend off the Time Patrol, but in reality you were really an enemy, just to reach this point." Mechikabura remarked, where he actually sounded impressed by her plan, rather that being annoyed that she had come to betray him and seal him away with the sword, causing her to focus on the next stage of her plan, causing Ki blades to burst out of his body as Twilight raised her left hand towards his chest as she called forth her power once more, "What are you...?" Twilight had investigated Moro's power thoroughly after realizing that the Dark Imperial Army intended to bring back the power of the Dark King, learning the ins and outs of the aspects she didn't know and even carefully used the Room of Time to observe the Planet-Eater in action, allowing her to replicate his most dangerous power. She was going to drag out Mechikabura's power, every single drop of it, a fact that would leave a normal warrior in a state of near death, since Moro ate the life energies of those he used his powers on, but she wasn't interested in that and refined it so she could focus on her foe's power. Of course the Dark King growled as Twilight started to pull out an orb of black energy that had a crimson aura around it, as he knew what she was planning and was using all his might to stop her, but as he started to move both of his hands everyone else made their move, as the group that had followed Twilight to this Age landed behind the Dark King as chains burst out of the Ki blades, which they latched onto. The plan was to hold him down, force him to divide his attention between the Time Patrol, and their allies, and herself, because the Ki chains were designed to mess with him in some manner, her mother had added that in to ensure their victory and kept it to herself since Twilight trusted her, and the openings allowed her to keep tugging on his power. It was essentially tug of war without the second player being able to do anything, because when Mechikabura tried to stop them one of the others would disrupt his focus, allowing Twilight to focus on tearing out the orb of energy, and when she did so, much to the surprise of the Demon in front of her, she sprung the rest of her trap. As the powerless Dark King took a step back, finding that his armor dulled to a gray color, representing his lack of power, which was when Chronoa and Aeos activated the seal, causing Mechikabura to be drawn inside the blade, just like what happened to Buulight when she was bound. In the following seconds Twilight tossed the scabbard to them and they returned the sword to it, though Towa made her move after that as she added a few more seals to the container, just to be sure their foe didn't escape before it was time, which was when Dabura stepped up and spat on it. Just as Twilight planned the entire scabbard, with the blade that was inside it, turned to stone before their eyes, and once it was fully stone Aeos nodded to Xeno Bardock, who picked it up, without the petrification latching onto him, before crushing it with his might, ending the threat of the Dark King in a matter of seconds. As the others turned towards her Twilight enforced her magic on the orb and shrunk it down to the size of a marble, one that she swallowed without wasting time, where she stood there for a moment as her Ki swelled and her attire shifted as she assimilated the power of the Dark King into her own power. Her gown, which was a sign of her Demon Goddess form, changed to match the black attire with golden trim that Mechikabura had worn before he captured his servants, though she didn't have the greyish-black shirt or the fluffy shoulders, rather she had the black bracers on her wrists and shins, in addition to the dark blue sash. There were slits in the back of her new attire that her wings fit through, so she didn't have the cape or scarf, while she still bore the horn that came with her Demon Goddess form, but in addition to that she also had two more horns, more like rams that were on the left and right side of her main horn. Other than that Twilight found that there were no other changes to her attire, nor were there any changes to her face when she considered the fallen Demon's final form, though while her Ki had settled down she knew that it would take some time for her to master her new power. Towa, however, smiled as they celebrated the defeat of the Dark King, totally and completely, and the rise of the new Dark Queen, someone who deserved the power without going mad with the desire to unmake the rest of their universe, and she found herself looking forward to whatever might happen next. > Interlude: Full Moon Awakening > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Following Mechikabura's downfall, a fact that had surprised the Xeno warriors in the process, Twilight spent the rest of the week resting, doing her usual training to get used to her new base power, and working on a project based off of what she saw during her time in the future Age. She had been fascinated by two of the Xeno warriors and was hard at work making something that would help Goku and Vegeta gain more power, because if both of them got stronger she knew that her father and his father would push themselves to actually do more training and grow their own powers as well. There was also the fact that their increase in power would lead to further growth on her part as well, because they were the best training partners anyone could ask for, and while many might assume that she hated the two warriors, for their past actions, she had moved past that to focus on her plans. While some rage was important, given that sometimes one gained vast power from it, she knew that letting it cloud one's vision, so it was all they saw and focused on, was a terrible thing and that it would only lead to ruin, hence why she moved on from her rage towards the pair. Her thoughts were interrupted as she focused on her tablet once more and found that her project was complete, which was a good thing because she had been worried that it would failure in some manner, before she moved over to the device that synthesized serums for her, the very thing she used to make her Animorph variants. "You seem to be in a good mood, Twilight... and I don't mean because your plan worked." Towa commented, because she knew her daughter's habits and could tell that something had made her happy, though like she said it wasn't due to the fact that she had stopped Mechikabura from fulfilling his dark plans. "The project is complete. There is no problem with what I have planned." Twilight replied, where she slipped the tablet into a slot that she used occasionally and tapped another button on a near by screen, something that caused Towa to watch as the device started to formulate whatever was on the tablet, just as it was designed to do, before she walked over to one of the tables and picked up an injector, "Fortunately a full moon is right around the corner, the best time to accomplish what I have in mind... hopefully Goku and Vegeta live up to my expectations." Towa recalled what happened right before they put their plan into motion against the Dark King, how she had been very interested in two of the Xeno warriors, and suspected that the Saiyans in question would actually live up to her daughter's expectations of them, especially given their desire for power and the forms they had unlocked so far. If anything Towa felt that both Saiyans would appreciate the gift her daughter was planning on giving them and would no doubt give her their absolute best in a training session, allowing Twilight to grow as well, an everlasting circle in her mind. In fact she was sure that this was what her daughter had in mind, she was helping the Saiyans both to keep the Earth safe, in case they came under fire while she, their family, and their allies were gone, while at the same time ensuring that their power allowed her to grow her own at an extraordinary pace. There was also the fact that there were other dangers in the universe, such as Moro, who was currently imprisoned and would soon perish on his own if nothing serious happened, so Twilight was also preparing the Saiyans for the future, whether they knew it or not. Her own thoughts were interrupted as the device beeped and Twilight pulled the vial off of it, one that was filled with a crimson liquid, definitely not blood, and carefully corked it before placing a second on it, showing Towa that she needed two, one for each Saiyan, and once that was done she walked over to a communicator and tapped it. "Bulma, come in. Are you there?" Twilight inquired, because half the time she found that the dragon lady was nowhere near the device that allowed her to communicate with her, while also finding that the other half she did have it, though it wasn't long before the line was connected as Bulma appeared on the other side. "Yeah, I'm here. Vegeta's in the gravity chamber, training." Bulma replied, as she was used to people calling and asking where her husband was, something she didn't bother to correct since those outside their circle didn't need to know any of the specifics behind their relationship, and this was usually her first answer. "I figured as much. Can you tell him that I have something special for him and Goku, something that will give them a boost to their power?" Twilight asked, as she knew that the former Prince would want more power, to bring her and her father down, or to beat Goku since that seemed to be his focus right now, and the reason she was telling Bulma about Goku was so she could contact him while she was wrapping things up here. Bulma said nothing to that as she nodded her head and disconnected the line, allowing Twilight to walk over to the device once more as it beeped again, producing a second vial of crimson liquid that she collected, corked, and stored away as she made sure the injector was ready. While she was getting ready Frieza and the others showed up as well, because they had returned for a time, a visit and a break from the rest of the Empire, something that was becoming more common, which made Towa wonder if her husband was itching for Twilight to take over, and now they were interested in what Twilight had in mind for the Saiyans. It made Towa remember that her daughter had told no one about what they had seen in the future, save for those who had been present for the final stages of her plan, so they had no real idea what she was doing and were merely curious, even though this could convince Frieza to get serious about his training, or maybe not since he seemed content with his current power. She also knew that Twilight was keeping her new form a secret for the time being, either to get used to her new strength or, and this was the more likely reason, she was waiting for a worthy challenger to arrive before she bothered to use it, even though it did make her wonder just how much power she held as the new Dark Queen, given Mechikabura's vast power. After a few moments of getting ready Twilight proclaimed that she was ready to go, especially since the vials were resting in a protected pouch, before they departed from their home and headed to Capsule Corp once more, because that was the favorite gathering point for Goku, Vegeta, and everyone else in their group, other than the Lookout. With that in mind she focused her mind and discovered that many of the Z Warriors were coming their way, meaning Bulma must have taken a moment to call some of the others and tell them that she wanted to give the two Saiyans something, or she had another reason and was killing two birds with one stone. Twilight really didn't care which answer was right at the moment, rather she was focused on her task and what it would do to the Saiyans she was interested in, because her project indicated that this would work and she was eager to see it in action, especially after her time in the future. Of course her family was silent on this matter, mostly because her father and his family had no idea what she was up to and wanted to see the results of her newest project, allowing Twilight to focus on the task at hand as she found their destination and descended towards it. Sure enough she found that the two Saiyans were present, not to mention the majority of their friends, meaning most of them must have been near Bulma's place when she got the call earlier, allowing her to land without delay as the rest of her family did the same. "So, Twilight, you really have a way for us to gain more power?" Goku asked, because while he knew that she was stronger than she had been before her venture into the future, something that disappointed him since he wanted to see the Dark King and his power, he was interested in what sort of training she had in mind to increase their power even further. "Yes, but it's not training... at least not yet." Twilight said, where she took out the injector for a moment and prepped it, by pressing a few buttons to ensure that everything was ready for when she wanted to use it, and found that Goku paled a little as he noticed the small needle, "Oh relax, it's not going to hurt you. Are both of you wearing Morph Clothing?" "Your clothing has dominated the market, to the point that it's been woven into our clothing and my armor." Vegeta stated, though at the same time he had to wonder why Twilight would ask such a thing, since there was no reason for him or even Kakarot to need the special clothing that modified itself according to whatever Animorph products one ingested, which he and his fellow Saiyan didn't care for. "Good to know." Twilight remarked, where she stepped up and moved behind Goku first, since he was afraid of needles and might flinch if he witnessed it being used, which was when she slipped a vial into the injector, locked it into place, and then got him right in the side of his neck, injecting the liquid into his body, causing her to pull it out when the deed was done and switch it for the second as she turned towards Vegeta, "You'll understand why I asked soon enough." Vegeta stared at her for a few seconds before offering his arm to her, as he wasn't afraid of needles, causing her to quickly inject the liquid from the second vial into his body, where he flexed his fingers and moved his arm while he waited for it to do whatever it was designed to do. "Now, both of you are going to feel like a fire is coursing through your veins in the very near future, so just know that it's part of my offering." Twilight said, figuring that she could give them a bit of warning so they knew what to expect, which would be due to the effects of the serum she had injected into both of their bodies, which was when Vegeta raised one of his eyebrows as he focused on her once more, "I'm not going to kill you two like this... seriously, if I wanted to actually kill you I'd do it in battle, actually give you a chance to fight for your lives." As Vegeta opened his mouth to say something both he and Kakarot doubled over in pain, showing the others that it was time for the serum to do it's job, and discovered that Twilight was right, it felt like a fire rushing through his veins, but that was swiftly followed by his spine extending, causing him to glance back as his jaw dropped as he saw his old Saiyan tail swaying behind him. "What the?" Vegeta said, as that was all he could say in this situation, since he had expected many things when he heard that Twilight had a way for him and Kakarot to gain more power, in fact part of him really expected her to have some form of painful training for them in mind, but regrowing his Saiyan tail was not among his thoughts. "Wow, it's been years since I had a tail." Goku commented, because he recalled the things he had done with his tail, not to mention the trouble it helped get them out of when he transformed on accident, allowing them to stop Pilaf from getting his wish on the Dragon Balls, before finding that he could move it like before and discovered that both his and Vegeta's attire had made way for their tails. "I'm not sure I understand your reasoning, Twilight. Why bring back their Saiyan tails?" Gohan asked, as it seemed weird to him, even though he had been born with one and lost it during Vegeta and Nappa's assault on the planet, or at least their battle with Piccolo and the others. "During my brief time in the future Age, I met their Xeno counterparts: members of the Time Patrol, who had access to an interesting form," Twilight explained, though at the same time Vegeta recalled how to fully use his tail and moved it back to it's position around his waist, while Goku didn't seem to mind letting it sway behind him, showing her that they had adjusted to having their tails again, at least to some degree, "I learned that the method to obtain the form involved being able to transform into a Great Ape, so obviously my first step was to figure out how to regrow their tails... fortunately my studies into Saiyan genetics allowed me to pinpoint the gene that, when expressed fully, allows a Saiyan to regrow their tail, even one that's been cut off for many years. Now that both of you have your tails again we can move onto phase two of my plan: that being moving into the mountains so you can get used to moving with your tails again, but also giving you room to transform into your Great Ape forms again. That's when things will get interesting, because the next stage will be more important, as you'll need to transform into a Golden Great Ape... after that you'll need to overcome that rage, which will lead to both of you gaining your newest form: Super Saiyan 4." The two Saiyans glanced at each other for a moment, as they had no idea what Twilight was talking about and were far more interested in what she had learned than they were willing to admit, causing them to agree with her plan, though this did explain why she wanted them to have their modified clothing on. With that done she and her family moved them into the mountains, far away from Bulma's residence and the rest of the city, while making sure to teleport those who wanted to see this with their own eyes as well, since there was an observation area for them to rest in. Twilight had set this area up after learning of the process from the Xeno Saiyans, giving her an area to watch over Goku and Vegeta while they did their training, in addition to allowing her to form a cube shaped barrier around the area, just to be sure they didn't go out and cause mayhem in their Great Ape forms. As everyone got settled in, since there were a few hours before night fell and the moon rose, Twilight raised her magic and formed the protective barrier around the part of the forest that they were in, since this mountain had a bunch of trees, before informing the Saiyans that it was time for them to begin. Sure enough the two started training while the others observed them, finding that Vegeta was quick to adapt to moving with his tail again, since he had far more experience than Goku did, while the Saiyan raised on Earth proved that he was just as skilled as his rival, regaining the balance and movements despite only having his for a number of years. Twilight knew that the rest of the Saiyans, like Gohan and Trunks, were watching and observing, no doubt wondering if they could do this, despite the fact that Goku's eldest didn't care about growing as a Saiyan anymore, but she warned them that this was best left for the adults. The two moved with ease, rushing around the area as Vegeta taught Goku how to properly move with a tail, once again showing that he was far more skilled in that aspect while revealing that his rival was able to keep up due to his ability to quickly adapt to new things. It was quite fascinating to watch, that much Twilight could tell as time went on, and it only made her that much more interested in using the Room of Time to go back and observe the rest of the Saiyans during their actual training, but for the time being she focused on the pair as she watched the day give way for the night. When the moon rose into the sky, releasing the powerful blutz waves into the two Saiyans as Eschalot backed off, as she remembered her first transformation and didn't want a repeat, though as Goku and Vegeta started to huff both Bulma and Chi-Chi called out for them to think about why they were trying to obtain this power as the show got started. Twilight watched as the two started to shift into their long forgotten Great Ape forms, their bodies bulking up and gaining more mass as they started to grow bigger and bigger before their eyes, surprising those who hadn't seen the only form that the Saiyans had, at least until the events of Namek. While they started to transform, however, Twilight noticed that the fur on their bodies started to change, as while it started out brown, the normal color based on what she had seen in the past, it started to take on a golden sheen, as if they were skipping a step and combining two steps of her plan into a single swift motion. Sure enough she and the others watched as two Golden Great Apes eventually took shape in the area that she had set up for this event, though while Vegeta had more experience controlling the base form he was having a hard time controlling the enraged golden form, while Goku himself was also consumed by rage. In that moment, as the two enraged Saiyans clashed with each other, Twilight understood the key to calming the rage and obtaining the form she had seen in the future, where she opened a hole in the barrier and slipped inside, making sure to close it as she stared down at the figures, who hadn't even noticed her arrival. "Goku, Vegeta, I want you two to try and think about why you want this power. What would you use it for?" Twilight stated, because simply thinking that the form was for the power itself, and nothing else, was wrong and might not help them out in calming their rage, but, knowing the Saiyans in question, she knew they were listening to her every word, despite the rage they were feeling at the moment, "Do you want it for the sake of growing stronger... or do you want it for the sake of someone important to you? I'll leave you two to figure that out for yourselves." Her words stopped the two from clashing, allowing Twilight to slip out through the opening that she reopened for just a few seconds, something that allowed everyone to observe as the two, in the depths of their souls, sought out the answer, their personal answer anyway, to her question. Sure enough it wasn't long before lightning started to arc around their bodies as Goku reached for the moon, for some odd reason, though that was only a temporary thing as the two started to wail on each other again, as if her interruption had been a mere pause in their rage. For a time it really didn't seem like her words were having any real impact on the two Saiyans, causing her to wonder if she had wasted her time with all of this, as she was sure she could have created a machine to infuse them with either the blutz waves or even the form that she had been interested in. As she considered that, however, a new idea sprung to mind as she turned towards Chi-Chi and Bulma for a moment, not to mention Gohan, Trunks, Goten, and Eschalot, where she asked the six to get ready, because her new idea was to use their families to try and break through their rage, to give them a physical representation of what they should be fighting for. A few seconds later she carefully moved the six into the protected zone, with her mother and Demigra watching over both groups, to teleport them out if things got hairy, Vegeta's family approaching him while Goku's did the same, allowing the rest of the group to watch and observe. Their arrival caused the two Saiyans to pause for a time as they stared at the groups, memories surfacing based on the fact that neither one seemed to move after noticing their guests, though in that moment Twilight sensed a drastic change in the air, energy being altered to fit a new purpose. For a couple of precious moments nothing seemed to happen, which made Twilight wonder if she had been wrong about this plan of action, before the two Saiyans started to growl as both of them turned towards the moon and held their hands out towards it as blue lightning danced around their bodies. This, as far as she could tell, was exactly what they were waiting for and made sure the groups were moved back, placed under the protection of the edge of the barrier when Twilight altered it, but if the Saiyans needed reinforcement they were nearby for them to look at. There was another fact that told her that they were successful, the golden aura that appeared around both figures, where it almost looked like they were struggling to regain themselves and deal with their anger, to the point where the air seemed to vibrate under the intensity of their power. In fact the entire forest was tore asunder by the power they were emitting, though through the smoke Twilight watched as both Saiyans shrunk down to their humanoid forms, though she could only smile as she noticed that both had the red fur on their chests and arms, with the different hairstyles she had seen as well, and when everything settled down she could see that both had obtained the new form. "So this is Super Saiyan 4... amazing!" Gohan remarked, as while he and the others had been wondering what sort of form this transformation would take, since Twilight had shared nothing about this while they were watching, this was beyond what he, personally, was expecting to see by the time this was over. "Indeed... I don't know what to say." Goku said, as he glanced over his new form and Vegeta's new appearance, who was doing the same thing, and knew that their power was now on a level that was beyond what they had before attempting this process, before both of them grinned as they imagined what they could do now, "I can't wait to test this form out in a proper battle." "And you will... for now, however, you should get used to your new forms. We'll clash when you are ready." Twilight said, to which she dismissed the barrier, as it looked like she wouldn't need it or it's protection, though she was pleased with what she was seeing, because while they weren't as strong as their Xeno counterparts she did know that Goku and Vegeta were now far stronger than they had been earlier that day. She was excited by the prospect of training with them, now that they had obtained this new transformation, and seeing just how much power could be gleams from using this form in battle, something that made her all the more interested in what the future held for them. > Battle: Encounter > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- After unlocking the power of the Super Saiyan 4 within both Goku and Vegeta, and making sure they didn't go crazy from all the rage they had been feeling previously, Twilight focused on making sure they got used to their new level of power while making sure her own goals were achieved. One thing she was able to confirm was that both Saiyans were now stronger than they had been previously, as training with them required her Demon Goddess form, at the very least, and if they proved to be at a certain point of power she rewarded her opponents with a glimpse of her true power. Training with Goku and Vegeta was the best way for her to master the power of the Dark Queen form, as Towa informed her that only male figures would be called Dark 'Kings', but even then she had to drastically reduce her power to a mere fraction of her true terrifying might to even get any worthwhile training from clashing with them. Even with the might of Saria, Caser, and Shandy joining them the Saiyans had a hard time actually matching her power, confirming just how terrifying Mechikabura could have been, which only made her wonder if she even stood a chance against the actual gods of the universe, the Destroyer and his Angel to be exact. One thing she discovered, about a week after awakening the new form in the Saiyans, was that she got a call to speak with the King of Earth, King Furry, though she was pleasantly surprised by what he wanted to talk about, he wanted to ally the planet with her growing empire. He had seen the ships her family used when they were traveling to this planet, knew of her special security force, likely referring to the Ginyus or even the Demons who served her, and realized that, with everything she had done for the planet, it only made sense to submit to her rule. Twilight informed him that there wouldn't be too much changing with him joining the Empire, though now it made the people of his planet eligible to join the force that went out to help secure the other planets of the universe from those who sought to do them harm. Such a thing meant spending a lot of time explaining the ins and outs of her father's forces, the Frieza Force, because technically he was still the head of the entire empire, despite him giving her permission to speak with King Furry about this topic. As such it wasn't long before she was able to add Earth, officially, to the list of planets that were part of the Empire, where she found that a good chunk of the universe was now under their watchful eye and protection, though at the same time it meant the Galactic Patrol would either turn a blind eye to this or come and investigate. Other than that nothing important happened to the planet, allowing everyone to focus on their own goals once again, but to be sure everyone had access to their full power she made sure to hold her weekly training sessions with everyone, which all of them were fine with since it was only one day each week. Gohan and Videl, for the most part, went back to school and started dating, which Mr. Satan happened to be fine with, while Buu continued to do what he did best, healing the various wounds that were presented to him and mending the aliments that would normally cripple someone. Chi-Chi, at first, wanted Goku to get to work and provide for the family, though while he took on farming, in an area that Twilight confirmed would yield some highly desirable crops, she also convinced Chi-Chi to do something more than sit at home all day and clean the house. What happened was that the lady returned to her roots and started to perform her own fighting style once more, the same she had used once upon a time before she married Goku, which was great since some martial artists found out about her 'Ox Style' and wanted to learn it. By the end of the second month, since Goku and Vegeta's full moon event to be exact, Chi-Chi had her own school located in part of the area that her house was located in, claiming that it was better this way since it encouraged her pupils to do their best, since she forbid the use of Ki on her new property, and everyone made sure to have a dojo ready for her so she could make her own money. Shortly following that event Twilight had to adjust her assessment of 'nothing important happening', as she got a visit from the remainder of the Demon Gods and Goddesses, as in those from her era and not the future, which freaked Putine out as she found another version of herself standing near Twilight. Of course Goku, Vegeta, and the others wondered if they were here to do battle with them, to avenge their future counterparts or something, but everyone learned the truth rather quickly, they were here to serve the new Dark Queen with all their might. Such a thing made her head to this timeline's version of the Demon Realm, where she found that her Mechikabura was still contained inside a decent sized orb that was a prison designed to keep him contained, at least until someone like her mother found a way to break the seal. With that in mind Twilight, Towa, and Demigra wasted no time in sealing the prison with extra layers of magic, before Dabura spat on it and turned it to stone before the eyes of the present Demon Gods, where Twilight crushed it with a quick punch and terminated the threat of Mechikabura once and for all. That also meant that the Dark Imperial Army was hers as well, which she was fine with since she could direct them at the dangers of the universe as well, along with keeping an eye out for any tampering from the other timelines, to make sure a repeat of Buulight didn't happen. Two years after the reawakening of Kid Buu, however, came with an unexpected arrival, in the form of Vegeta's younger brother, Tarble, who was fairly short for a Saiyan and had hair similar to his brother's, save for the bang hanging in front of his face, all while wearing a navy blue jumpsuit over his battle armor. While Vegeta was surprised to find that his brother was still alive, because he wasn't a fighter and didn't have the spirit that most Saiyans had, something that lead the King, their father, to banish him to a remote planet, he wasn't actually annoyed by that fact. He was accompanied by his wife, a short humanoid alien with a round head, who wore a purple tank top, called Gure, not to mention two of Frieza's soldiers who were their escorts, those being the brothers Abo and Kado, who were also here to give Twilight an update on the size of the Empire, as her father and his family were hard at work continuing with her objectives. As the others caught up with Tarble, who was learning more about Earth, Saiyans, and everything else related to the Empire, Twilight found that fifty percent of the known universe was allied with the Empire, forty percent wasn't allied with anyone, and the last ten percent was purely unexplored, something she would correct in due time. The interesting thing about Tarble's visit was that Vegeta was oddly respectful to his brother's wife, despite her kind and sincere nature, but other than that there wasn't too much else for Twilight to worry about as they went back to their lives, causing her to wonder what the future might have in store for them. By the time four years had passed, since the downfall of Kid Buu, Twilight was beginning to wonder if it might be time for her and her family to head back out into space, permanently, and just get back to their lives while keeping an eye on what was going on with the Earth from afar. Despite her thoughts on the matter she had to admit that the Earth was thriving like never before, especially after joining the Empire and some people even joined the Frieza Force to travel the stars, not to mention deal with the various threats that were targeting the other planets. She found that some of the other races in the Empire actually came to visit the planet during their breaks, as she believed in making sure people took breaks so they could recharge their batteries and prepare for the future, and even the commanders of the Frieza Force did the same, not all at once since someone had to be present to issue her father's orders. As such it was interesting for her to see the likes of Sorbet, Tagoma, and Shisami, a commander and his highest ranking officers, walking around in casual clothing while taking in the sights of the planet she had called home for a while, all while enjoying the food that was offered. Earth, despite there being far more food places in the universe, was quickly becoming the epicurean center of the entire universe, known far and wide for all of the dishes that the chefs made, and she even discovered some of her father's own chefs checking out the scene, taking recipes back to serve for her family. It wasn't just those chefs either, as there were all sorts of cooks, from across the entire Empire, who wanted to see what made Earth's food so special and most practically melted when they tasted what had been ordered for their first critical dish, just like what happened when the three young Destroyers-in-training took on the planet as their new home. There were even beings from the neutral planets who came to the Earth so they could see what the fuss was, only to be surprised by the excellent food that was presented, showing her that this place was becoming more popular than she expected it to be. The only thing she found to be a shock was the fact that none of the Galactic Patrol showed up, though while she understood why that was, since this was now part of her father's empire, she really expected someone to come and investigate, but this was best for everyone, as she didn't want her peace interrupted. Eventually Gohan and Videl got married, something that was yet another cause for celebration for everyone, though that was a minor party compared to what happened in August, as that was when Bulma threw a massive birthday party in her own backyard and even invited everyone she could think of. To be honest Twilight wasn't even surprised when Bulma approached her to get her help with a few things, such as her creating a space to store all of the bingo prizes in, such as a large Japanese style castle, a really expensive airplane, one of the best race cars that money could buy, to the point that there were only five of that model in existence, a large twenty carat diamond the size of a head, and many others. She was planning on revealing the prizes to everyone during the party, so they knew what they were playing for, but when it came to the grand prize she was entrusting the secret to Twilight, as she was the only one Bulma trusted, especially since she asked her to go out and claim the Dragon Balls. It was easy for her to understand why the lady wanted all of this protection, because the prizes themselves were worth a fortune, while the wish granting spheres were worth all of the treasures in the world, as one could literally wish for anything, which was even more possible than before since Dende had expanded Shenron's powers. It explained why Xeno Towa went after the Dende from her timeline, as his Eternal Dragon, as dark as it was, held the power to do far more than even their Shenron, hence why she understood Bulma's desires to keep the spheres safe until it was time for the winner to claim them. With that in mind she gathered the seven spheres, formed the holding sphere that only she could access, and stored all of the prizes inside it, so that they would be safe until it was time to reveal them, so when the day of the party arrived she and the others were ready for it. "It seems like everyone's here: Vegeta, our kids, Chi-Chi and her family, Mr. Satan and Buu, and even the godly trainees." Bulma remarked, as she could see that their entire group was present for this event, even those who were new to their group, and while it was easy for her to see Vegeta off to the side, keeping an eye on the children while enjoying himself, at least to the food, before she sighed as she noticed something, "Of course Goku's not here. Twilight, can you..." "Find him? I've already done so: he's currently on King Kai's new planet." Twilight replied, as her detection power was far more powerful and accurate than it had been in the distant past, no doubt because of what she gained when she took in the power of Mechikabura and became the Dark Queen, before she sighed as she prepared herself, "Don't worry, I'll go get him and come right back... just don't expect us to be back instantly, since he's probably training right now. I might have to pull him by his tail to get him to come here." Twilight wasted no time in teleporting off the planet and appeared on her destination, a planet the same size as the one that King Kai had lived on before Cell's detonation was brought to it, though sure enough she found that Goku was in the middle of training, running around with a rope harness that was linked to a large cube that he was hauling. "Ah, there you are. Come on, let's go." Twilight stated, where she found that Goku stopped as soon as he saw her, while at the same time King Kai seemed to be freaking out, something that caused her to open her senses to see if she could see whatever it was that was causing his private panic, "The party just started and Bulma's annoyed that you aren't there to enjoy it... I know you want to train, but you really should take a break." "No, I have to be ready for our next match... I'll head back in an hour, once I've done a bit more training." Goku replied, as while he knew that Bulma would forgive him, if he spent an hour or two before heading back to the Earth for the massive party, he wanted to gain more power so he could clash with Twilight, before hearing that King Kai was freaking out, where he stopped for a moment, "Huh, I wonder who this 'Beerus' person is." "He's not a person, Goku, he's a god... a God of Destruction, to be exact, which means he's the most powerful individual in the entire universe." Twilight said, though this peeked her interest more than she was willing to admit, as the god hadn't been seen for quite a long time now and many had wondered if he had gone back to sleep, because he was known to the people of Alexandria for taking long naps, making her ponder why he was coming here, unless he wanted to speak with her about something important. "It would seem that the tales of your intelligence aren't mere fables." a new voice commented, where Twilight glanced off to the side for a moment and found that they had two newcomers to King Kai's planet, Beerus and Whis, though judging by a bit of smoke and dust around them it looked like they had just arrived, in time to hear her mention him at least, a fact that seemed to make him happy since it cut out unnecessary talking, "I have something I would like to ask you, but first I must complete my business with your Saiyan friend, for he is the one behind my visit here: I have come seeking the one known as the 'Super Saiyan God', and the one who bested Frieza is a good place to start." Goku grinned as he quickly introduced himself, so Beerus knew who he was dealing with, as Twilight backed off to where King Kai was standing, where she used her staff and power to make a barrier around the house, including the car, which served as the starting point of the battle as she nodded her head. Instead of transforming immediately Goku rushed at his foe and swung his fists a few times, finding that the Destroyer's lowered speed was more than enough to evade him, but it was just the warmup so he could understand who was in front of him, as once he learned his lesson he transformed into his Super Saiyan form. Sure enough it was next to nothing in comparison to Beerus' speed, as he dodged everything that Goku sent his way with a smirk on his face, where the Destroyer asked about the blond hair and Twilight informed both him and Whis that this was the first form that a Saiyan could take, causing Goku to move onto Super Saiyan 2 before going on the offensive again. While it was faster and stronger than the first form, and performed far better in the face of Beerus' great power, it was nothing as well, forcing him to go into Super Saiyan 3 without wasting too much time, which was also a massive failure in the grand scheme of things, even if one of his punches blasted a hole through through the planet, much to King Kai's dismay. In that moment Twilight understood why Beerus was looking for a Super Saiyan God, he was looking for a challenge and another god seemed to be the best course of action, causing her to think about the tales she had read about in the past as she observed the battle that was taking place. "Is this the best you can do, Saiyan?" Beerus asked, because while it was interesting to see a Saiyan use transformations, a fact that told him what he was looking for might be someone who can use a unique form, even among the rest of their now deceased kind, he was growing increasingly bored. "No, I have one more form." Goku replied, though that was when he focused once more and took on his final form, much to the surprise of the two gods that had arrived on King's Kai's planet, where he had to thank Twilight for training him and Vegeta in how to use this form, since he could utilize it's power far better than when he first started, "This is what we call Super Saiyan 4!" In that moment Twilight discovered something interesting as Goku make the next move, he was able to hit Beerus, but it was only due to the fact that the Destroyer was arrogant in believing that this form was nothing like the ones that came before it, but that was further from the truth. The Super Saiyan 4 form was far beyond the other three in terms of power and speed, to the point where it was almost on another dimension of power, sort of how her own Dark Queen form was on another level than her Demon Goddess form, and while it wasn't a godly form it could, potentially, give the Destroyer a run for his money. Goku's strike, for example, struck his foe in the side of his face, much to Whis and King Kai's surprise, to which he rushed into a series of blows that struck the stunned god in the chest, showing that he was taking this seriously, but even then Twilight knew it wasn't meant to be. She knew the tales of Beerus the Destroyer, a God of Destruction who enjoyed his job and fought like a Saiyan, in the sense that he liked to restrict himself to the lower depths of his power, so he can actually enjoy a fight, and when a foe proved themselves he would boost his power accordingly. With that in mind he quickly moved out of the way and avoided a punch that wiped out the rest of the planet, which to the grief of King Kai, even though Twilight had saved his house and car, before he struck Goku on the back of his neck with a simple yet powerful strike, causing him to faint and revert to his base form. "I will admit, that caught me by surprise... Super Saiyan 4 has potential." Beerus remarked, where he briefly rubbed the side of his face for a moment, as that first attack, despite not being a god empowered one, stung more than he was willing to admit, causing him to glance at Twilight for a moment, "Tell me: you know of the Super Saiyan God, don't you?" "Yes, but I need to return to the Earth for a moment, so I can recall the information you desire." Twilight replied, though as she said that she used her temporal magic to restore the small planet, surprising Whis in the process, before sensing that Goku had a Senzu Bean on him, which she fit into his mouth with a bit of her magic. With that done Twilight focused on returning to the Earth so she could distract Beerus for a time, all so she could make sure the information she gave him was accurate and not totally wrong, though she had a feeling that things were about to get far more interesting than she originally thought they'd be. > Battle: Super Saiyan God > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- After making sure that Goku was ready to move, and King Kai's planet was back to normal, Twilight warped them back to Capsule Corp, where she discovered that the party was in full swing and that people were enjoying themselves, which was good considering that things were about to get crazy. "Lord Beerus, Whis, welcome to Earth." Twilight stated, where she moved her left hand for a moment and levitated a few pudding cups to the godly pair that was behind her, who took them without delay as Goku demonstrated how to eat them, causing her to step away from them for a moment, "I'm going to tell Bulma of your arrival, so she doesn't think I brought a pair of troublemakers with me, and then I'll get to work double checking my information on the Super Saiyan God." "Be quick about it, I don't have all day." Beerus remarked, though at the same time he ate some of the pudding and found that it was more amazing than he could have hoped for, while Whis enjoyed sampling it as well, before finding that he was interrupted by the arrival of three new figures, which caused him to pause for a moment, "What the... Who are you three?" "I am Caser, and these are my friends Shandy and Saria." Caser said, where they bowed towards the God of Destruction as he said that, showing him that they knew of his status and that they were being as respectful as they could be towards a being who was far stronger than them, "We are God of Destruction trainees from three different timelines, though now we are wards of this timeline, due to ours being lost when Buulight was fleeing from your alternate self." "Ugh, don't remind me of that." Beerus stated, showing them that he didn't want to talk about that day at all, meaning he must have experienced something that caused him to dislike what had gone down while they were fleeing from a creature that resulted in the end of their home timelines, "So, what happened to your Destroyers?" "Caser's was assassinated, mine died while fighting another Destroyer, and Shandy's seemed to die in his sleep, based on what he and his teacher were unable to discover." Saria answered, where Beerus noted that all three seemed ashamed of not being able to do anything while their Destroyers were taken down and their timelines were destroyed, though that was when the rabbit girl sighed as she and the others focused on him again, "Each of us only had time to get a couple of lessons from the Angels of our timelines, before that... monster... showed up and caused our homes to be eradicated, and when she was finally sealed away your alternate selves said that we were 'your responsibility now'. We assumed that they were talking to Lady Twilight at the time, but it makes more sense that the message was meant for you, who had to be watching everything go down." "You would be correct... however, there is a slight problem with that idea." Whis stated, where he glanced at his Destroyer for a moment, who walked down to the party after seeing that Twilight and the one she was talking to wave them into the party, showing that he was more interested in the food than the trio, "Beerus isn't interested in training, as he's focused on the fighter he's been waiting to fight for quite some time... and even if that wasn't the case, it's unlikely that he would actually teach any of you anything. He's not interested in looking for a replacement... however, don't let that get to you, as I'll gladly take you on as my students and help you master your powers." While it was a minor victory for the three trainees, since they were hoping for the Destroyer to take an interest in training them, none of them were going to argue with the results and accepted Whis' offer, especially since they had no idea what the future held for them and the rest of the universe. After that they returned to the party, where Whis asked both Saria and Caser about their godly attire, since none of them were wearing it, where Caser informed him that it seemed very disrespectful to essentially proclaim that they were gods while the real Destroyer was still alive. As they walked Beerus did beckon Shandy over and asked him a few questions, as he was interested in what planet he was from and found that he was from Anu, making them both Anuians, but he told Beerus that Aeos and Chronoa had already checked this timeline for any signs of his existence. Shandy had survived the disaster that befell their home planet in his timeline, but in this one he wasn't so lucky, so he didn't have to worry about bumping into another version of him, though he was sure that some sort of time shenanigans were involved since the planet had been wiped out around the time that Beerus became the God of Destruction for this universe. Shandy also told him that Aeos and Chronoa confirmed that someone had brought him to the present of his timeline, so he could be trained by his Whis, but now he'd never figure everything out, something that caused Beerus to let out a sigh as he patted the youngster on the head, as everything was all right now. Twilight chuckled as she observed Beerus and Whis while she did her work in figuring out the information their God of Destruction wanted, hence why she tapped her tablet as Aria went off into space, as she was checking out another energy signature that was another god, but not one from this universe. She was studying the legends of Yamoshi, the first ever recorded Saiyan who was able to transform into a Super Saiyan, long before his kind came to live on the planet that both Goku and Vegeta came from, hence why they held the legend of such a powerful being that was 'born' every one thousand years, an error after everything she had seen since her visit to Namek. That was the more commonly known legend that he was associated with, the one that every Saiyan eventually came to know about, but there was another tale in an ancient Namekian tome that Moori insisted on saving before the destruction of his home planet, one that happened to contain a second more obscure legend on Yamoshi, which matched her discoveries in Alexandria. The second legend claimed that he had a righteous heart, just as his five allies did, and that when the power of a Super Saiyan failed him his allies poured all of their power, their light so to speak, into him, sparking the transformation into the fabled 'Super Saiyan God'. Based on what she was reading they needed six Saiyans, one to act as a vessel for the power of the other five, which they currently had now that Goku was present, meaning they could perform the ritual with ease, though it would tick off either Goku or Vegeta since they only had enough for one of them to take on this new level of power. Fortunately it seemed like they had some time before Beerus remembered why he came to Earth in the first place, as he and Whis were in the middle of enjoying themselves, whether it being break dancing, which the God of Destruction was actually good at, playing games, Whis' strong suit while he had to keep his Destroyer in check, or just enjoying the bits of food that were here. While he hadn't been invited in the first place, especially since Vegeta seemed afraid of him for just a few moments before finding that the god wasn't here to destroy them all, everyone appeared to enjoy his presence, even if the chefs who were preparing the food in the stalls Bulma had prepared were surprised by his arrival. Twilight even saw her father and the rest of his side of the family talk with Beerus for a time, bowing their heads with respect while talking about whatever it was that interested him, no doubt interested in the state of affairs for the rest of the universe, like how many planets have been blown up recently. She chuckled as she noticed the look of shock that appeared on Beerus' face as Frieza and Towa told him about everything that had been done since Twilight was taken in, especially the fact that she had stopped the senseless destruction of planets and races, instead welcoming them into the Empire by helping take out a local villain or something. There was so much that Beerus needed to catch up on, since it appeared that he had missed all the time she had been growing up and learning from her family, though after about an hour of hanging out, enjoying himself, Beerus decided it was time to move on with his life and walked over to where Twilight was sitting. "Twilight, have you figured out what you know about the Super Saiyan God? Or should I give you some incentive by, oh I don't know, blowing up the Earth?" Beerus inquired, though at the same time none of them others seemed to be even a little worried about his threat, as if they knew that Twilight would stop him if he dared to lay a hand on the planet that she had invested so much time and energy into. "I figured you were enjoying yourself and didn't want to interrupt... but yes, I know the answer to your question." Twilight said, where she beckoned everyone to follow her as she lead the way up to a part of Capsule Corp that Bulma had told her that was going to be demolished and reworked in the very near future, because if her thoughts were right they could do part of the work for her, "First, a little history: once upon a time there was a Saiyan called Yamoshi who, joined by five like-minded individuals, fought against the more evil members of their kind, something that caused him to gain access to the Super Saiyan transformation, but it wasn't enough and it burned him out. His allies, however, infused their light, as in their Ki, into his body and he took on the even more legendary form known as 'Super Saiyan God', allowing him to resume the fight against their enemies... they ultimately lost, but the tale was recorded in the Namekian book of secrets and one of the Libraries of Alexandria. While Yamoshi is dead, that doesn't mean you can't fight a Super Saiyan God, as we need six Saiyans with righteous hearts to perform the ritual, five concentrating their Ki into the sixth... after that, well, we'll see the creation of the second Super Saiyan God." Naturally Vegeta wanted to have a go at the transformation, since Goku had already faced Beerus and lost, but Bulma said that they should let the Earth raised Saiyan use it, since he had some experience facing the God of Destruction, though to appease him Twilight told Vegeta that she'd clash with him in the godly form later, once Goku was done showing it off to Beerus. With that decision made the six Saiyans followed Twilight's instructions to the letter, as while Beerus was waiting she had slipped out to go to the Room of Time to quickly observe the scene in question, where she had Goku stand facing the chair that Beerus was sitting in, while the other five would stand behind him and form a circle. They had to hold hands for a short period of time, while the two closest to Goku would place their hands on his back, though to better focus their energies they could transform into their Super Saiyan forms, or at least the five could while Goku remained in base. She was positive that this would work, a hundred percent sure anyway, so it wasn't long before they were consumed by their golden auras as the five took on their first transformation, though a few moments later that aura took on a blue color as it washed over all of them. Twilight smiled as the energy transferred from the five Saiyans and entered Goku's body, surrounding him in the aura as it lifted him into the air, leaving the others in their base forms, before he was shrouded from their view as the energy quickly formed a sphere and pulsed three times... though after all of that it pulled away and revealed Goku floating there, with a red coloration to his hair and eyes, the former in it's base state. "And there it is: Super Saiyan God!" Twilight stated, where Goku touched down and glanced at himself in disbelief, not to mention the fact that his body was slightly slimmer than he was used to, no doubt a side effect of his new transformation, causing her to glance at the others and shoo them away, "Come on, give them room." She and Whis were the only ones standing nearby as Beerus and Goku readied themselves once more, though this time around, when Goku made the first move, his opponent shifted his stance and caught the fist, all while everyone noticed that the Saiyan had a red flaming aura around him now. Such a thing caused the ground around them to flatten while also making a crater around their immediate area, all while the clouds started to part and evaporate before their eyes, though Goku was taken aback by his new level of power, as he now understood what Twilight felt after she gained access to her Demon Goddess form. A few moments later Beerus let his foe go before they floated up into the air, which was followed by the two clashing once again, this time the Destroyer took the lead as he used far more basic attacks to gauge how his foe reacted to his newfound power and the unknown heights he could now reach. As they started to move around the city it didn't look like either of them were taking this seriously, almost as if this was a game to both fighters, though Goku did admit that he hated the fact that he could have never reached this level of power on his own, even though Twilight knew if he had trained with Whis, for example, he would have gained it naturally. Such a thing set Beerus off as he attacked Goku and pushed him out into the wilderness, going into a forest and even one of the mountain ranges, all while mocking his foe for hating the fact that this strength wasn't his own, as if his pride was far greater than Goku thought, all while leaving a trail of destruction in their wake. As everyone else followed, by using a flying spherical ship of Bulma's design, Twilight found that the two fighters smashed through trees, tore apart a peak due to Goku's back hitting it, and an area was shattered as the two clashed with their fists, showing the might of two god level beings fighting each other. She found it sad that Aria was missing all of this, though while the two clashed she found that the Kaioshin in question whispered something to Whis and the Angel disappeared, meaning she had been right that there was trouble in the universe and that he was going to resolve it. From there it was a simple manner of turning her focus back to the fight as Beerus sent Goku flying once more, showing her that while the power of a Super Saiyan God was far more than even Super Saiyan 4, as the Saiyan had gotten a few good blows in, it was still nothing compared to the might of a God of Destruction. At the same time, as he knocked Goku down into a body of water, sending him down into the Earth itself until he found a cavern, Twilight realized what was really going on, as Beerus was training Goku, honing his god powers so he'd be a better challenge for him, and when no ground shattering movements were detected she determined that Goku was convincing Beerus of something important. Of course it wasn't long before she felt a drop in Goku's Ki, he had lost his new transformation, and yet she discovered an interesting fact, the Saiyan wasn't backing down and continued the fight, to the point that he even transformed again and tore his way out of the ground. As he and Beerus appeared in the air it was easy to tell which form he was in, as he was back in his base form, and yet he seemed to be pushing Beerus as they moved higher and higher into the air at far greater speeds than Goku was capable of in this form. Such a thing caused Twilight to chuckle, as she had once thought that Goku and Vegeta were prodigies, quickly adapting to new ideas and techniques with little to no training, like how the former was able to replicate the Kamehameha after only seeing it once, according to Bulma's tale on the matter, and it seemed like it even applied to his new god form. Transcending the barrier between a mortal's power and the power of the gods allowed Goku to grow to the point where his base form seemed to be keeping up with Beerus' current level of strength, meaning if he transformed into his Super Saiyan 4 form it would be significantly stronger than before. It got to the point where he pushed Beerus out into space, so he wouldn't cause any additional harm to the Earth, and she followed them up there to watch the end of the fight, to the point where the Saiyan used his Instant Transmission to move around and get into a blind spot to fire a Kamehameha at his opponent. Such a thing, while lighting up the sky and likely causing the people of Earth to wonder what was going on up here, did nothing to Beerus, even though it did look like he was pleased with Goku's progress, before he flashed out of the way to avoid another attack. That, in turn, allowed him to get behind the Saiyan as he brought his hands close together and pulled them apart above his head, forming a massive sphere of energy that was similar to a sun, just like Twilight's Sol Invictus, that he sent down at Goku without delay, which caused his foe to raise his hands in an attempt to stop it. Beerus used the next few moments to inform him that he had lost his Super Saiyan God form, even though he admitted that he viewed Goku as a rare prodigy, in adapting to his newest level of power in no time, before blasting the sun with enough power to expand it, only for Goku to surprise both him and Twilight as he tapped into the power of his new form again, for a few seconds, and shattered the sun. By that Twilight meant that he powered up, let himself be taken into the core of the attack, and then let loose a scream or a yell as he expanded his power, breaking the entire sphere into smaller bits of power that were extinguished as they surged off into the distance, leaving him totally exhausted. "Fascinating. You were able to call forth the power of a Super Saiyan God after using it once." Twilight remarked, which she found to be incredibly interesting when she thought about it, as it meant that any Saiyan who underwent the ritual would gain access to a whole new level of power, one they could tap into with the required training in that field, "You have taken your first step into the realm of the gods, Son Goku, and I expect that you and Vegeta, when he catches up, will go on to do great things with your new power." "I just... wish I was able to do more." Goku huffed, where he focused on the god that was behind Twilight, because Beerus was possibly the greatest foe he had faced in his life, though it was hard to judge and rank him accurately since he knew that Twilight had withheld and hidden most of her great power from him and the others. "Don't be disappointed, Saiyan, as you have proven your might... you are my second greatest foe," Beerus stated, though as he thought about that Whis returned to the area they were in, as if nothing had happened during his clash with Goku, but he was more interested in the other figure who was currently floating nearby, "though if I'm being honest, you might drop to being my third greatest opponent. Twilight Sparkle, I would like to see how you fare in a fight as well." Twilight smiled for a moment, as it was an honor that someone like Beerus even wanted to clash with her, and she knew it would be one for the record books by the time it was over, which only made her even more interested in what might happen once they were ready to go at it. > Battle: Clash of the Gods > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Are you sure that you are up to another fight, Lord Beerus?" Whis asked, as while he knew that his Destroyer wanted to do battle with Twilight, a fact he was interested in since it should be highly entertaining for the watchers, he felt that some rest might be in order for him, like an hour or so, to get over the excitement of his last battle. "I am perfectly fine. The Super Saiyan God was interesting, but he needs more training before he can provide me with the fight I dreamed about." Beerus replied, where he stretched his arms for a moment, showing that he was just fine and that most of Goku's blows had no next to nothing to him, before he shifted his stance and glanced at Twilight, who was simply floating nearby as she entered something into her tablet, "What are you doing?" "Completing my notes on the Super Saiyan God form, your fight with Goku, and my thoughts on how to make him even stronger than before." Twilight answered, though at the same time she saved her work and caused the tablet to vanish as she moved it back down to her mother's side, who would keep it safe, before she found that Beerus was interested in the topic that she had mentioned, "This new form is a Saiyan taking on God Ki, so I'm eager to see what might happen once he knows how to channel that energy on his own... could he still go Super Saiyan, creating a whole new form in the process... a 'Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan', in a sense... it would need a better name, now that I think about it." "We barely finished our fight... yet here you are, already coming up with ways to help him out." Beerus remarked, which he saw as a good thing, because so far it looked like Twilight was the one that everyone, for the most part, listened to when it came to certain topics or events, while her intelligence in figuring this sort of stuff out was interesting, before he took a moment to shift his stance, "Now then, are you ready for this?" "I am, but might I suggest moving to a planet with no life? I'd rather not destroy the Earth." Twilight said, because based on the battle that had just concluded she could tell that Beerus likely only used about ten percent of his total power, maybe even less considering how easily he dealt with Goku, meaning that her full power would force him to use more of his own potential, thus breaking the world in the process, "Besides, we have good food and I know you wouldn't want to lose such a wonderful planet." Beerus stared at her for a moment as Aria, a Kaioshin he recalled, floated up to where they were standing as Whis did a quick check for a suitable world, where she pointed out a world that looked pristine, ready to be filled with life, and was able to confirm that, by looking into the future with Shin, that it would remain lifeless for it's entire existence. Such a thing meant that it would be destroyed at some point anyway and the seeds for a new world would replace it, since Twilight had convinced Shin and Old Kai to actually do their job and not slack off, hence why they were busy studying right now, instead of being present for the party. With that in mind Whis directed them all back down to the area that Bulma's ship was in, all so Twilight and Aria could pinpoint the planet that was their destination, utilizing a bit of Twilight's great power to move the ship, not to mention all of it's passengers, to the planet in question. Goku and the others glanced out at the seemingly ordinary world, as it looked similar to Earth in some ways, though all Twilight had to do was read the readings her mother got on her tablet to know that things were wrong, as the necessary elements for life, even those on other planets, wasn't met on this planet. This planet lacked too many components to actually produce any form of life, confirming it's status as one that would be destroyed at some point in the very near future, to which she handed her tablet back to her mother before following her soon to be foe outside. "What a worthless planet... I might destroy it as soon as our battle is over." Beerus remarked, though as he said that he turned his attention back to his opponent, finding that Twilight landed on the same plateau that he had chosen, only her stance suggested that she was ready for the battle he insisted on having with her, "Whis said you have the power to do what Goku did earlier, to transform and take on new forms... are you sure that you want to fight with your 'base form'?" Twilight stared at him for a few seconds before rushing through the air as she zeroed in on Beerus' location, though while he was expecting her to use a frontal attack, going for his chest, she had a different idea in mind as she spun and brought the side of her left leg towards him. For a few seconds it looked like she was going to hit him, though Twilight was proven wrong as he raised his right arm and blocked the attack before it could reach his head, with such speed that made it look like she had been moving in slow motion, a fact she knew to be impossible. Her mother and Demigra had told her about a power that only certain gods, the Angels to be exact, had access to, while most Gods of Destruction couldn't reach it, no matter what they tried, with both of them theorizing that Beerus might have the highest grade of his kind. That power was called 'Ultra Instinct', where one's body thinks and moves independently, without the user having to think about what to do in any situation, and it almost seemed like her foe might have used it to block her attack, something she would have to test out later in the fight. Beerus, on the other hand, punched her in the chest and flew away from where they had started, using the force of his flight to send her flying as he completed his attack, where she collided with a nearby mountain and crashed into the side, causing the peak to crumble in the process. Instead of giving her even a second to do anything Beerus released a burst of yellow energy blasts down on where she had landed, most of them blowing up the rest of the mountain that was around her, though Twilight snapped a barrier up and let his attacks hit it as she pulled herself out of the rubble pile. She had to admit it after the first failed attack, her base form couldn't stand before the might of Beerus the Destroyer, to which she focused her mind for a few seconds as she unleashed the power of her Dark Form, something that caused her foe to raise an eyebrow as he noticed her emerge from the rubble. Twilight already suspected that this wouldn't do much for her, as her foe's power was far beyond what she could wield in this form, but she wanted to confirm her thoughts on the matter before using her Demon Goddess form, since that one would be able to put up a decent fight. As she thought about that, however, Twilight held her right hand out and her staff appeared without delay, which came as a surprise to Beerus, before she focused and tapped the ground, causing a large ring of magic to appear on the ground around her as she thrust the head of her staff towards her foe. What happened next was that the rubble that had been created by her foe's attack was lifted into the air and surged towards the God of Destruction, though while she directed a fair amount of it towards his chest she also had some coming from all around him. It was essentially like Piccolo's attack when he fought 17, the 'Hellzone Grenade', but she wasn't using it to do harm to her foe, rather she was banking on him using his power to destroy all of them in an instant and fill the sky with smoke, briefly opening a hole in his defenses, and if everything worked as intended he wouldn't see her coming. Beerus, as she expected, raised his left hand and used his power to obliterate the incoming rubble like they were nothing, though it looked more like he simply terminated their very existence, leaving nothing behind, but those that came from his left and right he destroyed with Ki blasts. The instant those ones were struck Twilight teleported into the space right behind Beerus and struck him in the back with a kick, using enough force to knock him out of the air, for a short time anyway, though before he had a chance to recover she loosed a blast into his back, something he wiped out before rushing back up to her position. "I'll give you some praise: that was a nice plan... if ineffective." Beerus remarked, showing her and the others that she had done nothing to him, confirming her previous thoughts on the matter within a couple of seconds, meaning her current form meant nothing to him in the grand scheme of things. In the next moment Beerus punched her in the side of her face and Twilight found herself flying through the air, where she smashed through some trees before the Destroyer pushed her into an area that looked like it was mostly formations made out of rock. As he did that Twilight opened her left hand towards the ground and blasted it, causing Beerus to back off for a moment while she regained her composure, something that was followed by her calling for the power of lightning as she sent a few bolts after him. She intended to shock him a little, but Beerus simply punched them out of the way, his attacks breaking the attacks and sending them off course so they would collide with the the ground around where they were fighting, further confirmation that her Dark Form, while impressive, was nothing before Beerus' might. He rushed at her as she prepared her next move and swung his left arm, knocking her staff out of her hand before driving her right into the ground once more, this time making sure to blow up the entire area around her with a blast of energy as he floated up into the air. "I have to admit something, you aren't as strong as I thought you'd be." Beerus stated, because right now he was bored out of his mind, as her plans were interesting to fight against, since most people tried to be up front and personal during their fights, but none of them seemed to do anything to him and collapsed under the weight of his power, which only made him wonder why everyone followed her lead. Twilight floated up out of the ground for a moment as she extended her hand once more, calling her staff back to her side in a matter of seconds, where she remained still for a moment as she pointed the tip in Beerus' direction, who stared at her like he was totally bored, before a sphere of darkness engulfed her as she shifted into her Demon Goddess form and prepared herself again. Once she was ready Twilight rushed through the air and punched her foe in the side of the face, as if he wasn't expecting her to actually do anything, but while her power was far greater than before it sure didn't seem like anything was happening, again confirming that Beerus' strength wasn't to be laughed at. It felt like she was gaining on him while they fought, since she was getting closer to using her full power against him, but now she understood what must have been going through Goku's mind as he clashed with the Destroyer, which caused her to realize that her only hope in taking control of this battle might be in her final form. For the time being, however, Twilight focused on swinging at Beerus as he did the same to her, their fists colliding as they moved through the area and caused the sky to shudder, which made all of the remaining clouds part under the force of their individual energies. One thing she discovered was that Beerus didn't seem to like attacks that had long preparation times, as when she tried to utilize her Eclipse Cannon he moved into a series of blows that stopped her in her tracks, but it did give her an idea as she created a screen of smoke between them. In the next moment she summoned a number of clones and sent them out into the surrounding area as she hid herself with her invisibility spell, because she had noticed that Beerus couldn't detect Ki and that meant he had no idea where she truly was, so her clones would distract him for a time. To make sure her attack wasn't ruined before it was ready Twilight also weaved a hidden sphere into existence and hid inside it, so when the rest of the smoke cleared Beerus found her clones moving all over the place and started to follow after them without wasting even a single second. With him distracted for the moment Twilight gathered her power, forming the two spheres in front of her as she focused the essence of light and darkness once more, while locking onto where her opponent was located as he smashed his way through her clones, punching and kicking them hard enough to break them into pieces in a matter of seconds. As he released a burst of energy that tore all of his opponents apart, wiping out the area of clones, much to his surprise since Beerus likely assumed that one of them had to be real, where Twilight moved into position and loosed the sphere of mixed energy at her foe, who tanked it as it detonated and lit up the sky, but, much to her annoyance, Beerus had taken no damage again. "That's much better, though that attack tickled a little... I hope you can do better than this." Beerus remarked, where it was easy for Twilight to tell that he thought that this was her final form, since it was a godly form like Super Saiyan God, but he was still looking down on her, as if expecting nothing else from her after this point, before he rushed at her and kicked her in the chest. Twilight braced herself as Beerus pushed her down into the ground and used her like a plow, cutting apart the land that was behind her without regard for the rest of the planet, and when he reached a certain point he released a blast into her chest that pushed her right into a mountain peak and blew it apart. Such a thing made her realize the difference in power that rested between this form and the God of Destruction's great might, that while it was a godly form, and was stronger than everything that came before it, it was only worth a fraction of Beerus' great power and made her realize why he was chosen to be the God of Destruction. She quickly determined that, if she followed this path and only used only this form against Beerus' might, she was going to lose in the grand scheme of things, despite her immortality, causing her to sigh for a moment as she lifted herself into the air once more, this time focusing her mind on the height of her power, the form her foe didn't even know existed. In the next instant a black and red aura wrapped around her as she brought up her final form, something that caused the earth and sky to shake in response to her growing power, while Beerus stopped for just a few moments to watch what she was doing, and it wasn't long before it completely covered her. A few seconds later the darkness pulled back and Beerus' eyes widened as he gazed upon her final form, the Dark Queen, all while the plateau she had ended up on top of shattered around her, breaking apart under the intensity of her power, and once she was sure everything was done Twilight floated up to where her opponent was floating. "You had another form... I'm quite surprised." Beerus stated, though as he said that his senses told him that Twilight now had the power to actually put up a fight, which was what he had been searching for since he heard the prophecy about an arch-rival that would be worthy of his power, who he had assumed was Super Saiyan God, "So, what do you call this form of yours?" "It's not just a form, it's a position as well. Allow me to properly introduce myself: I am Twilight Sparkle, daughter of Frieza and Towa, and I am the Dark Queen of the Demon Realm." Twilight replied, where it was hard to tell if Beerus even knew of the realm in question, in fact everything she had learned so far made it seem like he was ignorant about the rest of the universe, like Shin had been when she first encountered him, before she shifted her stance and moved so she could show him her full power. As Beerus turned to face her, and give her his full attention, his eyes widened as Twilight disappeared and reappeared right behind him, though it allowed him to know something important, her speed was far greater than he thought it would be, as that was a near instantaneous movement and it barely looked like she had moved a muscle while doing so. In that instant he felt that her speed was above his own, like that of an Angel when he recalled Whis' training in the past, though he turned and raised his arms as Twilight punched him, where he discovered that this wasn't a farce, her power was on another level than what he had faced so far during this battle. The sheer force of the attack sent him backwards, as she had turned the tables on him in an instant, though as he regained himself Twilight raised a hand and loosed a volley of dark arrows into the space between them, which moved faster than what he expected, causing Beerus to lash out with his power in an attempt to destroy them all. He missed one that slammed into his chest and pushed him into the ground below them, the force tearing up the surroundings as he was pushed through the stone and earth, before he knocked it into the air and watched as it just blew up a short distance above him, meaning it was a good thing he had gotten rid of it when he did. He understood that this form of Twilight's was far stronger than those that came before it, given what he was experiencing at the moment, meaning he had to take this seriously since the power of the 'Dark Queen' was greater than the power Goku had called upon for their fight. Beerus barely had time to do anything else as he found that Twilight had formed what had to be a bow made out of pure darkness and loosed a single arrow at him, one that shimmered as more filled the air, though unlike the last attack he discovered that most of the targets were phantom mirages, designed to trick him, while the main one had all the power as he dodged it. Sure enough it tore through the landscape before detonating some distance away, blowing a hole the size of Capsule Corp into the world, something that had to shock those that were observing them right now, but as he turned his attention to her Beerus found that Twilight was already in front of him and was moving to punch him in the face. With the attack registering he raised his arms and went on the defensive, blocking the incoming attacks as they started to move around the area, even though he noticed that their surroundings were breaking under their might, a fact that made him wonder if it was his own power or if it was Twilight's dark strength. In the next moment he found that his abilities didn't seem to be helping much as Twilight was able to read his movements and react accordingly, striking him whenever a hole happened to open in his defenses, showing him that she was smarter than most of the opponents he had faced over his time as the Destroyer of this universe. As he thought about that Beerus found himself being knocked up into the air by one of Twilight's kicks, a well placed one at that, and discovered a crescent wave of dark energy rushing up at him, demonstrating the fact that she was planning two or three steps ahead at all times and likely had different plans for what he did. Beerus extended his hand for a moment and used his power to obliterate it before it could hit him, though as that happened a dark marble rushed by his head, missing the side of his face, but as he glanced down at Twilight he felt gravity shift on him and glanced back for a second, only to discover a massive dark object in the sky, like a dark moon. It surprised him that Twilight was able to make something like that so quickly, in the span of a few seconds no less, though as he turned to destroy it, so he could return to the fight, he felt something warm behind him and glanced back, finding a massive sun coming at his backside, causing him to realize that Twilight's magic was beyond what he and Whis had expected after his slumber. Despite being trapped between two massive objects Beerus raised his hands and blasted them before he could be in the center of both attacks, blowing both up before they had a chance to detonate on top of him, though in that moment he was stuck in the back and was ridden down into the ground. Twilight, after doing that, flashed up into the air, giving her a good glimpse of where Beerus was resting, where she glanced at Whis and gestured for him to get the others out of here, as her next attack was going to do some serious damage and she didn't want them caught in it. As he did that, which was followed by the spherical ship being taken off planet, Twilight gathered her power as she brought her hands together in front of her, forming the stance to prepare a Kamehameha, a 'Dark Factor Kamehameha' due to the dark center and dark purple aura it possessed. While she prepared it the air shook in response to her power, while three rings appeared on the air around her as she brought her hands to her side, all while Beerus pulled himself out of the crater she had left him in, though as soon as the attack as ready Twilight fired the twisted beam of energy. Beerus, seeing it come his way, decided to just get out of the way as the beam struck the ground, pierced the earth, and struck the core since the rest of the planet detonated not a few seconds after, blowing small chunks of rock out into the rest of the system they were in, causing him to warp to where his foe was floating. "Now that is what I'm talking about! You, Twilight, are officially my second greatest opponent." Beerus remarked, because he was pleased by this turn of events, he was being pushed and tested by the dark power his foe was using, which was totally different than what happened when he fought Goku earlier, but now he understood why Chronoa had been totally terrified of Mechikabura. Despite the fact, however, Beerus wasn't about to let the battle end as he rushed through the space between them and threw a couple of punches at Twilight, intending on taking her while she was off guard, since he had been talking, only to find that she was expecting it and cancelled his out with her own attacks. He discovered that she went on the offensive not even a few seconds later, pushing him to defend himself while she punched and kicked at him, faster than before while they moved through the wreckage of the planet that had been picked out for their fight. Twilight ended up grabbing the side of his head as she moved through part of the area, smashing him through some of the larger pieces of rubble while breaking everything around them into nothingness, showing Whis and the others that she was now dominating the fight and that her true power was nothing to be sniffed at. She followed that up by locating the biggest fragment of the now destroyed planet and slammed Beerus down into it, almost like she was swinging a flail around, leaving an imprint of the God of Destruction in the stone, before she grabbed his right arm while stepping on his back, putting him in a position a fair number of warriors would admit defeat in. While she did that Whis flashed down to the area that they were fighting in and rested a hand on her shoulder, almost as if silently telling her that this was more than enough, where she released Beerus' arm and walked off to the side without wasting even a second, allowing the God of Destruction to stand up again. "I think we'll have to end the fight there, to be picked up at a later date." Whis stated, because he knew that Beerus would push himself to exhaustion now that he found someone who could actually stand up to his full incredible power, and with Twilight's seemingly endless stamina, no doubt a function of her Dark Queen form, he suspected it was a battle that would end with his Destroyer's defeat, even if Beerus seemed annoyed by his statement, "Twilight, you showed great power in the face of Beerus' might, and I must ask you something important: would you consider becoming a God of Destruction?" The reason he was asking this was because he had been observing her for quite a while and had seen the impact that she had on the universe, saving races from dangers, purging threats while maintaining the stability of the planets she and the rest of her empire visits, and basically doing everything that Beerus should be doing. "Hm, 'Twilight the Destroyer'... I'll admit, it has a certain ring to it, doesn't it?" Twilight said, though this wasn't something she had expected when she agreed to fight Beerus, that his Angel would look to her as a potential replacement, though at the same time she knew this might be a way to get the current Destroyer to get back to his job, "Tell you what, Whis, I'll think about it." Whis smiled as Beerus frowned and folded his arms, as it seemed like his ploy might be working in Beerus' mind, no doubt thinking about the consequences of being replaced by Twilight, though as they returned to the ship, and headed back to the Earth, his Destroyer did tell the trainees that he'd start their lessons in one week's time, causing him to look forward to what the future held for them. > Interlude: Newfound Training > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- After the battle with Beerus, and the Destroyer getting beaten down by Twilight's full power, the group returned to Earth without delay and returned to Bulma's birthday party, though on the way back Vegeta informed her that he wouldn't do the ritual that Goku had gone through, as he knew her strength was far greater than Super Saiyan God. Twilight knew that, at some point in time, he was going to ask Whis if he could train with him so he could catch up with Goku, he didn't even need to say it since she was good at reading him and the other Saiyan, and she suspected that his rival was already thinking the same thing. With a whole new world, the world of godly energy, available to them it was only a matter of time until one or both of them made a move to gain a brand new level of power that was unknown to everyone, and she had to admit that she was interested in seeing what might happen when they finally reached that level. It did cause her to think about the few notes she had written down before the battle with Beerus, about the potential for something she called 'Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan', and wondered if she might be on the right track, before shelving the thought for the time being. While she thought about all that Twilight heard Whis mention that he was more than willing to set up some lessons for the two Saiyans, no doubt to help force his God of Destruction to do more training or something, while Beerus himself was chatting with the trainees that were living in his universe. It was a good thing in her mind, as the three displaced trainees had been wondering what to do with their lives, other than call Earth home and train with either her or the Saiyans, and taking on Beerus' training would allow them to figure out the heights of their power and potential. Of course she had to wonder what Saria and her friends would do once their own training was done, since they couldn't return to their old timelines and she was positive that the other universes didn't need a replacement Destroyer, so for now it looked like they were stuck in just improving themselves. She honestly felt sorry for them, since it was the fault of an alternate version of herself that had brought about the destruction of the timelines that they came from, and knew that they would figure out how to help the trio, even if the trainees were more focused on what their futures held for them. One thing Twilight really wasn't expecting was that her father came over to her and asked if she would be willing to put him through some of her training, because after witnessing the entirety of her clash with Beerus, something his family had told her not to do when she was younger, had convinced him it was time for him to improve his power. She was, however, happy that he was willing to actually train and wanted her as his training partner, even though both her grandfather and uncle had the same idea, they all wanted her to train with them so they could master their own powers and discover whatever might be beyond what each of them were used to. After studying her father's kind, enough to add them into the Animorph series, Twilight assumed that there was another level of power that was beyond what all three of them were used to, and now she had a chance to prove whether she was right or not, though even if she was wrong, and they had no further forms to gain, it would benefit them in the long run. Of course they weren't the only ones interested in such a thing, as she had Dabura and the rest of the Demon Gods and Goddesses asking for the same thing, all to aid her in her plans for the rest of the universe, as all of them knew that it was only a matter of time until she went back to expanding the Empire and they wanted to be of use to her in some manner. In the days and weeks that followed Twilight took her family and the Demons to a nearby planet that they could reach with ease, thanks to her modified and improved engines, where they would remain undisturbed, as her father didn't have to worry about Goku teleporting here and interrupting their training. To be fair towards everyone else she decided not to use her Dark Queen form, as that would be overkill, rather she took to using her Demon Goddess form as they trained, where she blocked and parried attacks while lashing out with her own, even if it meant taking on all of them at once. When they weren't having mock battles, to see how everyone was improving in terms of power and skill, she walked around an area that was meant to help her make sure the others knew the basics of combat and controlling their great power, the latter of which was a problem for her father, his brother, and her grandfather. Twilight had studied her father's fight with Goku a few times before even starting their training, where she knew that stamina control was a problem for him and she wanted to get it out of the way, hence why she started with the basics since the three of them hadn't trained as much as everyone else had. Such a thing had an interesting side effect, as it allowed her father to match Cooler's ability to control his true form, which meant he didn't need any of his restriction forms anymore, not to mention growing his power at absurd rates, to the point where she had to wonder if he might have similar genetics to a Saiyan, in terms of power growth. Of course such a thing meant that she had to force him into meditating and improving his self control, even though she did made sure everyone took breaks every now and then so they didn't burn themselves out, since overexertion was one of the things that she wanted to avoid. During her downtime Twilight would do one of two things, the first being that she would head to Beerus' planet, thanks to Whis giving her permission to teleport to and from whenever she wanted, free of charge since he was likely planning on having the Saiyans bribe him with Earth food for his training. Whenever she did that Twilight discovered that he was actually using both of them to clean up the rest of the planet, in ways that looked like they were getting some training out of it anyway, and by lingering in a realm filled with godly energy she realized that Whis was exposing them to the energy of the gods. While they did that Twilight and Whis moved through the air during their own sessions, allowing her to train with an Angel and improve her own skills, though she had to admit that Whis' methods for the Saiyans were fun to watch, such as when he forced them to lug around large stones cuffed to their wrists, with the threat of falling into the abyss if they were too slow. The other thing she did was continue her expansion of the Empire, as in studying the various planets that were around the outskirts, seeing what sort of species happened to call each one home and what she could learn from them, and stopping conflicts on her own, since she didn't need an army to back her up. One of the planets she ended up visiting was the planet of Fantasia VII, a planet that looked pristine and full of life, just like Earth when Twilight thought about it, which was home to a species of dwarf sized goblins, anthropomorphic rats that were almost human sized and had a hunch, and a race of annoying elves. The problem was that a war was about to break out among the races, as the Lord of the rats, Ikit Doomclaw, tapped his metallic runed staff on the ground and pointed one of his claws at the Goblin Queen, Sorisa, blaming her kind for attacking the rat caravans and looting them. Apparently they had found a new energy source fairly recently, a green gemstone they called 'Worpal', or 'Warp Opal' as Twilight found out, that was incredibly powerful and could be used as a source of renewable energy, and what they had claimed so far had been stolen. Of course Sorisa informed Twilight that they weren't responsible for such a thing, in fact her people, who just so happened to be a warrior race, weren't capable of ambushing the rats and escaping without leaving any evidence that they were there, as the goblins and rats were equal in terms of power, so if it was them they would have lost people in the attack and everyone was accounted for. Twilight uncovered that the fair skinned elves, who were late to the meeting, were the culprits, as she learned the exact time and place of the last attack and looked into the past to reveal the truth of the situation, the elves ambushed the last caravan, killed every guard, and made off with the Worpal shipment. Of course she also showed it when the party from the elves showed up, who swore it wasn't them, but Dabura and Demigra captured them while uncovering a chest full of Worpal, something that stunned the goblins while the rats cried out for vengeance for their fallen. Twilight had to ask the group why they were willing to start a war between both of the other species of their world, when it was pristine and was large enough for everyone to get along, only for her and the rulers of the other races to discover that the elves didn't want to share, and that anyone who survived the war would be enslaved until they died. The tipping point for her was the fact that the elven ruler even indicated that she would tear down every other planet as well, kill everyone that happened to be a different race, and that included the Empire, causing Twilight to officially call in the Frieza Force as she openly declared the elves to be enemies of the universe. By the end of the day the elf capital was in ruin, the rest of the Worpal had been recovered and delivered to the rats, who needed a better name in her mind, and both they and the goblins joined the Empire, adding Fantasia VII to her father's vast network of planets. What surprised her was that many, if not all, of Ikgit's race called her the 'holy pony-thing', which would have made her question their intelligence, given all of the races she had encountered before, but while many had problems with their speech, such as 'sound-noise', the scientists of the Empire welcomed them with open arms. That was followed by her learning that they were actually fairly intelligent, they adapted to their new roles with ease and were now already working on some ideas to improve the gear that Twilight hadn't gotten to, while the warrior cast joined the rest of the other soldiers of the Empire. The goblins were the same, going where they were needed so they could aid all sorts of planets that were still in need of assistance, so they could repay the Empire for aiding them in their time of need, since all of them knew that without Twilight's arrival the elves would have annihilated them. Other than that Twilight found that the other planets weren't as exciting as Fantasia VII, allowing her to focus on training with either Whis or her family and all of the other Demons, where she found that the weeks turned into months, until a year had passed without anything major happening, save for the results of her family's training. "I have to admit it, your new forms are very powerful." Twilight remarked, as her father, uncle, and grandfather had taken a moment to show off the results of their training, especially after figuring out how to regulate the stamina drain, to some degree since it wasn't an easy thing to accomplish for those who haven't trained like her, and she was impressed by what they had done in a years' worth of training. "Do you think Frieza and Cooler can beat Goku and Vegeta?" King Cold asked, because while he suspected that they had a fighting chance now, since all three of them had rapidly grown in strength over the last year, at a rate that was slower than Twilight's insane growth, he wanted to know his granddaughter's thoughts on the matter. "Honestly, it all depends on how much Goku and Vegeta have grown over the last year." Twilight replied, because with the two Saiyans having spent most of the last year with Whis, and dodging all sorts of attacks from Beerus' area while he was training the three trainees, there was honestly no telling how much stronger they could have gotten, "Hence why we're here, far away from the rest of the races of Earth, so any fighting that happens won't damage any of the cities." They had returned to the Earth and she had picked out an area for a potential fight to take place in, and sure enough the pair everyone was waiting for, as the Z Warriors and the Demons were off to the side, arrived with the trainees, including Whis and Beerus for that matter. In that moment King Cold and Towa departed from the area that Twilight, Frieza, and Cooler were standing in, with Twilight herself off to the side so she could watch what was going to happen next, though it did allow her to see that Goku's attire had been updated by Whis, molding her own Morph Clothing with his own style, all while Vegeta had done the same, as he was wearing a new version of her Battle Armor. Frieza was in his base form while Cooler had taken on his own evolved form, the one he used back when he landed on Earth with King Cold, though both of them and the two Saiyans were radiating power, showing that they were allowing the other side to realize just how strong they had gotten recently. While Twilight observed them, however, she spotted a newcomer, a short figure who wore the uniform of the Galactic Patrol, a light gray chest piece with a purple jumpsuit under it, equipped with a blaster while really having no unique features that let him stand out. She really had no idea why a member of the Galactic Patrol was even here, as he hadn't been invited to this function, not to mention that the Earth was officially under the Empire's glorious rule, and all Bulma could offer her was the fact that he heard of Frieza's visits and, for some reason, came to 'warn' them of his arrival. In the next couple of seconds Goku clashed with Frieza while Vegeta did the same with Cooler, where the groups moved all over the air above them, showing off newfound levels of speed and power while making sure not to break everything that was around them. Sure enough everyone watched the scene unfold with interest, as Frieza and Cooler were able to match the Saiyans, despite the fact that they had trained for a shorter period of time than their opponents had, which interested everyone that was observing them right now. The Patrolman, Jaco, was actually taking pictures of the fighters as they moved through the air, which was impressive since it meant his eyes were better than a normal person's, though he had to stop as the four fighters paused their clash and both Saiyans focused for a time. It was something that Twilight had been eager to see, if they were able to utilize Super Saiyan God or a form that was beyond it, where they were covered by a blue layer of energy, God Ki to be exact, as they transformed, as not a few moments later she discovered that they were in their Super Saiyan forms, only with blue hair, blue eyes, a nice blue aura, and even a blue color to their Saiyan tails. Their power was impressive, in fact she was certain that these forms could match what her father and his family could use in battle now, though as she studied them Whis floated nearby and informed her that the Saiyans called this Super Saiyan 'Blue', a simple name instead of 'Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan'. Such a thing was followed by Frieza and Cooler calling forth golden auras as they called upon their newest power, causing the very skies to erupt with lightning every couple of seconds while the ground itself gave way to their incredible terrifying power. Their transformation was a full body one, as in the armored portions of their wrists and legs took on a golden shine, while the upper parts of their arms and legs took on a slightly darker golden shine, and their actual skin, as in the hands, feet, and the area around both of their mouths turned purple. The gemstone sections also turned purple, but they also shrunk in size while their eyes became blood red, though the sheer amount of power coming from their Golden form, as they called it, was enough to put them on the same level as Goku and Vegeta's newly acquired Super Saiyan Blue. As she started to take notes, however, she heard the sound of Jaco taking more pictures of what was going on, focusing on the new forms since this was the first time anyone had seen something like this, but it was what he said next that caused her to move over to where he was standing, especially since Bulma seemed shocked by his statement. "Could you repeat what you just said?" Twilight inquired, because if she had heard things right there was another matter in the universe that demanded her full attention for some time, while at the same time everyone stopped to observe her and Jaco for a time, due to the fact that if she was focused on something it meant it had to be important. "I was just telling Bulma that I need these pictures for the report that I'll be submitting later," Jaco stated, gesturing to the camber he was holding, something the dragon lady was interested in grabbing from him so she could smash it, which only made Twilight more eager to figure out what in the world was going on, "and that, if I had to guess their response to all the powers that are available here, they would declare Earth a max warning level ultra hazardous zone... and, as standard risk management procedure, they'll send a mega missile, in the form of the Extinction Bomb, to blow it up. Considering that I'll be sending in my report in the next hour, and that they'll want to react swiftly, I'd say the Earth is doomed and you won't have time to evacuate anyone." In the next moment chains of magical energy wrapped around Jaco as Twilight eliminated his ability to move, though while Bulma claimed the camera and crushed it, to prevent the report from being partly completed, she realized that it was time to deal with the Galactic Patrol, in her way, and bring stability to the rest of the universe. > Interlude: Galactic Business > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- After hearing Jaco's threat towards the Earth, all because of the fact that Goku and Vegeta had a new level of power, one that was unheard of before this point, Twilight spent the next week doing what she did best, delving into information and using it to help her in whatever plans she had in mind. Of course she had planned on dealing with the Galactic Patrol at some point in time, mostly to unite the universe without multiple massive forces fighting for control, as in her father's Empire and the people who tried to police everything, but Jaco's statement had forced her hand. The way he easily spoke about bringing about the end of a planet, all because the residents of it happened to cross the threshold of power and moved into what he called a 'dangerous region of power', caused her to make sure he was unable to do anything, basically keeping him chained on Earth while she sorted out this mess. She also found confirmation on the existence of the 'Extinction Bombs' which were designed to eradicate problem planets without the Galactic Patrol having to do too much, though Jaco was wrong in thinking that they used a deadly virus to wipe out the living species on a planet, as they were definitely bombs. Confirming that fact, however, lead to an unsettling discovery that made her question how the Galactic Patrol had gotten away with everything for so long, before realizing that the gods of this universe not doing their job was the answer, hence why she made an appointment to meet with the Galactic King to discuss things. Such a thing meant that Twilight was, at long last, stepping foot on the highly advanced Galactic Patrol Headquarters, or at least that was what the tales said about the station in question, leading to her immense disappointment when she quickly realized the entire place was, for the most part, lesser than her father's ship. Most of the technology was two or even three phases behind what she could make, while nothing was on a higher level than what she was used to, and she found that, while she was looking around, that she could hack into their defenses with far too much ease. It was almost insulting when she thought about it, that the Galactic Patrol didn't have better security for their computers, and she even used one of the tablets that didn't have a backdoor into the mainframe, just to give herself a challenge, not that it mattered since she pierced their pitiful defenses with little effort. Anyone with some skill in hacking could breach their mainframe and just take control of everything, turn the entire station against the Galactic Patrol, not to mention they could free the various prisoners in the prison, which would set Moro free to do whatever he wanted with his remaining time. There was also someone watching her as she waited for the Galactic King to arrive, a young male humanoid alien that had purplish colored skin and short grayish hair, while wearing a dark purple jumpsuit with an orange stripe going down the sides of his arms, legs, and his sides themselves, who identified himself as Merus when she arrived. "A patrolman of total mystery... no last name, an address that leads to a tiny moon with only a small pyramid on it, simply appeared one day, out of the blue, and asked for a job." Twilight remarked, where she, her mother, and Whis looked at the tablet she was currently using, her own since she preferring it over all of the others that her father had, though it was far too easy for her to see some similarities between Whis and Merus. "You know it's illegal to hack into the Galactic Patrol's system and read personal records, right?" Merus asked, though at the same time it was easy to see that he didn't do anything, either due to knowing who she was, and that would be very impressive since not a lot of people outside the Empire knew of her relation to Frieza, or because Whis was standing near her, where she was sure it was the latter option. "Yeah, well next time make sure to update your mainframe... there's almost nothing there, meaning I can just waltz in and see whatever information I want." Twilight stated, where she could already see several things that could be done to make sure any future hackers were unable to actually enter the important mainframe that protected the Galactic Patrol's vast amount of information and systems, while preserving the backdoor she had in the various systems. "I really don't understand why we're even here." Beerus remarked, because Whis had insisted that they come with Twilight and see how this event played out, though his complaint was more due to the fact that there was nothing interesting for him to eat, while his trainees were excited for more real world experience, especially since Twilight was involved. As Twilight informed him that he would understand in due time, due to the fact that they were waiting for someone, she was interrupted by the arrival of the figure that she had been waiting for since her arrival, the Galactic King, which turned out to be a light green octopus creature who wore nothing, save for a golden crown with the insignia of the Galactic Patrol on the front of it. "Oh, it looks like we got here sooner than I expected... he's not even dressed yet." Twilight commented, which she saw as another insulting thing, the fact that the Galactic King was running late to the meeting he had agreed to previously, and she was being polite in saying she got the time wrong for the event, not to mention the fact that he was nude, which just seemed to surprise everyone as they looked at him. "What are you talking about? Of course I'm dressed... see the crown?!" the Galactic King stated, showing that he heard her statement and actually seemed offended by the acquisition that he was wearing nothing, which just made her wonder if he was mental, unfit to be the leader of such a powerful organization, even if her father's was even stronger. "No, you're not. I've studied your species before and I know that everyone else is capable of wearing clothing... I'm sorry to say it, but a crown is not clothing." Twilight said, where she had to resist the urge to do anything that might show him that she was already annoyed with his decision to not wear anything, especially since the rest of the Galactic Patrol wore their own jumpsuits between their skin and the chest pieces that seemed to be standard issue, "Go on, go put on some actual clothing... I can wait for you to do that, even though wearing clothes shouldn't be something someone else has to tell you to do." "How rude! As you can see, I am wearing my crown, thus I am fully clothed." the Galactic King replied, though as he took a moment to cross his tentacles, the ones that were his arms to be exact, Twilight's eye twitched as his insult registered in her mind, but as his shadow vibrated, as she was sorely tempted to get rid of him here and now, Merus glanced towards it and she stopped her power. "Fine. Do whatever you want... I didn't come here to talk to you about this anyway." Twilight remarked, as she could argue with him about this point all day if she really wanted to, but she didn't and would rather get her visit over with, so she could get back to her own training and the work she had been working on recently. "What did you come here to talk about? The attendants told me nothing after this meeting was set up." the Galactic King inquired, where he walked into a chamber that was large enough for everyone in the group, all while keeping an eye on the group that he, like most people, had assumed to be a myth, that being Beerus and what appeared to be his students, a fact that made him more nervous than he was willing to admit. "I found out about your Extinction Bombs, the damage the Galactic Patrol has done, and decided that it was time to bring an end to both it and the division of the universe." Twilight replied, where she took a seat across from the Galactic King and just tapped a few keys on her tablet, allowing her to seize control of the various screens that were in this meeting chamber, most of which happened to show the various leaders of the planets of their universe, both under the Empire's rule and those who had sided with the Galactic Patrol, "You are aware that an Extinction Bomb is a small capsule like device that can bring about the end of planets who might have 'troublesome' warriors, who you and your predecessors feared would eventually come into contact with Frieza or his family and piss them off. To that end you devised a weapon capable of wiping out the planet in a matter of seconds, once it makes contact with the planet's surface, so you could protect the rest of the universe from the potential rage and destruction that might follow someone challenging and annoying the Empire... you destroy one planet to keep the rest safe." "Galactic King... please tell me you didn't authorize the use of those foul devices." Merus said, though he looked stunned, as it was clear that he knew of them, even despised them based on how he was reacting, but disagreed with the fact that they even existed in the first place. "I'm sorry to say it, but he did: Planet Lizon, home to a race of psychic warriors who could have done some serious harm to the Empire, was taken out by such a device." Twilight stated, where she noticed that the Galactic King was stunned, likely due to the fact that what he had done in the past was now being brought up by someone he clearly knew nothing about, which was his problem, while the representatives of the other planets seemed shocked by this news, "He would have ordered the destruction of Planet Vegeta as well, but Frieza beat him to the punch and blew it up, along with most of the Saiyans that called it home. His predecessors successfully fired six Extinction Bombs before he took over, where each planet had people of power that could have, eventually, challenged the might of Frieza and his empire, so they were wiped out to make sure the rest of the universe was safe. Merus, I will admit that you were able to keep the potential damage that could have been done to our planets to a minimum, always finding a way to save the planets." "I also dismantled the Extinction Bombs whenever I could... I just couldn't agree with their existence." Merus commented, a fact that caused his boss to frown at him, as if he was hurt that his best operative was willing to go behind his back and do all sorts of harm to the weapons that he believed kept the universe safe, but it showed Twilight that he was passionate about keeping their universe safe, a fact that she admired, "How did you find out about them anyway?" "Oh, Jaco saw a couple of Saiyans access a new level of power and decided to declare war on the Earth, despite the fact that it's part of the Empire." Twilight answered, where her mother produced the still chained patrolman so they could see how he was being restrained for his words, while at the same time she tapped another button and revealed a recording of Jaco's statement about his report, as in everything that had informed Twilight about the Extinction Bombs, something that shocked the observers and caused Beerus to growl. "So you're here to declare war on us, are you?" the Galactic King inquired, though this was a turn of events that not even he could have predicted when he agreed to this meeting, while it did confirm the rumors he had heard about Earth being part of Frieza's massive empire, something that made this situation even worse as he noticed that Frieza, who was in a new form that seemed to be his true base form, was annoyed as well. In the next moment something unexpected happened for the Galactic King, he found that Twilight was laughing at him, as if she was making fun of the situation that was unfolding before his eyes and the eyes of the universe, or at least that was his thoughts on the matter since those behind Twilight weren't shocked by her laughter. "War? Is that why you think I came here? No, if I wanted to go to war I would have done it already." Twilight stated, where she tapped another button and revealed a recording from the alternate timeline where she decided to go to war with the Galactic Patrol, involving her tearing through their section of the universe without pause, without anyone stopping her in her quest to make the universe a better place, and when it was over everyone was stunned, "Had I decided to declare war on your organization, for Jaco uttering those stupid words against a planet that is part of the Empire, the entirety of the Galactic Patrol, which is made up of fifteen planets and thirteen space stations, would have been destroyed in about an hour. No one would have stopped me, all would have stood to the side as I purged you from the universe... however, this is not the path I have chosen, even though it would have pleased Ikit since he's got an idea for a 'Doomlaser', one that can wipe out a station in a single blast. I am not here to declare war on the Galactic Patrol, rather I am here to accept your unconditional surrender... do so and I can promise you a lifetime in prison, with a chance of release on good behavior, or you can refuse and the God of Destruction will annihilate you for Jaco's threat towards a planet he's interested in." While the Galactic King thought about what was going on, and what it meant for him, Merus realized that there was no way out of this, Twilight had broadcast the sins of the various Galactic Rulers to the rest of the known universe, letting the rest of the universe know about the Extinction Bombs. This was a hostile takeover without any fighting or aggression, as she was using the full weight of Frieza's Empire, her father's own Empire, in combination with the rest of the universe to get whatever she was after, plus the forces of the Demon Realm as he glanced at Towa. There were all sorts of forces that have been made aware to what was going on with the Galactic Patrol, all thanks to Twilight's influence, and right now he couldn't do anything to stop the events she had set in motion, and it wasn't long before the rulers of the other planets started to call for the Galactic King's arrest. In that moment he understood that they were facing oblivion, that if a strong leader, one who fought for the good of the universe and not their own interests, didn't step forward it would mean the end of the organization and possibly trigger a war anyway, and he made a decision in that instant. Twilight watched as Merus made the difficult decision to arrest his own boss, even though he was cheered on by the rest of the people that were watching this event, while Jaco, himself, was shocked by this turn of events, though it pleased Whis and the others as the Galactic King was escorted to a cell for the time being. "With the Galactic King arrested, the future of the Galactic Patrol is now in uncertain territory." Whis commented, though as he said that he noticed that Merus seemed to be thinking about something, no doubt he was about to change the face of the universe in some manner, though not in the dramatic manner that Twilight had done in the short amount of time she had been in this universe. "We need a strong leader, one who puts the universe before their own desires, to restore the balance of power... for that reason, I nominate Twilight Sparkle for the position." Merus stated, as the screens were still online and were connected to the various planets that Frieza's daughter was interested in sharing the information with, though as she turned towards him for a moment he bowed his head, as he knew that she was the best candidate to unite their universe, "I would like to undo the damage that has been done to the universe, and standing under your banner is best for everyone, as you fight for the safety of the universe and it's people... hence why I think you should lead the Galactic Patrol." "The Frieza Force stands with you as well." Frieza said, where it was easy for many of the watchers to see that King Cold and Cooler were with him and that both agreed with his statement, though Merus knew it would have happened since Twilight was part of their family as well. "As does the Dark Imperial Army." Towa added, because while they only had a single realm to their name, one that her daughter was the ruler of thanks to taking Mechikabura's place, none of what happened there was common knowledge to the rest of the universe and this told everyone that even Demons bowed to Twilight's vast wisdom and power. "Very well then, I accept." Twilight stated, though while this wasn't one of her projected outcomes, as she always thought that the total takeover of the Galactic Patrol would come far in the future, she wasn't about to let this opportunity slip by her, where she summoned a symbol of the Galactic King with her magic and shattered it, replacing it with a six pointed star that looked like a sparkle, a mark that spoke to her, that replaced the existing symbols, "All hail Empress Twilight Sparkle, Ruler of the Known Universe." Whis smiled a little as he heard that, because Twilight had done a lot for the universe throughout her entire life, causing all of the planets to grow and improving the quality of life of everyone, especially those on Earth, something that made him look forward to whatever the future held in store for their universe. > Destroyers: An Unexpected Arrival > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Following her takeover of the Galactic Patrol, and joining it with all of the other organizations that were under her ever growing power, Twilight's first actions were to united them into a single force that worked together to uphold the safety of the universe, into the Grand Imperial Army, or GIA as some called it. Such a thing meant melding all of the soldiers into a single unified force that protected the rest of the universe, working together instead of against each other, not to mention ensuring that everyone had the more advanced armor and gear to do their jobs. Such a thing shocked Merus and Jaco when she came in on the first day, delivering upgraded gear, workers and soldiers to help them learn how she wanted to keep the peace of the universe, and even delved into the security system, tearing it's pitiful defenses to shreds before installing a brand new system to keep the information safe. That, alone, caused their jaws to drop as they watched her do her work on the terminals, upgrading and modifying the systems so that they worked as well as the machines in her father's Empire, which were as good as her own tablet, something that caused her to remember that everything was, essentially, hers now. She also made sure that the old Galactic King was swiftly placed in the very jail that Moro was in, making sure the octopus was actually wearing clothes, before turned her attention to updating all of the procedures, protocols, and even the vast amount of devices that kept the mad sorcerer imprisoned. Twilight had to admit that Moro was a fascinating creature, even if he used his power to devour the life energy out of every creature and every plant on the planets he attacked, as nothing was spared when he did his thing, and yet there was no real history on where he came from. He was a lot like her in a way, both of them had mysteriously appeared in this universe, as if the magical element of the universe itself gave way for their creation, along with the fact that they had a strong connection that allowed them to use magic, hence why she had to observe him from a safe distance. Based on her understanding of his power she suspected that if she got too close to him he would recognize her magical of her powers and likely steal of small piece of it, which would allow Moro to escape from his bindings and escape into the universe, an event that would be bad for everyone. With how she had changed the universe there was all sorts of feasts that he could partake in, planets full of energy that he could devour to quickly grow his terrifying power, meaning he would become a monster in a short period of time if he was released, hence why part of her focus was on ensuring that he remained in his cell, at least until she convinced Beerus or the trainees to kill him. In addition to that Twilight also safely dismantled the various Extinction Bombs that had been made, as there were only a handful of them in existence, four to be exact, but she wanted to be sure they were taken care of without leaving a trace of their existence, while making sure the plans for their creation were utterly destroyed, erased from existence while also memorizing them, just to preserve the knowledge in her ironclad memory. When she wasn't busy doing anything to maintain the state of the universe, which she left in the hands of her mother, her father, a few of the higher ranking Demons, and even Merus, who had been elevated to her Commander over those who worked in the patrol side of things, Twilight trained and maintained her own power. Such a thing meant that she trained with either Whis, who was the greatest partner she could ask for when it came to her final form, or trading blows with the likes of Goku and Vegeta, as both Saiyans grew in the face of great foes and she was, in their eyes, the greatest they could ask for. Of course she also took breaks and watched the pair as they tackled whatever training Whis had in mind for them, as he was working on improving their skills, especially since it required time to utilize the Super Saiyan Blue form, mostly in the sense of perfecting it like the forms that came before it. The best thing that came from her facing off against them in that form was that she was able to directly point out where their flaws were so they could rapidly improve, without saying much in the process, because both were used to her way of teaching and acknowledged her motions as they constantly pushed themselves to become better than before. Of course they weren't the only ones training, as Twilight found that Beerus was series about training the trainees and all three were getting stronger as the days and weeks went by, even if it would take some time to match Beerus' own power, but Saria, Shandy, and Caser were pleased with whatever progress they were able to make. Occasionally she trained with them, allowing Beerus and Whis to see how they had improved while Goku and Vegeta rested from their lessons, though she found gaping holes in their various techniques and motions, ones that either Beerus had no idea about or didn't care to help them fix. Shandy had also developed his own special attack, a large sphere of energy that he called 'Super Star Break', which seemed to be a variation of the Sphere of Destruction that Beerus and Saria used, while Caser himself used a red version he called 'Red Sun Destroyer'. They were strong and powerful skills, worthy of trainee Gods of Destruction, though while Twilight was sure that they would do some damage to a planet, not destroy them utterly like Beerus could, all three of them were nothing before her terrifying might, as she shattered them and siphoned the remnants of power that had formed them in the first place. It was during one of those training sessions that Goku and Vegeta were tasked with clashing without using Super Saiyan Blue against the other, to further improve their base forms, which ended with Vegeta transforming before Whis stopped them, lectured them a little, and then punished them with incredibly heavy suits that they had to do thumb stands, like hand stands but only with their thumbs. "At least they're learning." Twilight remarked, as the Saiyans had a unique way of learning the lessons that were offered to them, usually through harsh training or even severe punishments like enduring the heavy weight of the thick clothing that Whis had put the pair in, though as she opened her mouth to say something else she felt the arrival of someone else on Beerus' planet and glanced in their direction, "It would seem that we have guests." "Very good, you're learning fast as well." Whis said, all while he prepared his instant ramen cup and smiled as he smelled the aroma that came from it, as he had visited Earth fairly recently and collected a few more choice food options to share with Beerus later, though while he carefully ate the noodles and savored the flavoring he had to admit that Twilight's own power had grown rapidly, as she was able to sense the movement of an Angel to some degree. "Who are those idiots? Students of yours, Whis?" a new voice asked, where Twilight glanced back and found two figures standing behind them, the very people she had tracked, before discovering that the speaker was like Beerus and Shandy, only with a plumper build, while his attendant was a female Angel who looked similar to Whis, only her hair was done up in a high ponytail. "Lord Champa. Vados. What a pleasant surprise." Whis replied, choosing not to acknowledge the question as both Goku and Vegeta stopped their training, all while sealing his ramen cup in a sphere so it didn't go bad while he chatted, though he knew that Twilight had likely assumed who these two were, "Is there something I can assist you with?" "Yeah, go get Beerus. I want to chat with him." Champa stated, where Twilight realized that most Gods of Destruction did, in fact, treat their Angels like servants, even if they happened to be the attendants of another universe's Destroyer, or at least the two she had encountered so far seemed to be of that mindset, before he glanced at her, "And who are you?" "Dark Queen Twilight Sparkle, Empress of the Known Universe... I'm an associate of your brother's." Twilight said, as she wasn't worried about revealing anything to Champa, as there was no way for him to know about the Demon Realm and it's ruler, or the fact that she was Frieza's daughter, and he certainly wouldn't care about the state of Beerus' universe. As Champa considered that information, however, he was interrupted as Beerus landed nearby, though his arrival was due to the fact that he and his trainees had been training in the forest section of his domain, hence why they had gotten here in such a short period of time. "What do you want, Champa? I'm kind of busy right now." Beerus stated, because he had to admit that he enjoyed all of his training sessions with the three displaced trainees, as it allowed him to further sharpen his own power, though despite that fact he had to wonder how he measured up to Twilight's growing power. "It's been a while since our last showdown and I found something that'll knock your socks off." Champa remarked, where Twilight discovered that she wasn't the only one interested in what he was talking about, since Goku, Vegeta, and the trio of trainees were eager to see what he and Beerus might do next. Beerus stared at his brother for a moment before beckoning with his head, where he and Whis led the way back into his massive tree house, to a room that was reserved for whenever this happened, an area that happened to have a long table, two chairs, and next to nothing else in case the two of them decided to clash for some reason. Beerus sat on the left side as Champa took the right one, with their Angels standing on their respective rights, showing Twilight and the others that they were used to this sort of thing happening and were well prepared for whenever this happened. Whis quickly explained that the two brothers used to fight, as in actually swing their fists at each other, over disagreements, but since both of them held such high esteem for the food of their universe both he and Vados had convinced them to make their fights about food, to spare their universes from any additional destruction. The rules of such a showdown were quite simple, each Destroyer would present one food item, usually enough for the other God of Destruction and their Angel, and explain what it was as the other side tasted it, and it typically ended with both he and Vados determining the winner, but there were times where Beerus and Champa's expressions were all they needed. With that information in hand, and Twilight thanked him since it seemed interesting, Vados produced an egg shaped device that opened in the front, revealing six decent sized eggs that could pass as ostrich eggs, only they had blue spots on them and, unless she was mistaken, they had been preserved in a cooked state on the way here, to keep them nice and fresh for when Champa arrived. "Don't let your eyes deceive you, as these aren't plain old eggs... rather, they are hard boiled eggs of the newly discovered Don Don Bird," Champa stated, where two eggs floated out and landed in the hands of Beerus and Whis, two more floated over to Goku and Vegeta, and the remaining two remained by him and Vados, which meant that if Shandy and the others wanted a taste they would have to divide the eggs that the Saiyans were given, "It is said that there are no words to even begin to describe how delicious they are... and, as Vados likes to remind me, they are incredibly nutritious as well." Twilight, on the other hand, took Goku's for a moment and did what she did best, extracting a sample out of it, as there was a small bit of DNA left in the shell, before using her magic to dice up the two eggs the Saiyans had been given so that all of them had something to sample, allowing everyone from Universe 7 to enjoy some eggs. "I'll admit, it wasn't bad, however... Whis, prepare our course." Beerus stated, because thanks to his discovery of the food wonders of Earth, which everyone in his universe seemed to be uncovering on their own, he had far too many options to pick from and had prepared one of his favorites in the off chance that his brother showed up. His dish, as it turned out, was the instant ramen bowls that Twilight had seen him and Whis enjoying in the past, hence the reason he had picked them for this challenge, where she noticed that Champa and Vados were surprised by his selection and simply watched what was going on. It was clear that his brother thought that Beerus was pulling his leg, especially due to the fact that there happened to be a timer and a large teapot that was full of hot water, though when it was time to eat Goku and Vegeta showed the gods exactly how to eat this particular dish. In a matter of seconds they prepared a couple of ramen bowls, where Twilight had to resist the urge to laugh as she watched Champa and Vados struggle with it for a few moments, before digging into the bowls that had been given to them as their gods did the same. Such a thing caused the deities from Universe 6 to sample it, just like Beerus and the others had done for their eggs, though it wasn't long before Champa devoured the entire bowl he had been given, he practically sucked in the noodles and guzzled the soup, showing that he actually enjoyed it. What was hilarious about this was that Champa wanted to deny how good the food was, even despite devouring literally everything that had been placed in front of him, not to mention the fact that on Earth this happened to be a cheap option compared to everything else, so if he went to their Earth he'd be in for a rude awakening. "Beerus, I have to ask... where in the world did you get this from?" Champa asked, where he looked down at the container he had been holding moments ago, imagining the delicious food that had been inside it just a few moments ago, and had to wonder why he had never discovered such a dish during his travels. "On a planet called Earth, a place full of infinite delicacies that is constantly growing." Beerus replied, which was the truth, it had all sorts of delicious food and he couldn't wait for his next visit, since he was sure it would have something good for him to partake in, especially after the dish Bulma had given him and Whis while Goku and Vegeta were clashing with both Frieza and Cooler, "You should have one in your universe, somewhere." Sure enough Goku and Vegeta, despite having put that together due to Champa's arrival, asked Twilight about it and she informed them that there were twelve universes in all of existence, something she had found out during her studies in the libraries of Alexandria, but they knew nothing more than that, as the other universes were beyond their power, causing Whis to tell them that each universe was paired to another and the numbers formed thirteen. "I've found our Earth, Lord Champa... however, it would appear that war has devastated the planet entirely and humanity is dead." Vados stated, as she had stared into the orb of her staff, which was used as both a communicator, for those who they gave special devices to so they could communicate with her and her Destroyer, and a search engine of sorts, since it allowed her to peer anywhere in their universe. "Damn, I didn't want to do this. Beerus, let's do 'battle'." Champa stated, showing Twilight and the others that he was very desperate to get his hands on the food of Earth, to the point that he was basically admitting defeat in the food contest he had started by coming here and initiating a contest of strength with his brother, "By that I mean a tournament between my universe and your universe, say with teams of five, where the last one standing will determine which of us wins... say for example that my team wins the tournament, we'll trade Earths." "Yeah, how about no?" Twilight remarked, because while she was more than willing to let the Destroyers play their games, as it seemed to be common between Beerus and Champa, she drew the line at having a planet that she invested so much of her time into being the prize for such a tournament, "I'm fine with you two betting whatever you want, just as long as you leave my domain, and my Earth, out of it." "Don't you mean Beerus' Earth?" Vados inquired, though she had to admit that she was now more interested in Twilight than she had been when she and Champa first arrived on Beerus' world, because there was a mortal who dared to speak against the desires of a God of Destruction, not to mention the trio standing nearby her. Champa, being annoyed by her statement, stepped towards her in an attempt to punch her, though that was when Vados watched as Twilight dodged out of the way and slightly moved her right hand, knocking the Destroyer back with what had to be a gust of wind, but a quick glance from her caused Champa to stop before he did something stupid. "No, she's means HER Earth." Beerus replied, because after his battle with Twilight, and her reaction to someone uttering a threat towards the planet in question, he knew it wasn't a good thing to even say such a thing near her, though it was a little amusing to see his twin brother being knocked around a little, much to Vados' surprise. "Of course you'd take your girlfriend's side over mine... owe that hurts." Champa remarked, where he picked himself up off the ground and rubbed the area that he had been struck in, though he wasn't sure if he had been struck by his own brother or the odd pony girl who had moved out of the way of his attack. "Anyway, even if you could convince Twilight to agree to such a thing... and good luck with that, if you want to keep trying... how would you even switch your Earth with mine?" Beerus asked, though he wasn't going to even respond to his brother's remake about Twilight being his girlfriend, rather he was going to focus this and many talk about that foolish subject with Whis later on, once the person in question was off world. "I've been searching for seven special wish granting spheres, that are capable of granting any wish you make, so switching our Earths wouldn't be a problem." Champa stated, almost as if he didn't want to reveal this piece of information to them, as if it would reveal his guilt, though it interested Twilight and the two Saiyans, since they were more familiar with the wish granting orbs than most individuals who called the universe home, "They're planet sized spheres and I have six of them in my possession, so I just need the seventh one to make my wish... if your team is able to wish the tournament, well, I'll give you the ones that are in my possession." "No way... the Super Dragon Balls exist? Everyone on Alexandria thought they were a myth." Twilight said, because during her studies of everything that were in the libraries of the planet she caught a reference to them, that they were what had caused the Namekians to make their own wish granting spheres, though it was something not even she knew a lot about, making her wonder if there was more in the libraries for her to discover, "In fact the only record that I've read about them so far indicates that the Namekians saw one about a thousand years ago, inspiring them to make their own sets, but the planet sized one simply disappeared into the depths of the universe... or multiverse, now that I think about it." Beerus considered the options he had right now, he could either let Champa go and risk not only losing his Earth, but also Twilight, or he could partake in the tournament and stop his brother from doing something incredible stupid, something that caused him to sigh as he focused on Champa. "Very well, I'll play ball. Send Whis the location you want to hold this event on." Beerus said, though his goal was to take the six massive wish granting orbs from his brother before he did something stupid with them, like steal away his greatest asset by taking away the planet she had worked so hard on, and, knowing his brother, he realized it would be good to use them in case he tried to steal them later. "Before I go, who are those three? Your replacements?" Champa inquired, as he had noticed Saria and the others during his arrival on the planet, but, since he had been more interested in upstaging his brother, he had focused on Beerus and nothing else, so before he left he felt it was only right to get some information, "Don't think I'll let you use them in our private tournament." "They're my apprentices, since they have access to destruction energy... and don't worry you big baby, I don't need them to beat whoever you pick for your team." Beerus replied, which was the truth, as he knew that Twilight, on her own, would be more than enough to wipe out whoever his brother picked for his team, a fact that told him that he needed to keep her at the end of the line, since exposing her power would be bad for him. To be sure that everything ran smoothly there were a few rules to make things fair, such as fighters only lost when they were ringed out, forced to surrender, or were knocked out, using weapons and killing were against the rules, doping and drug enhancements were out, and Vegeta proposed a written test to make sure everyone had a basic intelligence, since he didn't want Champa bringing monsters to fight them. "I even have the perfect location in mine: the Nameless Star, which rests in the neutral space between universes." Champa stated, as he had one last thing that he wanted to tell his brother before he and Vados departed, where Beerus took just a moment to think about his proposal and nodded his head, causing him and his attendant to leave so they could prepare for the tournament, which would be held in five days time. Twilight smiled as she watched the deities of Universe 6 departed from their universe, as she was eager to see what sort of fighters Champa would bring to face her, the Saiyans, and whoever else was picked to defend Beerus' honor, and see the power of the Super Dragon Balls with her own eyes. > Destroyers: Preparations > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Once Champa and Vados were gone, no doubt going to set up the arena for the tournament before gathering their team, Twilight, along with both Saiyans and their deities, returned to the Earth without delay, as they needed two other warriors for the team and Bulma would need a new radar for the Super Dragon Balls. Goku and Vegeta quickly named Buu as one of the five, where she agreed with them and sent a message over to Mr. Satan so he could get Buu ready, though the training she had in mind was making sure he knew how to read and could properly take a test. Her own idea was to ask either her uncle or Demigra to take the position of their fifth warrior, where she found that Cooler was more than willing to join the battle, especially since it had been quite a while since anything interesting had happened and he was itching to help her out once more. With that done it was a simple matter to ask Bulma about making a new radar, though since Twilight was sure that the last Super Dragon Ball was in another universe, or even the edge of their own, there was no real way to confirm if it worked or not, especially with Champa possessing the other six. In the end Bulma played one of her trump cards, as in she was going to arrange for Jaco to come by and see if he could take her to an area that would allow them to test the radar out, though while Bulma did that, after Vegeta told Jaco not to do anything funny, Twilight brought the Saiyans to the Hyperbolic Time Chamber. "So, what do you have in mind for our training this time around?" Goku asked, because with Twilight, her knowledge, and all of the power that she had access to, the latter something they were constantly gaining more understanding of, there was no telling what sort of plan she might have for them, especially since they had five days to prepare. "You two will be fighting me." Twilight stated, though as she responded to the question both Goku and Vegeta watched as she transformed into her Dark Queen form without delay, causing the entirety of the dimension to shudder, while both her soon to be opponents sweated a little as they felt her power, or the fraction she was using right now, "What you are feeling right now is only five percent of my full power... shocking, I know... but I'd rather not break you in the first couple of seconds, since this supposed to be training. You two will use all of your power against mine and I will push you to brand new heights in due time, though I want both of you to think about something: can you go even further beyond the power that you are currently using?" Goku and Vegeta glanced at each other for a moment before going Super Saiyan Blue, the height of their power, as they rushed toward the area that Twilight was standing in, as she had placed herself far away from where the entrance was so none of them damaged it. Since they didn't have any fighting styles that worked well together, however, they separated from each other and approached her from two different directions, both assuming that she would only be able to block one of their attacks while the other would strike her, or move out of the way if she was fast enough. Instead of moving out of the way or dodging their attacks they found that Twilight used her hands and arms to block their punches, almost as if they were being redirected out of the way, causing Vegeta to go on the assault with a barrage of blows, intending to find a hole in her defenses so he could overwhelm her. Goku, despite that fact, rejoined the battle without delay, figuring that if one person wasn't enough to do anything than two might work even better, especially since their uncoordinated assault could do wonders against even the strongest of foes, or that was what Whis seemed to suggest during their training, and it was possible that it could work on Twilight. What the two of them discovered, however, was that she didn't seem impressed by their power, despite the fact that their new form allowed both of them to go toe to toe with the Golden forms that Frieza and Cooler used, as she grabbed both of their heads, slammed them against each other, before tossing them aside, forcing them to regroup as they focused on their training partner. Goku understood that she was far stronger than they were, because she was able to force even the likes of Beerus into submission, despite Whis claiming that the battle had ended in a draw, but since none of them had seen her power since that fateful battle he had hoped, against all odds, that they had taught up to her. This discovery told him why she had mentioned him and Vegeta pushing themselves further beyond their current limits, because the power of Blue was far too limited for her to even train against, not unless she deliberately restricted herself to her lower levels of power. She was a lot like them in that regard, as training with their strongest forms meant that they would gain far more in the grand scheme of things, instead of sticking to their base forms or the first few forms they had unlocked, but at this moment neither of them could match her power, since that was reserved for Whis and Beerus, and probably the rest of the Angels and Gods of Destruction. She wanted them to reach newfound levels of power, what she would no doubt call 'Super Saiyan Blue 2', possibly even a Blue 3 if they reached that point, to grow their strength and prepare them or whatever might happen when they faced the warriors that Champa would throw at them. As he thought about what to do next, which move he should use while thinking of a tactic to add to it, Vegeta rushed into the fray once more and moved into a series of punches and kicks that were designed to do something to his foe, or that seemed to be the plan that had been going through his mind. Twilight blocked the attacks with ease, where Goku watched as her gaze stayed fixed on Vegeta and nothing else, observing his movements and reacting accordingly, similar to what happened when she fought with Beerus some time ago, pushing their Destroyer to his limits. Vegeta, as he expected, just growled as he switched to a Ki attack, loosing a series of blasts right in Twilight's face, apparently hoping that she couldn't siphon his attacks and defend herself at the same time, only for Goku to discover that their training partner was walking through the blasts like they were nothing. Twilight then responded with a jab to the face, knocking Vegeta backward in the process, but before the other Saiyan could be thrown backwards she grabbed onto his leg and hauled him around like he was a club, slamming him against the floor a few times, only to release him after some time. Goku realized that getting a proper Ki attack in, through her defenses, would take a bit of doing, as there had to be some sort of blind spot in her siphon ability, otherwise she would just drain them of their Ki all the time and not fight, which was why he and Vegeta needed to work together during this training session. With that in mind he rushed over to Vegeta and released a number of blasts into the air, all designed to call to the ground and kick some thick smoke up as he picked his friend up, causing them to disappear into the surrounding area for a time, as he knew they needed strategy or overwhelming power to bring Twilight down. Twilight, on the other hand, focused on the area that her opponents were in and remained still as she wondered what they might have planned this time, though she already had a plan in mind to force them to ascend to the next level of power, just like she had done in the past with one of her Saiyan foes. A few moments later a massive barrage of Ki blasts came rushing at her from all sides, similar to Piccolo's own Hellzone Grenade, something that caused her to chuckle as she weaved her power into two spheres, where the one on the outside absorbed the power of each blast and the inner one was just a ploy to make it look like she had to defend herself, as she realized their ploy with ease. They wanted to shroud her vision with all the blasts that were in the air right now so they could attack her from her 'blind spot', unaware that she could drain their attack without seeing it, but she was more than willing to play their game since it would allow her to turn her own plan on them. This time around her opponents surprised her by not actually shouting the names of their attacks, though she found that they combined the Kamehameha and the Final Flash into the 'Final Kamehameha', a blue beam with yellow energy in the form of lightning wrapped around parts of it, where she turned around and held her hand up. Due to it being the power of Goku and Vegeta merged into a single attack she found that it was quite strong, which was to be expected, but it wasn't enough for her to worry about as she drew in it's power and devoured it without moving at all. Once the attack was gone, however, Twilight shifted her stance for a moment as she called forth her power, where she disappeared into the smoke and caused the Saiyans to look around for her as they lost her energy signature rather suddenly, causing her to smile as she noticed that their guards were up. Unfortunately for them the plan she had in mind would test them in ways that they wouldn't be expecting in the slightest, where the smoke gathered into the forms of their family as her illusion altered the rest of the area, tricking even Vegeta, who was used to her magic, into believing that they were here, before pulling all of them into a small sphere and crushing it from afar. Such a thing had the result she was looking for as both Saiyans were consumed by a brilliant blue flash of light, similar to how they transformed into their Super Saiyan Blue forms, and when the light faded she found that they had taken on their Super Saiyan 2 forms, only with blue hair, eyes, tails, and auras. "Just as I expected, Super Saiyan Blue 2 comes after Super Saiyan Blue." Twilight commented, where she resisted the urge to chuckle, as she enjoyed being proven right, especially when she thought about the power that a Saiyan could wield with the right conditions, not to mention when rage was involved, and if this worked than she could push them to form Super Saiyan Blue 3 and, if she was lucky, Super Saiyan Blue 4. This time around the enraged Saiyans rushed at her, attempting to bring her down for her 'sins', though as she parried all of their blows, which were far stronger than what she had felt in their base Blue forms, Twilight told them that they had, in fact, fallen for the same ploy she had used against Gohan during the Cell Games. She reminded the pair that their various forms, at least Super Saiyan and Super Saiyan 2, were based on anger and need, so the combination of their rage towards her for her actions, plus their desire to make her pay for said actions, fueled their growth and granted them more power in the end. As they clashed she also reminded them that there was another key to accelerated growth for their kind, that being the need to have power so they could do something, such as fulfilling a promise, punishing a villain, or winning the fateful fight that would save their world from destruction. With that in mind she knew that if the Saiyans kept their desires close to their hearts it would lead them to great things, further forms of power as they realized that she was pushing them towards Super Saiyan Blue 3 and Super Saiyan Blue 4, forms that might allow them to fight her and Beerus. Such a thing caused her opponents to smile as they realized what she was trying to do and rushed into battle once more, causing them to clash as they moved around the rest of the space that filled the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, allowing her to see the heights of their newfound power as they tested it against someone who could handle their new power. By the time three days had passed, or three years inside the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, Twilight felt that it was time to end their training, as Goku and Vegeta had grown in power while facing off against her terrifying might, to the point where she allowed them to see fifteen percent by the end of it. She had to admit that Super Saiyan Blue 2 was powerful, especially after all of the training she put them through to utilize it and the previous form better, where the Saiyans were thankful for everything she shared and pointed out during their session. Instead of making it mindless sparring she point out their flaws or how to improve, making it actual training with the point of mastering their fighting styles, though even then she had seen Goku disappear into the depths of the dimension to try something else, the infusion of Kaio-Ken into Blue, which Vegeta had slept through. That was either due to him being exhausted after her lessons or he had sensed the energy and decided not to get involved at all, though she was sure the former was the truth, but at least she didn't have to listen to the former prince rant over Goku figuring out a way to improve his power even more, even if it would take some time for him to master his new combination technique. With all of that in mind she emerged from the chamber with a smile on her face, while in her base form, while both Goku and Vegeta followed after her with their attire in tatters, where she dismissed them for the time being as she returned to Capsule Corp, finding that Bulma had returned and Jaco was back on the job. "Our training is done, so Goku and Vegeta should be using the rest of the time to rest before the big day." Twilight said, where she pulled out her tablet and tapped a few of the icons again, as there were notes to updates and new ideas to think about, though it made her all the more interested in what sort of fighters Champa had decided on, "How did things go on your end? Learn anything about the Super Dragon Balls?" "Yeah, apparently there's only one set in the entirety of the multiverse, so the missing sphere could be anywhere," Bulma replied, which made sense when Twilight thought about it, because if they were far stronger than the ones they had used so far, on Earth and Namek, it stood to reason that there was only a single set of them in all of existence, though that also meant that Champa had been invading the other universes to find them, "they can grant any wish you desire... Zuno, the one Jaco and I talked to, claimed they might have the power to bring back even erased universes, don't ask me why he said it that way... and we even have the summoning phrase: in the Language of the Gods one must say 'Come forth, Dragon of the Gods, and grant my wish, peas and carrots'." "Seriously?" Twilight asked, as it sounded insane that the summoning phrase to summon the first Eternal Dragon, which was the strongest out of however many the Namekians had created, had such a lackluster phrase and even an ending that seemed like a child had come up with it, before she sighed as Bulma searched for something, "Well, at least Beerus and Whis should know what to say if the time comes... can't say I've heard of this 'Language of the Gods' before." "I had to confirm that this was, in fact, the correct phrase... oh, and that reminds me," Bulma said, where she pulled out a coin token of some kind, which seemed to be like an ancient coin kept in pristine condition, and handed it to Twilight, who took it and turned it over for a few seconds, "Zuno asked me to give that to you. He said that you were welcome anytime you wanted and that would be your identification for his guards... I'm not sure if he did it because you're a like-minded soul, since you love knowledge, or if he was terrified of you and wanted to get on your good side." Twilight chuckled as she heard that, as she had a feeling that Zuno knew of her position as the Dark Queen and was totally terrified of her, so this was an attempt to get on her good side, but at the same time it was something she wanted, because Jaco had mentioned that the figure knew nearly everything and there was a chance he knew where she came from, which warranted a visit in the future. "Maybe once all of this is over, and we've found and used the Super Dragon Balls, I'll pay him a quick visit." Twilight stated, though at the same time she noticed that Bulma had raised one of her eyebrows for a moment, as they both knew that she was going to spend an entire day, at the very least, chatting with Zuno about the various aspects of the universe, to which she let out another chuckle, "Okay, okay, I'll probably spend a couple of days chatting with him... just in case this is a one time token and becomes irrelevant once I leave wherever his domain is located." As Bulma nodded her head, however, Twilight left her to complete her finishing touches on the Super Radar and headed off to spend the rest of her time relaxing before the tournament started, as she was eager to see what sort of enemies the other universe had to offer them. > Destroyers: Day of the Tournament > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Eventually the day of the Tournament of Destroyers, as Twilight had dubbed it, arrived and their group gathered outside Capsule Corp, where she found that her parents, along with Cooler and King Cold, plus Demigra since the other Demons were busy keeping an eye on the universe, standing nearby. Vegeta was joined by Bulma, Trunks, and Eschalot, while Goku had Chi-Chi and Goten, plus the Ox King, not to mention that both of Bulma's parents had joined them, as they were eager to see what else space had to offer them. There was also Krillin, 18, and their daughter, along with Tien, Yamcha, and Paur, not to mention Roshi, Piccolo, and even Dende, showing her that everyone important to the group had gathered for this event, both because they would get a glimpse into another universe's races and witness something massive. Even Buu, Mr. Satan, and Videl, plus her little daughter Pan, were present for the event, though Gohan had a conference he had to attend and Twilight had told the rest of the group that it was fine, as he wasn't one of their warriors, so it was okay for him to miss the tournament. Even Jaco showed up, despite his tragic first meeting with Twilight that soured her opinion of him, where he quickly told her that it was, in fact, his day off and he was here as a friend of Bulma's, as they had talked about the tournament on the way to Zuno's and it made him interested in seeing the residents of another universe. Twilight, on the other hand, was sure that he really wasn't a friend of Bulma's, not after his statement that caused her to move against the Galactic King earlier than she had intended, rather he was likely a forced driver for her so she could head into the depths of the universe. She knew that if Bulma wanted a space vehicle she could have one crafted to her specifications and delivered in no time, but she didn't seem to care about that, rather she seemed to enjoy having someone like Jaco do what she said every now and then. Twilight also made a quick call to Merus, to be sure that Jaco had the day off and that he wasn't pulling their leg, only to find that he went through the official channels to approve his time off, causing her to acknowledge before returning to the others, though she stayed away from him for the most part. Beerus and Whis eventually arrived in a transparent cube, large enough for them to use to travel through space quickly, a device used for when the gods had mortal visitors since the private transport of an Angel was usually good enough for a smaller group, as in three to five, and once everyone was inside, including the trainees who had been inside the cube, Whis sat on top of it before they took off. "You'll be happy to know that Bulma's learned the summoning phrase for the Super Dragon Balls, and has a radar that can locate the last one." Twilight commented, as she, Beerus, and Bulma were standing near the area of the cube that Whis was sitting under, while everyone else seemed to be enjoying themselves to the food that had been brought with them, though she made sure to save some for Beerus and Whis, "However, only one set of them exists in the entire multiverse, meaning Champa's been invading both our universe and others to track them down... depending on where they're hidden he's likely destroyed a few planets in his search." "Damn it... this is a huge breach of proper etiquette." Beerus remarked, though at the same time he wasn't too surprised by the fact that his brother would do something stupid like this, it seemed to be in his nature to do things like this, even if it pissed off the other gods in the process, before he sighed for a moment, "Hopefully he didn't piss off the other Gods of Destruction with his actions... this also means the last sphere could be in any of the other eleven universes, so tracking it down will take some time and likely draw the attention of everyone else." "We can only hope that it's somewhere in our universe, or Champa's at the very least." Bulma said, as she figured that if any of the other Destroyers knew that they were hunting for the last Super Dragon Balls, and one happened to have it, she was sure that they would hold it over Beerus until they either got what they wanted or Beerus backed off, and given how much Twilight wanted to see Super Shenron she also knew the Dark Queen would help him out. Beerus simply nodded and thanked Bulma for acquiring the information she had told him about, while he and Whis took a moment to consider the phrase that would activate the seven spheres and summon 'Super Shenron', something they would have to share in the unlikely event that Champa's team won. Twilight, on the other hand, knew that Champa would no doubt be confident in his team's abilities, since he had seen Goku and Vegeta in weighted clothing, but even then she knew that he would be caught off guard by the power of those that had been chosen for Beerus' team. Still, she was interested in what sort of warriors he might have picked and how they would fair against the likes of Goku and Vegeta, not to mention Cooler and maybe even Buu, the latter of whom had been practicing his writing and test taking skills so he wouldn't fail, because he wanted to do her and Mr. Satan proud, and have fun. Other than that there was nothing much for them to do but stare out at space as they went by, allowing Twilight to pull out her tablet as she marked down the planets they went by, simply to see what sort of path they were taking to reach the Nameless Star, while the others played a word game that she ignored for the rest of their journey. Eventually they reached the Nameless Star, after about two hours flying in the same direction, where Twilight found that the place Champa had picked out looked more like an asteroid than a moon or a planet, though it was a pretty big asteroid as she looked at it. After that she and the others got a glimpse of the Super Dragon Balls, massive planet sized spheres that floated in the space above and around the Nameless Star, making it look like the group of seven was present given the size of the asteroid, where Twilight chuckled as she made a few notes on the massive spheres. From there she spotted the area that had been set up for the tournament, a large domed area that no doubt had air for the contestants and those who were just here to watch the event, where she focused on the large square shaped arena that floated in the air, before spotting a fact that decreased her opinion of Champa, he had hard seats for the observers. Beerus and Whis also noticed that as the cube landed, though as Beerus went out to talk with his brother, and maybe lecture him a little about stealing from the rest of the multiverse, Whis used his staff to erase the stands and replace them with floating sitting areas for everyone, as in one for both Destroyers and their warriors, another for observers, and one more for the Kaioshin. Twilight also spotted an area that had a table and ten chairs, five on each side, which was where they would be taking the test that Vegeta insisted they should have, though she did have to question why it happened to be higher than the rest of the structures, before deciding that it really didn't matter. In addition to that, however, Twilight also noticed two people that Aria, Shin, and Old Kai were chatting with as Kibito stood nearby, no doubt the Kaioshin of Universe 6 and who she had to assume was his attendant, meaning Universe 7 was more special because of how many Gods of Creation they had at any given moment. The one she assumed was the Kaioshin was a short and somewhat overweight figure, whose spiky white hair made him resemble a pineapple for some reason, but he seemed nervous, likely surprised by the team that his God of Destruction had gathered, meaning he was lazy as well. Standing next to him was a tall and lean figure, a strange thing considering the Kaioshin and Champa, who seemed very calm and serious, making her wonder if he was a better fit for the role as his universe's God of Creation, before shelving the thought as Goku floated down to to talk to them. In that moment she finally spotted the team that represented Universe 6, five warriors who would stand between them and the Super Dragon Balls, and with a glance she was actually partly disappointed in what she saw, since she figured that Champa could do better with the time he had. One of the warriors was a massive metallic figure that many would think was a robot, though the Metalmen, as they were called, were a humanoid species that resembled robots and could drink some incredibly hot substances, but were easy to take down. Another was a yellow skinned bear wearing a red shirt over his chest, plus red bands around his wrists and red boots on his feet, though she was sure he was a Rubearien, basically a rubber bear, a race that no longer existed in Universe 7 thanks to Beerus' mindless destruction. What interested her was the other three warriors, as one appeared to be a young Saiyan who didn't have a tail, and wore the attire of a planet that didn't exist in their universe, a purple skinned individual who had his eyes closed and seemed to be dressed in the attire of a shadowy figure, and someone who looked like her father, only he was in his lowest form while his jeweled sections were blue colored. Based on what she was feeling right now the only one who seemed even remotely threatening was the shadowy figure, who opened his eyes for a moment and locked his gaze with hers for a few seconds, no doubt because he felt her gaze on him, before he looked elsewhere as the others joined them, causing the Universe 6 Saiyan to approach them. "Hey, you two must be Saiyans, right?" the other Saiyan inquired, though at the same time he noticed something he hadn't seen before, Goku's tail was swaying behind him, since he didn't keep it wrapped around his waist, and Vegeta's only came out as soon as the newcomer realized what he was seeing, "No way... you guys still have your tails? We used to have them, but evolved to no longer need them." "Actually, both of us lost ours in battle... it was only thanks to Twilight that we got them back." Vegeta admitted, though he didn't bother asking the foolish question of if this guy was a Saiyan, because his reaction told him everything he needed to know, while his rival was happy to meet another of their race, "Your attire... what planet do your Saiyans call home?" "Planet Sadala." the newcomer replied, something that told Twilight everything she needed to know as she took a seat at the end of Universe 7's side of the stone table, as the Sadala of their universe had been destroyed by eternal conflict, an event that helped fueled the tales of Yamoshi as they conquered a new planet to make their home, while the Saiyans of Universe 6 evolved into warriors of justice and kept their home. Vados interrupted the Saiyans and reminded them that the test was starting, while she summoned some pencils for them to use to answer whatever questions were on the test, though once everyone had taken their seats she waved her staff for a moment and summoned the test for them to take. Twilight found that it was ten questions, some incredibly basic, just as Vegeta said when she read some of the items, and some more difficult, which would give someone like Goku trouble since they seemed outside his usual area of expertise, but none of them were a challenge for her. It was almost sad when she looked over the rest of the test, as she was hoping for something challenging, before discovering that there was another side to it, an optional section for those who still had time and wanted to actually challenge themselves. With that in mind she went to work solving all of the main problems on the front side of the page, completing all of them in no time at all due to how easy they were, before focusing on the other side as the others focused on the front page. By the time that time was up, as they were only given ten minutes before Vados collected the tests and graded them in a matter of seconds, causing her to write down their results before approaching the edge of the platform, allowing the rest of the people in the tournament grounds to glance up at her. "Only one contestant will be eliminated: Majin Buu, with a score of 45, is eliminated." Vados said, where Buu frowned for a moment as he floated down to where Mr. Satan was sitting, as he had been so excited for the battle, and found that the rest of his team took a moment to talk with him as Champa's team took their positions, before she glanced at her God of Destruction as he floated up to her with a smirk on his face, "Lord Champa, we might have a problem." "Are you kidding me? We're golden! Beerus just lost one of his own warriors, thanks to a suggestion that another warrior made during our visit!" Champa remarked, as it was hilarious when he thought about it, because it meant that there were only four warriors he had to worry about and, based on his observations, the Saiyans would be out in no time, meaning he might not have to worry about Hit competing. "Only two contestants scored perfect scores: Hit and Twilight... and of the two, Hit only got three of the ten optional items right, while Twilight got all ten correct." Vados stated, which was remarkable, as she had designed the other side to be far more difficult than the required side of the test, in fact those two were the only ones to attempt it at the end, but even she wasn't expecting to find a perfect score on both the front page and the back page. "So she's smart, that's not going to help her out." Champa said, showing Vados that he didn't care too much, as he had a tournament to win and he already had the order of his team decided, as he came to this prepared, causing him to glance over to his brother's side as he floated down to his new sitting area, "Hey Beerus, have you decided on the order of your team, or do we have to wait for you to confer with your girlfriend before we start the tournament?" "Gods he's annoying... I'm going to punch him one of these days." Twilight remarked, though at the very least Buu wasn't too upset over failing the test, in fact she was sure that without his training for this day he would have scored a zero, so getting close to passing, in the short time period he had, was nothing short of spectacular, before she glanced at the rest of their team, "I don't care which order you guys decide to compete in, as I'll take the last position." "Is that wise, Twilight? With how strong the three of us are you might not have a chance to fight." Cooler asked, because he knew his niece was a fighter and that she must have been excited by the idea of clashing with the warriors from Universe 6, so hearing that she wanted to be their last warrior worried him more than he was willing to admit. "She's well aware of that fact, plus she realizes that there are some cards we must not play right now." Beerus said, as he suspected that, even if Twilight had to fight, she would only use her Dark Form or her Demon Goddess form, since the power of her Dark Queen form was overkill based on her chill attitude right now, "If the need calls for it our trump card will do everything in her power to keep the Earth safe." Goku, Vegeta, and Cooler glanced at each other for a moment as they settled on who would fight in what order, as Goku would be first to challenge Champa's team, then Cooler, and Vegeta would be third, though Twilight could only smile as she stared at the arena, as she was sure that the upcoming battles would be exciting for everyone present and was eager to see what happened next. > Destroyers: First Bouts > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- After coming to a decision on who would go first, and the order that followed, Whis floated down to the referee, which was a green humanoid alien with pure black eyes and an antenna on top of his head, sort of like Buu's but a lot shorter than what the pink creature possessed, while wearing a black suit with a red collar. "And now, we shall sing the anthem of the universe." the Referee stated, something that caused many of those from Universe 7 to raise their eyebrows as a small creature, that looked like a penguin mixed with something else, came onto the stage and literally sang 'the universe is very spacious' before it walked off with some applause from Champa's hired help, to which he turned towards everyone again, "Now, let the Tournament of Destroyers begin! The first match will be the warrior from Universe 6, Botamo, and the warrior from Universe 7, Son Goku!" As Twilight stared down at the arena she discovered that Botamo was the yellow rubber bear from before, who seemed to be pretty sure of his abilities as he stared down at Goku, who did the respectful thing and bowed to his opponent, which his foe did as well, before the Referee told them it was time to start. With just the first few swings she could tell that Goku was doing what he normally did against a new foe, he took his time studying their movements as he maintained a level of power that was equal to what his foe happened to be using at the moment, while conserving his true strength till later. He let his foe unleash a flurry of blows at him, some he dodged and others he blocked with either his hands or his arms, mostly to put on a show for everyone else as he looked for a weakness that could be used against his foe, or just decided to take him out with brute strength. Champa seemed far too pleased with the fact that his warrior already had Goku on the defensive, though Twilight couldn't fault him for thinking such a thing since he had only seen him and Vegeta in Whis' heavy training gear, so he had an incorrect understanding of their abilities. If that was the case she was sure that he had picked the rest of his team with the false understanding that the power of Universe 7's warriors were pitiful, meaning there was a chance that they would steamroll all of them, but she made sure to keep her eyes open while the fight happened. As Goku decided to play around for a moment, to see if Botamo had any powers to use against him as he started to run around the arena, Twilight pulled out her tablet and tapped an icon that let out a small little drone, basically a gnat that would go undetected. With it in hand she focused on the warriors that were on Champa's side and got a small sample from Cabba, the Saiyan, and Frost, the one who looked a lot like her father when he used his lowest limiter form, and she even got one from Auta Magetta, the Metalman. The final member, Hit, seemed far too in tune with the surrounding area, as she noticed him turn his gaze towards it for a few seconds before she made it disappear back to their side, though he said nothing, since he noticed that none of his allies were suffering from her little drone, and while Goku continued to run around the arena Twilight got to work. She wanted to see what sort of genetic differences existed between the races of her universe and their counterparts that were in Champa's, all while Botamo loosed blasts from his ears at Goku, who dodged the attacks with ease as he noticed that his foe's stamina might not be the best. Eventually Goku decided that enough was enough and stuck Botamo in the chest, knocking him onto his back for a couple of seconds with a look of shock on the bear's face, while at the same time surprising both Champa and Vados, since they weren't expecting this from him. Botamo continued his assault, showing everyone that he was either stupid or had some sort of plan in mind, where Goku used some of his advanced speed to knock him away whenever he came at him, while staying in the exact same position no less, causing Twilight to chuckle as it happened. As Botamo got back up, however, a shift happened as Goku went on the offensive and attacked the rubber bear after grabbing onto his right hand during one of his attacks, where it was easy to see that he was testing Botamo's resistance to harm, since he had taken no damage during the last couple of attacks. Everyone was excited by what was going on right now and cheered for him, though not even Goku's barrage did anything to him, something that caused Goku to perform the Kamehameha on his foe without delay, who dodged the attack and bounced around before coming to a stop. In the following moment, however, Goku knocked Botamo onto his back and grabbed him by the legs, as in he hauled him over to the edge of the ring as he avoided being blasted in the back of the head, though when he got close to the edge he let go and let Botamo attack him so he could latch onto his outstretched arm and use the bear's momentum to send him over the edge, right onto the rocky ground. "Botamo has been knocked out of the ring! Goku is the winner!" the Referee stated, where everyone from Universe 7 took a moment to cheer him on as the bear got up and lowered his head in defeat as he returned to Champa's platform, who was already prepping his next warrior with a frown on his face. "He had no choice but to force a ring out... the Rubeariens were known for their damage resistant bodies, which allowed them to bounce around however they wanted after taking a hit," Twilight remarked, as she agreed with Goku's method to take his foe out, especially since it seemed like Botamo had complete control over his ability to redirect himself to a new area after taking his foe's attacks, even if there were times were he stood still, "Of course he could have used the full force of his greatest power to knock him around, but in the mindset of maintaining one's stamina this was the best course for him to take... though he might not have that luxury with his next foe." "Frost... this will be very interesting." Cooler stated, because out of all the warriors from the other universe he was more interested in his brother's counterpart, as while he didn't seem anything like Frieza, in fact he lacked the desire to enforce his will over the rest of the universe and obliterate those who challenged him, or have an army do that, he suspected that there was more to him than what they were seeing at the moment. "It's a pleasure to meet you." Frost said, where he actually walked up to where Goku was standing and held a hand out for him to shake, though the fact that he was much nicer than Frieza had been, at least to those of Earth anyway, shocked a fair number of them as Goku overcame his shock and shook his hand, "Let's give it our all." As Goku nodded Frost, for some reason, walked behind him and spoke to the entirety of Universe 7, essentially stating his belief that at the end of the day they would be able to shake the hands of their opponents and say that everything was fair between them, like he was a gentleman or something. Once his speech was over, and even caused Frieza to raise one of his eyebrows as Twilight realized there was already some deception going on with the warrior, he returned to his side and got ready for the start of the battle, though once the gong was sounded, and the Referee made the announcement, both warriors started the match. What was impressive right away was that Frost was able to match Goku's current power with ease, as the two rushed at each other and started to trade blows, even though their punches collided with each other and their kicks found resistance from the kicks of their foe, to the point where they had to move into the air. Twilight smiled as she watched them clash, because while they moved around the space above the ring, as they knew that being outside the ring's area would be a bad thing and elected to remain within the space Vados had prepared, and it only made those that were familiar with the Glaerian habits interested in what might happen next. Of course only a few of them could actually keep track of the fight, since Goku and Frost were moving rather fast, as in on a level that the likes of Yamcha, even with his power boost from the Animorph Z he had taken, couldn't keep track of the pair, leaving those with godly Ki being able to watch the fight, even when Frost used his tail to knock Goku off balance for a few moments, who returned the favor and knocked his foe into the arena floor. "I suspected as much: you're hiding your full power, saving it for the later fights." Goku remarked, though as Frost stood there, with a surprised look on his face, he gestured towards Frieza and Kind Cold for a few seconds as his foe realized that one of his potential foes was of his own race, meaning he understood the comment with ease, "As you can see, we're more than familiar with the types of suppression forms that your race uses when they have a lot of power and can't really control it... the warriors behind me no longer need such a thing to control their true power." "I see. Meaning you'd rather fight me in my final form, instead of wasting time." Frost said, showing that he understood what Goku hadn't said, all while he focused on the warriors from Universe 7 that were of his own race, confirming that they were, in fact, in a form he preferred not to use. In the next moment Frost, deciding that it would be in his best interests to actually put forth his best effort, transformed into his Third Form, the more alien one Frieza had used once upon a time, though while Goku seemed fine with this, despite the fact that Twilight knew he was slightly disappointed, he resumed the battle without delay. Sure enough Frost was stronger in this form, as he moved in to strike Goku repeatedly as the Saiyan parried his attacks and launched a few of his own, but the advantage in this situation was on the Saiyan's side, especially given all of the transformations Goku had access to. Goku, of course, fought this form for a few moments, mostly to see just how powerful it was compared to some of the foes he had clashed with in the past, and when Frost hit him in the face with a low energy blast it convinced him that it was time to get a little bit serious. As such he transformed into his Super Saiyan form, shocking everyone from Universe 6 in the process, and that included Cabba since this was the first time he had seen something like this, though in the face of his new power Frost made the smart move and powered up to his final form, breaking himself down until he resembled Frieza. While the two clashed the Referee informed all of them that Frost was known for using his forces to end wars and save lives, as befitting of a hero, making it seem like he was a good guy who only wanted the best for his universe, almost as if he was the exact opposite of what Frieza was. With that in mind Twilight floated down to where the other aliens that looked like the Referee were standing and convinced them to allow her to link up with their information database, so when she returned to her seat, as Goku and Frost moved into a flurry of blows, she had something new to study. Based on the files and various news posts she was able to open so far she was able to confirm that the Referee was right, Frost seemed like a good guy, as he refused to give into despair and fought to the bitter end, before she located something interesting, he bought war torn ground, fixed it up, and then sold it at a profit, no doubt thanks to his own Heeters. She had to resist the urge to chuckle as she realized that Frost was more devious than everyone thought, as he was likely secretly starting these wars so he could come in and be the hero, all while making a great deal of money in the long run and maintaining his image to the rest of the universe tat he called home. As she thought about that, however, she returned her focus to the match as the pair clashed once more, as Frost rushed off of the edge of the barrier that protected them from the dangers of space, though in the next moment things changed as he was able to somehow stun Goku, with a jab that the Saiyan blocked with his arm, before knocking him out of the ring, much to the surprise of those watching the match. "Huh, that's not something you see everyday." Twilight commented, mostly speaking to herself as the other warriors talked with Goku when he returned to where they were waiting, because something about this didn't add up in her mind, hence why she silently focused her energy as she formed a small time window, allowing her to review the match as her uncle landed in the arena and faced Frost. As she did that, however, Jaco jumped up to where she was resting and quietly asked her if she had seen the same thing he had, where she told him that she might have and that she'd deal with the problem if they were right, though as she did that Cooler took his place in the arena as everyone returned to their previous positions. "For defeating Goku, you have earned my interest, Frost, so I'll fight you on even terms." Cooler stated, where he quickly transformed into his unique Fifth Form, his own evolved form that was one step below the Golden Form that Twilight had helped him and the others unlock some time ago, surprising everyone as they quickly realized that there Frost's kind had another form that could be used with enough training, "Come and show me your true power!" Following that statement Cooler rushed at Frost and brought his balled fists down on top of his foe, forcing him to raise his arms to defend himself as he blocked the attack, the sheer power of which was transferred into the arena floor as the area around them cracked apart. Frost seemed surprised by the power of his foe, as if he expected Cooler to be close or equal to his own level, which was followed by him being pushed down into the ground a little before he was knocked off to the side, showing that his control over everything was already slipping. Cooler rushed at Frost without wasting time, as he moved into a series of punches and kicks that forced the other warrior back, causing Champa to realize that his second warrior, one of his greatest, was likely going to fall if nothing happened, which was around the time Cooler threw a punch down at Frost, who got out of the way. The result of such a thing caused the arena itself to crack in half, allowing the rest of the watchers to observe just what a Universe 7 version of Frost's race could do, only for him to kick the arena that was in the direction that Frost was moving in, the force of which making the arena move so the floor blocked his escape, and as he noticed the ploy it was far too late to stop his movements. In the next moment Cooler punched Frost in the chest, breaking the arena fragment behind him as he lifted his foe into the air, up over his head, and brought him down head first into the other section of the arena, all while proclaiming that he was 'planting a dumbass tree', and as he stopped Vados used her power to lift the fragments of the floor, to give them the full space once more. "Come now, Frost, you can't give up yet. I know you have a 'Full Power' form as well." Cooler remarked, though the only reason he was refraining from knocking his foe out of the arena right now was because he wanted to beat him fully, with his foe using all of his power, and if it was worthwhile he might break out his Golden Form, depending on the power that Frost had in his final form, "If you don't use it I will knock you out of the ring." Frost remained silent as he considered his options for a couple of seconds, though in the face of Cooler's power he spent no time on any serious debate as he released his full power, bulking up in no time, before rushing into battle once more as he lashed out at Cooler's chest. He found that his attacks didn't seem to do much against his foe as Cooler brought his right elbow down in his shoulder and knocked him into the floor, though even as that happened Frost refused to give up as he went on the assault after picking himself up. Twilight thought it was odd that all of his attacks were chest focused, as it seemed odd to continue going after an area that he knew wouldn't help him beat his opponent, causing her to use her power to see if her suspicions were right, while the others paid close attention to what was going on right now. While she did that Cooler punched Frost hard in the face as he got a really good gut punch, his attack knocking Frost out of the ring as his foe's caused him to move back quite a bit, which was a result of his full power, before the unthinkable happened as he fell backward, out of the ring. As the Referee declared that both warriors were knocked out, meaning the next warriors in line for both sides would be called to fight each other, Twilight floated down to the arena floor and informed everyone that she would like to inform all of them of something she had discovered. "As per the rules of this tournament, no weapons are allowed in the bouts... and yet Frost has the gall to come here with a needle weapon in his right arm." Twilight stated, where she tapped her staff on the broken floor and a temporal image of the event in question showed up for everyone to see, allowing everyone to observe as she showed them a slowed down version of the fight that revealed that he did, in fact, have a needle weapon attached to his arm, as it came out of a hole near his wrist, a small one everyone wouldn't have been able to see unless it was highlighted. "Really? Must you be a sore loser?" Frost remarked, though as he said that, and floated into the air so he could stare at the one who dared to tarnish his reputation like this, Twilight sighed for a second as she pulled him close, surprising him as his arm moved on it's own, allowing the Referee to touch the area and faint after the needle came out, "I can assure you that this is part of my body." "Incorrect as well. There are signs of tampering and genetic modification." Twilight said, where, to prove her point, she also delved a little deeper into Frost's past with her time magic and revealed, to Champa and everyone from Universe 6, that it was an illegal modification made from one of the notorious pirates of the universe he came from, the very group he was the leader of, "Referee, what is your verdict?" As she expected the Referee had principles and declared, for everyone to hear, that Frost was disqualified, much to the shock and annoyance of Champa, since it hurt his image as a God of Destruction by having one of his warriors break one of the rules of the tournament, and she floated him over to Vados with his hands cuffed behind his back. "One last thing, if I may?" Twilight commented, where the Referee ignored Champa's desire for her to shut up and let her speak as he nodded his head, as she had shown them that she wanted to follow the rules and disliked those who failed to do so, or broke them with no regard for the consequences, "Since Frost decided to break the rules and cheat, so he could win his matches... despite the fact that he had lost the one that just ended... I suggest nullifying Goku's loss and allowing him to rejoin the tournament." "Hell no!" Champa stated, as he was already annoyed with Twilight, for tarnishing his reputation by exposing Frost for the cheater he really was and getting him arrested, but he wasn't about to allow her to simply get whatever she wanted while this tournament was going on, because it challenged his will as a God of Destruction, "Beerus, tell your girlfriend to get off the arena so Vados can fix it... we've got a tournament to wrap up." "Sorry Champa, but Twilight's right. Goku was unfairly eliminated due to Frost's tampering... it's only fair that he's allowed to compete again." Beerus replied, though this was one of those times where he appreciated Twilight's ability to challenge the very gods of the multiverse, as she was doing everything in her power to ensure that Earth stayed in their possession, even if it meant annoying the crap out of Champa, "But don't take my word for it: what does the crowd think?" Much to Twilight's amazement everyone, and that included both the remainder of the Universe 6 team and even Vados, a shock that surprised Beerus since she was loyal to Champa, meaning Goku was allowed back into the tournament, before her of course, causing her to smile as she took her seat once more and waited for the next couple of matches to begin, after the arena was fully repaired anyway. > Destroyers: Vegeta's Assault > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Following the battle between Cooler and Frost, the former utterly breaking the arena that everyone fought on, Vados took a few minutes to recreate the arena so that it would be stronger, so it would be able to withstand more without breaking in case the rest of Beerus' warriors were strong, before nodding to the Referee. "Up next we have the warrior of Universe 7, Vegeta, going up against the warrior of Universe 6, Auta Magetta." the Referre said, where Vegeta floated down to the arena floor and faced the other side as he waited for his opponent to enter the arena, as the robot was taking his time finishing off what appeared to be a lava drink that came from a special metal can, one he tossed to the side after reaching the end. In the next moment Champa whispered something to Vados, who sighed as she waved her staff and set up a brand new transparent barrier between the watchers and the arena, where Twilight noticed that it was cube shaped and even rested a fair distance above the arena floor. As she studied it for a few seconds, however, she noticed something odd that set off more warning bells in her mind, because there were no holes in it as far as she could see and the only opening was down near the bottom, setting up a sort of ventilation system. She instantly knew what Champa was planning, as Metalmen had a habit of heating up their surroundings to drastically weaken whoever their opponents were, making it easier for them to win, and by setting up the barrier it was clear that the Destroyer of Universe 6 wanted to overheat the arena so Vegeta would collapse over time. Such a thing caused her to growl as she tapped her staff on the ground and showed Whis what was going on, causing him to frown as both of them turned their staffs on the barrier, breaking the cube's roof off to open it and prevent the overheating issue. Of course their motions were noticed by Beerus, Champa, and Vados, where Beerus instantly understood that they had dealt with more of his brother's trickery, which he wasn't very good at in his mind, Champa was outraged by Twilight's newest actions, and Vados seemed surprised by what she was seeing. "Seriously?! Stop butting into things, otherwise I'll come over there and destroy you!" Champa stated, showing them that he was annoyed by the fact that Twilight was interrupting things, prolonging the tournament when he felt it should have ended while Frost was on the field. "I was simply nullifying your attempt at treachery, as you had the barrier made so there was no real ventilation," Twilight replied, once more weaving her power into existence to show everyone what she meant, creating an image of the barrier, before it was altered, and what she meant, causing many to glance at Champa as Beerus let out a sigh that showed just how disappointed he was in his brother, "That's twice you've attempted to pull a fast one on us, Champa... do it again and I'll call an end to this entire tournament by announcing your team's disqualification, and make sure the Super Dragon Balls remain with the team that played by the rules." Champa growled for a moment, but since he could see that everyone was siding with Twilight, taking her side with far too much ease for his liking, he decided not to challenge her as he sat down, allowing everyone to turn their attention back to the arena as Vegeta stared at Magetta. In the next few seconds Magetta rushed at Vegeta as the Referee called for them to start the match, swinging his fists down at his foe without wasting time, though while his speed was good Vegeta quickly found that he was above to dodge his attacks and even slip under his body to attack him from behind. That was when he learned a shocking truth of the Metalmen, their bodies were tough, made out of a metal that was a few grades below the strongest in the universe, or at least that was the case in Universe 7 based on what Twilight knew, as the Saiyan Prince had to hold his right hand in shock after the first blow. Magetta noticed that and swung his fists at his target again, though this was where the training that Twilight had put him and Goku through earlier came into play as he avoided the attack with ease and moved around the rest of the area, being mindful of his surroundings since there was a chance that his foe's new plan might be to push him out of the arena. Vegeta, as well, had a new idea in mind as he loosed a volley of blasts at Magetta, where the Metalman tanked them for just a few moments before emerging from the smoke cloud like nothing could damage it, forcing him to wonder if he had to do what Goku did, ring his opponent out, but upon landing behind his foe, and trying to lift him, he immediately backed off so he could come up with a new plan. As he did so Twilight informed those around her that the Metalmen were incredibly heavy, hence why Magetta caused the arena to shift when he first stepped on it, and she suspected that Vegeta might be forced to use the higher tier of his power to take his foe down. Vegeta, already knowing that his base form wouldn't be enough to best this foe, transformed into his Super Saiyan form, since it would help him keep a faster pace and stay ahead of his opponent, before he considered a new plan as he opened fire on the arena. Sure, Magetta was his target, but his true goal was to weaken the arena floor while also directing his foe where he wanted him to go, as he wanted the metallic creature to stop near the edge of the ring and he could tell that Magetta had no idea that he was being lured into a trap. Of course Magetta had his own attack in mind, as he spat globs of what appeared to be lava into the air to try and block Vegeta's attacks, where the Referee informed them that this wasn't a weapon, rather it was just the Metalman's spit, though he was fine with that as he moved Magetta towards the edge of the ring. Once he was in place Vegeta powered up more, going into his Super Saiyan 2 form, before shifting his stance as he called forth a good bit of his power to perform the Final Flash, where the yellow lightning arced outwards and surprised those who were watching the battle take place. He knew that even if this failed to knock the Metalman out of the arena it would break part of the arena floor, as in weaken the construction of it so that when he rushed to attack his foe the energy of his punch would shatter the area around him and send him out of the ring. Of course there was the other plan he had come up with, utilizing the power of a stronger transformation, such as Super Saiyan 4, to do battle with his foe and knock him out the old fashioned way, but he was reserving that plan for later, in case his first one happened to fail. Magetta, on the other hand, just beat his chest as he accepted the challenge that Vegeta had thrown down, so when the Final Flash was fired it slammed into his face and seemed to push him back, before he started to put out a lava breath of some sort so he could counter it. Twilight and the others found that the majority of the attack was pushed into the air, where she waved her staff to make a magical laced barrier beyond the one Vados had set up for the tournament, so while it pierced the Angel's, since she had no idea the warriors of Universe 7 were this strong, Twilight's stopped it from heading off into the universe and allowed her to absorb the energy. Despite the power that Magetta was putting out, to try and stop Vegeta's attack, it wasn't strong enough for him to stop the attack from breaking his apart and hitting him in the chest, where the blow caused him to just stand there with a daze for a couple of moments. That was the opening that Vegeta was looking for as he rushed down to where his foe was standing and punched him right in the chest, as it was far too late for Magetta to block the attack due to Vegeta's speed in this form, though even as he tried in vain to take Vegeta down the Saiyan said something that only the pair could hear. Based on the fact that Magetta became stunned after that told Twilight everything she needed to know, to which she remained quiet for now as the arena floor shattered and Magetta was pushed out of the ring, where he hit the ground as Vegeta landed on the floor again, all while Vados sighed as she realized another piece needed to be fixed. While the Referee declared him the winner, however, Twilight told those around her that the Metalmen were weak to one thing, insults, as it caused them to become locked up and go into shock, allowing their foes to take them out easier if they knew this particular fact, causing many to sigh as Vegeta powered down and Cabba entered the arena. Cabba, from what Twilight could see right now, was definitely a kind Saiyan while holding true to the principles that had forged his people, in fact he seemed to respect Vegeta and smiled for a few moments as they got ready for the battle that was about to take place. As the Referee called for the battle to start they all discovered that Cabba was faster than most of his team, in fact he was likely a true hero of his universe and that meant he had likely fought in a number of battles, so his power and speed were better than a normal Saiyan's, but Vegeta kept pace with him. It was an interesting fight, one of the more fair ones since even Twilight could tell that Cabba didn't like the tricks that Frost used, or the barrier that would have helped Magetta out, rather he did leap into the air to use the sunlight to block Vegeta's vision for a short time so he could kick him hard in the chest. Cabba followed that up with a blast of energy that was clearly designed to push Vegeta off the arena, before he had the chance to recover or transform, but the Saiyan Prince instantly recovered as he dodged the small blast, moved into the air, and kicked Cabba down to the ground with ease. Sure enough Vegeta, falling into the Saiyan trait of wanting a good fight, told Cabba to transform, as he was sure that the other Saiyan could take on a form of his own, even if he was from another universe, but Cabba informed him, and the rest of the crowd, that no Saiyans in his universe could transform, save for the one who started the legend of the Legendary Super Saiyan, a figure who was no longer alive. Apparently Cabba asking for Vegeta to train him upset the Saiyan Prince as he transformed into his Super Saiyan form and decked his foe right in the gut, causing surprise to appear on his face while his mind registered the fact that he had been hit, but Twilight didn't say anything about it, as she knew better. Sure, Vegeta wasn't too happy about Cabba's request, but she also knew that he was going to enrage the younger warrior so he could awaken the first transformation, hence why he delivered several more blows to his foe's body as he taunted him, just like he did to his foes in the past. He wasn't going to give Cabba a chance to surrender, rather he was going to keep pushing him until he unlocked his inner power and turned into a Super Saiyan, where Beerus knew that since Twiligt wasn't getting involved there was no need to step in. Vegeta, on the other hand, kept at it until he hurled Cabba up into the air, who sailed a bit above the arena, before he recalled what Twilight had told him and informed his foe that, once this tournament was over, he was going to head into Universe 6 and blow Salada apart, all while firing another blade at him. "Leave... Planet Salada... OUT OF THIS!" Cabba shouted, though sure enough it had the effect Vegeta wanted, his rage and anger at the very thought of his home being destroyed awakened his inner power, as he transformed into a Super Saiyan and even called a barrier sphere into existence around him to stop the attack. In the next moment Cabba rushed down and attacked Vegeta, who went on the defensive with a smile on his face, or at least that was what Twilight liked to imagine given the situation in front of her, though his fire didn't last too long since he discovered Vegeta's approval of his new power, something that caused him to stop for a time. "A Saiyan is able to unlock new forms by accessing their rage or focusing on their desires, such as wanting power to stop me from destroying Sadala." Vegeta stated, though as he said that Cabba, now no longer controlled by his short-lived rage, returned to his base form as he lost the Super Saiyan glow, where he ordered the younger Saiyan to focus on his anger again, causing him to transform once more, "Good, you have some potential... but this is the only the first form that we have unlocked over our many years, as there are six more forms beyond this one, so continue to push yourself and you might be able to reach our level one day." As Cabba opened his mouth to say something Vegeta took advantage of his lowered defenses and fired a Kiai right into his chest, putting just enough power to knock him out of the arena and put him back in his base form, allowing him to take a moment to sigh as Cabba thanked him for the lesson, though that was when the Referee informed them that it was time for Hit to fight for his universe. "Finally, Hit takes to the field. This I have to see." Twilight remarked, because out of everyone she was more interested in the figure who had been meditating for the majority of the tournament, even if some of the officials might have thought he was sleeping, as she knew the difference between both stances, and now it was time for her and everyone else to see what sort of power he had. Hit stood there as the Referee told them that they could start fighting, where Vegeta decided to test the water by using his Super Saiyan 3 form, much to Cabba's surprise despite being told that there were more forms not a few moments ago, but quickly found that Hit struck his face, instead of dodging the incoming attack. Everyone stood there as Vegeta sensed that this wasn't going to be an easy fight and kicked his power to the next level, allowing the other universe to observe as he transformed into a Super Saiyan 4 before going on the offensive again, showing that he wasn't going to back down, but it did nothing as Hit struck his chest without moving. Of course Hit's attacks were powerful, appearing to be aimed at vitals from what Twilight could tell, but that didn't stop Vegeta was he moved into the realm of the gods with Super Saiyan God, only to discover that it failed to give him the edge he wanted. Not even Super Saiyan Blue and Super Saiyan Blue 2 were a match for Hit's power, though while everyone was shocked by this information, given the foes he and Goku had faced in the past, Twilight focused on his stance, the fact that he stayed in the same spot, and where his hands were, causing her to come up with a theory as she focused her attention, seeing that which was unseen to everyone else. She understood what they were seeing, Hit was one of the rare types that had the power to stop time, similar to Guldo's own technique, hence why his attacks were unseen by his foes and were impossible to avoid, in fact she was sure that it was the Time-Skip technique her mother had told her about a lifetime ago, and while she thought about it Hit knocked Vegeta to the ground, unconscious, causing the Referee to declare Hit the winner. "So that's what his power is... the Time-Skip, skipping through time at a tenth of a second." Twilight remarked, though this was exciting, because it meant there was a chance that she'd get to fight anyway, not unless Goku had something up his sleeve that could turn the tide in his favor, where some of the others glanced at her for a moment, "No, there's nothing bad about this technique, as the Galactic Law on time travel is designed to prevent people from messing with the past, so his skipping into the future is legal." "Still, Hit was able to take down Vegeta, especially with his newest form... this is bad." Beerus said, though he meant it in the sense that Goku was the one in trouble, because both Saiyans had the same transformations and if Super Saiyan Blue 2 was able to be beaten he had the feeling that this would end in a battle between Hit and Twilight. Twilight, on the other hand, could only smile as she leaned forward, as she had a feeling that Goku would find a way to get Hit to show everyone more of his power, while putting on an interesting show in the process, which only made her eager to see what might happen next. > Destroyers: Surprises > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- With Vegeta defeated, which came as a shock to the majority of those from Universe 7 and even shocked Cabba, Goku made sure to give him one of the few Zenzu Beans that had been brought with them, just in case someone was beaten up badly, allowing his rival to watch the fight instead of being unconscious, plus he got a brief rundown from Whis on what his opponent's skill was. "I see... a Time-Skip..." Vegeta said, as he wasn't expecting to discover such a foe in Universe 6's ranks, someone who had the power to effectively negate all of the forms and power that both he and his rival had obtained, which told him that there was a chance that Twilight would actually join the battle, causing him to turn his head so he could focus on the last warrior of their team, "Can you beat him, Twilight?" "I have a few ideas in mind, but I'll need to study Hit further to confirm or deny them." Twilight replied, as the Time-Skip wasn't an ultimate technique, or at least Hit's version wasn't since she and the other Demons suspected that there was a way to empower the ability to greater heights, making her interested in the fight as Goku treated Hit with respect. What interested Twilight, and came as a surprise to the Kaioshin of Universe 6, was that Hit was more than willing to talk with Goku in the opening seconds of their match, because the assassin told him to use his highest transformation, just like Vegeta had done, otherwise he would be out in a matter of moments. Goku informed him that he and Vegeta had totally different ideas on how to fight, even if there were a few things that they actually agreed on, only to discover that Hit was far older than him, as he was at least a thousand years old, causing him to show more respect towards his foe as the assassin stood there. The reason behind why Champa's Kaioshin were so surprised was because Hit usually remained silent and said nothing, but here he was chatting up a storm with Goku, causing Old Kai, Shin, and Aria to tell the other Kaioshin that this was one of the aspects that made Goku who he was. After all of that Hit landed the first blow with his Time-Skip, hitting his foe close to the edge of the arena, something that only caused Goku to smile as he moved away from it and stared at the assassin for a moment, though instead of revealing his cards he continued the match like normal. Twilight already knew what he had discovered, due to the fact that she had noticed the same thing, as Hit preferred to keep his hands in his pockets until the very moment he activated his Time-Skip, so no one could see his hands twitch, the key to how he activated his technique. It was clear to her that Goku had noticed the same thing after watching Hit during Vegeta's fight, in fact the first couple of attacks he threw at Hit, and got struck in return, were designed to give him a chance to see if his thoughts were right or not, while not revealing his true motives to his opponent. Unlike Vegeta, who backed off to take on the next transformation, Goku continued his assault in his base form, conserving his energy for when it was time to get serious, which seemed to interest Hit since he was sure that he would win without having to face any of his foe's forms, so he could also save energy for his last fight. After a few more moments Goku pressed the attack, barely giving Hit a chance to reset his hands and gave him confirmation that the twitch of his hand was the activator for his Time-Skip, before throwing what looked like a jab in the wrong direction, to most of the watchers, and narrowly missed Hit, who was surprised by what his opponent had just done. Goku then followed it up by attacking where Hit was standing, causing his foe to use his technique again, before hitting the air that was right behind him, his backwards uppercut actually hitting Hit in the bottom of his jaw, something that came as a surprise to both the assassin, all of his teammates, and the gods of his universe. "How... How did you do that?" Hit asked, though as he staggered backward he found that his foe hadn't put too much of his power into that attack, no doubt because he was still confirming something in his mind, but his attack still stung and he was taken aback by the fact that someone had actually predicted his movements. "Your ability allows you to skip forward a tenth of a second, so I'm simply predicting where you'll be in that time... the rest is just luck." Goku replied, as while one would think that revealing his hand like this was a bad thing, and in some cases it was, he kept the most important card close to his chest, that being that he knew how Hit activated his Time-Skip, so as long as he knew that, and didn't tell Hit he knew, things would progress smoothly. Hit stared at him for a few seconds before going on the offensive again, where he found that the same thing was repeated several times in quick succession, as in he would either attack or let Goku attack first, activate his Time-Skip, and then be found out by Goku, much to the surprise of everyone from Universe 6, until he paused and Goku did as well. "I figured out how you know: you realized that my hands are the key to understanding when I'm using my Time-Skip and when I'm simply fighting." Hit remarked, which was amazing when he thought about it, as the only ones who likely knew his technique and could counter it were those like Vados, based on what he had seen so far, so it was interesting to find a foe who actually could see and predict his attacks like this, to which he pulled his hands out of his pockets, "But knowing that I have a habit that I cannot change will not help you win this fight." "We shall see." Goku stated, where he realized that the real fight would be starting soon and transformed into his Super Saiyan form, as he wanted to see Hit's power, without the Time-Skip, before he brought out his highest form, and it was easy for him to see that his foe seemed to like the idea. In the following moment the pair rushed at each other, this time fighting like actual warriors as each threw punches, used their arms or hands to block attacks, kicked at the other when an opening appeared, and appeared to be having fun at the moment, or at least it looked that way to those who were capable of following the match. Twilight observed them with a lot more interest as time went on, because now that Hit understood that someone had figured out the trick to his ability he was utilizing new movements to make sure Goku couldn't keep up with him, only to smile as the Saiyan figured out the locations that Hit moved to. The two moved through the air above the arena and clashed multiple times, each seeing what sort of power the other had as they formed their own plans and tried to use them, something that caused Beerus to smile as Champa frowned at the scene in front of them. Vegeta, of course, was displeased with this turn of events, since he had expected to have such a fight with Hit before he was taken down, but he said nothing as the pair continued their clash in the air, though thanks to her training Twilight knew that Goku could continue in his base form for hours if need be. While this happened Twilight realized something important, the Time-Skip only worked on those that were weaker than the user, so while the four lower Super Saiyan forms, the first through the fourth, were weaker than Hit, and were thus affected by his technique, things changed as Goku dipped into the realm of the gods by using Super Saiyan God. She knew that Hit still had the advantage against this form, but thanks to Goku knowing the trick that Vegeta didn't figure out he was able to overcome Hit's attacks and struck him in return, much to the surprise of the watchers. At the same time she also realized that Hit was more like a Saiyan than she initially believed, as he enjoyed this fight, much like a Saiyan did, and he also possessed the same innate power that allowed the warrior race to evolve over difficult battles, as she could tell that his Ki was growing as time went by. It was the ability known as 'Pure Progress', where one rapidly evolved during battle, an ability that also happened to be part of her father's family, given their own explosive power gains in a short period of time, and she already knew what it meant for Hit as he continued to fight Goku. Since his power was growing it meant that he could likely empower his Time-Skip to new heights, going from a tenth of a second to maybe a fifth, or even half a second if he was lucky, and if that was the case Goku's only option would be to use Super Saiyan Blue 2 and hope it was enough, or break out his secret weapon at long last. As Hit considered what was happening, and determined that Goku was a worthy opponent, he focused on something that was specific to himself as he called forth his true power, though Twilight knew that he was growing as the seconds ticked by, due to his violet aura and the fact that she could feel his Ki increasing. Following that everything went back to normal for a bit, mostly due to both warriors rushing at each other without delay once more, though this time Twilight found that she was right, Hit was trying to boost the power of his Time-Skip by clashing with Goku. Such a thing forced Goku to use his higher forms against him, first utilizing the greater power of Super Saiyan Blue and then the power of Super Saiyan Blue 2, to the point that it really looked like Hit was utilizing a new version of his power that allowed him to skip a fifth of a second. As he struck Goku, however, Twilight knew that he was bluffing, the reality of the situation was that Hit had been able to push his Time-Skip to a higher level, as he now had the power to use half a second with his power, meaning it was impossible for Goku to utilize the trick he had been using so far. With the tide turning in his favor Champa called for Hit to knock Goku out of the arena, but, to his annoyance, Hit told his opponent to get up so they could continue their battle, as he had been able to improve because of this match and giving Goku a little mercy was payment, before he struck his opponent multiple times and put the Saiyan on the ground. "It's best that you give up, Goku." Hit stated, because with his newfound power there was no way for Super Saiyan Blue 2 to beat him, in fact he was sure that even with his foe's ability to grow over the course of battles, victories, and defeats, an ability that was similar to what he had based on his observations, he was sure that victory was his. Goku, however, refused to give up while he still had the power to fight and did exactly what Twilight expected him to do in this situation, he started to power up and freaked Champa out, though Hit remained still as he observed his foe, as he had a feeling that the more they fought the more he'd grow. In the next moment Goku revealed his new trump card to Hit and his allies, as he calmed himself before accessing the Kaio-Ken while he was still using his Super Saiyan Blue 2 form, which put a red aura on top of his blue aura while pushing his power to new heights. It was an interesting combination for sure, given that the Kaio-Ken amplified one's power, not to mention the fact that there were even multipliers that could be used after becoming familiar with it, though just the base form was more than enough for Goku to get around Hit's speed, as he moved around the area without Hit being able to track him. Despite that fact, however, the Saiyan stopped nearby and did the unnecessary, he called forth more of his power as he started to stack the multipliers he had access to, causing a fair amount of red lightning to flash as he did so, pissing Vegeta off in the process, before he reached the highest multiplier he wanted to use against Hit. "TIMES TEN!" Goku shouted, where his aura intensified and turned the entirety of the arena into the same red shade that the Kaio-Ken possessed, while at the same time his power was multiplied by ten, pushing the incredible power of Super Saiyan Blue 2 to staggering heights that were completely unnecessary, "KAIO-KEN TIMES TEN!" In the next moment Goku rushed forward and punched Hit in the side of the face, sending the assassin backwards before he bounced back and activated the highest power of the Time-Skip, though it hardly mattered as Goku overcame it with his newfound speed. Following that Goku struck his opponent without wasting time, striking Hit multiple times before he even had a chance to figure out what was going on, and it wasn't long before he knocked him up into the air, showing the watchers that he was now dominating the fight. While that happened Twilight noticed that he was struggling to keep this power up, which made sense given everything she knew, so he was either trying to push himself to end the fight or, and this was the more likely scenario, he wanted to finish his test drive before the battle was over. As Goku realized that fact he returned to the ground and started to charge a Kamehameha, causing Twilight to stealthily set up a barrier outside the one Vados had set up, because she knew he was going to break it, where Hit actually used his Time-Skip to slip inside the beam and clashed with Goku, who rushed into it as well. As Twilight siphoned the energy of the attack, while Whis and Vados sealed the hole Goku created, Goku and Hit seemed to pause for a moment, even causing Champa to freeze as he started to threaten his team, before going at it once more, a fact that ended in them breaking the portrait of Hit's God of Destruction before Goku succumbed to his exhaustion and fell outside the ring. "The combination is sound, but I have no idea what he was thinking pushing it to the tenth multiplier." Twilight remarked, though as she said that Krillin floated down to where Goku was resting to use another Senzu Bean, where he healed in a matter of seconds before moving up to Hit's position, no doubt to thank him for the great match, before she sighed and got up from her seat, "Very well, I guess it's my turn." Beerus said nothing as Twilight held her hand out and her staff floated off to the side, showing him and the others that it wasn't needed, meaning her Demon Goddess and Dark Queen forms were off limits for the time being, before she floated down to the arena as Hit turned to face her. "So, you are Beerus' last warrior." Hit said, where he realized that he might be in danger right now, because this warrior seemed to install a new level of fear into those who earned her ire, based on what had happened so far, but at the same time he knew that if he could get off his empowered Time-Skip first he might win before she could attack him. "Indeed. I am Dark Queen Twilight Sparkle, Empress of the Known Universe." Twilight replied, something that caused Hit to raise his eyebrow for a moment, since this was the first time he had heard such a description that allowed him to know who his target or foes were, while Twilight remained calm and composed like normal, "Basically, I'm a Demon who rules over the Demon Realm and most of the known universe, taking down threats and ensuring the safety of Universe 7." Hit, sensing an opening, activated the Time-Skip and struck his opponent several times without wasting even a moment, just like he had done to Goku, Vegeta, and everyone who came before them, or at least in the days leading up to the battle between Beerus' team and Champa's own team, only to be surprised as he found Twilight standing there, which shocked him and the rest of his team. "You... you moved your vitals out of the way, didn't you?" Hit inquired, because if that was true it meant she had taken the time to study his movements and already had several plans to deal with his power, sort of like how Goku figured out his habit and used it to counter his movements, all while his foe rubbed her neck for a moment. "Maybe I did, maybe I didn't. I'm not about to go blabbing my plans and moves to you, like some warriors I know." Twilight replied, as she knew that the Saiyans loved to tell their foes some of their tricks or even their plans, at least in Goku's case since he preferred a fair fight and telling his opponents that he knew something usually caused his foes to change things up to make the battle more interesting, "Though I will show you something interesting." Hit felt a familiar sensation wash over him as he was struck several times in the chest, all without Twilight moving, though as he staggered backward for a few seconds he understood what had happened, his foe didn't hit his vitals, rather she hit several spots like a warrior would, while also realizing what move she just used. "N... No way... It can't be..." Champa stated, though it was hard for him to contain the fear that he was now feeling, as he and Vados, at the very least, recognized the move that Twilight had just used against Hit, because he now understood why Beerus was so willing to let her have her way. "Time-Skip... you can use it as well?" Hit asked, which came as a surprise to him, because he was sure that there weren't too many races in the universe, or multiverse since he had only recently learned of the existence of the other universes, that possessed the power to manipulate time like he did. "In a sense. You see, I'm a Demon, the ruler of the Demon Realm to be exact, and there are certain Demons, wizards and sorceresses, who learn how to manipulate time." Twilight stated, where she tapped the air to her right for a moment as she activated the power again, causing the world around her to crystalize, a form of one manipulating time, as she moved up to Hit and kicked him in the side, so when time resumed he felt her attack and moved accordingly, "Truthfully, this is the first time I've actually used my time related powers for battle... usually I use them to peer into the past, to study one or more events that interest me in some manner." "And let me guess, you can transform as well?" Hit inquired, because if that was the case he was totally finished, since he was running low on energy thanks to the battle with Goku that had lasted longer than either of them had intended it to, despite the fact that it allowed both of them to grow so much in a short period of time. "I can, but my second transformation is locked behind my staff, and you know Champa would love to punish me for even suggesting that I use it." Twilight said, though she made no mention of her third transformation, her Dark Queen form, as it was best to keep that card as a secret and not reveal it until she was sure that she had no choice in the matter, but she did transform into her Dark Form, shocking those from Universe 6, "This is my Dark Form, something that all of the higher ranking Demons learn how to use, in preparation for a Demon's true potential: the Demon God, or Goddess, form, though unlike the rest of my kind I absorb my weapon to take on the form... the others don't have to do that, but the result is the same either way. Honestly, most Demons don't even bother with this form once they unlock the next one, but I prefer to use it whenever I can, especially in situations like this or when I'm still figuring out a foe's skills." In the next moment she and Hit rushed at each other, their individual time powers washing over the area while shes quickly matched what her foe was doing, allowing them to clash in the middle of the ring as they exchanged blows, so the watchers only saw them move and reappear when they separated from each other. Hit already knew that his chances of winning this battle were slim, especially after realizing the sheer difference in strength between his power and the power of Twilight's Dark Form, making him wonder just how strong her Demon Goddess form might be. It was for that reason he was rather thankful for her sticking to the rules that had been set before the tournament started, and even upheld them, since it meant he wouldn't have to find out what her true power was like during this battle, even though clashing with her like this granted him to further evolve his Time-Skip. Of course such a thing barely mattered to his foe, given her time powers that quickly let her match the newfound levels of his honed technique, and he was positive that his own innate growth ability would take far too long for him to catch up to her staggering might. His thoughts were interrupted as he used the Time-Skip and struck her multiples times, which sent her a couple of steps backwards, causing him to wonder if she was bluffing about her powers or if she had decided to make things interesting by deciding not to use her time powers. Hit quickly discovered that his thoughts on the matter didn't really matter, because Twilight had more powers than he or even Champa knew about, due to the fact that it seemed like the shadows reacted to her power, forming spheres of dark energy that she hurled at him, forcing him to dodge. Another attack he had to get out of the way of was when she formed a dark bow out of Ki and loosed arrows at him, though as he did that Hit also discovered that when they reached the edge of the arena they dissolved so they didn't hit any of the watchers. He quickly realized that her fighting style was different from everyone else he had encountered over his long lifetime, she seemed to switch between ranged and melee combat on the fly, as if it was nothing, she was constantly breaking through his Time-Skip, despite his attempts to empower it, and he kept losing ground as he clashed with her. It was astonishing to see someone whose power rivaled that of his own God of Destruction, since Hit figured Champa was weaker than Beerus, and made him even more grateful to the fact that her staff was outside the arena, otherwise he would have been beaten by this point. As he thought about that, however, he punched Twilight hard in the face as she did the same to his chest, though while he went flying out of the arena, landing on the ground, he had to chuckle as he found that Twilight was unharmed and even seemed unfazed, demonstrating the difference in power between them, and it wasn't long before the Referee declared that she was the winner, earning Beerus the overall victory. "You fought well, Hit. If ever you want to work for someone as a warrior, and not as an assassin, I'd be happy to help you out in that regard." Twilight commented, where she floated down to where the figure was resting and helped him onto his feet, because he was a worthy warrior and their fight had been far more interesting than she had originally assumed, no doubt due to the fact that he had empowered his technique so much in a short period of time. "No! Hit, as well as everyone else on this worthless team, has failed and humiliated me, so I'm going to destroy all of them, and then I'll end you, you meddlesome brat." Champa stated, showing Twilight that he didn't care about his universe or all of the people that called it home, rather he was focused on fulfilling his own wants and needs, instead of doing his job like his brother was these days, but as he readied himself Twilight shifted her stance and struck him without moving, knocking him flat on his back. Hit told Twilight that he'd consider her offer, since it seemed like she was far more understanding and caring towards her subordinates, especially since she had the power to challenge a God of Destruction, though before anyone could say even a single word about her actions they were interrupted by an untimely arrival. Twilight found that there were three figures now on the stage, right in the middle of everything, two tall cyan skinned figures that wore high collared purple colored jackets with golden lining, with a grey sectioned full body suit until it, while their arms were folded behind their backs, as if they were standing at attention. The figure between them, however, caused Beerus and Champa, as well as the Kaioshin, to temporarily freeze in terror, as it was a short child-like figure with an oval shaped head, who had sky blue skin while the sections around his ears were purple colored, stopping at his eyes, while his attire was a simple magenta and yellow lined coat with the Kanji for 'All' emblazoned on it. This was a mythical being to the people of Alexandria, a figure called 'Zeno', the 'Omni-King' and 'King of All', basically a figure that supposedly ruled over everything in the known multiverse, a figure that the gods, both Kaioshin and Hakaishin, answered to, and here he was, a myth made reality. If Twilight was being honest with herself she was somewhat disappointed in what she was seeing, as she thought Zeno was a more adult figure who watched over the multiverse and called in the gods of a universe when he was unhappy with how things were progressing, not the child that was standing in front of them, but she also knew not to judge a book by it's cover and kept her mouth shut as the gods assembled before bowing to Zeno. As the gods spoke to him, with Vados bemoaning the fact that Champa hated her food and refused to exercise, Twilight returned to where she had been sitting earlier, gripped her staff for a few seconds, and silently, without revealing herself to anyone else, tapped into her power as the Dark Queen. Such a thing allowed her to get a rather brief glimpse into the sheer power that Zeno commanded, where she could tell, with just that passing glance, that his power was on an entirely different level, as he was far beyond even the Angels and his Attendants, the latter possessing a level that rivaled Whis and Vados' power. As Zeno started to turn his head she cancelled the power and returned to listening to what was going on, as she realized something else during her brief observation, she had been able to glimpse into a world beyond the gods, the 'Omni Realm' she guessed, because of the power she stole from Mechikabura. Such a thing told her that the Dark King's end goal must have been taking over as the supreme ruler of the entire multiverse, the creation of a dark multiverse that he ruled over, causing her to be thankful that she had stopped him when she did. Zeno informed them that he had been made aware of the two Destroyers throwing this tournament together, almost as if it was unofficial in his eyes, and even joked about replacing Beerus and Champa, causing them to freak out in the process, before announcing that he wanted to make a tournament with all the universes taking part in it. Despite everything Goku was excited by this turn of events and it pleased Zeno to have someone who was willing to talk to him like a normal being, instead of being afraid of him all the time, because even with the knowledge that Zeno ruled over everything Goku simply saw him as someone who liked to have fun, watching good fights. Twilight almost laughed at this series of events, as it was in Goku's character to treat people like this and even befriend those who either didn't have friend or didn't want any, like with Piccolo and Vegeta, and he made friends with the being that ruled over everything like it was no big deal. It was these moments that almost made her wish that she had his carefree nature, to not worry about certain things and just enjoy her life to the fullest, but knew that it was better this way, hence why she remained silent as Zeno talked. After informing everyone that he would be putting together a new tournament, once everything was set in stone, Zeno turned towards his Attendants and walked over to them, though he stopped halfway there and turned his head for just a moment, allowing him to look at Twilight. "Oh, and Twilight... have fun, and keep yourself safe." Zeno said, which came as a surprise to everyone, especially Twilight since she thought there was no reason for someone of his caliber to even care about someone like her in the slightest, despite her taking down Mechikabura and potentially saving both him and the multiverse. "Don't worry, I will." Twilight replied, though as she said that she smiled, because Zeno's smile was somewhat infectious, as his childlike wonder seemed to do wonders for everyone who happened to be around them, which seemed to make him happier than he had been a few moments ago. With the message delivered Zeno and his Attendants departed from the tournament grounds and left the groups to finish celebrating Beerus' victory over Champa's team, though it only made Twilight interested in what the future might hold for all of them and the entire multiverse. > Interlude: Tournament Aftermath > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Following Zeno's departure from the Nameless Star, thus allowing the gods to relax for a time before doing anything else, Twilight approached Vados and offered her a set of notes, detailing how one could use the Namekian Dragon Balls to wish a planet back to life and how to word it to get the planet of food that Champa wanted. Her reason for this was because she knew that if the Namekian Dragon Balls of Universe 6 worked like the ones in her universe they would be able to fulfill the Destroyer's wish, while at the same time ensuring that he didn't come for her Earth again. Giving the notes to Vados meant that they would be safe and sound, since there was a chance that Beerus' brother might tear them apart out of spite, due to the fact that she had interfered with the tournament a few times, and the Angel seemed to understand as she accepted the pieces of parchment. After that, and Champa calmed down after the sheer terror of being visited by Zeno, which included his joke at replacing them with new Destroyers, the gods of Universe 7 stared at Champa as he sighed and nodded to Vados, who informed everyone that the six Super Dragon Balls would remain here, just as promised. No one moved as Vados waved her staff, taking down the arena and everything else she had made, save for the barrier that was keeping them safe from the vacuum of space, before her group climbed into their travel cube and departed for one of the planets of Universe 6, where Bulma waited until they were long gone before getting ready. "Now that he's gone, we can look for the last Super Dragon Ball." Bulma said, where she pulled out the new radar, which had been built to read the power of the planet sized wish granting orbs, and turned it on without delay, only to be surprised as she noticed something odd, it was reading seven signatures despite there being six orbs, something that caused Twilight to chuckle for a moment. "Champa's going to freak out when he realizes the truth: we're standing on the last Super Dragon Ball." Twilight stated, as it made sense, because there was nothing else around the area that they were in, save for the Nameless Star and the six Super Dragon Balls, and now it made sense as to why this rock seemed to be the same size as the planetary wish granting orbs that Champa had been collecting. Whis praised Twilight for discovering it so quickly as he ushered everyone back into their cube, though once that was done he moved them off the Nameless Star and positioned themselves so they could stare down at the seven spheres, which allowed everyone to see what Twilight was talking about. With that done he raised his staff and applied his power to the central orb, the one they had been fighting on, where he and the others watched as the debris quickly broke off in bits and chunks, revealing the last Super Dragon Ball in a flash of light. Twilight commented on the fact that the last one must have collided with a bunch of asteroids and other space debris, creating the Nameless Star that Champa knew, though there was no telling how long it had been resting like this, something that hardly mattered right now as Bulma told Whis how to call forth the dragon. A few moments later he turned towards the seven Super Dragon Balls and raised his voice for a few seconds as he uttered the summoning phrase that would allow someone to make a wish on Super Shenron, where they remained silent as they wanted for something to happen. In the next instant the red stars on the seven spheres started to glow as yellow energy branched off of the six that formed a ring around the central one, as if they were focusing their light into the last one, before the energy broke off and they were consumed by a brilliant golden light that caused Whis to pull them back and form a barrier around them. It quickly condensed into a single point before most of the watchers had to divert their eyes as the light expanded outward, with enough force to cause the area around them to shake, all while Twilight made notes on what was going on this this was the first time the Super Dragon Balls had been used in a long time and she wasn't about to miss this. When the light finally faded Twilight stared up at the massive transparent sphere that was in front of them, which contained a massive golden serpent dragon that seemed to be sleeping right now, though it only lasted a few moments as it's eyes opened and it let out a roar that seemed to resonate with all of reality. After that they got a true sense of the dragon's size as the sphere it had been contained in shattered and it grew to it's full size, as it became so large that Twilight was sure that anyone could see it from any location in the known universe, or both universes since they were in the middle of the space between the 6th and 7th universes. "Holy... it's the size of an entire universe..." Twilight commented, as nothing that Bulma got from Zuno even warned them about such a thing, though in this case it was a nice surprise as they glanced up at the massive beast, but before anyone else said anything their transport shimmered and reappeared inside what appeared to be the insides of the dragon, no doubt for good reason. Whis informed them that this was perfectly normal, as when Super Shenron was used in a universe it called the one who used the Super Dragon Balls into an inner space to make their wish, while if this was done in, say, the World of Void, which was an empty space separated from the rest of the multiverse, they would stand before the dragon to make their wish, all of which interested Twilight greatly. They eventually came to a stop in a dark area that formed what Whis claimed was the nucleus of Super Shenron, as it formed a smaller version of the dragon that stared down at them and started to talk, in what seemed to be the language of the gods. Whis glanced down at them for a moment and asked Beerus what his wish was going to be, as that was what Super Shenron wanted to know, causing their Destroyer to cross his arms for a couple of seconds as he considered his options on the matter, before he floated up to the top of the cube to whisper it into Whis' ear. Whatever he wanted came as a surprise to Whis as he listened to his student's desire, which only made Twilight all the more interested in what Beerus might be wishing for, and once he was done whispering it into Whis' ear the Angel turned towards the dragon's nucleus and repeated the wish. A few moments later Super Shenron lifted it's head and let out a roar, showing that it was granting Beerus' wish, though as that happened Twilight felt a migraine come on as she raised her left hand to her head and staggered back a little, which only caused some of the others to move to her side to make sure she was alright. "What... did you do?" Twilight asked, though as she asked that, however, she started to see images rapidly move through her mind, what looked to be of places she had never been to before and a vast amount of individuals she had never seen, and yet, despite that fact, something told her that she did know everything she was seeing. "Well, you were curious about our origins, but seemed too scared to actually ask the questions or make the wish on your own, so I thought I'd make the wish for you." Beerus replied, though while he could have simply wished to bring back his brother's Earth, and ensure that it was the same as the one that he enjoyed going to, he suspected that Twilight's notes to Vados would allow the same thing to happen, so the next best thing was giving their hero something he knew that was a prime item she wanted to know. Bulma said nothing to that, as it sounded similar to the wish she made way back when Twilight turned twenty-one, which caused her current form to be made a reality, though this time around it didn't seem like her friend had anything much to say to Beerus, rather she seemed lost in recalling her memories. Twilight, on the other hand, walked over to the corner of the cube and weaved her magic into a chair, allowing her to sit down for a time as she considered everything she had just learned, as there was a lot of information for her to process. Most of it was unbelievable when she considered it, like how she came from a world that was so full of magic that nearly anything and everything was possible, how the sun and moon were literally controlled and moved by two alicorns who bared markings on their flanks to show off their special talent, as strange as that sounded. It also went against everything she knew in the known universe, as every planet she had been to had an orbit around a sun, or even multiple suns in certain circumstances, yet her home planet seemed to be the very opposite, the celestial orbs orbiting the planet while, and that wasn't taking the weather or seasons in consideration, as all of it was different from what she was used to. There were also so many different races that called her home world home, such as earth ponies, pegasi, unicorns, hydras, minotaur, griffons, changelings, crystal ponies, and many others that seemed to be registering in her mind once more, so it would take her some time to accurately recall everything she had once known. What interested her far more than anything else was the fact that, at one point in time, she had been a unicorn with what appeared to be a little dragon assistant, while at the same time being the student of the Solar Princess, who had ruled for a thousand years on her own after having to banish her transformed sister to the moon. Her sister ended up returning to Equus, the planet in question, once a thousand years were up, something that caused Twilight and five mares to head out into an ancient and dangerous forest to recover the 'Elements of Harmony', the relics that defeated Nightmare Moon in the first place. She recalled learning how each of her new companions actually represented five of the six Elements, those being Honesty, Loyalty, Kindness, Laughter, and Generosity, while she, herself, actually produced the spark that brought forth the final Element, Magic, before they unleashed a rainbow beam that turned Nightmare Moon into Princess Luna, the Lunar Princess. After that things just seemed to get crazy as she and her friends fought the Spirit of Disharmony, the Draconequus called Discord, figured out how to best the King of Shadows, Sombra, and the Queen of the Changelings, Chrysalis, and a number of other insane and crazy events that made her question the sanity of her home planet. She even recalled more about her family, the parents that she had forgotten, the brother who married the Princess of Love and became co-ruler of an entire empire, and everyone that happened to be important to her, including an old pupil of her old mentor's, which caused her to chuckle a little as she glanced out at Earth for a moment. "What's so funny?" Beerus asked, because he had noticed that Twilight had remained quiet for the majority of the trip, no doubt going over the information that had been given to her thanks to his wish on Super Shenron, and none of them had been able to tell what was going through her mind, so he was simply curious. "Trust me, you wouldn't believe me even if I told you." Twilight remarked, speaking as they touched down on the ground outside Capsule Corp, something that caused Bulma to head inside and tell the chefs to whip up a feast, as she wanted to celebrate their victory over Champa's team, while her statement was more due to the fact that none of her friends, family, or acquaintances would believe her if she told them what she knew, "Goku, Vegeta, you two had better take the rest of the day off and relax... after what happened in the tournament I'm going to start pushing you harder than ever before, and I'm not going to stop until I unlock your next form." "And you're sure you can do that?" Piccolo inquired, mostly because the two Saiyans had just unlocked Super Saiyan Blue and Blue 2 fairly recently and he was sure that unlocking the 'Super Saiyan Blue 3' form would take quite a while for them, even with her training them. "I mean, Hit showed me a new way to fight and I'm sure both Goku and Vegeta would love to fight that style again, which would be good for their growth," Twilight pointed out, as everything made sense when she thought about it, both warriors had a chance to observe someone fighting Hit and learning the ins and outs of the Time-Skip, to a degree anyway, so she suspected that using it with her base training would lead to some drastic results, "I would be disappointed if training with a new skill set didn't yield a great result, but something tells me that Super Saiyan Blue 3 is right around the corner... we just need to breach that wall." "There's plenty of time for that later. For now, let's celebrate!" Beerus stated, as there had been enough fighting today and he was eager to enjoy their victory over Champa's team, who was either fuming on his private planet, snacking on the food that Vados had stocked up on during her travels of their universe, or had taken up Twilight's suggestion to mend his Earth and make it like what was in their universe. Twilight chuckled as she joined the others, because while she now knew her origins, and the sheer insanity that came with knowing such a thing, her focus was on the life she had built in this universe, which she wouldn't trade for anything else, and it only made her interested in what the future held for them. > Interlude: Back to Work > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Following the celebration over Champa's team, and the rest that Twilight ensured everyone took part in, Twilight wasted no time getting back to work as she poured over her tablet, going over reports from the various groups that were working under her and carrying out her desire to unite the universe under one banner. When they were alone she had asked her father about the Heeters, as she was curious as to when he wanted to deal with them, where she learned that he wanted to observe them for a while longer, just to make sure they walked right into his trap. Other than the Brokers there was no real reason for her to go out into the universe and explore, since her army was more than enough to deal with anything that might threaten everything else, and those that were familiar with her desires made sure to send copies of knowledge to her whenever they discovered something new. Such a thing reminded her of the fact that she had the mark so she could go and speak to Zuno whenever she wanted, which interested her greatly since there was much he knew that not anyone else in the universe knew, and Twilight knew that she would enjoy discussing things with him. One thing Twilight started doing after the tournament was using her time powers to peer into the strands of time, because she noticed that there were small disruptions, nothing major when she told Aeos about them, which seemed to be a group of her alternate selves keeping track of time itself. Such a thing told her that they must have replaced Aeos and Chronoa as the Lord of Time in their timelines, a fact that interested her when she noticed that there were twelve of them, but for the most part it seemed like things were just fine and didn't require her to do anything drastic. There was also a darkness that was growing in the strands of time, meaning it was either another villain that she and the Saiyans would have to take out, as usual, or there was another version of herself out there that she had to be mindful of, which was a real possibility given all of the versions of her that had been created at one point. One of her alternates was definitely darker than the others, that was something she was able to figure out on her own without having to actually travel through time, but for right now it looked like everyone was contained to their own timelines, meaning she could relax without getting involved. Goku and Vegeta, as Twilight expected, either trained on Beerus' planet with Whis, clashed on Earth with low power as to avoid destroying everything with the power of their final forms, or came after her for some of her special training, as both of them were pushing themselves to unlock Super Saiyan Blue 3. Of course they weren't alone in seeking her out, because a fair number of the warriors of Earth sought her out for additional training so each could master themselves and grow even stronger for whatever the future held for them, just in case a threat appeared and none of the trio was there to lend them a hand in saving the day. Even with the knowledge that there were other universes out there, and some had some warriors who had great skills, Twilight had to admit that the determination of Yamcha, Krillin, and everyone else who had been left in the dust was commendable, as they wanted more power in case Goku and Vegeta were too far away to aid them. She put all of them through some new training, engineered to help them master their various skills and push them towards potentially overcoming one of the limits that they were facing, though even then she knew that it would be a long time before they gained a level of power that even matched what the Saiyans had. In addition to that she also continued with Eschalot's training, as the young dragon Saiyan had some lessons that needed to be covered before Twilight even considered walking away and leaving it to someone else, especially since one of them came as a request, that Eschalot wanted to tackle a full moon session. Twilight knew what she was talking about, due to the fact that she had helped Goku and Vegeta do the same thing, Eschalot wanted to master her more dangerous power and, maybe, unlock her own Super Saiyan 4 form as she did so. It was a worthwhile endeavor, because her studies on the genetics of Saiyans indicated that as long as they had their tail, even a modified one like hers when she thought about it, they would turn into their Oozaru forms and potentially Super Saiyan 4 if they controlled that power. To be sure nothing went wrong she even made sure that Goku and Vegeta were present for that session, though in the end Twilight had even more proof that a Saiyan's determination or desire allowed them to do great things as Eschalot succeeded in taming her inner power, allowing her scales to take on a pattern that matched the Super Saiyan 4 form. Goten and Trunks, however, wanted to keep up with Eschalot and continued to fail in that regard, as Twilight wanted the pair to realize that this wasn't a game and that those who trained under her accepted everything that was thrown at them, but since they refused to take this seriously she didn't give them the same training as the others. When Twilight wasn't focusing on the advancements of Earth, which was turning into a thriving center in the section of the universe it was located in, her gaze was focused on space and everything that her empire was doing, taking care of any villains that were still out there and ensuring the safety of the remaining planets. Part of her focus was on the creation of a method to deal with Moro, because Beerus didn't seem interested in helping kill him while they had the chance to do so, no doubt not wanting to interfere with the Grand Kaioshin's legacy or something, even though it looked like she was going to either seal him away or kill him with her own powers. None of the devices she created the plans for seemed to do much in the grand scheme of things, and even the boosted restrains she had created after the discovery of Worpal, including all of it's capabilities, were going to fail at some point, but she refused to be defeated. She knew there was a way to cripple Moro to the point where she wouldn't have to worry about his magic latching onto her and stealing her power, she just had to figure it out and put it into action, hence her constant studying and creation while her empire worked. A week after the tournament between Universe 7 and Universe 6 happened, and she thought that things would get back to normal, she had a pair of visitors show up that weren't entirely unexpected, as Vados came knocking with none other than Hit of all people, and Champa seemed to be nowhere in sight. "Ah, Hit, Lady Vados, what an unexpected surprise." Twilight said, where she closed her tablet and got up from her seat so she could welcome the pair into her office, as the one she had several identical chambers scattered around the places that were usually where one could find her, like how she had one on Earth and one on a planet at the outer edge of it's solar system, plus several more to help her do her job, "Would you like something to drink?" "Tea, if you have it." Vados replied, because with Champa back home in Universe 6, sleeping off a pity feast to make him forget losing to his brother and his 'girlfriend', she didn't have to worry about his sugar drinks and could just relax a little, hence some good old fashioned tea, plus this was Universe 7 and she suspected that it would be far better than what was in Champa's domain. Twilight nodded and tapped a button to make the request, where one of the staff members brought in the drinks not even a couple of moments later, as they knew she liked to have a drink on hand when she was working and it ranged from the simple tea to a variety of sodas, or even strong coffee when she needed something strong. "So, to what do I owe the pleasure of a visit from Universe 6's legendary assassin and it's guiding Angel?" Twilight asked, because while she had an idea as to why Hit had come seeking her out, given the offer she had given him before Zeno showed up and freaked out all of the gods, there was always a chance that they had come for an entirely different reason and didn't want to get Champa involved in their business, "Is Champa displeased with his new Earth and he sent you two to deal with me... and you're here to give me fair warning?" "No, Lord Champa is pleased to have an Earth like yours, with all of the delicious food he could eat." Vados replied, though at the same time she couldn't fault Twilight for considering the assassination option, despite the fact that she was smart enough to know the truth without anyone having to say a word, since it made sense considering Hit's profession, "Hit has something he wants to talk to you about and asked if I could bring him here." Hit sat there for a few seconds, either rethinking the decision that had brought him here or the statement that he had no doubt prepared for when he saw her again, before he reached into a pack that he had brought with him and set a tablet, one from Universe 6 that looked a lot like the one she used all the time, on the table that opened to a document he must have listed as a favorite before this point. "I considered your offer and, after talking with Lady Vados for a time, I decided to take you up on it." Hit said, though as he said that his Angel guide drank her tea and he did the same, mostly because it would be rude not to drink some while they were talking, allowing Twilight to look over the document for a few moments as he considered his recent actions and what they meant for the immediate future, "With that in mind Lady Vados helped me with the official paperwork to move from one universe to another, which you are currently reading, and assured me that everything is in order." "She would be correct." Twilight commented, because she had asked Whis if there were rules behind moving someone from one universe and transferring them to another, mostly due to Champa's desire for Earth and the potential headache it could have caused in the paperwork department for everyone involved, and it allowed her to understand the couple of rules that the Angels had created in the unlikely event that this happened, "It's not mentioned at all, but am I correct in assuming that you'd love to fight Son Goku again, at some point in time?" "...Yes. Fighting him was good for my growth, and if I'm to be of service to you I'll need the power to do so." Hit replied, as the documents listed that he was willing to hire on as an assassin for the one who ruled over the majority of Universe 7, as it was what he was used to doing, save for the martial arts he developed in his spare time, since it seemed like the best method available to him. "I'll be honest, Hit, I don't need an assassin... in fact, I have plenty of qualified people to do that anyway." Twilight stated, to which she tapped a button and the screen behind her came to life as Hit and Vados watched as it showed them her forces, those that came from her father's empire, the Galactic Patrol, and the Dark Imperial Army, something that surprised both of them, as if they were now understanding her true military power, "What I need, however, are powerful warriors to go out into the unknown parts of the universe, expanding our knowledge of what the universe holds, discovering whatever dangers might be out there, taking down the villains they can deal with while informing us of those that require someone else to bring them down. Instead of taking down crime lords, or whoever you were hired to take out, you would be part of my highest ranking force, exploring the universe in the manner I just described, joining the rest of those that have been chosen to complete that mission... plus it has a pretty generous salary, if you're worried about that." Hit looked at the tablet in front of him, which had been altered while he wasn't looking, and found that it contained the various points that Twilight had made just now, though while the currency in Universe 7 was different, because this was the first time he had heard of 'Pol', he found that if he took her offer he would make a fair amount of money, as in at least twice his rate in the first year alone and maybe up to five times by the third year. "You will also be given all the essentials: such as days off, vacation days, medical, dental, and everything else that comes with a proper paying job." Twilight continued, where she could tell that both Hit and Vados were simply surprised by what they were reading as they went over the contract that had been placed on the other tablet, especially since it had to be far better than whatever Hit was given back in his universe, before she chuckled for a moment, "Plus, by working under me, I can guarantee you that there will be days where you can fight with Goku, Vegeta, or anyone else you desire... even myself, if you so desire. I will warn you that, if you choose to accept the job, there will be some paperwork to get done, so you'll be given a week to relax, so it'll give you a chance to mingle and get used to the rest of Universe 7... or clash with Goku again, if that is what you desire." In the end Hit agreed to the terms, especially since Twilight wasn't going to force him to change his uniform, he looked just fine with what he was wearing right now, though before anyone could say anything the communicator in the room went off, informing Twilight that Robelu had something to report. "Lady Twilight, you have another pair of visitors," Robelu said, which wasn't much of a surprise to Twilight, given her position and the responsibility that came with ruling the entirety of the known universe, though it only made her interested in who might have come to talk with her, while she was wrapping up her meeting with Hit and Vados, "One of them is an Angel, and the other is their God of Destruction." As Twilight raised her eyebrow, because this wasn't what she was expecting to hear, Vados also noticed that her staff went off, showing an annoyed Champa who must have found the communicator she had left for him, though it was easy to tell that it was time for her to head home. With that in mind Twilight informed Robelu that she could let the others in, while also telling her to aid Hit in figuring out the planet he wanted to call home, plus a few other things that needed to be cleared up, causing the assassin to bow his head as he took his tablet and followed Vados outside. Once they were gone Twilight got a chance to meet the other individuals who wanted to talk with her, the first being a golden yellow humanoid fox who wore the attire of a Destroyer, which had a deep red color to it, though he had black tipped ears and, interestingly enough, he had three tails that had white tips near the end. The other figure was definitely an Angel, because Twilight recognized the pale blue skin, the halo around his neck, his staff, and the attire that only someone like him wore, even if it was brown colored, though she also noticed that this one's white hair was cut far shorter than what his siblings had. Robelu had been telling the truth, another God of Destruction and their Angel wanted to speak with her, even though she did think it was odd to meet a third one, especially so soon after the tournament with Champa, though she smiled as both figures entered her office, since she wanted her first meeting with them to go well. "Lady Twilight, we are honored that you would make time for us, especially on such short notice. I am Korn, and this is Liquiir, the God of Destruction of Universe 8." the Angel said, which interested Twilight more than she was willing to admit, especially since she had been so sure that none of the other universes knew about her, though it sounded like she might be more well known than she originally thought. "I am honored to be worthy of a visit from the Destroyer of another universe." Twilight replied, where she stood up for a moment and bowed her head slightly, to show some respect to a God of Destruction she knew nothing about, before she offered them a seat and called for some new drinks to be delivered, since she had a feeling this might be an interesting conversation and they would need something to prevent them losing their voices, "So, what brings the God of Destruction and guide Angel of Universe 8 to my universe?" "My Kaioshin, Iru, learned about you thanks to the tournament Beerus had with Champa, and discovered that you had a hand in helping your own Kaioshin out." Liquiir stated, where it was easy for Twilight to see that he was interested in the fact that she was preserving life and destroying those who threatened the balance of her universe, or Beerus' since he was the God of Destruction of this universe, though he paused for a moment as new drinks were brought in and the worker departed after their job was done, "You might be surprised to hear that many of the Kaioshin, from the other universes, were surprised to have Aria back in their lives, as she was one of the more popular Gods of Creation from Beerus' domain, save for the Grand Kaioshin, Daio, and several of them have invited her to visit their universes. Aria spoke highly of you, Twilight Sparkle, and I was interested in seeing if any of them were true... I'm not calling her a liar, it's just that I've never heard of a Kaioshin praise someone so highly." "She even mentioned how you dealt with the threat of what she called 'Kid Buu', a figure who would have decimated the rest of the universe, which came as a complete surprise." Korn said, though Twilight could tell that he was impressed by all of the tales that Aria must have told Iru, who in turn told his Hakaishin and his Angel, making her wonder how much Aria might have said during her visits to the other universes, even though it clearly wasn't enough since she didn't have gods knocking on her doorstep all the time. "Not to mention there's the rumor that you've gotten Beerus, of all Destroyers, to get back to work." Liquiir added, which just told Twilight that those who knew of her in the other universes likely attributed her tales to nothing more than mere rumor, though she was in no hurry to correct them since she still had problems to solve in her own universe, "Honestly, I was hoping to speak to you about the waves you've been creating in this universe, how you seem to go about raising the mortals of the worlds up like it's nothing, how you deal with villains..." "Simply put, you want to get to know me and my methods for securing my universe?" Twilight inquired, where she had to chuckle for a moment as she found that her words shocked the two gods, as they weren't expecting a 'mortal' to say such a thing, or act this way towards a deity, before she leaned back in her chair and grabbed her new cup as she focused on the pair for a time, "Allow me to sate that curiosity of yours." Twilight explained the existence of her father's empire, which she clarified was now hers and under new management, to the gods, who were surprised to hear that she was the daughter of a galactic tyrant who blew up planets every once and a while, but ended up pleased that she had convinced him to walk a different path. Then there was the Dark Imperial Army, who she had claimed from the previous Ruler of the Demon Realm, who had been turned into a force that explored the rest of the universe, aiding everyone else in adding to her knowledge of the universe and taking care of any threats that might be lurking on some of them. She also spoke of the Galactic Patrol and how they factored into everything, allowing her to keep an eye over inmates as she sought a way to rehabilitate them, along with the problem prisoner that she was in the middle of figuring out how to deal with, as there was no way to change him into a force that benefited the universe as a whole. Of course Twilight had to explain that Moro was a special threat, that she couldn't get too close to where he was being held, as he could interact with her magic and empower himself to escape, nor could he be held on a planet, least he draw upon it's power to break free and start a new rampage across the vastness of the universe. While she did that Liquiir asked a question every now and then, as Korn said nothing as he listened to what was going on, where Twilight realized that he was definitely interested in her as a person, her methods for bringing order to a chaotic universe, and essentially everything else that set her apart from everyone else he knew. At the same time she was able to discover that they shared some similar thoughts, such as the fact that they dealt with anyone who might drag down the mortals of their universe, showing that he had a great respect for life and only wiped out planets when there was no other way to achieve the desired result. He was also quite jovial, reminding her of Pinkie the more they talked, something that made her smile and chuckle as they swapped stories about some of the villains they took down, though for right now she decided to keep Mechikabura on the back burner, since her having his power was her best kept secret. When the second hour came around Twilight called on one of the staff and made sure they had something ready for dinner for three, since she couldn't send the pair of gods home on an empty stomach, allowing them to continue their discussion for quite a while before an excellent fish dinner was served with wine for the drink. By the time Liquiir and Korn had to leave for their universe, far later than what Twilight had planned, Twilight suspected that she would be seeing them again in the future and was actually looking forward to it, as she enjoyed the break Liquiir provided, causing her to smile as she looked forward to what the future held in store for Universe 7. > Interlude: Blast From the Past > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Twilight spent the next three weeks doing all sorts of things, keeping herself busy as she prepared for whatever the future might have in store for her and the rest of the Earth, ranging from checking in with Hit to make sure he was adjusting to his new life, training with the Z Warriors, and hanging out with a god. Hit found that his new life was vastly different from what he was used to, as he worked with some of her higher ranking individuals, from all her organizations, in the effort to explore the rest of the universe and expand their knowledge of what was out there. Instead of assassinating people, like he did back in Universe 6, he and his team traveled through the vastness of space, causing him to marvel at the fact that Twilight was able to make advanced technology to streamline space travel, meaning instead of wasting time on travel they would be able to get to their destination with ease and get to work rather quickly. Of course he was working with all new people, who had to accept a more silent coworker into their group, but based on what Twilight could tell they were glad to have someone of his caliber with them, since there was no telling what sort of dangers the new planets might have for them. She also knew that on his days off he sought out Goku and Vegeta, who welcomed the challenge, especially the latter since he had also figured out the initial signs that informed one that Hit was about to activate his Time-Skip, so with two fighters knowing his movements it meant great things for Hit's training. Such a thing caused her to think about the training she did with the two Saiyans, pushing them to the limits of their Super Saiyan Blue 2 forms, eventually causing both warriors to actually control the power of their Blue forms without having their auras around them all the time. Gaining this mastery allowed them to drastically increase their power and nullify any of the drawbacks that came from the Blue forms, just like what happened when Goku and Gohan trained to master the first Super Saiyan forms and both Vegeta and Future Trunks copied them later on. With this power under their belts Twilight pushed both of them even harder than before, because she had high hopes for them and knew that, in due time, they could gain a whole new level of power that would no doubt be the Super Saiyan Blue 3 form she knew was coming up. Both Saiyans did agree with her on this matter, because they knew that she was likely right in her thoughts, especially after gaining the power to use Super Saiyan Blue 2, hence why both warriors were so willing to accept her intense training, since they knew it would only benefit them in the end. By the end of the second week Twilight smiled as they achieved her desired results, the two Saiyans overcame the walls that were in their way and emerged from her training with what, at a glance, appeared to be their Super Saiyan 3 forms, but she could see that their hair was blue, marking the rise of Super Saiyan Blue 3. Sure enough the power of this form was one an entirely different level than those that came before it, as she found that they were able to stand a greater chance against her when they fought, which wasn't too much of a surprise considering just how powerful Blue and Blue 2 had been. Of course it did make her wonder just how strong Super Saiyan Blue 4, the pinnacle of their transformations, would be, because at the moment she had to resort to using at least a fourth of her true power against Super Saiyan Blue 3, something that would fade as her own power grew to new heights. Twilight suspected that when the two warriors finally gained the final form she had envisioned for them, and had grown used to it's power, they would be able to give her, not to mention Beerus, what they really wanted, a proper challenge, which only made her even more eager to reach that point in time. When she wasn't busy checking in on Hit's team, and the planets and races that they discovered, or training with the two Saiyans who were solely focused on whatever the future held for them, Twilight found herself hanging out with Aria on one of her days off, though there were instances where Liquiir came by to relax and get to know them. Based on what she was able to tell Aria was fine with sharing her with other gods, in case one happened to fall for Twilight, and during one of the conversations she had in Universe 8 she had learned that the Destroyer who was visiting them frequently was more that willing to share as well. Twilight wasn't sure if Liquiir was trying to romance her or if he was just being friendly, but at the same time she found that she honestly didn't mind the change of pace that his visits offered, as he was a god who did his job well, instead of focusing on his own desires, like food or sleep. Even when he was visiting her he left a device for Iru to speak with him in case something that demanded his attention happened to spring up, showing Twilight that his focus was on doing his job, which she could respect since it showed her that there were good Destroyers out there. By the time a month had passed, since the tournament with Champa's universe, Twilight, her mother, and Demigra found that someone was definitely traveling through time, not like Future Trunks based on the vibrations they were discovering, as it felt like someone was jumping from one of the many timelines that existed and crossed into another, like they were looking for something or someone. "It must be one of our alternate selves. It's the only plausible scenario." Demigra remarked, because if the vibrations were different from what they had felt in the past, and they were fairly sure of that fact, it stood to reason that it had to be one of the Demons who was capable of traveling through time. "Surely we would recognize the vibrations or energy signature if that was the case." Towa countered, where she turned to face Demigra as Twilight remained sitting at the table they had decided to sit at, as they were outside Capsule Corp as the two Saiyans trained in the air, utilizing their base forms, while Beerus and Whis snacked, "I won't deny that one of us is the most likely candidate for what we're feeling right now, but if that were true it would mean that we've been altered in some manner to keep potential watchers totally confused as to what is going on." Twilight, on the other hand, remained silent as she thought about the strange happenings as Aeos and Chronoa arrived to share their thoughts on what was going on, all while Trunks, Eschalot, and the kids who seemed to hang around Capsule Corp had a lesson of sorts, as the teacher went totally off topic. From what she knew the instructor was supposed to be talking about math, but for some reason got into speaking about parallel worlds, the very topic that they were discussing a fair distance away from where they were positioned, something that caused Bulma and Tights, her sister, to frown while they went back to their discussion. She understood that they were annoyed that the teacher was going beyond what the kids were supposed to be learning about, especially since it was a totally different topic, but at least she didn't have such a worry with her own children, who took her lessons seriously, like Eschalot did. Other than that her focus was on the odd vibrations that were coming from the time stream, hence why all of them, experienced in the art of interacting with time, where gathered here, talking while coming up with ideas on what might be going on right now. As the moments ticked by the Saiyans stopped training and joined Beerus and Whis at the table, where Goku asked them about Zeno while he had time to do so, because he was curious and knew that Twilight was no doubt thinking the same thing, even if she was focused on something else. Whis informed the group of the fact that Zeno answered to no one, he stood above all beings due to having the highest authority, among all of the things that existed in the multiverse, and if he felt like it Zeno could erase all of existence in an instant. In fact there used to be eighteen universes at one point in time, informing everyone who was listening that he had wiped six of them out and reduced the number to twelve, but even with that in mind Twilight knew that there had to be another one out there, with her home, potentially obscured or ignored by the King of Everything. It explained why the gods had been so terrified of Zeno, as one wrong move might annoy him and he might wipe out all of the offending universe, which was totally extreme in her mind, though it filled her head with more thoughts than what was going on right now. While the others were doing that, however, Twilight started to open her mouth, as she had an idea on what might be the cause of what they were investigating in the time stream, but before she could do so there was a familiar shudder as a time machine appeared in the air near them, causing her to move as it landed nearby. "You've got to be kidding me." Twilight remarked, because she had assumed they had seen the last of Future Trunks after he returned to his era, not to mention his own timeline, and yet there he was, collapsed in his time machine as if he had been fighting someone who was far stronger than he was, except for the fact that, for some reason, he had dyed his hair blue, "Goku, go get a Senzu Bean." Goku said nothing as he nodded his head and warped out of the area without delay, though as he did that Twilight quickly tapped a few buttons and opened the hatch, allowing her to extract Future Trunks from the machine, finding that he had changed his attire as well, complete with a tattered scarf around his neck, and he was definitely wounded. "So that's what we were feeling... the future warrior returning to the past." Towa said, though she was surprised that this was who they had felt, who had caused the vibrations she and everyone else had been discussing earlier, where she found that Beerus and Whis were interested in what was going on, "Long story short, time travel is involved... Future Trunks, the one that Twilight pulled out of the machine, came from a future where he's the last warrior standing so he could figure out how to stop the androids, and save Goku so he could save the world. Basically, he made a parallel world... it really makes one wonder what could have caused him to come back in time again." It was in that moment that Goku reappeared, causing Beerus to stay his hand since he was thinking of wiping out Bulma due to her being the one who created the time machine, where he tossed Vegeta the Senzu Bean and it was used to heal Future Trunk's body, causing him to sit up rather quickly. "I hope you have a good reason for coming back to our era, Future Trunks." Twilight stated, as she hoped that there was a villain attacking his era, or something disastrous to explain why he was so injured, otherwise this entire thing would annoy her greatly, though that was when the future warrior growled and started to move like he was going to attack her, "Try it and I'll knock you out without you being able to see it coming... or are you that desperate for a reminder?" "Twilight? It is you!" Future Trunks said, because he recognized the facial expression that was staring at him right now, all while he glanced around and found that he was back in the past, exactly as he had planned, before he noticed a number of things that seemed totally different, namely his mother was a humanoid dragon and there was a young girl who looked concerned for his safety, if he had attacked Twilight anyway, "Um... what's going on here?" Bulma sighed as she quickly filled her future son in on what he was seeing, about how she became a dragon beastian in the first place, the very concept of which appeared to be foreign to him and told them that all of the beast people were no longer living in his era, before introducing him to his younger self and his little sister, which shut him down. After he had a chance to recover, and wrap around everything that was going on right now, Future Trunks started to tell them about why he had come back in time once more, why he couldn't remain in his era and enjoy the peaceful life he had forged after the destruction of his androids and Cell. At first everyone assumed that it had to be Majin Buu, a wrong assumption since he was able to stop the revival of the creature thanks to Shin and Kibito helping him out, where he told them about a figure who went on and on about ending all of the mortals in existence, in fact Future Trunks and his mother, who had fallen not that long ago, assumed that She had slain multiple planets before reaching the Earth. The interesting thing was that they, as in the protectors of the Earth, had been able to hold Her off for an entire year, where he was sure that Her power was growing at an alarming rate and that he wouldn't be able to win without some special reinforcements, namely those who lived in a parallel world he helped create. The problem, as they discovered, was that the time machine didn't have enough fuel to return to the future, something that caused Twilight to chuckle as she informed them that such a thing wasn't entirely necessary, especially since she, her mother, and a few other Demons could form a portal back to the future. "Traveling to the future, and interfering with the natural order, isn't something I agree with... we ought to drop the issue and forget about it." Beerus said, because there were rules that needed to be followed and time travel was something that no one should do, in fact had Bulma been a random stranger, and not one of Twilight's friends, he would insisted on using his power to end her existence and her time machine, even if the latter was from the future. "We can't. Future Trunks' words and actions have informed us that there is a version of myself going around destroying all of the planets in the future," Twilight remarked, where those who knew what she was thinking about nodded their heads in agreement, while at the same time Beerus said nothing as he waited for her to finish explaining herself, even though he knew that she would convince him of her desires in the end, "and, depending on how powerful this alternate me is, there is a chance that she might have the power to travel through time without a time machine... if that's the case, well, it's only a matter of time until she attacks us. Future Trunks, what did you guys call Her?" "Um, about that... we never actually decided on an official name, rather everyone had something in mind." Future Trunks stated, something that caused him to rub the back of his head for a moment, all while everyone else seemed surprised by that piece of information, before he considered all of the names that he, Mai, his mother, and the resistance had called their attacker over the last year, "The most popular ones were Eventide, which had something to do with the moon as one soldier told me, Midnight Sparkle, and Darkstar... there are others, but those three were the most common ones." "The last one sounds like the commander of a dark army, not a simple invader." Twilight said, where she had to resist the urge to groan, as she expected someone in the future, namely Future Bulma, to have come up with a name for the version of her that was running around, wrecking planets without even thinking about the consequences of her actions, "I'm honestly surprised that no one considered using the name 'Blacklight', but I won't argue with what the people of the future have said, as it's not my place to question them and their inability to name their enemies. Now then, Future Trunks, how about you and your father spar for a while? It will help you understand the powers we've gained since our last meeting and let you see how we'll fair against this threat in your timeline, since I'm assuming you came back to enlist our aid in taking Her down." Future Trunks nodded for a few seconds as he and his father floated up into the air, allowing Twilight to quickly form a transparent cube around them, one large enough that granted them a decent amount of room without risking any harm to the surrounding area. Vegeta stood there for a moment, something that his future son mimicked for a time, before the two rushed at each other and started to punch and kick at their opponent, mostly to get a feel for what the other was now capable of, even though everyone knew they would transform in due time. Since Future Trunks was familiar with one the first and second transformations, Super Saiyan and Super Saiyan 2 to be exact, Vegeta focused on the latter as he shifted into his Super Saiyan 2 form, prompting his future son to do the same thing as they continued their clash. Twilight found that the future warrior was stronger than he had been the last time she had seen him, which made sense given his story, but Vegeta was stronger and his Super Saiyan 3 form surprised Future Trunks when he shifted into it, but at the same time the future warrior called on enough power to match it. Such a thing caused Vegeta to smile as he stood there and catch the incoming sword strike before it could hit him, as he wasn't intimidated by such a thing, and the blow that came after that sent Future Trunks straight into the floor of the cube without delay, though as the pair returned to their base forms, and Twilight dismissed the barrier, lightning flashed above them as a tear in space-time started to open. "And here she comes." Twilight remarked, because she had a feeling that, sooner or later, the future threat would figure out a way to track down Future Trunks and it appeared that she was correct in thinking such a thing, all while everyone else glanced up at the dark crack as it widened into a portal, a dangerous rift between two points in time. Sure enough a figure emerged from the rift, where Twilight found herself staring at an identical version of herself, as the alternate's body nearly matched her own in every aspect, save for the fact that the newcomer was leaner than Twilight, an odd fact that she brushed off to the side as she focused on what else they were seeing. Instead of wearing her armor the newcomer was wearing what appeared to be a dark gi, much like what Goku was used to wearing, which was totally odd since Twilight had designed her armor to be incredibly durable, where the vest was dark gray and she wore a long sleeved undershirt below it. There were a few interesting things that caught her attention, the first being that the alternate version had a silver ring with the infinity symbol on it on her right index finger, something that immediately caused her to raise an eyebrow as she noticed it, before she noticed that the other her had a green Potara on her left ear. That, alone, made her wonder what in the world was going on in the future, especially since she could tell that the newcomer had a dark look in her eyes, like she enjoyed doing what Future Trunks had told them earlier, meaning coming to this point in time would be a field trip for her. At the same time Twilight got ready to interact with the intruder, because she was going to give the alternate version of herself a piece of her mind and stop whatever dark plan she was currently working towards, all while silently hoping that the future warrior didn't do anything stupid and let her deal with this particular problem. > Future: Threat From the Future > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The alternate Twilight looked around for a few more moments as she got her bearings, quickly understanding that the pristine area wasn't the dark future that she was used to terrorizing, rather she had been brought back in time and had been brought right to Future Trunks' location. "You... how in the world did you manage to travel to this place?" Future Trunks asked, because part of the reasoning that went into his mother's plan to send him into the past, hopefully to get allies and some sort of power boost, was because of the assumption that the dark figure couldn't travel into the past. "I have no idea what caused the warping of space-time that brought you here, but it also allowed me to follow you... it's as if your soul was crying out for me, begging me to set it free." the Alternate Twilight replied, showing that she didn't have the vast time knowledge that Twilight had, which came as a surprise since she assumed that any of her alternates that came from the point of Future Trunks' era would be knowledgeable in the subject, before she sighed, "And what's with this 'you' business? Surely you've come up with a name worthy of your savior?" "How does 'Eventide' sound? She who is followed by waves of destruction?" Twilight inquired, because she had take a few moments to think about the names that had been said, and those that had been ignored, and decided on one that fit what she and the others had been told by Future Trunks. "Eventide... such a lovely and godly name. I approve." the Alternate Twilight, or Eventide now that someone had come up with a name she approved of, stated, where she looked almost pleased by the fact that a name had been bestowed upon her, even if it was from another version of herself, but her words raised alarm bells in Twilight's mind, "And it was given to me by you, of all mortals... truly, I am honored. You know, Twilight Sparkle, I have often wondered what it would be like to fight you in this body, and now it seems that fate has given me my wish." Twilight sighed as she called forth the full power of her base form and vanished without a trace, causing Eventide to glance around as she tried to find her, which was when Twilight punched her hard in the left cheek, stunning her foe with her speed as she went flying through the air, straight into the mountain range that was just outside the city's limits. Eventide came to a stop in the side of a thick rock pillar and left a crater in the surface of it, where she was stunned by what had just happened, though as she registered what in the world was going on, and if she miscalculated, Twilight landed nearby as her Ki spread out, forming several katanas made of pure energy. This was a technique she had been working on in secret, just to see if it could work or not, which she called 'Sword Dance' on account of the blades that were around her, though she waited for a few moments as Eventide burst out of the rock pillar and rushed towards her. That, on it's own, told Twilight more about her foe than Future Trunks had done in the short period of time he had been in talking to them, this clearly wasn't her, as there was something off about her and how she approached battles, but if Eventide was willing to make stupid decisions she was willing to punish her accordingly. As Eventide got close, however, she realized far too late that Twilight had set up her next move and was already moving before she had a chance to change her mind or even alter her course, which was followed by Twilight lashing out with the blades in rapid succession, moving far faster than her foe could track. Eventide found that the blades did nothing to her attire, rather the damage was dealt directly to her body and left a line of markings behind, almost like bruises, which let her foe to know that she had hit her target, before something pushed her backwards. In that moment she realized that all of the blades seemed to have a delayed hit of some kind, which was just annoying when she thought about it, but as she took a couple of seconds to consider that Twilight appeared in front of her, moving faster than she expected her to. That was when Twilight kicked her in the chest, stunning her with the sheer power that was put into it, allowing her to shift her stance and move into a series of punches and kicks that surprised Eventide with their difference in power, as Twilight could see that her foe was starting to understand the situation she was in. Despite that fact, however, Eventide laughed as she backed off and a dark aura surrounded her, like she was powering up or something, before rushing into battle once more with a wicked smile on her face, throwing punches at her foe, where Twilight showed off her superior speed by dodging the attacks with far too much ease. Not only did she do that, which did come as a shock to Future Trunks since he was used to being dominated by Eventide all the time, but she also raised her arms to deflect the other attacks that were coming her way, surprising her foe in the process. Twilight used that fact and her speed to deliver devastating blows to her foe's chest when her defenses were open, starting with a powerful punch to Eventide's stomach and a kick to the head that sent her flying, though she rushed up to her opponent and continued her assault, pushing the future threat around like she was nothing. Twilight gave Eventide a few openings to use, just to lure her into making several mistakes, and found that her foe took each of them without delay, allowing her to punish her foe in the process, delivering more damaging blows to the chest and head areas, all while her opponent just laughed it off like this was good for her. Twilight understood what was going on and picked up the pace as she delivered a punishing punch to Eventide's stomach, stunning her in the process, as her foe was taking the damage from her attacks and was transferring it into strength, so if she got out of here alive she would be even stronger than she was how, and since it was her body she was thinking about it would become a bigger problem in no time. Following that Twilight spun around and kicked Eventide in the back of the head, sending her down into the ground with ease, where she summoned her power as she formed a dark bow and loosed a volley of dark arrows down on her foe, as all of them zeroed in on where Eventide was resting. The resulting explosion tore through the ground and blasted her foe as punishment for her transgressions, though what was interesting was that Eventide loosed a burst of dark yellow energy up at her, where she flew down towards her foe and absorbed the attack at the same time, before she kicked upward as she reached the bottom of the beam and knocked Eventide up into the air. With that done Twilight gathered some energy into a spiraling sphere above her right hand, another new attack she was in the middle of working on, as she leapt into the air and struck Eventide in the chest, where the sphere tore into her chest and sent her flying even further into the air, just as she had planned. In the next instant she dipped into her full power, just enough to draw out a little of her Dark Factor, while at the same time taking on a familiar stance as she started to prepare a Kamehameha, allowing her to fire the beam up into air a few seconds later as she targeted Eventide, who was surprised by what was coming her way. In the next instant something interesting happened as the space-time rift surged and literally yanked Eventide out of the way of Twilight's attack, forcing her to move in front of her own attack and absorb it before it destroyed anything else, only to find that her foe was surprised by what was happening. "No, I refuse to go back. I must fight you more, Twilight." Eventide stated, showing everyone who was watching this, since the nearby Z Warriors had come along while everyone else who couldn't fly, or didn't want to get involved, remained near Beerus and Whis, watching on the staff's projection of what was currently going on. "As you wish." Twilight replied, where she appeared behind her foe and kicked her down into the ground, which was easy for her to do since she was far stronger than Eventide was, though when her opponent dared to get back up she rushed down to the crater she had created and spun around, allowing her to bring the side of her left leg into the side of her foe's left arm, breaking her arm in the process. This interested her more than she was willing to admit, because with an immortal body snapped limbs and the like were things she didn't have to worry about, meaning her foe was likely from a point in time before she was immortal, despite the fact that they looked to be the same age, which told her that Eventide was a version of her who didn't travel to New Namek to make the immortality wish. "Yes, this pain makes me stronger!" Eventide said, confirming that there was something wrong with her, far more than Twilight had assumed when she first heard about her from Future Trunks, before coughing in pain as she was struck right in the chest again, this time far stronger than before, along with a punch to the side of her face that knocked her down into the ground once more. "I figured that much out on my own, and your plan stops here." Twilight stated, where she raised her right hand towards her alternate self, because with everything she had learned so far there was no reason for her to spare Eventide, so she was going to advance to summary execution before the space-time rift dragged her foe back to the future and gave her time to recover from this battle. In the next couple of seconds, before she had a chance to charge a blast that would wipe out Eventide entirely, Twilight felt time itself shudder as time froze for her and everyone else, where she found something interesting and some what disturbing, there was another version of Chronoa floating nearby. She instantly found a difference between her Chronoa and this one, as this one's attire was proper and didn't show off her shoulders, much like Aeos and her attire, before she noticed that the newcomer's eyes had a purple color to them, which Twilight noted was much like her skin color. After that she quickly pinpointed what had to be the most glaring difference imaginable, the newcomer had a familiar star marking on her forehead, in fact Twilight recognized it as her old Cutie Mark, only it was darker than what she remembered, as if it was being used to brainwash Chronoa. This, she assumed, was what she had felt and had been studying with the others, just before Future Trunks showed up, a corrupted version of Chronoa was going around, doing whatever she was told to do, and she likely had a very good reason for coming here. As she considered that Corrupted Chronoa turned her hand and sent Eventide, whose time resumed and was confused as she noticed what was going on, back through the space-time rift, allowing it to close before Twilight could kill her target, where the brainwashed Supreme Kai of Time glanced at her for a few seconds. "Sorry, Twilight, but Lady Darkstar's orders are final: Eventide will survive." Corrupted Chronoa said, which interested Twilight greatly, since this was the first time she had heard of someone going by that name, no doubt another version of herself based on the forehead marking, where a smirk appeared on her face as she started to turn so she could leave, "I'd love to stay and chat, but I'm afraid that I'm needed elsewhere..." She barely had a chance to finish her statement as Twilight shattered the Time Freeze and punched her in the side of the face, with enough force to knock the brainwashed figure down into the ground since she angled her attack to do so, while at the same time everyone else was freed from her time powers. "You have no idea how angry I am... it seems that no matter what timeline it is, you insist on being an annoyance," Twilight said, where the others watched as the darkness surrounded her for a few moments before pulling back, revealing that she had transformed into her Dark Queen form and the sheer power of it knocked Future Trunks to the ground, not that such a thing mattered to her in the slightest, "but this time, Corrupted Chronoa, your luck has run out!" Corrupted Chronoa barely had a chance to move as Twilight flashed through the air and punched her in the chest, which was far more painful than the attack she had suffered just a few seconds ago, but she had no time to recover as she was forced up into the air by another attack. Such a thing opened her defenses as Twilight rushed up to meet her, though she flashed around where her target was resting and attacked her from several different directions, stunning the brainwashed Supreme Kai of Time as she tried to register what was currently going on. As an opening appeared she raised her hands for a moment and trapped Twilight in the Time Freeze once more, this time focused solely on her opponent so she could escape before the others showed up, since she knew that Goku and all of his friends showed up to deal with her. For a few seconds it seemed like her plan had worked, her foe was frozen in time, though she was proven wrong as Twilight took a step forward and broke out of her attack like it was nothing, which was possible when Corrupted Chronoa recalled that her foe was a Demon, who were used to messing with time. She also realized that the energy she was feeling right now was a lot like Mechikabura's, meaning the only path available to her right now was to use her full power, causing her to do so without delay as her body glowed with a golden light for a few seconds, surprising those who were watching them. The first thing that happened to her was her body maturing over a couple of moments, as she became more of an adult, standing taller than what she was used to in her sealed form, not that such a thing mattered in the face of who her opponent was. In addition to that her attire took on a golden hue, or at least on her leggings, socks, and undershirt, while her main attire gained a slight white hue, not to mention the fact that her hair grew longer and looked a little more wild than before. The last thing that happened was that she gained a golden halo behind her, which was shaped like a gear from a clock and had two hands, the longer one pointed at the two o'clock while the shorter one pointed at the ten o'clock position, resting on it. This was her full power, so called 'Power of Time Unleashed', which granted her full control over time itself and meant that she could stop Twilight Sparkle in her tracks, hence why she called forth her energy and focused on her foe, who simply stared at her like she didn't care about what she was doing at all. "Eat this! Time Labyrinth!" Corrupted Chronoa stated, where she weaved her power of time around Twilight and froze her in a bubble of temporal energy that would contain her for a long time, locked in a single moment, unable to do anything to free herself from the prison she was allowing herself to be locked inside, and with all of her power being used there was a very good chance that this would be the end of her foe. Goku and the others stared at the sphere for a moment, as they weren't worried by what was going on, and sure enough what they were expecting started to happen as the labyrinth started to crack, something that caused the alternate version of Chronoa to pause, no doubt in shock. The crack spread for a few seconds as they observed it, where a section broke off as a mass of shadows rushed out and grabbed onto Corrupted Chronoa before she had a chance to move, though as that went down red lines started to appear all over the prison. Such a thing told the watchers that Twilight was just fine, her power was enough to overcome even the likes of a twisted form of Chronoa, where she and Aeos were watching from where Beerus and the others were sitting, which was followed by the prison shattering before their eyes. Of course it didn't go to waste as the scattered energy surged into a single spot in front of Twilight, forming a smaller sphere of energy that she devoured in no time, though once that was done she pulled her left hand back and everyone found Corrupted Chronoa being pulled towards her, as her hand controlled the mass of shadows. In the following moment Corrupted Chronoa was hit several times all over her body, all without her foe moving, allowing her to realize that her opponent had some sort of time stopping ability, before Twilight gripped the side of her head and hurled her down into the ground, shattering the area around her as she landed and put a hoof on her chest to stop her from moving. "Do you have any last words?" Twilight asked, though this time around she activated her siphon power as she stared down at the defeated alternate version of Chronoa, because there was nothing her foe could do to win, in fact Twilight had her doubts that the mysterious Darkstar would even try to save this pitiful figure. "All... hail... Lady... Darkstar..." Corrupted Chronoa coughed out, because now she understood the warning she had been given earlier, to just get in and get out before Twilight even noticed her, but her overconfidence in her power lead her to make the stupidest decision of her entire life. "Whatever you say." Twilight remarked, where she moved her hoof off of the defeated Supreme Kai of Time's chest as she raised her right hand, lifting her target into the air, before activating her siphon power with her left hand, allowing her to target every drop of power that happened to be inside Corrupted Chronoa's body. Corrupted Chronoa's eyes widened for a moment as her power was drawn out of her body like it was nothing, reverting her to her smaller form in a matter of seconds, where all of it formed a golden yellow orb above Twilight's left hand as she let her go, something that allowed the alternate Chronoa to discover that she was incredibly weak. While she struggled to move, however, Twilight quickly shrunk the sphere form into the size of a marble and popped it into her mouth, allowing her to eat all of the alternate Chronoa's power in an instant, adding all of her power to her vast total. Once that was done Twilight shifted her stance as she lifted her defeated foe into the air, though this time around she called forth flames that held the power of the sun, like her Sol Invictus move, into a sphere that surrounded her foe, much to her surprise as she found that there was no escape from this. Twilight snapped her fingers and the sphere started to shrink before her eyes, just as she had designed it, where she heard the screams of the alternate Chronoa for a few moments, the flames eating at her without any way for her to save herself, only for everything to go quiet in the end, and when she dismissed the orb all she got from the inside was ashes that scattered in the wind. As the others thought about what she had done, however, Twilight's focus was on the future, as Eventide had escaped, to which she had punished her savior for allowing such a thing to happen, and there was this 'Darkstar' who was interested in pissing her off, something that caused her to turn to the others. "Goku, Vegeta, Future Trunks, you had better get some rest... we're heading into the future before the city wakes up... so early in case you need it explained." Twilight started, because while she knew that she could deal with Eventide, after the power boost she had no doubt gained from their one sided clash, part of her knew their other foe would be watching and suspected that bringing the others might allow her to deal with any new threats without having to fight them on her own, which should excite Goku and Vegeta, at the very least. She really had no idea who this 'Darkstar' was, in fact she suspected it was a much darker and eviler version of herself due to what she and the others had seen before Eventide's arrival, but it only made her that much more interested in what the future held for her. > Future: Into the Future > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Instead of listening to Twilight, and getting a good night sleep shortly after dinner, both of the Saiyans stayed up for a few more hours than necessary, where she found that they were playing video games with Future Trunks, Beerus, young Trunks, Eschalot, and the other kids that seemed to live in Bulma's place. Vegeta, as far as she could tell, sucked at games and had no real skill in mastering when to accelerate and when to decelerate, since they were playing a racing game, something Goku had figured out, while Beerus was a master of taking advantage of openings to get ahead of his foes. The Trunks', on the other hand, were far more skilled as Present Trunks would give a second place rarer a false sense of security after allowing them to get ahead of them, which granted him the ability to attack his target from behind and allowed Future Trunks to speed ahead to claim victory in the last couple of seconds. Pilaf, Mai, and Shu, the youngsters, were always at the back of the pack, while Eschalot managed to get around Goku, especially since she was far smarter than most of the people her age, a fact that caused Vegeta to laugh, even though he was still behind his rival in the games. While they did that Twilight, her mother, Demigra, and the two Supreme Kai of Time remained at a nearby table and took the time allotted to them to figure out who this 'Darkstar' was, why she was so interested in Eventide's survival, who Eventide was, and so many other things that, unfortunately, they weren't able to figure out right now. "As much as I hate to say it, but this Darkstar has to be another version of you, Twilight." Aeos said, as that was what she and the others agreed on, in fact they could tell that Twilight had reached that conclusion and was already wondering what sort of path the other version of her had taken to reach this point, before she sighed as she recalled what they had seen after Eventide's departure, "One whose apparently mastered the art of mind control, on a level that's far beyond anything that even Babidi used before his ultimate demise... it makes one wonder how many others might have fallen to her might, and that fact, alone, worries me greatly." "Being able to control a god, especially a Supreme Kai of Time... it almost sounds like something Mechikabura would do to those whose powers he wanted for himself." Towa added, because she recalled seeing a faded timeline where she, the Dark King, and the entirety of the Demon Realm had been sealed away in the Time Labyrinth, with Chronoa being stuck in that position as well to keep them contained, thus allowing Mechikabura to beat her down and brainwash her, "In fact I recall him mentioning that he brainwashed a god at one point, before he was sealed away, which allowed him to corrupt them into a darker version of themselves, a dark pawn to further his plans... this really does sound like we might have discovered a version of you that's been twisted by the Dark King's terrible power." "An alternate me whose drunk on power." Twilight commented, because she understood the temptation that came from having Mechikabura's power, something she had overcome through great effort, which told her that her decision to not be consumed by the energy of the Dark King must have been so important that both sides of the coin, one overcoming it and one giving into it's dark pull, created two paths, her main world and the other parallel world, "We'll deal with her later, as Eventide and whatever she's planning come first... she's the easier target right now, and once her plans are destroyed we can devote our full attention to Darkstar." "I know you can deal with this Eventide on your own, so why do you need the Saiyans?" Beerus asked, mostly because he was curious as to what sort of plan was going through Twilight's mind, as she was one of the smartest people in the entire universe, possibly rivaling those of Universe 3 when he thought about the other universes, so it was only natural that he would be a little curious about her ideas and plans. "Oh, they're mostly backup in case Eventide has allies that we don't know about." Twilight remarked, though as she said that she sipped on the tea that was resting near her, as it was something she did when she was working or thinking about something that demanded her attention, before setting it down as she focused on Beerus again, "If she has an ally, well, those three can deal with them while I deal with our main foe, or maybe I'll focus on the ally or allies while they deal with Eventide... they should be able to do such a thing with ease, especially after my brief battle with her." Beerus said nothing to that as he and Whis departed for the rooms that Bulma had offered them for the time being, since she knew that they might stick around to watch the events of the future thanks to the time screen Chronoa and Aeos were thinking of making, leaving Twilight to her final preparations before she turned in as well. Twilight brought up a window into the past as she observed how Eventide moved once more, checking out her appearance and how they differed from each other, and doing a final check to see if there were any oddities that might reveal what sort of being she was dealing with when they headed to Future Trunks' parallel world. What stood out to her were the Time Ring, a silver artifact that Whis informed her was one of a kind, at least there was one silver one per universe, and that was usually kept safe by the Kaioshin of each universe, and the green Potara, again another artifact that a Kaioshin used. The reason she suspected that Eventide might have an ally was due to the fact that she only had one earring, instead of the usual two, meaning that she must have given the other one to someone she trusted, so a Kaioshin or their apprentice was behind the creation of the figure she was currently studying. It reminded her of the fact that Shin, Kibito, and Aria were visiting Universe 10 right now, as it's Kaioshin was supposed to have a rather strong Kai who was being trained to replace him, making her wonder if the two events were connected in some manner, before deciding to turn in for the night and worry about it later. When morning arrived Twilight rose before the sun even rose, where her mother and the other time users forced Goku, Vegeta, and Future Trunks to get up, get ready, and make sure they had something to eat before they headed out, which took a bit of time. While they were doing that Twilight headed out into the backyard and found that Chamel and Robelu had arrived as well, as her plan was to combine their time powers with what Towa, Demigra, Chronoa, and Aeos had, as it would create a stable bridge for them to use to travel to Future Trunks' world. Of course she made sure that they knew to close the connection once they were on the other side and not open it up until they felt her specific spell signature, as this would prevent someone with a Time Ring from following them into the past if they needed to flee. Thanks to everything she had experienced over the years Twilight knew that having an exit plan was a good thing, even if she suspected that it might not be used at all, but it was better than heading into the parallel world without one and then needing it if a threat they weren't expecting showed up and trashed them. As Demigra and the others got ready to open the portal to the future, however, Shin arrived with Kibito and informed both Twilight and Beerus of the fact that Aria had stayed behind in Universe 10 to speak to Gowasu's apprentice, the Kai known as Zamasu, as she had sensed some uncertainty in him and wanted to help him find his path. "It seems we aren't the only ones who are going to be busy for the foreseeable future." Twilight remarked, though as she said that she noticed that Demigra and the others were ready to perform their end of things, causing her to glance at the trio that would be following her into the future, finding that they were standing at the ready as everyone else who was up this early simply observed them, "Remember, our target is Eventide. Take her out and the parallel world should be safe from her mad quest to eliminate all mortals... but also keep an eye out for anything out of the ordinary, since I'm sure she has an ally whose lingering in the shadows. If we can figure out who her ally is, well, we might be able to prevent their plans from even starting in our world... of course that would create another parallel world, but sometimes that's the price you have to pay for saving the day." While everyone confirmed that they understood her desires, to focus on the task at hand, Whis got a call from the Grand Priest and they learned something interesting, Zeno wanted to speak with Goku, to which Twilight sighed as Shin and Whis took the Saiyan to Zeno's palace. "Can we leave without him?" Vegeta asked, because he honestly didn't want any of the glory of beating the one responsible for the destruction in Future Trunks' parallel world going to his rival, while at the same time everyone else seemed to simply relax as they waited for the group to return with the other Saiyan. "Could we? Sure... however, if we did that, you just know he'll complain about it for a good while." Twilight replied, as that was common between the two Saiyans who were rivals, one would complain if the other got the glory for something, such as how Vegeta was incredibly salty over Goku being able to overpower Hit, so it was best to just wait for the other Saiyan to return before they departed, "Knowing Goku he'll be back in no time... he knows how important this mission is and he'll likely convince Zeno to allow him to return in a few minutes. Just be patient and we'll be gone before you know it." Sure enough her thoughts were right on the matter, the trio returned to Bulma's place without too much time going by, so it didn't cut into Twilight's plans, but they did find out that Zeno desired a friend, a task he was entrusting to Goku, due to the Saiyan saying that he'd find someone for him, and he even got a special button that would allow one to call Zeno to their area or bring the holder to Zeno's place. Twilight filed all of that information away for later, since it wasn't important right now, save for Zeno's Button, that was an interesting piece she wasn't expecting to hear about, before she turned to the others and allowed her mother to get things started. As the stable bridge opened she reminded them of their goals, to crush Eventide and figure out who her ally was, possibly even crush the secret ally as well, before returning so she could go out into the multiverse and stop whoever was responsible for doing everything Future Trunks had told them. Once they understood her plan the portal to their destination opened up and Twilight stepped through it, quickly finding herself in a ruined version of West City, right outside the ruined structure that was Capsule Corp, and once the three Saiyans were on this side Demigra closed the portal to prevent their foes from using it. Just seeing the utter destruction of the city caused her to frown as she realized that nearly everyone had been slain, in fact her senses confirmed that fact, nearly everyone in the world was dead, save for a few pockets of resistance, which let her understand Future Trunks' anger towards Eventide, before she noticed something interesting. "Eventide's already grown stronger." Twilight commented, as she could tell that the alternate version of herself had gained a new level of power, rather fast in the grand scheme of things, and that told her that Eventide's plan had been successful, she had turned the pain of her beating into power, and based on what she was feeling it sure seemed like it had been due to healing quickly, "And it feels like there's someone else near her position... it seems that we were correct, she has an ally whose helping her fulfill her evil goals. Go do whatever you want... I'm going to prepare for their arrival." Twilight floated into the air and moved through the city, where she tracked down one of the large square areas that would be the perfect battleground for what she had in mind, while at the same time Future Trunks had the others follow him to where the resistance was hiding. Bulma had listened to her future son's plight and had prepared three capsules for them, a number of necessities that would allow them to survive the coming days, provided Eventide didn't blast the planet apart like villains did when they were losing a very important fight. Future Trunks wanted to deliver those to the resistance as soon as possible, so he could focus on fighting the person responsible for destroying his home and killing everyone he had fought to protect over the years, and while she understood that Twilight didn't care enough to go with him. Her focus was on their foe, the potential ally that was hanging out with her right now, and anything else that might happen while she and the others were in this world, so she floated down to her chosen destination and floated above the ground as she waited for everyone to assemble. It took some time for anything to happen, though when it finally did she found that the air twisted and contorted before a figure appeared above her, where to her surprise it wasn't Eventide who had appeared, rather it was an alternate version of Goku who wore identical clothing to Eventide, meaning time was fracturing and strangers were appearing. "You... You look like Eventide." the stranger stated, where he sounded like Goku as well, similar to Eventide looking like her when she thought about it, meaning in another parallel world she wasn't the one who lost her body to some stranger who wanted to destroy all of humanity. "And you look like Goku... let me guess, you're called Goku Black, or just Black?" Twilight remarked, because based on the names she had heard from Future Trunks earlier, about her own alternate self, it seemed like something that one of this world's resistance members might have given a figure like this, before she sighed as she glared at the figure, "And let me guess: death to all mortals, glory to the gods?" "...you're mocking me..." Black said, as he was stating a fact, a true one since she was mocking him a little, before he took a moment to transform into his own Super Saiyan form, just the plain old boring first form that she had seen so many times since the day Goku achieved it on Namek, "I'm going to punish you now, mortal." "Hold, Black. She isn't a foe you can tangle with." Eventide stated, appearing next to her ally as she spoke, though while she did that Twilight found that her own allies showed up and were stunned by the newest arrival, where she motioned for them to keep their questions to themselves for the time being, as she'd answer them later, "I don't care what sort of power you have access to, only her power can take her down... power that has been infused with the power of the gods, to be exact!" In that moment Eventide was surrounded by an aura that was deep red on the outside and pink on the inside, while her hair was turned pastel pink with white highlights, with her eyes and eyebrows following the main hair color, though much to their surprise Black took on an identical form as well. "This is true divinity: the Rose Form." Eventide continued, where it almost sounded like she was saying 'Rose-y', as if she was putting a strange spin on the name of her own transformation, while at the same time it meant that Black's was more like 'Super Saiyan Rose', forms that were definitely powerful from what Twilight was feeling. "Really? That's your answer?" Twilight remarked, as she didn't know whether to laugh or cry at what she was seeing, as the Rose Form was just pitiful looking in her eyes, it was no where near her own Dark Form and the other transformations she had up her sleeves, before she settled on sighing as she stepped forward, "Goku, Vegeta, Future Trunks: you three deal with Black, but keep an eye out for any other enemies... I'll deal with Eventide and put her down." In the following moment she rushed up into the air and spun around, allowing her to kick Eventide in the side and send her foe flying into one of the nearby buildings, though as she did so Black zeroed in on where she was located, swinging a bit of Ki that extended from his right hand at her, a Ki blade of sorts, but she dodged it and kicked him in the chest, which sent him flying. With that done she beckoned to the Saiyans and indicated that it was time for them to fight their foe while she focused on Eventide, where Goku and Vegeta used their Blue forms while Future Trunks used Super Saiyan 2, before they rushed through the ruined section of the city that she had sent Black flying through. As they did that, and Black got up to face them, Twilight turned and zeroed in on Eventide, who was also in the process of getting up from where she had landed and rushed up to meet her, allowing them to clash in the middle of the air once more. Such a thing allowed her to tell one thing right off the bat, that while Eventide was definitely stronger and faster than before, as her attackers were far sharper than what she had felt during their last clash, but her flaw was that she was fighting like a Saiyan, using about half of her power to test the water before using her full power. Eventide, however, was overjoyed by the new transformation she had gained and the power it possessed, especially when she combined it with everything she gained from their last battle, but she couldn't help but talk while they fought, as she was more than willing to admit that there was another ally, lurking in the shadows. She admitted that it was someone who had the power to rapidly mend wounds, thus allowing her to recover from the beating Twilight had given her, which was just more confirmation that the other figure she was looking for was a disciple of a Kaioshin, a Kaioshin in training, though it meant if she beat Eventide up enough the mysterious ally would show up. Eventide even went as far as to say that the beating Twilight had given her allowed her to master more of her abilities, allowing her to fully understand who she was and what sort of skills she had access to, but all Twilight heard was nonsense as she dodged attacks and struck Eventide in the sides. The Rose Form was excellent in being a power boost, hence why she figured that the Saiyans might have some trouble if they stayed in their base Blue form, or Super Saiyan 2 in Future Trunks' case, and almost made her wonder to see how Black fought, as he seemed more in tune with his body than Eventide did. While she was thinking about all of that Eventide slipped a punch passed her defenses and struck her in the left side of her jaw, though it didn't send her flying and, more importantly, her foe didn't seize the opportunity to press the attack, which meant she wanted to enjoy this fight, to learn more about her, before ending this. "Yes, your power pleases me greatly." Eventide stated, showing that she really thought that what Twilight was using was the height of her power, something that her foe was clearly getting used to, before she shifted her stance and formed the same sphere of spiraling energy that had been used to severely damage her body, "What do you call this move?" "Spiraling Energy Sphere." Twilight replied, where she held up her right hand as well and created the sphere in seconds, as she was far more familiar with the technique than her foe was, though what her foe didn't know was that this was just the incomplete form, as she was still refining it and needed more time to figure out the next step, "Here, I'll give you another taste of it's power." As Twilight rushed at Eventide, however, she found that her foe did the same thing as they slammed their spheres right into each other, where the resulting force of the attacks interacted with each other and canceled each other out, but the conflicting energies revealed something to Twilight, causing her to turn to the side for a moment. "Excuse me, we're in the middle of a fight!" Eventide stated, because while she knew that Twilight was an inventor, in fact peering into the past of her parallel world allowed one to see just how much had been done by one person, she figured it wouldn't come up in a battle and was now surprised by Twilight's actions. "Trust me, you'll enjoy this more than the last one." Twilight replied, where she turned back to her foe as she formed the sphere again, though this time the wind started to wrap around it as it took on a whiter coloration, in addition to a small ring of short curved sections that spun in the direction the wind was moving, "Care to try again, Eventide?" Eventide chuckled as she formed her Spiraling Energy Sphere, as she suspected that it would break her foe's attack with ease, before they rushed at each other and swung their attacks at each other, though this time around the two retained their form for a longer period of time. What surprised her, however, was the fact that Twilight's overpowered hers and the energy actually tore into her right hand and wrist, leaving marks that almost looked like scorch marks, meaning that her foe's new attack was somehow different from the one she had just used. Twilight, on the other hand, was excited by this turn of events, as it meant that she had figured out how to perfect the attack, causing her to hold her hand out again as a slightly larger sphere formed in no time, followed by longer curved wind blades, about the length from her wrist to where her elbow rested, formed in a matter of seconds. With the attack created she knew that her next step was to test it out, to which Twilight turned on Eventide, who was surprised by what was going on, before she struck her foe in the chest with it, the sheer force contained inside the orb propelling her opponent through the air with ease. What was interesting was that there was a screech that accompanied the attack, though it wasn't long before it detonated into a massive dome of spiraling wind that had lightning crackle every now and then, followed by Eventide letting out a few pained screams, as if the attack was tearing into her body, and when the dome finally faded she found a massive crater in it's place, with a heavily wounded Eventide resting in it's center. "Spiraling Energy Sphere: Wind Release... such wonderful power." Twilight remarked, as it was a very destructive move to add to her arsenal, especially since this allowed her to master the base version of the attack as well, so she gained two attacks for the price of one, before she grinned as she found someone kneeling beside Eventide, "And there you are, the silent ally." The figure was tall and lean, who had pale green skin and his white hair was done up in a mohawk, while his attire was a match to what the Kaioshin wore, black with a golden edge, with a violet shirt that had long sleeves below the chest area, a blue sash around his waist, dark blue baggy pants, and white shoes, though he was able to mend Eventide's wounds with ease, confirming his position since he had only one green Potara earring. "Your allies weren't much of a problem, but you certainly are one." a voice said, where she found that Black was standing off to the side, allowing her to glance back and found that all three Saiyans were on the ground, meaning they must have been caught off guard to bring about their untimely defeat, before the alternate Goku chuckled, "However, you won't be able to defeat us, not when it's three on one." Twilight glanced at the trio for a moment, noting where the evildoers were positioned, before using the full power of her base form to strike each of them before they had a chance to move from where they were standing, a simple punch that came as a surprise to them. As the three villains moved, in accordance with her attacks, Twilight flashed back to where the downed Saiyans were resting and found that they were still breathing, to which she used the specific spell signature that she had set up earlier, even though she was a little annoyed to be using it right now. A few seconds later her mother and the others established a portal connecting the two worlds together, allowing her to hurl the knocked out Saiyans through it before she felt a change in the air and turned back in time to see that the villains were approaching. After noticing them, however, a purple crescent wave of energy tore through the space between her and her enemies, which seemed to come from her far left, causing her to realize that another version of her, wearing a black robe while wielding what appeared to be a curved blade that now rested on her shoulder and had energy rolling off of it. She barely had a chance to figure out what was going on as she used the opening this provided to pass through the space-time portal and returned to her world, allowing her mother and the others to close and seal it so their foes couldn't use it to come back with her. "What happened?" Bulma asked, as she was expecting them to return with news of their success, not have Goku, Vegeta, and her future son return looking like they had just lost a rather important fight, as each one looked like they had been swiftly beaten up by whoever was waiting in Future Trunks' world. "These idiots lowered their guard and got wiped out while I was fighting Eventide... they didn't even use their best forms, which is pathetic." Twilight remarked, as she expected more out of Goku and Vegeta, as they were experienced warriors and losing in such a way made her annoyed with them, hence why she was planning on putting them through some more intense training to ensure they were ready for a second trip to Future Trunks' parallel world, "Though we discovered that Eventide does, in fact, have allies: one from the future no doubt, while the other, a twisted version of Goku, seems to have lost his own parallel world and was drawn in by her dark power." "Sounds like I returned at a bad time." a voice said, where everyone found that Aria had returned at long last, though she was, of course, lost as to what was going on right now, meaning Twilight would have to fill her in before bothering to train the Saiyans to be better warriors before their return visit, "Would this be a bad time to mention that Gowasu's apprentice, Zamasu, wants to speak with you, Twilight?" Twilight, on the other hand, said nothing to that as she raised her eyebrow, as this was an unexpected turn of events that she wasn't expecting to have happen, but it only made her that much more interested in what was going on and what the immediate future held for them. > Future: Lessons for an Apprentice > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Twilight spent all of a few moments standing over Goku, Vegeta, and Future Trunks, holding a small bag of Senzu Beans that she went and got from the one who produced them, before handing the bag to Bulma as she followed Aria outside, finding a figure who looked like Eventide and Black's ally waiting outside Capsule Corp. "I apologize for the delay. My... associates did something dumb and I had to deal with them first." Twilight said, where she found that Zamasu didn't seem all too happy about having to wait for a few minutes for her to get ready, meaning he was no doubt of the opinion that people had to bow their heads and obey the Kaioshin's whims, though she did bow her head just a tiny bit, "I am Twilight Sparkle, the one you came looking for. May I ask why you have sought me, a resident of Universe 7, out like this?" "Shin, Kibito, and Aria speak highly of you, and I wanted to see the mortal that gods respect with my own eyes." Zamasu stated, where Twilight was able to confirm that he really didn't approve of anyone who wasn't a god, meaning he would make a bad Kaioshin, because if he hated or disliked mortals he wouldn't bother to do his job and would no doubt watch with glee as they were exterminated, before he shifted his stance, "I heard that you were the one who aided them in the downfall of what they called 'Kid Buu', through a complicated series of events, and I wanted to see how skilled you were with my own eyes." Twilight sighed as she shifted her stance as well, after making sure both of them were outside so they didn't wreck the rest of Capsule Corp, before beckoning for her temporary opponent to come at her, since she was eager to see if his moves were like Eventide's or not. Her reasoning was because if they were the same it would meant that he would search for a way to switch their bodies, to gain her power for his own goals, before killing her to put that plan into motion, and if she was right she might be able to convince him to stand down, instead of walking the path he might end up on later. In the next moment Zamasu came at her and she found that her thoughts were correct, he had the same fluid movements that Eventide used against her, despite the alternate version of her using her own powers in combat, allowing her to study his moves and counter them with ease. Of course Zamasu seemed surprised by this turn of events and even tried to use one or two of his newer powers in combat, such as the Kiai to push her back, something she was able to counter with ease, as she was used to the ability in question, and when he tried the reverse on her, to pull her towards him and open a hole in her defenses. She, on the other hand, was ready for such a thing and spun around, kicking the left side of Zamasu's body, knocking him to the ground, allowing her to thrust her hand forward in what appeared to be a cutting motion that she stopped right in front of his chin, though as he registered his quick defeat Twilight held her hand out and pulled him onto his feet once he accepted that their brief clash was over. "You... you're hiding your full power... you can rival the gods, can't you?" Zamasu asked, because he had fought Kibito and Aria before even deciding to come here and speak with Twilight, with Aria being the one to suggest such a thing, and he could tell that Twilight was far stronger than either of them, in fact he would hazard that she was as strong as his own God of Destruction. "I fought Beerus, but Whis stopped us." Twilight admitted, though in the following second she floated up into the air and beckoned for Zamasu to follow her, because right now he seemed like a ticking time bomb and figured that a change of pace might be exactly what he needed right now, and while he did that she noted that Whis got up as well, "Come with me... there's something you should see." The reason she didn't go into too much detail about her battle with Beerus was because she didn't want to give Zamasu even more reasons to pick her body if she failed to convince him to do his job properly, though if that came to pass, and he started down the path of darkness, Twilight knew that destroying him would be the next best thing. Her destination, as her followers discovered, was the tallest building in all of West City, allowing her to gaze out over the rest of the city while simply enjoying the view that she had fought so hard to keep intact, despite any previous notions of not caring about the planet and it's people. Zamasu landed by her and glanced down at the people that Twilight was looking at right now, only to be surprised by the vast assortment of individuals walking around, from humans to beast people, to a number of green skinned individuals like the one he caught a glimpse of during his studies of Twilight, to a few others he didn't recognize at all, no doubt races unique to this universe. He had to wonder why he was brought here, as none of them seemed to be very important, in fact the mortals were mostly uninteresting and his surprise was mostly due to how many of them were on this single planet, before he decided to humor her and kept watching them. After a few moments he spotted a pair bump into each other as they were passing through a store's entrance, leading to them falling to the ground as the one who was entering, a human, started to shout at the one who got in his way, a wolf person to be exact, while everyone else around them paused. "How sad... at the first sign of aggression or annoyance all mortals, regardless of their race, resort to attacking others to get their way." Zamasu commented, focusing only on part of what he was seeing right now, the part that would confirm his ideals and reinforce his desire to bring about his ideal world, even if that meant a dead universe, before he turned to face the figure that had brought him here, "How have you not exterminated the mortals of this planet yet?" "Oh Zamasu... only seeing one side of the coin. Look there." Twilight remarked, beckoning to the scene that was unfolding and caused the figure to turn his head, where they found a little cat girl, probably only six years old, tug on the human's arm for a moment and seemed to diffuse the situation with her appearance alone, as she got her father to apologize and help the wolf up, who also seemed sorry for what happened, "You are correct, people can and will fight each other until the end of their days... however, even the tiniest light can banish the darkness, or, in the situation we just watched, calm down two people who might have gotten into a rather painful fight. I won't lie, there are still villains in this world, waiting for the day that they can come out on top and rule over everyone, but the Earth has heroes that will rise to the occasion and save the day, restoring peace and order to the planet. Sure, there are times where mortals can be annoying, or even downright aggravating, but that isn't a good enough reason to wish for them being exterminated, or even wanting such a thing in the first place. Tell me, Zamasu, what is the role of a Kaioshin?" "Master Gowasu says that we must simply watch over the planets of our universe, nothing more." Zamasu said, though as he said that he had to wonder what in the world Twilight was thinking, as she had chosen to ignore his question about the mortals of this planet, before deciding that he might as well play along and see what her true feelings on the matter were, because if she was like him this visit would have revealed good fruit, "We cannot teach mortals anything, as no matter the path they take it all leads to destruction... you know this, despite the little 'lights' that keep the peace, so why not simply do away with them while we still can?" "Because, Zamasu, that's the role of a Destroyer, not a God of Creation... however, there are times where even a Kaioshin must fight to save their universe." Twilight replied, though as she said that the air near her rippled as Demigra appeared, surprising the apprentice Kaioshin in the process since he wasn't expecting such a thing to happen, where he raised his staff for a moment as he created a window into the past, "Here, let me show you what I mean." Zamasu raised an eyebrow as Twilight went into great detail about the events he was about to witness, the first being the rise of a magical monster known as 'Planet-Eater' Moro, a being who was responsible for the destruction of so many planets and species that it actually sickened him to watch what was going on. While it was true that he had no love for mortals, and had thought of eradicating them multiple times over the years, what Moro did to Universe 7 was beyond sickening, he just drained the life energy out of everything around him, as in the plants, animals, and even the planets themselves just to feed his hunger for power. In that moment he realized what Twilight have been talking about, as two of Universe 7's Kaioshin, the South and Grand ones he recalled, joined forces with the ancient Galactic Patrol to hunt Moro down and put an end to his rampage, eventually reaching a point where they fought on a large asteroid. He witnessed the moving gesture of the Grand Kaioshin sacrificing a great deal of his own God Ki to seal away Moro's powerful magic, allowing him to be taken in and put in a prison cell crafted just for him, causing Zamasu to consider what he had just seen. Twilight had a second viewing prepared for him, the assault of Kid Buu that caused the five Kaioshin of Universe 7 to face the creature in battle, with the West and North Kaioshins being slain while the South and Grand ones were absorbed by the very beast they were fighting, resulting in a creature that could be sealed away, but it only left him with more questions. "Aria died during the battle with Kid Buu, correct? How can she still be alive if that's the case?" Zamasu asked, because such a thing made it seem like the creature had failed to realize that his foe had been alive and might have left her behind so he could track down another opponent to kill. "That would be my doing: originally I used a time portal to head back in time to witness the battle with Kid Buu with my own eyes, and face him as well," Twilight commented, recalling that series of events with ease, something she was grateful for since it allowed her to make several important decisions in the span of a few moments and helped her prepare for what the future had in store for the planet, "unfortunately we used far too much time magic in the creation of the portal and it sent me back in time, physically I might add, so instead of being a temporary existence, like a phantom who disappeared after taking one too many hits, I received the beating of a lifetime. Aria saved me from death and allowed me to be pulled back to my timeline, where I was patched up in no time at all... I then returned the favor by bringing her back from the dead with the power of the Namekian Dragon Balls... no, not the Super Dragon Balls you likely saw during the tournament that Beerus and Champa put together sometime ago." "So what you're saying is that there is more to a Kaioshin's job than just sitting on the Sacred World, drinking tea and just doing whatever interests you." Zamasu said, where he raised his hand to his chin for a moment as he considered what the pair had shown him, Kaioshin fighting for the sake of their universe, both planets and mortals alike, even against creatures who might have the power to kill them, like Kid Buu, "We can go out and interact with the various mortals of the universe, actually engage in civil conversations with them, and, instead of hiding when something terrible threatens our domain, as Gowasu says we should, we can head out and stall the threat until a God of Destruction, or someone powerful, can take them down... even do it ourselves, if we have the power." "Indeed. Being a Kaioshin means more than just relaxing and doing nothing, as you have to be committed to improving the lives of the mortals of your universe." Twilight stated, where she glanced at Demigra and the Demon nodded before he changed the image, revealing what Universe 7 looked like without her interference, something that had shocked her the first time she had witnessed such a thing, and a secondary one that revealed how it looked with her being involved so much, "As you have no doubt figured out, I'm not a Kaioshin, so it's not my responsibility to protect the planets that rest in this universe or watch over them... however, you can see that my interference has been a boon to Beerus and Shin's vast domain, as their planets are thriving, the mortals are growing as they're supposed to, and potential threats are taken out before they can get far in life. Now I know you might be wondering how I'm able to do all of this, and the answer is that I am the ruler of an empire that spans the majority of the universe, where my people travel the stars, looking into the vast depths of the universe, and they deal with the threats that we might not be aware of... not only do we get to save all sorts of knowledge, about planets and species we don't know about, we erase potential villains and welcome the people into the empire to help others." Zamasu watched as the viewer revealed much to him, villains and tyrants on the planets that Twilight's forces had visited being beaten, while also seeing that there was another version of each world that demonstrated what would have gone down had said villain not been taken down when they discovered them. "There's also the fact that a 'Zero Mortals Plan' wouldn't work." Twilight commented, as she could see that the gears that were in Zamasu's head were turning, which was what she was hoping for since it meant that her plan might succeed, and her brief statement, about what she assumed he had been thinking about, caused him to glance at her. "What's that supposed to mean?" Zamasu asked, though he didn't do anything to suggest that such a thing had been on his mind for a long time, because Twilight was far smarter than he assumed she was and was now thinking that he might have been wrong for a long time. "Think about it: if a universe has no life, and is essentially a lifeless or 'dead' universe, then the King of All would no doubt purge it from the multiverse, gods and all." Twilight remarked, as it made sense to her when she thought about it, based on her first encounter with Zeno she knew that he would erase anything that displeased him, something that caused the apprentice Kaioshin to pause as he considered what she was saying, "Whis, would he do such a thing?" "Most certainly." Whis said, floating down to where Twilight and the others were standing, allowing him to glance out at all of the mortals of Earth as he wondered what sort of foods were still out there to taste, something he had picked up during his long service to Beerus, before he focused on Twilight and her comment, "If a universe reaches the point of having no mortals, and the Grand Priest notices this... well, said universe would likely have mere moments left before being totally purged from the multiverse, with a new one potentially replacing it later on." All Zamasu could do was stand there as he thought about what they were saying, as all the information he was getting at the moment suggested that they knew someone was trying to put forth such a plan or had read about it and were using it as a lesson on how to save the various universes, before Twilight up a hand on his shoulder. "I can see that you've understood what I've been trying to say... how about we go deal with a villain?" Twilight said, as she came up with an idea while they were talking and it seemed perfect in her eyes, especially since it would take care of her own problem and, hopefully, push Zamasu down the path of change, to become someone different than what the future had shown her so far. Zamasu raised an eyebrow as Twilight had Demigra move them to a brand new destination, the Galactic Prison, where the apprentice Kaioshin raised an eyebrow as he followed Whis and the Demon into the prison, as Twilight told him that if she got too close Moro might react to her magic. Whis told him that if it wasn't for that fact, and the worry that Moro would gain enough power to escape into the universe, Twilight would have ended Moro on her own a long time ago, as she had the power to bring him down, while at the same time Demigra informed him that in the current stage of their universe the goat creature would be the death of everything if he escaped. Zamasu focused on their target, a decrepit figure who was getting closer and closer to dying with each passing day, imprisoned in what appeared to be reinforced devices that were of Twilight's make, before he sighed as he stepped forward and let the Wardens open the cell at Twilight's command, as she spoke from a nearby communicator. In the next moment, as the robed figure raised his head and he saw the horns he had seen in the viewings of the past, Zamasu lashed out with his Ki surrounding his right hand, slashing Moro vertically in half before anyone could react, though to be on the safe side he decided to dice him up before incinerating the pieces, just in case he had any powers they weren't aware of. He stood there for a moment as Twilight joined them, taking a moment to tell her underlings that everything was fine and that they could relax, though he had to admit that taking out an evil mortal seemed far more exciting right now, especially after discovering that creating a universe without mortals would end with his death. "How does it feel, ending a villain who would have brought ruin to the universe?" Twilight inquired, though at the same time she warped them back to Earth, not even surprising the Wardens who watched over the prison at this point, since all of them were used to her doing stuff like this, all while noticing that Zamasu was lost in his thoughts, "Does it make you feel better, having taken care of a villain and changing the universe for the better?" "Maybe... I don't know." Zamasu admitted, as he was torn between following his old plan, gain more power and kill every mortal that dared to cross his path, and following a new path, walking down the path of a Kaioshin like those who lived in Universe 7, actually dealing with threats while shaping the universe for the better, "I... I need to think about this. I think... it's time that I head back home." "Very well. Let's head back to Aria and give her the news." Twilight said, where she floated into the air and the others did the same as they followed her back to Capsule Corp, though as they flew back to Bulma's place she turned her head for a few seconds and focused on the apprentice Kaioshin who was torn over everything he had discovered, "Just know that you are welcome to return anytime... and, if you want to join Hit and his team in exploring the universe, taking out villains and gathering new knowledge, just let me know." Zamasu said nothing as they returned to the structure he had first encountered Twilight in, checked in with Aria, and left after thanking Twilight for taking the time out of her busy schedule to talk with him, allowing her to stand there near both Whis and Demigra, the latter returning to the others for a time. "Do you think it will work?" Whis asked, as he knew that everything Twilight had done had been to convince Zamasu not to walk down the path that she had discovered during her visit to the future, where he hoped that her plan worked since the destruction in Future Trunks' timeline was unacceptable. "Time will tell. If he accepts my words, we should have peace... if not, Beerus can go ahead and destroy him when the time is right." Twilight said, because what she had seen from the Future Zamasu suggested that he would assassinate his own master at some point in the very near future, hence why she wanted Whis and Beerus keeping an eye on Gowasu, just to be sure he survived what might be coming his way, "For now, I have my own plans to attend to. Goku, Vegeta, Future Trunks, get out here now!" Whis watched as the three Saiyans in question emerged from the building without delay, where he could tell that all three of them seemed disappointed in what had happened back in the parallel world, something that caused Twilight to growl as she stared at them. "We're heading to the Hyperbolic Time Chamber... prepare yourselves, as I won't go easy on any of you." Twilight stated, as she wanted to drill some important lessons into them before they headed back to the parallel world, because now they had three foes to worry about and these three needed to be ready for anything and everything, since a repeat of what had happened earlier was totally unacceptable. Whis had no idea what sort of training Twilight had in mind this time around, but he was eager to see if her thoughts on the matter were right, about the supposed final transformation that the Saiyans might unlock, and knew that when he and Beerus returned they would be in for quite the impressive show. > Future: Intense Training > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Twilight wasted no time in teleporting herself, Goku, Vegeta, and Future Trunks to the Lookout once the Saiyans were ready to tackle whatever training she had in mind for them, because this time around she had told them nothing, leaving them in the dark as they wondered what might be coming their way, surprising Dende with their arrival. "I take it something has happened?" Dende asked, as usually only one person came to the Lookout during these times of peace, Piccolo usually, though there were times where Vegeta might show up and train inside the Hyperbolic Time Chamber on his own, whenever Twilight was too busy to aid the Z Warriors with her lessons. "You could say that. I'm taking these three into the Hyperbolic Time Chamber... and you're coming with us." Twilight stated, because if they wanted to make the most out of the next day, and not waste too much time, they needed Dende's healing skills to ensure that the trio were able to keep up with what she had planned, before she glanced at Mr. Popo, "If anything happens while we're inside, and it's important enough to demand our attention, come inside and get us... if not, leave us to our training and keep everyone else from interfering." Goku and Vegeta had to glance at each other as they heard that, as neither was expecting Twilight to drag Dende into their training, which only made them even more interested in what she might have planned for them, before following her into the main structure of the Lookout and heading into the chamber. "So, what did you have in mind for our training?" Goku asked, though as he said that he noticed that Twilight had Dende stay inside the protected section of the chamber, which held the door between dimensions and a few beds for people to rest, while he, Vegeta, and Future Trunks followed her out into the endless void of the training realm. As soon as the words left his mouth the sky turned black as he and his fellow Saiyans were forced to their knees before they had a chance to resist whatever power was in play, where they found Twilight shifting into her Demon Goddess form as she turned to face them, with an annoyed look on her face. "I know Saiyans like to mess around, test the waters when facing off against new foes, but there are limits to how stupid all of you can be!" Twilight snapped, as she still couldn't believe that these three, or at the very least Goku and Vegeta since she hadn't seen their fight with Black and Future Zamasu, had the nerve to face a powerful foe and be brought down with so much ease, especially after all her efforts to help them unlock Super Saiyan Blue 3, "Before I get to work on that bad habit, and see if you'll learn to take fights serious... especially after discovering that your enemies were responsible for the destruction of Earth in a parallel world... you three will face my power of darkness, which is mimicking the gravity of Planet Vegeta, with a multiplier of ten. You three will spend some time fighting gravity itself, while Dende and I watch... once I feel that enough time has passed we'll get to the actual combat training." While this was training for the Saiyans, as they seemed to thrive under gravity training, she had designed this as more of a punishment for their blunder in the future parallel world, forcing her to bale and save them when she could have ended at least one of her foes. Since she could manipulate her power at will, and that applied to what the trio was facing, Twilight could increase the gravity whenever she wanted and, if she felt that someone was making too much progress, she could boost the pressure around that one while leaving the others behind. Of course she didn't want to kill them with this sort of training, in fact if killing them had been her plan she would have done so back at Bulma's, so if someone collapsed on the ground she would liberate whoever it was for a time, allowing her to move them over to Dende with her telekinesis so he could mend their bodies. Such a thing meant that they would gain more power from both the gravity training and being able to escape the jaws of death, so she was doubling down on what sort of methods allowed a Saiyan to gain a great deal of power in a short period of time and, more importantly, was saving time that they didn't have. They had no idea what Darkstar was capable of, other than brainwashing gods, and if she was able to get Chronoa under her control, like they had seen, Twilight suspected that they might be in a race against time, until the figure decided it was time to play her hand, hence her various training methods in this dimension. As the Saiyans did that, and Dende fulfilled his role perfectly, Twilight sat down on the ground and meditated, though as she did that she kept track of how each of them were doing against her gravity training, allowing her to do some training of her own, image training to be exact. She wasn't expecting them to make good progress against her punishment, but, to her continued amazement, the trio pushed themselves against the sheer force of the gravity she was unleashing on them, intending on finishing this part in a shorter period of time than she had planned. Even with that discovery Twilight wasn't about to let them off easy and continued to boost the power that was forcing them to their knees, and when she peeked to see how Goku, Vegeta, and Future Trunks were doing she learned the truth, each one was using a transformation to get even better results from her training. That didn't enrage her at all, rather it seemed like they had understood why she was doing this to them and had responded appropriately, taking the training seriously while taking her remark to heart, but it did please her to see both normal Saiyans and godly Saiyans being crushed by her gravity. She ended up bringing that session to an end as Goku and Vegeta burst out of where they had been struggling and struck her in the chest, with Future Trunks following suit, his attack hitting her in the side of the face, before the trio backed off as the gravity returned to normal, leaving Twilight to chuckle for a moment. "Magnificent, you three are actually taking this seriously... perhaps there is hope for you after all. Very well then, allow me to get serious as well," Twilight remarked, where the darkness surrounded her body as the Saiyans watched as she took on her final form, something that caused the ground and air to shake as she decided to pull out her full power, surprising the trio as she did so, as this was the first time any of them had felt what she was truly capable of, "Brace yourselves. Here I come." The Saiyans barely had time to raise their defenses as Twilight flashed up to where they were standing, reaching where they were standing in a second or two, where she grabbed both Vegeta and Future Trunks by the sides of their heads, without either of them being able to stop her, and slammed them into the ground as she moved away from Dende's position. As she let the pair go, however, Goku appeared behind her and threw a punch down at where she was standing, allowing her to dodge the attack as his fist made contact with the ground, breaking part of the area in the process, which would mend itself over time. Of course the Saiyan let loose a barrage of attacks that were designed to hit her and take her down, just as he did to the opponents he had fought in the past, but Twilight avoided the attacks and, when an opening presented itself to her, she grabbed onto his head and slammed him down into the ground. Following that she leapt into the air and loosed a burst of dark blasts down on where the trio were resting, blasting everything around her to dust in a matter of seconds, but, as she expected, the Saiyans emerged from the smoke and stared at her with determination in their eyes. Since they knew she was being serious, and that they could be taken out at a moment's notice, Goku and Vegeta decided to stop playing around as they transformed into their Super Saiyan Blue 3 forms, while Future Trunks did his best with the now obsolete Super Saiyan 2 form, even if it was incredibly strong since he had used it for so long. With their transformations complete the two main Saiyans rushed at her, this time falling into Whis' own training with ease, as the Angel had been using his sessions with the pair to make sure they could fight as a team, even without them realizing it at all, since he didn't outright say what he was doing, and she could tell their coordination, while needing improvement, was pretty good. The flurry that came her way showed her that they were learning from all of their instructors, not just her, so she slipped into a defensive mode as she blocked and parried attacks that were coming her way, even dodging a few just to see how they would react to her movements, allowing her to realize how skilled they were becoming. Future Trunks took advantage of the fact that he was being ignored and poured a great deal of his power into a burst attack that would push his target backwards, along with a secondary attack that would separate into three blasts to knock a few even further away so his allies could deal with her. Twilight felt that it was an interesting strategy and allowed herself to be taken aback by it, just to see how well it worked for the trio, though when she came to a stop she found both Goku and Vegeta moving in to punch her at the same time, causing her to catch their attacks with her hands before delivering a series of punches that sent them back towards Future Trunks. Twilight made sure that the future warrior wasn't forgotten, as she rushed over to where he was standing, parried some of his attacks as he realized she was in front of him, and then kicked him in the side before grabbing his neck and slammed him right into the ground, cracking it in the process. Of course they didn't give up due to her beating them once, rather the three Saiyans continued to come at her, showing her that each was willing to face her full power, even if it meant there was nothing they could do to her for the time being, and, more importantly, that they were taking her silent lessons to heart. It pleased her to see such a thing, since it meant that all three of them were realizing their folly, in allowing themselves to be taken down by Black and Future Zamasu, and that they were willing to accept anything that was thrown at them, both her earlier punishment and the actual training. While doing that Twilight summoned some of her power and created predator cats made out of fire, leopards to be exact, which rushed at her opponents and hunted them down, where Goku, Vegeta, and Future Trunks attacked them and realized exactly what they were a few seconds later as they detonated. They were a hunter type of power, which locked onto an opponent until either it was destroyed or their target was annihilated, usually detonating once they made contact with their target, but she kept the power of her attack low so she didn't actually kill the trio, since that would defeat the entire point of training them like this. Attacks like that meant that Dende had to come out and tend to the trio whenever she deemed it necessary, which also gave him some training since it used his vast healing skills, something that could improve with usage and, if she was right, enough exposure to mending wounds might grant him access to instant healing, which would benefit all of them, not to mention grant him the power to improve Shenron more. His healing came in handy when Twilight started to get a little more serious about the training, switching to using her new attack on the trio, though while they expected her to use the lesser version, the spiraling sphere that just floated above her hand, she surprised them by using the wind version. Such a thing meant that she had to sneak it into the battle since they knew of the attack, in fact she was positive they had seen it right before being taken down by Black and the untimely arrival of Future Zamasu, so she had to present an illusion of herself to fight while her real body focused on creating the attacks. Instead of using just one and catching one of the Saiyans with it, like someone might assume, Twilight made three of them, one for each of her opponents, just so each one experienced the same thing and knew that she wasn't playing around at all, since it might be the tipping point for them to finally break through the barrier between their current forms and the one she was forcing them to aim for. The moment that the trio took down her illusion, and realized that she had laid a trap for them, it was already too late for them to do anything to stop her as she rushed over to where they were still standing and slammed the dangerous windy spheres into their chests, sending them flying before the detonation rocked the dimension they were currently training in. "Twilight, I know your methods can produce some wonderful results, but... isn't this a bit much?" Dende asked, as he had been silently watching the training session and had to admit that she might be going overboard with some of her attacks, in fact the amount of damage she did with those deadly wind spheres almost convinced him that Twilight could be trying to murder the trio, for some reason he was unaware of. "No, they brought this upon themselves." Twilight replied, though she was disappointed in what she was seeing, as part of this entire process was to force each Saiyan to unlock the next level of their transformations, something that also required each to have the power to awaken said form in the first place, and right now either none of them cared enough or she would have to react to her illusions again. As Dende fixed up the Saiyans, and backed off once his part was done for the time being, Twilight started to pour more of her power into the surrounding area, but this time around she focused on doing something else to improve her illusions so her opponents had no idea that they were ensnared. Goku, Vegeta, and Future Trunks found that she faded away not a few seconds later, disappearing into some sort of mist as they were regaining themselves, before each of them found that she had done exactly what Gohan had said she had done back when he first gained his Super Saiyan 2 form, trapping the three of them in a new illusion. This time around Twilight had used a few new tricks in the creation of this spell, because the illusions that each of them were facing right now was different from what one of the others was facing, which meant that Goku's was different from, say, Vegeta's, and they were completely real to her targets, as if they were trapped inside a dream. The best part was that she didn't have to waste power on creating the majority of the illusion, rather it drew on all of the memories of the one it was being used against and they formed their own prison, a paradise they believed in and wouldn't question in the slightest, utilizing all of their senses to keep them trapped. With them trapped Twilight was able to weave together a powerful Sol Invictus, nicknamed 'Cruel Sun' on account of the fact that it would totally incinerate the illusions and drive the trio into a state of rage, depriving them of their paradise, and the moment she deemed them ready for her attack she sent the massive sphere down into the ground, blasting all three of them in the process and scattering them all over the area. "So, how are all of you feeling?" Twilight inquired, where she floated down to where they were resting and discovered that there were some flames resting around the area that they had ended up in, causing her to wave her hand and dismiss the remnants of the attack, before the dimension started to shudder as Future Trunks made the first move. "Eventide... Black... I'll never forgive either of you!" Future Trunks shouted, showing Twilight that he believed that part of her illusion, that the destruction of their paradise was made by their current villains, where his aura shook as his hair did exactly what she had expected it would do in this situation, it was vibrating as it pushed down his back, taking on the form of Super Saiyan 3 in no time. Sure enough Future Trunks, blinded by rage, rushed at her and moved into a flurry of punches that, ultimately, failed to reach her as she dodged each one that came at her, but Twilight had to admit that his desire to save his world was grand and would be put to use when they returned to his parallel world, before she grabbed his head and slammed him into the flat ground again. "Good, you have succeeded in unlocking a new form... you might be ready for the return trip." Twilight remarked, though as she said that something interesting happened, Goku and Vegeta started to get up, standing not that far apart from each other, causing her to move Future Trunks into Dende's area so she could solely focus on her foes. Instead of saying anything both Saiyans started to power up like their lives depended on it, or maybe they finally figured out what she was trying to do and wanted to see if it could be done, where their auras enveloped them and even reached into the sky, rising to the level of the clock on the main structure. While that happened the floor around them vibrated, as in three rings of energy seemed to wrap around them while they powered up, allowing her to watch as both moved into their Super Saiyan Blue forms, moved into Blue 2 without wasting too much time, and then went into Blue 3. It was simply amazing that they were producing so much energy as they reached deep within themselves for the power that they were seeking, power to move her and, maybe, even defeat her in a fight, something that caused her to grin as she found that their bodies were starting to glow as well. When their auras started to expand outward, however, she knew that they were on the right track as she braced herself for what could very well be the final transformation available to a Saiyan, where she had a front row seat as they started to transform before her eyes, taking on their Super Saiyan 4 forms. The only difference this time around was that their fur, hair, eyes, and tails were blue, showing her that they had finally succeeded in merging the power of Super Saiyan 4 with Super Saiyan Blue, creating the form she had dreamed about for so long: Super Saiyan Blue 4. Twilight smiled as she shifted her stance and altered her power to match Beerus', or at least the maximum she had faced during their battle, before raising a hand as she beckoned the pair to come at her with their new forms, because she was eager to see if it lived up to her expectations. In the next moment they rushed straight towards her position, moving faster than before, which was understandable since each new form was faster than the last, and quickly reached her in no time at all, forcing her to shift into a defensive stance as Goku kicked at her chest, allowing Vegeta to slip a punch to the side of her face as she blocked the first. That allowed her to understand that this form was everything she had dreamed of, as the attacks were far superior to what the Saiyans were capable of in their Super Saiyan Blue 3 forms, in fact she was sure that if she hadn't wished for immortality, and got the type of body that came with it, these attacks would have dealt her some serious damage. Despite that fact she couldn't help but smile at this entire situation, because both Saiyans were stronger and faster than before, just as she had assumed in her calculations, and clashing with them now was the perfect challenge for her and her true power to face, even though they were currently beating her back like it was nothing. The more interesting part of their assault was Future Trunks slipping in, as she had assumed he'd remain down until he recovered from her last attack, allowing him to strike her while she wasn't expecting it, using a good chunk of his power to strike her body with blasts while also punching her accordingly. While he did that Goku and Vegeta backed off, using the opening that he had given them to perform whatever tactic they had thought of before this point, leaving him to distract her as Goku moved his hands into the stance to charge the Kamehameha. Such a thing told Twilight everything she might need to know about their tactics, because with how they were standing she suspected that Vegeta would follow through with the Final Flash, though since Future Trunks insisted on being an annoyance she struck him multiple times as well, just to see if he had learned anything or not. What really interested her was the fact that Future Trunks actually tried to use the Solar Flare on her, of all people, where she briefly closed her eyes as it happened and opened them without delay, only to find that everyone had moved positions in that short period of time. As such Goku and Vegeta, who were now behind her, combined their attacks into a single entity and fired their ultimate attack, the Final Kamehameha, straight at her, forcing her to deploy a hasty shield in front of her as she turned to face it, which ended up blasting the entire area around her into oblivion and filled the air with smoke. "Wonderful. Simply wonderful!" Twilight stated, where she emerged from the smoke with something interesting that she wasn't expecting to discover, the upper left part of her attire had been destroyed in the attack, in fact she was sure that all of it would have been blown to pieces if she hadn't redirected the attack into the ground, though she was thankful that the bra underneath it was still intact, "So this is the power of the Super Saiyan Blue 4 form!" "Are you sure you want to continue Twilight?" Goku asked, as he and Vegeta knew that this might cause Twilight to back off for a time, allowing them to get used to their new forms before she returned with a new set of clothing, while Future Trunks backed off to stand near them. "Oh, I'm perfectly fine." Twilight replied, where the darkness washed over her form and the damage was mended within a matter of seconds, while at the same time she smiled for a moment as she called forth her full power, causing the entire dimension to shudder in response, "Come, let us see how you fare against the full power of the Dark Queen!" As the Saiyans came at her again Twilight knew that once they were done with their training the trio would be ready for a return visit to the future parallel world and a rematch with the villains that were waiting for them, and she was eager to see what sort of battles might take place when that happened. > Future: Taking Care of Business > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The morning following their return from the future parallel world, where Twilight had ensured that they spent the entire day inside the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, was when she, Goku, Vegeta, and Future Trunks returned to Bulma's place and got ready for another visit to the world that Eventide was in control of. "So, you're ready to take on whatever is waiting in Future Trunks' parallel world?" Bulma asked, because while she knew that the group wouldn't have returned until Twilight thought they were ready for the task at hand, in fact she expected them to be drilled repeatedly until Frieza's daughter was satisfied with their results, she wanted to know what Twilight was thinking at the moment. "Indeed. We're ready to face Eventide, Black, and Future Zamasu." Twilight replied, as those were the enemies that she and the others knew about, though her focus was on the possibility of Darkstar making a move against them, so they had to be mindful of what was happening to the world around them while they dealt with their opponents, "As for the mysterious Darkstar, well, I'll deal with her in time... or at least once I can figure out where in the parallel worlds she is and if she means us any harm." Bulma knew what Twilight was thinking, that sending a brainwashed Chronoa to save Eventide meant that Darkstar was one of their enemies, but at the same time she was also stating a fact, they had no way to know for sure, so until she figured out her other alternate's alignment, for good or evil, they were simply guessing. "We're ready to open the portal to Future Trunks' parallel world whenever you are, Lady Twilight." Demigra said, as he and the other Demons, including both Chronoa and Aeos, had weaved together a portal that was identical to the first one they had used during their previous visit, where he knew that Twilight already had a new spell signature for them in case she and her companions had to retreat again, an unlikely scenario given their intense training. Twilight said nothing as she moved out where she and Bulma had been standing and walked over to where Goku, Vegeta, and Future Trunks were standing, giving Demigra a brief nod as she did so, allowing those who had the power to control or manipulate time to open the portal once more, only closing it once the group was on the other side. "Given how quickly they showed up the last time we were here, I'd guess Eventide and her allies will show up in a couple of moments, so prepare yourselves." Twilight stated, though she already knew that taking down Eventide and Black should be their first priority, even though she had no idea if Future Zamasu was on their level or not, so if they could take one or both down she was sure that their plan would be thwarted, "I want all of you to remember that we're fighting for an entire parallel world right now, so focus on taking down our enemies and saving this world... though knowing Saiyans, well, one of you will get lost in the flow of battle." "And we will be grateful for it." a voice said, where the sky briefly tore open and, as Twilight expected, Eventide, Black, and Future Zamasu appeared above them, floating down to a level that they deemed to be appropriate when talking to those they deemed to be trash or inferior beings, like mortals for example, and she determined that the speaker was Eventide, who was still grinning, "Not that it matters in the grand scheme of things, because there's only so much you mortals can do before you fall before our might, the true and righteous gods of this grand multiverse." "Indeed, especially after how quickly you fell the last time you were here." Black remarked, showing that he assumed that all of them were weak, save for Twilight since she had nearly killed Eventide the last time they had been here, before he and Eventide transformed into their Rose Forms, something that informed them that the pair, at least, desired another round before continuing on with whatever plans they had in mind, "With that in mind, it's time for all of you to die!" Twilight really couldn't help herself as she chuckled, something that caused their enemies to pause for a moment as they looked at her, while at the same time her own allies started to spread out, because it was hilarious to see just how much arrogance someone like Black had, which was, interestingly enough, echoed by his allies. "You really have no idea what any of us are capable of. Allow my allies to shed some light on the situation." Twilight said, a fact that was followed by Future Trunks transforming into his Super Saiyan 3 form, surprising all three of their enemies in the process, though Goku and Vegeta going Super Saiyan Blue 2 really caught them off guard, especially Black since he had no idea that the form even existed, "Go ahead, take them down." Sure enough Goku and Vegeta zeroed in on where Black was standing, the former quickly knocking their foe into the air with a punch as the latter struck him right in the chest and sent him flying deeper into the city, while Future Trunks took her motions to heart as he pushed Eventide into another area, leaving Future Zamasu and Twilight alone. "You must realize that this is foolish. Even with their new forms, and the power they possess, there's no way for your allies to defeat either Black or Eventide." Future Zamasu stated, because while he knew that the three Saiyans were far stronger than they had been yesterday, since a day had passed since their last visit to this parallel world, he knew that both of his allies would be able to take them down in no time at all, despite what they had seen so far, "Even with the power you have access to, Twilight Sparkle, there's no way for you to defeat me in..." "And yet I already have... or at least the version of you in my world, to be exact." Twilight replied, something that caused Future Zamasu to pause for a moment as he stared at her, as if he couldn't believe what she had just said or was trying to come up with some sort of statement to counter it, where she shifted her stance for a moment as she stared at him for a few moments, "However, since I know you're going to be a stubborn person, we might as well fight as well... it seems to be the only way to convince people like you that the path you're walking is totally wrong, or drive you to desperate measures to fulfill your desires." "My my, what an arrogant mortal you are, thinking that you have the power, and the privilege, to touch a god, let alone judge them based on their actions." Future Zamasu said, where he shifted his stance for a moment as well as he focused on her, showing that he was going to fight her anyway and that he assumed that this battle would be over in a few seconds, despite her telling him that she had beaten a version of him in battle, "It's time for you to die, mortal scum." Twilight sighed as she heard that, because it seemed to be the only thing that Future Zamasu, Black, and Eventide cared to talk about, the death of every mortal they came across, and it revealed something to her as she considered her past ideas on who Eventide was. As she and her foe clashed in the air that was in front of them, with her defending for the time being, she realized why her alternate self's movements matched Zamasu's to a tee, it wasn't because they were master and student, as one might have assumed, rather they were one and the same. What she meant by that was that another version of Zamasu no doubt visited Zuno, gained all sorts of information on the Super Dragon Balls, since they were the only ones he knew about thanks to Champa's tournament, and then used them to switch bodies with her, as his soul was inside her body and her soul was no doubt in his, which he had likely eradicated to get rid of her. If that was the case the being that went on to become Eventide likely killed her previous mentor, stole the Time Ring, then went back to kill another Gowasu to recruit her past self, Future Zamasu to be exact, before setting out to master her new body so she could get rid of the gods and every mortal they came across. She had to assume that the same was true for Black, that since there was a parallel world where she didn't exist that meant Zamasu would target Goku, creating a darker version of the Saiyan like how Eventide was created, though she wasn't sure why Darkstar would bring him to this parallel world, other than to keep them distracted. While Twilight thought about that, however, she dodged the incoming punches and kicks like they were nothing, as she had gotten a good chance to study how every version of Zamasu fought and each was identical to the other, meaning it wasn't hard for her to figure out how he fought and countered his moves with ease. Sure enough that surprised Future Zamasu, since he was under the delusion that, as a god, he was untouchable and that no one should be able to do touch him or his allies, though she continued to break that foolish delusion as she dodged his attacks and punched him right in the face. As she expected her foe didn't appreciate being struck like that and continued to come at her, this time utilizing his Ki blade in an attempt to do some harm to her, causing Twilight to sigh as she simply did the same thing and showed him that his specialty meant nothing to her, that she could use it as well and had the same amount of skill that he had, but it was simply a means to an end. Right now she was testing him, trying to see what sort of powers and abilities he might have that the version of him in her main timeline had, but so far all she could determine was that he had nothing special going for him, meaning he was essentially worthless in the grand scheme of things. With that in mind she swung her arm and knocked open Future Zamasu's defenses, surprising him in the process, where Twilight formed a Spiraling Energy Sphere before slamming it right into his chest, sending him spinning right into one of the buildings that were around them, breaking it apart with ease, only for him to emerge with little done to his body. Twilight raised an eyebrow as she noticed that, as it seemed like her foe might have an immortal body, which would be a slight annoyance if that was the case, to which she simply sighed as she went on the offensive, because if her thoughts on the matter were right she had to confirm them before wasting a sealing sword. After everything she had created a couple more of the weapons that the gods used to seal troublesome individuals away, though she had other plans for Moro, ones that were now unnecessary since her Zamasu had dealt with the Planet-Eater for her, and right now one might be how to get rid of Future Zamasu. To continue with her test Twilight raised her left hand and manipulated gravity, pushing her foe right into the ground before he even had a chance to figure out what she was doing, though as he struggled to get up she had another attack ready for him, as a Sol Invictus was floating overhead, which she sent down at him and burned away everything that was in the area that Future Zamasu happened to be resting in. She floated in the air for a moment as the flames did their work, though as she expected her foe emerged from the attack as if nothing had happened, in fact any damage done to his attire was mended as well, causing her to shift to another attack as she raised her right hand and bits of lightning danced around it. Future Zamasu barely had time to register the attack's creation, which sounded like strange chirping birds, before Twilight dropped out of the air, landed on the ground, and rushed at him with enough speed to bypass his reaction time, allowing her to pierce his heart with her lightning attack, where after a few seconds she pulled her hand out and backed up as her foe's body swayed for a moment. "You are a persistent one, I'll give you that." Future Zamasu remarked, where Twilight observed as the hole she had made was healed in a just a few seconds, almost like she was dealing with someone that had Buu's powers again, where her foe chuckled for a moment as he stared at her with look that was half amused and half annoyed, "However, you cannot beat me, for I am..." "Immortal." Twilight finished, though this was a good time for her to observe the true effects of such a wish in person, as she had made the same wish once upon a time, because it allowed her to see what sort of limitations one might have with such a wish without actually revealing her hand at the same time, before sighing as Future Zamasu gave her a surprised look for some reason, "Gods almighty, you have to be one of the stupidest villains I have ever faced... the version of you in my timeline is far more reasonable and understanding than you are. I just destroyed your heart and you got back up, that, alone, told me that you are immortal, which means you didn't have to say it like you were trying to rub it in my face for some odd reason." "Ah, but I do. I need you to despair, knowing that there is nothing you can do to stop our plans." Future Zamasu stated, as if he felt that his words actually mattered to Twilight, when in fact they didn't and was why she was kind of tuning him out as she silently prepared an attack that would bring an end to him before he even had a chance to see it coming, where he let a grin appear on his face as he stared at her, "Not even your allies can beat us." Twilight let out a light chuckle as Goku and Vegeta, as if hearing Future Zamasu speak, shifted into their Super Saiyan Blue 3 forms and continued to push Black around, who looked as if he was going to break at any moment now, while Eventide was pushed around by Future Trunks, doing her best to stay alive based on the cuts and markings on her body, indicating that she was definitely losing. "Yeah, about that, we trained all day yesterday and now they're far stronger than you realize." Twilight stated, where she reached into the special storage area and withdrew one of the sealing swords she had prepared sometime ago, which her foe was ignoring as he noticed that his allies were being beaten into submission, meaning this battle was as good as hers at this point in time, "To be honest, thanks to all the training I put them through, it looks like Super Saiyan Blue 3 isn't even required to beat Black, while Eventide seems far weaker than I assumed she'd be, given the beating I gave her... you guys are going to fall here, that much is for certain." In that instant Twilight shifted her stance and rushed at her chosen foe, who was just realizing that she was moving, where she thrust the blade towards Future Zamasu's chest with the intent of piercing it and sealing him inside it, only to see that Black, in his infinite wisdom, burst away from his foes and intercepted the attack, though before he even had a chance to understand what was going on he was pulled inside the blade. "No way... is that..." Future Zamasu started to say, though at the same time Goku and Vegeta zeroed in on him and struck him into the ground, to prevent him from making a move on the blade that Twilight had used, because they knew that if it was here she must have made a move against her foe and didn't want Future Zamasu to interrupt whatever plan she had put in motion. "Yes, a Sword of Sealing." Twilight answered, where she picked up the blade and swung it a few times before stopping it right in front of her face, something that was followed by her engraving a rune on it that turned the entire weapon into pure stone, similar to what her uncle did with his spit, allowing her to crush it instantly, ending Black's existence since this method killed those inside the blade, before drawing another one, "As you can see, I have several prepared in case I find a foe worth sealing away, such as an immortal whose trying to bring about the end of all mortals, in every parallel world that exists... so hold him still, boys, and I'll bring an end to their madness, then you can help Future Trunks out." As she took a step forward, however, a few new figures dropped down into the space they were in and knocked the three of them aside, even breaking the blade so it couldn't be used again, before hauling Future Zamasu away as Future Trunks was knocked down as well, allowing Twilight to see that their new troublemakers were the three Saiyans she was with, or their corrupted versions given her mark on their foreheads. "Really?! Why are more of Darkstar's cronies here?" Twilight demanded, because she was already starting to get annoyed with the alternate version of herself that was now getting in her way of bringing justice to this parallel world, especially after having dealt with the corrupted version of Chronoa, and she found that the trio were joined by what looked to be a corrupted Dende, who was mending the wounds their foes had been dealt. "What's going on here?" a new voice asked, where Twilight turned around and found an older Kaioshin, who happened to have light yellow wrinkly skin and short white hair that looked like it was a failed mohawk, standing behind them, with one of the Time Rings on his right hand, meaning he had to be Gowasu, coming to check on the future due to the fact that his apprentice had told him of his dark plans, or maybe he was investigating Darkstar's tampering. Twilight opened her mouth to tell him off, for arriving at such a critical moment, which was the moment that both Future Zamasu and Eventide stood apart before arranging their earrings in the correct positions, though Twilight, having heard of this before this point in time, readied her magic and loosed a burst volley into the air. Sure enough the corrupted Saiyans got in the way of the attack, which was why she was using it as a distraction as she, personally, rushed at the pair before the process of them fusing into a single entity, only to get punched in the side of the face by another of Darkstar's pawns, a corrupted Aeos this time around. That proved to be all the distraction that was needed as the pair were drawn towards each other and spun around in the air as a bright light consumed them, where she watched as their forms merged into a single entity, surrounded by golden light, though as that happened Darkstar's pawns floated into the air and disappeared before she ended them, taking a lesson from the fall of their Chronoa. Twilight growled as she stared up at the sky as the fusion took place, as she honestly couldn't believe that this was happening right now, that the dark alternate version of herself would even allow such a thing to happen, while everyone else readied themselves for what was about to happen once the process was over. The surprising thing that Twilight could tell was that the fusion was producing a warrior that would be on par with what Goku and Vegeta had in their Super Saiyan Blue 4 forms, no doubt thanks to Corrupted Dende rapidly healing their bodies to ensure that they had the best results possible. "My form is justice, and my form is the world!" the fusion warrior stated, all while the process of forming their new body completed, allowing Twilight and the others to see that it was definitely a feminine body, going with the voice, which told her that her body, despite not having her soul, was still dominant, where the creation had her unique appearance, a red and black Kaioshin attire, and her hair that was sharper than normal and had Zamasu's white color, "Worship me. Give praise unto me. Me, the beautiful and sublime... Me, the invincible, the almighty and divine... All hail Eventide!" Twilight had no idea why the fusion had abandoned the name Zamasu and went with Eventide's name, but at this point in time she really didn't care, because she was going to destroy Eventide, save this parallel world, and then do everything in her power to find and destroy Darkstar for getting on her nerves. > Future: Fusion Confusion > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "So that was their plan... guess it explains why they wore their earrings like that." Goku remarked, as Shin had told him and a few others about the power of the Potara fusion, without performing it anyway, but this was the first time he was seeing the result of such a thing, making him wonder what would happen if he and Vegeta used the earrings, and if they would be able to best Twilight at long last. "Indeed, though we need to react accordingly." Twilight stated, though at the same time Eventide, who apparently gave up on their original name, started to spout off that two great powers were becoming one in her body and she even closed her eyes to focus on her new power, allowing her to summon her own power as she tapped on the air, "Mother, you and the others should get moving... get the people of this world out of here, before Eventide starts her assault." "What are you doing?" Future Trunks asked, keeping his voice low as well while they listened to Eventide go on and on about her new power, as it seemed like she was enjoying this and didn't seem to care about mortals right now, because it seemed Twilight had a plan in motion and he didn't to ruin it by speaking too loudly. "Secondary plan: in the off chance that our foes do something drastic, and produce something monstrously powerful, call in my mother and time allies to get the remaining survivors out of here." Twilight replied, as she had come up with several ideas and plans on what to do in the event that something like this happened while they were fighting Eventide and her dark allies, where this one involved her mother and the others, who were watching from the safety of their timeline, heading out into the parallel world and rounding up the survivors, "Cities and settlements can be rebuilt, but humanity will be lost in this place if we allow more of them to be slain... this will get them out of here, placed in the safety of the Demon Realm, so we can fight without having to worry about anyone else." As Future Trunks nodded, however, the sky ignited in white lightning that seemed to be emitting from Eventide's location, though when the light cleared the group found that their foe had a glowing white halo behind her body, two circular rings or circles with three or four lines connecting them in the positions of a compass. "Observe, you foolish mortals, the power of this immortal body that can infinitely increase it's power!" Eventide stated, a fact that told everyone that she was totally drunk on power, which made sense considering that both versions of Zamasu had sought different types of power to create the 'utopia' that they desired, before his halo generated two purple orbs on one of the rings. In the following moments she directed the power of the orbs into two bolts of purple lightning that rushed down at them without delay, where Twilight swung her arms and redirected both into the forests that were near the city, allowing her to see that the lightning tore through the ground like it was made out of butter. Such a thing told her that if they got hit by this attack it would likely be painful, if not incredibly dangerous, and she was pleased to see that her companions were all focused on their foe and less focused on whatever else was going on, where Eventide readied more of the spheres as she let loose with more lightning. As such the group moved out of the way and avoided the attack, showing Eventide that her power was slower than the speed that Goku and Vegeta possessed in their Super Saiyan Blue 3 forms, while Future Trunks was also faster thanks to all the training he had done before this point. Twilight, on the other hand, purposely let some of the lightning bolts come at her, making it look like she was dodging them while she siphoned the power out of each one, as it allowed her to sample their foe's great and terrible power without actually drawing attention to herself. One thing she was able to determine was that if any of them were weaker than they currently were, if she hadn't taken all the time to empower the Saiyans with their various transformations, the purple lightning would have taken them out or knock them into submission, showing her that Eventide wasn't playing around at all. Eventide, seeing that she was unable to actually hit any of them with her attack, decided to change things up as she took a moment to cancel her Absolute Lightning attack and switched to another one that came to mind, where red energy shots started to appear all over her halo as she focused on her targets. In the next instant she changed them into what looked like crystalline shards before sending them flying down towards the Saiyans and Twilight, where she discovered that her Blades of Judgement were far faster than the lightning and struck the ground before her foes even realized they were in motion. With that in mind she let a light smile appear on her face as the blades glowed before blowing the entire section of the city apart, as buildings collapsed as the ground shattered under the weight of her power, which pleased her despite the fact that all of her targets appeared in the air, likely Twilight's fault when she thought about it. She simply held both of her hands out as more red lights started to appear around her, allowing her to constantly rain down more blades on her targets, only to pause as she noticed that a barrier shimmered into existence between them, no doubt something that Twilight, who was quickly becoming a problem. As she thought about that, however, Twilight burst out of the smoke that was below her, which came from her Blades of Judgement detonating on the barrier's surface, though what stunned her for a moment was the fact that her foe had also transformed into a new form, allowing Twilight to punch her in the side of the face and knock her to the side. "What the... YOU CAN TRANSFORM?!" Eventide stated, because that wasn't something that had been part of her research into Twilight Sparkle, before the Zamasu that took over her body did so, making her wonder if she could have turned the tide against the warriors without having to resort to using the Potara earrings. "Indeed I can... you should have done your homework before taking over my body, not that it matters since the power of the Dark Form and the Demon Goddess form wouldn't work for you." Twilight remarked, though she refrained from using her final transformation, as she deemed that Eventide, even as a Potara Warrior, was unworthy of her Dark Queen form, hence why she picked this form, plus she knew her foe would take it as a massive insult, "Are you ready to face the power of a Demon Goddess?" "Insolent mortal, you dare to call yourself a god in my presence?!" Eventide remarked, showing Twilight that she was angry over the very idea that someone she considered to be beneath her would dare to do such a thing, which was good for her since anger would blind her foe and cripple her abilities in time, "Heed my words, mortal: I am the sole light of this universe and this light that surrounds me is justice itself! I am the knowledge, law, and power of this pitiful universe, and on this day I shall bring about the true beginning of the Zero Mortals Plan..." Eventide didn't have a chance to finish her statement as Twilight took the opening that was presented to her and rushed up to her foe's position, punching her in the side of her face as she sent her foe flying through the air, causing Eventide to take a moment to growl and rub the injured spot as she locked onto her opponent. Following that Eventide thrust her hand out as both purple lighting and red crystalline shards rushed towards Twilight's position, who simply stood there as she raised her left hand and a barrier phased into existence in front of her, one designed to siphon the energy of Ki attacks so she could add the power to her own. She added in a bit of smoke to make it look like the attacks had gone off before bursting out of it, surprising Eventide as she was struck in the chest once more, though in that moment Twilight noticed something odd, that this attack didn't seem to affect her foe at all, despite the last few hurting her a little. Such a thing caused her to glance at the halo that was behind her foe as an idea formed in her mind, where she lashed out and kicked Eventide up into the air with ease, only to find that the attack did nothing like the halo glowed for a brief moment, which confirmed that the halo was a problem and that it needed to go. Of course she wasn't the only one who figured out that something was up, as Eventide summoned a dark purple form that surrounded the area behind her, looking like a bird with outstretched wings for some odd reason, though as she started to attack with more purple lightning Twilight was ready for it. She loosed some normal lightning into the air and cancelled out Eventide's attack, opening the way for Goku and Vegeta to burst through the smoke and tear through Eventide's construct with ease, as she sent it out to try and stop them in their tracks, only for them to smash through it. Such a thing showed her that the Super Saiyan Blue 3 forms were impressive, with enough training anyway, though as their foe floated there, with a surprised look on her face, Twilight swallowed the remnants of the construct, figuring it was best to not waste the energy their foe was using. Upon reaching Eventide, however, Twilight was able to confirm that the halo was now preventing her from taking damage from any of the attacks that they were sending her way, as when both Saiyans struck her it glowed two times, one for each attack, causing her to spring into action so she get rid of it and open the way for them to actually hurt their foe. Eventide barely had time to react as Twilight kicked her with the edge of her right hoof, right in the side of her face, but as she flew through the air she noticed something totally strange that confused her, Twilight grabbed onto the edge of the halo and actually pulled on it, tearing it from it's place on Eventide's back. "Good, let's get rid of this annoying thing." Twilight stated, where she flexed her power and shattered the halo like it was nothing but fragile glass, reforming it into a little marble that was swallowed a few moments later, allowing her to make sure Eventide would be unable to reform it, not without expanding her own power to bring it back, "Ah, much better. Now we can damage you." What happened next was a test to see if Eventide retained the immortality that Future Zamasu had, because if she did this battle would take forever, since she knew about the sealing blades and their power, where Twilight had the Saiyans go on the offensive, distracting their foe as Twilight readied her next attack. She was utilizing the piercing lightning attack she had used earlier and rushed through the air once it was ready, allowing her to tear through her foe's chest with ease as all of her allies backed off so they didn't get in the way, only to find that the past repeated itself as the attack destroyed her target's heart, who healed it almost immediately. Eventide followed that up by rushing higher into the air and formed what appeared to be a massive ball of energy, one that looked like it might be made out of flames, that was sent down at them without delay, showing them that she might have gone insane and desired the end of the entire planet. Twilight weaved her power into the air and slowed down the attack while forming a path through the center of it, allowing the Saiyans to land behind her before firing their beam attacks into the air, where they merged into a single entity and used her opening to tear through the attack like it was nothing. The result of that was that Eventide's attack exploded in the air, before it got anywhere near the planet's surface, and she was caught in the detonation, though to Twilight's annoyance it appeared that their foe had somehow gotten stronger, as if there was part of her that could still take damage and it was constantly being healed, fueling the insane power gain that Twilight was known for. Sure enough they were able to confirm that Eventide was stronger and faster than before, which could also simply be her insane ability to grow as she fought tougher foes, but even then Twilight considered a plan that might be able to bring their foe down, hence why she left their opponent to the others as she flashed down to Gowasu's position. She had many questions for the Kaioshin of Universe 10, but in the interest of time, since there was no telling what Eventide would do in this situation, she focused on the task at hand and questioned him about the specifics that went into the Potara fusion, as while she knew about it her knowledge was limited since Shin's was also limited. The Kaioshin told her everything that he knew on the special earrings, about how non Kaioshin had a time limit as to how long they could stay fused and, due to neither version of Zamasu being elevated to that rank, they would defuse in due time, which only made her bring up the glaring error in his reasoning. They had no idea when in time both versions of Zamasu had come from, so it was possible that either of the originals might have waited until they had taken over as the Kaioshin before murdering their master, and if Gowasu's information was right that meant that Eventide would remain in this state forever. Such a thing told Twilight everything she needed to know about the situation, as they either had to use another warrior born from the Potara fusion and push Eventide to the breaking point, or distract her so she could utilize another blade to seal her away, which might work depending on what was going on right now. Eventide, on the other hand, started to hurl large cubes of Katchin at his foes, where Future Trunks dodged them as both Goku and Vegeta smashed through them with ease, reminding their opponent that their transformations were stronger than she recalled, which only seemed to annoy Eventide in the process. Her annoyance towards them only served to blind her more and more to what was happening in the area around her, but in the process Twilight noticed something about their foe's power, there seemed to be an unstable edge to it, like the two halves were fighting each other in some manner, one Eventide had yet to notice. Goku and Vegeta, being the experts in fighting thanks to everything they had been through over the years, sensed that something was up and started to unleash some of their more powerful attacks, blasts that tore through their foe's body and even utterly eliminated her right arm at one point, something that caused Eventide to quickly regenerate it and the clothing that had surrounded it. That fact caused a drastic change in how the battle played out, due to the fact that both Saiyans continued to lay into Eventide without giving her a chance to fight back, and while this would boost her power, like it would have for Twilight in the past, the power of the fully trained Super Saiyan Blue 3 form was just too much for her to handle. Twilight was actually a little sour over that piece of information, as she had been hoping to see Super Saiyan Blue 4 being used against Eventide, it was part of the reason she had pushed them as hard as she did, but for the time being she just focused on her newest plan. She had pulled Future Trunks to the side while silently contacting her mother in the Demon Realm, as she was passing on news to the other Demons and she was having them gather spirit energy from those who had been saved from this parallel world, because she knew that Future Trunks wanted to end Eventide and she was going to help him, despite her dislike towards him. They were going to channel that power right into his blade, which, if her quick calculations were correct, should give him more than enough power to slice through both versions of Zamasu and force them into their original forms, an opening that would allow him to kill Eventide while she used a sealing blade on Future Zamasu. If her plan worked they could take out their foe and save this parallel world from the dark fate that Eventide had planned for it, since without mortals the entire universe, at the very least, would be wiped out, but for it to work their foe had to be distracted for a significant amount of time. While that happened both Goku and Vegeta experienced a new attack from Eventide, who opened small portals in the air around her and threw either a punch or kick through it, to hit her foes from their blind spots and disrupt their movements so she could take control of the situation, but that hardly mattered to the pair as they dominated the fight, pushing their foe back more and more as time passed. The fact that they were beating the stuffing out of Eventide just made her even angrier than she had been before, like she underestimated the power that a Saiyan might possess and might be making a part of her regret choosing Twilight's body, since she couldn't figure out how to draw out her various forms. Their attacks had the effect that she had been hoping for when this idea came into mind, Eventide's regeneration couldn't handle the sheer volley of attacks she was tanking right now, as under the cuts and tears that appeared on her clothing Twilight was able to see cracks in her body. That fact, combined with the bubbling that wrapped around each crack, told her that part of her fusion had to be breaking and she honestly didn't care what the reason behind it happening might be, rather she was glad to see it and braced herself for what might be coming up in the next couple of moments. The Final Kamehameha that the two Saiyans performed, however, did some serious damage to Eventide, to the point that she ripped off the torn off portions of her attire, briefly showing everyone her bra for some odd reason, before trying to mend her body... though as that happened her form shimmered, half of it Eventide and the other half Future Zamasu, to which Future Trunks, wielding a glowing blue blade, rushed out and slashed their foe in half. "Quick, stab Eventide in the heart." Twilight stated, where she pulled out one of the sealing blades as the two halves of their foe landed on the ground, having regained their original bodies after being hacked in half, leading to Future Trunks rushing towards his target as she focused on the immortal Future Zamasu. In the next moment something strange happened as Eventide snapped her eyes open and blasted Future Trunks right in the chest, causing him to drop the now normal sword he carried and allowed her to pick it up so she could break it like it was nothing more than a twig. As that happened Future Zamasu did the same thing to Twilight and broke her blade at the same time, though that was when the strangeness of the situation unfolded as both seemed to turn into a strange purple goo before taking on the form they had possessed while fused into a single being. Such a thing gave them two Eventides to deal with, who simply grinned at them while they stood near each other, though because of the fact that they had just suffered a crushing defeat their power was now far greater than it had been a few moments ago. Without wasting time she, Goku, Vegeta, and Future Trunks gathered their power and loosed a couple of blasts in the direction that their foes were standing in, blowing the entire area around them to pieces while leaving behind bits and pieces of the two Eventides everywhere. Much to Twilight's amazement and confusion the pieces, despite having no life of their own, regenerated into a fully grown version of Eventide, meaning their foe had gone from a 'Fused' state to an 'Infinite' state, or 'Infinite Eventide', and such a thing simply caused them to grin as they started to gather around the group. "Okay, timeout... how, in the name of the Demon Realm, did you pull off this trick?!" Twilight exclaimed, because this was just stupid as she considered what was going on, as there was no way that the power of immortality would allow such a thing to happen in the first place, meaning there had to be another power either of their foes had gained before they had the idea to merge, as this multiplication without reason was stupid. "There's no need for you to understand, mortal. Only death awaits you." one Eventide said, though figuring out which one was a near impossible task considering that there were now at least fifty of them, due to how many blasts had struck the area they had been standing in earlier, and it was easy for them to see that their foe was enjoying this turn of events, even if they couldn't explain this odd event as well. As Twilight opened her mouth to say something, however, everyone paused as a surge of energy surprised them and drew their attention to what appeared to be a massive vortex of space-time energy appearing in the air, diagonally from where they were standing, as if it was a gate of some kind, and the dark energy caused Twilight to realize what was going on, even if it made no sense as well. "The Dragon of Domination comes." a voice said, where Twilight found that they weren't alone as she spotted the robed version of herself that had helped them escape from this parallel world not that long ago, though her eyes were on the gate and caused her to do the same thing, forcing everyone else to focus on it as they wondered what was going on. Twilight really had no idea why Darkstar, the 'Dragon of Domination' apparently, was coming to this parallel world, now of all times, but she knew this classified as a situation going from bad to worse and made her wonder what in the world was going to happen when the unwanted intruder finally joined them. > Future: Parallel Worlds Collide > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "What in the world is that?" one of the Eventides, not the one who had spoken a few moments ago, asked, because this wasn't part of the plan that she and Future Zamasu had come up with to exterminate all mortals in the multiverse, and the warriors standing near Twilight seemed to have some sort of idea as to what was going on. "Darkstar, another version of myself, is coming." Twilight stated, which didn't make sense when she thought about it, as it seemed like everything the corrupted versions of people she knew had gone so far had been to ensure that Eventide reached this point, why she still had no idea, causing her to focus on the gateway for now, "She probably likes to show off, given the size of the gateway, especially if it's for a single person... just be on your guard, as there is no telling what she wants from all of us." It felt weird to tell Eventide, their enemy until this point, to keep her guard up and have her copies do the same thing, but it seemed like they had reached the point where such a thing was necessary, but the unknown factor of this situation had caused such a thing. As Twilight considered everything she knew that Eventide's infinite state would be a benefit to their side, especially since it didn't seem like there was a way to explain her ability to multiply from bits and pieces that had been cut off from her, a power that reminded her of Buu. She guessed that to get rid of Infinite Eventide they would have to incinerate every piece of her, least she regenerate and multiply without end, but for right now this power might be to their benefit, since they could overpower Darkstar and get back to their fight for this parallel world. Based on what she was seeing right now it didn't look like their previous foe was even thinking about the battle that had been interrupted, meaning she might not suspect anything once they were done with their new foe, but for the time being Twilight focused on the large gateway and what it meant for them. In the following seconds the gateway burst open, like a glass window shattering towards them with the shards lingering in the air, but as that happened Twilight spotted their new foe, as it was hard to miss the figure that was emitting such a dark and dangerous aura. Darkstar hardly looked like her, rather it seemed like she had taken the route of turning herself into a dragon Beastian, though as she expected her alternate had no doubt altered the formula to give herself exactly what she wanted, as her scales were a shade of black that made her stand out. One thing that they shared in common was the size of their breasts, no doubt the Bulma in Darkstar's world had done the same to her before she snapped, though her dark self was wearing special silver armor that had been built to match her new form, making her look like a warrior goddess, while also having golden trim. The figure looked imposing and walked on the air like she owned the place, meaning she was just that confident in her abilities and her power, something that only made Twilight wonder just how strong their foe might be and how much of her own power she would have to bring to bare in the upcoming battle. As Darkstar came to a stop nearby Twilight could tell that everyone else was getting ready without showing signs that they were prepared to do battle, meaning that once someone gave the command to do battle they would rush at their foe and see if she was truly worth worrying about. "Ah, Main Twilight, I've been looking forward to the day that we would meet." Darkstar stated, showing everyone that part of her plans must, in some way, revolve around them meeting each other, which only made Twilight silently raise her guard as the dragon version of her talked, "I hope my subordinates haven't annoyed you too greatly, as they can be... overzealous... in their quest to please me, especially when missions are concerned... except for Chronoa, she got what was coming to her, even though I am disappointed that I couldn't punish her." "Darkstar... what do you want?" Twilight asked, because instead of focusing on the past, and everything that had lead to this point in time, she wanted to figure out exactly what her dark self was thinking and how she might be able to break her plan before it came to fruition. "You, actually... and Infinite Eventide." Darkstar replied, where she let out a sigh that indicated that she didn't like the fact that Twilight wanted to move things along at a pace she enjoyed, though instead of attacking or shouting at her, like one might have expected, she simply continued to talk, "You see, there's a key difference between us: you can use Moro's power to it's fullest, I cannot use it at all... but I have other skills and tricks up my sleeve. So I came up with a plan to isolate you in one of the various parallel worlds that exist due to our existence, namely one that is as desolate like this one, and trap you in a special torture chamber of my own design until you either teach me the key to wielding Moro's power, or I rip it out of you with another machine... I can promise you that the latter will be incredibly painful, even for someone like us. Once I have your power I will turn it on Eventide and her copies, who will be trapped in stasis cubes until then, and drain all of them repeatedly, pushing them to the brink of death, or the brink that is allowed with immortality, growing my own power so I can bring about the final stage of my glorious plan: taking the throne of creation." Twilight's eyes widened as she heard that, as Darkstar was plotting to overthrow Zeno, of all beings, which alarmed those who knew about his power, but it also showed them that her other self was just insane for thinking such a thing in the first place, for thinking of such a dangerous plan. "Now I know what all of you are thinking: 'what's stopping us from beating you and stopping your plans'?" Darkstar said, as she knew most of them very well by this point in time, given that she had enslaved most of them and had Twilight's own intelligence to draw from, where she smiled as she spread her arms. In the next instant several more space-time gateways appeared on the outskirts of the city, which they were able to see thanks to the fact that many of the buildings had been destroyed thanks to the original Eventide and her allies wrecking everything, and the sheer number of them stunned them all. As the gates opened, however, Twilight noticed that an army marched out of one of them, a force lead by Beerus and the corrupted heroes of the universe she and the Saiyans called home, along with soldiers wearing dark armor that marched behind them. In that moment it became clear that Darkstar had been talking about an army of corrupted and twisted followers, not just from Universe 7, as one might expect, but from every universe in the multiverse as she noticed that there were twelve Gods of Destruction standing at the head of the army. What made this far worse for them was the fact that even the twelve Angels were present, baring her mark on their foreheads like everyone else, and even the Kaioshin were present, showing Twilight that Darkstar wasn't stopping at taking over her entire parallel world, she wanted to take over everything. With the power arrayed against them, however, Twilight suspected that they were in deep trouble, because there was no telling how strong each of the warriors in front of them were, something that only made Darkstar grin as she turned back to look at them. "I have an army, numbering far more than what you have right now, meaning it's only a matter of time until each of you are defeated and stuffed into stasis cubes." Darkstar said, where the grin informed Twilight that her foe thought that she had won, that no matter what they did there was no stopping them from taking over this parallel world and enslaving all of Twilight's timeline to boost her power over all of reality. "That is where your wrong, Darkstar." the reaper Twilight stated, though as she said that Twilight felt another rapid surge of energy behind them and found that more space-time gateways were forming, orange ones this time around, which only made her allies confused while their foe raised an eyebrow, "We suspected that you might do this, invade another parallel world to exploit it's people and resources, and so we used the time we had to prepare accordingly." Twilight turned her head for a moment as the gateways opened, where she found that all sorts of figures started to come out of them, a large number of her alternate selves leading what appeared to be an army from each parallel world, which meant that many of the others had been aware of Darkstar before this point in time. Some of her alternate selves were far more unique than she was expecting, as there was one wearing what appeared to be a red trench coat and looked more like a vampire, one looked like a werewolf, a third seemed to be some sort of chimera creature that reminded her of the being called Discord, and many more. Not only were there all sorts of versions of her, each of them incredibly strong due to what she was feeling right now, there were also many alternates for Goku, Vegeta, and everyone else she knew, as if all of reality was coming to face Darkstar and stop her plans. One of her alternates, a sorceress that happened to be floating in the air, glanced at the scene in front of them, clearly thinking about their chances of winning this fight, as the ground off to the left broke open as a giant mech, piloted by a version of her who didn't fight like the Saiyans, tore it's way out of the area it had spawned in, no doubt a misplaced gateway. As the gateways started to close, and Darkstar frowned since this clearly wasn't part of her plan, another Twilight, wearing silver armor and had what appeared to be wings that were made out of light energy, landed near Twilight and nodded her head for a moment as she pointed her spear right at their foe. "Defenders of Space-Time... charge!" the Angelic Twilight declared, which was followed by her moving through the air as all of her forces, as they seemed to be her soldiers and commanders, moved as well, something that caused Darkstar to just look at all of them as she raised her hand and beckoned for her forces to move. Twilight and her group, instead of being left in the dust, got in on the action as well as the two armies clashed in the center of the city, the power of their initial attacks breaking everything around them, especially in the case of the Destroyers and their foes since the collision between their fists flattened the areas they were in. As Goku, Vegeta, and Eventide rushed into battle, with Future Trunks picking his battles wisely, Twilight noticed something interesting, that the twelve strongest versions of her, not counting her and Darkstar, were facing off against the Corrupted Destroyers right now, while finding that the Corrupted Angels simply stayed on the defensive. She, on the other hand, rushed through the air as she struck Darkstar in the side of her face and kicked her up into the air, pushing her away from everyone else, though the first blow told her that she might need to bring out her final form, because while she did some damage to her opponent she felt that it might not be enough to grant her victory. On one hand she felt that it might be due to the dragon scales, since they did make it harder to defeat someone who was in such a state, and given that Darkstar was a scientist of sorts it made some sense that she'd empower herself to a ridiculous level, while on the other hand her foe might be immortal as well and that meant sealing her wasn't an option. She realized that Darkstar must have been watching them before coming to declare war on their reality, meaning she had seen her seal away Black and that crippled part of her plan for dealing with someone like this, but for the time being she readied herself as her foe got up. "Is that really the best you can do? I really thought you'd be stronger than this." Darkstar said, where she seemed rather disappointed in what she experienced just how, to the point that she let out a sigh as she shifted her stance, meaning she was about to go on the offensive and that Twilight needed to be ready for anything, "Very well then, let's see how you respond to this." Twilight barely had time to register her foe's movement as Darkstar appeared to her right, grabbed the side of her head, and dragged her through the air for a few seconds before pushing her into the ground as she dragged her through the rest of the rubble that remained of the destroyed city. She regained herself as Darkstar hurled her through a couple of ruined buildings and raised her right hand towards her, where Twilight found that she was gathering a bit of energy into her right palm, forcing her to do the same as they released identical beams of energy at each other. The resulting collision and explosion ended up tearing a chunk out of the area that they were fighting in, where Twilight realized that they had moved to an area that was far away from everyone else, no doubt Darkstar's way of ensuring that she had nothing holding her back. In the next moment she realized something interesting about her foe, while she had a curved horn right in the middle of her forehead, like Twilight had in her Demon Goddess form, she also had a few more horns that looked like they were a crown, all while her headpiece must have been custom made to ensure a good fit without getting in the way, and the reason she noticed them was because they were glowing. The massive torrent of blue flames that came at her in the next moment displayed how much power Darkstar had, due to the fact that it stood taller than Capsule Corp and was far wider than it, to the point where Twilight was sure that her foe could exterminate all of West City on her own, along with everyone else. As that thought crossed her mind Twilight quickly decided to stop playing around as she dived down into the path of the flames and let the darkness wrap around her for a few moments, before allowing it to rush outwards to form a defensive line. Once that was done Twilight stepped into the darkness and allowed her final form to come to the surface without delay, allowing Darkstar to watch as the flames came to a stop, just before reaching the wall of shadows, like it was being repelled by her foe's skill. In the following seconds the mass of darkness broke apart in what seemed to be the center as Twilight, in all her majesty as the Dark Queen, quickly emerged and revealed that her right pointer finger was all that was holding back the wall of flames, before she swung her hand to the right and the flames transformed into pure energy that her power devoured. That seemed to be the sign for Goku and Vegeta to unleash their full power, Super Saiyan Blue 4, but Twilight didn't care about that as she rushed through the air without delay and zeroed in on where Darkstar was currently standing, who had enough time to raise her arms in defense as Twilight struck her in the chest. Twilight knew there was one good thing about all of this, with all of the warriors fighting there was an endless source of power to draw from as she silently drew in the power of those clashing with the Corrupted Army, stealing bits of energy from every warrior and adding it to her own as she pushed Darkstar into the air. Since her foe had no idea how to utilize the power that Moro possessed Twilight knew it would be hard, if not impossible, for Darkstar to realize that her Ki was being stolen as they fought, though the fact that both of them had the same melee techniques meant it was easy for Twilight to distract her foe, since Darkstar had to take some time to figure out her next move while they clashed. Of course Darkstar's power was nothing to be sniffed at, since she was far stronger than some of the other alternates of her that Twilight had encountered since discovering that they existed in the first place, so she had to be careful with what she did, least her plan be discovered before it was time. As the two clashed, however, Twilight silently prepared a ball of dark energy and, when the moment revealed itself, she let it fly towards Darkstar, who dodged it as it moved into the sky, something that caused Twilight to drop out of the air while her attack finally triggered above their heads. It was the Abyssal Moon technique she had used against Kid Buu, where her foe turned her head for a moment as gravity was affected by the attack, while everyone else on the ground stopped what they were doing and turned their heads to the sky to watch them clash. As Darkstar turned her attention towards it, just as Twilight had planned when she came up with a potential plan earlier, Twilight gathered more of her power and sent a Sol Invictus straight into the air, allowing it to expand into it's massive form before her foe had a chance to react to being sandwiched between two powerful attacks. Ultimately both attacks were just a distraction, as Twilight intended to use one of the sealing swords on Darkstar the moment she tried anything, as she had a short window to attack in and had to hope it was good enough, otherwise she would have to fall back on another plan that came from the existence of her various other selves. What she wasn't expecting was for Darkstar to spin around and shatter both attacks like they were nothing, only to gather her energy in the air above them, causing the sky to burst open as a massive asteroid, one that would exterminate all life on the planet if it struck the Earth's surface, started to descend upon them. With this discovery in mind Twilight gathered more of her power before loosing a beam of energy into the air, where it rushed right into the surface of the asteroid and blew it up before it even had a chance to reach the surface, plus she made sure the remnants branched off to deal with all of the debris from Darkstar's attack. Sure enough Darkstar used that attack as a diversion and rushed at her with what had to be a lance made out of lightning, though instead of allowing it to strike her Twilight rushed at her foe and grabbed onto the handle as she kicked her foe away, forcing her to let it go as she flew backwards. In that moment she quickly understood how to form the lance attack and reformed it as a lance of pure darkness, which she hurled at her foe and let it strike her chest, sending her flying into the atmosphere before detonating with hurricane level winds, meaning it might do island sized damage if it was used on the ground. As the smoke started to break apart, however, she discovered that Darkstar had markings on her wings, no doubt used to protect herself from harm, before realizing that her foe had to be tanking her attacks and was turning the pain from each into power, hence why she seemed to be getting stronger as the battle progressed. "We're in a stalemate... both of us have our own ways to get stronger, and she's likely got some sort of immortality as well, based on her endgame." Twilight remarked, because there was a chance that, with Darkstar being just like her, she would figure out how to use Moro's power if she watched her use it too much, meaning she needed to figure out how to take her foe out before she got too powerful. "We have a desperate plan." a voice said, where Twilight found that many of her alternates were now standing near her, a fact that was accompanied by a vast number of floating green time rings, the ones that represented the parallel worlds that had been created by all sorts of choices, decisions, and where she landed, but which one had talked was impossible to tell at this point. "And before you ask: yes, we are serious." the vampire Twilight added, showing her that they knew she would object, and she had every right to when she considered just how insane this plan was, as they were planning on sacrificing not only themselves, but also their entire parallel worlds, turning their individual rings into pure energy to attack Darkstar, either to kill her before she got too powerful or seal her away in some manner. Twilight stared at her alternate selves for a moment, knowing that it was best if she didn't argue with herself since their foe was forming a massive energy attack that looked like it would decimate the world if it struck the ground, causing the other versions of her to spring into action. What that meant was that they were rushing into the air while turning into bits of pure energy, though at the same time she found that literally every version of her, from ordinary heroes to even gods of another version of reality, was flying towards Darkstar's position. She wasn't expecting Eventide to join in, since she wasn't even an alternate due to Zamasu taking over her body, and all of the copies of her joined the fray, where it seemed like all of them had realized that stopping their foe took priority over their own goal, especially since Darkstar's attack seemed to be breaking the walls of reality, which was cracking like glass and left all sorts of purple cracks in the air. Of course she did find that the main Eventide standing by her, or one who had decided to hang back in cause things turned south, while all of the alternates, joined by her copies and channeling the power of the green Time Rings, turned into stands of golden energy as they started to form a sphere around Darkstar. Instead of doing nothing Twilight focused her time powers into aiding the others in their scheme, a move that would take out nearly all of the parallel worlds, leaving only those that existed before she started to meddle with time, or whoever started the trend, before finding that Darkstar wasn't giving up as her attack took on the form of the Teranova attack that Buulight had used against her. As it started to come down towards them, however, Twilight raised her left hand and let a barrier form in the air above them, which stalled the massive flaming energy sphere as it struggled to continue on it's path towards the surface of the planet. Eventide decided to join in as she rushed into the air and used her power to push back the sphere, or at least seemed to be trying to do so since the attack was incredibly powerful, but she was able to move it due to the fact that the golden sphere was cutting Darkstar off from this world. What was interesting about all of this was that Darkstar let out a scream of sorts as the power that the alternates were channeling damaged her, though the same was true for the alternates as a couple of green Time Rings shattered into dust and everyone from that world perished, a consequence of what they were attempting. Fortunately their plan seemed to work as a bright light filled the air and a rush of energy followed, where she found that all of the alternates, their armies, Darkstar, her army, and all of Eventide's copies had disappeared, leaving behind an odd sight, a golden Time Ring that had a black infinity icon, like Darkstar's power was trapped inside it, which Twilight claimed as she devoured the attack in the air. "So... what now?" Eventide asked, though despite her immortality and regeneration her hands still stung from trying to hold the massive flaming attack from hitting the ground, like some sort of phantom pain, while knowing that the sacrifices of her copies and the alternates hadn't been in vain. Twilight could only shrug at the moment, as she really wasn't expecting any of this to happen in the first place, though this sudden arrival seemed to have stalled Eventide from wiping out all mortals, after seeing so many willing to give up their very lives to save the rest of reality, and it only made her wonder what in the world would happen next. > Future: Aftermath > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Twilight stared out at the ruined version of West City as she thought about everything that had happened since the first space-time portal had opened up in Future Trunks' parallel world, the corrupted army of Darkstar pouring out and, as if in response, the arrival of the alternate Twilights and their armies. She had known that their true foe was watching them as they clashed with Eventide and her allies, but even then she hadn't expected the darkest version of herself to suddenly make an appearance and declare her intentions to, eventually, take down Zeno. It was a foolish plan, no matter how much she tried to wrap her head around such a thing, but even then she suspected that if she were to devour enough energy it might be possible to cross the threshold into that level of power, though it wasn't something she was interested in. Her focus was on what could have been done to stop Darkstar from taking over all of reality, what sort of plans she could have come up with to stop this series of events from happening, and yet, no matter what she thought of, nothing changed in her mind, it all ended up at the desperate plan. She had to assume that it was just backlash from having witnessed the end of so many parallel worlds, that her mind was stuck on assuming it had been the only path to ensure that reality was safe from Darkstar's dark delusions, causing her to punch the rock wall that was to her left in frustration. "You idiots... if you had only told me of the danger ahead of time, we could have worked something out." Twilight stated, though part of her found it amusing that she was, essentially, calling herself an idiot with that remark, since it was all of her alternate selves she was talking about, while finding that the people in front of her stopped what they were doing. "Still thinking about the alternates?" Eventide asked, because after seeing everything that revolved around Darkstar and her sudden arrival in this parallel world, especially what was bothering Twilight right now, she had stopped her assault on Future Trunks' world and allowed his people to be brought back from the Demon Realm, where she waited for Twilight to nod her head before speaking again, "Yeah, so am I. Honestly, I don't think they wanted to tell you anything because they knew two things: first, Darkstar had an interest in you and was watching your main world with great interest, so if any of them showed up to warn you she would know whatever might have been told to you... second, its possible that they knew you would do anything and everything in your power to stop them from what happened, potentially at the risk of allowing Darkstar to succeed, so they kept you in the dark and used their own plan instead." Twilight said nothing to that, as the only ones who could answer the question were the now deceased alternates who had given everything, and their own parallel worlds, to stop Darkstar in her tracks, causing her to turn her attention to one of the other things that were going on right now as she walked away from the now ruined rock wall. "How goes the rebuilding?" Twilight asked, as her mother and some of the other skilled Demons had come to this parallel world once the coast was clear, traveling with those who were originally from this part of reality, and were currently using their time powers to restore as much as the city as they could, before the residents insisted on taking over to do things on their own, purely on account of how stubborn Future Trunks was. "Good, especially with the residents telling us about how things had changed... this West City is somewhat different than the one we're used to." Towa replied, where she gestured to the map she had created, based on the statements from all of the survivors, and Twilight could see that there were differences between this world's version of the city and the one that all of them knew, which was very interesting to see, "If all goes as planned we can have the city up to an acceptable level before we have to pull back to our own world... with all that happened, I'm surprised we got off scot-free." Twilight knew what her mother was talking about, that with all of the space-time energy being thrown around, plus the utter destruction of so many parallel worlds in an instant, they would have been visited by this world's version of Zeno, as this had to be something he had to be watching out for. Since he hadn't shown up yet they just assumed that they were, in fact, so far beneath his notice that not even the literal end of so many parallel worlds concerned him, meaning everyone was fine and they could go about their lives without having to worry about anything else happening. Of course that didn't stop Future Trunks from standing in the area that Eventide was in, as he wanted to keep an eye on her in case her desire for the destruction of all mortals returned, but Twilight knew that such a thing wasn't even on her mind right now. All of them, even the Saiyans, were quiet after seeing all that destruction unfold, as there was no real way to wrap their heads around so many parallel worlds perishing like that, causing her to glance down at the golden Time Ring that was the end product of the event in question. The black infinity icon was either a container for the power that Darkstar possessed, ripped from her screaming body just before all of the parallel worlds perished, or it was a prison for the darkest version of herself, it was hard to tell, but as she thought about all of that a flash appeared in the air and struck the ground near her group... revealing Future Zeno and his pair of guards. "Of course, talk about someone and they're bound to show up." Demigra commented, though at the same time he, just like all of the smart individuals from his group, had assumed this individual would show up and had been relieved when he had failed to show up, so now they were worried about his sudden arrival. "Lord Zeno, to what do we owe the pleasure of your company?" Eventide asked, taking a moment to be respectful as she bowed towards him and his guards, while at the same time the majority of the group stood nearby as they noticed that the figure in question seemed to staring out at everyone while they worked, as they were some distance away from the city. "The Grand Priest felt a massive surge of space-time energy, and the Great One decided to investigate." one guard said, in a matter of fact voice, which was interesting since they had remained silent when Zeno came to check out the tournament that Beerus and Champa held, though he and his companion remained floating near the figure they were there to protect and serve. "What happened here?" Future Zeno asked, as he expected the planets of the multiverse to be thriving, or be on their way to getting life at long last, not be in the middle of rebuilding from some sort of event that shook the entire world, though at the same time that meant they had to be careful in how they approached telling him anything. "Arrogance, my Lord, of someone seeking to undo all of creation. We, um, managed to stop them." Eventide stated, as she made sure not to say anything about the fact that this was partly her fault, due to all the mortals she had slain before this point, while also doing her best to not reveal too much about what had happened before the figure's arrival, "In fact the two of us were about to say goodbye to our allies from the past." "Wow, you two look awesome!" Future Zeno remarked, where he moved over to where Goku and Vegeta were standing, as they were still in their Super Saiyan Blue 4 forms, just in the off chance that someone else decided to start trouble with Future Trunks' world, while they were still here anyway, "Are all of the people from your world like this?" "No, not like us... but there are some interesting and unique creatures in our world." Goku replied, because thanks to all of Twilight's hard work he knew there were dozens upon dozens of new species that were visiting the Earth, and some had taken to living on the planet in new cities that were starting to form all over the place, and while he had no idea if any of them were strong he could tell that the idea interested Future Zeno, before he thought of something, "Actually, that gives me an idea. Twilight, can I talk with you for a couple of seconds?" She had no idea what was going through his mind, usually it was good training ideas to help further his power and those he was training with, normally Vegeta, or it was terrible ideas that got people in serious trouble, to which she got up and followed him over to an area that would give them some privacy, especially with an invisible barrier of her making to be sure no one eavesdropped on them. "So, I was thinking that maybe we could convince Future Zeno, and probably his guards, to come back with us." Goku said, a fact that stunned Twilight for a moment as she listened to what he had to say, because out of everything that could have been said this wasn't something she was honestly expecting to hear, especially not from him. "What? Why?" Twilight asked, as she saw no reason to unseat the King of All in this parallel world, in the sense of moving him from one world to another one, especially since it meant that having two might bring about some stupid things for all of them, given their zero hesitation to get rid of universes when something angered them enough. "Look, given the state that Future Trunks' world, can you safely say that it's possible that this version of Zenny will erase or destroy it later on?" Goku inquired in turn, though he knew that Twilight didn't need a reminder of what the figure could do, since she had been there when Beerus told them about all of the other erased universes, and he wanted her opinion on his odd plan, "With all the damage that Zamasu and Darkstar did, more the former than the latter, is it possible that he might erase the universe, potentially the entire multiverse, now that there are no gods, save for Eventide?" "Given that any annoyance, however small, can set him off, the discovery that someone has killed all of the gods, both the Kaioshin and Hakaishin, might set him off." Twilight commented, causing her to sigh as she realized what Goku was doing, he was figuring out a way to get Future Zeno out of this parallel world so he didn't erase everything, and she suspected that it might have something to do with his promise to their Zeno, 'Zenny', to find him a friend of some kind, "Given that he's interested in you and Vegeta, and the aspect of what might be in our world, I guess there's a chance that we could, in fact, convince him to come back in time with us and present him to our King of All with the intent of them being friends. It would give Future Trunks time to rebuild and get over the shadow of what has happened, especially with the loss of his mother and everyone else... I might be able to help with that at some point... without the fear of them being wiped out by an annoyed almighty god. The downside is that having two of them in our world might cause something odd to happen, as in either that tournament you were excited about or a discussion about the states of the universes... this could endanger our world instead... the question is, are you willing to make such a drastic decision?" Sure enough Twilight found that Goku was willing to roll the dice on such a thing, he trusted that their Zeno would love a friend and it might do wonders for both of them, causing her to sigh as she dismissed the barrier and they returned to the area that Future Zeno and his guards were in. Just as she expected the idea was met with some opposition, mostly in the form of the guards declaring that it was foolish to even suggest such a thing, as if they saw Future Zeno as a toy, but Goku informed them that it wasn't going to be a permanent thing, it could be for as long as their boss wanted. With that in mind it wasn't long before Future Zeno agreed to come back with them, so he could be taken to the home of their Zeno, which wasn't much of a surprise since he was like a child at times and even the future version wanted a friend, hence why the idea had sprung into Goku's mind. Once everyone was ready to go, and they were sure that no new enemies were going to show up to do some damage, Twilight and her group opened the portal back to their timeline, allowing them to walk out into the more pristine city with smiles on their faces. Of course the gods from their world were surprised by the sudden arrival of another Zeno, so Twilight quickly informed all of them as to what was going on, especially in regards to Future Zeno, before Shin took Whis, Goku, and the future group to Zeno's palace, so they could get it over with and see how their own Zeno took the news. While they were gone, however, Eventide had some news for them, she was going to head back to Future Trunks' world, as the new God of Destruction who was enlightened, while stating that the Saiyan warrior she had set out to kill would be a fine Kaioshin. Twilight pointed out that the rules would no doubt render her immortality void, for as long as she was one of the two gods in question, where Eventide stated that it was fine, because it actually gave Future Trunks the power to end both of them if he so desired, if he couldn't forgive her for everything she had done. She also informed them that this sudden change of heart came from watching so many parallel worlds perish, when they could have likely done something, anything, to stop Darkstar, so she figured that to stop this from happening again one of them would have to take on the form of a Destroyer, which she was suited for, and the other the Creator God. Future Trunks confirmed that he had gone through the ritual to become an apprentice to the Kaioshin, meaning he should still have the healing power that Future Zamasu had abused before using the Potara to form her Fused state, so with enough studies he was positive he could replace his Shin, at least until he found a replacement. Twilight left the matter of returning the pair to her mother and Demigra, where she walked over to one of the chairs that had been left outside for those who wanted to relax by the pool, because she was going to need a bit of a break before she started her preparations for whatever the future held in store for them and their universe. > Interlude: New Wishes > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Following their return to their own world Twilight took the rest of the day off from what she normally did, because there was much to think about and much to do, especially with Goku taking Future Zeno to Zeno's palace, which was an event that had an interesting side effect on her, she actually grabbed some wine and a glass to pour it into. "I didn't know you drank." Bulma commented, as this was the first time she had seen Twilight do anything that wasn't part of improving the world or doing everything in her power to prepare for whatever the future held in store for them, and it made her wonder if there was more to the powerful being than she first thought. "I don't, it's just... with everything going on, and the stupidity I've seen, I need to relax a bit." Twilight replied, taking a few seconds to pour herself the first glass of white wine and sip from it, before leaning back in her seat as she stared up at the sky for a time, where she allowed herself to ignore everything that was going on right now. Despite that fact she knew that Goku, Shin, and Whis returned from their trip in no time, as it was hard to miss their arrival since it became nosier after their return, where Beerus had to ask if everything went alright this time around, since there was no telling with the King of All, or Kings in this case. Goku, despite how Shin was feeling at the moment, claimed that his plan had worked like a charm, both versions of Zeno were pleased to have a friend, meaning Future Trunks' would be safe for the foreseeable future and they would be able to rebuild in peace. Of course he had to deal with the existence of his own foe, since Eventide was still alive, but that was his problem to deal with and Twilight wanted nothing to do with it, though it did leave a lingering thought in her mind as everyone else seemed to settle down as Bulma informed them that dinner would be ready in an hour and a half. The thought was about Eventide, about the wish part of her had made that allowed one Zamasu to take over her body and turn it into a tool of death, a tool of terror, and what needed to be done so she could prevent such a thing from happening in the future. With that in mind Twilight downed the rest of her cup and got up, as there was someone she needed to talk to, before she got too busy, and found that Bulma was currently setting things up on the large balcony that overlooked this portion of her entire estate, even though it was the only balcony she had. "I've got a question: do you have the Dragon Balls?" Twilight asked, because based on what she knew Bulma loved to head out and claim the seven spheres for whatever purpose she had in mind at the time, usually to undo the damage that might have been done to the Earth during a villain's attack, but lately it seemed like she was using them to prevent villains from gaining the advantage. "The Dragon Balls? No, I don't have them... actually, I've been meaning to track them down, as it's been a year since the last time they were used." Bulma replied, where Twilight noticed what she had overlooked before this point, Bulma had used the various wishes she was able to make to reshape her body, making it more sexy looking and more like a goddess', similar to when she used a wish on Shenron to increase the size of Twilight's breasts, "Why do you ask?" "I just realized that there's a few wishes that I need to make, before we face whatever the future has in store for us and the Earth itself." Twilight stated, which was the truth, she now knew what to do with her time before she returned to her work, and right now she needed the Dragon Balls to make sure part of what happened in Future Trunks' parallel world didn't happen in her world, "Do you might if I borrow the Dragon Radar?" "May I join you?" a voice inquired, where they found Piccolo, of all people, standing nearby, meaning he must have heard Twilight's comment and something had come to mind that made him want to join her in her brief quest for the spheres, which was interesting since he didn't seem to care for wishes these days. "Do whatever you want." Bulma said, to which she walked inside the building and headed for the room that she kept the radar in, where it took her no time at all to actually track down where she left the thing, since it was in a safe that only she knew the combination to, despite the fact that it was usually left on the table, a habit she needed to correct at some point in the future, "I expect it to be returned when your done with it." "You don't have to worry about that, I'll be sure to bring it back." Twilight replied, where she waited for Bulma to pull it out of where it was hidden before taking it from the dragon Beastian, though while she knew that her powers would allow her to track them down easier, given her time abilities, sometimes she preferred to do things like this, causing her to activate it for a moment as it zeroed in on where the seven spheres were located, "Come along Piccolo, I wish to hear why you are interested in the Dragon Balls this time around." Piccolo nodded as he followed her back outside and they took to the air without delay, where she locked onto the closest Dragon Ball and started to head for it, which gave Piccolo some time to tell her exactly why he happened to start his own search for the wish granting spheres. His reason, however, was even more interesting, as he knew there would come a day, either far in the future or too near for his liking, that she and her family would turn their focus to another portion of the universe and leave Earth to their own devices, and, knowing Goku and Vegeta, they would either follow for the sheer challenge Twilight offered or they would turn to Whis for training. With that in mind, and most of their defenders simply scattered to the winds, Piccolo understood that someone needed to be there to protect the world, which naturally might be Gohan or even Eschalot, given the young dragoness' power, but, in the off chance that everyone else was unavailable, he had an idea to fix that. He was going to ask Shenron to awaken his inner potential, just like what happened with Gohan all those years ago on Namek, so that way he could be ready for whatever the future held for them, especially after they had heard about what happened in Future Trunks' parallel world. Twilight had to admit that it was an interesting wish, one that should be within Shenron's powers to grant since she was sure that Dende didn't have that power, and might not have it until he was far older than he currently was, before coming to the conclusion that she wouldn't stop him from making it. Her reasoning on the matter was due to the fact that she, like him, had no idea what the future held for them, especially after bringing Future Zeno to their world, so she knew that they needed to prepare as fast as they could, though that would come after everyone rested from their time in Future Trunks' parallel world. With two Zenos she was positive that it was only a matter of time until the present one made a mention of the tournament that Goku wanted to throw, in fact the only reason she thought such a thing might happen was due to the fact that one Zeno was friendly with the Saiyan and had asked him for a favor already. As such she knew that it was only a matter of time until he remembered what he told Goku, or someone reminded him of his interest in such a thing, and they would need to be ready for when that day came, so powering Piccolo up was in their best interests. With that in mind she tracked down the first wish granting sphere, which had landed in the middle of a forest, in a fairly decent sized pond, though instead of heading inside it she used her magic to carefully move the water, without harming any of the fish inside it, before extracting the Seven Star Dragon Ball. After that she and Piccolo spent their time moving all over the planet, tracking down the remaining Dragon Balls, where they found that the Four Star ended up on an island that was full of exotic animals that were endanger of being poached, which just so happened to be where 17 was working, and living at times. Despite not being able to actually feel his Ki with their abilities, since he, 18, and even 16 couldn't be detected by normal means, she knew that he and 16 were stronger than before, though the nature loving 16 was deeper in the forest, tending to any wounded animals. They were surprised to find the pair searching for one of the Dragon Balls, but allowed Twilight to take it without delay, because if word got out that it was there they would be suffering the existence of treasure hunters as well, so they were glad to see it go. Once it was in their possession Twilight studied the radar once more and set off without wasting time, tracking down where she thought the other spheres were located and plotting her course accordingly, where Piccolo did his best to follow since he knew she was faster than he was. The One Star was located in a desert, oddly inside what appeared to be an abandoned pyramid that didn't have any traps to speak of, meaning it had been placed there for safe keeping, while the Two Star was in a mountain range, resting right in the middle of some rubble. She found that the Three and Five Stars had been gathered up by someone else after the last time Bulma made her wishes, by a group of thugs to be exact, but the moment the men spotted Twilight they gave up instantly, allowing her to turn them into the police, as they were planning on robbing a bank, as Piccolo claimed the orbs they had collected. The last one, the Six Star, ended up in what had to be the oddest location of them all, as it was the once flat area that Cell had built his arena in, which they had destroyed during his games, and it happened to be right in the center of the crater that had been left behind. With all seven wish granting orbs in their possession the pair paused as Twilight used her Instant Transmission to return them to Bulma's place, allowing them to see that only a few people were present, though she disappeared and quickly returned with Putine. As Piccolo raised his eyebrow, however, Twilight ignored him as she turned her attention to the wish granting spheres and uttered the summon phrase that would allow them to summon Shenron, where the sky went dark as the long serpentine dragon emerged from the glowing orbs and glanced down at them without delay. "I am the Eternal Dragon. State your wishes and I shall grant them." Shenron stated, though in that moment he quickly recognized who was in front of him, spotting Twilight, Bulma, and Piccolo without delay, where he knew that one of them was a common user of the Dragon Balls that summoned him into this world, "Oh? Hello Master Piccolo." "Hey Shenron. Can you draw out my latent potential to the limit, like Guru, the previous Grand Elder, could?" Piccolo asked, something that surprised Bulma, and everyone else that was nearby since Future Trunks was hanging out with his past mother before returning to the future, though as the Eternal Dragon nodded Piccolo let out a sigh of relief, "Very well, make it so." "As you wish, so it shall be." Shenron said, where his eyes glowed for a moment as Piccolo was surrounded by an area that looked like his latent potential was released in the manner he desired, even if he was stunned by how much power he had inside him, though once the deed was done the glows disappeared, "I threw in a little extra, just in case. Now, what might your second wish be?" "It's from me, actually, and my first wish is to be completely immune to the various body changing methods that exist in the universe." Twilight stated, because Future Zamasu had wished to switch bodies with her and that was something she needed to correct without delay, to make sure such a thing never happened again, where Shenron enveloped her in light for a few seconds as she felt something change inside her. In the next moment Twilight revealed why she had brought Putine with them, since she was originally Captain Ginyu and that meant she was after the body change ability she possessed, causing her subordinate to gulp as she performed the motions and command to use the power, only to be knocked to the ground by an invisible barrier. "Good. Everything is in order. Now, for the last wish..." Twilight said, where she weaved her power into the area that she was in and formed a window into the future, namely Future Trunks' parallel world, something that surprised everyone as they wondered what she was doing, "I wish for those that have been slain since the arrival of 'Twilight Black' to be revived." She was using Future Bulma's name for Eventide to make the wish, since it was what they called her before Twilight took a second to change it to a more reasonable name, and the window would actually allow the power of the wish to be sent to the future, where she smiled as Shenron did as she desired, much to the surprise of those in the parallel world, and once it was done the Eternal Dragon, and the Dragon Balls, vanished once more. "Twilight... why?" Bulma asked, as she was expecting a number of other things from Twilight, possibly immortality after her fight with an immortal opponent since she would have studied the benefits of such a thing, not using a wish to bring back everything that Eventide had killed during her assault on the parallel world. "Because there has been enough death lately." Twilight replied, though in that instant she was bombarded by someone she was trying to ignore, as Future Trunks thanked her repeatedly for this gift, to the point that she got what she had once deemed to be utterly impossible, he actually apologized for massively screwing up in the past, causing her to sigh as he departed to see if he could find the one person he wanted to see again. Twilight turned her attention to everyone else as she focused on the meal that Bulma was preparing, though at the same time she found that Beerus, one of the few people not surprised by her immunity wish, wondered if they were ever going to learn about her past, thanks to the wish he made on Super Shenron. She, in turn, chuckled as she started to tap a few buttons, revealing a screen of her own creation that had a special disc inside it, one that she had transcribed her past into, in a hilarious form that would stun some of them when they realized what she had done. It reminded her of the package she had given to Korn the last time she had seen him and Liquiir, a surprise gift for another god who wanted to know of her past, and wondered what he would make of the discovery, something she would have to ask the next time he came to visit her. Fortunately she didn't have to wait very long for everyone else to show up for Bulma's dinner, though as Goku and the others started to collect their plates, none of which were loaded yet, Twilight turned the screen on and let the disc do it's thing as a tune started to play, one she was sure she heard at one point before coming to Universe 7, and had to chuckle as several people dropped their plates. She knew that this afternoon was going to be an exciting one if this was how they reacted to the opener, especially since Vegeta's jaw had dropped the moment the event started, and it only made her interested in seeing how they reacted to the rest of what she wanted to show them as she wondered what might happen in the near future. > Interlude: Meeting of the Gods > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Twilight's mood improved greatly after seeing how everyone reacted to her life on Equus, as that was the name of the planet she had once called home before her life as Frieza and Towa's daughter started, because everyone watching the very long presentation of her old life had all sorts of expressions towards everything she had lived through. She honestly wasn't sure what had shocked them the most, the existence of powerful alicorns that could literally move the sun and moon, artifacts capable of defeating beings that could manipulate reality on a whim, said chaotic being who loved chocolate milk, and all of the random and chaotic things she and her friends did. While she knew that nothing on her home world could stand up to the power of everyone she knew now, save for her old self, Celestia, and Luna possibly, it was still interesting to see how all of them reacted to Chrysalis and her changelings, the darkness of King Sombra, and literally everything else she had to deal with before coming here. Such a thing made her night that much better and took her mind off of everything that needed to be done in the near future, since she knew something was coming, though many were interested in the discovery of her family, friends, and everyone else important to her. Of course there was far too much for her to show in a single night, so there were multiple viewings over the next week and a half, allowing her to show everyone everything that happened before she came to this universe, appeasing Beerus' desire to know about her past while letting the others see something new. During the day, however, she did her work and made sure that everything was fine in the universe, as none of her people seemed to be finding anything that demanded her attention, while Hit and his team, which now included Zamasu since the former apprentice Kaioshin had switched to her universe after the whole Future Trunks affair. Whis had chuckled at that piece of information, because Twilight had saved the former apprentice from an early death, since in one parallel world he died to Beerus' hands, and had shown him that there was more to the universe than what he thought before he had his meeting with her. He also remarked that it was interesting that she had taken individuals from two universes now, even though she had only offered them better conditions than what they were used to, but he made no move to stop her from doing whatever she wanted, because in the end everything she did benefited their universe as a whole. Of course he also told her something interesting while Beerus was devouring some food with Goku and the others, that the four gods had, in fact, witnessed her arrival in their universe and the Destroyer didn't want her to know, at least not until she was far older and knew about the multiverse. In the end Twilight decided not to make a big deal about it, as they had decided to stay out of her life, for the most part, and only interacted with her when Beerus deemed it necessary to do so, hence Chronoa and Shin acting on their own, and just turned her attention back to her own. As she expected Goku and Vegeta spent their spare time training with Whis, when Twilight was focused on something else anyway, and part of her decision was because they needed to face different warriors instead of facing the same one day in and day out, because while she could give them what they wanted it would become boring in time. Of course she knew that there was a downside to letting one of the Saiyans spend too much time with the gods of their universe, as Goku was bound to remember that he had the button that either summoned Zeno or would bring him to Zeno's palace, opening the way for him to ask about the all universe tournament. After that she suspected that they would have no time to prepare for what came next, hence why she was doing everything in her power to make sure she, and those around her, were ready for the incoming event that Goku was going to trigger. This was one of those rare moments where she didn't need to rely on any of her vast powers to figure anything out, rather she knew both Goku and the Zenos well enough to know what would happen if they interacted with each other, and could only hope that this time she was wrong, even if she knew that her guess was right on the money. Sure enough she found that Goku arrived at her office after one of his visits to the planet that Beerus called home, joined by Beerus, Whis, and Shin as she quickly discovered, where she simply sighed as she welcomed them into the office and took her seat at her table, only her full focus was on them. "So, I take it that the 'all universe tournament' is a go?" Twilight inquired, because she could see that Beerus was sweating right now, no doubt due to the fact that Goku had gone to speak with the pair of Zenos that watched over everything, so it was easy for her to piece things together without being told too much. "Not quite. Future Zeno has no idea what Present Zeno and I were talking about, so the Grand Priest has decided to host a 'Zen Exhibition Match'," Goku explained, something that caused Twilight to raise an eyebrow for just a few seconds before it was lowered, as she understood that the future version had no idea what they were talking about and needed to be shown what his present counterpart had seen not that long ago, "and we were told to gather three warriors. Beerus told me that, since this is all my fault, I am to take part and think of this as punishment, but that leaves us with two openings and he has forbidden me from picking you, Vegeta, and the three apprentices." "Because, if we do end up taking part in the tournament, you don't want to reveal our trump cards, right?" Twilight asked, taking a moment to glance at Beerus for a moment, where the Destroyer nodded his head, confirming that she was right without having to say a single word, causing her to sigh as she considered the remaining warriors that were available for such a match, "Which means, Goku, that you should refrain from using anything beyond Super Saiyan Blue, since Blue 2 and the other forms might be too powerful for your matches. As for who else to take with you, I believe Gohan is free this afternoon, while Buu would be a good idea since he would be able to deal with the powers of whoever he ends up being the opponent of. Of course you'll need to talk with Mr. Satan about it, even though Buu's gotten pretty good at knowing all sorts of things and understanding how to tackle all sorts of situations, so you will have an extra passenger, but other than that you shouldn't need to do too much to prepare for the event." Beerus said nothing to that as Twilight helped them track down Gohan and Buu, finding that the former was definitely free for the next couple of days and had been hanging outside his house, no doubt feeling their approach, so they were able to tell him without worrying Videl. After getting Gohan to agree to come with them, as he had tackled Twilight's training when he had time, they tracked down Buu and found that, as Twilight expected, he was at Mr. Satan's place and was happy to see them, since there was a chance for him to have fun. Mr. Satan didn't know what was going on, since he hadn't been paying too much attention to what had happened when Zeno first arrived, but he agreed to accompany them so he could translate things for Buu, since he was still learning about the world and everything else that it contained. At the same time Twilight handed him a device of her own creation, what appeared to be a necklace that actually contained a spy drone, as she had modified and outfitted one of Gero's and made it far better than before, which should allow her to observe the entire event without having to be there. Once the trio was ready to go, and Goku was sure of that, Beerus and his now enlarged group departed without delay and returned to Zeno's palace, leaving Twilight to return to her office, where she made sure the workers knew not to bother her as she locked the door and sealed everything so none of the noise could be heard by anyone else, and as soon as her preparations were done she activated her viewing screen. The drone silently came to life and revealed that they were in what appeared to be an endless corridor of Zeno's palace, a dark blue walled area with white pillars lining the way, and it wasn't long before Beerus' group made contact with the team from another universe. She knew that due to the fact that an Angel was standing nearby, next to what appeared to be a shorter God of Destruction that was almost like a dwarf, who might be Sidra, the Hakaishin of Universe 9, and standing off to his right stood a sketchy Kaioshin who might as well be on drugs. The majority of her focus was on the trio that stood near them, the warriors called in for the exhibition match, three wolf people that, at a glance, really looked like Beastians of the wolf variety, with one having red fur and a cloak, a hunched yellow one with overalls, and a blue one who seemed far stronger than the other two. Based on what she was seeing it sure looked like they were brothers, with the blue furred wolf potentially being the strongest of them all, but given the powers that her allies had Twilight suspected that this would be a very short event and then the announcement for the tournament would be given to all universes. Shin confirmed that the other group was, in fact, from Universe 9, but before they could really speak to each other they were brought before the Grant Priest, a short blue skinned individual like the Angels, wearing teal clothing while his halo floated behind his head, where everyone but the two Angels knelt towards him. In a matter of seconds he was able to use his power to create a large square shaped arena, just like the tournament between Universe 7 and Universe 6, with two fairly large stands, one for Beerus' side and one for Sidra's side, where she noted that the stands had three levels, one for the fighters, one for the Kaioshin and Hakaishin, and a third for the Angel. The Grand Priest also had his own stand that he stood on, which floated near the right side of the arena, from Beerus' point of view anyway, and it was in that instant that he spread his arms a little and called for 'all gods to assemble', leading to ten more circular stands to float down into the area surrounding the arena. Those that interested her more than anything else were the Gods of Destruction, as each of them were different from the last, as she counted a short figure with a large beard, a female in Egyptian inspired clothing, a large robot, a short yellow mouse that looked annoying, a figure with an odd mohawk, a pink elephant, a figure with fish ears, and a clown. Out of all of them, however, only one had another figure, as the clown's stand had a fourth figure that was wearing a black robe, like the God of Destruction wanted to keep the figure's identity a secret until he was ready to reveal it, though Goku did glance at every stand in anticipation for what was coming up next. "Supreme Kai and Gods of Destruction, gathered from all universes, as you already know Lord Zeno wishes to hold a martial arts tournament called the Tournament of Power," the Grand Priest stated, which was the moment that Twilight started taking her notes on the matter, because everything he had to say would be important, even if they weren't pulled into the event, though something told her they were in trouble as well, "before that, however, the Lord Zeno from the future does not know what a martial arts tournament is... so we are holding this, the Zen Exhibition Match, to show him what they'll be seeing during the main event." In that moment he turned and indicated that the Zenos had arrived, where he bowed to an area behind him and that was when a circular platform with two thrones on it, with both versions of Zeno present, arrived, with two single platforms on the left and right of it, for two of the guards, no doubt one from the present and one from the future. Goku, despite his desire to head up and talk to the pair, held back and stood with everyone else, though some of the gods had noticed how he glanced at the Zenos and instantly called him disrespectful, causing the Grand Priest to motion for the commotion to stop so they could get the event underway. Of course he couldn't help but throw Goku under the bus by informing all of the gods that it was due to Goku's request for the tournament that they were here, meaning that there had to be another reason for them holding the event in the first place and it made Twilight wonder if the Zenos were displeased with some of the universes. None of the gods could say anything as both Zenos declared their interest to see a fight, which was when the Grand Priest informed everyone that the matches wouldn't have a time limit, rather it would be until a fighter gave up or was knocked out of the ring, exactly the same as the tournament between Champa and Beerus' universes. One of the Kaioshin, Roh from Universe 9, asked if there was a reward for the winning team of this match, only to be told that there wasn't, as this was simply to raise expectations for the Tournament of Power, leading to two warriors jumping down into the arena, Buu and the red wolf, Basil apparently. Basil seemed to be all about speed, rushing around the arena and kicking at Buu so he could assert his dominance over his foe, but Buu, having done a bit of training with Twilight in the past, was more prepared for the battle than his foe had thought he'd be, as he used his arms to block blows as he looked for openings. Roh already proved that he was annoying as he claimed his universe's dominance over Universe 7, something that annoyed Buu as he went on the offensive not a second later and started to push Basil backwards, all while the two Zenos seemed pleased with their basic moves. Basil, as if sensing that allowing this to go on would be a bad idea, actually fired off Ki blasts from his feet as he kicked at Buu, but they did nothing as they tore through his body and Buu healed in a matter of seconds, much to the surprise of those who were watching the battle unfold. Buu promptly went on the offensive and started to push Basil back, to which the wolf did the unthinkable, he turned towards his gods and demanded 'that thing', which turned out to be a performance enhancer of some kind that boosted his size and power, but Buu wasn't impressed as he unleashed a series of blows on his foe and knocked him into the ground. Twilight noted that Buu had taken many of her lessons to heart, he was more like a fighter than he had been when he was released from his prison all those years ago, and with Basil defeated he smiled as he rubbed the back of his head before taking the unconscious wolf to Universe 9's stand, handing him to his brothers before heading back to Goku's side. After that it was the yellow wolf, Lavender, and Gohan's turn, where they jumped down into the arena before the Grand Priest called for it to start, where Goku had to smile as he witnessed his son's skills once more, as Twilight had trained all of Gohan's skills multiple times when he was available for training. He was faster, stronger, and more attuned for battle than he would have been had she left him alone, in fact Twilight was sure that his Mystic form was equal to Goku's Super Saiyan Blue form, at the very least, and his base power matched that of Super Saiyan 4, making him an effective warrior when he needed to be. As such he was able to block Lavender's attacks and even avoided the purple smoke that he tried to blow in his face, a poison attack no doubt, shocking Roh as he continued to talk about his 'Trio of Dangers', which was the name of the wolf brothers as a whole, and he even confirmed that Lavender's power was poison. In the end Gohan emerged as the victor as he kicked his foe off the arena, where they found that the yellow wolf was teleported back up to his stand with a look of shame on his face, as if he thought that he'd take his foe out, allowing Gohan to return to Beerus' side as they prepared for the final match. Or at least that was the plan as the Grand Priest raised his hand and stopped everyone before they started the third and final match, which caused Twilight to raise an eyebrow as she wondered what in the world he had to say next, or what the two Zenos wanted everyone else to know. "To all gods, I have an announcement: both versions of Lord Zeno are pleased that the mortals from the weakest universe can put forth such interesting fights," the Grand Priest stated, which interested Twilight immediately, as he said that as if one of the two universes were the bottom of the twelve, something that several of the other gods caught while they kept their mouths shut for the time being as he finished his announcement, "Universe 9's Mortal Level is 1.86, the lowest of the twelve universes, and that information has caused Present Lord Zeno and Future Lord Zeno to agree that there are far too many universes in the multiverse. This leads me to their announcement: they will, by their own hand, erase all universes that lose during the Tournament of Power." That caused Twilight to drop her writing tool as soon as she heard it, both Zenos were willing to erase eleven of the twelve universes, in fact they must have been planning on doing so before Goku arrived to speak with them, meaning he must have given them a chance at survival by reminding the present Zeno about his promise. Clearly she wasn't the only person interested in this piece of information, as many of the gods had questions and there were answers to be given, as one had to ask if all twelve universes were taking part in this tournament, where he revealed that Universes 1, 12, 5, and 8 were the only safe ones. Another asked what would happen to the gods of the universe, where he informed everyone present that the Angels would be the only ones to survive the erasure of the doomed universes, so literally everything else would cease to exist when their warriors were eliminated from the Tournament of Power. Twilight was shocked that the sheer amount of work she had done for Universe 7, saving so many planets and races, hadn't saved them from annihilation, and made her wonder what else would have needed to be done to save them. She wasn't the only one interested in such a thing, because before Beerus or the others could stand up, to ask where they stood among all of the eight doomed universes, Liquiir stepped up and the Grand Priest acknowledge that he wanted to say something before the final match started. "Earlier you said that Universe 9 had the lowest Mortal Level, but you didn't say where Universe 7 stood." Liquiir stated, as he and many others had noticed that fact and now, upon realizing that eight of the universes were in jeopardy, he wanted to know something before Goku took to the stage and showed the gods what he was capable of, "Where does Universe 7 stand among the other eight universes?" "They are tied for fifth place." the Grand Priest replied, which came as a surprise to everyone that was present, in fact it looked like Beerus was torn between wanting to cheer and wanting to cry since they were on the verge of being safe from the erasure that threatened almost all of reality, "Lord Beerus, I wouldn't celebrate if I were you... after all, your vastly improved Mortal Level isn't the product of your hard work, rather your position is due of a certain purple individual that's been calling your universe home for some time now. If not for her changes to your universe, well, you would have been just above Universe 9 in the rankings." Twilight leaned back in her chair as she half paid attention to everything that came next, barely listening as Bergamo, the third wolf brother, tried to get the Zenos to undo their ruling to erase the universes that lost during the tournament, but to get his wish he'd have to beat Goku. She knew how the fight was going to end and that caused her to focus most of her attention on who needed to be picked so they could survive and win the tournament, where she assumed that the Super Dragon Balls would be the prize, to entice people to do their best for whatever their hearts desired. Since she got lost in her thoughts, ignoring everything that was going on during the exhibition match, she ended up missing Goku's battles, as he apparently had two and the second seemed more like a tie, before the Grand Priest explained the rules. Her focus was on the fact that each team needed ten warriors, it was going to be a battle royal, meaning everyone would be fighting at the same time, and that there was a time limit so that the team with the most warriors at the end would be the winner, if more than one remained at that point. In the end Twilight got to work drafting up their team for the Tournament of Power, the ten warriors that would save their universe from erasure, and as she did that she could only wonder what sort of warriors the other universes would bring to bear against them. > Interlude: Negotiations and Assassins > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Since they didn't have a lot of time before the Tournament of Power started, as the Grand Priest informed the gods that it would take forty hours to build the stage that it would take place on, Twilight focused on tracking down everyone who she felt should be part of the team. Naturally three of the positions were taken immediately, those being herself, Goku, and Vegeta, and three more were taken by Piccolo, Gohan, and her father, Frieza, which left four more positions that needed to be filled at some point in time, before they were brought to the arena. There were a large amount of skilled and powerful warriors for them to pick from, thanks to her tampering with how the universe worked, something every god knew about thanks to the Grand Priest telling them about her work, and she had some thoughts on who to pick. The only question was if the individuals in question were available to make time to come fight for their universe, where she counted herself lucky that Hit was currently on the planet, since she had a feeling that he might be involved in this event as well, especially since she knew that a certain God of Destruction was missing his key player. As such she focused on arranging for the individuals on her list to meet at Bulma's place in the near future, in the next few hours to be exact, when she got a notice alarm that someone was here to see her, to which she turned off the screen that she had been watching, undid the bindings on the room, and allowed the door to be opened, where she found Champa, his Kaioshin, and Vados standing outside. "Twilight Sparkle, I came... as fast as I could." Champa huffed, meaning he must have had Vados speed them to Universe 7 as soon as the meeting was over and had literally exhausted himself to get here before Beerus even came home, though at the same time Vados handed him a drink as Twilight waved them inside, as she had expected this meeting as soon as she heard of the Tournament of Power, "Beerus hasn't arrived yet, so you have no way of knowing, but..." "The Present and Future Lord Zenos have declared that a 'Tournament of Power' is taking place, and you've come seeking your old key player." Twilight commented, surprising the trio for a moment as she frowned, mostly out of annoyance for the whole series of events she and Goku had set in motion, though she was only blaming herself due to the fact that she could have stopped this and didn't, so now they had to deal with the consequences. "I had a feeling you would know about this." Vados remarked, because one fact she had determined after the tournament between their universe and Universe 7, and seeing the warriors from Beerus' universe, was the fact that Twilight was one of the smartest individuals in the entire multiverse and this simply confirmed it. "Great, we don't have to waste time explaining things that she already knows." Champa said, taking a moment to drink the majority of the drink he had been given, because he really needed it right now, before he set the large cup down as he faced Twilight, who was simply waiting for them to speak before she bothered to say anything else, "I'll cut to the chase: I want Hit back, and you're going to give him to me." "Champa, you know that's not how this works. Hit's a member of Universe 7 now, meaning you don't have the power to make such a demand," Twilight replied, where she found that Champa hadn't changed since the last time she saw him, he was still annoying and thought that he owned everything in his universe, not to mention everyone, and it even applied to the people and planets of the other universes, "I can, however, arrange for him to come by for a visit and see if he'll agree to help his home universe out... if he does, well, we'll cross that bridge if it happens." Vados raised an eyebrow for a moment as another figure knocked on the door, where she and the others found that Hit was standing outside, though he didn't seem surprised to see them standing and sitting on the opposite side of Twilight's desk, as if he expected them to come for him at some point, before he was ushered inside and he came to a stop to the right of where Twilight was sitting. In the following moments Twilight revealed her extensive knowledge of the upcoming tournament to Hit, allowing him to know the stakes while shocking Champa and his Kaioshin, since no one else, outside all of the gods, should know about this information, and yet here she was, fully aware of the danger that the multiverse was currently in. Hit, for the most part, was silent as he listened to everything she had to share with him, allowing him to think about things while not revealing anything to his former God of Destruction, Angel, and Kaioshin, leaving them in the dark until he was ready to speak his mind on the matter. Twilight knew they wanted to be done with this conversation as fast as possible, since they still had a team to put together so they could participate in the tournament, as she was sure that not meeting the team requirement would disqualify the offending universe, but with the Kings of All there was no telling what sort of rules they would follow. "So let me get this straight: instead of searching for more qualified warriors, you've come seeking me for aid." Hit said, as he assumed that there were more warriors like Frost, in terms of power, out there in his home universe and that it would take Vados no time in tracking them down, given how fast they had tracked him down for the previous tournament. "Hit, there's no one else with your powers in our universe... I would know, we've tried to find them and failed." Champa replied, something that interested Twilight, that he was willing to say anything to get Hit on his side so he could get on with forming the rest of the team he needed to put together, all while Hit remained silent as the Destroyer talked, "What do you two want from me so I can get my best warrior back? I need you so we can win!" "Sounds like you just want to hire me to fill the roster." Hit remarked, where Twilight found that, thanks to someone taking a stand against Champa, he was more willing to stand up to his old Destroyer God than he was the last time they faced each other, before he sighed as he turned to face the door, something that worried Champa instantly, "Lady Twilight, what sort of payment would this job grant me?" "Tell me what you want, Hit, and if it's in my power I'll grant it." Twilight answered, though this interested her since she knew Hit didn't care too much about wealth, in fact he had once said their original deal was quite generous for someone like him, so it made her wonder what he had in mind for a job that was basically keeping his home universe safe, where he walked over to her and whispered it to her, causing her to nod her understanding, "Well Champa, Hit is willing to work for you during the Tournament of Power, on lend I might add, but it will come at a cost... a favor, which I will collect once the tournament is over." Vados raised an eyebrow at that, as if she realized that Twilight had plans for the Super Dragon Balls, but said nothing as Champa swallowed his pride and agreed to owe her a favor, no doubt assuming that Vados would be the one to pay it in the end, if Universe 7 survived until the end. With the deed done, and Twilight ensured that she had documentation that confirmed that Champa owed her a favor when everything was said and done, Hit joined his formed deities as they left for Universe 6, as they had to track down nine more warriors to form their team. Such a thing caused her to turn her focus to the work she had been doing, putting the finishing touches on her list of warriors that would save Universe 7 from the fate that many would seek to deliver onto Beerus for whatever happened in the past, she had seen many gods frown towards her universe after discovering that Goku set the Tournament of Power in motion. As the group departed, however, she had another god show up at her doorstep, Liquiir to be exact, who simply glanced at Champa for a moment as the gods of Universe 6 finally departed from the building and left for their universe, causing him to enter the room. "First the gods of Universe 6, and now the Destroyer God of Universe 8." Twilight said, where she smiled for a moment, as it was interesting to see that several gods were interested in meeting with her now, which only made her wonder if all of the others would come by in the future, to speak to her before the tournament started, "So, Liquiir, what can I do for you on this fine day?" "I know you know about the Tournament of Power, as you likely found out before Champa arrived, and I want to offer you a place in my universe." Liquiir replied, though this wasn't about stealing Beerus' pride and joy, in terms of someone who could drastically change the Mortal Level of a universe in such a short period of time, rather this was because in the short time he knew her he had grown to care for her and Aria, in fact they had dated a few times when she wasn't busy, and he wanted to get her out of danger before something terrible happened. "Liquiir, you're cute when your concerned... but I'm not about to abandon my universe in their time of need. Besides, I'm too special for Zeno to destroy." Twilight stated, because she had come to understand that her existence in this universe was something that the King of All seemed to care about greatly, to the point that she was willing to gamble that he would keep her alive, even in the event that Beerus' universe fell in the tournament, before she kissed Liquiir for a moment and pulled back with a smile on her face, "Trust me, I have no intentions of failing at such a critical moment." "You do realize that Universe 11 is rumored to be the resting place of the mortal who stands above the gods, whose even stronger than Belmod, right?" Liquiir inquired, because he had no idea if Whis or Beerus had shared this information with Twilight, especially after everything she had done for their universe over the years, and it looked like he might be right on the money since she tilted her head for a moment. "A mortal that's stronger than the gods... interesting." Twilight said, as it only made her that much more interested in what the tournament might have in store for her and the others, because Belmod's universe was participating and that meant there was a chance for her to see the warrior in question. "This reminds me of you chasing Pinkie Pie, trying to figure out her abilities." Liquiir remarked, as he had watched nearly everything that was on the disc that Twilight had given him, allowing him to understand the person that was catching the attention of the other universes and their gods, and how the figure was acting right now reminded him of that fact, before he sighed for a moment, "I can't talk you out of this, can I?" Twilight told him that there was no talking her out of fighting for her universe, regardless of whatever the other universes threw at them, causing Liquiir to sigh once more before he hugged her and then departed for his universe, leaving her to finish her work before closing the office as she headed to Bulma's place. She wanted to see if anyone had arrived yet, and if they understood the situation they were in, and, sure enough, Vegeta was the only one present right now, though it was only for a short period of time as Shandy, Saria, and Caser landed outside and walked over to their position. Beerus and the others who went to Zeno's palace arrived not too long after that, even though Piccolo and many others showed up as well, showing her that everyone she had sent the information to was taking this seriously. Even her family arrived not too long after that, because they knew that when she sent out a message like that it had to be incredibly serious, and the rest of their greatest warriors arrived over the course of the next hour, allowing everyone else to mingle before she told them all of the information she had learned. When everyone was present, and she was sure of that, Twilight revealed that she knew of the Tournament of Power and that they needed ten warriors to face off against the other seven universes who were taking part in it as well, though she did surprise Beerus' group by producing a list of names. "I've already come up with those who will fight for our universe, while everyone else will remain alert in case any of the other universes try anything funny." Twilight stated, because she wouldn't put it passed some of the more despicable gods to try and eliminate a number of warriors from a universe they felt had wronged them, and with their win over Universe 9, besting their greatest warriors in no time at all, there was a chance that such a thing could happen, "Our ten warriors, if all of you are okay with participating, are as follows: Goku, Vegeta, Gohan, Piccolo, Frieza, Cooler, Shandy, Saria, Caser, and myself." "You sure assembled the best team possible, in such a short period of time." Whis commented, though while he knew that some of the others, like 17 and 18 or the various Demons that served Twilight, were strong enough to be real threats on the battlefield, depending on who they were up against, he trusted her judgement on the matter, especially after having seen Goku fight Toppo in a fourth surprise match, a figure who was supposedly Belmod's replacement once he was done with his training. As Twilight opened her mouth, however, they were interrupted by the sudden arrival of a number of figures who weren't dressed in familiar clothing, rather each one was wearing black clothes with purple lines and masks over their faces, but as the anthropomorphic bulldog that was their leader started to talk Twilight found that the Demons trapped them in an orb of energy that would serve as their prison. "And, as I expected, assassins... who suck at their job no less." Twilight remarked, though as she said that she glanced at the others for a moment and left them to prepare for the tournament, as she was calling in Merus to imprison these fools until the tournament was over. She could only hope that the other universes decided to play fair and didn't come after their foes, otherwise she was sure that everyone was going to be busy repelling idiots before the tournament started, and could only hope that the next forty hours passed without incident. > Tournament: The First Doomed Universe > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Twilight made sure that everyone got in any last minute training they thought they might need for the tournament, not to mention resting up to make sure they were ready to go, before she and her team gathered outside Bulma's when it was getting close to when they had to depart. Whis had explained many of the rules to them and they were easy to follow, for it was basically the same rules as the tournament between Universe 7 and Universe 6, though this time Twilight had to make a change to her attire so her staff could be with her at all times. While she knew there was a chance that she could get away with having it out, claiming it to be a walking stick, she decided to go with the option of creating an earring for it, so when she needed it for her transformations she could call it out for a few seconds. In addition to that she also wore the golden ring that served as a reminder of what happened to the other parallel worlds, that they were fighting to protect their universe, least their home suffer the same fate as the other timelines who sacrificed everything to stop Darkstar. Once it was time to go, however, everyone on the team gathered around Whis, Beerus, and their Kaioshin, for a time as Whis spoke to the air, informing the Grand Priest, who was no doubt waiting for some key words to be said, that their universe was ready to go, causing them to vanish for a moment and reappear in an entirely new area. It was a black void that was unlike anything the fighters had seen in the past, where Twilight noted that it went on and on with no real end, plus she felt like it was disconnected from the universe, so they wouldn't have to worry about Ki blasts endangering a universe. The stage they would be fighting on appeared to be a large circular arena, maybe like a top based on the central pillar that seemed to be a time keeper for those that were in the know, and there happened to be a long curved stands floating near the arena, no doubt where the gods and their Angels would be sitting. In addition to that Twilight found an artificial sun floating around the area, providing light despite the nature of the world they were standing in, and there happened to be a structure that was floating on a platform far above them, the antechamber that held both Zenos no doubt. Twilight had to admit that everything looked like it was in order, though it was a little odd to see three of the four Gods of Destruction who were safe from being erased working on the stage, instead of the Grand Priest, but she figured that it had to be to them testing the arena, as per the Grand Priest's wishes, and now they were cleaning up their mess. "It would see that, while we are the first to arrive, the other universes aren't too far behind." Whis commented, because he and the others noticed seven white domes appear around the stage, signifying the arrival of the other universes that had to take part in the Tournament of Power. There were a number of interesting individuals who arrived in the Null Realm, as Whis called it, where Twilight found that a few warriors from Universe 2 seemed focused on their beauty, despite the rest of the team almost looking like a bunch of rejects, save for the Yardrat, who they recognized thanks to the clothing he wore since Goku had worn it after the events on Namek a lifetime ago. Universe 3 appeared to be a team comprised of mostly robots, save for a few individuals who were clearly organic, likely the controllers to ensure the others fought perfectly, while Universe 4 didn't seem all too impressive and appeared to have eight warriors, but Twilight could sense the other two standing near them. Universe 6 had some very familiar faces, such as Hit, Frost, Cabba, the yellow bear, and the Metalman, though Twilight sensed two Namekians hiding and noticed two female Saiyans standing at the ready, which only made her interested in what they could do. After them came Universe 9, which seemed to be more of a furry type of universe since nearly everyone on that team seemed to be an anthropomorphic animal in some manner, as she counted the wolf brothers, a rabbit girl, a dragon that was more beastial than the Beastians, a lady with cat ears and a cat tail, and some others who didn't fit with the odd theme Sidra had gone for. Universe 10 seemed to be just a bunch of muscle morons, who believed that weights and muscles were the key to greater strength, making her feel somewhat sorry for Gowasu, before she stared at Universe 11, the warriors wearing matching red and black uniforms, though as they posed Twilight focused on the gray skinned figure who didn't pose at all, who had an immense well of power deep inside him. "So that's the mortal who stands above the gods... interesting." Twilight remarked, speaking as Goku went over to speak with Toppo, the large figure behind the grey one, though she did learn that the one she was focused on was called 'Jiren', a figure who didn't even glance at them and ignored Goku while not even moving as stage pieces flew by him, before she noticed that Beerus and Whis were surprised by her statement, "Liquiir came by after the announcement and I learned of Jiren's existence... or at least the rumor of his existence." "It would seem that Universe 9 really hates our guts, as they're looking at us like they'll take us out." Cooler stated, which caused Twilight to look over at the warriors in question for a few seconds, only to find that her uncle was correct and that all ten of Sidra's warriors seemed eager to fight with them, meaning they wanted payback for making fools of them in the Zen Exhibition Match, a foolish mistake that would cost them all greatly. "I don't like the way they're looking at you, Twilight... it seems they might be targeting you first." Frieza commented, as he could see how all ten of the warriors were looking at his daughter right now and he didn't like it, not that he was worried for her, since Twilight was the strongest warrior on their team,, but he felt like she needed to know that fact. "The Grand Priest told everyone that I'm responsible for improving the Mortal Level of Universe 7, so many are angry with me for nearly saving us from elimination," Twilight said, because from what she could gather the majority of the gods just hated Beerus and wanted to see him suffer, so she suspected that many of the universes would be gunning for them right off the bat, causing her to glance to the others as their gods departed for the stands, "that being said, the other teams will no doubt go for us because their gods hate Beerus, so be ready for anything and everything... there's no telling what sort of powers these warriors have." "I know, and I can't wait to fight them." Goku stated, which was normal for him at this point, based on everything Twilight had seen since meeting him and everyone else, though everyone remained silent as the Grand Priest floated out and told all of them that the Kings of All had something to say before the start of the tournament. That 'something' was thanking them for coming and their desire for a good show, though after that the Grand Priest told everyone the rules, just in case none of the gods bothered to say anything on the matter, especially reminding them of the no killing rule, before everyone got ready for what was coming. "Let the Tournament of Power, begin!" the Grand Priest stated, as he raised his hand into the air for a moment, where the vast majority of the warriors got ready while every god sat in their seats, eager to see how everyone fought while four sets thought about how they were safe from having to participate in this, before lowering his arm like it was a flag. Twilight held everyone back for a moment as the other seventy warriors started to move, unleashing blasts at each other with no regard for strategy or care, before glancing at her team for a moment and gestured with her head, allowing them to go out and do whatever they wanted, as long as they remained on the stage. As everyone started to fight she found that one of the robotic warriors raised his arms and started to spin around like he was a top, no doubt chosen because he had the ability to do such a thing, or maybe he was designed in such a way, though his rampage didn't last long as Hit came down and crushed one of his arms with a kick. He wasn't the only one to attack the red robot in question, rather Basil had the same idea and struck the other arm as fast as he could, before heading off to harassing a girl with wings that was from Gowasu's universe, though her wings seemed to be either growing out of her head or made from her hair. Twilight had no reason to interfere with the battle in question, rather she focused on her main targets as she sensed the lurkers from the mouse's team wandering around the field while trying to remain undetected, before she spun around and kicked what had to be an invisible foe in the side of the chest, hard enough to send it off the stage. In addition to that she spotted the other one right at her hooves, a small bug warrior that caused her to snap her fingers for a second, surrounding it in a small barrier that she picked up and hurled off into the void, only to find that warriors who were knocked off the stage returned to the bench, in the area their universe's gods rested in. "Damom and Gamisalas of Universe 4, plus Rylibleu of Universe 10, have been eliminated." the Grand Priest stated, as he was some sort of referee for the entire event, informing the Kings of All of the warriors that fell off the stage, though while he did that he turned and bowed towards the Zenos. In that moment Twilight found that they had their own tablets, the 'Godpads' as the Grand Priest called them, which just looked like a fancy way for them to keep track of which warriors of the various universes were still around, likely to help count down to a universe's destruction, before she found something that displeased her. "You have got to be kidding me." Twilight remarked, as she discovered that all ten of Sidra's warriors were standing in a large circle around her, so instead of spreading themselves out, to try and maximize their effectiveness against some of the weaker warriors of the other universes, they were totally taking revenge for their loss in the Zen Exhibition Match, only it would prove to be a fatal mistake on their end. "Aw, what's wrong little pony? Are you afraid of us?" one of the warriors, the female with the cat ears, remarked, though as she said that Twilight noted that she wore a black crop top and black pants, while she had dull purple fur and her red nails were incredibly long, sharpened to be weapons no doubt, "Because you should be, since you're the weakest warrior on your team and you'll be the first to fall." "Really? I'm the 'weakest'? On what grounds?" Twilight inquired, because it was interesting that so many seemed to think that she was actually one of the weakest individuals in her universe, when the reality was that she was the strongest, and while this happened Goku found himself under assault from someone with green skin from the mouse's universe, who he knocked off the stage with a kick to the chest, allowing her to focus on her idiotic foes. "You are far too relaxed for someone whose supposed to be fighting for their universe, there are too many holes in your defenses, and you haven't thrown a punch since the tournament started." another warrior, a pale red skinned individual with curved purple markings on his chest and neck, stated, though his words told Twilight the truth, the only reason all of their universe's warriors were here was to make sure they survived in case anyone else from Universe 7 came to assist her in some manner, while displaying their overconfidence, "I hate to say it, but you are a complete novice." That was so hilarious that Twilight couldn't help but laugh at them, because she couldn't believe that they would see her as a weakling who had no place being here, especially since she was from the universe that kicked their rears earlier, and once the bout was over she focused on them, who seemed to be unaware that her power was already at work, pulling in energy from every warrior that was on the stage. "Me, a complete novice?" Twilight remarked, where she made no move to shift her stance, as she didn't need to against foes like this, rather her mind was focused as she waited for her foes to make the first move, because she wanted to see how the other seven warriors fought, since most of them had come straight for her and no one else, "Very well then, come and see how wrong you really are." "Guys, maybe we should target someone else." the rabbit girl stated, where she could see that Twilight was far too calm for someone who was surrounded by warriors from another universe, especially given the fact that such a thing meant it should be her end, which only made her wonder if they had picked the wrong opponent. "No, let's be done with her and go fight someone else." Bergamo said, because while he wanted to take Goku down, for his disgrace in front of the Kings of All and the gods of the multiverse, he had decided that the best thing to do right now was deal a blow to the Saiyan's universe by removing one of his warriors early on in the tournament, and this one happened to be the weakest looking of them all. Twilight sighed as the ten warriors made the stupidest mistake of their lives and rushed at her, all while Roh was loudly speaking from his seat as he talked about all of the powers that each warrior had, something she ignored since she knew none of them posed a threat to her. It took her no time to find out that none of them, save for the three brothers, had any experience fighting with the others and there were far too many holes in their own attacks, where she started to dodge as they came at her, avoiding punches and kicks while redirecting Ki blasts into the ground. The most aggressive one wasn't one of the brothers, like she had assumed, or even the dragon, rather it was the cat girl who charged at her with reckless abandon, as if they were using her to distract her or cause her to waste her stamina dodging, though that was when they were surprised by what happened next, Twilight raised her hand and caught the claws with ease. In the next moment she swung the cat girl around and threw her into the chest of the rabbit girl, knocking both of them to the ground, before the guy with bat ears and wings tried to speed around her, to confuse her so the others could attack, causing her to lash out with a punch to the chest. Sure enough she sent the bat guy flying towards the edge of the stage, though as he opened his wings to stop himself he found that Twilight had placed a small black cube on his chest, which activated once he was over no longer on the stage, as she knew his wings would be troublesome and the gravity of the cube prevented him from flying as he fell down into the void. As he reappeared on the stands, however, the other nine warriors continued to come at her, as if they thought that they still stood a chance to bring her down, where she found that the warrior with markings could loose threads from both of his hands while the one that looked like a walking piece of ice used an ice breath against her. Neither attack really hurt her or slowed her down, rather Twilight summoned her aura to stop the attacks in their tracks, much to the surprise of their entire universe, causing her to release her own Ki blast at the pair before they could even react, sending the pair flying off the stage. The cat girl tried to save them, by extending her claws to try and catch them, but by exposing her back to their enemy Twilight kicked her in the back and sent her off the stage as well, making it so her kind gesture ended up costing her universe three warriors, forcing the rabbit girl to rush at her while the others considered their options, though she was the next to go as Twilight caught her fist. She turned and hurled the rabbit girl into the air, sending her flying into the void as her team tried to comprehend what was happening right now, and her next foe happened to be the dragon, who Roh talked up by stating that he had the greatest defense in Universe 9, but a quick punch to the chest stunned him and gave Twilight a chance to kick him off as well. The fish guy was next, as Twilight just loosed a low powered Ki blast into his chest and watched as he flew off into the void, leaving her and the three brothers standing there, all while they and everyone else watching this part of the fight realized that viewing her as a weakling was the wrong thing to do, as it had cost Sidra greatly. "Go. Fight someone else... don't make me take out your entire team." Twilight stated, because while she knew that this tournament was about being the last universe standing, so she could get her hands on the Super Dragon Balls, she didn't want to bring ruin to an entire universe, this early into the entire competition, especially since she was sure that it might put a target on her back. "Not a chance. You think we'd give up, after everything your universe has done to us?" Bergamo remarked, which told her that it seemed like there was something wrong with his home, or even the entirety of his home universe, that was forcing him and his brothers to fight with such reckless abandon that they'd throw away common sense on a whim. In the next instant the three brothers came at her with their full power, fully intending on doing everything in their power to knock her off the stage, and it started with Lavender attacking with his poisoned arms, a distraction since he didn't get close to handing a single blow on her, where it seemed like Basil had something in mind. That 'something' happened to be him firing off multiple Ki orbs from his feet, hence why he was called the 'Kicker', though instead of letting the attacks get close to her Twilight raised her hand and a barrier appeared in front of her, stopping the orbs and shattering all of them with ease as she silently absorbed their energy. Bergamo, the one who seemed to grow stronger by taking punishing blows, didn't seem to even recognize what had happened, rather he just saw it as her crushing his brother's attack, causing him to lash out at her as well, forming a three pronged attack formation that Roh called the 'Danger's Triangle', or something stupid that just went in one ear and out the other. Twilight let them come at her as she started to push them towards the edge of the stage, which they were either ignoring or were paying no attention to, though when they tried to rush her from three directions she jumped into the air and spun around, kicking all three of them away from her. All three of them ended up near the edge of the fighting stage, meaning a good blast would send them flying, though she could see that the gods of Universe 9 were worried, as this would decide the fate of their universe, causing Twilight to sigh as she prepared herself for what was about to happen next. "Let's do this, brothers!" Bergamo stated, where Twilight found that Lavender landed to his right and Basil to his left, as all three of them were more than willing to go out fighting, using all of their power to defeat the foe that was in front of them, a final stand against a foe they might have realized they shouldn't have provoked in the first place, "Triangle. Danger. BEAM!" Twilight raised her left hand and pointed at the brothers, gathering the power of light and dark into a single point, forming a deep bluish-purple orb with a light gray outline, so when they fired their attack at her, a merged beam of energy that was made up of yellow, red, and blue bits, like the three wolves that used it, she was ready. She fired her own attack the moment it was ready, producing a beam of energy that was larger than theirs was, though while their attacks collided she found that all of the fighting had stopped, as if everyone wanted to see if she'd survive or if the brothers would be the end of her. In the next moment she proved them wrong as her attack started to push the merged beam backwards, surprising the brothers as they realized what was about to happen, as their beam started to lose ground at a rapid pace as her own attack rushed towards the trio, all while her own power siphoned the power of the attack. Due to the fact that the trio just stood there, stunned by her overwhelming power, in her base form no less, Twilight's attack smashed into the area that they were standing in and sent them flying into the void, allowing her to cancel the beam as the wolves landed in a heap in front of Sidra and Roh. She knew what was coming before anyone even had a chance to say anything, as all ten of Universe 9's warriors had fallen in the span of a few minutes and that meant the Zenos would either erase their universe now or they would wait until the end of the tournament to show the losing universes who the winning universe was. "All of the warriors from Universe 9 have dropped out... they've been wiped out. Therefore, Universe 9 shall be erased!" the Grand Priest declared, which meant that the Zenos had finished messing with their tablets, detailing the end of Sidra's team for their own twisted amusement, something that stopped all of the warriors as they waited to see if he was telling everyone the truth, that a universe was about to be wiped out. In that moment the Zenos raised their hands, one each, in excitement as they glowed, uttering 'squish' as they formed a fist with their respective hands, all while Roh called out in pure fear as he, Sidra, and their team were surrounded by a faint glow before disappearing. A quick glance towards Whis and the Angels confirmed what had happened, the entirety of Universe 9 had been erased in the blind of an eye, both those who were living their lives in the universe itself and those who were here in this realm, reducing the number of universes to eleven. Most of the other warriors were in shock, but as Twilight glanced around she found that many of the participating gods were looking at her, a fighter who had decimated an entire universe in a matter of minutes, and she could see that most of them were afraid, no doubt worried that she'd do the same to them. Twilight, on the other hand, simply turned her back to the edge of the stage and started to walk back into the inner reaches, since staying close to the edge was a bad thing, though after confirming that the Zenos would erase the losing universes she was determined to win and claim the Super Dragon Balls. All she had to do was make sure that her universe survived until the very end, hence why she formed the best team to do such a thing, but it all depended on what all of the other warriors had up their sleeves, since there was no predicting how strong all of them were, and that meant being patient as she waited for the warriors to resume fighting. > Tournament: Awakening of the Berserker > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- As Twilight walked out to seek other warriors to study and fight, since there were all sorts of things to learn from the rest of the universes, Frieza and Cooler stood still for a moment as they glanced up at the antechamber, both thinking about the loss of an entire universe and how it was affecting Twilight. "It is quite vexing to have such uncaring deities ruling over everything." Frieza commented, keeping his voice low so only his brother could hear him, since he suspected that any of the gods might signal him out if he spoke out against the ones who ruled over the multiverse with their small, yet terrifying, hands, "There is only one being worthy of sitting on that throne." "And that would be you, right dear brother?" Cooler remarked, though he had a small smile on his face as Frieza turned to look at him, because after all the years they had spent caring for Twilight, training her and teaching her, they had grown into better siblings and understood each other far better these days, "I jest, of course." "Yes, well, maybe I would have said that in the past... but not anymore." Frieza said, where both he and his brother let out a light chuckle that only they heard, since anyone else might assume they were laughing over the destruction of a universe, before he focused on what needed to be done to secure their victory over the other universes, "Twilight will find a way to safely take their position from them, of that I am sure." Cooler said nothing to that as he nodded, though in the next moment he spotted Frost and started to move towards him, while Frieza decided to go see what sort of enemies a few of the other universes had to offer, all while Saria, Shandy, and Caser found themselves being visited by two warriors from Universe 4, a wolf similar to those of Universe 9 and a fennec fox who had his eyes closed. "Out of curiosity, are you related to Beerus by any chance?" the wolf asked, showing that he was slightly interested in his foes, even if they would be knocked off the stage in due time, as he was currently looking at Shandy, choosing to ignore the other two for the time being, though once his question was answered he would take them down with his teammate. "No, I'm of the same nearly extinct race that he and Champa are from." Shandy replied, though at the same time he did a quick stretch as the others focused on the fennec, but he knew that only one of them needed to fight the blind warrior, so either someone would be left without a foe or they would team up on someone, but his own comment made him pause for a few seconds, "Actually, when this is all over, remind me to thank Twilight for her work in trying to restore our race... I don't think I've done so, since we started to call Earth our home." "A shame, since you'll be joining your race in oblivion soon enough." the wolf remarked, where he rushed forward with his fists raised while his companion stood off to the side, though before he could reach his destination a foot hit the side of his head and discovered that Saria knocked him to the ground for a moment. "Sorry, you left yourself open there." Saria said, which was true, the wolf had rushed in like she and Caser weren't even in the area and that caused her to take advantage of the situation before he corrected his error, though as she stood there all three of them noticed that the wolf refused to get up, "Oh come on, that was just a love tap... you can quit the whole playing possum ploy, it's not going to work on us... though if you don't I guess we can just throw you off the stage." That got the wolf's attention as he got up and rushed towards them again, where this time Saria ducked out of the way as Shandy kicked him in the chest, knocking their foe backwards, before he moved around the area that the wolf was in and made a circle around him, causing the warrior to look around in shock. It was clear that he couldn't follow his speed, which was sad since it meant the fight would be over in a matter of moments, though to add a bit of fun Shandy added in a small Ki blast that he knocked around, forcing the wolf to dodge his attack as he increased it's speed and power. Saria jumped back for a moment, giving her friend some time to fight the warrior on her own, before watching as the sphere slammed into the wolf and sent him flying off the stage with ease, surprising the mouse god in the process, almost like he expected his warriors to do better than this. As the fennec stepped forward, however, Caser did the same thing, though much to the surprise of the watchers he shifted his stance in a way that was different from the other warriors, one hand raised with his palm facing his foe while the other was casually resting to his right, which could be used to defend himself if he needed to do so, while his body language suggested he left no openings. The fennec stood there for a moment, as if taking in whatever his senses were telling him while the rest of the warriors finally started to resume fighting for their universes, before running at Caser like he was going to slip through his guard and hit him in the face. Caser, however, ducked out of the way and struck his foe twice with the tips of his fingers, in two different parts of his body, causing the fennec to stagger for a moment before growling and rushing at him with far more determination than before. He continued to dodge and weave as he struck his foe in multiple locations that stunned his foe, as if he was attacking special locations to prevent his opponent from attacking or defending, where Saria and Shandy recognized the attack, one that utilized a total of sixty-four points to render a foe incapable of battle. It was, by far, one of the greatest techniques in his arsenal, one he had perfect while training on his own, and when the sixty-fourth attack hit it's mark he sent the fennec flying off the stage, something that really surprised the mouse god since his warrior didn't get a chance to show off whatever trick he had, since that seemed to be his universe's gimmick. As the trio started to move, so they could find more warriors to fight and take down, they spotted Frost coming towards where they were standing at high speeds and readied themselves for another fight, but before he could reach them he was intercepted by another warrior, which turned out to be Cooler of all people. "You again?!" Frost commented, as he couldn't believe that the one who knocked him out of the arena, back during the clash between his universe and Universe 7, was the one who intercepted and interrupted him during this tournament, all before he could even reach the three odd individuals who were standing behind him. "That's right. Shall we pick up from our last fight?" Cooler inquired, though at the same time he didn't even bother to take on his Fifth Form or even his Golden Form, as the benefit of training with Twilight and everyone else meant his power was far greater than it had been the last time he fought Frost, which caused a question to form in his mind, "Tell me, have you done any training since our last encounter?" "Of course not, as I've been on the run thanks to your niece revealing my secrets to my entire universe!" Frost stated, but as he said that he realized something, he hadn't been able to make any preparations for the tournament, while he could see that Goku, Vegeta, and everyone else from Universe 7, those who had taken part in Champa's event, were stronger than he recalled, causing him to realize the danger he was in, "Oh no..." Cooler went on the assault almost immediately, allowing Frost to see that he was definitely much stronger and faster than he recalled, which meant that his punches and kicks slipped through his defenses with ease, striking his body while he tried to find a way to get out of the area and challenge someone else. His attempts were in vain as Cooler prevented him from doing so, something that caused Frost to realize that he was being pushed backwards and that this time he wouldn't be able to use any of his tricks he had used before, due to the fact that they knew about his modifications. While this happened it was far too easy for some of the Universe 7 warriors to see Champa's worried expression, like he expected Frost to do more than what he had done so far, but none of the various fighters from Universe 6 rushed to aid him, as they were involved in their own fights. With that in mind Cooler was able to push Frost through the ground, breaking the area of the stage that was around him in the process, before turning near the edge, like he was giving his foe a chance, lifted Frost into the air like he was just a toy, and slammed him into the ground, hard enough to break the edge of the arena as the warrior reappeared in the stands with a dazed look on his face. Twilight smiled as she watched that happen, because it showed the other universes that underestimating them would be a bad thing, though the only ones who didn't seem bothered by this was the clown and his group, which only made her take a moment to really wonder how strong Jiren really was. While that happened she found that Vegeta was pushing two warriors from Champa's universe, Botamo and Auta Magetta, around like they were nothing, because thanks to her training both he and Goku were far stronger than they were during the tournament with Universe 6. Such a thing meant that he didn't have to rely on shouting insults at the Metalman, rather a single punch pushed him back as he pressed his assault, allowing him to knock him from the stage in due time, and Botamo, ever the idiot, rushed in to deal with him, only for Vegeta to catch his arm, tie him up, and hurl him from the ring as well. As he moved back into the center of the arena he found that Cabba was coming towards him, who was able to knock another invisible warrior and a boxer warrior off the ring, eliminating one from Universe 2 and another from Universe 10, all while Hit also eliminated a fighter from Universe 2. Despite all of that, however, Twilight had to wonder what was going to make Jiren move, as he just seemed to take a spot as his domain and just stood there like he was meditating, as it was almost like he was suggesting that no one here was worth the time or effort to fight, which both annoyed her and interested her at the same time. Her attention shifted to one of the Saiyans from Universe 6, the weak looking one who didn't seem to have the same fire to fight like her sister, or maybe mentor, had, as the baggy pants and tube top wearing Saiyan went to town on those who got in her way, where she fought like she enjoyed herself, much like Goku did. Caulifla, the one who was fighting, was far more interesting than Kale, at least from what Twilight could see right now, even though she did have to dive in to save her friend from the pair that was beating up on her, prompting her to turn Super Saiyan once Kale was safe. Such a thing told Twilight that Cabba must have taught at least her the basics of transforming, since the other Saiyan didn't have the nerve to do anything on her own, making her wonder if there was some sort of mental block in her mind that was causing her to be like this. The lobster looking warrior, at least due to his face, was knocked away before the pig-like sumo warrior tried to push Caulifla out of the arena, who used that against him and actually slammed him straight into another edge of the arena, causing him to fall into the void as she returned to Kale's side. Their next target, as it turned out, was none other than Goku, where Twilight found that Frieza rushed by him, caught the Yardrat from Universe 2, and hurled the warrior down into the void as well, choosing to be rid of an annoyance before he headed off to find more warriors to fight and knock off the arena. "So, Goku was it? Cabba told us you guys have more forms than the one I've seen." Caulifla remarked, showing them that all she was interested in right now was growing her power even more than what she currently possessed, which meant her reasoning for coming here was identical to Goku's, she wanted to fight strong warriors and fighting one from Universe 7 seemed to be high on her list, "I want you to teach me every form you know." "I'm afraid it's not that simple, as we have nine forms to pick from, but five of them require learning how to use God Ki, and of the remaining four only three are available to you." Goku stated, though at the same time his tail moved for a few seconds, surprising both of the female Saiyans for a moment, since they hadn't seen it before their arrival, especially since Vegeta kept his safe around his waist when he wasn't transformed, "The fourth transformation, well, requires the use of a Saiyan's tail, and from what Cabba told us you guys evolved to no longer need them... although, both Vegeta and I had a helping hand in regaining our lost tails." "Seriously? The tails have their own transformation? Tell me who helped you!" Caulifla replied, where it was far too easy for Twilight to see that she was excited by the information she was being given right now, that there were more forms for her to learn, eight in fact, especially upon learning that the tail that her kind had evolved to no longer need was behind one of them. "That would be me. May I?" Twilight inquired, where she produced her tablet for a moment, all while Aria, in the stands, told those watching that this wasn't a weapon or anything remotely dangerous, though she had merged her tablet into her armor some time ago, allowing her to study things in the middle of battle, where Caulifla studied her for a moment before holding her arm out, granting her a moment to extract a bit of blood for the tablet's system, "Don't worry, there's no foul poison or anything... if I wanted to beat you, I'd do so in a fight. Now let's see... if I do this, and fix that..." This was one of the times where Goku knew to remain silent, as while he was combat smart, potentially even a genius in some cases, he wasn't smart like Twilight was, with all of her technical gadgets, before he noticed a smile creep up onto her face as she turned her tablet towards them, revealing an image of Caulifla with a fully grown Saiyan tail. "I was right: the Saiyans of Universes 6 and 7 are almost genetically identical... if I used the serum I used to regrow your tail, and Vegeta's, I should be able to restore Caulifla's, and anyone from her universe." Twilight stated, where she found that the Saiyan in question was looking at the monitor, studying how she looked with her tail, something that was going to take some time even thinking about since it was a lost relic for her universe, before she considered something, "Sadly, all of the equipment to create the serum is back in my lab, so I won't be able to do anything right now." "Ugh, and I'd lose out on more transformations if either of our universes are erased... screw Champa, I'd rather fight with you guys and see what heights I can reach." Caulifla said, showing that she either either a thug in her universe or she had no love for her God of Destruction, and after seeing how Champa treated his team during the previous tournament, how he threatened his losing team with their utter destruction, Twilight suspect the annoying cat might have done so with this team, earning their annoyance in the process, "Maybe you can help me out, as I think I tapped into another form or two while I was training before we were called to this place." Twilight had to resist the urge to chuckle as she noticed the shocked look on Champa's face, as she had already stolen Hit from him, in fact he owed her a favor for such a thing, but now here she was, apparently earning Caulifla's favor, to the point where she was willing to abandon him for learning more about the forms that Goku and Vegeta knew. She knew that he was worried that she was repeating herself, stealing more of his warriors, while at the same time Goku told Caulifla of how to actually transform, not using a tingling feeling and actually described how to go about it. She was interested in his lessons, where she showed him the form she meant, the bulky 'Graded' form that had been used when Cell was a thing, a form they had abandoned with the discovery of Super Saiyan 2, and Goku was able to show her how to correctly access the form in question. Caulifla was overjoyed with this discovery, because now she had two forms to pick from, and when she clashed with Goku for a short period of time Twilight discovered that her fighting style actually matched his own, as if she had been watching him fight and quickly learned from his example. Kale, on the other hand, started to freak out thanks to the mere thought of Caulifla leaving her, like she had misheard the comment or didn't want to listen to the truth, something that called forth her inner anger towards Goku and Twilight, both for their own reasons no doubt. As she cried in rage, towards everything that was going on, something interesting quickly happened to her, as her muscles grew, like she was transforming into a Super Saiyan, though Twilight could see multiple rings of energy in the air, faintly for a moment, as energy seemed to rush into her. In the following moment her hair did as Twilight expected, it spiked up like she was going Super Saiyan, only it was green colored, a new one based on everything she and her Saiyans had seen so far, before those very rings pushed outwards as the transformation finished, though she found that Kale's eyes were pure white. Such a thing told her everything she needed to know, as she recalled what had happened when she first used her own Rage Form all those years ago, so this was either a rage form or a unique form that only one Saiyan was in possession of, like the Legendary Super Saiyan she realized. In the next moment she was proven right, as Kale hit both Goku and Caulifla in her first attack, causing Hit to use his Time Skip to freeze the latter and pull her to safety while the former landed safely on his own, and with the bit of smoke coming from her mouth Twilight knew that a berserker had been unleashed on the tournament. Kale focused her anger solely on Goku, or maybe only one foe was all she could handle in this state, and she went on the offensive without delay, but her power didn't phase Goku at all, in fact he was used to fighting immense powerhouses like Twilight, so he parried some of her attacks and avoided others. Twilight found that Kale's power was enough to break the ground around her, as when she walked the stage surface cracked and when her attacks missed they left holes in whatever area she ended up hitting, a fact that confirmed she had no control over herself as she started to speak in simple phrases. That uncontrollable aspect of her power caused Kale to attack other individuals as well, anyone who got close for that matter, or at least that was no doubt what her simple mind thought at the moment, causing her to create a pillar of stone and unleash a volley of attacks that were aimed at no one in particular, though the lobster warrior from before was eliminated in the process. In fact, during her rampage, a dino warrior from Universe 11 tried to stop her and got knocked off the stage, before Jiren hit her with a Ki blast that sent her off into the distance, detonating with enough force to knock her out and force her into her base form, but as Caulifla moved to aid her Twilight knew that things were about to get even more interesting and it only made her eager to see what happened next. > Tournament: Pride Troopers Assemble > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "So that's Jiren's power... or at least what he's showing us right now." Goku commented, as he, like a fair number of the warriors that were fighting right now, had stopped to see what the most powerful warrior of Universe 11 was capable of, all by using a single Ki blast to send a berserking Kale off into the distance, "I'd love to fight him." Twilight didn't say anything to that, not because she didn't have anything to tell him, in fact she had plenty of things to say at the moment, but before she could actually say anything one of the Pride Troopers, Toppo himself, burst out of the smoke that surrounded Jiren and fired a 'Justice Flash' at them, a volley of red Ki blasts from his hand, mostly to provide cover so he and Jiren could pull back. "Seems like Toppo, and by extension Belmod, wish for their strongest fighters to remain on the sidelines, conserving their energy for the end of the tournament." Twilight remarked, as she recognized the strategy in question and knew that it would serve the Pride Troopers in the end, as long as they didn't do anything stupid and just remained in the shadows, watching her universe and the others that were involved in this tournament, "especially since it seems like five of their fellows are on their way here." "So, you knew we were coming. Very interesting." a voice said, where Twilight turned her head for a moment and found that it came from a human figure with some cybernetic attachment over his right eye, which seemed to have a communicator attachment on it, while his allies were a blue skinned individual, a pink skinned lady, a small devil looking individual, and a green skinned figure who might have electric powers. Twilight and Goku, not to mention both Caulifla and Kale, who happened to be behind some boulders, watched as the five warriors posed for them for a few moments, where she learned that the speaker was Kahseral, his blue ally was Tupper, the lady was Cocotte, while the devil was Zoiray, and the green fighter was Kettle, and when they were done posing they even set off a few smoke flares in five different colors. "Certainly brings me back to the old days." Twilight said, because staring at the Pride Troopers, with their ridiculous poses in the face of danger, reminded her of the Ginyu Force and everything Ginyu, now Putine, had them do before the events of Old Namek caused a change in their dynamic, to which she let out a sigh as she focused on the task at hand, "So, can we help you, or are you here just to kick Goku off the stage? I say that because everyone whose come up to him so far has had the same desire, despite the fact that our eight universes would have been wiped out had he not convinced the Zenos to hold this tournament. Or maybe you are here to 'deliver justice to evil', since apparently doing this has labeled us as a foul and evil universe in the eyes of the other universes." "It does not matter. You are enemies of our universe, the most righteous of them all, and that means you must be taken out to secure our safety." Kahseral stated, though in the following moments one of his allies pointed out that Kale and Caulifla were resting nearby, in fact Twilight found that he was focused on the now recovering Saiyan, since she had knocked one of the Pride Troopers out of the ring a few moments ago, "While we were originally sent to deal with you, Goku, know this: the Pride Troopers do not forgive anyone who has defeated one of our own, as it only encourages us to do better to bring down those who oppose our justice. By my sworn friend's, Toppo's, orders, we shall take all of you out, here and now." The warriors stared up at the Pride Troopers before splitting up, Twilight standing face to face with Kahseral and Cocotte, Caulifla and Kale against Kettle, and Goku facing Zoiray and Tupper, where the blue warrior wrapped his arms around Goku's chest, turned his head into an odd bark-like material, or at least took on the appearance of it, and stood still while the Saiyan raised an eyebrow for a moment. "Fool, you let your guard down, so I shall cause havoc on your body... I can control my weight at will, you see, and many of my foes cannot stand before my power." Tupper stated, where Goku stood there for a moment as Tupper increased his weight, causing the ground below him to crack for a few seconds, though as the Saiyan remained standing, without even bending or struggling against the sudden increase in force, causing a dark aura to surround him as he continued to use his power against Goku, "Why won't you collapse? You should be under a lot of pressure right now!" "To be honest, your weight is nothing. I mean, Twilight's gravity training is far harsher than this." Goku replied, which was the truth, the sheer gravitational power of darkness that the pony girl wielded was leagues above what Tupper was trying to use against him, in fact this could be considered a light breeze after all the training he had done so far, to which he just pulled his arms away from his chest and dropped his foe to the ground. As Tupper realized what was going on Goku lifted him into the air and hurled him out into the void, much to the surprise of Belmod and the other Pride Troopers, though Zoiray simply spun around before generating enough wind to create a cyclone that he used to rush at Goku, who simply avoided his attacks since he was faster than the little devil. Caulifla had no problems with Kettle, because while he was able to fill the air with Ki blasts she unleashed a volley into the air to cancel them out, allowing her to pierce the smoke and punch him in the side of the face, where she forced him out the void in no time at all. Twilight, on the other hand, found that Cocotte was called the 'Dimensional Illusionist' as she tried to trap her in a barrier that was designed to contain her in a separate dimension, no doubt to weaken her to the point that she could be dropped out without wasting too much energy, but, while it was an interesting technique, it was nothing compared to her might. What that meant was that she raised her right hand to the barrier and surprised Cocotte and Kahseral as the entire spell broke apart in seconds, though it only caused Cocotte to summon more around her without wasting time, only to find that it didn't matter how many she summoned as Twilight walked through them, grabbed her foe by the collar of her attire, and hurled her out of the arena. In that moment Kahseral decided to attack her with energy weapons made out of Ki energy, where she raised an eyebrow for a time as she stood there, letting him waste his power on attacks that were doing nothing to her, especially since her power let her absorb their energy before they even reached their target, until Twilight grabbed his head and slammed him into the ground. "You know, I was interested in your universe since Universe 11 is tied with Universe 7 for the fifth highest position in the Mortal Level rankings, but... well, you guys are disappointing." Twilight said, as she couldn't help herself right now, none of the Pride Troopers that were in front of them were even remotely interesting or worthy of her attention, in fact she was sure that they might be some of the weakest individuals in Jiren's universe, and it almost made her wish she had left this to Goku and the other Saiyans, "Are you really the strongest warriors in your universe? The reason I ask is because I'm not seeing it... it just seems like Belmod brought one strong warrior, possibly two, and left the rest of the team up in the air, allowing you guys to be selected." "I don't have to answer that." Kahseral stated, as if he saw her as a force of evil and that meant that there was no way he would trust her with any information, causing her to sigh for a moment as she reached down and picked him up from the section of the floor she had slammed him into, only to toss him towards Caulifla, "Here you go." Caulifla smiled as she kicked the warrior right off the stage, meaning Belmod had lost five more of his warriors in such a short period of time, where Twilight informed her and Kale that they were both skilled in their own way, that they should be proud of who they were, especially Kale, as she knew the warrior would go great things. "Attention, warriors of the Tournament of Power." a voice called out, where Twilight leapt onto some of the sections of the stage that had been pulled out by Kale's earlier attack and found that the speaker was a young lady who, in her universe, had to be one of the more attractive ones, especially since she was dressed nice and likely had some sort of perfume on, an odd choice for a battlefield, and she was joined by a girl with a blue dress and a girl with a yellow cloak. Twilight tilted her head for a moment as everyone literally stopped fighting to see what in the world was going on, all while Heles, the Goddess of Destruction for Universe 2, stood up and declared that 'lovely flowers would bloom on the field of battle', meaning the trio had something planned. The first speaker declared to everyone that she was Brianne de Chateau, the blue girl was Sanka Ku, and the yellow girl was Su Roas, and informed everyone that they were going to let the 'song of love and victory' bloom and ring, whatever that meant, something that caused the remainder of their universe to appear in the area before their platform and declare the same thing. What happened next was strange and made Twilight think that their universe was more like a cartoon's, as the girls declared 'formation' before undergoing a 'magical girl' type of transformation, parts of their bodies being covered in their respective energies while changing into a new form, though it was usually sailor uniforms in the shows Twilight had seen. Su Roas didn't change too much, rather she got a yellow robe, odd glasses, and a purple jumpsuit, while Sanka Ku became a teal skinned figure whose outfit looked more like a wild cat, due to the tail and pointed ears, though Brianne's was completely ugly, as she became an obese figure with a red outfit on, all while her universe adored her. Part of her actually regretted not blasting them right off the arena while they were distracted, as it seemed like they were treating this as nothing more than a game, their chance to shine before being erased from existence, though she did learn that Brianne was now Ribrianne, Sanka Ku was Kakunsa, and Su Roas was Roasie, and were nicknamed the 'Kamikaze Fireballs' by some in their universe. "Let this emotion... reach you!" Ribrianne declared, where the trio combined their powers into what looked like a pink heart, like a simplified drawing of one anyway, before she moved up into the air and started rapidly poking it, which let her rain down pink hearts on the battlefield, knocking warriors away while entrapping some in a state of love. Twilight sighed for a moment, as the power both reminded her of Cadance, the Princess of Love back in Equus, and the Queen of the Changelings, Chrysalis, though the latter was due to the fact that this would have been a feast for someone like her, since her kind had needed to feed before figuring out how to alter themselves, but once she was done thinking about them she loosed a blast into the air and destroyed the heart. "Warrior of Darkness, how dare you touch our love!" Ribrianne stated, landing nearby so she and her allies could focus on Twilight for as long as she could, as the trio landed near her and looked like they were ready to declare war on them, while at the same time the rest of their team resume the fights that their transformation had interrupted. "Funny, your nickname for me isn't too far from the truth, yet it's still incredibly far." Twilight replied, as those who knew who understood that she was talking about the Power of Darkness, something a Demon tapped into during their training, before she held a hand up towards the three ladies and beckoned for them to come at her, since she seemed to be their target for the time being. Ribrianne was the first one to charge her, quite literally as she jumped into the air, started to spin, and became a ball of red energy that rushed towards where Twilight was standing, though instead of getting out of the way she simply swung her right fist into the maiden's face and knocked her off into the distance. Roasie came at her next with a fighting style that was more about jabs than actual punches, though the interesting part about her technique was that, according to all of the information Heles was giving them, the more she attacked the faster her attacks got, to the point that she was able to make Ki blasts that followed her directions. It was an interesting style, at least in comparison to what Twilight had seen so far, and she was able to avoid Roasie's attacks with ease, because while she was faster the more she attacked she did have to reset her technique as she moved around, something that annoyed the warrior as Twilight grabbed her head and hurled her into one of the nearby stone walls. Kakunsa charged at her after that, to prevent her from eliminating either of her teammates, where she swung her hands like they were claws, in fact Twilight found that they were sharpened like real claws, especially since they cut through the ground with ease and left scratch marks behind, and she even tried to bite her with her sharpened teeth at one point. It was almost like Kakunsa was a wild animal, despite having a humanoid body, and Heles even referred to her as a 'beast warrior', something that caused Twilight to pull out her tablet for a moment as she took some notes on the matter while she dodged the beast's attacks. "Come on, take this seriously!" Kakunsa growled, where she rushed from one part of the rubble that was around the area Twilight was in and rushed to another one, using them as platforms to aid her in attacking her target, her 'prey' as she and the others like her called those they set their sights on. "A shame we met like this... I could probably make your dream into a reality." Twilight remarked, as she was sure that she could use Kakunsa's beast form as a base for her own drug to latch onto, giving her the full beast form that might be her deepest desire, before she returned the tablet to where it usually rested and focused on her foe, or foes since all three of the maidens were standing around her now, "However, you wanted me to get serious... so I'll show you something while we're here." The three warriors stood there for a moment as a terrible darkness surrounded Twilight, something they and everyone else from the other universes hadn't seen before, and it seemed to flood the entire area that was around them, as if they were in some sort of dark realm that only she had access to. In the following moment she sighed as she raised her right pointer finger into the air as she focused on what she was about to do, as it had been a while since this attack had been used against her foes, not that she needed the practice, but rather she was making sure the gravitational force was good enough to knock them down without killing them. The trio barely had time to react as she formed squares around their feet and a cube formed around them, trapping them in regions of darkness for a few moments, where they were struck multiple times from an unseen foe and dropped to their knees as the cubes pulled back. It came as a surprise to not only Heles and the gods, but also the rest of the team that seemed to be mere supports for the trio, though as she raised her hand towards them, so she could blast all three of them off the stage, the flying foe of their universe rushed into her face as the other warriors rushed in to save them. Instead of simply eliminating all of them, and ending Universe 2 right then and there, Twilight decided to strike down their flying team member, blasting her out of the arena without wasting too much time, allowing the other warriors to scatter so they could regroup and rise to fight for their universe, causing her to turn and seek out her next foe while the other members of her team did the same. > Tournament: Assault on Universe 7 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- With the main warriors of Universe 2 safe, for the time being, they and the rest of their team rushed out to deal with the other foes that threatened to eliminate their remaining warriors, though Twilight let them be, even if Ribrianne swore to take her out for the loss of their flying friend, which she ignored. Fortunately it seemed like those from Heles' universe knew not to attack her or her teammates, or maybe they were just recovering from the fact that she could have knocked off all three of their greatest warriors with very little effort on her part, which had to shock the goddess in question. Twilight really didn't care what their next move was, causing her to glance around the arena as she sought other warriors that were fighting, be it from her team or the other teams, and found that one of the warriors from Universe 10 was knocked out, but the culprit was from another universe. At the same time, however, she found that Gohan and Piccolo were being bothered by two more warriors from Rumsshi's team, making her wonder if Universe 10 was trying to prove something, all while finding that the Angel for that universe was sad by the state of her team, as if she loved her universe and didn't want to see them go. She also watched as Ribrianne took her frustrations out on several warriors that happened to be in the area she ended up in, something that caused yet another warrior from Gowasu's universe to be eliminated, leaving only two left before they would be erased from existence. Twilight didn't see anything special to the last two warriors of Universe 10, one looking more like a brute and the other one seeming to be more mentally focused, though the flaw in their thinking was challenging the warriors of her team, since she had trained everyone, at one point in time, and that meant both Gohan and Piccolo were stronger than ever before. Such a thing was confirmed as Piccolo pulled his foe away from his student for a moment, so they didn't get in the way of each other, before trapping his foe in a cage of glowing energy spheres, the Hellzone Grenade, which ended up knocking his foe out into the void. That, of course, meant that Gohan's foe was the last of his universe, where Twilight found that he was prepared to do everything in his power to save his universe and used a technique to shift his internal energy so no one could read his movements, an interesting tactic in her eyes. Of course, thanks to her training Gohan had retained his warrior spirit over the years and had learned many things while under her wing, where he found a way to counter his foe's ability and struck him multiple times in a row, surprising the gods of Universe 10, or at least Rumsshi and his Kaioshin, since Gowasu knew it was foolish to challenge Universe 7. In the end, however, there was only one conclusion to their fight as Gohan removed the warrior from the stage, eliminating the last hope of Rumsshi's universe, and, just like before, both Zenos took great joy in having the Grand Priest announce the results to the other warriors before happily erasing another universe, leaving only a sad and mournful Angel behind. "Two universes down, while six universes remain." Twilight commented, though it only angered her as she stared up at the antechamber, that the multiverse could be run by a being who didn't care for their job and only wanted some fun out of all the universes they deemed to be worthless, or beings in this case since Future Zeno was up there, before she sighed as she turned her attention to the more important events that were going on. Hit, for example, was in the middle of fighting a foe that looked like a purple rabbit or something, just without the tail as far as Twilight could tell, who seemed to be a Pride Trooper who had great speed, fast enough that he was able to do the same that she had done once upon a time, overcome the Time-Skip as he punched Hit in the side of the face. "Sorry, buddy, but whatever technique you have pales in comparison to my speed." the purple figure said, where it was very clear that he was confident in his speed, something that reminded Twilight of Rainbow Dash, but he had this wicked smile on his face for a few moments as he stared at Hit, who recovered from the attack, though as he attacked again Hit was the one who landed a blow on him, surprising the warrior in the process, "What the?" "I've trained with someone who can perfectly replicate my power and techniques, so I have learned how to fight someone like myself." Hit remarked, where he stood up for a moment and brushed off his attire as he stared at his foe, who raised an eyebrow for a moment as he thought about what he had heard, all while Twilight landed nearby and found that both Caulifla and Kale were watching the fight as well, "I'm afraid that you'll be the one leaving the arena, Dyspo." While the two got ready to resume their fight Twilight also noticed that Toppo, Jiren, and the last Pride Trooper, a short blue figure, were observing their teammate as well, no doubt to make sure he was okay since they had lost half their team not that long ago, before everyone focused on the battle as it resumed, with Dyspo reacting to the sound of Hit's muscles moving as he activated his ability. Despite that fact, and the fact that his foe had more speed than he did, Hit struck his foe in the face and knocked him backwards, surprising him and his team as he repeated his feat, causing Twilight to smile as she witnessed his increased power, because, just like the Saiyans and warriors of Earth, she had helped him push his own power to new heights. Such a thing meant that she had given Universe 6 a warrior that could compete with her team, that was true, but at the same time it cancelled out whatever advantages Belmod was expecting from his warriors, in fact she could see that he was a little worried about Dyspo right now. Twilight also found that she wasn't the only one watching the fight unfold, as Goku had stopped to her left and was observing the fighters, though at the same time she knew most of his attention was on Jiren, just trying to learn more about him before someone tried to fight him. Apparently Toppo realized that Hit was going to win, he was growing too fast and would soon eclipse Dyspo, causing him to send out the blue Pride Trooper to stop the battle and get their teammate out of there, though as he jumped down into the area Twilight raised her hand and teleported her target over to where she was standing, allowing her to plant him face first into the ground. "Seriously? I can understand wanting to save your teammate, but do you guys need to gang up on everyone you fight over the course of this tournament?" Twilight inquired, though at the same time she picked the warrior up and hurled him at a stone while Dyspo realized that she and his teammate were nearby, not that he could do anything since Hit was currently dominating him as they moved around the stage, "For a bunch of 'honorable' warriors of justice, which you guys love to talk about nonstop, you guys really lack any sense of honor... and, if you are anything like the others that have fallen, you won't have the power to stop what is coming next." The Pride Trooper freed himself and summoned golden threads of energy that he wrapped around the area that the two of them were in, even though they moved into the air and formed a cocoon around Twilight without delay, causing him to chuckle as that happened since it meant he was sure that victory was his. Due to the fact that his entire ability was to use his energy to make threads that obeyed his commands, meaning he could use them however he wished, Twilight simply stood there as her power devoured the energy that was being given to her, and, like most of her foes, he couldn't figure out what was going on as he repeated his mistake. Such a thing amazed Twilight more than it really should, as both Goku and Vegeta had figured out when she was using her ability, even if they couldn't counter her power like they wanted to, but decided that if a warrior was going to be stupid it wasn't her place to stop them. She stood there for a few moments as her foe tried to do something, anything, to bring her down, while at the same time Hit maneuvered Dyspo around the area as he got close to the edge, something the speed warrior didn't seem to realize either as he tried to strike his foe down and claim victory. In the end Twilight decided not to play around as she flashed up to her foe, punched him up into the air, and kicked him hard enough to send him flying towards the void, just in time for Hit to trick Dyspo into rushing off the arena stage, thanks to becoming more like a phantom thanks to his speed, so both warriors fell into the void, reducing Universe 11 to only two warriors, Jiren and Toppo, who fled without a single word. "Maybe I should just do us all a favor and blow them away now, before they come at us again." Twilight remarked, where she raised her right hand for a moment as she pointed at Toppo's back, as she could prepare an attack that would knock him, at the very least, out of the air and push him out of the arena before he even knew what hit him, but before she had a chance to make up her mind Jiren paused on a stone pillar and turned to look at her, causing her to lower her hand as they locked eyes, "Actually, never mind... his perception skills really are amazing." "Do you think you can beat him?" Goku inquired, because he could see that Twilight was studying Jiren, who seemed to be watching her as well, which only made him interested in what she had to say, due to the fact that it would give him an idea as to whether or not he could actually do the same. "Jiren? Most likely... he's probably the only one here that would require me to use my transformations, and based on the well of power I'm getting from him I'd need my final form." Twilight stated, because she could tell that the power the silent warrior was giving off right now was enough to ensure that no one dared to come at him, save for Goku since she knew the Saiyan would want to challenge the best warrior in Universe 11, "Super Saiyan Blue 4 should be able to beat him, but it would be one interesting fight, it that's what you are wondering." Goku smiled as he heard that and headed out to see if he could find any additional fighters before worrying about JIren, a warmup of sorts no doubt, allowing Twilight to head out to do the same as the warrior from Universe 11 moved on from his perch, where she found that Gohan had found his way into another fight, this time with someone from the mouse's universe by the looks of it. Such a thing caused her to stop as she stared at a female warrior with large hands that were mostly concealed in her robe, save for when she summoned blue shards that seemed to be talismans of some kind, and she weaved them into the surrounding area. Twilight figured out what her plan was at a glance, she was going to use any and all illusions that were in her arsenal to trip him up, knock him out of the arena, but all of this would backfire on her in the end, as Gohan was incredibly smart and was used to illusions being used against him. With all of that in mind it was far too easy for her to tell who the winner of this battle would be, in fact she was beginning to wonder why every universe was targeting them, taking out Goku's insistence for the tournament in question, and knew that, in the end, it would come back to bite everyone in the end. "Sorry, but you picked the wrong opponent." Gohan stated, where he punched the illusionist in the side of the head and knocked her to the ground, stunning the mouse god in the process as another one of his warriors was thrown out of the arena and returned to the stands, before he noticed that Twilight was observing him and rubbed the back of his head for a few seconds. To that she nodded, showing that she was pleased with his work in securing their universe's safety, before noticing that Piccolo was currently engaged with another warrior as well, a youngster who seemed to have bird feet with two talons on each foot for some reason, allowing her to watch for a time. It was clear that the fighter in question was skilled, in fact he might be one of the few warriors from Universe 4 who fought fairly, but his problem was that he, like everyone else, went for a warrior from Universe 7, so that meant he was destined to lose his fight. Piccolo continued to display his newfound strength as he dodged attacks, struck his foe when openings were revealed to him, and generally pushed him back, which caused the young warrior to reveal his trump card, a more muscular bird form, his face gaining a thick beak while his arms gained feathers, the start of wings. His true form was far stronger than his base form and seemed to be growing the more he fought, at least Twilight could see that at a glance as several exchanges happened, but even that wasn't enough for him to beat Piccolo, as the Namekian was simply in another league of power, as he struck his foe in the chest and loosed a Ki blast that sent him off the stage. As all of that happened Frieza and Cooler found themselves under fire from a sniper, someone who clearly wanted to do away with one or more of Universe 7's warriors, and the only reason they knew that was due to a short warthog warrior from Champa's universe got hit by it while coming to challenge them. "A sniper... how dull." Frieza remarked, because out of all the warriors that were attending the Tournament of Power, and all of the powers he had seen so far, this was just plain dumb, especially when he noted that whoever was behind the lone attack lacked the power to actually knock people off the stage, as the warthog was resting nearby. "I would agree with you. From what I can tell, there are two snipers, one firing the blasts and one redirecting them to their intended target." Cooler said, something that was common for them these days, as raising Twilight had allowed him and his brother to grow as a family, especially with their father and Towa's family added to things, meaning they worked far better than they did before she came into their lives, "I would suggest that we use this warrior as bait, force them to show us where on the stage they're hiding, and then take them down before they can react in time... we can eliminate this one when the snipers are taken out." Frieza grinned for a moment as he lifted the downed warrior and hurled him into the air, though the instant that was done he and his brother separated from each other, both zeroing in on the location of a warrior that wanted to take them both down, so when the sniper blasted the poor unconscious warrior they knew exactly where to hit. In fact they were able to confirm that there were two warriors, one fat one who seemed to be the one controlling the direction of the attacks and one who seemed to be the best sniper in all of Universe 2, as the pair recognized which universe they belonged to. Cooler tracked down the fat one and surprised him before he even had a chance to react, punching him to the ground without giving him an opportunity to defend himself, as he knew these warriors liked to flee and didn't want another foe to get away. Frieza did the same thing, as he tracked down the sniper as his foe realized that their plan had failed and slammed him into the ground before he had time to react, where he blasted him a few times to be sure he wouldn't resist what he was going to do next, though once that was done he and Cooler gathered their foes and hurled them from the stage, and did the same to the warthog. While they walked back into the main portion of the stage, however, Frieza knew that something big was coming, what he had no idea, and knew that Twilight would be interested in whatever fight was about to unfold, which only made him and his brother interested in whatever was about to happen. > Tournament: Goku and Jiren Clash > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Following the losses that the other universes suffered, for daring to even challenge Universe 7, Twilight noticed that both Jiren and Toppo were focused on observing the remaining warriors, as if they were debating how to go about winning after seeing her universe dominate everyone else, all while their Destroyer seemed far too chill. Part of her realized why he was acting without a care in the world, as Belmod assumed that Jiren was more than enough and Toppo was enough to back him up, if he needed the aid, though it was possible he was banking on the former's position as the strongest mortal in all the universes to win this tournament. The reality of the situation was that he should be worried, because he was down to two of his warriors, even if they were the strongest, the other universes had lost a fair number of warriors, and her team was the strongest here since all ten of them were still present on the stage. Such a thing made her realize that there was a chance that they might be ganged up on, the other five universes joining forces to try and take them down, which would be a very interesting way for this entire thing to end that much faster, but she shelved the thought as she observed the remaining warriors from the other universes. Kakunsa, for example, was rushing around with her friends, the trio hunting down warriors to eliminate and found that it wasn't as easy for them to do what they had planned, though her attention was pulled back to the stands as she noticed an interesting fact, that being that Belmod had closed his eyes. "What are you planning, clown?" Twilight commented, speaking to herself as she considered the possibilities, since there was no telling what sort of powers the other Gods of Destruction had, before noticing something else that interested her, Jiren also had his eyes closed, causing her to realize what she was seeing right now, "Oh, telepathy. Interesting..." In the next moment, however, the entirety of the Null Realm seemed to be vibrating, or at least the air seemed to be doing that right now, and it was due to Jiren starting to walk towards the one he had designated as his foe, something that also caused every warrior to stop in their tracks. No one fought as he made his move, traversing part of the stage as he walked towards his target, such was the overwhelming power he commanded and the aura he produced, in fact many warriors seemed to move to safe areas so they could observe whatever was going to happen next. Her universe, however, stayed in their positions, silently observing Jiren as he made his move, before discovering that, out of everyone that was still on the stage, he had chosen Goku as his foe, something Twilight knew would excite the Saiyan to no end since he had hoped for such a thing after Toppo revealed that Jiren existed to him. While observing both of them Twilight jumped up to one of the highest points that rested around the stage and stared at the pair, all while discovering that Caulifla and Kale seemed to have the same idea, but they sat to her right while saying nothing, showing her that everyone was interested in Jiren's power and the fight that was about to unfold. As Goku shifted his stance, however, Jiren seemed to focus his eyes and a torrent of wind burst out of the area that he was standing in, though Twilight had to chuckle as many other warriors, from the other universes, paled as they realized that it was his immense energy, which only excited Goku even more than before. "Toppo was right... your power is amazing." Goku said, where he couldn't help but smile as he said that, because Jiren was definitely a worthy foe and he was looking forward to the fight that was about to unfold, even though he noted that his soon to be foe didn't bother to raise his arms and take his own battle stance, like he thought that this fight would be over in a few moments. Jiren just stood there as he waited for Goku to make the first move, in fact he almost seemed like the type to react to the moves of others, though before either of them could do anything a blue goo warrior from Universe 3 rushed in and tried to deal with him, only for Jiren to focus his eyes once more and sent the unfortunate warrior off the stage, much to the surprise of his Kaioshin. "He's got good senses, I'll give him that." Twilight remarked, where she started to make her notes on the warrior's moves and abilities, because out of everyone here he stood the best chance of disrupting her team, but right now he seemed totally focused on Goku and that meant she could get all sorts of information on him before having to fight him, "Now, how will this battle go down?" The pair stared at each other for a few more moments before Goku figured out that Jiren wanted him to make the first move of their fight, to which he summoned a bit of his energy and fired a Kamehameha at his foe, only to discover that he was untouched as his eye power seemed to form a barrier in front of him that diverted the beam into strands that didn't come close to touching him. Twilight realized the truth of the matter, Jiren's enormous power had formed a wall in front of him, causing the beam to break up like that it was nothing, something that seemed to interest some of the other gods as their battle finally started, meaning this was something everyone was interested in. After that Goku went Super Saiyan as he charged at Jiren, finding that his foe didn't even flinch as he received a punch to the face, in fact he didn't move at all, a fact that interested Twilight greatly, especially when Goku moved into a flurry of blows on his foe's chest, which also did nothing to the imposing warrior. Super Saiyan 2 fared about the same, Jiren just stood there and tanked the attacks like it was nothing before his might, and Twilight was intrigued by the fact that not even Super Saiyan 3 did anything to Jiren, as it really made her wonder how much power the warrior from Universe 11 really had. Goku, sensing that those forms weren't doing anything for him right now, backed off for just a moment before powering down to his base form and transformed into his next transformation, causing Jiren to raise an eyebrow as he watched the warrior take on his Super Saiyan 4 form. "What is that?!" Caulifla asked, as while she could assume that the long haired version, that made Goku look more like a brute, was Super Saiyan 3, which happened to be what she was working towards after figuring out how to use the second form at long last, this more red furred ape form was an unknown to her. "Super Saiyan 4, a form that's even stronger than it's predecessor." Twilight replied, where she understood why Caulifla had chosen to sit near her during this fight, she was the one who knew everything about the forms that her Saiyans used in battle, but she knew that things were about to get serious, because with this form Goku was at the peak of what he was capable of without his various god forms. Her thoughts were proven right as Goku rushed back into battle and swung at Jiren, who moved a finger into the path of his fist and blocked it, though the ground itself shuddered and cracked under the pressure of their energies coming into contact with each other. This was the benefit of constantly training with her and understanding his transformations, as the Saiyan now possessed a power that was beyond what most of the other warriors from the other universes had, and when faced with the might of Jiren it proved to be a worthy form to use against him. Sure, it didn't seem to be doing too much in the grand scheme of things, but forcing his foe to move his right hand and use a finger to block attacks was far better than being totally ignored, like he had experienced with his first three forms, and she knew that Goku was only getting started with this fight. Everyone watched as Goku backed off for a moment, returned to his base form, and transformed into his Super Saiyan God form, where this time his punches were much faster and Jiren had to respond with more speed to catch up with him, while the collision of their energies shattered the floor around them, leaving a crater where Jiren had chosen to stand for this part of the fight. Eventually the truth dawned on Goku as he realized that Jiren was waiting for him to get serious, to use the form that he and everyone else knew about, to which he backed off for a moment and powered up again, taking on his Super Saiyan Blue form at long last while everyone stared at him in awe. This time around the battle actually moved around the area as Goku punched Jiren, who raised his arms to block it and was pushed back, as he was sent into one of the large rock pillars before the Saiyan pushed him through it, smashing it and a few behind it to pieces as they started to move around the arena. Unfortunately Jiren regained the upper hand as he resisted Goku's attacks and knocked him around, showing that he was capable of dominating his foe while his attacks packed enough power to flatten whatever was around them. In fact he picked up Goku by one of his legs and swung him like a club, breaking some of the rock pillars like they were made of candy or some really weak material, meaning his own power had to be even stronger than the hardest material in all of Universe 7, which only made Twilight eager to see how he and everyone else would react to Goku's true power. Goku, despite that fact, continued to put up a fight with the form he had chosen right now, as he wanted to learn more of Jiren's power before getting more serious, though the difference in power allowed Jiren to throw him around like he was nothing more than a toy for him to dismantle. With that in mind he slammed Goku into the ground and left a small crater where the Saiyan landed, where he landed on one of the rocks and stared down at his foe as he waited for something to happen, though how he crossed his arms told all of them that he assumed the battle was over. "The battle is over, Son Goku... you've lost." Jiren stated, showing everyone that he believed that his overwhelming power was more than enough to settle the match here and now, instead of giving his foe a chance to actually show him all of his power, though in that moment he paused as he, not to mention everyone else, felt the pressure in the air shift as Champa and the gods of Universe 6 realized something they had totally forgotten, "What the...?" "Sorry, Jiren, but I'm far from tapped out." Goku replied, where he emerged from the mess and stared at his foe, where all of the warriors and gods realized that something was different about him, his hair had taken on the form of Super Saiyan 2 while also retaining the color of Blue, though he shifted his stance without delay, "This is Super Saiyan Blue 2." As Jiren realized that Goku had another form, however, the Saiyan rushed through the air and punched him square in the face, pushing him down into the floor of the stage without wasting time, something that forced him to regain himself as he went on the offensive once more. Twilight grinned as that happened, because Super Saiyan Blue 2 was far stronger than all of the forms that came before it, even base Blue for that matter, and it didn't look like anyone, save for the two Saiyans from Universe 6, even suspected that Goku had something beyond this form. Jiren had to dip into his well of power just to deal with Goku's new power, and while he was able to knock his foe into the ground, like he had done previously, the Saiyan just got back up with a smile on his face and kicked his opponent through some of the rocks as he released a few Ki blasts, which tore the area apart as they followed Jiren. Of course Belmod still didn't seem worried in the slightest, rather he had too much faith in Jiren's power as his warrior got back up and rushed into battle once more, where everyone watched as the collision of his energy and Goku's flattened the area around them, showing that both of them were skilled and both had great wells of power to call on. Eventually Jiren pulled enough of his slumbering power out and managed to grab Goku by the head, allowing him to throw the Saiyan through some of the rocks that were around them, breaking more of the stage while doing so, and when Goku tried to rush at him the warrior simply kicked him hard in the chest and sent him down into the ground. Goku, as Twilight expected, wasn't about to stop there as the air vibrated once more and he emerged in his penultimate form, Super Saiyan Blue 3, surprising everyone in the process since they clearly weren't expecting the Saiyan to even have another form after the one he had been using. This time around the power he was using allowed him to shatter rocks and the area around them with much greater ease than before, while at the same time his greater control allowed him to deal powerful blows to Jiren's chest, surprising the warrior since he clearly wasn't expecting this sort of power to be used against him in the entire tournament. Since he was getting used to Goku's new power, and was determining just how much he had to use to counter it, they watched as the Saiyan punched Jiren through some of the rock pillars and shattered them, taking the fight all over the large area that had been given to them by the rest of the warriors, and it was only now that Belmod had any worry that his warrior might be eliminated. Jiren even tried to reach for Goku's longer hair, figuring that it would be a way for him to regain control of the situation, but such a thing only allowed his foe to flip backwards onto his arm, leap into the air, and release a volley of Ki blasts down on where he was standing, blasting more of the stage away as Jiren was forced to back off. Jiren rushed back into battle after calling forth more of his power, showing that he was taking this serious as he used both of his hands to try and divert Goku's attacks, only to find that he might have misjudged his foe's punches as several slipped through his defenses and struck him. Twilight knew what was going on and informed Caulifla accordingly, the power of the Super Saiyan Blue 3 form was far greater than the power that Super Saiyan Blue 2 commanded, in fact one could argue that it was an explosive growth in power and she would agree with them, since that was the difference between Super Saiyan 2 and Super Saiyan 3. The Saiyan from Universe 6 was amazed by the sheer power that was being thrown around right now, Goku utilizing a form that was capable of standing up to the overwhelming strength and power that Jiren had, while Beerus was pleased, since the more Jiren was pushed the greater Goku's chances of knocking him off the stage were. Jiren even had a chance to punch Goku in the side of the face and found that his foe didn't seem to care, rather he smiled as he punched his opponent in return and kicked him hard in the chest, pushing him back into one of the rock pillars, which they were now running out of, based on what Twilight was seeing. This time around Jiren shattered the rocks around him by releasing even more of his power, creating a red heat aura in the process, as Twilight could feel actual heat coming from it, that vanished after the warrior had accomplished his goal, but he rushed back into battle without wasting time. He was now stronger than before, which seemed to be common for Jiren, given everything that had happened so far, and it sure seemed like he was being forced to use far more of his power than even he expected when he was told to take Goku down, to the point where Twilight was sure he was nearing his own limits. Goku felt that power as Jiren resumed his assault, the collision of their fists shattering everything around them as the pair remained in the same spot, meaning they were more focused on fighting and less on moving, though it was easy to see that, despite being powered up, Jiren might actually be losing ground as he blocked a kick, as he started to move back as Goku spun around and knocked him down into the ground. That was when he seemed to use all of his strength as he punched his foe into the chin, grabbed him while he was in the air, and slammed him down into the ground with far more force than necessary, creating cracks in the arena floor with ease as he backed up, all while Goku reverted back to his base form. To anyone who wasn't used to how Saiyans worked this was seen as the end of the battle, that Goku had lost and that his ring out was about to happen, where Jiren huffed for a moment as he backed up and focused down on the crater, almost as if he might be disappointed that the battle was over, just like that. "This time, Son Goku, the battle is truly over." Jiren remarked, though this time he kept his guard up as he started to make his way down to where his foe was resting, but as he took the first step, however, the Null Realm started to shake, which caused him and the observing gods to realize that the fight wasn't over yet, "No... it can't be..." Blue lightning flashed in the air, striking the ground in several places around the arena floor, as Goku transformed into his final form, where everything around him shattered to dust as he floated out of the crater, revealing the Super Saiyan Blue 4 form to everyone that was watching them. "This is the pinnacle of what a Saiyan is capable of: Super Saiyan Blue 4, a form that is far above what the other forms are capable of." Twilight stated, though she was pleased by the fact that the gods of the other universes were surprised by this turn of events, as it meant they had underestimated the other universes, especially hers, and she could see that Jiren was taken aback by the transformation as well. Goku shifted his stance as he went on the offensive, punching Jiren in the chest before knocking him to the side with a kick from his right leg, shattering everything that was in the path of the attack as he demonstrated the sheer power he held in this form, before he rushed after his opponent. As Jiren recovered, however, it was far too easy to find that he was angry over what was going on, that there was someone who could match his power and even overcome it, while at the same time all of the watchers were amazed by the power Goku possessed, as if they were now understanding why Universe 7 had risen in the rankings so fast. It was clear that no one had been able to reach his level since he gained his power, that much Twilight could tell as the two moved around the stage, shattering everything around them as blue lightning flashed and hit the ground, the sheer impact of their attacks causing things to crumple to dust around them. While they fought an interesting thing happened, Jiren summoned all of his power and lashed out at Goku, crushing him and the area around him with both his flaming aura and a barrage of Ki blasts that tore everything around him apart, before he released what looked like a massive aura cloud that covered the area above the stage. He was preparing a massive blast, one that almost looked like a sun as it shrunk down to the size of a head, that he sent down into the crater he had knocked Goku into, though as that happened all of it vanished as Goku surged into the air, caught it, and landed near his foe, only to position his hands, and the energy sphere, near his right side before using it in a really powerful Kamehameha blast that Jiren avoided. This was one of the few unique abilities that a Saiyan gained when utilizing the Super Saiyan 4 transformation, and it had carried over to Super Saiyan Blue 4 as well, the power to take an enemy's energy attack, gain control of it, and then use it in whatever manner they wanted. It was similar to an energy absorption ability, much like Twilight's ability, but it didn't do anything to the user's own energy, rather it was simply a way for them to use a foe's attack against them and potentially turn the tide, though when it came to fighting her, for example, it was a power neither Goku or Vegeta used since it would only strengthen her in the end. Against the likes of Jiren, however, the ability was incredibly powerful, especially since the warrior from Universe 11 had avoided his transformed attack, as if sensing that taking it head on was a bad thing, but that only opened the way for Goku to lay into him, his strength growing as the moments went by. As their fists collided Twilight knew what it was, this form had an explosive growth rate, in fact it matched her insane growth speed, and while Jiren had been stronger a few moments ago he was now being left in the dust by Goku, fueling his own rage as it slowly pulled more of his latent energy to the surface. With all of this happening Belmod was freaking out, he had never seen anyone stand up to Jiren like this, and when Jiren tried to unleash a flurry of Ki blasts on Goku, to knock him down, the Saiyan kicked him in the chest and stole his attack as they came at him, allowing him to return them to Jiren as they struck his chest, blasting him into a rock pillar that was on the outskirts of where they had been fighting. "Now I understand why Belmod wanted you defeated first... you really are the strongest warrior in your universe." Jiren remarked, taking just a moment to pull himself free of the pillar he had been blasted into, where he found that the front of his attire was tattered and ruined in places, meaning he had to be careful with how he tackled the rest of this fight, as Goku had the power to take him down if he wasn't careful. "Did Belmod tell you that I'm the strongest warrior in my universe? Because that's wrong." Goku replied, as while he was honored to have Jiren think of him in such a way, that he stood above everyone else that happened to be from Universe 7, he wanted to make sure the warrior knew the truth of the matter as he beckoned to Twilight, causing Jiren to glance at her as many of the gods focused on her as well, "I'm the second strongest... or maybe I'm the fourth, since it's been awhile since I've fought Frieza and Cooler... but the honor of being the strongest warrior in our universe goes to Twilight Sparkle, Dark Queen of the Demon Realm and Ruler of the Known Universe." The word 'demon' triggered Jiren as he burst out of the pillar, rushed into the air, and zeroed in on Twilight without delay, where she got up and raised a hand, stopping the attack as she caught his fist and hurled the enraged warrior off to the side, where he landed near Toppo, who had clearly never seen the warrior in such a state. "Toppo, call the warriors of the other universes to you. I require no distractions for my next fight." Jiren stated, which was followed by both his fellow teammate and his gods being surprised, though Twilight already knew what was going through his mind as he stared at her and her team, something in him had snapped and he was going to use the other universes to keep Universe 7 busy. "So that's what he wants... to unite all of the other universes against us." Twilight commented, something that caused the pair of Saiyans from Universe 6 to raise their eyebrows as they heard Toppo call for everyone to come to him, while at the same time everyone from her universe remained in one area, before she considered how Jiren had reacted to gaining a bit of information about her, "He wants to fight me, without having to worry about such powerful warriors rushing to my aid if I am overwhelmed... it's touching, but unnecessary. My team knows not to interfere with my fights." As the warriors of the universes turned to face Universe 7, showing that they understood the danger that a team with all of their fighters posed to everyone else, two warriors walked away from everyone else, much to Champa's annoyance, as it was none other than Hit, followed closely by Cabba. "Well, you won't be fighting them alone... I know we aren't as strong as your team, but you seem to have a good wish that you want to have granted, so we'll join you." Caulifla said, because if Hit was turning away from the other warriors, to join those from Universe 7, that meant it was best if they did so as well, especially after discovering that the power that Goku and Vegeta had was far beyond what she had imagined upon hearing of Super Saiyan Blue 4, "Besides, it seems like this is going to be fun." Twilight said nothing to that as her team, now boosted by the presence of Hit, Cabba, Caulifla, and Kale, faced the rest of the warriors from the other universes, showing the gods that a change had swept through the tournament and that the end was vastly approaching, and she was eager to see what sort of fights were going to happen next. > Tournament: Universal Chaos > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "It would seem that our countless victories, with no losses, has convinced the other universes to band against us," Frieza remarked, as this was an interesting change of pace, because he suspected that they would have tackled the threats of the other universes one at a time, like they had been doing so far, and it was easy for him and the others to see that even the gods were surprised by this turn of events, while the Zenos seemed happy, "Though it would appear that your Namekians have decided to remain loyal to Champa." "Saonel and Pilina are free to make their own decisions... even if this one is one of the wrong ones." Hit stated, though at the same time he had to wonder what was going through their minds, as while they wanted to protect their universe he knew that siding with the universes that were losing just seemed like the worst thing both of them could do, especially since all of them knew that Twilight would try to restore all of reality. "Indeed. Well then, let us show the other universes the power of Universe 7 and it's allies." Twilight said, as she flashed down to where the rest of the team was standing, for just a moment anyway, allowing them to know that, if this was how their opponents wanted to do things, then they would show their opponents no fear and face them with their full power. Sure enough the warriors of her universe readied themselves, prompting Hit and the Saiyans of Universe 6 to do the same thing, before she flashed back to where she had been standing previously, allowing her to focus on Jiren while Toppo's force got ready to do whatever they were planning on doing. She still found this to be interesting, that the other universes would decide to band together against her team, almost like they trusted Toppo more than they trusted her, and it only made her interested in what sort of powers the other universes had to show off. The other thing was that her opponent seemed to be studying her right now, now doubt gauging her strength while determining if what Goku had said was the truth, that she was stronger than the Saiyan was, which was hard to do since she was keeping her true power hidden for the time being. Such a thing caused her to keep an eye on Jiren as she waited for the battle to resume, though as she did that Twilight found that the warriors of Universe 2 had pulled out pink glow sticks, almost like they were raving or doing something, which was followed by Ribrianne starting to glow in a golden light. Such a thing caused her team to burst into action, Frieza and Cooler following Ribrianne and her companions, Vegeta had his sights on three warriors of Universe 2, Shandy and his fellow trainees targeted Toppo, Piccolo and Gohan focused on the remainder of Universe 3's robotic warriors, Goku and Hit went after the last warriors of Universe 4, and Caulifla's team focused on the Namekians of their universe. "Well, that's everyone accounted for... which just leaves you and me." Twilight remarked, where she turned her head to the side for a moment as Jiren landed nearby, though it seemed like he was taking his time, studying her before starting what might be the last battle of the entire tournament, causing her to focus most of her attention on the other fights as all of the warriors took their desired places, "Feel free to rest up, Jiren. I'll fight you when you are ready for another round." Jiren said nothing as they watched as Ribrianne was enveloped in a golden right, where Heles revealed to the various gods of the other universes that her group was actually broadcasting the tournament to the rest of their universe, a universe that was actually sending their love, their energy, to something that was giving it to Ribrianne. Twilight realized that it was like the rules of the Spirit Bomb, one person gathering the energy to form an attack, but instead of forming a sphere like attack, however, she absorbed the love energy, as she called it, and transformed into what had to be the greatest form in her entire arsenal. They watched as she expanded outward, into a large version of her ugly obese form, becoming a giant that stood above everyone and even gained large butterfly wings for some odd reason, something that caused both of her friends to land on her shoulders, no doubt so they could add their energy to her own. While that happened the remaining three members of their team, three males, did something strange as they were inspired by the love that Ribrianne's team was displaying, they were enveloped in the same love energy as one took on Ribrianne's dress, one took Roasie's robe, and the third gained Kakunsa's feral attire. As the three males faced Vegeta, who remained in his base form since they didn't seem to be worth his time, Ribrianne glanced down at her foes as Frieza and Cooler stood there, not looking very impressed by what they were seeing at the moment, before Twilight felt a change in their energies. "Let us see how the power of love stands up to the power of our true forms." Frieza stated, as he knew that their foes had their sights on crushing them and breaking the stage in the process, though in that moment both he and Cooler changed up their stances as a golden aura surrounded them. For a moment the two were enveloped in their energies as a bright golden light covered them, surprising the gods of the other universes, and when the light disappeared the pair stood there in their Golden forms, something that came as quite the surprise to not only those who were watching the fight go down, but also those who were trying to take down the rest of Universe 7. "Behold the terrifying might of Golden Cooler and Golden Frieza!" Cooler stated, where he and his brother stood there for a few moments, grins on their faces as they stared up at their massive foe and her allies, targets that they, together, would deal with in no time and cripple Universe 2, as Ribrianne seemed to be their strongest warrior and by taking her out Heles would know that her time was up. "Don't be absurd! There's nothing that love cannot overcome!" Ribrianne loudly said, where she raised her right arm and sent a fist down to where the pair were standing, all while her allies poured their own energies into the attack, giving it a blue and yellow aura, only for the brothers to stand their ground as they punched at the fist, stalling it in seconds, much to the surprise of all of Universe 2, "What? Where could ones such as yourselves, those without love, have this sort of power and strength?" "Twilight, my daughter I'll have you know, taught me many things over the years... one of them just so happened to be all sorts of love!" Frieza replied, because without his daughter he had no idea where his life would be right now, which he had no desire to even think about this he preferred this reality, especially since the power he commanded was likely far more than what he would have obtained on his own, before he glanced to the side, "Come, brother, let us finish this!" "Agreed." Cooler stated, where he and Frieza pushed forward for a moment and everyone watched as they shattered the fist that was in front of them, though before Ribrianne had a chance to pull her arm back they jumped onto it and started to run towards the head, which seemed to be where their main target was located, even if the two warriors needed to go before they did anything else. As the two rushed up the energy arm, however, both Roasie and Kakunsa descended to engage their opponents, showing them that the trio wanted to eliminate them as soon as possible, though Cooler did jump over to Ribrianne's left arm as she tried to reach for them, smashing her energy hand as he targeted someone else. Frieza found that Kakunsa came at him while Roasie descended on Cooler, though both of them had seen the skills and abilities of the girls beforehand and knew exactly how to bring them down in no time, as he spun around and struck his foe with his tail while Cooler slipped a punch through his opponent's defenses. With both stunned the brothers kicked their opponents out into the void, but as they did that Ribrianne opened her mouth and started to charge a pink beam of energy, causing them to leap out into the open so they could be together in front of it, as both summoned their energies without delay. Frieza and Cooler fired red beams of energy that wrapped around each other and merged into a single entity, while at the same time Ribrianne fired hers to stop them, though their beam smashed through her attack with ease, barreled into her giant form, and struck her with enough force to knock her out of her transformation and send her over the edge. The brothers landed nearby as the three warriors of Universe 2 appeared on the stands, in their base forms as they hung their heads in disappointment, though as that happened the air vibrated as Vegeta transformed into his highest form as well, that being Super Saiyan Blue 4, showing his opponents that he was going to honor them, even though it meant that they were outclassed. "Well done, Universe 7. Your strength is enough to challenge our love... very well then, let us finish this." one warrior, the one copying Ribrianne, stated, where he and his teammates informed Vegeta that their emotion was going to be coming at him as they combined their own love powers into a single black heart that formed above their heads. Vegeta stood there as he crossed his arms, as he wanted to see the 'hidden technique of ruin' as Heles called it, or Pretty Black Hole as the warriors titled it when they brought it down on his position, though he discovered why they called it that, as the twisted and black heart held the power to manipulate gravity. As it crashed into him, however, Vegeta discovered that it wasn't terribly impressive, because like everyone else on the team he had experienced Twilight's gravity training in the past and this really didn't hold a candle to it, causing him to sigh as he shifted his stance. In that moment he raised his arms so they were positioned in the Final Flash pose, where lightning arced outwards from his position for a time as he focused on where his foes were positioned, who were no doubt surprised by the fact that he was resisting their attack, all while their gods had to be simply stunned. Once he was sure that he had enough power Vegeta brought his hands in front of him, forming the core of his signature attack, before firing it without delay, where it surged through the gravity that was around him, struck the edge of the heart, and then tore through it before barreling into all three warriors, sending them off the stage. As he did that, and Heles realized that her time was up once both Zenos got over the battles that were taking place right now, the warriors of Universe 4 found themselves quickly removed from the arena as well, as Hit had hunted them down and, upon finding them all in the same area, used his Time-Skip to send them flying, causing the mouse god to mentally freak out as he realized how screwed he was. While they were cleaning up those universes both Caulifla and Cabba found that their former teammates, the Namekians who had remained hidden until this moment, wanted to take them down first for betraying their universe and their very important mission of saving everyone, and when they tried to inform the pair of the reality of the situation both Saonel and Pilina ignored them. Kale, still coming to terms with everything, did her best to make sure she wasn't in their way, all while trying to figure out a way where she could be helpful, though her fellow Saiyans pushed themselves to use their own highest forms, Super Saiyan 2, as Cabba had unlocked it during a fight before Goku fought Jiren. Sure, they weren't on the level of Goku or Vegeta, especially since they only had two transformations, but that didn't stop the pair from standing up to their former allies, punching and kicking at each other as they kept the two Namekians away from Kale, since they also feared her great and terrible power. As they separated during one such collision, however, Caulifla gathered her power into a sphere of energy and fired it right at one of their foes, the one jumping towards her and Cabba's position, only to find that Cabba did the same, joining his with hers to keep their foe at bay while the other Namekian fired a beam from his mouth as a counter. As their two beams fought each other, however, both she and Cabba smiled at Kale before focusing their energy on what needed to be done, though it seemed to convince her that she needed to stop being so weak and the rage at her being so weak, in her mind anyway, was more than enough to force the transformation. This time around Twilight found that she wasn't totally a berserker, rather she had used her rage and anger to undergo a Super Saiyan transformation, allowing her to join her own beam to the beam struggle, much to the surprise of everyone that was observing them. She quickly found that neither Namekian was backing down and even boosted their Ki to the highest point, where she determined that the pair must have combined with a number of their own kind, much like how Piccolo and Kami had done, meaning their full power was pretty good. Kale, upon sensing that, listened to both of her friends as she tapped into her true power, under her own terms, and bulked up into her berserker form, with the green hair, allowing her to put out even more energy so all three of them could eliminate the pair of Namekians, sending them over the edge as well. The gods of the various universes were rightly worried at this point, as none of the warriors in the stands had survived their collisions with the warriors of Universe 7, something that clearly worried the gods who still had warriors to fall back on, especially since Universe 3 only had a few left while Belmod had Toppo and Jiren to rely on. As all of that was happening an orange pillar of flaming energy burst into the air nearby as Piccolo finally unlocked the full power he had been given by Shenron when he made his wish to have his potential unleashed, as he had been fighting the warriors of Universe 3, knocking off a guy in a speed suit before facing the rest that had drive him into a corner. It looked like three of the remaining four warriors of the robotic universe had combined into a warrior known as 'Koiceareta', which was just the three docking together to form a complete form, but while it's power was great, far more than they were just a few moments ago, Piccolo had used the though of being eliminated to break his shell. This was a true transformation for him, where his body became taller and bulkier than before, while his body took on an orange coloration as his arms took on a dark orange color, and his more pronounced facial features made him look more like a brutish warrior. His power, on the other hand, was far more than the combined warrior could handle as he tanked punches and kicks without showing any signs of being taken down, and when it was his turn to fight back a single punch from him knocked his foe to the floor, much to the surprise of everyone from Universe 3. When he moved to throw his foe off the stage, and reduce the number of warriors from his universe to just one, the last warrior, a scientist, jumped over to the combined warrior and merged with it, resulting in a white light piercing the air for a moment as a giant purple skinned warrior, with a black chest piece and white bits on his hands, legs, and neck. This being, so named Agnilasa by those from Universe 3, was the ultimate warrior for their team, a merged fighter who, in their eyes, should have had the power to win the tournament, but now he had to use his power to take down Piccolo and Gohan, the latter standing off to the side while his mentor fought. Of course Piccolo wasn't one to hog all the attention as he switched out with his student, though Twilight could see his lips moving and knew that the Namekian was reminding him to think about what he was fighting for, a common motto for Twilight when she pushed people to unlock new forms to defend their loved ones with. What happened next was that Gohan let loose a roar that shook the area around him for a time, where his aura changed into a purple portion near his body and a light blue outer edge, joined by red lightning, an interesting change in her mind, and his hair was the most prominent change, as while it took on a form similar to Super Saiyan 2 it was much longer and it was light gray colored. Twilight assumed that he must have imagined the possibility of them losing this event, something that could happen since there was no telling if Jiren had any power still trapped inside his being, and the thought of losing everyone he cared about, including his daughter, must have awakened some power that was waiting for a chance to shine. Agnilasa had no chance at victory after that point, as the moment he tried to punch Gohan they found that the warrior just stood there and tanked the attack, reminding those who had seen the Cell Games of how he fought Cell, before he simply jumped into the air and kicked his foe. It wasn't just the kick, rather he forced his foe backwards by pushing forward, while rocks around them shattered under the weight of his new power, though once he was done he jumped back and landed near Piccolo, who seemed pleased by what was going on. Agnilasa paused for a moment before a pair of white wings burst out of his back and allowed him to take to the air, though instead of getting close to Gohan and Piccolo, as if frightened of the pair, he raised his hand towards the sky and summoned a massive sphere of red energy, one that shook the fighting stage for a moment as he shrunk it down to a more manageable size. Gohan, on the other hand, moved back to a spot that gave him a good view of his foe and raised his right hand to his forehead, taking the stance that would allow him to charge the Special Beam Cannon, though this one was more blue than before, like he was combining Piccolo's attack with the full power of the Kamehameha. She wasn't sure if that was what was going on or not, but when Gohan fired it at Agnilasa, who hurled his sphere at him, the beam was definitely blue, though that hardly mattered as it struck the incoming attack, tore through it like it was nothing, and pierced Agnilasa's forehead, destroying the gem that was up there, though when he fell over the edge the four warriors who had merged to make him returned to the bench in their original states. "Fascinating. So I'm going to guess 'Orange Piccolo' and 'Beast Gohan'... Universe 3 never stood a chance." Twilight said, as she was paying close attention to all of the fights that were going on right now, while Jiren seemed to be patiently waiting for the time to make his next move, before she turned her head towards the last group that was on the stage, something that all of the gods did as well. Toppo was clearly having a hard time fighting Caser, Saria, and Shandy, even though the three warriors were changing up who happened to be fighting him at any moment, as one moment it would be Caser striking him and the next it would be Saria dodging punches before delivering her own. He was strong, there was no denying that fact, but when paired up with the three warriors there was no way for him to realistically win this fight, and he seemed to understand that fact while they slipped attacks through his defenses, as Saria loosed a transparent blast that expanded outward into what appeared to be a large spherical rabbit head, complete with ears. The interesting thing came after that attack, which tore the upper portion of his uniform to shreds, revealing his bare chest for everyone to see, though it seemed like something in him had snapped as he started to gather more of his power, revealing that he had access to godly Ki and, more importantly, that it felt more like a Destroyer's energy. That allowed Twilight to realize why Toppo had been present during the Zen Exhibition Match, he was being groomed to replace Belmod as Universe 11's God of Destruction, so it had been a way for him to give the warrior a bit of experience into what he did, and it wasn't long before he was enveloped in a bright light. When the light settled down they found that Toppo's body had bulked up a little, while gaining an aura of destruction energy around him, and it appeared that he gained some sort of marking, the same as what was on Belmod's attire, on his chest, all while surprising many of the gods in the process. "Toppo has made up his mind... he has forsaken justice, in favor of destruction." Jiren commented, not that Twilight needed to hear such a thing, since she was familiar with how a God of Destruction trained their replacements or even those who interested them, but instead of speaking she kept her attention on the last fight that was happening before she turned on her foe and started to fight for the fate of the multiverse. "Ah yeah, that's what I'm talking about!" Saria stated, showing everyone that they had been hoping for a good foe and that Toppo's transformation was exactly what they were waiting for, though at the same time the figure raised his hand towards them, meaning he was getting ready to attack them. In that moment Toppo called forth a sphere of destruction energy and fired it at the trio, who were standing together right now, where it grew to three times it's normal size in a matter of seconds, though all of the observers were caught off guard by what was going on, since they were expecting the trio to move. Shandy, Saria, and Caser simply stood there and raised their hands towards the attack, allowing their own energies to come into contact with the dark purple sphere, stalling it for a time as their foe tried to make it collide with them, before they revealed their own trump card to everyone. The same energy washed over the trio as they took on their own transformed states, where Heles and everyone sat there in silence as they took in the fact that Beerus not only had someone like Toppo in his universe, a God of Destruction trainee, but he had three of them, as if this was an uncommon thing to see. The collision of the four destruction energies caused the sphere to grow and expand before their eyes, until it eventually detonated with enough energy that surged outward, causing everyone to look away as Twilight set up a barrier around the rest of her team, all while the sky itself turned purple and moved like they were in a nebula. The attack also had an interesting side effect, it caused a crack to form in the ground of the stage and split the entire thing down the middle, breaking it into a left half and a right half, displaying the sheer power that the four trainees possessed, all while Shandy and his friends were just fine. "Let's go Universe 7!" Liquiir called out, showing that he was rooting for the team that was totally dominating everyone right now, and letting Belmod know that he expected Toppo and Jiren to be knocked out in the very near future, before finding that all of the observing gods were looking at him, "What? I can't root for my girlfriend's universe?" "So that's why you've been visiting so much." Beerus remarked, as he had no idea how to process that information, since he and everyone else realized that he was talking about Twilight, hence why he focused on the trainees, because it was time for them to show Belmod and Toppo their power. Toppo launched several more blasts of destruction energy at the trio, where they coated their legs in the same energy for a moment and kicked them back at their opponent, blasting bits of the area he was standing in to pieces, as some of them could have hit their allies, if they were unlucky, so this way the battle stayed in the area they were in. In that instant both he and Belmod realized that Shandy, Caser, and Saria already knew the only way to beat up Toppo, which was negatting his destructive aura with either the same power or something that was strong enough to overcome it, which depended on how strong his opponent was. Belmod growled for a moment as he understood that they, and by that he meant himself and all of the other universes, had drastically underestimated the power of Beerus' universe, as he found that not even his own apprentice could stand before the might of Beerus', as the red lion smashed through Toppo's attacks with ease, the younger lookalike crushed the barriers, and the rabbit blasted the area around him. They were far too skilled for someone like Toppo to take down, not when his training had been focused on fighting single opponents, he hadn't gotten to taking on multiple targets and, as a consequence, his apprentice was suffering, causing him to sigh as the Pride Troopers did their best to cheer on their leader. In the end it hardly mattered as the trio flashed in front of Toppo, gathered their energy into a single point, and loosed a powerful blast that tore the surrounding area apart, only for Belmod to find that his apprentice was the only one to fly out into the void as the trio stood there with smiles on their faces. "All that remains is you, Jiren." Twilight commented, all while everyone on her team moved over to an area that should be out of the way, since they suspected that the upcoming fight would move all over the place, causing her to turn towards her foe, who had crossed his arms during all of the other conflicts, no doubt to focus on her, "Come, let us bring an end to the Tournament of Power." She suspected that this was going to be an interesting fight, especially after everything that had happened so far, and she was eager to see what else Jiren had in the tank before bringing an end to the tournament so she could get her hands on the Super Dragon Balls, but for the time being she focused on her foe as everyone waited for the final battle to start. > Tournament: Climactic Battle > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "And here we are, witnessing the final battle of the Tournament of Power, between the two greatest warriors in the entire multiverse." Frieza commented, where he smiled as he and the others focused on Twilight and Jiren from what should be a safe location, given that there was a faint barrier around them that had to be from his daughter, just to be sure they didn't get hit by any of her foe's attacks, "Ladies and gentlemen, prepare yourselves for the fight of your lives." "Your team thinks this will be the final battle... they are wrong." Jiren stated, because while he knew that Goku was strong, and so was Vegeta, there weren't too many warriors for him to worry about right now, in fact it seemed like the one that Goku claimed to be the strongest in his universe might be weaker than he first thought, "I will ring you out first, then I'll do the same to the rest of your alliance." "And it seems like someone else has a bad habit of not listening. I am the strongest warrior in Universe 7, and if you had difficulty dealing with Goku, well, you'll have a bad time with me." Twilight replied, where she shifted her stance as she kept her eyes on her opponent, as he was a warrior that was worth giving her full attention to, all while she noticed that both of the Zenos and all of the observers leaned forward as they waited for the battle to start. Jiren stood there for a moment before rushing at his foe, where he swung his fist down at her and found something that caught him and Belmod by surprise, she moved out of the way like it was nothing, avoiding the attack entirely, causing him to go on the offensive. Twilight responded by raising her arms to block the attacks that were coming at her, when she wasn't dodging one every now and then, though she mentally frowned as she realized what was going on in an instant, her foe had pulled most of his power back inside him, returning him to how he had been at the start of the tournament. It meant that he wasn't taking her seriously, that he refused to believe that there was someone stronger than Goku on her team, though it also meant that when she started to push him back he would respond by drawing forth all of his power in a short period of time. If he refused to take her seriously it would come back to bite him, as she wasn't something that any of her foes could afford to underestimate, and yet everyone from the other universes thought of her as the weakest of her entire team, forcing her to end an entire universe all by herself. With those thoughts in mind she went on the offensive, where she avoided an incoming punch and brought her knee into Jiren's chest, surprising him since he clearly wasn't expecting her to put up a fight, before she spun around and kicked him in the side, sending him flying away from where she was standing. Instead of giving him time to recover, or even think about what was going on, Twilight followed after Jiren and laid into him with a barrage of punches and kicks, crushing a rock pillar he had been knocked into as she pushed him away from where they had been standing a few moments ago. Jiren reached for her head with one of his hands and she knocked it away with a swing of her arm, showing him that he needed to get serious about this and not treat her like a weakling, leading to her grabbing his head in retaliation before slamming him into the ground. With that done she backed off and jumped into the air, allowing her to fire a barrage of Ki blasts down on her foe, blasting the entire area away in the span of a couple of seconds, before a rumbling stopped her, as she knew exactly what it meant and was ready for her foe to come rushing at her with more of his power. Rather than follow her expectations Jiren summoned far more of his power than she thought he'd do, since she was expecting him to act more like a reasonable warrior and not someone fueled by rage, where he just exploded the entire area around where she had left him and rushed at her. In the following moment she confirmed that he was far stronger than he had been moments ago, in fact it seemed like the sheer thought of finding a strong warrior was causing him to go mental, at least in his head based on the neutral look on his face, as he punched her in the chest, knocking her to the ground in the process, before grabbing her leg to smash her into the surrounding area. He was angry, that much was clear to her, either because of the fact that Goku was stronger than him or the fact that she stood above Goku, she really had no idea what was going through his mind right now, but as she thought about that twilight summoned her power and broke free of his hold. It was short-lived as Jiren grabbed her by the head and slammed her into one of the rock pillars, hard enough to break the entire structure and leave her in a pile of rubble, which he proceeded to blast multiple times, almost in a rapid fire motion. She was impressed that he was able to call forth so much of his power in such a short period of time, almost as if it was trapped behind a dam or something and flooded out whenever he needed it, or whenever his rage forced him to undo his inner seals so he could stand up to those that annoyed him. With that in mind she decided it was time to play ball as she called forth the power of her first transformation, blowing all of the remaining rubble away as she took on her Dark Form, surprising all of the watchers as they realized that her power was far greater than what she had been using for a long time. "This, Jiren, is my Dark Form, a transformation that all Demon Gods and Goddesses have to learn how to use before they reach the point they can use their godly forms," Twilight stated, though this was also for the other gods and watchers, so they understood her forms and didn't get confused whenever she did anything, even though it was pretty straight forward considering the progression of her couple of transformations, "most who gain access to this state soon leave it in the dust after gaining the power to transform into their Demon God or Demon Goddess forms... I, on the other hand, kept it since it's a wonderful form to use..." "I do not care. All this does is confirm that you are an evil demon, who needs to be destroyed."Jiren replied, showing them that he really didn't like her, simply because of what she was and not what she had done, which was somewhat annoying in Twilight's mind, especially since it just clouded his mind with anger. "Seriously, what's your deal? Did a Demon kill someone you cared abo... oh, I see." Twilight said, because while she started to ask her question she saw the sheer rage that appeared on Jiren's face for a moment, confirming the fact that a Demon, from his universe, killed someone important to him and made him incredibly bitter towards Demons as a whole, "You lost someone in the past... a mentor, perhaps... and it's made you despise Demons ever since." "You talk too much." Jiren stated, punching Twilight in the chest as the last word left her mouth, as her talk of Demons just reminded him of who he lost and that ignited the anger that was inside him, causing him to drastically boost his power to crush her defenses with ease. He was caught off guard as Twilight elbowed him in the chest, like she had tanked his attack before retaliating, making him wonder just how insane her resilience actually was, before focusing his mind as he reminded himself that his strength was absolute, that there was nothing she could do to bring him down. The two warriors moved into a series of blows, both of them switching between attacking and defending over the span of a few moments as the energy of their energies colliding flattened the area of the stage that was around them, though not to the scale of when Goku used Super Saiyan Blue 4 in his earlier battle. Twilight slipped a kick through his defenses and knocked Jiren backwards, though while he recovered she raised her hand and a large circle appeared around him, where she influenced the gravity of the area to stall him, to press him down into the ground as she prepared her next move, only to find that he boosted his power to a new level and tore through her magic like it was nothing. It was amazing that he could break out of her gravity spell like that, to which she did a test by utilizing the Time-Skip, only to find that he was able to track her movements and hit her like it was nothing, as if he was faster than both time and space, and when Jiren attacked her with a burst of Ki blasts she called forth her staff for a few seconds as she hit them into the ground. With the smoke cloud created Twilight stepped up her game as she moved into her Demon Goddess form, the staff simply vanishing like it did in the past, though she could see the anger on Jiren's face intensify as he realized that she was more like a Demon now. As Whis explained the existence of her staff, and how she absorbed it to take on her second transformation, Twilight went on the defensive as she found that Jiren attacked her with far more rage than she was expecting him to use after figuring out that he despised Demons. In that moment she understood what was in his eyes, he didn't just despise Demons, but he hated them with every fiber of his being, to the point that he pushed himself to become stronger so he could crush his foes whenever he found them, without any regard for his own safety. This was similar to the Saiyans of her universe, as in they often used their anger towards something or someone to grow their power, often resulting in new forms, and for her current foe it was causing him to undo his inner dams much faster than he would do on his own, drastically boosting his power to overpower her. It was both interesting and annoying, because at the rate he was climbing Twilight suspected that he would reach his full power in no time and require her to use her full power to take him down, though as she took a moment to consider that she kicked him in the chest and pushed him away from her. In the following moment Twilight made her move as she launched a dark sphere towards her foe, where he avoided it with ease and that caused her to smile a little as it rapidly expanded into an Abyssal Moon, surprising him and the observers as the dark gravitational object took form. As Jiren turned and launched himself at the dark font, however, Twilight created a Sol Invictus that was of equal size and power to the moon, though while she suspected that it wouldn't totally deal with her foe, given his strength, she felt that it should be more than enough to knock him closer to the edge of the stage, only if he didn't power up more. When the sun reached the moon, however, a massive wave of heat energy burst out of the area that Jiren was in and both of her attacks exploded, almost like they were being vaporized by this sheer overwhelming and fierce energy that her foe possessed, but as that happened she prepared one more attack. She called forth the power of the Terranova, one of the more powerful destructive powers in her arsenal, and sent it straight at her foe, who raised his hand into the air, stalling it through sheer force alone, before collapsing his hand into a fist and shattered the attack, as if it was a mere rock or something. As she realized that fact Jiren struck her in the chest and loosed a powerful Ki beam right into her, blasting her into both a rock pillar and into oblivion, tearing apart everything that was around her in the process while using literally his full power to beat her down. "Do you get it now, Twilight Sparkle? You cannot beat me!" Jiren stated, which seemed to be a reoccurring problem of his, stating that his foes were no match for them and then being surprised when they busted out another transformation, but as he got ready to tear apart the portion of the stage that she was in he felt the air shudder, something that the gods and the other watchers felt as well, "No... it can't be." In response to his words a dark pillar surged out of where Twilight was resting for a few seconds before vanishing, though as everyone took in what was going on she emerged from the crater that had been created by Jiren's attack, spreading her wings and knocking back the smoke as she revealed her third and final transformation. "Do you remember what Goku said, Jiren? I am the Dark Queen of the Demon Realm... it's not just a title, to indicate who rules over all Demons, but it's also a transformation." Twilight said, where she walked forward as she found that Jiren just stood there, stunned by the sheer amount of power that she was putting out, while Belmod and the others seemed totally surprised that someone like her existed in Universe 7, "The power of the Dark Ruler is the greatest power in the Demon Realm, and I had to defeat my predecessor, Mechikabura, to gain this power and form. You had best get ready, JIren, as you're in for..." Sure enough Jiren didn't wait for her to finish as he punched her in the side of her face, though instead of her flying in the direction he had swung in she just stood there, almost as if the attack had done nothing to her, before she retaliated and struck him in turn, sending him into the ground with enough force to wreck everything around him. As Jiren got up he took a second to rub the side of his face where he got hit, or maybe he was wiping it off, before he rushed into battle again as he swung at Twilight, only to find that she moved out of the way with ease, almost as if her body was reacting while her mind was focused on him and the surrounding area. When he got knocked back again Jiren leapt into the air and created a sphere of energy that was his size above his head, something that he hurled down at Twilight the moment it was finished, only to find that she raised her left hand and stalled it for just a few seconds before it broke apart, the bits of energy just dancing around her hand before vanishing. Following that Twilight went on the offensive, her attacks hitting Jiren harder than his had hit her earlier, while at the same time she avoided his attacks with such ease that many the watchers take a moment to wonder what in the world they were even witnessing. Beerus, however, knew what was going on, as Twilight had spent the entirety of the tournament silently absorbing more and more energy from the other warriors that had come to defend their universes, and the vast amount of power that had been thrown around earlier, in a desperate bid for the other teams to take down Universe 7, had only added fuel to the growing fire. He had felt the power of the Dark Queen before, in fact Twilight's sheer power in this form was simply staggering, to the point where she stood above him, a God of Destruction, and forced his Attendant to step in to stop the match, one he had clearly lost at that point. With all the power that had been absorbed since his match with her, from all sorts of training and battles, she was on an entirely different level than before, and with the power of the warriors from seven other universes, taken without anyone from the other universes noticing her actions, her power was above Jiren's full power. Such a thing caused him to smile as Twilight dominated Jiren, striking him with attacks that pushed him back while dodging attacks at such a rate that made him wonder if she was, against all odds, tapping into the incredible power of Ultra Instinct, which for her he wouldn't even be surprised by. As he finished thinking about all of that Twilight kicked Jiren in the chest and drove him through a few more of the bits of the stage that had formed rock pillars, only to stop when she crashed him into a large one that could easily be an island, if it was on a planet and not on this stage, causing her to back off. "Out of curiosity, why do you want the Super Dragon Balls so badly?" Twilight asked, because while she had a feeling that she knew what he might wish for, given his earlier reaction to her mentioning a dead mentor, she wanted to hear it from the warrior before she knocked him off the stage, "You can't be thinking of using them to bring someone back... as that's a vast misuse of their great power." "Your foul kind killed my mentor, so I require the orbs to bring him back." Jiren replied, though while he had no desire to speak to a demon, especially one that was enraging him at every step, he did feel that revealing this piece of information would cause her to back off and potentially give him an opening to crush her. "Really? That's it? You do realize that your mentor's soul likely went to the Other World, where someone of your stature could simply go there and ask to see them, right?" Twilight inquired, something that caused the warrior to pause for just a few seconds, where she let out a sigh of frustration as she turned to face the stands, where she stared at the gods of the last universe that needed to be defeated, "His master was a good person right? If so they'd be in the heavenly side of your Other World, no doubt learning from one of the directional Kais or even doing something to help keep the afterlife stay in perfect order... either way, you could have simply made time for Jiren to have a meeting with his mentor, instead of even having the thought to waste such a powerful wish on such a thing." "It doesn't matter what you do or what you say. I cannot lose! I refuse to lose... strength is justice... strength is absolute!" Jiren stated, which caused Twilight to glance back to him for a moment as she noticed something, his rage at being totally overpowered was starting to crack something inside him, where the fragments of the fallen pillars started to rise as his power started to skyrocket, at an alarming rate as he observed whatever trauma he had once more. Twilight had to raise her hands for a moment as Jiren's energy cracked the area around him as his aura flared to life in a matter of seconds, setting the entire area around them on fire while also tearing apart the upper portion of his attire, just to make him look buffer than before, allowing him to do a slow walk out of the flames as he stared at her. "So being overpowered has caused you to break your limits and drastically boost your power." Twilight remarked, which wasn't even a surprise anymore, because there were far too many races that had the ability to channel their rage, or even their trauma, into a boost of power, so this was nothing new for her as she shifted her stance, "Oh well, at least this will make our fight that much more interesting." In the next moment Twilight discovered that she might have to reevaluate her assessment as she found that Jiren went on the offensive without wasting time, as his speed was faster, his punches were sharper, and all of his senses seemed like they had been heightened thanks to the new surge of power. When she caught one of his punches, however, she quickly found that he was channeling more of his Ki into a blast, despite the fact that his hand was a fist right now, and knocked her backwards with the force of the blow, confirming that his power was on another level. As she recovered Jiren charged a red blast above his left hand, which had dark purple lightning arching off of it, before he fired a powerful beam of energy at her, causing her to raise her right hand and siphon it, even though she did have to make physical contact with it while she did so. It allowed Twilight to tell just how much stronger Jiren was in this state, as his power was enough to push her, in her Dark Queen form, back and force the tide to shift in his favor once more, which was just absurd given that the one who had this form originally was one of the most feared Demons in all of creation. Just to add to the absurdity of this change in the tone of the battle Jiren suddenly had the power to bypass her defenses, as if she was doing nothing but standing there, allowing him to smash her into the ground, use her like she was a mace or weapon, and even deliver a volley of powerful Ki blasts into her back. When Twilight tried to go on the offensive Jiren just caught her attacks and blasted her in turn, or straight up slugged her in the chest, showing her and everyone else that her full power, despite being the strongest in all of Universe 7, wasn't enough to stand up to him and his new power. Twilight found this to be completely absurd, that his latent power was this strong, enough to take down even the one who ruled over the Demon Realm, and even her insane growth rate seemed to be nothing compared to Jiren's power. The sudden tone shift of the battle was just annoying as well, especially with Belmod going back to being his arrogant self, especially when Jiren created a massive powerful beam of energy that forced her into the ground, despite the fact that she was still siphoning it's power, that detonated on top of her. The resulting blast tore a massive crater into the area she had landed on, where she huffed for a moment as the smoke cleared, as she didn't want people to know about her immortality, though Twilight used the time given to her to think of a plan, anything really, to deal with Jiren's insane power boost, before her eyes focused on her golden ring, the very one that held all of Darkstar's vast power. "Do you understand now, Twilight Sparkle? It doesn't matter what you do, for my power will overwhelm you." Jiren stated, as if he thought the battle was over now, even though she did sense that he had some sort of respect for her and her vast power, despite being a Demon, though as he stared at her she couldn't help but chuckle, as an idea came to her while she was staring at the golden ring, "What's so funny? Have you lost your mind at last?" "No, it's just... I realized that if you hated me this much, even though I'm actually a Demon that uses my powers for good, you would have despised Darkstar... she was a real monster." Twilight replied, though in that moment she pulled off the ring as she floated up to the highest point of the crater, so she could look up at her foe, who was studying her while he waited for her to do something so he could beat her down into the ground once more, "And yet her power was sealed inside this ring, just in case it might be used for good one day." Jiren barely had time to register what was going on as Twilight shattered the ring and was surrounded by a massive sea of energy, not just darkness based on everything he was seeing right now since he spotted white bits, blue bits, pink bits, and even silver and gold bits, though whatever it meant was lost on him. As he raised his hand into the air, gathering power into a sphere of energy that would shatter everything that was going on, he felt a surge of power as a six pointed star formed around the sea of energy, only to find that everyone from Universe 7, plus Liquiir for some reason, recognized it. In the next moment something strange happened, six pillars of energy appeared on the points of the star, the north point having an orange pillar, the point to it's left had a cyan blue beam while the right had a yellow one, though both of the lower points, and not the southern point, had pink pillars, one light and one dark, leaving the last point with a purple pillar. Jiren stared at this for a moment, unsure of what to make of what was going on, as he completed his attack, a head sized sphere of energy that would wipe out the entire area that Twilight was resting in, so even if she survived tanking it he was sure that the attack would send her out of the ring at long last. Beerus, and those that knew of Twilight's history, realized that, somehow, the Elements of Harmony were aiding her, even here, in the Null Realm, all while a seventh pillar appeared in front of her, a green one, before Jiren hurled his attack down at Twilight so he could end the fight. In the next moment the energy attack stalled in the air, resting there for a few seconds as the gods stared at it in shock, before it broke apart before their eyes and joined the sea of energy that was resting around her, though once that was done the energy stalled for a time. They watched as the energy started to rise up, like the claws of a machine or something, to form a massive egg shaped structure around Twilight, something that caused Beerus to chuckle as he realized what was going on, while everyone from his team nodded their heads as well. The sheer power that Jiren had awakened was now fueling an awakening in Twilight, a new form that stood above the vast power of the Dark Queen, one of her own making since she was already at the pinnacle of what a Demon could obtain, and they knew that it would be more than enough to bring her foe down. As the energy pulled away everyone found that Twilight looked different, where those from Universe 7 discovered that her arms and legs looked like what a dragon Beastian had, while at the same time she also had a dragon tail as well, though all of her new additions were silver colored. Her armor looked identical to what it had been previously, only modified slightly to fit her changes, and they found that she also had a pair of leathery dragon wings as well, which simply spread out, as if they were being flexed, before transforming into energy that seemed to merge with her back. Beerus assumed that this form likely had a way to keep her wings safe from enemies who might try to rip them off, before they discovered another change, her demonic horns had moved behind her ears and had doubled in number, as there were four now and meant that she had two on each side. The main horns, likely the original, were curved upwards while the new pair were lower than the first pair and were half the length of the upper ones, though they looked more regal than Twilight's previous set, if such a thing was possible given what her previous form was called. In that moment Beerus noticed that her hair was totally different as well, as while it retained the same style that Twilight used the coloration was different, it was mostly a familiar silver color with blue highlights, which were the same colors as her new flaming aura, something that caused Liquiir to stand up as the Angels raised their eyebrows. "Of course... I should have know. She figured out Ultra Instinct." Beerus remarked, though at the same time he and the rest of the gods stood up, mostly because it was out of respect for and in interest of the mortal that breached what was considered one of the strongest levels in all of existence. "Not only that, but she's merged it with her Dark Queen form... and her power has drawn some interesting observers to the tournament." Whis added, as he and the other Angels glanced at the Antechamber, where they found six more Angels standing on the edge of the structure, three on the left and three on the right, as they were the Angels of the universes that had been erased a very long time ago, "We might be witnessing a change in the lineup of the multiverse's greatest warriors... and the Angels are here to witness all of it." As Beerus thought about what this meant, that the Angels of the erased universes were present, Twilight quickly shifted her stance, drawing their attention back to her, as she rushed through the air and Jiren raised his fist to block her attack, only for her to turn around his attack and punch him in the chest. Instead of allowing himself to be pushed back Jiren went on the offensive once more, throwing powerful attacks as he tried to hit Twilight, only to find that she blocked his attacks with a single finger, just like he had done to Goku when he was going through his first couple of transformations. When he backed off and fired a blast of energy, however, Twilight spun around to avoid it, allowing it to pass by her, only she also did something new as she transformed all of his attack into an energy sphere, seemed to absorb it within a second, and then created the same attack above her hand as if she was mimicking what Goku did in his Super Saiyan Blue 4 form. Jiren surrounded himself in his energy for a moment as Twilight fired the beam of energy without wasting time, where it quickly slammed into his barrier, shattered it, and blew up on him as he collided with the ground, tearing apart more of the area in the process. Twilight knew he wasn't down for the count and was proven right a few seconds later, as he was a stubborn warrior that would push himself until the very end, no doubt willing to break his body until he couldn't fight anymore, so she flashed down to where he was resting and punched him square in the face, surprising him in the process. Following that Jiren did what he did earlier, he tried to go on the offensive with a barrage of punches and kicks, letting his anger towards there being a warrior stronger than him slowly raise his power as time went by, only to find that she avoided his attacks with a greater degree of speed than he was expecting. Twilight knew this was due to the power of Ultra Instinct, she had learned of it's existence from watching Whis and asking him questions on the matter, polished and refined by the power of the Dark Queen, where she mentally reflected to give this a proper name once everything was said and done. While they did that the collision of their energies and powers caused the area around them to break apart, lightning flashing every now and then while they did this, until a collision of their fists shattered part of the stage that they were on, making the rest of her team, on the other fragment, glad they ignored this one. Following that Twilight pushed Jiren onto the fragment of the stage that was falling away from the others, even though it was still close to the stage itself, where the warrior found that he had to focus on her with everything he had, otherwise he would be knocked out before he even knew what hit him. When Jiren loosed a beam of energy at her, however, he found that Twilight just jumped into the energy and rode it all the way to where he was standing, kicking him to the side as if his attacks meant nothing to her, only for him to growl as he went on the offensive once more. He tried to grab onto her new tail and use it to hurl her off the stage, taking advantage of a new weakness she didn't have before, but she avoided such a thing as she swung at him with her left claws, the sheer force of which left gashes on the ground as Jiren understood that she meant business. In the next instant she struck him several more times, breaking through his defenses with ease as he staggered backwards, though as he righted himself Jiren found that Twilight had formed a glowing sphere of energy above he right hand that was different from everything else they had seen so far. "Judgement." Twilight stated, where she levitated the sphere into the air before it burst into a volley of powerful pointed Ki blasts that rushed towards where Jiren was standing, far faster than most of the other warriors could track, which meant that he would have a hard time countering this attack. Jiren made an attempt to move out of the way, to avoid the attack entirely, only to find that the blasts barreled into him, blasting him repeatedly without delay as he found himself getting closer and closer to the edge of the stage, and the last one pushed him into the void itself, causing him to appear on the stands with a look of shock on his face. "jiren is eliminated, thus Universe 11 has been wiped out... Universe 7 wins." the Grand Priest said, though he made no mention of the warriors from Champa's universe, as the Zenos had decided to let them count as warriors from Universe 7, no doubt due to all of the excitement from the battles that had taken place, "Twilight Sparkle, do you have anything to say before the Lord Zenos erase the fallen universes?" "Yes, let them stay. I would have them witness the wish first." Twilight stated, which was good for her, because if she could keep everyone around it would make things that much better for all of them, where she found that both Zenos glanced at each other before nodding their heads. The Grand Priest, now that everything was said and done, floated down and raised his hands as the Super Dragon Balls, all seven of them, floated into the area beyond the tournament stage, and while everyone focused on them he quickly spoke the phrase that activated them, summoning forth Super Shenron. "What do you want? It can grant anything your heart desires." the Zenos said, though they actually got off their thrones to witness the summoning of the Eternal Dragon that was connected to the Super Dragon Balls, all while everyone from the other universes stared at it in pure shock, before realizing that it's power was now in Twilight's hands. "The erased universes and the destroyed parallel worlds... I want all of them brought back." Twilight stated, because this was what she had been fighting for, the restoration of the entire multiverse, everything that had been destroyed or simply erased, something that caused the gods of the other universes to look at her in shock, while Jiren seemed to be unable to comprehend the fact that she, a Demon, would make such a wish. The Grand Priest, sensing her intentions, turned towards Super Shenron and made the wish in the Language of the Gods, where the dragon roared a moment later as it channeled it's vast power to make Twilight's great wish a reality, all while letting the other gods witness it's power for the first time. Twilight closed her eyes for a moment as she felt it's power just wash over all of reality, universes once erased coming back into being within a matter of seconds, while the finger that had once held the ring that possessed Darkstar's energy shook for just a second, confirming her suspicions. Reality was fixed, all of the damage undone, and many gods were stunned that someone like her would make such a selfless wish, but she was content with it, as she had set out on an important quest and had made it a reality. The Zenos were pleased with such an exciting tournament, that was true, but the most important fact was that she had, against all odds, saved all of reality from the fate they had originally planned for everything, and the gods had to silently swallow that pill, that a Demon had saved the multiverse. She couldn't help up smile as she looked forward to what the next couple of days held in store for her and her universe, as she had a feeling that things were about to get interesting now that the other universes know of their potential and it only made her eager to see whatever might happen next. > Interlude: Universal Visitation > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Twilight smiled as she returned to her office after a few days of rest and relaxation, as she decided to take a break after the Tournament of Power, to de-stress after the madness she had been through since Future Trunks came to visit them again, as it had been one thing after another without any real chances to relax. Now that she was recharged, however, she made her way back to her workplace and got back to work, checking out the tablet for any messages from the rest of the empire, reading reports, and writing notes on what she had seen during her time in the Null Realm. She worked on the files of the warriors from the other universes, everything that had been revealed and her thoughts on what hadn't been seen, since her team had pushed everyone to the breaking point in no time, so there might have been things they might have missed. It also gave her time to write about her own limit breaking form, one that would become a trump card for when the Dark Queen form failed her, though when it came to giving it a name she was torn between 'Queen of Harmony', thanks to the pillars she had seen, or 'Heavenly Dragon Queen', given it's power. In the end she determined that there was no reason for her to name it just yet, as there was no telling when she might need to use it and that meant she had time to come to a decision, though her work was interrupted by the receptionist sending her a message that visitors were here to see her, giving her time to prepare for their arrival. "Ah, Hit, Champa, and Vados, what a wonderful surprise." Twilight said, as she was expecting some of the gods from the other universes to come and visit her at some point in time, though Champa's visit was due to the fact that she knew that, at some point, he would have to return Hit to Universe 7, before she noticed that there were two other people with them, a fact that brought a smile to her face, "Caulifla and Kale, it is good to see you again as well." "We were talking with Vados and learned that she was bringing Hit and Champa here, so we decided to tag along," Caulifla replied, though Twilight knew what she wanted, as seeing Goku and Vegeta in their greatest transformations had caused a desire for more power to awaken inside the Saiyan from Universe 6, so she assumed that she was here to join Hit and she had convinced Kale to join them. "Yeah, whatever. We're returning Hit to his new home." Champa stated, where this time he waved his hand as Twilight offered him a drink, something that Vados took since she enjoyed what they had drank the last time they were here, while at the same time Hit walked over to Twilight's side of the room as the God of Destruction sat down in the chair and just crossed his arms as he looked at her, "Let's hear it. What in the world do you want for loaning me Hit? Tell me now so I can head back to my universe, get whatever it is that you want, and then come back to close the deal." "First, let me speak with Hit." Twilight said, as it was nice to see an annoying Destroyer God squirm like this, since he knew not to do anything to upset her now that her power was far beyond what he was comfortable with, causing her to turn her attention to the assassin for a moment, "Is what you wanted previously, for agreeing to join Champa's team, still what you want?" "Yes. When will everything be in order?" Hit inquired, where he could see that the two Saiyans from his home universe were interested in what they were talking about, though that was understandable since they had no idea Champa had struck a deal with Twilight and that he had a reward for suffering through his previous God of Destruction's presence. "I'll have it done in a week, to be sure everything is as you wanted." Twilight replied, where she sipped at her drink for a few seconds and found that Hit seemed pleased with her answer, all while everyone else in the room seemed confused as to what was going on right now, allowing her to turn most of her attention to the others, "Now, Caulifla, Kale, can you tell me why you wanted to come with your God of Destruction? I have a feeling that I know what you might say, but I want to hear your statements before I give Champa his answer." Caulifla stood there for a moment, clearly debating how she wanted to answer the question, before she reached into the bag that Kale was holding, found whatever she was looking for, and pulled out two identical items that reminded her of the documentation that they had used when Hit decided to move universes, which she handed to Twilight as Champa just stared at her in shock. "Kale and I talked about it, and I actually asked her for her opinion on the matter, and we decided to ask Vados for help in officially moving to Universe 7." Caulifla answered, though after handing over the official paperwork she took a seat and sipped on the drink that had been offered to her, as Twilight did so before even hearing what Champa wanted, while Kale did the same as she remained quiet, something she hoped to fix in the near future, "After seeing your Saiyans in action, and all of the forms that they have access to, I decided that the best place for us right now is here, in this universe, so we can both learn how to actually control our new forms, unlock new ones, and build confidence in certain aspects." "Well, this is a welcome surprise... I was going to tell Champa that, in return for loaning him Hit, that I was going to ask for you two to move universes." Twilight stated, something that caught Caulifla and Kale off guard, since they clearly thought this would be more of a surprise for her, while Champa looked like he was going to have a meltdown and his Angel found all of this to be humorous, to which she pulled out her materials, double-checked the paperwork, and signed it once she found that everything was in order, "So, where do you want to move to? There are plenty of planets to pick from, plenty of occupations for warriors like you... or, for the time being, we can set that aside and just say that Earth is your home for the first few weeks, before you make a decision on the matter." "But... stop stealing my warriors!" Champa declared, almost as if he thought that his words would stop Twilight in her tracks and cause her to bow her head towards him, like most people did when they realized that they were dealing with a God of Destruction, only to find that Twilight really didn't care about him all that much. "I thought you would be happy, Champa, as I could have taken anything from you... your debt is paid, which means you are free to return home." Twilight said, as there was more paperwork to complete, not tied to people moving into the vast universe that she ruled over, and she could see that Champa was surprised by how she was acting towards him, though as he got up, however, a glance from Vados caused him to pause as he mumbled an apology and some thanks before he and his Angel left the office, "Hit, why don't you take Caulifla and Kale to meet the others... I'll join you in time, once I'm done with all of my work, and the other visitors that will no doubt show up in the future future." Her reasoning for that was because she had seen that some warriors from the other universes were interested in her, so it stood to reason someone else would show up at some point in time, causing Hit to nod as he had the two Saiyans follow him outside, only for Twilight to find that her next set of guests had already arrived. "Lady Heles, what a pleasant surprise. What can I do for you on this fine day?" Twilight inquired, though as she welcomed the goddess into the office, plus her Angel for that matter, she noticed that her receptionist indicated that another godly group was waiting, patiently waiting their turn to speak with her, and it wasn't Liquiir. "Normally I would say something about wanting to know about your relationship with Liquiir... I mean, a mortal falling in love with a god, it's just exciting." Heles replied, where she found that she and her Angel were offered something to drink and she took it, before beckoning to the door as three familiar figures, in their base forms, stepped into the light, which only made Twilight smile as she noticed them, "Kakunsa has been thinking about what you said during the tournament, about how you could make her dream come true, and asked me if I could bring her here to speak with you... her friends came to support her and check out another universe. Which reminds me: thank you for saving not just our universe, but the rest of the vast multiverse with your wish." "Thank you, it's good to see that some gods appreciate my efforts." Twilight stated, as so far only three gods had thanked her for her efforts to keep the multiverse safe, because while Heles and Champa had done so just now Beerus had done so after they returned to Earth, before she focused on the one who wanted to speak with her and beckoned Kakunsa forward, who took a seat across from her as she pulled out another tablet, "Now then, I take it you want to take me up on my offer to become a Beastian?" "A... Beastian?" Kakunsa inquired, as that term was unfamiliar to her and her friends, though at the same time Twilight just nodded her head as she tapped a button and revealed a number of holograms that revealed what she was talking about, a couple of people who, in a matter of seconds, became more like beasts, from cats and dogs to the more mythical creatures, like dragons for example. Twilight spent the next couple of minutes explaining things to the group, about the beast people of Earth and how some of them were natural born while others were changed, transformed by a drug that used to be totally random, so no one knew what animal they would be turning into. With her alterations to it Twilight had created versions for each animal and even other alien races, surprising them as they learned everything that she was capable of, before she pointed out that there was an age limit on all of the products, that anyone under eighteen shouldn't consume any of her TF Foods. When she was asked why such a thing existed Twilight informed them that children who ate one of her products transformed into feral versions of the animals that the food was inspired by, like two boys at a tournament some years ago who ate a couple of wolf crackers at their mother's insistence. Such a thing caused them to become wild beasts, where they attacked everyone else around them and those that were bit or scratched were forced to transform into the same creature, just like a virus of sorts, but she had a cure to restore their minds, but for the unfortunate individuals they had to wait until they turned eighteen before she could help them. She even told them of how someone thought they could get away with gassing an entire school full of high school girls in a city that was on the other side of the planet, where she used her time powers to figure out who did it and sentenced the fool to spending his life in prison, plus everything he owned was sold to help the families pay for therapy. "Out of curiosity, what did the girls turn into?" Heles inquired, because she assumed that the gas was connected to what they had been talking about so far, meaning the underage girls had, unfortunately, had their lives altered by someone, at least until they turned eighteen and could have the process reversed. "Cows, for some odd reason." Twilight replied, as she had tried to find a reason why the man had chosen that species out of everything else, but from what she could tell it was entirely random and he didn't care what animal they turned into, so it was purely an act of revenge, before she noticed the looks on their faces, "And yes, that includes the udders. Don't worry about them, measures are already in place to make sure they are well treated before they turn eighteen, and that anyone who assisted the person who turned them will be punished as well." Following that Kakunsa focused on the reason they had come here, to make her dream come true, where Twilight nodded and got to work by asking her a series of questions to determine exactly what she wanted, as while she knew the girl had a desire to before more like a beast, hence her transformation, she needed to know which cat she was interested in. All of her answers allowed her to know exactly what the girl wanted and, once the list was complete, Twilight set her tablet on a connector and let the group from Universe 2 watch her as she worked, creating the serum that would give Kakunsa what she wanted. Of course the girl paused for a moment, almost as if she was surprised that it was so easy for Twilight to take her desire and make it a reality, before holding her arm out so it could be injected into her, showing that she wanted this more than anything, though as Twilight did so she also gave her a set of Morph Clothing to put on. Once the clothing was on, and the injection was made, everyone watched as she grew a blue cat tail, identical to the one she gained whenever she used her transformation, before more changes washed over the rest of her body as a smile appeared on her face. Twilight smiled as the girl transformed into a blue cat Beastian, where Kakunsa flexed her new body with a look of joy on her face, though to be sure everyone worked as intended she took them to another room and revealed that there was an obstacle course, causing the girl to grin as she jumped onto the starting point and rushed off. "I'm happy for her." Brianne commented, as this had been her friend's lifelong dream, finding a way to become more like a beast and really put her powers to use protecting their home universe, and it brought a smile to her face seeing Kakunsa run around with such a joyous smile on her face, experiencing all sorts of new things, before she chuckled, "Though you might experience an influx of new visitors in the future... there are more Beast Warriors like her out there and they'll be interested in her new form." Twilight nodded her head, as she expected that much after discovering the girl's transformation in the first place, before she found that another group was coming towards them, which just so happened to be the team from Universe 9, not to mention their gods. "Lady Twilight, we... have something we would like to say." Sidra said, showing that he must have decided to follow their group while she was focused on Kakunsa, though in that moment he, his insufferable Kaioshin, and their ten warriors did something Twilight wasn't expecting, they actually knelt towards her and bowed their heads. In the following moment all of them, save their Angel that was standing off to the side, apologized for how they acted after the announcement of the Tournament of Power and how they acted by targeting her at the start, ignoring her suggestion to leave her alone. Twilight stared at them for a moment, mostly to take in the fact that they were acting like this, before accepting the apologies that were being offered to her, where she informed Sidra of the fact that she would make sure his dumb assassins were delivered to his universe in due time. Of course that was followed by the dwarf asking her if maybe, just maybe, she could come by Universe 9, take a look around, and offer him some pointers on how to improve the state of his universe's planets, as if he and Roh had come to an agreement before coming here with their team. She knew that many would ignore Sidra and leave his universe to it's fate, but Twilight was more interested in improving the lives of the people and planets of her own domain, so she figured that she could lend them a hand at one point and told Sidla that she would have Whis set up a date for the visit. As the dwarf bowed his head, showing everyone that he appreciated her even agreeing to help them, Twilight noticed that Goku arrived with both of the new Saiyans, meaning there was something he wanted and she had a feeling that she knew what that something was, given how eager Caulifla had been earlier. "Let me guess, you want your Saiyan tails back?" Twilight inquired, finding that two of the three Saiyans nodded, to which she teleported out of the area for a moment, no doubt surprising everyone in the process, before returning with two new vials and her primed injector, where she readied it and beckoned to the pair, "Very well then. Wish granted." Fortunately Caulifla and Kale's attire were fine for what she had in mind, as when she injected them with the serum both of them stalled for a time before their own Saiyan tails emerged from their spines, without wrecking their clothing, causing Goku to show his off again as he made sure they were okay with what Twilight had done to them. Twilight did inform them that it was in their best interests to get some Morph Clothing before even attempting to unlock Super Saiyan 4, despite the fact that they had to unlock the form before that first, causing them to raise their eyebrows before deciding that she knew what she was talking about. Of course, given Caulifla's desires, it wasn't long before Goku pulled her and Kale over to the area that he and Vegeta had been training in, getting back to whatever training they had been working on before finding out that the pair had come to Universe 7. As they departed Twilight found that Sidra's group did the same, because they had done what they came to do and that meant it was time for them to head home, causing her to make a note to inform Whis about things, at least before Sidra's Angel beat her to the punch. All of this made her interested in what the future held for her, as she was expecting the other gods to come visit, no doubt to apologize and speak with her, plus there was no telling what else might be found in her universe, which only made her eager for whatever might come next. > Interlude: Aiding the Unexpected > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Twilight found that two weeks went by without too much happening, save for the constant visits from Universe 2 as Heles and Kakunsa brought groups of Beast Warriors to Earth so they could finally fulfill their lifelong dreams, to the point that she finished setting up the rest of the Beastian themed buildings. Heles found that there were beauty shops for Beastians, as in there were people trained to tend to the various types of bodies that came from Twilight's wonder drug, be it hooves, claws, paws, fur, scales, and everything else that they might have, and it fascinated her to no end. She also had options to modify one's form, as she heard Kakunsa mentioning that some might want to make some modifications, not to mention shops for clothing that fit the animalistic bodies to perfection, showing just how much time and effort she put into this subject. It was a shocker, seeing everything Twilight had done for one species on a single planet, and yet it was seen again and again when one looked at the rest of the planets that were part of her universe, causing Heles to smile every time she came with some of the Beast Warriors. Of course not all of it was free, but Twilight had a system in place to make sure the guests paid for everything, usually in the form of working alongside the various organizations of Universe 7, trading one currency for another, and then get whatever they wanted to fulfill their lifelong dreams. While that happened, and Heles even insisted on trying out a few temporary Beastian forms of her own so she could also share in the experience that her people were experiencing, Twilight found that Caulifla was able to reach Super Saiyan 3 in no time at all, training with Goku no less, while Kale and Vegeta, oddly enough, meditated before joining them. Twilight had a feeling that all of the powerful foes they had encountered so far had caused the Saiyan Prince to create his own type of personal training, to have his own eureka moment, and so far it seemed to be enough to help Kale figure out how to wield her own great power. With that in mind she turned her attention back to Caulifla, who seemed to be showing signs that she was reacting to Goku's God Ki, bits and pieces here and there based on what Twilight could see, meaning that the moment the Saiyan was able to turn Super Saiyan 4, and she was sure Caulifla could do it, she'd likely gain access to the next stage not a day or two later. Twilight estimated that, by the end of the year, Caulifla would at least reach Super Saiyan Blue, if not Blue 2 if she was lucky, while Kale's reach all depended on how well she controlled her own power, which was what she was doing right now, and she was eager to see what happened in the near future. What she wasn't expecting, however, was the sudden arrival of Whis and Beerus one day, right before Twilight met the Gods of Destruction for the other universes, as in 13 through 18, who had been restored thanks to her wish on the Super Dragon Balls after winning the Tournament of Power. The first one she had the pleasure of meeting was Yong-Gi, who was a panda like Beerus and Liquiir, as in he was an anthropomorphic panda, and he seemed to be rather friendly, because he actually walked up to where Beerus was standing and slapped him on the back, like he was an old friend. After that they found that the next Destroyer happened to be a young adult female human with short blond hair, though the attire she wore under her collar was an open blue vest, a light purple shirt, and a red sash, who identified herself as Tetra, who had to have been a pirate before becoming a god. Another was a pale skinned male figure who stood taller than the first god, whose muscles seemed to be like Kale's in her Legendary Super Saiyan form and simply went by Nur, while Twilight found that the fourth looked like an elf at first, but she had clawed hands with bird wings merged with her arms, like a harpy as she noticed that her feet were clawed like a bird's and her feathers were blue, who was called Haru. These were the Destroyers of Universes 14, 15, 16, and 17, as revealed by Whis, before the God of Destruction that kept watch over Universe 18 joined them, who turned out to be a white skinned humanoid warrior who wore a black suit with a red undershirt, all under his Destroyer attire, who identified himself as Heskel, where Twilight noticed that he had crimson colored eyes and small fangs in his mouth. "It would seem that most of us had the same idea... and Azzy is late." Heskel remarked, though as the five Angels walked over to where Whis was standing, so they could talk for a time while they waited for the last Destroyer to arrive, Twilight felt all of their power and knew that each God of Destruction was as powerful as Beerus with the vampire being on a level above them. "Who is this 'Azzy' that you speak of?" Goku asked, as the arrival of so many newcomers had put a stop to his training, for the time being anyway, and both he and Caulifla were happy to see such powerful warriors appear before them, since it just increased their desire to get stronger, while Vegeta and Kale stood nearby, silently watching. "The God of Destruction for Universe 13: Asriel Dreamer... the 'Absolute God of Hyperdeath', as we used to call him, back when all eighteen universes existed." Beerus stated, where he had to chuckle for a moment as he thought about what had happened in the past, before Zeno's tantrum cost the multiverse so many universes, before the other gods chuckled as they noticed the surprised and confused expressions on the faces of everyone, except for Twilight, "He was... and probably still is, now that I think about it... the strongest God of Destruction, before Universes 13 through 18 were erased, so with the six universes having been restored he's likely taken his throne back. The lineup of the five greatest warriors in the multiverse has likely been altered again, with the return of the other universes... if you ask for a fight, Goku, know that he'll likely give you one and that it'll be over in a matter of seconds." As Goku thought about that, and what it meant, Twilight turned her attention to the sky as she and the Angels sensed the arrival of the last group, something that was confirmed as Beerus and the other Destroyers glanced up at the air as well, a fact that caused Goku and the others to follow their gazes. In the following instant another surge of energy emerged from space as the last God of Destruction arrived, landing a fair distance in front of Twilight, though as the smoke cleared she and the others found that the newcomer was slightly taller than her. The figure was an anthropomorphic goat, though instead of hooves he had pawed feet, he had curved horns near his ears, and he wore a dark purple robe that his Destroyer collar just rested on top of, only his collar had a red heart in the center of it, a weird icon in Twilight's mind. In addition to that he was floating in the air as he and his Angel appeared before them, where she could tell that he was definitely far stronger than a number of gods she had encountered over the years, which only made her more interested in him, and before anyone could say anything he glanced around before touching the ground. Despite being a God of Destruction, and no doubt having ended the lives of many after taking his position, Twilight could tell that he seemed to appreciate the effort that people put into improving the planets and lives of the mortals of a universe, so seeing her planet like this, and potentially the other planets of the universe, must have made him very happy. "You must be the one who fixed up this universe... Beerus is a good Destroyer, but he can be a little much at times, and he would never let all of this happen." Asriel commented, as he glanced around at the city that was around them, seeing the various races living in harmony like it was no big deal, something that not even Beerus or his various Kaioshin could do on their own, with a smile on his face, confirming that he appreciated what he was seeing, "I just had to stop several times on the way here, to take in the changes that have washed over this universe... I'd love to show you around Universe 13, or even just take a tour of the new Universe 7." "I would be honored. I'm Twilight Sparkle, Dark Queen of the Demon Realm." Twilight said, because none of the gods had asked for her name so far and she figured that it was due to the fact that one of them was missing, or two counting the Angels, and she was happy to see that, unlike when her title was revealed to Jiren, none of them thought negatively about her being a Demon, before she raised her hand and several present containers appeared before her, "I know that all of you no doubt spent a great deal of time learning things from your respective Angels, about what happened after each of your universes were erased from existence, but I have prepared a special viewer that will allow you to catch up on all sorts of events that you might have missed... and, as a bonus, the entirety of the Tournament of Power. Speaking of which, I do have one for the Present and Future Zeno, since I figure that they'll watch to rewatch all of the fun fights they saw... might keep them preoccupied for a time." "Sounds like something exciting happened... a new form, perhaps?" Haru inquired, where her Angel and the others took the packs that had been prepared for them, carefully securing them so that way they could check them out when they got back to their home universes. Twilight thought about that for a moment before deciding to humor the gods, where she created an image of herself in her new form to her right, allowing the revived Gods of Destruction to see this with their own eyes, as Twilight knew that all of the Angels had come to witness the fight with their own eyes. "Such an interesting form... now I really want to fight you." Asriel said, though he wasn't the only one who seemed to have that thought right now, as the other Gods of Destruction seemed to be very interested in Twilight and the form that she was showing them, especially since they might know about Ultra Instinct and were connecting it to the image. As Twilight thought about what to say to that comment, especially since it came from the one that all the Destroyers said was the strongest of them all, another Angel arrived to join them, which turned out to be Belmod's, though instead of her bringing her student with her she brought Jiren, of all people, to Universe 7. "Well now, this is an unexpected surprise." Twilight commented, since most Angels tended to be by their Destroyer's side almost all the time, only leaving when someone, like the Grand Priest, called them away for a meeting or talk, or at least she assumed so since the other six Angels had been recalled before their universes had been erased, "What can we do for you on this fine day?" "I... I have come seeking your assistance, Twilight Sparkle." Jiren stated, where it was clear that he wasn't used to doing this sort of thing, asking someone else for aid for some reason, something that caused Twilight to wish everyone else well for the time being as she walked with him and Belmod's Angel, "The way you spoke during the Tournament of Power told me that you had experience with the 'Other World' as you called it... I have asked Belmod if he would allow me to head there and visit my master, but he refused." "Truly? His greatest warrior asks for something and he denies such a request? Idiot." Twilight remarked, to which she took a moment to pinch the bridge between her eyes for a moment, even though it did make her wonder why Belmod would do such a thing, all while the Angel informed her that she was indifferent to the decision, hence why she was here, helping Jiren out, "Very well, let's not waste time. Marcarita, can you take us to where the event happened?" Marcarita nodded her head as they disappeared without wasting time, where Twilight explained her plan to Jiren, since he was wondering why she would drag him back to the scene of his master's murder, as she wanted to circumvent the Check In Station and go straight to where his mentor's soul had ended up. To do that she needed to utilize her power to sense Ki and her Instant Transmission, the latter needing her to know the Ki of the one that she was using as a lock-on point, so to use it she needed to know the Ki signature of his fallen mentor. Jiren pointed out the obvious fact, Gicchin, was dead and had been for a long time, where Twilight confirmed that fact and told him of her other power, she could peer into the past, even travel back in time if she wanted to, so she wanted to head to the place Gicchin died in, get a read of his Ki, and then use her teleportation power to lock onto his soul's Ki. Both Jiren and Marcarita wondered if that was possible to do, where she informed them that it was, as Goku was able to track down the Ki of King Kai, one of the four Directional Kais, and use it to warp himself to the planet one of his mentors happened to live on. Jiren remained quiet as he soaked in that information, allowing them to stand in silence as Marcarita brought them into Universe 11, giving Twilight a chance to look at another universe as they moved through space, before she brought them down to a planet that had to be their destination. The look on Jiren's face as they descended told Twilight everything she needed to know about the situation, just being here brought back old memories he'd rather forget about, and it got worse as they landed in what seemed to be an ordinary clearing with some small craters. Twilight knew what it looked like, it was an old battleground, the very place where most of Jiren's old comrades and mentor met their end, and when Marcarita landed she found that Jiren looked away, confirming that it was their destination, allowing her to get to work. She weaved a bit of her power into the area in front of them as she opened a portal into the past, allowing her to observe the events that happened in this place, where the Angel helped her track down the moment that Jiren dreaded, so she weaved a bit of magic around him and placed him in a noiseless container while she worked. Eventually Twilight had the information that she required and dismissed the time rift she had been using, where she took a moment to beckon Jiren over and place a hand on her back, which Marcarita did as well, before raising her fingers to her forehead as she tracked down the Ki in question, warping them to what appeared to be a field of flowers with someone meditating off in the distance. "And there he is. Go, I will stay here... this is all yours." Twilight said, as she had no desire to be part of Jiren's meeting with his mentor, especially since she had a feeling he might come back and talk to her whenever he was ready to do so, so she just had to stand off on the sidelines and make sure no one from the main office of the Other World bothered him, since it would only annoy him. As Jiren walked over to talk with Gicchin, while Marcarita joined him since the figure would know her, Twilight remained in the area that she had appeared in, allowing her to focus on feeling out everything else that was in this Other World, just to compare it to her own. Based on what she was feeling there was the main hub, where the Judge determined where each and every soul went, be it the Heavens of the North, South, East, and West Galaxies or the Hells of the same regions, and each of them ended with a planet that their Kai lived and ruled from. Of course there was the planet beyond all of this, as it was the Grand Kai's palace, a Kai who watched over the other four, but Twilight didn't have the honor of knowing the one in her universe, and after meeting the four Directional Kais of her universe she really didn't care enough to meet their Grand Kai. The interesting thing was that no one showed up to bother them, which was good since she didn't want anyone to bother Jiren in this critical moment, but she did find that there were Ki signatures observing them, likely warriors from the afterlife, curious as to why someone was here without going to the Check In Station. Eventually Jiren finished talking with his mentor, after an hour of questions and remarks from Gicchin, but he returned to where Twilight was standing and she warped both them and Marcarita back to the planet, where the warrior informed her that he needed time, to which she nodded as he wandered off on his own. She knew better than to bother him, so she let the Angel take her back to Universe 7, so she could return to what she had been doing before Jiren's sudden arrival, but it did look like Marcarita was happy with her doing something to help the warrior out. Sure, it would annoy Belmod that they went behind his back, but Twilight really didn't care, Jiren had wanted such a thing and fought to get the chance to speak with his mentor again, even in the face of multiple universes potentially being erased forever, and this allowed him to talk to Gicchin and close a chapter of his life. She was doing what she did best, help people out in whatever manner she could, even those from another universe for that matter, allowing her to smile as they returned to her universe without delay, to which the Angel wished her well before heading back to Universe 11. Sure enough she found that the other Gods of Destruction and their Angels had departed as well, allowing her to return to her own work once more as she found that she was even more eager to see what the next couple of weeks held for them and the rest of her vast universe. > Interlude: The Legendary Super Saiyan > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- A full month after the Tournament of Power, and her wish to decide the fate of the multiverse, Twilight found that one of the patrol ships for her empire actually discovered something she wasn't expecting to discover, two Saiyans, a father and son, who had been living on the planetoid known as Vampa. It happened to be on the outskirts of the region of space that Planet Vegeta had existed in, before her father blew it up to stop the Saiyan legend from coming true since he had once feared the power that the Super Saiyan had possessed, but now, after meeting Kale, he understood the true meaning of the story in question. Vampa was a harsh place to live, based on the information she had gleamed from Alexandria's libraries in the past, filled with rocky wastelands that had massive craters for one of the dominant creatures to live in, while there were large beetles as well, which were vicious critters. She was honestly surprised to hear that two Saiyans had been living there since the destruction of their home planet, left alone for so long since the only ones who knew of their existence had been erased with Planet Vegeta's destruction, and it made her eager to meet them. As such she told the group on Earth that she would be gone for a while before departing for the part of space that the ship carrying the pair was located in, a ship her father and uncle happened to be on since they had decided to jointly explore the unknown parts of the universe or the unexplored areas. There were planets and even planetoids that they were in the dark of, like Vampa for example, where the only things she knew about them were their positions and names, though in some cases the latter was even something no one knew. All of this made her wonder if there were more Saiyans out there, those who might have escaped her father's destruction of the planet, or if there might be new races and species that they didn't know about, causing Twilight to continue speeding through space as she focused on her goal. The flight gave her some time to consider the information she had been sent, that the pair consisted of an older Saiyan, Paragus, and his son Broly, while the pair that found them were called Cheelai and Lemo. She found it weird that a delinquent and an old veteren of the Frieza Force would be paired together, and that they would be the ones to make such a discovery, but for the time being she shelved the thought as she reached the ship that was her destination, which deployed a platform for her to land on. Twilight had redesigned the main ships of her father's former empire to have an area for her to land in, since space meant nothing to her thanks to her powers, which would deploy several walls around her and equalize the new space around her with the insides of the ship, mostly to keep everyone inside safe from the outside pressure. The ships themselves had the latest in engines, allowing them to move through space far faster than they did before, had new healing tanks that were far better than before, and were more outfitted while giving the workers more space to relax in when they were off duty, a fact many of the soldiers actually appreciated. As she thought about that the systems informed her that everything was fine and she walked through the door that opened in front of her, bringing her into an airlock that allowed the platform to return to it's standby mode, and once everything was in order she entered the ship. Sure enough she found that many of the soldiers that were on duty saluted her as she walked down the hallway, causing her to nod as one fell in line to quickly deliver an update, so she'd know everything that had happened recently, so by the time she reached the bridge she was ready to talk with both her father and uncle. "Ah, Twilight, it is good to see you again." Cooler said, as only he, his brother, Towa, and King Cold could call Twilight by her name and not any of her vast titles, a perk of being part of her family, plus he was able to embrace her for a few moments as Frieza joined them, who patiently waited for a chance to hug his daughter without interrupting. "What can I say, the weeks following the Tournament of Power have been crazy." Twilight remarked, because between the visits of the various gods, the arrival of those who had been revived thanks to her wish, Jiren showing up to ask for help, and all of the training she oversaw to help the Saiyans out, she hadn't had a real chance to slow down and just spend some time with her family, before she pulled back, "So, where are the Saiyans and the ones who found them?" "Paragus and Broly are currently showering, for the first time in a long time... thanks to your alterations, they won't have to worry about Vampa's smell." Frieza stated, where he pulled up a screen that showed a worker tending to the armor that one of the Saiyans, likely Paragus, must have been wearing when he and his son were discovered, heavily damaged from what rested on the planetoid's surface, in fact she was surprised to see that it was intact, "Cheelai and Lemo are currently sitting in the cafeteria, talking about what they're going to do with the reward they got for discovering the pair. We might have a problem, however, as Paragus hates King Vegeta with every fiber of his being and might end up heading to Earth the first chance he gets to try and take down the Prince... he's convinced that Broly is a monster, that his power is great, and that he might possess the power to make his desires a reality." Twilight thought about that for a moment as she observed the four individuals, focusing on the cafeteria as she found that Cheelai could almost pass for a Human, save for her green skin, and she had short white hair with a slim yet curvy build, all while Lemo was an older orange skinned individual who wore basic armor, without the shoulder pieces. She was still slightly amazed by the fact that they, out of all the soldiers and workers in the empire, had tracked down a pair of Saiyans that they knew next to nothing about, but she wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth, since this meant she could learn more about the universe as a whole. As she thought about that she found that Paragus went with a set of armor that had a long purple robe bottom, a type mostly reserved for the older and higher ranking members of the empire, meaning he was likely swearing off violence to keep an eye on Broly, an interesting thought since he had one working eye due to a scar that rested over his left eye. Broly, on the other hand, was more like a muscular warrior than his father was, in fact it reminded Twilight of Kale's berserker form, and he had long black hair that looked like it hadn't been cut for a long time, though he chose a set of armor with green shoulder guards and wore what appeared to be a large green animal's ear wrapped around his waist, like a jacket of sorts. In that moment she connected the dots as she felt the slumbering power that rested inside his body, his energy felt nearly identical to Kale's when she transformed, and even now the signature of his base was just like Kale's, meaning Broly had to be the Legendary Super Saiyan of Universe 7. Following that thought Twilight got to work forming a way to help Broly out, as she suspected that the collar he was being forced to wear would shock him if Paragus felt that he was misbehaving in some manner, no doubt connected to some sort of controller that was made from components of the ship Cheelai reported seeing on Vampa. She had her father set a course for one of the planets that was on the way to Earth, that way her mother could meet them halfway since she was having her bring Goku, Vegeta, Caulifla, and Kale along for the ride, something that caused her father and uncle to quickly understand what was going through her head. There was also the chance that Paragus was using the collar to keep Broly in control, because of his immense hidden power and the legendary Saiyan form that lurked deep within him, and if that was the case she knew that showing him that there was someone like him that could help him master his powers, even give him lessons to maintain control. If things went south, and Broly couldn't control himself, Goku, Vegeta, and Caulifla had the power to bring him under control again, without harming him, though when her uncle questioned what she was going to do about Paragus, since he might present a problem to the plan, Twilight simply smiled and told him that he and her father didn't have to worry at all. The planet her father picked out happened to be a frozen planetoid, far away from both other planets and even the sun, though Twilight knew that the cold winds wouldn't do anything to them or their guests, because while the ship landed she found her mother's portal in space-time resting nearby, with her and the Saiyans standing near it. "Wait a minute... is that who I think it is?" a voice asked, where she found that Paragus had joined them on the bridge, as Twilight had called for him and Broly to come to this portion of the ship, along with Cheelai and Lemo since Broly seemed to be content with their presence, no doubt since they were the first people he had seen in a long time. "Prince Vegeta, last of the Royal Saiyan bloodline? Yeah, he is." Twilight replied, though at the same time she gestured for all of them to join her as she made her way to the front of the ship, as it was time for them to see if they could aid Broly in reigning in his vast power, or if he needed vast amounts of training to control the power he was born with, "And no, you are not to attack him or the other Saiyans that are with him. We are here to help Broly control himself, since I can tell that both of you are worried about him losing his mind while in battle... speaking of which, this is forbidden." In that moment, as they stepped outside, Twilight ignited her magic and snatched the controller for Broly's collar and just dismantled it without delay, all while her magic did the same to the collar, breaking all of it into nothing while a quick look from her father and uncle stopped Paragus in his tracks. "Goku, Vegeta, Caulifla, Kale, allow me to introduce Broly, and his father Paragus." Twilight said, gesturing to the pair the moment they were no longer inside the ship and were on the icy plateau that they had landed on earlier, where it was easy for her to tell that those from Earth were interested in the pair she was introducing, "They were found on a planetoid called Vampa not too long ago and I thought it best to introduce them to the other Saiyans who called this universe home... plus, while he might not look like he cares for combat, Broly's got some excellent energy. Kale, would you mind helping him out for a bit?" "Paragus? I vaguely recall hearing about a rogue colonel who went rogue and vanished, who just so happened to go by that same name." Vegeta remarked, though at the same time Kale, realizing the unspoken aspect of Twilight's request, beckoned for Broly to follow her as she walked away from the ship and everyone else, allowing him to focus on the main topic while the rest of the group stood nearby to watch Broly and Kale, "Let me guess: you hate my father, for possibly banishing your son to Vampa, and since he's dead you want to kill me in revenge? That won't do you any good... no, for you to have any true peace you would want to deal with my father..." "And, as you just said, he's dead." Paragus stated, though at the same time he watched as Kale raised her Power Level, due to the Scouter he was wearing catching onto her energy, but instead of a fight breaking out it seemed like she was showing Broly something, because he stood there and seemed to do his best at mimicking her movements. "True, but I could always send you back in time so you can stab and kill him as many times as you want, until your fury and hatred are burned out." Twilight commented, where she had to resist the urge to chuckle as she noticed Paragus' shocked expression, as she never got tired of telling people that she could, in fact, send them back in time without influencing the modern timeline they came from, something she had learned over the years of studying with her mother. As Kale and Broly stood off to the side, energy slowly rising around them as Kale delved into the lessons she needed to share with the inexperienced Saiyan, Twilight explained to Paragus the method she had just offered to him, despite the fact that it meant she had to explain how video games worked to someone who had no idea what she was talking about. The concept of an avatar, a representation of himself, took quite a bit of time for him to digest, along with the fact that he could go back and do whatever he wanted, with the only ways of him coming back were either through 'death', like being hit with an attack that would normally kill him, or by completing his objective, like kill King Vegeta. Of course Caulifla and Goku had to ask if Vegeta was alright with Twilight offering Paragus the ability to go back and kill his father as many times as he wanted, only for him to tell them that he really didn't care, as his father was a jerk and that he deserved whatever happened next. Such a thing caused the elderly Saiyan to pause for a time, because he had long since imagined that his revenge was out of reach, and that Prince Vegeta was the next best thing, but now he had an option that was new and needed time to consider if he should take it. While he was considering that information they discovered that Broly's latent power was far greater than they expected, as he suddenly put out enough power to match the base power of a Super Saiyan, all without really doing anything, and that fact told Twilight that if they were to fight him he'd quickly catch up with Goku and the other Saiyans. Fortunately Kale did seem to have some sort of grip on the other Saiyan's mind, especially when she decided to kick up the pace and show him what she could do, allowing herself to transform into her berserk state with ease, something that surprised Paragus, since he seemed to think only Broly had this power. Twilight explained that Caulifla and Kale were originally from Universe 6, but, due to the incompetence and lack of respect from their God of Destruction, plus the prospect of learning from Goku, Vegeta, and herself, the pair had moved universes and had been calling this one home for some time now. Kale was just like Broly, she had an insane power sleeping within her body, something that she was able to tame through training and finding what Twilight assumed was her 'core', the person that allowed her to ground herself, to make sure she didn't go berserk, which just so happened to be when Kale shifted into her controlled state. Such a thing caused Broly to go out of control, without the green hair interestingly enough, though Twilight suspected that it would take some time for him to even reach that point since he was so new to the whole idea of Saiyans being able to turn into other forms, but Kale stood her ground while he did so. "Don't worry, you're doing good. Now, just find someone to act as your anchor... mine is my sis, Caulifla." Kale said, though her words seemed to resonate in Broly's head, as he seemed to slow down as he glanced around the area they were in, like he was still slightly lost and was trying to come to terms with what was going on, before he locked eyes with Cheelai, which caused him to slip into unconsciousness, "Well, not what I was expecting, but it is good progress. Twilight, where should we take him so he can train without actually destroying everything around him?" "What about Beerus' planet? He's already got three trainees and us... what's one more Saiyan joining the scene, learning how to use his powers?" Goku inquired, because it seemed like a good idea, plus it meant that he and Vegeta would be able to test Broly's skill and his power without endangering any of the surrounding planets, especially since Whis' staff had what had to be a separate dimension for them to train in, perfect for someone like Broly. Twilight nodded her agreement with that thought, it seemed like the best thing for him and left the Saiyans to their current goals, all while she pulled Paragus off to the side to help him figure out how he wanted to deal with his rage and hatred, as it needed to be dealt with before anything else happened, though she had a feeling things were changing again and she had to be ready for whatever the future held in store for her and everyone else. > Interlude: Nuisance From Another Timeline > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Twilight found that, despite the arrival of Broly and his father, life remained the same for a whole month, as in nothing new happened to her, the Saiyans that called Universe 7 home, or any of the planets that existed across the span of the entire universe, which was good for her. Paragus, as she discovered, spent a week in the Room of Time, finding new and even some disturbing ways to bring about the end of King Vegeta in the distant past, and when he was finally done she found that a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. With him done with his revenge, something he even claimed when talking with her after his last session, he was free to retire from most operations and do whatever he wanted with his life, which, as she found out, was watching over his son and providing some true support for Broly. It was a nice change of pace from what everyone had seen when he was first discovered, using a shock collar to enforce his will on his son, and while it was clear that Broly was worried that something might happen he was able to relax and focus on his training as he discovered that his father just wanted to cheer him on. Of course Broly had a hard time controlling his own immense power, in fact when he trained for too long he tended to start transforming into his own berserk state, causing any of the Saiyans that he was training with to calm him down before having him sit on the sidelines until he cooled off. Twilight joined them from time to time, utilizing her highest form as she trained with the only one who could stand up to the power of her Queen of Harmony form, that being Whis and his own Ultra Instinct, allowing her to more fine tune her form while also giving her a chance to see the others for a short time. Caulifla and Kale, for example, were able to obtain Super Saiyan God by training with Goku and Vegeta, while also pushing their power to the first Blue form as well, showing that they had great potential, even if some thought they were cheating getting multiple forms so quickly. Twilight wasn't at all phased by this interesting discovery, rather she assumed that, since they were about the same age as the main Saiyans from her universe, minus the years that both Goku and Vegeta had spent inside the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, they had been in a lot of fights and that meant their bodies were fine tuned as well. Their power was literally catching up with their experience, hence the explosive growth each faced when a new form was obtained, prompting the other Saiyans to help train them until they were familiar with the new form, fueling more growth for everyone. To prove her point Goku managed to do something not even Vegeta could do, he actually tapped into a lesser version of Ultra Instinct called 'Omen' and 'Sign', a starting stage according to Whis as he explained that each Angel had their own pet name of sorts for the base form. Such a thing caused Vegeta to ask why Twilight had skipped this stage and Whis told him that it was his personal belief that she had, in some manner, tapped into the power of the Omen Form after obtaining the Dark Queen transformation, while her fight with Jiren allowed her to fully access the true power of Ultra Instinct. Despite all of that Whis told Goku that it would take some time for him to actually learn and unlock it's power, as it wasn't an easy form to master, which only motivated him to do better in his training, where he split his time between training with the rest of the group and training with Whis to develop his new power. Vegeta, on the other hand, realized that the power of Ultra Instinct wouldn't suit him and focused his mind towards finding a form that would equal Goku's, prompting Twilight to suggest that he train with the Yardrats for a time, as developing himself as a person, under their eyes, might be the best thing for him. The reasoning was sound, Goku was focused on his martial arts while Vegeta was focused on himself, just like always, so she knew that their own fighting styles would evolve into different forms, unique forms that were beyond the power that a Super Saiyan Blue 4 held, which only excited Caulifla and Kale as well, since they weren't too far behind. Other than that nothing else really happened, save for more planets being discovered on the outskirts of the universe and more races being found, but there were no universe ending threats and nothing for her to get involved with, allowing her to explore some of the new planets or show the other Destroyers around. In addition to that she started to learn about all of the other universes, as the Gods of Destruction knew she was interested in learning more about the multiverse, even if the information came from another universe, and after everything she had done they were eager to settle the score, least she poach their warriors for Universe 7. Her acquisition of Caulifla and Kale, in addition to Hit before them, had frightened several Destroyers, causing them to fear that she would come and steal more warriors from the rest of the multiverse, but she made it clear that she welcomed everyone and anyone. Such a thing prompted a few groups of Heles' beast warriors to move universes, followed by Jiren, of all warriors, leaving Universe 11 and Belmod, with his only request being that he be left alone until he was ready to mingle with people, and even some from Universe 9 ditched Sidra. Of course several of the gods who lost warriors came to try and get them back, only for the individuals in question to turn them down, allowing her to focus on her own plans and efforts for a time... at least until the day that she felt a sudden and powerful shift in space-time itself. "Great, whose messing with the fabric of space-time this time?" Twilight commented, where she paused for a moment, all while everyone who was training around her stopped when they heard her speak, as she utilized her power to track down the source of the new disturbance, only to be surprised when she determined where it was coming from, "New Namek... an interesting decision." "Is something happening to the planet?" Goku asked, as the last time they had seen the Namekians was when the group used their version of the Dragon Balls to find a new planet to call home, while Twilight had clearly found them and likely declared the planet a sanctuary to keep the race, and their wish granting spheres, safe from harm. "I have no idea... at least, not yet." Twilight replied, where she summoned her power and opened a portal in space-time, as she was curious as to what was going on and wanted to be on New Namek before whatever happened went down, even though she knew that she would be needed to set things right. Of course she wasn't too surprised to find that Goku, Vegeta, and Caulifla were interested in seeing whatever she might have discovered, while Kale was coming along mostly so she didn't get left behind, though Broly decided to remain behind so he could catch up on his own personal training. With everyone assembled, and Whis confirming that he would keep an eye on the planet just in case an invasion force from another parallel world was coming into her domain, Twilight ushered them to New Namek, which was an identical replica to Old Namek. She knew that the Namekians had done a wonderful job in recreating their home planet, in fact she had come by a few times over the years to give them items that would help them out, especially salvaging various planets from the past to make everything better, and they had done wonders with what they had available. The portal brought them to one of the settlements that dotted the new planet, the very one that Moori watched over since Twilight found him standing nearby, though as everyone else stepped out of the portal, giving them a chance to look out at the planet, she glanced at the air above them and found that the space-time anomaly was in the process of forming. As the Namekians came out to see what was going on Goku ushered for them to get away, because this might be far too dangerous for them, to which Moori nodded as he evacuated the settlement, complete with the Dragon Ball since it was a precious artifact to his race. In the next moment Twilight watched as the space-time anomaly opened into a portal into one of the other parallel worlds she had restored, where a tall humanoid figure with blue skin stepped out of it and stood on the air in front of the portal, which ended up closing not a few moments later. She also found that the figure had a brace of sorts over his chest, that formed an X over his upper body, and it had short silver fur growing on top of it, before she noticed the belt he wore, as it had the galactic symbol for A on it, why she had no idea. His pants were a shade of purple that was only slightly darker than it's base coloration, while he had more of the fur on both of his legs, just below the knees since his pants didn't cover all of his legs, and he had black shoes on. The interesting thing was that the figure had two curved horns on his head and a trio of blue gems in the center of his forehead, the middle one larger than the ones to the left and right of it, before she realized what she and the others were currently looking at. There was only one creature, in the entire universe, who had the three gems on his forehead, someone she needed to go deal with at some point since his power was somewhat broken and, in the wrong hands, even universe ending, before she stepped forward and gestured for the others to stand back. "Planet-Eater Moro, what an interesting surprise." Twilight stated, as the figure in front of her was a combination of that dangerous creature and a version of the goat that Zamasu had killed some time ago, a rather dangerous fusion that she needed to put down, instead of allowing him to return to his own parallel world. "How curious, someone knows of my existence." the figure, Moro, replied, though at the same time he found that Twilight floated up to where he was positioned, where he took a few moments to glance at everything that was around them right now, noticing that he had been brought to New Namek, of all places, "So this is one of those 'parallel worlds' that Darkstar harped on about... going on and on about how she was going to devour all of their energy to eliminate 'Zeno'... oh well, now that pleasure belongs to me!" "Sorry, but this universe is under my protection. I am Twilight Sparkle, Dark Queen of the Demon Realm and Ruler of Most of the known Universe." Twilight stated, where Goku and the others found that, instead of sticking to her base form, until she determined the power of her foe or was pushed to use a greater level of power, she took on her Dark Queen form as Moro stared at her, meaning she was taking him somewhat seriously, "And you are as good as dead." Moro grinned for a moment as Twilight rushed through the air and crossed the gap between them in an instant, where he raised his hand towards the sky in a sweeping motion, as if he was calling forth some sort of power to deal with her, but at the same time Twilight swung her right hand downward. To Goku and the others nothing seemed to happen as the two warriors clashed, or rather tried to as they found that Moro had the power to dodge Twilight's attacks, confirming that he had his own version of Ultra Instinct and that he was using it to avoid her attempts to harm him. Moro raised his hands as Twilight landed behind him and swung both towards her, no doubt intending on impaling her or something, though when nothing happened he found that everything his power had been linked to had remained where they were positioned, as if he had done nothing at all. Following that he raised a hand in the direction of the fleeing Namekians, he knew they were here since they had fled in his world when he came to collect all of their Dragon Balls to get his power back, only to quickly discover that nothing happened as he stood there. He glanced at his hands for a moment, as he knew that his powers worked with the sheer power of the 'Angel' that Goku said he had taken the powers of, in fact he had found a way to preserve that height while utilizing his own powers, so, with the suddenness of his abilities not working, Moro had to wonder what was going on. With that in mind Moro focused his mind and could tell that all of the warriors that were around him were strong, as the four who were standing off on the sidelines were far stronger than those in his world, in fact two of them were beyond his versions of them, and yet, when he tried to siphon their power, he got nothing. He knew his powers were working, since he could feel their energies from where he was standing, but his siphon power wasn't responding at the moment, either due to the fact that they were moving at speeds faster than he was capable of, or someone was blocking him. The latter of the two didn't make sense, he was the only being that had this sort of power in the entire universe, and based on what he could tell it seemed like this world's version of him was already dead, which was good for him since it told him that he no longer had to share the energy of this universe with anyone. In addition to that he should have been able to feast on the vast power of New Namek and increase his power even more, quickly draining it, it's people, and it's animals of their life energy, but he found that he couldn't do that at all, in fact the area he could affect with his power was now limited to the immediate area around him. "You know, for having some form of Ultra Instinct, I expected you to fight more." Twilight remarked, though she was happy to see that Moro was driving himself mad with the fact that he was unable to use his siphon powers right now, which was due to her influence and experience, because with the extra time she had figured out how to beat him on her terms, but she was disappointed in his lack of fighting skill, "You've never trained a day in your life, have you?" "Why would I need to, when I have the power to do this?!" Moro replied, raising a hand towards his foe so he could yank her towards him and grant him access to her vast power, only to find that nothing happened, none of his powers seemed to be working at the moment, "What is going on? Why can't I use any of my vast powers?" "Because someone more experienced than you is cancelling you out." Twilight stated, because she was disappointed in the Planet-Eater right now, as she had been expecting some brilliant mastermind whose power and skills were far beyond what anyone else was capable of, a true monster like the tales had said, only to discover that she honestly didn't need to worry about Moro at all, he was beneath her at this point. As Moro heard that, however, he realized what had happened over the last few moments as a dark aura washed over his foe, every motion he had made previously, to steal the power of something or use an object to his benefit, had a counter of sorts used after he made the first move. His opponent knew his techniques, that much he understood after taking a few moments to think about everything, but now he truly understood what was going on, Twilight, as she called herself, knew how to use his own powers and had figured out how to counter him. Of course it was more than countering him, she had the power to cancel out his attempts to drain the area or move the objects that were around them, and she even stopped him from taking the molten material of the planet itself and using it as a weapon. It came as a surprise to him that there was someone out there that could use his powers to a degree that was far beyond what he was capable of, even after all of the plans he had put into motion to grow his own strength to such a shocking degree, forcing him to come to terms with the fact that this was likely the end. In the following seconds Twilight shifted into her new final form and grabbed Moro by the head before he, or his stolen version of Ultra Instinct, could react, slamming him into the ground, much to the surprise of the watchers since they had thought she would go about this in a slow manner, not cut to the chase in no time at all. "What... are you?" Moro asked, as this was unthinkable for someone like him, that someone like Twilight existed and that his power was, quite literally, useless against her, along with the fact that he was about to suffer another defeat, this time one that would be far more permanent than the one he suffered when the Great Kaioshin sealed his magic away. "The bane of your existence." Twilight replied, though in that moment she activated her power and latched onto every bit of power that was inside Moro's body, as she was going to take it all from him, devour it in front of him, and then end his existence so she could get back to preparing for the future. Goku and the others watched as Twilight placed her hand over Moro's chest for a moment before slowly pulling it back, a fact that was followed by an orb of energy slowly emerging from her opponent's body, which contained nearly every bit of energy Moro had stolen for himself in the world he came from. Such a thing meant that his body started to age while she did that, as he started to turn into an anthropomorphic goat, like Twilight had told them once upon a time, while his body started to get older and older, becoming decrepit and old, as if he was over a hundred years old or something. Once she was done Twilight stood up for a moment and showed Moro that she wasn't kidding, she could do everything he did as she shrunk the orb down to the size of a marble and ate it, before using some of her magic to lift him into the air, as it was time to end this. In the next moment she called upon the power of darkness and trapped Moro inside a Black Coffin, just like she had used against Vegeta once upon a time, but this time she just shrunk it down until it was the size of a marble, crushing Moro in the process, before banishing it and leaving no trace of the nuisance that had entered her world. With the potential threat taken care of, and she was sure that there were no more space-time portals forming anywhere in her universe, Twilight turned her focus towards whatever the future might have in store for them and hoped it was better than another problem from another parallel world. > Survivor: Newcomers and Discoveries > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Following Twilight dealing with the Alternate Moro, before he could bring about more harm to the universe, Twilight spent the next few months keeping tabs on the planets of her universe, watching the barrier between her domain and the other parallel worlds, and just doing her best to make sure she was ready for the next villain. Twilight informed them that there was always another villain, she had learned that fact after watching over this universe for a long time, so with Moro taken out it was only a matter of time until someone else got the nerve to step up and do something. She found that both Goku and Caulifla seemed to be following the same path, pushing towards Ultra Instinct, while Vegeta and Kale seemed to be in the middle of searching for their own answer, the latter even going to Yardrat, like she suggested, to study under them for a time. It was time well spent, as they were able to master a part of themselves that only the Yardrats could help them with, as they were a unique people and Twilight enjoyed learning from them when she had the time, and she wondered if they might be able to help Broly at some point, with the other Saiyans helping him to the best of their ability. Twilight was quite pleased with the pair of Saiyans who originally came from Universe 6, as by this point in time there was nothing else to teach them, no new forms for them to master, as they had used their time effectively and had reached the pinnacle transformation that their teachers had reached. They weren't the only warriors from the other universes she kept an eye on, as Kakunsa and the Beast Warriors, or those who came with her from Universe 2, had settled on a planet in the system near to Earth's system, one that had no people living on it, and called it 'Beastia'. The untamed nature of the world in question was the perfect place for them to live, due to the fact that the forests, jungles, and other environments allowed them to push themselves to their limits, though instead of rushing to their deaths they made sure to back off when they were overwhelmed. They were able to clear out an area for all of them to live in, a base of operations that would become the capital of their world, and, as Twilight expected, they joined up with the rest of the empire without wasting time, where Kakunsa was able to point out a good area for the force to set up a base in. Such a thing would allow Twilight, or the explorers who worked under her, to head out into the world and see all it had to offer, though it did bring a smile to her face seeing the newcomers living their lives to the fullest with their new forms, all while fulfilling their dreams at the same time, and it allowed her to witness history in action from time to time. At the same time Twilight found that Jiren eventually emerged from his seclusion and offered his services to her as well, in the sense of taking point for the group tasked with exploring the outermost regions of the universe, a region of space that held the most dangerous planets, ones that made Vampa look like a picnic. Those planets, primordial ones that were far too different from the ones she was used to visiting, were off limits to the lower echelons of the empire, in fact only the likes of Jiren, Hit, or the Saiyans were allowed on the planets in question, they were just that tough as she discovered. There was the planet Elementantia, where the elements themselves took on humanoid forms and existed in a tenuous harmony with each other, often times going to war with each other when another did something that upset that balance, and Twilight found that she could spend days just watching over them. In addition to that there was Ambrosa, a planet ruled over by some of the most intelligent humanoid bug creatures Twilight had ever seen, as they were far more advanced than Arlia, another planet of bugs that Vegeta destroyed during his time with Nappa, though these ones worked with amber and seemed to make all sorts of things with the malleable material. The real surprise came with the discovery of something in the deepest remote region of space, something Jiren found on his own, while the team he was with investigated Ambrosa, as it was a being of immense power that not even the gods of Universe 7 knew about, a dark monstrous being of tendrils that had merged with the planet it landed on. Twilight found that the creature was as tall as six Capsule Corps on top of each other, or rather that was the projection it created when she went to investigate and found that 'Voidica', the planet to be exact, had some elvish people living on the surface, complete with a whole civilization no less. The creature called herself 'Vel'Shagoth', or Vel for short since she really didn't care about her full name, and actually seemed to appreciate having new visitors for a change, since no one dared to travel this far, though to avoid talking down to her the creature materialized as a twenty year old elf girl with black hair and eerie orange eyes. Vel explained that she wasn't actually from this universe, in fact she had been created by a group of terrifying beings she called the 'Lords of the Void' and had been cast out to find a planet to corrupt, or at least she was positive that was what they had tasked her with, but her fate had been changed when a breach in the barriers between universes opened and she found herself here. With that one fateful event she discovered that she was free to do whatever she wanted, though since her speed had been impacted by the breach Vel decided to call this part of the universe home, free from the influence of the universal gods and those who made her. In the end Twilight found that she had a new friend, as the Old God, that was what her kind were called, found that she was good company, just swapping stories and information without imposing any rules on her home, and it only made her that much more interested in what the future held for them. Two months after the arrival of Alternate Moro, and his timely demise, Twilight found that someone dared to do what she deemed to be completely unthinkable, as she had arranged for the transfer of the prisoner known as OG73-I, or Seven-Three as he was known as, to an area where Beerus could erase him from existence, and he never arrived. He happened to be the one that she deemed to be a dangerous existence, especially since he didn't listen to anything she had to say to him, meaning he couldn't be rehabilitated at all, and his power allowed him to copy anyone he grabbed by the neck, hence why his cell remained closed when she talked to him. With how dangerous he was, especially given the powers that all of the races of Universe 7 had to offer, erasing him was the only option available to her right now, so she went through the legal paperwork to have him removed from the prison and escorted to a planet for Beerus to do the deed on, before both he and Whis headed to Earth for some food. Unfortunately Seven-Three never arrived, as the escort was attacked by what seemed to be a mercenary, of which there weren't too many of in the universe since nearly everyone worked for her and the empire, a rather skilled one who sniped her soldiers in the chest, missing their vitals while knocking them out, before leaving with the cryo pod Seven-Three had been stored in. It was both infuriating and somewhat interesting, because it took guts to attack the empire that ruled the near majority of the universe, who had eyes and ears everywhere thanks to all of the soldiers and operatives, not to mention steal a cryo pod that a criminal was contained in, causing Twilight to chuckle while she was in her office. "I knew it... there's still a living Cerealian, somewhere in the universe." Twilight commented, though as she did that she just looked at the information that was on the screen in front of her, detailing the attack on her empire and what she had seen during her time in the Room of Time all those years ago, when she used the assault on Planet Cereal to train herself for what the future had for her, "A lone sniper, taking out skilled warriors without killing them, while damaging equipment to make sure no one can see him... why would he want Seven-Three? That's the part I'm not seeing..." As she said that, however, she spotted something in one of her ongoing search engines and discovered that it was about the Heeters, the very organization that her father had worked with once upon a time, back when they were conquering and selling planets, and that they had a bounty on Seven-Three's head. "Of course, mercenaries will tackle any job or bounty that is offered to them, or ones they feel that they are ready for, a fact that usually ends in them failing... but not a Cerealian." Twilight remarked, as now it made sense, the Heeters, or Elec as she recalled, claimed that information was the greatest power in the entire universe, something she could confirm to a degree since her knowledge of things had helped her gain vast amounts of power and allies, "What are you looking for, Elec? What could Seven-Three possibly know that you'd risk angering me for?" One of the reports she had on the strange android, for that was what Seven-Three was, claimed that his gang had done a lot of bad things over their many years, including locating Zuno's place, and that all that information was stored inside his head, meaning anyone who tapped into his mind would know everything he knew, causing her to realize exactly what the man was after. "Zuno... the ultimate broker of knowledge. Get to him, convince him to answer your questions, and you could become the smartest thing in existence." Twilight said, though that complicated things, because with every discovery she made both the libraries of Alexandria and Zuno got updates on everything she found out, adding new planets and races to what they knew about the universe, which now included an Old God, a powerful being that rivaled her father, mother, and uncles, before the pieces snapped into place, "Oh, still barking up that tree, eh Elec? You want the empire... no, you want to rule the whole universe, don't you... and we're in the way. Seven-Three knows about Zuno, who knows about the Dragon Balls and all the wishes that can be granted, not to mention which ones are more powerful than the others... deliver that juicy information to someone who hates both the former Frieza Force and the Saiyans and you'll start a war, with you to pick up the pieces." With that in mind Twilight spent the next couple of days conversing with her father, uncle, and grandfather, because they were the ones that would be affected by whatever was going on, given what happened to Planet Cereal in the past and the race that had once called it home, and they formed a plan of attack. For the time being they would be hunting down the one who took Seven-Three, that was the official story since everyone, naturally, assumed Twilight was busy with universal affairs, so her family would be keeping an eye on the Heeters and anyone who was associated with them. If she was right, and Twilight was sure that she was, it was only a matter of time until someone from the Heeters approached Zuno about the Saiyans of Earth, which would bring them to Goku, Vegeta, Caulifla, and Kale, who would no doubt be interested in the prospect of fighting someone they deemed to be a villain. It was a classic trick in her mind, so much so that she didn't see anyone really falling for it and actually suspected that the Saiyans would notice what was going on if she joined them, so they would lure the Heeters into a false sense of security and then surprise them when the time came. Of course she wasn't the only one preparing, as her family had found a Hyperbolic Time Chamber on another planet and were planning on using it in the near future, so they could boost their power to a new level since the Saiyans were getting too much of a lead on them, and she wished them well with their venture, though she insisted on being told when they were going to start, to aid with her planning. Sure enough she was proven right, as two turquoise skinned individuals appeared outside Capsule Corp one day, where Twilight remained in hiding as she observed them, finding that one was large and fat, sort of like Buu she guessed, though he wore nothing but a red open vest over his bare chest and had a strange bone necklace around his neck. Standing next to him was a skinny and short female of the same species, with magenta colored hair, a white shirt with a red suit of sorts over it, blue boots, and an identical necklace around her neck, though she also had a collar with the Heeter logo on it. She wasn't even surprised that the pair were blatantly revealing who they were to anyone who happened to be in the area, as these were none other than Oil and Macki, members of the Heeter Force, Elec's siblings, though the one she had more interest in was their brother Gas. That one was said to be the strongest of them all, his power far beyond what his siblings had, even though none seemed to think that he was stronger than Elec, which meant they were fools, but even if she had no idea who they were Twilight recognized the logo on the side of the ship. It's like they had ignored the fact that the universe was ruled by her empire and that she basically lived on Earth, and, just to prove her point, she found that Macki noticed her and waved, causing her to wave back without the lady even realizing who was standing nearby, proving that the Heeters were idiots. "Twilight, we've got some guests looking for Goku and Vegeta... said there's someone claiming to be the 'strongest in the universe' whose making a mess of a planet." Bulma said, appearing at the doorway of the room that Twilight was in, which gave her a good view of the Heeters, though she also had the communicator that allowed her to talk to Whis, since she had a feeling she knew what the pony girl was going to say, "What do you make of this?" "Sounds like someone figured out that there are living Saiyans and wants them dead, and probably my father as well since he ordered the attack on the planet in question," Twilight replied, though Bulma's words confirmed her suspicions, that the last living Cerealian must have done something to piss off the Heeters and now they wanted him dead, hopefully while Elec figured out how to utilize the Dragon Balls for his own sick gain, "If they mentioned payment, don't believe it... they're of the mind to not pay people that are going to their deaths, even if one said that they'll do so once the deed is done. Just call Goku and the others back and we'll deal with whatever happens next." Bulma, knowing that Twilight had a plan in mind before even knowing that the pair had arrived, decided to go along with the plan and called Whis so she could tell the Saiyans what she knew, without revealing Twilight's thoughts on the matter, causing them to be interested in the figure that the two Heeters were talking about. As such the group arrived outside the Capsule Corp building in no time, surprising both Oil and Macki when they realized that there were four Saiyans, not two like they were likely waiting for, but Twilight knew that they had distracted Bulma for one other reason. Zuno must have told them about the Dragon Radar, as she could sense the device on the alien lady's body, meaning she had stolen it while Bulma was coming to talk to her, something she would have to retrieve once the deed was done, even though it did easily confirm that the Dragon Balls, a set of them anyway, were involved. Of course both Heeters were surprised when she came out to join the group that was coming with them, but they seemed fine with it after some time, maybe deciding that removing all of them at once would be best, before ushering them onto the ship. Twilight smiled for a moment as they departed from the Earth and started to make their way to Planet Cereal, as she was eager to see the last Cerealian with her own eyes and see what Elec had planned for the Dragon Balls that had just been found, before bringing an end to this part of her father's legacy so they could face whatever the future held in store for all of them. > Survivor: Meeting Granolah > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Twilight found that, despite the advances in spaceships and other components that went into the ships in question, which she had created and produced so everyone in the universe had access to greater speed, the trip to Planet Cereal took eighteen whole days to complete. She already understood that Oil and Macki were playing at desperate individuals of a race that had gathered nearly all of their resources to find some heroes to take down 'Granolah', the Cerealian no doubt, but at the same time she had to admit that their acting skills could use some work. After noticing how unconcerned she was about everything it took no time for Goku and the others to realize that something was up, but likewise kept at their training and meditations to make it seem like nothing was out of the ordinary, figuring that she had a plan and would clue them in when the time was right. She, on the other hand, positioned herself in the one spot that didn't have a camera watching her back, as the Heeters were smart enough to hide them in places that would go unnoticed, but she found them easily enough, her senses were just that well trained to spot such small details, and sat in the 'private area'. She spent most of her time hacking into the ship's systems, which were laughably easy to hack into despite being the very network that the 'most intelligent' group in the universe used in their day to day life, and she discovered a few things that confirmed her suspicions about this entire setup. The Heeters were trying to eliminate Granolah, who had been weaker than Gas on day and suddenly put up one heck of a fight a few days later, because he was a loose cannon that might take out all of her father's empire before doing her father in, showing that they had no idea he had passed the rule of the empire to her a number of years ago. There was also a recording of the meeting between him and the Heeters, after he gained his power, where he revealed to them that he had used the Dragon Balls of Cereal to become 'the greatest in the universe', but for the dragon to grant his wish he had to sacrifice most of his remaining lifespan, one hundred and fifty years to be exact. Thanks to his power boost, and the shortening of his lifespan, had caused the Heeters to call in some Saiyans, figuring that his rage towards the species that wiped out his people would end with him dead, while they could swoop in and grab the Dragon Balls to make their own wish. There was also the fact that Macki had informed Granolah of the situation, informing him that they were Frieza's assassins, sent to kill him after hearing of his desire to kill their boss, and Twilight was amazed by the sheer stupidity of Granolah as he accepted it at face value before ending the call. So far she wasn't impressed by either group, as the Heeters were dumb and thought they could get away with anything that sprung into Elec's mind, as he was the mastermind of the group, while at the same time she was disappointed in how the last Cerealian was acting, throwing away most of his life and his pride to have his revenge. Instead of finding a way to live as the last of his kind, or even seeking a way to ensure that the Cerealians lived on, Granolah was literally throwing everything away after discovering that he had a chance to have his revenge against those that wronged him. It wasn't a path of justice he was walking, it was a path of destruction, both for those he was targeting, the people of the planet they were heading to, and for himself, and that fact irritated Twilight the more she thought about this situation. This time around she doubted that taking a few samples of his DNA and showing him that she could find a way to revive his species would convince him to just stand down, meaning they were going to have to fight and beat him into submission. In addition to all of that she determined that Elec and Gas were on their way to the planet as well, no doubt to observe the battle that would take place and to find the Dragon Balls to grant whatever wish they wanted to have granted, but it would take them longer to reach Planet Cereal, so there was a chance the battle would be over when they arrived. During the journey she had to think about the fact that Elec and his people had no idea that she was the ruler of the entire universe, something they should have known as soon as they laid eyes on her, and, when combined with everything that had transpired so far, she confirmed that they were simply morons. Sure, they had a complicated plan, but it hinged on all of the parties they were trying to manipulate into taking their words at face value and not questioning anything, so thanks to her already knowing something was up the Saiyans had raised their guards while maintaining the appearance that they knew nothing. Neither of their hosts seemed to realize that they had been found out, nor did they realize their folly by not recognizing the one that ruled the entire universe, which only made her agree with her father's remark when she sent him and the others a notice about this turn of events, he felt it was time to bring the Heeters down. Of course she had to wait for all of the players to be in position before springing the trap on them, but she was fine with playing along for a while, as it would give her a chance to see what sort of powers Granolah gained from his wish and if it was worth worrying about the new set of Dragon Balls. When the eighteenth day arrived they landed in a clearing on Planet Cereal, one located a rather pristine domed city that was on one side of things and a ruined city that was a good distance away from it, where Twilight was the first one off as the rest of her group followed after her, all while the two Heeters happened to be the last ones off the ship. "The planet is peaceful... too peaceful for a rampaging villain." Kale commented, keeping her voice low so only the rest of the group could hear her, while at the same time the Heeters seemed distracted by something else, no doubt a signal that was coming from Elec's ship if Twilight was right about what was going to happen next. "Now, last we heard the dastardly Granolah was last seen somewhere behind that mountain." Macki said, gesturing to the tall mountain that was off in the distance, just so they understood the direction they had to travel in, though she kept up the innocent person routine to try and convince them that she and her brother weren't lying to them, "Getting any closer would be disastrous for us, since we're not fighters like you guys, so we'll just hang back and let you take care of him." Goku nodded for a moment and gave them a thumbs up, mostly to keep up the illusion that they believed the Heeters, as Twilight's body language told him that things were different than what they had been told, before the group floated into the air and flew off into the distance. As they flew in silence Twilight noted that Oil was definitely following after them, all while not using his energy since he didn't want them to notice his movements, which he failed at since she knew this was happening, before she noticed that Whis had signed Goku's gi again and Beerus had given Vegeta an earring like his, as if he had been trained to use destruction energy. She figured the pair had learned some things while they were on Beerus' planet, before they were called back to Earth for this venture, and the two deities were having a wager of sorts to quickly determine which style was better, Ultra Instinct or Destruction. While she was eager to see the results of this, however, her focus was on tracking down Granolah and bringing this to an end before something stupid happened, but, given what she had learned so far, she suspected that such a thing wouldn't come to pass, that Granolah was going to be an idiot and force their hand in some manner. "Kale's right, something's up with this whole thing... there's an old ruin that looks like it was destroyed ages ago, while the newer cities are totally pristine." Caulifla said, something that confirmed what they had been thinking after seeing how Twilight had acted on the way to this planet, the Heeters were definitely lying about something and that meant they had to be on their guard until someone figured out a way to calm this Granolah down, "There's no sign of anyone rampaging for quite a while." Twilight sensed someone using their power and noticed that it was coming from a nearby forest, where she called out to the others and they dodged out of the way as a barrage of small but deadly fast Ki blasts rushed into the air, though she did notice that she was left alone as the others were targeted by their hidden attacker. In response to that three of the Saiyans transformed into their Super Saiyan states and rushed down towards the ground, while Goku closed his eyes so he could get more experience using the basics of Ultra Instinct and followed after them. As they discovered Granolah wasn't where the blasts were coming from, rather when the group landed several more blasts came from the sky, forcing the group back into the air as Twilight joined them, weaving her magic into a bubble around each of them. She could tell that their foe wasn't playing around and wanted to make sure everyone was fine for the time being, and her spell came in handy as one of the blasts hit Goku in the back, keeping him safe as they landed on the ground again. The shocking thing for the others was that Granolah had struck him in a vital area, which would have been fatal had she not used a barrier spell to keep them all safe from harm, save for herself anyway since she didn't need it, though that did cause Goku to join the others in using the Super Saiyan form before he pinpointed their target and fired a blast at him, an attack that missed as their foe appeared behind them. "Impressive. Moving from one point to another in the blink of an eye... similar to Instant Transmission, but far faster and without needing the hand motion." Twilight commented, turning to face the figure in question, where they found that the figure in question was light skinned with wavy green hair, while his attire consisted of a dark yellowish-green shirt that was under a green coat, a long gray scarf, a yellowish-green pair of pants, brown gloves and boots, and an eyepatch of sorts that rested over his right eye, "You must be Granolah." "I am indeed. I have no name for the technique, but it is but a fraction of the power I possess as the strongest warrior in the entire universe." the figure, Granolah, replied, though it was clear that he was looking at each of them as he took note of who he needed to kill and who he could afford to let go so he could focus on his quest for revenge, and it was clear that he was focused on Goku and Vegeta, at the very least, "I am the last of the Cerealians... you might not know about my race, judging by your reactions, but I know that four of you are Saiyans. I will tell you nothing more, for you are fated to die this day!" In that moment Granolah gripped his right hand as he pointed it at the ground, causing Twilight to surround them with a barrier as the area around them detonated, forming a crater as the smoke cleared, though they knew that his attack was like the Destruction attack the Gods of Destruction used. "You are wrong, Granolah, as we know plenty about your race... I studied the Cerealians, once upon a time." Twilight said, though as she said that the Saiyans focused on their foe in case he tried anything while she was talking, though she could see that he was interested in what she might have to say, as if he was allowing her to try and bluff her way out of this, like he was looking down on her as well, "You come from a race of incredible snipers, claimed to be the best of the best, but, unlike the Saiyans, you only used your power to defend yourselves, the planet you called home, and the small group of Namekians who eventually came to call this planet home as well. The Cerealians also refused to bend to the Emperor's iron will, so instead of wasting time on trying to convince your people to join him, as he deemed it pointless to reason with you, he tasked the Saiyans with attacking the planet so they could sell it to someone else later on. Your people fought to the end, just as your Namekian friends did, but, in the end, all you succeeded in doing was blowing away the moon so the attackers couldn't use their Oozaru forms anymore... and you, plus the Namekian Grand Elder of this planet, survived the attack and went on with your lives." "...Yes, until I found the means to fulfill my vendetta against their kind." Granolah replied, though he wasn't sure what to make of this situation, as he was sure that there was no one, outside those that served Frieza anyway, who knew of what happened all those years ago, and yet his thoughts were proven wrong, someone knew of the attack and was standing with the four Saiyans that were behind her, "I will admit that the golden hair surprised me, as I was under the assumption that all Saiyans had black hair..." "Oh, if that surprises you, then this will be quite the shock." Twilight stated, to which she turned her head for a moment and glanced back at the group that was behind her, as they were clearly waiting for her to determine how to go about this battle before they wasted their time going through their various transformations, "Full power. Do not hold back... show him the error of his ways so we can talk things out." Caulifla and Kale were the first ones to nod as they transformed without delay, taking on the form of Super Saiyan Blue 4, a form they had unlocked thanks to training with Goku and Vegeta on Beerus' world for so long, and helping Broly out as well, something that surprised Granolah as the ground around them shook. Goku closed his eyes for a moment before he shifted into his Ultra Instinct form, as he had unlocked it during his training with Whis, while at the same time Vegeta did something new, as he seemed excited by the prospect of battle and was surrounded by purple energy for a moment. Not a few moments later he emerged in a form that had a facial structure similar to Super Saiyan 3, though he had spiked hair that was purple colored, like Beerus' Destruction power, likely some sort of 'Ultra' form as well when Twilight took a couple of seconds to think about it. This was the fruit of their efforts of training on Beerus' planet, two Saiyans utilizing the very pinnacle of their Saiyan power, with Kale saving her Legendary form in case it was actually needed, while the other two in the group were utilizing personal transformations that were even stronger than Super Saiyan Blue 4. Twilight, in response to that, shifted into her Dark Queen form as she jumped back and waved her hand, calling forth the other Granolah that was hiding in the forest, surprising the figure in question as she shattered the clone he had created to waste time, allowing her to stand there with a smug look on her face. "Perfected Ultra Instinct, what I'm guessing is 'Ultra Ego', and two Saiyans using Super Saiyan Blue 4... good luck, Granolah, as you're going to need it." Twilight commented, where she raised her hand into the air for a moment, all while the lone Cerealian struggled to comprehend what was going on right now, even though his full power was similar to one of the four warriors that stood in front of him, before she swung it down at the Saiyans burst into action. Her words were proven right as Goku made the first move, striking Granolah in the face with a kick that knocked off his leathery eyepatch, though as he regained himself Vegeta appeared in front of him, with his hands raised towards his chest for a moment, before he blasted the Cerealian in the chest. As he called forth his own power to destroy the attack, which seemed to work quite well as Twilight watched the attack crumple to dust, he wasn't expecting Caulifla and Kale to strike him in the chest with a combined downwards kick, before they flipped into the air and blasted him into the ground before he had a chance to defend himself. Granolah, sensing that allowing them to have their way would be a bad idea, lashed out at the group and found that when he aimed at one target one of the others would strike his openings, which just told Twilight that there was nothing major behind the 'strongest in the universe', a meaningless title for someone like him since he couldn't handle a group of foes. Such a thing meant that she wouldn't have to get involved, not as Caulifla and Kale let him taste their fists before Goku and Vegeta pushed him away, blasting the area apart as she noted that the residents of the cities were evacuating at an alarming rate, before she noticed something that surprised her. The Cerealians didn't have the natural ability that the Saiyans had to turn damage into power, to grow as a battle went on and they experienced facing powerful foes, and yet, despite that fact, Granolah's power was increasing as the moments went by, which was completely impossible. In that moment she realized something, the wish he had made on the Eternal Dragon of this planet had given him all sorts of powers and awakened his latent abilities, things that his race didn't have access to during the invasion of the planet, as if the dragon peered into him before granting his wish. Twilight knew that it was possible for an Eternal Dragon to do so since both Shenron and Porunga had their own ways of figuring out what sort of wishes their users wanted, and the one for this planet's Dragon Balls was the same, granting Granolah everything the dragon through he needed to complete his wish. As she realized that fact, and how disastrous it was for the Saiyans, they found that the tables turned as Granolah thrust his pointed hand into Goku's chest, the tips of his fingers lightly touching the left side of his chest as Goku reverted to his base form, before he punched that area, tearing the gi while leaving what looked like a bloody hole in the Saiyan, forcing Twilight to act. As Twilight caught him with her magic, and pulled him into a healing dome of her own creation, she had figured out how to use healing magic after studying the various types of it that existed in the universe, Vegeta went on the offensive as the girls assisted him, only to find that Granolah was still growing at an alarming rate. It was absurd, it was unnatural, and, to some, it was completely unfair that Granolah had suddenly unlocked all sorts of powers, skills that he was only now tapping into thanks to having powerful foes to fight against, and was even given a new innate trait that he shouldn't have. With four beyond powerful Saiyans standing against him Twilight knew that Granolah should have been defeated by now, hence why she had told the group to go all out and just take him down before he was able to do much, and that had turned out to be a mistake, as it forced an evolution in his powers to match the Saiyans he was fighting against. In fact even his eyes evolved, as she noticed that he tossed his eyepatch aside and now had two red eyes, instead of one like his race was known for, and that sudden power boost allowed him to tear through Vegeta's chest piece with ease, another impossibility since it was one of her best, and as he crippled his current foe both Caulifla and Kale rushed in to defeat him. As Twilight moved Vegeta over to the healing dome, however, she knew the remaining Saiyans were fighting a losing battle, as Granolah struck Caulifla in the chest, taking her down as well, and as Kale shifted into her Legendary form he struck her heart before she could move. In the next moment she raised her hands and teleported the downed Saiyans into the healing dome, causing Granolah to turn to face her with a frown on his face, as he was annoyed that she was getting in his way, though he flinched for a few seconds as he noticed the annoyed look on her face, even though Twilight grabbed onto his face and planted him right in the ground for a moment. "You will be my opponent now, Granolah... and trust me, you'll come to regret annoying me." Twilight remarked, because she knew that, after having watched the brief fight take place, the Cerealian would need to be taken down and restrained before someone could convince him that he was being played by the Heeters, and right now she wasn't too happy with the scenario that was unfolding before her eyes. Granolah, on the other hand, could only grin as he realized that there was one more foe for him to tear down and kill, as it was her fault that her life was about to end, since she was getting in the way of his revenge against the Saiyans, and once she was gone he would torment the Saiyans until he got what he wanted, he just had to be patient and victory would be his at long last. > Survivor: Unyielding Convictions > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "You are a fool to challenge me, for I am the strongest in the entire universe." Granolah remarked, though at the same time he found that Twilight groaned and just let go of him as she took a step back, where, in his delusional mind, he believed it was due to her potentially realizing the error of her ways as he picked himself up, "So, who are you? Why are you working with a group of monstrous Saiyans?" "I am Twilight Sparkle, and I was interested in seeing the last Cerealian in action... and, to be frank, I'm very disappointed in what I've discovered so far." Twilight replied, where she already knew that the figure in front of her was going to be rather annoying if he constantly believed his own statement, instead of seeing the reality of the situation, and while she knew that the others were confused, about her not mentioning her position to Granolah, she believed that keeping him in the dark about certain things would be the key to victory, "I mean, you didn't even come into this power naturally... no, you went and made a wish on the Dragon Balls of this planet to get the power you have, at the cost of sacrificing the majority of your life no less. I mean, that was pretty idiotic... but then you upgraded it to 'plain stupid' by telling people how you got this power in the first place." "Wait, you mean he cheated to get this power?" Caulifla inquired, as the pair were close enough that she and the others could listen in on the conversation, though she could tell that she wasn't the only one displeased with this information, as all four of them had worked themselves to the bone to get the power they possessed, "Man, talk about taking the fun out of everything... I'd rather fight Jiren for the rest of my life, and face his ever growing power, instead of cheating like that." "And yet, despite somehow knowing that private information, you still came to face your death." Granolah stated, though while he was a little concerned by the fact that Twilight knew about the specifics of his wish, and that the Heeters knew that he made a wish on this planet's Dragon Balls, he was still confident in his power to take her down in no time and then move on to killing the Saiyans that were resting inside the strange dome, "That's 'stupid', wouldn't you say?" "Not really. Like I said earlier, I've studied the Cerealians in great detail, and I know more about your powers than even you do, but your wish has altered things." Twilight said, where she walked over to where Granolah was standing and found that he was on the defensive, no doubt realizing that she could slam him into the ground at a moment's notice, but she didn't attack, rather she wanted him to make the first move, "I know for a fact that your race doesn't have the same innate growth abilities that the Saiyans have, the one that allows them to constantly grow as they face stronger and stronger foes... I mean, if you did I can guarantee you that your people would have actually killed some Saiyans during the invasion, instead of just blowing up the moon and harming one Saiyan's head. Your wish gave you powers and abilities that your race would never naturally obtain, granting you the insane growth abilities that the Saiyans possess... I mean, how else would you suddenly have the power to take down four Saiyans who are at the peak of their powers?" "Your thoughts on the matter are irrelevant. My power exists to eradicate the remaining Saiyans and, eventually, Frieza, who you will tell me the location of." Granolah remarked, confirming something in Twilight's mind, he wanted to kill her father as soon as possible, something that caused him to shift his stance as he focused on her, showing her that he was serious about wanting to bring her down. "The Saiyans responsible for the invasion of this planet are dead, yet you still seek justice against another race that is nearly extinct. Two of the Saiyans behind me have kids... would you seek their deaths as well?" Twilight inquired, though she was pleased to see that there was a flicker of some kind in Granolah's mind as he heard that remark, no doubt because he had been saved when he was just a kid, unable to defend himself against the dangers that were attacking his planet, but he still stood like he wanted to kill someone, "One even has a granddaughter... would you seek her death as well, despite the fact that she's innocent? There's even another universe that has a planet of righteous Saiyans, who are nothing like those that haunt your dreams... tell me, Granolah, would you seek their deaths as well, despite the fact that they are not involved in the events that happened here?" "I... do not confuse the issue! All Saiayns are wicked monsters, bloodthirsty killers, and must be annihilated!" Granolah said, showing everyone that he was remaining true to his thoughts and convictions, that he saw the Saiyans as monsters, even if the ones nearby had nothing to do with the attack on this planet, along with the fact that he would likely invade another universe and wipe out everyone that Caulifla and Kale knew, "It does not matter where they are or who they are! All Saiyans must be exterminated!" Twilight sighed for a moment as she realized that there was no getting through Granolah's thoughts on the matter, he was of the opinion that anyone who wronged him or his people needed to be exterminated, regardless if they were involved in the attack on the planet or not. Such a thing caused her to shift her stance accordingly as she focused on him, because it looked like she would need to do this the old fashioned way, beating the stuffing out of the person that was in front of her, and her doing that caused Granolah to finally do the same thing. The two warriors stared at each other for a moment, just waiting to see what the other was going to do, and it wasn't long before the Cerealian raised his hands like he was either going to snipe her, despite the short distance between them, or prepare his chest crippling attack again. Twilight quickly found that her mere presence seemed to intimidate Granolah as he flashed up into the air and rained down blasts on the area she was standing in, each coming down as fast as the ones that he had used against the Saiyans earlier, but she just dodged them and let the blasts hit the ground. A few seconds later she flashed through the air and brought her knee down into his back, sending Granolah down into the ground without delay, though what was interesting was that he rushed out of the smoke and rushed at her, punching her in the chest with both of his fists, intending on dealing great damage to her. Twilight, on the other hand, grabbed onto his sides and rushed back down towards the ground, slamming him head first into the stone area he had been standing in a couple of moments ago, before their battle started, and while she hoped this would convince him to stand down she knew he'd get back up and continue the fight. Sure enough Granolah flashed behind her with his movement technique and just started to throw punches and kicks at her, where she found that his skills were lackluster, he had no real experience in the art of combat, which made sense due to the fact that he was a sniper, but it just showed how stupid he was, since having multiple talents was better than one. Twilight found a hole in his defenses and stuck him in the chest, sending him into the forest that rested nearby, though before he could recover she rushed up to where he landed and kicked him even harder, crushing the trees behind him while breaking the area around them in the process. Granolah, despite seeing that she was far more than the Saiyans he had fought previously, gathered his power and fired a powerful blast that tore apart everything around him, not to mention everything that was in the path of his attack, but all Twilight did was raise her hand and let the attack hit it, absorbing it without her foe realizing his blunder. Of course her foe continued to be a moron as he raised his hand towards her and released a number of Ki blasts at her, all designed to target her vitals so she could be brought down, though that was where Twilight grinned for a moment as she utilized the trick she used against Hit on Granolah. His blasts were powerful, she had to acknowledge that fact since it was confirmation that the Eternal Dragon had, in fact, raised the Cerealian's power to new heights, but it also served to boost her power as well, allowing whatever bridge he was feeling to shrink as time went by. When she rushed out to attack him, with a downwards punch, her foe raised his hands and created a shield around him, showing that he didn't want her to hit him again, where her attack was stalled as the barrier transferred the power of her punch into the ground, allowing her foe to sink into the ground without taking any damage. Twilight stared at him for a moment before shrugging and backing off for a moment, giving her foe some breathing room while she waited for another attack to come towards her, since she knew it was only a matter of time until he decided to get serious, all while she continued to scan for openings to use in her attempts to knock him down. When he remained inside his barrier for a minute or two, no doubt coming up with a plan of attack, Twilight sighed as she rushed through the air, spun around, and kicked the barrier with her hooves, breaking it in seconds before hitting him in the face, where the force of her attack sent Granolah deeper into the forest. "I don't know how much you know about the fact of Planet Vegeta, but it wasn't destroyed by a meteor... rather it, and the majority of the Saiyan race, was wiped out by the emperor you hate." Twilight commented, once more dodging around all of the fact that would cause Granolah to go crazy, as she wanted to try and get through to him without telling him that she was Frieza's daughter, since he'd just go totally insane if he learned that piece of information, "They were paid in death for their years of service, with the majority of the survivors perishing over the years... with only a few Saiyans and Cerealians left in the universe, both on the verge of extinction, you really should let go of your hatred and..." "No! It matters little if what you say is the truth or just a lie: I will never forgive the Saiyans!" Granolah remarked, though as he said that he burst out of the area he had been resting in and struck Twilight in the chest, utilizing the attack that he had used to bring down the Saiyans before she put them in her healing dome, causing him to smirk for a moment, "You should mourn your own stupidity for challenging the strongest in the universe... along with denying me the information I desire, as I would have spared you if you gave me what I wanted." "Gods... you are such an utter moron." Twilight said, where Granolah discovered that the punch aspect of his attack didn't do anything to her, rather it tore up the area around them while leaving her unscathed, causing her to grab his hand and pull it back as she brushed off the part of her armor he had touched, which was unharmed as well, "Such a title means nothing in this day and age, as there are mortals growing stronger and stronger every single day... you might have been the 'strongest' when you made the wish, but everyone here has grown far more stronger than you could possibly know, in such a short period of time. Besides, you need to learn when it's time to back down..." Granolah growled as he expanded his power once more and the ground around Twilight rumbled, where he ignited a few boulders that he ripped out of the ground and tried to take her out with a massive detonation, though in the next instant surprise appeared on his face as he found that Twilight was unharmed. Following that he let his power move out to the rest of the forest they were fighting in and ripped a number of the trees out of the ground, and even boulders that must have been buried below the ground at some point in time, before sending them flying straight at her. She discovered that he was using them as explosives, as each one contained a decent amount of his own power inside their forms and each of them detonated upon either hitting her or the ground, blasting the entire forest into oblivion as Granolah tried to remove her from the field. Twilight, on the other hand, burst out of the smoke and punched him in the chest, where she grabbed onto one of his legs before spinning and hurling him straight into the ruined city, smashing one of the building apart with ease, and as she floated down to where he was resting she found that Granolah continued his assault. This time, however, he actually used his powers to tear apart his own ruined city, a place he must have grown up in, and hurled the pieces into the air, targeting her once more, where she found that the pieces came to a stop around her before Granolah ignited them, setting the sky ablaze like when Piccolo used his Hellzone Grenade. "Really? You'll even destroy your past to kill me and open the way to eradicate the Saiyans that came here with me? Gods, you are a sad individual." Twilight remarked, though this time she found that Granolah wasn't even surprised by her not being harmed by his attacks, rather he seemed to be expecting such a thing and was planning ways on how to actually do some damage to her, before she sighed as she shifted her stance, "Very well then, it's my turn." Granolah barely noticed Twilight move as she flashed from where she had been positioned a few moments ago and just appeared behind him like her speed was far faster than his was, though as he turned around she punched him right in the side of the face with more power than he thought she had. The force of which sent him away from the ruin and propelled him back towards where the Saiyans were resting, now looking fully healed he noted, but before he could turn on them he found that his foe had caught up with him and was moving into another series of attacks. Her barrage of blows staggered her foe, each one striking him in places that would stun him for a time, before she grabbed onto the front of his head and hurled him down at the ground, demonstrating that his claims were false and, hopefully, that it was time for him to stop this madness before he died. In response to her attacks, however, Granolah got up and raised both of his hands, where he used the pointer and middle fingers of each one as he readied another sniper blast, which was worthless since she knew it was coming, she could see him rather easily, and she confirmed what she had spotted earlier, he had awakened his race's power in his left eye as well. The blast he released ignited the sky as it barreled into Twilight's chest and filled the air with smoke, where the sheer force of his attack was enough to decimate an actual city back on Earth, given how it caused everything around them to shake under the pressure, causing Granolah to laugh as he stared at the sky. "Do you see this, Saiyans? Your foolish ally is dead!" Granolah stated, showing that he clearly thought that he had won this fight and that there was no one else that could defend them from his terrifying wrath, but in that moment, as he turned to face them, he found that the barrier was still up, something that surprised him, "Impossible..." "You know, you aren't the first one to think that you've killed me... and you won't be the last." Twilight remarked, though Goku and the others found that her power, what she was using to face Granolah, was far above the Cerealian's, as she had siphoned the power of his attack while letting the explosion happen to see how he would react, and she dusted off her armor once more as she faced her foe, "Are you done?" "You want to die that badly?! Fine, I'll kill you first!" Granolah shouted, where he did something new, he brought his hands together in front of him and started to gather his energy into the pointer fingers as he aimed at Twilight, who realized that this was the strongest move in the Cerealian arsenal, one capable of wiping out an entire moon and leaving nothing left, as the planet's moon had been totally erased, "My revenge will have to wait until we're both in Hell." "Gods, and I thought some of the people I work with are stupid... you, Granolah, certainly take the cake." Twilight said, as she understood that this technique actually transferred the power of one's very life force into fuel for the attack, meaning he was willing to burn away even more of his life to try and kill her, where she found that a large sphere of white energy had gathered in front of the Cerealian and also around the smaller red sphere that was around his hands, "But go ahead, fire your attack at me." Granolah growled as he fired the beam of energy at her, where Twilight stalled the attack with her power, reeled it in with ease, condensed it all into a small sphere above her right hand, and then, as the Cerealian collapsed on the ground, she easily separated his life energy from his Ki, allowing her to devour the power of his attack before shoving his life energy back into his body. "Stand down, Granolah. This isn't a fight you can win... be thankful I'm willing to spare your life." Twilight stated, because she could have easily devoured everything about her foe's attack and could have let him die, but something told her that it would be best if he still had access to his remaining life energy, before noticing that a ship, likely Granolah's, flew down to where they were positioned and she lowered the barrier around the others. Sure enough she found that someone had come to talk some sense into Granolah, an elderly Namekian called Monaito who used a walking stick to move around, who informed the Cerealian that he was sorry for deceiving him for so long, as there was one Saiyan who hadn't earned his hatred, a Saiyan called Bardock. Monaito revealed that both he and Granolah survived thanks to Bardock saving them, who seemed to do so on a whim or because he saw something that caused him to act differently than the other warriors that had been attacking the planet, something that rocked Granolah's world as everyone gathered near Twilight. The Namekian also shared something interesting with them, Goku was nearly identical to Bardock and Vegeta confirmed that the Saiyan in question was, in fact, Goku's father and that it seemed that he shared his soft heart with his father, which only made Goku even more interested in knowing more about his parents. Granolah, on the other hand, wanted to know about his mother, who Monaito revealed had been slain by the Heeters when Elec and his family discovered that they were alive, with Bardock fighting Gas to ensure that the pair survived. Twilight, on the other hand, fact checked the tale by peering into the past, allowing the others to observe the window she used to do this, and as she confirmed Monaito's statement they found that the sky went dark for a moment, just like when the Dragon Balls were used, and it became light again a few moments later, before she found Macki and Oil standing on a large rock near their position. "Now Granolah, it's time for your information to bare terrible fruit." Twilight commented, where she beckoned for the pair of Heeters to get on with it, she didn't want them to waste too much time right now, and found an adult version of Gas appeared between them, brimming with power that made him far stronger than Granolah and the others. This is what happened when an organization like the Heeters got their hands on the Dragon Balls, as Elec used them and the Eternal Dragon to give Gas the power to become the 'strongest in the universe', causing her to sigh as she wondered what in the world would happen next. > Survivor: Dealing with the Heeters > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "I... I can't believe this is happening. They used the Dragon Balls to make Gas stronger." Granolah stated, where he stared at the figure that was standing between Oil and Macki, even though the other two Heeters seemed to back off a little so their brother could do whatever it was they had ordered him to do. In the following moment Gas raised his right hand and fired a beam of energy from his pointer finger, cutting through the ground that was in front of him while he aimed Granolah and his ship, only to find that both were moved out of the way in an instant, though he followed that up by creating a trident with four prongs out of energy and hurled it at Granolah, only to find that it disappeared as well. "Like I said, your idiocy has created terrible fruit." Twilight said, where she stepped forward and stood between the pair for a moment, even though she expanded the dome that was covering the others and forced both Granolah and Monaito into it, along with the small one person ship as well, before dividing it so he didn't attack the Saiyans, before she faced Gas and his siblings, "So tell me, what's your beef with Granolah?" "I, personally, never liked him, as I am all the muscle that the Heeters need for their plans, and with the power of this wish, to be the greatest in the universe, I am free to kill him at last." Gas replied, where he dropped down into the area that Twilight was standing in, though as he did so he found that the ground shuddered as the area that the dome was in just lifted itself out of the ground and floated into the air, giving Granolah and the Saiyans a good view of everything, "Who in the world are you? And, more importantly, why do you desire death?" "All you need to know right now is that I am Twilight Sparkle... and no, you cannot kill me." Twilight stated, though at the same time she shifted her stance for a moment as she focused on Gas, finding that he seemed to be totally relaxed, as if the wish to make him the strongest in the universe had gone to his head before his arrival in this area, "You likely saw part of my fight with Granolah, so you should know that I outclassed him in every way... you will be on different, despite the sheer power that you possess." "You do seem knowledgeable. Tell me, what happened to that Saiyan's father?" Gas inquired, gesturing to Goku for a few seconds, showing that there was something in his past he'd like to deal with before anything else, while his siblings didn't seem to care enough to talk about what was going on, allowing him to do whatever he wanted. "The entire generation you're referring to have been slain. None remain... in fact, only a handful of Saiyans remain to this very day." Twilight answered, where she found that Gas seemed a little disappointed as she shared that information with him, no doubt because Bardock found a way to beat him down and he was hoping to kill the one who beat him, though he refocused on the mission he had been given, "So, are you ready to do this, Gas?" Gas stood there for a moment before he created a battleaxe with his energy, a rather large one that was more like what an executioner might use, and rushed at Twilight with more speed than Granolah had after his wish, confirming that Gas likely sacrificed more of his life to gain this level of power. Since his weapon was made out of his own energy all she had to do was raise her hand and block the attack, where she was able to confirm that his strength was greater than Granolah's, as he actually pushed her back a little, before shattering the weapon and absorbing it's energy without Gas realizing what she was doing. In response to that Gas summoned a large mace and lashed out at her with it, where she simply dodged his attacks before finding that he responded by switching up his attack pattern, trying to figure out how to hit her and take her down, which just made things more interesting for her. When she shattered that weapon, however, Gas switched to a bladed weapon, a sword blade attached to a guard that wrapped around his entire hand, like it was a fist weapon of some kind, though she wasted no time in breaking it and lashed out at him, finding that he summoned a shield on his left hand and use it to block her attacks, or tried to since she broke through them with ease. In response to that Gas blasted the ground with some of his power and created a smokescreen to hide himself, though it was worthless as Twilight knew he was approaching her from behind, but she decided to humor him as he struck her with a massive energy hammer, which did nothing to her as she moved forward a little. "How are you still standing?" Gas asked, because at this point he expected that his newfound power would be enough to dominate anyone who dared to get between him and the plans that the Heeters had for the rest of the universe, though as he thought about it he knew that he was sticking to the power he had honed over the years and not what had been granted to him by the wish, "Did you make a similar wish, before ours was made?" "Please, as if I would make a wish that sacrifices a significant chunk of my life to create new power." Twilight said, as she didn't want to tell anyone that she was immortal, not yet anyway, and the longer she kept the Heeters in the dark about things the more everything would fall into place for her own plans, before she turned around and kicked at Gas, who just created a new shield to defend himself, which she broke with ease, "Do I look like a moron who would do such a thing or allow someone else to make such a wish in my stead?" Gas, realizing that she was calling him a moron for allowing Elec to make such a wish on the Eternal Dragon, created more energy weapons as he lashed out at her, switching from shields to blades, from axes to maces, and everything else that he could create, like a whip with a cylinder at the end, massive sheets with giant spikes, and whatever else rested inside his vast arsenal. Twilight took notes of just what he was capable of, realizing that his power was actually far more than what all of the other Ki weapon creators had used in the past, especially when Gas pulled out an energy wrecking ball and just brought it down on her head, smashing the area she was in with it's power. Of course it meant nothing to her as she tore through the energy and struck Gas again, though now she had realized something, he wasn't using his full power, rather he was utilizing only his own talents in order to show that the wish was unnecessary, but against her it didn't matter, as his base was worthless in comparison to her might. The interesting thing was that the wrecking ball detonated on her and created a smoke cloud so Gas could fill the entire area with dozens upon dozens of kunai, which he sent flying straight at her so he could pierce her and kill her, only for Twilight to expand her magic and siphon all of them before they could get close to her, much to Gas' complete surprise. In the next moment, as he was coming to terms with what had happened, Twilight rushed up to her foe and punched him in his chest, hard enough to rock the surrounding area while sending him backwards into the forest, though as she zeroed in on where he ended up, however, Gas finally got serious as he called forth his aura in an instant and released a powerful blast of energy at her, which tore up everything in it's path. "Now that's more like it... you are finally using the power you gained from the wish." Twilight remarked, as she tanked the attack with her siphon power and emerged unharmed, though at the same time she was happy to discover this fact, because at the rate things had been going so far she had been certain she would have killed Gas before he decided to reveal his new true power. "I consider this a failure on my part, as I had hoped to kill someone, like Granolah, with the power I had honed... but, if such a thing is unable to stand before your power, I'll use my new might." Gas said, where Twilight could tell that he wasn't at all pleased by this decision, rather he really wanted to kill one of the Heeters' foes with his energy weapons, and being unable to end her life with them informed him that he wouldn't be able to kill the Cerealian either, forcing him to adjust to the new power Elec's wish had granted him. With Gas now abandoning his energy weapons, judging them to be ineffective in the face of Twilight's power, he went on the offensive without wasting time, utilizing his newfound speed and power to lash out at her before she could do anything, or at least that was what he thought as he found that Twilight still parried his attacks and dodged others. The interesting thing about Gas' power was that when Twilight flashed off to the side he did the same thing, utilizing the same intense speed that Granolah had used previously, making it look like Instant Transmission despite not being the technique in question. She was able to predict where and when he was going to appear rather easily, it was almost insulting despite the fact that she knew he was only getting used to his newfound power, so she was able to strike him repeatedly before he even had a chance to raise his defenses, which was the downside to utilizing such a power. Such a thing only enraged Gas as he slammed down into the ground and cracked everything around them, purposely lifting some sections into the air before trying to use them to try and hit Twilight, though she avoided the rocks with ease and struck Gas down once again, simply punching him right in the side of his head and knocking him to the ground. In fact, to prove her point, she blasted him right in the chest and sent him flying off into the distance, though as he landed off in the distance Twilight found that Elec had arrived at least, though instead of offering words of encouragement to his younger brother the man who stood as the leader of the Heeters removed the bone collar headpiece he wore. What happened next was that Gas' power exploded out of his body as he started to transform, where it looked like his body was bulking up, tearing through most of his attire with ease, while horns grew out of the sides of his head, located near his forehead and positioned in front of his ears, all while his mind seemed to go. Twilight knew what was going on as Gas burst into the air, as she had read tales about the Heterian having a berserk transformation, hence the bone collars they wore to contain their inner instincts, and many scholars of Alexandria speculated that if they could control this form, a feat that none of them had accomplished so far, their power would skyrocket accordingly. Even in his berserk state Gas was far stronger than what Twilight had felt in his wish granted form, in fact he was already pushing her around like it was nothing, and that told her that if he could control this form he'd definitely gain far more power, which would make things more interesting for her. What was interesting was the fact that Gas, despite his berserk nature, simply remained in the air for a moment as he locked onto where Goku and everyone else were resting, or onto Goku for that matter, and Elec seemed to capitalize on it by reminding his brother that he sworn to never fail them again. Such a thing caused Gas' body to lose some of the muscle mass, in the sense that it was condensed back into the size he was familiar with, and his mind had been restored thanks to remembering how he lost all those years ago, where he recreated his attire, which had been destroyed in his transformation, in no time at all. Instead of talking, as they both knew it would be useless to try and convince the other of anything, Twilight and Gas rushed at each other without delay, where Twilight was able to quickly confirm that her foe was faster, stronger, and more in control of his power than before, as he was now at the peak of his power. This was what she had been waiting for, an excuse to use the full terrifying power of the Dark Queen, as she wanted to test the water a little more before calling on her true power, because the Queen of Harmony form might be overkill, or it might not be since she was understanding the limits of what her foe was capable of. This time around she found that his power was enough to push her back, which was to be expected after everything that had happened to him in the last few moments, while his Ki based attacks did next to nothing to her, something Gas still didn't realize and she wasn't about to spoil the surprise. While they started the next stage of their battle she found that Elec had a smug look on his face, like he suspected that his brother would win this fight in no time, while the other two Heeters remained behind him as they watched the fight, though Gas struck her in the face and knocked her to the ground. Twilight picked herself up and found that Gas moved onto using even stronger versions of the spiked walls against her, as if he felt that having some fun was more important in the grand scheme of things, though she tore her way through all of them, especially when he created a large number and sent them at her at random intervals. Sure, they were stronger than what he had utilized before, as if awakening his instincts allowed him to actually improve all of his base skills, which was reasonable as she thought about it, before noticing that Gas moved off to the side, landing near the ruined city for some odd reason. As it turned out he grabbed onto the ancient trains that the Cerealians had utilized before their demise, but Twilight wasn't surprised by this since they likely had other settlements across the planet and needed to link them up with each other, before finding that Gas was lifting the rubble and the old trains up to use as weapons. His telekinesis was very impressive, as he was able to lift far more than Twilight thought he could, though at the same time his insistence on using rubble to test himself was getting annoying, so she tore her way through the incoming items and punched Gas in the side of his face, knocking him away for a moment. When she pushed herself to the absolute limits of her Dark Queen form, since Gas' newfound power was definitely on a whole new level that reminded her of fighting Jiren, to a degree, she pushed her foe into the ground with a swift kick to his chest and raised her hand towards him, releasing a blast of energy that tore the surrounding area apart. "If you know what's good for you, you will stand down." Twilight commented, as she knew that Gas' new defenses were far more than what he had in his wish granted state, in fact every aspect of him had been boosted by his awakening, but even that attack of hers packed quite a punch and would have dealt some damage to him. In the next moment, however, a surge of twisted purple energy surged out of the crater that her attack had created, but as that happened Twilight felt something odd, Gas' power was skyrocketing even more than before, far more than what she felt when Granolah awakened more of his power, and she realized the same had happened to Gas. This time his attire was in tatters, as if it was falling apart from either her attack or Gas' transformation, while his body itself seemed to be aging as he literally transformed more of his remaining life force into power, as if Elec had taken Granolah's wish and pushed it to it's absolute limits. Gas' body was now closer to being an elder of the Heterian race, complete with longer hair that was flowing in his intense aura, and his raw power was off the charts, enough to where Twilight knew that if Goku and the rest of the Saiyans faced him he'd likely kill everyone. She could feel his telekinesis washing over her, attempting to grab hold of her body so he could twist her head off or hold her in place so he could crush her with one of his weapons, though as she flashed to the side Gas appeared in front of where she landed, grabbed hold of her head, and hurled her backwards, causing her to smash into the forest, tearing everything around her up in the process. Twilight had to admit that this was exciting, as Gas' evolved power set the bar for what the Heterians could do if they were like the Saiyans, training and fighting all the time, to which she flashed into the area that her foe was standing in, where she took a quick blood sample from her foe and landed behind him, adding it to her database without wasting time. "I don't think I've ever felt this good... it's as if every cell in my body is burning away, becoming fuel for my power." Gas said, which was a terrible thing in Twilight's eyes, as he was literally destroying his body to gain even more strength so he could take down the one that was standing between him and Elec's goals, meaning he was willing to give up everything to make sure his brother's goals were finally realized. Twilight found that he could now generate large twisters out of nothing, fully under his control as he lifted her right into the center of one of them, allowing him to fire powerful bursts of energy into the air as he tried to take her down, but all it did was give her even more power as he closed the gap between their levels of power. Sure, his power was stronger than her Dark Queen form, but with all of the Ki he was using against her the gap that had existed was closing rapidly, which he didn't seem to be aware of, though she wasn't about to reveal what was going on to her opponent. Gas even gained a new weapon to create out of his Ki, giant versions of his arms and legs, meaning he could literally punch or kick someone with the fists or feet of a giant, and while they packed a punch Twilight just smashed her way through them, stealing their Ki as she further increased her power. All of this didn't seem to bother Gas, rather he seemed to be having the greatest high of his life as he burned more and more of his body away to deal with Elec's enemies, and when he tried to grab onto her she just slammed him into the ground with some of her energy. As that happened, however, she felt a familiar surge of energy as space-time was tampered with, where she found that her mother and uncle emerged from a portal, though since they had been training with her father and his brother she did know it was only a matter of time until they emerged from the portal as well. "Done with training already?" Twilight asked, though at the same time she kept an eye on Gas, as she knew that he would try something in the very near future, while part of her focus was on her mother and uncle, something that had surprised all of the people that were watching them right now. "Yes, my brother and I managed to tap into a new power, while your father and his brother did the same... we think you'll be quite surprised by the results." Towa replied, where she glanced at the area they were in and found the Heeters just staring at them, no doubt trying to understand what they were seeing right now, causing her to smile for a moment as she realized what this meant, before the portal vibrated, "Looks like they're ready to come over as well." Twilight reached down to where Gas was resting and grabbed him, tossing him over into one of the large rock boulders in the area, before dusting off her hands as she turned towards the portal, allowing everyone to watch as Frieza and Cooler walked out of the space-time portal and glanced at the area for a moment. "Planet Cereal... it's been some time since my last visit to this place." Frieza commented, where he turned his head for just a few seconds and found that the figure with the Saiyans was surprised by his arrival, even if he clearly hated him, while at the same time Elec's group was taken aback by what they were seeing, as if this was far ahead of schedule for Elec's plans, before he turned towards Twilight as the space-time portal closed, "Having fun, Twilight?" "Besides people being idiots? Yeah, this could classify as 'having fun'." Twilight replied, shocking those that weren't in the know by how casual she was with who they deemed to be the strongest and most important figure in the entire universe, and the most terrifying given his old reputation, all while she handed her mother her tablet, "Managed to get my hands on the DNA of both the Cerealians and the Heterians, so I've got some work when we get home." "I'm interested in what information we can gleam from this." Towa said, where she took the device and looked at it for just a few seconds, finding that her daughter had already started making notes and forming plans for both sets, which was just like her, before she noticed how the Heeters were reacting to what was going on, "Twilight, did you forget to tell them who you were and who your father is?" "I was waiting for the right moment. Father, do you want Elec alive, or do you have other plans for him?" Twilight asked, as once upon a time she had asked her father about the Heeters and he had told her that he'd deal with them in time, hence why she had pulled back and ignored them until this very moment, so she wanted to know what his opinion was before she lashed out at her current opponent. "Go nuts, as I don't care about them anymore." Frieza replied, though at the same time he, his brother, his wife, and even Dabura floated into the air, allowing everyone to look down at the Heeters for a moment as he faced them, where it was easy for him to see that Elec was confused and concerned by what was going on, "Elec, just so you know, I've known about your ambitions to be the Emperor of the Known Universe for these forty years, but instead of confronting you I decided it would be best to exploit you for my army's benefit... but now the time of our partnership is over, and so I leave your fate in the hands of my wonderful daughter." "Wh... What? Daughter?!" Elec said, where it was hard for him to wrap his head around what was going on right now, that Frieza, out of all people, had a family and that it happened to be the very lady that was standing up to Gas' power, though as he thought about that a surge of energy wrapped around Twilight. "Allow me to properly introduce myself: I am Twilight Sparkle, Dark Queen of the Demon Realm, Empress of the Universe, and I am the daughter of the former Emperor, Frieza himself, and the Dark Goddess Towa." Twilight stated, though with her father telling her that she could do whatever she wanted with the Heeters she knew it was time to stop holding back, hence why she took on her final form, much to the shock of everyone who hadn't seen it before, "I am also the strongest warrior in the universe, possessing a power that rivals even the Angels of the multiverse... plus I'm dating a powerful God of Destruction, I've intimidated a number of other Gods of Destruction, and the strongest Destroyer, in all of existence no less, wants to fight me at some point. Also, the fact that you knew NONE OF THIS, despite being an organization that dares to pride yourselves on your knowledge, is just insulting... honestly, I'm going to enjoy this far more than I should." As Elec digested that information, and what it meant, Twilight found Gas coming towards her and blasted him in the chest, hard enough to send him down into the ground and with enough power to do some serious damage to his body, though as the blast happened she found more of his twisted energy bursting out of the smoke. When Gas emerged from the new smoke cloud she found that he was missing most of his attire, save for his tattered pants, exposing his more decrepit body to the watchers, though it was more fair to say that it was more like a zombie's with how bad he looked, in fact she was sure his stomach was totally gone thanks to the caved in area in question. His power and speed were definitely on a new level, that much she knew for a fact, but the problem was that if he looked like this it meant that his life span was nearing it's end, since there couldn't be much left, though her power was still leagues above his own, allowing her to dodge each of his attacks. In fact, when she punched the left side of his face, she found that Gas seemed to ignore the pain while she broke both his horn and damaged his face, as she could see the flesh below his skin, and yet he continued to fight, despite the damage he had done to his body, to fulfill his brother's desires, pushing himself to fire a massive beam in an attempt to do away with her. In the next moment Twilight made her move as she flashed in front of Gas, cutting off his attack before he try anything or do something else, before blasting him with her own energy, utilizing a blast that utterly wiped out the Heterian before he could do anything to stop her, leaving nothing of him behind. With that done she floated down to where Elec was standing, while Oil and Macki backed off a little, though in the next few seconds the man called out for them to utilize their own inner instincts, almost as if he thought that one last ditch effort in this battle would grant him victory. Elec had white spikes, similar to a porcupine, burst out of his sleeves, Macki gained a line of small spikes on her spine and even a bony tail of sorts, and Oil bulked up, doubling in size while his siblings stayed the same, while he gained a pair of horns that seemed more like a helmet. None of them were impressive, in terms of the power she was feeling from them, to which she flashed down to where Elec was standing and blasted him into oblivion with a small blast of energy, before he was able to do anything to stop her, causing his siblings to move towards her. What she found was that Macki jabbed at her while trying to use her new speed to get around her, while at the same time Oil tried to smash her down into the ground with his fist, only for Twilight to grab the two with her magic, wrap them together with a magical rope, before utilizing a bit of power to erase the two from existence. With the Heeters done for, and she knew there was no trace of them left, Twilight turned her attention to everyone else for a moment and knew that it was time to bring this venture to an end, before heading back to what they had been doing beforehand and waiting for the next villain, or group of villains, to find them. > Interlude: New Forms and Plans > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Wait... where did this form come from?" Granolah asked, as the moment everything was said and done Twilight returned the domed area to the ground, dismissing her magic so everyone could spread out, especially since they didn't need her to heal them anymore, though his words caused everyone to glance at him for a moment. "It didn't come from nowhere, as I've had access to it for quite a while now... this is the second time I've needed the power of the Queen of Harmony form." Twilight replied, though most of her focus right now was on the fact that Gas' full potential had been far more than she originally thought it would be, even when taking Elec's wish into consideration, which was good information for her to add to her tablet once she got back to her work, "I know what you are thinking, that I could have dealt with Gas far sooner than I did... and you are true, I could have, but I wanted to understand the sheer power that a Heterian can gain access to. With my notes on the matter, and the information that I've gained from both them and yourself, I should be able to integrate two new races into my work in the near future. "What Twilight means is that she now has the keys to saving the Cerealians from extinction... just like she's done for a fair number of other races." Towa commented, as she knew her daughter well enough to understand what was going on, while also figuring out the exact specifics of what she meant, since she could see that Granolah was shocked by this discovery, a fact that Monaito shared with him, causing her to chuckle a little, "Yes, Twilight is a Demon, but she cares about reality and the races that call our universe home... if you think this is shocking, you should see what she's done to bring stability to the planets and races that are scattered across our vast universe. There's a reason my husband handed the empire to her, a reason why the Galactic Patrol fell under her thumb, and a reason why she is so loved by everyone who calls this universe home... not to mention the fact that the gods of the other universes have focused their eyes on her." "So she was telling the truth? She really is Frieza's daughter?" Granolah inquired, though at the same time Twilight could tell that he was conflicted over this discovery, because part of him wanted nothing more than to kill the one he deemed to be the main focus on his revenge, or even harm him emotionally by taking out those special to him, while another part wanted nothing to do with the figure that was standing nearby. "I'm not in the habit of lying, Granolah. When I say something, I mean it." Twilight stated, though while she could understand his opinion on what was going on, he was nervous about trusting the daughter of Frieza since it was by her father's orders that this planet was purged of nearly all of it's native species so it could be sold to the Sugarians, she also knew that seeing her full power like this had to be a massive blow to his plans to get his revenge, "Though that reminds me: mother, you said that you, uncle Dabura, father, and uncle Cooler unlocked new forms during your training. May I see them?" "But of course." Cooler said, because out of everyone here there was only one person he wanted to show this form to, even though showing it off would no doubt cause the Saiyans to push themselves to new heights to try and catch up with him and his brother, to which he and Frieza walked off to the side for a moment, showing that they were going to go first, and once they were done Towa and Dabura would take their turn. In the next moment the pair transformed without delay, where Twilight found that their chests retained the white color she was used to seeing, plus the gemstones in their chest, shoulders, and heads remained the same as before, though the parts of their arms and legs that turned a dull gold in their last form turned black this time around, while their hands and feet took on a dark silver coloration. "This, ladies and gentlemen, is our newest transformation: our 'Black' form." Frieza stated, where he was pleased to see that most of the warriors that were around him and his brother were shocked by their new form, especially since both he and his brother were now far stronger than they had been the last time the Saiyans had seen them, "Cooler thought we should call it our 'Abyssal' form, for 'Abyssal Frieza' and 'Abyssal Cooler'." "I was only trying to follow the naming scheme of our Golden form, that's all." Cooler said, his tone revealing that he was fine with the name that they had settled on, even if he thought his name was far better in the long run, before he glanced at the warriors for a moment as an idea sprung to mind, especially when he looked at two of the Saiyans, "Goku, Vegeta, would you join us for a brief demonstration? Full power, if you would." Goku and Vegeta glanced at each other for a moment before they walked away from the others for a moment, showing everyone that they were willing to play ball with the brothers for a moment, before both transformed without delay, going full power like Cooler had requested. Such a thing allowed Frieza and Cooler to take note of their power, Goku utilizing the power of Ultra Instinct while Vegeta tapped into the power of Ultra Ego once more, though once the pair were ready both nodded their heads, only for the brothers to plow into them with their fists, striking them down before either warrior even had a chance to defend themselves. As everyone understood that the power of the Black transformation was far beyond what the Saiyans were capable of, and told Granolah that he was out of his league at this point, the brothers turned as the two warriors fell to the ground and burst into the air once more, causing everyone to realize who they were targeting this time around. Goku and Vegeta, still conscious since the brothers had lowered their power to avoid killing them with their quick attack, found that they tapped into the full power of their new forms and attacked Twilight, to test how their power stood in comparison to the power of her Queen of Harmony form, only to find that she turned and caught both fists with her hands. As her father and uncle moved into unleashing a series of punches and kicks at her, causing her to dodge some while also blocking others, Twilight found that her mother and her other uncle were changing into their Demon Goddess and God forms respectively, which wasn't new and made her wonder what they had gotten. In the next moment she found that her mother was enveloped in a dark glow, where her hair became spiky, flowing and smooth, similar to Super Saiyan 3 since it grew down to her waist, and she had red demonic markings on both sides of her face, covering about half of her eyes in the process. At the same time her revealing attire opened up a little more, this time the bodysuit had a V shaped hole that exposed the tops and sides of her breasts, as well as her belly button, while the black leg cap had opened in the middle, a fact that allowed everyone to see the black leggings and black heels she wore. Her staff also changed, which was one of the expected changes since they changed form to match their user's current transformation, where the black staff turned into a red staff and coiled around the green orb that was floating at the peak more than once, and Twilight could tell that her power was far greater than before. Dabura, on the other hand, didn't gain a substantial transformation like his sister, rather Twilight found that his suit had been opened and revealed his muscular chest to everyone, which had a black demonic tribe marking on it, the horns that he gained in his previous state, growing just above his ears, grew longer and sharper, he gained the markings near his eyes, and his wicked sword became slimmer while maintaining it's integrity. Towa glanced down at Twilight as both Frieza and Cooler backed off, opening the way for her to unleash a barrage of light blasts down on the area that her daughter was standing in, each packing a significant amount of power that would deal a bit of damage to an ordinary foe, though against her daughter she had no idea how she'd do. Twilight, however, remained in the same spot as her eyes flickered from blast to blast in the span of a few moments, where the observers watched as the sky ignited as a series of explosions went off, each rocking everything that was around them while she remained still, showing them that her power had to be leagues beyond their new forms. Despite that fact Towa summoned the darkness and attacked Twilight from every direction, intending on finding a flaw in her defenses, only for her and the others to find that she seemed to slip from place to place in the span of a few moments, as if her speed was even greater than anyone had suspected. Fortunately that was part of the plan as Dabura, channeling the sheer full power of his new form, readied himself as Towa distracted Twilight, especially since this was when Frieza and Cooler joined her, and the moment he saw an opening he took it, rushing in as everyone backed off and swung his blade at Twilight, only to find that she turned and caught the weapon with her left hand. The power of his attack transferred into the ground and surroundings behind her, where everyone watched as the ground gave way to a chasm, chunks of earth falling away and turning to either dust or sand in the process, leaving Granolah and Monaito standing there with their mouths open wide in pure shock, as Dabura pulled his weapon back with a laugh while the others landed near him. "Even with ten years of training inside a Hyperbolic Time Chamber, condensed into ten days, and gaining new forms none of us can do anything to you... your form is simply amazing." Dabura remarked, as he had been expecting them to do even a bit of damage to Twilight, even at the peak of her power, but this just told them that the Queen of Harmony form, when it utilized her full power, was completely insane and far beyond anything that they were capable of, before he glanced at the Saiyans for a moment, "And no, we're not calling our new forms 'Demon God 2' and 'Demon Goddess 2', we prefer to call them 'Royal Demon God' and 'Royal Demon Goddess'... Towa said that 'Enchanced' or 'Empowered' made more sense than 'Royal'." "Either way, all of your new forms are interesting." Twilight said, though she was impressed that they were willing to spend ten whole years in a Hyperbolic Time Chamber, even if it was ten days on the outside, and push themselves to find new forms, to match the growth speed of the Saiyans, something that caused her to turn towards the pair from Cereal for just a few moments, "Well, now that everything is said and done, it is time for us to return to our home and return to our lives, as we were in the middle of things before the Heeters interrupted us... however, Granolah, allow me to offer you some advice on what to do next: you should track down the Cerealian Dragon Balls and fix the damage that has been done to this planet, and tell the Sugarians that everything is fine. To do that, you will need this... which I will come back for once I have the time to do so." In that moment she summoned the stolen Dragon Radar that Macki had stolen earlier and let it drop into Granolah's hand not a second later, where Vegeta informed him as to what it was capable of and that he'd be able to find the spheres in no time by utilizing the device's power. "Also, it is my recommendation that you ask the Eternal Dragon if there is a way to get back the life span you sacrificed to get this power." Twilight continued, showing them that there was more for her to say before they departed, all while her family reverted back to their base forms, allowing Goku and the Saiyans to know that there would be no more fights at the moment, even though they would no doubt head back to Beerus' planet for more training, "Either way, you should visit the Earth at some point in the near future, as I should be able to utilize the information and DNA I gained today to bring back the Cerealians... it'll take some time, but your kind should be back to a reasonable population in no time." "Wait... WHAT?!" Granolah exclaimed, as too much had happened in such a short period of time and his brain was really struggling to process everything that had happened so far, especially with the information that had been given to him over the last few minutes, because now he was certain that Twilight, despite what she said, wasn't actually Frieza's daughter, as this seemed far too different from what he was expecting. "Lady Twilight likes to spend her time improving the lives of the races of the universe, even figuring out ways to restore all of the lost ones." Caulifla stated, as she and Kale had been silent the entire time, observing everything that was going on, and all she could think about right now was the newfound training that they would be doing with Goku and Vegeta to gain new forms to help them catch up with Twilight's family, or just power if there was nothing else to unlock, "I know you will have a hard time accepting this, Granolah, but she enjoys spending her time helping people and races, be they from our universe or from one of the other universes. You present a problem for her to solve, a race in desperate need of help, and she will do everything in her power to bring your race back from the brink of extinction... I mean, there's a universe out there that is considered the worst of the worst, on the brink of being destroyed, and she's been aiding it's gods in figuring out how to put everything right, to right the wrongs and save from them utter destruction." "That reminds me, I've got a meeting with Sidra in two weeks... I'm going to upgrade the Heeters' ship so we can get back to Earth in a few days." Twilight commented, where she decided that it was time to walk over to the vessel in question, as the larger ship was right where Oil and Macki had left it, though she reasoned that they would be ready to go in about two or three hours, depending on how much she needed to fix and change. All Granolah could do was stare as the group made their way over to where the ship was resting, though in that moment he swore off his revenge against Frieza and even the Saiyans, it wasn't going to work, and resolved to do everything in his power to live up to his tribe's legacy, all while Goku and the others looked forward to what the future held for them and for Twilight. > Interlude: A Day in Another Universe > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Twilight found that nothing important happened after she and the Saiyans dealt with Granolah and the Heeters, as in no new villains came out of the darkness to try and conquer the universe, no one tried to destroy anything, and no one dared to bring up an old grudge with the Saiyans. It was a nice change of pace for her, that they didn't have to worry about anything, and she could confirm that her empire had found nothing as well, as if the entire universe had been mapped out and all the planets were under her thumb, benefiting from her efforts to make everything better for everyone. The ship that Elec and his siblings had used, to get them to Planet Cereal, had been left near her actual residence, because Twilight was outfitting it with all sorts of upgrades to make it a true luxury vessel for traveling the universe, on her time off when she just wanted a bit of time to herself. Such a thing required more work than she was honestly expecting, the tech inside it was out of date by at least three versions, confirming that the Heeters were totally incompetent, but she was willing to spend the time working on it to make it a fine addition to her empire, and she made sure it was marked so everyone knew who it belonged to. The last thing she wanted was for someone to repeat the errors of the Heeters, though fortunately the people of her vast universe were far smarter than Elec and his dead siblings, so really she didn't have to worry about such a thing happening in the near future, allowing her to focus on her own work. Twilight figured out how to integrate the DNA of the Cerealians and Heterians into the line of projects she made, just like the Saiyans and other races before them, and some people, as she expected, were eager to check them out and see what she had to offer this time around. The combat type of treats that had been added to her existing line of products aided in the rebirth of the various doomed races, though she could also mix in some of the benefits of both races into the main line as well, as in she could create a Beastian sniper if she wanted. Such a thing meant she could also mix the spike and horns that the Heterians gained in their transformed state into the main set of items as well, adding more options for one to customize their new forms and giving those who walked that path more power, if they desired such a thing. Other than that she found that the Earth, despite everything that had happened in the past, was at peace and nothing seemed to be threatening what she had pushed herself to create for the people of this planet, something that put a smile on her face as she turned her gaze towards the future. Of course she wasn't too surprised when Mohito, the Angel of Universe 9, showed up at her office so he could bring her into his universe, as she had agreed to spend a day with Sidra, see his habits as a God of Destruction, and comment on what she would personally do in his position to improve the Mortal Level of his dying universe. "You seem troubled. Has Universe 9 been suffering lately?" Twilight asked, speaking as they flew through space utilizing the method of the Angels, which was far faster than anything else in the multiverse, or at least until she figured out how to copy their speed and make a device that allowed such rapid flight, while her comment was on the fact that the Angel did seem like something was bothering him. "I... do not wish to speak negatively about Lord Sidra's abilities, but... yes, things have gotten worse." Mohito stated, as his universe was the lowest of the low, even after the reintroduction of the other universes, and at the rate their Mortal Level was decreasing, as even the Grand Priest was taking notice of his domain and sent warnings to him to turn things around, he was worried that Universe 9 would cease to exist in the near future, "I hate to admit it, Twilight, but we desperately need your assistance." Twilight frowned as they surged out of Universe 7, passing the planet that the Old God Vel called home before reaching the barrier between universes, and rushed into the outskirts of Universe 9, allowing her to glance out at the planets as the Angel continued towards where Sidra had been left. Sidra's domain was nearly lifeless, because based on what she could tell there were very few planets with life on them, with even the number of usable planets being far less than even she was expecting when she agreed to help the dwarf fix his universe. Now she understood why Universe 9 was at the bottom of the leader board, that out of eighteen universes they were the worst of the worst, which really made her wonder what sort of mess she was walking into and what needed to be done to fix this universe. This also let her see why Mohito was so unhappy with his universe, it was literally falling apart at the seams and was on the brink of destruction, to the point that she had to wonder if she could even save Sidra from what was coming his way, but she was going to do everything in her vast power to help him out. Mohito brought them to a planet that looked like a literal trash heap from space, the coloration just made it look sick and unhealthy, and when he pierced the atmosphere Twilight found that things were worse than she thought, because most of the air had been poisoned, she could smell the toxins in the air, and found that the rivers were basically acid, a foul light green substance that only contributed to the ongoing problem. "What the hell happened here?!" Twilight inquired, as the planet, now that she was looking at it, was literally dying before her very eyes, even the remaining trees and vegetation were sickly looking and some were crumbling away, meaning that most of the fresh air producing aspects of this planet had to be on their last legs, and whoever happened to call this place home would be forced to flee to another planet. "One of the inhabitants of this planet managed to get enough resources and wealth to start building factories, selling the products to all of the surrounding worlds while filling his own with toxins." Mohito replied, where he carefully navigated over to where his God of Destruction had been left, all while noticing as Twilight extended some of her magic and caught a bit of the toxin that was in the air, something he wasn't even going to question at this point as he noticed that his student wasn't where he had left him, "Supposedly his plan was to find another planet to move to, spruce it up, and then sell of a number of lots while secretly building more factories so he could pollute that world as well... moving from planet to planet until he was the wealthiest individual in the whole universe." "And Sidra hasn't destroyed him yet?" Twilight commented, though she didn't need to be told the answer, because based on how annoyed the Angel was she could easily assume that the individual was still alive, which was wrong in her eyes and she would be telling Sidra that when they finally found him, but she did look at the toxin producing factory, which was in the center of a settlement, with disgust in her eyes. Mohito opened his mouth to say something, though before he could do so the ground shook before their eyes and they found a large mechanical suit reaching for the sky, reaching for Sidra to be exact, showing Twilight that the god was in the middle of dealing with his current target. As that happened she found that Bergamo and his brothers were present, doing their best to usher the citizens of the settlement to safety, either because the villain was wrecking the city or because their God of Destruction had a habit of eliminating far more than what was absolutely necessary. They weren't the only ones from Universe 9's team present, as Twilight could see the rabbit girl, Sorrel she recalled, carrying some younger rabbit figures, as in her siblings based on how worried she was, while she fled from the city, and even Hop, the feline warrior who had those long claws, was helping her out with some of the other citizens. Behind the pair ran an older rabbit couple, Sorrel's parents based on what Twilight could see, though while that happened the ground shuddered due to Sidra knocking the villain onto his back and his suit causing an earthquake, knocking the parents to the ground and the pair of warriors got further away before realizing that they had been left behind. In the following moment Twilight felt a surge of energy and noticed that Sidra was getting ready to erase the villain, but he had far too much power needed for such a thing, making her realize what his plan was as she called forth her magic without delay, latching onto everyone and anyone who wasn't in the safe zone and teleported them over to her and Mohito, just in time to witness Sidra erase the city in it's entirety. "Nonononono! Mama! Papa!" Sorrel cried, confirming that the older pair of rabbits were, in fact, her parents and that she was worried about their safety, though in the next moment Twilight made sure the survivors she was able to save with her magic were deposited near her and Hop, allowing her and her siblings to cry tears of relief as they embraced their parents, while others just stared at the crater that was in front of them. "Our homes... our friends... they're all gone..." Hop said, where she sat down on a nearby rock and hung her head in defeat, as while she was happy to have saved what they could, and who they could, it was clear that losing everything and the vast majority of everyone they knew had hit her harder than anything she had experienced in the past. "This is the fifth time this week... he never listens." Mohito commented, though Twilight could tell that he wasn't pleased by what they had witnessed, in fact she was starting to think that he hated being the Angel of this universe, and was shocked to discover that this was happening far more frequently than she had originally assumed, that Sidra was just wiping out whole cities without a care in the world. Twilight stood there for a moment, allowing the warriors from Universe 9's team to understand that she was there, before rushing through the air as she zeroed in on where Sidra was floating, though instead of raising her fist to punch him she just kept her hands by her sides as she appeared near the Destroyer. "Ah, Lady Twilight, it is an honor to have you in my universe." Sidra said, because if she was able to turn Universe 7 around, and make it one of the best in the multiverse, he knew that he needed her help to make things better for his domain, as he was running out of time to make things right and that meant swallowing his pride for the time being, only to find that she slapped him for a moment. "Sidra... what the hell are you doing?!" Twilight stated, where the Destroyer rubbed the side of his face for a moment, as he wasn't expecting her to get angry with him before he even started to explain the situation and show her more of his dying universe, but, since she was far stronger than he was, Sidra decided to remain quiet while she talked, "You are the God of Destruction for this universe, a being whose supposed to be watching over the planets and people while erasing threats to your domain... and yet here you are, wiping out whole cities with your power. Why did you destroy the city and end all of those innocent lives?" "I got rid of the villain and his cohorts, so I don't see why you are so annoyed. The factory..." Sidra started to say, though in the following moment both he and Mohito found that Twilight raised a hand to stop him from speaking, which he did so without delay since it was unwise to annoy someone who was so much stronger than he was, especially since Twilight was on the level of an Angel. "The factory can be turned off, reprogrammed, or even dismantled in a safe manner... you didn't need to destroy both the villain and everything around him." Twilight remarked, though in the next instant she extended her hands and forced both the godly beings and the observers to watch as she made her move, opening a window in space-time so she could take a sample of the pristine atmosphere that this planet had a long time ago. That wasn't all she did, because bits and pieces of metal in the surrounding area were lifted into the air, cleaned off due to her magic washing over them, where they watched as they started to form a device that happened to be floating in the air, shaped like a star that resembled her Cutie Mark, and once she was done she slipped two vials, one having the pristine atmosphere and the other the toxins, into it's head before sending it off. "Or, if the factories are vital to the planet's economy, find a way to deal with the toxins in the air and the poisons that are in the ground." Twilight continued, where she pulled out a brand new tablet, something she was used to doing since there were far too many instances that required her to hand them out to the people she encountered, and rapidly designed all sorts of devices that could do exactly what she had just said, the first being the star that was taking in the toxins in the air and was purifying it, "I can make a prototype of each device you'll need for planets like this, though we will have to take a bit of time to talk about repayment for all of this, but in a week or two you'll be seeing results in the condition of the whole planet... undoing all of the damage will take time, and it's possible that some of the damage can't be undone, but it's far better than blowing away a city or the entire planet." "A... Amazing." Sidra said, as he was blown away by the fact that Twilight was able to rapidly study the atmosphere, figure out the toxins that were poisoning the world, and create a way for the people of the planet to not only combat the poison air, to restore the atmosphere to it's pristine nature, but also was devising ways to fix the rest of the planet, which caused the members of his old team to look excited for what might happen next, causing him to pull out his calculation tablet for a moment, "Maybe you can take a look at this and tell me what you think?" "If I must." Twilight replied, where she put her work tablet off to the side and accepted Sidra's, though in the following few seconds she frowned as she stared at the math that was in front of her, as there were errors upon errors in his math, a fact that made her question the educational system of this entire universe, "Sidra... do you use these calculations to figure out if planets are worth destroying?" "Yes. In fact the calculations in front of you indicate that another planet in this system is beyond saving and that it might be scheduled for destruction." Sidra stated, though as he said that he discovered something he wasn't expecting to see, his guest brought her palm to her face as she summoned a floating chair for her to sit on, which told him that she wasn't happy with what she was seeing right now, before she raised her right hand and a portal appeared nearby, allowing her to call forth a bottle of wine that she opened and started drinking from, "Um, what... what do you think?" "That you are a universal moron!" Twilight nearly snapped, though she was thankful that she couldn't get drunk, because based on what she had seen, in the first hour of her visit to Universe 9, all of Sidra's madness and stupidity would have made her totally smashed, if not permanently damaged in some manner, but the sheer amount of wine she might drink during her visit, and she sent a bottle over to Mohito, who summoned a glass before helping himself, "Sidra, there are so many errors in your math that I'm simply amazed that you can even get an answer out of this... frankly, this really makes me wonder about the educational system of your entire universe! Here, I've corrected everything." Sidra honestly wasn't expecting the verbal lashing he was getting from Twilight, in fact it was insulting that she was calling him a moron, but he took the tablet back and studied it for a time, only for surprise to appear on his face as he realized that she was right to bash him, his math had been wrong all over the place. "Now I understand why Universe 9 is so far down in the ratings... sure, part of it is due to villains like the one you took out earlier, but it's mostly due to your incompetence!" Twilight continued, where she honestly wished she had the power to dismiss a current God of Destruction and replace them with someone more deserving, and more qualified, of the position, because Sidra was definitely someone she would dismiss in a heartbeat, "And frankly, I'm dreading whatever else I might discover in the near future." Mohito smiled for a moment as he observed the pair, as he knew that with Twilight's help, criticizing everything Sidra did and showing him exactly what needed to be done to improve his universe, this universe would be able to recover at long last and that it would begin to prosper like all of the others, he just had to be patient and wait for whatever the future had in store for his universe. > Interlude: Dawn of the Infinites > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Twilight found that she ended up spending seven days going from her universe and traveling to Universe 9, helping Sidra fix the glaring and obvious problems that were in his universe, as there were simply far more than she was expecting to find when she first agreed to help him fix his crumpling domain. Every new item she found and added to the list of insanity told her that Sidra wasn't worthy of being a God of Destruction, in fact he was likely the best of the worst candidates when his predecessor decided that it was time to move on, sort of like how Belmod was training Toppo to replace him. She quickly understood why Mohito had been so sad or depressed in the past, his universe was falling apart and his Destroyer was just terrible at his job, as if his predecessor had been slain during the middle of their training, hence why she ended up spending a lot more time over there than she originally intended. After her seventh visit, however, Twilight told Sidra that it would be some time before she bothered to visit again, as there was more work to be done with her own universe, but she did leave him with copies of tomes that would teach him proper math and everything else that would help him figure out how to be a God of Destruction. Once she was back in her universe, however, Twilight took a few days off and told everyone to only bother her when it was absolutely necessary, as there were a great deal of warriors that could tackle the problems of the universe without having to call her in, though it didn't last for long, as when the afternoon of the third day arrived she went back to work. This time around she focused her attention into the past of Universe 7, studying the planets that her father had blown up over the years, the races he had exterminated, whatever information she could gleam from them, and simply expanded or confirmed her information on everything she had learned so far. One of the things she was able to claim was a couple of DNA samples from another extinct race, the Heraians, who preferred to be called the 'Hera Clan', which were a race of tall warriors, having a height similar to the Saiyans, who used their power to destroy whatever they desired. Of course such a thing mattered little to her, because of the fact that those who utilized the power in this day and age, by utilizing her very special products, learned how to control their powers without destroying everything around them, so she figured this new power would be the same. With that in mind she added it to the list of items once she found a way to make a product for the extinct race of orange haired and teal skinned warriors to be brought back, just like the Cerealians, Heterians, and the rest of the various races that were now thriving in her universe. Everything was going well, despite her brief descent into madness upon seeing the sheer ruin that was Universe 9, but all of her success didn't stop her from pushing forward, doing anything and everything in her power to make life in her vast universe even better for everyone. One thing she ended up doing was helping Sorrel, Hop, and both of their families for a day, because while both liked the improvements in Universe 9, the first in a long series of changes that needed to be done to fix everything, neither of them wanted to deal with Sidra's madness anymore, especially not after Sorrel nearly lost her family during her visit. Sidra was totally different from Champa when it came to people from his universe deciding to move to another one, he was actually rather supportive in their endeavors and even pitched in to help them out, where it was hard to tell if this was something he did in the past or if he was doing this to get in Twilight's good graces. It was nicer than having someone ranting and asking for the warriors back, hence why she decided to ignore his idiocy for a time, just to see if he could change her opinion of him or if she was giving him too much credit, though she did find that the three wolf brothers remained in Universe 9, choosing to help everyone else out. Twilight did feel that Sidra should count himself lucky to have such loyal people in his universe, despite the destruction he had caused in the past, but she decided to keep the thought to herself as she focused on the rest of her work and what it meant for the rest of her domain. Of course it wasn't just them, the beast warriors of Universe 2, Jiren, and the pair of Saiyans from Universe 6 that came to call Universe 7 home, as she found that there were individuals from every universe in the multiverse that came to see her work in making this universe better. Twilight found a number of humanoid races, beast races, and even monstrous types visiting her domain, all eager to see just what she had done since she started to influence the planets and organizations of the vast universe that Beerus was supposed to be watching over. It wasn't just normal citizens who came to visit either, as she found scholars, warriors, scientists, and people from all walks of life, though this just surprised the gods, as none of them were expecting to see such a thing unfold, even with Twilight being the herald of such unity. Twilight couldn't help but chuckle as she heard that, as it was nice to surprise even the gods themselves with her work, and she could only hope that they approved of everything else that would be revealed at some point in the future, once she was ready to do so. There was also a very interesting side effect of Sorrel bringing her family to Earth, as it caused Goku to seek out Shenron to call forth his father, his mother, and his brother back from the dead, something that surprised them, even though the biggest shocker for the trio came when he and Vegeta explained things to them. Twilight knew how he had gotten all of his wishes granted, as the first involved moving the souls of Bardock and Gine, the latter being his mother, to Earth, while the second and third revolved around bringing them and Raditz back to life, due to them dying in two separate conflicts, in two different parts of space. Naturally all three of them had no real idea what was going on, save for what happened back during the time that Super Buu and Kid Buu made a mess of things, but Twilight had her ways of showing them what they needed to know, even though it would take some time for them to get used to the idea of living on Earth, under the full protection of her empire. Vegeta, on the other hand, didn't care enough to bring back his father, though it was more in the sense that his father would no doubt make an attempt to conquer the planet and that would only end with his death, so he wasn't about to make such a wish, which Twilight was fine with as she focused on the newcomers. "You know, based on everything I've seen and heard, it sure sounds like you've touched every corner of our universe, and have taken care of all the problems we had." Bulma remarked, speaking to Twilight as she and the others gathered outside Capsule Corp for one of her little parties, though she was simply amazed by everything they had learned over the course of her time exploring the vast reaches of their ever expanding universe. "Indeed. With all of Universe 7 explored, well, it's time I turned my focus on the other universes and even the other parallel worlds." Twilight replied, because she was still fascinated by the fact that her landing in different areas or doing all sorts of different things could result in the creation of so many different timelines, often resulting in her other selves gaining all sorts of unique forms and powers, hence why she wanted to study them a bit more, before she paused as she, her mother, and the rest of the space-time users felt time shudder. As they felt that happen a portal in space-time appeared in the air above them and Future Trunks, dressed up in warmer clothing than last they saw him, came rushing out of the portal with his back to everyone, his stance suggesting that he was in the middle of a fight given his Super Saiyan 3 transformation. In the next moment someone else burst out of the portal, a humanoid figure with a lizard tail, in fact Twilight was sure that the invader looked like a Grieaian, the lizard like race that she and her family had encountered on Griea V all those years ago, and it was wearing a set of light brown leather armor with dark purple runes on it. What was interesting was that it lashed out at Future Trunks with it's right hand and Twilight found that ice formed around both his hand and his arm, though it looked far more primal than anything she had seen before, as when Future Trunks raised a staff made out of Ki to defend himself, no doubt due to realizing something during his training after they left him to his business, the claws made contact with it and froze part of it. In the following moment he forced his foe backwards before both of them realized that they were in a totally new location, as if neither of them had been expecting such a thing to happen in the first place, but when the invader noticed Twilight he jumped into the air, causing her to chain him to the ground with his hand locked in the air. "Lady Twilight, I am glad that you are doing well." Future Trunks said, though at the same time he dismissed his weapon as he relaxed a little, keeping his transformation up in the off chance that more enemies followed them through the portal, the very one that the Demons froze with their powers, before he sighed for a moment, "I wish we didn't keep meeting when the fate of a world was in jeopardy, but fate seems to enjoy having us interact like this. Allow me to explain what's been going on lately." Future Trunks revealed that things had been going well after the whole Darkstar incident, to the point where everyone just forgot about the invasion from another parallel world and it's ruler's plot to bring about the destruction of their Zeno, but that changed when the remnants of her army, the true fanatics and believers, came calling to bring down those they had deemed responsible for Darkstar's defeat. Twilight asked about Eventide, since the powerful being should have been there to help him and the defenders repel the invasion, only for Future Trunks to reveal that the invaders had figured out how to power up the dark machine that the insane version of herself had created, the one that would trap someone inside a holding cell and constantly drain them of their Ki. Such a thing meant that Darkstar's followers had captured Eventide and were, even now, utilizing her power to fuel everything they did, such as declaring war on literally every parallel world that was out there with the intent of freezing and destroying them, as if they were hoping that the magnitude of death would grant them even more power to bring down their Zeno or revive Darkstar. Future Trunks also revealed that the Twilights of the other parallel worlds didn't want to involve this world, the prime timeline, in their war since it was possible that they were after Twilight, given that her power seemed to be the strongest of them all, but, at the same time, Future Trunks had come to the conclusion to ask for aid from the one person that could provide it. All he knew was that there was someone new leading the Cultists, for that was what they were, who had the power to take Eventide down, and with how they were being pushed back, as Future Trunks knew it was only a matter of time until they were forced back into his world, the other Twilights realized that they needed their star player once more. "Very well... once more, into the breach." Twilight stated, though as she stepped towards the space-time portal she found that she wasn't alone, as Goku and the Saiyans were ready, the godly apprentices were standing nearby, her family and their demonic allies had their weapons prepared, and even her kids and Eschalot, all young adults at this point with her kids being nearly identical to their future selves, were prepared for a fight, "Let's do this." With that said Twilight latched onto the invader that was being held nearby and hurled him through the space-time portal, to which everyone followed her through it as they stepped into Future Trunks' world once more, only this time it was off in one of the wastelands, no doubt to protect everyone in the cities from the ongoing dimensional war. As the other versions of her realized that she was there, and that their ally had succeeded in his mission, Twilight stepped forward and held her hands out, repelling the invaders from Darkstar's parallel world back to their home world without delay, before opening a new portal to her destination. Sure enough she found that the world on the other side was nearly frozen over, there was ice everywhere, forming walls and spikes all over the place, spires in other spots, and face in the distance, with an army of mad Cultists, rested a dark castle that was pulsing with energy that was empowering their enemies. Now she understood why this world had caused Future Trunks to wear warm clothing, though at the same time she didn't care too much as she expanded her power and gave her forces the power to fight without the cold cutting into their strength, causing many of them to smile in the process. As she did that Twilight felt the dark power that was in the air, coming from the castle, and recognized it, as she had felt it a few times in the past, before she glanced at Goku, Vegeta, and everyone else who had followed her from her world, as all of them were waiting for her to make the first move. "Use whatever power you deem necessary, but keep them alive." Twilight stated, because if the figure responsible for all of this had been someone else, and had empowered their forces more than what she was currently feeling, she would have ordered something different, but with the current set up she knew that full power was totally overkill. Such a thing was followed by Goku and Vegeta going Super Saiyan Blue, mostly to feel things out, Caulifla turned into her Super Saiyan 4 form, Kale remained in her base form, Piccolo and Gohan pulled all of their base power out without using their new transformations, and Eschalot took on her version of Super Saiyan 4, a deep red coloration gracing her scales as she stood near her father. At the same time Twilight found that her children also took on their unique forms, as Mira let the silver fur appear on his arms as his hair spiked up, Calas took on his more Cell-like form, and Houko transformed into her Majin state, showing her that they were ready for anything. With everyone done with their transformations, and they found that the Cultists were surprised by this turn of events, Twilight gestured at their foes and her forces rushed out not a second later, blasts rushing into the enemy army without delay as some of the warriors dropped down to fight a number of their foes. In addition to that Towa and the other Demons joined the battle, each taking on their Demon God or Demon Goddess forms as they joined the battle, attacking the Cultists, deflecting or dodging the incoming attacks, and did as she commanded, knocking their foes out without taking any of their lives. Twilight, on the other hand, surrounded herself with her power as she flew through the air and smashed into the side of the castle's wall, piercing it without delay as she entered what appeared to be a twisted throne room that had a number of dark purple tendrils around the chamber, which had spikes on them, along with a massive mass on the throne. "Just as I suspected: an Old God has taken root in this world." Twilight stated, though at the same time she started to let out her power, going all the way to her final form, because off in the corner she found Eventide trapped in a machine that held her in a cylinder, one that was connected to the creature's large hidden body, "I know you in my world, creature, and you were content to not be a monster... who would have known that removing all of the gods, both those of creation and those of destruction, and all of the Angels would have prompted you to make a move on the multiverse." All you know is lies and falsehoods. Those that follow you will be your end. the creature replied, where some of the tentacles emerged and positioned themselves around her, showing Twilight that this version of the Old God was definitely evil and wanted to take over the rest of the universe, before moving it's attention to the rest of the multiverse, Your own friends will betray you. "Now, see, that's where your wrong. My friends... my TRUE friends... are the best I could ever ask for, and I know that none of them would do such a thing." Twilight stated, though she was referring to those from Equus, because while it was true there had been some rough times between them in the past, and there had been some arguments and even fights, those very incidents helped forge the greatest power that her planet called home, one that could defeat even the greatest evils in the world, maybe even beyond if there were others like her, "Come, Old God, and taste the power of Harmony!" Just as she expected the tentacles came rushing at her, with the creature trying to smash her into the walls, though due to the power of Ultra Instinct that was part of this form Twilight avoided the attacks with ease, swinging her hands as she just pinned them to the ground with a bit of magic before spinning and creating blades of Ki that cut through them. The foul creature howled in pain before the entire castle shuddered, breaking apart as it revealed it's true massive form to the rest of the people in this timeline, though it lashed out at her as she flew through the air, slashing and blasting her way right through it's tentacles. While that happened Twilight also gripped the container that Eventide was in and yanked it free, a fact that was followed by her quickly figuring out how to undo it's binding and free the godly being from her prison, which allowed them to double team the creature as Eventide gained the ability to use her powers again. The two barely had to look at each other as Eventide realized what needed to be done, where Twilight struck the creature as Eventide got under it and pushed it into the air, ripping it's massive tentacles out of the ground before it could do anything to stop her. When all of it was high up in the air, and none of it was attached to the ground, Twilight called upon her power, generating six colors around her that her allies knew the significance of, before she loosed a beam of energy into the air that tore into the creature before it could do anything to defend itself. In the next moment she discovered that she really didn't have to use her full power against it, as she was able to disintegrate all of it in the span of a few moments, barely giving it time to let out a scream as her power erased it from existence, much to the surprise of everyone that was watching the sky. Once that was done Eventide floated down to her position and did something interesting, she transferred all of the power that was inside her into Twilight, allowing her to grow her power even further than before, though in the next moment, before anyone could react, the future warrior moved out of the way as Twilight landed. She then expanded her power and let out a wave of energy that not only washed over this version of Earth and fixed it, getting rid of the ice and restoring it to it's pristine form, but the rest of the universe, erasing the madness of the Old God while freeing everyone from it's grasp, all to free the Cultists and allow them to live their own lives without someone dark ruling over them. Once her influence was felt all over the entirety of the timeline, and she was sure of that, Twilight let out a sigh for a few seconds before finding that her other selves, each and every one of them, gathered around her with the two armies also mixed in, before the unthinkable happened as everyone, no counting those from her timeline, knelt towards her and bowed their heads. "All hail Twilight Sparkle, Queen of the Infinites." Eventide remarked, though she had a smile on her face, because now all of the parallel worlds, essentially all of time itself for Universe 7, was acknowledging the prime Twilight as their master, the one who ruled over everything, and after having witnessed her newest form she had to admit that it made sense, Twilight was on a level that would one day rival Zeno himself. Twilight, on the other hand, said nothing to that as she dismissed everyone for the time being, mostly because she was in the middle of wondering what this meant for her and her timeline, though at the same time it made her even more eager to see what the future held for her and her universe. > Super Hero: Schoolwork and Heroes > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Twilight found that a decent amount of time passed without anything new happening in her universe, as in there were no new villains for her to worry about, no attacks from the other parallel worlds, and nothing much for her to worry about, so her focus could finally be turned on other things while keeping an ear out for danger. She knew that the planets of her vast universe were mostly at peace, as there were still those out there who felt like they were above the law and that they could make their fortunes by stealing from everyone else, which was left in the hands of the various police officers. As such she got reports from the other parts of the universe about such things, though for the most part she found that Merus was doing a good job in dealing with those sorts of people and left that work to him and everyone else who worked for her empire, at least until she was needed anyway. With the universe in working order she turned a good deal of her attention to Earth for a time, mostly because the main Saiyans who called it home had temporarily moved to Beerus' planet for intense training, so they could catch up with her family in terms of power. One thing that had become popular with the people of Earth recently was the creation of a brand new super hero, as people were getting tired of the Great Saiyaman, though while she questioned their new hero, the so called 'Cleangod' who used a broom to mop up evil, she didn't intervene at all, even though he started as a simple video game her and just exploded onto the big screen in no time at all. There was also the school that she had created once upon a time, which was a place where warriors could gather to learn how to control any and all of their powers, while also giving them classes on the various planets and races of the universe, as some wanted to join the empire when they graduated. It was interesting to see such bright students want to help make their universe a better place for everyone, so she did everything in her power to make sure they were prepared for the future, as in she provided the school with tomes that held information on the various planets, their races, and the events that had happened in the past. While that happened she found that Goten and Trunks were sent to Blue Hal High School, a far more normal school that was solely focused on preparing people for jobs on Earth, though she did find that the former changed up his hair to make sure people didn't mix him up with his father. Eschalot, on the other hand, was one of the students of Stellaris High School, as she wanted to join Twilight in defending their universe from the various dangers that might still exist, which was a fact that she shared with Calas, Houko, and Mira, who also attended her school. In addition to all of that Twilight outfitted her school with a special training area that allowed her students to train without having to worry about damaging the area, as the walls were laced with crystals holding a bit of her power, which meant that the students could fire Ki blasts at them without worrying about wrecking everything, and she made sure to add in a number of targets for them to hit as well. Of course she found that Cleangod wasn't the only super hero to appear in the news, even if he was a fake one created for movies, television, and action figures, where she discovered that this time it was a pair of young warriors who wanted to clean up the streets and stop crime, like dealing with bank robbers. Twilight quickly discovered that they copied Gohan's old persona, calling themselves 'Saiyaman X-1' and 'Saiyaman X-2', wore rather dumb looking costumes that mimicked the attire of Cleangod, and they even stole the mannerisms of the movie hero to make themselves sound cooler. It didn't take her long to figure out who both heroes were, one of them was Goten and the other was Trunks, though they decided not to tell anyone about their double lives, despite the fact that she found out with ease and she could tell that Bulma and a few others had figured it out already. Trunks made it far too easy for them to figure it out, as both he and Goten were fans of the new hero on television and couldn't help but use some of his mannerisms or poses when dealing with the criminals they came across, even breaking weapons and collecting the pieces to be recycled. Honestly, it was a shame that neither warrior took things seriously, it was why she had originally denied their request to transfer to Stellaris High, as her school was far more serious than any others since they were focused on space and what was out there in the universe, so having two hotheads, who thought themselves better than everyone else, had no place in her school, plus their grades were horrible. Her decision on the matter had surprised many people, since Trunks was Bulma's son, but when she explained her reasoning many of those individuals understood why she did what she did, she wasn't doing it to get back at Bulma, she was doing it because Trunks didn't have the drive that the other students of her school had. Goten, on the other hand, hadn't changed that much either, he was still a follower and seemed to do most of what Trunks told him to do, but part of him was still a child at heart, hence why he, too, was rejected from the school and joined his friend in Blue Hal High School. Surprisingly Chi-Chi was fine with this, since it meant her son could get a good job once he was done with his lessons, but based on what Twilight had seen so far his grades weren't all that great either, meaning the pair were in danger of falling behind or even being held back, which would cause some people to laugh at the pair if such a thing happened. There was another reason that Twilight refused to admit Trunks, in particular, into her school, his attendance record was one of the worst in his entire school, as there were days were he was late, missed the first class, or even skipped a whole day to play hero, though the last one was usually him and Goten trying to join in the fun that the others had, only to miss out and so something else to compensate for the lost time. Frankly the only reason he even had a place in his school was due to his family's name, even though Eschalot was the one being groomed for the position as the next head because she was far smarter than her brother and her power outclassed his own, especially since she took everything seriously and didn't play around at all. Even the teachers didn't like him all that much, Twilight could see that from just observing a day of his school life, though he did have some friends among the other students, who knew he and Goten had power since it wasn't a hidden fact of life anymore, thanks to her revealing Ki to the rest of the world. Of course that made some wonder why she had rejected the pair, since their power was beyond what everyone else in their school had, but didn't question her decisions when there were some very good reasons behind why they weren't being admitted into her school. Eventually an interesting day arrived that sparked her interest, enough to actually take part in the event, which happened to be when several of Blue Hal's classes would be visiting Stellaris for an entire day, though the coordinator for the event had them gather in the training area, most of them sitting on the stands so they could chat with each other. "Before we begin the tour of Stellaris High School, I thought it would be best if we gave our visitors from Blue Hal a bit of a show: their strongest against our own!" the speaker, a lady who was a red scaled raptor Beastian, stated, where she took a moment to focus on the sea of individuals in front of her, Humans mixed with all sorts of races from the various planets of the universe, from Saiyans to Namekians, Cerealians to Heterians, and everything in between, before she looked down at her tablet for a few seconds, "From Blue Hal High School, tied in terms of strength, Trunks Brief and Son Goten... and from Stellaris High School, with both the highest Battle Power and grades, Eschalot Brief!" Twilight smiled as she watched as the trio climbed down into the area in question, Trunks and Goten simply climbed over the ledge in front of them, with their friends cheering them on, while Eschalot jumped down into the area, surprising a fair number of her fellow students, especially since they expected the honor to go to one of Twilight's children, but all three of them were fine with this outcome. "Don't hold this against me, brother, but let me show you what it means to take things seriously." Eschalot said, where she shifted her stance for a moment as she stared at the pair that were in front of her, while at the same time her school attire changed from it's purple and blue form and took on her training attire, something that was given to her by Twilight once she started attending her school, as a personal gift. Trunks and Goten stood there for a moment before rushing at her, where the crowd watched as she tucked her wings in and dodged the punches that came her way, avoiding both fists before they even had a chance to touch her, before she spun around and struck both of them with her feet, knocking them backwards. Twilight could tell that the pair were taking a moment to think about the situation they were currently in, especially since they couldn't use any moves they had taken the time to create for their super hero personas, causing them to focus on something else, lashing out with their fists and feet as they tried to hit her. Eschalot showed them the error of their ways as she dodged their attacks, weaving in and out of everything the pair tried to send her way, before she dropped down and used her tail to knock them down, something neither of her opponents seemed to understand since neither had trained for such a thing. The students from their school were surprised by how quickly she had knocked them down, while at the same time those from Stellaris seemed pleased by such a thing, no doubt knowing just how strong she was in comparison to the two boys, though as the energy in the air shifted Eschalot jumped back for a moment. Sure enough the pair transformed into their Super Saiyan states, which seemed to be the only form they had access to, as neither had trained to master any of the other transformations that their race had, though such a thing didn't case their foe to change as well, because while both were stronger they weren't enough to make her do the same. Trunks and Goten opened fire on her without delay, blasting her with several Ki blasts that didn't have much power packed into them, which told her everything she needed to know as she swung her hand and shattered their attacks with ease, only to find that the pair had quickly powered down to perform the Fusion Dance. Twilight was disappointed in them, that they would resort to it and not rely on their own skills and powers, and it wasn't long before Gotenks descended upon the battlefield, even if it was far too much for a battle as simple as this, but she refrained from interfering as she found that Eschalot was happy to challenge this warrior. Following that Twilight found that Gotenks went all the way into Super Saiyan 3, showing them that he was willing to expend all of his time in a short period, just to prove that he was better than Eschalot was, and he quickly caught her with his Galactic Donuts, with three golden rings around her to keep her from moving, before firing a pair of powerful energy waves right at her. Eschalot, on the other hand, revealed her newest trump card as her scales turned blue, surprising Gotenks as she broke through his hold, cancelled out the incoming blast with her energy, before rushing over to her foe and planted his face in the ground, breaking him down into Trunks and Goten without wasting time. "Come on... Blue?! Really?!" Trunks inquired, because it was just unfair that his sister would use such a form in front of the two schools, even though those who walked the Saiyan path seemed to be interested in what they were seeing right now, while he and Goten remained on the ground. "What? It's a form I gained from training... you, too, can unlock it's power with training and hard work." Eschalot replied, a statement that was directed to the observers as well, since there were many with Saiyan DNA in them thanks to Twilight's tampering and products, meaning that, as some point in time, they could gain the same form she was showing off right now, before she glanced at the pair for a moment, "Tell me, do you both yield?" Twilight found that both Trunks and Goten made the right decision, they admitted defeat and let Eschalot return to her base form before helping them onto their feet, where she smiled for a moment as the students followed the speaker out to the rest of the school and wondered if maybe, just maybe, this would convince the pair to take things seriously and made her eager to see what the coming weeks held for them and the world. > Super Hero: Monsters and Villians > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Following their defeat at Eschalot's hands, and showing the power gap between her and her brother, Twilight decided to do something new to see if she could convince Trunks and Goten to start taking things seriously, she peered into the various parallel worlds that existed and focused on the pair in question. She found timelines where one or both of them didn't even exist, either due to their parents being killed or neither parent wanted a kid, the latter being odd when she found that Gohan still existed in the timeline in question, and ones where they were born earlier than what she found in her timeline. Due to such a thing she found that there were parallel worlds where Trunks and Goten experienced the sheer terrifying power of Cell and what it meant to stand up to him, like training in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber with their fathers and Gohan, just making them stronger and ready to fight Cell. There was even a timeline where Goten was born a girl, something Twilight took a note of since it seemed to have an affect on Chi-Chi, causing her to mark the timeline in question so she could watch over it when she had time, before she finally found the parallel world that she was looking for and recorded what she saw, as it might help the pair grow up. There was also something else she was working on, which might help the pair in question, though with the discovery of the parallel world she was looking for Twilight eventually called for the two would be heroes to come to her office, the one that she did most of her universal work in while she was on Earth, and was pleased to see that they came without delay. "Ah, Trunks, Goten, thank you for coming. Would you like something to drink?" Twilight asked, though while she had some of her tea prepared, something that helped her relax and focus her mind on whatever she was working on, while if it had been in the early hours of the morning she would have had coffee, but since these two were teenagers she suspected that both of them might want soda, which was understandable. "Sure." Trunks replied, where both he and Goten took some of the soda that was being offered to them, since neither he or his friend cared for the tea that Twilight liked to drink and it wasn't the time for drinking coffee, though his focus was on the reason that she had called them here, "So, have you reconsidered our applications for your school?" "No, I'm afraid that my decision is final... unless you can prove to me that you actually deserve such a thing." Twilight replied, because with their grades, lack of motivation, and Trunks' terrible attendance in school she just wasn't convince either one of them were worthy of being allowed into Stellaris, though as she said that she tapped a button and let a viewing window appear above her desk, showing the pair what she had seen. The parallel world she had discovered had been one where the pair never stopped training, in fact they realized their failings after being beaten by Super Buu, so by the time Beerus arrived both warriors had access to the higher base forms that their fathers had gained access to, like Super Saiyan 2 and 3. In a variation of her timeline that even allowed them to access the fourth transformation, as they had their tails in that parallel world, and both worlds even showed the pair tapping into all of the forms that their fathers gained over the years, just like how Eschalot had gained Super Saiyan Blue recently. Of course it didn't stop there, as in one timeline both Trunks and Goten reached the final form that their kind has access to, that being Super Saiyan Blue 4, while in another she discovered that they had access to the new techniques their fathers unlocked just before Granolah was brought to their attention. Alternate Trunks, for example, had found a way to fully utilize the power of Ultra Ego, something not even his father could do based on Twilight's observations of the parallel world in question, while at the same time Alternate Goten's mastery of Ultra Instinct was on the level of the Angels, even those stronger than Whis. Sure enough she found that Trunks and Goten just stared at the viewing window with shock on their faces, almost as if the pair had no idea that they were capable of such things, and she could see that they were thinking about what was in front of their eyes, causing her to lean back for a moment as she sipped on her tea. "As you can see, I discovered two parallel worlds where, through training and determination, you obtained forms that can stand up to what your fathers have, even surpassing them at times." Twilight stated, though she had to admit that both of her discoveries made her that much more interested in what the other parallel worlds might have for her to discover, since a minor change in the past could have serious consequences for the future, like the pair training to the point where Goten, in one of the parallel worlds, took out Moro with his version of Ultra Instinct, "I just wanted to show you two what you might be capable of, if you resumed your training and stopped slacking off... of course I can't force you to do this, since you wouldn't learn anything if I did such a thing." "Wow... so I mastered Ultra Instinct, to a point that my father couldn't reach?" Goten asked, as he was staring at the pair of windows that Twilight had created for them to see what she was talking about, because she made another one after the first had been made, hence why they were able to see the height of their Saiyan power in one and in another they could see the height of their overall power. As Twilight nodded her head, however, Trunks got up and departed from the chamber, causing Goten to follow after him for a time, though that only caused her to sigh as she tapped a button to dismiss the viewing windows and another that allowed her to get back to work as she wondered if the pair would even acknowledge what she had just shown them. "So, Trunks... what did you think about what Twilight showed us?" Goten asked, though at the same time he and his friend started to head back to Capsule Corp by jumping onto one of the roofs and making their way from one roof to another, a way for them to spend some time alone, without anyone else bothering them, even though there were more flyers in the city thanks to Twilight spreading the secrets of Ki. "I just... don't see the appeal of training, honestly. Everyone we know can beat anything that shows up." Trunks said, due to the fact that his sister was so much stronger than he was, plus there was a school designed to train warriors for what was in the rest of the universe, so with so many powerful individuals, plus Gohan and Piccolo when he thought about the pair, it just didn't make sense for them to waste their time on actually training, "Honestly, I just wish there was a villain we could beat up and save people from... you know, kind of do what Gohan and the others did in the past." As Gohan opened his mouth, so he could say something, he heard something odd happen with his phone and pulled it out as Trunks did the same thing, where they found that the devices seemed to be on the fritz, like someone was hacking into them or something, before the phones returned to normal. In the next moment there was a surge of wind that made the pair glance to the east of where they had stopped to check on their phones, only to pause as they found what looked like a pair of large transparent eggs off in the distance, something that everyone would no doubt take notice of since this was something that had never happened before. With that in mind the pair jumped into the air and rushed off towards the area that the eggs had appeared above, as they wanted to get there before anyone else, like Eschalot, got there and took out whatever foe might come out of the strange eggs, before both snapped open and revealed their contents to the rest of the world. The first was a large dinosaur creature with orange skin that had blue markings everywhere, while it's head seemed to have been hardened into a shell with eye sockets and a place for a curved horn, and it seemed to have sharp horns and claws that would do some serious damage to it's foes. The second creature seemed to be a large green parrot monster with yellow feathers on the back of it's wings, so the side facing forward was green while the back was yellow, and it seemed to have a bit of metal plating on it's head, resting right between two large red feathered eyebrows or antenna. "Okay, giant monsters. Not the evildoers we're used to taking down, but they should be interesting to fight." Trunks said, though at the same time he wished that they had time to actually switch into their hero attire, even though changing into their outfits could be quite difficult and time consuming, meaning they'd have to ask someone to make a device to make the change near instantaneous. Goten wasn't too sure about that, since both creatures seemed different from anything else that existed in the universe, or at least what he had seen over the last year or so, though as they got closer to the creatures they discovered that the bird turned and attacked the dinosaur, who roared and started to chomp at the air to get at it's ally turned foe. What was amazing about this was that their size didn't seem to impact their movements much, as the bird was able to take to the air with ease while the dinosaur charged at it whenever it tried to land, though both watchers had to wonder what might have caused them to go to war again each other. The interesting thing was that the monsters seemed to be about the same in terms of power, even though their clash shook everything that happened to be around them, but from the looks of it they were the first ones to arrive right outside where the pair were fighting, meaning they wouldn't have to worry about those from Stellaris interfering with their opportunity. Trunks, once more, wished that he and Goten had time to put on their super hero attire, but since they were already here he guessed that there was no harm in taking the monsters down while they were like this, though something interesting happened when they neared the beasts, they stopped as they noticed him and Goten were floating nearby. "Well what do you know, our targets came to us!" the parrot stated, surprising Trunks and Goten for a moment, that they were the ones that the monsters were interested in, and not the city that was behind them, causing the pair to raise their fists as a bit of electricity danced over the bird's metallic head piece, "Sonic Destroyer!" Trunks found that the parrot released a burst of lightning that shocked him into the ground, it was far faster than anything he had seen before this point and was quickly did what the user wanted it to do, while at the same time the dinosaur just leapt into the air and released a burst of flames, 'Nova Flames' apparently, down at Goten. He, on the other hand, quickly dodged out of the way and rushed at the dinosaur before it could do anything else, only to find that it spun around and brought it's tail down on Goten, who called forth his his full power in an attempt to stall the beast, but it was impossible to do so, even with the power of a Super Saiyan as he was crushed into the ground. Trunks burst out of the area that he had been blasted into, with his own transformation blazing around him, as he rushed at the parrot, which was when he found that it also had two hands, so it had a pair of wings and a pair of hands that were separate from them, allowing the beast to grab onto him and slam him into the ground once more. He realized something important with that exchange, both he and Goten were far too weak to be fighting like this, in fact this caused him to consider that maybe Twilight had been right to criticize them, they had slacked off after discovering so many strong warriors called the Earth home, so when they had to fight strong foes neither of them were ready for them. The fact remained that these monsters were far stronger than either of them had realized, showing that their battle sense had totally fallen apart thanks to them slacking off, and both he and Goten were knocked into a rocky plateau before they even had a chance to overcome their foes, causing the monsters to combine their attacks into a single entity and fire it at them, only for something to hit it down into the ground. "Who dares?" the dinosaur demanded, showing that this wasn't part of the plan that both monsters had come up with just a few moments ago, where they and the downed Saiyans discovered that the newcomer was a humanoid fox, though it was totally different from a fox Beastian, at least when Trunks and Goten focused on it for a time. The newcomer had three claws for fingers, two main and a thumb, while wearing purple gloves that ran the majority of it's arms, stopping halfway between the elbows and shoulders, and had a ying-yang symbol on them, something that was also on the upper portions of it's legs, only shaped shaped a little differently. It's body was mostly yellow colored, though the middle of it's body was actually white colored, the white going from the white tuft around it's neck and stopping around it's groin area, before Trunks found that the white color also went from the elbows to hands and knees to feet. Based on what they were seeing he could only determine that the fox was like the monsters, likely from the same reality that both of the larger monsters were from, though instead of saying anything the fox stared at the two creatures for a moment before making it's move. By that Trunks and Goten found that the fox rushed through the air, punching the parrot in the side of it's face and knocked it to the ground, before landing right on top of the dinosaur's head and rushed down to it's tail, only to grab onto it's tip, lift it into the air for a moment, before bringing it down on top of the large parrot. It was an interesting display of power, that the yellow fox was able to take down two monsters that gave Trunks and Goten trouble in the span of a couple of moments, though before they could react to what had just happened they heard what had to be clapping, causing the fox to look into the air for a second. "Splendid show, Rena. You made my minions look like weaklings." a voice said, where the pair found that it came from a jet black skinned figure, who seemed to be male and had a slim body, that had tattered bat wings growing out of his back and a thin pair of curved horns on his head, and his hands were moving right now, confirming that he was clapping. "Devi Dimon. What do you want?" the fox, Rena, asked, showing the pair that she was all serious and wanted to know what in the world the other figure wanted, all while Trunks and Goten had to wonder where in the world these four beings had come from, since this was the first time they had seen any of them. "World domination, of course... and these two are perfect guinea pigs for my minions." the demonic figure, Devi Dimon, replied, as if he was proud of that fact, in fact he smiled as he glanced down at the pair for a moment, almost as if he was taunting them that more monsters would be coming their way in the future as he built his army to face everyone else that called this world home, "That is, of course, unless they manage to beat me... and that will only happen if they get stronger than their current weak states." As Rena opened her mouth to say something both she and the villain paused as they felt someone approaching, Piccolo to be exact, something that caused Devi Dimon to expand his power as he made a vibrating gate below the monsters, which they sunk into before vanishing completely, before he slipped into the shadows, causing Rena to growl as she flashed off into the distance, no doubt seeking the villain to stop his plans. "Goten... we lost, and that being is treating us like we're nothing more than test subjects." Trunks said, though as he said that both he and his friend returned to their base forms, only for Goten to see that an idea had formed in his friend's mind as he noticed who was coming, causing him to chuckle as he considered what Twilight had shown them earlier, "Though he made a terrible mistake: he's a villain, as only they seek world domination, and both of us are super heroes... we just need to start training once more. Twilight was right, we've been slacking off... that needs to change, before that maniac hurts someone." Goten smiled for a moment as he understood what Trunks was getting at, they needed to tell Piccolo what had gone down just now and see if he would train them to regain their battle senses, though after that it would all depend on the beasts that were sent to do battle with him and his friend, causing him to wonder what the future might have in store for them. > Super Hero: Training and Studies > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Piccolo stood with his back to a rock wall for a time as he listened to Trunks and Goten's explanation on what he had felt over the last couple of moments, the surge of power that had brought him flying to their location, expecting to find them in a battle with some villain that they had beaten. What he discovered, however, was that they had been beaten into the ground with ease, if some of the craters around the area were to be believed, and the pair claimed that they had fought off two monsters that neither of them had seen before, both seemingly designed to overpower them. Originally he thought that the two lackluster warriors were pulling his leg, that they had actually gotten into a disagreement about something and came out here to settle the score without endangering both their homes and the people that went to their school, but he was proven wrong when he checked his phone. The reason he had such a device was because he was helping Gohan and Videl with Pan, in fact he was thinking of starting her training and seeing how well she took to fighting, as Eschalot had been far more than Vegeta could handle, and by using it's search function he found a video of the battle unfold, revealing that the pair had been telling the truth. It also gave him a chance to see the fox creature that had saved them, along with the demonic being that seemed to be a villain or something, causing him to sigh as he put the device away and focused his attention on the pair that was in front of him, especially since they had asked something interesting of him after explaining everything to him. "So, we have a villain whose interested in world domination... it's been a long time since someone tried that." Piccolo said, as all of the information he had discovered in the span of the last few minutes was very interesting, even though he did think it was worth noting that the villain this time around had fled the moment someone else, like himself for example, came into the area that the demon was in, "And, for some odd reason, he's targeting you two. Since you performed so poorly, in fact that show would have gotten you killed in the past, you want me to train both of you in your off time, all to regain your battle senses and prepare yourselves for whenever his next attack is. Have I missed anything?" "No, that's about it. You're the only one who can help us rapidly regain our senses, especially since we're not allowed to use Stellaris' specialized equipment." Trunks replied, though even he knew that needed to change, as Eschalot would be a great boon to their growth, even though he didn't want to admit defeat and ask his younger sister for help, but what he said was also true, Twilight's school had all sorts of ways to allow one to train and improve their skills, something that both he and Gohan could benefit from. "Plus your the only one we can ask, without the information getting back to our mothers." Gohan added, because part of their explanation included what Twilight had told them, including the part where they were failing to meet the standards of Blue Hal High School, to the point where he suspected that he and Trunks would be expelled in the very near future, a fact he wanted to avoid telling their mothers about. "Honestly, Twilight's probably told them everything by this point... the only reason they haven't torn you to shreds by now is because they trust her to do something about it." Piccolo remarked, showing the pair that he understood the situation far more than either of them expected, especially since it looked like they had come to the conclusion that Twilight had turned her back on both of them, but he could see that they didn't seem to believe him that much, no doubt thinking back to their earlier conversation with Twilight, "But, after seeing your performance, I want both of you to come by my house tomorrow and I'll get started on restoring your battle senses... but be warned, I won't go easy on either of you." The pair stood there for a moment before taking to the air and heading back to their own homes, as now they had to tell their mothers why they were marked up, since their battle with the dinosaur and parrot had left some markings on their school attire, causing him to glance around for a moment before heading back to his house. He had used some of his own spare time to build a traditional two story Namekian house, located near a lake that was a fair distance away from the city that Twilight had set her base of operations in, and her school in for that matter, because it meant he'd be close to her if anything new happened. He hadn't expected to get caught up in whatever scheme she had created for the pair, but he did know she wouldn't do something that would bring harm to her world, and with how bad they had performed he knew that they needed some guidance in order to be ready for whatever was coming their way next. With that in mind Piccolo was fine with inviting the pair to his place, even though he did prefer to be alone most of the time, with the express purpose of pushing them through some intense training to make sure they regained their battle senses as quickly as possible, before even worrying about whatever came next. When the following morning arrived, on a Saturday according to his phone, Piccolo found that both warriors landed right outside his house, where Piccolo stepped outside and found that Goten was wearing the usual attire that Goku used, only without the symbol on his back, and Trunks wore an adult sized version of his old gi. After studying them for a couple of moments Piccolo extended his hand as he utilized his power to manifest new clothing, because Twilight had figured out how to use it's power to keep the existing clothing of his target, instead of replacing it entirely, allowing him to add some of his weights to their attire. He had set up a course for them to run along, after agreeing to train them, and this would do them a bit of good, since he and Goku had started growing their power by utilizing weighted training, just like what Roshi taught Goku and Krillin when they were kids. His first lesson for them was to run the course he had designed for them, at least until they were no longer weighed down by the current level of weights, where he would have them spar with him for a time and come to one of two conclusions, the first being that they needed more weight and repeated the course, while the second was that they were ready for his next idea. While they did that, however, he sat down on the cliff that overlooked the entire forest area that was near his place and focused his mind for a time, using his senses to keep an eye on them while also doing his own mental training to keep his own strength up, and keep an eye out for potential intruders. His reasoning for that was because he had no idea when, or if, Twilight's creations would come after the pair, and if they were even allowed to come here to disrupt the training that was going on, so he was keeping an eye out for Devi Dimon, Rena, or the two monsters, or anything that matched the newcomers. If he was right about these creatures being one of Twilight's products, and there was a fair chance he was, there was no telling how many more of them there were, waiting to be released into the world, and if Trunks and Goten were their targets he suspected it would be some time before they were able to overcome them. Such a thing meant that he had to be hard on them, push them both to their limits as much as he could and in a short period of time, because he suspected that this 'villain' of theirs was designed to be their final challenge, the greatest of the creatures no doubt, and right now they were nowhere near ready to deal with him. With that in mind he focused on what both of his students were doing, finding that they were already out of shape, because both of them were about fifteen minutes from the start, at least in jogging terms, though he expected them to be much further than this, meaning he had a lot of work to do to get them in shape. By the time the sun reached the noon position Piccolo held back the urge to growl, as he was now understanding why the pair had been unable to do whatever they wanted with Twilight's school, they didn't have any of the power they had used in the past, which explained why both had been unable to beat their opponents, much less Eschalot. "It seems like they're having trouble." a feminine voice said, where Piccolo opened his eyes and found that the yellow fox creature had shown up, Rena he recalled her name was, though she sat down near him as she glanced out at the forest, no doubt seeing the pair as they huffed in exhaustion from their long ordeal, "They're going to need a lot more training to get anywhere near Devi Dimon's power level... at their current level they won't be able to tackle the pair that would have taken them out yesterday." "I will do everything in my power to whip them into shape... which is just what Twilight, your creator, intended when she put her plan into motion." Piccolo stated, where Rena turned her head for a moment and looked at him, as if debating what to do with the information that he was currently sharing with her, while he glanced down at the forest and focused on the pair for a few more moments, "Don't worry, I haven't said a word about that to them... I don't think they've even considered her as a suspect for what's going on." "You are right, she made us, the Digians, but that's all I can say right now." Rena replied, which confirmed many things for Piccolo, that Twilight must have started making these creatures at some unknown point in the past, had likely designed all of them with specific traits and powers in mind, and who knew what else, especially since Twilight was the smartest being in the entire multiverse, "For now, all they need to know is that I'm on their side... along with others, who they will meet in the near future." Piccolo nodded his head, because now that he knew that Twilight was connected to this he could accurately plan out how to help the pair with their training, especially if there were allies for them to train with, though in the following moments he felt another figure coming and found that it was none other than Eschalot, who had a schoolbag with her that seemed to have a lot of stuff inside it. "Trunks told me about the new villain, how he's hunting him and Goten, and asked if I'd help them get into Stellaris so they can train with some powerful warriors." Eschalot explained, where Piccolo found that she had all sorts of homework with her, no doubt exactly what the pair were supposed to be working on during the weekend, instead of slacking off like they were used to doing, before the dragon Beastian glanced at Rena for a moment, "Let me guess: you are the one that saved the pair earlier, and now you want to help whip them into shape?" "That's correct." Rena said, though she could tell that Eschalot was someone she didn't want to mess with, even with the power that had been granted to her, and just the simple glance between her and Piccolo told her that the dragon had an idea of who made her and what was going on, but neither of them said anything for a time. "Very well. Piccolo, could you call them in? I'd like to get the first lesson underway: math!" Eschalot stated, showing them that her part in all of this, for the time being, would be to force the pair to catch up on their homework, study for any and all exams that were coming up, and push them to the absolute limits in terms of schoolwork, all to make them do better in school, because if they wanted to gain access to Stellaris, in some form, they needed to do better in school, before Twilight would allow them access to her school. Piccolo said nothing to that as he got up and flew down into the part of the forest that the pair were resting in, trying to recover from the job he had forced upon them, and informed both of them of the situation, finding that they weren't too happy to do schoolwork, but they sucked it up and followed him back to the others, where Piccolo knew that, in time, the pair would regain what they had lost, he just had to be patient with them as he wondered what the future held in store for them and their allies. > Super Hero: Dealing with Crime > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Trunks and Goten found that a few days had gone by and Trunks was already partly regretting his decision to ask Piccolo to train them to regain their battle senses, along with asking his sister to help them with their studies, both of whom were far too eager to whip them both into shape. Piccolo's training was far more brutal than either of them had assumed, because on the second day he started adding combat sessions to what he had to offer them, and while he was clearly holding back, to prevent him from absolutely dominating them, the pair found that his diminished power was more than enough to take both of them down. Not only that but Eschalot joined him from time to time, to show the pair how to actually fight without having to knock them both into the ground once more, though the two usually flashed through the air, moving faster than the two could keep up with since all of their senses had gotten worse over the years. That wasn't the end of it either, as the pair found that the fox creature was constantly keeping an eye on them, why Trunks had no idea, though whenever Piccolo or even Eschalot asked her to train with them she let out a sigh and joined whoever has asked for such a thing. The amazing thing was that Rena was able to keep up with Piccolo and Eschalot, or at least the level of power that they were using against her, where it looked like she was almost ducking and weaving out of the way, similar to how Goku fought in his Ultra Instinct state, though she lacked the glow, meaning she was definitely on a level that was far above them. After that first time Rena insisted on training with the two of them as well, though most of the time she was dodging out of the way and poking at their limbs, pointing out where they were doing something wrong and showing both of them how to actually move in the way they wanted. It was like she had been perfectly designed to be their training partner, someone who understood how to fight and how to make someone improve in no time at all, and the only person in the world, maybe even the entire universe, who had the power to do that was Twilight. Trunks instantly shut down the idea, because if she really wanted to help them out with their training she would have been direct about it, instead of showing them all sorts of scenes from other timelines, and since she shut them out of her school it was clear that they were on their own for the time being. It was why he had sought out his sister's help, because if they could get their grades high enough there was a program in their school that allowed the highest scorers to gain an additional period, as in they could go to Stellaris and do whatever they wanted for the specified period of time. If he and Goten could get into Stellaris, and the various races that existed across the entire universe, he knew that their growth would be far more explosive than it was right now, but, since they had to reach that point in their studies, he had to focus on the ongoing battle as Rena grabbed the back of his head and slammed him into the ground, all while using her other hand to catch Goten by the neck. "You two need to take this seriously! If Devi Dimon sent more of his minions at you now, neither of you would stand even a remote chance of winning." Rena stated, where she let go of Trunks before spinning around to kick Goten into one of the nearby trees that were around them, once again showing Piccolo and Eschalot that she incredibly strong, before she got up, stretched her arm for a couple of seconds, and walked over to the other pair she had spent some time with, "Those two... I swear, there's something wrong with their brains... Trunks keeps getting lost in his thoughts, like he's thinking of all the hero work they've done in the past, and Goten doesn't seem to think about anything." "Still, we're making progress with both of them... slow progress, but progress all the same." Piccolo said, as he understood what Rena was feeling right now, as he experienced the same thing when he trained Gohan all those years ago, because it had taken a long time to drill some important lessons into him, even though Twilight made his effort look like nothing due to all of the training she put everyone else through. "At least they're doing better with their schoolwork, as I've seen a marked improvement in the last couple of subjects I've made them study." Eschalot added, because she had been double checking everything that her brother and Goten did, at least in terms of their studies, and suspected that her work might be why they were suffering right now, though there was a chance that this was just their way of not focusing on that part of their training and studies, "If this continues I might be nice to them and cut back on how much I give them... might help improve their moods as well, since they'll be able to put more of their focus on actually training." "Personally, I just think they're stupid." Rena said, as she wasn't very impressed by what the two were capable of, in fact she was more interested in and impressed by the power of her own training partners, though as she said that she took a moment to reach into the cooler before pulling out a bottle of water and drank some of it, only to pause as she found that both Piccolo and Eschalot were looking at her, "What?" "Nothing, just... you haven't eaten or drank anything since coming here. I just assumed you were like me, only without the need to actually eat or drink anything." Piccolo replied, though this only made him even more interested in the creatures that Twilight had created to push Trunks and Goten to their limits, or whatever their original purpose was since Rena had said nothing about that aspect of herself. "We can eat and drink, but it's not necessary for our survival... we're like Bio-Androids, only digital..." Rena started to say, though in the following moment she realized that it might be difficult for her to actually explain everything in a way that the pair would actually understand, causing her to realize that there might be a better way for her to approach this as she capped her water, "Look, if you want the full explanation, just ask our creator and I'm sure you'll learn everything you could ever want to know about my kind." Eschalot opened her mouth to say something, as she was fairly sure she could understand anything Rena told her, but in the next moment she found that Trunks and Goten checked their phones before rushing over to their packs, equipped the watches that held their hero costumes, transformed without delay, and then burst into the air without wasting time. "If I were a betting girl I'd say that another crime has been reported... guess we'll be putting this on hold until they finish up their hero work." Eschalot remarked, as she knew that the watches contained their costumes since Trunks had made a request to have the devices made, something their mother clearly regretted since Twilight likely told her about how bad he was doing in school, and when the costumes were out that meant X-1 and X-2 had taken over. Rena sighed for a moment as she excused herself and jumped into the air, following the pair as they headed back into the city, staying far enough back since getting too close might cause either of the pair to stop and confront her, only to find that they stopped at a store. The reason for that was because they needed their bags, since they were heroes that, as she learned from the others, 'cleaned up the streets' or something to that affect, so having all sorts of bags to dispose of the 'trash' that they encountered, the weapons of their opponents, was necessary. Honestly, she didn't understand it and just thought it was a massive waste of time, especially since she suspected that Devi Dimon might make his move against the pair while they were doing something like this, given that both Trunks and Goten were clearly distracted by their desire to be heroes right now. It also made her realize why Lady Twilight had set up the whole 'hero and villain' ploy after reaching her breaking point with the pair, as this seemed to be the only real way to get both warriors to do anything, and it really made her wonder what might happen in the upcoming weeks. As she thought about that, however, Rena noticed that the pair dropped down onto one of the streets and quickly landed on a roof that allowed her to observe everything, since she wanted to see how Trunks and Goten acted as their super hero personas, as it might give her some insight into how to teach them how to fight. What she discovered was that it was a robbery they were interrupting, the robbers were in the middle of clashing with the cops, without any hostages to be exact, and everyone stopped when Trunks and Goten, or Saiyaman X-1 and X-2, landed and started their whole routine about cleaning up the streets. It was, in her mind, incredibly painful to witness, since they were being incredibly foolish right now, but, at the same time, she found that the pair remembered some of their training as they moved with faster speeds than they had a few days ago and crushed all of the guns that were being used by the robbers. With the guns properly disposed of, and the pair told the robbers to take out the trash, they found that the group of robbers pulled out blades and attacked them once again, all while the cops realized that this might be something they had better stay out of, since they recognized the costumes the pair was wearing. At the same time she found that there were a number of watchers that were a fair distance from everything, people with kids who might have come here on a day off to tend to their banking needs, before noticing that there was another robber outside, likely a watcher who stayed out of everything, and that he was coming in to attack the pair while they were distracted. With that in mind Rena jumped down into the area and landed in front of the robber, surprising the figure and many of the observers as she crushed the gun that was drawn on her, though instead of using a blade, like his comrades, she found that her opponent came at her with his fists and she brought her knee into his chest, knocking him to the ground as Trunks and Goten finished dealing with their opponents. "Whoa, what are you?" one of the nearby kids asked, as the group of children rushed over to the scene once it was safe for all of them to do so, where Rena found that they were far more interested in her right now, while the parents kept an eye on their kids and the cops focused on arresting all of the criminals that had been taken down. "How to explain... well, I guess you could say that I'm a digital monster, designed to fight for the good of the world." Rena replied, because she knew that these kids were too young to really understand the truth behind what she was, or what the others of her kind were since news of the battle with the two monsters had already spread across the internet over the last couple of days. "A Digimon?! That sounds awesome!" one of the other kids said, something that caused Rena to pause, because she hadn't been expecting her brief explanation to cause the children to latch onto a new name for her kind, and she could see that it was already starting to gain traction with the others, "Are you a new member of their team?!" "Actually, I'm a Digian, as that's the official name given to my kind." Rena stated, though at the same time she found that the pair she was following were departing from the area, after having done their poses and statements, meaning she had to wrap this up before she lost them, causing her to focus on the other question for a moment, "And no, I'm not really a new member of the team, rather I'm just helping them get into shape." "Digimon! Digimon! Digimon!" the children cheered, totally ignoring Rena as they tore down the official name of her kind and replaced it with their own name for what she was, all while the parents chuckled for a moment as they watched their kids do this, since they clearly meant no harm in the name. Eventually Rena conceded to the children, especially since one was already posting about her existence to the rest of the internet, meaning 'Digimon' was going to be a household name in no time at all, and left them to their imagination as she rushed off to find the pair, though she had to wonder what Lady Twilight would think of this when the news reached her and made her eager to see what the future held for them. > Super Hero: Teamwork > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rena sighed as she landed outside the structure that served as her base of operations, an ordinary building that was on the outskirts of the city and that no one really paid attention to, which was thanks to the enchantments that her creator had put on the building, and entered it. To anyone who stepped into the building it looked like an ordinary home, even though the exterior was more like a two story building, meaning there were furniture all over the place, all designed and added in by Lady Twilight when she was putting this plan into motion, but her destination was up on the second floor. With that in mind she closed the door behind her, locked it, and headed up the stairs after ensuring that the security system was active, just in the off chance that someone dared to break in, an extra feature to protect what was here. On the second floor she made her way to the last door on the right, heading into a room that seemed to be more like an office of some kind, before turning her attention to the closet and opened it, revealing a swirling circular portal that was contained in a special structure that made sure it wasn't discovered or went out of control. Upon stepping through it, however, Rena appeared in an entirely different world, a strange multicolored realm that Lady Twilight called the 'Digital World', a private continent of sorts that allowed her to work on the other Digians, or Digimon as the public had come to call her while she was chasing Trunks and Goten earlier. She, Devi Dimon, Grey, and Parrot were only the first ones released into the world to help the pair regain their power and actually push them towards Lady Twilight's end goal, as Rena glanced out at the wide open area in front of her and found all sorts of Digimon doing whatever they wanted. There were plant Digimon tending to nature, ones of water that lived in the oceans and seas, creatures of the sky that were far more than Parrot could ever be, ones like her who could actually fit in with Humans, all sorts of elementals given form, and who knew what else. From what she knew Lady Twilight had been at this for years, working in secret without telling anyone what she was doing, which was why there were hundreds of her kind in this private world, working in perfect harmony with each other, and even the 'evil' ones were simply acting to help sell the illusion to the dense pair they were trying to help. The center of the Digital World was her destination, because it was where Lady Twilight worked whenever she was here, a massive core that housed devices that allowed her to make Digimon of all sizes, in fact it was where Grey and Parrot were created, and she knew that more were likely being made as she approached the area as well. In fact she wasn't even surprised to see Devi Dimon off to the side, flanked by both of his 'minions', who had shrunk down to a smaller form so they could hear whatever was being said, though with all four of them assembled they walked up to where their creator was standing, working on one of the larger containers that were in the area. "Lady Twilight, the two Saiyans have started their training... with mixed results." Devi Dimon said, where he and the rest of the team knelt and bowed their heads towards their creator, showing respect for the one who gave them, and every other member of their kind, life, all while noticing that the new one she was working on was a large one, who would likely stand as tall as Capsule Corp once it was finally finished, "They are getting stronger, thanks to training with Piccolo, Eschalot, and Rena, but..." "They prefer to go out and use their super hero personas while taking down crime?" Twilight remarked, showing the four of them that she was more in tune with what the pair were currently doing, which allowed them to understand why she had tasked them, and many of the others who would be heading out when the time was right, to help the pair get back in shape, "I'm not surprised, really, since they seem to be stuck in that mindset. Oh well, it's no big deal, as there are more than enough ways to help those two learn the lessons we're trying to teach them... a few setbacks aren't going to change much of anything. Rena, you have something else to say?" "Only that the citizens of the city have taken to calling our kind 'Digimon'." Rena said, something that caused the rest of her group to raise their eyebrows for a moment as they took in what she was telling them, while at the same time Twilight turned to face her, not angry over the people using a different name than what she gave them, rather she seemed curious as to why such a name had been decided on, "While I was following Trunks and Goten, tracking them as they dealt with a couple of crimes, some of the kids at the bank asked me what I was and I gave them a basic idea of what I was... they, in a matter of seconds, latched onto a brand new name, which has apparently become the main name we're known as." Twilight stood there for a moment, thinking about the fact that the name of her creations had been changed by a bunch of kids and seemed to be accepted by the parents and everyone else, before she sighed as she tapped on a screen for just a few seconds and edited the official terminology for her new kind, not erasing the official name to be exact, rather adding in what the public was calling them. "As annoying as that is, I'm not about to question the people of this planet... if they want to call you guys 'Digimon', then that's what we'll call you." Twilight stated, where Rena and the others could tell that she was slightly annoyed by this, since she had given them their original race name, but decided to say nothing on the matter as she finished what she was doing and focused on all of them for a few more seconds, "However, this might work in our favor: the people have embraced the idea that Digimon exist, with three having been revealed to them... as no one has seen you yet, Devi Dimon, which we'll have to change at some point to really drive our point home... and it seems that some have started to talk about Rena and other potential new team members. This gives me an idea." Rena nearly paled upon hearing that, as she really couldn't believe her creator was even thinking about allowing some of them to join the pair and become members of their 'team', like the Ginyu Force, and yet, based on what she was hearing, it seemed like everyone was going to need to change their tactics to get the pair to make some real progress. Trunks and Goten found that an entire day went by without Rena showing up to help them with their intense training, in fact Eschalot went out to hang with her own friends, showing that she had her own life and that she didn't want to spend all of her time helping them out, which was good for them since they could focus on Piccolo's training. Both realized that he was a harsh teacher, especially when he happened to fight them as part of their lessons, though they were trying their hardest to figure out everything that he wanted them to learn, finding that he changed their training to match what each of them were skilled at. Trunks found out something as they trained, Goten seemed to be tapping into the style that Goku had learned, dodging things by either letting his body to all of the thinking or he was learning Piccolo's movements and was doing everything in his power to avoid the incoming attacks. Trunks, on the other hand, forced himself to calm down as he tanked the more powerful attacks that were sent his way, as Piccolo had sealed away most of his power to make sure he didn't kill either of them, or hurt them too much since they didn't have any healing materials on hand, since they found that he really didn't want to bother Dende with their training right now. When their phones beeped with the latest news posting, however, Piccolo allowed them to take a break, only to discover that another massive creature had been spotted, a giant metallic bird that was similar to the parrot, whose body seemed to be made of some sort of gold, though it looked more like an eagle and seemed to be more suited for battle "How odd, another massive monster... and we're not the only ones interested in it." Goten commented, as there were a few bits of information about a bipedal wolf creature, much like Rena, clashing with the beast with a white uniform on that had an impressive visor with it, far more than their own gear, who was joined by a familiar fox creature in a yellow version of the attire, who had to be Rena. "More Digimon... where are they even coming from?" Trunks inquired, though in that moment he noticed something, the pair seemed to be looking for someone to join them, or a pair of someones when he considered what Rena had done for the last couple of days, something that caused him to get up and ready himself, "Goten, we're going... I have the feeling that we have some allies and that they're waiting for us to take to the field." Goten, instead of questioning his friend's comment, figured out what Trunks had seen and nodded his head, to which the both of them burst into the air as they locked onto the city that they called home, where it was far too easy for them to see that Rena and her ally were fighting the eagle. Sure enough Rena turned towards the pair as they moved into the area and she tossed two items to them, capsules that she silently instructed them to connect to their watches, where both of them did so without delay and found that they expanded into their own suits. The material, as Trunks discovered, was the same material that Twilight used in all of her clothing, morphing to match their bodies, where he assumed that if one or both of them transformed into their Super Saiyan forms the clothing would follow suit, likely opening a hole or slot for their hair to slip through without ruining everything. His version was a red coloration of the attire that the others wore, an interesting fact as he realized that it was far stronger than the hero attire he had been wearing previously, while Goten's was blue, though with all of the benefits that this attire seemed to have, plus a visor that was far more impressive than the ones they wore previously, he knew they were going to enjoy this. After their transformation into their new armored forms, which had to be a combination of Twilight's clothing material and the armor of the Empire, as in what the Ginyus' wore, Trunks and Goten found that there were people snapping pictures of them and their allies, meaning their new appearances would be all over the internet in no time. "Red, Blue, focus up and help us." Rena snapped, where she pulled back and avoided the wing that was coming at her, as the eagle was trying to take them down so it could do whatever it was that it was trying to do, maybe wreck the city due to how big it happened to be, causing Trunks and Goten to rush at the creature. Interestingly enough they found that the beast changed course and came at them while they were coming at it, just like the two that had come before it, though this time both warriors were ready for it as they separated from each other and struck it in the chest, finding that it did have a good bit of power since it withstood their punches. That did make Trunks wonder for a moment, like why Rena had found another of her kind to ally with, but for the time being he focused on the battle as both he and Goten found that both of their allies had rejoined the battle, lashing out at the beast with their power. As the four of them floated near each other, however, it became clear what was going on, none of them could actually defeat the beast on their own, as Goten revealed that one of them should attack it at a time and another should slip an attack through whatever defenses the creature had. It had a great bit of success as he drew the creature's attention and Rena slipped in an attack on the beast's attention, showing that maybe it could only defend itself from one attacker, so four at a time might be hard for it to beat, at least four warriors like them anyway. Trunks realized the same thing after a few moments, this seemed to be designed to test their ability to work with a team, like the Tournament of Power he guessed, with each member contributing to the downfall of whatever foe they were currently fighting, causing him to release a flash of light in the eagle's face so the others could launch a combination beam attack right into it's face, sending it flying off into the distance. "See? When you put your minds to it, there is nothing you can't accomplish." the wolf remarked, though at the same time all four of them landed on a roof and the pair that liked being super heroes found that the people were already snapping a few pictures of everyone, no doubt overjoyed by the fact that the city was safe once more, "The suits did nothing to bring out the power that is inside you, they're just there to help you two stand out as heroes... a team of heroes, here to protect the city from the more dangerous creatures that want to take it down." "Well, if we're a team we're going to need a name, since the people adore that sort of thing." Goten stated, as the people had latched onto the idea of Cleangod rather quickly, while both their new Saiyaman personas had gotten little attention, so he could see these newer hero forms working far better than anything that came before. Trunks nodded as he glanced down and waved at the people, finding that they were pleased with their work and that some were already posting information to the internet, meaning they would be on the news in no time, causing him to smile as he realized that working with a team might not be so bad, all while making him that much more interested in what the future might hold for him, Goten, and the rest of the city. > Super Hero: Gaining Fame > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Following the thrashing they gave the eagle Digimon, saving the city in the process, Trunks and Goten found that their new member was called 'Garu' and that, unlike Rena, he actually wore blue pants while exposing his chest, something he didn't seem to mind all that much, which had to be common for their kind. Rena revealed that there was one more member of the team, who had been late due to the fact that there was another creature that needed taking down, which the pair found to be quite impressive given the power some Digimon possessed, given what they had seen of Rena and the others. Their final member, as it turned out, was a rather short individual, probably around three feet tall, sort of like gnomes when Trunks really thought about it, who happened to be another animal type Digimon, a white cat-like creature with clawed gloves over her hands, as Rena said it was a girl as well, with a golden ring floating around the end of her tail. She introduced herself as 'Gato', causing the pair to wonder why her name was literally 'cat', though Goten was more interested in the fact that all of their allies had four letters in their names, and that she was in possession of the pink uniform. When Trunks stepped forward, however, Gato proved her strength by easily grabbing onto his face and slammed him into the ground, showing the pair that she was definitely around Rena in terms of power, stronger than the pair was anyway, to which he and Goten welcomed her into the team. With the team fully complete, as all three Digimon confirmed that there were no more coming to join them, Goten offered an idea that Trunks was all for when he heard it, something Rena frowned at, since she was the more serious member of their group, and that happened to be a visit to the Ginyu Force. Trunks had to remind himself that the leader of the force was no longer called 'Ginyu', since he had taken over a Demon's body and took on her name at one point, but he had kept the squad name the same since it was so popular with the rest of the universe. The reason for him wanting to visit the studio of the imposing force was because they needed to practice their forms, not transformations, as one might assume based due to him and Goten being Saiyans, but rather their super hero poses, because if they were a team they needed to show the public their united front. Rena seriously thought that it was a waste of time, none of them really needed to learn how to pose, though both Garu and Gato joined the pair in their vote, making it four to one as she sighed and joined them in their visitation to the studio that the Ginyu Force used to hone their own poses. Sure enough the force was more than willing to assist them in learning how to create their own poses, where Putine did what she did best, she showed them all of the poses that she had come up with over her vast career with the Empire, as King Cold had fired her team first and they were still employed by his granddaughter. Such a thing included being shown the trademark poses of the Ginyu Force, the one that they enjoyed pulling off, starting in a line up with all five standing shoulder to shoulder, in a sense, before ending with all five doing the united pose that they were known for doing. After getting a front row seat for the series of poses that the force had to offer, which the group had practiced to perfection over a vast number of years, Putine understood why Trunks brought his team here and pulled the group into one of the rooms that people used when they came to his place of work while he was on Earth. With that in mind she and her team helped the unlikely team in learning how to properly pose, showing them some simple ones first, since they didn't want to overload them on the first day, while offering ideas on how they could progress or even create their own poses. Putine even smiled at one point, as if she knew something that Trunks and Goten didn't know, where she told them that an idea had come to mind and wanted them to pose with their uniforms on, as it would help them get used to moving in their super hero attires, and she told the pair that she knew because she kept an eye on the news. "You guys are already all over the news, as all sorts of sites are talking about you." Putine stated, where she pulled out a screen and showed them what she was talking about, as there were all sorts of places talking about the new heroes, all in a good light to be exact, meaning the feedback from their existence as a team was far more than what they gained during their time as X-1 and X-2, "Hard not to put the pieces together. What you need now, however, is a name for the people to call you by, much like the 'Ginyu Force' is how people know my team these days." "I said the same thing after Garu joined us... with Gato giving us five members, well, we really need a team name." Goten said, not that he was surprised by Trunks' lack of ideas, as he usually took his time coming up with things like this and he could tell it would be some time before a team name sprung to mind, or at least that was what was on his mind when he saw the smile on his friend's face, meaning he must have come up with something good. Trunks was pleased with this turn of events, as it meant that they could finally set themselves apart from the Cleangod and become the heroes that the people thought they were, they just needed some additional practice before they could reveal their existence to the rest of the vast world. Devi Dimon waited for a time after Eagle was brought down by Rena and the rest of her team, as he considered them her responsibility given everything that was going on right now, giving the heroes a bit of time to rest and train before he sent his next ally at them, following the schedule that Lady Twilight had suggested. Since they were going the route of super heroes, as the others didn't seem to be very successful right now, there were periods of rest involved to give the pair the time needed to recover their strength and grow their power, as well as do everything else that his creator wanted them to learn before the end of her plan. It still amazed him that the pair were unaware of what was going on, which explained why she had gone down this route in the first place, and he was more than willing to do whatever she wanted to make the pair realize their potential, or at least as much as they wanted to unlock. With that in mind he thought about the next part of the plan, that of releasing yet another type of Digimon into the world to force the pair to react, and based on just how strong this one was he knew it would do well in giving the team a challenge. When the time was right he tapped a button and a tall green skinned Digimon, looking like an oni according to what their creator had said on the matter, that wore a black leather chest piece that only covered his chest and upper legs, with his bracers on his shoulders, plus he carried a club made of solid bone, a rather powerful tool for him. "You called for me, Master Devi Dimon?" the green skinned Digimon asked, though it was clear that he didn't like the fact that he had to pretend that another of his kind was his master, since Lady Twilight was their creator, but for right now he was willing to do anything necessary to get the pair back on track. "Yes, Ogre, it is time for you to confront the team. Do what you must." Devi Dimon stated, because he knew that it would only take a few moments of destruction, or even walking and being threatening, to provoke the pair into making the first move against them, so by doing this they could bring the team out and see how things were progressing. Ogre bowed his head before departing from the private dimension they had been granted, to keep the 'evil' Digimon in an area that they could prepare in, without giving away anything to Trunks and Goten, where he dropped out of the sky and landed on one of the streets, somehow avoiding everyone and everything that was in the area. As he landed he found that all sorts of people were staring at him, clearly studying him while wondering what he was going to do, before he let out a roar that shook everything that was around him, causing many to flee as they realized that he was here to cause a bit of chaos before his targets arrived. At least that was the plan, as he found that there were some Namekians hanging out in a nearby building, all wearing the attire of Stellaris, meaning Ogre might have picked out the wrong place to assault first, a fact that was confirmed as he swung his mace and one of them caught it with their hands, pushing him back before he had a chance to do anything else. As he readied himself for another attack, however, he and the people found that there was someone else in the area, as five figures landed in between him and the Namekians that had been in the wrong place at the wrong time, for his plans anyway, each one wearing a different colored uniform. He wasn't expecting his targets to arrive so soon, much less a few moments after he landed in his destination, which told him that one must have been in the area and called in the others as soon as they felt his power, though for the time being he shifted his stance as he focused on the group. "Who in the world are you people?" Ogre inquired, as part of the scheme was to make sure that the pair had no idea that he, as well as the rest of the group that was assigned to work under Devi Dimon for the duration of this ploy, knew about them and who they were, save for their 'master' anyway. "Data Red." Trunks stated, taking a moment to shift his arms, as if he was assuming a battle stance, only for those that were around them to find that he was posing in the face of their latest foe, ending with one fist in front of his heart as his left fist was diagonally to his left. "Data Blue." Goten said, where he did the traditional bow that he used to do, back when he was first learning how to fight and take part in the various tournaments that his mother allowed him to partake in, before raising his palms to show the observers that he was ready for a fight. "Data Yellow." Rena continued, performing a few jabs with her fists and feet for a few seconds, which was nothing for her since she was used to these movements, before ending with one hand held out and the other resting at her side, meaning her defenses were high despite the stance she had ended in. "Data White." Garu said, raising his arm for a moment, pointing it at the sky for no real reason, before swinging it like he was wiping the slate clean or something, where he found that the people were very interested in them and that meant this serious of events were good for the pair they were helping. "Data Pink." Gato stated, where she lashed out at the air like a cat would, two quick jabs to be exact, before raising a knee into the air as she turned to the side a little, showing off that she had good reflexes and that any foe would be mindful to keep an eye on her movements. "Behold, we are Data Sentai Digiman!" the five warriors stated, shifting their stances once more as she focused on Ogre, all while a number of people snapped pictures of them and started posting what was going on to the internet, showing them that the public did approve of what they were seeing right now. Ogre wasted no time in attacking them, where he found that the wolf warrior raised his hands and caught the club like it was nothing, directing it into the air so he could lash out at his chest before he had a chance to do anything, before lashing out with a kick that knocked him higher into the air. As that happened both Rena and Gato, the latter having changed her size and body shape to match Rena's, struck him at the same time, one displaying the power of a martial artist while the other seemed as whimsical as a feline, even jumping onto his club and kicked him right in his chin. Such a thing told him that they might need to skip a step or two, especially when he found the pair two rushing through the air, laying into his body with some powerful kicks and punches, and when he tried to grab onto one of them the other attacked his hand and stopped him in his tracks. They were strong, that much wasn't being questioned, but it was possible that they might have found a way to exceed expectations, meaning Devi Dimon might have to accelerate the plan at some point, and that very thought was confirmed as one caught his club and turned it on him, hitting him higher into the air. Such a thing allowed him to understand their plan, as the five warriors joined their beam attacks into a single entity, which they called the 'Data Beam', and blasted him into oblivion while he was in the air, though as he emerged from the smoke, his body blackened a little, a portal opened as his 'master' brought him home, allowing the team to pose for the people for a few moments before rushing deeper into the city. "That was perfect... plus my suit's power to change my form is awesome." Gato said, taking a moment to undo her helmet as they landed, in a safe spot that was away from everyone else that was in the city, even though it wouldn't be very long before someone spotted them. "And we're already famous!" Trunks remarked, as he was tracking the comments about their team as he undid his own helmet, while the others did the same as they relaxed a little, though he spotted something that made him grin, as there was someone who already adored them and what they stood for, "Check this out: someone called 'Dr. Hedo' is claiming that he's our 'number one fan'! AND we've got a huge following already... four thousand in West City, with ten thousand worldwide... there's no telling how far our name will go now!" In that moment Rena couldn't help but wonder if this was going to bring about Trunks and Goten's fall, to make them fully abandon their super hero personas, which only made her wonder what else Lady Twilight had planned and how the pair was going to react to what the future held for them. > Super Hero: Saiyan Influence > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Trunks and Goten found that their team's fame grew over the course of a week, as many people were talking about them, the three Digimon who were with them, and the team as a whole, something that caused them to smile since it was what they had been hoping for. It appeared that the same thing happened to them as when Rena told those kids about the name of her kind, how the term 'Digimon' became a household name so quickly, because it seemed that the same was true for the name of their team, that 'Data Sentai Digiman' was gaining more popularity than they could ask for. Based on what Trunks could see it looked like their team was going to become far more popular than even Cleangod himself, which would be amazing since his and Goten's idol had quickly reached the level of the original Saiyaman in no time at all. He was also glad to have allies like Rena, Garu, and Gato on their side, as a five man team was far more special than just two warriors, and it sure seemed like the public agreed with his thoughts, especially since the new team had sailed right on by what he and Goten had gained during their time as X-1 and X-2. Of course their hero time was interrupted by Eschalot wanting to make sure their grades were good, given their goals, but there were new training partners for them to content with, in the form of Goten's revived family members, as in Bardock, his grandfather, and Raditz, his uncle, both brought back by his father's desire to bring his Saiyan family back. Based on what the pair had learned Goku had learned something important during the last adventure he, Vegeta, Caulifla, and Kale had been part of, causing him to make a wish on the Dragon Balls to bring his mother, his father, and his brother back, before having to inform them of what had happened since their various deaths. Of course it had taken some time for them to get used to everything that was going on, especially everything that involved the empire that ruled over the entire universe, but it looked like they had adjusted quite well, as Raditz usually wore casual attire while he was exploring the planet, wearing a white shirt with a blue pair of pants. Bardock, of course, had changed his old model armor for some of Twilight's latest, as he was a warrior and would continue to show others that he was ready for combat, while his wife, Gine, had taken a more staff member type of attire, which still gave her protection while allowing her to relax without the fear of being drawn into battle. Trunks had to shelve that thought as he was slammed into the ground once more, though this time it wasn't Eschalot or even Piccolo that had done such a thing to him, rather it was Bardock himself, a warrior that originally he thought he had the ability to defeat, only to discover that Goku's father had grown his power rapidly in such a short period of time. The same was true for Raditz, as the unarmored Saiyan, with the longest hair imaginable, tanked Goten's attacks without even bothering to block any of them, dusted off his attire to show that even his clothes were unscathed, before kicking Goten into the nearby rock wall. Trunks thought it was simply absurd, the pair had been dead for a very long time and had only started training not that long ago, and yet here they were, fighting as if he and Goten were nothing before their might, as if they had been constantly training since the day both of them had died. The reason he even considered that was due to the fact that Goten had once said something about his father training even in the Other World, after Cell killed him, and he had gained all sorts of power that rivaled his rival's, even a new form that he and Goten could use in their Gotenks form. Even with that in mind Trunks refused to acknowledge what was going on, where Bardock sighed as he revealed that he, and likely Raditz, were holding back their true power, as he shifted through the first three forms that a Saiyan could use, all the way to Super Saiyan 3, mostly to crash Trunks into the ground. "Trunks, Goten... you two need to find what you're fighting for. It is clear that you don't follow what most Saiyans strive for, that being victory, no matter what your foe is like." Bardock stated, where Trunks and Goten found something interesting, he seemed to be similar to both of their fathers, as in he could maintain the Super Saiyan 3 form without the significant drain on his Ki, causing Goten to realize that he must have trained himself to master it, like the Graded Forms that his older brother had mentioned at one point, "Once you figure out what drives you, or what you want to strive for, you'll be able to tap into the Graded Forms of the base Saiyan transformations and, eventually, Super Saiyan 2 and 3... you'd have to ask Lady Twilight about regrowing your tails if you want Super Saiyan 4." "Not that they have much time for that, given her plans." Raditz remarked, though as he said that Goten, sending that his defenses were lowered, rushed at him and started to throw a couple of punches and kicks at him, only to discover an odd sight, his uncle dodged out of the way like it was nothing at all, avoiding the attacks before knocking him backwards with a quick jab to the chest. "What's that supposed to mean?" Trunks inquired, because the only person who knew Twilight's plans, in their entirety no less, was Twilight herself, so Raditz's statement caught him off guard, where he found that Bardock kept his eyes on him as Raditz did the same with Goten. "Once Eschalot's generation of students finishes their schooling, they're joining the empire and taking to the stars, just like Kakarot and Vegeta have." Raditz stated, as if it was common knowledge among everyone who called this world home, all while Goten and Trunks just stared at him like their world had been rocked, before they glanced over at Eschalot, who was smiling at them, as if there was more to this than what Raditz had said so far, "Father, mother, and I will be joining them and everyone else whose answering Lady Twilight's call to action... we're going to be divided into fleets, to use a term that you are more familiar with, and each one will be assigned to one of the other seven universes that were forced to take part in the Tournament of Power. This isn't a hostile takeover, rather we are going to take the fight to the villains of each universe, document everything new, and basically do everything that we're already doing in our own universe... and each fleet will be commanded by an Admiral, all chosen by Lady Twilight herself, who report to her and her alone." "And you're looking at one: the best student in Stellaris, with the intellect to rival some of those who have been with Lady Twilight for years." Eschalot remarked, though unlike her father she wasn't really bragging about it, rather she had taken the time to realize that some pride was good, but too much could bring about total ruin, where she had to chuckle as she noticed the shocked and confused look on her brother's face, "I was going to tell you when the date of my departure was set in stone, even though everyone in my school knows what's going on... makes sense when you think about it, since we are learning how to work with the empire, but once the time comes a lot of people will be heading for the stars. It could be weeks, even months, between visits... it really depends on which universe we get assigned to, though to be honest I have no preference as to which one I get, since I'll do everything in my power to fulfill Lady Twilight's wishes." "Wait, if your school year is leaving, and many of the powerful warriors are leaving as well... does that mean we won't have the peace we've come to enjoy?" Goten inquired, though it was far more than that as he thought about it, that if the vast majority of the empire pulled out of the Earth, and returned to space, there was a chance that someone might try to take it over while Twilight and everyone else, save for Piccolo since he'd be helping with Pan, were gone. "I mean, it would be foolish for someone to attack this planet, but there's always a chance it could happen." Bardock said, as this planet seemed to be a magnet for trouble, based on what he had learned from his son, his son's family, and from Lady Twilight herself, so his statement was true, despite his doubts that such a thing would happen while they were gone, a fact that caused him to raise an eyebrow as he noticed the dark looks on Trunks and Goten's faces. In that moment he, Raditz, Eschalot, Piccolo, and the trio of Digimon realized what they were seeing as the air pulsed with energy, the pair had realized that, with the majority of the strongest people on the planet leaving for all of the other vast universes, there was a chance their loved ones and friends would be in danger. Such a thing meant that their current level of power was insignificant, because if a villain was preparing to attack the planet, with the intent of taking the likes of their fathers or even the next generation down, they would be unable to actually do anything to save the day. That meant there was a chance that people could die, those who were unable to actually defend themselves against whatever darkness was no doubt gathering to take over the world, and it caused something inside them to stir, something that both warriors had forgotten about after realizing that there was no reason for them to train or improve their power. Twilight had once said that had she done nothing during the time period of Super Buu's attack on the planet they would have lost everyone that they cared about, causing them to realize that if they didn't get better the same thing could happen here, that their friends and family could be taken from both of them in a moment's notice. Such a thing caused their power to explode out of them as the watchers found that they took on the second Saiyan form at long last, noticing the blue bits of lightning that danced around their auras while part of their bangs fell into place, just like what happened whenever a Saiyan took on the Super Saiyan 2 form. "Rage at your potential powerlessness and the consequences such a thing might bring about, mixed with the drive to keep those important to you safe... perhaps you do have potential." Bardock remarked, because it sure looked like the pair had found a way to access their own latent power, imagining what would happen to their friends, family, and loved ones if they didn't have the power to stand up to whatever darkness might surface while everyone powerful was off planet, or even in another universe, causing him to shift his stance, "For now, let's calm your anger and help you regain control... after that we'll focus on the Graded Forms for Super Saiyan and Super Saiyan 2, and maybe, just maybe, squeeze in some time for you two to actually learn how to tap into the form beyond your new ceiling." As Trunks and Goten rushed into battle again, focusing on Bardock and Raditz for a time, Eschalot could only smile at the scene in front of her, as they had finally, at long last, cracked through the walls that her brother and Goten had put up in the past, as they were fully embracing the idea of training and gaining power to protect what was important to them, and it only made her that much more interested in what the future held for the pair. > Super Hero: Robot Problems > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Trunks and Goten found that Piccolo and the others continued their harsh training, pushing them to master the basics of the Graded Forms, because mastering those for each form would grant them more power and control, but with all of the new information that they gleamed from Bardock and Raditz the pair continued to meet Piccolo's standards. Piccolo let a smile appear on his face as he pushed them to learn what he knew they needed to learn, as they had finally accepted the lesson and message they had been trying to get them to learn, which meant they were finally making progress on whatever plan Twilight had for them, if there was anything beyond training. At the same time they, Rena, Garu, and Gato continued to do their hero work, tackling down both monsters and criminals while defending their city from danger, showing that they had a greater degree of justice now that they knew that they would be the only defenders after a certain point of time. Talking with the two revived Saiyans had done wonders for the pair, as now both knew the stakes and continued to push themselves towards a brighter future, since they had no idea what Devi Dimon had planned for the city, not to mention the rest of the world. Of course criminals were the least of their concern, because not long after the pair obtained their newest level of power a new threat showed up outside the city, this one coming in the form of a large dark rabbit-like creature that seemed to have a jester collar around it's neck. This beast was definitely stronger than the first couple of massive monsters they had faced in the past, where Trunks found that it seemed to have the power to command lightning itself and even used the power of darkness to influence gravity, similar to what Twilight did with her powers. Such a thing told him and Goten that Devi Dimon must have studied the greatest warrior in the universe and was using identical powers, which she had trained herself to use, to deal with the annoying defenders of Earth, or those that would remain once everyone else departed for the stars. Just fighting it proved to be a nightmare as it tried to shock them out of the air or tried to use it's gravity to force them into the ground, though the pair found themselves fortunate that the beast, Cherubi according to what Rena said, as she had encountered him at one point in the past, chose to stay in the outskirts so he didn't hurt the town, meaning they could go all out without worrying about their homes or friends. In addition to that there were a few bipedal dog monsters, roughly near Gato's smallest size, called Gazies, who loved to dig around and be like moles, where a larger one called 'Mole' happened to be their leader, causing the team to divide the workload, Trunks and Rena focusing on Cherubi while Goten joined Garu and Gato in dealing with Mole's group. As it turned out the mole dogs seemed to enjoy playing whack-a-mole, often leading one of the trio into Mole's sight so he could hit them, light enough to not damage them while being harder than they were expecting, which Goten found to be more interesting than he was expecting. Of course it made fighting him and all of his buddies harder, but it made sense due to the fact that Devi Dimon was no doubt keeping track of their progress when they were in the city, meaning he likely had something in mind for when they got even stronger than this. While he was sure that Rena might have an idea on how to win this fight, however, Goten realized something as he surfaced and found that Cherubi refused to target the area that Mole was currently operating in, meaning if they could get him to his this area with his gravity power it would make taking out one group of enemies that much easier. If that worked, and he was sure it would, they could knock out one group and then focus on Cherubi, as in likely use their signature attack to take him down, something that caused him to tap the side of his helmet and convey the plan to his team, causing them to confirm his idea. Goten could only smile as Trunks and Rena found a way to direct the gravity attack into the area Mole was in, allowing him and his teammates to get out of the way before the dark orb struck the ground, where they watched as the group floated up into the air, causing them to lash out at them before they could regain themselves. Once the Gazies and Mole were down for the count, and he was sure of that fact as his team checked them, they burst into the air and raced over to the area that Cherubi was fighting in, forcing him to divide his attention between five foes and not the two that had been in front of him for some time. Trunks discovered that the division of labor, between Cherubi and Mole, had been intentional to make sure they could overcome the team, but it had failed as Goten realized how to even the odds and took it, allowing them to focus on beating down Cherubi and avoiding the gravity attacks that were coming at them. Trunks and Goten were fine with this turn of events, because they had some understanding of gravity training thanks to seeing Eschalot and a few others training with Twilight in the past, thus allowing them to deal some great damage to their foe as he tried to take them down. In the end their combined beam attack was more than enough to bring Cherubi down, blasting him off into the distance of the outskirts, where they were able to find that they were successful thanks to the odd gates that opened and retrieved all those who got taken out, allowing them to relax and bask in the glory of their accomplishments. In addition to saving the city from the various dangers that insisted on attacking it both Trunks and Goten started to make good strides in their schooling, surprising their teachers, and even the other students, with the fact that they were actually on time, had all of their homework prepared, and even engaged in some of the lessons. Their friends were really surprised by this turn of events, since they weren't expecting such a sudden change in both of them, and attributed it to the fact that Eschalot had beaten them in front of so many people, that it forced a drastic transformation in them. It also gave them a chance to get more information on what was going on in the city, where they learned that some of the robot servants that Capsule Corp had started making recently, which Mai and her pals helped work on, were having problems, as one of their friends heard of one running off in the middle of the night and returned at dawn. In addition to the helperbots going crazy for some reason there were also rumors of zombies, or ghouls as some called them, being seen around the city as well, in the same moments that the helperbots went crazy for some reason, giving the pair something to investigate that wasn't Devi Dimon and the other Digimon. "So... ghosts have been seen at Mt. Butterfly, and our friends are going to investigate it." Goten commented, speaking to Trunks on their way home from school, as it allowed them to go over everything they had learned over the course of the day, though while this would have been the time that they went and played games, like they did in the past, both of them had homework to do, "What do you say Trunks?" "We might be able to deal with a problem, before it becomes one." Trunks replied, because he knew that his mother was working Mai's group to the bone, mostly because they were freeloaders at Capsule Corp, even though she was waiting for them to become of age so she could hire them as workers for real, if only to help get them out of her hair, "Let's head out at night and see if we can't solve this mess." Goten nodded his understanding and called his mother, letting her know that he'd be staying over for a late night study session, which was true in a sense since they had started doing their homework together to make sure they were doing all of the things that Eschalot had taught them. Once she knew what was going on they headed to Capsule Corp and got to work on everything that their teachers gave the various classes, where Trunks started to understand some of the tougher questions thanks to all of his sister's support, otherwise he was sure he would have failed at this point. His mother was glad for the change in his habits, even though he still took breaks for games every now and then to relax his mind, and had no problem with them doing another night session, leaving them to their homework while making sure they had the snacks needed to keep them energized. Trunks knew that his mother also expected them to leave at some point, as was their habit since Piccolo was giving them all sorts of training, so they wouldn't have to worry about her checking in and discovering that they were gone. When night fell on the city Trunks and Goten headed out as well, sticking to the rooftops as they kept an eye out for any insane helperbots or ghouls, or the trio of friends that were about to do something incredibly stupid, until they found one of their targets, a tall figure with screws on either side of his head and mix colored skin. "A zombie... ghoul... whatever." Trunks commented, though at one point in time he had been terrified of spooky stuff, but that had changed after spending time with Rena and the others, somewhere along the way he had gotten over his fear of spooky stuff, likely due to Devi Dimon being the end goal of their current endeavors, so now he could focus without even getting scared. Sure enough they found that he passed by several people without noticing them on the roofs, where the pair found that he seemed to pull something out and clicked it, causing the helperbots he passed by to go crazy before rushing off, much to the confusion of the owners that watched them disappear into the city. As it turned out both the ghoul and the robots headed to the same place, the abandoned mansion on Mt. Butterfly, where Trunks had once believed that Devi Dimon's base was located, only to be proven wrong on that matter when they investigated it with Rena. This was an odd thing to discover, since they had been here not that long ago, but upon further inspection they found an interesting sight, all of the insane robots were working on new assembly lines, assembling lunch boxes full of sushi, which West City was enjoying at the moment. There were also a number of other ghouls hanging out inside the abandoned building, one looking like he was a battle ball player for a high school, someone who met an unfortunate end, with the name 'Alpha 12' on his back, like a name or something, though the pair had to wonder what they were looking at, the truth behind the facade. In the following moments one of the other ghouls called out to someone and the pair found that they hadn't been found, rather it was the same three friends that had mentioned coming here, where one of them was being roughed up, though the pair found themselves fortunate to have their new watches, transforming into their super hero forms as they burst into the abandoned mansion. "Oh my god... it's Data Red and Data Blue!" one of the trio said, showing that they were well known even among the rest of the school, even though it was hard to say if anyone actually knew about their secret identities, but while they were just slightly annoyed by their introduction being ruined, since it was a hero's thing, neither said anything as they focused on the enemies in front of them. Trunks and Goten found that the ghouls were far too easy for them to take out, as a series of simple punches and kicks were all that was needed to take down eleven of the twelve assembled undead enemies, while Alpha 12, since they didn't have anything else to call him, withstood a couple of attacks before collapsing. This was further conformation that their training had paid off, as while the undead were clearly designed to withstand blows and deal them in return, or at least the pair assumed so since they had taken their foes out rather quickly, their defenses had clearly been overlooked by the one who worked on them. With the ghouls taken care of, knocked out for the foreseeable future, Goten made sure that the students were escorted out as Trunks investigated the area, all while the helperbots continued to work, something he decided not to touch since he didn't want to wreck them, before finding a room with a safe. Inside the safe, which Trunks had opened by breaking the hinges, was a data disk that seemed important, and it even mentioned 'Dr. Gero', causing him to pick it up before leaving, all while finding that Goten was talking to Krillin outside, with the students having run off just before his arrival, no doubt briefing him on what they had discovered. In that moment he realized something, this disk needed to be delivered to Twilight, as she was the only one who might know what to do with it, but he had the feeling that things were going to get far more interesting now that another player had entered the super hero world as a villain and he was eager to see whatever might happen next. > Super Hero: School Trouble > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Twilight sat at her desk and stared at the container that was in front of her, something she was somewhat surprised to see since she had assumed she had taken everything of Dr. Gero's when she took his lab and records, all those years ago, and thought about what Trunks and Goten had told her so far. They had told her and Krillin about their visit to the abandoned mansion on Mt. Butterfly, saving three of their schoolmates from ghouls, dead high school students and adults risen into undeath, and while they knew that the figures worked in the sushi shop they knew nothing else. Krillin confirmed, while the pair had been moved into another room since she didn't need them to hear this, that the cops were hunting the remnants of the Red Ribbon Army, as there were rumors that some of their new commanders were working in the shadows, which had interested her greatly. Other than that, and the existence of Dr. Hedo as a potential hazard to the world, there wasn't too much more they could tell her, they were just in the dark about too much, though thinking about that caused Twilight to focus on what was in front of her as Krillin, Trunks, Goten, and Rena, the latter having arrived to keep an eye on the pair she was working with. In that instant, after pretending to meet Rena for the first time, Twilight picked up the container, pulled out the disk that was inside it, and slipped it into her computer, where her decryption and security systems shattered the programs protecting the disk's information, keeping everything intact as she pulled up what was on the object. "Well, what do you know... this contains the complete blueprints for Cell, complete with potential upgrades." Twilight said, as she recognized the information that was in front of her, she had read the same thing when she took over Dr. Gero's lab and claimed his work for her own benefit, before noticing a few lines that really interested her and caused the others to raise their eyebrows for a moment, "Along with ways to cut down on the incubation time, ways to boost the growth cycle... oh, I see now... there was another lab, one hidden from even the rest of his secret laboratory. I wonder..." As she said that Twilight surrounded the container with her magic and peered into it's past by forming a time window in front of her, allowing her to track down the safe that it had been taken from, finding where Dr. Hedo had hidden it before Mt. Butterfly, a few other locations that were temporary bases, and the lab it came from, one that, by opening another window into the present, was totally vacant. "That explains how he was able to do so much in such a short period of time... he's definitely a genius." Twilight continued, where part of her had to wonder if she could just recruit him and turn him away from the life of crime he was currently walking down, though before that it was important to see if his convictions and ideals were even good, like was he more like a hero or was he a villain, "If that's the case, there's no reason for him to care about the disk, as he would have been able to memorize everything that is on it and use it however he wants... however, he is Gero's grandson, meaning there's a chance he'll come looking for it, as a memento of sorts. The latter means he'll be hunting down 'Data Red' and 'Data Blue', since you two were smart enough to not reveal your civilian identities or leave behind evidence that would allow him to track you down... even then, I'd suggest keeping an eye out for danger while you're at school, just in case he makes a move to recover the container and it's contents." "So basically just continue what we've been doing and tackle whatever comes our way." Trunks said, where he found that Twilight nodded her head, showing that he was right, even though he suspected that one of her forces would keep an eye on them, helping the police out in taking down Dr. Hedo, before he found her handing over the container, which was now empty of the disk they had discovered. Trunks took the container and stuffed it into his bag for a moment before he and Goten departed, where Krillin stared at the pair for a moment before departing as well, as he had done his job in informing Twilight of the situation and now it was time for him to look into the information his office wanted him to confirm. Rena stayed behind for a few moments, all to see Twilight nodding her head, causing the fox to bow her head, as soon as she was sure that no one else happened to be in the area, before departing from the office that everyone had gathered in for a time. Twilight focused on the rest of the disk and all of the formulas that were on it, amazed that the final secret lab's systems had been working all this time, gathering information and compiling data to form a new method on how to make Cell that much faster, and now all that it had gained was in the hands of someone who wasn't allied with good or evil. Part of her was curious as to what Dr. Hedo might do in this situation, if he was as smart as his profile suggested he was, and she knew it to be right, he should stay in the shadows and not come for the disk, but there was a chance he'd come for it anyway, to keep something to remember his long dead grandfather. Such a thing caused her to smile for a moment as she leaned back in her chair and stared out at the city, as she could only wonder what might happen in the future, now that this disk had been taken from the one who had been hiding it for such a long time, and how Trunks and Goten would respond to the potential threats that were coming their way. Trunks found that a few days went by before anything interesting happened, as the city had died down with no criminals trying to rob banks or steal from the citizens, there were no new monsters to worry about, and Devi Dimon had vanished, or at least it sure seemed that way from how quiet it was. He and Goten, instead of getting soft again, continued to train and improve their skills, as they knew that their main target was no doubt observing them and everyone they knew, likely to make a new Digimon to send at them to test their growing power, and kept up with their studies. He wanted to be sure that they were ready for whenever something new came to bother them, or attack the city like their master had ordered them to do, since he was sure another Digimon would attack it in due time or drag them out into the wilds to take them down first. Goten didn't seem to mind having a bit of a break from the various monsters that were coming out of some unknown space to attack them and the city, as they knew the Digimon came from another realm that they were able to access, but for now all they could do was continue to live their lives like normal. A few days after the events of Mt. Butterfly, however, Trunks found that Mai was going to be joining them at school and his 'mission' was to help her adjust to a more civilian life, or whatever his mother had planned, and he was happy to help her in whatever way he could, even though the introductions at his school were strange. "We actually have a second transfer student." the teacher said, where Trunks found that the figure was a young man, like a lot of his Human friends since there were a few Beastians among their number, and he was already outfitted with the attire of a student, which made sense due to the fact that Mai had done the same before coming here. "Hello, I am Baytah. It's a pleasure to meet you all." the young man stated, though while everyone was interested in the fact that a 'hot' dude had join the class, causing Rulah, one of Trunks' friends, to offer the seat next to her so she could aid the newcomer in catching up with what the class was doing, which was what Trunks was going to help Mai with. He noticed two things after the new transfer students were introduced to his class, the first being that he spotted Rena outside the school, likely scouting the area out to be sure that nothing was going to bother him and Goten while they were at school, while the second was that Baytah had a small strip on the back of his neck that looked like the ghouls. That told him all he needed to know, especially since his name was a rather lame way to say 'beta', which had to be the next series that followed the downed Alpha series he and Goten had beaten up not that long ago, so this had to be 'Beta 01', the first in a new series. He could also tell that Mai had noticed the strip on his neck, which no one else seemed to notice, but both of them said nothing as they returned to their studies, allowing him to point out what the lesson was about while Rena no doubt kept an eye on Baytah, just in case he turned out to be a threat. Eventually class was over and some of them went to gym, where he and the others played ball while some of their class stayed on the sidelines, though such a thing allowed everyone to remember why he was one of the strongest in the entire school. Of course Baytah showed that he happened to have great speed and power, enough to rival the base power of a Saiyan, or at least that would be the case if Trunks didn't have the training that had been instilled in him and Goten, as he was able to call forth more of his power and scored several baskets before Baytah could score one. That seemed to be the start of a series of odd events, where Baytah started by throwing one of the footballs at Trunks as he walked down one of the school's hallways, causing him to duck down, pretending to tie his shoe as the ball bounced all over the hallway before slamming into a fire extinguisher, bathing the ghoul android in foam. His next attempt to reveal if he had more power came during lunch, where Trunks found that he tried to douse him with his soup and moved out of the way, allowing Baytah's portion to land in his own, which was good since today's soup was one of his favorites, and the figure played it off on not really being hungry. After that was nothing special, really, it was just a math class, something he would normally suffer at since he hated school, but thanks to Eschalot helping him out Trunks was able to correctly solve all of the problems, while Baytah only got nine right, as he slipped up at the end after realizing just how smart Trunks was, as if he was in awe of a senior student. Other than the math class it was clear that Baytah was trying to reveal his power to the rest of the school, or at least to him so he could do whatever his mission was, though each attempt he made failed in the end, as the training Trunks had done with Piccolo and the others was paying off. When the day was finally over, and everyone started to head out, Trunks found that Goten picked up one of the trunks so he could collect a tennis ball for the girls that were currently playing in the nearby field, as they hit it too far, which caused Baytah to tear his school attire off and reveal a lame super hero costume... but before he could say anything Rena, in her own hero attire, kicked him in the side and sent him away from the others. "No way... Data Yellow?!" That means Baytah's actually a villain?" one of the students remarked, showing that they must have been paying attention to the figure while he was taking his classes with them, even if they didn't say anything, while at the same time Beta 01 got up and rubbed the side of his face. "No, I am a super hero!" Beta 01 stated, though as he charged at Rena, a surprise that he and his maker weren't expecting when this plan was put into motion, he received two kicks to the chest and was sent flying off into the stadium area, only to discover that his foes were none other than Data Red and Data Blue, with one of their allies. Beta 01 revealed that there was another of his series, Beta 02 to be exact, which was just a robotic suit that he could pilot, and his trump card in all of this, instead of fighting them hand to hand, was to fire rockets at both the school and at them, where the trio quickly flashed around the area and redirected the missiles into the air. As that happened Goten kicked the chest compartment into the air, Rena kicked the lower body until it shattered beneath her blows, and Trunks unleashed a twisting burst of energy at his target, shattering the upper chest compartment and shredded Beta 01's attire, save for his shorts. Trunks realized that Dr. Hedo really didn't understand the power that he was facing, especially since his ghouls had failed in record time, though now he knew that his enemies were famous heroes that were fighting powerful monsters all the time, meaning he might pull back thanks to this information. At the same time he knew that only time would tell, since it was clear that their foe seemed to like super heroes, if Beta 01's attire was anything to go by, and focused on waving at the school as they cheered him and his teammates on, where he knew that any pictures and videos would be on the air in no time. Such a thing made him eager to see what the future might have in store for them, since there was no telling what Hedo might do in response to this information, plus he was eager to see what else Devi Dimon might throw at them while they waited for the new villain to make his next move. > Super Hero: Ghouls and Monsters > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Trunks and Goten found that Beta 01 and 02 were just the beginning of a new trend in their lives, as every now and then a new ghoul would show up, at some point in the day, and declare that they were there to take down either of the pair, as some would target Trunks on the street or Goten while he was on the bus. Each of them had ridiculous costumes that were supposed to scream 'super hero' at a glance, like how Beta 03 had gone for a yellow suit with a large B on it, though the black strips made everyone think she, as it was a female ghoul that time, was a bee, causing her to shout at the people that were watching them fight. Rena, of course, continued to do her best to take down some of the more annoying ones, even though both warriors joined in from time to time, since the ghouls wanted to tangle with Data Red and Data Blue, so they gave the Beta fighters exactly what they wanted in the span of a few seconds, a fight ending in their defeat. One thing that the pair were able to determine was that Dr. Hedo truly had no clue as to how strong they were, because there was little to no growth in the ghouls that came at them, which was almost a disappointment when Trunks considered the Digimon that served Devi Dimon. Beta 04 was a speedster type, or at least it tried to be, as it wore a red uniform with yellow lightning strips on it, though his speed happened to be far weaker than they were expecting when he introduced himself, as Goten ran circles around him before taking him down with a single punch to the face. After that Beta 05 came decked out in metallic armor that made him more like a giant, like he was here to fight monsters and not the super heroes that were dealing with monsters, though he was unable to do anything as Trunks tanked his blows, crushed his armor, and knocked him into the bay, since he came at them during a field trip. Beta 06 was even worse than the ones that came before him, as he seemed to be dressed more like an ordinary citizen with the intent to wipe out a city block, but when he revealed the dark costume under his attire Rena took him out with a quick blow, allowing them to deal with another foe and add him to those that were in the police station at the moment. Such a thing reminded Trunks that some of the ghouls from Mt. Butterfly had escaped and had been working in a store, but were now under arrest as well and had been positioned in the station, mixing some from the Alpha series with a few from the Beta series. With that in mind Goten looked at the scene in front of him and found that it was another Beta ghoul, 07 according to what the figure said and the number 7 on his shirt, though he seemed to be an older type of hero with the frills attached to the arms of his shirt, not to mention the disco pants for some odd reason. "Seems whoever made this guy is running out of ideas... and quickly, by the looks of it." Goten remarked, though he had to decide whether to get out of the bus and turn into his super hero persona for a few moments, to take care of another foe, or if he should wait for Rena to show up like she always did when it was an inconvenient time for him or Trunks to transform where no one could see them. Fortunately he didn't have to make a decision as something kicked Beta 07 out of the way, though instead of it being Rena, like he was expecting, the figure in question seemed to be another Digimon, this one having a black body with magenta lines on it's arms, legs, and even the body, though it also wore a blue cape around it's neck. It had three horns on top of it's head, like a triceratops, though the main one was more like a drill while the two behind it were smaller and happened to be shaped like lightning that pointed at the sky, likely a reference to it's speed since it had taken down the ghoul before he even knew what hit him. Goten also found that the figure's hands had three digits that were shaped like claws and it's feet had four digits, also clawed, though it's fingers were red colored and it's feet were golden, and the Digimon also had a long slender tail that ended in a golden harpoon-like tip. Based on what he was feeling the creature in front of the bus was on Rena's level, which was amazing since he and Trunks still had trouble when training with her and the other members of their team, something that made him wonder why he was here, and not in the wilds if he was like everyone else that came to attack them. As he thought about that, however, Beta 07 got up from where he had landed and rubbed the side of his face, where he turned to face the newcomer, even though everyone found that the ghoul was still blocking the way forward, which was just annoying the bus driver since it meant they might be late getting to school. "Who in the world are you?" Beta 07 asked, though at the same time he shifted his stance and prepared himself for a fight, since this figure was getting in the way of his important mission, since his master knew that either Data Red or Data Blue had the disk that had been stolen from Mt. Butterfly and one of them was on the nearby bus. "Gulus Gamma." the Digimon replied, where he raised his hand and beckoned for his foe to come at him, where Beta 07 took the bait and rushed at him without wasting time, crossing the short distance with ease, though before the ghoul even knew what hit it the figure brought his knee, as it spoke with a male voice, right into the ghoul's chin. Goten found that the attack knocked Beta 07 up into the air, where Gulus moved to the side and allowed the bus to pass, or at least get out of the way since most of the students wanted to see what happened next, before he turned and burst into the air, following his foe before he had time to recover. The pair didn't stay in the air for too long as Gulus grabbed onto the ghoul and slammed him headfirst into the ground, where everyone found that he managed to avoid breaking the ground around where he landed, as if he was in total control of his power, to the point where he could cancel out ruining whatever was around him. Of course Beta 07 didn't seem to understand that this wasn't someone he even had the power to take down, as he got up, fast enough to apparently rip the bottom of his pants, and rushed at his opponent, where his foe simply frowned at him as he moved out of the way of a couple of punches that were coming at him. What interested all of the viewers for a few seconds was when Beta 07 grabbed onto Gulus' tail and pulled, like he was going to haul him over his head and slam him into the ground, only to find that he didn't move at all for a few moments, leading to Gulus to just lift him into the air and hurl him into the nearby trash container. It was an amazing display of power, his base abilities were better than Goten had thought they would be, where Gulus just looked at him before jumping up onto the roof, though it wasn't long before he found that the Digimon was following him, as when he went to school he and the rest of the students on the bus noticed him watching from afar. Trunks, of course, was surprised by this turn of events and realized that Devi Dimon must have created a new opponent for them to fight at some point, though the oddest thing was that he was just staring at them, like what Rena did when she made sure they were able to focus on school a few days ago, before they figured out what Beta 01 was. Since it didn't look like Gulus was interested in attacking them while they were at school, like some of the students assumed, they were able to focus on their classes and what was going on in terms of events, only to find something that caught their eye. There was going to be a school dance, behind held by one of the richer kids at school since he thought he could throw a better party than the actual people who planned the event, and many of them were invited, meaning there was a chance that Dr. Hedo knew it would be happening in due time. What interested Trunks and Goten was the fact that the one throwing the party even passed out flyers stating that he had managed to book Cleangod for the event, since tracking down the new heroes was hard to do, making them wonder if this might be a good opportunity to help catch Hedo for the police, since he was a fan of heroes and might come if one such being was coming to the party. When school was over, however, the pair found that Gulus was still waiting for them and had even landed across from the building, meaning he must have meditated during the entire day to keep himself sane, but now that it was done he was ready to do whatever it was that he had come here to do. "Trunks and Goten, I request a match with both of you." Gulus stated, showing that he definitely knew of their power and skill, confirming that his boss was likely keeping an eye on them and the power they had unlocked recently had caused the creation of a new creature to bring them down, before he thought of something else to say, "Devi Dimon didn't create me, if you're worried that this is a trap." While most of the students were confused by that information, since they didn't know of the figure that they were fighting as their hero personas, Trunks and Goten followed after the new Digimon as he made his way out into the outskirts, just like all of the other creatures and monsters like him. Rena happened to be there and accepted their bags, as she knew the pair didn't want anything to happen to their homework and personal items, though once that was done they stepped out into the area that Gulus wanted to fight in and found that he was waiting for them. In the following moments the pair did what they normally did in this situation, they rushed forward and moved into a series of punches and kicks, purely to test his reflexes, finding that he used the sides of his arms and legs to counter them as the air around them shook just a tiny bit. After that moment Gulus showed them part of his true power as he called forth flames, though these were more like flames of darkness, causing the pair to jump back as he hurled balls of fire at them, where Trunks and Goten fired small bursts of Ki at the attacks and blasted them out of the air. Such a thing surprised Trunks, as this sort of elemental combination was something only Twilight knew, which told them that Devi Dimon was really interested in her powers, if what they had seen so far was any indication, though in response to this discovery both he and Goten utilized their Super Saiyan 2 forms. The reason for that was because they had gotten used to feeling the slumbering power that was inside their foes, due to the fact that Piccolo had a lot of power he didn't use during training and Eschalot had a massive fountain of power that she was still trying to tap into, so they knew that Gulus was the same. He smiled for a moment as he rushed at them and struck them with a punch to the chest, where he discovered that their power was definitely far stronger than before, plus they were able to withstand his attack to some degree, meaning they had done well in unlocking their power, something that would make his creator happy. As he thought about what it might mean, however, the air shuddered as a portal to the Digital World opened, something Goten and Trunks were stunned by since they still had no idea what the rifts meant, and it wasn't long before the first two monsters the pair had fought, the giants that had pushed them down this path, came out to fight them, only this time their true power had been unleashed. In that moment he discovered that both of his opponents had held back a little, as the air around them vibrated as they revealed their trump card, Super Saiyan 3 to be exact, where they burst into the air and struck down both Grey and Parrot before they even had a chance to move. Gulus chuckled as the pair were forced back into their base forms, showing him that both warriors could only use this form for a few seconds, likely because they had just recently unlocked the ability to use it, causing him to wonder what the future held for the two warriors on their friends. > Super Hero: The Party > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Trunks found that Gulus Gamma was true to his word, he was more of a training partner than an actual foe, which was a good thing to discover since he happened to be stronger than some of their enemies and there was no telling how much power was lurking in his body. Such a thing meant that they could focus on school and occasionally clash with Gulus, or at least that was the plan if more ghouls didn't bother them, allowing the pair to realize that the rest of the day after meeting Beta 07 went by without anything serious happening. Both he and Goten did notice a spy drone, in the form of a ladybug, following them at one point, so they acted like normal students when it was around and even found that Mai knew about it as well, before discovering that she even had a plan in mind already. They knew that Hedo only revealed himself when he thought it was absolutely necessary, or in the event that Cleangod would be present for certain events, so the party that was going to be thrown in the near future presented the perfect opportunity to catch him, since the flyers claimed that the hero in question would be there. The plan was rather simple, they were going to let him come to them, ambush him at some point during the party, and the moment he fled they would be able to track down his hideout, so they could put an end to the ghouls, once and for all, a fact that meant none of them would actually be partying during the event. Mai fully expected Trunks to be upset by this, but he was actually all for it, as it meant they could deal with a villain at long last and take out his minions, though to prepare for the trap he needed to swap out his official school bag for a decoy that only had the container inside it. His reasoning was due to the fact that it was what Hedo wanted as well, the sole reason he kept bugging him and Goten, or maybe the main reason since the ghouls seemed to think there was another reason behind the attacks, so this would present him with a chance to get his hands on it. Mai and Goten decided not to bother bringing their bags to the event, since Hedo might just steal them all to cover his bases, before they discovered that Mai was already getting a set of attire from Twilight, a dress that could double as armor if Hedo decided to try and take a hostage when he fled. Trunks and Goten also discovered two other facts, the first being that Krillin was in the know and that he would be waiting for Mai's signal when the dance happened, as they were convinced she was right about Hedo, while the other was that there was another transfer student later in the day, a girl who had a skinny body and was slightly shorter than some of the other students, though she had short white hair and had an 8 on her shirt, revealing that Beta 08 was ready to go. As it turned out Beta 08 didn't seem too interested in Hedo's schemes, rather she went about her day like a normal girl, in fact it was hard to tell if she was a ghoul or not, since the obvious signs weren't easily seen, and instead of giving everyone a name like 'Baytah', like Beta 01 had, she used the name 'Monet'. Trunks and Goten found that she was smart, though not as smart was the first in her line, she had her own power that allowed her to play some sports, while again not being on the level of her predecessors, and nothing strange happened over the course of the day. Beta 08 was, for all purposes, just an ordinary school student that had no other purpose than to go to school and do her best in her classes, confirming that Hedo had likely designed her to get access to the dance, which was just a sad reason for existing, to only do one thing and then likely be shelved for the rest of her life. Trunks actually felt sorry for her, as Monet had been created simply to get Hedo into the dance, while the rest of the line she belonged to had been designed to do battle, making him wonder if she actually knew that fact and, if she did, how she was coping with that information. Shockingly enough she didn't want to talk to him or Goten, unlike the other Betas who wanted to bother them all day long, rather Monet went about her day avoiding them like the plague, though it did seem like she had made some friends with a few other girls, so everything wasn't all bad for her. When the night of the party arrived Trunks and Goten found that the party was in full swing, students were dancing and a band was even playing, skilled students from their school no less, though with a single glance it was clear that everyone was having fun. Trunks and Mai were partnered together, mostly since there was no one else to invite, while Goten came with one of the students who rode his bus, someone he was familiar with, though she was mostly interested in Trunks and seemed to hold a grudge of sorts against Mai, but why they had no idea. In truth the three were more interested in their target, since it was only a matter of time until Hedo showed up, though they intended on mingling with the other students as they kept an eye out for the one that was giving them so much trouble recently, not counting Devi Dimon's forces that were hard to predict the arrival of. Trunks made sure that his decoy bag was added to what everyone else brought, while Mai and Goten didn't bring anything at all, and it really wasn't long before they found Monet in the crowd, though it sure looked like Hedo might have left her to avoid being seen, leaving her at the side of the stage. "I can only imagine how angry she is... imagine being brought back to life, but instead of being sent into battle, like those that came before you, you're regulated to being a ticket to a dance." Mai commented, making sure that Trunks was the only one that could hear her right now, since they were getting some punch as the band continued to play, though she kept glancing at the poor girl every now and then. "Not only to the dance, but also to meet Cleangod again." Trunks said, as he knew what she was getting at, that Monet was just a means to an end, a disposable ghoul that had no purpose other than to give her creator a way to meet one of the few people he idolized, enough to want their autograph, and once this dance was done she'd likely be abandoned or just tossed aside when Hedo thought the time was right. "Hopefully we can catch him tonight and put an end to his schemes." Mai remarked, because that would make things far easier for them, allowing Trunks and Goten to focus on the Digimon and their schooling, instead of splitting it three ways, plus it would help ease the suffering of those who were bothered by this turn of events. As it turned out their plan was going to be put into action a lot sooner than anyone intended, as the student who set up the whole party had everyone give the band a round of applause, where the band members bowed and waved for a few moments before walking off stage, causing the speaker to announce that Cleangod would be coming out soon. That was when Trunks, Goten, and Mai noticed someone who looked like the pictures of Hedo lingering at the front of the crowd that was gathering to see the super hero, looking like he was just an excited fanboy and nothing else, causing Trunks to walk up to him to engage him in conversation. He was able to confirm that this was, in fact, the person they were waiting for, as he was a massive fan of Cleangod, to the point that he even had the exclusive tee from the signing session, which Trunks and Goten had missed due to their training. Hedo didn't seem to realize who he was talking to, rather he seemed happy to have another fan he could talk to while they waited for the super hero to appear on stage, though while that happened Goten noticed that Beta 01 was present as well, either because he snuck in or because someone had invited him despite his crimes against the school. With this turn of events Mai knew it would be best if they stayed their hand and tapped a button on her attire that sent the signal to Krillin, where he and his officers entered the building through the main door and surprised everyone, save for all those who were aware that they had been positioned outside for a while now. "Dr. Hedo, you are under arrest for stealing bodies from the morgue and cemeteries." Krillin stated, as the Alpha ghouls were more corroded than the Beta series, at least they were able to tell that much from what they could see of both types of ghouls, though he had a feeling that Twilight would be able to reveal more once they arrested some of Hedo's forces and let her study them for a time. Hedo, while caught out in the open, revealed that he must have done something to either his suit or his skin as he readied a device that filled the area with smoke for a time, allowing him, Beta 01, and Monet to leave the building, though based on what Trunks could see the latter looked sad at the idea of leaving her friends behind. The pair joined Krillin as he flew through the air, following the vehicle that Hedo was using to reach his hideout, though interestingly enough he had Alpha 12 as his driver as Beta 01 shifted through the stolen bags for a time, eventually pulling out the container from Trunks' decoy bag. With that done Hedo had them stop for a moment, all to deposit the rest of the bags on the side of the road, but before they left he made sure each one was picked clean of any cash or valuable items, no doubt to help fund his next project no doubt, though Monet moved away from them, showing that she must not have been programmed like the rest, as Hedo likely didn't have enough time before the dance started. Since Hedo was leading them to his hideout, which had to be the pair of shipping containers that were oddly placed in the forest, Trunks and Goten slipped into their hero attire and readied themselves for battle, breaking down the door a few moments after their target reached his base. Sure enough they found the entire Alpha Series and Beta Series, the latter wearing normal clothing since they worked jobs to fund Hedo's operations, along with a massive bipedal dino ghoul that looked like it was made up of two different dinos of the same species, as some were orange and some were green colored. "Behold, Dino-Droid 01!" Hedo stated, which really made them wonder why he was so eager to dig up the dead and use his genius mind to revive whatever he wanted, though the dinosaur's size revealed why the containers were positioned near a mountain, since the ghouls had hollowed it out for Dino-Droid 01 to move around in, "Crush them!" In that moment they were able to confirm something else, that being the fact that Hedo hadn't paid attention to any of the fights they had with the various Digimon, as Goten stood still and tanked the incoming swing from Dino-Droid 01, causing it to struggle against his resistance for a time. Trunks did the same when it tried to attack him, he just raised his arm for a moment and blocked the attack with his hand, causing the mindless beast to fire a beam of energy at him, tearing through the wall of the mountain and revealing a path outside. With that in mind the pair pulled Dino-Droid 01 out of the lab and dragged it into the air, releasing the beast when they were a fair distance away, only to lay into it with a move they had perfected thanks to Piccolo's training, the 'Cyclone Style: Tornado Double Hurricane' move. It was a move that allowed the pair to utilize their Ki like it was actually wind, so by channeling it around them they were able to form a larger vortex than if they did this on their own, hence the 'double' in the name, and it's power allowed them to tear through the dino ghoul in no time. Such a thing caused the pieces to detonate, likely because there was far too much machinery inside the dino to make the creature move, which might be why Hedo called it a 'droid', but with it done the pair posed as Krillin, joined by his team, arrested Hedo and the various ghouls, save for one in particular. "So, what next?" Goten asked, though he was sad to see Monet escorted out of the lab, as some of the police realized she was a ghoul and were being careful, even though she was complying with their small requests, just in case there was more to her than what they had seen so far. "We charge Hedo for his crimes and see what happens next... though Twilight might show up to speak with him." Krillin replied, keeping his voice low so only the pair could hear him, since there was no reason for Hedo to know that particular piece of information just yet, though at the same time he couldn't help but look at the various ghouls and wondered if they could ever have a normal life again. Trunks and Goten nodded their heads as they thanked the police for their hard work, some even snapping pictures of the pair to post later since some happened to be fans of theirs, before taking off to return to the party and face whatever the coming days might have in store for them, Hedo, and the various ghouls. > Super Hero: Talking with Hedo > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hedo was at a loss for words as he considered his current predicament, as he had been captured by the police, his lab was no doubt being dismantled by those that had the knowledge to do so, and all of his ghouls, both the Alpha and Beta series, were resting in a chamber specifically designed to keep people like them contained. The worst part was that he had finally gotten the data disk container back, holding the precious item that was stored away inside it, and it had brought about his capture, since it seemed like the police knew that someone at Blue Hal High School having gained possession of it and had set up a trap for him. He wondered how he could have blindly walked into what had clearly been an elaborate trap, since he recalled the bag holding the container having nothing else in it, an odd fact he was only now realizing, meaning he should have had the driver take the extended route, as they could have gotten out of this without any problems. In addition to that he couldn't believe that he was taken in by Data Red and Data Blue, two members of the great hero force that had shown up recently, though instead of feeling ashamed by that fact he was actually happy, as he had gotten a chance to meet them up close and personal, making him wonder if he'd be able to get their autographs once his sentence was complete. As he thought about that, however, he glanced around the room he was in and found that it seemed designed to ensure that the people brought here would be unable to bust their way out, before the door opened and he realized that a lawyer or one of the top officials of the police was here to speak with him... only to pause as Lady Twilight, in the flesh, walked through the door and entered the room, causing the door to close behind her. "Dr. Hedo, we meet at last." Twilight said, though at the same time she took a seat at the table that the smaller figure was sitting at, since it was the only thing he could do as he waited for someone to come in and talk with him, causing her to pull out a few things that contained all of the information she had on him, "We have a lot to talk about... like all of the laws that you've broken, the dark lengths you went to in order to regain this one item, and what's going to happen to the ghouls you created over the last few weeks. Frankly, for someone who wants to be a hero, and outright adores super heroes, everything you've done so far is... well, hypocritical, plus there's the nature of your frankenstein experiments... all of this is unbecoming of someone who wants to be a hero." "What's that supposed to mean?" Hedo asked, where he noticed something as Twilight sat down, she pulled out a couple of items and set them down on the table, including a tablet that looked unlike anything else he had seen before, along with a pill container and a few other items. "A hero is supposed to save the day and fight villains... you, on the other hand, have robbed graveyards, stolen bodies to revive as ghouls, attacked a school, threatened to blow up a city block, and many other crimes." Twilight replied, where Hedo paused for a moment as he considered what she was saying, which was good news for her since it meant he wasn't totally like his grandfather, who had been obsessed with Goku to the point of pure madness, "And you even attacked the real heroes a few times... honestly, at this point your obsession with super heroes is almost like the madness that Gero suffered before his demise, and if you go any further I'm afraid that you'll suffer the same fate. In fact, I took the liberty of checking your genetics against your grandfather's and found a few genetic markers that indicate you've also inherited the condition as well, only you haven't reached the point in time that it'll actually affect you... to counter it, I have prepared one of my special medical pills to help you out." Hedo had heard of the item in question while he was setting up his various labs, as they were said to help people that had all sorts of conditions, and while it was true that madness did seem to run in his family, because the records on his father sure indicated he had suffered from it before his demise, he had figured that it would be years before he started to see the signs his family had ignored. As he thought about that fact, however, he realized something as Twilight prepared the pill container, he had screwed up quite a lot recently and, upon thinking about what she had said, could see how someone like her would say that his actions were hypocritical. In the next moment she offered him the pill and some water, almost as if she knew that it would be in his best interests to take it while he could, like a silent warning that he'd start to go mad at some point in the very near future, no doubt in the next year or so, causing Hedo to down the pill and water. That was when he felt something inside him change in the span of a few seconds, though unlike the various transformation items in the world, which Twilight was known for, there was nothing physical, purely mental and probably a little genetic to make sure the madness never surfaced. Twilight nodded as she tapped something on her tablet, moved an item to another area, and then set it down in front of him for a moment, where Hedo noticed that it contained her personal exam of him before administering the pill, where he had to wonder what sort of exam she was talking about, but realized it might be time related, as there were rumors that she could peer into other timelines, and decided not to question it. "Now then, part of the reason I did this is because most of the population knows about Gero, and the fact that most of the doctors claim he went mad in some manner," Twilight continued, which was true to some degree, given what the man had done in his mad quest to bring down Goku and avenge the organization he had been affiliated with for some time, though her focus was on Hedo and his reaction to what she had in mind, "those same people have already determined that you are in the early stages of that very same madness, so anything that you told the ghouls to do will be seen as part of that madness... but, if you want to be seen as a hero, you need to stop doing such stupid and outrageous things, especially the part where your creations actually threaten innocent people. However, some people have turned a blind eye to the evil you have committed and are petitioning the courts to reduce your sentence... the only condition is that you freely allow all of the ghouls you've created to go home to their families... I'll have to do some work on them, to restore their minds and fix up their bodies so they aren't seen as ghouls anymore, but they'll be back home in a single day." "How much time are we talking?" Hedo asked, though at the same time he checked the information that was on the tablet Twilight had set in front of him, as his mind was racing to do the calculations and even envision what she had written on the device, a plan that was staggering when he considered all of the pieces labeled on the side. "You'll have to serve three months, out of what should be a very long sentence, but you'll be a free man after that... and I aim to use that to my advantage." Twilight stated, something that was followed by a smirk appearing on her face, as she could tell Hedo was interested in what he was reading and that meant she might be able to convince him to actually join her forces, turning him into a true hero while he worked to make whatever he was working towards, "You see, the newly reborn Red Ribbon Army, who have been living in the shadows and have no doubt been planning world domination, are no doubt interested in you and the fact that you're Gero's grandson... they know you've inherited some of his work, items they want to use to take over the world. News will reach them that you have been imprisoned and some of their members will no doubt come to investigate the area you will be held in, and I intend on using that against them... you want to be a hero, like Cleangod and the Data Sentai Digiman? I can make you one... we just need to teach you how to behave like a true super hero, instead of causing destruction and chaos like a villain." "This is insane... you want me to infiltrate their secret operations, pretend to work with them, make the item they want to use while fooling them at the same time, and relay all sorts of information to you?" Hedo remarked, because he had heard rumors that Twilight was one of the smartest individuals in the entire world, in fact many assumed that she was above everyone, as in her intelligence was on a whole other level, and even he could see that this plan was full of risks. "Yes. Heroes fight villains, right? This of this as more of your hero debut, if you will... people will be overjoyed to hear that the Red Ribbon Army's beaten again, and you'll get the fame you want." Twilight said, though she could tell that he was seriously thinking the offer over, which meant she had won him over, to which she collected the tablet for a moment and switched it to another tab, one that told him all of the benefits that came with accepting the offer, before handing it back to him and nearly chuckled as he laid eyes on it, "If you agree to join me in my quest to take down the Red Ribbon Army, there are a few things we'll have to work on, before and after you join the empire... namely using your time in prison to learn how to be a true hero and offering official apologizes for everything you've done up until now. Join my empire and you won't have to resort to robbing graves, plus you'll have access to all sorts of materials that cannot be found on Earth, how each one is used throughout the empire, and people like yourself to work with. So... what do you say?" Hedo considered the offer that was being presented to him, as he wanted to create the ultimate android and by heading out into space, tackling planets and resources that only Twilight's empire had access to, he would be able to create something that was a blend of both worlds. He could see it now, the ultimate android mixed with the potential of being the greatest of super heroes, saving the universe or the worlds beyond from all sorts of dangers, fulfilling two of his dreams with ease, and it all started with everything Twilight wanted him to do to bring down the Red Ribbon Army. Given what he could see of her plan he'd have plenty of time to start working towards both of his goals, especially in the android department since he had new ideas on a whole new breed of androids after the Dino-droid 01 had been destroyed earlier, a 'Gamma' line that would be far more than the ghouls he had created for the Alpha and Beta series. Sure, there were all sorts of things he had to learn before any of that could happen, in fact he was sure he wouldn't have a lot of free time during his stay in whatever prison he was sent to, but that only caused a smile to appear on his face, as this path was far more clear that the one he had been on previously and, more importantly, he could see the light at the end of the tunnel. Twilight smiled as she noticed the look on Hedo's face, especially when he told her that he was willing to join her if she could actually do everything she was promising, causing her to chuckle as she made sure the contract was signed before letting the officers know his decision on the ghouls, as he had agreed to let them return to their families, because things were going to get even more interesting with him working with her and it made her eager to see what happened next. > Super Hero: Pieces Moving > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hedo found that Twilight was true to her word, his sentence, which could have easily been a life sentence due to the various crimes he had committed, had been reduced to a three month stay in one of the prisons of the world, giving him time to study the information she gave him during their meeting. Such a thing allowed him to dispatch Hachimaru, a robotic wasp that actually packed enough power to match the power of the strongest Beta ghoul he had created, to survey the prison he was going to be staying in, allowing him to make notes on guard patterns and other things. With his drone deployed it was impossible for anything to escape his gaze, allowing him to focus on his new studies, items provided by Twilight as per their arrangement, while keeping an eye out for any hazards or people of interest that might be part of the army she wanted to bring down. He was glad that his gloves had been left in his care as well, since it also gave him access to Tentomaru, a far smaller robot that resembled a ladybug, who he sent out into West City to see if any additional Digimon showed up and fought the heroes who brought him in, as he wanted to see the heroes in action. Interestingly enough he found that it wasn't long before someone from the Red Ribbon Army showed up right outside the prison and seemed to be studying it, as he spotted an emblem inside the vehicle the man used, one he likely thought was well hidden, so he had Hachimaru tail him for a time. What he discovered was that the figure took note of the positions of the guards and their schedules, no doubt to see when he was allowed into the yard or the other areas of the prison, like his boss wanted him to stake out the area before they made their move, which would wreck Twilight's plans a little if he was taken sooner than planned. Oddly enough the man didn't do too much during his time outside the prison, where Hedo could see that a few of the guards were curious as to why he was here, especially since he wasn't entering the building, before he returned to his vehicle and departed from the area, all while Hedo made sure his wasp followed his target. Such a thing allowed him to see that the man returned to one of the nearby cities, heading right to a building with the word 'Red' in big letters, meaning Red Pharmaceuticals, who had produced an inferior version of Animorph before the drug was claimed by Twilight and rebranded to it's new form, cutting the company out of it entirely. Hedo was sure that they had a score to settle with her thanks to that, since it was one of the dominate money makers for those who liked being Beastians and didn't want to commit to one form, though he remained silent as he watched as the man walked through the building, nodding to those that were clearly below him in the company, before he stopped in an office that seemed to be the heart of the business. "Give me some good news, Carmine. Where are we on this Hedo fellow?" the chairman said, though neither him or the man who had opened the door even realized that Hachimaru was in the room with them, allowing Hedo to observe what was in the office, especially a man who seemed like a business leader who had a pin with the emblem of his army on it, Magenta Ribon to be exact, the son of Commander Red himself, "Have you tracked him down?" "We've been searching for him for a while now... he proved to be more troublesome to find than we thought, but we have learned that he's currently in prison and will be released in three months." the man, Carmine, replied, where Hedo found that Twilight's information was right, the Red Ribbon Army was interested in him, because if Magenta was interested in him than the rest of the army had to be exactly the same. "Well that's annoying... you know he can't help us while he's in the clink." Magenta remarked, where it was clear that he wasn't too happy with the information that had been given to him, though at the same time he took a buff of his cigar and put the ash in a container that was in front of him, while Carmine waited for him to speak before saying anything else, like a peon waiting for a commander to speak, "You do realize that he has something that we need in order to rebuild, right?" "Of course. Rest assured, we are currently formulating a plan and will grab Dr. Hedo when the time is right." Carmine said, which interested Hedo, since what he had seen so far wasn't all that great, causing him to wonder what in the world the organization might have in mind, even if he was sure that he wouldn't be all that impressed by their plan. "Good. That's exactly what I want to hear." Magenta stated, where he lifted his cigar for a moment and waved it at the man that was in front of him, mostly so he knew that he was still talking to him, while his mind was focused on what needed to be done in their base of operations to welcome the soon to be newest member to the organization, "Don't screw this up... my dear old pops didn't see his dream through to the end, but I'll make good on it and bring about the world domination he sought with all his heart." Hedo frowned as he heard that, as Magenta was just as bad as his father was, while at the same time confirming what he had been told during his meeting with Twilight earlier, the villains wanted him to help them dominate the world, meaning he had a lot of work to do to make sure they took the bait and braced himself for what the future held for him. Sure enough Hedo found that the three months passed without too much happening, save for Data Sentai Digiman facing off against a few new Digimon he hadn't seen before, such as one they called 'Infer', a silver and red cocoon shaped beast that was the same length that a male Human could stand. The group proved to give Hedo plenty of ideas for the upcoming androids that would become the Gamma Series, even though he was constantly surprised by the fact that some Digimon had the power to resist the strength of the heroes, to some degree anyway. As the weeks went by, however, he started to wonder who in the world was making all of the various Digimon that were out there in the world, though everything he had seen so far pointed to it being Twilight herself, as some of their powers matched hers and none of them dared to do any damage to the city her base was in. Even if that was true he realized that she might be testing the heroes to be sure that they were worthy of being called heroes, or being seen in the good light they were currently seen in, causing him to realize that it would be best if he said nothing to anyone else, not until he was actually working for Twilight. Eventually he was released from his cell and was given all of his stuff, or what he had when he was arrested, and that also included the container that held the autograph from Cleangod, though once he was released Hedo found that Carmine drove the car up to the wall and Magenta presented himself. Hedo, of course, already knew about them and was well prepared to speak with them, in fact he surprised them by telling the pair exactly who they were and revealed the existence of Hachimaru to Magenta, though at the same time he made no effort to share too much with them, since he wanted to keep some cards hidden for now. Interestingly enough Magenta was more than willing to offer him a significant amount of money to produce androids from the Red Ribbon Army, about three hundred million per android, plus they were willing to offer their facilities and resources to him so he could do such a thing. While they talked Hedo noticed that one of the police officers was intercepted by a dark figure, the infamous Devi Dimon, who caused the officer to disappear in a flash of darkness, meaning he, at least, wanted this operation to go down without a hitch, allowing him to focus on the here and now. One thing he also noticed was that Magenta had all sorts of snack items prepared for the trip, candy and soda, no doubt to help him get relaxed while they talked about what the man wanted from him, even though Hedo already knew what he wanted from him. He had been prepared to turn down the offer entirely, or at least make it seem that way, only for Magenta to inform him that he was willing to give him a billion per android, something that caused him to sigh as he accepted, making it look like it was an acceptable situation, a generous price for what they wanted. "So, who do you want the androids to take out? The one who took down Cell?" Hedo asked, though at the same time he picked up some of the crackers and tore into one, but he had to silently admit that this was somewhat stressful, making it seem like he was playing ball while trying to fulfill Twilight's conditions. "Not quite. Hercule is the one that told the public that he beat Cell, but we're fairly sure that an organization is behind that monster's downfall and he took the credit," Magenta replied, where he smiled for a moment, as his workers had poured a lot of time and energy into figuring out who really brought down the monster and why they let Hercule take the credit for saving the world, and now he could share that information with someone that would bring about his true goals, "We have discovered that they are allied with Capsule Corp and are planning on using all of their resources to launch a full scale invasion of the Earth in one year's time." "Isn't that unnecessary, especially since another extraterrestrial force already took over the planet?" Hedo inquired, since he knew Twilight was the greatest force on the planet, in fact her school and deeds were so well known that he was sure the entire planet knew about her, in one form or another anyway, before he took another cookie as he thought about it, just to maintain the fact that he wasn't affiliated with Twilight's forces, "Unless they want to topple the existing group first and then conquer everything else." "Exactly. We want some of your super powerful androids to deal with them, and those annoying Digimon that keep coming and going all the time." Magenta said, as he was now appealing to Hedo's obsession with super heroes, something nearly everyone knew about him at this point in time, and he could see the gears in the young man's head turning already, likely wondering how the world would see him once they took care of the 'invaders', "I'm sure I can make some androids that can bring them down, especially since my goal is to make the greatest androids that the universe has ever known." Hedo stated, showing Magenta that he was, to some degree, willing to join his army to bring down those who were 'pretending to be heroes', though at the same time he couldn't believe how easy it was to fool both men into believing that he had actually fallen for their rouse. Carmine stopped the car for a moment as he and his passengers noticed that Devi Dimon was standing in the middle of the road, with a wide smile on his face for some reason, though as he reached into his suit, to drab his gun, the figure turned into a mass of darkness and disappeared. Hedo turned his attention towards the road and what he needed to do to keep the Red Ribbon Army appeased, though he did have to wonder what the dark Digimon wanted from them, since he seemed to be the final villain for the data super heroes to deal with and he was taking an interest in him. He was unaware of the fact that Devi Dimon actually returned to an area that allowed him to privately speak with his master, allowing him to tell her that things were progressing as planned, that Hedo was now with their main enemy, and that he was definitely transmitting all the information he had gained without the Red Ribbon Army officials realizing what was going on. The plan was to remain the same, continue to test Trunks and Goten while observing the real villains from the shadows, observing and planning how to bring them down with the lowest amount of casualties possible, causing Devi Dimon to bow his head as he returned to his own domain for his part of the plan. Twilight smiled as she sat in her office, as the chessboard was full now, the pieces were in place, and Magenta had made the first in a long line of moves that she would be countering without him knowing what was going on, making her eager to see what the future held for her, Hedo, and everyone else that was part of this secret war. > Super Hero: Time Passes > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Piccolo found that Trunks and Goten, despite bringing Hedo in and stopping his ghoul scheme, continued to come to him for more training, almost as if they had finally realized that not everything was going to be fun and games for them, since their true target, Devi Dimon, remained at large. Their renewed vigor towards training was good to see, since it meant he could show them more and more of his own methods while pushing them to their limits, just as Twilight no doubt wanted since this was all part of her plan for the pair, a plan he knew not to get in the way of. To aid in their training Piccolo even made the pair their own weighted clothing, much like what he had used before Twilight's gravity sessions became the norm, and he made sure both were styled after their fathers, Goten going with orange and Trunks getting blue. Neither Saiyan seemed to mind the change of pace, in fact they tackled his new training with renewed purpose, causing him and Eschalot, when she was available, to nod their heads in approval every now and then while he pushed the pair as much as he could. That wasn't the only thing that had changed in Piccolo's life, because in the days leading up to Hedo being captured he had gained a new student, as Gohan started to let Pan come to his private home, in fact it was more like babysitting when he thought about it, but it gave them time to bond. What Piccolo discovered, however, was that Pan was a fan of heroes and was more like Goku than anyone knew at first, in fact she wanted to train the moment the words left his mouth, showing him that she had inherited her grandfather's genetics and part of his personality. He remembered when she was just a baby, causing a bit of chaos for Gohan and Videl, something that only made him wonder what Pan might be capable of when she was older, though all of this fueled his decision to take her on as one of his students as well, especially since it seemed like her parents were fine with that. If Pan was a Human child this wouldn't be happening, as most Human kids were still in the beginning stages of growing and weren't walking around like she was, but since she was part Saiyan her growth was totally different, even though she'd remain the same once she turned six and wouldn't change until she was a teen. After three months of teaching Pan the basics, which happened to be when Hedo got out of prison and was likely swept up in whatever scheme Twilight had for him, since he assumed the powerful pony girl had plans for the scientist, Piccolo took her on as his apprentice, fully to be exact, and slowly taught her what she needed to know. Piccolo had to admit that Pan's potential was staggering, because her slumbering power was on par with what Gohan's had been when he was her age, even if she couldn't tap into it right now, meaning that if he taught her how to draw it out, and control it without it hurting her, she would do well for herself in the future. To aid in her training Piccolo also had her clash with Goten and Trunks, which served as a lesson in control for both of his main students, where he was pleased to find that all three of them seemed to be enjoying themselves, while doing their best to complete his training. This was good news, as it meant he could teach both groups of students and impart lessons to both of them, while giving him a chance to study the three warriors in case there was something they needed to work on, even though he had to grin as Pan fought the older and more experienced warriors. They weren't used to clashing with someone that had Pan's speed, as that seemed to be one of her main strengths right now, though it was hard to tell if it was due to her size, since she was far smaller than the others, or if it was an innate power that had been awakened through training. Of course Goten and Trunks usually won their bouts with Pan, which was to be expected since they had far more combat experience than she did, but she did score a win when the pair decided to lower their power to the lowest point, as in zero percent, and found that even thinking about looking down on someone ended in their defeat, another lesson to add to what Piccolo was teaching them. Piccolo didn't pay too much attention to the various Digimon that Goten and Trunks ended up fighting, though he did learn that both of them actually focused on what sort of foes they were facing, what sort of powers they had this time, and what they could do to bring them down. From their stories it was easy for him to determine that both warriors were growing with every battle, refining their knowledge and polishing their power, and it was his assumption that they might be able to breach the barrier between what they could currently do and what else a Saiyan could tap into. His reasoning was that if Eschalot was able to reach Super Saiyan Blue, and was still pushing herself to master her versions of the other forms, it was possible for these two to do the same, something they seemed to be pushing towards on their own, something that would please Twilight when she checked up on them. It also made him wonder what Pan would be capable of when she was Gohan's age, his current age anyway, especially since he had that Beast form of his, something that caused his smirk to remain on his face as he continued to push everyone so they could be ready for whatever the future had in store for them. Six months after Hedo was released from prison, something Piccolo kept track of since Goten and Trunks talked about it and them expecting the scientist to do something at some point in time, he found that Pan's power was definitely getting stronger as time went on. Her speed was nothing to sniff at, as she linked to bounce around the area that they trained in, like she was a rabbit or something, which proved to be a worthwhile maneuver since one couldn't rely on their senses all the time, and her small size made it that much harder to hit her. Her strength needed more work, but Piccolo was sure that she would be able to surpass her father at some point in time, as she was fully dedicated to training, unlike how they had to force Gohan to train until Twilight got him to do it once a week, so he had to assume that, if Pan kept up her good work, she'd be the Eschalot of her generation. Of course Piccolo also held back when he had to train her, since he didn't want to hurt her, but he was impressed by her ability to withstand some of his blows, even in his powered down state, a fact that confirmed his thoughts on the matter. Pan also brought water for him, usually some of the best since he didn't need to eat food like the rest of the people that called this planet home, and when they rested he had her focus on building her Ki control, the baby steps since she wasn't even remotely ready to learn how to fly. When he wasn't training Pan, or dealing with Goten and Trunks, Piccolo returned to the mountain that he usually spent his time meditating on, utilizing his Ki to actually lift a portion of the peak up into the air and caused it to remain that way, a fact that depended on his mental state. If he was calm this would be easy to do without any difficulty, but if something or someone where to upset him, to anger or annoy him in some manner, his concentration would waver and he would force himself to return to the ground for a short period of time. Videl called him every now and then, just to make sure he was sticking to the schedule they had set up for Pan's training, in fact it seemed like Videl had resumed her own martial arts, so it meant that she trusted him with her daughter, since he was better for the partial Saiyan's growth than the training she usually did. He usually left the phone, which Gohan and Videl had provided once they realized he was going to teach her how to control her power, on a short pedestal outside his door, that way he could hear it no matter where he was in the surrounding area, even when it ran it was usually due to Pan. Piccolo as he let out a sigh and focused on his meditation, as today was one of the rare days where he wasn't training with Pan or pushing Trunks and Goten to their limits, though his time alone was interrupted as he felt something coming at him and found that it was a volley of energy bursts that tore into the area around him. "Who dares to bother me on my day off?" Piccolo asked, though the attack had done nothing to him, his attire was fine and his body was untouched, allowing him to focus on the intruder, who was a humanoid creature that looked more like an android, which made sense after he thought of Hedo again, who had two fins on his head, as it was a male body, and wore a yellow-orange suit with a blue 2 on it, a blue cape, and black boots. "So, you must be King Piccolo." the android stated, totally ignoring the fact that Piccolo had asked a question, though as he said that he spun his little ray gun around and slipped it into the holder on his belt, before letting a smile appear on his face for a few moments, like he thought he had hit the jackpot or something. "Man, your information is out of date. King Piccolo's dead... I'm just Piccolo." Piccolo replied, as he was technically 'junior', the son of the original, though such a thing made him keep his guard up, since there was no telling how much the figure knew about him, before he considered something as he remembered what Twilight had done in the past, "You know, it's unwise to attack any old Namekian you see, since there are more of my kind in the cities... wouldn't want you to be seen as a villain, even though most would likely see you as some sort of old tacky hero." "What do you mean 'tacky'? I prefer retro, if you don't mind." the android stated, showing that he didn't appreciate what Piccolo was saying, though at the same time he quickly made a few movements with his arms and legs, showing that he thought of himself as a super hero, since they looked like poses that Goten and Trunks would pull off, "And before you ask about my identity, just know that it's top secret!" Piccolo chuckled for a moment as he rushed through the air and punched the android right in the chest, surprising him as he sent his foe flying into one of the rock pillars that surrounded his domain, which confirmed that his foe had no idea just how strong he was, if this was enough to send him flying. As the android came at him again Piccolo dodged the incoming punch, kicked his opponent in the chest, and then grabbed onto his fins as he sent him down into the ground, where he understood that Hedo likely had no idea that he was this strong and that his new warrior would be overpowered so much in a short period of time. At the same time he realized that this might be part of Twilight's plans, since she was no doubt keeping an eye on what the Red Ribbon Army was doing, something he came to understand as he noticed the insignia on the android's left shoulder, before he turned his attention back to the android. He found that his foe was trying hard to do any sort of damage to him, throwing powerful punches, delivering grand kicks, and everything else that happened to be in his arsenal, causing Piccolo to lower his defenses a little more to make whoever was watching think he had gotten lucky in the beginning, since it would help him figure out where their enemies were located. Sure enough the android loosed a massive blast from his ray gun and he let it slam down into the ground in front of him, creating a smoke cloud that shrouded him from his foe's sight, especially since he moved out of the area and watched him from a rock pillar's peak, before moving as the android departed. Piccolo was able to determine that this android wasn't like 16, as he didn't have anything that allowed him to sense Ki or any of the powers that existed in the world, and based on what he had seen so far it didn't look like he had the infinite energy like 17 and 18. With that in mind it meant that he was likely a weaker android, in comparison to the abilities that Gero's androids had been gifted with, though that didn't mean this one was foe that could be taken lightly, as one misstep would cause the downfall of whoever happened to be fighting him and the rest of his kind, because if there was a 2 there had to be a 1 somewhere. While he traveled Piccolo did his best to make sure there were no enemies in the various areas they rushed through, since he didn't want anyone to know what he was doing, not until he knew what the army was doing so he could tell Twilight what he knew. In the end he discovered that the android's destination was a large man made lake, with slanted walls to keep the large body of water contained inside it, only to nearly slap his head as he found that they emblazoned the Red Ribbon Army logo on one of the walls, meaning they were just as stupid as before, and discovered that a wall opened as the android approached it. "Interesting... now how do I..." Piccolo started to say, though before he could finish his remark he found that there was a new Ki signature coming towards him, Gulus Gamma he noticed, who dropped to the side of him, set down a set of attire that matched what was inside the hidden area, and departed without saying a single word. Piccolo decided not to question it as he put on what seemed to be the grunt armor for the new Red Ribbon Army, which did cover his mouth and most of his body, so no one would suspect that he was anyone other than '99' and that his post, according to a slip of paper, was inside the main command center. Such a thing was followed by him heading inside and found that the android, called Gamma 2 by some of the other soldiers, had walked down a tunnel, one that lead them to the inside of the area, revealing that it wasn't a lake, rather it was a hidden base protected by a barrier. With that in mind he followed his target for a time, who had no idea that he was even following him, before he found his way to what had to be the main command center of the entire base, where he spotted Hedo, dressed in a scientist coat, sitting in an area as he talked with someone, like the army's leader. The other soldiers didn't seem too surprised to see him here, as if Gulus had infiltrated the area beforehand and set this up for Piccolo, something only Twilight would know to do, unless Hedo was on her side, and he was able to get into the chamber as well, following instructions that appeared on his visor, which had to be Gulus' way of helping him out. Such a thing allowed him to find another android that was nearly identical to Gamma 2, only he had one fin on his head and his cape was red, which meant he had to be Gamma 1, where he and his brother were talking about Piccolo's corpse, or lack of one since the first one was definitely smarter than his brother. What he was able to learn from watching the Gammas and their creator, plus the Commander of the Red Ribbon Army, was that they believed that he, Goku, Vegeta, and everyone else associated with them were a dark organization that was bent on trying to take over the world. Many of them were labeled as 'mid-tier lieutenants', while the likes of Majin Boo and Hercule were some of the higher ranking members of the group, joining Bulma near the top, though Twilight was exactly where she belonged, right at the top as the 'Grandmaster', the leader of everyone. What happened next was that Hedo revealed the existence of another creature he had been working on, as his boss wanted to know when it would be ready to be deployed, a creature called 'Cell Max', a red and green version of Cell that looked like he was currently in his second form, his semi-perfect form, and he seemed to be sleeping. Fortunately Hedo didn't like Cell Max and was doing his best to work around the restrictions that came with making an android like him, plus there was a control system for his mind that needed to be finished and installed at some point, least he destroy the very world that Magenta, the Commander, wanted to conquer, so there was time before he was ready to go. Piccolo realized that this information needed to be delivered to Twilight as soon as possible, so she could determine what to do with the Red Ribbon Army and their new monster, he just had to wait for an opening to reveal itself so he could leave this place without drawing attention to himself. > Super Hero: Gathering of Heroes > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Piccolo spent some time standing still and observing the villains that were clearly unaware of the fact that he was there, gathering information on them and their plans, though from what he could tell only Hedo seemed aware that one of their men was different from everyone else. He did note something interesting, none of the Red Ribbon soldiers were Beastians or even the other races, it was like they were trying to say that Humans were greater than everything else Twilight had brought to this planet over the years, a fact he knew to be false. Other than that he studied the Gammas, finding that 2 was far more lax than 1, where the red caped android was far more serious and was focused on whatever mission he might be given, even if that meant correcting his brother on whatever errors he might have made during his test run. By the time that the meeting was over he had learned a few things, such as the fact that they had no idea who the super hero group was, all of their recently gained powers during the Tournament of Power were unknown to them, and they had no idea who they were trying to mess with. In the end Piccolo realized there was no real reason for him to worry about the Red Ribbon Army, as the only people he or his friends had to take down were the Gammas, as everyone else was Human and they didn't have any power of their own, plus Cell Max, but if they moved quickly "99, come with me." Hedo said, reminding Piccolo of his number and of the fact that he was acting like someone who was part of the army, to which he saluted, like he had seen the others do beforehand, before following the figure out of the large command center for a time, leaving the Gammas behind to deal with the commander and his right hand, meaning this had to be something only he could hear. Piccolo found that Hedo brought him to what appeared to be his own residence, for when he wasn't busy making all sorts of new androids, though he said nothing as the figure had him remain by the closed door and walked over to a computer for a couple of seconds, only to return a few seconds later with a drive in a familiar container. "This contains a full copy of everything Twilight Sparkle wants me to get on the Red Ribbon Army. You are to deliver it to her during your next mission." Hedo stated, confirming the fact that he was allied with Twilight and that he was working to bring down the army that had come to him after he got out of prison, though at the same time Piccolo said nothing as he accepted the square shaped contained and slipped it into a pouch that had been added to his attire, "Don't worry, I'm the only one who knows you aren't who you're pretending to be... part of the plan was to reserve this number for someone to use later on, and it looks like Lady Twilight was right on the money." "Very well. What is this mission you have for me?" Piccolo inquired, doing his best to make sure that he was just a soldier and nothing else, just in the off chance that there were any listening devices Hedo didn't know about, but given his vast intelligence, which was overshadowed by Twilight's, he suspected that the man knew his domain was safe. "The Commander will tell everyone soon, and I'm going to interject to speed things along." Hedo replied, which meant he likely suspected that the others would say something that went against his personal code and that he was going to do what he could to make sure that didn't happen, "He might go after Son Gohan's daughter, and I'm going to focus on him, since he's more important than his innocent daughter... plus we don't want to get Mr. Satan involved, right?" Piccolo nodded his head for a moment as he followed the man back out into the meeting area he had been station in for a time, where he returned to his post as Hedo took his seat and helped himself to some of the cookies that were on a table off to his right, which Magenta didn't seem to mind. In the following moments, after everyone important was assembled, Magenta confirmed what the scientist had said previously, they wanted to start tearing down the 'enemy cabal' and that meant they needed to figure out who to attack first, ending in the most obvious target, Gohan and Pan. Hedo, true to his word, said that there was no need to resort to kidnapping Pan, both because they didn't want to get Hercule involved, or at least not yet since the Commander likely had plans for the man, and due to the fact that he was positive that they could convince Son Gohan to come here with a few words. Magenta wasn't convinced that this was the right method, but Hedo had to remind him that the enemy cabal was larger than he expected and that if they kidnapped Pan it would spread like wildfire, meaning if they convinced him to come quietly they could keep their assault under wraps. It was a good plan in the grand scheme of things, allowing the army to make their move without alerting anyone else in the process, and Magenta eventually agreed to the plan, where Hedo turned his head towards Piccolo and ordered him to get going, as he had prepared a single person vessel for him to reach his destination sooner. He had expected Magenta to throw a fit or raise his voice at such an idea, especially since it seemed to go again everything he likely thought or stood for, but instead he decided to let Hedo go about his business without raising the alarm, as if expecting that Piccolo, or '99', would get the job done. Piccolo acknowledged his 'mission' and departed from the chamber with their leave, only to find that his visor showed him the layout and path he needed to take to get to the hanger, since he needed to present himself as a soldier and not an intruder, which he was fine with for the time being. Fortunately it didn't take him long to find the area in question, tracked down the ship that almost looked like a modified delivery vehicle that was outfitted for flight, and followed the protocols given to him to fly the ship out of the hanger like he knew what he was doing. Piccolo had to thank Gulus Gamma for bothering to set everything up for him, since it allowed him to reach his target area and the villains with ease, especially since it let him see that Hedo was on Twilight's side of things, causing him to turn his attention to the controls as he made his way towards Gohan's home. What he discovered was that today was Gohan's day off and that he was currently training in the area that Twilight had set up in the past, causing Piccolo to set the ship a fair distance away before flying over to where his student was training, only to find that his senses were right, Twilight was present as well. She had set up a grand test for Gohan, as it looked like both of his arms and legs happened to have darkness surrounding them, makeshift weights that likely contained the vast power of her most powerful element, to really test his skills, and some of the shadows formed familiar enemies for him to fight, all to make sure he was ready for the next villain he had to fight. This was good news for him, as it meant that Gohan was good and ready for the Gammas and whatever else might be lurking inside the Red Ribbon Army headquarters, though neither person said anything as he entered the area and walked over to where Twilight was sitting. It was in that moment he also noticed something else, that being that Trunks and Goten were present as well, doing their own training even though it was supposed to be one of their own days off as well, as he assumed that they would be playing hero again or something, but this was good news as well, especially with their team sitting off on the side. "Twilight, I have discovered the hideout of the Red Ribbon Army, and right now they want to lure Gohan in to fight him, all to weaken our 'cabal'." Piccolo said, though he also produced the container that Hedo had given him and handed it over to her without delay, where he found that a smile graced her face as she accepted it, something that caused the darkness to leave those that were currently training, "Hedo seemed like he was expecting me to show up, so he's given me everything I might need to complete the mission that you gave him, all without raising the alarm that he's a traitor to their cause." "Good, then it means it's time for us to make our move." Twilight remarked, as she couldn't believe that Magenta thought his newest recruit was actually on his side, that he could turn a super hero fan into a full on villain with the promise of money and the ability to do whatever he wanted, before she beckoned for everyone to come close, "Gohan, it would seem that the Red Ribbon Army has returned and they want to take you down first... either because of their grudge against Goku, for their defeat all those years ago, or because you're one of the only ones they know the location of. You are going to join Piccolo and make your way to the base in question, to see what they want and stall them with him assisting you, while I'll spread word to the others and see who will come to observe their final defeat... I know these two will want to fight them, since they are heroes and the Red Ribbons are definitely villains." Trunks and Goten were happy to have an opportunity to actually fight a villainous organization, especially since it had been some time since Devi Dimon had made a move against them or the city they called home, though Piccolo was pleased to see that they were actually ready to fight for once. He also knew that Twilight would likely call in Eschalot, some of the students that were around her level of power, and the police so they could arrest those that were knocked out during the fight that would start once everyone arrived, and he could tell that Rena and her team were ready to go. In addition to that he found that Gohan didn't need his glasses, since he was near sighted when he wasn't in a transformed state, only to find that his student had sought out Twilight to cure his condition, though he still wore them for meetings. It was an interesting thing to learn, that she was doing far more than one would expect from someone of her position to do, and it only made him more interested in what else she might do to the Red Ribbon Army before they were locked up for their crimes against the rest of the world, but decided to shelve the idea for now. With that in mind he and Gohan returned to his ship and he input the command sequence that allowed him to set a course for the hidden base once more, where the flight gave him time to brief his student on what to expect once they arrived at their destination, though at the same time it only made Piccolo all the more interested in what would happen once Magenta realized that his doom was approaching and that there was nowhere for him to run. > Super Hero: Springing the Trap > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gohan said nothing during the flight to the area that the Red Ribbon Army had set their base in, as there wasn't much for him to say this time around, before he noticed a flicker in the space in front of them that happened to be the dome Piccolo had mentioned, the shroud keeping the base hidden from everyone. He and Piccolo were the first group that would enter the domain of their enemies, with Twilight and the others remaining outside for the time being, though upon landing both warriors gathered themselves as Piccolo removed his disguise and made his way outside. The guards, of course, were totally surprised by this discovery and got out of the way as the pair moved forward, mostly to escort them to the upper area that Magenta was waiting in, though as they emerged from the passage it was easy to see that things had changed, as it was now raining and thundering, like they were trying to set the scene. Neither warrior cared about that as they walked forward, a fact that caused Magenta to pause as he realized that Piccolo was here as well, confirming the fact that Gamma 2 had failed to take him down during his test run, while also giving him the false impression that the Gammas would since since he let his foe win that fight. While they walked forward so, too, did the Gammas, showing that they were following whatever orders Hedo had given them before Piccolo returned with Gohan, not to mention everyone else that were lurking outside the base, though for the time being they focused on the pair in front of them. "So, you actually came... to be honest, we weren't sure you would." Gamma 1 said, as Gohan had filled him in on the way to this place, so he was up to speed on what was going on and let him know who their enemies really were, where it was clear that they had been unsure if Piccolo would return or if they would launch an all out assault on the base without giving the Commander time to get things ready, "Son Gohan, you will be my opponent." "If that's what you want, then go ahead." Gohan replied, where he shifted his stance for a moment and found that the new android rushed at him without wasting time, causing him to tank the attack by doing absolutely nothing to stop the punch from touching him, surprising Gamma 1, his brother, and the watchers in the process, "Is that all? Then it's my turn." In the following moment he turned his body and kicked the android right in the chest, sending him flying backwards as his feet dug into the ground that was below him, before Gamma 1 regained control of himself and rushed back into the battle with a new fire in his eyes. Piccolo understood that the android must have been designed with some desire for fighting, just like his brother had been designed, and facing Gohan's high wall had likely driven him to awaken that part of him so he could figure out how his foe moved so he could bring him down. It was the same strategy his brother had used during their previous battle, even though Piccolo had beaten the android until he decided to play at being defeated so he could figure out what was going on, but at the same time he knew he didn't have to worry about anything. Gohan was one of the smartest members of their group, a warrior that actually excelled in both combat and information gathering, all thanks to the training that Twilight put him through, and his calm and collected fighting style reflected that, blocking attacks with his palms or sides of his arms as he struck openings that only he could see. As Piccolo watched, however, he came to realize something important, that being the fact that Gohan had figured out how to master his own fighting style and used it with lethal precision, blocking incoming attacks as he punched the Gamma in the chest or kicked him in the sides, allowing him to push his foe backwards. "What's going on? Son Gohan isn't supposed to be this strong." Gamma 2 inquired, floating near Piccolo as he watched the fight that was taking place right now, while his tone revealed that he was doing his best to make sure Magenta thought he and his brother were trying to bring down the 'evil cabal members' that were in front of them. "You really didn't do your homework, did you? Rather sloppy if you ask me." Gohan replied, showing that he could hear the other android as he and Gamma 1 fought, where at the same time he dodged an incoming attack, grabbed onto the arm that had come close to his head, and hurled his foe over his shoulder before kicking him in the chest, sending him towards Hedo and the others. "What's that supposed to mean? You are Son Gohan, the son of Son Goku, are you not?" Magenta asked, where he and his second in command glared at the warrior that was currently facing one of the Gammas, while the other was slacking off, even if he'd call it keeping an eye on King Piccolo, who had definitely gotten stronger since the last time someone had used one of Gero's old power scanners to figure out how powerful he really was. "I am, make no mistake about that... I am also the Admiral of the Zero Squad, the greatest fleet in Lady Twilight's forces, comprised of the greatest individuals of each field." Gohan stated, something that stunned the people in front of him, as it was a fact that not a lot of people outside the universal fleet or empire even knew, but the most important thing was that he was allied with Twilight, which meant Magenta knew the one person he wanted to avoid bringing here might already be on her way to this base, "Besides, I'm not the one you should be worried about." As Magenta heard that statement he and everyone else heard another voice calling out 'Devour', where they watched as the dome that was protecting the base started to shudder before their eyes and broke apart like something was eating it up, like it was nothing more than candy, only for him to pale as he found Gulus Gamma munching on the pieces. That was just the beginning of the bad news for him as he found that the fragments were being drawn in by some odd force, which revealed that there were more people outside the base than he had even realized, as he could see that more of the dark army had surrounded their domain. He spotted Eschalot among their number, a fact that really made things bad for them, along with other members of the army that just drastically reduced his chances of success, to the point where he tapped a button on his attire that would awaken his slumbering beast, as a rampaging Cell Max was better than this. After that his blood went cold as he spotted the last person he wanted to see right now, as Twilight, herself, was floating in the air and was currently looking down on everything that was in front of her, meaning he was right to activate Cell Max remotely while everyone's eyes were on the barrier unraveling. In addition to all of that he found the group of heroes that Hedo was so interested in, whose name he had decided not to bother himself with learning, were present as well, before gasping as Hedo and his Gammas walked over to where Gohan was standing before turning to face him and his surprised army. "Dr. Hedo, what are you doing?" Magenta asked, though at the same time he had a feeling that he knew what was going on right now, since there was no other way for their enemies to have found them and moved all of their forces into place in the short span of time that the last ship had been gone. "Did you honestly think I'd join you for money and power? I joined you to lay this trap, to ensure that everything was in one place so the Red Ribbon Army could be extinguished in an instant." Hedo replied, though as he said that the soldiers of Twilight's army descended down on the soldiers and started arresting them before they could do anything, hauling the lesser officers of Magenta's army into special containers that would ensure they were unable to break out until they were delivered to the police, "To tell you the truth, Gamma 1 and Gamma 2 were getting increasingly annoyed with having to play at being part of your forces, and were overjoyed when it came time to send one of them out on a 'test run'... all so we could bring attention to everything that was happening here and get the show on the road." Magenta glanced at the scene that was unfolding before his eyes, as his soldiers were being captured and those that did try to resist were beaten by the Data warriors, the various machines and vehicles his people used were being taken apart by other soldiers, and everything he had planned for a long time had been trashed in no time at all, before he chuckled as he thought of something they had overlooked. "You might have beaten me, but you won't beat Cell Max!" Magenta stated, where those that were in the know seemed to be caught off guard by his statement, though as the ground shuddered everyone was surrounded by magical orbs and were teleported over to where Twilight was floating, just in time to witness the end of everything. The ground shuddered as a surge of energy tore through the ground, coming from the depths of the base, and Twilight found that the monstrous Cell Max, a massive giant like the notes Hedo had given her claimed he was, reached out as he was awoken in a berserk state, due to being largely incomplete, especially since he let out a powerful scream. "Twilight, let us show you the results of our training." Trunks said, though this time both he and Goten decided to do away with their super hero costumes, showing her that they were going to take what was happening seriously as they stared at the red version of Cell that was below them, causing her to nod as they descended into the area that Cell Max was tearing up since there was no one around him. Trunks and Goten landed for a moment, giving the figure a chance to realize that they were there in the first place, before calling forth their auras as both warriors tapped into their inner power, causing the air around them to vibrate for a time as those that could feel Ki realized that they were up to something big. Twilight raised an eyebrow for a moment as she realized what they were doing, as their energy was far similar to something their fathers had done a long time ago, and it quickly became clear to everyone else as a familiar blue aura appeared around them. She had no idea when the pair had done it, but they had figured out how to tap into Super Saiyan Blue, which sort of made sense since the God Form could be gained by training with someone like Beerus or Whis and focusing on other training allowed them to tap into this form, just like Goku and Vegeta had done. A few moments later the pair emerged from their auras with the blue hair and form that their fathers had mastered once upon a time, where Cell Max brought his club tail down on where they were standing and everyone found that they dodged it before he could even touch them. In the following second Trunks delivered a powerful uppercut and knocked Cell Max into the air, though as he recovered he lashed out at Goten, who ducked and weaved through the attacks like they were nothing, which was true since his foe had only just woke up and he wasn't used to moving his body. The pair knew that this was likely the best time to bring him down, before he did anything that might endanger the rest of their world, and weren't wasting time, showing Twilight that they had grown since she started pushing her own training regimen on them, both physically and mentally. Both warriors glanced at each other for a moment, showing that they understood what their fathers had said about the original Cell, that he had a core that allowed him to regenerate from all sorts of harm and that total destruction had been the key to taking him out, to which they wondered how Cell Max operated. Since Hedo had been the one to design this foe, as he had likely based him off of his grandfather's blueprints for the original, there was a chance that this one had that same strength, meaning taking Cell Max out would be harder than anyone might assume at a glance, causing the two to lay into him with a number of punches that knocked him into the air. As Cell Max was knocked into the air, however, the pair rushed down to the ground and raised their hands, each taking their own stance as Twilight realized what combination technique they were planning on using to bring the newly awakened beast down, further confirmation that they were actually taking this seriously. "Final..." Trunks said, because while he was still working on some of his own techniques, to truly make him different from his father and the other warriors he knew, he had figured out how to utilize some of the moves his father used in combat, and that lead to him and Goten learning how to wield a powerful combination their fathers had used in the past. "Kame... hame..." Goten added, as one of the techniques his father and brother had learned, and mastered, was the move his father had learned by watching and copying Roshi all those years ago, while he and his brother had learned it from their training with those who knew how to use it. "HAAA!" the pair cried out, thrusting their hands forward as they fired their beam attacks up at Cell Max, allowing the beams to join into a single combined force that tore through the air, all while Twilight knew they had perfectly copied the attack their fathers had used a few times in the past. The Final Kamehameha tore through the area that Cell Max was in, as his inexperience in combat meant he was unable to move with any degree of accuracy and forced him to tank the blow that was coming his way, allowing everyone to watch as it wiped out his very being, leaving nothing of Cell Max behind. "Man, those who are packing some serious power... now I really want to fight them." Gulus commented, where he watched as the two warriors made absolutely sure that no trace of Cell Max remained, though at the same time he found that his creator was looking at a time sphere that allowed her to observe a timeline where this beast was allowed to fight for a longer period of time, as she was curious as to what sort of power he could have called upon. "And you will... for now, let them enjoy their victory." Twilight stated, as there was more work to do, in ensuring the end of the Red Ribbon Army, and she knew it would be a day or two before this entire area was completely cleared out, but this was a good day for Trunks and Goten and she didn't feel like ruining their mood, since they had basically passed her lessons with flying colors with this display. Gulus chuckled as he watched the soldiers of his creator's army congratulate Trunks and Goten on a job well done, showing everyone that they were ready to be left as the defenders of Earth, when it came time for everyone to leave for the rest of the multiverse, and it only made him all the more eager to face them in combat, causing him and the others to look forward to what the future had in store for them. > Interlude: Twilight's Final Exam > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- It took a few days to get everything done, but Twilight was pleased with the results of her plan, as the members of the lesser members of the Red Ribbon Army, the soldiers who only did it for the paycheck, were facing a short span in jail before her people made sure they could integrate into society without seeking evil again. In addition to that Magenta and the rest of the upper echelon of his group were sentenced to a longer period in jail, to give them time to think about what they had tried to do and maybe, just maybe, reform them thanks to those who tented to criminals, to try and turn them from the path they had been walking. She knew that Magenta wouldn't change for the better, he seemed far too convinced that his father was right and that world domination was the best way to go about things, so she suspected that he would spend the rest of his days in jail and left him to those who worked at the prison he had been shipped to. Other than that it took a total of three days to make sure everything in the Red Ribbon Army base was dismantled, packed up, and cleared up so that the natural landscape could flourish once more, to the point that it looked like nothing nefarious had happened here. Hedo and the Gammas, on the other hand, were acknowledged as heroes for helping track down the Red Ribbon Army and helping bring them in at long last, plus the Gammas removed the insignia of the army to avoid being seen as some of their allies, and all three joined Twilight's army to help spread their justice to the rest of the multiverse. During that time she found that Trunks and Goten continued to take things seriously, as while they did keep up with their super hero personas, keeping the city safe from whatever dangers might show up to disrupt the peace, they also did well in keeping their grades up, even if they had no plans to leave the planet like Eschalot did. It was simply amazing that they had taken the information about most of Earth's greatest warriors leaving in the future and took it to heart, pushing them to do everything in their power to take up the mantle of the heroes who would be heading into the other universes. She wasn't the only one surprised by this discovery, as everyone else in their normal friend group was surprised by what they had seen, but agreed with her, that the pair always had this potential for greatness and that they had finally reached it, thanks to all the hard work they put into their training. It made many of them wonder what the pair might be able to do in the future, since they had reached Super Saiyan Blue, so no one knew how far they were going to go with the rest of their forms, especially with the possibility of them asking her for their tails to get Super Saiyan 4 as well. Once everything was said and done Twilight invited everyone to an observation platform that rested above the area that the base once rested in, though Bulma and the others were interested in what she had to say, since she had said nothing about the visit before they came here. "I'm sure that all of you are eager to hear why I decided to invite all of you here, so I'll be brief: Trunks and Goten, there is someone who wishes to challenge you to a fight." Twilight said, where Bulma realized why the platform looked more like the stands that Vegeta had told her the warriors from the other universes had sat on when they were eliminated from the Tournament of Power, before she beckoned to the area that was above the dismantled base, "Gulus Gamma has seen you two in action multiple times and has voiced his desire to face you in battle. Do you accept his challenge?" "Sure, I don't see why not." Trunks replied, where Goten nodded his agreement as they glanced over the edge and found that the figure in question was floating down where Twilight had beckoned, though it was hard to tell if he was meditating or if he was simply sleeping as he waited for them to make up their minds on the matter, or maybe he was just bored and was standing there to pass the time, before he considered something, "This is another trial, isn't it?" "We can call it one, if that helps you out... the 'Exam of the Powerful Foe'." Twilight stated, because Gulus happened to be the strongest Digimon she had created, out of every single one she had created in the Digital World, and calling him by such a title was accurate, where she could see that Trunks and Goten's Saiyan instincts brought a smile to their faces, as they had finally understood why their fathers loved battle, "Conditions will either be you beat him and he surrenders, or he beats you and you surrender... there will be no killing allowed." Trunks and Goten nodded for a moment before they dropped down into the lower area that Gulus was waiting in, where they found that he must have been meditating while standing there, because as soon as they came to a stop near him he opened his eyes and smiled as he noticed that they had actually accepted his challenge. "I am grateful that you two accepted my challenge, as I've wanted to fight you two for awhile now and after seeing how you took down Cell Max it ignited my desire to clash with you." Gulus said, though at the same time he shifted his stance for a moment, to show them that he was going to come at them in the next few seconds, where he grinned as he quickly found that both of his opponents did the same thing, showing him that they were going to take him seriously, "Well then, here I come." Trunks and Goten found that the statement was correct, Gulus rushed through the air and punched Trunks in the chest, the force of which sent him flying through the air as he realized something important, that being the fact that Twilight had been telling the truth, this Digimon was very strong. That brief moment of contact told him that their base form and their Super Saiyan form would be useless in this battle, and he doubted that even Super Saiyan 2 would help them out, which meant they either had to focus on Super Saiyan 3 or Blue, the latter maybe too much for the start of a fight. Goten threw a punch at Gulus, only to find that he dodged the attack and his tail wrapped around his friend's hands, allowing the figure to spin around before sending Goten flying towards him, where Trunks caught up before he ended up flying outside of the area Twilight had brought them to. The two shared a look for a moment, each realizing that the other had determined the same thing in the span of a few seconds, Gulus was strong and their current forms would do nothing to him, meaning it would be in their best interest to transform before he got annoyed with them. As they thought about it, however, Gulus rushed up to where they were positioned and kicked both of them down into the ground, blasting a crater into the rock that was below them, though in the next instant Trunks and Goten emerged from the smoke, this time having the long intense hair and power of the Super Saiyan 3 form at the ready. This time around the pair crossed the distance between them and Gulus, throwing a pair of powerful punches at him in the process, only to find that he jumped onto their outstretched arms before flipping over their heads and landing behind them, causing both warriors to turn and press the assault. In the following moments Trunks discovered something else, all of the movements that Gulus was using reminded him of the time he saw Twilight fight, as it was hard to forget how the strongest warrior in the universe fought, meaning it was like looking at a mirror image, copied movements that felt like it was also Gulus' personal style. He moved with a level of grace that made it seem like he had been training for years, just like Twilight as Trunks studied their foe's movements, as when Goten launched a series of punches at him Gulus just took a few seconds to duck and weave out of the way, before bringing his knee into Goten's chest as he knocked him away yet again. In the next moment Gulus went on the offensive as he summoned his dark flames and sent them flying at the pair as fireballs, causing Goten and Trunks to dodge them as best as they could since his aim was incredible, before both of them realized that this was merely a diversion as they followed their foe's movements. Gulus, surrounded by his dark aura, raised his hands for a moment and moved his left hand like his claws were carving a line of dark flame before their very eyes, a horizontal line to be exact, before doing almost the same with his right hand, only it formed a vertical line and completed his deadly looking attack. The cross shaped attack, which could pass for an x if one looked at it a certain way, burst into existence as it came at the pair, where Goten and Trunks fell back for a moment and fired their own beam attacks at the ever growing target that was approaching them. What they discovered was that theirs did seem to stall the approaching attack for a time, though true to form Gulus' was simply stronger than what either of them were expecting when they agreed to this challenge in the first place, meaning they had to get serious before they lost their window to beat him. With that in mind the pair powered down to their base forms for just a couple of seconds before going Blue, causing the space around them to shuddered as they accessed their full power once more, where they utilized their full power and empowered their beam attack, causing it to push against Gulus' before pushing it backward, even if Gulus only smiled as he saw this. As the attack reached him, however, Gulus jumped backwards and held a hand out towards the energy, blowing all of it up before it could even get close to touching him, though as that happened a light emerged from where the pair had been and he felt a surge of energy that felt like the pair had merged into their Gotenks form. Gulus was fine with this discovery, because while he wanted to fight with Trunks and Goten the true test of his skill was in the fusion form that they could make on occasion, where he summoned his dark aura for a moment as he found that the merged warrior finally emerged from the smoke, in the Blue form no less. In the next instant he rushed through the air and lashed out at Gotenks, where he found that his foe dodged the attack easily and punched him square in the side of his face, knocking him down into the ground on the other side of the arena they were fighting in. Gulus chuckled for a few seconds as he rubbed the side of his face, as this was great for him, before he rushed back into the air and stalled as he found that his opponent had already determined that he'd do this, as there were a number of golden rings around him, the Galactic Donuts if his memory served him right. He barely had any time to react to what was going on as he found that the rings shrunk and pinned his arms to the side of his body, a full body trap to immobilize his opponents, before finding that Gotenks didn't have to do anything, as he had prepared a number of his explosive ghosts before he even came out of the smoke earlier, showing that he was far smarter than the kids Twilight had dealt with in the past. The resulting explosion light up the sky around them as Gotenks' ghosts struck Gulus repeatedly, blasting him into what might as well be submission as he crashed into part of the ground, surprising most of the combatants as they found that the Digimon had been beaten so easily. "Give up Gulus, you can't beat me now." Gotenks stated, though this wasn't arrogance speaking, he knew his full power in this state was far more than what Gulus Gamma had at the moment, especially since he downed Gulus in an instant, so he felt that telling his foe to surrender was the best thing right now, least he do some serious damage to him. In the next moment Gulus burst into the air and rushed up towards Gotenks, though that seemed to be false as he quickly came to a stop in front of where Twilight was standing, where he and the others watched as Gulus knelt towards her and bowed his head, like there was something only she could do for him. "Lady Twilight, I request the usage of my full power." Gulus said, showing everyone that Twilight definitely had some link to the Digimon that had suddenly appeared in the world, confirming what some had thought since the moment the first one had shown up, especially since there had been no evidence of such a thing until now. "Granted." Twilight stated, where she walked around to Gulus' backside for a moment and pressed her hand on his back for a few seconds, allowing everyone to see that golden lines appeared all over his body as she undid a seal she had put on him after testing out his full power, though once the seal was temporarily undone, as it would come back when this battle was over, Gulus got up and rushed down into the arena, "Also, for those wondering, the answer to your question is 'yes': I am the one who created the Digimon... also, Gulus is a special creation of mine, as he's the only Digimon that has the power to transform... or, as he likes to call it, 'Digivolve'." As everyone raised their eyebrows to question what she meant by that, however, they were interrupted as pillars of odd helices appeared all over the area, where Twilight knew it was linked to Gulus' transformation, and it wasn't long before all of them came rushing back to where the digital warrior was spinning. A moment later, with all the pillars collected, Gulus disappeared in a red flash, though it was followed by a large orb of darkness bursting open where he had been located a few seconds ago, causing everyone to watch as a large bipedal dragon emerged from it. This dark beast stood on his back legs, now just his legs, while his front ones were positioned more like a Human's, his tail thickened and the head turned into a battleaxe shape this time around, and he gained a pair of large black dragon wings. The blue scarf remained and even was even wrapped around his neck, though it could also change shape and look like another pair of wings, his head was shaped more like a dragon's with a dark look in it's eyes, and his hands changed shape, the right becoming more like claws and the left being a thick shield of sorts. The sheer rush of energy that came from him caused everything around the area to shake, and Twilight set up a barrier around the platform to make sure everyone wasn't blown away by the sheer force of his energy, though she let out a light chuckle as she stared at the scene that was unfolding. "A word of warning, when I first created Gulus Gamma, and he transformed into this form, 'Regulus' we called it, his sheer power nearly destroyed the entirety of the Digital World, hence why I sealed it." Twilight continued, as this was why Gulus was her ultimate creation, his power and abilities were far beyond that of the other Digimon, especially those that came after him and weren't given the ability to transform, making him unique since only he could do this, "As for why I gave him so much power... well, he was designed to face and best both Goku and Vegeta in combat, and that includes whatever power their new training might have earned them." As Gotenks took in that information, because Twilight had raised her voice enough so he could hear it as well, his foe rushed down towards him and disappeared as if he was made of shadow, only for him to realize that his opponent was definitely faster than he thought he'd be, as Regulus appeared to his right, like he was flying by, and placed his hand against the side of his head. In the next moment Gotenks found himself flying through the air as his foe hurled him with enough force to break everything around him, eventually ending in a crater tearing apart the ground that was around him when he finally hit the ground, one larger than before. As he regained himself, however, Regulus raised his shield and fired off a barrage of what appeared to be powerful laser blasts, causing the fusion warrior to dodge them to the best of his ability, finding that each one tore through the ground that was around where they landed, meaning he'd be scorched if one struck him, which told him that he shouldn't underestimate his foe. While he did that Regulus gathered more of his dark power in his mouth, allowing him to fire off a large ball of dark flames that seemed far too much for Gotenks to handle, though that didn't stop him from firing a beam of energy into the air and let it strike his foe's attack. In the end, however, he understood why Twilight gave them a word of warning, as Regulus' power was clearly on the level of Super Saiyan Blue 4, a power he couldn't even begin to measure himself against, so it wasn't long before the attack slammed into the ground in front of him and blasted him into oblivion, only to be surprised as he separated back into Trunks and Goten after hitting the wall, and Regulus reverted back to Gulus as Twilight reapplied the seal. "I believe we'll call it a tie for now, with no winners or losers." Twilight remarked, though at the same time she had to smile as she glanced at Trunks and Goten, as that brief encounter with Gulus' true power had inspired them to continue with their training, she could see it in their eyes as they picked themselves up, and it showed that they had grown a lot, as one of them would have complained about this in the past. Such a thing made her that much more eager to see what the future had in store for them and the Earth, especially since the world now had a pair of capable warriors to defend it from whatever dangers might be lurking in the shadows, which caused her to keep the smile on her face as they returned to the others to eat and get some rest before they faced whatever the future had to throw at them next. > Interlude: A Perfect Foe > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The day following Trunks and Goten's battle with Gulus, and the absolute show of power that both did to show the other just how strong they really were, Twilight focused on her own task, sifting through the various timeways that existed as she sought one that peaked her immediate interest. The reason for her sudden name change from using 'timelines', which was what she had been calling the others for a long time, to using 'timeways' was because another one of her alternates came to visit, a bronze scaled dragon Beastian version of herself with her eye color and her hair highlights represented as a pattern on her sleeve, showed up to correct her. She was always discovering new things as she studied the various other parallel worlds that existed, because every time Twilight thought she had found them all another one showed up, where each of her alternates also joined the others in confirming that she was their superior, allowing her to expand her ever growing library of what existed in the multiverse. She also learned about how the newest alternate was just exploring the multiverse of time as well, because every major decision seemed to cause more branches to form, so she had taken it upon herself to note down where all of them existed and what was going on with each one. It was such a simple job and yet Twilight found that her alternate had her own way of doing it with flying colors, causing her to nod her head as she focused on her own task, until she found the parallel world that she had been searching for since her forces rounded up the revived Red Ribbon Army. "Is that what I think it is?" Sairozormi, the new alternate, asked, staring at the portal Twilight had created, one that went to a parallel world that reflected the latest event that the main version of her had interacted with, supposedly a world where a true foe might rest, or a 'perfect' foe according to what she had heard. "Yes. A parallel world where Cell Max was perfected, recreating the original's base perfect form with the new version's great and terrible power." Twilight replied, where she waved her hand and the portal opened, allowing her and the new version of her to cross over into another parallel world, only to discover that they were in the wreckage of the area that had served as the base of Magenta's operations, utterly destroyed by the looks of it, "Keep the portal protected... I don't like the looks of this and would rather not allow a terrible force to invade the main timeway while I'm here." Sairozormi nodded her head and weaved her power over the portal they had used, sealing it so only they could see it and interact with it, though once that was done Twilight summoned her staff as she floated down into the area that was right in front of them, as there was one powerful energy signature coming from it. What she discovered was a figure who stood slightly taller than Cell had when he gained his perfect form, mixed with the coloration of Cell Max, confirming that he was who she was interested in, though at the same time she found that his tail was exactly the same, the club head Hedo had given him to set him apart from the original. Based on what she could see the perfected bio-android was training with the Gammas of this world, who were unable to touch him since his power was so much greater than theirs was, though not a few seconds later he hit them away with his tail, showing that he might be done with them. The Hedo of this world was off in the distance, watching the fight unfold as he took notes, no doubt because Cell Max wanted a challenge and this gave his maker more information on how to improve them so he could have the challenge he wanted, though he stopped for a moment as he spotted Twilight coming down towards them. At the same time Cell Max turned his head and smiled as he found that a new challenger had arrived, or at least he likely hoped that she was here to fight him, where he remained silent as she touched down nearby and focused on him, even if she felt someone was missing. "Cell Max, it is good to see you in your perfected form." Twilight remarked, as his power was great and it made her that much more interested in what sort of skills he might have developed since he was allowed to reach this level, though at the same time the Gammas got away from the area so they could rest and recover before their next bout. "Actually, I prefer to be called 'Maximilian', to set myself apart from the original Cell." Cell Max, or Maximilian, replied, but at the same time he turned his full attention to Twilight as he glanced up at the other one that was flying down to where Hedo was standing, causing him to raise an eyebrow for a moment before focusing on her once more, "You aren't the Twilight of my world... interesting, I wasn't expecting another one to show up for a visit. Are you here to fight, perhaps?" "I am Twilight Sparkle, Dark Queen of the Demon Realm, Empress of Universe 7, and Queen of the Infinites, just to name a few of my many titles." Twilight answered, though at the same time she let her staff float off to the side as she shifted her stance, all while noticing the grin that had appeared on Maximilian's face as he realized that she was answering him in her own way, but figured she could give him a verbal one as well, "And yes, I came here to fight you and your full power, with no pesky interruptions from certain unwanted visitors... that is, if you're up for such a thing." Neither moved for a few seconds, each sizing the other during that brief pause, before they rushed through the air and swung their fists at each other without delay, where the collision of their fists caused the air around them to shudder as the ground below them cracked open, like two gods were fighting. This first collision told Twilight far more about her foe, his power was far more than what the Cell Max of her world possessed before his timely demise, and her power brought a wider smile to Maximilian's face, as she was likely far more than the alternate he was used to dealing with. In the very next moment both warriors landed on the ground nearby and grabbed their foe's hands, allowing them to fight for some sort of dominance as they pushed against each other, the collision of both of their energies transferring into the ground as the stone and material around them cracked. It was fascinating for Twilight, that Maximilian's power was enough to keep up with her base form, a fact she could confirm with just the first couple of moves, and she was interested in the damage that they caused, as the cracks below them eventually reached the area that was just outside the base's perimeter. Sairozormi weaved a bit of her magic into the ground to lift herself, the alternate Hedo, and the alternate Gammas into the air, with a platform right below them, as they watched as a massive chasm opened around the pair, the result of their energies conflicting with each other, something not even the alternate trio had seen in the past. In the next moment Twilight pulled Maximilian close and kicked him in the side, sending him down into the depths of the newly created chasm, though she didn't have to wait for more than a few seconds as he rushed back out of the darkness, showing his excitement at having a foe that could push him like this in the first few moments of a fight. As he did that she found that he called forth his power and loosed a burst of powerful blasts up into the air, where she found that it was just like Piccolo's move, Hellzone Grenade, causing her to wrap her energy around her as all of the blasts slammed into where she was positioned. She had to admit that Maximilian's power was definitely on another level, in fact she was sure that he would have given Trunks and Goten a run for their money even as Gotenks with Super Saiyan Blue, though as soon as the barrage was over she snapped her fingers and sent a volley of dark orbs down through the smoke, forcing her foe to dip out of the way as they slammed into the ground. He was definitely smarter than some of her past opponents, which was a fresh change in her life, though she focused on him again as he spun around and sent his tail at her, intending on using the club to distract her from his other attack, nothing that she stopped him from doing that as she caught the club before twisting it so Maximilian punched his own tail. As he realized that she had done that, and the pain registered in his mind, Twilight let go of him and kicked him in the left side of his chest, sending him flying through the air for a moment, before he revealed that he was just like the original Cell as he utilized Instant Transmission to flash back over to where she was waiting. Twilight went on the offensive this time around, where Maximilian found that her attack pattern was different from what the alternate of her in this world used, if she was even a fighter since Twilight had noted that she hadn't arrived yet, and she was able to slip a blow to his head through his defenses. Such a thing caused him to do exactly what she knew he'd do after experiencing her power, he summoned the yellow aura that meant he was accessing his Saiyan power, mimicking the Super Saiyan transformation, before she determined he was going all the way to the second form, due to the lightning that arched around his aura. His incredible power was even stronger than before, as lightning flashed as their punches hit each other, and while she could have played ball by transforming as well she figured that she'd let him have some fun, just before she ruined the mood by accessing her third form, since her final form was overkill. Of course she also let him land a few strikes as well, just to see how much of an impact his blows had, but it wasn't long before Twilight resumed fighting as their fists and legs collided with each other, the transfer of energy forcing the chasm to widen even more as time went by, much to the amazement of the observers. As Maximilian tried to punch her in the face Twilight ducked under his fist and delivered her own strike to his chest, but as he was sent flying into the chasm she gathered her power as she swung her hand, like she had a sword, releasing a burst of energy that took the shape of a black and red crescent wave. The attack slammed into her foe and blasted a crater into the ever growing chasm that was below them, causing the entire area to fracture in the process as more lines appeared, and it wasn't long before a purple beam, a Galick Gun, tore through the smoke as it zeroed in on her position. Such a thing provided her with an opening to use against her opponent as she held her hand out and siphoned the attack, though at the same time she shifted into her Dark Queen form, allowing the air to shudder as she took on her third form, as her foe was strong enough for her to justify using it and skipping her first two forms. In the next moment she called forth dark lightning and sent it down into the area her foe was in, only to find that he avoided her attack as he flashed out of the area and just continued to use Instant Transmission to try and confuse her, meaning he must have created more plans during his fights with the Gammas of this world. After moving around the arena for a time Maximilian came to a stop in front of her and fired a full powered Kamehameha right into her chest area, similar to how Goku tried it to get rid of the original Cell, though Twilight tanked the blow and when the smoke cleared her foe could that she was untouched. "Really? So not even the power of this form can measure up to you." Maximilian remarked, causing him to jump back for a moment as he called forth more of his inner power, where Twilight found that he must have faced a god at some point, as he was able to go Blue, and when he didn't have the aura up she found blue lightning arching every now and then, "Let's see how you fare against the height of my power!" Twilight found that her foe was right, his power was now far stronger than it had been previously and it appeared to be the height of his current power, though this time around she used the palms of her hands to stop or redirect her foe's attacks as he punched and kicked at her. Despite her movements Maximilian seemed to be enjoying himself, which was good since she thought he was a worthy opponent to fight with, before a new idea came to mind as he vanished for a few seconds, which was followed by a number of energy discs, Krillin's Destructo Disc to be exact, coming at her from each direction. Instead of dodging the attacks Twilight summoned a staff made of energy and spun it around for a time, where she smashed the discs as they came at her and scattered their energy to the wind, while her own skill was active and devoured the energy without her foe realizing what was going on. Fortunately it seemed like her opponent was more focused on his own plans than what she was doing right now, meaning he had no idea that the gap between their powers was widening more and more as time went on, before she found that he stopped and was charging a new attack up, the lightning coming off of it confirming that it was Vegeta's Final Flash. She also found that her foe had mastered the art of using Instant Transmission so he didn't have to raise his fingers to his forehead, as Maximilian flashed up to a position diagonally below her and fired the beam at almost point blank range, as he was taking this seriously, only for surprise to appear on his face as she tanked the attack and emerged unharmed. "You have got to be kidding me..." Maximilian remarked, though at the same time Twilight kicked him in the chest and sent him down into the outer edge of the chasm they had created over the course of their battle, but his statement told her that he was stunned by the fact that his attack had done nothing. "My turn." Twilight commented, where she held her hands out and created the two celestial orbs she had used to smash Kid Buu a lifetime ago, a powerful a potent sun and a dark imposing moon, both of which caused the area around her to shake as she focused on where her foe was resting, since it was time for her to get more serious. "Stop. I concede." Maximilian stated, though it was followed by him chuckling, as he had been expecting a tough foe and now he knew that he had found someone that could push him to his limits, a fighter who was far more than anyone he had faced off against in the past, and that he was smart enough to know when it was time to stop, all while the laugh showed that he was in a good mood about his sudden defeat. Twilight chuckled as she dismissed her power and floated down to where Maximilian was waiting, to help him onto his feet, as she had found a worthy foe to fight against that didn't piss her off, a worthwhile trait in her mind, and wanted to treat him with some respect, though it only made her more interested in what she could learn from him and what the coming days held for her personal world. > Interlude: Worlds Collide > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- After clashing with Maximilian, and him surrendering after witnessing her power, Twilight returned to her world and just returned to her work, though this time there was something she wanted to do before she thought of another project to keep herself busy, or before another Destroyer God decided to annoy her. Upon her return to her domain Twilight landed in the outskirts that many of the Digimon fought Trunks and Goten in and started to work on the event she had been planning for when it was time to stop all of the staged fights for the pair, as there was no reason for Devi Dimon and the others to be stuck in their 'villain state', not with the pair having passed their exam. At the same time she found that Sairozormi joined her, as she was vastly interested in what she was going to do, though both of them knew it wouldn't be long before more of the warriors of Earth would converge on their location, since there were two versions of Twilight in the same area. While they were alone Twilight focused on constructing the magical base of the portal she wanted to open, as she felt that it was time to let the rest of the Digimon out into the world, because leaving them in the Digital World just seemed wrong, after all her hard work in making them. Of course the first ones to show up weren't any of Earth's warriors, rather it was Gulus and the other Digimon who had been allowed to enter this world, as per Twilight's wishes to help two lazy fighters gain the power that was resting within them, and it was far too easy to see that they were eager for the way to be open. "Honestly, with the progress those two were making at the beginning, I was stating to worry this special day would never come." Rena remarked, as Lady Twilight had told them about her plans and even what would happen once the pair finally reached the point that she would be satisfied with their progress, though this was one of the rare moments that she was glad to be wrong about something. "True, they were lacking at the beginning, but they gained the power to be the heroes they wanted to be... they have my respect for all of their hard work." Devi Dimon said, where he and his allies, those who had been assigned to villain duty to help whip the pair into shape, smiled as they stared at the point that their creator was working on, though they weren't even surprised by the bronze dragon version of her standing nearby. "They made worthy opponents in the end, and, if I'm being honest, it just makes me want to fight their fathers, to see how I measure up to them." Gulus added, which was the truth, fighting with Trunks and Goten had gotten him pumped to clash with Goku and Vegeta at some point in time, something that might not happen for a time since he knew that once their creator opened the portal things would change for the planet. Twilight chuckled as the Digimon talked with each other, as it was good to see that they were enjoying themselves and all of the things they had done while helping Trunks and Goten gain their newfound power, before she focused on the magic in front of her as she carefully added more of them to the area around them. "What is going on here?" a voice asked, where the Digimon found that Trunks, Goten, and Eschalot were the first ones to arrive, two of them staring at Devi Dimon and all of the other 'dark' Digimon that they had fought so far, though since the supposed villains were just hanging out the speaker, Trunks, and his friend just stood there as his sister landed by Rena, all while Twilight felt more people coming. No one said anything for a time, allowing Piccolo, Gohan, the Gammas, and everyone else who was interested in what they had felt to arrive, giving Twilight time to stabilize the magical energies that were building in the space in front of her, and, just as she expected, another group showed up as Goku, Vegeta, Caulifla, Kale, and their teachers returned. "It seems that we missed some things while we were training on Beerus' planet." Vegeta said, where he seemed far calmer than what Twilight was used to, meaning he must have figured out how to improve his power like she and her family had done in the past, especially since she could tell that his power was far greater than before. "You could say that, since the Red Ribbon Army came back for a time... don't worry, they've been dealt with and the leader is in jail right now, likely for the rest of his life." Eschalot stated, though while she knew that her father might not approve of leaving a villain alive, since it might come back to bite them in the future, she did trust Twilight's plans and felt that they had nothing to fear from Magenta anymore, before she gestured to the Digimon, "Allow me to introduce the Digimon, a whole new race that was created by Twilight during the time you've been training with Whis and Beerus, all to help Trunks and Goten regain and improve their power... I could bore you with the technical name and description that she created for them, but just know that they're basically digital bio-androids." "Hold on... she created all of them?!" Trunks exclaimed, which was understandable that he would ask such a thing since he and Goten had been so focused on their own training and lessons, especially since they hadn't been the sharpest tools in the shed when they started training under Piccolo, "But... what about Devi Dimon and the others?" "Totally normal. We were designed to help you grow as heroes... you needed villains, so we become villains to force you to grow ever stronger." Devi Dimon replied, though he was glad that they were finally telling the pair this information, since it lifted a weight from the shoulders of those who had faced the pair in the past, before he glanced at their creator as she did her work on the portals she was making, "Which reminds me: what do you think of making a 'hero course'?" "Funny, I was thinking the same thing. The test run was so good that I figured we could do it again during the next school year and see how people take to it." Twilight stated, showing that everything must be going as she had planned, that the pair had learned exactly what she wanted them to learn and, more importantly, that she might have found a new course to add to Stellaris' list of classes that were offered, before she smiled as she turned to face them, "Also, these aren't the only Digimon I created, in case you were wondering... there's a whole world of them just waiting to be revealed." In that instant she snapped her fingers and the various portals she had been creating snapped open, allowing everyone to see what rested on the other side, a world that was untouched and perfectly clean, before the crowd stared at the portals in shock as all sorts of Digimon started to enter their world. They found that Twilight wasn't joking, as she created all sorts of creatures since the idea first sprung to mind, such as plant creatures, animals, elementals, ones that were angels, as in holy beings, and others being demons, and even dragons that looked more like Shenron or more like beasts. The rest of the Digimon came in all shapes and sizes, as some were small, some were as tall as Eschalot, others were in between the two heights, and some were massive, like Gulus' transformed state, and Twilight made sure to remind them that only one of them had the power to transform. Twilight chuckled to herself as she found that everyone just stared at the scene that was in front of them, as they were surprised by the variety of creatures she had created, the sheer scale and volume of what she was capable of creating, and even the two gods were surprised that she could create so much life in such a short period of time. To Whis this just confirmed that Twilight was beyond a God of Creation or a God of Destruction, she had created a whole new species, with their own powers and abilities, within less than a year's worth of time, meaning she was definitely one of the top individuals in the entire multiverse, before he felt some familiar energy start to form. "Twilight, is there more you have to share with us?" Whis asked, because the energy felt like her magic, something that only she had access to in this universe, in fact she was unique in the majority of the multiverse, save for the universe she once called home, who didn't have the ability to come to Universe 7, so it had to be here doing this. "No... this is something totally new." Twilight replied, though at the same time her portals closed and she beckoned for all of the Digimon to mingle, as she had no need of them interfering with whatever was going to happen next, but she did walk over to the area that the new energy signature was coming from. What she discovered, on the other hand, shocked her greatly, as there was now a crack in reality itself hanging near where she had set up her portals to bring the Digimon out so they could see what the Earth was like, where she stared at the odd purple crack for a moment as it slowly started to spread. It was a crack in the barrier between the dimensions, as some of the people of Earth did believe in the other timeways and suspected that there was some sort of barrier resting between all of them, the very one that she opened portals in to travel from parallel world to parallel world. She had termed it as 'Dimensionality', or the 'study of dimensions', similar to several math terms but on a much larger and dangerous scale, because if the barrier between parallel worlds, the dimensions that made up reality, was cracked or damaged there was a fair chance that reality could be torn asunder. She had come up with many terms to help the scientists who talked with her about this over the years, but most of them never bore any fruit, though there was one that was linked to that most terrible reality, the 'dimensional cataclysm' that could stem from a crack like this. In the next moment the cracked flared outward in all directions, like something was trying to break through and had just succeeded in cracking more of the barrier, though as the others turned towards her she noticed something odd, the new cracks looked more pristine and moved on their own, spinning around as a large portal frame appeared around them, causing her to pause as a portal between two locations was established. "So, I'm not the only one that can safely open a portal like this." Twilight remarked, which was a good thing, because this meant that whoever had opened the portal must have followed someone else's lead on the matter, or maybe it was more like a two pronged magical assault to ensure the stability of the new portal, but she did back up a bit so she didn't startle whoever emerged from the portal. "Okay, the portal is stable and there is no risk to the dimensional barrier." a feminine robotic voice said, where Twilight could see two figures on the immediate other side of the portal, though she was sure that there were others waiting near it so they could make sure to open it again should the way slam shut behind whoever was coming over. "Good. I did not want to end up near another fractured planet." another feminine voice replied, though that was followed by a feline creature that Twilight hadn't seen before, she was sure of that, who had white fur with blue stripes, wore what seemed to be a decent outfit that both protected her and didn't restrict her movements, though her right arm had been replaced by a golden robotic arm and she carried a large hammer as her weapon, only she paused in surprise when she found what was on the other side of the portal, "Um... hi? Don't worry, we come in peace." The 'we' was referring to the small yellow and black robot that was on her back, like a backpack, who had to be the other speaker that Twilight had heard, though everyone else in her immediate group looked at the portal with more interest than before, since this was an unexpected development. "I am Kit, and this is Rivet, my partner." the robot stated, where Twilight found that she was able to detach herself at will and could extend her own feet and hands before even touching the ground, even though the robot was still small, but this just interested Twilight far more than before, "We don't mean to alarm you. We are only looking for Twilight Sparkle." "Well, you found her." Twilight replied, though she chuckled again, as it was clear that neither figure had recalled the bits of information they had been told about her, since she was sure that someone had given them a description of her form, or her old form since she had grown up a lot since coming to this universe, "I can hazard a guess as to why you would be looking for me: someone on Equus wants me to come home?" "It's... complicated. I'll let the others explain things to you." the feline figure, Rivet, answered, though at the same time she tapped her normal wrist for a moment and seemed to send a message of some kind to someone that was on the other side of the portal. What Twilight discovered was that a familiar purple dragon with a light green portion under his chin, who was dressed in the robes of a wizard and wore a wizard hat on top of his head, one that reminded her of the legends of Star Swirl, just without the bells, plus he carried a staff that radiated magical energy, but the look on his face stalled her. "Spike?!" Twilight inquired, as she was stunned, because the dragon she knew had been far smaller than this, in fact he had barely gotten his wings the last time she recalled having seen him and yet here he was, sporting fully grown wings as he stood nearly as tall as her. "Twilight, thank the ancestors that we found you." the dragon, who was definitely Spike since she recognized his voice the instant he started talking, said, though he had the biggest grin on his face, one she knew well enough, causing her to put a smile on her face as they embraced each other, both showing that they had missed the other greatly. Twilight had no idea what could have prompted Spike to even do this in the first place, but right now she didn't care, she was glad to have him back in her life and knew that she was going to be in for one interesting ride when he explained how he got his new form, but for now she focused on the here and now and decided not to worry about what the future held for her and everyone else. > Equus: Heading Back Home > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Twilight and Spike stood there for a minute or two, embracing each other, though the tapping of Beerus' foot caused them to pull apart, as he was likely getting annoyed with the portal that Spike, Rivet, and Kit had used to enter his universe, a fact that was of great interest to Twilight, even if it wasn't her main focus. "I'll be honest Spike, it'll take some getting used to your new form." Twilight said, as her memories told her that Spike was a dragon who was nowhere near the height that some of the others of his kind, around his age no less, had, but now he was a fully matured dragon who was definitely in his teenage years, likely fifteen by her reckoning. "Understandable. Spyro, Ember, and I spent fourteen years on all fours, and then, when we turned fifteen, we matured... still glad we had that potion, as the days leading to it were painful." Spike replied, showing that he understood what Twilight meant, as he had taken some time getting used to his new body, while at the same time he discovered that his old friend, who was almost like a sister to him in some cases, had tilted her head for a moment, "Ember and I were displaced as well, and we ended up becoming Spyro's siblings... trust me, it was one wild ride, having to face down villains and save the lands, plus face the Dark Master." "Who is this 'Dark Master' that you speak of? Is he a villain of incredible strength?" Vegeta asked, because if so it seemed like a perfect candidate to drive the dragon to seek out allies that could actually bring him down, even if it meant tracking down Twilight and asking for her help, or the help of her own allies. "Honestly, that's an understatement... he was the personification of evil, and Malefor destroyed him, body and soul." Spike answered, something that caused Vegeta and several of the others to raise an eyebrow as they focused on him, since they were expecting a villain to be causing chaos in his home world, one he and the others needed help with, before he sighed for a moment as he thought of something, "Listen, as much as I want to go over that ancient history, and I could speak for hours on end about the Dark Master... especially after reading everything that's in the libraries of Warfang and the tomes that are located in the Archives... I'd rather focus on the here and now." "Look, I know this is a touching reunion and all, but we should close the portal soon... while the dimensional barriers have been fixed, father said he'd rather not take chances." Rivet spoke up, gesturing to the portal that had been opened, which told Twilight that it must have been opened in a different manner than what she was used to, while at the same time also revealing that something must have happened recently that was causing her to be nervous. Twilight nodded her head and quickly selected a few individuals to come with her, as Goku and Vegeta were interested in seeing her home world with their own eyes, plus she also brought along Gohan, Piccolo, and Gulus, allowing everyone else to relax and get to know the rest of the Digimon while she visited her home world at long last. With her group chosen, as she didn't want to head home with an army with how many people she knew, she turned towards Spike for a moment as he turned to face the portal, where she found that he actually had magic of his own, not coming from the staff, and that he weaved it into the magical gate to make sure it was stable. Once he was done the group followed Spike, Rivet and Kit through the gateway, though Twilight found that the process was just as instant as all of the portals she had used in the past, meaning in the span of just a few seconds she and everyone else stepped into her old world. Twilight discovered that they were in the plains between Ponyville and the mountain that Canterlot was built on, though off in the distance there were a number of magical arches that seemed to be connected to different worlds, likely the ones that Spike was sent to and the one Rivet was from. As they came to a stop, and Rivet turned to a group of people that were standing nearby, Twilight closed her eyes for just a moment and focused her mind, where she started to feel the Ki signatures that were all around her, though while most of them were unknown, since she wasn't used to those from her home world, some she knew from her bonds. "Spike... where are Celestia, Luna, Cadance, Shining, and Flurry?" Twilight asked, as she could tell that there were a fair amount of missing individuals from the world, in fact it reminded her of what happened to her, ending up somewhere with no memories of who you were or what you were, and in a body that wasn't familiar at all, before she noticed that there were other missing signatures, "Not to mention that most of the villains seem to be missing, save for Discord... then again, he redeemed himself, so you can't really call him a villain anymore." "So you can sense them, or some sort of energy that you learned to sense during your adventure and new life... I must say that this is an interesting development." Spike remarked, where Twilight turned to look at him again, because now that she was listening to him talk more she had determined something, he was definitely different from the dragon she knew, while the same at the same time, and she honestly liked what she was hearing right now, "However, the answer to your question is simple: they've been displaced, just like us. You see, we learned that there is a massive demonic empire in our universe, somewhere in the vastness of space, and they've been slowly conquering planets and slaughtering those who were trying to protect their homes... and our world, or rather the being slumbering in the depths, discovered that we're going to be attacked soon. We don't know when the assault is going to happen, but what we do know is that Equus has been busy, picking what she believes to be the best of the best, those who will gain both incredible power and forces that will turn the tide against the demons." "Yeah, with mixed results. Apparently the one called 'Tirek' is the king of his world and doesn't want to come home, while another, Grogar I think, is living in a world that has all sorts of powerful monsters." Rivet added, showing that she must have gotten used to talking to people like Spike and knew when it was time to add in additional information, while at the same time a few creatures like her closed the portal behind them, who looked pleased by the progress they had made in such a short period of time, "Spitfire and Rainbow have been focused on taking care of some last minute business on the world they were sent to, Azeroth they called it, while Pinkamena has been training our forces at the academy... the others are either with her, tending to their own worlds, or occasionally looking for the other displaced." "Pinkamena? Don't you mean Pinkie Pie?" Twilight asked, though at the same time Spike beckoned for them to follow him and they did so without delay, where her small group followed after him and looked at the town that was in front of them, as it was fascinating, especially the crystal castle on the outskirts, which had an angry looking pink cloud above it, "Also, why is one of Discord's rain clouds above my castle?" Vegeta and the others in his group paused for a moment, though they realized that it made sense, she had shown them all her memories, allowing them to witness her life in this world before she was sent to the world that Frieza found her on, to which he glanced around and found that some of the ponies waved at Twilight, showing that they still recognized her, and she waved at them as they followed Spike. "That's the thing, Pinkie was displaced as well, but something different happened to her and she was separated from her other half, so Pinkamena's her own person." Spike answered, which Twilight found to be rather interesting, that the other side of her friend, the so called 'depressed' side that was her before the Rainboom happened, had been brought to life, given her own body, and sent out to live her life before coming back home, "As for the cloud, well, let's just say Discord isn't too happy right now... Fluttershy's gone missing." "No. Truly?" Twilight inquired, though in that moment she understood why Discord would be upset, as Fluttershy was his first friend, especially when she and the others took some convincing to believe he had changed for the better, which was somewhat debatable given what she had seen so far, so losing someone precious to him like this had to be hard for the Spirit of Disharmony, "Do we know where she went?" "Yes, Princess, and I'm afraid it isn't very good." a new voice said, where Twilight found the chimera noodle shaped being known as Discord standing outside the castle, with an irritated look on his face, meaning he must have truly found the one he was looking for, though the place Fluttershy had been sent must have annoyed him greatly, before he beckoned for all of them to follow him, "Come, I'll show you what I mean." Goku and Vegeta glanced at each other for a moment, as it was one thing to see Discord as part of Twilight's memories and another seeing him in the flesh, but followed after everyone as they entered the structure, finding that it was nothing like what they had seen of all of Twilight's various buildings. The castle seemed to be void of any real decoration, save for items that were likely created when it was created, though Twilight told them that she had made some modifications over the years, especially since she had to redo her entire library due to Tirek blasting her old one to pieces. She also told them that she had been planning on getting guards at some point in time, since all of the other princesses had them and they expected her to be no different, especially with such dangerous items she was studying, spells that could be dangerous or even disastrous in the wrong hooves, but she never did that. In fact all Twilight did was make her room, Spike's portion, the library, and a few other rooms that were important to her, though while she always had the intention of finishing the castle when she had the time to do so, but there was always something distracting her, and now, after all this time, she had no real intentions on finishing the structure. Before anyone could ask what she meant Discord brought them to the ballroom, which had been converted into an area that one could use to peer at other worlds, based on what Twilight was seeing, as one seemed to be looking at a gothic city full of monsters, though it had no displaced inside it. At the same time another sphere showed a pair of warriors that were in the middle of fighting a large armored minotaur, one wearing nothing over his chest as he used two blades with chains that were linked to his wrists and another warrior that looked like Flurry who joined him in the fight. Twilight found another one that had a figure that looked a lot like Luna, fighting off a pack of demons on an unknown planet, while the next scene was of her having fun with a short brown haired lady, as part of it started in the bedroom before shifting again. After that she found one that seemed to be following Celestia as she attended what appeared to be a school for heroes, arguing with a boy who could make explosions with his hands, or maybe his sweat, while a weaker looking boy with green hair struggled to keep pace with them. It was easy to tell that these were the displaced, the other missing Equestrians who had been sent to other worlds, to gain all sorts of power and allies before their eventual return to their home world, though with all of the other empty spheres she knew it was only a matter of time before Discord tracked everyone else down. "This is what I meant." Discord stated, where they found that he was staring at one sphere in particular, allowing Twilight to see that it showed an odd town of some kind that had a figure like her, only she had Fluttershy's characteristics, and she wasn't alone, as there was another transformed mare next to her, which appeared to be Radiant Hope, though that was when she noticed what had Discord worried. "Sombra, the King of Darkness... he's with Fluttershy and Radiant Hope." Twilight remarked, as there was a shadowy figure near the two that had a curved horn like Sombra's, the misty eyes that the tyrant had, and the shadows that only came from using this world's version of dark magic far too much, though what was interesting was that there were three more individuals near them, a young boy with a key shaped weapon, an anthropomorphic duck, and an odd tall dog. "Yes, now go get her, before something happens!" Discord said, almost as if he had been expecting her to go get his first friend before Sombra corrupted her or did something to torment her, though as he said that a door opened and Twilight found that a small orange furred critter with her hair style and color walked in, wearing an interesting white robe. "We told you, once someone's displaced we can't just go and extract them. Doing so would disrupt the balance of the world or universe that they were sent to." Spike replied, where he let out a sigh as he said that, as it must have been something that he had said several times since he returned home with Ember, who Twilight suspected was hanging out in the Dragon Lands, all while the odd otter weasel critter walked up to the device. "If we could extract them, well, we'd do so for some of them... but we can't, so we wont." the creature added, speaking in Twilight's voice, allowing her to figure out that this had to be Sci Twi, her alternate from the world on the other side of the mirror that had brought her to the world Sunset Shimmer had teleported herself to a long time ago, a nice memory in her mind since it had expanded their knowledge of the universe quite a bit, before the creature tapped the device that Discord was using, "And remember, be gentle with this device! If you break it we won't be able to repair it that easily!" "Sci Twi? What happened to you?" Twilight asked, as this was getting more and more interesting as time went on, which only made her that much more interested in what else she might discover about all of the other displaced and the worlds they had been sent to, something that would no doubt take her a long time to figure out. "I'm an ottsel, if that's what your asking... as for how, well, let's just say 'evolution'. If you want the full tale, and it's a long one, though not as long as Spike's, maybe I'll tell you later." the creature, an ottsel apparently, replied, though it was very interesting to see that it was definitely Sci Twi and not someone else, while at the same time it was surprising to see that the other version of her wasn't even surprised by the arrival of the one who came from this world. "I'll take you up on that later. For now, I'm more interested in hearing about your adventures, Spike." Twilight said, as she had all sorts of new information to learn from the rest of the displaced that were currently on the planet, though as soon as the words left her mouth Spike reached into a pouch he carried on his belt and withdrew a book that had an interesting cover on it, what appeared to be three young quadrupedal dragons, Spike, Ember, and Spyro she guessed, "What's this?" "The first adventure that me and my siblings went on, edited with pictures of the enemies we fought, which I wrote after we saved the day." Spike replied, where he smiled as a wide grin appeared on Twilight's face, as not only had Spike taken an interest in reading he had developed his skills to the point where he was able to write his own books, and there was no telling what else he might have done in the time he had been gone. "I'm so proud of you, Spike." Twilight stated, and she meant it, as it was interesting to see how Spike had grown over the years that he had spent living in another world, making her even more eager to see what else she could learn about him and what he might have learned over the years. "Thanks Twilight, it means a lot coming from you... though that's only the first of our many adventures. I have more back home, in the libraries of Dark Hollow." Spike said, where he could see that the desire to learn more was still alive in her eyes, in fact he was sure it had never gone away in the time she had been gone, and the idea of traveling to the world that he had been sent to with Ember had really added some heat to the fire. Twilight had no idea what was waiting on the world that Spike and Ember had been sent to, but she was eager to see what sort of libraries and information awaited her, especially when she thought about the fact that Spike had written multiple books about his adventures, which only made her that much more interested in what she might soon discover. > Equus: World of Dragons > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- After departing from her old castle, and bidding an annoyed Discord farewell as he focused on Fluttershy's sphere, Twilight and the others followed Spike over to the area of the plains that happened to have the arches they had seen after their arrival, where he explained that each one was connected to another world. It meant that when it came time to wage war on the invaders, whenever they showed up, they would be able to call forth their forces easily and without wasting too much time, since no one had any real idea how strong the demonic empire was or how many soldiers they had. It was a good way to go about things, even if they had no real information about the enemies that were closely closing in on their world, but Spike knew that when new knowledge became available they would change the plan accordingly. With every new displaced that returned from their adventure their own forces grew, as many heard about the impending invasion and wanted to do everything in their power to stop them in their tracks, they just had to be patient and get their defenses ready. In addition to all of that Spike also shared the name of the planet that he and Ember had been sent to, 'Korma' he called it, a world where dragons were the dominant species, before he passed through a portal that everyone followed him through, all to stop when they saw the sight that was in front of them. "Welcome to the Skylanders Academy, located in the newly created Skylands." Spike stated, staring at the impressive and awe inspiring structure that was in front of them, where Twilight and the others found that there were all sorts of people, from all sorts of races, walking around, students she realized, before he walked over to where a certain statue rested, which showed him and three other dragons as the heroes they were, "This used to be an unnamed continent, untouched by the races of Korma, but during the battle with the Dark Master he unleashed so much magical power that he tore the entire continent apart... the fragments ended up in the air, forming floating islands that were charged with elemental power, hence why we call them the 'Skylands'." Twilight floated up into the air for a moment and glanced out at the surrounding area, where she found that Spike was, in fact, telling the truth, one island looked like it was blessed by fire, another was made out of water, a third seemed to be lightning, and so many more. It was an interesting thing to see and instantly made her take notes on what she was seeing at the moment, as it almost looked like she was staring at primordial realms, the very first islands created when the world was young, but she also knew what Spike had said and knew that these had been recently created. In addition to that she found all sorts of races walking around the academy grounds, like moles, bipedal cheetahs, large slugs or worms and tall birds that seemed both dangerous and beautiful in their own way, and all sorts of other races that were clearly from some of the other worlds. In fact she found that there was a race that looked a lot like the dragon Beastians she had created with her transformation products, and brought to life since so many had enjoyed what they were feeling, yet these ones came in all sorts of colors and seemed to have access to potent power that her people didn't have. Those weren't the only ones she was interested in, because she spotted a demonic figure that looked a lot like Rainbow Dash flying through the air, as Twilight recognized the rainbow hair and tail anywhere, swinging what looked like wooden blades at whoever happened to be her foe. Her opponent, as it turned out, was a straight pink haired warrior who wore a uniform that looked like it was lightweight and designed for combat, though she reminded Twilight of Liquiir, with the nine fox tails moving behind her as she seemed to dance around Rainbow's blows. She had to assume that this was actually Pinkamena, as some of the moves the warrior pulled off seemed impossible for an ordinary person to pull off, meaning she had Pinkie's power as well, which only made her wonder where in the world Pinkie went. In addition to that she found another figure who looked a lot like Spitfire meditating near them, who appeared to have six different wings behind her, as if she was an ancient goddess or something that was tending to the pair without actually doing anything herself. "Spitfire and Rainbow were sent to the world of Azeroth, became demon hunters, and eventually brought down the vast demonic army known as the 'Legion'," Spike commented, where Twilight turned her head for a moment and found that he was actually flying with his wings, in fact he could hover near her while he talked, which only made her that much more interested in the rest of the world they were visiting, "Pinkamena, according to what she told us, went to a world that had another type of demon and she became a demon slayer, even though she had been turned into a unique demon herself, and eventually brought down the King of that world's demonic forces... what you are seeing is her true form, but when she wants to be normal she'll seal it inside a mask that she wears all the time." "Fascinating. There's so much to learn about the rest of this world, and the worlds the others went to." Twilight remarked, especially when she considered that there were some displaced who refused to come home, meaning they were fine with the worlds they had been sent to, though as she said that both she and Spike returned to the others, or at least that was the plan as she found that her group was staring at the fight as well. Spike chuckled, as it was nice having Twilight back in his life, before all of them returned to the portal area that had been on the other side of the gate they used to get here, where he walked through one of them and everyone followed him, only to appear in a land that had green fields, a large pond with a section of the wall removed to show another portal to another location, and all sorts of dragons, of all shapes and sizes, walking around. "Welcome to the Artisans Homeworld, the place that Spyro, Ember, and I call home," Spike said, where he walked out of the area they had appeared in and they quickly found that there was far more to the realm, an island Twilight realized, than anyone realized, especially if there were a fair number of portals leading other other parts of the area. "Artisans... does that mean everyone here is an artist of some kind?" Gulus inquired, because he was more like Twilight than most people thought, even though he desired a good battle like a Saiyan did, and with how his creator was focused on everything that was going on he knew to ask a few questions so they could keep the show on the road. "That's right, with a few exceptions." a new voice replied, where the group found that another purple dragon, wearing the attire of an aviator, like he spent most of his time in the sky or something, walking towards them, along with two others, a female black dragon who looked like she was a warrior in some relaxing attire and another one with blue scales that still had her armor on, though as they came to a stop the speaker held a hand out, "Where are my manners? I'm Spyro, this is my girlfriend Cynder, and this is Ember, my sister. You must be Twilight Sparkle, right?" "That I am. Now, what are these exceptions that you mentioned?" Twilight asked, all while her companions gave the other dragons their names, since it would be rude not to do the same thing so the dragons knew who they were talking about, though she made sure to shake Spyro's hand before he thought that she was a rude person. "One would expect a dragon born on this Homeworld to be an Artisan... as in painters, actors, brewers, and everyone else that's creative... but not Spike and Ember." Cynder said, though as she said that they moved out of the way and moved over to another part of the island, where the group found that some of the dragons were moving stones and other bits of material that went into creating artwork, before the dragoness chuckled for a few seconds, "Of course, I'm the same, since I was born on another landmass and grew up with different customs, meaning I'm an Honorary Artisan since I work with gems and prepare them to go into the work that the others are working on. Ember, for example, is an Honorary Peace Keeper, acknowledged by Titan, the Leader of an entire dragon clan, while Spike is the same, only he's been acknowledged by Cosmos, the Leader of the Magic Crafters... at least until his 'promotion'." "Really? There's something beyond such an honorary title?" Vegeta asked, all while noticing that Kakarot walked over to the dragons for a moment as he studied them, as the warriors were interesting, even though he was more interested in the fighting they had seen before coming to this island. "Right, I never properly introduced myself: I am Spike, Archmage of the Dragon Realms and Wielder of Akilesh, Greatstaff of the Guardian." Spike stated, confirming that his title was far beyond that of being an honorary figure, in fact Twilight knew that to have such a position, at such a young age or even younger, his magic must have awakened shortly after he and Ember arrived in this world and his body had acclimated to the rest of the world, "I'm also the second youngest in all the world, as Malefor, the first purple dragon, has the honor of being the first youngest Archmage in all of Korma, and his power far exceeds my own." "Is that so? He sounds strong." Goku said, though as soon as the words left his mouth the dragons laughed, telling Twilight that this Malefor was definitely stronger than anyone else in Korma, something that only made her wonder just how much stronger he was when she studied the power that was in Spike's new body, "What's so funny?" "Malefor has been alive for over a thousand years, refining his power so he could destroy the Dark Master if he surfaced again... even as displaced, and with Cynder and Spyro being trained by him as well, we can't beat him." Ember replied, as it was something that drove her to get stronger, because she was sure that, at some point in time, they would figure out a way to actually bring their mentor down, or at least get him to admit defeat, but for the time being she knew that such a thing was near impossible, "He is, realistically, the strongest being in this entire world." "Well, don't be too shocked, but Lady Twilight stands far above him." Gulus said, though at the same time he found that one of the dragons, a painter by the looks of his getup, had set up a workstation nearby and was already studying him so he could paint whatever had come to mind. "Not to toot my own horn, but I am Twilight Sparkle, Dark Queen of the Demon Realm, Empress of Universe 7, Queen of the Infinites, and a few others... plus I'm dating a God of Destruction and a God of Creation." Twilight stated, where she and the others had to chuckle as they found a number of shocked expressions, though she was more amazed by the fact that Spike quickly got over his shock over their discovery and pulled out a journal with some writing materials. "You must tell me everything! I knew we were part of a universe, thanks to Rainbow and Spitfire's discoveries, but I had no idea there were more universes out there!" Spike exclaimed, because he had been gathering knowledge since the day he and the others became aware of the other worlds that the displaced when to and he had amassed a large collection of new things to learn about, but learning about the existence of other universes interested him to no end. Twilight chuckled as they started to explore the rest of Korma, because there was so much for them to talk about and she was eager to share all of it with Spike, plus learn about the world that he and Ember had called home for a long time, which told her they were going to be busy for a couple of days, at the very least, and she was really looking forward to all of it. > Equus: Other Discoveries > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Twilight found herself incredibly interested in the world that Spike and Ember ended up on, as there were sets of islands that the dragons called Homeworlds scattered throughout the world, each of them having their own name to separate them from the others, like how the one that the Artisans were part of were the Dragon Realms. She learned that the lands that Spike called home had five other islands, for a total of six Homeworlds, with the other five being the Peace Keepers, Magic Crafters, Beast Makers, Dream Weavers, and the newest one, the Machinists, which used to be where their first villain lived before they took him down. Spike also explained that Avalar, where their second adventure took place, had three, which were Summer Forest, Autumn Plains, and the Winter Tundra, and the lands of Avilion, formerly known as the Forgotten Realms, had four Homeworlds, those being Sunrise Spring, Midday Gardens, Evening Lake, and Midnight Mountain. There were other areas spread out across the world that they had discovered, like the continent of Doxantha, where Warfang, the city Malefor and the other Guardians watched over, resided, and many others, which was why Spike added another book to the pile he was giving Twilight. There were six tomes detailing the adventures that he, Ember, and Spyro, plus their three dragonflies, went on, another detailing the various groups of islands they had been talking about, plus a few magical tomes that would allow Twilight to see what sort of magic Spike had to learn before this point, and even a copy of what he and his friends found on the moons that orbited this planet. "You guys found an alien structure on the moons? What did you learn from it?" Twilight asked, though at the same time she opened the tome that detailed the visit that granted them newfound knowledge about their universe, since it told them that they weren't alone, as this happened before Discord came to show Spike and Ember the way home. "Hard to say, really, as the facility on Adrano was wrecked and the one on Zella only had the plans for the Ion Generator we just recently started using," Spike said, where he found that Twilight, as per usual, was quickly reading everything that was in the book that detailed their visits to the moons, and had to smile as he noticed the interest in her eyes as she went over exactly what he and the others discovered, "What we do know is that the Alien Makers, for lack of a better term, bore witness to Korma's destruction and revival a lifetime ago... basically, the world you see now is a reborn version of the planet that came before it, as the Dark Master set out to destroy Korma and both Spyro and Cynder rushed to save it from the fate he wanted to give it." "I mean, we did have to destroy the Destroyer, but the Dark Master cheated and controlled it so it would bring about the end of the world." Cynder remarked, though at the same time she was impressed by the fact that Twilight and Spike could have conversations at a level that were beyond what she and the others were capable of, especially given everything she had learned before Spyro showed up in her life again, "Spyro and I beat the Dark Master, after tearing through his army and losing a precious ally, and the spirits of the Ancestors imprisoned him in the crystalline heart of the planet, though after that we gave up ourselves to save the planet. According to both Spike and my father, the rebirth of Korma caused it to undergo some changes, which you'll find out in your reading of the tomes that you've been given, and both Spyro and I ended up in two different locations... even though destiny brought us back together." "Just in the nick of time, actually, since we brought in an army to deal with the Apes." a new voice said, where Twilight took a moment to look up and found a creature that looked like a cross between a dragon and a doe, or maybe a fawn, which was interesting to see since this was the first time she had seen someone like her, as the creature was female based on the body, who wore what appeared to be casual guard armor. "Hey Elora, what's Hunter up to?" Spyro inquired, showing that they knew the figure, though at the same time Elora just walked over to the chair that Spike was sitting in and took the seat next to him, only for Twilight to discover that Spike had changed in more ways than one, as she kissed him on the cheek and Spike blushed. The reason there were chairs nearby was because they had stopped in the house that belonged to Spike and his siblings, which was almost like a castle in it's own right, and there was an eating area they usually shared breakfast in, when they weren't busy elsewhere in Korma or even Equus. "He, his sister, and his parents are speaking with the cheetah clans, something about learning more of their skills for the day that the big war finally starts." Elora replied, though she had to chuckle as she noticed how Twilight was looking at her and Spike, no doubt because she had been expecting such a reaction after hearing about her from those who knew about her, all while the others just focused on the conversations that had been happening so far, "I'll answer the question that you are likely thinking about: yes, Spike and I are dating... and no, he didn't do this to me, in case you were wondering. One of the villains we fought used some unstable magic and my body was altered into it's new form, putting an end to an already weird adventure, since we weren't expecting anything from Ripto after our first encounter with him." "Well, it is nice to see that Spike found himself someone special to share his life with." Twilight said, which was the truth, it was an interesting thing to see after remembering that the former little dragon had been chasing Rarity for a time, but she was happy for him, as it seemed like Spike was incredibly happy with how his life had turned out. "Yes, it is good to see that all of you are doing well." another new voice said, though at the same time Twilight and the rest of the group found that a shadowy portal, in the form of an oval, appeared nearby and immediately caused her group to get up for a moment, because it seemed like there was an intruder, especially since there was an annoyed look on the faces of Spike and everyone from Korma. A few seconds later a humanoid figure stepped out of the portal, wearing a full-length black coat that had a zipped going from the neck and stopped all the way at the bottom, where the zipper seemed to be resting at the waist and that let them see the figure's legs, or black pants, though his face was hidden by a hood. "Not you again! What do you want this time?" Spike asked, as he and some of the other displaced had seen figures like this before, either because they wanted to talk to the heroes of the worlds that interested them or they just wanted to watch whatever adventures were going on, like how Sci Twi mentioned that there were two figures like that in the world that she, Starlight, and Cozy Glow had been sent to. "Wait, you've seen this guy before?" Goku inquired, though at the same time he and the others from Universe 7 remained at the ready, because if he was a threat to Korma or the other worlds of this universe everyone needed to be ready to take him down before he got away. "Not personally. He and some of his friends like to spy on the displaced." Ember remarked, where she and the others just stood there for a moment as they focused on the figure that was in front of them, as she was curious as to which one of the robed figures this was, because one of them had even introduced himself to them, to Spitfire and Rainbow when she thought about it again, "So which one are you? Xahvalan, the so called 'Seeker of Darkness', or are you one of his pals?" "That hardly matters right now. Just know that I have information for you." the figure replied, where he quickly snapped his fingers and called forth an orb that allowed them to see another world, like it was a recording of some kind, though the scene quickly became clear to them as they watched a tide of demons descend upon the world, "This is the fate that your world will suffer in the future, if you are not prepared for what is to come... Dymalis' empire has consumed another world in their quest to rule over the entire universe, slaying the guardians of the world in a matter of hours and conquering the citizens with ease. The demonic empire is slowly making it's way to your planet, but you are running out of time... will you gather your displaced before the Demon King and his Generals locates your world, or will you fail and fall beneath the endless tide that threatens this oddly wonderful world? Or will the Great Evil that slumbers in the Void devour your whole universe before the demons arrive... it has been an amusing tale to witness, the way you scurry about the worlds, killing those who oppose you and gathering allies to your various causes. I cannot wait to see how it all ends." "What do you mean by 'Great Evil'?" Twilight asked, because it sounded like something that needed to be dealt with in the near future, if it was threatening the entire universe in some manner, though the immediate threat was the demons that were closing in on their world. "That's for me to know, and for you to never find out." the figure stated, though at the same time the portal opened right behind him, showing that he was going to escape, where Twilight held a hand out to stop the others from moving to take him, all while her other was already in motion as her magic reached for the mysterious figure. Before her magic could reach him, however, another portal opened up nearby and a lance flew through it, which spun in a circle and knocked her power away from the first figure, allowing him to escape before Twilight could catch him, though as Twilight turned towards the portal the weapon flew through it and the way closed before anyone could react. "Interesting... a weapon designed to repel magical power." Twilight commented, as that was the only way her power could have been repelled, even though she wasn't expecting the second portal to open like that and that could explain why her power had been knocked away like that, but this just made things far more interesting. "Great, there are more dangers out there, waiting to devour us whole. Twilight, can we count on you and your forces to join us in the upcoming war?" Spike asked, though he had a feeling that she would say 'yes', because this seemed like the sort of thing that she and her friends would want to take part in, especially since it was a threat to her home planet. "You don't even have to ask: of course we'll be there when the fateful day finally arrives... I won't be moving back into the castle, nor will I be moving back to Equus, but mark my words: no one threatens my home!" Twilight said, because she had too much going on in Universe 7 to even justify moving back home, though at the same time she wasn't about to leave all of her friends, family, and the citizens of this world in jeopardy, so when the time came she and her armies would be there to wage war on the demonic empire, it's Generals, and the Demon King who dared to target her home world. Spike and Ember smiled as they heard that, because this meant that the combined forces of Equus had grown by quite a lot, especially if Twilight was able to call forth allies from the other universes she had visited or knew about, which only made them wonder what the future held for them and their world. > Epilogue: Plans for the Future > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Are you sure that you can't stay longer?" Discord asked, as the moment Twilight and the others returned from Korma, the bookworm displaced carrying a bundle of books that Spike must have given her, he had appeared near them, finding that no one dared to move away from where the portals were located and that he learned something important. "Discord, I know you want me to do something about Fluttershy, but she's like me now, and you know we can't interfere with the other displaced." Twilight replied, because after seeing how Discord reacted upon finding that his first friend was missing, and that she was forced to travel with Sombra, of all ponies, she knew he'd try to ask her to stay to see if she could find a way to undo the barriers blocking them from retrieving the other displaced, "And since Spike's already starting to design the portal frame that'll connect our universes together, so it's not like I'll be gone forever... but Equus isn't my home anymore, Universe 7 is. However, that doesn't mean I'm going to leave you hanging." Discord raised an eyebrow for a moment as he and Spike's group watched as Twilight gathered some of her magic for a few seconds, where the space in front of her twisted and changed for a moment before producing a purple curved horn, like the ones used to declare war in the past, that had her mark on it. "First of all, I'll be rearranging some of my forces to make sure a group is stationed here, just in case the demons show up while I'm wrapping up things back home," Twilight continued, where she let the horn fall into her hand, giving her a chance to study it and make sure the magic that was part of it was working like a charm, before she nodded her head for a few seconds as she handed it over to Spike, who accepted it without pause, "Secondly, this horn can only be used once, to let me know when the actual invasion is starting, so only sound it when the demons have started their assault... with any luck we won't need it and I'll be ready the moment they show up." "I'll be sure to keep it safe and sound." Spike stated, where he studied the object for a few moments and found himself amazed by the fact that Twilight was able to rapidly create something that would let her know about the invasion, before he weaved his own magic around it and teleported it to a safe location, an area of the crystal castle he had figured out how to make that only he could access, before he focused on Twilight again, "You'll drop by and drop off some notes on your adventures, right?" "Of course. I've got a lot of information to go over as well." Twilight said, as there were a lot of tomes in her new collection, as some were from Spike's world, others were from Azeroth, and a few from all of the other worlds that had been found so far, especially the one parts of the universe that Ratchet, Rivet's twin brother, came from and the dimension Rivet had been sent to, all of which interested her greatly, "Don't worry, I'll be sure to include my tales with the group that is sent to keep an eye on things in my absence." "What about the royal guards?" Cynder asked, as she knew that Equus was missing all four of it's princesses, two of which moved the sun and moon each and every day like clockwork, and that Twilight was currently stronger than both of the ones who happened to move the celestial orbs, though her comment was more due to the fact that the guards had been looking for one of the princesses to return. "If they're anything like the ones back home, I'd wager they'd try to convince Twilight to stay here... to which I say 'good luck', since that would be impossible." Vegeta remarked, because he knew the Empress of his universe enough to know it was impossible to convince her to do something that she didn't agree with, so the fact that she was returning to Universe 7 meant that it really felt like home to her, meaning the guards were out of luck. "And if they want a fight, I'll give them one... a light one, since they aren't like any of us." Gulus added, though he was just a little disappointed in the fact that they didn't fight any of the other displaced, as he had to admit that Pinkamena and the one called Rainbow Dash looked like it would be interesting to clash with them for a time, but he figured there would be time for that once the demonic empire was dealt with. Goku raised his hand and Gulus gave him a high five, showing that he agreed with him on one thing, both of them were eager for a good fight, especially after hearing about the demonic empire that was running amok in the universe Twilight came from, and they lowered their hands as the others glanced at them. "I know some of you might want to stay a little longer, but there will be time to do so once our work back home is done, so just bare with it a little longer." Twilight said, as she knew that the two Saiyans who usually gave her a headache, when a new foe showed up and did something that took them down, despite their great power, might want to stay and clash with those in Spike's new academy, but there would be time for that later on, once her work was done. No one else said anything as she and Spike quickly shared one more brief hug before the portal back to Universe 7 was opened, a temporary one since the frame would need a couple of days to be built, and Twilight found that it brought them back to the area that she had revealed the Digimon in. Sure enough she found that most of the individuals they had left behind when Spike and Rivet came through the portal earlier were still here, in fact it looked like Bulma had been talking to Rena and some of the others about the living conditions they were used to. Upon their return Twilight discovered that a fair number of people were expecting visitors from her home world to come and see the world that she had been living in for a long time, only to be surprised when her group returned without anyone new to talk to. After everyone was through the portal it closed without too much delay, meaning Spike was going to get to work on the portal frame and that Twilight had to find an area for her side of things to rest, something that caused her to turn towards everyone that had gathered here for the unveiling of the Digimon. Instead of flooding them with information Twilight told them exactly what they needed to know, that there was one more universe out there, her home universe to be exact, some of the people of her home world had been displaced like her, and, more importantly, she told them of the threat that was apparently on it's way towards Equus. "Honestly, this demonic empire doesn't sound so tough, if they're using the superior numbers tactic." Yamcha said, as he used some of his spare time to learn a bit more about how Twilight's empire operated in the field and the tactics armies happened to use while they were in the middle of a war, and this seemed like a bunch of weaklings banding together to attack and overwhelm worlds, "If you're looking for someone to keep an eye on things, I volunteer to cross universes and keep an eye out for these foolish demons." "Really? I expected you to turn tail at the mere mention of a world ending demonic empire." Vegeta remarked, because the wolf Beastian in question happened to be one of the weakest warriors on the planet, in comparison to those who went to Stellaris anyway, and usually he shied away from facing the more powerful foes that the universe had to offer, in fact he had paled when he first felt Jiren's immense power. "Hey, I've been training a lot lately. I think I'm more than enough to defend Equus against some weak demons, at least until the main forces arrive to assist me and those that come with me." Yamcha replied, as he had taken his change into a new person seriously, sticking to being a Beastian and improving himself like those who went to Stellaris, plus he knew that even if Twilight accepted his statement there would be others joining him in no time. "You do realize that you and the team will be responsible for not only watching over Equus, but the three galaxies that a pair of displaced found and several other worlds they've visited, right?" Twilight inquired, just to make sure that Yamcha knew exactly what was being asked of those who were chosen for this venture, especially since her world would be a hard place for them to get food, something she knew Spike and the others could help the team with. "So I get to explore a new frontier, for our universe anyway, and make new friends. I'm not seeing a downside." Yamcha said, because right now he knew he couldn't do anything for Universe 7 or the other universes that Twilight was helping at the moment, but since her focus was going to be on the other challenges this opened the way for someone to help her keep her home universe safe. Twilight nodded her head and told him that she'd think about it, as there were people she had to speak with and items to move around, though as everyone separated, going about the rest of the day doing whatever they wanted, she returned to her base of operations to start her work. Fortunately there were more students in Stellaris and part of her had been a little worried that she'd overpower the various villains of the other universes, but this allowed her to spread things out far more easily than before, she just needed to select a commander for the new unit. Gulus was a good option, as many in her school respected him and he had the desire to clash with the other displaced, something he could do in his spare time she reckoned, though there were others if he didn't want the new position, since he did like guarding her due to the fact that it meant he could figure strong individuals. As she landed outside her base of operations she found that her people were working like a well oiled machine, where she nodded to everyone as she walked by them and headed for her office, because several plans had already come to mind and she was ready to prepare for the upcoming war. As she approached her office she found Korn and Iru, the Angel and Kaioshin of Universe 8, were outside her office, which was followed by discovering Liquiir standing by one of the walls, reading one of the books she had placed there previously, though as she entered the chamber he looked up and closed the book before returning it to the shelf it had come from. "Twilight, is something wrong?" Liquiir asked, because after spending a lot of time in her presence, something that greatly annoyed Beerus since he was constantly visiting this universe, so he knew her better than most people thought he did, all while the ones that knew her the best were her family, meaning he could tell when something was bothering her. "Sort of. I got a visit from Spike, visited my home universe and planet, and discovered that there's a demonic empire in the process of conquering planets, and my former home is on their list." Twilight replied, which was a quick summary of what she had discovered over the last few hours, though her mind was still at work connecting pieces and forming plans that would allow the displaced to tear down the demonic empire, each one depending on different circumstances and bits of information that they didn't have right now, "I'm in the middle of coming up with plans that will allow the forces I saw during my visit to decimate their enemies, especially since mine will be joining them when the time is right, and..." Twilight was interrupted as Liquiir leaned forward and kissed her, on the lips to be exact, though when he pulled back a few moments later both of them had smiles on their faces, even though she was sure that both his Angel and Kaioshin let out light chuckles while they did this. "Have I ever told you how cute you are when you get like this? Because it reminds me of one of the reasons I fell in love with you in the first place." Liquiir said, though this time he beckoned for them to leave by gesturing to the door with his head, as he had come here with a plan and he wasn't about to leave Twilight in what could be her time of need, but he was happy to see that she was willing to go along with his idea, "You clearly need a break from your work, so why don't we go get dinner somewhere and then do something to help you relax for the rest of the day... you can tell me everything you have planned tomorrow, especially since I'll do everything in my power to help you out." Twilight chuckled as she heard that, as Liquiir was definitely a sweetheart for thinking of her first, even though he must have come here to talk to her about something, before turning her focus towards what the rest of the day held for her, as she deserved a day off before worrying about what the future held for her and her forces.