//------------------------------// // Cell: Message of Terror // Story: Dragon Ball Z: Magic's New Life // by Blackdrag-rose //------------------------------// 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.