//------------------------------//
// Cell: The Last few Days 
// Story: Dragon Ball Z: Magic's New Life 
// by Blackdrag-rose 
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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.