//------------------------------//
// Interlude: Blast From the Past 
// Story: Dragon Ball Z: Magic's New Life 
// by Blackdrag-rose 
//------------------------------//

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.