//------------------------------// // Interlude: The Wait // Story: Dragon Ball Z: Daughters of Destruction // by Blackdrag-rose //------------------------------// Rainbow and Applejack stretched as they moved into a side area of the Lookout, a place designed to let people change into a fresh pair of clothing after coming out of the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, where they discovered that Chronoa had a new pair of clothing waiting for them. The clothing was essentially the same thing that they were currently wearing at the moment, though their mother claimed that they had been sized to their bodies after one year of training in the chamber, to which they discovered that the clothing fit perfectly. Neither of them were sure if their mother was using her powers as the Supreme Kai of Time to see the measurements and write them down, or if she was extremely good at guessing their sizes, but at the moment they weren't complaining. Once they had changed into a fresh pair of clothing, and were pleased with the results, they walked back to where Goku, Gohan, and their mother was waiting, while at the same time noticing that Mr. Popo was simply standing near the door to the Hyperbolic Time Chamber. "Well, I had better get going," Chronoa said, to which she gave both Rainbow and Applejack a quick hug, who happily did the same thing in return, before she moved away from where they were standing, "I can afford to spend a whole day away from my responsibilities, though two or more is a little much at the moment, especially with all the changes that have been showing up recently." "Have fun correcting the changes you find," Rainbow replied, because both she and Applejack knew that their mother could fix the changes in the timeline with a wave of her hand if she so desired, while at the same time noticing that Chronoa took care not to mention what her job was in front of Goku and Gohan. Chronoa nodded and waved to them for a few seconds, though that was followed by her disappearing before their eyes, but Rainbow and Applejack were used to that and found it funny when Goku had a shocked expression on his face, as if he believed that she had used an advanced version of his instant transmission technique. "So what's the plan?" Applejack asked, though at the same time she took a seat on the floor, because she and Rainbow had been training for one year straight, with some breaks thrown in so they didn't overexert themselves, but it felt better to be off her hooves for a few minutes, "I'm sure that someone came up with an idea on how we might locate Cell... or at the very least draw him out into the open so we can dispose of him before he does more damage to the world." "Well, Piccolo, Krillin, Tien, and Yamcha are trying their hand at sneaking up on where the news says that Cell is attacking," Gohan replied, knowing that he knew more about the plan that his father's friends had come up with at the moment, as his father had been sleeping the entire time and likely didn't know everything, "Yamcha said that they should try using one of the Sky Cars to reach the area that Cell is attacking, so they could remain undetected until they located the other Bio-Android. Personally I think that Cell might discover them before their arrival and vanish before they even get there, but they headed there anyway... and left Gale behind at Master Roshi's place." Rainbow and Applejack glanced at each other for a few seconds, because while they were still mad at Trunks for killing this era's version of Gale Wind, as it was shocking that he would end the life of an infant before of what she was, they had been expecting the arrival of the future Gale Wind ever since they discovered her existence. They were curious as to what the future Gale Wind was like, because Dr. Gero had stated that she was free to do whatever she wanted and wasn't tied down by the doctor's immense hatred for Goku, so it was understandable that they were a little excited to hear that she had showed up at last. Based on what they had heard so far it sounded like Gale was on their side, which meant that she must have come back to stop her brother... but they decided not to judge her until they actually met her. After a few seconds they returned their eyes to the Saiyans that were standing in front of them, though Rainbow knew that her sister already had an idea that would overcome anything that the Z Warriors had come up with in regards to hunting for Cell... and she eagerly waited to see what the others thought about the plan she would offer them. "I have an idea," Applejack said, to which both Goku and Gohan turned towards her, because they knew that she was the strategist between her and her sister, as they had seen what she was capable of when she put her mind to it, "What if we were to locate Androids 16, 17, and 18, reveal to them exactly what Cell was and why they were right to worry about him, and enlist their help in setting a trap for Cell?" "What sort of trap are we talking about?" Gohan asked, because he knew that Applejack must have thought about this while she and Rainbow were in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, as it already sounded like she knew what she wanted to tell them and was merely pausing for them to ask questions. "Someone needs to 'pick a fight' with one of the Androids, in an isolated area like an island," Applejack replied, to which she pulled out the map that she had found inside the dressing room, which she assumed that her mother had left for her and Rainbow to find, but at the same time she knew it could have been left there a long time ago by someone else, "there's a series of islands near Roshi's island, which happens to have a large number of vacant islands that could be used as an ideal area to fight Cell in. Once we lure Cell to one of those islands we can go all out against him, with whoever wants to fight against him, and hopefully someone takes him out before he absorbs one of the Androids." "Why would we willingly bring what he's searching for to those islands?" Goku inquired, because if Cell was looking for the Androids, so he could absorb them to achieve his perfect form, he failed to see the benefit of allowing them to join them in the fight against the bio-Android, "We would be giving him the keys to his perfect form." "True, but with so many high powered opponents he wouldn't be able to focus on them at all," Applejack stated, to which Rainbow grinned, indicating that she was eager to use her new techniques against the Bio-Android that was threatening the world, "Cell might know what tricks we have up our sleeves, but even he can't hope to battle several powerful opponents at the same time and survive. Besides, I'm sure that Androids 17 and 18 would like to get some justice on the Android that's been tearing apart every city he's come across, despite the fact that they claimed to be neutral when we encountered them earlier." Gohan thought about that statement, where Cell would be fighting against a certain number of powerful opponents, though he knew that the number included Piccolo, Gale, Rainbow, and Applejack. If they waited for some time, and came up with a more advanced version of Applejack's plan, he was sure that the number of fighters would also include Vegeta, Trunks, his father, and himself. Still, when he thought about the plan he knew that Cell would take one look at Gale and might run away from her, because the second Bio-Android had told them that her brother had exchanged a few ki blasts with her before disappearing. It was possible that Cell might notice his odds and disappear before they had a chance to kill him, which meant that they would be back at square one all over again... and that meant that more people would end up dying as Cell added them to his existing power. In the end Gohan decided that it was best to trust in Applejack's plan, as she was one of the best strategists they had at the moment, though he also found it a little annoying that he, his father, and the pony girls were going to be sitting here until someone decided to leave the Lookout. "So you mentioned that the future version of Gale Wind showed up recently," Rainbow commented, causing both Gohan and Goku to look at her for a few seconds, as they had no way of knowing what she was going to ask them, "what is she like? Is she as awesome as I am?" "Actually, she's more like Applejack," Gohan replied, to which he noticed that a look of annoyance flashed across Rainbow's face, "From what I could gather Gale is fond of making plans when she's dealing with something, so if she was hunting for Cell she would study what's happening in the world and then plan around what she's discovered. I haven't seen her fight against anyone yet, but from what Mister Piccolo said it appears that she at least contains a power that equals your own... maybe even rivals it." "Is that so?" Rainbow asked, though at the same time everyone could tell that she was excited to meet Gale now, because if one of her friends said that the Bio-Android's power was equal to her current power, potentially even rivaled her after one year of training, it meant that she needed to fight Gale, "Well then, I know exactly what I'm doing once we find and eliminate Cell." Applejack knew that Rainbow would want a chance to exchange blows with Gale Wind, especially now that the future version of her had revealed herself, but she was thankful that her sister was actually being smart about this entire situation. Usually Rainbow would think with her fists instead of her brain, which had been her problem for a number of years, but now Applejack was pleased that her sister was being reasonable about everything they were learning. It was still a problem, as it took more than one year for someone to get over a problem like that, but Rainbow was slowly overcoming one of her major faults... much to the joy of Applejack, Chronoa, and Whis. Even as she thought about her mother she knew that without her help, and the training that Whis had given her and Rainbow, neither of them would have been able to develop the new skills that they had created while they were inside the Hyperbolic Time Chamber. She was somewhat thankful that the Chamber reset itself whenever a group left the area, because if it hadn't she was sure that Vegeta and Trunks would have been shocked by the crater that was left behind when Rainbow tried one of her powers out. That was the interesting thing she had noticed, as Rainbow seemed to mimick their father more than anyone knew, because she used attacks that were just as destructive as their father's powers. Applejack was sure that their father would be pleased if he knew anything about what Rainbow had done since the two of them had done to sleep, but she decided not to think about that at the moment, as it pained her to consider that they had to wait at least ten more years, at least, before they would be able to see their father again. She had considered asking Whis if he had heard anything from the sleeping form of their father, which was desperation and she knew it, but she had focused on her training and let the thought disappear until now. "So, what are you and Rainbow going to do while we wait for Cell to make his move?" Goku asked, to which both of the girls were surprised by the fact that he had spoken, "Are you going to wait here until Vegeta and Trunks come out of the chamber, or do you want me to use the Instant Transmission and take you back to Master Roshi's place? I'm sure that Piccolo and the others will be there within an hour or two after they discover that Cell has slipped through their net." "I think we had best head back to Roshi's place," Rainbow commented, though at the same time Applejack found herself nodding her agreement to her sister's statement, "I would like to finally meet Gale Wind and see what she's like... and maybe discuss what her abilities are, especially if she's anything like me and Applejack." "Easy enough," Goku said, to which he stood up and beckoned for the girls to gather around him, though as they placed their hands on his back he raised his fingers to his forehead. A few seconds later the three of them disappeared and reappeared outside Roshi's house, though the exact instant the girls removed their hands from Goku's back he used the Instant Transmission and returned to the Lookout, where they knew he intended on waiting until it was his and Gohan's turn to use the Hyperbolic Time Chamber. The sisters looked at each other for a few seconds, as they were waiting to see what they could feel at the moment, before they turned to the house that was resting behind them... where they discovered another pony girl, who had to be Gale Wind, staring at them from the doorway. "You must be Gale Wind," Applejack said, to which she approached the door and held her hand out towards the Bio-Android, though at the same time she was surprised by how Gale's appearance matched both her own appearance and Rainbow's appearance. "That I am," Gale replied, though she raised a hand and shook Applejack's outstretched hand, while giving both of the girls a smile in return, "Am I correct in assuming that the two of you are Rainbow Dash and Applejack? As in the girls that created the Lightning Lance and the Harvester's Barrage techniques?" "That and so much more," Rainbow commented, though as she leaned against the post she smiled at Gale, because it appeared that she had studied them, thanks to the information that Dr. Gero had gathered on her and Applejack, which meant that she might want to fight them at some point in the future, "We were preparing ourselves for the fight with Cell, though he should be in for quite the surprise when he shows himself in the near future." "Agreed. My brother should be making his move soon," Gale stated, though even as she said the words she turned to Rainbow and beckoned to her with her hand, indicating that she desired a demonstration of the abilities that Rainbow was now talking about, "Since we're going to be waiting for Piccolo and the others to return, with news on what they found in the city they went flying to, why don't we spar for a few minutes? No ki attacks involved, just old fashioned fighting with our hands and hooves... what do you say to that?" "Oh? You want to brawl with me?" Rainbow replied, though as she said the words Applejack noticed that her sister was eager for such a thing, to which Applejack moved towards the door as Rainbow made her way towards the beach, "I'm interested in seeing how skilled you are in combat, even if its without ki based attacks at the moment." Gale smiled and beckoned for Rainbow to come at her, to which Rainbow decided to humor the Bio-Android and charged at her, where she swung her fist at her opponent. Gale, having expected such an attack to be the first one either of them used, raised her arm into the air and blocked the attack, though she followed that up by using her spare hand to punch away the kick that was coming at her. As Rainbow backed away Gale moved to the offensive, where she swung her fist at her target, though as Rainbow blocked it Gale's other fist collided with her chest and knocked her backwards. She could tell that Rainbow was overthinking this fight, because she appeared to think that she couldn't use tricks in this fight, but now that she did Gale knew that the fight was going to get much more interesting. Rainbow smiled as she charged at her opponent once more, though this time she dodged under the attack that was coming her way and slammed her fist into Gale's chest. She immediately followed that up by throwing three more punches into Gale's body before she jumped away, though it was clear that things were only just getting started between them. The two of them backed away from each other, where they stared at each other as if they were trying to decide what the other was going to do next and was mentally preparing the appropriate defense to whatever attack was chosen, before they moved towards each other again. Applejack watched as Rainbow swung her fist at Gale and missed by a hair, though as Gale appeared to be making her move, and was lowing her own guard in the process, Rainbow quickly changed her direction and slammed the base of her left hoof into Gale's chest, knocking her backwards for a few seconds. Applejack had to smile at that, because it meant that her sister was learning how to better plan her own attacks while making sure not to open a hole in her defense, which made her wonder if Gale had been trying to fool her sister or if the Bio-Android had been trying something until Rainbow had ruined her plan. Even though her plan had been ruined, and she had been forced backward, Gale didn't seem to mind the challenge that Rainbow was giving her, to which the two of them resumed the match and kicked up the sand around them as they moved around the beach. As Applejack watched the two of them fight she came to the conclusion that Gale definitely had Rainbow's skills in fighting, as it appeared that she was perfectly mimicking Rainbow's moves at times, while at the same time possessing her ability to come up with plans on the fly and adapt to the situation around her. It was somewhat amusing to see both her talent for fast thinking and the quickness of Rainbow's blows in the same body, but Gale had been designed to be the best of all worlds, or rather the best of the cells that had been used to construct her body, so she guessed that it made sense. She was sure that Rainbow was excited about facing someone that was essentially an imperfect mirror image of herself, as Gale knew every possible move that Rainbow could make, which put them on equal ground with each other. "Its like watching someone fight an image of herself," Roshi commented, to which Applejack noticed that the old man had come out to see what was causing the ground to shake, because despite the fact that neither Rainbow or Gale were using their ki their blows happened to be generating some activity on the ground around them, "Tell me, with the training you and Rainbow have gone through, is it possible that Cell can be defeated before he can absorb either of the Androids that he's after?" "If he's arrogant and believes that he can easily acquire what he's looking for, then he should be easy to beat." Applejack replied, recalling everything that they had found on the Bio-Android that was currently tearing up some unknown city, "Cell believes that he can achieve his perfect form by acquiring the the Androids, but he isn't taking into consideration that Rainbow and I, along with Gale, are here. Its possible that Cell might know about Rainbow's lance, and the basics that would allow him to command a fraction of its power, but my heart tells me that we can beat Cell before he even gets close to achieving his goal." "Good," a new voice said, to which both Rohsi and Applejack noticed that Piccolo had returned, and spotted the sky car that was parked on the right side of the house, "We reached the city and looked for clues as to the whereabouts of Cell, which reminds me that I have to apologize to Gale when she's finished sparring with Rainbow, because if she had been there with us I'm sure that she would have found some clue in the city. Gale has been hunting for her brother for so many years, both in her future and in our timeline, and yet I failed to account for her knowledge when we chased after Cell... we really could have used her knowledge." "I'm sure that she will be happy to hear that," Applejack replied, though at the same time she smiled as the two combatants pushed themselves above the water, completely ignoring what they were doing before hand, "once they're done fighting each other and testing their skills." As it turned out both Rainbow and Gale kept fighting for a few more minutes, exchanging blows with each other and testing the basic levels of their powers, though when it was over Piccolo and the others, those that had left Gale behind to watch over Goku, apologized to the Bio-Android for their actions. Gale, for her part, accepted their apologizes and asked what they had found in the city, just in case they found something out of the ordinary, but Applejack could tell that she was looking for anything that could tell her where her brother had run off to. This time the Z Warriors listened to anything and everything that she had to tell them about her brother, while at the same time they spent hours on end discussing the various plans they could use in order to take out Cell once he made his appearance. Applejack knew that this was part of what Gale wanted when she came back in time, as it seemed like she had come back to stop her brother and find a group of people, no doubt the Z Warriors, that would accept her for who she was and not be too upset by who her father was. Gale seemed happy when someone would ask her something, as if she was pleased to share her knowledge with everyone else, but Applejack also detected a hint of sadness in her voice, indicating how bad her timeline was before the future version of Cell had made the jump back in time. Both she and Rainbow suspected that Gale was happy to be around them, as they were literally the only members of their kind at the moment, but they didn't say anything and let the evening pass them by. Eventually night came upon them and everyone had to turn in for the night, though this time they suspected that there was no need for there to be a guard and allowed everyone to sleep peacefully. When morning arrived the only ones awake were Applejack, Piccolo, Gale, Roshi, and Chi Chi, which left Yamcha, Krillin, and Rainbow asleep at the moment. Piccolo was watching the television as he tried to pinpoint the exact location of Cell, while Applejack and Gale discussed the tactics they could use against Cell when he showed himself again. The basic plan was to figure out where Android 17 and 18 were, tell them about the danger they were in, and see if they could enlist their help in trapping Cell in a battle that he had no hope of winning, while at the same time making sure that he couldn't get his hands on either of the two Androids that he was trying to absorb. What none of them were expecting was a polite knock on the door, to which Gale got up and opened the door, where she got her first face to face meeting with Androids 17 and 18, who seemed shocked to see her. "What the...?" Android 17 said, to which he, his sister, and the larger Android looked at Gale for a few seconds, as none of them knew a thing about her existence, "There's a third pony girl?! Geez, Dr. Gero sure got his research wrong if he was able to miss someone completely." "Actually, the reason you don't know about her is because she wasn't complete," Piccolo commented, to which the three Androids looked at him as he turned to face them, "This is Gale Wind, the sister of the Bio-Android known as Cell. She has all the cells that her brother has, but in addition she has Rainbow and Applejack's cells inside her as well... though the real kicker is that her father, Dr. Gero, made her with the purpose to have a daughter that doesn't follow what all the other Androids were programmed to do." "Okay... then that means she's from the future." Android 18 said, to which she noticed both Gale and Applejack nodding their heads, while spotting that everyone else was waking up and turning their way, "And I'm going to guess that Cell came from the future as well, because 16 commented that someone blew up the laboratory and everything inside it. So, what does the future menace want with this timeline?" "The two of you," Applejack replied, to which she pointed to both 17 and 18 for a few seconds, causing them to raise their eyebrows at her for a moment, "Apparently the computer that created Cell made it so he's in some sort of 'imperfect' state, where the only way for him to ascend to his 'perfect form' is to absorb two special people... you and Android 17. We've been coming up with some ideas on how to lure Cell into an area and kill him before he completes his terrible goal, especially since we have no idea how strong he could be in his perfect form, but it boils down to this... we stage a 'fight' between Piccolo and one of you, or have Piccolo fire some ki blasts at a rock, and lure Cell to an island." "And then we kill him," Android 17 said, to which he punched on hand into the palm of the other, which indicated that he was pleased with what the Z Warriors had come up with since the last time they had seen each other, "So, which island are we heading to?" "This one right here," Piccolo replied, to which he pulled out the map that he had been holding onto and pointed at the circled island that they had chosen last night, before he beckoned for everyone to follow him, "Let's go set up our trap... and finally put an end to this threat." Piccolo stepped out of the house and started flying towards the island he had beckoned to on the map, though while the three Androids followed after him Applejack and Gale remained behind for the moment so they could rouse Rainbow and get her prepared for the coming battle. They all knew that it was only a matter of time until Cell detected Piccolo's energy, once he started powering up and made it look like he was fighting someone, and came running, so they wanted to make sure that Rainbow was ready before they left the house. At the same time they knew that Tien and Krillin would want to stay here with Roshi and Chi Chi, because at this point Yamcha had convinced them that there was no reason for them to risk their lives, as either Rainbow, Applejack, Gale, Goku, Gohan, Vegeta, or Trunks had the potential to beat Cell before he even managed to absorb either of the Androids. Applejack was happy to hear that one of her friends was so confident in all of their abilities, though she knew that she and the others needed to keep their heads on and not get distracted, as Cell was still out there and they needed to focus on bringing him down... though once that was done they could relax until the next foe showed his face. Cell chuckled as he struck someone else with his tail and took the person's life force into his own body, because at the rate he was absorbing people he knew that he could easily defeat Piccolo, where he could either absorb the Namekian or outright kill him once the battle was over. Having the potential to defeat Piccolo meant that he could best the majority of the Z Warriors with little effort, though he was slightly concerned about his chances against Rainbow and Applejack, as they were much more powerful than Piccolo was. He knew that, in order to have a chance to defeat either of them, he needed to absorb at least one of the two Androids that he was hunting for, unless they were suddenly able to rapidly increase their own power since the last time he had felt their energies. Once the man he had been draining was done he removed his tail and pinned someone else to the wall, as they hadn't fled when they had the chance, but before he could start draining his new victim of all their life force he felt something... though it felt like Piccolo was getting into a fight with someone. Cell waited for a few seconds, as he was trying to see if he could figure out who the Namekian was fighting, but after some time he determined that it had to be on the Androids he was searching for, as he couldn't feel anything from whoever was trading blows with Piccolo. He then smiled and tossed the person he was holding into the wall, though that was before he jumped through the open window and started flying in the direction of Piccolo's ki. He finally knew the location of Android 17 and Android 18, which meant that he was that much closer to achieving his perfect form and having the power to destroy the world if he so desired... though he already knew that the first person he killed would be his sister, and then he would destroy the Z Warriors. Cell smiled as he flew through the air, because for once everything seemed to be going his way... and he intended on making sure that his luck stayed that way.