Red Ribbon Army’s Master plan

In the pendulum room.

"So even in the future, the Red Ribbon army is making trouble again." Yong Gohan who was in his teenage years said to Goten as he observed Goten trying to gather ki in his hands.

"Focus. Do not let your mind wander around." Goku said to Goten who was slightly distracted when Gohan talked to him.

"Got it," Goten said as he held a blue ki orb that was big enough to cover his whole hand in his fist.

"Great. Good job. Now throw it at that tree," Goku said as he pointed at a tree nearby.

"Ha. Take this Spirit Bomb." Goten said as he launched the Spirit Bomb at the three.

However, it missed the target as it was launched towards the sky before causing a massive explosion when it was set off.

"Well, we are getting there," Goku said as he patted Goten's back to encourage him.

"There is one thing that I want to ask?" Gohan asked Goten.

"If the clones are weaker than the originals even after their powers are suppressed how are they going to kill them?" Gohan asked.

At that moment Goten realized that there was still a piece of puzzle that he was missing. The clones might not be the only thing that the red ribbon has in store.

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In the Red Ribbon Factory.

18 blocked the kick that Cell just launched at her with her wrist.

She only strikes back when there is a clear opening and avoids using attacks that might destroy the lab or harm 16.

Then suddenly Cell's power increased so much to the point of rivalling Goku in his Super Saiyan 3 for a brief second.

This caused 18 by surprise as she was launched flying into the air.

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21 noticed that a huge shockwave was created.

Just like 18, 21 was also able to sense the ki.

And although Androids does not have ki, Cell is an exception to this rule as he is not an ordinary Android.

Just by sensing his ki, 21 knows that 18 might have only a slight chance of winning against him.

18 has gotten stronger than she was in the past but not that drastically as she is mostly a retired fighter at this point.

21 could tell that although Cell is not at the level where innocent Buu was, he still is much stronger than teen Gohan and could occasionally output power that would equal to Super Saiyan 3 Goku in the past.

She saw 18 being sent flying out of the factory by some kind of a physical attack.

18 crushed into a field covered with bruises all over her body.

21 thought that she should help 18 so she finally decided to show up near her.

"Are you Okay?" She asked as she landed near 18.

Cell also appeared near the two as he looked at 21.

"And who are you supposed to be?" Cell asked.

He didn't seem to have any knowledge about 21 as he looked at her.

"Just like 18. I also could not sense any kind of ki from you. Are you also an Android?" Cell asked.

21 charged up as a red aura started to appear around her as she prepared to fight Cell to save 18.

"Splendid. You could also make an excellent meal for me." Cell said.

Cell launched an energy blast at 21 but she easily parried the attack.

"....." Cell seemed to be a little surprised by that as he looked at 21.

"You are not an ordinary Android. Aren't you?" Cell asked.

"As a fellow android, I don't want to fight you. So, Let 16 go." 21 said as she looked at Cell.

"16. Oh, that means you should be the scientist that the Red Ribbon was keeping a leash on." Cell said as he looked at 21.

The moment 21 mentioned 16 Cell immediately found out who she was.

"I should thank you." Cell said as he looked at 21.

"Without your invention, the clones would not be able to keep everyone preoccupied to the point that they were unable to notice my resurrection." Cell said as he boasted to 21.

The end goal was the Red Ribbon army was not to use the clones to kill Goku and the others.

It was the plan at first, but when they couldn't recreate the clones who have the same powers as Goku and Vegeta they opted for a different approach.

Recreate Perfect Cell and have him absorb different kinds of Android so that he can build up enough power to defeat Goku.

21 was just used by them.

They knew that she was going to betray them eventually.

They ignored what she was doing despite getting the idea that she was up to something.

They knew that 21 would try to contact 17 and 18 to help her. But her doing that was only helping the Red Ribbon Army accomplish its goal much faster.

The only thing that they miscalculated was Cell betraying them.

"Connoisseur Blade." 21 said as a red energy blade was created in her plum.

She rushed towards Cell trying to cut him.

Her speed was so fast that she was able to outspeed Cell who had superior speed than teen Gohan in his Super Saiyan 2 form.

Cell backed away but his arm was cut off by her blade.

"We have a feisty one here." Cell said as he regrew his arm immediately.

But he was nervous inside his mind. As 21 is strong.

And by a lot, since he knew that she didn't seem like she was going all out.

He didn't know that the reason why she was not using full power was that using her full power would make her go more and more insane.

21 is the Ultimate Android. As she is an unparalleled Android at her full strength but she is not the perfect Android like Cell.

She could not control herself fully and the Majin Buu part that she had in her body was tempting her to fall to the dark side.

Which occurs whenever she uses her full power or her mental state becomes unstable.

I should first see how strong she is first. If her power is too great I might have to use those two much sooner than I thought. Cell thought in his mind as he started at 21.