Digimon Fan Fiction / Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction / Gundam Wing Fan Fiction / Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction / Fan Fiction ❯ Ultimatum 2: The Argetlahm Adventures ❯ Mission #5 - Cannonball Run ( Chapter 14 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: Ultimanium 
Anime/Manga: Digimon Fan Fiction / Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction / Gundam Wing Fan Fiction / Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction / Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Comedy / Adventure / Action | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 09.16.2002 | Pages: 12 | Words: 6.0K | Visits: 277 | Status: Completed
Anime/Manga: Digimon Fan Fiction / Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction / Gundam Wing Fan Fiction / Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction / Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Comedy / Adventure / Action | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 09.16.2002 | Pages: 12 | Words: 6.0K | Visits: 277 | Status: Completed
Argetlahm War Room
Day 18, 12:00 PM
"Ultramagnus has gone too far."
Davis waved frantically. "Whoa, wait, hold on. He couldn't do that without the J2, couldn't he?"
Raul nodded. "Very much so. Davis, get everybody in here, fast as possible. There's no time to lose."
Davis turned and split from the war room, towards the turbolift that would take him to the bridge. He had to tell his friends and bunkmates as soon as possible. Still, he winced to himself. What everybody was about to hear, they were going to like not. Davis threw a fist down on the transmit button next to a large microphone extending from the bridge control panel. "Everybody! Up and at 'em! We have a problem... a BIG problem! Hurry up, we don't have much time." He quickly lifted his fist off the large switch and bolted back to the war room. In the five minutes he took to get there, he found everybody standing in the aisles, strangely awake and actionable, for this time at night, anyways.
Conker rubbed his eyes. "What's the deal, Dave? What's Ulty and his guys up to now?"
"Couldn't say," Goku yawned. "Seems like all kinds of crazy crap happens around here when everybody's asleep."
"Everybody," Magnus commanded. "Get in your seats. A major tragedy has occured in the third dimension."
Everybody nodded accordingly and dashed to their designated chairs.
"It's been awaked." Ultimanium sighed.
Serge stood up. "What? What's been awakened?"
"The Chrono Cross."
Serge, Kid and Karsh's eyes grew wide, while everybody else stared on confusingly. "How the hell did Ultramagnus get control of the Chrono Cross?!" Serge yelled. "That was supposed to be sealed away!!"
"In the fifth dimension, yes," Raul explained. "However, its power still reigns on in the third dimension. Ultramagnus' workers found it recently near Fort Draconia." The hologram projector lit up, showing a world map. A light blinked near the northeast corner of the center continent.
"What's the big worry over?" Vegeta smirked. "It is just a sort of treasure, is it not?"
(A/N - I'm just gonna make up interesting stuff from hereonin... Chrono Cross people, don't jump on me. ^_^' )
Ultimanium shook his head. "The entire concept of dimensional travel? The entire concept of dimensional travel stemmed from the analysis of the Chrono Cross. The Chrono Cross is an ancient artifact, an extremely old dimensionsplitter. The magic energies infused within the Chrono Cross are said to work alongside with the religion of El Nido - an extremely complicated one. Six dragon gods rule over the El Nido isles, each one representing a different element. The Chrono Cross' origins are unknown. It is said that the Chrono Cross has the power to cross over dimensions, aligning the elements one over another - creating a song of union. I imagine all this babble has put you to sleep again, has it? Let's just get it straight..."
Izzy stood. "Technically, you mean the 'Chrono Cross' has the power to temporarily meld several dimensions together along one line."
Magnus nodded. "Correct. The dimensions will completely overlap... no need for a portal here. Ultramagnus can instantaneously transport his army into the heart of civilization and destroy the fourth dimension from the inside using the Chrono Cross. Asides from that, the utilization of the Chrono Cross may have adverse and destructive effects on the very dimensional structure of reality itself. That is why Serge, Kid and Karsh did not use the Chrono Cross in normal situations. The Chrono Cross was last used by Serge and his group to defeat the Time Devourer, a melding of the Six Dragon Gods from the El Nido archipalego. However, due to its possible extreme destructive effects, it is not used there any longer."
"Ha! But he doesn't know how to activate the Chrono Cross, does he, now?" Kid laughed.
Ultimanium drooped. "That brings us to the next part."
The hologram map lit up again, this time showing a large island mass, much larger than the Magnopolis continent.
TK stared at the map for a couple of seconds before coming to his senses. "Hey, that's the continent of Server! In the Digital World!"
A large blinking square appeared in the center of the island. Raul stepped up. "Ultramagnus, after his defeat at the hands of Wargreymon, Paildramon and MagnaAngemon, retreated to the third dimension Digital World. Apparently, Ultramagnus' R&D has discovered recently that the dimensional barriers between the Digiworlds have a different freqeuncy than the ones of the normal world. Technically, the Digiworld is half a dimension back from the one you shift there from."
"So what's with the blinking square?" Berri asked.
"Ultramagnus, out of sight until now, has constructed a HQ in the heart of Server. From there, he waits to activate the Chrono Cross and drive his forces into the fourth dimension from there."
Karsh rubbed his chin. "But how does he plan to activate the Chrono Cross?"
Ultimanium frowned. "There's several transports approaching Server from different directions. Check for yourself." The map began to zoom in a short distance away from the shore of Server, onto a small formation of hydrofoils crusing along the ocean at a moderate speed. The hologram removed the celing of the foils to reveal....
"The Dragon Balls?!" Gohan yelped.
Vegeta shot up. "The Dragon Balls!! What does Ultramagnus want with them?!"
Goku threw his arms up. "Well, hello! If he can't get the Chrono Cross to work, then Shen Long will!"
"Exactly," Magnus groaned. "While Shen Long lacks the power to tear dimensional gates on his own, he may have what it takes to tap into the arcane energies of the Chrono Cross and put it into action. If you haven't noticed yet, we have a big ass problem on our hands, people. Everybody, head down to the rec room. We're going in."
Conker put his hand up. "...don't you mean the hangar?"
"No, the rec room."
********
< br> (A/N - Remember the sticky note from Chapter 4? Huh?)
"We told you the Argetlahm remains in a fragment of fourth dimensional space," Ultimanium said.
"..so we can get into the 3.5 Digital World from here!" Tai continued.
"I don't imagine Ultramagnus would expect us to arrive without the J3," Raul commented. "Without the J3 at our side, we can't be tracked. We should have the element of surprise on this run. We will be attacking Ultramagnus' HQ head-on, so use your new equipment to the fullest. The Digi HQ project is easily Ultramagnus' most guarded asset right now, as the Dragon Balls are on their way there, so everybody should be on their highest guard, just in case."
Conker glared down at the ground. "If Ultramagnus is there, would that make this our final run?"
"I hope we can deal enough damage to him," Kari sighed. "Otherwise we'll be on the Argetlahm for ages."
"Bold talk, Kari," Vegeta scowled. "But how exactly do we access this 'Digital World' from our location? All we're staring at is a bunch of computers."
Armadillomon waddled up. "The Digidestined have full access to the Digital World. They can access a portal to it using any computer."
Raul turned. "Alright, everyone, listen up. We're going to be opening a digiport shortly, and you'll all need to know where to go. There are three transports approaching the island, two with two Dragon Balls, one carrying one. Apparently, he already has two of them. You will all be divided into three groups, each intercepting a different hydrofoil. It only takes one group to derail a hydrofoil and get its cargo to screw up Ultramagnus' plans, but he will certainly notice and send reinforcements. Therefore, it is imperative that as many groups rob their hydrofoils as possible so we can get as many Dragon Balls away as possible. Understood?"
Everybody nodded.
"After we have dropped the Dragon Balls off at the Argetlahm, we will begin our assault on Ultramagnus' headquarters. Let's move out!"
TK, Davis and Tai were all clad in their mythril armor, Davis wielding the dual Ragnaroks, Tai and his Ultima Weapons, and TK with the Sword of Truth. TK whipped out his D3 like he did so many times before. "Digiport open!"
Everybody asides the Digidestined watched in awe as the window appeared on the screen and lit up, transforming everyone into pure energy and zapping them off to their mission.
MISSION #5 - Cannonball Run
Hydrofoils containing the five remaining Dragon Balls will arrive at Server shores shortly. ULTIMANIUM'S GROUP, MAGNUS' GROUP and RAUL'S GROUP will assault the different shipments of cargo as it is moved inbetween the shore and Ultramagnus' HQ. Danger level is classified under Defcon 8. Lethal force is (duh) authorized.
Secondary objective - Rally at entrance to Technotropolis, center of Server continent. Operation to oust Ultramagnus will commence shortly after.
Good luck.
ULTIMANIUM'S GROUP
Conker
Goku
Vegeta
Izzy
Tentomon
Veemon< br> Cody
Armadillomon
MAGNUS' GROUP
Serge
Kid
Cloud
Karsh
Rodent
Berri
H eero
Squall
RAUL'S GROUP
Davis
TK
Patamon
Gohan
Kari
Gatomon
Duo
Tai
Agumon
Gohan sat down in the bushes behind him. "This place is so weird.. I wasn't thinking a virtual reality when people started yelling 'Digital World! Digital World!'. I think I could get used to this place."
"TK?" Patamon chirped. "Doesn't anything around here look different?"
TK glanced out to the sea, a good 200 feet from where Raul's group was hiding. Well, most of it.
"I can't say this is much of a hiding spot." Duo sighed.
Everybody looked up. The DeathHarvest towered over the generally short trees near the shoreline of Server, exposing itself over the horizon.
"Cloaking device," Raul shouted. "Second dial on the left canopy."
Duo glanced around the cockpit, noticing the large clear dial on the celing of the cockpit. "Oh... I think I have it..." Duo swiped at the dial, spinning it to the left. With a startling crackle, the machinery from the DeathHarvest disappeared around him, leaving him and his chair in space. "....YAAAHHH!!" Duo screamed and held onto his chair for dear life.
Davis checked around him. "Hey, where'd Duo go?" He looked up to see a faint glimmer of Duo grasping his seat before it disintegrated into thin air.
"You'll be alright, Duo." Raul said. "You will be able to see everything from here on in, but Ultramagnus' forces or us won't be able to see you while you stay in this mode. Use it in emergencies. You might as well stay like that so we can at least have a surprise attack on the hydrofoils."
Gatomon sat at Izzy's laptop, leant to her for the situation. A radar displayed on the pineapple computer's screen. "Blinking dots, headed inbound."
Raul stood. "How far?"
"Lemme check," Gatomon leant forward and squinted at the faint pulsing of the foils. "I'd say 12 clicks."
"We up for some SSJ asskicking?!" Magnus yelled.
"BOOYA!!" Rodent wailed.
"Hell yeah!!" Cloud yelled.
Serge and the rest of Magnus' group sat on group of rocks a distance aways, by the shoreline. The Wing Zeromus sat guard behind the group.
"You picking up anything?" Kid shouted up.
"Two readings, transports, alright," Heero blurted out. Again he checked the sensor array on the Wing Zeromus' control panel. "Headed inbound. Everybody get ready, they should be arriving in about ten minutes at this rate."
Karsh lied across the ground. "What's the big deal? They're only hovercrafts. We can just pop them. Besides, how fast could a hovercraft be going?"
"220 kpm." Heero stated flatly.
"ETA nine minutes," Ultimanium grumbled. "Everybody get ready."
Veemon stood to his feet. "Do we have a plan here?"
"I'll tell you guys when to jump," Goku said. "I have the reflexes here."
Conker spit on his hands and rubbed them. "Jumping on to a passing hovercraft? Anyone have any similar experiences to share?"
"I don't know, have you jumped into moving traffic before?" Cody sighed.
Izzy frowned. "Those hovercrafts are moving far more quickly than I thought.."
"I'll go up ahead. Half of you follow me. There's no way Kakarot could get the entire group jumping on at once. We'll head five minutes up and I'll commandeer that boarding."
Ultimanium nodded. "Good idea. We'll see you in a bit, Vegeta."
Vegeta made a face at Ultimanium. "Of course it is." As he turned to leave, Izzy, Cody and Conker followed him.
Ultimanium turned to the group. "Me, Goku, and the Digimon will board first, followed by the rest."
********
< br>
Ultramagnus snickered to himself. "Yeah, nice try."
"Is something going on that we're not aware of?" Servant asked.
Ultramagnus rolled his eyes. "Oh, just another attempt on the behalf of Ultimanium to save the third dimension, we all know the drill. Don't tell me you can't see them on the long range scanners."
"Well, actually, we don't," Servant gulped. "There's no readings on the entire Server continent."
Ultramagnus grit his teeth. "All this damn technology and there's still nothing that can match up to raw psychic ability. I guess I didn't need your accursed 'technology' in the first place when all it took was my astronomical power level to tell things were wrong with this situation. Ultimanium, I know you're out there, right on the Server beach. Betcha didn't think I had these kind of abilities, huh?" Ultramagnus turned back to Servant. "Servant. Send out our shock and airdrop android units right away. Get them to set up checkpoints on the hydrofoil route. And tell the foils themselves not to slow down."
********
< br>
"ETA five minutes," Ultimanium shouted. "Everybody, get ready!"
Veemon... digivolve to....
EXVEEMON!!
Exveemon... DNA digivolve to...
PAILDRAMON!!!
Tentomon... digivolve to...
KABUTERIMON!!
Kabuterimon... digivolve to...
MEGAKABUTERIMON!!!
"I see Megas are out of the question," Megakabuterimon sighed heavily.
"You know, you gotta have your desperate situations," Ultimanium mumbled. "Give it some time."
Magnus grit his teeth. "ETA three minutes... everybody get ready..."
Magnus' group positioned itself in the bushes, ready to have a hovercraft scream over their heads. And time passed.
Raul blinked. "ETA 30 seconds."
TK shot up. "Incoming!"
Everybody glared out to the open ocean, where several uproars of churning water shot from the ocean. Small specks, the foils, could be seen lifting over the horizon. They were headed straight for the beach.
"Those are a bit bigger than I thought they were," Tai muttered, his hands to his eyes. "We're going to be flattened by this thing before we get onto it."
Agumon... warp digivolve to...
WARGREYMON!!!
Kari frowned. "Is it me, or is that thing not slowing down?"
Two hovercrafts in the distance split off from their groups, turned a 45, and shot off to different parts of the Server coast. The other groups were going to have company. The hovercraft for Raul's group shot toward the coast and hit the sand of the beach, still speeding. The hovercraft plowed over a sandbed, shooting through the air and landing on the temperate ground closer to Raul's position. The foil cranked back up to maximum speed and rocketed by the group.
Everybody just sat there.
"...I take it we should go after that." Wargreymon sighed.
"Aaaahh!! No way!!" Davis wailed. "C'mon, we gotta do something!!"
"Ride on the DeathHarvest and Wargreymon, everybody," Raul commanded. "They're the only ones fast enough to catch up to the hydrofoil!"
"NYAAAAAA!!" Everybody screamed simultaneously as Magnus' group dove out of the trees onto the hovercraft. The group staggered and quickly brought back their bearings as the whiplash-speed of the hovercraft overtook them. The stifled cry of "intruders!" could be heard from the command center beneath them.
"Somebody go for the Dragon Balls," Kid shouted. "The rest of us are going to have some trouble up here!"
5 androids bounded up the stairs leading to the overhead celing of the hovercraft, all wielding energy blades.
"Ultramagnus' elite guard," Magnus gaped. "Watch out, these ones are a bit more powerful." He quickly tapped several buttons on his Scouter and scanned the area in front of him. "Power level of 50,000 each. We're going to have some trouble here."
Serge brought up the Setra Weapon to his guard. "As long as they aren't as tough as the one we fought, I'm fine."
"Serge, these are the one you fought."
Karsh frowned. "Uh oh."
A wave of autocannon fire strafed across the surface of the hovercraft, making the androids dodge away in confusion. One of them fell off the hovercraft and was left in the distance. The Wing Zeromus fell out of the sky, maintaining the same speed as the hovercraft. "Can't have fun without me!" Heero growled, and let loose another barrage of machine gun fire onto the hovercraft.
"Melee?" Squall and Cloud spoke in unison. "We'd be honored!" Both warriors lit up in a red flame. Squall lept up into the air, falling back a bit, and Cloud brought his thief sword back over his shoulder. Squall brought his gunblade behind him and swung it back around his other side in a tight arc, sending a wave of flame at the group of robots. Cloud brought his blade back up and slammed it down against the ground, sending several ripples across the ground to the androids.
"FATED CIRCLE!!" Squall boomed, victoriously.
"BLADE BEAM!!" Cloud followed.
The Fated Circle impacted with a violent explosion against the line of androids, sending them to the ground. The Blade Beam wove underneath them and sent off a shock, sending them all back up and landing on their faces. Two sprung up and charged at Magnus' battalion as Magnus himself lifted his hands.
"Neo Crusher!!" Magnus bellowed. A large beam of darkness shot down from the sky and surrounded the two androids remaining on the ground as they began to push themselves up. However, it soon began pushing the soldiers back down again for a short moment, until they were blasted down through the hydrofoil itself. Rodent glanced behind the hovercraft as two smoking android wrecks in the ground behind it. A loud hissing filled the air.
"We shot them through the hovercraft tube!" Berri squealed. "We're slowing down!"
"208 kpm! 203 kpm! The hovercraft isn't going to get any further, get rid of the androids so we can get the Dragon Balls!" Heero shouted.
Serge focused his Chi unto the Setra Weapon, until all six blades on it glowed white. He jumped into the air, Chi collecting on it as he went up, and hurled it at the androids as hard as he could. "Flying Arrow!!" The six-bladed weapon impacted against the surface of the craft, erupting in a multi-elemented explosion. Everybody shielded themselves as they felt the heat and cold that radiated from the blast. The Setra Weapon spun out of the mayhem and landed back in Serge's hands. When the chaos cleared, parts of one android still hung in the air, drifting toward the ground. The last android lunged out of the fray at Serge, his left arm missing. Serge dodged as the robot brought his energy blade down where he stood, burning a slit in the iron.
The Wing Zeromus shot to the side of the hovercraft, finished its charge period. "BUSTER SHOT!!" Heero yelled. The Buster Rifle Mk.II went off, and the resulting beam of light carved across the surface of the craft and sent the android through several dozen trees in the distance before breaking apart and crumpling to the ground.
Kid dashed up, Dragon Balls in each hand. "Two down, three to go, boys! Let's get out of this dump!" With that, she dove from the hovercraft, slowed down to 160 kpm, and rolled as she landed. Everybody followed suit as the hovercraft started to slide from its braking spree. The hovercraft tipped before tumbling over itself, slamming into a grove of trees and exploding, with shards of metal and rubber flying in all directions.
Magnus gazed at the burning wreckage. "Done like dinner."
Goku flipped onto a catwalk along the side of the speeding hovercraft, much to the surprise of two androids standing on both sides of him. He grinned. "Why, hello, guys." As the androids charged him, Goku fired off powered-up Ki blasts in both directions, punching through both robots. Ultimanium landed on top of the hovercraft, where 3 androids awaited him.
Ultimanium smirked. "Well, don't just stand there."
Megakabuterimon dove out of the sky, crushing the androids beneath him. "...ah... oops."
Armadillomon climbed up the guardrail and settled himself next to Goku.
Goku glanced down at him. "...aren't you supposed to be digivolved?"
"Not when Megakabuterimon takes up all of first class," Armadillomon barked. "I'm going for the Dragon Balls."
A loud clank interrupted them both, as Vegeta dashed around from the other end of the craft, followed by Conker and Cody. "What's going on here?" Vegeta asked. "Do we have the Dragon Balls yet?"
"Not yet," Goku said. "While Ulty and Megakabuterimon handle the androids, we're going for them..." Goku stopped for a second, looking around.
Conker leant on the armrail. "What?"
Goku looked around hesitantly. "Did you hear something?"
A muffled voice came from the interior of the hydrofoil. "Evasive manuvouers!!"
Cody stared onward. "What did he mean by..." Cody was interrupted as the hyrdofoil tilted to the side, sending everybody onto the guardrail. "What the...? The hydrofoil's turning! Hold on everybody!!"
Conker toppled over the guardrail. "Yaaah!!" Vegeta lashed out and latched onto his arm onto Conker's as he nearly hit the ground.
"We need you yet, squirrel-man," Vegeta grunted. "Get the hell back up here."
Ultimanium looked around. "We're turning,"
Paildramon shot forward in the air, flying ahead of Ultimanium. "What's that up ahead? It's almost like we're coming to..."
Another hovercraft shot by in front of them, barely clearing Ultimanium's. The vehicle teetered again as it struggled to remain balanced.
"...an intersection!"
Cody glared back as Wargreymon and DeathHarvest roared through the intersection. "It's Raul's group! They're on the same track as us! If the path turns again..." As soon as he finished his sentence, the foil tilted again, throwing everybody on the catwalk against the exterior of the hovercraft. Ultimanium knelt down, gathering his balance.
Megakabuterimon shifted. "HORN BUSTE...aaaaahahhhhhh!!!" He began to lose his footing, and eventually tumbled over the edge of the hovercraft, as he dug a claw into the side of the hovercraft compartment to keep himself aboard.
Armadillomon dodged back as a sharp claw tore through the hallway wall, nearly impaling him. "Hey! Watch it!" He reached into his mouth and pulled out the pair of Dragon Balls. "Don't worry, my babies, you'll be safe with me."
An android rounded the corner, firing a blast of energy at Armadillomon as he rolled out of the way. "Yaaah!!" Armadillomon bailed out the tear caused by Megakabuterimon as another energy blast landed where he once stood with a small explosion. As he landed on the catwalk, he stumbled and spat out the Dragon Balls, both rolling down the catwalk toward the edge.
Vegeta glared back. "Curses!" He dove at top speed for the pair of orange marbles and scooped them up. As he turned around to scowl at Armadillomon, the foil began a powerslide back into another intersection, making Vegeta fall flat on his face and toss the Dragon Balls. Cody leapt up and caught them.
"They're gonna get company!" Conker shouted, as Wargreymon slammed down a claw into the surface of the hydrofoil to the side of them. Several people got off.
Paildramon shot forward to the next hovercraft as TK, Davis, Gohan and Tai boarded from Wargreymon. Immediately, they all leapt into action, carving up androids that waited for them on the surface with their swords, daggers and fists, respectively.
"Depserado Blaster!!" Paildramon yelled. Bolts of energy impacted around the surface of the hovercraft. The digidestined and Gohan all backed up as the shots rained upon the several defending androids, tearing them apart. The Wing Zeromus shot into view, dumping Raul, Patamon, Kari, and Gatomon.
Patamon... digivolve to...
ANGEMON!!
Angemon... digivolve to...
MAGNAANGEMON!!!
Gatomon... digivolve to...
ANGEWOMON!!
"Get the air forces!!" A loudspeaker blared. A pair of turrets rose from the top of the command station and started firing wildly into the air, nailing Paildramon straight.
"YYYAAAAAHH!!!" Paildramon bellowed, clutching a bloody spot on his chest. He began to slow down and lose altitude accordingly.
"Paildramon!!" Davis screeched.
Angewomon bounded back from the surface of the hovercraft and took flight, suspending the wounded Paildramon in the air. "Paildramon! What are you doing here?!"
"Ultimanium already has the Dragon Balls from his craft!" Paildramon choked. "I figured... I would help out with yours."
Angewomon drifted slightly. She quickly reasserted herself and hauled Paildramon back into the air. "You don't need to, we're alright, and, you're hurt..."
"Keep going!" The loudspeaker wailed again. "We've got the demon-thing on the ropes!!" The cannons began blaring away again.
"Hell!..." Angewomon gasped. She flung herself in front of Paildramon and took a heavy blast of energy to the rear, sending them both down. As they spiraled in their quick moment heading toward the ground, Angewomon flipped herself around, making her hit the ground underneath Paildramon. Paildramon struggled to suspend himself over the downed Angewomon.
"Hey, cut it out! I'm supposed to hit the ground first!" Paildramon shouted, shakiness in his voice.
"Hey, you give some, you get some." Angewomon laughed.
Paildramon grinned, fighting back against the pain inflicted on him. "Oh, you really mean that, don't you?"
Paildramon... Mega Digivolve to....
IMPERIALDRAMON!!!
Imperialdramon... Mode Change to...
FIGHTER MODE!!!
"Let's see how they deal with this," Imperialdramon bellowed.
"How are you doing all this digivolving on your own?!" Angewomon belted out.
"Ultimanium's secret. C'mon, you don't want to leave all this up to a ditz like Davis, do you?"
Angewomon brushed herself off. "Guess not." Both digimon hovered up and rocketed back forward to their hovercraft.
"Dum basses!!" TK screamed, bringing the Sword down as hard as he could on an android's head, busting it open. "No one does that to my friends and gets away with it!!" Davis covered his back, destroying any androids on opposite sides of him with quick double-slashes. Tai and Gohan worked on defending each other, too.
Raul quickly brung his hands together.
"Source of all power, crimson fire burning bright!
Gather together in my hand and become an inferno...
BURST FLARE!"
A ball of light formed in the chest of an android, catching his attention. Before he could examine it, it erupted in a shockwave and a gigantic shaft of blue-white flame, dissolving the android where it stood. Any pieces that remained of the android flew off harmlessly.
The android a ways away landed a hard punch to TK's gut. "I'm sure Ultramagnus would have fun toying with you. I'll leave you alone for now."
A shaft of white light formed around TK's blade. "Too late!!" TK threw the sword in front of him as hard as he could, severing the android in half instantly. TK turned around and lashed out at the last several androids, slashing them all apart in multiple bursts of light. The lashes of the Sword echoed with power.
Kari dashed to the rear of the craft, where everybody watched. "Dragon Balls!" She held up a orb. She didn't notice, however, the 2 androids sneaking up behind her.
"Kari!!" Tai yelled. "Behind you!!"
"..Tai? Wha...aah!!" The left android reached forward and stuck Kari in a headlock, slowly cocking her head back. "Damn it!" Tai yelled. "Let her go!"
The right android grinned. "You can have her head once we get it off."
"Eh... guys?" Davis laughed nervously, backing away from a circle of androids closing around him and TK. "Could we get some love over here?"
Gohan gulped. "We're surrounded..." A ring of at least 30 androids cornered the group on the bridge. Another 10 held MagnaAngemon down, beating on him.
"We could use some help here," Raul muttered.
"What do you expect?" Wargreymon groaned. "Some holy force is going to save us or something?" He glared down at MagnaAngemon.
TK froze. "Stop."
"What is it, Takeru?" Raul questioned, looking around.
"Cretins !" A deep voice boomed. "Let go of those children, now! Do it now, or you will be quick to feel my wrath!"
Davis blinked. "..I... I know that voice..."
"We are proud to present," another voice cackled. "The sequel to The Destruction of The Digidestined - The Destruction of Ultramagnus! An encore presentation!"
Tai gaped. "No! It couldn't be..."
All the androids checked above them as a large, dark figure shot across the hydrofoil and arced up into the sky, stopping.
< br>
< br>
< br>
"Blackwargreymon?!?" Wargreymon bellowed.
"Terra Destroyer!!" Blackwargerymon swung a crimson red ball of energy down at the ground ahead of the hydrofoil, blasting it up. As the hydrocraft swirved around the uprisen ground in front of it, a lanky, more agile figure bounded onto the deck of the craft.
"Piedmon!!" Kari yelled. "What does he want?!"
Piedmon swept his arms behind him and plucked swords from behind him, two in each hand. "The forces of Ultramagnus were a force to be reckoned with on the continent of Server, yes! But it was then that Blackwargreymon and Piedmon, justice warriors of the Digiworld, fought back and defeated Ultramagnus and returned peace to Server!! Trump Sword!!!" Piedmon tossed blades in all directions with surprising grace, swords punching through all the androids remaining. As they crumpled to the ground, Piedmon held his hands out and caught all four blades by the hilt and slid them back into his 4-way sheath. "And everybody lived happily ever after."
Tai stepped forward, blades drawn and ready to fight. "Alright, Piedmon! What do you want?"
Blackwargreymon touched down on the surface of the craft. "Who are you children? What are you doing here? This is a very dangerous place to be!"
"The guy asked you a question!" Davis shouted. "Speak up!"
Piedmon grinned. "Why, just resolving the Ultramagnus production, that's all. I assure you, it's bound to be a very happy ending."
Raul stepped up. "I think I might have a valid explanation for this. Piedmon, Blackwargreymon, how did you get to the continent of Server?"
Blackwargreymon bowed his head. "We are here to find and defeat the dictator Ultramagnus."
Raul lifted an eyebrow. "There is something Ultramagnus has done to you?"
"Ultramagnus has totally annihilated the Digital World," Blackwargreymon muttered. "We chased him through a sort of transport gate he created in the Digital World recently, and we followed him here. We realized that transports were headed toward his new headquarters here, so we stepped in and intercepted them, as you now know."
Imperialdramon landed behind everyone. "Does that mean he's from the 2.5 Digital World?"
Piedmon sat down. "I'm not sure if I catch your little story here."
"You've just followed Ultramagnus into an alternate dimension," TK said. "Ultramagnus has been obliterating worlds and jumping between dimensions. We've been trying to defeat him too. To tell you the truth, your forms in this dimension are both dead."
Blackwargreymon blinked. "We were... destroyed?"
Piedmon glanced over. "What difference does it make? You! What are you all doing in the Digital World?"
Davis scratched the back of his head. "...well... we're... the digidestined from this dimension."
Piedmon glanced hesitantly around at the group. "...well, normally I would kill you all then, but there's too many of you."
The Wing Zeromus landed behind Piedmon, unloading Magnus and his group.
"We never said we wanted to fight." Magnus said.
Raul grinned. "Well, aren't we all in the same boat, then?"
"Piedmon, do not do anything to the digidestined," Blackwargreymon commanded. "If they are against Ultramagnus like they insist, they may be able to help us attack Ultramagnus' headquarters. Perhaps we should join up with them."
After a long pause, Piedmon drooped. "...oh, alright."
After a long talk between the Argetlahm crew and their two new comrades, it was finally time to return to the ship. But....
As everyone made their way to a viable digiport, Goku went to pick up the Dragon Balls - and something hit him. His eyes grew wide.
"...um... guys..." Goku stammered.
Conker turned around. "..huh? Goku? You're coming or not?"
Goku stood, the Dragon Balls cupped in his hands. "There's no Ki radiating off these things."
Armadillomon tugged on Goku's leg. "What does that mean?"
"These aren't the Dragon Balls."
Everybody whipped around and stared at Goku in shock.
"I thought they tasted funny." Armadillomon muttered.
* *******
Ultramagnus sat grinning in his chair, his hands to his temples. "Nice try, Ultimanium. I have you right where I want you. Excuse me, but the Dragon Balls are being brought to my base from the OTHER side of the island! How does it feel to have counterfeit Dragon Balls in your hands, bitches?! The transports were only decoys!! Right about now, I should..."
"Sir," Servant droned. "The cargo you requested is here."
Ultramagnus stood and shoved his chair in. "Good. As soon as I wake up tomorrow morning, I will be fully rested for my ultimate victory! Until then, move the Dragon Balls into my office and triple security."
Servant nodded. "Yes, sir."
Ultramagnus glared out the window of his 40th floor office onto the continent of Server below. "Heh... that must really suck to be in Ulty's shoes right about now..."
********
"The Dragon Balls are fakes..." Ultimanium sighed. "If Ultramagnus gets access to them now, your world is doomed..."
"No way!!" Davis bellowed. "We're going to go back to the Argetlahm, and we're gonna arm ourselves up to the max! Isn't that right, Raul?"
"I see no other choice." Raul said sternly.
Kari ducked out from a bush. "...guys... something's wrong here..."
Davis followed Kari back through the bushes out into a clearing. A small television sat on a pedestal in the middle of the field - a digiport. "Something's wrong with the digiport," Kari spoke, stressed. "It's not opening to our commands. Cody even tried one a little ways away from this one and it didn't react. TK tried other ones but got no response."
Davis' face twisted. "Just fricking great! If we can't get back to the Argetlahm, what are we supposed to do?"
Ultimanium stepped out of the bushes. "If we can't get back to the Argetlahm, we'll stay here for the night. Ultramagnus will be moving the Dragon Balls and the Chrono Cross to a testing site at the other end of Server. If we can get there first, we'll have a chance to get the artifacts."
Goku stepped out behind him and took a small capsule from his belt. "Lessee here... Capsule Corp emergency survival kit... nah, maybe a couple more..." He took several more capsules from his belt and threw them to the ground. A massive cloud of smoke followed. As Davis and Kari coughed their way through the thick gas, they could see at least 20 sleeping bags in a scattered mess on the ground.
Conker stared on. "...huzzah..."
Duo fell into one instantly. "Hell, it's a bed, don't be fussy. Everybody get to sleep now, we'll have to be rested if we hope to get to the other end of Server tomorrow morning."
********
Ult ramagnus watched the third monitor, showing a 3D diagram of Server. "Great.. with all the digiports knocked out and the J3 unaccounted for, Ultimanium's finally stuck where he needs to be! Go ahead, have a little rest," Ultramagnus snickered to himself.
"It's not going to help you."
What exactly does Ultramagnus have in mind? Will Ultimanium and the Argetlahm crew be able to get to Epoch Rock at the nether reaches of Server in time to stop him? What agendas do Blackwargreymon and Piedmon have, exactly? Will Veemon ever score? Will we ever find out exactly how many licks it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop? Find out the answers to all these questions (well, all but one, I guess) next time on the Argetlahm Adventures!!
Day 18, 12:00 PM
"Ultramagnus has gone too far."
Davis waved frantically. "Whoa, wait, hold on. He couldn't do that without the J2, couldn't he?"
Raul nodded. "Very much so. Davis, get everybody in here, fast as possible. There's no time to lose."
Davis turned and split from the war room, towards the turbolift that would take him to the bridge. He had to tell his friends and bunkmates as soon as possible. Still, he winced to himself. What everybody was about to hear, they were going to like not. Davis threw a fist down on the transmit button next to a large microphone extending from the bridge control panel. "Everybody! Up and at 'em! We have a problem... a BIG problem! Hurry up, we don't have much time." He quickly lifted his fist off the large switch and bolted back to the war room. In the five minutes he took to get there, he found everybody standing in the aisles, strangely awake and actionable, for this time at night, anyways.
Conker rubbed his eyes. "What's the deal, Dave? What's Ulty and his guys up to now?"
"Couldn't say," Goku yawned. "Seems like all kinds of crazy crap happens around here when everybody's asleep."
"Everybody," Magnus commanded. "Get in your seats. A major tragedy has occured in the third dimension."
Everybody nodded accordingly and dashed to their designated chairs.
"It's been awaked." Ultimanium sighed.
Serge stood up. "What? What's been awakened?"
"The Chrono Cross."
Serge, Kid and Karsh's eyes grew wide, while everybody else stared on confusingly. "How the hell did Ultramagnus get control of the Chrono Cross?!" Serge yelled. "That was supposed to be sealed away!!"
"In the fifth dimension, yes," Raul explained. "However, its power still reigns on in the third dimension. Ultramagnus' workers found it recently near Fort Draconia." The hologram projector lit up, showing a world map. A light blinked near the northeast corner of the center continent.
"What's the big worry over?" Vegeta smirked. "It is just a sort of treasure, is it not?"
(A/N - I'm just gonna make up interesting stuff from hereonin... Chrono Cross people, don't jump on me. ^_^' )
Ultimanium shook his head. "The entire concept of dimensional travel? The entire concept of dimensional travel stemmed from the analysis of the Chrono Cross. The Chrono Cross is an ancient artifact, an extremely old dimensionsplitter. The magic energies infused within the Chrono Cross are said to work alongside with the religion of El Nido - an extremely complicated one. Six dragon gods rule over the El Nido isles, each one representing a different element. The Chrono Cross' origins are unknown. It is said that the Chrono Cross has the power to cross over dimensions, aligning the elements one over another - creating a song of union. I imagine all this babble has put you to sleep again, has it? Let's just get it straight..."
Izzy stood. "Technically, you mean the 'Chrono Cross' has the power to temporarily meld several dimensions together along one line."
Magnus nodded. "Correct. The dimensions will completely overlap... no need for a portal here. Ultramagnus can instantaneously transport his army into the heart of civilization and destroy the fourth dimension from the inside using the Chrono Cross. Asides from that, the utilization of the Chrono Cross may have adverse and destructive effects on the very dimensional structure of reality itself. That is why Serge, Kid and Karsh did not use the Chrono Cross in normal situations. The Chrono Cross was last used by Serge and his group to defeat the Time Devourer, a melding of the Six Dragon Gods from the El Nido archipalego. However, due to its possible extreme destructive effects, it is not used there any longer."
"Ha! But he doesn't know how to activate the Chrono Cross, does he, now?" Kid laughed.
Ultimanium drooped. "That brings us to the next part."
The hologram map lit up again, this time showing a large island mass, much larger than the Magnopolis continent.
TK stared at the map for a couple of seconds before coming to his senses. "Hey, that's the continent of Server! In the Digital World!"
A large blinking square appeared in the center of the island. Raul stepped up. "Ultramagnus, after his defeat at the hands of Wargreymon, Paildramon and MagnaAngemon, retreated to the third dimension Digital World. Apparently, Ultramagnus' R&D has discovered recently that the dimensional barriers between the Digiworlds have a different freqeuncy than the ones of the normal world. Technically, the Digiworld is half a dimension back from the one you shift there from."
"So what's with the blinking square?" Berri asked.
"Ultramagnus, out of sight until now, has constructed a HQ in the heart of Server. From there, he waits to activate the Chrono Cross and drive his forces into the fourth dimension from there."
Karsh rubbed his chin. "But how does he plan to activate the Chrono Cross?"
Ultimanium frowned. "There's several transports approaching Server from different directions. Check for yourself." The map began to zoom in a short distance away from the shore of Server, onto a small formation of hydrofoils crusing along the ocean at a moderate speed. The hologram removed the celing of the foils to reveal....
"The Dragon Balls?!" Gohan yelped.
Vegeta shot up. "The Dragon Balls!! What does Ultramagnus want with them?!"
Goku threw his arms up. "Well, hello! If he can't get the Chrono Cross to work, then Shen Long will!"
"Exactly," Magnus groaned. "While Shen Long lacks the power to tear dimensional gates on his own, he may have what it takes to tap into the arcane energies of the Chrono Cross and put it into action. If you haven't noticed yet, we have a big ass problem on our hands, people. Everybody, head down to the rec room. We're going in."
Conker put his hand up. "...don't you mean the hangar?"
"No, the rec room."
********
< br> (A/N - Remember the sticky note from Chapter 4? Huh?)
"We told you the Argetlahm remains in a fragment of fourth dimensional space," Ultimanium said.
"..so we can get into the 3.5 Digital World from here!" Tai continued.
"I don't imagine Ultramagnus would expect us to arrive without the J3," Raul commented. "Without the J3 at our side, we can't be tracked. We should have the element of surprise on this run. We will be attacking Ultramagnus' HQ head-on, so use your new equipment to the fullest. The Digi HQ project is easily Ultramagnus' most guarded asset right now, as the Dragon Balls are on their way there, so everybody should be on their highest guard, just in case."
Conker glared down at the ground. "If Ultramagnus is there, would that make this our final run?"
"I hope we can deal enough damage to him," Kari sighed. "Otherwise we'll be on the Argetlahm for ages."
"Bold talk, Kari," Vegeta scowled. "But how exactly do we access this 'Digital World' from our location? All we're staring at is a bunch of computers."
Armadillomon waddled up. "The Digidestined have full access to the Digital World. They can access a portal to it using any computer."
Raul turned. "Alright, everyone, listen up. We're going to be opening a digiport shortly, and you'll all need to know where to go. There are three transports approaching the island, two with two Dragon Balls, one carrying one. Apparently, he already has two of them. You will all be divided into three groups, each intercepting a different hydrofoil. It only takes one group to derail a hydrofoil and get its cargo to screw up Ultramagnus' plans, but he will certainly notice and send reinforcements. Therefore, it is imperative that as many groups rob their hydrofoils as possible so we can get as many Dragon Balls away as possible. Understood?"
Everybody nodded.
"After we have dropped the Dragon Balls off at the Argetlahm, we will begin our assault on Ultramagnus' headquarters. Let's move out!"
TK, Davis and Tai were all clad in their mythril armor, Davis wielding the dual Ragnaroks, Tai and his Ultima Weapons, and TK with the Sword of Truth. TK whipped out his D3 like he did so many times before. "Digiport open!"
Everybody asides the Digidestined watched in awe as the window appeared on the screen and lit up, transforming everyone into pure energy and zapping them off to their mission.
MISSION #5 - Cannonball Run
Hydrofoils containing the five remaining Dragon Balls will arrive at Server shores shortly. ULTIMANIUM'S GROUP, MAGNUS' GROUP and RAUL'S GROUP will assault the different shipments of cargo as it is moved inbetween the shore and Ultramagnus' HQ. Danger level is classified under Defcon 8. Lethal force is (duh) authorized.
Secondary objective - Rally at entrance to Technotropolis, center of Server continent. Operation to oust Ultramagnus will commence shortly after.
Good luck.
ULTIMANIUM'S GROUP
Conker
Goku
Vegeta
Izzy
Tentomon
Veemon< br> Cody
Armadillomon
MAGNUS' GROUP
Serge
Kid
Cloud
Karsh
Rodent
Berri
H eero
Squall
RAUL'S GROUP
Davis
TK
Patamon
Gohan
Kari
Gatomon
Duo
Tai
Agumon
Gohan sat down in the bushes behind him. "This place is so weird.. I wasn't thinking a virtual reality when people started yelling 'Digital World! Digital World!'. I think I could get used to this place."
"TK?" Patamon chirped. "Doesn't anything around here look different?"
TK glanced out to the sea, a good 200 feet from where Raul's group was hiding. Well, most of it.
"I can't say this is much of a hiding spot." Duo sighed.
Everybody looked up. The DeathHarvest towered over the generally short trees near the shoreline of Server, exposing itself over the horizon.
"Cloaking device," Raul shouted. "Second dial on the left canopy."
Duo glanced around the cockpit, noticing the large clear dial on the celing of the cockpit. "Oh... I think I have it..." Duo swiped at the dial, spinning it to the left. With a startling crackle, the machinery from the DeathHarvest disappeared around him, leaving him and his chair in space. "....YAAAHHH!!" Duo screamed and held onto his chair for dear life.
Davis checked around him. "Hey, where'd Duo go?" He looked up to see a faint glimmer of Duo grasping his seat before it disintegrated into thin air.
"You'll be alright, Duo." Raul said. "You will be able to see everything from here on in, but Ultramagnus' forces or us won't be able to see you while you stay in this mode. Use it in emergencies. You might as well stay like that so we can at least have a surprise attack on the hydrofoils."
Gatomon sat at Izzy's laptop, leant to her for the situation. A radar displayed on the pineapple computer's screen. "Blinking dots, headed inbound."
Raul stood. "How far?"
"Lemme check," Gatomon leant forward and squinted at the faint pulsing of the foils. "I'd say 12 clicks."
"We up for some SSJ asskicking?!" Magnus yelled.
"BOOYA!!" Rodent wailed.
"Hell yeah!!" Cloud yelled.
Serge and the rest of Magnus' group sat on group of rocks a distance aways, by the shoreline. The Wing Zeromus sat guard behind the group.
"You picking up anything?" Kid shouted up.
"Two readings, transports, alright," Heero blurted out. Again he checked the sensor array on the Wing Zeromus' control panel. "Headed inbound. Everybody get ready, they should be arriving in about ten minutes at this rate."
Karsh lied across the ground. "What's the big deal? They're only hovercrafts. We can just pop them. Besides, how fast could a hovercraft be going?"
"220 kpm." Heero stated flatly.
"ETA nine minutes," Ultimanium grumbled. "Everybody get ready."
Veemon stood to his feet. "Do we have a plan here?"
"I'll tell you guys when to jump," Goku said. "I have the reflexes here."
Conker spit on his hands and rubbed them. "Jumping on to a passing hovercraft? Anyone have any similar experiences to share?"
"I don't know, have you jumped into moving traffic before?" Cody sighed.
Izzy frowned. "Those hovercrafts are moving far more quickly than I thought.."
"I'll go up ahead. Half of you follow me. There's no way Kakarot could get the entire group jumping on at once. We'll head five minutes up and I'll commandeer that boarding."
Ultimanium nodded. "Good idea. We'll see you in a bit, Vegeta."
Vegeta made a face at Ultimanium. "Of course it is." As he turned to leave, Izzy, Cody and Conker followed him.
Ultimanium turned to the group. "Me, Goku, and the Digimon will board first, followed by the rest."
********
< br>
Ultramagnus snickered to himself. "Yeah, nice try."
"Is something going on that we're not aware of?" Servant asked.
Ultramagnus rolled his eyes. "Oh, just another attempt on the behalf of Ultimanium to save the third dimension, we all know the drill. Don't tell me you can't see them on the long range scanners."
"Well, actually, we don't," Servant gulped. "There's no readings on the entire Server continent."
Ultramagnus grit his teeth. "All this damn technology and there's still nothing that can match up to raw psychic ability. I guess I didn't need your accursed 'technology' in the first place when all it took was my astronomical power level to tell things were wrong with this situation. Ultimanium, I know you're out there, right on the Server beach. Betcha didn't think I had these kind of abilities, huh?" Ultramagnus turned back to Servant. "Servant. Send out our shock and airdrop android units right away. Get them to set up checkpoints on the hydrofoil route. And tell the foils themselves not to slow down."
********
< br>
"ETA five minutes," Ultimanium shouted. "Everybody, get ready!"
Veemon... digivolve to....
EXVEEMON!!
Exveemon... DNA digivolve to...
PAILDRAMON!!!
Tentomon... digivolve to...
KABUTERIMON!!
Kabuterimon... digivolve to...
MEGAKABUTERIMON!!!
"I see Megas are out of the question," Megakabuterimon sighed heavily.
"You know, you gotta have your desperate situations," Ultimanium mumbled. "Give it some time."
Magnus grit his teeth. "ETA three minutes... everybody get ready..."
Magnus' group positioned itself in the bushes, ready to have a hovercraft scream over their heads. And time passed.
Raul blinked. "ETA 30 seconds."
TK shot up. "Incoming!"
Everybody glared out to the open ocean, where several uproars of churning water shot from the ocean. Small specks, the foils, could be seen lifting over the horizon. They were headed straight for the beach.
"Those are a bit bigger than I thought they were," Tai muttered, his hands to his eyes. "We're going to be flattened by this thing before we get onto it."
Agumon... warp digivolve to...
WARGREYMON!!!
Kari frowned. "Is it me, or is that thing not slowing down?"
Two hovercrafts in the distance split off from their groups, turned a 45, and shot off to different parts of the Server coast. The other groups were going to have company. The hovercraft for Raul's group shot toward the coast and hit the sand of the beach, still speeding. The hovercraft plowed over a sandbed, shooting through the air and landing on the temperate ground closer to Raul's position. The foil cranked back up to maximum speed and rocketed by the group.
Everybody just sat there.
"...I take it we should go after that." Wargreymon sighed.
"Aaaahh!! No way!!" Davis wailed. "C'mon, we gotta do something!!"
"Ride on the DeathHarvest and Wargreymon, everybody," Raul commanded. "They're the only ones fast enough to catch up to the hydrofoil!"
"NYAAAAAA!!" Everybody screamed simultaneously as Magnus' group dove out of the trees onto the hovercraft. The group staggered and quickly brought back their bearings as the whiplash-speed of the hovercraft overtook them. The stifled cry of "intruders!" could be heard from the command center beneath them.
"Somebody go for the Dragon Balls," Kid shouted. "The rest of us are going to have some trouble up here!"
5 androids bounded up the stairs leading to the overhead celing of the hovercraft, all wielding energy blades.
"Ultramagnus' elite guard," Magnus gaped. "Watch out, these ones are a bit more powerful." He quickly tapped several buttons on his Scouter and scanned the area in front of him. "Power level of 50,000 each. We're going to have some trouble here."
Serge brought up the Setra Weapon to his guard. "As long as they aren't as tough as the one we fought, I'm fine."
"Serge, these are the one you fought."
Karsh frowned. "Uh oh."
A wave of autocannon fire strafed across the surface of the hovercraft, making the androids dodge away in confusion. One of them fell off the hovercraft and was left in the distance. The Wing Zeromus fell out of the sky, maintaining the same speed as the hovercraft. "Can't have fun without me!" Heero growled, and let loose another barrage of machine gun fire onto the hovercraft.
"Melee?" Squall and Cloud spoke in unison. "We'd be honored!" Both warriors lit up in a red flame. Squall lept up into the air, falling back a bit, and Cloud brought his thief sword back over his shoulder. Squall brought his gunblade behind him and swung it back around his other side in a tight arc, sending a wave of flame at the group of robots. Cloud brought his blade back up and slammed it down against the ground, sending several ripples across the ground to the androids.
"FATED CIRCLE!!" Squall boomed, victoriously.
"BLADE BEAM!!" Cloud followed.
The Fated Circle impacted with a violent explosion against the line of androids, sending them to the ground. The Blade Beam wove underneath them and sent off a shock, sending them all back up and landing on their faces. Two sprung up and charged at Magnus' battalion as Magnus himself lifted his hands.
"Neo Crusher!!" Magnus bellowed. A large beam of darkness shot down from the sky and surrounded the two androids remaining on the ground as they began to push themselves up. However, it soon began pushing the soldiers back down again for a short moment, until they were blasted down through the hydrofoil itself. Rodent glanced behind the hovercraft as two smoking android wrecks in the ground behind it. A loud hissing filled the air.
"We shot them through the hovercraft tube!" Berri squealed. "We're slowing down!"
"208 kpm! 203 kpm! The hovercraft isn't going to get any further, get rid of the androids so we can get the Dragon Balls!" Heero shouted.
Serge focused his Chi unto the Setra Weapon, until all six blades on it glowed white. He jumped into the air, Chi collecting on it as he went up, and hurled it at the androids as hard as he could. "Flying Arrow!!" The six-bladed weapon impacted against the surface of the craft, erupting in a multi-elemented explosion. Everybody shielded themselves as they felt the heat and cold that radiated from the blast. The Setra Weapon spun out of the mayhem and landed back in Serge's hands. When the chaos cleared, parts of one android still hung in the air, drifting toward the ground. The last android lunged out of the fray at Serge, his left arm missing. Serge dodged as the robot brought his energy blade down where he stood, burning a slit in the iron.
The Wing Zeromus shot to the side of the hovercraft, finished its charge period. "BUSTER SHOT!!" Heero yelled. The Buster Rifle Mk.II went off, and the resulting beam of light carved across the surface of the craft and sent the android through several dozen trees in the distance before breaking apart and crumpling to the ground.
Kid dashed up, Dragon Balls in each hand. "Two down, three to go, boys! Let's get out of this dump!" With that, she dove from the hovercraft, slowed down to 160 kpm, and rolled as she landed. Everybody followed suit as the hovercraft started to slide from its braking spree. The hovercraft tipped before tumbling over itself, slamming into a grove of trees and exploding, with shards of metal and rubber flying in all directions.
Magnus gazed at the burning wreckage. "Done like dinner."
Goku flipped onto a catwalk along the side of the speeding hovercraft, much to the surprise of two androids standing on both sides of him. He grinned. "Why, hello, guys." As the androids charged him, Goku fired off powered-up Ki blasts in both directions, punching through both robots. Ultimanium landed on top of the hovercraft, where 3 androids awaited him.
Ultimanium smirked. "Well, don't just stand there."
Megakabuterimon dove out of the sky, crushing the androids beneath him. "...ah... oops."
Armadillomon climbed up the guardrail and settled himself next to Goku.
Goku glanced down at him. "...aren't you supposed to be digivolved?"
"Not when Megakabuterimon takes up all of first class," Armadillomon barked. "I'm going for the Dragon Balls."
A loud clank interrupted them both, as Vegeta dashed around from the other end of the craft, followed by Conker and Cody. "What's going on here?" Vegeta asked. "Do we have the Dragon Balls yet?"
"Not yet," Goku said. "While Ulty and Megakabuterimon handle the androids, we're going for them..." Goku stopped for a second, looking around.
Conker leant on the armrail. "What?"
Goku looked around hesitantly. "Did you hear something?"
A muffled voice came from the interior of the hydrofoil. "Evasive manuvouers!!"
Cody stared onward. "What did he mean by..." Cody was interrupted as the hyrdofoil tilted to the side, sending everybody onto the guardrail. "What the...? The hydrofoil's turning! Hold on everybody!!"
Conker toppled over the guardrail. "Yaaah!!" Vegeta lashed out and latched onto his arm onto Conker's as he nearly hit the ground.
"We need you yet, squirrel-man," Vegeta grunted. "Get the hell back up here."
Ultimanium looked around. "We're turning,"
Paildramon shot forward in the air, flying ahead of Ultimanium. "What's that up ahead? It's almost like we're coming to..."
Another hovercraft shot by in front of them, barely clearing Ultimanium's. The vehicle teetered again as it struggled to remain balanced.
"...an intersection!"
Cody glared back as Wargreymon and DeathHarvest roared through the intersection. "It's Raul's group! They're on the same track as us! If the path turns again..." As soon as he finished his sentence, the foil tilted again, throwing everybody on the catwalk against the exterior of the hovercraft. Ultimanium knelt down, gathering his balance.
Megakabuterimon shifted. "HORN BUSTE...aaaaahahhhhhh!!!" He began to lose his footing, and eventually tumbled over the edge of the hovercraft, as he dug a claw into the side of the hovercraft compartment to keep himself aboard.
Armadillomon dodged back as a sharp claw tore through the hallway wall, nearly impaling him. "Hey! Watch it!" He reached into his mouth and pulled out the pair of Dragon Balls. "Don't worry, my babies, you'll be safe with me."
An android rounded the corner, firing a blast of energy at Armadillomon as he rolled out of the way. "Yaaah!!" Armadillomon bailed out the tear caused by Megakabuterimon as another energy blast landed where he once stood with a small explosion. As he landed on the catwalk, he stumbled and spat out the Dragon Balls, both rolling down the catwalk toward the edge.
Vegeta glared back. "Curses!" He dove at top speed for the pair of orange marbles and scooped them up. As he turned around to scowl at Armadillomon, the foil began a powerslide back into another intersection, making Vegeta fall flat on his face and toss the Dragon Balls. Cody leapt up and caught them.
"They're gonna get company!" Conker shouted, as Wargreymon slammed down a claw into the surface of the hydrofoil to the side of them. Several people got off.
Paildramon shot forward to the next hovercraft as TK, Davis, Gohan and Tai boarded from Wargreymon. Immediately, they all leapt into action, carving up androids that waited for them on the surface with their swords, daggers and fists, respectively.
"Depserado Blaster!!" Paildramon yelled. Bolts of energy impacted around the surface of the hovercraft. The digidestined and Gohan all backed up as the shots rained upon the several defending androids, tearing them apart. The Wing Zeromus shot into view, dumping Raul, Patamon, Kari, and Gatomon.
Patamon... digivolve to...
ANGEMON!!
Angemon... digivolve to...
MAGNAANGEMON!!!
Gatomon... digivolve to...
ANGEWOMON!!
"Get the air forces!!" A loudspeaker blared. A pair of turrets rose from the top of the command station and started firing wildly into the air, nailing Paildramon straight.
"YYYAAAAAHH!!!" Paildramon bellowed, clutching a bloody spot on his chest. He began to slow down and lose altitude accordingly.
"Paildramon!!" Davis screeched.
Angewomon bounded back from the surface of the hovercraft and took flight, suspending the wounded Paildramon in the air. "Paildramon! What are you doing here?!"
"Ultimanium already has the Dragon Balls from his craft!" Paildramon choked. "I figured... I would help out with yours."
Angewomon drifted slightly. She quickly reasserted herself and hauled Paildramon back into the air. "You don't need to, we're alright, and, you're hurt..."
"Keep going!" The loudspeaker wailed again. "We've got the demon-thing on the ropes!!" The cannons began blaring away again.
"Hell!..." Angewomon gasped. She flung herself in front of Paildramon and took a heavy blast of energy to the rear, sending them both down. As they spiraled in their quick moment heading toward the ground, Angewomon flipped herself around, making her hit the ground underneath Paildramon. Paildramon struggled to suspend himself over the downed Angewomon.
"Hey, cut it out! I'm supposed to hit the ground first!" Paildramon shouted, shakiness in his voice.
"Hey, you give some, you get some." Angewomon laughed.
Paildramon grinned, fighting back against the pain inflicted on him. "Oh, you really mean that, don't you?"
Paildramon... Mega Digivolve to....
IMPERIALDRAMON!!!
Imperialdramon... Mode Change to...
FIGHTER MODE!!!
"Let's see how they deal with this," Imperialdramon bellowed.
"How are you doing all this digivolving on your own?!" Angewomon belted out.
"Ultimanium's secret. C'mon, you don't want to leave all this up to a ditz like Davis, do you?"
Angewomon brushed herself off. "Guess not." Both digimon hovered up and rocketed back forward to their hovercraft.
"Dum basses!!" TK screamed, bringing the Sword down as hard as he could on an android's head, busting it open. "No one does that to my friends and gets away with it!!" Davis covered his back, destroying any androids on opposite sides of him with quick double-slashes. Tai and Gohan worked on defending each other, too.
Raul quickly brung his hands together.
"Source of all power, crimson fire burning bright!
Gather together in my hand and become an inferno...
BURST FLARE!"
A ball of light formed in the chest of an android, catching his attention. Before he could examine it, it erupted in a shockwave and a gigantic shaft of blue-white flame, dissolving the android where it stood. Any pieces that remained of the android flew off harmlessly.
The android a ways away landed a hard punch to TK's gut. "I'm sure Ultramagnus would have fun toying with you. I'll leave you alone for now."
A shaft of white light formed around TK's blade. "Too late!!" TK threw the sword in front of him as hard as he could, severing the android in half instantly. TK turned around and lashed out at the last several androids, slashing them all apart in multiple bursts of light. The lashes of the Sword echoed with power.
Kari dashed to the rear of the craft, where everybody watched. "Dragon Balls!" She held up a orb. She didn't notice, however, the 2 androids sneaking up behind her.
"Kari!!" Tai yelled. "Behind you!!"
"..Tai? Wha...aah!!" The left android reached forward and stuck Kari in a headlock, slowly cocking her head back. "Damn it!" Tai yelled. "Let her go!"
The right android grinned. "You can have her head once we get it off."
"Eh... guys?" Davis laughed nervously, backing away from a circle of androids closing around him and TK. "Could we get some love over here?"
Gohan gulped. "We're surrounded..." A ring of at least 30 androids cornered the group on the bridge. Another 10 held MagnaAngemon down, beating on him.
"We could use some help here," Raul muttered.
"What do you expect?" Wargreymon groaned. "Some holy force is going to save us or something?" He glared down at MagnaAngemon.
TK froze. "Stop."
"What is it, Takeru?" Raul questioned, looking around.
"Cretins !" A deep voice boomed. "Let go of those children, now! Do it now, or you will be quick to feel my wrath!"
Davis blinked. "..I... I know that voice..."
"We are proud to present," another voice cackled. "The sequel to The Destruction of The Digidestined - The Destruction of Ultramagnus! An encore presentation!"
Tai gaped. "No! It couldn't be..."
All the androids checked above them as a large, dark figure shot across the hydrofoil and arced up into the sky, stopping.
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"Blackwargreymon?!?" Wargreymon bellowed.
"Terra Destroyer!!" Blackwargerymon swung a crimson red ball of energy down at the ground ahead of the hydrofoil, blasting it up. As the hydrocraft swirved around the uprisen ground in front of it, a lanky, more agile figure bounded onto the deck of the craft.
"Piedmon!!" Kari yelled. "What does he want?!"
Piedmon swept his arms behind him and plucked swords from behind him, two in each hand. "The forces of Ultramagnus were a force to be reckoned with on the continent of Server, yes! But it was then that Blackwargreymon and Piedmon, justice warriors of the Digiworld, fought back and defeated Ultramagnus and returned peace to Server!! Trump Sword!!!" Piedmon tossed blades in all directions with surprising grace, swords punching through all the androids remaining. As they crumpled to the ground, Piedmon held his hands out and caught all four blades by the hilt and slid them back into his 4-way sheath. "And everybody lived happily ever after."
Tai stepped forward, blades drawn and ready to fight. "Alright, Piedmon! What do you want?"
Blackwargreymon touched down on the surface of the craft. "Who are you children? What are you doing here? This is a very dangerous place to be!"
"The guy asked you a question!" Davis shouted. "Speak up!"
Piedmon grinned. "Why, just resolving the Ultramagnus production, that's all. I assure you, it's bound to be a very happy ending."
Raul stepped up. "I think I might have a valid explanation for this. Piedmon, Blackwargreymon, how did you get to the continent of Server?"
Blackwargreymon bowed his head. "We are here to find and defeat the dictator Ultramagnus."
Raul lifted an eyebrow. "There is something Ultramagnus has done to you?"
"Ultramagnus has totally annihilated the Digital World," Blackwargreymon muttered. "We chased him through a sort of transport gate he created in the Digital World recently, and we followed him here. We realized that transports were headed toward his new headquarters here, so we stepped in and intercepted them, as you now know."
Imperialdramon landed behind everyone. "Does that mean he's from the 2.5 Digital World?"
Piedmon sat down. "I'm not sure if I catch your little story here."
"You've just followed Ultramagnus into an alternate dimension," TK said. "Ultramagnus has been obliterating worlds and jumping between dimensions. We've been trying to defeat him too. To tell you the truth, your forms in this dimension are both dead."
Blackwargreymon blinked. "We were... destroyed?"
Piedmon glanced over. "What difference does it make? You! What are you all doing in the Digital World?"
Davis scratched the back of his head. "...well... we're... the digidestined from this dimension."
Piedmon glanced hesitantly around at the group. "...well, normally I would kill you all then, but there's too many of you."
The Wing Zeromus landed behind Piedmon, unloading Magnus and his group.
"We never said we wanted to fight." Magnus said.
Raul grinned. "Well, aren't we all in the same boat, then?"
"Piedmon, do not do anything to the digidestined," Blackwargreymon commanded. "If they are against Ultramagnus like they insist, they may be able to help us attack Ultramagnus' headquarters. Perhaps we should join up with them."
After a long pause, Piedmon drooped. "...oh, alright."
After a long talk between the Argetlahm crew and their two new comrades, it was finally time to return to the ship. But....
As everyone made their way to a viable digiport, Goku went to pick up the Dragon Balls - and something hit him. His eyes grew wide.
"...um... guys..." Goku stammered.
Conker turned around. "..huh? Goku? You're coming or not?"
Goku stood, the Dragon Balls cupped in his hands. "There's no Ki radiating off these things."
Armadillomon tugged on Goku's leg. "What does that mean?"
"These aren't the Dragon Balls."
Everybody whipped around and stared at Goku in shock.
"I thought they tasted funny." Armadillomon muttered.
* *******
Ultramagnus sat grinning in his chair, his hands to his temples. "Nice try, Ultimanium. I have you right where I want you. Excuse me, but the Dragon Balls are being brought to my base from the OTHER side of the island! How does it feel to have counterfeit Dragon Balls in your hands, bitches?! The transports were only decoys!! Right about now, I should..."
"Sir," Servant droned. "The cargo you requested is here."
Ultramagnus stood and shoved his chair in. "Good. As soon as I wake up tomorrow morning, I will be fully rested for my ultimate victory! Until then, move the Dragon Balls into my office and triple security."
Servant nodded. "Yes, sir."
Ultramagnus glared out the window of his 40th floor office onto the continent of Server below. "Heh... that must really suck to be in Ulty's shoes right about now..."
********
"The Dragon Balls are fakes..." Ultimanium sighed. "If Ultramagnus gets access to them now, your world is doomed..."
"No way!!" Davis bellowed. "We're going to go back to the Argetlahm, and we're gonna arm ourselves up to the max! Isn't that right, Raul?"
"I see no other choice." Raul said sternly.
Kari ducked out from a bush. "...guys... something's wrong here..."
Davis followed Kari back through the bushes out into a clearing. A small television sat on a pedestal in the middle of the field - a digiport. "Something's wrong with the digiport," Kari spoke, stressed. "It's not opening to our commands. Cody even tried one a little ways away from this one and it didn't react. TK tried other ones but got no response."
Davis' face twisted. "Just fricking great! If we can't get back to the Argetlahm, what are we supposed to do?"
Ultimanium stepped out of the bushes. "If we can't get back to the Argetlahm, we'll stay here for the night. Ultramagnus will be moving the Dragon Balls and the Chrono Cross to a testing site at the other end of Server. If we can get there first, we'll have a chance to get the artifacts."
Goku stepped out behind him and took a small capsule from his belt. "Lessee here... Capsule Corp emergency survival kit... nah, maybe a couple more..." He took several more capsules from his belt and threw them to the ground. A massive cloud of smoke followed. As Davis and Kari coughed their way through the thick gas, they could see at least 20 sleeping bags in a scattered mess on the ground.
Conker stared on. "...huzzah..."
Duo fell into one instantly. "Hell, it's a bed, don't be fussy. Everybody get to sleep now, we'll have to be rested if we hope to get to the other end of Server tomorrow morning."
********
Ult ramagnus watched the third monitor, showing a 3D diagram of Server. "Great.. with all the digiports knocked out and the J3 unaccounted for, Ultimanium's finally stuck where he needs to be! Go ahead, have a little rest," Ultramagnus snickered to himself.
"It's not going to help you."
What exactly does Ultramagnus have in mind? Will Ultimanium and the Argetlahm crew be able to get to Epoch Rock at the nether reaches of Server in time to stop him? What agendas do Blackwargreymon and Piedmon have, exactly? Will Veemon ever score? Will we ever find out exactly how many licks it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop? Find out the answers to all these questions (well, all but one, I guess) next time on the Argetlahm Adventures!!