Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction / Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction / Digimon Fan Fiction / Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction / Gundam Wing Fan Fiction / Sonic Series Fan Fiction / Fan Fiction ❯ Ultimatum 3: Trance Trauma ❯ Here We Are! Gathering of Heroes ( Chapter 1 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

(A/N - For those two people who requested to board the Argetlahm at some point (geez, I'm not giving out names already, there's got to be more than THEM reading this), I'll try as hard as I can to stay with the character descriptions that were provided - remember, if there's anything you'd like changed, go ahead and scream at me. ^_^' I'll fix any problems. Oh, and another thing - the DBZ timeline presented in this chapter is an AU, given that Gohan WAS pronounced a Digidestined near the end of the Argetlahm Adventures, and.... wait, did I give that away? o_o (proceeds to hit self in face with brick) Well, anyways, the Omegaveemon produced was pretty damn powerful, and able to help modify how things went... what do I mean? Read on!)








Takato (VO)

Last time on Trance Trauma, things got off to a start as I apparently lived out one of my most recent dreams - and after some prodding from Ultimanium, I knew that I wasn't waking up anytime soon. Seems he wants me to join up with Ultimanium's Second Battalion to help out with a new mission of his. Rumor has it that many of the universe's greatest heroes were aboard this ship at some point - just being in the presence of the legends like Ultimanium insists were here is reason enough for me to stick around. We were both just hanging out when Ulty got a wake-up call from downstairs - it seemed that some of his new comrades were showing up. Who they were, I had yet to find out. But it was time.










********


Takato watched cautiously, waiting for anyone to come out of the rusted shuttle. "Say, I managed to check the Argetlahm database before I did anything else last night... you said the Argetlahm was based in the first dimension during the first mission... where are we now?"

Ultimanium's view never shifted. "The Argetlahm is parked in the third dimension right now. After Ultramagnus' campaign, me, Magnus and Lord Raul stuck around for a while to help with the rebuilding, and the Argetlahm was left in storage there. We're keeping a constant orbit around Earth right now. We really don't have to worry about concealing ourselves, not until we launch our first assault."

"I meant to ask you that," Takato piped. "Who, or what, are we actually attacking, and what fo-"

No sooner had footsteps started down the platform when a giant rush of smoke burst out from the bottom of the ship. Cries of surprise and disgust rang out from the chaos ahead of Takato. He glanced to his side as Ultimanium stepped through the mist that had already settled on the floor of the hangar.

"Sorry!" a light voice chirped. "I was insisting we got that landing gear inspected

"Damn it! Guys, I just had this polished!"

"What kind of idiot polishes a hangar floor?" another voice sneered.

"Cut the crap, guys!" Ultimanium shouted. "If you don't know yet, I already have some people onboard! Act like an ass and your bonus goes bye-bye!"

"Bonus goes bye-bye, I go bye-bye!" the voice was finally nearing Ultimanium and was nearly legible. After a long pause, a medium-figured man stumbled out of the blindness. He had dark brown hair that was gelled back, and wore a heavy navy blue woven sweater and a matching bandana. A short scabbard hung from his hip, its size revealing it as a dagger.



********
LOCKE COLE, after several successful treasure raids on islands off the coast of South America, had gained much in riches from Incan artifacts that had been lost in the waters, rather strange given their former location on the Middle-American shoreland. Still, nothing bothered our thie...um, treasure hunter Locke here from claiming it for his own and pawning it for a hefty price. After building his own riches he sought the partnership of several small charity groups with which he split his earnings.

After a recent tangle with the near-godly Kefka, bolstered by the powers of the Espers, Locke has become more accustomed to self-defense, defense that gradually grew into offense, hence his current occupation - mercenary. After giving the Red Cross one final payment, he removed himself from society and began making deals with lower types all over the universe. Sources indicate that it was Locke himself that was behind the undoing of several Middle-eastern religious leaders, and after many odd jobs, Ultimanium took him in quickly, with a generous payment, of course, to deal with a problem that Ultimanium was apparently having with a "technology theft for unhumanitarian uses", as he called it.
********


Takato looked up and down the man. "Whoa, we've got some built types here..."

"Ultimanium," Locke spoke. "I see I've found your little luxury resort you've got here."

Ultimanium coughed before returning to the conversation. "I hope you're not insisting that this job is too easy. We have ways to go before we get to the fun stuff."

Everybody turned to a rustling that erupted from deeper within the smoke. "I got your fun stuff over here." As another figure began to reveal itself, it was clear that the man was around the same age as Locke, with some stubble developing, though his body through the outline of the smoke was much bulkier. As he approached the group, it was clear that he was wearing some sort of heavy blue/black survival armor, tattered after years of use, and a small flashlight hinged to his right shoulder.



********
JIM RAYNOR, like Locke, turned to more unscrupulous means of income after his own normal life went in the crapper. Jim was, as of 2 years ago, a commander of a small militia that based itself in a minor Terran colony several lightyears away. After an unsuccessful campaign against the ravenous Zerg, the assorted Terran forces and their Protoss allies were spread thinly across the border worlds. As the Zerg Swarm's assault on their surrounding worlds slowed to a crawl, with little to no new species to assimilate, many of the Protoss/Terran factions split up into hybrid societies, and Raynor left duty for the time being, like Locke, to find odd jobs. With nowhere else to stay, Raynor accepted work aboard the Argetlahm for the time being.
********


"I'm starting to feel out of place here..." Takato sighed. "I feel like I just walked into a bar or something..."

Ultimanium cupped his hands to his eyes. "Well, you're going to get company..." he pointed to a pair of silouettes off in the distance, wandering around aimlessly in circles.

"...Marco!"

"....Polo!..."

"Marco!"

"Polo." Ultimanium muttered.

Both figures stopped, and charged toward him.

"I gotcha now, Trunks!"

"I got you, Goten!"

Ultimanium frowned. "Well, you tw..." He was immediately tackled by both children, who began beating the crap out of him. "AH!! DAMN IT!! FRICK!!! OW!!!! DAMN DAMN DAMN!!! GAH!!! STOP IT!!!" Both children's lightspeed assaults had already kicked up a small gust of wind that radiated out from their attacks, pushing away a small section of the mist around them, and Takato and the rest of the group could get a good look at the two assailants.



********
TRUNKS and GOTEN are mostly just stowaways. I'm not even going to GUESS on how they would've got permission to head up here. Well, according to our sources, they were just brought up to the Argetlahm to have some fun in the rec center, brought here by a former Argetlahm crew member... well, as long as he brings them home alive we aren't going to stop him...
********



"Goten! Get the hell back here! If mom ever finds out I brought you up here with me... you too, Trunks, Vegeta'll probably strangle me... you'd better be thankful that he was able to get out of town for the day..."

"Yeah, c'mon! Trunks!"

Both figures made their way out of the mist. One was a young adult, probably starting his twenties. He was in jeans, a black vest and a white undershirt, with jet-black hair. Standing alongside him was a 3-foot tall yellow lizard.

Ultimanium grinned. "Well, I'll be..."



********
GOHAN is serving his second tour of duty aboard the Argetlahm. Upon hearing Ultimanium's news of a new threat that was to be dealt with, he quickly signed up, hoping that it could be dealt with and he could bring several of his friends back aboard the Argetlahm for a long-awaited reunion. Well, at the sight of the number of people around him, he quickly figured out that he was going to have to fight for a bit longer. It didn't bother him terribly, however - it was still planned out in his mind to be a fast fight.



VEEMON 2 is the renaming of the once heralded Omegaveemon that was born during the latter events of the Argetlahm Adventures, from the digimon partners of two Digidestined aboard - the original Veemon and Gatomon. While he appears to be of a normal strain of Veemon, genetic information was combined from the parents in question, arguably some of the most non-God digimon in existance. Just his rookie powers were able to shake up Imperialdramon and even Ultramagnus' final form.

During the final round against Cell, shortly after his self-destruction and the demise of Goku, Gohan made a formal request that Omegaveemon was brought to the battlefield. No one dared to question him. Krillin departed and headed to the Kame house where Roshi was taking care of the digimon to pick him up. Meanwhile, Cell continued to stare down his target, his own mind laughing straight at the boy, who was willing to put up this 'digimon' in front of him to do the fighting for him, and possibly die in the attempt.

"It won't help you a bit, boy! Get out here and show me how fast the son of the "great" Goku goes to meet him!"

Gohan made the effort of explaning Omegaveemon's power and his success in helping to deter Ultramagnus' last form, with an impressive power level of 10 million, with just his normal beam attack. Cell brushed off the threat, and soon Omegaveemon had arrived, ready to do battle. Cell took the liberty of attempting to off Omegaveemon in one simple blast, but was shocked when even his most powerful attacks failed to push back his own Beam Blaster. After a long struggle, Cell began to gain the upper hand on the offensive, but that was before Gohan braced Omegaveemon and added his Kamehameha to the assault, magnifying the attack hundredfold and surging back against Cell's onslaught, overwhelming the villian quickly and frying him to a crisp.

As Gohan and his fellow Z fighters stopped to finally examine the destruction they helped cause, it was clear that Omegaveemon had been completely overloaded by the Ki channeled through him. It was then that he digivolved for the first time, to a gold Veedramon. Since then, Veemon 2 had fought alongside the rest of the group for the several next times the world would be threatened, though his digivolution occured extremely rarely.
********


Ultimanium simply shook his head. "Veemon 2 was actually able to HELP fight Cell? I think Veemon and Gatomon might've stumbled onto something with kick, if even his rookie form could stand up against Cell..."

"We haven't been able to get him to digivolve anywhere outside of a life-threatening situation," Gohan sighed. "As soon as I can figure out that we'll have what it takes... we'll have some sort of usefulness."

Veemon 2 nodded. "We can still stand up for ourselves if we need to."

"Well, that's great, stick around with us," Ultimanium mumbled. "Anyways, it's still great to see some of our veterans back aboard the Argetlahm."

Gohan turned back into the haze. "I think we have some other Digidestined here, what's his name... um... he should be coming out soon..."

Takato lit up. "...Davis?"

A figure began to form itself, a couple inches shorter than several of the larger people standing around Ultimanium, and made its way into the light, alongside a figure waddling beside him, on its four feet.


********
Iori Hida, most commonly referred to as CODY, was on hand during the first tour of duty of the Argetlahm as well, often fighting alongside Gohan when situations rose. After finishing many of the main teachings of the art of Kendo, he has allowed himself again access to the sword Murasame, also provided as mandatory equipment during the Argetlahm Adventures. He is also accompanied by his digimon partner ARMADILLOMON, who offers heavy attack power and support when necessary. Cody has made his return to the Argetlahm in search of a quest, to push his swordmanship skills to the max and justify his proficiency in Kendo.
********


Gohan grinned. "Cody. You ready for another runaround?"

Cody stepped out of the light, showing the boy in a plain, long white t-shirt and track pants. He had the Murasame slung over his shoulder, encased in a large wooden sheath. "You never can do anything just once." He glanced over to Ultimanium. "I see we've got the posse here... was anyone else coming back?"

"Beats me," Ultimanium grumbled, shrugging. "Just whoever's in the shuttle."

Jim squinted as he peered off into the fog. "Well, looks like we have the silent-treatment guy on his way."

Goten scratched his neck. "Silent treatment?"

Everybody paused as another mysterious man made his way out of the shadows, decked in a deep-turquoise tunic that was held to his chest with a heavy belt, beige pants, and an abnormally long sheath that hung from his hip. Everybody backed away from him as he made his way through the group, fearing they'd be decapitated by his obscenely spiked, deep crimson hair, that jutted out at dangerous angles. He stopped in front of Ultimanium, facing to the side. He slowly pivoted his head to him, and gave him an amused smirk.

"I'm not even going to ask." Locke growled.


********
CRONO's main motive of matching up with the Argetlahm is the threat that Ultimanium seemed to make a big fuss out of. With J technology, dimensionjumping is possible, and it has catastrophic effects in the wrong hands - Crono, of all people, knows that. After making the time leap to the apocalyptic future of his home fifth dimension, through a single battle the fate of the entire universe was shifted radically and the world was given another while to live. The alien Lavos was already set to have destroyed the world several years ago, so Ultimanium knew that his efforts were before even his time.

A short time after the return to Crono's own time period, the final battles against Ultramagnus were taking place. The various dimensional ruptures that were open during that short period stretched across the various dimensions were disregarded by the Leene populace and messages were quickly thrown around the planet to carry on normally until the warps settled themselves and disappeared. Hours after the warps had dematerialized, Crono was marked as missing.

Several years after Crono's disappearance, sources indicated to Ultimanium that the man was lost somewhere within the third dimension. Ultimanium cooperated with patrols all over the planet and eventually zeroed in on Crono's position, and offered to return him to his home dimension using the J3, that he would be able to borrow from Conker. (since Crono was "beneath time", years had occured in the third dimension yet only hours had passed at his home several tiers up.) As Ultimanium got the J3 up and running, he got a call of urgency that J technology had been surveyed as used somehow on Earth - therefore, Crono's plan was dumped for the time being while Ultimanium quickly threw together a squad to investigate the situation - hence our gathering.
********


Takato tapped Ultimanium on the shoulder. "I've been meaning to ask you that. What exactly ARE we doing here?"

"Wait until we have everybody here, Takato, then I'll explain to everybody what has happened."

Cody frowned. "But the shuttle's empty."

"Give it a minute, Cody," Ultimanium snickered. "We should hear her any minute now."

The room grew silent. The calmness was broken by the hissing of the turbolift doors being flung open at the far side of the room. Everybody attempted to turn cautiously to the gates, but they all hopped back as a voice hit them.

"Could someone tell me exactly WHAT the hell I'm doing here?"

Takato grinned sheepishly. "Well, maybe you were dreaming."

"Well, I... what the... what are YOU doing here? I think the smoke in here is going straight to your brain, goggle-head!"


********
Ah, yes - Digimon queen RIKA NONAKA. What exactly IS she doing here, anyways? Well, then again, what's TAKATO MATSUDA doing here too?

While both tamers might not be aware of it yet, they were flat-out abducted from their homes. Both Takato and Rika make up part of the next generation of Chosen, soldiers of of a holy army that is brought upon in times of dire need. Both people were drugged in their own homes and were taken away last night... and shifted aboard the Argetlahm. Why Ultimanium wants these people aboard the Argetlahm so bad is anyone's guess... but then again, Digidestined have always held some sort of precedence over other members of the Argetlahm crew.
********


Takato and Rika both glared at Ultimanium. "You DRUGGED us?!"

Ultimanium waved a finger. "Please, I have my reasons. You're children, okay? People would kind of get ideas if I just nabbed you in broad daylight. You don't have to worry about anyone noticing your departure... time doesn't exist here, remember?"

Everybody looked at each other.

"Well, that should be about it," Ultimanium moaned. "I want everybody to report to the war room right away, and we'll get to briefing you on the situation at hand. Cody, Go..." he was interrupted midsentence by a loud beeping. "...er... hang tight for a second, the Argetlahm's receiving a transmission. Cody, lead everybody down to the war room, except for Gohan and Veemon 2 - Gohan, follow me."

As Cody led everybody off to another turbolift at the other end of the room, Gohan and V2 exchanged worried stares. They immediately took off after Ultimanium, who set himself inside a turbolift. He took his ring of keys, and fit a large plug-type key into a slot above the control panel. The lift started rising, and continued so for about 20 seconds, before it clanked to a halt and the doors shifted open, leading into the expansive bridge of the Argetlahm. The plexiglass domes sealing the area off from space were completely spotless and polished, and the previously cold, steel paths that lead to the command center of the capship were covered with a thin sheet of plastic flooring, suspended about a foot off the original surface. Ultimanium made his way up to a computer on the far edge, and dropped himself into a swivel chair. Behind him, a small bronze-plated probe hovered up to his vincinity. It hovered a couple inches off the ground, and had a pair of two-prong grasping arms. Large, pitch white spherical eyes took up most of the front upper body of the robot.

"I take it you received our transmission..."

"Yes, Minonim. The transciever you designed worked perfectly."

The probe's eyes turned a gentle green. "Excellent! I'm glad you like my handywork, Ultimanium!"

Gohan's jaw dropped. "What... are you kidding... that's Minonim?! He was destroyed!"

Ultimanium groaned. "That's what I thought for a while. But after a while, we realized that Minonim's actual program wasn't in the actual probe, but was actually linked to a ground database somewhere on the outskirts of Ultramagnus' kingdom. The probe was simply a remote device, acting off Minonim's stored program on the surface of Earth in the third dimension. After the liberation of the third dimension, we discovered the database, and we were able to build another probe similar to the last one Ultramagnus had. Minonim's been alive all that time, just waiting for another body to inhabit."

Minonim bobbed in the air. "I would say it was worth the wait."

V2 rubbed his palms together. "Well, anyways, what's the announcment?"

Ultimanium glanced up at Gohan. "I've received a pair of distress signals a short distance away from the Moon, near a starbase that was established there about two years ago. A meteor storm rushed the colony a couple of minutes ago, and by the time the announcment went through the station, two departing ships were damaged and unable to link back to the colony - we're going to have to delay the briefing about 20 minutes while we leave Earth's orbit and pick up the shuttles. I want you to head back to the war room and try to keep our guests entertained... and be careful, the mercenary types aren't exactly ones that are very patient..."

Gohan nodded. "I'll try." He turned and left, followed shortly by V2.

Ultimanium turned his gaze away from the turbolift and reached for a joystick on his right. "Well, let's get going then, sha..." the transciever started bleeping again, and he reached for it and detatched it from his belt. "What's going on here?"

Minonim backed away. "I'm... not exactly sure, Ultimanium. We have two ships on the starboard that are attempting to dock at our secondary stations... they perfectly match the descriptions of the ships provided by the starbase."

Ultimanium blinked. "...er.. okay... open the secondary hangar. I'll head down there right away."

"Can do." Minonim watched at Ultimanium reluctantly rose from his seat and headed for the turbolift.


********


"I really don't know what's going on here... there wasn't supposed to be anybody else docking here until tomorrow..." Ultimanium continued mumbling to himself as he came out on the rec room floor, and strided straight by the entertainment room in question. The various stickers on its door were beginning to peel off, and the spraypainted decals on it were beginning to fade as well. He made his way to the end of the hall, opened an access door, and quickly hopped down a flight of stairs. He shoved another pair of double doors open at the bottom, and found his way into the secondary hangars. The room wasn't exactly as spacious or fancy as the primary hangar, but it did for emergencies. The walls' polish was beginning to rust, and the entire floor of the room was asphult. Just the room itself was a paltry 80 feet by 80 feet, with a 15 foot clearance. A pair of no-name shuttles were parked at the far end.

Ultimanium approached the shuttles from the back, and checked around and underneath the engines. He stuck his head further underneath and checked a small compartment on the bottom of the solid booster. "...funny, there's no damage to the engines... they must've piloted their way here!"

"Excuse me, are you Ultimanium?"

Ultimanium hopped, hitting his head against the booster with an empty clang. "OW OW OW OW OW OW OOOOOOOOOOOOWW!!! WILL YOU PEOPLE QUIT SURPRISING ME?!? I WAS JUST... God, forget it...urrghh..." Ultimanium slowly slid himself out from underneath the booster grasping a bruise that had settled on his head, and pushed himself to his feet. It was then he got a good look at the person in front of him.

Like Ultimanium, he was apparently following the casual-dress code that many of the other crewmembers had adopted. He wore a simple maroon shirt and jeans, and his brown hair was cut back. He stuck out a hand to Ultimanium. "Hey."

Ultimanium took the loose hand and gave it a shake, still confused. "...am I supposed to know you from somewhere?"

He nodded. "Well, I'm pretty sure everyone knows YOU. You're Ultimanium, the leader of the Ultimanium's Battalion group that overthrew Ultramagnus from despotship a couple of years back. You can call me Eric Cloud."

Ultimanium turned to the forcefield that was behind the ship. "Well, everybody DOES know me... it's kinda annoying, though... so, what brings you to the Argetlahm?"

Eric shrugged. "Beats me. I've been wandering around this solar system for a while now... I've been bouncing back and forth between starbases at this and the far end of the galaxy... my life support and my base docking systems were smacked to hell by that meteor storm so I kicked into overdrive and blazed straight to the nearest ship that I could dock at... thankfully, you still use that archaic runway-docking technique, and I was able to land here..."

"Oh," Ultimanium growled. "But what's the reason?"

Eric turned his side to Ultimanium, now looking out of the barrier. "A couple of years ago, I received a message... that somewhere, I had to find something called the Power. With little to no clue what was going on, I just headed out from Earth trying to look for something, or some sort of hint... so far, nothing."

"What's the deal with the Power?"

Eric bowed his head. "The Power, as explained by my parents, has all the answers I seek to my true heritage, and my true belonging in the universe. After training with some of the greatest combat masters in the area of my home, I was able to boost my power level up to extremely high levels, and they themselves belived I was ready for my adventure, and insisted that I leave home and try to find my true meaning. When I find the Power, all will be answered. That's the only shred of information they left me with."

Both paused.

Ultimanium glanced over to Eric. "...HOW high a power level?"

"6 million, give or take."

"...really... can you show me?"

Eric nodded. "It takes me a second to power up fully... and it takes a while to wear off. And I absolutely HATE blond."

Ultimanium thought for a second. And his eyes went wide. "No, no no! I get it now, I..."

Too late. A golden aura blasted through the small room, kicking up a small torrent of wind. Ultimanium threw his arms in front his face to brace himself, but he was already being shoved back by the force. He backed up, resting himself against the side of Eric's shuttle, and waited for the light to die down before removing his barrier. Indeed, standing before him, was SSJ4 Eric.

"I've seen this behaviour before," Ultimanium shouted. "I know what you are!"

Eric twitched. "..huh?"

"That's a power of a Super Saiyan! I've seen it before..! Super Saiyans are a very rare thing... I think between the dimensions there's about 3 or 4 to each tier..."

"Is THAT what you call this..." Eric stared at his hands. "...I have to learn more about the Saiyans... do you know these Saiyans?"

"...you said you were looking for a Power? The ruler of the third dimension IS Magnus Power, you know! And he is a Super Saiyan too!"

Eric glared at Ultimanium. "Magnus... Power... maybe he's got the answers I seek... I have to speak with him."

Ultimanium sighed. "No can do. He was around the Argetlahm for a bit a couple of years ago, but he left the Argetlahm in my care and he's out on an adventure somewhere... all I heard was something about Albuquerque..."

"Is there a possibility that he might be coming back?"

"I'm not sure. Still, we have the technology aboard that we might be able to use to get to Albuquerque, if Magnus is where he insists..."

Eric grinned. "What are we waiting for?"

"We're waiting to use the J3 for other uses. We have a Code Red that only the J3 can help with. We've got a baaaaaad situation on our hands and we need the ability to warp to counter it... still.... we might pass through Albuquerque at some point in time..."

"Is it alright if I stay with you then?"

Ultimanium grit his teeth. "I'm not sure if you could stand the wait... we have no idea how long our mission could last..."

"Ultimanium, I'm desperate for answers. If the J3 is my hope of getting to Albuquerque in time to find Magnus Power, then I'll help you with your mission until then, as long as it takes."

"...you sure?"

"Sure."

Ultimanium remained quiet. He gave one last look out into space. "Go up the stairs, and use the turbolift and go to the second floor. Wait for me in front of the war room." Eric nodded, and immiediately left, shoving open the double doors and stepping out. "..well, that was okay, I guess... more help couldn't hurt..."

"If you wanted help, you could just ask."

Ultimanium's eyes quickly darted around, until he spotted a shadow hanging on top of the room's steel rafters. "Will you people quit freaking me out? C'mon, get down from there."

The figure performed a flip, plunging down from the rafters and landing on his feet. He raised his head, and looked Ultimanium in the eyes. He was an Asian male, a couple of inches shorter than Ultimanium, with natural black hair and chestnut eyes. He wore a simple black bomber jacket. In one hand he held a long, tube-type suitcase. In the other he was bobbing a small red-yellow patterened yo-yo up and down. Ultimanium watched the sphere climb and fall several times, before the man grasped the object in his hands. "Normally you're supposed to ask why I'm here."

"...uh, yeah. You're the other guy that was stuck in the meteor storm?"

"Nah, that was some other person... never caught his name... Anyways, I'm taking it this is the Argetlahm? I'd just heard recently about what was going on here and I decided to drop by and see what the classifieds were about."

"I don't vaguely recall this being in the classifieds."

Shaun sighed. "Gah, just.. never mind. The name's Shaun Garin. I basically just hop around, looking for work, and the little mission you have going on here captivates me. I mean, you haven't even insisted what the objective IS yet, and there's already people flocking to your little spaceship here. If you don't mind, I'll join up here and maybe get the scoop on what's going on."

Ultimanium shrugged. "...do you fight?"

Shaun gave Ultimanium a solemn nod. "I just like to go between melee and ranged as it's needed. Most of the time I'll be fighting with..." Shaun quickly flicked out the yo-yo so it stopped less than an inch in front of Ultimanium's face, making him stumble back and nearly lose his footing. "...well, you should get the picture. I decided to bring the Mega Launcher with me in case, though..." Shaun bent down and set the suitcase on the ground and clicked it open, revealing a hand cannon, with a 4-foot barrel sticking out of the main compartment. In the case next to it were a pair of 120mm shells. "Otherwise, I just work with what I can."

"...what's that supposed to mean?"

"Remind me to show you sometime. Anyways, do you mind?"

Ultimanium gave Shaun one last questioning look. "...I guess. Come with me, we're going to be starting the briefing right away."







The crew has allied! The stage is set! Now we can actually figure out what the DAMN STORY IS ACTUALLY ABOUT!! Yay! And there was much rejoicing!...... c'mon, you know you want to.... sorry. Anyways... things get off to a rolling start, next time on Trance Trauma!