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 ❯ The Revolution! Argetlahm Mk.II ( Chapter 8 )

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

Chapter 9: Return of a Revolution! The Upgrade Begins





(A/N - Quick update - one entry for the Name Game! Wahoo!... maybe it was one of the two people reviewing this, but, hey, results are results! Rakugo Lady states "Argetlahm" was the name of the holy sword used by the Magess Anastasia to defeat the Great Blaze in the PSX RPG Wild Arms 2, and she would be right! Actually, I forget if it was Argethalm or Argetlahm, Argetlahm just sounded cooler. =P As for Tanya, I have to say - you are close. TOO close. Almost there.

Regardless, that's your fame, and I just contacted the masonworkers and they should be showing up at my place in half an hour. You know how much a block of stone costs?... and, before I forget, here's your cookie... oh.. oops! I accidentally dropped it into the abyss of doom. Oh, well, here's some spelunking equipment. Good luck! There you have it, ladies and gentlemen, a winner on one account. Tanya (Charmy) and Glenn are still up in air, so keep shooting, everybody!

New posts will be slowed down slightly due to the composition of... the Argetlahm Deathmatch map! ^_^ The Argetlahm is being constructed, as we speak, as a Unreal Tournament deathmatch map. Walk around! Ride the turbolifts! Shoot a lot of people! Hoorah! So far I have the lower level bunks mapped out, and the turbolift only holds one person comfortably.. two if you crunch together... heh... but expect to see some faroff parts of the ship, whatever I decide to add on to the structure... including, of all things, a underhang on the ship which people seem to fall off a lot and a huge-ass indoor sanctuary/courtyard. Updates will be posted in later chapters.)

ULTIMANIUM - Whoa, what a rush.

(Meanwhile, Davis is sitting on a computer some distance away playing Quake 3)

DAVIS - You seem to forget that we have no audience.

ULTIMANIUM - ...damn.

DAVIS - Hey, care to join me?... Booya! Railgun!

COMPUTER - *pewow* SoccerGod was gunned down by Bitterman

ULTIMANIUM - ...could we get back on topic here?




********





Last time on Trance Trauma, Ultimanium's group was rudely interrupted from their visit to Magnus' presidential retreat by a pair of figures that had apparently marched the entire way to the place. However, everybody's suspicions were confirmed when they revealed themselves to be Trances! Though the odds were stacked high, Cody managed to make use of a tiny error in James' judgement and was able to get his sword through him when he teleported in right over it. Din was more easily dealt with. However, that wasn't the extent of their attack - they both transferred their power to Ultimanium, who turned into the black Trance Omnimanium and went loony!

Tanya had finished her "initiation" by nearly capping Raul with the sniper rifle provided, and she was able to sneak down to the battlefield where everybody was hopelessly trying to pacify the out-of-control Trance. Tanya was able to snipe Omnimanium with a dum-dum round to the head, giving him some head damage and knocking him unconscious. It was later revealed that Ultimanium was in a coma from the power surge, and there could be no telling when he would wake. Tanya attempted to make the effort to reveal her true self, which was taken by the crew more easily than she'd thought. Her birthname was actually Charmy Anderson, Tanya was just a nickname she'd picked up somewhere.

With even their leader turned into a mess by a simple Trance, the morale of the group took a nosedive. Magnus made the decision to coax several more of the original Argetlahm members into the ranks to even the odds. Takeru Takaishi, Vegeta Briefs, Heero Yuy, Serge, and a new inductee named Glenn Fields would join up with the group once they started on the trek back to Magnopolis aboard the Argetlahm. Who knows, even more might show up...













Cody was able to gain little sleep throughout the short night that the crew experienced. He'd gone to bed at one in the morning, opting to head back aboard the Argetlahm for the night, before the Argetlahm set itself on its course back to Magnopolis. He was up before six. The entire ship was clouded by a dull silence, which made for an eerie atmosphere aboard the ship. Cody remained for the time being in the mess hall, picking at a bowl of instant oatmeal.

The actual hall was made a little more lively since the last visit due to the installation of several 3-foot thick glass plates in the floor at the major walkways between and from the regular organization of the tables, so they poked out beneath the ship around the bunk hallways beneath the room. This made it so that the terrain directly underneath the ship could be seen at any given point. While it looked incredible when the ship maintained a constant velocity and you could see the ground whipping beneath you several dozen feet below, it really strained on motion sickness if the ship was going at its normal speed. Therefore, the Argetlahm had been slowed down a fair amount whenever people would head for a meal.

"..." Cody grimaced as he nibbled on the contents of his spoon. He soon finished, then remained standing, confused outside of the mess hall. The silence was incredible. "..I wonder how the rec room's doing." He slipped over to the turbolift, and slapped the corresponding button. The doors closed.

********

The bridge had fallen into a hush, as well. While no one knew it, Eric and Raul were already partially-awake, sitting at respective substations on the bridge. Minonim still laid in a heap at the main control station.

"...well, this is just nice..." Eric muttered lowly. "Ulty's out of commission, Trances are on us like killer bees and the Prospector's STILL going strong. And now Servant's involved in this..."

Raul sat with his arms folded. "Don't expect Fagnus down there either to come with us... he's stuck in his own little world down there. I really think we should've got someone else in charge of the World State Government after we overthrew Ultramagnus... now that he's stuck in politician hell, he's going to be little help to us other than funding. Not that he can be blamed... I mean, people are going to wonder when the leader says 'sorry, people of the free world, I'm leaving for a couple years to save our world! take care of yourselves, but wish me luck!', and leaves no one to look after things on the homefront."

"That's just got to suck," Eric sighed. "What are we supposed to do now, though?"

"I have an idea on what we should do," Raul commented. "We have to find ourselves a new leader until we get the information on Ultimanium's condition."

Eric leant over. "What about the Argetlahm itself? Do you know how to work the thing?"

"Hey, don't look at me, I do the subsystems."

Eric rolled his eyes over to Minonim. "How hard can it be to move this ship?"

Raul leant his head on his hand. "Eric, we are talking about piloting a destroyer-class CRUISER here. It's a little harder than leaving the afterburners on 24/7, I know THAT, at least."

"Well, can't Minonim do it?"

"He can only gain access to ALL the propulsion systems only when Ultimanium gives the correct passcodes. Other than that, he can only work the emergency systems."

Eric lifted an eyebrow. "What would you classify as 'emergency systems'?"

"...auxiliary thrusters..."

Eric nodded. "That's all I needed to hear. Let's get Minonim up and moving, and we..."

Raul glared at Eric. "You're forgetting something."

"What?"

"Auxiliary boosters are for docking only. They can move the ship in all the directions except forward, that's what the primary boosters are for. At that extent, they aren't as nearly as powerful as the main thrusters. If we intend on using those, it'll take us nearly triple the time to get back to Magnopolis."

Eric shrugged. "So we'll just put full power on the central and rear aux boosters. Do YOU have any better ideas?"

Raul blinked. "Wait, wait, wait.. are you INSISTING that we fly the Argetlahm BACKWARDS all the way to Magnopolis?"

"I don't hear YOU giving ideas."

Magnus walked onto the bridge. "How's my ship doing?"

"You gave it to us." Raul growled.

Magnus slapped his forehead. "Oh, damn, I keep forgetting that. This ship is ANCIENT compared to the stuff I can get at my place, but still... anyways, I need a lift into Magnopolis, I have a trade pact to sign with Kenya. Mind if I board?"

"Do you have full access to the Argetlahm?" Eric asked.

"No, why?"

Eric and Raul groaned. "Well, we have only one thing to say - it is going to be a looooooong trip."

"It looks like it's our only choice, though," Raul grunted. "I guess we should just take the Argetlahm as it is and fly it in reverse to Magnopolis. It'll give our friends here some well-deserved rest... say, Magnus, was the returning crew planning to meet up with us when we were scheduled to arrive at Magnopolis?"

"No, I just told them to start warping aboard people in.." he glanced down at his watch. "...about an hour and a half. You guys have the J3 with you at the moment, I'm guessing, so they should just warp straight to the Argetlahm."

Raul nodded. "Excellent. Scratch the rest.. we have the resources we need to make a conference call. Magnus, go operate communications, tell everyone to meet with us aboard the bridge in an hour and a half."

Magnus eyed Raul snootily. "Who died and made you king?"

"You mean, who fainted and made me ruler. I'm the one running this show for the time being, you just do as you're told."

Magnus growled to himself as he seated himself in his old command chair offside of the main bridge and opened the commlink.



********



Everybody had arrived. The stage was set. It was nearly an hour and twenty minutes after the announcment had been made that much of the crew present was set up on the bridge of the Argetlahm, the rising sun setting a blue-purple backdrop on the terrain as it scrolled away from them.

Yes, the Argetlahm was flying backwards. Don't even ask.

Meanwhile, Ultimanium's old transciever had been set up on one of the bridge countertops, displaying the rest of the crew which was huddling around Raynor to get a good look at the Argetlahm as they'd left it. Cody, Armadillomon, Crono, Charmy, Trunks, Goten, Magnus and Eric were lined up in front of the master bridge controls, with Raul occupying Ultimanium's usual chair. Minonim was up as well, having to have been interrupted from his sleep to link through to the Argetlahm itself and get the ship going.... god, that still bothers me, did you have to fly the damn ship backwards? Wasn't there another way? We're going to look stupid as hell getting into the Magnopolis spaceport.

Raul immediately cast a spell and engulfed the narrator in a ball of flame, incinerating him instantly. He was replaced by a new one. Hi.

"Current business," Raul mused, leaning on a panel. "We're going to get to Magnopolis a bit slower than we had anticipated, mostly due to the fact that we can't get the primary boosters online due to our lack of an Ultimanium to access them. No one else has access, not even us. Speaking of which, how is Ultimanium? Has his condition stabilized?"

"Affirmative," Minonim buzzed. "We still can't draw a line on when Ultimanium will awaken, however, he's in non-serious physical condition. Our medical systems still can't figure out what's causing the Trance to take its roots in Ultimanium's mind, though. We expect a sizeable delay until we can figure out exactly what mental stimulus is causing the Trance to operate, and what we can do to reverse its effects."

"Wait, wait," Rika burst, her voice coming in gravelly over the speakers of the transceiver. "Ultimanium's out of it? You mean, like.."

"In a coma," Cody interjected. "Some Trances attacked us at Magnus' chateau and they used some kind of attack on Ultimanium that made him Trance too. We managed to knock him out and we haven't got anything from him since."

"It's kind of creepy," Armadillomon quipped.

"Oh, this is just fantastic," Raynor snarled. "Even our 'top' guy gets creamed by a Trance? This isn't too spectactular for the morale over here, you know. We didn't even get any results since we remained in Magnopolis, so the Trances must've been after Ultimanium in the first place!"

Magnus' eyes narrowed as he glanced back at the monitor. "Ultimanium's power level is well about six million. If it can turn someone like him so easily.."

Raul slapped his hands down onto the hard seat's armrests, pushing himself forward. "But we're all wasting time here. Ultimanium could easily be out of the picture for the remainder of the second tour, so we have to get ourselves a new captain for the time being."

Magnus immediately leapt into a pose. "Then I, Magnus Power, shall lead the next crew to victory!! Booya!!"




Everybody just kind of stared at him.




Raul frowned at Magnus. "Hmm, you didn't want anything to do with us any time before."

Magnus grinned sheepishly. "Can I?"

"No."

Magnus turned, stamping out of the chamber. "Stupid damn newbies and their damn stupid.." his voice was eventually drowned out by the aux engines beginning to choke. They soon returned to normal.

"So, then, who?" Charmy sighed. "We've got no one else qualified for the job..."

"We don't techincally need qualification. This is a mercenary band, if you haven't noticed," Raul spoke. "I'll simply make the decision based on your experience. Heh, the sad thing is, I'm not even going to think about choosing myself. I mean, my spells are all rusted to hell, I'm going to need to practice my arts before I can even think about fighting alongside you new guys in the first place. Until then, I want Eric and Shaun to remain in charge."

Eric and Shaun's jaws dropped. "...huh?!"

"Next to Ultimanium they are the two most powerful people on the crew as we speak. To tell you the truth, I have little to no idea on what plan of action we should take in pursuing the Prospector now, so I'm going to leave it up to Eric, Shaun and the rest of the crew to take charge of planning a successful operation."

Shaun shook his head. "I might be fast, I can punch hard, maybe, but I'm pretty sure I'm NOT the most powerful person here."

Raul faced out to the sky. "Regardless, you seem like the people we can trust."

Trunks, Goten, and Crono all nodded.

Eric half-smiled. "Eh.. Raul, I've always wondered... what's ever stopping us from using Magnopolis' latest R&D developments?"

Raul blinked, turning toward the turbolifts. Magnus was leant against the wall, arms folded. "Funding."

Eric smirked, turning to his relative. "Hey, Magnus, you're the bigwig around these parts, how about we stop in Magnopolis?"

"What for?"

"We're going to be making some enhancements to the Argetlahm. I want to park the Argetlahm in the city for another night, and we're gonna overhaul this thing - I want the best armor, the best engine, the best everything. Maybe even a bigass laser cannon, you know, something we can trademark with the Argetlahm. We're going to remake this thing into a better capship."

"Eric," Magnus spat. "Even if I WANTED to help you, which I don't, we simply don't have the manpower in Magnopolis to completely redo an old fossil like this thing. If I were you, I'd just get a new ship."

"Ulty wouldn't like us just dumping his old ship like this," Cody mumbled. "We would know, it's like an artifact to him. If we could make adjustments to it, give it new stations, new powers, a new finish - we would both impress Ultimanium and boost morale around the group... maybe both scare some sense into the Prospector and make the ship more powerful."

"You're forgetting, Magnus..." Armadillomon piped. "We have some Saiyans that would be more than happy to help you. We have the Tamers, everybody, we would all do what we can to upgrade the Argetlahm into a fully-functional warship."

"...if I can get you clearance into the Magnopolis shipyards, you'll help with all of this? I still have a problem with you polishing the Argetlahm at a time like this, just promise me that you'll be in and out of there in under two days. I have the little fear that the Prospector might get a little trigger-happy with the J, and I want to clean out or help with cleaning out his hideout."

Eric nodded. "Can do. We'll get the Argetlahm in and out of there before you can blink."

Minonim suddenly lit up as a blue flash swept through the room. "Well, Raul, it looks like our company might be here. Tell the crew that we're closing the link, the veterans should be here."

"You heard him," Raul said. "We'll talk to you guys in a couple of hours. We'll be down at the Magnopolis shipyards. We'll need whatever help you can supply to help get the Argetlahm finished up."

Takato smiled. "Kay. See you guys later." Raul flipped the screen down on the transciever as it blanked out.

"Let's meet our guests," Cody chuckled.




---------






********
TAKERU TAKAISHI, the first of many Argetlahm veterans to make their return, had saved his mythril armor from his ending fights aboard the first tour for his adventures after the end of his own Digimon adventures - pronounced Seeker near the end of the first adventure, Takeru was given possession of the Sword of Truth, a treasure handed down from one Seeker to the next throughout the generations.

The Sword of Truth takes on properties and skills from each swordsmen lucky enough to lay their hands on the artifact, and passes them on to the next person to take the title of Seeker. Simply put, Takeru has fully tapped into the age-old powers of the Sword and has gained master swordplay skills on impulse... over a period of one week. As it stands, he could easily outdo Raul himself in a duel. He has also gained many of the magicks of spellswords, Raul included, making him extremely potent with moderate-expert elemental magicks.
********

TK stepped out of the shadows of the hangar, revealing himself. His mythril armor was painted a dull shade of green, and a long, darker viridian cape hung loosely behind him. His blond hair had grown shaggy, drooping down just to touch his shoulders. His playful blue eyes had seem to have grown a shade darker. His D3 was clipped into a slot that had been carved into the armor, held there tightly by a pair of metal bonds.

"The place's 'ure fancy!" Patamon yelped, fluttering to the ground aside Takeru. "How long did it take you to polish it up?"

Cody shrugged. "Beats me, we just got here and it was in the process..."

********
VEGETA BRIEFS shows no sign of slowing down, even after his long lapse in battles. Vegeta has continued to devote his life and soul to training himself at extreme conditions, only aspiring to push his power level as high as his own physical stature will allow. Vegeta accepted the reinvitation aboard the Argetlahm warmly, anticipating another great crusade in the coming days.
********

Vegeta knew to arrive to the occaision. He was already outfitted in his battle armor, slipping his gloves back on as he arrived. "...it has been years since I returned to this place! I wonder if the inductees Ultimanium speaks of have what it takes to rise to the challenge that Magnus speaks of..."

Gohan smiled uneasily as he shoved Trunks forward. "...um.. Vegeta, I was thinking you would've noticed.. that Trunks isn't kind... of at home."

Vegeta glared at Gohan. "I'm quite sure we know that, you moron. But I know Trunks can take care of himself, and do what he needs to. He's my son, you know. But that stupid woman is worried sick about him, I'm guessing. She was rambling on about how you kidnapped Trunks, and what she was going to do to you."

Gohan's grin grew wide as he sweatdropped. "...oh."

********
HEERO YUY prefers to remain confidential as far as his purpose aboard the ship. While he is primarily a Gundam/mobile suit pilot, forces testing has had him marked off as a fairly competent melee fighter and a crack shot with most basic firearms, and general one-man stealth operations. Who knows if he'll ever get back in another mobile suit, having the Wing Zeromus confiscated by the forces that be, but if such occurs you can be sure that he'll take the oppritunity eagerly.
********

"I vaguely recall having NOT to come back here," Heero mumbled. "So, what's going on? From what you people make it sound like.. it could be pretty urgent."

Eric nodded. "You don't know the half of it."

Heero's right hand's fingers drummed on the side of a blaster holster that laid stapled to the side of his belt. The handle of the hand cannon could be noticed sticking out of the side of the concealment.

********
SERGE led a relatively quiet life in El Nido for the past several years, having the campaign against both FATE and Ultramagnus having passed by him in one fell swoop. Serge abandoned his home at coming-of-age, in an attempt to relocate Kid, whom he was briefly reaffirmed with during the crew's short stay aboard the Argetlahm. Several years of searching have yielded nothing, though Serge believes he may be on the right track, with a recent string of adventures taking him back and forth across Arni continent several times, and to several far-off islands in the El Nido Archipelago that had been accessed by him only for brief moments during the FATE days.
********

"...you've been letting this place rust again, haven't you?" Serge shuffled his feet across the floor, kicking up a small cloud of dust.

Everybody pointed at Magnus. "...what?"

"So," TK spoke, eyeing the group once more. "What's going on here? We got all the info about the Trances... though I have to say we need to see one in action before we can really believe what you're saying about their power levels..."

Raul lifted an eyebrow. "Do we lie? The problem is more serious than you think, Takeru. Magnus himself was nearly overtaken by just a pair of the weaker Trances, there's no telling what we mind find further down the road, or during our attack on Gaia's Isle, for that matter."

"Regardless, it's great to see everybody here again. Is there any chance that anybody else is going to show up?" Cody smirked.

"Not unless they're instructed to," TK said. "I even managed to get a hold of Davis a couple of hours ago. We share the same dorm, in a college in East Shinjuku. Turns out some of the higher-level people wanted all the information on the Digital World that could be dug up. With even the information that they were provided, it's unlikely they'll come up with any solutions. You know, just enough to get some working theories in effect concerning the six dimensions. Anyways, we'll probably be able to drag him up here too if things get REALLY desperate."

Raul smirked. "Shinjuku, huh? Takato'll have a fit when he figures out where you guys were all the long."

Patamon blinked. "Takato?"

"Oh, he's swell," Armadillomon quacked. "He's coming aboard the ship when we return to Magnopolis."

"Is he a digidestined?"

"..well, not technically, but a digimon's accompanying him, he also seems to have some sort of knowledge of digimon schematics. He's been a huge help since the start."

"Well, that's fine and all," Vegeta barked. He stood out, facing to the side, making sure not to draw an eye on the discussion. "but I'm sure we were a bit more interested in the state of the situation you seemed to be so pissed about, you know, these entities you label 'Trances'. Does ANYBODY around here have any sort of indication?"

"Trance is imbued on normal people," Eric spoke. "It shoots their power levels straight up, that's all we know. How the Prospector and Servant are accomplishing this, we have no clue. There's something going on here that we don't know... hey, Raul, do you think that the J might have some sort of part in this situation? I'm not thinking the guy would go through the entire struggle to secure the J and just let it sit until he decides to destroy the world."

"It DOES sound like a possible explanation, but I have no idea what factor the J, or dimensionsplitting for that matter, would have in a major jump of these peoples' power levels. The fact that we have no theory for what's happening with the current events is what frightens me the most about the entire situation."

"This is just swell," Heero hummed. "So we have NO indication of where to go from here, then, do we?"

"The only thing I can think of is..."

"Hold up, hold up," TK interrupted. "Hasn't Ultimanium had any insight into this entire situation? What's up with him?"

"We were getting to that," Magnus muttered. "Ulty here was whipped hard by a Trance, and a couple of them slammed him with some kind of attack that infused him with the ability. To stop him from wasting us all, our sniper Charmy nailed him with a dum-dum round to the head, enough to knock him unconscious and keep him stunned. Later it was revealed that he was in a coma from the power rush provided by Trance, and there's no telling when or if he'll come back to his senses."

Patamon and TK exchanged stares. "...oh... no."

"We're meeting up with the others in Magnopolis, we should be there in a couple of hours," Trunks murmured. "From there, we're going to meet up with the other group. Then we're getting the Argetlahm completely upgraded from the ground up. I don't think there's anywhere to go from there save for a direct attack on Gaia's Isle. It's STILL in the same place as it was a couple of days ago. He's waiting for us to make a move, probably - and the bad news is that we're the only ones that CAN make a move. He's got something up his sleeve, alright.. and we're going to find out one way or another."

Serge nodded. "If we're going to make a direct attack on the island, the best way to do so would be to haul the Argetlahm straight in there. You heard what's going on at Gaia's Isle, the place is a full military compound - the ship's going to take a beating, but it's our only chance."

"We COULD sit tight, you know," Heero sighed. "It might not be an available course of action in this case, but if I could I would."

"It's not a case of NOT being able to wait," Charmy mumbled. "It's the fact that all of Magnopolis and the entire crew is pandemoniac over the entire situation. It would only take one swift strike with all those Trances to bring the world to its knees."

Everybody shuffled to stare at Charmy.

"...what? Geez, you look at me like I know NOTHING about the subject!"

Raul blinked. "That's the problem. You don't."

Meanwhile, Patamon had positioned himself on top of Takeru's head like he had many times before, mostly to either give his wings or legs a rest. But this time it was a different story.

"Whoa, TK, get a look at the ca-cas on that one!"

TK rolled his eyes up. "...Patamon?"

"Yeah?"

"Could you get off? You're giving my head... ahem... VERY bad vibes."

Patamon glanced down, and just then noticed himself shuffling impatiently across TK's scalp, trying to get a better grip. He was just trying to hide any nervousness he had, but his movement seemed a little... suggestive. He grimaced, sweatdropping, before sliding nonchalantly off TK's cranium and staying at a hover in midair.

"Well, you guys probably know the drill," Raul said. "You guys can just hit the bunks or the training grounds, we should be arriving at Magnopolis in a couple of hours from now."

"One last thing," Serge interrupted. "Why... is the Argetlahm flying backwards?"

"...it's a long story."

All the veterans nodded in unison, and turned, heading for the turbolift in a line. The doors slid shut, leaving the remaining crew standing in the open.


********


Time went on. The Argetlahm continued its journey, deep within its off-limit corridors containing Ultimanium and the pair of workers that kept a constant eye on him. One of the abandoned bunks had been linked up to medical statistics machinery, which lined the entire room with a constant blur of beeps and lit displays. One man, with a grey beard and a dim white lab coat, kept a watchful hand on his patient's chest, glancing at his stopwatch every so often to trace his heartbeat.

"Condition is stable," he muttered, flipping the gold watch shut and sliding it back into his jacket pocket. "Heart rate has returned to a below-average pulse." He turned, and snatched a clipboard off the wall, beginning to sketch down readings from the monitors around him. "Mental activity has returned to average status... what's wrong? These are normally perfect conditions for someone to come out of a coma..."

Another worker came into the room, much younger. "How is he doing?"

"Rufus. I can't see anything terribly wrong with this man... all his lifesigns have returned."

"Get a look at this," Rufus shoved a heap of papers into the other scientist's hands. "These are more indepth psychological readings I picked up about half an hour ago. We were able to trace Ultimanium's synapses only back as far as two hours from the accident, but I think we have an explanation, now."

"Shoot."

"I got readings from when the crew insisted that Ultimanium was smacked by that attack that the Trances used. You know, like some sort of short-term memory recording. Anyways, I was able to slow the recording down one hundred times and I found a couple of adjustments to the body that you might find interesting. You know that people normally can't take power roughly three times their original power level before they start taking brain damage, right?"

"Yes."

"Check this out," Rufus pointed down the sheet. "Ultimanium's power level started at six million. As the attack impacted him, it sent a shock through his nervous system and boosted his power level in six extremely quickly steps, with each taking place in under 0.000001 seconds. First, his power level increased by 2. Then, it increased by 16. Then, 100,000. Then 1 million. Then, another six million. Then, one BILLION."

"So what is this supposed to mean?"

"Omnimanium was too powerful for his own good," Rufus sighed. "The power surge he experienced would've incinerated any other person just from the feel of the energy. He was able to harness the power, though with extreme difficulty. But, still, it was too much. His power level was slowly rising up the one-billion step, so if Charmy hadn't knocked him unconscious and halted the Trance, his head would've wound up exploding less than a minute after."

"Any side effects from halting it?"

"His power level's dropped 2 million from its normal level, since we got him. I'd think it's safe to say that Ultimanium is officially handicappped."

The worker looked down at Ultimanium, sadly. "Well, I guess it's better than having your head go boom. Isn't there anything that can be done to stop it?"

"It's going to spread, slowly. His power level is in a freefall. If he really wanted to fight alongside his crew now, the only way he'd be able to do so is by going Trance again. It'd boost his power level beyond everybody elses', but that would speed up his deterioration further."

"So the guy's got himself in a lose-lose situation."

Rufus nodded, tossing the clipboard to the computer desk. "If he remains in a coma, the lethal effects shouldn't kick in for at least years. However, he is unfit to fight. Make sure that the crew understands that." Rufus glared at the worker, shoving him out the door simply with his glare.

"Okay, I get the point. But how do you think they're going to take it?"

"Oh.. they've got methods of dealing with these sort of incidents."

Both workers stumbled forward as the Argetlahm lurched into a slower velocity. Almost immediately, the intercom started out, exposing Raul's voice to the halls of the capship. "We're going to be docking at the Magnopolis shipyards within minutes. I've already gotten a hold of the other crew and they'll be showing up at the main site shortly. We expect that the Argetlahm will be taking anywhere from a day or two to fully upgrade, if we get everything working properly. Until then, we're going to be stuck in Magnopolis again."

Rufus stared blankly up at the intercom in the corner of the room. "That's not wise. The Trances are undoubtedly going to strike the crew again if they try to take a breather."

"They can handle the Trances, let's just do our job."


********


The sun had already begun its descent as the Argetlahm slid at a crawl into the massive multihangar that made up the opposite end of the great city Magnopolis. Emergency backup lights pulsed up and down the ship, subsiding only when the ship vanished into the massive corridor. A hover lift was already dragging the Argetlahm down into the underworkings of Magnopolis, while TK, Patamon, and Eric watched from a small service exit of the bridge. The grating walkway was enough to support the three, and easily more, though it wasn't necessarily the most popular choice of leaving the ship.

Takato poked his head out the door. Guilmon's stuck out from underneath it. "...eh, hey, Eric. What's going on here?"

Eric glanced over. "Oh, hey, Takato. Back already?"

Takato grinned. "Yeah, I had to do some digging, but I found one of the cards I needed.. I'm almost done my dream deck. Check it out." Takato shoved a small set of cards in Eric's face, which he soon took into his own hands.

"..Imperialdramon, Fighter Mode. How expensive was THIS one?"

"..I found it in a gutter."

Eric facefaulted.

TK nudged Eric. "Hey... you mean this is... Takato?"

"And Guilmon," Eric sighed, tossing the card back to Takato. Guilmon forced himself out of the doorway, nearly topping Takato over the edge of the railing and into the abyss that lied below the ship.

"AH AH AH AH AAAHHHHHHH!!!" Takato leant himself over the bar. Eric muttered to himself, before dragging Takato back into place by his collar.

TK smirked as he caught sight of Takato. "Oh, you must be the Takato everyone's talking about. A digimon?"

Takato refitted his goggles, and swept his hair back. "Guilmon. His attack is.."

"Do NOT start that again." Eric growled.

TK's grin grew. "Hey... are those Davis' goggles?"

"..."

"He's been looking for those for eons. I wonder what he'd say if he figured out that he'd left them on the Argetlahm for all the new people to mess around with. Man, I can't wait to see the expression on his face..."

"He can't function properly without them," Patamon chirped.

The grating beneath the group shook with a clank as the Argetlahm finally came down on the floor of the underground base. "It looks like we're here," Eric whispered, glaring around at the base, carved out of the earth, ahead of him. "The Argetlahm's going to be refitted soon with Magnopolis' best ship parts. I wonder how Ulty would respond if he knew what was going on with his pride and joy here."

TK leant down on the railing. "It's going to be hard letting the old design go... but I'm still interested as to what the Argetlahm Mk.II would look like."

"Then let's go," Takato said. "Raul said he's got clearance at the resting quarters here, so we'll nap there while the guys work on the ship."

"Sounds like a plan," TK spoke. "All this dimensionjumping is already tiring me out. Am I getting old or something?"

Patamon stared out at the compound ahead of them. "...is it the twenties that are old? Or is it higher? I forget."

As everyone shuffled back into the Argetlahm to gain access to the main turbolift exit, Eric stared with a snarl on his face into the rafters.

"Something's not right here..."

"Eric!" Takato shouted, trailing behind Guilmon. "C'mon, break a leg!"

"Breaking a leg sounds like fun. Can I do it to you, Takato?"

"How about.. not."

Eric took one last worried stare into the cavern's supports before turning and reentering the bridge.


********


Eric's assumption wasn't TOO far off the mark. Where he had sensed a sudden burst of Ki was actuall several meters higher in the protrusions of rock in the cavern celing, in the form in a pair of dark figures that watched the action below. One was an old man, dressed from head to toe in light beige robes, with an overflowing beard. The other, a young woman with dark blue hair and outfitted in a tank top and heavy jeans, sat hunched and watched the crew below her with invading eyes.

"I really don't know what's stopping me," the girl growled. "They're simple idiots. I don't sense any LARGE power levels. Ultimanium isn't with them either, so James and Din must've finished what they started. This should be a breeze."

"Be calm, Shiva. We have been instructed to wait for an opening. We shall wait for the night to rise before we begin our attack. The crew of the Argetlahm will least expect it then. As soon as the remainder of the Argetlahm is destroyed, Servant will finally reward us."

"...the Prospector has NO idea what's going on yet, does he?"

"He knows nothing about Servant assigning us to launch our second attack on the Argetlahm crew, no. Now that Ultimanium is out of the picture, the rest of the crew shall, as you insist, be a breeze. But we must plan our attack right."

Shiva turned back to the ground below. The crew had completely moven out of her view. "Servant is planning something, alright. But how come the Prospector is having no part in anything that's been going on lately? I mean, ever since Servant got a hold of Trance.."

"Servant is simply destroying the Prospector's only threat. As soon as the Argetlahm is crushed, Servant will finally be able to launch his attack on the Van Eltia... and gain the Power."

Shiva blinked. "Wait, wait, wait... the Prospector did NOT show up in that last sentence."

"Indeed he didn't. Servant is the one that needs the Power that exists in and around the Van Eltia, not the Prospector. As soon as he taps into this omnipotent power, the Dark God shall walk the mortal realm once again."

"...come again?"

"You will learn soon, grasshopper. Now, come, we must find bunking for the night."

Shiva scratched her neck. "...uh... okay..."

With that, they both phased off.









Who are these two mysterious people? Well, you should know by now... will Ultimanium show any sign of recovery? Even after the Argetlahm II takes to the skies, will they stand a chance against the Prospector and Servant? Find out next time, on Trance Trauma!