Fan Fiction ❯ Chronoceptor ❯ On The Road Again ( Chapter 2 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

Karsh drummed his hands on the cafe table. Opassa Beach awaited. He couldn't just sit around and wait for it to come to him. Yet, still, it came to him slowly that his destination was not there. He would just sit tight and wait for things to clear up. Why? Hell if he knew. It was just another impulse to him. Unbeknowest to him, it was an artificial one. It's not like he wanted to be there, in Termina. He could've been on his way to Opassa Beach over an hour ago, but something held him down.

He stuck his hand up. "Waiter? Some coffee."

A dressed man came with a kettle and poured the walnut-black liquid into the mug ahead of Karsh. The foreign power made him lift it up and take a sip from it. Hopefully, he thought, this entire mess could clear up. Like, fast.

********

Ultimanium watched on. The fifth dimension display caught his eye once again. Another dimensional rift opened halfway between Termina and Arni, in a small pathed crevice.

"What could that be...? It's not Ultramagnus for sure, its power level is too low... but still..."

********

I looked over again. Conker was struggling to carry the oversized machine J3 with him.

"Hey," I questioned. "You need some help there?"

Conker glanced up at me. "Oh, sure. That'd be great. Hang onto this for me."

He passed the J3 to me. I bent down and lifted it up to a respectable height and we continued walking. The mountains along us became more jagged as we continued.

I knew this place. "We'll be entering Fossil Canyon pretty quick. Be on guard."

The J3 lit up. "Conker!" It crackled out. "Are you there?"

Conker tapped the probe. "Yeah, Ulty. What's going on?"

"The Argetlahm is picking up a moderate-large power level ahead of you. It just appeared out of a dimensional anolomy a couple of minutes ago. I'm guessing it's one of Ultramagnus' henchmen. Be on the lookout, and make sure the J3 doesn't get harmed. It's your only ticket out of here."

Conker grit his teeth. "Man... okay, we'll watch out." The display blacked out.

"What was that about?" I asked.

"Ultramagnus might have deployed some of his posse up ahead. We'd better watch it."



"You would mean me?" A monontonous voice hummed.




*Conker and Serge look up the rocky face beside their position and look into the line of sight of a stranger at the top of the mountain. His deep blue eyes mesmerize both heroes. He is blond with a mustache, and wearing a karate gi. He is one of Ultramagnus' top officers, trained in the art of ki and equipped with an unforgiving AI. People say he is based from the great scientist Dr. Gero's design, and they'd be right.*

ANDROID 24 - Cybernetic Commando



Conker backed up. "Greeeeeat..."

Ultramagnus' voice crackled through the android. "I see you've met my friend here. This is an android of my personal design. While it doesn't possess the great speed and strength that Dr. Gero's creations provided, I advise you not to underestimate its power. Go forth, my creation, and tear these little bastards to shreds!!"

"Excellently put, master," The android continued. "I shall tear these bastards to shreds."

"Dr. Gero? Who the hell is Dr. Gero?" I shouted.

"We'll talk about it with Ulty after," Conker said, a bit nervously. "We have to worry about tin-can man here."

Android 24 dove off the cliff and lunged straight down at me. It must have not noticed that it didn't have the element of surprise. I quickly dove and rolled out of the way of the flying android, who crashed a fist straight into the ground where I stood. I brought up my Mastermune in time to parry a fist from it. I rapidly swung the swallow into new positions to deflect the rush of punches and kicks the android flung at me.

Conker opened fire with his dual uzis while the android was distracted, but to no avail. Many of the shells deflected harmlessly off of the android's heavy metal casing.

"Guns," The android moaned, devoid of expression. "Not equal at all."

Conker sweatdropped. "Uh oh."

"Fire blasters."

The right fist of the android fell to the ground. Underneath it were several dozen tiny laser cannons. They began charging.

I had to act fast. I reached into the depths of mind to activate an Element. I quickly cast Strongminded several times on Conker, and nearly buckled over in unconsciousness. I tried to regain control of myself. I hadn't used Elements in rapid succession for an extremely long time, so the energy required to cast such spells drained me fast.

A flurry of blasts of light flew from the android's hand and pelted away at the Strongminded shield that surrounded Conker. Using this chance, I dove at it and slashed once hard across his back. It noticed, however, and jaunted forward. The slash that had meant to bust its spinal shaft worked only to establish a rift across its back. Sparks shot from the massive gap in the android's back.

********

Ultramagnus shot up in his chair. "Damn it! He's not going to hold out much longer if that area is short of power! J2! Bring 24 back, now!"

********

A beam fell from the sky and enveloped 24. "Do not think you have defeated me. My master will soon have me back in working order and you shall all pay for what you have done." With a flash, the beam and the android were gone.

Conker shook his head. "I'm not even going to ask."

The J3's display lit up. "What happened?" Ultimanium asked. "I didn't think you were going to be done with Android 24 so fast. Well done, Serge."

I scratched the back of my head. "Er... sure. The android said back there that he was based on a design from a guy named Dr. Gero. Who is he?"

"Dr. Gero was a prominent scientist in the third and fourth dimensions," Ultimanium explained. "He made great advances in the field of AI and military weaponry. You can imagine what those two melded together to create. In this dimension, however, he died at the age of 8 from food poisoning. That's why you don't see any other androids running around. Enough of that, proceed. Termina lies ahead, and you have to find Kid as fast as possible before Ultramagnus sees any need to intervene further. Serge, Conker. I'm counting on you guys."

Conker brushed his forehead. "No prob. Hey, Serge, you comin'?"

"As always."

"Good," Ultimanium said. "I'll just leave you to your business then. Later." The display blacked out.

********

Ultimanium cracked his knuckles. "Great. If they run into no more interferences, they should find Kid and Karsh within the next 8 hours. The geoscanners show Karsh in Termina limits, so it can't be long. Lord Raul."

Raul looked up from a computer terminal. "Yeah?"

"Begin making preperations to transverse the Ultimatum crew. Make Davis Motomiya, Veemon, Takeru Takashi, Patamon, Kari Kamiya, Gatomon, Taichi Kamiya, Agumon, Goku, Vegeta, Gohan, Cloud, and Squall your highest priority."

"How about the Gundam pilots?"

Ultimanium hung his head. "They are best suited in their Gundams than any other mobile suit. There's no way we can get things that mass through the dimensional gate. If they were to come, no matter how we would outfit them, they would be at a direct disadvantage."

Raul rubbed his chin. "Ah, I see. I guess... no matter. I'll get on the job as soon as the J3 gets back."

Ultimanium turned back and looked on into space through the massive plexiglass dome that surrounded the capship Argetlahm's bridge. "Whatever.."

********

Conker climbed up the stairs leading into the square of Termina. He looked around him at the various shops and stands that lined the streets. People plodded up and down the paths, stepping into/out of shops. A statue stood at the very top of the open area. It was nightfall, and I was interested in getting some shuteye. Apparently, so was Conker. "So this is..."

"Yes," I sighed. "This is Termina. Hey, can you ask Ultimanium if Kid is still here?"

"Yeah, sure." Conker's fingers danced around the interface of the machine. Ultimanium's face took its normal appearance as it blinked onto the screen. "Yes, Conker?"

"Hey, Ulty. Me and Serge were wondering if you could tell us if Kid is still in Termina. If so, can you get an accurate reading as to where she is?"

"She is still in Termina," Ultimanium announced. "However, the geoscanners are generally inaccurate, so I can't give a definite location. I would guess that she would be bunking here for the night."

Conker grinned. "Great, we got our sleep time."

"Also, be on the watch for Karsh. The geoscanners show him in your recent vincinity. If you can get him right away, that would make your job a lot easier."

"Karsh?" I asked. "Is he another of the Chosen?"

"Yeah," Conker said. "You know him?"

"He was with us on an adventure..."

"Against the Time Devourer. Don't bother explaining, Ultimanium already ran me through it."

That struck me. "How does he know...?"

Conker rolled his eyes and waved. "You'd be surprised how much he knows about things."

"Well what are we waiting for? Let's go get Karsh!" I made a beeline toward the cafe. I had that strange Serge-like vision that Karsh was there.

********

Ultramagnus turned on the receiver. "Is Android 24 nearly finished?"

A picutre of a small maintenance robot appeared on the topleft monitor. "He'll be alright, sir. It was just a slash to the back and easy to seal. If you want him to last, I suggest you don't send him out on his own."

"Shut the hell up, Minonim. I have perfectly suitable ideas what I do with my troops. Piss off and do your job."

"Y-yes, sir."

Ultramagnus slammed his clenched fist down on the tropical wood desk, deactivating the monitor. He knew what he was doing. It was just a slight miscalculation that proved him defeated against Serge, and he wasn't going to make that mistake again. Scowling to himself, he knew just exactly what he was going to do.

The monitor flipped on again. A cowering Minonim shook in the corner of the screen.

"MINONIM!!"

The robot flinched. "Yes, s-sir... what.. is it..." he sputtered.

Ultramagnus broke out into an evil grin. "Turn on 24 Level 2."

"Yes, sir."

The monitor turned off again. No sir, Ultramagnus WASN'T going to make the same mistake twice...

********

"Excuse me, sir. We close in 5 minutes."

"Er, yes sir." Karsh stuttered. He slowly rose to his feet. Finally, he thought to himself. Some action.

Karsh stumbled outside, with some overly exaggerated steps. When he got outside and the door closed behind him, he braced himself on the wall next to the door of the cafe. What am I doing? He wiped some sweat off his brow. There was a reason for all of this. He just couldn't quite grasp it.

********

"Karsh!!" I yelled from off in the distance, waving. I ran over to Karsh's position against the cafe wall.

"...hyah?" Karsh mumbled. He looked up to me. "S-Serge?! Is that you?"

"Yeah," I stated.

"What are you doing in Termina?"

Conker stepped in next to Serge. "We need to have a talk."

"Someone spike my coffee?" Karsh muttered.

"No, I really am a talking squirrel," Conker groaned. "Now, listen. I need to talk to you about something serious here. You've been having some weird impulses lately, right?"

"Well, why didn't you say so? I was sitting in this cafe for no reason all afternoon and I was wondering why..."

Conker gestured to the J3. "This probe has psychically instructed you to remain here. You don't know it, but currently a struggle goes on in the third dimension against the villian Ultramagnus. A man named Ultimanium is rallying warriors from across the dimensions for a final strike at him, and we needed fighters fast. The J3 helps me locate these heroes and solve the affairs of finding them myself. Are you game?"

Karsh was apparently drinking while bored. "Hell.. yeah!"

"You have the Rainbow Axe anywhere near here?" I asked.

Karsh took the axe, leaning on the wall of the cafe. "Sure, right here."

Conker hopped up. "Great! Now that we have Karsh, Kid'll be easy to find. I say we head and grab some shuteye before we go any further. It's not like any boats are going to leave the place at this time of night."

I shrugged. Yeah, I was starting to get tired too. As much as I tried to fight off the urge to walk off and look for Kid myself, my fatigue took over. "Sure."

So we went and took our rest... but that android... yeah, he was going to cause trouble.

Lots of it.