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 ❯ Capture the Flag... Maybe ( Chapter 12 )
[ 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: 9 | Words: 4.4K | Visits: 249 | 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: 9 | Words: 4.4K | Visits: 249 | Status: Completed
Argetlahm Bunks
Day 17, 7:44 AM
"... okay... 7 dollars... 34 cents... a dried pen... a wallet picture of Kari... some lint... is that good enough?"
"Hell no." Raul mumbled.
Davis stamped his foot down angrily and stood to leave the bunk, scowling. TK stepped in, carrying the Ragnarok. "Hey, Davis. Trying for a refund?"
"Shut up." Davis growled.
Raul looked up. "Hey, Takeru, give him the Ragnarok for a while."
"But why?"
"Don't worry. I'll get you something better after. Just give it to him."
TK looked the other way as he passed the Ragnarok over to Davis. Davis took it up immediately and latched his materia onto it. "Heh.... hey, this is lighter than the Buster Sword. You can bust up my Buster again for all I care." He hoisted the blade up onto his shoulder before he left the room.
TK glared back at Raul. "I wanted that."
"I have a far more powerful sword in storage," Raul said. "I'll show it to you after. I believe Ultimanium will ask for our presence on the bridge shortly..."
The intercom crackled into action as Lord Raul finished his sentence. "All Argetlahm personnel report to the war room right away. Priority 2. I repeat, all Argetlahm personnel report to the war room immediately."
********
Ultimanium grinned as Tai settled into his seat. "Glad to see you're all here."
Everybody groaned out a barely audible "hello".
Magnus phased in and slapped his hands together. "We have the teams prepared?"
"You have them listed, don't you?"
Magnus glanced at a sticky note taped on his hand. "All present and accounted for."
Ultimanium turned back to the crowd. "Do you all know why you're here?"
Again, everybody moaned out a "no".
"Well," Ultimanium sighed. "It seems morale has dropped considerably since we boarded the Argetlahm. I can't say that's been terribly good for our missions so far. We have only completed the first and last ones successfully so far, if you have forgotten. I will have to re-evaulate your Chosen status if you wish to remain aboard the Argetlahm. I asked myself, how can I counteract this? The only thing I could think of is to grant you more power, I'm afraid. Remember, any more screwups and you're dead."
Everybody jumped to their feet with an accompanying "wha?".
Agumon gulped. "What, do you mean you're going to be killing people off?!"
"Now that's just harsh!" Cloud wailed.
Magnus folded his arms. "Well, maybe if you completed your missions properly we wouldn't have to resort to such methods, now, would we?"
"I want to make this as quick and painless as possible," Ultimanium spoke. "Magnus has constructed several tests for me to assign to you. All of you will be accordingly rewarded for their efforts today. Take it away, Magnus."
Magnus stepped forward to the hologram projector as it began to light up, showing a map of the Argetlahm. "I will be giving you a series of tasks to accomplish aboard the Argetlahm throughout the day. I've collaberated with our friend Lord Raul here and his weapon business and he's willing to offer discounts and some other.. ahem... services each group that can win these challenges. Everyone game?"
Everybody nodded.
"First dibs on benefits are granted to those who win. Understood? Good. Form your teams, then come to me. That is all."
The crowd lept from their seats and huddled.
"Me, Veemon and Conker." Davis whispered.
Conker shrugged. "Can't say I'll be much help. Ultimanium banned my control over the Argetlahm for the time being, so if you were expecting any special perks, I hate to disappoint you."
Davis grit his teeth. "Damn. Oh well."
TK glanced around the crowd. "...uh.... Karsh? You chosen yet?"
Karsh swung his axe over his shoulder. "Can't say I've been. Who else are you gonna choose?"
"Digimon count, TK." Patamon squeaked, grasping himself on TK's shoulder.
Cody counted on his fingers. "Me, Squall, Cloud and Armadillomon."
Squall nodded. "Gotcha."
"You can count on us!" Armadillomon chirped.
"Berri, Kid hands down." Kari said. "and Gatomon."
"Wha?" Davis stammered. "We can have as many as we want? We're taking Goku then, and Izzy."
"Whatever," TK scowled. "Vegeta! Get your ass over here! Tentomon! We need to even out the teams!"
"Not with punk-ass over there." Vegeta growled, glaring at Karsh.
Tai shrugged. "I guess I'm with Serge and Rodent then. And Agumon."
"Someone forgot us," Duo muttered.
"Duo," Ultimanium announced. "Go with Tai. Heero will go with Cody."
TEAM LISTING
1 - Davis, Veemon, Conker, Goku, Izzy
2 - TK, Karsh, Vegeta, Patamon, Tentomon
3 - Cody, Squall, Cloud, Armadillomon, Heero
4 - Kari, Berri, Kid, Gatomon
5 - Tai, Serge, Rodent, Agumon, Duo
Gohan sat up. "Me?"
"I guess we're balanced out as far as teams go," Ultimanium said. "You can sit out this round. You'll probably be stressed by the next challenge."
Everybody stood and walked to Ultramagnus, blurting their team plans into his ear as they passed by. They all returned to their seats.
"Well, glad to see we're all set," Magnus laughed. "Ultimanium, will you leave us be?" As Magnus finished speaking, Ultimanium began shifting offstage, returning to the bridge.
Goku slumped back in his chair. "Can we get this over with?"
Magnus nodded. "Yes. Listen up, everyone. You can start your first assignment in a couple seconds...
The hologram projector lit up, showing the exterior of the Argetlahm. "Listen up, everybody," Magnus spoke. "The first assignment will be generally easy. Several flags have been hidden around the ship, and each team will be given a clue as to where their flag is on the ship. First person to return with their flag gets some discount money added to their pot. Understood?"
Everybody nodded. Manila tag slips landed in the laps of the digidestined. Everybody from each group quickly huddled around their leaders and peered down on the clues. As soon as the people broke their huddles, they darted off around the Argetlahm in search of the flags.
"Where reality draws the line." Tai mumbled as he looked over the card. "Anyone know what this means?"
"Can't say we do," Duo sighed, flopping down on the rec room couch. "I haven't been here for all the reality speeches Ulty gave you. Don't look at me."
Serge tapped his head. "Where reality draws the line.... where reality draws the line... what could that mean, like a single line of pure reality? I wonder..."
Rodent jumped up. "Single line of reality! Don't any of you know what that means? Outside! In the second dimension all you have is width and length. That line of light that always stretches across the horizon! The flag is somewhere outside the ship!" Everybody turned and glanced out the large observation window in the rec room. Indeed, a single line of light streaked across the horizon, with perfect blackness above and below it.
Agumon rubbed his chin. "Wait a minute, the anti-dimensional barrier is radiating further from the ship than normal! It probably is out there!"
"Then what are we waiting for?" Tai yelled. "We have to get out there!"
Serge tapped Tai on the shoulder. "Eh... Tai.. you're forgetting something."
"What?"
"We can't get out there. There's no hazard suits we can use."
Duo climbed out of his seat. "I can get out there. I have access to the DeathHarvest."
"Well, then," Agumon sighed. "We'll just send him out there to find the flag. I'm not sure if there's anything we can do."
"A tome of digital secrets," Kari spoke. "Locked away for a lifetime, finally having left its roost. What the heck does that mean?"
"What is Magnus talking about?" Berri asked. "Does he mean some sort of, like, computer database that's missing?"
"Looks too damn organized to notify us about missing computer information," Kid scowled. "It's written in handwriting. Pretty extravagent stuff, too."
Gatomon sprung up. "I have a pretty good idea of what he means. Digital secrets, finally leaving its roost. My diary's still missing. We have to find it."
"It could be anywhere though," Kari sighed. "We're not going to be able to find it, at least quickly."
"Conker told me the Argetlahm has a pretty severe security system," Berri smirked. "He says that he can detect weapons that passengers wield in their bunks using a shipwide metal detector. The diary has a metal lock, right?"
Gatomon tilted her head. "Gold."
"Good enough. Let's go talk to Ultimanium."
"Nothing original here," Davis read. "Let's just say you'll have to go down into a warzone to find this flag." He tossed the tag down. "I hope he doesn't mean the third dimension."
"I guess we don't have much of a choice," Goku sighed. "We have to go down and operate the J3 ourselves."
"Maybe not," Conker groaned. "Ulty programmed a lock into the J3 to keep it from shifting without his supervision. We're going to have trouble getting the J3 to work. If we had someone who could bypass it, though..."
Everybody glared at Izzy.
Izzy grinned. "About time I get recognized for my abilities. C'mon, let's go."
"The J3 is downstairs," Conker said. "The engine room. I have access down there."
"You have been chosen to participate in my skyhigh challenge," TK read. "What the hell does that mean?"
Vegeta leaned against a nearby wall. "Idiot, he means that the flag is hidden in a high position on the Argetlahm. Tell me, what is the highest room in the ship?"
Patamon hovered up. "There was a bunch of vents open in the training gym celing that weren't before. When I asked Ulty what he was doing with them open, he never told me. That's where the flag is, and even if it isn't, we'll be closer to it."
"Indeed." Tentomon buzzed.
"Excuse of me? Some of us don't have a way up there." Karsh growled.
"Quit your damn whining, infidel," Vegeta scowled. "If you'd quit bitching maybe you would find a way up there."
TK sweatdropped as the two aggravants advanced on one another, yelling at each other. "..maybe we should break them up."
Patamon... digivolve to...
ANGEMON!!
TK leaped back. "Yaaahh!! Patamon!! How the hell did you do that on your own?!"
"No time to explain," Angemon said. "I'll haul TK up. Vegeta, carry Karsh up there."
"Whaat?!" Karsh bellowed. "No fricking way!!"
"The golden prize awaits those who can fix the machine," Cody sighed. "Sounds easy enough."
Cloud's eyes grew wide. "Did you read that wrong?"
Cody shrugged. "No, why?"
"One of the computers in the rec room won't start up," Squall mumbled. "That's probably what Magnus means."
"Well," Armadillomon sighed. "What's the deal, Cloud?"
Cloud turned to the group. "Fixing a computer is a stressful thing, guys. He just gave the objective away because the actual mission is going to be TOO DAMN TOUGH!! Do any of you know what version Windows that computer used?!"
"Can't say we do." Heero moaned.
".... 2000!!!!!!!!!" Cloud screamed.
<insert dramatic music>
Cody shook his head. "Y..you're kidding!!"
Squall stumbled back. "We're doomed!!"
Heero grabbed Cody and Squall, bashing their heads together. "Get a hold of it, guys. We're going to fix that computer if it takes us all damn night. We need weapons, badly."
Tai watched from his bunk's computer terminal as the DeathHarvest manuvered its way out of the hangar into open space. It banked right and rocketed in an arc, attempting to turn around the massive capital ship. Tai quickly typed a message into the window.
"Anything yet...?" Duo read. "Nothing yet." He typed back. He glanced to his sides outside the domed cockpit of the DeathHarvest as it cruised at a moderate speed alongside the Argetlahm. As he approached the front of the capital ship, he noticed the anti-dimensional barrier was stretching further and further away from the ship's surface. A small protrusion caught his eye. "Hey, guys," Duo typed. "There's a small extension sticking out of the anti-dimensional barrier. I'm going to check it out." He slammed his hand forward, joystick in hand. The Gundam launched itself forward accordingly. Duo squinted as he examined the very end of the barrier spire.
Duo grinned. "Gotcha." He pushed foward again and banked into the hollow barrier ahead of him. At the end a small pedestal floated in space, a large flagpole resting across it. A piece of velvet laid motionless at the end of the pole.
As Duo made his way closer, his engine cut out.
"Damn it!" Duo scowled. "I knew I should've fixed that before I came out here."
Everybody in the bunk face faulted.
"Guys," Duo typed. "I've ran into a little problem here.. I can't control the DeathHarvest from where I am. I need you to go down to my bunk and get my manual control module. It looks like a RC racer controller. Hurry up!"
The group leaped from where they sat and hurled themselves out of Tai's bunk and down the hall in a frenzied mob, nearly knocking over Raul who was walking by.
"That would be cheating, wouldn't it?" Ultimanium snickered.
"Hello?" Gatomon snarled. "Isn't that clue the least bit openended? We wouldn't mind a hint, at least."
Ultimanium rolled his eyes. "Well, hello, who would even want your diary? Think about it."
Kari folded her arms. "Well, who would want it, other than..."
All the girls stared at each other. "Veemon!"
Ultimanium opened a security monitor on his screen. "Why, yes. It's just there underneath his bunk. Getting into his bunk might be a bit troublesome, though."
Kid collapsed down onto the platform step. "Bugger! There's no way we can get into the guys' bunks, either."
Kari slapped the side of her head. "Duh, air vents!"
"We're all, like, too small for them though." Berri moaned.
Everybody glared at Gatomon.
"Fine, fine," Gatomon yelped. "Give me a minute and I'll head down there."
"Who's the greatest hacker of all time?" Izzy sung. "Who thinks up these half-assed rhymes?"
"Why, you do." Davis retorted, tossing a floppy disk to Izzy. Izzy caught it and slipped it into his laptop, now linked to the J3.
"But we do too." Goku continued, linking a black cord from the back of the laptop into the J3.
Conker tapped a button on the J3. "When you need an all-rounded nerd, Where's your request gonna be transferred?"
"To.. Izzy!!" Veemon wailed.
"I've got the encryption up," Izzy mumbled. "Breaker locked and loaded." He went into a typing fit, his fingers dancing across the keyboard as the binary coding ahead of him edited itself to his whim. As Izzy continued working, he stayed ahead of the security lockdown by a step and a half.
"Security breach detected. Lockdown in 30 seconds." The J3 hummed.
Izzy grinned. "A bit slow, even for Ultimanium." He tapped a last button on the keypad and the J3 hummed to life. "Now. Start up the J3."
Conker punched the button on the surface of the J3. "Gotcha." The all-too-familiar green aura shot from the J3 and erupted around the group.
When the flash cleared, the group opened their eyes to find themselves on a beach... a very familiar one.
"New Guldove..." Davis sighed. "This place is a wreck!"
Everybody looked on toward what used to be New Guldove. The city now appeared very much as Magnopolis did, pieces of wrecked buildings lying everywhere. On the far half of the city, the infrastructure of the city was completely demolished, and heavy mining machinery was being set up.
"If I know anything about Ulty, he would've hid the flag somewhere difficult to reach..." Conker squinted at the far off mining camp.
"I think we've got some fighting to do." Veemon breathed.
< br> TK held a lit match in front of him, lighting up the metallic walls around him. "Which way, guys?"
"I don't know, up?" Vegeta scowled, crawling through the vents behind TK. "Dumbass!"
"Shut the hell up already!!" Karsh yelled, from behind Vegeta. Vegeta kicked Karsh in the face.
"I don't know, TK," Patamon sighed, crawling a short distance ahead of TK. "We haven't gained altitude for the past half hour. Maybe we should just get out of here before we get lost."
"Take a left here." TK pointed. Everybody rounded the corner accordingly. As the group winded along the tunnel, it began arcing up. "Well, I think we're getting somewhere, anyways. Patamon, you find another intersection yet... Patamon?"
Karsh reached forward to pull himself onward and dipped into a hole in the ground. "Wha? The shaft goes down here."
"Patamon!!" TK yelled. "Frick, he probably dropped into the lower vents. Back up, everybody, I'm going down there."
"I'm stuck." Karsh sighed.
"Allow me." Vegeta groaned, kicking Karsh in the face once more. "Damn it, windbag isn't going back! He is stuck!"
"C'mon!! I have to get to Patamon!!" TK bellowed.
Gatomon pulled herself along the vents. "I'm in!"
"Good!" Kari shouted, from the nearby vent opening. "We'll let you handle this one."
Gatomon grimaced. Kari slid the grate back onto the air vent opening, and Gatomon continued on. "Well, I shouldn't have any trouble, as long as no surprises get the drop on me."
Patamon plunged out of the open vent above Gatomon with a deafening wail, flattening her. Gatomon just sat there, face twitching. "....Patamon..."
"Uh... hi! Could you help me back up?"
Gatomon took Patamon and threw him as hard as she could back up the shaft, again following with a terrified yelp that dissiapated as Patamon disappeared into the darkness. Gatomon continued along the vent tunnel, peeking into rooms through their vent openings. Eventually she found the miscellaneous bunks. Struggling, she kicked off the vent cover, it hitting the ground with a loud clang. She hopped out, climbed out onto the desk and headed for Veemon's bunk.
And was stopped midstride by Agumon. "Gatomon? Could you explain what you're doing in here?"
Gatomon froze, sweatdropping. "...eh... aren't you guys getting your flag? Did you get it already?"
"Of course not," Agumon growled. "Duo's out in space getting it. Now, could you tell me what you want here? I was having a perfectly good nap until you showed up!"
"Well, I was getting something from..." She stopped midesentence. Heh, she thought. There's an idea. She twirled her tail on her hand. "Weeelll... I was wondering if I could get a trinket of Veemon's. I haven't been able to talk to him lately, though. It would mean a lot to me if you could help me find something of his."
Agumon grinned. ".. reeeeeeally. I don't think he'd mind.... I'll tell him after. What do you need?"
"Do you know if my diary's in here?"
Agumon reached underneath Veemon's bunk and pulled out a small white book with a gold lock. "You mean this?"
Gatomon swiped the book out of Agumon's hands. She could see a slip of fabric sticking out from between the pages. "Exactly. Thank you and give my condolences to whatever idiot you share traits with." She quickly bounded up from the desk back into the vent, reapplying the cover behind her.
Agumon sat motionless for a minute. ".. hmm... hey! That's right! I share some traits with Tai! Like... ..like.. um... like.. ... I'm insulted."
Davis, Exveemon, Goku, Conker and Izzy all tore straight down the city street in a windsprint, several dozen androids trailing them. "Figures Ulty had to give us the physical challenge, huh?" Conker choked out inbetween breaths.
Exveemon carried several dozen different flags on his back. "Hey, how are supposed to know exactly which flag is Ultimanium's?"
"Beats me!" Goku shouted. "Just get 'em all!" He leaped into the air and tore a US flag off the side of a post office, and landed running. "How many do we have?"
"67!" Davis yelled. "How many more do you suppose are on this block?"
"Given the rate that we have been collecting flags so far, I would guess 500!" Izzy yelped. "Intersection, coming up!!" Everybody banked to their right as two more crowds of androids from the other directions converged on the pursuit group, which flooded onto the street that Conker and the group were on. Everybody just kept on running, grabbing flags.
"This is never going to blow over." Goku huffed.
Cloud glared menacingly at the monitor, which showed the Windows startup screen. ".... whoever used this computer last is going to die a painful death."
Squall buried his head in his hands. "Why couldn't we have Izzy on our team?"
"Try hitting it," Heero mumbled. "It's always worked for me."
Cody reached forward and smacked the side of the computer tower. The computer blanked out and began to reboot. This time, it wouldn't even get to the Windows startup screen.
Armadillomon sweatdropped. "This is hopeless."
Tai ran back into his bunk, carrying a small black box. "Alright, guys! I think I have it!" Tai dropped the controller down onto the table. "It looks pretty simple. Which one of us is going to control the DeathHarvest?"
Rodent hopped forward and swiped the module up. "I'll do it!"
A message appeared on the terminal screen. "I'll give you instructions on how to operate the manual module. First you"
Tai scratched his head. "Funny, Duo's message ended halfway through. Rodent..."
Everybody turned to see Rodent in the corner of the room, flipping switches and twisting the joystick around.
Duo yelped as the DeathHarvest took a detour again into the side of the Argetlahm, followed with a sickening crunch. As the DeathHarvest began floating away from the Argetlahm, it was clear that while the DeathHarvest sustained little to no damage, though the hull of the Argetlahm... wasn't too visually appealing.
Duo sweatdropped. "Ulty's going to kill us."
"Gimme that!!" Serge yelled as he yanked the controller out of Rodent's hands. "Okay, let's see here.. the Gundam would operate just as any other space vehicle would, which would operate just as any plane would... I have a lot of experience with flight sims, I can handle it." Serge rocked the joystick forward, sending the DeathHarvest spiraling forward rather than diving as Serge would have thought.
"DAMNIT, GUYS!!!" Duo screamed, holding onto the sensor arrays in front of him for dear life. "Let someone else handle it, and actually let me give you instructions!!"
Tai swiped the controller away again, and jerked the joystick to the side. The DeathHarvest shot itself into a sidestep, cruising into the barrier extension. Duo quickly adjusted the limb controls. The DeathHarvest reached out and latched itself onto the pedestal, keeping itself from flinging itself out into one-dimensional space. Staggering, the DeathHarvest reached up and snatched the flag off the pedestal. "Alright, guys," Duo whispered. "Mission accomplished. Now guide me carefully..."
Duo screamed again the DeathHarvest flung itself back toward the Argetlahm.
TK braced himself as he climbed up the long vertical shaft. "Any... time now... these vents can... end..."
"Hurry the hell up!!" Vegeta screamed. "Even Kakarot could get up these vents faster!!"
"That's because he can hover." Karsh muttered. "You could hover a bit faster yourself."
"Shut up, both of you." Tentomon buzzed. He hovered up a ways below Karsh, though he was slowly gaining ground on the group. "We have to be almost there."
"Found it." TK huffed, as he pulled himself up to the side. He crawled a short distance along a level vent, and kicked off the cover at the end. Everybody squeezed themselves out of the vent to find themselves in a massive wind cylinder, rising nearly several stories into the sky. The only thing that kept people from falling into a massive churning fan below was a single catwalk.
TK covered his eyes as he stared up the tube. "I think I see something. There's a piece of fabric blowing in the air conditioning."
"That has to be it," Tentomon hummed. "Vegeta, can you go get it?"
"Gladly." Vegeta said. He rocketed up into the white space above the wind cylinder and reached for the drinking-straw bound flag. He missed. "Curses!" he scowled. "Come back here!!" He swung. He groped. He grasped. Still, well, you know how hard it is to catch paper or fabric blowing away from you in the wind.
20 minutes later
Vegeta dropped down onto the catwalk holding the flag, catching his breath. "Here... is... the... flag..."
Ultimanium glanced down at his watch. It was now 5:58. Time would be up any minute now, though he knew when a group would show up. "3...2....1...."
The doors of the war room flew open as each group charged down the aisle, ready to pounce on Ultimanium waved their newly acquired flags. Well, everybody but Cody's group. Bitter and defeated, Cody and his cronies took their seats.
"Calm down, everybody," Ultimanium said, shoving away the crowd. "Calm down. With all due respect, I didn't expect everyone to get their flags all at once. I'll talk to Raul about getting discounts for all of you... and maybe some freebies. Cody? What happened to your group?"
All of Cody's group looked up. "We hate computers." They all said in unison.
Ultimanium lifted an eyebrow. "..computer? Who said anything about computers?"
Squall held up the note and pointed at it. "Right here! Fix the machine, you said!"
Ultimanium nodded. "Yeah, that's what I meant! The coffee machine was broken in the mess hall, and... and... why are you all staring at me like that?"
Cody's face turned blue with anger. "......URRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!"
Ultimanium turned back to the crowd. "For the rest of you, the fruits of your efforts will soon be reveal... um... Davis... what's with all the flags?"
Flags were lined up all around the walls of the war room. Ultimanium's was sitting by the door. "Next time," Veemon snarled. "When you tell us to get you something, could you actually tell us what it looks like?"
Ultimanium scratched his head. "Oh... sorry. Anyways, guys, I'm going to talk to Raul right now about arming you guys up. Spend the rest of your day. By tonight, I'll have all your arms made up by Lord Raul. Until then, I'll see you." Ultimanium phased out of the war room, and everyone left to conduct the rest of their daily business.
< br>
So, what new weapons and benefits await the blessing of Lord Raul? There's some pretty asskicking stuff going to be handed around to our heroes.. but what exactly awaits them? Find out on the next Argetlahm Adventures!!
Day 17, 7:44 AM
"... okay... 7 dollars... 34 cents... a dried pen... a wallet picture of Kari... some lint... is that good enough?"
"Hell no." Raul mumbled.
Davis stamped his foot down angrily and stood to leave the bunk, scowling. TK stepped in, carrying the Ragnarok. "Hey, Davis. Trying for a refund?"
"Shut up." Davis growled.
Raul looked up. "Hey, Takeru, give him the Ragnarok for a while."
"But why?"
"Don't worry. I'll get you something better after. Just give it to him."
TK looked the other way as he passed the Ragnarok over to Davis. Davis took it up immediately and latched his materia onto it. "Heh.... hey, this is lighter than the Buster Sword. You can bust up my Buster again for all I care." He hoisted the blade up onto his shoulder before he left the room.
TK glared back at Raul. "I wanted that."
"I have a far more powerful sword in storage," Raul said. "I'll show it to you after. I believe Ultimanium will ask for our presence on the bridge shortly..."
The intercom crackled into action as Lord Raul finished his sentence. "All Argetlahm personnel report to the war room right away. Priority 2. I repeat, all Argetlahm personnel report to the war room immediately."
********
Ultimanium grinned as Tai settled into his seat. "Glad to see you're all here."
Everybody groaned out a barely audible "hello".
Magnus phased in and slapped his hands together. "We have the teams prepared?"
"You have them listed, don't you?"
Magnus glanced at a sticky note taped on his hand. "All present and accounted for."
Ultimanium turned back to the crowd. "Do you all know why you're here?"
Again, everybody moaned out a "no".
"Well," Ultimanium sighed. "It seems morale has dropped considerably since we boarded the Argetlahm. I can't say that's been terribly good for our missions so far. We have only completed the first and last ones successfully so far, if you have forgotten. I will have to re-evaulate your Chosen status if you wish to remain aboard the Argetlahm. I asked myself, how can I counteract this? The only thing I could think of is to grant you more power, I'm afraid. Remember, any more screwups and you're dead."
Everybody jumped to their feet with an accompanying "wha?".
Agumon gulped. "What, do you mean you're going to be killing people off?!"
"Now that's just harsh!" Cloud wailed.
Magnus folded his arms. "Well, maybe if you completed your missions properly we wouldn't have to resort to such methods, now, would we?"
"I want to make this as quick and painless as possible," Ultimanium spoke. "Magnus has constructed several tests for me to assign to you. All of you will be accordingly rewarded for their efforts today. Take it away, Magnus."
Magnus stepped forward to the hologram projector as it began to light up, showing a map of the Argetlahm. "I will be giving you a series of tasks to accomplish aboard the Argetlahm throughout the day. I've collaberated with our friend Lord Raul here and his weapon business and he's willing to offer discounts and some other.. ahem... services each group that can win these challenges. Everyone game?"
Everybody nodded.
"First dibs on benefits are granted to those who win. Understood? Good. Form your teams, then come to me. That is all."
The crowd lept from their seats and huddled.
"Me, Veemon and Conker." Davis whispered.
Conker shrugged. "Can't say I'll be much help. Ultimanium banned my control over the Argetlahm for the time being, so if you were expecting any special perks, I hate to disappoint you."
Davis grit his teeth. "Damn. Oh well."
TK glanced around the crowd. "...uh.... Karsh? You chosen yet?"
Karsh swung his axe over his shoulder. "Can't say I've been. Who else are you gonna choose?"
"Digimon count, TK." Patamon squeaked, grasping himself on TK's shoulder.
Cody counted on his fingers. "Me, Squall, Cloud and Armadillomon."
Squall nodded. "Gotcha."
"You can count on us!" Armadillomon chirped.
"Berri, Kid hands down." Kari said. "and Gatomon."
"Wha?" Davis stammered. "We can have as many as we want? We're taking Goku then, and Izzy."
"Whatever," TK scowled. "Vegeta! Get your ass over here! Tentomon! We need to even out the teams!"
"Not with punk-ass over there." Vegeta growled, glaring at Karsh.
Tai shrugged. "I guess I'm with Serge and Rodent then. And Agumon."
"Someone forgot us," Duo muttered.
"Duo," Ultimanium announced. "Go with Tai. Heero will go with Cody."
TEAM LISTING
1 - Davis, Veemon, Conker, Goku, Izzy
2 - TK, Karsh, Vegeta, Patamon, Tentomon
3 - Cody, Squall, Cloud, Armadillomon, Heero
4 - Kari, Berri, Kid, Gatomon
5 - Tai, Serge, Rodent, Agumon, Duo
Gohan sat up. "Me?"
"I guess we're balanced out as far as teams go," Ultimanium said. "You can sit out this round. You'll probably be stressed by the next challenge."
Everybody stood and walked to Ultramagnus, blurting their team plans into his ear as they passed by. They all returned to their seats.
"Well, glad to see we're all set," Magnus laughed. "Ultimanium, will you leave us be?" As Magnus finished speaking, Ultimanium began shifting offstage, returning to the bridge.
Goku slumped back in his chair. "Can we get this over with?"
Magnus nodded. "Yes. Listen up, everyone. You can start your first assignment in a couple seconds...
The hologram projector lit up, showing the exterior of the Argetlahm. "Listen up, everybody," Magnus spoke. "The first assignment will be generally easy. Several flags have been hidden around the ship, and each team will be given a clue as to where their flag is on the ship. First person to return with their flag gets some discount money added to their pot. Understood?"
Everybody nodded. Manila tag slips landed in the laps of the digidestined. Everybody from each group quickly huddled around their leaders and peered down on the clues. As soon as the people broke their huddles, they darted off around the Argetlahm in search of the flags.
"Where reality draws the line." Tai mumbled as he looked over the card. "Anyone know what this means?"
"Can't say we do," Duo sighed, flopping down on the rec room couch. "I haven't been here for all the reality speeches Ulty gave you. Don't look at me."
Serge tapped his head. "Where reality draws the line.... where reality draws the line... what could that mean, like a single line of pure reality? I wonder..."
Rodent jumped up. "Single line of reality! Don't any of you know what that means? Outside! In the second dimension all you have is width and length. That line of light that always stretches across the horizon! The flag is somewhere outside the ship!" Everybody turned and glanced out the large observation window in the rec room. Indeed, a single line of light streaked across the horizon, with perfect blackness above and below it.
Agumon rubbed his chin. "Wait a minute, the anti-dimensional barrier is radiating further from the ship than normal! It probably is out there!"
"Then what are we waiting for?" Tai yelled. "We have to get out there!"
Serge tapped Tai on the shoulder. "Eh... Tai.. you're forgetting something."
"What?"
"We can't get out there. There's no hazard suits we can use."
Duo climbed out of his seat. "I can get out there. I have access to the DeathHarvest."
"Well, then," Agumon sighed. "We'll just send him out there to find the flag. I'm not sure if there's anything we can do."
"A tome of digital secrets," Kari spoke. "Locked away for a lifetime, finally having left its roost. What the heck does that mean?"
"What is Magnus talking about?" Berri asked. "Does he mean some sort of, like, computer database that's missing?"
"Looks too damn organized to notify us about missing computer information," Kid scowled. "It's written in handwriting. Pretty extravagent stuff, too."
Gatomon sprung up. "I have a pretty good idea of what he means. Digital secrets, finally leaving its roost. My diary's still missing. We have to find it."
"It could be anywhere though," Kari sighed. "We're not going to be able to find it, at least quickly."
"Conker told me the Argetlahm has a pretty severe security system," Berri smirked. "He says that he can detect weapons that passengers wield in their bunks using a shipwide metal detector. The diary has a metal lock, right?"
Gatomon tilted her head. "Gold."
"Good enough. Let's go talk to Ultimanium."
"Nothing original here," Davis read. "Let's just say you'll have to go down into a warzone to find this flag." He tossed the tag down. "I hope he doesn't mean the third dimension."
"I guess we don't have much of a choice," Goku sighed. "We have to go down and operate the J3 ourselves."
"Maybe not," Conker groaned. "Ulty programmed a lock into the J3 to keep it from shifting without his supervision. We're going to have trouble getting the J3 to work. If we had someone who could bypass it, though..."
Everybody glared at Izzy.
Izzy grinned. "About time I get recognized for my abilities. C'mon, let's go."
"The J3 is downstairs," Conker said. "The engine room. I have access down there."
"You have been chosen to participate in my skyhigh challenge," TK read. "What the hell does that mean?"
Vegeta leaned against a nearby wall. "Idiot, he means that the flag is hidden in a high position on the Argetlahm. Tell me, what is the highest room in the ship?"
Patamon hovered up. "There was a bunch of vents open in the training gym celing that weren't before. When I asked Ulty what he was doing with them open, he never told me. That's where the flag is, and even if it isn't, we'll be closer to it."
"Indeed." Tentomon buzzed.
"Excuse of me? Some of us don't have a way up there." Karsh growled.
"Quit your damn whining, infidel," Vegeta scowled. "If you'd quit bitching maybe you would find a way up there."
TK sweatdropped as the two aggravants advanced on one another, yelling at each other. "..maybe we should break them up."
Patamon... digivolve to...
ANGEMON!!
TK leaped back. "Yaaahh!! Patamon!! How the hell did you do that on your own?!"
"No time to explain," Angemon said. "I'll haul TK up. Vegeta, carry Karsh up there."
"Whaat?!" Karsh bellowed. "No fricking way!!"
"The golden prize awaits those who can fix the machine," Cody sighed. "Sounds easy enough."
Cloud's eyes grew wide. "Did you read that wrong?"
Cody shrugged. "No, why?"
"One of the computers in the rec room won't start up," Squall mumbled. "That's probably what Magnus means."
"Well," Armadillomon sighed. "What's the deal, Cloud?"
Cloud turned to the group. "Fixing a computer is a stressful thing, guys. He just gave the objective away because the actual mission is going to be TOO DAMN TOUGH!! Do any of you know what version Windows that computer used?!"
"Can't say we do." Heero moaned.
".... 2000!!!!!!!!!" Cloud screamed.
<insert dramatic music>
Cody shook his head. "Y..you're kidding!!"
Squall stumbled back. "We're doomed!!"
Heero grabbed Cody and Squall, bashing their heads together. "Get a hold of it, guys. We're going to fix that computer if it takes us all damn night. We need weapons, badly."
Tai watched from his bunk's computer terminal as the DeathHarvest manuvered its way out of the hangar into open space. It banked right and rocketed in an arc, attempting to turn around the massive capital ship. Tai quickly typed a message into the window.
"Anything yet...?" Duo read. "Nothing yet." He typed back. He glanced to his sides outside the domed cockpit of the DeathHarvest as it cruised at a moderate speed alongside the Argetlahm. As he approached the front of the capital ship, he noticed the anti-dimensional barrier was stretching further and further away from the ship's surface. A small protrusion caught his eye. "Hey, guys," Duo typed. "There's a small extension sticking out of the anti-dimensional barrier. I'm going to check it out." He slammed his hand forward, joystick in hand. The Gundam launched itself forward accordingly. Duo squinted as he examined the very end of the barrier spire.
Duo grinned. "Gotcha." He pushed foward again and banked into the hollow barrier ahead of him. At the end a small pedestal floated in space, a large flagpole resting across it. A piece of velvet laid motionless at the end of the pole.
As Duo made his way closer, his engine cut out.
"Damn it!" Duo scowled. "I knew I should've fixed that before I came out here."
Everybody in the bunk face faulted.
"Guys," Duo typed. "I've ran into a little problem here.. I can't control the DeathHarvest from where I am. I need you to go down to my bunk and get my manual control module. It looks like a RC racer controller. Hurry up!"
The group leaped from where they sat and hurled themselves out of Tai's bunk and down the hall in a frenzied mob, nearly knocking over Raul who was walking by.
"That would be cheating, wouldn't it?" Ultimanium snickered.
"Hello?" Gatomon snarled. "Isn't that clue the least bit openended? We wouldn't mind a hint, at least."
Ultimanium rolled his eyes. "Well, hello, who would even want your diary? Think about it."
Kari folded her arms. "Well, who would want it, other than..."
All the girls stared at each other. "Veemon!"
Ultimanium opened a security monitor on his screen. "Why, yes. It's just there underneath his bunk. Getting into his bunk might be a bit troublesome, though."
Kid collapsed down onto the platform step. "Bugger! There's no way we can get into the guys' bunks, either."
Kari slapped the side of her head. "Duh, air vents!"
"We're all, like, too small for them though." Berri moaned.
Everybody glared at Gatomon.
"Fine, fine," Gatomon yelped. "Give me a minute and I'll head down there."
"Who's the greatest hacker of all time?" Izzy sung. "Who thinks up these half-assed rhymes?"
"Why, you do." Davis retorted, tossing a floppy disk to Izzy. Izzy caught it and slipped it into his laptop, now linked to the J3.
"But we do too." Goku continued, linking a black cord from the back of the laptop into the J3.
Conker tapped a button on the J3. "When you need an all-rounded nerd, Where's your request gonna be transferred?"
"To.. Izzy!!" Veemon wailed.
"I've got the encryption up," Izzy mumbled. "Breaker locked and loaded." He went into a typing fit, his fingers dancing across the keyboard as the binary coding ahead of him edited itself to his whim. As Izzy continued working, he stayed ahead of the security lockdown by a step and a half.
"Security breach detected. Lockdown in 30 seconds." The J3 hummed.
Izzy grinned. "A bit slow, even for Ultimanium." He tapped a last button on the keypad and the J3 hummed to life. "Now. Start up the J3."
Conker punched the button on the surface of the J3. "Gotcha." The all-too-familiar green aura shot from the J3 and erupted around the group.
When the flash cleared, the group opened their eyes to find themselves on a beach... a very familiar one.
"New Guldove..." Davis sighed. "This place is a wreck!"
Everybody looked on toward what used to be New Guldove. The city now appeared very much as Magnopolis did, pieces of wrecked buildings lying everywhere. On the far half of the city, the infrastructure of the city was completely demolished, and heavy mining machinery was being set up.
"If I know anything about Ulty, he would've hid the flag somewhere difficult to reach..." Conker squinted at the far off mining camp.
"I think we've got some fighting to do." Veemon breathed.
< br> TK held a lit match in front of him, lighting up the metallic walls around him. "Which way, guys?"
"I don't know, up?" Vegeta scowled, crawling through the vents behind TK. "Dumbass!"
"Shut the hell up already!!" Karsh yelled, from behind Vegeta. Vegeta kicked Karsh in the face.
"I don't know, TK," Patamon sighed, crawling a short distance ahead of TK. "We haven't gained altitude for the past half hour. Maybe we should just get out of here before we get lost."
"Take a left here." TK pointed. Everybody rounded the corner accordingly. As the group winded along the tunnel, it began arcing up. "Well, I think we're getting somewhere, anyways. Patamon, you find another intersection yet... Patamon?"
Karsh reached forward to pull himself onward and dipped into a hole in the ground. "Wha? The shaft goes down here."
"Patamon!!" TK yelled. "Frick, he probably dropped into the lower vents. Back up, everybody, I'm going down there."
"I'm stuck." Karsh sighed.
"Allow me." Vegeta groaned, kicking Karsh in the face once more. "Damn it, windbag isn't going back! He is stuck!"
"C'mon!! I have to get to Patamon!!" TK bellowed.
Gatomon pulled herself along the vents. "I'm in!"
"Good!" Kari shouted, from the nearby vent opening. "We'll let you handle this one."
Gatomon grimaced. Kari slid the grate back onto the air vent opening, and Gatomon continued on. "Well, I shouldn't have any trouble, as long as no surprises get the drop on me."
Patamon plunged out of the open vent above Gatomon with a deafening wail, flattening her. Gatomon just sat there, face twitching. "....Patamon..."
"Uh... hi! Could you help me back up?"
Gatomon took Patamon and threw him as hard as she could back up the shaft, again following with a terrified yelp that dissiapated as Patamon disappeared into the darkness. Gatomon continued along the vent tunnel, peeking into rooms through their vent openings. Eventually she found the miscellaneous bunks. Struggling, she kicked off the vent cover, it hitting the ground with a loud clang. She hopped out, climbed out onto the desk and headed for Veemon's bunk.
And was stopped midstride by Agumon. "Gatomon? Could you explain what you're doing in here?"
Gatomon froze, sweatdropping. "...eh... aren't you guys getting your flag? Did you get it already?"
"Of course not," Agumon growled. "Duo's out in space getting it. Now, could you tell me what you want here? I was having a perfectly good nap until you showed up!"
"Well, I was getting something from..." She stopped midesentence. Heh, she thought. There's an idea. She twirled her tail on her hand. "Weeelll... I was wondering if I could get a trinket of Veemon's. I haven't been able to talk to him lately, though. It would mean a lot to me if you could help me find something of his."
Agumon grinned. ".. reeeeeeally. I don't think he'd mind.... I'll tell him after. What do you need?"
"Do you know if my diary's in here?"
Agumon reached underneath Veemon's bunk and pulled out a small white book with a gold lock. "You mean this?"
Gatomon swiped the book out of Agumon's hands. She could see a slip of fabric sticking out from between the pages. "Exactly. Thank you and give my condolences to whatever idiot you share traits with." She quickly bounded up from the desk back into the vent, reapplying the cover behind her.
Agumon sat motionless for a minute. ".. hmm... hey! That's right! I share some traits with Tai! Like... ..like.. um... like.. ... I'm insulted."
Davis, Exveemon, Goku, Conker and Izzy all tore straight down the city street in a windsprint, several dozen androids trailing them. "Figures Ulty had to give us the physical challenge, huh?" Conker choked out inbetween breaths.
Exveemon carried several dozen different flags on his back. "Hey, how are supposed to know exactly which flag is Ultimanium's?"
"Beats me!" Goku shouted. "Just get 'em all!" He leaped into the air and tore a US flag off the side of a post office, and landed running. "How many do we have?"
"67!" Davis yelled. "How many more do you suppose are on this block?"
"Given the rate that we have been collecting flags so far, I would guess 500!" Izzy yelped. "Intersection, coming up!!" Everybody banked to their right as two more crowds of androids from the other directions converged on the pursuit group, which flooded onto the street that Conker and the group were on. Everybody just kept on running, grabbing flags.
"This is never going to blow over." Goku huffed.
Cloud glared menacingly at the monitor, which showed the Windows startup screen. ".... whoever used this computer last is going to die a painful death."
Squall buried his head in his hands. "Why couldn't we have Izzy on our team?"
"Try hitting it," Heero mumbled. "It's always worked for me."
Cody reached forward and smacked the side of the computer tower. The computer blanked out and began to reboot. This time, it wouldn't even get to the Windows startup screen.
Armadillomon sweatdropped. "This is hopeless."
Tai ran back into his bunk, carrying a small black box. "Alright, guys! I think I have it!" Tai dropped the controller down onto the table. "It looks pretty simple. Which one of us is going to control the DeathHarvest?"
Rodent hopped forward and swiped the module up. "I'll do it!"
A message appeared on the terminal screen. "I'll give you instructions on how to operate the manual module. First you"
Tai scratched his head. "Funny, Duo's message ended halfway through. Rodent..."
Everybody turned to see Rodent in the corner of the room, flipping switches and twisting the joystick around.
Duo yelped as the DeathHarvest took a detour again into the side of the Argetlahm, followed with a sickening crunch. As the DeathHarvest began floating away from the Argetlahm, it was clear that while the DeathHarvest sustained little to no damage, though the hull of the Argetlahm... wasn't too visually appealing.
Duo sweatdropped. "Ulty's going to kill us."
"Gimme that!!" Serge yelled as he yanked the controller out of Rodent's hands. "Okay, let's see here.. the Gundam would operate just as any other space vehicle would, which would operate just as any plane would... I have a lot of experience with flight sims, I can handle it." Serge rocked the joystick forward, sending the DeathHarvest spiraling forward rather than diving as Serge would have thought.
"DAMNIT, GUYS!!!" Duo screamed, holding onto the sensor arrays in front of him for dear life. "Let someone else handle it, and actually let me give you instructions!!"
Tai swiped the controller away again, and jerked the joystick to the side. The DeathHarvest shot itself into a sidestep, cruising into the barrier extension. Duo quickly adjusted the limb controls. The DeathHarvest reached out and latched itself onto the pedestal, keeping itself from flinging itself out into one-dimensional space. Staggering, the DeathHarvest reached up and snatched the flag off the pedestal. "Alright, guys," Duo whispered. "Mission accomplished. Now guide me carefully..."
Duo screamed again the DeathHarvest flung itself back toward the Argetlahm.
TK braced himself as he climbed up the long vertical shaft. "Any... time now... these vents can... end..."
"Hurry the hell up!!" Vegeta screamed. "Even Kakarot could get up these vents faster!!"
"That's because he can hover." Karsh muttered. "You could hover a bit faster yourself."
"Shut up, both of you." Tentomon buzzed. He hovered up a ways below Karsh, though he was slowly gaining ground on the group. "We have to be almost there."
"Found it." TK huffed, as he pulled himself up to the side. He crawled a short distance along a level vent, and kicked off the cover at the end. Everybody squeezed themselves out of the vent to find themselves in a massive wind cylinder, rising nearly several stories into the sky. The only thing that kept people from falling into a massive churning fan below was a single catwalk.
TK covered his eyes as he stared up the tube. "I think I see something. There's a piece of fabric blowing in the air conditioning."
"That has to be it," Tentomon hummed. "Vegeta, can you go get it?"
"Gladly." Vegeta said. He rocketed up into the white space above the wind cylinder and reached for the drinking-straw bound flag. He missed. "Curses!" he scowled. "Come back here!!" He swung. He groped. He grasped. Still, well, you know how hard it is to catch paper or fabric blowing away from you in the wind.
20 minutes later
Vegeta dropped down onto the catwalk holding the flag, catching his breath. "Here... is... the... flag..."
Ultimanium glanced down at his watch. It was now 5:58. Time would be up any minute now, though he knew when a group would show up. "3...2....1...."
The doors of the war room flew open as each group charged down the aisle, ready to pounce on Ultimanium waved their newly acquired flags. Well, everybody but Cody's group. Bitter and defeated, Cody and his cronies took their seats.
"Calm down, everybody," Ultimanium said, shoving away the crowd. "Calm down. With all due respect, I didn't expect everyone to get their flags all at once. I'll talk to Raul about getting discounts for all of you... and maybe some freebies. Cody? What happened to your group?"
All of Cody's group looked up. "We hate computers." They all said in unison.
Ultimanium lifted an eyebrow. "..computer? Who said anything about computers?"
Squall held up the note and pointed at it. "Right here! Fix the machine, you said!"
Ultimanium nodded. "Yeah, that's what I meant! The coffee machine was broken in the mess hall, and... and... why are you all staring at me like that?"
Cody's face turned blue with anger. "......URRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!"
Ultimanium turned back to the crowd. "For the rest of you, the fruits of your efforts will soon be reveal... um... Davis... what's with all the flags?"
Flags were lined up all around the walls of the war room. Ultimanium's was sitting by the door. "Next time," Veemon snarled. "When you tell us to get you something, could you actually tell us what it looks like?"
Ultimanium scratched his head. "Oh... sorry. Anyways, guys, I'm going to talk to Raul right now about arming you guys up. Spend the rest of your day. By tonight, I'll have all your arms made up by Lord Raul. Until then, I'll see you." Ultimanium phased out of the war room, and everyone left to conduct the rest of their daily business.
< br>
So, what new weapons and benefits await the blessing of Lord Raul? There's some pretty asskicking stuff going to be handed around to our heroes.. but what exactly awaits them? Find out on the next Argetlahm Adventures!!