PHALANX - The series

Episode Twenty-nine: Seven Days of Doom, part six.

Day six, 0830 hours Universe 704 Island of Ages time, location: Temple of Ages.

Daphnix jumped over a pit that just appeared out of nowhere, shouting at Ami to be careful. Ami jumped over the pit as well, and wiped her forehead. Carefully, she looked down into the gaping hole that just appeared out of nowhere, and discovered a lot of sharp spikes on the floor.

"If this is the Gods' idea of non-lethal, I don't want to know what they call lethal," Daphnix commented. Ami could only nod in agreement. Together, they continued the journey through the main hall, in the hopes of finding the Stone of Ages.

"It is a nice temple… if it weren't for all the traps," Ami said.

"That it is," Daphnix agreed, letting his gaze trail over the gold interior of the main hall they were now traversing. "A good thing we aren't robbers. I wouldn't want to be a thief trying to get out of this temple with all that gold. Can you imagine the hassle of trying to move an entire temple made of gold?"

"And trying to get out alive," Ami added.

"That, too," Daphnix agreed, smiling. He routinely ducked under a crossbow bolt that was launched from a hidden hole. Ami jumped over a dart that was launched half a meter above the floor, clearly intended to hit a person's legs.

"Always the same traps," Ami grunted.

"Boring, isn't it?" Daphnix said, smiling. Ami gave a short laugh.

******

Day six, 0925 hours Universe 702 Digital time, location: route to Infinity Mountain.

The mood between David and Jessie was still murderous, and the others had given up trying to get them back together. They were mostly let alone now, but the others couldn't help but wonder how much help the twins would be when they finally encountered MegaDetrumon.

Right now, they were walking along a river, leading directly into the heart of the island, where Infinity Mountain lay. Suddenly, a ripple crossed the normally calm waters. Everyone was too engulfed in his or her own thoughts to notice. When the water really began moving, Izzy was the first to notice.

"No wind, yet the water is moving," he said. "Fascinating."

When a giant gray and blue sea snake, covered in metal armor, erupted from the waves, the digidestined jumped as far back as they could. All except for David and Jessie.

"MetalSeadramon," Jessie read from the data pad. "ChromeDigizoid armor."

"Fuck off. I'm not in the mood," David shot at the snake. MetalSeadramon looked at the six-year-old as if he sported four heads.

"Then I'll get you in the mood," the snake promised, his voice hissing.

"You know, that's a cliché," Jessie told the snake. "The hissing voice is done too much." Now it was Jessie's turn to be looked at by the snake.

"I'll show you," the snake hissed. "River of Power!" out of its machine-like nose, a blue blast of energy was launched at the two kids. David and Jessie stepped aside, further away from each other. The beam landed in the exact middle of them, not hurting either of them.

"I said I'm not in the mood. If I want to fight, I'll fight her," David said, indicating Jessie.

"Yeah. And I'll fight him. Now get the fuck out of here before I tie your body in a knot."

Decided not to waste his time with the twins, who were clearly not impressed, MetalSeadramon went after the other digidestined, who, lucky for him, did want to play.

"Hey!" Jessie shouted at the snake.

"Aren't you forgetting anything?" David shouted. MetalSeadramon turned back to the twins.

"What?" he hissed.

MegaDragomon and MegaRaptormon launched at the snake, which turned its full attention back on the twins, and their digimon. Using the diversion, the other kidss digivolved their digimon as well, and soon four mega-level digimon were going after MetalSeadramon. It was Tai's Wargreymon who defeated MetalSeadramon, by spinning around and using the spikes on his arms as a drill and launching himself through MetalSeadramon's nose.

"Damn. I really wanted to tie a knot it in that snake's body," Jessie grunted as she started walking again. David started walking as well, holding onto Baymon as he went. The others stared at the twins.

"Do you also have the impression we just ran into a 'minor delay'?" Izzy asked the others.

"I sure wouldn't want to get on their bad sides now. They told off MetalSeadramon!" Sora exclaimed.

"Even he was scared of them," Joe added. The others couldn't agree more as they followed the two warring twins up the mountain.

******

Day six, 1200 hours Universe 576 Japanese Time, location: holographic training facility.

"There," Sorcerer said. "That's it. Now, shape it like you would do with mental power. Once you have that down, the rest will follow automatically."

Frederic shaped the mana he was holding in his mental grasp into a ball of fire.

"It shows you're me. You pick this up fast."

Frederic let go of the magic ball, and grabbed Sorcerer by the collar. "I am NOTHING like you, you murderer! If it weren't for Jenny, I would have killed you the moment I had the chance!"

"Sure, whatever you say!" Sorcerer grunted. "You can do with me as you want, as long as Jenny's safe."

"As long as you keep yourself low, I'm willing to give you a second chance. But never EVER compare us like that again!" Frederic barked, and released Sorcerer.

"Sure, sure," Sorcerer agreed willingly. "Now, all you need is the knowledge. Here," Sorcerer extended his hand, crated a memory-void, and deposited his knowledge of magic into it. All of his knowledge. Frederic connected to it, and retrieved the knowledge.

"Ok, got it," Fredric said, casting a level-three fireball spell without actually chanting a spell. The fireball was shaped out of pure mana by the force of his will, and his knowledge of the magical arts. Frederic could see where his magic left off, and where Sorcerer's had continued to evolve.

"My turn," Frederic said. "You have your Senzu beans?"

Sorcerer grabbed the pouch on his left hip. "Yep."

"Good. Linda, go to 750 gravities. Sorcerer, I suggest you power up. And whatever you do, remember that from the moment Linda engages till the moment we leave to get our women back, we won't go under the 700 gravities. I'll push you to the limits of your endurance, and beyond. Keep it in mind."

"I will," Sorcerer said, going to magic augmentation level 2.

"Engage," Frederic said. Immediately, the strong gravity gripped at Sorcerer's body. As it raced higher, the gravity tugged so heavily at Sorcerers that even his clothes weighed tons. By the time Linda announced that the target had been reached, Sorcerer was panting heavily, barely able to keep standing.

"Good," Frederic said. "In 24 hours I'll get your ass in shape, even if I have to kick it in shape."

Sorcerer grunted.

"Linda, high-gravity training program. Sorc, I suggest you start flying." As Sorcerer lifted himself into the air with a huge effort, Frederic did the same effortlessly. "Engage."

The hologrid disappeared, and the room vanished from view as the walls turned black. The next moment, gray lines appeared, signifying a room with fully black walls. The base and the roof of the room were tips, running to an octagonal at the center. Since was neither a floor nor a ceiling, both warriors had to keep flying.

"Now…what?" Sorcerer panted, going level 3.

"Linda, first level. Four drones. Engage."

Four flying spheres appeared, similar to the ones used in Jedi training. As the spheres started shooting, and Frederic started dodging, Sorcerer wondered if death hadn't been the preferred option after all.

******

Day six, 1500 hours Universe 576 Japanese time, location: Ortega computer system, Linda/Borlan Primary Artificial Intelligence units.

"Looks like I've got to warn Dad and Sorc," Linda's electronic form grunted. She reached for the intercom.

"Can't we handle it ourselves?" Borlan suggested. "One monster, seven Senshi and one Tuxedo Kamen. They don't need help that urgently."

"Ri-ight," Linda said sarcastically. "One Senshi is still in training, and that monster is winning ground fast."

"Yeah, so?" Borlan's electronic form hovered like a black sphere of energy close to Linda's grayish one. Contrary to the female's presence, Borlan's presence didn't radiate any light of its own, but rather absorbed it into itself, creating black hole-like effects. "I take a solid-holographic form, and get myself a suit of armor. Being a hologram, I can just materialize into it. I can be down there in ten seconds."

Since these two beings were AI's, they could reach decisions in seconds. In fact, the conversation up until now had taken less than half a second.

"I don’t know…" Linda hesitated.

"We could just get Dad and Sorc out of the training room. They'll be pissed enough to kill any monster that gets in their way. And we'd probably be next…"

Linda sighed, and nodded her electronic head, producing strange rippling results in her grayish cloud-like appearance. Borlan understood.

"I'm already gone," he said, and disappeared from the electronic world. Linda knew that he was probably halfway down to the surface by now. She kept a close eye on the external sensors.

Borlan couldn't resist the opportunity. He had put on the mask and cape that were part of Ami's suit, and a small smile tugged at the corners of his mouth as he appeared at the scene.

Immediately switching off his emotions, Borlan first relieved Sailor Moon from the attack the monster kept pressing on her. The Quadranium fight-blades popped up from both his gloves, and Borlan put them to great use. The suit's internal martial arts database augmented his fighting program. For all he was, Borlan never imagined he would be required to go face-to-face with an opponent, and had never bothered to learn martial arts beyond the basics. Now, using his holographic nature to the fullest extent possible, he became a martial arts expert within seconds. 

Borlan chopped the monster into tiny pieces, under the scrutiny of the Senshi, who gazed at him with open mouths. After chopping the monster into pieces, Borlan kicked in the jet-boots, flew over the remains, and released massive green plasma flames over the body, literally vaporizing it. Suddenly, the jets faltered, and Borlan managed to land gracefully, making it appear as if he disconnected the jets on purpose.

Damn. Linda, we need to get those jet-boots fixed!

I made a note of it.

Borlan turned around, and started walking off the scene with as much grace as he could muster, the cape flying up behind him. His black hair, coupled to the black mask and cape gave him a very impressive air.

"Hold it," Uranus said, landing in front of Borlan. He halted, and stared into her eyes. "Who are you?" Uranus asked.

Borlan was going to answer "none of your business", but decided to have a little fun instead. Turning his back pointedly at Uranus, Borlan walked back to the Inner Senshi, who had regrouped and were now staring at him. His program was designed to be cold as ice, and as such, he was able to hide his thoughts well. ignoring the fuming Sailor Uranus, Borlan grabbed Sailor Mars, and kissed her fully on the lips.

"You tell them, cutie," Borlan whispered in Mars' ear. She turned beat-red, and stared at Borlan.

"You!" she exclaimed. "YOU!! You…bastard! Ass-hole!" as Mars continued to inform him of her thoughts of him, Borlan turned to Uranus, made a bow that was way too deep to be respectful, and said, "That's me. The bastard."

Finally, Borlan turned back to Mars. "You should be happy I saved your butt." With those words, he looked over her shoulder, looked down, and whispered, "and a cute ass it is."

Mars drew in a sharp breath, and tried to slap him. Her hand passed right through Borlan's holographic form. Lucky for her she had tried to slap his face. The armor would probably have seriously hurt her.

"I don’t understand," Uranus admitted to Moon. "Who is that guy?"

"Borlan. He's one of the AIs on Frederic's ship," Moon said, turning back to the 'discussion' between Borlan and Mars, now powered down to Rei. The other Senshi followed her example, but not before Neptune had dragged off a still fuming Uranus. Tuxedo Kamen had taken Sailor chibi-moon with him, so that left only the four remaining Senshi and Borlan.

"You could be grateful, cutie. I did save you and your friends. You could at least give me a kiss," Borlan said, smiling slightly. Why he wanted to pick her, he had no idea. Why the idea suddenly sounded very appealing to him, he didn't know either. All he knew was that he was having the time of his life getting her goat.

"Never! I'd rather die!" Rei shouted.

"Come on, Rei. He IS handsome," Minako said, grabbing onto Borlan's left arm, lifted herself up a little, and kissed him on the cheek. Makoto grabbed his other arm, and kissed his right cheek.

"Yeah, Rei. It's not like he's going to bite," Makoto added, gazing at the holographic face.

I think I need to label this is 'blowing a gasket'. And a fuse. A couple dozen each, Borlan thought. He looked from his left arm to his right arm, and gave his best smile to the two girls still staring at him. "Why don’t you two show me around?" Borlan asked finally, his systems operating at full capacity once again. Definitely. And I think I like blowing them…

He couldn't help but snicker at the look on Rei's face as Borlan was lead off by a beaming Minako and Makoto after beaming the armor back to the ship. He had switched to his normal attire: the leather jacket, the black jeans pants, and the dark sunglasses. Usagi ran after the group, shouting "Wait for me!", and managed to catch up to them while only tripping two times. Rei stared at the group, not believing her eyes. Grouching, she followed the three girls and the hologram.

Not long after, Borlan spotted an ice cream parlor. The hurriedly downloaded books on inter-sexual relations told Borlan that he could ask the girl to join him for ice cream.

"How about some ice-cream? My treat," Borlan offered. As the girls received this with ecstatic sheering, Borlan patted his programs on the back.

"You don't eat," Rei said, her arms crossed, and staring at him. Her look was at full-force, and if he hadn't been a battle-oriented AI, he would have tried to sink through the floor. But, being the AI that he was, Borlan gave a small smile and stared back.

"Manuals on human relationships indicate that people often socialize over food or while enjoying visual or audio entertainment," Borlan said, choosing to word it as difficult as possible.

Usagi and Minako stared at Borlan. "You're just following manuals?"

"You would prefer my original programming?" Borlan asked. "I was programmed the fight and, if necessary, kill without emotions."

Usagi and Minako did understand the last part. "Come on," Minako said, grabbing Borlan's arm. "Let's get that ice cream."

"Yeah," Usagi shouted, grabbing his other arm. Together, the two girls started dragging Borlan to the shop. It was the fact that he let them drag him that allowed them to move him. If he had wanted to, he could have made himself weigh a few tons. Rei shook her head, still not liking this, but followed inside nonetheless.

"Take whatever you like," Borlan said as he sat down with the four girls. When the waiter came, and they had placed their orders, Borlan materialized a credit card. The man pulled an eyebrow at the look of the black, blue and gold credit card, and went to the back of the shop.

"What card is that?" Rei asked, her usual bold self.

Borlan shrugged. "A low-limit Phalanx-card. I don’t want to ruin Dad."

Borlan saw Usagi and Minako's faces fall at the mentioning of 'low-limit'. "Don’t worry. There is more than enough."

"How much is enough?" Usagi asked. At the moment, the waiter returned, handed Borlan the card, and acted very polite around him and the girls. Nothing was enough, and there was nothing he wouldn’t do.

"Could you tell me how much there is left on the card?" Borlan asked. "I have others who use it," he explained.

"Of course, sir. There is 478,000 US$ remaining out of the limit of 500,000," the man answered. The girls stared at Borlan, who smiled inwardly. This was promising to be a very entertaining afternoon.

******

Day six, 1700 hours Universe 576 Japanese Time, location: holographic training facility.

As Sorcerer reappeared in front of Frederic, the latter gave a curt nod. "Linda, 850 gravities."

Increasing to 850 gravities.

Sorcerer closed his eyes, and grunted against the strain. Blood spurted out of burst blood vessels in his nose as he crouched in mid-air attempting to relieve some of the stress on his body. Swallowing yet another Senzu, he glared at Frederic, who disappeared once again. Sorcerer vanished soon after, countering Frederic's movements. The spheres had long ago outlived their usefulness as the two triple Phalanxes were now opening up their full potentials, throwing ki and magic at one another.

Green-glowing nanoprobes fought to keep the integrity of the holodeck high enough to actually sustain the enormous gravity inside.

"So, there you are," Linda greeted her brother as he returned.

"You know perfectly well where I've been," Borlan shot back. In a nanosecond he had brought himself up to date with the latest events on the ship, including the training level of the two warriors in the holodeck. Borlan smiled when the realization sunk in that neither could find a better training partner. Both Frederic and Sorcerer were so almost evenly matched, and the last barriers were falling rapidly. Sorcerer had taught Frederic evolved combat magic, while Frederic had taught Sorcerer the use of ki. All that left the two warriors now, was training. Training for strength, speed, agility and endurance.

******

Day six, 1800 hours Universe 704 Island of Ages time, location: Temple of Ages.

The golden stones had changed to black ones some time ago, and the couple hadn't felt comfortable since then. The statues inside the Temple of Ages now depicted horrible winged creatures with goat's legs and huge bat-like wings. Other statues depicted obscenely overgrown men with bulky muscles and eyes that seemed to glow with a hellish fire, even while being made only out of an unknown type of stone. The traps had gone, and the total silence did nothing to ease the mood of the two people. Not even the sound of their own steps disturbed the silence that covered the endless halls and immeasurable rooms Daphnix and Ami encountered.

Subconsciously, they had started walking closer together, as if their physical proximity somehow lifted the oppressing silence.

"Maybe we should go back," Ami muttered, her voice distorted in the strange resonance of the temple. It had been some time since either of them had spoken.

"Maybe we're on the right way," Daphnix countered. "We don't know, and can only hope that somehow, we end up where we are supposed to be."

"Or we could end up at the Gates of Hell," Ami said so silently her partner didn't hear it.

Again, the couple turned to silence as they walked like ghosts through the endless hall. For hours, the two people went deeper and deeper into the inhospitable hall, the statues growing more and more grotesque while the lighting, provided by torches on the wall, grew sparse and far between.

The twilight gave the hallways an even spookier appearance, and the couple started walking even closer together, Ami now grabbing onto Daphnix's hand as they ventured deeper. Daphnix had to admit, even he felt uncomfortable in this infernal temple. He could admit to himself how he would feel without the blue-haired girl hanging onto his left arm.

Forcing himself to disband his emotions, Daphnix stared straight ahead, his eyes completely adapted to the semi-darkness. Hoping that, against all odds, the hall would end soon and result in the chamber where the Stone of Ages was located.

Hours passed before either of them spoke another word. Deciding that they better get some rest, Daphnix and Ami huddled together under the warm light of a sole torch. After throwing the insulating blanket over them, the couple huddled together, and slept in each other's arms. 

******

Day six, 2105 hours Universe 702 Digital time, location: route to Infinity Mountain.

"How about some rest?" Tai asked.

"Sure," David agreed along with the others. "It is getting rather late."

"We should keep going!" Jessie exclaimed. "It's only a few more hours to the top!"

"And then what?" David shouted. "Go up against MegaDetrumon when we're tired? Who knows what we'll find on top of Infinity Mountain. For all we know, MegaDetrumon could be on Server, and we could just be on a wild goose chase." David shook his head. "And if MegaDetrumon is there, it's not wise to go up against him when we're tired. Look at Mimi, her feet are open wounds. I don't care if you're mad at me, but at least think for the best of the group, not just to get back at me!"

"Are you calling me stupid?" Jessie shouted at her brother, turning to face him, and walking closer to him, staring into his eyes. David stared back.

"Yes! And not only stupid, but self-centered and arrogant as well! You think 'ego' before 'team'. You would have us climb Infinity Mountain while tired, and face MegaDetrumon when we're not at full strength. You would get us all killed!"

Jessie reached for the sword on her back. "Like you're such a very good team-player. If it hadn't been for Kari, who knows where you might have ran off to!"

"At least I don't endanger the group to the point of wanting to get them killed! And don't you DARE draw on me!" David shouted at his sister. "If you do, I'm not responsible for what happens!"

Jessie's small hand grabbed the handle of her sword. David started to raise, his blue eyes growing cold as ice, just like hers. As Jessie's sword started rising, David's arm shot up, grabbed his sword, and mimicked her progress. Both kids were sizing each other up. Both were using the shrouding technique, but the simple art of observation told them that the other was gathering strength, tapping into reserves tat should be used only while fighting mortal enemies.

"Guys! Guys!" Tai stood in between the two children, not really knowing what kind of danger he was in. "There's no reason to fight! The group decided to rest here while doing the rest tomorrow, so there's no need to fight!"

"He insulted me," Jessie growled.

"And she insulted me," David growled back. When he felt a hand cover his on top of the sword, he looked away from his sister. Kari…

"Don't do it, David. Please. Don't."

David took a couple of deep breaths, and pushed the sword back down. "You're lucky," David grunted at his sister while turning away from her.

"Bastard!"

"Bitch!"

"Asshole!"

"Self-centered moron!" David shouted to his sister, and planted himself close to the fire he had started moments before. Jessie promptly turned away with an 'oomph', and refused to sit by the fire. She pitched her tent well away from the others, while David pitched his in the middle of the group. Jessie refused to leave her tent, preferring to eat inside with Vogumon. As such, she never saw David heal Mimi's feet before going to sleep as well. she never got to see the hurt look on his face after she had disappeared in her tent. Not that he got to see her cry silently in the safe confines of her tent.