Yin & Yang

Antauri sat within the silent domain of his room's Zen garden, shiny legs crossed in lotus position while trying to focus his mind. Meditation, since becoming the silver monkey, was very different and required must adapting if he were to accomplish a still mind as successfully as he done in his cybernetic body.

But having no heart nor breathe to focus on was a bit troubling, it sent his soul in an uneasy vibe he just couldn't shake. So, when unable to still his mind, he'd just sit in silence, hoping that maybe one of his teammates, preferably Chiro, would just idle by and pop in. Give him some much needed company.

The mirror that was once positioned on his wall had been moved years ago to a different, less nosey, location in his closet. Once again, since becoming the silver monkey, there was a lot he had come to dislike he once didn't mind, such as seeing your own reflection. It seemed childish, that he understood, but something about the robotic blue eyes and fully titanium body sent chills down his body.

It reminded him too much at what he lost, or something even worse.

You know this new body is going to do it…

'Hush,' he'd mentally scold the voice that tried to placate him with dirty lies.

Yes… you're going to outlive your teammates by hundreds of years.

He rapidly shook his head, though his worst fear had been losing control of this robotic body, which was just the tip of the iceberg. The deep nasty truth he couldn't deny if ever brought to the light.

Was he was afraid to be alone.

It's coming… one day, by any means, you'll be the last to go.

'Leave me be!" He wanted to yell, but his spooked mind couldn't form any coherent words.

You're going to be alone. Accept it.

His eyes would shoot open, unable to try and meditate any longer, he'd look around the hauntingly quietness of his room and become scared. Jumping down to his feet and bailing out the door, he'd rush away to find some form of physical interaction.

You cannot run nor hide of this grim fate, you defied death to be with them once again. Now, you must suffer the consequence of overruling nature!

Hands grasping blindly at the walls, agony tried to burst from his usually self-controlled core, but the battle was becoming too much as the silver monkey messed with its owner's psyche.

"Leave me alone, please…" He'd beg for it to go.

But at las… it never did, and when he actually needed socializing, he'd forget it was too early and everyone was in bed. With no choice, he'd just drag himself back to his room to face his nightly demons alone, once again.

The frightening darkness he didn't want to walk in with no light.

…

Vex sat within the silent confines of the super robot, in the middle of their journey and now the team possessed two of the dark crystals, only one more to go. It was all going so smooth, so what was it that was bugging her?

Years I had skulked in a place once thought to bear no return.

She positioned herself to look out the window, watching the millions of stars zoom by like many fireflies.

No light nor wicked, all but grey. I did what was needed, events many 'heroes' wouldn't fathom of doing.

She recalled the memories of tracking her targets down, sometimes they were nothing but mindless hicks that greatly annoyed someone and deserved to be hunted down, and other times, they were lofty and greatly feared criminals in need of execution. Assassin work was simple, it often perplexed Vex on what made people squeamish about it.

Numb was what silenced thy heart. Family I possessed once… a husband, an adopted son and his wife. I loved them dearly, or as much as someone like me would be capable of, never did my soul long to wound them.

She ran her claws across her one working eye, the orb a deep azure purple.

No fear was felt to the darkness that enveloped me, indifferent I was, but deep within was a small sensitive heart. Bothersome, I try not to heed my soft heart's cries, so as not to appear weak. But no matter what was craved, I chose my lusts for strength.

No regrets thrummed, until the innocent blue eyes of a new baby boy gazed upon me. The child of my human son.

Vex had recalled with too much accuracy all the wrong she had chosen to do up at that moment, then bringing her claws to her face she muttered.

What… have I done?

She retracted her lip in frustration, it was so awkward, hearing many stories of noble heroes falling to darkness because of a wrong choice. But how could that be? Would a truly kind heart be capable of such conversions if it was never in their nature to begin with?

Vex never understood it, but she had no choice but to—somewhat—agree with the elephant in the room, even if she was always the more philosophical type, just some questions didn't have clear cut answers. The silver monkey, An-tau-ri, she believed his name to be, said most people were good by nature. Perhaps, but what of the ones who started good? Were they to be counted or taken out of consideration?

The formless monkey shrugged her shoulders, if one fell to evil, then they could always turn it around, maybe. Or were they truly more evil? Because they started with nobility, but then got a taste of evil and flipped around to something they desired more. It was a very difficult topic to answer, but then the real question that haunted her came up, the one she avoided like the black plague.

Never good was I, in a beginning of many many moons, the shadows were friends. A hero I never was, nor desired to be. But… there was something that recently began to stir.

The moment of journeying around with the Hyperforce, spending time with them—for the first time in years, a whisper had ruptured her heart. Words that spoke:

"Open your eyes, and return to me…"

The first time Vex heard those words, she'd never forget it. Again, she knew that she was far too gone to ever be accepted by the warriors that fought for the light. As said, there was evil that hid behind a smile.

Now, my reflection that gazes back brought upon fresh realization. Maybe… just maybe… if evil can hide behind a smile—could light exist within the darkest of shadows?

No matter how tough she trained herself to be, one thing she could never deny was the sensitive conscious her heart felt on rare occasions her guard would be dropped and vulnerability exposed. Sometimes, she'd spare the victims that didn't deserve such ends she was paid to deliver.

Evil? That she was, no denying it… but fully?

That day, the tiny spark ruptured that darkness cloaking my heart. It burned so bad, making me fall to my knees as the poison of my sins was washed away, and heard the words that changed my life forever.

"You are forgiven."

It was the first time Vex had ever doubled over and wept true anguished tears, all the hurt she hid with the shame—it exploded in her face, now she could not walk away. The evil she once followed was now her enemy, glaring spite to it while casting her vision to something that was of hope and mercy.

What of all this, your eye may wonder, if one starts out noble and become besieged by an ocean of darkness, it's never too late to change. But what of the ones who emerged from within the tides? From my own testimony, I can safely guarantee… this Love showed me that whatever was lost can be found again.

The bone monkey smiled as she gazed at herself in the mirror, this time not drawing back from the scarred face peering back.

If this mission I fail, remember me not for the creature I once was, but for the person I was slowly becoming.

…

Vex stood beside the steel pillar, hiding from sight as the monkey team worked their tails off to advance their new moves in the training room. Impressive how they could work together so well, as if they were able to move as one body, mind, and soul. Being a solitary predator in design, she could only understand the notion of 'teamwork' by its definition, but never participated in it. Used to fighting alone, having to worry about others was not appealing.

But they made it look curious, enticing almost, what it must be like to completely trust others to keep you away from that one fatal mistake while amidst a life or death struggle.

"Good work monkey team," Antauri congratulated his family with a firm nod of approval. "That shall complete our training session for today, retire to your dorms if you like."

Everyone hauled tail out of the training room as the silver monkey chuckled and turned his attention to the security monitor.

Vex watched the male monkey from afar, he was so mysterious and wise, it greatly humbled her when in his presence. To witness such a kind heart devoted to the protection of life, she couldn't help but feel a strong, yet perplexing, attraction to him. Even his name was fun to mess with in her limited vocabulary, given as she knew very little of the 'cool lingo' in this new future era she was forcefully thrown into upon resurrection.

A few times Vex couldn't help but wonder, was he without a wife? Observing only one female amongst the group, and the fact the yellow one was already sworn to the annoying red male, made it known to the assassin that sterling was running solo.

This notion only made it harder on her… what humans would call a… 'c-r-u-s-h'. She had this feeling before, with her first husband, but certain circumstances made the relationship hard to maintain and it ended in shambles. Never did she desire to put someone through that again, it wouldn't be fair to him or herself.

But no matter her logic, it was hard to ignore this desire, whenever he'd come near, Vex could not help but run away from him. If he just happened to corner her in conversation, she'd fake aloofness and retreat before he caught wind of what she was truly feeling. That and she was horrible at relaying emotions properly, he made her to nervous.

He probably assumed she greatly disliked his preachy nature, or thought she wanted nothing to do with him since he was a machine. But this could not be further from the truth, besides—how could she judge him, when she herself was a walking zombie resurrected with ooze by a crazed evil warlord? It was this, and who she really was at heart, which made her keep him at arm's length.

She would often gnash her teeth in frustration, if he knew the truth, no doubt he'd be repulsed by her, or disinterested at the very least. It was, without a doubt, an impossible task, as much as it hurt to admit.

Ignoring the impossible for a moment, she'd also ponder on why he was confusing. In the late hours of twilight, she'd hear him leave his room and linger in the hallway for several clicks before dragging himself back into the dorm. Perplexing, she had often wondered what his deal was, not sure what to think of with him being a full robot as well—given as her interaction with machines was limited from her passed away era.

Nearby mirrors also seemed to send him running with a tail between his legs, odd for someone who was as wise and competent as him.

Those tiny reactions told her something very different about him, perhaps he was born organic, or was a machine with an organic brain. Either way, she quickly figured out he was not a full machine like she had assumed him to be the first night they met at the foot of Chiro's bed.

…..

Antauri would find himself watching her from the corner of his eye, no ounce of judgement felt at her scary appearance as she hid away in the darkness. His normal stoic face masked the bafflement of not understanding what ran through that quiet monkey's head, or if she was even thinking at all, given as the former stood so still he could've mistaken her for a stone statue.

The female species had always been a great mystery, but this individual sent his brain through crazed hoops.

Like himself, she was quiet and even harder to read, but his air of silence was often from meditations or a comfortable quiet many liked to bask in. But Vex's was cold, something that often scared away passer byes. He couldn't tell if she liked it that way or not, her grumpy behavior told him she preferred to be alone. But slumped shoulders, dipped head, and inability to make eye contact told him a completely different story.

Was she an intolerant grump, or just shy and scared?

The scars that sliced around the right side of her body made him agree with this predication. A long jagged, pink fleshy scar disfigured her face, scratching down her sealed eye and snout, hinting at a broken fang. Similar scars cut around her chest, arm, and right foot, the way she tried to hide the limp made him wonder, but she refused to let him get close. So, you could understand why 'asking questions' was a bit of a challenge.

But on the rare occasions she did socialize, the taller female seemed nervously awkward, as if unsure of how to properly engage in conversation with another person, little lone a huge group. Some of the words she spoke, however, appealed to his mind—she always seemed to think deeply, curious about everything that was a mystery in her surroundings. Almost philosophical in nature, it made him want to pick her brain even more.

In the beginning, he surely did not trust her, given the… poor circumstances they met, of course labeling it as that was sugarcoating it. But never the less, they didn't begin well at all, no one favored her and the feeling seemed to be mutual. Antauri didn't want her anywhere near Chiro or his team after their brief battle which revealed her vicious nature.

Then Otto took the first step to reach out to her, which was nerve wrecking to think about, but it came as a surprise to see the regal monkey open up, if only by a mere centimeter. She revealed to be capable of some form of kindness, which eased the second in command's suspicion, only by a little though.

After Nova coaxed the tuxedo pelted monkey into a sparring match, Antauri decided then that now was the best time to approach her. He came up after the gold warrior departed after the training session and left Vex alone. She seemed startled when Antauri approached, no surprise, he attempted to speak to which she just lowered her head and tried to slink away.

From this reaction to his presence, it'd seem she was not the 'dominant' type he had formerly portrayed her as. Interesting.

"Why are you so stressed at my approach?" He asked, really meaning 'why are you so afraid of me…?'

She spoke very few words, nothing new there, till pointing out his lack of organic features made him invisible to her near-sighted vision. This struck a deep personal nerve that left him reeling as she took this moment of distraction and ran away, refusing his reach.

So it was him being a machine that left him misunderstood. The fear from his earlier panic attack threatened to spill over again, so much he had to abound his goal to get her speaking and retreated to get some quiet to straighten his mind out.

…

Now here they stand, face to face in the darkness of his room. Earlier, he finally had enough of her avoidance and calmly confronted her for this behavior. She begged him to leave her be, but he finally caught a glimpse of the hurt behind that angry mask and pushed—knowing if he walked away now, there was a chance she'd lose herself for good this time.

She became angry and tried to deflect the attention from her scars to his inner wounds, pointing out his own flaws and why he needed to be strong for himself instead of focusing on her pain. The severity of her words made his confidence drop like a fly, fear and anger overwhelmed him as he was torn from shouting back at her to wanting a hug.

After she apologized for her outburst, he chose the latter and grabbed her in a constricting hug, releasing all the hurt he could no longer hide. These fears killed him, and he now was in a desperate need for a shoulder to cry on.

Once he opened up to her, this seemed to change as she—at last—responded and embraced him back, no longer running away in fear. After she soothed him, he re-took the reins and drug her to his room. Forgive yourself, he told her, hold nothing back and stop hiding, and let others in. This time, she finally listened and allowed herself to shed a few tears.

Antauri reached for her and placed his forehead against her's.

"What is it that ails you…?"

She looked up to him, a glimmer of fear emerging in her one working eye. Desperation grew.

"Please, don't lie to me."

Vex tried to weakly push him back, but he did not budge. Left with no other choice, she finally spilled.

"I did… something bad. Very bad, too many people."

The silver monkey nudged her, gentle eyes encouraging her to continue, which she did so.

"It never bothered me before, but now…"

"Now you feel regret?"

She casted her gaze downwards, away from him, too scared to see the rejection that she knew was coming.

"Da."

Smiling, he reached out to touch the single grizzly scar that cut across her missing right eye. Fingers centimeters away before she grabbed his wrist, still not looking at him as she pushed his hand away. This hurt the silver monkey deeply, she took notice of this and sighed.

"More vulnerability is needed… before I can cave."

Without thinking, Antauri had reached up and removed his helmet, a few bursts of steam announcing the head gear's departure as he exposed his mechanical brain.

Vex seemed stunned at the sight, her one good eye darting up and down his exposure, taking in this.

He waited for her to say something, but she never did. Hands starting to rattle, he put his helmet on the ground and kept the source of his nightmares exposed. They returned to a full frontal stare down, but complicated personalities waiting for the other to speak.

Just when he felt the battle was loss, Vex took his hand and returned it to her face, allowing him to feel the mark that horribly disfigured her.

"What happened?" He asked.

"…The only good decision ever made." The only time she ever done something good, give her life up for someone else. "What of you?"

"Likewise."

She titled her head as he continued to rub her scar, reaching out to touch his metallic brain.

"You gave up something for another?"

Antauri looked to his body.

"Yes, a costly sacrifice."

Thinking he didn't want to be exposed anymore, Vex moved to recover his helmet, but a mystical force moved the reflective head gear away from her searching war claws. Antauri used his telepathy to keep the device from her grasp, gesturing her to return to him, which she slowly did.

He hovered down till sitting on the floor, right in front of her. Her scars, his mechanical body, seemed like they were more alike than he had originally guessed.

Sensing this, she shook her head to his closing in.

"I think you can do much better than me."

"What if I choose not to?"

The bone monkey went quiet, scratching her chin as she stared to the younger male that kept inching closer. She wanted to retreat, but something kept her from doing so, Antauri seemed to notice this and quickened his reach till his face was inches from her's.

Getting extremely nervous, the assassin started to sweat bullets as she tensed up.

"Have you not been with another?"

Antauri paused.

"My training with the Veron Mystics was abnormally strict, I had to detach from many physical events that were deemed to be 'distractions,' women in particular." He chuckled when she gave a confused stare at his virgin confession. "And what of yourself?"

Vex instantly fell quiet, this alerting the monkey as he stiffened his face.

"Once, but no more."

"Was death the reason?"

"A little, but no."

"I don't understand."

Looking down, she pointed to herself. "As humans would label it… Divorce."

Antauri fell quiet, not expecting this from the quiet monkey at all. Sadness inked into his heart as he reached out and stroked her white mane, secretly fascinated by her longer fur, finding it oddly titillating.

"Do you wish to start again?"

Now it was Vex's turn to look upon him with sadness as he ran his silver fingers through her mane.

"I don't know."

Then, before she could respond, he pressed a quick kiss to her mouth. She jolted in alarm, but his grip tightened and kept her glued in place. They lingered in this spot for several moments, his eyes blissfully closed and her's as wide as saucers.

He opened his blue eyes, pulling away so as to grant her some breath. Watching her like a hawk, he waited, hoping she'd say something… anything. Please, he mentally asked, don't run away.

Vex breathed in and brought her claws to rest over his brain.

"You're making a mistake."

"Mistakes are often worth risks." He caught her in another desperate hug, needing to end the distance often keeping her from him.

Finally, Vex relented and surrendered, allowing him to hug her closer as the darkness faded around them. The hug leading into a deeper, steamier kiss as both the robot and formless monkeys allowed the other in.

The stars gazing through his window seemed to watch in awe at the scene unfold, being the only source of light until morning came.