Chapter 1: To Find A Robot Monkey "The Journey of a Thousand Miles Begins with But a Single step."
Chiro stepped cautiously through the hallways of the gargantuan Super Robot. Endless dark corridors streched before him, and somewhere in these corridors were five monkeys. He tried calling them by name,
"Gibson? Nova? Antauri? Sprx? Otto? Aww, c'mon you guys it isn't funny anymore. Where are you"
buzzzzzzz Chiro paused when he heard this noise, the small echoing of his worn blue boots faded as he stood still in the deserted corridor. No noise could be heard except for that small, incessant buzzing.
"Who was that? Gibson, was that you," Chiro asked, his curiosity aroused.
Whoever it was, Chiro took off a full speed to find him or her, the echoing of his boots spread throughout the dank, faded corridors of the Super Robot, his orange scarf pulled back, trailing a few feet behind him. BUZZZZZZZ The buzzing was getting louder and louder.
"Whoever you are, I got you now," Chiro laughed.
He pivoted on his heels into another dark corridor and found two medium sized figures hunched in the deep shadows. One of the shadows was the cause of the buzzing, and every now and then a small spark flickered onto the cold floor of the corridor, then fizzed and died.
"C'mon out you two, I found you," Chiro said triumphantly.
"Aww, no fair," one of the figures said.
It was a green armored monkey that had said this, Otto. Beside him was a red armored monkey, Sprx-77, or as he was more commonly known, Sprx.
"How'd you find us so fast Chiro," Otto asked confounded.
Sprx's tail flicked in annoyance.
"Gee, I wonder? It certainly couldn't have been because of these could it," he asked grabbing a running buzzsaw coming from Otto's hand, then thrusting it down hard.
"Told ya, you shouldn't have put in the upgrade today," he continued, still really irritated.
"Well, I didn't know it was going to do that, it was only supposed to boost my saw's drivecore and revving speed," then, mumbling to himself added, "Perhaps it was a malfunction in the anti-locking mechanism or the drivetrain of the blade"
"I think the malfunction is in your brain, maybe you should check it out?!"
Chiro was a bit disturbed, he had seen Sprx in foul moods before, but this time it was in a league all it's own, he was actually being cruel.
"Whoa, Sprx! Don't you think that's a little, I dunno, harsh"
Sprx looked at Chiro and stayed silent for a moment then spoke up,
"Sorry, kid. You know me though, I can't stand losing"
"I know, but to take it out on Otto? C'mon Sprx, you're better than that. I mean, even if it was his fault, that's not how you would usually be," Chiro added deeply concerned.
"Yeah, sorry, I was just being overly competitive. Sorry, Otto"
"Aw, no problem, I'll get the drivetrain checked out, wanna come with me," Otto asked, oddly excited.
Sprx cocked his brow in confusion,
"Erm... No thanks, um, I think I have other plans," He replied chuckling uneasily.
"Oh well, your loss," Otto said nonchalantly before walking off whistling a random tune.
Chiro called after him,
"Hey Otto! Aren't you going to help us find Nova, Gibson and Antauri"
Otto didn't answer, he simply flicked his hand as if to tell Chiro and Sprx 'Go on without me'. The halls fell silent again with only the echo of Chiro's boot and the clanking of Sprx's armored paws to disrupt the calm of the emptied corridors. They walked for what seemed like hours, and Chiro's patience was starting to wear this, as was his energy. Finally Chiro collapsed to the ground.
"Phew, Hide and Seek was never like this at Shuggazoom Elementary"
He sat panting on the ground, as Sprx stopped, looming over him. His ears perked up, as he fidgeted with a dial on the reverse end.
"Kid, I think you should hear this," Sprx said aplifying the volume of the reception.
clank clank clank clank clank
"Huh? What is that," Chiro asked, fully confused.
Sprx let out a smug smile,
"Sounds like we have someone skulking in the ventilation"
"Gotcha," Chiro said, "I know how to get 'em down. CHIRO SPEARO"
A large amount of energy gathered in his fist, creating a charge of lightning, easily visible now, and with almost no warning, flung the charge at the ventilation shaft. The resulting explosion caused the shaft to fall creating a deafeningly loud clang shattering the peace once more.
Sprx's jaw dropped as he turned slowly toward Chiro and pointed at the newly destroyed ventilation shaft, his eye twitched in disbelief as his mouth hung agape.
"Chiro... Why did you do that? DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MUCH ITS GONNA COST US TO REPLACE THAT SHAFT?! We don't run on money, so right now our best hope is to have Otto fix"
"Sprx, look! We have a guest," Chiro chuckled.
A blue armored monkey, Gibson, rose from the debris.
"Oww... Did you truly have to be so aggressive? Oh, and now I'm all dirty. Ah well, I supposed you found me fair and square Chiro, good luck finding Nova and Antauri. I assume you already found Otto"
"Yeah, but wait, aren't you coming with us," Chiro asked quizzically.
"No, I apologize but I can't. You see, I've found an odd residue in the metal of our ventialtion shafts, I feel that I should probably analyze it in my laboratory," Gibson responded astutely.
Sprx let out a slight cough,
"coughyounerdcough"
"That was quite immature, Sprx. Do watch that," He said as he blew a small raspberry in Sprx's direction, the pivoted on his hind heel and marched out into the inky blackness of the rustic maze. Sprx nudged Chiro in the shoulder, and chuckled,
"Yeah, like he's really one to talk, right Kid"
"Hehe... Yeah, totally," Chiro chuckled nervously.
"Hey Chiro, five bucks says we find Nova next," Sprx laughed, half joking, half serious.
"No way, Antauri is next," Chiro responded laughing.
They moved quickly through the corridors, and once more, Sprx picked up something. Chiro knew this too he slumped into the shadows, making his orange and white jumpsuit look rather discolored.
"Got someone," Sprx bragged, "71 meters northwest of our position"
"I got it," Chiro said confidently, "CHIRO SPI"
"Yeah, um... Kid, if you ever pull something like that in close quarters again, I'll place you in an Iron Maiden and have Otto give you a few "upgrades"
"Do we even have an Iron Maiden"
"Do you want to find out," Sprx asked sinisterly.
Something was odd about Sprx's attitude, normally he would laugh and say 'Just Kidding' or something like that, but this time he seemed perfectly serious. Chiro wondered if Sprx could be- Nah, it couldn't be. Chiro quickly shrugged off the thought and pressed onward.
"How close are we Sprx," he asked, a bit tired.
"We should be getting close now," Sprx replied, checking a built in radar.
"Well, what are we waiting for," Chiro asked taking off at full speed.
"Kid, wait up! You... Oh, why do I even bother," Sprx questioned rhetorically.
Chiro flew down the halls completely blind, yet somehow knowing where he was going. He moved swiftly through the passageways, wind blowing back his slick, black hair. Sprx followed not too far behind. The echos of his boots sounded the same, until suddenly , they changed as a resounding clang echoed out.
"Huh? What was that," Chiro asked as he looked down, an notice a jutting piece of metal. Or, as he saw when he looked more closely, armor!
"Gotcha! Show yourself," He commanded loudly, laughing.
"Geez, is your ego big enough," Sprx asked silently, brow twitching in annoyance.
"Well, I see you have found me. Very good work, Chiro, Sprx. I don't suppose you have found Nova yet," The silver armored monkey, Antauri, questioned.
"No"
"Not yet. "
They replied in almost synchronous unison.
"Then, I believe I will escort you, that is, if you will permit me," Antauri replied, being exceedingly polite.
"Thanks, we could use a little help. By the way, do you know what I hit in the hallway," Chiro asked, interested.
"That was my elbow. You see, I was meditating, trying to locate your position. It was a rather risky gambit, and I suppose it failed," Antauri said, with just the slightest hint of irritation in his voice.
"Antauri, do you know where Nova is," Sprx asked, sounding oddly desperate.
"Yes, I located her a few moments ago, however I am afraid I can't reveal her location to you," He replied, calmly.
"Shoulda figured that," Chiro said, slumping.
As he regained his composure, he noticed something odd about Sprx, for the slightest moment he could have sworn that he saw a fanged sneer. What was going on? Again he shrugged it off and decided to keep moving.
"Antauri, can you give us any hint toward where Nova is," Chiro asked hopefully.
He went into a meditative state, becoming completely entranced as he attempted to locate Nova.
For a few minutes, he went fully still, no sound to be heard aside from slowly whirring servos inside Antauri. After a few minutes, he awoke and responded.
"She appears to be moving at a rapid pace, straight for... Us? Rather odd, she should be hiding, not running toward us," Antauri said, confused.
"What? Why has she stopped? What is she doing," He added, even more confused.
"I got her," Sprx assured, "Antauri can you grab my arm and phase my magnet's range into the
the vents"
"I am not fully sure that would work, but it's worth a try," Antauri replied, then, as his claws turned to a rather light blue color, he grabbed Sprx's arm, which had now turned to a magnet, and faced it upwards toward the ventilation shaft's opening.
"MAGNA BALL BEAM SPLITTER," Sprx hollered as he fired a red beam straight through the vents.
"Sprx! What are you doing?! We're trying to catch her not KILL her," Chiro screamed, truly concerned.
"Don't worry kid, I cut the strength from the attack to the point where it's really just a superpowered magnet. Well, more of a superpowered magnet," Sprx chuckled, not understanding Chiro's worry.
"We got her," Sprx replied.
Finally, Nova dropped from the vents, arms and legs crossed, tail slung over her shoulder. She looked like an child throwing a temper tantrum.
"Aww, no fair. You guys cheated," Nova pouted.
"Heh. Nice to see you too. By the way, nobody said we couldn't use our weapons," Sprx replied, pointing a figure at Nova matter-of-factly.
"Yeah, but your weapon is a magnet, Sprx. I thought that went without saying," Nova countered, truly annoyed.
"You know me, sweet cheeks. Nothing goes without saying," he replied becoming very cocky.
He took a HARD slap across the face, one that could have dented even diamond.
Nova massaged her palm and spoke, eyes closed.
"Call me that one more time and we'll see just how durable that helmet is, won't WE," she spouted, an irritated smirk growing across her mouth.
"Yes, ma'am," Sprx replied, bowing subserviantly.
Then, as if nothing had ever happened, Nova stood before a dumbfounded, shocked Chiro and said,
"See Chiro, that's how you deal with bullies, or in this case, clueless robotic monkeys, RIGHT SPRX"
"Yes ma'am," he replied, obviously watching his every word.
Chiro felt a small urge to stand at attention when Nova looked at him. He knew she was strong, but never THAT strong!
"Well, it looks like you've found everyone! Let's check your time... Pretty good, but not the best I've seen,
Chiro," Nova said, expectantly.
"Well, what was my time," He asked interested.
"9 minutes, 21 seconds, pretty good, but again, I think you can do better. Well, now that everyone has been found, we should probably be heading back"
"Right. Computer, terminate Holo-Simulation," Antauri commanded.
Suddenly, they heard a large crash coming from Gibson's laboratory. This was quickly followed by indistinct yelling.
"Hold on," Sprx said, "I'll try to figure out what they're saying."
He tuned his receptors to pick up a frequency inside Gibson's lab. He stopped fidgeting with the dial, obviously having found the correct frequency, and, oddly enough began laughing.
"Kid, you have to hear this," he laughed, "It's hilarious"
Chiro listened in, and what he heard was very odd.
"Otto, what are you doing? No wait, don't touch tha-- Oh no. Otto, stop"
"Calm down Gibson, I'm just upgrading your computer. Wow, how old is this thing"
"It's not a computer, it's a highly sensitive Van Der Graff Generator! Stop touching it"
"What you need a Van Thingy for"
"Van Der Graff Generator, and you wouldn't understand! Oh...No! OTTO DON'T, GET AWAY FROM THERE"
"Aw, but you have the coolest stuff, Gibson. So much just waiting to be tweaked or modified! Just think of what I could do with the stuff in here"
"I shudder at the very thought. Ahem Otto, I have very important business to attend to, so if you will just leave me be for a while"
"Well, gee. If you wanted me to leave, why didn't you say so"
"1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9"
Chiro burst in the door, if only to save Otto.
"Otto, um... can you help me out with something," he said, unsure of how to answer.
"Sure, see ya later Gibson," Otto yelled back raucously.
"I can't... wait," Otto said, nearly crushing a vial of some odd smelling liquid in his hands.
Apparently, Gibson noticed something out of place, as he quickly looked down and began examining the foul smelling concoction.
"Hello? What have we here," Gibson said, seemingly to himself, "Oh, no"
His eyes stretched wide with horror as he pointed to the mixture, as if singling out an abomination. He panted heavily as his breath froze. Small beads of sweat dripped down from his helmet, splattering on the crystalline floor. His body shuddered violently, as he dropped to his knees. He panted harder and harder, now gasping for breath.
"Wha...What's h-happening to m-me," he whispered in a deathly calm voice.
He was now on all fours, coughing and shuddering, his head full drenched in a cold sweat. Then, all of a sudden, fell flat on the ground, shuddering more violently than ever before, and now murmuring in a feverish delusion.
"UH! Never have I imagined such p-pain," Gibson hollered, thrashing violently, holding his head as if trying to keep it from splitting in half.
He could not take the pain anymore, nor would he have to. For at that moment, the thrashing stopped. The cold sweat fell no more. Gibson's entire body lay limp, drenched with the sweat caused by the odd affliction.
"Hey, Gibson I was wondering if," Chiro noticed the limp body lying on the slick tile, "GIBSON"
He reached for a small communicator beneath his orange scarf.
"MONKEY TEAM! ASSEMBLE, WE HAVE A PROBLEM! IT'S...Gibson"
Within a few minutes, the monkeys were all gathered around their fallen comrade.
"Hold on, I'll try to revive him," Sprx said, saddened.
"No," Chiro whispered, "I, I don't know what it is, but somehow I know, it won't work."
Chiro dropped to his knees and bowed over Gibson's limp body. He paused and rolled his hand slowly over Gibson, as if trying to destroy what caused this. A lone tear rolled downward from his left eye, followed by another, and another. He clenched one fist while keeping the other one on Gibson. He gritted his teeth and slowly said through rolling tears and sobs.
"G-Gibson, what happened to you?"
He whispered slowly, barely able to finish the sentence through tears.
"Please, I don't care what happens to me, just please, please be ok. I'm not ready to say goodbye. If there is anything I could do, I will. Just please don't die on us, Gibson"
Antauri put a hand on Chiro's shoulder and made a solemn nod. Chiro knew what this meant, nothing more was said. As if by command, Chiro rested his head on Gibson's chest, arms folded underneath him, and bawled.