Last Breath at Midnight
A tall man draped in a thick attire plowed through a wheat field, the orange glow of a sun set signaling the fast approach of twilight. His battered shoes sloshed through puddles, droplets of crimson running down his head and onto his trench coat.
"Please, leave me alone!" He cried out before his getaway ended in a painful face plant. The wounds on his leg sending an avalanche of pain upon his battered body as he sprawled out in the dirt.
A dark shadow moved around him, his heart beats ringing from his chest like a predator's dinner bell. Branches break to grass rustling, noises from one spot to another, as if toying with the man. He grabbed his coat and pulled it closer to himself in a feeble attempt to protect his life.
Purple eyes appeared before him, venomous pupil slits pulsing against the owners' shadow veiled face. The smallish figure with raggedy fur moved toward him, movement lifeless as if it were nothing but a string less puppet. Long iron claws stretched out and grabbed his throat, slamming his head deeper into the ground, the creature's cold breath icing his facial hair.
"Desire mercy? Maybe… you should've thought of that… when you abducted that young boy." A slightly low-pitched female voice whispered through the air with a monotone withdrawal.
"Now… you'll pay dearly."
"N-no, please!"
Claws closing his mouth shut, the creature's long tail was placed above his head, long deadly spines popped out. The human gasped in horror as he shielded his eyes, trembling in utter fear of the impending doom.
The shadow veiled creature stared down at her helpless victim, numb to his tears, till her heart started to thump. Sweat began to drip as something seemed to grab a hold of her tail, as if some mystical force was pulling her back.
Frozen in place for several minutes till she finally released the man from her claws. Staring down at him, she shook her head and turned away. The battered victim stared in confusion, peaking through his tear stained fingers.
"W—what are you doing? You're… not going to hurt me?"
She turned to him, purple eyes flaring up again as she grabbed his throat. Her ocular orbs were so blank, he had no idea what she was thinking or planned to do. Till the ping in her eye alerted him a decision had been reached.
"Don't forget this moment of mercy… but to ensure you never repeat this crime." Pressing a paw to his face, her eyes glazed over, the pale lavender pupils spinning in a slow hypnotic trance.
The man's eyes shined with a matching hue before passing out onto the ground, his skin growing cold as the creature released her hold on him.
"May your loss of vision remind you of this moment. For second chances rarely come… especially for ones like you, human predator of the youth."
Grabbing his cellphone, she dialed 911 and placed it in his hand, letting the signal alert the authorities. Once the creature spotted the red and blue lights of the Earth vehicles, she turned and vanished into the darkness.
~Log Cabin Hidden in the Deep Woods~
A white robot monkey with bright green eyes strolled along the outside with groceries in hand. A loud joyful tune hummed in the air as he swished his white bangs aside. Going up the wooden steps and to the wooden door, he scoffed in remembrance of forgetting the key.
"Oh, just parfait! For la keys," he cursed in a strong French accent while using his long-barbed tail to rummage through the empty container in his helmet. Not finding the metal tool, he dropped everything and leaned against the door, waiting for anyone else in his family to come home.
A grey monkey with a darker patch of color across her eyes and equal in height marched up the steps, a long black cloak flung over her shoulder, her dark purple eyes were dropped in exhaustion.
"Ah, Vexus, glad you made it home!" He snickered at the messy furred female crossing him without a word.
"Aw, no sourire for me?"
"I am smiling," she spoke blankly, voice and face void of all life.
Most people would cringe at this icy look, but the white monkey knew his ex-mate well, and these little quirks didn't bother him whatsoever. What he did notice was the streams of sweat dripping down her forehead.
"What is… faux?"
Vex reached under the mat and plucked out the key and used it to open the door, stepping aside to allow the suave male in first. Once inside, she flicked on the lights, feeling the questions burning from his spring green eyes. She sighed.
"I… am faltering. Strength is ebbing." She pressed a paw to her forehead to massage away the headache.
Wisp shook his head at her.
"There is no weakness in showing, eh… how you say, mercy."
The grey monkey rolled her eyes. Wisp caught this, disposed of the groceries on the nearest cabinet, and crossed his arms.
"Oui oui, I know I am being hypocritical by saying this without regarding my poison of thievery."
"You're not to blame… for what I choose to do."
"Then why vue this behavior as an erreur?"
Vex's cold face turned away from him as she walked into the living room, her cold breath fogging up the warm air as she scanned the area to find the TV remote. Wisp watched her retreat and sighed before turning to fish out the newly purchased ingredients to make everyone some dinner.
The door slammed open as two human beings marched into the den, alerting both robot monkeys. A tall grey skinned woman with jet black hair smiled to her companion, a shorter wiry man adorning big square glasses, spikey brown hair, and a sleek caramel tan. Within his arms was their young five-year-old son.
"We're back from the late-night movie, Chiro fell asleep, again." Zoey laughed while rushing over to the white monkey that served as her surrogate father.
"What's for dinner Wisp? Hopefully none of your nasty toast again."
"Quoi? My Boeuf Bourguignon is always ripe with deliciousness, your taste buds are just dulled, my daughter."
Both laughed as Ace turned his attention to the icy eyed monkey tucked in the couch's corner watching a screen full of static. Sadness inked his heart as he inched over to her, extending an open hand.
Cold metal claws accepted the reach by taking his own hand, her blank eyes watching the static filled TV as if her mind was in a matching state. Ace tightened his grip with the familiar waves of stress slamming into his heart's beach.
"I can tell your upset…"
Her pupils inched towards him, signaling to him that she was listening. Ace took this acknowledgement and jumped before she shied away. He put on a good-natured smile, earning him even more of her attention while taking a seat by the large regal monkey.
"You don't need to say anything."
Feeling her hand start to rattle, she pulled the pillow up to shield her face to keep the others from seeing. Ace spotted a tiny spec of water drip from behind the comforter.
"Why… does my heart hurt?"
"Your heart hurts when your soul feels grief, it's called being sorry for something you did… There's no shame in it. It just means you're finally starting to understand, that's how people change."
Trembling, she moved the pillow away from her face and motioned to the five-year-old in Ace's arms. He smiled, knowing what she wanted as he handed the blue-eyed boy over to the blank faced monkey. The thirty-year-old human gazed upon his surrogate mother, a new question starting to form.
"Do you… really think Chiro is the one?"
Zoey overheard the words and jumped into the conversation with flaring enthusiasm.
"Well of course our son is the Chosen One, Ace! And by this time tomorrow we'll finally go back to Shuggazoom." She clapped her hands proudly to her boy snuggled into Vex's light grey mane.
Ace adjusted his glasses, inhaling a hesitant sigh.
"I hope so, Zoey."
"Don't you start doubting now, we already got the plans set up! When we go back, we'll find the Super Robot and go from there."
Wisp began chopping up some potatoes into a bowl of boiling soup. He threw a hesitant look to his overly eager adopted daughter.
"Now Zoey, we don't know if the others will even have any knowledge of us. Our first objective is to find your father, The Alchemist, and decide where to go from there."
Zoey rolled her eyes, she hated it when her husband and father figure always dampened her hopes for her son's destiny. She knew he was the chosen one, the hero whispered throughout generational prophecies to stop the ultimate evil that would one day plague every galaxy; starting with Shuggazoom's.
"You guys just lack faith, we know of Chiros' sensitivity to the Power Primate, he's already showing signs of harnessing it!" She whipped her head in Vex's direction.
"Don't you agree, Vex?"
Vex peered down to the boy in her lap. Though her face showed no life, the others knew there was something there. She gently patted the boy's back.
"Wither he is or no, the pup needs to be given a choice."
Chiro smiled to the dull faced monkey and happily pulled on her mane.
"Can I have soda before bed?"
"No, you are going to bed, little man." Ace laughed as he glanced to Vex, "Mind taking him upstairs?"
Nodding, she wrapped her tail around the small boy's frame and towed him up the stairs. She opened his door, made way through his toy infested floor, and plopped Chiro on the bed. Vex looked around to find his clothes.
"Always got to be hiding your nightly wearings, Da?"
Chiro laughed and leaped off the bed, running away from the assassin as she smirked and went to grab him. Strung out stuffed animals caused her to lose her traction and fall flat on the floor, Chiro skillfully bounding off her back like a trampoline.
"You're too slow!"
XxXxXx
Ace sat at the dinner table while Wisp brought him and his wife some steamy soup. The sweet smell soaked his mouth with saliva as he grabbed a spoon and chowed down the French monkeys' fancy recipe. His cooking was always on one end of the extreme, either really bad or really good, but in tonight's case, it was the latter!
"This is so good!"
"Yea," Zoey complimented a blushing wisp. "Thanks!
"No problem though be sure to not engorge, we have a long journey back to Shuggazoom tomorrow. You know how sick everyone gets on space travel, wii?"
They laughed till a loud knock pounded on the door, everyone shared odd looks as Ace got up from the table.
"Who on Shuggazoom could that be at this time of night?"
Wisp raised an eyebrow while taking his own seat, "And during a thunder storm no less?"
"Oh, quit being paranoid and just open the door!" Zoey waved her hand while shoving another spoonful in her mouth.
Slowly opening the door, Ace's eyes widened as a tall man with a pointed beard stood shivering on their front porch.
"The… Alchemist?"
"My friends, at last I've found you." The tall man draped in a purple robe whispered while entering their den. His soaking wet hair draped against his clothes as he shivered from the cold.
Zoey stood up, eyes growing to the size of dinner plates in recognition. Taking a slow step, she launched herself into the Alchemist's rain-soaked cloak, tears gushing from her sky-blue eyes.
"Dad, h—how did you get here?" She sobbed in disbelief, salty tears mixing into the fresh water stains of his clothes. Arms squeezing him even tighter then she thought she was capable of.
The Alchemist smiled and hugged her back even tighter, fighting back his own tears.
"I was so worried the night I discovered you four had gone, I've been searching for you for so many years."
Wisp abounded his hot soup and hopped down from his seat, leaning against the open-door way to observe the sweet scene. Eyebrow crooked with question on their creator's random appearance, not that he wasn't happy to see him, but still a touch skeptical.
"You still haven't told us on how discovered our whereabouts." Wisp pressed Ace's earlier question.
"I'll tell you everything in a bit, but first… mind telling me why you four just ran away with only a note explaining you'd return one day?"
Ace smiled nervously, recalling the day he wrote that note and left it in his uncle Clayton's possession before he, Zoey, and the prototypes just up and left the city without a trace. Their secret mission being to find this 'chosen one,' legend had spoken about. They had spent years journeying from planet to planet, rummaging through a hundred cultures to find some valiant warrior that'd fit the bill. But each search came up negative.
Only till Zoey's pregnancy did their plans take an interesting turn.
"It's a long story, but why don't you go ahead and get comfortable, we'll tell you everything."
XxXxXx
Vex closed the story book, watching as Chiro's eyes became heavy with sleep laden. Her long dangerous claws gently stroked his black locks out of his blue eyes. Heart swelling at the sight of his adorable rosy cheeks, she couldn't contain the minuscule smile.
As Vex placed the book back on the night stand and prepared to leave, Chiro's small hands latched onto her own, halting her as she shot him a look of surprise. The young human smiled up to her and gave her a tight hug.
"I love you," he whispered.
Freezing, her slit pupils sluggishly expanded to soft circles. Smile growing larger, she pressed her claws to his back.
"I… love you too."
As the hug lingered, something dark struck Vex, her pupils shifting back to a cold stare as she whipped her head to the rain beating against the window. Frost started to gather around the glass's edge as big lightning bolts cracked across the angry skies. Darkness seemed to be closing in as the grey monkey got Chiro securely in one arm.
"Dear one, venture to your parents' private sleep facilities."
"Uh… okay, what's wrong?"
"Nothing, go on now. I'll recover you in a time radius of about sixty seconds."
The young boy cut her a weird look before he nodded and went into his parents' room and shut the door. Heart pounding louder, something dark was slithering through this house, something of pure evil. The lights in the kitchen were still on, she could hear their laughing… but didn't recognize the owner of the older male's voice.
XxXx
The Alchemist smiled to his family's humorous banters of their adventures and all they had been through the last several years. A cup of hot coffee held in his hand as he occasionally lifted it for a drink.
"Sounds like you've had quite the journey these past several years."
"Yea, especially with Chiro!"
The Alchemist paused, putting the coffee away from his mouth, all his focus now on the boy he learned to be his son-in-law.
"Chiro?"
"Yea, um, the boy we told you about a minute ago. Our son, your grandson?"
The Alchemist's eyes widened as he placed the coffee on the table. Intertwining his hands over knees, he twiddled his thumbs, contemplating.
"Yes, so his name is Chiro, how old is he?"
"Oh…" Wisp thought with a finger placed to his snout, "Five years old. We were returning to Shuggazoom tomorrow to find you and to see what can be done about him le Hyperforce models."
"Oh, the monkeys have been in hibernation for a while. Mandarin is no longer a part of them."
Zoey spit her drink out and stood up, shock written all over her face.
"What? How did this happen?"
"Who's to say, I long expected a seed of darkness in Mandarin's heart. But now that you've found the Chosen One, his destiny can begin."
Vex stood in the door way, staring at the four conversating back and forth. Purple eyes head bouncing till coming to rest on the Alchemist. Studying every angle of his face, his eyes turned and locked onto her. Silence drifted between the two as her maker gave a twitchy smile.
The darkness seemed to close in as Vex noticed the Alchemist's shadow, heart skipping a beat when seeing the strange skeletal shape. Oh no, she turned to Ace before a sharp pain pierced her helmet and sent her right into the grandfather clock. Sparks frizzed up as her vision slowly drifted into slumbering static.
The Alchemist smirked as his shadows returned to him after striking the grey monkey, now that she was out of the way, it was time.
Standing up, the Alchemist waved his hand to get everyone's attention.
"Please, I'd love to see my grandson, mind showing me?"
"Oh sure! One minute, let me go see if I can find him." Ace volunteered as he cluelessly ran past an out cold Vex and up the stairs.
After a few minutes, Ace returned to their company downstairs with a baffled look. "Um," he started with a hand running through his spiky brown hair. "I just checked Chiro's room, he's not in there?"
"That's odd, Vexus always puts him to bed at this time," Wisp commented with equal confusion. "Wonder where she is."
Just as their eyes started wandering to find the grey monkey, the Alchemist slammed a hand into the table. Everyone jumped at the sound, staring at the man they knew and trusted, a shadow veiling his face with both eyes turning a devilish red.
"That's not necessary."
"Dad… what's wrong?"
Claws slashed Zoey across the neck, sending her right through the wooden table. Everyone froze as The Alchemist chuckled, claws twisting at abnormal angles before returning to hide in his sleeves. He redirected his blood red eyes to Wisp and Ace, flat teeth sharpening to long deadly fangs.
A mocking chuckle as dark and empty as a black hole irrupted from his throat, the gentle voice he once bore now morphed into something hideously unfamiliar.
"You fools should've never set out to find the Chosen One."
Ace slapped his hands together, summoning an electric ax as he charged. The Alchemist side stepped him, dodging every swing the thirty-year-old took till he halted Ace's next strike by grabbing his wrist. Ace was hoisted up and thrown onto the coffee table, shattering it to splinters. Raggedy breaths popped from his blood-stained mouth as he struggled to stand.
Wisp drew his bladed tail and stabbed the Alchemists' shin, causing an unholy howl to rupture the air. The white monkey maneuvered around his rival's swaying claws and connected an elbow to his eye, knocking the robe wearing man to the ground. He back-flipped away and slid into a quick attack stance, sweat pouring from his white brow line. The horror hit when he gazed at his adopted daughter's downed body.
"Zoey!" He rushed over to grab her leg before a blast of fire hit his back. The French simian gasped in horror as his body became numb, feeling the heavy thud of his body hit the floor, all outside noises fading into a dull hum.
The Alchemist rose from the floor like a lump of black, eyes glowing a darker shade of red. Grabbing his face, he tore the skin off as if it were nothing but plastic, a pale skull coming into view. Dark chuckles irrupted from his fanged mouth as he slowly gazed to Ace, who had just managed to find his feet.
"You pathetic worms gave me a great hassle, keeping the Chosen One hidden from me. Now, your efforts end… tonight!"
XxXxXx
Vex threw the clock off her body with a headache blasting every angle of her senses. Groaning, she rubbed her eyes to restore their focus. The area around her was dangerously quiet, a big question mark hovered over her head as she stumbled away from her fallen spot. A small trickle of blood stained her nose as she drunkly wobbled into the den.
Ace, Zoey, and Wisp all laid on the floor, smoke from a growing fire hazed her vision. Vex titled her head at the odd sight, mind struggling to recall what happened before the darkness had offlined her world.
"Ace…" she called to the one she was closest to, approaching the human. "Something is wrong, we need—" she froze when he didn't respond to her nudging.
Kneeling, the monkey shook the human, but the only response she got was him lifelessly rolling into the direction of her grip. Heart beginning to pound, she rushed to Ace and Zoey, shaking them but also meeting a similar reaction. All three of them laid there, as if peacefully asleep and unaware of her presence.
After feeling Ace's neck and detecting no pulse, the grey monkey's eyes widened.
"So, you survived my attack…" Skeleton King chuckled, sitting on the couch Ace had been previously. His eyes lighting up the room like a red night light, claws folded calmly in his lap.
"You know, I've recently pulled up your family's records, nothing much to gloat about… just some random deeds here and there—till I stumbled upon yours. I knew Mandarin of all my creations was prone to darkness… but color me surprised to find out you, the meekest of all my monkeys, were capable of such malicious deeds."
Vex's eyes didn't leave her boy's lifeless body, her expression trapped in a frozen gaze. Skeleton King's laughter echoed through the air. Dread swarmed her usual cold heart the longer she stared at them, hoping for any sign of movement, but the longer she stared… the more she realized it was to late.
Something began to smolder in her chest, burning her grey snout a dark red. Skeleton King noticed the changing expression and smirked, pushing his tormenting words further.
"You mortals honestly thought you could stop what was predestined? The Chosen One will die… and he'll never awaken those fifthly primates!"
Slowly turning around, Vex's eyes shifted to solid black orbs, pupils vanishing as venomous hatred boiled through her blood like hot iron. Steam rose from her ears as her claws lengthened, letting go of Ace's hand.
"You will pay dearly for this."
XxXxXx
Chiro hid under the bed in his parents' room, tears soaking his face as the sounds of glass shattering and furniture being thrown tore through the house. The floor rocked like a class five earthquake, cracking spots beneath the rug. He covered his mouth to keep his frightened squeaks muffled, heart pounding from the nearby danger.
What was going on? He didn't know, he had tried to peek out the door to see what was going on, but the screams made him abort that plan and seek safety beneath his parents' bed.
Outside the door, Vex had gotten behind Skeleton King and sank her fangs into his neck. Both tumbled on the staircase, the grey monkey getting the upper hand by ramming the undead lord's cranium into the stairs. The skull tyrant snarled in rage as he hit the cord on her arm, severing it.
Vex felt a solid half of her energy plummet, loosening her grip as the villain took this moment of distraction and rammed his staff into her face. The sight of her family's fate kept popping into her mind, slowing her responses as she was knocked about like a pinball machine.
The simian felt numb wash through her as her body was hoisted and sent flying straight through the nearest door. Skeleton King huffed, holding the scratches left on his face, teeth baring as he turned and marched towards Chiro's room.
"I've had enough of this nonsense!" He aimed his staff at the door and blasted it down.
A small mound laid beneath the covers, a blue hat poking out from the top. Chuckling with a lust for death, the dread lord yanked the covers off and slashed for the body beneath. Feathers burst out, covering him to the point he looked like a poultry. Confusion replaced anger as the skeleton scanned the small pillows he had slashed to pieces with a school uniform draped over them.
"What… is this?" He boomed, kicking the bed over and frantically looking everywhere to find the child. "If the boy is not here… then how—" he paused, looking out the window at the nearby shed, a wall of blue fire raising from the tin roof as a small pod shot out the back and vanished into the sky.
"Well played, murderer," Skeleton King growled as he turned for the exit. "You're not getting away that easy."
XxXxXx
Vex put in the coordinates for Shuggazoom as she gazed to a wounded Chiro tucked beneath the covers she wrapped him in. During the struggle, some stray planks had struck the child's head and left a large bloody knot. Besides a few other cuts and bruises, he was alright, but the same could not be said for her.
Her entire body had been mangled: half of her tail, a section of her right foot, and her right eye. Also counting a few fingers and her right metallic ear had been knocked clean off, she was rapidly losing blood. Death would soon take her, but not yet, there was something that needed to be done.
"Mom… d—dad… where are they?" Chiro muttered weakly, holding the scratches on his back, fighting back the agony.
Vex looked at him, her bland face weak and pale from blood loss with a massive scar horribly disfiguring her face.
"Shh…" she muttered, patting his head to soothe him the best she could. "It'll be okay, just wait a little longer."
A few hours of intense flying led the pair to Shuggazoom's air space, but the beautiful sight of the city did nothing for the monkey. Her vision grew dimmer as she struggled to stay up, unable to put any pressure on her right foot, she practically had to use the wall as a crutch to attempt any amount of mobility. The ship's hull hit the ground with a loud thud, then securing Chiro in her arms, she carried him out and to the border of a tall building.
Shuggazoom's home for orphans, not a place she would've picked, but not knowing where the super robot was nor Captain Shuggazoom's whereabouts forced her to make this choice. Looking to Chiro's tear stained face, she led him to the door and set him down. His tiny hand grabbed her wrist, forcing the wounded monkey back.
"A—auntie Vex… where are you going?"
"I… have to go away for a bit," she glanced down to his eyes, thinking long and hard till her mind made a painful decision. Kneeling down, she grabbed the boy in a tight hug, "I know not if you're the chosen one, but if you are… I want you to have a choice." She titled Chiro's eyes up to peer into her single ocular lens, a bright glow arising in her iris.
Chiro's eyes turned into a matching purple hue as darkness began to surround all the horrible memories replaying in his head of recent events. Like a pencil running its eraser over a story book scene he hadn't finished reading.
"What are you doing?"
"This won't hurt a bit, pup."
"But…"
"Shh, just sleep now. When you wake up, I promise… you won't hurt anymore."
Chiro's world turned dark as sleep finally won the battle over his mind. He gave one last reluctant cry till he was out cold, Vex tightened her grip on him till forcing herself to let him go. The wind shifted, alerting the monkey that a massive evil was heading her way. Looking back to Chiro once more, she hugged him and ran.
XxXxXx
Skeleton King stepped out of his bone structured ship, eyes glaring to the crashed space pod wedged into some high standing rocks of the tiny moon they were stationed on. Spying a trail of mechanical fluid mixed with blood, he followed it to their owner about a mile away.
Lying by some tall standing rock pillars was Vex, so battered Skeleton King almost couldn't recognize her. He sniffed the air, gazing around the rocky landscape, surprised to not see the boy anywhere in sight.
"I'm a little surprised at you, my murderous monkey, I thought you of all them would see reason. You know destiny cannot be changed, you honestly think that little boy will stop me?"
Coughing up blood, she gazed up to him, a small playful smirk mocking him.
"You're the one… who is going to… f—fail."
"Then you've made your choice." Raising his staff, dark power surrounded its head as he aimed it at her, "You've hassled me for the last time, I'm going to lock your soul in a void where the frost will peel away the layers of your spirit… then when your will is broken, the real torture will begin."
"You will… never win this battle."
Tightening his fist, skeleton king aimed his staff.
"You pathetic soulless heathen, all you've done was extend his suffering!"
Vex closed her eyes, the last thing she saw was the skull tyrant's dreadful gaze glaring down at her till all went black.
A/N: This story may have one more chapter, will decide, but till then, hope you enjoyed this version of Chiro's beginning in War of the Undead. Read and review, thanks!