What is this pain I'm feeling?

I reached out, tried to touch them, but they were no longer there-

Falling!

Still a slave to gravity, Chiro was-

Falling!

He opens his eyes, panicked and almost wild. He could feel the rush of air invading his lungs, his back drenched in sweat, wet and sticky- and why was he dressed in his hypermode uniform?

What was happening to him? Wasn't the war against the undead over?

His thoughts started to jumble up into one big mess, with the wind slashing chillingly over his bare face and arms. He thinks of everything at once, so much that he cannot fathom what is happening- a dream?- the surroundings were a dark, dark hue of ebony, so he should not be able to see his uniform-

Panic grips Chiro and he starts to hyperventilate. What if this isn't a dream? What if what's happening is real? He claws at the air, hoping to grab onto something to stop his fall, and he knows that his actions are irrational, but damn it, this whole situation is irrational!

The monkey team.

He could remember the day he had activated the Super Robot, along with five multicolored, hibernating monkeys. A high voltage of electricity from the lever surged through his body, along with a powerful green, spiritual energy, which was strong enough to knock him out cold. When he came to, the monkeys surrounded him, framed against the light of the super robot. He could see one of the gentlest and rarest expression on Nova's face. And it was for him, Chiro, their leader.

Why am I thinking about this when I'm going to hit-

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

The deep dark ebony around Chiro vanishes and his eyes are assaulted with a sharp beam of white light. He feels something soft underneath him, and realizes that it is his bed. Breathing heavily, Chiro looks around and heaves a sigh of relief when reality sinks slowly into his brain that it was all-

"A bad dream, kid?"

Chiro gets off the bed and stands up shakily. Then he realizes that he is not getting out of bed at all, but rather, getting out of his body. Chiro touches the desk beside the bed, and his hand simply passes through it, as if the desk is made out of air.

"Sprx! I'm here!" Chiro calls out, but receives no reaction from the red simian, nor his own physical counterpart. Chiro sighs in frustration and watches the scene unfold in front of him, even more confused than before.

Sprx hops onto his bed and nudges Chiro aside, snuggling into one of the pillows playfully. "Gotta say kid, your bed's real comfy. Even comfier than mine! Oh, Do you have any idea how uncomfortable Gibson's test tube bolster is? I slept with it for one night and woke up aching all over!"

A pair of tired blue eyes stared coldly back at the red monkey. Chiro shoved Sprx roughly off his bed, and much to the red monkey's displeasure, the boy switched the light off, turning his back onto Sprx.

"I want to go back to sleep." Chiro responded softly, pulling the covers back over his head. "You can go back to your chambers now. Thanks for coming up to check on me."

"Woah kid, no need to be so hostile," Sprx held his hands up in defense, stepping slowly away from the bed, "I was just trying to console you, alright? It's only your second day in the robot, after all. Get some rest kid, and I'll see you tomorrow morning. Remember, your first lesson tomorrow is with Antauri."

Second day in the robot? Through all the confusion, (spirit) Chiro pieced two and two together, coming to the only logical conclusion that he could think of.

I am relieving my memories from the past.

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(A/N: Please take note from now on, I will be writing in the POV of Chiro of the past!)

It is a beautiful summer morning in Shuggazoom but Chiro is in a terribly sour mood and finds the light rays which filter through his bedroom windows to be a violent brightness. He gingerly sits up from his bed and yawns with heavy eyelids. Glancing around the room, his eyes land on a small pile of worksheets that are stacked neatly on his desk, with a small note pasted onto one:

"Dear Chiro, I created these primatology worksheets this morning for you to study, so please get them completed by our lesson on Thursday. Sincerely, Mr Hal Gibson."

Great. It's only been his third day on this robot and the monkeys are already treating him like their leader. Without his consent. In fact, Chiro doesn't even remember agreeing to play the role of the "Chosen one", but the monkeys had been so fixated on getting him prepared to protect the city that they cleaned up the entire robot by the time he had regained consciousness just to make a good first impression. And then the green one pulled him around, thus beginning the orientation of his new life.

In a robot. With five talking monkeys. Protecting the very city which he despises so much.

If people thought that Chiro had been crazy before, then they'd think that he was even crazier now. In fact, the only reason why Chiro stayed in the robot was because the orphanage was a dreaded place for him. Not many shared the same interest in robotics as Chiro. The only friend he had made over the course of 9 years was Jimmy, who taught Chiro the basics of building a robot out of organic materials and recycled aluminum cans. A few months later, a couple that worked as physicists arrived at the orphanage and requested for an adoption. Jimmy was then brought away into the arms of a warm, loving couple while Chiro continued living a lonely life in his cold and bare room at the orphanage.

Even at a young age, Chiro did not believe in the idea of close social bonds,be it familial or friendship. When he was four, his mom and dad had filed for a divorce, each refusing to keep their own child. Both struggled with financial difficulties from gambling and drug dealing, and the court eventually announced, after lengthy discussions, to ship Chiro off to the local orphanage, claiming that he'd have "a better life" over there. Chiro had screamed for his parents, begging for them to take him back, promised that he'd be a good boy, but the only response he got was the expression of relief on their faces as the bailiff dragged Chiro out of the courtroom. The harsh reality then sank in that they never really loved him, even though for his whole life, he believed that they did.

After that, he never saw his parents again. One thing for certain, though, is that life did not get better at the orphanage.

Chiro's build was small, weak, and scrawny from the years of neglect from his parents. On his first day at the orphanage, he immediately became the new target for bullying- bigger kids shoving his lunch tray away during recess, tearing up his homework or intentionally stepping on the robots he had built during arts and crafts. The only thing which offered comfort was the few successful prototypes Chiro had created using more expensive materials given to him during Christmas by sympathetic adults.

In short, Chiro's life had always been miserable. It still is, Nobody cared about him, and barely anyone acknowledged his existence. Being alone was a norm, and Chiro had built firm, steady walls around himself to prevent anyone from getting close. Never did he want to experience the pain of separation from those he cared about (or in this case, used to care about). Chiro had vowed to pursue a professional career on other planets the moment he earned his degree here on Shuggazoom, and leave this place and its cruel memories behind.

All that was ruined when he was at the outskirts of the city searching for raw materials to upgrade his prototypes.

Snapping back into reality, Chiro lets out a puff of air, reaches out for a fresh set of clothes and thinks that life could not get any worse. He pushes himself out of the bed slowly, gingerly, and walks into the bathroom, hearing every squeak his weight makes on the floor. Today, Chiro decides, he will tell the monkeys that he refuses to be their leader, that there has to be some mistake, that he is not the chosen one, and after everything has cleared up, he will return back to pursuing his goal of being a professional mechanic.

Washing up quickly, Chiro swiftly makes his way down to Antauri's room. He opens the door and expects the black monkey to be ready for lesson, but to his surprise, the black simian is floating in lotus position, meditating, his back towards the door. Chiro stands awkwardly at the entrance, wondering about what to say to catch his teacher's atten-

"Good morning, Chiro," Antauri greets and turns around to face the boy, "please come in."

Chiro jumps in his own skin and blue eyes widen but otherwise he doesn't show his surprise at the sudden sound of Antauri's voice. He makes his way beside the levitating black monkey and sits down.

"Now, let us begin," Antauri says, "but I'm not planning to make this a formal lesson." Holding Chiro's hand, the black monkey smiles gently at him, and for the first time, Chiro realizes the enormous depth in the yellow-green orbs of the other.

"I want to know more about you. Please tell me, anything that can break the ice between us. It would be a pleasure if we could get to know each other better."

A pregnant pause follows as Chiro is taken aback by the question. For the first time in his life, maybe someone is actually interested in his hobbies, his thoughts, his opinions. Perhaps even offering to be his friend.

"Well, there's nothing much about me," the boy responds, choosing his words carefully, "I used to live in the orphanage down town, and I take lessons like physics, basic engineering, and additional mathematics. Pretty much anything related to physical science piques my interest. Also," Chiro fishes a picture of his first successful prototype to Antauri out from his pocket, "robotics is my passion. I could build them all day, piecing the arms and legs together, creating a stable base to make sure the robot stands, and making fuel for the robots so that they can move-"

"Oh," Chiro realizes that he'd been rambling. He pauses and stuffs and picture back in his pocket, shifting his eyes toward the ground and bracing for the laughter.

There was none.

Instead, Antauri holds a gentle expression on his features. He tilts Chiro's chin up so they're staring directly eye to eye. "Ah, robotics," Antauri says and levitates to Chiro's eye level, "then I'm sure that you can get along with our team's mechanic, Otto. He does have some interesting inventions, though I cannot say that I..." Chiro catches the amused look on the black monkey's face, "approve of all of them."

"What kind of inventions are they?" the boy probed further, genuinely curious at what Antauri has to say.

"Well," Antauri continues, "one time, Otto upgraded our jetpacks to shoot out jelly instead of fire, so during our training session, the training room was blanketed in jelly because we were unaware of the upgrade. After that incident, Gibson locked up Otto's tool cabinet for a whole week."

"Woah." Chiro's mouth dropped wide open, grinning at the other, "that's a pretty wicked invention."

"Indeed," the black monkey nodded his head, "creative, but it took us a really long time to clean all the jelly up."

"I'd like to see that someday," Chiro chuckles softly, "maybe everyone could collaborate on something cool together." Wait, what?

After realizing what he'd said, Chiro fell silent. It had been ages since he initiated something like a social gathering, and even longer since he's had a proper conversation with someone. But in the end, he knows that this is all a mistake, he is not the chosen one, and never will be. Not someone like him.

"Is there something troubling you, Chiro?"

Antauri's question broke the boy out of his thoughts. Chiro glanced up at the black monkey timidly, slightly flustered at the sudden heavier mood in the room. There is silence as the boy contemplates carefully about what to say.

"I..." he began slowly, reluctantly, "I think that you've all made some error in choosing me as your leader."

"Oh?"

"I mean, it's just not in me. I'm not someone who can lead. In fact, I think I'm more of a follower, and I'm not much of a talker. Come on, Antauri, I can barely even utter a word in front of a crowd. How can I be expected to lead you all to protect the city?" This time, it's Chiro who faces the black monkey directly, "in fact, I don't even think I like Shuggazoom that much..."

Chiro lets loose the breath he doesn't know that he's been holding, but does not allow himself to relax. Instead, he channels his swirling thoughts and emotions to the red and gold koi fish dancing in the stream of Antauri's room, feeling like he had offended someone with the sudden confession. Another pause. Chiro could hear his heart beating against his rib cage, his breathing speed up, filling his head with white noise.

"I figured that you would say something like that," finally came Antauri's reply, his tone neutral and calm, "and it's normal to have doubts about yourself, Chiro. But at this stage, it's only the beginning of our journey as protectors of the city. If you don't give it a try, how will you know how well you will succeed?"

Chiro feels a cold metallic hand on his shoulder, giving him a firm and reassuring squeeze.

"Even if you don't believe in yourself, Chiro, the monkey team believes that you are indeed the chosen one. The power primate has picked you as our leader and we harbor no doubt about that. Now, I think it's time for us to make our way to the command centre."

Antauri gently tugged at Chiro's forearm and beckoned the boy to stand up. There is a small sense of warmth swelling in the boy's chest at the idea of companionship and trust. He allows himself, just this once, to let his guard down and believe in Antauri's words. Maybe, just maybe, the whole situation isn't as bad as he thinks it is. Maybe.

As the pair makes their way down, Chiro finds himself surrounded by darkness. Antauri has slipped away somewhere and a thick silence envelopes itself throughout the room. Unnerved, Chiro makes his way towards the light switch and flicks it-

"Happy Birthday!"

As light floods the room, five robotic monkeys stand in front of a strawberry cream cake, each with a present in their hands. Gibson lights a candle as the boy walks towards the monkey team, stunned at the preparations they had done. There were orange and white streamers, red banners and even a piñata dangling from the ceiling. An orange banner had the words "Happy Birthday!" written on it with huge, white letters, and soft music played from the speakers.

"Wow..." Catching his breath, Chiro was at a loss for words. Not only had this surprise been utterly unexpected, but it was the first time people actually remembered his birthday, something not even his own parents had celebrated. Chiro felt... strangely touched. "How did you know?" he asked.

"We searched your bag!" Otto happily chirped in, grinning from ear to ear, and receiving a shove in the arm from Nova, "I mean, yesterday when we were helping you to unpack your stuff, your birth certificate fell out of your bag, so I took notice of your birthday! Then everyone helped out to decorate and stuff!"

"Ahem," Gibson cleared his throat, eyeing the green simian skeptically and smiling as he pulled out a test tube containing purplish liquid, "this is my present for you, dear Chiro. It contains a serum which speeds up your healing abilities by at least two hundred percent. It took me all night just to make it, and I'm rather proud, if I do say so myself."

Chiro gratefully accepted the present before being ambushed by Sprx. Both fell to the ground, and the boy could feel a small chuckle bubbling up his throat.

"Hey kid, I just wanna apologize if I scared you last night, so as a make up, here's the latest remote control race car I bought at the toy store down the street. Hope you'll like it!"

"Woah," Chiro breathed out in awe, "thanks Sprx! And, um, about last night, I have to apologize as well, I mean, everything was new to me and I guess I just needed time to myself. No hard feelings?"

The red monkey smiled at him and gently punched his shoulder in agreement.

"I got you a jelly shooting pen!" Otto cheered in excitement, pushing Sprx aside and shoving the tiny gadget in Chiro's hand, "and it writes in jelly ink too, so you can eat and write at the same time!"

"Haha, thanks Otto." Chiro smiled, scratching the back of his head timidly, not used to all the attention. "I'll good take care of it."

"Aww no need to be shy Chiro," Nova grinned up at her leader, holding up a translucent pinkish rock, "Antauri and I got you this crystal which gives out light in your room whenever it senses that you're scared. It also emits vibes which can help you fall asleep!"

"That's really sweet," Chiro feels as if he's the luckiest person in the world, a light fluttering feeling growing in his chest. "thanks Nova, Antauri."

Together with the team, everyone ate cake, made jokes, had fun and got along. There were a lot of pictures taken that afternoon, and joy and pleasure showed themselves on everyone's faces. Even Antauri was full of smiles. They crowded around a table, messy with cream, barbecue sauce and piled up green napkins. Everyone agreed to clean up in the evening, but now was going to be a time of bonding and warming up to their new leader- and vice versa.

As one is having fun, time passes quickly. Soon, the sun is setting and while the monkeys are cleaning up, Chiro decides to go to the neck of the robot to get some fresh air. Making his way up the robot, he sees a green silhouette sitting at the edge of the torso, humming a soft familiar lullaby.

"Otto?"

The green primate turns around and waves at his leader cheerfully. "Take a seat, Chiro!"

"What are you doing up here?"

"Just thinking about some stuff, you know," Otto replies sheepishly, scratching his helmet, "it's been a while since our robotic parts got to move around again, and a lot of things have happened since we were awakened."

This aroused Chiro's interest. " Really? Like what?"

Black eyes meet Chiro's baby blue ones and there is a deepening frown etching itself across the green primate's features. He lets out a solemn sigh and rubs his hands together in the low temperature of the night.

"Well, the people here aren't ready to accept us as their protectors yet," Otto begins, a hint of sadness dripping in his voice, "Shuggazoom has always been a city which relies on heroes for security, but the past heroes have all been human and mortal. Even past heroes took some time to adapt to the city. But now, when monkeys are made protectors of the city, and even though we're robotic and smart, people don't have faith in us, Chiro, because we're not human. Some time ago, we managed to gain their faith, but now, people have forgotten about us and I guess its back to square one."

Otto lifted up his left arm, revealing a small cut near the shoulder blade. It was tiny but deep, and one would have missed if he didn't stare close enough.

"Today I went to the bakery to get the cake, and a girl at the cashier started throwing nuts at me and calling me a circus monkey." Otto turned towards the city and pointed towards its skyline. "But even though we don't fit in, I want to protect Shuggazoom, Chiro. It's what we're made for, even if we have to earn the citizens' respect all over again. This city is precious to me and the team, and I swear," Otto extends his hand towards the other, grinning, "we will stop any threat that invades. Right, Chiro?"

Chiro stared at the (rather out-of-character) green primate and reaches for the hand extended towards him. He conceals his admiration with an expression of determination and smiles at the mechanic.

"Yea. That's a promise."

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Death. He is surrounded by death.

It is in the air, the unconscious people are multitudinous, the putrid smell of black, sticky goo saturated the battlefield and they are multiplying, always multiplying, every hour, every minute, every second- it's like a virus mutation gone wrong and death is spreading. It is in the sounds, the sirens wailing desperately in the air, and the ground, which is practically oozing black goo. Death is everywhere.

Downtown, death comes faster than a blink of an eye. An oblivious citizen can get abducted by a formless and be erased off the surface of the earth in a matter of seconds.

Through all the chaos and the fire (from missiles?) Chiro catches a glimpse of his team attacking the formless with their speed and agility, but their actions are slightly slower than before, and perhaps heavier with exhaustion, weaker from injuries.

Gibson was the first to be knocked out. He was lying unconscious against a brick wall, but there is a huge dent clearly visible and stray concrete surrounds the blue simian.

"Whirling destructo- woooooah!"

A formless grabs Otto by the tail and flings the green primate aside, smashing him into a trash can. Groaning, Otto slides down and tries to get up, only to be kicked down roughly by another bigger, stronger formless, before being knocked out cold.

"You'll pay for this! Magnet Tingler Blast!"

Sprx sends a huge, red ball of energy towards the formless, taking out at least five of them. Satisfied, he turns his back and realizes a formless is aiming a missile towards Nova's blind spot. Sprx throws his own body on Nova's and pushes them aside to a safer area, out of the missile's range. Black eyes meet pink ones and there is a deepening scowl etching on the golden primate's face. Sprx sticks his tongue out, lips smirking, places his hands on either side of Nova's shoulders and hoists her up.

"Okay, okay, geez, to think I saved your life."

It has been weeks since Chiro has met the monkey team and today is his first battle. To say that he was panicking was an understatement. They never expected Skeleton King to form a powerful army in such a short time, and to be fully honest, he wasn't prepared for such a powerful attack.

"Chiro!" Antauri's voice came over the transmitter, urgent and tinted with a hint of desperation, "we need to retreat! Now!"

"I'm on it!" Was the boy's response. He activated his rocket pack and flew back towards the super robot, observing the scene beneath him. The city streets were swarmed with formless, and there is no sign of human life. That could mean 1) Everyone was wiped out or 2) Everyone was hiding in the shelter.

Chiro prayed that it was the latter.

As the boy enters the robot, he sees Antauri and Nova tending to the two fallen members, while Sprx is reviewing the battle status on the screen.

"Things don't look good, kid," the red monkey informs Chiro, opening Shuggazoom's map, "the formless are everywhere, in sectors 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5. Sector 6 is empty, but they'll be there soon enough."

"Uh..." Chiro feels no wisp of relief, as his mind plunges further into the depths of panic and despair. Even in the robot, he smells the death on his shirt, and fear grips him about Gibson and Otto's critical condition. He runs through the various battle strategies in his mind, but his thoughts are in such a mess, there is no answer to this problem, there is no simple solution.

Should I send Gibson and Otto out for battle?

What if the rest of the team face the similar fate?

What if they never return?

"I... I feel that..." Chiro's voice is barely above a whisper, and he feels his self esteem plummeting down at rocket speed, his voice growing softer by the minute.

He starts to realize that he has no clear answer to this problem. He's not smart like Gibson, who can come up with a witty answer to a complicated question fast, nor is he like Antauri, who knows what to do when things look dire, nor can he speak his mind like Nova during times like these. He is nothing but a worthless kid, who never was the chosen one, who never will be.

All the events which happened these past weeks was a huge mistake. Some sort of protector he turned out to be.

"Kid, say something! Don't just stand there!" Sprx is growing more impatient by the minute as the formless started invading sector 6, and it is only a matter of time before they take over the whole city, a matter of time before they find the shelters, a matter of time before everyone-

"He's right, Chiro, you have to come up with something fast," Nova encourages while replacing Otto's detached arm, "or we'll be doomed."

"Kid! Did you become deaf or something? We need to come up with a plan at this instant, and we need it now!"

Chiro hears something snap. He doesn't know how, or why, but it just... happened.

"I..." he shakily replies, "I can't think of anything right now! If you keep insisting that I come up with something, well, you're not in luck! I don't have ANY plan, I don't have ANY strategy, I just don't know what to do!" Chiro feels his eyes getting hot, his cheeks getting moist, his heart rate increasing, "I don't KNOW! I'm not the leader you all expected me to be, I have zero leadership skills, and I've been an introvert from birth, so when I'm put on the spot I don't know how to react! I'm scared of losing everyone if my plan doesn't work and I am sick and tired of losing people who I care about! There are..."

Chiro pauses to catch his breath and sees the monkeys staring up at him in shock. He realizes that tears are streaming down his cheeks and feeling embarrassed, he wraps his arms around himself and starts to tremble uncontrollably. He could feel the blood pounding noisily in his ears, just like the noises on the battlefield.

"I'm scared of... of this whole situation."

There is a pregnant pause which suffocates the remaining conscious members. Tension and uncertainty is thick in the air. After a full five minutes, Antauri is the first one to come back to his senses.

A warm metallic hand lands on Chiro's shoulder and squeezes it gently. He turns around to see the black primate levitating in the air in a lotus position, wiping away his tears.

"Chiro." Antauri says gently, guilt flooding his yellow-green orbs, "we had no idea that you felt this way... for this, your monkey team apologizes. Second, if you want to rest, please do. Your health matters to us, Chiro. Nova, Sprx, and I will take care of the formless in the sectors using the robot, and-"

"No." Chiro interrupts, glancing at the fallen green primate, "I...I made a promise to Otto to protect the city. I won't back down now..."

"That's nice to know, Chiro, I have a suggestion, although, if you don't mind listening to it. If we attack in sector 6-"

Chiro stares his mentor and focuses his eyes on the screen. "Sector 6. That where Shuggazoom's new bridge Is built.. and it's right above the river. If we- "

"If we gather all the formless on the bridge and destroy it, they will all fall into the river!" Nova interrupts as she pieces the puzzle together. "That's brilliant, Chiro!"

Chiro smiles sheepishly and looks towards the ground. Sprx hurries to Chiro's side, bumping his metallic fist against the boy's.

"Sorry if I pushed you too hard, kid," the red monkey says, giving Chiro a small, encouraging smile, "but now that we have a plan, lets do it!"

"Alright..." Chiro pulls his gloves tighter, a new sensation -confidence?- riding up his chest.

I can do this. I am this city's protector. I have to save Shuggazoom.

"Monkeys, Mobilize!"

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"Alright, team, disable the robot! Brain Scrambler 2, you tend to sectors 1 and 2. Gather the formless via the highway, that;s the shortest route towards the bridge! Foot Crusher Cruiser 6, go to sectors 3 and 4. Formless are sparse in that area, but bigger and more powerful, so use caution! Limit the use of missile 56, we need that to destroy the bridge. Fist Rocket 3, tend to sectors 5 and 6, and then help me with gathering all the formless together and ensuring that they don't escape. I'll be on the lookout at the entrance of the bridge for any stray enemies or new threats. Be at the bridge in 15 minutes!"

"Yes, Chiro!"

As the monkeys tended to their respective sectors, the boy heaves out a sigh of relief. Even if he did manage to come up with something last minute with a success rate of at least 60%, a part of him rejoices for the fact that the team didn't give up on him.

Unlike a lot of other people who used to be in his life.

During these past weeks, Chiro has managed to open up to the team by a considerable amount due to their friendliness and welcoming atmosphere. Life in The robot was always light hearted, and Chiro didn't have to live in fear of getting his lunch taken away the next day, nor getting his robotic creations made fun of. The monkeys soon became friends to him, (although through a lot of reluctance and Antauri's strong persistence) and any signs of discomfort was soon erased.

He became adapted to the life in the robot because the monkeys were nice to him.

It never occurred to him that what was missing in his life is a little kindness and care. With these two elements, it could change a person, just like how it changed him.

"We have them now!" Nova's voice interrupted Chiro's thoughts, "but we can't hold them in for long!"

"Alright, Nova, I'm moving into your position. Fire missile 56 in 3... 2..."

"Chiro it's too dangerous! Your Torso tank will fall into the sea along with the formless and we can't risk your life!"

"Nova!" Chiro shouted, "its too late to turn back now! Nothing will happen to me, alright? This is for Shuggazoom's sake!" Once he hears the golden primate's sharp intake of breath, and a silent agreement is made between them, Chiro gave the order.

"FIRE!"

What happened after that came in a blur. There was a deep rumbling noise, something resembling an earthquake, and Chiro felt the steady concrete underneath him give away. Soon he was falling in slow motion, his feels his whole body tilting in all directions and there are invisible forces pushing him around, making him dizzy... Chiro braces for the strong impact into the cold, dark, murky water and prays that he comes out alive.

If i die, Chiro solemnly closes his eyes, at least let the monkeys find a better leader.

He waits for the sound of crashing water but The impact never came. Chiro slowly cracks open his eyes and realizes that he is not moving, but floating in mid air.

"Don't worry Chiro, I've got you with the Brain Scrambler's new crane." A familiar, deep, gentle voice spoke over the transmitter. "Now, lets head back to the robot."

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(A/N: Back to the present now!)

"...Ch—iro!... Ch-iro! Chiro!"

I reached out, but they were no longer there. Then I felt something wrapped around my back...

Chiro's blue eyes flash around the room, panicked and wide, one arm propped against the cold, hard metallic table of the sick bay, with his torso half lifted from the table. Otto stared up at him with concerned eyes, while Gibson is busily typing away at the monitor screen.

"You okay, Chiro? You look horrible," Otto says, relief flooding his features, "you were knocked out by an enemy ray which allowed your soul to go back to the past."

"Oh? Oh, yea, I'm alright now Otto, just had a familiar dream..." Chiro flashed a smile, "don;t need to worry! I just..."

Had a vision.

I realized what was wrapped around my back, were all your arms.

"Don't worry Chiro, if you fall, we fall with you."

Because we are your family.

A/N: It's been a while since I've posted an SRMTHFG fic, hope you guys enjoy it! It's for the monkey team's 10th anniversary, on September 18, but I'm going to post it a little earlier so

ENJOY!

Here's something to explain:

When Chiro feels himself falling at the beginning, he tries to "reach out to them, but they were no longer there" "They" refers to Monkey team

At the end, the vision he has is the continual part of the scene the fic first starts out with. When he feels arms wrapped around his back, he realizes that it's the arms of his team. The reason why Chiro no longer sees the monkey team when he reaches out to them is because they are hugging his back, creating sort of a "I've got your back" kind of metaphor. It also shows that if Chiro falls, the team is willing to cushion his fall and take the impact for him. This is sort of meant to portray their close bonds. (Because I think at the end of the series, we all agree that the team is the family he never had.)

This fic is meant to show the darker side of how Shuggazoom first treats its protectors. (Idk if I succeeded in portraying that though)

Hope its not too confusing. Please r&r if you've enjoyed this fic!