Whoever said that Chiro was a thrill seeker was over exaggerating things.
While he could – begrudgingly – agree with the point that he tended to get mixed up in risky situations, they had all been accidents. How hard was it for the adults to accept that Chiro simply attracted crazy situations like moths to lamps?
A little hard when you're trying to explore the Forbidden Outskirts of Shuggazoom city. An annoying voice in the back of his head snarked.
Could you maybe chill? Chiro sniped back, kicking a can as he wandered around the park aimlessly. His mom had told him not to stick around the edges of the city, ("It's dangerous and filled with rusty junk. You'll either end up in a monster attack or with a tetanus infection") but staying put turned out to be boring after a while.
And the park was still, technically speaking, within the city limits. As long as Chiro didn't try to do something really stupid like getting lost in the savage lands (a long story best saved for another day), he figured he'd be alright. Really, he had some sense of self preservation.
Now, there comes a time in everyone's life, when one moment completely and irreversibly changes it forever. Sometimes, it was standing up to their long-time bully, or winning their first ever gold medal. Sometimes it was small, sometimes it was huge.
Superheroes got the surprisingly smaller end of the stick. For the Sun Riders, it was when Johnny Sunspot saved the civilian who would eventually don the solar helmet and lead him and Aurora Six.
For Chiro, it was when the can hit metal, and the robot came into view.
"Holy Shuggazoom…" He murmured at the sight of the gigantic grey robot. The boxy face looked down at him from about 12 feet up, the black lenses of its eyes blank. Its torso was box shaped and was covered with dirt and moss.
Unbelievable. A grin formed on his lips. All that fuss, and it was just a robot.
Even so, he approached it cautiously. The robot looked abandoned, but there was no way of telling what the owner was like. Run ins with guys like Gyrus Krinkle had taught him how sensitive people could get about their property, and Chiro drank his Respect Privacy ™ juice daily.
But that wasn't going to hold him back from exploring. He didn't know too much about robots, but there was something cool about the design and panelling. It had a rather simple design, and if he had to choose between that and the Tekroid A-78, he'd pick the latter.
(Not that Chiro was showing favouritism anyway! Everyone knew that the Tekroids were on a league of their own. The critics were just being unfair about the latest model.)
(Ahem.)
But the Tekroid was a toy. He could forgive the design of the actual robot for now. What really mattered at the moment was the inside of the robot. More specifically, how to get inside the robot.
"Hello?" He called out, on reaching one of its legs. When no one answered, he looked around him, exhaling slightly in relief. "Anyone home?" He asked, placing his ear and palms against the metal.
The material under his hand glowed a bright green, and he jumped back with a yelp as a panel shot up to reveal a darkened entrance.
Huh. That was weird. A tiny part of him wondered if this was his Origin Story ™.
He could see it now. Young twelve-year-old Chiro, desperate to find some meaning in his lonely life, stumbles across an old robot and mysteriously gains superpowers. An evil scientist, in his quest to take over the city sends monster after monster to stop Chiro, but he fights back and saves the day! And eventually joins the Sun Riders and goes on amazing adventures! (Well, one could imagine…)
The panel sliding shut as he stepped into the robot didn't frighten him. He expected that. He'd spotted buttons by the entrance so there was a way to leave the robot. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he spotted the outline of a tube in front of him and walked into it.
He did not expect the tube to immediately suck him upward.
"MOTHER OF-" He swore violently as his hands scrabbled at the smooth walls. Tears were forming in his eyes as wind whipped at his face, and if the tube could stop for just one second so that he could stop himself from potentially projectile vomiting all over-
And just as quickly, the ground solidified under his feet and he stumbled face first onto the floor. He got up, dusting his jeans and muttering a few curse words as his eyes (and his stomach) adjusted to the darkness.
He could make out the outline of several circular objects on the floor, with a gigantic screen panelled onto the wall behind them. A few cautious steps toward it also revealed a control panel, filled with several buttons, smaller screens, a microphone and a large switch handle.
Chiro ran a finger on the dashboard, watching the dust collect on his finger. The design was amazing. He had no idea what half of them even stood for, but it looked like something that came out of a comic book. The round objects, on closer inspection, turned out to be spherical seats, five of them surrounding a slightly bigger one. With a grin, he made a beeline for the nearest one.
It was comfortable and was big enough to fit him. Chiro sprawled back into the seat and ran his hand along the interior walls. There were several buttons and a small screen underneath them. And it rotated too!
He gave an appreciative hum and closed his eyes. There were six seats, and he had spotted five other tubes stacked alongside the one he had used earlier. So, six people probably operated the robot, if they didn't live in it.
Come to think of it, he did recall the other kids talking about it back at school. According to them, Shuggazoom city had been protected by a robot many years ago. But something bad had happened, and it had vanished. It had been decades since anyone had ever heard of it, much less seen it.
The adults had said some crazy stuff about it too. Chiro could accept AIs protecting the city, but he had to draw the line at actual monkeys doing it. How could a dumb animal keep a huge city safe? That sounded ridiculous, even by comic book story standards.
A sudden beeping sound made him jump.
His eyes popped open in alarm. He looked around him frantically, until he noticed the light coming from his watch.
"Oh..." He exhaled slightly as he read the message that had popped up. It was a reminder from his butler that tea time would begin in an hour and a half and that almond and butter cookies would be served along with it and that his room was filthy, please clean it when you are back Master Chiro or drastic measures will have to be taken.
Chiro groaned but got up anyway. The last time Drastic Measures had been taken, Chiro hadn't gotten any cookies for a week (not drastic), was banned from eating Hoverburgers at the same time (potentially drastic) and his Sun Riders DVD collection had been confiscated for two whole weeks (It was vintage! Season 3 was the best season of them all! Very Drastic!).
He looked around him one last time. The room was still very dark, and he wanted to see it properly. There had to be a light switch somewhere.
He moved to the control panel. Briefly, he eyed the switch handle. On closer inspection, it was thin and made from black metal, topped by a purple ball, small enough to fit in his palm. He reached for it and stopped, just as his hand enclosed it.
A small part of him felt unsure. He wanted light, but the robot looked old. What if he pulled the switch and broke something? Sure, it was abandoned, but what if it broke down and the owners came back? Chiro had seen how difficult it could get for mechanics to fix old robots, especially the outdated models which required material that was difficult to acquire.
But then he could help them fix it. Chiro had money, and he was good at fixing stuff, even if it was broken mechanical toys or the wiring in his robot's system. Plus, there was also a chance that nothing would actually happen, and he'd continue standing in the dark. What were the odds that he'd destroy something?
He crossed his fingers. "Here goes nothing!" He said and pulled the switch.
Nothing happened for a second. And then electricity struck him.
"SHIT!" He screamed as his body shook, bright green light flooding his vision. He tried to yank his hand from the switch, but it wouldn't move. In fact, his entire body was frozen up to his waist. Fear coursed through him as he continued to pull at the switch in vain, his body twisting and turning in effort.
Something was happening to the tubes as well. Through the haze of the light he could see the five other tubes glow red, yellow, blue, green and purple respectively. There was an animal roaring from somewhere close to him, but he couldn't see anyone else around him.
"Someone help me!" He yelled in fear. His soul felt heavier, like someone had pressed something into it and now oval orbs of light were glowing from within the tubes.
Calm down.
"Who said that?" Chiro looked around wildly. The new voice was deep and had echoed in his head out of nowhere.
This will be over in a moment, the voice continued, you will not be harmed.
"I'm being electrocuted, how will this not harm me?!"
Even as he spoke, the light and the roaring were quickly fading away. An equally scared and confused Chiro was soon left standing in the now well illuminated room.
What in the name of Shuggazoom had just happened?
But then the other tubes were opening, and his legs were carrying him as fast as they could to the empty tube he'd used. He barely paid attention to the fall or the panel opening up on its own for him; nothing mattered to him more than the need to get home and fast.
He'd stopped running when he was halfway into the city.
Now he was walking through the streets, barely paying attention to his surroundings as he tried to process the absolute weirdness of what just happened. If people stared at him, he didn't know or couldn't bring himself to care.
It was unbelievable. He'd been struck with electricity, but he had felt nothing, aside from a pinching sensation. If anything, his senses seemed to have sharpened. Everything around him felt clearer and the rush of adrenaline still lingered. And the heaviness he had felt was still present. Not unpleasant, but definitely noticeable.
His thoughts turned to the glowing tubes. Now that he had put plenty of distance between him and the robot, his mind began to fill in certain details he hadn't registered at that time. Aside from the oval lights, some…things had been moving in each of the tubes. The glass had been dusty, but the silhouettes of something roughly half his size had been visible.
Had he set off weapons of some sort? Chiro shivered at the thought and increased his pace as he turned a corner into another street. His dad had once told him about a crazy scientist, who had once created time bombs disguised as automated toy rockets, which were set to blow up once they landed at a specific place. He sincerely hoped that he hadn't done any such thing, or that he'd have to go and check the robot for any potential detonators.
"Master Chiro, where are you?"
Chiro nearly jumped out of his skin when the robotic voice came out of nowhere. A few seconds of frantic looking around made him realise that the voice had come from his watch, and that it was a very familiar one.
"Yoshi, don't scare me like that!" He glared at the watch as he started walking faster.
"Apologies Master Chiro, but it is tea time." His robot manservant said, in a matter of fact tone. "I must also remind you that your room is untidy and must be cleaned up, and that the building has a strict 'no-biological-pets' policy-"
"I'm almost home, geez!" He groaned, then sighed with relief on spotting his apartment building. Worrying about the loss of his beloved Sun Riders DVD collection was a good distraction, and he was secretly thankful for it.
Bringing up the no pet policy was odd. But then again, it wasn't the first time Yoshi had gotten confused over the owner of the new cat from next door. Or animals prowling outside the building.
Maybe it was time the old robot got a check up again.
…
Nothing happened over the following week.
No news reports of haywire monsters were. No time bombs exploded. No rabid pet invaded civilized society buildings.
Heck, Mr Gakslapper had introduced a new brand of sauce, originating from the Kalavial galaxy. Chiro's taste buds had nearly caught fire from the absolutely high levels of spice in it (who came up with the recipe, masochists?!), but the Hoverburger actually tasted good, once you got past the ungodly amount of foreign chilli.
So of course, the universe had to turn his life upside down by crashing into his place via his pompous cyborg monkeyness.
On the eve of the D-Day, he'd come back from school in exceedingly good spirits. One of his teachers had fallen sick, so he'd gotten double free periods. Alia, the cutest girl in his class, had actually spoken with him beyond "hey could you pass the pencil thanks" and the principal had finally given them the green signal for their graduation party.
"Yoshi, I'm home!" Chiro called out cheerfully, shifting the weight of his bag onto his other shoulder. The robot rolled out of the kitchen, just as the twelve-year-old closed the door behind him.
"Gently does the trick, Master Chiro." Yoshi said when the door was slammed harder than intended. Chiro winced; he kept forgetting to do that.
"I'll remember next time!" He said and moved to his room.
"Are you hungry? There's some leftover food from yesterday."
"I'll eat later!" Chiro said and closed the door with a grin. No homework had been assigned by the teachers, and the next day was the start of the weekend. Forty-eight hours and counting of pure bliss.
"Your room, young man, is positively filthy."
"Holy Shuggazoom!" He yelped at the unexpected voice and turned around. "Give someone a warning before you start speaking out of nowhere-" He began, and then stopped to stare.
There was a monkey on his bed.
An honest to goodness robotic monkey was standing on his bed. It had a white snout, black optical orbs with round white pupils for eyes and spindly legs with white feet. It had a striped helmet with an antenna located on the white strip in the middle, the blue shade in the background matching its fur and legs. Its arms, hands and the end of its long blue tail were both made of metal.
Chiro wasn't sure what to respond to first; the fact that a robot monkey was on his bed, or that said monkey was wrinkling its snout at him, looking at him like Chiro had personally murdered its mother in front of it.
The monkey scoffed and jumped down to the floor. "Honestly," He – for the voice was male – said, picking up a dirty sock, "How do you manage to live in this mess?" He looked from it to the pile of clothes on the nearby chair and then to the mix of clothes and books on the bed and gave an annoyed sigh. "You make Otto's workspace look like a model mechanic showroom. Haven't your parents taught you to maintain a spick and span workspace?"
That snapped him from his stupor. "Hey, it's an organised mess!" His ears felt hotter as he defended the numerous books stacked haphazardly on his desk along with several pens accessorizing it. "And I was going to sort out my laundry anyway!"
The monkey did not look reassured. "Were you? Or were you going to just stuff them into a cupboard later?"
"Hey, I refuse to get criticized by a monkey!" Chiro said indignantly, his ears burning even more. Honestly, even if he was to do that (which he was probably going to), what standing did a monkey of all things have to lecture him on his frigging laundry?
"Wait a second." A thought occurred to him. "You can speak Shuggazoomian? You're a monkey, how are you doing that?"
"Great Scott, no!" The monkey said, "We can understand it of course, but our simian tongues find it difficult to verbalise it."
"But you're speaking it right now!"
"Correction: I'm not speaking your language, you're speaking mine." At the look on Chiro's face, he simply sighed. "The two of us are conversing in the language of monkeys, but your brain is simply translating the words into Shuggazoomian far too quickly for you to notice the difference."
"That doesn't make sense!" Chiro argued, feeling more confused than ever.
There was a sudden knock at the door. "Master Chiro, is everything alright?"
Chiro jumped; he'd forgotten that Yoshi was also at home. "Everything's fine, Yoshi!" He replied, pressing his finger to his lips to shut the monkey up.
"Apologies, Master Chiro, but is there a monkey in your room?"
"No, not at all!"
"But I heard monkey noises coming from your room-"
"There are no monkey noises at all!" Chiro yelled, and then stopped. He hadn't said that in Shuggazoomian.
"Am I…" He looked at the monkey unsurely, "…am I speaking monkey?" But even as he spoke, he could clearly hear the sounds coming from his mouth.
Sounds that only monkeys made to communicate.
The monkey nodded seriously.
"Master Chiro?" The other robot said, "Shall I come inside?"
Frantically he tried to think of something. "Uh… it's okay! I'm… I'm researching for this, uh… project on, uh, Shuggazoom history! I'm using a language for the presentation, so I just thought I'd try it out, that's all! You don't have to come in!"
Silence prevailed. As seconds turned into a minute and a bead of sweat formed on his temple, Yoshi began again. "Master Chiro, are you cleaning your room as well? It is very messy."
Relief struck him like a lightning bolt. "Oh, totally! I'm tidying my room up, gotta have a clean table and all that, right?" Chiro said in an overly cheery tone as he rushed past the startled monkey to grab a few articles of clothing from the bed. He exhaled as the sound of Yoshi moving back into the living room faded.
"…" Chiro opened his mouth. And then closed it. Opened it again. And then closed it and sat on the bed, shooting a stunned look at the monkey. The monkey (he was getting tired of calling him that) was looking back at him, a little amused at the display.
At long last, Chiro found his voice. "…explain."
"Explain what?" The monkey asked. He was doing a poor job of hiding the laughter out of his voice.
"Why I can speak monkey, why you're in my room and why the hell did you stalk me."
"…who are you?" He began weakly.
The monkey chuckled. "I suppose a proper introduction is called for." He said and cleared his throat. "My name is Mr Hal Gibson. Please, do not call me Mr or Hal. Just Gibson will suffice, thank you very much."
The robot intrigued him.
This was a girl made entirely from metal, from her brain to her heart. And yet, her memories showed her ability to think for herself, to feel. She could smile, laugh, cry, and fear, without needing anyone to command her so.
The human part of him recalled the days when he had worked alongside Maezono and Takeuchi. The former had once proposed a question for them to ponder. Was it possible to transfer the complete consciousness of a living natural being into an artificial body, without the existence of a brain?
As the Alchemist, he had pored over the required books during his studies with the Veran mystics. Yes, it was possible to do such a thing with magic, but the user needed to have an excellent grasp over the art, to ensure the soul was transferred without being fractured or corrupted in the process.
And of course, as Skeleton King, the dark ones granted him dominion over the souls of all beings both living and dead. It was child's play for him to attempt such a thing. Corruption of the soul was inevitable in that case, but it was of no major consequence for him.
But this girl… in her time as a human, she had fallen ill with an incurable disease. Someone had cleanly transferred her entire soul into a robot made from her likeness before she could succumb to the inevitable.
Briefly, he wondered whether she had done the deed. But no, he shook his head the very next second. That woman had power, but she knew very little about manipulation of souls and resurrections.
But before he could decide on sending the girl to Koloradel, he felt something snap, and a sound he had not heard in fifty years resonated across the galaxy.
The unmistakable roar of the power primate. His monkeys had awoken.
A slow smile, the likes of which his servants had never seen before crept across his face. The woman had cast a protective spell over the planet, ensuring that he could never lay waste to the city in the absence of the Hyperforce. It served its purpose well, but only for as long as those primates slumbered.
And now, the spell was broken.
"Interesting…" He said, as he looked to the bubbling pit of ooze in front of him. A tendril of the black slime began to rise up, curling into itself until it was a small round ball, fit to possess any being, natural or artificial.
"You called for me, my lord?"
He was nowhere as big as any of the Hyperforce, nor did he possess any of the cybernetic implants they did. But Skeleton King was no close-minded fool, and his tiny servant excelled in the art of spying and disguise.
"Welcome, Sakko." He said, glancing at the pink monkey. Sakko took in the sight of the ball of ooze and the girl and looked at his master curiously.
"What would you have me do with her?" He asked.
"In time, I will instruct you on how to handle the girl." Skeleton King said, "You, on the other hand, have a bigger mission to handle. Firstly, you will be sent to Shuggazoom city, which you will observe and report back to me about."
"Yes, my lord." Sakko nodded and bowed respectfully.
A cracking noise resonated from within the citadel. Skeleton King willed the various fragments of bone to encircle the blob of ooze, and then encase it. In seconds, a shiny jewel floated in its place.
"And secondly," He continued, the gem hovering innocently in front of him, "You will find out who has awoken the Hyperforce. And you will aid me in eliminating them."