An actual one shot, yay.
I've always liked the father/son-mentor/student relationship between Antauri and Chiro, so I wanted to touch upon that.
Vulnerable
"Mandarin! Release me!"
Antauri squirmed and fought to move his limbs, trying to break himself free of the purple energy that trapped him.
Mandarin's smile twisted into something more wicked, clenching his fingers slightly around the jeweled amulet he held in his hand. It's dark magic was what kept Antauri so easily in place, "Your greatest fear is realized, Antauri." he mocked his former companion under his breath, "Your will...is no longer your own!"
With a flick of his wrist, the former leader of the Hyperforce directed the silver monkey to turn his back on him and face his real target.
Their new leader, Mandarin's replacement, Chiro.
The young boy was alone and defenseless, staring up at the silver monkey in wide eyes full of terror.
Feeling fear like no other grip his chest, Antauri felt his body begin to move on it's own. His arms crossed as he summoned his Ghost Claws and began to stalk towards Chiro, his legs pushing him forward no matter how hard he tried to fight it.
Though he tried hard to stand against the bone-clad simian's magic, it was no use. As powerful as the team's spiritual advisor was, as many times he had bested or come close to besting Mandarin in their sparring matches long ago, not even he stood a chance against the evil power of Valeena in that amulet.
Like being in a horror movie, Antauri could only watch and struggle his as they began to raise upwards into an oncoming attack. Desperate and shaking his head side to side, he was only able to use the last of his strength to vocally warn the boy, "Run Chiro! Get away from me!"
Anguished by seeing his mentor turn on him, Chiro took one step backwards before swiveling around to flee the two primates.
It was all for nought as he didn't get very far. The heavy metal door at the end of the hallway was jammed and no matter how many times he pressed the button to make it open, it remained tightly shut. He was trapped like a fly in a spider's web.
With nowhere to go, Chiro turned around to face Antauri once more, the simian closing in on him slowly with no room to escape. His silver shell reflected the lights of the corridor and his menacing blue eyes glowed dimly down at the boy.
He was truly the image of a nightmare.
Unable to protect himself without the Power Primate, all the child could do was helplessly raise his fists in a feeble fighting stance, trying to narrow his eyes to look brave. It was a pitiful effort as Antauri cornered him, his claws now raised over his head to strike.
"A-Antauri, please don't do this." Chiro begged in one last attempt to free his friend from Mandarin's grasp, "I d-don't want to fight you."
It was in vain as the orange monkey only cackled, releasing the amulet from his hand an letting it fall back into place around his neck, "Foolish child! You were the one chosen to save the universe? Bah, how pathetic and fitting it is that you shall be undone by your own master!"
Raising up his good paw and smiling sadistically at the look of pure dismay on Antauri's face, he snapped his fingers.
SLASH!
It all happened in the blink of an eye.
Time seemed to stand still in that moment. Antauri and Chiro just started at one another, the silver monkey's eyes full of alarm and the boy's full of disbelief. The elder primate just then became aware of a red liquid running down his face and over the glass of his eyes, gathering in a puddle at his feet. He was unable to feel it given that his body was a mere metal shell that housed his soul, but he knew it was there.
It was only when the child's blue eyes rolled into his head and he collapsed backwards that Antauri realized what happened. Chiro's chest had been slashed open in a crisscross pattern, his blood having sprayed onto his mentor when his Ghost Claws had sliced through his flesh like butter.
The silver monkey knew he was dead.
A ringing began to fill his ears as he went into shock, collapsing onto his knees when Mandarin finally released him from his magic to taunt, "Aww. Poor, poor, little Chiro. He didn't stand a chance, did he Antauri? But we both know that even with the Power Primate, he'd never would have been able to fight you."
He cruelly sneered as Antauri raised a shaky hand towards the boy's crumpled form, "What was that old saying, an eye for an eye? Well, you took away my freedom and rightful place as ruler of Shuggazoom. So, it's only fair that I took away the very thing you care about most."
His laughter became distorted and the ringing evermore shrill as the Antauri placed a gentle hand to the boy's shoulder, like he would be able to somehow will him back to life if he just believed hard enough.
When he inevitably didn't respond, Antauri weakly pulled the boy's tiny body into his chest, his head resting against his shoulder as be began to weep into Chiro's broken form. The tears were something that should be physically impossible for his mechanical body, yet they came anyway.
The walls around the three began to melt away through Antauri's watery eyes. He held his dead student and friend tighter to his body as he rocked him, not caring about how his blood stained his chest.
Mandarin took the opportunity to approach the two, raising his clawed hand over Antauri's head. He spoke in a twisted voice that wasn't his own as he smiled with sharp teeth, "Don҉'͜ţ c̀r̷y,́ my͏ s̸o͏ùlle͘ss̀ ͟co̸m͜pa̢ni̛on.͞ ̵Yo͜u'l̨l b̶e ̧j҉o͢i͘niņg him̡ s̡o͠o͠n en̸oug̷h́."
He brought his weapon down upon him, and all the world went black.
Antauri woke with a start.
He jolted up in his sleeping pod so fast he banged his head on its cover. Grumbling, he opened the device so he could sit up completely, rubbing his tired eyes. He stopped after a moment, hoping he hadn't woken the others with the commotion, and looked down at his hands.
Blood.
His Ghost Claws were extended to their full length, dripping with fresh blood.
He made an audible gasp and clenched his eyes shut, even holding his breath though he had none. After a few seconds of collecting himself, the silver monkey chanced a look and opened one eye in a squint.
Nothing. No transformers activated and no blood, just his normal metal hands as shiny and pristine as the rest of him.
He allowed his panic to subside, a little confused by what he just saw. Was it a trick of the light? A wild imagination coming to him in the middle of the night? Or perhaps he was still half-asleep and had a brief hallucination?
Antauri was never one to get scared or see boogeymen in the dark. Normally one of the others would get unnerved and come talk to him about it later, not the other way around.
But, after that nightmare...
Chiro.
Antauri closed his eyes again and pressed a paw to his temple, his body involuntarily shuddering. Though he no longer had a proper stomach, he could swear he felt it twisting and churning, making him nauseous. Unable to sleep, he decided to calm his nerves with some nice warm tea.
Pulling himself from his pod, Antauri crept out of his room and down the corridor in the middle of the night. As he walked towards the kitchen he just began to notice a loud clanging noise coming from above.
It didn't take a genius like Gibson to realize that the noise was the pitter-pat of rain against the metal of the robot. It was pretty loud, so much so Antauri wondered why it took that long for him to notice.
How long has it been raining? Maybe the storm is what woke me up.
He nearly jumped into the ceiling when there was a crash of thunder so loud it shook the walls. Taking a moment to calm down, he placed his hands to the chest and shook his head.
That nightmare really got to me this time. I'm practically jumping at my own shadow! Perhaps after some tea, I should meditate too. Just to collect my thoughts...
The idea eased his frazzled nerves somewhat while he reached the entrance to the kitchen. His feet clacked against the floor while he browsed the pantry, bustling about to get the kettle ready.
Just as he selected a bag of Jasmine, he froze when he heard the slapping of footsteps come up behind him. His mind snapped to his dream. Chiro's blood all over the floor and himself, Mandarin's mangled face sneering and laughing at Antauri's guilt.
With a short snarl, the silver monkey swirled around with one of his Ghost Claws ready to strike. He stopped mere inches from Chiro's face, the tip of his index finger nearly scraping the boy's nose. He could see his leader's surprised expression under the pink glow of his sharpened fingers.
Startled, Chiro took a step back, "W-Wha...?!" He caught himself on a nearby counter to keep from toppling over. Panting, he forced a smile, "U-Uh, kinda jumpy tonight, huh Antauri?"
Blinking a few times, Antauri recoiled and immediately disarmed his transformer, keeping eye contact with the boy to not let on that anything was wrong. He must have not sensed him because he was too distracted by his own troubled thoughts, "Ch-Chiro, ah, I apologize. I...wasn't expecting company." he eyed the kettle on the stove, bending over to pick up the tea bag he had dropped on the floor in the commotion, "Are you alright?"
He should be asking them both that. Not only had he clearly terrified his student, but if Antauri was only a few feet closer to Chiro when he lashed out...that nightmare of his might have become a grim reality. The concept alone shook him to his core, but he put on a brave face for the boy's sake.
"Yeah I'm fine, just might need a change of pajamas. Come on, I like the rockets you know." Chiro tried to tease some, sitting down at the kitchen table. Truth be told, his heart was beating a million miles a minute at seeing Antauri's claws come at him. It was an all too familiar sight after what happened with Mandarin a week ago...
When silence fell over them, he tapped his fingers on the table a few times and chewed his lip in uncertainty. Chiro was young, but not stupid. He knew Antauri had to feel an immense amount of guilt and responsibility for coming after them all like that, unable to fight against Mandarin when all was said and done.
Though the boy wanted to ask his mentor about it, he figured there was no need despite everything. This was Antauri after all. Nothing really bothered him for long thanks to his whole inner-peace thing.
"Do you want any tea?" Antauri glanced at him over his shoulder, his blue eyes shimmering eerily in the dark.
"S-Sure." Chiro didn't want to admit that his gaze made his skin crawl, "Extra sugar please."
"I don't think so." a small smile crept onto the mechanical monkey's face, easing Chiro a little, "It'll keep you up."
"Hmph." the boy rested his cheek on his palm in a huff, but relaxed some.
It wasn't Antauri's fault for what happened, and he never could resent him for it. Anyone would have been unable to fight against Valeena's magic...yet...
"What are you doing up? It's way past your bedtime." Antauri lightly scolded, placing two cups on the table and pouring the kettle of hot water inside, "I hope you weren't planning on sneaking out again to see Jinmay."
"I-I wasn't-" Chiro's eyes went wide and his face turned red, meekly running his fingertips over the rim of his teacup, "...You...know about that?"
"Now I do." Antauri grinned deviously as he pulled himself up onto the adjacent chair from Chiro's, "I advise you not to do that anymore. You know we get worried when you go off by yourself."
The teenager groaned, slumping back and pulling his drink to his chest, "...Don't tell Sparx. He'll never let me hear the end of it."
"I'll think about it." his mentor chuckled, closing his eyes just as he heard Chiro's exasperated grumbling. This...actually made him feel a little better. It cemented the fact that as horrible as it was, what Antauri saw was still a dream in the end. In reality, Mandarin was defeated and the boy was alive and well, sitting across from him during a storm and sharing tea.
Chiro leaned on the table some, gingerly sipping his hot beverage, before mumbling, "I could ask you the same thing you know. Why are YOU up so late Antauri?"
The silver monkey frowned, looking down at the golden brown liquid swirling in his cup. Rubbing a thumb on the handle, he kept his tone firm and steady as always, "I just wanted tea."
Chiro frowned at him. He never could read his mentor's expressions. Everyone else had telltale signs when they were upset or lying but didn't want to say anything about it. Like how Nova would clench her fists or Otto wouldn't stop glancing to the side. Some were better than others at hiding their problems, but none of them could come close to matching Antauri's poker face.
He didn't blame him for being that way; he had to be. Antauri had always been their rock, their voice of reason when things were at their worst. Chiro would go so far as to even call him the pseudo-father of the group, one you could go to when you had a bad day.
The only problem now is Antauri was clearly bothered by something. It's not like him to just be stalking around in the middle of the night, and certainly not like him to nearly cut his head off for surprising him.
He burrowed his gaze into the silver monkey, watching him closely for a few more tense seconds of silence. Just then, he saw Antauri swish his metal tail for just a moment. That was enough of a telltale sign for him to go on.
"I thought you always said to never keep secrets from the team." he pursed his lips in a pout, "...So why are keeping them from me?"
Antauri was caught off guard for a moment, but not too much. The boy had been growing stronger and more clever every day, so it made sense his deduction skills had gotten better over time. Or, perhaps he wasn't as good hiding his worries as he used to be.
Whatever the case, he found himself getting a little defensive under the boy's persistence, "This isn't about me, I asked you-"
"Antauri." Chiro rested the cup on the table, his palms gripping it tightly as he looked him down, "...You know you can tell me, right? We're friends, and I wanna help you."
The simian narrowed his gaze slightly and decided to take a sip of his drink, only to dart his eyes to the cup and pull it back some, frowning.
"...What's wrong?" Chiro raised a brow at him.
"...I can't taste it." he grumbled, pushing the glass away in irritation. Great, now he was derived even a simple cup of tea to calm himself on such a night, "Another drawback to being a machine, I take it."
"..." Chiro frowned, "Oh...so that's it. You're having doubts about your new metal body, aren't you?" his palms pressed to the metal table a little more, "Aw Antauri, I know it's different but you're still the same monkey past it all."
"...Am I, Chiro? Am I really the same underneath?" his mentor huffed, making the boy wince a little, "Or is this mechanical shell you see before you just a mere...imitation of that primate you once knew?" he rested his elbows on the table and for once let his blue eyes turn away from Chiro's as he looked to the kitchen wall, "...I'm not disturbed because of being a machine, Chiro. I've had long enough to come to terms with it. Not to mention, without this body and your efforts, I wouldn't be here right now and for that I'm eternally grateful. Yet..."
He looked down at one of his hands, slowly shifting it into a pink glowing Ghost Claw, "It was so easy for him. So easy for Mandarin to take control of this...machine that I am. My soul wasn't enough, my mind wasn't enough, it was all circuitry that he could bend to his will because of my fears and doubts getting to me. I always knew that I could become what the Alchemist intended, a destructive force, and after all the science we've seen gone wrong I was worried I would become another one of them. I did become that very thing that night...if Nova hadn't taken out my battery I-"
The silver monkey made the weapon go away before crossing his arms together, leaning on them and continuing to look away from the boy. It was too hard to keep eye contact when that bloody image of Chiro kept intruding now that he was getting to the meat of the conversation, "...And...I haven't been exactly forthcoming about...coping with the experience afterwards. I'm up late tonight because I've been having a reoccurring nightmare that's made it hard for me to sleep. About that night..."
Antauri turned his head and looked up to Chiro, a frown deepening on his face, "It...had a far more gruesome outcome that time around. I..." he tore his eyes away again, his tail lashing once more when he swore he saw Chiro's chest split open in a crisscross pattern.
Chiro blinked, trying to process everything he was hearing. Antauri...was going through all of this and they hadn't noticed? No, of course they wouldn't see it right away. He was always calm, always steady when it came to everything he did. If he was bothered by something he'd keep it under wraps like always...just as he had been for a whole week right under their noses.
"...Antauri I..." he hesitated for a moment, but because they were sharing went on, "...I wasn't really being 'forthcoming' with you either. The reason I'm up so late is cause I've been having nightmares about what happened too."
His words made Antauri snap his gaze to him right away, suddenly alert, "...The same dreams?"
Chiro nodded, looking down and drumming his fingers some. Though it crushed him that he was part of the cause, Antauri also felt slight relief. To know that he wasn't alone in his problems was...refreshing. He usually took care of everyone else, not that he minded, but he neglected himself more often than he should. A martyr in every sense of the word.
Reaching out, he pat Chiro's arm a few times to get his attention before going, "I...was scared too Chiro. Scared for my team, scared of Mandarin, and scared for you. It's not shameful to admit you were afraid."
"Then why did you keep this to yourself Antauri if you weren't ashamed? How long were you going to stay quiet if I hadn't caught on?" Antauri's silence answered him more than he ever could. It made Chiro a little mad and retract his arm from the monkey's hand, "Do you not trust us? Is that why you never talk about-"
"Don't think that." Antauri insisted suddenly, "I don't want you or the rest of the team to ever think that. I care about all of you deeply, and it's because of this I chose to stay silent. We already have so much to worry about. I figured my problems were trivial..."
"But they're not, don't you get it?" Chiro softly replied, shaking his head, "No one's problems are ever unimportant. Especially a friend's."
Antauri blinked a him, eyes wide, before he began to chuckle.
"What?" Chiro asked, "What's so funny?"
"N-Nothing, just..." he leaned back in his chair some, "You're...wise beyond your years, you know that? I don't think the universe could have picked a better Chosen than you, Chiro." he smiled at him softly, that image of the boy's bloody corpse fading as was Chiro's image of being powerless to stop a rogue Antauri.
Deep down, the silver monkey knew his friendship with the child was beyond a standard one. He felt an instinctive need to protect the boy as much as possible during his growth as their leader. He knew he'd never truly be able to keep Chiro safe from everything, not even himself. That night was a sobering reminder of just how vulnerable, but resourceful, the boy could be even under impossible circumstances.
He felt proud of him, and it was that pride that made him smile just a bit more.
"Hmmn, I didn't expect to see you guys in here."
They jumped when someone flicked on the lights and looked over.
Sparx was standing in the doorway, yawning and rubbing his eyes. He looked like he hadn't had a wink of rest since they went to bed.
"Hey Sparx." Chiro grinned in relief, "What are you doing up?"
He smacked his lips loudly in tired irritation before walking over to the sink to get a drink, "Isn't it obvious, kid? The storm, same as you guys. How is anyone supposed to sleep in that?"
"Tell me about it." Nova entered the room shortly after, her eyes heavy with exhaustion and clearly cranky, "It sounds like a stampede is running over my ceiling. It's been going on all night."
The red monkey grabbed a glass of water before turning in her direction, "You sure that's what it was, Nova?" Sparx teased in a flirty manner, nudging her with his elbow, "Or were the dreams of me keeping you up?"
She narrowed her gaze at him before punching him square in the jaw, making him yelp and drop his cup. The glass shattered loudly on the floor, putting the group on edge just for a moment.
"Who's breaking things?" Gibson was the next to come in, looking quite annoyed, "Aha! I knew it. I had wondered what all that noise was. The storm is bad enough, now you two start a commotion in the kitchen. How am I supposed to deduce my formulas in the morning if I'm plagued by exhaustion?"
"Maybe you should stay up for a few more hours." Sparx grumbled, "Might make that big brain of yours mellow out some."
Gibson huffed, leaning down to start cleaning the broken glass off the floor, "Perhaps you should help me instead of making snide comebacks." Sparx stared, but sighed back and began to help the blue scientist. He was too tired to get into it, and it was kinda his fault it broke in the first place.
"I'll get a broom." Nova offered, leaving the room for a moment. While she did want to help them of course, it was also because she didn't want to deal with the two of them bickering in the middle of the night, "Keep an eye on them, Chiro." she teased the boy with a playful punch in the arm, "Last thing we need is another hole in the Super Robot."
Chiro smirked as she left, only to look at the doorway when Otto squeezed by her, "O-Oh! Uh...I didn't think anyone would be in here." The mechanic looked a little nervous, twisting his tail in his hands a few times.
"Is something wrong, Otto?" Antauri floated off of his seat to let the green monkey sit down, "You look unnerved."
He glanced at him, shimmying down into the chair he offered, "Pfff me? Nahhh just uh...was gonna get a midnight snack and ran into you guys."
When another clap of thunder rumbled through the room, Otto jumped and pulled his knees to his chest. Chiro smirked and shook his head, "Don't worry Otto, I don't think any of us will be going to sleep again anytime soon."
He gave him a secretly relieved smile just as Nova came back with a broom, "Got it."
Antauri silently watched as the group began to chat with one another, picking up Sparx's mess and trying their best to ignore the raging storm outside.
Honestly, he couldn't remember the last time he had a sit down with anyone on the team, before or after his...brief departure from them. Between Skeleton King and his remaining influence only getting worse by the day, the Hyperforce had been working overtime to keep not only Shuggazoom but the rest of the universe it seemed safe from his clutches.
Moments like these were small...and he found himself cherishing them.
Was it fatherly love for his team perhaps? Pride in how they've turned out? Both?
Maybe. It was as close as he could probably get, and for that he was grateful. He had a feeling that he wouldn't be having any more bad dreams once the night was over.