Hmmm….This one didn't come out as funny as the other chapter did, I think, but the next one won't make as much sense otherwise.

Chapter 2: Startling Sneezes

Remember when I told you that everyone on Shuggazoom that day was happy? Of course you do, and if not, read the previous chapter, you silly reader! Unfortunately, it has come to my attention that someone else, in fact several someones, were also unhappy on that particular day.

"Why?" You ask? "Who?" You ask? The answer is really relatively relatable - it's quite simple, I assure you.

It all began in the quiet of Antauri's meditation room. The silver simian was seated stoicly in midair, as usual, and was meditating, as usual, until he was abruptly (and unusually) disturbed by a peculiar sensation in his nose. It was one that he recognized, but he felt few psychical sensations these days, which is the price he paid for trying to be a martyr when the universe still needed him. Because of the abrupt appearance of the sudden sensation, the poor primate was caught completely by surprise.

The silence of the meditation room was murdered by a rather impressive sneeze. This is when the problem began.

The argent advisor was forced furiously floorwards by the sudden sneeze and blinked in surprise. He was suddenly very aware of how dusty the room was, and the very thought caused him to go into an uncontrollable sneezing fit.

Still sneezing, he stumbled out of the sanctity of his room and made his way to Gibson's laboratory. On it's door was a sign. It read "Keep Out sub that means you, Sparx/sub .

"Gib-" Antauri tried to call to his friend, but his sneeze seemed to have a mind of it's own, and it apparently knew exactly who Gibson was, as well as to why Antauri was going to his lab, and of course, any self-respecting sneeze wasn't going to have any of that nonsense called treatment . Sadly for the sneeze, Gibson heard the silver sneezing simian, and came to his aid.

"Are you all right, Antauri?" the blue scientist asked him.

Sensing that his sneezes had decided to take a leave of absence, Antauri responded, "I believe so, now that I've stopped sneezing, but I fear that it may only be temporary." The sneezes banded together to prove his statement, as Gibson's brow furrowed in puzzlement.

"Curious." He said sofly, watching his helpless commanding officer. "It appears you're conceiving a common cold."

"I-" He sneezed. "-wasn't aware-" He sneezed again. "-that I could." He sniffled, not because he actually had any mucus in his airways to sniffle, it was a sound and movement his robotic body simulated as part of a natural reflex left over from instincts from his formerly organic brain, like trying to breathe.

"Gesundheit." The other only nodded his thanks, for fear of startling suspicious slumbering sneezes. "You are fully robotic, Antauri and although you are immune to organic viruses, you are still perfectly capable of contracting one designed to attack sentient machines." Antauri nodded in understanding. "Much like an organic cold, there really isn't anything I can do for you, except advise that you consume more oil that you would normally, your system is going to need it." Gibson turned to return to whatever he had been doing within his lab, but as Antauri turned to depart as well, Gibson snapped his fingers, spinning in Antauri's direction. "Have you seen, Chiro by any chance?"

Antauri shook his head, and reached out with his mind. He felt the young leader's presence nearby, in his room. The effort gave him a slight headache, for a reason he couldn't fathom. "No, I-" he sneezed, sniffled and continued. "- haven't, but I can retrieve him for you." He began to sneeze, and Gibson quickly stuck his tail, under his friend's nose. "My thanks, Gibson." He said, his voice beginning to sound thick due to the cold. Gibson's quick thinking appeared to relieve the sneeze, but the other monkey's furry tail tickled the robot's nose as it was pulled away, and Antauri sneezed anyway, a rather annoyed expression falling onto his facial features.

Gibson grabbed a blue box of tissues, and handed them to the other monkey. "Take these with you." He sighed.

"Chiro?" Antauri asked, as he opened the leader's door.

"Go away." Came the relatively rude response from the bed. Something moved beneath the covers. Antauri frowned, puzzled by the boy's blatant behavior. Antauri then proceeded to get Chiro out of bed the way he usually did.

Activating one of his claws, he phased it through the bedsheets and Chiro's shirt, until he sensed the boy's skin beneath his claw. He tickled the surface lightly, and the boy squirmed. Therefore, he continued, activating the other claw as he did so, but the response was not what the monkey expected.

"Antauri! Cut it out!" He yelled angrily, and he fell off the bed, in front of the silver monkey, his body tangled in the bedding. After struggling to free himself, he (still in his pajamas) looked up at a confused and rather hurt -looking Antauri. The boy looked at the monkey exasperated. "Can you just not do that right now, please?" He said. "I'm not in the mood." He crawled back into bed, muttering "I really don't feel good."

"As you wish, Chiro." Antauri said, still hurt. He sneezed. "Although, turning your foul mood upon me will not make you feel better." He said, in the same tone. "You are not the only one not feeling well." He muttered softly, and left.

As the door wooshed shut, it took a moment for Chiro's fuzzy brain to comprehend what had been said, not quite sure he heard the last part right. His upper body shot upwards in realization, but he flopped down onto the bed again, now miserable in both body and mind. "Man, why did I do that?" he groaned. "I'm such a jerk when I'm sick." He covered his head with the covers.

Antauri decided that this was one of those rare ocassions when he actually felt like sitting in his chair, and headed towards the command center. As he rounded a corner, he sneezed, and as he did so, an energy blast that was very much like his Monkey Mind Scream erupted from his mouth. There was an explosion, and Antauri was thrown against the opposite wall. The smoke cleared, revealing a gaping hole in the wall in front of him, and a wide-eyed Sparx and Nova, the pair of them intertwined. Antauri sweat-dropped. They all stared at each other, and then the couple quickly separated to a more decent position, given the current company.

"Uh, that's new..." Nova said, throwing her arms behind her head, a clear indication of her embarrassment.

Sparx chuckled nervously. "What happened, Antauri, Otto run out of stuff to fix?"

"I should get him to fix your brain." Nova remarked.

Antauri was still sitting on the floor, the same expression on his face. "Excuse me." It was all he could think to say. "Where did those tissues go?" he muttered. "Ah." Recovering the blue box, he made to leave, exiting the other's line of sight. They heard a sneeze.

"He…has a cold?" Sparx asked his girlfriend. She blinked in surprise "His voice did kinda sound funny…" the red monkey commented thoughtfully.

"Bless you!" She hollered after the sneeze's owner.

"Thank you Nova!" came the called reply, punctuated by another sneeze.

"Guess I should make some soup." Said Sparx, thinking out loud.