Chapter Two: Problems and Conclusions

"I am unsure if this is such a bright idea, Antauri," Jitkle whispered.

"We stay true to our mission and tread carefully, we should be fine," Antauri whispered back.

Jitkle shifted nervously. His claws dug into the branches, his triangular ears twitched and his almond-shapes eyes delved deeply into the scene before them. He was of the cat people from Kathori (the Hyper Force had been stranded on their planet before), and he was the best stealth had to offer. He was the only one of the group who could sneak up on Antauri successfully.

They had found what looked to be a campsite. Noxious fumes had led them all there. The creatures had cut down surrounding trees and plants and burned them in a huge pile in the center of their camp. There had to be thousands of the dark, oozing creations mucking about the place.

"Jitkle, what are your thoughts?" Antauri asked.

"There is little doubt that this is one of the major armies. I am unfamiliar of this area though, so I have no theories of why they're here and exactly what purpose they may serve," Jitkle said.

"I agree. They are camped fairly close to the laboratory,"

"There's a laboratory around here?"

"Yes. I may explain another time, but I am sure the Skeleton King has made the laboratory as a main base of operations, or at least it will be. We should probably scout around for another camp-" Antauri stopped short, noticing Jitkle's ears stopped twitching and his eyes went blank. "What is it?"

"Trouble," Jitkle said slowly in a whisper after a moment of silence. "We've been spotted, we better move before-"

The branch they had been sitting on suddenly collapsed. When they hit the ground, they immediately leapt to their feet and looked around for a place to hide once more.

"We came here to spy, not to fight," Antauri murmured, eyes frantically searching. He spotted a large bush. It would have to do.

Antauri gripped onto Jitkle's hand and dragged him into the thick foliage. They pressed themselves into the ground and pulled their camouflaging cloaks over themselves. Jitkle suppressed his breath and timed any necessary breathing to the wind.

They waited for only a moment before their attackers came around to investigate the area. The dark creatures muttered to each other, they carried large sticks which they used to poke at the ground and move aside leaves and vines.

One of the creatures turned to the bush that the two were hiding in. It wasn't that unexpected, especially if either of these creatures knew anything about tracking. The latter didn't seem to hold true, though the creature poked his stick into the bush. The end of the stick poked Jitkle in the arm, his face scrunched up in pain, but true to his warrior ways, he made no sound and no other move.

The creature that poked him didn't seem to distinguish the difference between the ground and flesh and thus ignored the bush. Both creatures milled about for a few more moments and then they disappeared back into the jungle. Antauri waited a full ten minutes before even thinking of moving.

"Are you all right?" Antauri whispered.

"It hurts," Jitkle whispered back, voice choking. "It hurts, it hurts."

Antauri moved closer to Jitkle and pushed the cloak aside. He gasped at the gaping wound Jitkle had in his arm and was surprised the feline man didn't make more of a fuss before. Now it was clear that the ends of the sticks were not only sharp, but also likely poisoned, for the area surrounding the wound was beginning to turn a sickly green color.

"Jitkle, can you move?" Antauri asked, tossing back his own cloak and trying to help his companion sit up.

"It hurts," Jitkle moaned. His groans grew louder as Antauri tried to help him move.

"What hurts?" Antauri asked, hoping to get the obvious answer.

"It all hurts, it hurts, it hurts."

"Keep yourself together, Jitkle."

Antauri looked around. He knew he had to get back to their gathering point without Jitkle making any sound, but the poor feline moaned when he was moved or touched. As it was, he whimpered as he lay in the soft dirt. Antauri sighed, presented with what seemed to be the only solution.

"Jitkle, I need you to relax," Antauri said, placing a hand between Jitkle's ears.

Jitkle only whined and nodded his head ever so slightly.

Antauri closed his eye in concentration, invoking just enough energy into a Monkey Mind Scream to make Jitkle pass out. Thankfully, the cat didn't make any noise. Once his eyes were shut and Antauri was sure he was completely unconscious, he circled his arms around the cat's waist and began moving back towards their own camp.

"Wow, I don't know about you, Nova, but I am really impressed," Jinmay said, watching the last group of trainees beat back a group of Formless.

"I just hope they'll be just as effective against the real things," Nova said. "This program is a bit outdated, I'm hoping that our undercover crew can give me more information so either Otto or I can come up with a better training program."

"Hey, leave the pessimism to me, all right?" Sprx said, draping an arm across Nova's shoulders.

"Aren't you supposed to be tormenting your own trainees?" Nova scowled, pushing his arm away. She was more annoyed that she didn't hear him enter the room.

"Come on, this is me you're talking to, I can teach anyone to fly, especially with Quint helping."

"They did that well, huh, Sprx?" Jinmay asked.

"Yep, they should be all right. Hey, has anyone heard from Antauri yet?"

"Not yet," Jinmay sighed and then she looked up at the monitors. "Hey, they're almost finished."

The three watched as the last of the Formless were defeated. The mixed group of Kathorians, Robo-Apes, and other creatures raised weapons and fists in a victorious cry.

Nova chuckled as she deactivated the training program.

"Nice work, everyone, you all earned a rest," Nova said into the speaker.

The group bowed and left the room.

"Hey, Jinmay, do me a favor and check on Chiro, make sure he's eaten lunch or something?" Sprx said.

Jinmay smiled and nodded, understanding what he really wanted.

"I'll be back a little later, Nova," she said, offering a wave before leaving the room.

"All right," Nova glanced over her shoulder and watched her leave and then she turned to Sprx. "Everything okay, Sprx?"

"Sort of," Sprx looked at the floor. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, why?" Nova frowned a little at the way Sprx held himself. "What's going on?"

Sprx sighed. He and Nova hadn't spoken much since the incident with the Fire of Hate. He was willing to leave and even be deactivated, partly because he was disgusted with what he did, but mainly because he didn't blame the others if they never trusted him again. Mostly the others had said they forgave him and that he was crazy to think that they wouldn't, but even now, he couldn't look Nova in the eyes.

"Look, I feel really bad about what happened. I just couldn't help it, I was so desperate to keep Skeleton King from coming back, and I wanted to beat Mandarin, just finally beat that jerk to something-" Sprx tightened his hands into fists and realized he was beginning to babble. Thankfully, Nova said nothing and he took a deep, calming breath to continue. "The point is, is that your life is worth so much more than what would probably have been a small victory."

Nova smiled. "A victory against Mandarin wouldn't be a small one, but I get what you mean."

Sprx turned away from her a little. "What I did was terrible, when I realized what had happened, well, I just wanted to be deactivated."

"It wasn't your fault!" Nova quickly interjected, jumping to her feet and quickly going to put her hands on Sprx's shoulders. "Sprx, no one blames you for what happened, not Antauri, nor Gibson, not even me," she stroked Sprx's cheek with one hand. "We were more worried that we were going to lose you forever."

Sprx chuckled. "Oh, come on, you would have kicked my butt and put me out of my misery."

Nova's hands slid down and hung at her sides as her own head lowered.

"As strong as I may be, I know that there might be times when that strength won't be enough. If I lost you, I think that would be one of those times."

Sprx looked up and lifted Nova's face and saw tears in her eyes.

"You know, it's not fair if you start crying," Sprx said, brushing away a tear before it fell.

Nova let out a small laugh. "Why? Does it put a crack in that macho exterior of yours?"

Sprx chuckled. "You might say that, because it makes me want to do this."

Sprx leaned in close and kissed Nova gently. It took her a moment but she returned it. They parted after a moment with their hands clasped together.

"Took you long enough," Nova said. "Was beginning to wonder how much more I had to make things clear to you."

Nova let her hands drop and walked out of the room. Sprx followed her after a moment.

"Hang on, you've never made any indication of liking me," Sprx said, quickly following her.

"Oh, please, the constant teasing? My smacking you upside the head when you deserved it? The banter?"

"I thought you hated me."

"And you're supposed to be the one with the amazing sense of instinct."

Sprx scowled. "I'll show you instinct."

He pounced on Nova, who giggled and wrestled back. They did this for a few minutes until Antauri's voice on the loud speaker stopped them in their tracks.

"Hyper Force, report to the med bay immediately."

For as urgent as the order seemed, Antauri's voice was as calm and collected as ever.

Sprx and Nova exchanged a glance, untangled themselves and started towards the med bay.

"He's back quick, it's only been a few days," Sprx said.

"What do you think happened?" Nova wondered.

"Well, we know that Antauri's okay."

"Maybe, I don't have a good feeling about this, though."

Nova and Sprx were the last to the medical bay. They recognized Jitkle at once and both grimaced at the wires that were connected over his body. Gibson was busy at one computer while Otto was looking at a medical report with Chiro, while Antauri looked almost anxiously at a screen.

"Jitkle, what happened?" Nova asked, going to the feline and putting a hand on his uninjured arm.

"He's sedated," Gibson murmured without looking up. "He's suffering from a great deal of pain, I'm afraid."

"Antauri, what happened?" Sprx asked.

Antauri sighed. "Monkey Team, I'm afraid this brings up the first unanticipated problem."

"Did they find you guys?" Otto asked.

"Thankfully, no, that is the good news."

"Can't wait to hear the bad news," Sprx murmured. Nova elbowed him, albeit more gentle than usual.

"The bad news is what's happening to our feline comrade. We were hiding and an enemy soldier approached our hiding spot. They have hand-held weapons, sticks they seemed, however we did not know that the ends were pointed."

"Oh no, Antauri, what if they followed the scent of Jitkle's blood?" Nova asked.

"I don't believe that is a route they will take, for the ends of the sticks are poisoned. Somehow, there's a wound but there is no blood."

"The poison is very dangerous. So far my analysis can only conclude that the poison immediately fires off reactions in the nerves so that the affected areas are in a constant state of almost, if not completely debilitating pain," Gibson explained grimly. "Then as it spreads it slowly eats away at your body. First the muscles, then the blood vessels, cartilage, and eventually, well…"

Everyone frowned at the unspoken conclusion.

"So what are we going to do about it? Can anything be done about it?" Chiro asked.

"Results are inconclusive so far," Otto said, putting the readouts aside before turning to the others with a reassuring smile. "But Gibson's a genius. He can figure anything out."

"I will certainly try my best," Gibson said with a nod. "For now we must take this new weapon into consideration and pray that no one else will suffer."

"While we're all here Antauri, fill us in, what else did you find out?" Chiro said.

Antauri nodded. "I believe that the Skeleton King's army is using the laboratory as an epicenter. No one has been able to get close enough to it to draw any definite conclusions, however one thing is clear; the camps closest to the lab have many long-range weapons prepared, while there is an outer circle, if you will, of many of what we assume to be lesser soldiers, perhaps an invasion group. These are the creatures that we saw with the poisoned weapons."

"What is that guy's obsession with that place?" Sprx asked. "I mean, we were there for Antauri, we had been born there, lived there, but seriously?"

"Perhaps it is a last attachment of the true Alchemist," Antauri suggested. He glanced over at Chiro as he continued, "I do not believe it is useful for anything other than dwelling on the past and perhaps writing history books. Our priorities rest with making sure the undead army does not take over Shuggazoom."

"How many soldiers were out there?" Nova asked.

"Hundreds. There were at least one hundred per camp in the outer ring and there were many, many camps. The numbers got fewer as they were closer to the lab. I'm afraid we may be slightly outnumbered and at the moment our lack of knowledge about them poses more of a threat."

Chiro nodded. "Okay, Antauri, would it be to our advantage to have another go at a spy mission?"

"Perhaps, if Otto can make a cloaking device for an aerial vehicle then we can also get a view from the sky."

"Sounds good. Otto, Sprx, can I leave that to you?"

"No problem," Otto said with a thumbs-up and a grin.

"Sure, kid. Come on, Otto,"

"I will continue to work on finding a cure for Jitkle and inform you at once on whatever I can find," Gibson said, turning back to the computers, eager to get to work.

"Antauri, you and Nova call in the troops to schedule undercover perimeter measures. Have them blend in to the population and send an alert if there is any undead activity. It wouldn't surprise me if Skeleton King tried to infiltrate the city with underground or hidden attacks, he's done it before," Chiro said.

"Good idea," Antauri agreed and he turned to Nova. "Please begin gathering anyone who can fit the description of a Shuggazoomian, low profile,"

"Yep, I got it, trust me," Nova said with a smile and then she left.

"Chiro," Antauri made sure to wait until Nova was gone. "I want you to stay in the Super Robot."

"Everyone needs me here Antauri, we're kind of in the middle of a war. Why would I leave?" Chiro asked.

"I know you're still thinking about what we spoke of earlier. When I mentioned the Alchemists lab I saw the look in your eyes. I know you too well, Chiro,"

Chiro didn't meet Antauri's eyes and instead looked at the unconscious Kathorian. Antauri sighed.

"I have long since come to the conclusion that I have no more control over you than I have control over when the sun rises and sets. All I can do is offer my wisdom and requests and hope for the best."

"Aw, come on Antauri, you know me."

"Yes, I do."

"Yeah, well, I can promise that I do know what I'm doing," Chiro smiled at him. "Thanks for looking out for me."

Antauri smiled back and nodded, then Chiro left the room.

"I have the feeling he's humoring you," Gibson said in his usual dry, flat, 'Now you're not falling for that line, are you?' tone.

Antauri nodded and let out a silent sigh as his smile faded.

"Don't tell me you believe him," Gibson's voice was laced with a slight groan.

"No, however I do have faith in him."