A/N: This was written by Macintosh. Therefore it's Canon in regards to the story Blue Sector.
Take Me to The King
By Macintosh
A five o clock train in the eyes of a monkey is not the same to a human. A five o clock train is sometimes perfect, and almost euphoric to look at, when said Monkey analyzes everything about this powerhouse on rails. Mojo had to admire humanity sometimes, despite his animosity towards them. He loved there willingness to work to adapt. Most species would give up, and not even consider making something to atone for the problem they faced. He would know.
As he boarded that five o clock train, he remembered his personal experience dealing with people without a complete lack of commitment. They were not really "people", more like chimps and monkeys. He used to live in a cage with those chimps and monkeys. He used to be just as barbaric as those chimps and monkeys. But now, as he holds on to the railing of the train car, and as he heads toward city hall for what may be the first time on peaceful terms, he prides himself in his humanity. The woman next to him, however, could probably do with a lesson in inviting stares. She stiffens every time he slightly moves, which he has to in order to keep his uniform from touching the metal door frame, and creating an annoying clinking sound ever time the train bumps.
Honestly, she should be grateful. He thinks, I am sacrificing my comfort so she won't have to deal with the inadequate noise. The subways of Townsville were dark, and there was no light in the tunnels, save for the headlights on the train. Mojo, with his superior eyesight, was easily able to see the many people in the cart he was in. It was crowded and cramped, and he was pushed up against the train door, meaning when his stop came, he would have to hurry on out, or be trampled under hurrying feet. No one but him could see, except for the woman next to him who felt his fur as he passed, that he was a chimp in a cape and armor.
He liked it that way. It made thing's easier for him nowadays. The train stopped, and the doors opened, and Mojo bolted out before he could be ran over. The Subway stops were dimly lit by orange electric light bulbs. Light bulbs were a luxury that not everyone in the city could have. Mojo was going to change that. Today, at city hall, he would confront the Mayor of Townsville about the city's depravity. The City Hall was about a block away, and if Mojo sprinted he could get there in a fair amount of time. That is, if he can dodge the Ruffians in the alleyways. Mojo's cape was also going to be a problem.
Despite his days of villainy, he had never actually walked to anywhere to cause trouble. He had always hid inside of the giant machines he created. As people passed him, some rudely jostling him to get to the stairs, he looked back at the cape and made a daring decision. He ripped it, and bundled it in his arms. He would have to dump it on the way. He moved on up the stairs, and was greeted by a smoggy sky, and high glass buildings that were covered in moss, completely empty and devoid of human care. Some had cracked windows, others were almost completely missing chunks of themselves, and the earth began to take them back, in vines and trees.
No one in Townsville did business in offices, like in the posters. No one wore fancy suits or pretty dresses, and went to big shiny balls. No one had ever done anything remotely "Fancy" in years. And it was all because of the Monsters. The Monsters were a constant threat and reminder to Townsville, that they could never be free like the other cities. Other cities could do trade, and had food and money. Townsville would never have that because of Monster Isle.
Outside the subway, above ground with the other humans, Mojo could only see destruction with no meaning. And it was a first for humanity. For once, he did not blame them for their carelessness, or their rare barbarity when it came to extreme foes. While he did admire them on one level, he couldn't forgive them for what they had done to others in the past.
The City hall would be closing quickly, so Mojo decided to sprint his way over there. He was short, and his legs were not meant to run in this humane way. They were meant to grip and swing, to throw things far away. He could not do those gymnastics though, due to the armor he wore. His shoulder pads alone stopped some of his mobility. He debated on getting rid of some of his armor, but had no time to act on it before a Ruffian dragged him into an alley.
This one was a big, tubby kind of Ruffian. He was a ginger with bangs that covered his eyes, and clothing to small for him. He was still a child, that Mojo could see from his immature movements. But he towered over Mojo, like a small baby elephant. The tubby boy had yanked Mojo off the street, and threw him into a wall, armor and all. He was not a weak child, Mojo deduced. Maybe if trip him somehow, i-
"Hey there, Chimp. You got something for us?" Mojo sucked in his breath. There were more, of course. Ruffians never traveled alone. Mojo gulped. He could not see any other child beside the fat one in front of him, who hadn't moved at all since he had been brought into the alley. For a short second Mojo wondered if he was breathing at all.
"I... might have something for you, yes." He answered. He looked around. And still saw no one. Then from above, a child shorter then the fat one, dropped in front of him. Mojo stood up, fast and close to the wall. This child was likely a midget of some sort. He had greasy black hair, surprisingly styled with something, and he wore a magenta jacket that was faded in color, with ripped black slacks. He had a dirty white shirt covered in stains, and the grin he wore on his face unsettled Mojo to no end. It was grin that showed intelligence, and not the good kind. This kid knew stuff. Mojo didn't know what he knew, but whatever it was, it probably wasn't good.
The kid snapped his fingers, and the fat kid behind him came closer to Mojo. He grabbed Mojo by the neck, and lifted him into the air. The Chimp didn't dare try to struggle. Arturo chuckled.
"I see you've been trained." He said. "Then you do know what we want." Mojo didn't say anything, he just tried to nod. The fat kid wasn't squeezing the air out of him, just holding him awkwardly. But Mojo knew that one slip, and he would be dead from a broken neck. Arturo came up, beside his tall companion, and clapped his hands childishly.
"Alright! I want dirt on someone. You're an A class villain. I bet you know who they are!" He said. He had this happy cadence to his voice, talking as if he wasn't assaulting someone in an alley. Arturo continued without Mojo adding anything.
"I'm looking for the King." Arturo said. Mojo knew exactly who he was talking about.
"The... King?" He said coarsely. Arturo nodded. "I... know him..."
The fat one released Mojo, and he dropped like a stone. He slowly got up, and looked at Arturo.
Arturo put his hands behind his back, as if he was inviting Mojo to some fancy party.
"Then you don't have a problem with showing me to him, do you?" He asked. Mojo could not refuse this. These kids could easily kill him right here, and he would never get to City Hall. Mojo nodded.
"... Of course not. I will bring you to him." He said. Arturo patted him on the back, smiling.
"That's what I like to hear! Lead the way, monkey man!" He grabbed Mojo by the arm, and the two of them left the alley. Arturo turned toward the fat kid before leaving.
"Billy, tell Ace and the others I'll be late. I have business to take care of with here." He said. Billy nodded, not saying anything. He slipped back into the alley, and disappeared, creeping Mojo out even more.
...
The King was a man of power and influence in the otherwise dead city of Townsville. He was every rich, mid western man all rolled into one. Barrel chested and robed in fine suits, he was the only person in the city with enough money to own chandeliers in every room of his giant mansion. He did charity work, and he had a lovely little daughter with red puffy locks, just like her mother. No one knew the man's name, whenever asked The King would answer by saying he was "a ruler like the rest", thus the name. He lived in a mansion named after his Grandfather.
Morbucks Manor. It was a shining, alabaster utopia in a sea of blackouts and death. The family was awake when Mojo and Arturo got there. They were hiding far away on a hill just outside the property lines. The only thing separating them from sweet salvation was a chain link fence with electricity coursing through it. Arturo stared up at the chain link fence. "The Old Mans got money, but not enough I bet." He said. Mojo shook his head.
"If your suggesting that he doesn't have enough money for the fence, I'd say that's just-" idiotic. He was about to say. Arturo chuckled.
"Keep watching it Monkey Man. Any minute we'll get our chance." He said. The sun was setting soon. It had taken them a long time to get here, and it had exhausted Mojo almost completely. He looked back at the horizon of the city, looking at the skyline of the broken down buildings, and gulped. The boys will go hungry tonight... He thought. God knows none of them know how to cook. He would have left as soon as they got to the fence, but Arturo made it clear that he was going with him all the way. When Mojo had first stepped back to leave, Arturo pulled a small switch blade, and threw it so fast, Mojo didn't even register that he had been cut till a few moments ago. He had been wondering what it was Arturo threw at him for the past few minutes of standing at the fence, when he realized with a cold sense of dread, that it was a fucking knife.
"How long do we have to stay here?" Mojo asked quietly. Arturo kept his eyes on the fence, not once taking his eyes off the pulsing metal barrier.
"Until it shuts down." He said.
"No," mojo spoke up. "I mean, when we go into the manor. How long will it be?" Arturo glanced at him.
"You got somewhere to be, Chimp?" He asked. Mojo shook his head quickly.
"Uh... no! I just- City Hall is open tomorrow, and-"
"City Hall?" Mojo nodded. Arturo smirked, eyes returning to the fence. "Is that where you were going?" He asked. Mojo looked down.
"Yes... I was going to talk to the mayor." He said, so quiet Arturo almost didn't hear him.
"The Mayor can wait. The fence is down, we've got to go now." He grabbed Mojo by the arm, and pushed him up the fence. "Climb." He said.
Mojo used his instincts and climbed the fence swiftly and naturally. Arturo soon followed, almost as natural as Mojo. They made it in the nick of time, as the Fence came to life again. Mojo's hair rose a little due to his closeness to the fence. He's silently glad that he ripped his cape off back then. Arturo looked out over the hill towards Morbucks Manor. The lights were going off.
"The securities gonna be up now that the Old Mans tucking in. We better hurry. You got the gadgets on you?" He looked at Mojo, who looked caught off guard.
"Well...I have a few tucked away on me. But I didn't think-"
"What do you mean? I asked you to lead me to the fucking King, you should have at least guessed this far, dumbass. Now come on. We'll use whatever gadgets you got to break in." Arturo started to walk on without him and Mojo followed, trying not to lag behind.
The field between Morbucks Manor was massive, and Mojo could not imagine them somehow walking this distance without someone seeing them. He looked around, wondering if there was some form of transportation. Arturo pointed behind Mojo. "Look, there's something over there. It looks like a car." He said.
"A car? Why would a car be on this man's pristine lawn? It's not a dump." Mojo said. Arturo began to walk toward it.
"Yeah, but his lawn is so huge. The King probably dumps near the fence because the real guests won't be coming in all the way out here. They'd use the front entrance." Arturo was right. It was indeed a broken down car. But it wasn't completely ruined, or rusted to oblivion. It was probably dumped a few days ago. Mojo stared at the nice, otherwise shiny visage of the cars hull. It wasn't damaged that bad actually. Even the inside was near perfect.
"Why would he get rid of this? It's perfect!" He ran over to the hood, and popped it open. "Interior is barely damaged. We could easily turn it on without much assistance." Arturo pushed him aside, and looked at the engine.
"I know why he got rid of it. It's not a hover, it still uses gas, and real gas don't come cheap nowadays. It was too expensive." He explained. He fiddled with some of the wires, Mojo doesn't know how or what wires he was pulling, cars were never his thing. But Arturo ended up starting it somehow. He sat in the passenger seat, and Mojo followed. The two of them sat there for awhile.
"Well?" Arturo said looking at Mojo. "Drive!"
"I dont know how to!" He said. Arturo looked at him like he was crazy.
"Wha- How the fuck do you control giant ass robots, and not a tiny ass car!? It can't be that hard to just wing it, can it!?" He said.
Mojo crossed his arms."Why don't you drive, since it's so easy?"
"Bitch-" Arturo held his tongue. He breathed in. "Look. You know damn well that I can't drive. Just put the car in drive. And put your foot on the petal." He explained.
Mojo did as he said, moving the stick to drive, and gently pushing the petal. They went at a snails pace at first, before Mojo confidently pressed harder and they skyrocketed. Arturo grinned widely, holding onto the seat as the car sped fast across the hills.
"Thats it! Just keep going until we reach-" the car suddenly stopped. The two of them jolted forward in their seat. The wheels continued to spin, yet the car wasn't moving. Mojo looked at Arturo scared. "What's wrong with it?" He asked. Before Arturo could answer, the car was promptly lifted into the air. Mojo looked back, but the windows were crushed and the back seat was pushed inward, like something was pinching it together. Mojo yelled. The car moved through the air, until the two were staring at a scaly, green face with lidless eyes. The Monster had vermilion eyes that glowed angrily, and it huffed a plume of gray smoke at the car, momentarily blocking it from view. Neither of them moved.
"It's a Monster." Mojo said quietly. Arturo hissed at him.
"No shit Chimp! What do we do?" He said. They whispered as to not startle the Monster. Mojo slowly reached into his armor. He had brought a small lock pick with him just in case he needed to ever escape or break into something. The car doors did not need such a lock, but there was a small hatch right under the wheel that Mojo had noticed. It's probably for the breaks or something. If I can get pass those, and hit the headlights wire...
Arturo saw the lock pick, and nodded. "The wheel. Get rid of it." Mojo started to wedge the Lockpick between the steering wheel, and Arturo continued to stare down the Monster.
As soon as Mojo almost got the wheel unhinged, the rumbling began. It was the Monster. Arturo looked at him panicked. "This giant lizard is gonna fry us! Hurry up!" He said. Mojo began to fumble, and he pulled with all his strength. The wheel popped off, and out came the wires. Mojo didn't think about which wires were which, he just started pulling randomly, causing pandemonium. The headlights came on, and the windshield wipers started to move, and finally the car sprouted windshield wiper fluid at the Monster, causing it to roar and drop the car.
The car dropped like a stone, and Mojo and Arturo were bounced around like marbles in a jar. Arturo jumped out of the car, and sprinted, Mojo not far behind him. The Monster was much larger than they both thought, and towered over then more than thirty feet in the air. The Monster roared, spotted their tiny figures on the ground and began to follow. Its footsteps were thunderous and loud. Mojo could see that in the distance, the lights to the house were turning on.
"No point in sneaking in now, huh!?" He yelled at Arturo. Arturo didn't answer, just kept running. The Monster was gaining close on them, which was no surprise as it's strides were much longer.
The Monster jumped in front of them, bending low, and growling right in their faces. The two stopped dead in their tracks waiting for the Monster to attack. But it didn't. It would growl any time one of them tried to move back, so they both stood there staring down the giant fire breathing Monster.
Soon, a buggy came from behind the Monster. There were people in it, Mojo guesses they were the grounds keeper for the lawn. All in all, there were four people. There were two Suits with guns, and two other unarmed people. One was a big bulky man, in a rich saying suit, with a velvet tie and dollar signs on his collar. As if they stood for his initials. The other was a woman, her face was so deformed from plastic surgery though, that Mojo had trouble placing if she were a woman or not. The man came in front of the Monster, and held his hand up. The Monster and the Suits lowered their weapons, and backed off. The rich man smiled.
"Little Arturo!" He said happily. "Well I'll be damned! What are you doing out here this late at night?" He gestured with his hands at the massive lawn. Arturo straightened up, keeping a nervous eye on the Monster.
"I came to ask a favor." He said. That got the man's attention, he laughed and smiled so friendly that Mojo couldn't believe the situation they were in.
"A favor? Did you hear that darling? A favor! Arturo wants a favor!" He looked at his wife almost giddy. She didn't return his glee, and Mojo doubted she could with that stiff face. He looked back at Arturo. He clapped his hands in a childish manor once.
"I have been waiting ages for this moment." He said. He returned to the buggy. "Come then! We'll discuss your favor in Manors dining room. You can bring your Friend too, if you want." Arturo looked at Mojo.
"Nows your chance to leave Chimp." He said. But Mojo would not leave. He had three boys of his own. What kind of a father would he be to just leave a child in the hands of someone who was so obviously malicious? That, and Arturo reminded too much of Butch.
"I will accompany you. I am curious about the estate." He lied. He wasn't gonna let Arturo know he cared slightly about him. He probably wouldn't appreciate that. Arturo hopped in the Buggy after The King, and so did Mojo. The Suits led the Monster back to whatever cage it was hidden in. Morbucks Manor shined brightly like a beacon of false hope. A single spotlight in a sea of blackouts and death.
...
The inside of the Manor was just as brilliant and shining the outside had promised. Mojo took a moment to stare hopelessly at the golden chandelier in the dining area. The table that The King had ordered was laden with food so rich and perfect, Mojo thought it was a mirage of some sort. He had never eaten anything so delicious or real in his whole life. Mojo gorged himself silly, but Arturo remained impassive to the riches in front of him.
The King sat at the head of the massive, rich table with his hands folded in front of him. He smiled kindly at them.
"So about this favor? I understand we haven't exactly been on good turns lately, but I'm so glad your here! Really!" He said. Arturo nodded.
"Uh... yeah... Look about the favor, it's not for me." He said. The King shook his head.
"Oh I figured as much Arturo. How is Ace doing these days anyway?" He asked causally. The mood in the room shifted dramatically. Mojo shortly stopped eating, and looked up at the two.
"How do you-" Arturo began.
"I have eyes all over that rat infested city Arturo. I know about Ace and the others. I know about Mojo's boys, and those dangerous little freaks of justice." He took a sip of wine. "And I know what your going to ask, and the answer is yes. I will do it. On one condition." Arturo looked at The King through slits.
"Okay." He said.
"Ace has to show me his full potential in the future. All that study has to go to somewhere one day. If you can promise me that Ace will hunt one man for me in the future." He said. The King took out a picture and showed it to Arturo, who looked confused. Almost outraged.
"You want The Professor? The maker of those..." He didn't finish it. The King smiled smugly.
"Is your brother not up to the task, Arturo?" He said, wiping his lips with a napkin.
Arturo shook his head. "No he can do it. Just... why him?" He asked. Arturo handed the picture back to him. The King put it back in his pocket.
"You'll find out when you catch him for me. Now your dismissed. By next week, your favor will be fulfilled. Oh!" He said. "And Mojo, feel free to take left overs. I know how hungry those boys of yours get without you." Mojo just blinked. He nodded in thanks, and grabbed some of the food off the table, stuffing it into his pockets. Arturo got up from the table, and Mojo followed yet again. Outside, they were met with a cold breeze, and the peak of the sun coming up over the horizon.
...
Back at the fence, Mojo and Arturo had been silent the entire time back. There were so many questions that Mojo had for The King. Mojo knew who he was, but he had never actually met the man in his life before. The entire experience was surreal for him. To meet him tonight was the strangest thing he had ever experienced in his life. Arturo began to climb, but Mojo remained on the ground. He spoke up.
"Um... how..." He started. "How do... you know The King?" He asked. Arturo continued to climb without answering. Mojo followed, and when they were both on the other side Arturo answered.
"He was an old friend of my dad." He said. An old friend of his father's? Arturo shrugged.
"At least, that's what he told me." Mojo decided to not ask further. There were other questions of course. Like why did he have a pet Monster hiding in his lawn? What eyes does he have in the city? Mojo would likely never know.
When they reached the subway again, they parted ways, and didn't speak to each other as they left. Arturo went back to his alley, climbing a great height and then disappearing from sight, and Mojo made it just in time for the five o clock train (the AM tram) and hitched a ride back to his home. The train didn't look as amazing now. It did not compare to the wonders inside of Morbucks Manor. But it was still very impressive in the eyes of a Monkey.
