Disclaimer & Warning: This story is purely fan-made; I will not and never will own SRMTHFG! or any of it's canon characters, I'm only using them here for my own sick amusement. Be warned, this story is rated T/M for a reason. I am very big on details, and some things may be graphic in this story - gore, death, blood, etc. Triggering material may also be present in some chapters. If this offends you, please turn away now. Constructive criticism is welcome, so please feel free to do so: I am constantly learning how to be a better writer and anything to help would be greatly appreciated.

Shout Out: Thank you to all my beta readers, you know who you are. Without you, I'd never have been able to get this done!

ARC ONE: SCENE ONE

'THE AWAKENING'

"Life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced." - Soren Kierkegaard

[*] The first thing she became aware of was the cold.

It came on quickly like a splash of ice cold water. The warmth of the hibernation cell drained away with the golden preservation liquids that kept her comfortably suspended. Her connection to the Super Robot's operating systems was cut abruptly, and she was left to gravity's clutches as she dropped into a crouch on the bottom of her cell. Hydraulics hissed and creaked from years of disuse, and then the glass separating her from the outside world vanished into the ceiling and dispelled any last remnants of warmth. Immediately her metal arms and tail simultaneously came up around her small golden colored body in a tight hug, trying to still the violent shivers that overtook her. Had it always been this cold before?

But with the sting of the chill against her nerves came awareness, trickling back into her consciousness ever so slowly. Her sleep addled mind tried to catch up with what had happened. She was awake, which meant the Robot was back online, which meant...

"Hey! Guys, guys! I can't see! I can't see!" her thoughts were interrupted by a sudden voice that pierced through the fog and her bubblegum optics snapped open. The first sight that greeted her was that of a green monkey walking carefully around the area, hands reaching out to desperately grasp at anything they touched. "Are the lights dead? Can any of you guys see anything? Quickly! Follow the sound of my voice! Oh, why aren't those night vision sensors working?!" each word spoken bounced off the walls, steadily growing louder and louder in volume. Warily curious, she tilted her head in confusion, one brow raising as she regarded her companion.

A groan sounded from her immediate right. She turned her attention from the still wandering green one to the newly awakened blue one as he walked out of his own hibernation cell. "The lights are just fine," came the sophisticated and educated sounding voice that she hadn't heard in so long. The sudden sound of a loud 'pang!' resulted in a slight feedback in her audio receptors, painting a wince on her face. She turned back to where she'd left her green teammate; as it turns out, the sudden sound of the blue monkey's voice had made the green one take a sudden change in direction... face-first right into a bulkhead. "And you'd see that yourself, Otta, if you would just open your eyes." folding his arms over his chest, the blue monkey's jet black optics narrowed slightly in a truly annoyed glare.

A pair of charcoal colored optics, just a few shades lighter than the azure primate's, snapped open at the command. Slowly getting her bearings together, she turned her head from left to right, taking in the sight of the room and the bulkhead she had slammed into before a delighted grin overcame her face. "Yay!" her hands flew into the air with the exclamation. "Never-mind guys, the lights work! Thanks Gibson!" she twisted her form back, waving to the blue monkey in gratefulness. Gibson merely sighed, one hand coming up to pinch the bridge of his muzzle as he silently counted to ten in his mind. He had just woken up, he didn't need to deal with his so soon. Especially when there were other more important things to consider.

Very, very important things.

Yawning and rubbing the sleep from his eyes, the crimson member of the ensemble joined the small gathering. Shiny onyx optics, similar but different to the green and blue ones, blinked lazily as they adjusted while one hand raised to the top of his head to scratch at an itch. "Oh hey guys," he mumbled sleepily, his gaze falling from one team member to the other. "Nice to see you all again." his gaze finally landed on Gibson, and his optics narrowed slightly. "Well, most of you anyway." A low growl rumbled from Gibson's throat in response, his tail curling and lashing behind him in annoyance. Under his breath he mumbled to himself, too low to hear all of it, but Otta was pretty sure she heard something about 'imbeciles' and 'too soon to deal with this menace'.

Said red menace resolutely ignored him, stretching his arms above his head before folding them behind his head as he looked about the empty room. "So, anyone know what time it is... or year for that matter? How long were we out for?"

Those were good questions. Pushing aside his annoyance, Gibson moved to the command console connected to the hibernation cells, his fingers moving quickly over the keypad. A small holographic screen sparked into existence, a stream of data and dates floating before his eyes. "Hmm, well according to these numbers, it has been exactly..." his eyes widened as he jerked his head back to his teammates. "Two hundred and thirty eight planetary years since we went into stasis!" his shock was shared by his fellow monkeys at the news, all traces of sleepiness gone from their faces.

Two hundred and thirty eight years, just over two centuries. Two centuries of waiting, of floating uselessly in stasis while who knows what happened outside. What about Shuggazoom, what had become of it? Was their beloved city even still there to defend?

Multicolored optics turned to regard each other, as if the answers to these unsettling questions could be found in their teammate's faces. "Well," the golden female began hesitantly, slowly unfurling her limbs from around herself, her body finally acclimated to the outside conditions. "We're awake, right? Someone had to have woke us up, which means the planet is still inhabited... right?" though her voice was confident, the look in her eyes and the smile that didn't quite reach her eyes spoke to how she wasn't exactly sure of her own words. Yes, it was a logical and certain conclusion to come to: they had set the hibernation cells to awaken them from hyper sleep when the Robot had been rebooted. The only way that could've happened is if a certain person had been granted access into the Robot and flipped the switch in the Main Engine Room. There had to be at least one person still on Shuggazoom for that to happen.

Her ruby colored companion let his arms fall from the back of his head to cross over his chest, a thoughtful look coming to his features as he stared at the floor. "Two hundred years..." he muttered softly, his tail curling slowly behind him as he digested this new information. "We've been stuck in here for two hundred years, Nova. Whoever this Chosen One is," he turned his sights onto his golden companion, optics narrowing as old frustrations and anger lost to the hyper sleep sparked back to life. "They'd better have been worth this, and whatever else has happened while we've been out." he didn't say anything else, but with the unspoken, thinly veiled promise shining in his eyes, he didn't need to.

"Sprx..." the golden furred female started to open her muzzle to reply, but was interrupted by a sudden question from Otta. The green female pointed one metallic finger towards the middle of the five stasis cells, empty and open just like theirs. Five cells, four teammates:

"Hey guys, anybody know where Antauri went?"

[=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=]

When he had given the order for them to go into hyper sleep and await the arrival of their Chosen One, he wasn't sure what was in store for him and his team. Though he had absolute confidence in the Power Primate and for all intents and purposes was considered a master in its use, he was by no means a true master of the mystical force. And he certainly made no claims to be one either. He still had much to learn about the force he relied upon; its intricacies and secrets still remained just out of his reach. And though he liked to think had a good grasp over what he had learned so far, it by no means meant he knew what to expect of it. But the uncertainty of the unknown had never shaken his faith, either in the Power Primate or in his team.

Whatever was thrown their way, he had the faith that he and his team could handle it, and the Power Primate would guide them justly. Just as he had faith in the prophecy the Verron Mystics had imparted to him when he visited them days before the team entered the hibernation cells.

Now, after centuries that seemed to have gone by in minutes, the prophecy was finally set to be fulfilled. The one who had been chosen lead the Hyper Force by the Power Primate itself against the greatest evil the universe had ever known; an evil that they had not yet been tested against. He knew and understood that going into this there would be troubles; the mistakes and hardships that were now years in the past were still as fresh as yesterday in the hearts and minds of both himself and his brothers and sisters. He would admit openly to his team that he too was apprehensive about a new leader if asked, but against the greater threat that was incoming he was willing to put aside his fears and take a chance.

However, as olive green eyes stared at the unconscious form at his feet, it only now occurred to him that while the prophecy had said a Chosen One would arise, it hadn't said exactly what the Chosen One would be.

...To put it simply, he wasn't sure what to make of the sight before him.

The black monkey knelt down beside the strange human child he'd found slumped on floor of the Main Engine Room, silently considering his presence in the Super Robot and exactly what that meant. His head turned, eyes landing on the switch that had been pushed out of the neutral setting, then back to the human. Cautiously, one four-fingered hand reached out to rest upon the newcomer's shoulder, closing his eyes and focusing on the child's life-force.

The moment his soul came into contact with the child's, he could feel the strong, vibrant pulse: the human was still very much alive and relatively unharmed, just scared and passed out cold and likely to remain that way for a while. But that wasn't the only thing that he could sense within him. It took all of Antauri's training not to be overwhelmed by the sensation of sheer power that encircled the soul, rushing through the small form like a raging river. The shock of its discovery stole his breath from his lungs, and all of his suspicions and doubts that had taken seed were put to rest. He recognized this power, the very same mystic force that he trusted and put so much faith in, that he sometimes felt he knew better than he knew himself and yet felt that he knew nothing about at all.

But... it felt different than it had before; it felt so alive, so powerful and uncontrollable as if it would burst from the human's skin at any moment.

Antauri returned his focus to the physical realm, his hand coming back to rest on his bent knees while he turned his eyes to the boy's face to regard him for a second time. There was no mistake, not after what he had just felt lurking within the child's soul. This human was the Chosen One, the one destined to combat the great evil that would soon descend upon their fair City. He wouldn't have been able to access the Robot if he wasn't, and he certainly wouldn't have the Power Primate, a force that as far as he knew no human had ever been able to call upon let alone control, practically living inside of him. It all added up, all the evidence was there...

...but, for all his faith and confidence, he just didn't understand; why did the Power Primate choose this boy?

A knock of metal against metal at the entrance to the Engine Room drew his attention. Otta stood at the entrance, a glint in her optics and a smile, one he had not seen in so long, painted over her muzzle. "Found him!" she called out over her shoulder to the rest of the team before jogging into the room to practically tackle him in a crushing hug. The black second-in-command saw it coming, had braced for the impact, but he still had to catch himself before he fell face first onto the unconscious human in front of him. "Don't scare us like that 'Tauri!" Otta admonished him gently. "We woke up and you weren't there with us! We were worried!" and yes, that was a definite pout he heard in her voice, though the smile hadn't left her muzzle.

A warm smile of his own found its way onto his face. After what had happened before their hyper sleep, it did his heart and soul good to see her smiling and jesting again. "My apologies, Otta." he replied patiently, one hand reaching up to pat her arm. "I shall endeavor to let you know where I am going from now on. But perhaps you can release me now so we can tend to our guest?" that seemed to be what she wanted to hear because she did release him from her crushing grip, a satisfied look about her face.

"I'm gonna hold you to your word, 'Tauri," she warned with a giggle before she finally noticed the person on the floor who hadn't been there before. Surprise colored her face, and she knelt down beside Antauri to investigate for herself. Her tail came around her body to nudge curiously at the unconscious form, head tilting to an extreme right in curiosity. "Is this him? Is he gonna be our new leader? Why isn't he awake? There's nothing wrong with him is there? ...Aren't humans suppose to be bigger? He is a human right?" her stream of quick fired questions were left unanswered in the wake of the arrival of the others, blue, red and golden forms filing in through the doorway.

Gibson was the first to reach them, kneeling on the other side of the boy's body to join his teammates' in their observations. "Hmm, well this is... unprecedented..." he muttered, falling into centuries old habits as he carefully began to do a cursory examination on the stranger. He wasn't at all what he would call an expert on human anatomy, but back when monsters roamed Shuggazoom City's streets on a near daily basis he was usually the first one to tend to the injured before the medics were allowed on scene. He was certain if there was anything bad wrong he'd be able to find it. Nova had taken position behind Antauri and Otta's forms, tiptoeing to crane her neck as far as it would go to get a good look at the intruder in their midst. The one they'd been awaiting for close to two in a half centuries. She blinked once, twice, three times as she digested the scene before her. This Chosen One guy looked... young. Very, very young...

"Please tell me this is a joke," Sprx stated blandly the moment he realized exactly what his teammates had knelt beside. His tail lashed out behind him in a rage, and the traces of a twitch could be seen making its way into his right eye. "Tell me this is someone's idea of a joke right now." that was the only explanation for this. The only explanation why there would be a human child in the Robot, in the Main Engine Room next to the pulled ignition switch. Someone was playing a damn joke and having a real good laugh at their expense. Because there was no way, absolutely no way, that this... this kid was the one who these Mystic-y People that told Antauri that stupid prophecy was talking about.

But as Antauri turned his all too calm gaze to him, Sprx could feel the knot in his stomach tighten even before the black monkey spoke. "This is no joke, Sprx. This child is the one the prophecy foretold. This is our Chosen One." as those still far too calm eyes turned away from him to rest on the kid again, Sprx swore he felt some of the circuitry in his brain frizzle and pop.

[=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=]

The fallout was just as expected.

"ARE YOU ALL OUT OF YOUR MONKEY DOODLING MINDS?!"

Drawing on years and years of practice and experience in dealing with the red pilot and the nonsense he spouted on a regular basis, Gibson expertly tuned out the raging red monkey's screeching and cursing. He made a quick mental note to bring up Sprx's language at a later date, however. No matter the situation there was never a call for language such as that.

Putting Sprx as far out of his mind as he could, he set about to continue his examination of the intruder found in the Engine Room. After he had given him a thorough glance over and found no major or life-threatening injuries on the child's person, he and the rest of the team (sans Sprx, who looked like he was on the verge of a complete nervous breakdown) had brought the youth into the Sick Bay. Fortunately for all that the Robot had fallen into disrepair - much to Otta's horror as she witnessed a light fixture fall off during the short walk - it was a great relief that many of the main operating systems were in otherwise decent working condition.

Gibson was also thankful that though this stranger was found unconscious on the floor, there didn't seem to be anything remotely wrong with him physically aside from slight bout of minor malnutrition. Whatever had happened in the Main Engine Room had likely just shocked him into fainting. He was truly lucky he didn't hit his head on the console or a nearby bulkhead when he fell. The clothing on the child seemed to be in order; no visible rips, bloodstains or filth aside from some grass and unidentifiable gunk that clung to the bottom of his pants and shoes. The lack of such oddities prompted him to decide not to remove the child's clothing, save for the white pack he'd carried on his back.

All in all, the human seemed like an otherwise healthy and fit young male. Though Gibson had lost track of the human's pack a few minutes ago; he thought he'd laid it beside the leg of the examination table... ah, well.

With the health of the human no longer in question, his mind left anything having to do with medical sciences and training and turned to the very thoughts he was certain were bombarding his fellow teammates'. As loud of a protest that Sprx was putting up against this, it pained Gibson to agree that the team's ace pilot had a point. This human was young, unnervingly so. His best guess was that he hadn't even begun to enter maturity yet; in fact if those studies he'd done on human behavior in his spare time still held true all these centuries later, he should still be living with his mother and father. Which begged the question, just where exactly were his parental figures? Why had he been found alone?

Gibson turned away from the examination table and his patient, leaving the Sick Bay to rejoin with his teammates in the Command Center. The minute the door slid open to admit him entrance however, he found himself desiring to retreat back behind it. Sprx was still on a rampage, screeching and screaming and raging for all he was worth. The pilot's voice was starting to reach decibels even Gibson had never hypothesized it could and it was taking every scrap of his dignity not to cover his audio receptors against the noise. By now Gibson couldn't even decipher the exact language that was coming out of the crimson monkey's mouth however, if it was a language at all. Not for the first time he admired Antauri for his eternal patience. The team's de facto leader just stood by calmly, waiting for Sprx to tire himself out so he could get a word in edgewise.

Saving grace came in the form of a giant yellow fist slammed directly on top of the red monkey's head, silencing him with a sharp yelp, and at last peace enveloped the Command Center. "Can it, Sprx," Nova's growled as she cracked her knuckles threateningly over the floored red monkey. "Yelling and screaming isn't going to help matters. Its just gonna give everyone headaches we don't need right now."

"It's a kid, Nova!" Sprx spat out, pushing himself off the floor in an unnaturally quick recovery from the punishing blow. "It's a freaking kid! We got what is suppose to be the greatest threat the universe or whatever-the-heck-you-wanna-call-it can spit out coming our way, and we're suppose to put all our hopes and dreams on a guy who probably doesn't even have all his teeth grown in yet!" he threw his hands up in exasperation, eyes desperately looking from one Hyper Force member to the other for support. Whatever was coming, it would probably take one look at this so-called 'Chosen One', then swallow him in one bite. Then it would take out the City next just because it could and had no one to stop it. "Does anyone else not see the problem here?!"

"I will admit this is not the best case scenario, Sprx," Antauri's deep baritone filled the room, eyes locking with their darker counterparts across from him. Inwardly, he admitted only to himself, that sentence was possibly quite the understatement. "But there is no doubt left to be had. The child has the Power Primate surging within him, I can sense it. And I'm certain you all could as well."

Silence reigned for all of a minute, no one, not even Sprx, having anything to say in contradiction to that statement. They all had felt a shift in the air, and they couldn't deny that there was something different about the boy laying in the Sick Bay. Something all too familiar, yet completely unfamiliar. It couldn't be properly explained and likely would remain that way. No human they'd interacted with, as few interactions as they'd had in the past, had ever had the presence this child had. Or this effect on the team. And while his teammates didn't have the training he had, Antauri was absolutely certain with how strong the Power Primate's presence was inside the human child that anyone, monkey, human or otherwise and whether they had spiritual training or not, who came within a ten foot radius of the child would recognize something different about him.

It was as though the Power Primate itself had been given life the moment it entered... no, that wasn't the right word. Merged was more like it, having become a part of the boy and he had become apart of it. A single entity that promised so much more with time. The prophecy had foretold a Master of the Power Primate like none that had come before or would ever come again; even with everything that was against this course of action, Antauri could feel his fur prickle at the thought of what this unknown boy could possibly become one day with the right training and determination.

Realizing he was quickly losing this battle, Sprx decided to change tactics. "But...!" he sputtered, flailing his hands over his head as tried to think of another argument he could bring forward. "But guys! This... this kid isn't ready for something like this! He probably spends his days playing with friends and fussing over what to wear for tomorrow! I'll bet my best magnet polish he's never been in a battle of any shape in his life! He won't know how to handle a weapon or fly a ship or...!" he would've continued to rant, but another good wack from Nova's fist had silenced him quite nicely.

With the red simian nursing his wounded face and pride in silence, Gibson decided to add his two cents in. "While I'm loathed to agree with Sprx, I have to admit he's right." he sighed through his nose, a bland look upon his face as he turned to Antauri. "I would be heavily surprised if the juvenile male in the Sick Bay had any sort of combat training or preparation. He may have the Power Primate, but I don't believe that will be enough to save him in the thick of battle. Especially if he doesn't even know how to use it." he turned his attention away from his teammates, glancing around at the still too dark Command Center with a critical eye.

Raising a metallic finger, he gingerly ran it over the side of one of the chairs, grimacing in disgust as it came away covered in dust. "Of course, I doubt we are in any similar shape to do combat with anything ourselves." he stated, shaking the offending debris from his person. "Most of the Robot's critical systems are still in working order, but it is still in need of both major and minor repairs, not to mention a thorough scrubbing. Upgrades will have to be made to all systems and firewalls, both for the Robot and us, and I'll be impressed if our own combat skills haven't suffered during our hyper sleep." he glanced back at his teammates with a serious expression. "Simply put, the City and us are sitting ducks right now."

Otta kicked her legs out thoughtfully from her perch atop one of the spherical chairs in the center of the room, looking up from the large book she had been flipping through. An unzipped familiar white pack hung haphazardly on her tail, a few papers and pencils falling to the floor as she swung it back and forth slightly. "I can start the repairs to the Robot as soon as I get a few parts from my Workshop," she nodded, one hand raising to her chin as she considered her options. "I'll have to also start work on repairing the personal rooms; I don't know about you guys, but mine got trashed when..." she stopped suddenly, eyes widening before she curled in on herself slightly. In less than a moment, the air in the room had shifted from tense to suffocating, each member looking slightly disturbed at the reminder. Otta didn't need to finish her sentence, they already knew what she was gonna say.

'When we fought Mandarin.'

"...That's another thing," Sprx's now far too quiet timbre echoed in the tension, something dead and poisonous in his tone. "What if this brat turns out to be exactly like him?" he let that question hang in the air as he locked narrowed eyes with Antauri, silently challenging his second-in-command to reply. Though Otta may have taken it the hardest when Mandarin betrayed the team, Sprx had taken most of the brunt before and during the battle. The crimson monkey's instincts had never steered him wrong, and when he had come rushing into the Sick Bay that day carrying a nearly comatose Nova after a disastrous training exercise, that had been the final straw.

After that, it was a constant cold war between both orange and red simians that only broke when it had all come to a final head.

Antauri met Sprx's challenging stare with one of his own, olive colored optics narrowing to mirror his brother's as he observed the still burning hatred that laid just beneath the surface. Hatred directed at another who was no longer with them. "We do not know this child yet," he said without inflection, hoping to ease the hold of the hatred that still had Sprx's heart. "What we believe he could be and what he is are likely two very different things. I highly doubt a youth this young has any ideas that come close to the ideals he tried to preach to us." though he said this aloud, a nagging thought at the back of his head whispered traitorously that it was a very real possibility. Mandarin had been trained in the Power Primate right beside him, and was far more experienced with its use than Antauri had been. Yet all the same, he had turned down an evil path. There was nothing to say this boy wouldn't follow in the former leader's footsteps.

But at the same time, there wasn't anything that said he would either. That one comfort would have to do for now.

Sprx continued to hold Antauri's gaze for a few more minutes, before he broke eye contact with a harsh snort. "I'm going to go check on my room," he growled as he turned away from the team, stomping towards his transport tube with balled fists. "Do whatever you guys want. I'm done trying to make you see reason." with that last scathing remark, he vanished up into other parts of the Robot. Nova made a move to go after him, but was stilled when Antauri laid a hand upon her shoulder.

"Give him time, Nova," the spiritual leader advised her, his eyes moving from her uncertain ones to the red tube. "He will come around eventually, we are all still raw from the events that transpired." the golden female glanced over at the ruby transport tube with an unreadable expression before she gave in, her muscles going slack underneath her elder brother's hand. Antauri was right; Mandarin's betrayal had blindsided them all. Sprx may have been the first one to see it coming, but there was a time when even he had trusted Mandarin without question. Had loved him like a brother and would've gladly followed him into battle and laid down his life for him just as they all would've. That knowledge only made the betrayal that much worse.

With Nova's silent surrender Antauri turned to address the remaining members of the team. "For now, perhaps we should wait until our guest awakens." he suggested, turning his attention onto Gibson. "Gibson, you mentioned that our combat prowess could have suffered during the hibernation. So one of our top priorities will have to be to get the Training Room back to operational status." a thoughtful look flashed over his features for a moment as he crossed his arms over his chest, considering his next choice of words before speaking them aloud. "And as for our guest, under the circumstances, perhaps it is best if we wait until he awakens before we speak anymore of his future here or otherwise." throughout this entire argument, they had been speaking as if it had already been decided that the boy was staying with them. But with a child of his age, there were many other factors to consider.

He may have the Power Primate, but the fact remained that choices that effected a child's entire life were not yet theirs to make. And even if this life altering decision was his to make, joining the team was a choice as well, not an obligation or something that could be forced upon him. There was no guarantee he would even want to stay and Antauri wouldn't blame him if he didn't. Whatever was coming their way was foretold to be worse than anything they had encountered before; it was not the kind of monster a youth should face. If the case turned out that the boy didn't want anything to do with the team, Antauri would accept it. Perhaps he would offer to help the child learn how to better control the mystical force that had become a part of him, but that would be the extent of it. Despite what Sprx seemed to think, no one on the team was too keen on this situation. All Antauri could do was trust in the Power Primate, and believe that it wasn't steering them wrong.

A loud crash coming from the Sick Bay sounded off before anyone could add to Antauri's statement. Four heads jerked in unison to the closed door, cybernetic eyes wide and blinking at the metal barrier...

It would seem their guest was finally awake.

STORY BROADCAST INTERRUPTED.

TO BE CONTINUED IN SCENE TWO.

STAY TUNED.

AUTHOR'S NOTES:

Hiya everyone! I hope you all are having a fine day, and that you have enjoyed the story thus far. As you can see, I have made quite a major change to one of the cast line up here. Namely: Otto is now female. x3 Oh, yes I went there people! This is not a mistake, and I don't want rabid fans constantly getting on my case about this gender-swap I've done. I am very well aware that Otto is male in canon, but for the direction I want to take this story Otto is better suited as a female. This is an AU/AR story, meaning that things are not gonna adhere strictly to the canon. That isn't to say I won't follow the canonical line at all. I will just come out and say that the second Arc of this story will be heavily canon compliant for the most part with my own little twist. But for the first and third Arcs, this is why the AU/AR is there in the summary. Otto's gender is only one of the reasons why. xD

...Now, I am not going to lie to you; please take note of the warning at the top of each chapter. The further I go into this story, the darker its gonna get. Sometimes it will be so dark you won't see light at the end of the tunnel until the end, but don't worry. I do plan on this having a happy ending after all, but our favorite monkeys and boy are gonna have to walk through hell to get that happy ending. For now, please enjoy the current chapters and review, favorite and add it to your alerts! As I am posting this chapter up with the newly revised prologue, I will not have a Shout-Out Central section below here. But there should be some interesting tidbits in the Reference Corner for you to make up with that.

REFERENCE CORNER:

SKELETON KING'S COMING: You may have noticed that I didn't strictly say that the evil coming is the Skeleton King even though we all know that's who it is. My reasoning: we do not specifically know that the Monkey Team fought Skeleton King while they were under Mandarin's leader. I don't believe it was ever stated, and quite honestly I don't believe Skeleton King would've stopped attacking the City if the Hyper Force had gone to sleep. In fact I don't think the Hyper Force would have gone to sleep at all if Skeleton King was lurking about, leaderless or not. My theory: after the Alchemist erased their memories, I believe he left the planet before he fully succumbed to the Dark Ones' power. Then he probably laid low for a time, building his own power by corrupting other worlds and perfecting his Formless minions before the arrival of the Chosen One brought him back to Shuggazoom. We know that the Monkey Team had trained in their own respective skills in different parts of the galaxy for a time, and when they returned they most likely picked up where Captain Shuggazoom left off, as it seems there were plenty of villains and monsters attacking the City before the Skeleton King even existed. xD

SPRX'S REACTION: Just getting this out before you guys say anything, Sprx is not doing or saying anything to be needlessly mean. This is a common theme in many of the origin stories I've read, in which Sprx is the one most opposed to Chiro being the leader of the Hyper Force for multiple reasons. I honestly believe its in character for him; he is the one monkey who goes more by his instincts than any of the others (Gibson relies on logic, Nova on force, Otto on quick-thinking, and Antauri on spiritual faith), and I know my first instinct at learning that a kid is gonna lead me into battle against a world shattering evil would be to freak out. Both for my planet, my team, myself, and the kid in question. Adding onto this are the still raw wounds from Mandarin's betrayal, which while being 238 years previous feel like less than a few days ago for the team. Their last memories before their hibernation is fighting the leader they loved and trusted with their lives; they're gonna be more than apprehensive.

TIME IN HYPER SLEEP: I just picked a random number. xD We know that they trained with their teachers for a while, protected the City for probably a good number of years and were probably out for about a similar length of time, considering how old Captain Shugazoom was when they found him, but that's about it. But it takes a lot longer than a few years to forget a legend - Captain Shuggazoom was virtually unheard of, and since Shuggazoom doesn't seem too interested in the past in canon either, I'm guessing two hundred or so years would be enough time for people to forget. Especially in a time of relative peace.

COMMUNICATION WITH AUTHOR OFFLINE.

SEE YOU NEXT TIME!