Hey guys, whassup? I'm trying to keep these updates goin. Been a bit hectic lately but I've found the time. Hope you're all enjoyin the story so far and I've got a whole lot more comin up for ya. This chapter's got a lot more juicy information provided so I hope you like this one as well. Feel free to lemme know what you think! And now, on with the story!
Ch. 3:
"Look, guys. There it is!" One boy's voice cried out excitedly. Two other boys came up beside him to observe.
"So that's Shuggazoom huh? Not much to it is there?" A second boy said, his voice sounding rather unenthusiastic.
"Man, we've been to much bigger places, and they were all way more interesting, too. Hope there's a good reason why we're going to this city." A third boy stated.
"You know there is, dude. We wouldn't be going here if it wasn't for something important," The second boy's voice was more solemn.
"This is going to be fun," The first boy said as he walked to the back of the small room.
All three of the young teenaged kids started typing into the computers close to their individual desks before putting on their special, custom-made space suits on. They grinned at each other before climbing into the small entry ways leading into the launch pod spacecraft.
"Here we go," One boy stated, strapping himself into his seat while the others did the same.
"Just do not forget our objective!" Another of the boy's voices called out to the two others, stern and authoritative.
He quietly exited the room, looking up and down the hallway. It was unusually quiet,and there weren't any lights on.
"That's odd," He thought to himself.
It wasn't like them to not be awake at this time, which would be the only explanation he could think of as to why it was so dark and gloomy in the house.
Not a noise could be heard; not even the familiar aroma of coffee in the air was present. The boy crept down the hall and opened up the last door on the left just before the staircase leading downstairs. He slowly opened the door and peered inside.
"Mom?...Dad?" No response.
He quickly flipped the switch inside the room and the overhead light revealed an empty, tidied up bed that showed no sign of having been used that night.
His father's hat wasn't hanging on the bedpost,and his mother's purse wasn't on the dresser.
Scrunching his eyebrows with confusion, the boy turned and rushed down the stairs and into the entry way to the kitchen.
"Mom? You in there?" He cried out as he ran towards the kitchen. He stopped when he saw the lights all turned off.
"What? Where are they?" He said aloud, growing worried.
He whirled around and raced towards the front door, wanting to see if his mother's car was still parked outside. This could not be happening!
His heart raced as he anxiously reached for the door, flinging it open...
Chiro quickly sat up in bed with a gasp, frantically looking around his room. Coming to his senses, he sighed miserably as he put his hand on his face. His heart was still racing from the dream.
"Oh no," He thought in despair. What was going on? Why was he having all these dreams lately?
To have sudden, recent dreams about his estranged friends was weird enough. But now he was dreaming about THEM?!
This was getting all too weird for Chiro, who hadn't even been thinking about his past for quite a while. He'd put all of this behind him, so why was it coming back to haunt him now, years later?
He hadn't bothered to tell the monkey team about the recent dreams he'd had about Odin, Max and Jaxon because he'd figured they would go away eventually. But since they haven't Chiro began to wonder if he should come forward about these bothersome dreams.
It might be strange to the team, though, if Chiro came out about his past now when he hasn't made an attempt to do it before. He'd most likely be plastered with a bunch of questions too. He did not want that!
But all Chiro wanted to do was put the past behind him. Ever since he first came to Shuggazoom, he's wanted to forget about everything that happened before.
But now, how could he possibly forget about it all when these memories wouldn't leave him alone?
Frustrated, Chiro got out of bed and quietly walked down the hall of the super robot. Why stay in bed? It wasn't like he was going to get any peaceful sleep tonight apparently. But he figured maybe some fresh air might do him some good.
Going out on the robot's shoulder, he sat on the edge, looking down at the city. There were a few lights on here and there down the streets but no sign of movement. It was quiet and peaceful and the wind was blowing very softly. Perfect!
Chiro closed his eyes and took in a slow, deep breath. He allowed his mind to let go of all the stressful thoughts and memories he didn't wish to hold onto. He let himself be in the moment, focusing on his breathing and senses to help himself relax as he went into his own meditative state.
"Chiro?"
Chiro opened his eyes only slightly, but didn't turn his head. He stayed in place as Antauri sat down beside him.
"Everything alright?"
Chiro glanced at him before returning his gaze to the city.
"Yeah, it's... it's all good," He replied, wondering if he should tell Antauri about his dreams.
Chiro saw Antauri look at him out of the corner of his eye.
"What's the matter?" Antauri asked softly, reading Chiro like a book.
Chiro sighed. He really did not want to have this conversation right now. But then, would he ever speak about it if he didn't now?
He hesitated for a moment before replying.
"I don't really know," He began. "I keep having these dreams about... about my past."
Antauri raised an eyebrow.
"Your past? You've never really spoken about your past with us."
"I know," Chiro responded. "That's because it's something that I didn't really like to think about, let alone talk about. But now it seems like I can't get it out of my mind."
He paused and Antauri remained silent, patiently waiting for Chiro to continue.
"Let's just say that not long before I came across the robot and you guys, I came from a place in my life that I was not happy with. So, I came here to Shuggazoom to try and better my life and I tried as hard as I could to forget everything that had happened before."
Antauri leaned in slightly, both curious and worried about what he'd hear. They'd all never really heard Chiro mention anything about his time before he'd met they'd all wondered about it, but they felt it best Chiro told them whenever the time was right for him. They weren't going to pry.
"It's alright, Chiro," Antauri said when the teen hesitated once more. "You don't have to tell me now if you're not ready for it."
"No, it's OK," Chiro responded, looking back up at his mentor. "I think I need to get this off my chest. It's about time I said something anyway."
"It was about four years ago. I had this group of friends who... well, at the time, I considered them the closest thing to a family that I'd ever had." Chiro said, looking out towards the city while deep in thought.
Antauri scrunched his eyebrows. "What of your parents?"
Antauri tensed slightly as he saw a pained look cross over Chiro's face at the mention of his parents. Clearly they were a touchy subject and Antauri wondered if he'd crossed the line.
"Chiro?" Antauri's voice was filled with concern.
Chiro turned to look at him, suddenly at a loss for does he start with them? How can he bring himself to speak once more about the ones who caused as much pain to him as they did?
"My parents were-" Chiro was cut off by the shrill sound of the robot's alarms going off. They looked back up at the robot and at each other with confusion before their heads whipped into the direction of the robot's neck, which opened up and revealed Sprx running out to them.
"You guys had better come quickly! The city's scanners are showing an unidentified spacecraft coming down fast!"
Chiro and Antauri exchanged surprised looks before they scrambled to their feet and raced behind Sprx back into the robot.
Gibson was already hard at work, plugging in coordinates and typing all sorts of numbers into the computer system in the command center. He was trying desperately to pinpoint where this craft was going to land.
Otto was getting guns and other backup weapons ready in case this was a hostile situation. Nova waited anxiously off to the side near Gibson, watching the visual of the approaching craft on the screen before them.
"What've we got, team?" Chiro asked as he and the others entered the room.
"The incoming spacecraft appears to be reducing speed the closer it gets to the city," Gibson responded, not taking his eyes off the screen as he continued his work. "Based on my calculations, it appears that this thing- and whatever, or whoever it's carrying- will likely be landing here!" He pointed to a location smack dab in the middle of Shuggazoom.
"It doesn't look like we have much longer until impact," Nova stated.
"Then we must go assess the situation quickly," Antauri said urgently. "We need to find out how much of a threat this thing is to the city."
"Let's go check it out!" Chiro exclaimed. "But be very careful, we have to be prepared for anything. Monkeys Mobilize!"
