Yay Chapter 3! Gosh it has been so stressful the past two weeks! Finals were almost too much for me, not to mention I had to deal with a mouse that got into my apartment. But enough about that I want to thank you all for favoriting and following this story watching it for new chapters. You are all very lovely and happy holidays to everyone. Here is chapter 3!

Jessica was awoken by tiny hands shaking her and hushed mumbling. Her whole body was cold and felt like it was being held down by weights. With great difficulty she opened her eyes and saw that it was a small group of children that surrounded her. They seemed to range from 2 to 6 years old. She sat up and saw she was in a large room with beds lined against the walls. There were little night lights by each of the beds and a chandelier that hung in the middle of the room but was switched off. As she looked at the kids she noticed that they were all wearing nightgowns and were staring at her.

"Are you okay ma'am?" A girl asked holding a worn teddy bear close to her chest. She had pigtails in her hair and smiled softly showing her two front teeth missing.

"Y-yeah I'm okay. But, where am I?" She asked watching as some of the kids got off the bed she was on. She sat up her limbs feeling like rubber.

"Y-yo-you are at the the or-orphanmage." Said a small boy. He had short shaggy brown hair and was most likely just learning to talk. She smiled softly at the toddler ruffling his hair receiving a wide smile from said boy.

"He means orphanage." Jessica looked for the source of that voice and found that across the room was a boy who was hidden by his covers curled around his body. "Everyone get back to bed! If the adults find us out of our beds we'll get into serious trouble." He grumbled pulling the blanket over his head. All the kids whined before going to lie in their designated beds. Jessica noticed that several kids would pair up and sleep in one bed wrapping the blankets around each other sharing as much heat as they could, she looked around but was unable to find a heater to turn on. Jessica got up nearly falling over from the sudden lightheadedness and slowly walked to the boy's bed stopping at the edge of it.

"What kind of trouble?" Jessica asked softly as the boy sighed pulling the blanket down only to show his face glaring at her. He had short black hair big brown eyes and he looked older than he actually sounded. She wondered if he was the oldest kid there besides herself.

"You don't want to know! Now leave me alone." He warned hiding his face once more.

"What is your name?" She knew she was probably pushing too much but Jessica wanted to know at least what he had to say about this place. Considering he seemed the oldest out of the bunch.

"Ugh! It's Blake! Now go away…please" His anger turned to pleading and Jessica finally did as he wished walking back to the bed she woke up in. This wasn't the same orphanage that she had run away from. It was too clean, too orderly to be the same place. But, it had to be there was no other orphanage in Shoogazoom. Not to mention that even though it looked nicer, the fear in Blakes eyes were unmistakable. Something in this building terrified him and she was going to find out what. Her train of thought broke when she felt something metal touch her chest. She looked down seeing the locket still wrapped around her neck. She clutched the locket close the tears rolling down her cheeks as she fell back into slumber.

Super Robot

It had been about four days since the team had rescued Jessica and since then the team started scanning the city for any signs of formless but none had shown up on the radar since the attack. Gibson, Otto, and Sprx were the only ones in the control room. Everyone else either training or meditating. Gibson was watching the monitor stifling back a yawn while Otto and Sprx were having a pingpong match. Otto swung for the pingpong ball but lost his grip on the handle and the paddle whacked Gibson in the back of the head.

"Ow! Bloody sakes Otto would you please have a tighter grip on the paddle when you swing it?! That's the third time you've hit me today!" Gibson snapped rubbing the back of his head where the paddle had hit him.

"Oops sorry Gibson. I wasn't paying much attention to it." He replied blushing sheepishly as his stomach growled.

"Well, we know what did have your attention hehe. Why don't we get out of the robot for a bit? We've been stuck inside for days! We could even get a bite to eat." Sprx suggested leaning against the ping pong table.

"For once, I actually agree with your plan Sprx. I will go ask the others if they would like to join us." Gibson offered as he walked to his tube.

"YAY! Where are we gonna eat?" Otto asked at the smirking simian.

"Why Mr. Gackslappers of course! His burgers are the best, and we might run into that girl Chiro has been thinking about." Sprx chuckled unaware of his siblings confused face.

"What girl? The girl we saved from the formless?" He asked.

"Yup, I think the kid has a little crush on her...GAH!" He yelped as he got whipped in the back of the head by Novas tail.

"Quit teasing him Sprx, or I'll make you sorry you ever did." She warned a flick of flame glowing in her eyes as the rest of the team came into the control room.

"Come on you guys. I'm starving!" Chiro said to the three simians before they all left the robot.

Gackslapper's

The team strolled to the restaurant with Otto in the lead a large grin on his face. Chiro however, was lost in thought lagging behind the group. He just couldn't stop thinking about Jessica. He had never seen her working at the restaurant or anywhere else for that matter. Then again, she could of started working there while the team had been going after the worm. It really shouldn't bother him so much but when he had seen her it felt like something had clicked in his memory, like he had seen her before, known her actually. Also, when the team had rescued her he felt a shift within the power primate. His train of thought derailed when he slammed into a light pole yelping in pain as he placed his hand over his reddened nose.

"Hahaha Chiro face looks redder than Sprx." Otto giggled falling back from laughing. He stopped when he saw said monkey and teen glaring at him and bursted into the restaurant escaping from the raging duo. The two chased after him but halted when they noticed that the place was actually empty and was eerily quiet.

"Uuuh, is it closed?" Sprx asked looking around.

"If it was the doors would of been locked and the power would be off..." Gibson deducted pointing to the lights. Chiro walked up to the front counter looking into the window that showed the kitchen.

"Mr. Gackslapper? Jessica? Is anyone here?" He called out receiving no response.

"Something isn't right." Nova said as the teen opened the kitchen door walking in the team right behind him. There was a door that was ajar and movement could be seen from the other side. Before Chiro could open the door a worn and exhausted Mr. Gackslapper opened the door himself almost running into the team.

"Oh, Hyperforce, what are you doing here?" He asked tiredly bags hanging under his eyes. His skin was paler than usual and he squinted at the harsh lighting as if he had been in the dark for days. He closed the door shut behind him before walking up to the front of the restaurant readjusting chairs and checking all of the condiments. The team was behind him worry etched across their faces.

"We came by to get some lunch, where is Jessica is she not working today?" Chiro asked noting the chef flinch at the mention of said girls name. He stayed still for a moment his back facing the others.

"So that will be five hover burgers and one veggie burger right? Coming right up." He said promptly a fake smile plastered on his face. He tensed feeling someone grab his arm as he was making his way towards the kitchen once more. "..."

"Mr. Gackslapper what's wrong? What happened?" Chiro asked more firmly receiving a defeated sigh from the weary man. He turned back towards the team and slumped into one of the chairs.

"Jessica, is not here anymore...a couple of days ago a woman came in claiming she was from the city orphanage and they were taking Jessica back there." He answered looking down at the floor.

"And they just took her?!" Chiro asked shocked.

"Yes, they had come after her because she was a runaway. About, two years ago I found Jessica starving half dead in an alley right next to the restaurant. I took her in and got her back on her feet and offered her a job and home here. I didn't ask too many questions on why she ran away from the orphanage, it wasn't really my place to know why. She feared that I would get into trouble with the police if they found out I had a runaway kid living in the restaurant but I promised her it would be alright. Still doubtful she just stayed in the restaraunt. Not wanting to take the risk to be seen..." Mr. Gackslapper answered followed by an awkward silence.

"So let's go get her!" Otto exclaimed waving his arms. The rest of the team was quiet their leaders whole body was tense his fists clenched. "what are we waiting for?"

"Otto, we can't go and take Jessica it is against the law. The orphanage have guardianship over her until she turns 18 or a family decides to adopt her. They have every right to just take Jessica from any environment she is in because she is a minor." Gibson sighed softly causing the green simian to deflate from excitement.

"I appreciate it Hyperforce but there is nothing anyone can do. I would be more at peace if I knew she was okay. That she is safe." Mr. Gackslapper said getting up from the chair walking towards the front door. " I don't mean to be rude but I am very tired and am going to close the shop early so if you would please leave..." He asked softly holding the door open.

"Of course Mr. Gackslapper, we apologize for taking up your time." Antauri said bowing at the chef before the team awkwardly left the restaurant. The team was silently walking back to the Robot before they turned seeing their teen leader punch a wall.

"Chiro what's wrong?" Nova asked slightly worried.

"This isn't right you guys. How can they possibly get away with this?!" Chiro groaned team was shocked that this troubled their leader showed. Antauri walked up to Chiro placing his hand on his shoulder.

"Chiro I understand your plight but they had every right to take Jessica back into their custody. Mr. Gackslapper was very lucky that they did not call the police on him for harboring a runaway." He stated feeling the teen tense at his words. "If it will make you feel better we can visit Jessica at the orphanage to make sure she is safe and in good care." He offered pleased with the small nod he received.

"...ok." Chiro said relaxing a little.

"Yeah, let's visit her and all of the other children. It will be so much fun." Otto cheered jumping around the team. The others agreed to go tomorrow and made sure no matter what they would get to talk to the very person that took Jessica away.

Mmmmh, I'm not very pleased about the ending of this chapter but I didn't know what spot would be a good place to end it. I am at the moment packing for my trip back home for the winter break so I'm a little stressed. That being said I was excited to get this chapter out. The next chapter is going to be a little jump back to Jessica during the first few days at the orphanage leading up to the team coming to the orphanage. I feel like I just grazed through what is going on and think its best to have more information on what was happening those few days. I tried to keep this as spoiler free as possible but I wanted to be able to explain it so no one is confused.

That being said I plan on having chapter 4 out by January 18th. By then I will be back home and it will be a few ays before school starts up again. Happy Holidays to you all and a happy New Year!