Escaped

"You can put me down Nova; Chiro's fine. At least, for now." Antauri said who was clearly back in his own body.

She let him go as he flew next to her.

"So what was wrong with the kid?" Sprx asked.

"He got lost within himself trying to find out who he was."

"Did he remember everything?"

"No, he only saw one memory that took place two days prior to the Heart Snatchers arrival."

"Well at least it's better than nothing!" Jinmay hollered to them.

Everyone smiled and continued towards their destination.

------

"So what have you told Chiro so far?" Valina asked the evil monkey.

Mandarin smirked at the question. "I blamed his parent's death on the Hyper Force and said that they were going to do away with him soon."

"I underestimated you Mandarin."

"He'll never trust the Hyper Force again!" Mandarin laughed as they neared the cave.

------

Chiro kept on going through the tunnel.

He had no idea how much time flew by, but he didn't care. He wanted to get out of there and back into the city.

Chiro began to lose hope until he turned a corner to see a blinding light.

Shielding his eyes until they adjusted, he could plainly see that he found the exit to the cave. He ran out the cave as fast as he could and took a deep breathe of fresh air.

This particular part of the Zone of Wasted Years was alive and green. Animals scurried about and Chiro could plainly see everything growing happily.

However, he soon remembered what he had to do and ran deep within the forest area.

'I wonder why this part is all green. Usually it's dead with no signs of life.' Chiro thought to himself.

Coming up to a cliff, he looked down to see that he was on top of the largest mountain on Shugazoom.

"Holy Shugazoom! – How do I go home now?" He muttered to himself.

A few minutes past as he thought of alternatives; but it seems that traveling down the mountain was the only way to go.

Slowly, be begun to walk down a very small trail that was meant for animals down the large mountain.

------

"Are we almost there?!" Otto asked.

"We'll get there when we get there." Gibson replied.

"But I'm exhausted!" Sprx yelled out.

"In order to get to Chiro first, we mustn't stop and take breaks." Antauri informed them.

Otto and Sprx sighed.

"I can't believe you two are acting like this! – Chiro would do the same thing for you!" Nova snapped.

Sprx and Otto looked guilty and just kept their gaze on the ground.

There was a long and disturbing silence for fifteen minutes until the Zone of Wasted Years was in sight.

"There it is!" Jinmay said as everyone's jaw dropped besides Gibson's and Antauri's.

"You've got to be kidding me! – Chiro can be anywhere through these mountains!" Sprx acknowledged.

Nova glared at him before looking over to Antauri. "Are we going to split up?"

Antauri sighed. "I'm afraid we'll have too. – If there's any sign of Chiro, Valina, or Mandarin; inform the others." Antauri ordered.

Everyone shook their heads in understanding and split up excluding Sam, Miranda, Gibson, and Antauri.

"Here, take this." Gibson handed her Chiro's communicator.

She looked up at him confused.

"If you find Chiro, contact us using this."

She smiled and nodded before they too split up in different directions.

------

Chiro took one step at a time going down the mountain. The ledges weren't big enough to let Chiro walk down normally. Instead, he had to face the wall and hold on while stepping to the side.

Every now and then he would slip; but he was always prepared to regain his balance.

The sun began to set as Chiro realized he needed a place to take shelter at.

Finding a big enough ledge, he laid down and fell into a much needed sleep.

-----

Meanwhile, Mandarin and Valina arrived at the cave to discover Chiro gone.

"You fail me yet again Mandarin!" She screeched.

Mandarin scowled. "He probably got lost within the cave or something."

"Then Find Him!" She yelled as both of them went searching for Chiro in the tunnels.

-------

Antauri looked about through the endless mountains hoping he would get a glimpse of his 'son' safe and sound.

As easy as it sounds, it turns out that it wasn't. For one, it was too dark to see anything even when he used his night vison but he also couldn't inspect all the mountains one by one.

The rest of the team were having troubles too. However, they wanted their friend back and that wasn't going to happen over night; so they continued their search.

-------

The sun began to rise once more.

It shined on a certain lost child who awakened by its warm glow.

Stretching, he quickly began to descend down the mountain again.

However, the dream he had was most disturbing.

He saw Mandarin and a tall lady dressed in all black hovering above him; laughing grimly before the woman placed a burning had on his forehead.

'I don't want to go back with Mandarin.' Chiro said to himself as he slipped and fell down a foot or two before grabbing the edge again.

-------

Mandarin and Valina searched all the tunnels only to be back at the entrance.

"Where is Chiro Mandarin!?" Valina screeched.

"He must have escaped while I was gone. – But he's on foot so he couldn't of gotten too far….." Mandarin trailed off as he sniffed the air.

"What is it?"

'The Hyper Force."

Valina grew angry and darted to the side of the mountain in search for Chiro.

Mandarin went the back way and began scavenging the back side of the mountain.

-------

Chiro was going little by little using the trail against the wall. He had fallen many times but always caught himself before he went down too far.

Chiro was midway down the mountain when he heard the sound of running water.

Looking down, he could barley make out the flowing river down below.

'At least I'm getting closer.' He muttered to himself as he concentrated on going down once more.

------

"I feel a dark presence similar to Mandarins." Miranda said to Sam.

"Where?"

"On that huge mountain."

"Then let's go there." She ordered as she quickly contacted the team. "Miranda senses Mandarin at the tallest mountain in this land."

"Roger, we're on the way." They all replied.

Miranda descended altitude as they heard someone mumbling to himself.

Quietly looking around the corner, they saw Mandarin floating down the mountain.

"Chiro must of gotten away."

"Ya. – Let's find him before Mandarin and that witch do."

Flying around the mountain for a good two hours, Miranda and Sam felt a weak energy close by.

They dove down immediately to make out a figure below.

"That's Chiro!" They said excitedly.

But the excitement didn't last long as Mandarin spotted them and knocked Miranda unconscious.

Sam and Miranda flew down the mountain as Mandarin chuckled.

"Thanks for finding the boy for me." He laughed as he approached Chiro.

Unknown to him, Sam summoned up her energy to make herself glide down onto a path next to the river. The landing however was rough and sprained her right arm.

Miranda was still unconscious and would be for a good while.

"Why can't I do anything right!" Sam yelled as she dragged Miranda into a deep hole in the ground.

She covered the top with leaves and attempted to contact the monkey team when the communicator sparked.

"Oh great." She whined as she leaned against the cool dirt wall and was prepared for anything.

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