Chapter Nine: Touched by Evil

Summary: Chiro meets the Skeleton King, kind of…and, yeah, for the most part the others don't have much faith in the Power Primate at first. Very sorry but this chapter is kinda short.

Quick Author's Note: Happy Fourth of July, everyone! Since this is a bit of a shorter chapter than what I normally write, I decided that not only am I going to release this extra chapter this week, but a special preview chapter to a one-shot I started will be after the reviewer reply. Enjoy!

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"You can't be serious!" Sprx exclaimed. "The kid's not ready, Antauri!"

"Ready or not, Skeleton King is here," Antauri said. "His attack has begun, and his first target is Chiro's mind,"

"What will he do to him?" Otto asked.

"He'll exploit his fears, turn his logic against him and basically tear him apart from the inside out," Antauri said darkly. "Or, at least he will attempt to,"

"Whoa, that sounds kinda serious," Otto said.

"Just a little," Sprx added grimly.

Gibson shook his head, digging the heel of his palm into his forehead.

"What are we going to do?" Nova asked, looking down at Chiro worriedly.

"We must put together our energy to help him," Antauri said.

"Oh, man, not this Power Primate stuff again, Antauri," Sprx groaned.

"We must believe it'll work, who knows what condition this mental attack will put Chiro in to begin with," Gibson said.

Antauri couldn't help but smirk. "Are you saying that you are willing to show a little bit of faith, Gibson?"

"Are you guys gonna talk, or are we gonna do this?" Nova asked.

"Right," Gibson agreed.

They all gathered around Chiro and closed their eyes, pulling together the energy they all drew from the Power Primate and focusing it on their human friend.

"This had better work," Sprx said.

Then he added to himself, "Because if it doesn't, I don't think I can forgive myself,"

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Chiro didn't know how long his world was going to spin out of control or how long the darkness was going to last. Fear, uncertainty, despair, and loneliness threatened to swallow him whole.

"Monkey Team, I will destroy you all," a deep, dark voice reverberated around him.

"Huh?"

Suddenly everything came to a stop. Chiro still felt pressure around him, like he was still under all the skeleton figures. The darkness covered him like thick water.

"You cannot escape, little one," the voice continued. "I will destroy you all one at a time,"

"Who are you?" Chiro asked, fright very apparent in his voice.

"I, Skeleton King, will destroy you all," the voice was apparently ignoring him.

"I won't let you destroy my friends!" Chiro cried, determined to stay brave.

Skeleton King laughed. "You are out of commission, now it will only be a matter of time. You cannot escape,"

The confusion began again, Chiro found himself once again in the drowning current of his own doubt and fear.

Suddenly, he was dropped on a hard surface, knocking the wind out of him. Chiro gasped and struggled to get to his feet. Another gasp escaped from him when he saw where he was.

The hard surface was a metal circle, barely more than five feet in diameter. Surrounding him was a very active ocean, white peaks dotted the black waves.

"Oh, no," Chiro whispered to himself.

"Observe," the voice of the one who called himself Skeleton King boomed across the dark gray sky.

"Chiro! Help us!"

Chiro looked around. About fifty feet away in each direction around him, the monkeys were being held captive in separate energy fields.

"Monkey Team!" Chiro cried.

They continued calling out to him, pleading for help.

"I can't get to you guys! I don't know how to swim!" Chiro called out to them.

They all began screaming in pain. It was just as torturing to Chiro to watch them.

"Surrender and I will release them," Skeleton King said.

"Don't do it, kid!" Sprx managed to yell.

"Don't give him the satisfaction!" Nova added.

Chiro watched for only one more tormenting moment. He didn't care what they said, he was not about to lose his new family.

"Okay, okay, I'll do whatever you want!" Chiro said, angrily wiping away the tears that started coming from his eyes. "Just let them go!"

"You will do what I want, eh?" Skeleton King said. He let out a dark chuckle that immediately made Chiro feel a twinge of regret for what he said. "Then die,"

A severe pain ripped through Chiro's mind and body, he collapsed onto the metal surface, every nerve twitching uncontrollably. He struggled to open his eyes, and saw that his teammates were still being held captive and tortured.

"You said you'd let them go!" Chiro yelled.

"I lied, you fool!" A horrible laugh echoed through the air, which only made the pain worse.

Chiro mentally cursed himself for being weak. Antauri was not going to be happy with him at all. Neither of them would forgive him, how could they? Chiro was never going to forgive himself.

That is, if by some miracle he lived through this.

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"Chiro,"

The teenager didn't realize how long he had been suffering before the voice offered some relief.

"Believe in yourself and the Power Primate. Gather your energy and use it,"

"Antauri?"

"Gather your energy and fight,"

"I'll try,"

Chiro squeezed his eyes shut even tighter than before. He felt an odd power inside him. He wasn't sure whether it was better or worse than the torture Skeleton King was putting him through.

"Trust the Power Primate," Antauri's voice was growing stronger.

This new power filled his body with warmth while the torturous pain from Skeleton King was fading. However, a new pain was taking place. This power inside Chiro grew, a green, somehow familiar, force field surrounded him.

"No, I will not lose!" Skeleton King growled.

The new pain Chiro experienced was from his resisting the power that was slowly threatening to take over.

This new struggle only lasted another few minutes before Chiro had to give up and allow it to pass. After all he had been through, he barely cared if he died as long as the Monkey Team was safe.

The Monkey Team!

He looked up. The monkeys were no longer trapped far out in the water, but surrounding him, watching him, the expressions on their faces all told him the same thing; trust.

Chiro ignored their expressions for the moment, they were safe and that was what really mattered. He smiled up at them.

"Get away from here," he said weakly.

After that, he closed his eyes and let his last threads of resistance break. The power flowed through him freely, completely expelling everything that felt like Skeleton King. The Skeleton King screamed out his defeat.

"Not so terrible when I stop fighting," Chiro murmured to himself, letting his mind be lost among the power that he guessed had to be the Power Primate.

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Four of the monkeys gasped when their mental link broke. Antauri opened his eyes and breathed out slowly. The sudden awakening was not as shocking to him as it was for the others.

"Chiro?" Nova found her voice first, shaking the teenager's shoulder.

Gibson took out the scanner again. "There seems to be no change, however, he seems more relaxed than before,"

"Well, there's one way to find out," Sprx said. He bent down and pinched Chiro's side.

Chiro let out a very low, barely audible, but very real moan of pain.

"Sprx!" Gibson said, surprised.

"What? Just checking, I kicked him before and you didn't say anything," Sprx said defensively.

"Quiet, all of you," Antauri said, his voice strained and tired. "Let's get the boy to his room,"

Otto put his hands on Chiro's shoulders, ready to help lift him, when the teen let out a wheezing gasp.

"Chiro!" Otto exclaimed. "You okay?"

Chiro let out a very weak cough and opened his eyes, but they only opened halfway.

"Antau-" he gasped, barely able to speak. "S-s-s-sorry,"

Then he passed out again.

Antauri closed his eyes, shaking his head, and patting Chiro's lifeless hand.

"It will all be okay, Chiro,"

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Author's Notes

(breaths sigh of relief) This chapter actually gave me quite some trouble, because I wasn't sure, but I figured that SK doesn't have all that powerful of a psychic ability, especially considering he's not actually near Shuggazoom yet. So, more guesswork, and it makes things interesting.

And, Holy Cow! 52 Reviews? I'm so pleased everyone's enjoying the story. So, thank you to all my readers, and an even more special thank you to my reviewing squad - You guys are the best! The reviews really keep me going!

I have AIM, so if anyone out there wants to chat, look me up as SoloShikigami. Just let me know your pen name(if your SN is different) so I know who you are.

Reviewer's Reply

Monkeymaniac: Thanks, dude, no worries for the reply, I'm so happy to get your reviews. Glad you're enjoying, peace out to you too

Shadowsong22: Oh, come on, I have to be at least a little mean to him ; Although after this chapter, you might really hate me…yeah, the explanation, well, next chapter. Maybe - I promise I'll fit in more of the cute things we love so much (Novaangry, Nova/Sprx stuff, Otto/Gibson banter) when I can.

FairyWhisperings: Yeah, Nova/Chirosiblings train of thought I like a lot. They can be very adorable together. Thanks!

4Evermonkeyfan: Wow, you guys really liked the bondingscenes…I can't wait to see what you all will think of chapter 11…or is it 10? bah, you'll see Thanks again!

SouthernAngel: Heh, I always had a love/hate relationship with cliffhangers, especially good ones. Glad you're still liking it!

Phantom of Ecstasy: Ah, a newcomer to not only my reviewer board but to SRMTHFG! I'm still a new-ish fan myself, but I guess it's rubbing off since I saw like, all but one or two episodes. Am very happy I seem to be staying IC, and even more happy that you like the story! I hope my future chapters won't disappoint you!

GiggleGal: Ah, my good hyperactive reviewer. Yes, Chiro has to get to know his team sooner or later. Sugar skulls? Hm, not sure I know what those are, you'll have to tell me where to get them

Netbug: Thanks, I hope the chapter didn't disappoint as far as SK's "attack" went. And yes, updating, updating, updating…-

JACster: Ah, another newcomer to the review board Thank you for reviewing, I hope this chapter hasn't disappointed you, and I will do my best to capture SK's character as well as I have the others. Thanks for adding me to your alerts, too!

Special Bonus!

This is a piece to a fic I started for a friend. Though this scene (sort of) doesn't show it, the storyis intended to be an Otto/Gibson slash fic. Sorry guys and girls, it had to happen. Again, the bonus chapter doesn't really show it, so if you're not into the homosexual thing, reading this won't offend you …And if by some chance it does, I'm sorry.

Gibson stood very still, he activated one of his drills, his other hand clenched into a fist. It had become almost too quiet.

Gibson sensed the energy behind him too late. There was a screech and a chattering a split second before something slammed into Gibson's back and he went rolling.

He wrestled with the other monkey for a second, but the element of surprise proved to be too good an advantage point for his assailant. Gibson was soon on his back, strong, heavy hands were on his shoulders, something sat over his legs.

"Gotcha." The green monkey grinned down at his victim.

Gibson sighed. "Otto, you scared the daylights out of me,"

Otto looked curiously into Gibson's eyes and grinned again. "The lights look like they're on to me,"

"You really are being ridiculous, now get off of me, please,"

"Nuh-uh," Otto settled his weight more heavily on Gibson.

"Otto, come on, get up,"

The blue monkey tried to sit up, but his green teammate slammed him back down again.

Gibson bared his teeth. "Otto, I'm warning you, get off,"

Otto brought his face close to Gibson's and smirked. "Make me,"

"That tears it,"

With a battle screech of his own, Gibson threw Otto over his head, then quickly turned around to tackle him.

Otto grinned. The game had begun.

See you around, everyone!