Sorry if these chapter updates are taking too long. See, I have a laptop, the wireless connection signal in my new home is terrible (even though the place itself is worth moving into to say the least), and one of my ankles has a muscle-sprain so I can't really go anywhere with better internet survice for a few weeks! All the same, I'll do what I can to keep adding to this story and consider myself lucky to post anything.
Disclaimer: I may own a few fan-characters (especially Ace and Zoey, who grow up to become Chiro's parents) but I don't own SRMTHFG! and probably won't until. by some miracle, I could reach Ciro Hieli himself and get his permitted copyrites.
Chapter Ten
With planet Tobaratikara about as vaccant as it was during their last visit, and the Super Robot's "brother", Slingshot, taking care of the local villain (the brain-in-a-jar that lied to them before) the Hyperforce found that recieving the journal pages here almost too easy. Then again, that wasn't the only thing they found in Takeushi's private study, for in accidently knocking over an old star-chart system, Otto had found a piece of paper that, despite the lack of enchantment, matched the handwritting in the journal of Chiro's father.
This was what's written on it:
"JINMAY TRON" EMERGANCY RESTORATION CODES:
MOTOR FUNCTION- 11.20.04
SENSES - 02.06.05
PERSONALITY-10.24.05
"ORGANIC" CHARACTERISTICS - 10.07.06
MAXI/MICRO RESIZERS - 10.28.06
MEMORY - 09.18.04
Chiro tucked the paper into his shirt, right next to the mechanical heart around his neck (Jinmay's heart, in fact, which she replaced with the toy monkey he made for her). He then joined the rest of the team at the center table of the long abandoned room, knowing that the flashback in the enchantanted journal pages won't start without him. 'I just hope that whatever memories my parents had of her is worth restoring in her own head.' he thought.
It was Father's Day by the time Project: "JINMAY TRON" was near completion; all that was needed was the makeover... and good grief! She needed it. At the time, Jinmay's original form was much like the toys Gyrus "the Weasel" Krinkle aways made for himself as well as the repairs he eventually started making on his own "aging" mother. In fact, the poor robot-girl looked like a miniture version of her super form, except when she isn't using her hair-cannons in a "test run" in which she protected her creator from bullies. Without those cannons out, all she had for hair was a patch of muddy-brown broomstick-brissles or the head of an old mop, depending on the mood Gyrus was in when he wakes up in the morning.
"Krinkle, you are lucky that I have the fortune to make your pretend girlfriend look more realistic and beautiful," Ace said, rolling his eyes as the prototype-Jinmay was being taken to the basement of Carrington Manor, "but all the same, you might have my specialists' work cut out for them."
"Laugh all you want, Henry Carrington III," responded Gyrus, hanging upside down from the oak behind the manor, eating a banana (peel and all), "just as soon as Jinmay becomes lifelike enough to make Zoey Sulphur jealous enough to dump you and steal a kiss from me, I'll gain the abillity to speak monkey and you'll be the lonely guy who has nothing but his money to comfort him for the rest of his life."
Ace couldn't ignore the possibilty of that happening for, unlike his uncle Clayton, he has no interest in being a playboy and wants his relationships to be genuine; to that end, he also could tell that his rival turned temporary-partner was pursuing Zoey for all the wrong reasons.
"Even the most successful plans have a chance of failing, you Weasel," explained Ace, "it's just luck played in favor of the other direction. Do you have any idea what you would do if, for any reason, this crazy idea doesn't work?"
Gyrus Krinkle almost chocked on the banana... almost... before going into a frenzy,"It won't fail! It's fool-proof, you hear me?! FOOL-PROOF!"
"I was speaking hypotheticly." said Ace, trying to stay calm (even though his entire body is getting a headache just standing next to Krinkle).
"Oh, well, in that case..."
"Uh-hmm. Go on."
"If my plan fails, I would distroy everything in my path just to get the frustration out of my system, and pick up the pieces of whatever's left over. If fate allows Zoey to live, I'll just steal a kiss form her, instead of the other way around, and hope it's just as effective. If not, well, I'll just have to keep learning the language the hard way by watching 'Wild and Wacky', you know, that public TV show Mother disapproves."
"Oh no! You mean you actually watch that continuing-serial-type nature documentry about how animals do crazy things human society wouldn't do just to get what they want in their natural habitat?"
"Don't tell anybody, but it's my favorite show. Did you know that, in some species of monkeys, females actually throw rocks at males they like, just to get their undivided attention? I tell you, if that piece of trivia is true with changelings, such as Zoey, it'll be worth a few bruises just to sprout a tail."
"Gyrus 'the Weasel' Krinkle, didn't anybody ever tell you that you're wierd?!"
"Only my Mother. Everyone else says I have an Obsessive Cumpulsive Disorder for creepiness."
While Ace was wishing he was somewhere else, specially polishing shoes at the bowling ally his dad used to visit alot, Zoey was having a few problems of her own. Because it was Father's Day, the entire monkey team was making gifts to honor their father-figures back in their native homeworlds, except for Mandarin. "When you are a child of the Power Primate itself,"he explained, "you have no need for a father in the mortal plane-of-existance."
"Well put, Mandarin," said Antauri, putting together a crude-yet-effective set of prayer-beads for Master Xan, "all the same, we have to respect our elders in any way possible."
"Antauri has a point," Zoey smiled, while ruffling the fur on the orange monkey's head with her human hand, "rolemodels can be just as important as those related by blood. I'm sure you'll find somebody to look up to with respect sooner or later."
Mandarin pushed Zoey's hand away in disgust, and headed for the trees shouting: "You all could do as you wish for now, for one day, everyone in the universe shall respect me, and do my bidding without question!"
"Oh, grow up, Mandarin!" said Nova, washing the glue off her hands. After fooling around with the camera Ace left back at the treehouse, she was able to make a collauge of self-photos for Master Offey... mainly images of fighting technecks she learned in the wild. The moment she was finally cleaned up, however, Nova turned around to find Sparx peeling what was probably the best picture in the mix straight of the peice of treebark she used as posterboard!
"Nice pics, Nova," the red, mischievious fuzzball smiled, waving the photo around, "do you mind if I keep this one?"
"Sparx! Knock it off!" Nova screamed, snatching the picture back and slapping it back with the others, "The glue didn't even start drying yet! Ugh! You ruined it!"
"Whoa! Take it easy, Nova. I didn't mess it up that badly... at least as badly as I did that sunflower bouquet you've made for the Alchemist, anyway."
"WHAT?!"
Zoey shook her head. Dispite knowing where this may lead, she also was aware that (dispite being young adults in their kind's natural aging process) these two were still too young for a monkey's equal to what humans call a "love/hate relationship".
"Uh, Sparx," the female caregiver said, changing into her monkey form to give better eye-contact to both of them, "I am sure that Nova appreciates your honesty, but their comes a time when even the most instinct-driven animal has to think before he acts."
"Yeah," Otto said, bringing in an old, dented, rusty old chalice, "like that mutant honey-bee thing last month! That's the last time I mix chemicals into an insect's feeding tank without even knowing what's in the stuff...even though that project actually worked in helping those bees make twice as much honey as regular bees."
"They also stung twice as hard!" Sparx and Nova said together.
Otto made an odd face, which looked like a scrunched up smile with his tongue out, all while softly hitting himself in the top of his head with his fist, "hee-hee, ugh, yeah. Anyhow, I'm playing it safer this time, and making a macaroni-chalice paperweight for Greasy Reese. Can I borrow some of your tree sap, Nova?"
"How did you know I made it out of-?" the yellow monkey started, only for her to shake her head upon realizing it doesn't matter, "Oh! Never mind. Just be careful with it! It took me four bubble baths and garden-hose just to get it out of my fur!"
Sparx grabbed hold of the chalice while Otto was recieving the glue. "Hey! Nice framework, Otto," he said, "what did you do? Rob the history museum to get this?"
"Even better," the green monkey smiled, "I found it at the best place on the entire planet: the Shuggazoom City Dump! Isn't it amazing what people these days just toss out?"
"More like a nightmare if you ask me!" Zoey moaned, "As the city grows in size and population, those who live there care less-and-less about what's happening to the outside world, and the so-called 'Zone of Wasted Years' grows because of their inconsideration; their stupidity! I bet most of them have no idea that they are poisoning us, as oil from their harvesters leaked into the Hidden River. Otto, if not for the filtration system and boilers you and Gibson helped the Alchemist create for the lab, there wouldn't be enough clean water for us to survive, let alone to clean us up, but all the same the rest of the Garden of Pandora is dying."
"Or would've already by now," Gibson added, walking in on the conversation, "sorry to interrupt, but inspite last month's shinanigans, I might need your help with my Father's Day present, Otto."
"Really? What 'cha have in mind?"
"Well, just a week ago, while looking around Carrington Manor for ideas, I found an old hearing aid in a box within one of the west wing dormitories and, recalling Pr. Nucleus to be hopelessly absent minded, I've tried to rewire that tiny device into a bio-electronic planner and reminder system ever since. Long story short: I think that I have... broken it."
"I'll fix it! Come on, let's go!"
Upon the mentioning of Carrington Manor, a thought crossed Zoey's mind. 'The Carrington clan has enough wealth to pursuade anyone to do anything, and I have not seen Ace for quite awhile lately. Maybe if I visit him, he might have the solution to our polution problem.'
She was going to tell the monkey team that she's leaving but, upon seeing the comotion that was being made from Sparx testing his Father's Day gift for Adam Smash (a coconut crash-helmet that thankfully worked) Zoey thought it was better to just leave quietly. It was the only thing Zoey could do to fight the temptation to stay with them in times like that, and they really aren't babies anymore!
Switching to her human form (and had long mastered the abillity to make her clothes disapper and reappear in time with her shapeshifting) Zoey wasted no time reaching Carrington Manor, and discussing her dillema to her favorite boy there.
"I just thought removing the oil from the river purminatly would make a decent Father's Day present for the Alchemist," Zoey concluded, "and for thousands of generations in fatherhood to follow."
"I would like to help, Zoey," sighed Ace, "but, right now, I have my own problems!"
Before Zoey could ask Ace what he is even talking about, the sound of someone clearing his throat caught their attention. Turning around, they saw Gyrus Krinkle (who actually cleaned himself up for a change) standing arm-to-arm with the new and improved Jinmay Tron!
(Author's note: In this flashback, the biggest difference between the original design for Jinmay's basic form and the image she held in the show's first episode is her hair. While more recently she has pink hair in pig-tails, to better hide her head cannons, back then she had lavender hair, which was styled in a big poof like in the musical "Hairspray"!)
"Zoey, meet my 'girlfriend'," Gyrus said with his creepy grin before adding in a whisper, "jealous yet? You could prove yourself the better catch and kiss me any time."
Zoey shook her head.
"You are such a playboy, Krinkle," she said, using the word with sarcasm, "probably even worse then Ace's uncle."
"Eat your heart out." said Gyrus, before watching with shock as the two girls quickly became the closest friends.
"Hi. My name is Jinmay Tron, I'm new in town."
"Greetings, newcomer. I am Hen-Shi Kunsuizan, but I had to change it to Zoey Sulphur upon my first visit to the big don't need to do that since yours is easier to recall, Ms. Tron."
"Please, call me Jinmay."
"All the same, it's a pleasure to meet you. So, Jinmay, where are you from?"
"I am from Planet Earth. I've been imported into space with several others when our homeworld got polluted, leaving several mashines to clean up in our absense. We figured the toxins would be removed in about seven years and it'll be safe to return, but after eight years had passed and our ships wouldn't allow us to return, I knew something was wrong. So I had stolen one of the ships escape pods and started to search for a way to save our home planet or at least find a new place to live if it's too late. After getting caught in a hyper-boost warp tunnel, I crash-landed on this planet, and that's when Krinkle found me."
Ace facepalmed upon hearing that.
"You sure know how to program an elaborate 'back-story', Weasel," he whispered, "too bad for you, the whole thing is a load of baloney. After all, Planet Earth is a myth, and those who actually believe it exists claim the Buy-n-Large insident was over 700 years ago, universal time. There's no way Jinmay could've been there, she's too young."
"You forget she mentioned the warp tunnel," Gyrus whispered back, "haven't you heard of the Theory of Relativity? Bottom line, she's saying she was hyper-boosted into the future, maybe even an ulternate reality."
"All the same, that story concludes that the Earthling's largest spaceship, the Axiom, had recently landed on it's own planet and the humans on-board are pickling up the garbage themselves, as they should've from the get-go. When she hears that, Jinmay's programming will compel her to 'return' to a planet that might not even exist."
"Not if I reveal that she's really a robot first, and when I do she'll be so confused that just about anyone could reprogram her to do virtually anything, and that includes me reprogramming her to be more aggressive towards Zoey. That'll force your girlfriend to reveal her true animal nature while fighting off my 'girlfriend' to the bitter end, and that changeling would be so greatful for me getting rid of her human form forever she'll have to turn me into a monkey!"
"Zoey isn't my girlfriend, Weasel, she's my best friend, and the way you keep thinking that getting some pretty face would get her jealous enough to prefer you over me, I'd say you are nuttier then a fruitcake and a pinecone put together! In fact, I really wish I wasn't an orphan right now, do you wanna know why?! Because both of my parents were shrinks and YOU NEED HELP!"
There was an akward silance as the boys realized the girls were watching them.
"Gyrus," Jinmay said at last, "you were using me?"
"What's going on here?!" asked Zoey, "Are you two fighting again?! Jinmay was just in the middle of telling me about these WALL-E units her planet is using."
"Oh-no! Zoey!" Ace moaned, "Don't tell me that you actually believe planet Earth really exists!"
Ace places a hand on Jinmay's chest and opened the main dashboard. Jinmay was surprised, but Zoey only facepalmed in response.
"There! You see?!" Ace shouted, "She's a fake, and so is her story! Gyrus Krinkle created Jinmay just to make you jealous enough to distroy her and kiss him, and I helped him make her pretty and life-like just to settle a bet as to weither or not it would fail! After all, we made a deal that he'd leave both of us alone when it does."
"Uh huh," Zoey said, rolling her eyes while closing Jinmay's dashboard hatch, "I thought there was a reason I hadn't seen you for a whole month with your public school closed for summer, though I wish you weren't so inappropriate with your confession."
"What?! You mean you knew planet Earth is only a myth and that Jinmay is a robot?"
"Oh, Earth is real, you just haven't seen it yet. Jinmay is real too, just not by the way you define the word. There are only two things about this whole mess that are not real: one is the way Jinmay is connected to Earth, and the other is the way Krinkle claims to love both of us."
Thinking for a moment, Ace finally nodded, "You sure have your own way of thinking, Zoey." he said, "Now, about the sludge in the Pandora River; the intergalactic Mail-Carrier has been on the fritz lately, and rather then try to fix it, the people who work for my uncle think it'll be 'easier' to just drill some oil wells to fuel some old-fashioned gas-guzzling delivery rockets!"
"Can't your uncle do anything to stop them?" asked Jinmay.
"My uncle is too busy with industrial paperwork, his playboy-lifestyle girlfriends and... something else to even notice!" said Ace, "I got nothing! You'd have to have superpowers to stop all mining mashines, and I don't want to bother 'Captain Shuggazoom' while that crook Master Mongroloid is on the loose!"
"It's up to me, then." Zoey said, "if only I had some transportation to where-ever-they-are!"
Hearing that, Ace pulled out his secret remote-control watch (which he made as an addition to his own copy of Jinmay's blueprints), activated it, and typed in the Motor Funtion code as dicretely as possible. At that instant, Jinmay's eyes flashed gold for a few seconds, and when her eyes were back to normal, she smiled. "I could do that," she said, grabbing hold of Ace in one hand and Zoey in another, "just tell me where the mining mashines are and hang on tight! I have no idea how much power these things really have yet!"
At that moment, Jinmay took off like a miniature rocket as she carried her two friends to the Zone of Wasted Years. From quite a distance, Ace, Zoey, and (possibly) Jinmay overheard Gyrus Krinkle ranting on about his creation's behavior:
"No-no-no-no-no-no-no! She was supposed to use that feature to carry me to school in style! Now how am I supposed to be the most popular guy on campus?! I will get you for this, Ace!"
They hyperforce couldn't believe their eyes when they saw the mining devices ruining the landscape, for it was covered with the very weapons that they now use! Electronic Ghost-Claws, Magnet-Ball-Blazers, Cybovac Drills, Energy Saws, Robo-Tomahawk Fists, and even Plasmatic Swords-and-Sheilds sprouted out of each mashine! It was a real thought-provoking moment for the entire team as they watched Zoey attack each mashine and distroy all but one set of each in her vengence against those who harm nature. What happened next in the flashback, however, was the real surprise.
"Zoey! Look at this!" Ace said, popping up from one of the holes holding a rock, "These miners weren't drilling for oil at all! While some of that sludge was from oil-wells scattered across the Zone of Wasted Years, it was mostly leaks from the mining devices themselves!"
"It matters not," Zoey said, picking up the remaining weaponry, "pollution is still pollution, and I made sure that the punnishment fit the crime by giving them their own mess to clean up. I have no intention to leave until they've cleaned up every inch of the area."
"I hate to interrupt," exclaimed Jinmay, "but what were they really after?"
"This!" answered Ace, rubbing his sleeve upon the rock he was carrying, which soon revealed a bold white gleam and a few matching sparkles.
Zoey never seen anything like this before, and so couldn't help but ask: "What kind of a stone shines like that?"
"Don't tell me," Ace said, teasingly, "let me guess: the Alchemist never told his apprentice about the so-called 'precious metals' before, right? What irony, most who combine science and magic know of atleast seven archetype consept metals, and silver, symbolic on several planets for clarity and subtle strength, just so happens to be one of those seven!"
"Well, this might sound a bit... odd," Zoey admits, "but whenever I ask to learn about metal, my teacher and father-figure always, how you city people seem to say, 'zips it'. Ace, as crazy as it sounds, I think the mere mention of this sort of thing brings back bad memories of Tobaratikara, where science was common and magic is rare."
"Well, here's the non-symbolic end of it, Zoey: just a handful of silver is equal in wealth to almost a fourth of Uncle Clayton's fortune! What's more, on this planet, mining on government property without a licence is illegal, and even if they had the right papers, it's not right to take all of it for themselves, only 40% is theirs while the rest is to lower taxes!"
"Shut up kid!" one of the miners shouted, "Carrington Industries pays us well, sure, but none of us are getting rich fast enough! That fat-cat Clayton should be working for one of us and with all this silver, he'd have to just to get his pride back!"
Right on cue, Captain Shuggazoom showed up to investigate the ruckus, only to hear the threat upon his playboy alter-ego and corner the man who opened his big mouth, for he was obviously the leader of the mining scam.
Later that day, as the sun was starting to set, Clayton Carrington called Ace and Zoey into his office, where a pile of silver bricks was waiting in the middle of the floor.
"The captain let on a good word for you kids," Clayton explained, "and the mayor of Shuggazoom City has agreed you should each be rewarded as many of these bricks as you could carry. Of course, that new girl Jinmay was being too modest if you ask me. She only took one brick, and said she had plans to change the way she looks... something about keeping her creator from recognizing her or something like that. Ha! If she thinks she could fool the God of the Universe itself, she has to be crazy."
"Well, uncle Clayton," said Ace, "for all we know, that could run in her , Zoey here did most of the work."
"Hush!" Zoey reacted, giving Ace a painful nudge in the ribs,"Clayton, if you ever meet Captain Shuggazoom again, tell him that he witnessed the results Lady Wukong, in action for the first time in her lifelong mission against enviornmental injustice and all around evil!"
Clayton shook his head, almost laughing: "Believe me kid, being a super-hero, or heroine in your case, is a big responsibility. You could've gotten yourself killed back there. Tell you what, though, if you could carry a huge amount all the way home without getting robbed, I might convince C.S. to get you a proper superheroic uniform for your twentieth birthday. How's that; sound fair?"
Zoey showed her teeth in anger, almost blowing her cover with a monkey-like screech before she caught herself, took a deep breath, and used both her arms and her (invisible) tail to grab at least 40, maybe 50 silver bricks (each weighing 32oz)... then throw them at Clayton's face!Being taken by surprise and off his super-hero duty, Clayton ended up falling backwards as Zoey stormed out the door. "Use that many to buy yourself enough common sense for two!" she yelled, "Give the rest to charity, where it belongs!"
Upon getting enough distance, Zoey used her tail to carry the collected mashine parts to the Alchemist's lab, 'maybe father would accept these as a gift and turn them into something good,' she thought, looking down to the still-polluted Pandora River, 'which is more then what money from that idiot player could buy, even if he is the uncle of my best friend.'
As the term "best friend" echoed in her head and heart, something truly amazing happened: right in the oil-infested water, a bright-purple light began to glow, beaconing Zoey to investigate it, so she did. There, at that moment, she found a stone at least half the size of her heart, glowing and pulsing, and where-ever it's glow touched, the filthy water become pure enough to drink, if only for a moment. At the time, such purity was only wide enough to reach from one shoulder to the other, but when Zoey touched it and fished it out, that stone, that rare jewel in the rough, shown twice as bright, and a stream of light hit the river water. In the blink of an eye, Zoey saw that the Pandora River, and the plants in the secret garden that feeds off of it, were purified once again, as though the oil spill never happened.
"Purhaps there's some hope for the future of my family yet." She said, trying in vain not to laugh as her heart filled with joy as she carried the Jewel of Hope in her hands for the first time, and shown it to the Alchemist while delivering her crude Father's Day presents. He listened well to her elaborate tale, before showing her what he had in his lab... 47 bars of silver.
"Captain Shuggazoom brought them to me while you were at the river," he explained with a smile, "He wants me to save them for a later project. It seems that the crimewave has gotten stronger this year, and most of those who offered to be his assistant are still far too young for the task. He told me he feels it would be less shameful to be aided by a mashine that could be put back together then by a child who would only throw one's life away in battle."
Zoey didn't say a word as she turned back into a monkey and climbed up to the bed-baskets made for the monkey team. Each of them were already asleep, but that didn't stop her from running her fingers through the hair on each head before giving every single monkey a goodnight kiss on the cheek. The only two she had trouble with while doing that was Mandarin, because even in his sleep he is a stubborn monkey, and Otto, because his odd sleeping habits makes her have to catch herself before she winds up kissing the wrong end.
After she finished tucking them in, she switched to her human form and changed her clothes from her favorite city-visiting outfit into her nightgown, just to kiss the Alchemist goodnight.
"I love you, daddy," she whispered, before tucking herself in, "don't stay up too late doing all those projects; you've yet to finish but one."
"Pleasant dreams, Dearest Hen-shi," said the Alchemist, using his apprentice's birth-name with true effection.
Meanwhile, back at Carrington Manor, Ace was just getting ready for bed himself.
"Goodnight, everybody." He muttered as he buttoned the shirt of his pajamas, knowing he's in a mansion full of people and nobody would bother to answer unless it's their job too do so. Even his uncle Clayton wouldn't bother to kiss him goodnight, as that playboy was already busy kissing his girlfriend of the day.
"Goodnight." a small voice at the window said. Ace turned around, quick and annoyed, expecting it to be Gyrus Krinkle again, only to be surprised and relieved at the same time when it turned out to be Jinmay, with her more signature look.
"Jinmay? Wow! Pink hair with pig-tails, huh? You have better taste then you Father...uh, if you could call Krinkle of all people that, of course."
"Yeah, I know, Ace. I kind of feel sorry for his mother, but who knows? Maybe he'd be a more responsible and caring person by the time I come back."
"What?! 'Come back'? Where are you going."
"Planet Earth. Look, I know I'm not really from that world, but that makes me want to visit it all the more, you know?"
"You mean you are going to look for a planet that you know nothing about, using nothing but your own built-in rockets for transportation?! Jinmay you... you might never make it even if you did have a clue on which way to go! You'll run down your batteries! At least let me fine-tune your resizer system so that you'll gave more thrust in your rockets and make it half-way across the universe without getting into any troub-"
"Ace, really, I'll be just I leave just the way I am now, Krinkle wouldn't hear me take off, let alone know I've ever left, and besides, I'll probably have an easier time steering myself in my basic size anyway."
"Running away from your problems would solve diddly, Jinmay."
"What choice do I have?!"
"You could live with me in the manor; we could keep each other company for as long as we need to... um, on second thought, that might not be a good idea. This is about what you want, not me. I mean, what are god-father's for, anyway?"
"My god-father? You?!"
"Why not? Krinkle might've built you, but I used my wealth to make you complete. All I ask is that you come back in one peice, no matter what happens, okay."
Jinmay kissed Ace on the cheek before taking off. "Thank you, Ace! Happy Father's Day!"
The very moment Jinmay flew out of sight, Ace peeked into the box where he kept the remote-control watch and the code sheet, and was just about to use them, but decided not to.
"She'll come back on her own," he said with a yawn, as he shut the box and pulled up his sheets, "when she sees how vast the universe is and how small her energy cells are, she'll have to come back and take me up on my offer by tomarrow morning; maybe next week."
"But she didn't come back on her own." Otto said, "She was probably running on fumes by the time she realized Ace was right, and ended up stuck in space!"
"And it just had to be the Skeleton King that found her;" added Sparx, "helped her forget all about what she was running away from in the first place, and for what? So that she'd be enpty-headed enough for him to reprogram her and use her against us?! We were lucky that crazy idea backfired on him!"
Chiro was torn, as he looked at the restoration code-sheet. The watch was missing, maybe it doesn't even work anymore, but the memory restoring code still might, but would it be worth using it on her? On the one hand, if his girl was to be reminded that she was created by that creepy Gyrus Krinkle, it'll probably terrify her beyond any hope of forgiveness. On the other hand, the enchanted journals were only half full and they finished the list of places to look, so she might be the only one who knows were the rest of the pages are...
...or at least she would be, if Skeleton King didn't wipe her memory. Antauri guessed their leader's debate. "I had told you before that no memory can be erased entirely," the silver monkey said, "but it seems that the final choice doesn't belong to you in this ordeal."
"Yeah, I know," Chiro sighed, "it belongs to Jinmay. I just... I just don't want to disturb her if she wants to go through with this when we brake the news to her."
"If she does, I'll know how she feels," said Nova, patting Chiro on the shoulder, "Our creator was a good man before... whatever it was that changed him happened, but either way, I wasn't expecting that nightmare to come back to us either."
"Nor was I!" exclaimed Gibson.
"That's different, team," Chiro responded, "the Alchemist used to be nice to you back in the day while Gyrus Krinkle was a creep from the get-go! In fact, if Krinkle's old habit of stalking is the reason the Skeleton King had all my five-year-old stuff aboard the Citadel of Bone, it just wouldn't surprise me anymore."
There was an akward silance within the Super Robot via what Chiro just said. Nobody, not even Gibson (who was their when Chiro made that disturbing discovery) dared to say a word about it for a long time.
"Get the Engines running and dial Jinmay for a private roundezvous," Chiro said at last, "We're going back home, but only for a quick visit."
The Hyperforce wasted no time returning to Planet Shuggazoom and its sole surviving city, but they all knew the hard part was just around the corner.
"What is it, Chiro?" Jinmay asked when she arrived, "I got your message to meet you and the team in the Peach Orchard in the outskirts of the city, but I just don't understand what's going on here."
"Jinmay," said Chiro, taking a deeo breath, "I think we've found a way to restore your memories, but you might not like everything you'd recall if we use it."
Each member of the team explained how they had seen her in the flashbacks sent by the enchanted journal pages, and how much of it they wished wasn't true. They told her about how they found the code-sheet with her name on it, and how they couldn't use it on her against her will. Jinmay thought it over for a really long time, and then gave an agreeing nod.
"I don't care how much of it hurts me," she said, "if it's the only way to help you guys, then I think it's best that I go through with it, no matter what!"
So, in a matter of minutes, Jinmay was hooked up to the Super Robot's central computer, and the memory code "09.18.04" was triggered. At that moment, Jinmay's eyes lit-up with a golden light, as every memory of who she was before the Skeleton King found her reloaded themseves in a matter of seconds. All the while, Chiro noticed that the trinket around his neck, the very heart of his robotic girlfriend, was glowing, and as he exposed it the team to get an explaination, a few enchanted journal pages matterialized over it. Jinmay, still in her semi-virtual state, read what was written on each page as the flashback was revealed:
Dear Diary,
Last night, Ace visited me when the moon was in the center of the night sky. He was lucky it wasn't a full moon... I always lose control of my shape-shifting powers that time of month (I'm not so sure, but the Alchemist said it's normal for changelings my age especially females). Anyhow, Ace told me that Jinmay took off for planet Earth earlier that night, and he expected her to come back by now, but she had not! Seeing this as a grand opportunity to prove to him that the planet she is looking for does indeed exist, and see what my new artifact, the "Jewel of Hope", could really do, I enchanted you (my diary) and his own journal.
To really push the Jewel of Hope to it's limits, I sent half the pages of both books straight to planet Earth, and intend to hide the rest of them as required if the Prophesy does come though this entry in particular shall be hidden within Jinmay (in a way the Dark Ones and their vessels could never reach it), the others shall be blank until my children find them, so that no matter what order they are found, the pages will be rewritten as though the first time. I just hope that, weither either of us write finish the story ourselves or not, Ace and I would be given a happy ending, and a new beginning, in the favor of my monkey team, the Hyperforce.
Hen-shi "Zoey Sulphur" Kunshuizan
P.S. The prophecy I was talking about goes something like this:
In due time, the forests that covered our world shall take root again, not on the soil beneath the sun and sky, but within the walls of Pandora's box. Two eggs, each left here by the Spirits, await that day more eagerly:
One is a small yet powerful egg, placed by the Creator of Creation itself when history was first written, waits until the tallest tree in Pandora ages to its second millenium. Upon that day it shall hatch as a gaurdian who is neither human nor animal, yet both as well, in the arms of one who was labled an outcast. The other egg, large and rotten, belonged to the Dark Ones, and festered in a Pit of Doom since the dawn of time, and cannot hatch until it's counterpart has been distroyed, and even then, it must wait.
Worry not, for hope is forseen: a statue tall as a mountain shall be built by the hands of only three people, and given the abillity to move, though it cannot use that traint without help until the time is right. Who better to guide it until that point and beyond, then those whom the gaurdian shall chose for herself from her animal kin? The Ambassadors of Wukong, the six sacred offspring of the Power Primate Entity, shall be orphaned unriped at birth but developed under a sorceror's care, who shall change them so their lives shall not end before they begin.
The gaurdian shall be like a mother in more ways then she'd expect, for she who shall bring the Chosen One into the world shall first restore the Ambassadors from other worlds twice.
First when fate calls them to meet their second-fathers as the ritual that spared their undeveloped lifeforce. When the Golden Age begins to fade away from the Dark Ones slipping through a crack in the window ment to spy on evil in a plan to distroy evil forever, an ally will become the vessel of the enemy. To that end, the Ambassadors shall be granted their powers when they come of age, but alas, at the cost of forgetting who gave them such gifts in the first place, leaving a gap that forces them to learn everything all over again in a year of seperation. After that year passes, their serrogate mother shall gather them a second time, using statue as it divides for the first time, and tell them of the enemy they're born to face whom they shall not recognize, then leave them to their many battle before they have a chance to recognize her.
When one of the Six Ambassadors becomes a traitor, she who once raised them will pay an unnerving price to save the Stronghold of Hope, as well as the remaining five as they are placed in a dreamless slumber, before bringing the Chosen One into the world. Upon the thirtenth year and sixth month of his arrival, when he is needed most, he shall find and awaken the five remaining Ambassadors and take the traitor's place.
There will be many battles, but not all of them will be obvious. Beware the false victories, as they are merely the enemy leader's way of amusing himself and learning your weaknesses so he cound distroy you in a way that brings agony. Beware more-so the evils within your own hearts, as none could resist temptation of any sort alone, especially the sort that may turn you against each other more then once. Usually, it would surface unaided, as though mere petty arguements, but every so often, the enemy is bound to attach his influance on your darker side using against you while you are either unwitting or unwilling.
Bond, not just as a team, but as a family as well, for it is only then will you all be at your strongest. Worry not of the past when you recall all of it, but use what mistakes you and others made in it as a tool to keep history from repeating itself, for while evil will always exist, the places it has spread to shall be thinner in due time. Two rebirths shall take place, but while he who opposes us will be most powerful when the moon blots out the sun, those who stand for what is right shall have strength in numbers, which insures a promise of true victory.
I don't think the Alchemist read all of it, because several paragraphs in his copy (mostly the ones with the parts of the prophesy that I wish didn't have to come true) are smudged out! I'm still debating over weither or not I should tell him, but I don't think it's a good idea to end a story before it has a chance to begin, so I'll just leave it to fate. All the same, though their is no mentioning of them, I thought of two objects that might double-bind that "promise" mentioned at the end:
The Jewel of Hope that I found yesterday, and the Rod of Resolve that Sun Wukong himself had used (I know it's crazy to think that thing ever existed, but I believe there's a chance it still does, and is hidden somewhere in the universe).
I just wish I hadn't sent the Alchemist's Intergalactic star-charts to Earth along with some of my diary pages, because I might need to check on when the next natural solar eclipse is as a further aid for when things take a turn for the worst. Oh well! What neither of us know won't hurt us, right?!
As soon as that question was asked, Jinmay came back to her senses and fell into Chiro's arms. "Chiro," she murmured, "I remember now. I remember how my creator used me as a prop to make some girl jealous, some boy that looked like you with glasses, all of it!"
"We know," said Chiro, "believe it or not, that girl and boy were my parents, and my mom just gave us a message as to why the Skeleton King put a lull in the war. Gibson, when is the next solar eclipse?"
"From now," Gibson calculated, "365 days, Intergalactic time. What's more, it seems to be the start of the universal equinox, so all several planets in several solar systems will aline. That'll make it easier for the hyper-boost warp-tunnels to get us from here to planet Earth in about four hours. In addition to that, if I read that chapter in the Grimwar of Nacrotis correctly, the equinox is also the worst time of the millenium for making golem-like beings so the Skeleton King might be having trouble with most of his formless minions."
With that much, the team silently agreed this might be their only chance, and dispite her desire to visit Earth being restored with her memories, she knew she had to stay behind just incase ol-bonehead figures out a way around the Universal Equinox and sends more trouble.
"I'll bet Earth is that planet were we distroyed that worm!" Otto said with a smile, "Better work on the Super Robot's long-distance communication recepors, that way we can send plenty of vacation photos so that you won't feel left out."
"Yeah," Sparx said, "If you could even call it a 'vacation'! Nobody could really rest until this whole mess is officially over!"
"I don't know,Sparx," said Nova, "maybe Otto is on to something. After all, that planet is one of those rare multi-cultural ones, and we might need to go undercover as tourists to find anything down their."
"That,"added Antauri, "or as part of the newest media gimmick, not that we need any more of those rediculous advertisements."
"Well," said Gibson, clearing his throat, "as long as I don't have to be pushed around in a baby stroller again, like you've made me do during that elevator-monster insident, that'll be all peaches and gravy with me."
"What is he talking about?" Jinmay whispered to Chiro.
"Believe me," he answered, "you don't want to know."
To those who want to know, Zoey and Ace don't have their first kiss until next chapter's flashback (Sorry) but at least the monkey's are figuring out the Skeleton King's plan. In addition to that, one of my new naighbors shared his access codes with me and I got wi-fi again, score!
Anyhow, the Hyperforce has one Earth year to get the second half of both enchanted journals (Universal Equinox or not, that's not ment to last) so they might be able to squeeze in a little time for R&R (rest and relaxation) while I give the fan-fic contest thing another chance while you guys do some R&R (reading and reviewing). Add a vacation spot, purhaps your dream vacation, to your post, and I'll not only make sure the Super Robot lands there after any possible research, I'll even give credit to the first one to post an idea... provided there's a real membership address. Good luck!