Tauria: Well, here's the next chapter. It's not all that great, but it's just a filler until next chapter.

Chiro: Anyway, as for the King's name... Tauria just randomly came up with it.

Tauria: Yeah... I got tired of calling him 'the king'.

Chiro: -shakes head- Tauria doesn't own SRMT.

Chapter Nine

Shuggazoom stood in ruins before the six monkeys. Not one tower still stood... that they could see. They stood there for thirty minutes, in shock. Finally, one of them spoke.

"Whoa... What happened?" Sprx's eyes were wide. It had taken him a bit, but he had found his voice. "What did that stupid king do to Shuggazoom?"

"I don't know. I knew of no plans to do this..." Mandarin spoke softly, obviously just as disturbed by the destruction as the others.

"Whatever happened, we won't find out standing here," Antauri said decidedly. "We need to fly to the ruins and check it out. Maybe there are survivors still living within the ruins."

"We shouldn't all go," Nova spoke up. "Some of us need to stay and go talk to the citizens at the Alchemist's lab. They'll know something."

Antauri nodded. "Alright. Otto and Sprx, you two go with Nova. Mandarin and Gibson will come with me to the ruins."

They nodded, and split ways.

Nova, Sprx, and Otto headed towards the lab once more. Upon reaching it, they met the citizens again.

"Have you seen the city?" one of them asked.

"Yes..." Nova nodded. "What happened?"

"The King... He calls himself King Julianos now. No one knows why... It might have been his old name, or he might like the ring of it, I don't know. Anyway, he took over Shuggazoom, but no one was cooperating with anything he said, thanks to the allies. So, he captured every citizen and made them watch as their home was obliterated. The only building standing is a prison structure, guarded by the Mandarin clone and several undead... Sometimes Chiro helps as well, but most of the time, he's running errands for their highness's."

Nova nodded. "Is there anything else in the ruins?"

"There are rumors of a base of Freedom Fighters, and sometimes there are reports that it's been infested, but beyond that, I don't think so."

"Thank you very much. Where are the kings based now?"

"Skeleton Kings fortress... a crude city has been constructed."

"How were you able to escape?"

"As soon as you left the city, the three of us hid in a safe spot that Johnny found. There were several close calls, but we made it out alright. And then we headed here... We weren't sure were else to go. We've been waiting for you ever since."

Nova nodded. "Thank you for your help. We'll report to Antauri, and then figure out what to do next."

Sprx turned on his communicator. "Hey, Antauri?"

"Yes Sprx?"

"We just talked to the citizens..." He explained what they had found out.

"Thanks."

"No problem, Antauri."

"You should investigate the city... And don't do anything rash, no matter what, got it? Just a quick observation, and then go back to the lab. We'll meet you there."

"Yes sir." They hung up, and Sprx let Nova know what Antauri had said.

"Alright, you heard him. Let's head on over to where the town is located."

"Good luck!" The citizens called.

They nodded and left.

Antauri, Mandarin, and Gibson headed into the ruins of Shuggazoom City. They hid behind a giant rock to avoid being seen by the patrol undead.

"This place is crawling with those things," Antauri whispered.

"How are we going to get anything done, then?" Gibson asked.

"We'll have to do the best we can with what we can get to, I suppose..." Mandarin said.

Not one of them liked the look of this place.

"Let's go." they headed deeper in, until Antauri's communicator alerted him. They hid, and Antauri answered. They spoke for a moment before Antauri looked at the others and told them what Sprx had said.

"We need to figure out who is in the prison... but I bet the freedom fighters know. If it's true that there here, at any rate," Mandarin said quietly.

Gibson nodded. "Depending on who it is, we may have to do a jail break..."

"A jail break would be futile," a voice said. They turned. Standing there was none other then Prometheus 5. "We've tried it numerous times... It's how we lose the most people." Then he frowned at Mandarin. "What's he doing here?"

"Don't worry about it. Is there a Freedom Fighter headquarters?"

"There is."

"Then we'll talk there."

Prometheus nodded. He led them there.

Chiro walked through the halls of the fortress with ease. He reached a room and opened a small trapdoor in the ceiling. Crawling into it, he closed the door and crawled as quietly as possible until he reached the throne room. Then, he sat and listened.

"The Monkey Team is back, with that traitor Mandarin," Skeleton King reported. "Do you think the boy will betray us as well?"

"No. He is too tightly under my control for that to happen. What are they doing now?"

"I do not know. After they landed their energy signals were hidden from me. This has never happened before."

"Perhaps your powers are faulty..."

"Or someone is blocking them. But whom?"

"I do not know. But I do hope it is your powers... Now, leave me."

"Yes... my lord." Skeleton King left.

King Julianos leaned back in his throne. "Show me the Monkey Team." he commanded the air.

Water droplets in the air formed a mirror-like oval, and showed blackness.

"Blast it!" he growled. "I know they are not dead... So who is it that is hiding them from me..."

Chiro, who had heard all he needed, left. The king continued muttering to himself.

Tauria: And there you have it! This isn't my best work, 'cause I'm not really feeling good... My allergies are acting up really bad. But I updated xD

Chiro: That last scene has me confused...

Tauria: -grins like the Cheshire Cat-

Chiro: ...oh, great.

Antauri: Please leave a review!