Chapter Eleven: The Day After
Summary: The team worries about Chiro in a few different ways, but Chiro proves he's made of stronger stuff.
Author's Note: Rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated. Seriously, life got really screwed up for me really fast. I have so much stuff to do and it is really getting in the way. Between taking extra classes to prepare for my black belt test, work being ridiculously insane, and the darn internet in my room never working, not only has it been darn near impossible for me to write but even to update . life gets irritating as an adult, it really does. Well, at least running a 7am-9pm day is irritating lol. Well, hope this will be worth your wait everyone! Enjoy!
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The next few days went on normally, training resumed, the robot's rewiring and upgrading was on schedule as they planned, the only difference was that a cloud of uncertainty and urgency hung heavily in the air.
Skeleton King's attack made the monkey team realize that they really didn't know what they would be up against, nor did they know what sort of attack to expect. Now, the days before Skeleton King truly arrived were numbered.
"So, Gibson, how long before the entire robot is completely up and running?" Chiro asked after he and Gibson finished rewiring the navigational system for the foot cruisers.
"I estimate we are around ninety-six percent completion," Gibson said. "I'm a little concerned about the heating mechanisms; I think we need more power coils,"
"Okay, where do we get those?"
"Otto usually makes them,"
"Really?"
"Affirmative. Many of our replacement parts have been made by Otto. Despite his outward actions, he does have moments of brilliance,"
"Yeah, I got that feeling,"
Gibson tilted his head and gave Chiro an odd look. "I'm going to go ask him for some power coils. Could I trouble you to initiate another test on the navigation system?"
"Sure thing, Gibson," Chiro smiled.
It didn't take long for Gibson to find Otto. He was sitting on the floor in his room, playing around with a new invention.
"What are you working on this time, Otto?" Gibson asked.
"This will be an extra environmental stabilizer, if I can get it to work," Otto said, putting it aside with a sigh. He lay back, closing his eyes. "How're the navigational systems?"
"They're in an acceptable condition. I came to ask if we had any power coils for the heat mechanisms,"
"Yeah, check in the cargo bay, probably in the back right-hand corner,"
"Ah, my thanks,"
Gibson didn't move to leave. Otto opened one eye, and saw Gibson didn't leave. Instead he stood there, looking more like a lost young one staring at the floor than the resident scientist of the Hyper Force.
"What's up?" Otto asked, getting to his feet.
"I'm still a tad concerned about Chiro," Gibson said confidingly. "He has been lacking in vocal confidentiality and I fear his negative mental and spiritual experience has caused more harm than we-"
Otto put a hand over Gibson's mouth with a chuckle. "Take a Chiro walk,"
Gibson pushed Otto's hand away. "A what?"
"A Chiro walk. Talk to him. But talk to him like you do when you're explaining physics to Sprx,"
"Hmph. What, pray tell, is wrong with my choice of words?"
"Sometimes we need a dictionary,"
Gibson sighed. "Okay, okay,"
Otto grinned and waved at Gibson's departing backside. "Have fun!"
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"Which way should we go?" Gibson asked.
Chiro looked around. He was still a little wary coming outside, but he figured he couldn't stay cooped up in the robot forever.
"I guess let's just circle around the block?" He suggested. "It's all abandoned anyhow,"
They started going east. As they walked, they looked up at the tall buildings and marveled at how nothing seemed to be wrong at all. There was some moss overgrowth on the buildings, but otherwise, it seemed habitable enough.
"What do you suppose keeps everyone away from here?" Chiro asked.
"The history files had stated that this area went to ruin after a tsunami, or tidal wave. Some of the remnants of the city are said to still be underwater," Gibson said.
"Whoa," Chiro breathed. "So, I guess everyone's afraid to come back in case it floods again?"
"Well, perhaps, that would be a little unenlightened of the Shuggazoomians, considering another tidal wave, if bad enough, could wipe out the entire city. Not to mention quakes and freak storm systems,"
Chiro laughed a little. "I guess. Do you think anyone would ever come back?"
"I assume perhaps when the need for either business or living space becomes greater than their own fears, and then we can begin to see more of the people of Shuggazoom around,"
"Well, I can wait,"
Gibson looked up at his human friend. "Is everything all right, Chiro? Ever since, you know, you've been a tad reclusive,"
"What?"
"You've been quiet, keeping more to yourself. If there's ever anything you want to talk about, you can talk to any of us,"
"Oh, I know," Chiro gave him a smile. "I'm sorry if I worried you, I have been just thinking a lot,"
They found an old bench, and they both decided to sit. Gibson swung his legs slightly.
"Care to share your thoughts?" Gibson asked.
Chiro sighed.
"How can you guys be so sure I'm up for all of this? I couldn't even get over my fears,"
"One thing you have to remember, Chiro, is that we all have something to fear. Sometimes, yes, they can overwhelm us, however we have to take them like any other fall we may experience and pick ourselves up again,"
"Why is it so hard to do, though? I feel like every time I close my eyes, I still see what happens,"
"Did you try talking out your fears?"
"No, not really,"
"I'm all ears, if you wish to entrust me with your tale,"
Chiro looked over at Gibson with a sad sort of smile. "I'm afraid of losing you guys,"
"Why do you fear that?"
Chiro gave him a more serious look. "You don't worry about losing one of the others?"
"Well, er, it is a concern,"
"Do you guys have emotions? Or is that all robotic, too?"
"Why, of course we have emotions, Chiro, and they're just as fragile and sometimes unpredictable as your own,"
Chiro smiled slightly. "Uh huh, so, what are you afraid of?"
"I was under the impression that this conversation was about you,"
"Well, yeah, but I told you one of my fears, I think you should tell me one of yours,"
Gibson smirked. "And what if I don't fear anything?"
"You just said that we all have something to fear,"
Gibson shifted uncomfortably. This wasn't a conversation he wanted to have.
"Come on, Gibson, I promise I won't tell anyone,"
Gibson was still silent.
"Is it that bad?"
"No, I suppose not and perhaps it's a little silly, but honestly I see the way he acts, and-" Gibson shuddered.
Chiro gave him a clearly confused look. "I think you lost me, buddy,"
"Sprx. The way he acts around Nova,"
"Ah ha, so there is something going on between those two. I knew I wasn't crazy,"
"Well, I'm no certain how Nova feels, but Sprx makes a complete and utter dolt of himself. Nova's too smart for all of his inane antics,"
"But you're smart enough for her,"
Gibson shook his head. "Oh, no, Nova and I are friends to be sure, but I could never bring it further than that,"
"And why not? You trying to tell me you like someone else?"
"No, that's my fear. I don't ever want to act as ridiculous as Sprx,"
"Oh, I see, you're afraid to fall in love,"
"I suppose. I just can't imagine putting myself in a position of such indignation for someone's affections,"
"Know what? Me neither,"
They smiled at each other, and Gibson slid off the bench.
"So, what will you do now about your fears?" Gibson asked.
"I'll just have to deal with it. Someway, somehow, as best as I can,"
"Sounds like an adequate plan thus far. Well, let's get going back to the robot. I believe you have another piloting session with Sprx,"
"Oh boy, more backseat driving."
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"Hey, Antauri? Are you busy?" Nova asked, poking her head through his bedroom door.
"No, Nova, I am not busy. Do you need help?"
"Well, not really, I wanted to ask if you were up for sparring. Mind versus matter?"
Antauri smiled. "Sure,"
They went into an empty training room. They faced each other, bowed for respect, then both of their demeanors changed. Nova's face hardened into that of an experienced warrior. Antauri's calm façade was still there, however a fire burned underneath the surface.
They started out circling each other. Sizing up was hardly necessary. Nova's hands were up and ready, closed into fists. Antauri's hands were up too, but they stayed open.
Suddenly, Nova pounced forward. Antauri blocked her first punch, then her kick, and moved in to strike, but Nova leaned back slightly to evade and used her tail to trip him.
Antauri fell, but quickly rolled away and floated back onto his feet.
"Very clever, Nova,"
"Thanks,"
Antauri whipped around, using his own tail to attack, trying to wrap it around Nova's waist. She made a nimble leap, but somehow Antauri's clawed raked her back lightly. She screeched in surprise, still airborne, and tried to twist around to counter, but suddenly she was knocked aside by a kick.
"How did you do that?" Nova asked.
Antauri smiled while opening and closing his claws. "It's a technique I've been working on,"
"Huh, you're not so bad yourself, then,"
"Why, thank you,"
Nova got up and attacked again, the two exchanged blows back and forth.
"So, what have you told Chiro so far?" Nova asked while still attacking.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, after Skeleton King's little surprise attack, what have you told him?"
"Nothing more than what the boy needed to know,"
Nova's eyes narrowed. She grabbed Antauri's shoulders, fell back, dug her foot into his stomach and launched him over her head. The attack was so unexpected that Antauri didn't have time to compensate, and his back hit the wall and he slid to the floor with a groan. Nova immediately leapt on top of him, pinning him to the ground.
"You still didn't tell him that he's the Chosen One?" Nova asked, giving Antauri her most serious of stares.
"Of course not," Antauri said defensively. "The boy cannot handle that type of knowledge at this time,"
"As much as I respect you Antauri, and please don't take this the wrong way, but you're full of it. This is only going to end wrong. Chiro is going to experience all these fears, the Power Primate, and all the horrors that come from being in battle and he won't know why. He's not going to know how important this all is and he will constantly look at all of it like a game. He's going to go through his life thinking that he's playing hero, and then something is going to happen that will completely destroy him,"
Antauri grunted slightly with effort as he finally got his arms free and rolled Nova over. He now had her pinned to the floor.
"We will not allow it to go that far. I'm not going to keep this from him forever, Nova, however he does have enough on his plate with just the training in and of itself, not to mention dealing with the Power Primate's energy. I swear from the depths of my being that I will tell him when the time is right,"
Nova had been struggling while listening, but then sighed and gave up. She looked up an Antauri, her eyes shining with uncertainty and concern.
"I really care about him, Antauri, I don't know if I can stand seeing him so hurt again, and I know I won't be able to take it if something really bad happened to him,"
Antauri nodded and got off of Nova. He helped her up, and after seeing the look on her face, he pulled her in for a hug.
"Nova, would you answer two questions for me?"
Nova sniffed and nodded.
"Do you respect me?"
She nodded again. "More than anyone else I know,"
"Do you trust me?"
"With my life, the same as the others,"
"Then know this; Chiro will be hurt, for he has feelings and is as mortal as the rest of us. For everything he survives, he will be stronger for. I promise you, I will tell him when he's ready and it will be before the lack of this knowledge will hurt him. Trust and respect what strength Chiro has, like you trust and respect me,"
Nova nodded again, giving Antauri another squeeze before letting go.
"Thanks, Antauri," Nova finally smiled.
Antauri smiled back, and pat Nova on the head. "Don't forget, Nova, that he is, after all, the Chosen One."
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"So, what's up, everyone?" Chiro asked.
They were all in a training room. It was Chiro's day off, so he found it a little odd that he was called.
"You have reached a milestone in your training, Chiro," Antauri said, stepping forward. "It is time you received this,"
Antauri held out what looked like Chiro's communicator. Since he had only left the robot once since the incident at school, and the first one was broken, he hadn't even thought about it.
"Oh, nearly forgot about this, thanks for fixing it," Chiro said.
"It's more than your communicator Chiro," Antauri said. "This will allow you better access to your powers, boost your speed, and give you armor,"
"Yeah, it's too cool, clip it on!" Otto urged him.
"Uh, okay,"
Chiro pinned it onto his shirt.
"Now, press the left side of the pin," Antauri instructed.
Chiro did as he was told. An odd sensation flowed over his skin, like thousands of tiny creatures were crawling all over him. He felt the weight of a different kind of clothing, part of his face was covered, and gloves materialized over his hands.
He flexed his fingers and looked down at his outfit.
"Whoa, what is this?" Chiro asked.
"It's called, 'hyper mode,' it's a special type of armor that conforms to your body. No one else can use it but you," Otto explained, looking very pleased.
"Why's that?" Chiro asked.
"It bonds to your DNA,"
"Ah,"
"Do you like it?" Nova asked.
"Oh, yeah, my favorite colors; white and orange," he gave the monkeys a grin and a thumbs up. "It's awesome, thanks you guys,"
"Thank Otto, he put it together," Antauri said.
"Aw, it was nutthin," Otto looked at the floor, but still looked pleased.
"From now on, you will train in hyper mode. When we are engaged in battle, this is the form you will take," Antauri explained.
"Sounds good to me," Chiro said, looking at his outfit again.
Chiro caught a reflection of himself. He could see that he also had a bit of a mask.
He wondered if it would be enough to hide his identity if they went out into public.
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Author's Notes
Okay, just watched a whacked out show called "Robot Chicken" where they had Corry Feldman and Corey Haim teamed up and doing random stuff…the Corey Feldman sounded just like Sprx and it was kinda creepy…make that really creepy TT waaa…
I'm afraid I have to cut down my updating to once a week or even maybe once every other week. Things have gotten very crazy around here, and I'm having a rough time keeping up. Once things get settled, I'm sure I can push my updating back to twice a week like I wanted.
Reviewer's Reply
Southern Angel: Heh, well, there will be an interesting twist for the bullies, and it'll be sometime soon I'm sure
jozs001: Thanks, will do,
Moonless Night: Hmm…maybe I'll add a Chiro flashback, you see him in school telling people he wants to be a hero and stuff. It'll be cute
Fairy Whisperings: Thanks, yeah, thought it would be kinda cool to get some more background on the monkeys past.
Phantom of Ecstacy: The Otto/Gibson fic is finished, and I will post it as soon as I can The fic is mainly cutesy, nothing back, just implications are the worst I think.
Shadowsong: Glad you liked, and yeah, can't be mean to Chiro all the time.
Sora Blade: Oh, very happy you liked Yeah, I try to stay away from as many mistakes as possible…even though my grammar correction thing keeps yelling at me :rolls eyes: I wish I could tell it that people don't always speak grammatically correct. Oh well. Thanks for the review!
4Evermonkeyfan: Your thoughts on Mandarin are the same as my own. I thought all that too for the mot part Yeah, I just think Gibson and Otto are closer than it's portrayed. Taking it to a slash level on my own time, well, can't help myself lol
love-writer: Thank you
Giggle Gal: Yep, Japan is a beautiful place, you're going to have a blast. Just so you know; everyone will stare at you and call you a gaijin(tourist), no there are no samurais or ninjas, Pocky is pronounced poke-eee(weird), yes people really are crammed into trains during rush hour, and the Yamanote Line of Tokyo goes in a circle. Oh, and if you're a Digimon season 1 and 2 fan, their home in Odaiba? All those buildings exist . was so creepy…anyways, have fun!
shamaru1: Glad I'm getting at least one villain right ; I get such a blank when it comes to writing villains sometimes, have no idea why.
Dukect45: :bows: thank you
Maxxaronie: Thank you for all your reviews, chapters 3-6 Glad you're enjoying!
Crystal Persian: Hmm…not a bad idea :grins: you just like the idea of Antauri being a father to Chiro, huh? Heehee, nah, it's cute... Maybe I'll stick it in somewhere, I was thinking of going more into depth on what happened to Chiro's parents, and that might be just the way to do it. Thanks!