Tauria: . . . well then . . . it's been FOUR MONTHS since I last updated this story . . . WOW . . . I can't believe I was gone that long. It's a wonder I wasn't getting yelled at o.O Sorry about that. I had a really bad case of writer's block for this story, and now I have the new story bug. :DD Anyway, I hope this chapter makes up for my absence.

Chiro: Well . . . for once I actually don't mind this chapter.

Tauria: Good! Anyways, please enjoy!

Disclaimer: Tauria does not, and will not, own SRMT.

Chapter Ten

Antauri recovered from his shock faster then the others. He should have known that Chiro would want answers when he came back. It would be hard not to, after conversing with a villain. Antauri smiled. "Well, Chiro, take a seat, please." He gestured to the orange chair. Chiro took a seat in the chair offered to him. Antauri too, settled into a chair. "Now, what is it you want to ask?"

Chiro nodded. "My first question is . . . who are all of you? I know your names, but I don't know who you are."

Antauri smiled. "An excellent first question. We are the Super Robot Monkey Team Hyper Force. We are protectors of Shuggazoom City."

"But Shuggazoom City is a safe city. We have the problems normal cities do, what with vandalism and things like that. Nothing that requires robotic monkeys to help with!"

Antauri nodded. "Truth be told, Shuggazoom is a safe city, but evil is stirring. Long ago, when we were young, there was an evil being called the Skeleton King. Now, Skeleton King was bent on capturing the whole entire universe, and either handing it over to the dark ones, or ruling and enslaving everyone. It changes all the time. But, we had been created to stop him. We don't know who created us, just that our primary mission is to stop the Skeleton King. We fought him, and soon, we lost our leader in that battle. Without the full team, we couldn't control the Robot as easily, nor did we function as well. So, we made a deal with Skeleton King. Until the one destined to lead us awoke us, he would quit terrorizing Shuggazoom. He agreed, since before we had lost our leader we had struck Skeleton King hard enough to weaken him greatly."

Chiro nodded. "Alright . . . what is so special about me? There is no way I can lead you guys. I'm just a kid, for one thing, and for another I have no leading experience or skills. Plus, I can't fight! Are you kidding me?"

Antauri smiled calmly. "Well, Chiro, you did awaken us, and although we cannot force you to be our leader, we would like you to be. You may have no prior experience, but they can be taught. The skills to be a leader are not always obvious, but you do possess them. We will train you to fight. But like I said, we can't force you to be our leader."

Chiro bit his lip, obviously in deep thought. He wasn't sure he could handle what Antauri was trying to say. He wasn't sure he would make a good leader for this team. It seemed to him that Antauri was better qualified then he. But obviously Antauri was doing something else . . . but what? "Antauri, why can't you be leader?"

"I am second in command. I am to be leader until our actual leader comes along." Antauri smiled, answering each question calmly. Chiro had to wonder what type of questions made him not quite so calm . . .

"But . . . it seems to me that you would be a much better leader then some random kid." Chiro pointed out, believing that Antauri could do so much more for the team then he could.

Antauri shrugged. "It may seem that way, but I believe in you Chiro."

Chiro still looked doubtful, so Antauri gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "You do not have to decide yet. You can think about it for a while. Take as long as you like."

Chiro nodded and then yawned.

Antauri smiled. "Why don't you get some sleep? We have a bit before we'll arrive at Shuggazoom."

Chiro nodded and headed up to bed.

Once he was gone, the other monkeys turned to Antauri. "What do you mean 'Take as long as you like' and that we can't force him to be our leader?" Sprx said.

"The Power Primate I sense within him won't let him refuse for long, Sprx. You should know that."

Sprx frowned at Antauri. "What if he's able to resist Antauri?"

"The child's personality won't let him refuse either. He likes to help people. We just need to show him that's what we do." Antauri was calm, as if he was absolutely sure that Chiro would help them.

Sprx sighed. He hated what he was about to say, but he had to ask. "What if you're wrong, Antauri?" He didn't want Antauri to be wrong . . . but it had to be asked. He knew that it was a possibility.

Antauri sighed, knowing that Sprx was stubborn and hardly ever swayed when it came to these types of things. "Then our leader is somewhere out there Sprx. We'll just have to find him," Antauri said, gesturing out to the stars. The monkey team thought about how much searching that would take, and they desperately hoped Chiro said yes to be their leader.

It had been a week since they had arrived back on Shuggazoom. Chiro had gone back to living with the other orphans, trying to get them to nice homes. He went to school every day, and much to his dislike, he had been treated as the orphanage's leader ever since he had gotten back. But somehow, he always knew what to do. It was unnerving to him, since normally every time someone came to him with a problem he was clueless.

He also came to visit the monkey team after school on a regular basis, and they would hang out with him. He was slowly beginning to trust them . . . when Chiro was over there, he saw not just a team, but a family. He found himself wanting to be apart of that family.

He was walking home from one of his visits to the team that day.

He remembered how Otto and Sprx had been pestering Gibson the way he had seen younger siblings do to the older ones at the abandoned house. Then, Sprx would be all cool to impress Nova, and Gibson would make some snide comment and ruin it all. Antauri would watch all of this until it got out of hand and then he would stop it. Most of the time, Chiro would stick by Antauri because it seemed that he was the safe haven in the Robot. Chiro liked Antauri. He liked them all, but Antauri seemed to be part of what held the team together. He realized why Antauri couldn't be leader. Antauri was the peace keeper, and as the leader, he would probably make decisions he couldn't keep the peace with.

Chiro smiled to himself as he imagined being apart of the team . . . he would be a hero, just like he had always wanted to be. He would help the entire Universe, and people would praise him for the wonderful work he had been doing. And if he died, it would be a hero's death. Sure it would be rough at first, but it would all be worth it . . .

He decided that he would give it a try . . . He would go back the next day and tell them he wanted to try, but that until all of the other kids had homes he couldn't live with them, but he could at least go for training . . . Having made up his mind, he ran back to the house.

Tauria: Like I said, I hope that made up for the long time of no updating. Hopefully it won't happen again! :DD

Chiro: But she makes no promises.

Tauria: -shrugs- Writer's block is a fickle beast. I do not know when it will strike.

Chiro: -rolls eyes- Please leave a review!