Me: Sorry I haven't updated. I've gone into overload with babysitting, pre-school reports, helping my brother with therapy, school shopping, pre-college stuff, and keeping my house clean. Now if you don't mind, after that brutal beating Nova and Crystal gave Sprx and I, I'll let Crystal do everything now.
Crystal: I'd just like to say, I HATE WHAT YOU HAD TO DO TO SAVE MY LIFE!
Me: At least you get the one you love.
Crystal: Oh right, thanks. The song later (much, much later) in the chapter is 'In the blink of an eye' by A-Teens. Now, on with the story.
Just A Few Bad Days
They pulled back the curtain and saw...
A figure concealed by a blanket.
"Um...Crystal? They said they had to give you a new body. Can you take off the blanket so we can see?" asked Chiro, reaching for the blanket, only to pull back when he heard Crystal growl.
"What's wrong, Crys?" asked Sprx, using her nickname.
"What's wrong? You really want to know what'swrong and why I'm so freak out, Sparky?" she growled, scaring Sprx so bad that he didn't even fuss about the nickname. Crystal continued to growl in a low, menacing voice, "The body they gave me is a familiar one. I don't mind the body, it's what they left off it that irritates me."
"What did they leave off?" questioned Antauri, stealing a glance at Otto, Gibson and Nova, worrying slightly at the situation.
Suddenly, the blanket flew off and Crystal screamed at the top of her lungs,
"THEY DIDN'T GIVE ME ANY FUR!"
Everyone's mouth (except Otto, Gibson, and Nova) dropped. Sitting on the bed in front of them was a brown robot monkey with blue eyes...without any fur. Without the fur, she was a pale brown and they could see scars all over her body. Plus, she was royally pissed off.
"I LOOK LIKE A SHAVED RAT(Sprx rip-off) and I feel so naked."
"I'm sorry Crystal, but any more chemicals could have damaged your brain system." said Gibson.
"Don't worry. Your fur will grow out in about three days." said Otto, cheerfully.
"I don't get it. How were you able to turn Crystal's human body into a robot monkey's?" asked Sprx.
"I knew how to configure all the limbs and such, but I was unsure about how to do the body structure."
"So how...?"
"That's was me." interrupted Nova.
"Nova?" Chiro questioned.
"I knew Gibson would have to redo her whole body structure so... I let him do a full body scan on me to save Crystal." She ended with a blush.
"You sacrificed the privacies of your body just to save me?" asked Crystal. Nova nodded, still blushing.
"Thanks."
"No prob. Now what are you going to until your fur grows out?"
"Uh..."
"How about you learn to walk in your new body?" suggested Antauri.
"Excuse me?" questioned Crystal.
"You are in a body that is completely unfamiliar to you, the least you can do while you wait for your fur is to adapt to it, starting with walking." he said.
"And I'm one of people to help, at least with all the gender issues." said Nova.
Crystal edged to one side of the bed and slipped off. She landed wobbly on her feet, fought for balance and fell on her butt.
"Nice call, Antauri." complimented Sprx, aiding Nova in helping the human-turned-monkey up. Crystal leaned into him, balance not quite in her body yet. He blushed, though it thankfully went unseen by the others. Regaining his composure he said, "Maybe we should take this elsewhere. Crystal needs more room to move and I really don't want to stay in here any longer."
"Agreed. The Skeleton King may think Crystal is dead, but he will soon realize that she is very much alive. It'd be best if she adapted quickly so she can defend herself." replied Gibson.
So Chiro picked up Crystal bridal-style and carried her to the training room. Sprx was about to follow when he remembered the item Nova had handed him late last night. He went to his chair and pulled the item out from under the cushion. It was Crystal's necklace, covered in dried blood and it had scratches. Making a mental note to clean it up and give it back to Crystal, he put it away and hurried off to the training room.
An hour later
Okay, Crystal, walk to Sprx, then to Chiro, and then back to Nova." instructed Antauri.
Crystal took a deep breath, and then proceeded to do as Antauri said. Nova helped her start and let go of her hand after a few steps. She continued toward Sprx, wobbling a bit. The red monkey helped her regain her balance before she moved on. She didn't have as much trouble getting to Chiro, but she stumbled on her way back to Nova, tripping over her own tail into the yellow monkey's arms.
"Aw man. I almost had it." she whined, "Stupid tail." Suddenly she yawned and fell asleep.
"Looks like someone's taking a break." said Nova.
"At least she can walk better now." said Otto.
"Indeed, she has the tendency to progress quickly. Just like her brother." stated Gibson, looking at Chiro who was blushing at the comment.
"We should let her regain her strength. I could tell she was forcing herself to finish the task. That's why she tripped." said Antauri, "Jinmay, will you please take Crystal back to her quarters to rest?"
"Sure thing, Antauri." With that, Jinmay left with Crystal in her arms.
"So what do we do now?" asked Sprx.
"I've got an idea" Nova began, pulling out her fists, "How about I whip you, Otto, and Gibson into shape? You three have been majorly slacking off in training practice. Time to make those black eyes blacker than usual."
She jumped at the three black-eyed monkeys, causing them to run and scream. Antauri and Chiro just watched, fearing that Nova might come after them as well. Then Chiro said, "So... you want to go meditate?"
"Sure." And the two dashed quickly out of the room.
Crystal slept until the next morning. Gibson said it was normal because she was still recovering and adapting. When she did wake up, she stayed in her room for a while, sitting on her bed, thinking.
'What was I doing wrong? Why couldn't I get my balance?' she thought. Looking up, she saw her reflection in a mirror. She noticed a thin coat of brown fur growing and a twitching tail behind her.
"That's it!" she exclaimed, "The reason I couldn't balance was because I was ignoring my tail. A monkey's tail is a limb used for many things, including balance."
She got off the bed, staggering a bit, and concentrated. Slowly, she walked to the door with no trouble at all. Then she walked a few laps around the room, jumping every now and then to work her knees. Soon after she was jogging, then running. Overjoyed with her accomplishment, she shouted with glee to the world around her and jogged to the door. But before she got there, someone came running in and she crashed into them, causing her to landed on top of them.
Blue met blue as Crystal stared into her brother's confused eyes.
"Hi, Chiro." she chimed.
"Crystal are you okay? I heard you shout and..."
" I'm just great Chiro. I'm so happy that I can walk now."
The boy was shocked, "You mean you can walk perfect now?"
A big grin formed on her face, "I'll show you. Race you to the kitchen." She took off.
"Hey! No Fair!"
As they barreled to the kitchen, Crystal gained a slight lead. She ran threw the kitchen door, only to collide with another person, actually it was two. Chiro skid to a halt behind Crystal's now sitting form and stared at what his sister had caused. She had hit Nova into Antauri and their lips had collided when they hit the ground, Nova on top of Antauri.
Time slowed down as the events caught up to the four. Nova and Antauri parted and stood, their faces red. Everything was silent until Antauri cleared his throat, "I believe this event should stay concealed from the others."
With that, he quickly left the room. Nova took a deep breath, "You know what? I'm going to my room for a while." and left.
Later that day, everyone was relaxing in the main room, the event from earlier still concealed and mostly forgotten. What made Crystal forget was Gibson's constant pestering on how quickly she had adapted to her new body.
"GIBSON! LEAVE ME ALONE!"
"It's astonishing at how progressive you adaptation has been. I should run some tests to see if any erroes have come up."
"NO! No more tests! Chiro, help me!"
Being as small as she was now, Crystal could easily sit on Chiro's shoulder, which she was currently doing, trying to get away from Gibson. Her hand hit Chiro's necklace.
"Um...Gibson?" she asked quietly.
"Yes?"
"Where's my necklace?"
Everything went quiet. Gibson rubbed the back of his head, "I don't know. There's a good chance it was destroyed in the blast."
"WHAT!" Crystal's scream was so loud that everyone, especially Chiro, had to cover their ears. Crtystal jumped down and grabbed Gibson's shoulders.
"Please tell me that's not true. Please, Gibson, tell me it wasn't destroyed." Tears were dropping from her eyes.
"Actually, Crys', I have it."
Crystal whipped around to see Sprx holding out a small red box with a howling brown wolf on it. "It was kinda messed up from the battle, but I cleaned it up as best I could."
Crystal took the box and openned it to see her necklace with a few scratches on it. She was silent until...
"Thank you, Sprx, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!" She gave him a bear hug that was making it hard for Sprx to breathe, that is until Nova said, "Hey Gibson, I didn't know you had a twin."
"Indeed."
Crystal released the now blue Sprx, who took several deep breathes to regain his red composure. "Sorry, Sprx."
"It's...okay." he panted before stating, "Hey, kid, now there's two things I fear the most: Nova's punches...and your sister's hugs. Ow! Crystal!"
Everyone laughed as Sprx helped Crystal put the necklace on. Then Nova said, "Oh, Crystal. Jinmay and I have another suprise for you."
Curious as to what she meant, Crystal and the boys followed the two girls to Nova's room, where Nova pulled a brown box out of her closet and handed it to the brown monkey. Confused, the human-turned-monkey gently openned the box, revealing her fire-ninja outfit, only different.
"Go try it on." encouraged Jinmay.
Crystal left and came back shortly after in the outfit, which now fit perfectly to her new body.
"How?"
"While you were asleep last night, Nova and I took your original outfit and made it to fit your new body." answered Jinmay.
"Cool." Then out of the blue, Crystal asked, "Did you give me any weapons?"
"Beg your pardon?" questioned Gibson.
"Of course we gave you weapons, silly." piped Otto, "Check 'em out."
Concentrating, Crystal willed her weapons to appear. When she heard the others gasp, she openned her eyes. She gasped as well.
She had a pair of brown wolf-like paws with red inch-long claws. "You can even extend your claws." said Nova. Interested, Crystal concentrated again (this time without closing her eyes). She was shocked when the claws went from 1 inch to 4 in!
"Wow."
"The paws are almost as tough as my fists. The claws are nearly as sharp as Antauri's and they have the slicing ability close to that of Otto's saws." Nova said.
"Cool." Crystal flexed her claws.
Gibson smiled, "It was a hard task but I managed."
Otto frowned, "But I'm the one who put them together."
"And you wouldn't have been able to build it without my intellect."
Otto growled and tackled Gibson. A dust cloud formed around the two and approached one of Nova's shelves.
"Guy, stop! Watch out!" Nova warned, but she was too late. The two monkeys knocked inbto the shelf, causing a small antique box, with fire and martial arts patterns all over it, to topple to the floor, breaking on contact.
Nova just stood there, shocked. Everyone thought she would pounce on the two still-fighting monkeys, but instead she turned tail and ran out of the room with small traces of shed tears on her face. Crystal looked at the green and blue monkeys with fury in her eyes and shouted, "WILL YOU TWO STOP FIGHTING AND LOOK AT WHAT YOU'VE DONE!"
They finally stopped when Crystal, with her weapons out, had them pinned to the wall, two claws on each side of thier necks.
Crystal growled viciously, "Master Offay gave Nova that antique before she graduated from the academy. It was very special to her. AND NOW YOU'VE GONE AND BROKEN IT!"
She released them and headed to the door, "You two better do something or else you'll feel my wrath." she said, holding up her claws, "Now if you don't mind, I'm going to find Nova." She left the room in deadly silent.
Chiro looked at the two sternly, "I'm going to give you some advice, when Crystal's angry, it's almost as bad as Nova. Sprx, Jinmay, help them out any way you can. Come on, Antauri, we're going to help Crystal find Nova."
Nova was on a lush green cliff outside the city with tears running down her cheeks. She pulled her knees up to her chest, then she heard footsteps approach behind her. Two people sat beside her and began singing. It was Chiro and Antauri.(They're on her left)
Chiro: Hey, is there something I can do
He broke your heart in too
Many pieces
Now you gotta put it back again
Antauri: Now when you're trying to make it through
And you're feeling kinda blue
I'll be there to tell you
That things will change.
Then Nova heard Crystal sit on her other side (her right side).
Crystal: When you turn around
All the tears will dry
Whatever was lost will be found
In the blink of an eye
Both: When you're losing ground
Hold your head up high
Whatever was lost will be found
In the blink of an eye
Crystal: Hey, I know I shouldn't sink in deep
I know I ought to weep
Like a baby
But it's really not that bad
Cuz when my heart was aching
When my world was shaking
You were there to tell me
That things would change
All three: When you turn around
All the tears will dry
Whatever was lost will be found
In the blink of an eye
When you're losing ground
Hold your head up high
Whatever was lost will be found
In the blink of an eye
Nova smiled. They were there for her, just as she had been there for them. She took a deep breath and continued the song.
Nova: I thought my heart was on the mend
Now I'm falling for a friend
Someone who was there for me
When things were changing
All: In the blink of an eye
Everything changes
In the blink of an eye
What's lost can be found
When you turn around (Crystal:when you turn around)
All the tears will dry (Crystal: all the tears will dry)
Whatever was lost will be found
In the blink of an eye
When you're losing ground (Crystal: When you're losing ground)
Hold your head up high (Crystal: hold your head up high)
Whatever was lost will be found
In the blink of an eye
When you turn around
All the tears will dry
Whatever was lost will be found
In the blink of an eye
"Thanks guys. I appreciate it. More than you know." Nova said.
"Now that you're feeling better, let's get back to the Robot. You need to teach me how to use these wolf paws of mine." replied Crystal.
Back at the Super Robot
The four returned to a very guilty looking Gibson and Otto with Sprx and Jinmay behind them, with stern looks on their faces.
Gibson spoke first, "Nova, we are really sorry about what we've done. Our actions we're highly uncalled for."
"We'll do anything to make it up to you. said Otto, "So can you forgive us?"
Nova was quiet for a while, before she smiled and replied with, "Sure, you big knuckle heads."
She gave them a big hug. When she let go, she stated, "And to start off your payment, you two get to help me with Crystal's training session."
Green and blue said, "Uh, oh"
Brown said, "Yay, freshmeat!"
Crystal and Nova dragged them to the training room by their tails. Sprx was laughing, "Now this I gotta see."
Later that night, Nova was walking into her room after dinner. The training had give her and Crystal an appetite. She turned on her light only to have it reflect off a shiny object on her bed. Walking closer, Nova say that it was her antique box... and it was completely fixed!
She found a note that said, Hope we put it back together right. We're really sorry we broke something so precious to you. We'll remember never to get into a fight while in your room again. Gibson and Otto
Nova smiled before going back out into the hallway. She saw Gibson and Otto, worn out from the training, about to go to bed.
"Gibson, Otto." she called. They turned to her, not expecting the hug she gave them. "Thanks for fixing it guys."
"No prob."
"Yes, we were hoping that fixing it would make you feel better."
"I appreciate it. Now get some sleep, cause tomorrow we're going through another training session."
They groaned and Nova said, "And maybe I'll force Sparky to help."
"Yay"
The next day
"I hate you two." This remark came from Sprx who was laying on his chair after Nova had forced him to help Gibson and Otto train Crystal. Gibson and Otto were sitting in there chairs, smiling because Crystal had mostly gone after Sprx.
"Sorry Sprx, but you did need a good butt-whooping, I mean training session." said Otto.
"Indeed, I believe you should assist our new friend more often. She seems to like beating on you more." stated Gibson.
"Shut up." whined Sprx.
Suddenly, a beeping from the computer signaled an incoming message. The team gathered around to see what/who it was. The screen flashed to show Master Xan.
"Antauri, I don't have much time. The Veran Temple is under attack. At the rate they're going, they'll be in the inner sanctum soon. I am unsure at the time who it is, but their attack patterns are very familiar. All I can say is that they're looking for something. Do not let them get what they are seeking. Stay where you are, do not look for her."
From behind Xan, they saw a wall bust in.
"Hello, Xan."
"You, but that's impossible, you're gone."
"Not as gone as you're about to be."
The figure revealed itself. A white robot monkey with red tracing its golden yellow eyes and fangs coming out of its pink mouth. It was Vona!
"I have many questions for you, Xan, and I will get the answers I want."
She drew her swords from the holsters and lunged at Xan.
"Where is she, Xan?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean Sheron's prize."
"But you're... wait if you're not Sheron's prize then you are..."
"Bingo, you get a gold star, Now talk."
"You won't get her. Not if I have any say about it!"
"Very well. If you pick the hard way, I'll make it as hard as possible."
'Vona' charged at Xan who threw energy spheres at her, but she flicked them away. One had hit the screen, causing it to go black and ending the message. Everyone just stared at the screen, shocked.
Then Antauri growled venomously, "How dare she? That witch attacked Master Xan. If our paths should cross, she will die."
Crystal began to protest, "That wasn't Vona!"
Antauri shouted back, "I am not blind, Crystal! I have seen Vona before and I know that was her."
"Vona disappeared after the 'Battle of the Fire Split'(Antauri's memory in chp 8). Only Madam Zypher knows who and where she is."
"Then Zypher was the one who told her to attack my masters!"
"No she wasn't!"
"How would you know? You've never even meet Vona before!"
"But I know more about her than you do!"
"Then you would know she's a miserable, back-stabbing, dishonorable traitor!" Antauri's voice echoed through the room. Crystal had tears in her eyes. She turned tail and ran to her room. Antauri turned in the other direction and stormed out of the room, leaving the rest of the team in silence.
Me: Yay I finally done. No time for minor chit-chat. I've got several other chapters to type up. Man, do my fingers hurt. And sorry I made it so long. Read and Review.