Chapter 14

Gibson awoke to silence.

He was still in the cave. Other team members remained unconscious around him, and none of them seemed maimed by the explosion. He stood up slowly, groaning in pain from what had no doubt been an interesting experience for his molecules when the explosion hit them. Other than that, he felt fine, though he couldn't help but have concern for the fact that the pain was oddly focused on his leg. He'd have to analyze himself and his teammates better later, but for now it was good that there was not an immediate need for medical attention. He could only hope that the green teammate, who was not with them, also was in good condition.

That's when he grew more awake. Wait, the green monkey wasn't here. He had been replaced with the red one. The scientist immediately looked down at his own body, and realized the real reason his leg hurt.

His fur was a bright shade of yellow.

He blinked in shock and disturbance. "Team, wake up!"

The others began the same process that Gibson had just gone through. They awoke and stood, all noticing their various body colors and eye colors, which had gotten messed up as well. Nobody even tried to take tally of who was who this time. They had stopped caring.

The ground began to shake again, harder than before. "What's happening now?" Asked whoever was in Chiro's body.

"Another explosion," Gibson deduced. "This one seems to be much larger."

"No kidding!" the blue monkey commented. The ground was now shaking so hard he was having trouble keeping his footing.

"Our bodies are already becoming disorganized enough," Gibson shouted over the growing noise of the shaking. "If we end up in another explosion, I don't even want to think about the odds of us coming out alright!"

"Let's get out of here!" the silver one yelled. He didn't have to say it twice. The team bolted. The human and the blue monkey grabbed Gibson and assisted him out of the cave. The scientist made sure to grab some of the crystals lining the cave as they went.

The following events were nothing short of chaos; a cornucopia of yelling and panic as the team ran in random directions babbling about completely different things (though they were all related to the topic of impending doom) as they tried to escape. Whoever was in the red monkey's body yelled to the others upon finding the exit and suddenly, the entire team came back together and shot up through the opening right before the blue light could swallow them once again. Once they were outside, whoever was in the silver body met up with whoever was in the green body and finally, the entire team regrouped at the Super Robot. Another bout of frantic conversation came up, though this one had a bit more point to it than simple panic.

"Get this thing in the air!"

"Are you crazy?!"

"This thing can't fly! I haven't finished the repairs yet!"

"It's the only chance we have!"

"It's full of holes!"

"How high does the atmosphere go on this planet?! Somebody get whoever is in Chiro's body a spacesuit!"

"What?! I have experiments that need oxygen!"

"Nobody cares Brain strain!"

"Well, that answers who the yellow and green monkeys are."

"We're lifting off in 3 seconds!"

"Wait! I'm still putting this helmet on! Which strap goes through here?!"

"2!"

"You got it now?"

"I hope so!"

"1!"

"Ack! I'm right near a hole!"

"Then grab something so you don't get sucked out!"

"Take off!"

Everybody shut up the moment the Super Robot hit the sky, using all their energy to keep from being flung out of the ship as it shook violently, winds whipping through the holes. Team members kept an eye on one another, grabbing anybody who lost their grip for a moment and helping them back to as close to safety as it could get in the current situation. Once far enough into the air, the Super Robot stopped its ascent and hovered in the sky. It quieted down quite a bit, but the sound of parts shaking ever so lightly could be heard. It filled everybody with worry that their ship could plunge back to the ground at any moment, trapping them in, as revealed by a peek out any of the holes, a glowing blue inferno that the small planet had now become. Gibson couldn't help but be fascinated at the realization that there had to be an entire layer of soil filled with those crystals all over the planet. No wonder no one lived there.

However, his thoughts were interrupted by a new clanging noise. He saw Sprx heading up to the shoulder to check it out and Gibson chose to follow.

"You heard it to?" Sprx asked the monkey following him, who nodded. "You sure you should be coming to check on something mysterious with a crutch?" he asked.

"Somebody has to keep you from doing something that will get us all killed."

"Fine! Whatever! But if you get Nova's body any more hurt than it already is, you're not gonna like my reaction, got it?"

Gibson blinked. "...Fine, but I'm standing at the hatch in case this thing is a threat."

Sprx rolled his eyes, as if that was a silly idea, but he should have figured out by now that Murphy's Law applied very liberally to the string of events that he had found himself tangled in. Of course it was a threat. I am pretty sure that finding an enraged evil monkey clawing his way up to the robots shoulder would count as a threat. The scouting duo got up to the shoulder the same time the traitor did.

BWHAHAHAHA!! I beta-read this so I got to read it first! Take that everybody!!

Luve Horseluver65 :D