Eyyy sorry for not updating last week, I was busy as hell. I almost wasn't gonna update today since I'm so tired, but I was like 'fuck it!' and boop here's another chapter! Please enjoy!
Jessy panted heavily, weakened by the fighting before feeling her tail getting hit by the sticky bullets and groaned.
The team began to relax before Mandarin saw a Formless creature coming up on them. Jinmay saw this too and blasted the Formless with her finger missiles.
"I think that's the last of them." She sighed as the team looked over the stuck monkeys.
Some of the allies then hopped down and started to put Mandarin's children onto large carts.
Mandarin started counting them but froze. Fear petrified him as his eyes widened.
"We're missing five!" He said worriedly.
The team looked up at him in shock.
"Five?!" Nova exclaimed, feeling sick.
Chiro turned towards the others and began to count as well.
"You're right! Angela, Artemis and Cosmo aren't here!" He exclaimed.
Nova went up to Reid, who was stuck next to Jubilee stuck on her side.
"Where are they?" She asked frowning.
"I don't know! Cosmo and Artemis ran back to the castle and I have no idea where Angela ran off to!" He said gruffly.
Nova turned towards the others before shaking her head. Chiro looked around, trying to find any sign of Angela.
"B-but there's supposed to be two others ." Mandarin muttered, also looking around.
"Two?" Otto asked.
"Yes, Oscar and the missing triplet to Jubilee and Reid. He's purple and he was supposed to be working in computers and engineering, but I haven't seen him since I left the labs. The triplet I wasn't given the chance to name isn't here either." Mandarin muttered, worried out of his mind.
Jinmay went up next to him and placed a hand on his bulky arm.
"He's probably at the castle, we can always go in there and-"
"I'm getting a life reading!" Gibson interrupted, his scanner beeping.
The others turned to him, Gibson pointed to one of the buildings not too far away.
"It's coming from over there!" He said before they went to the source.
When they got there, they heard some loud sniffling coming from the other side of the dumpster. Mandarin took another step before seeing Cosmo curled up and having his head in his knees.
"It's Cosmo." He breathed, causing the others to look up at him.
Otto peeked around the dumpster and stepped on a wrapper, causing the green and blue eyed monkey to look up and immediately cower.
"Oh no no we're not gonna hurt you!" Otto assured him.
Cosmo looked up at him, still shaking.
Sprx then looked out into the alley to make sure no other monkeys were around when he saw Artemis stuck by the gunk, her head down.
"Uh guys? I found the pink one." He called out.
The others turned to each other, well at least they found two of them.
"Otto, Gibson, get one of the carts and put her on it." Antauri ordered.
Otto and Gibson nodded and went to grab one of the free carts before rushing to Artemis.
Artemis was silent, still looking down and frowning.
"What? Have you come here to laugh at me?" She asked, no longer having any fire in her voice.
Otto shook his head and smiled.
"Nope, we're taking you home."
Artemis blinked back tears.
"My home is the lab, might as well leave me there. I don't belong here or with Skeleton King, since I have failed him. "
Otto shook his head again and laid a hand on her own free one. Antauri, noticing how dejected she looked and hearing what they were saying, went over to them. Artemis noticed him coming and eyed him, not being able to lift her head.
"That is not true, home is where the people who you love is, where you feel most happy. Were you ever happy living with Skeleton King?" Antauri asked.
Artemis looked thoughtful for a moment but then looked back down, defeated.
"N-no...I felt...something was missing..and I thought it was my mother..." She admitted.
Antauri had a small smile on his face as he took her hand.
"Then would staying with us and your mother make you happy?" He asked.
Artemis bit her lip as she felt her eyes growing wet.
"I don't know..I don't know what's right anymore...I don't know if I have that choice..."
"Then let's go to the robot and give you the ability to choose." Gibson said.
Artemis closed her eyes as tears began to fall down her face. She gave up.
"Otto, help me get her up." Gibson said.
Otto nodded and using the anti stick gloves, they put her on the cart. They pushed Artemis near the alley as they went back over to Cosmo, who as soon as he saw her tried to escape.
"Kid, calm down she's not gonna hurt you!" Sprx said to him.
Cosmo shook his head and began to crawl up onto the dumpster.
"She's stuck, she's not gonna do anything." Nova assured him.
"Listen to them Cosmo." Artemis sighed.
Cosmo shook his head more before he slipped and nearly fell, but was caught by Mandarin. Cosmo fearfully, but curiously looked up at him.
"It's over, you don't have to go back to him anymore." Mandarin said softly before putting him down.
Cosmo got to his feet and backed to the wall a bit, shaking. Why were they being so nice to him? Was this a trap? It couldn't be could it? Were they mad at him for being with Skeleton King?
"What were you doing over here?" Chiro asked.
Cosmo blinked, they do know he can't speak right?
"He and I were going back to the castle to get...project Titan but Cosmo turned on me and ran off." Artemis explained.
"Project Titan?" Gibson asked, eyebrow raised.
"It was our secret weapon in case anything happened. We were going to use it to fight mother but clearly that didn't happen." Artemis said before grumbling the last part.
Cosmo patted her hand and smiled, happy that it didn't.
"Don't rub it in." Artemis huffed.
Cosmo almost snickered before his attention was brought back to the others.
"So why did you betray her?" Antauri asked.
Cosmo opened his mouth and pointed to it, then shook his head. The others, minus Mandarin and Artemis, grew confused.
"What?" Jinmay asked.
Cosmo made sliding motions across his throat with his hand.
"I don't...you were gonna hurt someone?" Nova asked, causing Cosmo to freak and shake his head.
Mandarin sighed, knowing they still don't get it.
"He's mute." He stated.
Their eyes widened a bit in shock but it started to make sense.
"His vocal cords were severely damaged when he was born, so that's why he isn't speaking." Mandarin explained, crossing his arms.
"If I could lift my head I would nod." Artemis grumbled.
Cosmo nodded as the others finally understood.
"Ohhh! Sorry kid." Sprx chuckled, rubbing the back of his head.
Cosmo shook his head and smiled.
"Can you use sign language?" Antauri asked.
Cosmo shook his head again, causing the others turned to each other. That wasn't good, how were they going to communicate with him? Gibson thought on it before he looked down at his scanner and picked it up. He pushed a few buttons before hand in it to Cosmo.
"Here, you can type what you want to say here." He explained.
Cosmo blinked but took it and began to type. The team waited before he turned the screen towards them.
'No one taught me how to sign Skeleton King just told me that I should just be quiet and follow orders..' It read.
The team looked at each other, saddened by the treatment Skeleton King gave him. Mandarin however was slightly irritated, remembering how the robots treated Cosmo in particular. The robots were specifically told to dispose of any infant with defects, so why did they have Cosmo be shipped to Skeleton King mute? Because of that stupid 'just be quiet and follow orders' bias? How prejudiced and stupid can you get?! Cosmo noticed his irritation and tilted his head in curiosity. Mandarin kneeled down to him.
"You won't have to go back to him and just follow orders. You can be your one person." He said.
Cosmo paused and thought on that before smiling widely. That was true now, he would never have to worry about hurting an innocent being ever again. Gibson decided to ask Antauri's previous question again, curious as to why he betrayed Skeleton King.
"So why didn't you follow Skeleton King's orders? Why did you betray him?" He asked.
Cosmo blinked before typing, the answer to him as clear as day. He turned the screen to the others.
'Because I refuse to hurt innocent people who did nothing to me personally. Especially when it comes to genocide.' It read.
Well that answered a few questions but raised another one. Nova scratched her head.
"But how? Isn't he supposed to be brainwashed?" She asked the others, hoping for an theory.
Antauri smiled a bit and looked at Cosmo, already having an idea. Cosmo backed up nervously, wondering why he was staring at him.
"It may be possible that even Skeleton king's forced loyalty cannot taint a heart as kind as his." He said as Mandarin silently agreed, relieved.
Antauri then looked over at Artemis and also smiled at her.
"Or as yours."
Artemis eyed him before looking off to the side, frowning.
"Whatever." She muttered.
A huge explosion shook the ground, causing some of the others to stumble.
"What was that?!" Sprx exclaimed, holding onto a trash can.
Antauri's communicator beeped very loudly. He answered it, hearing Johnny Sunspot's distressed voice.
"Team! The robots have left the lab and are wreaking havoc across the city in the residential district! They're heading towards the bunkers!" He exclaimed.
"You're kidding!" Otto gasped.
The team gathered closer to hear better, now worried.
"We're gonna try to keep them away but I don't think it's gonna be enough, they're really ruthless." Master Offay said.
"We'll be over there right away." Antauri said before Chiro's communicator started beeping.
"Chiro! It's Roland! I can't find him anywhere! The backup gun, the armor and the gloves are gone too!" Nikita hysterically exclaimed, causing the others to get instantly sick.
"No!" Antauri shouted in worry.
Mandarin, in pure fear, turned to Artemis.
"Please tell me you have seen him!" He begged.
Artemis gave her mother a serious look and nodded.
"I have, I was about to take him back to Skeleton King but when Cosmo betrayed me he ran off." Artemis explained.
Sprx rushed over to her.
"Show us where he ran off right now! He could get taken by those things!" Sprx shouted.
Artemis clenched her fists.
"Then set me free! I'll show you where he ran off and I'll help you take those robots down." Artemis said, not taking her eyes off Mandarin.
Mandarin paused before nodding. They have another one on their side.
"Gibson." Chiro said, eyeing the blue monkey.
Gibson nodded and used the antidote, having the gunk to melt down. Artemis jumped off the cart and rushed to the street, the others following her. She pointed down to the street corner where she saw Roland run off.
"He turned down there! I'm not sure where he ran off to but that's the last time I saw him." She said before they heard loud whooshing behind them.
They looked towards the sky to see heavy artillery drones flying up towards them.
"What are those?" Jinmay asked worriedly.
"Artillery drones, they're for some of us when we would have gone up against bigger enemies...before project Titan." Artemis said while Cosmo nodded.
Mandarin felt incredible amounts of anxiety and he backed up.
"They're coming for me." He said, suddenly finding it hard to breath.
Otto shook his head and got out his saws, about to take his chances.
"No not happening!" Otto snapped as the others, including Mandarin, got into a fighting position as the drones caught them and started flying towards them, guns outstretched.
They then heard one of the drones behind them and turned as it was very close. It aimed the gun at Mandarin. Time seemed to stand still. The drone paused before aiming the gun at the drones and firing at them, causing a few of them to explode and fall. Mandarin turned towards the wrecked drones before looking back at the one who shot them down.
Meanwhile Oscar smirked as he was still in the labs. He was sitting in what used to be a heavy artillery drone as it was hooked up to the lab's main computer. 84 was sitting in front of the computer next to Oscar. Oscar then tapped a button to a music player and turned it to some loud rock music. He works much better with music. Oscar started to fly the controlled drone towards the other drones as they started to fire at him.
Suddenly the computer got a transmission as Skelemandarin's angry face popped up in the corner.
"Just what do you idiots think you're-?!"
"Don't you try to stop me!" Oscar snapped, causing Skelemandarin to reel back in shock.
When Oscar turned on the music, he didn't realize that he also turned on the microphone that blasted out to the others, the settings did work together sometimes. Oscar smirked at the clone and felt fire grow in his belly.
"This is Oscar formally known as Os-12, the new owner of the Project Artemis labs, declaring rebellion!" He announced, causing the others on the ground to turn to each other.
Mandarin smiled as the worries of what happened to Oscar washed away and instead felt an insane amount of pride and joy.
Skelemandarin growled, pissed off that this was happening. Oscar snickered and winked.
"Next time don't abandon the computer and engineering genius just because he can't use his legs." He laughed.
"You egotistical little-!" Skelemandarin screeched before his transmission was cut.
The drone flew towards the other ones as they fired at it. Oscar felt the vibrations of each hit to the drone. He pushed the button on one of the joysticks he was holding and fired back. He grabbed one of the larger drones and used it as a shield before slamming it into another drone. A slue of firepower came from the drones as Oscar managed to dodge them, but just barely. One of the missiles grazed the drone's arm and Oscar yelped at the huge vibration. The team watched in awe for a second.
"He's actually not that bad..." Sprx muttered.
Chiro turned to the others and smiled.
"So let's help him out! Hyp-!"
However before he could finish, Mandarin, Cosmo, and Artemis darted towards the crossfire.
"Hey!" Chiro yelled, causing at least Mandarin to stop.
"I didn't finish!" Chiro huffed.
Mandarin shrugged with a straight face.
"I apologize, but there's just no time." He said before firing a missile at one of the drones.
The team followed him as Chiro sighed, annoyed. Chiro threw one of his 'Chiro's Speros' at a drone before it could fire at him. Oscar saw the team fighting out of the corner of his eye and smiled a bit.
"Man, and just when I wanted to show off how cool I am." He sighed as 84 scoffed.
"Way to be modest-on your left!" 84 warned before Oscar dodged an incoming attack.
Artemis is dodged attack after attack before noticing Sprx thrusting magno ball blazers at the huge robots.
"Hey red!" She called out.
Sprx turned to her as she held up her hammer.
"Perhaps I can add some more force to those electric spheres?" She suggested.
Sprx grew confused as her nickname for his attack, but left it alone as he went over to her. He held out one of them as she then slammed her hammer against it, sending it flying to the drone. It went through it and a few other drones. They all electrocuted and fell.
"Ah yeah that's what I'm talking about!" Sprx cheered before high fiving Artemis.
Artemis's smile dropped and she blinked.
"But you didn't say anything." She pointed out.
Sprx blinked, confused by her statement.
"Um..."
Cosmo shook before dodging an attack. What was wrong with him?! These drones are gonna hurt innocent people and here he was chickening out! He dodged another attack and he really not cut out for battle? What was he supposed to do?! He had to act fast but so many things were happening at once!
"Cosmo!"
Cosmo turned to Artemis as she shielded herself from an attack as she went over to Cosmo.
"You need to find Roland. He could be taken by the robots at any moment. Find him and bring him to the robot." Artemis said, pointing at Gibson's scanner Cosmo was still holding.
Cosmo looked from the scanner to Artemis, uncertainty and panic painted on his face. Did she know he was having trouble fighting? His question was answered when Artemis patted his head.
"Don't worry, when we get home you can train so you can get better at combat, now go!" She said before turning Cosmo and lightly pushing him.
Cosmo looked back at her before running towards the direction she pointed out.
Oscar kept shooting and fighting the drones, feeling so much adrenaline flowing through his veins. He slammed a drone into the wall and turned to fire the last one. He kept pushing the button but nothing came out.
"Oscar! The plasma canon's jammed!" 84 told him.
"What?!" Oscar then felt heavy vibrations as his drone was shot repeatedly before being slammed into the wall.
The team watched this in horror as the drone that slammed him aimed.
"Oscar!" Artemis yelled worriedly.
Oscar panted, trying to think of a solution and fast.
"It's okay, we just get another one out and go back." He said calmly.
84 made gulping noises.
"That was the last drone we had. We can't." He said.
Oscar turned to him in shock. Crap! He can't hack into the other drones either, it would take way too long and it was much more complicated. It was much too far out of his expertise. The purple monkey sighed heavily looking dejected.
"Damn it, just when things were starting to go my way again." He said with frustration, looking back at the drone that was ready to fire.
He then sadly smiled.
"But at least I saw my family, even if it was only for a moment." Oscar said softly.
The drone powered up the gun before it was shot down by a missile. Oscar, shocked, looked down to Mandarin.
"So you now own the labs, am I correct?" Mandarin asked with a small smirk.
Oscar straightened his back a bit and looked at the corner of the screen, realizing that his mic was on the entire time.
"U-uh yeah." He said, a bit embarrassed.
The team rushed up next to Mandarin.
"You okay in there?" Chiro asked.
Oscar nodded.
"Yeah I'm fine."
Nova and Otto flew up to the drone but saw that there was no pilot.
"Uh where are you?" Otto asked, looking inside.
"I'm auto-piloting this from the labs. Since, you know, can't use my legs." Oscar chuckled a bit.
The others turned to each other, a bunch of questions forming in their minds. Artemis ducked her head, remembering the day when they were all re-activated.
"You can't?" Chiro asked.
"Nope, the robots thought I'd be too useless so they tossed me aside. Though they probably should have done that before making me a computer and engineering wiz." Oscar explained, having a hint of cynicism in his voice.
Mandarin went cold, but was the least to say unsurprised. Still the thought was so despicable! Something started to form inside Mandarin, something familiar and fiery. Yet it was far too small to be noticeable or strong enough to do anything.
"That's really dumb." Sprx commented.
"True, but I've been told that they were just starting out...still a pretty dumb move. Right 84?" Oscar asked.
"Yeah..." 84's voice muttered.
The sudden loud yelling and destruction quickly got their attention.
"The robots are getting closer towards the residential district!" Antauri exclaimed before Chiro's communicator beeped.
"Chiro some of the robots broke off to the business district and are heading for the other barricades!" Aurora six stated.
"Great now they're splitting up." Sprx grumbled.
"We're going to try to hold them off as long as we can but there's so many of them!" Suupa lamented.
"Don't worry just keep close to the citizens! We gotta get to the residential district." Chiro said to the others.
"But what about the ones coming our way? The citizens are still trying to get to the barricade!" Nova reminded him.
Artemis quickly raised a hand and smiled with confidence.
"We can get them to safety and handle the oncoming robots." She said.
The drone got down from the wall after the internal repairs were done and got down.
"Yeah I can rework all of them much quicker when they're all split apart into many pieces. I mean I had a hard time wrangling one up." Oscar said before chuckling.
"You're lucky I'm so forgiving! Who in their right mind would put a claw in a hospital wheelchair?" 84 huffed.
"Hey that's innovation! Hospitals should use that kind of thing!" Oscar argued.
It was so strange hearing this version of the robots, even though Mandarin did say he was one of the few decent ones.
Mandarin turned to Artemis, who was hopping up on the drone's shoulder.
"Just be careful. They can get aggressive." He said.
"Oh I know it!" Oscar huffed.
Artemis giggled but nodded. The drone rose from the ground and flew towards the robots.
Ass shall be kicked! Now where's Roland at anyway? Hmm guess we'll have to find out in the next chapter huh? Thanks for reading!