A/N: Hey everyone! Thanks for reviewing and happy Halloween! Hope you all have a great night of scares and trick or treating while I wreak havoc across my neighborhood by scaring the shit out of little kids and teenagers! Lol I'm evil around Halloween.
Anyways, regarding this chapter, Chiro will have to use this month wisely. I know it seems short for such a huge accomplishment, but believe me when I say the shorter time is necessary. Because as everyone knows, Mandarin is only risking his job; but Chiro is risking his whole existence. He must avoid Mandarin more instead of tracking him down, because as long as they're in the past… Mandarin has the home field advantage; not just because he still exists, but he controls the clock that controls the past. So the clock of morrow has little power here.
ALSO since Chiro is dealing with two Mandarins, I will just call his past self "Young Mandarin" and the current self just "Mandarin".
Anyways, enjoy chapter 4! Let's see how Chiro handles today.
FYI It's not November yet- he still has a few days before then.
Chapter 4
Nearly Caught
Steam from engine pipes blew noisily, filling the air in its loud squeal. The sound started Chiro as the wounded monkey shot his head up. Looking out from his hiding place, he discovered construction men walking around. He grabbed the watch of morrow, sighing in relief when he felt it between his fingers. Sleeping was very difficult, fearing that any moment Mandarin would take him by surprise and steal the watch from him. But he made it till morning, so he gave himself that.
The tall burly looking men draped in messy attires walked around the area. They clocked in while a few drank from their coffee mugs. They chatted loudly while they suited up in their gear by slapping on tool belts and other outdated looking devices. Or at least just outdated to Chiro.
Forcing himself to sit on his hands and knees, the black simian grunted. His snout scrunched when he felt the wound still throbbing in his side. His scarf was still tightly gowned around his chest and side. Looking at the crusty blood staining his one fabric and black fur; he realized he needed to leave now.
Leaping from his hiding place, the former human ungracefully danced to the exit. He dodged the looks from the workers before leaping out. Now he walked alone on the streets, looking around to the faces that passed him by.
He unfortunately couldn't put a name to any of these faces. While a few people looked familiar, he knew they were not the people he remembered. Chances are many of these people were earlier relatives to the citizens he came to know and love in his existence.
He frowned and bowed his head, oh yea… he just had to remind himself he didn't even exist yet. Grunting, he looked back up to the dark skies; it obviously was still early in the morning. Shaking his head, he continued on.
He didn't know where to begin, but he needed to find the monkey team. But his pain forced him to retract this plan. He needed medicine, or something to help with this wound. There was no way he could take a stand for the team when he himself could barely walk.
Suddenly an explosion alarmed him. Whirling around, Chiro spotted some citizens running away screaming. Smoke as black as his fur came rising out of the underground subway station. Fire licked the walls as it rose from vents opening up the underground station.
He gasped as he looked at his wound and then back to the street. He gripped his knuckles, "Wither I don't exist or not… I still have a sworn duty…" Growling, he ran to the subway. Deciding the monkey team would have to wait.
As he ran down the sloped walkway, he put on the breaks. There sitting on top of a burning train was Mandarin. The monkey laughed as he let loose a rain of bullets, shooting the ceiling out. The pressure of the wave of shots caused the strong pillars to wilt.
"That's right you cowards! Keep screaming!" He yelled as he drew his blade and stabbed one fleeing citizen in the back.
The wounded man reflected in Chiro's blue optics. With fur bristling, he swore he was foaming at the mouth. "Chiro Speero!" he cried. Throwing his hand into the ground, a bright electric circle swarmed around him. Pulling his hand back up, he pulled out a Zeus style lightning bolt. Taking aim right for Mandarin's head, he chunked the spear with all his might.
The bolt hit its mark as it zapped Mandarin, electrocuting his armor. He shook for a moment before regaining his composure. Turning around, red eyes met blue ones. He laughed, "My my you certainly have courage my no longer hairless monkey…" he stepped forward, eyes staring at the ticking watch.
Chiro noticed this glance and tugged his bloody scarf back over his neck; hiding the clock. "You are not getting this clock! But I'm putting a stop to this right now!" glowing green, his eyes exploded into a dark green. "Monkey Fu!" he threw a huge beam barreling at his orange rival.
Mandarin dodged the attack. Throwing himself sideways as the beam shot past him. The powerful surge broke into the cracked wall, sending it exploding into splinters. Smirking, the rogue monkey cut the younger simian a satisfied look. "Well thank you for finishing my work… and don't worry I will return to retrieve the Phase of Morrow from your burnt up corpse… so bye bye," he faded before Chiro could even blink.
Unable to grasp what he had just done, he saw people pounding on the glass, trapped in the burning train. Their eyes were wide as children cried, trying desperately to claw their way out before the flaming roof collapsed on them.
"No!" he yelled. Running forward, Chiro threw his shoulder into the glass. It shattered on impact, granting freedom to the passengers. He noticed the wall getting ready to fall. So thinking fast, he leaped to the top of the train. Crossing his arms, a primal roar screamed from his veined neck as he summoned the inner primate.
The green energy gorilla roared with its chest puffed out. Chiro hovered in the middle of its huge bulky build. Raising his arms, he slapped the falling bricks back into place. He buckled his knees as he shut his eyes, straining under the tremendous weight. He creaked one eye open as he watched all the citizens' race out.
Unable to hold any longer, his animal battle aura flickered from sight. Once he saw the last man guide his children out, Chiro took a step forward. With sweat dancing off his face, a vein popped on his forehead. "Only… one… chance…" he coughed from the black smoke ashing his lungs up. Hunkering down, he disengaged the protective primate around him. Once his feet clanked against the ground, he took off running.
Without the support of his inner primate, the walls finally caved. The black simian screeched in fear as he ran with all his might. His tail flayed behind him as he went tripping and skipping in a high velocity sprint. Midway he tried to use his longer arms to assist in his run; but no experience left him tumbling.
He could feel the intense heat wave picking up speed; inches behind him. A light cracked through the smog blinding him. The exit was just five feet away.
Mustering up all his strength, he patted his pain down and threw himself forward. He went skidding up the slope as the flames exploded. The push sent him flying right out of the subway's mouth. He slammed onto the street. He shook as he laid on his side.
Groaning, he forced himself to look up. His arms shaking as he caved under his own weight. You think being a creature this small he wouldn't feel so heavy. He blinked his tears away as he tried to find his way to his feet.
Then the sounds of something big, like an airship, jetted overhead; casting a shadow over them. He felt a huge thud shake the ground as he felt new presences emerge. Looking up, his eyes widen when he spied the huge towering body of his super robot. "Monkey team…" he whispered out.
But as he started to make his way to it, a sight stopped him. There five meters away from him stood an orange monkey… but not the same orange one he recalled. This one looked just like the other monkeys, no long hair, no hideous aged marks, and dark brown armor with matching gauntlets glimmered in the sun. Younger Mandarin came flying valiantly overhead, his eyes narrowed in concentration.
Chiro suddenly found himself cowering in fear. Shrinking back, he hid behind a nearby hover car. He watched the Hyperforce leader come racing to the scene.
Young Mandarin landed as his vision skulked around the area. "Is everyone okay?" he asked in a less raspy voice. He glanced to the flames and then to the frightened citizens, he growled. "What happened here!?"
"Mandarin…" Antauri whispered as he landed behind his buffer commander. "These people are scared and obviously traumatized, we need to check the area and make sure no one was caught in the fire."
Chiro's eyes widen when he saw his father figure. It was so weird… seeing the black fur and lime colored eyes instead of silver and blue.
Just then more monkeys similar to the Halloween colored pair emerged forward. Gibson, Sprx, Otto, and Nova came in, landing perfectly behind their leader as if they practiced this pose a hundred times. Gibson, with a scanner in hand, looked around, his device beeping. "Well according to my scans there are no signs of life underground… so apparently everyone made it up."
Young Mandarin rolled his eyes, "Fine if you are certain… but next time there is a fire I want to be alerted immediately!" he snarled at the blue scientist. "So fix those alarms! Next time if we come any later people might not be able to make it out!"
Gibson bowed his head submissively, "Y-yes Mandarin… I will begin immediate upgrades to the robot's security systems when we get back."
"See that you do," he answered sternly. "I don't want people dying just because we late by a second… "
"Thank you Hyperforce!" one man holding his three year old daughter stepped forward. "We saw one of your members pull us out just before the roof crushed us!"
Now all faces were upturned in a frown with confusion plastered all over their looks. Though the humans couldn't understand their heroes, he noticed the confused looks. Chuckling, he put his daughter down and pointed to Antauri. "The black one saved us! We saw you break the subway's glass while you guided us out, so thank you!"
Antauri and Mandarin shared a baffled glance. Looking back up, Antauri grabbed Gibson's scanner and wrote something down in English. He handed the man the hollo pad to read. Just because they couldn't communicate yet didn't mean they have ways of talking.
As the man read the simian's question, Chiro began to get a bad feeling. Not wanting to be spotted by Young Mandarin, the former boy hero turned to flee. The moment he got to the other side of the road, a shadow stopped him.
Mandarin smirked peevishly, "You are obviously strong enough to withstand my attacks… but let's see how well you do in the public eye… Monkey Mind Scream!"
Chiro shielded his face as he went straight through the car. He slammed into the concrete, the loud burst of power causing everyone to look right at him. He gasped in pain as he grabbed his wound, feeling blood pouring again. He blinked, his left blue optic shattered.
He froze when all eyes were on him, till he heard a familiar voice. "What was that!? Over here!" Nova yelled as she started running towards him.
Gasping in horror, Chiro turned and bailed. He retreated to the cover behind some still intact buildings. He breathed hard as he covered his mouth to silence himself. He watched as his future teammates skewered around his current spot.
They talked to one another as they examined the blood staining the ground. He couldn't hear them, but he could tell he just barely got away. Fear paralyzed his heart, suddenly having no idea how the team will react made him become hesitant. Plus with them still following Mandarin, he was already beginning to feel doubtful.
His eyes casted downward as he quickly ran off before the monkeys could spot him. He needed just a little longer to decide how he was going to approach them; safely. The Alchemist warned him he needed to play his cards JUST right if he was going to win this nearly impossible battle… so he needed to be smart.
He ran till he reached the entrance of the city, he sighed in relief. Cupping some water in his hands, he splashed it over his wound. Washing the dry blood away while he soaked his bloody scarf in as well. His cracked optic was not too much of a bother, plus he knew how to fix it himself.
But this wound in his side was really lagging his progress. He grunted when the water stung the split skin. He nearly fainted at the feeling as he refrained from touching it. He was well aware he needed help and fast.
But for now, he needed to be smart… and planned the next meeting with them will be thought through accordingly. If first meeting goes wrong, he'll need an escape route; if it goes well… then he needs a game plan on how to win their trust till the beginning of December.
Sighing, he went back to washing his scarf. A pharmacy was nearby, so he planned on purchasing some medicine and pain pills. For tomorrow he was really going to need it.
A/N: Woah! That was close for poor monkey chiro Oo' as I said before, Mandarin is going to be relentless on him till he gets the Phase of Morrow from Chiro. But Chiro can't afford to stay in direct combat with Mandarin because the orange monkey does not have as much too loose as he does. So the chances are better if he avoids Mandarin.
At least now he knows where the monkeys are so he won't have to go tracking them down. Plus they're aware of his presence, so it won't take long before he is discovered.
Stay tuned for chapter 5!
Happy Halloween!
