A/N: Yo everyone, terribly sorry for the wait on some of these stories. I get distracted easily and ran out of steam, but I'm getting my SRMTHFG vibe back on track. So anyways, without further ado, chapter 18 to this story.
Warning: This is going to be a more mature-audience intact on what happened to Mandarin.
Chapter 18
-The Devil's Decision
Ocean blue eyes stared upon the wall before him. Chiro, like every night for the past week, has been standing in the hallway during the late night hours, wandering around aimlessly. His mind growing heavier the longer he pondered on recent events.
Mandarin had been falling in and out of his 'avoidance list' several times a day, sometimes even per minute. One moment, the boy hero would begin to feel a strange fondness for the orange monkey—before quickly reminding himself who was the enemy. But, ever since the orange lunatic had stepped in to prevent his death during their last fight, Chiro was finding himself lost.
He paced his stares, struggling to calm his mind through meditations. With fingers forming a ring, he tried to keep his eyes closed, but was unable to calm his mind. Puffing out a frustrated cheek, he dropped his arms and decided to go back to walking, which had somewhat become a compulsive behavior.
Chiro, in his mind, was beginning to lose sight of everything. Struggling to remember his own goals, he found himself drifting in and out of consciousness when everyone was around.
When alone, he would convince himself that young Mandarin was the enemy—a mere early presentation of what he was to become. But, when speaking to the monkey himself, his heart seemed to fall into a rival disputation against his brain's judgement. Which was strange, he always preferred to follow his logical side, but sometimes… the heart got to strong. And, this struggle was becoming one of those rare situations that led into a full-fledged mental war.
Walking through the hallway, Chiro halted and looked up the orange tube. He stared at the amber cylinder, a sense of desire filling his gut. Focusing so much on defeating Mandarin, he forgot about the other sensations… such as day dreaming about walking through the city with human hands. Laughing with familiar faces who remembered who he was. No hiding, no lying…
He wanted his future back.
Leaning against the tube, Chiro pressed a shaking palm to his forehead. How can I have my future back when I'm struggling to retain my disgust for my own enemy? Was the mental question that started to plague him like a disease.
Gnashing his teeth together, the monkey tossed his arms up in frustration. Why was this happening?
As if summoned by the distressing thoughts, the Alchemist's reflection appeared in the polished tube before him. Chiro lunged back in alarm, but calmed down when recognizing the ghost that hardly ever appeared to him.
"What…?" He asked, sounding grumpier then intended. Not that he didn't want to speak to his spiritual guide, he just wasn't in the mood to deal with anything at the moment.
"Chosen one," the human's hollow voice whispered amidst the freezing air. "I have sensed something amiss, something… regarding your inner turmoil."
"Geez, where were you about three weeks ago?" He quieted the sarcasm when the alchemist's multicolored eyes remained emotionless. Sighing, Chiro dropped his head to stare at his feet.
"I'm… confused."
"I figured as much. Because of the risks involved?"
"No, no," Chiro shook his head, but then paused. "I mean, yes—I'm scared what'll happen if I fail, but that's not the problem." Turning his back to the undead man's reflection. "Just before this mission began, Mandarin—both of them—were my enemies. I practically wouldn't see him any other way. But… the more I this other side of him… the more—"
The Alchemist was quick to interrupt. "You're beginning to no longer see Mandarin as the enemy, correct?"
Chiro whirled around and pointed a finger to the perplexed reflection. "Exactly! It's like, the thought of hurting him is becoming taboo the longer I see he's capable of kindness. But yet—" he slapped his helmet, grinding his teeth red. "Yet, I know he's the enemy, it's only logical. So, what's going on? Why am I starting to suffer these doubts?"
"What are your true hopes, chosen one?"
The sudden question threw Chiro off, making him draw back in shock. With a lip quivering, he closed his eyes, almost as if in defeat.
"I… I don't know anymore."
Feeling a phantom hand guide his head up, Chiro stared into the ghostly eyes. "Young one, I need to show you something. Hold up the watch of Morrow."
Confused, Chiro did as told and removed the silver antique from the safety of his scarf, holding it up for the ghost. The Alchemist drifted out of the glass prison and waved a transparent hand over the machine. Vibrations erupted from the metallic device, sending the watch's hands twirling in all different directions. The shaking got so abrupt, it made the monkey boy involuntarily perform the most ungraceful jig he'd ever done.
"What's happening?" Chiro yelled, grabbing the watch with both hands, mentally willing the vibrations to stop. The robot's flooring then vanished beneath his three toed feet, replaced by dirt and grass.
Blinking, Chiro looked up to the open sky, confused as to why he was no longer in the super robot. The atmosphere was shrouded in grey clouds, and cold winds covering him in second-hand frost. Many miles ahead of him stood the silhouette of, what he assumed, was Shuggazoom.
"Glad you made it," The Alchemist spoke, standing high above him and peering out to said-city.
"How'd we end up out here?" Chiro asked, his blue eyes shimmering beneath the watch's aqua glow. "We were just inside the robot."
The Alchemist's ghost walked ahead, gesturing the false robot monkey to follow him. "I promised I would aid you when you fell into a bind. I just never thought this particular bind would lead to your current doubts."
"Hang on, slow down!" The monkey shrieked, running after the fast paced phantom. "What's going on?" His eyes shot down to the watch that remained glued to his hands. "The watch—are we back in the future?"
The Alchemist said nothing as he led him onto the desert's road that'd take them across the bridge and straight into the city's heart.
"Your heart and mind have fallen into conflict. While your logical side demands you to see Mandarin as a traitorous beast; your heart is no longer in align with your former judgements. For the more you see the good side of Mandari, the more you want to believe he can be saved."
Chiro squirmed upon hearing the verbal projection of his heart's deepest secret, was he that easy to read? Or, was he simply in denial?
"What does that have to do with where we're at now?"
The Alchemist closed his eyes, "I didn't desire to show you this—but… this future is not yours."
Upon entering the city, Chiro now noticed something he was not expecting. All around them were citizens, their eyes blank and movements stiffed. Their clothes were ripped with flesh battered, all bearing scars and dried blood gashing across their bodies. Metal collars with chains bound their necks and arms together. But the aura they emitted, it was almost like their spirits had been crushed through years of intensive labor.
"What happened here?" Chiro barely managed to croak.
The ghost of his friends' creator closed his eyes, as if lost in deep thought. "This the future to which will befall everyone, if you fail this mission. A future ruled by Mandarin."
Horror slapped Chiro hard, leaving his mind numb and unable to react. Looking around, he saw shacks replacing buildings, or small apartments armed with lasers barring the windows and doors. The people walking around carried construction equipment while the rest were imprisoned inside the dorms they once called home.
Hands beginning to shake, Chiro turned to the Alchemist, desperation pinging bright in his eyes. "Where are the monkeys!?"
Closing his eyes, the Alchemist raised his arms, baggy sleeves falling loosely to his elbows while slapping his palms together. The environment they stood in began to spin, transporting them into a room that resembled a cramped science lab.
Looking around the room with a confused look, Chiro turned back to human apparition. "What's this place?"
"Without you in existence, the monkey team—like the citizens—have been forced into slavery." Raising a finger, he pointed an untrimmed nail to a stranger hunched over chemistry table nearby.
The figure was small, wires connecting to its single metal arm that appeared trashy with a half-assed repair job. Its left leg was wrapped in a cast while the right foot was missing, replaced with an oddly shaped copper boot. Raggedy unbrushed blue fur poked out of the stranger's messy lab coat.
Chiro froze, this messed up stranger hobbling around on jacked up legs… was—.
"Gibson!" He yelled, rushing to grab the scientist, only to discover the blue primate walk right through him, as if he was nothing but imaginary smoke.
With fear plaguing his heart, Chiro looked back to the saddened eyes watching the scene. "What happened to Gibson?"
"Without your existence, Gibson was the first to be struck down by Mandarin. His low self-esteem was never boosted with your encouragement. He didn't have the strength to withstand such evils."
Steam blew out of Gibson's only working arm as he fumbled for an empty glass beaker he lost amongst the mess. Goggles were strapped over his eyes, the raw spots rubbed into his helmet told Chiro that he never took them off. Or, was not allowed to.
With his heart thumping, Chiro faced away from Gibson. "What about the others?"
Turning, the Alchemist clapped his hands again—transporting the two into an outside area that almost looked like a construction site.
Scratching his chin, Chiro nervously scoped out the area. Many of the citizens hobbled by with with sickly postures, struggling to build new roof tops to, what appeared to be, temples—or something that looked like it. Right behind three large men, stood the barely recognizable faces of Sprx and Otto.
Both the brothers were wrapped in bandages, Otto missing his tail while the whole left side of Sprx's body was replaced with dark iron. They, with chains around their necks, assisted some younger kids in moving a big steel bar out of the way so the adults to dig out a ditch. The pilot and mechanic also baring many burn marks that didn't seem to heal properly.
Chiro just stared, body becoming numb, mind unable to produce any kind of a reaction.
"Sprx and Otto were the next ones to fall under Mandarin's plight… for without your protection and bravery, both had fallen into accidents inflicted by Mandarin's enforced labor. Now, they can barely stand."
Shaking, Chiro looked away from the awful sight. "Where's Nova and Antauri? Please, tell me someone made it out!"
When the Alchemist looked away, Chiro felt his gut drop ten fathoms. Hearing the clap of his hands, they found themselves in, what appeared to be, some kind of dungeon. The walls were high standing with heavily guarded guns trained on every occupied cell.
Looking around, Chiro scoped out for any signs of his remaining teammates. But, what he discovered in the next cell, was an odd sight.
Antauri sat in a meditative position on the floor, hands pressed firmly in his lap. He was not the silver monkey, which brought some relief to Chiro's anxious heart—but something about the sight was off. The wise simian that served as his father figure was not chained. Question marks hovered around Chiro's head, why was he not chained? Antauri could easily break out of this, even as a normal cyborg monkey.
"What…?" Chiro was too lost for words to form any coherent questions.
Sensing his thoughts, the skeleton king's human self-nodded.
"Without your love, Antauri had suffered most of the torment. He was forced to watch as Mandarin took down his family one by one. As the end result, Mandarin was able to block his power primate through despair, and… stole his vision."
Turning his head, Chiro saw bandages wrapping around Antauri's face, hiding his eyes; only four long gashes visible beneath the wrappings.
His heart skipped a beat, knees starting to wobble as Chiro raised his hand, reaching for the blinded monkey. "This-this cannot be…"
"Antauri was one of the few Mandarin truly saw as a threat. My tyrannical creation took extra precautions against the ones he knew were most likely to defy him. So, he took the one thing that kept Antauri strong, the team. For without them, the power primate became lost, and in his grief… Mandarin forever blinded him. So no visuals could ever give him hope. For he can no longer see his teammates."
Pondering his statement, Chiro froze. "Where… is Nova?"
Something seemed to hit the Alchemist, his face dropping to a dumbfounded look. His expression quickly fell into something of unforgivable despair. Raising his hands, he emitted a last echoing clap. The dark damp dungeon was soon displaced by grassy hills of what used to be Shuggazoom's park.
Blinking, Chiro started scanning the area, looking for the female monkey. But, to his surprise, there was not a single soul in sight. Actually, much of the area seemed to be abandoned, with grass growing out of control and toppled over trees blocking the sidewalks.
Before he could question, the specter took the monkey's chin and guided his eyes over to a small opening. There, beneath one tall tree, was a stone head. Chiro stared, unable to decipher its meaning, before the alchemist began the explanation.
"While Antauri was one of the few Mandarin feared, the one who had driven him into defense… was Nova." The human spirit strolled over to the marker, which Chiro was slowly starting to recognize… as a grave.
"Nova was the only one who refused Mandarin's orders and fought him the longest—even when everyone else was beaten down. After years of disobedience, she nearly sparked a rebellion. She became so bent on over-turning Mandarin, he saw only one solution to her rage."
With tears sparkling down his cheeks, Chiro fell to his knees. Reaching a hand to touch the grave, he wept and slapped his robotic palms back over his eyes; unable to take this any longer. He broke down.
A transparent hand reached out and clasped his shoulder. A warm breeze of the second's breath brushed over his antenna-like ear.
"Now you see why you cannot lose this battle, Chiro… too much is at risk. Not only is the city's freedom at stake, but so is your family's lives." He shuddered, fighting off the urge to look upon his dearest Nova's grave.
"Why?" was the only word Chiro could choke out, far too distraught to think of anything else to say.
"This is why I informed you in the beginning that this fight was going to be your toughest yet. I knew you'd come across this problem eventually. But, you see now that you must NOT let Mandarin win. No matter what."
As Chiro struggled to contain himself, the ground began to vanish. Everything, from Nova's grave marker to the city's broken down sky scrapers, started to dissolve into white smoke. Looking to the silver light galloping towards them, the Alchemist closed his eyes.
"It's time to wake up from this vision. And, remember Chiro, never forget that this future can be avoided. You just have to make the correct decision. Don't let hate drive your heart… Remember, and you'll understand what it means to be the Chosen One."
The last of the man's words vanished, the white smog fogging up the grief stricken monkey's vision started to spin. Then, in a split second, Chiro shot up—finding himself covered in sweat and lying in the middle of the tiled floor. Staggering around, he blindly grasped for the watch of Morrow, which was—thankfully—still ticking on his chest.
Getting to his feet, he found himself struggling to stay up, the recent power of the fear zapping his remaining strength to merely nothing. He coughed, feeling the black fur stained by his miserable tears. Sniffing, he tightened his fist and leaned against the wall, unable to come to terms with this. Mind racing a million miles per hour.
A small thud alerted Chiro, drawing him out of his misery stricken state. Getting up, he rushed to hide behind the cover of one of the tall support beams. Peaking around, he spotted a familiar orange monkey walking through the darkness, blood red pupils glowing brightly.
Mandarin, grasping an umbrella beneath his arm, strolled passed Chiro, clearly unaware of his presence. Walking to the exit, he hit the switch and walked out of the foot hatch, and slamming the door shut behind him.
Chiro stared at the door, now recognizing the sound of heavy rain banging against the robot's frame. With fresh tears threatening to fall, the ugly visions came back with a vengeance.
But this time, something within him snapped. Drying the salty droplets of water, Chiro moved in a zombie like state to a closet. Typing in a code, the door slid open and revealed a variety of weapons stacked neatly against the wall. Scanning through them, the former human reached out and grabbed a long skinny barrel belonging to a thermal sniper riffle.
Peeking through the scope, Chiro stretched out his tail and shut the door behind him. The memories of Mandarin blinding Antauri made him sprint out the exit and into the screaming thunderstorm. Powerful winds nearly knocking the tall simian over as he drug his weak feet through the fresh puddles.
So distracted by the storm, Chiro didn't even fathom on where Mandarin was, or even what he himself was doing. The gun dangling in his grip clanked beneath his trembling fingers. Recalling the look of future pain in his teammates eyes made him pick up his pace.
So many things were cascading his mind, causing his heart to race to a point he was certain it'd explode. Not exactly sure how many days he had left, Chiro was certain this month was coming close to an end. Each passing minute was one step closer to a catastrophic future that'd ruin his family's lives. The possibility driving his instincts into a frenzy.
Running through the park, his mind finally started to work. Thoughts that didn't feel like his own began to whisper, informing him of a possible solution that could end this mission right now, and prevent that awful future from ever happening.
If Mandarin had returned to the past to ensure his future remained intact—what if… something happened to his younger self?
Chiro froze, nearly dropping his weapon at the words formulating in his mind. He wanted to ask the thoughts where they were getting at—to which they happily responded.
Playing fair means you only got a 50 percent chance of winning, and Mandarin controls this past… so that means, your chances are actually less then half.
His heart started to tighten, instincts starting to kick in.
Why must you suffer? Mandarin is the villain, and last time you checked… enemies never play fair. You want to win, don't you? Then, play the enemy's game.
Chiro started walking again, no longer arguing with the thoughts that plagued him.
End his younger self now, and Mandarin won't live long enough to even betray his team.
Propping himself on top of a low standing apartment, Chiro gazed down to the empty streets, weapon clutched tightly to his chest. This didn't feel right, those words… nothing about them seemed right.
He's trying to kill you, so why must you let him? Only fair, survival of the fittest.
As if in sync with this evil doppelganger's thoughts, young Mandarin came into view. Umbrella held in a strong hand as he walked through the streets, heading towards a store. Why he was walking through a storm in the late night hours, Chiro would never know. But right now, the orange monkey's current actions was the last thing he needed to worry about.
Raising the gun, Chiro popped in a thermal clip, hot enough to burn through any metal. Propping the weapon to his shoulder, his blue eyes peered through the scope. Stroking his thumb up, he flicked the laser pointer on, aiming the green dot till it rested on Mandarin's back.
Remember what he's going to do to you.
The laser started to dance up his side.
To the city you call home.
The dot crossed his throat, crawling higher at a snail's pace.
To your family.
Now, the laser rested right on Mandarin's temple. The oblivious orange simian had stopped walking for some random reason, and looked to his right, eyeing something in the alley way. Ceasing his walk, he was now a still target,
With hands shaking, more tears started spilling from cosmic blue eyes as Chiro raised his hand. Pupils shrinking, his heart screamed out to him to stop, but emotions seemed to be overrun by logic. If he didn't stop Mandarin now, he'd die… and everyone else would suffer.
He's evil, and evil beings are incapable of change.
One bullet—and it's over.
Locking in on his unsuspecting target's skull, Chiro clamped his eyes shut. With trembling hands, he placed his finger over the trigger.
(To be continued)
A/N: Uhoh, seems like our boy hero has really fallen into the darkest pits of hell now. Over and over, Chiro claimed it makes more sense to do the logical thing.
In a sense, this kind of action would be justifiable to Chiro, because right now—the odds are stacked against him, the team still doesn't know who he is, Mandarin has the home field advantage in this past, and to top it all off; Chiro will lose SO much more if he loses this fight.
So, what will Chiro do? Will he listen to the prodding voice guiding him to commit the unthinkable and save his existence? Find out next time.
