Disclaimer: noodles!

Thanks to:
Astral Firefly: (watches Otogi run) O.O well uh... thanks, I think.

Beastfire: (gets out her big anvil shaped granny purse and whacks Skeleton King Unconscious) that better?
Lmann: Um... I could give you a picture to stare at instead if ya want.
Twister91: Onyx, don't make me sick Ichigo on you! (Watches him run)

The One To Rule Them All: lol man hunt! Feel free to save Otogi if you wish, before Violet does something to him O.o

Zakuro stared back in shock then looked away,
"Uh...h-hey..." she whispered back. Malachite looked at her, she looked different to how she normally was; no sarcastic remarks, no witty comebacks or insults to him. In fact, she didn't say anything at all, and it made Malachite feel guiltier.
'I've done this to her' he mused miserably, looking of her again. 'It's all my fault this happened'
"W-w-what are you doing here?" she stammered, finally looking up at him with those big blue eyes. Malachite gazed into them; he felt he could've got lost in their depths and he wouldn't have minded it.
Finally he realised he'd been staring at her without answering,
"Uh... well, I-I came to... say I'm sorry" he stuttered. Zakuro looked at him incredulously,
"Sorry, for what?" she asked, tilting her head in confusion. Malachite felt a blush creep up onto his face and he fidgeted nervously,
"Well... um... I'm... I'm sorry for hurting your feelings" he saw her eyes look at the floor again, "and I wanted to say I love you!" he squeaked in a high-pitched voice, he slapped his hands over his mouth.
'Real smooth, Mal. I'm sure she's fallen on the floor giggling at that!' but when he looked at her, he saw her face was inches from his own and she still looked shocked. She seemed to search for something in his eyes for a long time, and then she smiled. Malachite felt fireworks go off inside his stomach again at seeing that smile and he felt propelled to grin back.
Zakuro let out a laugh, and it sounded warm and cheerful, not cynical and sneering like she usually laughed at him with, he looked confused,
"You look so much like Otto when you grin like that" she finally said between giggles. Malachite raised an eyebrow then promptly grinned again, having much the same effect. Zakuro held onto him and gasped for breath after laughing so much, Malachite could feel her body's heat and it seemed unusually high.
"Zaki..." he felt her forehead, it almost burnt him. "You've got a fever!" he pulled her into his arms before she had a chance to complain and he started flying back. He didn't look down at her, but if he had, he would've seen a giant blush spread across her cheeks, Zakuro kept her head down and nestled into Malachite's furry chest. She wrapped her arms around him and smiled, finally letting the cold and wet get to her and falling asleep.
Malachite touched down in the Robot and looked at Zakuro, he panicked when he saw she'd fallen asleep.
"Oh no... Zaki, wake up!" he shook her, but it was in vain, the fever had to run its course now. He felt his heart leap into his throat at what could happen to her; he laid her in a bed in the medical room and sat beside her. A sigh escaped his lips as he stroked her warm cheeks,
"Please break this fever" he whispered, kissing her softly on her forehead. He continued to gaze down into her sleeping face and noticed how peaceful she seemed.
"What if she's...?" Malachite cut himself off. He refused to think like that, Zakuro was a fighter and he was sure she'd pull through.
A fortnight passed and still Zakuro laid in her bed, asleep and feverish, Malachite had decided to stay by her side constantly and it was started to affect his health. Jet finally got worried and went to talk to him,
"Malachite" she said softly, walking into the medical room and up to him, "please Mal, you've gotta move. Get something to eat, take a break, anything! You're starting to make yourself ill" she watched him numbly shake his head and take Zakuro's hand.
"No, I can't leave her. Mum. I want to be here for her in case something happens to her" Jet noticed how flat his voice seemed and how much he was clutching Zakuro's hand.
"Malachite... I know you want her to pull through but you need to look after yourself as well! Please Mal; just take five minutes away from all this! Get something to eat, have a nap or go for a walk! Onyx can take over while you're gone! Please, you're withering away doing this"
Malachite closed his eyes in meditation, then opened them and let out a heavy sigh,
"Alright, five minutes then I'm coming straight back!" he said, giving her a determined look which showed how serious he was. Jet nodded and watched him leave, then she turned to Zakuro,
"If only you could see this, you'd see just how much he loves you" she whispered to her. And yet, unbeknownst to them all, Zakuro was able to hear them clearly, she'd entered a type of meditation so as to protect her mind whilst her body slowly healed itself. She wanted to make sure she missed nothing that was going on around her, in case Skeleton King attacked and she would have to spring into action. She'd been torn inside whether to open her eyes and smile at Malachite and risk falling into a real fever-induced sleep or continue this meditation. She'd decided she would have to wait until her body was up to scratch until she 'woke up' but, when the pain became too much, she would allow her body to roll over or give a small smile to relieve Malachite's worries.
"Oh Mal..." she sighed, as she watched him go "I love you so much, please don't hurt yourself trying to help me" she heard Jet's words and sighed. "I know he's determined to stay beside me, but hurting himself will only make it worse when I'm healed. Please Malachite... it'll only be a little longer"
Suddenly she felt something crash into the robot and rock them, she listened to the others' frantic yelling and made out that Skeleton King had come to seek revenge and that he'd hit their neutron generator.
"But that's impossible!" cried Gibson, "he'd need to have blueprints of the layout of the Robot to know where it was with such accuracy and who..." he drifted off as all eyes turned to Otogi.
"Real nice" growled Onyx, narrowing his eyes at the albino and getting out his claws "befriend us then rat out all our weaknesses to your 'master'!"
Otogi looked panicked,
"I didn't! I-I wouldn't" but his pleas were cut off when Onyx punched him hard and knocked him to the floor. He looked up in disbelief and held his cheek where a large purple bruise was blooming, Onyx raised his hand to slash Otogi when another crash rocked them and knocked him off-balance.
Suddenly millions of Formless swamped them and the monkey team watched in horror as they were overpowered and everything went black.

They woke up much later, all with raging headaches from where they were knocked out and chained together. Ichigo looked around in fright,
"W-what happened?" she whispered, causing Onyx to snort
"We got captured because of that two-faced brother of yours!" he sneered. Eclipse glared at him,
"Stop blaming Otogi! You don't even know if he did it on purpose, or even if it was him!" she shouted, incredulously.
"Hah!" replied Onyx, "of course it was! I mean, it's a little too convenient that we find a long lost sibling of Ichigo and Ryou's who just happens to have been missing for 17 years and then just happens to reappear as Skeleton King's minion only to realise Zaki is Ichigo's daughter and then just happens to decide to turn to our side cos he doesn't want to hurt family!" Onyx let that rest into an uneasy silence. Eclipse looked at the unconscious Otogi, trussed up beside her and curled up, she shook her head in disbelief.
"He wouldn't... I'm sure of it. H-he couldn't..." she whispered,
"He could and I bet he did!" said Onyx, glaring daggers at the unconscious man. He noticed something drip onto the ground beside Otogi and looked up to see tears running down Eclipse's cheeks, "Eclipse..."
"H-he wouldn't! I know he wouldn't! H-he's too nice and caring!" her shoulders shook, "h-he wouldn't..."
But before Onyx could give any reply, the dungeon door slammed open and there, in the light streaming in from the open doorway, stood the Skeleton King. He grinned down at them, like they were prizes he'd collected, and stood up tall to make himself look fiercer.
"Well... if it isn't the Monkey Team, so easily caught and overpowered by my terrible wrath!" he crowed. Caitlyn rolled her eyes,
"Yeah, yeah, big scary warlord has taken us and now we can't escape and you're going to torture us until the bitter end then laugh at your 'great victory' then take over the world and destroy all fast food restaurants and pretty female celebrities that are skinnier than you!" everyone gave Caitlyn weird looks, "what, didn't anyone else know that?"
Skeleton King glared at her, obviously put off at having his plan told so simply and mockingly,
"That may be, but you forgot that I will also get rid of all pretty boys too! Starting with..." his arms reached out and he snatched up Otogi and Ryou "these two!"
"What the... hey! Put us down!" cried Ryou as he dangled in the giant's, well compared to him, grasp off of the floor. Otogi chose that moment to wake up too, and when he saw himself dangling high off the ground, he paled.
"W-what..." he saw the Skeleton King was holding him and he paled even more, "y-y-you!" he felt a shiver run through him as Skeleton King turned to look at him.
"Yes, me! And I don't pay kindly to minions who turn on me and help my enemies!" he snarled, Otogi gulped and shivered.
"Put him down!" roared Eclipse, glaring so bad you'd think Skeleton King's head should've exploded from it, but it didn't and instead Skeleton King turned to her and sneered.
"Foolish girl!" he remarked as he sent out a blast with his eyes, hitting her dead on and causing her to scream in pain.
The others started to glare as well,
"Who are you trying to kid with this threatening your minion thing? We all know he was spying on us for you and sent you the plans for our robot!" accused Onyx, confidently. Then his confidence slipped when Skeleton King laughed loudly,
"You think this lowly worm was sent to spy on you? No, you stinking ape, I got the plans from a more... 'reliable' source" he looked over his shoulder and two Formless came in carrying a monkey between them. They watched as the monkey gradually took shape and they gasped en masse,
"Malachite!" they cried in disbelief. The monkey had scratches and bruises all over his body from where he'd struggled, and they saw his head lolled forward as he was unconscious,
"Yes... surprising what someone will say when they think their 'lover' is in danger!" he chuckled. Everyone looked at him in confusion and he sighed in annoyance, "you people really are stupid, I mean all I had to do was convince him that 'poor little Zaki's' fever was my fault and that the only way I'd wake her up is if he told me all about your robot!"
"You monster!" screamed Jet, tornadoes starting to kick up around her, "how could you use his feelings like that?"
Skeleton King just laughed,
"Easily my dear..." he said as he stepped out of the doorway, still carrying Ryou and Otogi, "I'm evil" his voice drifted through as did his bone-chilling laughter.