Disclaimer: I don't own SRMTHFG or any of its characters, just my character and this plot.
Sorry that this chapter is so short (four pages in MS Word). But the good news, by sheer coincidence, I have the whole weekend off from work, so I should have a lot of time to work on the next chapter.
Please read and review! Enjoy!
Chapter Four: Family Feuds
They all landed around what appeared to be a small, circular crater. It was only about as long as Chiro was tall, and if he were to step into it, the ground level would have met his waist. But it was still hot and smoking from being recently made, so Chiro kept a safer distance than the others.
"This is definitely where she crashed; this wasn't here before," Sprx said as the Monkeys performed their examinations. "But there's no debris, no sign of any ship she could have used."
"That's because she never used a ship, Sprx," Gibson answered, not once looking up from his scanner. "The circumference, diameter, and depth of the indentation are too perfect. According to my calculations, this impact could have been produced only by her Invisibubble."
"Invisibubble?" Chiro asked, confused.
"A defensive move she came up with herself," the Blue Monkey explained. "If she maneuvers her weapons swiftly enough, she can distort the properties of the air around her, creating an invisible bubble of protection. It simplifies counterattacking and escaping, but it consumes a substantial amount of her energy."
"That's probably why she couldn't come to us first," Otto commented listlessly. "Right?"
"She said she was gonna take cover somewhere," Nova reminded them, looking around. "But there's nowhere to hide here."
"Which means…" Antauri began, pointing toward a mountain range. "She must have taken refuge among those mountains."
Just as he finished, however, the ground trembled beneath them! The Hyperforce watched as Formless appeared, flanking a familiar but dreaded figure floating before them!
"Mandarin…" Antauri softly growled.
"Thanks for the tip, Antauri," Mandarin chuckled evilly. Then, he began floating away, giving only one set of instructions for the Formless: "Take them out." With that, he left the area.
"Looks like this is more of a race than a rescue mission," Sprx said, revealing his magnets and destroying the first Formless in his path.
Nova jumped on top of one and punched at another, defeating them both effortlessly. "We don't have time for this!"
"No doubt Mandarin's intention," Gibson replied before firing at two Formless at the same time.
Otto and Antauri worked back-to-back, both focusing on their long-range enemies. Neither of them needed to say anything to express how much it meant to them that they finish this battle quickly and reach Hayley first.
It was Chiro who finished off the last Formless, using it as whip to defeat any that were left before tossing it into a rock on one side.
He then looked toward the mountains. "Good work, team, but Mandarin just bought himself a huge head start. We'll have to split up. Antauri, take Gibson and Sprx with you and take to the air while Otto and Nova cover the ground with me. If you see Hayley first, contact us. Hyperforce, go!"
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Birds sang their sweet song as their flight seemed more like a dance in the wind. A brook ran below the cave entrance and made its way into a gentle waterfall, landing in a pond along the ravine floor. The sun was not too hot and not too bright.
If this were any other day, she probably would have enjoyed the peaceful scenery surrounding her, perhaps even joining the birds in their melody. But again, this was not the time for such comforts. She kept her focus intently. If she slipped for even a moment, she feared that all she had endured would be for nothing.
She needed to protect herself at all costs, even if it was to the disadvantage of her searching friends.
Time was running out.
"Not much energy left…" she whispered tiredly.
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"Otto, what is it?" Nova asked as she and Chiro stopped, looking at Otto standing to one side near the edge of a cliff.
"I think we're gettin' close," Otto whispered. "But somethin' doesn't feel right…"
"Hmm…" Chiro pondered, slowly approaching the edge.
He didn't realize the danger until it was too late; a familiar paw full of claws snatched on Chiro's ankle and pulled, taking him over with a scream! He barely had the time to hold onto the edge with just his fingertips!
"Whoa!" Chiro exclaimed, already feeling his fingers slipping on the smooth rock.
Nova was in Mandarin's face in moments...or at least, her fist was. The moment the evil Monkey's hand loosened in a startled reaction, Otto pulled Chiro back to the safety on top. Both had barely caught their breath when an injured Nova was sent flying in their direction! Chiro ducked out of the way, but Otto stood dazed as the Yellow Monkey smacked into him! The two crashed into a boulder, and Otto was nearly knocked out!
Growling in righteous fury, Chiro launched a kick in Mandarin's direction, but the cunning Orange Monkey easily moved away and shoved the boy aside, sending Chiro falling over the cliff!
"Chiro!" Otto screamed, barely coming back to his senses.
"No!" yelled Nova, starting to go after him.
Mandarin floated in the way, blocking her. The fight between the three Monkeys resumed, leaving Chiro to fall to certain death.
As he fell through the seemingly endless abyss of hopelessness, only one question shot through Chiro's mind.
Why don't I have a jetpack?
No one, not even Chiro, saw what appeared to be a bright blue rope wrapping around his ankle! No one saw that it pulled taut an instant later, ending the fall abruptly and sending Chiro to the cliffside! No one saw that the quick movement forced Chiro to hit his head on the rocks and that he was lost to unconsciousness!
All Mandarin was focused on were Otto and Nova, and all they were focused on was him.
"Enough of this!" Otto declared in his anger.
"Indeed," Mandarin agreed evilly. "You both are distracting me from my task." And with that, he knocked them both back with a telekinetic blow and floated down the cliff.
Nova and Otto ran to the edge of the cliff and hesitated. They could barely see Mandarin disappearing from sight, but that was all they could see. Otto activated his jetpack and began after the evil monkey, but Nova grabbed his ankle and pulled him back down!
"This is still a rescue mission," she sternly reminded him. "And now it's a double rescue mission." She then activated her communicator. "Antauri, Otto and I have trouble. We've engaged Mandarin again, still no sign of Hayley, and now we've lost Chiro."
"Stay where you are, both of you," the second-in-command instructed. "We will intercept with you shortly."
This doesn't look good at all. First Mandarin is as eager to find Hayley as the Hyperforce, and now Chiro is missing. But many of the puzzle pieces will be put together in Chapter Five: The Light of Heart.
In response to Chapter Three's reviews…
Crystal Persian: Thank you for the compliment and the review. That means a lot to me!
love-writer: I can see you're truly enjoying this. Sometimes when I look into reviews, either for my own story or when submitting to others', some of them are no different to me than closed captions to a deaf person. But such is not the case for you. I can almost sense your excitement. ;-) Thanks a lot!
4Evermonkeyfan: I'm glad to notice that you're following up on every chapter so far. That tells me that you're keeping a close eye on this. Thanks!