Disclaimer: I don't own SRMTHFG or any of its characters, just my character and this plot.
Warning: Just a minor warning, there's some dark mental conflict involved in this chapter due to a certain villain. And sorry that this chapter is so long compared to my others, especially during the flashbacks. Anyway, read and review, please.
Chapter Five: The Light of Heart
He felt control of his eyelids slowly returning to him, but there wasn't much to see. He could hear with his ears again, but there wasn't much to hear. His numb body started to feel, but what he felt was a sharp sting in his head, a tight knot on his forehead, and a rocky surface against his back. He revived in the shadows and slowly started to sit up, feeling lightheaded.
"Ow, my head…" Chiro groaned.
"Oh, good, you're awake," a familiar voice said. "I was starting to get worried."
Surprised, Chiro looked to one side. In the faint light that came through the cave entrance, he could only see a familiar silhouette at first. But as his eyes adjusted, the figure stepped deeper into the cave, closer towards him. It was a Robot Monkey, he knew, but he stared in confusion.
At first, by the voice and the eyes, he thought it was Nova. But no, the voice sounded younger and gentler than Nova.
Then, by the color, he thought it was Gibson. But no, the blue was softer and brighter than Gibson, more of a turquoise.
But as he came to his senses, Chiro realized which one this one was.
"You must be Chiro," she greeted.
With a slight nod, he answered, "Then you must be Hayley Cometra."
"Just Hayley will do fine," she replied, giggling. "You know what's funny? We've never met, but it doesn't feel strange to know who you are. So…I'm not sure whether to say, 'Pleased to meet you' or 'Good to see you again'. It kinda feels a little like both."
Chiro smiled and couldn't help but make a small chuckle. "I know what you mean. I've heard so much about you, I feel the same way. That is funny."
He started to pick himself up, but he didn't yet have enough strength in his arms and legs, and he slid back down immediately with a painful grunt! Hayley gasped in concern and rushed to his side.
"Oh, I'm dizzy…" he moaned.
"Don't move," she gently cautioned him, helping him to lie down. "You took a nasty blow to the head. When I grabbed you, I didn't mean for you to get hurt. You've lost a good amount of blood. I had to use your scarf as a makeshift bandage to get the bleeding under control."
Chiro looked as far up his head as he could without straining his eyes and discovered that the tight knot he felt was actually his scarf wrapped around his head. The sharp sting was probably from the wound trying to close.
"Oh, I wish I had one of my medical kits with me to clean and dress it properly," she continued, her tone laced with despair. "I hope it's not infected. You'll be experiencing dizzy spells that could play tricks with your balance. You need to rest."
He grunted as he slowly turned his head toward her. "But, the others…they need to know…"
"I used up most of my power just to get here; I can't go for help. And now I don't want to, since I can't leave you alone like this. For now, our only option is to wait."
Much as Chiro didn't want to admit it, he knew that she was right. He didn't even have the strength to reach his Power Primate Rod.
He then grinned. "I can just imagine the look on Otto's face when he sees you again."
She smiled in reply, and for a moment, he felt that she would have blushed if she could have. "Did they ever tell you how they gave me my name?" she asked.
He shook his head.
"It was after I got over the initial shock of becoming a Robot Monkey. When Nova mentioned that I needed a name, Gibson immediately said…"
Drawing in Chiro's full attention, she nearly made him laugh as she stepped to one side, struck one of Gibson's intelligent poses, and imitated his British accent. "A mystery as multifaceted as the cosmos yet as unpretentious as a single star. Your name shall be Cometra."
Smiling, she continued, "And I answered, 'I like it, but can I have a simple name to go with it?' So Otto said…"
She moved to the other side and mimicked his low but cheerful voice, "Hey, what about Hayley?"
She then returned to the place where she stood first when she imitated Gibson's exasperation, "Cometra Hayley? Otto, PLEASE!"
Finally looking at Chiro again, she finished, "And I said, 'Indeed. I like it better the other way around.' And we all laughed…except for Gibz."
"Gibz?" Chiro echoed, barely believing what he just heard.
"That's what I like to call him just to annoy him. He hated that nickname."
"I can see why. You got that from Sprx, didn't you?"
She nodded, then gave another of her giggles, a little more mischievous than before but every bit as light and merry.
That sweet laugh melted away all feelings of formality, and as Chiro joined in it, he realized what she meant. Now they both felt as if they had known each other their whole lives. This was truly through the bond of the Power Primate, something he shared with each of the other Robot Monkeys.
Then, everything went quiet. In this particular moment, silence made Chiro nervous. He didn't want to lose himself to unconsciousness again, not yet. He wanted to get to know his new friend more.
He thought of only one way, but he felt bad in having to take that option.
"Tell me the rest of your story, please."
He could tell by the way she blinked that he had just hurt her, but she kept from losing her focus. "Well…" she started, a little disheartened. "Where did they leave off?
"They told me all they could. They left off when Skeleton King carried you away."
Her eyes seemed to become distant, like one of Antauri's blank stares, but deeper. Much deeper. And sadder.
He quickly realized that she was reliving the memories, terrible and terrifying memories. He was almost ready to stop her when her soft, trembling voice resumed the story:
"I had never before known such fear and despair than when I saw everything dear to me disappear from sight. I can still remember the desperation in Otto's voice as he cried out to me. They all cried out to me.
"But that fear and despair was much easier to face when I decided to make a promise. You see, the power of a promise never dies, even if I do. With these words I promised, 'Someday, Hyperforce, I will return to Shuggazoom. I will always protect you and never betray you.' From that moment on, I resisted Skeleton King.
"All he wanted was to learn about me. Apparently, for some strange reason, the fact that I was created was a puzzle to him. But even after intense interrogations and torturous experiments, any information he got from me was against the strongest of my willpower. He tried everything to turn my heart away from the others and to submit to darkness, but I never even yielded. And for the several hours of night, he left me alone in my loneliness. Day after day, it was the same. But every night, I repeated my promise. I never gave up.
"I knew in my heart that, at any moment, I would see Otto's saws burst through those accursed walls and cut through my plasma bonds. Then he would wipe away every tear from my cheeks, no matter how many poured through my eyes, and take me in his arms, and…"
She suddenly hesitated and looked down at Chiro. His suggesting grin told her that he noticed her voice had changed, even though it was still positive. In fact, it was a little too positive. Hayley cleared her throat and finished her sentence, much calmer than in her previous tone, "And they would take me home."
Chiro nodded, trying to convince her that he believed her pretense.
Hayley's voice trembled again as she continued, "But, one day, those aspirations fell apart when the door to my cell opened and I received…an unexpected guest."
It was only at this point that she began to cry.
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The faint light that entered didn't change the gloom of the cell. The sound of the latch opening and closing was less than welcome to her ears. She still felt the pain from the last experiment clinging to her tired limbs.
Under normal circumstances, she wouldn't have even bothered to look up.
But somehow, this was not like before. She felt a different energy standing before her. It wasn't Skeleton King, but it felt familiar. So she slowly raised her head and looked ahead.
She gasped in delight but spoke quietly. "Mandarin? Is that you? What happened to your armor? Oh, who cares about that right now? Am I glad to see you! I knew you and the others would come rescue me. Hurry, Skeleton King may be here soon."
He merely floated in front of her, eyes closed. She flinched when she noticed this. There was always a certain impassiveness in his presence before, except for when he realized that she was able to hold the Power Primate within her frail body of flesh and blood. But now, there was something else in that presence.
What was it? Grief? Rage? Contempt? Or a mix of all three?
"Mandarin?" she asked again, this time with much uncertainty.
"Hello, Hayley Cometra," he finally said, his tone grim and dark.
"You didn't come to rescue me…"
"I didn't expect you to survive this long."
"There's something different about you."
"You are full of surprises."
At that moment, she discovered the truth. But she couldn't make herself believe it. "You…you didn't…"
Only then did he open his eyes and look straight at her, and she realized that he had indeed changed. She remembered him with eye pupils of pure white; now they were an evil red.
"How could you?" she gasped. "I believed in you. I trusted you."
"Can you not still do those things, my baby sister?" He began caressing his cold claws on her face.
She suddenly leaned away from him and slapped his hand with her cheek! If the plasma bonds on her wrists and ankles weren't already tied to the wall, she would have lunged at him and used every ounce of strength to tear him apart! "You abandoned the power of light," she spat at him. "You disowned the others. Don't you dare call me your baby sister again!"
A slight laugh was his only answer, and she had the distinct feeling that enraging her was his momentary goal. He left and closed the door behind him. She was alone again, this time even lonelier than before. And she could faintly hear Mandarin say, apparently to Skeleton King, "Evil One, teach me and I will learn."
(Author's Note: That statement comes from the end of "Secret of the Sixth Monkey". I don't own that quote.)
She shuddered, still scarcely able to make herself believe it. Mandarin, the leader who approved of Otto adopting her, was now a pawn on Skeleton King's chessboard. A flood of questions drowned out her mind. If Mandarin was here, what became of the others? When did this happen? How? Why? WHY?
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In the days that followed, Hayley became adjusted to the routine visit Mandarin would pay her during the hours when she used to be alone. This became something she dreaded more and more. She once thought being alone and lonely was bad, but she now preferred it to Mandarin's visits.
What made it worse was that he took into the habit of taunting her. He had tried even harder than Skeleton King to win her over to the power of darkness.
The good part was that she was usually too tired from her ordeals with Skeleton King to argue with Mandarin for very long and instead simply ignored him.
Except once.
It happened the last time he spoke to her, the last time his eyes locked with hers.
It had started the same way: Mandarin entered her cell and left the door open, staring at her even though she didn't return the gaze, and asked her, "Why do you continue to resist Skeleton King when he can give you so much more than what you have?"
Her sigh was not one of fatigue but exasperation. "Every night, you ask me the same question. And every night, I give you the same answer. I grow tired of this feedback loop you're apparently stuck in, and I will no longer humor you by answering."
"Have our brothers made you so blind by trivialities that you can't see ultimate power?" he continued, knowing that she'll respond to this one.
"Stop referring to them as your brothers," she snarled. "They are no longer family to you any more than I am. Besides, and for the last time, Nova's a girl."
Mandarin opened his mouth for the next question, but she interrupted with a deep glare. "Don't waste your breath," she hissed, and there was strength in her voice for the first time in a long while. "You were there, Mandarin. I was so precious to all of you that you decided to give me back my life by making me more than what I was."
For a moment, he seemed a bit taken aback by the strength in her voice, the threat in her glare. That was a small victory for her, and it was the only one she ever received as a prisoner, but it felt good.
But the moment of triumph was just that, a moment, and Mandarin resumed the position in his mind as the ultimately superior one.
"Oh, you poor, naïve monkey," he answered. "The Power Primate bonded with you. That was what made you more than what you were. Rebuilding you as a Robot Monkey changed nothing."
"Hey, I don't ever recall asking you to make me what I am now," she told him. "I was content with being an ordinary monkey. You all did it of your own accord…under YOUR leadership. And for that matter, I don't recall asking any of you to adopt me, either. YOU were the one who, despite the others' disapproval, agreed with Otto to take me in. You did that out of kindness."
"I did that out of pity. And if you were so precious to the others, would they not have saved you by now?"
Hayley suddenly hesitated. She considered this. How long had she been held prisoner here? Mandarin was able to reach her, but only by accepting darkness in his heart. Why hadn't the others come for her?
"Yes," he hissed, already sensing her doubts. "You're beginning to see the truth. They have not saved you because they haven't even tried. They would rather slave as Shuggazoom's guardians than even attempt to be your heroes."
The very thought disgusted her to the core, not because she believed it was true but because he dared to suggest it. "Look, just because you're older than the rest of us doesn't mean that you're always right," she weakly countered, slowly trying to reassure herself.
Mandarin wasn't even fazed, probably because she didn't sound convincing. "When I found my destiny, I sought to fulfill it. They could have joined me and shared in it, but instead they sent me into exile. That was how I found you."
"Then you should have left me alone. Don't play the wounded soldier to me, Mandarin. You don't do it very well."
"Who's playing, Hayley? If anyone was playing tricks on you, it was the Hyperforce. You know that you were more trouble than you were worth to them. Admit it."
Again, Hayley's inner strength faltered. Yes, the memories she carried as a native monkey were still clear in her head. She had caused an explosion in Gibson's laboratory. She had made a mess on Sprx's magnets after he had finished polishing them. She had disturbed one of Antauri's deepest and most important meditations. She even once tried to play with Nova by pulling on her tail and caused her to lose her temper!
Memories like these were what kept Hayley from losing her mind to the darkness. They were bad memories, true, but born during good times.
"But…" she began softly. "In spite of all that, you all were patient with me. And you all saved my life. And no one worked harder to do that than Otto. You yourself told me that."
"Your loyalty is admirable but misplaced," he remarked. "Do you think we saved you for your sake? You should know as well as we did that if anything happened to you, the guilt would be carried in our hearts for eternity. And Otto, well, he had taken full responsibility for you. Who else would carry greater guilt upon your death? We did it to wash our hands clean. And now that you are no longer a burden to the others, they have forgotten you."
"No…" she whispered, struggling to stay sane.
"Yes. They never cared about you. I know how you feel, Hayley. Betrayed, just like me."
Losing her body to fatigue and her mind to defeat, all Hayley could do was hang her head and stare at the floor of evil rock.
"But I can help you," Mandarin continued. "Skeleton King is ready at this moment to destroy you for your misplaced loyalty. But if you will admit to me that I have been your only true friend—"
The flame of anger was kindled within her, and that gave her just enough strength to look at him again. "Friend?" she interrupted. "You insulted me! You humiliated me!"
"A true friend would not have withheld honesty from you to spare your feelings. If you will swear friendship to me, I will petition to Skeleton King on your behalf. He will spare you, and under my tutelage, you will become more powerful than you ever imagined. Just say that I, Mandarin, am your only true friend."
Losing her strength a second time, Hayley moaned as she broke eye contact with him again.
"Is it really so hard to do, my dear Hayley?"
The younger Monkey gritted her teeth and closed her eyes tight, struggling within. She didn't know what to say. She knew in her head that his words certainly rang true, but she also knew in her heart that he was trying to manipulate her.
Her torturous times of doubt and despair kept her head and her heart from agreeing with each other.
"Mandarin?"
"Yes?"
"Mandarin…y-you…you are…you a-are…"
"Yes, say it."
She was losing herself. Her vision seemed to fade like a dark mist rolling in. She could feel the power of darkness clutching at her heart. Her fragment of the Power Primate was in terrible danger. Her tired body and defeated mind were at the point of giving in.
She didn't know how, but she found enough focus to look deep into her heart. And as she did, she found a light! The dark haze clouding her vision suddenly shattered into a clear brightness! The light didn't just shine on her; she was wrapped in it! She flinched at first, but the glow in that light was one of reassurance, not condemnation. And she saw not one but six figures standing in front of her, all of them with serious but pleading faces.
The first five she recognized immediately: those to whom she considered herself as their stepsister—Otto, Antauri, Mr. Hal Gibson, Nova, and SPRX-77. She wanted to cry out to them and beg them to help her, but she found that she had no control over her mouth or voice.
The sixth figure was not familiar to her at all. She had seen humans before, but not this particular one. The white uniform was almost invisible in the light, but the gray boots and orange gloves and scarf gave her the impression that she was looking at a boy who was just barely a teenager. But she didn't pay any heed to the garments.
Simply by looking into his piercing blue eyes, she knew that she was looking at someone profound and powerful, someone who would fulfill some great destiny.
Someone whom she could trust with her life.
Again, she tried to speak, wanting to ask the human what his name was. But she hadn't won back her mouth or voice.
But all six spoke to her, one by one.
"Hayley!" Otto cried out desperately.
"Don't be fooled," Antauri gravely instructed.
"Mandarin's influence is very powerful…" Gibson told her.
"As is the influence of darkness," added Nova.
"But ya gotta remember something…" Sprx said.
Then the boy spoke: "Even in the deepest darkness, there's a light within you that never goes out. It will always guide you."
A third time, Hayley tried to talk to them, this time to thank them. But before she realized it, the light vanished and the Hyperforce with it. She was back in her cell inside the Citadel of Bone. Her experience lasted barely a moment, for she saw Mandarin still standing in front of her, apparently oblivious to it all.
"Yes, say it," he hissed excitedly.
She blinked, confused. What was that light? Merely a hallucination caused by her fatigue? Or a vision given to her to help her? She wondered if it was real, and if it was, why she didn't sense it before.
But she didn't hold her doubts for long. She knew almost immediately that her heart felt different: stronger and wiser. She could feel that strength restoring her body, that wisdom healing her mind. And she found her confidence again.
"Mandarin…" she said softly. "You are…absolutely and completely…out of your mind!"
She squeezed her eyes tight and gave a great scream as she suddenly felt a new power swelling within her! Neither of them really knew where that ray of light came from, but she realized that it was powerful enough to cut her plasma bonds and send Mandarin flying to the nearest wall! In moments, both were facing each other outside of her cell.
"If the Hyperforce hated me," she began, "then I consider their hatred to be worth more than your so-called friendship. I made a promise to return to them, to always protect them and never betray them. And by the power of light, nothing will keep me from fulfilling it. Not you, not Skeleton King, not even the deepest influence of darkness!"
"An inspiring speech," the injured Mandarin growled with a twisted smile. "I'm almost…touched. Fortunately, such moments pass quickly. Formless minions, destroy her!"
She glanced around as about a dozen of the Formless surrounded her. She gave them only a smirk as they closed in on her. Then, with a great leap, she allowed three of them to splatter into each other! She landed outside of the circle and ran underneath the legs of another Formless, tripping it!
Never once stopping or looking back, she galloped on all fours and counterattacked the Formless waiting for her down the hall. She managed to defeat five of them before she ran into a roadblock. She stopped short at the sight of many Formless blocking her path ahead, and behind them was a wall of rock.
An idea forming in her head, she revealed her weapons: a pair of turquoise metallic whips fashioned in braids. Putting the two ends of the whips together, she activated her jetpack and hovered in mid-air. She then began to spin her arms like she was playing with a jump rope.
"Invisibubble!" she shouted.
The Formless stared in surprise as she appeared to have vanished. They looked at each other, confused, before something crashed right through them and smashed through the wall of the Citadel of Bone! The vacuum of outer space removed the remaining Formless there and ripped their frail bodies into ooze.
But Hayley remained safe as she continued to fly though the cosmos.
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"So that's how you escaped," Chiro realized. "That comet we saw. It was you."
"Yes," Hayley answered. "When I entered the planet's atmosphere, I no longer needed my jetpack. I simply let my inertia and gravity do the rest. Some of the Formless had followed me, but I took care of them. As for Mandarin, I've had no more encounters with him."
"There's one thing I still don't understand, Hayley. Did I really say that in your vision? About a light guiding you that never goes out?"
"Word for word. Why do you ask, Chiro?"
"I had a dream last night. I don't remember what the dream was, but I do remember saying those exact same words."
"Really?"
Chiro nodded, and Hayley paused. She seemed deep in thought, but she finally gave him a shrug and said, "I wish I could explain it. This power that freed me – I call it 'the light of my heart' – is new to me. I don't understand where it came or how I got it. I'm not even sure how to use it. All I do know is, through you and the others, that light helped me break through the darkness."
He wanted to keep hearing the sweet sound of her voice and to learn more about her, but he already felt his mind slipping into slumber. This she noticed immediately, and she responded by gently stroking his head.
The cool touch of her monkey fingers combing through his sweat-soaked hair was a soothing feeling, and he couldn't help but feel reassured by it. He looked into her pink eyes and knew, somehow, that he could trust her with his life. And he would have to.
"You'd better get some sleep," she whispered. "You should close your mind so Mandarin won't find us. But don't worry. The others will find us. I'm sure of it. And I'll be here, protecting you. Even if it's to the last of my strength."
If she had said anything further, Chiro didn't hear it.
So Chiro is safe under Hayley's protection. Of course, with both Mandarin looking for her and her energies running short, no one knows how long that will last. Oh dear, Monkey Team, hurry up and find them in Chapter Six: Brotherly Love!
In response to Chapter Four's reviews…
Crystal Persian: LOL. I love your reaction. I find myself reading your review over and over just to imagine what it would sound like if you said it aloud! I'm glad you're still enjoying this, though.
4Evermonkeyfan: Glad you noticed that it was an act of rescue that took place. I had trouble spelling out that event in particular without making it too obvious. I'm still not completely sure if I pulled that off quite right, but…oh well.