Their Kind
Violet and Vivian
Monkeydoodle!
It was a gorgeous day in Shuggazoom City, if not a tad hot. So where was our dear hyper force on this most perfect of days?
"Why does the community center have so many boxes!?" Sprx loudly complained. "And why do they all need to be moved?"
"Sprx, we promised we'd assist them today" Gibson chastised, then muttered under his breath, "No matter how terrible the timing."
The hyper force had graciously offered to help the relatively new community center with any odd jobs they needed done. However, none of them were too happy about the unexpected amount of work in an unexpected amount of heat.
They had split up, three and three. Antauri, Gibson, and Sprx were moving boxes of supplies into the building, while Nova, Chiro, and Otto were slaving away at repainting the already weathered exterior of the center.
The sun's rays rained their unforgiving heat upon the hard working monkey team. Each member of the team had worked up a thin sheen of sweat (well, other than the fully robotic Antauri). Another factor in the bad mood - other than the heat - was the fact that they were barely getting started! The community center's manager had been working them like mules; this was not what they thought they were getting into when they volunteered. Hunger tugged at their stomachs while soreness clenched their muscles.
Perhaps the biggest mood dampener, however, was their second in command using his telekinesis to lift his share of supplies with barely any effort on his part.
The blue and red monkeys couldn't contain their resentment for him, and justly gave him a constant glare as they worked.
Finally, someone spoke up.
"You know, it's really not fair that all three of you have an equal share while Antauri is just using his powers." Chiro pointed out, a bit annoyed at the unfairness of the situation.
"If the rest of you would spend some time training your Power Primate skills, you could do this as well… well, other than you Chiro. You already work at it," Antauri said, addressing his teammates as if they were children.
"Antauri, we've trained in the past," Gibson pointed out. "None of us were ever able to grasp it the way you, Mandarin, and Chiro have."
Antauri just shrugged. Gibson couldn't suppress an eyeroll. No matter how many times he said it, it just didn't go through the second in command's thick, metal skull!
Before another witty retort could be thrown out, something appeared in the distance.
"What's that?" Chiro pointed.
"I think it's a...TV bot." Nova said, squinting to see.
"This bodes ill," Gibson frowned worriedly.
"You mean something we have to go defend the city from instead of carrying all these heavy boxes? Oh no!" Sprx said sarcastically.
Gibson didn't even give him a reproachful look, privately agreeing with the red monkey. He detested this manual labor, and was grateful for the distraction. If he was going to exhaust himself physically, he would rather do it fighting Skeleton King or some other threat to the city.
A single TV bot approached the city in an eerily calm fashion. It put the team on edge and made their fur stand on end. Skeleton King was never this poised about a threat; he seemed assured of his victory.
"Hello, hyper force," the image of the greatest threat to Shuggazoom smirked evilly, confidence nearly oozing from him.
Chiro, however, was totally oblivious to the monkey's worries about the odd circumstances. He gave a cocky grin. "Do you really think you can stop us with one TV bot? Now you're just getting desperate," the boy teased.
The rest of the team wanted to smack the kid's mouth off. Couldn't he see that something was off about this whole situation? None of them could put their finger on exactly why Skeleton King was acting so differently than usual…
Skeleton King laughed. "Why would I even try to fight you with such a pathetic creation? There is more up my sleeve then you ever knew, boy. Mark my words, you have fought your last formless."
While the five monkeys felt fear enter their hearts, Chiro frowned confusedly. After all, wouldn't that help the team more than hurt? Before Chiro could say anything that might jeopardize their situation, Antauri stepped up, gently pulling Chiro back.
"You can throw an army at us Skeleton King and we will still defeat you," he said firmly. "We are prepared for anything you can use against us."
Skeleton King just chuckled. "An army is exactly what you'll face. An army that has been years in the making."
Chiro couldn't resist a comment. "You've thrown armies at us before!"
"I've thrown pitiful distractions at you!" Skeleton King corrected harshly.
The boy frowned, still struggling to comprehend the situation, while the rest of the team was just thankful he'd shut up.
"You see, I've made you some playmates. I'm sure you'll just love them; you have so much in common." Skeleton King said
Then, suddenly, the TV bot exploded, raining metal bits and fire. The team stared in shock for a moment, before dodging the raining debris.
"Look! On the horizon," a citizen called.
Sure enough, there was something approaching.
"What is that?" Chiro squinted.
"I don't know. It's a good thing we had the foresight to install monitors inside the center!" Gibson said, opening the door and leading the team inside. He pressed some buttons, allowing them to get a good look at the creatures approaching.
An army of cybernetic monkeys, coming in every shade humanly imaginable of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, white, and black, appeared on screen, marching towards Shuggazoom with purpose in their eyes.
"Whoa! He cloned you guys?!" Chiro's eyes widened.
The team shot him the dirtiest of looks.
"What?" he asked, confused.
"You know we don't go around talking about how hard it is to tell all you humans apart!" Sprx said hatefully.
"Sprx! There's no need to be so rude about it!" Gibson scolded.
"Did you just hear the kid?" Sprx said "He said we all looked the same to him!"
Gibson rolled his eyes. "Of course I heard him. I'm right here. But that still doesn't call for such rashness!"
"Can you guys argue later? We have bigger problems at the moment!" Nova glared, then turned to Chiro. "Although that was pretty insulting, Chiro."
He gave a sort of shrug. "Sorry; it's just… oh, nevermind," he quickly covered up, not wanting to insult them again.
"How are we supposed to fight other robot monkeys!?" Sprx asked vehemently.
Gibson suddenly became very interested in his fingers, nerves nearly getting the best of the blue monkey.
"Um." he squeaked. "I have a way."
"Well, what is it?" Sprx asked impatiently.
"You're not gonna like it." Gibsons warned softly.
"Obviously I'll prefer it over us all getting our tails handed to us!"
"Oh, no you won't" Gibson timidly assured.
"Spit it out already!" Nova demanded.
"Sprx, you remember when you were possessed by the fire of hate and threatened to rip Nova apart piece by piece," Gibson said, wincing.
"Yeah..." Sprx said slowly, narrowing his eyes suspiciously.
"Well….You see…." Gibson began awkwardly. "The reason you have magnets….." He sighed deeply in preparation for this revelation, "is to take one of us out if we go rogue."
"No…." Sprx said quietly.
"It's a failsafe of sorts. I discovered it many years ago, but I feared Sprx's reaction….especially after the fire." Gibson groaned, distressed by his own words. He had hoped he would never have to tell the team.
"No…." Sprx repeated.
"Sprx, I understand how much this upsets you, and believe me, I never wanted this day to come," Gibson assured. "But you are the best equipped to deal with this situation."
"NO!" Sprx finally yelled.
"Inevitably it will be your decision Sprx. Nobody is going to force you to do anything." Antauri said caringly. "This is a very difficult choice, and I understand that you do not want to do this."
The room was as silent as a grave.
"Fine...I'll do it." Sprx grudgingly agreed. "But I'm not killing any of them!"
"No one's asking you to." Chiro said, placing his hand on Sprx's shoulder. He empathized with the red monkey, knowing how it felt to have a huge responsibility placed on your shoulders. However, he also knew that his was welcomed, while Sprx's was not.
Otto turned his attention from the screen he had been watching intently.
"Uh, guys?" he said "There's…a lot of these guys."
"Meaning?" Gibson inquired.
Otto punched a few keys and his jaw dropped.
"The computer says it's 600," Otto said grimly. "That's like… us times a hundred!"
There was another silence as the team wrapped their heads around the unexpected battle they were about to fight.
"Monkeydoodle!"
Hey Vivian!
Hello, Violet!
We're doing an author's note now!
Yay! First one so far, I believe.
I know right?!
So how's everyone enjoying the story so far?
I know I'm enjoying it… but I'm helping write it. So, I don't really count, now do I?
I don't know what to say now!
Um…
How about: Make us feel special and review?
Works for me!
smiles!
-\V/