Disclaimer: I don't own SRMTHFG or any of its characters, just my characters, the main OC's vehicle, and this plot.

Chapter Two: Family Meetings

"Slash, huh?" Nova asked.

Hayley nodded shyly.

"Why did you fail to mention him to us before?" Gibson inquired.

The youngest Robot Monkey averted her gaze.

"I don't like the look of this," Sprx admitted.

"You never like strangers, Sprx," Nova growled, annoyed.

Normally, the Red Monkey would take advantage of such an opening to hit on Nova again, but something deep inside him made him stop. "That guy gives me the creeps. The way he talks, the way he looks, that sword he carries… I can't believe he's your brother, Hayley."

"It's true," she replied. "As a native monkey, I had five brothers and a sister." She then giggled. "Weird…now that I think about it: right now, I've got five brothers and a sister. Not much has changed in all those years."

Antauri didn't appreciate or approve of her attempt to change the subject. "I am most dismayed that you told no one of your family history, Hayley."

The smile immediately vanished from her face. She never wanted to disappoint anyone, but Antauri was always able to make her produce a humble type of regret.

Chiro watched her carefully. He knew how he would feel if a long-lost sibling of his suddenly came out of nowhere and greeted him the way Slash did Hayley.

"I think it might be best for all of us if we all get our answers at the same time," he suggested, standing up and looking directly at Hayley. "He said he would waiting for you when you're ready."

She glanced back at him. "He said that?"

He nodded.

"Then we should get going. He doesn't like to wait."

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Slash sat still, hiding in the bushes as he waited for something to emerge from that huge bulky machine that his precious sister ran into.

He exhaled in exasperation. How could she be so willing to enter an artificial structure? How could she be so open to a human? How could she be so comfortable with all of those metal parts on her?

How could she have changed so much?

He shuddered as a disturbing thought brushed his mind. He both did and did not look forward to this. But he quickly cast that thought aside. He knew that it would be worth it. No matter what the cost, it would all be worth it. He was going to have his precious sister back.

A sound caught his ears, and the black pupils in his red eyes fixed on who was approaching. It was them, with her in front. And he knew that they saw him the same instant he did them.

He sighed as he came out. Camouflage was much harder to perform in this navy blue color that was not natural to him. He would give almost anything to be back in his original body.

Several tense moments of silence passed as the Monkey Team stared hard at Slash. Chiro remained behind Hayley, ready to pull her away if there were any signs of hostility.

"Slash," Hayley whispered.

His ears perked up, and he looked straight at her. "Oh, you do remember me," he muttered. "You really truly remembered. I'm so flattered."

"Hey, can you blame me?" she asked indignantly. "How long as it been? It had to be at least a hundred years."

He scoffed at the sentence. "I'd be surprised if it wasn't two hundred. But I was under the impression that time would put no distance between family."

"I never said that I forgot you. But aren't you supposed to be dead?"

"Yes, Spot, I am supposed to be dead, but thanks to a certain someone, I was found and put back together. Not that I'm too happy about it."

Sprx glared at Slash. "Where did the name Spot come from?" he inquired suspiciously. "Her name is Hayley."

For what seemed like the first time, Slash acknowledged the presence of the others. "She may be Hayley to you, but for as long as I've known her, she has always been Spot. She always had a spot on her body where she liked to be touched. Let's see if you still have that spot."

The others were wary of daring to let this stranger approach her, but Hayley remained calm and still as he came to her. He placed one clawed hand against her left side, gently rubbing it.

Her angry frown quickly melted away into a gentle smile.

That smile gave way to a snicker, and then burst into sweet laughter!

"Tickles!" was all she managed to exclaim.

Slash smiled in response. "Oh, yes, you still have it, Spot."

The rest of the Hyperforce relaxed…except for Sprx.

The next hour was spent in conversation with Slash, although he and Hayley did most of the talking; the rest of the Monkey Team listened on without interrupting.

Slash explained that the creatures that had invaded his home jungle left it decimated. He was talking about the same attack that had driven Hayley into finding the Hyper Force when she was a native monkey. Hayley tried her best to describe the Formless to him, but he didn't seem interested.

A pang of dismay and sorrow tug at her heart when he began to describe how he survived the attack:

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Seven native monkeys played happily together in a beautiful jungle when darkness began to overshadow them. Frightened, they huddled together and whimpered. Formless began to surround them, their footsteps leaving behind a trail of lifelessness.

One monkey in particular, older and slightly larger than the rest, screeched harshly at the other six.

They hesitated. They were told to run, but they couldn't leave their brother like this…could they?

He screeched again, more urgently this time. The six scattered. The dark entities began to chase them. The youngest of them took off in a direction that led out of the jungle.

The oldest then snarled at the strange enemies…and leapt at the face of one!

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"In my foolishness, I believed that it was no different than any other predator," Slash added. "I learned quickly how wrong I was. It broke my body, drained my life right out of me."

"And you mentioned that someone found you and built your body back again," Antauri added.

"Yes. He trained me to fight in methods that I had no way of discovering without him. Apart from my loyalty, which I would have gladly given him anyway since I owed him my life, he demanded only one thing: that I never speak his name to anyone."

"My new body was by far stronger than the alpha male of any monkey troupe. But even then, I felt no hope for myself. Our home was corrupted, and my family was nowhere in sight. Then news reached me that you, Spot, were alive. Never in my wildest dreams did I suspect that you were still alive. And suddenly the doors of opportunity were open to me, and I told my master that I was willing to do anything to have my precious sister back."

Hayley did all she could to keep the tears from flowing uncontrollably.

Nova's eyes seemed to twinkle in delight, and everyone else noticed something that Nova rarely showed: she had eyelashes. They made her look like a girl who had just experienced love at first sight. And the tone of her voice confirmed that. "You can fight?" she asked sweetly, the pupils in her eyes seeming to become hearts. "Can you show me?"

Slash chuckled and stood up. With a deft swing of his arm, he pulled the sword out of its sheath! The light hum of it hung in the air like a soft melody of warning. He began to weave elegant patterns both with the sword and with his feet; both were very difficult to see during this display. The sword's song evolved from a melody to a symphony of death to anyone who came in contact with the blade.

It was a strange, eerie, but beautiful dance.

Nova enjoyed every moment of it.

Sprx didn't. He kept his suspicious glare fixed on Slash. "Okay, so you finally found Hayley," he said cautiously. "What do you plan to do now?"

"Take my sister back with me, of course," he answered as he put away the sword.

Everyone except Nova, who was too awestruck by his swordsmanship to notice what he said, erupted into shock and surprise.

"What?"

"You can't do that!"

"She's got responsibilities!"

"There's more trouble here than you know."

Only Antauri was too shocked to speak.

"My master wants to train her himself," he said further. "He knows that she has potential, and his sole desire now is sharpen her skills."

"Don't I get a say in this?" Hayley asked.

Slash looked at her in surprise. "You would reject your own flesh and blood?"

"It's not that. I may not have forgotten you, but I have found companionship with a new family. These guys love me for who I am, not for what I can become."

"And you're saying that I don't?"

"Please, Slash, you're not making this easy!"

"Spot, take a look around! You're putting your complete trust in robots that are shaped like monkeys and, of all things, a young human!"

Chiro felt like he had just been insulted. "What's that supposed to mean!"

"I believe we all may need some time to think about the offer," Antauri said gently, an invitation for diplomacy. Slash backed away, Chiro lowered his guard, and the others calmed down. Sprx continued to stare.

Soon, Slash was alone again in the meadow. The Hyperforce returned to the Super Robot.

He made a subtle grin. Only one more event needs to happen before everything would be in place.

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"How can you even consider leaving us and going with him?" Sprx asked angrily.

Hayley leaned further into her command chair, which Otto had built next to his. Every feature of her face was etched with regret. "Believe me, if there were a way I could convince him to come stay with us, I would jump on it without a second thought," she admitted. "But in certain ways, he's even wilder than I am. I can't ask him to leave his comfort zone, not now that we've found each other."

"I don't trust him, Hayley," the Red Monkey told her.

"The question of whether or not we trust him is irrelevant, Sprx," Antauri calmly said. "The true question is: do YOU trust him, Hayley?"

She paused, uncertain of how she should answer.

"I know he's very skilled with his sword," Nova commented, her voice still a pitch higher than normal from watching his display. "The last time I saw swordplay like that was when Mandarin fought beside us when he was still good. If he had to take care of you, Hayley, I have no doubt he would do it very well."

Sprx growled indignantly upon hearing that, glaring at Nova jealously. She only smacked him again with her tail.

No one else noticed; Hayley seemed too depressed. "I have no doubt of that, either, Nova," she whispered. "But I also don't want to leave you guys. I somehow have the feeling that this isn't a vacation I can come back from. If I go, I go for good…and I don't know if that's something I'm prepared to do."

"Perhaps what you require, Hayley, is a decent night's slumber, after which you can carefully reexamine your dilemma," Gibson suggested.

Otto scratched his head.

"He's saying I should sleep on it," Hayley explained. "Probably not a bad idea."

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That night, no one slept well.

Hayley would stand up on her mattress, try to find a comfortable position, shift and spin around a few times, lie down for a few minutes, and then repeat the process.

Otto was in a state of shock. After all that Hayley had been through with him and with the rest of the team, she even considered leaving them? The only reason why he didn't protest was the fact that he placed her happiness above his own.

Nova occasionally glanced out the window to see the beautiful night sky. She had waited a long time to see such strong skills in a warrior, and now she finally found one: the lost brother of her favorite monkey. She hoped that she didn't blush at the sight of him…and if she did, she hoped that he didn't notice it.

Gibson was calculating the odds of a reunion such as the one that took place today. He figured first the chances of surviving against the Formless, then the chances of being found and rebuilt, then the chances of hearing of Hayley, and then the chances of actually finding her…after one hundred years!

Sprx didn't sleep a wink. Everything about Slash made chills run down his spinal structure. He didn't like any of this…and Nova being caught up in him wasn't helping.

Antauri didn't show his discomfort to the others for good reason. They were already wary enough of this stranger, and even though he didn't like Slash any more than they did, he knew that the ultimate decision belonged to Hayley.

And Chiro…

Something deep inside the boy's soul troubled him. He didn't know how, but he could sense it. And he didn't like it.

After several failed attempts to relax himself into sleep, he finally decided that a short walk in the night air might tire him out. Quietly, so he wouldn't arouse the attention of the others, he got dressed and slowly walked out of his quarters and out of the Robot.

Clouds covered the night sky this time. The moon, Ranger Seven, was nowhere to be seen, and neither were any of the stars. The lack of light made it a little difficult for Chiro to find his way through, so he moved cautiously.

He never saw that he had a shadow, edging closer and closer to him from behind…

I don't think I'll give anything away this time… You'll just have to wait and see in Chapter Three: Decisions, Decisions…

In response to Chapter One's reviews…

Crystal Persian: I told you I haven't forgotten. Thanks for the idea. I'm actually combining yours with another that another reader gave me. This should make it interesting.

love-writer: Thanks for reviewing and the suggestion. I thought I was missing something. Then, of course, it's the Sprx/Nova fluff! What show would be complete without it, huh? Well, how's this for the fluff, both here and in the first chapter?