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

Chapter Three: Decisions, Decisions…

Hayley entered the kitchen/dining room area to find everyone else except Chiro and Antauri already inside, eating their breakfast. Otto was stuffing himself with pancakes that were practically drenched with syrup while Gibson was gingerly sipping at his hot oatmeal. Sprx was content with waffles, and Nova had just finished a bowl of cold cereal.

In the mood for something healthy but sweet, Hayley went to the refrigerator and removed the ingredients for her favorite fruit smoothie. In a few seconds, the blender was dicing the fruit and ice into the yogurt-like mix.

"I take it you all had the same amount of sleep I did," she muttered when the blender was done, barely loud enough for the others to hear.

At the same time, everyone murmured their agreements.

"So much for sleeping on it," Otto said.

"Have you made your decision about Slash?" Sprx grumbled.

Annoyed, Nova glared at the Red Monkey. "Sprx, give it a rest, will you? He's nice."

An argument was about to break out between the two when Gibson suddenly asked, "Antauri?"

The Robot Monkeys turned as one to look at the Black Monkey. Instead of joining them for breakfast, he was standing at the door, apparently concerned.

"Has anyone seen Chiro?" he asked, unable to keep a small hint of worry from his tone.

They all shook their heads and began their various answers.

"No, sorry."

"Just got in here."

"Not since last night."

"I thought I heard a sound from his quarters."

"Haven't seen him."

"Did you check his room?"

"Yes," Antauri answered. "He did not answer when I knocked, and when I entered, he wasn't there."

"Well, it's a little early in the morning to really do anything," Nova pointed out. "He couldn't have gotten far in the Robot."

"Indeed," Gibson agreed. "We should commence a thorough search."

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Hayley was growing more worried by the moment. She and the other Monkeys had spent over an hour scouring practically every inch of the Robot, and still no Chiro. She may not have known him as long as the others, but she knew well enough that this was very unlike Chiro.

Antauri had decided to stay behind in the Robot in case he came back while the others were searching the city. They had started at Chiro's favorite spot, Mr. Gakslapper's restaurant, and went in separate directions: Gibson to the north, Otto to the south, Nova to the east, and Sprx to the west.

Hayley was the only one who wandered about instead of search strategically. She didn't want to tell the others that she had the feeling Chiro was no longer on Shuggazoom. After all, she wasn't sure of that guess herself. But she knew that if Chiro was anywhere, they would have found him long before now.

This continued for a few more hours.

Her search took her back into the meadow. In her frustration, she found herself spending less time searching and more time kicking rocks out of her feet's way.

"Ow…" she grunted after one such kick. The object in her path didn't move. Curious as always, Hayley couldn't resist taking another look…and soon wished she didn't.

It wasn't a rock. The first telltale sign was the metallic shine on the surface. A faint but constant beep told her that it was a small piece of machinery.

"A holographic projector?" she realized, confused.

Instantly, a thin beam of light ejected from the projector. It shot up until it reached her height, and then like a curtain being pulled up, the beam began to projector the shape, the texture, and the feel of the holographic image.

"Skeleton King…" she growled, tightening her fists. "I have no time to waste on you, you worthless son of a—"

"Ah, ah, ah," he said warningly. "Mind your manners, young monkey. After all, it would be very unfortunate if something were to happen…to him."

And as he said this, he stepped aside, allowing the holographic image to display a human being hung up by chains on his wrists. Every one of his muscles were relaxed and his head was one his chest, meaning he was either asleep or unconscious.

"Chiro!"

"Yes. I have your so-called Chosen One. He has been such a thorn in my side, and no doubt in yours, too. So I have decided…to remove the thorn!"

Hayley's heart leapt into her throat when the hologram showed his skeletal hand grabbing his staff! How many experiments she had endured when he jammed that staff into her! And true to her horror, he stabbed the end of it into Chiro's side! Chiro's teeth gritted in pain, but he didn't stir after that! She knew he had to be unconscious; there was no way anyone could sleep through that amount of pain!

"Leave him alone!"

"Is he that precious to you?" he asked as he removed the staff and stepped directly into the image, blocking Chiro from her view again. "Show me how important he is."

Powerless to do anything for her leader, the emotional Hayley shuddered and sank to her knees.

"I see. In that case, I believe I will allow myself to be out of character for a short period of time. If your sole desire is to see your Chosen One alive, you must come back to me. Do not bring the other Robot Monkeys with you. If you do, he will die. You have 48 hours to comply; do not delay. If you do, he will die."

Then, the holographic image cut off, but not before he stepped aside again to show the pain-stricken Chiro still unconscious.

"No," she whispered in disbelief. She shot back to her feet and began kicking and pulling at the device, but its feet were buried deep in the ground. No amount of physical stress was going to bring back the holographic image. "No…"

To say that Hayley wasn't concerned for Chiro's welfare would be untrue. In fact, probably the only monkey who had a deeper emotional connection with Chiro than her would be Antauri.

But to go to Chiro would mean going straight back into the Citadel of Bone…willingly. Such an overwhelming sense of dread and darkness that she had fought long and hard to escape…only to go back in out of free will?

She remembered the first few days of training after Otto and the others built her body into that of a Robot Monkey. One training session Mandarin had put her through was one of her most startling: the fear training. As far as she knew, every one except Mandarin and Antauri were subject to the fear training. Nova had to endure freezing cold temperatures. Gibson abhorred any kind of insects and arachnids, especially spiders. Sprx was forced into swimming lessons. She never knew what Otto had to go through because he usually forgot the anxiety of the training soon after he was done.

Hayley's training was as unique as the others'. Mandarin would place her at the beginning of a maze room. Her only requirement was to make her way to the exit within fifteen minutes. There were two catches: one, the walls of the maze were embedded with a magnetic repelling trait, keeping her from feeling her way through; and two, the room had no light at all. Hayley's fear was the dark, especially being alone in it.

She never did complete the maze in the time period. The furthest she had ever come before Skeleton King had taken her was slightly less than halfway, and that time was from sheer luck.

"Hey…" a gentle voice snapped her from the memories.

Startled by the surprise greeting, she spun around and activated her whips, ready to attack. But she backed down just as quickly.

"Slash," she realized. "Oh, please don't scare me like that again."

"I'm sorry," he replied, putting his sword away. "It's just…I heard you shouting a little while ago and thought that you were in danger. I came to help, but I see there are no enemies here."

"No," she answered quietly, looking away. "No enemies here."

Slash noticed this immediately. "What's wrong?"

"It's Chiro."

"The human? What about him?"

"He's missing. He's been captured. I must go save him."

Slash flinched when he heard that. He was beginning to lose his patience. "Is he that precious to you? I would have expected you to be happy to see me and for us to be family again. Is that not important to you?"

"Of course it's important!" she exclaimed, trapped between being angry for Slash's insult and being concerned for Chiro's safety.

And almost as if he didn't hear her, he shouted back, "Don't you realize that while I toiled away, trying to find you, you quite simply replaced me and our brothers and sister with monkeys that aren't really monkeys anymore? And on top of that, you're placing a human above me? Don't you remember that it was humans that was the death of our parents?"

"Of course I remember!" she screamed, tears pouring from her eyes. "It's not easy to forget watching poachers become murders! But Chiro wasn't involved and I don't blame him for it!"

"But he's a human!"

"I know that!"

"Humans are selfish!"

"Not Chiro!"

"Prone to corruption!"

"Chiro is different!"

"Not trustworthy!"

"Shut up!"

"You shut up!"

"You started it!"

"But you continued it!"

"So did you!"

Both of them panted heavily, exhausted from their shouting.

Then, both of them laughed lightly. This was not unlike the arguments that they would sometimes have as native monkeys, especially considering that they were family.

"Not much has changed in all these decades, has it?" Slash asked.

"Other than physical appearances, no," answered Hayley. "You're still as stubborn as ever."

"And so are you. Stubborn…and spoiled."

Both of them exchanged another laugh.

"So he is that important to you," he stated.

"Very important," she answered.

He placed a paw on her cheek. "You are my sister by blood. My sole desire is your happy company. If seeing this human again makes you happy, I will do anything to help you."

She smiled weakly, a single tear coming out of her eye this time. "I have an idea…"

Up next is Chapter Four: Happier Days.

In response to Chapter Two's reviews…

Crystal Persian: Only one person reviewed? Oh well. Better one than none. Yes, this is progressing well, I'm just sorry that I was late in updating.