Disclaimer: I don't own SRMTHFG or any of its characters, just my characters, the main OC's vehicle, and this plot. The flashbacks are scenes of alternate versions of the episodes "Thingy" and "Ape New World"; the original plots in those are not mine, either.

Chapter Four: Happier Days

Three hours after they had split up, the Robot Monkeys rejoined with Antauri inside the Command Center. None of them had any luck in finding Chiro, but of course, only Hayley knew why.

Slash had also entered the Robot with Hayley, something that made the remaining Robot Monkeys very unhappy. Even Nova was skeptical about letting a stranger inside of their Robot. But Slash, who was all but claustrophobic inside an artificial structure in the first place, kept his distance from anything dangerous, and Hayley insisted that he wouldn't be able to damage anything.

Antauri still thought it best for all concerned that Slash be granted only limited access. Hayley offered her battle station, the Heart Auxiliary Starship Seven, since that was the only place that responded solely to her. Everyone agreed.

When Slash had left the Command Center, the Robot Monkeys began talking with Hayley as she was typing into the main computer. "Are you certain it was a wise decision, bringing a complete stranger into the Super Robot?" Gibson asked sternly.

Hayley glared back at him. "First of all, he is not a complete stranger. He is my brother by blood. And secondly, yes, I do believe it was a wise decision. He may not be particularly fond of humans, but he has excellent tracking sense."

"Oh, and you're saying that we don't," Sprx replied, for once agreeing with Gibson.

"Nature has a way of achieving something when technology fails," Hayley was quick to answer.

"Don't be such nosy monkeys," Nova told both Sprx and Gibson. "If Slash is anything like Hayley, then we've got nothing to worry about."

Just then, a faint alarm blared.

"What's that?" Otto asked.

"Inconceivable!" Gibson exclaimed, typing furiously on the computer. "A mechanical virus has infiltrated the computer system and is beginning to corrupt the hard drive!"

The main monitor displayed a progress report of the Super Robot as slowly, starting with the edges of the Fist Rockets and Foot Crushers, a red outline began to display over the normal gray view.

"At this rate, the virus will contaminate the Robot's systems and shut them down in a matter of minutes!" a shocked Antauri realized.

"I'd better hurry to the Heart Auxiliary Starship Seven," Hayley was quick to offer. "If I can perform the emergency disengage sequence, I can save the backup files from being corrupted."

Without waiting for the others to either approve or disapprove, she was already gone into Chiro's elevator.

Several minutes passed before anything else happened. The virus had full effect on every ship except the Torso Tank Driver One, and it was already beginning to shut down in reaction as well.

Then, a slight tremor! The Brain Scrambler Pilot Two made the emergency disengage and landed safely in the park. Two more tremors! The same happened with the Fist Rockets. It was working!

Another tremor told them that the Torso Tank Driver One had disconnected with the Foot Crushers, allowing them to perform the emergency disengage and roll away without harming anything.

As soon as the Torso Tank Driver One was free, Gibson switched the monitor to display Chiro's vehicle. Although the emergency disengage sequence was a success, Hayley's task was not finished yet. Because the virus had already infected part of Chiro's vehicle, she had to disengage her ship to keep the virus out of hers.

Soon, everyone breathed a sigh of relief as the recently added ship emerged from Chiro's and took to the air, apparently untouched by the virus.

"Excellent quick thinking, Hayley," Gibson said into the microphone. "Now, initiate the auxiliary control beam to restore the remaining systems to normal."

The Heart Auxiliary Starship Seven made no reaction.

"Hello?" Otto asked, taking the microphone from Gibson. "Shuggazoom to Hayley. You there?"

Again, there was no response.

"Perhaps the virus has contaminated our communication systems as well," Gibson commented.

"No, Gibson," Hayley's familiar voice replied from the speakers. "They're working fine."

How surprised the Monkeys were to see the monitor display the inside of Hayley's ship, where she was at the helm and Slash, looking rather uncomfortable and indignant, sat to one side.

---------

"I'm sorry, team," she began, "but I'm afraid I can't have any of you following me. I have recently discovered a terrible truth. Skeleton King has kidnapped Chiro and is demanding that I should be the only Robot Monkey coming in any attempt to see him again. It's up to me to rescue Chiro, and that's just what I'm going to do."

"What?" Nova asked, shocked. "You can't do that!"

"I have to," Hayley replied. "If I don't comply with his demands within 45 hours, he will kill Chiro. I can't let that happen."

"Why take HIM along, then?" Sprx asked suspiciously, pointing at Slash, who calmly stared back in reply.

Hayley made a small but cunning grin. "Skeleton King only said that I should be the only Robot Monkey. Slash isn't one, per se. The bone bag will never even suspect this. With Slash's tracking skills and my knowledge of the Citadel, Chiro is as good as saved."

"Hayley, Skeleton King is simply attempting to draw you back into the Citadel so that he may finish what he began with you," Antauri calmly told her. "You were fortunate enough to survive the darkness last time, but there is no guarantee that you will be so lucky this time."

The youngest Robot Monkey sighed. It truly pained her to know that her teammates really cared for her safety. But all that concerned her at this time was Chiro's safety, not hers. "I'm sorry, team," she said again before cutting off the transmission.

She then looked at Slash. "Strap yourself in. We're taking off."

Within a few minutes, both were securely on their way into deep space. Hayley's scanners were on full alert, searching for any sign of the Citadel of Bone.

"I have to admit, Spot, using a mechanical virus to cripple your companions from following you was a stroke of genius," Slash complimented.

Hayley sighed. "It wasn't originally my idea; it was actually Skeleton King's. He was the one who actually created that virus and used it against us. Ever since the virus got clean, I was able to create a diluted version of that same virus and kept it for emergencies. Desperate times call for desperate measures."

Slash stared at her in surprise. "You mean, this isn't the first time your…what do you call it? Super…Robot? This isn't the first time it became infected with a virus?"

Smiling and remembering the happier days, Hayley looked at him and replied, "No. The first time was when we encountered this most adorable little fuzz ball that we named Thingy…"

---------

With the Super Robot refueled and on its way back to Shuggazoom from Ranger Seven, the Monkey Team took the opportunity to enjoy more leisurely activities. Several hours went by with few incidents, and even fewer not involving Thingy.

Hayley had only just arrived in the Command Center to deliver Antauri's message when she noticed a holographic tennis ball floating by her. Curious, she watched as Thingy jumped in happy pursuit. When the ball hovered in place, Thingy jumped for it with an excited, "Whee!"

But the creature went straight through it and hit the nearby wall!

"Ow!" it exclaimed as it fell to the floor.

Giggling, Hayley looked around and called out, "Chiro."

Also laughing, Chiro came out from hiding and approached Hayley and Thingy. In his hands was the controller for the holographic tennis ball. "Thingy, you woob," he gently told Thingy. "It's just a holograph. Try this."

He entered a command into the controller, and the ball became a Robot Monkey head. Thingy's fur bristled with joy. "Come on, get that monkey," Chiro encouraged, sending the holographic head to another area of the Command Center.

Thingy bounced after it with its excited, "Whee, whee!"

"I take it you've never had a pet before," Hayley giggled.

Chiro shook his head.

Hayley sighed and crossed her arms, her mind turning to happier days in the past. "I still remember what I used to be like before I became a Robot Monkey."

Another joyful shout from Thingy followed by a startled gasp from Gibson told the pair that Thingy had just barely avoided Gibson's anger…again. They couldn't see Gibson's laboratory from where they stood, but they knew instinctively that's where they were.

"Careful," they overheard Gibson's warning. "Those beakers are full of explosive chemicals."

Suddenly, Chiro and Hayley heard a screech and a crash, and they both looked to see Thingy jump out of Gibson's lab. Moments later, a sudden detonation and a great billow of smoke told them what happened!

"Oh, no…" Chiro whispered worriedly.

"Not again," Hayley quietly added.

Sure enough, the figure of a Robot Monkey covered in ash and soot slowly stepped out and angrily made a train whistle sound. Thingy fearfully jumped behind Chiro's leg.

Hayley started to giggle, partly because Gibson really did look funny to her, and purposely tried to deflect Gibson's anger by lightening up the situation. "Hey, that's a nice color on you. I can just see it now: Mr. Hal Gibson, the Gray Monkey."

Although Hayley did succeed in keeping Gibson from venting his anger directly at Chiro, his grimace didn't change the slightest.

"Oh, come on, Gibson," Chiro chuckled nervously. "It was an accident."

"I'm not so sure," Gibson finally said, revealing a handheld monitor. "According to my ongoing analysis, that creature is a new monster species. It's already damaged our computer cables and clogged the ventilation system with its filthy hair. It could be trying to destroy us."

"What?" Chiro asked, laughing.

"I agree with Chiro, Gibz," Hayley added. "After all, I don't recall you being that mad at me when I accidentally blew up your lab."

"No, I wasn't that mad at you, Hayley," Gibson replied. "I was that mad at Otto."

Hayley rolled her eyes. "And what does Otto have to do with this?"

"He was responsible for you, just as Chiro is responsible for that creature."

"Thingy is harmless," Chiro insisted. "Aren't you, Thingy?"

Then, as Chiro looked back and realized that Thingy was no longer behind him, the three of them turned upon hearing some metal rattling. Thingy was escaping from a tight spot in a wall and falling down, spinning around dizzily.

"Thingy!" Chiro called, running to him in concern with Hayley right behind him.

Unknown to either of them, Gibson picked up a strand of blue fur belonging to Thingy and looked at it carefully. "Harmless?" he quietly asked to himself. "Hmm, I'll find out for certain."

"Oh, I almost forgot!" Hayley realized. "If you two aren't doing anything, Antauri wanted me to bring both of you to the training room. He says he's got something special to show us."

"I'll accompany you two shortly," Gibson replied, already on his way back inside his lab.

"I'm right behind you, Hayley," Chiro told her as she entered Gibson's elevator. He touched his Power Primate Rod, transforming into Hyper Mode, and began for the orange elevator. "Come on, Thingy!"

"Whee!"

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"Of course, we had no way of knowing that the cute little fuzz ball was spreading that virus all over the Robot by shedding its fur," Hayley explained further. "Even he didn't know. Poor Thingy. He was blamed for everything that happened when it was actually the virus' fault."

Slash looked at Hayley with a smirk on his face. "So you infected the computer systems of the rest of the Robot to keep them from following us?" he asked. "My sister, I had no idea you could be so vicious."

Hayley wasn't amused. "First of all, the Super Robot is now immune to the original virus. I simply altered some of the key factors of the virus and diluted the intensity of the effects. The most you could say I've done is cripple temporarily. Knowing Gibson, he'll have the rest of the Super Robot clean in a matter of six or seven hours. By that time, we'll be too far ahead of them for them to catch up even if they could.

"Secondly, desperate times call for desperate measures. I can be vicious if I have to. I suppose it comes from making sure that no one hurts my family again."

Slash glanced at the floor when he heard the word that Hayley had chosen. "Spot? Have you ever thought about…what we could have done differently? You know, all those years ago, when we got separated. What could we have done so that we all would have been together? I miss our brothers and sister."

Hayley sighed, switched to the automatic pilot, and looked at him. "I miss them, too. And yes, I do wonder about what we might have done differently. But I can't dwell on the past forever; I've got the present to think about."

Only half-listening, Slash continued, "And I miss our parents, too. I wish I could get my paws on those people that poached them. I'd tear them apart!"

"That was years ago, Slash," Hayley replied. "Those people are dead now, and the people alive today on Shuggazoom aren't that bad. They're actually really nice."

Slash scoffed, "It'd be a miracle if humans were actually nice."

Hayley sighed. "I used to think that way about humans myself when I became a Robot Monkey, even after I rescued Chiro and rejoined the team. But let me tell you what changed my mind…"

---------

In the celebration hall of the fake Shuggazoom, the majority of the Robot Monkeys were watching Lord Scrapperton (who was disguised as a Robo Ape Alpha) and his Robo Apes continuing their Monkey Eve chant. Hayley was the only one not watching, for she was too distraught from the thought of being sent two millions years into the future and finding a new order in place of the home she had known all her life.

And Otto, of course, was so overjoyed by the new world they had found that he couldn't help but interact with it. "You got a burr on your rotator cuff; this will fix you up," he said to one of the Robo Apes, putting his hand-wrench into its shoulder. When he was finished, he gave a thumbs-up and jumped down.

"I am honored, Lord Otto," the Robo Ape replied with a bow. Then, showing off in front of the other Robot Apes, it exclaimed, "Look, he has upgraded me!"

Another Robot Ape approached him and held out a leg to him. "Ooh, if you would be so kind…?" he asked just as the leg feel off at the knee joint.

"My pleasure!" Otto exclaimed, beginning the repair. "Ya know, in the old Shuggazoom, no one could understand us except Chiro. Here, everyone speaks monkey."

"Shuggazoom was remade in your image," Robo Ape Alpha replied. "You belong here, Otto. You all do."

Overhearing that, Hayley looked around. She hadn't seen Chiro for a while, and she was starting to worry about him. "I'm not so sure about that," she whispered to herself, not feeling the least bit comfortable in this place under these circumstances.

No one else heard her remark.

"Hayley, take a look at this," Gibson said keenly, looking into Robo Ape Alpha's holographic history book. "This book chronicles every one of our battles, including the ones that occurred before you came back to us. Just listen."

"Not now, Gibson," she replied, too downcast to even lighten herself up by using her common nickname for him.

Instead of noticing her depression, Gibson began to quote from the book in a grand voice: "Yea, and verily was the evil of the Sun Riders thwarted by the genius intellect…of Mr. Hal Gibson."

"Gibson, Gibson, Gibson!" the remaining Robo Apes began to cheer excitedly.

Jealous that Gibson seemed to be getting all the attention, Nova shoved him to one side and flipped a page to reveal a second holograph. "And, lo, the Gold Warrior Monkey Nova unleashed her terrible fury on the Formless! Yeah!"

"Nova, Nova, Nova!"

Sprx quickly did the same as he pushed Nova away and flipped to the next page. "My turn. Here's a good one. Lord Scrapperton of the Mecha Realm…did collecteth the magnets of SPRX-77." A bit embarrassed by this reminder, Sprx shrugged and revealed his magnets, saying, "Yeah, the freak job stole my hands, but don't worry. I took my magnets back and I cleaned his clock!"

Only Antauri had noticed Hayley's saddened state and quickly thought of a way to brighten her up. "Hayley, perhaps these Robo Apes would like to listen to the tale of how you had triumphed over Mandarin's evil influence," he offered.

"Hayley, Hayley, Hayley!" they began to cheer.

But, always too humble to accept any kind of so-called royal treatment, Hayley's voice rose with her anger as she exclaimed, "I said not now!"

This made everyone stop short in surprise. Even Otto, who was in the middle of fixing a third Robo Ape's chest circuitry, ignored his work and looked at her. "Um, excuse me for just a second," he said before jumping to her side. "Hayley, what's wrong? Aren't you happy?"

"Do I look happy?" she asked in reply, annoyed. "Do I sound happy? Otto, how can I be happy with the fact that everything I ever knew about Shuggazoom is suddenly gone?"

Stepping up towards the elevated table, Robo Ape Alpha said, "Your sentimental concern is understandable, Lady Hayley. But this evening is just for all of you. If you would simply open your eyes and accept us…why, you may actually like the new Shuggazoom."

Hayley looked at the robotic leader as Otto returned to his work. "Robo Ape Alpha, please don't misunderstand me. I am grateful that you appreciate us so much. But I fought for the OLD Shuggazoom. It's the OLD Shuggazoom that I protected and defended, that I love and miss. So what if the humans never understood us? They still deserved so much more than to be shrugged off, brushed aside, just dismissed like this. I can't accept this new Shuggazoom, even if I wanted to."

The Robot Monkeys hesitated, considering this.

Looking at Antauri, Hayley continued, "Antauri, let's just find Chiro and get out of here. I want to go back. Even if it means that we go back to battle with Skeleton King. Even if it means that we never win that battle. None of that matters as long as I have you guys. I want to go home."

"But, Lady Hayley, you ARE home," Robo Ape Alpha insisted.

Annoyed, Hayley glared at their disguised enemy. "I'd like to discuss this privately with him if you don't mind."

After a moment of thinking, Robo Ape Alpha returned to Otto's side.

Left in the privacy of her friends, Hayley again looked at Antauri with pleading, tearful eyes.

With a sigh, Antauri calmly replied, "I could never cause you grief, Hayley. Very well. As soon as I inform Chiro, we're going back."

"Thank you, Antauri," Hayley answered, overjoyed but quiet. "Thank you!" And she pulled him into an emotional hug, something that surprised him and the other Robot Monkeys.

---------

Slash hesitated as Hayley finished that story.

"So you could say that humans are the reason I exist," she said. "The Hyperforce exists to protect Shuggazoom, and for reasons I cannot explain, I have been chosen to become a member of the team so that I too may fulfill that obligation. And I will fulfill it."

When he heard that, Slash looked down at the floor. He wondered about his motives now. Everything that he did thus far, everything that he was going to do…what was it worth now? Would the result really be worth the cost?

"Hayley," he said, addressing her by her current name for the first time. "Perhaps we should turn back. It is not too late, and I think I may know of another way to save your human brother—"

But Hayley wasn't listening. "I will not abandon Chiro," she interrupted, glaring at him.

Slash sighed. He couldn't think of anything to say that would benefit either of them now.

Up next is Chapter Five: True Family.

In response to Chapter Three's reviews…

Crystal Persian: lol. You're a scream, you know that?

tiny monkey: Yes, the brother/sister love can be annoying. The argument between Slash and Hayley was actually an inspiration from my early childhood. Whenever my sister and I would fight, my dad would never let us get away with saying "she started it". But I'll answer your other question right now; no, Slash is the only surviving member of Hayley's native family.

love-writer: Don't feel bad about missing out before. I'm sure we've all done that at one point in time or another.