A/N: So sorry for the wait, everyone! I've been having a heck of a time with writer's block, and besides that I've been in Mexico (just got back tonight) and am still recovering from a bout of the flu that kept me up all night before last...so I wrote this on the plane ride home today! I'll edit it later, seeing as I'm so tired and sick and...yuck... XD Thanks for being understanding, and I hope this chapter's okay!
Two weeks passed.
Almost nothing changed.
Chiro remained in his fever-induced coma, fluctuating between getting better and getting worse all the time.
Skeleton King had gone quiet as well, and Gibson could only heatedly deduce that this was what the wretched ruler of the undead had been aiming for all along. Just another reason to hate him so close to his very core (for his true core was the man he had been, the kindhearted Alchemist, and they could never hate him).
The monkeys, for their part, had hardly left Chiro's side at all. Jinmay patrolled the city periodically, enlisting the help of Glenny, B.T., and any other eager and willing townsfolk as inside sources who were to immediately report anything even remotely suspicious.
As per their new ritual, the Shuggazoomians sat outside the Super Robot every day at sunset, waiting for Antauri's daily status report on Chiro's condition. So far, things were looking borderline disastrous at best, but the silver monkey encouraged them with his paintings of the boy's undying strength and noble heart.
Returning from that day's such event, Antauri once again congregated with the rest of the Team at Chiro's side.
"Any change?" he questioned. He had only been gone for ten minutes at most, but it never hurt to be sure.
Nova shook her head despairingly; it seemed her fighting spirit was dying more and more every day.
"Not even a small one." Her cheeks flushed and her eyes brightened. "Antauri…" she began weakly, then faltered; this had already been asked so many times and she felt badly asking again, but she had to know, "…what are we going to do…?"
If something happened. If this were to be the day Skeleton King finally had his vile victory. If Chiro…if he…—!
Antauri steeled himself against such thoughts. This was no time for that.
Taking a deep breath, he answered calmly, careful not to let his weariness show, "We must trust Chiro as he does us; we must strengthen his heart in his time of need as he does ours." He paused, composure cracking as he furrowed his brow and frowned deeper than any of his siblings had ever seen. "Whether he stays with us or leaves us, we must be here for him…no matter how much it hurts."
It was at times like this that the Hyperforce truly wondered if their efforts to protect the universe from their former creator and Father-figure were worth it.
This fight had already taken from them the Alchemist, taken from them their beloved sixth brother, Mandarin. And now, it might very well have its fun in taking the one light in their lives that burned brighter and steadier than all the others combined: Chiro.
When they adjourned mentally from the asphyxiating, yet enriching encirclement of the ones they loved, they would delve into themselves and find themselves dwelling on things such as this.
They all knew it was the Hand of Destiny that had called upon the human babe to step up to the cause and become their new leader, to become their and the universe's Chosen One, to have him fight his perhaps-Father and win.
And yet, there was something else there, brewing just beneath the surface, that kept them in their inner hearts a little longer: why had the boy been chosen if he were merely to be a sacrifice for the Side of Good? There had to be something greater here, some bigger picture or plan that they simply were too humble to comprehend…right?
This question of right and wrong, of good and evil and the consequences of both, kept them focused on the job at hand (helping Chiro).
But ever more, there was an ominous darkness even deeper than this that called out to them, beckoned them closer and closer to the abyss that had long-taken Mandarin.
They shuddered to think of it, of that cold, lifeless place where the Sun of their hearts, their Chiro, no longer existed and the devil-incarnate reigned.
Time and time again, they shied away from it. They would not give in to the side of them that begged for surrender. Even when their brother had turned, when their beloved Alchemist had gone over, they had been there for each other and the rest.
Too much rested on their shoulders. Their present situation would not change a thing, no matter how much their hearts and souls begged for the release so very within reach.
They wouldn't let it.
It was a total of four months later when the first great change occurred.
Gibson, taking down the boy's vital signs once again at the ghastly hour of two in the morning, observed a strange blip on the heart rate and brain activity monitors.
Otto, awake at his side despite the hour (involuntarily, they all had been sleeping less and less since the day of the incident), noticed the surprised glint in his eyes and tremble at his cheeks.
"What's goin' on, Gibson?" he asked, and there was no mistaking the painfully-reviving hope in his voice.
The blue simian turned to him, awe clouding his features, and he answered in much the same fashion. "According to these monitors, Chiro's brain activity and heart rate are more active now than they have been in this entire duration!" If possible, his tone turned all the more serious. "We must alert Antauri! Chiro may be trying to break through to us!"
"He is," the silver monkey, meditating at Chiro's bedside, confirmed, a serious expression overtaking his face. "I'll try to reach him."
Opening his eyes, Antauri found himself in an endless white realm. And yet, as he looked closer and stood perfectly still, he could see giant cracks in the 'walls' that looked to have been desperately 'filled' or 'painted over' somehow.
A curious place, indeed…
However, all thought of such trivialness dissipated as he took in the sight before his eyes.
Chiro, his surrogate son and the light of the universe, stood in Hypermode, ready for battle and smiling determinedly as always.
The silver monkey bounded over to him, would-be tears of joy hypothetically streaking down his face. Leaping upon him with a joyous cry of his name, he tackled the boy to the floor and embraced tighter than he ever had.
His boy was back.
Chiro returned the hug with as much fervor, liquid diamonds cascading heavily.
This was either the end of all or the start of something beautiful.
They would have to see.
With a gasp, Antauri was thrust back into the waking world.
The others, surrounding him and looking both worried and excited in one, no doubt would have begun badgering him with questions instantly had the spiritual advisor not raised a patient, commanding hand.
"I have been in contact with Chiro," he informed, smiling genuinely for the first time in months.
"Antauri…!" Nova whispered in awe, soul fully-bursting in newly-cultivated hope as her eyes filled with tears and her heart begged him to tell her more. The others were just as much the same.
"We were not able to hold to each other for long, but while with him, I sensed he was trying to return to us. The obscure land in which I found him seemed to be ripped apart at the seams, but was slowly being mended." He opened his eyes and deposited himself on the floor to peer at each in turn. "He is fighting Skeleton King's influence, my friends, and thus far, he looks to be winning." His voice deepened in severity. "Let us pray he continues on this path."
A/N: Thanks so much for reading, guys! Rock on, and Happy New Year!