Gibson, Otto, Nova, and Sprx stared at Antauri as he pulled the lever next to a tube containing a metallic skeleton. The container opened and robotic arms began to build something. After a few seconds, it became obvious what it was.
"Is he building... another monkey?" Nova asked in awe.
"Whoa..." Otto watched the machines work with such speed and precision, "What I would give to be able to work as fast as them..."
The building was done in practically no time at all and the monkey was placed on a table, completely lifeless. The team looked up at Antauri, who was going to pick up the new robot. They found that the black monkey was just fine. In fact, he seemed to be in perfect condition. There was also something different about him...
"Antauri?" Sprx asked, "What gives? We've been worried sick about you!"
"My body was running itself," Antauri explained, "It needed repairs that we could not have done by ourselves. I am still unfamiliar with the repairs I was given, but I am sure that I am perfectly healthy."
"What's with the silver monkey?" Otto asked, pointing to the newly built machine.
"Chiro is not gone," Antauri explained, "When he sacrificed himself, his essence was converted to energy by the Power Primate. When that energy passed through me, his soul grabbed on to mine. I assume that he was not able to control the energy he was turned into, and as such he lost quite a bit of power after stowing away inside my body."
"Wait..." Nova stopped him, "Are you saying that Chiro's... inside you?"
"In a way, yes," The elder monkey nodded, "But he is not physical in any way. I believe that, after learning of this monkey -The Alchemist's final creation- I may be able to give Chiro a vessel to live on inside. However, it will be a long and painful process for me. He is connected to me by some force that I have never encountered before."
"Exactly how long is this going to take?" Gibson asked, "And must we do it in here?"
"It will take as long as is necessary," Antauri answered, "And unless you want to carry this empty shell back to the Super Robot, I'd suggest we do this here. Besides, it seems... appropriate."
"I don't think we have as much time as you think, Antauri..." Otto said, looking back towards the entrance to the lab. There were what appeared to be Formless, though they looked like the tribal, hulking equivalent.
"Keep them away from me," Antauri ordered coolly, "I must meditate to begin this process..." He once again entered his meditation form, hovering next to the silver monkey. As the battle began, he tuned out. As he already knew the way, he made it to Chiro's consciousness rather quickly.
'I am sorry that this is so sudden, Chiro,' He apologized while getting a mental grip on the boy, 'But it must be done here and now. You must come with me to your new body.' He pulled, then stopped. This was much harder than he thought. He put a tight grip on Chiro and pulled once again. The boy was holding with all his might. Either he didn't want to go, or he was just stubborn.
Out in reality, the Monkey Team was trying their best to keep the Formless at bay. There seemed to be hundreds of them.
"Magna-Ball Blazer!" Sprx flung a large ball of magnetic energy at one of the creatures, who deflected back at him with ease. The red monkey was sent flying.
"Whirling Destructo Saws!" Otto launched his blades at another one of the monsters, cutting off its arm. The Formless punched him with the force of a small freight train before dissolving to goop.
"Laser Criss Cross!" Gibson fired beams at the Formless, hitting one in the back, but missing the closest. They tossed him against a wall.
"Lady Tomahawk!" Nova pounded on two Formless, destroying them instantly. She then continued to take down two more before she was caught at the bottom of a dog pile.
Though Antauri was meditating, he had since become alert when he discovered that Chiro wouldn't go easily. One Formless dared approach him while he was in this state. It was sliced in half before it came within its own arm's reach of him.
The Monkey Team got back to their feet, Nova performing a wonderful technique of carelessly pummeling every Formless above her. They all proceeded to take down the first wave of Formless.
"Well," Otto smiled, "That was easier than I thought!"
"Speak for yourself..." Nova rubbed her shoulder.
"I don't think that was the last of them..." Sprx muttered.
"Far from it..." Gibson replied as countless enemies filled the room.
Antauri had finally been able to retrieve Chiro's soul. Or, rather, he had found out how to retrieve his soul. He found where Chiro was holding on and simply relocated it. With the Power Primate, it was simple. He now had Chiro's soul, ready to be moved to the new body. Hopefully the team had held those Formless off, as this was the most crucial moment of the process. One slip up and Chiro could-
As he was grabbed by one of the Formless, Antauri watched in horror as he inadvertently let go of Chiro's spirit. The energy dissipated. Chiro was... gone... Now, quite unlike before, Antauri snapped. Even in death, Skeleton King always took away the things he and his fellow monkeys loved! Now, he had gone as far as to kill their best friend. The last and only hope for the Universe!
Antauri activated his claws and performed a technique that none of the monkeys had ever seen before. His arms extended and he began to move in a circle, the claws becoming a deadly cyclone.
"Cyclone Slasher!" He then dubbed the move as he took down close to twenty Formless. It was very impressive, but it still didn't make a dent in the opposition's massive numbers. He then performed the Monkey Mind Scream, taking several down. It was all in vain, however. The Formless knocked him unconscious as they swarmed him. The same happened to the other active monkeys. They bound them in slime from their mouths and tied them to a large bone, for transportation...
At the Super Robot, Jinmay was wondering where the monkeys were. They had said that they would contact her, but the communicator hadn't gone off yet.
She heard something rustle in the shrubbery nearby. She glanced for just a second, then found herself surrounded by giant Formless. They went to grab her, but she backed away too quickly. They then went to attack her, but her hands began to glow. This made the primitive monsters back up out of suspicion.
"What the...?" Jinmay stared at her hands as, for the first time, they looked like they were made completely of metal. This faded, however, and she appeared human again. She screamed as the Formless grabbed her...
Back in the lab, now empty, save for the silver monkey that was meant to be Chiro's new body. Without a soul, without living energy, it would just be gathering dust in the abandoned lab that had once belonged to a man who was nothing but a memory, now.
That is, until the eyes flickered...
Antauri came to... upside down. He, along with the rest of the Monkey Team, was bound in some sort of adhesive goop and hanging from a long bone. They were moving through the jungle, towards some massive ancient pyramid.
"Antauri..." Gibson whispered an implied greeting, "Did it work? Is Chiro going to..." He stopped when he saw Antauri's expression. It was solemn.
"Chiro's gone..." He said, his heart feeling heavy, "I had finally unlatched him from my own soul when the Formless grabbed me and broke my concentration. I watched as Chiro's spirit dissipated into nothing..."
"No..." Sprx's eyes widened.
"Chiro..." Nova whispered sadly.
"This can't be happening..." Otto shook his head slowly.
"He's gone?" Gibson asked, almost disbelievingly, "Just like that?"
"The Power Primate can only do so much," Antauri explained, "I was using all I could just to get a grip of him. There was nothing I could do..."
They were past the halfway point, heading up the pyramid when something odd happened. First, only the monkeys seemed to notice that the guards in the back seemed to spontaneously turn to goop. Second, the guards in the front saw something before turning to goop. Now near the top, the front carrier let the carrying bone down and looked for the source of the chaos. It saw the rear carrier turn to goop, but this time, the assassin was slower. There was a slight gleam as they had moved by.
"What is..." The monkeys looked at where this mystery assassin had stopped moving.
"Impossible..." Gibson muttered.
"Is that...?" Sprx and Nova seemed ask at the same time.
"Yo!" Otto called at the small figure, "Is that you, Chiro?"
Right in front of the lead carrier Formless was a silver robot monkey. Much to the teams fears, however, only one hand's weapon was activated. It was a very familiar weapon, though the color was different: a purple energy blade. The hand was somewhat visible through the glowing energy. His blue orbs didn't move away from his next target.
Without a word, the monkey seemed to disappear. The last Formless shifted with the slash that went straight through it, ending with the monkey from before, completely covered in the purple energy that had originally made his blade. The Formless dissolved to nothing as the monkey returned to its normal form.
The monkey turned to look at the Hyperforce. His look was stern and cold, making his friends believe he wasn't who they thought he was. A smirk began to break through his stern look as he couldn't hold back the laughter. He fell on his back, laughing at the faces on the others, inadvertently letting out gleeful monkey noises. It wasn't the disappointment, but the pure astonishment! Especially with Antauri's face. He hadn't ever seen his face like that before!
"Why's he laughing?" Otto asked, confused.
"Because it's Chiro..." Nova answered, deadpanning, "He shares Sprx's sense of humor."
"You should see your faces!" Chiro managed to gasp out between breaths.
"Well," Gibson said, "You're obviously taking a liking to your new form. Now, would you kindly GET US OUT OF THESE?"
"Yeah." He said, the smile still plastered on his face. He cut their bonds, one by one. Once they were all free, he was suddenly tackled by the five of them in a group hug, including Antauri.
"Okay..." Chiro gasped, "It's good to see you guys too... You're... crushing... me...!"
The rest of the team noticed that they were indeed crushing him. They all got off of him and gave him space.
"How are you alive, Chiro?" Antauri asked, "I saw your spirit dissipate into nothing."
"You had already dragged me to the edge of your mind, Antauri," The boy-turned-robot-monkey smiled, "Honestly, the hardest part was figuring out how to work this thing..." His smile faded as he looked at his new hands, "Though, it would have been nice to have flesh and blood... This body's completely robotic." He shook himself out of it, "So, how long's it been? I haven't been keeping track of time. How's Jinmay?"
"Well..." Otto and Sprx looked ashamed, but it was Sprx who spoke, "We may have told her that you had sacrificed yourself to save the world and that you were dead..."
"You WHAT?" Chiro didn't know if he should be angry or confused, "I mean, I know that I kind of lost my body, there, but that doesn't mean I'm dead!"
Gibson rose a finger, "Well, technically-" Nova covered his mouth.
"We're just glad you're back, Chiro!" She smiled widely, holding a struggling Gibson at bay.
"Thanks Nov-" Chiro was cut off by a scream he would remember anywhere, "Jinmay!" Somehow knowing almost exactly where the scream came from, the Monkey Team (now one hundred percent robot monkey) sprinted into the pyramid.
Inside was a wide, long, and dark hallway. Chiro, still getting used to his new height, began to feel somewhat dizzy from the sheer size of the area. He blinked a couple times to get rid of the feeling. They slowed to a walk in the decreased light.
'Funny,' He thought, 'This body is completely and utterly a machine, but I can still feel dizziness, sickness, pain...' His thoughts began to question just how powerful the Alchemist was. If he could make a completely mechanical body experience the same things flesh did... No wonder Skeleton King was so powerful!
"Use caution, team," Antauri warned, "I sense danger everywhere."
"What kinda place is this?" Otto asked.
"Some form of arcane tomb," Gibson observed, "Possibly built thousand of years ago."
As Sprx drifted ahead of the group, Nova noticed something, "Sprx, look out!" Too late. His foot caught the trip wire. Within hundredths of a second, a massive pillar dropped from the ceiling towards the red monkey. Nova, just in the nick of time, pulled him out of the way. Very ungracefully, they toppled over each other, the red monkey over the yellow.
"What happened?" Sprx asked before noticing he was on top of Nova. He gave a meek smile before she smacked him off of her.
"Be careful where you step, team!" Chiro reiterated Antauri's warning, "Don't touch anything." The others nodded and they continued on their way.
Not long after they resumed walking, Sprx now in the back so as not to set off any more trip wires, yet another trap was activated. As though he had a parade of black cats crossing his path, Sprx once again set this trap off. It was a pressure tile. The floor dropped out from under the Hyperforce and they fell into a stone slide, a boulder rolling after them. They reached level ground and began sprinting from the giant ball of rock, only to encounter pendulum axes on the ceilings, they ducked every time one would swing their way. Then, the stereotypical wall darts were fired, causing the team to jump out of the way for several of them. The exit of the tunnel was slowly closing with two crystal doors. The entirety of the team jumped through, but poor Chiro, still getting used to the legs of his new body, was pushed out by the boulder. He was sent flying into a wall of crystal before sliding to the ground below.
The whole team panting, Chiro rubbing his new metal head, found that they were in some kind of cave/tomb. There was a giant platform of crystal in the center of the room. It was shaped like the lower half of a skull, the cheek bones and upper teeth. There was someone sitting at the top of the platform.
She was a human with pale skin and markings on her face similar to that of the Alchemist before he had met his end. She donned a black ceremonial-looking dress. Her hair was long, black, and parted in the back, skull hair clips on the longer parts of her bangs. Her eyes were a dark violet, nearly matching the color of Chiro's new Beam Blade.
She stood up, revealing her form to be somewhat lanky and very thin. Then she spoke in a menacing, yet somewhat seductive tone, "This tomb is the perfect resting place for great warriors such as yourselves. Don't you agree, Hyperforce?"
"Who are you?" Chiro asked, his voice not even close to as demanding as he wanted it to be.
"You may call me Valina, Chiro," She introduced herself in a rather smug fashion (not to mention, surprising the boy with the fact that she knew who he was despite his new body), "I too was once a citizen of Shuggazoom, before certain... power saw me fit to rule this realm."
"What powers?" Chiro asked suspiciously.
Valina made a massive projection appear. It was a very familiar face.
"Skeleton King?" Chiro nearly laughed, "You might as well give up. He's gone. We saw it happen. He was destroyed!"
"You pathetic fools!" Valina sneered, "His soul lives on! Skeleton King was not destroyed... His essence was fused with the unleashed Dark One!" She gave the Hyperforce a view of the Dark One's head regrowing its body and flying to a planet, "Together, they've ravaged the Universe, corrupting worlds like a glorious plague!" The Dark One fired a rainbow-colored blast from its mouth at the planet, turning it from a lush utopia to a barren wasteland.
"No!" Chiro stepped back, "It... It can't be..." He began to feel like his sacrifice was completely in vain.
"And when he gathers enough power," Valina smiled darkly, "He will return to ravage Shuggazoom and free me from this wretched underworld!"
The monkeys activated their weapons, Sprx speaking seriously, "I don't think that's gonna happen."
"Lower your weapons," The sorceress ordered, "Oppose me, and the girl's end will be swift." She motioned towards some guardian Formless that were holding a familiar girl. Jinmay screamed helplessly.
"Jinmay!" Chiro called.
"Goodbye Hyperforce," Valina said with an evil smile as the crystal platform began to rise through a hole in the ceiling, "I leave you with a final gift!"
A bubble of dark energy rose from the pit in the center of the room. It seemed to radiate evil.
Nova shuddered, "What is that?"
"It kinda looks like somethin's... movin' inside it..." Gibson pointed it the orb.
The bubble popped and a large demon-like Formless jumped out, landing on the ground in front of the Monkey Team. It let out a roar that would have been terrifying, had it been facing anyone other than its current opponents.
"Kid?" Sprx looked at Chiro.
"Formation C!" Chiro ordered, "Hyperforce, go!" He deactivated his blades. (Hah, you thought I was gonna make him just like Mandarin!)
As the others went to flank the monster, Chiro was about to perform a Monkey Fu blast when he noticed that nothing was happening. He then felt extremely drained of energy.
"Uh..." His arms dropped to his sides as the beast lunged towards him.
"Hey!" Sprx shouted, "Over here big fella!" The monster paused and looked at the red monkey, "Electro-vibra Force!" He fired violent electromagnetic vibrations at the massive Formless.
Much to his surprise, the creature laughed as if it tickled. It then proceeded to knock the red joker against a wall.
"Sprx!" Nova shouted before going for a running attack at the Formless. The creature simply pulled a swift reversal, got behind her, and smacked her to the ground.
"Be careful!" Gibson warned the remaining conscious members, "It's faster than it looks!" He then fired a laser at it, causing damage. The Formless retaliated with a swipe of its huge tail. Gibson was flung into a wall.
Otto went to attack the feet. The creature simply kicked him off towards a wall.
Chiro looked up at the monster, then at the unconscious monkeys. He needed to get control of this body. It didn't seem to like him using the Power Primate, but he should force it. Struggling to lift his arms, he looked at the massive Formless again. Maybe he should be just as big!
He awoke his Inner Primate, the hard-light gorilla surrounding his entire form. It hurt like heck to hold it, but he'd get used to it. He had to if he wanted to save Jinmay. He looked at the Formless, who seemed shocked to see something else as large as itself.
At the top of the pyramid, Valina's platform rose up from inside, making a crystal skull design with the large wall of crystal in the shape of the upper half of a skull. She sat atop the left cheek bone, watching as a sacrificial alter rose up across the way, their prisoner bound to it.
"Let me go!" Jinmay cried as she struggled with the bonds, "Please!"
"You should be honored girl," Valina said, "Your purity will make a great sacrifice to the Dark One Worm!" Tribal Formless behind her began some for of ritualistic dance, the summoning being prepared.
Jinmay just continued struggling. If only Chiro were here... She struggled harder as she thought of what he had died for. She had thought that she heard his voice earlier, but it had to have been her imagination...
The Formless demon prepared to charge. Chiro, now feeling more comfortable with his power, prepared as well. The two charged at each other, the Formless going high to grapple. Chiro went low and knocked it back to a wall.
The monster picked up a large chunk of shattered wood and tossed it at the hard-light gorilla. The heavy object stopped less than halfway in, just above Chiro's head.
'Phew,' He thought, 'A couple inches lower and I would have been gone again...'
He grabbed the wood with his Inner Primate and tossed it aside. He then went to charge again. The Formless was faster this time and hit the gorilla in the face, then in the chest, then tossed him against the wall. Chiro hit the ground on the edge of consciousness. As the Formless went to finish him off, Antauri jumped in the way.
"Monkey Mind Scream!" He let out a screech that stopped the monster in its tracks. The then jumped forward, "Faze and Daze!" He went straight through the head of the Formless, landing on the other side his claws deactivating. The black monkey looked at himself for a moment. Something was odd...
As the monster held its head, utterly confused as to what had just happened, Chiro came from behind with his Inner Primate and ripped the Formless' head clean off. He tossed it aside as the creature turned to goop. Then, he sealed his inner power away, nearly falling unconscious in the process.
Antauri caught him as he stumbled, "It will take time for you to adjust to the Power Primate again, Chiro," He said, "Though your ability with it is admirable, it would have taken a master to retain their power after what you went through."
"I tried a Monkey Fu," Chiro mumbled, "And then I just felt so... weak..."
"We will practice when this is over," Antauri promised, "For now, we should reactivate the other monkeys."
It took a little longer than usual, as Antauri showed Chiro how to access the different tools in his body. When the others were all conscious again, Chiro looked around.
"How are we getting out of here?" He asked, "This tomb's completely sealed."
Antauri seemed to ponder something. He then went into meditation mode and began searching for an exit. He found one and then performed something that confused the other monkeys: His body was covered in the energy that normally would surround his Ghost Claws. He then fazed through a wall, making the other monkeys' eyes widen to the size of saucers. There was a click and the entire wall slid up, Antauri on the other side, motioning for the others to follow.
"Antauri..." Chiro said in awe, "H-how..."
"I will explain later." The black monkey simply replied
Valina's ceremony was going just as planned. She was singing the portal open for the Dark One Worm. By the time the Hyperforce arrived, the portal was open and more than large enough for the Dark One to enter through.
"Jinmay!" Chiro was about to run to the bound girl when Antauri stopped him.
"We need to know what we are up against." He stated.
Chiro sighed and crouched down with the others. They watched as the Dark One came down from the portal towards Jinmay, Skeleton King's head tethered to the giant worm. The head went directly to the girl and seemed to inspect her. She screamed as it let out a hiss.
"We need to go," Chiro looked at Antauri, "Now!"
"You take care of Valina," Antauri said, "I will save Jinmay." He entered the new form from before and fazed into the pyramid.
Chiro led the Hyperforce up to the crystal wall and looked up at Valina.
"Sorceress!" He called.
The girl let out an unintelligible scream as she leaped down from the crystal structure, dark energy surrounding her.
"Hyperforce Go!" Chiro ordered, activating both his blades.
Valina knocked all five down with energy blasts. At the same time, the Skeleton King's head was slowly and dramatically moving closer to Jinmay. Antauri shot out of the ground and slashed the skull in the eyes, making it and the Dark One rear back in pain. The black monkey then cut Jinmay's bonds.
"Run!" He ordered her as the skull appeared in front of him.
The rest of the Hyperforce stood against Valina, who was levitating before them like some kind of goddess. Sprx was the first to attack.
"Magna-Ball Beam Splitter!" Srx fired bits of electricity at the sorceress, who blocked the attack with magical shields.
"Your powers are weak in my domain!" The violet-eyed woman sneered. She then conjured a bubble, which soon contained Sprx. The red monkey furiously tried to escape, but to no avail.
"I'll show her, Sprx!" Gibson fired blue electricity at her, but she deflected it away.
"Fools!" Valina laughed she trapped Gibson as well. She then approached Chiro and the remaining monkeys, "You are all my sacrifices now!"
"Flame Fist Fury!" Nova fired a stream of flame towards her. The sorceress simply froze the flame and launched the solid projectiles back at the yellow monkey, knocking her unconscious. Otto ran to help her.
Back to Antauri and the Skeleton King's skull.
"Mindless fool!" The skull fired a dark beam from its mouth at the black monkey, who dodged without a thought. He then landed and slashed the skull in the eyes, making it screech in pain. It then fired the beam again, this time hitting Antauri.
Otto launched his saws at Valina, only for her to teleport out of the way.
"Wha?" the green monkey looked around, "Where'd she go?" He screamed in pain as Valina electrocuted him from behind. She laughed as she held him with the streams of electricity.
"Hey!" Chiro called angrily. When she looked, she saw nothing.
"Huh?" She looked around, "Where is-" She dodged the blade just in time, a small cut on the back of her dress. She knew that Chiro was new to being a robot monkey, but he was adjusting too quickly! She needed a distract-
Chiro disappeared again. Valina prepared herself this time, but it wasn't the same attack. The silver monkey appeared in front of her this time, knicking her left cheek with the hot energy blade. Her hand instinctively flew to the burning cut. Not wanting another attack like that, the witch summoned skull bats to attack him.
As Chiro dealt with the bats, the Skeleton King was holding his attack on Antauri. He let up with the beam, giving the monkey some time to breathe, before firing again. He let up a second time, only for Antauri to use his upgrade yet again and enter the ghost-like mode. He grabbed the skull and rammed his head into it, causing an energy discharge to occur. The electrical current traveled up the tether and shocked the entire Dark One Worm.
Valina looked at the sight with wide eyes, "Master!" She cried in terror.
Chiro used her distraction as a cue to use his Monkey Mind Scream. It wasn't on her, but on her source of power, the massive crystal skull on top of the pyramid. The colossal gemstone splintered before it violently exploded.
Antauri let go of the Skeleton King's skull and dropped to the ground. The Dark One receded back through the portal as it closed.
Chiro looked back at Valina, who was still shocked at the series of events that had just unfolded.
"Your powers are done for, Valina!" He said, "And so are YOU!"
Her magic began to wear off. Gibson and Sprx were released from the bubbles. The bats disappeared.
"NO!" Valina made a desperate attack on the silver monkey.
Chiro simply performed a Monkey Fu, blasting her off the edge of the pyramid. She fell to a pool of dark goop below. Mortals rarely would survive such a fate...
Jinmay poked her head up from the side of the pyramid, looking at the monkeys. She noticed one was new, a silver one. It looked at her.
"Jinmay!" He said, wide eyed. There was great relief in his voice, which sounded just like...
"Ch... Chiro...?" The girl asked cautiously. She climbed up onto the top of the pyramid.
The silver monkey locked up, now finding something that scared him: Jinmay didn't recognize him until he spoke... Granted, he was human the last time they had seen each other. Now, he wasn't even organic, nor did he look human!
"Y-yeah..." He stuttered, feeling slightly ashamed and not exactly knowing what her response would be. Much to his surprise, he found himself picked up and quite literally crushed in the tightest hug the girl could muster up.
"I thought you were dead!" She cried happily, "Everyone did! I'm just glad to see you okay!"
"I'll be dead soon if you don't loosen your grip...!" Chiro squealed, unable to move.
"Oh!" Jinmay loosened the hug, "Sorry! I guess I forgot my strength there!" She chuckled a bit. The moment was interrupted by a low rumbling.
"What's going on?" Nova asked.
"The whole cave's collapsing!" Sprx exclaimed.
"Look!" Otto pointed at a large hole. The Super Robot was lowering into the cave.
Chiro was confused, "Who summoned the-"
"Just get inside!" Antauri ordered as he was in his meditative position.
Everyone nodded and entered the machine. The Robot then took off, leaving the cave as it fell into itself.
"I'm so sorry..." Jinmay muttered sadly on the flight home. Her tone put a wrench in the good mood.
"What do you mean?" Chiro asked, confused.
"If I wasn't captured..." She sounded honestly choked up, "You wouldn't have had to save me... None of this would have happened!"
"It's not your fault," Chiro told her, trying to cheer her up, "Friends always come first!"
Not long after the Skeleton King's attack on Shuggazoom, the city's reconstruction was well under way. In the Super Robot, Jinmay went through training to learn how to master her powers. It was her idea in the first place, as she didn't want to be the helpless damsel anymore. With Nova's training and the Super Robot's obstacle courses, the android learned very quickly.
As the whole team, minus the two bickerers, was observing Jinmay's latest training session, both aforementioned bickerers entered the room.
"No no no..." Sprx said to Gibson before announcing to the rest of the Hyerforce, "If Chiro's first in command and Antauri's second, then that means that I'm THIRD in command!"
"That's absurd!" Gibson sneered, "Antauri, who, pray tell, is third in command?"
"Nova, of course." The black monkey answered without so much as the slightest hesitation.
Both brothers' jaws dropped, finding something that they agreed on for once. "Mm hm!" Nova smugly walked past them.
"Well," Otto shrugged, "At least this whole Skeleton King business is done. The city's finally safe from him!"
"Nobody's safe from Skeleton King..." Chiro muttered darkly, "Especially now... We have to do something about it."
"Why don't we?" Antauri asked. It was more than a question, however.
The whole of the city's populace crowded around the Super Robot. The Hyperforce stood atop the machine, Chiro nervous with his new body. Hopefully, he didn't have to worry about any comments towards that...
"Citizens of Shuggazoom!" He addressed them, "The city is safe! But the Skeleton King is still out there, spreading his evil across the galaxy! But don't worry, your Hyperforce is gonna stop him once and for all!"
"Where's Chiro?" Someone called up, confused.
"I'm Chiro!" He called back down, "It's a long story, and I don't want to talk about it right now! Anyways... In our absence, the city will have a new protector to guard Shuggazoom! Her name is Jinmay!" He motioned to the girl, now in her own Hyperforce uniform.
"You know..." He said, hoping the comment wouldn't offend her now, "You make that uniform look pretty good."
"Thanks Chiro," She smiled, "Just promise me one thing, though."
"What?"
"That you'll come back to me." She kissed him on the cheek, making a chorus of awes rise from the crowd below. She then dropped down from the Super Robot, activating her rocket feet to slow her landing, and leaving a shocked Chiro atop the machine.
Chiro shook himself out of his daze, "Goodbye Shuggazoom! We will return victorious!"
I would like to point out to anyone who thinks that last part with Jinmay and Chiro was wrong or sick, they're both completelymechanical! That means that, even though they would have lovey-dovey feelings for each other, they are (logically speaking) a-sexual beings! Or, more accurately, they cannot procreate without the use of robotic parts and a welding torch! I'm just trying to have a story like this without completely shattering Chiro's heart! (even if his heart may be made of metal now...)
Also, I don't remember if the people of Shuggazoom could understand the monkeys at some point in the series. Just humor me and imagine that they can.
P.S. – I gave Antauri an upgrade because I still loved his silver monkey powers, especially the ghost mode!