Me: Hey, I'm back. I'm just gonna skip the drabble and say, ON WITH THE (cough bad word) STORY.

Nova: Caution: F.N.L. is under a lot of stress so please be patient with her. Please!

Return and Discovery

'Two years. That's how long it's been since they've been gone. Chiro would have been sixteen by now. He's probably throwing a fit in the other world right now. Don't worry guys. Your time might be over, but I will never rest until Shuggazoom is back to the way it was...as soon as I get this update into the training program.' Thought Nova. It had been two weeks since the energy flux and it had yet to return. Nova was currently occupying herself by updating the training room computers, hoping to test it out before Slingshot (Prometheus Five) and SR (Super Robot) got there. The two robots were due to arrive around midday to update them on the activities on neighboring planets where they had sent the surviving citizens of Shuggazoom, like Nekeeta's planet, Soturix 7, and the planet where the Sun Riders stayed. Her comrades had been gone for three months so far and Nova was getting worried, plus an update would do good for the rebellion.

(Me: REBEL. Nova: You had sugar. Me: Yep. Nova: I thought so. hits me with a mallet Please continue reading like nothing happened. drags away my twitching form)

As Nova was about to test out the program, an unexpected arrow came at her. She barely dodged it but unfortunately it hit the wall behind her. It exploded and covered her head to toe in a creamy white substance. The stuff looked fimilar, so she tasted it. Whipped Cream?

She smirked, only one person could have made whip cream arrows. Turning, she saw Mandarin with his new weapons out, his arrow cannons as he liked to call them. Before they had done the surgery on him, Nova had asked what weapons he wanted since his sword and shield were no where to be found. His simple reply was a dull, "Surprise me". So she did, and like the name suggests, his hands turn into mini cannons that can shoot arrows of his elemental choosing, his favorite being solid rock arrows. (She never could figure out how he got rocks to go that far) He could even make arrows that would explode and cover everything within a 50ft radius in whatever he chose, like his infamous whipped cream arrow.

He was smiling, "Got'cha."

Nova gave him an evil grin, "And now that you've covered the training room in whipped cream...'again', you got two choices, " his face dropped as she continued, "one: take cooking duty for the next week, or two: train with me for the next three hours." She knew what he would chose.

"I'll take the training." He said grimly. She knew it. Why? Because Mandarin hated cooking duty.

"Alrightly then. Swords out and get ready." she said. A favor Nova had done for both Mandarin and Jinmay was that she had forged each of them a pair of long swords like her own. She even trained them in the ninja ways that she knew, that why the three of them wore ninja outfits, because Mandarin and Jinmay were close to completing their training. And now was one of the times to see if Mandarin had been practicing.

2 hour later

Mandarin collapsed on his back, panting heavily. Nova stood over him, "Not bad, you've improved since the last time you pulled that stunt. Do you pull that prank just to spar with me?"

"Maybe." he wheezed.

'Beep Beep' "Nova, Slingshot and SR arrived early and Skeleton King's ariel forces are all over them."

"Roger that, Jinmay. Come on Mandarin, they need our help." He gave her a scared look. "Yes we're gonna make a little 'welcome now get lost' party for SK's little toys. SUIT UP!"

Nova, now clad in a golden yellow jumpsuit, hopped into one of her two custom fighter jets. Mandarin, now clad in an orange jumpsuit with a dark brown strip from the right shoulder to the left hip, jumped into the other jet. Nova had made them while she was thinking about the team, cause when she was done she thought, 'Otto would be so proud,...and Sprx would want to take it for a test drive.' Both jets had a camoflage device to blend them in with their surroundings, but the original color of both jets were black.

"Let's go, 'M'" said Nova, "We have a pick-up order to make."

"Copy that 'N', engines are fired up and we are ready to fly, baby." replied Mandarin with much excitedment to be in the jet again.

"Then let's move out!" 'N' shouted.

As they neared their target, they saw explosions line the dark skies. Upon further inspection, they saw that the explosions were targeted on SR and Slingshot.

"Okay 'M', we've got several winged formless, and about 20 enemy boogies (cool, air force talk). There are also a couple of star cruisers (sp?), which do you want?"

"Well 'N', it'll be like plucking birds out of the sky. I got the winged formless and the star cruisers. Besides, our friends can help me." he replied.

"So you're leaving me with 20 to one, jet on jet combat?"

"You know you what to."

'N' smirked, "You got that right. Hey guys, need a little assistance?"

Their comrades looked over. "About time." shout Slingshot, "SR (he stop calling him Prototype a while back) and I were wondering where the welcome committee was, or is this the Skeleton King's 'welcome on get lost' party, 'N'."

The female pilot smirked, "A little of both. Now let's get this over with."

Within the next 20 minutes, all enemies were destoryed except 6 jets. 'N' was on the other side of the battle zone from the others.

" 'N', we've gotta move." called 'M', a small screen popping up showing his helmeted head. (Her helmet is yellow with flames on it, his is orange with brown arrows on each side) Though she was wearing a helmet, 'M' could 'see' the smirk appear on her face, "I know that smirk. Don't you dare do what I think you're gonna do."

'N's jet shot forward at full speed, hitting the red before even getting to her targets. She shot two lasers, effectively blowing two up. Then a blade appeared on top of her ship, slicing another enemy in half. The remaining three pursued her toward a very narrow canyon. Suddenly, both of 'N''s engines cut off. Her enemies shot passed her. When they turned around, their numbers were reduced to two by 'N's blade.

As they neared the small ravine, her teammates got edgy. They silently prayed that she pulled up while 'N' whispered, "Sprx, guys, you're gonna to love this." At the last second 'N' made a risky move and went sideways through the ridge. One enemy made it through, but the other blew up trying. Now one on one, the enemy was determined to destroy its target, but once it came out from the ravine, it was greeted by two of 'N's rockets.

Back at Base

"Geez Nova. Do you need to do that every time!" exclaimed Mandarin as he, Nova and Slingshot walked into the command center. The Super Robot was being repaired and Jinmay was uploading the information he had for her. When the three walked in, Jinmay looked up as they continued their conversation.

"Yea, why?" asked Nova.

Mandarin shook his head, "Jinmay was right, you are all the hyper force members rolled into one."

"Is... that a problem?"

Mandarin mumbled something like, "Yea, you change your mood so often it's like you're PMSing."

"What was that?" Nova asked in a threatening tone.

"Nothing, Nothing.' he cowered.

It was then Slingshot spoke up, "So what has happened here? I see that Mandarin is looking much better since the last time I saw him. Anything interesting happened while we were gone?"

Silence.

"Yea, something happened." Mandarin frowned as he said this. Slingshot was confused.

Nova sighed, It's seems as though Mandarin now has a twin."

"Come again?" asked Slingshot.

"SK made an exact clone of him, the skeleton version of him."

"How did you find out?"

Mandarin said, "It's not a very...um...happy tale. It happened about two and a half weeks ago."

/Flashback/

Nova was by the river in the canyon, meditating (she can float like Antauri now). She was collecting her thoughts on everything that had happened. Then a rustle in the bushes behind her caught her attention.

"Who's there?" she asked.

"It's just me." said a familiar, yet unfamiliar voice.

"Mandarin. What are you doing here? I told you to stay until the engines were fixed."

"But I'm not the same Mandarin." said the voice, as a figure pounced at Nova, sending her into the water. As she tried to sit up, the figure landed on her stomach. Her head was above the water and she saw the face of her attacker, "YOU!"

It was Skeledarin (Skeleton Mandarin, the one from the inside of the Skeleton King Worm)"So good of you to remember me, since you were the one who stopped me from destroying the boy, but I guess it was better for my master to have the honors of destroying him as well as my worthless brothers. And now he has given me the honors of destroying you."

With that, he grabbed her neck and forced her head under the water. Nova held her breath as long as she could, but she soon felt the need for oxygen burning her lungs. Right when she released her breath she thought it was over, but she felt the weight on her stomach disappeared and someone pulled her up. She gasped for air, refilling her starving lungs.

"Are you okay?" Pink met brown. It was the real Mandarin.

"Yea, Thanks for the save." she said, once she regained her breath, "Why are you here?"

"Jinmay wanted me to find you, we got a message from the Double S (Slingshot and SR) information team."

"Well, you couldn't have come at a better time." she said.

"And now I can destroy you both."

They turned and saw Skeledarin, "Nova, am I looking in a mirror, a really ugly mirror."

"Yes, you are. Skeledarin here has tried to kill the team many times, but has failed every time. And all this time I thought you were destroyed with the Worm."

"No, I live on, serving my master to destroy you." He pounced at them.

/End Falshback/

"We did beat him, but he got away." said Nova.

"Unfortunately, I didn't get to punch his daylights out. But I do want to thank him. If he had not replaced me, I never would have realized that I was wrong all this time and that I had been hurting my family all this time." piped Mandarin.

"Okay, anything else?" asked Slingshot.

"Well," started Nova, "actually yea, Jinmay's a human."

(needle scratch)

"WHAT?" shouted Slingshot.

"I'm human." said Jinmay, finally coming into the conversation.

"It seems as though Jinmay was the granddaughter of Dr. Takeuchi." Nova stated.

"Really?" asked Slingshot.

"Yea, we found some of the Dr's notes and one was designed after his grandaughter. And when she got into an accident in the lab, he transfered her spirit into the robotic body until her human body could heal. Then when an evil spirit tried to take her over, he sent her away until he contacted her. Unfortunately, SK got ahold of her and wiped her memories clean. Good news, she's back in her fully healed body with all her memories." Mandarin said.

"Wow, a lot has happened since we left."

'BEEP BEEP'

"Nova, the energy flux is back!" cried Jinmay.

"Get a lock on it, quickly." Nova shouted as Jinmay and Mandarin typed furiously to lock on to the target.

"Got it!" said Mandarin. That's when it happened. Nova felt pain erupt from her stomach. She fell to her knees as a pair of fire wings flashed on her back, spikes appeared on her back, her toes became talons, her tail turned into a dragon tail, fangs seemed to grow from her mouth, and her eyes flashed to that of pheonix eyes. Everything seemed to be transparent. The flux disappeared and like before, Nova returned to normal. She was panted and sweat was rolling down her fur.

"Nova, are you alright?" asked Slingshot, kneeling down next to her.

"I'm fine, do you get a lock?"

"Yes." A map appeared, showing the flux's place of origin.

"That place looks familiar. Mandarin pack your bags, we leave first thing in the morning." said Nova, "Jinmay you stay here and get ready for Slingshot and SR's departure. Slingshot, I want you and SR to do your normal routine once we return, then I need you to relay the information you feel nessecary to the other planets. Got it?"

Everyone nodded and headed off.

That night

Nova and Mandarin went to bed early to get an early start. Unfortunately, Nova was having a nightmare.

/Nova's Dream/

She was in a lab of some sort and she was proceeding down a hallway. She saw some lights in one of the rooms, so she entered it. Looking at her hands, Nova realized she was see-through, no one could see her.

"Strange." she said.

Then voices came from the opposite side of the room. Turning, Nova saw Skeleton King and Skeledarin (it's such a wierd name, but it's a weird name for a weird person...monkey.) In front of them were five capsules.

"Master, the tests have been run again and again, their power can not be found in this state of a coma."

"Very well. Mandarin, send them to the other stations. Keep these two together, it with be entertaining when they wake."

"Yes sir. What shall we do about the rebellious one?"

"We will first control the ones we have now and then send them against her. She has defied me long enough. Time to teach her a lesson she will never forget."

Moving out of the way, Nova got a full view of what was in the capsules. She gasped. It couldn't be, it just couldn't.

It was her friends, Antauri, Sprx, Gibson, Otto, and Chiro. The world around her shattered and she fell into a deep abyss.

/End Dream/

Nova shot up in her bed, panting. A knock was heard on her door.

"Come in."

It was Mandarin, "Come on, Nov. It's time to go. You okay?"

"Yay, just a bad dream. Nothing to worry about."

Later

The two monkeys were traveling through the dense jungle of the Zone of Wasted Years.

"We're closing in." said Mandarin, "It came for here."

They stopped in front of a oddly shaped structure.

Nova was shocked, "It's the Alchemist's lab."

"Beg you pardon?"

"This is where we were created. After Antauri gave up his first body, the others and I followed Chiro here."

Silence.

"Come on, 'Rin. We've gotta get to the bottom of this."

"Right."

They searched the whole place for the energy source, but came up empty handed.

"Nothing." Mandarin growled in frustration. "What are we even looking for? It's not like whatever we're looking for is gonna pop out in front of us."

While he was rambling, Nova went to a computer and wiped the dust off of the panel. There was a hand print on it. As if drawn to it, Nova placed her hand on it. The computer came to life. Mandarin came up next to her, silenced by what she had done. The Alchemist's face came up on the screen.

"I fear this will be my last entry, but I must get it done for the sake of my creations. My monkey team is now complete, but I fear something will happen to them in the future after they find the Chosen One. I have reasons to believe that some of my evil has transfered to my monkey team leader, Mandarin, but I have faith that, even if he does turn evil, one of the others will bring him back. But what frightens me the most is a vision I have seen. In the future, my evil self shall destroy most of my monkeys. I believe they will be the black Antauri, red SPRX-77, blue Mr. Hal Gibson, and green Otto. Their colors were all I saw in my vision. But one shall survive, the only female, my dearest Nova. My greatest, yet deadliest creation. To protect her and the others, I have given her a defense machanism that shall save the team, the power to absorb the energy of any creature that is threatened with death. When she absorbs the power of any creature, she will have a piece of them within her until the body of the creature reawakens and they find the transfer gem. The gems can be found only by the creature's instincts. The defense mechanism shall activate when her heart senses the loss of all her team mates, when she realizes of the power she holds deep within her. My golden yellow monkey was given the power of the Dragon Phoenix. She has the heart of a dragon and the spirit of a phoenix. Because both are fire creatures, her temper shall be deadly. I only hope she will not lose herself to her anger. Please Nova, if you ever see this, I am sorry for the burden I have placed on you. Please control yourself, for your sake and the sake of the team. I love you."

The screen went black as the two stared.

"I can't believe this. He knew all of this would happen. Why didn't he tell us?" fumed Mandarin.

"Some things can't be changed. But what did he say about the defense mechanism, something about reawakening?" asked Nova.

"He said the power can be transferred back to the person if their body is awake and if they have the transfer gem. And only the person can find the gem. But that means..."

"They're alive." Nova whispered, tears coming to her eyes, then almost shouted, "THEY'RE ALIVE."

She grabbed Mandarin in a tight hug as he swung her around in joy. Then something occurred to her. She let Mandarin go and looked back at the screen, her face serious, "If they are alive, then where are they?"

"How are we gonna find out?" Mandarin asked.

"First we need to tell the others about this, then we need to get Rin and May." Nova stated.

"But if we need them then that means..."

"Yes, we need Dranix."

Me: I'm done. Finally, I start my college class this Thursday and then I start my Junior year of High School on Tuesday. Why is life so cruel?

Nova: Because you're cruel to us.

Me: No I'm not.

Mandarin: Yes, you are. I saw what you've got planned for us.

Me: Those are just plans. That doesn't mean I gonna use them.

(They give me evil glare)

Me: Okay, Jinmay, cue us outta here.

Jinmay: Better start running.

Me: Not again. (runs)

Jinmay: Again she is being chased. FireNova will update soon. She has the next couple of chapters written down, it's just she can't get them on the computer to update. So be patient cause patience is a vitue. READ and REVIEW. Ciao for now.