Here's the next chapter! I...don't really have much to say about this one, so...Hope you enjoy!

Stepping out from under the shadows of the trees, Sprx stretched his arms and sighed loudly. "Finally!" he exclaimed. "I thought we'd never get out of that forest!"

"Oh please…" Nova retorted as she stepped out and stood behind him. "What's the matter, Sprx? Can't handle a little walk?"

"It's not that. When we were heading through there earlier to find the kid, we were in a hurry so it didn't take as long to get through the forest. But trying to get back…It felt like we were walking forever!" The red monkey turned to Chiro as he and Kalli came out into the clearing. "I can't believe you actually walked all that way for two hours…"

The young leader shrugged a little. "Actually, I kinda liked walking through the forest. But I gotta say…it didn't take as long to get to the mountain as it did to get back here."

"Perhaps the reason it took so long was because we had to stop many times along the way," Antauri stated as he and Gibson reached where the others stood.

"Sorry," Kalli said softly. "It's been a while since I've done anything, let alone walked through the forest…"

"Yeah Antauri," the boy added in her defense. "She's not used to everything yet. Give her a break, okay?"

The silver monkey said nothing in reply.

Turning back to the girl, Chiro offered her his hand. "Anyway, c'mon."

Hesitating slightly, she was about to reach for his hand when she looked up at the area before her. "Whoa!" she said as her eyes widened. Pointing forward, she asked, "What is that?"

Following the direction she was indicating, Chiro looked at what she was point at before smiling a little. "Oh, that's just the Super Robot," he replied. "That's how we got here in the first place."

"Oh really? So it's a ship or something?"

"Eh heh…" The leader rubbed the back of his head. "Actually…trying to explain exactly what the Super Robot is could be kinda complicated." He offered his hand to her once again. "But I'll let ya look around, if you want."

Kalli smiled a little and nodded as she took his hand, and the two of them headed towards the robot while Sprx and Nova followed.

"So what do you think of her?" Gibson asked softly as he and Antauri remained standing before the forest.

"I cannot say for certain yet," the second-in-command replied. "But I did sense something strange in the cave….In any case, all we can do for now is keep a close eye on her."

The blue monkey nodded slightly. "Right." Watching as the other began tohead afterthe others back towards the Super Robot, he was about to follow when he noticed that someone was still missing. With a sigh, he turned back towards the forest and looked upwards at the trees.

"Otto!" he called. "Would you please get down here?"

The leaves of the tree closest to him rustled a little. Then the mechanic's voice replied, "But this is fun!"

"Just what are you doing up there anyway?"

"…Swinging…"

The chief of science sighed softly, rubbing a throbbing spot on his forehead. "Otto…" he said, trying to keep down the agitation in his voice as much as possible, "we really don't have time for this…"

Otto's head suddenly poked out from amongst the foliage, a pout set on his features. "That's just it though!" he whined. "We never really ever have any time for fun!"

"That's not…entirely true. We have fun sometimes…."

"Yeah, right before something blows up or something."

Gibson couldn't help but frown a little as he watched the mechanic carefully. He had never really seen the other appear so upset before. Normally Otto was always the cheerful one among them and could find some kind of small enjoyment out of everything they did, no matter how serious the situation. To see the other act this way was a little strange in his mind. It didn't really fit Otto's personality, at least compared to what he was used to.

"Just come on down, Otto. We'll…erm…play a game or something later."

The green monkey looked at him curiously. "You promise?"

And he wasn't sure if he had winced or not. For him to actually promise something like that…it felt so beneath the stature of his character. But then again, wasn't he one of the ones playing tag and running through the grass on all fours just a few hours prior? "Yes, I promise…" he finally said. "Now will you please come down?"

With a grin, Otto nodded and jumped out of the tree, landing on his feet beside the blue monkey. "Okay!" he said happily. "But you better keep your promise!"

Gibson sighed softly. "Yes, yes…let's go…"

Still grinning, the mechanic marched along after the other to rejoin the rest of the team across the river and stand at the base of the hill where the Super Robot stood.

Kalli stared up at the machine, her golden eyes wide. "It's so big…" she marveled softly.

Chiro smiled a little. "Yeah…I guess it is. But when you've been around the Robot for as long as I have, you kinda forget that sometimes."

"So you've been everywhere inside that thing?"

"Um…well…maybe not everywhere. But I've been through most of the Robot…I think."

The girl giggled softly, turning to look at the boy. "I see. Well, I still think that's pretty cool. How long does it take to explore it?"

"It depends…When you've got someone who knows where they're going, it probably won't take a really long time…You wanna see?"

Antauri frowned as he stood behind the two and listened to their conversation. He didn't mind too much that Chiro wanted to show this strange girl, whom they really knew nothing about in the first place, around the Super Robot. What really bothered him was that the teen wasn't even thinking of discussing the idea with the rest of the team. Though the boy was their leader, he still needed to consult decisions that could affect them all. Not only was the Super Robot their mode of transportation back to Shuggazoom, it was part of their home.

He felt a small wave of relief when he heard the girl reply, "Maybe a little later, Chiro."

The leader frowned a little, but then shrugged. "Really? How come?"

"Well…" The girl looked away from boy towards the hill. "You see…my village used to be here…"

"Your village?" Chiro repeated.

Kalli nodded slightly. "Yeah. Just around the hill. There used to be so many people living here, laughing and working, taking care of the land. But now…it's just so empty. I don't feel like…there's any one of my people left."

Chiro and Antauri exchanged brief glances with each other before they both turned back to the girl. "When we landed, I sensed no other presences here," the silver monkey said softly. "All I could sense was you, and even then I was uncertain of who or what you were."

The girl frowned deeply, her golden eyes focusing on the ground below. "What could have happened to my village?" she wondered aloud. Then, her eyes widened as she looked back up at the hill. "Unless…"

"Unless…what?" the leader asked softly.

"It's…a long story."

Watching her for a moment, the boy then turned to look at his teammates. The robotic simians returned his gaze with curious ones of their own, and he knew that they were all wondering about the story as well. Turning back to her, he said softly, "Well…we've got time right now."

Facing the Hyperforce, Kalli studied them carefully with scrutinizing golden eyes, as if trying to decide whether they were trustworthy enough to learn of her history. After a silent minute, she nodded slightly. "All right," she said softly.

The girl motioned for the others to sit down in the field, trying to gather her thoughts to explain her story to them. Crossing her arms over her torso, she inhaled deeply before letting it out slowly as she closed her eyes to visualize all she was going to say. "The planet Verdane…" she finally began softly, "has always been a planet of beauty and peace. My people lived off the land, but only took what they needed in order to survive. We always did what we could to take care of the plants and animals around us, and we were careful to not destroy anything if we could help it. We were at peace here with our land, and we were all very happy.

"Then one day, this…sorcerer came to our village. He told us that he had traveled the galaxies learning and developing his magic, and it had come time for him to finally find a successor to his knowledge. He said that he had come to Verdane because he had felt a strong potential for magic, and he sought to teach that person all that he knew. He stayed for a few days, watching and talking with us, learning more about us to find who it was that possessed the ability to learn his ways. The next thing I knew, he was asking my parents if there was any place where we could go so he could teach me with no distractions.

"The sorcerer took me to the mountain at the edge of the forest where you found me, and in that cave we lived for a few weeks. I did all that I could, and I tried my hardest to learn everything he was trying to teach me. But no matter how much I learned, he just wasn't satisfied. He kept pushing me to do better, to learn faster…I couldn't keep up with all of it. He got angry at me…I guess because he spent all that time looking for someone to take his place, and the one that he found couldn't handle it.

"But I'm not really sure what happened after that. I remember…one day, after I had messed up another spell, he got really frustrated with me. I mean, really frustrated. I had never seen anyone so angry before. The sorcerer was never really a nice person, but I had never seen him act like that until that day. He went back to town, still angry and demanding that there must have been someone else who could do magic. Then he…started to attack my people…"

Kalli paused, inhaling deeply as she bowed her head and wiped her eyes. Letting out a trembling sigh, she slowly continued. "I did my best to stop him…but I was still no good at magic, and so he beat me…so easily. I don't know why, but he locked me and my powers away in the orb that you found me in…After that, I've been waiting for someone to come and free me." Turning to Chiro, she smiled slightly. "I've been waiting…for you…"

The boy felt his face become increasingly hot. Chuckling softly, he rubbed the back of his neck. "I…um…You don't really think you were…waiting for me, were you?"

She smiled a little. "Maybe. I mean, I don't know how long I spent in there, calling and hoping that someone could hear me. I thought I'd be in there forever until you came along." Smile fading, the girl looked up at the sky and sighed softly, pushing back strands of her ebony hair as a gentle wind blew it towards her face. "I just wish…I knew what could have happened to my village."

Watching her for a moment, Chiro frowned slightly. Then suddenly, an idea came to him and he grinned. "I know! Why don't we help you find your people?"

He felt six pairs of eyes focused on him. "What?" six voices asked.

Taking Kalli's hand, the leader then turned to the five monkeys. "We can help Kalli find her people! I mean, I'm sure it'll be easier if we help her than if she was looking by herself."

"But Chiro," Nova said, "we were all looking for a while, and we didn't find anything, remember?"

"That's right," Gibson added. "Nearly two hours of searching, and we couldn't find a trace of anyone…"

"But what if they're all hiding?" Otto asked softly.

"Yeah!" The teen flashed a thankful smile at the mechanic before turning back to the others. "Maybe they're just hidden away somewhere, like Kalli was. If we search the whole planet, maybe we can find something…"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Sprx, said, shaping a 't' with his hands. "Time out! The whole planet? Are you crazy, kid? That could take forever!"

"And besides," Kalli said, turning to the boy, "even if you searched the whole planet, what if you don't find anyone from my village?"

The leader paused for a moment, placing a hand to his chin while he thought. Turning back to her, he then said, "If…we don't find your people…then we can take you back to our planet!"

The monkeys' eyes widened slightly, and they all exchanged uncertain glances.

"Back…to your planet?" the girl repeated softly, unable to grasp at the notion.

Chiro nodded, a smile still on his face. "Yeah! Shuggazoom is a really cool place. I mean, it's nothing like this place, but it's still pretty cool. I really think you'd learn to like it."

"You'd…you'd really take me to live on your home planet with you?" she asked.

"Sure. I mean…if you wanna go, that is."

"Chiro…" Antauri said sternly before the sorceress could answer, "may I speak to you privately for a moment?"

Looking at the silver monkey, the teen blinked slightly. He glanced at Kalli and the other monkeys who all shared his curious expression before following his second-in-command away from the group. Watching the other float in front of him, he soon found himself standing in the short-grass field.

After a moment of silence, Antauri turned to the boy. "Are you sure this is a wise idea, Chiro?" he asked softly.

"What do you mean?"

"We've just met Kalli, after all, and we really know little about her."

The leader frowned slightly. "We know enough, Antauri. I mean, she was locked away by some sorcerer, and she's just trying to find her family and her village. She's all alone on her home planet, and we need to help her anyway we can."

"But to search the entire planet for her people? Just as Sprx had stated, that could take an extensive amount of time. And if we find none of her people, we'll be taking her back to Shuggazoom with us?"

"Well, we can't just leave her by herself, or not do anything for her! We need to do something, right?"

The silver monkey nodded slightly. "I agree, we should do something. But is what you've decided to do the right course of action?"

Scratching the back of his head, the teen frowned and looked at the other. "Well, I think so…But c'mon, don't you trust me, Antauri?"

"Of course I trust you, Chiro…" the robotic simian replied.

"Then don't worry so much, okay?" The boy grinned a little. "I'm sure everything will turn out okay."

And Antauri watched as his leader headed back around the hill towards the group. When he was gone, the monkey sighed softly. "Of course I trust you, Chiro…" he repeated softly. "However, I'm having trouble trusting her…"

"Oh…I'm sorry to hear that."

Slightly startled, he turned and came face-to-face with the young sorceress. In return, Kalli simply smiled as she held her hands behind her back. "I told the others that I was going to take a little walk," she said as she slowly approached him, "and I couldn't help but overhear you."

Antauri said nothing and simply watched her with impassive cerulean eyes. Part of him knew that he should apologize for what he had said, but for some reason he couldn't bring himself to.

All he did was watch as she slowly walked up to him, standing only a few feet away from the spot where he hovered. "Anyway," she continued, "you don't seem to like me much, do you…Antauri was it?"

The silver monkey nodded slightly. "Forgive me," he said quietly, "if anything I said or did offended you. I merely wish to watch over Chiro and my teammates and makes sure nothing goes wrong."

"I understand," Kalli said, returning the nod. "It must seem weird that I kind of appear out of nowhere. And with the story I told it makes me seem even weirder, I'm sure."

"The power…I sensed before," Antauri said, still watching the sorceress, "is what really concerned me. And as you were telling us your story, I had to assume that the power I sensed was yours."

"That's true. It was most likely my power that you were sensing."

Antauri frowned deeply. When he had felt the pain that passed through Chiro, he had felt a cold and dark power, filled with hatred and rage. And when he had first set eyes on the girl, he knew that there was something very strange about her. There was simply something about her that he didn't trust.

"What is it exactly that you want?" he asked softly.

He watched her smile slightly, letting her hands fall to her sides. But the smile wasn't the same innocent, friendly one that she had always shown them. This look felt much different. "I'm not sure what you mean, Antauri," Kalli replied sweetly. But he could hear the insincerity in her tone.

And he jumped slightly when she suddenly petted him on the head. "You know, you're a cute monkey," she said, smiling once again. "And you're very sweet, wanting to protect your friends. It's very…noble of you."

Without another word, Kalli turned and headed away, humming softly and skipping away. But as he watched her go, Antauri placed a hand on his chest. When the girl had placed her hand on his head, he had felt something…troubling. He had felt as though…his very soul had trembled.

TBC

What'd you all think? Please review and let me know (though no flames if you can help it)!