The plan had been to search the entire planet for Kalli's people, or at least findany clue that could explain what might have happened to them. But now he was beginning to see how difficult it would be to accomplishing that task.

"What if we disengaged the Robot?" Chiro suggested to his team after what felt like an eternity. "Then we can search the planet in the separate ships."

"We would possibly cover much more ground that way," Gibson replied as they stared at an image of the planet on the main computer screen. "With our ships, it may not take as much time as we thought it would."

"But what about the Torso Tank and the Foot Cruisers?" Otto asked. "If we use those, they might destroy the plants and animals that live here."

The teen frowned slightly, folding his arms across his torso. It was a very good point. Using the land vehicles could trample over the life that inhabited the planet. And he remembered that Kalli had mentioned that her people did whatever they could to preserve the natural land. Even if it was to find her kinfolks, he doubted that Kalli would want them to destroy her home.

"Okay, okay…" the leader said. "How about we just take the Fist Rockets and the Brain Scrambler? Since they fly, it should be okay. And we can have two to a ship…"

"What about Kalli?" Nova asked. "Are you planning on taking her with us?

Chiro opened his mouth to respond, but closed it again as a sudden thought occurred to him. It had been his original intention to bring the sorceress along to search for the people of her village since she would be the only one who could recognize anything important. But had she ever been flying in a rocket ship before? Would she be scared to fly that way in an unfamiliar spacecraft? He certainly didn't want to frighten her in any way. He still wasn't sure just how much she trusted him, and it probably wouldn't help to have her stand in a crammed vessel with him and one of the others flying at top speed over the planet.

"Maybe it'd be better if she stays here," Sprx suddenly offered, bringing their leader out of his thoughts.

"But we shouldn't leave her all alone," the boy argued, frowning as he continued to come up with a solution. "Okay, how about this: Antauri, you take the Brain Scrambler. Sprx and Gibson, take Nova and Otto with you in the Fist Rockets."

"What about you?" Antauri asked softly. "What will you do?"

"I'll stay here with Kalli, and we'll keep looking around here on foot or something. It might take a little longer to search this way, but I think it's the best way to do it for now."

"Will the two of you be all right on your own?" the silver monkey asked, more suspicious than anything.

"Yeah, we should be. Or maybe I can take my jet pack. Anyway, it might be easier to look for things that lead underground if we're close to the ground. Still, keep a lookout for anything that might be important. If you find something, make sure to contact the rest of us."

"You gonna take your own advice this time, kid?" Sprx questioned teasingly.

Chiro shot him a slight glare before turning back to the others. "There should be enough fuel and energy for you guys to search for a while, but return as soon as you can anyway."

The robotic monkeys nodded slightly.

The boy returned the nod. "Okay. Let's head out, Monkey Team."

Sprx sighed softly as his eyes carefully looked over the screen before him, scanning for anything that might be significant. "Nothing yet…" he muttered, mostly to himself than to the one behind him.

"Well, how far do you think we've gone this way?" Nova asked.

"I'm not really sure. But I'm guessing that we've been flying for about a few hours, so I'm guessing we've gotten some pretty good distance, especially at this speed."

The golden monkey groaned softly. "We've been flying that long? No wonder I'm feeling cramped."

Glancing back at her briefly, the hot shot pilot thought for a moment. Then he began pushing some of the control buttons with his tail and flipped a nearby switch.

His actions, of course, did not go unnoticed by his passenger. "What are you doing?" she asked.

He grinned a little. "Well, you just said you were feeling cramped. So I thought we could both stretch our legs a bit. Besides, maybe we'll have a little more luck finding something when we're on the ground."

"Wow Sprx…You actually had a good idea for once."

"Ha…ha…" Shooting her a slight glare, the red monkey carefully continued the slow landing in the field that he had seen on the screen. Once the Fist Rocket had touched the ground, he pushed a few more buttons with his tail and flipped a few more switches, and soon the power of the ship shut down. Removing the plug from his helmet, he turned to the other monkey. "Okay, let's get going," he said.

Seeing her nod in silent agreement, Sprx slowly led her out of the ship and found himself standing in another field that appeared very similar to the one where they had landed the Super Robot. The only difference between this field and the other field was that the grass appeared much longer, and the area was absent of any kinds of hills or trees. But the rich fragrance of the vibrant and diverse flowers, the soft and cool sensation of the grass, and the gentle warmth of the sun from overhead was all the same.

He had never really noticed things this way before. It wasn't that he wasn't interested in admiring the beauty that surrounded him (even if he acted in a way that contradicted himself). He just never really found the time to just stop and take it all in. It always seemed that there was something that they needed to do, something they needed to plan, something they had to stop in order to ensure peace in Shuggazoom and the universe. There were times that he didn't really mind too much. He rather enjoyed the daring action that followed when flying off into battle. It wasn't so much as he enjoyed actually fighting but rather the exciting rush that swept through him and aided him in the battle, such as when maneuvering the Fist Rocket through a particularly difficult area to fly through. It was the thrill that he enjoyed, and even though he preferred a world without evil, it at least gave him something to do.

There were times, though, that he felt a little overwhelmed with the things he needed to do that he was unable to drop everything and just look around him. Of course there had been moments where everything seemed to be all right and he could take things slow, but in the end it was really just the calm before the storm. Something always eventually came up, and it was back to planning, working, doing…The usual.

And he wasn't like Antauri, who was able to take notice of everything around him no matter what he was doing. He wasn't capable of feeling and sensing everything even when he was in the middle of a battle. Plans and ideas didn't come to him through meditation like it did with the silver monkey where he could also easily reflect on other things. Sprx preferred to focus on one thing at a time. Nor was he like Otto, who took notice of everything around him despite what he was doing. The friendly and playful mechanic that sometimes would drop everything he was doing, opportune time or not, in order to watch or fool around with something that happened to grab his attention. It wasn't really a bad thing to do…so long as he was focused where it really mattered.

Those two especially had always been aware of things that surrounded them, absorbed or fascinated by something that he might never had seen unless someone pointed it out to him. Because he was always busy thinking or doing something else, something that – as far as he was concerned – needed to be done. They had things they had to do, of course. Yet they always had some time to drop everything and do whatever it is they wanted to do. At least that was the way he saw it. And there were times when he was a little jealous of their ability to do that.

But here and now on this strange planet that they've landed on, something was different. It was true that they were in the middle of something that they were supposed to be doing. Yet he found himself enjoying the scenery that surrounded him. Just what was it about this place that made him feel so relaxed?

Shaking his head slightly, Sprx then turned towards the other monkey, about to suggest that they start looking around for anything. He stopped, however, when he noticed the strange look in Nova's eyes as she stared out at the environment. When they had first landed, she had seemed so excited to be there, captivated by the beauty around them as they all had been. So why did she seem so troubled now?

"Nova?" he asked softly.

She blinked rapidly before turning towards him. "What?" she asked, looking at him curiously.

"What's up? You look like you've got a lot on your mind…"

She shook her head slightly, waving her hand dismissively. "I was just thinking about something, that's all…You probably wouldn't understand."

"Why don't you try me?"

"Forget it, Sprx," she said crossly. "Let's just get going."

Watching her walk away from him, the red monkey sighed softly before hurrying to catch up with her. She was going to be stubborn about it, and he began debating on whether he should simply drop the subject or annoy her until she told him what was bothering her. Of course, if he tried to bug her about it, she may only become angrier with him without telling him what she was thinking about to begin with. Perhaps it would have been best to simply let it go.

As they were walking, however, he couldn't help but notice a certain flower as he nearly passed by it. Stopping to look at it, he blinked a little as he watched the golden petals reflect the light of the sun, giving the flower an almost shining aura around it. Glancing ahead at his teammate as she continued to walk away from him, he then carefully took the flower between his fingers, breaking it off from the rest of its stem before following her again.

As he finally drew alongside her, he cleared his throat loudly. "Hey Nova?" he said.

"What is it Sprx?"

"Um…well…" He held the flower up in front of her. "Here…"

The golden monkey blinked questioningly, stopping in her tracks as she stared at the flower that was being presented to her. "What…what's this for?" she asked.

The hot shot shrugged slightly. "I dunno…I just thought you might like it…"

She looked up at him, uncertain, before hesitantly reaching up and taking the blossom from him. "Thanks…"

He smiled a little and nodded. "Sure…and y'know…if you ever need to talk about anything…I'm here to listen."

Nova looked at him curiously, tilting her head to the side slightly. Looking down at the flower she held, she then smiled a little and looked back up at him. "Thanks Sprx," she said softly.

His smile grew into a grin. "No problem. Anyway…I guess we better get going…"

"Yeah…I guess we should…"

Otto smiled slightly as he stood amidst the flowers, inhaling their fragrances deeply before letting out a soft, content sigh. Stretching his body, he glanced back at the Fist Rocket's doorway and waited for Gibson to catch up with him.

When the chief of science finally joined him outside, the mechanic then looked around the area surrounding them. "So what are we looking for…exactly?" he asked curiously, scratching the back of his head.

"Anything that we can find…" the blue monkey replied. "Any sign of people, or perhaps an entrance to an underground chamber."

"Underground chamber? What's that for?"

"Well, weren't you the one who suggested that Kalli's people may not be detectable instantaneously?"

"Oh…yeah…" The green monkey grinned a little sheepishly.

Gibson sighed softly. "Anyway…let's start looking around here for a little bit. If we find nothing, we'll get back in the Fist Rocket and try a different location."

"Okay!" Otto answered bubbly before darting off in a random direction. He still wasn't entirely sure what he was supposed to be looking for, but he figured that he'd know it once he found it.

After bounding around for a moment, his pace slowed so that he was walking leisurely through the grass, feeling the soft blades brush against his body. His tail twitched slightly, and he found himself wanting to run once again on all fours and chase after the dragonfly that happened to flit right in front of him and hurry away in the same instance. He wanted to roll around in the grass, lie under the warm sun, and maybe even fall asleep for a while. Or perhaps even splash around in the river and see how deep or feel how cold it was. Plus, Gibson did promise him that they'd play a game later…whenever that would be.

But the green monkey knew that they were supposed to be doing something. Chiro had given them orders, after all, and he wanted to do his best to help. He had noticed how close the boy kept to the young sorceress, or how happy he seemed when he spoke with her. When they had prepared to leave, he had seen their leader already engaged in a deep conversation with the girl as the two of them headed away into the forest.

He didn't blame Chiro for his behavior at all, either. After all, they had spent such a long time in space, chasing and battling evil. And through the entire time, the boy had only him and the other monkeys to talk with and keep him company. He knew perfectly well that their leader – and their friend – enjoyed spending time with them and being among them…that he cared for them. But Otto also understood that Chiro was human, and would also want human interaction. The type of interaction that had been absent from the teen's life for quite a while. To be able to talk with another human again was obviously something that made Chiro happy, and so he wanted to do everything he could to help his friend stay that happy for a while longer, especially since they still had quite a while before they got back to Shuggazoom.

Besides, just because they were doing something important now didn't mean that he couldn't make it fun somehow.

Looking up ahead of him, the mechanic noticed a single tree standing in the clearing, casting its shadow over an empty piece of land where no grass grew. As he thought for a moment, he decided that maybe if he climbed to the top of the tree, he could perhaps look around for anything noteworthy without being too far off the ground. If there were any people nearby, he'd certainly see them from the top of a tree, and maybe he'd find something that resembled a hiding place.

As he drew closer to the tree, however, he frowned and tilted his head a little when he noticed an odd lump by the roots of the tree. Slowing to a stop, he noticed that the heap was a pile of dry leaves and twigs, and some of it seemed to be weaved together. Kneeling down in front of the mass, he frowned a little. "Looks like a nest…" he said softly to himself before looking up at the tree. "Did it fall out or somethin'?"

Looking back at the next, he frowned a little as he carefully sifted through the broken nest. But as he pushed away some of the leaves, he blinked when he saw a small sapphire sphere. It was the only whole piece amongst shattered fragments of the same type.

"An egg?" he said aloud, carefully picking up the blue orb and holding it in the palm of his hand. Looking over the egg, he saw that there were no cracks on the surface. "Looks like all the other eggs hatched already…I guess this one was a dud." He smiled a little. "Maybe I can take it as a souvenir."

He jumped slightly, however, when the egg in his hand suddenly began to move. Slightly startled, he held the object in both hands to keep from dropping it. He watched with wide onyx eyes as the egg shook and trembled slightly before a small black crack appeared on the azure shell. Then he followed the crack as it spread and grew larger, branching off into smaller cracks that marred the surface.

And soon, he watched as a small piece of the blue shell broke off, creating a hole and revealing a small, yellow point. The point seemed to feel around, pushing against another piece of the shell and making the hole bigger. More sapphire pieces fell into Otto's hands as a small, black baby bird broke through it. The ebony feathers were clumped together due to the moisture inside the egg, and its black eyes seemed to be too large for the chick to raise its head.

But he continued to watch the small bird for a few minutes, and soon it shook and cleaned itself from its pre-birth liquids and remaining pieces of shell that clung to its body. Flapping its tiny wings, the chick dried itself off so the feathers seemed to spread and cover its small body. When it had finished with its task, it looked up at the green monkey and began to chirp softly.

"Aww…!" he said, smiling as he began to stroke the chick's feathered head. "You're so cute!"

"Otto…!" he suddenly heard a voice call from behind. Turning slightly, he watched as Gibson jogged to where he was still kneeling.

"I was just about to contact you," the blue monkey said as he stopped a few feet away. "Have you found anything around here?"

"Well…" the mechanic began, glancing at the chick in his hands. Hesitantly, he then showed it to the other. "I found this…"

Gibson blinked slightly. "What is that?" he asked.

"It's a baby bird…" Otto then grinned a little. "Can I keep it?"

"And that's pretty much everything that's happened so far," Chiro said, kicking a nearby rock as he and Kalli continued to walk through the forest. They had both thought to check around the mountain where Kalli had been locked away for any clues that could tell them what happened to her people, but eventually they diverged from the path that took them to the mountain and instead were walking aimlessly in another direction.

And since the sorceress had explained to them some of her life, the leader had decided that it was only fair that he should tell her a little about his life. Plus, she had asked about it as well.

"Really?" the girl asked, looking up at him curiously. "I mean, I guess I understand since you found the Robot, you should be made leader…and as leader, it would be your responsibility to chase after your nemesis, even through space…But what's this 'Chosen One' thing?"

"That's what Antauri told me when we went up against the Skeleton King for the very first time. He said that I was the Chosen One to wield the Power Primate."

Kalli frowned a little. "Antauri told you that?"

The boy nodded slightly. "Yeah. He taught me a lot about it…and actually, he still does teach me a lot about it, since he's a master of it and all. It really helps that he's around."

The sorceress looked down at the ground she was walking on. "Antauri's…not like the other monkeys, is he?"

Glancing at the girl, Chiro flinched a little as the memory returned to his mind. It had been a while since he had thought of the event. "No…he's not," he said softly. "It's partially because of me, I guess…"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I told you about how Antauri…died that one time…And how I brought him back into the silver body that he now has, right?"

Kalli nodded slightly. "Right."

"Well, I did put him in that body, and it's a fully mechanical body. The others are part monkey at least…I mean, they're monkeys that are also part robot. But Antauri's a little different because he's all Robot. He just still looks like a monkey."

She watched him for a moment before playing with strands of her ebony hair. "And you said that Antauri's the one that's been teaching you about the Power Primate."

"Yeah. I guess I wouldn't be where I am right now if it wasn't for Antauri. He's really helped me a lot since I joined the Hyperforce."

Kalli frowned a little, breaking contact with him. "Maybe…you should be careful, Chiro."

He blinked a little as he looked at her, bemused. "What?"

"I just said…you should be careful."

"Why?"

The girl began playing with her hands slightly. "It's just….well, maybe there was a reason that you were able to free me from my confinement."

"I don't…really get what you mean."

"Things happen for a reason, right? So, there must be a reason that you were able to release me from the orb, or why it happened in this point in time."

"I…guess…"

Kalli looked up at him again with a strange look in her golden eyes, one that Chiro wasn't entirely sure of. "I just…find it a little strange that you, someone who's capable of great potential, whose life is controlled by destiny and taught to you by a "master", was able to free me, who was betrayed by my own master when he tried to teach me how to reach my potential…"

As the words replayed once again in his mind, Chiro finally began to understand what the girl was implying. "No way!" he said, shaking his head furiously. "Antauri would never do anything like that! He's taught me everything I know so that we can help fight against evil. Besides, I'm sure he knows how you feel anyway, so he'd never do that."

The girl blinked a little in surprise. "What do you mean he knows how I feel?"

"Antauri had masters too. He learned all about the Power Primate from them. But it turns out that they had been working for our enemy, Skeleton King, the whole time."

"Really?"

Chiro nodded firmly. "Yeah. So he knows what it's like to be betrayed by the one who taught you everything, and he'd never do that…"

Watching him a little, the sorceress shrugged a bit. "If you say so. But you said that Antauri was taught everything he knows by the ones who betrayed him. What if he learned of loyalty from them as well?"

"How can you say that? That's like saying that you'd become like the sorcerer who taught you!"

She shook her head slightly. "There's a difference, isn't there? I tried to learn everything the sorcerer taught me, but I wasn't able to. There was just something that I couldn't get. But you said that Antauri learned everything he knows from his masters. Wouldn't that mean that he would strive to be more like them?"

"I…um…" The boy frowned slightly, looking at the ground and trying to think before looking back up at her. "Maybe before…but now that he knows, he wouldn't…"

"Maybe he wouldn't…" Kalli said gravely. "But maybe he would…" With that, she turned away from him and continued walking through the forest.

Watching her go, Chiro rubbed the back of his neck and bit his tongue. 'Antauri'd never do something like that,' he thought, '…would he…?'

The vast cave walls echoed softly with the sound of the mechanical whirl as Antauri slowly made his way up the steps towards the altar at the top. Though the light from his helmet brightened the way, it was pale compared to the violet illumination that derived from the orb where it remained on the stone table.

When he finally reached the end of the stairs, the silver monkey shut off his helmet light and simply stared at the bright sphere that rested on its shrine with a frown set deep in his features. He watched the object's radiance that never wavered, casting away the darkness inside the confines of the mountain.

After exploring part of Verdane as he had been instructed, the second-in-command had been on the way of returning to the Super Robot – or rather, what remained of it – at the spot where they had initially landed. As he was traveling towards his destination, however, he had seen the mountain where they had first encountered Kalli…the mountain where she had been imprisoned in the orb before Chiro had set her free. And while he had initially meant to pass by it, he felt something strange pass through him. The sensation was a powerful one, and he soon found himself turning around and landing in the field that lay at the mount's base.

And as he stood at the rock altar and looked at the deep light that filled the cave, he thought he understood what the feeling was. It was the same feeling that had consumed him when he first set eyes upon the sorceress…the same feeling that only deepened when he had studied the orb before leaving the cave with the others. The light that shone at that time was the same as the light that was glowing around him now.

But if Kalli had been set free from the orb, what was left inside that allowed it to continue glowing?

He knew there was something very wrong with the girl. But the only proof he had was his own suspicions, and the feeling that he sensed around Kalli was not shared by the rest of the team. If he voiced his opinion without any proof first, the others might only write him off as paranoid.

Truthfully, he wished that he could trust her and that he was wrong about her. Yet something within told him that he could not.

Slowly, Antauri drew closer to the altar. Raising his hand, he reached to touch it. But as he did so, a string of violet lightning shot from the orb and struck at his hand. He snatched his hand back quickly and watched as a thin stream of black smoke rose from where the electricity had connected with him. The blow itself had not hurt, but the instant it hit he had felt the same terrible feeling that filled him when Kalli had placed her hand on his head. And he found himself shuddering slightly as the smoke slowly disappeared.

In that one instance, he felt oddly cold.

Taking a step away from the table, Antauri turned to head away when a strange glitter caught his eye from the base of the stone steps. As he looked towards it curiously, he saw a strange dark object lying some distance away from the staircase. On the top of the object was what appeared to be a small jade jewel that sparkled against the dark violet light.

Glancing back at the steps behind him, the silver monkey then jumped down from the top and landed at the base, a few steps away from where the object and jewel rested. The violet light continued to shine enough from him to study the object. He slowly reached out, feeling the dark entity first to determine what it was. He found that he was handling some sort of black cloth, but as he carefully tugged on the material, his eyes widened slightly at the sight of what lay under the fabric.

Bones.

Antauri jumped a few feet back, startled at the sight. Underneath the cloth were bones…the bones of what appeared to have been a single person. A person. The fabric was covering a skeleton! Placing a hand to his chest, the silver monkey tried to think. Did this person die in this cave? What had happened to him or her? And why in this cave? Was this person connected to Kalli somehow?

Looking back at the skeleton, hidden beneath the midnight sheet, he then saw the jewel once again and finally noticed the pale hand bones that tightly clutched the string attached to the jade pendant. Had the person been guarding the gem? In his mind, the gem seemed to be rather important. Slowly he reached out to take hold of it.

But he pulled back his hand as his communication signal sounded. His ear antennas extended to allow the transmission.

"Antauri?" Chiro's voice sounded from the communicator. "Where are you?"

"I…was just on my way back," he replied softly, his cobalt eyes still focused on the jade pendant.

"Oh, okay. The others are already here, and it's starting to get dark. Kalli says there's about two hours of daylight left. How far away are you?"

"Not far. I'll be there before it gets dark."

"All right. Hurry back, Antauri."

"Right." The transmission ended, and his ear antennas returned to their normal position. He lingered for a moment longer before turning and quickly heading out of the cave.

For some reason, he couldn't rid himself of the feeling that he'd be returning to the cave soon.

TBC

Huh...no author's note at the beginning of the chapter? That's a first...But I couldn't think of anything interesting to say.

Wow, that was a long chapter, wasn't it? But I got everything that I wanted to get out in this one. But yeah, I hope everything was okay. This chapter will have to last for a while, because I'm going out of town and I'm not sure how much I'll be abel to write. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it! Please review! Later!