Disclaimer: I don't own SMRTG or the characters or really anything except my OC's and the chips I'm currently eating.

Author Notes: I've returned from my trip to the Caribbean with sunburns galore and no tan (by now I'm seriously considering the fact that I'm actually an albino with darker hair), so onto chapter 5! And thank you for my reviews Riley Masters, CamaroGirl16, animefan018, Aldrea945, SleepyKoneko-nya. And once again thanks to Artisan Brown for being my Beta reader.

Rating: T

Warnings: Violence, language, OC death

.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.

Chapter 5
If you're Abel

TIME: 1 Day Later

LOCATION: Wellington, New Zealand

The engine began to sputter wildly and cough up black smoke.

"Ah no!" Otto fumbled to turn the engine off as Jeff ran in.

"Otto what the hell's going on?!" he covered his mouth to prevent breathing in more of the noxious fumes. Otto yanked the keys out of the ignition.

"I'm sorry Jeff I was just experimenting with this old eng-"

"Otto what did I say about you doing experiments?!"

Otto smiled nervously and began to fidget under Jeff's glare. "Um… never to do them unless it's on my own time outside of the shop."

"Very good Otto. Now tell me; what time is it?" Otto glanced at the clock on the garage wall.

"Noon?"

"Good. Now, where are we?"

Otto began to stammer "Th-th-the auto shop?"

"Correct. Now Otto, does either of those fit the criteria?"

"No."

"That right. Do you know what that means?" Jeff began to grin.

Oh no.

"NOOGIE TIME!" Jeff grabbed Otto and put him in a headlock, as he gave Otto the hardest noogie he had ever received.

Otto struggled and cried out "Ally, help me, please!"

The door swung open a few seconds later as the strawberry-blond ran into the room. "Otto what is it, are you…" her yell faded as she saw what was going on. "You two are so fucking immature."

Jeff immediately shot up from his 'activity.' "Hey! Watch your mouth young lady."

Alice rolled her eyes "Whatever." She stomped out of the room.

"Hey get back here!" Jeff soon ran after her, abandoning Otto.

What does that remind me of? Whenever the two of them bickered, Otto always got this strange sense of déjà vu. Maybe it's from before I had amnesia.

About two-and-a-half months ago, Otto had found himself in the hospital with complete memory loss. He could remember nothing except his first name; no last name, family members, friends, or anything. After searching missing persons cases from across the country and coming up with nothing, he had been put in an orphanage.

Otto had given up any hope of being adopted within a few days. After all, who wants to adopt a sixteen year old? But about two months ago he had decided it was time he got a job. In two years he would have to provide for himself. It wasn't long until he found Jeff, Alice, and their auto shop.

.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.

"Okay Otto, you can do this." Otto was psyching himself up outside what he hoped would be the place of his new job. Although he was extremely confident when around friends or even people he was mere acquaintances with, Otto became very nervous when he was given full independence.

Otto was and always has been by nature, a social creature, and relied upon others to supply his confidence. Because of this, his first few days at the orphanage had been extremely difficult, it wasn't until he had made connections with the kids at there that he had been able to do anything.

But there was no time to reminisce for Otto, he had made his way the front door.

"Here goes nothing."

The sign on top of the dull concrete building said 'Taylor Mechanics' imposed over the image of a wrench. The owners had place a help wanted ad in the paper just that morning, so Otto figured his chances for getting the job were pretty good. He had always been attracted to mechanics. Well, at least for the last few weeks he had, but he felt that he was the same way before his amnesia.

Otto pushed the glass door open. "Hello?" No one seemed to be present in the shop. "Hello! Is anyone here?"

He heard rustling from the back "Sorry, I'm coming!"

That's weird. That sounded like a kid.

Sure enough, about a second later a girl, who looked to be just entering puberty, rushed into the room. Upon seeing him the girl blushed.

Did I come at a bad time?

The girl decided to speak up "Oh, um, hi, how can I help you?"

"Yeah, nice to meet you, my name's Otto. Um...do you work here?"

For some reason the girl lost her blush. She put her hands on her hips. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Huh?" Okay, now I'm confused.

"Are you trying to say that I'm too young to work here?! Or is it because I'm a girl?!"

Otto was now slightly frightened by the girl. And why does this remind me of someone?

"Hey!"

Otto snapped out of his train of thought.

"Are you even listening to me?!" the girl demanded.

Before Otto could respond, a man who looked to be in his twenty's came into the room.

"Alice, quit scaring away the customers."

"But Jeff he-"

"No buts Ally." The man - Jeff, Otto reminded himself - turned towards Otto with a polite smile.

"Hi my name is Jeff, do you need our services?"

"Um, actually no, my name is Otto and I'm here..." Otto fished through his pocket and pulled out a scrap of paper which he held up. "...for your job opening."

Jeff blinked and stood, stunned, for a second. He cleared his throat "Well Otto, if you read the ad you'd know this isn't a filling job or anything like that. I need someone to do actual repairs, so I'm looking for someone older and with more experience. I'm afraid you'll have to go elsewhere if you want work."

"But I can do repairs, honest. Just give me a chance, please."

Jeff glared at him with a skeptical eye.

"Hey Jeff, how 'bout we give him a test so he can prove himself?" suggested Ally.

Otto raised an eyebrow, not that he was grateful for her intrusion. Wasn't this girl just yelling at me?

"Well how do you propose we do this Alice?" asked Jeff.

Ally gained a concentrated expression. She remained silent for a calculated period of time before speaking. "How about we get him to fix that old engine from Mr. Truman's car. He died last month right after he dropped it off, so it's not like you ever got around to fixing it, and we definitely don't need another useless piece of scrap lying around here."

Jeff hesitated. "Alright, Alice, that sounds fair. But Otto, I've gotta warn you, repairing that engine won't be easy."

Otto only smiled "Well I'll do my best."

Jeff walked Otto towards the garage, where he had the engine stored in a back corner. Well actually Otto, I really under exaggerated the state of the engine; so unless your some kind of super genius there's no way you're best will fix it.

.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.

1 hour later…

"Done!"

The engine revved to life after its long hibernation. Jeff was completely baffled. How is this possible? When I looked at it I thought right away that I would end up selling this thing as scrap! I guess he really is some sort of genius. Jeff could only smile, he had a prodigy at his disposal now.

"Well Otto, when can you start?" he asked.

"Really? I'm hired?!" Otto beamed.

"Yeah, you fixed that engine. Why wouldn't I hire you?"

Otto frowned a little and looked back towards the main part of the shop. "Well, I'm not entirely sure, but I thought that girl back there hated me."

"Oh you mean my sister?"

"That's you're sister?"

Jeff laughed. "Do you think I would've hired someone that young otherwise?"

"Yeah I guess that's true," Otto grinned.

"And between you and me," Jeff leaned in. "I think it's that time of month for her, so don't be offended."

"I HEARD THAT ASSHOLE AND IT'S NOT TRUE!" Ally screamed from the shop as a ruckus indicated she was making her way to the garage.

"Oh shit! Otto, RUN!"

.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.

Otto still remembered that day very well, especially the part when he had to hold Ally back to stop her from slugging Jeff with a wrench.

It was two months later and although they hadn't officially adopted him; after discovering he was an orphan, the siblings let him use the empty storage room as a living space.

It's great to have friends like those two.

.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.

Meanwhile, another set of two were making their way down the street. Well, to be accurate, one was going along the rooftops to avoid being seen.

Antauri signaled to Chiro to enter one of the small alleyways between the buildings as he descended into it.

"Chiro, do you feel it?"

Chiro nodded. "Yeah; one of the team's close by." He rubbed his hands together and shivered. "Wish it wasn't so cold though. I mean wasn't it summer when we left that 'Korea' place. It can't have changed that fast."

Antauri nodded "That's true, but this planet has a slight tilt to it Chiro, that means its winter here instead."

Chiro only sighed. He missed their uncomplicated Shuggazoom. "Who do you think it is?"

Antauri smirked "Well I'm not certain, but I saw something from the rooftops. Go look outside the alley, down the street."

Chiro proceeded to do so. Okay so there's what looks like a restaurant, I think that's a bank, and there's... Chiro stopped abruptly. Although he couldn't read the words on the sign, he recognized the outline of a wrench. A mechanic's shop. There was only one monkey he knew who'd make a beeline for a mechanic's shop. "Otto!"

.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.

"Jeff!" Ally called from the main shop.

Jeff looked up from the engine he was working on. "What?!"

"Someone's here to see you!"

Jeff sighed. "Otto."

Otto looked up from the magazine he was reading, 'Popular Mechanics'

"Take over for me, 'kay?

Otto hopped up from his seat. "Sure."

Jeff exited the room as Otto began to tinker with the engine.

Okay now, Jeff already took care of the oil, so what else is there? Well this camshaft looks a little rusty…

Otto reached down for some oil.

CRASH.

Otto banged his head on the hood.

"JEFF!"

Otto sprang up and dashed out of the garage.

When he entered the room he was horrified to find the front store window shattered. Jeff was lying on the floor bleeding from his side. Alice was bent over him, her own brother's blood across her hands, her eyes wild and terrified as they made eye contact.

"Ally what happened!?"

She pressed harder against the wound with what was once a white cloth. "Otto call 111! Hurry!"

.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.

"So why don't we just go in there right now?"

Antauri sighed; Chosen One or not, Chiro didn't always think ahead. "Because Chiro, I doubt Otto will be the only one there, and we don't want to cause a scene."

"…Yeah, I guess you-"

CRASH.

Both of them whirled around at the noise that had emanated from somewhere along the street. The two made their way towards the corner of the alley to glance around the corner. The street was relatively empty. They only were able to catch a glimpse of a figure fleeing from the shattered front window of the mechanic shop.

"That guy's getting away!" Chiro made to give chase before Antauri grabbed his arm.

"No Chiro, you go make sure that no one is hurt over at the shop. I will catch the criminal."

"But I thought you said we can't let anyone see you!"

"That won't be a problem Chiro, now go."

.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.

"And please hurry!" Otto hung up and made his way over to Ally and Jeff. "Is he getting better?"

Ally looked up with bloodshot eyes. "No, the bleeding won't stop." She sniffed and wiped her eyes. "Help me hold the wound okay."

As he did so they heard someone. "Hey!"

She and Otto glanced up to see a boy about her age running towards the shop.

"Is everyone okay? I heard this window smash and somebody screamed."

"No, my brother. He's bleeding really badly, that bugger stabbed him! But Otto already called 111." She glanced over at Otto and noticed he was staring at the boy who in turn was also staring.

"Otto!" Otto snapped out of his trance-like state.

"Right sorry, I'll go get the first aid kit. We should at least try to patch Jeff up before the ambulance arrives."

Otto went back in the garage where they normally kept the kit, for accidents while repairing the cars.

"You," Ally indicated. "What's your name?"

"Chiro, how can I help?"

"Okay Chiro, my name's Ally. I need you to hold down this cloth to slow down the blood flow."

Chiro knelt down and grabbed the cloth as Ally let go. "What about you?"

Ally sighed "Well someone really needs to clean up this glass before someone else gets hurt." Ally made her way towards a closet in the back as she muttered under her breath: "Stupid… had to go and get stabbed…"

.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.

Stupid, that was incredibly stupid.

A man in his mid-30's was currently making his way through the back alleys. His forearms were covered in small lacerations.

Why did I have to stab him? I'm such an idiot, now I'll never get any money from him. Not only that but the shit had the balls to dodge my stab, so I missed his heart.

There was rustling behind him, he whipped around and drew out his knife.

"Alright whose-" He stopped mid-sentence. It was just an alley cat that had brushed against some old boxes. "Dumb fuckin' cat."

He turned around to continue on his way. When he did a neon-purple hand came was thrust towards his face.

The man was unconscious the next second.

.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.

After several minutes the ambulance had finally arrived along with a small group of police. The EMT's had loaded Jeff onto a stretcher after wrapping his stab wound and the few lacerations on his back and arms from the broken glass. A few minutes before they arrived Jeff regained consciousness, but he was still pretty out of it.

"Ally remember ta' water the fish and feed the plants."

All three teens were puzzled "Doesn't he mean water the plants and feed the fish?" Chiro asked.

"We don't even own fish or plants." Ally answered.

"Well there is that cactus in the back." Otto reminded her.

"That won't need watering, genius."

Otto laughed. "Yeah I know. Hey I forgot to ask you your name!" He extended his hand to Chiro. "I'm Otto."

Chiro accepted the hand. "I'm Chiro."

Again, as before, Otto spaced out completely, out of seemingly nowhere.

Chiro knew why, but Ally was confused.

"Umm…Ot-"

"HEY KIDS!"

The three of them whipped around, Otto once again snapping out of his state. A police officer approached them.

"Name's Officer Kenny." Officer Kenny was a lithe man with hair that had begun to gray. "Which one of you called 111?"

Otto raised his hand. "I did Officer Kenny, name's Otto."

"I take it you saw the crime then?"

Otto shook his head. "No, I heard a crash and found Jeff that way with Ally. I made the call after that."

Kenny looked at Ally. "I presume you're Ally, young lady?"

Ally nodded.

"So you saw the crime?"

Ally began to twirl her hair, a nervous habit. "Yeah. I-I saw it. Jeff's my brother."

Kenny directed his attention towards Chiro. "How bout' you kid? You see anything?"

"N-No sir, I just heard the window smash and came to see if anyone was hurt."

"Okay then, Sheila," he indicated Ally. "You're going to have to come back to the station with me so we can file a report. Your friend can come too if he likes." He turned to Chiro. "You should head home kid."

"Okay, um see ya' Ally, see ya' Otto." He waved as he ran off.

"Okay you two, into my car." He waved the two teens into the backseat of his cruiser. "And I'll need you're parents numbers so I can tell um' what happened."

Ally stopped as she was about to buckle her seatbelt. "Well ya' see, Mum's kind of in the hospital, and… we don't talk about Dad."

Kenny sighed in frustration. "What about you kid?"

"Umm… I'm kind of an orphan." Otto smiled nervously.

Kenny was tempted to bang his head against the wheel. "All right ya' little anklebiters, let's head down to the hospital then. That way I can get your mum's permission and maybe ask your brother some questions when he wakes up."

.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.

Chiro had not made it a block before he was stopped by Antauri.

"Chiro!"

Chiro whirled around, was that…

"Chiro, in here."

Chiro looked into the nearest alley. Antauri was sticking his head out from behind a collection of garbage cans.

"Did everything go well?"

Chiro slumped against the alley wall. "Well, I couldn't get Otto 'cause there was too many people."

"I expected that might happen. So it was Otto?"

Chiro smiled "Definitely." Even without his name, the personality gave it away.

"How was the person who was stabbed?"

"He'll need stitches but- Hey how did you know someone was stabbed!?"

Antauri smirked. "I told you I would take care of the man running from the shop. The police should find him passed out right outside their station." His smile disappeared. "There was blood on the knife he had."

"Oh. Yeah well, like I said, stitches but the guy should be fine…So what next?"

"We need to get Otto."

Chiro thought for a moment. "The hospital!"

Antauri frowned. "Is Otto hurt?"

Chiro shook his head "No, but I'm positive he knew the guy - um, Jeff - who was stabbed. So he should be visiting him right?"

"You're probably right Chiro. The hospital it is then."

"Yeah!" His grin suddenly left him. "Um, where is the hospital?"

.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.

End Chapter 5

.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.

Abel- this refers to two people, the first is the biblical figure Abel, the first murder victim (referring to Jeff being the victim of an attempted one) and two, the first European to reach New Zealand, Abel Tasman

Camshaft- apparatus used in piston engines to operate the opening and closing of exhaust valves

111- New Zealand emergency number