AN: Yeah, I know it's been forever since I last updated just... just leave me alone. *quietly stews in self pity*

Rating: T

Chapter 24

Half Pai

TIME: 21:30UTC+1

LOCATION: Munich, Germany

Marcel laughed sardonically and leaned against the creaky wall. "So… robotic monkeys from outer space. Can't really say that I saw this one coming."

"To be honest, I would be surprised if you had," Antauri responded, a polite smile on his face as he gazed out at the rainstorm roaring outside.

"I imagine it's not something most people would consider." Marcel sighed lightly.

The seven of them had fled to a nearby maintenance shed, a rather large thing that held all manner of landscaping tools, for shelter from both the weather and any further attackers. He and the young boy, Chiro, carried his roommate's limp form the whole way. The silver monkey… robot… thing, named Antauri, had explained what he could to him, of which Marcel would later admit he understood little.

Chiro emerged that moment from a backroom where they had set down Gibson, his attention immediately turning to Marcel.

"You know, you really shouldn't be here,' Chiro said matter-of-factly. "You should -"

"What? Go home and pretend that none of this ever happened?" He snorted, folding his hands behind his head. "Yeah. Fat fuckin' chance kid."

"This isn't a game; you saw what that formless did to Gibson," Sprx said, who was playing the role of guard at the shed's entrance. He turned to glare at him with pure black eyes Marcel found unnerving.

"Even more reason to stick around," Marcel shrugged.

Otto looked at him with confusion. "You aren't scared?"

Marcel laughed. It was faked, of course; he was actually scared shitless, but he wasn't going to let that on. "What can I say? I'm a thrill seeker. Besides, I can't leave Gibson alone with you guys. How do I know you're being honest? For all I know you could be some kind of intergalactic bounty hunters trying to bring him in for money."

"Are you deaf or something?" Sprx exclaimed. "This isn't some movie, kid. You could die, ya hear me?"

"And strangely, I don't really care." Marcel folded his arms. "You're not gonna scare me off."

Sprx turned to Antauri. "I say we knock him out and leave with Gibson."

The door to the back room swung open.

"What's the matter, Sprx? Don't like getting a taste of your own medicine?"

It was hard to believe, but Marcel knew that voice anywhere. "Holy shit! Is that really you, Gibson?"

The little blue monkey cyborg bowed politely in front of him, a smug, knowing smile on his face that Marcel knew could only belong to his roommate.

"Yes, one Dr. Hal Gibson at your service, Marcel," said a Gibson. "It's a pleasure to meet you with my faculties restored."

"Ha, my college roommate is now a blue cyborg monkey doctor from outer space!" Marcel laughed. "Either I've dropped some serious acid or this is the weirdest day anyone on Earth has ever had."

"Joking aside Marcel, you should listen to Sprx," continued Gibson.

Marcel tried to speak up but Gibson shook his head. "This is far too dangerous for you to be joining us."

"What? No, dude, I'm not just gonna leave this alone!"

"Leave or I'll make you leave." Everyone looked back at the door Gibson had emerged from; standing in the frame was the yellow monkey, Nova. To be honest, she was the only one of them who actually scared Marcel; the others all seemed pretty much okay, but there was something unnerving about her.

"Nova, there is no need for violence," Antauri said in a calming, reassuring tone that made Marcel think of one of his old school counsellors.

Nova looked over at the silver monkey, Marcel noted that the dim light made her eyes look an angry red rather than pink. "I'm not gonna let someone get killed on our watch Antauri."

"Well, beating him up isn't the way to do that." Chiro stepped forward so he was standing between Marcel and her.

It was a non-sequitur, but after having the thought pop into his head Marcel had to voice it. "Do you guys need to get back to your ship?"

"Yeah, why?" Chiro asked.

Marcel grinned, overcome with pride and relief that he now had an angle to work from. "I could help if you let me come along."

"Help?" repeated Sprx. "How could you help?"

"Before we even get to that topic, where is our ship anyway?" Gibson asked.

"Well, I checked Chiro's tracker, and it says it's in Central Siberia," answered Otto.

"I suppose we should just be glad it's still summer in the northern hemisphere then," Gibson murmured.

Marcel grinned further, knowing that he now had a near sure way in. "How do you guys expect to get all the way to Siberia? Pretty sure you can't walk from here."

"We'll catch a plane," Nova countered.

"Hah, good luck finding one," Marcel carefully inched away from Nova. "Central Siberia isn't exactly the vacation hot spot of the year."

"I'd like to see you think of something better, a-hole," said Sprx

"Actually, he probably can," Gibson sighed.

"Wha'd ya mean, Gibson?" asked Otto.

Marcel took out his cell phone, silently hoping it had survived his trip in the river. "Let's just say I didn't get into this university because of my stellar grades."

"So that's our plan!" Jinmay hissed, partially out of annoyance at the repeated bumps, but mostly at the current state of affairs.

Hyun Jae raised an eyebrow as she sat next to her on the bus, an old, banged up thing. It probably should have been retired a few years ago in Jinmay's opinion.

"You've got a better one?" Hyun Jae asked

"Yeah, I sneak past security!"

Hyun Jae rolled her eyes. "Oh yes, sneak past the dozens of cameras and a multitude of armed guards, both of which are often strategically placed at chokepoints. Look, if we had a better plan available I'd gladly take it. But seeing as you have no passport, or even a way of identifying yourself, and I really don't know where I'd go to get a forgery, this is our only choice."

"How fast will this thing be flying?" Jinmay asked

"About 800 kilometers per hour at minimum; can you fly that fast?" What frustrated most Jinmay the most about Hyun Jae was how she acted like a condescending parent, never smiling when proving her wrong, just a straight face, although Jinmay was sure it hid a satisfied grin.

"No…" Jinmay sighed as she rested her head back against the lumpy seat back, her mind unable to come up with possible alternatives. "The cargo hold it is."

"I just wish we had figured this out before I ordered two tickets," said Hyun Jae. "I don't need to spend any more money and getting a refund isn't really possible."

"Well, is there anything else you can do with an unused plane ticket?" Jinmay didn't really care at this point if Hyun Jae lost some money, but then again the girl was financing the trip.

"Give it to me?" A small voice answered from behind.

TIME:15:45 UTC+12

LOCATION: Wellington, New Zealand

Jinmay sat silently on the bench outside the airport entrance, right where the bus dropped them off. Although everyone else on the bus quickly made their way inside after they arrived, Jinmay was forced to wait while… affairs were being dealt with.

"No, no, no, no." Hyun Jae shook her head violently, almost as if in denial about the current situation.

"But-"

"No." Hyun Jae glared at the interrupting girl, obviously holding herself back from launching herself at the blonde who had secretly tailed them to the airport.

"Why not?" Ally asked stubbornly, to which even Jinmay found herself annoyed by.

Hyun Jae sputtered, obviously trying to narrow down the list of reasons why this was wrong. "Because… kidnapping!"

"But I want to come with you!" Ally insisted, almost whining really.

"You are twelve!" Hyun Jae exclaimed; it was at this point that Jinmay started to notice the large amount of watching eyes.

"So?"

Just as Hyun Jae was about to explode, Jinmay intervened; grabbing the Korean girls arm. "Um, you're kind of causing a scene."

Hyun Jae blushed, obviously embarrassed, and proceeded to drag Jinmay and Ally away from the main entrance to a less traffic heavy area.

"C'mon, just let me tag along!" begged Ally. "I promise I won't be any trouble!"

"No, I know your brother did not just… just…" Hyun Jae seemed to be lost, her unfamiliarity with English language finally seeming to catch up with her, not that Jinmay could be all too sure, the language thing still confused her, but she supposed she might as well help.

"Change his mind?" Jinmay finished

"Yes, thank you," said Hyun Jae. "In fact, just translate for me, because I'm way too pissed to bother with English."

Hyun Jae started ranting with Jinmay repeating after her. "Alright, you aren't coming with us because you're still a minor and even if you want to come it's still considered a crime! I am refusing to be responsible for someone who thinks that this is going to be a fun little trip around the world when two people are already dead!"

Jinmay did not repeat the last part.

"Wait what?" she rounded on Hyun Jae.

"Crap," Hyun Jae murmured.

"What do you mean, two people are already dead?" Jinmay exclaimed, trying not to shout and attract attention.

Hyun Jae crossed her arms and averted her gaze. "I didn't want to tell you because I knew you'd just panic."

"Oh!" Jinmay threw her arms up in disbelief. "So that makes it okay to lie to me?"

"First of all, I never lied to you," Hyun Jae stated. "Secondly, neither of them fit the profile."

Jinmay's face scrunched up in confusion. "Profile?"

"Neither of them were people with global amnesia. But the girl who went missing has both of those, just like Antauri and Otto."

"What's the girl's name?" She asked anxiously, hoping desperately that it was who she thought it was.

"Nova."

Jinmay sighed in relief, leaning back against the wall. "Thank Shuggazoom."

Before she could truly relax or think the events over, the two were interrupted.

"Um, if you two are done, can we go catch our flight?" Ally said.

"You are not coming!" Hyun Jae exclaimed.

All was silent for a few moments until Ally shrugged dismissively. "Okay then."

"…Okay?" Jinmay repeated uncertainly.

"Yeah, I have to go home anyways and post that little video to YouTube," Ally said, waving her cell phone in her face.

"What?" Hyun Jae exclaimed.

Jinmay was, meanwhile, confused, although she knew that Ally was up to something.

Ally looked up from her cell, wide-eyed innocent. "Hmm? Oh yeah, nothing big, it's just that whenever I see something cool, like Jinmay's whole presentation for us, I flip out my phone, ya' know."

Hyun Jae glared at the twelve-year-old. "You wouldn't."

"Well I'll have trouble getting to my computer if I'm on a plane flying away from here," Ally grinned mischievously.

Jinmay looked over at Hyun Jae hoping that she had some idea as to what to do, who herself quickly looked back at her before staring back at Ally and sighing dejectedly.

"Let's just go,' mumbled Hyun Jae.

"Woohoo!" cried Ally.

Hyun Jae began trudging off back to the main area, while the other two followed. "Fucking brat." She muttered.

LOCATION: Munich, Germany

Sprx approached Nova, who was still standing away from the rest of the group.

"So, are we gonna talk or not?" he asked.

"I…" Nova looked over at her other four team members who were still discussing things with Marcel while simultaneously keeping watch of the shed entrance. "Alright, but not here, not in front of everyone."

The two made their way to the back room of the shed, but not before Sprx realized that Antauri was looking at the two of them. Before the red simian could say anything, Antauri gave an understanding nod and went back to conversing with the others.

In the back room there was a small bench and a set of lockers, and what Sprx figured was the entrance to a small bathroom. Apparently it was where the workers got ready for the day and judging by the smell Sprx figured they weren't particularly obsessed with keeping the area clean.

The two sat down on the wooden bench.

"So… what happened?" Sprx asked. "What did Mandarin do?"

Nova opened her mouth but promptly closed it, obviously having trouble trying to find what to say.

Sprx of course had already assumed the worse before the conversation had started. "Did, did he try and make a move on you? Is that it? I mean, I know he's always been a sicko and -"

Nova shook her head violently. "No! No, Sprx, do you really think I'd have let him?"

"No, I mean, not let him but-"

Nova cast her gaze downward. "It wasn't what he did to me."

Sprx remained silent. Nova's grip on the bench began to tense, her strength cracking the wood.

"Do you think that I would care if he did something to me? I choose to do this Sprx! I joined the team knowing there were risks! And he…" She laughed a small, sad laugh, "was the type of person I was supposed to protect, that I swore I would protect. But…I couldn't, I failed."

"Nova, what happened?" Sprx whispered.

"He killed him. Mandarin murdered my friend right in front of me. And I…" Nova's head drooped as she used her hands to wipe at tears that never came.

"Nova."

"Don't apologize, Sprx-"

Nova froze at the touch, not honestly expecting it. Sprx hugged her close, not knowing what else to do.

The two stayed there like that for about a minute, neither saying a word nor moving an inch.

It was Nova who ended it, shrugging off the arms encircling her. "…just help me do our jobs and stop him.