Chiro and the rest of the team ran onto the shoulder all ready for a fight but Chiro's aggression quickly turned to a blush.
"JinMay!" He called, hugging the young girl tightly.
"Hi, Chiro!" Jinmay smiled, hugging Chiro back resulting in a painful hiss. "Are you okay?" She asked then gasped when she got a good look at the team.
Chiro's nose and cheek was bruised along with multiple rope burns. Nova had bandages on her cheek, her shoulder clearly wrapped up along with her stomach. Antauri was one big bandage across his chest and also had a bruise on his cheek. Sparx had a cut on his face by his ear, and his knee was tightly bandaged. Otto wasn't even wearing a shirt to hide the thick bandages on his stomach and arms. Then there was Gibson who had his head bandaged.
"What happened?!" She gasped looking over them all frantically.
"One of our bad guys surprised us. Don't worry about it, though. We're all okay." Chiro said.
"You guys look like you were thrown into a woodchucker." She said, touching Chiro's face.
"Come on, let's go inside." Chiro smiled softly.
"So where have you been, Jinmay?" Nova asked, smiling at the girl as they all made their way into the robot.
"So many places." Jinmay smiled, "I've seen so much like large Ninja Cats, Pigs on Motorcycles and Dogs who own people!" She sighed, "And it was actually the Dogs who told me my first clue about my family." She purred.
"Really?!" Chiro asked, his eyes wide. "Have you found them?"
"No, I was told they were last seen 3 years ago looking for their lost daughter, they went the other way though so I decided to stop and visit before I went there." She smiled.
"Well, it's very nice to see you again." Antauri said. "Even if we're not exactly in the best of shape."
"No kidding." She said, then looked at Chiro and smiled.
Chiro blushed then giggled, "Wanna go out on a date?" He asked before he thought about it both of them blushing and Nova going "AWWWW" in the background.
"Y-yeah, um… I-I mean, sure." Jinmay said, blushing bright red as Chiro rubbed the back of his neck.
Antauri smiled, "Keep your communicator on incase you run into trouble." He said, "And stay close. We don't know if…" He hesitated and looked at Otto before finishing, "If he is still here."
"He?" Jinmay asked.
"Yeah, when we got beat up, the bad guy kinda got away." Chiro explained, the two of them walking out of the robot and making their way outside. "He was a brother gone bad… he tried to kill Otto years ago and came to take them all out yesterday. He used me to get to them."
"What kind of a brother does that?!" Jinmay asked, obviously now fully worried about the team.
"One who wants to rule Shuggazoom and kill anybody who tries to stop him." Chiro sighed, "Point is though until we know for sure that he's gone though we're going 'buddy systems' and stuff. Honestly if I weren't with you somebody else would be. None of us are allowed to leave the robot alone." He sighed.
"Wow… well… at least you guys can stop him if he comes back, right?"
Chiro wanted to say yes, but instead he sighed, "Honestly… I'm not sure."
"Well, weren't you guys winning when you fought him?"
"No, actually we were getting our butts kicked."
Jinmay was quiet for a while, obviously trying to process what she had just been told. She was snapped out of it though when Chiro took her hand softly.
"A lot has happen since you a good thing is that I survived thanks to your swimming lesson." He laughed.
"That one swimming lesson that went terrible?" She said with a laugh.
"Yeah."
"It really helped you?"
"Yeah… when Mandarin had me hostage I broke free and we were on a sub I only had to swim a few feet but it was in the ocean. If you hadn't told me how to stay afloat I could have drowned." He said, with a soft smile.
"Well, I'm glad I could help you." Jinmay said, kissing Chiro's cheek. "Maybe I could help you some more in the future."
Chiro smiled, "I'd like that. I'd like that a lot."
Antauri watched the monitors, looking for any sign of Mandarin. If he could find him, they could watch him and perhaps they could find a weakness to use against him. So far though it looked that Mandarin left, they had checked where Chiro said he was being kept and there was nothing, no trace of where he had been kept. If he was gone though Antauri knew it wouldn't be for long.
"Hey, Antauri." Otto said, coming into the room. "Find anything?"
"No, I suspect that Mandarin has left." Antauri said.
Otto relaxed, but not completely. He knew that it was only a matter of time before Mandarin came back, too.
"Okay. Is there anything you need me to do?"
"Yes." Antauri said, kissing Otto's head protectively, "Relax."
"I-I did. Kinda." Otto said, blushing softly.
"Kinda isn't enough, I can feel sadness and worry coming off you in waves. Why don't you go cook or build, you enjoy that."
"Yeah… most of the time." Otto sighed.
Antauri smiled, "Would you like to accompany me into town? I am out of snacks."
"Yeah… maybe I'll find something I can use in something." Otto said with a small smirk.
"Maybe." Antauri said. "Let's go."
"Okay. Lemme try and put on a shirt." Otto said, leaving the room.
Antauri nodded softly, then sighed. He remembered how hard it had been for Otto the first time Mandarin had left; he had no idea how long it would take for him to heal from it this time. Physical wounds would only be a few days unlike the last time, which he hoped would allow him to heal faster mentally.
"Ready!" Otto said.
"Alright." Antauri said with a slight smile as he fixed Otto's tank top. "Then let's go."
The two boys made their way into town and Mandarin seemed forgotten by the green eyed brother as he excitedly went from booth to booth with hearts in his eyes. He loved junk, but what Antauri saw as junk Otto often saw as pieces to a puzzle that just needed to be put together. He loved to fix things, and Antauri felt that maybe by fixing things it was a way to fix himself. The more Otto look the more stuff he wanted, and Antauri couldn't argue with him so he just gave into the boys demands buying him almost everything he wanted just so that smile could stay longer, even if only just a few minutes longer.
"Antauri?" Otto asked a few hours later as they walked back towards the robot.
"Yes Otto?"
"Thanks." He said.
Antauri smiled, "No problem."
"Wow." Jinmay said swallowing some of her hamburger, "Sounds like this Mandarin guy is a real jerk."
"No kidding, and he kept calling me 'pet' I mean there's creepy and then there's super creepy, he's one of the ones that goes on the super creepy list."
Jinmay nodded, "Is that how you got those bruises on your neck?" Jinmay asked pointing to the dark bruises and Chiro frowned, touching it softly.
"Huh? O-oh, no." He said, it had been over a week since Krinkle did that but still the fading bruises were still there and still made him nervous. "A guy named Krinkle did that." He said, "He looked like a big fan to the rest of the team, but turns out he was kinda just stalking us. Don't worry though he shouldn't cause any more troubles. I hope."
Jinmay's green eyes softened, "Sounds like you've had a rough few weeks."
"Thats putting it mildly." He sighed, sliding down in his seat. "So how long are you going to stay?"
"A few days I hope, but if you need me to stay longer I can." She offered.
"As great as that sounds I know you need to find where you came from, and I shouldn't stand in the way of that." He grinned, "Just make sure that if you ever run into any problems that you call us, we'll always go help you. You're part of the family."
Jinmay blushed and nodded, "Thanks Chiro."
Otto sat in his chair in the main room, puzzling out what he could make with everything he had as Antauri watched the screens again.
"Hey buddy." Sparx said, patting Otto's back, "What's with Antauri?"
"I think he's worried about Chiro." Otto said softly, "He keeps spying on the shop he and Jinmay are at."
"Huh. Yeah, I guess after what the kid told us I'd be mega-worried too." Sparx said, crossing his arms.
Otto nodded. "Yeah... you know what the worse part is, though? Gibson looked up information he could find on Chiro's parents, and according to what he found three weeks before Chiro found us his parents just vanished off the face of the earth. Meaning that if they're not dead they could easily still be on this planet and could go after Chiro again." Otto sighed. "Who does that stuff to a kid?" Otto said, curling in a sad ball.
"Really, really messed-up-in-the-head people. Like Manda- I-I mean-"
"Like Mandarin. It's okay. You can say it, you guys don't have to walk on glass around me. I'm not a kid anymore and I know that he betrayed me." Otto pushed his hair out of his face. "Mandarin is bad and I just have to deal with that fact."
"Yeah, but… you were the closest to him. I mean, you almost went with him." Sparx said, rubbing the back of his neck. "We just, um… don't want to make it any harder for you. Y'know?"
Otto nodded and smiled, "Well I have a new leader now, and he's my best friend now. I'll follow Chiro. Mandarin is no longer my leader, no longer my friend, he's a traitor who hurt my family and if he comes back I won't hesitate. Not again."
Sparx nodded, softly rubbing his arm. "Well, um… I-I'm here if you need me, okay?"
"Thanks, Sparx." He said.
"Hey, um… could you make me a yo-yo?"
Otto smiled, "Sure thing, buddy."
"So that all happened?" Jinmay asked Chiro sadly, who nodded.
"Yeah, until yesterday nobody knew but now the entire team knows what they did. I figured I'd feel better if you heard it from me than anybody else. I come from a bad family… Meaning I wasn't made to be a Hero, I'm fighting all my DNA to fight for good and be like how I want instead of being like… like him." He said, slurping some of his milkshake.
"What happened to your parents?"
"Honestly? I have no idea. I saw them pack up to go camping and… they just never came back." He said, "But I don't mind. I mean I have a new family now and as long as I try to be like them instead of my real family I should be good… right?"
"Well, why not just try to be you? I mean, you're good. Even though you came from a bad place and bad people, you're a good person."
Chiro shrugged, "How do I know who I am?" He said sadly.
"Well just follow your instincts and just do what you want, and what you feel is right. Don't think about it too hard and just be you. And I have to say, you're pretty great." She said, kissing his head softly.
Chiro blushed, but he was still scared of who he was. What if his instincts were bad? What if he ended up just like Mandarin?
Chiro opened his mouth to speak but quickly jumped when thunder boomed outside. The two turned and looked as it began to softly rain outside. "We should go back to the Robot." He said.
"Good idea." Jinmay smiled, the two holding hands as they walked back to the robot, glad to see that the water wasn't rising on the ground, making them figure it would be just a normal rain storm, not like when they first met.
"So, is there anything special you want to do while you're visiting?" Chiro asked.
"Why don't we go to the beach?" She smiled, "I mean I know you won't be swimming but it's supposed to be hot tomorrow we might as well try to enjoy it."
"Well… I think if you're there then maybe I could get in the water." Chiro said with a blush as he rubbed the back of his neck.
Jinmay smiled, "Now don't push yourself."
The two made their way into the Robot where Antauri was waiting smiling when he saw the two wet from the rain but safe all the same.
"Jinmay why don't you go see if Nova has any clothes you can borrow." Antauri said, and Jinmay nodded and walked away, leaving the two boys alone.
"Did you have a good date Chiro?"
Chiro blushed but nodded, "Yeah, It's nice having Jinmay here. She wants to go to the beach tomorrow, you gonna come?"
"Of course, we all could use a break out of the robot after what has all happened lately." Antauri said, "But for now you and I need to go for Meditation Practice."
Chiro nodded softly, as the two then made their way into the meditation room.
"Nova?" Jinmay asked, making Nova look up from where she was sprawled on the bed.
"Hey, Jinmay! What's up?"
"Antauri told me to come see if I can borrow some dry clothes." She said with a soft blush.
"Oh, sure!" Nova said, hopping out of bed excitedly. "I don't really have very many skirts or dresses but you're more than welcome to borrow what I have." Nova began digging through her dresser.
Jinmay smiled as the two went through and eventually picked out white skinny jeans and a long pink t-shirt.
"There! And you'll look even cuter with something in your hair." Nova said with a wink as she began going through a box. "Chiro's gonna love this so much he won't know what to say!"
Jinmay blushed as Nova then pulled her hair into a braid with a pink bow at the bottom of it.
"Ooh, you look so much more grown-up now. Just like a little lady." Nova giggled.
Jinmay smiled softly. "I'm not sure about this." She said softly.
"Not sure about what?" Nova asked.
"About dressing up like this. I mean, I like it but what if Chiro thinks it looks stupid?"
"He won't think it looks stupid, trust me." Nova said with a smile.
Jinmay blushed and nodded softly before she pushed her hair out of her face softly. "Chiro and I are going to the beach tomorrow, will you be coming?"
"Wouldn't miss it for the world!" Nova said with a wink.
Chiro sucked in a breath, trying to relax, but everytime he closed his eyes the face of Mandarin flashed behind his lids. He made a choking sound as the images of Mandarin and Krinkle caused his voice to get caught stuck in his throat. His eyes snapped opened quickly with a gasp as he looked around, looking at Antauri whose eyes were closed softly.
"You still aren't relaxed enough." Antauri said softly, "What is it Chiro?"
"Antauri…" Chiro said then sighed, "Are you… are you afraid of anything?"
Antauri opened his stunning purple eyes looking into Chiro's baby blues. "Chiro, everybody is afraid of something, some more than others. You fear water, Nova fears judgement, and I fear the loss of somebody I care for such as yourself." Antauri said softly, "Please relax Chiro and know that whatever you're afraid of I will never let it harm you."
Chiro blushed softly getting a familiar warm fuzzy feeling he got whenever Antauri said stuff like that. The feeling that he finally belonged somewhere and that Antauri, his adoptive father, would always be there for him. And that was enough to make his heart stop racing and let him slip into his meditative state.
As long as Antauri was with him Chiro knew nothing would be able to hurt him.
After an hour of meditation Chiro and Antauri called it a day and made their way into the main room where Chiro stopped as his face warmed up at the sight of the girl of his dreams.
Jinmay was standing talking to Nova who was explaining how their gloves work. Jinmay's hair was pulled in a long braid with a bow at the end, she was wearing a long pink t-shirt that seemed to fit more like a dress, tight white skinny jeans, and her classic pink boots. The sight of the girl smiling talking and this new look on her made his heart skip a beat.
"Chiro?" Antauri said, "You're staring."
Chiro blushed and quickly looked away from Jinmay but he caught himself glancing towards her a few more times before he finally sucked in a breath and walked over to the girl. "Hi Jinmay." He said, blushing softly.
"Oh! Hi Chiro, how was training?"
"Good. It was good." he said shyly, "I like your hair." He said, "And your outfit." He said, his face blushing darker and darker with every word he spoke. He hated being so awkward around Jinmay but at the same time he knew practice made perfect.
Jinmay giggled, "Thank you Chiro."
"Dinner's done!" Otto called from the kitchen, "I hope you guys like tacos!"
"Always." Chiro said as he and the rest of the team made their way into the kitchen sitting around the table Chiro at one end with Jinmay to his left and Nova to his right while Antauri was at the other end of the table with Gibson, and Sparx to his right and Otto to his left
"So Jinmay how long are you going to be in town?" Antauri wondered as the food was passed to each person so they could get their meal.
"A few days, maybe a week." She smiled, "I hope you guys don't mind."
"Of course not." Nova smiled.
"You are always welcome." Antauri told her.
"Yeah." Chiro grinned, "We love having you around. You can have my bed while you're here, I'll crash on the couch in Otto's room."
"Really?" Jinmay asked with a smile, "Thanks Chiro."
"So we're going to the beach tomorrow?" Nova spoke up.
"Yeah, I mean if you guys wanna come." Chiro smiled.
"The beach?! I'm in!" Otto said.
"Same, I could use some specimens for study." Chirped Gibson.
"Wouldn't miss it kid." Sparx said, "Any chance to see you embarrass yourself." He teased as he got a kick to the shins from Nova from under the table. "Ow! What?!"
Chiro blushed but nodded, "Then it's decided, first thing in the morning we go to the beach!"
More nightmares came for Chiro again that night, these ones seemed about the day ahead. Nightmares about drowning, getting pulled under the water, or getting pulled out to sea and no matter how hard he tried he just couldn't make it back to the sand. All night these plagued him and by morning he felt more ready to go to sleep than he had when he went to bed in the first place.
Luckily though Otto was oblivious to Chiro's nightmares so he didn't have to worry about to many questions from him once the dirty blonde woke up.
"Morning Chiro." Otto said, as he sat up in bed, his long hair, which normally lived in a low ponytail, was now flying around his head like a sea monster. "How'd you sleep?"
"Good." Chiro smiled, folding his blanket and putting it on the couch with a smile, "Thanks for letting me crash in here, I know I kinda threw you under the bus last night."
"No problem Chiro! It's like a sleep over! I like sleep overs!"
Chiro laughed softly and nodded before he grabbed the swimsuit he had ready on the end of the couch. "I'm going to get changed, can I use your bathroom?"
"Have at it!" Otto said, as he started digging around for his own swim suit.
Chiro nodded then walked into the bathroom closing the door behind him. Not surprising Otto's bathroom was just about as dirty as his room, but his bathroom seemed to have more oil and grease from his inventions and his constant tinkering. The smell of the oil made Chiro dizzy but decided the quicker he got changed the quicker that would be over and he wouldn't have to worry about it anymore. He slipped out of his pajamas picking the cleanest place in the bathroom to lay them down before he slipped into his orange and white Swim trunks and a white tanktop.
After a moment he grabbed his pajamas and then made his way out of the bathroom and back into Otto's room where the older boy had just finished getting dressed in his green trunks with black palm trees all over them. Otto looked at Chiro and smiled before the two of them then went into the main room where the rest of the team were slowly coming in.
Antauri for once had his hair pulled in a short nubby ponytail and was wearing a black pair of swim trunks with a grey t-shirt.
Sparx was wearing a pair of red trunks with black stitching and no shirt, which allowed him to check out his muscles and show off to Nova who in reply just rolled her eyes at the brother.
Nova was wearing a black bikini with her hair pulled up in it's casual high ponytail her bangs falling in her eyes.
Gibson looked like himself but instead of the dark jeans he usually wore he was wearing dark blue swimming trunks and his white shirt.
Then there was Jinmay who was wearing a pink, purple and white swimsuit with shorts for bottoms and a matching top, she also had pink and purple sandals and like yesterday her hair was in a braid but this time the bow wasn't there.
"You look good." Chiro said to Jinmay when she walked over to him.
"You too." She smiled, "Are you excited to go to the beach?"
Chiro smiled, "Yeah." He said which while he was nervous about being by the water again he was excited, after all the fights they had been in a nice day at the beach would be nice, even if he was just sitting on the beach playing in the sand.
"Then why aren't we gone yet?!" Otto said, obviously excited to get going.
"Because we have to make sure that everybody has what they need." Antauri said, as Gibson reached into his beach bag, looking like a typical 'Beach Mom' as he dug through.
"Sunscreen for the kids, snacks, water, towels, a first aid kit…" He began to mumble before he smiled, "That should be everything!"
"Then let's go; let's go!"
The second they reached the beach Otto ran straight into the brisk water shuddering but he didn't mind. The rest of them ran into the water leaving Antauri, Sparx and Chiro on the beach.
"How's the water Nova!" Sparx laughed as Nova shivered.
"Why don't you come in and find out airhead." She hissed.
"Is it cold?" Chiro asked.
"A little." Jinmay laughed, "But it feels better than it did outside. Rather be cold than hot."
"Tell that to Sparx." Chiro grinned as Nova splashed the redhead, making him let out a shriek.
"Come on Chiro." Otto said running out and grabbing his hand. "Just come put your feet in."
Chiro hesitated but nodded and walked shakily to the water letting the water brush up to only his ankles.
"Come on, Chiro. I won't let anything happen to you." Otto said, leading Chiro deeper into the water.
Chiro gasped, shaking his head and backing up. "N-n-no, I'm fine." He said his entire body shaking. He had a bad feeling and the deeper he got the worse the feeling became.
"Aw, come on. Nothing's gonna happen." Otto said before swimming further out into the water.
"No thanks Otto." He said, "I'll just stay here." He smiled weakly, just the water brushing his knees made him feel like he was going to puke.
Otto was about to say something again when he gasped and started looking around fearfully.
"Otto?" Chiro called. A tense second passed by before Otto let out a scream and was yanked hard underwater. "OTTO!" He shouted.
The rest of the team instantly came over.
"Chiro, what happened?" Antauri asked quickly.
"O-Otto, something pulled him under!" He said quickly, forcing through the fear rippling through him as he went deeper the water hitting his chest. He cupped his hands around his mouth before shouting, "OTTO!" He sniffled then looked around wildly. He looked at the team before he sucked in a breath and plunged under.
Chiro looked around and glared when he saw a hole just under the surface, that had to be where Otto had gone. He shot back up above the water letting out a choking sound as he coughed out the salt water that had burned through his lungs.
"Hyper Force, suit up." He coughed as Nova pulled him out of the water.
Luckily for all of them Otto had packed everything, including their diving suits, which was actually a round disk that when put against one's chest turned into a full on diving uniform. Soon everybody, including Jinmay dove under the water all wearing white diving uniforms that clung tightly to their skin and a large helmet that didn't need an oxygen tank thanks to a oxygen recycling program turning their carbon dioxide into healthy oxygen once again.
Chiro held onto Nova's hand as they swam through the small hole they guessed Otto had been yanked through looking around. They were surprised to see that the small hole opened up into a huge cavern that seemed to go on forever.
Chiro frowned when he saw drag marks in the sand. Otto was fighting to escape from whatever had him.
"That way." Chiro said, pointing as he started trying to swim for himself which was more of a dog paddle than anything. Sparx laughed at the way he was swimming and Otto would have too but he was currently the reason he was swimming like this.
"Sparx!" Nova snapped, "Less laughing and more swimming."
"Yeah, yeah!" Sparx grumbled back at her.
'It should have been you boy!' A voice echoed in the back of Chiro's mind making him stop and look around when he saw a familiar terrifying figure. A man made of bone and pure evil.
"Skeleton King." He growled, unaware he was falling behind.
'What kind of leader let's his own friend get killed because he's too afraid to deal with the darkness himself. You're no leader you're a scared little kid who will get everybody around him killed.' Skeleton King laughed, 'You and I aren't too different Chiro, we both like putting our needs above others, and if that get's others killed. What's it to us.'
"I am nothing like you!" Chiro yelled, clenching his fist, then turning and swimming to catch up with the group. 'It can't be true! Otto can't be dead! N-not because of me… No… Otto...' He thought to himself, his heart racing as he began to swim faster.
Otto could see everything that was happening around him, but wasn't able to move. He could hardly remember what happened it went so fast. One minute he was trying to convince Chiro to go deeper in hopes to help him get over his fears the next second he felt something wrap around his ankle and he was yanked under into an underground cavern. He felt like he was going to drown then the next thing he remembered he could breathe again but was locked in a container of some kind, his hands strapped to his side by some kind of iron-strength slime that also coated his chest, legs and around his forehead keeping him completely immobilized.
He looked around the best he could and gasped when he saw he wasn't the only one down here. There were dozens of civilians from the surface all in clear purple egg cocoons like his. But they all seemed much weaker, thinner and kind of pale, as though the life was slowly being drained from their bodies by something.
Otto knew right then that he needed to get himself and everybody else out of there and soon.
The group soon saw another hole in front of them which led to another cavern.
"Ew…" Nova groaned.
"What is it?" Antauri asked.
Nova pointed to a spot on the cavern floor, where a mass of tentacles squirmed. "I've read too many horror stories to think that's good."
"I hate tentacles." Chiro mumbled as they swam deeper and glared through the darkness. They then gasped when they saw what was around them.
The walls of the cave were lined with clearish purple cocoons and inside each with a civilian from Shuggazoom. They swam from pod to pod until they found Otto, who was beginning to look exhausted.
"Team, start taking people to the surface, don't break their pods until they're on the beach." Chiro ordered, "Antauri, you and I will follow these tentacles and see where they lead."
"Um, shouldn't I go with you?" Gibson asked. "I could… analyze the creature? For future reference?"
"No, they'll need you on land to take care of the survivors until the paramedics get there." Chiro said, "Don't worry though we'll bring you a sample."
Gibson almost seemed to pout, but he swam off and grabbed a pod.
"Are you going to be alright Chiro?" Antauri asked as the two swam deeper through the water.
"Alright or not I'm the leader and it's my job to protect the people of Shuggazoom, even if that means facing my fears. Now lets get this over with."
Antauri just nodded, making sure to keep an eye on Chiro.
The two swam through the water following the tentacles until they found the end of them which was a large Octopus that growled softly when it saw the two of them swimming towards it.
Chiro couldn't help but shiver. He hated anything with tentacles, and the thought of fighting this one gave him shivers. He couldn't stop though, he had to make sure that this thing didn't hurt any of his friends.
Coughing Otto clung to Nova as she pulled him out of the pod and onto the sand. He shivered violently and looked at her. "Where's Chiro?"
"He's fighting the monster with Antauri." Nova said.
"He's going to need backup." Otto said, "They need help."
"What makes you say that?"
"Cuz that thing is oozing Skeleton King ooze."
"Well, we have to focus on saving you and the rest of the pod people." Nova said. "We can't go and help them."
"I can." Jinmay said.
"What's your plan, Chiro?" Antauri asked.
"Honestly, I'm not sure." He admitted, "We need to destroy it though." He growled, as evil seemed to wave off the monster.
Antauri nodded then thought, "Maybe we should attack from both sides." Antauri said with a frown, they hadn't really fought anything this big without the super robot but they didn't have much of a choice. They couldn't get the super robot through the holes into the cave and they sent Jinmay away. They would have to fight alone.
Antauri glanced at Chiro who was shaking in fear despite how hard he tried to be brave Antauri could sense his fear, could sense he wanted to be anywhere but here. Antauri wanted to leave too, but they both knew that if they didn't stop the monster now it would likely come back to cause problems later. The sooner they defeated this monster the sooner Chiro would be able to relax, and hopefully that was before the 14 year old had a panic attack about being so deep down under water.
"Alright. Pick a side." Antauri said, softly patting Chiro's shoulder.
Chiro nodded, "I'll take the left." He said, swimming.
The monster seemed agitated by their presence but it became more aggressive the closer the two of them got to it. Growling louder and more viciously with every paddle the two boys made.
Chiro frowned. Were there any weak spots? He wasn't sure. It looked squishy enough that he could probably hurt it with his Lightning Kick and Thunder Punch, but he didn't know what it could do.
Antauri and Chiro had just made it to each side of the monster when it let out a roar swinging it's tentacles. One of the tentacles swung and wrapped around Antauri's ribs and arms while another one hit Chiro cracking his mask.
"Chiro!" Antauri called out while Chiro quickly covered his mouth and nose with his hands. As fear filled his soul to the brim. "Antauri to team! Chiro's mask is broke! We need backup! I repeat! we need back up!"
A tentacle wrapped around Chiro before the creature blew a purple bubble around Chiro. Chiro sucked in a breath of air before coughing. He was then grabbed by the inside of the bubble and strapped to the wall.
"Antauri!" He rasped, tears forming as he obviously tried to be strong, but it was also as obvious that he was terrified. He then gasped as another slime arm wrapped around his mouth keeping him quiet.
Antauri watched as the life seemed to be literally drained from the boy.
"Chiro!" Antauri yelled, struggling to get out of the tentacles he was in. Antauri tried for the longest time before he croaked as the tentacles squeeze him tighter and tighter until he felt one of his ribs snap. Antauri let out a cry, still struggling. He had to keep trying to save Chiro.
"Antauri!" Jinmay called as she appeared and did a powerful kick to the tentacle holding him.
Antauri was free soon enough. "Save Chiro!"
Jinmay shook her head as she began to grow until she was the size of the Super Robot, "No, I can handle it. You get Chiro outta here!"
Antauri didn't bother arguing as he swam over to Chiro, tugging the pod away from the creature and beginning to swim back down the tunnels they had came through.
"Chiro are you alright?" Antauri asked as they made their way towards the surface.
Chiro nodded, his color slowly coming back to his face.
The two soon broke the surface, catching the attention of the others.
"Chiro! Antauri!" Nova said, quickly going out and helping Antauri bring the pod to shore.
The second the pod was on shore Nova ripped it open and pulled Chiro out.
"I'm okay. Go back up Jinmay." He coughed loudly.
"She's a robot; she'll be fine. You come first." Nova said.
"I'm fine." He promised as he laid on the sand, trying to catch his breath.
"Gibson!" Nova called, making the genius come over.
Gibson came over from a civilian and put his stethoscope to Chiro's chest. After a moment he frowned, "He's okay he has some water in his lungs but he'll be fine in time."
"Can someone please go help Jinmay now?" Chiro grumbled, crossing his arms.
"I'm on it, kid." Sparx said as he and Otto quickly dove into the water.
"Now Chiro, just stay put while I check on all the other people." Nova said before she went and began checking on all the other civilians.
Chiro was too exhausted to even say anything as he just laid on the sand with a heavy sigh, warming his body against the warmth of the sand.
A few minutes later, Sparx and Otto surfaced again.
"Where's Jinmay?" Chiro rasped as Jinmay then surfaced, holding a piece of the squid in her hand. "Jinmay are you okay?" He asked.
"I'm fine." She said, shaking the water out of her hair. "Are you okay?"
"I'm… pretty shaken up." He admitted, "But I'll be good."
"Ooh, is that a piece of the creature?" Gibson asked excitedly as he came over.
"Yeah, I remembered you said you wanted some." Jinmay smiled softly.
"Fantastic! Well, I'll just take that from you, then." Gibson said, taking a specimen jar out of his bag.
Jinmay put it in the jar for him before she helped Chiro to his feet. "I'm going to take Chiro back to the Super Robot."
"Thank you." Antauri said, "We'll finish up here and join you shortly."
Jinmay nodded, picking Chiro up in her arms before she flew into the air and began heading to the Super Robot.
Chiro smiled at the girl who was now her normal size. "It's nice being carried and all but it's kind of embarrassing." He admitted with a shy laugh.
"Well, I'd let you fly us, but you kinda can't." Jinmay pointed out.
Chiro smiled weakly as he shuddered. His arms and legs felt like they were four-times heavier than they normally were. His head felt like it was being slammed in a door and every time he took a breath it hurt.
"Are you alright, Chiro?" Jinmay asked, noticing that Chiro didn't quite seem okay.
"I just feel exhausted." He said, his eyes slowly drifting shut. "I didn't sleep well last night…"
"You don't sleep well at all, do you?"
"No… Normally it's my fault though." He sighed, "Sorry."
"It's not your fault that you don't sleep well, Chiro. Well, unless you're staying up late or something like that." Jinmay said as she landed on the Super Robot's shoulder.
"No… I'm prone to nightmares…" He admitted as the two went inside and Chiro flopped down quickly in his chair with a exhausted huff.
"Well, do you think sleeping in the same bed as someone might help?" Jinmay asked, making both of them blush.
"U-um... It helped once when Otto and Sparx crashed in my bed with me. But I'll be okay; I just need to meditate before bed and I keep forgetting." He blushed darkly.
"Okay. Maybe you should set a timer?" Jinmay said, rubbing her arm.
Chiro smiled, "If it didn't get crazy all the time I would do that but my schedule is crazy."
"Well, do it anyway." Jinmay said. "Maybe it'll remind you to do it before bed."
"Maybe." Chiro smirked softly as the rest of the team joined them.
"I'm going to examine the monster parts in my lab. I will let you know what I find." Gibson said and Antauri nodded.
"Thank you, Gibson. Chiro, are you alright? You look quite pale."
"I'm cold but fine." He smiled. "Don't worry."
"I need a shower." Otto grumbled. "I can still feel that creep's slime all over me." He shuddered.
"Go ahead." Antauri said.
"I could use one too." Chiro said sniffing his wrist with a nose wrinkle.
He and Otto walked through the main area before making their way into the bathroom leaving Nova, Sparx, Antauri and Jinmay to talk.
"How was he? Did he tell you anything?" Antauri asked.
"While I don't like being your spy, yes… he did." Jinmay said, "He's having a hard time sleeping again." She sighed, crossing her arms softly. "I'm not sure if it was because of nightmares or because he wasn't comfortable on the couch. But if it is nightmares and he did tell you all about his past then there is something else. Probably his powers causing his senses to go crazy." Jinmay guessed softly, "I don't quite know which one it could be though. It'll be up to you to get those answers from him."
Nova nodded, "We are sorry about this Jinmay but you're the only one he'll really talk to." She admitted, "You're not only his age but you have more of a human connection than any of us do."
"Yeah, the kid trusts you more than us for some reason."
"Maybe because you're having his best friend spy on him." She pointed out, putting her hands on her hips. "He's scared of judgment and being betrayed and look what you guys are doing. You're spying on your own team leader." She said then sighed, "I'm going to take a bath." She said then walked away.
"Can she even take a bath?" Nova asked after a minute. "I mean, I know she's waterproof but I didn't know that robots needed baths."