Screams sounded through the dark. Shouts for help mingled with agonized cries, all being combined with a bloodcurdling roar that promised pain and death. The sounds grew louder and louder and when they reached its peak-

Chiro gave a cry and shot up in his bed. He was breathing heavily and sweating. Another Nightmare, another freaking nightmare. Can't I go one night without them anymore, cried the teen in his head.

Tears gathered in his eyes.

The war for Shugazoom and the universe had been going on for almost a year now and they'd lost much already. Many of Shugazoom's inhabitants were either dead or the Skeleton King's prisoners. They'd also lost quite some of their allies.

Half of the cat-warriors Neekeeta and Neetoree had brought with them had fallen already, as well as quite some of Aliana's people. Then they had lost Super Quasar, followed by Captain Shugazoom and then, not one month ago, they'd almost lost Antauri again!

He and Sprx, as well as some others, had been in a battle in the north of the city. Some prisoners had managed to flee and the heroes had tried to get them to safety. That was when Mandarin had cut down a RBLR. A quite gigantic lightning-rod that had, once up on a time, been used to gather the lightning in a storm and convert it into usable electricity.

That very lightening-rod, almost half as tall as the robot, had fallen down and directly onto the prisoners. Antauri had gone between, had somehow, while combining his Psychic-Powers and the physical strength the silver monkey had, pushed the rod just far enough away so it wouldn't harm anyone. Unfortunately, he'd gotten himself trapped underneath it. That in itself hadn't been a problem yet, but Mandarin had seen the chance and had somehow, the team still hadn't figured out how, called for a lot of lightning.

That lightning had of course hit the lightning rod, and so of course also Antauri. Mandarin hadn't let up, causing thousands of volts to burst through he silver monkeys system for many minutes before Gibson, who'd just then arrived with a group of medics, had blasted him far away. But the damage had been done already. The second in command had barely held onto consciousness while Sprx had used his magnets to remove the lightning rod.

Most of the silver monkeys circuitry had been burned to a crisp already and there was substantial damage in the robotic system, plus some strange gooey liquid had stuck together vital parts. In the end it had turned out that the heat and electricity had molten the wires that were the reason behind Antauri's fazing.

All in all, if it weren't for the fact that Antauri still needed the body to stay alive, because there was no other entirely robotic body, they probably wouldn't even have tried to repair the silver monkey.

It had seemed impossible.

Even now there were still many glitches in the second in command's system. At times strange spasms shot through him and he couldn't be conscious for more than an hour before the body needed to reboot. There was more, so much more.

Chiro sniffed loudly while he tried to hold the tears at bay. I'm not sure how much longer I can do this, thought the teen dejectedly. Taking a shuddering breath, he got up and left his room and the robot.

Looking around the cave, he saw that not many people were up and about yet. No wonder. During the 'night-hours' not many people like being out of their beds and in the cave. Chiro bit back a sob. Almost three months ago they'd lost the city to Skeleton King and had to retreat to the underground. Many of the citizens that hadn't fled before the war started had come with them.

Chiro chocked on his breath when he saw Aurora Six and Johnny Sunspot come from where they'd buried Super Quasar, Captain Shugazoom and everyone else that had died after they'd come down here. The two remaining Sun Riders visited their lost companion every day at least once, no matter how much it hurt them as well.

Seeing their lost and broken expressions finally did it. Everything that had built up in Chiro for the last year finally burst out. Tears streamed down his face and soft sobs escaped his throat, which soon became louder when he fought down the wails that wanted to burst forth as well.

Hopelessness hit the teen like a wrecking ball and he choked on his breath every now and then.

How could they ever hope to win when things looked like this? How could they continue when they had to carry so much loss? How could they all still look to him to lead the when they had lost so much because he had asked them to fight with the HyperForce? How?

Chiro didn't know how long he sat in the dirt and cried. Cried for everything that happened, everyone they lost, all the pain and all the fear. "Ch-Chiro?" His eyes felt already raw from all the crying and his throat was dry, but he couldn't find it in himself to care. He glanced up and saw the blurry form of a yellow furred robot-monkey in front of him. "Chiro…what's wrong?", asked the female softly and placed a metal-hand on his shoulder.

Chiro looked away and soon new sobs started raking his body. How could the monkeys still care so much for him considering how he screwed up as their leader? How could they continue to show him nothing but love, compassion and trust when he had caused them so much pain? How could they continue to drag an unstable fifteen year old teen around with them when they would be so much better off without him?

"Chiro? Chiro please answer me!", begged Nova now and shook him slightly. "Chiro? Chiro tell me what's wrong, please! Don't do this to me. Answer please. You can't-"

"He will not answer you Nova..."

The trembling weakness in the normally strong voice of Chiro's second in command when he cut Nova off sent another wave of despair through the teen.

"Chiro?"

"Child please."

"C'mon kid."

"Chiro?"

Otto.

Sprx.

Gibson.

Jinmay.

Why where they still here?

"You cannot bring him…back…not like this", whispered Antauri softly. "He…has given into despair…lost hope. I…I am not sure…how to restore it." The defeated tremor in his voice brought a new burst of sobs from the raven-haired teen.

"The kid's…giving up?", repeated Sprx in disbelieve. "He never gave up, why now?"

"Sprx", admonished Antauri the shouting monkey gently. "Do…not forget. He is…still a child…and this is war…it was to be expected…I only wish I could've seen it coming."

Chiro felt how Nova moved to stand in front of him and she squeezed his shoulder gently. "Chiro? Chiro please, look at me." Then teen only lowered his head more. "Oh Chiro, please. You can't give up hope. Hope is all we have left. Please, don't let go of it." Then teen only curled more into himself. He didn't want to hear it. Why should he keep on hoping? Nova saw what was going on around them. How could she still believe they would win?

"We'd need a miracle to win. It's useless", croaked the teen finally.

He felt the despair that washed through the monkeys at his words, but Nova grabbed his other shoulder and growled: "That's not true. If we believe we can win and keep out hope up, we can make miracles happen Chiro. We did it before."

The teen didn't respond. He expected the others to join in in talking to him like that, what he didn't expect, was Nova suddenly starting to sing.

(Nova – Jinmay – Nova&Jinmay/others)

Many nights we've prayed
with no proof anyone could hear.
In our hearts a hopeful song
we barely understood.

Chiro dared to glance up a little, but Nova had her eyes closed, only focusing on the soft tunes that left her lips.

Now we are not afraid,
although we know there's much to fear.
We were moving mountains long
before we knew we could.

Suddenly she opened her eyes, pink locking with sky-blue. Her eyes glowed with conviction and then Chiro saw movement. He raised his head a little higher, to see many others approaching their little gathering.

There can be miracles
when you believe.
Though hope is frail,
it's hard to kill.

Who knows what miracles
you can achieve?
When you believe,
somehow you will,
you will when you believe.

Sprx moved to stand on Nova's one side and Jinmay kneed down next to Chiro, picking up the song where Nova had left off.

In this time of fear,
when prayer so often proved in vain,
hope seemed like the summer birds,
too swiftly flown away.

She leaned against him, her arms wrapping around him. After a while, Nova joined in again and the two females sung with all their heart and soul, sparking something in the raven-haired teen with them.

Yet now I'm standing here, (Yet now I'm standing here)
my heart so full I can't explain,
seeking faith and speaking words
I never thought I'd say.

There can be miracles
when you believe.
Though hope is frail,
it's hard to kill.

More and more people appeared, gathering around the group. Chiro saw their allies as well as many inhabitants of Shugazoom.

Who knows what miracles
you can achieve?
When you believe,
somehow you will,
You will when you believe.

Ashira l'Adonai ki gaoh gaah.
Ashira l'Adonai ki gaoh gaah.

The teens head snapped to the right, to see one of the few children down here standing in front of her parents, singing softly.

Michamocha baelim Adonai.

Slowly she grew more confident and more and more children joined in the singing. Chiro felt his heart lifting a bit more and he looked around more.

Michamocha ne darbakodesh.
Nachitah v'chasd'cha am zu gaalta.
Nachitah v'chasd'cha am zu gaalta.
Ashira, ashira, ashira.

And then it happened, everyone around Chiro joined in. His head snapped to the left, to find even Antauri having joined into the song. The silver monkey caught his eyes and gave him a warm smile.

Ashira l'Adonai ki gaoh gaah.
Ashira l'Adonai ki gaoh gaah.
Michamocha baelim Adonai.
Michamocha ne darbakodesh.

Nachitah v'chasd'cha am zu gaalta.
Nachitah v'chasd'cha am zu gaalta.
Ashira, ashira, ashira.

And finally Chiro understood. There was always hope, they were just never allowed to give up. And now he joined into the song as well.

There can be miracles
when you believe.
Though hope is frail,
it's hard to kill.

Who knows what miracles
you can achieve?
When you believe,
somehow you will,
now you will.

You will when you believe.
You will when you believe.

The song ended and everyone fell silent, waiting for what Chiro would say. The teen looked around once more. Looked at the many familiar and beloved faces around him. The closest he looked at his team, his family. They all looked tired and wary, but their eyes gleamed with hope and confidence and each gave him their own sign of encouragement.

Gibson gave a soft nod, Otto grinned brightly, Sprx winked while Nova smiled warmly and Antauri gave him a small smile, his arms crossing over his chest.

Smiling back at the team, he found some of their wariness disappearing immediately, as if it had never existed. He pulled Jinmay closer, then said just two short sentences, but they conveyed everything that needed to be said.

"Thank you, all of you. Thank you for giving me hope."

I didn't want to say much at the beginning, since I belive this Story speaks for itself. If we ever get a fifth season I do hope it will never get this far.

Neither SRMTHFG nor When You Believe (Prince of Egypt) belongs to me.

Please read and Review.