Um...ok, I think I can get away with this since I didn't get any reviews the first time around...I went back and read the chapter again, and I realized that I left a lot of necessary details unmentioned regarding Tikudo and Kikaido...so yeah, I tried to fix that. I think it's better now. Enjoy chapter 8.1 folks. I own nothing except the story.
_

"Here we are, sheesh...doesn't look any better the second time." Nova scoffed as she, Gibson and Kikaido had finally managed to reach the lake of ooze, thankfully without any incident.

"Agreed." Gibson replied as he pulled out his scanner, "However I find it extremely disquieting that we haven't seen a single Mantadon or Formless since we left the Kathorian base."

"Don't say stuff like that, you'll wind up jinxing it." Kikaido said as he looked around for trouble, as if expecting it to suddenly appear after Gibson's statement.

As Gibson's scanner did its work, the blue monkey's eyes grew wider and wider as more data poured in, "This...makes no sense!"

"What is it?" Nova asked.

"If I'm to take these readings as fact, this lake of ooze is actually an unknown life form!"

"That's impossible!" Nova exclaimed.

"I concur, which is why these readings are even more strange." Gibson turned back to his scanner, "According to this, the ooze is alive...but at the same time it's not...there's simply no logical explanation for it, and no easier way to explain what I mean."

"Fascinating." Kikaido rolled his eyes, "Did that scanner of yours happen to find a way to destroy it?"

"Unfortunately no, I'll have to analyze it more extensively if I'm to...look out!" Gibson suddenly shouted as a Formless monster appeared out of nowhere and sliced at them.

"Formless!" Nova growled.

"What'd I say? Never say stuff that could make things worse!" Kikaido's chakrams appeared and flames erupted around them as he chucked them at several Formless that were immediately destroyed upon contact. "Hey, is it just me, or is that ooze moving?"

The monkeys took a moment to look down at the lake of ooze and noticed that it was actually moving towards them, "This just reached whole new levels of wrong!" Nova gagged.

"Well...analysis isn't the only way to learn things...there's also experimentation!" Gibson activated his drills and flew up to get a better vantage point. "LASER LANCE DRILL!" Gibson fired two beams of energy at the ooze, but it seemed to not even be fazed by it. "Well that wasn't very effective."

"Gibson, look out!" Nova shouted suddenly.

Gibson turned around and was greeted by a giant Mantadon that had appeared out of nowhere, and the blue monkey quickly flew up and drilled into the Mantadon's stomach which made it disintegrate, but then it was replaced by three more Mantadons. "I think we should abort the mission!"

"Like we have a choice!" Kikaido growled and sent two blasts of fire that burned through the torsos of two of Gibson's attackers while Nova punched a hole through the third one, and soon they all disappeared. Kikaido then turned around and noticed that somehow the lake of ooze had shrunken down to only a mere puddle and now was hurrying away. The red cat's eyes widened and his throat tightened in horror as he realized what was going on, "That thing is headed towards the others!"

"We can't let it reach the Kathorians!" Nova exclaimed determinedly as she flew off to try and stop it. "LADY TOMAHAWK!" Swooping down to smash the blob of ooze that was quickly retreating towards the Kathorian base, Nova found herself suddenly stunned as the ooze took a physical form and punched her down to the ground before she could make contact with her giant fists, "No way!" The creature barely had a physical form as it seemed to drip ooze from every part of its body, it had legs and arms of some kind, but it all seemed to just be a big blobby mess. What gave it away however was its glowing yellow eyes. The same eyes she'd seen on the monster inside the Skeleton Ship.

By now, Gibson and Kikaido had caught up with the yellow primate, "What is that thing?" Kikaido made a face of disgust.

Quickly getting a reading on it, Gibson gasped at the results, "Now the results I got when I scanned the lake of ooze makes some sort of sense!" Gibson pointed at the globby monster, "That creature is the same one we saw piloting that skeleton vessel, it must have the ability to reshape itself at will!"

Suddenly the monster took off running into the trees, "It's getting away!" Kikaido snarled as his flames started heating up.

"I've got a lock on it, by my calculations, it is indeed heading towards the Kathorian base...and at an increasingly fast rate!" Gibson gulped, "We must warn the others!" Activating his ear communicators, Gibson made the attempt to contact the others, "Gibson to Hyperforce, come in Hyperforce!" Gibson felt his heart start beating faster when he got no response, "Gibson to Hyperforce, come in! Chiro, Sprx, Otto?! Jinmay, Capt. Shuggazoom, do you read me?!" Gibson deactivated his communicators and looked up at Nova and Kikaido, "They're not responding, something is very wrong." he said grimly.

Kikaido didn't even bother to say anything, he simply took off into the jungle towards the Kathorian base as his breathing became very labored and he felt chills run up his spine. The fact that the monkeys weren't getting any responses from the rest of the team made Kikaido start to panic. His mind raced with all sorts of disturbing mental images: the base destroyed, carnage everywhere...his beloved Nikita and their unborn child lying dead on the ground as an angry Mantadon shredded her corpse in its instinct induced rage. His own rage grew as the mental images continued playing in his mind, and he pushed himself beyond his limits, using every ounce of power that his weapons granted him. "Hang on Nikita, I'm coming!"

Meanwhile back at the base, the Hyperforce and the Kathorians had been flushed out of their stronghold and were currently engaged in a fierce battle for survival. "CHIRO SPEARO!" Chiro formed a bolt of electricity and threw it towards one of the angry Mantadons that had cornered Sprx, Otto and Nikita, while Capt. Shuggazoom got up close and launched his own attack.

"MEGA LIGHTNING LANCE!" Extending his arm to aim, Capt. Shuggazoom fired a beam of blue energy out of his hand that destroyed the other Mantadon, "Remind me to thank Gibson about eight more times for fixing me up."

"Captain, look out!" Jinmay shouted suddenly.

Capt. Shuggazoom turned around and saw another Mantadon about to take a swing at him; using his restored reflexes, the old man dodged the attack and tossed down a ring of blue energy that sliced right through the Mantadon, "Sting Ring works too, let's see what else I got." he chuckled.

Now out of danger for the moment, Sprx and Otto continued to try and find a safe place for the pregnant lavender cat, although she was making it really difficult thanks to her constant protesting and fighting back. "Please, you must not do this, I must help them!" she begged.

"But Nikita, you have someone inside you who needs protection, don't you wanna protect it?" Otto asked as he sent several energy saws flying through the air to take down more Mantadons.

Now faced with a true moral dilemma, Nikita's locked and loaded response fell dead on her tongue. "I...suppose you're right." she finally admitted.

Otto smiled, "Really? Wow, usually I'm always wrong!"

Nikita couldn't help but giggle at that remark, but then her face suddenly contorted into one of pain, and she dropped to her knees and wrapped her arms around her stomach. "I don't feel so good."

Sprx and Otto looked at each other in concern, was it possible that she had taken a hit while they weren't looking? "What's the matter? Can you walk?" Sprx asked.

Nikita winced and slowly shook her head, "No, I can't." she gasped out. Slowly lifting her head to face the two monkeys, she managed to grunt out, "I think...the time has come."

Sprx promptly passed out, but Otto just scratched his head in confusion, "I'm not sure what you mean." the mechanic said. Suddenly though, Otto was blindsided by an attacking Mantadon, and he went flying through the air until he landed somewhere in the distance.

Nikita watched in horror as the Mantadon growled angrily at her before raising its front leg to strike a finishing blow. Nikita felt a resounding feeling of regret wash over her heart. With Sprx unconscious and the other members of her tribe and the Hyperforce being kept busy by the monster army surrounding them, she was helpless. Closing her eyes and resigning herself to her fate, Nikita braced herself for what would be the finishing blow as a lone tear escaped her eye. "Goodbye my dear Kikaido...I am so sorry."

"BURN!"

Nikita suddenly felt a wave of heat hit her, and moments later she heard an anguished roar and a bright flash from behind her closed eyelids. Slowly opening them, she felt her heart soar as she looked up at the triumphant form of her beloved husband, his back turned to her and his body engulfed in flames as he stared down where the Mantadon had just been. "Kikaido, my love...you saved me." she said weakly.

Kikaido immediately extinguished the flames and turned around and knelt down in front of his ailing wife, "Had to repay the favor, you've saved me twice." he grabbed her shoulders and looked into her eyes, "I gotta get you somewhere safe, come on!" Kikaido quickly picked up the lavender cat bridal-style and rushed over to a large rock that provided decent cover, "Stay here, someone will be here in just a few minutes to guard you...for now...I gotta help the others."

"Kikaido wait!" Unfortunately, the Felinite had already leaped back into the fray, and Nikita felt her anxiety rise as another wave of pain invaded her belly, "I need some help." she croaked.

Meanwhile, Sprx had just woken up from his shock-induced unconsciousness, and he slowly sat up and held his head, "Oh man, what happened?" Sprx gasped when he realized that he was suddenly surrounded by over ten formless, swords drawn and ready to split his skull. "Double monkey doodle."

"LADY TOMAHAWK!"

Suddenly an earthquake sent Sprx and all the Formless flying helplessly into the air, but luckily for the red monkey, he was caught by a friendly face. "Nova! Aww man, am I glad to see you!"

"You looked like you could use a hand." Nova winked, "Now come on, we gotta take out that goop monster, it's what's behind all this!"

Sprx nodded and activated his own jetpack, then he reactivated his magnets and was about to go on the attack, then his eyes widened in realization, "Nova, where's Gibson?!"

"Wha - Gibson? Gibson's helping Jinmay, why?"

"You help Jinmay, Nikita needs Gibson, now!"

"Sprx!" Before Nova could demand an explanation, Sprx had flown off to find the blue scientist, and she couldn't take off after him as she was once again being swarmed by Mantadons, "Aww great...little help here would be nice!"

"WHIRLING DESTRUCTO SAWS!"

Nova blinked and the Mantadons were gone, their bodies sliced in half by a pair of very familiar energy saws. "Thanks Otto!"

Otto gave a thumbs-up before swooping down to help a group of Kathorians who were fighting off two more Mantadons. "PSYCHO CHOPPING DOOM SPIN!"

Sprx pushed his jetpack to the limit, feeling the wind in his fur reaching uncomfortable speeds as it blew in his face. Luckily though, he finally found Gibson - as Nova said - helping Jinmay fight off an army of Formless and Mantadons. "Gibson!"

"Sprx? What's wrong?" Gibson looked up for just a moment to glance at Sprx, but soon had goo all over him as Jinmay had punched out a Formless that was about to catch him off guard.

"Sorry." she chuckled sheepishly when he narrowed his eyes at her.

"C'mon Gibson, put on your doctor's hat and follow me, Nikita needs you now!"

"Is she injured?!"

Sprx paled a little, "Uh no...but she is..." Sprx gulped down the bile building in his throat, "Giving birth."

"Surely you jest." Gibson gasped.

"Does it look like I'm kidding Brainiac?" Sprx growled in his face even as he unleashed a blast of magnetic energy to get the monsters to back off. "Now come on, Nova's coming to back up Jinmay, she'll be fine!" Sprx took off again even as he fired another blast.

"Go ahead Gibson, I'll be alright!" Jinmay nodded at the blue monkey just before doing a roundhouse kick that sent a sword-carrying Formless flying into an unsuspecting Mantadon's stomach.

Gibson stared wide-eyed for a moment before nodding back and flying off to follow Sprx. "Nova certainly did a good job training her."

Meanwhile, Kikaido was zooming around the battlefield with his flames at full strength, throwing his chakrams at any Mantadon who dared get too close to a defenseless Kathorian. Whipping his head around, he saw the last thing he ever expected to see. "No!" Kikaido leaped up in a blaze of fire, and with a loud battle-cry, he destroyed the three Mantadons that had surrounded their victim with pillars of fire that erupted from the ground underneath them.

The Kathorian that had just been rescued stared at the red Felinite with wide eyes, and their eyes locked for a moment before Kikaido nodded at him with a slight smirk before taking off again. He watched him go, and took up his sword again, stunned by what had just happened. "He saved me..." he didn't get much time to think about it however, as more Mantadons came flying from the distance. "The battle continues." he sighed.

It took a few minutes to dodge and weave their way through the crossfire, but eventually Sprx and Gibson managed to reach the rock that Nikita was leaning against in her labor-induced agony. Her head was tilted back against the rock while she breathed laboriously through her mouth, her eyes closed as she tried to mentally block out the pain. When she heard the sound of jetpacks powering down, she slowly turned her sweat-covered face towards them and gave a faint smile. "I am glad you are here." she whispered, although the sound of the battle around them drowned her out.

"Oh dear...you weren't kidding." Gibson gulped and pulled out his scanner, and it made some beeps as information started pouring in. "It's nowhere close to exact, but according to my scanner, the Kathorian reproductive system functions fairly similarly to humans." Gibson put the scanner away and gulped again. "This is not going to be an enjoyable experience."

Sprx started turning Otto's color, "I'll uh...I'll just cover you...with my back turned in the opposite direction." Sprx hopped up onto the rock and started blasting away at anything that tired to get too close, although he did cringe when he heard Nikita screech in agony. "Try to hurry, huh Gibson?" Sprx said with a queasy quiver in his voice.

"Believe me, I shall endeavor to make this as quick and painless as possible for all of us."

Sprx shook his head and gulped down the bile in his throat before refocusing his efforts on the raging battle in front of him. After frying several Formless that had started to charge towards them, he spotted the black ooze creature Nova had said was causing all the trouble. "There it is!" Sprx activated his communications, "Sprx to Hyperforce, listen up you guys! Use your sensors and lock onto my position, the cause of all this is standing about ten yards ahead of me! Either someone needs to take it on, or take my place guarding Gibson and Nikita so I can!"

"I read you Sprx!" Nova's voice came over the communicators, "I lost that gross pile of gunk after you went looking for Gibson, this time I'm gonna pound it into paste!"

"Uh, Nova? Doesn't it already kind of look like paste?" Otto asked as he sawed through a Mantadon's belly.

Nova face-palmed. "Never mind Otto, just back me up!" Nova took off towards the coordinates, and sure enough she saw the ooze monster standing there as Formless spawned from the ooze dripping off its body. "Have I mentioned how wrong that is?" Nova shook her head before swooping down with her fists held over her head. "You're not getting away this time!" With a powerful downward smash, Nova took a chunk off of where the creature's shoulder would be, but it quickly regenerated that chunk and growled at her. "Uh oh."

"Nova!" Otto flew down and chopped off the creature's arm just as it grabbed onto Nova, and the yellow monkey shivered on the ground after being released. "Are you ok?!"

"It was so...cold...I could feel the evil inside it!" Nova's eyes widened as the creature made another move to attack. "Look out Otto!"

Otto glanced over his shoulder before scooping up Nova and flying off again, barely dodging the creature's slow punch. "We can't fight it like this!"

The creature then turned its attention to the battle, and with a loud, screeching howl that caused every living thing in the area to cover its ears, the monster's Formless army changed tactics as they went and started latching on to the remaining Mantadons in the area, causing them to mutate into their much more powerful forms.

The Hyperforce and the Kathorians watched in horror as the Mantadons went through their transformations, while their enemies had greater numbers before, they had been able to hold their own because they knew the weaknesses of the Mantadons and could exploit them. Now however, the Mantadons' power was far too great and their one known weakness had been eliminated, leaving the Kathorians defenseless. "This is really bad." Jinmay gulped.

"You ain't kiddin'." Capt. Shuggazoom said with his voice wavering.

With another loud howl from the ooze monster, the enhanced Mantadons attacked in full force, blasting at the Kathorians and soundly defeating them with their energy attacks. As for Chiro, he had ducked behind a rock to try and get a grip on his thoughts, watching the mutation happen to all the Mantadons at once hadn't exactly left him thinking all too clearly. "I've gotta do something, anything!" Taking a couple of panicky breaths, Chiro gathered all of his remaining courage and leaped out from behind the rock, unleashing his most powerful Monkey Fu attack at one of the rampaging Mantadons.

Unfortunately, the attack had failed miserably, and Chiro was soon enveloped by the energy blast of the same Mantadon, shredding his clothes and sending him flying through the air until he smashed his head against a large rock. Only the Power Primate within him kept his skull from being crushed by the impact. "CHIRO!" his teammates cried, just before they were taken out by mighty slashes of the other Mantadons.

Kikaido had seen the sacrifice that Chiro had made on the tribe's behalf, and seeing him get knocked out caused his flames to burn white hot, as his irises were replaced by embers of flame due to the power coursing through him. "I'll wipe you all out!" With his sharp teeth gritted, Kikaido leaped up and literally burned a hole through one of the Mantadons, causing to explode into a globby mess.

"Yeah! Go Kikaido!" Katoro cheered on his mentor with fervor as he watched Kikaido melt the Mantadon into nothing, but his smile quickly turned into a frown as Kikaido was soon surrounded by four more ultra-strong Mantadons, and they all simultaneously blasted him with their dark energy beams. "NOOOO!" Katoro's vision blurred with tears as he saw Kikaido's flames go out almost instantly, and he dropped the Chakrams to the ground before they disappeared, and the Felinite fell forwards to the ground, unmoving, his black cloak burned to mere shreds. "Kikaido..."

"Oh dear." Gibson squeezed his eyes shut and took a moment before turning his attention back to Nikita, he'd seen what had just happened to Kikaido as well. "Where's Antauri when you need him?"

"What happened? Where is Kikaido?" Nikita strained before gasping. "Look out!"

Gibson turned around and was greeted by a Formless who was about to run him through, but it suddenly exploded into goo before it could get the attack off. Looking down, Gibson saw Katoro standing there, holding a dropped spear and his body heaving with what appeared to be fear if his eyes were to be believed. "Thank you." the blue monkey said.

"Mhmm..." Katoro nodded before dropping the spear, "Kikaido...he..."

"I know." Gibson dropped his head for a moment again before turning his attention back to the panting Nikita.

"What are we going to do?" Katoro whimpered, "I can't find anyone out there still fighting!"

"I...don't know." Gibson shook his head, "It would appear that we'll need a miracle if we're to survive this."

Just then, the creature coordinating the attack roared out once more, and all of the Mantadons flew into the sky and circled the area, charging their beams to destroy all of the remaining resistance all at once. "No, this can't be the end!" Tikudo looked around desperately, hoping to find someone capable of helping, but the members of the Hyperforce had been knocked out, and the majority of the Kathorians were either knocked out or occupied with Formless spawn. Then his eyes locked on to the creature itself, and with a rage filled war cry, Tikudo rushed forward, his sword glowing brightly with power. "For Kathori!" Tikudo raised his sword above his head and slashed down, and with an ear-piercing cry, the monster was sliced in half before it melted into a pile of useless sludge. Panting from the exertion, Tikudo held the pose he was in until he was sure the monster wouldn't get back up, then he looked into the sky and noticed that the Mantadons now appeared to be flying around wildly, and the Formless on the ground were all melting into puddles of ooze. "I did it."

"Yep, sure did."

Tikudo looked to his right and saw the source of the raspy voice was Kikaido, who was struggling to get back up. The grey cat hurried over to help his brother-in-law get back up, and once he was standing, Tikudo draped Kikaido's arm around his shoulders and supported him. "You saved my life."

"Save the mushy stuff for later." Kikaido inhaled and exhaled, "We've got a job to finish." Kikaido stumbled a moment when he freed himself from Tikudo's support, but he did manage to stay up and summon his Chakrams. "I've got Eternal Flames, you have Lionheart...together we'll destroy the Mantadons."

Tikudo looked on in awe for a moment before nodding determinedly. Then the Kathorian General lifted his sword into the sky, while Kikaido raised his chakrams up next to the glowing sword. "By the courage of the lion, cleanse this darkness with light!" The two sets of weapons started shining brighter and brighter until the whole area was enshrouded in light, and the pained roars of the Mantadons echoed everywhere as the light disintegrated them into nothingness.

"What is that bright light?!" Katoro exclaimed with his eyes shielded. Finally the light dissipated, and Katoro peeked over the rock they were hiding behind, and his eyes widened in shock. "Kikaido, he's alive!"

"Kikaido!" Nikita shouted with joy before groaning from the labor pains again. "My love, you're alright." she smiled to herself in spite of her pain.

Once the light was totally gone, Kikaido's weapons vanished once more and he fell to his knees, while Tikudo sheathed his sword and fell to one knee, both cats panting in exhaustion from the effort. "We did it Tikudo, we saved Kathori...but...how did we do that?"

"I...don't know..." Tikudo sighed before looking over to Kikaido, "I want to thank you Kikaido, I owe you my life."

Kikaido grinned tiredly and waved a hand dismissively, "Don't mention it, we're family right? It's par for the course."

Tikudo looked away for a moment before turning back to Kikaido, who was still smiling at him. "Yes. We are family, and I am sorry for not treating you as such."

"I am pleased to see that you both have set aside your differences." The two cats looked up to see Po smiling down at them. "You both utilized the powers of the sacred weapons, and worked together to save us all from a threat that surely would have destroyed us."

"He's right ya know."

Kikaido and Tikudo both turned to see Chiro and the Hyperforce - sans Gibson - walking up to them. "We were all down for the count, we woulda been goners if you two hadn't stepped up the way ya did." the Hyperforce leader said.

"What exactly happened though? There's no way they could've taken out all those Formless and Mantadons by themselves!" Sprx exclaimed.

"We didn't." Tikudo admitted, "I destroyed the monster controlling the Mantadons, and all of the skeleton creatures you call Formless were destroyed as well, and the Mantadons lost control of themselves. After that...Kikaido helped me finish off the Mantadons...I couldn't have done it without him...I'm just not sure how it worked..."

"I just wish we could've saved all these casualties." Kikaido sighed as he saw a few piles of ash that used to be Kathorians. But then his eyes widened and he quickly jumped up, only to wobble and fall back down, "Nikita, where's Nikita?!"

"Oh yeah..." Sprx started turning a little green again, "About her, s-she's ok...but..."

"But what?!"

Before Sprx could answer, he saw movement, and his eyes widened in horror, "LOOK OUT!"

Before anyone could blink, the blob that had supposedly been destroyed by Tikudo enveloped Po, who fought to rip it off of him for a few moments. "Get off of him!" Tikudo reached for his sword.

"Stop!" Nova grabbed Tikudo's paws and held him still, "What are you gonna do? Stab it?! He's underneath that gunk!"

Suddenly the resistance stopped as the ooze spread completely over Po, and the monster's yellow eyes appeared, narrowed at the group. Then the figure began to grow, and the heroes looked up in horror as the monster covering Po roared down at them in rage.

"It's using Po's body as a base!" Kikaido exclaimed. The monster slammed a giant fist down at the group, and they all did their best to dodge the attack, "How are we gonna beat this thing?!"

"I can think of one idea!" Sprx flew up with his magnets aimed at the monster, "MAGNA-TINGLER BLAST!" the shot hit dead-on, but to no effect to the beast, who merely swung its arm and sent Sprx flying off.

"Sprx!" Nova growled and flew up to punch the monster, while Otto joined her with his saws outstretched. Unfortunately, both attacks also bounced harmlessly off of the creature's chest, and it blasted the two monkeys with a beam of dark energy from its mouth that knocked them back to the ground, then it kicked the fatigued Tikudo into a large rock, knocking him out as well.

"Monkey Team!" Chiro growled and clenched his fists as the monster roared down at him, Jinmay and Capt. Shuggazoom. "Jinmay, Capt. Shuggazoom, help the others, I'll handle this!" Chiro's body was suddenly bathed in a green glow, and with a primal roar, Chiro's Inner Primate was released and became a giant extension of Chiro's will, "Alright snot rocket, let's go!"

While Chiro faced off against the monster, Jinmay grabbed Nova and Otto and rushed them to safety behind a rock while Capt. Shuggazoom grabbed Tikudo. "Nova, Otto, wake up you guys!" Jinmay exclaimed.

Nova's eyes fluttered, and the yellow monkey grabbed her head and sat up, "Ohhh...what happened?"

Then Otto came to, "Ugh...my head feels like it's being squeezed tight!"

"Where's Sprx?" Nova looked around for the red monkey, but didn't find him.

"Not sure, I'll go find him!" Jinmay got up and ran off in the direction she saw Sprx fly off in, leaving Nova and Otto with Capt. Shuggazoom and Tikudo.

Meanwhile, Chiro and the monster had exchanged several blows. "I've had just about enough from you!" the Hyperforce leader snarled, "Time to end this! MONKEY MIND SCREAM!" Chiro unleashed the full power of his Inner Primate and bombarded the monster with a powerful, energy-infused sound wave that made his opponent roar in pain, "You're finished!" Chiro leaped up and brought his fists together, but the creature managed to dodge the crushing blow and punched Chiro to the ground. Then it glared down at him and blasted him with dark energy, and Chiro cried in anguish as his Inner Primate began to flicker.

"No!" Kikaido growled and forced himself to his feet, "I've gotta do something! But what?!"

"You can do this."

Kikaido's eyes widened at the familiar voice. "The Flurry of Dancing Flames! Where are you?!"

"This is your destiny, the time has come."

Although he couldn't see the source of the encouraging words, the words had the desired effect as Kikaido glared up at the monster assaulting Chiro and tightened his paws around his Chakrams. "Alright..." his flames began to burn around him, "For Nikita, for my family! I will destroy you!" With a battle roar, Kikaido propelled himself into the air with his flames and flew right into the heart of the beast, disappearing into the ooze.

"Kikaido no!" Katoro cried.

The monster seemed unaffected, and it lifted its foot to stomp on Chiro's Inner Primate's face, but suddenly the monster grabbed its head and roared in agony. "What is going on?" Chiro asked in shock.

Before everyone's eyes, flames began to form all over the monster's form, growing more and more powerful as the seconds dragged on. After a few more moments, the creature was completely enshrouded in flames, and it suddenly exploded from its chest and completely lost its form as Kikaido landed on the ground with an unconscious Po in his grip. With its base gone and the fire still going strong, the monster shrunk down and all but disappeared, reducing itself to a seemingly lifeless pile of goo. "I...did it." Kikaido fell unconscious as well as his chakrams vanished, the exhaustion of the situation finally getting to him.

With the battle seemingly over, Chiro powered down and rushed over to the two cats, checking on their condition. While Kikaido seemed alright, Chiro's eyes widened in horror when he examined Po. "GIBSON!"

Hearing his leader's panicked cry, Gibson rushed from his current location with Nikita and scampered over to Chiro who was pointing in alarm at the Kathorian elder, "Oh no, what happened?!"

As Gibson went to work on Po, Chiro stepped back and let him work. "I dunno! He's just not breathing!"

Just then, the rest of the fighters came over to see what was going on, including Jinmay and Sprx. "Oh no! Is Po ok?!" Nova exclaimed.

"I'll know momentarily." Gibson had his scanner held over Po's head, and the readings that came in made Gibson frown. "He's still alive, but barely...I don't...think there's anything I can do." Gibson stood up with his head bowed and his eyes closed, "I'm sorry Chiro."

"No...there's...there's gotta be something you can do." the boy said pleadingly.

Gibson just shook his head and glanced up at his leader, "He has multiple internal injuries and several severe burns, it's a miracle he isn't already dead."

Suddenly, Po gave a low groan and reached up at the air, "Tikudo..."

"Po!" Chiro ran over and slid on his knees next to the dying leader, "Po, I'm so sorry! I-I couldn't think of any way to save you, I couldn't-"

"Do not...let yourself be overtaken...by guilt...young Chiro..." Po rasped, "There was...nothing you could have done..."

"Gibson, there's gotta be something!" Chiro pleaded.

"No..." Po said with a pained gulp, "There is nothing...that can be done...please, where is Tikudo? I must...speak to him...hurry..."

With a sorrowful frown, Tikudo knelt down beside the large black cat, "I am here, Great Wise One."

"My time has come...Tikudo..." Po breathed laboriously, "I want you...to know...how pleased I am...in who you have become..."

"You can't die Po, what will we do without you?"

Po somehow managed to smile, "You no longer need me here...your performance this day...has proven that you are ready to become the leader of the Kathorian tribe."

Tikudo's eyes widened in shock. "P-Po...I-I can't possibly replace you as leader."

"You are not supposed to replace-" Po suddenly started coughing violently, and Tikudo grabbed his paw and tried to offer him comfort. "My time grows short..."

"Po please...don't leave us...don't leave me..." the grey cat's eyes were actually beginning to tear up.

Po smiled once more, "Do not mourn for me Tikudo...I have lived a long life..." Po actually chuckled, "Longer than even you may realize...and..." Po weakly squeezed Tikudo's paw, "You have been...like a son to me...and your sister...as a daughter...since your parents were killed in battle...the children...I never had..."

By now everyone watching was weeping openly, even Nova who had only cried once before in her life. "There really isn't anything we can do?" she asked the blue scientist.

Gibson shook his head in sorrow. "No."

Just then, Kikaido came to, holding his head in his paw, "Oh man...what happened?" Kikaido looked over and saw Po on the ground with Tikudo holding his paw tightly, "No!" Kikaido crawled over to Po in horror, "No, no, no!" he pounded the ground with his fist with each furious declaration.

"Kikaido, do not blame yourself." Po's words got the red Felinite to stop, "My life was forfeit...not long after the creature overtook me..." Po coughed again, and his breathing grew weaker. "Tikudo, lead our tribe with courage and wisdom...I am positive you will succeed...but should you ever require help...seek out Kikaido...ask his advice...and if you find it sound...take it...you and he, are of a kind-" his voice hitched as he coughed again, "You two are the strongest members of the tribe, it is your duty...to protect everyone...to protect Nikita...and her child."

"Child?" Kikaido breathed.

"Yes..." Po reached out with his other paw, and Kikaido quickly grabbed it to save Po the effort. "My final act...as the Kathorian leader...I make you, Kikaido, truly one of us...you will be the new Kathorian general...and act as Tikudo's second-in-command..."

"I won't let you down...I swear it."

"I know you won't..." Po groaned, and his breathing became very shallow. "My time has come...Tikudo...take care of your sister...and the tribe..."

"I will..." Tikudo nodded almost like a child, "I will Po...I promise."

Po smiled. "Then my destiny...has been fulfilled...until we meet again...my sons..." Po's breathing finally stopped, and Po's paws lost their grip and fell lifelessly to the ground, signaling that the Great Wise One was dead.

Tikudo sobbed and wrapped Po's dead body in a crushing hug, "I will not fail you." Tikudo gently laid Po's body back to the ground, and got up to look at the Kathorian tribe who were all mourning the loss of their beloved leader. "Prepare the funeral party...we will begin immediately..." Tikudo's order got the Kathorians to sorrowfully begin preparing for the ceremony, and then the new leader looked over to the saddened eyes of the Hyperforce. "I want to thank you all for your efforts...and as the new leader of the Kathorians, I would like to formally invite you all to our sacred ceremony. It is off-limits to outsiders, but you all have proven yourselves more than worthy."

Wiping his eyes with his sleeve, Chiro steeled himself and stepped up to the tall Kathorian, "It would be our honor." Chiro then looked around, "Where's Kikaido?"

Suddenly a loud cry was heard, and the team rushed over to the source of the sound and saw what it was. "It's a girl." Kikaido smiled weakly up at the intruding party.

As the tiny pink child wailed in Nikita's arms, the proud yet sorrowful mother rocked her daughter in an attempt to calm her. "Though death may bring the darkness of sorrow, a new life appears to bring back the light." Nikita recited through tears.

"One of Po's teachings." Tikudo smiled slightly.

Nikita also gave a small smile and nodded at her brother. "He truly was the Great Wise One...but you will be a great leader as well, and forge your own way."

Tikudo knelt down and hugged his sister gently, tears once again falling from his eyes. "Thank you Nikita." he then looked at the tiny child in his sister's arms, "She's beautiful."

"Just like her mother." Kikaido remarked.

"What's her name?" Jinmay asked through a teary smile.

Nikita looked into Kikaido's eyes for a moment before looking back down at her newborn daughter. "She will be called Avyanna...which means 'strong and beautiful'...which is what she will grow up to be."

"No doubt." Sprx breathed.

About an hour later, the Kathorian sun had set, leaving only the moon and the flames of several torches to illuminate the night sky. The funeral for Po had been set, as his body had been laid onto a bed of dry sticks and branches, which itself was sitting on a large stone that Tikudo himself had carved out using Lionheart. Surrounding the makeshift altar were all of the Kathorians, as well as the Hyperforce, who had been given torches of their own to hold for the sake of the ceremony.

The funeral soon began, as a few Kathorians began singing a soft Gregorian chant in their native tongue, and Tikudo slowly walked up to the altar and unsheathed Lionheart, which was glowing dimly with its yellow and green colors, as if the sword itself was also mourning the loss. Then Tikudo looked over to Kikaido, who stepped up and summoned his Chakrams, and Tikudo methodically lit the tip of Lionheart on fire from the flames emitted from Eternal Flames, and then used that flame to light the branches on fire, burning Po's body further, this time though, in a showing of honor.

The chants grew louder and more intense as the flames engulfed Po's body, and Tikudo held up the sword in the moonlight for all to see before sheathing it once more and walking away wordlessly with his brother-in-law and now second-in-command Kikaido by his side. After a few moments of merely watching the flames, Tikudo and Kikaido quietly snuck off into the darkness, where they both took a moment to look each other in the eye. "Listen, Tikudo...I just want you to know...no matter what happens from here on out, I've got your back...even it means I have to kick you in the back to make you see reason sometimes...it's only because I care."

Tikudo said nothing for a few moments before responding. "I know...and for that, I thank you."

Suddenly a strange glow appeared behind them. The two cats turned, and they gasped in shock at the sight before them. There, in the form of two glowing, light blue specters, was none other than Po and the Felinite Kikaido knew as the Flurry of Dancing Flames. "No way..." Kikaido breathed. The ghosts didn't say a word, instead they just smiled at them before nodding to each other. "Are we dreaming?"

"No, you are not dreaming." the ghost of Po smiled warmly, "Aedus, your successor seems rather skeptical."

The other ghost shrugged, "Not like I spelled it out for him you know. It's kinda like a rule for us to be cryptic about certain things at first."

"This is real?" Tikudo asked.

Po nodded, "It is...I am proud of you both, you have fulfilled your destinies admirably; you are both quite worthy of your mantels as the Chosen Ones of the sacred weapons."

"Chosen Ones?" Tikudo asked.

"That's right." Aedus smirked, "See, Eternal Flames chose Kikaido back then because of his determination and willpower, just like I had when I was alive."

"And I was the Chosen wielder of Lionheart before it decided to go over to you Tikudo, for your strength and courage." Po added.

"But...if you were Lionheart's previous Chosen One, why would it leave you to come to me?"

Po smiled, "I grew too old Tikudo. While the weapon does give a certain amount of strength, eventually the body reaches a point where it simply cannot continue handling the stress of having the power flowing through it. I could not have unleashed Lionheart's true power and saved the tribe."

"True power?" Tikudo's eyes widened and he looked at Kikaido, who seemed to have come to the same conclusion, "That explains it! I knew the words I needed to use, because Lionheart put those words in my heart and mind!"

"Bingo!" Aedus smirked, "The only thing that was stopping you from accessing the sword's true power was your hatred for Eternal Flames's Chosen One. Once you got rid of those bad vibes you were giving off, Lionheart gave you its full power."

Tikudo now appeared ashamed. "I should have known better."

"It was a necessary lesson for you to learn Tikudo." Po said comfortingly, "Once you learned it, I knew you were prepared to become the new leader of the tribe, which was your destiny all along."

"And what about me? Is my mysterious destiny finally fulfilled?" Kikaido scoffed.

Aedus snickered, "Still fiery as ever." he shook his head in amusement. "Yes Kikaido, you have fulfilled your destiny. Eternal Flames chose you to save the Kathorian tribe..but now you have a new destiny."

Kikaido slouched considerably. "Greeeat. So what is it this time?"

Aedus smiled, "Protect your family at all costs. Think you can handle that?"

The red felinite smirked at the ghostly form of the original Chosen One of Eternal Flames, "Yeah, I got this."

"Good." with that said, the two ghosts turned to leave.

Tikudo reached out his paw when the ghosts turned to leave, "Wait! Please tell us, will we ever see you again?"

The two ghosts didn't respond, instead they merely faded away as if they were never there. At first the two cats slouched in disappointment, when a familiarly warm voice rang out from the darkness. "We will meet again someday, but for now, enjoy your life here and cherish and protect those you love...my sons..."

"Po..." Tikudo got down on one knee and bowed his head and closed his eyes, "I will miss you...father..." Tikudo then got up and looked Kikaido in the eye, and the red Felinite gave him a determined nod. "Let's get back to the tribe. There's much to be done." Tikudo received another nod, and they left the forest behind, as well as their respective mentors who were secretly watching them from a distance, smiling to themselves the whole time.

Later, Tikudo, Kikaido, Nikita, and the now slumbering Avyanna were all gathered in a clearing to say goodbye to the Hyperforce. "Well guys, it's certainly been one crazy experience...but thanks for helping us out." Kikaido said.

"No worries, it's what we do." Sprx replied with a two-finger salute.

"Are you gonna be alright?" Nova asked.

"We will rebuild once more, and come back stronger than before." Tikudo replied, "You have done so much for us since your first visit to Kathori, I wish there was something we could do to repay you."

"Don't worry about it." Chiro waved dismissively, "Like Sprx said, it's what we do."

"We will miss you everyone." Nikita said softly so as not to wake the sleeping child in her arms. "I hope we will meet again someday."

"So do I." Chiro smiled.

Otto walked up to Nikita, and the lavender cat smiled as she realized what Otto's intention was and knelt down. "Bye little cutie," the green mechanic whispered, "You be good for Uncle Otto!" Otto then took off a piece of his tail and handed it to Nikita. "Here...I gave this to Katoro the first time we had to leave...now I want little Avyanna to have one, ya know...to remember us by."

Nikita accepted the gift and wrapped her paw around the metal object. "Thank you."

"Say...where is Katoro? I wanted to say goodbye." Otto wondered.

Suddenly the team picked up an almost desperate panting sound, and from the darkness came young Katoro, who rested his hands on his knees after reaching them, "Don't...go...yet...please." he said in-between breaths. "I didn't want you to leave...before I got a chance to say goodbye."

Otto gave a sideways smile and hugged his friend, who happily hugged him back, "Aww, I could never leave without saying goodbye to you pal, then what kind of a friend would I be?"

Katoro looked Otto in the eye with a serious expression. "I promise, I will become a great warrior just like you guys, and I'll help protect the tribe."

"You can do whatever you set your mind to. That's what Antauri always tells me."

Katoro smiled, "That's what Po used to say too...I hope I find out my destiny soon."

"I'm sure you will."

Once final goodbyes were exchanged, the Hyperforce and the cats parted ways, as the team began the journey back to the robot. "I'm gonna miss them." Chiro said with his eyes downcast. "Just wish we could've saved Po from-" Chiro suddenly found himself knocked to the ground by an unknown assailant, but it didn't take long for the team to realize what it was.

"It's that blob again!" Capt. Shuggazoom shouted.

"Get off of him!" Sprx warmed up his magnets to fire as the creature enveloped Chiro.

Chiro struggled to get the thing off, but he soon realized that just yanking at it wouldn't work...so he crossed his arms, and unleashed a burst of pure Power Primate energy with a Monkey Fu attack that forced the monster off of him. Taking a few breaths to regain his bearings, Chiro glared at the blob that had gotten back up and glared at them, its shape somehow slightly more defined than before. "After him team, we can't let it get away!"

The Hyperforce pursued the glob through the thick foliage, but they were forced to shield their eyes once they reached a clearing, as the creature's ship was already taking off. "Get back!" Sprx shouted. The team ran in the other direction to avoid being incinerated by the propulsion system of the ship, and watched in fury as it blasted off into space once more. "I can't believe this!" the red monkey growled.

"How is that thing still alive?!" Otto exclaimed.

"We'll figure that out later! Right now, we gotta get to the Super Robot before it gets too much of a head start! Let's go!" Chiro scooped up Jinmay and activated his jetpack, and the rest of the team flew after him, "Gibson, is the homing beacon still attached to that ship?!"

Gibson pulled out his scanner, "Affirmative Chiro, the signal is still coming in strong!"

"Then we're gonna go after that thing, it won't get away with what it's done here, count on it."
_

A/N: Ok, so if you read the original version, then you probably saw so I said I wanted to leave out the "boring exposition" for the purposes of making the scene with the ghosts more powerful...then I realized...I was supposed to use them to answer important questions, like how Tikudo knew how to use Lionheart's true power and such. Well, now it's there, and I feel better about it. Also, changed the name of the Flurry of Dancing Flames, now it's Aedus, which means fire. Perfect, now I'm happy with that too. So I think that's all I needed to fix, next chapter will start a new arc, the one I'm most excited about! Reviews are much appreciated!