Chapter 3: Monkey Business

The water was rushing up all around him. There was smoke, it choked him as he coughed on it, trying to tug his seatbelt free.

He looked around, fearful.

"Hello!?" He called out. "Someone, please!"

"Vitals are all normal. He should be waking up any moment now."

The water was rising, a large wave crashing over the car as his seatbelt was knocked loose finally.

Unfortunately, as the current started to sweep him away, further down.

Chiro was knocked around by the waves, disoriented… confused…

Where had that voice come from?

"HELLO!?"

Everything ached as he came to.

His headache was back with a vengeance as he hissed a little.

The first thing he heard was some kind of monitor. There were voices nearby, discussing something…

"So uh… that device we found with him, stopped making sound. I think the battery died."

His phone. Vaguely he wondered if it had been ringing for a while now.

Surprised it didn't die when I got electrocuted…

AsTHAT lovely thought settled in his mind, everything rushed back to him.

Monkeys.

Strange secret base in the woods.

His phone died.

Weird energy and visions.

Monkeys.

His phone died after ringing nonstop.

Mila is gonna kill me!

That was the thought that made him shoot up on the bed he was laying on with a shout.

"WHERE'S MY PHONE!?"

His shout startled the person beside his bed as they let out a yelp of surprise.

"Well, that's one way to wake up."

Chiro looked over, his eyes widening.

It was one of the monkeys… the blue one to be exact.

He looked… different now.

He was wearing an outfit, made up of a pale grey/blue tone, with a tunic, pants and a blue scarf around his neck. There were also white stripes on his cheeks.

Chiro rubbed his eyes, shaking his head.

He looked at the monkey again, his eyes widening anew.

Yep.

He was still there.

"Yes, your eyes do not deceive you." He spoke up, a chuckle escaping him.

Chiro practically deflated back onto the table he was on, rubbing his head.

"Mn… Okay, so that wasn't a dream."

"No… but I do have a few questions for you."

"Only if I can ask a few."

"Very well. Now, can you tell me your name?"

Chiro raised an eyebrow.

"Ichiro Hanamura but I prefer going by Chiro - and don't even call me Ichi."

"I see we both have similar feelings about our names. Mine is Dr. Hal Gibson - though I prefer Gibson." He explained, typing something into a datapad.

Chiro chuckled.

"Yeah, I mean, it's an alright name - but no one except my sister's called me Ichi since I was like six."

Alright… I'm sitting in some weird lab, talking to a robotic monkey and we're… just chilling.

I guess I asked for this, huh?

Gibson gave him a gentle look.

"How are you feeling right now?"

Chiro shrugged.

"Kinda achy all over. Nothing I can't handle though." He grinned. "You should've seen me after this one really bad spill when I was exploring an abandoned building-"

"You did what!?"

"Yeah." Chiro raised a hand, miming someone falling from a high place. "I went SPLAT!"

Gibson's eyes widened, mortified.

"How are you…" He looked him over with his eyes.

"Oh, no, that wasn't recent! That was last year!"

"ICHI WHAT DID YOU DO!?"

"Uh… I… went splat?"

"ICHIRO HANAMURA!"

Chiro grimaced.

Mila was not happy with him after that one.

RIGHT. MILA. KILLING ME. PHONE.

WHERE IS IT!?

"Uh, so Gibson… About my phone…"

"That device of yours?" Gibson grimaced. "It… stopped functioning a few hours ago. You've been unconscious for… roughly six hours?"

"... Excuse me… What?"

"Yes. It's about ten in the evening now." He checked the clock on his datapad. "Actually, I standard corrected, it's 9:45-"

Chiro's eyes widened before he let out a quiet curse.

"Language!"

"I'm gonna die." He laid back down on the table, folding his arm over his eyes. "I'm dead. I'm so dead."

"By what, prey-tell?"

The door to the room slid open with a whoosh as someone walked in.

"Hey, is he up yet-Is he okay?"

Chiro lifted his head up, seeing a green monkey in some kind of mechanic outfit… and in his hand was…

"My phone!"

The monkey held it up, revealing the screen was still dark.

He gave a sheepish look.

"Sorry, I didn't get it charged back up - I didn't wanna break it trying to fix it."

"N-No it's fine! Is my backpack still here?"

Gibson sighed.

"Otto, your timing couldn't have been better. Are the others situated yet?"

"Yep! Command Center's power is up and we found the MRE's!"

Gibson grimaced.

"Lovely…"

Chiro stuck his tongue out.

"You guys eat that stuff?"

"Unfortunately." Gibson looked up at him with a concerned look. "Do you feel well enough to get up?"

Chiro nodded, getting to his feet.

Otto hurried over an excited smile on his face.

"Are you okay now?"

"Huh? Oh…" He rubbed the back of his neck. "Guess I kinda scared you guys, huh?"

"A little - but it's okay. Gibson's our chief scientist and doctor, so we knew you were in good hands!"

Gibson smiled, holding his head up higher at that.

"Indeed. There's hardly anyone out there with my knowledge."

Chiro chuckled.

"Then I got very lucky. So, I've met two… where're the others?" He crossed his arms. "Pretty sure I saw five of you when I got electrocuted."

"What? You didn't get electrocuted." Gibson scoffed. "I wouldn't be letting you walk around if you did!"

"Yeah, you didn't have a scratch on you." Otto added, tilting his head.

"Then… what…?" He sighed. "You know what? I don't wanna know." He rubbed the back of his neck. "Already having two weird dreams was enough."

Otto jumped up, grabbing his arm, leading him out.

"Come on then! We can tell you everything!"

Chiro yelped, picking up the pace, to keep up.

"W-Whoa! Otto, where are we going!?"

Gibson sighed, chasing after him.

"Easy with my patient, Otto! Don't break him now!"

oooooo

Mila was freaking out. She was pacing up and down the greenhouse, her phone pressed against her ear as she tried calling for what felt like the 600th time in the last few hours.

Her brother hadn't come home yet.

She knew boys got into things, she knew that all too well… but this was getting ridiculous.

Mila's grip tightened as she paced up and down a section of cosmos, their bright colors doing nothing for her darkened mood.

Her mind was going through a million scenarios as she brought her index finger to her teeth.

Don't do it. It took you almost 7 years to break the habit, come on…

Ichi, where are you?

Her chest tightened.

She had promised herself she would wait here, where he could find her instead of going off on her own… but as her call failed for the umpteenth time that hour, she couldn't ignore it anymore.

Chiro was missing and someone needed to find him.

She sighed shakily, hurrying upstairs.

The apartment was so quiet now. The hardwood floors creaked under her boots as she mentally swore for not taking them off but she had more important things on her mind.

Sorry, Mom, Sorry, Dad, I know, I know, super disrespectful!

She found her car keys, a jacket…

And grabbed a first aid kit just in case before rushing out and locking the shop behind her, turning the sign to "Closed."

She would've closed hours ago but staying open kept her sane.

"Ahah, one "Forgive me for being stupid!" style bouquet, Ms. Mila?"

She had a forced smile on her face as she nodded, turning and rushing into the back.

She let out a quiet sob, her heart racing as she went through the flowers in question before hurrying back out, wiping at her eyes.

"R-Right here, Sir. Something for the Missus again?"

"Yeah, I screwed up real bad and kept the restaurant open way too long- Are you alright?"

Mila took a shaky breath.

"Please, tell me you've seen Chiro."

He frowned.

"I'm afraid I haven't. He usually says hey on his way back here but I haven't seen him yet. I'll keep an eye out and if I do, I'll tell him to come straight home."

"Thank you." Mila sniffled. "I… I don't know what I'd do if…"

"Hey, hey, easy… It's gonna be okay. Your brother's a fighter."

Mila checked her holophone, entering in an app.

She had promised herself she would never use this feature…

But it was long past the time for that.

Getting into her car, she took a deep breath to try to steady herself.

Her hand trembled as she tried to start the ignition.

She hated driving at night.

Just takes me back to that awful night…

The water was everywhere, I thought I was gonna be swept away.

Her phone beeped, revealing the last known location of Chiro's holophone.

The map revealed the outskirts to her just like Chiro had that morning when he left.

I'm gonna have to do some hiking but… I'll find you.

And when I do, I'm gonna hug you so tightly…

AND GROUND YOU FOR ETERNITY!

oooooo

Chiro shuddered as he was led along.

"Are you alright?" Gibson asked.

"Yeah… Just felt like someone walked over my grave." Chiro grimaced.

Or like Mila's digging mine… Ohh man after I get this all cleared up I gotta get home!

It wasn't like he forgot, far from it.

But he also had no idea what he was in for right now and he wanted his answers. Once he had his answers, he was pretty sure he could at least convince Otto and Gibson to guard him from his sister's wrath.

"... Hey, Gibson, weird question: do you know how to make tranq darts?"

Gibson gave him a bewildered look.

"Why in the world would you need that?"

Chiro grimaced.

"No reason."

My big sister is gonna turn me into mulch and all this cool stuff is gonna be pointless when she gets her hands on me but it's FINE!

He shook his head.

No.

Whatever this was leading to, he didn't have time to worry about whether or not he was going to get grounded - he already made peace with that.

It was then he looked up as Otto came to a halt.

He was in the main room once again. He got a good look at it all, looking upwards, now that the lights were on, whistling.

The first thing he saw as his neck was craned upwards was the metal connecting with lush greenery above him. The walls were made of the same stark white metal that the lower level had.

There were several large monitors along one wall, another showed a portal to the outside, the darkened sky confirming what Gibson had told him… it was pretty late.

Six chairs were in the center, shaped like domes… what caught his attention though was what was happening above one of them.

One of the monkeys was… floating. His eyes closed (as far as Chiro could tell), his hands resting on his knees as he floated above it. He too wore a uniform, but unlike Gibson and Otto, it appeared he chose to go with just a pair of pants and a belt.

Chiro looked down at Otto and Gibson, pointing to the monkey with a bewildered expression.

"I know you're there." The monkey chuckled, his voice warm as he turned to Chiro. "I'm glad to see you awake. How do you feel?"

"F-Fine… um…" He rubbed his arm. "I guess I'm confused, kinda outta it and uh…"

My phone is dead, Mila's gonna kill me and oh yeah, talking monkeys and weird visions and… yeah.

"You have many questions."

Chiro nodded.

Before they could continue, there was a loud yelp coming from one of the elevators as the red monkey hurried out, covering his head, the yellow one hot on his tail.

"GET BACK HERE! YOU BROKE THAT ON PURPOSE!"

"NOVA, FOR THE LAST TIME, I DIDN'T MEAN IT!"

Nova let out an enraged yell as she lunged upwards.

Immediately, the floating monkey held a hand out, forcing her back to the ground.

"Nova." He gave a stern look. "I'm sure Sparx didn't mean it."

She narrowed her eyes.

"Antauri, he was being an idiot AGAIN."

"Hey, in my defense, that piston is old! It needs to be replaced and I'm not the mechanic!" Sparx scoffed. "And for the record, it's nothing major-"

There was a crash from abov, as everyone's gazes went upward.

Sparx shrugged.

"So, part of that one bed collapsed. No biggie."

Antauri sighed, rubbing the side of his face.

Patience, he reminded himself. They would all need time to figure themselves out again.

Especially now.

He turned to Chiro, noting the boy was trying to quietly back away towards his backpack, the boy's shoulders tense.

"Apologies for this."

Sparx and Nova looked up as they realized the newcomer was looking right at him.

Chiro chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck.

"I-It's fine. No harm done."

Sparx rubbed the back of his head.

"Listen, Kid, did not mean for it to start like this." He grinned sheepishly. "Just one of those things, y'know?"

"Yeah… We're excited to meet you though." Nova gave him a grin. "Not every day we get a new member."

He was just about to look for his charger when that hit him like a ton of bricks.

Chiro looked up stunned.

"What!?"

Sparx looked at Antauri with an annoyed look.

"Smooth! You didn't tell him!?"

"He just woke up, Sparx. I was going to give him a moment."

"Okay then Dr. Brainstrain forgot."

Gibson sputtered.

"SPARX!"

Chiro whistled, getting everyone's attention.

"Hey! The "Kid" can still hear you all. So… let's go over some basics then. I have questions, you guys can give me answers, so, let's start over! I'm Chiro!" Chiro smiled. "I already met Gibson - thanks again for fixing me up."

Gibson smiled.

"Anytime."

"Otto too… Then you're Antauri.." He pointed at the black monkey.

"That's correct, I'm the second in command of the team." He bowed his head. "And the advisor."

Chiro hummed in thought.

"Okay…" He pointed at Sparx. "Then you're the leader?"

Sparx's grin widened.

He already liked this kid.

"I'm already getting promoted! You hear that!"

Nova smacked him with her tail, folding her arms behind her head.

"Nope. He couldn't lead his way out of a paper bag."

"Thanks…" He rubbed his head, giving her a glare.

"Then… Nova is it? You are?"

Nova shook her head.

Chiro looked over at Otto and Gibson.

"Nope." Otto shrugged.

"Absolutely not. I have enough on my plate keeping these four alive and healthy." Gibson scoffed.

"Oka, then who is-AHA!" Chiro let out a cheer, jumping up as he produced a long white cable from his backpack. "I knew it was in here!" He turned to Otto. "Hey, where can I plug in my phone?"

Otto grinned.

"I know a spot."

Chiro handed over the cable and his phone, giving a quick bow of his head.

"Here, just please bring it back? Thank you!"

"Can do! Go ahead and start, I'll be back!"

He hurried off.

Chiro sighed in relief.

Maybe he would get to live to see tomorrow.

Sparx rolled his eyes.

"Of course. Kids and their tech… What, got a hot date?"

Chiro scoffed, shaking his head. He held his head up higher as he moved to the center of the main room.

"No, no, no. I have a very logical reason for being concerned about that first." He held up a finger. "There's an old legend here on Shuggazoom… That if you're out past your curfew and your phone dies, a horrible monster, called your big sister will materialize out of nowhere and turn you into mulch!"

He shuddered.

He could already picture Mila's disappointed look.

Yeah, calling her the second that phone is charged…

Antauri narrowed his eyes.

"Then we will ensure this is quick. Please, have a seat."

Chiro sunk down into the orange chair, sighing a bit at how comfortable it was.

"Now… as for who we are proper, we are known as the HyperForce." Antauri began.

"Though, we've gone by a few different names." Sparx cut in. "One was a real mouthful."

"Otto picked it, don't be mean." Nova whispered.

Chiro's eyes widened anew.

"So… Wait… Wait…" He grinned. "Does that mean you guys are superheroes!?"

Antauri chuckled.

"If that's what you would prefer to see it as… yes. We were created to protect Shuggazoom City from dark forces and natural disasters. It was our goal to ensure the city was able to thrive."

"And we kicked butt and took names! We took out all kinds of baddies!" Sparx boasted, holding up a hand as it transformed into a large red magnet. "We were kind of a huge deal y'know!"

Chiro leaned forward, propping his chin up on his hands, completely mesmerized.

This was like something out of a dream…

Or a wish come true.

Nova nudged Sparx out of the way.

"We saved the day countless times…" She frowned. "And then well… it was time to rest."

"Rest? From what?" Chiro furrowed his brow.

Though… now this was starting to sound familiar. His mind was racing as he tried to recall.

Something was familiar. Maybe he had seen them in passing when he was younger? Or in a history book?

No… That's not it…

Antauri sighed.

This was going to be the hard part.

"We went into stasis seven years ago due to not having a leader of our own anymore… He…"

His heart skipped a beat.

He could still hear the screams in his ear.

"I'M A FAILURE! THIS PLACE IS HOPELESS!"

"Get ahold of yourself-"

"IT'S ALL HOPELESS! LOOK AT THIS!"

Antauri swallowed hard.

Chiro got up, moving over to him.

"You don't have to tell me. I don't need to know." He said softly. "There's stuff I don't wanna go over with people I just met either."

Antauri let out a shaky sigh giving him a grateful look.

"Thank you…" He took a step back. "Bottom line, we need a leader now that we've awakened."

"Why can't you do it then?"

Antauri floated up to Chiro's eye level properly.

"Because I wasn't the one who awakened us. Our leader is whoever found our base and pulled the lever."

Chiro's eyes widened.

"What!?"

He pointed at himself, speechless. His mouth opened and closed trying to process it.

I mean it makes sense, but… Me?!

Me…

Why me!?

Chiro ran a hand through his hair.

"I…" He let out a groan. "Oh man, I just passed out like a dork!"

"You didn't exactly plan that." Sparx pointed out.

Antauri rested a hand on his arm.

"No one starts off perfect."

"Antauri, I don't even know how to throw a punch!" He held up his hands.

I make flower arrangements, not fists!

Antauri chuckled.

"Then we will train you. Simple as that."

Chiro looked up apprehensively. All that bravado about destiny he had when he found this place, was long gone.

This was real.

This was actually happening to him.

He let out a sigh, sinking to the floor.

"Where do I even start?"

Otto hurried over to his side.

"Well, you're not freaking out. That's a good sign!"

He laughed.

"I guess that's true… But seriously, you guys are sure? I'm a kid… I still have school…"

Gibson scoffed.

"I've seen what your world's curriculum looks like. That simply won't do. I'll teach you myself."

"We all will, Kid. Besides, you won't have time for boring human school." Sparx grinned. "After all, how can you learn to fly a ship?"

Chiro's eyes widened anew.

"A ship?"

Nova went over to him.

"Yup! It's huuuge! We each have our own vehicles - and being the leader, means you get the best one."

Chiro jumped up, re-energized, as this was all setting in.

"Alright!" He laughed. "I mean, hey, why not!? What could go-"

An alarm chimed overhead.

"MOTION DETECTED! FLOOR LEVEL CAMERA!" A mechanical voice rang out, as the monitor buzzed to life.

"Bring up the visual of the base's outside." Antauri ordered.

Otto rushed over, typing in a few commands as the camera focused on one spot in the forest.

"Enhancing audio."

A figure came barreling through the brush, their long hair filled with leaves, using a flashlight to look around the forest.

Chiro got up, taking a closer look.

And then the figure looked up as his blood ran cold.

"Oh… crap and a half." He breathed.

The worried face of his sister greeted him as she looked around.

She couldn't see the base even though she was right in front of it.

Chiro looked down at Sparx.

"Remember that legend about the monster called "your older sister" who will turn you into mulch?"

Sparx nodded.

Chiro pointed at the screen.

"That's mine."

"O-Oh… OH crap!"

Chiro grimaced, nodding.

"Can you guys tell Mila what's going on? Cause I'd like to not be mulch."

Gibson sighed.

"That's an impossibility. She won't understand us."

"But you're speaking perfect Shuggazoomian.." Chiro looked at Antauri. "Why's that an issue?"

"What you hear, Chiro, is your language… but only you can understand us."

Otto hummed in thought.

"Well… not entirely but I don't have a translator ready made… I'd have to look through some stuff."

Gibson scoffed.

"You'd need an audio enhancer that could stimulate her brain to understand our advanced language, Otto. You can't just whip that up in a few minutes."

"Gimme ten then!" He hurried off, a grin on his face. "I can try!"

Chiro covered his ears, as on screen, Mila took a deep breath.

"ICHIRO!"

I'm dead.