Chapter 5: Connections

Chiro let out a gasp as he opened his eyes anew.

All around them, the outskirts, that had turned to an overgrown, dangerous mess, was now a well maintained park. There was a path they stood upon now, that led to a massive tree behind them.

Chiro whirled around, looking up at it, letting out a low whistle.

Mila looked around, craning her head in every direction.

What was going on!?

"What the actual freaking heck…?!"

She took a few steps backwards, nearly bumping into Chiro.

He moved ahead of her, now that he was getting a proper look at it all.

"Wow. This looks just like in Mom's photo albums."

"Except with less pixels." Mila chuckled, weakly craning her neck, trying to see anything she actually recognized.

There was a low rumbling in the distance as a huge cloud of dust kicked up… heading right for the park.

There was the loud roar of engines as a large pack of motorcycles appeared out of nowhere.

Manning each one, was some sort of skeletal creature, its eye sockets blank.

Mila's eyes widened in horror as she took a step back, pulling Chiro behind her.

"Whoa! What is that!?" Chiro exclaimed.

"Trouble." Mila deadpanned.

"We were created to combat evil such as this. 50 years ago." Antatuis' voice echoed around them. "An ancient evil arose out of the Zone of Wasted Years… No one knew where he had come from…"

In an instant, five colorful creatures appeared, their weapons raised as they charged into the fray.

"We battled day in and day out, never knowing when his forces would appear."

"Who?"

Mila swallowed hard, her heart racing in her chest.

She knew part of this story.

"Dad, why did Mom leave her home?" Mila looked up from her astronomy homework, the planet chart revealing the quadrant of the galaxy where Shuggazoom was. She pointed it out to her father. "I mean, Earth is a LONG way from there."

Her father sighed, sitting beside her, taking off his glasses to clean them.

"Mila, you have to promise not to bring it up in front of her…"

"I promise." She propped her chin up.

"When your mother fled her home, it was during a war torn time. There were heroes who tried to protect it… but an ancient evil wanted it for some reason."

"What was it?"

"No one knows his true name…"

Mila was broken out of her reverie by Antauri's voice speaking the same words her father once had told her.

Before her, a twisted cloaked individual rose up as Chiro craned his neck upwards at it, mortified.

"He's a disgusting creature, a horror made up of the dead." She recited. "He torments all who cross his path, just for pleasure, for joy…"

Chiro looked up at her, stunned.

Her eyes were narrowed in hate, her hands balling into fists.

"Yes…"Antarui continued. "She's correct. We best know him as…"

The figure turned to them, his face nothing but a skull made of pure crystal, his eyes nothing but red as he stared them down. His cloak was shredded as he carried an ornate staff with a sickly green gem on the handle.

"The Skeleton King."

Chiro swallowed hard.

"He's the enemy."

He could sense it, even within the projection. There was a darkness rolling off of him in waves, his bones creaking as he leaned down, staring right at the two.

He had to be at least nine, ten feet tall…

They were dwarfed in comparison.

Mila brought her arms around Chiro, pulling him in protectively.

Even looking at it made her stomach twist in knots.

Chiro swallowed hard as the projection drew in closer, a sinister chuckle escaping him.

"Antauri, don't bring that thing any closer!" Mila hissed.

Chiro shivered, huddling close to her.

Water was all around him, sweeping him farther and farther away from the car. He struggled to get his head above water, swimming futility against the current.

A wave crashed over his head as he was swept under.

A low chuckle echoed around him as a set of red eyes watched him…

Chiro pulled away from Mila, pushing her behind him.

"Ichi…?"

"I know him…" He looked up at her. "Mila, they told me I was supposed to lead them. I get it now."

Mila clenched her hands into fists, looking up at the Skeleton King.

"Mom knew that evil… and we got a taste of it when we thought it was safe to return."

Chiro looked up at the Skeleton King, narrowing his eyes.

This makes a little more sense…

"The flood… From seven years ago." He looked up. "He did it, didn't he!?"

An orb of energy appeared before it shifted into the spiritual form of Antauri. His gaze was concerned as he looked over the Hanamuras.

Mila's eyes were full of disgust and hatred, her mouth twisted into a sneer as she glared upwards… a lone tear rolled down her face.

Chiro growled as he took a step forward, rearing a fist back.

Antauri caught it before he could.

He hated doing this but he knew that he didn't want Chiro to be surprised or unprepared.

"I fear you already understood."

"Yeah…" Mila brought a hand to her eyes, wiping at them. She pointed at Skeleton King as his image transformed, clothing shifting into liquid, the skull shifting to whitewater that crashed against the ground.

Chiro shivered, backing up.

"The Great Flood. He was… He was trying to take us all out? Why?"

Antauri rested a hand on his shoulder.

"Because he feeds off the destruction of planets and worlds. Corrupting souls through despair… through grief. The rawest emotions we possess he feeds off of. Nothing brings him greater pleasure. He views this planet as if it's his feeding ground."

Chiro gripped tightly onto his hand, looking up at him.

"Then it's my job to stop him. I won't let him destroy my home! Or…" He closed his eyes. "I won't let him do what he did to us, to another family."

Mila squeezed his shoulder.

She looked at Antauri, her eyes cold.

"Take us back. Now. He's had enough. I've had enough."

Antauri nodded, closing his eyes as energy surrounded the trio, causing the vision to swirl around them as everything faded to gray.

oooooo

Chiro gasped as he came to, stumbling back.

Mila groaned, rubbing her head before she lunged up, steadying her sibling.

"You okay?!" She looked him over, holding up two fingers. "How many fingers?"

"I'm fine!" He shook his head. "I'm fine…"

Antauri sighed as he looked them both over.

"Now you understand why, I hope."

Chiro looked at the team before turning back to Antauri…

And to his surprise, gave a broad grin, his eyes gleaming with determination.

"I'll do my best!"

Mila let his shoulders go as she sank back to the floor, shaking her head.

"No."

Chiro looked at her, his gaze softening, kneeling before her.

"Hey…" He turned her head in his direction. "I'm gonna be okay."

Mila's eyes were shiny as she brought him into a tight embrace.

Her heart was pounding, her mind racing through every scenario possible.

"No… No, no, no…" She pressed a kiss into the side of his head.

Chiro hugged her tightly, stroking her back in circles.

He wouldn't lie and say he wasn't scared himself. The very thought of what he had just seen made his stomach twist into knots.

But the idea of that threat hurting his sister was enough to make his decision.

"Perhaps tonight's not the night to make any final decisions." Gibson spoke up. "It's rather late and clearly something happened in there."

Mila shook her head.

Not my brother.

Not my little boy.

Chiro leaned up, kissing her forehead.

"Mila, I'm right here." He brought her hand to his cheek. "See?"

He knew when she was like this, she needed to ground herself first.

And with him being her primary concern, he knew she needed to focus on what was in front of her. Not what was in her head.

She let out a heavy sigh, nodding.

"I'm not mad." She whispered.

"I know." He nodded. "You're scared. Freaking out and probably reliving stuff I don't even remember."

"All of the above."

Chiro gave her a gentle look.

"Let's sleep on it then. Gibson's got a point. It's really late, we're tired - and none of us ate."

Mila nodded numbly.

She was still processing what she saw but he had a point. The adrenaline was gone now, her body heavy and exhausted. She wanted to just crawl into her bed, close her eyes…

And sleep for at least two years.

"Alright. Now, come on." He got up, helping her to her feet. "Can you drive?"

Mila opened her mouth before shaking her head.

"No."

"Then we'll stay here." He looked over at the monkeys with a sheepish look. "There is at least uh… one bed that's human sized, right?"

Sparx grimaced.

"Uh… that was the one we broke."

Otto jumped up.

"I can work on it! Just gimme a few minutes!" He gave a salute. "Just count on me!"

Mila smiled a little, watching him go before turning to the others.

She bowed her head.

"I'm sorry."

"No, no!" Nova shook her head. 'You didn't do anything wrong! That was a lot to go over at once!"

"To be fair, I think it was just poor timing. Low blood sugar, exhaustion and then learning something… like that. It's a perfect mixture of panic if I ever saw one." Gibson frowned, his gaze gentle. "If there's anything I can do, please tell me."

"We will, Gibson." Chiro smiled.

Sparx went over to them.

"Hey, I could get you two some MRE's…"

Mila scrunched her nose up.

"That sounds horrible."

"Oh believe me, they are."

"... No ramen?" Chiro cringed. "At all?"

Sparx grimaced.

"Well…"

"Otto, we're gonna get busted." He looked around, trying to keep an eye out. "We're supposed to go into stasis soon. This crap'll go bad."

"You wanna eat MRE's in who knows how long it'll take?" Otto held up a red package. "I checked, this stuff'll outlast us!"

"Alright, but if you die from food poisoning, I'm putting Death by Soup on your grave."

"Actually, I think we can do something like that."

Chiro heaved a sigh of relief.

"See? We'll have dinner too."

Mila nodded, rubbing her eyes.

"I just wanna go to bed."

Chiro rubbed her arm.

"We can sleep soon but you can't sleep on an empty stomach."

Sparx cleared his throat, heading to the red elevator, motioning for them to follow.

"C'mon, we'll scrounge up some food then off to bed with the both of you."

He wasn't sure what to make of this all himself.

Chiro led his sister away as she turned back, her gaze cold as she looked at Antauri.

I know you're not telling us the whole story.

There were only five monkeys in what you showed us.

Why didn't you show us number six?

As the siblings disappeared from sight, the tension from the room seemed to leave with them.

Nova heaved a sigh of relief, leaning against her chair, her tail curling up around her.

"Well, I think that went… okay?" She looked up at Antauri. "Though boy if looks could kill. Antauri, what did you put them through?"

Gibson narrowed his eyes.

"Yes, what happened there?"

Antauri closed his eyes, a pang of guilt bubbling up.

"I fear I may have shown them far too much too soon… And I got confirmation of something I was suspecting."

"Care to fill us in?" Nova stood up straight, adjusting her scarf. "Be nice to be in the know."

Antauri floated down, dropping to his feet, folding his arms behind his back.

"Do you two remember the night of the Great Flood?"

Gibson inhaled sharply.

The rain was coming down in sheets, thunder and lighting rumbling overhead.

Everything was being washed away. Despite their best efforts, it was a struggle.

Mandarin was trying to shout orders over the waves crashing against the rubble but it was so difficult to hear him.

He had looked over his shoulder for just a split second before his red optics widened in horror.

Before any of them could react, he had thrown himself into the water.

"MANDARIN!" Antauri called out.

Gibson followed with his eyes where the leader was swimming…

He dove under the water, vanishing for what felt like hours but was only a few seconds.

"I knew it…" He murmured. "Chiro… no, he couldn't be."

Nova brought both her hands over her mouth.

No one had forgotten that night. Not when THAT happened.

Antauri opened his eyes, giving a nod.

"It's not just his power."

Gibson crossed his arms, looking away.

Sometimes in stasis, he still dreamt about that moment.

He looked down at the boy. He was unconscious, his hair plastered to his face, his little school uniform torn. There were other injuries that would need to be attended to but that would be for later.

"Come on… Breathe…"

They were all trembling from the cold, the wind was howling, threatening to blow everything away, with the water's wrath… but he was not going to give up.

Not here.

He couldn't remember how long he had been doing chest compressions for at this point.

"Come on… Come back…"

The boy coughed… and coughed harder as Gibson swiftly rolled him onto his side as he spat out water.

"You did it!" Nova cried out.

Gibson tuned out the sounds of his teammates, patting the boy's back.

"There's a good boy. You did great."

"To think… the boy we saved…"

"Is upstairs now. He's gonna lead us." Nova looked over, concerned. "You gonna be okay?"

Gibson looked up, giving a nod, smiling a little.

"I will be. If anything, I'm glad to see how much he's grown since then."

Antauri turned away from them, walking over to the command center.

"I promise, if we can avoid it, he won't be in that position again."

Nova nudged him.

"Did you know back then?"

Antauri turned to her, shaking his head.

"I didn't… Honestly, I think even if I had sensed anything, we were all more focused on him at that moment."

Gibson walked over to Antauri's left side, resting a hand on his shoulder.

"We're going to be focused on him from now on. He's not just the Chosen One or our leader. That's OUR child now too."

Nova rubbed the back of her neck.

"Hope we can do a good job."

"No hoping here." Antauri narrowed his eyes. "We have to."

For everyone's sake.