Chosen from Chaos - Ch. 2
Title: Chosen from Chaos
Chapter: 2
Fandom: Sonic the Hedgehog/Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go! crossover
Character(s): Jinmay, Antauri
Genre: Drama, action/adventure, angst, some romance, friendship
Rating: K+/PG
Disclaimers: Sonic the Hedgehog © Sega, Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go! © Ciro Nieli
Notes: This was a...really weird idea I had one day, a long long time ago. I'm not sure why, other than I had just gotten into SRMT so I wanted to write about it all the time, and I was a really big Sonic the Hedgehog fan, so for some reason the crossover at the time made sense in my head. I don't...even know.
And again, I wrote this a really really long time ago. Like...Sonic Adventure 2 long time ago. So all the Sonic-related stuff takes place after that, pre-Sonic Heroes. In fact, none of the Sonic games after SA2 happened in this story and is directly a year after SA2, so it's kind of AU I guess. And in SRMT, it's kind of...after the war with Skeleton King, so...yeah...convenient. I'll stop now.
Summary: Dr. Eggman's newest plan is not only a threat to his world, but to another. And things get personal for the Hyperforce when the evil scientist takes some of their own.
[Chapter 1]
~*~*~*~
Her eyes carefully studied the city below as she flew a short distance behind the silver monkey, keeping a watch out for anything that might appear suspicious or threatening. "Everything looks all right over here," she said. "Nothing out of the ordinary."
The second-in-command gave a brief nod in agreement. Wordlessly they both descended onto a building rooftop to rest a moment before returning to the Super Robot.
It wasn't often that Jinmay found herself partnered with Antauri when asked to patrol Shuggazoom City. Normally she was with Nova or Chiro. And it wasn't that she minded being in his company. He had saved her life once, back when they had been looking for Chiro after he went missing. She held a deep respect for him as she did with all the other members of the Hyperforce. She just wasn't enjoying the awkward silence between them since they had nothing to talk about.
She took a momentary, covert glance in his direction, watching the sunlight reflecting from him. She wasn't sure if she liked the appearance of his silver metallic body that he possessed now better, or the form of ebony fur that she had seen when she first met the Hyperforce. Perhaps it didn't matter since he was still the same soul on the inside. But even if it wasn't important to her (or the others for that matter), it still might be an uneasy issue for him.
She recalled the day she had discovered that she was a robot shortly after her first encounter with the Monkey Team on the Super Robot. She remembered the surprise and alarm she had felt upon learning of what she really was and what she was capable of. And she could vaguely remember the events that took place while Sakko had control over her before Chiro managed to snap her out of it. It had been quite an ordeal having to cope with learning that she was really a machine when she once thought she was just a normal girl.
But she knew that Antauri's situation was much different than her own. After all, she had always been a robot, and even if she hadn't remembered it consciously, perhaps a part of her had always known the truth. She had somehow managed to deal with it much better than she had initially thought she would have, and she was even using her powers to assist the Monkey Team as an honorary member.
Unlike her, however, Antauri hadn't always been robotic. Though he had possessed mechanic parts, he had once been made of a living body, just as all the others had. Then after his apparent death, he had been returned in a body that was vastly different than what he was previously accustomed to. And while she had no doubt that he was glad to be back among them, and though he appeared to handle the silver monkey with expertise, she was also sure that he had some unsettled issues concerning his new body. It probably wasn't as easy for him to adjust to the change as he would like everyone to believe.
Especially since his greatest fear was losing control of his new body. Jinmay remembered the story that her boyfriend had told her, of how Mandarin had used Valina's pendant to bring all their greatest fears to life, and how Antauri had been controlled by him to attack them all. If it had been anything like when Sakko had control over her body, or even when that awful biker gang leader had corrupted her mind, then she knew exactly how the silver monkey felt.
And she began to wonder: Did he know that? Did Antauri know that she understood many of the things he may have been going through? She couldn't imagine that the silver monkey openly talked about these matters with any of the others, for the same reason why she never really liked to talk about it with them; because they didn't really know what it feels like. They were their friends who just wanted to help, but they couldn't fully grasp what it was like to be so different from everyone else. They couldn't know what it was like to be completely robotic.
But even if she sympathized with what he was going through, what could she do about it? He would probably never open up to her since they weren't exactly close. And even if he did, she still might not be able to help at all. Even if he told her about all of what he was feeling, there was really nothing she could do to make it easier for him.
She sighed at her own helplessness, unable to come up with anything. Unfortunately, she sighed much louder than she intended to, catching the attention of the second-in-command.
"Is everything all right, Jinmay?" he asked softly as he turned to face her. Though his tone remained neutral, almost stoic, his cobalt eyes revealed his curiosity and slight concern.
Nervously she gripped the hem of her skirt and began to fidget with it. She had often heard that Antauri had the power to sense what people were thinking, and for some reason that made her feel even more fretful. "W-well…I…erm…I mean…" she somehow managed to flounder. The ideas she had been mulling over minutes ago were just on the tip of her tongue, but she wasn't sure if she could force them out any more coherently than that.
She trained her eyes on her hands, feeling a little too embarrassed to look at him. But she could feel his curious gaze fixed on her, accompanied by a puzzled frown. No doubt he was wondering just what was going on in her mind, and she could only imagine the kinds of things he was sensing from her. Vaguely she wondered if it was possible for someone to feel so embarrassed that they could melt.
"Jinmay," he said softly in a reassuring voice, "whatever it is, you can tell me. I'm always here to help you."
That certainly did something for her. There she was, desperately searching for the words to voice her thoughts, and he had gone and said it first! Swallowing thickly, she finally blurted out, "I know…and y'know, I'm here for you too, Antauri."
She dared to look at him and had to bite back the laugh in her throat at the completely baffled expression on his face. She could see the questions in his eyes as he tried to figure out what to say. After a minute the only thing he was able to utter was a faint, "I'm sorry?"
The girl threw her hands about in a useless gesture. "Well, I just thought that maybe it was difficult for you, now that you're all robot and everything," she spouted out. She had been hesitant to say it before, but now she somehow found herself unable to stop.
"I mean, you're doing really well and everything, handling your new body, and I think it's really great that you've been able to do that. But I thought that it still might be a little hard on you because it's so different from what you used to be like. And Chiro told me about how you're afraid of losing control of your body, so I thought there were things that you still had to work out. And I wasn't sure if you talked with any of the others about how you're coping with being a robot now, even though they mean well and just wanna help. I'd understand why you wouldn't though, since they couldn't really understand how it feels. But you'd still have to talk about it if something was bothering you, right?
"So I thought that, y'know, maybe if you wanted to, you could talk to me about things like that that would be bothering you. I kinda know what you're going through. And trust me; it's never really easy to deal with it all by yourself. But then again, I'd understand if you don't wanna talk to me about it. It'd be totally fine, especially since I most likely won't be able to help you in any way, so…"
Even though she was a robot girl, she found herself needing to stop for air. She felt the heat on her cheeks flare. She hadn't planned on rambling like that, and she doubted that any of it made any real sense.
Chancing another glance at the silver monkey, she noticed the strange, reflective expression in his eyes. It was the only indication that her words had meant anything at all, as his face remained as impassive as she had ever seen it.
Then, to her surprise, his features softened as a kind smile spread over his lips. "Thank you, Jinmay," he answered softly.
Her brow furrowed slightly, wondering what he meant by that. She hadn't done anything to be thankful for. But before she could question him about it, he spoke first. "It can be rather difficult…dealing with an issue like this alone."
She thought for a minute before grasping his meaning. "Yeah," she agreed. "It really can. But you shouldn't have to deal with it alone, Antauri."
"Like you did?"
She gaped at him. There was no expression in his voice to signal how she should interpret his question. Was he denouncing her as a hypocrite for what she told him when she had spent most of the time dealing with it on her own? Was he flaunting that he had someone to help him during his time of need when she hadn't?
No…Antauri wasn't like that. He would never mean to say something like that.
"You had no one to talk to about this before, did you?" she heard him say again. Hesitantly, she met his eyes. "Shortly after you discovered you were a robot, and after you regained control of yourself, you left to search for your origins. You never…spoke to anyone about it, have you?"
She paused for a moment before shaking her head slowly. "No," she replied softly. "I guess I never did. But I wasn't sure if anyone would understand. Plus, you guys had bigger problems to worry about. You didn't need me to deal with. I didn't want you guys to worry about me while I was trying to find myself."
He regarded her for a moment, and she could see he was searching for something to say, for the right words to express what he wanted to say. So she waited patiently, letting him determine what would be the best words to speak.
Finally she heard him ask in a low voice, "What was it like for you…handling something like that all on your own?"
"Well, it was pretty tough," she admitted, reflecting over her search through space for answers to her past. "But mostly because I was…lonely."
"Lonely?" Antauri repeated as his brow slightly rose.
She nodded. "Yeah. I didn't have anyone there to help me. I didn't know exactly what to do or where to go to help my search along. When I came across any dead-ends, if I was just feeling down about myself, if I was worried about something or if I doubted myself…I had no one to turn to…no one there to support me."
"How were you able to continue on through that?" the silver monkey asked.
"I'm not sure. I remember…thinking about Chiro a lot. I always imagined finding out more about myself and my past, and then coming home here and telling Chiro all about it." A fond smile graced her lips. "I wanted to be able to tell Chiro everything I could about myself, because that would mean that I'd really know who I was, and I'd be able to share that with those I really care about."
"To know others means first to know oneself," the silver monkey uttered softly with a slight nod. It was a principle he was very familiar with. "It was an idea much easier to live by when I still had my body. But with this body…" He placed a hand on his own silver torso. "So many secrets and powers still unknown…I'm unsure if I'll ever be able to uncover them all…"
As she stood beside him and listened to him, sensing the slight distress underneath his normal, even tone, Jinmay finally recognized the importance of the exchange occurring between the two of them. It was a very rare occasion that Antauri would disclose any of his own personal feelings, especially when it concerned any of his own fears and doubts. And here he was revealing one of his deepest concerns to her, of all people. She didn't know if he had ever spoke to the others about any of this, though judging by how soft his voice had became, she would have to guess that he never did.
Even for someone like Antauri, having no one to talk to about things like this must not have been easy. But having no one who could truly understand those worries was also difficult, that she knew. So for Antauri to talk about something that really bothered him…and what's more, talk about it with her…proved that he really trusted her and felt that she really was able to relate to him.
And she did understand what he meant. She just wasn't entirely sure what she was capable of doing about it. There were so many things she needed to learn about herself, so many things she needed to discover. Maybe she couldn't help him with his discoveries, but she could at least be there for him as he faced the hardships of finding his way with his mechanical powers. After all, she was going through the same thing, and even if she could help, she could at least be there if he needed someone to talk to, to help relieve the frustrations and worries he would undoubtedly have. And she'd be able to, from experience, assure him things would be all right.
Maybe…that was all he wanted from her.
Hesitantly, she reached over and gently placed a - what she hoped to be - comforting hand on the robotic simian's shoulder. At the moment, she wasn't sure what words she could come up with to help him feel better, so she had to do something else to let him know that she wanted to help him, whatever way she could.
It seemed to have been the best option, though. Turning his head slightly to look at her, he granted her a small smile. In his cobalt eyes, it seemed as though a powerful weight had been taken from him, giving him less of a burden to bear…at least on his own.
She had offered him support, and he had deemed her trustworthy to unmask his deepest feelings to her, accepting all she had to offer him and allowing her a further glimpse into his life that few have ever really perceived. It gave them a deeper connection, one that had never really been there before.
Antauri moved away from her touch as he turned to face her fully. The smile still expressed in his eyes, he presented her a brief bow, one she assumed meant to be a tacit gesture of gratitude for her sensitivity and providing a listening ear. With a cheerful smile of her own, she nodded, only happy to help.
She had often heard about the silent exchanges that took place between the silver monkey and those he was close to. She had seen such occasions between him and the other Hyperforce members, but never thought it would have ever occurred between him and her…until now. And she had to admit, the stillness that settled between them now was rather comforting, no longer an awkward feeling that lingered over them. Now, she found the quiet rather relieving.
"Perhaps we should now return to the Super Robot," Antauri suggested softly.
"Okay," she agreed. "I guess we need to let the others know that everything's okay on this end of Shuggazoom."
It was no sooner had she spoken those words, however, that she watched as surprise glazed over the cobalt eyes of the second-in-command, followed soon after by a hard, solemn look of suspicion and distress. She had seen the expression a few times before, when something was wrong or he was about to engage in battle.
"What is it, Antauri?" she questioned in a hushed voice.
His eyes darted from side to side. "I'm…not sure," was the hesitant reply. "Suddenly I felt…an ominous presence in the air. Almost as if something…dangerous is about to take place."
Jinmay sighed softly. She heard often that the robotic simian had an uncanny ability to be right in these kinds of circumstances.
As though to drive the point home, the sky suddenly seemed to explode above their heads, distorting the colors in their sights and drowning the city in magenta blaze splattered with ebony. A wave pulsed from the sky with an intense force, driving her and the silver monkey to their knees.
Then, a sharp piercing sound reached her ears, drowning out any sounds of the screaming citizens of Shuggazoom below. Looking up, she watched as seemingly thousands of…objects (unable to see them properly, she couldn't begin to even think of what they could be) fell from a…ripple in the sky. That was all she knew to call it. A twisting ripple that seemed to shoot out the black objects.
Suddenly, the ripple seemed to vanish into the normal sky, and the dark light faded away to restore everything to its rightful color. The heavy pressure was lifted, allowing the two onto their feet once more.
But as they peered over the edge of the roof, they could see that the strange event had not left everything quite as it was before.
"What are those things?" Jinmay asked softly. Blinking a little quizzically, she added, "And why are they shaped like eggs?"
Indeed, the strange objects that had fallen from the sky did for some reason remind her of eggs. But now she could see that the objects were actually large, black robots. The sun reflected off their dark metal surfaces as they stood by the thousands in the streets of the city, and in their hands each robot held what appeared to be a gun. Though these weren't the largest robots had ever seen, they were much larger than she was and could easily tower over her. It wouldn't have surprised her if they stood as tall as the Torso Tank.
As she watched them, she saw the robots all turn to face the same way. In the center of their heads was a red visor, and a small point of light appeared, slowly sliding form one side of the visor to the other before disappearing. Then the robots turned to face a different direction.
Their large size and overall design were made for them to appear menacing. However, it was hard for her to be too afraid of them due to the egg-shaped girth protruding from the middle of their bodies.
Still, she knew they had to be careful. There was no telling what those things could do.
The robots turned again, the lights in their eyes scanning the area before they turned again. "What are they doing?" she wondered aloud.
As the majority of robots turned once more, facing away from the building the two stood at, one of the machines broke the uniformity to turn and face towards them. Lifting its gaze to where they stood, the light appeared and slowly moved across the crimson visor. When it disappeared, the robot lifted its weapon.
Jinmay gasped, barely having time to jump out of the way as the robot fired its gun, shooting out a beam of golden energy that destroyed the corner of the roof they had been standing on. The sound of the explosion caused other robots to turn towards her, aiming their weapons and firing as well.
As soon as her feet touched the ground she was forced to jump back to avoid being hit by the gun fire aimed at her. Unfortunately, she noted Antauri - who had jumped in a different direction and landed farther from her - was also being driven back the opposite way and putting more distance between them.
Narrowly escaping another fire aimed at her, she jumped up into the air as the jets on her boots activated. Clenching her fist, she felt the heat burn in her eyes before firing them at the closest robot, knocking it back to the ground.
She maneuvered through the air, dodging more of the energy beams fired at her before firing another one of her own, knocking back more robots. In the corner of her eyes, she could see Antauri phasing through one of the machines, shooting out its back seconds before it exploded.
A familiar tone suddenly reached her ears as she shot another blast at a cluster of robots. "Jinmay, Antauri, come in!" a voice said from her communicator.
"Chiro!" she replied, barely dodging another robot fire. She gasped as it grazed her hand.
"Jinmay! What's happening? Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, but Antauri and I are under attack!"
"Is it those weird robots? The ones that came outta the sky?"
"Uh huh! They just came outta nowhere and when they saw us they just started firing!"
"I know. The same thing happened over here too. Jinmay, if you can, you and Antauri need to get back to the Super Robot before - ugh!"
The communication suddenly went dead, and Jinmay felt her stomach knot. "Chiro? Chiro!" she exclaimed as she carefully gripped her communicator. Distracted with worry, she didn't see the beam of energy closing in on her until it exploded against her foot.
"Aaaah!" Pain erupted within her, freezing her body and eating away at her foot. Faltering through the air, she vaguely noticed that her jet was no longer operating on her damaged boot. Without it, she was unable to sustain herself in the air, and before she could do anything about it she felt herself crash hard into the ground.
She groaned as she lay in the dirt for a moment. The pain of impacting the ground was overshadowed by that in her injured foot, and she wasn't sure if that was a good thing. Slowly she pushed herself up into a semi-sitting position, leaning back on her hands as she experimentally shifted her foot. A sharp breath caught in her throat as pain flared from the bottom of her sole, up her leg and reached up to her knee. Even the slightest movement of her leg shot burning daggers through it.
The heavy clang of metal against pavement in front of her, though, reminded her that she had other problems to deal with. Looking up, she saw some of the black robots standing before her, guns raised and prepared to shoot.
To her surprise, however, instead of shooting her with an energy beam from their weapons, their crimson visors directed their white light on her in a dim ray that swept from the top of her head down her body to the bottom of her feet.
"SCANS COMPLETE," one of the robots stated in a mechanical voice, the lights from their visors fading. "SUBJECT IDENTIFIED AS ONE OF PRIMARY TARGETS: JINMAY. OBJECTIVE: CAPTURE TARGET."
Before any of them could move, however, the silver monkey landed in front of her, standing between her and the robots.
"MONKEY MIND SCREAM!"
A violet wave streamed from the silver monkey's mouth, throwing back the robots threatening them several feet away and knocking them into the opposite building.
He quickly turned to her, but the sense of urgent hurry subsided slightly as he knelt beside her. "Are you all right, Jinmay?" he asked softly.
She bit back a hiss as she shifted her injured leg. "They shot my foot," she replied. "I can barely move it without it hurting…And Chiro…"
The silver monkey nodded gravely. "I know. We must hurry and return to the Super Robot…" His words trailed off as they both noticed a soft ray of light passing over him.
"SCANS COMPLETE," the robot a short distance away from them stated. "SUBJECT IDENTIFIED AS ONE OF PRIMARY TARGETS: ANTAURI. OBJECTIVE: CAPTURE BOTH TARGETS."
The robot fired a beam of energy at them. Quickly, Antauri held his hand up and created a violet shield that deflected the blast. Before the machine could fire again, the second-in-command dropped the shield as crescent blades appeared in his hands. He hurled them at the automation and they sliced through the black metal with ease. The robot collapsed into pieces.
More robots began to approach, but Antauri quickly grabbed Jinmay's hands and took off, flying over the city and the attacking machines below. She winced as her leg dangled in the air, but said nothing as they began soaring back towards the Super Robot.
Unfortunately, their assailants refused to make it easy for them. Many of them took to the sky after them, firing their guns as they sped behind them. On the ground, many of the machines had spotted them and fired from below.
She could feel the robotic simian's hold on her tighten ever so slightly as he began desperately maneuvering through the air to avoid the beams of energy that zoomed towards them, often just barely avoid their aim. She could feel the difficulty he was having, and she knew had to help somehow.
Concentrating the heat in her eyes, she focused her gaze down and fired the heat beams at the robots below, her attack colliding with a beam at a time. Every once in a while she would strike one of the robots, and she couldn't help but grin.
She chanced a glance at the group of machines flying behind them. Watching as the robots brought their guns together, her eyes widened as they fired simultaneously, the combination their energy beams merging into a giant attack.
"Antauri, look out!" she exclaimed. Unfortunately, her warning came too late. He attempted to dodge, but the beam was too large to escape completely and he was hit square in the back, causing him to scream.
Before she was able to say anything, a shriek escaped from her own throat as an energy ray from below struck her in the stomach. She felt every part of her burn with a painful fire, consuming her and rapidly spreading through her body - her systems - to eventually overtake any sense of feeling she had.
She was vaguely aware that the two of them rapidly descended through the air, heavily hitting the ground. But she no longer felt anything; her body was extremely numb, she couldn't even move it anymore. Fatigue washed over her, making her feel very tired suddenly. But just as her vision was blurring, she became aware of the robots standing over her.
"PRIMARY TARGETS HAVE BEEN ACQUIRED," she heard one say. "PREPARE TO TRANSPORT TO DR. EGGMAN…"
Even as the voice echoed in her mind, she wasn't sure if she had heard its words correctly. But soon it didn't matter as the world faded to black.
TBC
[Chapter 3]
Chapter: 2
Fandom: Sonic the Hedgehog/Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go! crossover
Character(s): Jinmay, Antauri
Genre: Drama, action/adventure, angst, some romance, friendship
Rating: K+/PG
Disclaimers: Sonic the Hedgehog © Sega, Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go! © Ciro Nieli
Notes: This was a...really weird idea I had one day, a long long time ago. I'm not sure why, other than I had just gotten into SRMT so I wanted to write about it all the time, and I was a really big Sonic the Hedgehog fan, so for some reason the crossover at the time made sense in my head. I don't...even know.
And again, I wrote this a really really long time ago. Like...Sonic Adventure 2 long time ago. So all the Sonic-related stuff takes place after that, pre-Sonic Heroes. In fact, none of the Sonic games after SA2 happened in this story and is directly a year after SA2, so it's kind of AU I guess. And in SRMT, it's kind of...after the war with Skeleton King, so...yeah...convenient. I'll stop now.
Summary: Dr. Eggman's newest plan is not only a threat to his world, but to another. And things get personal for the Hyperforce when the evil scientist takes some of their own.
[Chapter 1]
~*~*~*~
Her eyes carefully studied the city below as she flew a short distance behind the silver monkey, keeping a watch out for anything that might appear suspicious or threatening. "Everything looks all right over here," she said. "Nothing out of the ordinary."
The second-in-command gave a brief nod in agreement. Wordlessly they both descended onto a building rooftop to rest a moment before returning to the Super Robot.
It wasn't often that Jinmay found herself partnered with Antauri when asked to patrol Shuggazoom City. Normally she was with Nova or Chiro. And it wasn't that she minded being in his company. He had saved her life once, back when they had been looking for Chiro after he went missing. She held a deep respect for him as she did with all the other members of the Hyperforce. She just wasn't enjoying the awkward silence between them since they had nothing to talk about.
She took a momentary, covert glance in his direction, watching the sunlight reflecting from him. She wasn't sure if she liked the appearance of his silver metallic body that he possessed now better, or the form of ebony fur that she had seen when she first met the Hyperforce. Perhaps it didn't matter since he was still the same soul on the inside. But even if it wasn't important to her (or the others for that matter), it still might be an uneasy issue for him.
She recalled the day she had discovered that she was a robot shortly after her first encounter with the Monkey Team on the Super Robot. She remembered the surprise and alarm she had felt upon learning of what she really was and what she was capable of. And she could vaguely remember the events that took place while Sakko had control over her before Chiro managed to snap her out of it. It had been quite an ordeal having to cope with learning that she was really a machine when she once thought she was just a normal girl.
But she knew that Antauri's situation was much different than her own. After all, she had always been a robot, and even if she hadn't remembered it consciously, perhaps a part of her had always known the truth. She had somehow managed to deal with it much better than she had initially thought she would have, and she was even using her powers to assist the Monkey Team as an honorary member.
Unlike her, however, Antauri hadn't always been robotic. Though he had possessed mechanic parts, he had once been made of a living body, just as all the others had. Then after his apparent death, he had been returned in a body that was vastly different than what he was previously accustomed to. And while she had no doubt that he was glad to be back among them, and though he appeared to handle the silver monkey with expertise, she was also sure that he had some unsettled issues concerning his new body. It probably wasn't as easy for him to adjust to the change as he would like everyone to believe.
Especially since his greatest fear was losing control of his new body. Jinmay remembered the story that her boyfriend had told her, of how Mandarin had used Valina's pendant to bring all their greatest fears to life, and how Antauri had been controlled by him to attack them all. If it had been anything like when Sakko had control over her body, or even when that awful biker gang leader had corrupted her mind, then she knew exactly how the silver monkey felt.
And she began to wonder: Did he know that? Did Antauri know that she understood many of the things he may have been going through? She couldn't imagine that the silver monkey openly talked about these matters with any of the others, for the same reason why she never really liked to talk about it with them; because they didn't really know what it feels like. They were their friends who just wanted to help, but they couldn't fully grasp what it was like to be so different from everyone else. They couldn't know what it was like to be completely robotic.
But even if she sympathized with what he was going through, what could she do about it? He would probably never open up to her since they weren't exactly close. And even if he did, she still might not be able to help at all. Even if he told her about all of what he was feeling, there was really nothing she could do to make it easier for him.
She sighed at her own helplessness, unable to come up with anything. Unfortunately, she sighed much louder than she intended to, catching the attention of the second-in-command.
"Is everything all right, Jinmay?" he asked softly as he turned to face her. Though his tone remained neutral, almost stoic, his cobalt eyes revealed his curiosity and slight concern.
Nervously she gripped the hem of her skirt and began to fidget with it. She had often heard that Antauri had the power to sense what people were thinking, and for some reason that made her feel even more fretful. "W-well…I…erm…I mean…" she somehow managed to flounder. The ideas she had been mulling over minutes ago were just on the tip of her tongue, but she wasn't sure if she could force them out any more coherently than that.
She trained her eyes on her hands, feeling a little too embarrassed to look at him. But she could feel his curious gaze fixed on her, accompanied by a puzzled frown. No doubt he was wondering just what was going on in her mind, and she could only imagine the kinds of things he was sensing from her. Vaguely she wondered if it was possible for someone to feel so embarrassed that they could melt.
"Jinmay," he said softly in a reassuring voice, "whatever it is, you can tell me. I'm always here to help you."
That certainly did something for her. There she was, desperately searching for the words to voice her thoughts, and he had gone and said it first! Swallowing thickly, she finally blurted out, "I know…and y'know, I'm here for you too, Antauri."
She dared to look at him and had to bite back the laugh in her throat at the completely baffled expression on his face. She could see the questions in his eyes as he tried to figure out what to say. After a minute the only thing he was able to utter was a faint, "I'm sorry?"
The girl threw her hands about in a useless gesture. "Well, I just thought that maybe it was difficult for you, now that you're all robot and everything," she spouted out. She had been hesitant to say it before, but now she somehow found herself unable to stop.
"I mean, you're doing really well and everything, handling your new body, and I think it's really great that you've been able to do that. But I thought that it still might be a little hard on you because it's so different from what you used to be like. And Chiro told me about how you're afraid of losing control of your body, so I thought there were things that you still had to work out. And I wasn't sure if you talked with any of the others about how you're coping with being a robot now, even though they mean well and just wanna help. I'd understand why you wouldn't though, since they couldn't really understand how it feels. But you'd still have to talk about it if something was bothering you, right?
"So I thought that, y'know, maybe if you wanted to, you could talk to me about things like that that would be bothering you. I kinda know what you're going through. And trust me; it's never really easy to deal with it all by yourself. But then again, I'd understand if you don't wanna talk to me about it. It'd be totally fine, especially since I most likely won't be able to help you in any way, so…"
Even though she was a robot girl, she found herself needing to stop for air. She felt the heat on her cheeks flare. She hadn't planned on rambling like that, and she doubted that any of it made any real sense.
Chancing another glance at the silver monkey, she noticed the strange, reflective expression in his eyes. It was the only indication that her words had meant anything at all, as his face remained as impassive as she had ever seen it.
Then, to her surprise, his features softened as a kind smile spread over his lips. "Thank you, Jinmay," he answered softly.
Her brow furrowed slightly, wondering what he meant by that. She hadn't done anything to be thankful for. But before she could question him about it, he spoke first. "It can be rather difficult…dealing with an issue like this alone."
She thought for a minute before grasping his meaning. "Yeah," she agreed. "It really can. But you shouldn't have to deal with it alone, Antauri."
"Like you did?"
She gaped at him. There was no expression in his voice to signal how she should interpret his question. Was he denouncing her as a hypocrite for what she told him when she had spent most of the time dealing with it on her own? Was he flaunting that he had someone to help him during his time of need when she hadn't?
No…Antauri wasn't like that. He would never mean to say something like that.
"You had no one to talk to about this before, did you?" she heard him say again. Hesitantly, she met his eyes. "Shortly after you discovered you were a robot, and after you regained control of yourself, you left to search for your origins. You never…spoke to anyone about it, have you?"
She paused for a moment before shaking her head slowly. "No," she replied softly. "I guess I never did. But I wasn't sure if anyone would understand. Plus, you guys had bigger problems to worry about. You didn't need me to deal with. I didn't want you guys to worry about me while I was trying to find myself."
He regarded her for a moment, and she could see he was searching for something to say, for the right words to express what he wanted to say. So she waited patiently, letting him determine what would be the best words to speak.
Finally she heard him ask in a low voice, "What was it like for you…handling something like that all on your own?"
"Well, it was pretty tough," she admitted, reflecting over her search through space for answers to her past. "But mostly because I was…lonely."
"Lonely?" Antauri repeated as his brow slightly rose.
She nodded. "Yeah. I didn't have anyone there to help me. I didn't know exactly what to do or where to go to help my search along. When I came across any dead-ends, if I was just feeling down about myself, if I was worried about something or if I doubted myself…I had no one to turn to…no one there to support me."
"How were you able to continue on through that?" the silver monkey asked.
"I'm not sure. I remember…thinking about Chiro a lot. I always imagined finding out more about myself and my past, and then coming home here and telling Chiro all about it." A fond smile graced her lips. "I wanted to be able to tell Chiro everything I could about myself, because that would mean that I'd really know who I was, and I'd be able to share that with those I really care about."
"To know others means first to know oneself," the silver monkey uttered softly with a slight nod. It was a principle he was very familiar with. "It was an idea much easier to live by when I still had my body. But with this body…" He placed a hand on his own silver torso. "So many secrets and powers still unknown…I'm unsure if I'll ever be able to uncover them all…"
As she stood beside him and listened to him, sensing the slight distress underneath his normal, even tone, Jinmay finally recognized the importance of the exchange occurring between the two of them. It was a very rare occasion that Antauri would disclose any of his own personal feelings, especially when it concerned any of his own fears and doubts. And here he was revealing one of his deepest concerns to her, of all people. She didn't know if he had ever spoke to the others about any of this, though judging by how soft his voice had became, she would have to guess that he never did.
Even for someone like Antauri, having no one to talk to about things like this must not have been easy. But having no one who could truly understand those worries was also difficult, that she knew. So for Antauri to talk about something that really bothered him…and what's more, talk about it with her…proved that he really trusted her and felt that she really was able to relate to him.
And she did understand what he meant. She just wasn't entirely sure what she was capable of doing about it. There were so many things she needed to learn about herself, so many things she needed to discover. Maybe she couldn't help him with his discoveries, but she could at least be there for him as he faced the hardships of finding his way with his mechanical powers. After all, she was going through the same thing, and even if she could help, she could at least be there if he needed someone to talk to, to help relieve the frustrations and worries he would undoubtedly have. And she'd be able to, from experience, assure him things would be all right.
Maybe…that was all he wanted from her.
Hesitantly, she reached over and gently placed a - what she hoped to be - comforting hand on the robotic simian's shoulder. At the moment, she wasn't sure what words she could come up with to help him feel better, so she had to do something else to let him know that she wanted to help him, whatever way she could.
It seemed to have been the best option, though. Turning his head slightly to look at her, he granted her a small smile. In his cobalt eyes, it seemed as though a powerful weight had been taken from him, giving him less of a burden to bear…at least on his own.
She had offered him support, and he had deemed her trustworthy to unmask his deepest feelings to her, accepting all she had to offer him and allowing her a further glimpse into his life that few have ever really perceived. It gave them a deeper connection, one that had never really been there before.
Antauri moved away from her touch as he turned to face her fully. The smile still expressed in his eyes, he presented her a brief bow, one she assumed meant to be a tacit gesture of gratitude for her sensitivity and providing a listening ear. With a cheerful smile of her own, she nodded, only happy to help.
She had often heard about the silent exchanges that took place between the silver monkey and those he was close to. She had seen such occasions between him and the other Hyperforce members, but never thought it would have ever occurred between him and her…until now. And she had to admit, the stillness that settled between them now was rather comforting, no longer an awkward feeling that lingered over them. Now, she found the quiet rather relieving.
"Perhaps we should now return to the Super Robot," Antauri suggested softly.
"Okay," she agreed. "I guess we need to let the others know that everything's okay on this end of Shuggazoom."
It was no sooner had she spoken those words, however, that she watched as surprise glazed over the cobalt eyes of the second-in-command, followed soon after by a hard, solemn look of suspicion and distress. She had seen the expression a few times before, when something was wrong or he was about to engage in battle.
"What is it, Antauri?" she questioned in a hushed voice.
His eyes darted from side to side. "I'm…not sure," was the hesitant reply. "Suddenly I felt…an ominous presence in the air. Almost as if something…dangerous is about to take place."
Jinmay sighed softly. She heard often that the robotic simian had an uncanny ability to be right in these kinds of circumstances.
As though to drive the point home, the sky suddenly seemed to explode above their heads, distorting the colors in their sights and drowning the city in magenta blaze splattered with ebony. A wave pulsed from the sky with an intense force, driving her and the silver monkey to their knees.
Then, a sharp piercing sound reached her ears, drowning out any sounds of the screaming citizens of Shuggazoom below. Looking up, she watched as seemingly thousands of…objects (unable to see them properly, she couldn't begin to even think of what they could be) fell from a…ripple in the sky. That was all she knew to call it. A twisting ripple that seemed to shoot out the black objects.
Suddenly, the ripple seemed to vanish into the normal sky, and the dark light faded away to restore everything to its rightful color. The heavy pressure was lifted, allowing the two onto their feet once more.
But as they peered over the edge of the roof, they could see that the strange event had not left everything quite as it was before.
"What are those things?" Jinmay asked softly. Blinking a little quizzically, she added, "And why are they shaped like eggs?"
Indeed, the strange objects that had fallen from the sky did for some reason remind her of eggs. But now she could see that the objects were actually large, black robots. The sun reflected off their dark metal surfaces as they stood by the thousands in the streets of the city, and in their hands each robot held what appeared to be a gun. Though these weren't the largest robots had ever seen, they were much larger than she was and could easily tower over her. It wouldn't have surprised her if they stood as tall as the Torso Tank.
As she watched them, she saw the robots all turn to face the same way. In the center of their heads was a red visor, and a small point of light appeared, slowly sliding form one side of the visor to the other before disappearing. Then the robots turned to face a different direction.
Their large size and overall design were made for them to appear menacing. However, it was hard for her to be too afraid of them due to the egg-shaped girth protruding from the middle of their bodies.
Still, she knew they had to be careful. There was no telling what those things could do.
The robots turned again, the lights in their eyes scanning the area before they turned again. "What are they doing?" she wondered aloud.
As the majority of robots turned once more, facing away from the building the two stood at, one of the machines broke the uniformity to turn and face towards them. Lifting its gaze to where they stood, the light appeared and slowly moved across the crimson visor. When it disappeared, the robot lifted its weapon.
Jinmay gasped, barely having time to jump out of the way as the robot fired its gun, shooting out a beam of golden energy that destroyed the corner of the roof they had been standing on. The sound of the explosion caused other robots to turn towards her, aiming their weapons and firing as well.
As soon as her feet touched the ground she was forced to jump back to avoid being hit by the gun fire aimed at her. Unfortunately, she noted Antauri - who had jumped in a different direction and landed farther from her - was also being driven back the opposite way and putting more distance between them.
Narrowly escaping another fire aimed at her, she jumped up into the air as the jets on her boots activated. Clenching her fist, she felt the heat burn in her eyes before firing them at the closest robot, knocking it back to the ground.
She maneuvered through the air, dodging more of the energy beams fired at her before firing another one of her own, knocking back more robots. In the corner of her eyes, she could see Antauri phasing through one of the machines, shooting out its back seconds before it exploded.
A familiar tone suddenly reached her ears as she shot another blast at a cluster of robots. "Jinmay, Antauri, come in!" a voice said from her communicator.
"Chiro!" she replied, barely dodging another robot fire. She gasped as it grazed her hand.
"Jinmay! What's happening? Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, but Antauri and I are under attack!"
"Is it those weird robots? The ones that came outta the sky?"
"Uh huh! They just came outta nowhere and when they saw us they just started firing!"
"I know. The same thing happened over here too. Jinmay, if you can, you and Antauri need to get back to the Super Robot before - ugh!"
The communication suddenly went dead, and Jinmay felt her stomach knot. "Chiro? Chiro!" she exclaimed as she carefully gripped her communicator. Distracted with worry, she didn't see the beam of energy closing in on her until it exploded against her foot.
"Aaaah!" Pain erupted within her, freezing her body and eating away at her foot. Faltering through the air, she vaguely noticed that her jet was no longer operating on her damaged boot. Without it, she was unable to sustain herself in the air, and before she could do anything about it she felt herself crash hard into the ground.
She groaned as she lay in the dirt for a moment. The pain of impacting the ground was overshadowed by that in her injured foot, and she wasn't sure if that was a good thing. Slowly she pushed herself up into a semi-sitting position, leaning back on her hands as she experimentally shifted her foot. A sharp breath caught in her throat as pain flared from the bottom of her sole, up her leg and reached up to her knee. Even the slightest movement of her leg shot burning daggers through it.
The heavy clang of metal against pavement in front of her, though, reminded her that she had other problems to deal with. Looking up, she saw some of the black robots standing before her, guns raised and prepared to shoot.
To her surprise, however, instead of shooting her with an energy beam from their weapons, their crimson visors directed their white light on her in a dim ray that swept from the top of her head down her body to the bottom of her feet.
"SCANS COMPLETE," one of the robots stated in a mechanical voice, the lights from their visors fading. "SUBJECT IDENTIFIED AS ONE OF PRIMARY TARGETS: JINMAY. OBJECTIVE: CAPTURE TARGET."
Before any of them could move, however, the silver monkey landed in front of her, standing between her and the robots.
"MONKEY MIND SCREAM!"
A violet wave streamed from the silver monkey's mouth, throwing back the robots threatening them several feet away and knocking them into the opposite building.
He quickly turned to her, but the sense of urgent hurry subsided slightly as he knelt beside her. "Are you all right, Jinmay?" he asked softly.
She bit back a hiss as she shifted her injured leg. "They shot my foot," she replied. "I can barely move it without it hurting…And Chiro…"
The silver monkey nodded gravely. "I know. We must hurry and return to the Super Robot…" His words trailed off as they both noticed a soft ray of light passing over him.
"SCANS COMPLETE," the robot a short distance away from them stated. "SUBJECT IDENTIFIED AS ONE OF PRIMARY TARGETS: ANTAURI. OBJECTIVE: CAPTURE BOTH TARGETS."
The robot fired a beam of energy at them. Quickly, Antauri held his hand up and created a violet shield that deflected the blast. Before the machine could fire again, the second-in-command dropped the shield as crescent blades appeared in his hands. He hurled them at the automation and they sliced through the black metal with ease. The robot collapsed into pieces.
More robots began to approach, but Antauri quickly grabbed Jinmay's hands and took off, flying over the city and the attacking machines below. She winced as her leg dangled in the air, but said nothing as they began soaring back towards the Super Robot.
Unfortunately, their assailants refused to make it easy for them. Many of them took to the sky after them, firing their guns as they sped behind them. On the ground, many of the machines had spotted them and fired from below.
She could feel the robotic simian's hold on her tighten ever so slightly as he began desperately maneuvering through the air to avoid the beams of energy that zoomed towards them, often just barely avoid their aim. She could feel the difficulty he was having, and she knew had to help somehow.
Concentrating the heat in her eyes, she focused her gaze down and fired the heat beams at the robots below, her attack colliding with a beam at a time. Every once in a while she would strike one of the robots, and she couldn't help but grin.
She chanced a glance at the group of machines flying behind them. Watching as the robots brought their guns together, her eyes widened as they fired simultaneously, the combination their energy beams merging into a giant attack.
"Antauri, look out!" she exclaimed. Unfortunately, her warning came too late. He attempted to dodge, but the beam was too large to escape completely and he was hit square in the back, causing him to scream.
Before she was able to say anything, a shriek escaped from her own throat as an energy ray from below struck her in the stomach. She felt every part of her burn with a painful fire, consuming her and rapidly spreading through her body - her systems - to eventually overtake any sense of feeling she had.
She was vaguely aware that the two of them rapidly descended through the air, heavily hitting the ground. But she no longer felt anything; her body was extremely numb, she couldn't even move it anymore. Fatigue washed over her, making her feel very tired suddenly. But just as her vision was blurring, she became aware of the robots standing over her.
"PRIMARY TARGETS HAVE BEEN ACQUIRED," she heard one say. "PREPARE TO TRANSPORT TO DR. EGGMAN…"
Even as the voice echoed in her mind, she wasn't sure if she had heard its words correctly. But soon it didn't matter as the world faded to black.
TBC
[Chapter 3]