"The Chosen"

Chapter Thirteen

Eliyora: I'm back. I'm finally back, after nearly a year. I kinda drifted away from the Monkey Team for a while, which is the reason I didn't update. I know, it's not an excuse, but there it is. Anyway, I'm hopefully going to update much more frequently now. A couple things to tell you: As of this chapter, no more cute sentences to act as lines. I ran out of them. Also, this part of the story will be divided into multiple chapters. Mandarin's betrayal is, of course, a greatly important thing, and I will treat it as such. With that being said, enjoy everybody.

LINELINELINE

Sparx sat at the dinner table, just quietly eating his rice. He looked over at the people who called themselves his parents, who were too busy praising his brother about his latest perfect score to even register that there was another person at the table. It was amazing. Sparx could throw a luau and they wouldn't care. He got really sick of it, but what could you do? At least he wasn't being criticized for anything.

Hal, for his part, was looking vaguely fed up. Sparx couldn't blame him. Their parents seemed to think praise made the world go 'round, and Hal's good grades earned him endless amounts of it. Anyone would get tired of hearing the same things repeatedly. He'd even said once that he'd love to trade places with Sparx for a day.

It wasn't a returned sentiment.

Sparx was distracted from his thoughts when he felt a small, soundless pulse from his transformer. Looking at the little silver watch, he saw it flashing a faint orange, indicating that Chiro was calling. Looking across the table, he saw that Hal felt it too, but was unable to sneak away. Sparx, however, slipped away unnoticed, and went into the hallway to answer.

"What's up, Kid?" he whispered.

"You and Gibson gotta get downtown now!" Chiro yelled urgently.

"What? We got a Formless problem?" Sparx asked.

"No, we've got a Mandarin problem!" Chiro replied.

"Say what? What's going on?"

"Just get here! You'll have to use the tracker! We're moving fast, so you need to too! Chiro out!"

Sparx was stunned for a moment, but decided there would be plenty of time for shock later. Darting back into the dining room, he said, "Bro, we've got some monkey business going down. We need to haul tail!"

Hal nodded once and stood. Before he reached the other side of the table, though, their father stood and demanded, "What are you trying to pull, Sparx?" Sparx rolled his eyes. It never failed. He was always the one they suspected. Glancing at his brother, he wordlessly asked for help.

Hal got the message loud and clear. "Don't worry, Father. I understand what he means, and he's not trying to 'pull' anything. Do you think I'd just agree if he was?"

Their mother stood next. "How can you be sure?" she asked, not bothering to hide the suspicion in her voice.

Hal smiled. "It's a twin thing," he replied. They didn't look convinced, so he added, "I'll take full responsibility for getting us home. I am the elder brother after all." Sparx made a face, but said nothing.

Their father grimaced, but said, "Fine. We're trusting you, Hal."

Hal nodded and he and Sparx ran out the door. Sparx frowned. "They just will never, ever have any faith in me. It's always the same."

"Complain about it some other time. What was that call all about?" Hal asked.

"Chiro just said something about Mandarin," Sparx answered. "We better fly. Hyper Power Up!"

They transformed and took off.

LINELINELINE

Nova hummed quietly to herself as she wiped the sweat from her brow. That had been a good workout. She usually had to keep it down when her family was home, but her parents had gone out to dinner that night, leaving her and her siblings alone in the house. These nights were the best, because she could pound away at the sandbag without restraint.

"Hey Nova!" came her brother's voice from upstairs.

Climbing out of their basement/gym, Nova answered, "What's up, Chip?"

Her older brother Chip held up her transformer, which was flashing silver. "Your watch is doing that weird thing again. What's it mean, anyway? It need new batteries or something?"

Nova calmly snatched it away. "No, it's an alarm setting. How'd you get this, anyway? You go into my room again?"

Chip rolled his eyes. "And if I did?"

Nova hit him on the head. "Ass," she cursed, walking upstairs to her bedroom. Once alone, she put the transformer on and answered, "Antauri? What is it?"

"We need you downtown!" Antauri replied. He sounded distraught, which caught Nova's attention right away.

"What's the matter?" she asked.

"You'll have to get down here fast! Use the tracker! Antauri out!" he replied.

Nova was confused and worried, so she hurried downstairs, pausing only long enough to call to Chip, "I'm heading out! Later!"

"Fine! Don't be out too late or I'll catch hell, okay?" Chip answered.

"'Kay!" Nova replied, dashing out the door. "Hyper Power Up!"

LINELINELINE

Otto grinned widely as him little cousin waddled her way to him, cheerfully saying, "Atta! Atta!"

He giggled and scooped her up when she reached him. "Having fun, Michelle?" The three-year-old gave a happy squeal in answer. Hearing an amused chuckle from behind him, Otto turned around to his uncle.

"I wonder if she likes you more than her own daddy," he said teasingly. "She always cries for 'Atta' whenever you're not here or busy."

Otto grinned, blushing a little. "I doubt she likes me more than you," he replied. Hugging little Michelle again, he continued, "I don't mind that she always clings to me, anyway. She's more like my little sister than my little cousin, and I love her to bits!"

His uncle laughed outright. "You're going to be a good father someday, you know that?" he said.

Otto blushed deeper. "Father? Me? Don't you think I'm a little young to think about stuff like that?"

"Yes, Dwayne, he is. Don't go putting your perverted ideas into his head," came his aunt voice from the kitchen, shortly followed by a small giggle.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Angie," Dwayne called. Otto and Angie both laughed. Michelle laughed as well, not knowing what was so funny but not wanting to be left out. Dwayne grinned and took his daughter from Otto. "Come along, Sweetness. Time for you to go to bed."

"No!" Michelle responded immediately. She gave her father a light hit on the shoulder. "No!"

"Michelle, you know better than to hit," Dwayne warned.

"NO!" Michelle protested again.

Otto smiled at her. "We'll play more when you wake up tomorrow, okay?" he promised.

Michelle simply answered, "Play now!"

Dwayne rolled his eyes. "I'll go tuck her in," he said, carrying her down the hall.

"Atta!" Michelle called sadly.

"Goodnight, Michelle!" Otto called after her. It was then he felt his transformer begin pulsing against his wrist. Glancing at it, he saw it was a faint orange. He hurried into another room to answer Chiro's call. Once he got the info, he poked his head into the kitchen and asked, "Hey, is it cool if I head out for a bit?"

Angie glanced at the clock. "I suppose for a while. It is only seven. Just don't come home too late, alright?"

Otto nodded once. "'Kay!" He bolted out of the house, transforming and taking off.

LINELINELINE

Chiro and Antauri flew at top speed, following the traitor and the witchling. Chiro had never seen such a look on Antauri's face before. It was an odd mixture of distraught and determined. Chiro would bet anything that Antauri would die before letting his brother go to the Circle. Unfortunately, the other two were slightly faster, and they were slowly gaining ground.

"Damn! We'll never catch them like this!" Chiro snarled.

"We will! We have to!" Antauri snapped. Pushing a little harder, Antauri sped up slightly. Chiro reached a little deeper himself, and kept up with Antauri, but they were not gaining on them. "Come on! Come on!" Antauri growled.

Mandarin glanced over his shoulder for a moment. "We're not going to lose them. Antauri's too good of a flyer," he said.

Lyndis glanced backwards over her dark-energy wings and frowned. "You're right. We need to do something. We can't lead them to the Circle," she said. Pausing a moment, she blasted an energy sphere at them. Antauri and Chiro dodged it, but the moment it was behind them, it imploded, sending them crashing to the ground. While Chiro and Antauri struggled to get back up quickly, Lyndis and Mandarin used the opportunity to put some ground between them.

"Magna Tingler Blast!"

A wave of electro-magnetic energy in front of them stopped Lyndis and Mandarin cold. Looking up, they saw Sparx and Gibson hovering above them. Mandarin frowned. "Stand aside if you know what's good for you," he warned.

Sparx pointed his magnets at Mandarin's chest. "I don't know what the hell's goin' on here, but I'll be damned if I let you two through," he replied. Gibson raised his drills as well, Sparx's words clearly echoed in his eyes.

Lyndis smirked and raised a hand to them. "Damn you," she said mockingly before blasting them with an electro-magnetic wave similar to what Sparx had just thrown at them. It shocked them badly, knocking them to the ground. Lyndis gave a small laugh...

...promptly before being clocked upside her head and knocked to the ground.

Growling, Lyndis looked up and saw Nova, fists raised. Otto was currently engaging Mandarin, though he was struggling terribly. Mandarin was simply too strong for Otto to fight alone. Lyndis stood up, glaring daggers at Nova. "Alright then, little girl. You wanna play? Let's play!" Lyndis raised her own fists, and they transformed into a rough imitation of Nova's. Startled by this, Nova was caught off-guard when Lyndis jumped at her and punched her.

While the girls fought, Chiro and Antauri caught up to them, and Gibson and Sparx picked themselves up off of the ground. They rushed to their fallen friends. "Are you two okay?" Chiro asked.

"We're fine, Kid," Sparx answered. "We'd better help them."

Chiro nodded. "Sparx and Gibson, you help Nova. Antauri and I will help Otto."

Mandarin blocked another attack from Otto, but he didn't lower his shield to counterattack. Instead he charged at Otto, energy shield raised. Otto was forced against a wall, and Mandarin pressed the shield against him. Otto screamed in pain for a moment before Mandarin let him drop. He raised his sword. "I honestly didn't intend to kill anyone, at least not yet. I wanted to leave my brother his friends to cling to, if nothing else, but you've given me no choice," he said solemnly. He swung his sword down.

A pair of purple ghost claws caught the blade.

"Antauri!" Mandarin exclaimed before Antauri twisted his hands to throw Mandarin to the ground. Behind him, Chiro helped Otto to his feet.

"Are you alright?" he asked. He seemed to ask that question a lot these days...

"Chest kinda hurts, but I'll live," Otto replied. He and Chiro took battle stances next to Antauri as Mandarin got up.

The orange-haired man turned to look at his brother, eyes showing no pity or affection. "I would rather not fight you, brother. I will give you one chance to turn away," he warned.

"I would say the same to you," Antauri responded, his voice resolute. "I know not what has happened to you, but surely Lady Kitalia can help you. We already helped Sparx, after all. Please, brother, come back. Don't do this. Don't betray the Order."

Mandarin's eyes narrowed. "I pity you, brother. You're nothing more than a pawn for the Order. I suppose that some of it is my fault, for not telling you the truth from the start, but it cannot be helped."

Antauri raised an eyebrow. "Telling me the truth?" he asked.

Mandarin sneered. "If you stand in my way, I will cut you down, just like the others." The instant the words left his mouth, Mandarin rushed forward, swinging his sword at Antauri, who was just quick enough to get out of the way. Chiro came at him from the side.

"Thunder Punch!" His attack connected, sending Mandarin sailing. Now infuriated, Mandarin got back to his feet and lunged at them.

At the same time, Nova dodged another punch from Lyndis. It hit a nearby tree instead, toppling it. Once she was out of the way she yelled, "Gibson, now!"

"Photon Scalpel!"

Lyndis dodged the attack in the same way Nova had just dodged hers. Turning angrily towards Gibson, she pointed one finger at him, and a focused electric beam shot out of it right at him. Sparx barely managed to grab Gibson and pull him out of the way.

"What the hell is that lady's deal? Every time we attack her, she comes at us with something similar!" Sparx complained.

"I don't understand. How can she imitate us so accurately?" Gibson pondered.

"Think later! Fight now!" Nova yelled at them. "Lady Tomahawk!" Lyndis stepped to the side, smirking at Nova. She smashed her still-enlarged fist into Nova's face.

"Nova!" Sparx yelped, rushing to her. Lyndis darted towards Nova, apparently about to split her skull. Sparx got there first. He was glowing red.

"I won't let you hurt Nova!" he yelled. His magnets sparked with energy. "Magno-Field Shield!"

Lyndis hit the shield full-on, and was repulsed by the energy flowing through it. Sparx looked at his magnets. "What was that?" he wondered. "I've never done that before!"

Nova got up. "I dunno, but thanks," she said. She raised her fists again. "Shall we?"

Sparx smirked. "Yes, we shall," he answered, raising his magnets. Lyndis came at them again.

"Electro-Vibro Forks!"

"Sting Rings!"

The twin sonic attack was right on target, but Lyndis just smirked. She raised her hand, and it mutated into a sort of magnet. She used it to generate a shield just like the one Sparx had just used, protecting herself.

"What the f***?" Sparx swore.

Lyndis laughed. "You still don't know what I am, do you?"

"Laser Criss-Cross!"

"Gah!" Lyndis yelped as Gibson's attack hit her side.

"We may not know how your powers work, but it matters little," he said. "We'll find a way to defeat you nonetheless."

Lyndis laughed loudly. "You little fools. I'm nothing like the Formless that you've been fighting all this time. I'm far above them!" She sprang up, shocking Gibson with electricity.

"Scritch-Scratch Doom Thrower!"

"Chiro Spearo!"

Mandarin blocked the dual assault, but Antauri used the opportunity to strike him in the side with his telekinesis. Winded, Mandarin turned an approving look to him. "That's more like it. Take the opportunity to strike. That's how you win," he choked out. He raised his sword again, regaining his breath. "But you must make sure they stay down!" He charged at Antauri. He backflipped away from Mandarin's attacks, but seemed reluctant to retaliate.

Chiro saw Antauri's reluctance, and whispered something to Otto, who flew up, and out of sight. Chiro then stood and called, "Hey Mandarin! You think you're so tough? Try taking me on! One-on-one!"

Mandarin looked at the confident boy, smirking, while Antauri looked shocked. "Well, why not? You are the strongest of the bunch, including my dear brother here," Mandarin accepted. He turned to face Chiro. "Let's go boy."

LINELINELINE

Eliyora: To be continued...

Kitalia: What's Chiro up to?

Eliyora: Find out next chapter! Please review, and feel free to scream at me for taking so damn long to update. I won't do it again!