Chapter Text
The Blue Baboon was a destination for pipo monkeys from all around the world. Apes splashing in the crystal waves to cool off, burying eachother in the sand for fun, or simply reclining on the beach and soaking in the sun, were strewn all over the oasis. The refreshing breeze swirled throughout the sands and waves, and the monkeys couldn’t possibly have been enjoying it any more… It wasn’t long, though, before they grew alarmed at three abnormal individuals emerging from the rocky opening leading to the nearby canyon. The monkeys hastily shuffled themselves elsewhere when they stepped their colorful feet into the area, some swimming away and others making a getaway once the intruders had come in far enough to slip through the exit behind them. Within moments, the beach that had been bustling with activity was now entirely empty, save for this pipotron trio.
“Looks like we have the beach to ourselves again!” Crimson chuckled, before turning to his yellow sister. She looked back at him with eyes full of amusement and cheer as she replied.
“Ha! I said it before, and I’ll say it again: Nobody messes with pipotron. Probably because we’re just too powerful for their presence~” The yellow playfully chimes. She and her brother giggle over the idea, before the blue of the three, who had been silent up until this point, speaks up.
“It’s because we’re freaks, Sunshine.” The sharp-toothed monkey interjects, gaze drifting to the side as she catches her unwelcome reflection in the shiny beach as they walk along the coast. Her hand tightens around the slim pencil case and spine of the sketchbook she’s carrying. “I’m pretty sure most monkeys don’t even know what we are . Power has nothing to do with it.”
Crimson gently elbows his gloomy blue sister before speaking again. “C’mon, Marine. We’ve talked about this before. We can’t change that we’re pipotron, so why be upset over it?”
Sunshine adds her input as well: “As I always say: Don’t dwell on on the facts, and reap the benefits… Benefits like a whole beach to ourselves! ” She throws up her fists before letting out a “Whooooooo!” that carried on as long as she rushed into the water before it abruptly ended upon her diving into the waves. After a few seconds, she comes up, laughing and swimming around. She loved playing in the ocean so much; Probably too much for someone biomechanical… And it definitely showed. When pipotron spend too much time in water, they tend to twitch, and her tail was flicking about all over without her knowledge or volition.
Crimson turns to his blue sibling, noticing the conflict on her downcast face, as well as her helmet’s yellow siren. He knew Marine felt strong negativity towards being a pipotron. Neither Sunshine or himself related to her internal struggle; They enjoyed the power and abilities that came with being what they are. They didn’t feel anything wrong with themselves like she did. He wished he could put her at ease— they both did— but they just didn’t know how… No one can figure out exactly where these feelings came from, and Marine wouldn’t say; That is, if she even knew. Crimson puts his hand on his sister’s shoulder in a gesture of comfort, and she looks up to meet his gaze. The look in her eyes is that of shame and defeat, though she tries in vain to hide it.
“Are you okay?” He asks, tender and heartfelt. It was easy to tell that she wasn’t in the best state. However, just as she responds, her anxious yellow siren fades to a slower blue.
“I’m… Yeah. I’m okay. I’m just… gonna go draw.” Her sharp-toothed mouth quirks into a quick, halfhearted smile before she looks and turns away, heading towards a small alcove carved into the rock wall of the landscape a few yards from the beach. She knew no one understood, but if nothing else, she’s always touched by her siblings’ concern. Crimson in particular was extremely protective and caring towards her and Sunshine both, and did not follow the stereotype of an egotistical and aggressive red pipotron. He was far more of a caring and protective older brother than a self-proclaimed leader, and for this, Marine couldn’t be more greatful.
“If you need us, come get us… Okay?” Crimson implores. His sister turns to him from over her shoulder, calling back as she treads through the sand.
“I will!” She shouts, before turning towards the nook that was her current destination. She takes a deep breath as she closes her eyes, exhaling out some of her remaining tension.
Crimson was right… they couldn’t change it. Being a pipotron was just a fact of life for them. But Marine can’t ever shake the feeling that… it wasn’t always that way. All pipotrons’ memories begin in that massive, factory-esque room. There’s no recollection of any other life than those as pipotron. And yet, while pipotron do have robotic components, they’re integrated into the biology of a young-adult monkey. So what about before that…? Was there a time where they were normal monkeys? Who were they before? And as frustrating and haunting as this question is… they’d never know the answer. And unlike most other pipotron, Marine could not easily accept that.
After a few meters that felt like miles, she arrives at the shaded nook. She kneels down and scoots back, looking straight ahead to see her siblings splashing and laughing about in the distance. She smirks slightly, before her focus shifts to the sketchbook in her lap. She flips past the worn cover, coming face-to-face with a sketch of the exact beach they’re on right now. She glanced between the sketch and the scene, smiling at the similarities. Every detail, right down to her siblings playing in the distance, reflected the sketch she’d made a few months prior to now. She then began slowly flipping through the pages, looking to find inspiration through her prior works.
She loved to draw scenery; In fact, there was more than one piece of this exact lagoon… But her true passion for drawing revolved around figures. She would draw any person, human or monkey, that she found to be beautiful in their own way. There were sketches of all kinds of characters in her book: Monkey Pink, Yumi, the green-haired AI she couldn’t remember the name of, and Dr. Tomoki were only a few subjects… And she can’t help but grimace slightly as she begins turning through an honestly embarrassing amount of sketches of Specter. She believed his ideas were corrupt (to put it lightly), but she found his appearance to be absolutely stunning. It was a shame his views were so skewed; Humans may have their own type of superiority over monkeys, but most of them do seem to care. Humans don’t seem to hold any true malice towards monkeys— or at least, the ones she’s seen. When she heard some time ago that Dr. Tomoki was aiding Specter in his plan that she didn’t know the details of, she couldn’t help but wonder if this doctor was in it for Specter’s scheme, or to simply watch over the monkeys. From what she’d heard, the monkeys willingly built Tomoki City to show their appreciation, which spoke great volumes about their view of him. When she had heard that Tomoki had betrayed the monkeys’ leader, she immediately thought of what he could have possibly done to sway this oddly wholesome man’s loyalty.
Overall, she went out of her way to stay quiet on the topic of Specter; She doesn’t know how she’d explain her intense disapproval for him whilst having half of a sketchbook filled with his image. After coming across her 5th sketch in a row of the white-haired monkey, Marine flips directly to a blank page, in an effort to quell her blazing internal shame. She took another deep breath and released an exasperated exhale.
She looks down to the blank page, barely touching the tip of her pencil to the paper before her gaze is ripped upward at the sound of a terrified scream. What she sees causes her heart to drop and her mind to panic. This must be some kind of nightmare; This shouldn’t even be possible…
Viral creatures that she hadn’t seen since watching the primary trio fight in the Virus Tech Tournament were blipping into the reality around her. Floating, fire-spitting throats… grey cyclopeans wielding electric tridents… strange, one-eyed wasps expelling flames… and some strange floating crystals she didn’t recognize— one of which had just shot an electric cage around her brother. Sunshine was nowhere to be seen, and Marine hoped she’d manage to escape. She’s about to manifest her dark booster when a tridell— one of the gray electric creatures— blocks her escape. It points its spear at her throat, while one of the crystals floats up beside it and fires a trap around her as well. And then, just like that, they’re all warped away, leaving an unnaturally frigid air to the barren sunny beach left behind.