On A Doorstep (unedited version)

Chapter 8

Hey welcome back! Now I know I've been throwing out feels left and right but here? This chapter right here? This was the chapter that I teared up to while writing....that should give you an idea on how feelsy this chapter is. Please enjoy!

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Angela sniffled as she internally scolded herself.

"Stupid idiot! You just had to give him a panic attack didn't you?!" She internally scolded as she dug her face deeper into the pillow.

Angela didn't even hear the door open as Mandarin entered. His heart broke as he saw her crying into her pillow. He sat down on the floor next to her bed and turned to her. Angela sniffled a bit more before lifting her head at him before quickly putting back down.

"Don't, I'll only make it worse." She sniffled.

It broke his heart even more to hear this coming from her.

"N-no you didn't...you didn't know h-how bad Skeleton King..."

"I didn't think it would be this bad! I didn't know that even mentioning going outside would give you a panic attack!" Angela snapped, lifting her head.

"Which is why no one is upset with you. You didn't mean to..." Mandarin's voice trailed off.

Angela sniffled as she placed her head back on the pillow.

"You have no idea what he's done and how badly it...how badly it affected me..."

Angela lifted her head up.

"Then what did he do? Because all I'm getting other than him transforming you is nothing! Whenever I ask about it they keep saying I'll find out one day but that day never comes! I just...I want to understand...I want to understand what happened." She said.

Mandarin froze up when she said that, thinking over what he should say to her. He wasn't going to lie to her, but at the same time he wasn't going to tell her.

"You're going to find out pretty soon actually." He said, causing her sniffling to stop.

He looked off to the side.

"I don't think it's a good idea to hide what h-happened anymore. S-so we'll find a day to sit down and...explain everything." Mandarin said.

Angela's posture straightened at that. She was going to get answers on why he's like this, maybe she can understand so she can help better! Finally! She nodded.

"Alright I'm up for that. Uh...do my siblings have to go too?" She asked.

Mandarin paused briefly before nodding. Angela frowned a bit, why do they need to come too? She'll know when she gets there hopefully.

"I'm still sorry..."

"No, don't apologize. You did nothing wrong." Mandarin huffed.

Angela sniffled and wiped her eyes.

"I'll someday feel comfortable to go outside again. I just need to fully feel that I will be safe." He continued.

She wanted to tell him that he will but she knew it wasn't about facts, it was more about how he feels. Angela nodded and curled up with him, almost instinctively. Mandarin couldn't help but flinch but after a moment placed a hand on her back.

"Do you feel better now?" He asked.

Angela nodded.

"You?" She asked, receiving a nod.

She rested her head against his chest and closed her eyes. She felt much better. After a while Angela got up.

"So uh are you sure you want to stay here by yourself? I mean I could stay." She offered.

Mandarin shook his head.

"No I don't want you to miss out o-on anything because of me." He said.

Angela nodded, still kind of wanting to stay with him for some reason. She didn't know why she felt so close with him but she did. She wiped her eyes a bit more before hopping off her bed as the two left the room. Angela was immediately hugged by Otto as the others went up to the two.

"Hey kiddo...are you okay?" Sprx asked.

Angela nodded.

"Yeah, sorry about worrying you."

"No, don't. It's fine now, today's gonna be fun." Chiro said.

Mandarin watched them before noticing Otto smiling widely at him. He blushed and looked away.

"He's doing so good!" Otto thought.

The team soon left as Mandarin went back into his room to rest for now. Throughout the day though, Violet was complaining about having headaches for some reason and even though she took some medicine for it, there was still a sensation in her head. She just couldn't figure out what it was.
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Violet tossed and turned for most of the night, feeling like crap. It was mostly her head but she just couldn't get to sleep. After a while she gave up and went over to her desk so she could read. She grabbed a science book and began to read it when a powerful sensation in her head flashed and she nearly let out a yell and clutched it.

"Mommy!"

Was that her voice? Was this a memory she repressed? If she remembered correctly she was almost a toddler when she came here so that wouldn't be surprising but...was she remembering her mother? Another sensation, this time she remembered a dark place with only a hole of light nearby and a small bed. Her room? What was going on?!

She felt her breathing labor and she knew she had to get out and quickly before she woke anyone up. Violet rushed out of her room and into the bathroom. She shut the door and sat down, a cold sweat taking over her. All of a sudden, memories just start flooding back as tears welled up in her eyes.

She remembered.


Violet was born into the lab and in an attempt to try to keep the children away from the robots without the Hyperforce's involvement her mother kept her hidden in her...no his room under some floorboards. He always gave her food and water as well as a comfortable place to sleep on. He even drilled a hole to make a bathroom for her. She was told to stay in there during the day and come out only at night when the robots were shut off to recharge.

Violet hated the robots, they always yelled at mom and were scary. Mother wasn't, he never yelled or was scary to her and she loved him very dearly.

Violet looked at the hole, knowing that it was nighttime as the floorboard opened up.

"They gone?" She asked as a large purple hand picked her up.

"They just shut off so we have until six." Mandarin said, less mentally broken than when he came to the robot.

Violet grinned and bobbed her head against Mandarin's. She had no idea what six meant but that was a lot of time to her. They peeked outside before leaving. She loved it when it's nighttime. Not only was it super cool that everything that this dark blue light but she also spent time with mommy.

Violet was set in her chair before she saw Mandarin pull out a carton of orange juice.

"Are you thirsty?" He asked.

Violet quickly nodded, patting the table with her small hands. Mandarin smiled before pouring it into a bottle and giving it to her. They didn't have sippy cups and Violet wasn't ready to drink out of a regular glass yet so this is all they have for now. She didn't mind though. Mandarin sat across from her as he got himself something to eat. He was eight months pregnant and it was getting harder for him to lean down to pick her up.

"I see broders n sisters 'gain?" Violet asked.

Mandarin froze a bit.

"Erm it's getting hard to get in there, the robots will think I'm breaking them out but...sure." He said.

Violet smiled and continued to sip her drink, kicking her legs. After Mandarin was finished eating they began to go towards the place where her siblings were supposedly kept. Violet whimpered when she saw the robots all lined up, shut off. Mandarin noticed this and rubbed her back with his finger.

"You don't have to look at them, just dig your face into my chest until we pass them." He said.

Violet did so and continued whimpering. After a while she felt Mandarin stop.

"Okay we're away from them now."

Violet lifted her head as they were in front of large heavy doors. Mandarin went over to the control panel and eyed his surroundings as he put the code to unlock the door in. They always come up with new ones but Mandarin made sure to read what they were typing. The doors unlocked and opened, revealing the several monkey sized tubes. In them were several deactivated robot monkeys of various colors. Violet hopped down and ran towards a pink one with black eyes.

"Hi Artmes!" She said, when she was trying to say Artemis.

"Hi Oscy!" She greeted a Violet robot monkey with black eyes.

"Hi Trixie and Cosmo!" She greeted two green robot monkeys, one with blue eyes and one with red eyes.

"And hi Jessy, Janice, Jerica, and Jamie!" She waved to four red robot monkeys.

She stopped and turned to Mandarin.

"Why'd you give em J names?" She huffed, making Mandarin snicker.

"It has a nice ring to it Violet." He said.

Violet nodded before looking back at them. She knew there were probably more but she didn't know where they were.

"Mommy, when can they come out and play?" She asked, looking back at Mandarin.

Mandarin flinched and looked down.

"I...I'm not sure yet. We're not allowed for them to wake up yet."

"Why?" Violet asked curiously.

Mandarin opened his mouth but closed it quickly and touched his stomach.

"They....they won't let us. I want them to but...when they wake up they're going to be forced to go somewhere else and the Hyperforce will help them."

Violet's ears perked up when she heard the Hyperforce.

"They will? Will they be safe from Skelly?" She asked.

Mandarin nodded.

"And the Hyperforce will put a stop to Skeleton King and allow us to be safe with them." He said, unsure of the last part.

Violet smiled widely before looking back at her siblings.

"Good! I hate the robots!" She giggled.

"Me too dear."

A month later and Mandarin went into labor, having Violet to be put in the floorboards for nearly the whole day and night. She knew the robots would still be up for a bit longer taking care of the new baby, but she hated it when she can't come out. She waited and waited and waited until it was really dark out. Violet didn't hear the robots zipping by or talking anymore so she assumed they'd be gone by now. She opened the floorboards and looked around. No one in sight. Violet crept out of the room and looked around.

"Mommy?" She whispered, seeing no one in sight.

She walked down the hall, nervous until she sat the line of robots . She jumped when she saw them and hid behind a trashcan. Violet peeked out and saw that they were all deactivated. She sighed and kept searching until she came across a room with lights on. She peeked under the door to see a bed or something and something else with wheels. Violet pushed on the door and saw her mom looking into a clear tub of some sort. He turned to her.

"Violet it's almost four am." He said.

Violet entered the room and looked around.

"Robots?" She asked.

Mandarin shook their head.

"No they're off for the night but they'll be up at eight."

Violet nodded before hopping up onto the bed. She noticed her mom's previous large stomach had deflated and looked at the tub.

"Is that my new broder?" She asked, smiling slowly.

Mandarin nodded and pushed the tub a little closer to them. There laid a light blue baby monkey, sleeping. Violet smiled as she peered at him.

"He's so tiny." She whispered.

Mandarin nodded.

"Maybe tomorrow night you can hold him, they won't work on him until the day after."

Violet's smile dropped.

"Aww I wanted to play with him." She huffed.

Mandarin stroked her head.

"I know dear but it has to be like this for now. Remember the Hyperforce will help him when he's taken." He explained.

"I hope so...can't he live like me?" She asked.

Mandarin sighed and closed his eyes.

"Violet they'd get suspicious if too many babies are mysteriously disappearing. As much as I don't like it, it has to be like this for now."

Violet nodded sadly and crawled next to him.

"Are they gonna take me away?" She asked, scared.

Mandarin kissed the top of her head.

"I'll do my best to make sure they won't and if they did...I'll get you out and away from here."

Violet sniffled but nodded.

"What's his name?" Violet asked after a while.

"Maximus."

A week later Violet was woken up by loud noises. She sat up as she heard Mandarin and the robots.

"I swear I don't have anyone else in here!" Mandarin urged, sounding a tad different than usual.

"The cameras said otherwise! Now where are you keeping Vi-27?!" One of the robots growled.

Violet's stomach lurched as she backed away from the floor board opening.

"She died! She had difficulty breathing and she died an hour after you deactivated!" Mandarin yelled.

"Don't lie to us!" Violet heard a loud smacking sound and she nearly yelped.

"We know you have her, now where is she?!"

She felt one of the robots wheels come upon the floorboard and she covered her mouth to since her breathing.

"Don't let them find me, don't let them find me don't let them find me, please don't let them find me!" She thought, tears welling up.

It got quiet.

"Sir I found a heat signature underneath the floorboards." One of the robots said.

Violet shook as she tried to claw at the hole, trying to escape. She then felt a claw grab her from behind and held her up.

"Found you!" The robot cheered.