An Excuse Maybe

Chapter 3

"Hey Antauri, you could use another one of these." He snickered.

Antauri was about to frown but went over to the drink hat and stared at it. He turned to the merchant selling it.

"I would like to purchase this." He said, receiving a snicker from Sprx.

"Here you go dearies, twenty two pounds of Glorx sludge for each of you." An old but sweet voice said.

Antauri and Sprx turned to a tent near them, with two aliens purchasing a bag of purple fluid. The aliens had light pink almost fluid like skin with hair that seemed to be apart of their skin, given their color.

"Thank you very much ma'am, we will definitely use this for the first few Tabithian infants born." One alien said.

"Oh it's no problem at all! You said the sludge wouldn't be here until a few weeks, it's the least I could do for the little things." An older mouse looking alien said.

"Tabithian? Tabithians are here?" Sprx whispered as the others came over.

"Who are the Tabithians?" Willow asked.

Antauri looked back up at her.

"The Tabithians are a race of aliens that use surrogates to repopulate,"

Willow looked at the two aliens, still talking to the merchant

"They used to repopulate by their own means, both genders being able to get pregnant, until one day they became sterile somehow. In a panic they started to find non human-surrogates in order to keep their species alive. Sometimes using force." Antauri said, closing his eyes at the last sentence.

The team looked at him worriedly.

"Th-then what are they doing here?! Finding potential surrogates?!" Nova questioned angrily.

Antauri looked at the Tabithian's uniforms closely.

"I don't think so, by their uniforms I'm guessing they're part of the volunteering program. Where surrogates volunteer to carry Tabithian children."

The team sighed in relief at that. Willow then looked at Chiro worriedly.

"Shouldn't you guys be trying to stop Tabithians that force people to get pregnant? I mean this sounds like something you'd get involved in." She said.

"From what I've heard in the galactic news, there's a growing political uprising against the technique of forcing people. Besides even if we do get involved, it would take a long time for the leaders of Tabithia to change their minds because of us." Chiro sighed.

Willow nodded a bit. The two Tabithians soon left the merchant and went away, chatting amongst themselves. Willow watched them, still sort of cautious. They didn't seem mean but Willow wasn't too sure. They walked over to the merchant's table. The mouse alien looked up and smiled.

"Oh! The Hyperforce! What can I do for you today dearies?" She asked.

Chiro glanced at where the Tabithians left.

"Um yes, we were curious why the Tabithians were purchasing um..."

"Glorx sludge? They're basically baby formula for newborn Tabithians." The mouse alien briefly said.

Chiro nodded as Antauri stepped forward.

"Is it possible they're here looking for volunteers?" He asked.

The mouse alien snickered a bit.

"Curious today aren't we? Well they're actually setting up a few volunteer villages and hospitals around here. They said this planet has the right conditions for it." She explained.

The team turned to each other a bit, well that answers one question. The mouse alien then sighed.

"However, since they're staring out things are going to be a bit rough for the next few months. So I think that's why they're looking at this planet. Just until they can get more resources." She said.

Then the merchant next to her table peeked his head out.

"But! It's good for business!" He pointed out.

The mouse alien nodded.

"It is but it's still going to be hard for them." She said.

Chiro nodded a bit. That was all he needed to know.

"So! Is there anything else I can do for you?"

The team began to look around a bit more, carrying their purchased items with them. Willow looked over at a tent with several books. She turned to the others.

"Hey guys I'm gonna look over here." She said before going over to the tent.

Antauri nodded as the team looked over a bunch of swords, they looked very varied. Suddenly Antauri tensed up as he felt a very familiar and unwelcomed presence near them.

"Are you sure this would be alright?" A gruff voice asked.

"Of course! Tilamat said this is what you needed for now." Another voice said.

The team tensed up and looked to where the source of the voice was. There near them was an enormous monster like being. He had large bulging muscles, barely any purple armor, spikes along his back, and when he turned a bit they could see a monkey head way too small for his body. He also had huge ginger eyebrows, mustache,long ponytail, and beard. Nova dropped her bags as the team was frozen.

"Bu-but!?" Jinmay gasped.

"How is that possible?! We just saw Mandarin-!" Sprx began.

"Why is he back to looking like-?" Antauri began until his eyes widened.

"Wait...that Mandarin we've been fighting in the war...was that a clone?" He pondered aloud.

The team looked at each other before pondering about this too. The last time they saw Mandarin looking like this, it was when he failed to clone Chiro. Then the next time they fought Mandarin was when he was all shrunk down and in bone armor. So the idea of that Mandarin being a clone and this being the original was very plausible. Otto peeked behind Chiro, watching him. He was purchasing something and didn't seemed to be harming anyone. The overly muscled monkey turned and began to walk away, minding his own business. Chiro turned to the others.

"Let's go after him, he may still be planning something." He said softly, having almost everyone nod in response.

Otto looked at Mandarin as he went over to another tent.

"I dunno guys I mean..something's different about him." Otto muttered.

Antauri nodded, but it still wouldn't hurt to follow him just in case.

Willow walked back over to them, glancing at where Mandarin went.

"Hey guys, why were you looking at that big guy all intensely?" She asked.

The team was silent before Antauri turned to her.

"Willow it may be best if you went back to the robot for a while." He advised.

"Wha-why?" She asked.

Antauri watched as Mandarin purchased a huge water bottle. If their suspicions of Mandarin causing trouble are true, then Willow would be in trouble.

"Because this is someone who we once fought with and...he might hurt you if our suspicions are correct." He said.

Willow flinched and looked over at him. She could fight him, but he did look pretty menacing. And gross.

"I...I guess I could, just let me know if anything goes south." She said before looking over her shoulder and and going back to the robot.

Antauri turned on his communicator.

"Gibson are you about done mining? Good because we might need your help with something."

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*Points at Mandarin loudly* There he is! My precious babe! Yes he's in this fic and ooh boy do I have plans for him!

I hope you enjoyed and see you in Chapter 4.