A/N: Hey everyone! I am proud to welcome you all to my new story "The Strife for Existence" which is going to be a blast to the past! So keep your hats on, this story is going to get wild.

Full Story Summary: The war is done and evil is defeated. Desperate to change his fate, Mandarin steals an ancient artifact to travel back in time to prevent his exile. But when Chiro is flung back as well, the two now must battle for their destinies as well as their own existence. Will Chiro defeat Mandarin and save his family, or will he fail and vanish into the realm of nothing?

There is the full summary, so sit back… and enjoy chapter 1!

P.S. Pay VERY close attention to the first two chapters, things will be less complicated.


Chapter 1

The Timepiece of Moirai

Otto walked behind the team as he stuffed his face full of BBQ chips. He smiled with crumbs peppering all angles of his face. He stood close to Nova as they eyed the historical displays of Shuggazoom's Museum.

"Wow this is the best!" The green mechanic chirped, stuffing more chips into his maw. "Ever since we got rid of that creepy curator we can finally enjoy the exhibits without fear of becoming one ourselves!"

Gibson nodded, "Yes I am happy the city managed to find a replacement to run this business. The new owner is mighty kind due to her respectful way of thinking and proud appreciation for our cities history."

Sprx rolled his eyes to the talkative blue chimp, "The new owner is kind and she does her job well… boom one sentence, bet you could never manage that."

"Shut it sparky!" Gibson retorted back as his eyes boiled a fiery red.

Before Sprx could lash back at the unliked nickname, they were halted by a silver hand. "Enough monkey team… we came to admire the history, not wreck it with petty feuds… so please behave yourselves or I will have us leave." Their silver second in command warned with his every day unreadable expression.

Sprx and Gibson crossed their arms and looked away from each other before following their eldest brother down the hall. Otto was too busy enjoying his food rather than the art, but Antauri didn't mind as long as he behaving himself. Further in the back stood Nova as Chiro and Jinmay brought up the rear.

"Man some of this stuff is super old…" Chiro acknowledged by running a finger over the dusty displays. "Some of this stuff has to be well over a thousand years old!"

Nova nodded to her leader, "I wouldn't doubt it. Shuggazoom is a pretty old city, even back in our day it was still considered ancient."

Jinmay smiled politely as she kept her hand firmly planted on her boyfriend's shoulders. Glancing to the silver monkey, she made a quick call. "Hey Antauri, wasn't there another reason why you decided to bring us here today?"

Chiro paused as he recalled the silver monkey's word hinting on something interesting he wanted to present at the museum. "Yea you did say there was something here you wanted to show us, so what is it? Because we have staring at old relics and paintings for nearly an hour and a half now."

Smirking, Antauri nodded. "Why yes of course, please come this way."

Following the floating monkey, the team stayed in hot pursuit. They walked passed the half empty building, maneuvering around the few people that were present. Otto had finally finished his bag of chips and snuck one of Sprx's candy bars. The red pilot didn't even know as he walked cluelessly ahead, bickering with Gibson over typical stuff. Unaware of the mechanic swallowing his candy whole.

After a few minutes of walking, Antauri suddenly stopped. The team stood in the middle of one particular room with red carpeting and earth toned walls. It was quiet, cryptically quiet. The air seemed thinner in this room. But what stuck out to the team was that there was not a single display in sight.

"Okay is… this some of kind prank Antauri?" Sprx inquired, glancing to the sterling simian with a sarcastic smirk. "Because if this is why we spent the entire afternoon here… then congrates, you're literally the funniest member on the team now."

Smirking, Antauri closed his eyes. Remaining silent, he pointed a small digit to the front of the room. All eyes following his finger, they all spotted a big glass case. The square container sat underneath a bright white light, making the glass glimmer like a diamond. It stood on a high stone pedestal with strange markings carved into them. Chains and all sorts of precautionary protection guarded the case.

Blinking, Chiro was the first to step closer. As his blue eyes squinted to get a better look, he spotted two clocks.

"Uh okay… what's with the pocket watches?" Sprx questioned again.

Chuckling, Antauri hovered lower to face his team better. He sat before them while giving them a clear angle of the display. "Actually Sprx these are more than pocket watches… they are known as the Timepiece of Moirai. And in the ancient text… 'Moirai' translates to 'Fates'."

Their eyes widen as Nova looked at the clock faces. She raised an eyebrow as she noticed a strange sight.

Both clocks were circular with two chains that hooked to them both like necklaces. But they each only had one hand. The clock on the left was a rich emerald green color with a dark metal outline surrounding the gears. The clock on the right was a sapphire blue with a similar darker ring circling around its outside. They both shared words that were translated in a language that she had never seen of before.

"Why is there two of them?" the team's strongest warrior question while gazing up to the silver monkey. Waiting for an answer.

"Because these two relics represent the past and future…" gesturing to the green clock on the left, Antauri cleared his throat. "The green watch is known as the 'Phase of Yore' which is the clock of the past," then he pointed to the blue one shelved to the right. "The blue watch is called 'Phase of Morrow' which is the clock of the future."

Gibson moved passed Antauri as he eyed the relics. His pupils expanded in size as he studied them. "Amazing… I have never seen technology such as this, just the engraved symbols alone speak of highly advanced machinery that seems even out of my reach of understanding…"

Chiro blinked as he scratched his head, "So the phase of yore and morrow… what do they do exactly? Tell you your future or something?"

Antauri stroked his silver lined chin, "Well according to legend these two clocks possess the power to allow one to travel through time. The clock of Yore allows you to travel into the past while the clock of Morrow grants you the ability to jump into the future. But-" he gathered their attention again, "The clocks are made to interlock together, become one piece. So when one person combines the clocks, they control the present."

Nova blinked in shock as she gazed into the far away glass that gleamed from the clocks' shells. "So you mean… separately they give you one ability, but together they represent the present?"

"Correct, you see the legend claims that these timepieces grant you the ability to change your past and future. But it cannot be done properly without the possession of both… So when you travel with one watch, time controls you. But when you travel with both, you control time."

Chiro's mouth fell agape as he pressed his hand against the protective glass case. The watches were not ticking, but he could feel a strange ghostly presence radiating off them.

"Does this actually work?"

Antauri shrugged his shoulders while joining Chiro in observing them, "I am not sure. There is a legend around them but no events of people using them have ever been recorded."

Gibson finally was able to pry his eyes away from the ancient relics, "Well I for one would not be willing to try. Time travel is already dangerous enough as it is, not to mention nearly impossible… so I doubt something as small as these two artifacts are capable of such miraculous actions…" he looked back at the team. "True I have never seen technology such as this, but the complexity of time travel is more than understandable. So I am pretty sure these two stop watches are nothing but simply man-made devices to draw in tourist."

The scientist smirked, pleased with his own theory against the watches. But Antauri did not share the interest, "Do not be so sure Gibson… but whatever the case may be, no one has ever used them. So it shall remain that way, for there is a reason why that is..."

Chiro couldn't stop staring at the glass separating him from the artifacts. His blue eyes locked onto the phase of morrow, his heart started pounding. Something seemed to take ahold of him, gravitating him to the duplicate time faces.

But his actions were halted when Antauri grabbed his shoulder. "Well that is what I wanted to share with you for today, let us return to the robot now."

Locking eyes with his mentor, Chiro glanced back at the gadgets one last time. Shaking off the uneasy feeling, he looked back to Antauri, "Alright team let's get out of here. But let's stop for dinner first… I am kind of hungry."

"Well kid then maybe you should bother to eat breakfast before Otto sucks it down," Sprx laughed as he smacked Chiro's leg playfully.

Chiro chuckled at the sarcastic reaction and nodded, "I know I know, but it's hard to say no when you got a pair of big black eyes staring at you sadly."

Otto stared at his two teammates, "What do you guys say when I am not even around?"

Nova laughed, "All sorts of things!" she teased, besting him with her own sarcasm.

The mechanic huffed and crossed his arms, "Not funny Nova. And I do not beg for food! I ask politely." He attempted to correct his companions.

Chiro shrugged nonchalantly, "Whatever you say Otto... whatever you say. Okay enough talk, let's go eat!" He raced Sprx and Nova out the door with Otto hot in pursuit. Leaving the rest of the team staring at the four with perplexed gazes before following themselves.

~Outskirts of Shuggazoom~

Mandarin sat, hidden in a deep cave. He stood hunched over a small puddle, surrounded by stalagmites and other odd rock formations. He stared at his reflection in the dark water. His eyes narrowed as he gripped his knuckles, showing his busted teeth and bruises.

"They think they've won…" he snarled, his small orange facial hair crunching under his furrowing snout. "Just because they defeated my clone and Skeleton King does not mean they are out of the woods yet…"

Mandarin had escaped from Skeleton King many years ago. Just shortly after witnessing the dread lord replaced him with a skeletal clone of himself. The formless had removed his powers, shrinking him back to his original size. But he still maintained the purple armor that his former bulky formed possessed. His pony tail hung wildly behind his back as his electric blue tail sparked under his anger.

He barely avoided execution and had been hiding in the deepest caverns of Shuggazoom. The catacombs that once housed the ancient dead has been his home for a while. With only a spot of candle light lighting up his dead home, his anger had only grown.

For every passing day he remained out of everyone's radar, his memory had fallen back to a time where he was important. A time where he was the alpha and his enemies were his followers. But the memory he clinged too was all he had left after the dreadful day his own team betrayed him.

Well everyone claims he betrayed them, but to his mind that was not true.

"All of this could have been different… none of them could see just how simpler things would've been if I would've enforced my rule over Shuggazoom… but instead my foolish brothers turned on me and turn me into this… this… loser!"

He slashed his purple claws through the water, smacking the disrespectful reflection away. He screeched loudly to the cave's air in anger and disgust. "All this because of a simple human boy…" he snarled, "But soon… I will have my revenge…"

Turning around, the orange monkey reached into a small trunk. His anger twisted into a psycho smile when he clutched a book. Pressing it to his chest like it was his most prized possession, his body shook under a mocking chuckle.

"Soon the boy will become nothing, not even a memory… when I get my hands on the keys that will change my fate…"

He opened the book and stared at the image of two clock faces. His eyes held a look of worship as he caressed the picture like a newborn. Such a warm feeling hugged his body, granting him relief from his burdened mind.

"These relics are going to be my chance… my ticket to not only correcting the past, but getting rid of the pathetic chosen one once and for all!"

He smirked as he kept staring at the watches dangling from the chains. True this was just art he had been gawking at for months, but to him… they were a projection of his newly found hope.

"Just wait Chiro… for first thing next week… you will be no more…"


A/N: Uhhhoh looks like we Mandarin is up to no good, and he has something BIG in mind. Stay tuned for what happens next! Also don't forget to pay attention to the first few pages, it'll help you understand when the story really picks up!

Peace out! Read and Review please!