"Kiddo, wake up!"

Rock felt a pair of hands pushing him down, and jolted at seeing the purple eyes of Top. His senses slowly came back as he realized he was still on the plane to Brazil. The chattering of all his siblings bounced around, the passenger next to him fast asleep. Top reached over the back of the seat and patted his head.

"Are you okay? You started jolting around so much, I thought the plane's network was sending you into a spasm." Top said more softly.

"Yeah, I was just dreaming. How far are we into flight?"

"The sweet lady said we should be approaching the land in about a couple of minutes. Just asking for a brother, what's it like down there?" Rock sometimes forgot that despite most of his siblings being programmed to be older than him, they are still a week old.

"Well, it's hot and humid. And full of animals, and expensive food? I don't know Top, I've never been here before."

"Then it's going to be a lot more interesting. Let's hope Hard and and Needle didn't get sick over the ride."

When the plane landed, everyone was greeted at the gate by Astil and Plantman. Magnetman stayed behind to help Hard, Needle, and Spark out of the plane's cargo hold. They were cold to the touch, but as the drive to the town continued, their cores warmed everyone up. Plantman continued to teach Roll how to properly care for many types of flowers, to much to her delight.

Top at one point couldn't fit into the car and volunteered to step out. Rock was horrified when he leapt out of the moving car, but the horror turned to relief as he grabbed hold of the door, cruising along with his roller feet. Meanwhile, Snake and Gemini basked in the sunlight from the car's roof.

Rock took notice of the towns as they went by. The towns were much smaller than Monsteropolis's, and there were more humans among each other than robots. The ground was less even, but the streets were filled with plants, flowers, and satellite dishes.

At the highest of the town laid a glass dome building, the starting canopy of the Amazon not too far away. The panels of glass shone brightly like a mini sun, the leaves of the trees and planets inside pressed against them, the outside bricks of the walls ornately decorated with vines and roses. A grapevine hung off the sign and bushes lined the perimeter to the amazon.

"Impressive, huh Thomas?" Astil said as everyone got settled in. Rock pretended to be shuffling through his bag and listened to the doctors.

"You never did grow out of your love for plants, that's for sure." Wily muttered, showing some acknowledgment to the botanist. "Your robot is experiencing a glitch though. I saw him talking to weeds just now."

"Oh he was? That doesn't surprise me." Astil said. The two roboticists stared blankly from the nonchalant answer.

"Come again?" Wily questioned.

"My research revolved around plant cell communication and manipulating the signals to affect growth. Plantman was designed for that purpose. He is able to decipher changes in the plant's chemical signals and make appropriate changes to accommodate them. Think of him like a plant monitor." Astil showed the schematics of the floral robot master. Dr. Light stroked his beard with a interested smirk, while Wily stared blankly.

"But why does he talk to them?" Wily hummed.

"Oh...well, he just likes to pretend he's talking to them. Entertains the kids in town as well. It doesn't harm anybody, so I never confronted him about it."

"Sounds like a bunch of nonsense." Wily waved him off as he entered the greenhouse, with Doctor Light sighing in resignation.

"Hard to please, isn't he?" Astil murmured, his eyes darting away.

"Sometimes. Would you like to show me your base?" Light changed the conversation in hopes to distract Astil from the insult. It worked as a corners of the botanist's mouth turned upwards.

"Of course!" Astil perked up.

Rock held Plantman's map close to him, the black corner still crinkled in his hands from gripping too tight. But until him and Wily were done talking, he was tuned out out of the conversation. However, among all the small chit chat and occasional questions, he noticed a strange humming in the air.

No one else seemed to hear it, but Rock felt a small pain in his head. The unpleasant noise echoed around him, his head starting to feel empty and heavy. His legs were shaking with tiredness, despite him being fully awake.

"Guys..."

It was only when Plant turned around and gasp did Rock pass out. The humming died.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It took a while until the feeling of tiredness went away, and his head was ringing. Rock felt the soft cushion of his guest bed, the suitcases of his siblings packed around him. Despite the energy returning quickly, he sluggishly dropped to the floor, clutching to the wall and the through the door.

Nighttime had arrived, the outside of the dome completely back with the stars shining through. Dr. Light and others could be heard downstairs preparing food for each other. From the edge of the entrance, Rock spotted Plantman and some of his half-brothers chatting around a fire. Careful with his steps, he slipped through the door and approached them, their campfire stories bouncing off each other.

"And that's why I believe snakes are highly unappreciated, and should be considered important." Snake hissed.

"Snakeman, no one really cares."

"Oh hush Gemini, the only thing you care about is your looks."

Rock coughed slightly, alerting everyone of his presence. Plantman was the only one with a worries face as a spot was made for him. "Hi Megaman. Did you have enough sleep? You're energy must've depleted during the flight."

"I...guess so." Rock said, but he was struggling to make sense of it. He was sleeping on the flight down here, and he didn't do anything during the drive to require a majority of his energy. The humming...the humming did something to him. No one else heard it, so could he have possibly imagined it and got tired from imagining a sound.

"So Plant, we've given our stories and arguments. You got any valuable stories to tell us?" Topman asked.

"If it has to do with plants, I'm leaving." Gemini groaned, and Plant could only laugh nervously. He gazed into the fire thoughtfully, the vines on his waist intertwined with each other.

"I'm not really supposed to say this story, but if everyone wants to..." Snake made a 'zip' motion over the mouth, and Rock nodded excitedly. As everyone got settled in for the story, Plant nodded and looked to the Amazon's beginning trail.

"A long time ago, there was once a bunch of travelers that wanted to explore every inch of the Amazon. Brave and armed, they intended to map every corner of their map and tell the stories of wild beasts and treasure. One day, sick and battered, they came across a village where the people worshipped a deity. At first, the travelers thought nothing of it, but the people gave one fair warning. It was to never enter the temple itself."

Rock leaned in as the story continued. "In the day, the temple remained quiet and unmoving. The travelers thought the village people were insane for building a temple but never visiting it. But at night, the travelers swore they heard humming coming from the temple, like someone was praying in there. So they went against the villager's wishes and went into the temple. Then..."

Plant grew quiet and the worried look he had for Rock returned. "One of the travelers arrived back at camp a few days later, nearly dead and covered in cuts and stabs. He staggered into camp yelling, 'They're all dead! Every single one of them! The eye killed them all!'"

Gemini's wide were filled with intrigue and horror, and he staggered back from the log he sat on. Snake stopped eating his food and felt the need to regurgitate it. Everyone else either had indifferent reactions, or were egging him on to finish the story.

"The rest of the camp begged the traveler to take them to the village, to see what had happened and save their friends. After two days, they made a rescue party and entered the forest. They never returned again."

"Where did they go?" Rock asked.

"I don't know. Most people say the story of the travelers was made to prevent kids from going to far into the forest and get caught by the Amazon 'monster'. But sometimes, there can be strange noises coming from the canopy at night. Almost like as if like the monster is waiting. Waiting for its NEXT PREY!!!"

A bunch of vines had gripped Gemini's waist, making him do a girly scream and spasm on the ground. Top and Snake laughed hard at their brother's freak-out, making sure to savor every moment.

"That never gets old." Plant wrapped his vines around his legs with a satisfied smile at the scare.

"Hey Plantman," Rock grabbed his waist with the map in his hand, "Did the story have something to do with why there's a forbidden spot on the map? Does it actually exist?"

"Well, it's still a story that's shared around the town. But I don't know much about the forbidden area, Dr. Astil knows about it more than I do. But I would not suggest asking him about it."

"Why?"

"I tried doing it once, and he ignored me for a few days until I forgot about it. It's very personal." Plant insisted. Dr. Light and Astil called from the building, announcing that dinner was ready.

"I just wondering about..." Rock felt the vines grip his hands tightly, Plant covering both their mouths.

"I understand, but please. It's just a story, okay? Nothing else."

Rock was left defeated, unable to get the answers he wanted. The dinner Roll provided was devoured by everyone quickly, leading to some late night conversations. Rock didn't pay attention for most of the conversations, other than Dr. Wily declaring he was going to bed after something corrupting his computer files.

Maybe Plantman was right to let it just be a story. Rock thought. I have to stop reading those books dad has. I'm starting to get excited about nothing. 

Shoving the idea of monsters aside, Rock headed to bed wishing his dad and brothers good night. In the far distance, beyond the canopy of the rainforest, a slow hum continued to fill the night sky.