"Antauri, you have gone too far."

The black monkey stared blankly at the wall before him, ignoring his leader's black, furious ocular orbs. Mandarin drummed his gloved fingers at the desk before him, waiting for a response. When he got none, he continued.

"You are being absolutely ridiculous."

"I am not."

"Yes, you are. In fact, not only ridiculous, but positively childish as well!"

"It is my choice."

"An absolutely ridiculous and childish choice."

"Yes, but-"

"Do it."

Antauri remained silent, still faced away from the orange monkey. Mandarin began to tap his foot, clenching his fists on the table, twitching from animosity. It had gone on for days now, and his comrade was still refusing to adhere to his directions. Honestly, it was for his own good. And it was not as if he was going to lock him in a freezing containment... although... that might be threatening enough if Antauri continued to reject complying with his wishes...

"I am not patient, Antauri."

"I am not asking you to be patient... Mandarin."

The leader perked a brow, eyes spiking. It was very apparent that this time had rendered the normally serene and passive spiritual adviser moody and edgy. It was a long time. Mandarin could only imagine what would happen if he was in the same position as his team member. Run for the hills, and you still wouldn't make it...

"Antauri, you are growing weaker. Listen to me this instant." When Antauri again chose to ignore his command, Mandarin thrust the object towards him, using his other fist to slam the table. "Meaning: NOW."

"No."

Mandarin forced him to turn toward the item and pointed an erect finger at it. "Now."

Antauri folded his arms and closed his eyes, turning his body away once more. "No."

"You ignorant, impossible...!" The indignant simian threw all he had at the black simian, who was only happy to receive the insults rather than obey his leader's orders.

Really, not that it was hard...

"Any luck?"

"Nope."

Gibson plopped down beside Nova, Sprx, and Otto as they watched the two heads argue like kids in a playground. The scientist gazed at them in amusement.

"Antauri is only makin' it hard for himself," Sprx chuckled. "But hey, it's not everyday you see Antauri acting all saucy 'cause of something like this."

"But he is getting weaker..." Nova pointed out. "I wish he would just do it. I mean, we're doing it, and it's benefiting us all."

"Unfortunately that is easier said than done, Nova," Gibson said, wincing as Antauri casually slapped the object off the table. Mandarin had gone berserk. "It is mainly due to his ethical values and in what he believes in. Perhaps he even has had a dreadful experience with-"

"-meat?" Nova, Sprx, and Otto asked unanimously. They all grinned, picturing it.

Gibson sighed, waving his hand submissively. "Yes, yes. Whether Antauri cannot stand the taste of meat or simply cannot tolerate crossing one of his many moral standards, we will never know."

"Aww, but what's wrong with eatin' meat?" Otto piped, holding up one of the many hoverburgers Mandarin had brought for Antauri. "I mean, it's not so bad. It's delicious!" And with that he had magically made it disappear by tossing it into his mouth. "See?"

"Do not talk with your mouth full, Otto," The scientist said, making a face.

"Sorry."

"Although it's not really pleasant eating meat everyday, I guess it's better than nothing." Nova mused.

"ANTAURI, YOU MONKEY-DOODLING MORONIC IDIOT, YOU WILL EAT THIS AND YOU WILL ENJOY IT!"

The foursome immediately turned their attention back to the fight. Antauri apparently said something cute and, although it didn't exactly carry, it made Mandarin's face turned red with anger.

"It's also better than going through that."

"I agree."

"Same here."

"Mmmhhmmf."

"When do you think the Shuggazoomians are going to start growing their crops again?" Nova asked Gibson. She was now witnessing Mandarin pick off the object- a bag with Antauri's dreaded meat inside- and tossing it back in front of him.

"Hopefully soon so that Antauri's fast could end as quickly."

"And, Mandarin's rage."

"Yup."

"-GULP- Maybe I could try to regenerate the fields by making some sorta-"

"No."

"Aww! You guys never give me a chance..."

"Yes, but the last time you had regenerated fruits and vegetables, we had a whole new set of monsters to fight against the formless. In fact, unless I gathered incorrectly, it was you who had started this all."

Otto slumped, taking another bite of another burger. "I said I was sorry."

"It's okay, Otto." Nova said, linking an arm around Otto. "How were we supposed to know that those mutant veggies would destroy all those fields?"

"We should've kept an extra supply of vegetables and fruits, too."

"Yeah, and maybe we could prevent from all this happening again."

Mandarin stalked past them, eyes aflame, muttering things no leader should ever utter in front of his teammates.

"Uhhh... so how'd it g-?"

"Curse that hopeless vegan!" Mandarin cried out, shaking his fist toward the second in command. "FINE! Starve to death for all I care!" He immediately turned tail and proceeded his angry stalking to what the team guessed was his quarters. Probably to bash his head in through one of the walls again.

"Isn't that what he said yesterday?"

"Yeah, and the day before, and the day before and the day before. I think he's gonna come again tomorrow."

This is my second attempt at making comedy. I hope you enjoy!

Genre: Comedy