Hey sorry for not posting twice a week last week and for this update to be so late, school got nuts. Hopefully by May it'll be a bit better but still please enjoy!
Otto curled up next to Mandarin, who slept soundlessly. He heard that Chiro, Antauri, and Sprx couldn't find the other children, which scared the others greatly. This meant that Skeleton King was already preparing them for battle and they need to prepare. They already began constructing plans for when they invade and figuring out a way to clear their heads of Skeleton king's lies.
Otto rubbed Mandarin's head gently, feeling so bad for him. His poor babies were being used for war and Mandarin wanted to save them so badly. His chest warmed when Mandarin made small sleepy noises before nuzzling into the covers a bit more. He smiled and pulled up the covers a bit more. To Otto he was so darn cute.
He then eyed Mandarin's stomach, normally Mandarin would be too uncomfortable for anyone to touch his stomach. At night however while Mandarin slept Otto would usually interact with the twins before he fell asleep. He crawled down through the covers, making sure he didn't wake Mandarin up. Otto placed a hand on his bump and rubbed it gently.
"Hi tinies." He whispered gently.
He already grew attached to them, Otto wanted to share name ideas with Mandarin but he doesn't even know when yet. Aw well, maybe he'll bring it up tomorrow morning. He stroked his stomach a bit more before getting ready to move back up when he felt something off as his hand was about to leave. Otto quickly placed his hand back onto Mandarin's stomach. He felt something kick against his hand and his face lit up. They were kicking! At least one of them was.
"Hi in there, I don't know which one of you is kicking but hi." He said softly, a wide smile on his face .
Suddenly he heard some groaning and thought Mandarin was having a nightmare. However when Otto went up to him, he was just waking up.
"Did you poke me?" Mandarin grumpily asked.
"No." Otto replied, shaking his head.
Mandarin stared at him before looking down at his stomach.
"Oh they were just moving then." He said before yawning.
Otto smiled and nodded.
"One of them was...sorry if I made you uncomfortable."
"No you're fine...as long as it was you." Mandarin mumbled, scratching his chin.
Otto swore he felt his face growing warm but he shook that off. He covered his mouth to silence his giggles.
"They literally just kicked you awake." Otto teased.
"Trust me I've been kicked awake several times before...it's quite rude actually." He huffed.
Otto s patted his shoulder.
"They can't help it."
"I know..." Mandarin sighed, resting a hand on his abdomen.
Otto curled up with him.
"So is it too early for names?" He asked.
"Mm, let's figure that out after we find out the sexes. It will be easier for me that way." Mandarin said.
Otto nodded and curled up even closer with him. He wanted to talk to him a bit more, but he knew Mandarin needed his sleep. The door then opened as Roland entered the room with several blankets.
"Roland? What are you doing up?" Otto asked, sitting up.
"My room got too hot." He groggily explained..
Mandarin tried to ignore the growing fear as he got closer. Roland glanced at him before looking back at Otto.
"Is the air conditioner out again?" Otto asked, receiving a nod.
"I'll fix it up again in the morning."
Roland nodded and sat on the bed.
"Can I sleep here tonight? It's really cool in here." He said.
Otto smiled and nodded.
"Sure, careful he's a giant heater." He said, motioning to Mandarin.
Roland laughed a bit.
"Maybe I should have him in my room when the heater goes out." He joked.
Mandarin looked off to the side a bit. Roland looked around, seeing as his joke didn't really mesh well with Mandarin.
"So where should I...?" His voice trailed off.
Otto patted the pillows.
"Right up here, just so that Mandarin's big arms won't crush you."
Roland nodded and went to the other side of the bed and crawled up onto the pillows. He eyed Mandarin nervously, knowing how sensitive he was.
If this was a month ago, Mandarin would be flipping out but right now? He only felt a bit sick and shaky. Roland rested on the pillows.
"Night." Otto chirped before turning over and falling asleep almost instantly.
Roland and Mandarin were silent. Roland closed his eyes and turned over, attempting to fall asleep as quickly as Otto did. However that was proven impossible as always.
"Erghh I hate not sleeping right away." He grumbled, turning over to face Mandarin.
Mandarin nodded, he understood that. Especially in the past few months from lack of sleep.
Roland shuffled under the covers and looked up at him.
"So uh you have trouble sleeping instantly too?" He asked, putting one arm under the pillow.
More like trouble sleeping period. Mandarin nodded a bit.
"Yeah me too. Sometimes it takes me up to an hour to sleep. It's dumb."
"I-it takes me up t-to at le-least t-two...or more recently." Mandarin stammered.
Roland sucked in some air through his teeth.
"Man that sucks. I don't want to try to sleep for that long." He said.
"Y-you still need your sleep." Mandarin reminded him.
"I know but if it takes me that long to sleep then I'd give up." Roland said.
Mandarin silently agreed. Roland was genuinely surprised at himself for talking to him as much as he was.
"Usually when I have trouble sleeping I just get a snack or watch some tv. There's a lot of funny shows late at night." Roland told him.
Mandarin perked his head up a bit.
"There's the late night show with Mr. Celsius, The Bad Terries, and my personal favorite is Boiled Blood. That's the show where we see people get into fights and get super mad." Roland listed, his eyes lighting up.
Mandarin got into a more comfortable position and smiled a bit, he felt happy when he saw how excited Roland was.
"Don't tell the others, I'm not allowed to watch those."
Mandarin nodded, making a mental note to at least start watching the shows with him. Just so that he could watch over in case anything too intense came up.
Roland then laid on his back and looked up at Mandarin..
"So what about you? What shows do you watch?" He asked.
Mandarin gulped, finding it hard to speak again.
"I-I don't watch..."
"Really? Huh, I thought you'd seen at least one show. Maybe when we're having trouble sleeping...we can...I dunno watch something." Roland grumbled.
Mandarin nodded, that does sound nice. Roland lifted his head up.
"So what about you? What helps you sleep?" He asked, wondering to himself why he was so full of questions tonight.
Mandarin thought on it for a second, his fear and anxiety wanting him to shut up.
"I-I guess...tea and...Otto.." He admitted, his face flushing a bit.
Roland couldn't help but smirk a bit as he nodded.
"Alright, understandable. He is a cuddle bug and I don't like tea but I can get that." He said, knowing that Mandarin is into Otto.
"Otto usually helps make it for me and gets me what I need...I can't thank him enough for that." Mandarin thought.
That and he was great to vent to, especially after nightmares and moments of instability. Otto would always comfort him and cheer him up. He was so...perfect.
Roland smirked a bit more, seeing him smile while thinking.
"You like him don't you?" He teased.
Mandarin's face flushed more and he sunk deeper into the bed.
"G-go to sleep Roland." He grumbled.
Roland shrugged.
"Alright, ain't anything wrong with that. Just asking." He defended before turning over.
"Night."
"N-night."
Roland nuzzled under the covers and began to fall asleep. Mandarin stared at him for a moment before looking down at his stomach, flinching as one of the twins began kicking. He stroked his belly gently, attempting to soothe them. He felt intense love for them as he began to realize he would never have to just leave them here and go back down to that hell hole. He could be here and actually raise and care for them. The thought of that alone sent Mandarin's hormones into overdrive as he teared up. He placed a hand over his mouth as he silenced his sobs. He didn't want to wake Roland up and he certainly didn't want to wake up Otto. However he did feel Roland roll over closer to him, either in his sleep or just hearing his sniffles. Mandarin wiped his eyes and sighed briefly as the kicking lightened up. He closed his eyes and began to fall asleep, ignoring the light snores of Roland.
Until an hour or so later they were woken up by Erin's teething.
"I don't know I think it would look better in blue." Maurice said, looking over Kuzon's shoulder.
"You always say blue. I think we should go with orange." Kuzon suggested, holding up a piece of paper filled with color pallets.
"Why orange? Blue is more calming and relaxing." Maurice argued.
"It's the color of sadness. Orange is more uplifting and positive."
Maurice sighed with frustration. It has only been a week after Roland and Antauri's argument, and it seemed to be patched up but then again Maurice wasn't witnessed to it.. He and Kuzon were working on a piece of art for Erin's room but they had different ideas on what colors they should use.
"I get that but we need something that'll calm him down when he's trying to sleep, not energize him." Maurice pointed out as Erin rolled over onto his stomach in his crib and stared at the two.
"That's red. Orange is just more positive and inviting." Kuzon pointed out, now growing frustrated himself.
"And yellow isn't?"
"Yellow's always bright and happy!" Kuzon huffed.
Erin gnawed on a cold toy, soothing his sore gums.
"Baba?" He questioned, tilting his head.
"Maybe we could use both?" Kuzon suggested.
"Ugh! That sounds so awful! Blue and orange!" Maurice gagged.
"They're complimentary colors and they go together. Besides it's better than just picking one color." Kuzon huffed before looking at the easel.
"We should just use all of them. That'd be good." Kuzon sighed.
"Then what's the point of using one color then?!" Maurice demanded, frustrated.
Erin giggled at their arguing. Maurice frowned at him.
"And you find this funny?" He asked, eyebrow raised.
"Abee." Erin giggled.
Kuzon snickered and looked back at Maurice.
"Maybe we should let Erin decide." He said before picking up the paper with colors on them.
"He's a baby Kuzon." Maurice pointed out.
"Still..." Kuzon held out the paper.
"Erin, what color for your picture would you like?" He asked.
Erin stared at the paper, fascinated by the many colors. He tried to grab for the whole paper but was unable to. He frowned a bit before looking at the paper again. One color caught his eye and he tried to grab for the paper, his hand trying to grab the color. Kuzon took it back and looked at what he was trying to grab.
"Pink? You want pink?" He asked looking back at Erin.
Erin drooled a bit but tried to grab for him. Kuzon and Maurice looked at each other and shrugged.
"Guess he likes pink." He said before grabbing the pink paint.
"Guess so." Maurice said as Kuzon began to paint a pink caterpillar.
"Listen sorry about snapping at you." Maurice said.
"Nah you're fine."
Mandarin meanwhile was eating his breakfast as Otto sat next to him.
"So later I was thinking we'd go and make the nursery...we need colors first and Kuzon and Maurice have the color pallets." Otto said as Mandarin nodded.
Mandarin sighed as he finished his plate and began to put it away. He noticed that his stomach stuck out more than usual. He rested a hand on it as Otto went up to him and clung to his leg.
"Four more months to go." He sang with a smile.
"Four? Oh it's the fifth month already?" Mandarin asked, rubbing his head.
"Yeah." Otto said, frowning a bit.
Mandarin closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead.
"Sorry my sense of time for my pregnancies have been really off ever since I left the lab." He said.
Otto nodded, that's understandable.
"I'll go get the pallets." Mandarin offered.
"You sure? Because I know you still aren't entirely..."
Mandarin turned and patted Otto's head.
"I'll be fine. You go on ahead and wait for me down in the other kitchen."
Otto nodded and went down to the underground base. Mandarin placed his dishes in the sink before following.
"These are really good." Maurice complimented as Kuzon continued to paint.
"Thanks, I'm gonna put this up next to the playpen so it can dry." Kuzon said.
Maurice nodded and sat down in the rocking chair. The door then opened as Mandarin entered. Erin quickly lifted his head up as he smiled and babbled loudly. Completely forgetting what he came here for, Mandarin nervously went over to Erin and stroked his cheek. He couldn't just ignore him, that would be rude.
"H-hello..." He greeted.
Erin squealed as he tried to grab for Mandarin's finger.
Kuzon looked up to him and smiled.
"Wow he really likes you." He said, setting his paintbrush down in a cup of water.
Mandarin looked back at him before looking at Erin. The infant babbled loudly as he turned his head over to Maurice, since he couldn't see him out of his right eye. Maurice hooped up from his seat and went next to Mandarin, who started to feel sick again from fear.
"Yeah he does." He said before eyeing Mandarin's stomach.
It has gotten bigger and he wasn't surprised given Mandarin's increased appetite. Still he was still so large now, it was a bit worrisome to him. Yet he didn't want to be rude.
Mandarin felt one of the twins kick harshly and it did everything in his power not to flinch and touch his abdomen. Maurice noticed his slight flinch and frowned.
"Are you okay?" He asked.
Mandarin froze but nodded.
"Of course." He said, a bit too quickly.
Maurice frowned as Kuzon got up.
"Okay! Finished! Now to place it over there until Otto puts in a nail." He said before placing it on a shelf.
Mandarin looked at the painting as it was set up.
"Th-that's really nice." He said softly.
Kuzon smiled proudly.
"Thank you, I knew he liked caterpillars so I figured that's what he would want.".
Maurice nodded and looked at Erin, who was still clinging to Mandarin's finger.
"He didn't get a lot of new things when he came here. He got a lot of our old stuff so we figured he should at least get something new." He said.
Damn it Hyperforce! You have raised them so well! Yet still he still felt bad. Mandarin dropped off these children a few at a time when their aging was out of control. So they had to act fast and get what the kids needed. Mandarin would have to ask the team while they're out to get Erin new things. Maybe for the other kids too. Then again he can't just buy them things they don't need but at the same time he felt like he wanted to do something about this.
He could go himself but Skeleton King would find him and force him to go back into the labs. Mandarin shook at the thought of going back there, his anxiety increasing.
"Um Mandarin? You've been staring off into the distance for a minute." Maurice said, a bit worried.
Mandarin shook his head, snapping out of his thoughts, t before looking down at him.
"O-oh sorry." He said as Erin cooed.
Kuzon tilted his head, sensing his discomfort.
"What were you thinking about?" He asked.
Mandarin gulped.
"J-just things..." He said, causing Maurice to frown a bit.
"Things?" He thought.
Kuzon nodded, not wanting to press on.
"Okay, so uh do you want something like this too? I can paint one of those pickles you like to eat so much." Kuzon said, making Maurice snicker.
Mandarin quickly shook his head.
"Oh no y-you don't-!"
"It's okay! Besides you're kinda like us. Showed up here with nothing but was taken in and cared for anyway." Kuzon said as Maurice nodded.
"Don't you dare start crying! Don't! You! Dare!" Mandarin's mind screamed at him as he felt a lump growing in his throat.
When Mandarin was silent, Kuzon picked up the color pallets.
"So which color do you want?" He asked with a smile.
Mandarin looked down at Erin, who looked up at his mommy with a smile and a cold toy in his mouth.
"P-purple would be nice." He said as Maurice nodded slightly.
Meanwhile Otto sat in the other kitchen, listening to the conversation. He knew he would be spending time with his kids. That was his hidden motive for coming down here after all. From the sounds of it, his plan seemingly worked.
Antauri was watching the children play video games together while the others were off doing their own duties. Mandarin was resting in his room for the time being and Otto was resting with him. Antauri watched tensely as Roland huffed over losing before snickering as Kuzon made a terrible pun.
"Antauri? You okay?" A voice suddenly asked.
Antauri looked up at Chiro as he sat down next to him. He must have noticed the concerned look on his face as he was watching them.
Antauri hesitated, unsure of how to express what he was thinking at first.
"I'm alright, just a little concerned about Roland is all." He explained.
"Why?" Chiro asked, tilting his head.
Antauri kept looking at Roland, not sure how to put this gently.
"I'm...worried about what will happen to him as he grows older." Antauri said softly.
Chiro looked towards Roland as he kept playing his game.
"You mean with his anger issues? Don't worry we'll find ways to control his temper." Chiro assured the silver monkey.
"That's not it." Antauri said, clenching his hands together.
Chiro frowned, confused. Antauri was silent for a moment.
"I'm worried that Roland will one day become like Mandarin." He said.
Chiro leaned back a bit in shock.
"What? Come on Antauri that won't happen!" He objected.
Antauri looked at him worriedly.
"But he is so much like him! From his temper to his cynical nature to-"
"Yeah maybe a little bit, but he's not gonna be like his mother Antauri." Chiro assured him.
Antauri eyed Roland again, unsure. There has been so many hints and moments similar to what Mandarin was like before his corruption started to set in. Kindhearted, ill tempered, cynical….it was just worrying to see so many of those traits into one of his offspring.
Chiro placed a hand on Antauri's shoulder.
"Antauri you want to know how I know he won't become like Mandarin? Us." He said, placing a hand on Antauri's shoulder.
Antauri looked up at him while Chiro smiled.
"I don't know how Mandarin became corrupted, but we can make sure it doesn't happen again with Roland. Besides I think the little guy's too kindhearted to want to take over Shugazoom, heck I don't think it ever crossed his mind, he's only eight." Chiro explained, chuckling at the last part.
Antauri thought on what he said before smiling. He does have a point, he shouldn't doubt Roland like that.
"If it'll make you feel better, we can just keep an eye on him when he gets in his teen years. Juuuust in case." Chiro said before snickering.
Antauri smiled and nodded. Roland suddenly jumped up and cheered.
"I am the ultimate racer champion!" He yelled in joy, raising his arms in victory.
"Oh come on! You only got into first place because of the super items!" Angela snapped, crossing her arms.
"Sounds like loser talk!"
"Loser talk?!" Angela sputtered.
"Alright you two calm down." Chiro said before joining them. Antauri chuckled before they started playing again. Chiro was growing up so well.
The next day Angela grabbed her wallet with her allowance money in it. It was time for another fun outing. This time they were stopping by a small store, the arcade, and then the park, which Angela was looking forward to going to. Skeleton king hasn't bothered them in quite sometime, which was great considering how scared she was of him.
As she put on her prosthetic leg and left her room, she noticed Mandarin giving a sheet of paper to the team.
"Just get him these." He said.
"Alright sounds good. Are you going to be okay being here by yourself? We got defenses up just in case you want to go out." Chiro offered.
"I'll be fine." Mandarin quickly said.
Angela frowned a bit. What were they talking about now? If he wanted them to get something for him, he should come with them. It'd be more fun and the citizens could warm up to him. Angela went up to the others.
"Hey Ange, are you ready to go?" Sprx asked.
Angela nodded and looked up at Mandarin.
"You want to come too? I'm sure Roland wouldn't mind showing you that zombie game that he likes playing." She said.
Mandarin stiffened.
"Uh actually Angela that may not be the best idea." Nova said cautiously.
Angela frowned.
"Why? He's not as scared as he was before." She pointed out.
Antauri floated down next to her and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"That may be true, but he is still unable to go outside at this moment. His mental state is still shaky." He explained.
Angela blinked before she began to think.
"Maybe if we got him out there for a few minutes maybe we can start off from there?" Angela suggested.
"I don't know..."
"It's not that."
Everyone turned to a shaken Mandarin.
"He's out there...waiting for me to leave the robot so that he could...he could capture me and t-take me-!" He said before his breathing shuttered.
The team surrounded him as Otto climbed up on him. Angela started to feel sick. What was going on?!
"No! No that is not going to happen! You are not going back down there." Chiro assured him.
Angela gulped, guilt filling her. She tried to go up to him.
"B-besides! We could always have someone guarding you." She said.
"He could still capture me! He always finds a way!" Mandarin snapped.
Angela backed up at the volume of his voice, eyes wide.
"Way to go genius! You yelled at her! She has no idea what happened in that lab and can't even fathom what you're going through right now! Good job!" A part of Mandarin yelled at him.
"I-I didn't mean-" Angela stuttered, tearing up but Nova put a hand out, signaling her to wait.
What has she done? He was suffering and she made it worse! She completely forgot how badly Skeleton King screwed him up and she didn't even know the extent on what he did.
Otto stroked his face.
"It'll be fine, we won't let that happen. We'd fight tooth and nail before you'd end up back there." He said soothingly.
"It could still happen, I'd be placed back down there and then-!" Mandarin wheezed.
"No, no stop talking like that!" Chiro scolded.
During the midst of chaos, Angela quickly high tailed back into her room, not wanting to make anything worse.
"Mandarin it's okay, you're safe here...you and your babies are safe..." Otto said softly, resting his forehead against his.
Mandarin shakily sighed as he settled down. The team also sighed in relief.
"You feel better now?" Otto asked, stroking his face.
Mandarin nodded slightly, gathering his thoughts together.
"Is your stomach in any pain?" Gibson asked, making sure that Mandarin wasn't going into an early labor.
"No..." Mandarin said, quickly gathering his attention on Angela.
"Go! Go comfort your daughter! She needs you!" That part of Mandarin yelled.
"Angela-" Chiro began before realizing she was gone.
"Where did she go?" He questioned.
"Her...her room I think." Mandarin said.
Jinmay's heart dropped.
"Ohh you don't think she feels guilty do you? I mean...she doesn't know." She said softly.
Mandarin bit his lip, feeling even more guilty for snapping at her. He couldn't stand this, feeling so guilty. Angela and her siblings were still in the dark about him being their mother and what Skeleton King has done.
"Maybe it's time then." He suggested.
The team looked at him.
"I mean...Maurice is wondering who dropped them off here and they clearly have no idea what happened so...so maybe it is time to tell them." Mandarin said.
The team thought on this. Nova was silent for a moment, remembering something she should have told the others earlier.
"Penny's starting to ask questions too." Nova admitted, getting the attention of everyone else.
"She is?" Antauri asked.
Nova nodded and looked down.
"Last night as I was putting her to bed, she began to ask who her mommy and daddy were." She explained, remembering the innocence in the girl's eyes.
"Wouldn't she have considered us her parents?" Otto asked, scratching his head.
"I guess she would have but considering her siblings keep talking about it I guess she caught on."
Mandarin looked down, knowing what that answer would have been.
"What did you tell her?" Antauri asked.
Nova took a breath.
"I said we didn't see her parents drop her off here but we have a few ideas on who they'd be." She said.
Sprx crossed his arms and tilted his head a bit.
"So you basically both lied and didn't lie to her." He said, making sure he was hearing her correctly.
Nova huffed and placed her hands on her hips. It wasn't like she didn't have any other options!
"What was I supposed to say? Your mom is just down the hall?"
"No...I just don't like lying to her." Sprx said, feeling bad.
Antauri closed his eyes and thought on the situation. They were getting curious about their origins and that was to be expected. They've always skipped around the idea of telling them because of their reactions but at the same time they can't keep putting it off either.
"We all don't and maybe it is time. However we can't do that today, we'll have to figure out a day where we can tell them." He explained.
He received a few nods, some just silently agreed. Mandarin looked towards Angela's door, his body and mind screaming that he should go in there and talk to her. He needs to stop being afraid of her and be an actual parent. It has to stop.
"So who's going to talk to Angela?" Otto asked.
Before anyone could say anything, Otto was set down by Mandarin as he went to the door.
"Mandarin?"
"Just...give me a minute." He said before going in there.
Oooooh hope things get better for them. Thanks for reading!
