(OTTO'S DREAM)
As the dream continued on, Nova and Otto split apart and stealthily gathered Gibson, Sparx and Antauri for a private meeting in Otto's bedroom. After a few minutes of questioning from the three simians, Nova and Otto began explaining their concerns about their leader's recent behavior. During that conversation, the remaining three primates were growing more concerned and perplexed. All of them, including Chiro, sat in silence during the story while taking several mental notes they were prepared to asked when the story was over.
"and then he just left the room out of nowhere, expecting me to think about what he said. I wasn't too worried until Otto said Mandarin told him all the same things." she finished their story as she gestured a hand towards the green monkey sitting besides her. Once the explanation was concluded, Sparx, Antauri, and Gibson turned to each other with unsettled expressions, as the red simian was the first of the three to respond
"See?" he rhetorically asked standing up "I told you guys he's been up to something ever since that day in the training room." he exclaimed in frustration. All Antauri could do as of now was stare at the green and yellow primates, waiting for more angles to tackle this situation. Being second in command, he would most likely be the one his fellow comrades would rely on him to guide them through the tension
While holding a palm to his chin, Gibson began to ask his own clarifying queries "Pardon my uncertainty, Nova, but I'm not quite following what you two are getting at." he said with genuine curiosity
Nova turned her head to Otto in thought, and faced the other three teammates again to rephrase their case "Then let me ask you this; has Mandarin gotten any of you alone and said anything... weird?" she asked
"Did he yet and we didn't see it it?" Chiro asked himself in the background
The remaining three monkeys thought about this a moment, but they all replied simply
Antauri- "No." he remained paused
Gibson- "Not recently" he shook his head
Sparx- "Define 'weird'" he requested by crossing his arms, in need of some clarification to her wording
Finally, it was the mechanic's turn to speak as he started to describe the 'weird' feeling his own authority figure was burdening him with. "Umm..." he snapped his fingers, quickly trying to think of the right words to describe his thoughts "Was he telling you something like how especially powerful and important you are to the team."
"Trying to boost your ego in a creepy, condescending sort of way." the gum eyed female added on
Once again, the unanimous response was no. The blue simian continued the questioning, "Now, I trust the judgement of both of you as well as my own, but you're positive he wasn't merely complimenting you on your achievements?" the British scientist worded his next few sentences very carefully as to not offend either of his friends
"Not like this." insisted Otto, of all monkeys "He's never spoken to us like this before. I know him better than this." he curled his knees up to his chest
"Do you?" the yellow warrior growled, displaying some built up tension. She then turned to face the black the blue simians with body tone that screamed 'wait till you hear this' "Did I forget to mention that he only apologized about the training room thing because these two called him out on it?" she angrily grinned as she quickly pointed one finger to Sparx and Otto. This caused Antauri to widen his eyes at this and Gibson to slightly drop his jaw at that statement. By putting those pieces together, they now realized that Mandarin was staging the apology just to look good in front of them.
"What?" gasped Antauri in disbelief
"Yep," Sparx said vouching Nova's story, "and I'll bet he waited until you guys were in plain sight to do it."
Gibson suddenly realized something as turned to his his second in command, "Reflecting on the apology, he didn't try to get Nova to apologize to her. Almost like he wouldn't have done it without an audience." he deduced
This was the point the black primate was concerned, as well as suspicious "Mandarin has always been unusually cunning and gifted in his vocabulary, but to outright manipulate us? I never would've expected that from him." proclaimed Antauri with a quiet, surprised tone of voice
"I did." Sparx bluntly added, earning him a somewhat annoyed glare from everyone else. After that awkward moment of scolding silence, the green cyborg had another point to bring up
"Actually, guys..." he proclaimed meekly, drawing attention to himself, "after what Sparx said when Mandarin left the room, I did notice him acting pretty weird. He's definitely up to something, and it scares me that I don't feel comfortable talking to him about it." The room was suddenly locked in silence for a moment to absorb the green simian's last few words. For Otto, of all monkeys, to confess such deep and conflicted emotions, the Hyperforce knew that this situation could not be ignored.
In sympathy, Nova pulled her chair closer to Otto's and placed a caring arm over his tense shoulders. "Well, we're right here if you need to talk." Otto looked up at his female comrade to see her smile gingerly at him, "None of us are going to let anyone make you feel uncomfortable about your own feelings, especially one of our own." she soothed with a voice of confidence
"Hell, yeah" Chiro chanted with a fist in the air
Antauri nodded in agreement "We certainly won't."
"Not on our lives." Gibson added sternly
Then, Sparx began to explain something to give Otto a relaxing thought "Alright, buddy, tell you what; Gibson, Antauri, and I will just watch our backs, and if Mandarin gets us alone-"
"No." Otto interrupted the red pilot with a stern tone of voice "I need to know for myself if I'm overreacting or not." he stated sticking his head under the table, and placing a small sack on the table. "So I need you guys to hear me out."
This left the blue simian perplexed, "What's in the bag?" he asked with a raised eyebrow
As he reached into the bag, Otto pulled out three little chips and handed them to the oblivious three primates "I don't want to eavesdrop on anyone, but if Mandarin does try to talk you, I need to compare the conversation to mine and Nova's." he explained
"What are you talking about, Otto?" Antauri asked, curiously examining the mini metal chips in his hands
"Each of those chips have tiny little cameras in them." he replied as he pressed his thumb into the center of his palm, "Once they're activated, they'll be able to record everything around you and we can replay it from my computer." he clarified the black simian's question.
The remaining four primates widened their eyes hearing Otto's plans, surprised at the lengths the young mechanic was suggesting they go.
Chiro tilted his head this statement as he was curious about what was going to happen next
Concerned about how far the green simian was proclaiming they take their suspicions, The pacifist cleared his throat and questioned Otto's plan "Otto, you and Nova have displayed solid evidence of your concern, but doesn't this course of action seem rather extreme to you?"
"I have to agree with Antauri." added Gibson as he scratched his head in confusion while staring at the chip in his hand "Yes, we don't have enough confirmation that we have a dilemma, let alone one drastic enough to take such an exaggerated approach."
Otto was at first discouraged by the team's uncertainty, but luckily, Nova stepped in and vouched for him "I've gotta side with Otto, guys. As weird as this seems, there's no way he's making this up."
"Besides, you guys don't have to do this if you don't want to. I'm just looking for answers, and I need your help to do it. Please, just think about it." the green cyborg pleaded his case and persuaded his brothers to aid him in his investigation
After a moment of hesitation from the three of them, Sparx looked up from his palm and gave Nova and Otto a glare of determination "I'm in." he nodded, placing the chip in his shoulder "We've got nothing to lose otherwise, right?" he winked to them, making the green simian sit up with excitement
Antauri quickly followed Sparx's lead and put on his camera chip as well. "I have complete faith in your judgment, my friend. If you're looking to ease your concern, I'll help in any possible." the black monkey added with a touching, fatherly voice.
After some mental debate, Gibson finally followed suit as well. Growing rather suspicious of this situation himself. "I just hope you know what doing, Otto. So, I'll play along too." he agreed to partake in the team's secret mission.
"Man, I'm wondering why I never heard about this before." the young leader thought to himself
With a grin, Otto thanked the team for their cooperation and the team left Otto's room to resume their casual activity and await for anything suspicious to occur. All the Hyperforce knew for now is that something was off about their mysterious and they were going to get to the bottom of it if it was the last thing they did
(TO BE CONTINUED)
Okay, I'm gonna be quite busy for a while so I wanted to get something else quick but with some effort. So, to sum up this scene; Antauri, Gibson and Sparx are to use their secret little cameras to record the scenes where Mandarin tries to manipulate them. I'm doing this so Otto doesn't have to be in every scene. I wrote myself into with him because since Chiro is watching these events unfold from Otto's memories, it wouldn't make sense for him to see things that Otto himself didn't. Also, I'm aware of the unfortunate implications of eavesdropping. With the cameras, and the team agreeing to participate in the plan, Otto doesn't have to be in the scene but it'll still make sense that Chiro is able to see it. Hope this was good, please leave a review and have a Happy Easter/Passover
