(OTTO'S DREAM)

The dream had now transitioned into another time in the memory. This time, Chiro found himself in Gibson's laboratory. The blue simian was just about to test his latest chemical concoction, when all of a sudden, there was a familiar knocking of the lab's door.

"So what's he gonna say to Gibson?" Chiro pondered as he took another seat

"Gibson?" the voice belong to the orange leader of the Hyperforce.

Internally, the blue genius gasped, remembering the plan the five members agreed on if they should be faced alone with their suspicious leader. Before allowing Mandarin entrance, he quickly pressed into his palm and activated the tiny camera device that was hidden on his chest. Once it was activated, he announced with a shaky voice, "C-come in." the only reason his voice was quivering is because he knew what the former leader was capable of. All he wanted from this plan is to not get caught. Just before Mandarin entered, Gibson attempted to act casual by returning to his experiment.

"Gibson? It's Mandarin." the orange primate announced, walking into the lab.

"Oh, hello Mandarin." the British cyborg replied acting naturally as he mixed the last of his chemicals into one beaker, turning the mysterious white liquid to a dark grayish color."What can I do for you?" he asked as he filled a little turkey baster with the gray liquid

"Oh, nothing really. I was just hoping we could talk for a little bit." Mandarin answered with a strangely innocent voice

"In a moment please. I simply need to test this plant's reaction to my latest chemical creation, experiment 626 of my chemical concoctions" Gibson explained, standing next to a little green home plant standing tall and straight. While Mandarin patiently waited in the background, the blue simian ever so gently squeezed the turkey baster, releasing merely a single drop of this Chemical 626. Upon making contact with the plant, the stem sizzled into ashes and the top of the plant tipped out of the pot and fall over. Leaving what's left of the stem steaming and burned. Gibson widened his eyes, not expecting the gray substance to do such damage with a single drop. Not changing his frightened expression, the blue simian wrote his observations in his notebook, plugged the beaker closed, and walked it into his chemical cabinet. "I'll save you for when Sparx goes on another pranking spree." he said darkly but humorously

Chiro's eyes nearly popped out of his head in fear of Gibson's quote unquote joke. Then he took a mental note to himself. "Stay on Gibson's good side."

The orange simian seemed to be quite delighted by that last statement as he began to work his black, manipulative magic. "That was incredible, Gibson." he oddly complimented, sounding somewhat condescending.

The blue simian turned to face Mandarin with one eyebrow higher than the other. "What was incredible?"

"Oh, why that chemical you created. I knew you were intelligent, but we clearly haven't given you enough credit for your abilities."

Gibson paused for a moment and chuckled modestly as he tried to deny his achievements "Oh, please Mandarin, thank you. However, this isn't anything out of the ordinary from my daily work. Not to mention my handfuls of failures as you've just witnessed " he explained gesturing towards the chemical 626

"Perhaps." the orange simian replied as he examined the incinerated house plant "Whatever you're working on is apparently going to be abundantly useful in combat." he replied with a mysteriously slender tone of voice

Gibson was frightened and shocked by that previous statement. The image of his latest creation being used on another creature terrified him "Combat?!" he exclaimed rhetorically, facing his leader in disbelief " We can't use something this dangerous as a weapon, it's far too dangerous."

"What good is a weapon that isn't dangerous?" Mandarin countered with a serious expression

"I guess that's true," Chiro mumbled as he crossed his arms, not wanting to agree with the simian he knew as one of the team's most dangerous foes

Gibson, at first, knew that the orange simian had a strong point, but he quickly responded "I- um... This is different! If there were to be an accident, it could cause unspeakable damage to innocent people. Or even worse, one of us." the British primate protested his leader's insane idea. A shiver then coursed through his circuits imagining that one of his comrades being harmed by one of his creations

Mandarin, however, stood firm. "Again, any useful weapon runs the risk of backfiring, doesn't it?" he rose an eyebrow to emphasize his point

Gibson lowered his eyes to the floor with internal debate "I... suppose that's common knowledge." he mumbled, not having an argument for that last statement

"And didn't I just hear you say you'd use that acid on Sparx next time he pranked you?" he asked, turning the genius's own words against him

"Mandarin, I hope you're not implying anything me." the blue monkey pressured urgently "I was just being humorous, and you know I wouldn't dream of harming any member of my own team deliberately." he stepped up to Mandarin and went up to his face in frustration and self defense

"Atta boy, Gibson." Chiro mumbled to himself from the sidelines

After a moment of silence, the devious simian remained unphased by Gibson's emotions, "Do I?" he asked bluntly, causing Gibson to nearly do a double take. Mandarin continued as he began to pace around Gibson with one arm behind his back. "Do you ever wonder why we make such dark humor behind each other's backs?" he asked, much to Gibson's confusion, and intimidation of what was coming next "Sometimes, there're these subliminal feelings a group has towards one another. Like... for example, unwanted nicknames and disrespect from fellow teammates." he was not so subtly referring to the red fist rocket pilot "and comments like your "humorous line" can be more serious than you realize." he stopped and stood behind the breathless blue primate

The black haired teen bit his lips and whispered in fear, "Come on, Gibson. You're better than this."

The scientist blinked as he turned to his leader. From where Chiro was standing, Mandarin's mind games were taking a drastic toll over Gibson's psyche. With a lost and seemingly scared expression, all he could do was stutter out, "W-what would I have to gain from hurting anyone outside of self defense?"

With a subtle chuckle, the orange monkey placed a sharp, slow hand over Gibson's tense shoulder "You tell me. You're the genius of this team, and yet, you have such a... low position to dignify your talents." he said sinisterly "It makes me wonder if you ever wanted to do something to gain more that you deserved. Let's not elude ourselves; with your brilliance, Hal, the fate of the waking world could be in your hands depending on what you do in this lab. Never waste an opportunity to do what'll benefit yourself the most, Gibson. Remember that." ending on that mysterious and abrupt note, the manipulative primate walked out of the room similar to how he did with Nova.

There was a paralyzing silence in Gibson's Laboratory. The images and implications of Mandarin's speech plunged him into an internal conflict. The blue simian walked backed to the open cabinet, and took the gray chemical beaker into his shaking hands. He began to think about the things Mandarin said and the ideas it planted in his mind; 'If I could create all those explosions by accidents, who knows what sort of damage I could cause if that was my objective.' thought to himself. He thought to himself in deep concentration. Mandarin was right; he wasn't the most respect member of the Hyperforce, he was the target of their jokes once in a while, and the most often

However, he realized something; they all were at some point, it was natural for 'people' living together. In Gibson's eyes, his bond with the Hyperforce was fused together as strong as two molecules holding any living creature together, great or small. He'd fight to the death to protect Sparx, Otto, and the rest of the universe, it was his duty and that was all he needed his talents for.

With that realization, he tightly squeezed the beaker between his fingers in anger and quickly turned his head towards his chemical sink, where he disposed of unneeded, unstable liquids. With full force fueled by fury, he rammed his arm into the metal sink, shattering the beaker and spilling his only sample of the Chemical 626. "How's that for a benefit?" he growled under his breath, referring to the fact that destroying 626 was the best move he could've made right now. Gibson wouldn't give Mandarin the satisfaction of manipulating him. No one was gonna make a insane mad scientist out of him. And nobody was going to hurt this Monkey Team if he had anything to say about it. Including Mandarin.

Chiro flinched in shock as Gibson's burst of anger came out of nowhere, seemingly. It was very uncomfortable, but at the same time, the current Hyperforce leader could tell deep down that this meant Mandarin's plans weren't working. But the way he had to witness his family, his comrades be mentally dissected and toyed with in their past, and having no possible way to fix what happened so long ago, was becoming far too much to bear. Yet, there's still so much more to come from this nightmare that he hasn't a choice but to carry on with Otto's showing of the Hyperforce's dark past.

(TO BE CONTINUED)