Me: I is back!
Nikki: With a new chapter nonetheless!
Me: Yuppahs! ^-^
Chiro: Why are you so happy?
Me: I've finally figured out where the pairings of this story is gonna go!
Gibson: If my calculations are correct, isn't your story nearly done?
Me: #narrows eyes at Gibson# Have you been peeking at my notes?
Gibson: How you can even read your own handwriting is beyond me. For one it's sloppy and two it's tiny.
Me: #gives Gibson the 'Bat-glare'#
Sprx: #smirks while cleaning his magnets# You're in for it now..
Gibson: #raises an eyeridge# Huh? O.o
Sprx: No one calls her anything like that without punishment...
Nikki: #waves him off# Good luck~
Me: #hands are charged up with lightning and chases Gibson around the command center#
Gibson: AAAAAAHHHHHH! #is currently running from a crazed authoress#
Nikki: Yuki101 does not own anything SRMTHFG! related since it's ownership belongs to Ciro Nieli who is one of the producers of the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series. Speaking of which, Corey Feldman who does the voice of our beloved Sprx will be joining the cast of TMNT as Spike. Yuki101 only owns me and this plot so no stealing!
Gibson: #calls out while being chases# It's 'this plot and I!'
Me: SHUT UP! #blasts Gibson's tail with lightning#
Gibson: #shrieks, grabs behind and runs faster#
Nikki: She also does not own "The Phantom of the Opera" or "I Remember" which is the first part of the song "I Remember/Stranger Than You Dreamt It." Both songs come from the musical The Phantom of the Opera which was created by Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber. Mandarin might be a bit OOC, I'm not quite sure considering this is how Yuki101 envisions him...
How I Met The Hyperforce
Ch. 14
He's There Inside My Mind
~~~~~Start Dream~~~~~
Nikki's peaceful dream gave way to a nightmare and in this nightmare was the one person that she was trying to avoid: Mandarin. He always managed to do the most damage to her while she was unconscious. And whenever she woke up, her body was put to the test through extrenuous torture that he called 'training.' Hence why she's bitter when first wakes up. Don't believe me? Think back to her meeting with Jin-May.
Anyways in Nikki's dream, she was at a swimming hole with Chiro and the others. She was enjoying herself being in a 'Who Can Make The Biggest Splash?' game with Otto, Chiro and Sprx. Which usually led to a weird ass splash war involving Gibson and his drills and Otto's Monkey Tsunami and Nikki tackling the green simian. And Antauri was just watching it all happen sitting in a lotus position with a serene smile on his face underneath the water. Then the game would start all over again.
Then the dream shifted.
The swimming hole and the team disappeared only to be replaced by a lake heavy with fog. There was a black gondola with a tallish figure in a black cloak which swayed heavily in the soft breeze from about the waist down and an oar at the shore. There were also tall white candles floating all around the air above the lake. Nikki quickly made her way over to the gondola and climbed in. No sooner had she sat in than the boat had taken off with a hard shove against the shore. They had gone several meters across the lake before Nikki started to sing a song from her musical repertoire.
"In sleep he sang to me
In dreams he came
That voice which calls to me
And speaks my name
And do I dream again?
For now I find
The Phantom of the Opera is there inside my mind"
The figure behind her continued the song with a deep yet powerful voice that reminded the teenager of Ramin Karimloo.
"Sing once again with me
Our strange duet
My power over you grows stronger yet
And though you turn from me to glance behind
The Phantom of the Opera is there inside your mind"
Nikki turned around in her seat to try and get a good look at the figure. His voice sounded a little familiar to her but she couldn't exactly place where she had heard it. The deep voice reminded her of someone.. The figure was wearing a white half-face mask over the right side of its face while the other side was completely enshrouded in darkness.
"Those who have seen your face
Draw back in fear
I am the mask you wear
It's me they hear."
The figure joined her in perfect harmony much to her surprise.
"Your/My spirit and my/your voice in one combined
The Phantom of the Opera is there inside your/my mind
F: In all your fantasies you always knew
That man and mystery
N: Were both in you
B: And in this labrynth
Where night is blind
The Phantom of the Opera is there/here
Inside your/my mind
F: My Angel of music!
N: He's there
The Phantom of the Opera
F: Sing!
N: (Wails)
F: Sing!
N: (Wails)
F: Sing, my Angel!
N: (Wails)
F: Sing for me!
N: (Wails for the final time)
"My pet.." The voice behind her murmured with sadistic glee.
Nikki shuddered. It was him! Now isn't that just terrific! Note the sarcasm. The one she tries to stay away from because she's deathly afraid of and yet entranced by as well was in her dream. And he sang with her with the most amazing voice that she had ever heard.. How did he know the song? Did he change up her dream just so he could sing with her? If so then he has some points in his favor. Anyone who dares to sing with her deserves to at least get an ear to listen to. At any rate, he was probably trying to turn her away from the happiness she had recieved while with her hero of a brother and his team. It was such a wonderful dream too and now he had to come and ruin it!
"I wonder..do you find yourself happy there...locked up like a monster by the ones you call your friends." Mandarin smirked as he lowered himself to her level as he removed the cloak and mask which fell gently to the floor of the gondola.
"I'm fine, Sir! I'm only being locked up by that utter bitch, Jin-May. I'm sure that if it weren't for her then I'd be free," Nikki retorted as she averted her gaze to the floor.
Mandarin used a claw to direct her emerald-green orbs back up to meet with is own dark-amber ones. "Are you sure? Are you so sure, my precious Nikki?" The orange simian pointed a claw over the edge of the gondola, "Look into the water. Tell me... What do you see, my dear?"
The dark-haired teenager rolled her eyes but did as she was told. "All I see is my reflection."
Nikki tried to look away but Mandarin forced her shoulders to stay where they were while his claws dug into her skin. "Look harder..." He whispered, nearly growled, into her ear.
The dark-haired girl gulped before turning back to the water. It made ripples before clearing up and showing what was apparently happening at that moment.
Chiro and the team were in the med-bay where Chiro was getting fixed up. Chiro and Gibson seemed to argue for a moment with wild gestures, half of which seemed to be pointed at Nikki. Antauri came between the two and said something to calm them down and then they left. Otto glanced back at Nikki's prone form with a smile before leaving.
"They were in the med-bay and Chiro was getting fixed up. He seemed to be in some sort of argument with Gibson which Antauri stopped. And then they left without looking back except for Otto. He looked back and smiled at me." Nikki frowned slightly. They...didn't bother to check on her. Sure, Otto smiled at her but that wasn't quite the same thing.
"You see, they don't care about you. They never have and quite possibly never will. But I have and I will. I care about you, my pet." Mandarin let up on his grip and allowed Nikki to curl up into a ball. "You are important to me."
Only to help bring Great-Uncle back to life.." Nikki mumbled dejectedly. Why did she have to be so useless and unwanted? Did her brother not care about her? Not care enough to check on her? What happened to him anyways?
Mandarin shook his head sadly, "It's much more than that, my dear. Much more." He raised Nikki's head with a gentle claw, "Will you join me? Together we can put that pathetic team in their place. We can show them how great you truly are and not to underestimate you."
Nikki averted her gaze, "Can I have some time to think? I just feel so confused right now.."
"Of course. If you ever need me, I'm only a whisper and a song away." Mandarin smirked down at her. In truth, he was stalking her every move so she would not betray him. Like his brothers had. Nikki would not betray him. He would make sure of that! "I'll be waiting.."
Nikki nodded a confirmation before she pinched herself and returned to the waking world.
~~~End Dream~~
Nikki slowly sat up and glanced around the room. Her dream was starting to fade from her mind and memory as most of them did. She started to sing softly.
"I remember there was mist
Swirling mist upon a vast, glassy lake
There were candles all around
And I believe there was a boat
And in the boat there was a monkey..."
Nikki rubbed at her temple as more of the dream faded. It was hard to keep track of what happened now. 'I'll be waiting..' Who said that?
"Who was that shape in the shadows?
Whose is the face in the mask?"
The door opened and Nova came in with a tray of food. "Hey, Nikki. Are you okay?" Nova pressed a button on the side of Nikki's bed with her lemon-yellow tail and the barrier went down.
"I guess so.. I just had this weird dream but I can't remember much of it." Nikki sat cross-legged on the bed and offered Nova a place to sit.
The yellow monkey monkey placed the tray of food between them. "Otto made a couple of burgers, Antauri fixed up a fruit salad and I found the apple juice, if you're hungry."
The teenager smiled. "Thanks, Nova!" With that said, the starving teen dove into the food.
"Ease up there, Girl. Learn to swallow or you'll choke." Nova eased Nikki up to a proper sitting position. Nikki definitely wasn't like how she used to be and not just in looks either. The teenager's hair had lost several inches and it looked like she had a bunch of it burned off. Nikki's clothes couldn't hide all of the scars especially the ones on her face. There was a long thin scar that traveled from just above her left eyebrow to the lower part of her chin on her right side. It went across the bridge of her nose, went underneath the lower left hand corner of her right eye and went down passed by the right hand corner of her lips, barely skimming it. And that's not to mention all of the other scars, mostly burn scars, that were on Nikki's body and considering that they had removed the teen's jacket to bandage up some of her worst wounds...there were a lot. It almost looked like she was shoved into a light socket or a fire pit. To put it simple, Nikki looked like a survivor of war. "Nikki?" Nova asked carefully as the dark-haired teenager looked at the yellow simian with a face full of fruit, "How did you get your scars?"
Nikki put down her orange slice and sighed softly. This was not going to be easy. And she had to tell somebody so why not let it be Nova? The teenager definitely trusted her so why in the hell not? "This is going to be difficult to explain. It's been nearly three months and I can oftentimes still feel the first bout of electricity run through my veins, feel Valeena casting multiple spells on me so I would obey them, feel the massive headaches from when I awoke after being hit head-on by a Monkey Mind Scream. It was horrible and there's really no proper way to describe it. I've been put through fire and things much worse than Hell. But there's one other thing... He's here. He's always around... He's with me no matter where I go."
"What do you mean?" Nova asked curiously, "He's not tracking you, is he?"
Nikki laughed darkly, "Tracking me? No.. It's far worse than that. He's here inside my MIND! No matter where I go, no matter what I do he'll always be there. And there's nothing I can do to stop it. He can control my body whenever he wants. I'm aware of what's happening but..I can't control myself. My actions are all on him. And yet...sometimes he's almost nice. It's like he cares...Is that how it is with you and Sprx?"
Nova was taken aback by the sudden subject change. Nikki was talking about Mandarin possessing her mind and then she switches to talking about her and Sprx... Does that mean that Nikki likes Mandarin? "Sprx may be obnoxious and concieted and sometimes narcassistic but he has a good heart. He's always nice and willing to help someone out even if he has little to no social skills. There's just something about him that you can't help but love despite his sarcastic nature. What is it about Mandarin that makes you like him?"
"Well...he pays attention to me, he listens to what I say without interrupting, when we're in my room he joins me when I sing, he's almost nice to me sometimes. He may be cold and calculating not to mention intelligent and devious but there's just something about him that draws me to him. There's something about the darkness within him that's just...well, intoxicating."
Nova sighed sadly, "Just...be careful. He can be blunt and never holds anything back. I'm not telling you to not go after him but...just be careful whenever you do decide to confront him about your feelings."
Nikki nodded as she grabbed a burger and proceeded to eat once again. And that's how the two girls remained talking, chatting and just being girls while Nikki ate. A few hours later, Nikki found out that the Super Robot had landed back in Shuggazoom City. They were staying there until they got wind of wherever the next bit of information concerning Skeleton King's ressurection would come forward. Nova had left an hour previous so Nikki could have some time to think. The teenager with emerald orbs had a lot to think about. Nova was right. Mandarin could take her declaration of love as something entirely different. He would make it so that she would be his pet permanently whereas all she really wanted was to be his equal. The teenage girl knew that that particular wish probably would not come true but it couldn't hurt to try, could it? Nikki sighed. She needed a parent's guidance... She needed to go to the cemetary. She needed to pay a visit to her parents.
######################
Nikki: Things are definitely getting interesting.
Chiro: #comes in the room# Where are Yuki and Gibson?
Nikki: Gibson had to go to med-bay to treat his wounds after he called Yuki a shrimp. Yuki is in her room sulking because Antauri stopped the fight before she got a chance to fry the medic.
Chiro: #raises an eyebrow# How bad?
Nikki: ...He might need to replace half of his tail as well as grow back half of the fur on his back
Chiro: #shakes head# And they say that Otto is the idiot..
Nikki: He is not!
Otto: Remember to read and review! Yuki likes to know what you guys think. If she gets a review then maybe she'll get to work on the next chapter faster!