Author's note: Hey guys. This is the tenth chapter. And I finally finished season three. One more to go.
"Nova was by far the biggest disappointment, all that power, and that skill obstructed by undeserved kindness and incessant flirting with SPRX-77," Mandarin complained, reminiscing with Chiro about the days he was the Hypeforce's leader.
"Jealous?" Chiro asked with a toothy grin.
"Hardly," Mandarin scoffed, "It made her distracted."
"What about Otto?"
"On good days, my once closest family member Otto could build marvelous machines in just a matter of hours. On bad days, we had to tell him not to run off after rabid furry creatures he decided to adopt, for some reason. It must have been all that junk food he consumed," Mandarin mused.
"All that junk food we all consume," Chiro pointed out while grinning.
"Bah! If I were still team leader I'd get you into shape. Does Antauri say nothing about your eating habits?"
"Are you kidding? He's the one who buys us cocoa puffs," Chiro laughed then added quickly, defending his robot monkey father "And in return, we practice twice as hard and are more attentive to lessons."
"I see. He uses a flimsy behaviorism method."
"Behaviorism?" Chiro asked, confused.
"Operant conditioning, my hairless monkey," Mandarin said while cackling, "A way of reinforcing desired behavior using rewards or punishments."
"It's not like that," Chiro replied.
"Oh? So he does not threaten to withhold what was it "cocoa puffs" if you are slacking off?"
Chiro said nothing, looking glum which prompted Mandarin to laugh yet again.
"Okay, what about Sparx and Gibson?"
"SPRX-77, my clown of a younger brother, possesses astounding navigational skill and marksmanship. If only he were not so insufferably proud about it, or making sarcastic quips every two minutes. But of course, his pride is nothing compared to Gibson's, who albeit being a scientific genius considers everyone else to be beneath him mentally. Otto used to be insecure because of Gibson's bragging. Even though their achievements are different, they both are the proof of brilliant intellect."
"I can't believe you're accusing Gibson of bragging when you are here Mandarin," Chiro said, innocent blue eyes wide open.
"Oh, and why is that, nephew?" Mandarin asked, lips forming into a smirk.
"No offense, but you must be the biggest proud jerk in the universe! You quit the team and attacked it just because you felt superior to Shuggazoom's citizens."
"Ah, so you must see it like that. But that is not how I see it, Chiro. Countless years, devoting my life to serving unthankful, pitiful ants, with no drop of the power primate in their veins. I did what was right, Chiro," Mandarin responded with conviction.
Chiro rolled his eyes and said, softly, "No, Mandarin. You did what was easy."
'Why did he think the citizens of Shuggazoom were unthankful? What did he want them to do? Build him a shrine?' Chiro thought.
He suddenly stopped contemplating more about Mandarin's point of view, because, the orange robot monkey, put his hands on Chiro's shoulders.
"Don't you see it, my hairless monkey? Power is for the victors, for people like you and I."
"Power should be used for good. The real victors do not become tyrants," Chiro told him, before sighing.
"A sugary perspective understandable for one so young, and naïve," Mandarin mocked, before adding, "The real world is dark, nephew. Only the strongest survive."
After that, he let go of Chiro's shoulders, then ruffled his hair and said "A pleasure discussing personal life choices with you, Chiro."
With those chilling words, Mandarin departed, barely hearing Chiro's "Wish I could say the same."
Trying to find some tranquility, Chiro ventured towards the library. He passed the gothic-looking kitchen, entering an unassuming hall. From there, he climbed the frail, winding-looking stairs to the left of him until he found it, the book collection.
The super robot monkey team's leader ran his hands over an old, yellow-paged manuscript that attracted his attention because of its mammoth size. It sat like a padishah among the more modest volumes, its black and golden cover catching the eye, and if that wasn't enough, the spoken words on the book would have done that job themselves. Malefic Magic
Almost as if in a trance, Chiro was tempted to open it. He took a step forward, then two, and just when he was about to reach for it, something inside of him screamed "No! Danger! Don't touch the creepy book!"
Chiro's hand was mid-air, reaching for the manuscript when it suddenly started to tremble, a battle between the child's willpower and the book's alluring siren call was taking place.
Chiro's hand shook, then his entire body began shaking until he finally withdrew his hand, almost as if it had been burned. He took several steps backward until his back hit a wall.
"I knew reading was a bad idea," Chiro, the ever supporter of video games muttered pensively.
He was shaken out of his reverie by clapping, of all things.
Slow clasps and a grim cackle. The boy would recognize that sardonic laughter a mile away. Skeleton King.
"Well done, boy. Not many are able to resist the pull."
"The pull?" Chiro questioned, desiring further information.
"Malefic magic, a fine read even for pests your age, unless of course, you begin to read it, and don't stop for days and days."
"I don't understand," Chiro said.
"It's dark magic which imbues its pages, little thorn. Magic the likes a child like you could never understand! It works like Narcissus's mirror, in a way, only for those thirsty for knowledge. Once the reader begins perusing its cursed pages, they neglect their physiological needs, be it food, water, or, other necessities. Soon all of them collapse until the worms had fed on their once rosy flesh and their corpses rot beneath the earth, wishing for vengeance."
"You're seriously disturbed," Chiro said.
Skeleton King merely smiled and said "I am immune to its cunning power, young Chiro. The pull disappears on you once somebody else reads the book for you...would you like me to read it to you?"
"I, I, um-" Chiro said, hands going up in the air, almost as if he were arrested.
Skeleton King put his hand on Chiro's back and guided him to a table with an old vase on it before the teenager could protest, saying "No thanks, I'm not into murderous books."
He opened the harrowing manuscript in the middle, purple magic residue wafted in the air, then he began to read "Evil wish, for me to cut her/ Transform this vase into a dagger."
The vase floated in the air, then rotated several times faster than the eye could see, twisting and turning, forming into a silky, light dagger.
"Wow!" Chiro exclaimed before he began touching the weapon with his own hands, not quite believing what he saw.
Skeleton King smirked almost as if to say "Neat, right?"
"The best part isn't even wielding the weapon, Chiro, it is the words, the power rush they give once uttered, their grim and dark ways are intoxicating."
"So...you like being a power-hungry, dark poetry addict," Chiro concluded.
The bag of bones snorted and said "Figures an uncouth child like you would think such things. No, boy, I was talking about the macabre massacre they produce, with just a few simple words."
"It's okay. I like poetry too," Chiro teased, leaning back in his chair, hands behind head, and a large smile present on his milky-white face.
"Only you know, non-evil poetry," the boy continued.
Skeleton King smiled, not expecting to enjoy the conversation with the child.
"Ah, but isn't poetry just a reflection of humanity, little thorn? And humans are in their nature very selfish and cruel beings."
"That's not true!" Chiro snapped at him.
Skeleton King looked at him up and down before muttering "You're the exception."
Chiro rolled his eyes and said "Or perhaps you need to broaden your horizons. Talk to someone else besides mindless formless, take a vacation, meet people, stop terrorizing the universe."
"You want me to meet other people?" Skeleton King asked humorously "Very well, boy. Tomorrow, you, I, and Mandarin are going on a sociable mission."
"Sociable how?" Chiro asked fearing the worst.
"It involves talking to incompetent life forms!" Skeleton King said then walked out of the library, head held high.
Chiro followed him, happy to put as much distance between himself and the book as possible.
Author's note: End of chapter ten.