Chapter Six
Chiro sat up in his bed with a scream as tears flooded his cheeks. He looked around his room, before curling up in a ball as he sobbed. It has been over a week since Krinkle had been locked up and he had broken down to Gibson and while he managed to sleep more the nightmares had gotten worse. This wasn't the first time this week he had sat up and cried as his heart felt like it was going to burn out of his chest. He wanted to scream, wanted to punch a wall, but at the same time he just wanted a hug. A hug from JinMay who hadn't been heard of for weeks.
"Chiro?" Sparx said, walking into the room and saw the flushed boy his eyes softened. "You okay kid? More nightmares."
Chiro wanted to say 'I'm fine', but even that was becoming hard to say without crying even harder. Why?! Why couldn't he just suck it up! Why couldn't he just deal with this alone like he had for so many years!? Why when he was supposed to be strong he felt so weak. Chiro nodded softly, and hid his face.
"You, um… you need anything, kid?"
Chiro shook his head slowly as he laid back down and faced away from the redhead. There was things he wanted, but he didn't need anything. He just needed to get over it and go to sleep.
"Well… I'll be here if you need me, okay?"
Chiro nodded then heard Sparx leave them, letting him cry all over again as he sniffled pulling the pillow over his head.
"Chiro?" Antauri asked as Sparx came back into the room. Sparx sighed and nodded. "I see. I fear that we may have made things worse by letting him know that we knew what he said to Gibson in confidence." He said, arms crossed.
"Maybe I should create some kind of sleeping pill for him?" Gibson asked.
"We're not going to drug him Gibson!" Nova snapped, that would just trap him in the nightmare!" She growled.
"I did say that I would create it. I could engineer it so that he'd be able to wake up from the nightmare but-"
"No." Antauri said, "It's not that sleeping is the problem, it's the nightmares. His mind is trying to let something out that Chiro refuses to let out. What needs to happen is we need to get him to open up to us, to tell us what is wrong, if he doesn't tell us I fear the nightmares will continue and could get even worse."
"Worse than they are now? I don't think they could." Sparx said, crossing his arms.
"Things can always get worse Sparx, but they can also get better. When Chiro wakes up we will talk to him about his nightmares, see if we can get him to tell us more about them than he already has." Antauri said.
"If we can." Nova said with a soft frown.
Chiro came down half an hour later to the entire Hyper Force sitting in their chairs facing for him. His heart instantly jumped into his throat and he knew, they wanted answers. Answers that he wasn't sure he had.
"Take a seat kid." Sparx said.
Chiro hesitated but sat down in his chair glancing nervously around, bags still present on his face.
"Chiro, we know you've been having nightmares." Antauri began. "I think it's from something that happened in your past that you've kept hidden this entire time."
Chiro crossed his arms. "Yeah? We all have secrets." He mumbled. 'No no no no no. This CANNOT be happening. They can't know. If they find out they'll kick me out. They'll send me away and lock me up! I'll have to share a cell with Krinkle! Oh god no.'
"That is true, but your secrets are causing you deep internal distress." Gibson said.
"I think that if you told us, it might help with your nightmares." Antauri said.
Chiro laughed, "It's nothing you guys. You worry too much." He said, obviously trying to get out of the situation, 'Right, what should I tell you? About my dad who tried to kill me every night or about the mom who often beat me to a pulp? The grandpa who tried to bury me alive? Or the night I tried to kill myself when I was 7. Yeah, where should I start.'
"Kid, don't you trust us?" Sparx asked with a soft, worried frown.
"O-Of course I do." Chiro smiled, 'I don't trust myself. If you know where I came from you would think I'm a monster. Maybe I am.'
"Then why don't you tell us what's wrong?" Nova asked sadly.
Chiro sighed then stood up and took off his shirt turning around showing a scar that covered from his right hip to his spine. "Okay, let's start when I got this. I told you I got it when I fell out of a tree. Not true, I got it when my mom beat me with a metal pipe that cut my skin." He said then turned and moved his hair away from ear showing another scar just above it, "This is from when my grandpa hit me with a shovel and tried to bury me alive!" He began to shout at his frightened team. "How much more do you need to know?!"
The team looked at each other then back at Chiro as he slipped on his shirt.
"I'm going for a walk." He said, then stormed out of the robot.
The team looked at each other, all in shock. They knew he had a rough childhood from the little they collected and the fact that he never went home and nobody came looking for him. On top of not ever having a birthday but that. That wasn't at all what they expected, and they had only scratched the surface of his past.
"Chiro…" Nova said, as she tried not to cry.
"Why didn't he tell us?!" Sparx said.
"I'm not sure, but there are things we haven't told him."
"Like what?" Gibson asked Antauri.
"We haven't told him about Mandarin."
The group fell quiet again.
Chiro snuffled, rubbing his nose as he tried to hold back the tears and ignore the looks of the people passing him. Some people mudded "He finally realized he's not good enough to be in that team", others "Poor kid finally give up" which just made him cry harder.
"Chiro?" Nova's voice came over the communicator.
Angry Chiro grabbed the device off his chest and through it hard to the ground before stomping on it. No. He wasn't in the mood to talk. He wasn't going to head back yet. He was going to walk until he reached the end of the city boundaries or until his legs gave out on him! Whatever came first.
A few blocks down the road Chiro saw a boy with reddish-orange hair that looked like a mix between Sparx and Antauri.
"Hi." The boy said. "Are you Chiro?" He asked.
"Yeah…? Who are you?"
"My name is Mandarin, I'm Antauri's older brother." He said, "You're kinda short to be the new leader of the HyperForce." He pointed and Chiro blushed.
"I've never heard of you." He mumbled.
"Ah, well my brothers and I had a bit of a fall out a long time ago."
"So why are you here now?" Chiro asked, getting an uneasy feeling about this man.
"Easy! I came to make amends with them! See I have a kid on the way and I don't want my kid growing up not knowing it's family. Ya'know?"
Chiro nodded softly, "Um… Okay." Chiro said as Mandarin put his arm over his shoulder as the two started walking.
"Tell me does Antauri still like gummy bears?" He asked and Chiro nodded.
"Yeah, he does." Chiro said. Why hadn't the others told him about Mandarin?
"That's so adorable. Hey, and is Otto still building things and stuff like that?"
Chiro nodded, "Yeah, he made me a little thing for my birthday." He said, part of him wishing he hadn't broke his communicator.
"Yeah? That's just like him." Mandarin said with a soft smile. "Otto and I… we used to be really close."
"Yeah?" Chiro said then thought, 'If you were so close why haven't I ever heard of you? How did he get that scar on his face… it looks almost like something Otto's saws would do...' He thought to himself.
"Yeah, tell me are you close with the team?"
"I think so." Chiro said, "We have our fights but who doesn't."
"Do they know where you are?" Mandarin asked.
"I hope not, I need some time alone." Chiro sighed, an uneasy feeling washing over him, but before he could react Mandarin pushed a long sharp needle into the front of Chiro's right shoulder. Chiro let out a choking sound but couldn't manage anything else as he felt paralyzed and was slowly led by Mandarin into an Alley where Mandarin then smiled.
"You'll have all the time in the world where you're going, my pet." He said, as Chiro lost his struggle to stay conscious and collapsed into Mandarin's arms.
"Guys, he's not answering." Nova said, worry plain on her face.
"Can you blame him?" Sparx said, "We basically forced him into telling us parts of his past that he clearly wasn't ready to share! If I were him I wouldn't answer either." He huffed, "I knew we shoulda just let the kid come out to us when he was ready." He mumbled.
Nova hit Sparx's shoulder hard, tears in her eyes. "Shut up! You're just as worried about him as the rest of us are!"
"I never said I wasn't! But the kid needs space! We can't keep forcing him into things! The kid's, well, just a kid!"
"Be that as it may, we need to go out and find him." Antauri said, his arms crossed as he looked at the monitors. He had a very bad feeling about this.
"Fine, but I'm not going to be held responsible if he throws a fit and quits!" Sparx huffed.
"Wakey wakey, pet." A voice pierced through the darkness, slowly pulling Chiro out of a daze.
His head was throbbing, his stomach was doing flips and it felt like they were swaying. He moaned and tried to sit up but quickly realized his wrists, upper arms, ankles and knees were all bound. He then tried to speak but was unable to thanks to a gag in his mouth keeping him quiet.
"There you are." Said Mandarin, standing above Chiro. "Did you have a good nap?"
Chiro glared and tried to pull away as Mandarin tugged the gag down around Chiro's mouth. "What do you want from me?" He hissed.
"With you? Nothing, in fact I couldn't care less about you." He said, "I am simply using you as bait for my brothers." He said and Chiro growled, "Come now, you must be used to that; that is probably the only thing you're good at seeing how short and… human… you are. You're probably useless when it comes to being the team leader."
Chiro snarled, "They won't come!"
"Sure they will, they care too much about you pathetic humans not to. But… they could take a while. Might as well make yourself at home." He said, as Chiro felt another sway he gasped. "What's wrong? Don't you like your new accommodations?" He purred then lifted Chiro by his shaggy black hair causing him to whimper as Mandarin then slammed his face against a window which caused Chiro to gasp. Once he got over the shock of tasting blood from his bloody nose he began to panic about another thing.
They were under water! He couldn't even see the sun breaking the surface! He looked all around trying to find out just how deep they were but no matter where he looked it was all dark minus fifteen feet around him which was full of strange looking fish.
"W-water." Chiro mumbled as Mandarin then tossed him back to the floor.
"Yes, a friend of mine said you just love water." He said, "I figured this would be the best place, wouldn't you agree?"
Chiro growled then spat blood onto the floor. "Socko."
"But of course!" He said happily then walked back over to Chiro, retying the gag and forcing Chiro to sit on his knees. "Now be a good boy and sit or you'll pay." He said.
Chiro growled, but not wanting to see what Mandarin could and would do to him he did as he was told.
"Good, now I have a call to make."
"We've been looking for hours Antauri, there's no sign of him." Otto said. "Do you think he left town?"
"No." Antauri said. "Even if he hated us, he wouldn't leave the city. He loves it too much. Besides, I sense he is near. I'm not sure where but he's either in the city or somewhere very close."
"Maybe he's already back at the robot." Nova said, as the five of them flew through the air looking at the ground.
Antauri frowned to himself the whole way back. This uneasy feeling was only growing worse, and with Chiro missing he couldn't help but worry about the human boy.
They went inside and were greeted to an empty robot. They checked every room, every hiding place and no Chiro. They were about to head out looking again when the computer sparked to life.
"INCOMING TRANSMISSION." Said the robotic female voice.
"Chiro!" Nova said hopefully as she answered the call, Hope turned to fear though when they saw that Chiro was indeed on the screen but he looked in rough shape.
He was bound and gagged, blood running from his nose and a needle hole in his shirt. Standing next to him was a familiar orange-eyed brother with a large scar across his face and an evil look in his eyes.
"Hello, my brothers and Nova." He grumbled the female's name. "I believe I have something that belongs to you?"
"Mandarin! Let him go!" Sparx snarled as Gibson began to try and track the video.
"Aw but I just now caught him." Mandarin said, pulling Chiro's hair making him whimper in pain. "Now, I'm guessing by now Gibson has figured out that there is no tracing this call. Antauri has also figured out that tracking Chiro by his Communicator is a bust. Otto is thinking of all the possible places he could be. Sparx is ready to run out and rip the city apart and Nova is scared that I'm going to hurt him, Which she's right, I am going to hurt him. I'll hurt him even more though if you don't do as I say." He said.
"What do you want?" Antauri growled.
"Easy, I want you guys to meet me in the park at 6 oclock AM. I want to fight you, all of you for a rematch. If you beat me I'll let the boy go, if I beat you I blow up the building that I'm keeping the poor child in and I take my place as leader of the Hyper Force once again." He said, and Chiro began shaking his head.
He didn't want the team to get hurt, didn't want them going into a trap for him. He didn't want them to agree to this.
"Silence Pet!" Mandarin yelled pushing Chiro onto his face and stomping on Chiro's ribs causing him to whimper and cough.
"Chiro!" They all called.
"We'll do it!" Otto said, "Just don't hurt him!"
"Good call, Otto." Mandarin said, pausing in his attack on Chiro. "But, as you know, accidents happen. I can't fully guarantee his safety."
"I swear Mandarin if he's not awake and kicking I'll kill you." Nova threatened.
"Ooh, such empty threats from the Ice Queen." He said and Nova shivered and instantly backed up behind Antauri. "6 am on the dot or the boy dies." He said, and turned off the communication.
"Damn it!" Sparx growled, punching the wall.
"Mandarin… He has Chiro." Nova said, "This is all our fault! If we hadn't pushed him, he would still be here! Safe! With us!" She said, "We have to help him."
"And we will, but for now get ready for the battle of your lives." Antauri said.
Chiro coughed, blood from his nose and tears from his eyes mixing before they hit the ground. Mandarin laughed softly as he kicked Chiro knocking him to his side before he ripped the gag off again.
"You told them I was a building! What are you planning!" He coughed.
"Easy, even if they win they'll be so focused on the address I give them that when I detonate the power source in this sub it'll be too late." He said, and to Chiro's surprise Mandarine untied Chiro's ankles and knees before pulling him to his feet by the ropes around his upper arms and chest.
"W-what are you doing?"
"Relax, if I'm going to keep you as a pet I want to see if you'll even be worth keeping alive." He said, getting into a fighting stance, "Fight me boy, give me your best shot."
"But my arms are still tied!"
Mandarin mocked Chiro then said, "I could have left your legs tied." He said, "Now fight me or I'll kick your ass while your legs are still tied."
Chiro frowned, but got an idea and he ran at Mandarin. He jumped in the air before spinning quickly. "Lightning Kick." He called and gasped when Mandarin held up his fist as a blue shield formed and blocked his attack.
Mandarin then grabbed Chiro's ankle and slammed him hard into the submarine wall causing Chiro to gasp in pain. Mandarin then laughed.
"Antauri taught you that. Interesting."
"H-how did you know Antauri-"
"Who do you think taught him!" Mandarin said, "All the moves the team knows I taught them." He laughed. "You cannot beat me, nor can they. Not after all these years."
"What if we taught ourselves something new?" Chiro asked, getting back on his feet with a bit of a struggle.
"Then I will adjust. They only thing they had advantage on is numbers. I have the place and time set. Not to mention I have they're precious little leader under my control. Everything is on my terms boy. Don't get your hopes up that you'll be saved. Because you won't."
"Why are you fighting your siblings?"
"Because they're traitors who tried to kill me. Turned against me after a fight to save the city." He said, "They even turned little Otto against me. Antauri is a liar who acts like he will be your friend but the second you tell them something in confidence he betrays you, tries to lock you away in a prison far, far away from home. I managed to get away but not before Otto gave me this." Mandarin touched the scar on his face softly. "He was heartbroken, but Antauri told him it was for the best and he took him, along with all the others."
Chiro didn't say anything for a minute. Would… would the others do to him what they did to Mandarin? Maybe that's what had happened earlier…
"Ah well, past is in the past and now I have a second chance. To save you before they can turn an innocent child into somebody like me. Once I kill my brothers you and I will rule Shuggazoom!"
"Why… why did they turn on you? What did you do?" Chiro asked, trying to make sense of what was going on.
"I told Antauri about dreams I had been having. Dreams about ruling over the city. They figured I was not above other humans." He sighed, "Ah well." He said again, "Now, come here." Mandarin walked back over to Chiro making him back up as Mandarin pushed Chiro down to his knees before retying his ankles and knees then gagging him again. "Rest." He said, "You only have a few hours before the fight, and I will want to train you some when I return."
'Train me? Train me for what?' Chiro asked himself, his blood running cold at the thought of being stuck with this psycho for so long.
Despite what Chiro thought he did manage to fall asleep before six o'clock came though it wasn't for long for he was awoken when he felt the sub slowly begin to rise out of the water. Chiro whimpered, opening his eyes and looking out the window seeing moonlight mixed with a bit of sunrise. They were still hidden under the bridge though, hidden from the rest of the world.
"Here boy." Mandarin said, turning on a live feed of the park before grabbing the ropes on Chiro's ankles and dragging him in front of it. "You can watch as I kill your friends."He purred, "Who know's maybe I'll leave one alive so it can be your pet." He said, then climbed out of the sub, closing the airlock behind him.
Chiro hit the ground with his feet angrily. Why couldn't he do anything to save himself?! He was useless!
"Where is he?" Sparx growled, looking around the empty park. He knew how nervous and angry and betrayed Otto felt, and he was worried about his friend.
"Right here Sparx." Purred Mandarin as he walked into the light. "Glad you could join me thought maybe you would have betrayed the boy like you betrayed me. All those years ago."
"You were the one that turned evil, Mandarin." Antauri said as he glared at his older brother. "We had no choice."
"You did! All you had to see was that we were above the normal Humans! You always seemed to think yourself equal with those powerless slackers." He said, "Now you replace me with a child. You guys are pathetic."
"Where's Chiro?" Otto asked, his voice shaking.
"Safe. For now. In fact, he's watching us right now." He said, then waved to a camera on a building, "Hello pet."
"Where is he, Mandarin?" Antauri asked with a growl.
"You have to defeat me to find out." Mandarin said, his sword and Shield forming.
Nova and Sparx were the first two to charge at Mandarin, both of them letting out a yell.
"Lady Tomahawk!" Nova said, hitting the ground cracking it but Mandarin just hopped into a tree then dodging Sparx's famous 'Magno Ball Blazer!"
Mandarin laughed jumping onto Nova's shoulders before doing a backbend flipping her over and slamming her hard to the ground. He then grabbed her arm and threw her causing her to hit Sparx then both to slam hard against a tree with a whimper.
Antauri was next, slashing at Mandarin with his Ghost Claws. But again, Mandarin was too fast, managing to dodge or block all of the attacks before Mandarin turned and used his sword as he cut into Antauri's chest by only a few centimeters but it was enough to distract Antauri, giving Mandarin a chance to kick him down.
'They need my help! ' Chiro thought to himself as he struggled then hissed when a sharp object dug into his arm. He looked around then smiled when he saw a loose piece of metal. He slid up a little before it caught on the shard before moving himself up and down slowly cutting through the ropes which eventually broke free. Once his upper arms were free it wasn't hard to cut the ropes on his wrists.
He grabbed the gag ripping it out of his mouth and tossing it aside before untying his ankles and knees. He needed to help them. He wasn't going to stand by and be useless anymore. He rubbed his nose again before he climbed up, opening the hatch before climbing out onto the roof with a whimper. Now that he was free though there was still the problem of getting the 40 feet from the sub to the beach, which would require swimming. Something Chiro still couldn't do.
Chiro groaned and looked around, looking for something he could use to get to shore. He frowned. There was nothing! Nothing! He huffed.
He had two choices: suck it up and help his team, or wait to be Mandarin's 'pet'. While neither sounded like a good choice he made one. He backed up to one end of the sub before running full speed, his feet clanking on the metal before he jumped off and splashed into the deep cold water.
The cold water ripped the breath right out of his lungs, and when he surfaced he took a big, gasping breath. He tried to think of what Jinmay had taught him, how she had taught him to stay afloat.
'Stay calm! ' Chiro thought as he began to move his arms and kick his legs it was slow moving and was more like a strange type of dog paddle but it was doing the job.
It took Chiro what felt like hours before he made it to the shore, soaked to the bone and his body screaming in pain. Puffs of steam came out of his mouth as he forced himself to his feet and jogged to the park. He couldn't rest. Not now, he was leader, it was his job to protect them! He couldn't be out of it anymore! He had to pull himself together! No more being scared! No more saying "I'm Fine", no more! His team needed him. And he was going to be there for them.
Otto cried out as Mandarin rammed into him, making him slam into the ground. Otto coughed as he began to get up.
"You felt the same way I did, Otto. Why didn't you come with me? We could have ruled Shuggazoom City without the rest of the team dragging us down." Mandarin said.
"You said people would respect me if I followed you! I was with you until you started talking about killing anybody who stood in our way." He sniffled, getting to his feet and looking at his family.
Nova and Sparx were struggling to get up, Antauri was bleeding out, Gibson was unconscious and he was the only one left to fight the one Otto once looked up to. The boy he could say everything to was now once again trying to kill his family. Otto had to finish what he couldn't all those years ago. He had to stop Mandarin.
But how? Mandarin was too strong. Even last time, it had been a stroke of luck that he had been able to cut Mandarin's face. Otto frowned, running at Mandarin. He couldn't think about losing. He had to win. He had to.
The fight seemed faster after that as Mandarin stopped holding back.
Otto gasped as pain ripped through his stomach as he looked down seeing the blade piercing right above his left hip. Mandarin then ripped his blade out and pinned Otto down with his boot.
"Goodbye. Brother." Mandarin said, swinging the blade towards him.
"Get off of him!" A familiar voice called out as Mandarin was tackled off of Otto.
"Chiro!" Otto yelled, rolling onto his side before he cried out and pressed a hand to his wound.
"You?! But how did you-" Mandarin began as Chiro growled forming a bolt in his hand, something Mandarin was obviously surprised to see.
"Chiro Spearo!" Chiro called out, throwing it. Mandarin managed to dodge but backed right up into Nova.
"Knuckle Duster!" She called out, punching Mandarin sending him flying against a tree before falling to her knees panting and exhausted.
"Nova, are you okay?" Chiro asked, bending down as she hugged him.
"You don't know how glad I am to see you." Nova sighed softly.
"Sparx! Take care of her." Chiro said, as he turned and faced Mandarin.
Mandarin was struggling to get to his feet. "Well, aren't you full of surprises!"
"Yeah, he is." Otto said, standing next to Chiro despite his wound making blood drip down his leg.
"I'll give you two one more chance. Join me, or parish."
Chiro growled, ready to fight. "I may be short, I may be human, but I love this team-my team and my family and anybody who tries to hurt them will have to go through me."
"Gladly." Growled Mandarin as he ran at the two of them.
Otto and Chiro both managed to dodge as Chiro then kicked him in the ribs knocking him back again.
Mandarin growled, then threw his shield. Once again the two dodged, but it soon became obvious that they weren't the target as the tree began to fall behind them. Otto was unable to move and fight as he was riddled with pain. Chiro shoved Otto out of the way as the tree collapsed.
"CHIRO!" Otto screamed as the tree came crashing down on the black-haired boy. Otto turned to yell at Mandarin and was filled with mixed emotions when he realized Mandarine once again made his escape. "Chiro!" Otto called running over to the tree.
"I'm fine Otto." Chiro rasped as Otto moved the leaves showing the boy who had moved enough that a branch was the only thing pinning him down to the grass.
"God, don't scare me like that again, Chiro!" Otto said, managing to move the branch off of Chiro just enough for the boy to crawl out from under it.
Chiro smiled then hugged Otto. "Let's get everybody back home." He said.
"If we can." Otto sighed, pressing against his wound again. His jeans were soaked in blood.
Luckily Gibson woke up in time to help Otto walk while Chiro helped Antauri and Sparx helped Nova. They then went into the lab where Chiro then used his little medical know-how to patch up Gibson enough to where he could then patch up Antauri and Otto who were the worse off.
Chiro noticed that everyone seemed to be mostly worried about Otto and Antauri, and not just their wounds. What had happened before, when Mandarin had been the leader? Would he end up doing the same thing?
"Chiro-" Antauri began.
"I'm sorry." Chiro said, "I should have told you about my past long ago… But now… Now I'm even more afraid. I don't know how much of what Mandarin told me what was true or not… but you know… I don't care. You're my family now and I can tell you anything… Right?"
"Right, kid."
"You can tell us anything, Chiro. We'll still love you." Nova promised.
Chiro sat down in a chair sadly as he began to explain about his past.
He told the team about living in the dog house with holes in the roof about being continuously beat by his mother and left clinging to life by his father. About the time his grandfather tried to burry him alive because his father asked him to do what he couldn't. He then told about the storm that broke the fence that kept him caged in the yard broke and that during the day he would leave and come home before his family realized he was gone. With every story the looks on the team's face became sadder and sadder but still filled with love. Even when he told them about the time he tried to kill himself but couldn't do it in the end.
By the end of it all Chiro was crying and the team just looked at him with heart broken looks. Looks of sadness that he hadn't told him any of these things in the almost three years he had been living with them and that even now he hesitated.
"Chiro…" Nova said as she ran to him, hugging him closely the rest of the team soon following until it was just one big group hug surrounding Chiro who sniffled and huddled against the rest of the team. Where he belonged.
In the end Otto and Sparx crawled into bed with Chiro the three all sleeping, and for the first time in months Chiro slept through the night and even into the morning, even after the two older boys left the bedroom and made breakfast.
While Chiro had slept soundly, Otto hadn't. Mandarin, the old Mandarin, had been in all of his dreams, and when he woke up after each one it had taken all he had not to cry. He missed the old Mandarin. His old friend, the boy he had told everything to. He thought he had gotten over it, but he obviously hadn't.
"Otto? Are you alright?" Antauri asked.
"Yeah… Antauri? Do you miss Mandarin? The Mandarin he used to be?"
Antauri's eyes softened as he held Otto close. "Of course I do, he is our brother and while he had his faults he was still our brother. You know we did everything to stop him, and not even you could stop him. You should relax, Otto. Chiro needs you now, Mandarin is fine."
"I know… I just miss him." Otto said as he began to cry.
Antauri frowned, "I as well." He said, hugging Otto even closer.
Chiro eventually woke up around two in the afternoon, sitting up and rubbing his eyes. He hurt so bad from last night, but at least he had slept without nightmares for the first time in what seemed like centuries.
"Morning sleepy head." Nova said as she came in, "Perfect time, I have your lunch." She smiled putting the tray on his lap as he sat up on the bed with a soft smile.
"Thanks Nova. I'm sorry I slept so long."
"It's fine, I'm just glad you slept." She said, kissing his head. "How do you feel?"
"Like I got my butt kicked by a man with orange eyes." He laughed, "How are the others?"
"Our make up allows us to heal faster, while the wounds made have seemed bad, they're much better today, not healed all the way but still much better."
"I'm glad… How's Otto?"
Nova sighed, "He's a little shaken up, seeing Mandarin again really took a toll on him."
Chiro rubbed his arm nervously. "Um… what happened? Between Mandarin and Otto? Even with Mandarin being bad, he still spoke about Otto the most, and Otto obviously didn't take seeing him too well..."
Nova sat at Chiro's feet sadly. "It was a long time ago Otto was just beginning to notice his mechanical skills… Before then Otto was emotional and felt useless all the time saying that he would just be more helpful to the team if he was dead none of us ever disagreed or agreed we just kept quiet. Mandarin was the only one who said that Otto was the most important one on the team, and that he didn't know it yet. As time passed though… Mandarin began to turn and tried to take Otto too, saying that if Otto followed him they could take over the city and he would finally get the respect of not only the rest of the team but the entire city… Otto couldn't refuse but one day when Mandarin tried to turn us too and we refused he ordered Otto to kill us… and when he couldn't he… He did terrible things to Otto, physical and emotional things… He managed to fight off Mandarin long enough for us to break free but… for weeks after he was in a coma and weeks after that he never left Mandarin's room, it took Antauri telling Otto that Mandarin didn't really care and that we did to make him realize that he was just scared of realizing it. Gibson helped him with Mechanicing and after that… he came back to us. Went back to normal."
Chiro frowned. "Otto… no wonder he looked like he expected Mandarin to kill him…"
Nova nodded, "Yeah. Eat your lunch and then join us downstairs." She smiled, then walked out.
Chiro looked down at his food, hungry but at the same time sick to his stomach. Mandarin had crossed a line with Otto. He betrayed him almost as bad as you could betray someone. It made Chiro want to run out and hug Otto and never let him go.
Chiro eventually forced himself to eat his lunch before going down stairs again. He then joined the rest of the team in the main deck, sitting down in his seat while Antauri stood in front of the rest of the team.
"As you know attacks have become more and more common." Antauri said, "I'm afraid that this means we must be ready for anything, more now than ever. Skeleton King is becoming aggressive sending things against us and using things he learned from Socko against us. From now on if anybody leaves the super robot stick to the buddy system. And stay safe." Antauri said just as there was a loud thunk on the shoulder of the robot.
"What now?" Growled Chiro as they dashed up to the shoulder.