Tauria: Hiya everybody! This is a one-shot that a friend of mine (Grungekitty) asked me to do a while back... I finally finished with it (it ended up being a LOT longer then expected...) and so here it is! I hope everybody enjoys it! Especially you, Grungekitty XD (and you can either consider this an early birthday gift, or request a birthday one-shot, BTW)

Disclaimer: I own not SRMT, or the original idea...

Cursed Position

Tauria

Original idea by Grungekitty

The team watched sadly as Chiro stormed away. He had gone off again – and over something stupid, like always. It hadn't even been their fault to begin with. He was acting so out of character lately…. He had gone through a major personality change during the time that he had been with them.

He was acting so different lately – everything had to go his way, or the highway. He yelled at them for everything, even when it wasn't their fault. The team had taken to walking on eggshells around the boy.

"Something needs to be done about him," Sprx said softly, jabbing a thumb in Chiro's direction. "I know that at first we – including me – thought that it was just teenage stuff, but he's going too far, even if it is. And none of you can deny the similarities." Onyx eyes glared at them, as if daring them to do just that. He was determined not to lose another leader, but if they were, they had better be prepared for it this time. He would make sure of that.

None of them had to ask what he was referring to. Despite the amount of years that had passed since their previous leader's absence, none of them could forget it. It wasn't just something that they could forget, especially since they had all been close to Mandarin in different ways. They had all looked up to and respected him. It was gradual, but it was still hard to believe that the monkey they remembered had changed into the monkey that had left them. And now Chiro had started down the same path – there was no denying it. Not anymore.

At first, they had all tried to fool themselves. 'Teenagers all go through weird phases… his is different because he's got so much pressure put on him,' they had said. 'He'll grow out of it… no need to worry.'

It had been harder to keep believing the more similarities that they had noticed, but they had done it. And now? They could no longer close their eyes to what was becoming of their leader.

"You're right Sprx." To everyone's surprise, Otto spoke first. He was the one who they had thought would keep the charade against himself up for the longest – that was what he had done with the orange monkey. "The similarities are growing more and more pronounced each day."

Nova bit her lip. She hated facing another Mandarin – particularly one who was so much more powerful… and one whom they cared about even more than they had the orange monkey. He had come to them young, and they had practically watched him grow up. If things ended up going badly, this was not going to be easy. Not to say that Mandarin's departure had been easy, but it would appear to be so in light of what would happen if Chiro left. "But what are we going to do about it?" she whispered, feeling tears burn her eyes, though she fought to keep them down.

Antauri – stoic as ever – was the one who spoke. It was his responsibility, after all, being the second in command. "We shall do whatever it takes to keep Shuggazoom safe. That is our number one priority – though, if anything can be done to save Chiro from himself, we will do it, depending on the costs."

The other four multi-colored monkeys nodded, knowing that the robotic simian was correct.

There were a few moments of silence, a question all weighing heavily in their minds. None of them wanted to ask it, but it needed to be done.

"…what if we lose him?" the blue monkey – Gibson – was the one who asked the question. His eyes were firmly trained on a point on the ground, as he chewed his lip in thought. The very mention of it seemed to disturb him, but the question had to be asked. "We don't have another Chosen One to wait for… do we, Antauri?"

The silver monkey was silent for a moment, deep in thought. The question seemed to weigh heavily in the air, waiting for the wise monkey to dispel it with whatever answer he could give. The other monkeys almost seemed to be holding their breath in preparation. "No," he whispered, "there is no other Chosen One – at least, not for us, and not that I can see."

The others gave slow nods, knowing that Chiro was their last chance.

"So what if we do lose him?" Sprx pushed the question after a moment of more pressing silence. None of them seemed to be able to leave until the question was answered, and the others didn't seem inclined to ask it.

Antauri met all of their eyes in turn, knowing that though his next words were not entirely powerful enough to merit such a reaction, he needed to make sure that they would do as he said… he did not want them worrying themselves sick over something that they could easily prevent. "We will cross that bridge if it comes to it; there is no point in letting our thoughts dwell in dark places."

Sprx and Otto had dubbed Chiro's new attitude as a case of Mandarinism, and using their recollections (as well as old video from the Super Robot) Gibson and Antauri had come up with various stages for the made-up condition.

They had deduced that Chiro was in the early stages of Stage Two, out of six stages. The stages were as following:

Stage One: Brooding – spending less and less time with the team; always appearing deep in thought; suspicious reactions when inquiring why (i.e. anger for no apparent reason)

Stage Two: Yelling – begins with just raising the voice when mistakes are made, then drifts off to yelling at every single thing that goes wrong… even when it's not anyone's fault

Stage Three: Anger – always angry at something, even if its something trivial; snaps quite a bit at the others even when they aren't doing anything wrong; glaring for no apparent reason

Stage Four: Less Empathy/Sympathy – making them train harder, even when they're too tired to continue; getting angry when they end up in med bay too long; just a general lack of the two emotions

Stage Five: Power Issues – trying to control everything

Stage Six: Revelations – when whatever he was brooding about in the beginning comes out in the open.

The team knew that they had to get some measure of their Chiro back at some point before or during the beginning of Stage Four. After Stage Four there was some hope of getting their leader back, but it had less of a chance...

The were in the middle of a training session when the alarm went off. Chiro did not look happy, and the Monkey Team hoped that he would get the yelling and anger out of his system during the battle. Mandarin had on many occasions (but he always seemed to gain the anger right back quick enough…).

It was a simple monster attack in downtown Shuggazoom. It originated from the waters around Shuggazoom – many things resided in that deep water that the team had never encountered, and did not want to.

Skeleton King had been taken out a year and a half ago. Chiro was now seventeen, and the team guarded Shuggazoom against the monsters that wished to take the villains place, though none ever lasted long. Even when dysfunctional, the team managed to keep Shuggazoom safe. No one would ever suspect that anything was wrong.

The only one who had ever come close to taking the skeletons place was Mandarin, but he hadn't been around much lately. The team hoped he wasn't one behind Chiro's transformation… though, if he were, it would sure explain a lot.

The battle didn't last near as long as some battles had in the past. The monster was easily defeated and it fled back into the lake, and though the team thought that they should pursue it, their leader decided not to.

The six members of the Hyper Force headed back to the Robot, Shuggazoomians cheering in their wake.

Chiro entered the Robot with the others, a frown on his face.

"You okay?" Otto ventured to ask.

"No," Chiro said, anger in his tone.

The green monkey swallowed. Apparently, the battle hadn't done much to soothe his anger.

"We were in the middle of an important training exercise!"

Sprx shrugged. "Since when do monsters care if we've gotten in our daily practice? I mean… I'd think they'd all prefer it if we didn't train! Make their job easier, that's for sure…" the red monkey gave a goofy smirk, giving one of his many attempts to get the Kid to joke with him.

As always, he was greeted with a less-than-enthusiastic response. The boy glared at the red simian. "Are you saying you don't want to train?" the boy's voice had risen slightly, and his sapphire orbs dared the red monkey to challenge him.

Sprx didn't rise to the dare. He put his hands in the air in a classic gesture of no harm, and said, "Kid, I was just making a joke. No harm meant, no harm done."

He glared. "Don't call me that."

"What? Kid? But that's been your nickname for as long as we've known each other…" the red monkey frowned at him. He had never protested the name before, but that was before he got Mandarinism.

"Yeah, because back then, it fit. I'm seventeen now – nearly an adult," Chiro's mouth had contorted into a sneer. "So don't call me that."

"Whatever you say, K-Chiro," Sprx shrugged, not wanting to argue with him. That happened enough lately.

Chiro just gave a short nod and went to his room, seeming like a dark cloud was hanging over his head.

Otto frowned. "I thought he liked that nickname though… Before he started getting all Mandarin-y, he even told you that he hoped the nickname would stick!" the green monkey thought a moment."…or something like that anyway," he amended.

"I know. But whatever's going on with him is screwing with his head. May as well appease him," Sprx said, rolling his eyes.

The others nodded in agreement. There was no point in reasoning with the boy. Not right now.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE GOT AWAY?!"

As they had predicted, Chiro was less than pleased at the fact that Mandarin had managed to take some precious artifact from the newly managed museum of Shuggazoom. The curator had called the team immediately (Gibson's alarms had not gone off, another thing Chiro wasn't pleased about).

The orange monkey had left behind a small army of Skeleton King's old Formless, making the team split up. Chiro had sent Antauri, Nova, and Otto after Mandarin, figuring that splitting the team three-and-three would do the trick. Mandarin was someone that they had handled multiple times in the past; someone the team could handle easily.

Apparently, whatever Mandarin had been up to for the past few months had been pretty power strengthening, because he had handled the three of them with no problem. Otto had been severely injured, however, so now he was in the med bay while Nova and Antauri were being yelled at.

The silver monkey tried to pacify their enraged leader. "We nearly got him, but he's been training a lot lately… so we ended up getting defeated by whatever he's been training himself in. It injured Otto, and so we took him back here… we couldn't just leave him for dead." Even in the face of Chiro's rage, the silver monkey was calm. It helped dull the tension some.

"You still shouldn't have let him get away!" while Chiro's voice had lessened in volume, his voice was still raised. "Either you should have sent Nova back with Otto, or you should have come back with him!"

"We did not know what we were up against, Chiro. To have followed would have done more harm then good. I want to see the artifact back as much as you do, but that is no cause to endanger our lives, and possibly the citizens. We will get it back soon enough."

Nova remained silent, not trusting herself to speak, and Sprx had come up to take her hand. Both monkeys wanted to get to Otto, but not only would Gibson not want them in there while he was making sure the green monkey was okay, to leave now would just incur more wrath from their leader.

Chiro seethed for a moment, but the silver monkey had given him no reason to continue yelling, so he was quiet. The three monkeys exchanged glances, and Nova muttered, "Stage Three should be checked off now…" as Chiro headed to his room.

Antauri and Sprx nodded in agreement.

"He may have even jumped to Stage Four," Antauri whispered to the other two. "The lack of care is alarming…"

"I know, Antauri… at this rate, we're not going to have time to do this the easy way…"

"I know Sprx, I know…" the silver monkey stared where Chiro had gone through his tube to his room for a moment. Then he said, "The two of you should get some rest. We went through a rough battle today, and Chiro's attitude has been no help. I will speak with Gibson about what we just talked about, and then I will be retiring as well, though if he needs it, I may stay to help with Otto."

The pilot and the warrior nodded; Antauri required less rest anyway. They headed into their tubes to retire to their rooms, and Antauri made towards med bay to speak with Gibson.

Chiro had reached full of Stage Four, and the team knew that they were running out of time, but they were at a loss of what to do. He was running through the stages much quicker than expected.

Lately he had been directing his anger and lack of empathy to the slowly healing form of Otto. The wound that he had suffered at Mandarin's hand was something that none of them had ever dealt with before, and Gibson (and the Power Primate, it would seem) were having difficulties healing him.

Just the other day, he had yelled at the poor green monkey, angry that he didn't seem to be getting better. He accused the mechanic of not wanting to get better, and of shirking his duties… needless to say, he had the distraught simian in tears by the time he was done.

Antauri had intervened, giving the leader something else to fume over, and then the others had comforted him best they could. Something needed to be done about the boy, but what?

"Why isn't he better yet?" the ever-darkening leader growled at the blue scientist, eyes narrowed.

"Whatever Mandarin did is something that I have not encountered before… I'm doing all that I can." Gibson spoke clearly and calmly, trying hard not to grind his teeth together, as he had often done when Mandarin had still been a part of the team.

Chiro snarled. "Well, he needs to get better."

Gibson didn't ask why. Whatever Chiro's reasoning was, it wasn't out of true concern for Otto's well being, though the scientist liked to pretend it was, much as he had done with Mandarin.

"I'm doing the best that I can, Chiro."

Before Chiro could grace the monkey with his oh-so-thoughtful response, the alarm blared. It was muted some in the med bay, so as not to disturb those who were recovering and needed their rest, but it was still loud and clear to the two on-edge team members.

Gibson had to stay with Otto, though the door was left open so he could hear what was to be done about whatever had caused the alarm (and possibly prepare more beds).

"Scans are showing up as Mandarin, boss," the red monkey said over his shoulder, as he pulled the radar scan up on the screen. Since he couldn't call Chiro 'Kid' anymore, he had taken to calling him a new nickname. The leader ground his teeth when he heard it, but he didn't complain… possibly thinking that it was either that nickname or something worse. He was probably right, knowing the red monkey.

"Good," the leader said, eyes glinting. "I'd been waiting for him to show his ugly face back up. The five of you stay here – I'll go after Mandarin."

"K-Boss, Mandarin has gotten a lot stronger then last time you fought him, and I'm sure he's gotten stronger since the last time that Antauri, Nova, and Otto went head to head with him as well. At least take one of us with you!"

Chiro glared. "Sprx, as much as I… appreciate… the concern, I'm doing this on my own. In case you've already forgotten, I'm the Chosen One. I defeated Skeleton King all on my own… I don't need the five of you." His voice was dripping with venom, and scorn.

"I… appreciate… all of your concern, but I think I can handle some petty monster. After all, it was I who saved your tails when the tribe of Bog Creatures captured you over in Sector 8! I don't need the five of you!"

The words were so familiar to the words Mandarin had spoken before he had left to fight a monster bent on destroying (well, eating) the entire city. The worst thing was that the orange monkey had managed it… and well, not long after that was the revelation that had brought on Mandarin's exile to the H.O.O.P prison.

They could only hope it would not be the same with Chiro.

The teenaged boy left and the team exchanged mirror glances, all dreading the next few days.

It had taken three days for him to return. He was badly beaten, clothing ripped and blood oozing out of many cuts and other wounds across his skin, but he had come back. He was alive and he the artifact that Mandarin had stolen was in his hands. It was returned to the museum, and Chiro had come home. He had promptly collapsed, passing out.

Currently, he was in one of the tubes in med bay. He had gotten several injuries that it was beyond skill to heal, unlike Otto's… Otto's was a simple matter of recovery. Chiro needed an entire tube of small nanobots to help the healing process along.

The team watched sadly as their leader floated in the capsule, tubes sticking out him.

"Will he be alright?" Otto asked from where he was sitting up slightly in his med bay bed. The green simian had almost fully recovered – Gibson estimated he would only need a few more days before he could be active again – though he would still need to take it easy.

"He'll be alright soon… I estimate only another few days before he can be moved to a table, and then a few weeks before he can be moving again." The scientist said, having already calculated the data.

The others nodded. Even if he had been such a jerk, the team hoped for a fast recovery.

"Anybody else notice that he was acting different when he got back?" Sprx raised an eyebrow.

Nova nodded. "He didn't act quite so much like a certain orange creep."

Antauri nodded. "My senses detected – and still detect – something different about him as well."

"But will this change be for bad or good, is the question," the scientist said softly.

Previously...

Panting, the boy caught up with the orange monkey. The scepter that the demon monkey had stolen from the museum gleamed brightly in his hand.

Chiro growled.

The boy looked a sight. The different foliage he had encountered in their chase had tore at his clothes and stuck in his hair. That and his anger gave him a wild, crazy look. A few cuts were on his body, but beyond that, he was in fit condition.

The monkey channeled some dark power through the scepter that he had stolen. Chiro narrowly dodged, feeling the heat by his skin.

Mandarin smirked. This was going to be easy…

"Why dodge, Chiro?" the monkey asked, laughing. "After all, you're so powerful that you don't need the others, why dodge my attacks? You are the Chosen One, after all." The monkey taunted the boy; pressing his buttons was easy.

Chiro snarled. "I see no reason to carelessly toss my life away like that."

The simian smirked. "Oh? Is that why you have come without back-up? Is that why you have followed me here, so far from the city, far from those simians you call a team? Is that why you're mostly defenseless, no weapon other then the Power Primate and your monkey training to protect you? Because you don't want to 'carelessly toss your life away'?"

Chiro snarled. "I can handle my own just fine, thank you. Don't presume to know anything about me when you don't."

"On the contrary Chiro, I know exactly what you've been feeling for the past two months."

Chiro frowned. "How could you know?" he growled.

The monkey just smiled. "You have reached some of the same conclusions as I, boy. The monkeys and the citizens are too weak to keep the city – and the rest of the universe – safe. Skeleton King is gone, but who's to say someone else wouldn't take up his mantle? The team doesn't want to follow the training regimen you've given them. They're slacking. There is only one inevitable conclusion to reach, Chiro. Have you gotten there yet?" Mandarin's onyx eyes glinted, pupils nearly glowing red. "Do you know what must be done to fulfill the task that destiny has given you?"

Chiro frowned, brow furrowing. "To rule Shuggazoom…" he whispered, eyes widening slightly. Ruling Shuggazoom…? That would be… it wouldn't be right…

But what if he's right? What if that is the only way to protect them?

…it can't be! The team and I have done a fine job protecting them for the past seven – nearly eight – years!

Have you really? Do you recall the War between the Living and the Dead? How about the Skeleton King Worm? Or the wraiths? Or the Secret Circle? I mean, how on Shuggazoom did the mighty heroes miss that?

They were hidden!

So? If you had really done such a 'good job', you'd have found them! I mean, what about all of the times you were down at Ma and Pa Shenko's shop?

SHUT UP!

Face it Chiro, you know that the only way to victory – the only way to protect Shuggazoom is through Mandarin's plan!

There has to be another way! Besides, why would I listen to Mandarin? He's corrupt!

Yet if you recall, when you asked about Mandarin's descent, he went through the same things as you… you and he are the same. Together, you could keep a firm hand of justice on Shuggazoom! The team would eventually see it your way…

I'm nothing like that orange creep! Yet even has he thought this, he knew it was true. He knew that he had followed down the same path as Mandarin all this time… He should have understood the day the shadows had crept in his mind, but he had not. He had welcomed them into his mind, and he had accepted all of their thoughts.

No! How could I have done this to the team? How could I not have realized…?

Who cares about the team?! They're a bunch of weaklings who can't get anything done!

NO THEY AREN'T! They're my family! They took me in! They taught me how to hold my own! Antauri's been like a father to me and Gibson was like an uncle! Nova, Sprx, and Otto are my siblings! I love them!

How could you love them so much that you followed down the same path as their old leader?!

…I don't know… But I'm going to make it right!

"Join me Chiro… join me and together Shuggazoom will be the safest planet in the entire galaxy."

Chiro looked up at the orange monkey, and scowled. "I'll never join you, Mandarin."

Chiro awoke in the med bay, wincing at the pain in his limbs. Seeing the blue monkey, he whispered, voice raspy, "How long was I out?"

"A few days, the monkey said softly.

"Oh... where are the others? I need to talk with all of you... I have something important that I'd like to say..."

Gibson spared him a quick glance, and then gave a short nod. Then he went and got the others. Once they were all around his bed, Chiro cleared his throat, wincing slightly. Antauri wordlessly passed him a glass of water. Gulping down the drink, he then began to speak.

"Team… I have something I want to say," the boy said, shame filling his heart and his mind. The way he had acted… it was inexcusable. For them to still care… he didn't deserve it, and he knew it.

The monkeys watched him, and he could see the reserved emotions in their eyes.

Everything came pouring out all at once.

"I'm so sorry..." he whispered, still unable to manage a normal volume. "I'm so sorry I was such a jerk... I'm sorry that I acted so much like Mandarin... I'm sorry I didn't see it..." His apologies were jumbled and mixed up, but they were heartfelt. Tears streaked down his cheeks, and tears were falling down the monkey's cheeks as well.

They joined in a hug, and clung to one another with all of their might. He didn't care as his bruises were jostled around, and he didn't care that the hug caused more pain then anything. He clung tightly to his family as fur and clothing were soaked with tears.

Everything was going to be okay.

Tauria: I both love and hate this... I wanted to include more team vs. Chiro reactions, but it didn't end up going that way... I still like it, but I still wanted things to turn out a bit differently... (I'm pretty proud of the last two parts, though xD) But I suppose it doesn't matter much what I think (negatively, anyway) once I decide to post it, right? ;) Hope everyone liked it! Please leave a review! xD