I love smiling. It shows people how happy I am. The team loves my smile, too. They say it brightens up their day when they feel sad. I feel even happier when I can make others happy just by doing something I love.

I have a really big smile. One time, I smiled so big that Sprx said he could see it from miles away. Sometimes, Gibson tells me not to smile so much all the time. He worries that my face will get stuck like that if I do. I don't see what's so wrong with that, though. I would really like having a smile on my face all the time!

Nova thinks my smile is silly. She laughs when I smile really wide and cross my eyes in a funny way. Antauri once told me that I always had the biggest smile out of everyone else when we were younger. Chiro wonders if anyone can even come close to smiling as much as me. If not, that would make me the champion.

Guess that means I have a winning smile!

Have to admit, though, smiling can be so tiring. Especially, when there's nothing to smile about. I always try to see the bright side of things, even if it isn't there. If I really can't find one, I'll still smile. It sounds weird, but I do.

Me and the team have been through a lot. We've had a bunch of good times together, but we had some bad times, too. I always try to lighten up the situation with a joke or something. Sprx helps me with that sometimes, though Nova doesn't like the way he jokes around. I don't know why, but it's actually pretty funny!

Just staying positive gets me through most of the bad times. I don't like being negative in tough situations. If I do, I won't be able to smile because of all the negativity. Not smiling makes me sad. I wish the team would smile more often...

When things aren't going right, the team doesn't stay so positive like me. Well, I guess that's not all true. They'll always try to find a way to get out of a mess, but they always think of the worst first. Why can't they just skip to the happy ending? Why can't they smile more?

I can't really blame them, though. Some days are just too hard to smile. When we lost Antauri...I couldn't smile anymore. I never thought I couldn't smile before. Then again, I never thought I would ever lose someone before.

Im not a dummy. We're the good guys, and the good guys always have bad guys that want us gone. It was going to happen someday. I don't want it to, but it's going to happen either way. Whether I like it or not...and I don't like it.

That day scared me. Not only did I lose someone I really cared about, I lost my smile. I couldn't think positive anymore. I couldn't find the bright side anywhere. I felt even worse when Chiro ran away and turned into a human monkey. I never thought I could feel this way before.

When Chiro was back to normal and got Antauri back, I found my smile again. I was so happy...really, really happy. We were all together again. The team was back together and I couldn't stop smiling. Everyone was just so happy...

After a couple of days, I couldn't help but to think back on that day. I felt sad again. I always smile...even if I'm not supposed to. Everyone was so sad...and I did nothing. I couldn't cheer them up, I didn't know what to say to make them happy, I couldn't smile at anyone.

For once, I joined them...

I don't want to be like them. I want to be happy, I want to make others happy, I just want to be me. A monkey who could make anyone happy with just a smile. The mechanic who smiles at the bad times. I love smiling...I want to smile all the time...I have to.

Because if I don't...who will?

We all know him as the cute, happy monkey, but I thought there was more to him than that. Or at least I think so. I guess this could be considered as an Otto character study. Or maybe just my opinion on the lovable monkey. What do you think?