Meeting...Again
Riley sat on her bed, hugging her pillow to her chest and glaring at the floor angrily. She thought of Hiro. The jerkface who called her ugly. Even after she'd saved his life from a giant robot.
Riley growled, fists clenching her pillow as the door to her room opened. She looked up to see her parents standing in her doorway, concern written on their faces.
"Riley. Are you ok sweetie?" Jill asked her daughter in concern.
Riley frowned, glancing down before looking back up at them. "Mom. Dad. Do you think I'm pretty?" she asked shyly.
Her parents flinched at the strange and unexpected question. "Of course we do Riley," her mother said sincerely. Her father nodded in agreement.
Riley just groaned, "You're my parents. You have to say that."
Her parents entered her room. Her mother took a seat on her bed. "Did a boy tell you were weren't?" she guessed from Riley's outburst when she'd first come home.
"Who was it?" Bill asked with a growl.
Jill looked to her husband. He looked back at her. She motioned with her eyes toward the door. He arched a brow. She did so again, more insistently. She even added a subtle motion of her head for emphasis.
Getting the message Bill clapped his hands together awkwardly as he made for the door. "Alright. I'm going to get some pizza. Be right back," he said as he left the room.
With mother and daughter now alone Jill scooted closer to Riley. "So was it a boy who said you weren't pretty?" her mother asked again.
Riley gave a nod. "Oh sweetie. Don't listen to that boy," she told her. She reached a hand out to tip Riley's face up. She gave her daughter a smile. "You're a beautiful girl Riley. No matter what anyone says. And just because I'm your mother doesn't believe I don't mean it."
Riley stared into her mother's eyes. And she managed a smile, blushing in mild embarrassment. "Thanks mom," she said gratefully.
Her mother gave her a hug before getting up and heading to the door. But she stopped in the doorway. "You know Riley. Often times, when a boy says something mean to a girl…" Riley arched a brow at her mother's back.
Jill turned to smile at her daughter, "It means he likes her."
Hiro was spread eagle on his bed. A day had passed since he'd met Spectrum. And after giving Baymax a stern talking to about giving him unwanted scans and diagnosis he'd retreated to his hotel. He'd spent all night drowning in misery, but when he woke up the next day he started to think about what happened.
Why had the Omnidroid become active? What was it doing? Where was it going? Who was that person he thought he'd seen?
He sat up in bed, head in his hands. He had a bad feeling. A feeling that this wasn't a random occurrence. Someone was pulling the strings. He was almost sure it was that person he'd seen.
But...what then? Could he stop this person alone? Apparently not, if yesterday was any indication.
If only the whole team were here. Together he was sure they could handle this. But they were on the opposite of the world. And he couldn't just ask them to up and come here. They had classes and responsibilities, not to mention a city to defend.
He pursed his lips, racking his brain for an idea. His mind wandered back to Spectrum.
His eyes widened, struck with inspiration. He got up off the bed and went to activate Baymax. The nurse bot inflated and looked to Hiro. "Good morning Hiro," Baymax greeted.
"Hey buddy. I need to ask you something," Hiro said. Baymax blinked and cocked his head to the side. "Did you scan Spectrum?" he asked.
Baymax blinked before answering, "Yes."
Hiro felt a spark of hope before pulling Baymax along. He took him out of the room and to the stairwell. They needed to get a good view of the city. After a few minutes they were on the rooftop.
"Alright buddy. Can you tell me if Spectrum is still in the city?" Hiro asked as he gestured out across the city. Baymax did as ordered, looking out over the city whilst activating his scanners. He swept over the city, scanning over thousands of people.
"Well?" Hiro asked after a few moments of silence.
"I have found a match," Baymax answered.
"Are you sure it's her?" Hiro asked.
"My scanners are 99.9% positive," Baymax replied. Hiro hummed. So there was a small chance it wasn't. But the odds were high. Very high.
It was good enough for him. With that he led Baymax back to the hotel room. Hiro got dressed before putting in a call to Dave. He lied to him, saying he needed a personal day after what happened the day before. Dave bought it, saying how he understood how one could be traumatized from the near death experience he'd been through.
Hiro was probably betting Dave was trying not to get sued. Either way he had the day to himself. He got dressed, donning a blue and orange hoodie with a black undershirt, some blue jeans, and some orange sneakers.
"Open your chest buddy," Hiro said. Baymax did as told, opening his chest to reveal his chip compartment. He took Baymax's personality chip and powered down his body. He reached into his suitcase, pulling out something he'd been working on.
It was a pair of glasses with thick black frames and headphones built in. Hiro pulled out his phone. But his was modified. There was a slot in the back, made specifically by him. He inserted Baymax's chip into it. He put his glasses on, and within a few moment the frames came to life.
"Baymax. Can you hear me?" Hiro said.
"Yes Hiro," he heard Baymax say into his headphones. Suddenly Hiro's glasses began displaying data and information. These glasses allowed him to view the world through Baymax's eyes.
"Baymax Mobile is a success," Hiro said with a proud smile. With that he grabbed his stuff and left his room. He left the hotel, following Baymax's directions.
He didn't know why Spectrum was still in the city. But it didn't matter.
Spectrum was here. And a super on his side dramatically increased the odds of success.
As he hopped on a trolley taking him in the same direction as his destination he also couldn't help but think that in back of his mind a part of him wanted to see her again.
The next day Riley woke up, ate breakfast, and got ready for school. She took a bit more time brushing out her hair this morning however. As much as she hated to admit it Hiro's words still bothered her.
Riley had never been too overly concerned about the way she looked. But as she got older, moved from child to young adult, it had begun to matter. They way she looked, the clothes she wore, and how she came off to her peers always weighed on her mind in some way or another.
Once she finished getting ready she got dressed. Wearing a multicolored T-shirt with some blue jeans and sneakers and donning her denim jacket. She made her way downstairs, calling out a quick goodbye to her parents as she left.
She made her way to school, greeting her friends as she came inside and smiled to them all in greeting. When the bell rang they all began making their way to class.
Meanwhile Hiro was making his way towards Spectrum's last known coordinates. He came upon as residential district, soon coming to stand before a small two story house. He hummed as he looked it up and down.
"Baymax. Do a web search for me, find out who lives at this address," he said. Baymax did as told, scanning the address on the house and searching the web to find its residents.
"According to my search this home is occupied by the Andersens. Consisting of, Bill Andersen, Jill Andersen," Baymax revealed as he showed Hiro pictured of a husband and wife. "And lastly their daughter, Riley Andersen," Baymax finished as he showed him the final picture of a young girl.
Hiro hummed once again. The daughter...she had to be Spectrum. No way it was the mom or dad.
"How old is she Baymax?" Hiro asked. Baymax did a search, finding a social media site which Riley was a member and her birth date was available.
"Thirteen," Baymax informed him.
"Wow. She is young," Hiro commented. By her age Hiro guessed she was in middle school. "Baymax, what's the closest middle school in the vicinity? Highlight the ones within walking distance," he said. Baymax did as told, showing him a map of the area and marking the various middle schools.
Hiro took note of the closest one and began heading toward it. Within a few minutes he was at the school gates. It appeared school had already started. He decided waiting was his best option. He sighed and sat on the ground, and waited.
Hours passed, agonizingly slow for Hiro's tastes. He passed most of the time learning more about Spectrum. A.K.A Riley Andersen. She seemed to be a typical teenager. Liking typical teenage stuff. Just a normal girl…
Kind of pretty too.
Hiro flinched and blinked, wondering where that last thought had come from.
Finally the final bell rang. Hiro stood up and kept to the side of the school entrance as the kids began spilling out.
"Talk to me Baymax," Hiro said.
"Scanning," Baymax said. He began scanning all the kids leaving. "Match found," he said. He picked her out of the crowd and Hiro noticed her too, walking with a group of friends. Hiro began to walk, following her while trying to leave a considerable distance between them.
She walked with two of her female friends, making idle chatter. Interestingly they weren't walking towards Riley's home. Hiro pursed his lips as he staying on her. But as he was walking he realized he hadn't thought of what he was going to do now that he'd found her?
How did he go about trying to recruit her to his cause? And was he supposed just call her out?
Riley walked the two of her friends home before she began making her way home. Hiro followed, still trying to determine what he was going to say to her when she suddenly took a right. Hiro picked up his pace before peeking around the corner, only to see it was an alley.
And it was empty. Hiro's eyes widened as he entered the alley, looking around in bewilderment. Then to his shock and surprise something grabbed him from behind and lifted him into the air.
Hiro shouted in fear and alarm as the ground got farther away. People became ants and they were soon hundreds of feet above the buildings.
"Oh god!" Hiro shouted aloud.
"Who are you?" came a feminine voice from behind him. Hiro tried to turn around to get a look. "Don't look back or I'll drop you," she said. Hiro stiffened up.
"I know you've been following me. Why? Who are you?" she asked harshly.
"Please put me down!" Hiro shouted.
"I will drop you," she warned once more.
"It's me, Hiro!" Hiro shouted quickly.
There was a long pause. "Hiro?" she asked.
"Yes Riley," Hiro said. He heard her gasp and in her surprise he released her grip. Hiro heart leapt into his throat as he fell a few feet. He'd be lying if he said he hadn't screamed like a shrill little girl. Luckily he was caught and then lowered safely and slowly to the ground.
He was released as soon as his feet touched the floor. He fell forward onto his hands and knees, breathing ragged. He gulped down the precious air before glancing back to the girl. She was staring at him warily, eyes wide in uncertainty.
"How did you find me? How do you know who I am?"
"My robot scanned you," he said as he picked himself up off the ground.
Riley immediately flushed, "It scanned me?!" She felt so immensly violated!
"Yeah. Sorry, he kind of just does that," Hiro apologized.
"So you know my name, what's yours?" she asked, hoping to even the playing field.
"My names is Hiro. Hiro Hamada," he told her.
Riley arched a brow. "Hero?"
"Yeah. With an 'I'."
"So your name is Hiro? And your superhero name is Hero?"
"Yeah, why?"
"That's a little silly, don't you think?"
It was Hiro's turn to blush in embarrassment. Now that she'd said it aloud it did sound silly. He really needed to come up with a superhero alias.
"So what do you want with me then, Hiro?" Riley asked with a frown. She crossed her arms over her chest and stared at him.
"Right," he said as he straightened up so he could get to business. "Riley Andersen. Spectrum. I need your help to protect the city."
"No," Riley immediately answered. With that she turned on her heel and made to leave.
Hiro dashed after her before moving in front of her path. "What? Why?"
Riley scowled at him. "Three reasons. One: You're a jerk. Two: I don't like you. And three: You were following me like a creepy stalker," she told him.
Hiro ignored the sharp needles that struck him in the heart with her first two reasons and cursed himself for following her. It had been a little creepy.
"Look Riley. That robot that attacked the city, it was being controlled by someone. And that person is still in the city."
"If something attacks the city, I'll handle it," she said firmly. "Why don't you get someone prettier to help you," she added bitterly. She pushed by him and started heading for home.
"Riley come on! We need to work together on this!" Hiro said as he followed behind her.
"Stop following me!" she called back as she continued towards home.
"Riley the people of this city will be in danger. We can't just wait for something else to happen. We have to find the one pulling the strings before they strike again," he insisted. Riley kept going, not even acknowledging him.
"There's a supervillain right here in your city Riley! Don't you want to do something about them?"
At that Riley stopped. A lightbulb went off in her head at the mention of a possible supervillain. She began to get an idea. What if she could catch and defeat this villain on her own? No Limelight. No archer. And no Big Four to back her up. She was betting that would get her major points with her mentor.
Then maybe she'd stop being treated like just some kid.
She glanced back at Hiro with a blank stare. He fidgeted awkwardly under her scrutinizing gaze. It was hard to tell what exactly she was thinking. And her blue eyes were making his face heat up and flush. He could also almost swear he sweat was forming on his brow.
She knew nothing about this guy. Other than the fact that he was a young hero like her. She was also pretty sure he had no superpowers. Not any she'd seen at least. He was also young, without his disguise she could definitely tell he was only a year or two older than her.
Apart of her wanted to say she need no help. But she'd be lying if she said she knew where to start when it came to tracking down this puppet master. But Hiro apparently did. So as much as it pained her to admit it...she couldn't do this entirely alone.
"Fine," she said begrudgingly.
Hiro smiled brightly, "Great!" he cried, voice cracking. He caught it and flushed before swallowing and clearing his throat. "Good," he said, trying to sound professional.
Riley turned to face him, crossing her arms over her chest. "So, where do we start?" she asked.
"Well I have an idea where to begin. But I need to get into the Haddock Industries Building tonight. Can I ask you something?" he began.
"What?"
"How does that thing you do where you just disappear and reappear work?" Hiro asked curiously.
"My teleportation?" she said. "I just think of where I want to go and I appear there," she said with a shrug.
"How far can you teleport?"
"Anywhere within a radius of just over a mile," she said. "And I have to see where I'm going. Or have been there before," she explained.
Hiro nodded in understanding. "Alright. I need to do something. How can I reach you?"
Riley held out her hand. "Got a phone?" Hiro nodded. "Give it to me." He complied, pulling his phone out of his pocket before handing it off to her. Riley took it and then brought out her communicator. Hiro eyes it curiously and watched as she waved it over his phone.
With that she handed it back.
"I have your number now. I'll call you later. I have stuff to do today," she told him. She began walking away, pausing at the end of the alley before looking back. "Do not follow me," she told him, voice and eyes serious.
He nodded. Then she looked away and rounded the corner and disappeared out of sight. Hiro took a moment to let out a breath before he walked forward. He glanced to the side in the direction she'd gone, only to find no one there.
"That went pretty well I guess," he said aloud. "What do you think Baymax?"
"Body language, vocal tones, and neurotransmitters levels indicate considerable levels of dislike and contempt," Baymax informed him.
And just like that Hiro's optimism fell. "Thanks for that Baymax."
"You're welcome Hiro."
Hiro hummed in thought, hand in his pockets. He had an ally. Even if she hated his guts. He began pondering what he could do about that. Women seemed considerably more complex than any form of science he was familiar with.
He wondered if there was an equation for that?
new chap.
