Back to 3rd person this chapter. Tell me if you wish for me to return to 1st person writing and I'll do what I can for you guys :) Now, onto the story!
Hiro wakes up fairly early this morning. The first thing he sees is Dan and Tadashi spooning. He decides it's best to leave the two lovebirds alone for now and goes downstairs to the main floor of the apartment. Since, as far as he knows, no one else is awake yet, he pours himself a bowl of cereal and goes to the livingroom to watch some mindless television.
Dani, however, disrupts his plans. She's sitting upside-down on the couch, working on some sort of ectoplasmic pistol gun. "Morning, Uncle Hiro." She states passively, caring more about the weapon than him.
He raises an eyebrow. "Um, where did you get that?"
"Made it. If only it would work!" She bangs a fist against the side of it and a bunch of ectoplasm squirts all over Hiro. "Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry!"
He shudders and tries to wipe some of it off. "What is this stuff?!"
She grabs a towel and begins wiping it off of him. "Ectoplasm. It's what all ghosts are made up of. It can also be heated up and used as a weapon against ghosts."
"Why would you need something like that? You're a ghost!"
"Just because I'm a ghost doesn't mean I don't need to protect myself from other ghosts."
"I see." He clears his throat as he gets the last of the ectoplasm off of his shirt. "Well, if you ever need a safe place to work on that stuff, you're always welcome in the Nerd Lab."
"Nerd Lab?"
He goes and dumps his ectoplasm covered cereal in the trash. "It's a lab workshop area where me and my college buddies work. We all have our own areas, but you're perfectly welcome to join us in any of them and work on your projects as long as you don't disrupt our projects."
"Really?! Thanks! Could we go today? I mean, I know it's Saturday and all, but I could really use some tools and a proper work space. It's completely okay if y-"
He chuckles as he pours himself a new bowl of cereal. "Sure thing, Dani. We'll leave at 10 as long as Tadashi is alright with it. Besides, I should get some work done on my project for Bio-Mech."
"Sooooo…..Wanna watch Kuroshitsuji?"
He's completely caught off guard by this request. "You watch Kuroshitsuji too?!"
"A half ghost that doesn't isn't worth their salt!"
He smirks. "Yes, my lord."
They sit down on the couch and eat their breakfast, watching episode after episode on Netflix while chatting. "So, you're 14 and in a prestigious college, right? How did you manage something like that? I mean, I'm 14 and I can barely do algebra!"
"Heh, well, I'm not really sure. I've just always been really smart. School has never been a challenge for me and that lead to me skipping a bunch of grades."
Little did they know it's been 4 hours now. They didn't even hear his footsteps before, "Ah! Good to see you two getting along."
Hiro jumps and falls off the couch. "DUDE! WHAT THE HELL?! WARN US BEFORE YOU TALK!"
Tadashi grins widely. "Best part of being a ghost, I can float down the stairs and make no noise."
Hiro gets up indignantly. "Rude."
Dani can't help but giggle at this and mumble, "Oh, look. Sebastian and Ciel."
"That's what you get for not waking us up! It's noon now!" Dan exclaims in annoyance.
"Well, he woke up late. I was simply trapped under him for 2 hours."
"Then why didn't you wake me up?!"
Tadashi shrugs. "I'm not an alarm clock."
"Wait, it's noon already? Um, Tadashi, is it alright if I take Dani to the Nerd Lab?"
"I don't see why not so long as she doesn't cause any trouble. I wouldn't mind going myself, actually. Its been a long time after all." Tadashi sighs in nostalgia.
Dan crosses his arms and rolls his eyes as he plops himself down on the arm chair. "This better not be boring."
It's a long way to campus from the cafe. The way there was quite uneventful. I wasn't until the reached campus that things got interesting. Hiro honestly didn't think much of the route they were taking until they began to pass by "Tadashi Hamada Hall."
Tadashi began to feel uncomfortable to say the least. It begins with looking down and squeezing Dan's hand and steadily turns into hugging Dan's arm and hiding his face in his shoulder. It's quite obvious that he's doing everything he can to avoid an anxiety attack.
Dan looks down at his out of character cowardice. "What's wrong?"
Tadashi refuses to look up. "Th-that building. Well, the one that used to be here before it burned down. That's where I died."
"Oh." He understands how much this hurts him and puts his arms around him to comfort. "It'll be okay, Clockwork. Just keep your head down until I tell you it's out of sight, alright?" He receives a small nod in response.
Dani surprises Tadashi by putting a comforting hand on his elbow, wanting to hold his hand. He allows his arm to fall so she can do as she wishes. Hiro, walking ahead of everybody, is totally clueless to the situation.
Everything is calm by the time they arrive at the Nerd Lab. The penguin cuddles have ceased just in time for Hiro to turn to Dani and smirk cockily. "Prepare to be amazed!" He opens the door for them to walk through.
Dani is in awe as she slowly makes her way in, taking everything in. "Whoa…"
"It's bigger than my parent's lab." Dan and Dani utter in unison with wide eyes, receiving an odd look from Hiro.
"Wait, you two are siblings?"
"Well, kinda, but not really. It depends on your definition of siblings." Dani tries to explain.
"We both branch from the genetics of the same person, and we both have the same dad. But she doesn't hold genetics from him, while I do." Dan shrugs.
"It's complicated." Tadashi finishes the conversation, showing how awkward the topic is for everyone.
"So, let me see if I understand this. You're dating your adopted daughter's half-brother?" Hiro presses on.
There's a collective eyeroll from all 3 ghosts before Honey Lemon rushes over and starts talking in her typical enthusiastic way. "Oh my gosh! I had no idea you guys would be stopping by today!" She pulls her earbuds out and smiles widely at Dani. "I absolutely must show you my latest experiment!" She grabs Dani's hand tightly and practically drags her over to her station.
All Dani can see that makes any sense is a big pink and orange purse with glowing buttons surrounded by multicolored balls that resemble ectoplasmic blasts. "It's a purse..?"
"Oh! It's not just a purse! You see, Hiro and I had previously worked to create this together. I call it my Purse of Distraction(Patent Pending)! Basically, you type in the equation for the chemicals you wish to create," She begins to demonstrate as she speaks. ",and out pops an easy to throw ball of said chemicals! Once you have the ball, all you have to do is throw it! The seal around it will bust and the desired chemical reaction will occur, which makes for an amazing distraction! Anyways, my point being, I've been experimenting with different equations, and I may created the world's most effective knockout gas!" Honey Lemon holds the ball close to Dani's face to ensure that she can see it. "Wanna help me test it out?"
Dani nervously sweats as she stares at the orb. "That. That sounds very dangerous. I think I'll pass. Great idea, though!"
She pouts and tilts her head."Are you sure? I think I can find a gas mask your size!"
Tadashi raises an eyebrow. "What exactly is in it?"
"I found these super rare flowers called Blood Blossoms! When they're crushed up, they have a major calming effect on the body! I mixed those up with some ether and now it's in an experimental stage to see if I need to add anything else to it."
Dani and Dan back up and stand behind Tadashi. As the leader, Tadashi speaks up about this problem. "It's best none of us participate in testing that, Honey Lemon. Blood Blossoms are very fatal to ghosts."
"Oh my gosh! I didn't know! I'm so sorry!" She panics and tries to put away everything related to the Blood Blossoms as quickly as she possibly can.
"It's completely fine. There's no way you could've known."
Dani reaches into her bag and gets out her ectogun. "Do you know where I can find tools to work on this?"
Honey Lemon points her in the right direction. "Over there at Wasabi's station. Ask him before taking things, though. Trust me, it's best if you do!"
She walks on over to his station and looks up at him as he works carefully on some sort of laser thing. "Umm, Wasabi?"
"Hmm?" He doesn't lose an ounce of focus on his project.
"Would it be okay if I borrowed a few tools?"
He glances over at her and looks at what she's holding. "Sure. Y'know, I'm not used to people asking to use my stuff." He looks directly at Gogo before returning his eyes to Dani. "So, what exactly do you need, little miss?"
"I'm honestly not sure. Uh, some screwdrivers primarily."
Wasabi grabs a few tools and hands them to her. "If there's anything else you need, don't be afraid to ask, alright?"
She nods and smiles politely. "Thank you!" She makes herself comfortable by hanging upside down from the rafters and gets right to work.
Tadashi quietly slips away to his old lab to get a little work done himself. As he glances around the room he comes to a realization. "Ah, so this is where Hiro made his lab." His eyes fall on his old baseball cap. He grins and puts it on. "It's been ages since I've seen this old thing." He takes a moment to admire his reflection before Hiro walks in on him.
"Oh, there you are."
"Sorry, I was just looking around." He glances around. "You've really made yourself at home here, huh?"
"Heh. Yeah. Oh! I see you've found your hat. Umm…" He looks down at his feet awkwardly. "If it's okay, when you leave, could I keep the hat? It's really special to me after your death and all."
"Of course. I understand." He smiles at him and smooshes the hat onto his head adoringly.
Hiro smirks and looks up at him from under the brim of the hat. "Some things never change."
Tadashi shoots him his classic grin. "Come on, grab what you need and let's join the others." He didn't get very far before a puff of red smoke escapes his lips. Dani and Dan share a look with him before they collectively nod.
Dani jumps down skillfully from her perch. "We've gotta go." The three ghosts begin to walk towards the door at a hasty pace.
Hiro begins to chase after them, causing Honey Lemon and Wasabi to follow. "Wait! You just got here! What's going on?"
"No time to explain, kid! Just stay some place safe!" Dan instructs.
The whole group makes it outside before Hiro can even process what Dan just said. They're greeted by a large, robotic, floating man; a blue-haired, floating popstar; and a bum looking dude on a motorcycle. Tadashi expertly dodges a flaming arrow that was flying towards the center of his head. Wasabi screams and runs back inside.
Tadashi steps forward fearlessly. "Ah, the Three Stooges! What brings you here?"
"The bounty on your head primarily." The robotic man sneers.
"Oooo. That's quite a long line. Are you sure it's worth your time?"
Dani and Dan simultaneously go ghost. "Touch him and you three won't have a head!" Dan spits venomously.
"Not yet, guys. Let's see if I can persuade them to leave peacefully."
"Look, Flame-o, Shorty, Clock-dork, we don't have to fight at all. That is, if you turn yourself over to the Observants the easy way." The biker shrugs.
The popstar scoffs. "But the easy way is so boring! Let's just kill him here and bring his bloodied corpse to the eyeballs!"
"While I agree with you, Ember," Robot man picks up a grimacing Tadashi by the front of the shirt. "We were strictly instructed to return him in a conscious state."
Tadashi practically growls. "Do your worst, Skulker, but there's no way I'm ever returning."
"Hard way it is!" Skulker throws him like a ragdoll, causing the amulet to bust and spill blood all over the concrete. Clockwork flinches in realization of the situation before he's engulfed in the flames that transform him into a ghost. 'No! They can't see me like this!' But it was too late.
The time ghost can hear a small gasp pass from Hiro's lips. "T-Tadashi?"
He glares daggers at the ghosts as he puts up his hood and floats into an upright position. "Big mistake."
To Be Continued...
