Freedom Fighter
Epilogue: Guys like us
I have often dreamed
They sat in the truck and watched as the police edged closer with hands shaking and boots quaking. Looks like the expression: 'they are as scared of you as you are of them' wasn't exaggerated. Aunt Cass closed her eyes and hugged herself around the middle. "Make me proud." Her voice was a whisper. Their eyes went wide, Tadashi's brow rose.
of a far off place
The door felt heavy as she pushed it open and got out - with hands in the air- and walked over to the cops- tossing a watery smile over her shoulder. Hiro frowned, but nodded- acknowledging her sacrifice. "She's giving us time to say our goodbyes." Hiro moved off his brother's lap and sat next to him.
Where a hero's welcome would be waiting for me
He shook his head- looking in the mirror as she approached the police- talking in soft soothing sentences. "No. No. This isn't over. They're not getting you."
Hiro took his brother by the shoulders and stared him in the eyes. Stared him deep in the eyes. Right into his soul. "Tadashi, I have to go. Just look at me- I don't belong here. This is for the best." Tadashi shook his head. "Don't you dare talk like that! You're a human being with rights! They can't just kill you!"
Where the crowds will cheer when they see my face
The little hybrid took his brother's hands and gripped them. "It's over. For you guys. But not for me." Tadashi looked away as tears streamed over his face. "Its okay, Tadashi." He shook his head at his brother's words. "No, Hiro. No." He sighed and scooted closer. "It didn't have to be this way, but what other options do we have?"
He shook his head and hugged his brother. "We can save you. Baymax can help! You belong with us."
And a voice keeps saying this is where I'm meant to be
Hiro leaned against his brother's shoulder. He stared into the distance as he spoke, recalling, seeing the memories. "Remember when we were kids and I would... follow you? And you would try and get away from me and stupid me I kept trying. I didn't like your cars or sports... and your friends were gross."
Tadashi laughed and hugged his brother closer. "Yeah." His voice was muffled in Hiro's hair. "I followed you, because I idolised you." He pulled back and looked at his big brother. Hiro swallowed the lump in his throat. "And I kept hoping that you'd want me around, but... eventually I just hoped that you would look back."
I'll be there someday,
His voice broke, but he denied his brother's efforts to comfort him. Tadashi shook his head. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Hiro. If I had just... that night you went missing- if I just read you that book then this would never have happened. Don't go Hiro. Please. You're my brother and I love you."
Hiro looked down and sniffed. Tadashi pulled him closer. Hiro stared at his shoulder and whispered into Tadashi's ear, voice broken and shattered. "I'm not following you anymore." He shook his head- tears falling on his baby brother's back. "I'm not letting them have you."
I can go the distance,
He pried away from him. "They won't have me. Ever. I'm a free man now." Tadashi wiped at his tears and ruffled Hiro's hair. "You're still just a boy." He gave a watery laugh. Hiro took Tadashi's wrist and pressed it against his. With a hiss their TPDs sprung loose. The little hybrid took both and snapped them around his wrists.
I will find my way if I can be strong
"When I come back I won't be anymore." Tadashi's eyes went wide. "Hiro what are you doing?" His voice took on an edge of horror and he tried to get his brother back in his grip. Hiro took a deep breath.
I know every mile, will be worth my while, when I go the distance I'll be right where I belong
"Execution isn't a hero's death. They say that once you're a gladiator you won't die dishonourably- you'll die fighting, fighting for your freedom." Hiro smiled, the gap between his teeth melting Tadashi's heart even beyond the sorrow. "But I already have my freedom."
Down an unknown road
Hiro backed up until he was against the door- Tadashi reaching to stop him. "I have to make sure the other hybrids can have what I got. I know. I know that they can't fight for themselves- they need someone to help them first... someone like you, Tadashi, someone like me."
to embrace my fate
He could hear his brother's heart rate increase. And the smell of his fear was making the tears in his eyes come out of their hiding place. "I'll come back. I won't just leave you and Aunt Cass, I promise, but I have to go. I have to help my own kind."
Though that road may wander, it will lead me to you,
"Is this something you learned from Aiden- to be a vigilante- helping others?" Tadashi sniffed and crossed his arms, trying to glare. Hiro smiled and shook his head. "No. Despite what Gogo believes you are a good role model. My big brother. The idiot who forgot to bring shoes along." Tadashi shook his head and looked away. "You're never letting that go, are you?"
and a thousand years would be worth the wait
"It's the little moments that count."
It may take a lifetime, but somehow I'll see it through
Hiro turned the dials on the watch and checked the location. "I'll save them all. There won't be a single arena left standing when I'm done."
And I won't look back
"All over the world?" Hiro looked down, gave an invisible smile, and nodded. He checked out the window. The police officers had Aunt Cass in cuffs and were leading her into an armoured cruiser. They were approaching the truck at a snail's pace; weapons at the ready.
"All over the universe if I have to."
, I can go the distance, and I'll stay on track, no, I won't accept defeat
Tadashi spread his hands and made a twirl in the air. "I can see it all over the news already: Vigilante Freedom Fighter wins Nobel Prize for world peace by bringing down hybrid traffickers." Hiro shook his head and stood up; his hair brushing the ceiling. Why are hybrids so short?
It's an uphill slope, but I won't lose hope,
"Promise me you'll be okay when I come back?" Tadashi frowned and looked down. "The corpses of those men are being examined- they committed suicide- I won't go to jail and I know it." He held up his fist. Hiro smiled and pound his hand against his brother's. Instead of the small explosion, Tadashi grabbed his brother's wrist and pulled him closer.
"Last hug."
Hiro gripped his brother tighter than he had ever before in his life; knowing that this will be the last time he would be able to do so. In a long time. The little hybrid's voice was soft when he spoke. "Guys like us- we don't belong in society... we're too badass for it."
'til I go the distance, and my journey is complete
Tadashi gave a dry laugh. "You're so full of it." His brother patted him on the back and he could hear the smirk stretch on the little hybrid's face. "That's what she said." Maybe Aiden did teach him a few things? Tadashi could feel his brother's hands working behind him and grief consumed him like a storm setting in.
The jokes and banter were a distraction, but it was failing and he could feel it in the wetness on his shoulder- seeping into his jacket. Tadashi squeezed tighter- never wanting to let go of his brother. Never wanting him to leave. Never wanting him to just vanish and never come back.
Just as before.
And to look beyond the glory is the hardest part,
Hiro twisted the knobs and pressed down. He began glowing and tingling in his grip. Tadashi let go of his flesh and blood and sat back, tears cascading from his eyes as his brother gave him a smile.
An open mouthed, gap-toothed, Freedom Fighter smile.
for a hero's strength is measured by his heart
"Guys like us; we belong to ourselves."
Like a shooting star, I will go the distance,
Tadashi swallowed. If you love someone set them free. The door behind him ripped open and a cop grabbed his shoulders. He watched- motionless- as his brother set off into the unknown. Hiro, his baby brother, is all grown up. And he doesn't need his big brother's protection anymore.
I will search the world; I will face its harms. I don't care how far; I can go the distance,
Tears flowed freely and Hiro was gone.
'til I find my hero's welcome, waiting in your arms.
He was free. He was finally free to do just what he wants. And he chose to free others. Freedom Fighter is done fighting for his own freedom; now he's fighting for others'. The realization struck him solid to the heart as the cops cuffed him and hurled him inside the cruiser. He realized that happy endings exist only in fairytales...
I will search the world; I will face its harms,
...And in the end you've got to be your own hero, because everybody's trying to save
T.H.E.M.S.E.L.V.E.S.
'Til I find my hero's welcome
Waiting
In your arms
Song: 'I can go the distance'- Michael Bolton
END ACT 5
THE FREEDOM FIGHTER'S END
¤CM¤
