Seaside Hospital

10:40 PM

"Rock, we're here!" Yuichiro Hikari exploded into the waiting room of the second floor of Seaside Hospital. His wife and father-in-law close behind.

He found Rock sitting down watching TV in a corner. Seeing his family come in, he tried to get up and greet them, but immediately sat back down in pain.

"Goodness boy!" Thomas Light remarked, noticing Rock's bruises and disheveled appearance. "I know about Lan, but happened to you?"

"I got in a fight."

"What?!" Dr. Light shouted. Seeing the receptionist at the help desk, he walked over and whispered into Rock's ear. "Was it a Master?"

"No. Roll Casket and I were talking..."

The receptionist called out to Mr. and Mrs. Hikari. "Excuse me, are you the parents of Lan Hikari?"

"Yes that's us." Dr. Hikari said.

"Sign in please."

Dr. Hikari etched his name on the paper, and shoved the sign-in sheet back into the hands of the receptionist. "There. Can I see my son now? Where is he?"

"Go past the double doors, down the hall, take a left, fifth door to your right."

"Thanks."

Dr. Hikari quickly headed for the doors; they slammed shut behind him.

"I am so sorry about him." Haruka said as she wrote something actually legible on the sign-in sheet.

"Trust me, I have dealt with worse."

Haruka grabbed Thomas's arm. "Come on Dad. I don't think we should leave Yuichiro alone with the doctor..."

"And I know we shouldn't.

Aren't you coming with us Rock?"

"No. They already told me how he is. I just wanted Dad to hear it to make him feel better."

"Just in case...

let's go make sure he's alright Haruka."

"Wait, Lan or Yuichiro?"

Thomas thought about it as they walked to the doors.

"Why not both?"


10:55 PM

Geo, Maylu, and Hope walked in.

"Hey guys!" Rock waved to them. "Mom, Dad, and Grandad are already talking to the doctor."

"Can I go in there?" Hope asked to the receptionist, Geo and Maylu right behind her.

"Sorry, only parents/immediate family are allowed."

"Guess we better sit down kids." Hope fell into a chair, rather dejectedly.

"How long have they been in there?" Geo asked.

"About 10 minutes."

Geo sat down beside Rock. "Is Lan gonna be okay?"

"He had trouble staying awake, but other than that he'll be fine. He's probably asleep by now."

"You really think he's alright?"

"Trust me.

He'll be back to normal in the morning."

Geo breathed a sigh of relief, sitting back in his chair.

"Just get some sleep okay?"

"If you say so..." Geo titled his head back, and started nodding off.

"Now that I think about it," Maylu spoke up. "what happened to Roll? Weren't you and her fighting Tron or something? You look wrecked as heck Rock."

Rock's face instantly turned to shock at the realization. "Oh no."

He got up out of his seat. "I forgot to go get her."

"Also, it would be a good idea for you to delete the camera footage around the school."

"Thanks for reminding me. She's still in the grass somewhere..."

"Miss Hope, tell Mom and Dad I'm going to the car." Rock said as he

slipped away.


11:03 PM

Thomas, Yuichiro, and Haruka walked back into the waiting room.

"Thank God, he's going to be OK. He's just resting now."

"Good. Rock said he was going to the car to get something, but I think he just wanted fresh air."

"I think I could use some too." Dr. Hikari said, walking towards the exit.

Thomas and Haruka shared a look.

"We'll go with you."

"Whatever." He said, not even looking back as Thomas and Haruka scurried to catch up with him.

"I'll watch the kids." Hope said, already curling up in to a ball half-asleep.

With the receptionist going in the back to take care of some paperwork, that left Maylu all alone in the waiting room.

She tried to sleep, but all she could think of was Lan.

What

just

happened?

One second he was screwing around with her by kissing her,

five minutes later he is on the ground fighting for his life.

And now that I know, what does that mean about our relationship?

He didn't want me to know, and now I do, its gonna get really awkward.

What am I going to say to him? I don't even know how I should feel about him. Should I be upset that he never told me and I;m one of his best friends? Should I be sympathetic because he's sick?

Ugh. Why do you have to be like this Lan...

"You okay Maylu?"

She jumped a little. "Geo! Sorry, I thought you were asleep."

"Nah, I couldn't. I was busy thinking about Lan, and his watch."

He sat up in his seat. "The times he doesn't wear it. All it takes is about an hour for his HBD to kick in.

Honestly, we lucked out by Lan going down outside.

Can you imagine the scene we would have caused if we had been inside?

I mean, Rock would have had to risk using his Mega Man powers in front of everyone, and we would have had to wait for EMTs to show up and take Lan away...

Maylu,

this is the good ending."

Maylu shook her head. "I think the good ending would have been Lan wearing his watch, or his PET, or whatever you want to call it.

And us never being here in the first place."

"Yeah, I guess. It just shows how important his PET is. Because HBD attacks can happen anywhere.

Just like Mamoru..."

"Wait, whose Mamoru?"

Geo bit his lip and looked away for a second.

"Mamoru,

was another kid with HBD. When he was 4, he suffered an HBD attack walking down some stairs and,"

Geo paused, running his fingers down his hair.

"he fell, and..

became paralyzed from the waist down.

Now he's in a wheelchair for the rest of his life.

Lan's parents tried to have Lan make friends with him,

trust me, that was not easy.

I think that's one of the worst times I've ever seen Lan.

He wanted nothing to do with Mamoru, at first."

Maylu stopped him. "Are... are we talking about the same Lan here?"

"Well, it took a long time for Lan to come to terms with his HBD.

He got better once he and I became friends.

And after Dad left...

he was the one taking care of me. Honestly, I think he still is."

"So... what's next?"

"I guess we just wait here until morning, then head home."

Geo laughed. "I don't know why I'm so messed up about this. I already know how this things goes.

We take Lan home, we try to be extra nice to him.

We take him getting back to normal one day at a time.

And sooner or later...

its like nothing ever happened at all."

"You say this like its a regular occurrence...

Geo,

just how many times have you been here?"

"About 6."

"Six times?!"

"Yeah. The PET takes up a crazy amount of power to constantly use. Sometimes the battery runs out, sometimes it overheats, sometimes its slow to react, sometimes Lan doesn't wear it like tonight...

either way, we all end up back here.

But its fine. We are leaving again, so there's no use worrying about it."

"I know that we are getting out of her but...

this still feels so surreal."

Maylu groaned. "I gotta be in this with the rest of you guys now, don't I?"

"Yep. Its just like the Mafia. Once your in, you're in for life. The Lan Hikari experience.

But you know, its worth it.

Getting to be one of the first things Lan sees after he wakes up makes it so worthwhile.

I guess I just like the feeling of being useful, you know?"

"Yeah.

I know...

Say Geo,

the time me and Lan were neighbors, before we met became friends,

did he used to say anything about me?"

Geo paused for a second. "Well, I don't want to bother you about it,

but he did use to call you the, um...

uh...-"

The door opened, and Rock came back in.

"I deleted the school camera footage, no one really noticed any of us leaving. Glyde took Roll home, I guess she's resting too."

"Resting?" Maylu asked. "What exactly was she 'resting' from? What happened with Tron?"

"Well, after we got outside, Roll chased Tron across the parking lot..."


11:38 P.M.

"And now I'm pretty sure Tron won't be bothering Roll again. At least trying to kill her on a regular basis."

"Wow. I can't believe Tron would go through all that trouble just to get at Roll. That girl is seriously messed up." Maylu replied as Rock's parents walked back in.

"Feel better now?" Thomas asked Yuichiro.

"Yeah." Yuicho noticed a remote om the receptionist's desk.

"Timberwolves beat the Clippers in 2OT today. Think they're replaying the game now." He said as he started flipping channels.

"Your a Clippers' fan Dr. Hikari?" Geo asked.

"No. It's the T-Wolves. Love 'em." He said, not looking away from the screen. "I got an autographed Kevin Garnett jersey.

I think I even have pictures of Lan in a baby Wolves jersey. He was so adorable."

"Really? Why are you fan of them?"

"I was born and raised in Minneapolis. I only came to California after I got married and had a family.

I moved here because..." Yuichiro paused for a second. His whole body tensed up.

"Let's just say the weather's better here and leave it at that." He finished curtly.

Geo chose not to probe further as Haruka noticed Hope lying horizontally across a row of chairs.

"So much for watching the kids." She said chuckling, moving a potted plant out of Hope's reach.

"Eh, she's got the right idea." Dr. Light said yawing, sitting back in his chair.

Rock started to yawn too. After fighting the Blumebears and taking care of Lan, he was completely exhausted.

He sat back in the chair. "Yeah. If there isn't any other things to do, I think I'm just going to fall asleep..


5:35 A.M.

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

"Come on you piece of crap, I want my damn skittles."

Rock aroused from sleep. "D-D-Dad? What's going on?"

"Nothing. The new staff just came in and are getting set for their shift. That woke me up, and now I'm starving

So if this-"

BANG!

"machine would just give me the skittles I asked for-"

BANG!

"that would be great!"

BANG!

"Ugh, that thing is not coming out.

Screw it, I'm getting McGriddles."

"Well can you get me one since your leaving?"

"You know what? I'll just bring some back for everyone."

He reached in his pocket.

"Got my wallet...

and the keys are with Thomas."

"I think its like a 45 minute walk to and back."

"Juuuuuuuuusssssst great."

"I think there's a Burger King just like 10 minutes aw-"

"Said I was getting McGriddles,

gonna go get my McGriddles." Dr. Hikari said, walking out the door to the stairs.

Rock looked around. Everyone else was still asleep.

The TV was still on, although muted.

"Let me just see if there's anything good on.

He spent about a half hour flipping through channels, not too much caught his eye.

Anything in the news...

Barrel Caskett was on his way to Brazil to discuss undersea exploration,

Numerous governments are trying to find out just where in the world Dr. Wily was.

"And Taiwanese police are investigated a string of serial murders,

find out what symbol the killer is using

when we come back from commercial break on CNN Morning News!"

"Ugh, I hate when they do that." Rock said cutting off the TV.

He sniffed the air, a sort of sweet smell was coming in.

"Eh, the new receptionist must have put in air freshener somewhere."

Rock was still very drowsy.

"Ugh, I gotta go wake myself up."

Walking into the bathroom, he splashed water on his face for a couple of seconds.

Realizing it wasn't doing him any good, he tried to splash more, turning the warm water hot.

But despite his best efforts, he only feeling more tired with every second.

That sweet smell is actually get stronger. Rock noticed.

Wait, I'm in the bathroom and the door is closed, how could some air freshener possible be-

His knee gave out on him.

"GIYAHHH!"

He hit his head against the sink, sending him to the floor. Holding his head in pain.

OW! OW! OW! WHAT IS GOING ON? WHY IS MY BODY GOING LIMP? WHY DO I FEEL SO TIRED?

He got back on his hands and knees,

and then he felt it.

H-H-Huh?

He had placed his left hand on the floor vent.

Air was coming up against his palm, shooting up with a hisssssssssssssss.

That smell, its coming from the vents?

What is it? Time to go Mega Mode.

Turning on Mega Mode, Rock began analyzing the particles in the air

The oxygen in this room is getting snuffed out by...

oh no.

Chloroform.

Getting out of Mega Mode, Rock got back to his feet, stumbling out of the bathroom furiously coughing.

All the others were still asleep. They wouldn't wake up. If smoke from a fire wouldn't wake the average person up,

chloroform won't ever be detected.

Why is chloroform being used anyway? Are they using it as anes...

anesthetic or something?

Rock started coughing furiously. He think he heard someone in the wards scream to evacuate.

Not...

not funny guys.

In the hospital wards past the doors, he heard the affects of the gas on the doctors and nurses.

The falling and clattering of machines as people tried to stand up.

The frezny of coughs that was slowly starting to die down.

I gotta...

I gotta get to the fire escape. Gotta get fresh air and get rid of this gas.

Reaching to the fire escape, Rock pushed forward...

and the door didn't move.

What?

The door wasn't going forward at all.

WHAT, ARE YOU STUCK OR SOMETHING?

Rock heaved himself up, leaning his weight against the door.

He got a little push, getting the door open a few millimeters,

then he found himself being pushed wildly back inside to the ground.

As Rock fell unto unconsciousness, he swore he could have heard laughing from the other side of the door.

"Oh my God, that's gonna cut me in stitches all week."