Chapter Sixty Eight: Hit the Deck
(Sorry about the delay, guys. Caught a nasty bout of the flu that knocked me on my butt.)
"Hit the deck!"
Debris flew up into the air as one of several bombs went off, showering the nearby responders with dirt and who knew what else. For whatever reason, the bomb squad on duty there hadn't been able to defuse the bomb, or had somehow not found it before it went off. As a result, at least two people were dead, with more than enough people injured or shoved back by the blast.
Sirens continued to wail as rescue vehicles surrounded the area, police tape and officers holding back anyone who'd not obeyed the evacuation orders. There were quite a few spectators still around, enough to keep many of the officers busy. After all, there was nothing like a fire to draw a moth closer.
Overhead, a bright red blip came speeding in like a meteor. It curved around in a loop before landing inside the police line, but far enough away from any officers to cause immediate problems. Several colorfully garbed individuals disembarked from the red figure before it jettisoned back into the sky, with a smaller purple figure still on its back.
"What in the world?" one of the officers asked as those brightly colored figures on the ground ran towards the now ruined college building. "Hey! Wait!"
His words were in vain as the group continued towards the wreckage, slicing, throwing stuff, kicking, and lifting. The figure in red swooped down into an opening the officer couldn't see and came back out with a limp body, which it deposited a good dozen yards away from the carnage.
Plasma flashed as green blades cut through the wreckage, leaving a path for anyone who might be trapped inside. That taken care of, the green-clad hero ran back towards where the red and purple figures waited, leaving the other four behind.
"Is that who I think it is?" Lucifer asked from a safe distance. Even though Chloe was far from her, the officers on duty had strict instructions to keep him out of harm's way. Somehow he doubted he'd be able to convey to them that so long as the Detective wasn't near him, he needn't fear death or injury.
Without waiting for an answer, sure he was right, the devil crossed the safety line, making a dash for it. He ignored the calls from various officers as he sprinted towards the familiar figures on the ground, barely winded when he reached them. "I wasn't sure if we'd be seeing you here or not," he stated as he stopped near Honey Lemon.
GoGo paused, a flying disc in hand. She'd almost chucked the thing at the man now standing nearby, but had thought better of it. "What gives?" she asked instead. "I somehow didn't take you for the dangerous type.
Lucifer let out a scoffing sound. "Please. Danger is my middle name. At least it would be if I had one." He wore the same suit as before, not that these people would know it. He'd left before they'd come back. "I take it Hiro filled you in on the bombs."
The dragon-esque hero popped his hood back, revealing Fred with his hair held back by a bandana instead of the usual beanie cap. "Yeah," he said grimly. "Not sure how much help we'll be if the bombs have already gone off though. Hiro and Baymax are better at retrieval than we are." He gave a sort of nod to his fellow superheroes, including Kally in the mix.
That certainly did seem to be the case, Lucifer mused. He wasn't sure who the third person helping Hiro was. He knew Wasabi was part of the team but was definitely out of commission, but he chose to ignore that for now. "If you think you'd be better suited to helping find the bombs, I'm more than happy to oblige. It would seem your other friends are currently worrying about other things."
Everyone looked up to see Baymax swing across the sky, scanning the building for any other life signs. Somehow, Loki had managed to join him when they weren't looking. The man now dangled from Baymax's hands.
"Sounds good to me," GoGo said as she popped a gum bubble. "Looks like the cops got it handled here."
No one had to look to see the various officers heading towards their location, many more holding back crowds, keeping the line while others tried to enforce the evacuation in case more bombs went off.
Honey fingers the strap of her purse. "I don't know," she hedged. "Maybe we should check out other parts of campus, just to be sure."
With a roll of his eyes, Fred flipped his hood back in place. "Come on, Honey Lemon! We all know there are three areas Hiro saw. If we split up, we can cover more ground and help more people. Think about it."
"I have to agree," Kally added. She wasn't wearing the same kind of battle armor the others were, but had changed into something similar to a karate gi. She'd also taken the time to don a mask that covered the lower part of her face, leaving only her eyes visible while a scarf covered her hair, keeping it out of the way.
Honey seemed to waver a bit more but decided it best to side with the majority. "Okay," she agreed. "But we should let Hiro know what's going on."
"Already heard the plan," Hiro's voice called out over their communication devices. "Go see what you can do while we finish up here. I think Tony'll be along before too long to scan for more bombs. We'll be heading out to another site here in a minute or two anyway."
Lucifer straightened his suit. "Well then, looks like it's settled. If you'd follow me, I have a car nearby." With that, he turned and headed towards the far end of campus, away from the action. On the way, he slid his phone out of his pocket and sent a text to Maze, asking her to meet them at their destination.
Tony knew he didn't see who he thought he saw. There was no way Hiro would be that blatantly stupid, especially not after he'd been warned not to let his team go out and about in Los Angeles. But, of course, Hiro was that stupid. Not only was he that stupid, but he'd allowed Kally to join the mix. Where she and three of Hiro's crew were headed was beyond him, but he didn't care for the idea that they were mixing with Lucifer's company. Unfortunately, there wasn't much he could do about that bit at the moment.
"Sir, I believe I have detected another bomb," JARVIS spoke up, diverting his attention back to the task at hand. "I am sending you the coordinates now."
The Avenger let out a sigh. "Relay them to Harkness," he instructed. "And the bomb squad."
As much as he hated the idea, he had to acknowledge that Jack was still technically in charge of the whole operation, even if he was allowed to fly around as an independent agent. It didn't help that his current task was more along the lines of identifying potential bombs than in helping get rid of them. It was an important job, to be sure, but it was boring.
Out of nowhere, Hiro and Baymax jettisoned across his field of view, only there was something wrong with the image. Wasabi, who should have stayed behind, was clinging to the robot's hands as if he didn't have a care in the world. He was definitely going to have to have words with them about that. He'd have thought at least Hiro knew better.
Before the man could form any further thoughts on the matter, JARVIS was calling for his attention once more. He really needed to get his head back in the game or someone else might lose a life.
Something wasn't right. The feeling grew the more Hiro flew around on Baymax's back. He shook his head, tapping on his helmet as if to fix, or at least diagnose, a faulty wire. When that didn't help, he instructed Baymax to take them a decent distance away so they could land on an out of the way, and hopefully empty rooftop.
Loki's feet hit the chosen rooftop first and he quickly moved out of the way so Baymax could land. He watched the teen with some concern as he slithered off the back of the robot. "Something wrong?" he inquired as Hiro removed his helmet.
"Just needed some air," Hiro replied, feeling short of breath. He wasn't sure what was going on but the air seemed much thinner than it had before. He went down to his knees with a groan as Baymax turned towards him.
The sound of heavy breathing came from his number one patient and the robot decided it best to perform a quick scan. "Your heart rate and respirations have increased beyond the typical levels," he announced. "Despite this, your blood oxygen levels appear to be low."
Concern flashed through Loki's eyes as he noted that Baymax was right. Apparently everything was finally catching up with the teen from the day and it showed. The boy's skin appeared pale, eyes somewhat unfocused as he leaned against the red armor of his companion. Energy hummed in the air as the Asgardian closed his eyes. "Not now," he groaned. They definitely didn't need this right now.
Hiro slid further down until his rump was on the flat surface. "Getting dizzy," he admitted. "Not good." And then he toppled over onto the rooftop, crumpling like a wet noodle.
Even though he'd been somewhat prepared for something like this to happen, Loki hadn't quite been quick enough to catch the youth. He did manage to cradle his head, wincing as energy crackled between them. The teen's timing was certainly terrible, not that he seemed to have any control over it.
"Hiro is experiencing an unexplained phenomenon," Baymax announced. "It is consistent with other incidents of similar nature. However, it also shares characteristics consistent with a reactive reintegration."
The god of mischief shook his head slowly. "I was afraid you'd say that." At least he'd had sense enough to find somewhere to land; far enough away from the action it shouldn't immediately affect them. He had to give the teen that much. But it definitely was not the most convenient time.
He was falling. He could feel the rush of air all around him. If there was one thing he didn't appreciate, it was the feeling of falling; knowing Baymax wasn't there to catch him. Unfortunately, he could remember every single time something like this had happened, including the repeated timelines, as if they were all happening all at the same time. Talk about a double-whammy.
And then the world started to tumble like one of those astronaut training things that spun them around and around to get them used to the whole space atmosphere. The sensation was far from present, with his stomach threatening to rebel at any moment. The only problem was there didn't seem to be any tangible way of making the spinning stop.
"Take my hand."
Once again, his brother was there to save the day, somehow managing to grab his outstretched fingers, pulling him in close as he countered the rotations until Hiro no longer felt like he was at the mercy of the cosmos.
The universe seemed to bounce and everything shattered like a giant Lego creation flung to the floor. Pieces flew everywhere in colorful explosions of geometric shapes, scattering out like broken glass. The impact made Hiro's head ache like someone had hit it with a hammer and he winced, seeing stars.
All around him lay a dark realm with confetti scattered across it, giving it dimension. It reminded him of that out of body experience he'd had before being shot back into his body by that person in yellow. Except this didn't feel the same by any definition. His head throbbed. His stomach churned. Definitely not his idea of fun.
"What's going on, Tadashi?"
His voice sounded weak, scared almost, even to him. He had no idea what was going on. This certainly wasn't like the usual experiences he had, not a reintegration, not a vision either. It was more like the out of body moments he'd experienced back when Q had stumbled upon their dimension. And if that guess was on the money, they were decidedly in trouble.
"Sorry, Hiro," Tadashi apologized, "but I had to talk to you and this was the only way you were going to listen."
Confusion filled Hiro's thoughts at this declaration. "What do you mean? I always listen to you! You didn't have to send me into a catatonic out of body experience to talk to me! What gives?"
"I am not your brother."
Hiro recoiled like he'd been smacked. "What?! No. What are you saying, Tadashi?!" His throat felt tight, his heart shuddering in his chest.
"I only take on the appearance of your brother so that you will pay attention," not-Tadashi continued, his voice now changing as his eye colored went black. "In this form, you can stand my presence, if only for a little while. If I took on my true form, you would burn up like a star."
The teen shook his head. "I don't understand. Why are you doing this to me?!"
"You are missing something."
A funny, half strangled noise made its way out of Hiro's throat as he clenched his teeth. "Then tell me!"
Something whispered in the background, almost like a brush of air. Listen. It came again, caressing his cheek. Listen. Look. See.
The black expanse in front of him dissolved into the vision he'd had back at Tony's place. Bombs went off at three distinct locations, showering the world with chaos.
"Why are you showing this to me again?" Hiro complained, now finding it hard to breath. His heart wouldn't stop thundering in his chest like a race horse heading towards a finish line, but what was at that finishing line? He had no idea, nor did he know if he wanted to find out.
Look closer.
The world tilted as he felt into the image, plummeting much like he had only moments before, except he wasn't spinning. All the same, he threw his hands out as if to ward off the inevitable thud. Except that it didn't come. Instead, he was suddenly on the ground, right next to the police line at the Hollywood location.
Chaos ensued all around him, but no one seemed to notice his presence. He looked around as explosions rent the air, officers screaming out orders, trying to usher people to safety. Except for one person who wasn't moving toward everything. Instead, this person, and he couldn't tell a gender, was walking purposefully away. For the briefest of moments, he thought he recognized the officer, but just as quickly as the thought came, it was gone.
"There's an imposter among the ranks," he breathed, understanding what this mean. "They're making the bombs go off before we can find them!"
Outrage filled his veins, clearing the dizziness from before. It didn't make his head pound any less, especially when he saw that individual press a button on a small device as he or she walked away. More explosions filled the air.
More images overlapped the one before him, showing all three locations at once, with similar individuals walking away unnoticed from the grounds.
"They're purposely doing this to keep the cops busy." Eyes more wide now at the realization, Hiro once more felt sick to his stomach. "Why are they doing this?!"
Tadashi's image rejoined him, standing off enough to not give any ideas. "Can you not think of any reasons? Why would a group of terrorists do something like this?"
Hiro closed his eyes, trying to sort out all of the pieces."If this is all just an elaborate distraction, there's something they don't want us to see, something they want to get lost in the chaos. Something else is happening elsewhere, something big."
Tadashi smiled. As he turned towards him, walking with measured steps until he was right in front of the teen. "You are learning. Now, find what they are hiding." He flicked his fingers at Hiro's forehead, sending him flying like a booger into the void.
