HI sorry it's been ages and I left you on a kind of cliffhanger(?)

Enjoy anyway :)

Rena stood in the shower, letting the water run down her face. Thinking.

Watching Clara and her boyfriend sit in the cafe and share a hot chocolate left a sour taste in her mouth. It was like the universe was giving her some kind of sign. Yes, here is your shot at happiness! Your best friend, the person you've been hopelessly in love with for years, is back in your life! But she has a boyfriend and she's not interested and she almost definitely doesn't remember that you kissed in a river and it happened to be the most romantic thing that has ever happened to you.

She sighed and leant against the wall, no longer having the energy to drag herself to Fred's. She was beyond thrilled that Clara was back, but the fact that she had a boyfriend was like a slap in the face. Did she have any right to be sad? Or angry? It wasn't like anything significant had ever happened between them. Was Clara even into girls, or was she just caught up in the heat of the moment? Was Rena even still into her, or was she just clinging to a time she knew full well she'd never get back?

There was a knocking on the door, "hurry up, we're meant to be there in twenty minutes!"

Rena ignored him and dumped half a bottle of shampoo on her head. What was she expecting? That Clara was going to move to one of the most romantic places in the world and not fall in love with anyone there? Stupid Louis and his stupid face and accent and his stupid smile. What did he have that she didn't?

He was a ridiculously hot French boy and Rena was a girl Clara hadn't spoken to in months. Rena never even made an attempt to talk to her for ages and Clara was most likely straight an had forgotten al about the time they'd kissed. Maybe she was overthinking this. She was definitely overthinking this.

Rena rinsed her hair and turned the shower off. She wrapped the towel around herself and stretched, feeling her joints click. She wasn't going to let this revelation ruin her day. Clara was back! The sun was out! It was a weekend!

That had to amount to something... Right?

"About time." Tadashi dropped his phone into the cupholder as Rena opened the car door, "I've been sitting here for like ten minutes."

Rena slid into the passenger seat and rolled her eyes, "cry about it."

"Don't blame me because you're too slow!"

"I didn't!" She clicked in her seatbelt and slumped back in her seat, "shut up."

Tadashi shook his head, "what's put you in a mood? Thought you'd be over the moon now that Clara's back."

"I am!" Rena protested, sitting bolt upright again, "I am! Obviously I'm happy. Why wouldn't I be?"

"Feels like you're overcompensating a bit there, that's all I'm saying. Sit back, I need to back out."

Rena leant back in her seat as Tadashi started the car, "shut up. I'm not overcompensating for shit."

"You're so full of shit. What's wrong?"

"Nothing! Stop interrogating me." Rena folded her arms across her chest and sighed, "can we go?"

"Surprised you're still coming. Thought you'd want to run around with Clara."

"Haha. 'Run around'. Who do you think I am?"

"Still!" He glanced in the mirror and spun the steering wheel, "I thought you'd be with her today."

"Nah. She's with her boyfriend." Rena said sourly.

"Ah," Tadashi sucked in a breath, "I see." He said quietly.

Rena turned to stare at him, "what are you on about now?"

"...Nothing."

"Bullshit."

He shook his head, "just... I don't know. Be careful."

Rena scoffed, "you know how stupid you sound, right? She's not going to kill me."

"I know! But-"

"Nope," she lent forwards and fiddled with the volume button, "I'm not talking about this now. Or... Ever. Shut up. Literally shut the fuck up." Her cheeks were turning red. Was it really that obvious? Really?

They were silent for the rest of the drive. Rena pulled her knees up to her chest and stared out the passenger window, determinedly not looking at him. Tadashi drummed his fingers on the steering wheel, occasionally humming along to the music but mostly just focusing on the road.

Tadashi pulled into Fred's driveaway and Rena jumped out, standing in the sun and stretching. Fred's house was as massive as she remembered, glinting in the sunlight. Even the walls seemed to be glittering. They walked up to the huge front doors, and were immediately greeted by Heathcliffe as he opened the massive doors.

"Afternoon, Master and Miss Hamada."

"Uhhh... Hi." Rena still wasn't used to the formality of Fred's house, "are they all here?"

"In Master Frederick's so called 'superhero cave.'"

"Right," Tadashi nodded, "thanks."

Heathcliffe stepped to the side and gestured for them to enter, which they did. They strolled down the hallways, eyes still not used to the spotlessly clean walls, ornate staircases and fancy paintings hanging on the walls.

"How is this place so clean? I swear it's just Heathcliffe? How does he do this entire house on his own?" Tadashi marvelled, eyeing up an expensive looking statue of a lion.

Rena shrugged, "I don't know. Surely there's more staff?"

"Nah, I reckon we would have met them by now."

"Maybe and... Oh god."

They rounded the corner and the door to Fred's room was wide open. Fred was standing in front of his shelf with a huge whiteboard so covered in red that there was barely any white left behind. Honey Lemon and Gogo were sitting on the floor, Honey Lemon's head on Gogo's shoulders. Wasabi was sitting on the couch, cross-legged and staring at the wall behind Fred's head. The only person that was actually paying attention was Hiro, who was sitting next to Wasabi with his chin in his hand, nodding along to what Fred was saying. Baymax was stood next to Fred, showing a photo of Noodle Burger Boy on his chest.

Rena sighed, "I don't know what we were expecting. Come on, let's get this over with."

"...And that's how we save the entire city!"

"What did we miss?" Tadashi said, yawning and dropping down onto the couch next to Hiro and Wasabi, "I'm gathering a lot?"

"Define 'a lot'," Gogo said sarcastically, "I still don't really know what the plan is, and I've been sitting here for half an hour."

Fred rolled his eyes and gestured to the whiteboard, "I don't know how you guys haven't got this. I've made it very clear."

Rena perched on the end of the couch and crossed her arms across her chest, "why is Caine's name on the board?"

"Because there has to be a big guy."

"I...I'm sorry?"

"Basically, there's always the little guys," Fred pointed to scribbles that Rena could vaguely make out as 'Noodle Burger Boy' 'High Voltage' and 'Globby', "and then there's the big guy at the top. Like a food chain. After all, there has to be some big guy with a plan. That's how all superhero stories go."

Hiro nodded earnestly, "like Caine was the little guy and then that Jason fella was the guy at the top of the food chain. The big one with the evil plan."

Rena felt slightly ill, "you really think there's another person like Jason out there?"

Fred smiled and sauntered over to her, placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder, "oh, Rena. I know that there are hundreds of other guys out there exactly like him."

"Well that's... Nice."

"Oh come on, Fred! I don't know how many times I have to tell you this, but this is not a movie!" Gogo exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air, "can we not just focus on the guys we know actually exist as opposed to made up supervillains?"

"Good idea," Wasabi said, nodding, "Honey Lemon, tell Rena and Tadashi about what you find out about NoodleBurger Boy."

Honey Lemon beamed, "I found out where he was made!"

Rena straightened up slightly, "wait, really? Where?"

"KreiTech."

"KreiTech?" Tadashi repeated, "seriously? So we have Alistair Krei to thank?"

"Yep," Honey Lemon replied, "but now we can actually find out how we can destroy him."

"Yeah, like we can waltz in there and just ask him," Hiro scoffed, "he's about as useful as a chocolate teapot."

"The showcase!" Fred said suddenly.

Rena winced, as did the rest of the room. "Yeah, what about it?"

"Krei wanted Hiro's bots. It's not going to be hard to get an audience with him if he knows Hiro is this genius inventor."

"Slight problem with that, though," Tadashi said, "secret identities?"

"Oh, so that's your only problem with that!" Hiro huffed, "and not the exploiting me at all?"

Tadashi shrugged, "nah, I'm okay with that. You're a pain anyway."

Hiro elbowed him, "can we not make him go instead?"

"Why don't we just go as superheroes?" Honey Lemon suggested, "then no one needs to get 'exploited?'"

Rena stared at her brothers, "do you not remember taking your mask off RIGHT IN FRONT OF KREI? He knows who you are, Hiro. He most likely knows who we all are."

Hiro blinked, "oh yeah. Forgot I did that."

Fred grinned, "I'm liking where this is going."

Wasabi sighed, "Fred, we have no plan. Let's face it, we have no idea what we're doing! Even if we do get to Krei, what useful information can he actually give us?"

"We can at least get an audience with him," Tadashi said, "surely that's better than nothing?"

"Always the optimist," Gogo replied, rolling her eyes, "it'll get us nowhere."

"Am I an optimist, or are you just morbidly depressing?"

"Alright, alright children," Rena said, holding her hands up, "we might as well try it."

As it turns out, they didn't have to wait long to see Krei after all.