Abandoned warehouses were frequent in the city of San Fransokyo. Some were owned by Krei-Tech and paid the price for their lab failures, some were owned by the city's previous terror Obake who used them as bases, so did his robotic children.
But one of the newer warehouses was the old studio where Maximum Insane Obstacle Challenge was once hosted. The old host never left, and in the shadows of the old warehouse, he grumbled in anger while scrolling MeowTube.
"Katie the Talking Cat, always the number one hit, as well as her stupid boyfriend Slow-Clap-Cat." Sparkles grumbled angrily. "I should be the one on top! Not a bunch of pets!" He chuckled seeing how the broadcast of him abducting the two was still popular. However Sparkles then did something few should ever do on MeowTube.
Looking at the MeowTube comment section, he felt his blood boil seeing several commenters insult him.
"I hope Mr. Sparkles never comes back for threatening poor innocent cats!"
"Some people are so desperate for fame lol."
"This guy is crazy."
"Grrrr." Sparkles grumbled. "Amateurs." He then noticed a particular comment.
"Is it bad that this is actually hilarious? Like I know cats being threatened is bad but it does make good content."
Sparkles chuckled. "This guy is a genius!" He gleefully rubbed his hands together. "I'll kidnap those two cats and make Big Hero 6 rescue them! Those superheroes will bring me lots of fans!"
He let out an evil crazed laugh. "I'll get that kitty, and her little human too. Muhahahaha!"
Meanwhile…
Katie sneezed. "Ach-oo!" She winced in pain, rubbing her leg.
"Katie?" Rachel turned to her concerned. "You okay?"
"I'm fine…" she huffed.
Knock-knock-knock.
Hiro opened the cafe door. "Hello, you just managed to miss the morning rush!"
Karmi just gave him a deadpan look. "What do you want, Genius Boy?" She held up her phone. "You texted me at 7 AM in the morning for a 'dire emergency.'"
"Well, it's not what I want." He sighed. "It's Ari."
Her reddish brown eyes went wide with fear. "Oh no, is she okay?"
"Well…" Hiro gestured for her to come in. "You have to see for yourself." He led her to the living room, where poor little Ari wrapped blankets around herself, her right eye was still injured, with an eyepatch covering the wound instead, and empty ice cream cartons were around her as the TV screen was on.
Karmi took a few moments to process the sight, then realized what was going on. "Oh no…"
"Baymax isn't even here but he'd say it's a textbook case of heartbreak." Hiro explained. "Long story, you probably read the news about what happened at Bridgeton."
"No, sorry I didn't." She shook her head. "What happened at her school?"
The deep breath Hiro took lasted a minute. "I'll explain, don't say anything to her. I already found her like this when I woke up, and I don't wanna make my sister feel worse." He gave her a brief summary of the school dance and the confrontation between Ari and Juniper that ended in violence. Karmi was listening and taking it seriously, not even batting an eye when her "Captain Cutie" was mentioned.
"Oh, that's awful!" She frowned. "So you need me to cheer her up?"
"Yes!" He groaned. "She barely got any sleep last night and I'm worried for her mental health. I know what it's like to neglect your health because you're sad and it feels awful, Karms." Hiro dragged a hand down his face. "I don't know how to comfort little sisters very much."
"Well luckily I can help you with that." Karmi cracked her knuckles. "Watch and learn, Genius Boy." She then walked over to Ari, and lightly tapped her shoulder.
"Huh?" Ari blinked. "Oh, hi Karmi."
"Hey, Ari." Karmi's voice took a softer tone. "Are you doing okay?"
"No…" She whimpered. "I'm not, I was a jerk friend."
"Don't beat yourself up over some mistakes." The biotech genius told her. "But if you need some time to just feel sad, that's fine." She turned to the TV. "First of all, at least put on a good show! Put on ATLA or something." Karmi sat down next to her. "Second, can I join you in your blanket of solitude?"
"Sure." Ari mumbled, and wrapped her blanket over Karmi.
"Great!" She grinned as Ari changed the channels, once she was focused on the show, Karmi gestured for Hiro to take the cartons away. He quickly disposed of the empty ones and resealed the half-eaten ones while his sister was distracted. It took twenty minutes for Ari to start drifting to sleep.
"Phew." Hiro gave a sigh of relief. "Finally, she can rest." He gently picked her up, and Karmi assisted him in carrying Ari back to her bed.
Once they were done, the biotech genius looked over. "Are you okay, Hiro?"
"I'm fine, it's my sister that isn't-"
"Genius Boy, I can see the bags under your eyes, don't lie to me." She glared at him.
He frowned. "Not really, I should've protected her, and she got hurt because I just stood and watched what happened." It had sunk in that he did nothing but watch Ari put herself at risk when they got home and his aunt was fussing over both of them.
"Hiro, you can't blame yourself for every bad thing that happens to your sister, as much as we want to protect our little siblings, sometimes things happen." Karmi told him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Okay? Don't blame yourself for stuff out of your control, you're better than that!"
"You're right." Hiro flashed her a small smile. "Thanks Karms, I think I'll be fine." He then paused. "But feel free to come back in the afternoon!"
"For what?"
"Because me, Ari, and Megan are going to the arcade, y'know to try and cheer up after yesterday."
"Sounds cool- wait who's Megan?" Karmi raised an eyebrow.
"Oh, right, you haven't met her." He chuckled. "She's a friend of mine who goes to Ari's school, I think you two would be good friends."
"I'll take your word for that, Hiro."
Ferns and Nerds group chat:
Sienna Kline: TIL that High Voltage crashed a dance at my old school. Wth
David 19: WHAT?!
Mikan Ferns: Daaaaang crime dancers went below the belt
Sara Ferns: OMG Hiro Ari Rach are you guys okay?!
Rachel Rosemary: You'd be surprised what you can live through.
Honey Lemon: Not funny
Hiro Hamada: Rachel and I are alright, Ari is not
Sara Ferns: Oh no, I don't like where this is going
Fredzilla: You don't wanna know
Wasabi: Is she still not doing good?
Hiro Hamada: I had to call in reinforcements to get her to sleep!
David 19: What happened?
Hiro Hamada: You can PM for details but don't bother Ari about it
Gogo: Looking at you Mikan
Mikan Ferns: Hey! Tell Ari I hope she's okay though
Fredzilla : (
Sienna Kline: Were any other students hurt?
Rachel Rosemary: Everyone is mostly shooketh and thankful that they're in one piece
Rachel Rosemary: The only good news is that school is delayed for a bit due to police investigations
Mikan Ferns: Why is that the only good news?
"Ari, hey Ari!" She looked up from the mirror as she saw a familiar boy run up to her.
"What is it Rowan?" Ari raised an eyebrow.
He was about to explain but then noticed the mirror. "Were you looking at your eyes again?"
Ari glanced back at the mirror, for some strange reason, her eyes were a mixture of blue and a warm brown color that was… familiar. "Just a little…" She confessed. "There's more blue than there was last week, pretty soon it's gonna be my entire eye color."
"Oh." Rowan sighed. "I was gonna tell you about that art project I got an A+ in, but I see you're busy."
"No, I'm fine!" She lied, nervously chuckling. "That's the third A this week, right?"
"Except in science but that's because the teacher sucks, as you know."
She nodded. "I'll be fine, it's just an eye color, don't worry about me, Ro."
Rowan pouted. "But I'm supposed to worry about you." He reached one of his hands out to touch hers. "You're my-"
"Uhhhg." Ari woke up to realize she was in her room, and not on the couch. She felt… rested? "Wait…"
"Good morning, Ari." Baymax was standing in his charging station, watching her. "Hiro requested that I make sure you have a good night's rest. Proper sleep is beneficial to your mental health."
"Wait… did he have Karmi come over just to put me back to sleep?!"
"Yes."
"Uhhhg Hiro!" Ari groaned.
"He was very worried about you." Baymax told her. "I am also worried about you. Staying up past bedtime and an improper diet does not help your mental health."
She sighed. "You have a point…" She felt the eyepatch over her eye, the phantom pain making her tear up. "It just hurts."
"Would you like a hug?" Ari ran up to Baymax and squeezed him tight. He hugged her back. "There there, you will be alright."
"Thanks, Baymax. Where is Hiro?"
"Hiro is downstairs at the cafe." He told her.
"Thanks!" She grinned. "Are you coming with me?" Baymax shook his head. "Oh, you have a good day buddy, goodbye."
"Goodbye." Baymax waved to her.
When Ari got down to the cafe, she saw Hiro talking to Megan. "Hi." She waved, then yawned. "What time is it?"
"It's twelve." Megan told her. "How long did you stay up?"
"A while." She frowned. "I'm still not over yesterday."
Megan patted her on the back. "If you don't want to go to the arcade, that's fine."
Ari shook her head, she wasn't going to let a little thing like feelings get in the way of fun. Plus, she didn't want to disappoint her brother after he went through all the trouble of setting up the hangout. "I'm alright! Just feeling down today." She lied. "I'll feel better by the end of the day I'm sure!"
Hiro and Megan exchanged concerned glances. "Hmmm." He gave Ari a look. "If you say so…"
The chiming of the door opening got Hiro's attention, his eyes lit up at the brunette entering the cafe. "Hey, Karmi!"
"Karmi?" Ari blinked, then turned to her. "Oh, I see you're back from tricking me to sleep."
The biotech genius shrugged. "Sleep is good for your health, I bet Baymax will agree." She then noticed the other brunette next to Hiro. "Um, you must be Megan, right?"
"Yep, that's me!" Megan nodded. "And you are?"
"Karmi." She introduced herself. "I'm surprised Hiro hasn't mentioned me to you." Karmi shot him a glare.
Hiro sheepishly chuckled. "We just met the other day, you should ask Ari if you wanted to meet her sooner."
"I wasn't sure if you'd ever interact." Ari defended. "You and Hiro have a love-hate relationship."
"We do not!" They both chorused.
"It's mostly hate and mild tolerance!" Hiro huffed. "Now we should get going to the arcade."
"Why? Can't think of any defense?"
"Before Aunt Cass comes around and starts the shipping again."
"Oh, I agree." Megan winced. "She's nice, but a little… clingy, no offense."
"None taken."
Karmi also winced. "I don't want to know."
The teens quickly left the cafe and started to head for the Playland Arcade. It wasn't a very long walk so they had time to chat.
"So." Megan clapped her hands. "You're a teen genius too?"
"Yep." Karmi nodded. "Unlike Hiro, I'm a Biotech major."
"Neat! Ari you're not going to turn into a teen genius anytime soon, right?"
"No, science and I do not mix." Ari sighed.
"How are you feeling after some rest?" Karmi asked her.
"Not better." Ari rubbed her injured eye. "Everything still hurts." She glanced over to Megan. "Do any of our classmates know about… y'know?"
The reporter raised an eyebrow, but then realized what she was talking about. "Oh, I don't think any of our classmates paid attention that you were hanging with her during the dance." Megan shrugged. "A lot of them are mostly glad everyone's okay and we have time off from school, no one stuck around when my dad and the police showed up."
Karmi raised an eyebrow. "Your dad's an officer?"
"The chief of police!" Megan grinned. "It was a wild night, I mean I wasn't expecting superheroes at the dance-"
"Megan!" Hiro hissed. Gesturing to his sister, who was staring at the ground now. Megan held up her hands in defense.
"What? Everyone's gonna talk about the dance when we get back, y'know." She protested. "But my bad Ari."
"It's okay, you had a point." Ari smiled. "But really, I'm fine, I'm over it."
Karmi raised an eyebrow but didn't push it. "Alright, I believe you."
Meanwhile at the Lucky Cat Cafe...
"Okay, I'll be honest." Katie sweatdropped as Rachel glared at her across the booth. "I may have made mistakes last night, no big deal!"
"You literally ran after a bunch of criminals turned into feral monsters." The scruffy brunette pointed out.
Katie let out a nervous laugh. "In hindsight that wasn't one of my best moments, but I have my reasons, I swear."
"That you won't tell me…"
The blue stuck her tongue out at her friend. "Hey, Katie!" Her ears twitched as Mochi padded up to the table. "You got a minute?"
"Yeah, give me a sec Mochi." She gestured to the calico. "Look Rach, I'll tell you later, can you stop giving me the third degree until then?!"
Reluctantly, Rachel sighed. "Fine, but don't ever scare me like that again."
"No promises!" The blue laughed as she walked with Mochi over to the windowsill for their usual bout of gossip.
Just as she left, Cass walked up to the table and served Rachel the muffin she ordered. "Thank you Ms. Cass." Rachel bowed her head in gratitude.
"Rachel, you don't have to call me 'Ms' or anything, you're a friend of my niece!" Cass told her.
At the mention of Ari, the scruffy brunette flinched. "Is… Ari okay?"
"She went to the arcade with her brother and friends." The cafe owner explained. "I'm not completely sure what went on yesterday, but I'm glad she's doing much better than last night."
"Yeah, wish I could say the same." Rachel sighed. She shot a glance at Mochi and Katie. "Mochi seems alright, he seems to have bonded with Katie since the time she stayed over."
Cass nodded. "I'm glad he has a friend now, except when that crazy show host catnapped them! I'm glad Hiro told me after he was safe, I think I would've broke if I found out when Mochi was still in danger."
"Yeah, I feel that." Rachel sighed. "Good thing they escaped Sparkles, amiright?"
But unknown to them, and the felines, the show host himself had noticed the cats by the window using a pair of binoculars, and flashed an evil grin.
Hiro slumped dramatically at the frame of the Flappy Bird arcade game. "I hate this game…" He whined. "That was my last token."
Karmi shook her head. "We warned you, Genius Boy, we did."
"Yeah." Ari winced. "Flappy Bird is one tough game."
Ten minutes at Playland Arcade and Hiro was the first victim to try and beat the high score of an arcade game, the cards were not in his favor.
Megan raised her hand. "Can I try next?"
"Avenge meee…" Hiro whined, she chuckled and patted him on the shoulder.
"Don't worry, I will." She placed her tokens into the game, and it started.
"Good luck!" Ari flashed her a thumbs up, and she got into the zone.
Hiro slowly got up to restock his tokens, and when he came back…
Megan had not only surpassed his high score, but the game's top high score.
He joined his sister and Karmi's shocked gazes. Megan quickly lost the game after a while, but he was still in shock.
"Wow." Ari was the first to speak up. "How are you so good at Flappy Bird?"
Megan just chuckled. "I'm not that good, I just play a lot of mobile games. They're easiest for me to get since it takes forever for my dad to approve of any console ones."
"We are in the presence of someone truly great at gaming." Hiro exclaimed.
Karmi just rolled her eyes at the two star-struck dorks. "Well, congrats. Can we escape the dumb Flappy Bird now? I've been eyeing that air hockey game for a while now."
They quickly took over the air hockey game that was able to store four players. "So, how should we split up the teams?" Hiro stared at Ari.
"Guys vs. girls?" She suggested.
"I'm the only guy."
"Oh, right."
Megan snickered. "Unless we're just gonna crush Hiro with our superior air hockey skills."
Karmi was fascinated by the idea. "Ooh can we do that until he wins?"
He just groaned. "Why are you making me suffer?" Hiro slumped onto the floor again. "Ari, why are you doing this to me?"
"Because you didn't let me stay up!"
"Staying up late is bad for you!"
Megan walked over to Karmi. "Do they do this a lot?"
"Yep. You're lucky it's the comical arguments." Karmi replied. "Sometimes it gets… bad." She still remembered how mopey both of them were back when they had an argument during the bot robberies.
"Yikes." She winced. "Hopefully not today considering… Ari." She pointed to the eyepatch on Ari's right eye, and recalled being told that the wound would scar. "I don't know what to cheer her up with."
Karmi nodded. "Same, she can't fool us with her fake smiles."
"But calling her out is gonna make it worse."
"Yeah… maybe we should've brought Baymax and told him not to point out the rigged claw machines because we'd get kicked out."
"Should we team up against them in air hockey?"
"Sure."
The two siblings didn't know what hit them, and Ari and Hiro learned what happened when you messed with gal pals in air hockey. And to this day they'd shudder in fear at the memory of the experience.
Also Hiro had to get medical aid from the staff when he tried blocking the puck with his hand and it smacked his wrist. "I told you to bring Baymax!" Megan told him as he got ice applied to his injury.
"He would've pointed out any rigged games." He hissed, then pressed the ice harder into his injury. "Ow…"
Ari winced. "I feel your pain." Then touched her eyepatch. "Well kind of, I mean at least you didn't nearly lose an eye because you insulted your friend or anything-" She started nervously laughing and everyone just stared awkwardly.
A phone then buzzed. "My bad." It was Karmi's, she went to check it and her eyes nearly popped out of her socket.
Megan looked over her screen and her reaction was of horror.
Hiro walked over to the two. "What are you guys looking-" He stared at the news report in horror.
"Breaking news, former game show host Mr. Sparkles has yet again kidnapped celebrity cats Slow-Clap-Cat and Katie the Talking Cat." Bluff Dunder pointed to a clip on the screen. "We had just received this message."
The deranged host was standing in front of a maze, Katie was trapped in a cage above the maze and was surrounded by chainsaws. Mochi was standing at a platform in the front of the maze. "Hello Big Hero 6! Since you're all so popular I thought I'd give you some attention!" Sparkles cackled.
"Now since my latest stream did so well, I thought I'd do a repeat! This time Slow-Clap-Cat has to complete the Maze of Destruction, which is full of references to previous episodes of my old show: Maximum Insane Obstacle Challenge. Including the chocolate river!"
The camera panned to a giant chocolate river with candy canes for platforms, and at the end of the river was a button. "If Slow-Clap-Cat can complete the maze before Big Hero 6 gets here, his girlfriend goes free!"
"We're not dating!" Katie called out.
"Shut up!" He yelled at the cat. "But if he doesn't…" The chainsaws buzzed and the blue looked frightened. "Well, some competition gets cut!" Sparkles then laughed maniacally, and a countdown started.
All four teens stared at the screen with disgust, shock, and horror. "Okay, I hate this guy more than Obake!" Ari stated.
"Normally I'd disagree but right now… same." Hiro added.
Ferns and Nerds group chat:
Mikan Ferns: GUYS GET ON THE NEWS CALL BIG HERO 6 BC 911 WE HAVE AN EMERGENCY
Gogo: The superheroes are not the ambulance
Mikan Ferns: SPARKLES IS TRYING TO KILL CATS AGAIN
Rachel Rosemary:
Fredzilla: I'm sure Big Hero 6 is on their way now to stop him!
Rachel Rosemary:
David 19: This is just the cherry on my already terrible week
Hiro Hamada: can they punj him into th ocea
David 19: You good?
TheLittleMermaid: His wrist hit a hockey puck and he SHOULD NOT BE TYPING
TheLittleMermaid: "air hockey is pain" -Hiro
Honey Lemon: How are you feeling?
TheLittleMermaid: Fine until Mr. Sparkles decided to be human trash
Rachel Rosemary: CAN MY CAT NOT BE ATTACKED FOR FIVE FLUFFING MINUTES?!
Rachel Rosemary: FIRST LAST NIGHT AND NOW THIS BANANA NONSENSE
Mikan Ferns: Wow….
TheLittleMermaid: Please don't bring up last night ;-;
Katie felt every strand of fur on her pelt fluff up in fear as the chainsaws of doom loomed closer. "Sparkles I am gonna kill you when I get out of here!"
"If you get out of here!" Sparkles cackled, a spotlight then shined on Mochi as the cameras streamed. "Slow-Clap-Cat, if you want to save your friend, complete the maze!" He barked at the poor calico, who was glued to the platform.
How on earth had they gone from sunbathing by the windowsill to this?
Well Sparkles lured them in with the one thing cats enjoy most of all…
Catnip. And due to Katie's injury she couldn't escape in time to warn the people in the cafe, good news it spared her from having to complete the maze. Bad news, Mochi had to do it and he was standing there like a deer in headlights.
"Katie?" He looked up at her. "Big Hero 6 is going to come, right?" He kept staring at the chainsaws, his tail curled around his wobbly legs. "Right?"
"Stop whining and more walking!" Sparkles snapped at him, but then chuckled nervously at the camera.
"Just do the maze, Mochi!" Katie shot the calico an encouraging gaze. "Hold tight until Big Hero 6 gets here, and I believe in you."
"Okay…" Mochi ran into the maze with hesitance. "I'll try my best!"
"Finally!" Sparkles exclaimed.
"Shut up." Katie glared at him, but yelped as a chainsaw buzzed near the cage.
Mochi darted through the maze, dodging some of the rocks and bats swung at him. "Looks like Slow-Clap-Cat is doing a good job, for now!" Sparkles pressed a button which then released a bunch of… stoats? Which then started to chase Mochi.
"How'd he get a bunch of stoats?!" Mochi winced, but then ran into a dead end as several of the snow-furred stoats surrounded him.
"Oooh looks like this might be the end of his run!" Katie gasped in horror as the show host laughed maniacally. Mochi looked down at his paws and saw sand, he looked up at the stoats and hissed, kicking up clouds of sand and as the stoats coughed and shielded their eyes he booked it down the next corridor.
"Phew." Katie gave a sigh of relief. But then paled as he got to the final obstacle.
"Somehow… Slow-Clap-Cat has reached the goal, but first he must jump the candy canes across the chocolate river!" Sparkles cackled. "No contestant has ever completed it in months! And you know what happens if cats have chocolate…"
Mochi stared down at the dark river, if he fell in and it got in his mouth… "I think I'm gonna be sick." His claws dug into the ground.
"He better do it or else I'll dump Katie in!" Sparkles groaned. "Stupid cats!"
The calico bristled and leapt for the first candy cane, he barely reached the cane and he dangled above the melted chocolate.
Katie gasped. "Mochi!"
But he pulled himself up. He jumped for the next candy cane, and the next until he got to the last one. The jump was a little far, but he was close!
Until Sparkles cleared his throat. "Boring!" He clicked a button and a gumdrop hit Mochi, nearly knocking him off the cane he was on.
"Aah!" He yelped, digging into the sides of the cane, Mochi whimpered seeing how he was slowly dragging down to the chocolate. "I don't wanna die of cocoa!"
"MOCHI!" Katie screamed.
And then he fell.
Mochi shut his eyes as he lost his grip on the candy cane, and prepared for the sticky feeling of chocolate to swallow him whole. But then he felt something catch him, and he slowly opened his eyes.
"Hello." A red figure had him in his arms. "You will be safe." Big Hero 6 had finally shown up.
"Phew!" Katie sighed, then saw Green and Blue hopping to her cage.
Blue leapt while Green was on his back, and the plasma blades cut the chain holding the cage above the maze, Green opened the lock. "You good?"
Katie hopped out. "Meh, I'll live. But get Sparkles!" She pointed a claw at the small man, who was creeping towards the exit.
Yellow blocked him. "You're not escaping this time!" She held her disks. Behind her Pink prepared a chem ball, Sparkles noticed and he ducked, the chem ball hit Yellow instead.
"Not today!" Sparkles then winked at the camera. "Hope you enjoyed the show folks! Also cats are terrible for following orders!" He shot a glare at Mochi's direction, then he pressed another button. The studio's lights went off and smoke poured out, when it came back on, the deranged show host was gone.
"Oh come on!" She whined.
"I'm just glad to be alive." Mochi also whined.
Superhero Squad group chat:
Captain Cutie: So we saw the stream and how did you guys NOT catch Sparkles?
Chem Girl: I underestimated him
Speed Queen: Same
Ariel: We're never letting Mochi outside again
Chop Chop: We brought him back to the cafe, well Gogo did bc half of us were scared Aunt Cass would recognize us
Captain Cutie: Valid fear
Flame Jumper: How was the arcade?
Ariel: I mentioned the air hockey incident right?
Captain Cutie: MY HAND IS BETTER NOW
Speed Queen: Caps
Captain Cutie: Sorry : (
Ariel: Also we suck at DDR
Chem Girl: Sorry to hear
Ariel: Also did you know the arcade has a food court? With milkshakes?!
Captain Cutie: Their fries weren't that good tho
Chop Chop: This is the wrong chat to convo about this guys
"Oh, thank god you guys are okay." Rachel gave a sigh of relief, it was evening, and the teens had arrived back at the cafe. Ari was working by the counter since Aunt Cass was trying to calm Mochi down in the living room. Katie was asleep on her lap, trying to get some rest after a hectic day.
"Yeah, nothing bad happened at the arcade." Hiro replied. "But I nearly passed out seeing the stream."
"Same." The two brunettes behind him nodded in agreement.
"Though, I kind of wish I was at the arcade with you guys." She hummed. "I'm really good at the spinny ones."
Hiro looked at her skeptically. "Uh-huh, sure."
"What?" Rachel then noticed how red his wrist was. "What happened there?"
"Air hockey." Karmi explained. "Genius Boy was an idiot and tried blocking the puck with his hand-"
"Hey!" Hiro protested.
"She has a point, that is a dumb thing to do." Rachel told him.
"Ha!" Karmi gave Hiro a smug grin, he just huffed.
Megan gave a light chuckle at the banter, but then realized what time it was. "Oh, darn! My dad is gonna kill me for being so late!"
"Awww." Ari pouted from the counter. "Your dad's a buzzkill."
"He's not a buzzkill." She replied, then turned to Karmi. "It was nice to meet you!"
"Nice to meet you too." They exchanged contact information before Megan finally exited the cafe.
"I'm gonna get another ice pack." As Hiro walked by the counter, he turned to Ari. "You gonna be okay?"
"Yeah." She gave a fake smile. "I think I'll be fine." She frowned when seeing how skeptical he was. "Seriously. I'll live."
"Okay… you can always vent to Baymax if you're feeling down." Hiro told her. "He's a good listener."
"I'll think about it." And she was alone by the counter as her brother went to the living room to check on Mochi on his way to grab ice. Karmi said goodbye before she left, and Rachel left shortly after to take Katie home. So it was just her alone for the first time all day.
She felt the phantom pain in her eye sting again, and she shook her head. Don't think about her, Ari. Don't think about her… But there were still so many questions of why did that happen, how is she supposed to deal with that? Ari sniffled. I miss you so much June.
Despite what happened last night, she still craved to talk to the wild haired blonde who had stolen her heart with a song and a dance, who's smile and snarky remarks were visible even on written ink, and whose mother was just as awesome. She knew that the monsters at the dance weren't the High Voltage she knew, but doubt still clouded her.
At least her brother was gonna do his best to find answers, hopefully one of them would be who was behind the recent monster mutations. I just want something, anything that answers those questions. She pleaded. Even if it's an ugly truth-
I just want to know what happened to the girl I love.
AN: Heroes of Flowers is BACK, baby! And starting with the return of Sparkles... he's fun to write in HOF-verse his cat vendetta makes him cartoony XD
Today's chapter is Ari Sad Hours(tm), she's having a lot of mixed feelings about the dance, part of her feels like it was an accident, part of her blames herself, and a part of her wonders if what she saw at the dance was a side of her friend she never saw.
Let's just say that her turmoil of emotions is gonna lead her to making some very bad conclusions as a coping mechanism, poor girl.
On the bright side, Karmi and Megan meet this chapter! They 100% interact more off-screen, and they are good at ice hockey together.
Hope you enjoyed this filler chapter, next week is Nega-Globby, it's a bit canon compliant but I had fun writing the in-between moments with the cast, and of course... the bop
QOTW: Guys what's your hc of what Mochi sounds like? (like when he has speaking lines), part of me thinks he sounds like Sprig from Amphibia but more squeakier