The day had started just like the one before. Hiro had woken in the same room, covered by the same blanket and with the same dimmed light shining down on him. The only thing that was different, at least from what Hiro could tell, was the fact that Obake had been standing at the door and calling for him to get out of bed. It took the boy a couple minutes to fully wake, but when he did he was handed a change of clothes and was asked to come out to help with the move once he was ready.
When Obake left him to get changed Hiro examined the clothes and once again had this weird feeling in his stomach that made him think something wasn't quite right. His clothes from the day before, the khaki pants and the red shirt felt more familiar to him, not like this new set of clothes that made him feel weird. So he put on his clothes from the day before and began to get ready to help with the move.
While he was brushing his teeth Hiro's thoughts started circling the dream he had had last night. He had had an older brother, about 21 years of age whom Hiro resembled so much. He was tall and slender with a smile that made Hiro feel all warm inside. In his dream he and his brother didn't do much of anything, they just spent their days in a nice looking room, drawing sketches of robots and playing videogames. The room was filled with posters, books, action figures and whatnot. It felt so homey. The way his older brother had ruffled his hair and nudged him whenever Hiro beat him at the games felt so realistic that he was confused where he was when he woke up again in a different room. The dream had felt so real and so vivid that Hiro needed a couple moments to recollect himself and to remind himself that it had really been just that – a dream.
Once Hiro stepped inside the large room he was surprised to see that most things had been cleared out. He was even more surprised to see something that resembled a walking Hamburger carrying boxes to another room. He couldn't help but stare at it in confusion as to what exactly this thing was before he was pulled out of his thoughts by a woman's voice right next to him.
„You alright, kid?" the woman with black hair who had been cleaning her blades so carefully last night looked at him. She was wearing a black mask that she had tied behind her head. Hiro found it odd that she was hiding her face.
„I'm fine, thank you." He replied politely and nodded as if to reassure her. Somehow she seemed worried as she looked down at him. „I … I want to help with the move."
The woman furrowed her brow and examined him even closer. Hiro was starting to grow more and more uncomfortable, being stared down by her like that. Her eyes were cold but still somehow caring. But before he could decide on what exactly he was seeing in her eyes she turned away and gestured for him to follow. She lead him over to the same table he had noticed the night before. The titan skeleton on the table with the strange, white fabric on the ground next to it. His heart ached painfully as he stepped closer, but he didn't know why. Parts of the skeleton were missing, as if it had been taken apart in places.
„This is yours." The woman stated simply and looked at him closely. „Do you remember?"
Hiro gently let his fingers run over the cool metal, realizing that it was not titan, but in fact carbon fiber he was looking at it. He couldn't help but to admire the craftsmanship that had gone into this machine and found himself smiling despite his aching heart. He stepped closer and took it all in, his heart growing heavier with each passing second. „I … I think so." he then replied carefully. „Is this the experiment that … that caused my accident?" he carefully picked up a red metal shard from next to the skeleton and looked at it closely.
„I … guess so." the woman replied and crossed her arms. She was still staring at him, apparently waiting for something, any kind of reaction at all … Hiro just didn't know what exactly she wanted from him. He tried to avoid looking at her as he bent down and grabbed the white fabric off the floor. It wasn't soft like he had thought but rather cool and felt like the surface of a balloon. When he rubbed it between his fingers it gave a squeaky noise. All of a sudden, the world seemed to stop and Hiro forgot to breathe. A sharp pain in his head made him groan. The squeaky sound had triggered something, but he wasn't sure what. His mind began to get foggy all over again, just like it had last night. He let the fabric drop and held his head. The throbbing pain made him dizzy.
„Are you alright?" she asked and carefully put a hand on his shoulder. „What's wrong?"
„I-I …" Hiro started but had to stop when he noticed his vision getting a bit blurry. „I don't … know." He held onto the table and tried to calm his fast breathing. Images started flashing before his eyes. He saw his older brother's face from the dream he had had even more vividly than he had seen it in his sleep. It was like his mind was trying to tell him something, but he just couldn't understand what. Hiro quickly squeezed his eyes shut and tried hard to ignore the face of the man he didn't even know. He turned his back to the table with the materials and covered his face with his hands. „Just … my head hurts …" He mumbled and took a deep breath in.
The woman didn't seem to let it go though and started „But do you remem-„
„Momokase!" a loud voice from not too far bellowed. The woman twitched but didn't seem to be surprised. Hiro on the other hand almost jumped out of his skin at the sudden noise. His hand slipped and he almost lost his balance. When he looked up he saw Obake stepping closer. His vision was slowly returning to normal, but it was still hard to make out the stern expression on the man's face. He didn't look at Hiro at all and the soft and gentle expressions Hiro had seen the day before were all but gone. Instead an expression had appeared on his face that Hiro couldn't quite classify – he just felt scared of the man in front of him.
„Don't you have better things to do?" he asked the woman – Momokase, as he had called her – coldly. It may have been worded like a question but the tone in his voice left no doubt that he was telling her to leave. A tense silence spread between the two of them. They seemed to stare each other down and Hiro grew more uncomfortable. His headache had almost completely ebbed away and his vision was mostly clear. He was still breathing a bit shakily but tried to calm himself. Whatever had just happened was over now, he told himself.
Momokase eventually glanced at Hiro and then wordlessly stepped away and out of the room. The door slammed shut behind her and Hiro saw the walking hamburger twitch in surprise.
„Hiro." Obake called his name and put a hand on the boy's shoulder. „Are you alright?„
Hiro quickly looked up at the man and nodded. „Yes, I'm fine." When he looked into Obake's eyes he found it a bit odd that, although his voice sounded concerned, the expression in his eyes was rather cold. Like this was more of a nuisance to him than anything else. When the man asked him to explain what had happened Hiro told him how the squeaking noise must have triggered some kind of reaction from him. „I don't know why, but it made me feel like … like I remember this robot. And there was this-" Hiro glanced down at the white fabric on the floor next to him and stopped himself. He felt like it wouldn't be smart to mention the guy from his dream. This seemed like something he should keep to himself. And so he just ended in a quiet voice: „These materials just feel so familiar."
„Well, of course they are familiar." Obake said rather loudly and grabbed Hiro's jaw gently to make him look up at him. „You built this thing. You just can't remember. You spent days, even weeks working on this. This was all you cared about." Hiro blinked up at the man, not really knowing whether he was happy with this explanation. His gut feeling had gotten stronger over night and was telling him that something was amiss, that this wasn't the truth.
For a moment there was silence that spread between them. Hiro looked into Obake's eyes for as long as he could but eventually broke the contact when he found it to be too uncomfortable. The way Obake stared back at him made him feel uneasy.
„I think it's best for you to toss out this experiment." Obake said suddenly pulled Hiro away from the table. The boy yelped in surprise when he almost stumbled over the bunch of fabric on the ground.
„B-But I –" he began to protest only to be shut up by Obake interrupting him. He was pulled to another corner of the room where he was told to tidy up. The table was overflowing with all sorts of materials, tools and papers. This would take him a while to reorganize.
„You want to help with the move, don't you?" he asked the boy and raised a brow as he noticed him hesitating. „Don't you think you should help out?"
„N-No, of course I do …" Hiro replied, feeling guilty. Obake was right. Whatever had just happened was triggered by the memories he had of making the robot before, nothing more and nothing less. He had to remind himself how lucky he was to have been taken in and to now be given a new home to live in. The least he could do was help.
Since his hands were still bandaged and hurt Hiro took things slow and began to do as he was told. Obake still seemed agitated and did not leave his side for a long while. Whenever Hiro tried to glance back at the corner where his experiment was, he was met with a stern gaze from the man.
„Can … can I ask you something?" Hiro asked carefully, a bit intimated by the way Obake was watching his every move.
„Later, Hiro." The man responded, his gaze fixed on him. „You are busy now, are you not?"
„Y-Yes. Sorry." He replied quietly and continued organizing the materials into their boxes. He only wanted to know where exactly they were going to go next. He felt so insecure, not knowing what had happened, who the people and things around him were.
He continued tidying for a short while before he heard a loud crashing sound from another room. Surprised by the sudden noise Hiro jumped a little and turned around. Obake had also turned away from him and was looking for the source of the noise.
„Hiro," Obake said without looking at him, his hands folded behind his back, „I want you to continue packing here. Don't go anywhere else, you hear me?" Hiro agreed immediately, still intimated by the man in front of him. „I'll be right back." And with that Obake turned his back to him and quickly left to another room, the door slamming shut behind him.
Hiro looked after him, feeling a bit confused as to what had just happened. Without even thinking about it his gaze immediately travelled back to the table with the metal skeleton on it. For a moment Hiro was frozen in place, considering if he should really dare to try and go back over there after Obake had specifically told him not to. He was all alone in the large room, but who knew how long that was going to last?
And so, without considering the consequences, Hiro made his way over back to the table as fast as he could. His heart was hammering inside his chest and the more he looked down at the metal frame in front of him the more his head started to throb. He could not explain what it was that made him react this way to a bunch of robot parts.
As he let his fingers travel along the metal slowly he tried to find something, anything that would trigger his memory again. He noticed the fine craftsmanship, the meticulous work that had been done on each and every one of the screws and parts. Somehow he didn't feel like this was his work at all. Although he could not fully remember his previous works, he just had a feeling that he would be messier and less careful. He just figured that he must have been someone a bit more impatient, someone who wanted to get things done quickly.
When his finger suddenly landed on a button of some sort Hiro stopped. He leaned over the skeleton as far as he could and noticed a chip port on the left side, right where a human heart would be located. He couldn't stop himself and quickly pressed it, watching as it opened and revealed three chips inside – one green, one red and one purple. There was a noise in the other room again and Hiro twitched. He hastily grabbed all three of the chips, pressed the port and made sure that it was close before quickly shoving the chips into his pocket. Footsteps could be heard echoing from the other room and Hiro dashed back toward the table he was supposed to be staying at. He made it just in time – Obake entered the room with the walking hamburger by his side just as Hiro managed to grab onto some papers and pretend to be organizing them. He tried so hard not to let them notice how fast his heart was racing. His chest was rising and falling rather quickly, but he tried his best to conceal it. Thankfully Obake was too busy with berating the hamburger – which Hiro now realized was also a robot – to be more careful and to not let any other expensive equipment drop.
Hiro avoided looking at them and pretended to be lost in thoughts as he carefully started organizing the papers after date. He felt the three chips in his pocket and really had to control his Curiosity. If that really was his robot, then those chips would most definitely spark his memory. After all, he was the one who'd made them, right?
„You find anything yet?"
„No, nothing."
Honey Lemon sighed heavily and tried to stretch her neck a bit. It was getting sore from looking down at the scanner in her hand all day. The fact that she had the little Baymax-inspired robot – Minimax – on her shoulder the whole time didn't help. She heard Wasabi asking the others whether they had been more successful via the speaker in her helmet, but their response was just as negative as hers had been.
She was on top of one of the highest buildings in San Fransokyo, overlooking almost the entire city. She had brought Minimax and her scanner to try and enhance his scanning capabilities – neither she nor the others knew too much about robotics though, so they were still working on it. The plan had been to get all the scanners they could find in Hiro's garage and to use them from high altitudes in order to find their friend. So far the only they had found was that he was nowhere near his favorite spots in the city – he wasn't at school, not at his favorite Noodle Burger restaurants, nor was he at the robotics laboratories near campus. They were quickly running out of ideas on where to look for him, it seemed like he had disappeared off the face of the earth.
Minimax slid down into her arms and told her to try it again. And so she did just that. She linked the small robot with the scanning device in her hand via cable and started to slowly turn him in a circle so he could get a better look – still nothing.
„Are we ever going to find him?" Honey Lemon asked in frustration as she set the robot down and sat on the ground. She was feeling more hopeless than she had ever felt before. „It's been three days, Minimax …"
„Three days isn't that long!" the robot countered cheerfully. He was always so positive. „There isn't much that could happen to him in three days!"
Honey Lemon smiled a tiny bit at the robot's sweet attempt to cheer her up, but it wasn't working. „You know what they say …" she mumbled. „The longer someone is missing, especially kids, the more likely they are to be-" she was about to say ‚dead', but Minimax interrupted her.
„To be just fine!" he patted her thigh and gestured for her to get up again. „Let's keep looking. Young Hiro can't have disappeared! He must be here somewhere! Don't give up!"
Honey Lemon bit back the burning feeling in the back of her eyes, trying desperately not to cry again. She knew the robot was right – no matter what, she had to keep looking until she found him. Not just for her own peace of mind, but especially for Hiro and for Tadashi.
And so she and Minimax continued on to other high places of the city, but to no avail. They couldn't detect Hiro anywhere. Honey Lemon was getting more and more frustrated while Minimax kept his positive attitude the entire time, trying his very best to keep her going and to encourage her to keep going. She knew that he was right, of course she did, but with each and every failure it was getting harder and harder.
When the sun started to set she was ready to take a break when Go Go's voice echoed in her helmet. „Guys, I think I just saw Momokase."
„Momokase?" Fred repeated excitedly. „She's with Obake! She must know where Hiro is!"
„Where is she?" Wasabi chimed in, his voice having risen. Honey Lemon felt a surge of energy and hastily started to get off the roof she and Minimax were on. As Go Go gave them the location Honey Lemon started running over the connecting roofs. She put Minimax back on her shoulder where he held on and started sprinting. This was their first lead in three days. Their first lead after they had found Hiro and Tadashi's Aunt Cass sobbing on the pavement. There was no way she going to let this go. And if she had to take Momokase captive, then so be it.
„Honey, where are you?" Wasabi called over the headset. „I'm right around the corner of Good Luck Alley. You?"
„Me too." She responded, her breathing heavy. „She must be going back to her hideout."
„Why would she though?" Go Go asked, the roaring sound of wind as she raced through the streets almost drowning out her voice. „She's with Obake now, isn't she?"
Honey Lemon panted as she jumped down the last roof before Good Luck Alley. She landed on a trash can and quickly let herself down onto the ground. The Alley was getting darker and the only light here came from the few lampions that were hung in front of some of the shops. Her steps echoed loudly in the puddles of the rain drainages.
„Who cares." Fred said. „Let's just get her to tell us where they are keeping Hiro."
Honey Lemon nodded and headed down the Alley quickly without drawing too much attention. Although there was no-one outside – most of these people preferred to stay inside in case the police showed up – she was still cautious. After all, this was where the botfights happened, where Yama and his henchmen stayed most of the time and where Momokase had built her hideout. Pretty much every single criminal San Fransokyo inhabited lived here.
She stepped closer to the corner and glanced around it, trying to stay safe. She noticed a couple of strange figures queuing for where she knew the botfights that Hiro used to go took place. While she listened to the others trying to find each other she waited until the few people had been let inside before heading down the road to join her friends. She found them kneeling behind a trash can, Go Go trying to use her scanner to locate Momokase again. It didn't take long for them to find her location just one block north of where they were.
„Well, that was easy." Wasabi said as he watched the scanner in Go Go's hand. „Too easy."
„Doesn't she have scan jammers?" Go Go asked and raised a brow.
„It's a trap." Fred said dramatically, the claws of his gloves clicking quietly. „It's definitely a trap, guys. She must be trying to get us to come."
„Why would she do that?" Honey Lemon asked quietly and watched the little dot, that indicated Momokase's location, move a bit further up the road.
„They might want to take us out so we can tell no-one about Hiro." Fred suggested, the clicking of his claws getting a bit louder. Honey Lemon could tell that he was so excited for this search, despite his obvious worry for Hiro. After all, Hiro and Fred were super close, she just knew that this must have been terrible for Fred.
„The Police is out looking for Hiro." Wasabi said and sighed. „That doesn't make any sense, Fred." When they started getting into an argument Go Go and Honey Lemon looked at each other a bit helplessly. Go Go gestured for Honey Lemon to follow her and together the two girls crept over to the corner. They knelt next to each other and peeked around it, trying to spot any sign of Momokase. From the scanner they could tell that she must be have been close.
„What do we do when we see her?" Honey Lemon whispered quietly, the sound of Wasabi and Fred arguing still in the background. „Ambush her?"
„Yes." Go Go said, her eyes fixed on the scanner. „We get her, then we get her to talk. She must know something."
Honey Lemon bit her lip. She had never ambushed someone before. Nor had she ever taken someone captive or „made them talk". She wasn't entirely sure if she was up to it or if she could even handle it. Just when he was about to ask whether it wouldn't be smart to just follow her back to Obake's lair she saw a woman step out of the road on their right, her skintight suit and mask immediately giving away who she was – they had actually found Momokase.
„This is it." Fred's voice suddenly appeared right behind Honey Lemon. She almost gasped but was able to stop herself just in time. „Let's get her …!" just when Fred was about to jump out of hiding Momokase turned around. Her black hair was blowing slightly in the wind, her arms crossed in front of her chest and blades by her side like always. She was looking directly at the four of them and said: „I know you're hiding back there. Come on out."
Honey Lemon froze in shock and looked at the others. They seemed to be just as surprised. How could they have been found this quickly?
The two girls looked at each other, pondering on what to do. It didn't seem safe to step out of hiding but there was no way they could ambush her now that she'd already discovered them. Honey Lemon's thoughts were racing and she could tell that Go Go was the same. While she tried to come up with the best possible solution for the mess they were in now she gasped in surprise when Wasabi suddenly stepped out of the shadows. He just walked right past them and faced Momosake on his own. Go Go's jaw dropped as she watched her – usually very fearful – friend face one of their biggest nemesis on his own.
„Where's Hiro?" he asked calmly. If Honey Lemon hadn't known how nervous he was she probably wouldn't even have noticed the little shake in his voice. „Tell me now and we'll let you go."
Momokase seemed to raise a brow – it was hard to see with her mask – and chuckled a bit. „You'll let me go?" she questioned. „Without your little friend and his robot I don't think you'd have much of a chance."
„I'm not going to ask a third time." Wasabi said, his voice now a bit louder. „Where is Hiro?"
Momokase let out another chuckle, her hand lingering over one of her blades. „I'm afraid I'm not at liberty to say. The boy's not my concern. I'm here for something else."
„Quit playing games!" Go Go suddenly said and got up. She stood right by Wasabi's side, her hands clenched into tight fists. „Where is he? And what did you do to him?"
„Playing games is technically part of the superhero-supervillain exchange," Fred suddenly joined and ran out of hiding as well, „but I agree! Tell us where my little buddy is!" his claws were clicking loud and hastily now, he seemed thrilled to take Momokase down.
Honey Lemon glanced at Minimax on her shoulder and stood to stay by her friends' side as well.
As they stood in front of their nemesis, a united front, Momokase was looking from one of them to the other. She did not seem impressed in the slightest and made no move to get ready to fight. Instead she just looked at each of them individually, apparently looking for something.
The silence that had spread between the five of them was so tense that Honey Lemon thought she could her own heart beating. She tried so hard not to break the eye contact with the woman in front of her, one of her hands on her chem purse and the other one holding the small robot on her shoulder. Her hands were trembling a bit, but not because she was scared to fight. It was because she had never ever been faced with a fight this important. She knew that, if they screwed up now, their chances of finding Hiro might go down significantly. Maybe they'd even be doomed to never find him.
„Which one of you is the kid's closest friend?" Momokase then asked, breaking the silence. She was still examining each and every one of them closely. „Who's his best friend?"
They exchanged glances with each other, not sure how to react. Honey Lemon was the first to muster up courage and ask „Why do you need to know that?"
„Just tell me." She insisted, not really bothering to look at Honey Lemon. „I'm curious."
„We're all Hiro's friends and-"
„Sure you are." Momokase interrupted. Her gaze suddenly fixated on Fred in his monster suit and she cocked an eyebrow. „It's you, isn't it?"
Before they could stop him Fred let out a chuckle and said: „You bet I am! Hiro and I we are best buddies!"
Momokase seemed satisfied with the answer and took a step closer. They all twitched in surprise and readied their weapons. However, before they could even react the woman seemed to vanish. She moved so fast that none of them could react. Before they knew it she had stepped closer to Fred and used her blade to cut off part of his costume. She caught the small piece of fabric in her hand and started running. The second they needed to collect themselves was enough for Momokase to disappear in the dark alley and be out of sight.
They stood there in shock, not knowing what had just happened. This was definitely the strangest encounter with any enemy of theirs they'd have until now. The only good thing that Honey Lemon could make of this was that Hiro seemed to be alive. Momokase had only wanted information, which must have meant that Hiro was, in fact, alive. Even though neither of them could understand why she'd ask about Hiro's best friend Honey Lemon felt something similar to relief inside of her at the thought of they boy still being alive.
Although Momokase had gotten away, her hopes weren't crushed like she'd feared them to be. She felt more energized to give it her all and find their friend.
