When he realized what had happened Obake's rage grew unlike anything he had ever felt before. His face started to burn, his heartbeat accelerated, and he had to clench his fist to stop himself from breaking the screens in front of him.
He knew that something like this was going to happen, but he hadn't expected it to be this soon, especially not with the boy being so vulnerable. And yet here he was, staring at the image of Hiro's empty room.
This couldn't be happening, he thought. How could he have been so stupid.
Momokase had just come to the room to take over watching the kid to make sure that he was going to be alright after the overdose. He had already noticed that something had seemed a little off when she had entered the room. She was somewhat nervous and a bit confrontational as she told Obake to rest. Although he had tried to intimidate her, the woman had stood her ground and hadn't backed off. He thought it was her own stupidity that led to her reaction, but he had been wrong – she must have thought that it didn't matter as she was going to take the kid away. His tiredness must have impaired his judgement, he figured. Otherwise he would never have missed these signs.
He gritted his teeth and tried hard to come up with a plan. This was a delicate situation and he had to act accordingly. If he was going to take Hiro back, he knew he had to do it in a way that didn't frighten the boy. If he scared him and turned him against him … although he still had all the necessary means to wipe his memories, he wasn't sure if it wouldn't be too much for a fragile kid like Hiro. Especially not after he had accidentally overdose himself.
"Trina!" Obake shouted as he turned on his heel and left the room. A plan was forming in his head. "Trina, grab your brother and let's go! I need all the weapons you can find!" he heard her respond from her room and then rustling noises of her gathering her stuff.
Since his two children were robots, Obake knew that he could count on them. And, most importantly, they were most valuable in the task that was up ahead – finding and getting rid of the teenagers that took the kid from him.
He figured that they couldn't have gone too far in the dark of night with Hiro still injured. They had to check the grounds closest to the house and maybe the roads around the woods.
As he hurriedly gathered his own things and got ready to head out he heard Callaghan's voice behind him and turned around. "What's going on?" The older man looked at him tiredly, but with a concerned look in his eyes. "Where are you going?"
"Momokase and his friends took him." He replied coldly and unlocked the top drawer of the cupboard next to the door. "They took Hiro." He said again, his teeth gritted. As he pulled out his gun for emergencies from the drawer Callaghan gasped and hastily grabbed his wrist.
"No!" the older said loudly. As he tried to grab the gun from Obake a bit of a fight started to break out. "You can't run around killing children!"
"They're not children!" Obake replied furiously and pushed the man's hands off of him. "They're teenagers who took my child from its home!"
"He's not your child!" Callaghan countered. The man's hands were still wrestling with Obake's and trying to get the gun back. "They're trying to take him b ack home, his real home, for crying out loud! Now put the gun down and let's think of something else. Just listen to me!"
Obake chuckled and ripped the gun out of the man's hands. He was much stronger than the older man was and he had no problem showing it off. He didn't care what Callaghan had to say and he didn't care what he had to do to get Hiro back. If he had to kill some kids, then he'd do just that. The only thing he wanted right now was to get his boy back home … even if he technically wasn't his own.
Callaghan grabbed his wrist again, more tightly this time. "Bob, listen!" Obake furrowed his brow as he heard his real name called. It unsettled him a bit, hearing it after all these years. Callaghan stared at him, furious. "Put the gun down. Those are just kids, remember? I'm sure you can get Hiro back without that." He glanced at the gun. "And even if you don't … maybe just let him go."
"Let him go!?" Obake shouted. The thought of letting the boy go upset him more than he cared to admit. The kid might have been only means to an end at first, but for some reason Hiro seemed to be much more than that by now. He hated to admit it, but he had come to care for the child. "He cannot be let go. He'll tell the police everything and we'll be ruined."
Callaghan furrowed his brow and asked whether they couldn't just go into hiding like they had done before. When Obake was just about to answer he was starting to realize that the longer he wasted his time discussing something that was out of the question, the farther away Hiro got. He wasn't going to listen to this any longer. And so he finally shook the older man off of him for good and put the gun into the handle on his belt.
"I know you feel guilty for killing Hiro's brother, but Tadashi Hamada followed you into the fire to save you. That was his mistake." He told Callaghan coldly and looked up when Trina and her robot brother finally joined them in the hallway. He was pleased to see that Trina had brought her night vision lenses. "Your guilt means nothing to me. I will not allow you to be the reason all my plans fail. I need that kid here and if I have to get rid of these teenagers I'll do just that! Try not to be something I need to get rid of, too."
Callaghan frowned and stared at him in shock. He saw the older man's eyes get teary but couldn't be bothered. Without wasting anymore time he gestured for his children to follow him and together they made their way outside to find Hiro.
They hadn't gotten very far after Hiro's fall down the slope. He remained unconscious in Fred's arms as they tried to find their way through the woods and back to their friends.
"The radio signal is horrible." Honey Lemon whispered as they followed the scanning device they had brought. It was supposed to pick up on the location of the other scanners their friends were carrying, but it wasn't really working. The canopy of the leaves must have been too thick, she figured.
"Try holding it higher." Fred suggested in a serious voice. "It can't be that far back to the streets."
"No, it can't …" Honey Lemon agreed and tried his top follow his advice. The signal grew a tiny bit stronger, but it wasn't really worth mentioning.
"Or we could try and follow the north star. It always points north." Honey Lemon sighed and didn't bother explaining that they couldn't follow a star if they couldn't see the sky because of all the leaves around them. She just followed the signal that pointed her east, toward GoGo's apparent location.
They kept going in silence, not really speaking anymore. Honey Lemon could feel the tension not only within herself but also within Fred. She had never seen her friend this anxious before, but she knew that this situation must have been Fred's worst nightmare. He and Hiro were so close that, if it was hard for her and the others to see their friend like this, she didn't even want to imagine what Fred was going through. Especially not with Hiro clearly not remembering any one of them. Even though they had been told that he wouldn't recognize them, it was still quite painful to see that Momokase told the truth. Honey Lemon never would have thought something like this could actually happen.
"Hon … L …on? Fr … d?"
The two of them froze when they suddenly heard GoGo's voice in their helmets. The signal must have been getting stronger. "Go Go?" she replied immediately and picked up the pace. They must have been getting closer to the edge of the woods. "Go Go? Wasabi? Can you hear us?"
She and Fred both started running as the signal got better and better with each step. A smile spread on Honey Lemon's face as she started to feel hopeful again. They really were going to get out of these woods and bring their friend home. It really wasn't a dream.
But she had been too confident too soon. It seemed like, no matter how far they went, the woods weren't getting any lighter. There were trees all around, the leaves and bushes hiding the small roads on the ground. Honey Lemon wondered how the others had gotten out of here.
"Where … u?" she heard Go Go's voice in her helmet again. Thankfully the signal was getting stronger with each step.
"I'm not sure." Honey Lemon replied and tried to send their location via her watch. Go Go started explaining how to find the main road, but she could barely hear every second word. Eventually the signal got well enough for them to hear Wasabi's voice as well and together they started working on finding their way out.
As it turned out, Go Go and Wasabi had gotten separated with only Go Go having left the woods by now. Wasabi said that he had somehow ended up at a cliff of the San Fransokyo bay. He could see the Golden Gate bridge from where he was standing, he said.
After a bit of a discussion they finally managed to amplify the signal and locate each other. As the bay was a good meet up point they decided to meet there and walk along the cliff back to the city and to the hospital. Or, if the signal was strong enough, they'd call Skymax and at least get Hiro back to the city first.
"How's Hiro?" Wasabi asked via the speaker as Honey Lemon and Fred started heading into the direction their watch displayed. "Is he okay?"
"Not really …" Honey Lemon said and guided Fred through the woods. Her heart was aching painfully as she looked at her young friend in Fred's arms. He seemed unconscious, or maybe he had just fallen asleep. His damp hair and clothes were hugging his face and body, the scarf she had wrapped around his neck was probably not really helping. There was blood on his cheek dripping down from when he had hit his head and dried blood on his shin. His pale skin made him look more ill and somewhat ghostly, she thought to herself. Almost like he had already died.
But he was alive, she told herself quickly. She had to reassure herself that he was alive and that he was going to be just fine as soon as they reached the others and the hospital. He might have forgotten, but he was going to live. They'd do anything to make sure that Hiro was going to be alright.
As Go Go told them how Hiro had run off without her noticing her voice cracked. She must have felt guilty, even though there was no reason to. After all, Hiro had always been rebellious and if there was something on his mind … then there rarely was any stopping him. That was something he had had in common with his older brother, Honey Lemon thought with a soft smile on her lips.
As she explained to the others how they had found Hiro injured the other two didn't seem to know how to respond. The atmosphere was tense as they knew that they had to hurry and get Hiro to safety. Just when they began discussing the best way to get Hiro from the bay to the city Fred gasped and stopped walking for a moment. The boy in his arms had woken, his round eyes blinking up at them.
"Are you okay?" Fred asked and looked down at his friend. "Are you hurt?"
Honey Lemon urged Fred to keep on walking as Hiro only winced in pain. The way he turned his hurt temple away from Fred's chest made it clear that the spot must have hurt a lot. The boy didn't really say anything and only just lay there, sleepily looking around. His whole body was shivering in the cold and Honey Lemon noticed how Fred tried to hug him closer.
"Don't worry, little buddy." Fred told him as they could finally see the woods clearing ahead of them, the moon light illuminating the darkness around them at last. "You're going to be just fine … I promise. Hold on." Fred stopped walking and gestured for Honey Lemon to help him. She gently lifted Hiro out of Fred's arms as she was instructed to and watched as her friend took off the head of his suit.
"Fred, we need to hurry." She gently reminded him. He just told her that he knew that and stepped out of his suit. Honey Lemon watched him in confusion. Hiro turned his head to look at him, his body heavy in her arms. As soon as he lay eyes on Fred, Hiro gasped softly. A twitch ran through his body and he groaned in pain. They both looked at the boy as he held onto his head. He seemed to be in pain.
"Hang on." Fred took off his sweater, leaving him in his undershirt only. Honey Lemon smiled when she finally realized what her friend was trying to do and carefully lowered Hiro down onto the ground. Together they gently pulled the sweatshirt over Hiro's head. It reached almost all the way down to his knees due to Fred being so much taller than he was. When Fred also put his beanie on Hiro's head, careful not to hurt him furthermore, the boy slowly began to relax a bit. Fred was shivering but didn't seem to mind. His eyes were fixed on Hiro as he sat on the ground, Honey Lemon's arm around his shoulder giving him support.
"That's better, right?" he asked Hiro and pulled the beanie down a bit further so it would cover the boy's ears. Hiro needed a moment to react but when he did, Honey Lemon felt reassured.
"T-Thanks, Fred …" he said quietly and looked at Fred next to him. Hiro hadn't called anyone by their names yet because he probably didn't remember them. The fact that he was this calm and used Fred's name was most probably a good sign and Honey Lemon even wondered whether Hiro had regained some of his memories of Fred. The way he smiled up at their friend made it seem like it.
"Let's keep going." Fred said when they heard Go Go's voice telling them that she had joined Wasabi at the cliffs. He put his suit back on quickly and was just about to pick Hiro back up when he refused and insisted that he could walk on his own. As they could see the woods clearing ahead of them they decided to just let him, but both kept a tight hold of each of Hiro's hands to make sure that he was going to be alright. He was limping a bit but followed them closely, staying a bit closer to Fred than to Honey Lemon.
As they finally left the woods and stepped outside they found themselves face to face with Go Go and Wasabi. They both seemed surprised as they saw Hiro walking with them, but a smile spread on both their faces. Although there was hurt in their eyes upon seeing their young friend injured, the relief seemed to be much stronger.
And Honey Lemon couldn't blame them. When the five of them were finally reunited she couldn't stop the tears from dwelling in her eyes. It was all so emotional. All the pressure and the stress from the last few days was slowly disappearing and leaving her only with relief. There was no way Obake could stop them now.
"We already called Skymax." Go Go explained and watched the robot approach them on her watch. "It'll take Hiro straight to the city hospital."
"We contacted Cass, too." Wasabi added and smiled a bit at Hiro who was leaning against Fred, obviously exhausted. Fred was holding the boy carefully and giving him enough support to stand. "She'll meet Hiro there. Police will already be waiting."
Honey Lemon nodded and checked Go Go's watch. Skymax was approaching quickly, and she was more than thankful that it was. Hiro looked like he was ready to pass out again any second, his eyes halfway closed. Fred had his arm wrapped around the boy's slender frame and supported him so he wouldn't fall. He seemed so much more comfortable since seeing Fred's face without the suit that Honey Lemon was more than sure that his face had triggered one of those memory sparks Momokase had told them about. That reminded her-
"Where's Momokase?" she gasped. She had completely forgotten about the woman who had helped them save their friend. "I thought she was coming here …!"
"Me too." Wasabi admitted but didn't really seem bothered. "She's going to be alright, don't worry. She's super tough." He added with a soft smile when Honey Lemon still seemed skeptical.
"W-Where's Momo …?" they all turned around when they suddenly heard Hiro's voice. He was still gripping onto Fred but had risen his head. Hearing them talk about Momokase seemed to have gotten his attention and he seemed more than just a little worried. "I-Is she okay …?"
"She's fine, Hiro. Don't worry." Honey Lemon said quickly when she noticed the panicky expression that grew on his face. She knelt down to be more on his eye level and gently grabbed his shoulders. "We'll find her later, okay? Right now, the most important thing is to get you to a hospital. Momoka- Momo," she picked up the nickname she had just heard him use, "is going to be just fine. And she'd want for you to go ahead and get some help … does that make sense?"
"Yes, but I-" before Hiro could respond properly there was the defeaning sound of an explosion cutting through the silent night around them, causing all of them to twitch. Without thinking about what was going on or what had happened Honey Lemon immediately wrapped her arms around Hiro to shield him. Fred quickly pulled the two of them to the ground as there was a large fire blast in the air above the cliff. Out of the corner of her eyes she could see Wasabi and Go Go lay down on the ground, their arms covering their head to try and get some shelter.
Honey Lemon hugged Hiro tightly to her chest and tried her best to stay calm as there was debris falling from the sky. It took her a few moments to realize what was happening. The ringing in her ears, the pain in her whole body and the feeling of shock that ran through her body made it hard for her to think. But it didn't take her too long to realize that something, or rather someone, had shot Skymax out of the sky, causing the explosion.
Just a moment later the shockwave came and pulled Fred off of her. She heard him and her friends shout at her and Hiro to grab onto something, to stay safe, but it was no use. The pressure from the explosion that came pulled her off the ground and separated her from Hiro. She couldn't hold onto him no matter how hard she tried.
It took only a few seconds for her to land a few meters back, all air knocked out of her lungs as she hit the ground. She gasped and held her stomach in pain. For a while she couldn't open her eyes and had to stay where she was, unable to move. The ringing in her ears was too loud for her to make out anything that was happening around her, she only felt the world spinning and spinning faster as she lay on her back and tried her best not to pass out. It might have only felt like a few seconds, but she could tell that she was taking too long to get back up.
And when she heard Hiro scream, she knew that something horrible must have happened.
When Hiro hit the ground, he lost his consciousness for just a moment. Everything turned black and then back to white.
He couldn't hear anything for a few seconds before the ringing in his ears made his head hurt. His temple burnt up as he fell and he could feel the blood starting to drip down his cheek again. The bruise on his knee felt like it was on fire and his hurt ankle hurt so much he worried he might never be able to walk on it again.
Hiro tried hard to catch his breath but it seemed impossible. He didn't have the strength to push himself back up and relax the pressure his body weight was putting on his lungs. And so he had to lay there, desperately trying to figure out what had happened and to bear with all the pain. His heart was hammering inside his chest so hard that he thought he could feel his whole body pulsating along with the beats. As he opened his eyes there was a wave of fear washing over him as his vision was too blurry to make out anything. He nauseated as the world kept spinning and his vision doubled.
"Hiro!"
He barely heard his name called as he tried to blink away the blurriness. He was unable to focus his eyes, everything appeared double to him.
When he felt someone grab him and pull him back up to his feet Hiro immediately collapsed. He couldn't put any weight onto his ankle and the spinning made it impossible for him to stand. Another wave of nausea came over him and made him gag. It took all of him to not throw up right onto this person's shoes. Without thinking he grabbed onto the person's shirt and held on as tightly as he could. He had his eyes squeezed shut as he fought with himself to stay up and to not give into the darkness that threatened to take over. He fought with every fiber of his being to endure the pain and nausea and eventually, after what felt like an eternity, he started to feel a little better.
"Hiro!?" he heard his name called repeatedly but needed a while to finally understand what was happening. With the support the person offered he found it easier to recollect himself. The nausea slowly ebbed away and made it easier to stand, the ringing in his ears also got quieter with each moment that passed. Air was able to fill his lungs at last and when he blinked his eyes open again he was so relieved to see that his vision wasn't double anymore. Although it blurred occasionally, he was finally able to see. And when he looked up at the person who had pulled him back up his heart skipped a beat – it was Obake.
The man was looking at him with a mixed expression – he seemed angry, worried and relieved at the same time. His larger hands were gripping onto Hiro, giving him support. Hiro tried to take it all in, but he felt overwhelmed with everything that had happened tonight.
The strangers who had come into his room and convinced him to come, the slope he had fallen down, Momo being gone and then the explosion … it was all too much.
"Are you alright!?" Obake asked and Hiro realized that the man had asked him multiple times without him having noticed. His ears were still ringing. He blinked up at his teacher and just nodded, unable to to form words in his current state.
"What happened?" the man asked him and brushed his hair away from his temple. Hiro winced in pain as the dried hair pulled on the wound. Obake pulled his hand back and held Hiro by his shoulders, but Hiro broke away and let himself fall into the man's arms. The tears were coming before he could stop them as he leaned into the embrace. He had been so frightened and so scared this whole night. Everything hurt and he didn't know what to believe or think anymore.
It was true that he had felt a special connection to the guy in the lizard suit. When he had taken off his suit and revealed his face Hiro had experienced another memory spark. It hadn't been as strong as the ones before, but it had felt different. He had felt it within his heart, not his head like he usually had. So many emotions had washed over him. Somehow, he felt affection and warmth towards the guy named Fred, just like they had been best friends for a long time. Every touch and every word he had said had felt so familiar and so comforting, that Hiro had blindly trusted him. The way Fred had helped him walk, had carried him and given him his clothes – everything made Hiro feel so at home although he had not a single memory of Fred.
As Obake held him close Hiro tried his best to convince himself that he was going to be alright, that nothing would hurt him anymore. Obake was a good man, he thought, he'd let the others go and they'd all return to their respective homes.
Hiro blinked his eyes open and glanced to the site, trying to find the Fred and the others. When he could only see Trina and her robot brother though Hiro slowly broke the hug and turned his head around.
"You're safe now, my boy." Obake said as he supported Hiro to stand. "No need to worry anymore."
Hiro blinked to clear his vision again and frowned as he saw the group of strangers laying on the ground just a few meters next to the edge of the cliffs. After the explosion debris had fallen from the sky, it had buried the woman in the yellow suit beneath it. The man with the green suit was doubled over, panting and trying to catch his breath. The woman named Honey Lemon was laying close by him, not moving and apparently unconscious. And Fred … Hiro couldn't see Fred. Panic rose in his chest as he thought that Fred might have fallen off the cliff when the shockwave of the explosion had come. He looked around frantically, but the man was nowhere to be found.
"I … Fred's not here! W-Where's-" Hiro was about ask but was stopped by Obake. The man turned him away from the others and made him face him instead. He seemed angry that he showed interest in them and Hiro immediately felt nervous once more. The angry and stern look in the man's eyes meant that he was going to get into trouble.
"Those people are dangerous." He told him sternly. "And I want you to stay away from them, you hear me?"
"B-But I-"
"Did you hear me?" Obake interrupted loudly. He had a tight hold of Hiro's shoulders. "They took you from your home, took you away from me and injured you." Hiro gasped when Obake suddenly grabbed him by his jaw and pressed his finger into the wound on his temple. He tried to push the man's hand away, but he only applied more pressure, making the burning feeling get stronger. The man was much stronger than he was and he couldn't break free. "They hurt you." Obake emphasized and kept applying pressure. Hiro tried so hard to bear with the pain, but it was soon getting too much. His vision blurred again and he got even more nauseous than before. He could barely keep standing, everything around him had started to spin.
"Stop … p-please." He gasped loudly and struggled against Obake's grip. "I-It hurts …!"
"If you want me to stop," the man said, "then you have to admit that these people are a bad influence. Do you hear me?"
"Y-Yes!" Hiro shouted at him and kept trying to get the man's hands off of him. "P-Please stop …!"
Obake looked down at him for a moment before removing his hand and letting go of him. Hiro immediately collapsed onto the ground and couldn't stop himself from being sick. The nausea and vertigo were too much. His throat burned as he threw up, tears running down his cheeks.
"Poor boy." He heard Obake say above of him. "You're safe now, don't worry. I won't let them hurt you again."
Hiro was panting heavily as he cowered on the ground. Although he had always felt safe with Obake, right now it wasn't like that. It had taken him a moment to realize, but the man had just deliberately caused him pain, had hurt him on purpose. He had never thought his teacher would ever do anything like that.
And when Hiro slowly turned his head back around looked at the others, still unconscious and injured on the ground, there was a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach. Something must have caused the explosion. The others had said they had called a 'Skymax' – whatever that meant – and that it was going to take him to a hospital. It must have been that machine that had exploded in the sky. And it was just then that Hiro realized that machines didn't just spontaneously explode and that it must have been shot down … Obake must have shot it down. And just when he realized that Hiro came to one single conclusion.
Obake was dangerous.
"Trina?"
Hiro looked back up at the man in front of him but didn't dare to move. After realizing what the man had done, he didn't want to be anywhere near him. He was terrified.
As Trina stopped forward and stood by Obake's side Hiro noticed the weapons the two of them were carrying. In Trina's hand he saw something that resembled a rifle and in Obake's hand there was a gun. Hiro's blood froze at the sight and he couldn't help but to just stare at them in shock. His whole body was starting to tremble again as fear took over him. He couldn't feel the pain anymore, couldn't hear the ringing in his ears. Instead he only heard his heart beat and the adrenaline pumping through his veins. His breathing flattened.
They noticed but didn't react. Obake instead instructed Trina to round the others up and to 'make sure they weren't going to get in the way'. Hiro watched in horror as Trina stepped forward, the rifle at the ready and left him with Obake.
"P-Please don't hurt them!" Hiro begged shakily and looked up at the man. "Please d-don't!"
Obake looked at him and raised a brow. "You want me to spare these criminals?" Hiro nodded, his bottom lip trembling as more tears dwelled in his eyes. "Hiro," Obake knelt in front of him and placed a hand on his shoulders, "I know you are scared, but it's not because of me. It's because of these people that you feel this way." Hiro shivered at the man's touch but didn't dare to push him away, worried how he might react. "Once we get back home you'll feel better, I promise. I'll take care of your injuries and then it'll be like nothing happened. In a couple of days you won't even be thinking about this anymore."
"Yeah, because you'll brainwash him again!"
Hiro twitched in surprised when he heard the man behind him shout. He looked over his shoulder and saw the guy in the green suit glaring at Obake. He didn't seem to be able to stand up, but that didn't stop him from shouting. "It'll be like nothing happened because you'll make sure he forgets!"
"Make me f-forget?" Hiro repeated and looked back up at Obake in front of him. "W-What is he-"
"Nothing." Obake dismissed Hiro. "He's trying to lie his way out of this. Trina, take care of them." Just when Trina pointed the rifle at the guy, he shouted for Hiro to listen.
"Hiro! We're your friends! You built our suits! You are a superhero!" Hiro stared at him in shock, unable to believe any of the words he was saying. He kept looking from him to Obake and back to him, his heart racing and head pounding.
"Lies." Obake insisted to try and get Hiro to stop listening. "Trina!"
"N-No, don't!" Hiro begged again and grabbed onto Obake's leg. "I-I'll do anything! Just don't-" it was just then that the guy said something that made Hiro's blood freeze and his whole body tense. His head felt like it was about to explode as he heard him say:
"You're Tadashi Hamada's little brother!"
*
