The crowd roared, pushing and jostling against one another. Despite almost being knocked off her feet, Rena couldn't tear her eyes away from the fight.
Hiro sat with his back to his siblings, so all Rena could see was Yama's face, screwed up in concentration. The huge man was punching his remote so viciously she was surprised he didn't break it in two. His bot flew across the ring, dodging and attacking so fast she could barely keep up with it.
Yet, Hiro was faster. She hated to admit it, but in that moment she realised why Brian looked up to him. He seemed to anticipate Yama's every move, blocking it before it even happened. It was mesmerising, even for someone who hadn't stepped foot in the ring before.
'What are we gonna do?' Tadashi muttered, so quiet she could barely hear him over the jeering.
'I don't know! He... he might loose?'
But even as she said this, she knew it was never going to be true. Hiro laughed at Yama's face of anger and in one deft move, extended his remote. He sat forwards slightly and his hands flew across the remote. His bot wrapped around Yama's and in under ten seconds had removed one of its arms.
'What can I say Yama,' he said smugly, 'that move never fails!'
Yama gave a yell of fury and his bot slashed at Hiro's. It cut the head of it off but no sooner had this happened when the bot collapsed and the head re-attached itself.
Hiro yawned. 'Pathetic.'
Tadashi had his hands over his eyes, 'will he STOP taunting him?! Jesus Christ!'
Yama's bot swung for Hiro's and toppled over. The crowd jeered at Yama and his face turned beet red as he desperately tried to right it. Unfortunately for him, it was no use and within mere seconds Hiro's bot had swarmed on it. Rena watched in horror as Megabot finished off Yama's robot, reducing it to a pile of scraps.
Hiro sat back and cracked his knuckles as the crowd roared. 'Thanks Yama.' He grinned. He stood and grabbed his bot, shoving it into his pocket. 'That was fun! Re-match? Same time next week?'
Yama was quivering. A bomb about to explode, and the whole room sensed it.
'Let's get out of here.' A man next to Rena said to his friends as they turned and pushed their way through the crowd. He wasn't the only one; everyone was scrambling for the exits or desperately trying to grab their winnings before all hell broke loose.
Rena could sense it, and she was filled with terror for what was about to happen.
'I'll just take my winnings and go then!' Hiro said brightly, stepping past Yama and heading towards the woman.
'Not so fast, Zero.' Yama said, his voice dangerously low.
Rena stumbled backwards, crashing into Tadashi. The crowd was thinning rapidly, soon they would be the only ones left.
'Come on Yama! You said you'd play fair this time! No one likes a sore loser.'
Tadashi pointed to a group of scary looking men approaching the ring, the only people in the room not running away from it. 'Yama's gang.' He whispered, voice shaking with fear.
Yama's fist slammed into Hiro's stomach, sending him flying backwards. Rena bit down a yell.
'They can't know we're here! Tadashi, we need to hide!'
'No! We can't leave him!' Tadashi protested tearfully.
Rena grabbed a handful of his jacket and pulled him towards her. 'Listen, idiot. They know we're here, we're only endangering ourselves as well as him. We need to get back and form a plan.'
She grabbed his arm and pulled him back, stumbling in her haste to get away from the scene.
'Yama, let's talk about this like civilised adults.' Hiro said in the background.
'Why do that when the other option is so much more fun?!'
Rena didn't look back, knowing that if she did she wouldn't be able to resist running back to help him. Her eyes darted around the huge room until they landed on a huge metal door. She pulled Tadashi towards it, shoving roughly past the few stragglers that were left. They reached the door and she threw her shoulder against it, revealing a cleaning cupboard. She pulled her brother inside and slammed it shut. He collapsed on a mop bucket, head in his hands. Rena leant against a wall, a broom shoving uncomfortably against her back.
'Okay. Plan. Now.'
'We need to get back out there.' Tadashi replied, 'like, now.'
'Don't be stupid. I've already said, we can't. Now get a grip and help me come up with some kind of plan!'
Tadashi shook his head. 'You don't even care, do you? They'll kill him, and you want us to sit here and come up with a battle plan.'
Rena stared at him in disbelief. 'Fine then! Go out there, and get beaten to a pulp next to him. Fat lot of help you'd be.'
He didn't reply. Rena rolled her eyes and pulled her phone out her pocket. 'I'm calling the group chat. Unless you have any smarter ideas?'
'Don't get them involved!'
'Then what do you suggest we do?!'
Tadashi opened his mouth to respond when a guttering scream ripped through the air. His face drained of colour and Rena nearly dropped her phone, her heart hammering in her chest.
'What the fuck are they doing?' Tadashi whispered in horror.
Rena's hands were shaking as she clicked the green call icon. She brought it up to her ear, expecting an answer within seconds. Instead, nothing. The phone ran through and she let out a groan of frustration as she shoved it back into her pocket.
'No answer. We can't stick around here and wait.'
'So what do you suggest we actually do then?'
'A distraction.'
Tadashi nodded and stood, pacing feverishly up and down in the three feet of space they had. 'The hall's empty by now, if the rate at which people were leaving stayed constant... we just need to keep Yama distracted for long enough.'
'What about his cronies?'
'He'll send them to do the dirty work. If we go out there, it'll be those guys going after us.'
'Yeah. You're right. We can't both go out, one of us needs to sneak around and grab Hiro.'
They looked at each other.
'I'll be the distraction.' They said at the same time.
'The distraction is more likely to be caught Tadashi, I'm better in a fight.'
'No. I'm going.'
'I-'
'You can't change my mind on this. I'll distract them, you grab Hiro.'
'But-'
Before Rena could finish her sentence, Tadashi opened the door and slipped out into the hall. Rena pressed her ear against it but the wood was too thick to hear anything aside from general shouts.
'Bastard!' She muttered angrily, kicking a wet floor sign and sending it skidding across the room. It landed next to a box of cleaning equipment and she dove down next to it, scavenging through for anything useful. She shoved a random bottle of bleach into her pocket and a roll of bandages, praying she wouldn't have to use either.
Rena stood and walked over to the door, cranking it open a tiny bit. Thankfully, it was positioned just behind a beam so Yama couldn't see her. Tadashi was stood in the middle of the room, desperately trying to bargain with Yama. Rena resisted the temptation to scoff. Of course bargaining was never going to work, the idiot.
She craned her neck around the corner for a glimpse of Hiro. He was on the floor behind Yama, curled into a ball and lying still on the ground. Her heart leapt into her throat. She had to move, and fast.
She slipped out and pressed her back to the wall, waving frantically to Tadashi. He seemed to notice and slowly circled around until Yama's cronies had their backs to him. She breathed a sigh of relief and slowly began to make her way towards Hiro.
'Isn't it a bit weak to be beating up a fourteen year old though?' Tadashi yelled across the room. Rena held her breath as Yama's cronies stepped towards him, cracking their knuckles. She let it out again when Yama roared at them to stop and stepped towards Tadashi himself.
'How dare you speak to Yama like that?! Who even are you?!'
'Oh.. no one you'll know.' Tadashi replied confidentially. Of course this last bit was a lie, Rena knew full well he was beyond terrified.
'You have a lot of nerve showing up here kid.' Yama spat.
Rena seized the opportunity and ran towards Hiro. Yama and his gang were completely distracted by Tadashi (who was now teaching them enthusiastically about robotics) and did not notice her pelting it across the ginormous hall.
She dived to her knees and gently grabbed his side.
'Leave me alone.' He muttered quietly.
'No, no I'm not gonna hurt you.' She whispered softly, 'it's me.'
Hiro opened his eyes and gasped, panic flaring in his eyes. 'Rena! I- how? What? Why-'
'Shush!' Rena whispered urgently, turning around to see if Yama had spotted them. Thankfully, he was still being lectured by her older brother. 'Are you okay? What was the screaming for? What did they do to you?'
'I'm fine!' He replied, 'now get out of here! It's dangerous.'
'Don't even start that. Can you sit up?' She hauled him up slowly, wary of both his injuries and the fact that Yama could turn around any second and spot them.
'Honestly I'm fine!' As he said this, Rena pulled his arm over her shoulder and her hand brushed against a dark patch on his side.
'Try TELLING me next time!' She hissed, reaching into her pocket and pulling out the role of bandages.
'Rena, it's literally a scratch. Don't waste time bandaging it!' Hiro whispered, annoyed.
'You're hurt-'
'Yeah I know, but I'll deal with it. Please, I don't want anyone else to get hurt.'
Rena sighed. 'Fine. Can you walk?'
'...Probably?'
She sighed and hoisted him onto her back with some difficulty. The wet patch of blood was warm against her back and she grimaced. She looked over at Tadashi nervously, increasingly aware of how close he was to gaining some injuries of his own.
'Okay, we're gonna get you to Baymax-'
Suddenly, the door flew open. Everyone in the room turned to the direction of the loud noise and then a lot of things happened at once.
Gogo, Wasabi and Honey Lemon were standing there in the doorframe. Not only that, but they were in full superhero gear. Rena gave a loud whoop and Hiro cheered loudly. Yama gave a roar of fury and Tadashi yelled as one of the cronies seized the distraction to kick him in the chest, sending him flying backwards. Another one of Yama's men spotted Rena and yelled 'THE BOY!' just as Rena was trying to get away. Honey Lemon ran forwards, an orange ball in hand. She threw it at Yama's gang and two of them were trapped in sticky orange goo.
Yama charged straight for Rena, the rest of them were pre-occupied with the sudden appearance of geared up teenagers. Gogo and Wasabi were back to back, each fighting two thugs. Honey Lemon was darting around the place, throwing chemicals and smoke bombs into the air.
Rena staggered back and Hiro slid off, leaning against the wall and panting. She stood in front of him protectively, her hand closed tightly around the bottle of bleach she had managed to grab from the cupboard. Yama stopped in front of her and laughed.
'You think you can stop me, little girl?! That boy is an enemy to more than just me you know!'
She was so distracted by this last fact that she didn't even think to be angry about the fact that Yama had just called her a little girl. 'What? Who?'
Yama threw his head back and laughed. 'I know who you are! Your entire family is worth a lot of money to me...'
Rena stared at him in shock. The death threats. She knew it all linked back to botfighting! 'Wrong family buddy, sorry!'
Yama swung at her. Rena ducked just in time, although she wasn't quick enough for the well-aimed kick that Yama aimed straight at her face. She fell back onto her hands and knees, spitting blood and a chipped tooth onto the floor.
Yama roared with malicious laughter and stepped past her. 'Zero! You can't run from Yama! NO ONE embarrasses me like that!'
Rena twisted around and grabbed his leg, pulling with all her might. Yama fell to the side, momentarily distracted. Hiro scrambled away and ran back towards his friends. Yama shook her off quickly and Rena rolled onto her back, staring up at his giant form looming above her. He raised his foot, ready to slam it down onto her face. Rena closed her eyes, bracing for the impact-
But it never came. Luckily for her, Baymax's rocket fist came through the wall and the explosion sent Yama off his feet. Rena sat up, coughing in the dust yet laughing like a maniac.
'FRED!' Gogo yelled, 'what was wrong with the door?!'
'This is infinitely more cool!' Fred shouted victoriously. He jumped over to Rena and pulled her to her feet.
'FRED!' She exclaimed, wrapping her arms around the ridiculous suit. 'Oh man I'm so glad to see you guys! We were FUCKED!'
Fred laughed as Baymax came slowly over.
'Hello Rena, do you need any medical assistance?'
'Oh man!' Rena slapped a hand to her head. 'Hiro! Hiro does!'
Yama stirred, shouting about revenge. Fred took this as his cue to leave, and jumped away to distract the man.
Rena tore through the chaos, searching for her brother. He was collapsed against the wall, holding his side with his head bowed low. She made a beeline for him, almost being sliced in half by Wasabi's blades.
'Hiro!' She yelled, adrenaline coursing through her.
He looked up, tears in his eyes. Straightening out his arms, he stepped towards her and his legs folded beneath him. Rena dived forward and caught him, hugging him tightly. 'I knew it was bad! You dickhead!'
'Yeah well...' Hiro said faintly.
Baymax came wandering over. 'Hello Hiro, on a scale of 1-10, how would you rate your pain?'
Hiro stared at him. '7. Wait... Am I... am I hallucinating? How much blood have I lost?' He said weakly.
'No! We finished him at SFIT.' Rena said, 'but that doesn't matter!'
Baymax leant forwards and scooped Hiro up. 'My sensors detect a puncture wound on your right hand side. You need my care now.'
'You were STABBED?!' Rena screeched, eyes alit with fury. 'And you just thought not to say anything! I- Baymax! Go outside away from here and treat him!'
Baymax waddled away out of the open door, leaving Rena alone and exposed in the midst of whatever was going on. A pained shout filled the air and she whirled around to see Tadashi on the floor, backing desperately away from one of Yama's men. The sight filled her with fury - the man was holding Tadashi's bionic leg and was waving it over his head. She charged towards him, grabbing the bleach from her bottle and twisting the lid off as she ran towards him. The guy waved the leg above his head, about to bring it down on Tadashi.
'HEY! DICKHEAD!' Rena screeched. The man turned towards her and she dived towards him, squeezing the bottle and sending a stream of citrus bleach straight towards his face. He let out a scream of pain and dropped to his knees, the leg landing next to him on the floor. Rena seized it and threw it to Tadashi, giving the guy one last kick before kneeling on the floor next to her brother.
'Was that BLEACH?' Tadashi asked loudly, eyes wide.
'Yes! He deserved it! The fuck did he do, tear it off you?'
Tadashi winced. 'Yeah. Pretty much.'
He attached it in lightning speed. Rena helped him to his feet with some difficulty, but eventually they were both standing upright. The fight was drawing to a close, Honey Lemon had managed to trap all the gang in her wonderful chemical inventions. The only person left standing was Yama.
'WAIT!' Rena shouted. She jogged over to her friends and stared Yama down. 'Honey, trap him against the wall, but make sure he can still talk!'
Honey Lemon did as she was told, much to Yama's protests. Rena stood opposite the giant man, her arms crossed.
'Now.. Yama. You're going to tell me exactly what is going on here.'
