Chapter 3: Miami Madness
Instead of taking only an hour to get to San Fransokyo, the Bus didn't reach Miami until a day later. Hiro practically slept the whole way there. Coulson had given him his own room, which was only six feet by six feet, but Hiro still had no trouble falling asleep. He awoke when he felt the plane touch the ground.
Hiro walked out of his small room to find Coulson and a woman he hadn't seen before sitting in the lounge.
"Coulson," the woman said, "what are we even doing here? The only information we have on this guy is that the kid heard him say Miami a few times. This is a waste of time."
"Well, until something world threatening appears like robots trying to destroy the earth, than this is our mission. I know it's not a lot to go on, but there is a known HYDRA base stationed in Miami. If Ansgar isn't there, than at least that's another base under our control."
"What about the kid? He's a liability. We can't take him with us."
"I know that May-"
"I mean he shouldn't even be on the Bus. HYDRA's after him. If we're flying him around, we might as well have a target painted on our back."
"May, the ship has a S.H.I.E.L.D. logo on it. We already have a target on our back."
"I'm serious Coulson. We're going up against an army. We can't be babysitting this kid."
"He's one of the most advanced minds the world has ever seen. I think he can handle himself." May got up from her seat in a chair.
"Well I think this is a mistake." May stormed out of the lounge.
"Well," Hiro said. "She doesn't seem to like me." Coulson must not have known Hiro was there. When Hiro spoke, he turned around surprised.
"It's not you," he said. "She's just doesn't like it when a plan's not perfect. Also, she's not in the best of moods today."
"Right," Hiro said. "So, when do we go out and find Ansgar?"
"We?" Coulson said, raising his eyebrow.
"I am coming, aren't I?"
"Hiro, I know back home you're a superhero, but with us, right now, you're just Hiro Hamada."
"So, what? I just stay here?"
"Fitz will still be here to keep an eye on you."
"Didn't you just tell May I could handle myself?"
"I was… trying to win the argument."
"Well, I hate to burst your bubble Coulson, but i'm going with you." Hiro wasn't just going to sit around. That wasn't his style. Almost every day, he was out fighting crime with his friends. He wasn't about to sit back and do nothing while these people risk their lives to save his friends and family.
"I'm sorry Hiro, but this is going to be dangerous and I don't want you to get hurt."
"I'll bring my armor."
"Your armor?" Coulson said skeptically. "You mean the armor that's an entire country away in San Fransokyo?"
"Not for long." Hiro pulled up his sleeve to reveal a wristwatch, which for some reason HYDRA hadn't confiscated. He pushed two of his fingers down on two buttons, and the watch was blinking with a blue light. "It should be on it's way."
"Are you saying you've developed technology similar to that of Tony Stark's?"
"Well, sort of. When i'm in the middle of the city, and there's a crime in progress, I just push this and the armor comes to me."
"Right. Like Iron Man."
"Yeah, but I don't have to shoot sensors into my skin. The armor just follows the watch's signal and can tell which part of my body to attach to. To be honest, I don't know what Tony Stark was thinking with the whole sensors in his skin thing. That seems a little extreme." Hiro admired Tony Stark's work, he really did. But, sometimes it seemed like he took the most dangerous paths to making technology, when Hiro could find the more safe way that made the tech work just the same.
"I'm not going to be able to stop you from going am I?" Coulson said sighing.
"Nope," Hiro said stubbornly.
"Well then, suit up. We leave in an hour.
Honey Lemon was pacing back and forth in Fred's bedroom. She had received a phone call the night before from Hiro, someone who had been missing for three months.
"Honey Lemon, calm down," Wasabi told her. "Are you sure it was Hiro? You said it was an unknown number, and why would he just hang up?"
"I know it was him Wasabi!" Honey Lemon yelled. "He sounded just like Hiro. He told me someone had kidnapped him, and that they were coming to hurt us."
"Who, who, slow down there," GoGo said. "Hiro said he was kidnapped? By who?"
"Oh, I know he said the name," Honey Lemon said, rubbing her temples. "It was the name of some organization. Something like… HYDRA! That's what it was." Honey Lemon could hear Fred jumping over the couch and walking over to her.
"Did you say HYDRA?" he said.
"Fred, do you know what that is?" Honey Lemon asked.
"We should all know what it is," he replied. "Didn't you guys ever pay attention in history class?"
"Uh, Fred," GoGo said, sitting in a bean bag chair, "we're science majors. We didn't get there by paying attention in social studies. What's the point?"
"HYDRA was a terrorist organization in the 1940's. Their leader Red Skull was the arch enemy of Captain America."
"That's why you know so much," Wasabi said matter of factly. "It's the story of the world's first superhero."
"Uh, yeah, duh."
"How could Hiro be kidnapped by an organization that was taken down in the forties?" Honey Lemon asked.
"Oh, you guys have so much to learn about conspiracies." Fred walked over to his TV and switched it on. On the screen was a news broadcast that showed a picture of a large airship crashing into an even larger building.
"One year ago," Fred continued, "the Triskelion, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s main base of operations, had one of it's own helicarriers crash head on into the building. The news said it was just some kind of a computer malfunction, but look at the damage. This had to have been done on purpose, and I think HYDRA's behind it."
"So, let me get this straight," GoGo said closing her eyes. "HYDRA has still existed all of this time without anyone, not even S.H.I.E.L.D., knowing about it? And now they've kidnapped Hiro? What's to gain?"
"Yeah, and why is it that your TV is always conveniently turned to the channel that sums up your point?" Wasabi asked. "I mean, this broadcast is from last year, how is this even possible?"
"Look guys," Fred said, ignoring Wasabi's question, "Hiro's a smart guy. Callaghan even stole his microbots because he couldn't make them himself. It only makes sense that someone would want him to build something… or something like that."
"Well, if he called me," Honey Lemon said, "then that means that he's free or something, and now he wants us to protect ourselves and Cass."
"You know what I think? GoGo said, standing up. "You guys are delusional. I know you guys miss Hiro, so do I. But I think you guys are just trying to make yourselves believe he's okay-" GoGo was interrupted by a loud crash coming from outside.
"What the hell was that?" GoGo asked, running out of Fred's room with her friends in tow. The team ran out into Fred's backyard and looked to a large shed, where their armor was stored.
"Is something trying to get out?" Wasabi asked, not wanting to go near the loud banging. Fred began to walk to the shed.
"Let me check-" the shed door exploded when many pieces of armor flew out, causing Fred to fall on his back.
"Is that… Hiro's armor?" Honey Lemon asked, helping Fred to his feet.
"Where's it going?" GoGo asked.
"Hiro," Wasabi said, watching the armor soar through the sky. "Hiro's the only one who can make his armor do that. He must be out there… somewhere."
"But… where?" Honey Lemon was watching the armor too. Now there was no denying it: Hiro was alive. He was out there somewhere, and if he needed his armor, then he was in danger.
The small S.H.I.E.L.D team was standing outside the Bus next to an open hatch. This HYDRA base was pretty small, so they didn't need to bring a bunch of soldiers like last time.
"What are we waiting for?" May asked. "HYDRA might already be on to us. By the time we get there, Ansgar is going to be gone and we'll probably have a bunch of HYDRA agents waiting for us." May clearly was not one to just wing it. She wanted this plan completely thought out from beginning to end, without any bumps in the road.
"We're waiting for my armor," Hiro said looking at his watch. "Right now it's over Tampa, so it should be here in a minute." May gave him a blank stare, but Hiro could tell by the look in her eyes that she wanted to say something like 'I really want to throw you off the Bus during flight'. She must have saw Hiro as one of the bumps in the road.
"Well Hiro" Coulson said, "you're going to have to hurry up, because May's right. It's only a matter of time before HYDRA notices a S.H.I.E.L.D. airship has landed near their base of operations, so we need to-" Coulson was interrupted by the sound of rockets.
Hiro looked to the sky, and saw his armor flying toward him.
"Oh, i've got it," Hiro put his hand in the air, and his right gauntlet attached to his right arm, where his watch was. He needed to get that one on first, because without it, the rest of the armor wouldn't know where to attach itself too. Hiro had learned that when he made the mistake of putting his chestplate on first and was trampled by the rest of his armor.
"That's pretty cool," Skye said. Hiro didn't know what to make of her. He had only heard her speak a few words, so that clearly wasn't enough to label her. May on the other hand was obviously annoyed by Hiro's presence. "Why hasn't Tony Stark come knocking down your door?"
"Pff," Hiro said, "Tony Stark doesn't have anything on me. I'm like him times ten."
"You know there are people who have said that that have never been heard from again?" Coulson said. At that, Hiro stopped talking smack about Tony Stark. The rest of the armor was coming, so Hiro got ready. He caught the left gauntlet, which clamped itself around Hiro;s arm. Then came the chestplate, and the leg armor. Hiro had to grab his helmet. He learned that it probably wasn't such a good idea to have a large piece of metal flying who knows how fast toward his face. So, he decided he would just catch it, and place it on his head.
"Alright then," he said, adjusting his helmet, "i'm ready."
"About time," May mumbled, getting into a jeep that was in the cargo hold of the Bus. It was one of those cool suped up military kind of jeeps. May was driving, which kind of scared Hiro. "Get in."
It wasn't a very long drive. It only took about forty five minutes to get to the HYDRA base. Although to Hiro, the ride took ages. He had to sit in the back with Skye, while Coulson took shotgun and sat next to May as she was driving. There was silence for the entire ride, up until the point where Coulson began discussing the plan.
"Alright," he said, turning to face, Skye and Hiro, "the HYDRA base is underneath an abandoned warehouse just a mile or two outside of Miami. Once we're inside, we fight our way through any HYDRA resistance, and take Ansgar Teufel into custody. Only then will your friends and aunt be safe Hiro." That made Hiro feel better. That's what Hiro liked about Coulson; he was optimistic. Always saying that something's going to happen, rather than it might. Then Hiro began to wonder something.
"Hey Coulson," he said, "the base you found me in… i'm pretty sure it was made just for holding people, like a jail. What's this HYDRA base being used for?"
"We're not sure," Coulson replied. "It's small, but it's been emitting a lot of energy, much like the kind we picked up from the tesseract. Whatever it's for, we can only assume that they will guard it with their lives."
"Why does HYDRA always find the most cliché hiding places?" Hiro asked. "I mean really, an abandoned warehouse? They might as well hang a big neon sign that says 'HYDRA base. Bad Guys Get In Free'." Coulson stared at Hiro for a while.
"Out of everything I told you, that's the one thing you decided to analyze?"
"Well… yeah. I heard the other stuff too, but HYDRA's so stupid, it bugs me. How did they even manage to hide from you guys for so long?"
"HYDRA's cunning Hiro. They were inside of S.H.I.E.L.D. from the very start back in the nineteen forties, and only last year did they decide to show themselves."
"Well in any case, if the place is underground, then Ansgar won't have anywhere to run when we get there."
"Don't jinx it," Skye said. "We've actually seen people who can vanish into thin air."
"Uh, he was actually just jumping between our dimension and another," Coulson spoke up. Hiro was so far impressed by S.H.I.E.L.D. For the past year, they had been watching him, as if Hiro didn't know. It was obvious. He saw the same people, at the same place, at the same time of day, clearly they were following him, and Hiro didn't quite like that. He had heard stories about S.H.I.E.L.D. taking super powered people and trying to turn them into weapons. Hiro though that was an exaggeration, but he still didn't want to end up as some S.H.I.E.L.D tool But now, hearing all the talk about secret organizations, and dimension jumping men, he was beginning to like the way they operated. He never ran into any super powered criminals.
The jeep finally pulled into a heavily forested area outside of the city. Just a few miles into the forest was a large warehouse that looked like it hadn't been entered in years, not even by rats.
The team exited the Jeep, and began making their way towards the warehouse, pistols raised. Hiro didn't have guns, but he did have the repulsor blasts in his gauntlets. Man, his armor really was like Tony Stark's.
The warehouse had a large open door, like an airplane hangar, so they decided to enter through there.
"This place is creepy," Skye said, looking around. She wasn't wrong. It was pitch black, other than the light seeping through the open door. The place also looked like it was used as the set of a horror film. Broken machinery, hanging hooks and chains, it's like HYDRA had seen every bad movie ever, and based all of their locations on it.
"I've seen creepier," Hiro said, thinking back to his visit to Akuma Island. The place was practically falling apart when he and his friends found it, and it's where he found Robert Callaghan aka Yokai. This didn't seem any different.
A loud bang sounded from the corner of the warehouse, causing May, Coulson, and Skye to point their guns in different locations. Out of the corner of his eye, Hiro saw something move in the shadows.
"Did you guys see that?" he whispered. Coulson nodded. Unexpectedly, he began to yell.
"Who's there?!" No answer. Then the dark figure leaped from the ceiling and landed in the center of the team. Skye began firing, only to have the bullets be dodged by the figure. They were wearing a black hoodie, and similar pants. Didn't seem like a HYDRA agent, but was still creepy none the less.
The figure was jumping around, dodging the teams fire like a ninja. May ran up to the hooded stranger and pointed her gun.
"Don't move, unless you'd prefer to be full of-" May didn't get to finish her sentence when her gun was whipped out of her hand by the figure's lightning quick hand. The attacker ran for the door. Hiro was beginning to think they didn't want to fight, but he still wanted answers. Hiro lifted his arm and shot a repulsor blast at the figure's back, knocking them on their chest.
"Woh, did you just kill him?" Skye asked.
"What, no," Hiro replied. "I hit them with a stun repulsor."
"Nice job," Coulson said, looking at the body of the hooded figure. The team began to sneak quietly toward the unconscious body, as if it would get up and kill all of them. Man, why couldn't Hiro stop thinking about horror movies?
The figure moaned in pain, and May grabbed them by their shoulder and turned them on their back.
"No!" the figure screamed covering their face with their hands. "Don't take me back, I can't take it!" The figures voice was masculine, but had a certain… well it was hard to describe. The voice sounded human, yet also not at the same time.
"Who are you?!" May yelled. Wanting to look at May, the figure moved his hands, revealing his face, and the first thing Hiro noticed is that it was covered in green scales
(A/N) Creepy huh? Sorry I took so long to write this one, but I had writers block, also I got bored for a while, then I had this bowling tournament… don't judge me, these are all valid excuses. Kind of. But seriously, I had a hard time writing this one. At first I was going to have the creepy scaley guy be discovered following an exploration of the warehouse's basement, but then I thought that last part can wait for the next chapter. BTW, I know in Captain America Winter Soldier that it was probably revealed on the news that it was HYDRA who attacked S.H.I.E.L.D., but I like to think of it as a world where it was unknown to the general public that it was HYDRA. You know, for plot purposes. That's DaydreamDepartment out of your hair! )