Keeping to the back roads once leaving the freeway, Tadashi saw the bright lights streaming from the main campus building eight minutes before he reached the grounds. They filtered through the alleys like artificial sunlight, like a beacon rising above the low apartment buildings.
Fractured by staggering shadows and off-kilter laughter.
Though he'd ridden this way countless times – it was faster than going around drop-off to where the campus perched on the highest hill in the city – his muscles always kinked into knots when he passed the downtown slums. Something burning made him sneeze. The whooshing air here seemed thicker, denser, more suffocating than uptown. But it shouldn't have made him uneasy.
Inferno – heck, Immortal Seven – had faced worse, far worse, than a smog clogged alleyway.
Even so, he relaxed only as his engine gunned uphill, leaving the slums behind.
Finally on campus grounds, the air freshened with the mingling scents of freshly shorn grass and churned dirt and nimbly twisting trees abloom with delicate pink flowers. Tadashi envied them; perhaps the only bit of organic matter that hadn't withered under the brutal heat. Abigail's work, no doubt. The cherry blossoms were rather fond of her. As was the hedge maze, the peonies, clematis, petunias. The lotus blooms dotting the pond with vibrant bursts of gilded magenta absolutely adored her. Even the grass had a little more spring to their fibers whenever she walked by, as though living up to their potential. The advantages of being a botany elemental no doubt. Tadashi tried not to begrudge her. After all her powers were truly beautiful and they made the SFI gardens the best place in the world to study…
Or check out girls, Hiro's favorite pastime these days. And Tadashi had thought bot-fighting was bad.
Stowing his motorcycle in his designated parking space, a volt of magnetism locking the wheels so that they hovered several inches above the pad. It wouldn't release without pressing his fingertips to the raised panel dotting the front of every parking pad, so it was virtually impossible to steal. Gogo's design. In three years she'd come a long way in magnetic suspension. Now a senior like the rest of the team – Hiro naturally skipped a year and would be the youngest SFI graduate ever at seventeen – her invention had been patented and plans were set to install them throughout the city. Which gave her all the time she needed to focus on what really drove her: speed.
Tadashi jogged up the steps, flashed his wrist under the door scanner, and hurried indoors. It was late enough that only Chhay, head of the janitorial staff, and his busily working androids, Lavinia, Golem, and Upton remained in the lobby. Naturally he was overseeing the preparation for tomorrow's opening ceremony. Tadashi couldn't help but pity the man, though he would never tell Chhay that. An accident fifteen four years prior had taken his right calf, forcing him to replace it with a cybernetic one. Since then, denigrated to second-class status, the only real job he'd managed to hold was that of a janitor. Many parents had protested, said they didn't want their little darlings in the presence of a half-metal monstrosity. Callahan hadn't cared and for as long as Tadashi could remember he'd never seen him so furious. The mayor had gotten involved, claimed it went against the Cyborg Protection Act, but Robert Callahan would not be swayed. So Chhay remained, and SFI was better for it.
Once, Tadashi had glimpsed the mental appendage, stumbled upon Chhay fiddling with the wiring and singeing his fingers when sparks fizzled along the lines. The sight had made him nauseous, added a slither of disquiet whenever he spoke to the janitor. Knowing that in a small part of his skull, tucked under his brain, a jumble of circuits lay, controlling a part of him…
"Hey Chhay," he called, pushing aside his misgivings. The seventy-something-year-old slowly nodded to Tadashi's raised hand of greeting, a smile creasing deep divots into his face.
"Working late tonight, sonny?" He replied, voice thickly accented. "I ought to commend you. S'not even first week and you're already– Not there Golem, ya bolt-head. It'll streak."
"Yeah." Tadashi said, slowing slightly. "Got tons of stuff to sort out with the gang before freshman orientation tomorrow. Hiro and I are doing the keynote presentation." It wasn't a lie, technically. They had planned to give everything a final run through before that stupid message from C.A.D.
"Well don't let this old man's rambling keep you." Chhay grinned, shooing him along with a knurled, vein-webbed. "I'll be looking forward to seeing it."
"Thanks. Hey, do you want me to take another look at Golem? It looks like it's about to do something illegal with that."
"Golem!" Chhay whipped around, more agile than most would give him credit for, and deftly snatched a buffing tool from the faulty android's outstretched prongs, before it smacked Upton over the head. Before it could react, he jammed a finger into its power button.
"I think I'll take you up on that offer." He grumbled. "Haven't the head for programming. Thank you."
"No, problem." Tadashi grunted, hoisting the heavy droid into his arms. "I'll look for you in the crowd. Make a shout out to the janitorial staff."
"What, these useless lugs?" Chhay snorted. "No, you'll be better off thanking Mr. Callahan. He's the reason we're all here after all."
"Can't argue with that."
"Now get on with you. It's getting late and I need to make it back to my apartment before curfew sets in." He patted his cyborg leg wistfully and though it was concealed by his baggy uniform, Tadashi winced.
"Later Chhay."
He quickened his pace when he rounded the corner, though the weight of the android strained on his arms. Despite speeding and taking the shortcut, he was pushing his promise on forty-five minutes. The robotics laboratory was on the top floor, five stories up, so Tadashi headed for the elevator with all intentions of going down. Even at this late, it'd been idiotic to hold a top secret meeting in the most frequented department on campus. Might as well scream to the world they were superheroes. Oddly enough Fred, of all people, had solved that minor issue four years back though all things considered, the location mainly, it shouldn't have been surprising. Punching the glowing panel for the basement level, Tadashi's distorted reflection shifted between its feet as he waited.
He didn't have to wait long – SFI elevators had a rep for being fastest in the city – but as the silver doors glided open, pulling his reflection in two, he immediately wished he had.
Dark blonde hair slicked stiffly, blue eyes narrowing, mocking when they saw him. Teddy Banks, womanizer, class A jerk-off, and Tadashi's bitterest rival strode out of the elevator like he owned the place. Which he did, unofficially, indirectly. His father, Cyrus Banks III, owned half the city and personally paid for the main campus building.
Regrettably.
"Hamada." Tadashi didn't know if Banks was surprised or annoyed to see him standing there. If he had to guess, probably a mixture of both. He himself felt something akin to disgust. Loathing. A mixture of both. "It's been a while."
Three and a half months to be exact. A desperately needed respite, but not nearly long enough.
Tadashi steeled his expression, though a muscle twitched in his cheek, and shouldered pass him, veering for the stairwell.
"Evening, Banks."
To his chagrin, the other boy fell in step with him, tone amiable yet laced with an undertone of distain. Tadashi's thinly veiled patience dissolved like ice beneath the August sun.
"What do you want?"
"Where're you going Hamada?" Banks ignored him. "Last I checked you're a robotics major and the robotics lab is… fifth floor, right?" As if he didn't know. They had the same major. Grinding his teeth as spasm's of almost irrational anger throbbed against his skull, Tadashi grit out.
"Yeah, well last I checked the med labs are on the basement floor and seeing as I double major in neuroscience…" He yanked the stairwell door open and drummed down, readjusting his grip on Golem, resisting the urge to trip Banks when he followed. That or drive a fist into his nose. Tadashi wasn't exactly picky which. Unfortunately his hold on Golem prevented him from doing either. Stupid android.
"Oh, that's right." Banks snapped his fingers in mock-remembrance, though each knew very well what the other majored, double-majored, and minored in. The jerk-off in question doubled in robotics and architecture.
"Look, we both know you have better things to do than follow me around and I have stuff I need to take care of for tomorrow. What do you want?" Tadashi snapped. He began counting steps to cool his head. Easy Hamada
"Why, nothing Hamada. Just thought we'd do some catching up."
"Well, like I said, I'm busy." Nineteen more left. He let his feet drum faster, blurring.
"Oh right, Callahan's favorite student is doing the robotics presentation tomorrow." Banks sneered. "How could I forget?" Ten, nine.
"Is that what this is about?" Taunting, Tadashi laughed. "Jealous much?"
Banks glared at him for a full step before his lips twisted mockingly. "I wouldn't act so high and mighty Hamada." Six, five, four. "Considering Immortal Seven's been demoted to my command. How many times is this now? Five?"
One.
They hit the bottom of the stairwell in the same step, Tadashi leaped forward and blocked the door before Banks could get through. Golem was on the floor, carelessly tossed aside. Tadashi was forced to look up to meet Banks' sneer. 6'1" vs. 6'4". Always shorter. Smaller, leaner, lankier.
Weaker.
Always weaker than the Midnight Centurion.
"How do you know about that?"
"My, have I hit a nerve?"
"How did you hear about our demotion?!"
"So you were demoted from the Poker Plays case. I was just taking guess. Knew it had to happen sooner or later. Is that were you're going now? Having a little meeting with your team to –"
Something in the back of his mind snapped. He didn't think, didn't bother to realize that the anger guiding his actions wasn't his. Lunging forward, he grabbed Banks by the shirt and spun him around, throwing him against the door, his head falling back with a satisfying thump. Banks grimaced, waited long enough for him to recoil, for his arm to pull back before darting to the side. Tadashi's fist smacked through only air. A heel suddenly drove into his stomach and he doubled, gasping as the breath left his lungs. He spun, tensed, circled, clutching his abdomen. Banks wasn't even breathing hard, limbs relaxed, smirk easy.
"Come on Hamada." He sneered. "I'm begging you."
"Shut up!"
A tiny voice suddenly hissed in the back of his mind, slithering into his subconscious.
Hit him, hurt him, crush him. Make him fall, make him writhe, make him bleed.
What the – He shook his head roughly to clear it. That wasn't his voice. It wasn't him. It couldn't be.
Banks cruel smile widened.
And it suddenly hit him.
Idiot. You frickin' idiot. He's an Empath, stupid. Tadashi stumbled, backing away.
"Something wrong Hamada?" Banks drawled, leaning against the stairwell.
"Stop it." He said uncertainly, a thread of fear cutting through his anger. The other boy flashed him pearly white teeth, rolling his shoulders menacingly.
"Stop what?"
"You know exactly what you're doing!" Tadashi yelled, gripping his temples. "Stop screwing with my mind!"
"What, this?" Banks glanced at his hand, fisting it. Tadashi yelped, clinging to the wall as a well of sadness, misery sloshed through his senses. Tears flooded his eyes. Releasing his fingers one by one, watching the saline stream over Tadashi's cheeks, the other boy snickered. "Sorry. Didn't know I was doing it. Powers can be like that. But then, you wouldn't know, would –"
The door to the labs slicked open.
"Tadashi?" The scent of cherry blossoms enveloped him as a slim arm wrapped gently around his shoulders. "Oh my gosh, Dashi, are you alright?" He looked up to find Abigail's compassionate blue eyes anxiously searching his from behind her thin-framed glasses. Her palm was to his cheeks, brushing at the wetness before he could respond.
"I'm…fine." He muttered, confused by her fussing, her closeness.
"Yeah, Tadashi, are you feeling alright man?" Banks asked, pushing away from the stairwell, stepping forward. Stepping in front of him, Abby suddenly shot Banks a withering glare.
"Cut the bullcrap, Mr. Banks." She snapped. "I'm not stupid. I know the effects of an Empath when I see them." Banks' brow crinkled. He frowned, shaking his head. So easily becoming an innocent bystander.
"Sorry Miss. Callaghan, but I don't know why you're so upset. I didn't do anything."
"Oh, don't you dare –"
"It's fine Abs." Tadashi shrugged off her arm, offering a smile that only tightened as he stood, feeling the effects of the bruise forming. "We were just...talking."
"But –"
"Really, I'm fine." He met her gaze meaningfully. After a moment of indecision she sighed, nodded, flipped her ponytail.
"Well then. Mr. Hamada, I require your assistance in the labs please. If you'll excuse us Mr. Banks."
"Of course Miss Callaghan. I'll hope to see you tomorrow?" Smiling, Banks winked, the epitome of charm. Tadashi tensed as he scooped up Golem's bulky frame again, a sour taste in his mouth. Abby might have been two years older than either of them, but he'd always felt protective of her. The big brother in him coming through.
"I wouldn't count on it. Come on Dashi." With one last pointed glare, twining her hand through the crook of his arm, Abigail stalked them through the still open door.
"Yeah, don't keep the lovely Miss. Callaghan waiting, Dashi." The last taunt managed to slither through the shrinking crack before the door clicked shut behind them.
Silence filled the white-washed lab halls for approximately ten seconds.
"What happened back there?" Abby demanded.
"I had it handled." Tadashi grumbled, pulling his arm from Abby's taut fingers. She stubbornly held on for a split-second longer before huffing, indignant. Spinning on him, she clasped her hands to her hips, her sea blue eyes flashing dangerously.
"Oh? You half-collapsed against the wall was you handling it? He should be expelled for that Tadashi." She rolled her eyes to the ceiling and back. "Use of powers inside of campus grounds in strictly prohibited and he was using them to hurt you –"
"I told you I'm fine!" He snapped, raising his voice a notch, throwing his hands up in exasperation. "I don't need you running to my rescue every frickin' time I have an issue with that moron just because you have powers and I don't! I don't need your help Abigail. I can take care of myself, okay?"
As soon as burst past his lips, Tadashi immediately regretted them. Abby made a face and shifted her gaze to the med labs lining the corridor. In the reflection Tadashi noticed a faint blush appearing on her tanned olive cheeks. Which was weird. He would have preferred if she'd shouted back or stalked off in a huff, like she usually did when he went ahead and said something idiotic. He knew how to deal with that. The recent development of the silent treatment, not so much.
"Sorry." Clearing his throat, rubbing the back of his neck as a blush crept over his skin. "I didn't mean for it to come out like that. I'm just…" He shrugged. "I got it under control and I'd rather keep it between us. Do me a favor and don't tell the others. Especially Robert."
"Whatever."
"He-ey." He whined, poking her shoulder. "I said I was sorry."
Silence. Abby seemed to be fighting back a smile, but instead wrinkled her nose just as it was appearing to spread to her cheeks. Tilting his head to the side Tadashi dashed a grin at her, then elbowed her lightly in the side.
"Come on Abs. You know I didn't –Ow! What was that for?" He rubbed the place just below his ribs, where Abby had just jabbed him with her elbow. Hard. Right over the reforming bruise.
"For being an idiot sometimes." She laughed, darting sideways when he tried to muse her ponytail. "Come on. The others are waiting. I think we've come to a decision." He winced.
"Do I dare ask what the verdict is?"
"Better than you think. Gogo and Hiro calmed down some, so you shouldn't be hearing the vigilante cry for the time being."
"Whoa, how'd you ever manage that?"
"Easy. I just reminded them you'd lose funding." Smiling smugly, Abby waved her wrist under the scanner at the end of the corridor, letting them into the adjacent hall. "Plus they'd sick ever last team in the city on you and I'm pretty sure they know where you all live."
"No kidding."
"Ha ha Hamada."
They stopped in front of the girl's bathroom. The forever OUT OF ORDER scrolled across its display panel, shining scarlet. A mystery to all SFI students. How could it be that the renowned robotics institute, outfitted with the latest and greatest tech, annually refuse to fix a simple problem with their plumbing? It was genius really. The door was always locked and only the nine of them, Immortal Seven and the Callaghans, knew the code. It was the perfect place to hold meetings without worry of being stumbled upon by an unsuspecting student.
Abby typed in the bypass code, fingers flying across the access pad. The red light flipped to green and the door ground beeped open. Bright light pooled into the darkened hall.
"Tadashi is here." Baymax helpfully announced.
"Dashi!"
"Finally. We've been waiting forever."
"Mr. Hamada, so nice of you to join us."
"Took you long enough."
"I upgraded your motorcycle weeks ago and this is how you repay us?"
"Wait, so you didn't bring coffee with you? Seriously dude?" This last comment, delivered by a very much put out Fred, brought on an unexpected chuckle. Tadashi grinned.
"Really? I would have wasted all my savings just on your order."
"I would have restrained myself."
"Doubtful." Gogo quipped, popping a bright pink bubble right next to Wasabi ear, causing him to drop his net screen and yelp.
"Knock it off woman!"
Hiro snickered, fist bumping her as he took a slurp of his soda. Then cringed. Glanced at Honey and continued drinking quietly.
"Tadashi, we're so glad you're here." Honey Lemon interrupted, her gentle voice instantly dispelling the beginnings of an argument. "Thanks for finding him Abby." Her hazel eyes crinkled in an almost teasing smile that Tadashi didn't quite understand. Maybe they were sharing a private joke…
"Nothing to it." Casually, Abby slipped past him to the circular table set up in the open space of bathroom, where the others were sitting. Baymax stood over Hiro's shoulder, calmly surveying the surroundings. The room was rounded and studded periodically with showers, the actually bathroom stalls through another doorway. Painted pale pink and accented with flower bouquets, it wasn't his favorite meeting place, but it worked exceptionally well. The vending machine for instance was a nice touch.
Sitting between Honey and Abby, Tadashi addressed the gathering.
"So, Abby told me you guys," he glanced at the girls, "and gals," Gogo snorted, "have come up with a decision."
"Yeah," Hiro muttered. "A stupid one. I'm not working with Legion or Ferryman again after the crap we went through last time. You know they're going to make us look back. We might as when drop the case entirely."
"He has a point there. Hubris royally screwed with my suit last time we did patrol. I had to debug the entire thing." Wasabi grumbled. Gogo raised her eyebrows.
"Like you wouldn't have done that anyway."
"Yeah, but he made it necessary. I found a virus in the program's main frame. You what happens when the lasers aren't balanced!"
"Total protonic reversal!"
Burying his head in his arms, Wasabi groaned as through in pure agony. "Okay, you seriously need to stop watching second-era movies dude. That's not even a thing! It's scientifically impossible."
"If Egon says it's a thing it's a thing."
"From a stupid movie about ghosts coming back to life." Fred nearly choked on his Snickers bar.
"They were still dead, man! Ghosts can't come back to life, give me a –"
"Boys." Abby cleared her throat, effectively silencing Wasabi and Fred. "Back on track please. Tadashi," he felt his cheeks warm uncomfortably when she rested her palm on his shoulder. Honey's teasing smile was back. "What do you think we should do?"
He blew out a frustrated breath of air and laced his fingers behind his head, hating how the final decision always came back to him. Stalling he flicked a questioning look to his mentor, Robert Callaghan, only to find the older man watching him thoughtfully. Slowly, he nodded, confirming Tadashi's sinking suspicions. If they didn't keep the case, if they dropped out, it'd look petulant. If they stayed, cracked the case, they wouldn't get credit, but a real hero's only goal should be putting villains like Royal behind bars.
Not getting credit.
The credit that would likely bump them up from their Class B hero status.
He barely held back a pained groan.
"We keep the case. Guys, here me out." He raised his hands, placating when the protests burbled up. Hiro shot him a look that clearly said he thought his older brother was a traitor. "We'll be extra careful. Pair up, watch the other's back. Like in the Vortex case. We make it impossible for them to sabotage our gear. Abby," he turned and found that she was staring at him with admiration and he was blushing again. Geez, what was with her today? "Uh, would you mind tagging along for back up? We could really use an elemental on the team."
"I'd love to." She grinned brightly with a smile that rivaled Honey at her giddiest and she practically glowed at times.
"Yeah, well…right. So, how's that for a plan?"
"It's about 13 percent of a plan." Grumbled Hiro. "Really? Just make sure they don't screw with our stuff? We're doomed."
"Look Hiro, I don't know what to tell you. Yeah, it's all of 13 percent of a plan. But it's just until the case ends and by then we'll be able to prove we can do this without the Praetorians. You'll survive."
"I have to agree with Tadashi on this." Mr. Callaghan added in his deep voice. "This is like a bad storm. You just have to wait it out until it breaks."
"Or you could always invent something to go around it. Unbelievable." Hiro said exasperatedly, abruptly standing and pushing back from the table. "I'm going to go work on the presentation unless you think Teddy Banks and his team should just take over that too seeing as they're obviously more qualified. Let's go Baymax." He stormed away, the white robot toddling after him in his decidedly less dignified manner.
All seven flinched as the door slammed shut.
"Well," Gogo stretched and propped her feet up on the table. "That could have gone better."
"Do you want me to talk to him?" Honey asked Tadashi tentatively. He shook his head, annoyed at how immature his brother had taken it.
"No, he'll be fine. Baymax is probably telling him that his serotonin levels are sky high like they always are. I'll talk to him later." He stretched his arms over his head, working out the kinks in his neck. "Meeting's over anyway. I better help him with the finishing touches so he doesn't go break something. Honey , Wasabi, keep digging stuff up on Royal and show Abby the files so she's up to date. See if you can find something we've missed. Gogo and Fred, do you mind scanning the checkpoints later. "
"No problem."
"Already there."
"Mr. Hamada." With a warm smile, Callaghan clapped his shoulder as Tadashi turned to leave, guiding him to a slightly more private section of tile by one of the rose-curtained showers. Out of the corner of his eye he saw his friends waiting for him, curious.
"Yeah Professor?"
"We have a new girl transferring tomorrow. For her senior year."
"And this applies to me because…" Transfers happened all the time and Callaghan never specifically sought him out because of them. Mouth twitching slightly, the professor nodded in understanding.
"I know you have a lot on your plate at the moment, but she's a double major like yourself. Robotics and neuroscience. Actually I think she specializes in cybernetics." Tadashi raised a brow. Impressive.
"Smart girl."
"Yes indeed. She was the top of her class at the Arendelle University of Sciences." Whistling low, Tadashi nodded appreciatively. A.U.S was supposed to be nearly impossible to get into and if this new girl had been top of her class, then sun, moon, and stars they needed her on their robotics team stat.
"She's Norwegian then?" Callaghan nodded.
"I was hoping you and the team could take her under your wing so to speak. Show her the ropes, maybe?"
"Yeah, of course. I'll find her in the crowd after orientation. What's her name?"
"Elspeth Dronning."
"Elspeth…"
"Though I think she prefers to be called Elsa."
A/N: Hello everyone. Sorry I haven't posted in over a month. Had to finish stuff up for school and whatnot. You know, all that joyous fun stuff. Anyway public service announcement so I avoid ticking off a bunch of Lunatics: This story is heavily based off of the Lunar Chronicles universe, but won't contain any characters or events from the series, a fact that I horribly forgot to mention in the last post (So much shame). Marissa Meyer is absolutely incredible and I love her books to death. Plus I need something lunar-chronically to focus on to make the wait for Winter and Stars Above bearable. And Heartless, while we're at it. Must resist the urge to fangirl, but has anyone read Fairest?! Levana, that woman...
Anywho, that should answer your question Frostbite. My apologies. Thank you to The Fall Out Girl (yes, the title is based on the song), Lisa von Cooper (Really? Awesome. I'm usually terrible with dumping expo), and The 8000th Salad Plate (love your name btw). You're all so sweet! Anyway, hope you all enjoyed Ch.4!