A Series of Unfortunate Events

by alexanderhamifan02

The dreadful history of the Hamada teenagers begins with a deadpan narrator, a terrible fire, and the ominous arrival of a distant relative. Will Tadashi and Hiro survive their terrible fate? Will Tadashi be able to protect his little brother from everything?

3. The Microbot Mansion

read author's note at the end.

---

For Beatrice-

My love for you shall live forever.

You, however, did not.

---

CHAPTER THREE
THE MICROBOT MANSION

My name is Robert Callaghan, and it is my sworn duty to carefully research the dire plight of the Hamada orphans. But there is no reason to make yourself as miserable and melancholy as I am. If I were you, I would look away before reading any of these horrifying events that compromise this ghastly new chapter in the Hamada's horrible lives. Here, Tadashi and Hiro go to live with their uncle, Mr. Lee. These boys have no recollection of ever meeting or even discussing their uncle, so they both sit anxiously in the vehicle as Wasabi beams with delight.

"It's a brand-new episode in your lives, Hamadas," Wasabi laughed lightly. "In a few minutes, you'll be meeting your uncle! He apparently should have been your guardian all along, but-erhm-let's not get into that, now, shall we? I think it was a mistake from the beginning to let a stranger into my office, convince me into giving him full custody, and in doing so accidentally allowing him to abuse you and gag your brother. How silly of me!"

"My brother and I full-heartedly agree," Tadashi said with a breath of relief.

The Hamada orphans more than full-heartedly agreed, and living with Alistar Krei had been more than a mistake. It had been a disaster. It had been a catastrophe. One that, to Tadashi's horror, had nearly killed his brother. The worst part was that Alistar Krei was still at large, nowhere to be found. Tadashi's uneasiness grew by the second every time he was reminded of this horrible fact.

"By the way, the police tell me they feel very confident that Alistar Krei will be caught in no time at all. Ah, here's the turn."

Beauregard Lane was one of the most beautiful roads in the world. The water surrounding San Fransokyo glistened in the golden sun, and the large orchard of trees lined up along the road had the freshest, most colorful apples either of the teenagers had ever seen.

"We're here!" Wasabi cheered excitedly, pulling into a large gate that led into a large mansion. The curb leading up to the driveway was covered in topiaries, and Hiro couldn't help but tilt his head in surprise.

"Tadashi," Hiro pointed out the window. "Are-are those microbot topiaries?"

Tadashi leaned towards the window and also gasped in surprise. The topiaries were all microbots, some forming shapes or buildings and others just forming ordinary microbot statues.

"Wow..." Tadashi whispered in awe at the landscape, turning his attention back to the house. Wasabi had pulled up to the front and shut the car off. He took on step out of the car and breathed in the crisp, fresh air of the ocean and the apple trees.

"Come along now, Tadashi, Hiro."

The boys complied, slowly climbing out of the car and taking in the vast mansion and everything that surrounded it. The mansion was mainly marble, and the tall columns supporting the front were also shaped as microbots. Wasabi gasped in awe as he walked to the front door and rang the doorbell. Before the door opened, a question popped into Tadashi's head, and he lightly tapped Wasabi's shoulder.

"Erhm-what do we call him?"

"You can call him Dr. Lee," Wasabi said. "Unless he asks you to call him by his first name, in which case you'll call him Stan."

"His name is Stan Lee?" Hiro asked.

"Yes, yes," Wasabi replied. "He says it's unique."

"I hope Dr. Lee is a decent person," Tadashi said. He glanced over at Hiro, who had suddenly begun rubbing his black eye. He said nothing at Tadashi's hopeful remark.

The door opened, and a man in his 40s greeted the three. He had white tufts of hair that stuck out on the sides of his head but had no hair on the top. He had large, square glasses, and wore a blue suit with a red tie. He held a tray of cakes and smiled warmly at Tadashi and Hiro.

"Hello, hello, hello!" Dr. Lee greeted them. "You must be the Hamadas."

"Yes," Wasabi nodded.

"Well, this is perfect timing because I have just finished frosting this delicious coconut cream cake," Dr. Lee grinned, shoving a plate in Tadashi's hands and taking a fork out of his front pocket.

"Erhm-nice to meet you, Dr. Lee," Tadashi nodded in respect.

"Oh, please, call me Stan, or Stan Lee. I don't like using fancy titles unless they get me a discount to the movies. Did you guys ever like going to the movies?"

"Well...Yes, but our parents hardly took us," Tadashi replied.

"Well, we are going to go a lot," Stan Lee laughed. "To some paramount and extraordinary films. I'm a real knack for superhero movies. Who's your favorite superhero?"

Tadashi got the feeling he was being interrogated and understood what kind of conversation this was immediately.

"Captain America," Tadashi replied with a raised eyebrow. "Brains and muscle."

"And you, Hiro?"

"Spider-man," Hiro replied, making Tadashi roll his eyes. "Coolness."

Stan Lee laughed and shook Hiro's hand, eyeing Hiro's bruised face in displeasure. He shook off the sadness.

"Those were a few of your parent's favorites, too. Well, let's not stand here, come inside!"

He led Wasabi, Tadashi, and Hiro into the house, Tadashi still holding the uneaten piece of cake and Hiro still hovering his hand over his bruise. They again gasped in awe at the incredibly tall ceilings and valuable paintings on the walls.

"Now you must be Tadashi, the inventor," Stan Lee guessed. "And you are Hiro, the reader and inventor. Your parents were always proud of how smart you two were."

Stan Lee handed Hiro a slice of cake and a fork, making Hiro laugh nervously as he awkwardly held the plate.

"Well, that leaves one extra slice of cake," Stan Lee hummed. "I know, I'll eat it myself."

...

"Just kidding, just kidding!" Stan Lee laughed. "Mr. Wasabi of Mulctuary Money Management, you are welcome to a slice of cake."

"No, I should be getting back to the bank soon," Wasabi shook his head graciously at the man as he nodded in understanding and took a bite of the cake. "Hamadas, if you need me, you can always reach me-"

"They won't need anything from you, Mr. Wasabi," Stan assured him. "They're finally in my care, and I will dedicate myself to their safety, comfort, and happiness as enthusiastically."

"Our parents' fortune can't be used until Tadashi is twenty-one," Hiro spoke up, stepping slightly in front of Tadashi.

"Hiro, don't be rude," Wasabi scolded. "Though, legally, he's correct about the fortune."

"I don't give a fig about the Hamada fortune, Mr. Wasabi," Stan Lee said with a wave of his hand. Hiro tilted his head, and Tadashi couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief. "What with my savings from my past years working and inventing. But, as a scientist...I do admire your skepticism, Hiro. It's understandable after what you've been through. I saw it all on the news. Not to worry, nothing of the sort will ever happen to you again, Hiro. I promise."

Hiro smiled softly and nodded in thanks at Stan.

"Ah," Wasabi grimaced. "That unpleasantness with Krei. I think I'll see myself out now, Dr. Lee."

"Capital idea," Stan grinned opening the door for the man.

"Bye, Mr. Wasabi," Tadashi waved. Hiro waved too, but not as enthusiastically. He never entirely trusted the bank teller.

"Bye, boys," Wasabi waved. Stan shut the door and chuckled under his breath.

"I'm terribly sorry if I was rude to him, boys, but, frankly, that man is not to be trusted. 'Unpleasantness with Krei,' he says, when Mr. Wasabi is the very reason you were put with Alistar Krei in the first place. Well, not to worry. You're finally safe now. Just as your parents wanted."

The boys smiled graciously at their uncle.

"Dr. Lee-"

"Stan," the scientist corrected Tadashi. He nodded.

"Stan-"

"Uncle Stan, I hope, once you get used to me," Stan added again.

"Uncle Stan, our parents never mentioned you," Tadashi said.

"Really?"

"Really," Hiro replied.

"Dr. Stan Lee? Renowned super-I mean-scientist?"

"Nope," Tadashi sighed.

"Hmm. That is astonishing," Stan inquired. He snapped excitedly and began to walk up the stairs. "Follow me!"

The boys looked at each other and shrugged but followed him nonetheless.

"Now, your parents and I practically grew up together," Stan continued. "I can't believe your parents never told you about me. I loved them dearly. Look, here's a picture of us together," He smiled as they passed a photo hanging on the wall. In it was who they assumed to be a younger Stan and their parents; a small red-headed girl with large, hazel eyes and a black haired boy, who Hiro could've sworn was Tadashi.

"Well, it seems that some proper introductions need to be made. Are you boys familiar with the field of robotics? Microbots to be specific?"

Hiro nodded, and Tadashi nudged his shoulder. Stan frowned slightly in confusion, but Hiro clarified.

"I've made plenty of microbots before. They're my trademark."

Stan Lee's eyes widened in pleasure.

"Really? Well, I create many different colored microbots and have even programmed some of them to have certain protocols if ever touched. Oh, and don't worry about your cake dishes, leave them anywhere. Heathcliffe or Fred will wash them up. Uh, Fred!" Stan called, looking off the railing. "Oh, drat!"

"What?"

"I forgot all about Fred. He's my son and has worked for me as my assistant for many years. He left me a strange letter last night on my front porch that he needed to take care of something. I just hope he's all right. No matter. Who needs an assistant when I have an intelligent young man right here to help me?" he asked, putting his hand on Hiro's shoulder as they made their way downstairs. He took their plates of uneaten cake and placed them on a table in the foyer before leading them somewhere else.

Hiro and Tadashi had a feeling they were going to like growing up here.

"Now, Hamadas, I am about to show you one of the most important scientific collections in the history of the world. Spies and rivals in the world of robotics would do anything to get a glimpse inside of this room."

He led them down a hidden hallway in the foyer, the end shining a light on a door with several gears and pulleys on it.

"This door has been installed with a top-of-the-line security system," he joked, simply going past all of the combinations and twisting the doorknob. He threw the door open and grinned as he jumped inside of the room. "This is my Microbot Mansion."

Tadashi and Hiro gasped as they walked inside. Several cages were in that great room, each one containing a different colored blob of microbots. The sound of clicking filled the echoing room, and Stan Lee may as well have been flying he was so excited.

"Over here! This is the lifting wing," he led them to the right side of the room. Some microbots had twenty-pound weights in their cages and continued lifting them up and down by wrapping their many miniature bots around the weight and lifting them to the top of their cage. Others raised their cages altogether. Each one was a different color of the rainbow. "Under my ear, I have these transmitters," Stan clarified, lifting up tufts of hair to reveal several small little dots on the side of his head, each one a different color. After a while, they begin doing whatever it is they please with hardly any of my help! Now, over here to the shape-shifting wing," he led them to the left side of the room where several more cages contained more blobs of microbots. When they drew nearer, some transformed into animal shapes, while others turned into different statues. Stan Lee laughed at their attempts to camouflage.

"And now, to my most prized possession!" Stan Lee led the boys over to the largest cage there, covered in a large sheet. "These set of microbots are so advanced; they don't need a transmitter. They move as they please! Everyone said it would be dangerous, but I showed them!" he grinned, unveiling the sheet in pure joy. Tadashi and Hiro nodded, impressed by the microbots. Hiro was far more fascinated, not to mention that the microbots he had just shown them were his favorite color, purple. They moved slowly as if they were circling their prey in some fashion. It alarmed Tadashi, who lightly touched Hiro's shoulder and nudged Hiro back a few steps.

"I discovered them, so I got to name them," Stan Lee said.

"What are they called?" Tadashi asked.

"The Incredibly Deadly Microbots."

As if on cue, the microbots ripped the cage open and lunged-

One thing that I have found is that when the story of the Hamadas becomes too upsetting for me, when it becomes absolutely overwhelming, it is useful to stop for a moment of contemplation with a cup of tea or some potent beverage. However, I can sip my tea knowing that Hiro Hamada absolutely survives this particular incident. It is Dr. Lee, however, who ends up dead, although not yet. Apologies for the interruption.

-lunged at Hiro, causing him to freeze in place as they swallowed him whole until his figure was nothing more than a purple blob of microbots. The blob fell to the ground with a thud and lay there completely still. Stan Lee laughed.

Tadashi couldn't breathe he was so terrified.

"Wha-I-HIRO!" Tadashi cried, kneeling down next to the blob in horror. He whipped his head up at Stan Lee, watching him laugh in utter confusion. "Uncle Stan, please! DO SOMETHING!"

"I'm terribly sorry, Tadashi!" Stan continued laughing as he bent down with Tadashi. He wiped his eyes as tears of laughter poured down his red face, and he took out a purple dot from his pocket, placing it under his other ear. "The incredibly deadly microbots are some of the most undeadly microbots in the world! It may sound strange, but they cannot suffocate nor can they crush someone to death, my dear nephew," he continued chuckling as he ordered the microbots to untangle themselves from Hiro's small form and go back into their cage. Hiro sat up in confusion, not injured or scared in the very least. He looked over at a terrified Tadashi with a tilted head.

"They can cause memory loss, though," Stan added. "They've got a quite toxic smell, those bots." Stan stood and locked the cage again, turning back to the boys and clapping his hands together. "All right, Hiro?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" Hiro asked in confusion, looking down at his hands to make sure he really was alright. "What happened?"

"Nothing," Tadashi spoke quickly, feeling stupid for being so scared but nevertheless patting Hiro on the shoulder in relief.

"Hiro will come to no harm," Stan Lee assured Tadashi. "And neither will you, Tadashi."

"But they're called the incredibly deadly microbots," Tadashi said with a shaky voice.

"Yes, just a little joke to get back at those science judges. This'll show them," Stan nodded in satisfaction.

"Are there any microbots in this room that are dangerous?"

"Well, of course," Stan said. "You can't study microbots and find some that are not dangerous. In fact, the incredibly dangerous microbots are the only safe microbots in this whole room. Which leads me to my favorite part of this chamber."

Stan walked over to a painting of himself and who the boys assumed to be his son, Fred. He touched the side of the picture, and it unveiled a room made entirely of shelves, said shelves covered in books.

"The deepest secrets of the robotics world can be found in this room," Stan said with a sigh of glee.

"So we're allowed to read all of them?" Hiro asked, walking around the room and running his hand over the books.

"You are not only allowed, but you are also implored to read these books," Stan corrected him. Hiro chuckled.

Tadashi couldn't help looking on at the scene and be reminded of his father. Tadashi was skeptical of Stan Lee at first-especially five minutes ago when he watched Hiro stare death in the face-but he was now sure that this would be the perfect home for him and his brother.

"You know," Stan Lee continued, "I always wanted to have more kids around the house. But...time flies like a swarm of microbots scaling a skyscraper. I know that a few dangerous robots can make you skeptical of this place. But if you give me a chance, if you can tell the bad from the good..."

Stan picked up a jar of microbots from a shelf and set them loose. The small blob scaled Hiro's side and entangled themselves around Hiro's hand. He smiled happily as he watched them dance on his knuckles.

"...no harm will come to you in my mansion," Stan finished.

There is a type of situation which occurs all too often in the Hamadas story called dramatic irony. Simply put, dramatic irony is when a person makes a remark, and someone who hears it knows something, which makes the remark have a different, usually unpleasant, meaning. For example, if I were to say "I can't wait to eat this almond cookie," but there were people around who knew the almond cookie was poisoned, that would be dramatic irony. For that reason, when we hear Uncle Stan tell the children "No harm will come to you in my mansion," we should be on guard for the arrival of dramatic irony.

---

"Microbots can't speak English, you know."

Tadashi shook his head with a laugh as Hiro examined the Incredibly Deadly Microbots, scolding him again for trying to communicate with them. They had been with Stan Lee for two whole days, and they were nothing but pure bliss. For once, Tadashi's mind wasn't wandering to horrible places such as his parents' graves or his destroyed house. He felt strangely at home. Hiro seemed to feel the same. Stan had bought the boys clothes while he waited for their arrival the past week-the arrival that was delayed due to a mix up with Alistar Krei-and Tadashi and Hiro couldn't have been happier. Come to think of it; they hadn't changed since the day their parents died. Horrified at the thought, they took the clothes gratefully. Tadashi got cardigans (how'd Stan know they were his favorite?), t-shirts, brown jeans, and a new pair of minty-green converse (again, how?). For Hiro, he got a pile of t-shirts too big for him, which he accepted nonetheless-he was used to being too small to fit into anything-long sleeved shirts to go under them, a red hoodie, and lots of shorts, also slightly large. He also got a new pair of converse; purple and black.

The boys had spent most of their time in the Microbot Room. Tadashi tinkered with parts from Stan Lee's workshop while Hiro read books and explored the deeper parts of the room.

"I know," Hiro sighed. "I just like talking to them."

"Honestly, I wish Stan would have covered those up," Tadashi admitted. Hiro frowned in confusion.

"Why, 'Dashi?"

"If you'd have seen what they did to you, you would want them covered up too," Tadashi shuttered at the thought; that was one of the many most terrifying moments of his life.

"You need to get over yourself," Hiro said with a shake of his head. "I know how you feel, though."

"What are you talking about?" Tadashi asked.

"To be scared," Hiro replied, hardly above a whisper. The tone he took, the way he mumbled those words, Tadashi didn't like it.

"Are you scared now?"

Tadashi had known Hiro for fifteen years. If Hiro had to voice his opinion, he wouldn't. If he had an injury, he'd hide it until it became so bad he couldn't function. If he were sick, he wouldn't say until he passed out one day and was rushed to the hospital. He had always been desperately independent, so when he replied to Tadashi's question, Tadashi was not surprised in the slightest.

"I'm not scared," Hiro insisted, standing up and pulling the tarp over the large cage with the rope attached to it. He hugged his small frame, staring at the covered cage in silence.

Tadashi watched him cautiously from a distance, taking careful, slow steps toward him.

"I'm just tired," Hiro admitted weakly. Tadashi's eyes widened. He sounded so broken. Where was this coming from? Come to think of it, Hiro hadn't had anything to say about his parents' death, nor had he had anything to say about being abused by a millionaire scientist. He was probably right to be tired.

"Tired?" Tadashi croaked. He wasn't sure what to say. Hiro straightened up, as if remembering who he was, and shook his head once more, turning around to face Tadashi.

"Nevermind," he said, going around many cages of microbots and walking out of the room. Hiro ran into Stan Lee on his way up to his room.

"Sorry, Uncle Stan," Hiro laughed awkwardly. "Didn't see you there."

"Not a problem!" Stan said with a wave of his hand. "I was just on my way out."

"Where are you going?" Hiro asked, tilting his head.

"Well, I'm going to pick up a few things I like to keep in stock. And then tonight, we'll see a movie. Won't that be exciting?"

"Yeah," Hiro smiled warmly. "What movie are we seeing?"

"We won't know until we get there," Stan shrugged. "Ta-ta for now! Heathcliffe is cleaning if you need anything, I'll be back as soon as I can."

And with that, Stan jogged down the rest of the stairs, made a beeline for the front door, and was gone the next second.

Hiro slid and sat down on the steps of the stairs, sighing quietly and fiddling with the sleeves of his red jacket. The marble stair he sat on creaked, making him frown in confusion.

Marble doesn't creak...

He stood up, examining the step. It was fake, unlike the rest of the steps. He lifted the top to reveal a rolled up blueprint inside of the step. Pulling it out, he sat back down and unrolled the paper, gasping at what he saw. It appeared to be blueprints for a maze of some sort, the center shaped like a Krei Tech "K." He quickly took out the broken telescope he had found in his burned down house from his pocket.

The symbols were the same. It was also the symbol tattooed on Krei's ankle.

Stan can't be associated with Alistar Krei. He's so sweet.

But things aren't always as they seem...

Something strange is going on here.

The sound of the doorbell ringing shook Hiro out of his thoughts, and he quickly shoved the paper back under the staircase.

"I'll get it!" he shouted, walking down the remaining steps and walking across the massive foyer to the door.

When he opened it, he nearly passed out.

A man, clearly Alistar Krei, stood at the door. He had apparently dyed his hair white and grown a beard out to be a giant, fluffy ball. He wore half-moon spectacles and a lab coat.

"Good morning," he said with an accent. "I am...Obake...Dr. Lee's new assistant."

"It's afternoon, and you're Alistar Krei," Hiro snarled, clenching his fists in anger.

"Perhaps you can take my suitcases up to my room," Krei ignored him. "The ride here was long and dull, and Obake is drained."

"You're Krei," Hiro repeated. "I will not help you with your luggage, and I will not let you in this house."

Hiro reached over to shut the large door before Krei pulled out a large, golden dagger, slamming it between the frame and the door before it closed. Hiro gulped but didn't stop glaring. Krei bumped his shoulder on the door as he shoved himself inside, pointing the dagger at Hiro's throat as he walked forward and Hiro walked backward with his hands up.

"Well, I see you haven't changed a bit," Krei said with a smirk. "New clothes I see. You're obviously as stubborn as ever. You're still wearing those idiotic glasses from reading too many books. And I can't help but notice your throat is still intact. Strange..."

"What are you talking about?" Hiro grimaced as they began going up the steps. "My throat had always been intact."

"Really?" Krei scoffed. "That's odd; I could have sworn that you slit your throat in an accident. I seem to recall a man named Obake being so confused by being called Alistar Krei that he accidentally let go of his knife on your neck and severed your throat."

"You wouldn't dare," Hiro scoffed this time.

"Let's not discuss what I would or would not dare do," Krei growled. "Instead, let's discuss your poor, unfortunate parents."

Krei pointed his knife at the picture Stan had shown them earlier that week, then back to Hiro.

"Your parents were very brave in their days, but, well, you know...their days are done, Hiro..."

"How do you even know it's them in that photo?" Hiro asked.

"I took the picture."

Hiro felt his stomach drop at his words.

"And now, all that's left of them is their enormous fortune, and that enormous fortune is mine."

"Never," Hiro sneered, hands still in the air.

"Never is a very long time," Alistar said sadly. "But your ridiculous uncle will be back in a few seconds-"

"Hiro?" Hiro heard Tadashi call from downstairs. Hiro began to panic, but Krei held a finger to his mouth threateningly. "Hiro, who was at the door?"

Tadashi looked up at the balcony as Krei pointed the dagger at Hiro's throat and Hiro held his hands up. Before he knew what was happening, Hiro smacked the knife out of Alistar's hand.

"Hiro-!"

"RUN!" Hiro yelled, sprinting towards the stairs. Tadashi waited anxiously for his brother at the foot of the steps

Suddenly, Alistar grabbed Hiro by his hoodie, causing him to make a horrible gagging sound and for his broken telescope to fall out of his pocket.

"HIRO!"

"No, stay!" Hiro insisted Tadashi, smacking Krei off and running down the stairs. Hiro snatched the broken telescope from the bottom of the stairs and grabbed a shocked Tadashi's hand, leading him back to the Microbot room and slamming the door shut, just barely missing the knife that Krei sent flying toward him.

"Dammit!" Krei howled, banging on the door and obviously thinking that the codes and combinations on the door needed to be twisted and turned. "Furnaces of hell!"

Hiro slid down the door in exhaustion, painfully gripping his palm-he had cut his hand when he swatted the knife away from his throat.

"Hiro, what the hell happened?!" Tadashi cried, falling to his knees and making sure Hiro was alright. "What did he do to you?"

Noticing Hiro's pain filled expression, his eyes flew to Hiro's torso.

"Did he STAB you-?"

"Tadashi, I'm fine!" Hiro insisted, showing Tadashi his bloody palm. "It's just my hand."

Before Tadashi could freak out anymore, Krei's chilling voice came from the other side of the door.

"Oh, Hamadas?" he hissed. "I've got a present for you...it's shiny and pointy..."

"How did he find us?" Hiro asked, rising from the ground only to be shoved back down by Tadashi.

"That's the wrong question," Tadashi mumbled. "What do we do?"

"Open this door!" Krei shouted angrily.

"We can smash a window," Hiro suggested. "Run next door to the city-"

"And go where?" Tadashi asked.

"We can't just wait for him to bust in here and slaughter us!" Hiro shouted, standing up despite Tadashi's protests.

"Hiro, he wants you dead, don't you understand?!" Tadashi cried. "He only needs me-I'm the one who has to come of age! He'll kill you, then what will I do?! I can't lose you-"

"God dammit-!"

A sudden car honking brought their attention back to the door, sighing in relief as they rushed to the window to see Stan's car parked in the driveway and to see Krei waving at him.

"He'll see right through Krei's disguise, won't he?"

"My name is Obake," Krei introduced himself. "I have been sent from very far away."

"Well, that is an unusual and long-winded explanation," Stan Lee laughed nervously, shaking the man's hand. "So, let me understand this-you are my new assistant, sent to me even though I already have one, Heathcliffe-"

"Where the hell is Heathcliffe?" Tadashi asked, but Hiro shushed him.

"-by the San Fransokyo Institute of Technology?"

"Yes, SFIT for short," Krei nodded.

"And your name is Obake?"

"What? Yes, yes."

"Ah! And your papers?"

Krei handed Stan a stack of papers which Stan Lee obviously rolled his eyes at, unnoticed by Krei.

"Well, everything is settled then!"

Krei raised an eyebrow at the man, scoffing slightly.

"Really?"

"Yes! Welcome!" Stan Lee laughed, shaking Krei's hand. "Come inside!"

Krei frowned in disbelief but, nonetheless, followed Stan inside.

"Well, there's a spare room upstairs. It's small, but like I said, I have two teenagers living with me, so living quarters are quite tight."

"Not for long," Krei mumbled. "I mean, I don't mind!" Krei corrected in his accent.

"Ah," Stan said uncomfortably. "Well, why don't you go upstairs and get yourself settled? And I will go find the children."

As Krei went up the steps, suitcases in tow, Stan grimaced, taking off his fedora and walking towards the microbot room.

"Hamadas?"

"Is that you, Stan?" Tadashi asked through the door.

"Yes!"

Tadashi opened the door, allowing Stan Lee inside, who shut the door immediately after.

"What happened?" Stan asked, taking notice of Hiro's hand and Tadashi's terrified expression.

"Uncle Stan, that man is not to be trusted, he almost killed Hiro-"

"Shh, Tadashi," Stan insisted, checking behind him to make sure the door was shut and leading them through the back door that led to the driveway. "I know. Heathcliffe has informed me."

"Where the HELL was Heathcliffe?!" Tadashi cried. Stan ignored him. He took them to the car, opening the back seat and taking groceries out of it.

"I got all my shopping done and even got take out for dinner," Stan whispered. "There should be enough for Obake. Now, we don't have much time before the movie, so help me take in these groceries."

Stan handed Hiro a sack, who grabbed it with his injured hand, silently groaning in pain.

"I am so sorry, Hamadas," Stan sighed, leaning against his car. "I had no idea that our enemies would catch up to us so quickly. It's clear now that I can't turn my back for a second."

"So you recognized him?" Tadashi asked, taking the sack from Hiro's hand and scolding him.

"Of course I recognized him," Stan whisper-shouted. "He can wear as many lab coats as he wants, and present me with as many ridiculous papers as he wants. He's no more a lab assistant than I am a civilian."

"What?"

"Nevermind that," Stan shrugged.

"So what are we gonna do?" Hiro asked. "Call the police?"

"If we call the cops or the fire department, that so-called lab assistant will have us in his clutches. He's trying to replace Freddy...and we all know Obake doesn't work alone. We must keep an eye on him. He will join us for dinner, and then we will invite him to the movies with us tonight. A man that dastardly must be watched like a hawk."

"So that's all we're gonna do?" Tadashi scoffed. "Watch him?"

"For now, Hamadas, we'll be watchful and wary," Stan Lee said, gathering the rest of the groceries. "We can't afford to turn our backs, not even for a second."

He began to walk toward the house, Tadashi walking right beside him and Hiro following behind.

"Besides-Oh no!"

Stan Lee gasped as one of the windows from the second story of the house burst open, a large lamp falling out of it, right over Hiro.

"Wha-?" Hiro looked up, yelping as the lamp became bigger and bigger...

"WATCH OUT!" cried Stan, shoving Hiro out of the way, the lamp shattering on his head. "ARGH!"

"UNCLE STAN!" Hiro frantically helped his uncle to his feet, Tadashi following suit.

"So sorry!" Krei shouted from the window. "I seem to have been very careless with the heavy glass reading lamp that fell out while you were right underneath it."

"Totally understandable," Stan laughed, standing up and brushing the shards of glass off of his shirt.

"Sorry about that," Krei said again, shutting the window. Stan whipped around to face the boys.

"I know the layout of that room as well as I am aware the structure of a single microbot," Stan said softly, "and there is no way that that lamp was near the window."

"Of course not," Tadashi implored. "He wasn't being careless. He was being murderous. Are you two alright?"

"Fine," Hiro and Stan said in unison.

"Tadashi," Hiro mumbled, looking up at the window where Krei was being scolded by Heathcliffe. "I think you were right. Krei wants me dead, as well as he wants Stan gone. He's trying to get rid of both of us so he can get to you and your fortune."

"My fortune?" Tadashi asked hurt and panicked. "Hiro...it's our fortune; we're brothers."

"Krei doesn't care about that," Hiro added. "He'll do anything to get it. That's the third time he's almost killed me today."

"Stan, we need to call the authorities," Tadashi insisted, grabbing Hiro's shoulders.

"Trust me, Hamadas..." Stan reassured them. "I may be a world renowned scientist, but I also minored in criminology. I know what I'm doing."

And with that, Stan and Hiro hurried into the house with the groceries, leaving Tadashi horrified with the information he was given.

Hiro couldn't die. He just couldn't.

---

"Now let's eat quickly, everyone. We don't want to be late for the movies."

The Hamadas nodded, devouring their rice from across the table. Krei grimaced.

"I don't think I'll be joining tonight," he informed them with his fake accent. "I thought I'd stay and read up on dangerous robots."

Krei shot a look at Hiro, who looked down at his plate with a glare.

"Well, Obake, you must join us!" Stan insisted. "We must celebrate your arrival."

"In all honesty, I prefer documentaries," Krei admitted.

"I insist you come!"

"I insist on staying here."

"I insisted first."

"I insisted louder."

"With all due respect, I feel uncomfortable leaving my machines alone with a relative stranger."

"Fine," Krei sighed, jabbing his fork at his plate. "But I would like to make a brief phone call before we leave."

"Of course," Stan smiled. "The phone is in the parlor."

Krei stood to take the call. While Tadashi and Stan cleaned the dishes up, Hiro snuck to listen to the call.

"Yes, a movie theater. Where they show movies. Yes, of course, it's more convenient just not to go, that's what I said. I didn't ask for your opinion!"

Krei slammed the phone into the wall, shooting Hiro a glare. Hiro frowned at him, returning to the dining room.

Moments later, they were filing into the car, Stan driving away from the house and into the depths of the city. Stan left the car momentarily to buy their tickets, leaving the three men in the car. Krei pulled out his knife, admiring it.

"We know what you're up to," Tadashi snarled. "If anything happens to my brother or me, you'll never touch or fortune."

"If I wanted to harm you, orphan, your blood would be streaming out of this car like a waterfall. It's only the one orphan I need anyway; maybe I can harm on of you, though..."

Krei slowly extended his arm to Hiro, the knife barely missing Hiro's throat. Hiro held his ground, hardly flinching. Tadashi made to move, but Krei shot him the most terrifying glare he had ever seen.

"Not a peep, Tadashi," Krei smirked, pocketing the knife and getting out of the car. Hiro ignored Tadashi's concerned glance, jumping out of the car and slamming the door shut in frustration.

Stan led them inside, informed them that they would be watching a superhero movie. Krei bought everyone popcorn and a refreshment, and they found their seats.

Hiro went down the row first, then Tadashi and Stan while they waited for Krei to return with the drinks.

When he did return, he skirted down the aisle nest to Hiro, slowly sitting down and smirking at him.

"You know, kids," Stan whispered to the boys, "I am so excited to be seeing a movie with you. Your parents would be so very proud of you. I know they would."

"For seeing a movie?" Hiro asked.

"There's more to a movie than just a movie," Stan said. "Promise me, Tadashi, that if I leave during the film not to act like anything is amiss, and watch Hiro."

As the movie began to play, Krei noticed Stan glancing from the screen to his lap for the majority of the time. He looked over and realized that he was writing something on the back of his movie ticket. Watching the movie and realizing he must be deciphering some sort of code, he quickly took action, standing up and going in front of Stan.

"Move, please," Stan begged, looking beyond Krei to see the screen.

"I need to get more popcorn," Krei lied, pretending that his foot was stuck. Stan shoved him out of the way desperately, scribbling something onto the back of his ticket frantically. Krei snarled, marching down to the concession stand in the lobby. Relief flooded over him after realizing that the people behind the counter were none other than his associates from Krei Tech.

"People at Krei Tech are getting suspicious, boss," one of them said anxiously, taking his popcorn container and refilling it.

"I don't care," Krei muttered. "Operation Capture Stan Lee is relocated, it has to be here. Not in the mansion. We need to act fast, too-he's trying to send a message..."

"On it," said the other, taking the container from the employee and handing it back to Krei. The two associates scurried to the back of the theater. Krei hurried back to his seat next to Hiro, nervously glancing over at Stan every other second. Stan noticed this and set his popcorn aside.

"I am going to need to excuse myself," he whispered to Tadashi, rising from his seat and rushing out of the theater.

Stan had finished deciphering his notes-for this was no ordinary movie. He had reason to believe Fred had tampered with the film to send Stan a message. Stan fought back tears as he read the back of his ticket.

Dad...

Take Hiro and Tadashi to Tokyo; my time is up, I'm being followed.

Don't come after me. Save yourself. Run.

-Fred

Stan rushed to his close friend at the ticket booth, asking him if he could help him in acquiring three tickets to Tokyo. Luckily, the man had four he didn't need for the S.S. Prospero, a cruise traveling to Tokyo the next morning. He rushed back to the theater, but before he could make it to the Hamadas, he was engulfed in a thick red curtain,

held by Krei's goons. The Hamadas did not want to turn their backs on Alistar Krei, so they did not see what happened in the back of the dark theater. But, of course, there was much more going on that the Hamada orphans were not aware of.

The movie ended with the flip of the lights, making Hiro and Tadashi wince.

Stan hadn't returned...

"Terrible ending," Alistar mumbled. "The civilians should have died like in Spider-Man."

"Where's Stan?" Hiro asked. Tadashi shrugged, and they ran to the lobby, looking around frantically for him.

"Stan?"

"Stan!"

"What's this?" Krei asked innocently. "Your guardian has disappeared. Dear me, dear me."

The boys ignored him, rushing outside to the back alley way of the theater.

"Two helpless youths, all alone in the world...whatever shall we do next?" Krei snarled, grabbing Hiro by the hoodie and Tadashi by the arm.

"Drive home, of course," came a voice from behind. Tadashi and Hiro gasped in relief at the sight of Stan Lee, entirely unharmed, standing behind them.

"Stan!"

"You're here!"

"Hello, boys," he smiled warmly at them. "It's been a long night, and we have a very busy day tomorrow. Did you enjoy the movie?"

"Yes," the boys said in unison.

Stan glanced at a shocked Krei, smirking just slightly.

"Wait in the car, Hamadas. I have some unfinished business with Obake."

"Will you be okay?" asked Hiro.

"Of course," Stan chuckled. "I am your guardian. It is my job...and my delight, might I add, to keep you safe. Run along."

Tadashi and Hiro cast one final look toward Krei before Tadashi grabbed Hiro's shoulders and they both went to the car.

Stan whipped his head over at Krei in anger.

"Do you think you can just waltz into my life, and the lives of my boys, and perpetuate this treachery?" he snarled. "You're a wretched person, and a bad actor, Obake, or whatever your real name is."

"You don't know my real name?" Krei asked in his normal voice.

"I don't need to know your real name. Because of you..."

"Can you hear what they're saying?" Tadashi asked Hiro, who was leaning against the window.

"I hope he's telling him to leave us the hell alone," Hiro mumbled.

"You're done for, Obake."

A sudden thought occurred to Stan that made his stomach wrench.

"You..."

"Sorry?"

"It was you...YOU killed my son! You killed Fred!" He shouted in anger, taking slow steps toward Krei.

"Is that so?" Krei smirked.

"I'LL MURDER YOU!" Stan roared throwing himself on Krei. Hiro jumped out of the car, making Tadashi scream after him.

"Hiro-NO! It's too dangerous-"

But Hiro was running to Stan, grabbing his arm and leading him to the car.

"There's no time, Stan; forget him!"

Stan nodded, running along with him to the car. They tore out of the parking lot, speeding home.

"That terrible man will never bother us again," Stan said, trying to catch his breath. "Sorry about that, just got mad..."

"What happened?" Tadashi asked. Stan gulped.

"He...he murdered my son, boys, don't worry about it. I confronted him and threw him out of our lives forever."

"And we're just leaving him there?" Tadashi asked nervously. "In the parking lot?"

"Under the eye of a very capable ticket seller," Stan assured them. "Besides, if he does slip away..."

"Again," Tadashi mumbled.

"It's none of our concern," Stan finished. "We'll be far away from here. Hamadas, we will not be spending the season in the research laboratory. We are off to Tokyo."

"Tokyo?" the boys asked in unison.

"It's a beautiful place!" Stan smiled. "It's full of marvelous attractions, much like San Fransokyo, but more importantly, all the answers we need are in Tokyo. You must have oodles of questions after that movie. What do you say, Hamadas? Are you in?"

"We're in, Uncle Stan," Hiro smiled gratefully.

---

That night, the boys, Heathcliffe, and Stan stayed up late planning their journey. Stan patted the boys' shoulders in pure joy.

"Listen, boys...I know the loss of your parents was a great tragedy. But you can still have the life they wanted for you. Now, however, it is time to go to bed. Yes, we have a squidillion things to do tomorrow and a boat to catch."

Stan followed the boys upstairs as they got into their beds and laid down.

"More on that tomorrow, yes..." Stan muttered to himself. "Good night, boys."

"Goodnight, Uncle Stan," the boys said warmly.

"Sweet dreams, and tomorrow...Tokyo."

He flipped the light off, leaving the boys to lay in silence and happiness. Stan shut the door, walking down the hallway slowly with a small smile on his face. He stopped at a picture of himself and his son Fred. Stan had just gotten back from an important job from the mayor and returned to Fred dressed as a superhero with his mother. They were all laughing. A tear cascaded down Stan's cheek as he passed the picture before he turned on his heel and went downstairs to help Heathcliffe pack.

I'm sorry to say that this was the last time Stan would be smiling before the arrival of dramatic irony. But as Dr. Lee had promised, no harm would come to the Hamada orphans in the Microbot Mansion. I regret to say that great harm came to Uncle Stan.

---

There's no word to describe the feeling of waking up and knowing instantly that something is terribly wrong. If there were, the Hamadas would have used that word when they rose to find Dawn had awoken them, and their Uncle Stan had not.

Tadashi sat bolt upright, jumping out of bed, sure not to wake Hiro, and rushing downstairs.

"Uncle Stan?" he called, rushing down to the microbot room. "Are you in here? Uncle Stan?"

We all know that our time in this world is limited and that eventually all of us will go to sleep, never to wake up. But that didn't change how Tadashi felt when...

Tadashi noticed Stan sitting at his desk, his chair turned away from him. He gulped as he approached him, gasping in terror at the sight of Stan.

He was dead.

Stan lie stone cold in his chair, his neck purple and his eyes red. Tadashi touched his shoulder, even though he didn't expect a response.

"How could this happen?" Tadashi whispered, a tear streaming down his cheek as he shut Stan's eyelids in respect.

"My, my, my," Krei smirked from the entry way, making Tadashi jump. "What a terrible accident. Whoever discovers this will be very upset." Krei set down his suitcases next to the door, struggling with one of them.

"You murdered him!" Tadashi cried.

"Why, Tadashi, I'm surprised. A smart guy like you ought to be able to figure out that jolly, old Stan died from a microbot attack, not murder. Look at the indentions on his neck."

Tadashi looked down in shock-he was right. Stan's neck had tiny little red microbot indentions littering it. Tadashi gasped.

"Stop it!" Tadashi sneered. "Stop talking about him like that!"

"You're right," Alistar sighed. "No time for chitchat. We have a ship to catch, and I'd like to board in time to have a bottle of wine before lunch."

Krei pulled out the tickets with a smirk.

"Hiro and I wouldn't go to the end of the driveway with you, much less international waters!"

"Well, then I guess I'll have to get my own luggage," Krei sighed, unfolding the handle from one of his wheeled suitcases and smirking as he "accidentally" bumped it into the wall.

"Ow!" came a muffled voice from inside.

Tadashi's heart skipped a beat.

Hiro is inside a wanted criminal's suitcase.

"HIRO!"

Tadashi ran after Krei as he went out to the car, loading the suitcases into the trunk.

"Let him out RIGHT NOW!" Tadashi roared as he sprinted up to Krei. "He won't be able to breathe!"

"I'm so tired of having to explain everything to you," Krei moaned. "You're supposed to be so smart and yet you persistently seem to forget about this.."

Krei whipped out his knife, making Tadashi step back.

"I'll leave some breathing holes for him," Krei smirked, stabbing the suitcases multiple times.

"Stop-NO, DON'T!" cried Tadashi.

"I'm kidding," Krei shrugged. "That's not the suitcase he's in. I don't think."

"Please don't hurt him," Tadashi begged, tears filling his hazel eyes.

"Then get in the car," Krei insisted.

Tadashi closed his eyes but nodded, getting in the back seat and looking down at his hands in shock. Krei rolled his eyes as he slammed the door shut, starting the engine.

"Really, there's no one to blame but yourself," Krei said. "If you hadn't stranded me at the movies, I wouldn't have had to kill Stan Lee, and we'd all be on our way to Tokyo."

"You're just gonna leave him there?" Tadashi asked, disgusted at the thought.

"Who Hiro? He doesn't mind; he didn't struggle a bit when I shoved him in that suitcase."

"No, Stan-wait, WHAT?"

"Here we go," Krei ignored him, driving out of the lot.

"You can't take us out of the country!"

Krei turned around, smirking at Tadashi more villainously than ever before.

"And who's going to stop me?" he asked with a mischievous chuckle. But while his back was turned, the person who had the ability to stop him was driving right for them.

Mr. Wasabi.

"Krei-LOOK OUT!"

"ARGH!" Krei sneered, slamming on the brakes just in time to miss Wasabi's car and ramming into one of the microbot topiaries.

"Oh no..." Krei moaned as the topiary slowly fell, slamming into the front of the car and toppling over to crush the back.

"Hiro!"

It's exceedingly rare for an accident to be a fortunate event. Luckily for the Hamadas...this was one of those times.

Krei got out of the car and slammed the door, marching toward a coughing Wasabi in fury.

"What were you THINKING careening down the driveway like a MANIAC?" Krei roared at the man.

"Me?" Wasabi asked with a scoff. "I was driving well below the speed limit!"

"Mr. Wasabi!" cried Tadashi, running toward the confused bank teller.

"Tadashi?"

"I'm so grateful you ran into us," Tadashi said, catching his breath.

"Well, I wouldn't say that. It was clearly the fault of the other driver."

"I never..." Krei began in his accent.

"I thought there were two of you..." Wasabi muttered.

Hiro.

"Oh, no-Hiro!" Tadashi ran to the back of the car in horror to find the topiary crushing the entirety of the back seat. He frantically tried lifting it off but to no avail. Out of pure anger, out of terrified concern for his brother, Tadashi lifted with all his might, throwing the topiary off the car with an obnoxious thud. He threw open the trunk and pulled out the suitcase, unzipping it and yanking his little brother out of it. Hiro took a gasp as he was lifted out of the small space and into his brother's arms.

"What is going on here?" Wasabi asked after witnessing Hiro being pulled out of a suitcase. Krei shrugged. "You're not Dr. Lee. Who are you?"

"My name is Obake," Krei said with a fake smile. "I'm Dr. Lee's new assistant. I mean, I was. I mean...I don't know how to say it..."

"Uncle Stan is dead," Hiro said, standing up and standing next to Wasabi. Tadashi raised an eyebrow.

If Hiro's been in the suitcase this whole time, how did he know...?

"Dead?" Wasabi gasped. "But that...That's terrible. How did it happen?"

"He was killed by one of his own creations," Krei said sadly. "I was on my way now to get the coroner. The boys were too hysterical to be left here all alone."

"He wasn't taking us to the coroner!" Hiro demanded. "He was taking us to Tokyo!"

"What?" Krei asked with a laugh. "See? Hysterical."

"No, the boys must be confused," Wasabi said, shaking his head in confusion. "Dr. Lee was taking them to Tokyo. Last night he called me to insist on me rearranging my morning itinerary to bring them these passports."

Wasabi pulled out two passports, which Krei snatched out of his hand.

"He'd want me to have them," Krei smiled.

"Can't you see, Mr. Wasabi?" Tadashi cried. "That's Alistar Krei."

"He's in disguise, and he's trying to take us away!" Hiro added.

"Who am I? What am I doing?" Krei asked innocently. "Don't you miss the vivid imagination of childhood, Mr. Wasabi?"

"Boys, you must be very distraught about losing your uncle," Wasabi said pitifully, ignoring Krei's past remark. "Alistar Krei is a terrible man who tried to steal your fortune."

"Really?" Krei asked shocked.

"Yes," Wasabi nodded sadly.

"And do I look anything like this Alistar Krei?"

"No, you don't," Wasabi assured him. "Alistar Krei doesn't have a beard, and he isn't bald, unlike you."

"He let his beard grow, and he's wearing a bald cap!" Hiro yelled angrily at Mr. Wasabi. "Can't you see? Anyone could see that!"

Tadashi stood silent, unsure of what to do. He glanced over at Hiro, who was obviously thinking of some way of proof. Hiro's eyes widened, and he pointed at Krei's ankle.

"Alistar has a tattoo on his ankle," Hiro said frantically. "It looks like a 'K.'"

"I hate to trouble you, sir," Wasabi sighed. "Just to put the children's minds at ease, would you be so kind as to show us your ankle?"

Krei's eye twitched in panic, but he forced a smile.

"I'd be happy to," Krei whispered, putting his ankle on the car and pulled up his pant leg, showing them the clean skin of his left ankle.

"My apologies, Mr. Obake," Wasabi said with a tip of his hat.

"It's no problem," Krei assured him, smirking at a shocked Hiro. "As long as the vehicle is operational then we really must be going."

"No," Wasabi said directly. "None of us are going anywhere until the police have been called."

"What a sensible idea," Krei mumbled angrily.

---

"It's very urgent. First name Stan. Last name Lee. No, this isn't a prank call. Hello?"

Wasabi yelled in frustration, slamming the phone back into the wall. Krei, on the other hand, was pacing back and forth nervously with his business phone, frustrated more than he ever had been.

"I don't care if you have a meeting about a flying cat machine, I'm your boss, and I'm telling you to come here now!"

Meanwhile, Tadashi and Hiro sat slumped in the hallway upstairs, reaching a new level of frustration.

"I don't understand how he got rid of his tattoo," Hiro moaned, head in his hands.

"Hiro, how did you know Stan was dead if you'd been in the suitcase?" Tadashi asked. Hiro looked at Tadashi in shock before rolling his eyes in understanding.

"Yes, right. Well, last night I got thirsty and went to get a glass of water. When I was down there, I heard Stan making a weird noise in his lab. I went in there to check on him. Krei was standing over him with some strange contraption pointed at his neck, so I ran in there to stop him. He pointed it at me; everything went dark. I barely heard Stan's last words, something about wanting to be with his son again, and Krei was still pointing the thing at him. I woke up when Krei bumped me into the wall. That's all I know."

Tadashi could only stare at Hiro in shock before he raised a shaky hand to Hiro's hand.

"I'm sorry I'm never there for you," Tadashi murmured. Hiro rested his head on Tadashi's shoulder.

"None of this is your fault, Tadashi," Hiro reassured him. "None of it. We'll make it out of this together. No matter who we have to stay with, everything will be alright, I know it."

Tadashi smiled warmly at Hiro, hugging him with his one arm draped around Hiro's shoulder.

"Nerd," Hiro said with a laugh. Tadashi chuckled and lightly shoved Hiro playfully.

"I just want you to know," Tadashi began, licking suddenly dry lips, "that I never meant for you to get so caught in the middle of this. Krei only needs me, and he's hurting you to get to me. I'm sorry."

"Tadashi quit it," Hiro scolded, standing up and extending his hand to help Tadashi up. "We're in this together. We're both caught in the middle of this-we can get out together."

"Good news!" Wasabi called from downstairs. "I managed to get through to the San Fransokyo sheriff's department. It seems that there's a bot fight going on downtown giving them the runaround, but they assured to send someone as soon as they're able."

The doorbell rang, making Hiro jump up to answer it.

"They must have made quick work of that fight," Wasabi shrugged, noticing the sirens blaring outside.

Hiro gasped when he opened the door. It was one of Krei's associates dressed in a coroner's outfit. He stepped back before clearing his throat.

"Can I help you?" Hiro asked with a glare.

"I'm Nurse Lucafont," the employee lied.

"Nurse Lucafont!" Krei gasped in relief, throwing Hiro out of the way. "From the local sheriff's department's medical examiner's office!"

"I hear there's been a terrible accident," the employee said, stepping inside and looking around.

"That was fast," Wasabi scoffed. "I only just now made the call."

"I believe speed is the essence in an emergency, sir."

Krei nodded in satisfaction.

"Now, the body?" the employee asked. "Lead the way."

"It's right over here in the Microbot Room," Krei said, leading him to the open door where Heathcliffe was standing staring at Stan Lee's body in horror.

"Awful, just awful..." he kept whispering under his breath, stepping out of the way so that the "coroner" could take a look at him. Hiro raced behind the coroner, stopping him before he could go inside.

"Excuse me," Hiro said, "but why are you wearing that mask over your face?"

"I heard there would be microbots," the employee sputtered. "They might be contagious."

"Microbots aren't contagious," Hiro scoffed. "Are you sure you're a qualified nurse?"

"Maybe the boys should wait outside," Krei insisted. "Being in a room with a dead body could be very dramatic."

"We've already been in a room with a dead body, thanks to you!" Hiro said in frustration. "You killed him in front of me, I should know."

Tadashi looked down in guilt.

"Thank you for that excellent point, Obake," Wasabi agreed. "I must say, you show remarkable compassion for the boys."

"I appreciate it," Krei forced a smile. "Perhaps I will wait out here with the boys as well well you and Nurse Lucafont examine the body."

"Or we could both wait with the boys," Wasabi yelped in disgust at the thought of seeing the body.

"Why don't Hiro and I wait with Mr. Wasabi while Obake and Nurse Lucafont go to examine the body?" Tadashi suggested.

"Fine," Krei groaned. "Follow me. But remember, I will just be on the other side of this door."

The door shut with a thud, making all three men jump slightly before Wasabi smiled pitifully at the boys.

"Oh, I'm sorry, boys," Wasabi said sadly. "Dr. Lee did seem like an appropriate guardian for you."

"He was more than that," Hiro said, shaking his head. "He was much, much more than appropriate."

"Please don't let him be our new guardian," Tadashi begged, stepping forward to grasp Hiro's shoulder.

"Oh, don't be silly, boys," Wasabi chuckled. "It is quite shocking that Dr. Lee died, but I'm not going to just simply hand you and your fortune off to his assistant. Not without some very thorough paperwork."

Hiro and Tadashi's stomachs dropped.

Suddenly, the sound of Nurse Lucafont screaming made the three of them sprint toward the Microbot Room, asking frantically what had gone wrong.

"Lucafont was startled by a few microbots," Krei said in annoyance.

"It's a microbot room," Hiro scoffed. "What did you think would be in here?"

"I didn't know that meant literally," the nurse said frightened.

"Anyways," Krei continued, "You've come just in time. Nurse Lucafont has finished the autopsy.

"And?" Wasabi asked hopefully.

"Microbots killed him," the nurse shrugged.

"Are you sure?" Hiro scoffed again.

"Uh, microbot indentions all over his neck. Only microbots could have done it."

"How terribly tragic," Krei said with a "tsk." "Case closed."

"But Uncle Stan was one of the most brilliant scientists in the world," Tadashi said. "He would know better than to let a dangerous herd of microbots attack him."

"Besides," the nurse went on, "There is purple coloring littering his neck, which can only mean one thing; he was murdered by the Incredibly Deadly Microbots!"

Nurse Lucafont pointed to the cage of purple microbots, making Wasabi and Krei gasp in horror.

"That's impossible!" Tadashi objected. "The Incredibly Deadly Microbots are the least dangerous microbots on the entire planet!"

"Come now, Tadashi," Wasabi said. "They're called the Incredibly Deadly Microbots."

"It's a misnomer," said Hiro. "Uncle Stan invented and named them to scare the judges at his science convention."

"Hiro sounds highly unstable," Krei sighed. "And Stan was not guardian material."

"He was a loving, caring person," Tadashi said, voice cracking. "The Incredibly Deadly Microbots wouldn't hurt anyone, and we can prove it."

"Look at the time!" Krei gasped. "The S.S. Prospero departs at five. Boys, you'd better go and pack."

"Wasabi-Hiro and I CAN'T go with him!" Tadashi insisted. "We don't have the proper paperwork you mentioned.

"He's right," Wasabi sighed. "You seem like a nice person, Obake, but the boys' adventures abroad will have to wait. Come on, boys, we'd better leave."

"No one can leave the house," came a voice from upstairs. The men looked up to see Heathcliffe standing on the balcony, glaring at all of them. "Someone has set loose the deadly microbots, so nobody leaves."

"That's absurd!" Wasabi cried. "I'm late for the bank nd I'm up for a crucial promotion."

"The bank will have to wait," Krei said. "When your back was turned just now, Nurse Lucafont informed me that this entire place is on lockdown. A quarantine!"

The doorbell rang once again, making Krei jump to answer it. The door burst open, several more of Krei's employees filing into the house in different disguises.

"Police!" they all shouted, rushing into the Microbot Room.

"Th-those are all Krei's accomplices!" Hiro cried.

"And they're all in costume!" Tadashi said.

"No, boys, these are all adults," Wasabi said with a laugh.

"You!" one of the employees pointed at another employee. "Create a perimeter. No one goes in or out of the house until the microbots are caught! You two," he pointed at two others, "get that body in the van and back to the ME for some TLC before it's DOA."

"But you said no one could leave the house," Nurse Lucafont said in fear.

"No one except you!" the employee sneered.

"Are you kidding me?" Hiro yelled in frustration.

"Oh, boys, it's rude to question police authority," Wasabi scolded, turning to the employee that had been barking orders. "The children lost their uncle today; I'm sure you can understand. Hiro, Tadashi, why don't you wait upstairs? The adults will take care of it from here."

"But Wasabi-"

"The adults will take it from here," Wasabi said firmly and finally.

"Come on, Hiro," Tadashi sneered, putting a large hand on Hiro's shoulder. "The adults won't take care of anything, but we will."

If you have ever been left out of a conversation due to your age, then you know how the Hamadas felt as they trudged up the stairs unable to participate in the discussion that would determine their fate.

So they decided to have their own.

"We know the Incredibly Deadly Microbots didn't kill Uncle Stan," Tadashi said as they walked into their room.

"And we know that Alistar Krei did," Hiro said with a roll of his eyes. "Mr. Wasabi would never believe us."

"Not without evidence and proof."

"Nurse Lucafont may be a fake nurse, but Uncle Stan had microbot indentions all over his neck that only microbots themselves could make. I saw them this morning."

"I saw the Incredibly Deadly Microbots this morning too; they were in their cage. Who would have let them out? While we were looking away, Alistar Krei must have set them loose."

"Or worse. Destroyed them. If we could find the bots, if we could find out how Uncle Stan actually died, we could prove that they're innocent and that Obake is guilty."

"And Wasabi would have to have Alistar arrested," Tadashi smirked at the thought. "We wouldn't have to go to Tokyo."

Hiro looked up at Tadashi, pain filling his senses as he looked out the window. It was raining-how long had it been raining?

"If we'd found proof earlier," Hiro swallowed and took a deep breath, "maybe we could have saved Stan's life."

Tadashi crouched down to Hiro's level, taking his shoulder and holding his chin.

"If we put Krei behind bars, we could stop him from hurting anyone else. Including us. Including you."

Hiro smiled warmly before his eyes widened slightly.

"I need to get back into the Microbot Room," Hiro said, still looking over at the window.

Tadashi's eyes widened too, dread filling his head. He didn't like where this was going.

Meanwhile back in the Microbot Room, the adults were having an "adult" conversation.

"Maybe we can use the kid to lure the bots," an employee suggested. Wasabi made a disgusted face.

"Keep the banker distracted," Krei whispered to the employee before rushing out of the room.

Krei snuck up the stairs, looking through several bedrooms on the top floor.

And he said living quarters were tight; there must be twelve bedrooms up here!

Krei ignored the thought, walking past what he assumed to be Heathcliff's room, hearing a soft crying from within. He rolled his eyes, going to the boys' door and pulling out his knife.

"Our ship awaits!" he cheered, opening the door. Hiro gasped, falling out of the window in shock. Before Krei had walked in, Hiro had been explaining to Tadashi his brilliant plan to sneak into the Microbot room by climbing out of the window and therefore finding evidence to clear the microbots of the case. Tadashi, who had immediately rejected the idea as it was too dangerous, unfortunately hadn't grabbed his brother in time, and Hiro slipped out of the window and grabbed a ledge on the side of the building just in time. Krei laughed at a horror struck Tadashi, pointing his knife at him.

"You are the only one I need, after all," Krei laughed. Tadashi, however, ran up to him, grabbed him by the arm, and threw him out of the window behind Hiro. Hiro ducked just in time to miss him.

Tadashi looked out the window and extended his hand out for Hiro to grab.

"HIRO!" he cried in the rain and thunder. "Quick, take my hand! I'll pull you up!"

"Run, Tadashi!" Hiro said instead. Tadashi raised an eyebrow in shock.

"Not until you're inside and safe," Tadashi insisted. He looked past Hiro and onto the ground. Krei was looking up at them in anger before he snarled and went back inside the microbot room.

"Tadashi, I'll meet you later!" Hiro insisted. "I'll drop down and go into the Microbot room to find evidence, you go out to Alistar's car and try to see if you can locate the weapon!"

"No, Hiro!" Tadashi knew Hiro was stubborn, but he could put up a better fight. He wasn't going to leave Hiro to dangle in the rain while we waited around to worry and look for clues. "Come on; we have to stay together!"

"Tada-" but before Hiro could finish, a loud rumble of thunder made Hiro jump in surprise, causing him to lose his grip and fall onto the sidewalk under the window.

"Hiro!" cried Tadashi, sticking his head out to make sure he was all right. Hiro lifted a hand weakly and waved it, indicating he was fine.

"I'm alright," Hiro croaked, standing up from the puddle he had fallen in and shaking himself off. "I'm going in, I'll see you later!"

Before Tadashi could stop his little brother, Hiro was already running inside and through an old dog door. Tadashi sighed in worry, tapping his finger anxiously on the window sill. He looked over the wooden fence in the backyard at the beautiful, rainy city of San Fransokyo. He smiled warmly at it, remembering times from his youth, times when things were almost too simple.

He then looked back down at the backyard, gasping in shock.

A maze he hadn't noticed before took up the entire yard, the center containing a woman on statue holding a telescope. The telescope looked familiar, like the one he'd seen Hiro holding all the time.

The hedge labyrinth behind Dr. Lee's house formed a familiar shape of a K; one Tadashi was all too familiar with. He knew the hedges contained secrets; secrets Uncle Stan had promised to share with them.

---

"The Microbots are horribly agitated," Wasabi sighed, noticing how all of them shook in their cages more than he assumed they were supposed to.

"Maybe they're upset about the murder," an employee suggested.

"Well, they're robots," Wasabi said. "I hardly think they're aware of anything-did you say 'murder'?"

"I meant accident," the employee rushed to correct himself.

Hiro ignored the adults' banter, crawling through the Microbot Room dripping wet to lean up against the wall on the other side of the room.

Once he put pressure on the wall, however, the wall made a clicking sound, and Hiro soon realized that this wall was not a wall but in fact a secret door.

He crawled inside, gasping at what he saw. Several superhero suits were displayed in cases around the room along with various technologically advanced weapons. Pictures of Fred and Stan were everywhere and framed articles featuring a younger Stan stopping trains and helping civilians scattered the walls.

Hiro gulped in awe.

A certain painting of Stan in his cape and Fred right next to it caught his attention. He walked over to it and read the golden plaque under both paintings.

I go front. I go back.

I go inside-out.

Then, I go front and back.

Hiro felt a sudden jab of sadness after reading it. Both people in these paintings were dead, and the artist, Joan Lee, was obviously Stan's wife and was also dead. He couldn't bear the thought that neither Stan nor Fred would be dead if they had just lived somewhere else.

He shook off the thought, walking over to a case containing several purple transmitters for the Incredibly Deadly Microbots. He took one out in triumph. If he could just put this one on and summon the microbots, he could show them to Wasabi and he would he how innocent they are!

Before he left the room, he spotted out of the corner of his eye Stan Lee's movie ticket from the night before. Curious, he went to pick it up, flipping it over to see the handwriting on the back. He frowned at the message.

Dad...

Take Hiro and Tadashi to Tokyo; my time is up, I'm being followed.

Don't come after me. Save yourself. Run.

-Fred

How did Fred know Tadashi and him? And who was following him? Krei? Hiro shrugged, putting the ticket in the pocket of his red jacket and taking the transmitter out of the room.

Even though Uncle Stan's body had been removed, the Microbot Room was not as inviting to Hiro as it had been the day before. What happens in a particular place can stain your feelings for it, just as ink can stain a white piece of paper. You can never forget what transpired in that place, just as words in ink can never be unwritten.

Hiro was shaken out of his thoughts when Wasabi spoke up loudly among the bustling employees.

"Oh, I'd better go check on Hiro and Tadashi," he sighed. Hiro ignored him again, his attention going to yet another picture of Stan and Fred, only this time the image held a much greater significance to Hiro. In the picture, Stan walked with a young Fred, who held a telescope similar to the one Hiro had found in his old house. Hiro pulled out his telescope. The Krei Tech K was on Stan's as well as Hiro's. He frowned in confusion. How was Stan linked to Krei? And had he seen that telescope in the backyard where the maze was? He could have sworn the statue was holding it...

Without thinking, Hiro dropped the telescope, jumping at the loud echo that followed.

"What was that?" Wasabi asked, snapping his head toward the sound. Hiro held his breath in anticipation, ducking behind a table.

Shit.

---

After Hiro had fallen from the window, Tadashi had gone downstairs to Krei's car at the Microbot topiary. He ran to the car and threw the trunk open, pulling Krei's suitcase on the ground and crouching down to examine it. He groaned in frustration seeing the lock on the handle. Taking a deep breath, Tadashi pulled his cap off of his belt loop and placed it firmly on his head, evaluating his options. He spotted a sharp stone in the driveway and assumed that was his best option. He slammed the rock onto the lock, causing the lock to snap and fall off. He smiled in victory, throwing the suitcase open and digging through it. Inside he pulled out a gun-like weapon; only the tip was anything but a gun. There was a loop of microbots at the end, which pinched like a claw when you pulled the trigger and squeezed.

Krei must have snapped this on Stan's neck and suffocated him.

Shuddering at the horrible thought, Tadashi took the gun and snapped the suitcase closed. He'd found all he needed.

Hearing a sudden yelp from Hiro at the house, Tadashi jumped to his feet in alarm and turned to the house.

"Hiro," he whispered, knowing something must have gone wrong.

Before he could take a step, however, Krei came up out of nowhere and grabbed Tadashi's arm.

"No, Tadashi, he's not much of a hero now," Krei smirked. "You know, usually nice guys like you don't dig through people's personal, private property. Clever, too, seeing as how one of those trunks was LOCKED before now. But I bet you're not clever enough for this; I have two tickets with me for Tokyo, I take you with me, leave Hiro with my colleagues, and we live happily ever after. How does that sound?"

"Or maybe Hiro stays with me, and you rot in a prison cell with four padded walls. The end," Tadashi growled at Krei, their faces almost touching. Another scream, louder than the previous one, came from the house. Tadashi gasped, shoving Krei out of the way.

"Hiro!"

"Get back here!" Krei chased after him, reaching for his knife. When they got inside of the house, one of the Krei Tech employees held Hiro by his wrist, lifting him off the ground by about four feet. Hiro dangled helplessly and began to kick at the man. The man simply extended his arm so that Hiro's legs couldn't reach. Everyone filed into the foyer at the same time. Tadashi and Krei skidded to a halt, their eyes widening.

"Let him go!" cried Tadashi and Wasabi. Wasabi emerged from behind the man, steaming at him as he insisted that he let go of Hiro. Hiro had given up on fighting back and, once again, dangled helplessly.

"Nice work," Krei said satisfied, a grin spreading on his red face. Tadashi looked at the man, furious for what he was doing. What he was allowing to happen.

"Let's all calm down," Wasabi suggested. "Everyone, take a deep breath. Now, sir, I'm going to ask you to let go of the boy."

"No," the employee said, pulling out a dagger much similar to the one Krei had and pointing it at Hiro. Hiro hated how used to it he was.

"No!" Tadashi roared, taking a step forward only to be grabbed by Krei from behind. "Get your hands off of me!"

Krei also pulled out his weapon, pointing it at Tadashi's neck. Hiro's anger flooded his senses.

"Leave Tadashi alone!" Hiro yelled, pulling a purple transmitter out of his pocket and clipping it to his ear.

"Hey-what are you doing, boy?!" the employee screamed in panic, throwing Hiro to the ground as the sound of tiny clicking filled the room.

"What is that noise?" Wasabi asked horrified.

"The Incredibly Deadly Microbots," came Heathcliff's voice from upstairs. Everyone's eyes darted to the man calmly watching the scene unfold from the balcony. Tadashi and Hiro stared at each other.

"Hiro, what's happening?" Tadashi asked. Hiro only smirked back, the clicking getting louder until the microbots emerged from the dark hallways upstairs, crawling down the steps and slithering towards Hiro. In one swift movement, they entangled themselves around Hiro's form and swallowed him whole, leaving nothing but a large, perfect block where Hiro used to be.

"Goodness, golly, good God, Mary and Joseph, Zeus and Hara, Nathaniel Hawthorne!" Wasabi shrieked in horror, staring at the block with small tears falling out of his eyes. Tadashi stood silent, his eyes as wide as dinner plates, unsure if he should be concerned or not. "Don't touch him! Grab him! Move closer! Run away! Kill the robot! Leave it alone! Feed it! Don't let it kill him!"

The bots shifted suddenly to make a sphere shape, making Wasabi scream louder.

"THEY KILLED HIM! They killed Hiro! Calm down! Call an ambulance! Call a scientist! Call my wife! This is ghastly! This is phantasmagorical!"

Wasabi stopped suddenly, realizing the Krei Tech employees were doing nothing to help Hiro.

"YOU'RE POLICE OFFICERS!" Wasabi roared at them. "Do something!"

"He'll be fine!" an employee said in fear, only really trying to reassure herself. Wasabi scoffed.

Hiro's hand emerged from the circle of microbots, making everyone in the room scream, including Tadashi.

Hiro's other hand stuck out, a journal in it. He tossed it on the floor. Tadashi picked it up and turned to a page with a bookmark in it.

"'The Incredibly Deadly Microbots wouldn't hurt a fly,'" Tadashi read aloud with a shaky voice. "'I know this because I forced them to and no matter how many times they were confronted by the insect they turned away from it. They are smart and work on their own.' They couldn't have killed Stan," Tadashi concluded.

"They do look harmless," Wasabi said, leaning over to get a closer look at the blob of microbots that continued changing shape.

"That doesn't make any difference," Krei scoffed. "There are still plenty of dangerous robots in that room that could have done it."

"You did it!" came Hiro's muffled voice from inside the microbots.

"And I have proof," Tadashi agreed, running out to the car to get Krei's suitcase. When he returned, they all filed into the microbot room. Tadashi looked out the door and realized Hiro hadn't come out of the block yet.

"Hiro? Are you coming?"

"My transmitter fell off; I'll be right there," Hiro assured him. Tadashi nodded reluctantly, going back into the microbot room and emptying the suitcase contents onto Stan's desk.

"When Uncle Stan died, I was immediately suspicious," Tadashi said. "Hiro and I were confident Obake killed him."

"But there were indentions on his neck clearly from Microbots," Wasabi argued.

"That stumped me, too," Tadashi admitted. "That's why I decided to search Obake's suitcase. I knew he wouldn't want to leave any evidence behind. That's when I found this."

Tadashi pulled out the Microbot gun he had found in the trunk. Wasabi gasped.

"But that's ridiculous; I loved your uncle!" Krei said innocently. "What motive would I have to kill him?"

"You're after our fortune," came Hiro's voice from the door, followed by Heathcliff and the Incredibly Deadly Microbots. Hiro sauntered, the microbots slithering after him. Tadashi smiled and nodded in pride as his brother walked in. Heathcliff stood by the door and watched. "You're after our fortune because you aren't Obake; you're Alistar Krei."

Everyone gasped, even Krei's employees. Krei rolled his eyes.

"The kid detective thing is cute, but we've already dismissed that theory," Krei laughed.

"We'll see about that," Wasabi said, pulling out his handkerchief. "Your left ankle, sir."

"Don't come near me with that thing," Krei growled.

"Now," Wasabi repeated, clearing a spot on the table.

"If you insist," Krei shrugged, placing his foot on the table. Wasabi yanked his pant leg up, wiping his ankle to reveal a tattooed K.

"For the first time in my life, I'm happy to see that awful tattoo," Hiro admitted.

Krei simply lowered his ankle and clapped slowly with a smirk.

"Bravo, boys," he said. "Yes, I admit it, I killed Stan Lee. I also killed his son, Fred Lee. I drowned him in the reflecting pond. The question is...what are you going to do about it?"

"I'm going to send you to jail for a very long time," Wasabi grimaced. "Officers, arrest this man!"

Krei's smirk grew.

"You're all in on it, aren't you?" Wasabi asked dreadfully. The employees nodded slowly, grinning. "Oh. Oh, dear."

If this were a piece of written entertainment for small children, you would know what happens next. With the villain's identity and evil plan exposed, the police would arrive on the scene and place him in jail for the rest of his life. The boys would go out for pizza. But I can tell you that's as unlikely as Uncle Stan returning to life. Still, while Dr. Lee might be dead, the microbots in his collection were very much alive.

"If you don't mind," Krei mumbled, "I'll be taking the boys with me. Or at least the one."

Krei grabbed Tadashi's shoulder aggressively, making Tadashi shudder in fear.

"No!" cried Hiro, grabbing different colored transmitters out of his pocket and slamming them on the side of his head. At once, every caged blob of microbots burst from their cage and went behind Hiro. Hiro stood, fists clenched, his army behind him.

"Don't touch 'Dashi," Hiro growled, extending his hand. With that swift movement, the microbots lunged at the employees and Krei. Panicked, the group ran from the building. Krei grabbed one of his employee's arms.

"Take the van, make sure they follow you and not me," he said.

"Where are you going, boss?" the employee asked.

"International waters," Krei said, running the opposite direction. Wasabi, Tadashi, and Hiro ran outside after them.

"Krei is driving away!" Wasabi cried.

"No, he's not," Hiro said, catching his breath. "He's heading into the labyrinth!"

"We have to go call the police!" Tadashi said, starting to go inside.

"He's not getting away again!" Hiro said, taking his army of microbots with him and running in after Krei.

"Hiro!" Wasabi yelled. "Erhm, Tadashi!"

"What?" Tadashi called from inside.

"Hiro is inside the maze with a murderer!"

"WHAT?!" Tadashi abandoned the phone and ran after Hiro, seeing various colors of microbots rise in the sky where Hiro was.

Hiro saw Krei from far away, running after him angrily.

"STOP!" he yelled, extending his hand out after him. The microbots missed Krei by a hair; they had reached the center of the maze with the statue when Krei went through a trap door on the ground. Hiro fell to his knees in frustration.

Suddenly, the statue in the maze stepped down from her stand, smiling warmly at Hiro. Hiro did nothing but stare in awe.

"Who are you?" Hiro asked in shock. "Why are you dressed as a statue?"

"Both excellent questions," the woman said. Hiro examined her face closer and gasped.

"You're Wasabi assistant. Honey Lemon!"

"It's more of a volunteer position," she said. "I'm sorry I arrived too late to save your uncle. But I can still bring Alistar Krei to justice."

Hiro looked down at the telescope in her hand, and his eyes widened.

"Uncle Stan has a telescope like that. What was he trying to tell us? What's in Tokyo?"

"Forget Tokyo. It's been compromised."

"Who were we supposed to meet there?"

"I know you have a great many questions, Hiro, and I promise there are a great many answers. Tell Wasabi to take you to 1513 Hurricane Lane. You'll get all of the answers you need there. Let me handle Alistar Krei."

Hiro put his hands in his pockets to contemplate what she had told him. Feeling emptiness in his pocket, he groaned in frustration.

"Alistar took my spyglass I think," he sighed.

"He certainly did," Honey Lemon nodded with a grin. "I will get it back to you, Hiro Hamada. I promise."

With that, she turned and ran to the trapdoor Krei had gone through and went inside. Hiro stared in shock, slowly walking out of the maze.

On his way out, Tadashi ran into him frantically, his eyes closed.

"KREI!" Tadashi yelled, slapping Hiro across the face. Hiro put a hand to his cheek in pain, looking at Tadashi in shock.

"What the hell, Tadashi?!" Hiro yelled. Tadashi, realizing what he had done, recoiled his hand and ran to Hiro's side.

"Thank God you're okay," Tadashi breathed in relief, grabbing Hiro's hand and leading him out. "Did you find Krei? What happened?"

"I'll tell you in the car; we're going to 1513 Hurricane Lane."

Before Tadashi could ask, Hiro was running out of the maze and toward Wasabi. He whispered something in his ear and Wasabi nodded in understanding, starting the car. Once they were driving away, Hiro scooted up to the front seat and tapped Wasabi's shoulder.

"Wasabi, what do you know about your secretary?"

"Who, Aiko? Oh, she's fabulous. She has a bad habit of disappearing for days at a time, but she was highly recommended by your parents."

Hiro nodded, turning back to Tadashi and whispering everything that had just happened.

---

Honey Lemon jumped off the ladder leading underground. She was in what appeared to be a series of tunnels. Taking a few steps to see if there was any sign of Krei, she spotted a bald cap and fake beard on the ground, followed by a trench coat, leading to a large pair of glasses on a staircase.

Pathetic costume, she thought, running up the stairs and pushing open a door at the top.

When she pushed it open, she was on a dock, right next to the S.S. Prospero. She came just in time to see Alistar Krei running up to the ship and boarding it. She growled, running after him.

---

Krei was in his room on the boat, looking out the window and holding Hiro's spyglass to his eye. A knock on the door made him raise an eyebrow and glance back.

"Who's there?" he groaned.

"Telegram for Alistar Krei?" came a female voice. Krei walked to the door in confusion, opening it and smirking lightly.

"Well, we meet again, Aiko."

Honey Lemon put her hands on her hips, glaring at Krei.

"I hope you don't think you're going to Tokyo," she growled. "Yessica Haircut."

"I find it helpful to leave the country now and then," said Krei. "See some ruins, wait for the manhunt to die down, eat some cuy."

"You won't be eating any cuy unless it's served in a prison cafeteria."

"Why would I be eating in a prison cafeteria?"

"Because I'm taking you to prison."

"Well, good luck with that, because I'm armed," Krei said, pulling out his knife.

"So am I," Honey Lemon said, pulling out a larger knife.

"You wouldn't use it. One of your great gifts is your eminent compassion. You wouldn't squash a spider."

"I like spiders."

Krei slapped her across the face, throwing the window open and stepping onto the ledge. Honey Lemon grabbed him just in time.

"You're not going anywhere you snake," she sneered.

"You're forgetting, my dear Honey Lemon; snakes shed their skin."

Krei slid out of his jacket and jumped out of the window, making Honey Lemon yell in defeat as he splashed into the ocean. She pulled Hiro's spyglass out of the jacket pocket before sprinting out of the room.

---

There are times when the entire world seems wrong. The way a microbot room without any microbots seems wrong. The way a bookshelf without any books seems wrong. Or a loved one's house without the loved one. The Hamadas weren't given much time with their Uncle Stan, which seemed wrong. Still, for the first time in a long time, they'd found a place where the world seemed right, if only for a short time. If they found that once, who's to say they couldn't find it again?

---

i listened to "it ain't me" by selena gomez while typing all 15,291 words of this chapter oops.

anyways thank you guys for the kind words and follows, they mean a lot. i probably should have clarified but this is based on the netflix series, not the book or the movie. this is just an idea i've toyed with for a while and i wanted to type it out, but your reviews are still appreciated. the ending isn't going to be the same as the series, though; i'm going to go with a bh6 twist. as some of you probably noticed, i combined parts one and two for the reptile room episode into this ginormous chapter, but the next chapter should be out this week becuase of spring break. i alos hope you guys know i don't respond to reviews and im not a huge authors note fan (i.e. when someone writes like three words in a chapter and then like literally the rest of the chapter is shout outs and authors notes barf like just update like a normal person) so thats me hope you enjoy have a good week and more is coming very soon 3