Chapter 7

Friday had arrived. Hiro was impatient as ever for when eight o'clock would draw near. He checked his phone. Seven o'clock, it read. One more hour. Hiro bounced he knee impatiently. He sat at a table in his aunt's café as he waited. He did not want to miss Abigail's arrival.

He glanced at his phone again, unaware that someone had sat down across from him. It wasn't until a plastic bag thudded on the table, did Hiro finally look up.

Gogo sat across from him, arms folded, a scowl on her face, and Chinese take-out odor steaming from the bag on the table. Hiro glanced up and smiled at her.

"What's this?" Hiro asked reaching for the bag.

"Just dinner," Gogo replied.

She didn't move as Hiro opened the bag so he kept his eyes on her wondering what she was up to. He pulled out the first box, careful not to tip it. He opened it and saw his favorite dish: broccoli and beef with rice. He let himself take a big inhale of the food, but he narrowed his eyes and shut the lid.

"Just dinner?" Hiro asked. There's more to it…

"Dinner with a condition," Gogo said.

Hiro raised an eyebrow. "What's the condition?" he asked.

She unfolded her arms and leaned them on the table as she sat forward. She was wearing a low top and Hiro had to consciously advert his eyes from her chest.

"The condition is that you come back alive from this fight," she said.

Hiro relaxed a bit and let out a small chuckle, "Of course I'll come back alive."

Gogo didn't smile. Like it is that easy. "I'm being serious."

Hiro stopped his quiet chuckle and really looked at Gogo. Her eyes were worried and her lips drawn into a small frown. He didn't like to see her like this, but what choice did he have? He reached across the table with both his hands and grasped hers. He felt a small tremble dissipate as they joined. He gave her a small squeeze. "I'm serious too. I'll come back to you," he said.

I'll come back to you.

Gogo nodded and withdrew her hands and reached for the bag. She pulled out the other tray. Hiro watched as she opened her tray that had the exact same meal in it. She smiled and handed him a set of chopsticks.

They finished their meal as Aunt Cass brought them a cake to share.

It was finally time. Hiro stood up from the table and grabbed his jacket off his chair. He slipped his arms into it, fixed his collar, and turned to Gogo. She was standing next to the table. Hiro's heart skipped in his chest as he gazed upon her body. She was beautiful.

He glanced down at his hands as he fidgeted, not sure just what to say. She stepped closer to him and raised her arms up to his neck. He expected her to pull him down, but instead she flipped the back of his collar down as he had missed that part.

"Thank you," he said softly.

She smiled up at him.

They leaned closer.

Hiro's arms grasped her forearms as he pulled her closer, but they were interrupted by a car honk outside. Hiro glanced over Gogo's shoulder and saw Abigail's car pulled next to the curb.

"That's my ride," he said looking down at Gogo.

Interrupted again…Her smile grew as she said, "One more promise…"

"What's that?"

She hugged him and waited for him to hug her back before saying, "Don't kiss her."

Hiro froze at her request. Gogo drew away with a smirk. She didn't need confirmation from him. Instead, she pushed him out the door and waved to Abigail as he silently got in her car. Aunt Cass stood behind Gogo and waved, pulling Gogo back inside as they pulled away.

"Excited?" Abigail asked Hiro next to him in the car.

Hiro nodded, his mind still on Gogo.

"You don't seem that excited," she commented.

Hiro smiled. "Sorry. My mind was elsewhere."

The drive wasn't too long. Abigail pulled into a packed parking lot of what looked like a warehouse. People were lined up by the doors to go inside. As Hiro got out of the car he noticed that there were a lot of people. Abigail grabbed a jacket and led Hiro to the door. They bypassed the line of people waiting at the door and went straight to the window as she presented her tickets. The gate clicked open and they were led inside by a large man. The inside looked like a boxing arena. Stadium seats lined the walls and in the center of the room was a ring, lifted off the ground, with two areas on either side where the controllers would probably stand during the battle, Hiro assumed.

The place was packed but Abigail led them to two seats close to the front rows that were directly in view of one of the controller stations.

"It should start soon!" Abigail yelled over the noise.

Hiro glanced down at his wrist watch then the lights in the stadium went dark, leaving the ring lit. A spotlight scanned the crowd and aimed down a hallway. A door was lifted and the crowd began to cheer as a Steel Bot came into view. Abigail had been accurate in her description. The massive robot was twice the size of its human controller and was decked out in fighting weapons. Its shoulders looked like massive cannons. Hiro wasn't sure if firing off weapon rounds were legal, but it certainly looked badass. Hiro wasn't able to catch the name of the controller and his robot over the crowd.

But the crowd cheers grew louder as the spotlight scanned the room again to the other side of the stadium. Hiro saw the opponent robot. It was even bigger than the first. No cannons on the shoulders. This one was all about swords and knives it seemed. He saw two massive katana swords strapped to the back, with large daggers strapped around its waist. The controller walked next to the robot and Hiro recognized him immediately.

Finally! The man they needed. Yama walked next to the Steel Katana Bot and the crowd went crazy.

Abigail turned to him and nudged her head in Yama's direction mouthing 'Is that him?'

Hiro nodded and watched as Yama entered the ring.

"Ladies and Gentlemen. Welcome to Steel Wars!" the ring announcer said over a microphone. The crowd continued to cheer. "Tonight we have Mal versus Yama!"

The two opponents shook hands and walked to their spots in the ring. They readied their bots. Loud noises erupted from the ground, shaking the walls and seats of the stadium as the robots powered on. The fighters posed their first stance with their bot, waiting for the fight to begin.

The ring announcer hushed the crowd, holding up his hands. Hiro watched and waited as the room grew silent. He could feel his heart swell with anticipation. He watched Yama carefully. His massive head was already sweating. Silence filled the room leaving everyone antsy for it to begin.

The ring announcer pulled the microphone close to his lips.

"START!"

Yama sprang into action first yelling commands into his head gear over the roaring crowd. His opponent was slower, but the bots collided in a melee. Yama's bot attempted to lift his opponent up with his arms, but Mal's bot slammed its elbows into the bot's shoulders, grounding him, preventing his from moving. With one arm still on Mal's bot, it reached behind itself with the other arm and unsheathed one of the massive katana swords. The sword arm swung down and chopped off one of the arms to Mal's bot. Mal yelled commands for his robot to back off and power up its cannons. The crowd roared with delight. This was the action they were waiting for. Mal's bot aimed at Yama. The shoulder cannons opened as Yama charged forward unsheathing the other katana while it traveled.

The next part happened so fast, Hiro was sure his life was going to end.

Hiro watched as the shoulder cannons sparked. Yama sidestepped at the last minute. Mal's cannons fired and missed Yama's bot. They were headed straight for the audience where Hiro and Abigail were sitting. Hiro's eyes went wide with fear. He almost had time to stand, but the ammunition never reached past the ring. An invisible shield began to vibrate around the ring as the cannon balls blasted against it.

The crowd went wild as in ring, Yama's bot was delivering the final blow to his opponent.

"The winner is, Yaaaaamaaaaaaa!" the ring announcer called.

Yama jumped into the ring and stood next to his bot. He turned around and faced the crowd behind him. The lights flipped on all round in the stadium. Yama and Hiro locked eyes. His face turned into a scowl, despite his recent victory.

Yama whispered something to a man standing next to him and the man nodded in reply and left. Hiro suddenly had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"Abigail, I think we should go," Hiro said to her.

She turned to him, "You still have to talk to Yama though!"

He was about to say something when his arm was being pulled to his side. The man that was on the stage with Yama was pulling him up out of his seat.

Hiro jolted with surprise, but the man's grip was too strong. He tried wriggling his arm free but failed. He suddenly felt a pull from his other arm. Abigail was trying to save him. But no sooner were two men man-handling her too.

"Abigail!"

"Hiro!"

Hiro continued to fight until a fist met his face and he blacked out. My promise…I'm sorry Gogo.