Chapter 10

Six weeks had passed since the Steel War Hiro went to with Abigail. He frequently went to Gogo's house for rest and to spend time with her. He learned that she was a decent cook, at least much better at cooking than Hiro and his 'mean ramen'. Living alone meant she knew how to take care of herself and she was even happier to care for Hiro. Now, Hiro's strength had returned and his ribs had fully recovered. Hiro, Gogo, Abigail, Wasabi, Honey Lemon, and Fred were currently in Hiro's garage planning their next move. One may wonder why Abigail had been included in this meeting.

"I know someone with a steel bot," Abigail spoke up.

"You know someone…" Gogo commented. "How convenient."

Abigail brushed Gogo's comment aside and continued, "His name is Kai. He was in a bad car accident a while back and now he has brain damage. He hasn't been able to control his bot since, but he's looking for someone to step in for him."

"So what, we just team up with this guy and we're in?" Wasabi questioned.

"We know nothing about him. And how can you still trust her after that incident?!" Gogo asked Hiro, gesturing to Abigail.

Hiro and Abigail both sighed at the same time. Gogo did have a point and it was pretty convenient that Abigail contacted Hiro with this information first. Hiro looked at Gogo. She crossed her arms across her chest and stared at Hiro, waiting for him to say whatever dared come out of his mouth next.

"Abigail," Hiro finally said. "Would you mind stepping outside and giving us all a minute to talk about this as a team?"

Gogo's expression relaxed. He was thinking about the team.

Abigail nodded and politely excused herself. As she exited, Hiro turned to the group.

"What do you guys think?" Hiro asked the group.

"I don't trust her," Gogo said, stating the obvious.

"Wasabi?"

Wasabi shook his head but said, "She has a way in. I say we trust her, for now."

Gogo scoffed. Fred and Honey Lemon nodded in agreement to Wasabi.

"Gogo," Hiro said, taking both of her hands in his. They had made their relationship clear to their friends and Hiro was not afraid of their public display of affection. "We stick together. If Abigail's contact can't get us all in together, as a team, I'll call it off."

Gogo looked at Hiro behind the bangs hiding her eyes. She gave his hands a small squeeze and nodded. What good was their relationship without trust?

"Let's do this!" Fred cheered.

They were all surprised when they met Kai. He was a young man in a wheelchair. Kai was able to train Hiro on his bot by using his computer to program moves and he was very intelligent. Hiro trained in his house with a virtual visor. All steel bot fighters had one. It was how they controlled their bot. Hiro had a lot to learn. Your bot would do anything you wanted it to do, anything you thought, it did it. The bot, Hiro, and Gogo shared a three-way kiss on his first day of training. Gogo wasn't allowed in the room since then while Hiro trained with the bot.

Kai deemed Hiro ready for a fight after his first week of training and was happy to get the whole team into the fight, which also included Abigail.

They arrived at the fight. It was a different location from the fight Hiro and Abigail went to. That ring was for pristine fighters. Hiro had to start at the bottom. This was a smaller fight, but there were still many people there to watch.

Hiro glanced at the crowd from his spot on the ring. Kai's steel bot stood in front of him. Hiro chose to puff out his chest with his arms at his side, head down, and ready for battle-pose. His opponent had his arms up as if he had already taken the victory.

The ring announcer stood in the center, letting the crowd build until he raised his arm to grab the microphone. As he grasped it, the crowd went silent.

Hiro's heart drummed in his chest.

"Let the fight, begin!"

Hiro's opponent was first to act. His arms spun on circles and charged at Hiro. Hiro panicked in the heat of the moment. His bot was frozen as his opponent charged closer.

"Fight Hiro!" Gogo cried.

Hiro focused on her voice and snapped into action. He set his bot in a defensive pose. It was too late to try to dodge the attack. Hiro's bot took the first hit. The crowd cheered. Hiro pushed the other bot away after his recovery. He charged at him, pulling a metal bar (which was essentially a long lead pipe) off his back. He advanced toward his opponent swinging the pipe above his head. Hiro was able to beat it over the head with the pipe before his opponent realized what was happening.

Hiro smiled. He was getting the hang of it, before his opponent swiped his bot's feet under Hiro's bot and brought it down on its back. His opponent sat his bot on top of Hiro's bot and began disassembling its limbs.

Hiro froze, unsure what else was left to do. His bot's legs had been torn off. He couldn't move. Then Hiro saw his opening. He reached up with both arms and grabbed his opponent's chest. His computer chip was covered by a glass box. His opponent didn't do a very good job at hiding his weakness. Then Hiro saw that his own bot had the same glass box on his chest. Hiro frowned. I'll have to fix that later, he thought. He wasted no more time. He broke his opponent's glass. He watched as his opponent stood helplessly trying to make his bot move, but Hiro already removed his chip and tossed it across the ring. His opponent fell over. Hiro pushed his bot up with his arms and the crowd cheered. The ring announcer announced Hiro as the victor. Relief washed over him. He had won his first every steel bot fight. He raised his arms in triumph. He looked behind and saw his friends cheering on his victory.

Hiro smiled.

Back at Kai's house, Hiro was anxious to repair his bot and make some modifications. First he disassembled his bot's inner core. He placed his bot's chip on its back instead of being square in the chest. He put the chip on the left shoulder blade and painted the box so it would blend in with the rest of his body. He didn't want to take a chance that someone else would try to destroy him by taking advantage of his weak spot.

Next, he began making new legs to attach to the body. Hiro sat alone in his garage at his computer making the design for the legs. He didn't hear the door open as Gogo walked down with two coffee mugs in hand. She placed them on a table and wrapped her arms around Hiro's chest as she approached him from behind.

He was startled, but easily relaxed into her embrace and turned his chair around to face her. She was wearing sweat pants and a hoodie. She looked comfy.

"How's it coming?" Gogo asked.

Hiro smiled up at her and grabbed her by the waist, pulling her to straddle him. "Better, now that you're here," he said making her blush.

She sat on his legs and grabbed his neck. "Seems like you need a break."

Hiro gave her a weak nod and smile. She could see small bags under his eyes from over-working. "I brought coffee, and this DVD from Aunt Cass. She says it's a classic," Gogo said pulling the movie out of her hoodie pocket.

Hiro eyed the black and white DVD case and quirked an eyebrow at Gogo. He stood, lifting her with him. He held her under her thighs and she wrapped her legs around him as he carried her to the couch. He set her down gently, with a kiss, and turned to retrieve the coffee mugs she brought with her and put them on the table in front of them. She handed him the DVD and he clicked the television on and played the DVD. He sat next to Gogo on the couch and put his arm around her. She leaned into his side as the movie started. They each took a sip of coffee then relaxed together.

The Count of Monte Cristo began to play. Hiro smiled at her choice of movie. He brushed her bangs away from her eyes, letting his fingers linger on her skin. She gazed up at him and blinked. His hand cupped her head and he slowly leaned down and captured her lips with his. They slowly moved against each other. Both of their bodies touching and becoming warm. Gogo was sure her face was red as a cherry, even two months after they confessed to each other. Hiro continued to romance her until he could fully capture her heart.