New update : instead of a regular schedule, I will be announcing when the following chapter will be posted at the end of the chapters. Thanks for your guys' support!
Something quickly jabbed at his shoulder. Hiro rolled over, mumbling, "A few more minutes." The poking still continued, harder and more consistent. He blindly swiped whatever it was a couple times, and received several more peaceful moments. Then, without any warning, a huge amount of cold water was dumped on his head.
"GAHH!" he tried yelling, sitting up immediately, but a warm, squishy hand was held over his mouth, muffling the sound. He panted, water dripping from his black locks and soaking his clothes. He stood up, searching for the person (or robot) he was about to kill. It leaked, getting into the floorboards. Meanwhile, Baymax stood next to his bed, blinking. He set an empty, fairly big red bucket on Hiro's now drenched pillow, causing the boy to wonder, where in the world had he gotten it? Outside was still nighttime, the moon glowing mysteriously, and the alarm clock on his nightstand displayed the neon green numbers of 3:24 AM.
"What the heck was that for?!" he whispered angrily, wiping the water from his eyes. "It's the middle of the night, and I was sleeping!"
"I am very sorry to disturb your natural sleeping cycle. Besides, I gave you a few more minutes, as you requested."
"And you managed to think that's perfectly acceptable for you to dump freezing water on me? What do you want?"
"There is something I need you to see."
"Well, what is it?" Baymax silently pointed to his computer, which had turned on, apparently by the robot. It depicted someone calling him, from an unknown number. Hiro, a bit taken back from the middle-of-the-night video call, slowly stood up, his feet padding along on the floor as he sat in his desk chair, turning on a lamp. He winced, the bright light piercing his eyes a bit harshly in the faded, dark night. He turned to his right, looking at Baymax who had taken his place standing next to him.
"Do you recognize this number, Baymax?"
"No," he replied, "I do not. The number does not seem to be from this area; perhaps not even in San Fransokyo."
"Should I answer it, then?"
"How should I know? I'm just a lowly robot." Shivering, Hiro hesitated. Who would actually contact him in the middle of a Thursday night?
'Well,' he reasoned, 'if they couldn't wait till morning to call me, it must be pretty important.' With that logical thought, he clicked 'Answer.' A face appeared. Hiro's body temperature went down even more, for the face was… Tadashi.
"Wha-?" Hiro spluttered, face rapidly turning whiter than a ghost. "Is this some kind of sick joke or something?"
"Hiro," Tadashi said gently. "It's really me. Honest."
"I d-don't believe you," Hiro stuttered hotly. "They said you… they said Tadashi is dead. They said he died in a fire. At the University. Th-"
"I know what they said. They are wrong. I… I'm alive, Hiro. And you… you defeated Callaghan. All by yourself, really. What were you thinking, you stupid, stupid, idiotic bonehead?..." A small tear cut a clear path down Tadashi's grimy face, plopping down. That's when he knew for sure that his brother was here - when Hiro's safety was more important to Tadashi than his own life. He was here. Not dead. Not here 'in spirit,' or any of the sentimental crap they tried telling him after the fire. Just… here. Alive. Again.
"That's a little redundant, Tadashi," he said softly, trying not to cry.
"Indeed it is, little bro, indeed it is." The younger one started shaking, then sat up, rigid.
"Oh, what happened?" he whispered, noticing the wicked scar slashing through his brother's skin, on the left side of his face. Dirt clung to his skin, dark hair was extremely unruly and looked like he hadn't washed it for a month (which wasn't true, as his brother was allowed one, 5 minute shower once every 2 weeks - sometimes, they even let him have a shower without dirty water), and worst of all, if Hiro didn't know any better, Tadashi looked like he was actually dead - bags under his eyes, shallow breathing, and more were evident on his "resurrected" brother that would cause one to believe he was a zombie of some sorts.
"The fire… the explosion didn't kill me, thankfully. I broke my ankle, dislocated my shoulder, and received this, along with some other minor cuts and bruises. But, hey, still alive! Still breathing…" he chuckled weakly, then coughed.
"Look, Hiro, I need to hurry up," Tadashi said quickly, in his slightly raspy voice, a bit panicked, looking over his shoulder. For what, Hiro had no clue, and honestly, he didn't really want to know. "I barely escaped, but they are coming for me. I don't have much time, so… just… listen and don't interrupt." He nodded in response. "Ok…"
"They… they took me. I'm in some underground facility, in this old college that shut down. The coordinates are- wait, write this down." Hiro frantically dug out some paper and a pen, ready to write, and Tadashi relayed the coordinates, the other scribbling it down.
"Got it?" he nodded. "Anyways I don't know who or how they are. I just know… they are set on destroying San Fransokyo." Hiro sucked in a quick breath, his heart pounding so hard he was sure that the students from the other dorms could hear it. Sure, he and his friends were the crime stoppers of San Fransokyo, but to stop its destruction? The battle with Callaghan had been bad enough, so…
"To do so, they need Baymax's files, which were destroyed in the fire. And… they think I hid them. If I don't give them the information they want, they'll come after you. Plus Go Go, Honey Lemon, Wasabi, Fred, and of course Baymax. They'll… they'll use you against me, to get me to talk, since they need me, for some purpose of their own, later."
"I'm so sorry for this," he continued, voice cracking a little, making Hiro's heart nearly break, "but… I need you. I don't want you in danger anymore, but the fate of San Fransokyo relies on us. There… there is someone in here, infiltrating it. He's the one who managed to break me out of my cell. But he alone won't be able to help. I need you… all of you."
"I can, Tadashi, and I will… after all, I defeated Callaghan, didn't I?"
He flinched a little. "Trust me - compared to them, that was a walk in the park. These are dangerous people, Hiro, and they want you dead."
"Well," he replied, "a lot of people wanted me dead. Besides, as Baymax would put it, 'sucks for them.' I won't let them. I promise, no more Hamada brothers will die. Or any one of my friends, for that matter." The older sibling looked confused.
"Baymax would say that?"
"Oh," he said, looking a little sheepish. "My attempt at a new chip failed. Now he is a sassy healthcare companion, and he refused to have it removed. I believe only you can remove it." Baymax, who had been staying silent during this whole ordeal, walked in front of the view and waved, saying, "Hello, Tadashi, I am glad you are alive. Would you like a lollipop when we rescue you? Perhaps you would enjoy my new flavors, unlike Hiro."
The brother smiled a little. "All the more reason to rescue me." All of a sudden, the door to the room he was in pounded. The smile immediately disappeared. "Listen, Hiro! I know it's hard to understand me still alive, and again I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry-"
"Open up!" yelled a person from the other side. "Or maybe we'll find Hiro Hamada and his friends sooner than later! NOW!"
"I'm sorry, bro, I never wanted you in this. But I can't help myself, I'm just one person, just one person with nothing-"
"You don't have nothing, Tadashi!" Hiro grabbed the side of his screen, as if trying to put his hands on his brother's shoulders to comfort him, anything to help at all. "You have me, and Baymax, and all your friends at the 'Nerd School!' I will find you, I will get you out. I swear on my life!" Tadashi winced. The doors buckled outward, groaning at the weight put on it.
"I wouldn't do that, Hiro! I want, no, I need you alive… even if it means I will die." The doors were off the hinges. Two guards ran in, seeing Hiro's face. They wore these weird, dark robes and held stun guns of some sort. One took aim.
"I… Hiro, I…" The guard shot. Tadashi slinked down in his chair out of sight of the webcam on the computer, spastically jolting around on the way. It was torturous to watch.
"Tadashi!" he screamed, shaking his computer monitor. His voice had the exact urgency and brokenness as the voice he had used to call his brother while he had ran into the burning building, nearly a whole year ago. The guard came up to the screen and, without any hesitation, smashed it. Hiro's screen went dark, saying the other line disconnected. His hands shook violently as he slowly pressed the off button, eyes staring off into space, almost a serene look on his face.
"Tadashi… he's alive. He isn't dead…" With those final words, Hiro fainted, crashing to the ground with a loud thump.
"Oh, crap," drifted Baymax's calm voice.
Feedback = always appreciated. Next chapter will be posted next Tuesday. Happy holidays! :)
-DragonFire0102