Haunted

Eerie green light filtered through the confines of the space, illuminating cold steel. The slosh of water hitting the submarines bough only served to add to the ghostly atmosphere. In the distance, a buoy bell rang leaving a death note to hang oppressively in the air. The scene had all the makings of a ghost story and Fred didn't like it, not one bit. He was, after all, a fan of comic book action and hero's, not spooksville, death, doom and gloom.

"Woman up." Gogo reached out to push the green Kaiju monster that was clinging to her off.

"But this place is creepier than the lab on Akuma Island!" Fred protested moving to grab hold of Gogo once more.

"I swear, if you grab onto me again I'm going to get Wasabi to laser you in the face." Gogo threatened.

Fred swallowed, looking around nervously as he considered his options. Gogo was the only person with him. Wasabi and Honey Lemon were out investigating another site. That meant Gogo couldn't actually ask Wasabi to laser him in the face. Then again, Gogo could be a lot scarier than Wasabi. He decided not to grab onto her again, opting instead to walk behind her.

Gogo and Fred were currently investigating the World War II submarine that had appeared on the day Hiro had disappeared. Gogo and Honey Lemon had already investigated it but there had been rumours of strange occurrences on the submarine since. People had reported seeing mystic lights and hearing ghostly voices. Tadashi had decided it warranted a second look and had dispatched Gogo and Fred to investigate.

"Two intrepid friends lead by Fred, the leader, Fred. Fred's Angels, m-m-m. Fred's Angels, m-m-m. Harnessing the power of the moon with the ancient amulet they found in the attic. M-m-m. The amulet is green. M-m-m. It's probably an emerald."

"Fred, seriously, you're still singing that?" Wasabi's voice came across the open communication channel, frustration clear in his tone.

"What, it calms me down!" Fred protested, eyes darting around the confines of the submarine. "You'd be singing to distract yourself too if you were stuck in a haunted tin can, headed towards your doom!"

"Stop being such a baby!" Gogo snapped, turning to glare at Fred. "We're not headed towards our doom. We're exploring an abandoned submarine!"

"At midnight, floating in the middle of the bay where no one can see us." Fred pointed out.

"It's nine o'clock, Fred." Gogo pushed out her hip, resting her hand on it to give the frightened Kaiju a scathing look.

"Close enough. It's dark outside and we're alone in an abandoned area of the bay."

"Guys, focus!" Tadashi joined the conversation on the open communication channel, interrupting the brewing argument. "We're on a mission here, can we save the arguments for later? Gogo have you spotted anything out of the ordinary?"

"More out of the ordinary that a World War II submarine appearing out of nowhere?" Gogo shook her head, turned and resumed walking. "Not yet. It appears to be in the same state that Honey and I originally found it in but something's not right. I just can't put my finger on it."

"That's because it's haunted!" Fred insisted, practically walking directly in Gogo's shadow.

"Fred, if you go down that path one more time, just one more time, I swear I'll…"

"Still focusing here, Gogo." Tadashi spoke in an attempt to calm her down before the situation escalated out of hand. "Do you think someone's been there?" Tadashi was back at the café, monitoring the team's progress on Hiro's computer in the garage. He'd wanted to join one of the actual on-site investigations but the team had pointed out that he was still being watched by the police and joining them would likely blow their cover. He'd reluctantly agreed to be their home base backup.

"I can't really say." Gogo responded, reaching out to open the door to the submarine's weapon's compartment. Fred jumped when the door slid open with a loud metallic creak. "Then again maybe I can." Gogo stepped into the compartment, glaring at the sight that greeted her.

Fred followed, a little more reluctantly. He wasn't in a hurry to meet spirits that apparently haunted this abode. In fact, he'd rather not meet them at all but he was a hero and as a hero he was obligated to do his best to keep the citizens of San Fransokyo and his the leader of his own team, safe.

The weapons compartment was larger than he'd expected it to be. It was large enough to hold several people. A solid steel walkway occupied the centre. Surrounding it were large empty racks attached to the hull of the submarine. There were two empty pipes near the empty racks. All in all, the room wasn't all that intimidating. Nor did it really provide Fred with any clues as to why anyone might have been there. Fred looked at Gogo.

"What's up?" Tadashi asked, giving voice to the pertinent question running though Fred's mind.

"The torpedoes are gone."

Fred's jaw dropped. Torpedoes? He'd missed the chance the see actual torpedoes?!

"You left torpedoes on the sub?!" Tadashi exclaimed in disbelief.

"What were we supposed to do with them?" Gogo retorted in annoyance. "Store them in Hiro's garage? I'm sure the police would have loved that. What's that officer? Oh, no don't worry about those. They're just torpedoes that we decided to store here. Yes, officer, I know they are dangerous but would you have rather I left them on the submarine in the bay?"

"You could have reported them to the police." Tadashi pointed out.

"We intended to." Honey Lemon joined the heated debate occurring over the communication lines. "But we kind of got side-tracked."

Silence enveloped them all, no one daring to actually give voice to the unspoken implication of Honey Lemon's words. That was, after all, the day they lost Hiro.

Tadashi sighed, breaking the awkward moment. "I think you guys need to get back here so we can go over what we know."

"We'll see you in ten." Gogo confirmed turning around to head back the way they'd come.

Fred followed. He was about to open his mouth to tell Gogo that it wasn't humanly possible to get back to the Lucky Cat Café in ten minutes when something caught his eye. He bend down to investigate. Lying just in front of the door was a take-away pastry food wrapper. "Uh… guys…" Fred picked the wrapper up and held it in view of his suit's camera. "I think we're being watched."

Printed on the wrapper was the Lucky Cat's Logo.

- BH6 - BH6 - BH6 –

A/N: For Rizard13. I've decided to slip in an entire chapter in Fred's perspective. I know he's generally a rather fearless character but I figure there are thing's even Fred's afraid of. Hope you like it XD

cryptidresearcher: I know how you feel. Inquisitor is quite the sadist.

Ern Estine 13624: XD

Rizard13: Glad you are beginning to understand this story's title. I picked it very carefully. I don't mind sending you explanations. AS long as things make sense once I do.

AwesomeWriter2013: Yeah Hiro is very sweet but he can also be a smart ass XD. His plan... just between you and me... is EPIC! Or at least I think so. I hope you will to once you piece it together.

CrazyBlueOwl: Agreed. I am enjoying the angst in this story but my ultimate goal here is Tadashi's protective streak that will hopefully come into play later in this story.

Rosycat: I try to update fast. Hiro's future is still not entirely decided. His decisions in the present are going to impact it one way or another ;). Thats all I'm going to say.

Anony mouse101: Thank you. Hopefully it will all come together later.

shooting2stars: It's good to know I can still surprise. The sibling bond is what I'm actually hoping to get too as well but we shall have to wait and see how things play out.