Chapter 26 (Hiro's POV)
The world came back into focus all at once. The light and sound rushed in until I felt overwhelmed. I staggered to my feet as my head swam with vertigo. Reaching out I grabbed the railing beside me in desperation. My blood ran cold as I stared down the hundreds of feet below me. The cars crossing San Fransokyo bridge looked like ants, and the churning waters of the bay looked even less inviting.
Adrenaline sharpened my senses as I tried to take stock of not only where I was, but why. The first part of that question was simple enough. After all, San Fransokyo's greatest landmark wasn't hard to miss. I was currently standing on a narrow maintenance stairwell that rose adjacent to the main bridge structure. Hundreds of feet in the air no less…
But as unlikely as it seemed, the why held an even worse answer...
"At last, you're awake, Hiro…"
The sound of his voice brought me back to the present for the horrors it contained.
"W-What do you want, Obake?! Why are we here?!" I shouted above the roar of the wind. Stepping from the shadows of the stairway above me, he revealed himself. In each of his hands, he held one of my blades, which meant I was unarmed. Not that it mattered, I'd end this, no matter what it took.
"I brought us somewhere we can settle our differences without…interruption."
"Trapping me here with no weapon is your idea of a fair fight?"
He smiled. "Hiro, you were at my mercy from the moment one of my nanobots altered your DNA. I've held you and this entire world in my hands. I still do, Hiro. Now, shall we discuss this?"
"We have nothing left to discuss! End this insanity or I will!"
His eyes narrowed, a twisted form of sorrow reflected in them. "How long will you keep clinging to the past…? Have you learned nothing of what I've tried to teach you? Look at it…" he said gesturing toward the city lights. "This world is doomed. If I don't snuff out its life it will simply strangle itself in time." A frown cut across his face. "These people are fools! They live lives where the greatest ambition is merely to consume! They are wholly reliant on us, Hiro! On the brilliance we bring! Without our work, they would have already destroyed themselves! Would you really keep defending them…?"
I glared at him. "This isn't about the past, it's about the future. A future I won't let you destroy!"
He lowered his head, a dark aura enveloping him. When he looked back up at me, a calm but seething rage seemed to control him.
"You've disappointed me so much, Hiro… I gave you every chance, and this is how you repay me? You've made yourself a fool like all the rest… And now the future will suffer for your stupidity!"
I took a defensive stance as I waited for him to strike. But the blow never came, instead, he allowed the anger to pass through him until an eerie calm set in.
"This body…" he whispered. "You're the one who gave it to me, aren't you, Hiro? It's because of your hold on so-called righteousness that I'm now this twisted blend of man and machine that you see before you. I've always hated this body…so impure, so crude. It would seem that disgust was well placed, for it is failing me now."
"What do you mean…?"
He smiled scornfully. "I am dying, Mr. Hamada. It's only a matter of time before what is left of my organic body completely rejects these cybernetic parts."
I felt a strange sense of compassion well up in my heart. "Stop this, and maybe we can help you!"
He laughed. "Help me? Oh, you've learned nothing… You're still so weak. I'd rathered you muster the will to kill me, Hiro. Then you'd be ready to be heir to my new world. Here, I'll give you one last chance…"
Tossing me one of the katanas he took up an offensive stance. "It is your choice, Hiro. I'm the man who stands in the way of the future you seek." He smiled again. "I even hold your child's life in my hands..."
I knew it was only meant to provoke me, but I couldn't stop myself. Lunging forward our blades met.
"And so the dance begins!" He shouted in twisted excitement.
"If you want a fight, I'll give you one!" I shot back as I pushed against his blade with all my strength. But he didn't even stagger. His strength was superhuman, I know I couldn't win this. But also knew I had to.
"Now it's my turn…" he whispered before he pushed back.
I gritted my teeth as I fought to hold my footing steady. But the more I struggled, the more he seemed to enjoy it. Shoving violently he pushed me back into the railing. It took all my focus not to topple over it to my death.
"You're outmatched, Hiro. But I might be willing to negotiate…"
"I'd r-rather we all die than make my family live in the world you'll create…!"
He pushed harder against my blade. "As you wish."
Little by little he was driving me over the railing. He lunged again and I felt myself slip. For one second nothing stood between me and the hundreds of feet below. But he was done toying with me yet. Grabbing me he stopped me from falling just long enough to scoff.
"You're so weak. You're so weak!" He laughed his insanity on full display.
Still clutching my sword, I did the only thing I thought I could. The unexpected. Slashing at what was left of the human flesh on one of his forearms he winced in pain, his grip on me slipping.
So I dropped.
I didn't have time to think or feel anything. Everything blurred into some white-hot amalgam of past and present memories. But through it all was the burning will to live. So I angled my fall until I could reach out toward a lower section of the maintenance stairwell. My fingertips were inches away but I managed to grab it at the last moment. I just dangled there for a second, the air in my lungs tasting stale. Calling on that will again, I heaved myself up and over the railing. I wanted to lay there in a collapsed heap of fatigue and relief, but I had no time. Above me, I heard the frantic clang of Obake's footsteps.
He was running down the stairs to meet me.
I willed my legs to stop shaking and readied my blade.
I didn't want to die, but I had to end this. I-I…had to protect them all somehow.
So I ran up the stairs to meet him. I knew I couldn't win a battle of strength, but agility was a different matter. I swung the blade toward him without hesitating but didn't let his lock against it. Instead, I pulled it back and struck again, faster and faster as I dodged. His face seemed like some mix of fascination and amusement.
My injuries against Callaghan were still too fresh, and they screamed with each movement I made. But the pain didn't matter, nothing did, just keeping everyone safe… My mind dulled until everything felt automatic. I swung and dodged, again and again and again. Sweat trickled down our faces as neither of us allowed ourselves to relent.
"Maybe I'm just another face in the crowd to you… Maybe nothing I have to say will even matter, but I… Need to tell the truth for once."
"Why don't I deserve to be happy!? Why!? Why aren't you here to answer me!?"
The past and the future…
"Did someone order a hero…?"
It all seemed to mix together…
"You're amazing, you always have been. You're brilliant and selfless, and you've saved my life more times than I even remember."
Until all I felt was strength…
"W-We're parents! Are you happy…?"
Strength to do anything…
"Welcome to nerd school…nerd."
"Ahhhh!" I screamed at the top of my lungs as I swung harder and faster until I drove him back.
Slamming against the railing, Obake looked up and smiled at me, some part of him seeming pleased. "Are you ready…to give the killing blow at last?" He asked mockingly as he heaved greedy breaths. "I won't make it easy for you…" Tossing his sword down he held his arms out, begging me to take his life.
"Prove your strength, let it be the last thing I see."
What choice did I have…? My city, my friends, my family… Everything was at stake, wasn't it?
Wasn't it…?
I felt tears burst from my eyes as I charged forward. Time seemed to slow until I felt as though each step forward would tear me apart. I pulled back the blade, but a sudden voice held it in place.
"Stop this, Bob!"
We both turned to see Granville on the back of Baymax. They hovered in place as she aimed an unknown device at Obake.
"Professor, how touching for you to say goodbye…" he whispered.
"I won't let you endanger one more life, Bob, I promise you that." Her tone held a deathly calm, and it seemed she had already come to terms with what had to be done.
"Just what do you intend to do, Professor?" he asked with a knowing smile.
"Whatever I must. But know the choice is yours, Bob, it always was!"
"Was it now? I thought I was a victim of my brilliance as you said? A battered and abused little son of a drunk! I thought you pitted me, Professor?!"
Tears ran silently down her face, but she didn't flinch. "We all have scars, Bob, but we can't use them as excuses to burn the world down around us."
"Oh, how I'd long to burn this world down… But it's quickly becoming a pointless affair." A calm acceptance came over him. "My body is broken and failing and my would-be heir refuses to allow himself to see the wisdom in my new world. So I leave you one last gift, Professor…" He looked over at her, some hint of care still behind his eyes. "I'll spare you from doing what must be done. I'll spare you from feeling my blood forever on your hands."
Then he looked back at me. "Hiro…I leave you this world, for all the beauty and horror of it. It is yours at eternal last…"
Without another moment of hesitation, he jumped over the railing and plunged down.
"Bob!" Granville screamed as we watched him fall.
Jumping onto Baymax with her I dove after him. To still try and save him was the final act of weakness. I could see the look of disappointment reflected in his eyes when we nearly caught up to him.
"Let me fall," were the last words I heard him speak before he kicked away from Baymax and plunged toward the ground below.
The image would stay burned into my mind for the rest of my life.
Within the next half hour, police and paramedics would arrive to pronounce him dead. This time it was sure, there was no coming back.
It was over, at last, it was over.
But for all the relief of it, there was also a great sense of tragedy. Bob Aken had been a brilliant man. I had to wonder how things might have been different if he'd learned to control the demons within. As it was, those demons, those scars, had won.
It stood as a reminder of the greatest battle any of us face. The one that happens inside of us, that is spurred on by painful memories of the past.
Bob Aken had lost that battle…
Robert Callaghan had won.
And I…was determined to keep fighting.
Note: One more chapter coming soon.