Prodigy: Chapter Three
Saturday, June 20th, 2020.
In the beginning, I cut it short with the family interactions. There's a reason for it but it's not that big of a deal. I hope you don't mind!
Abbreviations:
• Y/n - Your name
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I quietly enter my house, seeing my mom sit with a bowl in her hands. She used a whisk and stirred a mixture in the bowl. She had a raised brow and judging look.
"It's been a while, Y/n. Where were you?" She asked me. I smile and chuckle nervously, "I met a new friend."
"Who is this new friend? Y/n, I'm so happy! Who are they?" I smile and scratch my neck.
Well this was unexpected.
"He's a boy, mom. He's 14 and his name is Hiro." My mom grins widely. "When will I be meeting him?"
"He's not my boyfriend or anything. But I was planning on visiting him again tonight. Can I go?" My mom gave me a stare that I couldn't comprehend. She hums and nods, "What will you be doing?"
"His aunt, Cass, had leftover baked goods from her cafe. And we were going to binge watch movies together."
"Text me." My mom told me. I nod and run up my room, grabbing a backpack and going back downstairs to see my mother. I hug her and we exchange words before I leave the house for a day. I didn't even think I was.
But events are unexpected.
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"Hiro! I'm back!" I wave my hand and knock on the garage door of the cafe. The door slides up and reveals Baymax in a full suit of armor and Hiro in his normal clothes. Hiro raised a hand above his head as if he were threatened and then laid it back to his side.
"Oh, Y/n. You scared me." Hiro lightly chuckled and I do the same. "I like your new outfit, Baymax." The said robot looks at me and gestures.
I pull Hiro's jacket to me and whisper, "Hiro, what are you planning?"
"We need to catch that guy. Are you coming with us?" I nod as if I'm okay with this but in reality, I'm nervous and scared.
What will this man do to us when he catches us?
"If he catches us." Hiro nudges my side and tugs on my sleeve, forcing me to follow him and Baymax. "I said that out loud?" I ask, embarrassed. Hiro chuckles and nods, "Yeah. You do it a lot but it's okay."
"I do?!" I asked. Hiro playfully and friendly puts his arms over my shoulders. But my mind and flushed face says otherwise. "Oh c'mon. Don't be too embarrassed." Hiro continues, "It's a unique perk about you."
"How is it a good thing?" I ask with a smirk.
I can tell Baymax was confused of what we were doing but it didn't seem like the robot mind that much.
"Well, let's say you unintentionally, subconsciously say something that happens to bring good?" I nod, "I should think of it that way. Thank you, Hiro."
Hiro gives me a toothy grin. The gap in his teeth was always so visible in the many times he showed me today. "Let's go." Hiro told me, taking his arm off my shoulder.
I follow him as we walked through tunnels and alleyways. I don't go out much. Let alone, out with a boy and his robot.
"So, what'd you upgrade for Baymax?" O asked Hiro. He gave me a toothy grin, "Added some sick karate moves and fighting techniques. Baymax now knows what a fist bump is."
"You taught him how to fight... And fistbump?" I raise a brow. Hiro looked at me and nodded. I sigh and smile, "What's a fistbump, Baymax?"
"The fistbump is a gesture friends use when experiencing joyous emotion." I giggle and nod, "Nice job, Hiro."
Hiro smiles but it was paused temporarily when we remember our goal. Baymax and I follow behind him closely, hearing Baymax's squeaks here and there.
We entered the same route we took earlier today when we the three of us first met. The alley ended at the warehouse and Baymax roundhouse kicks the door open. Much in contrast to us trying to do the same when we were chased.
The doors break open and Hiro and I crouch behind the robot's legs. Hiro commands, "Get him, Baymax!" Only to see that no one was inside the abandoned, dark warehouse.
"We're too late." Hiro sighs. I shake my head, "He's somewhere else. But he didn't go far." Hiro nods at my words and pulls my sleeve, taking out his microbot. It went in a different direction. So we headed there instead.
We eventually reached an abandoned ship stock. Many boats sat in every silence on the water and cartons and crates were piled and stacked. Hiro continues walking, following the microbot when he almost falls off the deck.
"Hiro!" I shout, bringing my hand down to his sweater. Hiro took a step, and nearly fell in the water if it weren't for Baymax.
"Always wait one hour before swimming."
We pull Hiro away from the edge, staring at the microbot. It shook violently in it's glass case. So much that it flew out of the case and into the fog of the water.
"Hey!" Hiro shouts.
"The microbot went straight." I whispered. Hiro stared at me and then walked backwards, "So that means..."
Through squinting, we could see the masked figure coming close. He rode on the microbots and Hiro pulls Baymax and I, leading us to a metal crate.
We hide behind it, watching the masked man look around. Out of nowhere, a giant piece of metal is pulled from the water and released by the microbots, dropping to the floor.
"Your heart rates are increasing-"
Hiro speaks over Baymax, "Shh. Okay, Baymax, time to use those upgrades." Before Baymax could reveal himself to the man, a car pulls up and flashes us three with the headlights.
Out came four people I don't recognize. But they knew Hiro as they call in confusion, "Hiro?"
Hiro shook his hands and pushes one of the two men away. "Get out of here. Go!"
The man looks at him in confusion. With the darkness of the night and using only the light pole to see, I observed him. He wore a black sweater and black sweatpants. His hair was up with a green headband. He's the tallest of the four and looked like an adult compared to the rest. He asks Hiro, "Dude, what are you doing out here?"
Hiro looked at the four and then at me, "N-nothing! Just out for a walk... With--- my-- Baymax said it helps my pubescent mood swings." I raise a brow at Hiro who stammers and struggles what to say.
I know he was mentioning me. But I grew curious to know what he meant by, "my."
"Is that Baymax? Who's your friend?"
"Yeah and she's- You should really..." Hiro waves his hands and gave a nervous, forced smile. One of the girls walks towards you and Baymax, pointing at him and asking Hiro, "Why is he wearing carbon fiber underpants?"
She had short black hair and a purple dyed streak. She wore a black, leather biker jacket and fingerless gloves. Her tights were black with holes in them. For some reason, the holes were purple. And over her two layers of tights were black, silky shorts.
Baymax does a gesture, telling the four, "I also know karate."
Hiro cringes. His voice cracks as he warns, "You guys need to go." The taller woman looks down at Hiro and adjusts her beige purse. She wore glasses and a matching beige headband. She wore a beige, granny- like, sweater over a short skirt. And under that skirt were pink, polka-dot tights. She pats Hiro on the shoulder and shakes her head, "No, don't push us away, Hiro. We're here for you. That's why Baymax contacted us."
Baymax points his finger, "Those who suffered a loss require support from friends and loved ones." I felt a pain at my heart. I felt terribly bad for Hiro. And I can't imagine what he feels like.
"Okay, but I-"
"Who would like to share their feelings first?" Baymax asks. A blonde man jumps and raises his hand. He wore a green beanie and a red shirt. Underneath his shirt was a long sleeved white one. He wore green shorts and a necklace with a green charm
"I'll go first!" He says. He smiles and looks at me, "My name is Fred, and it has been 30 days since my last- HOLY MOTHER OF MEGAZON!"
We all turn our heads to see a metal crate being lifted by Hiro's microbots. The crate hovered over us and was dropped down. The four braced for impact when I grab Hiro's hoodie and pull him with me, running before the crate could hit us.
Baymax stopped the crate from hitting any of us and we all run to the small car, entering it. "What are you doing?!" Hiro asks me. I push him with me in the car and after Fred enters, he shuts the door closed. "I'm saving your life, Hiro!" I shout, pulling him back in the seat.
"Baymax can handle that guy!" Hiro yells. Just then, the robot flies overhead and lands on top of the car.
The blonde woman whispers, "Wasabi!" In which the only guy with good fashion taste reverses the car and drives away from the Kabuki man.
So his name is Wasabi.
Fred is the other guy.
"Hiro. Explanation. Now!" The short haired girl shouts.
Hiro scoots up with me pulling him back. He bites his lip and explains, "He stole my microbots. And he started the fire. I-I-I don't know who he is!"
Instinctively, I grab onto Hiro's hand and hold it close, in fear for everyone. Baymax fought the microbots and everytime his hand made contact with them, we would turn or drift for a short period of time.
The short haired girl directs Wasabi, "Hard left!" Wasabi follows her orders. But in the back, four of us slide on the seats, crushing Fred on the right side.
We continue driving. Fred turns around and whispers, "Mask. Black suit... We're under attack from a super villain, people!"
"How cool is that?!"
"It's scary but how cool!"
We stop and all of us yell, "Why are we stopped?!" Wasabi yells back, "red light!" The short haired girl shouts again, "There are not red lights in a car chase!"
Wasabi accelerates. And as he does so, he asks us in a panic, "Why is he trying to kill us?" Fred answers for us, "It's classic villain. We've seen too much!"
That wasn't the right answer.
A car flies overhead. So much was going on and I start feeling an attack. As Hiro tried comforting me, Wasabi and the short haired girl argue in the front seats.
Out of nowhere, she's the one driving and drifting through the alleyways. The car bumped and almost flew. And I don't know how the girl does it, but she remained calm throughout her driving.
Unlike me, who continued to hyperventilate while Hiro and the blonde girl whisper. Well, shouting at me in a whisper.
I felt air struggling to reach my lungs and the last thing I see is black enveloping us all.
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I wake up not too long after. At least, I assume so. My hair and whole body was drenched. The night breeze whipped my wet clothes and I shivered. I look up to see Baymax carrying me and can hear the shivers and "brrs."
The blonde haired girl asks, "Where are we?" And we all take a right turn to a large mansion.
Fred walks up to the door and smiles, "Welcome to mi casa!" He knocks on the door and grins, "That's French for front door."
The blonde girl smiles nervously, "It's not." And the shorter girl growls, "Listen, nitwit, a lunatic in a mask tried to kill us. And I'm not in the mood for any-"
The door opens and a man in a suit bows to Fred, "Welcome home, Master Frederick."
Oh.
"Heathcliff, my man!" Fred waves to us, "Come on in, guys, we'll be safe in here."
We enter the mansion and I can feel the heat warming up my body. The group talk and Baymax lets me down. "Thank you, Baymax." I whisper, patting his arm. He nods, "You are welcome, Y/n."
"Oh! You're name is Y/n? That's such a cute name!" The blonde grin, rubbing her fingers over my nails, "I'm Honey Lemon."
"Hello, Honey Lemon..."
Hiro turns his head to me and smiles, "You're up." I nod, "Yeah... I don't remember what happened."
The shorter girl looks at me, "You passed out because someone couldn't help you from your panic attack." She glared at Hiro and then shook my hand, "I'm Go Go."
"Nice to meet you, Go Go."
I looked around the room to see many comic book icons and more. There was a painting of Fred but more muscular than his real-life, skinny and lean body. He also rode on a white tiger with dragon wings. And I think about how funny it is thay someone painted that. And it was less believable than literally everything that happened today.
And a lot of things you'd think are impossible happened today.
Actually, Wasabi explained it perfectly as he thinks out loud, "If I wasn't just attacked by a guy in a kabuki mask, I think this would be the weirdest thing I've seen today."
I giggle at his words and return to observing. Although Fred has that "weird" personality, I do enjoy the fact that we both love comic books and comic book characters.
I look in awe. Everything is so different from Fred and I when it comes to appearance. But I really like that both him and I love these icons. Because living in a world like this, it's so unusual to find people who genuinely like it.
While scanning everywhere, I noticed Hiro whose face was unamused. He sat on a chair beside a red and white table and starts drawing. I walked over to him, peering over his shoulder.
Intrigued by his art skills and becoming more interested, I brought my arms to his shoulder and lean on him, watching as he finished his drawing.
I hear the squeaks come near and I notice Baymax behind us. His voice erupts the silence between Hiro and I as he speaks, "Your body temperatures are still low."
"Yeah... That's what going for a swim in the middle of the night does to you." I laugh. Baymax leaned on us both, hovering over us. Red light shined above Hiro and reflected off the white paper under his hand.
I felt little to no weight on me but I knew Baymax was there when I feel a nice coat of warmth envelope me. That's when I noticed Baymax basically had a heater built in him. And I loved every moment of being in it.
Although I felt no weight before, I could feel it now as I hear Fred hop and slouch over Baymax. He sighed in delight, "It's like spooning a warm marshmallow."
Honey Lemon did the same, hugging Baymax's arm, "It's so nice." She whispered. Wasabi joined, leaning on Baymax's shoulder, "Ah yeah. That's toasty."
Go Go said nothing but her yawn and stretch over Baymax was clear enough to let everyone know she was also on Cloud Nine with Baymax's warmth.
Hiro scribbled over the paper and he handed the paper to me. I scanned it and passed it over to the rest of the gang. He asks, "Does this symbol mean anything to you?"
No one recalled.
"That guy was carrying this large piece of metal with that symbol." I told them. Hiro nodded and ducked from underneath Baymax and I. I fell on the table, getting crushed by the young adults.
Baymax finally stood up and lifted me back to my feet. He told everyone, "Apprehending that man will improve Hiro's emotional state."
Will it though?
Go Go looked at Baymax, unamused, "Apprehend him? We don't even know who he is."
"Let alone... How he looks like." I whisper. Go Go nodded at my words. But our pessimism was cut lose when Fred smirks, "I have a theory."
Fred pushes all of us to his arc-shaped, red couch. We all sit down and he throws various comic book series on our laps.
All of them were different with different characters, titles, and covers. But they all shared one thing similar. They all had the villains on the covers.
Fred explained the people behind these masked villains on the covers. And Go Go grew impatient, demanding him, "Get to the point!"
"Don't you guys get it?" Fred asks, walking backwards creepily to his TV. He held his remote and turned on the TV. It was the news and the headline wrote, "CEO, Alastair Krei set to open-"
Fred smirked, "The man in the mask who attacked us is none other than Alastair Krei!"
"Wait... Why would he attack us? What does he have against you?" I ask. Fred pokes his head and explained to me, "Think about it-"
"She wasn't with us when it happened, genius." Go Go told Fred. He nodded and then corrected himself, "Krei wanted Hiro's microbots. But he refused. But rules don't apply to a man like Krei."
I shook my head, "That can't be, though! Krei has a high profile. Not to mention, being the billionaire and CEO, he doesn't have time to get revenge on a teen!" Fred nodded again.
Honey Lemon looked at me in suspicion, "Then who was it?" I shrugged and Hiro threw the comic book on the table in frustration.
"I don't know." Hiro sighed, "We don't know anything about him."
The room fell silent for a moment until Baymax informed us, "His blood type is AB-Negative. Cholesterol levels are-"
"Wait, Baymax, you scanned him?" Hiro asks in surprise. The robot nods, "I am programmed to asses everyone's healthcare needs." Hiro laughs and grins to us all, "We can use the data from your scan to find him!"
"But you'd have to scan everyone in San Fransokyo." Wasabi told us. Go Go nods in agreement, "That'll take... I don't know... Forever?"
"As long as we bring him to justice," I declare, "It doesn't matter how long." Ignoring all that we were saying, Hiro looked at a case full of figurines. He then looked back at us, "No. We just have to look through another angle..."
"Got it!"
Hiro showed us one of the figurines. It was a red robot. "I'll scan the whole city at the same time. I'll just need to upgrade Baymax's sensor..."
Hiro fell silent.
"... Actually... If we're going to catch this guy..." Hiro thought out loud. His face showed determination and he grinned at us all, "I need to upgrade all of you."
"Upgrade who, now?" Wasabi asks.
Baymax leaned over the man and informed us yet again, "Those who suffer a loss require support from friends and loved ones."
Fred shook in joy as if he were a Chihuahua who peed after seeing their owner come back from the store, "I like where this is heading!"
"We can't go against that guy! We're nerds!" Wasabi said. Honey Lemon sighed, "Hiro, we want to help... But... We're just us."
"No." I said, agreeing with Hiro.
I went surprised after realizing I wasn't being pessimistic. And although I degrade myself most of the time, I thought about it, "We are more than that. And it's time to prove it!"
Go Go pat my shoulder and nods, "Tadashi Hamada was our best friend. We're in."
The rest of the gang joined us, standing beside hero in alliance.
Fred smiles, "Our origin story... Begins!"
"We're going to be superheroes!"