Chapter 8 - The Finale

Lucina suddenly finds something on her computer. "Oh no... It can't be...". She finds a document from the city's public criminal database. "So it seems that this guy claims he works for this organization... His name is Aidan Maganaga, and he is the same guy Hiro said was threatening him. When the police went and confronted the organization named Kazuya Pharmaceutical, the police immediately turned a blind eye and stated that the Organization had nothing to do with it." She suddenly remembers the document she found earlier about her father's company having a request from that organization. In a desperate move, she called her father, hoping that he would respond. The phone picks up. "Hey Luci, what's the matter?". "Hey, Dad... Uhm... I had a question on something...". He replies, "Oh sure, honey, what is it?". "What was Kazuya Pharmaceutical requesting you guys to build?". In a sudden shock, the father worried and asked her daughter. "How did you find that file?!". Lucina then proceeds to respond, "It's just that Hiro got a threatening message from this guy, and I looked up some research, and they stated before that they worked for Kazuya Pharmaceutical... I was looking through the company request, and I found one from them that we denied." Her father, worried sick now, immediately responds with..." Please don't go through that... You don't know what you're messing with... Anyways, why is Hiro getting threats from this guy?.. Hiro doesn't seem like the type to be near that organization." Lucina didn't want to tell her Dad the truth about Hiro, so she replied, "It's just... He has some history with these guys, and now he's confronting them about some files they have on him." Her father, now worried for her life, said to her, "Whatever you do, don't do anything... I'll be at your place in about 30 minutes.". Lucina now worried said "What's the matter Dad? You're starting to make me worry." "Please listen to me. I'll explain everything when I get there." Lucina didn't get her answer, but what else could she do? She agreed and said. "Fine... I'll be waiting." 30 minutes went by, and her Father arrived saying, "Are you alright?.. You're not hurt or anything?" "Yeah, I'm fine... Now tell me what's going on!" Her Father sighs and starts to explain. "Kazuya Pharmaceuticals did reach out to us one day, about 6 years ago. They wanted us to make a suit for them. "They claimed it was for research purposes only and wanted to see if the technology could work... At the time we didn't think much of it so we agreed... About 3 months later, after we built so many suits for them, I witnessed a tragic event. I saw two guys on a motorcycle with guns strapped to their backs. They were wearing the suits that we built for that organization. Then, a few moments later, I heard shots down the streets. I didn't know what the hell was going on, and I was afraid to do anything. But after a few minutes of overthinking and trying to get help. I rushed in to see what was the problem. Then I saw a mother who was crying with his Child in her hands. That child was Hiro." Lucina, in the face of shock, said, "No way... It can't be... You sure it was Hiro?.." Her father nods, saying, "Yes, it was Hiro... I confronted her mother and asked her what had happened... Her mother claimed that some guys in tech suits with masks had just killed her husband and beat up her kid, Hiro... I didn't know what to make of this. I was furious that Kazuya Pharmaceutical would lie about their intentions. I decided to help Hiro's mom by taking them to a Hospital. But Hiro's mother denied the offer and said to please help her take Hiro and her to their House nearby. I agreed, but later on, I saw a massive cut in Hiro's chest and asked her about it. She said it probably was from the guys who beat up Hiro. She then stated that she would take care of the injury herself... I didn't want to leave Hiro in this state, so I offered my help patching up the wound, and she agreed to my surprise... Later, I left them alone and thought I would never see them again. But I never would have thought seeing him hanging out with you 2 years later." Lucina, still shocked about what he just told her, snapped out of it and started to think. "He's right... The time would connect everything... That's why Hiro didn't talk to anyone later on... And that's why he probably took boxing to keep his fighting skills in check... After what happened to his father... And it would explain the scar on his chest." Lucina started to feel bad for Hiro, "he went through hell in high school." She thought, "If I only knew about it sooner... I would have comforted him more." But then she realized something and immediately asked her dad. "Wait... You still haven't answered my question... Why does it say on the document that you denied their offer?".

Her father sighs again and says, "Well... After that incident, I confronted them about it, and they said nothing... Out of pure spite, I declined any other services we had with them and Erased any business we had with them... That's why it says denied on the document... I didn't expect that to haunt me in the future, but here we are..." He then proceeded to ask her, "But my question is, why does Hiro have a history with the organization?" Lucina worries about telling her the truth about Hiro but says to her father, "He used to work for them back then and after some time. He decided to quit... One of the members didn't want to hear that, so he got pissed... But later on, that member found dirt on Hiro and threatened him to join back or something."

Lucina's father is now worried sick for Hiro and screams out, "OH NO... He's in grave danger then..." If he went to confront him... He might end up dead... You don't know what the organization can do if they are using those suits!" Lucina, now realizing the grave danger he is in, immediately says, "I know where he went, but there are two locations where this could be!.. It's an abandoned factory near an old pharmacy... but there are only two buildings that match that description... One is nearby, but the other one is across town." Her father replies, "You take the one nearby, and I'll go to the other one, and if it is one of them, we call each other and tell if it is or not..." Lucina nods and leaves in a rush. She starts to hurry up to the old factory and in her head she is thinking "You better not be dead... Or else I will never forgive you..." After a while, Lucina reaches the abandoned old factory. She is in a hurry and worried about Hiro. Until she stops and looks up ahead. Her eyes widen as she sees Hiro pointing a gun at someone on the floor. "Oh no... You better not..." She runs up to him in a hurry, screaming his name, "Hiro!!! Don't do it!!!"

Hiro snaps out of his rage and looks to his side. He sees Lucina and asks, "Lucina?.. What are you doing here?.." Lucina, in front of Hiro with an angry expression on her face, said, "I came here to check if you were still alive..." Aidan suddenly starts to laugh and says to Hiro. "Well... well... well... Looks like we have a lovebird here... What happened? Hmmm... Can't kill me now, huh?.." Hiro responds furiously. "You watch it... Do anything, and I will..." Lucina, shocked to hear this coming out of Hiro, tries to beg Hiro to snap out of it. But Hiro breaks down in anger and starts to cry, yelling at Lucina, "HE KILLED MY FATHER!!! AND HE TRIED TO BLACKMAIL ME!!! HE TOOK EVERYTHING AWAY FROM ME!!! MADE MY LIFE MISERABLE..." Aidan responds to this, saying, "Oh... you had it hard... YOU HAVE NO IDEA OF THE CRAP I HAD TO GO THROUGH... YOUR REASONS ARE NOTHING COMPARED TO ME!!!" Hiro yells at Aidan, saying to him. "I TRUSTED YOU!!! YOU WERE A BROTHER TO ME!!! WE TOOK YOU IN AS ONE OF OUR OWN... AND YOU BETRAYED US!!!" Aidan grinned and said to Hiro. "What's taking you so long... I thought you said you were going to kill me!.. Well then... do it... You know what I'm capable of, you know if you let me go I'll go after her next and even your mom..." Hiro, blinded by fury, points the gun again at Aidan. But Lucina didn't want Hiro to pull the trigger. She then tried everything she could to convince Hiro.

She said to Hiro while tearing up, "Please, Hiro, don't do it... You're better than this... Your father wouldn't want this... Please... Don't do it... I beg you..." Hiro then starts to contemplate his choices... Until he suddenly remembers the words his father said to him before dying. "I love... you... Son... Thank you... for not... going down the same... path as... me." Then he has flashbacks of everyone he cared for and loved... His father, his mother, Umito, and Lucina. He snaps out of his fury and goes up to Aidan, and hits him with the gun. Making him unconscious. Hiro then looks at Lucina and laughs aloud, saying, "Well... Sorry about that... I took it a little too far...". Hiro's eyes widened, and he started to pass out, falling to the ground. Lucina catches him screaming, "Hiro?.. HIRO!.. DON'T DIE ON ME... PLEASE!!!" Lucina calls her dad, saying to him, "I FOUND HIRO... HE PASSED OUT... PLEASE DAD HURRY!!! HE'S SERIOUSLY HURT!!!" "Don't worry I'll be there soon..." Lucina grabs Hiro head. She puts it up to her thighs, saying to him. "Please don't die... Wake up please... I beg you... I couldn't even say that... I... Love... you..." She started to break down in tears. Suddenly, her dad comes to the factory in a car and says to her, "Help me put him in the car." She agrees and helps him. They put Hiro in the back of the car.

Meanwhile, off in the distance, while this is going on, on the top of a building, a masked guy wearing a tech suit starts talking on his radio. "I found our objective... Your orders, sir?" The boss replies, "Leave them... wait for them to leave to take care of them..." "Understood, sir."

A few days go by, and Hiro finally wakes up. He sees that he's in a hospital bed. Suddenly, Hiro hears Lucina. "You're awake, thank goodness... Don't ever scare me like that again..." Hiro, confused, says to her, "Sorry about that..." Lucina proceeds to ask him what happened, and Hiro tells her everything. After some talking, Hiro says, "Hey... thanks for making me snap out of it... I owe you a lot..." Lucina Replies, "Oh... it's nothing, don't worry... The doctor said that you should be good to leave tomorrow morning."

Hiro was shocked to hear this but smiled, knowing everything would be fine from here on out. He then proceeds to ask Lucina. "Hey Lucina... I have a question..." "Yeah, what is it?" Hiro asks with a worried look in his eyes. "Well... now that this is all over... I wanted to ask... If you wanted to... go out with me?.." Lucina was shocked to hear this from Hiro but excited to hear it from him. "Yeah, sure... I would love to!!! Just pick the place and time, and you'll get yourself a deal!" she said with a smile on her face. Hiro was relieved that he got his answer. Nodded and said, "Ok, sounds good, then it's a date!".

A few days passed, and everything seemed to return to normal. Suddenly, at Kazuya Pharmaceutical. In what seems to be the organization's hospital. Antony, Danji, and Aidan are in hospital beds, unconscious. Haven't woken up in days. Out of nowhere, the big boss enters Aidan's room. Saying to his unconscious body. "You disappoint me... Here, I thought you would do better than Hiro... But seems like even a washed-up guy can beat the best... You really disappoint me..." Suddenly, he turns around with a grin on his face, looking at a monitor with a Picture of Hiro and Lucina walking together. "Well, Hiro... Hope you enjoy your days off... Because once we are ready... I'll bring you to hell for what you've done to this company... I'll make you pay for the humiliation you did to my son!" The boss was none other than Aidan's father. Kazuya Maganaga.

(end of Volume 1)