Hello! This chapter itself does not deal with M rated material, that will be happening over time. Right now just some choice curse words. Also, this story will incorporate all characters, but with Hiro and Tadashi as the main center piece.

"Here goes everything." Taking a deep breath he put everything he had, everything he hoped for, everything he wanted, into his words.

There was nothing more satisfying that a crisp night with open skies above his head. A chill that went beyond the exterior and moved deep into his bones, just cold enough to numb the ends of finger tips. Lamps illuminated the streets to cast long shadows from the bus stops and miscellaneous pieces of public property, seeming to not reach quite far enough, stopping short of the echoing alleys. Some lights flickered, once, twice, three times before extinguishing.

The darkness the night brought was a comforting blanket draped across his shoulders. It enveloped him in a calm that the light and daily bustle of day neglected to give. So while most people relished in the warmth of the sun and feared the night, Hiro embraced what the night had to offer and unzipped his hoodie to welcome it. Cars passed by from time to time, puttering by slowly as if afraid to make too much noise and awaken the beast that is the heart of San Fransokyo. Others, too fast in an attempt to get out of the "bad" part of town as soon as possible.

Bad. Dangerous. Sullied. Undesirable. All words used to describe a part of town that Hiro had found himself growing more and more comfortable with every time he snuck out at night to meander the empty streets and dark passageways. He wouldn't call it any of those words. Not bad, not dangerous, and definitely not sullied. Undesirable, maybe, but that depends on whom you ask. While some may scoff, Hiro saw opportunity. He saw the night of San Fransokyo as it was.

A game waiting to be won.

Like Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, and other lesser cities, the underground had the pawns, the knights, and everything in between leading up to the King. Just who was the King? Whoever played the game right. Of course, there are rules to the game.

Don't bite the hand that feeds you. Take opportunity when it meets you. Give respect when it is given to you. But above all else have loyalty. A King is nothing without loyalty, not only between the pawns and the King, but the King to his subjects as well. It was all part of the intricate yet delicate plan that Hiro had to topple the current King. Some of his plans where well thought out, planned dozens of steps ahead ready to acclimate to any move his opponents made. But most of the time it was instinctual. A brute force of strategy that he could call from within himself to trip the knight and take down the rook. He wasn't physically strong enough to take out dozens of gangs. He knew that and he was no fool. But he was smart. he knew how to manipulate and twist situations to his favor. He was playing the game, just not the way that most people would expect him to, and that's what gave him the advantage.

Overall San Fransokyo wasn't a dangerous place. Like any city there were suburbs with the white picket fence and perfectly manicured hedges, and an inner city community littered with trash and graffiti of their own style. Public parks, museums, Universities, all normal landmarks no different from any other. San Fransokyo had it's own life. A breath that could be felt throughout the city as if it were a living thing, giving birth to a new future of individuals bent on taking what was theirs. Comforting shelter and tough love, the city could grow interesting people. That didn't make it dangerous, only different. And Hiro liked different because he was different.

Hands outstretched, eyes closed, Hiro took a deep breath and filled his lungs with that chill he craved. "Perfect," he thought. "Now to set the stage."

He had snuck out of his Aunt Cass's place just ten minutes prior, tiptoeing across the wooden floor of the room he shared with his older brother Tadashi. In the many times he has snuck out, he was only caught a few times and played it up to getting a snack from downstairs, or excusing himself to watch some television to help him fall asleep. Tadashi would always give him a questioning look, never quite believing his younger brother, but never having any real evidence to say otherwise.

Hiro didn't like lying to his brother, or his Aunt Cass for that matter, but they wouldn't understand. He loved being out at night. And while sitting on the roof would alleviate some itching he felt, it wouldn't sedate him for long, and soon he would himself wandering the streets of San Fransokyo. Plus, he had another agenda.

While some nights he just wanted to feel that familiar chill on his skin, this time he wanted something more. He needed to do something more. Hitting the corner of 5th and Bridgeport, he walked across the street and then made a sharp right turn into an alley following the faint sounds of cheers and clashing steel. He skipped down the flight of metal stairs ducking his head under steaming pipes and neon lights. The further down the stairs he went, the louder the sounds echoed. The cheers, the guttural sound of power saws revving up, the forceful thuds of fist slamming on concrete out of frustration. It made Hiro's heart race, not in fear but in anticipation. He came to the outskirts of the mob of people gathered to watch the botfight and peeked his head around the corner to spy on his competition.

Yama again, boisterous and as cocky as ever. Though that mountain never foresaw himself loosing a match, Hiro was more than willing to challenge his winning streak. Actually, it was part of his plan. Kristi was there as well, holding up her own against Yama, though admittedly not well. Just when the battle looked to be swaying her way Yama snuffed out any chance of a comeback with a hidden saw blade straight through her bot. The crowd erupted with laughter and cheer while Kristi's jaw fell open in disbelief. She had been working on that bot for months! Analyzing every possible strength and weakness and created defenses accordingly! How could she lose? Kristi brought herself out of her frustration and quickly composed herself, moving forward to collect what was left of her dedicated work. Nothing but heaps of junk now.

Yama stood before the crowd, sweeping his arms across the horde of onlookers beating his chest once. "No one defeats Little Yama!" He grabbed the wad of cash from the plate greedily. Black eyes scan the other botfighters and gestured to them as they cowered back, some hiding their bots behind them. Whether out of shame or out of fear Hiro couldn't tell, but it was probably for the best. No point in getting their bots smashed to pieces. Yama was notoriously ruthless and unrelenting; he would take their bot apart with his bare hands if he had to. "Who is next! Who thinks they can stand up to Little Yama!"

"Coming right at you big guy." Slinging his backpack to his front, Hiro dug into the pouch and fished out a sleek purple mask. It didn't have any eyeholes, no opening for a mouth or a nose, just a smooth surface of purple with black outlines that contoured to his face. The mask worked like a one-way mirror. He could see them, but they couldn't see him. Eventually Hiro wanted to transform it into a full helmet but for now it would have to do. Just a little creation of his own, because he knew he had to keep his identity a secret.

Stepping around the corner, he walked towards the crowd with his back straight and shoulders squared. Even if he didn't have the confidence, he sure knew how to fake it. Posture, attitude, lack of hesitation. All little things he had picked up on the street over the years. No one would give a second thought to someone who would slink behind his or her own shadow.

Once on the outer rim of the crowd, people began to notice his presence and quickly stepped aside to let him through. A path opened up before him and the cheers soon died down to harsh whispered. Hiro was getting used to this sort of treatment over the past few months as he had been portraying himself as some mask botfighter and gained a reputation. He was undefeated and never spoke. Always silent from beginning to end never speaking a word to his opponent.

"Is that him? Murasaki?" A man to his left whispered.

"Sure is, though he's a lot smaller than what they said…come on he has to be a kid!" A woman answered.

"That guy is the infamous botfighter? You can't be serious." Another voice joined the group, audible over several other side conversations of his appearance.

"Dude, just wait. This is going to be fucking awesome. Kid or not, he knows how to kick some fucking ass."

"Pfft, I'll believe it when I see it. Fifty bucks Yama takes him out with one shot."

Hiro was glad the mask covered his face, as his smirk grew with every comment. He didn't see any of them as an insult, just as opportunities to prove them wrong. Keep stacking the pile of challenges; Hiro was going to topple them all.

"Who do we have here?" Yama finished stuffing the last of his cash into his pockets, only barely glancing at Hiro. "Oh, so it's you! The silent Murasaki! I've heard a lot about you, supposedly never lost a fight! Finally done pissing your pants and ready to experience how a botfight is really done?"

Staying true to the character he created, Hiro did not respond.

"Ha! Scare shitless? Too afraid to speak? Come back when you grow a pair kid." Yama scoffed at the purple masked child. Who was this kid coming to challenge him? Was this a joke? Yama didn't have time to entertain idiotic children. He was Yama the Mountain! King of Hayes District! A kid had no right to challenge him. "Who has the balls to test their luck against Little Yama!"

"Gah. I could just use Megabot right now to take him out…but that's wouldn't be fair. I need play this right." Hiro dug into his backpack and held out a roll of cash, roughly three hundred dollars, and deposited it into the middle of the arena with a flick of his wrist. "Take the bait big guy."

And sure enough at the glorious sound of money hitting the floor Yama turned around. His eyes moved from the cash on the floor to the purple masked man. Ten seconds ago he was a child, but anyone willing to essentially hand over that much to Yama was a man in his book. While he would not waste his time with such chumps, he would if they were willing to pay out.

"Heh, are you sure about this kid?" Yama motioned for the moderator to pick up the money, and then gave her his own weigh in. He was a generous man who was willing to give his opponents one last moment to think over their foolish decision. "I don't know what's under that mask of yours, but child or not you will meet the same ending as all who challenge Little Yama."

Hiro dipped his head silently in confirmation and proceeded to sit opposite of the larger man who was already cross legged on the floor, bot before him. Hiro mirrored his actions and placed Megabot into the arena. His backpack was slung off his shoulders and placed beside him. The unassuming bot, yellow happy face slapped on the head, stood straight for a moment before slipping down onto it's back. A couple of snickers were muffled behind the hands of spectators and Hiro rolled his eyes.

"Yeah yeah yeah, laugh it up." Hiro anticipated this type of reaction. Sure Megabot was small and Hiro did it no favors by giving it that ridiculous face, but that didn't mean it couldn't take down the King. Size was not equivalent to power. It only mattered how you use your strengths to your advantage.

"Last chance to back out Mu-ra-sa-ki." Yama spat each syllable with mocking distaste. "I'll even let you take back half of what you put in because I am just that generous of a King."

Hiro didn't move or speak; just kept his head forward and rubbed his fingers over the knobs of his remote. The rubber pads felt good under his ministrations, a comforting feeling of repetition. After a moment he turned towards the moderator and nodded.

She nodded back and did what she did best. Rile up the crowd and give a show! "Ladies and Gentlemen! Place your bets now! Tonight we have a special treat for you. The King of Hayes District, Yama the Mountain versus Murasaki! Two bots enter, one bot leaves."

She looked from Hiro to Yama and waited a moment to let the noise settle. Feeling the atmosphere hit its peak anticipation, she raised her arm high into the air. "Ready. Set. Fight!"

Hiro saw the battle ending in several different ways. He could take his sweet time and toy with Yama before delivering the final blow. Land a hit, let Yama retaliate, land another hit, and then cycle on towards his victory. Or he could pretend to be on the loosing end before pulling out some amazing last minute save to gain him the win. Everyone loves the underdog after all. Or he could lose. It was always an option, albeit not one that would be in his benefit, but Hiro always had the opposite of what he wanted as an option. It was never a bad thing to have too many choices. The game could change quickly, and he needed to react accordingly. Sometimes that could mean taking a loss and calling it a day, biding his time until the next opportunity comes. In this instance, though, loosing would not gain him anything in the end. Winning was everything tonight. And rather than drag out a game that was already in Hiro's hands, he decided to end it as quickly as possible.

Jerking the remote forward, Megabots face panel flipped to reveal a mischievous red smile. Hiro commanded Megabot to hit straight on against Little Yama. Darting side to side, slipping under the other, Megabot easily dodged any attack aimed at him. While his opponent had size and strength, he had speed and flexibility. A combination, when done correctly, could easily overwhelm anyone three times their size.

Megabot detached into three separate pieces and began its assault of terrorizing Little Yama. First the left leg was detached and tossed to the side and before the handler could react, Hiro moved Megabot to the arms and used Little Yama's own sharp claws against itself, piercing through the tough outer shell. And last but not least, Megabot slide up to the head and promptly supplied enough pressure to remove it with a sharp pop!

And just like that, Little Yama was flopping into its back in defeat all in less than thirty seconds.

Hiro wanted the battle to be quick…but maybe that was a little too quick. Either way the deed was done and even though Hiro had come for another reason, being several hundred dollars richer wasn't a negative in his book.

"And the winner is…Murasaki!" The moderator rang. She walked over to Hiro and held open the plate of cash for him to take, a small smile on her face. It wasn't every day someone came along to put Yama in his place. Behind her she could hear others paying up their bets as well. Seems that a couple of fools were brave enough to bet against King Yama the Mountain. "Perhaps a King no more…"

Hiro grabbed the cash and stuffed it into his cargo pants. He looked at the larger man, who was still in shock over the loss of Little Yama. Metal and mechanical pieces were distributed across the arena with mangled bot the center of such a masterpiece. Interestingly enough, he didn't look like he was going to retaliate as Hiro feared. "Good looks like I won't have to bring them out."

As if on cue, Yama bellowed out in rage. "No one defeats Little Yama like that! No one disgraces me, the King! You cheated!"

Hiro shook his head in answer, and then maybe none-too-smartly gave Yama a thumb down. Slightly ill advised but felt so good.

"W-what! You little shit!" Yama charged forward and grabbed Hiro by the front of his shirt, hoisting him up to his level. "Who do you think you are? Coming in here cheating me out of my money!" His hands grabbed for Hiro's mask, fingers leaving grease and sweat marks on the otherwise flawless surface. "Stop hiding behind that mask and show yourself!"

"Looks like I do get to use them. Test subject: Yama." Hiro thought happily. It wasn't that he wanted to embarrass Yama further, or bring him any harm. He just one, didn't want to get his own ass kicked, and two, wanted to test out his new piece of technology. And if he was being honest with himself, maybe he did kinda-sorta-really-yes did want to embarrass Yama just a tad bit more.

Just as Yama was able to yank the mask off, the larger man's body was roughly pulled to the ground, his chin hitting the concrete hard enough to cause his teeth to bite into his lips and draw some blood. He went down with a hard "Oof!" Once released from Yama's grasp, Hiro promptly landed on his feet and straightened out his shirt.

The larger man wriggled on the floor, hands free to reach out to try and get ahold of anything to gain his footing. "W-what is this! Why can't I move my feet!"

Stomach on the ground, he looked over his shoulder. Little black pieces of cylindrical metal covered his feet and ankles up to his knees. They felt cool and smooth over his pants, but alive. The moved ever so slightly, tightening over his legs to the point where it was becoming painful, before stopping and loosening up, as if on second thought. But that's ridiculous, they weren't alive! They didn't think! It was all just a hoax. "What is this Murasaki? What kind of cheap trick is this? Fight me!"

Hiro ignored the man struggling on the floor, instead turning his attention to the crowd. No one said a word. Some looked terrified of him. Others looked incredibly entertained at the sight of Yama, pinned to the ground by his microbots. Hiro mentally shrugged, it didn't matter what they thought, scared or not, just as long as they listened to what he had to say.

"Here goes everything." Taking a deep breath he put everything he had, everything he hoped for, everything he wanted, into his words.

"San Fransokyo is a large town, and it's only continuing to grow." His voice sounded deeper, rougher, as if he were someone with a lifetime of experience and knowledge. Someone who had the confidence to back the words that he spoke. He chuckled to himself. If he didn't modify his voice with the mask, they would be listening to a shaking teenager instead. "There are countless botfights happening. Men like Yama see themselves as elitist Kings, incapable of falling. I've proven that to be wrong. Whether you know it or not, the different districts are beginning to overrun one another. What once was a balance of push and pull is becoming pure domination, and innocent people are getting caught in the crosshairs."

He let that sink in for a moment. It was common knowledge that each of the King of the districts wanted to expand their rule. More districts meant more botfight arenas, which equaled more money, more money equaled more power. It was a horrible cycle that Hiro was determined to put an end to. He took a moment to observe everyone, but they were probably too dumbfounded at the fact that he was finally speaking. Months he has been his alter ego, Murasaki, never once speaking a word. He let his bots do the talking. In the beginning everyone simply underestimated him, wrote him off as some punk kid who thought himself too high and mighty to show his face. But with each passing fight, and as his name began to spread, the fact that he didn't speak became as iconic as his mask. He needed to get the focus off himself and back to the point.

"People are going missing, violence is spreading. The police are starting to notice more. There's no way to stop it, it's inevitable. Whether you acknowledge it or not, it's happening right on our doorsteps. Sooner or later, someone from another district is going to come and take everything for themselves."

Hiro knew he didn't have to mention what everything entailed, anyone who has been to a botfight knows what is really at stake. The power for land, to be able to control how botfights are run, to gain a part of the profit...that was just chump change. The real reason the Kings existed was to control the flow of drugs in and out of the districts, to control their portion of the blackmarket, human trafficking, and more. The underground was a dirty and seedy place, and everyone wanted to win.

"The only thing we can do is make sure the right person is on top."

He stopped and turned his body to another side of the crowd. "You have a choice. You can either follow him," Hiro nodded to Yama on the floor, still struggling to free himself. "Or stand with me."

Hiro was glad for the mask as it hid how truly nervous he was. He didn't give speeches to groups of people often. Ever. But he knew if he was going to get rid of the violence and gangs that were appearing in San Fransokyo, he had to be the one at the top. It's his burden to bear and he knows he'll need support along the way. He won't let it go to his head; he's a Hamada. They were levelheaded thinkers, capable of finding solutions to any situation, analyzing every possible option to achieve the intended goal. Hiro knew what he was doing. He had to do this.

Feeling that he had left his mark, Hiro turned back to Yama and had his microbots release him. They crawled towards Hiro, purposely going over the rest of Yama's body to aggravate the man before fitting neatly back into their bag. Hiro turned back to the crowd and they parted for him, no one speaking a word. And with that, he left.

R&R. Looking forward to feedback. I will update as often as real life allows me (about once a week).