Author's notes: Scenes in Italics are flashback scenes.
A few months has passed since the nerd herd became San Fransokyo's super heroes. They had rescued Abigail Callaghan from the portal that Krei Tech Industries created.
Wasabi and Gogo continued on testing their prototypes of their school projects while Honey continued on experimenting on chemicals. Fred on the other hand continued his visits to the school's laboratories as he studied in the school's linguistics department.
Hiro, the boy responsible for the creation of the super hero team, he started studying at San Fransokyo Institute of Technology, or SFIT, in the same major as his brother was studying.
Suffice to say, the heroes, collectively known as Big Hero Six, were living their comfortable lives.
The team was currently resting inside Fred's mansion, the boy's comic book museum of a bedroom to be exact, after a patrolling the whole city.
"So Tadashi, how was your placement exams?" Gogo asked as she looked at the Hamada to his eyes. She was still wearing her super hero get up and leaned against the wall near the room's entrance.
Yes, Tadashi Hamada was, in fact, alive. He was found inside the dimension that Abigail was rescued from.
Imagine Hiro's glee and joy when he found his brother alongside Abigail.
"I am sensing signs of life." Baymax announced and then pointed at the direction of the destabilizing portal. "There are two people in there."
"Baymax?" Hiro questioned as he stopped running and faced his brother's invention that he modified. That's when he realized who was sent inside the portal beforehand. "Callaghan's daughter!" He exclaimed. "She's still alive!" Ignoring the fact that Baymax said that there were two people inside.
"They are in hyper sleep." Baymax continued his statements, his index finger still pointing at the portal that started everything.
"Regardless, we're going in." Hiro announced.
"You can't!" Krei tried to dissuade Hiro. "The magnetic field is too unstable! You won't make it out!" He tried.
"She's alive in there, someone has to help." Hiro insisted as he got on his robot's back. "What do you say buddy?" He asked Baymax.
"Flying makes me a better healthcare companion." Baymax stated his conclusion.
Without a moment wasted, the boy and robot pair flew towards the portal.
Sometime later, a pod was spat out by the destabilizing portal. Hiro and an unconscious man was on top of the pod Abigail was in while Baymax's rocket fist was attached unto the pod, acting as a makeshift rocket propeller.
"Baymax?" Wasabi voiced his question at the missing robot.
Hiro's only response was to look at the person he's holding unto.
"Tadashi?" Honey asked, not believing her eyes.
Of course no one could believe the scene before them. Tadashi Hamada was presumed dead after his body was never found in the wreckage that was the showcase hall.
Hiro could only nod and smile sadly as he looked at his brother's unconscious form.
He did just lose his brother's invention.
"I am taking the last of them once classes resume." Tadashi smiled.
The Hamada brothers had already changed from their super hero get up to their casual clothes the moment they arrived at the mansion. Hiro was sporting a red unzipped hoodie with a green shirt underneath, brown shin-length cargo shorts and black sneakers.
Tadashi on the other hand wore his red shirt under his brown cardigan and blue blazer, maroon pants and mint green shoes. The older Hamada's hat was innocently lying on top of Baymax's charging station, with the huggable robot in charging mode.
"You know what would be a bummer? Everyone graduating and you'll be left behind!" Fred announced as he moved around his room in his costume.
"I don't mind." Tadashi admitted. "It just means that I'd have a bigger chance to graduate with my brother." He shrugged.
"But wouldn't that taint your straight 'A' record Tadashi?" Wasabi asked, clearly concerned with Tadashi's grades.
"I don't really care." He answered. "I mean, I do get a pass for being dead for some time." He shrugged.
Everyone went deathly quiet at the older Hamada's answer.
Things just got awkward for everyone.
"So guys, how about we take a little break and frolic at the family island?" Fred suggested and broke the awkward atmosphere.
He flopped on the sofa at the center of the room and removed his costume's headgear.
"For some reason." Fred began to explain as he sat up correctly. "The thugs only steal during nights of a full moon."
The rest of them just took this opportunity to change out of their super hero get up. Gogo's armor changed into her bicycle she's using to traverse the entirety of San Fransokyo and revealed her usual civilian clothes: Leather Jacket, gray shin-length leggings, a black pair of shorts, and a white shirt.
Honey's get up turned into a really big shoulder bag, which completely highlighted her civilian outfit: A long yellow coat, yellow blouse and purple leggings.
Wasabi's suit on the other hand, changed into a briefcase and revealed his civilian attire which just consisted of a simple shirt and pants since his headband was also part of his get up.
"Oh but we can't possibly impose on your parents Fred." Tadashi stated.
"Nonsense! We're all friends here!" Fred dismissed Tadashi's worries. "Besides, it's the least that I could do from leeching off of you guys." He continued as he chuckled.
"Got that right." Wasabi and Gogo agreed in unison.
"Yeah Tadashi!" Hiro chimed in. "Don't be such a stick in the mud." Hiro finished as he bolted. "Nerd."
"Come back here you bonehead!" Tadashi chased after his brother. "When I get my hands on you…" He left the threat hanging as he continued running after his younger brother.
"You know, that might just be a good idea." Wasabi offered. "With the institute on break with rebuilding the burnt down building." Wasabi continued as he sat formally on the sofa. "Besides we do NEED some R and R." He finished with heavy emphasis on 'need'.
Gogo and Honey looked at each other before staring at their friend in shock.
"What?"
"Well we kind of thought that you'd reject the idea." Honey admitted as she grabbed a nearby stool and sat on it.
"This is Fred we're talking about after all." Gogo continued as she sat on the sofa's arm rest.
"Hey!"
Both girls just ignored Fred's reaction and waited for Wasabi to respond.
"Well there are conditions." Wasabi admitted. "But those go without saying, its common etiquette for traveling from place to place."
Gogo and Honey just nodded in understanding.
"I give! I give!" Everyone diverted their attention to the bundle of joy and energy which came from the Hamada brothers: Tadashi tickling Hiro in submission.
It was nice to see the brothers like this, especially with what the boys had gone through in the past few months.
"And I'm telling you, I don't want you to be on the team!" Hiro yelled at his brother.
Everyone was inside the Ito Ishioka building for two reasons, to rebuild Baymax, which the brothers successfully did, and the other was to reinstate the older Hamada back into the class roster.
"And I'm telling you, I'm with you or you quit altogether!" Tadashi yelled back. "And disband the team for good measure!"
Tadashi rarely yelled at his brother and the times that he had yelled at him were always in concern of his little brother's safety.
"Why can't you understand that I don't want a repeat of what happened during the showcase!" Hiro yelled once more, tears falling from his eyes. "I… I just can't bear to lose you again!"
"Hi-Hiro." Tadashi whispered. "I…"
Without another word, Hiro stood up and left his brother's lab and slammed the door behind him.
"W-what was that all about?" Gogo bluntly asked as she opened the door.
"We heard yelling." Honey supplied as she got inside the lab along with Gogo.
"The little man's inside his lab and I think he was sobbing when he entered it." Fred stated as he followed the girls inside along with Wasabi.
"Remember the super hero team you guys started to avenge me?" Tadashi asked, which he got a nod as an answer. "Well I want in. I'm sure you can piece everything what transpired." He sighed.
"Hiro doesn't want you on the team, in fear of a repeat of what happened at the showcase." Gogo summarized bluntly.
"Yeah."
"Why don't you give the little guy some time Tadashi." Wasabi suggested. "And maybe then, you'd reach a compromise."
Days passed and the brothers, well Hiro mostly, refused to talk to each other. He would acknowledge his brother's presence but nothing more than that.
This was stressing everyone out.
Then one day, Tadashi, with the help of his friends, managed to corner Hiro inside the younger Hamada's lab, where, he offered a solution.
"You know Hiro, this." Tadashi began as he gestured to everything in the room. "This is stressing me out." as he sat on the table.
"So you'll concede and won't join the team?" Hiro questioned, hoping that Tadashi would see his way and be a good boy and stay home instead of saving people with them.
"What do you say we settle this with rock, papers, scissors or a coin toss?" Tadashi suggested. "Like we used to when we were kids?" He continued.
"B-but, Tadashi-" Hiro began. But never got to finish his statement as his brother cut him off.
"Hiro I understand how you feel, believe me I do." Tadashi began explaining. "I feel the same way towards you. I can't bear to lose anyone ever again after mom and dad." He continued, unconsciously rubbing the pendant he had on his neck. "I just can't." He admitted.
Now this was something Hiro never considered. He always thought that Tadashi was just looking out for him, like a responsible older brother would do. He never considered that those responsibilities stemmed from the loss of their parents.
"Why do you think I was so adamant about you going to college instead of botfighting?" He finished his explanation in a lighter note. "To compromise, we'll settle this with either rock, paper, scissors or a coin toss, if I lose, I am leaving this matter alone and I won't pester you about it." Tadashi began explaining the rules of their compromise.
"And if you win?" Hiro was dreading the one and only possible answer that he would be hearing.
"I join your team. No questions asked." Tadashi grinned.
"I'm picking rock-paper-scissors." Hiro immediately declared. "There are coins with the same sides and I'm not trusting those." He explained. "Why do you think I always won those coin toss bets we had when we were kids?" He grinned as he revealed his secret.
Suffice to say that Hiro lost their bet and Tadashi joined the team.
"So who's the nerd now Hiro?" Tadashi interrogated as he continued tickling his brother. "So who's a stick in the mud now?"
Hiro just continued laughing as Tadashi never let up in tickling him.
"Y-you!" Hiro managed to stutter his answer in between his laughs.
Tadashi stopped and looked at his brother with indifference. This pause gave Hiro a time to breath and collect himself.
Without warning, Tadashi resumed tickling his younger brother, which made Hiro burst in laughter at the new wave of tickling assault. "Who was it Hiro?" He repeated the same question.
"Ahahaha N-no o-one! Ahahahaha" Hiro managed to shout in between his laughs.
"That's more like it!" Tadashi stated as he stopped his assault on his little brother and released his hold on him. He then helped his brother on his feet and assisted him on the sofa, between Fred and Wasabi.
"So Hiro and Wasabi are in." Fred steered the discussion back to the topic he started. "How about you girls?" He asked as he faced both girls who were considering.
"Sounds like fun." Gogo stated. "Count me in."
"Count me in as well." Honey chimed in.
"Really? Sweet!" Fred expressed his glee with girls' agreement to his suggestion.
Everybody then stared at the person who has yet to give out his response at the suggestion.
"Don't tell me bro." Hiro began. "You'd trade this for books over the break?" he teased his brother.
"That sucks man." Fred lamented.
"What?!" Tadashi exclaimed. "No! Of course not!" He strongly denied the accusation. "It's just that Aunt Cass is going to be swamped with customers if no one's at the café helping her." He admitted.
"Don't those part timers start tomorrow Tadashi?" Hiro asked.
Part timers? Aunt Cass hired some part timers?" Tadashi questioned, this was news to him.
"You didn't know?" Hiro questioned. "But to answer your question she did." He answered. "I guess you were so busy with your placement exams that you never noticed." He explained. "Besides even if she hadn't, she would insist that we both go." He shrugged.
"All to keep you in line." Tadashi teased.
"Hey!" Hiro replied indignantly.
"In any case." Wasabi began. "When do we go there?" He asked. "I need to free up my schedule during that time." He explained.
"As soon as Tadashi clears everything with his aunt." Gogo stated.
"Fair point." Everybody shrugged.
"Of course you're going!" Cass exclaimed.
The Hamadas were at the dining table eating their dinner when the brothers brought up the topic of the vacation to Fred's family island.
"You've been working so hard on your placement exams that you barely have anytime for yourself." She continued as she explained her reasons. "And before you start your responsibilities spiel let me tell you that those part timers I recently hired will be plenty of help." She continued.
Hiro snickered at the scene before him. "Told ya big bro." He started. "She'd let you go."
"Of course! You're the only person I can count on to keep your mischievous brother in line. "Cass interjected as she finished her speech.
"Hey!"
Tadashi snickered at the small jab his aunt directed towards his younger brother. "And I was right bro." He teased. "She had to make me go with you just to keep an eye on you." He continued giggling at his brother's expense.
Hiro's only response was a pout.
"One thing is for sure." Cass added. "You are not to wear your swim shorts."
"Hear! Hear!" Hiro agreed.
"What?!" Came Tadashi's confused reply. "What's wrong with my swim shorts?"
"Let's just say I'd prefer you wore swim shorts that depicts the entire Periodic Table of Elements and the Constellations rather than your current one." Hiro explained.
Now Tadashi was very, very confused. He thought Hiro approved of his current swim shorts just because it wasn't nerd looking, and now he's spouting this?
Not unless…
"Hiro!" Tadashi hissed as he fixed his brother an accusing glare.
"What?!" Came Hiro's indignant reply. "I didn't do anything I promise!" He defended.
"No Tadashi." Cass started. "Hiro didn't do anything to your swimming attire." She denied Tadashi's accusation. "We'll let you figure it out on your own." But didn't elaborate on anything as she retrieved the empty plates on the table.
"Don't worry bro, I'm not giving up on you." Hiro teased. "You'll figure it out." He finished
Hiro then went upstairs Tadashi to his thoughts.
"Seriously! What is wrong with my swim shorts?!" Came Tadashi's confused outburst.
(linebreak)
Hiro lied down immediately as soon as he reached his bed. He was lying on his bed, his body facing the ceiling, stressed out.
Seriously, who knew a discussion about swim shorts, freaking swim shorts, would be this stressful.
"Gaah! How dense can you be?!" Hiro yelled in frustration. He still can't get over the fact that his genius of an older brother could be really oblivious to some things.
When he just got an idea.
He retrieved his holo-phone and gave the nerd herd a phone call.
"Hey guys!" Hiro started as he faced his holo-phone. "So here's the thing…"
Sometime later Tadashi arrived at the room he shared with his brother and witnessed his brother ending a phone call.
"Who was that Hiro?" Tadashi asked, out of curiosity.
"It was just the gang, they wanted to know if you had talked to Aunt Cass." Hiro shrugged. "They said they'd be with us tomorrow." He added. "And before you ask, I took the initiative to call them." He finished.
"What's with the defensive attitude?" He voiced out. "Oh well." He shrugged. "Night Hiro."
"Goodnight Tadashi."
As soon as Tadashi left the dining area Cass exhaled deeply. She had never thought that a simple discussion about her nephew's swimwear would be this stressful.
"Just goes to show that I'm still not over the incident huh." She sighed once more as she placed every dirty utensil and plate into the dishwasher.
She may have appeared in a joking mood earlier but that was dampened as she remembered the design of the swimwear in question. Anyone who knew Tadashi and knew what happened to him would share her opinion on the matter.
It was a morbid thought, a very morbid thought.
"Gogo?" Tadashi looked at his friend's eyes.
The nerd herd, sans Hiro, were hanging out at the Hamada's personal robotics laboratory that doubled as a van garage. They were waiting for Hiro to discuss the vacation.
Tadashi was asking his friends to back him up and convince his aunt to let him wear his favorite swim shorts.
"No." Gogo replied bluntly. "I have seen you in them Tadashi and no I won't explain."
"Wasabi?" Tadashi turned his attention to his friend.
"Sorry Man but I'm with them on this one." Wasabi apologized.
"Fred?" He turned to the only male left.
"Sorry Bro." Fred stated in an apologetic manner.
"Honey?"
She just shook her head negatively with an apologetic look.
"Seriously! What is wrong with my swim shorts?!" Tadashi yelled in frustration. "What's wrong with them that everyone is against to the idea of me wearing them?!"
"Don't take this the wrong way Tadashi." Honey meekly chimed in. "It's just that we share your aunt and brother's opinion with regards to that."
"Why?!" The older Hamada questioned with a hint of frustration. "The only thing those have are flame pat-. " He stopped midway as if something had clicked in his mind.
He did realize something. His swim shorts have flame-like patterns as part of the pair's design, and considering his supposed death involved fire, it made sense for them to be opposed to that idea. Even he admitted that it was morbid.
"Finally!" Came Hiro's outburst as he entered the garage. "He realizes it!"
"It's just that we don't want you wearing things that's connected to what happened that day." Honey explained solemnly.
"Frankly?" Gogo followed up. "Imagining you wearing those swim shorts again after what happened is rather morbid." She bluntly stated.
Wasabi and Fred just nodded in agreement.
"Then what would you guys have me wear?" The elder Hamada questioned.
"Oooh! Oooh!" Fred raised his hands enthusiastically, as if he was answering a teacher's question in a classroom setting.
"Yes Fred?" Tadashi prompted his friend to speak up.
"Why don't you borrow one of my swim shorts?" The comic book enthusiast suggested. "We can both wear a star wars themed swim shorts." He continued. "Maybe you'll be a Jedi and I'll be the Sith!" He finished.
"Wait, wait. Hold up." Wasabi interrupted. "Are your swimsuits even clean, or at least washed?" Wasabi questioned.
"Nope." Fred answered rather bluntly. "Haven't done laundry yet." He continued. "Don't worry, you can just go inside out.
Wasabi gagged himself in an attempt to keep himself from throwing up.
Gogo just stared at Fred with a disgusted look. She then shifted her attention towards Tadashi. "Now what did I say back at the showcase?"
Tadashi just scratched the back of his head sheepishly.
The night of the showcase and the nerd herd were present to show support to their friend's younger brother. They even went as far to ask Hiro about what he needs to alleviate his tense feelings when Fred shared something, which Tadashi was thankful for.
Sort of.
"I haven't done laundry in six months." Fred began. "One pair last me four days." He continued.
Tadashi looked at his friend, now seated on the stage's edge as the fanboy continued to share.
"I go front, I go back." Fred stated as he did some nonverbal actions to illustrate his points. "I go inside out then I go front and back." He finished.
Wasabi tried his hardest to stop himself from vomiting in disgust at the recent revelation. It was both repulsive and unhygienic after all.
"Wow that is both disgusting and awesome." Tadashi admitted.
Tadashi knew that as much as it was very dirty, he had to admit that this method could save a lot of money and time, not to mention soap.
"Don't encourage him." Gogo glared at Tadashi.
"It's called recycling." Fred stated proudly.
"Sorry Fred, but that's just unhygienic." Tadashi refused his rich friend's offer.
"It's cool man." Fred shrugged, harboring no ill feelings towards his friend's refusal.
"Why don't you just wear speedos?" Gogo suggested.
"Pffft" Hiro began laughing. "Tadashi in speedos?" He continued in between his laughs. "That's got to be the most hilarious image yet!" He added as he continued laughing. "Topping m-my suggestion of him wearing swim shorts that depicts any nerd stuff." He finished but continued laughing at his brother's expense. "Or anything nerdy."
"What's wrong with wearing speedos?" Gogo retaliated indignantly. "I'll have you know that those are very conducive for training." She defended.
"T-tha-that may be so." Hiro stated as he started to calm down. "Just the image of Tadashi in speedos just cracks me up." Hiro began to laugh hysterically.
Again.
"Ignoring Hiro's comments on the matter." Tadashi began. "I've never been comfortable with wearing speedos." He admitted. "They just show too much skin."
"Stop whining, woman up."
"Considering my history with fangirls? They just leave too much in the open."
"Makes sense." The speedster of the group conceded as everyone nodded in understanding.
"Oooh! Ooooh! Why don't you wear an Olaf themed swimwear, a Hello Kitty one or a Barbie one?" Came Honey's very excited enumeration of suggestions. "Oooh, you would look so cute in them."
"Ahahaha!" Another laugh burst out from Hiro as Honey finished suggesting themes for Tadashi's swimwear. "Should I start calling you Tada-she bro?"
Hiro's comment earned him intense death glares from the women in the group.
"And what did you mean by that?" Gogo snarled.
"Eeep." Hiro wisely kept his mouth shut.
"I appreciate the sentiments Honey but." Tadashi began
The glares shifted towards him.
"Now both of you calm down." He rebuked both girls." Aside from not being comfortable in them, I fear that if I wear a Barbie themed clothing article, it would spark another cause of bullying against my brother." He explained.
Gogo visibly calmed at the explanation, whereas Honey Lemon pouted at her friend's refusal of her suggestions.
"I apologize in my brother's stead. His comments earlier were quite sexist to say the least." He apologized. "Hiro didn't mean any harm with that. It's just all fun and games in his perspective." He finished as he bowed.
"It's okay" Gogo and Honey stated in unison.
"We kinda overreacted. We forgot that Hiro's still fourteen, barely knowledgeable with the different societal issues." Gogo continued.
"ANYWAY." Fred interrupted by speaking loudly, earning him all the attention.
"We were in the middle of a conversation." Gogo hissed as she glared at Fred.
"Why don't we all have a new set of swimwear?" Wasabi suggested, coming to Fred's rescue.
"That's a great idea! We should all wear identical swimsuits and call ourselves the swimming rangers!" Fred's fanboy mode switched on.
"Can it Fred!" Gogo hissed.
"Why don't we wear our suits' colors?" Hiro contributed. "Mine would be purple, Tadashi's would be white and so on and so forth." He added.
"I don't know about that." Wasabi voiced out his doubts. "Wouldn't that compromise our identities?"
"True." Tadashi agreed with his friend's doubts.
"What's the harm?" I mean what are the chances that we are going to be connected to the heroes of San Fransokyo through color association?" Hiro pointed out. "If that were the case, Honey should've been suspected as Gogo because she wears yellow a lot."
The little guy does have a point." Gogo agreed. "I say we should go for it."
Everyone nodded, agreeing to the points Hiro made.
"With that out of the way." Wasabi began. "Why don't we begin discussing the details of our R and R?" He added. "We know the venue's going to be Fred's Family Island."
Everyone nodded at the statement.
"When do we go there and how long will we be there?" Tadashi questioned.
"I say we go there the next weekend." Hiro suggested. "That way we have ample time to get a new set of swimwear for each of us." He explained.
"True." Wasabi agreed. "I still need to clear everything I've scheduled then." He finished.
"So we've got the venue and the departure date." Gogo enumerated. "Question now is, when do we go home?" She questioned.
"Can't we just decide there?" Fred asked, hopeful for the answer in his favor.
"That won't do Fred." Tadashi answered. "I still need to do a lot of studying. The vacation would serve as a resting period before I hit the books again."
"Not to mention I need to set dates to postpone my appointments." Wasabi added.
"A week." Honey offered.
Everyone just looked at her like she grew another head while Fred beamed in happiness at her.
"I don't know Honey that seems too long for a vacation." Gogo expressed her doubts.
"Not necessarily." Honey replied. "Most vacations last a week and a half on average, a month would be very long and three days is just too short to be called a vacation." She explained. "This way, we can hang out with Freddy long enough for us to enjoy ourselves with him and short enough that we can attend to our other obligations."
"Good point." Wasabi stated his agreement.
"What do you say guys?" Honey questioned her friends.
"I say we go for it." Wasabi answered.
"If Wasabi's okay with it then so am I." Gogo added.
"I'm in as well." Tadashi followed.
Tears welled up in Fred's eyes as he felt a sense of joy from his friends' response. "You guys are the best!" He announced as he engulfed everyone in the garage in a big hug.
A moment later and Fred still hasn't ended the hug. In fact he just tightened his hold as if he was hugging for dear life.
"You can let go now." Gogo managed as she struggled to get out of Fred's hug. "We do still need to breathe." She wheezed out.
"O-oh!" Fred immediately released his hold on his friends. "S-sorry. Just got carried away." He apologized sheepishly.
"It's okay." Tadashi said. "Gotta say though, you have one powerful hug." He chuckled.
"So to summarize." Wasabi began after giving himself a few moments of reprieve from the powerful hug courtesy of Fred. "We are going to have a vacation at Fred's family island next week, Saturday." He continued.
"It will last a week and will end the next Saturday." Honey added. "Ooh we're gonna have so much fun!" She giggled.
"I guess that's it then?" Tadashi questioned.
"Don't forget about the swimsuits!" Hiro announced. "I am not letting my brother wear his flame patterned swim shorts."
"Hai, hai." Tadashi rolled his eyes as he agreed in his parents' native tongue. "Don't worry Hiro, if worst comes to worst, I'm wearing your khakis to swim." He finished as he ruffled his brother's messy hair.
"About that." Honey began. "I would like to be the person in-charge of procuring the swimsuits." She added."
"Not a problem, but why?" Gogo asked.
"Nothing really, it's just that I'd like to make you guys something that would really suit you." The tall girl answered. "And I've got something in mind that would make the swimsuits connect to us on a deeper level." She finished.
"I don't see a problem with it." Wasabi stated. "She's the most fashion savvy person in the group after all." He reasoned out.
"True." Tadashi agreed. "I say, go for it."
Saturday came and the three Hamadas were outside the café with backpacks. They were just waiting for the others to come by and then go to Fred's mansion.
"You guys be good alright." Cass stated as she fixed her nephews' appearances. "Tadashi I'm counting on you to keep your brother in line and Hiro make sure you listen to your brother always."
"We will Aunt Cass." Tadashi agreed to his aunt's words. "You can count on me." He smiled.
"Ooh. I'm so proud with the both of you!" She exclaimed. "Look at how much both of you have grown." She continued doting on the brothers. "I'm going to miss you both." She finished as she hugged the boys.
"Aunt Cass, we're only going to Fred's family's island for a week." Hiro stated in a matter of fact. "We won't be gone long."
"Are you sure you'll be okay managing the café on your own." Tadashi asked, worried for his aunt. "I could bail out of the vacation and help you out."
"Don't you dare Tadashi Hamada!" She refused his offer sternly. "You are not to bail on your friends like that and besides, the part timers are plenty help already." She added in a softer tone. "As you have witnessed, they're very effective and efficient."
BEEP BEEP
A car's horn got the attention of the three Hamadas and Wasabi's shiny van was by the cafe's area. The girls got out of the van followed by Wasabi.
"So you guys ready?" Gogo asked the brothers.
"As ready as we'll ever be!" Hiro responded
"Oooh! We're gonna have so much fun!" Honey excitedly exclaimed.
"Couldn't agree more!" Hiro replied with the same enthusiasm.
"Someone's excited." Wasabi commented to Tadashi.
"Excuse him, it's his first time with a group of friends." The elder male Hamada smiled.
"Was it really that bad?" The man with dreadlocks questioned.
"Yeah, it got to the point where he was accused of cheating." He replied. "But enough about that, it's all in the past."
"True that." Wasabi agreed.
"Aunt Cass, we'll be going now." The three new arrivals acknowledge the boys' aunt.
"Wait." This prompted the group to stop and look at her. "Why don't you guys bring Baymax with you?" She suggested. "I mean in case someone gets injured." She reasoned out.
"I don't see a problem with that." Gogo shrugged.
"Sure, why not." Wasabi agreed.
At the expressed permission of the owner of the van, Cass wheeled out Baymax, still in his charging station.
"Let me load him up." Wasabi volunteered as he carried Baymax and loaded him at the back of the van. "Guys, give me your luggage, I'm loading them up for you." He suggested.
"Thanks!" Tadashi expressed his gratitude and handed to Wasabi his and his brother's pack.
"No problem."
"Don't cause trouble for anyone, alright boys?" Cass inserted some last minute reminder. "And have fun." She finished.
"We will Aunt Cass." Hiro and Tadashi stated in unison before walking towards the van.
"Last hug!" Cass exclaimed as she engulfed the brothers into one tight hug to which the brothers responded with a hug of their own.
A moment later the Hamada family released their hugs and Cass watched her nephews get inside the van.
When everyone, apart from Cass, was inside the van, Wasabi started the engine and started driving. Hiro and Tadashi looked outside and waived back at their aunt, who was waiving at them, until she was out of their sight.
When they arrived, Heathcliff, Fred's family's butler, opened the door of the van and greeted them.
"Good morning young masters and young mistresses." The butler began. "Master Frederick is waiting by the chopper." Heathcliff continued. "Please leave your luggage here, we will make sure that they arrive at the island in one piece." The butler instructed.
Everyone nodded and exited the vehicle and left their bags inside the van.
"Now, if you would please follow me. I will escort you to the family chopper." The butler instructed as he walked ahead of the group.
"You know guys, Fred's butler kinda reminds me of Alfred." Hiro whispered. "From Batman."
"Naah he ain't sassy enough." Tadashi disagreed. "If anything, Heathcliff's too formal."
"If you don't mind young masters, please refrain from talking about me in my presence."
The brothers promptly shut their mouths at Heathcliff's response. Gogo adorned a smirk on her face as Honey and Wasabi tried their hardest to contain their giggles.
Never mess with a butler ever.
Moments later, the group arrived at where the family chopper was located. It was by the mansion's rooftop on top of a helipad.
"Umm, do we really have to go all the way up here just to get to the chopper?" Wasabi complained. "Why can't it just be on the ground where it's, you know, safe?" He whined.
"Stop whining, woman up." Came Gogo's reaction. "And besides where else would a chopper be instead of the owner's helipad? Especially if it's on the owner's property?" She posed a rhetorical question.
Wasabi just kept quiet as he can't make a counter argument.
"If that would be all, allow me to excuse myself." Heathcliff announced as he promptly bowed and then left the group to their own devices.
"Guys! You came!" Fred enthusiastically announced.
"Of course we would!" Hiro responded. "We planned and promised didn't we?" He continued.
"Besides if we can't make it, we would have called beforehand." Wasabi interjected.
"Well, what are we waiting for? Get in!" Fred prompted his friends.
"Umm Fred, do we really have to go there via chopper?" Wasabi asked. "As you already know, I'm very, very afraid of heights."
"We could always go there in style." Fred just shrugged his friend's worries. "It'd just take a lot longer compared to just flying there." He added. "We'd need to drive to the port, ride a ship and then drive a few more kilometers to the place where we're staying at." He finished.
"How long do you think that would take us?" Gogo asked.
"Give or take five days." Fred answered truthfully.
Everyone just stared at him with their jaws hanging. They hadn't expected that kind of answer.
"What?" Fred voiced his confusion. "Wait you actually thought the island is just somewhere near San Fransokyo?" He questioned.
Indeed everyone just thought that the family island where Fred was taking them was just near San Fransokyo. Oh how wrong they were. It was in fact a few cities away.
"Well to answer that question, it is a few cities away from San Fransokyo." He continued. "Three days travel on land and two days travel on water." He finished.
"Well chopper it is then." Hiro shrugged.
Wasabi on the other hand, just responded with going inside the vessel and situated himself somewhere where there were no windows nearby, buckled himself in and closed his eyes tightly. He held unto one of the nearby bars inside the chopper.
Everyone just shrugged and followed Wasabi inside, with Fred going in last.
Tadashi situated himself beside Wasabi and gave his friend comforting pats on the back, in an attempt to comfort him.
"Buckle up everyone! We're taking off!" Fred called out from the front seat.
Moments later, the propellers of the helicopter started spinning and the chopper itself started to lift from the helipad.
A few hours later, the chopper landed on the island's ground based helipad. The nerd herd, except for Wasabi, unloaded themselves from the helicopter. They turned around and marveled at their surroundings.
They were surrounded with lush greenery, the air was fresh and you could even hear the birds chirping. The clearing they were on was a few steps away from the island mansion.
To their right was the helicopter that they just got out, further on were large trees.
To their left, obscured behind the trees, was a view of the wide sea.
Behind them was an opening for cars to pass through.
Upfront was an obscured view of a huge mansion.
Wasabi slowly got out of the chopper, he held unto a nearby bar and inspected the floor, to see if it's really the ground. When he deemed it was really the ground and was safe for him to stand, he slowly shifted his weight towards the foot on the ground and let go of the bar.
Before anyone could even comment on Wasabi's behavior, a sound of another chopper was heard. It flew past them and landed on the mansion.
"That must be our things." Fred commented.
"Okay." Gogo responded. "One question." She added. "Why did we land on the ground when we could have just landed on the freaking mansion?" She questioned.
Fred just stared at her indifferently.
Gogo seemed to get the hint because she replied. "Yeah, right forgot that."
"It would be a lot easier to bring down our things from the helipad up on the roof rather than carrying them up." Fred offered up another explanation.
Everyone nodded at Fred's explanation.
"Well what are we waiting for?" He exclaimed. "Follow me!" He stated as he motioned for his friends to follow him.
Everyone just agreed and followed Fred.
"So Honey, how'd the swimsuits go?" Gogo asked in curiosity.
"Oooh! I think you're gonna love them!" Honey declared. "I think they turned out better than expected!" She exclaimed. "I can't wait to show it to you guys!"
Everyone chuckled at Honey's exuberance. Her positivity was quite infectious to begin with and they wouldn't change it for the world.
"Can you give us a teaser of some sort?" Fred enthusiastically asked.
"Okay!" She responded. "The boys except for Wasabi have the standard swim shorts with their suit's colors." She described.
"Wait, wait. Don't tell me I don't have anything to wear when I swim?" Wasabi panicked.
"Of course not!" Gogo responded. "We'll know if you'd just let her finish."
"I think it's better that I don't reveal any more spoilers to you guys." Honey giggled.
"Seconded!" Hiro agreed.
"Besides, we're already by the entrance." Tadashi chuckled.
Indeed the group of six were already facing a rather fancy door. A door emblazoned with intricate lines and curves that are in gold.
"Ladies and gentlemen!" Fred declared as he went up front of everyone. "I present you: a bintana, its Filipino for door." He finished as he gestured towards the door.
"If I may master Frederick." A new voice interjected. "Bintana is Filipino for window." A man appeared behind Fred. "Pinto is Filipino for door." The man continued.
The man behind Fred was wearing a white short sleeved button-up shirt, brown pants and white sneakers. He looked a little bit younger than Heathcliff but older than Cass.
"Arturo! My man!" Fred exclaimed. "Give me five!" He continued as he raised his open palm.
The man, now known as Arturo, rolled his eyes but complied to his master's request nonetheless.
Fred immediately slammed his palm with Arturo's and went inside immediately. Wasabi and Gogo just nodded in his direction and Honey waived her right hand at the employee. Tadashi and Hiro on the other hand bowed towards the new arrival as a sign of respect and politeness, well Tadashi moreso than Hiro, the latter was just forced by his older brother.
"Master Frederick, your friends' things were already unloaded from the chopper and placed neatly in your room." The mansion's caretaker informed.
"Thanks Arturo!" Fred thanked his father's employee. "I'll take it from here."
"As you wish Master Frederick." Arturo bowed and left the group to their own devices.
The group followed Fred to a door at the end of a hallway. The walls of the hallway had doors on them.
He opened the only door at the end of the corridor and entered the room, the rest of the group followed him inside.
What greeted them was a room similar to Fred's back in his mansion at San Fransokyo. The only difference was that the theme of this room differ greatly from the one back home.
The room they were in was painted aqua blue in its entirety, including the floor and ceiling. Bubbles and plants usually found underwater were painted across the room that gave the room that underwater vibe.
At the center, stood the life-sized action figure of Sub-Mariner, Namor McKenzie. Up on the walls were shelves that housed the different aquatic characters from across the media, from Patrick the Starfish to Aquaman.
If anyone's still wondering, the theme for this room, its aqua, whereas back in his room at San Fransokyo, the theme was Superheroes.
"Whoa!" Was the only word that came out of Hiro's mouth as he marveled at his surroundings.
"Whoa indeed." Tadashi agreed as he looked around.
Gogo was looking around and wasn't exactly looking where she was walking, as she was distracted at how Fred's nerd factor just increased. She hadn't noticed that Wasabi was staring at a wall, dead on his tracks.
"Ow!" She exclaimed and looked at who she bumped into. "A little warning next time Wasabi." She stated in annoyance.
Wasabi's only reply was to point at the wall he was staring at.
Gogo looked at where her friend was pointing. It was a picture of King Triton with Fred's face replacing the cartoon King's face.
"I think that is the weirdest picture I've ever seen in my life." Came Wasabi's comment.
"Eh, I think Fred riding a winged white saber tooth tiger was the weirdest." Gogo nonchalantly replied as she moved past Wasabi and got to where the luggage were put.
Suddenly some of the bags were put out of their places and a white balloon suddenly inflated in the middle of the bags.
Everyone stopped what they were doing and were glued to where they were standing and stared at the falling bags.
The whirring noise continued as more bags were put out of place. A few moments later, Baymax was fully inflated and stared at Gogo. The stare was up for a few seconds and Baymax himself broke the stare and looked at his surroundings, as if trying to find a way to approach the girl he was staring a moment ago.
Everyone just continued at staring at the robot.
One by one, Baymax placed the other bags to other places, putting them away from the path he has determined. He carefully set them aside and then slowly approached Gogo.
"Hello, I am Baymax." The robot began then waived at his patient. "Your personal healthcare companion. I heard a sound of distress, what seems to be the problem." The robot started and asked his patient of the problem.
"Nothing's wrong Baymax." Gogo dismissed the robot. "I just bumped into Wasabi." She glared at her friend and then smiled at Tadashi's invention.
Said friend just nodded.
"On a scale of one to ten, how would you rate your pain?" The robot followed his healthcare codes as he showed ten different smileys that convey the faces of pain.
"A one, it's nothing, really." Gogo answered in a dismissive manner.
"I will scan you now." Baymax continued with his programming.
He began scanning his dismissive female patient.
"I don't see any evidence of external or internal injury." Baymax concluded his scan. "However." He continued as he raised his index finger. "I suggest that you would be careful in all of your future endeavors."
"Will do Baymax." Gogo nodded. "I am satisfied with my care." She stated.
Baymax nodded then went back to his charging station and deactivated himself.
Everyone snapped out of their daze and retrieved their respective luggage one by one. Wasabi got his bags first followed by Honey then by Gogo, the Hamada brothers went last.
Everyone knew how Baymax worked so the recent chain of events didn't surprise anyone, it just garnered attention.
"Guys, the doors we passed by earlier." Fred began and all attention was turned to him. "Those will be your rooms during your stay here." He explained.
"Hey Fred!" Hiro called out. "Can I have my own room please?"
"Hiro."
"Pretty please Tadashi" Hiro pleaded and faced his brother. "We always share a room. I want to know what it feels like to have room to myself." He explained.
"The little guy's right Tadashi" Wasabi commented. "I think Hiro earned himself his own room. Don't you think?" He finished.
"At least for the time being." Gogo added.
Tadashi looked at his other friends, and saw them nodding in agreement. He sighed and looked at his younger brother.
"Alright Hiro." He conceded. "But you better not a make a mess in there." He warned.
"You can choose any of the rooms." Fred continued his explanation and addressed Hiro's concern at the same time. "You'll be notified when dinner's ready."
"Dinner?" Came everyone question.
"Lunch will be delivered to your rooms." Fred explained. "I'm sure some of us want to reorient ourselves after the flight." He continued as he eyed Wasabi. "Jet lags can be quite a pain to deal with."
Honey was wrapping presents when dinner time struck. She was just putting last minute touches to her gifts for her friends.
"Aaand done!" She giggled as she finished the last stroke of her pen. "Oooh they're in for a surprise!" She exclaimed to herself.
In front of her were five presents, each were wrapped in a unique pink wrapper.
Each present wrappers were unique but they all share one similarity, aside from the color, it's that all of them contained the names of the present they were intended to. The letters of the names were arranged in such a way that they looked like stylish brand logos and they were scattered on the wrapper.
She was about to get a ribbon from her bag when a knock called her attention.
"Young Mistress." Arturo called out from outside. "I'm sorry to disturb you but dinner is ready." The butler explained.
"Coming!" She replied in a sing song voice as she stood from her bed and went out the room.
Everyone was already at the dining area eating animatedly with the occasional pleasant hums. The table for 6 people was filled with food of different origins. There were cakes, desserts, seafood, gelatin, tapioca pearls, rice and a lot more.
There's even a glass of that mixed together ice cream, fruits, shaved ice, evaporated milk and the like for each person. Arturo called them 'haluhalo', its famous dessert where he's from.
"Hiro, stop humming." Tadashi rebuked his brother.
"But I can't help it!" Hiro replied. "The food is delicious!"
"Mmmm! I could not agree more!" Gogo agreed.
"Who's the cook?" Wasabi questioned.
"Who else?" Fred replied rhetorically. "It's Arturo!" He answered.
"Where'd you found him anyway?" Gogo asked, curios of the answer.
"Honestly? He just showed out of nowhere, wanting to work for us." Fred answered. "So Dad decided to hire him and well he's assigned here." He shrugged.
Everyone was enjoying their dinner. Who wouldn't? The dinner they're having was delicious, not to mention the amount of food presented in front of them was a very generous.
As everyone was savoring the pleasantness of their dinner, Hiro was secretly stuffing tapioca pearls inside a bunch of drinking straws. As soon as he was done stuffing a dozen of straws with the said pearls, he immediately took aim at Fred.
"Fred! Heads up!" Hiro announced.
He put the tip of the straw in his mouth and started blowing air into it, shooting the tapioca pearls inside.
"Hiro! You're not supposed to play with your food!" Tadashi rebuked his younger brother.
Hiro merely rolled his eyes and fired at Fred four more times with the pearls inside the drinking straws.
"Hiro! Are you listening to me?!" The older Hamada raised his voice. "I said you're not allowed to play with your foo-." He was abruptly stopped from reprimanding his brother when a slice of cake landed on his face.
"Woops." Hiro merely commented as he got up after dodging the flying cake aimed at him. "Fred did it!" He chimed in.
"Woops." The only word stated by Fred, his stance clearly stated that he was the one who threw the cake.
"Oh that's it!" Tadashi darkly muttered as he got a spoon and dug unto the ice cream of his haluhalo.
He scooped a spoonful of the ice cream from the glass and catapulted it unto Fred. Of course he dodged the flying desert and it landed on Gogo's hair, coloring it yellow.
Without much debate Gogo joined in on the food fight and threw a slice of mango float at Tadashi, which landed on his chest, staining the blue blazer and the green cardigan.
Soon after a bunch of food were flying, from pizza pies to mango slices.
The chain of events horrified Wasabi. Everyone was playing with their food when society dictates that no one should be playing with food.
"Guys! Guys!" Wasabi shrieked. "You're not supposed to play with food!" He shouted, in an attempt to gain everyone's attention. "Let alone fighting with them!"
Everyone just ignored Wasabi's yell and continued their food fight. Hiro threw a slice of mango float at Gogo after dodging a slice of pizza from his brother. The slice of mango float that was supposed to hit Gogo landed on the Honey instead.
As soon as the slice landed on Honey Lemon's head, everyone, sans Hiro, stopped and gulped.
Hiro took this opportunity and got a free shot on his older brother and shot a tapioca pearl at Tadashi's ear.
Hiro noticed everyone's non-reaction to his cheap tactic and looked at them with confusion.
"Ummm guys?"
Hiro noticed that everyone was staring at Honey's unmoving form in fear, he decided to look at the Honey too. What he saw made him gulp.
Honey's eyes had this glint that it looked like the slice of mango float triggered something in her. She raised her head and a smile adorned her face, and it's not the normal bubbly smile she known to have.
"Umm guys, what's happening?" Hiro asked again, fear laced his voice.
Before anyone could even respond to Hiro query, Honey grabbed three different kinds food and threw all of them at the only person not participating in the food fight.
Wasabi shrieked in response and defended himself with the chair he was just sitting on.
"If you aren't gonna move, I will!" Honey declared as she grabbed more food and reloaded her arsenal.
She got a three bottles of soda that was on the table and started shaking them. Once she thinks enough pressure was inside the bottles, she opened the bottles and sprayed fizz everywhere.
Everyone immediately got cover as soon as Honey started spraying soda, effectively making Wasabi join in on the fight.
"Umm guys, what the heck is going on?!" Hiro asked in alarm. "Why is Honey acting like Fred when he's near fire?"
"Hiro! Swear Jar!" Tadashi rebuked.
"Tell me what's going on! This is freaking me out!" He exclaimed.
"Right, you don't know." Fred muttered.
"What do I don't know?!"
"Honey doesn't usually join in fights like this." Wasabi began
"But when she does, she's giddy and so into it." Tadashi added.
"Not to mention that deadly accuracy." Gogo finished.
Hiro just gulped in fear.
And so an all-out food war between friends began.
As soon as the soda bottles in her hands were depleted, everyone attempted to go back to the dining table to try and reload themselves with the delicious ammunitions. Sadly, no one was successful as Honey acted as the table's guard and threw slices of pizza at any who dared got closer to the table.
"I am a princess!" She cheerfully sang. "I am a princess!"
Gogo had still on her a handful of crushed cookies inside her jacket's pockets. Realizing this, she communicated her plan to the other four.
"Okay, here's the plan." She began. "I'll distract her and equip yourselves quickly once she's distracted." The purple-streaked woman finished as she took a stance and readied herself to distract her friend proclaiming to be queen.
"Here goes nothing!" She muttered as she ran out of the cover.
"Hey Honey Lemon!" She shouted as she tried to divert her friend's attention to her, which worked.
Honey didn't respond with words but rather by throwing the contents of the haluhalo which was near her.
Gogo was able to dodge most of the contents, but the gelatin landed on her head as she ducked. She didn't mind this however as she focused on her task. As soon as she ducked, she threw a good amount of the crushed cookies on her hand In Honey's direction.
"Hey Honey!" Fred called out, which diverted her attention towards him. "Eat this!" He declared as he threw a slice of pie at her.
She was able to dodge the delicious baked good and retaliated by throwing a slice of mango at him.
The pie that Fred threw hit Gogo.
"Watch where you're throwing you nitwit!" Gogo snarled.
She threw a generous slice of watermelon that was nearby at Fred but he was able to dodge the watermelon and hit Wasabi instead.
"What? I thought we were all in this together?!" Wasabi exclaimed.
"Nope!" Hiro declared. "This is a free for all!" He shouted as he threw a slice of mango float at his older brother.
Different delicacies went flying as the group of 6 friends fought each other with food. Morsels of any kind were landing on walls and floors, not even the clear glass windows were spared from the onslaught of the food fight.
A few moments had passed and the nerd herd were still at it, fizz from a carbonated juice were spraying from Tadashi's hands as Hiro was armed with slices of pies.
"EHEM!" A rather loud voice interrupted everyone. "I would like to remind the young masters and mistresses that food aren't supposed to be played with." The voice gradually softened the tone.
By the door was no other than Arturo himself, drenched from head to toe from the sprayed juice. His top was covered with stains from the pies that landed on him.
"Arturo!" Fred greeted. "Don't worry about this, we'll uhmm." He paused. "We'll clean it up." He finished.
"We should!" Wasabi agreed with force. "It is our mess."
"Don't worry Mr. Arturo, we'll clean the dining area." Honey placated. "We made the mess after all." She finished with a smile.
"As you should." Arturo stated. "But my point still stands." He continued. "There are a lot of people, especially children, starving out there and you're here playing Modern Warfare with these edible goods." He finished.
"We're sorry." Wasabi apologized for everyone.
"No matter, what's done is done." Arturo dismissed. "I just hope nothing of this sort happens again." He finished as he left the dining area.
Once Arturo left the area, everyone gave a sigh of relief.
"I told you guys!" Wasabi exclaimed. "I told you we aren't allowed to play with our food!" He finished.
"Don't talk your way out of this Wasabi." Gogo stated. "You're as much of a player here as the rest of us."
"I guess you're right." Wasabi sighed in defeat.
"Hey guys!" Fred announced. "Before we clean up, why don't we eat first?" He suggested.
Everyone raised an eyebrow at his suggestion.
At the table, nothing was left unscathed, every piece of morsel were either thrown and became a part of someone's wardrobe or became the room's new paintjob.
Fred realized this as he looked at the table. "Yeah…" He trailed off. "Forget what I said." He suggested.
Everyone then started stripping their outer layer clothes and revealed the clothing articles that were underneath. Gogo, Wasabi and Honey sported white sleeveless shirts while Tadashi, Hiro and Fred had a shirt underneath.
Tadashi's shirt was a little stained since it was exposed but nothing a simple wipe couldn't remove.
"I guess we should start this." Tadashi prompted as he began cleaning the room's windows and wall.
Everyone just followed suit.
In the middle of the night, everyone was in their respective rooms resting. They felt tired after all the activities they did for the day, from travelling on a chopper to a food fight at the dining hall and the cleanup that happened right after.
Honey exited her room, a filled shoulder bag with her. She distributed her neatly wrapped gifts to her friends by leaving them right outside their rooms.
"Young Mistress." Arturo's voice echoed throughout the hallway. "May I inquire on what it is you are doing?" The butler asked.
"Arturo!" Honey exclaimed with glee. "Great timing, great timing!" She jovially continued. "It's nothing, I was just leaving gifts for my friends." She explained. "Which brings me to." She continued. "This."
She retrieved the last gift from her bag and showed it to him.
"Give this to Freddy." She requested as she handed him the gift. "It's the swimwear I made for him." She finished with an explanation.
"Then is it safe to assume that the gifts by the doors are also swimsuits you made?" He inquired further.
"Yes!" She chirped. "I can't wait to see their reactions." She continued.
"I see." He raised an eyebrow as he relayed his response. He then gave Honey Lemon a card. "The young master wanted you to receive that one."
She gleefully received the letter and gave it a read.
[Hey guys! I'd like us to meet at the beach tomorrow first thing in the morning.
I have a big day planned for us at the beach tomorrow. Don't worry about breakfast, we'll be having it there. If you have the swimwear Honey made for us, make sure to wear it tomorrow as you go to the location.
You're Hero-friend,
Fred]
Beside Fred's name was a small doodle of a man in cape and spandex. Below the letter was a small map that detailed the instructions on the how to go to the beach.
She nodded and then faced the resident butler. "Tell Freddy that I can't wait to know what he has in store for us."
The next day, everyone was by the large cottage. It had a rather large table in it that could fit ten people. Arturo and Fred were already there as the rest of nerd herd had just arrived, even Baymax was present.
"Guys! I thought I told you to wear Honey's swimsuits for you." Fred whined as he met up with his friends.
Indeed everyone wasn't wearing their swimsuits that Honey made for them, or at least that's what it seemed at first glance. Honey herself was wearing a long sleeved jacket and a simple knee-length skirt.
Gogo was wearing her signature leather jacket paired with a pair of cargo shorts.
Wasabi wore a long sleeved shirt and a simple pair of shorts.
The brothers wore the same simple Hawaiian buttoned-up shirt and the pair of swim shorts Honey made for them. It's as if they planned this since last night.
Fred himself was shirtless and only wore the swimming attire that Honey especially made for him.
"You do realize its cold out here." Gogo commented.
"Yes Freddy, the air around us is freezing." Honey added in a somber tone.
"The surrounding temperature is low." Baymax inserted then raised his right finger, as if to emphasize a point. "I suggest that you cover yourselves with layers of clothes." The nurse bot continued. "It will prevent cold-induced illnesses like hypothermia."
Tadashi chuckled as Baymax finished. "It was actually the big guy who suggested that we should at least wear one layer of clothing." He explained as he gestured to Baymax.
"And he isn't wrong either." Hiro added. "It was very, very cold when I woke up."
"Agreed."
"What did you guys expect?" Fred rhetorically asked. "The mansion is literally in the middle of a forest." He explained as he sighed before starting another batch of words. "A dip in the water should accustom us to the surroundings." He stated. "Water is relatively warm in the morning."
"He isn't wrong." Wasabi agreed with Fred as he began removing his shirt.
Everyone realized this and followed Wasabi's lead.
"You know Honey I really like the swimsuit you picked out for me." Gogo started an idle conversation. "I especially like my name arranged like a logo on the wrapper and the two eggs that looked like moving wheels on the suit." She praised her friend's design choice.
Indeed as soon as she removed her leather jacket and cargo shorts, she revealed the swimsuit Honey made of her. It was a one piece that looked like a two piece at first glance. It looked like she was wearing a sports bra that covered the entirety of her bust and a pair of skin tight thigh-length shorts. The egg logo was located at the left part of the chest. Both articles of clothing were connected at the back, making it a one piece swimsuit.
"Agreed." Wasabi stated. "I seriously doubt that you bought these from stores and just personalized them." He continued. "I really love the amount of order you put into mine's especially the connected jigsaw puzzle pieces at the back." He smiled. "A place for everything, everything in its place." He nodded.
Wasabi revealed the swimsuit Honey made for him. It was a one piece swimsuit that had short sleeves and thigh-length pants. The suit looked like your common underwater diving suits.
"Does it have to form the picture of a Wasabi plant?" Wasabi asked rhetorically.
"Oh Woman up will you?" Gogo exclaimed. "Everyone with a nickname have their nicknames as their logos." She rolled her eyes.
Everyone chuckled at Wasabi and Gogo's banter. It was obvious that Wasabi was still a little salty of his nickname.
"It's nothing really." Honey humbled herself as she removed her jacket and skirt.
Honey revealed that she too was actually wearing her swimsuit. It was a one piece bikini that has one strap that was around her left shoulder and exposed her stomach but totally covered her right hip. Her logo was a honey pot with a slice of lemon that decorated the open top, it was displayed on the right chest of her swimsuit.
"It's not nothing!" Tadashi disagreed. "These are well made!" He praised as he unbuttoned his shirt and removed it from his person.
Tadashi was already wearing his swim shorts, his logo was that of an upright pill with a set of interlocked gears.
"Yep they were awesome!" Hiro agreed as he emulated his older brother's actions.
Hiro was also wearing his swim shorts and the logo was also located on the right leg. It was the two faces that were on megabot, separated in the middle by an EKG line that signified a beating heart.
"Couldn't agree more!" Fred finished the barrage of praises enthusiastically.
Fred's swim shorts had the logo of an open book with a circle on top, as if something actually was coming out of the book. It was displayed on his pair's left leg.
"It was nothing. Really." Honey stated, humbled by the praises coming her way.
"Last one at the water is a rotten egg!" Hiro declared as he prepared to sprint towards the ocean.
"Not so fast knucklehead." Tadashi stopped his brother by holding Hiro's right shoulder. "Baymax?" He prompted his robot to speak.
"Tadashi is right Hiro." Baymax began. "It is not advisable to swim immediately without first stretching out your muscles." He stated. "Doing so would increase one's chances of getting muscle cramps." He continued. "Muscles cramps while swimming are one of the causes of deaths while in the water." He finished.
"Impressive Tadashi" Gogo praised. "You didn't neglect to include that little fact into Baymax's healthcare matrix."
"Hey if he's going to be a healthcare companion." Tadashi replied. "He needs that bit of information." He continued. "Muscle cramps can be quite deadly." He finished.
"Why's he here again." Hiro grumbled. "Party pooper."
"So that if any of us were to drown we have a big life buoy with us." Tadashi explained.
"So who'll lead the stretching exercise?" Honey asked.
"Don't forget about Tadashi, his muscles doesn't need any more stress." Hiro reminded.
"I will." Gogo volunteered. "And don't worry about Tadashi, it's been a few months since his physical rehabilitation. I'm sure he'll be fine." She reassured Hiro. "Besides the stretches we are about to do are nothing compared to what stress his muscles are going through when he's the White Knight."
"That's true." Everyone agreed.
Gogo then started leading the group through some simple stretching exercises, just enough to lessen the chances of getting muscle cramps during the day. She started with the arms, the torso and then finally the legs.
Once the stretching exercises were done, Hiro ran towards the water, he wasn't able to go far when Gogo stopped him in his tracks.
"Not so fast hotshot." Gogo stated. "We need to rest our muscles first." She continued. "While doing so, we'll eat breakfast."
"Indeed." Baymax agreed. "Going into the water right after an exercise can cause muscle spasms." He continued "It is advisable to at least rest for five minutes before heading towards the water." Baymax concluded.
"Tadashi, did you have to program Baymax to be such a killjoy?" Hiro grumbled.
Tadashi just chuckled at his brother's antics as he ruffled Hiro's hair. "When it comes to safety, all medical workers may seem to be killjoys at first." He started. "But you'll thank them later because they know what they're saying is helping you live a good and long life." He explained.
"Even your explanation's nerdy." Hiro muttered to himself as Tadashi sighed as he shook his head.
As everyone arrived at the table full of food. They sat on the pillows provided.
"I hope you don't play another round of your food fights now." Arturo reminded.
"Yeah Arturo." Fred responded. "You can count on me."
"Somehow that statement troubles me." Arturo muttered.
"Don't worry Arturo, I'll make sure my knucklehead of a brother won't start another one." Tadashi reassured.
"I'll hold you to that young master."
"With that out of the way." Fred stated. "Let's dig in!" He declared.
"Thank you for the food." Everyone chorused as they began eating a health breakfast.
As everyone drank the rest of their hot drinks, Hiro stood up.
"Hiro, where are you going? If you're going swim- "
"Hiro, it is not advisable to go swimming right after eating." Baymax began as he cut off Tadashi from what he was saying. "One should go swimming an hour after eating." He continued. "Doing any sort of activity right after eating can lead to appendicitis."
"Relax Tadashi, I was just going to the bathroom." Hiro rolled his eyes. "I saw one nearby." He stated.
"Okay, but be careful!" Tadashi responded.
"I will." With that, Hiro left the group to do what nature called.
"Tadashi, I've seen how excited Hiro was for this trip." Gogo started. "Even when you've reprimanded him, that excitement hasn't diminished one bit."
"There are few instances of disappointment on his face." Honey added. "But those were just gone in, well, an instant." She stated.
"I can't speak for Hiro, because it is his story to tell." Tadashi began. "But one thing is for sure, he's been bullied, like the rest of us were." He revealed. "I won't say anything more about the topic but one thing is clear." He trailed off. "He's my little brother and I won't tolerate anyone who'd bully him." He declared. "Or hurt him in any way, shape or form."
Fred sent a disappointed look towards Tadashi which went unnoticed by everyone except the recipient. Tadashi sent an apologetic look at his disappointed friend.
"Wait Fred was bullied?" Gogo asked.
The idea was foreign to her. Fred was like the most likeable guy one could find. His energy and mannerisms were something rich kids lacked, and Fred is the resident rich kid in the group.
"Believe it or not, I was." Fred sighed, his energy from before went down to zero.
Talking about bullying or the times he was bullied will never fail dampen Fred's mood but if there's one thing he was good at, it's that he can bounce right back up.
"But enough about that." Fred exclaimed. "We're here to have fun." He stated. "Not remember some crappy past." Finished as he stood up.
"Couldn't agree more." Hiro said as he emerged from where he exited.
The rest nodded as they stood up at the same time.
"Last one's a rotten egg!" Hiro declared as he began running towards the ocean.
"The other part of my nickname may draw some connections to eggs." Gogo responded. "But it won't be me who's a rotten egg!" The resident speedster declared as she increased her speed and went past Hiro.
"No one's calling me a rotten egg!" Fred declared. "I'm the giver of nicknames"! He exclaimed as he increased his pace.
"That goes double for me!" Tadashi yelled as he ran past Fred and Hiro.
Honey and Wasabi looked at each other before upping their speed and raced their friends towards the water.
Without a doubt, the resident speedster, out sped everyone in the race. Honey came in second, Tadashi came in third, Wasabi and Fred tied at fourth place and Hiro came in last.
"Hey Rotten Egg." Tadashi joked at his brother.
"No fair!" Hiro pouted. "You all have long legs!" He defended. "Your steps are longer than mine! It's unfair."
"The little man's right." Wasabi agreed. "He is the shortest amongst us."
"Nope." Tadashi disagreed, still smiling. "Gogo and Hiro are approximately the same height." He explained. "And she beat us all in the race."
Fred and Honey nodded.
"Gogo?" Hiro looked at her, very hopeful for her response.
"Stop whining, Woman Up."
"So Rotten Egg." Tadashi began as he approached his brother.
Hiro just looked down at the water and proceeded to go further, ignoring his brother's call, as if he was sulking from the loss he incurred.
"Hey Rotten Egg?" He asked as he approached his younger brother, but it fell on deaf ears. "Hiro?"
He approached his younger brother slowly, thinking that he might have triggered something in Hiro for him to be this unresponsive to his call.
Once Tadashi was just near his younger brother, Hiro immediately turned around and slammed his open palm on the water, creating a big splash.
"Ahahaha! Got ya bro!" Hiro laughed as he scooped more water with his hands threw splashed it on his brother's face.
"Why you-!" Tadashi trailed off as he too splashed water on his younger brother's face. "I was seriously worried about you, you knucklehead!"
"Not my fault you fell for it!" Hiro declared.
Hiro swam towards where his friends are and splashed them with sea water too. Naturally, they were caught off guard as they were having an idle conversation amongst themselves. This made his other four friends to retaliate and splashed water on him.
This kickstarted everyone playing in the water, from splashing each other to playing tag while in the water. Everyone looked like they were having the time of their lives, from the smiles they were showing.
Then high tide came. Fred gathered everyone, including Arturo, by the shoreline.
"Now that its high tide." Fred began. "I propose that we have a sand castle making contest." He suggested.
"Well." Wasabi began. "We are at the beach." He agreed. "Might as well have one."
"Does it have to be sand castle?" Honey inquired.
"Nope." Fred smiled. "It doesn't have to be a sand castle." He answered imitating the tune of a popular song. "It can be anything from a heart to a brain." He stated. "It could even be a car or a flask." He added as he made discreet glances at Honey and Gogo. "As long as it's made of sand, beach sand." He finished.
Everyone nodded at their friend's answer.
"The things needed to make your masterpiece were already prepared." Fred stated as he gestured to his right.
The group looked towards where Fred's hand was gesturing and the things needed for their sand sculpture were there. There were six cluster of materials inside six different circles. The materials ranged from small plastic knives to big shovels.
"On my count, we'll begin the contest." Arturo took over as host while Fred went to a circle.
The rest of the nerd herd looked at each other and went to the other circles uninhabited circles.
"On my mark." The host yelled.
The nerd herd readied themselves.
"Set!"
Hiro bent his knees.
"Go!"
Everyone, except for Hiro, got a hold of two empty pails and went towards the open ocean. Hiro on the other hand started piling sand into one space and formed a little sand hill.
Time passed and Wasabi's already carving details unto his sculpture with a very small knife in hand while Honey and Gogo were busy molding their respective piles of wet sand. Tadashi on the other hand was making a small pile of wet sand, Hiro was busy gathering sea water and Fred was busy molding a pile.
As the minutes tick by, the sculptures slowly took shape detail by detail. Tadashi, Wasabi and Fred were busy doing some finishing touches while the girls were just tidying up their surroundings. Hiro was just sprinkling water on his creation.
It should be noted that the creations weren't big, it was just about the height of an average man's knee.
"Time's up!" Arturo declared.
Everyone was caught off guard at the sudden announcement. No one knew, that there even was a time limit.
"We had a time limit?" Hiro questioned as he put down his spray bottle.
Everyone nodded in agreement.
"Yes we had!" Fred affirmed. "Didn't I mention that to you guys?" He inquired.
"Not exactly Fred." Honey chimed.
"Sorry." Fred apologized. "My bad."
"I'm going to let this slide." Gogo glared at her friend. "Since it seems everyone has finished their own sculptures." She explained. "But next time, enumerate every rule before starting a competition." She hissed.
"Yes ma'am!" Fred responded after gulping some saliva.
"Now I would like everybody to step out of their circles." Arturo ordered. "As I will begin judging your sand sculptures."
Everyone did as ordered.
"Let's see here." Arturo mumbled as he approached the sand sculpture where Honey was.
"Oh we're judging mine first!" Honey commented with glee.
Honey Lemon's sand sculpture depicted three Erlenmeyer flasks connected by three arcs that act like tubes and at the end was a small sculpture of a mushroom cloud. It looked like a violent chemical reaction took place.
"The sculpture definitely describes the maker's interests." Arturo commented. "I'm assuming the young mistress has high affinity with Chemistry." He stated.
"Teehee! Right you are." She exclaimed.
Arturo just nodded and approached the sand sculpture Wasabi made. He took a good look at the sculpture and scrutinized every detail.
The sculpture was that of a medieval castle. Towers were literally located in the four corners, surrounding a huge manor in the middle. Said towers were also sculpted in such a way that it could be garrisoned by troops. The manor was made with symmetry in mind.
"A good medieval castle with such detail." The lone judge stated. "Where did you learn such details in your sculpture young master?" He asked Wasabi.
"I remembered the diagrams I saw in books about the dark ages." Wasabi answered. "I remember being amazed that every structure was with a reason aside from aesthetic purposes." He finished.
"I see." Arturo nodded as he approached another sculpture, this time it's his master's.
Fred's sand sculpture was of a standing open book with a character coming out of it. It looked like a stout man was coming out of the book's pages and offering a hand.
"Hmm Sanderson Mansnoozie." The butler commented. "How fitting as he is the sandman." He stated. "I must say Master Frederick, your obsession with fictional characters still astounds me to this day." He said. "Most people outgrow them, you on the other hand, embrace them."
"What can I say Arturo." Fred chuckled. "I'm not most other people." He proudly declared.
"Got that right!" Gogo commented.
"Then, shall we move on?" The judge asked but didn't wait for a response and approached Gogo's sculpture.
Gogo's sculpture was that of a person's bust with long hair. The hair sculpture wrapped around a tower like a spool.
"If I were a literary person or someone of the same caliber for art." Arturo began. "I'd definitely put some meaning unto this sculpture." He continued. "Like the creator wanted express how she was trapped in the past."
Gogo rolled her eyes. "But it's not." She denied. "It's just Rapunzel, where her hair's still tangled in the tower." She summarized.
"I see." Arturo nodded.
He then approached Hiro's sculpture, it was just megabot's bust to its head. Megabot's face was that angry face, as if it was in battle mode.
"Hmm, this is nice." The judge commented. "The most simplistic among the sculptures around here." He added.
"Hey! It's not my fault that sand sculpting is hard!" Hiro replied indignantly.
"Did I hear that right?" Tadashi erupted. "Is the genius admitting that something is difficult?" He teased.
"No I'm not!" The young genius replied and pouted. "I'm saying that it was…" He trailed off.
Tadashi didn't interrupt, even when his brother trailed off. He knew his little brother wouldn't admit it but it was still fun to tease his brother.
"Oh yeah? Then what about your sand sculpture!" Hiro diverted the attention to Tadashi's sand sculpture.
"You'll see." He replied.
"And the last sand sculpture would be the one made by Young Master Tadashi Hamada." Arturo announced as he and the rest of the group approached Tadashi's circle. "Intriguing choice of sculpture." Arturo commented. "It looks very simple at first glance, but it looks like I was deceived." He stated.
Tadashi's sculpture was made of three pyramids lying sideways facing north, west and east. Another Pyramid floated in between the three lying triangles, the lying pyramids acted as supports for the pseudo-floating pyramid
"I must ask." Arturo started. "How did you come up with such a fine idea?"
"Simple really, I just found another angle."
"Care to elaborate?" The judge asked once again.
"I just took a pyramid's simplistic design and worked my way around it." Tadashi answered.
"I see, I see." Arturo nodded as he went back towards the cabin they were in hours ago.
The rest of the group followed the judge and awaited his verdict.
"Everyone, all of you made quite an interesting sand sculptures, but alas, there could only be one winner." Arturo announced. "The only criteria was what sand sculpture I liked among the rest." He continued. "I'm proud to announce that Young Master Wasabi's sculpture is the winner." He declared.
"Hmm, makes sense." Fred agreed as the rest nodded.
"The amount of detail and accuracy from how medieval castles look today, was what sealed Young Master Wasabi's win." He explained. "And as for the price, Master Frederick would you like to do the honors?"
"Sure!" Fred shrugged as he replaced his butler.
"Since we kinda wrecked your van that one night." Fred began. "I'm giving you a brand new car." He announced. "That's different to the one you chose as replacement."
Arturo's eyes narrowed, which went unnoticed by everyone.
"N-no Fred! You s-shouldn't." Wasabi refused the offer. "I mean you already replaced it. He reasoned.
"Just accept it Wasabi." Gogo shrugged.
"It is rude to refuse a gift." Tadashi stated.
"W-well I guess. Thank you Fred." Wasabi relented.
"Now why don't you six go to Young Master Wasabi's sand castle?" Arturo suggested. "And I'll take a commemorative photo of this occasion?"
Everyone nodded took their positions by Wasabi's sand castle. Wasabi's understandably at the back. Fred and Honey occupied his right while Gogo and Tadashi positioned themselves to his left. Hiro on the other hand was at the back riding atop Bamyax, piggy back style.
"Hiro be careful." Baymax stated. "A fall from this height could cause some injuries." He cautioned.
"No need to worry Baymax." Hiro answered. "Everyone else is here, I should be fine."
"Just be careful Hiro." Tadashi seconded Baymax's request.
"I will."
Arturo became the group's photographer when he approached the group and stopped a few meters away. He retrieved a DSLR camera and focused it on the group and snapped a picture or two.
Days passed by and the nerd herd spent their days splashing each other on the beach, watching movies, painting, even forest trekking was included in their impromptu itinerary. Suffice to say everyone was having fun on their own accord
Tuesday afternoon, the nerd herd had just finished lunch when Fred announced. "Guys, we should go change in our swimming attire." The host began. "We'll play a game by the pool this time." He explained.
Everyone nodded and went to their respective rooms to change.
After everyone was in their swimming attire, they gathered in the pool.
It was located at the back of the family mansion but still surrounded by glass walls making the forest and the abandoned house obscured by the trees outside visible from the inside.
"Under water is a bunch of coins." Fred began. "We are tasked to collect them whoever collects the most coins wins." He declared. "Under thirty minutes."
"Cool!" Hiro exclaimed. "So what's the price this time?"
"Hmm. That's a good question" Fred mumbled. "I think the winner will decide on what his or her prize may be." He suggested.
"That seems fair." Honey chimed in.
"As usual, Arturo is our judge." Fred announced.
"Actually Master Frederick." The butler responded. "I have other duties I have to attend to." He bowed at his master.
"Well that sucks." Fred pouted then faced his friends. "Who's gonna replace Arturo?"
"Baymax and I will." Hiro volunteered. "I just want a pack of gummy bears as compensation." He stated.
"That…" Fred paused. "Can be arranged."
"Besides, even if I won, which I surely would, Tadashi would object to whatever price I'd ask for Fred." He explained.
"For the record Hiro, what were you going to ask?" Came Wasabi's inquiry.
"What else?" He exclaimed. "A lifetime supply of gummy bears!"
"Be a good judge then Hiro." Tadashi immediately said.
"Yeah." Hiro grinned. "Let me go get Baymax."
Once Baymax and Hiro were by the pool, the older members of the group positioned themselves on the pool's edge.
"On my mark." Hiro shouted. "Get set!" He continued.
The participants bent their legs.
Baymax stood with Hiro.
"Go!"
Everyone dived into the pool and began collecting coins as much as their hands could and their breaths could hold. They swam, dived and collected coins that were dropped into the water, repeated the process for them to win.
"Holding one's breath for a longer period while underwater may cause drowning." Baymax reminded. "Remember to come back up when you can't hold your breath."
"Relax Baymax." Hiro stated as he threw a ball at the robot's vinyl body, which bounced back right back at him. "They know that, reminding people of that can get annoying sometimes." He explained.
Baymax just nodded, paying close attention to the swimmers.
Time passed as the participants' coin collection began to increase significantly and the coins below began to decrease.
"Time's up!" Hiro shouted as everyone resurfaced.
The participants began to gather their coins and placed them in different containers.
"To determine the winner faster, I suggest we weigh each collections separately." Hiro suggested. "If we have a tie in terms of weight, that's when we'll count the coins."
"Sounds like a plan."
One by one the participants weighed their collections and took note of the weight for the sake of comparison later and Honey's collection was the heaviest among the contestants. Suffice to say that she won.
"So Honey what will it be?" Fred asked. "I hope it's not unreasonable." He chuckled which made everyone laugh.
"Nothing is unreasonable with your wealth Fred!" Gogo commented which earned another burst of laughter.
"Let's see." Honey gave her prize a thought. "How about." She trailed off. "A brand new sewing machine." She answered.
"Hmm, reasonable." Fred joked.
"The sewing machine I have is at the brink of breaking and I want to preserve it." She answered.
"I see." Fred nodded. "Would be my pleasure."
After the coin collecting contest, the nerd herd began playing volleyball in the swimming pool. Baymax would often times act as a floating net. The group generally had fun and enjoyed their activities in the mansion.
Thursday evening, the nerd herd was gathered in Fred's room. They just finished playing by the pool after having dinner. They were busy sharing happy memories and stories about their lives while seated on the couch beside the life sized figure of Sub-Mariner.
"And he had the gall to whisper to me what he had heard the ocean said." Tadashi stated. "He said that the ocean told him that I was a nerd." He continued. "The nerve!"
"Hey! It was true!" Hiro defended himself.
"So what I did, I carried him to the shoreline and threw him to the water." Tadashi narrated proudly.
"And that hurt you jerk!" Hiro exclaimed.
Everyone got a chuckle out of that narration.
"You know, we've been sharing happy stories since we got here." Honey pointed out. "Why don't we share some scary ones?" She suggested.
"S-scary stories?" Tadashi meekly asked. "Can we just stick to happy stories instead?" He offered.
"Nonsense!" Fred exclaimed. "Scary stories are always part of the vacation."
Tadashi just gulped while Hiro just rolled his eyes at his brother's actions.
"Please?" Tadashi pleaded.
"Stop whining, woman up."
"You know what guys." Fred piped up. "I got a better idea." He stated. "Why don't we head to a nearby haunted house here?" He suggested. "It's not actually haunted per se, Arturo just finished cleaning the place."
"No!" Tadashi shouted in disagreement. "If you guys can't take a hint, I can't stomach the idea of ghosts!" He admitted. "And anything supernatural!"
"Relax Tadashi." Hiro stood up and attempted to placate his brother. "Fred just said it, it isn't haunted, just filled to the brim of mannequins painted to look scary." He explained.
"Really?" Tadashi asked.
"Really."
"I don't know guys." Wasabi voiced his doubts." Tadashi's really scared of the idea." He pointed out. "Can we pass this one?" He inquired.
"If it's too much for you Tadashi, I promise we'll stop." Fred offered. "So what do you say bud?" He asked the elder Hamada.
Tadashi just nodded.
Hiro just rolled his eyes for umpteenth time at how his brother was acting.
"What about Baymax?" Honey inquired.
"We'll just leave him by the pool." Wasabi suggested.
"Great idea!" Fred praised. "The haunted house is near the pool." He continued. "So if Tadashi really can't handle it, we'll leave him by Baymax's side.
"With that settled." Hiro started. "Let's go!"
The group, still in their swimming attire, has just entered the haunted house that Fred told them. The insides of the house really live up to the name 'Haunted House.' Cob webs were really around the place, something dripping could be heard echoing throughout the entire house and not to mention the all-around spooky vibe the insides were emitting.
"Hooo!" A spooky voice erupted. "Hooo!" The voice continued.
"Kyaaa!" Tadashi squealed and climbed on Wasabi's back in fear.
"Tadashi that was just a speaker." Hiro explained in exasperation. "You can't possibly be afraid of a speaker making spooky sounds."
"No Hiro! I am really afraid!" He exclaimed. "Can we exit now?" He asked.
"Nope." Fred replied. "We just entered the building."
"Please Fred?"
"No." Fred denied. "Relax Tadashi, you'll love this."
Tadashi, left without a choice, held unto Wasabi and Hiro as some sort of protection for himself.
"This place is really freaking me out." Tadashi whined.
Suddenly, an ugly head fell from the ceiling followed by severed hands legs and a heart. This caught everyone off guard, including Fred, and shouted.
Tadashi screamed like an intimidated school girl and jumped into Wasabi's arms. He clutched unto the bigger man's neck.
"Why're you afraid?!" Wasabi asked Fred. "Didn't you know the setup in this house?!"
"I haven't been in here for a long while okay?!" Fred admitted in his defense. "So some things will catch me off guard!" He explained.
Tadashi just kept shouting.
"Tadashi calm down, calm down." This time it was Gogo who calmed the scared man. "It's just a mannequin, a mannequin." She repeated her words in an attempt to calm him down.
"A mannequin?" He asked, quite unsure.
"Oh please Tadashi, drop the act." Hiro muttered to himself as he rolled his eyes.
The younger Hamada just couldn't bear to watch his brother act like this. Acting like a scared cat in the face of supernatural, or the same thing.
Tadashi slowly got down from Wasabi's arms and meekly held one of the severed hands that fell. He inspected it thoroughly.
"Right a mannequin." He concluded. "A mannequin." He gave off a scared laugh.
"Everything here are mannequins okay Tadashi?" Honey stated. "There's nothing to fear okay?"
Tadashi just nodded as he made use of his right forearm to wipe the sweat from his forehead. He set down the plastic hand and continued to hold unto Wasabi and Hiro.
The group entered a room with a rather ominous door. It looked like doors in medical dramas.
Dismembered mannequins were above tied to crosses, some were missing a leg, and some were missing a head. Another mannequin was by what looks like an operating table, missing an eye and a leg. The plastic was with 'open gut' and red liquid was spurting from it.
"Aaaaah!" Tadashi screamed at the top of his lungs. "Aaaah!"
Everyone besides Hiro panicked at Tadashi's reaction. Their friend was shouting and it's freaking them out.
"I knew we shouldn't have come here." Wasabi exclaimed as he hugged Tadashi. "He already told us that he can't stand horror and supernatural things!" He berated everyone. "We need to get out of here ASAP!" He ordered.
"Gaah! Tadashi we get it!" Hiro exclaimed. "You're a good actor, so drop the act!"
Tadashi chuckled at his little brother. "Since when have you known Hiro?" He asked his little brother.
The rest of the nerd herd watched the brothers with their jaws dropped. Tadashi just pulled a fast one at them. They seriously thought that Tadashi was legit scared of the surroundings.
"Since you yawned while watching the original The Ring in the middle of the night." Hiro rolled his eyes.
"Wait, you mean to tell me that everything was an act?" Wasabi gasped.
"Not cool man, not cool." Fred shook his head.
Gogo approached the brothers. She didn't say a word of disapproval but approached them nonetheless.
"Umm hey Gogo." Tadashi gulped.
Without any words, Gogo thwacked the brothers on their foreheads. "I was seriously worried about you Tadashi!" She exclaimed. "That wasn't funny!"
"Yeah Tadashi, that was really mean of you." Honey added.
"Look guys I'm sorry." Tadashi apologized. "I didn't have any intention of revealing this small fact to you guys." He admitted, which earned him a few glares in response. "I got a cred to uphold to." He continued. "I mean, my former classmates knew me as someone who's really scared shitless of ghosts but can seriously ki-." He stopped himself from swearing. "Fight." He corrected himself.
"Still doesn't change the fact that you scared us shitless." Wasabi pointed out.
"Yeah I know, and for that I apologize." Tadashi bowed. "I seriously didn't mean to scare you guys to death." He admitted.
"Still for all its worth, you're a good actor Tadashi." Gogo praised. "Seriously you brothers are good at acting." She pointed out. "Hiro acted like he was upset then pulled a prank on you." She stated. "Then you pull this off."
"Well our mother was a great actress." Tadashi stated.
"Really Tadashi?" Hiro perked up at the mention of his mother.
"Yeah, according to the stories mom used to tell me, she always fooled dad into thinking something was up because of her acting." He said.
"Wow!" Hiro voiced his amazement.
"With that drama out of the way." Fred declared. "Let's move forward!"
But before anyone could even take a step forward, smoke filled the room they were in.
"Fred what's happening!" Wasabi inquired.
"I don't know!" Fred panicked.
"Everyone don't breath in the smoke!" Honey shouted in urgency as she covered her nose and mouth. "This smoke could either be sleeping gas or poisoned gas!"
Honey's warning came in too late as Hiro started coughing as did everyone else.
"Hi-hiro, a-are you o-okay?" Tadashi managed to inquire in between his coughs.
"I-I'm fine." Hiro managed. "B-but I feel sleepy." Hiro fell unconscious.
"Hiro! Hiro! Stay awake! Stay with me broth-." The next thing Tadashi saw was black.
"Step aside nerd!" A rather large young boy exclaimed as he shoved another young boy.
The young boy that was shoved was a young Frederick Lee, a comic book extraordinaire and future nickname giver to his friends. He was bullied by boys larger than him because of his petit figure and out of jealousy, but he doesn't know that. He just knew that some people were and will always be mean.
Eight year old Fred gave way for the big boy's friends and stood to the side before entering himself.
"Hey Freddy!" Someone greeted behind him.
"Hello Tadashi!" Fred greeted the boy.
A young Tadashi Hamada came into Fred's view. He was sporting a small baseball cap, a long sleeved unzipped jacket, a pair of shorts and a pair of white shoes.
"Did they shove you again?" Tadashi inquired.
"Yeah." Fred admitted.
"You really should tell the teacher about them." The Hamada suggested.
"It's okay Tadashi, I can handle it." Fred stated. "Besides bringing this to a teacher's attention would garner daddy's attention and he's already busy as it is." He admitted.
"But if this continues, I'm telling the teacher deal?"
"Deal."
"You're a good friend Tadashi." Fred praised.
"Naah, Dad always did say to help people in need." Tadashi admitted. "I'm just trying to put to practice what he has been teaching me." He admitted.
A pop quiz erupted in the classroom and everyone just finished submitting their answers.
"Teacher!" The same boy who shoved Fred raised his hand.
"What is it Adolfo?" The teacher asked as she retrieved the papers.
"I saw Frederick cheating." The boy, identified as Adolfo, stated.
"Cheating, Adolfo? Is that true Frederick?" The teacher asked.
"No!" Fred denied the accusation.
"Then how do you explain the way your head was moving during the exam?" Adolfo rebutted.
"B-but!" Fred spluttered. "You don't have proof!"
"I'm correct, right guys?" Adolfo said as he turned to his friends.
"Yeah he's right teacher!" One of Adolfo's friend's affirmed.
"We saw Frederick turn his head a couple of times during the quiz." Another offered his testimony.
"Mr. Frederick Lee!" The teacher exclaimed. "In my office after class."
"Wait a minute Teacher." Tadashi raised his hand. "Adolfo and his friends could have been framing Freddy about cheating." He pointed out. "They could have been lying about Freddy cheating on the quiz." He stated "They don't have concrete proof about what they are accusing." He explained.
"I'm sorry Tadashi, your reasoning is sound." The teacher applauded. "But Fred also doesn't have proof to deny and falsify the accusation." She explained. "I'm sure your dad also taught you that."
Tadashi just sat back and mouthed to Fred an apology, to which Fred replied with a smile.
The school's playground was located in the elevated part of the campus and that's where Tadashi and Fred were. They were busy sharing and playing with each other when Adolfo and his friends appeared.
"So you managed to sweet talk the teacher eh nerd?" Adolfo snarled. "You probably bribed her." He concluded as he shoved young Fred.
"Hey Adolfo, it's not nice to pick on Freddy!" Tadashi exclaimed.
"Whatever." Adolfo snarled.
"Because it's not true!" Fred insisted. "You were lying!"
"So what if we were huh?!" Adolfo shoved Fred once again.
The bully continued to shove Fred a few more times, but he has had enough and dodged one of Adolfo's push, which sent the bully falling.
"Teacher! Teacher!" One of Adolfo's friends shouted.
"Frederick pushed Adolfo and made him fall!" The other accused Fred. "We saw it happen!"
"No." Fred stared in horror.
"No, I didn't push him!" Fred, with his eyes closed, muttered. "I swear I didn't push him teacher. I just dodged his strike towards me." He continued to talk in his sleep.
"Aaah you did pushed him towards the cliff." Arturo's distinct voice was heard.
Water was then poured on Fred's face, waking him from his sleep.
"Arturo what happened?!" Fred asked the person in front of him. "Why am I tied up in the pool?" He inquired. "Why is the pool drained of water?"
Indeed Fred was tied up on a steel chair, a chain surrounded his bare torso and locked safe at the chair's back rest. His hands were behind the steel chair's back rest and his ankles were tied to the chair's frontal limbs. A small weight was also tied on each of Fred's ankles.
"Consider this a father's revenge Master Frederick."The butler said with anger in his voice.
"What? I don't understand?" Fred desperately tried to find answers to his predicament. "Who're you?"
"I'm not surprised." Arturo rolled his eyes. "Figure it out on your own Master Frederick." He stated as he walked back and forth.
Water started filling the pool. It was slow but the danger of drowning in the pool was there.
"My friends, where are they?! At least answer that!" Fred pleaded.
"Don't worry Master, they're safe in the haunted house." Arturo answered. "Which brings to question." He continued. "How much did you pay them to be your friends?" He uttered a question. "I mean considering your history as a murderer."
"What? Murder? I didn't murder anyone!" Fred denied the accusation.
"Oh really?" Arturo snarled. "Then what do you call the boy who fell at the playground years ago?" Arturo raged. "Wasn't that murder?!" He exclaimed.
"Playground? What are you tal-" Fred cut himself off after he realized something.
Fred realized that Arturo was talking about Adolfo, his bully back in elementary school. The person who fell down the playground because he dodged the bully's shove.
"You're talking about Adolfo aren't you?"
"Give the contestant a prize!" Arturo exclaimed, sarcasm was heavy in his voice. "Adolfo was my son you SOB!" He shouted. He shouted.
"He didn't die!" Fred denied Arturo's facts. "I didn't kill anyone!"
"Lies!" Arturo shouted.
The water level started rising rapidly, it was now halfway past Fred's shin.
"Ugh." Gogo groaned as she woke up.
She tried to move her hands to yawn and stretch but couldn't. This sensation sent her mind into overdrive and jolted her awake. She found herself tied up. Her wrists were handcuffed behind her back and she was sitting on a stool. Honey Lemon was in the same position as her.
Wasabi and Tadashi were tied to the two crosses that were closer to the floor while Hiro replaced the mannequin on the operating table, his limbs tied to the limbs of the table.
"Hey everyone! Wake up!" Gogo called out. "Wake up!" She shouted.
This caused Tadashi and Honey to stir awake.
"What the-!" Tadashi almost swore as soon as he found the predicament he was in and struggled to get himself free from the ropes.
"Oh my goodness!" Honey exclaimed as she struggled from her handcuffs. Her outburst caused Wasabi to wake
"What the hell happened?!" Wasabi shouted. "Being tied to a cross is not part of the itinerary Fred!" He yelled.
"Fred's not around." Gogo supplied. "I doubt that this is one of his pranks."
"Then who tied us all up?!" Came Wasabi's rather panicked inquiry.
"I don't know." Gogo answered. "The only one who fits the bill is Arturo." She stated.
"But that's just wrong." Honey argued. "He's nice and accommodating to us."
"Honey's right Gogo." Tadashi supported Honey's argument. "Do you even have an evidence against Arturo?"
"Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth." Wasabi stated. "That was one of Sherlock Holmes's famous quotes in the book The Sign of the Four." He continued. "Since we eliminated the possibility of Fred being behind this prank." He continued. "The only logical answer would be Arturo being behind this."
"But Wasabi, we don't have any evidence that support that." Tadashi argued. "We could be put to jail for defamation because of that." He continued. "In that way Holmes's logic is flawed."
"You know if Fred were here, he'd shout blasphemy at you Tadashi." Gogo chuckled.
"Ugh, will you keep it down?" Hiro groaned as he stirred awake. "Some of us are trying to sleep here."
Everyone's attention were shifted to Hiro.
"Nice of you to join us little brother." Tadashi stated.
"What the hell!" Hiro swore as soon as he was jolted awake of his immobility. "What the freaking hell happened!"
"Hiro!" Tadashi shouted. "Swear jar!" He admonished
"What?! Sheesh, we're all tied up here and you're still about that swear jar!" Hiro shouted. "What the heck happened?!"
"That's what we're trying to figure out." Honey answered the younger Hamada's question.
"Well can we figure it out after we're all untied?" Hiro suggested.
Gogo and Honey nodded as they moved their arms so that their wrists were in front of them.
"Now to unlock this handcuffs." Gogo muttered.
Gogo and Honey searched around the room as they weren't tied to the stools. Gogo looked near Hiro was tied up while Honey was by the crosses. Gogo found a potential lock pick on the table near Hiro.
"Honey come here." She ordered the only female to approach her, to which Honey complied. "Hand out your wrists, I'll try to pick on the locks on that handcuffs."
Honey nodded and stretched out both of her hands for Gogo to pick lock of the handcuffs on her.
Gogo worked her way into the lock and successfully unlocked Honey's handcuffs. Honey did the same for her. Both girls were now free.
Honey proceeded to untie Tadashi's ankles while Gogo untied Hiro's wrists.
"I did not kill anyone!" Fred's voice was heard.
"That was Fred!" Honey exclaimed as she finished with untying Wasabi's ankles.
"You girls go on ahead, Hiro will release us from the ropes." Tadashi ordered.
"You sure?" Gogo asked.
"Yeah, go on ahead." Wasabi answered.
The water level was now on Fred's neck, his entire body was almost submerged. Despite this, He continued to struggle from his bonds in the hopes of freeing himself.
"Let's go back to my question earlier." Arturo stated. "What did you pay your so-called friends to be with you today?" He asked. "I mean, you actually have a set of brothers as your friends. That must've cost a lot." He pointed out.
"I didn't pay anyone!" Fred denied.
"Oh please don't deny it Frederick." Arturo snarled. "The only possible way for you to have any friends is for you to bribe them to become one."
"That's not true!" Fred shouted his denial.
"I think your so-called friends are going to thank me." Arturo stated his belief. "I mean they'd be freed from the shackles of being your friend." He laughed.
"Ow!" Gogo yelled at the top of her lungs.
This caught the attention of Arturo.
"You! How did you free yourself?!" The captor shouted at Gogo.
"Your fault." Gogo started the conversation. "You underestimated us girls." She stated. "I mean seriously two pairs handcuffs for the girls while you took the effort to tie all the boys securely?" She continued as she took Arturo's attention away from Baymax's inflating figure. "Frankly I was insulted." She uttered in disgust. "But thanks to that I'm here."
Baymax was now fully inflated behind Arturo.
"Honey now!" Gogo shouted.
Honey revealed herself and threw the ugly mannequin head at Baymax's big belly, which ricocheted towards Arturo's own head.
Baymax tilted his head towards the direction of the voice then saw the unconscious figure of the captor. He scanned the unconscious man.
"He is unconscious." Baymax stated. "It appears a blunt object hit him, this could cause a concussion."
Fred was now facing the sky as the water level was by his mouth. He was struggling to breath in oxygen.
"Gogo! Go free Fred!" Honey ordered as she approached the unconscious man.
Gogo nodded and dived at the pool and swam towards Fred.
"Just breath, I'll set you free." Gogo ordered Fred.
Gogo dived underwater and started untying the ropes on Fred's hands and ankles. The only thing that's keeping Fred immobile were the chains that were wrapped around his torso and the weights on his ankles.
"Honey does he have a set of keys!" Gogo shouted after rising to the surface. "The bastard made it sure that Fred was locked in place." She stated.
Honey felt the man's body for a key of some sort and found a set of keys.
"I found one!" Honey shouted and threw it at Gogo, who caught it flawlessly.
Gogo dived back into the water and started unlocking the locks on the weights then unlocked the lock that was on the chain that surrounded his torso.
Once free, Fred immediately swam to the surface.
"Thanks a lot Gogo!" Fred thanked his friend. "I owe you my life." He stated.
"My healthcare protocols were compromised." Baymax concluded as he reviewed what happened.
"Sorry Baymax, it was kinda necessary." Honey apologize.
"I am a robot, I cannot be offended." Baymax stated with finality. "However I think my creator will take some issues with this." He finished.
(linebreak)
Everyone was gathered by living room, everyone has changed into a more casual attire as they waited for Arturo, who was still in his butler uniform, to wake up.
"I am really sorry Tadashi." Honey apologized. "It was the only way we could think of." She explained.
"It's okay Honey, really." Tadashi forgave his female friends. "If you guys hadn't done that Fred might be in a worst situation than he already was." He smiled. "It was the best choice you had at the moment." He continued. "It is still counted as self-defense." He finished.
"Hmmm." Arturo groaned as he woke up. "So the murderer has caught me."
"Murderer? Fred's a murderer?" Tadashi immediately spoke up.
"Yes!" Arturo shouted. "He murdered my son!" He exclaimed. "Why're you still with him when he has killed someone!" He continued to shout. "Does his money really that much value for you to side with him?!"
Gogo just couldn't take it. She approached the handcuffed man and slapped him real hard.
"How dare you!" Gogo yelled. "I am not that cheap!" She shouted. "I knew Fred as someone who I thought live under a bridge!"
"Wow Master Frederick, you bribed them to lie too?" Arturo stated in disgust. "I guess money can buy you everything."
"As I was saying, I didn't pay them." Fred started, strangely calm. "They're my genuine friends." He stated as he smiled at each of them. "They're the best friends a guy could ever have." He finished.
"No, if that were the case, then why're they still by your side!" Arturo shouted. "You killed my son! You killed my Adolfo!" He exclaimed.
"Wait Adolfo?" Tadashi asked. "Is that the same Adolfo during elementary Fred?"
"Apparently so." Fred replied.
"Mr. Arturo." Tadashi started. "Adolfo isn't dead."
"LIES!" Arturo shouted as he struggled in his handcuffs.
"Believe me." Tadashi calmly stated. "He just moved to another city."
"No, you're lying!" Arturo yelled. "His mother." He started an explanation. "His mother said that he died because you pushed him in the playground." He explained.
"Apparently she lied to you." Gogo stated bluntly, despite not knowing the situation at hand.
"Uhh guys." Wasabi started. "Care to fill us in?"
"Alright." Fred sighed. "Remember when Tadashi said I was bullied?"
"So that's what happened." Gogo muttered.
"Fred why don't we call Adolfo?" Tadashi suggested.
"I agree." Honey chimed in.
"It'll make him believe that his son is still alive." Gogo offered.
"Wow! So you and Fred were classmates during elementary Tadashi?" Hiro asked.
"Well yeah, that was when before mom and dad died." Tadashi answered. "After that, we moved to San Fransokyo."
"Hello Adolfo?" Fred started as he was on the phone. "I got someone who wants to speak to you." He continued with the conversation. "Its your dad." He stated. "No really." He insisted. "Here I'll put him through." He finished.
Fred faced Arturo and approached him.
"It's your son Arturo." Fred offered the phone.
Arturo shakily accepted the phone and spoke. "Hello Adolfo, Son?"
"So Fred, what's your plan with Arturo?" Gogo asked.
"Yeah Fred, he did attempt to murder you." Wasabi supplied.
"Nothing really." Fred shrugged. "If he wants to go back to the Philippines, I'll help him." He finished.
"You aren't even going to file some charges?" Hiro asked.
"What's the point?" Fred asked. "We just cleared up the misunderstanding."
"But, there are rules Fred." Wasabi argued.
"Sometimes rules can be bended, it'll be our little secret." Fred smiled.
"Thank you,I'll go home when I can." Arturo ended the call. "Thank God he's alive, he's alive." He repeated.
Fred and the rest of the nerd herd smiled at the teary-eyed father. If only this happened to Professor Callaghan on his quest for vengeance for his daughter, Hiro and his aunt wouldn't have to mourn for weeks for Tadashi and they wouldn't have lost a precious friend.
"Master Frederick, Thank you so much." The butler thanked his master. "If you so will it, you can file charges against me." He kneeled in front of everyone. "To atone for the sins that I've done."
"Now, now Arturo stand up." Fred stated as he forced his butler to stand. "I'm not filing charges against you." He continued.
"But-" Arturo wanted to say something but Fred cut him off
"Nope, let me finish." Fred stated. "You just found out that your son's alive. Who am I to hinder you from having a reunion with him?" He pointed out. "If you want to go back to the Philippines and be with your son, I'll help you." He finished.
(linebreak)
Saturday afternoon, everyone was already packed and waited for the chopper to pick them up. Imagine their surprise when they saw Heathcliff pilot the helicopter.
"Please wait here, young masters and young mistresses." Heathcliff stated and left them with the chopper.
Heathcliff stopped in front of Arturo and began shouting profanities at the latter all the while keeping up a poker face. Apparently Heathcliff knew what happened to them and Heathcliff was seriously pissed at him.
Tadashi was busy holding Hiro's ear, in the hopes that the younger Hamada couldn't hear what Heathcliff was shouting.
Everyone was on their way back to San Fransokyo riding a helicopter. As usual, Wasabi picked the seat where there are no windows and closed his eyes tightly. Tadashi on the other hand acted as Wasabi's comforter and gave him comforting pats in the back while the others marveled at the view below.
"I swear Wasabi, if you're faking your fear of heights." Gogo threatened. "I will smack you."
"For the umpteenth time Gogo my acrophobia is as real as it can be!" Wasabi exclaimed, his eyes still closed. "I am blaming you for this Tadashi." Wasabi lowered his voice. "You just had to pull that acting stunt."
Tadashi just chuckled nervously.
After arriving back in San Fransokyo, Heathcliff offered to drive Wasabi's van and delivered everyone back to their respective homes.
Cass greeted her nephews with warm tight hug, to which the brothers reciprocated. They then went straight to their shared room after greeting the part timers and slept.
Three weeks later, school resumed and Tadashi passed all his placement exams and was placed back in his old class, much to the joy of his friends. In fact the teacher even gave him a special project to make up for his absences. He was to make a new robot.
The Van that Wasabi won during the sand castle making contest arrived at the same time as Honey's price for the coin collection contest.
"Guys! Guys!" Honey gathered everyone by her single couch. "I've got something for you."
The nerd herd was inside the Ito Ishioka laboratories and they were the only ones inside. Tadashi was busy conceptualizing his new robot while the rest worked on their prototypes.
"What is it?" Gogo inquired.
"I made you guys t-shirts!" Honey excitedly told them.
She distributed a shirt to everyone and told them. "C'mon open it!"
The group opened the shirt and it revealed that it had their respective names designed as a logo on the right of the shirt in small print. Another one covered the entire back of the shirt.
"This was what you had in mind when you asked for a sewing machine didn't you." Gogo guessed. "I like it."
As for the Big Heroes of San Fransokyo, they were still saving the city from harm while living their comfortable lives as teenagers and/or college students.
For they are San Fransokyo's
BIG HERO 6.
