A/N: Hello everyone! As promised, the new story is beginning now! I'm super, super excited to be debuting this piece because it stands to be one of my longer-running pieces. I set up the majority of the back story in my prelude/prologue/prequel "Earthquake" so if you'd like the background, I suggest that you read those four chapters to get a better idea of what's going on. Quick rundown: at the end of "Earthquake," the team learns that fifteen convicts have escaped in the chaos. So the plot will revolve predominantly around catching those criminals, of course. But something foul is afoot…

REGARDING UPDATES ON THIS PIECE: If you notice, each chapter is an "episode" so I'll be premiering each of the episodes on Wednesdays at 7 PM US Eastern time. So I promise to update regularly until series conclusion. This is the first time I'm trying this method out so hopefully it works! Please read and review and let me know what you think! This is also a lot more action-based than most of my previous works!

The police station was ordinarily a stately shade of white, appearing hewn out of marble and looking very official. Now, though, it looked different. Dingy. Dirty. Maybe it was the surroundings. It had only been a few days since the earthquake that devastated San Fransokyo. Cleanup was ongoing and rebuilding anything seemed like a distant pipe dream to the city's citizens. They were still burying their dead, healing in hospital beds, trying to pick up the broken pieces of their carefully-constructed lives—family photos, priceless heirlooms, lost pets—to be worried about the appearance of their civic buildings. So the police station was coated thickly in the dust and rubble of the buildings that had crumbled around it and no one cared.

Tadashi pulled the brim of his cap lower on his head to shade his eyes from the deceptively cheerful sun. The black eyes—a parting gift from the earthquake—were still healing though they looked much less angry now. The doctors told him that they would be the last symptom of his concussion to heal. He was grateful that the dizzy spells had dissipated, though. He took a deep breath and entered through the automatic sliding doors of the station and approached the front desk hesitantly.

The station looked just as dull on the inside as it did out. The carpet was beige, clearly in an effort to prevent stains, but dark spots were clearly visible nonetheless. The air smelled musty except for the scent of cheap coffee emanating from a side room. The desk sergeant—a slightly overweight woman with dyed red hair and a bored look—eyed him as he approached her.

"Hi," he greeted cheerfully.

The woman sighed, peered up at him over the brim of her glasses with beady brown eyes. Her mouth was drawn tightly, encircled with a bright red shade of lipstick. She turned back to her computer. "If you're looking for something, the lost-and-found is through those doors. No, we haven't found any missing persons here. If you are looking for a family member or friend, check the local hospital. We are—"

"No, ma'am," Tadashi interrupted her clearly scripted response, trying to remain polite with his tight smile. "I'm actually not looking for someone and I haven't lost anything."

The desk sergeant turned her eyes back onto him with what he guessed was the most interest she could muster. "Then how can I help you?"

"I'm actually looking for information…" He sucked in a breath, could feel his heart pounding quickly now. She's gonna figure it out. She's gotta know. He tried to say it exactly as Hiro had instructed. "I'm a journalist with the SFIT Inquirer. He flashed the letterhead he had borrowed from the paper's actual editor. "I'm doing a story on the escapees from San Fransokyo State Penitentiary." He watched the woman's eyes narrow suspiciously and hoped that his gulp wasn't audible.

He had warned Hiro that he wasn't a good liar, but Hiro seemed convinced that the police wouldn't release any information about the convicts who had broken out during the earthquake unless they were legally obligated to do so. And there were laws protecting a journalist's right to know. They wouldn't believe Hiro if he claimed to be a reporter and he didn't want to risk them recognizing any of the others as Big Hero 6, which was why Tadashi Hamada found himself in this situation now, praying that the woman wouldn't want to inspect the letterhead or ask him questions or run a background check or any number of scenarios that would end with him being thrown out of the precinct if not thrown behind bars for fraud.

Tadashi could feel his ears burning bright red as he gave the woman another tight, friendly smile. She sighed, rolled her eyes, and picked up the phone, dialing an extension. "You've got another press request," she grumbled into the receiver when the person picked up. She waited, hung up without another word, and turned to the young man. "The public relations head will meet you through those doors," she gestured with a slight head tilt to a set of drab, grey doors behind the desk. "Go ahead."

"Thank you," Tadashi tried not to sound too relieved. There was still another person he would have to present his 'press credentials' to if he wanted to get the information Hiro needed.

The public relations director was infinitely more personable than the desk sergeant had been, a man who appeared to be in his thirties with an approachable demeanor. He was in full uniform when Tadashi entered and had a stack of papers on a nearby table. Evidently he had been inundated with media requests all day.

"How are you?" the man asked, shaking Tadashi's hand vigorously.

"Fine, thanks," Tadashi grinned, hoping the officer wasn't inspecting his healing eyes too closely.

"Another media request," the officer shook his head good-naturedly. "And for whom do you write?"

"The SFIT Inquirer?" Tadashi offered.

The media officer furrowed his brow. "Never heard of it."

"It's the campus newspaper for SFIT," Tadashi explained truthfully. "We're trying to cover more local events to increase our readership." He felt himself glowing inwardly and tried not to appear too smug at the lie he had just invented on the fly. He felt around in his blazer pocket for the letter again.

The officer shrugged. "Alright. I'm gonna tell you what I told the other journalists. We're still working to confirm the accuracy of this list and we don't need mass panic right now. The list I'm giving you is tentative—some of them may have escaped, some of them may still be in our custody, some may have been recaptured, some could be dead. So we're asking all press outlets to hold off on publishing the identities of the escapes until we can ascertain that they are, in fact, all unaccounted for. I'll send you an update when the list is finalized so you can go to press. Deal?"

"Deal," Tadashi exulted. He left the man with his school contact info and took the press packet that the officer provided for him, thoroughly relieved that he had just pulled that off.

"Here," Tadashi dropped the folder onto Hiro's desk. "The list you wanted."

"Thanks," Hiro looked up from the notebook in which he was scrawling some designs for a suit.

"I could've gone to jail for you," Tadashi pointed out with mock indignation, heading over to his side of the room.

"You're exaggerating. Besides, it wouldn't be the first time," Hiro snarked back. "Did you look at it?"

"No, I didn't open it," the older brother replied. "The police department is supposed to get back to me later with confirmation that the list is accurate."

Hiro shrugged and opened the packet, pulling out the paper with a list of names. The packet also included mugshots and other details. His eyes skimmed over the list, recognizing a few people. He knew what he was looking for but was hoping against hope not to find it. He was almost in the clear but when he read number fifteen, he felt his heart leap into his throat. Right there. At the bottom of the list. Callaghan, Robert.

Tadashi noticed his little brother's expression change. "Everything alright?"

"Y-yeah," Hiro stuttered, folding up the sheet of paper and slipping it back into the folder. He began thumbing through the mugshots distractedly.

"He's on there," Tadashi stated simply. It wasn't a question.

"Yeah," Hiro looked up from the packet and locked eyes with his brother. "Are you okay?"

Tadashi shrugged. "I don't know," he answered honestly. "But there's fifteen cons on that list, Hiro. What do you want to do?" Not that he actually needed an answer. He knew full well what Hiro intended to do, but he had hoped that seeing the list of names would be enough to deter the boy, or at least convince him that these individuals were too dangerous to pursue alone.

Hiro pulled out the paper again, eyes skimming the names.

Yama

Prince, Marc

Ogawa, Yumi

Clarence, Charles

Choi, Anita

Watanabe, Oliver

Sweeney, Eugene

Chang, Terence

Frost, Serena

Rosenthal, Ezra

Yu, Katrina

Park, Angel

Sooner, Caroline

Pearl, Theo

Callaghan, Robert

"I want to get the others here," Hiro said.

"And then what?"

"We go after them."

Tadashi knew what his brother's answer would be long before the boy actually said it. But there was no way he was about to allow his fourteen year old brother to go up against fifteen of San Fransokyo's most dangerous people. "Hiro, you know as well as I do how dangerous that is. Aunt Cass would never go for it!"

Hiro shrugged. "Which is why Aunt Cass won't know."

"And what makes you think I would go for it?"

Hiro looked incredulously at his brother. "Tadashi, you've seen what we can do. The police have enough to deal with without having to worry about these guys. Besides, we've dealt with criminals before."

"But these guys are different, Hiro! There's arsonists, murderers on that list!" The older brother was straining to keep his volume in check.

"And what was Callaghan?" Hiro, on the other hand, had no qualms about raising his voice. "Callaghan would have killed any of us if he had the chance. He almost killed you," the boy jabbed a finger at his older brother. "And we made it out. Look how many people the earthquake killed. We made it out. Tadashi, you know that we're the only ones who can do this."

The older Hamada opened his mouth to speak, then shut it again, clenching and unclenching his fists. "It's different," he finally muttered.

"No, it isn't!" Hiro gestured frantically. "It's no different than anything we've done before and you didn't have a problem with it!"

"I could monitor what you guys were doing before! I knew what was going on! In case you haven't noticed, we don't exactly have a garage anymore. If you go in to face these guys, I won't know what's happening to you, Hiro. And that…that scares me."

For the first time, the younger sibling didn't have a loud or sarcastic retort. He saw the genuine concern etched on Tadashi's features. He hadn't even considered how Tadashi might feel. All of this time, he had been protecting his older brother, so desperately afraid to lose him. And in that desperation, Hiro realized now that he had essentially become the older brother. But of course Tadashi worried about him, too. And if he wanted to help save this city, if he wanted to get Callaghan back behind bars, he was going to need to appease his older brother as well.

"We can work out of the nerd lab," Hiro suggested. "The equipment is all working there and school doesn't reopen for another few days. We won't be disturbed. You can monitor what we're doing just like you used to. Is that okay?"

Tadashi thought a moment. Hiro had a point, of course. Fifteen convicts loose on San Fransokyo's streets. There was no way the police would be able to round them all up. It was questionable if they'd even be able to round up any with the city still recovering from the shock of the massive earthquake. "Fine," he relented. "We work out of the nerd lab. But if things start getting to dangerous, you have to promise to step back and let the authorities take over. Deal?" He stuck out his hand.

"Deal," Hiro seized the hand and shook.

"C'mon, bonehead, let's go get the others."

"We're going after Callaghan first, right?" Go Go asked, eyes fixed on Hiro. She felt the urge to blow a bubble but resisted.

Beside her, Wasabi was nodding his head vigorously.

"I…I actually don't think we should go after Callaghan first," the boy rubbed the back of his neck and turned away from his friends, facing the large computer screen where he was projecting the details of each criminal.

"What?" Wasabi seemed genuinely surprised. "Why not? Isn't he the most dangerous man on here?"

"Not necessarily," Hiro replied. "I mean, yeah, he's a bad guy, but we gotta look at who we're likely to catch first, right? Callaghan's smart. He's probably going to go into hiding for a while until he feels like it's safe for him to come out. But this guy…" The image changed to a mugshot of a burly bot-fighter in a tracksuit. He was built like a sumo wrestler. "This guy is dumb enough to come out into the open right after escaping."

"Who's that?" Honey Lemon questioned.

"His name's Yama. He's a bot-fighter and just as dumb as he looks. He used to run the local bot-fighting scene until I completely owned him in a—" the boy broke off as he caught a glimpse of Tadashi's disapproving glare. He cleared his throat. "Anyway, that was a long time ago," he recovered quickly. "The point is, if I know him, he'll be back onto bot-fighting tonight itself. He can't resist the money. And if we can catch him, he might know where some of the others on this list went, including Callaghan."

"It's a waste of time," Go Go protested. "He's a smalltime crook. We should be going after Callaghan and some of the others like him."

"Hold up," Tadashi held up a hand. "I think Hiro's right. We should be going after anyone we can catch. And if he thinks Yama's a good place to start, then I think we should go with it. Maybe he'll know something about Callaghan or the others."

"I agree with Hiro and Tadashi," Honey Lemon spoke up. "Who's to say if Callaghan will be easy to track down? And in the meantime all fourteen other criminals will be on the loose."

"Aw man, I don't care who we go up against first. Freddy's ready to kick some bad guy butt!" Fred karate chopped the air for emphasis.

"So is it settled?" Hiro asked. The others nodded. "Okay, good. Tadashi, if I give you a list of underground bot-fighting radio frequencies, do you think you could monitor them and try to figure out where Yama might go?"

Tadashi's eyes narrowed. "Do I even want to know why you still have a list of underground bot-fighting frequencies?"

"It's…probably best if you don't ask. Can you do it?"

The older brother rolled his eyes dramatically. "Fine."

"What do we do?" Wasabi asked.

Hiro smirked slyly. "The rest of us need to plan. We're going undercover."

"Sweet!" Fred pumped his fist excitedly. "Undercover! We're gonna be like secret agents on a mission. Staking out the place, and then when he least expects it—BAM!—we strike!" He turned to Go Go with a grin. "You know what this means, right? We're gonna be…Fred's An—"

"Do not say Fred's Angels," Go Go growled, causing the self-professed geek to take a few steps back for his own safety.

"So here's what I'm thinking," Hiro began his pitch to his friends as they sat in one of the conference rooms attached to the lab. "I'm going to be the bait. I bet Yama is still looking for revenge."

"Ooh! Ooh! Question!" Fred raised his hand, practically jumping out of his seat. Hiro nodded to the lanky student. "Why does he want revenge, exactly?"

"Well…" Hiro looked about the room in case Tadashi was eavesdropping, then dropped his voice conspiratorially, "I may have…conned him out of a few hundred dollars in a bot-fight where I also destroyed his prized robot. And Tadashi may have bailed me out and it may have led to his arrest in the first place…"

"So basically you caused him to lose everything?" Honey Lemon filled in.

"Well when you put it like that…yeah," Hiro smiled smugly.

"So if you're bait, what are we?" Go Go slumped further in her seat, arms crossed.

"Well I was thinking," Hiro said, "we position ourselves around the arena so that when Yama tries to run after me, we can stop him. Tadashi will monitor what's going on from here. Wasabi and Baymax can wait outside the doors to catch him. Honey Lemon, you'll pose as the ring girl to keep a close eye on him if he makes any sudden moves. Fred and Go Go, you guys will pose as a couple into bot-fighting and take up a position halfway between the ring and the exit."

"Whoa," Go Go sat up so suddenly her bubble gum popped all over her face. She tugged at the sticky substance until it came free. "I am not dating Fred. Even if it's pretend dating."

Hiro dropped his arms to his side. "But it'll make it easier for you two to stick close to each other without raising any suspicions," he protested.

Fred dropped to his knees in front of the girl, hands clasped and pleading. "Please, my love?" he asked dramatically. "Allow me the honor of escorting you to this bot-fight and kicking some bad guy butt!"

Go Go rolled her eyes. "Fine. For the team. But if you call me 'my love' again I will give you a dead-arm that lasts forty-eight hours. At least."

"Guys! I think I've got something!" Tadashi burst into the room excitedly. He looked at Fred, kneeling on the ground, then to Go Go, his confusion evident.

"Don't ask," the industrial design major grumbled.

The older brother shook his head. "I think I found something," he started again. "Radio chatter's been going crazy over a huge fight that's supposed to take place tonight at eleven at a place called the Tea Room downtown. It was destroyed in the earthquake but they're running it out of the basement."

"I know where that place is," Hiro offered. "I…went to a couple of fights there before. Yama used to go to all the fights there."

"Well it's all anyone can talk about," Tadashi responded, "so there's a good chance your old friend will be there too."

Hiro nodded. "Okay guys," he turned to the others. "Let's hope this works!"

"I don't know about this," Honey Lemon looked at herself in the mirror, twirling around to see herself from the back. "It's a little…skimpy." She picked at the tight, brown tube top and fidgeted with the short, skin-tight white skirt in a vain effort to loosen them a little.

"I know," Hiro apologized, "but the ring girls usually wear tight clothes. You need to look the part."

The blonde sighed. "I guess." She began putting her hair up into a bun around two hair sticks. "What about the real ring girl, though?"

"Don't worry about that. We'll pay her to leave. Oh and don't forget your purse!" Hiro reminded her, knotting his hands anxiously as he went to check on the others. This had to work if they wanted to have any chance of catching the other convicts. "Are you guys ready?" he asked, looking at the others who had gathered in the office he and Tadashi shared. Wasabi, clad in his green suit, nodded to Baymax, who had donned his armor. Fred linked arms with Go Go, who scoffed and bit back a sarcastic remark. Honey Lemon finished adjusting her hair to look the part and joined them.

"Okay guys, so when Yama sees me, I'm gonna run for the exit and get him to come after me. He'll probably have his goons with him, so Honey Lemon, Fred, and Go Go it's up to you to take them out. When I get out the doors, Wasabi and Baymax will head him off and get him to surrender. Tadashi will monitor from here and call in the police once we have him. Good?"

The group nodded.

"Go Go, you have your discs?"

The girl patted her messenger bag. "Right in here. What if they want to search me?"

The boy genius shook his head. "They won't. People bring all kinds of things into these fights. "Honey Lemon, is your purse all good to go?"

The blonde held up her purse. She had covered the sides in fabric to make it appear more innocuous. "I'll have something ready if his henchmen decide to go after you," she said determinedly.

The boy let out a deep breath and tried to fight down the manic beating of his heart. "Alright, guys," he looked at the clock on the wall. Six o'clock. "We should start making our way over there. It'll take a while with the streets all torn up and it'll give us time to get into position."

"Be careful," Tadashi warned the group, locking eyes with his little brother. "You have the earpiece?"

"Yup," Hiro's hand instinctively went to his ear.

The older brother hesitated. "Maybe I should go with you…"

"No," Hiro held up a hand. "We need someone back here to call the cops for us and make sure everything's running smoothly."

Tadashi looked like he wanted to say something but closed his mouth and nodded grimly. "Be extra careful," he reiterated.

"This is the place?" Wasabi asked incredulously, staring at the pile of rubble. The building's roof had caved in, the windows had shattered, and the door hung askew, chipped jade tiles visible in the darkened structure. A once-lit neon sign spelling out "T-a Room" lay at the group's feet.

"Yup," Hiro replied, pointing to what looked like the entrance to a storm cellar. "That's the door to the basement where they have the bot-fights."

"I fear that the building may not be structurally sound," Baymax announced, staring at the remains of the tea shop.

"It'll be fine," the boy insisted.

Wasabi turned and surveyed the area, spying an alleyway across the street. "Baymax and I will hid out in there," he said, grabbing the robot's metal-gloved hand and leading him across the ruined streets. The road was entirely empty, without even a single streetlight to illuminate it. It was a seedier part of downtown and certainly not somewhere people would want to go. Especially after a natural disaster. Even Hiro, who normally felt pretty confident in these places, felt a little on edge as he glanced around. This neighborhood hadn't even been touched by the cleanup teams yet, bits of brick, drywall, and splintered wood littering the streets.

Honey Lemon checked her cell phone. "Seven o'clock. What time are the bot-fight runners getting here?"

"Usually by eight," Hiro replied softly. He was suddenly nervous. What if this didn't work? What if Yama didn't show? They would be back to square one with fifteen dangerous criminals on the loose. Or what if Yama somehow caught on to what was happening? What would he do to him? To his friends? He felt unprepared, inadequate. He had put all his stock into this one plan. Who was to say if it would even work?

The team took up a position in one of the abandoned apartment buildings across the street from the Tea Room. Sure enough, promptly at eight, a black limousine rolled slowly up to the building. They watched as a man in a dark suit exited the vehicle, accompanied by a few other people dressed in black. They opened the storm cellar door and disappeared down the steps. The limo turned around and disappeared back up the street. Shortly after, a brunette dressed nearly identically to Honey Lemon appeared. Her hair was dark and in curls, a shade of dark red lipstick on her mouth, and her heels clicked along the broken pavement.

On cue, Go Go broke cover and approached her. The young woman dropped into a defensive stance almost immediately. "Hey now, I'm just here for a job. I don't want trouble," she spoke gruffly.

"Good," Go Go answered, "then you'll do what I say." She tossed the girl a stack of bills that Hiro had won during his bot-fighting days. "This is more than they'd pay you to work the ring tonight. Get out of here and don't tell anyone."

The woman counted the money suspiciously, her expression lightening when she finished. "Hey, extra cash for doing nothing? I won't complain. I was never here." She turned and made her way back down the street. Go Go waited until she was out of sight, then returned to the group.

"Done," she declared triumphantly.

"You're on," Hiro whispered to Honey Lemon.

The girl nodded and, after ascertaining that the street was once again empty, made her way to the storm cellar, opening the door and proceeding down the stairs as best as she could with the limited mobility the skirt offered.

The cellar was dimly lit, power coming from a noisy generator in the back. The center of the room was set up like a wrestling ring, a square with ropes running around the edges. Painted lines on the concrete slab floor indicated where competitors should sit and a circle in the center of the arena designated where bots could do battle. The rest of the room was bare. The audience was expected to stand around the ring. A musty smell permeated everything. The dark-suited organizer looked up as she entered and she felt unnerved by his features. His eyes were a steely grey, buried beneath two bushy, jet-black eyebrows that matched his slicked-back hair.

"Who're you?" he asked brusquely.

Honey Lemon tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear nervously and smiled a shaky smile that she hoped was at least vaguely friendly as she sauntered forward slowly. "I'm Ana," she said, hoping the tremor in her voice wasn't audible. "I'm working the ring tonight."

"Where's Haruka?" he demanded.

"Haruka? She…got sick," Honey Lemon quickly defended. "She asked me to fill in."

The organizer scrutinized her a little longer, then muttered something under his breath. "You ever work a ring before?"

"Yes," she lied.

"It's two hundred to fight," the man informed her. "Every winner gets sixty percent of the pot. I take the rest. Do a good job and you'll get a four percent cut. Clear?"

"Yes, sir!" Honey Lemon answered more cheerfully. The man handed her a large bowl.

"Money goes in there. I find out you're stiffing me and these two—" he indicated his bodyguards "won't hesitate to get their hands dirty to get the money back. Clear?"

The blonde nodded, green eyes wide with alarm.

He laughed a harsh, mean-sounding laugh and Honey Lemon wasn't sure if she should take what he said as a joke or not. "We're expecting a huge turnout tonight. Ever heard of Yama?"

The girl shook her head slowly, hoping he wouldn't see through her.

"Big name bot-fighter. Went to jail about a year ago. Well, as luck would have it he was 'paroled' a bit early and he's going to be here tonight. Suckers are gonna line up out the door for a chance to try their luck against him. It's gonna be a good night."

By nine thirty, the crowd was already getting pretty large, with a long line winding its way out of the storm cellar entrance. The two bodyguards had taken up positions on either side of the doors, taking money before allowing fans and fighters to enter. Hiro nodded to Fred and Go Go, who joined the queue.

"Entry's fifty a person," the guard demanded, holding out his large hand as the pair approached.

Fred dropped two fifties into his open palm and grinned smugly at him. "Thank you. My lady and I will enjoy watching your bot-fight," he hooked his arm in Go Go's.

"Come on," Go Go scoffed, dragging the blond boy behind her as the guard shook his head. The arena was packed and uncomfortably warm. The girl shoved multiple people out of her way as they proceeded toward the ring and Fred was fairly certain he heard her growl at one of them when they raised an objection to being pushed aside. "I hate crowds," Go Go groused, leading her boyfriend for the evening to a place in the middle of the crowd, halfway between the ring and the exit. It already smelled like sweat and body odor. She made eye contact with Honey Lemon, who nodded subtly from her post in the middle of the arena.

Fred wasn't paying attention to Go Go or Honey Lemon, however. He was too busy admiring the robots other fighters had brought in, his blue eyes wide like a kid's on Christmas.

Promptly at eleven, the fight organizer stepped into the center of the ring, a microphone in hand. "Ladies and gentlemen," he began loudly and a hush fell over the overly-stimulated audience. "Welcome to the underground. We weren't going to let a little earthquake keep us from having our fun, were we?" A collective "no" went up amid the spectators. "And I'm very proud to say that we have a very special guest with us tonight. Making his return to bot-fighting after a year-long hiatus, please welcome…Miiiiiisssssteeeerrr Yama!"

The crowd erupted in a roar as the large man emerged from the crowd, stepping into the center of the stage to receive his applause.

"Now I know a lot of you are here to try your luck tonight," the organizer continued. "So let's see if you really have what it takes to de-throne the King of the Ring! Who's up first?"

"I'll go!" The audience gasped. A spotlight found its way to Hiro, smirking cockily at the man in the middle of the ring. He swallowed the lump in his throat as Yama's expression registered shock and recognition. "Back for more, Yama?" the boy taunted with bravado.

"You!" the bot-fighter glared at the young genius, "I remember you. Zero, right? You may have won last time, but I have no intention of letting you put me back behind bars." He turned to a group of burly men just beyond the ropes. "Get that kid!"

Hiro took off running and Yama gave chase. Thinking fast, Honey Lemon knocked the organizer over and pushed a button on her purse, producing several pink orbs that she threw onto the ground. A thick, pink smoke filled the room as the audience began screaming and scrambling to get out. Two of the thugs rushed past her and she keyed in another formula, this time producing a pair of orange orbs that she hurled into their path. The men let out a cry of surprise as their feet were stuck to the concrete floor. Three others rushed past, knocking the blonde girl onto her back.

Go Go saw Honey Lemon fall and nudged Fred as the panicked spectators shoved past them toward the exit. Reaching into her messenger bag, she drew out her discs, hurling them at the feet of Yama's thugs and bowling two of them over. Yama barreled past the two, followed closely by his last remaining henchman. Spying an opportunity, Fred stuck one foot out and laughed with delight as the goon fell flat on his face, having tripped over the lanky boy.

"Yes! Fred, one. Goon, zero!" he jabbed a triumphant finger in the man's face, eliciting a groan of shame from the defeated henchman.

Hiro could see the exit, but heard the heavy footsteps of the bot-fighting boss coming up behind him. "What's the matter, Yama," the boy panted as he took the steps two at a time, "can't beat a fourteen year old in the ring so you're gonna beat me up instead? So noble of you."

"You little brat! I'm gonna rip you apart," Yama snarled, tripping slightly on the steps.

"Like Megabot took apart your precious Little Yama?" the boy teased, throwing open the storm cellar doors and taking the two bouncers by surprise as he burst out into the cool night air, the criminal following close behind.

"Tadashi, are you there?" the boy fumbled with the earpiece as he continued running.

"Yeah," his older brother's voice came through the device. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," Hiro glanced over his shoulder as the large man barreled toward him at full speed. "Just fine. Can you get the police here? Like now?"

"They're on their way," Tadashi announced.

"Wasabi!" Hiro shouted into the alley. "Anytime would be great!" Yama was gaining. He could hear the man's labored breathing. The boy felt his lungs screaming in protest and his legs were on fire. Man, I really need to get back into shape. "Wasabi?" Hiro shouted again, the cry cut short as he felt the hood on his sweatshirt being tugged backwards.

"Now I've got you, you little runt," Yama spat furiously, his face turning vermilion from exhaustion and rage as he held the boy up by his hood.

"Hey! Drop him!" Both crook and hero looked up as a hero dressed in green and a red-armored robot landed directly in front of them. Wasabi activated the laser swords on his gauntlets. "I'm not gonna ask twice."

Yama let Hiro fall to the ground out of pure shock. Behind them, Go Go, Fred, and Honey Lemon burst through the doors and stopped short.

"I'm not going back to jail!" Yama declared, turning and bolting down the street.

"You okay?" Wasabi helped Hiro to his feet.

"Yeah," the boy replied, dusting himself off. "Baymax! Stop him!"

Baymax nodded affirmative and rocketed off down the street, heading off the bot-fighting boss. "I must advise that you stop running," the robot admonished. The convict turned, spotted the others down the street and realized he was beaten. A siren sounded a moment later as a black-and-white police cruiser sped down the street, the single red light atop the sedan illuminating the area. The two bouncers, realizing what was happening, turned and ran as the spectators began fleeing in every direction. The police car skidded to a halt behind Baymax and Yama and two officers emerged from the vehicle, weapons drawn and shouting at the criminal to surrender, put his hands above his head, and get on his knees.

Wasabi approached the officers as the others hung back, trying to avoid having their identities blown.

"You part of Big Hero 6?" an officer asked as the hero walked up to them.

"Yes, sir," Wasabi declared proudly.

"Thanks for your help," the policeman tipped his hat.

"I think you'll find a few of his buddies inside," Wasabi jerked his thumb in the direction of the building.

"There are more units on the way," the officer answered. "Thanks. We can take it from here."

Wasabi nodded and turned to Baymax. "Let's get out of here," he said to the robot, climbing on and closing his eyes tightly to avoid vertigo as the robot rocketed off into the air.

"Thank goodness you're all okay!" Tadashi greeted the group as they returned to the nerd lab. He placed a hand on his younger brother's shoulder. "The radio frequencies Hiro gave me are going crazy! I heard all about it!"

"Yama is behind bars," Hiro confirmed happily, turning to his friends. "Thanks, guys."

"Don't mention it," Wasabi grinned.

"We're happy to help," Honey Lemon piped.

"Yeah, it was awesome!" Fred agreed. "And there's still fourteen more to go!" He wiggled his eyebrows at Go Go.

"Fourteen more," she repeated. "But I am not pretending to be your girlfriend again."

"But you gotta admit," Fred smirked, "it was a pretty awesome first date."

"It wasn't a date!" Go Go turned on her heels and began walking purposefully out of the room, Fred following after her, trying to convince her to admit he was a good fake boyfriend. Wasabi and Honey Lemon followed, knowing full well that without supervision Go Go would probably try to kill Fred.

"You did a good job," Tadashi smiled at Hiro once they were alone.

"Thanks," Hiro returned the smile. "Couldn't have done it without you."

"Did you manage to get anything out of Yama?"

Hiro shook his head. "Didn't get a chance to ask. There were too many people around. We didn't want to be identified."

Tadashi nodded. "There's still time. I got an email from the police department's public affairs director. That list is accurate—all inmates accounted for except those fifteen."

"Fourteen," Hiro corrected.

"Fourteen," the older brother agreed, pulling out the paper and crossing Yama off the list.

"But that means Callaghan is still out there," the younger Hamada realized. "If he really did escape…maybe he tried to contact people from his old life…"

"Like his daughter?" Tadashi filled in.

"Exactly!" Hiro agreed. "Or…one of his old colleagues?"

"I could ask around the lab once school starts," the older Hamada suggested. "See if anyone's heard anything from him. Discretely, of course."

"Good idea," the boy concurred, his expression becoming distracted.

"We'll catch him," Tadashi assured his brother, noting the boy's concern. "If anyone can track him down, it's you."

"Not just him," Hiro answered, unsure if he was talking to his brother or himself, "all of them." He locked eyes with his brother, who nodded in agreement.

A/N: So? What do you think of episode one? Good? Bad? I hope you guys liked it—it's one of the longest single chapters I've ever written and I'm so excited for the rest of this story as well! If you've got the time, I'd really appreciate a review to let me know what you thought! And of course, the new chapter will be up next Wednesday at 7 PM US Eastern time. I'm looking forward to sharing this whole series with you and I hope you guys are excited for it as well!

Some notes on this chapter: I know that Honey Lemon in the comics is named Aiko Miyazaki, but because she is Latina in the film, I took the artistic liberty of giving her a Latina name. So she is, for the purposes of my story, Ana Rodriguez. Ana because I wanted to preserve some connection to the original character (both starting with A) and Rodriguez after the voice actress. Also, on Twitter, Jamie Chung jokingly mentioned that she thinks Go Go's first name would be Ethel or some other non-threatening name, so for the purposes of my stories, Ethel will be Go Go's name (that'll come into play further down the line). Actually, everyone gets a name so you'll be finding those out soon! Thanks for reading!