Chapter one: Something Strange

"Hiro?"

Hiro groaned in his sleep.

"Not now Baymax." He said as he attempted to ignore the nurse bot.

"Hiro?" Baymax persisted. "It has reached the time of six-thirty.

Hiro cracked open one eye. "Yeah, well maybe I sleep is better for my health." He closed his eye again.

Suddenly he felt himself being lifted out of bed by squishy arms.

"Ahhh! Baymax! Put me down!"

"I was told by your aunt to awaken you." Baymax cocked his head to the side. "I was informed to do this anyway necessary." He set Hiro down.

"Well you certainly achieved that." Hiro yawned.

He looked around his workshop, which he had fallen asleep in the previous night. He'd finally finished the new alarm system, wiring the news, police stations, and telephone lines into the Big Hero Six Head Quarters. If anything happened, they would know.

He walked over to the sink, Baymax waddling behind him. He rinsed the sleep out of his eyes, glancing at his friend in the mirror.

"You're scanning me aren't you?"

A pause followed, then "Confirmed."

"Well?"

"You are suffering from high levels of sleep loss. Prescription: Rest."

Hiro sighed. "I know, I know. But as of now, I can't. I have too much to do, between school, the team, and helping Aunt Cass at the café…"

He trailed off. Things had been hard lately. Graduation was coming up, so studies were getting harder. In addition, while crime rates were down- thanks to a certain super team- There was always that one idoit who thought robbery was an acceptable pastime.

Aunt Cass, bless her, understood the school stuff, but had yet to connect the dots between him, his friends, and the super team. Not because she was oblivious, but because she was overworked. Business was good, especially after the addition of Honey Lemon's baked goods to the menu.

The others helped out when they could, but they all had lives of their own. Go-Go ran a machine shop after school, Wasabi worked at a restrant halfway across town, Honey did all she could to supply sweet treats for the café, and Fred was attempting to learn how to assume his father's role for when the elderly man retired.

"I'm trying Baymax. Really, I am."

"Perhaps a fly around the city would raise your adrenaline levels?"

Hiro thought, then nodded. "Yeah, I need to get to school anyways."

They were halfway there when his helmet went off. An orange light up in the corner of his vision kept blinking.

"Baymax fly a bit lower." He activated his com. "Anyone in-suit? I've got a three-nighty..." He looked down. "Three-nighty-three, over by the bridge. Anyone want to join me?"

Honey Lemon's voice came through the headpiece. "Love too! But can't. Brownies take a lot of work."

"At work." Go-Go said shortly.

"Same here, sorry Hiro."

Hiro felt his face fall. "No problem guys. Baymax and I can handle it. Just thought you guys might want to join in the fun."

"I'll take that offer!" Fred practically screamed. "I'll be there. Which bridge?"

"The red one, genius." Go-Go snapped at him. "You know, the landmark?" Hiro chuckled at the familiar antics.

"Oh! Right! Got it, be there soon little buddy."

Hiro sighed. "Fred I'm 19. I don't 'little' is an accurate description anymore."

He waited for a response, but it didn't come. He guessed Fred must have been getting into costume. Rolling his eyes, he turned his attention to the matter at hand.

Three-nighty-three meant one of the Silent Sparrow portals, or Sparrows for short, was gliching. After the mircobots incident, Krei had decided to give the project a second go, this time waiting before sending someone through. Once it was a decided success, Sparrows had been set up throughout the city. It made transportation easier, but when they gliched it required more than a repair crew.

Sparrows were essentially doors to other dimensions. You went into that dimension, and through the door to where you wanted to go, so that it was three feet instead of three miles. It took a lot of effort to keep it them set correctly and when one gliched, it opened into another dimension, often with no way to get back through.

They landed next to the portal. The scene on the other side was supposed to be blue-white smoke- Krei had a thing for theatrics- but had turned a sickly yellow mixed with fiery red.

"Baymax, any life signs?"

"One, but it does not match any others in my data base of San Fransokyo residents."

"Hmmm. Well that's odd. Fred, we're heading in. Meet you on the outside, alright?"

"You got it. I'm on my way now."

"Ready buddy?"

"I am a robot. I am constantly prepared."

"Expressions, Baymax." Hiro rolled his eyes. "One of these days I'll make you a slang chip so I don't have to explain anymore."

"How would 'slang' make me a better healthcare companion?"

"Never mind, just take us in."

They crossed into the portal, into a world of flames.

"Whoa!" Hiro reeled back. "Baymax get us out of here!"

They ducked back out. "Your glutamate levels have risen sharply. Are you alright?"

Hiro shook his head, climbing off Baymax. "Yeah, I'm okay. It's just, the flames…" he shivered.

Ever since Tadasi, Hiro had had a fear of fire. Fred's fire was different; they would fizzle out quickly if he didn't relight them. But any other fire, anything that wasn't in a controlled environment, scared him half to death.

He felt Baymax's arms wrap around him, which wasn't the same in armor, but was comforting nonetheless.

"Maybe you should take this one alone, buddy."

Baymax relinquished him, and headed back through. Hiro stared at the portal, willing everything to go as planned. Fredzilla landing next him interrupted his thoughts.

"Hey, what'd I miss?" Fred asked. "I thought you were going through with Baymax."

Hiro shrugged. "I was. Turns out it's some kind of fire dimension or something. Figures."

"Hah! That's some coincidence." Fred laughed. "So what do you think caused it this time? Tuning? Ooo! Maybe it's been sabotaged!"

Hiro looked up at the structure. "Nah. Looks more like a wiring issue. Anyway, who'd want to sabotage a Sparrow? Its public transportation, it'd be like sabotaging a bus or a train."

"Exactly!" Fred exclaimed.

Hiro shook his head as Baymax came back out, carrying someone on his back. He and Fred raced over as Baymax set down his passenger.

Baymax rose, but continued to look at the man on the ground. His face was turned, so they couldn't see who he was, but Hiro could tell he wasn't in good shape.

"Baymax run a scan."

"I have already scanned him. He has inhaled too much smoke and has several burns on his back, abdomen, neck, and legs."

Hiro winced. "Fred, would you mind taking him to the hospital? …Fred?"

His friend was looking at the man on the other side.

"Hiro," he whispered, "you might want to see this."

Hiro came around to the other side of the victim, peering at his face. He jumped back in alarm. The face was covered in ash and soot, with burn marks creeping up his neck , but there was no mistaking it.

"Tadasi."