1| The Slider
[San Fransokyo, circa 2046]
It is his god damned birthday, so why can't he catch damned a break? Life is just being unreasonably unfair to him right now. It's not even funny. It's like it's going out of its way just to make his day miserable.
Thoughts similar to these run through the youngest Hamada brother's head as he dashes through the waterlogged alleyway. Behind him he can hear the wails of sirens and the splashing footsteps of his pursuers.
"Stop right there, you delinquent!"
It's always ironic and humorous to the Hamada how public protectors shout out orders that they know aren't going to be followed. He thinks that it is similar to asking an infant to explain the chaos theory. It's ironic and ridiculous.
The youngest Hamada swallows his laughter and pushes forwards.
The sky is dappled with orange-gray clouds that hang heavily above his head. And he realizes that ny second now, a downpour of rusted water is sure to rain down and thunder is sure to strike. He will need to lose his pursuers and reach his base before then. This is his final opportunity to escape this dystopia (to cure this dystopia), and he will not lose it.
A steel fence rises into view in front of him. A metal sign is plastered to it that reads — "Respect and Reform". Another slogan of propaganda. Another obstacle.
He clicks his heels together and jumps. Heat erupts from the bottom of his soles and he kicks off into the sky. He flies over the fence and stumbles to the ground. He can hear the public protectors slam against the wiring of the fence behind him; he tunes in as they let out continuous strings of curse words. He turns and waves at them with an innocent smile, before he takes off again.
Turning this way and that at different intersections of the alleyway, he arrives at the main street just as thunder begins rumbling in the clouds overhead. Said street is devoid of life, save for the few uniformed public protectors that stroll along the sidewalks. The lifelessness isn't unexpected — it's after curfew after all.
He carefully and quietly darts across the street and reaches the alleyway on the other side of the road. A drip of rusted orange water splashes on the tip of his nose, and he stares up at the sky.
He's running out of time.
He runs into the alleyway, skidding to a stop by a garage that is blocked off by nailed wooden boards. Quickly and efficiently, he rips the loose wooden boards off of their hinges and pulls up the metal door with both of his hands. He enters the garage and allows the door to slam down noisily behind him.
The garage is musty and damp; but it is surprisingly not dark. A single hanging lightbulb bathes the room in an intense brightness. A large desk sits right below this bulb; and on the desk rests a large mechanical contraption. It consists of a series of metal wires that run from an outlet in the ground to a large, hollow, circular ring. The ring is big enough to jump through.
"Welcome back, Master Hamada." comes a mechanical drone from the corner of the room. "How was your adventure?"
"It was alright." Hamada answers with a half-hearted shrug. He beckons the figure out from the corner and walks to the contraption. "Come here, Baymax. It's just about time we pack our things and leave."
"According to the city law," Baymax replies as he draws forward, "involvement with dimensional-space technology is punishable by incarceration. It is my job as your guardian to prevent you from physical harm, and statistics indicate that prison has the highest mortality rates out of any privately owned foundation."
"Well, Baymax," Hamada waves him off as he presses the buttons that line the ring, "some rules just have to be broken."
A loud, booming thunder resounds above their heads and the ring suddenly sparks to life. An eruption of swirling blue energy appears at the ring's center and spreads outwards until the entire center is filled with the glowing mass.
"It works!" Hamada murmurs, his face breaking out into a tired but overjoyed smile.
"Master Hamada," Baymax beeps again, "are you sure this is a wise decision?"
A rattling bang on the garage door prevents the youngest Hamada brother from answering. The two within the room turn their heads towards the garage door and watch as it continues to rattle and shake.
"Open up!" comes an authoritative voice from the other side. "This is the public protectors! We know that you're hiding dimensional-space technology in there!"
"Well," Hamada blinks with an innocent smile, "I guess we really don't have a choice now, do we?"
"Master Hamada—"
"Trial one," he interrupts with a bright grin as he grabs Baymax's wrist, "start!"
With a gigantic leap, they dive into the swirling blue mass at the center of the ring just as the door to the garage is kicked open. The public protectors run into the empty room just in time to see the blue light flicker out of existence.
[San Fransokyo, circa 2045]
The youngest Hamada brother let out a low yawn as he pushed open the doors leading to San Fransokyo's Robotics department. He blinked in surprise as he realized that the building was completely dark. Strange. He was usually the last person to arrive at school, so where was everyone else?
He reached over to the light switch and flicked it on. He winced at the sudden brightness and the sudden plethora color that attacked his sight. It took him a moment to register the gathered group of people who stood before him wearing striped, coned birthday hats.
"Happy Birthday, Hiro!" came the chorus of shouts.
Hiro stared in surprise as a flurry of multi-colored balloons rained down on his head. Streamers popped in his face, causing him to take a step backwards. Unfortunately, his retreat was unsuccessful. Hands grabbed at his wrists; and he found himself being pulled into a tight group hug under a banner that read 'Happy Sweet Sixteen!'.
"Woah! Woah!" Hiro laughed as he pulled himself away from the crowded hug. "Guys, what is all of this?"
"This, bedhead," came the deep, effeminate reply, "is your surprise birthday party."
Hiro glanced at the one who had spoken. Gogo smiled lightly with crossed arms back at him.
"Oh man..." Hiro laughed, ruffling his hair. "I'm not gonna even try to say 'you didn't have to do this, you guys', 'cause this is awesome. Totally matches my style. Thanks, guys!"
"Of course, Hiro," Honey Lemon grinned widely from beside him as she pushed him towards a decorated table. "But wait until you see the cake!"
A large cake rested at the very center of the table. It was very elaborate and psychedelic, consisting of several layers separated by carefully placed pillars of purple and red color. At the very top of the cake rested an armored figurine that was bent into a heroic pose.
"Wow," Hiro couldn't help but grin harder. "Impressive."
"I was going to make the cake explosive," Honey informed him, looking slightly defeated, "but that would have meant that the maintenance crew would have had to clean up the mess, and I didn't want to burden them or anything…"
"It's explosive enough as it is." Hiro told her with a sly wink.
He was cut off as someone pinched his cheek. He yelped and turned towards his attacker. Aunt Cass, in turn, smiled up at him brightly and pulled him into a death-like hug.
"Look at my little Hiro all grown up!" She squealed in a fluttering voice. "All those years of tears and blood raising you have paid off! Look at you! I'm so proud!"
"Aunt Cass?" Hiro laughed lightly as he pried himself away from her grip. "What are you doing here? I thought you had work!"
"Oh, I left some of my employees the job of opening up shop." she waved him off. She cupped his cheek and gazed at him warmly. "Why in the world would I miss my baby's sweet sixteen?"
Gogo and Wasabi chuckled loudly to the side, causing Hiro to blush profusely.
"Aunt Cass," he moaned, "you're embarrassing me!"
"Nothin' wrong with a little bit of motherly love!" came Fred's calm drawl. He approached Hiro and slung an arm over his shoulder. "How 'bout we sing the birthday boy a song, 'ey?"
"I have downloaded the traditional tune of birthday celebrations in my data banks." Baymax beeped in a proud tone from where he stood next to the table. "Would you like me to 'drop the beat'?"
"Oh yeah, brother!" Fred cooed loudly, as he mimicked a rock-on symbol with his hand. "Drop those beats!"
Before Baymax could 'drop those beats', however, a loud screeching whine rung loudly throughout the air. Everyone cupped their ears and winced at the sound. They looked at each other in confusion, until Wasabi directed their attention towards the center of the room with a shaking finger.
A blue floating ball of electricity was sparking in and out of existence at the very center of the room. It expanded and flattened vertically and morphed into a swirling mass of blue that resembled a galaxy.
"...I'm really hoping that's a birthday present." Hiro commented loudly as he watched the swirling mass brighten and brighten until it was almost blinding.
In the next second, three things happened at once. First, the high-pitched whining noise was silenced. Second, two bodily masses flew out of the whirling blueness and crashed into the hanging banner then onto the floor below it. Third, the whirling mass shrank and shrank until it devoured itself and left empty air in its place.
The gathered group stared at the two slumped masses on the floor. They watched as one of the masses came to a shaky stand in the direction opposite of them. They watched and observed the mass in silence as it (?) observed its surroundings in fascination.
It — as it turned out — was not an it, but a male adolescent no older than sixteen. The adolescent was covered in dirt and grime. He appeared to be wearing a faded, black Chinese shirt and baggy jeans. A pair of orange-tinted goggles rested on his dark head and glinted under the florescent lights.
"Hiro…" Baymax stated very quietly from beside him. "Tadashi is here…"
Hiro stared at the robot strangely and figured that the blue electricity must have interfered with his circuits somehow. Thus, he returned his attention to the adolescent figure.
The figure stepped backwards and seemed to read the sign that he and his companion had effectively knocked down. He seemed to scoff at the banner for a moment, before his thoughts evidently moved elsewhere.
"I-It worked…?" the adolescent asked no one in particular in a whisper. He stepped backwards once more, before he threw his hands up in the air and shouted: "It worked!"
That voice.
Hiro's heart froze in his chest.
"Baymax," the boy continued as he bent down to shake his fallen companion, "the trial was a success! I-I can't believe it, but it actually worked!"
It was then that the boy seemed to realize that he was not alone in the room. He froze mid-crouch and slowly lifted his dark head. He stared at the party-hat-wearing group with slanted and intelligent eyes — eyes that widened as they registered the group. His eyes then locked onto Hiro's frozen form.
Everyone — every human — within the room gasped in unison. The encounter had become a stare off.
It was impossible.
That single thought ran through all of their head's at once.
"Nii-san (*)…?" Hiro and the adolescent murmured in unison as they stared uncomprehendingly at each other.
"... Tadashi is here." Baymax repeated quietly.
A/N: Yeah, I honestly don't know what I'm going to do with this story. It was just a random plot bunny that hopped across my head. Couldn't resist it.
(*) Nii-san = Big brother