The Changing Trees
Chapter 1-Hiro
Ever since Baymax and Hiro's journey towards uncovering the mystery of the masked man (in the original movie), they were completely inseparable. With the rest of the Big Hero 6, they have been constantly fighting against all crime in the beloved San Fransokyo.. until all of the criminals have been caught.
San Fransokyo has never been better; after all, everyone's safety is now assured. And now, Hiro and his friends shifted their priorities from fighting crime to focusing their time towards earning their college degrees. Baymax hardly sees Hiro now, as he's usually spending his time studying at the library or out socializing with his group of friends.
Baymax is sitting at one particular corner of Hiro's room, just as he has been for the last five years. He hasn't moved; he just blankly stares straight at the wall in front of him. But during one afternoon, he begins to question his meaning for existence. Thoughts suddenly floods into his head like a raging storm.
"What's the point of being here? San Fransokyo doesn't need me, nor does Hiro."
Immediately after these thoughts came into existence, Baymax is hit with a sharp pain in his mechanical chest, causing him to uncontrollably collapse onto the hard, wooden floor.
He whispers to himself in shock, "What just happened?...I was only thinking about how I was not needed anymore..like I was abandoned by my best friend."
After a couple minutes of silence, he then begins to feel a fierce stirring inside his head, and his head begins heating up like a flame.
"The sudden pain...I must have been terribly saddened by the abandonment. But then, why do I feel as if I'm overheating...and why is there a large pulsing coming from my head?...humans would call this 'anger'," he says hesitantly.
Baymax pauses for a few minutes to let all these new thoughts and revelations to sink in. Not too long after, something changes in Baymax. He still has his fluffy, white outer layer; but if one looks carefully, they'll see that his loving eyes no longer rests on his face. Rather, two holes of piercing darkness replaced them, each filled with nothing other than vicious hate.
Chapter 1-Hiro
It has been a long day for Hiro, but a well accomplished and an exciting one! He finally got done with his huge midterm paper for his philosophy class, and he met a sweet girl, Natalie, at the little, vintage coffee shop two blocks away from campus. Now he's walking back home from class, so ready to binge-watch Netflix and to later take a nice, long nap.
"Ah, what a glorious day," he exclaims while basking in the pure beauty of the trees along his path, ones with leaves displaying an array of red and orange.
*ring ring* Hiro checks his phone and sees that his friend, Wasabi, is calling him. He picks up.
"Hi Wasabi!" says Hiro.
"Wanna go play foosball at the arcade right now?" asks Wasabi.
"Sure, let me just get my wallet from my room; I'll be there in about ten minutes," Hiro replies.
"Okay, great! I'll see you then!" remarks Wasabi.
"Alright, cool!" says Hiro, then he hangs up the phone.
Hiro soon arrives to the front door step of his home, then goes up the stairs to his room to go get his wallet. As soon as he walks into his room, he spots Baymax then quickly goes, "Hey Baymax! How've you been?"
Baymax remains silent, and just stares down at Hiro.
"Well, that's weird," Hiro thinks. "Baymax usually says hi or gives me a little wave. I'll try again, maybe he didn't hear me."
Hiro tries again, yet there was no change in reaction. So then Hiro asks him, "What's wrong buddy? Are you out of battery?"
From what it appears, Baymax got offended, as he traps Hiro into a corner at incredible lightning speed. Shocked, no words comes out of Hiro's mouth. Afterall, Baymax never behaved this way before; Baymax has always been a cuddly and supporting robot.
Hiro then reaches out his left hand and tries to touch Baymax, in an attempt to give reassurance or comfort. A few inches before touching Baymax, he notices the changed look in Baymax's eyes. Suddenly Hiro becomes absolutely terrified of Baymax, as Baymax is not the same as he remembers him to be. Hiro instantly draws his hand back to the comfort of his own chest and turns his head away, in an attempt to try to erase what he just saw from his memory.
Baymax slowly shifts his body while raising his right arm in a particular, familiar way.
"He's going to shoot me," Hiro quickly realizes.
Hiro is now crouched down with his eyes closed shut, cowering for his dear life. For what seems to be eons of time going by, Hiro anticipates his death. But shortly after, he gets the feeling that maybe Baymax isn't going to kill him, at least, not yet. Hiro slowly raises his head to see how Baymax went back to sit in the corner he was at earlier. Realizing that this was the moment for him to escape, Hiro jumps back onto his feet and dashes out the door.
His mind cannot comprehend anything that has just happened minutes ago, but all he knows is that he has to go as far away as he can. His body is filled with pure adrenaline, with his heart pumping at an incredible rate. Without a single thought, he takes off-sprinting faster than he has ever been. A few minutes goes by, and soon he feels nothing but a stabbing pain at his heels and soreness in his upper thighs, but he keeps going.
In hopes of calming himself down, he begins searching for the beautiful, brightly-colored trees, as they bring him peace and a sense of reassurance. Hiro gazes towards his left, where he usually can find them.
A second or two later Hiro exclaims, "There they are! Oh, how I have been searching for them!"
Hiro then picks up his pace, as he is now in a hurry to be closer to the trees. Right when he gets about a few feet away from the trees, he cannot help but question what's before his eyes.
He takes a moment and then whispers, "They are not the same as before, but..why?"
"I was just here not too long ago, there is no way these trees changed. The trees have the same structures, same leaves…but I cannot help but feel as if they're strangers to me; there isn't a warm glow in them as there seemed to be not too long ago," he affirms.
But soon a bewildering thought sneaks into his brain.
"What if..I have been never truly looking at these trees for what they really are- woody skeletons with splotches of bloody red as leaves..? (pauses) My life has been a lie; I am like the trees. I have thought of myself as some god of a mighty universe; but in reality, I am nothing more than a waste of space. I am a dreadful human being, who has done nothing but torment Baymax without acknowledging it till now."
Dark thoughts continue to cloud into his mind. Ashamed of how he is, he resorts to a dark alley. He sits down staring at the brick wall inches before him, hoping for death to sweep him away.
Chapter 2- Baymax
"How dare he leaves," mutters Baymax.
After a pause he whispers, "I'll show him how terrible pain is," as he reveals the gun he has been carrying.
"He's the reason to my misery. He abandoned me, left in the dark. Once I take the life out of him, I would finally be free. Life will be so much better. I can finally be happy again," he states.
Baymax gets up and out of Hiro's room. He walks out the door; Baymax is now on the journey towards exterminating the little pest, Hiro.
"Now where can I find him?" Baymax asks himself.
He searches hours upon hours all around the city. Baymax has briefly visited Wasabi's house, looked through the windows of the tiny coffee shop, and searched all over his college campus.
It's now pitch black outside, and Baymax still cannot find Hiro.
Baymax begins to give up and starts heading back to Hiro's room. As he's walking, he notices the areas of the city where they fought crime. Right in front of him, he comes across one alley that he fought in.
A small grin appears on his face as he thinks to himself," Oh, how I remember how Hiro and I fought in that alley, fighting a jewelry robber."
He stops walking and takes a few minutes just to look at that alley. All of a sudden, something catches his eyes.
Baymax whispers, "There's a silhouette of a person in that alley..(pauses) It's Hiro, without a doubt."
As soon as he comes to this conclusion, immense anger takes over his entire body. Without a single thought, he finds himself dashing towards this silhouette. The silhouette looks up and notices Baymax approaching, but then simply looks back down and remains in its same place.
Seconds later, Baymax is a few inches away from the person. He realizes that it truly is Hiro. Instinctively, Baymax raises his right arm, with his gun aiming directly at Hiro's head. The finger that lays upon the gun's trigger begins to slowly push against it..until it suddenly stops.
In frustration and confusion, Baymax yells, "What the heck, why can't I shoot?! This is the moment I have been waiting for."
Believing that his finger just acted up, Baymax tries to shoot again. He repositions his stance, and forces his finger to move; but, it doesn't move a bit.
Now Baymax is raging in anger. He cannot understand what's preventing him. Baymax lifts his head up and sees a hollowness in Hiro's eyes. They no longer sparkle; there isn't the familiar youthful glow in them either.
"It's almost as if I am looking into my soul, an empty soul with nothing but utter darkness," Baymax realizes.
Immediately, Baymax catches himself and looks away.
"What am I doing here observing Hiro? I'm supposed to kill him," Baymax mutters.
For the last time, he takes his stance and aims his gun. Without meaning to, Baymax looks straight into Hiro's eyes.
"I can't do this," he whispers. "I just can't."
The care chip that was installed him years ago must have activated something in him; there's a sudden change of heart.
Baymax's legs give in and his chest is full with an avalanche of emotions. As much as he tries, he cannot shoot Hiro, for he is no longer angry. Rather, Baymax cannot help but feel empathy for Hiro. He then scooches his body over next to Hiro's thin, shakened body.
"Why didn't you shoot me, Baymax?" Hiro barely whispers.
"I forgive you," says Baymax. "I forgive you for all that you have done. Now, it is time for you to forgive yourself."
"How could you forgive me for all the hurt I caused you? I neglected and abandoned you as if you were some worthless being; I forgot how much you meant to me," Hiro quietly admits. "Please leave me here. I don't deserve to live anymore," Hiro says in a pleading tone.
After a long pause, Baymax breaks the silence.
"Yes, you have hurt me..badly. But Hiro, I need you. Life without you have been nothing more than utter misery. (pauses) We cannot change what has already happened, but we can create our own futures," replies Baymax.
Hiro slightly raises his head in response, now making eye-contact with Baymax.
"You do not deserve the pain you are putting upon yourself. Your perception of the world impacts everything. Life can be beautiful if you make it," says Baymax as his final remarks.
Hiro, completely torn-over by all Baymax has said, begins to sobs. Baymax leans over towards Hiro and embraces him. As they embrace, Hiro glances over Baymax's shoulder to look at the trees. They don't look dead anymore; instead, they look magnificent. Some of its leaves are battened down, but they shine a bright aura.