Sunlight streamed into the room belonging to the brightest mind of San Fransokyo, Hiro Hamada. The robotics prodigy and local genius lay reclined in his chair, long fingers tapping along the edge of the keyboard that rested in his lap. Slanted eyes quickly scanned whatever document was captivating his attention as a hand came up and mindlessly brushed hair out of his face. He remained still until moving onto the next document, skinny shoulders slumping as he leaned his cheek against his fist, expression immediately turning into one of boredom.
Somewhere, a phone buzzed.
Sluggishly fishing the device out of his pocket, the teenager glanced at the caller ID before answering, "I swear Fred, if this is another call begging me to create a serum that induces spikes to grow along your spine, my answer is still no. "
"No, It's not-" Came his friend's muffled voice.
"It's impractical at best." Hiro swiveled in the chair, cutting his friend off while he dumped the keyboard among the chaotic mess of his desk. He flicked some hair out of his eyes again and said, "It would get in the way of everyday stuff, for one. Plus, it would look kinda weird, you know, with just random spikes. What would you even need them for?"
"I'm not calling for- Wait? Impractical? No, no, no, little man, you gotta see the overall picture. Spikes have so many uses, like-" Fred's monologue was cut short by a curse, causing Hiro to start, hand going out to brace against his desk, effectively stopping his revolution. The younger boy heard a scuffle on the other end of the call and stood up, mouth opening to say something.
"Hiro?"
"GoGo?" He breathed a sigh of relief at the familiar voice. "Phew, I thought something was wr-"
"Callaghan escaped prison."
And just like that, all the air escaped him. He nearly dropped the phone, wide eyes resembling saucers, as his mind did a summersault and tried to stretch itself over this new information. He muttered a small 'ow,' the phrase almost involuntary, and heard the reassuring beep, beep, beep as Baymax inflated into existence.
"What? When did this, when did he… H-How?" Hiro stumbled over both his words and the items scattered around his bedroom floor as he tried to get ready, body switching onto autopilot even as his mind still reeled; he shrugged on one of his older jackets, one that he hadn't outgrown in one of his many growth spurts a few years back, and thankfully located his backpack under a mess of clothes, shouldering it. "Where is he now?"
"We don't know yet. But we have a pretty good idea where he's going." Came her curt reply.
Hiro nodded to himself as he ignored Baymax's polite 'Good morning, Hiro. I hope you had a balanced breakfast' and grabbed the robot's arm, hauling him down the steps to his Aunt's cafe with an unrivaled urgency.
"Krei Tech."
Big Hero 6 landed outside of the building of Krei Tech within minutes of the call, the clear ringing of the alarms in the air and deafening. Alistair Krei himself was there to greet them, looking both worried and angry. Along with him was his secretary and a few guards who didn't look any more composed than their CEO. Within seconds of their landing, Hiro's feet barely touching the ground, Krei was on them, his people close behind.
"How could you let that- that maniac escape?" Were the first (loudest) words directed at the group, though Hiro felt as if the accusation was aimed just a bit more toward him than the others- still, he kept his shoulders straight and head held high, keeping the air of authority and surety that he had fought long and hard to earn. "You know that he has it out for me!"
The teenager lifted his visor and took a good look at the multimillionaire. Krei hadn't changed much over the years, looking just as professional with his tailored suits and perfect hair as he had when they first met, though there was a wrinkle or two that was new. Right then, he looked a little more shaken, his hair not as neat and his clothes a bit more crinkled, his voice dominating over the others.
Hiro resisted the need to roll his eyes, used to the man's attitude, briskly walking past him and forcing him to follow to continue on. His team followed faithfully, the sound of Baymax informing one of the guards that he had too high a cholesterol and should respond accordingly in the background.
"I didn't know our job description included babysitting criminals day-in and day-out."
The entrepreneur frowned, eyes narrowing at his remark, "No, only the lunatics."
Now it was Hiro's turn to frown. Some part of him wanted to defend the once well-renowned scientist, as it always did when confronted by people who talked badly of the man, but he held it in. Although the man had spiraled toward madness, using violent methods to reach his goals no matter the consequences, there was reasoning behind all it. Reasoning that he understood, something that others never really bothered to look more into, just labeling the actions of that of a madman.
"So what's the situation here?" He asked, wanting to stay clear of the earlier conversation. Krei was now leading them down a large, sloped hallway, a red light pulsing along with the alarm every ten feet.
"He's on level B, which is right below the basement. All the staff was evacuated- which isn't good for business, let me tell you, and I'll probably lose a fortune over today's setback." The younger man gave him a pointed stare, causing the entrepreneur to cough into his fist awkwardly. "Right...well, we don't know what he has on him and I'm not going to risk my entire company on a man who may or may not have control of thousands of tiny robots."
After a quick glance at the others, Hiro refrained himself from mentioning that there was only a handful of microbots still in existence, all of which were sitting in a small jar atop of his dresser back home.
"How did he get down there?"
Krei's assistance spoke up, "Our system was revealed to have been hacked."
Hiro managed to stifle the snort threatening to break through. Callaghan was a well-known scientist around the world and he had the intelligence to receive such recognition and respect, but Krei Tech wasn't as advanced and amazing as they claimed if a single man could break in with only a day's notice and little to no preparation.
"What's he doing down there anyway." GoGo asked, never one to keep the conversation from straying for long.
Both Hiro and her instantly zeroed in on the way the older man hesitated, finding suspicion in how the victimized complaints were suddenly stalled in favor for silence. She popped her gum, deliberately chewing loudly as she stared at the sweating man.
"Yeah, it's not like you have any top secret projects down there that can ultimately end the world as we know it. Like in issue thirty-three of-" Honey Lemon efficiently shut Fred up, elbowing him just above his kidneys, somehow finding purchase through his thick costume, causing the other to yelp girlishly.
Krei fiddled with his collar, looking like he was in an interview gone wrong, not answering.
"Oh no. There's something really dangerous down there, isn't there?" Worry colored Wasabi's voice, his hands flapping up and down in anxiety, voice rising in pitch, despite his experience with these sort of situations. His question remained answerless. "No, I don't even want to know… wait, yes I do. What's down there?"
Krei opened his mouth-
"Is it some kind of huge mech robot? With, like, advanced lasers and guns. Is it the Missing Link? I bet it's the Missing Link. Or maybe it's a death ray. Those are awesome. I mean, I've never actually seen one in person, since Wasabi said it was a stupid idea, but I bet it's really awesome-"
"Now is the time to stop," Wasabi held up a hand, glaring at Fred, "before I slap your face off."
"Mr. Krei..." Honey supplied helpfully, making a gesture for him to continue.
The man loosened his tie, "It's, well, a continuation of Silent Sparrow."
There was a short duration where no one spoke. It was a quickly broken by the whispered shouts of the team.
"Are you serious? You better be joking or so help me," GoGo hissed, face contorting in anger, "Why on earth would you do that? Especially after what happened because of it- or do you not remember how everything went to hell because of that stupid program."
Krei, for his part, looked to have reclaimed his usual aura of authority with the revaluation. Sure hands straightened the lapels of his suit jacket, smoothing over its folds and creases, as his back erected to its full height. He looked down his prominent nose at them, becoming all at once the successful businessman and head of a world-leading company. "The world goes on despite the end of our own. Despite the losses, I will make sure advancements are made."
The man walked on, not turning back to see their pained expressions, entourage dutifully following him in a parade of clicking heels.
Hiro forced his expression to remain schooled and gaze steeled forward, even when he felt the pressure of his friends' eyes drilling into the back of his head. Unwilling to think about tragedies that never fully healed with time and where the blame lay, he moved to follow the businessman.
Finally, they came to a door, reinforced to such a degree that Hiro almost felt intimidated- which was absurd, because it was just a door. Krei stepped up to it, placing his hand on a scanner that protruded from a wall and waiting impatiently for it to grant them access. Then there was a release of air and suddenly they were stepping into a room not unlike the one that housed the portals on Akuma Island.
At the room's center stood something that looked vaguely like the portal Hiro remembered swallowing Krei Tech years before. In actuality it looked more like a giant doorway than a portal, but that didn't stop Hiro from gazing at it in awe. Wires connected its metal frame to multiple console stationed behind and next to the device, which blinked and twinkled in the dull light. It was only when he blinked a couple of times to clear his head that he noticed that something was humming, the sound so low that it was near impossible to pinpoint where it came from.
There was some sort of podium where Hiro assumed a control panel possibly stood, the only fact confirming this being the figure currently hunched over it.
It was Callaghan, still his his prison garb.
Hiro tried not to let it show how much it hurt to see the man responsible for his brother's death, out and about, and not behind bars. It hurt, remembering, even after all these years. He swallowed loudly, pushing those vulnerable feelings somewhere they couldn't hurt him, locking the door and throwing away the key. He stepped forward.
"Callaghan," he called out across the room.
"What? No Professor?" The older man didn't so much as twitch, eyes never straying from whatever task he was trying to get done, and Hiro couldn't deny the chill he felt at the faraway look that accompanied the man's spitting tone and drawn expression; it greatly contrasted with the framed image of the distinguished mind that stood proudly in Hamada Hall. "No one respects their elders as they should nowadays."
"You lost that respect the night you let innocent people die for your revenge," he answered immediately, brown eyes hardening. Hiro could now practically feel the worried stares of his teammates directed at his back and he drew strength from their presence. "I know you couldn't have forgotten it- I haven't."
The older man's hands momentarily froze, but they soon continued their work, faster than before.
"What are we waiting for? Let's kick this guy's butt!" Wasabi, usually so grounded, exclaimed. Plasma blades shot out of his forearms, buzzing when he moved even in the slightest. However, he was stopped from taking a step forward and initiating the battle, Gogo's small hand holding him back with a stone grip.
She nodded toward the genius clad in purple, her voice clear and final. "We do this Hiro's way."
There was an unspoken message passed through them all at those words, one that had them relaxing from their battle stances. Honey clutch a yellow ball to her chest and tried her best at an encouraging smile, the snarling face of Fred's mask doing an impression of a bobble head next to her. They were all in agreeance. Callaghan was the first villain any of them had faced, but he was more Hiro's decision than theirs.
Tadashi had been their friend, but he had been Hiro's brother.
Hiro was about to say that he didn't mind just kicking the disgraced man's butt all the way back to prison, but found himself stopping those words. He blinked, confused at the realization he had come to so suddenly: he did not, in fact, want to hurt Callaghan.
This man, driven by thoughts and emotions he, himself, could so easily relate to, had taken a road that could have so easily been Hiro's under different circumstances. He could have zoned in on the anger and resentment over losing a loved one, wanting to carry out the "justice" that his murderer so rightly deserved. And he almost had, in the beginning. The genius didn't like to imagine what he would've done if that anger and grief had won out, not sure if his brother would've recognized him if he had.
He pitied- no, not only that, he empathized with the man.
Pitied him because he had chosen anger over forgiveness, hate over love, and now, when everything was said and done, had truly nothing left to fall back on-nothing left to give and nothing left to take, a void. He was a broken bot with no purpose, thrown away at the first signs of rust.
Looking at the fallen man, guilt washed over Hiro, his mind going back to times where he unthinkingly saw the man as mad like everyone else, letting the masses fog his perception.
He needed to help him, be there for the man as his friends were for him, even if it was a little overdue.
"Professor Callaghan," he began, thinking Tadashi would have tried to talk things out, violence never being the answer in his book. "What are you doing? What's the point of all this?"
Despite expecting an answer, he still twitched at his old teacher's voice.
"I want a better life. A life where I have my daughter back, where I can see her, where I can be with her." A stubbled Adam's apple bobbed as he paused to swallow, a flash of guilt settling on his face before it was replaced by one of crazed determination. "And I can't have that in this one."
He flipped a switch from the sea of the many and everything went berserk.
Suddenly lights began flickering on, sparking where wires weren't properly connected and aligned, reacting to the portal's dizzy march toward wakefulness. The lights hanging overhead tilted in the direction of the machine, some of them ripped from their wiring at the sheer intensity of whatever pull it had on them. They and other other appliances and machinery not tied down were torn from their places and, spinning dramatically, flew into the growing, swirling mass of light that bloomed at the room's center. Emitting a dull purple and blue hue, a gateway formed. Like a cosmic flower, tendrils of stardust spread outward, its clockwise motion truly entrancing and almost hypnotizing. The metal frames vibrated in such a way that he had a hard time distinguishing what was metal and what wasn't; the effects weren't localized, spreading until the room shook in a way that called for concern, far more erratic than any earthquake Hiro had experienced.
There was no twin portal, giving anything devoured in its colorful abyss no option of returning.
"The machine has been activated." Baymax supplied helpfully over the loud cries of alarm from his friends. The robot extended a massive hand toward Hiro, "I suggest you step away Hiro, as it seems the machine is highly unstable."
However, said teenager dodged the nursebot's grasp, stepping away from him and towards Callaghan.
Krei blanched, backing away, fear taking sole residence over his features, "It hasn't been human tested yet! Calculations for a living organism passing through haven't been completed, the resulting effects are still a mystery-"
A distant gaze, greyish pupils and red rimmed edges, snapped to the businessman, filled with a deadly fire in them hot enough to scorch a person's very soul. "Now you gain the humanity to care about the test subjects, Krei? Tell me, where was that years ago? Where was that with my daughter?"
"Your daughter knew the risks she was taking- and, look, she's safe! Perfectly safe! Don't you remember? She made it out alive and safe! I didn't kill her! I didn't-"
"But you sentenced her to death!" Callaghan roared back, hair whipping around his head. "And me- you killed me along with it. I can't even see my little girl and it- it's all because of you!"
The entrepreneur could only sputter in response, somehow looking a bit ashamed and furious at his former colleague's words; he seemed to know from past encounters that his words wouldn't help the situation when concerning the man and kept silent. His entourage was dismantling, backing away from the machine with wide eyes, while his assistant was pulling at his arm, trying to guide him toward the door and safety. They all seemed to know of the danger that presented itself with the machine on and running.
Something's going to go wrong, a voice in the back of Hiro's head was repeatedly yelling out, Callaghan's different. The man was changed, with nothing to lose and everything to gain. He was a cornered animal, ready to strike out, but scared and angry all the same.
"There are other ways, Callaghan. This isn't the only option." Hiro continued to walk toward his former idol, slow and steady steps almost seeming casual despite the strange gravitational pull that was tugging at his body, ignoring Baymax and his friends' consistent warnings.
The man shook his head, muttering to himself as he gripped the podium, knuckles turning white. "No. This is the only way I can be with my Abigail."
Out of the corner of his eye, the rest of the group was spreading out around the two, keeping their distance because of the machine but slowly coming closer. Krei's group of concerned investors had all but left the room, a few running back through the hall while Krei and his remaining guards were pressed against and clinging desperately to the walls. The teen turned his attention away from them and back to the man backing towards the ever glowing portal, the lighting giving his face a sunken look.
"We can talk about this." Hiro finally reached the controls, hands grasping them to keep himself upright, and the tugging even stronger now, it taking his entire strength not to have his legs slide out from under him. Eyes glanced over the controls, glazing over momentarily when the genius realized he hadn't even an inkling of an idea of what controlled what. "You don't want to go through there. You might not make it out."
The unspoken 'alive' was left hanging, swinging before them like a pendulum in all its uncertainty.
The once world-renowned scientist shook his head with greater passion, finally taking a step back and towards the glowing doorway, making Hiro's blood run cold. "Whether or not I die, there's still a chance. Anything will be better than this life."
And with that Callaghan threw himself back, eyes closed in a twisted form of acceptance.
The teen's breath caught in his throat, eyes wide, as he fully processed what had just happening.
Callaghan was giving up, throwing everything away, and Hiro couldn't- wouldn't let that happen. Whether or not the man had done terrible acts in the past, because if there was one thing Tadashi had managed to grind into his mind, it was that no one deserved to be given up on.
So, with an involuntarily leap forward, Hiro shot out a hand to grab hold of the man and try and pull him back. But then that strange, gravitational pull tugged at him once more, pulling with such a force that he tumbled right after him.
He had time to yell out a "No!" before he was swallowed whole by the unknown.
