Title: Alter Pulse

Chapter 3: Game Changer

Author: Kenkaya

Genre: Action/Adventure/Drama/Sci-fi

Type: Post-movie continuation, Superpowers AU

Rating: Teen, PG-13

Pairing(s): Gogo/Honey Lemon

Summary: The team has barely put Callahan behind bars when a new mystery strikes San Fransokyo. Random civilians begin developing superpowers, and the government seems involved in a bad way. But when certain members of Big Hero 6 start showing signs of power as well, it becomes personal.

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xxxxxx

They touched down in front of the garage at 4:23 a.m. I don't have much time. Aunt Cass will be up soon, but Hiro knew he couldn't put this off. His skin was buzzing now, charged and warm like a battery that had been plugged in too long.

"Hiro," Baymax said, the familiar monotone grounding him even as it soothed the emotional torrent inside. "Your elevated bpm and breathing rate indicate you may be undergoing excessive mental stress. Suggestion: breathing exercises and taking a short break from school to recover. An uninterrupted eight-hours of sleep tonight is recommended. I suggest a brief 30 minute power nap now to refresh yourself and avoid offsetting your normal sleep cycle."

"Thanks buddy," Hiro sighed, inhaling deeply through his nose afterwards. "But I couldn't sleep now even if I wanted too. Not after this." Not looking forward to the nightmares tomorrow night either, he added mentally.

The garage door rolled up smoothly with little sound (Hiro kept it well-oiled and maintained just for times like these). Baymax shuffled inside after him and, after checking both directions to make sure no one spotted them entering the property while suited, Hiro pulled the door shut behind them.

"Okay," he completed another set of bracing inhale-exhales and began removing purple armor pieces soon as the overhead light flickered on. "Tests. I need to run some tests and figure stuff out. Baymax I need you to scan me…"

"Scan complete."

"No! Not now," he face palmed. "Can you just… monitor my vitals and check for irregularities while I try something."

"Of course, scanning now."

"Thanks," Hiro said, raising his now bare hand palm-up: scrutinizing the appendage. Okay, I just need to remember how I did this… while I was upset and not thinking straight, no pressure. He released a frustrated groan after several seconds of nothing. Maybe it's tied to emotion? I was... upset. That woman's seemed to flare up when she was scared too… and Honey said her classmate's stopped when he calmed down. I just need to reinvoke what set mine off. Hiro was in no hurry to relive painful memories, but, if kept him from being strapped to a gurney and rolled into a dark van-

Okay, what was I feeling? I… I remembered the showcase fire... Tadashi… it was hot...

Heat washed over him, dreaded and familiar all at once. I remember this. It felt like fire, all consuming. He could almost hear the roar drowning out everything but the sensation. No… focus! You need to focus! He closed his eyes then, concentrating on his outstretched hand; the lightning had come from his hands. He tried envisioning little currents of white electricity crackling between his fingers.

"Whoa!"

Hiro's eyes flew open at a sharp series of crackles, not unlike the sound of firecrackers. Yellow-white sparks popped up through the thick skin of his palm, arching downwards and fizzling out on the concrete flooring. He yelped at the unexpected result, shaking his affected limb until the sparks stopped. Shivers shook his body immediately afterwards, a sudden chill washing over him, though his hand still tingling with the warm feeling of static.

"B… Baymax… report."

"I detected an alarming buildup of bio-electricity, originating in the central nervous system and gradually moving into the peripheral," Baymax explained, the screen on his chest lighting up to display a mapped image of Hiro's nervous system with highlighted sections. "It reached nearly dangerous levels, but, after receiving an abnormal signal, was quickly dispelled through the epidermis of your palm."

"Great," Hiro groaned, dragging both hands down his face. "Any idea what's causing this."

"My sensors can only detect the symptoms. I cannot diagnose since these symptoms are not in my database."

"There has to be something!" he exclaimed, pacing as an increasing sense of panic came over him. "How am I supposed to understand this if I don't know why it's happening?!"

The ceiling light flickered then and Baymax's screen went blank.

"Oh no, no," Hiro whispered. "Okay, think calm... breath in… breath out… breath in…"

"Battery charged at: ninety-eight percent," Baymax announced as the light stabilized overhead.

"Well, that's useful," Hiro muttered, collapsing into the black rolling chair in front of his garage computer terminal. A beep sounded as the machine booted without physical prompting. "Guess learning how to control... this is higher priority than understanding the hows and whys for now."

"The bio-electric pulses reacted to an abnormal signal from the brain. they also seemed influenced by the presence of stress hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol."

"In other words, stay calm… got it," he said, then another, disturbing possibility hit him. "Baymax, does it… is it harming my body in any way?"

"Aside from the abnormal output, you appear perfectly healthy," Baymax assured.

"Alright. Thanks, buddy."

A noise upstairs alerted him to the end of their ticking time clock. Aunt Cass is awake. Running to hide his discarded armor under the usual plastic tarp, Hiro quickly threw on his faded blue hoodie and mumbled a, "I'm satisfied with my care," before his aunt turned the doorknob.

"Hiro?" she stood in the doorway, brown hair mussed and suppressing a yawn. The right side of her face still had pressure indents from where she'd lain against the couch arm. "What are you doing up so e… yaa… early?"

"Hey, Aunt Cass… I, uh… had trouble sleeping, so I thought I'd get a headstart on some homework while I was up?"

"Okay," she said with a frown. Her green eyes moved up and down his body critically. Please buy it, please buy it, he mentally pleaded as she made her assessment. "You know, If you're having nightmares again, we can ask the doctor about getting some mild sleep aids. Just say the word and I'll set up an appointment."

"Thanks, I'll keep that in mind," he smiled, both relieved and grateful. She may not have all the facts, but Hiro knew Aunt Cass would always have his back.

xxxxxx

The inner-city alley Fuuko called home was filthy, overpowered by the smell of fish and urine. Dust floated through the foul air around her, caught in sunbeams of early morning light as she peeled back the wooden board covering an abandoned warehouse window. The same sun glinted off bleach blonde streaks scattered throughout her dark hair, piled high on her head in an elaborate coif. A shortened brocade kimono and knee high vinyl boots completed her non-traditional look.

"You're dressed awfully nice for someone who's homeless," a raspy female voice drawled behind her.

"Wha'dya want, Hitomi," Fuuko snarled, releasing the board and whirling around as it snapped back with a loud bang. "Don'cha have a pit fight to referee or somethin'?"

"Bot fights," Hitomi corrected absently, picking at her long, black manicured nails. "A fellow ring girl ought to know better."

"Still doesn' explain why you're here."

Hitomi narrowed her one uncovered eye in annoyance. No one on the streets knew for certain how she lost her left eye, and she intended to keep it that way; mystery kept people on their toes. Fuuko, however, wasn't easily intimidated by such tactics. She stared back just as fiercely.

"I heard interesting things about your fight last night," Hitomi finally said, her dark painted lips curling into a triumphant smirk when the other girl shifted nervously.

"Did Yama put you up to this? That egg-sucking slimeball got his money!"

"I couldn't care less about Yama and his bruised oh-so-fragile ego," Hitomi snorted. "I'm more interested in the rumors going around about you."

"What, you believing gossip now," Fuuko chuckled, but her anxious posture didn't change. "An' here I thought you were smart…"

Hitomi reached up suddenly and pulled a sharpened hairstick from the messy twist atop her head, throwing the weapon towards Fuuko in the same fluid motion. She moved to duck, but survival instincts had kicked in. Soft blue light emanated from her eyes and the stagnant air around them stirred, abruptly moving to push the projectile off-course. Hitomi grinned as the charged gust raised goosebumps on her bare arms. Her lacquered hairstick fell off to the side, clattering against dirty, cracked asphalt. The glow faded from Fuuko's eyes and the surrounding air stilled in an instant. Her face paled to an ashen shade.

"It was the wind!"

"Oh, I know it was the wind," Hitomi laughed. "I just needed to see it for myself first… before I gave my proposal."

"So you're gonna blackmail me now?" Fuuko laughed right back. "I'll disappear before I give a snake like you any satisfaction!"

"Nothing of the sort," Hitomi gestured dismissively. "I'm suggesting a partnership, an alliance. We free ourselves from Yama's grip and make a name for ourselves outside his network! What do you say, Fuuko? Join me and I'll make it worth your while."

"And how's that any different from blackmail?"

Because," she said, lifting her eyepatch to reveal a glowing white orb nestled between the jagged scar tissue of her socket. "You're not alone."

xxxxxx

"And in other news, SFIT campus is currently on lockdown after another student manifested Alter abilities in the robotics lab early this morning. According to sources on site…"

Aunt Cass sighed, muting the television before she left her living room to check the banana muffins still baking. Hiro had already received the (now standard) text and email alerts from school that classes had been cancelled. Her greatest concern during these almost daily events was safe in their garage at the moment, tinkering away as he, "tried to make the most of a free day." Cass chuckled at her nephew's antics; it was like pulling teeth to get the boy motivated, but once he was, nothing short of a natural disaster could stop him. Maybe not even that. And nobody could get that steam rolling quite like Tadashi…

Significantly sobered for the day, Cass pulled her last muffin batch from the oven. The Lucky Cat Cafe opened at eight-thirty on the nose and she could already see a few regulars waiting by the door when she walked downstairs, tray in hand. She waved in greeting, setting the muffins down on the back counter, and glanced at the small stack of newspapers Hiro brought inside for her barely an hour ago.

'The Alter Menace: Why Have Our Youth Turned Against Us?'

Cass rolled her eyes at the sensational headline. Scare tactics didn't help anyone, but apparently they made for a good story. Not that she wasn't guilty of such thoughts herself, especially when Hiro was on campus during a manifestation, still, at least she tried to avoid thinking them.

Just then, the lights flickered and her register re-booted. Funny, that's been happening a lot lately. Seeing as she had another six minutes until official opening, Cass decided to address the suspected cause and marched out of the cafe towards the garage door.

"Hiro!" she called just before swinging it open.

"Aunt Cass!" the boy stepped into her view quickly, slightly out-of-breath for some reason. "Did you need something?"

"We just had a power short in the cafe. They've been happening quite frequently actually… you wouldn't happen to know anything about it, would you?"

"Um, no… wait, yes" he stuttered. Definitely lying, she thought. "It's… probably this new program I'm running… from school. Yeah, it eats up a lot of power. I'll try to watch how much I use it."

"Thanks, sweetie," she pulled him into a tight hug and squeezed. "Just during business hours, okay? I appreciate it."

"A… any time."

She smiled, reaching for a, "last hug," before heading back to the cafe. Hiro was hiding something- she didn't know what yet, but as long as she wasn't getting anymore calls from jail, she resolved to respect his privacy. Right now, she had a business to run.

"Sorry for the wait," she apologized while unlocking the door. One minute late, of course. Her eyes immediately noticed a dark blue sedan with tinted windows parked across the street, the same one she'd seen for the past three days. It hasn't moved once in all that time, she realized. That's odd… has it broken down or...

"It's alright Cassie, dear," Miss Matsuda said, waltzing in and distracting everyone with her usual age-inappropriate outfit. "Did you hear about that new Alter attack at the school today? Terrifying what the world's coming to… can't trust just any young kid these days. Hiro's safe, I hope?"

Cass suppressed a sigh, the mysterious parked car already an afterthought in her mind. Today's going to be a looong day. I can feel it.

xxxxxx