I.

"And... why are we here again?"

Hiro grinned at his Uncle Hasaki in the forest-green scrubs. "We're completing my aid certification." he said smugly, then turned back to Baymax as they stood beside a bed.

"Now the first thing I will be demonstrating is proper bedside manner." He raised his finger on the last part. "You will need to address your patients in a loud, clear voice."

Nephew and uncle exchanged curious looks and then watched.

Baymax turned to the sleeping woman and a speaker sign appeared on his chest:

"Mrs. Mitsuki."

"GAAAAH." Hiro clamped his hands over his ears, pitching sideways.

"It is time for your meds."

"Lă shī!" Hasaki copied him.

Mrs. Mitsuki continued sleeping.

...

The door to Hua Yu's cell slid open and he looked up with weary, red-brown eyes to see that the officer was holding out a Sharphone for him to talk with someone on the outside. The young man groaned and buried his face into his hands. Not Dabai again.

"It's your sister."

This got Hua's attention. He stood, brushed his tall, limber self off and walked out into the hall. The officer folded his arms and watched as Hua took the phone and talked on it like he was just a normal guy out on the streets. But Hua, born Hua Shou Yu, knew who he was. He was a great spy and tech thief for his very rich, very dangerous uncle.

"It took you long enough to get to the phone," his sister spat in Mandarin.

"Why have you not forwarded the bail money?" He wanted to know.

There was a long pause.

"...This is goodbye."

"What?!" Hua exploded into frantic, angered Mandarin. Finally, when he felt she wasn't listening, the man blurted out in English. "WHAT DID FATHER ALWAYS SAY, DIAN!?" It was enough of a scene that should have caused many officers to descend upon him, a tradition in Hua's family he'd seen many times before. But no one stopped the man in his enraged state and so he panicked. "Dian, one does not abandon their family. We... we are faithful," Hua tried to remember his father's words. "Reliable... strong, loyal..."

"As you were when you revealed what happened to Hiroto's parents." She was quiet and matter-of-fact. Her brother's eyes widened as his arm lowered. No. NO. Hua then begged her for death. He begged her for further interest in his fate. Execution for his disloyality was more then preferable over life without a family. He'd take death over banishment just as many Yu had for millennia. "No, you will live, brother. Goodbye."

She hung up. Hua had nothing.

II.

"So... why are we blindfolded again?" Hiro subtly complained.

It was day-two of their mandated week together and Hasaki had said it was his turn now to pick the day's activity. Every time Hiro would turn in the passenger's seat of the beat-up old VW to ask questions, his uncle would just laugh. They went up steep mountain passes outside San Fransoyko (Hiro knew this because there were no traffic sounds) and occasionally drove over streams and rivers. Finally, impatience won out.

"Okay, I'm literally taking this blindfold off and jumping out of this stupid car."

A hand half-expectedly came to rest on Hiro's head and he was both slightly annoyed and reassured by this. "You blindfolded me yesterday, Hiro." Baymax reminded him.

He grinned.

"And I didn't take any chances," Hasaki added, noting the blindfold he'd also placed on the robot. The man drove to a big wooden and metal structure built into the side of a mountain. "All right, we're here," he announced proudly. "You can take them off now."

Hiro felt around the strange, rough sash on his eyes.

Hasaki chuckled. "I know the fabric is light in color now, but it'll darken."

His nephew and Baymax removed two, tan-colored sashes to see the strange building they were driving towards. It was built into the earth and the long, winding roads they drove on moved with the mountains and hills. Hiro was agape in his wild imagination.

"W... where are we?! An ancient temple? Whoa! Are you... are you like an old master of some forgotten kung-fu magic? Do I come from a line of mystical karate warriors?!"

"Yes, young one!" Hasaki said in a deep, sage voice. His eyes widened in mystery as Hiro bounced up and down. "You must pass the three tests of wisdom, discipline and self-worth to enter the Temple of Magical Kung-Fu Karate Warriors." he looked ahead.

"O... OK! When do I start?"

"Hiro." His best friend said from the backseat, which he took up almost completely.

"Yeah, Baymax."

"I do not believe your uncle is serious when he says this."

...

"Fantastic noodles, Miss H." Wasabi said, placing down his bowl.

"Add plenty of soy sauce?"

"Didn't need to," he lounged back and patted his flat stomach.

Honey handed over the group's pay as it was her turn this time.

Cassandra sighed and lifted a hand. "It's on the house," she smiled.

There was a loud thump on the roof. The few customers she did have today scattered.

"We're gonna have to take that," Fred cracked his fingers in a big arm-stretch.

"That reminds me," GoGo turned to face him. "Now that your finger trap thing is gone, you don't have the excuse of not getting your wallet out. You OWE us for four weeks!"

Fred looked around at all of them, mid-crack-stretch. "Uh... hey! We're down to four."

The team suddenly turned to Aunt Cass with angelic smiles.

She dropped her head, sighing again. "It was just for that one time." Cass offered the four a weary smile. "When I was worried about Hiro. But don't fret, Hasaki is sending over a pair of stand-ins for this week and Hiro retrofitted his and Baymax's suits." She left with a shrug. When Big Hero 6 turned they saw the source of the thumping noise:

Their temporary teammates.

III.

"When you enter your grandfather's dojo," Hasaki said as he drove them up under two intricately carved pillars and around to the front of a very ornate red marble and gold inlaid temple. "You must show the utmost respect." his bottom lip stuck out. "I don't suppose you received the proper instruction when entering and leaving, wǒ de zhízi."

Hiro grinned and bowed his head.

His uncle nodded back with that polite smile he always managed. "We'll work on it."

The boy frowned.

They drove into a standard parking garage, went up four levels and then everyone got out beside an elevator. Well, almost. In the midst of Hiro trying to pull his best friend out of the back while also asking if this was going to exceed three hours, Hasaki had removed his plain black coat to reveal a contoured, two-tone Tang shirt underneath it.

"Okay... now I'm really confused." Hiro said as he and Baymax stood-by-side.

Hasaki held a match beside what looked to be a bamboo door. It caught and a hidden fuse sparked. The elevator slid open and the man motioned them in with a knowing smile; the corners of which started to turn down when he realized a big balloon man would also be squeezing into their suddenly tiny compartment. Hiro chuckled darkly.

"Everywhere?" His uncle asked.

"Pretty much," the boy happily poked his buddy's squished-up belly.

"I will attempt to let out some air."

"NO!" Hiro and Hasaki said at the same time.

"I'm guessing the valves that contain the fluid are highly sensitive to-,"

"Very."

Hiro turned back to poke Baymax in reassurance while Hasaki bit his tongue as usual.

...

Meikomo sipped on her apple-ginger flavored soda. "Hmm." she tapped gently on a flat button and on three wide monitors saw every angle, corner and shot of The Yu-Hamada Temple. "Huh?" The girl clicked on a button toward the top of the console.

The screen zoomed in with sharp precision; It was satellite feed coming in and from a source Mei had made sure to block. She dropped her shoulders and re-routed it rather then blocking it now. The only thing the hacker would see was the apple orchard they grew out back. She grinned the last time she'd sent the feed to their botanical garden.

Something of greater quality re-re-routed. Meikomo gasped, tucked her soda can in between her legs and typed in a faster sequence. It was blocked. The girl was about to contact her lóuhyèh when she saw Hiro Hamada exiting the elevator with Hasaki and a large white creature into the lowest part of the temple. Her brown eyes widened but it wasn't for the man's company; Mei quickly downed her soda and crushed the light teal can to her head. Thinking quickly, she sat on her evidence. Of course he was too busy.

Of course he couldn't know!

Meikomo glanced nervously and saw the note Hasaki had left her:

'Just because I'm not here, that doesn't mean I don't know everything. You are not to drink consumer-based products in the exclusive Yu-Hamada Dojo. Is that understood?'

"Yes," she said, wishing she could read Mandarin.

Unforunately, Meikomo still remembered part of his verbal warning.

...

"Wow," Hiro and Baymax stopped at a large, dark bronze statue. The Chinese Dragon clasped a classical yin/yang symbol in it's claw. Beside the dragon was a maroon and brown, temple-faced entrance. It began to dawn on Hiro that he should ask questions.

"Do you know what the meaning of this is?" Hasaki extended a hand.

"Sure, yin and yang," his nephew pronounced them more correctly then in his head. "The yang in life represents opposition and yin represents passiveness. Two halves."

"Yes, but yang is the white one and yin is the dark one."

Hiro waved a hand at it dismissively, scoffing. "Yeah, I knew that. I was just... heh."

Hasaki smiled at the statue and assumed a position where one might bow. "There's a definite controversy that arises whenever tradition meets... less tradition," he looked at Hiro but it wasn't to exemplify him. "When we're met with something that tries to change or hinder us, we resist. Fight. But sometimes yang isn't what you'd expect..."

Baymax and Hiro looked at each other.

"Sometimes yang can be a positive thing." Hasaki nodded.

The two friends looked back at the yin-yang symbol. Baymax hugged Hiro to his side and Hiro smiled and hugged back. Hasaki lifted a brow and shook his head. He held a match to the side of the temple's gate and then everyone watched as the noisy fuse travelled up the wick to bronze-dragon emblazoned fireworks. Hiro gave a jerk back.

Hasaki raised a brow at him, smirking, as the two shot up into unseen channels and a squirt of what had to be water was shot. The temple doors flew open and Hasaki gave a bow to the big statue. Nervously, the boy copied him. Baymax only looked his way.

"Why do you both bow to the painted lizard?"

"Tradition...?" Hiro said with an awkward half-grin.

"Will it help your emotional-,"

Two inner chamber doors opened and a long network of catwalks veered off into a big, Olympic-sized room. Hiro and Baymax followed Uncle Hasaki inside as curved, smaller rooms that were fitted with thick glass shot up towards an endless ceiling. Classes and different forms of Martial Arts, Meditation and such were going on. Hiro gaped at all of the different styles; it was only when he felt Baymax's soft arm around him did he see that they were only one-hundred feet or so from the rounded floor. Hiro's mind raced.

"The distance is one-hundred and eighteen feet to the ground level." Baymax told him.

"And carbon-fiber glass, right?" Hiro grinned at his uncle's back. He furrowed his brow when he heard the man sigh, since his insight rarely failed to impress people. "Nano polymer?" he tried again unsuccesfully as Hasaki led them both to a plain, wood door.

Baymax seemed to be holding Hiro closer to him than he had the previous day.

"Buddy, let up." The teen complained.

The robot blinked at him but did as he was told. Hasaki looked over his shoulder.

"Sorry, Maxie." Hiro tucked himself back under his arm. "It is a little close-cutting."

Hasaki cleared his throat before they could look up more accusing then questioning.

"This is where we leave all technology at the door," he said calmly, more like a monk then an uncle... or secret spy ninja warrior. Hiro slowly pulled out his phone and set it in his palm. Then came his Tablet, a few laser-point screw drivers, a new thumb drive with new passkeys he gave to Baymax, his personal scanner, a piece of azure metal...

"Must've come off of that one robot," Hiro noted when Baymax asked. "Our mission."

The robot nodded.

Hasaki gave the confiscated tech goods a skeptical look. "Is that all?" he finally said.

Hiro shrugged. "Just me and Baymax."

The man sighed as they moved forward,

"All technology has to be left at the door." he placed a hand on Baymax's arm.

Hiro looked between the two. "What?! Oh, come on. Baymax is practically a Buddha."

"It has been shown through scans that rubbing my belly increases dopamine levels!"

His small friend nodded energetically to this and did so. "He's good luck, Uncle H."

Hasaki sighed to himself, smiling tightly. "All technology is to be left out here." he did offer Baymax a peaceful head bow which the robot returned, then entered the room...

Rather normally, as it turned out.

"I believe your uncle wishes to teach what he knows, grow closer to you."

Hiro looked at Baymax in worry. The robot touched his arms. "I will be with you."

The tension left Hiro instantly and he gave Baymax as strong a hug as his small arms could give. Hasaki cleared his throat and led Hiro into a dojo that wasn't quite like he'd ever seen. He turned to see Baymax as the door closed seemingly by itself. Hiro then turned back to witness an enormous, rocky cavern filled with training pits, meditation gardens and stony podiums the highest of which Hasaki had already ascended up to.

"I want to help you, Hiro." The man said gravely. "I want to make you a true fighter."

To be continued...

~ Lavenderpaw ~