A/N: Hey everyone! It's that time of week again—time for another "Blacklist" installment! I'm so happy you guys are loving it so far and I love reading each of your reviews. And of course, big thank you for all the favorites, follows, and reads. This chapter's a bit sillier and more light-hearted than the previous ones because I think we all need a break from the intensity and the constant danger. Anyway, without further ado, I give you…Blacklist, Episode 7!


Hiro lay on his stomach on the lounge chair, the cabana's rolled-back curtains swaying as the sea breeze blew in over the Pacific, seagulls swooping and screeching overhead and the scent of salty spray tingling his nose. He watched absently as Tadashi splashed water onto Honey Lemon, who let out a half-laugh, half-scream as the ocean water sprayed against her bare midriff and his brother let out a laugh just before she threw some water back at him, both parties blushing a little after the lightheartedness had ceased. Fred and Wasabi were busy trying to construct a sand castle, but while Wasabi was concerned with ensuring all four pillars were even, Fred was busily dumping sand here and there, trying to embellish the structure with fortifications that were collapsing in heaps. Go Go was sprawled out on a beach towel, sunglasses shielding her eyes and headphones in as she tried to tune out the noise and just relax, an audible sigh of content escaping her lips as she stretched her legs out in front of her.

When Fred had mentioned a family island, they had assumed it was like a time share or a secluded and private place shared amongst a few families. What the team had not anticipated was a lush, sprawling island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, a good three hour plane ride from San Fransokyo by private jet, owned exclusively by Fred's parents. The place was massive. Fred had told them there were places he had not yet explored there, despite having been coming to the island regularly since he was a little kid. Sandy beaches rimmed the paradise, with jagged cliffs jutting into the sea at the northern tip. The mansion was built there, facing east. An airstrip was built over the sand at one end, a good six miles from the house. Almost everything in between was dense, tropical jungle, full of greenery. A zip line ran across half the island's diameter.

Three dark grey luxury cars had picked them up at the airstrip and whisked all six and Baymax, who was packed into his luggage, to the sweeping villa. The home was built in the style of the Lee Family's mansion back in the city, but in three separate pieces, each joined by breezeways with terracotta tiles and grand views of the ocean and the island's lush plant life. The main house contained the living room, kitchen, dining area, recreation room, and other common spaces. The villa to the left was for guests, where each team member received their own room. On the other side was the Lee Family's private space. The villa housing the staff was located a few hundred yards adjacent to the main property, equally as splendid as the mansion itself.

Thankfully, the reports of rain that Wasabi had mentioned turned out to be untrue. The team had arrived the previous evening, just after assisting Aunt Cass at the Lucky Cat's grand re-opening, and while everyone else seemed to be enjoying themselves and relaxing, Hiro found himself even more worried here than he was at home. The island was hundreds of miles from San Fransokyo. Who was to say what was going on there? What if some other convict resurfaced while they were having fun and vacationing? And while he knew they all needed a break, he couldn't shake the feelings of guilt when he tried to have fun, too.

"Hey, Hiro? What's wrong?" Tadashi entered the cabana, water dripping from his hair and down his bare torso, a light blue towel draped over one shoulder. "Why don't you come join us?"

"Thinking," Hiro mumbled, tracing his finger in a circular pattern in the sand.

"About?" his older brother pressed, kicking off his flip flops and dropping down in the lounge chair beside him.

"Stuff. The criminals we put away. There has to be a connection. There has to be. Somebody's organizing them and I know that the woman on the freighter had something to do with it. But who's the leader?"

Tadashi was quiet for a while, unsure of what to say. Should he try to placate his brother? Get him to loosen up and have a good time like they'd intended? Help him brainstorm ideas, try to draw connections? What if it just worked him up more? "We're gonna figure it out," he finally said. "You're stressing yourself out. Why don't you come join us?"

"I have a theory," Hiro said, ignoring Tadashi's invitation.

"What is it?" the older brother asked patiently, sitting up.

"About who might be behind this whole criminal movement…"

"Hey, Hiro," Honey Lemon interrupted, sauntering into the cabana and smiling at the brothers. "So? Are you going to come swimming with us?"

"It doesn't have to be swimming," Fred piped up, entering the shaded area as well, Wasabi and Go Go close behind. "We can go jet skiing, parasailing, zip-lining…"

"Yeah, what gives?" Go Go pressed. "You've been sitting here all day watching everybody else have fun."

"I've just been thinking…about how everything connects. The escaped criminals, the crimes they're pulling off…And I think I know who the leader is," he summed up what he and Tadashi had been discussing.

"We're listening. What've you got?" Wasabi asked.

"Well…you know how Krei Tech has been targeted repeatedly right? Anita Choi robbed a Krei Tech lab and Oliver Watanabe burned down a Krei Tech warehouse. And Callaghan's gone missing since he escaped. Baymax can't find him no matter how many times he scans… What if Callaghan's the one behind all of this? What if he's the one who organized all the escaped cons?"

The others looked to one another skeptically. "Why would he want to destroy Krei Tech? I mean, his daughter's safe, right? He got what he wanted," Wasabi pointed out gently.

"Krei Tech is a huge corporation with tons of buildings all over the city," Go Go spoke up. "I know what you're thinking but…well, maybe it is just coincidence."

Hiro frowned. "But…he vanished. And no one's heard from him since the first few days after the prison break…"

"He's probably lying low, that's all," Go Go stated rationally though her expression was sympathetic.

"Unless that's what he wants us to think," Fred piped, inserting himself in the middle of the group and dropping his voice to a low murmur. "Callaghan's a devious criminal mastermind. He's probably hiding out, directing all the other criminals to do his dirty work, and planning the ultimate revenge…"

"Revenge against what?" Go Go questioned.

"Krei Tech. Us. The number of enemies he has could be endless…"

"But he knows who we are," Honey Lemon pointed out. "If he was trying to get revenge on us, why wouldn't he just find us? Or send someone else after us?"

Hiro's eyes lit up in alarm.

"That's…not to say…that he would or did or…that he's even in a position to do that sort of thing," Wasabi jumped in frantically, trying to recover.

"Right, of course not!" Honey Lemon nodded her head, backtracking. "Just that…it's evidence…"

"Evidence that maybe…Callaghan…isn't the one responsible," Wasabi finished.

"We're not saying we don't believe you," Tadashi finally spoke up after a measured pause. "Because it's possible you're right. But maybe we need a little more evidence first."

Hiro dropped his eyes to the sand, eyes searching over the crisscrossing tracks and patterns left by his friends flip flops and bare feet. Maybe they were right. It was stupid of him to just jump to that conclusion. Maybe he was singling out Callaghan because of personal reasons, because Robert Callaghan was the epitome of evil in Hiro's mind and he couldn't imagine anyone in the world more sinister, more vile than the one-time professor. And whoever was unifying these convicts, burning buildings, stealing designs…they had to be truly evil.

"I gotta think about it more," Hiro finally said in a deflated tone.

"Not here," Fred interrupted, grabbing the boy by his wrist and tugging, trying to coax him into standing up. "We're on vacation, dude. There is no thinking on the family island, just fun."

Go Go stood up, straightening out her purple one-piece bathing suit. "For once, I agree with Fred," she spoke up. "Now c'mon. Don't make me drag you across the beach and throw you in the ocean. Because I will force you to have fun."

"She's not kidding," Tadashi said playfully in a stage whisper. "When we went on that road trip a while back, she forced me to have fun and it surprisingly wasn't terrible." The young woman swatted his arm in retaliation.

Hiro smirked and finally conceded, rising from the lounger and reluctantly following his brother and friends out into the sunlight.

Heathcliff served them lunch on the beach, laying out a massive, red-checkered picnic blanket and setting out garden salad, pasta salad, hearty rolls, crabs, chilled oysters, clams, mussels, shrimp, mangoes, grapes…a veritable feast that the six hungry friends enjoyed as the waves lapped at the shore, the salty wind brushing against exposed skin. Fred tossed grapes in the air and tried unsuccessfully to catch them in his mouth, Wasabi lecturing him on the choking hazard such an activity presented. Honey Lemon took photos of everything and everyone. Go Go cracked crab legs and pried the meat out of them like a pro, chucking one of the empty legs at Fred after a grape landed in her lap.

Hiro let the sound of laughter, of chatter, of fun and laziness and merriment fill his ears, wash over him like ocean water, and wondered if this was a better life. If Tadashi had never been taken, if he had never invented the microbots, never created super suits and pulled together a team of nerdy college students, would he still be living this life? And would he enjoy it? There was no remorse, no self-loathing in his train of thought, unlike usual. Just wonder. Big Hero 6 was exciting. Being a superhero was exciting. But this. This seemed so relaxed and casual and great. And some part of him envied anyone who was able to do this on a regular basis. Some part of him wished this could be his life every day.


The weekend ended all too quickly and the Lee family jet was waiting to whisk the group back to San Fransokyo. It was past sunset by the time the plane took off. Hiro couldn't sleep on airplanes. Never could. Not that he'd been on planes very often—with Aunt Cass's income relying on the café, it wasn't like the family could take vacations very often. But they had managed every couple of years. The boy genius glanced about the cabin, took in the sight of Fred slouched over Go Go, who was evidently too tired or too deep in sleep to shove him off. Honey Lemon had fallen asleep with her forehead against the window, her pink sandals stowed under the seat in front of her. Tadashi had headphones on and, with the seat reclined, was snoring lightly. Wasabi, meanwhile, had put in earplugs and a sleep mask and stretched his feet out in front of him, hands behind his head as if he were still on the island, lying in a hammock. Even the one flight attendant had fallen asleep, a magazine resting in her lap as she lay across all three flight crew jump seats. The drone of the jet engines filled the cabin with a steady, constant noise and the clear skies offered little turbulence as the opulent aircraft glided effortlessly through the darkness.

Hiro was bored. His tablet had long since run out of battery and the selection of in-flight DVDs consisted of nothing but old superhero flicks, sequels to said superhero flicks, and a few action movies that he'd already seen. Thinking was dangerous, he knew, but something was still bothering him. There had to be a connection between the criminals. And somehow, in his gut, he knew Callaghan had to be involved. Even if the others didn't see it themselves.

Aunt Cass met the arriving plane at the Lee family's private hangar at San Fransokyo International Airport, helping her nephews pile their luggage in the back of the truck, listening intently as they recounted their mini vacation. She bit back a smile as she steered the pickup through the darkened streets, lit up by newly installed streetlights and the headlights of oncoming cars, and drank in every detail that both Tadashi and Hiro spilled. She couldn't help but think of how normal the conversation was. Two college kids excited about a fun trip they took with friends. It reminded her of her own college days—road trips with the girls to national parks or out to Vegas when they turned twenty-one—the adventures that came with college, with the independence it afforded. None of this superhero stuff, none of the worry and the fear and the tension and the what-will-happen-next-will-my-boys-be-okay.

The Lucky Cat was dark when Aunt Cass steered the pickup truck into a parking space by the corner. Tadashi and Hiro grabbed their luggage, grabbed Baymax in his portable charger, and dragged their baggage into the restaurant. It had only been open for two days but the place smelled the way it did before the earthquake—like fresh coffee and bread and baked goods and sweets. The chairs had been stacked up on the tables, the floors mopped, the dishes cleaned, and the few part-time staff that Aunt Cass had hired gone home for the night.

"Place looks good," Tadashi noted with approval, turning a full three-hundred and sixty degrees to take in the now fully operational eatery.

"We had a great turnout," Aunt Cass replied. "Alright, you two, you've had a long day. Off to bed—there's school in the morning."

The boys said good night to their aunt and then went upstairs to their room. Tadashi was out the second his head hit the pillow and for once, Hiro didn't have much difficulty dropping off to sleep, even with everything that had been playing on his mind.


"Bad news guys. Bad, bad news!" Fred burst through the doors of the lab, startling his friends and the other students milling about, working on projects.

"Don't you have class?" Go Go wheeled around to face the comic book geek, dropping her torque wrench on her work station and folder her arms over her chest.

"No time for class. This is bad. Really, really bad. C'mon," he grabbed the sleeve of her leather jacket and dragged her along behind him despite her audible protests. Wasabi peered around his cubicle and, seeing the distress on Fred's face, quickly shut off his soldering iron and pulled off his welding mask, falling into step behind them.

"Is everything okay, Freddy?" Honey Lemon asked sweetly, polishing her eyeglasses.

"No. Where's Hiro?"

"What's wrong?" Hiro slipped poked his head out of his lab door at the mention of his name, Tadashi mimicking his brother.

"Problem. Very big problem."

Go Go swatted Fred's arm away. "You've been saying that since you got here but we can't help you if you don't tell us what's wrong!" she said testily.

"Geek Galaxy got robbed," the lanky English major practically wailed, clutching the blue and green beanie on his head like he was ready to rip it and all of his hair off.

"Where?" Honey Lemon turned to Wasabi, who shrugged and gave a vague 'I-don't-know' noise.

"It's a comic book store," Go Go sighed.

"Only one of the best," Fred filled in. "Some guy in a dinosaur mask that is clearly a rip-off of mine showed up and robbed the clerk at gunpoint. He took all the first edition stuff, all the limited edition action figures, and all the money in the register. Phil said they might have to close for a few months or even permanently if they can't recover the stolen merch."

"Oh, Freddy, I'm so sorry," Honey Lemon placed a sympathetic hand on her friend's shoulder.

"Yeah, man, I'm sorry to hear that," Hiro said earnestly.

"I demand justice!" Fred cried in response, shaking his fist at the ceiling. "We must avenge Geek Galaxy! And I know who's responsible, too. Look at this," he pulled out his smart phone and brought up a grainy surveillance footage video. The team huddled around to view it.

The image showed the front of the store, where a balding man who looked to be in his thirties sat behind the register quietly reading from a book. The glass door, partially obscured by a model spaceship hanging from the ceiling, suddenly flew open, a lanky man with a kaiju mask bursting in and pointing a gun at the terrified clerk. He appeared to shout something as the man at the register flinched and quickly dug around behind the register, handing over a key ring. The thief disappeared off camera and returned soon after, gesturing with the gun. The cashier quickly unloaded the cash drawer and ducked behind the register in the fetal position as the robber ran out of the store.

"Isn't it obvious?" Fred asked. The others looked confused. He rewound to the point where the kaiju-masked robber burst in the door. The mask itself bore a strong resemblance to Fred's mascot mask, albeit on a smaller scale.

"Uh…what exactly should we be looking for?" Hiro questioned with a puzzled expression.

"That mask! It's a carbon copy of my mascot head. And those stringy arms…and there," he pointed at the heavily pixelated image on the thief's t-shirt. "Dead giveaway."

"What is it?" Tadashi questioned, unable to make out the vague form.

"Will you get to the point?" Go Go snapped, squinting at the screen.

"It's a snake with a man's upper body," Fred explained as if it were obvious. "That's Bushmaster. Super obscure comic book character. Nobody knows him. But I just happen to know who his biggest fan is. A dude with those lanky arms who also happens to try to one-up me everywhere I go. And," he paused for dramatic effect, "he just so happens to be one of the escaped cons…Eugene. Sweeney."

Wasabi let out a loud gasp of surprise, causing the others to turn on him suddenly. "Sorry," he peeped, clapping both hands over his mouth. "Who is that, now?"

"Wait, wait, wait, an escaped con robbing a comic book store?" Hiro sounded perplexed, rushing to his computer station to pull up the documents he had on the escaped cons. "Why would he be robbing a store if there's more valuable things to steal?" The boy searched through the database and, sure enough, Eugene Sweeney's name popped up, accompanied by an image that he could only describe as stereotypically geeky. The guy was pale, wearing circular eyeglasses, his reddish-brown hair trimmed short with a widow's peak. If they had substituted the orange prison jumpers in the mugshot for a collared shirt buttoned-up all the way, he could have been the textbook image of the word nerd.

"That's him," Fred glared at the screen intensely. "My old nemesis…"

"Why is he your enemy?" Honey Lemon looked over Fred's shoulder at the photo. "He looks pretty harmless to me. Sweet, even."

"He's evil!" Fred declared, grabbing the blonde by her shoulders and shaking her a little. "Ever since we were kids, he's always hated me, tried to be just like me but better. But there's only one Fred Lee! Well, technically two, my dad's Fred Lee also but you get the point."

"What's his file say?" Tadashi turned to Hiro.

The boy leaned forward and read from the screen. "Arrested three times for shoplifting at memorabilia stores…the most recent one was six months ago and the judge put him in jail because he was a repeat offender. Looks like he would've been getting out in a few days if the earthquake hadn't happened…"

"He seems pretty smalltime compared to the others on the list," Go Go pointed out. "Are we sure he should be a priority?"

"Besides, we don't even know it's him for sure," Wasabi stated rationally. "You're just guessing because the mask kinda looks like your mascot head and his build kinda resembles the thief's and that shirt kinda looks like a supervillain he's a huge fan of that no one else has heard of…Wait, where was I going with this?"

"It is him. I know it!" Fred protested.

"If it isn't him, then maybe we'll catch a robber anyway. And if it is him, then it's a chance to round up one more escaped con. We would've had to go after him eventually," Hiro pointed out, turning back to the screen. "Besides, it's not like we know where any of the others are," he muttered.

"Yeah, but who's to say if he's even planning on sticking up another store?" Go Go asked. "What if this was his last big heist and now he's gonna book it out of town?"

"We have to set a trap," the boy genius concluded. "Make it so sweet that even if he was planning to skip town, he'd have to stay."

"We're really going after this guy?" Wasabi asked.

Hiro nodded. "If you guys are in." Fred's eyes lit up.

"I'm in," Tadashi said quickly, placing a hand on his brother's shoulder.

"Me, too," Honey Lemon grinned at Fred. "You mess with one of us, you mess with all of us."

"Count me in, too," Wasabi agreed.

All eyes shifted to Go Go. "What?" she asked. "You really think I'm gonna leave you guys to do this one on your own?" There was a slight pause. "Yes! I'm in," she spelled it out for them with mock irritation. "Besides," she shot Fred a begrudging half smile, "somebody's gotta make sure this idiot doesn't get himself killed."

"You guys are the best!" Fred declared. "Group hug!" He yanked Honey Lemon and Wasabi close to him, shifting the three down to drag the Hamada brothers into the hug too. "Go Go?"

"Fine," she sighed, joining in.


"Okay, so if we're going to bait Eugene Sweeney out of hiding and get him to stick up another store, we're gonna need something really sweet," Hiro declared. Class was over for the day and the others were seated around a table in one of the unused conference rooms in the robotics lab. "Fred? If you were a comic book store robber, what would be the Holy Grail for you?"

"The Holy Grail," the geek stroked his chin in thought. "Limited edition Baron Von Destructo. The artist died and had his ashes mixed in with the ink. They only printed twenty-five copies and they sold out less than a minute after they went on sale." The young man's eyes were bright at the idea.

"Then that's our bait," Hiro declared.

"But…how are we going to get one? Fred just said that only twenty-five were made and they're all sold out," Honey Lemon pointed out.

The boy genius smirked and sat back in his chair. "We don't actually need to have a copy of the comic," he said, "Eugene just needs to think we do. Here's what I'm thinking: we trick him into believing one of the shops in the city is getting a copy in and that they're going to keep it safe in the store. Then, we go in undercover and wait for him to show up. We won't even need to blow our cover for this one if we do it right."

"I know just the place," Fred said excitedly. "The Pulp. Rog and Frank owe me a favor. If we tell them we're laying a trap for the guy who robbed Geek Galaxy, they'll definitely be down to help us out."

"Great," Hiro said. "Now we just need to get the word out…"

"How are we going to do that?" Go Go asked. "It's not like we have a lot of time or an actual copy of the comic."

"We could talk it up," Tadashi suggested. "Maybe put up a fake news story or something."

The boy pondered a minute. Fake news story! "Wasabi," he turned to the physics major, "do you think Ginger could help us?"

"Ginger?" Go Go looked incredulous. "You can't be serious."

"If we put up just one fake news story, he might not see it. But if she could somehow get the stories posted to a bunch of websites, there's a much better chance he'll think there's actually a limited edition Baron Von Destructo comic coming into town."

"I can go find out," Wasabi offered, rising from his seat.

"Awesome. Fred, can you call up your friends at the Pulp and make sure they're cool with using their store as the trap?"

"On it," Fred was out of his chair and in a flash.

"Okay," Hiro turned to Honey Lemon, Tadashi, and Go Go, "now all we need to do is figure out our disguises."


Wasabi approached the office labeled STUDENT ASSISTANTS in the computer science building and took a deep breath before knocking.

"Enter," Ginger's husky voice rang out within. He pushed the door open and stepped into the cramped space. The girl was sitting at the same desk as before, a laptop disassembled in front of her. She didn't bother to look up as he came in, busily unscrewing components of the machine with a screwdriver. "I was wondering when you'd show up again" she said.

"Huh?" He was caught off guard and she turned to grin at him slyly, quickly returning to her work.

"Miss me that much?" Ginger continued. "Couldn't stay away?"

Wasabi felt the tips of his ears getting hot. "I, uh, actually…well, Hiro and I…we need a favor."

"Hmmm," Ginger hummed leaning back in her seat, still twisting away with the screwdriver. "First one was on me but this one's gonna cost you."

"Oh, um, well I'm sure we could work something out…"

"Relax, Wasabi, I'm kidding," she cut him off.

"Really?" His cheeks were burning now too.

"Really. So what is it now? Emptying a corporate big wig's bank account? Stealing a politician's private emails?" She set down the hard drive she had pried free from the machine and cracked her knuckles.

"What? No. What?"

Ginger shook her head. "Kidding. I don't do that kind of thing. At least not anymore. Seriously, what do you want?"

"Well, we just need you to post a couple of fake news articles online."

"That's it?" The raven-haired computer science major looked almost disappointed. "Any idiot with a keyboard and eyes could do that. But if you really want me to…" she pulled her grey tank top tighter around her thin frame and reached into her backpack for her laptop.

Wasabi's phone went off. A text from Hiro. We're a go with The Pulp. Can you ask Ginger to post on some real news sites and make up a couple of geek blogs? "Well, we kinda wanted them posted to actual news sites. And maybe a few fake blogs?" he answered.

"Now we're talking," Ginger smiled, booting up her machine. "So what's the news story you want?"

"Just something about a limited edition comic book going up for sale at The Pulp tomorrow. Baron Von Destructo and it's printed using ink mixed with the ashes of the original artist."

"What a waste of ashes," Ginger shook her head again. "Wait, why am I faking this story?" She was already busily typing in a word document. "You're not playing detective again, are you?"

"Sorta," Wasabi answered vaguely. "Our friend Fred is a big comic book geek and one of his favorite stores got robbed so we're…y'know…trying to catch the guy responsible."

"You're baiting him out… Clever. I like it."

"You do?" the young man straightened up.

"Easy there, don't get cocky. I said I liked it. I didn't say I wanted to marry the idea or something." Ginger finished typing, then input the document into another program. "This program will run a few algorithms to rearrange the article so it still makes sense. So I'm not literally posting the same article everywhere." When that was done, she opened another window. "Now, to fake some credentials and post to every major news site in the area…"


"Okay, so I'm thinking we each have our own cover story and we'll enter the store at different times so we don't raise suspicions. Once we're in, we'll act like we're going about our business and when Eugene comes in planning to rob the place, that's when we act," Hiro looked to Go Go, Honey Lemon, Fred, and Tadashi for approval.

"Act…how?" Go Go asked. "We won't have our weapons on us if we don't wanna blow our cover."

"Trip him. Tackle him. Take him down and get the cops," Hiro threw out some ideas.

"But if he has a gun…" Honey Lemon began.

"I don't think he does," Tadashi said.

"What do you mean, Hamada?" Go Go looked surprised. "We saw a gun in his hand."

"I looked at the footage again," the older Hamada said. "I can't be sure, but the gun looks like a fake painted the color of a real one. It's the exact same size and shape as a water gun Hiro has at home and I don't know of any guns that look like that in real life. Watch," he played the footage that had already been queued up on his phone, the others clustered around to watch.

"Dude, I can't believe I didn't notice that!" Fred declared.

"What if it isn't a fake though?" Honey Lemon asked nervously.

"Besides," Hiro countered, "we'll have Baymax nearby in suit and ready to respond. If it turns out he's got a real gun or things get dangerous, we can just call him in."

The others nodded.

"Now let's talk cover stories," the boy leaned forward in his chair. "I'm thinking Tadashi and I can pretend to be shopping for comics. We'll put on some glasses and stuff so we aren't as recognizable. Go Go, how do you feel about cosplaying?"

"Cosplaying what?" the girl asked.

"Anything. As long as it looks believable and people can't recognize you."

"As long as it's not too ridiculous," she answered.

"I can help with that—I've got tons of stuff at home," Honey Lemon offered. "For my cover story, I'll pretend to be looking for a present for someone," she told Hiro, who nodded.

"No costume for me," Fred spoke up. "My super suit hides my true identity anyway. And I have to take on Eugene face-to-face—it's what all superheroes do when they square off against their nemeses. No holds barred, mano a mano."

"Fred, I'm not sure—" Hiro was interrupted as Wasabi burst through the door of the conference room, triumphantly waving his smart phone in the air like a banner.

"Story's live," he declared. "Our thief's gonna hear about it real soon. He has to. Ginger came through for us again."

"Check your bank accounts," Go Go said sarcastically. "She might've cleaned us out while she was at it."

"She's not like that," Wasabi frowned.

"Guys!" Hiro called them back to attention. "Thanks, Wasabi. So are we all agreed on the plan?"

"What's the plan?" Wasabi looked concerned.

The others nodded.

"Guys, what's the plan?"

"Go in the store. Pretend to be shopping. When Eugene shows up, take him down," Go Go summed it up for him as the group rose to leave.

"That's not a plan!" Wasabi sputtered.


"I look ridiculous," Go Go sputtered, glaring at her reflection in the women's bathroom mirror. Honey Lemon giggled and applied more blush.

"You look cute," she told her shorter friend.

Go Go blew a bubble, let it snap, intensified her glare. "What's my cover story now?"

"You're a cosplayer," Honey Lemon said. "You're looking for some accessories to complete your costume."

"I meant what am I cosplaying? This doesn't look like any character I've ever seen." The girl stared at her reflection—the stark white hair of the wig, the heavy blush, pale pink lip gloss, teal eye-shadow, and shiny purple silk dress that, while breezy and comfortable, was also too big for her.

Honey Lemon shrugged. "I don't know. Make something up—I just brought in pieces of old Halloween costumes my sister and I had. It's hard to make a convincing costume on short notice!" She reached into her bag and drew out a brunette wig, putting it on and putting in brown contacts as well. "Do I look different?"

"Can't even tell it's you," Go Go assured her, still fiddling with the oversized dress.

"I we get the guy," Honey Lemon mused, applying a dull red lipstick and teasing the hair of the wig a little, trying to make herself look older than she was.

"It better," Go Go answered. "Because if it turns out not to be Eugene Sweeney and I got all done up like this for nothing, I'm going to kill Fred."


The Pulp was packed with shoppers and casual onlookers who had dropped by to see what all the fuss was about regarding the limited edition comic they supposedly had. Fred went in first to talk to Rog and Frank, the owners. They were ready to call the police.

"Are you sure about this, Fred? I mean you and your friends aren't exactly superheroes," Frank observed, shifting a little nervously.

"We got this," Fred answered enigmatically, making brief eye contact with Go Go as she walked into the shop, barely able to contain her displeasure at the looks she was getting. She made her way towards the costume section of the hobby shop.

Honey Lemon entered next, loudly speaking into her cell phone despite the fact there was no one on the other end. "Okay sweetie. Yes. Tia is going to get you just what you want for your birthday, okay? Okay." She hung up on the imaginary caller and began to wander aimlessly through the action figure section, every so often lifting one up, pretending to scrutinize it before setting it back down. She looked up to see Wasabi stiffly and conspicuously rifling through DVDs, peering suspiciously over his shoulder every few seconds, one of Fred's beanies pulled low over his hair.

"Okay, buddy, you stay here out of sight until we need you," Hiro adjusted Baymax's armor one last time and positioned him behind the billboard on the roof opposite The Pulp. "Got it?"

"Understood," Baymax replied.

"Okay, c'mon," Hiro turned to Tadashi. The two put on costume spectacles and gingerly made their way down the building's fire escape, emerging from the alleyway and crossing the street into the store, weaving around the crowds of shoppers and casually browsing through comic books laminated and sealed in plastic wrap.

A half hour later and the store had grown even more crowded. Frank and Rog were having difficulty keeping back the customers demanding to see the limited-edition comic book. Fred scooted towards Hiro and Tadashi, combing through the comics as well.

"Psst! What if he doesn't show?" Fred asked through clenched teeth, his voice barely a whisper.

Hiro looked out of the corner of his eye, saw the growing crowd and had a sinking feeling in his chest. "I thought for sure he would," he whispered back. Turning, he spotted Go Go looking a little peeved.

"Give it some more time," Fred pleaded. "He won't be able to resist."

Tadashi's suddenly gripped Hiro's arm, causing the young genius to turn to face him. The older brother jerked his head subtly toward the door where someone in a green, dragon-headed mask was pushing and shoving his way through the crowd. As he reached the register, he pulled out a gun and pointed it at Frank and Rog, who both put their hands in the air in surrender.

"Alright, give me the Baron Von Destructo or I blow your brains out!" he demanded, voice muffled by the mask. Panicked screams went up as people dashed for the exit and dispersed.

"Not so fast," Fred stepped forward, a determined look on his face. "You're not stealing anything Eugene."

The thief whipped around to point the gun at the young man. "Wha—, who, who's Eugene?" he sputtered.

"You've always wanted to one-up me," Fred took a step closer as the robber took a step back. "But you're just a wannabe, Eugene. That mask is a cheap knock-off and you know it. You should just give up." The others slowly began to draw closer as Rog reached for the phone behind the counter and dialed for the police.

"Don't come any closer," the thief brandished the gun and took another step back, tripping over a rack of knick-knacks and landing flat on his back.

"It's fake, Eugene," Fred called his bluff and watched the would-be bandit deflate. Reaching down, the English major removed the mask to reveal the glowering face of his nemesis. "I knew it!" he whooped. "This round to the heroes!"

The beaten crook made a move to get up but realized he was surrounded. "You might've won this time, Fred Lee, but this isn't the end! My boss will avenge me! You and your nerds are powerless. We can't be stopped!"

Sirens blared as police cars drew up in front of the store.

"Alright, people, clear out," Rog went outside to disperse the crowd of customers and gawkers. "There is no comic here at the Pulp! This was all a police sting operation and you just helped solve a crime."

Eugene was still screaming hysterically as he was led out by officers.

"Thanks for letting us use The Pulp to catch a criminal," Fred thanked Frank as he shook his hand.

"No, we should be thanking you," the man replied. "You just saved geekdom today."

"Did anybody else hear that?" Wasabi asked. "He said he'd be avenged by the movement. That means that he was in on it?" He was clearly confused.

"But why would any underground criminal movement want to hire such an incompetent bad guy?" Go Go wondered aloud.

"It doesn't make sense," Hiro concurred. "Unless…"

"Unless what?" Tadashi looked to his younger brother with concern.

"Unless he was just a distraction."


A/N: And there's the twist. So I know this wasn't exactly the GREATEST chapter on Earth (far from it, quite honestly) but in my defense my allergy headaches and butt-load of papers to write are kinda killing me. Regardless, I needed this because it helped me de-stress a little. I hope you enjoyed it anyway. And it's set up some of the action that will follow. Leave a review?