Chapter 9: Rage
Tadashi was looking out the window. This was his first time flying in a helicopter and he couldn't deny that it was amazing. Looking down, he could see everything, the very essence of San Fransokyo, and it was the most amazing sight. With a sun setting in the sky, the lights of the city were emerging one by one like candles, yet there was enough sunlight to reflect off the city's tallest buildings. The hot air balloons that he admired as a child were now felt close enough to touch.
"Killer view." Gogo said, incredibly pleased. Honey shrugged her shoulders in agreement, a light smile on her face. Fred, in the front seat with Heathcliff at the steering wheel, merely nodded with a smirk. He seemed to fidget as if wanting to move his arms around, but was restraining himself. Wasabi, however, looked horrified, holding onto his seat between the two girls across from Tadashi and Baymax.
"Yeah, if I wasn't terrified of heights, I'd probably love this, but I'm terrified of heights, so I don't love it!" Wasabi said fearfully, gripping his seat even tighter.
Everyone let out a little chuckle at that. When he was done, Tadashi turned back to the window. They were now leaving the city, the ocean waters coming into view. Through the violet clouds, the college student could see fishing boats at the docks, unloading their day's work, sea gulls flying around, trying to steal some of it. As the city began to disappear, Akuma Island came into view, and soon, the helicopter began to descend.
Tadashi's gaze hardened.
The battle was about to begin.
Black Iris began to stir, hearing a loud noise. Beginning to break from his sleepy state, he opened his eyes. Blinking his eyes, he felt the soft earth beneath him, not really wanting to move. Lifting a hand to test his mobility motivation, his eyes narrowed at the fact that he could see his hand. The invisibility orb must have worn off. Sighing, he put his hand back down and closed his eyes. The indigo hero wanted to sleep more, but that loud sound wouldn't let him, practically yelling at him to wake up. The loud noise was coming from a helicopter. He quickly looked around before turning to the dark blue sky.
There was a helicopter landing and there was a symbol on it. Black Iris' eyes widened. It was Fred's family seal. 'Why is he here?! He shouldn't know about this place!' Then another thought entered the parallel universe jumper's mind. 'If this world is following the same route as mine did, then…' Black Iris' eyes became frantic for a second and then he bolted into the forest.
'Tadashi, Baymax, no!'
The group got off the helicopter after Heathcliff opened the door for them. As everyone in the back tried to get one at a time, Fred bounced out of his seat. He jumped in excitement.
"Awesome! First landing together as a team!" Everyone more or less ignored the brunet. Instead, they looked around. There was a metal fence with barb wire surrounding the area, separating the land from the sea. Crates and oil containers were scattered around the area. There was a dock to their left, but it was empty. To the right, they could see a yellow sign with a black skull and cross bones. There was another one closer to the group, but on their left. Wasabi focused his attention on one sign in particular, completely scared by the words 'caution' and 'quarantine.'
"Guys, come on." Tadashi said, not paying any heed to the yellow sign. The group looked at the facility. The walls were made with large rectangular slates. At the top of the slates, they could see rust and dirt heading down like a dirty waterfall, frozen halfway. Separating the walls from the roof was a metal trim with vertical four-sided dents. On the roof, the group could see multiple satellites, some large while some were smaller. There was a structure beside them, but they weren't sure what it contained. The only conclusion they could come up with was that it organized the satellites or had the electrical controls. However, the bandana wearer was focused on what they saw earlier.
"Quarantine!" Wasabi said in disbelief, pointing to the sign with his thumb as the group moved on, leaving him behind. "Um, do you people know what 'quarantine' means?" Wasabi threw his arms and shook his head, giving up as he saw that no one was listening. They were too busy keeping an eye out for danger.
Baymax lifted his finger in a matter-of-fact way in response to Wasabi's question. "Quarantine: a forced isolation to prevent contamination to disease or, in some cases, death."
"Oh! There's a skull face on this one! A SKULL face!" Wasabi exclaimed, pointing at another sign as everyone turned the corner. When they did, they found a metal door. The group went up to it cautiously and, in some, nervously.
"Be ready. He could be anywhere." Tadashi said warily.
Suddenly, the sound of a branch snapping made the group jump and scream. Wasabi started slashing blindly into the air with his plasma daggers, hoping that whatever made that sound wouldn't come near him, screaming. Honey Lemon cowered behind Tadashi, holding him in fear as he covered her with his arm. Fred started doing random karate moves as Gogo turned to look for their opponent so she could smack them.
"Keep firing! Keep firing!" the comic book lover shouted. However, when they found that nothing seemed to be happening, they stopped looking around franticly and looked down. A pigeon was staring at them, tilting its head and cooing at them as if to say: 'huh?' Deciding not to hang around these weirdoes anymore, the grey bird flew up. The group stared as it flew high in the air. "…That was a bird."
Honey Lemon laughed guiltily. "Well, at least we know the gear works!"
Everyone looked at her, uncertain about how to respond to her optimism. Deciding to just agree with it, Tadashi walked around Baymax and tried to open the door. The group turned to him expectedly. He turned the handle with all his might, groaning, but it wouldn't budge. Giving up, the blazer wearer let go, lifting his baseball cap to put a hand on his forehead. "Argh, it's locked." He turned to the bandana wearer. "Wasabi?"
"I got it."
Wasabi approached the metal door, the group getting out of his way. With his plasma daggers, he proceeded to make an opening by cutting a hole. Struggling against the metal, he couldn't make the perfect circle he wanted. However, upon reaching the end, Wasabi missed the starting point, unintentionally going over it. Going back, he tried again, frustration rising. As it moved, the dagger curved too far downwards, making Wasabi yell in anger and he took the blade out of the door, only to slash at the door from a previous end to the starting point. The group watched as the piece of door fell from its place, giving them access to the inside as dust flew in the air.
Before them was a dark corridor with dim light to lead the way. It curved rather than give a straight line. Vents and pipes layered the ceiling. Cagey tiled littered the center of the floor. The place was ominous and hollow. The group looked at each other before Tadashi nodded, signalling that they should head inside.
With cautious steps, they went inside, Tadashi and Baymax leading the way with Gogo and Honey Lemon in the back. The group kept an eye out for Yokai or anyone that happened to be here. They weren't completely sure where they were going, but after a while, they found two paths, one continuing forward and another that veered left. Both routes looked exactly the same, so it was hard to make a deduction. Deciding to go left, the group continued this course of action. Of course, none of the tension seemed to bother Fred.
"Six intrepid friends, whose led by Fred, their leader~! Fred! Fred's Angels~! Hmm, hmmm~! Fred's Angels~! Hmm, hmmm~!" Fred sang, distracting Wasabi, who wanted him to stop and was getting more and more agrivated as the song continued. "Harnessing the power of the sun with the ancient amulet they found in the attic~! Hmm, hm, hmmm~! The amulet is green~! Hmm, hm, hmmm~! It's probably an emerald~! Hmm, hm-"
"Fred!" Wasabi interjected angrily. Fred turned to him, putting his arms down. "I will laser hand you in the face."
"Guys! Shh!" Tadashi shushed before turning to the armoured robot. "Any sign of him, Baymax?" The armoured robot's camera tried focusing, but no matter what he did, the sensor gave him an unfocused result.
"This structure is interfering with my sensor." the robot stated as the group passed a door.
"Perfect. The robot's broken." Wasabi commented. Honey Lemon looked at the door and approached it, letting everyone else go ahead of her as she peeked inside.
"Uh, guys, you might want to see this." she called out calmly. This made the others hold a curious gaze. As they approached, Honey Lemon pushed the door open. Once the entrance was wide enough, they entered the room. The groups found themselves on a metal balcony and it gave them a good view of what was around them.
The place looked like a warehouse, but there was an opening in the roof that allowed the moon light to shine through, revealing the contents of the place. Their eyes widened at what they saw. At the other side of the room were two large, circular structures made of metal. Cables stuck from it like the branches of a tree. One of the circular machines wasn't even close to looking complete. The other appeared to be only two-thirds together. Neither of them seemed very functional, but from the shine, some of the materials were relatively new.
"What do you think it is, Tadashi?" Gogo asked, staring at the more completed machine.
"I'm not sure." Tadashi replied, moving his gaze downward. His eyes narrowed. There was a red bird painted over a white background. He recognized that symbol. "But look. I think that's the piece I saw Yokai carrying at the docks!"
"Tadashi." Honey Lemon called. Tadashi turned to her before looking to where she turned her head. There was an observation room to their left, a dim red light shining through the clear windows. Nodding their heads at each other, the group quietly crept towards it, keeping an eye out for anything dangerous. Once at the door, they moved to the sides, getting Baymax to slowly open the door.
Inside were multiple chairs next to the same number of computers. All the screens were black and all the chairs were empty, not a soul in sight. Opposite to them was another door that led to a similar balcony to the one they were preciously on. A container with a caution skull and yellow-black tape was blocking their view of whatever was creating that red light.
Tadashi was the first to step through the door, moving cautiously to not draw any possible attention. Gogo and Fred followed after him and soon the others came in as well. Passing the container, Tadashi saw that the red light was coming from a computer with the bird symbol on it. However, this time the bird was black on a field of red. The baseball cap wearer moved towards it, looking down the various buttons before pressing one of them. Immediately, the screen changed, revealing the security footage. Out of the nine squares, only one of them had a picture. In it was Krei, surrounded by scientists and government officials, bending over one of the computers from earlier.
"Krei." Tadashi muttered. Looking back down, he pressed another button, making the footage go back until he found a good point to start.
"That's right. We were asked to do the impossible. That's what we did. We've reinvented the very concept of transportation."Krei said to four government officials, walking towards the circular machine. It was complete, as was the other one. The room was bright under the white lights. A scientist was standing in front of the other machine. "Friends, I present project silent sparrow!"
Suddenly, the machine turned on, glowing a light blue that rivaled the lights above, moving like ripples in water. Gogo and Honey Lemon looked at each other in surprise. These machines were portals. The group became curious, wondering what happened to make them abandon this place.
"General, may I?" Krei asked, gesturing at the larger man's hat. The general looked at it before handing it to the business man. Krei nodded and threw it at the portal. On the other side of the room, the scientist standing in front of the second portal caught the general's hat as it flew straight for his chest. The scientist waved the hat at them. Tadashi and the others' eyes widened, leaning back and mouths gaping in shock.
"Whoa! Magic hat!" Fred cried out. The scientist turned back to the portal and threw the hat back into it, making it land perfectly into Krei's hand a moment later. The general laughed in satisfaction.
"Teleportation." Krei said, dusting the hat off as he handed it back to the general. "The transport of matter instantaneously through space. Not science fiction anymore." With that, the business man led the officials back to the observation room. The government officials looked around at the multiple scientists and computers, taking it all in. Krei continued. "Now, we didn't spend billions of tax dollars to teleport hats. Ladies and gentlemen, you're here to witness history." He turned to one of the computer consoles and pressed a button. "Ready to go for a ride, Abigail?"
"We've invited all these people, might as well give 'em a show." A woman in a white suit and helmet stepped into a pod, a bright and excited smile on her face. Pressing switches within the pod, it began to close, locking her inside. The pod began moving closer to portal one.
"T-minus thirty seconds to launch." a computer voice said. "Twenty-nine...Twenty-eight..."
"This is argo."
"Capsule's in position."
"Twenty-seven..."
"Sir, we've picked up a slight irregularity in the magnetic containment field." a male scientist said, a frown of worry on his face. Krei turned to him, bending down for a closer look as the general looking over the scientist's shoulder.
"Mr. Krei, is there a problem?" the general said suspiciously. Krei straightened himself and turned back to his audience, backing off with hands behind his back. "No. No problem. It's well within the parameters." Some of the scientists looked at him weirdly, but never said anything, turning back to their duties."Let's move forward."
Abigail took a deep breath and closed her eyes, removing any insecurity. When she opened her hazel eyes, they were filled with determination and courage. "Three...Two...One..."
"Cabin pressure is go."
"Pod engaged." Abigail leaned back as the pod began to move, zooming into the portal. When she went inside, it created a ripple.
"Field breach! Abort!" another scientist cried. "We've lost all contact with the pod." Krei leaned back down, checking over the computer. Portal two began to glow orange-red in heat before exploding, fire blazing out of it. The group of college students gasped at the sight.
"Oh, no." Honey Lemon muttered sadly.
"It's breaking up!"
"The pilot is gone."
"Portal two is down." Krei tried pressing some keys, making the scientist in front of him move back to give him space. Portal one suddenly started sucking things in, bits of broken metal being the first to go.
"The magnetic containment field's down!" One of the cameras broke, now revealing a black screen. The observation room shook, making everyone brace themselves. It was about to go into the portal too.
"Krei, shut it down now!"Following the general's orders, Krei started pressing keys again before slamming his hand on the last one. Portal one shut off, the loose metal pieces falling down. "I want this island sealed off!"
"The government shut down Krei's experiment." Tadashi said in disbelief.
"And he's using Hiro's microbots to steal his machine back." Honey Lemon added. Baymax turned around, sensing something. There was a giant piece of concrete outside the window.
Tadashi was unaware of the coming danger. "Krei is the guy in the mask."
"Oh no." Baymax said. The group turned around, but it was already too late. The concrete shattered the glass, destroying whatever was in that room. Yokai, standing on his microbots, started turning away, believing they were finished.
Honey Lemon coughed as the armoured robot lifted the concrete with his back, acting as their shield against the piece of rock. The group stood up.
"Baymax, get us out of here." Tadashi ordered. Immediately, Baymax shot a rocket powered first into the concrete, breaking it into tiny pieces. Yokai turned back to them, surprised. The rocket fist came back to Baymax, clicking into place.
"Go for the transmitter. Behind his mask." Tadashi instructed. It was the only plan he could come up with in the helicopter. Yokai shook his head in annoyance and sent microbots towards them. In an attempt to protect everyone, Baymax brought up one of the pieces of concrete and used it as a shield, only for it to break and send the armoured robot backwards.
"Baymax!" Tadashi cried out, jumping over debris to reach his creation. Wasabi looked to the rest of the group.
"All right, what's the plan?"
"It's Fred time." Fred said with a smirk. The brunet then proceeded to run. He jumped with all his strength upon reaching the edge, soaring in the air. "Super jump!" Yokai watched as the brunet started coming towards him. "Gravity crush!" Without lifting a finger, the man in black made the microbots hit the comic lover, making his opponent fall away from him. "Falling hard."
"Seriously, what is the plan?" Wasabi asked more desperately. Gogo merely turned on her maglev dicks.
"Get the mask." With that, she zoomed away.
"Right behind you." Honey Lemon said, following after her.
"For real, what is the plan?!"
Gogo ignored him. Instead, she glided along some metal cables, throwing some debris she picked up at her opponent. It missed. She flipped off the cable and started zooming on a different cable. Yokai shot some microbot attacks at her. She dodged each one and then threw another piece of debris. It hit him right on the forehead of his mask, making him hold his head. As she went around him, he emerged from his hands and tried attacking her again, missing again as she moved around the room like she was on a skateboard. Gogo started moving away from Yokai, making him chase after her.
As this was going on, Honey Lemon started climbing down a metal pole, making sure she isn't seen. She watched as Gogo made another attack at Yokai, the villain following each of her attempts with an attack of his own. Gogo started gliding along the wall with Yokai right behind her, Honey Lemon gripped a piece of debris she found.
The black haired woman jumped down, her agility allowing her to dodge another attack, and tried to hit her opponent with another piece of concrete. Yokai moved out of the debris' way, just in time for the honey blonde to come out and get hit on the head. The concrete she was holding flew into the air and landed in front of her comrade. Gogo was unable to avoid in time and she tripped, sliding right into her friend, making her fall over. The two groaned. Yokai was about to attack again until a voice called.
"Hey!" The villain turned to see Wasabi, who backed away when the attention was suddenly on him. "You want to dance, masked man? Huh?" The bandana wearer said uncertainly before jumping, getting pumped up. "'Cause you'll be dancing with these." Bringin up his hands, two plasma daggers appeared, glowing a dangerous green as he swung them around. "Hand over the mask, or you'll get a taste of this! And a little bit of that! Hah!"
Yokai started using the microbots to create multiple attacks at once. Wasabi started slashing at the microbots at random. Surprisingly, he was able to get every single one of them, coming out without a single scratch.
"Whoo! Hey! I did all right." he said in surprised relief. He turned back to his opponent. "Is that all you got?" Wasabi was about to move, but he just couldn't. Looking down, the bandana wearer found his feet trapped in micorbots. "Oh. You got that, too?"
With two fingers, Yokai ordered the microbots to fling Wasabi to the side. Fred suddenly emerged, jumping around, unaware of what was coming his way. "It's back into the fire!"
Wasabi crashed into him, making them slide right into Gogo and Honey Lemon. As they tried to get up, Yokai created a wave of microbots, getting ready to squash them. His hands moving to emphasize his commands, he was about to deliver the final attack when suddenly, a rocket powered fist slammed into the microbots, catching the villain off-guard. Not a second later, Tadashi jumped from a metal cable, crashing into Yokai. Upon collision, the mask fell off, making the little black machines fall limp, some landing on the group. Recovering, Tadashi looked up and saw the mask. He quickly grabbed it and turned to Yokai, staring at the man's back as he stood up. From a balcony, the others gathered behind him.
"It's over, Krei." Slowly, the man started to stand up and he turned around, revealing a very angry Professor Callaghan. Tadashi's glare softened into one of confusion. "Pro-Professor Callaghan?" The group behind him gasped, completely shocked. "The explosion...You died."
"No. I had the microbots."
"But, Hiro. You just let him die." Tadashi said, holding back a sob, unable to stop the crack in his voice.
"Give me the mask, Tadashi." Callaghan approached the younger male, hand outstretched violently. Tadashi backed away from him.
"He went to the convention because of you!"
"That was his mistake!"
Those words made Tadashi's blood go cold, his eyes wide. Callaghan killed Hiro and he was in no way remorseful. Callaghan didn't care that his actions had taken a life, that he caused the demise of a sweet, smart fourteen year old boy. It was his fault. It was his fault. IT WAS HIS FAULT! Tadashi's gaze turned into a harsh glare as Baymax came to his side. Any form of respect or rationality just washed out of him and was replaced with pure rage.
"Baymax, destroy." Tadashi ordered darkly. Callaghan's face changed from anger to worry. He had never thought the younger male could say such words. Baymax turned to him.
"My programing prevents me from injuring a human being."
"Not anymore." Without a second thought, the inventor opened Baymax and took out the healthcare chip, throwing it away.
"Tadashi, this is not what-" Not willing to listen, Tadashi pushed the fighting chip back in. Immediately, Baymax's vision went completely red.
"Do it, Baymax!" Tadashi roared, making the armed robot turn to him. "Destroy him!" Baymax quickly lifted his arm and fired his rocket powered fist. Callaghan got out of the way, trying to make a break for it as Baymax got reloaded and got ready to shoot again. Gogo appeared and tackled the robot's arm, making him miss his target.
"No! Stop, Baymax!" she cried, trying to push him back, but he wouldn't listen. The robot knocked her away. She crashed into the wall as he got his arm back. Baymax then proceeded to chased after Callaghan, who was scrambling to get away. The robot started knocking over metal beams, his red eyes focused on his target.
Suddenly, out of the blue, Black Iris appeared, knocking Baymax to the ground with two feet to the face. The group saw this, but did not have much time to react as he jumped back when the armoured robot tried to grab the indigo hero as he got off the ground. However, while Black Iris managed to get away, it wasn't a complete miss. Baymax had succeeded in grabbing his opponent's metal pouch. The hero widened his eyes with a gasp as the robot threw it to the side and started to approach him.
A movement seen from the corner of Baymax's camera made the robot turn its head, vision focusing on his original target. Callaghan was trying to get away, using Black Iris as a distraction. Turning away from the hero, the robot went after the villain, breaking pillars that were in his way.
"No! Baymax!" Black Iris exclaimed, going after him again. He tried to reach for the robot's chest in an attempt to remove the fighting chip, but Baymax intercepted it and the two started to block and attack each other with karate moves. "Tadashi! Please! You have to stop him!"
"No, you stop! He's getting away!" Tadashi cried, gripping the mask harder as he gestured to Callaghan. Black Iris grunted in frustration.
"Baymax, that's enough!" the indigo hero cried, punching Baymax in the head. Flipping and kicking, Black Iris was able to hold his own against the armed robot while trying to reach the chip, but just as he was about to reach it, Baymax activated his rocket powered arm. It hit Black Iris right in the chest armour, knocking him back into a staircase, the metal breaking upon impact.
In a lame attempt, Fred tried to stop Baymax as well, grabbing hold of Baymax's arm. It wasn't effective. Baymax threw him off with ease, knocking the brunet into Tadashi. This crash made the inventor drop the mask and ultimately giving Yokai his chance to grab it.
"Baymax!" Gogo called, grabbing his arm, trying to hold him back. Wasabi and Fred joined her, grabbing the robot's leg and torso. Yokai called the microbots, disappearing to the upper levels before Tadashi's very eyes. Honey Lemon found the healthcare chip and knew exactly what to do. As her friends were knocked off, just as Baymax was about to shoot his rocket fist at Yokai, Honey Lemon put the chip back where it belonged. Baymax's arm lowered as his usual self returned. With that, Yokai successfully escaped.
Honey Lemon let out a sigh of relief as she noticed the look in Baymax's eyes changed. Fred groaned, struggling to get up. Baymax blinked at the scene, tilting his head in various angles. He knew what he had done.
"My healthcare protocol has been violated." Baymax turned to the group, helping Fred get back on his feet. He watched as the group backed away a little, panting. "I regret any distress I may have caused."
"How could you do that? I had him!" Tadashi yelled, going up to a distressed Honey Lemon. Wasabi gently pushed him back.
"What you just did, we never signed up for."
"We said we'd catch the guy." Tadashi turned away as Gogo glared at him angrily. "That's it."
Just as Tadashi was about to retort, Baymax said something that would change everything.
"Hiro is hurt. He must receive medical attention." Everyone froze, their eyes wide.
"W-What?" Tadashi looked at his robot in shock. As Baymax started walking, the group's gaze followed him to the spot where Black Iris had fallen unconscious.
Upon being hit by Baymax's fist and crashing into the staircase, Black Iris' helmet had been knocked off, revealing a very familiar mop of hair. Tadashi couldn't believe his eyes.
"…H-Hiro?"
