I.

"Morning, Aunt Cass." Hiro said as he past his aunt the next morning, kissed her on the cheek, then grabbed up an apple and headed back towards his lab. She noticed.

"Hiro, aren't you forgetting someone?"

Baymax straightened up from taking some blueberry muffins out of the oven.

"You're right," Hiro brightened. "Good morning, Mochi." he scratched his quizzical cat.

"Hiro Hamada!"

"Morning, Bay." The teen past him without a second glance.

This hurt Cassandra more than she would like to admit.

"Did Hiro often ignore Tadashi when he was angered?"

She wiped down the last of the newly-tiled tables Baymax had done for her last night.

"No," she said in disappointment.

...

"I gotta make it up to everyone," Hiro said in a determined voice. He clicked on some of the scrapped designs for Baymax's suit. The hematic color of the first caused him to avert his eyes and bring the shade down to it's darkest red; a deep, blackish color.

When he looked up he grinned.

"Excellent." Hiro said and he applied the swatch to the now Gothic-looking robot.

I should have done this in the first place. A fully-designed battle bot superhero!

If Hiro had any misgivings, they weren't known to him. He placed his original chip into the back of his machine's neck, picked up a standard controller and brought the tall invention to life... so to speak. It moved, flexed and flashed it's pointed features for it's creator. Hiro chuckled and held out his arms in a hero's pose. The bot copied him.

BOW!

A hole blew through the roof and sunlight streamed in. Hiro went slack-jawed.

His limbless creation blinked up at the sun, then flew away. He turned sour as some mortar fell on his head and called the machine back by pressing down on his remote.

...

The teen next moved onto a smaller, blue robot. Hiro adjusted the circular, knight-like armor of his bot and then set it down in front of his old, black battle bot. Next he took off his shoes and socks with his feet, picked up a second controller with his toes, then went to 'work' and let the two bots fight. Hiro went into a two-player set-of-mind and had his new bot anticipate the moves of his old one and block them in a fast, frenzied motion. He grinned and nodded as he picked up speed but grimaced when his newest bot tried ripping his old one apart. Hiro tried re-gaining control when he met it's eyes.

They were tiny and red.

Aunt Cass and Baymax, in his black, Waffle Hut uniform, peered around the partially opened garage door to find Hiro running around in circles with his blue bot chasing him and his old bot clinging to his ankle. The miniature machine cornered him back against the wall. Hiro was shaking as he hastily used the black bot to dissemble the other rogue one. "Gah!" He gasped, throwing his controller at it and straightening up.

"Hiro," Baymax walked over to him, Aunt Cass followed close behind.

"Oh, hey guys." The teen stood up casually and used his shoe to conceal the blue bot behind his leg. "What's shakin'?" His aunt came up and felt his forehead. "Aunt Cass."

"I think Hiro creating a new superhero bot is a practical idea."

They both turned to him.

"However, I recommend an auto shut-down feature for a more battle-designed robot."

Hiro grinned and held out both fists to him.

Baymax blinked. "I, must arrive promptly my first day." He shuffled towards his car.

The teen dropped his arms and looked at his aunt.

Cassandra folded her own and raised a brow at him.

"When did Baymax get his driver's licence?" Hiro asked.

She dropped her arms, too.

...

Taking a quick breath, Hiro used a pair of chopsticks to put the finishing touches on his newest superhero bot... it was half the size of his pinkie finger. He was grinning again as ideas flooded his mind: An entire army of thumb-sized superhero robots! It was genius. "No," Hiro folded his arms and sighed in self-satisfaction. "I'm a genius."

Maybe he didn't even need to get that invention back with this-,

Red eyes the size of specks flashed up at him.

Hiro was screaming as it spun him around rapidly by the pinkie.

"Whoa! Whoa." Wasabi suddenly appeared and planted his shoe down on it. "Hiro," he helped him to his feet. "Dude, I don't know if death-by-tiny-bot is the way to go, bro."

"Funny," Hiro breathed, but met his eyes in acknowledgment. "What's up, Wasabi?"

"Whole lotta nothin'." He admitted as he stepped back and wheeled Baymax's old suit up. "The team and I managed to scrounge-," Hiro tossed a wrench at the chest cavity.

"Dude!"

"What'd you bring that here for?" The teen asked, going pale and sweaty.

"Hey, hey, it's okay..." Wasabi approached him gently.

"You're doing it again!" Hiro nearly shouted.

This made him pull back. "What?"

"Treating me like a kid! Look, I appreciate everything you and the team do, but-,"

"Really?" Wasabi cut him off. "You do? Considering that we've covered for you for an entire month, you get us worked up thinking we're disbanding. We stood by you, and now you think you can treat us like this. Like we never tried to help you or anything."

Hiro's eyes widened. "Wasabi..."

"No, kid. Okay, fine. Kid. Because that's how you're acting."

The two sized each other up. Hiro stood in defiance.

Wasabi sighed and gave him an ultimatum,

"You gotta get your problems under control. We need a leader we can rely on and if you aren't it, well, maybe we should find another." His sadness became evident and Hiro saw that Wasabi looked at him like... like he was Tadashi. Wasabi saw this, too.

"There's nothing wrong with me." Hiro insisted. His eyes and tone said different.

"Maybe it's time you started considering what you really want to do, Hiro." Wasabi backed out of the garage. "Instead of what Tadashi or Maxie or even Cass wants you to do, think about what you want to do. Not just to get by, but really want to do Hiro."

"Thanks, Bi." Hiro said softly.

Wasabi's mouth tugged up at the side and he touched his fist with a bow.

Hiro bowed back.

The teen walked over to sit by his computer as the sun set behind the San Fransoyko cityscape. Hiro studied the transparent glass of his monitor and saw the light hit the side of the collected armor perfectly. His eyes rounded and he turned to see the large silhouette of what was once Baymax. Hiro considered what Wasabi had said and took a roll of green tape from behind the other ones Baymax had been using. He pulled the strip out and thought more, Hiro then looked up at the first-aid kit tacked to the wall.

It had been there since Tadashi and Hiro had built their lab together six years earlier.

A smile lit Hiro's face and he looked down at the tape in his hands.

"Hiro." Baymax waddled up to him in a gourmet chef's hat.

"Maxie." The teen jumped up and smiled at his friend's white ensemble. "You don't need to worry about me anymore. Momentai... as I remember someone saying, I dunno." he shook his head at the vague memory. "It's what my bots are lacking."

"I need you to dissemble me."

Hiro paused.

Baymax blinked.

"Uh... okay, um, have you just lost your mind, Maxie?"

The robot didn't answer.

"I know why my bots are so aggressive and freaky, it's because they're not like you."

"Hiro," Baymax said squarely again. "I need you to dissemble me, because I believe there is a surveillance chip implanted in my body. Even possibly on my suit." It took half a moment, then Hiro had his phone's light on checking every nook and corner of the suit Wasabi had wheeled up. "I believe it was implanted in the folds of my neck."

The teen looked up and then leapt over immediately to inspect him. Baymax did not crane like most people did. He instead took Hiro by his underarms like he'd done that first day when Hiro came back and set him down on his feet. Hiro touched Baymax's big arms. "There is no. way. I'm taking you apart, Maxie. I might be upset, but, I..."

He held out his arms to him, but then Hiro recalled something else from that day:

Aunt Cass had gone without a hug from her only living nephew.

"Hiro, my sole purpose is to protect and provide care for the sick and injured. If I am unable do either, and I am aptly sufficient at minimum wage positions and most high-paying jobs I would merely need to download information to succeed at, there is no other reason for my being here." Hiro looked sick. "You look unwell, I can scan you but it may provide a video link to whomever is targeting us." He really looked at Hiro.

"Baymax." The boy's voice was weak.

"Why do you need me, Hiro? If I am not a healthcare companion to you."

"I didn't say you weren't, you said you weren't."

But why? Even if Hiro had relapsed, why was it affecting Baymax so much?

"I nearly harmed you."

"You're my friend." Hiro fought him. "There was an accident, but... I'm fine."

"But do you need me?"

The teen felt his shoulders drop. You didn't bring him back just to end things like this.

You didn't, he's your friend. Someone fought inside of Hiro. "Is this what you want?"

No, no it's not! I do need you.

Baymax seemed to think a moment:

"I believe Tadashi's chip may have been compromised." He explained.

Hiro shook his head grimly. "I'll take you apart, but I'm not destroying you."

"Even if it means I could have been infected with a virus... I would hurt people, Hiro."

The teen shook his head even harder. "I'll find whoever did this to you." he vowed.

Baymax laid a hand on his shoulder. "For the time being, you must disable me."

Hiro faced away from him and nodded. He didn't know where his friend had gone, but he was shocked to feel Baymax's arms around him. Tears fell from his eyes and went down his Maxie's round arm. "I don't know, Baymax. I'm trying. I just want you to be normal," he turned and looked up with wet eyes. "Just tell me why I feel this, Maxie."

"My previous diagnosis was that post-traumatic stress-,"

"No, I mean as a friend." He insisted.

"Hiro," Baymax was gentle, but Hiro didn't feel condescended to. "Whoever has stolen your project has also stolen the hero inside of you. What peace of mind you had is no more and I cannot help you find it this time because I am the one who has stolen it."

III.

Yīngxióng, China...

"So the robot knows the encryption code." Shou thrummed his fingers atop the metal desk. "And he also knows to block my spy's signal." he sighed roughly. "But what to do with you, brother." The man turned from the morning light that was being blocked through the long shades and stared at a bound man. "Your children have failed you."

"No." Hasaki Hamada looked up, beaten and bruised. "I will hijack the robot and give you the access code. But only if you release my wife and I." His big brother gave him an expectant frown. "And leave my children alone; our young nephew Hiro included."

Shou choked on a laugh at this last one. "Done."

The half-Japanese man in his tattered white dress shirt was thrust forward.

"And Hasaki..." The large man placed his pipe down hard, "this is your final chance."

To be continued...