Chapter Ten: No One Home

Fred stared. Either he was seeing things, or there was a lot more going on than any of them had imagines. "Is that a bullet hole?"

The small group was only a few blocks away from the café when Fred paused to check something out. With no contact from either GoGo or Hiro, the remaining three had hoofed it to Hiro's house.

Wasabi slowed to check on the irregularity Fred had found. "Looks like it," he confirmed, clenching gloved fists.

They'd all agreed to go in gear. Chances were good that something had happened to the others. They'd worn baggy clothes over their suits, to try and blend in, though Wasabi wasn't sure it was working all that well. They'd received a few stares on the way over.

Honey Lemon moved in to inspect the area Fred indicated. "I found a casing," she announced, picking up the metal fragment. Her heart skipped a beat when she came across a wrapper from Hiro's brand of gummy bears. It wasn't actual evidence, but it made her worry all the more. "Let's hurry to the café and check on things," she requested.

"Yeah," Fred echoed, moving away from the marks on the brickwork. "I don't know about you guys, but I got a bad feeling."

Wasabi glanced around. "Don't say that," he admonished. "Let's just get going and see what's going on." With those words, the three continued on to the café, each being more cautious than before.

It didn't take long to reach the store, despite a few pauses to make sure no one was paying too much attention to them. Stealth wasn't exactly their thing. But they made it, safe and sound. Wasabi tried the front door, which was locked. The windows were still intact, though, which was a good sign.

Honey went to check the side door, which led straight to the living area. It, too, was locked. "Let's check the garage," she said.

The garage door was closed, just as they'd left it. Opening it revealed nothing out of place, thankfully. But, despite that, tension didn't abate. They'd seen no sign of Hiro, GoGo, or Baymax.

"Not good," Wasabi intoned, running a hand over his dreads. "I don't know about you, but I think something happened and they never made it here. The question is what."

Honey bit her lip, wondering the same thing.

"What do you mean, they're the same?" GoGo asked as she watched the Doctor running back and forth inside the TARDIS. "And while you're at it, can you explain why we're in outer space?"

Grinning like the mad hatter, the Doctor held up the rock he'd retrieved from outside the odd spaceship. "This rock is emitting the same energy that Hiro is," he explained. "As for why we're in space, well, when the asteroid exploded, the TARDIS decided to go a bit wonky. She's always liked having her way. Must have thought we needed to be here for some reason."

GoGo ground her teeth. This man was so maddening. He answered every question, mostly, but in such a way as to make her go crazy. "She? You're not just saying that be to like most guys and their cars, are you?"

Rose shook her head at that one. "He's not. There really is something more to the TARDIS than just being a ship."

"Do you mean the TARDIS is an artificial intelligence?" Baymax inquired. He'd returned to where Hiro still lay, unconscious on the bench seat.

"Oh no," the Doctor replied. "Not at all. She's as alive as any living thing in the universe. There's nothing artificial about her."

"I see." Baymax tilted his head as if glancing at the floor. He wasn't sure he understood what the man meant, but it was worth contemplating. "How does this relate to Hiro's condition?"

Giving a thoughtful shrug, the Doctor went back to the controls and made a few adjustments. Then, he threw a lever, causing the central column to agitate once more. "Don't you see? If the energy is the same, then it means there is an entity out there that is somehow connecting the two. It's not the rock itself. That's just space junk, albeit good space junk. I'm sure anyone would love to get their hands on it. Great for many different applications."

Something clicked in GoGo's head. " It's obvious someone wanted to get their hands on it. All you have to do is look at what's happened," she pointed out. "So, what kind of applications?"

The TARDIS began to whine, though not with the same grindingly painful tone as it had before. This was more stable. The floor shook a bit, then settled as the central column returned to its stationary norm.

"Oh, all kinds," the Doctor replied, checking the readout on the monitor. "Construction. Weapons…"

GoGo put up a hand to stop him there. "Weapons?" She eyed him critically.

The Doctor gave another noncommittal shrug. "Well, yes. Anyone who wanted to could use it to create weapons of mass destruction." He rubbed at his chin. "In fact, it's the kind of thing I'd expect from those men who were shooting at us." His eyes narrowed as he contemplated that possibility.

"We should tell the others," GoGo said, reaching for her phone. When she tried to activate it, however, the screen remained blank. "What the?"

Hearing the confusion in her voice, the Time Lord took the phone from her hands and looked at it. "Battery's dead," he announced. "Must have drained when the TARDIS took off. I'm guessing she tried to use whatever energy she could to sustain flight, and since you were connected to her by holding that lever, she took the charge right out of your phone. That, or it just got zapped by all the static in the air. Either is possible."

The girl glared at him for a moment, then, taking the phone, she slid it back into her pocket. "Well, that's just great." She moved over to Hiro and began searching in his pockets.

"May I ask what you are doing?" Baymax inquired, noting the girl's strange behavior.

GoGo stopped riffling through Hiro's pockets in frustration. "Drat. It's not here." She let out her breath in a huff. "Hiro's phone's gone."

"Want to borrow mine?" Rose asked, holding out her cell. "Gets really good reception." She gave the Doctor a knowing look. In a previous incarnation, he'd done a bit of "jiggery pokery" on it, making it capable of making calls from the past and future, among other things.

Taking the phone, GoGo dialed Honey's number from memory. "Let's just hope someone answers," she said.

Honey grabbed for her phone like someone was trying to steal it. She didn't recognize the number on the ID, but things were too weird to not answer. She hit the appropriate button and put the phone to her ear. "Hello?"

The Latino went very still for a second, her face showing an array of emotion. "GoGo!" she all but screamed as excitement dominated her face. "We're here at the café! Where are you guys? We thought you'd be here by now."

The girl's face tensed as she listened, her shoulders hunched a bit as she cradled the phone, listening to GoGo's quick explanation of what had happened. "Mmhmm. Mmhmm. What!"

Wasabi shouldered his way over, almost tripping over the roller chair someone had forgotten to put back under the computer desk of the garage. "Honey, what's going on? Where're Hiro and the others?"

Fred placed one closed hand under his chin as he watched Honey's changing emotions. "Looks like it's something serious. You think they discovered who's behind all this mess?"

Wasabi waved him to silence. His muscles tensed as he waited for Honey to relay the information she was getting. It was difficult, but important if they were to figure out what was going on.

Several minutes passed before Honey hung up the phone. She turned to the other two with a serious face. "Guys, we've got a problem," she said.

Hiro blinked, trying to open his eyes. It was hard to tell if he was dreaming or awake, but, for whatever reason, he was back in the warehouse. Only, this time, the others weren't with him. He was completely alone.

"Hello?" he called out. The echo of his voice was the only answer. His phone rang and he reached to answer it. When he did, the only sound that came over the line was static. "Hello?"

With no further answer, he closed the phone. But instead of sliding back into his pocket, the phone dropped to the floor, shattering into a thousand pieces.

"No!" He dived towards the broken bits, realizing, at the last moment, that it was a really bad idea. But instead of hitting the ground, he went through it.

Wind rushed up past him as he clung to the steel cable protruding from Krei Tech Industries' ruined building. Above him, the portal swirled with energy. Debris flew past him, whizzing all over the place.

Looking down, he could see Professor Callaghan, suspended above a sea of blue fog. And further below, the occasional flash of Wasabi's plasma blade gloves as he sliced at the microbots trying to kill them.

But instead of flying up into the portal, the microbots reformed, striking over and over again at his friends. When Hiro looked to see the Professor, his image blurred. Instead of wearing the dark brown-ish coat and kabuki mask, he wore jet black and had a flaming face.

Crying out, Hiro let go of the cable. Without Baymax to catch him, he raced towards the portal. Turning to face it head on, he braced against the impact, suddenly aware that he was no longer wearing his gear.

He sliced through the wavering light like a hot knife through butter. Moving like a shooting star, he soon came to the area where the debris from Krei's building should have been. But instead of the expected broken glass and metal, he was met with broken rock fragments of varying size.

Still not in control of his momentum, Hiro tried to dodge what he could, but was pelted by many smaller meteors as he continued forward. Going further through the psychedelic clouds, he finally slowed down. And up ahead was the capsule again.

Hiro grabbed for the floating pod, making it slowly spin as it canceled out the rest of his forward motion. He had to close his eyes until the spinning slowed to a more manageable speed, but once he did, he couldn't resist the urge to scrape aside the frost covering the pod's window.

Fully expecting to see Abigail Callaghan, or even Tadashi inside the capsule, Hiro was unprepared for what he saw next. Instead of the expected faces, he saw his own, cradled against the cushions of the seat. He was so shocked that he let go of the pod, floating away as it spun out of reach.