Big Hero 6: The Crossover
Chapter 11: Of morals and men
Tadashi sits quietly on Fred's couch as the oldest members of Big Hero 6 brainstorm. Right now, they're facing a giant TV screen that's casting the news. It's a welcome distraction from the uncomfortable tension that's now filling the room. Despite what his friends told them last night, he knows they're still jarred by the fact that he's not their Tadashi. And as he tries to ignore the awkward smiles, fleeting glances, and, in Fred's case, the obvious stare of skepticism, he wishes he at least had one companion that isn't put off by his presence.
As their leader, Hiro is usually a part of these meetings. However, the group unanimously agreed to keep Hiro out of the investigation until further notice since he is still recovering from the 56 hours when he lacked sleep. However, the teen wasn't keen on just lying around and doing nothing for who-knows-how long, so he went to the hospital to check up on his aunt with Aya instead. Tadashi would have joined them, but he knows he'll be more useful here, helping the superheroes (and once he stepped foot in that hospital, he knew Aya and Aunt Cass would team up and lock him in the first vacant room available).
Once they congregated, his friends divulged to him their most recent case, an elusive robbery at Krei Tech. From what he gathered, their thief and Sunfire are indeed the same person, but the college students have yet to make much progress after that.
"So, how much do you actually know about Sunfire?" GoGo inquires. She's the only one who doesn't look at Tadashi like he's an alien, but her lack of eye contact betrays her aloofness.
"Not much, really," he confesses. "I didn't get to know him that well since I was running for my life. The only thing I know for sure is that he needs me for some interdimensional experiment."
"If that's true, why would you go with him?" Fred asks distrustfully. "You're not a double agent are you?"
"Tadashi's not a spy," admonishes Honey Lemon. "But Fred does have a point."
"I didn't know what else to do. He set the café on fire; it was pretty obvious at that point that he was going to do anything and everything he could to get to me. I just wanted to end things before he could hurt anyone else." There's a collective silence as the others exchange exasperated yet droll glances, as if they're sharing an inside joke. Once again, he feels like an outsider among his friends.
GoGo pops her gum. "But that still doesn't explain why he would want you."
Tadashi shrugs helplessly. Nothing has made sense to him since falling into this world.
Honey Lemon puts a comforting hand on his shoulder, but he can still feel the light hesitation as her grip loosens. "How about we just figure out why he stole the portal from Krei. Tadashi's involvement might become clearer if we do."
"And how would we go about doing that? We know absolutely nothing about this guy, besides the fact that he's equipped with a suit that projects fire and allows him to fly."
"He could still be someone working for one of Krei's competitors. It would explain why all of this has been kept under the radar."
GoGo scoffs. "Krei just doesn't want the press to know that he was negligent enough to let it happen right under his nose."
"I don't think Krei is the victim here," Wasabi finally speaks up. He's been on Hiro's laptop this entire time. Tadashi was surprised when he lent it to them; his Hiro would have murdered anyone who even breathed near his laptop. "Remember how clean his secret lab was? It was too clean, and trust me, I know clean." Tadashi exchanges a quaint smile with Honey. Of course Wasabi would brag about something like that. "It would be virtually impossible for someone to steal the portal without leaving a mark. And with Krei's tight-knit security, someone should have been able to stop him before he could get away with it."
"So Krei's obviously hiding something. That's not news." GoGo crosses her arms as she peeks over the burly man's shoulders. "But I guess it warrants hacking into his security feed."
"What?!" Honey Lemon joins them, and she frowns disapprovingly. "Wasabi!"
Wasabi has the decency to look embarrassed, but only a little. "What? Hiro was already on the site. I just so happened to find an exclusive backstage pass into Krei Tech's security system."
Tadashi just watches his black friend as he continues with his morally ambiguous task. He doesn't know much about Alistair Krei, but from what he's heard so far, he's not a fan favorite of the team. The eponymous business man doesn't have stellar reputation in his world, either, as he's known to oftentimes take shortcuts and make shady deals in order to get what he wants. This Krei doesn't seem much different. Although Tadashi wouldn't normally approve of his friend's actions, he's too curious to care at the moment. What Krei doesn't know won't hurt him.
Wasabi pulls out a cord and plugs it into Hiro's laptop. Catching on, Fred grabs a remote and with an audible click, the image on the large screen changes. It's a video, and the paused image shows a lab filled with people. Most of them are scientists garbed in generic white lab coats. Standing in the middle of the lab are two distinct individuals who are dressed as if they should be in an executive office. The well-dressed, smug-looking man in the blue Italian suit can only be Alistair Krei, and the astute woman at his side looking at her phone must be his assistant. Krei is looking directly at the portal, his avid gaze practically gleaming with hunger.
"Krei really did rebuild the portal." Honey Lemon sounds surprised, contrary to the guileless looks on the other's faces.
"Was there really any doubt?" GoGo replies sardonically.
"Look at the corner of the screen." Wasabi points at the top right-hand corner of the TV, where fuzzy digits dot the screen. It's the date the video was recorded. "This happened a week ago."
With another pop of her gum, GoGo joins Tadashi on the other side of the couch and reclines as if she's about to watch a movie. "Let's get this over with."
As the video plays, Tadashi focuses closely on the portal itself. It remains dormant throughout a majority of the video. There's a lot of talking going on, mostly yelling from Krei himself, until finally the portal comes to life. Everyone on camera watches in awe as the swirling vortex inside the machine's apparatus convulses, causing the portal to shake and the room to quake. There's panic throughout the lab as all the scientists try to take control of the situation before blackness starts to creep up from the bottom of the screen.
"… Is that it?" GoGo almost sounds disappointed, and Tadashi shares the sentiment. He'd really hoped this video would give them some answers.
In the background, Tadashi hears a few clicks and frustrated murmuring, but his eyes never leave the screen. "That's the only video I could find in the secret lab. The cameras must have been disabled after that."
"Dudes, I think I figured it out." Fred, who has been surprisingly quiet for a while, stands up and turns to his friends. His face is the epitome of profound insight. Suddenly, he points to the Baymax, who has been looking at Fred's superhero paraphernalia from the back of the room in silence. "Baymax, you scanned Sunfire the other day, right? Is there some sort of DNA match thingy you can do to find him in the city?"
A pregnant pause. "There is no genetic match."
"I knew it!"
Tadashi exchanges a confused glance with the rest of his friends, for once feeling more included now that he's not the only one out of the loop. "Care to share with the rest of us, Fred?"
"I know how Sunfire got into Krei Tech!"
A collective silence follows. Finally, GoGo rubs a hand over her face tiredly. "I'm going to hate myself for asking this: How Fred?"
Seeing no objections, Fred fires himself up for one hell of an exposition. "Okay, so remember what Tadashi told us yesterday about falling through the portal when he ran into Sunfire? Well… what if he wasn't the only one?"
"Are you saying that Sunfire's from an alternate world," Honey infers, "like Tadashi?"
Fred nods so fervently Tadashi's afraid his head will fly off. "Think about it! This video took place a week ago. That's plenty of time to take the portal and set it up in some secret location somewhere in San Fransokyo, and this city's got abandoned warehouses for days! Plus with all that equipment, he would need a team to transport it from the lab. Sunfire's not working for Krei; Krei is working for Sunfire!"
"But why would Krei willingly give him the portal?" asks Wasabi.
"He wears a suit made of fire!" Nobody can argue with that logic. "Then I remembered when Callaghan rebuilt the portal, it was just as unstable as when they first tested it. He didn't fix any of the mistakes they made when he lost his daughter. Suddenly this fiery fiend has come out of the shadows, snatching up pieces of a puzzle that our former nemesis couldn't solve. A few days later, Tadashi returns, and now Sunfire's after our resurrected ally. Which means…"
Tadashi can practically feel his cranial lightbulb flicker to life. "Sunfire must have found a way to travel through dimensions."
"EXACTLY! It's just like volume three issue seven of Captain Dandy!"
Wasabi gawks at them both. "Wait, what just happened?"
Honey laughs nervously. "Should we be concerned that Fred's making more sense than usual?"
"It does sounds crazy, but so does interdimensional travel," rejoins GoGo. "And Fred's come up with crazier stuff. It's the most logical explanation anyone's made so far. Sunfire may still be a mystery to us, but we can't deny that he's clever. His genetic signature doesn't match anyone in the city according to Baymax, so it can't have been someone working for Krei or his rivals. And if we fill in the blanks from the video, he may have literally come out of nowhere. If he has the technological know-how to repair the portal itself, then he knows exactly how it works. He knows what he's doing."
"But wouldn't we know if there was a working portal somewhere in San Fransokyo?"
"He's probably still missing a few essential pieces. He can't get it to work unless he has all the proper equipment."
"And Tadashi is one of those pieces!" Fred jumps out of the way of a flying couch cushion.
"In that case, we're working on limited time." Tadashi stands as he addresses his friends. As his eyes sweep the room, he notices that their expression are less haunted. At the moment, they're no longer looking at some interdimensional clone of their deceased best friend; they're just looking at him, Tadashi. "There's no telling why Sunfire needs me specifically, but we can assume that he's still missing some components needed to make the portal function properly. I don't remember much when I was in the other dimension, but I think my time there may be the reason why he wants me. And unless I turn myself in to Sunfire and let him experiment on me—"
"Which is definitely not happening."
"—we're going to have to figure out how to stop him before he can finish building the portal."
"And I don't want to be that guy," Wasabi holds a hand up reluctantly as if they're in a classroom setting, "but we still have to study for finals, so the sooner we find Sunfire, the better."
The reminder of school suddenly has the other members of Big Hero 6 groaning. Tadashi hasn't even thought about school since first entering this world. If it's been three months since his alternate self died, then how much time has passed in his own world?
As the other begin to deliberate their next move, Tadashi thinks back to that moment when he fell. The familiar ache that companies the act of remembrance returns, and he rubs his aching temple. It seems there's still something in his memory that he can't find, and it may be the key to all of this. Perhaps there's someone else who can help them figure it out. There's only one person who comes to mind, but Tadashi almost doesn't want to dredge it up. With their shaky history, he's not sure how the others will agree with his idea. But if they want any insight of Sunfire's plans, then they need an expert.
He clears his throat to recapture his friends' attention. "So, I think I know someone else who can at least give us an idea of what happened to me in the other dimension."
"And who might that be?" asks Honey.
He emits a sheepish smile, scratching his cheek. "Where's Callaghan staying nowadays?"
O—O
Damn Big Hero 6!
He was so close; the solution to his dilemma had been literally within in his grasp! But his friends—those damn superheroes—ruined his plans once again!
It was supposed to be so simple. Right after the younger brother left for school, the aunt was supposed to open the café, leaving the boy alone, and he could grab him, leaving no one the wiser. But the aunt hadn't opened the café, and the boy wasn't alone. They spent the whole day together. This made things difficult, but he refused to let this little setback deter his plan. It was time to suit up and do what he did best:
Light things up.
For anyone else, this job wouldn't be easy. That kitchen was a fortress; not even a nuclear explosion could knock the roof off this little café. But with some carbonic acid and a tiny hint of hydrogen peroxide, the kitchen would light up with ease. The homemade concoction he developed was a colorless, odorless gas that lit anything it touched, and when it was put out with water, it immediately dissolved; it was completely untraceable. The flames would spread quickly. Hopefully the two occupants would notice it before it was too late. He needed the boy alive, after all.
He waited above the building, sitting behind the giant calico motionlessly waving at the people below. After one minute, the entire first floor was covered in smoke, but no sign of either the boy or his aunt. As the smoke escaped the doors, a crowd steadily grew outside the café. This made him nervous. Surely they would have noticed it by now? Finally, aunt and nephew ran out of the café, breathless and sooty.
A pair of bystanders in the crowd helped them on the curb on the other side of the street. The boy himself looked unharmed, but he couldn't say the same for the aunt. A nasty gash bled profusely from her arm, and her skin was slowly getting paler. His intention wasn't for anyone to get hurt, but there were no guarantees once he lit the kitchen aflame. The boy must have noticed her injury as well because he immediately scanned the streets. He looked ready to murder.
Perfect.
He immediately took flight. He wanted the boy to notice his presence, to let his rage take precedence over common sense and take off after the villain who put his family in harm's way. And just as he predicted the boy left the scene, albeit hesitantly. But once the ambulance arrived, he became more surefooted; his aunt would be safe, and so would everyone else.
He stopped on top of a building a few blocks away. Not a moment too soon, the boy entered the alley between this building and the adjacent one. His breathing was extremely heavy, his face pallid, yet fiercely determined.
"Hey! Your beef is with me, not my family! If you want me, you got me! Just keep them out of it!"
He had to admire that boy's tenacity. Even after inhaling an innumerable amount of smoke, he still had the energy to run here and shout at his invisible stalker. And now he was offering himself, right on a silver platter. It was an attractive offer: he'd have the boy, no one would get hurt, and he could finally finish his experiment.
Who was he to refuse?
He flew down to the seething boy and proffered his hand. He would agree to these terms. On two conditions.
"No more running. No more hiding."
Looking into the boy's eyes, he saw indecision, but it was quickly replaced with firm resolve. His hand was so close, he could just reach out and take the boy right now. But he held himself back; it wouldn't do to scare him off and break their momentary truce. This was it. This was the end. He would finally accomplish his goal and reach beyond the boundaries of space and time. He could already feel the interdimensional plane bending at his whim…
Suddenly, a yellow streak broke their accord, disappearing just as quickly.
"Hold it right there, villain!"
And just like that, his dreams were stomped, and in the form of a three-eyed blue and orange monster.
But that streak and the creature that followed it couldn't have come from nowhere. Looking up, he saw a giant red suit of armor floating above. Two more figures were attached to it, one yellow and the other violet.
It was those superheroes Krei warned him about: Big Hero 6.
"Finally! An adversary I can contend with! Hath at thee, fiery fiend!"
From the muffled voice, it was obviously a man in a costume—a high-powered flame-throwing costume with high jumps and flexible limbs. It was actually a rather impressive design, but he had no time to marvel the engineering of this strange beast, not when it was standing between him and endless possibilities.
The fight lasted much longer than he anticipated. The monster was much faster than it looked, and his flames matched his in power and intensity. But this hopping fool lacked any combative skills; he was just throwing the flames around and simply hoping for the best, which left him with many vulnerabilities. So whenever the beast stopped breathing fire, he would come in and hit him with everything he had. He was about to go in for the finishing blow when something hit him in the head, jarring his vision. In the next instant, a yellow streak glided up to the three-eyed monster, helping him up. The yellow hero held up her arm, and a yellow disk reattached itself to her. It resembled the disks attached to her ankles. Upon closer inspection, he saw that her feet weren't even touching the ground. Magnetic suspension. How the hell was he supposed to combat that?
Once the heroes were both on their feet, they immediately teamed up on him. If this fight prolonged, he'd run out of power, so for the time being he retreated. He knew the bouncing blue monster was following him, but his main concern was the boy. Unfortunately, when he returned to the alley, he and the violet and red heroes were nowhere to be found.
Damn those heroes! What the hell were they even doing anywhere near the café, anyway? There was no way something as menial as a house fire would attract the attention of a superhero team! This wasn't how today was supposed to turn out! His plans, ruined…
No, not yet. He refused to let this… minor inconvenience get the best of him.
The red hero couldn't have gone far. More than likely, the boy was taken to the hospital to be treated for the smoke inhalation. And so that's where finds himself several hours later, dressed in his civvies. He asks for the aunt—Cass Hamada, his dear cousin, he told the nurse at the front desk—and heads to her designated room. Peeking through the blinds in the window of the room, he sees her holding her arm, which is now bandaged, and worrying her lip. He turns away when he sees a doctor approach and listens in as he talks to the aunt.
"Has he checked in yet?"
"I'm sorry, Ms. Hamada, but no one's seen him."
"B-B-But those heroes—those heroes promised they'd find him. He should be here!"
"I don't know what to tell you. Your nephew hasn't been checked in yet. I'm sorry."
This isn't good. If they didn't bring him here, then where the hell is he? Do these heroes have some sort of underground medical headquarters or something?
It doesn't matter. The aunt is here. The boy will come here to visit her eventually.
He makes to leave when the sudden sound of sobbing reaches his ears. He turns back to the window and sees the aunt crying into her hands. It makes him feel… unsettled. The longer she cries, the harder his heart clenches. He should just leave; she is no concern of his. She's just one of those obstacles, a victim who was at the wrong place at the wrong time…
In the end, he stays. He listens to her lamentations, even though there is nothing he can do to help her. He stays until he is asked to leave, but the cries still haunt him all throughout the night.
