Chapter Twenty Six: Warning

"And you're sure we can't get you anything?" Cass asked Wasabi as she sort of tried to herd his friends out the door. Hiro might be waking from his nap and she wanted to be there in case he needed her. "I still have half a basket full of baked goods if the food here isn't up to standard."

Wasabi waved, wincing a bit. "Nah. I'll be fine. At least they have the decency to make sure everything is separated." He didn't want to think of how that might affect his recovery if he had to deal with that disorder on top of everything else. "I'm sure they'll let me out in a day or two anyway. I can last that long."

GoGo gave him an impassive look as she chewed her gum, arms folded across her arms. Chances were good the man would be more than grateful to be released from the hospital back into his friends' care. "You heard the man," she announced with a nod of her head. "Let's get out of here before he changes his mind."

The others gave little waves as they left the room, Fred resisting the urge to try and give their OCD friend a big hug. Chances were good it would not be appreciated.

Honey let out her breath as the door to Wasabi's room closed. "Now what do we do? I have a feeling the police won't want us to go too far." She glanced over at Cass for confirmation.

"I don't know what they want you to do, but I think you'll be fine to go do some touristy stuff if you like," Cass responded. "I understand there are some really nice art museums nearby. So long as you all check in, I'm sure it won't be a problem." She smiled at her adopted family, well aware of Honey's artistic tendencies.

Fred nodded slowly. "We could totally go to a museum or two," he said thoughtfully. "And since none of us are really on the suspect list, I'm sure no one will mind." He glanced over at GoGo. "What do you think?"

The adrenaline junky popped a gum bubble as she leaned against the wall of the corridor so a nurse could get by with a tray of meds. "I could do a museum," she said in her usual noncommittal voice. "It's not quite the same without everyone there but it'll pass the time."

"Since I somehow don't think Wasabi would like any of you to drive his van, I'll just take it back to the hotel," Cass decided. "Do you need money for a taxi or a transit pass?" She'd seen the various bus stops on their way over.

Trying to make sure Cass Hamada wasn't putting out unnecessary money, Fred help up a hand, shaking his head. "I got this," he announced. "You don't need to worry about spending a dime on us, okay?" With luck, he might even come across an opportune moment to pull out that ring he still carried in his pocket. It wouldn't be the same without Hiro there to witness it, but he was sure Honey would catch the details on her phone for later perusal. If the opportunity arose that was.

Cass gave them a smile. "All right then. I hope you guys have fun." She gave a wave as she headed towards the parking garage where she'd parked the van. She only looked back once to make sure they were really okay before heading out of eyesight.

"Let's go find a taxi," Honey suggested. "It might be easier than trying to buy a bus pass. At least until we get back to the hotel and decide what else we're going to do while we're here."

Fred nodded. "I think I saw one this way," he indicated as he spun to face the opposite direction from which they'd come.

The two women shrugged as Fred moved off. Either the man was right or they'd have an adventure getting lost in the hospital, until someone could point them in the right direction.

Hiro resisted the urge to tap impatiently on the counter. They'd been there for a good ten minutes already. And sure, Loki didn't' seem to be bothered by the wait, but Hiro was getting more than a little antsy. At least Baymax was commenting on it, choosing to remain silent.

The teen hoped down from the bar stool and began to pace, trying to think through everything that had happened since they'd left San Fransokyo, not sure if it would all be related or not. But things had an interesting way of shaking out into some kind of pattern if he allowed all the pieces to kind of just mill around. In a way, it wasn't too dissimilar to a gold prospector sieving through tons of dirt to find the little nuggets of gold he so desired. Hiro just had to sift through information instead of dirt, though the two seemed almost the same in his mind, at least for the moment.

Footsteps sounded as Hiro went back and forth across the tiled floor. Every time he came to one end, he'd pause for a moment, hand to chin, before turning to face the opposite direction. Every now and again, he caught sight of Maze out of the corner of his eye. She was still behind the bar, wiping out glasses. And though she looked busy, he knew she was watching his every move.

"Why don't you tell me a bit more about your employer," Loki suggested, realizing where Maze's attention was focused. Knowing a bit about Hiro's process, he felt sure the scrutiny would not help him figure out whatever he was mulling over.

Maze set down the cup she'd been polishing, along with the cloth she'd been using. "What's to tell?" she asked in a somewhat brisk manner. "I followed him here from Hell and he keeps me busy with you mortals." She paused, reminded that Loki wasn't quite mortal. "Most mortals," she corrected.

The demon decided now was as good a time as any to go do a bit of research. If she wasn't too far off on her senses, she felt certain Lucifer had entered the building and would be joining them shortly. "Excuse me," she said before heading out from behind the bar and into a door leading into the back area.

"Of course," Loki said, watching her go. He could also sense the presence of their unusual host, wondering why he didn't just come straight to the club first. Well, gods were fickle things, not that Lucifer was a god, though it was almost as good.

Hiro paused mid stride, a look of confusion crossing his face, which was followed by a grimace of pain. Baymax immediately waddled over to his side. "Hiro?"

Hearing the teen's name called, Loki looked over at the youth, noting his sudden pensive stance and wrinkled expression. He was about to slide off his stool and head over when the sound of Lucifer's shoes filled the sudden silence, clacking down the stairs.

"When Maze told me I had guests waiting at the club, I wasn't entirely sure who all she meant," the fallen angel admitted as he took the stairs at a quick pace. "To what do I owe the pleasure of your company?" He paused at the bottom of the stairs, his expression changing as he caught a glimpse of Hiro out of the corner of his eye. "What's wrong with the whelp?"

The teen genius had decidedly gone pale and was visibly shaking. "I think I need to sit down," he admitted in a voice just as uncertain as his legs had suddenly become. Thankfully, Baymax was right there to assist him to the nearest booth, where he sank down into the cushioned leather. He winced as he put one hand to his head.

A look of concern on his face, Lucifer continued towards the boy, his stride not quite as buoyant as before. "Is this a result of that concussion from the other day? Do you think I should call for an ambulance?"

Baymax looked up from attending to his number one patience. "This is not a reaction to recent injuries," he stated. "Hiro is experiencing an unexplained phenomenon."

There was no other way to explain what was going on either. Hiro was not exhibiting the classic symptoms of a reintegrating episode. He was far too lucid for that. Nor was he reacting to any of his more recent injuries, as the robot had stated. But what Baymax could say was that the energy around Hiro had increased dramatically, much like it had when Q's energy had run rampant throughout the city of San Fransokyo.

Sensing the change, Loki jumped from his stool and strode over. "I can feel the difference," he agreed, closing his eyes briefly as Hiro began to pant. It was very much like that time back in the Hydra base. "It might be one of his abilities trying to activate."

"Activate?" Lucifer asked, not sure he understood what was going on. "Would you mind explaining what you mean by that?" Whatever was going on, Loki apparently had a better grasp on it than he did.

Hiro groaned as he moved to a more comfortable position, lying down so his feet stuck out from the curved bench he was on. His other hand went to his head as well as a spasm passed through his body. He was suddenly very dizzy, like he'd spun around too quickly and couldn't quite catch his balance. "Please don't be sick," he said aloud, talking more to himself than anyone as he closed his eyes.

It felt like he was suddenly in a tunnel, but not one made of any kind of physical substance. He'd done this often enough to realize it was energy, though it seemed far from stable. The whole quality of it felt fuzzy, like it was vibrating. And just as things had been the night before, he thought he could hear a sort of buzzing that was actually supposed to be words.

The sounds echoed down the long tunnel of nothing. And, just like the night before, he tried to focus on them, finding it more difficult than before. Maybe it was on a different frequency and he hadn't quite figured out which yet. Maybe there was too much interference. But, like he had last night, he pressed past the discomfort in his mind and tried to mentally turn the tuning knob to clear up the message. The effort left him feeling weak and drained, but he thought he got the message.

"Here," Maze said out of nowhere, thrusting what looked like a small trash can towards Loki. "Thought you might need this if he makes good on the symptoms he's displaying." She'd seen far too many people about to hurl to count. Usually those people had had a bit too much to drink, but the signs were unmistakable.

Almost as if prove her right, Hiro suddenly sat up, reached for the trash can without thinking, and proceeded to empty the contents of his stomach into it.

Lucifer took a step or two back, trying to control the look of revulsion on his face. It wasn't that he wasn't used to such things either, but the expressions passing over the boy's face were ones he didn't recognize, nor was the energy he felt coming off of him. The unfortunate thing was he knew there was absolutely nothing he could do about it but sit and wait for the teen to finish.

Baymax leaned towards his young charge as the stomach spasms eased. "Hiro?" he inquired, his black eyes looking more earnest than usual.

Still not focusing on the world around him, Hiro just kind of stared into space like he was looking at something else that required all of his attention. His breath still came in panting gasps, though he was doing his best to manage that. "I need to warn Stark," he said between breaths. "He can't leave."

Loki looked confused. "Why would that matter?" Part of him liked the idea of Tony leaving. It would make things easier on him.

Hiro just shook his head, something that did the headache behind his eyes no favors. "He… can't… leave. Something's wrong." He looked towards Loki with a steady gaze that was still not focused on anything in the visible world.

The god of mischief almost took a step back to join Lucifer, but he didn't. There was something wrong with Hiro's eyes, and it wasn't just the glazed over look. They'd changed colors. Instead of the usual muddy brown, they were now almost as blue as the tesseract. He absently reached for his cell phone, forgetting he didn't have the number for Tony, nor would he use it if he did have it. There was just something behind those eyes that made him want to obey.

"I will contact Mr. Stark," Baymax announced. Since he didn't exactly have the man's number, he could at least send out a message to JARVIS. He'd talked with the AI more times than he wanted to immediately process, knowing he would have no problem connecting with the artificial butler. And if that didn't work, he could always work through Sammy, who was really good at hacking.

Hiro blinked, his eyes returning to their normal color. He felt drained as he blinked rapidly a few times before slumping back into his previous position on the bench, his head dipping below the small table there. His breathing was a little more under control but still on the raspy side. And there was sweat beading up on his skin.

Lucifer frowned. "What just happened?" he inquired, not sure he understood at all. This was certainly not typical behavior. And though he could sense the basic nature of the energy Hiro had somehow attracted, it wasn't like anything he'd ever encountered before. But, judging from the look on Loki's face, it wasn't entirely knew.

The god of mischief had moved one hand to his chin and looked more than thoughtful as he contemplated the youth. "Though I would be loathed to do anything, I think Hiro is right." He then turned to Baymax. "Were you able to contact Mr. Stark?"

Baymax looked up, shuffling a bit so he could keep everyone in his line of sight. "I was," he confirmed. "He wishes to know why he shouldn't leave."

"I'm sorry. What?" Tony asked, his eyes incredulously wide as he asked JARVIS to repeat what he'd just told him.

The artificial butler dispensed with clearing a non-existent throat before repeating himself. "I said Hiro Hamada's robot, Baymax, has told us, most urgently, that you can't leave."

Everything was ready to go. The plane was fueled and the luggage loaded. There should have been absolutely no reason for the delay, but Tony couldn't give the go head to fly if JARVIS said something was wrong. "Why? Why now?" he asked the air "Can you at least ask for a reason?" he added as an afterthought, knowing JARVIS would know he was talking to him.

"I am doing so now," the AI confirmed, well aware that they only need clearance from the tower to head to the runway. It was probably just as well that Tony hadn't quite settled down into his seat just yet. "Baymax says the reason is due to something being wrong. He is unable to elaborate, but says the message came from Hiro."

Tony resisted the urge to cuss. Instead, he muttered incomprehensible words under his breath as he pulled out his cell phone. He didn't have Hiro's number, but he did have Cass Hamada's. Chances were good she was with him and might be able to give them some answers. "Pick up. Pick up," he uttered impatiently as he waited for the line to connect.

After about five rings, the café owner answered the line. "Hey, Cass," Tony began the moment they connected. "I was wondering if you could do me a favor. JARVIS is saying that Baymax told him that Hiro says I shouldn't leave the area because something's wrong. Do you think you could see if you could get him to give me a little clarification? I assume he's with you."

Something that sounded like a door opening came over the line; along wither a bit of shuffling, then another door opening. Then there was absolute silence for several long seconds before Cass spoke again.

Tony's eyes went wide. "What do you mean he's not there? Where on earth could he have gone?!"

"Sir, the control tower has given the pilot permission to taxi to the runway," JARVIS spoke up. "In light of recent events, I did warn the pilot we may not be able to take off as planned. Should I tell him to go on regardless of the warning?"

Iron Man shook his head. "Tell him to wait," he all but barked. "I want to get to the bottom of this. And ask that robot just where he and Hiro are." He hung up the phone in a huff, not bothering to actually say goodbye to the proprietress. "Just to be safe, I want everyone off the plane and back to the bus. That hasn't left yet, has it?"

"No, I do not believe so, sir," JARVIS replied, ignoring Tony's impatient tones. "I will inform the pilot and driver. Should I have someone unload the luggage?"

A heavy sigh escaped the billionaire's mouth as he paced the cabin of the plane. "No. I'm just having everyone get off as a precaution until we get to the bottom of whatever this is. Have you figured out where those two are yet? They're obviously not with the aunt."

Silence filled the air as the engines powered down. "Not yet," JARVIS replied.

At that moment, Bruce Banner came through the small doorway separating the two cabins of the jet. "Everything okay up here?" He'd fully expected them to be on their way by now.

Tony all but scowled now, his dark glasses hiding his eyes. "No. Everything's not okay up here," he retorted. "We have to get everyone off the plane. At least until we figure out what is going on."

Deciding it was probably best to not ask anything further of the irate man, Bruce ducked back into the secondary cabin to deliver the news. Groans could be heard coming from the various students back there and the flight attendant assigned to them opened the side door.

"Sir, Baymax informs me that both he and Hiro are at a night club called Lux."

Tony turned the word over in his mind. "Lux?" And why in the world were the two in a night club? For one, it was still daylight hours. And, for another, there was no way Hiro should have gotten in, since most nightclubs he was aware of didn't allow minors inside.

"Yes sir."

Well, chances were good he wasn't going to get any answers by standing there. Since the others were evacuating the plan, he probably should as well. He let out another sigh and headed for the now open door from his cabin leading down to the tarmac. As a show of solidarity, and since Bruce didn't know what was going on either, he decided to follow the students back to the bus as well, instructing the pilot and flight attendants to do whatever they felt best in the situation, like go on a coffee break or something.

He glanced back at the plane as his feet hit the tarmac. What was he missing? Or was Hiro, or some hacker, having a go at them? He looked towards the bus. The students were already getting on. Well, he'd better hurry up if he was going to catch up to them and let them know why plans had changed, not that he knew why either, but it was the principle of the matter. He could already hear their mumbled conversations and confusion, even though he was technically too far away to hear it. They did have to park the bus far enough away to allow any planes room to reach the various hangers and terminals.

Walking at a brisk pace, Tony let out yet another sigh of frustration. "JARVIS, I want you to make absolutely sure that message came from Baymax. I really don't need someone making me look like a fool."

About halfway across the tarmac, a low rumbling sound filled the air, causing Tony to pause mid-step. He half turned around, eyes going wide under his dark glasses. His body took over before his mind could even process what was going on as a wall of flame came out of nowhere behind the jet, pressing a wall of compressed air his way.

The air caught up to him before he'd made it more than two or three steps, shoving him forward. His feet momentarily left the tarmac as his body flew through the air, only to crash land on the hard ground, forcing all the air from his lungs, and breaking his sunglasses. The air was followed by a roar of flames, and something that might have been a sonic boom, except all Tony heard was an intense ringing in his ears.

Across the lot, Bruce looked up in time to see the wave of flames engulf the plane, as well as Tony going down. He yelled out his friend's name, ordering the students to stay where they were as he flung himself from the open doorway of the bus. For whatever reason, he felt no desire to transform, which was probably a blessing. Outside of trying to smash the now burning jet into a pulp, there wasn't much the Big Guy could do.

"Tony!" Bruce yelled as he made his way to the downed hero. "Tony!" He skidded to a halt as he reached his friend's side, going down to his knees to try and assess the damage. As far as he could tell, Tony seemed more dazed than damaged, though it was hard to tell without any kind of x-rays or other diagnostic tools.

Eyes blinking, Tony felt the world kind of teeter around him, until his eyes came back into focus. He tried to press himself up, though that made the dizziness worse. Not to mention his hands had started to sting. It took him a moment to realize he'd put them out as he'd flown and they were now essentially sanded raw from sliding across the rough surface.

At least nothing felt like it was broken. He'd broken enough things to know when something was, so there was that. But his ears continued to ring. And even though he could see Bruce out of the corner of his eye, calling out something, he couldn't, for the life of him, hear what the man was trying to say. He somehow managed to flop over to his back, grunting from the impact. He was definitely going to be feeling that one for a while.

Flames licked up from the hanger and jet next to it and part of the billionaire wondered if the flight attendants and pilot had gotten off in time. Chances were good he wouldn't find out for a while. He should probably get checked out at a hospital but didn't have time, or so he told himself as he tried to sit up, the dizziness still threatening to make his vision swim.

"Are you sure you should be moving around?" Bruce asked, not sure if he could hear him. Tony looked more than a little dazed and the scientist felt glad knowing emergency personnel were already responding to the incident. He could see the flashing lights of emergency vehicles heading their way at that exact moment. "Just stay put for now," he instructed, again not sure if the man could hear him.

Blood trickled from Tony's forehead, possibly from when the sunglasses broke, or maybe from hitting the ground. It was a little hard to tell at the moment, but chances were good the billionaire might have a concussion. There were bruises at the very least.

"JARVIS, can you tell me what happened?" Bruce asked the AI the moment he located Tony's phone. The man was too dazed to notice.

"It would appear an explosive device detonated inside the hanger," JARVIS replied. "This may be what Hiro Hamada was trying to warn Mr. Stark about earlier."

Bruce looked thoughtful. "Hiro sent a warning?"

"That would be correct."

How the teen had known to send any kind of warning was beyond him. Sure he'd been there for the whole long explanation of what had happened to the teen after they'd rescued him from Hydra, but there really didn't seem to be any empirical evidence to suggest he was psychic. "How did he know?" he asked, thinking out loud more out of habit than to actually get an answer.

"I do not know," JARVIS responded. "I believe Mr. Stark intended to find him and ask."

By that time the emergency responders had arrived and were helping Tony to a gurney. He seemed too dazed to refuse the help, even though the man had been through much worse before. "I need to take the students somewhere safe," Bruce said, again thinking out loud. "I'm going to leave this phone with the EMT's, but you're welcome to tag along with me while I try to get to the bottom of this."

"Of course."

Bruce handed off the phone and headed towards the bus. One of the responding police officers followed him, trying to take his statement. But Bruce was far too focused on getting to the bus and making sure everything was secure there. They'd have to take everyone back to the hotel. Thankfully they'd not actually checked out due to the rush of getting to the airport in the first place, so their rooms should still be available. He'd wanted to point out that bit earlier but decided Tony hadn't been in the mood. Now he was glad for the oversight. He just hoped Tony would understand why he was leaving him behind.

After assuring the officer he was more than willing to give a statement once he made sure his charges were safe, the scientist boarded the bus and instructed the driver to take them back to the hotel. Once there, he'd find a taxi and look into this Lux place JARVIS had mentioned on the way across the tarmac. Having a Bluetooth had helped tune out the police officers and keep him on track, as well as giving him the necessary Intel without tipping off the police before he was ready. He just had to find the teen before anything else happened.