Chapter 35: Acceptance
Before any of the group could react, the Gorg reached out and grabbed Hiro with one of its tentacles and pulled the young man off his feet.
"Hiro!" Riley screamed in fear as she tried to grab onto the young man as he was dragged past her, but he slipped from her fingers as he was pulled face to face with the Gorg.
"Oh no, oh no, oh no!" Fear wailed.
"It's almost fascinating how something so small can cause me so much frustration," the Gorg mused as he held Hiro aloft with a tentacle wrapped around the young man's stomach, "Like a thorn jabbing in my side, demanding to be plucked."
As the Gorg spoke, he began to tighten his grip on Hiro, the boy letting out cries of pain as he struggled in vain against the Gorg's hold.
"Stop it!" Riley wailed, tears streaming down her face as she looked on in horror, "Stop it, you're killing him!"
"That would be the general idea," the Gorg replied nonchalantly, apparently ambivalent to Hiro's cries of pain, "But I find myself still not without mercy."
Ominously, the Gorg's other arm tentacle reached out and wrapped around Hiro's neck, squeezing until the young man's cries were strangled in his throat.
"What say you, insect?" the Gorg snarled, leaning towards Hiro so that they were eye to eye, its grip tightening on the young man's neck, "Shall we put an end to this farce?"
"You shall not harm him," Baymax said as he suddenly stepped out from behind the Gorg and placed a hand on the tentacle wrapped around Hiro's neck. Before the Gorg could react, Baymax lashed out with his elbow and struck the alien in the face, but the blow from the android's vinyl-lined appendage merely bounced off the creature's face with a rubbery squeak, doing no damage. The Gorg blinked in surprise before laughing uproariously.
"Pathetic!" the Gorg bellowed before releasing Hiro's throat and backhanding Baymax across the face, sending the android flying through the air to land on the other side of the room as another screen exploded, showering the robot in sparks.
"Now, where were we?" the Gorg questioned as it reached towards Hiro's throat again.
"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU!?" Riley suddenly screamed, the sound of her voice reverberating through the chamber even as small explosions continued to go off. Caught off guard by the sudden outburst, the Gorg turned its attention towards Riley, who was glaring daggers at the alien.
"What are you doing, Anger!?" Fear demanded.
"I'm trying to save him!" Anger retorted.
"Excuse me?" the Gorg questioned.
"I have an idea," Joy spoke up, "Keep him talking, Riley."
"I said, what the hell is wrong with you?" Riley spat, "How can you act like this to other people?"
"I am the Gorg," the alien answered, its voice dripping with contempt, as he let go of Hiro's throat, "It is my right to take what I please."
"Don't give me that divine right bull," Riley snapped, "No one here believes that, least of all you."
"So, what is the plan?" Sadness questioned.
"We hit the Gorg with everything we've got," Joy answered.
"That's it!?" Disgust asked incrediously, "Just hit him really hard!? Our powers don't even work right against him!"
"That's why we need to hit him with everything we've got," Joy explained, "And I do mean everything."
There was another pause before the Gorg gave Riley a smile that was positively venomous.
"You want to know why I do what I do?" the Gorg questioned rhetorically, "Because no has ever stopped me. The universe is a cold and cruel place. I have fought tooth and nail to survive in it. There are no rules. There is no meaning."
"So, that's it?" Riley demanded, "Nothing means anything so you get to do whatever you want?"
"You ready, Anger?" Joy questioned.
"As I'll ever be," Anger answered determinedly.
"Precisely," the Gorg replied as he took a few steps towards Riley, "Life is all sound and fury, signifying nothing."
"You want fury?" Riley questioned as she clenched her hands into fist, "I'll give you fury."
"We'll, that's a cue if I've ever heard one," Anger stated, "Here we go!"
With that, Riley took in a deep breath. As she did, the others around her felt a sudden spike of pain in their heads, causing them all to clasp their hands to their skulls.
"Hit him!" Joy shouted.
A second later, Riley finished breathing in and let out the harshest, most primal scream she could muster. At the same time, she let loose a psychic blast of anger so strong that the air between Riley and the Gorg briefly rippled with heat.
As Riley's assault established the psychic link between her and the Gorg, she was again struck by the alien's unusual emotions. The sensation caused Riley's head to swim for a moment, but she powered through it as best she could, the wave of combined anger slamming against the Gorg's psyche like a freight train. As the wave of anger hit it, the Gorg let out a wail of agony, stumbling back a few steps as it dropped Hiro to the ground and wrapped its arms around its head.
Together, the Gorg and Riley's screams intermingled into a single wail of anger and pain that echoed through the room for a moment that seemed to last both an instant and an eternity, hot tears streaming down the girls face as it turned red and her voice went hoarse. Then, just as suddenly as it started, both of their screams died and the Gorg sank to its knees while Riley stood unsteadily on her feet.
Blinking in surprise, the others slowly lowered their hands from their heads, the pain having died along with Riley's scream. Slowly, Riley turned her attention towards Hiro, who had managed to push himself back to his feet and was looking at her with wide eyes.
"I couldn't….I couldn't let him hurt you," Riley mumbled, "I didn't know if I could stop him….but I had to….had to….do something…."
Riley trailed off as blood began leaking from her nose. Reaching her hand up, she touched the blot of blood with her fingertips before holding her hand up so that she could see the drying blood. Riley quietly studied her bloody fingertips for a few moments before her eyes rolled back into her head and her legs began to collapse beneath her.
"Riley!" Hiro called in a panic as he leapt forward and grabbed Riley before she fell to the floor, holding her limp body in his arms, "Riley!"
"What happened to her!?" Tip exclaimed as she ran over to Hiro's side.
"I-I don't know," Hiro replied before a thought occurred to him, "Baymax!"
As Hiro spun around to look where he thought Baymax was, he found that the android had already made his way over to them. Looking down at Riley, the scanner inside Baymax's eyes whirred for a moment before the android turned his attention towards Hiro.
"She has fallen unconscious," Baymax explained, "I believe that she has pushed the use of her empathic powers past the point her body could handle."
"Is….Is she going to be okay?" Hiro questioned with a stricken expression.
"I do not know," Baymax admitted before another one of the screens exploded, showering the room in shrapnel and sparks, "However, I believe that all of our health is at risk if we remain here for much longer."
"Come on!" Hiro called before he began struggling to lift Riley's dead weight.
"Here, let me take her!" Abigail said before she reached down and scooped Riley up, holding her bridal style, "Let's go!"
Nodding in agreement, the group moved to leave the room the way they had come. Before they could, one of the Gorg's tentacles lashed out and wrapped around Hiro's arm, pulling the boy to a stop.
"I do not believe I have dismissed you from my presence!" the Gorg snarled as it knelt on the floor.
Hiro let out a cry as the Gorg yanked on his arm and pulled him back to it. Before Hiro could fall though, Baymax spun around and grabbed onto Hiro's arm and yanking hard, managing to pull the boy from the Gorg's grip in the process. As Hiro stumbled towards Baymax, the android pulled the boy behind him, putting himself between Hiro and the Gorg.
"Run," Baymax stated, his attention focused on the Gorg as the alien began to rise back to its feet.
"What?" Hiro asked in confusion.
"Run," Baymax repeated as he glanced over his shoulder at the others standing a short distance away.
"I'm not leaving without you!" Hiro shouted as he ran up to Baymax and grabbed hold of the robot's rubbery body.
"You must, Hiro," Baymax insisted, "If you do not, harm will come to you and the others."
Hiro's only response was to bury his face into Baymax's back, tears streaming down his face as he rapidly shook his head. Turning his attention away from Hiro, Baymax looked towards Tip, who was watching events unfold with a stricken expression. Sensing Baymax's gaze, Tip turned to look the android in the eye. The two held each others gazes for a moment before Tip realized what Baymax wanted her to do. Turning her attention towards Hiro, Tip ran up to him and placed a hand on the boy's shoulder.
"Come on!" she shouted over the sound of the small explosions going off around them and the crackle of the fires that had begun to spring up in their wake, "We have to go!"
"No!" Hiro screamed back, barely glancing over his shoulder at Tip, "I'm not leaving without him!"
"Then I'm sorry," Tip replied, her voice barely above a whisper before she reached out with both arms and wrapped them under Hiro's armpits, locking his shoulders in place. Before Hiro could react, Tip yanked him backwards off of Baymax.
"Wait! Stop!" Hiro cried as he struggled against Tip's hold, "What are you doing!?"
"Saving your life," Tip replied as she ducked behind Hiro's head to avoid his struggles to escape her grasp, "Now, come on!"
With a grunt of effort, Tip began dragging Hiro towards the door, but he fought her every inch of the way. Looking around in desperation, she spotted Oh and the other Boov who had helped them standing a short distance away. Tip motioned them over, which Oh quickly understood before hustling over to the wrestling children, the other Boov following suit. Reaching them, Oh grabbed hold of one of Hiro's thrashing legs, prompting the other Boov to do the same with Hiro's other leg, allowing all three of them to lift the boy off the ground.
"No!" Hiro shouted as he continued to struggle against their grasps, "No, no, no! Put me down!"
"Come on!" Abigail shouted as another explosion went off, "We have to go now!"
Carrying Hiro the best they could, Tip and the two Boov followed Abigail as she made her way out of the control room.
"No! Baymax!" Hiro wailed as he was carried out of the room, "BAYMAX!"
Baymax watched as the group disappeared around the corner, his gaze focused on the now empty doorway.
"That was a foolish mistake," the Gorg commented as it finally rose back to its feet, "You are going to die here, one way or another."
"I cannot die," Baymax replied as he turned his attention towards the Gorg, "I am a robot."
"True enough," the Gorg acquiesced with a chuckle, "But if that is the case, then why do you persist?"
"I was designed to protect and preserve human life," Baymax explained, "I am merely obeying my programing. Why do you continue?"
"It is in my blood" the Gorg answered as the fires set off by the explosions, casting everything in a hellish glow.
"Then I would have to conclude that there is no other alternative that could end this conflict," Baymax observed.
"For once, you and I agree," the Gorg stated with a grin, "Shall we put an end to this?"
Baymax's only response was to slide into a defensive stance and motion for the Gorg to come to him. The Gorg responded with a savage yell before leaping through the air at Baymax.
Meanwhile,
Reaching the hanger they had come in through, the group stumbled for a moment as the ship shook from an unseen explosion. Quickly regaining their footing, the group made their way over to where Wasabi's van sat, still in its hover mode.
"This is your ride?" Abigail question, perplexed.
"Yeah, it's a bit of a long story," Tip explained, "I just need to-OW!"
Tip yelped in pain as the still struggling Hiro managed to clock the top of his head against the side of hers, causing her to reflexively drop him. As Hiro's upper body hit the floor with a thud, he took a moment to recollect himself before thrashing his legs to free them from the grips of the Boov holding them. Scrambling back to his feet, Hiro began running back the way that they had come.
"Oh!" Tip shouted as she pulled herself to her feet, "Get the van working!"
Hiro made it a few steps before Tip slammed into his back and knocked them both to the ground with a cry.
"Let me go!" Hiro shouted as he tried to get Tip off his back.
"No!" Tip shouted back as she held Hiro down, "I'm not going to let you run off and get yourself killed!"
"Baymax needs me!" Hiro argued, rolling around so that he was facing Tip but failing to throw the girl off of him.
"Baymax needs you to get out of here alive!" Tip argued, "He didn't stay behind so that you go running back and get yourself killed!"
"But I can save him!" Hiro argued, tears welling up in his eyes, "I couldn't save Tadashi but I can save him!"
"No, you can't!" Tip practically screamed at him as she gripped the front of Hiro's costume and shook him, "This place is coming down around our ears and with the Gorg breathing down our necks, Baymax knew that the only way we're going to get out of here alive is if he stayed behind. If you go running back there, neither of you is getting out of here!"
The intensity of Tip's words finally seemed to get through to Hiro and he blinked up at her in surprise.
"Don't let Baymax's sacrifice be in vain," Tip continued, lowering her voice as she spoke, "Don't make me tell Riley why you're not there when she wakes up."
Slowly, Hiro turned towards where Abigail stood nearby, Riley's limp form still cradled in her arms. He looked at her for a moment before he closed his eyes and took a deep, shaky breath.
"Okay," Hiro relented.
"Good," Tip replied with a nod, "Now get up before I knock you out and throw you into the van just in case."
Hiro gave her a small smirk as they both got up and quickly made their way over to the van. Noticing something, Hiro paused for a moment.
"Hold up," Hiro said as he jogged over to a different part of the ship.
"What is it?" Tip questioned.
Reaching down, Hiro picked up the metal headband and fox mask sitting on the floor and held them up for Tip to see.
"I think Riley is going to want these back," Hiro declared as he ran back over to the van.
"I believes I has founds the way to make the van be workings again!" Oh called from somewhere in the van, "All I needs to be doings is-"
Sparks suddenly showered the inside of the van, the sounds of an electric joke mixing with Oh's scream of pain. A moment later, the van sprung back to live, its engines humming as it began to over a foot or so off the ground.
"Come on!" Tip shouted, jumping into the driver's seat while gesturing for the others to get into the van, "We have to get out of here before this thing blows!"
As everyone strapped in, including a singed looking Oh, Tip turned the van towards the hanger door. Another explosion rocked the ship, creating a fireball that breached through the wall ahead of the van, destroying a rack of drones in the process. Tip, gripping the flight controls tightly, flew the van deftly through the rain of debris and out the hanger doors as more explosions began to go off in their wake.
As they left the confines of the ship, the group looked out the van's windows, able to see that the Gorg's ship was now pocked with fires, the flames belching smoke that obscured much of the ship. As they watched, they could make out numerous small objects that were streaking through the air away from the ship towards the ground below.
"What are those?" Hiro inquired.
"Those are being the escape pods," Oh answered, "My peoples are fleeings the ship's eminent destruction."
"Escape pods?" Hiro questioned as hope began to well up in his chest, "So, you're saying there's a chance Baymax could make it out on his own?"
"I….I supposed," Oh answered, a grin spreading across his features.
Turning back to the window, Hiro watched the burning spaceship with wide eyes.
"Come on, buddy," Hiro whispered as he placed his hand against the glass, "You can do it."
Meanwhile,
Explosions shook the control room, which was now bathed in a hellish red light thanks to the flames that threatened to consume the entire ship. Nonetheless, the two combatants paid no heed to the heat or the fire as they faced off once more.
With a roar, the Gorg leapt at Baymax, striking the robot hard in the chest with one of its legs. The blow knocked Baymax clear off his feet and the android landed on his back a few yards away. Quickly pushing himself back to his feet as the Gorg stalked towards him, Baymax was able to duck under the powerful swing of one of the alien's arms but was caught off guard as the Gorg swiftly backhanded him across the face, causing the robot to stumble back a step.
Regaining his footing, Baymax thrust a hand at the Grog's face. The Gorg saw the blow coming, but made no move to block or dodge it. The blow slammed against the Gorg's face, but Baymax's inflated appendage merely compressed against the alien's armor. Laughing, the Gorg wrapped one of its arm tentacles around Baymax's extended appendage before smacking the android twice across the face, the force of the blows knocking the robot to the floor.
Rolling back to his feet in a single smooth motion, Baymax quickly settled into a defensive stance as the Gorg rushed at him. As the Gorg reached Baymax, it began to rain down a flurry of blows onto the android, but the robot was able to deflect each of the attacks. Roaring in frustration, the Gorg used both of its arms to slap Baymax's hands away before it hopped into the air and drop kicked the android in the chest with both feet. The blow sent Baymax sailing through the air before he bounced off a broken, sparking console at the far side of the room.
As Baymax recovered, he turned his attention back to the Gorg, who was stalking across the room, stepping through the flames that were now burning on the floor without a second thought. With a roar, the Gorg swung its arm at Baymax, the blow connecting and knocking the android down to the floor to land on his back. Before he hit the floor however, Baymax reached back and planted his hands against the floor before kicking himself back onto his feet.
Snarling, the Gorg attempted to continue its assault with a pair of arm strikes, but Baymax deflected both blows before leaning out of the way of a third. As the Gorg swung at him again, Baymax caught the alien's tentacle with both arms. Snarling, the Gorg lifted Baymax off the ground and spun around before tossing the android away, but he only flew a foot or so before the robot pirouetted in the air and landed gracefully on his feet facing the alien.
Rushing towards Baymax, the Gorg swung another arm at the android, but the robot managed to bat the attack to the side before shoving the alien in the chest, knocking it back a step. Catching itself, the Gorg swung at Baymax as the android approached it, hitting the robot in the chest, knocking him into the air. Before the impact of the blow could carry Baymax away from it, the Gorg reached out and grabbed the android's leg before spinning around and slamming the robot against the floor. However, instead of impacting the floor hard, Baymax's rubbery body bounced off it, causing the android to flip in the air before he landed facing the Gorg in his fighting stance.
The Gorg blinked in surprise for a moment before going on the attack again. Baymax quickly began deflecting more of the Gorg's blows, before attempting to grab one of the alien's arms and lock it in place. Before Baymax could position himself correctly, the Gorg leaned down and swept at the android's feet with his free arm, sending Baymax spinning into the air. Still gripping the Gorg's arm, Baymax used it as a pivot point to swing himself through the air and land on the Gorg's other side.
Before Baymax could prepare himself, the Gorg spun around and kicked the android in the chest, sending the robot flying across the room. Hitting a damaged console, Baymax again bounced off and landed on his feet without any harm. Turning his attention back towards the Gorg, Baymax found the alien leaping towards it, both of its arm tentacles raised above its head. Preparing himself, Baymax managed to sidestep the Gorg while simultaneously pushing the alien into the broken console.
Baymax spun back to face the Gorg, ready for the alien's next attack, only to find it still standing in front of the console, wailing in agony. Baymax watched as bolts of electricity ran up the Gorg's arm tentacles that had broken through the console's outer casing and surged through the rest of the alien's body. Baymax paid special attention to the gashes that Wasabi's plasma blades had left in the Gorg's armor, watching as electricity arced into the alien's inner workings. After another moment passed, the console exploded, knocking the Gorg to the ground in a shower of sparks.
"I know how to defeat you," Baymax observed as the Gorg began to pick itself up off the ground.
"Do you now?" the Gorg questioned wryly, its voice now having a strange, distorted sound to it.
"Yes," Baymax answered, "In fact, I believe I can defeat you with a single move."
There was a pause as the Gorg finished rising to its feet and stared at Baymax in predatory silence.
"Show me," the Gorg said in a low voice before it rushed at Baymax.
Roaring at the top of its lungs, the Gorg took a mighty swing at Baymax, who didn't so much as flinch as the alien charged at him. A split second before the Gorg could strike him, Baymax ducked beneath the alien's arm and spun around it while rubbing his hands together. Snarling, the Gorg turned to strike at Baymax again, but as it spun around, Baymax stood up and thrust his hands forward, slamming them against the alien's chest, stopping it cold but otherwise doing no damage.
The Gorg paused in befuddlement, its arm still raised to strike Baymax down. Looking down, the Gorg observed Baymax's hands still placed against its chest before throwing its head back and laughing.
"That's it?" the Gorg questioned between fits of laughter, ignorant to the high pitched whine coming from Baymax's hands, "That is the best you can do?"
"Clear," Baymax stated as he looked the Gorg in the eye a split second before the defibrillators built into his hands discharged directly over the cuts in the alien's chest.
As the electricity coursed through its body, the Gorg's expression changed to one of agony, a distorted cry of pain echoing from its mouth. As the electricity surged into it, the Gorg was trapped in a rigid stance, its back arched and its head thrown back, its wide eyes pointed towards the burning ceiling. Then, a moment after it had begun, the electric surge stopped as smoke began to rise from the Gorg's chest and Baymax's hands.
Taking a step back, Baymax lowered his hands as he observed the Gorg, heedless to the explosions going off around him. The Baymax stayed in the position it had assumed after Baymax's attack, its body rigid and unmoving. Looking up at the Gorg's face, Baymax could see that its normally glowing orange eyes had gone dark. Then, after another moment of stillness, the Gorg toppled backwards and fell hard on its back.
Stepping up to the Gorg's fallen form, Baymax scanned the alien, coming back with strange readings. Suddenly, there was the hissing sound of releasing air before the Gorg's face opened outward like a blooming flower. Leaning down, Baymax could see that the Gorg's head was hollow, and appeared to function as a cockpit of some kind. Inside, sitting slouched in a miniature chair was a starfish-like creature, about as large as Baymax's hand. It was orange in color and had a face at the center of its body. Currently, the creature was sitting hunched over in its chair, breathing heavily with black burn marks maring its body.
"You are the Gorg," Baymax observed as it glanced at the rest of the alien's "body," "This is a type of armor."
The creature, the real Gorg, chuckled before saying something in a language that Baymax did not understand. A moment later, the Gorg's voice, now heavily distorted, came from the suit's mouth.
"You catch on quick, machine," the Gorg commented before letting out a pain cough, "I guess you were right about that move."
"You are injured," Baymax stated.
"That tends to happen in a fight," the Gorg observed sardonically.
"I will administer first aid," Baymax stated as he reached down towards the Gorg.
"What?" the Gorg questioned as it weakly slapped Baymax's hand away, "Why would you do that?"
"You are injured," Baymax replied simply.
"But I tried to kill you," the Gorg argued, "I tried to kill all of your friends."
"That is irrelevant," Baymax stated, "You are injured. I was created to help the injured."
The Gorg looked at Baymax in dumbfounded silence for a moment before an explosion went off somewhere in the ship, shaking the floor beneath them.
"It doesn't matter," the Gorg sighed, "Even if I let you help me, we are both going to die on this ship."
Baymax paused as he looked around at the inferno the room had become.
"You are correct," Baymax stated as he turned his attention back to the Gorg, "We must find a way off your spaceship."
"There is no way off!" the Gorg growled in frustration, "The Boov will have taken all of the escape pods by now."
There was a pause as Baymax looked away from the Gorg, clearly thinking.
"What of Abigail Callaghan's pod?" Baymax suggested.
"The pod?" the Gorg echoed in confusion, "But it has no propulsion system. It can't fly."
"It cannot," Baymax agreed, "But I believe that it has been designed to withstand a large magnitude of violence. Possibly a crash from a great height."
"Yes," the Gorg agreed with a slow nod of his head, hope slowly raising in his voice, "Yes, I believe that might work!"
"We must hurry," Baymax stated as he reached down and scooped the Gorg up in one hand, "It is impossible to calculate the time until your spaceship is fully destroyed."
As Baymax lifted the Gorg out of its suit, it began to shout in its alien tongue, the distance between it and the cockpit seeming to reduce the effectiveness of its translator.
"W...ait!" the suit cried as the Gorg gestured wildly at something, "Th-Th-There!"
Looking in the direction the Gorg was pointing, Baymax saw the oval stone still sitting in the ship's command chair.
"I know you value that item, but it is not worth sacrificing your life," Baymax argued, but the Gorg ignored him, continuing to reach futilely toward the stone. Eventually, Baymax relented and hurried over to the command chair before picking up the stone.
Holding up the stone, Baymax watched as the Gorg continued to reach for it. Moving the stone closer, Baymax watched as the Gorg reached out and touched the top of the stone. A moment later, seams formed in the top of the stone before it folded outward like a blooming flower, a lavender glow emanating from within. Leaning closer, Baymax could see that the stone was hollow and filled with a viscous liquid. In the liquid swam tiny, starfish-like creatures.
"These appear to be larval forms of your species," Baymax observed, before coming to the obvious conclusion, "This is an egg."
"That is why you are called the Gorg," Baymax observed as he turned his attention towards the alien in his other hand, "You are the last of your kind. Or, you will be if this egg does not survive."
The Gorg's silent expression spoke volumes and was punctuated by another explosion that rocked the room and nearly knocking Baymax to the ground.
"We must hurry," Baymax stated as he turned to go, but stopped as the Gorg again gestured towards the command chair. Looking between the Gorg and the chair, Baymax hurried back to the chair before reaching out with his arm, allowing the Gorg to lean down and push a button on one of the chair's arms. A moment later, Baymax felt the floor shifting under him.
"The ship is moving," Baymax observed, before noticing that the Gorg was directing him towards one of the doors and moved towards it as quickly as his tiny legs would allow him, the growing fires licking at his heels.
Moving at the speed of a brisk walk, Baymax followed the Gorg's directions as they navigated the ship's labyrinthian halls, which were currently filled with roaring fires, sparking wires and chunks of jagged metal. As another explosion rocked the ship, Baymax stumbled and bumped into a flaming piece of wall, causing his arm to catch fire as well. Acting quickly, Baymax quickly tossed the egg he had been holding to the Gorg, the alien wrapping itself around the egg to hold it secure. With his hand now free, Baymax began waving his arm rapidly in an effort to put the fire out, the flames whooshing as they blurred through the air.
Eventually, Baymax managed to put out the fire, only for an explosion to rip through the wall behind him, the force of the blast propelling Baymax down the hall. Quickly managing to get his feet under him, Baymax used the momentum to give himself a burst of speed for a moment before slowing down to his normal pace. Hearing the Gorg chattering angrily at him, Baymax turned his attention towards the alien.
"I am sorry," Baymax apologized, "I am not fast."
After another minute of frantically navigating the halls of the self-destructing ship, Baymax stumbled into a hanger similar to the one he had entered the ship through. The main difference was the sleek, white pod sitting at its center, standing at odds with the surrounding aesthetic.
Looking past the pod, Baymax could see through the open hanger doors that the ship was moving backwards, rising back into the sky away from the Earth. A moment later, a line of blue light swept over the hanger door and the scenery drastically changed. Baymax now looked out on the the stunning vista of a stellar nebula. Vaporous clouds colored purple, orange, and every shade in between swirled around the ship while a field of stars could be seen twinkling behind them. For a moment, Baymax couldn't do anything but stop and stare.
Suddenly, a massive explosion ripped through the wall of the hanger, sending debris flying straight out the hanger into space, where it was sucked back towards the portal by some unseen force, and almost knocking Baymax flat. Using the pod to hold himself steady, Baymax opened its top before placing the Gorg, still clutching its egg, inside.
Looking up at Baymax, the Gorg motioned for him to climb into the pod.
"I cannot," Baymax answered with a shake of his head, "This pod lacks a means of propulsion. If you and your species are to survive, I must eject you from the ship myself."
The Gorg looked up at Baymax in shock and awe, mumbling to itself in its alien language.
"I would ask that you fulfill a simple request for me," Baymax stated and the Gorg nodded in agreement.
After the task was done, Baymax closed the pod's top before reaching down and grabbing its bottom. His acquators whirring with strain, Baymax heaved the pod over his head before turning towards the hanger door. As the floor heaved and shook beneath him, Baymax steadily made his way towards the door, heedless of the fires that had sprung up around him. Reaching the precipes between the burning spaceship and the rainbow colored void, Baymax leaned back before hurling the pod out the hanger door.
For a moment, the pod tumbled forward, heading straight into the swirling clouds of the nebula. Then, it seemed to get caught up in some unseen current and was pulled back towards the portal. For a moment, Baymax could see the Gorg looking back at him, one of its tentacles pressed against the pod's glass canopy. Then, the pod was gone, and Baymax was alone.
For a moment, Baymax just quietly stared out the hanger doors, watching as the technicolor clouds danced on solar winds. As another explosion rocked the floor beneath him, Baymax lowered himself into the lotus position, crossing his stubby legs the best he could. As explosions continued to rip their way through the ship, Baymax closed his glowing blue eyes, lightly resting his hands on his knees.
Then, in a final, titanic explosion, the ship was ripped asunder, the force of blast causing the portal to finally collapse, leaving the remains of the once mighty ship to float lazily through the now quiet nebula.
A/N: Well, this one was both long and a long time coming, but I really like the way it turned out. Only have one more chapter now to wrap everything up! As always, feedback and critiques are always welcome, so please review! Later!