So, it's finally time for the battle, huh? That means not too long before this story ends! Then I can start on something else...
Song: Wildstyle – Savant
King Ice: Soudns like you've been super busy! At least you're not bored, right? Also, that Airsoft thing sounds, to quote Hiro, pretty sick, and I hope you can raise the funds for a computer too! I'm sorry you're sad, but I genuinely can't keep this going forever! I'm sure you understand. It's really sweet that so many people are saying my fic is so good. Thank you so much! I tried really hard with it this time.
Rosycat: Well, maybe I need to read the Divergent series than! Haha, I'm glad your story is going well too. Thanks so much for your support and your kind words, which, once again, made me very very happy. All warm and fuzzy! I have other stories in the works, but don't get too excited, I don't know if they'll ever get written.
Purpalz Miner: Oh you, you're so excited about everything! Thank you!
Michaela: Hate to break this to you, but this is the 38th chapter. 38! That's more than I've ever written in my life! But I'm glad you enjoyed it so much that you're sad to see it go. And hey, you can always re-read it!
XxNightjar: Thank you! It's coming soon!
Hiro felt himself tense up as Maya's booted feet touched the girders on the opposite edge of the building. This was it. This would be the end – he could feel it. The robot that had been carrying her landed neatly beside her, and she smirked cruelly from behind her wooden mask. Ryoushi, too, was placed beside his CEO, though he looked older and frailer as he staggered when released, leaning more heavily on his cane than ever before.
Go Go and Fred's robotic doubles took their places beside their creator, their previously scratched and dented armour polished to a shimmering shine, the lines between the plates glowing with bright internal lights, yellow and blue, and their oculars glimmering maliciously. As much as Hiro wanted to, he wouldn't let himself believe that this was all Maya had brought with her to fight them. There had to be something else.
"You got my message, then?" The boy genius called, as though they were friends chatting about the weather.
Maya continued the tone without hesitation. "Of course! I never miss an opportunity, Mr Hamada."
"You can't tell me this is your whole fighting force," the boy began to taunt them, willing them to make the first move. His team tensed behind him, ready to run, ready to fight. "That's a little disappointing, if I'm honest."
"I thought you might think that," the woman in black nodded sagely, casting a mean glance over her shoulder. Ryoushi flinched. "But I know just how much you all loved the Mk.2's last time you met them, so I thought 'Heck, why not?' You're only going to try to rip them apart again."
Hiro raised an eyebrow, carefully listening to the hum of Baymax's updated sensor behind him, but there was no little noise of recognition that gave him any reason to believe there were other KETEC machines in the area.
"So, would you like us to dismantle them now, or are we gonna try and bargain first? You can even beg me for mercy, if you like."
He saw the lines radiate across Maya's face behind her mask. Okay, now she's angry. Hiro smirked to himself. He was getting through to her.
"You little wretch. I'm going to enjoy working you to death." The CEO's voice dropped to a sharp hiss. Her shoulders hunched, and she turned back to Karl, whispering something over her shoulder. He nodded, pulling his black cloak closer around him, and turned away.
The teenager took a step back, towards Baymax, ready to run at any minute as Maya glared at him head-on. She pulled the mask from her face, tossing it so that it fell through the scaffold, crashing and clattering against the iron as it did so. The lingering echoes died away, leaving an icy cold silence frozen between the two sides. Baymax's sensor hummed again, and this time let out a little beep. He'd found something.
Hiro could feel his heart hammering in his chest. No matter how much he tried to ignore it, he was scared. Very scared. He hadn't tested his own new equipment properly yet (in fact, he wasn't even sure his team knew about it), having been too focused on everyone else's, and his plan depended on it working perfectly. Whatever happened today, this was the end.
"I brought a friend for you, Hiro. I thought you might need one, since your little team is about to be permanently disbanded..." Maya's eyes glimmered cruelly, a breath of laughter juddering her high shoulders. "You've met the Mk.1 and the Mk.2's, all of which you seemed to have no trouble ripping to pieces. Well, let's see you destroy our Mk.3..."
The boy almost knew what was coming before he even caught sight of it. A single robot appeared from beyond the scaffold, and the teen heard a collective intake of breath from the rest of the team as they realised just who they were looking at. He, however, just smiled knowingly. He had expected this all along.
The Mk.3 came to rest in front of the CEO, fixing him with unnatural blue oculars as its thrusters folded neatly away into its ankles. He almost knew the bodywork too well as he cast his eyes over the blue armour that was attached over a pale white plastic outer skeleton. The breastplate rose and fell as the android expelled heat, making the creature look almost alive, the indigo light that shone from inside it pulsating rhythmically. Every movement it made was so very human, the way it rose up from its half-crouch and folded its arms across its armoured chest. Terrifying just didn't come into it. The wings on its back folded away, just like Baymax's, though they looked too big for the comically tiny fighting robot. Tiny, yet exactly Hiro's height.
"You know, you haven't got my hair at all," He quipped, looking unimpressed. Maya simply chuckled to herself. "And isn't it a little... I don't know... predictable?"
"Well, we copied everyone else. There was only once person left," Ryoushi wheezed.
Hiro shook his head, a sad smirk playing across his lips: "...me."
When the Mk.3 moved, it moved with lithe efficiency and lightning speed. It was so sudden, so unnatural. The boy genius didn't have time to react before it had knocked him to the ground and was coming down on top of him. Had Baymax not thrown a punch, Hiro's double would have crushed him.
The team sprang into action without a second thought. Fred dived from the girder he was perched on, springing back up from the ground two floors below and tossing an electro-pad with impressive accuracy on his way back up. The weapon hit as the robot gathered itself up from where it had fallen, but didn't stick. It fell away, sparking as it did so, and smashed on the hard concrete.
The team seemed taken aback, but Hiro simply shook his head. He flipped up his visor, wiping the blood hurriedly from his split lip before trying to explain. "Don't waste the pads, guys. It's made of different stuff, some sort of plastic. You won't be able to electro-pad it."
Fred bounced up again from the ground, and with impressive efficiency, the Mk.3 span around and landed a blow squarely on the mascot's chest, throwing him down and into a heap on the concrete two storeys below. When a mag-lev disc knocked powerfully against it's head, it responded by trying to snatch it from the air.
Hiro wracked his brains. His friends were in trouble if they couldn't land a decent hit against this machine. "Wasabi, your swords are the only thing that's gonna do this thing any damage." He spoke hurriedly as he backed away from the battle. "You and Honey Lemon need to try to destroy it -"
"No problem," Honey replied cheerily.
"- Go Go, keep Maya distracted -"
"You got it."
"- Fred, try to take out the Mk.2's with your electric gloves... when you can stand up, of course -"
"I got this, little dude."
"- and Baymax, stay with me. We'll do what we can."
The red robot stood over Hiro as he rubbed the chin of his helmet in thought. He watched the others launch themselves into battle, Fred bouncing up from below, brandishing his gloves and trying to zap the copies of himself and his mechanic friend; Go Go knocking Maya off her girder with a disc and then skating easily down the walls of the structure to meet her again at the bottom; Honey Lemon struggling to both fight the Mk.3 and keep Wasabi's attention off how high up they were.
The teen turned as he noticed a dark figure approaching. Ryoushi limped along the edges of the building, leaning more heavily than ever on his cane. He halted a few yards from the boy genius, surveying him, making sure he wasn't about to attack.
"You should try botfighting; that is a very impressive piece of robotics," Hiro smirked, his eyes glued to the Mk.3 as it was continually being stuck to the floor and slashed by his teammates. He added sourly, "Robert Callaghan would be proud."
"I slaved over that thing for days," Kristoff nodded slowly. "Terrible thing. Makes my bones ache just looking at it."
"You're not proud of what you've done?"
"Of the robot? Yes, of course. But of what it's doing? What she's making it do? I'm too old for that."
Karl shook his head, unable to look on as Wasabi's laser cut a great welt through his creation's breast plate. "You know, if I knew you were Hamada's son, I wouldn't have been surprised by how quickly you destroyed everything the first time we fought. I wouldn't have been so angry, either."
Hiro swallowed, his eyes glued to the battleground. "You knew my father, then?"
"Yes, I knew him. Worked with him. Admired him. Your mother, too; both incredible scientists. I always thought they had two children, two boys."
"Yeah, they did." Hiro replied coldly. His stomach twisted uncomfortably, stilling his tongue.
Karl was silent, understanding. He looked out across the rooftop, to where one of his Mk.2's had fallen prey to Fred's electric gloves. In all honesty, he didn't care anymore. Just like the boy stood trembling beside him, he just wanted all of this to be over.
The teenager's voice was oddly controlled as he spoke again, "You seem to like tipping me off, so tell me this: How do I destroy the Mk.3?"
Karl chuckled. "That would be cheating, Mr Hamada. I'm sure you know how to already. For a mind like yours, it's really rather simple."
The boy genius nodded, his eyes following Fred as his teammate dodged and weaved around his own double. His plan would work, then. His gaze flitted below, to where Maya and Go Go were locked in combat, the new disc slingshot mechanism functioning perfectly for the mechanic's damaged shoulder. The young woman ruthlessly attacked the villain, acting as though she could barely feel the whips that cracked off her body and using every bit of the terrain she could to her advantage. A disc buzzed by close to the onlookers, coming back down and striking Maya across the back of the head.
Hiro looked up and froze, eyes widening, heart almost stopping in his chest. Honey Lemon was lying across a piece of scaffolding not far away, struggling to push herself upright after a dizzying blow, and the physicist behind her was clinging on with all his might to a girder he had just managed to grab before he could plummet into the belly of the building taking shape below. No matter how he struggled, he couldn't get himself back up, and the robot was stalking closer and closer to the young woman who seemed barely concious in front of it.
"Time to go, Baymax. The plan will have to wait." Hiro called, leaping up onto the robot's back as he spread his wings. The healthcare robot crouched, then shot forward with dramatic haste, his fist swinging underneath him so that the Mk.3 barely had time to react before it was sent soaring through the air.
FIGHTFIGHTFIGHTFIGHT! Mk.3 vs Baymax. Who will win?