Chapter Sixty Six: Advantage
Four cell phones went off as Honey Lemon, Kally, GoGo and Fred headed towards the Norse section of the museum. Having forgotten to turn the ringers off, the phones created quite the noise, which the all equally tried to silence in as quick a fashion as possible. But when Sammy made Kally's phone screen flash, they all checked their messages.
"Looks like we're needed back at the house," GoGo said with a sigh. At least the message wasn't coming from Tony, she supposed. All the same, it was yet another outing ruined by something beyond their control. "Guess we'd better head back."
Thankfully, not many people were in the museum, unlike last time. They didn't get any dirty looks but quickly headed to the exit all the same, requesting their transport be brought around as quickly as possible. Something had obviously happened. And while Baymax's message was short, it sounded urgent.
It wasn't until they were all in the car that Sammy informed them, in as concise a manner as possible, of recent events. They didn't need their protection detail knowing too much so she'd communicated the information via text message to all phones simultaneously. To any outside eyes, they all looked like they were just playing intently on their phones.
By silent agreement, none of the group spoke out loud, though it was hard as several events came to light. Sammy only had enough information to let them know that Hiro had had another premonition of bombs going off, that Tony and Lucifer were aware of the premonition, and that Hiro urgently needed them to return to home base. Despite requests for her to try and get more information, Baymax was unwilling to give her anything more.
The drive seemed to take forever, even though their driver was going over the speed limit, using the fastest route possible to get there. How he wasn't pulled over was anyone's guess, but it didn't matter so long as they got there without being held up in any way. Each incident of Hiro seeing into the future had cost him and they all worried about that, wanting to reach him as soon as possible.
Finally, after what seemed a lot longer than it actually took, they arrived at Tony's mansion. Not waiting for their escort to 'make sure the area was secure', they all hopped out of the vehicle and headed into the house.
None of them were prepared to see Loki casually sitting in the dining area, eating what looked to be a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Next to him sat Cass, along with Hiro, and then Wasabi. Of Tony or Lucifer, there was no sign.
"We got your message," Honey stated, speaking first while the others overcame their shock. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Kally giving Loki a raised brow.
Baymax waddled into view, carrying a plastic pitcher of what might be lemonade. "Hello, Honey Lemon, GoGo, Fred, and Kally," he greeted as he set the pitcher down.
The four companions waved as Wasabi poured a glass of the drink. He winced but waved off Baymax's helping hands. "So…" Fred spoke up in a hesitant voice. "I get that Hiro saw another vision of some bombs going off and all that, but what's Loki doing here and how did he get in? I thought he and Tony didn't exactly get along."
"We don't," Loki said with a sigh as he put his sandwich down. He placed one elbow on the dining room table, his chin in his hand as he looked around at everyone gathered. "I suppose you should know I've been masquerading as Hiro's bodyguard."
GoGo gave a curt nod. "Samuel Jackson. Makes sense." She gave Fred and Honey a shrug when they looked her way. "What? It does if you stop to think about it."
"I guess you're right," Fred voiced for the both of them. "I mean, if you think about it logically, he was pretty attached to Hiro. And Loki was also pretty attached to Hiro. That and Loki kind of seemed to disappear after the whole thing with the hotel bombing." He'd had his suspicions, of course, but hadn't wanted to voice them. From what he knew about Loki, mostly from comic books, the man wasn't the kind of person to just abandon a project he was working on, unless it suited his best interests. And he somehow thought Hiro fit into the category of "his best interests" at the moment. There was no way Loki would leave the teen to his own devices, not with everything going on.
Hiro cleared his throat noisily. "The point of calling you back was so we can do something about the whole bomb thing. I know we're small in number, but I saw three different areas get hit, which means they'll be dividing their forces."
That caught everyone's attention and they focused in on Hiro, who looked a bit uncomfortable. It wasn't that he wasn't used to the attention, but he knew he was missing something. And no amount of thinking about it could jog loose whatever it was, something he'd seen in the vision.
"The Mayor is having various parts of the city evacuated," Loki spoke up, taking charge. He'd noticed Hiro's unusual state and thought it best to give him some breathing room to think about whatever it was that troubled him. "That's where Lucifer and," he paused uncomfortably, "Stark have headed. They wanted us to hide, but I somehow doubt that's really an option." He glanced back at Hiro for the briefest of moment.
Wasabi held up a hand. "Now hold up a minute." He winced a bit as the focus moved to him. "I'm all for helping out, but I'm in no condition to do so, and having you go out in your normal uh armor isn't exactly going to go well." He gave Loki an apologetic yet slightly distrustful look to get his point across. "You're not exactly the most popular person right now."
Loki had to agree. "While that may be true, you are aware I am able to take on others forms." To demonstrate, he returned to the guise of Samuel Jackson before running through most of the Avengers, including Hawkeye and Thor. "Since you are still physically incapable of helping, I thought it might be best if I masqueraded as your super hero form."
"Thanks for rubbing it in," Wasabi said under his breath before straightening as much as his injuries would allow. "Seriously though, do you honestly think I'd be okay with you using my gear? We're talking about laser-induced plasma! Plasma! You really think you can handle that?"
The Asgardian rolled his eyes. "Need I remind you I've been working with sharp weapons for much longer than even your great grandparents were alive? And please don't get me started on all of the more modern and advanced weaponry I've had the opportunity to use on other planets and in other realms."
Fred gave Wasabi a look."I think that means he should be fine," he stated, a hint of impatience in his voice. He couldn't help but look forward to the possibility of seeing the god of mischief in action. "But all that aside, the real problem isn't being able to use the weapons, but to work as a team."
Honey and GoGo nodded. "We do work well together, almost to the point where we can read each other's minds," Honey pointed out. "Of course, we follow Hiro's lead, but I somehow can't see you doing that."
"Yeah," GoGo agreed. "You seem more like the type to go and do your own thing." She popped a gum bubble, looking as disinterested as usual. If it weren't for the team, she'd probably go off on her own as well, but they worked well together.
"I have no problem following Hiro's lead," Loki announced. "Though I can't help but wonder if there aren't times when you all go off the script. Surely it's not all a well-oiled machine." He could think of several examples off the top of his head, simply from what he'd seen in Hiro's memories.
Kally cleared her throat, reminding them they weren't the only ones in the room. "I think it's a good idea to have him at least look like Wasabi out there, especially if everyone's gearing up. Tony might figure out how he is, but he won't be able to say anything about it without causing more problems than it's worth. And you guys will have full numbers. I'll join as backup or something."
At that, Cass almost spilled her cup of lemonade. She'd felt content to just sit, eat her sandwich, and listen, but felt she needed to insert her two cents to the whole. "I think Kally's right." She hated to admit it, but there was a certain kind of logic behind it. "Though I have some reservations about you joining them." She gave Kally a measuring glance, having heard from Hiro about her activities but not having really seen her abilities herself.
"Whatever we decide to do," Hiro interjected, coming back to the present, "we need to do it soon. Whoever these bombers are, they're not going to just sit around and wait for us to figure things out. Honestly, I feel there's more going on than what we can see at the moment, and it bothers me." His expression certainly led to that as his eyebrows wrinkled a bit. "But we have an advantage the others don't and I suggest we use it."
Several brows rose at that. "I hope you're not talking anonymity," Wasabi spoke up, "because I think you guys kinda blew that when you helped out with the arena."
Hiro had to acknowledge that as the truth. And while they'd somehow managed to stay out of the news, there were more than enough people who had seen them. "That's not what I'm talking about," he stated.
"Then what are you talking about?" Honey wondered. Anonymity was always their biggest thing, but Wasabi was right about them sort of forgoing it with their recent activities.
Cass cleared her throat. "They don't know you're coming," she said. "What?" She gave them a return look of surprise at the group's almost in-sync stares. "It's true. Tony, Mr. Stark, basically told us to lock ourselves up in the basement. And while he probably knows you're not going to do that, no one else really expects you to join the party."
A slow clap came from GoGo's direction. "I'm actually mildly impressed," she said with a bit of a nod of approval. "Who thought you'd be the one to point it out. That and we still have Tony's radio frequency so we can listen in on everything."
"Jack might expect us to help out," Honey pointed out. "He knows we don't like sitting things out when we can offer help." The last time something this big had happened certainly proved that.
The sound of Baymax shuffling around filled the silence. They all knew it Honey's words were true though, even if no one wanted to voice it. "May I point out that if Loki takes Wasabi's place, you have another advantage?"
All eyes turned to the robot this time as he calmly refilled cups. "Loki possesses unusual abilities that would allow him to enter places you may not be able to enter," Baymax pointed out. "His participating also gives the illusion that the team is intact and may confuse those who suspect your identities."
"But how is he supposed to use those powers if he's dressed up in my gear?" Wasabi wanted to know. He envisioned pieces of his armor scattered across the battlefield and the idea made him shudder ever so slightly. He did have to be careful about his ribs, after all, though the slight movement jarred them more than he cared to admit. Either way, he was definitely not participating in the usual capacity.
Loki let out a bit of a laugh as he transformed into Wasabi, complete with battle armor. "Like this."
Having seen him do something similar before, neither Kally nor Hiro reacted to the change. The others, however, gave variations of exclamations, some shock, some awe, with Fred looking critically at the armor, rapping it with his knuckles. "You'd never know the difference," he stated.
"I'd know the difference," Wasabi said with a pout in his tone. He tried crossing his arms over his chest but gave up on it when it made his ribs contract. He wasn't looking forward to at least five more weeks of this.
GoGo contemplated the armor-clad imposter with a frown. "That's all fine and dandy, but it doesn't do much if you can't replicate Wasabi's plasma blades."
With a bit of a bob of his head to the side, Loki returned to his normal form. "A bit of a problem, to be sure, but I have other means at my disposal." He somehow pulled two dagger-length blades from up his sleeves in the flash of an eye. "I can disguise these as well, though I somehow doubt they'll have quite the same impact as your usual weapons." He gave Wasabi a nod of appreciation.
A hint of color crept up Wasabi's neck at the acknowledgement. "You got that right," he agreed, but realized the others were right as well. "But, in a pinch, it'll do."
"Now that we've got that settled, we should gear up and head out," Hiro stated, looking around at his team mates. He felt fairly confident that Tony already knew what they were planning. Chances were good he had JARVIS keeping an eye on them. And since they were in a common part of the building, the AI could easily spy on them. They needed to head out before the billionaire could give orders to keep them there, not that Loki couldn't quickly transform into Samuel Jackson and order Krei's men to stand down, but it would be far more trouble than was worth the effort.
Cass looked a bit pensive at this, now that they'd decided what to do. But she knew it had to be done. Hiro was right. The others would be stretched thin with all of the potential locations, not to mention evacuation efforts. "I guess that means Wasabi and I'll be holding down the fort." Her face quirked into a grimace, not that she'd be any help out there anyway, even without her injuries.
Loki walked to her side, placing a hand on her uninjured shoulder. "As I recall, you do have a way to keep in contact with everyone," he reminded. "Perhaps you and Wasabi could act as communications in the room Stark mentioned. Don't forget your phone charger," he added. He was more than aware of how short-term some phone battery charges were.
Hiro's aunt gave a nod. "I can get that right now," she stated, struggling to her feet.
Not wanting to see her injure herself more, Loki gently pressed her back down. "Allow me," he said instead, sliding his arms under her knees and behind her back. He glanced towards Hiro. "Why don't you and the others get ready while I make sure these two are situated?"
Getting the hint, Hiro nodded. "Come on, guys," he said as he slid out of his chair. "Let's go suit up." He exited the room, Honey Lemon, GoGo, Fred, Kally, and Baymax following behind him. He then had a quick thought, pausing at the door. "You guys go on ahead. I need to make sure Loki has a way to stay in contact with us." He glanced at the Asgardian as he moved to carry his aunt downstairs, opting to follow him to the lab. With luck, there'd be everything he'd need to quickly put something together, even if he had to pilfer a few parts.
"Don't take too long," Honey advised. "Oh, and maybe make an extra one for Kally?"she added, realizing the other teen didn't have a comm. device either.
Hiro nodded before disappearing out of view. He was followed by Wasabi, who moved a lot more slowly.