The world begins with change not opinions - Unknown.
l.
Mary Beth felt her thigh vibrate.
A chill ran down her chest until she saw through her pants pocket whose number it was; a relieved laugh and she plucked it out, placing it on the floating, lantern-like bot. "Speaker," she instructed it.
"Hey Mar!" An overly-excited voice answered her.
"Leik?" she said with interest, immediately lowering her brows and smiling, "didn't see you at the spectacular fail that was Lin-Jon's Q&A. What's up? Back to the superhero work? College life?"
There was a pause. "You know that my uncle didn't approve."
"Which is precisely why he recruited you," she was serious for a moment, "precisely why I need to talk to that cousin of yours. Send Junny my way when you get the chance. Now, I've gotta get-"
"I was thinking..." Gogo said suddenly.
"Yes?" her friend asked with dubious trust.
"Maybe we could, you know, hang out or something. Catch up."
"Sure," Mary Beth put her boots up on the triangular dash, "and maybe you can just get to the point of why you're calling? I don't like being away from home for a long and I didn't appreciate the fact that I had to come out and mediate to make sure that our cover wasn't blown. Really... THINK, Leik."
Gogo sighed audibly.
"Can I be straight with you?"
"Dunno, can you?" She munched on an apple into her floating phone.
"I want to talk about ways to continue the Californian RRC legacy."
Mary Beth nearly choked, she sat up so fast.
"And that's exactly the Leiko I want talk to!" She said favorably.
"I need you to consider that maybe we were wrong about some things..."
The 18 year old furrowed her brow and glanced a ponderous glance at her robot
"What kind of things?" she asked.
...
"Maxie, why are we down here?"
Hiro was starting to feel like he was more the robot project for the moment.
"It will only be a moment," his best friend said, patiently distracted.
The teen glanced around, unsettled at the wrappers and other pieces of former contraband that was under his work table bunker. Baymax, always aware of Hiro's past risky endeavors, seemed to go on a hunt and was able to locate something that Hiro hadn't seen since he was 14 years old; the bot man held up a blue, cybernetic looking suit that Hiro felt a connection to... But he still scoffed.
"My old "super" supersuit?" He said.
"Try it on," Baymax came over and gently took off his hoodie, hearing Hiro sigh as he did what was asked and trying not to bite his lower lip off when he had to suck in his gut. He exhaled tightly now.
"I know it will not fit correctly but we do not have time to come up with any other defense if needed."
"Baymax," Hiro said flatly, "I'm pretty sure you apologizing to the city in your hero form is not gonna end badly and I'm definitely sure it wasn't necessary to put Gogo up to this, buddy." He slid out the top and had to pull Baymax out. "That something is going to happen out there. It's totally safe."
"No," Baymax told him as Hiro tried to control his breathing as he slid on Baymax's red suit for him "but I believe in being safe just in case," he said as Hiro fitted on his helmet and now they were both in their hero suits and Hiro was looking up at Baymax with a slightly amazed smile and yet it was...
Baymax picked him up and held him close to his accessport.
Hiro didn't say anything, he just rested his head against Max's chest... there, somehow he was able to breathe, somehow the carbon fiber casing had a calming effect for Hiro as he laid his head there against the familiar paneling. His best friend stroked his head, he heard right at his ear Baymax say softly,
"Nothing is going to happen to you, as nothing is going to happen to me."
Hiro sighed. "I know, buddy," he said trustingly, "let's go."
Baymax helped him up on his back, stopping briefly to squeeze his hand.
II.
"Only one more part, Tak."
Sweat beading down his face, Taku gave an odd grin down at his best friend Ranny and gave him a worry-free salute. "Just toss me a raspberry tea, I think I'm just about done," he was nearly knocked off the gigantic structure. "Ahhh!" he screamed, grasping onto the very thing that had projected him off. "Uhhh," he said unsurely, kicking off the side of his project to get back up when the door opened.
"Hey Randolphous," Cassandra Yuri said as she walked in, carrying greasy, white bags.
The man was smacking his lips as quickly scrambled over to toss Taku his.
"I don't know why you like this grody stuff," she said as he took his own Noodle Burger bag and immediately went for his turkey ravioli panini, "it's not made very well; if you stop by my grandma's Café..." she was instantly silenced when the boy shoved the entire sandwich into his mouth. "Uggh."
Taku tried to say hi to Cassie as well, but when he saw her look he went back to re-oscillating the component that had popped out. "That's a start," he looked hopefully along the enormous skeleton of his project when someone tapped his shoulder; he quickly turned and saw a playful Chichi there.
"Hey!" she said, tackling him around the waist.
"Hey!" He tried spinning her around but she immediately slipped from his grasp and ran along the contraption, grinning at him encouragingly, "Now, you're going to want to be careful..." he warned.
"Oh, and are you careful?" she replied impishly, running along until he actually caught her before she went over an edge. She gasped and breathed a little easier when he kissed her on the ear, laughing.
"Yes, I am careful," he replied, then turned around and held out his hand for her. "Missus Hamada?"
She gave him a knowing look and then accepted his grasp.
"You do know you have a son at home, hubbles."
"I thought you left him over at the Café," he smiled at her and together they walked along the traversing frame; he showed her the automated operation room (narrowly dodge a few spearing instruments) and then he showed her the emergency wing (which she had to pull him out of the way a few times). Chichi listened and nodded, smiling at him as he talked all about his aspirations.
"That's wonderful," she came around and pecked his cheek, then, she tapped his chest. "But aren't you forgetting the thing that matters the most?" Chihiro smiled, reminding him why Taku did this.
"Of course I do," he said and then he led her over to where bassinets were aligned along the very quiet part of the structure, "you see, I feel like children under any circumstances should never feel uncared-for," he looked at her with an ingenious smile, "sometimes, a child isn't going to have that care they need in a home, isn't going to have that... well, blessed childhood a lot of us do," his wife nodded at him slowly, so he held out his hand and indicated a small baby doll in the clear sided bassinet," where an infant who is going to need a level of care can be tended to," two hands went down at a simulated baby cry, "and if you watch, Chi, you see that I've integrated a mother's natural response into the core of my self-mobile hospital... It would simulate the experience and nuture-"
The two hands grabbed at the baby doll's legs.
A loud rip was heard.
"Okay, okay" he herded her off, covering her eyes, "nothing to see here."
Both Randolphous and Taku managed to get his wife and sister-in-law out. Cassandra rolled her eyes and smiled on the way out, but Chihiro grabbed at his hand and looked him in the eye. "Honey, I have complete faith in you, but you have to have faith in our family. You have to faith in our future."
Taku met her eyes, tired, but nodding at her encouraging words. He smiled. "I'll be home tonight."
He then reached down and they shared a kiss as he ignored any doubt he might have felt.
III.
The sky was a beautiful, crisp January evening, the stars were a faint silver.
"I'm starting to wonder who's in control," Hiro grinned down at Baymax.
He would try and go one way, Baymax would compensate and compromise.
"It is different flying again, isn't it?" his best friend looked back up at him.
With a supportive smile, he reached down for Baymax's hand and Baymax immediately squeezed it, then Hiro nodded confidently and when Baymax and he looked down at the city, it was completely back to normal but there was nothing happening and somehow he felt like that might be a problem.
"Buddy, whatever you've got to say, it's going to have to be something big."
"Yes and I think a show of support after everything that has happened is important."
Hiro took a breath. "Right here, buddy, just consider what you're going to do."
"I will," Baymax looked down at the empty, rather messy Q&A stage.
"It's deserted," Hiro said.
"There are RRC agents 2855 feet ahead."
"Why can't you scan them before you see them?"
"They were shielding and I do not have that capability anymore, Hiro."
The teen patted his shoulder assuringly. "Well, we better find out."
"Hiro, Baymax!" Krei's image appeared on Hiro's arm.
"Oh, hey, is everything okay?"
"Hello, Krei, do you need us?" Baymax said politely.
For a moment, Hiro wondered if everything had been a dream because Baymax didn't sound any different than he normally - he felt a large hand reach up and pat his shoulder in reassurance.
"Well, I see you're in the neighborhood and thought, maybe, you could swing by..."
Hiro glanced ominously at the strange diamond shape ahead.
"Do you need something? Because we kind of got-"
"We will be there soon as we can," Baymax said amicably.
The screen faded out on a nervous, hopeful Krei.
Hiro gave Baymax an incredulous look.
"If he needs us, we must be there."
Hiro nodded at his best friend in agreement.
"It might be important," Hiro acknowledged.
"Everything will be okay." Baymax caught his eye.
He received a grim grin in return.
The two of them spun around and blasted for Krei Tower.
...
"Okay," Wasabi was complaining for the 5th time, "I know we clean up city messes but I never thought we would literally have to clean up after everyone's mess. I mean, look at this place!"
"It's where we're needed," Honey reminded him, spiking up a piece of litter.
"That's right," Fred said, smiling at him inside his suit, "you forget I used to volunteer all the time."
"Maybe we've just gotten too big for our own good," Gogo said suddenly.
The three turned to her.
"Did you seriously just say that?" Wasabi asked.
Fred and Honey mentioned nothing about the multi-media contract pending four more signatures.
"I'm just saying that when you think you're in full control of something... I don't know," she shook her head, thinking, "you can have all the power in the world and still be the weakest person alive, guys."
"But it's not like that now. Because what happened in the past, we've learned from it." Honey smiled.
Gogo looked around at all her friends, then set her sights skyward as a craft landed. "I think the lessons have just begun." She said and they waited together in their suits as a side panel opened.
" 'Gogo, who is this?"
"The daughter of RRC HQ...
And my best friend."
...
"Hiro! Baymax!" Krei never looked so happy to see them come through the door.
...and never more suspicious, Hiro thought.
"How have you been?" Baymax took him in his arms for a moment.
Smiling sideways, Hiro rolled his eyes and walked around the top of the penthouse.
"Still getting bombarded with requests for the Liger?" he walked casually over to the wrap-around couch and flopped back, looking out over at the bridge as the sun started to completely go down.
"Yes, and I would appreciate a certain healthy sense of personal space."
Baymax looked up at him as he walked over to a mini fridge.
"Not that I don't enjoy your hugs!" he said immediately.
"So what's going on?" Hiro said with a point in mind, smiling at Baymax as he came to place an arm around his shoulder, got a new project for me, someone need medical care... someone's top mark?"
Baymax gave him a reproachful squeeze, and Hiro was reminded his humor was a little derisive...
And that he couldn't get away with as much.
"Actually, no, what I'm really wanting to do is quite the opposite..."
Krei turned with his hands together, suddenly lost his nerve, and returned to rummaging in the fridge. He could sense his friends looking at his back as he rummaged noisily, bottles clinking.
"You know I'm still only 16, right?"
"Mr. Krei, is there anything that we can do for you?" Baymax said gently.
"No no no! Really, you're always doing something for someone. Let ME do something for... Uh, you."
Hiro was starting to feel really off as he took Baymax's arm and held it closer to his side.
"Look, I know things have been super weird, but, we need a reason to be here."
"A reason... there always needs to be a reason." Krei sounded disappointed.
"You said that you needed to speak with us," Baymax reminded him, blinking down at Hiro.
"Yeah and really, if-"
"Raspberry tea?"
"I hate tea."
"Blue Bull energy drink?"
"That's too much caffeine for Hiro."
The teen hoped Krei didn't notice the almost non-robotic way that was said.
Krei thought immediately.
"Big Hero 6 action figure?!" he held up a small Baymax 2.0.
The botman watched him a moment, then closed his eyes and chuckled in his belltone.
Hiro was on his feet as Krei nearly fell backwards into his beverage container.
"Uhhh UHHH, it's his programming! Yeah, it's a little bit... you know," he looked at Baymax quickly, who wasn't even in the least bit alarmed. "NEW. Because, you know, you add a few things! Yeah, YEAH. That's it!" The man before them looked as though he just seen a make believe story just come to life. "No, really! That was just a glitch, uh...programming! Oh yeah, Baymax is chock full of programming! Right, Max?!" his best friend poked him under the armpit and he crippled inward with laughter. Suddenly, Baymax grabbed him and held him close as the two of them laughed together.
As he watched this, some of the color returned to Krei's face.
...
"So, it's been a while," Mary Beth said, leading them into her carrier, "green apple cider? Hot tea?"
"Thanks," Wasabi said, accepting the offer from a floating lantern.
"No, it's okay, I can heat it myself," Fred declined as he claw-tipped his cider out of the heating bot.
"Big Hero 6 hasn't been getting a lot of publicity lately," Mary Beth looked straight at Gogo.
Fred and Honey tried to hide their guilty looks.
"Sorry, I'm trying to exploit you guys," the girl said, sitting back with her legs folded in the dash.
"Actually, that's exactly why we're here," Gogo walked over and sat across from her.
She patted the seats beside her and the others came to sit on either side of their teammate.
"Where's the other members of your team?" her childhood friend leaned in closer.
"That's sort of what we wanted talk about," Gogo said.
Mary Beth sipped her tea, folded her legs underneath herself and really looked her in the eye. "Yes?"
She could feel her friends' looks of horror down at her as they realized what was happening...
Gogo sighed. "You got me... If we're going to talk merchandising deals, we're going to need the whole team here, right? And who'll portray us in whatever movie Kaiju World Studios will make."
Mary Beth felt her tea spill into the middle of her skin-tight jeans.
She watched the other girl shrug.
"Licensing rights..."
...
"No, no and NO," Hiro paced back and forth through the penthouse, relentlessly resisting.
"Hiro, let's listen to Alistair Krei," Baymax implored him, patting the seat beside him.
Groaning audibly under his breath, the teen came back and sat under his arm.
"I know in the past we haven't always seen each other...uh, eye-to-eye, Hiro."
Hiro saw for the first time how shaken he was.
Besides, Krei only called him Hiro when he wasn't up to something.
"Whatever it is, you know we'll help you," he reminded him. "But we're not going to San Beijingdino!"
Krei lifted his pale blue eyes guiltily toward Baymax, as if the sight of truth exhausted him.
"I'm not sure what to do with myself anymore," he bowed his head.
'Why not start with why you want us to go to San Beijingdino?" Baymax encouraged.
Stiffly, Hiro turned to Baymax.
The botman nodded at him, acknowledging he was prioritizing.
"Yeah, yeah okay," Hiro tried to stay cool, "our friends wanted us to go to San Beijingdino, too."
Krei dug his hand turned up his hair and shook his head. "I made a horrible mistake."
"What do you mean?" It was the hardest thing Hiro felt he'd ever asked.
The man met his eyes and they were bloodshot.
"I don't expect you can forgive me," Krei looked as if he could almost start crying, "I'm the one who told them Baymax has sentience; there's nothing to announce, boys. They're well on the hunt now."
The air in Hiro's lungs liquefied, filled into his stomach and solidified there.
"You... you told them." He couldn't comprehend a man he had saved countless times doing this.
"Krei, you know what will happen," Baymax told him, quickly standing, "All those with connections to me, including yourself and Hiro, could be harmed. That was the reason for the cover-up, to protect."
The room start to spin, ice crushing in Hiro's gut.
"Let's go!" he felt Baymax pick him up, heading for their suits.
"Too obvious," Krei said, but Hiro barely heard him as he considered where to hide Baymax...
"Hiro, listen to Krei."
"Maxie, we gotta GO."
"Take these!" Krei pitched him a set of keys. "Car's on the market in a week, but it'll do the trick."
...
It was a calm, ordinary early night after closing.
Inside the Lucky Cat Café, a sleeping mound of white and spotted fur rose and fell as it was curled up on the glass counter. Then, the sudden beating on the door and Mochi's little ears popped up to listen shattered the tranquil ambiance. When he didn't see anyone outside the sign-ladened door or outside the arching window panes, the cat wrinkled his muzzle and tucked his arms under his belly.
Moments later, there was a sort of sliding sound and then the front door to the Café was kicked in.
Somewhere between yowl and a gurgle, the calico dove behind the counter.
Dressed down in black uniform, a SWAT-like team of agents entered the residence.
They spread everywhere; into the back of the kitchen area, turning up family pictures to look beneath them, if not completely ripping them off the walls... storming up the stairs, they kicked open the door to a small room with blankets covering over what might have been shelves and even the outline of a crib beneath one covered in bunnies. Wasting no time, they scoured the rest of the upstairs, on up into Hiro and Baymax's room, they immediately confiscated all that could aid them.
One by one, the RRC collected Baymax's charger, pictures of incriminating evidence that the boy and his robot were involved in some kind of vigilante work even though there was no clear proof just pieces of tech in their hands or on display in pictures. Walls that have been cleared of old clutter but for superhero and school paraphernalia were emptied into boxes by the squat team, even some old comic books, action figures and a few other things like a soccer ball and a skateboard that were stored away in the closet were taken. The one who led the raid came slowly over to the bed, tilted their head and then with one foot lifted the frame to reveal what was carefully folded underneath it.
...
The team was just about to ask Gogo what the heck she was doing as she moved on to overseas deals when the door to the carrier slid open and an even more overwhelmed Ha-Jun entered, swatting at the bots like flies and saying that there wasn't a robot in this day and age that you could even trust anymore, let alone - he saw his younger cousin and her friends watching him approach.
"Oh no, not YOU four again!" He cried.
He then spotted Mary Beth in a sort of interrogating situation.
"Oh, N-"
"Give it a rest," She cut him off, stirring what was left of her tea.
"Yep, us again," Gogo smiled at him.
She saw exactly what she wanted to see when Mary Beth turned to him invitation...
But, oddly solemnly.
"So," Gogo said, slipping something into the drive behind her, "you were going to talk to Ha-Jun."
"What are you doing there?" Her old friend said immediately.
Wasabi's wrist was lighting up and flashing fast.
"Nothing," he grinned over at Gogo as Fred and Honey both looked at each other in the dark.
"We were just getting a message from another sponsor, guess the offers are flooding in."
Wasabi nodded at them meaningfully, then Honey exhaled and Fred nodded vigorously back.
Totally getting it.
Gogo smiled at dumbfounded look on Mary Beth's face. "Sometimes it's best to keep people in the dark just long enough to turn on the light," she saw her pointed oval visage go five shades red now.
They stared at each other, Gogo standing, her sitting.
"Tell your dad hi for me," she turned and all five started to-
"Actually, Leiko," Mary Beth said almost casually.
"It's Gogo," Fred warned her.
"Well, Gogo, I'm going to need you to remain behind with Ha-Jun and I."
The man looked as though he was about to be sick as his cousin turned to him.
There was only one thing to do as she nodded to her friends to leave... which they did not.
"You three need to go," Mary Beth said crisply, "This business doesn't concern any of you."
Gogo nodded stiffly as Ha-Jun just stood there without moving, they came over slowly and gave her a hug quick but somehow staring at the dopey cousin of Gogo, Fred and Honey felt compelled to go over and give him a hug, too, Wasabi patted him on the arm once and then let the three of them be.
Their best friend nodded after them, and watched as she stood beside her family member.
All color had left Ha-Jun's face, all feeling. "What do you want to talk about?" he asked.
"Well," Mary Beth began as Gogo actually took his arm for support. "Ji-Min really should be here, but..." she turned with a dark look at the two of them who used to be agents of the top Californian wing, "apparently he would rather be in San Bernardino right now, fighting to give rogue bots rights."
Gogo held her cousin in place as Mary Beth met his eyes...in them there was a stifled pity.
"We need to talk about some things that majorly will affect you, Ha-Jun." She said gravely.
...
The light to the basement clicked on and the raiders made their way down to Hiro's lab.
It was a little difficult navigating the wooden steps but they led down to what was both an old car garage that doubled as a laboratory as well. Yet, when they went down there they found something that made them do a double take; for with their arms crossed over their chest stood members of the Resistance; Yama, Momokase, Glooby... just to name a few of the former villains that stood with the city and now stood almost as if they'd been waiting for the RRC agents to arrive... It was almost-
"We were wondering," a horrific grin of expectation was on Yama's face," when you little girls were going to show up and try to abduct the kid who's made all our lives a living nightmare. "And yeah," they were seized up in the air and what was in their possession was taken immediately. "Stealing."
Yama saw Aunt Cass appear at the top of the stairs.
"OK Mrs. C, don't worry, we caught all these-"
"Let them go," she said hurriedly.
The looks on everyone's faces were one of bewilderment.
"They're just doing their jobs," she said abidingly. "While you all have broken into our house, are hiding in my garage and are preventing the LAW from being carried out," she reminded them all.
Shocked, they drop the RRC agents.
Like a flock of crows, the agency picked the garage clean.
Even a secret passage was accessed and things were quickly brought up.
Once everything that wasn't drilled to the wall or nailed to the ground was removed, the garage door was flown up, exposing the cool starry night and the Resistance watched as the RRC made away with all the plundered evidence. Yama was still in a daze as Aunt Cass came to stand beside him.
"You sold our son up the river," he gawked.
"No," she turned to him with a small smile. "I just gave my nephew more time to follow it to freedom."
To be continued...
A/N: So sorry for the delay! I've had some enormous issues with my cars and work and everything so all update when I can on the story and I am planning on some big things so the next two chapters are going to be pretty intense a lot of fun too so look forward to seeing more :-)