Obake Itoko Chapter 12: House of Gold, a big hero 6 fanfic

Chapter 12, everybody! And happy Good Friday! :D

Mr. Kabuki-Mask is technically called Yokai in all the promotional and side stuff, but he's never referred to that in the movie—so here's how I avoid typing Mr. Kabuki-Mask for more than one chapter. ^^; And since Fred is the one who likes giving the superhero names, he's the one who gets it. Also, Heathcliff is so used to Fredrickson antics I swear.

In other news, Autodesk is a whole platform of 3D programs that most likely were used to make every CGI film and video game you've ever seen, Big Hero 6 included (ever heard of Maya or 3DS Max? Both Autodesk). I have a student version from Westwood College Online, and my Dad has used it at work for the same reason Gogo gives.

And I headcanon that Hiro got real into Gravity Falls and probably worried Tadashi to death—I finally got around to watching that show last year (2019—yes, I'm slow), and the first episode I watched in full was the shapeshifter episode. My first reaction: what is this this is not a kid's show HOW IS THIS ON THE DISNEY CHANNEL WTF!?

*ahem* Anyway...Fred and Wasabi have an exchange from the Kim Possible episode "Bonding"—finding out that the Big Hero 6 series was done by the same people that did Kim Possible did a LOT as far as getting me to tune in at first.

As far as the population of the Bay area is concerned…I looked it up for a different BH6 fic and it kind of stuck with me—that's a lot of people in a small area, guys.

The Authverlord, thanks for the review! Thanks! I've been a little nervous doing the scenes from the movie because there's points I want to hit without it being a straight copy-paste, so I'm glad it's coming along nicely. :) And yes! Why would Hiro want all these other people when he's got the magnificently murderous Obake on his side?

Well this night could have gone better.

Let's try to figure out just when it went sideways, shall we? Oh yes, when that stupid robot decided to call in the calvary without double-checking with them. They probably could have gotten the drop on that tech-thief if this gaggle of collegians hadn't blundered in.

So now here they were, no lead, no mask—no car, Wasabi was fixating on that as opposed to his near-death experience—squelching through San Fransokyo sometime around midnight, soaking wet and freezing, following a Californian surfer dude who might still have all his brain cells? Did he miss anything?

Oh right—no armor, and with him soaked to the bone and colder than he could ever remember. Sure, he had spent some nights on the street, but Obake had never spent those nights on the street after taking a dive in the bay. Oh yeah, and literally nothing he was wearing right now was comfortable soaking wet. And possibly heading somewhere where the floor was no longer visible under three layers of underwear and pizza boxes. Not that he hadn't been in worse places, but he'd rather not when his wet clothes would attract whatever lived in such a petri dish.

Glance at Hiro, preferably to get his attention and lead him somewhere else—Hiro was looking down, arms crossed tight trying to keep the heat in, expression scrunched up. Oh good, so it wasn't just him. Look around, try to figure out if they were near someplace he knew, and if said place still counted as a safe house—it had been well over a month since he had checked the last one, so he didn't know—blinked when he realized they were in a well-to-do neighborhood. Very upper-crust, very much the sort of place a person targeted when they wanted to line their pockets quickly. Either they were cutting through the neighborhood, or….

His estimate of Fred shot up several pegs when he went up to one of the doors—he wouldn't have guessed that Fred would know enough schemes or lockpicking techniques to warrant the stop. Or maybe the owners left their keys under the doormat, the fools.

"Uh, Fred?" Wasabi asked, taking note of their location as well. "What are you doing?"

Fred stopped—turned to face them. "Oh right—welcome to mi casa! That's French for front door."

"It's actually…not," Honey Lemon said gingerly, like she was smothering the knee-jerk you idiot response.

Gogo had no such reservations. "Listen, dingus—we just got attacked, we're soaking wet, we don't have time for your idiotic—"

The door opened and a butler stepped out—Obake shifted his weight subtly in case he needed to rush the man—

Certainly didn't expect him to turn to Fred. "Master Fredrick."

"Heathcliff! My main man!" Fred greeted enthusiastically, sharing a fist bump with the butler before waving them in. "Come on guys—we'll be safe in here."

"Indeed sir," the butler said, keeping his fist up—Obake eyed him as they filed by; Baymax was the only one to humor him on the fist bump, bouncing his own fist against it before going "Ba-la-la-la."

And then he had more pressing things to focus on—like being in the most opulent room he had ever been invited into.

"Wait—Fred, you live here?" Wasabi asked, about as thrown as Obake felt.

"I thought you lived under a bridge," Gogo said, voicing Obake's opinion.

"Yeah—live here with the 'rents," Fred said, pointing out a portrait as they followed him down a hall. "They're currently on vacay at the family island—we should go sometime. Frolic." Turn, clap—doors at the end of the hall slid open—

They followed him into what could most accurately be described as a physical depiction of the inside of Fred's head, only more organized.

"Wow," Hiro said—literally the first thing he said since they crawled out of the bay. "This…is…wow."

Wasabi and Honey Lemon were stopped by a painting that made Obake glad he only had one eye to foul right now. "If we weren't just attacked by a man in a kabuki mask," Wasabi said, leaning over to give an aside to Honey Lemon, riveted on the painting like a deer is headlights. "I'd say this was the weirdest thing I ever saw."

Obake had to agree with that, and the muttered "My brain hates my eyes right now." Stare at a monster with a note that read Fred, do not touch—Fred, trying to refocus his eye after dealing with that…ugh, the bandage on his face was absolute misery right now—look around, spot Hiro sitting at a low table, head over to him while working at the tape holding the bandaging to his face—

Blink when he realized what Hiro was doing.

Sit, tap his arm, point at the drawing Hiro was working on when he looked up.

"It was on that thing Mr. Kabuki-Mask pulled out of the bay," Hiro explained, attracting Gogo's attention.

"What thing?" she asked, coming over.

Now this was interesting—Obake's distance sight was basically on the fritz until his other eye healed (he hoped), so he hadn't been able to see any detail as to what the man had been handling. Look at the first sheet of paper as Hiro sketched out the full item…a bird in a circle. A sparrow, by the looks of it, considering the split tail.

Further musings were cut off by Baymax flopping down on them.

"Your body temperatures are still: low," Baymax reported, before starting to heat up. Well, at least it wasn't a low battery again—having to deal with that two days in a row would probably drive him to dig up the dead brother to give him a what-for. Having the rest of the little group flop on Baymax wasn't much of an improvement though.

"Ah," Fred sighed. "It's like spooning a warm marshmallow."

Obake decided that Fred was now firmly in the rob this idiot blind when able folder. Look back at the sketch Hiro finished up in the meantime.

Gogo was evaluating it too. "So it's most likely a part of something bigger," she said. "I don't know, we could try completing it in Autodesk…."

Obake considered it, tapped Hiro on the arm—Hiro slid it over, watched as Obake slipped a few pieces of paper under it, extrapolated…curved shape suggested….

"Okay," Hiro said, looking at the completed sketch. "So worst-case scenario involves a portal that lets an evil one-eyed pyramid out."

"I knew this day would come," Fred said dramatically.

"You knew this day would come?" Wasabi echoed blankly.

"Except…." Hiro trailed off, picked up the piece of paper with the sparrow drawing, considered it before holding it up. "Does this mean anything to you guys?"

"OOH—I know!" Fred volunteered, arm shooting up before pointing. "It's a bird."

Obake huffed in irritation—was distracted by a knocking at the door.

"I got it," Fred said, hopping up and running over—the butler was waiting outside.

"I brought refreshments and a first-aid kit, Master Frederick," the butler said.

"Awesome, Heathcliff—thanks," Fred said, accepting some of the snacks and leading him to the nearby table. "You're the best, man."

"Indeed, sir," Heathcliff said. "Don't hesitate to ring if you need anything else."

"Will do!"

"This isn't the first time you showed up soaking wet in the middle of the night?" Gogo asked.

"Heathcliff is surprisingly solid about these things," Fred said, bringing some snacks over. And not answering the question, Obake noted. "Now where were we? Ah right—it's a bird."

At least Hiro was rolling his eyes too. "This was on this." Tap the part of the circle he had drawn. "The thing Mr. Kabuki-Mask pulled out of the bay."

"Yeah, while we're on the topic—Mr. Kabuki-Mask tried to kill us and I have problems with this," Wasabi said.

"I do too," Fred said. "'Mr. Kabuki-Mask' doesn't roll off the tongue. We're going to need a better name for our first supervillain."

"First?" Honey Lemon echoed, looking concerned.

"Back to the point," Gogo said, indicating the bigger drawing Obake had done. "If this is right…there's more to whatever that guy's after."

"Something he's obviously willing to kill for," Honey Lemon said, looking at the drawing.

That shadow was back behind Hiro's eyes, and Obake had the feeling he wasn't thinking about their own near-miss tonight.

"He stole my microbots," Hiro said, steel in his voice. "And I'm pretty sure he started the SFIT fire."

Dead silence.

"So we're dealing with a thief and a murderer," Gogo said finally. "Any ideas?"

Oh Obake had ideas—they had tried the cutesy Saturday-morning-cartoon approach; now, they could do it his way: attack from afar, with Mr. Kabuki-Mask none the wiser until 'his' microbots turned on him. Engineer a few up that were laced with a virus, release them into the wild to pollute his multitude, and then….

Look at Hiro—he was pretty sure Hiro wouldn't mind if this guy just…disappeared.

"Yes," Fred announced. "I'm thinking…Yokai. It's short, simple, easy to remember." At the blank looks he got: "For the guy's supervillain name—I told you, Mr. Kabuki-Mask is too wordy."

Gogo seemed to be nursing a headache now. "Ideas. On what. To do with this guy."

Obake raised a hand.

"That don't involve murder."

Obake lowered his hand.

"Now hold it," Wasabi interjected. "Why are we even discussing this? A guy literally just tried to kill us—why aren't we calling the police?!"

"Because they didn't believe us the last time we told them about this guy," Hiro said sternly, as Baymax toddled over to the first-aid kit. "We found him yesterday, told the police, and they did a whole lot of nothing about him."

"Classic plot point, adults slash authority figures never believe the heroes when they tell them about the looming evil on the horizon," Fred said, hands spread.

"They wouldn't believe us now?" Honey Lemon asked. "There's six of us—seven if you count Baymax—that's a lot of witnesses."

Obake tapped Hiro on the arm, shook his head.

"That's a point," Hiro muttered, drumming his fingers on the table. "Even if we did tell the police, and even if they did believe us…they'd still be going up against my microbots."

Gogo was eyeing Obake, like she sensed the murder-thing had been serious. "So we find a way to counter the microbots."

"We have a way," Hiro said, a little stiffly. "We get the mask from the guy. The neurotransmitter has to be in it—we get the mask, it's game over."

"But how would we even get close?" Honey Lemon asked.

"How would we even—WHY are we having this conversation that guy just tried to kill us why aren't we discussing moving across country!?" Wasabi demanded.

Well Obake didn't know about the rest of them, but he took an attempt on his life very seriously. And considering Hiro….

This man started the SFIT fire.

This man murdered the dead brother.

This man didn't realize how dead he was. And that was before Obake factored in his own beef with the man.

"Look," Hiro said, standing up—Obake shifted to follow, hopefully this signaled getting out of geek central and off to more pressing matters, like proper revenge. "We had a plan to get this guy, we can just…no we can't," Hiro sighed, massaging his head. "I lost the microbot we were using to track him."

"So now Mr. Murder-Us could be anywhere and we wouldn't know it," Wasabi said.

"Yokai," Fred mock-whispered to him.

"Whatever," Wasabi said, waving him off. "My point is, he could be anyone and we'd never know!"

Hmm, this was a point…but the microbots seemed to have a good range, so….

And then the robot started listing various health points about Mr. Kabuki-Mask…Yokai. Fine, Fred had a point, Mr. Kabuki-Mask was too wordy.

But what the robot was doing….

"Baymax," Hiro interrupted. "You—you scanned him?"

"It is my job to scan all patients," Baymax said.

Hiro was shaking—Obake could practically see a plan under that mess of hair. "That's it! We use Baymax's scanner—that's how we'll find that guy!"

"Point of order," Gogo said, half-raising a hand. "In order to do that, you'd have to scan the whole of San Fransokyo, and that'd take forever—that'd literally take forever."

"It can't be that bad," Fred said.

"Eight million people in the Bay area?"

"Okay, so maybe it is."

Hiro drummed his fingers against his arms—twitched like he had spotted something, snatched up a toy robot. "So we upgrade him—upgrade the scanner so he can do the whole city at once."

"And then what?" Wasabi asked, gesturing. "Because I feel like I'm the only one who remembers that this guy tried to kill us!"

Honey Lemon patted him gently on the shoulder. "I remember, Wasabi."

Obake rolled his eye, focused instead on Hiro, who had gone still, staring at some of Fred's toys behind a glass case.

"Actually," Hiro said slowly. "If we're going to take this guy, we're going to all need upgrades."

Do what?

"Come again?" Gogo asked.

Hiro was pacing excitedly now, mind obviously on a tear as he gestured. "We redo Baymax's armor again, version 2.0, make us some armor too—"

"Woah woah woah wait a minute!" Wasabi interjected. "Go back a minute—what, exactly, are you proposing?"

"That we all suit up in an excellent musical number and go defeat a supervillain?" Fred asked, looking like he was about to vibrate apart from glee. "Because I am TOTALLY FOR THAT."

"We can't go out and FIGHT that guy! We're nerds!"

Hiro was grinning now as he looked at them—still with that shadow in his eyes, but something else too. "No. You can be way more."

Gogo and Honey Lemon exchanged glances, looked at Hiro.

"Tadashi was our friend," Honey Lemon said, wringing her hands before standing. "I'll help, Hiro."

"I will too," Gogo agreed.

"YES YES A THOUSAND TIMES YES!" Fred cheered, actually falling out of his chair—Baymax waddled over to him.

Everyone looked at Wasabi, who sagged and sighed. "I mean, yeah," he said. "I have problems with going toe-to-toe with someone who tried to kill us, but I'm in."

Hiro looked at Obake hopefully.

Obake sighed—he could have really done without this nerd herd, but disregarding them for a moment…yes, he still wanted revenge, and he was sure Hiro would too.

He was also certain he could divorce Hiro from these people, given the chance. Finally nod, earning a beaming smile from Hiro.

"Yes!" Fred said, jumping back upright as Obake wrote something down and handed it to Hiro. "You guys feeling it? OUR ORIGIN STORY IS UPON US!"

Hiro looked Fred's heroic pose up and down before reading what Obake had written: NOW look what you've started. Gave Obake an apologetic shrug. Whatever.

These goons wouldn't last long.