Episode Forty Two
Zack looked frantically around him at the three figures standing in front of them and the multicoloured skyscrapers that edged the plaza. A decorative fountain tinkled happily in the middle of the square. LED screens on the surrounding buildings announced, "welcome to Night Market Square! The heart of San Fransokyo's entertainment district!"
Zack looked around again, wondering if he had somehow missed something. No broken glass, he thought, no rubble, no burst water mains, no explosions, no nothing. A tall construction crane stood off to one side. If Milo had been here, that would not still be standing, Zack thought eying the crane.
He was suddenly aware of Melissa speaking in his ear again. "Zack-,"
"I don't know Melissa," replied Zack anxiously.
"Well, you're not Big Hero 6." It was the strange little man with the purple jacket and the leafy green hair who had spoken. There was a trace of a maniacal laugh in his voice. Zack immediately decided that he didn't like it.
Zack, Melissa, Amanda, Cavendish and Dakota all trade confused looks. They were all clearly thinking thing the same thing. Big Hero who?
"Sorry to disappoint you," replied Dakota, "but we have no idea what that is."
"We're just looking for our friend," added Amanda. "We thought he'd be here."
The little man blew an extra loud raspberry and cackled loudly. "Oh, I'm sorry little girl," he said sarcastically. He spread his arms wide. "As you can see, there's nobody here but us-,"
"-And us!"
Zack was suddenly buffeted by a blast of hot air. He turned and gaped open mouthed as a huge hulking robot in gleaming red armour touched down in the square behind them. A pair of slender wings sprouted from its shoulders and cradled several people in its arms. A figure in dressed in black and purple armour clung to its back.
Ferb gave an impressed whistle and Phineas nudged his stepbrother and said, "looks like he used your design after all."
Ferb gave a little nod. "Well, it looks like you were spot on about the colour."
Go Go and Honey Lemon dropped lightly down from where they had been perched on Baymax's back, on either side of Hiro. Go Go was wearing something that looked like a high tech cycling suit. She was covered from head to foot in yellow and black armour. She balanced nimbly on what appeared to something that looked a bit like a pair of rollerblades. On the back of her wrist gauntlets were a pair of nearly paper thin throwing discs. Her helmet sported a sleek, aerodynamic fin. Honey Lemon wore knee high boots, along with a breast, backplate and helmet with a face shield, all in matching shades of pink and lavender. If it weren't for all the armour she was wearing Zack though that she looked as casual as if she were planning on spending a day at the mall. A handbag was draped casually across her chest. It appeared to have some kind of outlet on one side, along with a keypad in the form of the periodic table. The armoured robot knelt down and deposited Wasabi, who was wearing jade green shoulder pads, gauntlets and greaves, and what Zack took to be some kind of robot gently on to the ground. The robot, or what ever it was, was blue and black, had three eyes and large, curving horns on its head. A smaller white robot was perched on its shoulder.
Hiro surveyed the square from where he was perched between Baymax's shoulders. In addition to Milo's friends and the rest of Big Hero 6, the only other people he could see in Night Market Square were Momokasse, Noodle Burger Boy and Mr. Sparkles. He made a mental note of the dozen or so Mayoi surrounding Mr. Sparkles. Those things could be a problem if this gets out of hand, he thought. There was no obvious sign of Milo or Karmi. He keyed his helmet mike. "Baymax, perform scan. See if anyone else is here."
Baymax's voice spoke soothingly in Hiro's ear. "What would you like me to scan for, Hiro?"
"Genetic anomalies and negative probability ions," replied Hiro, "and filter out Momokasse and Mr. Sparkle. We already know they've been genetically augmented."
"Understood," replied Baymax calmly. "Please stand by while I complete the scan."
Go Go's voice suddenly spoke in Hiro's ear. "Hiro, I have a bad feeling about this," she said.
Hiro nodded in agreement. "So do I," he said. He surveyed the square again. "Baymax, now we doin'?"
"Hiro, I have completed my scan," replied Baymax.
Information began to scroll down Hiro's head up display. Hiro quickly absorbed the information and keyed his helmet mike again. "Heads up," he said to the rest of the team. "Milo and Karmi are both here." Three blinking icons appeared in on his heads up display. One was emanating a strong negative probability field. The other two were genetic anomalies. Wait, thought Hiro, two? He gestured subtly with his hands swiping aside the icon that was Milo and zooming in on the two genetic mutants. One was definitely was Karmi. The other one was, "Orso Knox?" said Hiro, mostly to himself. He had momentarily forgotten that he was on an open channel.
"Wait, Hiro," asked Honey Lemon, "are you sure?"
"Positive," said Hiro. He sent them the genetic signature.
"Ohhhhhh," said Fred, "unexpected plot twist. These are always the best. You never know what's going to happen next."
"Yeah we do," cut in Wasabi. "The last time we had to fight Knox, we got pasted remember? And why is he here anyway?"
"No idea," replied Hiro. He eyed Milo's friends. "We need to get them out of here. This smells like a set up." He suddenly had an idea. He swiped through several menus until he found his contact list. He gestured again, scrolled down the list of names until he found, "Flynn, Phineas." He tapped "call." In his ear piece he heard the sound of ringing. More distantly, he heard the muffled sound of Phineas' ringtone. The Duck-tective Theme, thought Hiro in surprise, I never would have taken him for a fan. He watched as Phineas pulled his phone out of his pocket and put it to his ear.
"Hiro?" asked Phineas, "where are you? I thought you were going to meet us here?"
"I'm behind you with Baymax," replied Hiro.
The young genius started to say something, but only got as far as, "I-," before Hiro cut him off.
"Listen carefully," Hiro continued, "this whole situation smells. I'm sending you some data." Hiro was gesturing as he spoke. "Milo is definitely here somewhere, but Baymax can't pinpoint his exact location."
"Why not?" asked Phineas. He cast his eyes around the square, mentally assessing possible hiding places and how long it might take to search them all.
"Not sure," replied Hiro. "It could just be all the buildings, or something else, but either way, it's not safe for you to be here."
Phineas nodded and hung up. He shared a momentary look with Ferb, as if something significant had been confirmed, then turned to the others. "It's not a good idea for us to stay here," he said. "Hiro sent me some data he thinks can help us find Milo," explained Phineas.
"But how can he know that if he isn't here?" asked Cavendish.
"There isn't time to explain," replied Phineas. He started walking and the others began to follow him. They had barely gone ten steps when they heard a slightly squeaky, high pitched voice.
"Where ya going Mister?" They all stopped and turned at the sound. It was the little corporate mascot robot who had spoken "Your order's up Mister," it said.
They all looked at each other, slightly confused. Melissa opened her mouth to say something, but before she could say anything several things happened at all once. They were all suddenly bathed in a harsh white light and buffeted by the rotor wash of a helicopter. A voice spoke over a loud speaker. "Attention Big Hero 6! This is the San Fransokyo Police! You are in violation of a police quarantine! You are required to vacate the area immediately, or you will be arrested!"
Later, Zack thought he remembered the strange little man in the spangly purple jacket say something like, "finally, this party is getting interesting." Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Cavendish go sailing through the air and land in a heap on the pavement about twenty feet away. He turned just in time for something large and green to grab him. It was one of the Mayoi. Somehow, the strange plant-like creatures had gone from being the size of a small dog, to being at least eight feet tall. Zack started to say, "what the hell?" but he never got the words out because it suddenly grabbed him by the shoulder straps of Milo's backpack and threw him as if he were a doll. The world spun crazily and he landed hard enough to forcibly drive the air from his lungs. Zack lay still for a second checking for injuries. There was blood in his mouth. He spat it out and spat a molar at the same time. Something hot and sticky was dripping into his left eye and Zack realized that he had a bad cut on his forehead. He sat up in time to see something large and grey come crashing through a concrete wall into the square. The air was filled with cries and shouting.
As Zack got to his feet, Baymax thrust out a gauntleted hand and pointed it at the grey monster rampaging around the square. The armoured fist suddenly detached from the big robot's arm at the wrist. It flew straight for approximately fifty feet, then suddenly veered off course, corkscrewing wildly through the battling figures. That's definitely Milo, thought Zack. Wasabi was engaged in a duel with Momokasse. Her graphene sword blade flashed through the air in a translucent blue arc as she slashed at Wasabi. A glowing plasma sword had appeared in his right fist. He parried her attack and then blocked with the energy shield in his other hand as she stabbed at him with a chef's knife. A long gun barrel had appeared from Honey Lemon's hand bag and she was firing multicoloured balls in what seemed to Zack to be several directions at once, striking the grey beast with what appeared to be some sort of pink goo, as it charged at Baymax, whose right hand had since been reattached. She shot a lavender something at one of the Mayoi, which froze and shattered, sending bits of Mayoi flying everywhere.
Zack was distracted by the sound of running, as the three-eyed robot with horns vaulted into twenty feet into the air and landed in the midst of the meelee spewing flames. Melissa ran up. "Zack, are you OK?"
With some difficulty, Zack pulled his eyes away from the sight of the small white robot as it went streaking across the square, flames shooting out of the bottom of feet, barrelling into the other robot which leapt into a corkscrewing backflip, its head spinning a full three hundred and sixty degrees on its neck. It was shooting lasers out of its eyes and singing.
I'd do anything for a Noodle Burger
Cause Noodle Burgers are really swell
If I could I'd marry Noodle Burger
Cause Noodle Burger rings my bell!
Zack paused momentarily to wipe away some of the blood that was trickling into his eye. "Yeah, I'm fine," he said, "I think." Dakota was hauling Cavendish to his feet. Phineas and Ferb were pelting toward them with Amanda following closely behind them.
"This the most insane situation Murphy's Law has ever landed us in,"said Zack.
Melissa nodded. "Yeah, we need to get out of here and find Milo," she said.
"OK, but where is he?" asked Zack. He told Melissa what he had seen. "I'm pretty sure he's here somewhere, but there are a lot of buildings to search."
Before Melissa could answer, Phineas came pelting toward them, waving his his phone. "Zack! Melissa!" he shouted, "I think I know where Milo is."
"Really? How did you-," began Melissa.
Phineas cut her off. "No time to explain," he said quickly. He turned and pointed at a tall, half built skyscraper. "He's somewhere in there."
Zack, Melissa and Amanda all traded a look. They were all thinking the same thing. A construction site, of course. They set off toward the building, skirting around the edge of the battle. Zack felt the heat of an errant laser beam on the back of his neck, and pulled Melissa back just in time as a black and yellow throwing disc buried itself in a wall where her head had been a second before. Before any of them could move, a beam of blue-white energy cut across their path, pulling the throwing disc out of the wall. A hole yawned in the chain link fence surrounding the construction site. As they approached the hole, Zack felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up. At the same instant, a loud sound like the CRACK! of a gunshot echoed from somewhere overhead. They all looked up at the sound and saw a large bundle of structural steel plummeting downward rapidly. At the same time, metal strapping began to hit the ground all around them with a loud clatter as they hit the pavement.
Dakota shouted, "everybody go!" The tall construction crane was leaning precariously. Zack could hear the sound of creaking metal as its structural supports buckled. Bolts began to break and went whizzing past them, ricocheting off of the exposed steel and concrete like bullets. Dakota was shouting again."It's coming down! Go! Go, go, go!" They ran for the cover of the unfinished building as the crane collapsed into a pile of twisted wreckage with a deafening crash.
Milo was definitely here. Somewhere.