Disclaimer: This installment takes place after Heroes of Flowers: Family Vacation, there may be mild spoilers to that while reading if you have not read it yet. You can find the story on my profile page as there are some relevant plot points.

7 months ago...

Rich people parties.

To an officer of the law, Elio thought these events were rather unpleasant. Full of the snobbish upper class such as the Moles, and he'd rather spend a night in his stuffy office than at a stuffy party.

But thanks to being head of the "noble-blooded" Rosemary family, he had to present the family name such as attending parties. Least when he had to attend events as a kid his parents made such events more tolerable.

"Ellie?" He paused as he felt his beloved Sarah gently hold his hand. "I'm here for you."

"Thank you." He gripped her hand. "Being with you after all that's happened, it makes things heavenly."
She smiled, pressing a kiss to his lips. "You always were a poet."

"We noticed." Both adults looked down as their youngest daughter rolled her eyes. "Save the lovey dovey stuff until after I go to sleep guys." Rachel told them.

Elio felt his cheeks flare red. "Rach!"
"Oh my god their minds went to the gutter." Rachel's feline companion Katie snickered. "Elio's so red he's a tomato!"

"You two..." Sarah pinched the bridge of her nose as the blue laughed. "Rach, make sure Katie doesn't cause a ruckus this time."

"On it!" She gave a thumbs up and stuffed the protesting feline into her hand purse. "We don't want Dad to get chewed out by Binky again."
"She's the worst." Katie mumbled. "I feel so bad for her kids..."

"Shhh!"

Sarah flashed a smile. "Now since that's all sorted out." She gestured to Elio. "Shall we?"

"We shall." They held hands as they walked into the party, which was a ball hosted by the Fredericksons for a charity event. Elio didn't remember the name of said charity event but he knew it was for animals, that had to count, right?

"Ooh, I see some of my friends decided to attend." Sarah's eyes lit up as she saw a few familiar faces.

"Have fun." Elio waved to her as she departed, and shortly after Rachel ran off. Leaving him to fill his plate at the buffet table.

"Well, if this isn't a surprise!" He turned to see a woman with golden-blonde hair and hazel eyes greeting him. "Detective Elio Rosemary himself, I have been such a fan of you since you moved to the city." He shook hands with the kind woman. "I'm Liv."

"Liv as in Liv Amara? CEO of Sycorax?" He raised an eyebrow.
"Guilty." She smirked.

Elio felt himself light up with excitement. "Wow! It's an honor to meet you." He grinned. "Your work at Sycorax is amazing! Your contributions to the medical world are an inspiration to us all!"

Liv giggled. "Aren't you flattering?"

"My wife says I'm more of a poet." He told her. "Though I'm surprised to see you at an event like this."
"Well I have to maintain my reputation." Liv explained. "I was actually chatting with Orso Knox when I decided to grab something off the buffet table, and I ran into you here."

"Orso Knox?" Elio squinted at the crowd, until he found the socialite at one of the tables, Knox waved and he waved back. "Well I don't want to keep you busy further, have a good night Ms. Amara."

"Thank you." Liv nodded. "You have a good night with your family."
"Thanks!" He grinned, and waved as Liv walked back to her table.

The rest of the party was more bearable for Elio. He managed to find his daughter snacking on sweets herself and Rachel immediately lifted his spirits up by talking about some of the funny gossip she heard. "I ran into Frederick, from the Fredericksons." She told him.

"Was he nice?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, one of Binky's kids was hitting on me- it wasn't any of the older ones chill Dad! But he was being annoying and Frederick batted him away." She explained. "I ran into him later and I thanked him, he's cool."

"Well glad you made a new friend." Though hearing about one of the Moles harassing his daughter made his blood boil. I'll have to have a chat with Binky later… But for now he'd make sure Rachel was okay and keep her company in case the creep tried harassing her again.

After a few dances with his wife and other socialite friends the ball ended so they could all leave. It was a more tolerable party, but Elio just wanted to get out of his stuffy suit and crash into his bed as soon as he got home.

"So, I saw you were talking to Ms. Amara?" Sarah turned to him. "How was it?"
"Oh." Elio didn't realize Sarah had noticed that. "She was pleasant."

"Well at least there was someone nice you could talk to." She hummed. "I've heard a few things about her here and there, just curious."
"Yeah." He smiled. "Maybe if I see her at another party we could chat some more."

"Sounds good to me." Sarah smiled. They had headed home and quickly tucked Rachel to sleep, she was all tuckered out and so was Katie. The feline was content in Rachel's arms, snuggling her as they slept. "Those two are gonna be the death of me." She murmured. "Being all cute."

"Agreed." And as Elio went to bed himself, he felt light as a feather.

However as he ran into Liv more and more at parties, he started to notice a change.

She'd pander to crowds more, trying to persuade investments into Sycorax, turning into a businesswoman more and more. He suspected the corporeal world got to her, since he could sense there was something stressing her out.

But when Rachel told him about the events of the Knox gala months later, and after telling her not to throw hands at monsters in the future- He appreciated her bravery but also there's a thing called caution that apparently skipped her!

He thought Liv had reacted too perfectly in that situation.

Probably just his imagination, right? After-all, she probably just wanted what was best for the city, even if she acted weird about it.

Present day...

"Hiro I'm freaking out!" Ari exclaimed.

"I know! Calm down!"
"I can't!"

They were in the garage. Fred and Baymax were watching the two siblings banter back and forth like ping-pong-balls.

"Ari it's a little too late to back out now." Hiro looked away from his computer. "Bridgeton's next semester starts tomorrow, it's a better high school than mine at the least."

"What if it's like every high school drama though?" She yelped. "With mean girls, and bullies that make you want to curl into a ball and die, or what if someone starts selling drugs that are not drugs but actually evil a.i pills trying to control our minds!?"

"That is scientifically impossible."
"I agree with Baymax." Fred waved a pen in the air. "Stop clicking those musical clips Sienna places in the chat."

"And what are you working on?" Ari gestured to his sketchbook.

"My narration for Phase 1!"

The two teens cocked their heads. "Phase… 1?"

Fred gave them a knowing grin. "Ah you sweet naive children, allow me to narrate what has already happened!"
Oh brother… Both of them rolled their eyes.

"San Fransokyo. Greatest city in the world. Once threatened by nefarious forces, now a beacon of peace, thanks to the fearless fortitude of Big Hero 6!" Fred dramatically narrated, as he stood upon high and showed the drawing of the team in superhero gear.

Ari was staring with wide eyes, and Hiro went back to his computer for work.

"You are unstable." Baymax pointed out.

"What?"
The robot pointed to his screen. "Falling from a chair is a major cause of injuries." The screen played a gif of someone literally falling from a chair. "Would you like a step-ladder?"
Fred sat back down properly. "Oh, no, I'm good. I guess I just carried away with my excitement about today."

"Wednesday?"

"The day before I enter public school and probably die of humiliation?" Ari raised a hand.
"No. Although, Wednesdays are pretty underrated and Ari does have a right to be anxious even though she'll be fine-"

"Thanks." She sighed, glancing over to Hiro who was mildly impressed with his computer work.
"I mean that today is the start of Phase 2!"

Not again with his phase talk… Both teens groaned.

Hiro frowned. "Uh… Phase 2?"
"Ah, Hiro." Fred chuckled as the teen genius ran a test run on his computer. "Sometimes I forget how young you are."

"I'm fourteen and a half."
"Wait what happened to Phase 1?" Ari questioned.

Fred gestured to his notebook. Where a little doodle of their former foe was crossed out. "Defeating Obake was the epic conclusion to Phase 1-"
"Phase 1?" Hiro raised an eyebrow.

"Of the Big Heroverse! And now it's time for all new adventures. Thus, Phase 2." He explained.
"Oh gosh." Ari groaned. "Can I get a break in Phase 2?"

"Considering you're the main character alongside Hiro..." Fred pointed out. "Probably not."
She groaned and buried her face into Baymax's vinyl chest. The robot patted her head. "There there."

"Don't worry sis, nothing will happen." Hiro reassured her. "It can't be considered Phase 2 if nothing happens after all."

Fred chuckled in response to that. "So young, so innocent." He went back to his sketchbook. "Something always happens, Hiro. Only in Phase 2 it's way bigger. Who knows what darkness lurks out there in the vast unknown?"

"I don't want to know and don't make me think about it!" Ari covered her ears.

"Your stress level is rising." Baymax scanned her. "Physical contact is known to decrease stress levels, would you like a hug?"

"Always!" She melted with relief as the robot gave her one of his signature marshmallow hugs.
"Wow." Hiro hummed as he stared at his screen. "The magnet test has great results."

Ari popped up from her hug. "Oh you mean that new gadget when you go superheroing about?"
"It's got enough power to pull in a plane."

"You sound smug with yourself."
"A plane Ari. I created something that can outpower a plane."

Fred bounced from his chair and to the computer. "Nice work Hiro!"
"Yep." Hiro grinned. "Now I don't have to rely on intellect alone."

"You could try modifying your super strength tool." Ari suggested. "So this time you don't damage school property."
"...You just want to have super strength don't you?"

"Did you see that spider guy in New York?" She dramatically punched the air. "Punch! Super strength!"

Fred chuckled and shook his head. "Oh Ari, your water powers count a super strength."

"You got a point." She hummed. "I should practice, I'm no superhero but it doesn't help to defend yourself."
Hiro flashed a thumbs up. "It's getting late though, you need a good night's rest for Bridgeton."

Ari deflated. "Why did you have to remind me.."
"A good night's sleep will help you focus and do better work in a school environment." Baymax suddenly picked her up and carried her out of the garage. "I will tuck you in."

"Baymaxxxx!" Ari whined.

As the robot carried her out of the garage, Hiro turned to Fred. "She only has to survive for the rest of the school year, and if it doesn't work we can send her back to online school."

"You sound hesitant." Fred noted. "You okay?"
He sighed, walking to the chair and sitting down. "Rachel tells me the school her mom teaches is one of the best, I hope she's right. I want Ari to have a better high school experience than me."

"Was it bad?" Fred questioned. "I didn't know the gang until SFIT, and Tadashi mostly complained about your bot-fighting addiction."

"It wasn't a-" Hiro grumbled. "The school I went to did not practice what they preached in terms of preventing bullying. My teachers didn't care and alienated me, and the student body either ignored or harassed me. Tadashi and Sara were the only students who defended me."

"Jeez." Fred gasped. "I'm sorry, I know how it feels to be prey in the school predator chain."
"Who'd make fun of you?" Hiro frowned. "You're great!"

Fred gave a small smile. "Thanks, but most people treated me differently because of my status. The boys would pick on me and insult me, and the girls would only try to get with me because I was rich. It sucked, even my fellow comic fan nerds isolated me!"

Hiro placed a hand on his shoulder. "Guess that's why you never told anyone you were rich."
"That, and I didn't want you guys to think I was a snobby rich kid like Mole." Fred explained. "I don't flaunt my wealth and laze around."

"You don't, otherwise you wouldn't be a member of Big Hero 6, SFIT's coolest mascot, or studying English online." Hiro chuckled. "Remember when I first entered the lab and I freaked out because you were in your costume?"

Both boys laughed. "Yeah! You're not the only person who freaked out. I freaked out Wasabi too as he was eating, and he spilled wasabi on himself, thus his nickname!"
"Ah." Hiro smirked. "So that's his name's origins."

Fred patted him on the shoulder. "It'll be different with Ari, okay?" He told him. "We'll make sure of that."
"I should probably make sure she's asleep." Hiro began walking out of the garage. "See you tomorrow Fred!"
"See ya!"

As Hiro walked to his room, he saw Ari already tucked into her bed. Baymax had already deactivated and a certain calico was curled next to her. "I see you're using Mochi as a cuddle buddy." He noted. "Not that I'm jealous or anything."

"Mrow."

Ari snickered. "Sounds like jealousy to me, do you want to join in?"
"I'm good." Hiro went to his bed and tucked himself in, he turned off the lights. "You're smart, you're friendly, and you already know some popular students. You have a better start in school than most people Ari."

"If only I was smart enough to figure out the amnesia thing." She frowned. "Baymax says I could've had my memories back by now, only proving that someone did take them away."

"Try not to think about it much." Hiro gripped his covers. "What's happened has already happened."
"Yeah, but it's not what I'm worried about." Ari sighed. "It's you."

His eyes widened. "Why?"
"What if another Obake shows up, and kidnaps you."

Oh... "Did I mention the magnets a while ago? Sides he's gone, his base is destroyed. All his henchmen are either reformed or in jail."

"Mikan will be ticked if she hears you calling her a henchmen." Ari snickered. "And I'm pretty sure that's a sexist term."
"It was either that or sidekick."

"That's a title only Mini-Max can have." She hummed. "Am I your sidekick?"
Hiro rolled his eyes. "No that's Baymax, you're the annoying little sister!"

"Hey!" They both burst into giggles.
"Goodnight bro."
"G'night sis."

And both teens relaxed as the sandman sent them into the land of dreams.

Meanwhile...

On the outskirts of San Fransokyo, by the shores of Torii Gate Bridge…

A creature with red eyes and a body of kelp emerged from the water, it took two steps on land. A crate it was carrying was dragged on shore. And as it stopped moving, a pale hand whirred as it lifted the kelp from its eyes.

And it let out a soulless chuckle.

"Hee-hee. Hee-hee. Hee-hee."

AN: Welcome back to Heroes of Flowers-AAAAA IT'S THE MONSTER ARC

Phase 2 has arrived! I am SO prepared to crush my readers will feels- I mean explore more of the story! A lot happens in this arc, as it was SUPER fun to play with.

Tempest of Hearts just covers the COM arc, but there's plenty of og chapters to fill it out so it'll be just as long as Ferns and Nerds.

I started it off with a prologue not only to foreshadow "Liv's" true colors, but also to flesh out the Rosemarys, they have some roles in this arc and I wanted to show it!

Since we're back, time for Question of the Week!
QOTW: What are you anticipating for this arc? Send me your theories in the comments!

Have a great week guys, and remember to look out for monsters under the bed, hehehehe!