"Previously on Heroes of Flowers… uh, ignore the screaming in the background. Rach is still upset from the last chapter."
"I'M GOING TO END THAT LADY MY GOD THE NERVE OF HER-"
"Yeah, she's ticked. Anyways, the Liv that has been terrorizing the city was her evil clone Diane. And she forced Hiro and Baymax to cure the real Liv with the power of virtual reality."
"She sent her monsters to wreck the city to keep you guys distracted! And Chris ran over poor Wasabi's heart. HE'S DEAD MEAT TOO!"
"Couldn't agree more, Chris is a jerk."
"Yes, Fred. Yes he is. Anyways, the mysterious Kat showed up to help the day until Ned tamed Bessie. I wonder what Kat's deal is."
"They're cool. Also, Di tried mutating Hiro, but he was able to get through to Karmi and she helped protect him and Ari until Liv woke up! And turned Karmi back to normal."
"And Bessie turned the villains back to normal, should've been a happy ending."
"But then Di mutated Ari! And we are SO MAD!"
"VERY MAD! How are they gonna stop Ari? Is Liv gonna say something to Di for trying to get the last laugh? Find put in this chapter of Heroes of Flowers for that and the reunion you've all been waiting for since the Bridgeton dance… you know what I mean."
"Speaking of that, let's do some rewind since that part got a little cut."
"Whooooooo!"
"Uh…"
"Flashback noises Fred. Roll with it."
Earlier that night…
She didn't remember most of the night she turned back to normal.
All Juniper really remembered were the pains in her limbs, the sour taste in her mouth, and the sudden realization that she didn't hear that voice in her mind anymore.
She did notice the giant green bear running down the street and quickly jumped to the side to avoid it. A flash of pain shot up her legs as she tried running, and Juniper bit back a scream.
Then the bear roared lasers at the other two monsters before running back. What are their names ag-
She froze. I can think. She stared at her hands that were once cerulean claws, now back to normal hands, her hands. Small tears formed in her eyes as she felt real, no longer a shell of a being ebbing in and out of consciousness.
I can think! I don't hear her. Juniper then noticed her mother on her right, having a hard time getting to her feet. "Mama!" She coughed at how dry and hoarse her voice was. Still, she ran to Barb and helped her up.
"Juni!" Barb looked into her eyes, having the same shell-shocked look. "You're okay!" And then hugged her as best she could do in her exhausted state.
"Mhm." Juniper nodded, then squeaked seeing the scary yellow superhero in front of them. "Aah!"
Scary Yellow just rolled her eyes. "Actually, to be clear, I'm not with them." The socialite looking guy who was the blender-whale said that.
"We know dude." Lizard Guy commented. "Here, Mini-Mmm Panda can escort you home!"
"Oh, that's very kind of you to offer, thank you." He nodded, the small blue robot said something she didn't hear. They quickly left, she didn't care enough to wonder what it was about.
The sound of clapping and someone jumping off a tipped over car made her look in that direction.
"Bravo, bravo." Kat was clapping. Wait, who's Kat? How do I know their name? She probably subconsciously picked it up while she was still… that thing.
"Okay, now I have questions." Scary Yellow was glaring daggers at them. "Who are you? Why did you show up? And how does Momakase-" She pointed to the chef grumbling angrily on the ground. "Know your name?"
Kat seemed to ignore the angry tone. "I talked to the chef once, she's alright. Though she woke me up with her and the rest of the mutant party wrecking the city! So I intervened so I could go back to sleep."
"M' sorry." They looked over as Juniper had mumbled out a quiet apology, her mom placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"Sorry?" Scary Yellow scoffed. "Are you sorry for terrorizing a bunch of students too?"
"Speed Queen!"
"Chem Girl we were both there, we saw!"
Barb growled in anger at the yellow superhero. "Don't you dare try to blame my daughter for what happened." She just held up her disks in defense, as if her mom was going to attack.
"Um…" Green cleared his throat. "Shouldn't we be going now and rescue someone?!" The others of Big Hero 6 yelped in surprise.
"Good point!" Kat nodded. "You and Flame Jumper should do that, while the other two stay behind."
"Why would we do that?"
"So the villains here like Sparkles don't run off." They pointed behind their shoulders to Sparkles trying to crawl away. A ball of goop got thrown at him, trapping him on the street. "Thank you!"
Once Lizard Guy- Flame Jumper and Green had run off leaving the other two and Kat, Juniper was sitting on the ground. The sour taste still in her mouth, and tears brimming from her eyes as the weight of her actions struck her.
Even if… even if the police don't arrest us for what she made me and Mama do… They're not going to forget what I did to my friend.
The cruel woman who used her like a puppet had been right. Even now, turned back to normal, she still remembered the blood- Ari's blood that had stained her claws.
Present time!
"Ari!" Fred's voice rang as he bounced after her, until the roaring was distant. Hiro just stared at the door in shock, processing what just happened.
"Oh, no…" Wasabi had a look of horror on his face. "She didn't."
"She did." Hiro shot a glare at Diane, who was standing triumphantly.
Diane glared back. "How's it feel knowing you couldn't protect little Ari, Hiro?" She mocked. "You're quite the terrible brother, aren't you?"
He hung his head down in shame, she was right, he couldn't protect Karmi or his sister.
"Okay, that's it!" Wasabi snapped. "I don't say this about anyone, but you're a horrible person! Ari did nothing to you! Karmi did nothing to you either! They both looked up to you and you treated them like-" He gestured with his hands. "Like nothing but tools! They're human beings, child or not, villain or not, no one deserves to be treated like what you did to them."
She didn't look fazed at all, just glared them both with anger.
Thankfully they quickly detained her and tied her up in case she tried another trick. "I'm so… I'm so sorry." Liv let out a raspy wheeze as she saw the whole thing. "I should've smashed the phone myself."
"None of us knew she was going to do that." Hiro walked over. He was holding onto Karmi via bridal style, at least she was getting some rest. "Did you know she was going to…?"
"Mutate people, no." Liv sighed. "It's my fault though. I should've been more thorough with her." But she was dying, she and Chris were in a panicked frenzy during that time. "I didn't think she and him would resort to that."
Hiro felt really bad. While he didn't know what to think of the real Liv, she at least had her morals. "For the record, Liv." He told her. "I don't blame you for what Di did, but did you really create her just to cure you?"
She shook her head. "No. Her creation was unrelated to what happened because of my arrogance. Darling-"
"Don't call me Darling." Diane hissed. "That person is gone. She had to grow up to pick up your pieces!" Liv gave her another sad look.
"I'm confused." Wasabi commented. Me too. Hiro thought, but then it dawned on him.
"That must've been her old name, and who she was before she became Di." He whispered to Wasabi, his eyes widened as he nodded.
"I don't hate you either, Liv." Wasabi cleared his throat. "I have no idea what's going on though, but still."
The fragments of a small smile were on her face. "Thank you. Least I could do is… tell you what happened."
"That'd be nice."
Liv started with a deep and heavy breath. "Darling… or should I say Diane, was my finest creation." She started. The clone herself was tied up in the corner, shooting them all hateful glares. "But she was more than that, she was family."
"Why did you create her?" Hiro questioned.
"Well, it was for research on cloning, you know how other scientists want to use it to save animal species, I was one of them." She answered. "I offered my DNA, and you know what happened next."
The robotics genius sighed. "What was she like… back then?"
"A different person, I'm sure." Liv glanced over to Diane. "She was a sister to me, I'd used to come back from meetings or work to see her and Chris working on something themselves or playing a game-"
"Chris?" Wasabi spoke up at the mention of his ex. "He was there too?"
A small smile flashed on the blonde's face. "He's been my best friend since we were little, helped me start up Sycorax and everything."
She then paled. "Don't tell me he-"
Hiro sighed. "Chris was a willing participant in Di's schemes. He tried killing my friend Rachel when she overheard them plotting in Muirahara, he hurt me and my sister for trying to escape getting turned too, and worst of all he played one of my best friends like a fiddle."
"That's me." Wasabi raised his hand. "Chris and I were dating, I thought he loved me. But he was just having fun messing with my head, and another one of my friends."
"I'm so sorry." Liv's eyes widened in horror. "He really did that? He tried killing a child?"
"He did."
They turned to the assistant as they heard him groan and slowly get up. "Uhg, my head." Chris groaned, but he looked up seeing his friend. "Liv!" He crawled to her. "You're cured!"
She had no happy expression to greet him. "Chris." Her hazel eyes stared in horror. "Please tell me that you didn't try killing a child, please tell me that you didn't emotionally manipulate your own boyfriend."
"I… I did it for you!"
Wasabi opened his mouth to shoot an argument but Hiro held up a hand in protest, Liv needed to confront her friend first. "You think I wanted you and Diane to hurt people? To hurt children?"
Chris looked panicked. "You were gone! We were freaking out! Di was the one who came up with the monsters, I didn't know what to do, I just wanted you back!"
"Not at the cost of destroying the city." Liv backed away from him. "I'm so disappointed in you, Chris."
"No, I-" As the assistant got closer, Wasabi blocked him off. "Roger I-"
"Okay, my turn." He glared. "You used our relationship to hurt one of my friends, what did Sara ever do to you?! Do you have anything to say about that?!"
As the assistant stammered, Hiro noted that he was less aggressive than when he was by Diane's side. He was chipped as well. The robotics genius recalled.
Maybe… Maybe some of his actions weren't his own, but rather he was mind-controlled in a way, but it's no excuse. Chris willingly aided Diane in her schemes, chipped or not.
"I… I…" Chris had no words. "It was for my friend, should've known you wouldn't get it."
"I know how it feels to see a friend suffer, but Liv clearly didn't ask for you to cause so much destruction." Wasabi argued. "You know what? We're done, you hurt my friends for no good reason." The physics major knew his ex must've been hurting as Liv got sicker and sicker, did he toy with him and Sara to take away that pain?
It was no excuse, no matter what the reason Chris did what he did.
"And he helped her mutate my sister." Hiro sniffled.
Liv slowly nodded in agreement. "I hope she's okay."
"I just hope she's okay, too." Hiro muttered, he knew she could be cured. But if Ari had hurt someone in her current state…
She would never forgive herself.
I'm never going to forgive myself. Juniper had buried her head into her arms, she didn't want anyone to see her pitiful tears.
Barb noticed her state and just let her lean on her side, her mom's warm embrace did little to help.
"Welp, I think I'm going to chill here for a bit." Kat was lying like a... cat, next to Momakase, who was tied up. Sparkles was the only one stuck in goop, for trying to escape. "Anyone got a stack of cards?"
"Don't breathe close to me." Momakase deadpanned.
"Sorry." They looked at Barb and Juniper. "Uh… is she okay?" Now the three superheroes were looking over. Oh no oh no don't look don't look don't look at me-
"Probably not." Sc-Speed Queen winced. Noooooo! "Chem Girl? Cheering people is your specialty."
Barb protectively held her in her arms as the pink superhero tiptoed a little closer to them. "Um, hey. Are you upset because you're thinking about your friend?"
There was silence from the two. "Oh, well Ari's not mad at you for what happened at the dance. She understands it was an accident, and doesn't hold it against you. I'm sure she'll be happy to see you ag-"
"Shut up." It was so silent, Juniper barely heard her own raspy voice. "Why are you taunting me like this?!"
Chem Girl had a look of confusion. "I'm not taunting you? I promise, Ari's not mad at you-"
"She would, and even if she wasn't for some stupid reason, she couldn't because she's dead, you idiot!" She didn't even bother to hide her face as she stared with wounded eyes. "She's dead because of me! So stop acting like I didn't murder her!"
She couldn't take it anymore. Juniper decided she wasn't going to care if the heroes saw her cry into her mom's arms because nothing mattered anymore. Nothing matters anymore. Ari's gone now, I'll never hear her laugh or her smile or that happy gleam in her eyes when she sees me. And it's all my fault.
"Um…" Gogo looked up from playing go fish with Kat seeing the crime-dancer screaming the most confusing thing she heard all night. "What the heck?"
"Didn't you hear her?" Momakase spoke up. "I thought you superheroes would've remembered Liv forcing the poor girl and her mother to…" she looked down. "I saw the blood on them myself. Such a sad thing to happen."
"But Ari's not dead?" Gogo pointed out.
Kat placed down their deck of cards. "Oh no, that lady didn't." They cleared their throat. "She was lying about what happened to Ari! You didn't off the dumb marshmallow!"
A rock hit them on the helm. "Ow!"
The rock was thrown by Barb, who had a look of fury. "Uh, Kat was telling the truth." Honey Lemon pointed out. "You didn't kill her, she just got a bit bruised, who told you she died?"
"Liv s-said I did…" Juniper sniffed. "And she was right, it's m-my fault."
"Liv was lying to you." Honey Lemon repeated. "She lied that Ari's dead. Ari is alive, and well, and going to be really happy that you're yourself again."
Juniper just stared at her like she hung the sun, then started to tear up again, burying her face into her mother's arms.
"Um…" Kat ducked behind Gogo. "Help." Honey Lemon, on the other hand, felt like her heart was going to break seeing the poor girl dissolve into an emotional mess for thinking that she killed her friend. No one deserves to feel like that… What on earth did Liv do to her?
"Well that's disturbing." The mercenary muttered. "I thought the girl was dead too, considering she threatened to hurt my son if I didn't comply with her, it seemed like something she'd do to keep them obedient."
"Wow." Gogo blinked, her eyes wide from shock. "I knew Liv was evil, but I didn't think she was that evil."
"Y'know, I bet Mr. Sparkles here was the only one who escaped her mind games." Kat gestured to the show host trapped by goop. "Did you know about this?"
Sparkles huffed, but he didn't look her in the eyes. "Who cares you flashy annoying-" Gogo whacked him with a disk and he was knocked out.
"I regret asking."
The engineer glared at Kat. "Yeah, you should."
Roar!
Kat jumped up. "Oh no."
"What's the 'oh no' for-"
ROAR!
Honey Lemon slid back up to the others. "Did you guys hear that?!" She shivered. "It sounded like a mountain lion."
"Yeah, this is not good." Kat winced. "Um, are they-" They pointed to High Voltage. "Going to be okay?"
The chemist winced. "Speaking honestly, I'm pretty sure none of us are okay after tonight. I wish Ari was here though, maybe she'd be able to cheer the poor girl up…"
The trio looked up as someone crashed next to them. "Owww." It was Fred.
"What happened?" Gogo asked him. Fred pointed across the street, to an alleyway they had once used as an escape.
Something large-furred leapt out of the alley, it looked like a maned lioness with dark chocolate fur, but it was twice as large, and had razor sharp fangs and claws. Its mouth was opened as it roared at them, blue eyes slitted in burning rage.
"That happened." Fred groaned. "Houston, we have a major problem on our hands."
The lion monster let out a roar before leaping at the heroes. They all screamed and ducked out of the way. "Gah! Where did this one come from?!" Honey Lemon exclaimed. She threw a chem ball that froze the street, the lion monster scrambled and slipped and Gogo took the opportunity to throw disks at the head.
Honey Lemon was about to toss more chem balls, but Fred held her hand down. "Wait, be careful!" He warned. "That's Ari!"
"What?!" The lion monster had her torn up sweater and jeans, her blue eyes and the scar over her right eye that was unforgettable. It was definitely her.
Gogo paused from disk throwing, her eyes wide as dinner plates. She opened her mouth to say something, but couldn't say a word.
"That's Ari?" That had come from none other than Juniper, her brown eyes staring at the lion monster like she had seen a ghost. "It can't be…"
"It can." Fred commented, Honey Lemon elbowed him. "Ow! What was that for?"
"Liv told her she got Ari killed."
"Why am I no-wait what the heck?!" He sputtered out. "Jeez, and we thought Obake was scary."
"Less talking, more planning here!" Gogo reminded them. "Wait, where's Kat?" She then looked and saw the snowy hero running up to Ari, and leapt on her back.
Ari did not like this and tried bucking them off. "Yee-haw ow!" Kat groaned, clinging on.
"What are you doing?!" Honey Lemon exclaimed.
"Trying to yank the chip off of-!" Kat yelled as they got knocked over, and hit a wall next to the still tied up Momakase. "I'm seeing stars."
The mercenary raised an eyebrow at them. "You do realize it'll take more than ripping the chip out to revert her back. You'll have to tire her out so her body can't support the mutation, so she'll turn back." The other heroes gave Momakase a deer in headlights look, she ignored them.
"Uh, okay. That might work." Gogo took a deep breath. "Flame Jumper, can you try?"
"Right!" He leapt onto Ari's back like Kat did, but quickly got bucked off. "Oh!" He fell on the girls. "She's too rowdy. It'll take forever to get her all tired!"
A roar and another charge made them scramble again. "And could she stop chasing us?!"
"This is all my fault." Juniper muttered.
Barb shook her head. "Juni, it's not your fault. It's that woman's fault."
Still, she curled into a ball, sniffling. "I should've warned her about Liv… but I was too scared, and now Liv got her and it's my fault-"
Whack! The lizard guy, Flame Jumper, had landed close to them. "Owww, she hits hard." He rubbed his arm, then looked up at the young dancer. "Also, could you not blame yourself?"
Juniper grumbled. "But if it wasn't for me, Ari wouldn't be like this."
"No, it's not!" Barb repeated. "You weren't the one who mutated Ari, therefore, it's not your fault."
"Yeah, what your mom said." Flame Jumper pointed to her, there was a roar as Ari leapt onto the poor lizard, pinning him down. "Ow! Ari get off!"
Ari ignored him and roared, her fangs bared as she prepared to bite down at her prey, claws keeping him trapped.
But as she opened her mouth to chomp down, she felt something pushing one of the arms pinning Fred down. "Ari stop!" It was Juniper, standing up to try and stop her friend turned lion monster. "Ari this isn't you, this isn't who you are!"
"Juni-" Barb had a panicked expression on her face, but one look from her daughter made her pause.
Juniper didn't say anything back, but Barb knew what she wanted to say. Let me try to reach her. She nodded, and the young dancer looked back at Ari. "Ari, you didn't give up on me, even when I tried to hurt you"
"You have to be in there somewhere, please try and fight whatever thing's got a hold of you."
"A-And, even if you end up hurting me, I won't give up on you." She stammered, but she wasn't going to back down. "B-Because we're friends, and friend's don't give up on each other."
Despite her words, Ari stared at her blankly, like a fog clouded her mind, a fog that Juniper was familiar with.
She approached closer, low growls came from Ari as her fingers reached out to touch her. In the corner of her eye, she saw Ari lifting up a paw, claws unsheathed like she was about to strike. "I guess I deserve what you're about to do."
"Ariel, don't do it!" Barb shouted. Her heart ached seeing her daughter barely even bother to defend herself, and seeing Ari, who wasn't in control of herself, about to attack made the fear in her chest skyrocket.
Ari swung her claw, and Juniper shut her eyes, expecting to feel the pain of those claws tearing through her skin, like she had done to Ari back at the dance.
But when she opened her eyes, the claws had stopped, inches away from her face. "Ari?" Her eyes widened, why didn't she attack? She had every right to!
Unless…
"June… I missed you so much."
Did she manage to get through to her friend?
"Do you…" Juniper took a breath. "Do you remember me?"
A low rumble came from Ari's throat, the closest Juniper would get to a response. "Ari, I-" She had hurt her friend, the kind-hearted sweater girl that always smiled and laughed at her dumb jokes and reminded her the warmth of hugs from someone other than her mama-
Her actions were unforgivable, yet there was still an apology in her throat. "I'm-"
"Hi-yah!" She flinched as Kat hopped onto the lion's back. Ari roared and Juniper instinctively jumped back, not wanting to catch the predator's ire.
Flame Jumper also hopped on, seeing an opportunity. "Sorry Ari, but this is going to emotionally hurt me as much as this is going to physically hurt you!" His claws dug into her neck, she roared in pain.
"What are you doing to her?!" Barb demanded.
The claws extracted, something shiny, covered in blood was in his grip. "Getting rid of this accursed thing!" He spat, crushing the biochip into pieces. Ari managed to buck him off since he was one-handed. But Kat, who had both of their hands on her back, stayed on.
"Sorry to ruin the moment there kid." Kat yelled over to Juniper. "But the power of friendship isn't very effective!"
"I beg to differ!" Chem Girl shouted at them.
"Tell that to the lion here." Kat grumbled, still clinging to Ari's back like a horse. To try and shake her off, Ari ran in circles. "Jeez this is the worst kind of rodeo!"
Eventually, the spinning got to them, and Kat was bucked off, they did a flip as they landed gracefully on their feet. "Alright, this is gonna hurt me more than it'll hurt you!"
But as they tried pouncing, they felt something gripping their tail. "No, stop it!" Juniper was keeping them grounded with all of her strength. "Stop hurting my friend!"
Ari, looking for the next victim, locked her eyes in the direction of Kat. "Kid she's more of the hurt-er than the hurt-e." They protested. "Let go of me!"
Juniper wouldn't budge. "Not until you stop hurting my friend, I'm not letting anyone else hurt her again! Least of all you!"
Ari pounced, her claws whacking Kat across the street. Their fall softened by Flame Jumper leaping up and catching them. "I gotcha!" He placed Kat on the ground and bounced up to Ari. "Hey c'mon, it's rude to throw people across the street!"
She let out a roar and charged, leaping at him, but then her blue eyes went wide, and she collapsed mid-jump. "Ari?" Juniper squeaked, crawling up to her.
Ari struggled to get up on her paws, she then fell back down. Then, with a very weak roar, her claws and fangs started to retract, her form shrinking and her features returning more human-like.
"Oh my gosh it worked!" Flame Jumper squealed, he and Chem Girl were bouncing up and down. "Kat's idea worked-!"
"Kat vanished." Speed Queen cut him off.
Honey Lemon looked around the street. "Where did they go?!" The snow-cloaked hero had vanished from the street. "Momakase, did you see where they went?"
"No I did not." The mercenary shook her head.
Juniper just ignored the banter, she just stared at Ari, who was very much alive and real and not a lion monster.
"Mhmmm." She squeaked as Ari's eyes fluttered open, and scanned their surroundings. "I feh like ah I gaht hit by ah truck." She slurred.
"Ari?" Her friend's eyes went wide.
"J-June?" Ari looked up, and tears filled her eyes. "Yer back tah normal…"
"Mhm." Now she was crying too. "I missed you!" Ari gave a slow nod as her eyes drooped back down, she was exhausted, after-all. And suddenly, Juniper felt the ground closing in-
Barb yelped as her daughter started to fall onto the ground. "Juni!" Luckily she caught the young dancer before she hit the concrete street.
"Well." Honey Lemon yawned. "Happy ending!"
Wee-woo-wee-woo-wee-woo!
Gogo groaned. "Oh, now the police show up." A police car drove into view, followed by another one. And surprise surprise, Detective Rosemary came out.
"Uh, Big Hero 6." Elio walked up to them. "What on earth happened?"
"Long, long story." Fred gestured. "But um… to make it short. Liv Amara was behind the monsters except it wasn't Liv it was her evil clone Di who was making monsters to cure the real Liv and after that and she was defeated she mutated one precious cinnamon roll-"
He pointed to the knocked out Ari, who was being inspected by Honey Lemon, with a worried Barb watching. "And uh we had to rip her chip out and make her too exhausted, she should get a hospital. And also High Voltage too, and Momakase. They did bad things but Di also told High Voltage they got Ari killed-"
"Woah woah woah. Slow down." Elio gestured. He had gotten most details as he had gasped with horror at what happened to Ari. "Um, yeah. Hospital sounds like a good idea. I can interview the villains about it when they've mentally recovered. Chief isn't gonna be happy, but also if what you said is true…"
"We're telling the truth!" Honey Lemon called out to him. "Liv- I mean Di did really bad things to them." She awkwardly rubbed the back of her head thinking about Juniper's outburst. "There were some tears shed, and by some I mean a lot."
The detective winced. "Yikes. This sounds like a lot of paperwork. Well, thanks for protecting the city. I should drive them to the hos-"
"Ari!" Elio then facepalmed as a small blur with a blue blur on her shoulder ran out of his car and to the unconscious sweater girl.
"Rachel get back here!" He yelled to his daughter, who ignored him and was checking on Ari's injuries. Katie was next to one of the dancers with a look of concern on her face. "Uhg. I know High Voltage is going to hurt her, but…"
"Why was she in your car?" Fred crossed his arms. "No offense sir, but was that safe considering all the monsters?"
"I picked her up from the arcade on one of my patrols when the monsters attacked." The detective explained. "Like I was saying, hospital."
At last, the nightmare was over.
"Hey, Ari?"
"Hi 'Ro!" Ari looked away from who she was reading a book with. "Lyle and I were just talking about… stuff."
"Heavy stuff." An older sounding boy agreed, his face was blurred out, but Ari knew he had long black hair and a red scarf that was always wrapped around his neck.
Rowan shuffled his feet. "Uh, so I've been doing some experimenting and uh… I wanna present myself differently now."
"Oh, are you requesting a makeover?" Lyle hummed, raising an eyebrow. "You know I'm good at those!"
He glanced away. "Not that!" Rubbing his arm, Rowan continued. "I don't like identifying as a boy anymore, I wanna identify as a girl."
"You can do that?" Ari questioned.
Lyle nodded. "Yeah if Rowan wants to!" He glanced back to his now little sister. "Do you still want Rowan as your name?"
She made a face. "Not really… I hope Mom and Dad are okay with that."
"Of course they'd be okay with you changing your name!"
"That's- oh nevermind." She smiled. "You're right."
Ari shuffled her feet. "Yeah, Elio and Sarah- I mean Mom and Dad are nice."
"Nice try Ari." Lyle patted her shoulder. "But you're getting better!"
"Yeah… I just wish I wouldn't think of you-know-who as my parents, they're not considering the whole-"
Their younger sister interrupted Ari. "Uh do you guys know any good new names?!"
"Ooh, name yourself Kate! So you and Katie could be Katie and Kate!" The sweater girl suggested.
She rolled her eyes. "Ha-ha hilarious Ari."
"I know some, before you two were born, Mom and Dad came up with a lot of names and I did too!" Lyle chimed in. "Too bad none of the girl names got used after Ari was born, there was this one I really liked… does Audrey sound like a good name?"
His little sister shook her head. "Not really, it sounds too close to Ari."
"Hey!" Said Ari huffed in offense. "What's wrong with my name?"
"Thanks for the help, but maybe I should come up with a name on my own." She crossed her arms. "Maybe I could go by… Rachel?"
Lyle smiled. "Rachel's a good name, it suits you!"
"Cheers for Rachel then!" Ari cheered, pumping in her fist in the air.
Rachel giggled. "Thanks Ari, you're the best-"
Gasp!
Ari woke up feeling numb and in a cold sweat. Memories flickering in her head as she dreamed about hazy shadows once more, but this time, she remembered them clearly. I remember now, I remember my family!
She remembered Sarah, who had tutored her about the world and what a wonderful place it was outside of the walls she built in her childhood.
She remembered Elio, who would hold her safe in his arms and read bedtime stories that had happy endings and happy endings only.
She even remembered the late Lyle, though there were still holes in her memory, she did sense that he was kind to her.
And she especially remembered Rachel, who loved drawing and talking about stories of magic and adventure and taking Ari on those adventures too.
She can't believe it had taken this long to remember them, her memories from before had been filled from the Stones. Sure, they took care of her, but as hard as she tried to deny it, they didn't always treat her well.
It had hurt thinking that aloud, but now Ari had more questions. How was she connected to the Rosemarys? Why was she with the Stones? Did this have to do with her amnesia?
"I didn't think you were gonna wake up." Her brother's voice interrupted those questions. Hiro had a bandage on his nose, in the spot where the cut was. She also noticed that his jacket was gone, and his eyes were red like they were crying. "We're in the hospital Ari, do you remember anything?"
Remembering anything was an understatement. "My family…" Why did it hurt to speak? It felt like her throat had brambles shoved down it. "I remember them…"
Hiro looked confused, a frown on his face. "So I guess you don't remember what happened after Liv woke up." He glanced away. "Well that can wait until later, what did you remember about your family?"
"It's not… who I thought were my parents." She coughed. "My family's the Rosemarys."
"What?!" Hiro exclaimed, but he kept his volume low. "How?"
"I don't know… but I remember them… turns out Rachel was that boy in my dreams." Oh she had some apologizing to do for all the unintentional misgendering. "I feel bad it took me this long."
Hiro patted her head. "Don't feel bad, it's not your fault your brain can be a jerk sometimes." He comforted her. "I'm really happy you remembered them."
Although he had a bone to pick or two with the Rosemary's for keeping this from the sweater girl for months.
Why did they just stand there, watching Ari struggle with amnesia if she was a part of their family?
"Wish I could talk to them right now." Ari mumbled, looking down at her hands.
Hiro put aside his anger for a moment, even if he was mad, the one who deserved to demand answers was his sister. "I'll tell Rach and her parents to come over for you."
"Yes please." She squeaked, then rubbed her head. "Uhhg, I wish I could remember what happened after Liv woke up… it's all a big blur afterwards."
Her brother was sweating. "Well that can be saved for later, but guess who's in the same room as you?"
He pointed to his right, and Ari slowly tilted her head over to see what he was gesturing to. Her eyes widened as on an identical bed, hooked up to some IVs, was Juniper.
Ari glanced at her hands again and noticed she was hooked to some IVs too, one of the bags being a red color. Did I get injured enough to lose a lot of blood? I did get hurt badly before getting caught… But she could think about that later.
Her friend was back to normal, albeit unconscious. It worried her until she noticed the slow rise and fall of her chest, Ari hoped that she was having peaceful dreams after everything she had been through. "She's really back."
A yawn came from Hiro's throat. "Yep, she was conked out when she got here so I couldn't pass any messages, sorry."
"It's fine." Then a yawn came from her throat. "I'm really tired… can you tell Aunt Cass I said hi?"
He nodded. "Be sure to get a lot of rest, you need it." He smiled calmly at her, it made her feel safe.
"And Hiro?"
Her brother was putting on his jacket again. "Yeah?"
"Even if I remember my blood family, you and Aunt Cass will always be my family too." Ari wanted him to know that especially tonight.
A part of her worried ever since she became part of the family that she'd just forget them once getting back home to her parents. But that fear had been short-lived since the memory of their death's came to mind… that fear came back again as she remembered the Rosemary's.
But if there was one thing Ari learned from this experience, it's that she wasn't going to let any little fear put a wedge between her and her loved ones.
That got him to sniffle. "Aww, you're gonna make me cry." He patted her head one last time. "Goodnight Ari, sleep tight."
"I'll try." She felt exhaustion creep up on her as she yawned one final time and drifted back to a well deserved rest.
Gosh I'm just so tired of everything tonight. Hiro crossed his arms. Rachel and her parents better have a good reason for not telling her sooner, or else…
Then, as he thought about it, he recalled that Elio had been the one to help his aunt officially adopt Ari. If the police detective didn't care about her, would he have done that?
Even if one of them did tell Ari, I don't think I would've believed it. Everyone says that Rachel is their only kid.
What snapped him out of his thoughts was the nurse walking into the room before he left. "Everything okay?" She asked him.
"Ari woke up for a little bit, but I told her to go back to sleep." Hiro explained. "She still seemed out of it, I don't think she remembered what happened."
"Sometimes the brain blocks out traumatic experiences from our memory, so I'm not surprised." The nurse stated.
"You sound like Baymax."
Amusement flickered in her green eyes. "Considering I helped build him, I'll take that as a compliment." Lily chuckled. "Is your face okay?"
He tapped the bandage on his nose. "Yeah, it was only glass, I've had worse." Hiro explained. "Remember that time I came in because it broke?"
Lily nodded. "Yes, I'm glad that you recovered well from that." Her gaze drifted over the two unconscious girls.
"Are they going to be…?" He trailed off.
"Your sister will be alright, there shouldn't be any lasting damage since she was for a better term 'changed' for only a short period of time. So will your classmate, albeit they might be suffering from exhaustion for a couple days, so plenty of rest and vitamin-rich food will help." Lily explained.
Hiro nodded, but he glanced over to Juniper. "What about her?"
The nurse winced. "Well, since she had been… y'know, for a longer period of time, it'll take longer for her to recover. Not only that, but she appears to be suffering from severe dehydration and malnutrition."
That explains the IV. Concern and fear went over him. "Is she going to make it?"
"Of course she will! It will just be a very bumpy road to recovery." Lily reassured him.
He let out a sigh of relief. "I also came by to tell you that your aunt's here to pick you up, she just finished signing paperwork for your sister to stay here for a bit until her energy's back up."
"Okay, thanks for letting me know." Hiro thanked her. "It was nice to see you again Lily."
"Likewise, but make sure to take care of yourself Hiro." Lily smiled at him as he left the room.
Hiro considered stopping by Karmi's room on his way out, but he just wanted to go home and sleep.
He could come back in the morning after he fixed up Baymax, he was just glad that it was over. The police would arrest Di and Chris, interrogate Liv and the villains once they were in better mental states, and everything would go back to normal.
He was surprised all the villains were being super co-operative with the police. Even Sparkles… and he was helping cover Di by taking credit for the whole thing!
But since this was the first time the former show host got caught, he wasn't surprised Sparkles would try anything to lessen his sentence a little.
"What you did was unacceptable, Detective Rosemary!" He froze as he heard Diego in the lobby. You have got to be kidding me right now.
"Chief Cruz, how is it unacceptable administering aid to the injured?" Elio scoffed. "The girl was barely moving, she might've died if you shoved her and her mother into a cell-"
"That was not your call! You've put this entire hospital in danger by placing supervillains in here!" Diego was red with anger, Hiro poked his head through a door, seeing the arguing in the lobby.
Everyone waiting in the lobby was looking the other way to pretend they weren't hearing what was going on. Even in a hospital, he can't stop whining.
He knew the chief of police hated supervillains, but he didn't think he hated them so much as to deny them basic healthcare.
"So what? I should've let a sixteen year-old die from getting mutated and traumatized by a nutcase?" Elio questioned. "It's not black and white, I can understand being skeptical about Momakase and Sparkles, but they're being cooperative with information."
Diego continued to glare. "You got that information from Big Hero 6, an unreliable source."
"Wh-wha they were there! They also managed to help a kid not much older than my daughter who that lady turned. I told you to keep an eye on Sycorax way before Bridgeton but nooo. And you call me the paranoid one!"
"Big Hero 6 are-"
Hiro couldn't take it anymore. Perhaps it was due to exhaustion and frustration, but he stuck his head into the hallway and felt like teaching Diego a lesson. "Would you shut up your nonsense for once?!"
Elio's eyes widened, so did Diego's as he sputtered. "Hiro-"
"You say that Big Hero 6 shouldn't be there? Well where were you when Di hurt my friend, when she hurt my sister, when she tried forcing my friend to eat me alive?!" Hiro probably shouldn't have said that part as that was going to be part of his nightmares for a while, but at this point he was too tired to care about the consequences. "Big Hero 6 isn't the problem Chief Cruz, you are! So shut up and let Detective Rosemary do his job, he's a better person than you'll ever be!"
Silence followed, Diego had a look of shock as he stared at the angry teen, Hiro expected him to snap back, but instead he quietly left the lobby.
Elio cleared his throat to ease the tension. "I'm going to check on my daughter." Hiro thought he was talking about Ari for a split second until he spoke again. "She's been home worried sick about her friend."
"Can she visit tomorrow as soon as possible?" Hiro asked him. "She remembered some stuff and really needs to talk to Rachel, you, and Sarah." The detective froze. "I'd ask questions, but that's not my place right now." He gave Elio a serious look.
The detective realized what he was implying. "We will, I promise you that." Hiro nodded, and then left. He just wanted to crash into his bed.
Cass was waiting by the lobby door. She immediately pulled him into a hug. "Hiro, I'm so glad you're okay! I was worried sick!"
"I'm sorry for worrying you, Aunt Cass." He sniffled. "I didn't mean to."
"I also heard what you said to Diego…" Hiro's eyes widened, he hoped his aunt wasn't going to chew him out. "Did that lady really try to make your friend…"
Oh. Hiro mentally facepalmed. You had to say that while Aunt Cass was listening! He bowed his head. "I don't wanna talk about it."
"I understand, let's go home Hiro." Cass held one his hands. "Everything's going to be okay now."
Hiro sniffled again, feeling all his emotions crash down on him. It had been a long day, a day full of struggles and intense situations. All he wanted right now was to crash onto his bed and forget everything for a while.
He wasn't sure if everything would be okay, but at least he wasn't going to deal with Sycorax and their monsters ever again.
Ferns and Nerds group chat:
Mikan Ferns: police,jpeg
Mikan Ferns: I am having an experience this morning
Sienna Kline: Is that the police
Sara Ferns: At Sycorax?
Hiro Hamada: I am not surprised
Honey Lemon: Mikan plz tell me you know what's going on
Mikan Ferns: A little? Like I just got pulled in by an officer and interviewed bc apparently my boss was an evil clone responsible for the monsters
David Ferns: Was that french
Sara Ferns: WHAT
Fredzilla: We're WELL past that
Mikan Ferns: Sidenote where is Ari? I'm surprised she's not freaking out
Hiro Hamada: Don't ask. Just don't
Sara Ferns: O_O
Wasabi: She's fine. Just tired
Mikan Ferns: Just watch the news. Or the news article.
Sienna Kline: The news is explaining nothing. Bluff Dunder you had one job
Hiro Hamada: daimsdsaiijzjdsi
Sara Ferns: mood
Wasabi: I'm concerned.
"Bluff Dunder reporting. I don't really understand what happened at Sycorax today, so onto sports!" Wasabi paused the news report playing on Baymax's screen. The clip showed Diane and Chris being arrested, his heart stammered seeing the latter, but he brushed it off.
"Still, I can't believe Liv-"
"You mean Di." Gogo corrected.
"Right, was an evil clone."
Fred held a piece of sushi with his chopsticks. "Yeah, it was a pretty good twist for phase two of the Big Heroverse." As he was about to eat his sushi, a furry green creature chomped it up. "Honey Lemon, your Mayoi stole my sushi."
Honey Lemon looked at the small pale green Mayoi in her arms, she saw the little critter by her and Gogo's apartment door after returning home, and they fell in love with the little guy. "Sorry, Andre still needs lunch." She placed him on her lap.
Hiro walked up to them. "I knew you guys could beat the monsters without me and Baymax." He and the robot fist-bumped.
"We're just glad you're safe."
"How's Ari?" Gogo asked him.
Hiro glanced away. "Complicated, but she's alright." Then he cleared his throat. "Anyways, I know I may not show it sometimes, but I'm glad I have friends like you in my life."
"Awww." They all grinned.
"Which reminds me, I have to check on another friend of mine!" He walked away from their table.
"He means Karmi." Baymax explained, waddling after him. They took a few seconds before processing.
"Wow." Fred chuckled. He then saw Andre wolfing down his sushi roll. "Ack! HL!"
"Andre nooo!" She whined, scooping him up. "You don't eat other people's food."
"Ahem." They looked up as Sara walked up to their table. "Uh, why do you have a Mayoi?"
"Because!"
Wasabi just stared at the blonde. "You okay? You didn't get hurt last night, right?"
"Thankfully no, I just bunkered downstairs." Sara gestured. "Um, can I talk to you, Wasabi?"
He wasn't lying when he said he was starting to sweat a little. "Okay?"
They had the conversation in Sara's lab. "Mika told me about Chris being arrested." She bowed her head. "Are you gonna be okay?"
"Hopefully." Wasabi frowned. "Chris and I are… we're over, let's just leave it at that."
"I'm sorry."
Wasabi saw how genuine she was. "Um, he also told me that he flaunted his affection of me in front of you to hurt." She flinched. "Why didn't you tell me?"
Sara hesitated. "You were happy with him. I didn't want to ruin that."
"Sara…" He murmured. "Was it because you liked me?"
Her face flushed red. "Don't tell me Chris told you!"
"He did."
"Uhhhg." She groaned. "I'm sorry Wasabi, I've liked you since before the showcase but I was too scared to confess! I understand if you don't want to pursue any relationships after that."
"Why do you like me?"
"B-Because you're kind, and a sweetheart. And you're never ashamed of your own problems and always try to handle them." Sara stammered.
"I see." Wasabi took a deep breath. "Well, how about we rain check this after a bit. It's not a no, but it's a 'later.'" He wanted to think about his own feelings about Sara before making any promises. But he thought it was gonna work. "Sounds good?"
She nodded. "Yeah, take all the time you need. And let me know if I can help out."
Wasabi just gave her a goofy grin, and she gave a goofy grin back. "Alright. Thanks for checking up on me."
"No problem."
When Hiro opened Karmi's lab door, all he saw was boxes. "What happened?" Did someone ransack her lab?
"Karmi's parents took her." Granville approached the door.
He frowned. "Took her where?"
"Home." She explained. 'They felt this city was not a safe environment."
'Wait, she's gone?" He felt the tears again. "I didn't get to say goodbye."
Granville frowned. "I am sorry to hear, Mr. Hamada."
"Is she… is she ever gonna come back?" Hiro hated how pathetic he sounded, but he was just so sad at the idea of never seeing his friend again.
"I'm not sure." Granville sighed. "But my door is always open if you need someone."
"Okay." He sniffled. "Bye Professor." He didn't look as he heard her heels clacking away, but he did see Baymax placing a hand on his shoulder.
"Hiro, it is okay to cry." And then he just collapsed, crying into Baymax's chest. "There there, it will be alright."
He knew Baymax was right, but sometimes you just need a good cry to get those feelings out of your system.
Hiro felt a little better when he got home, he was just going to mope on his bed until he visited Ari. I hope she's okay. He thought. We learned some really wacky stuff, Rachel better explain or else!
The chiming of his phone made him grab it, Karmi, of all people, was calling. He quickly answered. "H-"
"Karms!" He exclaimed. "Are you okay? I heard your parents pulled you out. I'm sorry I didn't get to say goodbye."
"Woah, I was just going to say what happened." She chuckled. "Uh. I'm sorry I didn't get to tell you, my parents… they are really overprotective."
"I noticed."
"Very funny Hiro." Karmi groaned. "My parents are making us go on a family vacation up north, for skiing and stuff." She explained. "It'll at least be a few weeks, I wanted to let you know in case you decided to try visiting me."
He frowned. "When are you leaving?"
"By the end of this week. Yes, annoying. But I'm sure my folks won't mind you visiting until then."
Hiro felt like he was going to regret asking this. "Do you… remember anything about yesterday?"
There was a pause. "Bits and pieces." She shivered. "To the point where I'm probably going to have nightmares. But… I remember you reaching out to me, and saying you cared about me."
"Well that's because it's true." He looked over at the clock. "I won't bring it up again, but just wanted to remind you that I do care about you. And you can call me anytime, alright?"
"Noted." There were some noises on her end. "Got to go, but thanks Hiro, for being my friend."
"No problem Karms." And she hung up.
Not having anything else to do, he just scrolled through his phone. Until he found his fingers clicking onto the fanfiction site Karmi posts on.
"Huh, she updated." Hiro noted, at least she could cope with writing. Curious, he read the last chapter, and was grinning like an idiot at the end as Karmi showed up to save the day once more, but this time in her own superhero attire.
"Lab Lady, huh?" He muttered as he clicked the like button which was under the "To be continued." The chapter had been about Big Hero 6's enemies who had captured Captain Cutie and Lab Lady, who was Karmi, arriving at the scene to rescue him.
Well, I hope Lab Lady gets to save the day in the next chapter. He internally laughed at how dorky he sounded, but at least he could support Karmi in that way. "I hope your next chapter is happier Karms, you deserve it after saving the day yourself."
He might've been broken, he might've been down, but like his friend, Hiro wasn't going to let it get to him.
AN: COM is over but we've still got chapters (and 1 special surprise :3) hope you guys loved the dramatic conclusion!
It was not fun to mutate Ari : ((( but at least she's okay now... tho I feel so bad hitting HV with the angst bat this chapter.
And she remembers the Rosemarys! That's gonna be an awkward conversation,,,
and what is Kat up to? Who knows
QOTW: Did you guys like how I wrote the finale of COM? What do you guys wish I did instead? I wanna know your thoughts!