Chapter 15

Downtown, in the basement below an older vacated business building that sustained considerable damage from the earthquake, a faction of Yama's gang had claimed that area as their own for the next couple days. This nomadic behavior was what had helped them from being traced and caught as easily by the authorities.

Joined by Yama's son for his technical expertise, the three Fujita inspected their latest haul. The red medical case that the three girls brought was their top prize, and Kenochi wasted no time in figuring out how to crack it open. Eight hours had passed in the time it took Yama to respond with what he wanted them to do with the robot.

"{This kid has some weird shit}," Rinchi mused in their Japanese language. Her white facepaint had been removed hours ago, but she still wore her loosely fitted, dark pink printed kimono. It had shifted over so her left shoulder was revealed. She dug through the coal-colored backpack that they took from the young genius boy. Most of it was truly odds and ends, like random parts of pens, a couple chewed-on wooden pencils, some test tube vials with something inside that looked like metal beads, paper clips twisted together to resemble wire robots, spiral notebooks with menacing artwork scribbled on the covers in black and red permanent markers, and a silver laptop with stickers of metal and punk rock bands on the top of it. All that made the bag of half-eaten gummy bears and the wads of tissue look normal

"{And you do not?}" Mei looked over to her sadistic friend. The shorter girl had removed her kimono all together, and now wore a tank top, tight shorts, and tattered dark red fish-net tights. She had a dark bruise under her eye, but was more focused on applying more disinfectant to the handful of bite marks on her forearm. The sassy girl decided to redo the bandages to make sure they weren't getting infected. "{He's probably part vampire, that feisty little bastard!}"

Rinchi snorted, her normal right eye glinting with resentment from how crazy their fight went down with that boy.

"{Seriously though, did you see anything strange during that fight, Rin?}" Mei asked next, reaching over to a make-shift table for some gauze. "{Before we left, I felt like I was on fire!}"

"{Yeah… I did too..}" That young battle bot pest had also pushed Rinchi to her limits, and she evened the odds by revealing her left eye. It had a pitch black iris and pupil that could see things not seen by the normal eye. Her special vision went beyond the present and into the supernatural. Her sisters-in-arms simply called it the Demon Eye, because it reflects like a mirror if anyone happened to look at it. A person could see all the evil they had within, otherwise leaving them in a temporary stupor. "{There was fire, but it was not from this world}."

"{Phantom fire?} Kimiko, their leader, looked over from watching Kenochi still puzzle over the Baymax box.

"{Yeah, you could say that,}" Rinchi confirmed that notion.

Kimiko's attention had shifted back to Kenochi, however. The work on this robot was more of a concern to her, because it had so much potential, and bot fighting was only just one of them. The tall Fujita in the light blue lotus printed kimono crossed her arms, wondering what was taking so long. Then she saw the frustrated man trying to work the sharp edge of his multi-purpose knife into one of the tight seams in the red case now, in his desperate attempt to gain access. There hadn't been any buttons or ports, or even switches, for him to open it. Kimiko shook her head. He clearly did not understand the number one directive of this robot. In a controlled matter, the elder Fujita picked up her closed fan and took a couple steps over to Yama's son.

"{Pay attention, fool!}" she snapped it sharply against the back of his head.

"Yeow!" he yelped in pain, angrily looking back at her. "{Why did you do that?!}"

Kimiko said nothing when she put a hand on her hip, her eyes locked on the red case now unfolding in front of them. He turned to see the large, white robot inflating as well. Poor Little Yama fell backwards slightly before rising to his feet to face the robot.

"Hello, I am Baymax. I heard a sound of distress... Oh, no," the robot's red armor started assembling from the case as soon as he recognized the bad situation.

"Now!" Kimiko barked her command for Kenochi to apply the EMP, in conjunction with her own psychokinesis to stop it from suiting up and alerting the others of its location. The billowy robot abruptly deflated when all of its systems were ceased, the armor collapsing back down. The vinyl hung loosely from the thin metal frame underneath.

Kimiko still felt she had the upper hand, because she had left a tracker on the boy before they left him. This time it was better hidden on his shoe, since he had apparently noticed the first one they planted. All of them were fully aware now that he had been taken to a nearby hospital, and has not left it yet. She still toyed with the idea to make sure Hiro really was still there.

"{Whatever it takes,}" the young gang leader's son shrugged in response. He briefly inspected the vinyl covering, lifting it up in places as he walked around the still form. If there was an access portal through the vinyl, he did not see one in plain view. Kenochi picked up his Leatherman knife off the floor, and cut open a slit in the front, below the head.

"Hey, hey!" Kimiko snapped at him, realizing that may not be a good idea.

"{We don't need this flimsy stuff,}" he glared at her, clearly annoyed by the constant interruptions. "{I have something better in mind for the armor}."

"Whatevah," Kimiko turned away with a huff.

The young man ripped the hole bigger, then peeled the rest of the white fabric-like covering off from the head and thin metal frame. The proportions looked terribly awkward in comparison to a human skeleton, but this was also of no concern. Neither were the different sets of actuators and pumps, nor the tightly aligned storage units with medicines and other like supplies. He and the tech-savvy Fujita instead focused their attentions on the bulky torso that housed the central processing unit and the information it contained. The CPU box also had a circular portal that was accessible, even from the outside. Kenochi saw a screw and stuck the screwdriver like tool of his Leatherman into the slot, and immediately felt a shock. Kimiko decided it was a charge from the battery. Except, if it was still under the effect of the EMP, how could that happen? Nonetheless, he tried to pry open the plastic port component next with the same tool. This time the shock was so strong, he dropped his tool with a few choice swear words when he jerked his hand back.

Maybe it was that type of tool he was using. She located a rubber-handled screwdriver and thunked him on head with it before giving that to him to use.

"{How many nerds does it takes to operate on a robot?}" Rinchi teased the two.

"{Let me know when you think percussive maintenance would be better,}" Mei told Kimiko, as she glanced briefly to her spiked mace ball.

Despite the upgrade in tools, Kenochi was still not able to turn any of the screws without stripping away at the metal. He stood up, muttering more obscenities as he stared at it in pensive thought. What kind of security measure did this thing possess?

The Fujita leader grabbed her satchel purse and pulled out her neurotransmitter device that looked more like a decorative hairpiece. She fitted on her head, situating the ends by her ears. This was something they had reverse engineered to boost her psionic abilities. How perfect of a device this was when used in conjunction with the robots. It still frustrated her she wasn't powerful enough on her own, but this helped smooth over that flaw. For now. Since an external tool could not crack this robot's case, maybe she could unlock it from the inside out.

"{Move over,}" she bluntly told Yama's son, pushing him aside as she knelt down to get close to the robot's CPU box sitting in the middle of the skeletal, titanium frame.

Kimiko probed mentally, finding the base of the screws and envisioned them turning out. Just when she started to turn them, a sudden flash of fire exploded in her mind.

"{No! Leave him alone!}" a deep Japanese voice echoed in her head, while mentally blinding her with a bright light and pain at the same time. Kimiko yelped, ripping the neurotransmitter from her head and throwing it down.

"{What was that?}" Mei wondered.

"{See, it's not just me!,}" Kenochi crossed his arms, not taking pity on her plight at all.

"{There's something guarding it from within}," Rinchi told them, flipping the eyepatch back over her eye.

"Chikuso!" Kimiko growled, picking up the neurotransmitter. Rinchi pretty much stated the obvious. She stared the dismantled robot, debating on what to try next.

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After Aunt Cass helped him up the steps, slowly, Hiro had practically collapsed on the couch in the living room where he still slept at night. She fluffed his pillow, and spread out his quilted blanket over him in her attempt to make him feel more comfortable. The younger Hamada couldn't protest too much, because he knew she would leave him alone if he wanted to go back to sleep.

But sleep didn't come this time. While it was all he could do at the hospital, being back home somehow made him more restless. The constant aches all over and the nagging worry about Baymax made it, sleep, harder to come. All he could think about were ways to contact his robot guardian, and in a way that would not leave a trace. Because his aunt did have a point about what those gangsters could do to them, if they knew where he lived.

Not unless he did something to stop them.

But… it took a minute more of convincing his aching body to move. He finally sat up, squinting from a surge of throbbing in his head that subsided after a couple seconds. Maybe giving Aunt Cass the slip by spitting out the pills the nurse offered him earlier was not such a good idea. Everything all over was not feeling so swell.

But he really needed to find his brother's old tablet, which was upstairs. Up the stairs. Why must there be so many stairs? His head hurt from lots of motion, he felt nauseous again, and his legs felt like rubber.

He absolutely did not have the choice this time though.

Five minutes later, Hiro sat on the corner of his cluttered bed in the darkened room, flipping through app screens on Tadashi's iPad in search of anything, like even a healthcare app that was connected to Baymax. Nothing yet.

An alert popped up with a blip on the tablet's screen, warning him there was only 5% left on the battery. Yep, he had no choice but to go back downstairs and find a charging cable for it. Back down the stairs, where each footfall made his head hurt. Ugh.

Unless there was another cable up here somewhere.

Taking a moment to think, Hiro rubbed his sore neck and sighed. He had that nagging worry anyway that he should get back to the couch before Aunt Cass came back and wondered where he went. His room was still an utter mess too, with no reason for him to be there, so back down he had to go. And to think he actually fancied the idea of sneaking out to physically look for Baymax.

"Where are you, buddy…?" Hiro muttered absent-mindedly, rising up to head back down the stairs, very slowly.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

The Lucky Cat café was not yet open for business, and it looked lonely in the gloom of the chilly, overcast day. GoGo still noticed a couple of lamp lights illuminating the back counter with a warm glow. Someone could be in the back somewhere, she hoped, so she didn't have to try the back door. The speedster leaned her bike against the post in the front, with the intent to stay just long enough to pick up the nerd's ID card. Except the front door was locked, of course. GoGo knocked loudly on the glass, hoping that she would be heard.

The petite college student crossed her arms in wait , before knocking again. After a few more seconds, she slid off her heavy backpack to pull out her phone and make a call, before resorting to the back door. Hiro had texted her an hour ago that he was home from the doctors, so they had to be here.

Before she hit the speed dial, movement caught her eye. Aunt Cass had stepped out from the back, finally hearing her at the door.

"Oh gosh! Have you been here long?" the hurried woman greeted her after hastily unlocking the door. Her perplexed stance must have given Gogo's slightly annoyed attitude away.

"Not really," GoGo politely disregarded her concerns as she stepped inside.

"I take it Hiro asked you to help him with schoolwork?" she asked, somewhat hesitant now.

"Yeah. I came to pick up Hiro's ID card so I can get some things from his lab," GoGo followed the brunette back to the better lit part if the café. The dining area looked like it was ready to go now, with the tables and chairs all set and in position. The new glass counters and wooden shelving were also gleaming and ready to be filled with product once more.

"I offered to stop by the lab earlier, but he said he didn't need anything," Aunt Cass had paused by the back counter, looking a little bewildered by Hiro's previous attitude.

"Probably changed his mind," GoGo decidedly went along with her concern. She could only imagine there was something there Hiro didn't want Aunt Cass to see. But not really in an effort to change the subject, the Korean slipped her backpack off and set it on the floor to pull out a well wrapped, gallon-sized bag of frozen half-moon shaped dumplings. "For you. My family sent me home with tons of these. So, I share."

Aunt Cass face brightened ever so slightly, as she accepted the bag. "Wow… thank you!"

"They are called mandu, all hand-made.. with meats and veggies. You can steam them, or make a soup for Hiro," she explained. "Is he feeling any better?"

Aunt Cass frowned, shaking her head. "He still doesn't want to eat anything, even though the dizziness from the concussion has subsided."

" … Concussion?" GoGo's eyes widened, making sure she heard that right. "He told me he had a stomach bug!"

"Hiro had that too, but…. he did not tell you.. that he was mugged in the subway?" Aunt Cass sounded ever more apologetic when she saw the anger boiling up on Gogo's face.

"Apparently not!" she ran through the details she knew from the last exchange of texts she got from him. Was this that last part he was not being very open about? Her temper was flaring, and she wasn't going to hold it back. "When did he get mugged?!"

"Last night," Aunt Cass took one step closer, pausing as if to chose the rest of her words. "I was just as shocked to find that Fred had taken him to the hospital."

"What was he doing with Fred?!"

"Fred was who he called to take him there… not me," Aunt Cass was also becoming visibly upset again by how it all happened. "I have no idea why Baymax wasn't with him!"

Feeling her blood pressure rising, the speedster stepped away before this turned into a shouting match. She was not sure who to blame first about this either. Why did Hiro just call Fred, and not the whole team? How come he didn't want to call her and tell her what really happened? How was that so hard to do?

"Who did it? How badly hurt is he?" GoGo asked, her eyes intense when she looked back to Aunt Cass.

"He's not sure. I called the police to look for the gangsters who attacked—"

"Where is he?" GoGo cut her off to find him herself, to see how bad he really was. She decided he really did know, he just didn't want to tell Aunt Cass. Without waiting, GoGo went past Hiro's aunt to the door in the back that led upstairs.

"He's asleep right now," Aunt Cass followed closely behind her, more worried about her state of mind.

"Right," GoGo muttered, making her own personal bet to see if Hiro really was. She was leaping up the stairs by twos until she got to the main floor. Her eyes spotted the couch in the dark room, heaped with blankets and pillows. A bucket sat next to the couch, with at box of tissues on the floor, among other things.

One arm had sandwiched a pillow against his head, so she grabbed a blanket and whipped them aside. The teen was curled up on his side, wearing his old, navy, zip-up hoodie, and had visibly shrunk himself in when the blanket was removed. His right arm with a dark blue cast clutched a black iPad to his chest, otherwise reaffirming her hunch he was faking it that he was asleep.

"Talk to me, Hiro!" GoGo tugged the pillow away from his head. His hand promptly covered his especially disheveled black hair as if to protect himself from harm.

Aunt Cass approached also, kneeling down to put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry, sweetie. She just has some questions. Can you talk?"

Hiro squinted, sliding his arm down and slowly sat up. He set the tablet next to him on the couch to stretch gingerly. The younger Hamada was a piece of work, with a black eye, a fat lip, some small cuts on his face, other injuries to his hands, and the hard-to-miss broken arm in a cast.

Aunt Cass made some comment that he should be keeping the ice packs on his face and on his cracked ribs to keep the swelling down. She then picked up a pack that was neglected on the floor and headed over to the kitchen to replace the ice.

Dammit, what did he get himself into? GoGo sat on the coffee table in front of the couch to face him. His bangs were a little sweaty and sticking on his pale forehead. "What. Happened?"

Hiro swallowed, trying to keep eye contact with her, but he kept shying away. The anger evident on her face must have been that scary. "The Fujita…"

He looked sidelong to check where his aunt was, before continuing. She knew what that look meant, since his voice was barely audible, "They stole Baymax."

GoGo's eye twitched as a result, trying to keep her cool. That greatly explained his initial request to bring back Mega-Z. "How?"

"Just.. I was just going home, using the subway last night," he whispered, and then pinched his brow while closing his eyes.

"Was that because you were out looking for them?"

"No.. that would be suicide…" he opened his eyes to try to look at her again. "I fell asleep.. and I didn't wake up again until I was downtown."

And they somehow spotted you. How.. unfortunate.

She reached up and held his ashen face between her hands so that he had no choice but to keep his eyes on her, or else she would put him into a painful headlock. "Be honest with me."

"I'm dead serious…" he whispered. She could see how unsteady his eyes were, showing more of the pain from having to stay open and focused for so long. His hair had that souring smell and a noticeable metallic scent from dried blood. The poor kid hadn't taken a shower yet since the attack. His skin also felt really hot to the touch, the longer she held his face.

"I really.. need you, right now," he added while holding his eye contact with hers as much as possible.

"Then why did you call Fred first?" That request triggered her temper immediately and she dropped her hands from his face.

"I.. I couldn't remember your number," he pleaded.

GoGo didn't know what to say in response. Because if he really did need her help, then he could have at least let Fred tell her what had happened. How was waiting almost half a day later supposed to be better?! GoGo thought she had gained more of his trust after that one evening in his lab with her. But if the little genius was trying to mess with her feelings again, he was doing a damn good job.

"Are you taking anything?" she touched his forehead briefly again, to check his temperature. He really did not look so good, the longer she studied his expression. That just made it hard for her to stay mad at him.

Hiro just closed his eyes, mouthing the word 'no'.

"Why?"

He didn't answer, and kept his eyes shut. Well, from what she gathered from his past conversations, the boy was anything but a good patient about these things. Aunt Cass approached them again with a fresh ice pack and an insulated cup with ice water.

"He's gotta fever," GoGo turned to tell his aunt while she was there. Partially out of necessity, but also in hopes of keeping her out of earshot in case there was anything else Hiro needed to tell her, in person.

"Hmm, it's not really time yet," she sounded a little taken aback, after looking at a wall clock.

"Unless he didn't swallow it," GoGo decided to tell her.

Hiro grimaced, not happy that she told. But this truth was important for Aunt Cass to know because he only had one brain.

Aunt Cass sighed, realizing that possibility. "Let me check what the doctors notes said again," the brunette headed over to the kitchen counter to retrieve his prescriptions.

The younger Hamada sat back into the blankets on the couch, crossing his arms as if in protest. GoGo grabbed him by the front if his shirt to pull him close to her again. With Baymax out of commission, someone's going to have to step up. "We're not done yet, nerd."

Hiro's apprehension subsided a little after she took his face into her hands again. With fingertips spread into his hair, her thumbs pressed into his temples to massage there in small circular motions. "Relax… just let me know if I'm on something that hurts," GoGo did not see any bruising or cuts at his temples, but she told him anyway.

"What are you—" he asked, regardless.

"Helping to ease your pain."

"But I have a concussion."

"This works for that too, so chillax!" Sometimes Mr. Know It All wasn't so much. GoGo just knew from what she had learned from her foster mom that massage did so much to reduce anxiety, swelling, and improve circulation. One can do so much with pressure points, especially since the boy had become leery about popping pills.

She gradually massaged down along his jawline, being mindful of any tender spots. His subtle wincing let her know if she did come across to something to avoid. Aunt Cass came back over with a couple prescription bottles in hand, only to pause and smile at the sight.

"This helps with tension," was all that she told his aunt. GoGo finished the temple massage and moved over to sit next to Hiro on the couch. She then gestured for him to turn his back to her. "So I can massage your neck and shoulders."

"Is it helping?" Aunt Cass asked, kneeling down in front of Hiro to check on him.

"Not sure.. yet," Hiro scrunched his face in response to having his tight and sore neck muscles kneaded.

"That's cuz you're a mess," GoGo told them.

His aunt proceeded to explain the prescription bottles to him; an assortment of antibiotics, steroids to reduce swelling, and extra strength ibuprofen, since the prescription painkiller did not agree with him. She then persuaded him to take the ibuprofen and the antibiotics, since the steroid was a liquid and had taken a safe guess he took that earlier.

"Swallow them," GoGo leaned in to tell Hiro. Her gentle massaging was replaced with a firm grip at his shoulders, as she was also in position to wrest him into some kind of painful lock if he didn't mind his aunt's wishes.

"Nope. Keep drinking, sweetie," Aunt Cass gave the hospital thermos of ice water back to him after he tried to hand it off. "GoGo, will you be staying for dinner, or are you heading back to the lab first?"

"Thank you for the offer, Aunt Cass," she paused to look at her, "But I need to get back to SFIT to get some things. Not sure how long that would take."

GoGo heard Hiro let out a sigh, most likely from frustration. She now worked her way down the muscles on each side of his spine, stopping at intervals to massage that area with her knuckles.

Aunt Cass put a hand on Hiro's arm to show her support before standing up to head back to the kitchen.

"Where's your ID card?" GoGo asked him next.

Hiro was silent for a beat before swearing under his breath. "They stole my backpack too…"

"They have your ID card?" GoGo repeated a little too loudly. Loosing Baymax was one thing, but also having access to the labs…? He would have to call the school get that card cancelled right away instead.

"Oh, wait!" Aunt Cass had heard GoGo and stopped washing the uncooked rice in the cooker pot to look at them. "I saw your badge in with the clothes the hospital gave me."

Both Hiro and GoGo regarded her like she was Wonder Woman at that moment. Maybe he still had it on, tucked away somewhere that the gangsters did not notice. This made it apparent to GoGo that Hiro really did have trouble remembering some things due to his injuries.

Aunt Cass walked over to a couple of hooks on the wall between the kitchen and stairway that held an assortment of keys and other things to get the badge hanging on a grey SFIT lanyard.

"You're awesome," GoGo accepted it, wrapping the lanyard around the card, before tucking it safely in an inside pocket of her jacket.

"It's what I have to do to keep the sanity around here," she shrugged, going back to the kitchen.

Time was getting away from her, GoGo noticed, and decided to get going. Enough time had already been wasted, and she wasn't going to let anymore of it get away. She had to tell the others too, regardless of what Hiro wanted. This was serious.

Before standing up, she faced Hiro and gripped his shoulders. "Take it easy, okay? We'll talk more when I get back."

Hiro nodded quietly, and then moved in to hug her real quick to show his gratitude.

"Eat something too," she leveled with him, pulling away to look him in the eye.

"I'll try."

"Or else," GoGo added, being very serious as she picked up the ice bag and put it on the right side of his face. Hiro complied by holding it in place with his hand.

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Rinchi stood in a dark alley across the street from the Lucky Cat Café. Her spot was on the road that ran perpendicular to the steep hill that the old Victorian house sat. The lone Fujita was sent to stake-out the location of the tracker when Kimiko had noticed it left the hospital. Rinchi was told to check for any suspicious activity, or if the tracker moved from that location. Even though the café was not open, she still noticed lights on inside and what had appeared to be a bicycle messenger stopping by the front door.

The Fujita almost looked like another discarded cardboard box sitting by a recycle bin sitting in that alley, as to not attract any attention from anyone passing through. The camera she held in side the box recorded what she saw. Or at least things she saw in this plane of reality.

The hours of sitting in the cold, in a cramped position had finally paid off for her when she saw the short Korean girl step out from the door. But before leaving on her bike, she had pulled out her phone to call someone. Not all of the conversation was clearly heard, but she could tell the woman was angry. The words that Rinchi heard were enough. The boy was there and had told her what happened.

Rinchi smiled, it was as expected. Their robot will be ready by the time Big Hero 6 comes looking for him.


AN: Getting this chapter up real quick for everyone (cause like, life keeps happening).

So I also decided to go AU with the Fujita, Naruto style. Or Avatar:TLA, or something. ;p

And yes, while I cannot agree that Tadashi is alive, I never believed that he was 'dead' either. (Maybe Stranger Things kind if inspired me too)

Thank you for reading and fav/following!