AN: Hey, hello again! Wow, I realized it has been over a year since posting something here. I stand guilty.. I lost interest on this fanfic. But with the renewed interest in Big Hero 6 due to the new cartoon series, that helped a lot! That, and a couple curious readers still hanging on. So.. it lives! Please enjoy!


Chapter 18

(2 Corinthians 12: 9) But he told me: "My kindness is all you need. My power is strongest when you are weak."


Hiro sat heavily on the stool by his workbench in his garage. He held his head in his hands, just growling at everything gone wrong so far. He was so tired of this, and felt so sick to his stomach again. They left him all beat up in a dangerous place in the subway... one wrong move, he could have fallen to his death on the tracks. Hiro didn't want to think of that again, it made him feel so hopeless. So angry, they stole everything, when he was weak and alone!

In more or less words, GoGo told him to sit down, to calm down, and that's what he was trying to do. Trying, because it wasn't at all easy to think of peaceful, positive thoughts right now. Setting off explosives in all of Yama's hideouts to take them all down, where ever those may be, sounded like a much better plan. They took everything! They deserved it!

But… no. Prematurely acting off his emotions was how he got into this kind of trouble. Then being younger than the others, weaker and clumsier too, no wonder his teammates felt like they had to babysit him. It was extremely frustrating, ending up like this! Wanting to get even with everyone who wronged him, instead of doing the right thing.

Which left him wondering what qualities did he have - besides being super smart - that he could use and be proud of? He didn't want to give up, and let the Fujita have that satisfaction. But… what could he do now? Hiro felt wrecked that he didn't have Tadashi's drive, strength, charisma… or the seasoned experiences like his teammates, or.. access to the SFIT labs. Not just because Hiro was grounded, it was because his supply limits were already maxed out there. Because he was trying to do it all, by himself.

So what could he do? He couldn't think of anything good on his own. The injured genius sighed, slipping through his hands so that his forehead hit the wooden surface of his work bench with a soft thud. He stayed like that, his arms folded on top around his head, for a couple more long seconds in thought.

GoGo had finished doing a quick check of the garage for anything else amiss. So far vandalizing Ronin was the only offense. They didn't detect any suspicious devices or other tampering. Feeling more secure, GoGo proceeded to text the others about their next steps. She also told Hiro that the break-in was not going to change anything, because as Big Hero 6, they weren't going to give in. They were better than their enemy!

That held so much truth. It was in understanding the difference in having people come to his aide because he was being reckless and immature, which he hated, versus recognizing others talents and asking them to help by working together to achieve more. Hiro realized that all over again… that they wanted to be friends with him. It wasn't just to fill a obligation for his brother anymore, or be his replacement.

He drew in a breath, lifting up his head. His teammates, his friends, were his strength. So was his brother, everyone. Unlike his school projects, this time he didn't have to prove a grade, or his worth, by doing it all by himself.

"How capable is Wasabi at operating the industrial die casting equipment at SFIT," the robotics engineer glanced back toward GoGo. Even though SFIT was out of the question for him, it just meant asking someone else who could. He just needed to get his backup copy of Ronin's programming. Then if someone else worked on replacing the nanotech that had been stolen, they would still make it to the bot fights in time.

GoGo smiled surprisingly in response, and that had given him an ounce more of courage. "Capable enough," she walked over and leaned against the workbench next to him. "What do you have in mind?"

"If we have him, and maybe Honey Lemon too, working on that part of it at the labs, then I can stay focused on the programming and stuff like that here for Ronin. If I can, I want to upgrade his attributes with what all of us have with our super suits. Then I'll show you how to control him," Hiro explained, leaning his elbow against the workbench. "Like you could use shadowboxing, or the neurotransmitter. I'm leaning more towards the neurotransmitter though, just because thoughts travel faster than actions."

"Whichever way you think is best," she nodded, chewing her gum. She tucked a strand of her purple streaked hair behind her ear. Her cool composure in all this chaos was really breathtaking, dammit.

Hiro swallowed.

"I'll.. also have a video feed going in through Ronin… so everything he sees, I can see," he scratched his head, then got up to pace as he thought out loud. "Since I'm going to be hacking in from an off site location… that's just to be sure you're okay too."

"Ronin's like your body double?" GoGo bluntly presented her conclusion.

"Well, yeah.. you could say that," Hiro twisted his face, dropping his tone. Her reason sounded better to agree to, than admitting his more personal fear that she would be the one being targeted next, and possibly getting killed. He had fallen way too much for GoGo to lose her now. "Since all this was my fault.. I want help as much as possible."

GoGo shook her head in disagreement, then reached out to ruffle his hair. "We can all take care of this, okay?"

Her words reinstated Hiro's earlier thoughts, and he mustered a smile.

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

GoGo felt more optimistic from witnessing Hiro's rebounding determination as the day progressed. Yes, she was rather concerned at first for his mental state after they had found that his garage was broken into. Worried for his safety, and that he wouldn't want to cooperate. Now, it seemed that Hiro had a kind of revelation, and realized how horribly he was acting before.

It also helped tremendously that they were making headway in fabricating more of the much needed nanotech through an unexpected source, coupled with much needed protection from SHIELD. Considering certain limitations if they relied on the SFIT labs, Hiro called Fred, who in turn contacted his Dad. He was able to pull some strings with a local supplier to make it happen quickly. Hiro was left speechless. That just left tasking Wasabi with burning another copy of the programming chips for Ronin.

She looked away from the tablet, crackling her gum a bit, to take a break from the website she had been researching for the bot fight. Apparently, this one had some rules and regulations that were to be followed. The speedster had been sitting backwards on a small swiveling desk chair next to him, and rested the tablet on the top of the seat now.

Hiro was zoned in on soldering tiny points on a chip the size of a credit card. His focus was 90% on that, his tongue between his teeth in concentration, ala 'tongue focus'.

The nerd told her that he wanted to combine all their 'upgraded powers' that they had as heroes into Ronin. However, after what she read in the regulations, that may have to be changed. "Hey, from this… it looks like the laser blades and electromagnetic shocks are okay, but the chem balls are a no-go. They don't allow any flying projectiles, use of chemicals, or anything else that would put the audience around the ring at risk."

Hiro glanced up from over his magnification specs to talk to her. "But I can put your disks on Ronin, as long as you don't take them off?"

"Yep," she scrolled through the page, tracing her finger along the screen. GoGo blew a larger pink bubble to pop loudly.

"That means they can't shoot bullets either," came the next prompt.

GoGo looked over to him, making eye contact despite his thick bangs shielding his eyes. "Of course."

Hiro looked away, and pressed his lips together before adding his additional thought. "Unless they don't care about being disqualified…"

"Then equip Ronin with some immobilizing and shielding chem balls as last resort," the petite mechanical engineering put the tablet down, and popped her gum. God, there was that sad truth also. She had witnessed cutthroat competition like that before in her own time, so she knew he just wasn't being sarcastic. The speedster was a seasoned competitor, with the confidence and know-how to keep it together through the toughest spots. "But we're still playin' nice, okay?"

"Yeah…" Hiro seemed to be caught in a thought too, since he was still staring down at his work without doing anything. He took off the magnification glasses and put them on the work table. "There's something else… I should tell you."

GoGo faced him, recognizing the new, vulnerable insecurity in his dark eyes.

"The reason I got back into bot fighting.. was because I needed the money," he admitted to her. "I'm sorry.. really sorry, for not telling you guys sooner. That I just.. needed funds, for the additional tech, and stuff."

The speedster nodded, because she already knew. What she was more happy about was that he finally confessed this last truth to her. It wasn't the whole team, and Aunt Cass was clearly not aware of any of it. But this was a start. He needed to build and strengthen a new bond with someone. "Just having a regular job wasn't paying enough?"

"Well yeah… especially for a fourteen year old," the younger Hamada scoffed, looking up to GoGo. "There was just so much I could do for Aunt Cass at the café… but I didn't feel like asking her for any more money. Things are kind of tight for her."

"Especially now… yeah."

Hiro looked annoyed, but he still continued. "I was also taking out the moped, to go to the fights," his eyes darted behind her to where the moped was covered in the garage. "Safer than using public transportation, so they wouldn't follow me so easily. That's why I can't believe I got jumped like I did."

GoGo clicked her tongue, shaking her head. He was on a mission to tell her everything now, so she threw in her thoughts as well. "No doubt they were pissed, 'cause all your wins threw off their betting pools."

"Not.. all of them…"

"That's usually how it goes."

"... Yeah. Well, I'm done with all that for good... after tonight," Hiro sighed, sitting up a little more.

"Yeah?"

"For real. 'Cause like Fred wants to help in supporting us, Big Hero 6. His Dad wants to help us to become 'more'."

"Actually, that's good news. How's Mr. Fredrickson going to help?" GoGo leaned in closer to him to ask.

"That's part of why were getting so much help now," he smiled slightly, showing his modesty. "Fred didn't go into all the details yet… the first time he told me, we were just talking about stuff when I was in the ER.. to pass the time."

They didn't speak for another long pause as Hiro worked, before GoGo decided to break the silence. Even though being thoughtful and caring wasn't her forte, she had to admit she liked talking with him like this. The nerd was opening up for her again, showing more of his trust. "What do you need help with next?"

"Ehh…" Hiro had put back on his magnification specs to study the work on his small circuit board. GoGo decided he had to think about her question. "Maybe you can practice operating Ronin with the neurotransmitter? Even without the nanotech arms, you could still work with the basics, I guess." He said this while redirecting his focus back on soldering again.

"Sure," the sassy engineer nodded. Then she reached out and wrapped her hand around his left hand holding the solder dispensing tool. He was having trouble holding it steady due to his hand injury.

That action caused him to look up at her for a second, his mouth twitched. Was he blushing now? Tch…

"What should I use for the dummy, for target practice? If Ronin is as bad aft as you say he is, the Wave Masters gonna get trashed," GoGo asked next.

"Yeah… uhm," Hiro stopped again, making a face as he realized that too. He moved his left hand away, gesturing that he was done. She let go as he did. "Use some of the rubble and scrap out in the alley? Stuff left over from the earthquake?"

"That might work…" GoGo pursed her lips on thought also. If it was heavy, she would need help getting it in, since the garage door was still blocked. She picked up the neurotransmitter, which honestly looked more like a hairband, and put it in place (without having it push her bangs back, because that was totally not her style). "Ronin, come with me."

The robot awakened and then stood up to follow her out the back of the garage.

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

By the grace of the fire, and the flames,
You're the face of the future, the blood in my veins…

Imagine Dragons 'Believer'

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

On second thought, it was increasingly distracting when another sound of lumber and brick remnants came crashing against the wall and the floor of that part of the garage. GoGo had constructed a Jenga sort of tower-structure that could be knocked down for each strike. Then, of course, Ronin made quick work in putting the pieces back together afterwards to rebuild it. Why it was so distracting was that he wanted to watch them in action, instead of working on debugging his code for the Chem ball settings.

GoGo was getting the hang of the neurotransmitter, and performed the full kicking techniques and arm motions with her own body. She had taken her jacket off, and was in just her tanktop since she was getting so sweaty. Her toned muscles on her lithe arms glistened a little… something that Hiro found to be such a turn-on.

"Hey, where's that one tool?" the speed queen was suddenly right next to him, looking over the scattering of tools and parts on the worktable. Hiro's mind froze, caught.. feeling vulnerable for not being ready for her. Why was he even thinking about GoGo in that way? Sadly, he didn't have nearly the organizational sense, than say, Wasabi or Honey Lemon. "Ehh… which.. tool?" Hiro forced out his words.

"Nevermind, found it," Gogo left just as quickly once she snatched her prize.

He just glanced back to watch what was going on again.

"There's a lag between thought and action too," GoGo explained. "Not fast enough."

"Well, if you just think it without doing it, Ronin would respond faster," Hiro refuted. He thought of that earlier, but well, for obvious selfish reasons he decided to wait… just in case she was just practicing the motions to improve her concentration.

"Mhh… true," she set aside the tool then turned Ronin back on. "Sword mode, test three."

Ronin stood tall, and his arms morphed into two blue glowing blades that were thin and long, like samurai swords. The blade part was like Wasabi's blades, made purely of plasma matter.

Instead of taking on a strike to the tower, the robot immediately switched off his swords and spun 180 degrees toward the entrance that led to the café. This was a precaution for when Aunt Cass entered the garage. Hiro didn't want her to see the battle training, for obvious reasons. She had stopped in a couple times earlier to wonder what all the ruckus was about. The explanation given that they were doing search & rescue training and functionality.

"Hi guys!" Honey was first to greet the two engineers. She had an arm around Wasabi while he helped her down the make shift stairs.

"He's looking impressive!" Wasabi commented, setting aside some nice clothes on hangers and covered on a long plastic bag.

"Yeah… I just need finish up on the details," Hiro nodded, smiling a little.

"How are you feeling, Hiro?" The tall blonde first wanted to ask as she settled her items on the table nearby, most if which he recognized as her makeup kits.

"Better..." Hiro said, but his eyes were still trained other stuff. She seemed to think the same, and looked a little more closely at his face.

"That's good to hear," Honey Lemon smiled, reassuringly. "I should be able to cover the black eye okay… the cuts might need some work though."

"Yey…" Hiro muttered, and promptly switched his thoughts back to what they were working on. The robo-genius thumbed over to GoGo, beaming . "Ask Ronin do the 'Twin Tornado Blades'."

"The what?" Wasabi rose an eyebrow. Yes, so maybe Hiro took that one from the battle cries he heard in his favorite anime shows.

GoGo scrunched her face in concentration, but this time her body remained motionless. Ronin stepped back into a kicking stance with his swords held upright, and then leapt into a spinning motion to kick at the tower. He twisted around to strike at the debris falling back down with his two blades.

"Wow!" Honey Lemon clapped, very amazed to see the mess that was also made. She told him once that explosions were something of a secret passion she had, as long as they were harmless.

"Oh, and then the robot picks up afterwards.. that's a keeper!" Wasabi was more surprised to see how Ronin transformed his blades into hands and other cleaning tools to reassemble the tower.

"Clean-up is part of his search and rescue function," GoGo crossed her bare arms, leaning back on the bench.

"We also got the tuxes and dresses for you two to look at," Honey Lemon chimed. She hopped a couple steps over on her good foot to lift up a dress laying on top. "I got a couple of the best styles… what do you think of this one, GoGo?"

She pulled off a plastic bag to reveal a dark red dress with a short ice-skating style skirt and a halter top that looked like it would provide a very revealing halter top. "I figured you may be active, so a shorter skirt might be better. I know you suggested a suit, but this is more of a disguise."

GoGo glanced over to Hiro, who without a doubt caught him in his drop-jaw shock. Never mind that he liked the red color. Hiro was immediately hung up on the amount of cleavage that would be seen, something he was not at all comfortable with. Not just for him… he felt a protective urge that no one should be allowed to see that much of her!

"What's the other one look like?" GoGo asked Honey Lemon, indirectly turning that one down. Even Wasabi looked a little more relieved.

"Didn't think that one was going to fly," he told Honey.

Honey nodded, putting Dress A down. She lifted the plastic off of Dress B, with was two toned. "This one is short like the other one, but it has a different top," Honey held it up. The top part was back and lacy, and then the colored faded to a dark red for the skirt. The skirt was short and flared out a bit in two layers of silky fabric, and it was a choker style that went around her neck. The back had an attractive see-through style, which he felt was way better than the revealing cleavage.

"Dress B," Hiro breathed the words.

"There's black gloves that go with this one too," Honey added, holding up the long, elegant gloves that would go up past the elbow.

"That one," the speed queen agreed, taking the dress from her friend's hands.

Hiro now sat with his good hand propping his chin (just to keep from looking so drop-jaw again), partially hiding his creeping smile. He never really seen GoGo get dressed up like that before.

"Your turn, little man," Wasabi grinned in turn, sitting down on a stool by a workbench catty corner to them.

"So… what we have is a black one with a like black pattern," Honey Lemon picked up both, and held up the first. The pattern was a shiner texture of something that looked like marbling or leaves on a mat black. "Or.. this one with an indigo blue jacket that has black marbling and black velvet lapels."

Hiro studied them, somewhat conflicted. The indigo one he knew had to be in consideration of his supersuit. But would that be a giveaway to go with that color? However, from what they told him, he wouldn't be seen by the gangsters. Suddenly his eyes darted up toward the doorway.

"Hey guys!" Aunt Cass greeted to them, coming down the steps carefully with a tray of mugs full of hot drinks. "Just whipping up some coffee and tea for you while you were here."

"Ooh, thank you Aunt Cass!" Honey Lemon thanked her.

Wasabi stood up to help take the tray from Aunt Cass, and set it down on… Hiro jumped up to push aside some tools on his work table for Wasabi to set it down.

"This looks great.. thanks."

"Are these the tuxedos for Hiro?" Aunt Cass spotted the two choices Honey Lemon had been holding up.

"Yes, they are," the tall blonde displayed them proudly as Aunt Cass took the indigo one to inspect it. "They have matching vests and ties. I got a button up dress shirt also, just in case."

"Did you decide which one yet?" she turned to ask her nephew.

"Uhm…" Hiro feigned a smile before giving his answer. "The black one."

"Oh, okay," His aunt made a face, then swapped the blue one for the black one to look it over.

"Just because it.. goes better with GoGo's dress?" Hiro explained, then realized how 'going on a date' romantic-like that sounded. The real reason was that he wasn't comfortable with wearing the other one, and he didn't want to hurt Honey's feelings. And now his face was turning red again. Argh… he couldn't wait for this part to be over!

"He's right.. all of us decided to follow a certain theme," GoGo said, nonchalantly, finishing her statement before drinking some coffee. Her dress now hung from the edge of a shelf at the end of Hiro's worktable.

"Ohhh, this is so exciting! Hiro's going to look so handsome," Aunt Cass couldn't help but gush. "Did you rent both of these, Honey?" she asked the chemist.

"Yes… I couldn't take them from the store unless we paid for them," she explained with a nervous smile.

"Oh, I'm sorry! Let me pay you back," the brunette responded very gracious.

Hiro could feel himself wilting inside from this super awkward conversation that his aunt walked into. The real truth was that Fred said he would cover the expenses for their undercover guises. But that would be even harder to explain to Aunt Cass.

"No, it's okay. I don't mind at all! Just my way of saying thank you for Hiro's help after the earthquake," Honey Lemon had an equally clever comeback, however.

"Oh, really? That's very thoughtful… but are you sure?"

Aunt Cass… Hiro groaned inwardly as he also thought up another distraction to help. "Yeah, it's okay, Aunt Cass. I can actually mix and match them too. Like use the blue vest from that suit to wear with the black jacket," Hiro told her, holding up the blue one to point to its vest. And he finished it with his over-the-top 'I got this' grin.

"Okay, sweetie. We'll do that," Aunt Cass nodded with her equally forced grin.

"Okay! If you're finished down here, we can start getting ready," Honey Lemon rubbed her hands together, facing both Hiro and GoGo. "Wasabi and I have our outfits upstairs. Shall we head up to do hair and makeup first?"

"Sure… just need to save this," Hiro sighed. He closed out his work with the conclusion that he could access the computer there with the laptop upstairs to finish his programming.

"Here, let me help take these for you," Aunt Cass also picked up the make-up kit and like items.

"Do you want me to carry you? Since it's a lot of stairs going up?" Wasabi motioned to Honey Lemon to get on his back.

"I guess… that would be easier," she laughed modestly.

After Aunt Cass followed after Wasabi and Honey Lemon. GoGo tapped Hiro to grab his attention. She showed him her phone with a text message from Fred through their Big Hero 6 app.

[Fredzilla] Letting u know my dad has 2 agents watching the Lucky Cat. Hiro can breathe easy now. Doesn't have to worry about Aunt Cass being in danger.

Hiro was stewing in silent guilt about that, so this news really lifted him. The whole day felt like a freaking roller coaster ride, quite frankly. He still felt scared about what could have been done to Baymax though. Hiro took the opportunity to respond in kind, quickly tapping in his message.

[GoGoTomago] Thanx! HL and Sabi r here with the disguises. Let us know when u r ready.

GoGo was waiting at the stairs, not just to get her phone back though. "Can you make it?" she asked him, wondering if he was okay with the stairs.

"I got these… but, um.. might need help getting up the longer set," Hiro confessed, because she knew his knee still hurt. He hated being that way, but yeah… what was he trying to prove now?


AN: I also will admit I had to reread through my whole story to reconnect the dots and refresh my memory. *feeble laugh* The trickiest part is keeping these details separate from the ones I had going in my other BH6 crossover fic. I wouldn't be surprised if my writing style has changed a bit (and hopefully for the better!) I'm a sucker for spiritual heaven/hell turmoil too, hence the random scripture. ^^;

But all the plotlines in the new BH6 series is cool to see. The unexpected things as well as the trends common in our fanfics. And the sad truth that they have read fanfics too (Fan Friction… I am so ded!) I mean, Karmi totally aged up Hiro so that he looked older and taller too! XD

I'm also into My Hero Academia (both anime and manga), but doing what I can to refrain from writing fanfics on that! (Too much going on IRL) But.. I am very much inspired of those plot lines and action scenes.

Thank you again for reading!