"Here's what happened last time, Hiro and Baymax stopped Globby from stealing something from Krei-Tech-"
"What on earth are you doing Fred?"
"Oh, I'm narrating what happened in the last chapter of Heroes of Flowers! You should try it Rach!"
"And there goes the fourth wall-eh sure. The thing they found was an old energy amplifier, why Krei kept it, who knows."
"Mhmm, that was a good thing. But Hiro didn't have a proposal for his final project. That was bad."
"Oof."
"Oof indeed. Honey Lemon and Wasabi found a clue in Shimamoto's journal-"
"When did that happen? I don't remember reading that.."
"It was in the original episode! It would just be a rehash of the scene on paper, we need less of that!"
"Oh. Right, you have a point. So Sienna Kline followed them to her lab and found a wax cylinder, I'll make sure to see that at the open house."
"Same! Back at school, Hiro came up with a final project, build an energy amplifier."
"Granville and his own-even Ari said no and he's still doing it!"
"We set a trap for Globby but Hiro was too busy working, so he sent Baymax on his own. Not cool!"
"I'm guessing things went bad."
"Yes. Very. Globby turned into a dinosaur which was cool, but Noodle Burger boy showed up with his dumpling Buddy Guards, being chased by flying laser shooting dumplings is a nightmare I had once!"
"Wow, must be nice having that as the only thing in your nightmares."
"So Hiro finally saved the day, or did he?"
"Meanwhile with the Fern Family, Mikan and David are still acting weird. Sara is a concerned sister and Sally and Steven are just concerned parents. Mikan is debating which side she's on, her father's or her siblings."
"Please don't remind me, I'm scared Mikan is gonna choose the wrong side."
"Fine. Will Mikan choose her father's side? Is Ari gonna complain about Hiro's final project? How will everyone react to Shimamoto's message? Find out now, in this chapter of Heroes of Flowers!"
"Wow. You do narration pretty good, Rach."
"Thanks Fred, it's a hobby."
"That's all for today students, you make sure to study tonight's notes, and continue working on your semester projects." Sally told the class. "You are dismissed."
She saw her students give collective sighs of relief as she ended her lecture and raced to be first out. Yes, she pushed her classes somewhat, but knew they were capable of handling her course. I might as well see if my son needs any help with his project, he has been getting help from Mikan, Sara, and Steven, might as well make it a family effort. But as she walked down the Robotics labs, she saw an irritated Granville.
"Professor Granville?" Her words brought the dean out of her thoughts.
"Oh, Sally." She greeted her. "You don't have to call me professor anymore, you haven't been a student in years."
"Old habits die hard." Sally chuckled. "Something on your mind?"
"Yes." Granville nodded. "It's Mr. Hamada, he seems to not have any idea for the open house, and he's hiding something."
"Hmm, yes." Sally frowned, mentally wondering why there had been a frequency of kids hiding stuff. "Perhaps I'll talk to him, I always was hip and trendy with the kids!"
Granville gave her a long and dry look. "You wound me Professor, you really do." She dramatically exclaimed. That brought a smile on her face.
"You can try to talk to him, Sally, but I hope he'll pull through for the open house." They exchanged goodbyes and Sally detoured over to Hiro's lab.
She opened the door to hear. "She wants results? I'll give her results." And Hiro holding a-
"What is that?" She gasped. Hiro immediately yelped and deactivated the amplifier and hid it behind his back.
"Nothing its-it's nothing!" He lied. She just gave him a cold stare.
"Let's just talk." Sally pulled up a chair, she noticed the healthcare companion on the side of the room was eyeing her for some reason. "I know that's an energy amplifier." She felt cold at the memory.
"Fine, you caught me." Hiro sighed. "I built one to prove Granville wrong at the open house." He held it out. "It works, and nobody got hurt!"
"I'm assuming you heard the trials and errors Krei-Tech did while building one?" He nodded. Sally just pinched the bridge of her nose. "My husband was part of that team trying to make one when he first employed at Krei-Tech, I had half a mind to sue the company when he came back one day with burns all over his arms."
Hiro frowned. Krei said nobody got hurt though. "Were there any..."
"No, no one got seriously hurt. At least Alistair had the common decency to cancel before anyone could." Sally had a dark look on her face. "I knew someone who tried to make one, and his own arrogance was his downfall."
Hiro's eyes widened with horror. Baymax merely blinked at her.
"I'm not going to snitch, but know this." Sally gave him a serious glare. "Nothing good comes out of doing things out of spite, and you should probably work on something else. Like maybe revamping your microbot project."
Hiro just sighed, and nodded. "I'm still gonna do it. This-" He held out the amplifier. "Can help so many people."
Sally knew she wasn't going to change his mind, but best she could do was not force him into his ways. She made that mistake too many times. "Alright, I hope that you're right." And she left him be.
The weird glances Baymax was giving her sent chills up her spine, why was it so creepy yet familiar?
Gogo held up the wax cylinder. "So you just took this?"
"We left a lot of notes."
"And we wiped everything down."
"To erase your fingerprints?" She asked Wasabi.
"No, just to tidy up." He replied. "Maybe."
Ding-dong!
"Oooh that must be Sienna with the phonograph!" Honey Lemon squealed, she rushed towards the door and opened. "Hi Sienna! Oh, hi David! Didn't see you there."
"Hey Honey Lemon." Sienna waved, she was accompanied by her boyfriend, they were holding hands. David was holding the phonograph in another one of his hands.
"Came to watch, plus I haven't hung with you guys in forever!" David chuckled. "I've been so mopey over my mom that I'm being a bad friend, I feel bad about that."
"Well you've been hanging with Mikan a lot." Wasabi commented, which got him a punch to the shoulder by Gogo.
"Yeah, she's… she's been helping me with that." David chuckled.
"Is she doing fine?" Honey Lemon asked. "We're just concerned since you two seem to be spending less time around Sara."
David frowned, he opened his mouth to speak but stopped.
"Okay enough sappy stuff," Sienna placed the phonograph on the table. "Hand me the wax cylinder please."
Gogo handed it to her without a response. "Ohh this is so exciting!" Honey Lemon exclaimed as Sienna placed it inside the phonograph. "For the first time ever, Lenore Shimamoto, in her own words."
"Hopefully she didn't record it in French." David teased, but Sienna then jabbed his shoulder. "What? I was kidding."
"Very funny." She gave him a peck on the cheek. Honey Lemon winded up the phonograph, but only garbled words played.
"Are we sure those are words?" Gogo narrowed her eyes.
"Hmm, something's not right." The chemist frowned.
"Did you clean the wax cylinder before playing it?" David suggested. A round of facepalms answered his question. "Guess not..."
Wasabi curled his lip at how filthy the cylinder was. "Uhg, that is nasty."
"Yeah. A hundred years worth of dirt and dust will do that." Gogo commented.
Honey Lemon facepalmed again. "Oh my gosh I should've done that first! Sorry guys!"
"It's okay Honey." Gogo placed a hand on her shoulder, she smiled at the comforting gesture.
They then watched as Wasabi pulled out a suitcase from his backpack. "Good thing I brought my detergency kit." He grinned, opening it up to reveal various cleaning tools. "The key is to have the proper tool for the job."
"What are you talking about." David crossed his arms.
"The hummingbird!" Wasabi pulled out a small automatic duster. "I knew it would come in handy one day."
"We have to have it ready for the open house tomorrow."
"The hummingbird Honey Lemon, tiny but mighty."
He then activated it, and got to work cleaning the cylinder. The dust started flying off with ease.
"Cool." Sienna gasped, "it's like magic!"
David coughed as the dust flew in his face and he jumped back. "You should come over to our house when it's spring cleaning."
"Impressive."
They all stared at Gogo. "What? I'm being sincere."
"Really?" Wasabi beamed.
"Well, not completely, like 80%."
"That's really not bad Wasabi." Honey Lemon patted his shoulder.
"Can I ask why you have a cleaning kit you carry around like that?" Sienna asked. "Kind of an odd hobby."
"It's a stress-relieving hobby!" Wasabi told her. "Cleaning and organizing helps me with my anxiety."
"Huh, cool." She grinned. "I like tidying up my dorm room when I'm stressed, we should hang out more."
"Cool."
"Coolio."
"Yay you're bonding." David pumped up a fist. "Now all I need to do is finish my stupid semester project for the open house! Uhg stupid solar panel project! I hate the sun!"
Gogo snickered. "You turn into a vampire, Dave?"
"Very funny." He groaned. "But I feel like death, I've been helping Mika with hers a bit since she's got her head in the clouds."
"Well you guys might be awhile so I'll just leave my phonograph here." Sienna stretched her shoulders. "We'll be goin, c'mon David. Maybe we can grab a bite to eat while it's still day out."
Her boyfriend lit up at what she was implying. "Oh yeah sure, bye guys!" He waved to the trio, who waved back.
"Bye David!"
"Byyye guys, have fun!"
"Bye."
She held his hand as they exited the apartment. "Before we pick out a place to eat, I wanna talk to you."
He gulped nervously. "About?"
"You have been spending a lot of time with Mikan, shouldn't you be at peace about what happened to your mom at this point?"
"Well, yes." David felt his mouth go dry, he couldn't tell Sienna the truth. "Think about how much danger Sienna could be if she knew! Big Hero 6 might arrest her too, they take their jobs too seriously after all." He heard Mika's voice in his ear. "She's been going through a lot too."
"Is there a reason why you can't tell me?" Sienna sighed. "You told me who your mom was, and I told you about my parents. What's stopping you now?"
"I'm… nervous, and I want to but I can't."
"Is it because Mikan told you not to? She won't find out." A slow and scared nod answered her. "I don't think that's healthy, for you to be forced to hide something because she doesn't want you to."
"I know." David frowned. "But it's complicated, and she keeps saying it's good for me and Sara, but I think it's because her dad told her it's good for us. I just hope reality slaps her in the face soon. She keeps scaring me! I don't like being scared of her!"
He suddenly felt the warmth of Sienna's lips touching his own, the pleasant feeling soothed him. "We don't have to talk about this right now." she stroked his hair. "Now do you want to grab a bite? My treat."
"Can we go to that pizza place that has the robot mascot? I liked it even though it's a kid's place."
"Of course. Being in a kid's place with you is better than being in a diner by myself."
Ferns and Nerds group chat:
Sara Ferns: So excited for the open house! HYPE!
Fredzilla: HYPE
Ariel Rosemary: HYPE
Rachel Rosemary: Oh the open house for your school? Coolio
Ariel Rosemary: Hey Rach can you come : D?
Rachel Rosemary: What kind of friend would you think I am?
Fredzilla: Yes! My partner in crime is coming to the Open House!
Gogo: Oh no
Wasabi: When did that happen?!
Rachel Rosemary: Long story. Involves Noodle Burgers
Ariel Rosemary: And you didn't invite ME?
Fredzilla: You weren't there. Oh btw Hiro and I are at the docks, can you meet us there?
Ariel Rosemary: Sure.
Ari felt her eyes bulging from her sockets when she got to the docks.
"WHAT THE HECK?!" It was a giant Kentucky Kaiju! "FRED!"
The comic fan (and Hiro and Baymax) were in the cockpit. "Hey Ari! Check out my brand new Kaiju!" He held a finger. "This time with great failsafes so last time doesn't happen!"
"You mean to tell me YOU'RE the one responsible for the giant robot attack that time?!" Ari exclaimed, then realized she was standing next to Heathcliff, the butler wincing at her loud volume. "Sorry."
He didn't seem bothered. "Quite alright Ms. Rosemary."
"Well technically it was Noodle Burger Boy's fault." Fred chuckled. "He's not gonna get the kaiju this time!"
"Probably should warn you, this might be a bad idea." Hiro turned to Fred, holding his amplifier in his hands.
"This might be a bad idea, is my middle name!" He exclaimed as Hiro plugged in the energy amplifier and kaiju's eyes turned purple.
Oh no. Ari realized what was gonna happen.
"Watch this sis!" Hiro exclaimed from the comms. "We're gonna take this to the skiiIIIIIEEEESSS!" He yelped as the kaiju jumped up in the air so high she could barely see them.
And then it came crashing down. Heathcliff held up an umbrella as his shield against the wave looming over them, Ari screeched as she got pelted by water.
The poor butler had an octopus and several scallops covering his body, while Ari had-
"EW EEL!" She instantly bended the water to push the slimy creature back into the depths. "God why! So gross!" She then dried her and Heathcliff off. But then paused upon seeing Fred's gasping reaction. Oh shoot, I didn't tell the others yet.
"OH MY GOD YOU HAVE-" Fred's outburst was covered by Hiro's hand, followed by him and Baymax shushing the excited comic fan.
"Sorry." He composed himself for a moment. Just a moment. "But when was this?! Why didn't you tell me?!"
"It happened around Wasabi's birthday and I forgot." She shrugged. "I'll probably tell the others after the open house, or after the whole Obake thing is cleared up. Whichever comes first."
"Okay. I promise to not say a word."
"You said that about Big Hero 6, and guess who found out?"
"It was one time!"
Hiro snickered at the exchange.
"And they said it was impossible?" Hiro scoffed, he was at school to deposit the amplifier at his lab. When morning comes, he'll bring it to the open house.
"It was off the charts." Baymax added, he grinned at the robot's encouraging words.
"And nobody got hurt! Except a vending machine and my phone." He chuckled.
"What was that?" His sister narrowed her eyes.
"Nothing important!" He placed the amplifier in a drawer. "I can't wait to see the look on Granville's face when I prove her wrong."
"Speaking of that Hiro," he turned to Ari. "Sorry for doubting you, I just was scared you'd get… hurt."
"Oh it's okay Ari." He waved her off. "I know you care, don't worry. I promise nobody will get hurt at the open house."
The next morning…
"Feels like just yesterday Tadashi was going to his first open house." Ari watched as Cass placed a plate of pancakes with a smile next to Hiro, and hugged him. "And now here you are. I'm so proud of you!"
"Thanks Aunt Cass. I think you're gonna be impressed."
"I am!" Ari added with a grin. "I've never been to an open house!" As both teens dug into their breakfasts, Baymax scanned the area.
"My scan has detected Obake."
Both of them spat out their food in shock.
Cass was oblivious to the context. "What's an Obake?"
"Uh, Obake Hunt. It's a… it's a game." Hiro got up his chair and began dragging Baymax through the door. "I gotta go catch me some Obakes! Baymax let's go." He tripped as he shoved the robot out the door.
"Good luck catching your Obakes!"
Ari snickered as she sipped her orange juice nervously. He's gonna need all the luck in the world catching "that" Obake.
Her nerves were still there as her and Cass got to the open house. "I'm sure Hiro's done with his Obake Hunt and is here by now." Cass patted her shoulder.
Ari just glanced away, in the corner of her eye she saw Mikan. The snow-haired girl was acting… quiet as she stood by her project. "That's not what I'm worried about." No! You gotta trust Mikan. She's not gonna do anything here, Obake will be caught soon and Hiro will arrive and everything will be fine. You're not gonna ruin it again Ari. She took a deep breath. "I'm gonna go chat with my friends, is that okay?"
"Of course." Cass let go of hand as she began walking to where Hiro was probably stationed. "Have fun!"
"Thanks!"
"Hi Professor Granville." Ari sheepishly waved to the dean who was at the event with her clipboard. "How's grading?"
"It's going fine." The dean smiled at her. "How are you?"
"I'm fine." They were interrupted when a specific green-haired ukulele playing woman bounced up to them.
"I love science fairs don't you too?" Wendy Wower sang. "Professor Granville ooh!" She tried going for a hug but Granville ducked out of the way.
"Dr. Wower!" Ari squealed, giving her childhood hero a tight hug.
"Little Ari! It's nice to see you again." The scientist gave her a tight hug back. "I sure hope your memory problems are better."
"They are!" She beamed. "I'm doing a lot better!"
"That's great!" Wendy beamed. "It's always great that my woweroos are doing so well!"
"So glad you could join us Dr. Wower." Granville had a warm smile at the heartfelt exchange. The dean and the former student shook hands.
"You know, Professor, you were actually the inspiration behind my TV character." Wendy told the dean, who raised an eyebrow.
"Hmm. Is that right?" She nodded. "That's very flattering."
Ari giggled with amusement.
"Hey Ari!" Her ears perked up as she saw Karmi by her project, and alongside her was-
"Oh hi again Ms. Amara." She shyly waved at the CEO. "And hi too Karmi." There was a red blush on her cheeks.
Karmi snickered at her admiring as Liv shook hands with her. "It's great to see you again Ariel, shame I couldn't fix your amnesia problem."
"Eh." She shrugged. "I don't care about my old memories anymore, I'm making new ones every day!"
"That's a rather optimistic outlook." Karmi smiled. "We should hang out more since I'm going to be interning at Sycorax next semester, which is a dream come true."
"And I'm so happy for you!" Ari grinned. "Shame we won't be able to hang more."
Liv then spoke up. "You can always visit during Karmi's working hours, I wouldn't mind seeing you again soon. You are a very wonderful enigma."
"Aww thanks!" She then turned to Karmi's project, which was a bright pink rose. "What's this?"
"My project!" Karmi boasted. "Take a look."
Ari squinted, she could faintly see mechanical stuff in the flower, but Liv had a keener eye. "You created an electric circuit inside the rose?"
Karmi nodded. "I filled the xylem-"
"With a conductive polymer. Wow, Karmi, this could give a whole new meaning to-"
"Power plants." Both biotech majors said at the same time, and both laughed at the joke. But stopped when seeing Krei laugh behind them, all three of them looked as he awkwardly walked away.
"Steven's not gonna be happy seeing his boss here." Ari commented. "Krei better hope he doesn't run into Sara first, or else."
"Agreed." Karmi nodded. "I'm pretty sure she'd bash him on the head with a frying pan and hide his body under the quad."
There was an awkward silence.
"Yeah that's more of a Mikan thing, they both scare me."
Ari could only nod in agreement, especially at the latter.
"Well, well, well." She turned to see Rachel leaning by the wall, and a blue-furred feline sticking out of her purse. "How's the open house? I can't wait to see what some of the student's have cooked up."
"It's doing great!" Ari beamed. "I'm mostly worried and anxious about my brother's project, so many things can go wrong!"
"Oof." Katie snorted. "Was it a last-minute thing?" She got bonked on the head as a result.
"I know that feeling." Rachel had a twinkle in her eyes. "Whenever my brother got one of his dumb ideas, I always came up with fifty doomsday scenarios."
Ari frowned. "Your brother?
She saw the scruffy brunette's smile fade. "My older brother. People don't talk about him because we're 'not really related' since we don't share blood, and he doesn't make his presence known online n' stuff. He's not here anymore."
"Oh... I'm so sorry."
"It's okay. I'll see him again one day." Katie then hopped onto Rachel's shoulder and nuzzled her. "He used to take me to these kinds of events."
She bid her goodbye, not wanting to worsen her mood.
"Hey-hey-hey, it's my favorite Ari!" Sara noogied her. "How's it going? You likin' what we have in store?"
"I'll say!" She glanced at David's solar project, and Sara's A.I project. "It must've taken you guys AGES!'
"Yes. And I died." David dramatically exclaimed, Sienna chuckled.
"Oh dear, I guess I'll have to move on and find a new boyfriend." She teased. "Maybe that Josh fellow that Sara's friends with."
That caused him to leap up. "No wait! I live because of your love!"
They both giggled. "My prince charming." Sienna kissed him.
Sara made a gagging face. "Too much sappiness."
"You're one to talk since you've got the biggest crush on Wasab-"
"DAVID!" She started whacking him. Ari giggled with laughter.
"I'm gonna go check Honey Lemon's display." She told them. "I think it's gonna start soon, wanna come?"
"Sure!" The three of them exclaimed. And they all began heading over.
Sally could only boast with pride as she saw her kids teasing one another at the open house. However, Mikan's interactions seemed forced to her. The way her lips would curl into a frown when the others didn't notice, the dull expression in her eyes, the forced laughter. She knew Mikan didn't feel emotions very strongly, but she knew when she was making an effort or not.
A gloved hand clasping her shoulder brought her out of her thoughts. "Hey Sal." Wendy greeted her. "How have you been?"
"Same job, same complaining students." She teased. "How have you been since you got the credit you deserved?"
"It's honestly been amazing." Wendy smiled. "I've gotten a lot of woweroo fans! And t-shirts!"
"No way? Really!"
"Yep!" Sally felt her childhood enthusiasm always returned when interacting with Wendy, she just had that magic touch of eternal youth.
"Say, remember our first open house?" Sally hummed. "Trevor was late as always, I was a self-loathing wreck, you were being the mom, and Bobby-" She flinched. "Bobby was in his own little world."
"Yeah." Wendy's smile faltered. "He always was in his personal bubble, it's a miracle he interacted with us. And Granville too. Remember you both used to call her 'mom' all the time?"
"In my defence, I didn't have a mom so how was I supposed to know what a mom was like?" Sally pointed out. "Not even after I remembered having one I still kept calling Granville 'mom.'"
"Do you still do that?"
Sally blushed. "Occasionally, don't tell my kids that. I have a reputation as the fiercest teacher who drinks her students' tears."
Wendy giggled at her dramatic statement. "You always were the diva and the troublemaker of the group."
"You should've seen what Steven and his college buddies got up to."
"Wow! Honey Lemon, all the big dawgs showed up to see your final project!" Fred exclaimed upon seeing the big crowd by her display.
"Big dawgs?" Gogo frowned. "No, no, don't say that."
"But I like big dawgs. Gogo, who doesn't like big dawgs?"
Honey Lemon was anxiously glancing left and right for a familiar head of dreadlocks. "Where's Wasabi with the wax cylinder?"
Speaking of the devil, the crowd parted as he moved his way over to the front, the wax cylinder in his hands. "Excuse me, pardon me." He sighed when he got to the front. "Sorry it took so long. I pushed the hummingbird to it's limit." Wasabi then showed her a gleaming gold cylinder.
She gasped with joy. "Thank you Wasabi!" And hugged him.
Gogo popped her gum. "Nice one."
Honey Lemon then turned to the crowd, wax cylinder in hands. "Ladies and gentlemen, for my final project, I am unravelling the mystery of Lenore Shimamoto's secret work as a scientist."
"I bet she did it for fortune." She heard Mikan whisper to her siblings, who comically rolled their eyes.
"I believe I have found the key. A recording made by Lenore Shimamoto herself!" She gestured to the wax cylinder.
"Are you sure this is authentic?" Granville questioned.
"Uh-huh, it was hidden in her lab." She explained. "I believe she wanted a future generation to find it, and now we have." She then placed the cylinder in the phonograph, and it played. "We will be the first people to hear her speak in over a century." Honey Lemon was grinning from ear to ear.
"April 4th, 1907." A woman's voice spoke from the phonograph, it was Lenore's voice! Several audience members gasped with excitement. "If you are listening to this, then you have proven yourself clever enough to follow the clues I left."
"Nerd power, for the win." Wasabi gave a thumbs up.
"Undoubtedly, you have discovered the diagram under my painting, City Rising. I preserved it for study only. Do not let yourself be tempted by blind ambition. To recreate my work will lead you down a pitch-dark path." That's when the audience began to murmur and worry, wondering where this recording was going. "I built a machine which I thought would create a source of unlimited power. However that's not what happened. My invention was responsible for..."
The audience awaited the answer with baited breath.
"I am responsible for the Great Catastrophe."
The audience members gasped with horror.
"What?" Ari squeaked.
"That's impossible..." Sienna was in shock, Sara and David held her arms in comfort.
Mikan said nothing, but she raised an eyebrow.
"The destruction, the devastation. I'm so sorry. I'm so very sorry." Honey Lemon started winding the phonograph in shock, there had to be more to the story, there had to be!
But silence followed, and she looked up to see the horrified and shocked faces of her audience, what turned into a hopeful discovery became a despairing truth.
"Well that was dark." Fred commented.
Meanwhile with Hiro and Baymax and their "Obake Hunt"-
Electricity buzzed as Hiro entered the old building, Baymax following behind him. They had to hurry since Obake was about to leave. He saw the man's shadow as he crept in. "Give it up Obake, there's nowhere to run."
"My dear Hiro, why would I run when you're exactly where I want you." He turned around to reveal-
"A bot. It's not the real Obake!" He yelped as the metal arm grabbed him and pushed Baymax into the wall, the ceiling crashing from the blow.
"Oh no."
He then yelped as the arm tried grabbing him instead. Luckily he was able to grab the arm but his grip was slipping. "Baymax, rocket fist!" he commanded. Baymax fired and he let go of the arm, it whacked the bot and it hit the wall. The rocket fist then hit the Obake-bot right in the face.
"Baymax, are you okay?" Hiro turned to the healthcare companion.
"My damage is minimal." He replied.
The Obake-bot faced him as sparks flew, it gave him chills. "Thank you for playing." And it combusted and fell to the ground.
"I don't get it. How did a bot confuse your scanners?"
"I am uncertain."
The bot whirred as it spun it's head, creeping him out. "Well done Hiro. Unfortunately for you, I kept you busy just long enough..."
"Kept me busy?" He frowned. "From what?" Then he gasped with realization. "The open house!"
"I can't believe it." Sally stared at the painting of Lenore Shimamoto, the crowd had dispersed, half of them too shocked to speak as they stumbled around the rest of the open house. "She was responsible for it all."
"Indeed." Granville nodded. "Your niece Sara looks up to Shimamoto, how is she taking this?"
"She's more worried about my son's girlfriend, poor gal is in pieces." Sally frowned. "I'm glad my kids can support each other. Just like how I had supported others back when I was a student."
"I believe you were the one who was being supported, Sal." Both women gasp with shock at the sound of a familiar voice. They turned around to see Obake himself. "Hello, Professor." He greeted Granville.
"Bobby." Sally gasped, Granville had a more shocked reaction.
"Bob? Bob Aken?" Her eyes widened.
"In the flesh." He grinned.
"I… I haven't seen you since..." She trailed off.
"Since my little accident?"
"Accident?" Sally frowned. "You almost died!"
"What… what happened back then…" She frowned at the memory of the incident. "I'm sorry."
He shook his finger. "Uh-uh-uh-uh-uh. Sorry for what?" Obake raised an eyebrow. "You did exactly what was best for me. What was it you used to say?"
"You can't hold back genius." Sally lamented.
"A philosophy I've come to regret." Granville frowned.
"A pity." His hand brushed over the phonograph. "Your current proteges deserve to be afforded the same creative freedom."
"There's a difference in 'creative freedom' and 'being reckless' Bobby." Sally pointed out. "I don't know what kind of practicing you preach especially to Mikan, but just-"
"Just how all your crazy schemes nearly ended in disaster?" Obake interrupted. "Say, can Steven, Wendy, Trevor, and I say we came out unscathed?"
Sally merely glared at him.
"Or should I mention your husband's friend, does she still detest you?"
"Bringing up old grudges isn't doing anyone any favors." Sally huffed. "The past is the past."
"Can your family say the same?"
That shook her, her golden eyes widened. "I-I... It wasn't my fault.."
"They all say the same thing." He turned his attention back to Granville. "You know professor, you made me the man I am today." The left side of his face glowed, the mark of that disastrous night.
Granville gasped with horror seeing the violet colored damage, her damage.
"Wonderful to see you two again." He brushed past them. As he went on his way, he passed by Gogo's display, the rest of her friends sitting next to her trying to process what they just heard.
"Fascinating presentation Honey Lemon." They turned their heads, and Honey Lemon herself gasped.
"Are you guys seeing what I'm seeing?" Wasabi's eyes widened.
"Totally! That kid stole my sparklers idea!" Fred didn't notice and pointed to a display with sparklers.
"No, there!" Gogo pointed to Obake heading for the robotics labs.
"Obake's here?" He gasped. "Obake's here!" They then started running after him, but a purple blob leapt and blocked their way.
"And he's not alone." Honey Lemon realized.
Globby formed, a nearby student dropped her phone and gasped. He took offense to that. "Jeez, lady, didn't your parents ever teach you it's rude to scream at strangers?" He then threw a glob at her, covering her mouth, that caused a chain reaction of students screaming.
Two other villains then entered, slamming open a door as the student body panicked. "Howdy and hello! Can we take your order?" NBB exclaimed.
"Now it's a party." Momakase grinned.
The four of them glared as they called their Skymaxes. "Uh-oh." Fred grimaced. "All the bad dawgs showed up."
"RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!"
"EVERY STUDENT FOR THEMSELVES!"
"MY PROJECT!" That was David who screamed. Mikan huffed at all the chaos. It was all part of the plan, she just had to do her part.
"C'mon Dave!" She grabbed his arm. "We gotta go!"
"B-but Sienna!" David frowned. "I gotta find Sienna!"
"She already got out, she's safe." Mikan told him. She had seen his girlfriend running out the door herself. "Let's find Sara and book it!"
It was hard to find their sister with NBB firing lasers and throwing tables, Momakase slicing everyone's projects, and Globby in his dinosaur form stomping on everything. It felt straight out of Jurassic Park.
"Guys!" They turned as Sara ran up to them, Ari was behind her. Darnit.
"This is nuts!" Ari exclaimed, "I'm glad you guys are fine!"
"Well we gotta go." Mikan told them, but there was still one thing she had to do. "Meet me by the quad, I'll make sure everyone gets out just run!"
Her siblings nodded and ran out the door, with Ari glancing anxiously at the destruction. Perhaps she's hoping her brother and the rest of them will save the day. Yeah right.
She snickered as she saw the security-bots crawl up to the villains. "Bring it on!" Globby tried eating one but it just sliced him in half, reverting him back to his humanoid form. Momakase then sliced the one that cut him.
"You are terrible at this, aren't you?" She told the glob monster. Then Big Hero 6 leapt into the scene. Uch.
"Granville's security bots. Sweet!" Fred exclaimed. "Give them some room to do their thang!"
Their "thang" did not happen as Momakase cut all the bots down.
"Thang? Really?" Gogo narrowed her eyes at Fred.
The supervillains took battle stances, grinning maliciously.
She popped her gum. "Let's… dance!"
"You've got it mister!" NBB then started dancing. "Come on everybody, do the Noodle, do the Noodle, do the Noodle a-hey!"
The superheroes exchanged glances.
"Come on everybody, do the Noodle-"
"Noodle THIS!" Gogo made the first strike, hitting him with her disks and the clash happened. Mikan saw the last student exit and she ran out.
The others were by the quad as she said, they were the only ones there. The sounds of destruction from the open house were heard clearly.
"Mika!" Sara and David hugged her, while Ari merely glared.
"We're glad you're okay!" Sara grinned.
"Yeah." Mikan darkly chuckled. "I wouldn't have gotten hurt."
"I bet you know." Ari spoke up, her blue eyes burning with anger. "Because you knew this was going to happen, didn't you?!"
Her siblings gave shocked gasps. "Ari!" Sara exclaimed.
"Don't accuse Mika like that!" David frowned, but nodded. "Wait she probably did know-"
"Shut up David!" Mikan cut him off. I'm going to kill Trina for letting that slip, Hiro snitched to her, didn't he? "I'm afraid Ari, that you know too much for your own good. Shame that villain fellow failed to recapture you."
That threw her for a loop. "What's that supposed to-"
WHAM!
Mikan had hit her on the head, knocking her out cold. Both Sara and David gasped with horror.
"Mika..." Sara pleaded. "Don't do this, c'mon I know you're going through something but-"
She snickered. "Oh Sara, Sara, Sara, I'm doing this for you both."
"You're doing it for Obake! You're doing it for your dad!" David hissed.
She rolled her eyes. "Wow, offended much bro? Well since you two are too emotional I guess I have to drag you both back myself. I was supposed to get David only, but since we're siblings, I'll make an exception for you sis."
Before they reacted, she both knocked them out. It's gonna be a pain bringing them back. But at least they can sit back and watch as Pops finally tells me his great futuristic plan.
He just needs the key, and Hiro.
Ari awoke to a crash, her head pounding. She heard faint singing and a "please, stop!" As her eyes opened. She looked up and saw to her horror, Baymax had crashed to the ground, goop covering his thrusters.
She ran to her brother who was rubbing his head. "Hiro!" She exclaimed.
"Are you guys okay?" She saw Honey Lemon and the others walk up to them and check them for injuries.
"We are without injury." Baymax told them.
"Ari?" Hiro turned to her, "I thought you got out."
"I did but..." She sniffled, "Mikan happened."
"Oh no." Gogo frowned.
"She knew this was happening, knocked me out." Tears rimmed in her eyes. "And poor David and Sara are probably at Obake's super evil lair by now! I knew I should've said something sooner-she caught me off guard!"
"It wasn't your fault." Hiro frowned. "C'mon. Obake got away."
They headed back to Hiro's lab. "Students." They paused as Granville was in the lab. "Is everyone alright?"
"Ah. We're fine Professor-" Gogo elbowed Fred. "Uhg! I mean, complete stranger whom we've never met."
"Enough with the charade, Mr. Frederickson!" Granville narrowed her eyes.
"Huh, what?" Hiro stammered. "You know we're-"
"Big Hero 6?" Granville raised an eyebrow. "I see all."
They all looked around the room, as if anticipating a news network and reports to come out of nowhere. "Calm down, your secret is safe with me."
Fred was the first one to lift up his hood, then the rest of them took off their helmets. Ari stared silently as she watched them do so. It must take a lot of willpower to do that.
"My primary concern is why the school was attacked for a third time this semester." Granville asked them.
"It's because of Mi-"
"This was all my fault." Hiro spoke up. The others turned to him. "I disobeyed you. I created an energy amplifier." He frowned. "The good news is, it worked."
"Let me guess the bad news." Gogo sighed.
"...Obake has it." He looked down.
"Mmmhmm."
"Obake?" Granville didn't recognize the name.
"Yeah, you know, the creepy guy with the night light in his face?" Fred explained.
"Also Mikan's dad." The others turned to Ari with wide eyes. "What? She does all her errands for him and Trina looks like him. I'm surprised you guys didn't realize."
The dean frowned. "Follow me." She gestured to the students. "All of you."
They followed her into her office, as she pulled out a folder. "Obake, once my star student. I knew him as Bob Aken." Hiro grabbed the folder, his fingers covering the name letters to find the "Obake" in Bob Aken.
"Bob Aken..." Ari frowned. "Wait! Is he the 'Bobby' that Sally talked about?" Granville nodded. "Oh my god! Now I know for sure he's Mikan's dad!"
"In our defence, she doesn't take after him much." Gogo pointed out.
"That's because Mikan's adopted." Hiro told them. "Trina said that she was the only one related to their dad... Aka Obake." He felt his heart grow heavy at the memory of the bot-fighter.
"Bob had so many ideas to make the world a better place." The dean lamented. "I encouraged him to explore fearlessly. Unfortunately the path he chose led him to the energy amplifier."
No wonder you didn't want my brother to do the same... Ari thought.
"He was not as successful as Mr. Hamada." Granville thought back to the memory of going through the wreckage and the rubble, finding the unstable device lodged onto the door frame. The same device she once used as a paperweight. "The boy needed limits. I did not provide them. It was a mistake I never wanted to make again." Granville shut her eyes. "However, it seems I have."
Hiro looked down in sorrow, feeling regret for not listening, for letting his stubborn pride and spite to prove her wrong get in the way of going down the right path. The room was silent, lamenting on the shadow of the past that loomed over them.
Fred cut the tension exclaiming "his real name's Bob?!" They all turned to him.
"That's what surprises you!?" Ari snickered. "Oh my gosh, Fred." They all began giggling.
"Professor Granville," Hiro turned to the dean. "I promise we'll stop Obake." Then he turned to the others. "Meet at my garage tomorrow?"
"Of course."
"Yeah! Let's figure out an awesome plan!"
"Sounds good to me."
"Yep!"
"But what about Mikan?" Ari questioned. "Someone has to tell Sally and Steven what happened to her, David, and Sara..."
"Leave that to me." They turned to Granville. "I hope that Ms. Ferns will see the error of her ways."
Me to… The teen genius of the group thought.
Hiro and Ari got the Lucky Cat to see, well a mess. Cass was scarfing donuts and mixing batter like a madwoman. But she paused when seeing their faces. "Kids!" She pulled them into a hug, "where have you been?"
"Ow..." Hiro winced. "Oooh, careful."
"Ooh, are you hurt?" Cass questioned.
"A little." Ari sighed.
"I just got a little banged up in all the chaos at school." Hiro explained.
Cass stared at both of them. Concern in her green eyes. "I got so worried when I couldn't find you both at the open house."
"Yeah, I'm sorry we showed up late." Hiro looked down. "That must have been really scary."
"Is Mochi okay?" Ari pouted. "My head hurts, I really need Mochi." She looked to be ten seconds away from a meltdown, the events of the day starting to come crashing down on her.
"He's by my room." Cass told her, Ari mumbled a "thanks," and bolted to Cass's room to cry her heart out to the calico. "I'm just glad you three are in one piece." She gestured to Hiro and Baymax. "Well three pieces, because there are three of you, but probably didn't need to explain that."
Hiro just flashed her a smile. "It's okay Aunt Cass." She scooped him up into a hug, but stepped back when he winced again. "I'm just gonna go head upstairs, and try to sleep the pain off."
She nodded, and he headed up the stairs.
"Ow!" Hiro clutched his sides as he sat down on the bed. But then paused, something was wrong. He turned to Baymax, who was silent. "I said 'ow.'"
Baymax just blinked.
"Uh... alerted to my need for medical attention?"
Silence.
"Nothing?" He walked up to Baymax, clicking open his access port. "There must be something wrong with..."
He froze, seeing a third, purple chip alongside the healthcare and superhero chips. "What?" The purple chip had a familiar monster symbol, Obake's symbol. But as he tried to pull it out, a vinyl hand stopped him.
"Baymax?" His eyes widened as the access port closed and the healthcare companion stared at him with eyes that appeared in his nightmares, a constant reminder of his darkest moment.
The red eyes of anger.
"Hiro was supposed to meet us." Honey Lemon frowned, the others were at the garage. But the teen genius was the only one not present.
"He wasn't there this morning." Ari added. "I didn't know if he went to bed or not, because I spent the night with Aunt Cass 'cause I was still shaken up about the open house... I'm worried too."
"It's definitely weird." Fred was staring at the conspiracy wall. "People who make elaborate conspiracy boards are usually pretty reliable."
"Obake has the magnet from the school." Gogo stood up.
"And he was doing something in the bay."
"What if he was turning H20 into D20?" Wasabi questioned.
Gogo turned to the conspiracy wall. "Heavy water. That could be used as fuel."
"I'm confused where this is going." Ari frowned. "But I know that he was using Mikan to spy on us, and she tried driving a wedge between me and Hiro during the robberies."
Honey Lemon held up a copy of "City Rising" that was taped to the wall. "We know that he was obsessed with Shimamoto." She narrowed her eyes at the photo, then gasped.
"The Great Catastrophe." The others turned to her. "He's trying to recreate the Great Catastrophe!"
"And he has everything he needs." Gogo realized.
"Hiro." Ari murmured. "Please be safe…"
The cold feeling of betrayal was what Hiro felt as Baymax, now in his superhero armor was dragging him to who-knows-where.
He struggled in the robot's iron grip as they flew over the city. "Baymax, you have to listen to me." Hiro pleaded. He tried reaching for the access port, but the robot tilted his head, he flinched at the red eyes.
"Do not." They then reached a cave that was distances away from the city's shore. There was an iron door at the entrance, it opened.
Hiro struggled as Baymax dragged him inside. "Resistance will result in further injury." He stopped, feeling scared of the healthcare companion for the very first time. They then entered the lair, the lair of Obake.
Hiro felt all his nerves shot up as he saw the villains of the hideout, he tried not glancing at Momakase when hearing the sound of her graphene blades cutting up fish. But not looking just made him more nervous.
The tenseness still was there even as he passed by NBB and Globby, who were playing some kind of board game.
"Golly, mister, I've got a Noodle Supreme with all the fixin's."
"Ah, knock it off with all the fast-food jabber. It's confusing!"
He glanced over with fear, he knew that the two villains could be menacing and he didn't want to know what'll happen if he angered them on their own turf.
But the next person he encountered sent his emotions haywire.
"Hi Hiro."
He turned his head.
"Trina?" Then screamed as it was just her head staring at him, wires sticking out from the bottom. "Y-Y-You're a…"
"Robot." He screamed again as her body walked up to him and tapped his shoulder. "Obviously."
"Obviously." He repeated as Baymax dragged him away.
"You never figured it out?" Trina chuckled. "That's so pathetic, it's cute."
The last person he ran into just made his blood boil even more.
"Mikan." He glared with all his fury at the mole, by her side was her sib-David and Sara, all tied up.
"Hiro." She flashed him an eerie grin. "How do you like my dad's place? Pretty cool, amiright?"
His only response was to spit on the ground. "Wow, someone's in a bad mood."
"Your stupid dad mind-controlled Red Panda and had him kidnap Hiro?!" Sara exclaimed. "Not cool sis!"
In another moment, Hiro would've appreciated Mikan not telling them he was a member of Big Hero 6. But he was too angry to care.
"Seriously!?" David added. "I'm pretty sure Mika is being mind-controlled herself! The Mika I know would never force me to hide anything from Sara or work with villains!"
"The Mika you know does anything for her siblings." Mikan glared. "Now since you two are being whiny, I have to shove you back in your cells. Don't worry, I'll tell you all about Pop's great plans when I get back."
The two of them cried protests, and as Baymax dragged Hiro further away he saw Sara giving him a "please be okay," look. He nodded to try and comfort her worries, it wasn't fair that her and her brother were kidnapped too.
Baymax then dragged him to a screen room, it was lit green and full of dozens of screens. And in the room was none other than-
"Hiro Hamada." Obake turned around. "Welcome!"
*Holds up paw to shield from tomatoes* SORRY NOT SORRY W/ MIKAN
Before I get more into the AN I just want to say that... well, I haven't been doing good as of late. And not because of personal outside stuff, but lately my commenting on Heroes Of Flowers has been rather slow, or lack there of and it hurts. Now I know not everyone knows what to say for comments, but a simple reaction to an event or "I liked it when x did x" would cheer me up! I don't know how many people read Heroes Of Flowers, but what I do know is that when people comment. It brings me joy. So if you read this fic and you like what it has to offer, just please comment, review, or even just type your reactions. It would reassure me that it's not a waste of my time writing this fic and I could continue writing next installments!
Now that's out of the way... Oh boy, Mikan why. I can't believe you've done this. I hope none of you thought I was gonna kidnap Ari cuz I'm not "that" mean to her! But David and Sara you two could not escape XD.
It hurt writing this, the open house man ;-;. Also the one time I can break the fourth wall is with Fred narration! Feat. Rachel bc I felt like it. Next week wraps this ep up and then the epilogue! I can't believe we've come so far... hopefully the kids can survive CtC to see the end!
QOTW: Favorite part of the open house?