Chapter 8
The Incredible Battle of the Big Heroes
In the midst of GoGo Tomago's high-speed combat, the rats in her hands conversed.
"We ... have-to ... get-clear-of ... the-battle!" the raspberry rat declared, speaking quickly between the jerks and turns that interrupted her.
"Say ... no-more!" Remy responded.
He dealt GoGo's fingers a sharp nip, but she didn't even react.
"That-usually ... works," he stated in perplexity.
The red rat explained. "Her-armour ... protected-by ... electromagnetic-shielding!"
Aside from that, being dropped by GoGo as she moved at such dangerous speeds did not seem like the best of ideas. There was little they could do except hang tight, wait for her to stop moving and see what they could do from there.
It seemed GoGo had bitten off a bit more than she could chew. Frozone had superior fire power (counter intuitive choice of words) and he made every effort to prove it by attempting to freeze her solid. Not to mention his skating ability made him almost as fast as she was, albeit when she wasn't using her power line trick.
"You've evaded me so far. I'm impressed," Frozone complemented as he continued his onslaught. "You don't seem to be retaliating much, though. Ah! I see your problem! Your hands are full! Why don't you pass those rats to me? Maybe then you'll at least stand a chance."
GoGo ducked a particularly massive plume of frosty power before responding amid the dodging. "Did it occur to you that freezing me will also turn the rats into popsicles?"
"Yeah, it did," Frozone confirmed before hurling her an icy blast. "That's why I'm aiming for your lower body. It's a little thing called 'tactic'."
With that, he blocked her path with a pillar of ice. However, she made no effort to stop. Instead, she charged up the pillar's side and back flipped off the surface. The way she pulled back her arm midair ... it almost looked like she was about to throw a disc. At that angle? With no footing? Holding the rats? She wouldn't, Frozone thought. She'd have to be mad to attempt a dangerously awkward stunt like tha-
The next thing he knew, GoGo's disc was rushing for his head. With a wave of a hand, he froze it and it dropped out of the air. However, the surprise was enough to make him stumble off his icy path. GoGo smirked to herself as he hit the ground with a disgruntled grunt.
"How's that for 'tactic'?" she teased, before rushing off the scene.
GoGo had every intention of reentering the battle, but she couldn't fight at her best with the rats in her hands. She needed to pass the baton.
The girl in yellow abruptly pulled up in front of a startled Honey Lemon.
"Stash the rats in your purse," GoGo commanded. "I need my hands free."
"Okie dokie," Honey Lemon agreed.
GoGo tossed the rats to her teammate and Honey Lemon opened up a compartment in her purse before shoving them into the rather tight space.
"You know," Remy began, "with all the man-handling and what not, I'm starting to wonder if they want us to actually be alive at the end of this."
Honey Lemon looked around as GoGo darted off. It seemed the supers were busy, which meant that they hadn't seen GoGo transfer the rats to her. Good. The last thing she needed was five supers ganging up on her. Unlike GoGo, she didn't quite have the speed or agility to evade them. Then she spotted Elastigirl staring straight at her. It seemed Mrs. Incredible didn't have a sparring partner, which meant that Honey Lemon was the most viable target. Hopefully, she at least didn't know that the rats were in the Big Hero's purse.
"Let's not make this more unpleasant than it needs to be," Elastigirl suggested. "Just hand them over."
Oh great.
Seeing that Honey Lemon had no intention of surrendering, Mrs. Incredible raised her fists in preparation for battle.
"Wait!" shouted Honey Lemon. "Before we do this, I have a question. I don't get how your powers work."
Elastigirl blinked in confusion. "I stretch. What's there to get?"
"Yeah, but the way you stretch doesn't seem to make sense," Honey Lemon went on. "Your minimum thickness is 1 milimetre, which should make your maximum length 30 metres. However, your National Supers Agency file said you can stretch approximately '300 feet', which translates as about 90 metres - that's 3 times farther than you're supposed to stretch!
"Forgive me, I'm a chemistry enthusiast, and when I see a material with seemingly inexplicable properties, it bugs me, like, forever unless I figure out how it works. Luckily, I'm sure you have the answer, right? ... Right?"
Elastigirl was at a loss.
"Arrgh! You don't know either, do you?" Honey Lemon exclaimed.
Elastigirl chuckled and rubbed the back of her head. "Yeah. I've been wondering about that myself. I'd like to go the Batman route and say 'It's because I'm Elastigirl', but that kind of answer makes my sense of logic feel to throwy-uppy, heh."
There was a brief, vaguely pleasant but nonetheless awkward pause.
"So ... is there any chance of us not fighting?" asked Honey Lemon.
"Is there any chance of you giving us the rats?" countered Mrs. Incredible.
"Sorry, there's really not," was Honey Lemon's sheepish answer.
"Well then, there's your answer," Elastigirl responded. "My apologies. I'm going to knock you out now."
Honey Lemon shrugged soberly. "Fine. You can try, but I'm not gonna make it easy for- EEEEP!"
Elastigirl's fist had come like a slingshot and Honey Lemon ducked, feeling the knuckles glance off her helmet. Luckily, she had upgraded her suit with contractile fibres that mirrored the motion of her muscles. The result? It made her stronger and faster than ever. However, even her newfound speed was barely enough to dodge a single punch from Elastigirl. Could she evade a second hit? She didn't care to find out.
By the time Elastigirl's fist withdrew, Honey Lemon had already punched the desired chemical combination into her purse's keypad. Her bag produced a light-blue chem ball and she sprang to a stand before throwing it a short distance ahead of her. Upon hitting the ground, it burst into a smokescreen and she was hidden from Elastigirl's vision.
Honey Lemon quickly switched on her ChemiCal. Like Baymax's scanner, it could do more than serve its primary purpose. Now, it acted as an extension of her vision, piercing the smoke and highlighting the super on her visor's display.
"Gotcha," Honey Lemon proclaimed.
Elastigirl was startled to see several chem balls emerge from the smokescreen, perfectly aimed at her. With a stretching step, she evaded them all ... except one, which froze her foot in a colourful, crystalline substance.
Mrs. Incredible frowned at her trapped, outstretched leg, but the stretch had already taken far enough sideways to see around Honey Lemon's smokescreen.
"This is awkward," the exposed Big Hero commented.
Honey Lemon quickly threw a few more smoke bombs just before Elastigirl unleashed a melee of stretching jabs and swings. Sure, Elastigirl couldn't see her, but that by no means made it easy to duck, dive and roll clear of Mrs. Incredible's blind strikes.
Wait a minute ... Honey Lemon realised that she didn't have to stay behind the smokescreens. She could hide inside of them! Excited by that revelation, she forgot to take note of what Elastigirl was doing. The Big Hero stepped into a smoke bomb and armed herself with a chem ball just as Mrs. Incredible stretched through the cloud, torso first, tackling the Big Hero her like a footballer. However, when something encased the super's waist, she lost focus on her stretching and released the Big Hero as her body snapped back to its original dimensions ... or so it tried.
Elastigirl looked back and found her abdomen held in place by more of Honey Lemon's crystalline chemicals. Apparently the Big Hero had dropped the chem ball during the tackle. It was probably a 'happy accident', not that Elastigirl was jumping for joy. This situation brought back way too many annoying memories of the 'Hall-With-Multiple-Doors Incident' on Nomanisan Island.
"I've rendered you immobile!" Honey Lemon announced as she bounced on her toes with a squee. "I think I just won!"
"And I think I'm still elastic!" Elastigirl reminded with a wry smile.
Honey Lemon's smile quickly dissipated.
The Big Hero popped a chem ball from her purse, but that was all she could do before Mrs. Incredible seized the bag. With one hand, Honey Lemon pulled her purse as Mrs. Incredible retracted her arm, reeling in the bag like a fish on a hook. With the other hand, Honey Lemon tossed her chem ball and subsequently released the purse. Elastigirl's arm quickly retracted, but it did not get far. The chem ball's crystalline bloom had grown around it, leaving her elbow protruding with the Chem Purse still hanging from her hand.
Honey Lemon skipped to Elastigirl's arm and plucked her purse from it.
"Yup," she declared. "I definitely won this one."
The Big Hero's brow creased as Elastigirl's arm began to stretch and feel about until it landed on her face. Honey Lemon yelped as the entire arm wrapped around her like an anaconda, holding her to the crystalline surface.
"Okay, so it's a tie then," stated a disappointed Honey Lemon.
Within the Chem Purse, the rats groaned in discomfort, having been bounced about by Honey Lemon's motions.
"She finally stopped moving!" Remy cheered. "Now I can nibble us out of here! Hold on a sec."
The red rat drew a sharp gasp. "NO! You can't damage the Chem Purse! It's a miracle of technology!"
Remy chuckled. "You know, normally I'd say you're being slightly, absurdly petty, but I can't say that because of the mind contro- I mean 'mind convincing'!"
"Well, you kinda just said it anyway," the raspberry rat commented as she removed a Joy Berry from her purse.
The light of the berry quickly banished the darkness, allowing them to better examine their surroundings. With a paw to her chin, that's exactly what she did.
"What are you looking for?" asked Remy.
"I've spent some time in Honey Lemon's lab," the female rodent explained. "If I remember anything about her purse, there should be a discrete button that opens the chem chamber right abouuut ... here!"
She pushed the button and a hatch opened beneath the rat's feet, dropping them into a short tunnel that brought to mind a miniature assembly line. The mouth of the tunnel was opened to the outside world and the rats promptly leapt out of it, scampering off.
"H-hey!" Honey Lemon protested.
Remy paused to give Honey Lemon a gentleman's bow before the red rat pulled his paw and he fell into step beside her in a run.
The Big Hero (uncomfortably) pushed her temple against her shoulder, putting pressure on the button that activated her helmet's radio. "Uh, guys? The rats ... um ... they kind of escaped."
The news was met with a chorus of disappointed groans.
"All you had to do was babysit them!" GoGo chastised. "It's not rocket science!"
"I know, I'm really sorry!" Honey Lemon repeated.
Meanwhile, Dash had darted onto the scene and noticed his mother encased in chem ball crystals.
"Whoa!" he exclaimed. "What happened to you?"
"Long story," Mrs. Incredible stated dismissively. "Anyway, Sweetie, could you please help me out of this? I think I know how to dissolve the crystals with-"
"Wait-wait, hold on," Dash interrupted in a low voice. "I think the Big Hero's whispering something."
He ran a little closer to Honey Lemon, remaining hidden behind the crystals against which his mother's arm held her.
Honey Lemon gave a suggestion: "Maybe you can use Baymax's scanner to track the rats?"
"His scanner's not designed for rodent-sized creatures," Hiro stated. "At least, not unless they're a sneeze's distance from him."
"And sneezes travel far, but not that far," Wasabi (of course) added.
"Okay, no biggie. You guys can link up to my ChemiCal with your H.U.D.s," Honey Lemon suggested. "It will allow you to zero in on the red rat based on her fragrance. GoGo, you're the fastest. Could you maybe-?"
"Already on it," declared GoGo.
Not a moment later, the girl in yellow armour shot by.
"So her name is GoGo ..." Dash mumbled. "Uh, Mom, I'll be right back!"
With that, he darted after her.
"SWEETIE!" Elastigirl shouted after him. "You can't LEAVE me here!"
He could, and he did.
Just beyond the wrecking yard, the rats galloped onto the street.
"Any destination in mind?" asked Remy.
"Anywhere but here!" the red rodent declared.
They were heading for a storm drain at the street's edge when GoGo emerged from the wrecking yard in hot pursuit. They only needed a moment to reach the drain, but GoGo only needed a second to snatch them up.
Neither party had that much time.
A scarlet blur rushed before GoGo and the rats disappeared, leaving her to grab at air. She glanced a few yards to her right and spotted Dash with the rodents in his hands and an impish grin on his face. Unfortunately, Dash was a child, and children don't always handle small animals with care.
"OW! My FLESH! My BONES! My ORGANS!" the red rat screamed in response to his tight grip. "He's SQUISHING my upper body! REMY! BITE him! Bite him QUICK! My neck's jammed and I'm helpless!"
"I'mm im no positiom tuh bite himm eifer!" Remy declared, his voice stifled by the boy's fingers.
"You know," Dash began, "for someone whose name is 'GoGo', you're kinda ..."
She interrupted by rushing him, but he casually zipped out of the way.
"... slow," Dash went on, finishing his sentence.
GoGo's jaw almost dropped, but she managed to compose herself before that embarrassment could transpire.
"You know what?" she began. "Maybe, just maybe, you are faster. But I've got something you don't!"
On the word 'don't', she pelted him a mag lev disc. He gasped, dropped the rats and barely managed to react in time, sliding back slightly as he caught the disc.
"Not anymore you don't!" Dash mocked.
This time, GoGo's jaw dropped, but it didn't take her long to get herself together once again. She extended her hand and Dash felt the disc pulling out of his grip as it attempted to return to her. No! He wanted to be 'cool' and throw it back to her like the Winter Soldier! Dash gripped the disc and pulled back with all his might. However, he was forced to let go and duck when GoGo sent her other disc spinning his way.
In a fraction of a second, the disc that Dash stole had reunited with GoGo. In that same fraction of a second, he too had reached her. His tiny body slammed into GoGo and she found herself on the ground.
"Ha ha! Pinned ya!" Dash triumphantly proclaimed.
She calmly lifted her hand so that it was right in front of his chest.
He raised an eyebrow. "What are you-?"
Not a second later, her other disc had returned to her hand. It didn't care about the fact that Dash was between it and its destination, so it simply rammed through him, knocking him off of her.
"As if you could have held me down anyway," GoGo taunted. "What do you weigh? Like, five pounds?"
Dash growled before charging her head on, only for GoGo's discs to send him scrambling. He noticed how she generally made sure to fire the discs one at at time, always waiting for one to return before launching the next one an instant later. He watched as her attacks became tighter, and her arcs adapted to his movements. Dodging her was easy at first, but she was learning fast. He would have had less trouble if he didn't have his own little agenda. He didn't want to simply defeat her; he wanted to do it in style.
Finally, GoGo got a little too confident and bombarded Dash with both discs. With a burst of effort and an once of luck, he managed to snatch them out of the air before whirling at GoGo with them as his melee weapons. At that kind of speed, she expected him to knock her out before she could finish her gasp. However, his disc-armed hands stopped an inch from impact. His lips curled in a grin as he thought he saw her face pale under her helmet.
"How many times do I have to prove that I'm the fastest?" asked Dash.
GoGo masked her shock with a huff, though she didn't dare move for fear that it would prompt him to finish the attack. Clearly, it was time to try some new moves and upgrades.
"You are an incredibly competitive boy," GoGo remarked.
"So I've been told," Dash replied with a cocky grin.
"Too bad you're a bit of a showoff," she followed up.
At GoGo's command, the discs violently vibrated in Dash's hands. Just as they dislodged themselves from his fingers and flew back to her, GoGo swept a kick at his legs. He hopped over it with a yelp and zipped away before returning in a 200mph charge. However, the boy halted that charge when GoGo swung her arms clockwise, releasing the discs so that they swirled around her like planets in orbit. He didn't know how to get past them without getting hit, but she didn't give him the time to find an opening. She sharply shoved her hands to the side and the discs expanded their orbit, causing him to back off.
He zoomed to her blind side. It wasn't hard to figure out that he was going to attack her from behind. Without even looking at him, GoGo summoned a disc and tossed it backwards.
"Yipe!" he exclaimed, confirming the accuracy of her aim.
The boy blurred around her, attempting to confuse her before rushing in again. It was his turn to drop his jaw as she somersaulted over him, their eyes briefly making contact as she sailed overhead. The sight of her newfound, unflappable smile asserted that she was now in control.
GoGo's discs returned as her skates hit the ground before she tore after Dash. Fighting him took everything she had and then some. Her tricky moves were vital, but they weren't enough. She had to project an air of calm confidence that kept him off-balanced, because if he exercised just a little more tactic, she knew she would be done for. From here on, she could never let him see that he got to her. Every micro-moment was a challenge, and though this was perhaps the toughest fight of GoGo's life, the adrenaline junkie inside her loved every second of it!
The speedsters were a storm of motion and the rats didn't quite know where to run. It seemed any move they made heightened the risk of getting squished under foot or skate. Then again, they may not have been any safer in their current position either.
"You're gonna get crushed if we don't get you out of here!" Remy declared as he looked for a way out.
"I know, I know!" agreed the red rat. "If only there were a way to keep them at bay long enough to- Aha!"
She plucked two chemical spheres from her crossbody bag. At first glance, they both resembled Joy Berries, but closer inspection revealed one to be quite different. Embedded in its red mass were bubbles of luminous amber like embers. Unlike the Joy Berry, it didn't react with the air to create flecks of blue that floated from the top. Instead, it spat bits of yellow that danced through the air, indistinguishable from shining ashes. The light it cast was more than a glow - it was a burn.
"That's ... not a 'Joy Berry', is it?" asked Remy, noting the aggressive radiance.
She shook her head. "More like an 'Anger Berry'."
First, she threw the Joy Berry and it burst like a firecracker. The speedsters quickly stopped as it got their attention. Good. Now she didn't have to worry a accidentally hitting them with her next move. Upon being tossed, the Anger Berry erupted into a column of flame. She threw a few more and created a ring of fire around herself and Remy, keeping the super heroes from reaching them. Wasting no time, she pulled out an orange sphere with black stripes and threw it to the ground. Once it grew into a blob about three times their size, she hopped onto it and began to roll around.
"Quick! Cover yourself in it head-to-toe!" she commanded.
He followed her lead and rolled in it as he asked: "What is it?"
"Tigger Berry," she explained. "It's my adaptation of the Flubber Formula."
"Flubber?" asked an incredulous Remy. "Isn't that stuff from the Robin Williams movie?"
"I don't know who 'Robin Williams' is, but flubber's as real as we are," she declared.
By the time they removed themselves from the glob, it had turned their fur orange with its light film. Much to Remy's surprise, several black stripes appeared across his body."
"When the stripes run out, your bounce wears off," she explained. "Don't do anything crazy on the last stripe!"
He cocked his head. "Bounce?"
"Follow me!" she commanded.
With that, she hopped into the air. It wasn't an impressive leap, but when she hit the ground and hopped again, her jump was a whopping five feet higher. Repeating the process, she bounced further into the air.
"Cool!" Remy declared before bouncing himself.
Dash and GoGo could only gawk as the rats sprang higher and higher. Once they were a few storeys up, they disappeared onto a nearby rooftop.
"Whoa!" Dash exclaimed. "They're supers!"
Taking advantage of his distraction, GoGo rushed in, grabbed him and the next thing he knew, he was hanging on a streetlight by his costume's external underwear.
"And that's why we wear them inside our suits, Captain Underpants," GoGo mocked.
Thoroughly miserable, Dash flailed his limbs in a humiliating attempt to get free.
"No faaaaiiir!" the boy whined.
GoGo chuckled and opened her mouth to taunt him further, but she was interrupted by a burst of frosty mist. When the mist cleared, she was held in place my a mass of ice with only the exception of her face. A figure approached at the side of her eye, swaggering as if he were the chillest cat in town. She couldn't turn to get a better look, but she could practically feel the smug emanating from him. The fact that he accentuated his entry with a rain of fluttering snowflakes didn't help.
"Lu- I mean Frozone!" Dash chirped in excitement.
The icy super chuckled as he removed the boy from the street light.
"Thanks, Zone!" Dash exclaimed. "And for the record, she cheated! I was distracted and she just swooped in and-"
Frozone raised his hands as if to say 'I understand'.
"It's cool," he declared. "I know how aggravating she can be, but we won't have to worry about that anymore, ain't that right Missy?"
GoGo simply scowled.
"Anyway, I'm gonna go find the rats," Dash declared. "Later!"
"Take care of yourself ..." Frozone began, but Dash was already gone. "... Speedo ..."
Frozone casually leaned against the chunk of ice that served as GoGo's prison. Luckily, she had a plan: to escape by vibrating her discs until the ice fell apart around her. However, that would have taken a little time. If she did it with present company, he would remedy the situation by fabricating a glacier on top of her. So, she waited for him to leave, but a few moments passed and he was still there. Okay, maybe a 'few moments' hadn't quite passed yet, but for someone like her who liked life in the fast lane, a long moment felt especially long. She rolled her eyes. Had he seen through her poker face and predicted her escape? Was he was trying to rub her defeat in her face? If so, it was working on both counts, but apparently it wasn't enough for him. He decided to treat her to a little verbal mockery.
"You're pretty quiet," Frozone began. "Giving me the ol' cold shoulder? I can't imagine why."
She growled in response and he chortled in amusement.
"Well, let's face it: you had this coming," Frozone declared as he stretched and rested his arms behind his head. "There's no shame in being beat by Frozone, so just chill and enjoy the frostbi- YOW!"
Frozone barely managed to roll out of the way as a torrent of flame crashed into GoGo, instantly melting the ice.
"Actually, I think she's just warming up!" declared Fred as he emerged from the smoke of his fire breath. "Whoa! That comeback was so awesome!"
GoGo was a few notches short of livid. "FRE- 'FLAME JUMPER'! You could have KILLED me! I had a plan, I was gonna- You know what? Never mind. Thanks for the help."
"No prob," he declared. "I'll take it from here."
She gave a quick nod and skated away, intent on getting to the rats before Dash did. That left Frozone to to size up his new adversary and, frankly, he couldn't take Fred seriously in that kaiju getup.
"Cool it, kiddo," Frozone suggested. "I was living in the line of fire when you were in diapers."
"And I've been reading about you since I was in diapers," Fred countered.
Frozone blinked in confusion. "Reading ... about me?"
"Yeah! Comic books, dude!" Fred explained. "I know all the ins and outs of Ice Man, Mr. Freeze, Captain Cold, Killer Frost, you name it! If I know a thing or two about them, I know a thing or two about you."
Frozone was not amused. "Do I look like a comic book character to you?"
"Uh ... sorta, yeah," Fred stated. "But if you squint you also look a little like Samuel L. Jackson. Then again, he's not too far from the wonderful world of comics either. I'm referring, of course, to the Avengers franchise where he filled the role of Nick ..."
"Oh brother. Here we go with the monologuing," Frozone groaned with a palm to his face. "Look, man, if it's all the same to you, can we just get on with it?"
Fred clasped his hands reverence. "It would be my honour."
Frozone's arm shot up and he launched a stream of ice with gunslinger speed. Much to his surprise, Fred managed to activate his fire breath in the nick of time. Their powers collided, freezing and burning their surroundings with splashes of cold and heat in a vicious cycle. Bit by bit, Fred's flames pushed back Frozone's frost. However, it was all part of Frozone's ruse: make the kid think that he was winning and then turn the tables before he could blink. Once the flames were a few feet from the super, he enacted his plan, raised both hands and released a combined stream from them, quickly bulldozing Fred's fire.
"Uh oh ..." Fred commented.
He super jumped and the frost rushed beneath him.
"Gravity Crush!" Fred shouted as he belly flopped towards Frozone.
In a series of quick hand movements, the super crafted a miniature mountain of ice in the Big Hero's path. No sooner had it been created before an amber glow seeped through it and Fred's flames came blasting from the other side.
"WHOA!" Frozone exclaimed as he dove out of the way, leaving Fred to come crashing down where he stood in a bloom of flames.
Frozone had to admit it: this cloud cuckoo lander seemed to actually know what he was doing! He decided to stop underestimating him and employ some strategy.
Channelling his power into the ground, Frozone covered the street in a sheet of ice. Fred slipped and fell, scarcely hitting the ground before an frosty blast came sweeping at him. Thinking quickly, he used his fire breath to jet-slide out of the way, ending up tumbling off of the ice and into a car. He quickly hopped behind the vehicle and pressed his foot against it.
"Super Jump means Super Kick!" Fred declared as he launched the car towards Frozone with a shove of the foot.
Frozone smirked before unleashing a tsunami of arctic fury that swept up Fred's car and a road full of other vehicles as it raged towards the Big Hero.
"Awwesooome!" Fred gawked before narrowly super jumping over the tsunami and retaliating with a shower of flame. "Megaton Rainfall!"
Wasabi jogged across the sidewalk, carefully examining his immediate surroundings. For the most part, the streets were empty after word got out that the super heroes were fighting. Of course, there were a few stragglers, people who didn't get the memo and the odd guy who chose to make snapshots and videos instead of running. One such guy was right across the road, leaning on his car as he followed Wasabi's movements with his phone.
The Big Hero stopped running and turned his attention to the man. "Uh, dude? This area isn't safe, you should probably skedaddle."
Ignoring him, the man continued to record Wasabi.
"What are you waiting for?" asked Wasabi.
"I dunno, something amazing, I guess," the man answered.
Realising that he was making no headway with the civilian, Wasabi returned his attention to tracking the rats. At least there weren't any Incredibles in sight. The civilian wouldn't have to worry about a battle, for the moment.
"Now, where are you, little guys?" Wasabi muttered.
According to the ChemiCal, the rats were close but somehow not showing up on the H.U.D. Then he looked up and the ChemiCal highlighted them on the roofs. They appeared to be ... bouncing from building to building?
"Whaaa-?" exclaimed a confused Wasabi.
He took a step back and bumped into something unseen.
"Ow!" said the 'something' before restoring its visibility, revealing itself to be Violet.
"Oh, hi," Wasabi greeted with an awkward wave. "I'm, uh ... Captain ... Laser Hands?"
"Hello," she responded. "I'm ... Ultraviolet ... I guess."
"Wow," commented Wasabi. "Your on-the-spot name is way cooler than mine."
"Thanks," she replied.
There was an uncomfortable pause before Wasabi slowly raised his fists in a hesitant combat stance. She furrowed her brow as her eyes glanced between his face and his fists, as if to ask 'and what are you gonna do with those?'
Wasabi lowered his fists in defeat before activating his radio. "Guuuuys! I bumped into one of the Incredible kids! I can't hit a little girl! That's child abuse! And WHAT am I supposed to hit her with? Laser-induced plasma?"
"Hey!" Violet protested. "I'm not a 'little girl'. I'm a teenager!"
GoGo and Dash darted onto the scene, the Big Hero doing her best to fend off his speedy little fists with a disc for a shield.
"For the billionth time, woman up!" GoGo snapped as she managed to grab Dash with one arm and noogie him with the other. "Just knock her out! I'm fighting a little boy and no one has a problem with it!" she turned her attention to Dash with mockery in her voice. "You don't have a problem with it, right Incrediboy?"
"Yeah, so long as I win!" Dash replied. "And don't call me Incrediboy! That name has bad history with my family! It's right up there with the curse words!"
With that, Dash vibrated until she was forced to let him go. He rushed away and GoGo followed, leaving Wasabi and Violet to settle things on their own.
"Uh, I'm sorry," Wasabi apologised. "I think I'm going to have to fight you, but I'll try to knock you out ... softly?"
"Well, congratulations on your easy victory!" Violet commended with a slow clap and sardonic tone. "Bravo, taking down a girl who has no offensive capabilities whatsoever."
"Man, now I feel like a big bully," Wasabi whined. "You know what? Let's just walk away, forgetting that we ever saw each other."
Wasabi turned to leave but Violet quickly stepped in front of him.
"What are you ...? I thought you said you couldn't face me in a fair fight," Wasabi reminded.
"Yup," she confirmed.
"Then could you please excuse me?" he asked.
"Nope," she declared. "I'm going to just keep standing in your way, knowing that if you raise a hand against me, you'll never forgive yourself!"
He stared at her, jaw slack. "Wow. That's ingenious, devious and even a little ill-advised. Are you sure you can't fight me?"
She created a small force bubble above her hand to demonstrate. "All I've got are force fields and invisibility. The force fields can get bigger and smaller, but other than that they're pretty much stationary, harmless and-"
She threw her arms to the side, gesturing to accentuate her words.
*( ptOOwm )*
That movement had sent the mini force field flying off of her hand. It expanded and flattened into a crescent shape before slicing straight through a vehicle.
Upon seeing his car destroyed, the man with the smartphone screamed: "MY WATERMELON!"
Wasabi stared at the car in startled silence, and perhaps a little confusion at the civilian's random exclamation. Then he shifted his gaze to Violet, whose face mirrored his surprise.
"Heh, would you believe me if I said I only discovered that power just now?" asked a sheepish Violet.
Wasabi shrugged. "Maybe, but either way I feel a lot less like a bully. Ready to dance?"
"Fine," Violet conceded.
She swept her hand as if swatting a fly, firing a force bubble of hopefully non-lethal speed. Much to her surprise, her bubble was reduced to a burst of sparks as Wasabi met it with a plasma blade.
She stared at him in incredulity.
"What? You didn't expect me to get past the first hit?" asked the Big Hero.
"Um, well, don't take this the wrong way," Violet fumbled. "It's just that I've seen your team on the news. You seem to get the job done, but I didn't think you were all that, uh … 'big league'."
"Oh, it is on!" Wasabi declared.
He charged and she released an onslaught of force bubbles. With blazing-fast reflexes, he disintegrated every projectile before it reached him. The effort slowed him down for a moment, but she was shocked to see him begin to accelerate in spite of her attack.
Once he got to her, there was an awkward moment as he balked at the idea of throwing a punch. That pause gave her more than enough time to disappear and get clear. Oh, great. So he couldn't see her, and he didn't have the heart to land a hit.
His ears caught the hum of an approaching force field. He spun with a "Ha!" and obliterated it with a blade, before being bumped by another force field to the back. He managed to keep his feet beneath him, but the force fields mobbed him from every side, bouncing him between them as if he were a pinball. In a burst of bladed blows, he managed to fend off the projectiles just long enough to spot a fire hydrant on the sidewalk. Perfect! Taking advantage of his upgrade, he elongated a blade and it sliced the fire hydrant from afar, launching a spray of water into the air. He did his best to look around as he repelled more attacking force fields. Aha! Violet remained invisible, but the droplets that pattering against her did a good job of outlining her form.
Wasabi rushed the girl with haphazard steps as he tore through the force fields and the next thing Violet knew, his fist was hovering in front of her face. Her eyes were wide as she reappeared, prompting a good-natured smile from Wasabi.
"Let's call it a truce?" asked the Big Hero.
Violet managed to smile back as she slowly pushed away his fist.
"Well, you won that round," she declared, "but I can't say I was wasn't holding back. Care for another go?"
"Ugh, not really," groaned Wasabi. "But to be honest, I wasn't trying my hardest either."
She furrowed her brow with a confident smirk.
Scarcely a split-second later, Wasabi found himself hurtling through the air. He had noticed the force field flicker around her, but by that time it was already expanding with blinding speed. When it reached him, he was knocked into the sky with ferocious force. Luckily, his armour created an electromagnetic field that shielded him head to toe, otherwise, well ... He didn't want to think about what would have happened.
Wasabi sprouted his blue blades and they turned green before extending to the ground like grappling hooks, hauling him back towards Violet in an attempted flying kick. Normally, he would never have a crack at such an aggressive move, given the circumstances. However, his self-control was quickly dissipating as the battle escalated.
Dash zipped from street to street, glancing up to the rooftops all the while. He knew that GoGo had a means to track the rats, which meant that tailing her would take him right to them. However, when she pursued the rodents onto the roofs with some elaborate stunt that he couldn't hope to replicate, he found himself stranded on the road with the chase commencing without him. Though he kept pace with the action from ground level, he could do nothing but watch. As fast as he was, he had to admit that GoGo's mad skills were beyond him (even if that thought made him feel like wailing and collapsing in a writhing ball of tears and jealous despair). He had to get up there and jump back into the chase, but how?
An idea popped into his mind, but with that idea came the memory of a sharp warning from his mom.
"Dashiel Robert Parr, don't you dare try running up a wall! It works on T.V., but if you do that in real life, you'll fall, break your neck and die. Worse than that, you'll be grounded forever!"
Scarcely had that memory passed through his mind before he rushed straight up the side of the wall. Coming to a stop at the building's top, he patted himself down to confirm the obvious that he was still in one piece.
"I'm alive!" Dash cheered. "YEAH! In. Your. FACE. Logic!"
His attention was drawn to the rats as they bounced by, before he was forced to sidestep GoGo when she shot past in pursuit.
Dash zoomed after them, hopping from rooftop to rooftop. He briefly ran alongside GoGo to brandish a taunting grin before leaving her in the dust. She smirked to his back before leaping onto the power lines below the rooftops and surging ahead with exponential speed. Much to her gratification, she managed to catch the speedster boy's priceless expression when he noticed her passing him. Then his face hardened as he pushed for maximum velocity (as quickly as he could move while jumping rooftops, anyway).
Remy glanced back between a bounce. "The speedy boy is hot on our six!"
"Then let's shake him off!" the red rat declared. "We're almost out of rooftops! When we reach the last one, jump! Jump as far as you can!"
A moment later, they pushed into the air with all the effort they could muster, but they had narrowly left the ground before gusts of air shot below and above them. Much to their horror, they realised that those gusts were generated in the wake of the two speedsters' hands grabbing at them. Luckily, both GoGo and Dash had missed, and they wouldn't be getting any other opportunities in the near future.
The rats soared side by side, up, up, and away. Remy marvelled as half the city passed beneath them. Well, it wasn't quite half the city - not by a long shot - but it certainly felt like it. He wouldn't have been surprised if they could use the Tigger Berry to jump right into the clouds! Closing his eyes, the blue rat enjoyed the sense of weightlessly sailing through the sky as the wind raced through his fur. He looked at his new friend, wondering if she was enjoying it as much as he was. Surprisingly, she looked worried. Why? Well, the fact that she was down to one stripe may have had something to do with it. Even so, the stripe had almost faded to nothing. They were counting on the Tigger Berry's bouncy formula to protect them when they landed, but it looked like the formula in her fur had almost worn off.
Hating to see her so upset, Remy reached for her paw to encourage her. Unfortunately, it was just beyond his grasp. Maybe he could get a little closer.
Her ears swivelled his way as she heard him panting before she looked to see him swimming through the air with labourious effort. Of course, air wasn't really designed to be swam through, so he was getting nowhere fast. It was easily the silliest thing she had seen all day.
"Remy? What are you doing?" she asked, unable to hold back a giggle.
"I'm *puff* catching up with you *pant*," he declared as he continued to swim. "There are probably *gasp* better ways to get it done *pant*, but if it makes you laugh *puff*, I'll keep doing it!"
She continued to chuckle at his antics until he finally reached her and held her paw.
"Hey, don't worry," Remy reassured with a final pant. "You're gonna be fine."
She sighed. "Well, I don't know about that, but thanks."
"I still have one and a half stripes left," he reminded. "I'll cushion your fall when we land."
The red rat smiled and nodded, although she doubted that that would work.
Suddenly, their jump was interrupted as a robotic hand engulfed them.
[I have got them again,] came Baymax's voice.
"Woohoo! Good save," cheered Hiro.
"Yes!" squealed the raspberry rat. "Thank you, you big, lovable piece of technology, you!"
Remy frowned in confusion. "Uh, aren't we supposed to be getting away from the Big Hero Si-?"
"No! Shh! Shhhhh!" she shushed. "I'm enjoying the moment. Don't ruin it."
[Flying cars are attacking us,] Baymax suddenly declared in his usual, nonchalant way.
Hiro winced at the ridiculous statement. "Oooh ... Those bugs are biting hard, aren't they?"
Suddenly, Baymax barrel-rolled out of the way as a massive object shot past them.
"WHAT was THAT?" demanded Hiro.
[A flying car,] Baymax answered.
Hiro looked down to see a barrage of vehicles coming at them. The robot swerved, dove and rolled in evasive manoeuvres until one of the cars clipped him, causing him to spin out of control.
[Oh no,] Baymax commented as Hiro and the rats screamed their lungs out.
At some point, Hiro decided to stop unproductively panicking and focus on survival. He extended his hands and activated his geomagnetic tech, stabilising the robot's fall. This done, Baymax was able to slow their descent at the last moment, allowing a safe but bumpy landing on a building.
"Hand me the rats. You're gonna need your hands free," Hiro instructed as he disembarked Baymax.
[Why will I need my hands free?] asked the robot as he followed Hiro's command.
"Because I have a feeling I know who sent those cars," declared the boy as he stashed the rodents in his helmet once again.
*FOOOM!*
As if on cue, Mr. Incredible came crashing down on the rooftop after a massive leap.
"I see I got your attention," the super stated.
"You nearly got us killed, that's what you 'got'!" Hiro snarled.
The red rat warily observed the unfolding situation.
"Something's wrong ..." she declared.
"Aside from the fact Mr. Incredible just tossed a buncha cars at a kid?" asked Remy.
"That's just it!" she went on. "And now Hiro looks like he's ready to bite Mr. Incredible's head off! They're exhibiting atypical bursts of aggression, but they're heroes! They're not supposed to be this ... this ... savage!"
Hiro stepped aside, leaving his robotic friend to deal with the super.
"Teach him a lesson," the boy commanded.
The robot gave Hiro a clueless stare. [What kind of lesson would you like me to teach him?]
Mr. Incredible crackled his neck before diving into Baymax, sending them both tumbling onto the below street. They were on their feet in an instant and Mr. Incredible was first to throw a punch, only for Baymax to parry it with a skilful palm. Even as Mr. Incredible pumped a plethora of punches like pistons, Baymax managed to block, duck and sidestep them all with his more refined martial arts. However, in quick time some of the super's blows found their way around Baymax's defences. Soon, that became a more frequent occurrence, prompting Hiro to activate his communicator and intervene.
"Okay," began Hiro. "Mr. Incredible is a highly tactical fighter. That's how he took down the Omnidroid. If you give him enough time, he will figure out how to beat you! It's imperative that defeat him as fast as possible!"
[My programming prevents me from harming human beings,] the robot declared.
Mr. Incredible paused, processing Baymax's statement.
"Yeah ..." commented the super. "You have programming because you're a robot ... which means I don't have to hold back!"
Locking his fingers together, Mr. Incredible sent Baymax flying with a double-fisted blow.
*( ( WHAAMM! ) )*
Hiro drew a gasp before pursuing the robot with his geomagnetic flight.
Baymax landed in a construction site, rolling a dozen yards or so before coming to rest on his back. Seconds later, Hiro touched down at his side. The fact that the robot wasn't moving didn't ease the boy's concerns.
"C'mon, Baymax! Say something!" Hiro begged.
Baymax opened his eyes. [Something,] he answered, taking Hiro's plea literally. [I am okay.]
After releasing a breath of relief, Hiro got down to business. "Look, buddy. You gotta get past the 'healthcare programming' thing. Maybe think of it this way: doctors put people under for surgery all the time, right? Knocking him out is the same."
[I cannot render a human unconscious for non-medical reasons that do not benefit well-being,] Baymax argued.
*FOOOM!*
Hiro flinched as Mr. Incredible landed nearby once again.
"Do it, or I'll sink into permanent depression when he takes you offline!" Hiro stated hurriedly.
Baymax blinked. [Your incentive is valid.]
Hiro flew out of the way as Mr. Incredible leapt in, fists raised for a hammering attack. Until then, Baymax had never so much as thrown a punch. As such, Mr. Incredible never expected the robot to cancel his attack with a kick that bounced him a fair distance behind the robot.
Baymax's scanner swept across the area, quickly identifying anything that could be used to his advantage. The super crash-landed into a bulldozer, but he could scarcely look up before Baymax jetted in, silhouetted by the Sun, wielding a pair of metal support beams.
No. Thank. You.
In one, swift move, Mr. Incredible grabbed the bulldozer and swung it in front of him as a shield. A blow from Baymax's beam tore it asunder, missing Mr. Incredible by a hair.
The super dove away for some breathing space and hurled an excavator, only for Baymax to smack it aside as the robot rushed in. Raising his fists in the stance of a boxer, that was all Mr. Incredible could do before being forced to absorb a beam blow with his shoulder. Baymax kept Mr. Incredible at bay with a whirlwind of stick melee. The super could do little more than weather the storm with evasive moves and the occasional block if push came to shove. Several times, he attempted to confiscate the beams or get in close, but Baymax had found his groove, and his unflinching mechanical execution allowed him to keep it.
Hiro watched from afar. Yup. Baymax had this about wrapped up. However, it took him a little too long to realise that with every dodge, Mr. Incredible was inching in a very specific direction.
"Baymax! Don't let him reach the cement bags!" Hiro warned.
Too late.
The super's arms catapulted the bags in a bombardment. The robot was more than capable of deflecting the projectiles ... at least initially. Clouds of cement exploded from every bag that Baymax bashed away with his beams. Soon, a smokescreen of white powder had robbed him of his sight.
"Use your scanner!" Hiro coached.
The robot followed Hiro's advice and quickly detected Mr. Incredible, but by that time the super was mere feet away, charging with a fist wound back for the granddaddy of uppercuts.
*( ( KRA-KOOOM! ) )*
The thunderous force of the super's blow sent the smokescreen fleeing in all directions as Baymax was launched into the sky.
"YYEEEAAH, BABY!" Mr. Incredible shouted with a triumphant fist pump.
However, when he saw Hiro's devastated expression, his face fell and the Omega Aroma's veil of irrational aggression was pierced by his conscience.
"Look, kid, I didn't want to destroy your friend," Mr. Incredible apologised. "I ... I'm sorry."
Hiro's countenance softened slightly as he digested Mr. Incredible's words in what seemed to be a moment of clarity.
The red rat clasped her hands. "Please accept his apology. Please accept his apology!"
Unfortunately, Mr. Incredible continued. "It's just that ... the rat is a matter of international security. You really should defer to the French government on this."
With a face like a brewing thunderstorm, Hiro gave his categorical answer: "You. Will NEVER. Take Tiny Tadashi."
"You named it?" asked an increasingly impatient Mr. Incredible. "Once you name it, you start getting attached to it! Now hand over Glory Days! I ... I mean, the rat!"
Hiro answered by throwing his hands forward in a clap. It looked like a harmless, albeit aggressive gesture. However, Mr. Incredible had spent enough time around other supers to know that telekinetics often coordinated their powers with hand movements. Hiro may not have had telekinetic abilities, but his geomagnetic gauntlets operated in a very similar manner.
Suddenly, nearly every metal object in a thirty metre radius raced towards Mr. Incredible at Hiro's command. They all dog-piled the super, from vehicles to power tools (and the occasional misplaced watch). Soon, he was thoroughly engulfed in one big metallic ball.
"Ow," Mr. Incredible grunted.
Hiro's hands hung at his side as his suit's H.U.D. informed him that its magnetic powers had briefly been exhausted. Seconds later, he jumped as Baymax landed a dozen metres shy of him. Before Hiro had the chance to panic, his robot friend hastened to a stand and turned his attention to the tangle of metal that housed Mr. Incredible.
[Mr. Incredible said 'ow',] Baymax stated. [It would seem he has been hurt, despite my attempts to avoid such an outcome.]
"Wait, you're saying you've been holding back?" demanded Hiro. "You can't afford to hold back! The upper limit of Mr. Incredible's strength significantly surpasses yours! If you pull your punches, he'll tear you apart!"
Baymax blinked blankly before waddling towards Mr. Incredible.
[I will now treat him with a pain-killer,] Baymax declared.
"NO!" Hiro exclaimed as he unsuccessfully tried to block the robot's path. "I don't need a robotic nurse right now! I need a MONSTER!"
Baymax froze mid-step as Hiro removed his healthcare chip. Pupils of menacing red appeared in the robot's eyes as they fixed on Mr. Incredible, who was peeling away the metal that encased him.
"Baymax, DESTROY!" was all Mr. Incredible heard before the robot's rocket fists blasted towards him. The next thing Mr. Incredible knew, the mechanical hands clamped around the super and carried him skywards.
With Monster Baymax following closely behind, Mr. Incredible quickly tore the mechanical hands from his body and poised his knuckles to meet the robot when he finally reached him. However, instead of coming close enough to take a hit, Monster Baymax threw his feet forward and used their jets to blast Mr. Incredible higher. Tumbling through the air and out of his element, there was little Mr. Incredible could do as Monster Baymax's rocket fists knocked him further and further into the sky.
They entered the clouds and Mr. Incredible lost visibility, which allowed the robot to fly above and grab him from behind in a bear hug. Baymax rocketed back to Earth, quickly shattering the sound barrier with the aid of gravity.
Catching sight of them plummeting like a falling star from afar, Hiro hovered to a roof top for a closer look. His lips lifted in a smile that drove dread deep into the red rat's heart. She refused to believe that this was Hiro, but the dread became unbearable when she realised that it was her! His every action was a reflection of hers! The thought of her involvement was enough to make her mind spin.
Releasing Mr. Incredible, Monster Baymax pulled up at the last second, leaving the super to smash into the road in an Earth-shaking collision. The resultant shock wave obliterated almost every glass object on the block, dousing the street in a rain of glass from the shattered windows. Hiro's visor cracked and even broke in one area so that when he reeled as the force of the impact struck him like a wave, the rats fell out of his helmet and scattered over the edge of the building.
When they hit the ground, it all went black.
Thanks for reading!
I'm sure you know that I'm particularly fond of peppering this story with references. Yeah, a lot of people do that, but I've seen one case where someone decided to make an "Easter Egg" hunt out of it. I decided to do something similar, and I don't know if I'll keep this up in every other chapter, but here it goes. I'll highlight some of the references and let's see if you can identify the movies and whatnot from which they originate. Are you up for it? If so, you can share your answers in the review section. Here they are!
1. GoGo's quote: "You are an incredibly competitive boy. Too bad your're a bit of a showoff." (It's almost a trick question)
2. Fred's quote: "Megaton Rainfall!"
3. The smartphone man's quote: "I dunno, something amazing, I guess." (easy one).
4. The smartphone man's other quote: "MY WATERMELON!" (Honestly, I don't remember what movie/series that came from either. Would you care to enlighten me?)
5. Dash's quote: "In. Your. FACE. Logic!"
6. The red rat's 'Joy Berry' and 'Anger Berry'.
7. Mr. Incredible's quote: "Once you name it, you start getting attached to it!"