Alright so life kinda did a roundhouse kick yet again and I can't apologize for how long it's been since I updated, but I'm definitely finding more time to work on it nowadays (somewhat) and will continue to update it. I kinda decided to change the plot a bit from what I originally had planned for this story which also makes things take a bit longer.

Either way, rest assured the story is not dead! Please review!

~CWA


CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN


Hiro

My heart has never pounded this fast and for a moment. My breathing is so sharp and shallow that it's a wonder I'm not hyperventilating. But I can't help it. A part of it is from excitement, the adrenaline that pumps through my veins at the idea of confronting a, for lack of a better word, a super villain. My hands tremble and shake as I sneak my way through the docks with Baymax. His upgrade, a microchip infused with marital arts and various fighting techniques and mild armor, should help us catch this… this… bastard. My hands clench tightly into fists as I swallow thickly. Vlad. He's the one behind everything. The theft of my microbots. The fire. Tadashi's almost death. I just know it. I can feel it. And someone has got to stop him.

I have to admit that I never pictured him with a mask and dark clothing. He doesn't seem like the mysterious villain type. He seems to be more of the type who flaunts his powers, makes a show of things. A very power-hungry, attention-seeking man. But in the end, that's all he is. A man with my technology. He's not some overly powered superhuman. He's not a ghost. But there's a part of me, deep down, that feels like something bad is going to happen. Because if he's just a man – how bad is he that Danny is worried about him? Scared of him, maybe? Or scared of what he can do?

I bite down on my lip and my hands tremble before I shake that out of my head. My hands turn into fists, nails digging into my palm as I sneak my way through the docks. I can't shake that uneasy feeling in my gut that someone, something, is watching me which makes the hair on my neck stand up straight. I don't think it's Vlad. It feels different. Not evil, just unearthly. My eyes dash around me and no matter how hard I look, I can't really spot anything aside from a few darting shadows that I pass off as a trick of the eyes.

"Make sure you get everything," a foreign voice echoes through the air with a chill, "I can only keep the brat distracted for so long."

The speaker sounds oddly familiar, yet it's too chilling. Haunting even. It carries through the air, making it sound like it's coming from everywhere at once, and is too distorted to come from human vocal chords. I shiver and wrap my arms tightly around myself as I realize that if this stranger is speaking like that then there's only one thing they could be. A ghost. My gaze briefly flickers to Baymax.

"Ghost detected – ten feet ahead," Baymax's voice lists off, his robotic eyes dilating – a part of me is glad about Danny's little addition to Baymax, the other part prays that this masked man (Vlad) and this ghost don't hear him. "Ectoenergy level – 9. Ectosignature recognized as – Plasmius. Ghost Emergency Protocol Blue initiated. Contacting – Daniel Fenton."

Plasmius huh? I furrow my brows and wonder who that is, what its intents are, and just bad a level 9 energy can be. A red blast flies past my head and my eyes widen as my heart skips a beat. Okay so level 9 is apparently very powerful. I gulp and it's hard for me even look up from the sheer panic and fear that suddenly overcomes my veins. Every hair on my body stands on end and the sudden chill in the air becomes stronger and more apparent at the sight of the ghost before me. Plasmius, as Baymax called it – Danny must have had some sort of file on certain ghosts and have included that into Baymax's programming.

But every image of a ghost that I could ever imagine is nothing compared to this one. Blue, translucent skin with visible veins. Glowing red eyes without pupils – staring into them strikes me deep into my soul. Pointed canines. Hair swept resembling horns. A freaking cape. A dark red glow surrounds it menacingly, bleeding into the air. Unlike Danny's own glow, it does project safety or warmth. It projects EVIL. Fear. Darkness. Every thing about it, him, screams just one thing. Run away.

Danny taught me to fight ghosts – but that, it's just something else entirely. I don't really suppose it matters in the end. I can't bring my legs, or any other part of me to move. My whole body just freezes in panic and fear. Everything I ever learned from Danny just vanishes as the beast looms over me, hovering in the air with its arms crossed and eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Well, well, what do we have here? Do you know what happens to annoying pests? They get exterminated."

His hand flares up in red glowing flames, similar to the blast that shot by my head moments ago. It flies through the air and I close my eyes tightly, preparing myself for the worst. But a familiar grasp on my arm yanks me out of the way – Baymax. A green shield wraps around us as the robot carries me in his arms – he's walking faster than I even knew he could.

"Baymax," my voice shakes more than I'd like as I cling to the robot, "What are you doing?"

"My ghost protocol programming will not allow you to face off this particular ghost," Baymax never falters and his chest still rings – Danny has yet to pick up the phone, it seems. I really wish that whatever my brother-but-not-of-blood is doing right now can be put on hold so he can help me out. I know he's not going to be happy to hear I've been out investigating on my own and even less so that I ran into a ghost that was labeled as a level 9 (doesn't take a genius to figure out that level 9 is a pretty powerful ghost that shouldn't be messed with).

We don't get that much farther until we run – quite literally – into the side of a car. The ghost is gaining on us quickly and I can hear it scream curses in frustration. The car door opens and I get yanked inside by a familiar face. Honey Lemon. Good. I take a deep breath, my heart still racing,

"GO! We need to get out of here!"

Baymax clings to the roof of the car, leaning half way in through the opened window. The car doesn't make any sort of movement and I'm met with blank stares – Honey Lemon, Wasabi, GoGo, Fred. Everyone but the one person I wanted to see right about now. The one person that's actually equipped to deal with this ghost menace.

"What's the hur-," Wasabi begins to ask, only for the question to turn into a girly shriek as a red blast explodes in front of the car.

GoGo is the first to react. Shoving Wasabi out of the way, she takes over the driving and floors it, dodging every blast that comes our way. Wasabi is on the verge of a panic attack – he's hyperventilating into a bag that was shoved into his hands by Fred. GoGo seems the least concerned – aside from Fred, whose staring out the back window with wide eyes and a grin. But unlike Fred, GoGo has a stern expression on her face and her driving, along with the green shield that Baymax is still emitting that covers the car, is the only thing keeping us alive right now. Honey Lemon clings to me, bringing me close and whispering words of comfort. Whether the words are for me or her or both, I don't know.

"Is that what I think it is," Wasabi manages to ask, glancing back behind us with fear in his eyes.

"Oh yeah," Fred's grin reaches from ear to ear, "That's definitely a ghost! Oh this would be so cool if it wasn't trying to kill us!"

Honey Lemon lightly glares at him, but any legitimate menace in her eyes is overshadowed by the fear and panic. Fred flinches and offers an apologetic expression. Beneath the excitement, however, I can see that even he's scared. I don't blame him. We all are. I curl my legs and feet up on the seat, blinking back any tears – our lives wouldn't be in danger if I didn't go poking around. Am I the brat that Plasmius (as Baymax called it) mentioned? Honey Lemon takes me in her arms, rubbing circles on my back, wincing at every sharp turn that GoGo makes and every bump the car slightly jumps. The red flares of lights still burst around us and I can see the frustration and sweat building on GoGo's face as it becomes harder and harder to dodge the attacks. Wasabi looks just as close as crying as I feel as he makes himself as small as possible to give as much control as he can over to GoGo.

"Hey," Fred calls out, "Looks like something else is fighting that thing!"

I glance through the back window – Plasmius is farther behind us. Enough that I can only see a blurred figure of him fighting what I can only assume is another ghost – white, some sort of hat, and what looks to be some sort of cane. I swallow thickly and breathe a sigh of relief that we've been given more time to escape.

"Contacting Daniel Fenton," Baymax repeats yet again – there's no emotion in his voice yet someone I believe that even he's getting frustrated at Danny's lack of answering, "Daniel Fenton – connected."

We all tense and glance toward Baymax, our hearts skipping a beat. Honey Lemon's grasp on me tightens and I know we're all hoping that somehow, someway, Danny can make this all better even if he's not actually here.

"Hello," Danny's voice questions, and I can vaguely see the skype screen up on Baymax's chest of his face – he looks worn out, angry, tired, but the background scenery resembles clouds and there's ambient noise of wind, "Um? Anyone?"

"Danny," I shriek, "I'm sorry! But Vlad has to be the one that started the fire and stole my microbots ut when I found them, he was in some sort of mask and chased me and Baymax off, but I found him again at the docks talking to some ghost and now the ghost is chasing us – Baymax called him Plasmius and it's shooting this beams everywhere and I thought that Baymax wasn't equipped with ghost tech but he has some sort of shield around us - "

My words slur together as I talk quickly, my voice wavering and breaking every few words. My breathing hitches and I can barely pull myself together enough to see the flash of red in Danny's eyes as he breaths deeply,

"Amorpho has new orders to attack Plasmius if you're in direct danger from him. He'll protect you for now, but he can't hold off Plasmius forever. Baymax – get them to safety and keep them safe – this is a direct order, Ghost Emergency Protocol Red."

Baymax's eyes dilate as he takes in the orders – they have to have been programmed into that ghost chip Danny installed into him. But Danny doesn't explain farther, hanging up looking angrier than he did when he first answered.


We make it safely all the way to what's apparently Fred's house – despite the pictures on the walls and the room that is obviously only something he can come up with, I still have my doubts that he's actually this rich. The mansion is huge. His bedroom alone is bigger than the cafe. Not to mention the obviously expensive and practically priceless merchandise. I can't even begin to imagine what that commissioned painting of him would have cost. But right now, I – we – have bigger problems than Fred's finical secret.

At the moment, everyone seems to be taking this crisis differently. Wasabi has taken to the corner, breathing into a brown paper bag. Honey Lemon is biting at her lip with furrowed brows, mumbling a few things to herself – she's trying desperately to make sense of all this, to put the puzzle pieces together. GoGo looks frustrated, but leans back into a beanbag chair with closed eyes. She's already made it clear that she'll chew out anyone who tries to bother her. Personally, I think that, like Honey, she's trying to put puzzle pieces together, to try to figure out how all of this ties in, and in the process has given herself as major migraine. Fred is pacing back and forth, rambling on about ghosts and comic books and superheroes. I favor laying on the couch, trying to regain my rational thoughts and get a better control on my breathing.

Baymax has already treated several minors injuries and has yet to drop the green shield that surrounds us. Plasmius has yet to find us, but I have a sinking feeling in my gut that we'd run into him again fairly soon. Danny, or even Danny's 'ghost friend Amorpho' that he sent to protect us, has yet to show or contact us. I hope his friend's okay though – can ghosts even get hurt? Or die again or something?

"Hey Baymax," I stretch on the couch, "I think we need to get you to charger – your battery must be on the edge of fried right about now."

"Incorrect – battery is at 97 percent and fully operational. The chip that Daniel Fenton had programmed into me provides me with a secondary energy source for ghost protocols. This energy – ectoplasm – cycles within in my system thus making it more effective and time efficient while preserving my main battery."

Oh. I guess that means Danny has programmed a lot more into Baymax than what he ever told us. Like a lot, a lot. As in, I doubt Takashi knows about all of this. I wonder what else he can do, but before I can ask another question, GoGo finally speaks up.

"Baymax – what order did Danny activate? What is Ghost Emergency Protocol?"

Wasabi's breathing slows as he glances over, curious about the answer himself. We all are, even if I'm not too happy with GoGo interrupting me. Like moths to a flame, we all flock around Baymax for answers that (right now) only he can provide.

"Ghost Emergency Protocols – an emergency protocol programmed within my system to be activated in dire times of distress. Automatically activated when a ghost's presence is noted. Programmed to – warn and clear the area of civilians and within a safe distance away with family as priority. Family is listed as – Hiro Hamada, Takashi Hamada, Cas Hamada, Ellie Fenton, Jasmine Fenton. Exceptions to this protocol includes the following ectoplasmic entities – Frostbite (energy level - 8), Clockwork (energy level - 9), Ghostwriter (energy level - 9), Amorpho (energy level - 5), Wulf (energy level - 4), Princess Dora (energy level - 5), Pandora (energy level - 6).

Ghost Emergency Protocol Blue – activated automatically when a particular ectoplasmic entity is noted. Programed to – activate a ghost shield around the surrounding area and to immediately take listed family to a safer location farther than a ten mile radius within in the entity. Do not lower shield. Stay with the listed members unless a direct override is ordered. Contact Daniel Fenton immediately. Entities included within this protocol are as follows – Plasmius (energy level - 9), Pariah (energy level – 9), Vortex (energy level – 9), and entities with an energy reading level higher than eight."

Baymax pauses – a small lag within his programming, which makes me frown, but it offers a breather as we take in the information given to us. The names of the ghosts listed swarm in my head. Are those other ghost friends of his? The non-bad ones? Friendly ones? Neutral ones? Or ones that may even help us out?

"Ghost Emergency Protocol Red – activated by direct order and not by a particular entity presence. Protocol programming listed as Protocol Red with a more direct prioritization of safety of listed family. Do not engage the entity. Do not let anyone listed as family member engage the entity at any costs. Absolute refusal of any override unless directed by Daniel Fenton.

Ghost Emergency Protocol Alpha – activated automatically. Follows the protocol programming of Ghost Emergency Protocol Red with the immediate contact of Jasmine Fenton and entities listed – Clockwork, Frostbite. Engage entity after safety of listed family is secured. Refusal of all overrides. Entity included within this protocol is – Dan (energy level - 15)."

We pause at the last protocol. Plasmius has already made it very clear that it's a big bad. A very big, very powerful, bad. A super villain without morals, like Vlad – who has to be just as demented as that monster to work with it. But what's so bad about this Dan entity – ghost, whatever- that he deserves his own protocol?

"Dan," Fred mutters, and hearing the name out loud just makes my stomach turn – it's too similar to Danny, "Baymax – whose Dan?"

"Access to file – Dan Phantom – denied."

Well. At least we know it's full name is Dan Phantom, which still sounds way too much like Danny Fenton. According to the protocol file he has, however, he's apparently an energy level 15. The fact that he's almost double the energy level of Plasmius makes me feel even worse. I smack my lips and swallow down the nerves and fear. GoGo moves from her spot, stretching before leaning forward with a stern expression,

"What about access to Plasmius' file? What can you tell us about him Baymax?"

"Um why do we need to know about him," Wasabi piques up, "It's not like we're actually going to try to find or fight that thing? Right? Right?"

GoGo stretches as she stands from her spot, "Not without the proper equipment first. But we need to know more first if we want to actually do anything."

"Access to file – Vladimir Plasmius – cleared. Access to all information – denied. File is as shown."

The screen on his chest lights up and a file – though a majority of it is blackened out, likely due to our access for all information of the file being denied. The similarities in names - though this one takes after Vlad Masters rather than Danny – is still unsettling. But we can't help but look over what information is given to us, which isn't much. His powers. His appearance. His energy level. A brief history that states that his haunt used to be Wisconsin and Illinois. There's really not anything on him.

Wasabi breaths a sigh of relief, as if the lack of information will stop us from pursuing anything. But it's just not that simple. I'm beginning to think nothing is simple anymore. Vlad as some masked man who stole my microbots. Plasmius, some evil ghost that's working with Vlad. Plotting who knows what. Not to mention the fact that Danny, my brother's boyfriend, is half ghost. I plop down on the nearby beanbag chair, my expression wide but somewhat blank as I take everything in.

I could have died today. We all could have. Ghost hunting is apparently a lot harder and a lot more dangerous than what I thought.

"This doesn't really tell us much," Honey Lemon muses, biting down on her bottom lip in worry, "And what exactly is our game plan?"

"Well it's simple, really," Fred scoffs, shrugging in a duh manner, "We get some ghost hunting sh- stuff from Casper and go kick some ghost ass!"

GoGo mutters about his slip of tongue as he had managed to catch himself before saying the word shit, yet still said the word ass. Not that I don't already know what those words are. Fred, however, ignores her and continues to rant. He snatches me up from the beanbag chair, wrapping his arm around my shoulders with a big grin on his face,

"Besides Hiro and I have done some training with Casper so we know what we're doing! Right, Hiro?"

I stare blankly at him, about to speak up, but I get cut off by Baymax.

"Ghost detected – ten feet outside the radius of the ghost shield. Energy level – 5. Ectosignature recognized as – Amorpho. Entity listed under – Ally; Benign. Lowering shield for access."

Well. Shit.