Chapter 8: A Blast From the Past
The feeling of flying Baymax had never felt more incredible. Hiro hadn't flown for months, but now, he was soaring through the sky with S.H.I.E.L.D. quinjets in tow. He and the rest of the team knew where Akuma Island was, so they were the ones leading.
For the duration of the flight, Hiro had told his friends what had happened while he was HYDRA's prisoner. He told how he worked with S.H.I.E.L.D. to find Ansgar to protect his friends and Aunt Cass.
"So that's why you didn't come back?" Honey Lemon asked.
"Yeah," Hiro replied simply. "I thought HYDRA would try to come after me more than you guys, so I figured if I stayed away, you'd have to deal with less soldiers. I wouldn't know what to do if you guys or…" Hiro then remembered one of the main reasons he was with S.H.I.E.L.D. He would've fallen off of Baymax if it wasn't for the magnets keeping him on.
"Wait, what about Aunt Cass?" Hiro asked worriedly. "Did you guys leave her at the house?"
"Relax," Fred said from below. He was holding on to Baymax's left arm. "All those HYDRA dudes stopped worrying about us when you guys came into the city." That filled HIro with relief. Cass was the only family he had left, and he didn't want to lose her like she did Tadashi.
"Hang on a minute," Wasabi said. "If they're not after us anymore, than that means we can go home. HYDRA's obviously worried about something else now, so we can just head home, and S.H.I.E.L.D. can deal with them."
Hiro hadn't thought about that. Ansgar clearly had bigger things going down on the island. He surely wasn't worried about a bunch of kids, especially when most of them didn't even know who he was. They could just go home and forget any of this ever happened. But Hiro knew he couldn't do that. He felt as if he owed S.H.I.E.L.D. Coulson had answered questions in minutes that Hiro had been wondering his whole life, so he couldn't just leave them. But mostly he wanted to kick Ansgar's ass himself.
"We can't go home," Hiro said. "We're heroes. We don't run away from the fight, we run towards it." Hiro tried not to think of Tadashi
"Or in Fred's case, run face first into it," Gogo joked.
"Do you wanna try looking through this?" Fred argued, pointing two claws at the eye on the top of his kaiju suit.
"Guys knock it off," Hiro said, trying to recover his friends' attention. "We're helping S.H.I.E.L.D. If they're doing something on that island that's going to hurt people, then it's our job to stop it."
No one argued.
"We're with you Hiro," Honey Lemon said.
"All the way," Wasabi added.
"How about you Baymax?" Hiro looked down at the robot.
"If apprehending Ansgar Teufel will improve your health, and the health of anyone else, it would be in my programming to assist."
"Well alright then." Hiro smiled. He increased the power of Baymax's thruster, and the team was soaring to Akuma island. Ansgar had an ass whooping coming his way.
Ansgar stood in the enormous lab, talking to someone over the phone. "Now?... Good. Stay out there. I have… reinforcements coming soon." With that, he hung up the phone and turned to Krei. He was downed with the new and improved Yokai mask, and wore a dark cloak, making him look menacing.
"Do I really have to wear this?" Krei complained. "It doesn't improve the efficiency of the microbots."
"No," Ansgar said, "but it will make you look more intimidating."
"Why the hell do I need to look more intimidating?"
"S.H.I.E.L.D. will probably not see a man wearing a black mask and a cheap suit as a threat."
"They will when they see the microbots coming."
"You will wear the cloak." Ansgar didn't feel like arguing. "S.H.I.E.L.D. is coming in with quinjets. Before they land, knock them out of the sky."
"And the survivors?"
Ansgar began to walk away. "I think you know very well what HYDRA does with survivors." Then he disappeared through a door.
Krei stood confused for a moment. Then remembered what he had to do, and made his way to his position outside. He had spent billions of dollars funding Ansgar little project, and he wasn't about to let that all come crashing down.
The island was in view. It, like the city, had looked different to Hiro. Not because it had been some time since he had been there, the place had gone through some major changes. For one, the lights were on, indicating that someone was indeed there. The second, and probably the most noticeable change, was the small army that was rallied on the outside of the island's facility. HYDRA was definitely here.
"Uh, Coulson?" Hiro said through the headset in his helmet. "How are we supposed to land?" To answer his question, one of the quinjets fired a missile. Hiro was pretty sure the screams of the HYDRA soldiers were louder than the impact itself. "Thank you." Hiro said, seeming unaffected by what happened.
"Hiro," Coulson spoke through his headset. "You guys might want to use your aerial advantage once we have it. Once we get into that facility, we'll be playing on HYDRA's home field."
"Can't we just blow the whole island and get it over with?"
"Hiro, I think you know the answer to that."
"If I knew the answer, I wouldn't have asked."
"Whatever Ansgar's working on in there, we can't let it be destroyed. We've come across items in HYDRA's possession that weren't exactly safe."
"How unsafe are we talking?"
"An explosion that could cause the crust of the Earth for about twenty miles to cave in on itself."
"Well, how many times has that actually happened?"
"Hiro, we're not blowing up the island."
"Fine. We'll just have to do this the old fashion way."
"Riding a giant robot while wearing high-tech armor is the old fashion way?"
"Hey, we've been doing this for six months. That's was a pretty long time ago."
Coulson began to ignore Hiro, and was now briefing the entire S.H.I.E.L.D. team. "Alright, once we touch down, we'll take out what's left of the HYDRA soldiers, and then we'll storm the facility. It's the same as last time. Kill all HYDRA personnel except for Krei and Ansgar. Them you take prisoner. Once we've-"
Man, Coulson had a hard time finishing his sentences today. There were three quinjets behind Baymax to the right. One of them had been knocked out of the sky by… something. The quinjet spun out of control until it crashed into the ocean. The something that had knocked it out of the sky looked like it being launched from the island. The same something stretched out from the ground, and would've hit Coulson's quinjet had it not been for May's fancy flying.
"What the hell was that?!" May yelled through her headset.
No one had time to answer. Multiple streaks of black were now being launched from the island, and the quinjets and Baymax had all scrambled trying to dodge them. Most of the quinjets had made it, but three had been knocked down. One crashed harmlessly in the trees of the island, but the other two weren't so lucky, for they had crashed in the water. There were now only three quinjets left, including the one Coulson, Skye, and May were on.
"Where's that coming from?!" Coulson yelled.
"It kind of looks like-" Hiro was interrupted when a black streak shot up towards Baymax. Hiro tilted Baymax, and the black streak shot right passed them. That's when Hiro got a good look at the streak. It seemed to be made up of smaller objects. They were a sleek black, and they all seemed to be working together, as if they all had minds of their… "Microbots," Hiro finally finished.
"What?" Everyone said at once.
"Those are my microbots." A sudden thought washed over Hiro. "They're the ones I made for HYDRA. It's why they kidnapped me."
"Well someone's got to be down there controlling them," Honey Lemon pointed out."
"Right," Hiro said. "The neurotransmitter. Some HYDRA soldier probably has it. All we need to do is grab it and destroy it."
"Just like last time," Fred added.
"Yeah. Just like last time."
"Hiro," Coulson said. "Our quinjets are too big to try and land without getting hit. You need to get your team down there and shut down the microbots."
Hiro didn't hesitate. "Baymax, land," He said, as the robot did as he was told.
More microbots were shot upwards, but Baymax was able to out-maneuver whoever was controlling them. Baymax finally landed in the soft grass, and the team had gotten off. When they had been to the island to track down Yokai, they had landed right in front of the facility doors. Now they found themselves on a large grassy area only about one hundred yards away from the new HYDRA base. That did raise some questions though. Where were the microbots? And who was controlling them? The area was clear. All of the HYDRA agents were either dead or had fled back into the base, and there was no one else in sight. Well, no one until Hiro saw a figure positioned on the roof of the HYDRA base who was wearing a black cloak and… the Yokai mask?
"No way," Wasabi said, almost to himself. "Is that Professor Callaghan?"
"Can't be," Gogo said, eyes glued to the mysterious figure. "He's in lock up. Must be one of HYDRA's goons."
As much of a point as Gogo had, the figure did remind Hiro of Callaghan. Not just the outfit though, of course the mask had gone through a color change. The way he just stood there, silent. He was trying to kill them, and would probably do it any second at the drop of a hat. Hiro didn't want to remember Callaghan. He didn't want to remember his brother's killer.
After a few moments of silence, Hiro wondered if this guy was going to make a move. Unfortunately, he did. His hand shot forward, alerting the team that the microbots were coming. But none did.
Hiro was expecting something to come slow, and dangerously, like in the movies. But, Hiro knew something was up when the figure was hitting his mask, as if he were trying to get it to work.
"Is this guy for real?" Hiro asked.
"The figure on top of the building is not a projected image, and none of you are showing any signs of hallucinations. So the man on top of the building is in fact real," Baymax said.
Hiro ignored his robot's misunderstanding of idioms. Then he smiled. "Ha. This guy doesn't even know how to use the microbots. You've got to have like a super clear mind or they won't work."
The man apparently obtained a clear mind. Microbots came from all directions, surrounding the team. There were far more than when Callaghan had control over them. Hiro remembered having to make billions of them for HYDRA, and found it kind of ironic that he'd have to destroy them. Also really annoying, given the time it had taken him to make all of them.
Luckily, the figure didn't have very good control over the microbots, so instead of attacking the whole team at once, one group of microbots lunged for Wasabi. Wasabi had quick reflexes, so Hiro wasn't particularly worried. That is until Wasabi's plasma blades didn't cut through the microbots. They rammed into him, and he was sent flying past his friends, and into another group of microbots, which began to hold him down. He tried escaping, but with little success.
"My plasma can't cut through them!" He yelled struggling to get free.
"I gotcha Wasabi!" Fred yelled as he jumped into the microbots, and pulled Wasabi free.
"Were your last microbots plasma proof?" Honey Lemon asked.
"No," Hiro replied. "I didn't even make these ones any different. HYDRA must've coated them in something."
"We won't need to worry about the microbots if we can just get that mask off of him."
"We did it once," Hiro said, readying his repulsors. "We can do it again." Hiro blasted a group of microbots, scattering them everywhere. They may have been indestructible, but the team could still clear a path.
"Honey Lemon," Hiro said. "I need an explosion. A big one."
Honey Lemon smiled as she typed in a chemical compound on her purse. Out popped a pink chemical ball. "On explosion, coming right up." She tossed the ball at the microbots, and a large pink explosion blew a lot of them away, allowing a the team to run across the clear space.
The figure was getting better at using the microbits though, and threw all he had at the team. A volley of microbots hurtled toward the team, but Baymax was quick, and as the microbots came, he swung at them with all his might, sending them all flying. The figure was getting upset now. He was stomping his foot in frustration. He couldn't have been a trained HYDRA agent. It was when Baymax stopped the last attack that the figure decided to come down and face the team. He called upon a bunch of microbots to carry him down from the building, and was now racing toward the group.
Everyone got ready. They expected the fight of a lifetime when that guy got to them.
They overestimated him.
The microbots that were carrying him stopped only fifty feet away from the group. The man didn't move, and neither did the Big Hero 6. The microbots were moving though. Hiro didn't notice it at first, but then saw that all of the microbots, including the ones carrying the man, had started to form a dome around the area where everyone was standing. When the dome was completed, the only light came from small holes that were left here and there.
"What is this?" Gogo asked, looking around.
"This is the end of the line." The voice had come from the figure. The mask had retracted to the top of the man's head, revealing his identity: Alistair Krei.
"Krei?" Hiro said in confusion. HYDRA had let him take control of the microbots. The guy had more tech than he knew what to do with. Literally. He didn't know how to use half of it. It was all made by hired scientists funded by his deep pockets.
"This is kind of ironic," Fred said with a chuckle. He didn't seemed phased by the reveal. "You know? Because Hiro originally thought that Yokai was-"
"Fred," Wasabi interrupted him, "not the best time."
"Oh, no keep talking," Krei said, sounding almost amused. "Gives me more time to kill you."
Gogo, who was becoming agitated, threw one of her discs directly at Krei's face. It would have collided with his big nose had it not been for a long strand of microbots grabbing it, only inches from his face.
"Bad move," Krei said. "Let me make a better one." Krei had the microbot arm throw the disc back at Gogo. Instead of her gracefully catching it, the dic hit her square in the chest and she fell to the ground. As Honey Lemon and Fred went to help her up, Krei continued to talk.
"Look around you," he threw up his arms and motioned for the group to look at the large microbot dome. "I have the power of billions of microbots at my disposal. You're not getting past me. I've worked too hard to get where I am in HYDRA, and i'm not letting that all get turned to shit by a bunch of kids playing hero."
"It looks like that was going to happen without us here," Hiro said. "You don't even know how to use the microbots."
"Like I said, look around you. I'm a quick learner." His hand shot forward, and as did a streak of microbots. Everyone jumped out of the way just as it hit the center of where they were standing. The microbot dome surprisingly had a lot of room.
"there's no point in trying to fight me, or run away. You can't escape."
"Oh yeah?" Fred said, taking it as a challenge. Fred then punched a large hole in a wall of microbots, but before anyone could go through it, more microbots took the place of the other ones. "Oh. Yeah he's right, we're doomed."
"We need to get the mask!" Hiro yelled.
"You want this mask?" Krei said, the mask was put back on his face. "Come, and, get it!"
Large arms of microbots grew out of the walls, and threatened to grab anyone who got close. Krei was right.
They were trapped.
"You guys see any way out of this?" Wasabi said.
"There's only one way out of this. And it's on Krei's big ugly face."
"But we can't get close," Gogo pointed out.
"Only one of us needs to get close."
"Yeah, but how?" Wasabi said.
"We'll think of something."
"No time for that," Krei brought his arms in the air, and dropped them quickly. The microbots above the group began to hurtle down like thunderbolts. But Honey Lemon was quick, and she threw down two pink chemical balls that formed a large pink dome around the group. Hiro could hear the microbots banging on the outside.
"I improved the durability of the chemicals." Honey Lemon said. "We should be fine for a while."
"What happens when those microbots break through?" Gogo asked, almost seeming agitated. "What then?"
"We need a plan," Wasabi said. "Those microbots are gonna get in here sooner or later, so we need to figure out what to do if it's sooner… or at all."
"I have a plan," Hiro said, feeling quite ignored by his friends.
"What's the plan little dude?" Fred asked. A large microbot arm rammed into the side of the pink dome, and a large crack was left behind.
"You'll find out in a few seconds."
"I thought you said this thing was more durable," Gogo said to Honey Lemon.
"Yeah. It won't take like two seconds for it to break at least, but it's still going to crack after a while."
Another set of microbots banged against the dome.
"Hiro how about that plan?" Wasabi said, beginning to worry.
"I need the dome to get cracked a little more," Hiro replied, staring at the large crack in the dome.
"I think the best time to stop the second coming of Yokai would be when he's not able to kill us," Fred said.
The crack had grown larger.
"Just trust me," Hiro said confidently.
"Hiro what are you going to do?" Gogo asked. She was worried Hiro was going to do something stupid. He was.
The crack in the dome had grown huge now, and Hiro thought that waiting any longer would probably lead to certain death.
"Baymax," Hiro turned to the robot, "throw me at through the dome at Krei."
"What?!" Everyone yelled at once.
"Hiro that is not wise," Baymax said. "Throwing you could cause fatal injuries and-"
"Baymax just do it!"
It was one of those once in a blue moon situations where Baymax had stopped talking and decided to do what Hiro said. He lifted up Hiro even with his friends' protests, and tossed him through the crack in the dome.
The world felt like it was moving in slow motion. Hiro flew through the air, and he could here his friends screams of panic from behind him. Microbot arms tried to reach out and grab him, but to no avail. They all swooped past Hiro without even grazing him, and he was upon Krei now.
Hiro tackled Krei with all the force Baymax had put into his throw, and that was quite a bit of force. Unfortunately, Krei hadn't dropped the mask, and was still in control of the microbots.
Krei got up from his feet and glared at Hiro through the mask's eyes. "You know, i've had about all I can take from you." Mirobots began to swarm Krei's right arm, until they formed a sharp, sword-like shape. Krei swung at Hiro, but only to have it blocked by Hiro's gauntlet.
"Why is it that you are so hard to get rid of?!" Krei yelled as he swung his microbot sword repeatedly at Hiro. "I've spent too much money on Ansgar's project to be bested by the likes of you!" Krei swung his arm one final time, and this one made a direct hit to the side of Hiro's head.
His helmet protected him from any injury, but the force of the blow had still knocked him on his back. Before he could get up, Krei placed a black boot on Hiro's chest, preventing him from getting up. Hiro tried shooting his repulsors at Krei, but found that they were being held down by microbots.
"You know Hiro," Krei said, breathing heavily, "you and your team were never heroes. The real heroes are the ones trying to rebuild this broken world from ruin. After being faced with gods, aliens, and evil robots, S.H.I.E.L.D. tried to 'protect' the world. This world isn't worth protecting, and that's why I joined HYDRA. HYDRA is trying to create a whole new world, one where you won't have to look over your shoulder every time you hear a noise. A world where no one will be kept in the dark about anything. Your no hero, Hiro. But you're sure as hell going to die like one."
This was it. Hiro was going die, and this microbot dome would be his tomb. He waited for Krei's blade to pierce his skin. He wondered what it would feel like, to die. Would it be quick and painless? Or would Krei make it long and horrifying? The answer never came.
Instead, Hiro heard a whack, and the sound of something falling to the ground. Hiro opened his eyes, not even realizing they had been closed.
Krei was lying on the ground, unconscious. And Gogo stood above him, offering Hiro a hand up. Then Hiro remembered his hands were being held down.
"Uh, Gogo." Hiro motioned his head toward the microbots.
"Oh, yeah," she said. Gogo walked to Krei's unmoving body, and plucked the Yokai mask from his face. Then everything came crashing down.
The dome of microbots had completely fallen apart. The microbots fell like snow on top of the team's heads, and soon the entire ground was covered with black.
Hiro emerged from the pile of microbots, as did everyone else.
"Uh, what was that?" Hiro asked. "What happened to Krei?"
Fred popped up from a pile of microbots. "Gogo decked him. It was awesome."
"Wait, how did you guys get away from those microbots?"
"Krei was so focused on you, he couldn't focus on us, so neither did the microbots," Wasabi replied.
"Well you guys sure took your time. Krei almost turned me into a Hiro-cabob."
"I waited until you actually needed help," a smiling Gogo said.
"Hold up. Where is Krei?"
There was a moaning noise coming from under a small pile of microbots. Hiro walked over, and brushed them aside with his foot. Sure enough, Krei was buried under the microbots.
"Man you got him good" Hiro nudged Krei with his foot. "He's out cold."
"Anyone can go down hard if you hit them just the right spot," Gogo said, looking accomplished at her handiwork."
"Oookay." Hiro said, feeling a little intimidated. He then tapped a button on the side of his helmet. "Coulson, we took out the microbots." Hiro looked down at Krei. "And we got a little gift waiting for you down here."
"Good work. Once we land, we'll storm storm the facility and find Ansgar."
"Shouldn't we use, like, stealth, or something."
"I think we've lost all elements of surprise at this point."
Hiro looked around and remembered all of the HYDRA soldiers killed by a quinjet's missile. "Oh. Right."
The conversation had ended and, and Hiro looked around at the microbots everywhere. "So what are we going to do with these?"
"S.H.I.E.L.D. will probably confiscate them," Honey Lemon replied.
Hiro didn't like the thought of that. Hiro had built the microbots originally to help people. Now he found that every time someone got their hands on them, people got hurt. Hiro thought of how Callaghan was originally going to kill Krei. He thought of the men in the quinjets that Krei had taken down. He even thought of Tadashi. Hiro trusted S.H.I.E.L.D., but not enough to hand over the microbots to them.
"Let me see that mask," Hiro said to Gogo.
Without question, Gogo handed Hiro the mask. He held the sleek black Yokai mask in his hands. This one seemed more durable than the one Callaghan had worn. It looked cooler too. Hiro remembered how he was obsessed with trying to find out the identity of the Yokai, and how it almost drove him to kill. In their existence, the microbots had done nothing but cause harm; the opposite of what they were designed to do.
Hiro crushed the mask in his hands, and tossed the pieces on the ground. No one was going to control these microbots, and Hiro was going to make damn sure of that.
"You alright Hiro?" Wasabi asked, noticing the look of what seemed like anger and sadness Hiro wore on his face.
"I'm fine," Hiro replied looking down at the mask. "I'm fine. Now let's go kick Ansgar's ass.
A few moments later, the quinjets touched down on the field. S.H.I.E.L.D. agents began pouring out of them, and making their way toward the island facility.
Coulson walked through the microbots to meet up with the team. "Nice work down here," he said. "I believe you said you had a gift for me."
Hiro stepped aside to reveal an unconscious Krei who was drooling on the microbot-littered ground.
"You two," Coulson said, motioning two soldiers to come over to him. "Restrain him, and fly a quinjet back to base."The two soldiers cuffed Krei, who was now half awake, and were leading him toward a quinjet. "One head down, one more to go."
"What are you going to do with the microbots?" Hiro asked, although he already knew the answer.
"We'll store them in an off the books S.H.I.E.L.D. facility. These are two dangerous for anyone to possess."
Hiro liked the thought of Coulson trying to contain them. But he highly doubted that S.H.I.E.L.D. scientists wouldn't study them, and try to make a neurotransmitter of their own.
"We'll worry about that later," Coulson continued. "Now we need to focus on getting in there and stopping Ansgar."
"Krei said something about funding a project," Hiro said.
"Well we know from past experience that HYDRA's 'projects never work out for anyone. Sometimes not even HYDRA." That didn't make sense to Hiro, but he got the gist of what needed to be done. They needed to stop Ansgar's project, whatever it was, and then arrest him. Simple enough. They had taken down Krei, and he had one of the world's most powerful weapons with him. Taking down Ansgar would be a cakewalk.
That's what Hiro thought to himself just before entering the facility.
"Sir," a soldier was bringing news to Ansgar. "Krei was apprehended. S.H.I.E.L.D. is entering the building."
Ansgar stood in the lab, staring at the creation that would change the way mankind lived. "Then what are you doing in here?" he said, without taking his eyes off of the machine. "Get out there with the rest, and stop them from getting any further in." The soldier nodded, and ran out of the lab.
Ansgar walked around the various tables set up around the lab. They hadn't been there before, but HYDRA needed a work station.
"You there," Ansgar said to a scientist working at a table. "Is it ready?"
"It is, sir," the scientist replied. "But the power source hasn't been transferred into the machine all the way. It will take about an hour."
"You have half of one," Ansgar said as he walked away from the scientist, and over to the rail where the lab became bigger. The machine was very large. It had taken HYDRA about four months to set up. Soon it would be all worth it.
There was a large tube connected to the side of the circular machine, and Ansgar watched in wonder as the blue energy source was transferred into the Krei Tech portal device.
(A/N) I really didn't want to add that last part in fear of you guys guessing what happens. But I do like cliffhangers, so there you go. Alright, now this has been something I had hoped no one noticed, but unfortunately, someone did. It's the time line. There's HYDRA, but there isn't Bobby, Mac, Hunter, or other characters like that. The truth is, I missed out on a big chunk of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., so I kind of missed out on meeting those characters. I don't have Netflix, and my local Family Video sucks, so I was unable to watch those episode. I know who those characters are and everything, but not enough to put them in a story where I would not make them act like they should. That would be an injustice to those characters. This is before all that Inhuman stuff though, mostly because I didn't want all that confusion with Skye's powers and Coulson's missing- whoops almost made a SPOILER. Also I wanted to include the bus, because it was destroyed during all of that Inhumans craziness. I wanted to stick with the characters I knew at heart, and made the story as if it were one of the first episodes, but without Ward, and with HYDRA. I'm sorry for any confusion I might've caused, I hope none of you think less of me for writing this way, and I hope you enjoyed. That's DaydreamDepartment out of your hair! ;)