Micro-bots

Earlier

Two figures flew through the air, heading towards Krei Tech. Hiro was investigating rumors that his Micro-bots were back. That didn't make sense. He hadn't made a new batch since their tragic encounter with Callaghan. Inventing them in the first place had been a mistake that he was not willing to repeat. The only person that could rebuild them as far as he knew was Callaghan and Callaghan was still in jail. He'd checked. "Any sign of activity, Baymax?"

"I detect a large number of electronic signals heading towards Krei Tech." Baymax reported.

Hiro frowned. It would appear the rumors had some truth to them, after all. "Full thrusters ahead." He ordered crouching further down on top of Baymax so as to streamline their flight path. Baymax obeyed gliding smoothly towards their destination.

Ground, sky, buildings and people whizzed by at an incredible speed, details blurring and fading from sight. Hiro loved flying. He loved the height, the speed and the sheer thrill of it. Although he'd never admit it out loud, he was every bit as much of an adrenaline junkie as Gogo was. It was one of the reason's he'd loved bot fighting so much. Tadashi had never really understood that about him and now… he never would.

Shrugging off the morbid track his thoughts had taken, Hiro focused once more upon the task at hand, eyes scanning the horizon for signs of trouble. It wasn't long before he spotted it. A dark wave of micro-bots was travelling across the landscape, surging, pulsing and destroying everything in its path. He frowned. Something was off. The bot's movement was erratic, disorganized and far from the smooth control he recalled his own batch to have. The individual bots did not appear to be in synch with one another.

He had a bad feeling about this…

Ignoring the premonition that niggled at his senses, he urged Baymax on heading straight towards the mass which grew ever larger in scale the closer he came. His eyes widened. He hadn't expected there to be so many. Perhaps he should call for backup. Reaching up towards his helmet he tapped a hidden switch that activated the broadband radio he and the team used for communication. "Hey Guys. I think you'd better get over here. Krei Tech is…" He paused, his mind finally processing the fact that all he could hear was static. "Hey guys? Honey? Gogo? Wasabi, Fred? Can you hear me?"

Static…

"Baymax, contact the rest of the team." Hiro ordered, anxiety flickering through him. Something was very, very wrong here.

"Contacting your friends." Baymax replied. The robot was silent for a moment before speaking once more, confirming Hiro's fears. "Disconnecting. I am unable to contact your friends due to wireless interference."

Wireless interference. In other words, their communications were being jammed. Something was definitely not right. This was probably some kind of trap. He needed to turn around to get the others before coming back. Rushing in without backup was never a good idea, after all. "Baymax, turn around and…"

That's when he heard the screaming. "Baymax, rocket thrusters at full power." He changed the order, ignoring what his mind was telling him was the wise course of action in favor of jumping out of the figurative pot straight into the fire. He knew this was likely to be some kind of trap. Why else would their communication signals be jammed? But people were in danger and someone had to help.

Perhaps he was a bit more like Tadashi than he realized…

He spotted a woman, in a lab coat, desperately trying to outrun the black swarm. Baymax swooped down, picked her up and carried her off in a single practiced elegant motion. He and Hiro had been working as a team for so long that he didn't even need Hiro to give him the order.

Dropping the woman off a safe distance away, the pair turned and headed back towards the swarm of micro-bots. The threat was moving straight towards the west wing of Krei Tech. There were people in there! "We need to try and distract them!" Hiro called out, guiding Baymax back towards the swarm.

The swarm surged more violently as he approached, bit's breaking away from the collective to head straight towards the flying pair. Dodging the stray bot's, Hiro headed towards the core of the mass. "Baymax, rocket fist!" Baymax raised an arm before him, seconds before releasing the fist that formed part of his armored exterior. The fist headed straight towards; and burst right through; the core of the mass, scattering micro-bots into several directions. "Yes! Take that!" Hiro cried out in victory. "No one messes with the great Hiro Hamada, ex-bot fighter, genius extraordinaire and gets away with… it."

A feeling of dread choked down the fleeting surge of victory as a new mass of bots surged forward, replacing those that had been scattered by the attack. The swarm continued to surge forward, oblivious to Hiro and his attempt to stop it. "Baymax, we need to try get it to follow us." Hiro's voice began to pick up a traces of panic. They needed to get the swarm away from the building and needed to do it quickly.

The pair headed back towards the swarm weaving in and out, hoping to use the same tactic they had used on Callaghan to split the swarm and create weaknesses in its structure, but this swarm did not bite. Except for a few stray bots, the swarm remained together. "If that's the way you want to play it." Determination surged through the young man. "Time for plan B. Take me to the top of the building, buddy."

Baymax twisted smoothly in the air and headed up towards the top of the building. Hiro flicked a switch and deactivated the magnets keeping him attached to Baymax. He flipped in the air, wind rushing past him as he twisted, weightless for a few seconds before easily landing on top of the building. The manoeuvre was effortless and graceful, already ingrained and instinctual as a result of much practice.

Not even pausing to breathe, Hiro launched himself into a run. Reaching towards his hip he unclipped a slim weapon that resembled a gun and pointed it directly at the swarm. It was a pulse cannon, programmed to release an electrical pulse that could be used to deactivate electronic equipment. When he'd heard that his micro-bots might be active once more, Hiro had programmed it to match the wavelength the bots were programmed to respond to. Pulling the trigger he released an electro-magnetic pulse meant to immobilize the bots.

The swarm continued to advance.

Time slowed to a ridiculous crawl as horror coursed through him. The swarm surged forward on a wave that would rival the force of any Tsunami and connected with the building. Metal screamed, glass shattered and cement crumbled beneath the force. A blur of orange caught his eye. Baymax… Baymax was tumbling to the ground, caught beneath the mass of debris that was tumbling down. "Baymax!" Twisting, he desperately reached out towards his companion, wanting to do something, anything to change what his mind now told him was inevitable.

The building crumbled, out from beneath his feet leaving him weightless for a mere moment and then he began to tumble, falling down to what would surely be his death. Only it wasn't. A black wall obstructed his view of the ground, cutting his fall short. Pain coursed through him as he connected with the black mass, fire coursing through his veins. He parted his lips, wanting nothing more than to scream at the top of his lungs but could not release a single sound, the sheer force of the pain silencing him even as it urged him to scream. Liquid fire, pain, flowing through him, leaving no nerve untouched, building ever higher just before being abruptly cut off as darkness rushed in to take its place.