Author's Note: Sorry if this chapter seems a bit rushed. I did my best. Anyway, before begin, I'd like to address a comment made by AlphaGodzilla19. They assumed that Madame Masque would be Obadiah Stane's daughter. That's only in Armored Adventures, and as I've explained repeatedly, this has nothing to do with the show.
Anyway, enjoy the chapter.
"Are you nervous, guys?" Honey Lemon asked as she and the others took their first steps on SFIT grounds.
"No way." Hiro answered.
"Neither am I." Tony said. "Why would I be nervous?"
"You're fourteen and going to college." Gogo said.
"I'm sixteen actually." Tony corrected.
"Tadashi and Howard Stark are like legends here." Fred said.
"Also, I hear the new dean is a hard case." Wasabi said.
"Please. Compared to playing extreme rock-'em-sock-'em robots with Stane and escaping a cannibal bug swarm in another dimension, I can handle pretty much anything." Tony said.
"Well, let's give you the grand tour." Honey Lemon said.
After getting their picture taken and obtaining the lanyards to keep them in, the kids began their journey across SFIT. They first entered the virtual reality lab. Then, they came to the quad. Their next stop was the cafeteria.
"I didn't realize this place was so huge." Hiro said. "Awesome, but huge."
"Don't be intimidated." Wasabi advised. "Just take it one class at a time."
"Speaking of, what's your first classes?" Fred asked.
"Well, according to the schedule, I have Quantum Entanglement Realism."
"Nice. What about you, Hiro?"
Hiro didn't answer. He stopped walking when he found himself in front of a lab. The name on the door read "Tadashi Hamada".
"You okay?" Wasabi asked. "We miss Tadashi too. And Baymax."
"Yeah. I'll… I'll catch up with you guys later." Hiro said.
"Suit yourself, kid." Tony said walking with the others.
"By the way, Tony," Gogo said after walking a certain distance, "You might want to watch your mouth around the new dean."
"What do you mean?" Tony asked.
"Well, we told you she's a hard case." Wasabi said.
"And well… No offense, Tony, but you kinda… Well…" Honey Lemon struggled to say.
"You tend to get on a lot of people's nerves when you speak." Gogo said bluntly.
Tony walked ahead of the group so he could turn around and stop them. "What are you guys talking about? People love it when I talk."
"Tony, you give people nicknames." Wasabi said.
"You're a bit of a narcissist." Gogo said.
"And you always brag about how smart you are." Honey Lemon said.
"But I am smart." Tony said. He tapped at his chest. "This here is an arc reactor. Any normal one would be just about as big as this here building. But I managed to build a fully-functional, working one you can hold it in your hand. And I did it while half-alive and with a box of scraps."
"You're doing it again." Gogo said.
"Well, I guess we're going to have to agree to disagree." Tony said.
"You may not want to say that to the new dean, Professor Granville." Fred advised.
"Hey. Everything will be fine." Tony said. "I'm not worried about this Granville woman anyway. If she were here, I'd…"
Tony stopped when everyone made different motions. Honey Lemon traced her fingers across her lips like closing a zipper. Wasabi made an X with his arms. Gogo placed her finger on her pressed lips like she was shushing him. Fred moved his hand across his throat left and right.
"She's right behind me, isn't she?" Tony asked. The others nodded.
Tony smiled nervously as he turned around finding a tall, thin, black woman in a black dress wearing a gold necklace. The shot daggers from her eyes directly at Tony.
"Mr. Stark, I presume." Granville asked.
"Hi. You must be the new dean." Tony said. "Nice to meet you."
"Mmhmm." Granville said. "Anyway, where is the other new student, Hiro Hamada?"
"He wanted to look around his brother's lab." Honey Lemon answered.
"All right then. You kids best head off to class." Granville said. "But before anything, Mr. Stark, I hope you realize that just because your father was a genius alum, that doesn't mean you get special treatment. You will be treated like any other student and graded appropriately."
"Uh, sure." Tony said before Granville walked away. "Wow. You guys are right. She's a real hard case."
"I heard that!" Granville called from afar.
After school, Tony was relaxing at home. He had a standard first day, had no complaints, so it was nice for him to keep working in his workshop with JARVIS speaking to him.
"So what's on the agenda, sir?"
"Well, I gotta rebuild my old armor. You know, since most of it is stuck in another dimension." Tony answered.
"Oh. I didn't realize you were still doing that." JARVIS said.
"JARVIS, it's not like I'm looking for trouble. It's just in case of emergency." Tony answered.
"In that case, will you be accepting Mr. Fredrickson's quote-unquote 'call to action'?"
"His what now?" Tony asked.
"Your friend, Mr. Fredrickson, left a message in your voicemail. Apparently, he wishes to continue being a superhero with you and the others."
"That crazy guy." Tony said. "Look, I'm still repairing my armor."
"Very well, sir." JARVIS said.
Deep in the dark underbelly of San Fransokyo, there is a criminal hangout called Good Luck Alley, where you need good luck getting out alive. One of the biggest criminals there is a gang boss named Yama.
One night, Yama was doing his usual thing: intimidating a man who owes him money by having his goons dangling off the edge of a roof. But then, another henchman of his told him he was getting a phone call from "him". Yama dropped his intimidation session and went to a private room to answer his phone.
"Obake."
"Yes, hello, Yama." A British voice replied. "Good news. You get to relive your glory days."
Yama's eyes widened. "You mean…"
"Yes, my boy. We are rebuilding the Maggia."
"This.. This is big news! So are you going to head it?" Yama asked.
"No. Unfortunately, my work is too important for me to focus on anything else. Thankfully, I found someone just as qualified. It's Nefaria's daughter."
Yama's eyes got wider. "Her? She's alive? I thought she…"
"No, Yama."
That voice didn't come from the phone. Right behind Yama was a large TV screen which suddenly changed. It showed a video call of a woman with black hair and a golden mask. She had on a white jumpsuit with black sleeves and white boots and gloves.
"I'm alive." She said. "The name's Madame Masque now. And I have a very special first mission for you to prove your loyalty."
Yama lowered his phone to give Masque his undivided attention. "Right. What do you need?"
"Tony Stark." Madame Masque said with disdain in her tone. "He's usually found either at his private home, Stark Industries, or the San Fransokyo Institute of Technology. I want you to catch him and pull out the arc reactor in his chest."
"Done." Yama replied.
A few nights later, Tony was just about to enter his house when he noticed someone waiting for him at his front porch. He realized who it was as soon as he recognized the blue-and-orange lizard costume.
"Fred? Is that you?" Tony asked. "What are you doing here?"
"I… I got no one else left." Fred asked. "I never really got an answer from you about night patrol."
"I'm not even equipped for the whole super-hero thing." Tony said. "In case you've forgotten, Obadiah Stane tore my armor in half. Why don't you get the others?"
"Well, Hiro's busy with something and the others are stuck on the insane belief that 'nothing is going on'." Fred answered. "You're pretty much the only guy I can turn to."
"I'm flattered, Fred, but I couldn't go out if I wanted to." Tony said. "I'm still…"
"TONY! I NEED YOUR HELP!"
Tony and Fred turned to find Hiro running up to them. When he approached, he was low on breath.
"Hiro? What's up?" Tony asked.
"I got trouble. Big trouble. Let's go inside." Hiro said running into the house. After exchanging shrugs, Tony and Fred followed.
"What's wrong?" Tony asked.
"Okay. So… Remember how we all thought that Baymax was gone for good when we lost his body in the other dimension?" Hiro asked nervously.
"Yeah. Why?"
"Well… The thing is… As it turns out, he slipped me his health care programming chip and I've been trying to rebuild him ever since."
"Whoa! Baymax is alive?" Fred asked excitedly.
"And let me guess. You need my genius to help you finish the job." Tony said. "Well, I've got my own pet project to do, but I'm sure I can…"
"Actually, the endoskeleton is already complete… or so I thought." Hiro said. "The thing is, I may have skipped the diagnostics test and let the body run wild and get caught by gangsters in Good Luck Alley."
"WHAT?!" Tony and Fred asked loudly.
"And that's not the worst part." Hiro continued. "Their leader, Yama, he kinda made a deal with me. He'll give back Baymax's body, but only if I get him something in return."
"Which is what?" Tony asked.
"…Your arc reactor."
Tony's face dropped. "What?! That's insane!"
"Look! I thought about it and came up with a plan!" Hiro said. "You can just build another one. Then we can use that for the exchange."
"Hiro, that's a terrible idea." Tony said. "You remember what Callaghan and Stane were able to do with an arc reactor. The last thing this world needs is to have it in the hands of more criminals."
"He's right, Hiro." Fred said. "That thing is crazy powerful. And Yama's not exactly known for being stable."
"As soon as I make the trade, I'll steal the arc reactor back." Hiro said. "Look, I know Yama from back in my bot fighting days. Sure, he's got a temper, but I know we can outsmart him. Please? It's for Baymax."
Tony sighed. "All right. Just give me a couple of hours to put something together."
"Yes! Let's save Baymax!" Fred cheered.
After constructing the new arc reactor, Hiro, Tony, and Fred carefully made their way down Good Luck Alley taking in the seedy activity around them. Tony made sure to keep the arc reactor in his pocket.
"Now, remember, these are dangerous people." Hiro said. "I know them, so let me do the talking."
"Got it." Fred said. "I'll keep my eyes peels and my lips sealed."
The three of them stopped when they approached a mean-looking thug at the front of Yama's place. "What do you want?" he asked.
Hiro was about to answer, but Fred spoke first. "Frederick Frederickson the Fourth! This is Hiro and Tony! We're very busy, dangerous types and we don't like to be kept waiting!"
There was a long moment of silence which included Fred raising and lowering his eyebrows many times threateningly. Eventually, the thug stood aside and opened the door for them.
"What happened to letting Hiro do the talking?" Tony asked.
"Now, I think we all know that was never gonna work." Fred said.
The three of them walked down a dark hallway until they entered the room where Yama was sitting and waiting for them. Right next to him was an open door with Baymax's body hanging from it.
"Ah. You've arrived." Yama said.
"Let's get this over with." Tony said reaching into his pocket. He pulled out the new arc reactor and tossed it to Yama. "Here. Now, let the robot go."
"That's Baymax's skeleton?" Fred asked. "it's so… naked. It's naked Baymax. And you must be Yama."
Yama said nothing. He just snapped his fingers, and suddenly, the doors between Hiro and Baymax were slammed shut. More doors opened up showing over a dozen crooks surrounding the kids.
"We had a deal!" Hiro yelled.
"The deal was that you bring me the arc reactor in your buddy's chest, not build a new one." Yama said.
"Why?" Tony asked. "What difference does it make which arc reactor you take?"
"It makes plenty of difference to Madame Masque." Yama said.
"Who?" the three kids asked.
"Look, Yama, I don't know what you want or who this Madame Masque is, but you can't take my arc reactor." Tony said. "This thing is the only thing keeping me alive. If you take it away, I'll die."
Tony stepped back, but got caught by the arms by two crooks. He struggled to escape, but he couldn't.
"Not my problem." Yama said. "Take the rich boy to surgery and lock his friends away."
Though Hiro and Fred were locked in an electronically sealed room, it only lasted a minute before Hiro was able to hack the lock and open the door. They left the room and tried to sneak through the hallways. They made it to the room they were looking for, which had Tony Stark strapped to a table by his wrists.
"Tony, are you okay?" Hiro asked.
"Okay? They're about to gut me!" Tony shouted. "Just get me out of here!
"On it." Hiro said before walking up to Tony and unstrapping him. After freeing him, he helped him up from the table. "Okay. Let's go get Baymax's skeleton and get out."
"Uh, Hiro, one problem." Fred said. He pointed at the door which had Yama and the rest of his henchmen at his side.
"Uh, hey, Yama." Hiro said nervously. "You know, if you think about it, I did you a favor by testing your security."
"Thank you. Get rid of them!" Yama ordered.
"Quick question." Fred said. "When you say 'get rid of us', do you mean throw us out, or are you talking more of a, you know, permanent situation?" Yama's malicious smile answered his question. "Permanent. Got it."
The goons closed in on the three, but suddenly, they were interrupted by a blue energy blade that cut through the ceiling. It formed a perfect circle and made a hole that lead right into the room. Honey Lemon, Wasabi, and Gogo entered through the hole wearing their superhero costumes.
"Yeah!" Fred cheered. "I knew you couldn't resist the call of superhero-dom!"
The three armored heroes turned to the goons and engaged them. Gogo threw her disks at them, Honey Lemon concealed them in her chemical bombs, and Wasabi used his blades to cut down their weapons before knocking them out.
"Hiro, Tony, Fred, are you guys okay?" Honey Lemon asked.
"Much better now." Hiro said.
"A little spooked over almost losing my arc reactor, but other than that, everything's a bed full of flowers." Tony said.
"How'd you know we were here?" Fred asked. "Wait, were you guys out on night patrol without me?
"Fred, night patrol is not a thing." Gogo said.
Amidst the chaos, Hiro looked across the room and found Baymax's skeleton hanging around. He ran across to catch it, but was grabbed by his hoodie by Yama.
"Nobody hustles Yama!" Yama yelled.
"And gets away with it?" Hiro asked.
Tony approached Yama and tapped his shoulder to get his attention. When he turned, Tony held out his hand which had one of Honey Lemon's chemical balls in it. He immediately pressed it at his face quickly encasing him in ice. Hiro was able to free himself and unhook Baymax's body.
"Stick around, tiny." Tony said before running out of the hideout with the others. They escaped via Heathcliff's helicopter.
Now that everything had settled and the gang regrouped at Tadashi's lab, it was finally time for a confrontation. Specifically, with Hiro.
"So I'm sensing you're angry?" Hiro asked.
Baymax finally appeared on Hiro's computer screen. His eyes filled the screen. "Without my scanning capabilities, I am unable to detect nonverbal signs of anger. Are they glaring? Are their eyebrows down and together? Do you see narrowing of their lips?"
"Good to see you again, Baymax." Tony said. "Well, sort of, but you get the idea."
"Guys, I'm sorry I didn't tell you what I was doing." Hiro said.
"You could have gotten hurt." Honey Lemon said.
"I was a few minutes away from death." Tony said.
"And now, Yama has his own arc reactor!" Wasabi yelled.
"Well…" Hiro said before reaching into his jacket. He pulled out the new arc reactor and showed it to everyone. "As promised."
"I'm impressed." Gogo said before punching Hiro's arm. "But don't ever do that again."
"I won't." Hiro promised.
"Still, something's not right." Tony said. "Yama didn't want just any arc reactor. He wanted the one in my chest."
"That specifically?" Wasabi asked. "Why?"
"Apparently, he was told to by someone called Madame Masque." Tony said.
"Never heard of her." Gogo said.
"Neither have I." Tony said. "But it sounds like she wants me dead. Problem is, I don't know why."
"Well, that's a question that's gonna have to be answered another day." Hiro said. "Right now, I just want to focus on finishing Baymax."
"Got it. We'll give you all the time you need." Tony said. He left with the others.
After recovering from their wounds, the goons reported to Yama. One of them said, "Madame Masque won't be happy that we lost the boy."
"Not to worry, boys." Yama said. "We've got just the thing that will bring that boy's chest battery to us. He's not going to know what hit him."
Yama opened the door to the next room revealing an assembly line. One by one, more robots were being built that looked identical to Baymax's skeleton. Yama now had a whole army of Baymax robots with a single purpose…
Attacking Tony Stark.