hello, my friends!

here is chapter one! I hope you enjoy! A lot of this will be filler up until the major events...still I loved writing this it was so fun!

thanks silvie for letting me know you're not dead! XD

thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed this far! it can't have been easy to stick with me and the hamada bros this long! We only have about 30,000 more words (probably more knowing me), and then we'll be done!

I hope you guys love this chapter! Be prepared for lots more romance/angst/guilt/battles in the next few chapters!

thank you everyone!

peace out!

—HIRO—

I roll over in bed and, not wanting to open my eyes, grope around for the tissue box until I find it. Pulling a tissue out, I blow my nose as hard as I can, then ball the tissue up and throw it, not really caring anymore whether or not it lands in the trash can.

This is stupid. Two days into being leader and all I've managed to do is lay in bed with a 3D printer and a box of tissues. Thankfully, my illness seems to be nothing more than a cold, but it's still really annoying, and I won't be surprised if I've infected at least five other people. Hopefully I won't be too sick to fight when the time comes.

I bury my face in my pillow, letting out a sigh, and try to go back to sleep. Yeah, it's ten in the morning, but I still don't want to get up.

I'm shaken awake a few hours later by a loud clap of thunder that seems to rock Basemax so violently I think it might tip over. Great—the storm's still going. I wouldn't be surprised if it turned into a hurricane.

Sitting up, I blow my nose again, then gather up all the tissues that missed the trash can. I really need to aim better.

The 3D printer beeps as it finishes a piece of Silent Sparrow, and I tuck the segment under my bed with the other ones. Hopefully the portal will be finished in a few days.

Deciding to take a break from Silent Sparrow, I start formulating the designs for Professor Granville's and Abigail's suits. I don't know what colors to make them—everyone needs a different colored suit, so things aren't confusing, but I'm kinda running out of colors. All the suits are black with accents of the color everyone's chosen, so I at least don't have to use too much colored filament, but no two suits can be the same. I guess Granville can be orange—Fred's suit was a fire gradient, but not really orange, so I didn't use too much orange filament. Abigail's will be harder, probably a shade of dark yellow or a pastel pink since those are the colors I have left.

I pull up the scans I took yesterday and start shaping the first suit of armor on the printer, tailoring it to fit Granville. I think I'll put a heat ray in her arm guards—it'll work well with thermodynamics. I don't really know what weapon I should put in Abigail's suit, since I'm kinda out of ideas for those, too. Maybe I can ask Callaghan.

Leaving the printer to its work for a while, I wrap my blanket around my shoulders and stumble into the main room, where everyone else is gathered around the table. On the normally flat surface is a 3D, holographic map of San Fransokyo, with several buildings highlighted in red. I edge in next to Tadashi, who gives me a smile and a side hug.

"We know that the North Koreans are stationed mainly at KreiTech," Granville is saying. "If we can launch an attack on that base, it would severely deplete their reserves. Our one problem is that we do not know where they are keeping their weapons—if we set off any kind of explosion near nuclear missiles, we could potentially destroy the entire country."

"Well, then, we've got to figure out where the bombs are being kept," Callaghan puts in. "They could be at KreiTech—remember the message on the wall?"

"The only way to find out for certain would be to send in special operatives," Momokase says. "Preferably ones the North Koreans don't know are much of a threat, in which case I could not go on any intelligence-gathering missions. That also rules out Hiro, Megan, Tadashi, Callaghan, and Krei himself. Any of the rest of you would be somewhat less likely than the six of us to be recognized by the soldiers."

"So," Meg cuts in, "we need to break into KreiTech. Again."

"That's what it's looking like, yes," Callaghan agrees.

"Why do we have to keep breaking into my multibillion-dollar building?" Krei complains. "I spent rather a lot of time and money on it! What if the bombs aren't even there?"

"Then we'll have to find them some other way," Liv replies. "Basemax can scan for things, right? Can it scan for bombs?"

"Basemax?" I ask. "Can you scan for nuclear missiles in the city?"

"I cannot scan for nuclear missiles," Basemax replies. "My scanning is limited to certain materials such as graphene and deoxyribonucleic acid."

"So that's out, then," Meg sighs. "Looks like we'll have to send spies in. Hiro, who do you think would be good spies?"

"Well, I don't want to make anyone go," I reply, fully aware of how congested my voice sounds. "I'd feel better if they volunteered. But I just started the armor for Professor Granville and Abigail—the North Koreans won't even know what weapons they have. That'll at least give us the element of surprise—if they want to go, of course," I add, looking at the two women. "You obviously don't have to go if you don't want to."

"I want to help Big Hero 6," Abigail tells me. "I need to make up for joining Vortex."

"As do I," Granville agrees. "We will go."

"You guys don't have to make up for anything," I tell them. "Just being here is enough—for me, at least."

"You are correct about the element of surprise, Mr. Hamada," Granville reminds me. "It is best that we go. I'm assuming our suits will have similar functions to yours?"

"Yeah, I'll put in wings and invisibility and everything," I tell her. "We'll see what weapons I can give you guys. You'll have as much protection as you can—oh, and I'll have to give you guys bioink tattoos. Come see me after the meeting and we can do that—it's really important that all of us have them in case there are, you know, impostors."

I reach up to the button on my neck and press it, showing Granville and Abigail my light-up phoenix tattoo. I totally forgot it was even there—I haven't activated it in so long.

"A fascinating piece of technology," Granville muses, leaning in to examine the glowing purple bioink. "How does it work?"

I push up the hair on the back of my neck, turning to show her the button. "This is connected to electroreceptors in the bioink, which is made of my DNA, skin-safe resin, and pigmentation. I have to take skin samples so it'll merge with the cells, but it's not a painful process, not even when the printer injects the ink. And the buttons—well, they can probably be removed. No one's really tried. Hey, what colors do you want me to make yours? I've only got a few left, but they're pretty cool."

"We'll discuss that after the meeting," Granville decides. "For now, we should lay out the plan for our reconnaissance mission. Where should we sneak into KreiTech?"

I look toward Momokase. "You know more about spying than I do."

"I would advise not entering through the front door, as we did on our last mission," Momokase begins, zooming in on the hologram of KreiTech. "The North Koreans will mostly likely be guarding it after our previous escapade. In fact, the whole of the building probably possesses heightened security. I would suggest entering through the window we shattered in Krei's office—if it has been repaired, the glass is a sliding door, and if not, simply step through the sizable hole in the glass. From the office, you will take a right turn and follow the hallway until you come to the doors of the Amphitheater, which should be labeled. Try to ascertain that the room is empty before you enter, and report on if any nuclear missiles are stored inside. If there are none, I would recommend searching in the other large rooms. Report on the type, size, and number of missiles, then leave as soon as possible, preferably through the same way you entered. If it's guarded, find another exit and don't hesitate to fight your way out."

"But maybe don't kill anyone," I add hastily. "Like, seriously, if you can avoid it, no killing."

After Momokase has walked Granville and Abigail through the steps a few more times to make sure they remember them, Meg nudges my shoulder and whispers, "We've gotta do tattoos, right? And inductions?"

"Oh, yeah!" I gasp. "I've gotta go get dressed, though—hang on just a sec!"

I run back to the bedroom, grab my clothes, and change, pausing only to blow my nose again. Snatching up the printer, I hurry back to the main room.

"Here are the colors I've got," I tell Granville and Abigail, pulling out the rolls of resin filament. "Pick one, and I'll swab your skin for the DNA. Then I'll mix the sample with the resin and the electroreceptors, and I'll print the buttons for you guys."

To my relief, Granville does choose the orange, and after some debating, Abigail selects yellow. I'm gonna have to be careful not to make her suit too much like GoGo's—it'll just make us all sad.

The tattoos don't take long to print off, and when they're done, we all match—we're all full members of the resistance. But there's one thing I still have to do.

Megan has a much louder voice than I do, so I whisper to her that I need to call a meeting. Immediately, she shouts, "Everyone into the living room! Or whatever this room is called! We apparently need to have a meeting!"

I sit down in my usual chair, and Honey and Wasabi sit in theirs. But the other chairs are marked with the symbols of Baymax, GoGo, and Fred, so no one dares take a seat in them—and that's why I need to call this meeting. We need to fill those seats.

"Um," I start when everyone has arrived in the main room. "Sorry there aren't enough, you know, chairs. I'm sure we can get more of those at some point. Anyway, the reason I called you guys here is to fill the—uh—vacancies in Big Hero 6. As you know, there are three open spots, and I've been thinking for a few days about who the new members should be. I know it hasn't been that long since—since GoGo and Fred died, but this is war. I feel like we need a full team within the resistance to even be called Big Hero 6. And I think that's what Fred and GoGo would've wanted. Nobody's gonna replace them—they could never be replaced—but they need us to live up to them."

I take a deep breath. "Meg, Momokase, Tadashi, I want you three to be members of Big Hero 6."

All three of them look shocked for a second. Then Tadashi says, somewhat timidly, "Really?"

"Really," I tell him, amused. "You guys are all really important to the resistance. Tadashi, you're our conscience. Momokase, you're our best fighter. And Meg, you're the bravest person I know. You guys would have made awesome vigilantes if the war weren't going on."

"I don't deserve this, Hiro," Momokase insists. "I joined Vortex, was present for all of their missions, and I am nothing more than a spy and a double agent. Perhaps you should choose someone else to fill the position—someone more worthy. Someone less dangerous."

"Hang on," I tell her, holding up my hands. "You were a double agent? When?"

"I never divulged Echo's secrets to Vortex," Momokase tells me. "But I spied on Vortex for Echo. I warned T—a confidant that Vortex planned to burn the Lucky Cat, and provided the details of their more dangerous plans."

"Who was your confidant?" Meg asks, leaning forward with her eyes narrowed. "Are you sure Vortex never knew about any of our plans?"

"Even if they did, it would not matter," Momokase replies, "as all the members of Vortex have either joined Echo or been killed. I knew only the smallest details of your plans, anyway, from what little I heard before I left. Still, I admit that there was one plan Vortex knew of—but I will not incriminate my confidant without his consent. I only intended to make you aware of my faults, not his."

"It's okay, Momo," Tadashi says softly, and I look over at my brother, eyes wide.

"I was her confidant," Tadashi confesses. "Momo told me that Vortex was going to burn down the café, but she had to make it look like we hadn't been warned. She's the only reason we're not all dead."

His gaze drops to the ground. "I told Momo we were gonna burn down SFIT. She'd warned us about the café, and I thought I'd better return the favor. And…" He sighs. "I didn't want her to get hurt. Please don't punish her for telling the rest of Vortex—it wasn't Momo's fault. It was mine."

"And do not be angry with Tadashi," Momokase adds. "He was only trying to help me."

"Wow," I breathe. "You guys were spies this whole time and I didn't even know."

"We understand if you do not wish us to be members of Big Hero 6 anymore," Momokase tells me.

"Of course I still want you guys," I reassure her. "I'm actually…super impressed. You guys managed to get information to each other without any of us noticing, and you weren't afraid to get punished for helping people that were supposed to be your enemies. I don't know about you, but I think that was pretty dang heroic."

Tadashi smiles—and, amazingly, so does Momokase. I smile back, then turn slightly so I'm facing both them and Meg. "So—will you guys accept the positions? I really think we need you guys."

"I think we all accept," Meg tells me, a broad grin spreading across her face. "What do we do to get inducted?"

"I…don't know," I reply. "I've never done this before. When we first formed Big Hero 6, we didn't take an oath or anything. It just kinda…happened. In hindsight, maybe we should've taken an oath—although I don't think we really needed it, everyone was so into the superhero thing. But maybe you guys should make some kind of promise. For symbolism and stuff."

"Then I promise," Meg says, sounding determined, "to always defend my fellow superheroes—and my fellow civilians. I swear by heaven and earth that I will use all the power vested in me to protect my country and eliminate all threats to its safety by any means necessary—within reason. And finally, I promise that I will never forget the sacrifices made by those who have died for this country, and I swear to always uphold their legacies as long as the earth shall stand."

I stare at her, eyes wide, mouth slightly open. That was powerful.

"Where'd you come up with that?" Wasabi asks.

Meg shrugs. "I've been writing a better resistance induction oath. Remember how last time I just said 'promise not to do anything stupid?' I changed the words on the spot to fit this."

"I promise too," Tadashi says, raising his hand too. "Do I have to say that whole thing?"

"Nah," I tell him. "If you and Momokase both promise, that's enough for me."

They both affirm that they promise everything Meg did, and I stand up. Before I can say anything, though, I sneeze several times, probably spewing mucus all over the room. Dang this stupid cold.

"I guess we're officially Big Hero 6 again," I announce once the sneezing fit has abated. "For those of you not in the actual superhero group—I don't like you any less than these guys, I promise. I think you guys are all really important members of the resistance. Tadashi, Meg, and Momokase are just the ones I think we'll work best with. All the rest of you are still gonna have important jobs—like making weapons, communications, even spying. I really think we can take the North Koreans down, guys—we just have to keep fighting."

At this point, I half expect a rousing cheer from Fred, and a pang of grief shoots through my heart when it doesn't come. I hope he's cheering from heaven.

"Meeting adjourned?" I declare, somewhat tentatively. "Sorry—I'm not good at motivational speeches."

"Aw, you're fine," Tadashi tells me. "I suck at those too. What should we do now, Hiro? Do we need to do training, or should we sleep, or draw up plans?"

"Um—I have no idea," I reply, trying to come up with some kind of order to give everyone. "Whatever you guys want is fine, but maybe we could start getting ready for the spy mission. Also, if anyone else besides me could fix Krei's Buddy Guards, that'd be great. And now that I think about it, we've gotta start putting together Silent Sparrow—" I cut myself off with another sneeze. "Crap, that's a lot of stuff."

"I can work on the Buddy Guards," Wasabi volunteers. "It shouldn't be a hard repair."

"I helped build Silent Sparrow the first time," Callaghan adds. "I can start putting it together. But we'll need a frame—I can try to print that if you're not working on anything at the moment, Hiro."

"I kind of am working on stuff," I tell him, "but a frame shouldn't take that long to print. You can borrow the printer. Momokase, can you start training Professor Granville and Abigail for their mission?"

"It would be my pleasure," Momokase replies. "Perhaps I can take anyone who is not working and teach them stealth and fighting techniques—I feel certain that we have a better chance of beating North Korea if we can hone our technique."

"Sounds great!" I agree. "As soon as Callaghan's done with the printer, I'll work on the new suits—and then I'll give the others some upgrades. We need to have the element of surprise when we take back the city."

"Should we do a resistance cheer?" Meg asks. "Like, put our hands in the middle and yell something—like how Fred used to do it?"

"Yeah," I decide. "Hands in the middle, guys—what should we yell?"

"Big Hero 6," Honey suggests. "It's what Fred would have wanted."

We all put our hands together and shout on the count of three, and I can almost hear Fred and GoGo yelling with us, as well as Baymax's monotone voice. Just the thought threatens to cause a flood of tears, and I struggle not to let any fall.

After the circle breaks up, I retrieve the 3D printer from my room and give it to Callaghan, who calibrates the design for the portal frame and starts printing it. I think we'll put it in the main room—it's the only place big enough for the portal.

The frame is done in only a couple hours, and I help Callaghan assemble it next to the far wall. When it's done, we fuse the completed segments of Silent Sparrow together, and when I pull up my welding visor, I'm surprised to discover that I've already finished about a quarter of the portal. At this rate, I'll be done in about a week—but that's if I don't get any more printing orders. At this point, I already have to do upgrades and print two entirely new suits, so if anyone else asks me for weapons or things to get fixed, I'll probably end up chucking the printer out the window.

"Professor?" I ask as Callaghan welds the last segment to its neighbor. "What weapons do you think Abigail would want in her suit? I need to give everyone different powers, and I'm kinda out of ideas."

"Well, she used to be big into bot fighting," Callaghan reminds me. "Maybe you could give her some kind of robot to control, like Krei's Buddy Guards. You could even design different kinds—like ones with cameras for checking around corners or slipping under doors. They could be very useful on a spy mission."

"Awesome—thanks," I tell him. "I've gotta go start printing right now, then."

Grabbing up the printer, I carry it back into my room and sit down on my bed, snatching a tissue without even thinking and blowing my nose again. I hope this cold goes away soon.

As soon as I start calibrating the armor, I retreat entirely into my world, which consists of only myself, the bed, the printer, and the ever-present box of tissues. I don't know how long I spend in my head, but by the time the armor is done, Tadashi is calling that it's time for dinner.

Thankfully, we have some food stored in the cupboards and fridge of Basemax, so it shouldn't be a disappointing dinner like it always was in Muirahara. I hope we've got enough to feed everyone for at least a few days.

Sure enough, when I come into the kitchen area, Tadashi has heated up several frozen pizzas. They look so much better than anything I've eaten in the past few weeks that my mouth starts to water immediately after the smell hits my nose—which is an impressive feat, given that I'm severely congested at the moment.

As soon as everyone is at the table, Tadashi says a quick prayer on the food, and then we eat. I swear nothing has ever tasted so good as this frozen pizza that's been in our freezer for at least a month and a half.

"I finished the suits," I inform the table after swallowing a large amount of pizza. "Anyone want upgrades?"

Momokase raises her hand. "I would not be opposed to several graphene shurikens. They are easier to throw than blades, and I have trained with them before. If you have graphene to spare, that would be excellent, but if not, then you have permission to destroy one of my blades to make them."

"No, I've got extra," I tell her. "I'll get to work on those after dinner. Anyone else?"

"I think my Buddy Guards should really be waterproof," Krei informs me. "It would be a lot easier to use them in the rain."

"You don't have to do those, Hiro," Wasabi adds. "I've been working on them, and I think I can make that update."

"Do you think we should start making some other kind of weapons?" Honey asks. "Obake had all those microbots when we fought him. I think we should try to make something to combat those."

"What about robots?" Chief Cruz suggests. "Megan was telling me about an idea she had near the start of the war—see, there are these tiny little robotic dinosaurs, and if we could make them bigger—"

Meg's hand darts into her pocket, and she pulls out the little FlexiRex she made back at the labor camp. "Yeah! What if we just upscaled a FlexiRex and gave it, like, pyrokinesis? That would be seriously awesome!"

"Maybe I can make one of those," I laugh. "But only after I'm done with Silent Sparrow—that has priority right now. After that, we can make all the weapons we want."

Meg is silent for a moment. "Can it still have pyrokinesis?"

"Why not."

"Also, could I have some tranquilizer darts?" Meg asks. "For upgrades? They're fun to use—and I think I'm better at aiming those than magnet disks. Another graphene blade might be good too—Jeong took mine in the prison."

"No more requests," I groan, putting my hands to my temples. "I have too many things to make already."

"But you asked if we wanted upgrades."

"Which, in hindsight, was a bad decision. Don't worry, I'll make everything you want, but I need to finish Silent Sparrow first."

Meg smiles. "Thanks, Hiro. Don't overwork yourself—especially not while you're sick. Honestly, you should probably be laying down. Right, Tadashi?"

"Yep," Tadashi agrees, crossing his arms. "As soon as we're done with dinner, Hiro, I want you to go to bed. You've gotta get rid of that cold before we take the city back—and before you infect anyone else."

"I think I'm getting it," Liv tells him. "A lot of us probably are."

"Has Sycorax invented, I don't know, some kind of biotechnological cure for coryza yet?" Krei asks. "That seems like the kind of business venture you'd pursue, Liv."

"As a matter of fact, we've started," Liv admits. "But Sycorax was destroyed before we could complete the project. I hope we can rebuild it after the war is over."

"We'll rebuild the whole city," Krei reassures her, clasping her hand in both of his. "If I've got any money left at the end of this war, I'll help you rebuild Sycorax first."

Liv smiles, and I look away. Hers and Krei's love life is none of my business—although I do wonder how long they've been cultivating it. Was it a thing before the war, or did it just happen when they were thrown together in this resistance?

Getting up, I dump my paper plate in the trash and try to sneak out of the kitchen without attracting attention. Tadashi, of course, notices, and says, "Go to bed, Hiro. Seriously. Sleep is the only thing that'll help that cold."

I roll my eyes but head for the bedroom, realizing that I'm actually pretty tired, despite how long I've slept in the past few days. War is exhausting, having a cold is exhausting, and when you combine the two, all you want to do is sleep. Maybe when I wake up, I'll be miraculously healed.

After changing into pajamas—thank goodness we keep extra clothes at Basemax, on Wasabi's OCD brain's orders—I flop into bed, curling up under the covers, and listen to the sounds of the storm outside. The thunder is louder than I've ever heard before, and if there was a window in the bedroom, I'm sure I'd be able to see lightning flashing through it. Rain pounds on the roof, so hard I'm afraid it might punch a hole clean through, and the wind is howling to the point where I think it'll blow Basemax right over. I'm pretty sure the storm has progressed into a hurricane—it's happened before in San Fransokyo. Usually, storms don't last this long—it better not be anything higher than a Category Two, because that kind of thing would totally delay our spy mission.

Sleep takes me slowly but surely, and the sounds of the storm fade as I sink into soft darkness, my dreams turning the thunder into the explosions of bombs and the shrieking wind into the screams of civilians. Whatever sleep I get is not going to be very restful—as long as this war is going on, I'm gonna have nightmares about it.

I have to end it, if only for that.