Chapter 45, everybody! Time to finally go after the journal!

So the wiki has some of the concept art for the episode "Rivalry Weak," which also includes the layout of SFAI campus—and yes, the statue is within eyesight of the Shimamoto house. Tadashi is channeling Peter Fox from Bill Amend's Foxtrot comic in his rant, by the way.

Now you know how you see someone getting shocked and they just sort of fly back away from the shock? Turns out that's an involuntary response where the body just basically yeets itself away from the danger. And despite their current orientation High Voltage aren't really bad guys, hence Juniper's actions. Also Obake is a twig even as an adult so he's even more so as a teen. And hopefully the microbots feel like a ball pit. Obake's quoting "Who Are You?" by The Who—if you ever watched the original CSI, you've heard it before.

In other news, Obake knows better than to run his mouth where it can be used against him. The Volkswagen hanging from the Torii Gate Bridge is in reference to an article I read about MIT(?) students doing the exact same thing. And no, having a lawyer present when talking to the police is not a sign of guilt, it's just covering your bases. And yes, once you ask for a lawyer anything said afterwards is inadmissible in court, hence why questioning is to stop once you ask for one.

Big Hero 6 © 2014 Disney

To be fair, Obake didn't have a good feeling about this either.

There was a lot of intense debate on this—go in while everyone was distracted with the statue, or wait a day for everything to calm down and risk losing the journal. Neither one was a truly tenable option.

Unfortunately, losing the journal was the bigger threat to the city—hence him sneaking into SFAI under the invisibility cloak with the excuse of providing on-the-ground feedback. Had to admit though, the sound of the improved microbots slithering along even though he couldn't exactly see them was a tad unnerving.

"So I wouldn't have thought to use the invisitech on the microbots," Hiro said into his comm.

"And that's why you're consulting me," Obake pointed out, eyeing the cop cars parked outside Shimamoto's manor. Dangit. "Mostly because there's police within line-of-sight of the statue. Might want to keep them cloaked for the time being."

"Dangit," Hiro hissed.

"I see them too," Tadashi said, operating an updated Buzzmax. "Also, by the way, I have concerns about you apparently liberating more than just the invisibility cloak."

"Krei stiffed me, this was the next option," Obake said, going around to the back of the house.

"Yeah but you knew he was going to stiff you—" Silence for a beat. "You totally planned to rob him blind from day one, didn't you?"

"Finally, he's learning."

"OBAKE—"

"Oh dear you're breaking up."

"I am not and you are SO not getting out of this conversation—"

Obake's response to that was to pull his comm out of his ear and stuff it in his pocket before heading into the house. Okay, start in the living room, it would make sense to have the mechanism be close—

Had only just started checking the bottom shelf of the first bookcase when he heard the back door open and shut again. Freeze, start backing up into a corner, making sure he was still totally covered—

The younger member of High Voltage snuck in, eyeing the cars parked out front before going to the blinds and easing them closed. Oh this was bad. Stuff his hand back into his pocket, put his comm back into his ear as Juniper closed the next set of blinds, gingerly sneaking out of the room so he could duck into the kitchen—

"And then AFTER I haul your sorry butt back to Krei Tech—"

"Tadashi will you shut. Up," he hissed into the comm. "I'm in the Shimamoto house—High Voltage is here."

Dead silence.

"High Voltage is there?"

Despite everything, Obake had to blink at the new voice. "What happened to you opting out of this?"

"Tadashi invited me," Honey Lemon began sheepishly. "And, well, Gogo sort of volunteered for SFIT defense—"

"Later," Tadashi said. "Obake, get out of that house—"

That option was cut off by the door opening and closing again—Obake scuttled back, nearly tripping over the cloak as Barb snuck in, heading for the living room—

"Mama!?"

"Juney!?"

"Oh no," Juniper said, holding her arms in an X position. "No—you are not stealing this from me I'm finding this stupid book and getting the orb back—"

"Oh no you're not," Barb said, jabbing a finger at her. "I might have taught you everything you know, but I certainly didn't teach you everything I know!"

"That is such a stupid cliché!"

"Watch how you talk to your mother!"

Okay now would be a good time to leave—start sidling along the bookshelves, angling for the door—heck, front door even, alert the police and solve this little problem—

Which was when Juniper blasted the whole room with electricity in a fit of pique. Yelp, jump back at the shock that made his face tingle painfully, end up slamming into a bookshelf and taking several shelves down with him, a book hitting him on the head painfully—

And alerting High Voltage to the fact that they had company.

"What was that?" Juniper barked.

"Stay behind me, Juney," Barb said, glaring at where Obake was—oh great don't tell him there was a book or two just floating in midair—

And then she ripped the cloak off, alerting him to the fact that Juniper's little shock had shorted the invisibility cloak. Wince at Juniper making a little arc of electricity between two fingers—

"Excuse me?" Barb demanded, glaring at him—was probably a good time to get out of here.

Juniper dodged the book he chucked at her, but it achieved his immediate goal of getting that light extinguished—bolt for the back door—

Got hit by a bolt of electricity, sending all synapses frying and throwing him into an end table, his face meeting a little clock on his way down.

"You don't think that was a little…excessive," Juniper noised, trailing off.

"Not with that face I don't," Barb said. "You mind explaining to me what's going on? Why would that guy send his own kid to—"

Honestly he had been twitching too badly to even register that comment, was more preoccupied with trying to get everything working again to even register the startled yelps—

Did register the floor giving away and him tipping down into it.

Panic, scramble—managed to catch the edge before he went over—felt his feet dangling—

Good news, he reflected as he glanced down: he had found Shimamoto's secret lair. Bad news: so had High Voltage.

Tried to haul himself back up, couldn't quite get it—there was no place for him to hook a foot and he didn't have the upper body strength to pull himself up—

Was startled by Juniper going to her knees above him and reaching down.

"Hang on," she said, grabbing him and hauling him up—no time to really think about it, just keep scrabbling, her hooking a hand into his belt as he slowly regained solid ground—

Lay there, panting, taking a few long moments to process this.

"Are you okay?" Juniper asked.

"Y-yes," he gasped, pushing himself up. "I think so—"

"Good."

In retrospect, he should have expected her to grab him and haul him close, one hand easily pinning both of his wrists before he could react.

"Juney, leave him," Barb ordered, already heading down the stairs.

"Nuh-uh—that stupid diary was a stretch anyway," Juniper said, shaking her head. "Now making him trade his kid—that'll get the energy orb." Hold a couple fingers close to his face, an arc of electricity zapping between them menacingly—Obake barked in pain as it made his SK malfunction. "Sorry!"

Barb was most of the way down the stairs by now, looking at them with something between disparaging and empathetic. "Juniper, honey, you don't have the attitude for kidnapping—it won't end well."

"W-well you can keep looking for some musty old book," Juniper countered, standing and hauling Obake to his feet—twitchy muscles meant he couldn't help or resist. "I am taking my chances with the immediate prize."

Honestly she'd probably get his undying thanks for delivering the primary thorn in his side to him, which was a fate he was honestly desperate to avoid—start struggling, yelp in pain as she zapped his side—

The front windows suddenly exploded, startling Juniper into letting go—

His attempt at diving for the stairs fell short, nearly fell into the depths again before catching himself, scrambling down and slipping on the sea of seething black pouring in—

The microbots?

"Juniper!" Barb barked—zapped the microbots, causing some of them to short out and causing Obake to slip the rest of the way downstairs—ow, ow ow, pain later, journal now—

Except Juniper was sparking wildly, trying to stop the microbots that were already knee-deep in the basement—a stray bolt caused the Buzzmax to become visible—

Tadashi tackled her from behind, pinning her arms to her side and lifting her up, grimacing against her continued shocks—

Yelped and fell with her into the microbots when Barb shocked him.

"Juney!" Barb yelped, wading for her as fast as she could—Obake was torn between checking on Tadashi and trying to get the journal—

Bolted for the latter when Tadashi surfaced, backpedaling from High Voltage as fast as he could through the microbots. Come on come on where was it where was it? Start grabbing books, flipping through them, tossing them away and moving on to the next when they didn't have the familiar contents—

One book hit the desk odd, causing a section to depress and slide away—

The book he was looking for rose up out of the table. Dive for it, grab it—

Yelp and flinch back into the shelves when a bolt of electricity grazed his nose, eye watering as the SK reacted poorly to it again.

"That's mine, thank you," Barb said, a sparking hand aimed at him.

Ground his teeth together as he tried to think of a comeback—"I can't let you have this."

"You're not in a position to bargain. Juney?"

Juniper started menacing Tadashi with electrified hands, making Obake's heart freeze—no, no, he couldn't let something happen to Tadashi, if he did then everything was for naught—but he couldn't let them take the journal back to him, if he did that then everyone was dead—

Flip the journal open and seize a handful of pages. "Hurt him and I rip it!"

Barb's hand sparked brighter. "You're still not in a position to bargain."

No he wasn't—glance down at the microbots, could see them pulsing as they tried to restart—wouldn't be fast enough, needed to do something—steel himself, reasoning that removing even some of the pages from his grip would be enough—

A book fell on Juniper's head, sending her stumbling back and falling into the microbots—Barb looked over sharply—

"Sorry!" Honey Lemon called—grabbed another book and threw it in. "Sorry!"

"You again!" Barb shot—aimed a bolt at Honey Lemon, sending her diving behind the couch—

The front windows flooded with light. "Police! Freeze!"

"Juniper! Get the book!" Barb yelled, shooting bolts of electricity at the windows—Obake saw her coming, scrambled back, nearly tripping over a book he had thrown—idea.

Had the journal tossed down and several more books thrown down on top of them before Juniper shocked him through the microbots.

"Sorry," she said, digging through the pile of books. "So sorry, nothing personal—hey!" she barked, ducking the book he threw at her. Zapped him again—

By the time the stars stopped dancing in his eyes and his body decided to start functioning again, High Voltage was gone and he was forced to admit that the light in his eyes was a police flashlight aimed at him.

"Ah," he noised—winced at the throbbing in his head. "Let me guess: 'I can go sleep at home tonight if I can get up and walk away.'"

Apparently, policemen didn't exactly appreciate brain-addled recitations of songs by the Who.

So this could be going better.

Forget the fact he honestly didn't know if High Voltage had gotten the journal or not, or the fact that the invisibility cloak and who knew how many microbots were now in police custody, or the fact that he ached all over from getting shocked multiple times. No, right now the peak of suck was being sandwiched between Tadashi and Honey Lemon in the back of a police cruiser as they were being delivered to a holding tank, most likely.

Although Tadashi obviously fretting over him was way up there.

"Are you okay?" Tadashi asked almost as soon as they were in the backseat. "Are you hurt?"

"I'll live," Obake muttered. For now, he added silently, not liking the concept of the journal being missing in action—did High Voltage have it? Was it still there? If it was still in the basement there was a good chance he could retrieve it when they went and did a stupid like putting it in a museum—

"Good. Now what were you thinking!?" Tadashi hissed.

Oi. "You're going to have to be more specific. Later," he added quietly, very pointedly looking at the cops in the front seat.

"Oh sure later you are so dead when we get home."

"Bold of you to assume we'll make it there with you making death threats where policemen can hear."

"Maybe we can all calm down a little bit," Honey Lemon suggested. "I mean, SFAI has never pressed charges before."

"You've broken into that house before?" the passenger-side cop asked.

"Er—no, see, I go there, and—"

"And we're going to stop talking now," Obake said.

Which carried them the rest of the way to the police station—and to his surprise, not to some holding tank, although he deeply regretted this when he realized they were plopped in front of the police chief's desk.

Especially when he was forcibly reminded that the police chief was that guy who had given him the stink-eye during that ill-advised breakfast.

"Ah," Tadashi noised, recognizing the man as well. "Hi, Chief Cruz."

Cruz, meanwhile, looked like he had somehow mastered combining the disappointed dad and irate police chief expressions, resulting in the two on either side of him squirming a little despite Obake being the focus of his ire. Amateurs.

"So," he said finally. "Do any of you three feel like explaining yourselves?"

"You're going to have to be more specific," Obake said, before the other two could splutter their way through this.

Cruz's eyebrow twitched. "Let's start with you being on SFAI property."

"Ah," Tadashi said. "You know Spirit Week and the rivalry between SFIT and SFAI, right? Nicking the statue, being glitter-bombed, somebody's Volkswagen ends up hanging from the Torii Gate Bridge…."

"And we'll talk about the missing statue later. Right now we're going to be focusing on the part where you three were in the Shimamoto house fighting a pair of criminals. Are you insane."

"Okay, so we couldn't leave Obake in there by himself—"

"Which bears asking the question of what you were doing in there to begin with. Last I checked, the Shimamoto statue was out in the middle of an open plaza, not in a house. And what's with this basement no one was aware of until tonight?"

"I mean, Fred will be happy," Honey Lemon offered. "He's writing a story and he figured there was a hidden compartment there."

"And you were in there looking for a compartment you didn't know existed?"

Okay this had gone on long enough. "I think we should be having a lawyer present for this."

Honey Lemon and Tadashi looked at him, but Cruz just lifted an eyebrow. "And you think you need a lawyer because?"

"Because we're having a conversation with a member of law enforcement," Obake said.

"You're aware that makes you look guilty, right?"

"Of what, pray tell? What, exactly, are we being charged with?"

"Technically nothing yet, but if I wanted to, trespassing and destruction of property for starters, attempted thievery…."

"All paper-thin. Now, during any conversation with an officer of the law we are entitled to have a lawyer present, questioning must stop until the lawyer arrives, and anything you get from us between now and the lawyer arriving is inadmissible. I suggest you stop now."

Cruz was starting to look consternated, looked when he heard footsteps and his name being called—Obake and the others looked too to see Cass steaming for them, Hiro hot on her heels.

"What is going on?" she demanded once she was even with them.

"That's what I'd like to know," Cruz said, gesturing at them. "I thought you said Tadashi was the good kid."

"So I'm not sure how to take that being in the past tense," Tadashi muttered.

"I mean you do have an arrest record," Hiro said, leaning around Cass a bit.

"Yeah, and that's your fault, dingus."

"Okay you two chill," Cass ordered. "Diego, answer the question."

Cruz sighed. "We found these three in the Shimamoto house alongside High Voltage—"

"Wait, that dance duo that robbed all those ATMs?"

"Yes, them—we found them fighting High Voltage, those two get away, but it leaves the question of what this group here was doing there to begin with."

"Well," Honey Lemon hedged. "We were there to steal the statue—temporarily, it was for Spirit Week…and there were police cars so we tried sneaking around the back…um, we heard—"

"Someone in the bushes, thought it was campus security, and ducked in the house," Obake filled in quickly.

"Yeah," Cruz said drily. "You know that sounds suspect, right?"

"It doesn't matter," Obake said, trying to keep from grinning at him. "I asked for a lawyer. I could confess to a murder right now and you couldn't act on it because anything I say now is inadmissible."

"Cass no offense to your parenting but this one watched too much Law & Order."

"Okay all of you stop," Cass ordered as Obake rolled his eyes. "Diego, are they actually being charged with anything?"

"No," Cruz sighed, checking his phone. "The people at SFAI are too taken with that hidden basement they found to even think about it, so I don't really have a reason to keep them. Unless you want a night off, then I do have a cell handy."

"Yeah no we're going home now you three up and all four of you in the truck," Cass said, gesturing.

"All right—but you two," Cruz said, stopping Tadashi and Obake as they started to get up. "This is the second time you two have been involved in a call—third strike, you're out. Am I clear?"

"Oh yeah, crystal," Tadashi said, nodding. "Obake?"

"You'd never get the charges to stick," Obake said, barely even bothering to give Cruz a glance as he got up and headed for the door.

Right now, he honestly had bigger problems than some police chief eyeballing him.