Chapter 50, everybody! Hey we've only got like twenty chapters left!
Mom has told me over the years that if I stayed awake in class I was guaranteed a C, and since a C is passing that's enough. The college professor that talks about everything but the subject they're teaching was one of Dad's college professors, so yeah it still pays to do the homework.
In other news, that might be a little reference to the nuke scene from Terminator 2. Miso soup as comfort food stems from a Spider-Man comic I read where MJ goes to California for a gig and after a rough day the bartender gives her a bowl. Hiro, meantime, is quoting Lilo and Stitch. And a reference to Season 3 because yes, Fred is talking about Crushroom. I've had takeout wonton soup so hot that it burned my legs just sitting on my lap, so mood on Hiro's situation. Fred's referring to the Cinematherapy guys and those guys are definitely nice to listen to. The fortune cookie scene sort-of references a similar scene in Home Improvement ("Try another cookie"), although the third cookie is a quote by Martin Luther King, Jr.—our calendars have inspirational quotes every month and that was the…October one last year while I was working on this fic. Seemed fitting. In other news, fortune cookies are actually an American thing invented in California and first recorded as being served in a restaurant in San Francisco. And of course Captain America goes to Boss Awesome for advice he's Stan Lee.
Juxshoa, thanks for the review! Yes good for them! :D
Big Hero 6 © 2014 Disney
The fiddly detail work, as Tadashi called it, took up a chunk of the next day, Obake distractedly thinking about all the ways to avert the coming catastrophe despite Hiro insisting he help him study.
"You'll be fine," he said finally, trying to tamp down his irritation at what felt like a non-issue. "If you stayed awake in class you'll get a C, that's passing."
"That's what Aunt Cass said," Hiro said, handing him a tool before going back to bundling all the cables together and tying them in place. "But she also warned against college professors that talk about everything except the class they're teaching."
"And do you have classes like that?"
"Uh…."
"You'll be fine academically, Hiro."
"Why did you specify academically? What do you know that I don't?"
Well he knew that the city would soon come to an end and that the only reason he was bothering with this was because the Kentucky Kaiju had been instrumental in drowning the star machine so this was a just in case thing. Granted, he was also certain that Fred would use this for assorted stupidity, but at the very least he wouldn't be interested in the kaiju because it served no purpose to his end goal.
That thought brought back the pained cramp in his stomach—he had the full schematics to Shimamoto's star machine. He also had the original energy orb from High Voltage. At best all he was missing was the means to amplify that energy, and then this city was toast. He needed some way to slow him down, something to at least buy himself some more time—
"Hey my dudes!" Fred greeted, coming in. "OHHHH my gosh LOOK at him—HE'S GLORIOUS," Fred said, gesturing at the kaiju stretched out along the warehouse.
"Wanna hear the specs?" Hiro asked, grinning as he poked his head out of one of the eyes.
"Ooh yes spec me my man."
Obake watched as Hiro excitedly explained the kaiju to him, reflecting—this time before, he had been putting the final touches on the machine before moving on to concerning himself with fuel. Converting H2O into D2O wasn't terribly time-consuming…it wouldn't be enough of a reprieve.
And he had the microbots now.
That one was enough to give him a cold sweat to go with the stomach pains—any delays Obake might have machined up were immediately negated thanks to the microbots. Despite his hard work, he was rocketing right back along the same timeline, only this time he had no reason to dither. A few days after Halloween, at best, and then the city would be gone.
Huff—he couldn't talk Cass into leaving, despite trying his best—she thought seeing him had spooked him (which, fair, he had) and that standing her ground and hitting him over the head with cast iron would solve any and all problems. Not that that would work against a star exploding over the bay…did allow himself a couple of minutes of fantasy, though, picturing himself telling Cass where she could find his 'father' and then watching the resulting carnage of her marching to his old lair armed with knives and a frying pan to clean house. Might have to have that one as a last-ditch survival plan, honestly, except there was also a good chance she'd run into Momakase too—she had been on the short list of intended survivors, until Hiro had escaped and he sent her out to retrieve him. Hadn't even given any thought as to whether or not she'd survive after she got bogged down with fighting Big Hero Six.
Couldn't help the little twitch of his facial muscles at that—on a pedantic level he knew he should feel guilty about that, and maybe some newer part of him did; she would have been vaporized along with anyone else along the harbor, or just plain killed by the resulting catastrophe. He should have told her to forget them and retreat…but that would have meant giving up Hiro, even after the boy had shown that he would do everything in his power to stop him, even if it resulted in the boy's own death.
Look over at where Hiro and Fred were, bouncing around in front of the control panel as Hiro explained what all the buttons did—where they would be, in an alternate future, trapped inside as it started filling with water, doing what had to be done to stop the star from destroying the city.
Where they had been when he sent Baymax to save Hiro.
Look away, swallowing hard, scrubbing at the one side of his face as it flared—those moments before his lair came crashing down on him…they had grown distant as he had become entrenched in this new lifestyle his insanity had brought on, were becoming vivid once again as they came closer to that day—he was barely getting any sleep now, every time he did just saw him back in those final moments.
Running through his collapsing lair, now desperate for life, desperate to continue living it—escape getting cut off, being yanked back by bony squelching fingers—
"You wanted this."
The rare times he did escape, running back to the Lucky Cat and begging them to leave, at one point bodily dragging Hiro out only for Hiro to strike out at him, screaming at how he was letting his aunt, letting everyone die—
"You wanted this."
A sickly glowing sun rising over the bay, burning their skin before exploding, blasting the city flat, vaporizing Hiro's flesh before him until there was only a blackened skeleton crumbling before him—him falling to his knees, screaming soundlessly, body wanting to tear apart—
"You wanted this."
Him, frequently doing his best to skip sleeping and mainlining coffee because he couldn't handle those night terrors, the reminders of what he had done, what he had tried to do….
What he would do.
Sigh, rest his head against the panel, closing his eyes—he hadn't been able to bring himself to eat much lately, and that compounded with little sleep wasn't doing much for him. But he couldn't afford to slack off, to waste even a minute…he had to stop this, before….
Gleefully setting the machine in motion, turning to a horrified Hiro and trying to explain to him the beauty of all this, to get that mixed look of horror and hatred off his face—
"This is wrong."
Wave that off—the ability to tell the difference had long been lost to him, and in his opinion things were much more fun—
"You can't do this."
He could and he would, and once everyone the boy cared about was dead he'd be much more open to his way of thinking—
"Stop this."
Blink, look to the side—Cass.
This was not how this memory went.
"You know what a good life looks like and you're afraid of it going away, but it's not, okay? So long as I'm here it's not."
Her, crumbling to dust in front of him—Hiro running to her, falling to his knees, crying—
Armored and seething with hate when he stood back up and faced him.
"You did this."
Try to step back, legs mired in cold water and debris—
"Baymax, destroy."
Ribs crushed, water drowning him—
"Obake—hey Obake! Wake up!"
Jolted awake, toes hitting metal—do not tell him he fell asleep in the kaiju oh come on—
Sat up once he was assured his face wouldn't do the thing, leaning back against the metal and looking anywhere but at Hiro sitting next to him.
"I told Fred you've been having nightmares," Hiro said.
"Why would you tell him that?" he demanded.
"Because you fell asleep right here and I needed to explain that? Are you okay?"
"I don't want to talk about it."
"Well I do—seriously, what is up with you?"
"You'd never believe me."
"Try me."
Oh what the heck he might as well. "All right then," he said, barking a short mirthless laugh before looking at Hiro. "I'm actually an adult pushing forty, I died about five months back after a failed attempt to destroy the city and woke up like this. Also, sometime around Halloween the city is actually going to get destroyed so if you could convince your aunt and brother to take a vacation around that time, that'd be swell."
Hiro blinked at him several times, expression blank. "You're right, I don't believe you. Ever think about getting more sleep?"
Figures. "I don't have time for sleep," he groaned, sagging against the wall.
"I feel like Baymax would contest that."
"I don't care." He did care, he cared and that was the problem if he left everything like this everything he had grown to care for would be gone he'd be gone and with no means to argue his case—everything that had happened had happened purely and simply because of his selfishness—even saving Tadashi had been selfish! Some—some half-baked thought that came from something that would never exist—
"My dudes, I brought miso soup!" Fred called. "I've always found it to be a feel-good food so…dude is he okay?" Fred asked, alerting him to the fact that he was hugging his knees to his chest with his head buried in his arms—no, no, we were not having a total breakdown in front of Hiro and we were most certainly not having them in front of Fred there were standards, dangit.
"Obake is troubled," Hiro said, tone sounding aggravatingly like Tadashi when he quoted something. "Maybe he needs desserts."
"I mean I do keep emergency packets of cookies on hand at all times but maybe we start with the miso because it makes you all nice and warm on the inside—plus it warms your hands up here hold this feel the love."
Maybe if he ignored them they'd go away. Decided that was a pipe dream when he felt Hiro poking him. "I'm not eating anything from Fred," he muttered. "Health reasons."
"Oh don't worry dude the miso is takeout," Fred said. "I know a place that does delivery and the stuff is still nice and toasty when it gets to you. Although now it gets here faster because they use a robot to do it and that's cool but I also feel bad for the delivery guy that lost his job, you know?"
Warmth flopped against him—lifted his head a little to see Hiro leaning against him, holding the takeout bag in his lap.
"This soup is really hot, by the way," Hiro said. "So if Baymax says I have burns later I'm blaming you."
"You could put it on the floor, you know," he pointed out.
"Yeah, but if I do that I can't guilt you into taking it."
Grumble, take the bag and put it on his other side to keep Hiro from grabbing at it again.
"So my dude if you want I'd be totally cool with you sleeping here I mean I know I would given the opportunity," Fred said. "Can totally get feeling safe inside Kentucky Kaiju I mean that's why I got a plushie one that sleeps with me."
"Fred. Stop. Talking," Obake ground out.
"Obake doesn't like talking about his feelings. Or himself," Hiro said. "One of these days we're going to have to lock him in a room with Baymax before he explodes."
"You do that and I'll dismantle that robot in a way that he'll never be able to be reassembled." No he wouldn't—he couldn't even look at the robot now let alone touch it.
"I mean we could lock you in a room with a therapist but, you know, those cost money."
"They're also quacks."
"Not all of them," Fred said, pondering. "There's this one guy on YouTube who analyzes movies with a director friend of his, and they seem to know their beans."
Hiro nodded, stood, reached over Obake for the takeout.
"What are you doing?" Obake demanded.
"I want some soup," Hiro said.
"You can go around me it's not hard."
"If I do I'm sitting down there and me and Fred can make an Obake sandwich."
"Stop this." Grab the takeout. "Fine fine I'm eating happy?"
Hiro was grinning as he plopped back down. "I still want some soup."
"Have a fortune cookie," Obake said, flicking it at him.
"What's it say?" Fred asked after Obake had his moment of silence (punish me not them they don't deserve this—).
"'Reach for the stars,'" Hiro read.
Obake took that fortune, crumpled it, and threw it away.
"So you're a total downer," Hiro observed.
"I'm guessing you got three soups," Obake said, changing the subject.
"It seemed a wise choice, seeing as how there's three of us," Fred said, taking the bag when Obake pulled a soup out. "Here Hiro, try another cookie."
Hiro broke the cookie, tugged out the fortune. "'You are your own worst enemy.'"
Obake nodded. "Now that one sounds like mine."
"I've told you you were weird, right? Like, recently?"
"I'm aware of this observation, yes."
"Oh hey there's a third one," Fred said, pulling it out. "Let's see what it says."
Hiro looked. "'The time is always right to do what is right.'"
Arch an eyebrow, smother the very pointed thought before offering an apology…okay fine. He wasn't dead yet (yet), there was still time to stop this.
"After this we can get back to work," Obake said, sipping at his soup.
"Uh, no," Hiro said. "You fell asleep and we don't need you wiring while distracted. We can finish it tomorrow, we'll have Tadashi by then."
"I'd rather not."
"My dude, I can wait one more day for my totally epic kaiju," Fred said, a hand to his chest.
"No you can't, Fred."
"All those in favor of finishing tomorrow?" Hiro asked, raising his hand. Fred raised his as well. "Sorry, Obake, but you were outvoted."
"I hate you both."
"No you don't."
"Fine then, I hate Fred."
"Dude," Fred noised.
Hiro was not to be dissuaded, and Obake found himself dragged out of the kaiju and out of the warehouse after the soup was done.
"You need a dessert infusion anyway," Hiro said. "I mean yes you had soup but you need sugar."
"Low insulin levels are not my problem, Hiro," Obake groused.
"You don't know that."
Actually, he did, his problem involved his plotting self in the bay—glanced at it on the trolley ride back to the Lucky Cat—
Took a double-take at the new structure out in the water. Hiro noticed, turned to look—
"What is that?" Hiro asked.
"Oh yeah my dudes I saw that!" Fred said. "It was on the news today—apparently the city had a new statue built dedicated to Boss Awesome!"
"In the bay?" Hiro asked—blinked as the rest of the statement registered. "Wait, who?"
"Boss Awesome—you know, the superhero."
"I don't remember that one in the Avengers."
"My dude he is past the Avengers—Steve Rogers goes to him for advice."
"So…still don't get why the city built a statue for a fictional character."
"Zorro," Obake muttered.
"Zorro existed," Hiro countered.
"Boss Awesome is a real guy, Hiro," Fred said. "With real supervillains—remember that Baron Von Steamer guy who attacked my bro-tillion?"
"Yeah, that was weird."
"Stupid name," Obake grumbled—
Wait hold on—the big metal statue in the bay, the one that had turned into Steamer's likeness—this was him. This was Steamer's ill-planned revenge.
Obake considered the big statue in the bay again. On the one hand, this meant Steamer, again, with his stupid name and ancient tech. And again, no Big Hero Six to stop him.
On the other…if this was the scheme he thought it was, then this had been when he hacked the team's comms to basically hand the solution to them on a silver platter. Not from any particular altruism (although raging pettiness did have something to do with it), but to keep Steamer from sucking up the bay water he was busy converting to heavy water for the star machine.
And no Big Hero Six meant no easy way to get rid of this particular annoyance.
"Dude, what is with that sudden smile?" Fred asked. "You know it's kinda scary, right?"
Yes he was aware, no he did not care. "Just admiring the artwork." And cackling at the idea that he would be having to deal with this with no clear means to get rid of it.
Finally, something was working out.