...Can Move Mountains... or Crush Them
"It was just a stupid childhood accident," Isabella told Ben Patrker morosely, having caught up with Hiro's group at the edge of the village. Hiro felt the change was a bit shocking, from the fierce and firey plant-charmer that had confronted them to the lost-looking young woman who was pouring her heart out now, but Isabella must have felt that their kindly professor was a safe outlet to get things off her chest, so they all stopped a few yards from the Madrigal's Casita as Isabella proceeded to tell how she and Camila had come to meet: How Camila had gotten gravely injured while exploring with her brother. How Isabella's mother Julieta had used her gift to save Camila's life, but the girl was left with a terrible scar that even Julieta couldn't erase. How Isabella had tried a number of times to apologize for her mother's inability to fully help her, but Camila's parents turned her away each time. How their first true meeting years later had went very sideways and how it took several mulligans, including advice she had sought from her sisters, to finally convince Camila to get-togethers after dark. And finally how the relationship between her and Camila seemed to be on a good track before the death of her Abuela hit her like a kick in the stomach by a mule, and the constant harassment of the outsiders trying to find a way into their Encanto acted like salt being ground into her still rather fresh wounds, which is where Hiro and his friends came in.
"One of my biggest worries is that this might have made Camila's anxieties worse and set us back, that she might be having doubts about us working out," Isabella told them morosely, comforted on either side by her sisters as she finished her recount, "Mirabel and Camila have both been my greatest comforts in this time, I couldn't possibly choose between them or lose either of them now."
"That does seem to be quite the issue, and of course you couldn't be expected to choose between your family and Camila when you love them both as much as you do," Mr Parker sympathized with her, "Just make sure you keep letting Camila know how much you care about her and assuring her that you aren't going anywhere and I'm sure that she will come around."
"And you would have to actively work very hard to lose me," Mirabel said as she draped her arms around Isabella's shoulders and encouraged her rest her forehead against her own, "Even if you had to go no-contact so you can focus on Camila we will still be here for you whenever you need us, I promise."
Isabella looked both relieved and overjoyed as she returned Mirabel's embrace, saying in a bright tone, "Thank you, sis, and you as well Mr Parker!"
Mr Parker had on a kind smile and nodded sagely as Mirabel said, "What are sisters for?" A loud crack of thunder rang out just then, startling everyone save for Baymax and the three sisters. This also puzzled Hiro as the skies overhead were stunningly clear without a single cloud visible, that is until he heard Mirabel say in a joking yet kind tone, "Well we should get in and calm down our aunt before she ends up flooding Casita."
"Good idea," Isabella agreed with a chuckle.
"Wait, is everyone in your family a Super?" Fred asked the sisters in a mixture of shock and awe. When the sisters looked back at him in confusion Hiro clarified, "What he means is do all of you have a gift?"
"No, just those of us who were born into it," Mirabel answered, her smile easily returning. As they approached the sizable dwelling Hiro saw that the roofing, shutters and even the paving stones appeared to be waving at them eagerly, but he couldn't see what was moving them nor did he feel any wind or tremors or anything else that could explain what he was seeing. Before they could reach the double doors in front, which was adorned with an engraving of a number of people including the three sisters and the young woman with the exceptional hearing, those doors opened of their own accord. Behind them, too far back to have been the ones that opened the doors, was a pair of ladies. One was the same Delores who had used her gift to vouch for their identity. The other, another of the ladies depicted in the doors' mural, had a dark cloud hanging overhead that crackled with electricity even as it rained buckets on her.
"Mama, please calm down," Delores said in Spanish as she smiled at the older woman, likely speaking louder to be heard over the rain.
"¿'Calm down'?" Delores's mother agitatedly responded in Spanish, "¿How can I relax with those flying machines going 'whomp whomp whomp' over us all the time?" The two of them soon realized they had an audience, so the mother lowered her voice to a whisper and asked, "¿Is that them?"
Delores smiled as she said in English , "Yes mama, these are the Americans who came to help us: Hiro, Go Go, Wasabi, Honey Lemon, Fred and their professor Ben Parker. Everyone, this is my mama Perda."
Hiro and the others echoed Mr Parker's bow as their instructor said in fluent Spanish, "Greetings, Doña Perda. I hope that we will not be too much of a imposition on you and yours and that we might be able to help you out in this situation." Perda's eyebrow raised, looking to Hiro like she was impressed either with his familiarity with the language and/or his use of honorifics, but she turned to her daughter and asked in a soft voice, "Are you sure about them?"
Delores smiled and nodded yes as Mirabel said, "I think that they can be trusted too, at least in that they don't mean us harm. I doubt that they could have known that Delores was hearing them, so it's unlikely that they staged a conversation when nobody was around them for miles."
Pepa sighed, her cloud becoming less thunderous as she said, "I suppose that I should let Julieta know to set out a few more places for dinner then." With a "thank you" from Mr Parker, Hiro and his friends went to follow Mirabel into her home. However, while Baymax was able to duck through the front entrance it would seem that Sp/ /dr was unable to fit its large frame through.
"It's okay," Peni assured her friend as she placed her hand against her impressive red frame, "why don't you just wait out here for us tonight?" As she spoke a shadow fell over them both, and Peni looked up to see an awning had been extended over Sp/ /dr. Neither Peni nor Hiro or the others saw where the awning came from, but now it was there providing shelter for Sp/ /dr. "It's okay," Peni said to the unseen entities that provided the awning for her friend, "Sp/ /dr has environmental shields that would protect..." Peni trailed off with a chuckle, dropping her arms to her sides as she went into a respectful bow and said, "Thank you." The awning dipped lower briefly, as if returning her bow, then Hiro and his friends filed into the house with Peni bringing up the rear as Sp/ /dr shifted back into his matched luggage disguise. As Peni closed the door behind her she missed a small metallic spider emerge and scuttle back down the path to the village.
"Thanks for speaking up for us out there," Hiro said to Mirabel while the others set down their stuff where Luisa had told them to.
"Don't thank me just yet, I just spoke the truth," Mirabel responded, "I've come to the conclusion that your intentions are good, but I've learned the hard way through both my own actions as well as Abuela's that good intentions don't always equal good results. I still haven't decided if your presence here is good for this village or not, but such a decision is too big for me to make by myself, which is why I've chosen to let you meet my family so we can make this decision together."
"Still I thank you guys for hearing us out," Hiro said gratefully.
"Well, you're welcome I guess," Mirabel replied.
"By the way, I noticed that Sp/ /dr's robot form looks kinda different now: More angular, rugged, kinda intimidating to be honest, Hiro said as he turned towards Peni, "I also didn't realize that he had that camouflage ability before."
"He didn't," Peni admitted, "You see, the first time I traveled to another dimension..."
"Wait, what do you mean by 'the first time'?" Fred asked, both surprised and about to geek out, a feeling Hiro felt to a lesser degree.
"Well it was the weekend before we were supposed to have our midterm exam," Peni explained, "This jerk named Kingpin, who's different than my Kingpin but just as crummy, he lost his family when they were killed in a traffic accident. Rather than dealing with his grief in a normal way he has Doc Ock use her supercollider to tear a hole in the multiverse and retrieve (read: kidnap) his 'family' from a different universe. What he wound up with instead was myself, Sp/ /dr and about 4 other spider-people, pretty much the opposite of what he wanted seeing as how he had just killed the Spider-Man of his world. I mean I didn't even get changed nor grab my textbook or any of my study materials out of my bag before we got sucked out of our room, and my bag didn't make it through before the hole closed behind us. Talk about bad timing!"
"Other Sp/ /dr-people, like you?" Go Go asked, curious in spite of the earlier animosity she had against Peni.
"Spider-people," Peni corrected, "and yeah they were kinda similar, but at the same time they were different in ways that were unique even when compared to each other. So long story somewhat shorter we worked together with that world's new Spider-Man to help him use the supercollider to send us all back where we belong before he destroyed it so Kingpin didn't end up destroying his own world, though Sp/ /dr's old body got destroyed in the process, requiring Uncle Ben to make her a better one."
Listening to this story it made sense why Mr Parker had delayed their midterm exam: of course he wasn't going to hold it right after his niece went missing, however briefly. Then something else Peni had said registered with him, so Hiro asked her, "You said that was your first time in another dimension. That means there were others?"
"That's... an even longer story, and one I don't feel like getting into right now," Peni said hesitantly, "Sorry Hiro, that just happens to not be one of my prouder moments. Not by a long shot."
Before Hiro could ponder what the reality of a multiverse could mean to him a couple of young boys, one somewhat older than the other, raced into the room with the younger boy excitedly asked in Spanish, "¿Is that them, the ones from the prophecy?"
"They are, hermanito," Delores replied in English, "They came all the way from America because they wanted to help us."
"Huh, they don't look quite like I had imagined them," the older boy, who looked as though he was still younger than Delores, said as he scrutinized each one of Hiro's companions with the exception of Baymax, physically transforming into each one as he approached them. Furthermore the version the young man changed into seemed to Hiro to have a more sinister appearance than the original had.
"Shapeshifter, awesome!" Fred said as he was approached by the young man, whose transformation funnily enough was spot on with no sinister overtones. As Hiro was pondering the reason for this he noticed that the younger boy was mostly fixated on Peni: "mostly" meaning that he was largely staring at his own shoes as he shifted from foot to foot and occasionally glancing up at Peni before his eyes dropped down again, stuttering and stumbling over his own words as he struggled to say in English, "Uh, I'm Antonio. I... rather would you... that is...?"
"¡Aww, how sweet!" the older boy said teasingly in Spanish, apparently unable to resist coming over to tousle Antonio's hair, "¡hermanito's first crush!" The boy then transformed into Peni and started making kissy-faces at him. This apparently embarrassed Antonio as he pushed away the older boy (who was still transformed into Peni) as he yelled, "¡Camilo idiota, cállate!"
This exchange between the two brothers, which is what Hiro assumed that they were due to Camilo using Delores's term for Antonio, made Hiro think that brothers that care for one another act more or less the same way all around the world. This also made Hiro unexpectedly sad as it brought his grief for Tadashi roaring back to life within his chest, like a savage beast enraged by its being roused from its hibernation prematurely.
Before he could decide if it was even his place to intercede here Peni was suddenly in Camilo's face (which was still transformed into her own), and in spite of the furious mask she was wearing Peni spoke in a low and even voice (which was somehow scarier than if she had been screaming) as she said in fluent Spanish, "He'd better, and if Camilo knows what is best for him he'll change back immediately and never wear my face again. Otherwise he will find himself in a web cocoon dangling upside down from the ceiling before he can blink." This made Camilo stumble back as if Penni had pushed him, and as Hiro was wondering if Peni was bluffing she used the middle and ring fingers of her left hand to press on the heel of her gloved palm and a line of webbing shot from somewhere on the lower part of her wrist to strike the wall behind Camilo, where it instantly expanded into a proper web centered where the line hit. This was enough to scare Camilo into changing back into himself, upon which he turned and ran into what Hiro assumed was his room judging by how the door he slammed behind him had his name and likeness engraved on it.
After a solid moment of ringing silence Peni turned back towards Antonio and told him in Spanish, "Sorry about that. ¿Now what were you saying?"
Hiro didn't blame Antonio for being shocked, so it came as no surprise when instead the young man in the same language asked, "¿You speak Spanish?"
"A little, Uncle Ben taught me," Peni responded, "I'm not quite as fluent as he is though. ¿Was there something else you were trying to ask me before you were interrupted?"
Antonio thought for a second before he asked, "Did you want to come check out my room?"
"¿Your room?" Peni asked in confusion.
Yeah it has this totally awesome tree house with hammocks that are so comfortable to sleep in, and there's all sorts of plants and flowers but you can walk around barefoot without worrying about picking up splinters or stepping on sharp rocks or anything!"
Hiro couldn't blame Peni for still looking puzzled as she was likely wondering if her knowledge of Spanish was lacking, and Delores must have understood for when Peni looked to her she explained in English, "When we Madrigals come of age and get our gifts Casita provides us a room which supports those gifts. Antonio can speak with and befriend animals, so his room is a paradise that he can live together with them."
Antonio brightened at receiving his sister's support and he continued, "¡Exactly, and I have macaws and toucans, an awesome leopard, plus some capuchins and spider monkeys...!"
"¿Spider monkeys?" Peni asked, perking up.
"¡Yeah, they have these really long limbs and awesome tails, and they're really smart and cute! ¿Wanna see?" Antonio asked excitedly. Peni then looked at her uncle for confirmation, who smiled and said, "I suppose if you're responsible enough to go to another dimension with other spider-people then you can go check out the boy's spider monkeys. Just be sure to leave the door open and be back down in time for dinner."
"¡Thanks Uncle Ben!" Peni said cheerfully as she threw her arms around his neck and gave him a kiss on the cheek, then Mr Parker chuckled as Peni and Antonio raced up the stairs and into his room as Peni called out "You know one of my friends is a spider-pig," the door staying open as they had promised. Mr Parker then looked at Delores and Maribel and gestured towards said open door as he asked, "That's not going to cause any problems, is it?"
Delores smiled and shook her head as Mirabel answered, "Antonio's animal friends generally don't come out of his room unless they are accompanying him, and when they are out here they're good about not doing anything that will upset my brother, like making a mess or hurting any of his friends or his friends' friends, so everything is good." Mr Parker nodded his understanding before turning back towards Antonio's room with a thoughtful look, likely as curious as Hiro and his friends about how it worked: not only did the space within his room (and likely the others' as well) exceed the space they occupied in the house, but also the means by which they met the needs of the occupants was beyond his comprehension.
"What's going on out here?" Hiro heard Pepa's voice ring out, her accented English becoming more pronounced with her agitation. Hiro turned to see Pepa approaching them again, her cloud in full thunder once more, followed by a man with darker skin whose strong resemblance to Antonio suggested that he was his father. Pepa glared at Hiro while gesturing back the way she came, where he saw a concerned looking man and woman whose resemblance to Mirabel was undeniable, as Pepa scolded them, "I had been out of the room for 5 minutes when Camilo ran into his room like El Diablo was after him and we haven't been able to get him to come out since!"
"Oh, Camilo was teasing 'Tonio about liking Peni until she scared him into knocking it off," Delores explained in a cheery tone that made it sound like she wasn't the least bit sorry or sympathetic towards Camilo.
"I'm not sure exactly what happened, Ma'am," Hiro told her, "Normally she's our friendly neighborhood Sp/ /dr-Girl, but something about Camilo mocking his little brother while wearing her face just set her off."
Antonio's father placed his hand reassuringly on Pepa's shoulder and said, "I'll talk to him," before turning to head to Camilo's room. Pepa sighed as she watched her husband be let into their son's room, her storm cloud's rumbling growing softer, then she turned back towards Hiro and asked in a less heated tone, "Just where are Antonio and Peni?"
" 'Tonio's showing off his room to Peni," Delores said before anyone else could speak up, her head cocked to one side like she was listening to something that only she could hear, "She's telling him she thinks his spider monkeys are '¡Asombroso!'."
Pepa sighed and rolled her eyes in exasperation, but then she surprised Hiro when she smiled and chuckled. While he was unsure of what exactly Pepa was feeling irritated about, though he surmised that it had to do with Peni's actions causing further emotional tension amongst her family, her expression when she chuckled made it all too clear what that was about: his own Aunt Cass wore a similar expression the first time he had told her that he was going to hang out with Go Go, despite his insistence that it was not a date (something that Go Go herself had impressed upon him with that and other get-togethers.) Clearly Pepa was also reveling at the knowledge that her little boy was showing off for his first crush, whether or not that was actually what he was doing or even if the feeling was mutual. Hiro's hypothesis was further supported when Pepa's cloud cleared up and dissipated, vanishing entirely.
It was at this moment when the woman Hiro had figured to be Mirabel's mother approached them and asked, "You said that this Peni of yours had scared Camilo into leaving Antonio alone, how?"
"She threatened to dangle him by his toes from your ceiling with her webbing if he didn't back off," Wasabi colorfully answered, "which, by the way, I had no idea that she had that."
"I made it for her after she returned from the supercollider incident, along with Sp/ /dr's improved body," Mr Parker explained, "Since Peni herself doesn't have many of the abilities that her other Spider-friends do I wanted to give her the ability to escape should she come across another opponent that was too much for Sp/ /dr to handle. Her webbing is similar in strength and adhesiveness to that which is wielded by Sp/ /dr, but I altered the formula so instead of 2 hours her webs would harmlessly dissolve and evaporate after 30 minutes of atmospheric exposure."
"It better," Pepa told him, side-eyeing the wall where Peni's web was still clinging, "otherwise your Peni will be spending desert cleaning that up."
Mr Parker chuckled good-naturedly as he said, "Of course."
The man who was likely Mirabel's father then clapped his hands together and cheerfully said, "Glad that we've got that settled. Now Isabella, can we expect Camila to join us for dinner tonight?"
Isabella looked like someone had slapped her with a fish, then her expression changed quickly from shock to pained betrayal to fury as she turned towards Mirabel and exploded, "You told them!?"
Mirabel looked shocked herself as she backed up from her sister's anger and said said defensively, "No, of course not! I promised you I wouldn't!"
"She didn't need to, dear," Mirabel's mother (which also likely made her Isabella's mother) said soothingly, "We would be rather poor parents if we failed to notice the changes in you, and since we've kept in contact with Camila's family it was easy enough to guess the reason why. Besides, Delores had overheard you a long time ago and you know how much of a gossip she is."
Isabella then whipped her furious glare towards Delores, who squeaked and in a softer tone than before said, "I think that I better go check on Peni and 'Tonio." Delores then turned and raced up to Antonio's room while Isabella's anger rooted her to the spot.
Then, as quickly as Isabella's anger flared up it dissipated, and she sorta resembled a flower that had just started to wilt as she said, "No Mama, I don't think that she's coming. She's still uncomfortable around others, afraid of how they would react to seeing her."
"A wound like hers goes more than skin deep, it can affect our self-image in ways that is difficult to shake off, and I'll always regret not having found her soon enough to heal her completely," Isabella's mother said to her, "The best thing that you can do right now is simply be there for her, when she's ready she'll let you know."
"That's kinda like what Mr. Parker told me," Isabella said, smiling as she wiped a tear from her eye, a sparkle appearing in her mother's as she replied, "I'm not surprised, we old folks have a wealth of experience to draw our wisdom from."
"Mama, you're not so old as all that!" Isabella said with a smile, though Hiro thought he had seen a flash of concern in her eyes.
"Still I was just a bit sad that you never came to talk to me about her or even to tell me that you were seeing anyone new," Isabella's mother continued.
Isabella's smile slipped off her face to be replaced by a remorseful look as she said, "Sorry Mama, it's just that Mirabel was the first one I thought to come to for advice since she helped me to break out of my shell of 'perfection', followed by Luisa because I thought that she might have some perspective, and once we started going out Camila didn't want me to let too many people know about it as, due to my previous popularity, she was afraid that others would pry and she wasn't comfortable around them."
I understand," Isabella's mother assured her, "When I started to date your father I was so nervous about introducing him to mom as I was afraid that she wouldn't approve. Your Abuela, as you recall, was all about us protecting the miracle by serving our community: from the way we used our gifts to the relationships we forged. Agustin was so sweet, charming and funny I couldn't help but fall for him soon after we met. Unfortunately he was even clumsier then than he is now, tripping over himself badly as he tried so desperately to impress me. I was so scared that would be enough for Abuela to tell us that we couldn't be together that I tried to keep our relationship secret for a while."
"Really?" Isabella asked, looking genuinely surprised. Her mom nodded as she responded, "Nothing gets past your Abuela, however. We hadn't even been seeing each other for more than 2 weeks when I was shocked and horrified to learn that Abuela had invited Agustin and his parents to dinner. My heart was pounding so loudly that I couldn't remember much of the conversation that night. I just remember Abuela interrogating Agustin on things like how he viewed our relationship and how he was intending to support me, and even though he was sweating as much as I was he responded to each of her inquiries with the same politeness and charm that had won me over. Finally, after she spoke with Agustin's parents, Abuela declared we were a good match and gave us her blessing, and I felt so relieved that I had nearly fainted there at the table."
"I would go through it all over again just to be with you, my dear Julieta," Agustin, Isabella's father, said as he came up behind his wife and gently placed his hands on her shoulders, a gesture that she welcomed by looking up at him and smiling. "Except for the part where you almost fainted, of course," he clarified, "I was so keyed up thinking that Abuela had done something to harm you I would have taken off her head had you not come to and told me you were alright."
"I know, after you left that evening Mama took me aside and told me that you were a keeper," Julieta said with a chuckle before focusing back on Isabella and saying, "Anyway, the point I was trying to get at was I'm glad you are taking your partner's feelings into consideration, but don't feel afraid to come to us about anything. Also if for some reason you need to go no-contact with us for a bit to focus on Camila just keep in mind that our door will remain open for you always."
"Thanks Mama," Isabella said gratefully as she hugged her mother, with her father, Luisa and Mirabel joining in on the group hug.
"Well I need to get back to preparing dinner," Julieta told her family before calling out to Hiro's group, "Hope you kids are hungry. You don't mind if it's a bit spicy, do you?"
"Madame, my code name is Wasabi: bring it!" Wasabi boldly declared before everyone burst out laughing, and Julieta and Isabella went out to the kitchen while Hiro and his friends helped the rest of Mirabel's family set the table.
Before anyone knew it and without any fanfare suppertime came to the Madrigal household. As the elder members of the family (including Casita, who seemed livelier now than it had during their approach) brought the prepared dishes to the table and set the places around them, Hiro saw Peni, Antonio and Delores emerge from Antonio's room followed shortly by a much more mellow Camilo and his father coming out of his room. Almost immediately Camilo turned towards Peni and Antonio to apologize while Delores headed to where Isabella was standing with her sisters to offer her apology.
While Hiro had been impressed by the mature way Peni accepted Camilo's apology as compared to his younger brother Antonio, who slugged his big brother in the arm before calling it even, Hiro found his attention drawn more by Delores's apology. Hiro heard as Delores informed her cousins that she hadn't intended to cause any issues between Isabella and Camila. Rather she had been feeling guilty about "stealing" Isabella's boyfriend even though Mirabel had given her the impression that that relationship was no more and later her ability confirmed it. So when Delores heard about Isabella finding someone who she truly cared about that way and wbefore she realized that she probably shouldn't have. hom seemed to reciprocate those feelings Delores had felt so overjoyed that she'd told several family members before she realized that she probably shouldn't have. Isabella, who likely realized that she was partly responsible for Delores's impressions as she never told her cousin directly it was okay to court him, instead encouraging Mirabel to act as her cupid, Isabella reached out and drew the flinching Delores into a warm embrace, apologizing for not making it clearer sooner by letting her know that she was happy for them and her hopes that she and Miguel could make each other happy for a long time to come.
Shortly after Mariano arrived with his parents and the dinner party began in earnest, and things started off lively enough as Mariano expressed his genuine curiosity and fascination with the "giant talking marshmallow man," and he seemed to take it as a complement when Baymax announced he was a specimen of perfect health.
Things nearly turned somewhat disastrous when it came out that Peni was not as young as Dona Pepa and the other Madrigals believed, likely due to Peni's stature and lack of physical development, and that she was closer to 15 rather than 7 or 8. Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on the point of view) Perda had her fury trained on her eldest daughter as she demanded, in Spanish no less, to know what she was thinking letting a "hormonal teenage girl" accompany her 5 year old son into his room unsupervised. Delores then retaliated saying that she had went and followed them in not long after that nothing happened beyond their exploration of his room as Antonio showed off his animal friends to her, adding that since Hiro and his friends hadn't discussed it earlier she herself had no better idea about Peni's age than Perda had. Of course Antonio and Peni were both shocked by the revelation of the age gap separating them, but there may have been some context in the heated discussion that the translators didn't pick up on (or didn't convey due to Professor Parker's assumed censorship) that Peni did catch due to her knowledge of Spanish as she started to look as angry as she had gotten when the Underminer decided to cause trouble in San Fransokio.
Before the argument could escalate to the point where the previously pleasant dinner took on the tone of the UN during wartime there was a knock on the front door which startled everyone into total silence. "Were you expecting anyone?" Mirabel asked Hiro's group in English, to which he shook his head no while sending a mental command to his microbots to stand by. Mirabel repeated the inquiry in Spanish for Mariano's family, who similarly answered no just as a second knock was heard, this one a single rap on the door that was much softer than the one before. Just as Hiro decided he'd go to answer the door, reasoning that he could use his microbots to buy the others time to suit up should their visitor prove hostile, Casita took matters on herself by throwing her front doors open wide, revealing a figure wearing a green poncho with the hood up in the process of turning away from the entrance.
Isabella, her eyes wide with hope and disbelief, stood and turned towards the doors as she softly asked in Spanish, "¿Camila, is that you?"
The mysterious visitor, which when they turned around Hiro saw was indeed Isabella's sweetheart, who looked nervous and fidgety as her eyes darted about and looked at everything except Isabella as she said, "¡Isabella, hi! I'm... uh... sorry for coming by unannounced. I didn't mean to interrupt anythiiiiiiii..."
What Camila was saying got cut off by her shriek as Casita, taking the initiative again, caused the paving stones and floor tiles to ripple and roll forward in a wave that had Camila barely avoiding falling forward as she was carried through Casita's front door until it stopped within arm's reach of Isabella, who caught Camila before she could fall on her face or else knock them both down. Camila then let out a nervous, embarrassed chuckle as she got back to her feet and looked Isabella in the face and said, "Hi."
"¿Camila, why are you here?" Isabella asked her, no longer supporting her but still maintaining a grip on her arms, "I mean I'm glad you came, but you said that you weren't going to come here tonight."
"I wasn't going to. I still had a problem going out where others could see me, as you know, and I still feel concerned about what they think of me," Camila admitted as she cupped her hands before her, "but I had a visitor tonight who helped give me a push forward." As everyone watched something climbed out of Camila's hood and down her arm. Then, with it perched smugly in her hands (if such a term could be used), everyone could see Camila was holding a metallic black and red spider, one which Hiro and his friends have seen many times before.
"¿Sp/ /dr, you did this?" Peni asked quite surprised. Hiro guessed that she was so in sync with the arachnid-like control system of her mech that Peni never expected it to do something that she didn't ask it to or that had nothing on the surface to do with her (like protecting her from an enemy attack.) In response Sp/ /dr did a twirling jump straight up in the air before bounding over to land on Peni's shoulder and nuzzle her cheek. "I'm sorry that I had to leave you outside like that, girl."
"Well I'm kinda glad that you did," Camila said as she adjusted her position beside Isabella to get a better look at Peni, "if you hadn't I would have likely stayed holed up in my home until those cabrones kicked in my door, and that's not how I want to go out, not without officially meeting Isa's family."
"¿So how was it, getting out there?" Isabella asked Camila with a touch of concern.
"Honestly it was terrifying and quite nerve-wracking, but not quite as bad as I thought it would be," Camila responded, "I was afraid of how people would react when they actually saw me, but surprisingly they they not only recognized me but also seemed to be genuinely happy to see me."
"That's not that surprising, my dear," Dona Julieta as she got up to draw Isabella and Camila into a group hug, "Almost every capable adult in town went out searching for you and your brother when you guys got lost, and everyone in town including my daughter here was praying for your recovery, so it would have been a bigger surprise to hear that anyone was not happy to see you out in the sun again."
"Exactly," Delores chimed in, sounding oddly relieved, "If you're looking for someone to form a lynch mob to set against you you'll have to look elsewhere."
Hiro saw Camila stiffen and get a deer-in-the-headlights look as she asked, "¿How... how did you..?"
"You talk in your sleep," Delores told her, looking embarrassed. When several of her family members glared at her Delores held her hands up defensively as she said, "¡Her nightmares gave ME nightmares! ¿Do you know how many times Casita had to adjust my room before I could get a proper night's sleep?"
This elicits laughter from nearly everyone there including Camila, who wiped tears of mirth from her eye as she said, "Sorry about that." The only ones not laughing were Hiro, who knew just how traumatizing fire could be, and Isabella, who gently turned Camila's face towards her own as she asked, "¿Is this why you didn't want to leave your house when it was light out, because you were afraid that someone would hurt you?" This doused the laughter immediately, but Camila didn't answer right away so Isabella again said, "¿Camila?"
"I was afraid that you would hurt me," Camila told her, her soft response carrying clearly through the quiet house, but it was so unexpected that Hiro could hardly blame Isabella for saying, "¿What?"
I know that it doesn't make sense, telling you this after going out with you these last months," Camila admitted with a rueful smile as she placed her hand over the one Isabella still had on the scarred side of her face, "but I was afraid that if I told you about the nightmares I had since waking from my accident, where our neighbors would chase me with torches and pitchforks and call me a monster while you led them, or if you were around to see anyone have that kind of reaction to me then this fragile thing between us would burst like a soap bubble and at best you wouldn't want to see me ever again. The truth of the matter is that I've admired you for the longest time, ever since I saw you on the day you got your gift, but I felt like I was too plain to be worthy of your attention. That's why, dumb kid that I was, I thought if I went with my brother to see his cave I could find something amazing there that would catch your attention and make you want to be my friend. Like I said, dumb, especially since we were too young to bring a pair of lit torches to a cave that could have been the home to anything, so I guess I got what I had co..."
The rest of what Camila was saying got cut off when Isabella put her other hand behind Camila's head and closed the distance between them in a kiss so passionate that Dona Perda put one hand over her son Antonio's eyes. The kiss went on for so long that Hiro wondered if either of them could breathe, and when they finally separated panting it appeared that they couldn't until Isabella smiled and said, "I see you, and you are absolutely stunning to me. I hope you know that the only ones that I would hurt is whoever is foolish enough to try and hurt you."
"I... I do know," Camila said, sounding amazed, "I don't understand it, but I feel it."
"Well I will gladly tell you as many times as you want me to, until you get sick of hearing it or else know it by heart," Isabella said as she kept her hands on Camila's shoulders, "I love you Camila Fernández , as much as I love each and every one in my family, and unlike how I love anyone else. with you I feel complete, like I found something that I didn't know I was missing, and now I can't imagine life without you."
"I... I love you too, Isa," Camila responded, "I think that I always have."
"Well we would love to have you join our family when things settle down around here," Mirabel told her with a smile, at which both Isabella and Camila blushed, "¿In the meantime would you care to join us for dinner?"
"I would love to, thank you," Camila said with a gracious smile, and some scrapes, squeaks and clatterings later she was sitting at the place Casita had just prepared for her, following which she made a request to Mirabel. This was relayed to Perda and Antonio, and after a brief exchange between them Antonio climbed aboard his leopard which came from his room and they raced out the front door as the others began passing the dishes around the table.
Antonio returned shortly after the dishes were set up, upon which he informed Camila that her mother said that while appreciated the invitation she wanted her daughter to enjoy her first dinner out without her mother hovering over her, that she would definitely accompany her daughter next time. Antonio then took his seat (which Hiro noticed seemed to have been deliberately arranged to place him next to his mother and catty-corner from Peni, placing as much distance between them as possible) and Mirabel led them in Grace, after which dinner finally began.
Now this wasn't Hiro's first experience with Mexican cuisine as Aunt Cass had taken him and Tadashi to Mexican restaurants before, and Hiro had the fast-food Mexican experience when he was bouncing between robot fights as well as during his late-night lab study sessions (many of which were actually Big Hero 6 outings.) However, while none of the offerings at the Madrigals' table were as groundbreaking as what they came up with in those fast-food joints, the taste was worlds above anything that he ever had. He didn't know if it was due to Doña Julieta's gift or if she was just that skilled as a cook, but Hiro was aware that he couldn't get any Mexican back home anymore without thinking about how far they would have to go before coming close to measuring up to what he had today. Even the dessert, which was simpler than the things Aunt Cass offered in her shop, had that something special that Hiro knew he would be missing once they accomplished what they were aiming to do here and they returned to San Fransokio.
After a relaxing and enjoyable dinner, including a bit of a laugh at Wasabi's expense when he learned that his being able to handle wasabi hot didn't make him a master of all things spicy, and some time spent reminiscing about their past and discussing what they hope to do in the future, the atmosphere around the table grew somber as Mirabel directed Hiro and Mr Parker to explain to the others what had brought them there.With Mr Parker filling in the details that only he was privy to, together with Hiro they told the room at large about how, after detecting the mysterious village the Madrigals called home, the Colombian government contacted Mr Parker to request for him to have Sp/ /dr investigate it. Since Peni, Sp/ /dr's pilot, was already a treasured member of Big Hero 6 and their friend by that point, Hiro didn't want her to go into such a potentially dangerous situation by herself and insisted on accompanying her. Upon finding out the village residents were a bunch of frightened innocents who had been living in peaceful seclusion and just wanted to continue to do so they all decided to put their lives on the line to restore peace to the village. After Hiro and Mr Parker said their piece they took their seats, taking note of the expressions of the gathered Madrigals as they contemplated the decision before them.
The first to rise was Delores, who reiterated that what she heard with her remarkable gift as well as here now led her to believe that Hiro and the others were sincere. Moreover the things that they discussed when they had no reason to believe that they were being overheard, and the confidence that they had in their ability to resolve this situation, inspired Delores to have enough confidence in them to vote for them to stay and help.
The next one to stand and make his voice heard was Camilo. His take was that while Hiro and the ones who came with him might have been sincere that didn't mean that they could rely on them. Their late Abuela had loved them and wanted the best for them, but her overbearing efforts had not only nearly tore their family apart but also had resulted in their Casita collapsing and their Encanto being exposed, resulting in the situation that they were in now. Camilo added that they knew next to nothing about Hiro's group and what their capabilities were they did have Tio Bruno's prophecy, which said that their involvement would lead to the destruction of their village. In short, while Camilo would have liked for someone to come and help them drive the invaders away he felt it would be best for Hiro and the others to return to the States and let them hold them off until they give up or local help arrives.
Isabella glanced at Camila, a torn expression on her face, before she told Hiro and his friends that while she was grateful for what they have done already that made her doubt her objectivity in this matter, so she would be abstaining from the vote. Likewise Doña Perda abstained from the vote, citing that her bias wasn't ideal for a decision that would affect her family and the community that she loved even as glared briefly at Peni.
Antonio tried to offer his vote, but his mother shot him down before he could get it out saying that he was too young for that, even though it seemed obvious to Hiro what his vote would have been. Mariano and his family abstained from the vote, as did Camila, as they were not part of the family yet and preferred to leave it to the Madrigals. Additionally Seńores Augustin and Félix, Doña Julieta and even Luisa also abstained, unilaterally entrusting the decision to Mirabel as head of the family.
"Well, sis, that's one vote for them to stay and help, one against, and the rest abstain, so the final vote is up to you," Isabella said with a smile, "Whatever you decide to do I will support you."
Mirabel nodded her understanding, the grim look of someone who has the weight of the world on her shoulders on her face as she said, "in that case.. "
"¿Don't I get a say in this?" a gentle yet unexpected voice inquired, causing everyone to jump as their attention to the man Hiro had not seen before, at least not in person. With sand and bits of greenery in his hair, an ashen complexion that made it seem like he'd spent years in the dark before eventually regaining some color, and his tall and thin frame draped with a green poncho similar to the one that Camila had arrived in, this man strongly resembled one of the only two members of the family engraved on Casita's front doors that they had not yet met Hiro concluded that it must be...
"¡Tio Bruno!" Mirabel exclaimed as she stepped away from her chair to hug her uncle, but then she stepped back and gave him a concerned look as she said, "¿But weren't you hid... I mean taking shelter in your room until the situation calmed down?"
"I was indeed in my room," señor Bruno confirmed, "but rather than hiding I was seeing."
"¿Seeing what, uncle?" Isabella asked as she approached her sister and uncle from the side.
"Well, after I reexamined the vision I had of Mirabel 15 years ago I learned to not trust the first impression of any of my prophecies," Bruno explained as he handed a glowing, translucent slate to Hiro which seemed to feature himself and his team in uniform standing before Casita which seemed to be in flames, "so I decided to stay in my room while I looked carefully at my more recent prophecy, scrutinizing every possible detail and outcome, trying to determine what made one more likely than another. Thankfully Casita took a page out of Antonio's room when she redesigned mine as it made examining all those possibilities much more relaxing and comfortable. And before you ask, Isabella, I did see Camila in the prophecy I had about you. I didn't back then see who she was exactly, nor whether she would be a man or a woman, but I did she that you would find the one that would make you happy after you delved into the depths of your gift."
Isabella blushed at this, but she looked happy. However something else Bruno had said caught Hiro's attention, and so he asked, "¿How many of those different possibilities did you check out?"
"I'm not sure," Bruno confessed, "I stopped counting early on once I got to 160."
Mirabel, a look of dread in her eyes, swallowed before asking, "¿And in how many of those was our village okay?"
Bruno very much looked like he wished he had a better answer as he held up a single finger, which set off an anxious murmuring around the table, and Hiro couldn't blame them. Being told that out of the countless paths before them that Bruno had examined that only one held any hope of saving their home was like being told that they had a snowball's chance in Hell of winning. After taking a deep breath, however, Bruno continued in a heavy tone, "I know that our odds aren't good, and I couldn't tell exactly what was the key factor in getting that win, but while our chances of winning may be slim with the help of these Americans I couldn't find a single instance where we sent them away and managed to save our home, so I vote for us to ask them for their help."
"Then it's decided," Mirabel said as Bruno took his seat that Casita and Doña Julieta had provided for him, "For the record I would have voted that way too. as you heard I know what it's like to have a less than favorable prophecy made about you and to want to go against the picture that it paints of you. Ultimately the final decision will come down to you. As you've no doubt gathered we're facing some rather long odds, and you probably have people back home waiting for you. You could report back to our government and consider your duty fulfilled, trusting that they will help us while you return home. However, in spite of how you have no obligation to, I'm asking you now. ¿Will you stay and help us?"
"That's why we're here," Hiro said as he stood and shook Mirabel's hand, "Our odds were probably not too good when we had to keep San Fransokio from being cratered during their invasion but we managed to stop them, so we're not about to let some local drug runners take your homes from you. No matter what happens we'll fight by your side till the end."
"Thank you," Mirabel said gratefully, then Mr Parker rose from his seat and gave a respectful bow towards Doña Julieta as he said, "Thank you for hosting us at your table this evening, it was quite enjoyable. If you'll excuse me..." Mr Parker then headed towards Casita's front entrance, on the way pulling out of his pants pocket something that looked like a cross between an old fashioned flip-phone and a communicator from the even older sci-fi's that inspired their creation.
"¿Where are you going, Uncle Ben?" Peni asked, half rising out of her seat.
As he exited the Madrigals' home Mr Parker flipped open the device in his hand as he said, "To see if I can turn the odds in our favor."
Jacobo Rodriguez stared at the satellite image printout with an intensity that, had he been a Super, would likely have burned a hole in it. Of course he hadn't felt truly powerless since he was 10, when this plantation was filled with the mocking laughter directed at the plantation's founder and former leader, Jacobo's own beloved Abuelo. Of course that laughter only served to drive him to climb the ranks until he got to where he could wrest the leadership position from his father who'd not only supported and encouraged that disrespectful behaviour but also participated in it. Once he'd established his authority it only took a few maimings and a couple of deaths, but nobody dared to laugh at his Abuelo from then on. At least nobody here.
"¡Man, Alvarez's men must have some big cojones on them, coming against us," one of the two men who entered said to the other, "Sure they downed a couple of our choppers, but after we took down seven of theirs they crawled back under the rock they came from."
"Yeah, but because of that 8 of our boys will be out of commission while they recover, which is more than can be said for poor Frederico," replied the other, "¿What are we doing this, Juan? All this loss in resources and manpower, just to fight over someplace that none of us can enter. ¿What is so important...?"
The man was interrupted by the thunk of a wicked looking knife flying mere millimeters from his face and imbedding itself into the wall next to him, drawing a line of blood across the bridge of his nose. Once the man got his wide to blink he turned his gaze towards Jacobo who asked, "¿Are you questioning my orders?"
"¡No sir!" the man said past the lump in his throat, "I was just wondering what could be at the top of that mountain that would be worth all that effort."
Jacobo didn't answer right away, instead walking over to the man to pull the knife out of the wall and roll its handle in his hand beneath the man's nose as he said, "¿Beautiful, isn't it? My Abuelo gave it to me for my 9th birthday. He says that the Americanos call it a "Survival knife", which is quite the unusual name for it if you ask me. I mean any living thing that I had sheathed it in didn't survive, just ask my father... wait, I guess that you can't."
With a smile that sent chills down the man's spine Jacobo slid the knife into its sheath which he snapped closed before drawing a longer, wider blade and said, "This is my Abuelo's machete. He gave this to me on his deathbed, both as celebration of my becoming leader of this place as well as thanks for my making his final moments dignified. ¡Machete, now that's a name! No matter if you're going by the Latin or Spanish origin of the name either one fits it perfectly as it's a tool designed to cut and smash through any obstacles in its way."
"I don't understand," the man admitted as he eyed the edge of the machete with trepidation and Juan kept his distance from them both.
"¿Tell me, what do you know about this place?" Jacobo casually asked as he walked away from the man holding his machete by his side.
"It was founded by your grandfather," the man responded, "and he served as its leader for years until your father took over, and a few years later you took it from him."
"You're close, but there's more... much more," Jacobo told him, "50 years ago none of this was here: the house, the store houses, the fields, none of it. Instead it was a rather modest village of maybe 80 people made of rather shabby houses. Abuelo noticed how rich the soil was and realized what a waste of the land it was, but the short-sighted people living there refused to sell it to him. So he took it."
Jacobo whirled around to face his men again, the machete whistling as it sliced through the air and he said, "Abuelo rode on the village with 30 men, taking women, children and whatever else they found to be useful and burned down the rest. He said that the crackle of the flames together with the wails of those who regretted turning down his generous offer was music to his ears."
"Unfortunately, while Abuelo's men were able to take the village a good number of the residents were able to slip away and flee into the mountains that you were complaining about," Jacobo continued, his smile falling from his face, "Abuelo knew that if he let them get away then they would come back with policía and other bleeding hearts to take their homes back, so taking a few of his best men and leaving the rest to secure the land he rode after them. When he caught up to them one of the villagers tried to stop him. A foolish gesture, as if the man's useless words could stay my Abuelo's blade. When he cut him down that should have been the end of it, and all that would have remained would be for Abuelo's men to round up the villagers and herd them back to the others. In fact I believe that would have been the end of it were it not for the man's witch."
"¿The witch, sir?" Juan asked, daring to speak up for the first time since his boss started talking.
"That's how Abuelo referred to her," Jacobo responded, "He said that she was a woman of extraordinary beauty, and from the way he had kept a drawing of her on him until the day he died I got the impression that he had intended to make her his woman once the man was gone. However, apparently that beauty just made the unearthly wail she uttered when her man died all the more terrible. Abuelo didn't have any time to consider whether the woman was truly worthy of his attention, however, nor to discover what was in her shoulder sling that was more important to her than the candle she dropped as she collapsed to her knees, for almost immediately after that the candle glowed with a brilliance that turned night to day before it exploded with such force that Abuelo and his men were thrown halfway down the mountain. Abuelo was lucky enough to land in a sufficiently deep river and survive, but the men who accompanied him were not. Despite having lost some of his best men Abuelo knew that he had to act quickly or else the villagers would get away, so he went back to the village and took as many men with him as he could spare back to where he last tracked them to. However, when they arrived all Abuelo had to show them was a sheer unscalable cliff, with the only opening being a torrential waterfall that would carry anyone foolish enough to try to force their way into its mouth down to the jagged rocks below. A perfect natural fortress, one created unnaturally by the witch's powers, but none of the others believed his accounting of it. Some thought that he had too much to drink, while others thought he was simply directionally challenged, but nobody believed his 'fantastical' tales and believed that he had let them get away."
"¡But he was right!" Jacobo yelled as he whirled back to the table and brought the machete down on it, leaving a large gash in the middle of the satellite picture of the village and bisecting the largest house in it, likely where the witch had lived. Considering how much he had to bribe the government paper-pusher to get it this might have been considered a waste, but he found himself not really caring as he said, "These last 50 years those people have been exactly where my Abuelo said they were: increasing their numbers building an even bigger village, and laughing at Abuelo the entire time. Laughing at us all. ¡No more, tomorrow their laughter dies and their impenetrable stronghold becomes ours!"
As the man beside him looked back and forth between Jacobo and the image of the village Juan cleared his throat and said, "Sir, even if the villagers didn't long ago abandon it or die out from isolation the fact is that not even our choppers have been able to go through the barrier obscuring it from view."
Jacobo smiled, having been been anticipating this question, then he walked over to the ofrenda and moved his Abuelo's picture aside to open the small safe hidden behind it, pulling out what was inside and showing it to the others as Juan asked, "¿What is it?"
"A piece of the witch's candle," Jacobo answered, anticipation filling his chest as the luminescence of the candle fragment made the room brighter despite having no wick and not being lit, "While he was helping the others gather the bodies of his men who died, and looking for the sword he lost when the witch sent him flying, Abuelo instead found this stuck to the chest of one of those men. Obviously Abuelo could tell that this was no ordinary bit of wax, but he only held onto it because it reminded him of that witch. For us, however, it'll serve as our ticket in."
Jacobo then pointed out a section at the edge of the satellite image and said, "Here you can see where a section of the ridge ring collapsed when the spell failed and this picture was able to be taken, the minor landslide that followed resulting in a treacherous yet serviceable road into it Even though the ridge was not restored when the spell was, the force that blinded all surveillance devices and turned away all aerial craft filled the space to serve as a replacement barrier, and thus far it has proven just as effective on those who approached by land. However, the American heroes that the government dogs summoned were apparently able to get in this way, so we'll also go here for our initial assault. We'll melt the witch's candle down and thinly drizzle a line of the wax along two 75 meter cords of rope threaded though several 1 meter metal spikes staked in the ground in regular intervals from one side of the barrier to the other. Then, as I lead one group through using the waxed rope handrail as a guide, the remaining candle wax will be mixed in with the vehicle wax and applied to the hulls of our gunship choppers. Since the candle was part of the original spell we should be able to use it to pass through the barrier, and by this time tomorrow that stronghold will be ours and my Abuelo's victory will finally be complete."
"¿But sir, what about the heroes, and the witch?" Juan nervously asked, at which Jacobo narrowed his eyes and said in a low growl of a voice, "The witch is dead. I'm certain that's why the protective spell fell in the first place, and the failure to fully restore it was due to the inexperience of her apprentice. As for these foreign heroes, they're children. ¿Are you telling me that my own men are not capable of dealing with a handful of children?" When Juan and his friend shake their heads no Jacobo said, "Then get out of here and get to sleep, as we set out at first light. Anyone I find sleeping in could very well n8ever wake up again."
At that his men turned and left the room as fast as they could without actually running or otherwise showing fear that they knew he'd normally cut them down for, though currently he felt like he'd instead put them on the frontlines and let the enemy take them out more humanely. Once the sounds of frenzied activity outside faded into silence Jacobo pulled one last thing out of the safe before shutting it again and placing his Abuelo's picture before it once more. Carefully unfolding the aged, well-worn piece of paper Jacobo found himself once again looking at the portrait his Abuelo had drawn of the witch. Due to how the lifelike details must have been reproduced entirely from memory, and the fact that he kept it on him until the day he died, it was obvious how much Abuelo had desired her. When Jacobo saw this photo, however, all he saw was the years of misery brought on his Abuelo by her which filled Jacobo with an unbridled rage. He then looked at the candle fragment that he was still holding and a calm came over him, then he looked back at the witch's picture with a cruel sneer and said, "I don't know what your name is, nor if you can see or hear me in whatever Hell you are in, but I hope that you can. I truly hope that you're filled with fear and despair knowing that I'm going to be using my Abuelo's blade to destroy everything love and hold dear and that any survivors will, like your friends from your old village, spend the rest of their miserable lives watering my fields with their blood, sweat and bitter tears," followed by his taking out his survival knife and using it to pin the drawing to the table directly between her eyes.