Portals in Twilight Town
Part 3
Cars honked through the busy streets as the group of teens walked along the sidewalk. Akira stuffed her hands into her hoodie's pockets and looked around at the bright surroundings. Each shop was vibrantly colored with neon lights shining to draw attention. People busily bustled in every direction causing her to feel crammed and uncomfortable, but she couldn't deny the beautiful city.
"Do you like it here?" Kitigin asked her, coming out from behind her hair.
Akira shrugged and looked on ahead at the others. Riku was walking beside Hinata while the six other teens were far up ahead, casting side glances at them every few seconds. With a long sigh, she answered Kitigin, "I don't know. All I know is that I hope we can get back to Seikastu Valley soon. I wonder if anyone has noticed we're gone."
"Me too." She agreed, rubbing the top of her furry head against Akira's cheek. "Everything will be fine, I'm sure of it! Hinata and Riku will find a way."
"I just hope this Callaghan guy can actually help us… wonder what he did to get in jail."
"I guess we'll just have to wait to find out."
Akira nodded and then quickened her pace to meet with Hinata and Riku. "So… how are we planning on talking to Callaghan?"
"I was thinking that once we reach the University, we could explain the situation to Hiro and the others." Hinata offered.
"But won't they freak out that I'm not even from this dimension?" Akira asked.
"If Callaghan was already working on a portal to do that type of thing, I don't see why other people on this world wouldn't already be familiar with that type of thing." Hinata replied.
"I think we should wait on telling them everything." Riku spoke up. "Remember what DiZ warned you about? Making sure not to meddle in other world affairs?"
"But is it really meddling to ask for help?" Hinata asked.
"Showing a group of teens how to build a cross dimensional portal… you don't think that would mess anything up?" Akira asked Hinata a bit of sarcasm in her voice. "Think of the things people could do with that type of technology. You can't just tell any random person about that."
Hinata winced at her harsh tone but sighed, "I guess you're right… you both are. I'm just not sure what to do if we can't get a hold of Callaghan."
Riku was about to respond but closed his mouth as the six teens in front of them came to a stop. They stood in front of a large stone sign that read, Institute of Technology. Beyond the sign was a large grass field that led to different tall buildings that made up the entire University.
Hiro turned around to Riku, Hinata, and Akira and motioned his arms outward. "Well here we are, the University."
"Now would you mind telling us what you want with Callaghan?" Go-go spoke up while crossing her arms and popping a bubble of gum.
"Not very patient are you?" Akira asked her, placing her hands on her hips.
"You said you would tell us once we got to the University." She reminded them.
"It is a little odd that you guys would want to see Professor Callaghan, especially after everything that happened." Honey Lemon, told them stepping forward.
"What exactly happened?" Hinata asked.
"How do you not know?" Wasabi asked. "Everyone in San Fransokyo knows about it."
Riku rubbed the bridge of his nose and broke in, "Look, we could ask each other questions all day. All we want to know is where to find Callaghan. Then we will be on our way and leave you guys alone."
The six friends exchanged looks, seemingly trying to figure out what to do. After a moment of tense silence, Hiro let out a sigh and answered them, "He's in the city's jail. You can take a trolley from here to it; it will be your fourth stop. I don't know if you'll be able to see him though. He isn't allowed many visitors."
"Let us worry about that," Riku told them, grabbing Hinata's arm and turning around.
"That's it?" Hinata whispered to him as her began pulling her along with him to walk away.
"We are here for Callaghan, not a tour of the school." Riku answered her, glancing behind him as Akira scurried after them. He was about to turn his head back forward, but he heard the familiar sound of Heartless appearing. Stopping in his tracks, he spotted a group of Shadow Heartless coming out of the grass field.
"Hey it's those strange black creatures again!" Fred pointed them out to his friends.
Riku held out his hand and summoned Soul Eater. He glanced to Akira and Hinata and told them, "Come on, we'll take care of these guys and then we'll head to the jail."
Hinata nodded and began running with Akira and Riku past the six friends towards the Heartless. "So much for being secretive," She mumbled under her breath as she activated her blades.
"What?" Wasabi yelled when he saw Hinata's blades. "What are you doing?"
"We'll take care of the Heartless, you guys just stay back!" Akira told them, summoning Dreams Will.
"We can help!" Hiro told them.
"Please, really just stay back." Hinata told them. "We deal with Heartless all the time."
"Heartless?" The teens repeated; all exchanging looks of confusion as Hinata, Riku, and Akira took out the monsters.
Within minutes all of the Heartless were gone and Hinata deactivated her blades, before walking over to the six teens. "See, we handled it." She told them with a smile as she approached them.
"Where did you get those blades?" Wasabi asked, stepping forward.
Hinata looked down at her gauntlets and shrugged, "Oh my friend made them for me a few months ago. They really come in handy!"
"Your friend knows how to create weapons with laser induced plasma?" Wasabi asked almost skeptically.
"What?" Hinata asked, holding up her hand in front of her. "Is that what it's called? I honestly don't know or understand the science about it."
"What's his name?" Hiro asked, pushing past his friends, "If he's smart enough to make that type of thing then we probably know him or have at least heard of him."
Rubbing the back of her neck, she stammered, "Uh… I uh… don't think you guys would know him." Her cheeks flushed as she spoke and she lightly bit her lip.
"You're lying about something," Go-go pointed out, placing her hands on her hips. "Hiro is the one that turned plasma induced lasers into weapons." She stepped forward and asked, "So where did you really get it?"
"Hinata, let's head to the station." Riku cut in, placing his hand on Hinata's shoulder.
"Woah, wait, did you and that other girl just summon your own weapons?" Fred spoke up, a smile on his face, "That was so amazing! Forget laser swords, I want to know how you guys pulled that off." He nudged Honey Lemon, "See, I told you it was scientific to grab things out of thin air!"
"It's really… not." Honey Lemon admitted.
Akira groaned, "We don't have time to answer all of your questions. You're welcome on saving your life, by the way. We're headed to the station."
"We're coming with you." Hiro told them, stepping forward. "I don't know what you guys want with Callaghan, but you are definitely up to something; so we're going to keep an eye on you guys."
"What are you guys San Fransokyo's defense force or something?" Akira asked, crossing her arms. When the teens didn't answer, she looked them over, "Wait, is that what you guys actually are?"
"Come on, the station is this way." Hiro avoided her question and motioned his head back towards the city.
"Hold up," Go-go stopped him. "Do you really think having all nine of us plus that talking cat going to a police station is the best idea?"
"Go-go is right," Honey Lemon spoke up, "Maybe it would be better if just one of us goes along with them and the rest of us stay behind here at the university."
"I for one need to study for finals coming up." Wasabi pointed out.
"I'm up for going to the station." Fred raised his hand and walked up beside Riku, leaning his elbow on his shoulder. "Give me time to get to know these guys a little better."
Riku clenched his fists, resisting the urge to push Fred off of him; but remained calm trying to wait for their discussion to end.
"Fine," Hiro resigned with a shrug. "Fred and I will take all of them to the station. Keep your phones on in case we need backup for anything."
"Backup?" Hinata repeated, crossing her arms. "I'm pretty sure we could handle whatever we find."
"Oh we know it," Fred told her as they began walking away from the University. "But just think of us as a friendly backup plan."
"So you mind telling us what this Callaghan guy did finally?" Akira spoke up. "If we're going to be meeting him, we really should at least know what happened."
Hiro sighed and nodded, "Fair enough. Years ago this man named Alistair Krei was working on these portals that would almost instantly teleport objects and people from one place to the next. The project was going successfully with objects so he and his team decided to move up to testing the portals with live test subjects. Abigail Callaghan, Professor Callaghan's daughter was the first subject… except when she went into the portal something went wrong and the portal shut in on itself."
"Oh no," Hinata commented, her eyes saddened. "So I take it Callaghan blamed that Alistair for his daughter's loss?"
"Right you are," Fred pointed out. "After that Professor Callaghan went all revenge crazy and eventually turned into a super villain when Hiro here invented micro-bots."
"What are micro-bots?" Kitigin asked.
"They were these small robots that I could control through a neuro-transmitter." Hiro explained. "I invented them to get into that University we were just at; but when Professor Callaghan saw them at the seminar he…" His voice trailed off.
"He set the whole place on fire and used those micro-bots to protect himself." Fred finished.
"My brother, Tadashi, ran in after him to save him but… he died in the fire." Hiro told them, his eyes downcast.
Hinata placed her hand on Hiro's shoulder, "I'm sorry."
Hiro shook his head, "It's alright. He was doing what he thought was right. None of us knew what Professor Callaghan wanted."
"What did he do with your micro-bots?" Riku asked, stopping as they reached a street crosswalk.
"He used them to bring back the portal that took his daughter away to destroy Alistair's life's work." Hiro told him.
"But the notorious Big Hero 6 stopped him from destroying the entire world!" Fred spoke up, a proud smile on his face.
"The what-now?" Akira asked, walking forward when the street sign showed a walking light.
"Only the most amazing skilled group of superheroes San Fransokyo has ever known!" Fred stated proudly.
"Who are they?" Hinata asked as they crossed the busy street.
"Well if I told you their identities they wouldn't be super now would they?" Fred told her, crossing his arms.
"I… suppose not?" She answered, more confused than anything.
"Here's where we wait for the trolley." Hiro told them stopping in front of a red sign with a black silhouette picture of a trolley.
The others stopped around him as they all waited for the ride to arrive. Within minutes a cheery chime dinged through the air as a bright red trolley car approached them. Squeezing through the crowd of people already on the vehicle they found an open space in the back near an opened fenced in area. Akira stood towards the metal railing, clasping her hands tightly around the bar and trying her best to ignore the multitude of people around her. Hinata came up beside her and looked out at San Fransokyo as the trolley drove them to their destination.
"How are you doing?" Hinata asked her.
Akira sighed, "Let's just say I'm probably going to lock myself away for a couple days once I get home just so I can get some time alone."
Hinata chuckled, "Yeah, this place is incredibly busy. I'm thankful I don't live here; I don't think I would be able to handle being around this many people all the time."
"What are we going to tell Callaghan when we see him?" She asked after a few moments of silence between them. "He's in jail, not like he can just pop out for a stroll to help us build the portal."
Hinata shrugged, "Maybe not, but he should be able to tell us where the parts are at least or where the schematics are. I'm sure he's kept some record of them. The hard part will just be convincing him to tell us."
"But what if he won't?" She asked.
"Well I wouldn't worry about that too much." Hinata assured her. "Riku and I can be pretty persuasive."
Akira let out a small laugh, "If you say so…"
"This should be our stop," Hiro placed his hand on Hinata's shoulder, getting her attention.
The trolley dinged as it slowed to a stop and allowed the teens to climb off. As the trolley drove away they found themselves on a street corner in front of a massive brick building with arched green roofs layering the multiple floors. A large arched doorway lined with windows stood under a stone sign that read, Police Station.
"Here we are, finally." Hinata sighed, walking up beside Riku. He stood there with his arms crossed, obviously wanting to get a move on. "Are you doing alright?" She asked him quietly.
"Just want this whole ordeal to be over." He replied, glancing over to her. "This day didn't really turn out like I had planned."
Hinata scoffed, "You've got that right; but at least we got to see a whole new world."
"I've seen enough of those to last a lifetime at this point." He complained.
"Hmm…" Hinata replied, a small smile appearing on her face.
"What?" He asked her.
"Oh nothing," She shrugged, "It's just I couldn't imagine you saying something like that when you were back on the island. Seeing new worlds was basically all you ever wanted to do."
He chuckled, "Yeah, well things change."
"You guys ready?" Kitigin asked, peeking out from behind Akira's hair.
"Yeah," Hinata nodded, glancing over at Hiro and Fred. "Are you guys going to seeing Callaghan with us?"
Hiro nodded, "We want to keep an eye on you guys remember?"
"We can take care of ourselves." Riku told him. "You got us to the station; we can handle the rest from here."
"No way man," Fred declined, "We saw how you guys summoned those swords out of thin air and took out those monsters. Whatever you want Callaghan for we want to know about."
"Why do you care so much?" Akira asked; frustration in her voice. "Can't you just leave us alone?"
"Let's just go inside to talk to Professor Callaghan." Hiro stepped in. "We'll explain everything after the meeting."
"Fine," Riku sighed, "Let's go."
They tensely walked towards the large entrance and entered the station. The main room was large and gray with brown benches lining down the center leading to a front desk where a large man sat in a chair seemingly bored with his day. He glanced up from his computer when he heard the teens enter, examining them under the rim of the blue police cap covering half his eyes.
"Can I help you?" He asked them in a bored voice as they approached the desk.
Hinata stepped forward, "Yes, we're here to visit a prisoner? A man named Robert Callaghan."
The officer eyed Hinata and the group surrounding her, unsure of what to think of them. Then he spotted Hiro and nodded towards him, "You know these individuals?"
Hiro nodded, "Uh, yes officer. They are students at the University Professor Callaghan taught at."
"Are they now?" He looked back at Hinata, Riku, and Akira. "Why do you want to visit Callaghan?"
"Personal business." Riku answered, getting an uneasy look from the officer.
The man looked them over and sighed, "Alright, visiting hours just started so you can meet with him. No weapons allowed." He looked at Hinata. "I don't know what those gloves are ma'am, but I'm going to have to ask you to leave them here while you speak with the prisoner."
"Oh, alright," Hinata looked down and took off her gauntlets, placing them on the counter.
Once the gloves were off, the officer stood from his seat and walked out from behind his desk. Motioning his arm, he told them, "Follow me. Callaghan is this way."
The group nodded and followed the officer through a door that led to a long hallway. They passed a glass window that looked into a plain mostly empty room with only a table and two chairs. The officer stopped by a door leading into said room and told a nearby officer to retrieve Callaghan.
"Two of you can go in to talk with him at a time." He told the group. "We will be observing the entire conversation from here."
"Who should we send in?" Hinata asked the others.
"I have something I need to give him, so I'll go in." Riku answered. "As for the other person, Akira…"
"I don't want to go in." Akira cut in. "I'm not exactly the best at talking… especially at being persuasive."
"Alright, I'll go in then." Hinata assured her, looking up at Riku. "What did DiZ give you?"
"The star shard and a letter for him." He answered her. "He told me not to give the letter to anyone except Callaghan."
"If you've decided, go ahead and head in." The officer told them.
"Alright," Riku replied, opening the door and heading in.
Hinata followed behind him and entered the dimly lit room. The window she had seen from the outside looked like a mirror once she walked into a room. With a small smile she pointed out, "Hey it's like the sash over your eyes, a two way mirror."
Riku looked up at the mirror and nodded, not sharing her amusement as he was caught up in the seriousness of the moment. He pulled out the chair from the table and stood behind it as Hinata sat down. As she sat, he leaned down and whispered to her, "Since the police will be watching, we need to be careful about what we say to Callaghan, alright? I'll try to do most of the talking."
"Alright," She agreed as he stood back up straight. Taking a deep breath she assured herself, "We can do this."
Within minutes the door to the room once again opened and two police officers entered, holding the arms of an older man. Hinata watched as the men brought him in and mentally noted that he didn't look like any criminal she had ever seen. His face seemed hard and saddened, but there were also hints of old smile wrinkles as if he was once a happy man. Still handcuffed, the officers placed Callaghan into the seat across the table. Once he was seated, he brought up his downcast eyes to see his visitors, giving them strange looks as he did not recognize them.
"Who…" He began to speak up in a raspy voice.
"We're delivering a message." Riku interrupted him, reaching into his pocket and pulling out the envelope DiZ had given him.
Callaghan lifted his handcuffed hands and took the envelope from Riku. "A… letter?" He slowly asked, looking up at the two of them, still confused and unsure of their intentions.
The officers that had brought him in stood at the back of the room; hands on their weapons ready for things to turn sour at a moment's notice. They watched as Callaghan tore the letter open. He struggled to get the paper out with his hands brought so close together by the cuffs, but he managed; holding the paper in front of him once it was out, he read it silently.
'It's been quite some time, my old friend.
Many moons have passed since we last spoke and I hope they find you well. I do not have the time or space to tell you the reason of my sudden disappearance all those years ago; but I assure you they are quite valid. I must insist that you read this letter in silence, for the individuals in front of you do not know of my true identity, Ansem the Wise.
You may remember the many visits we shared trying to discover the way to create a cross dimensional portal so we could in turn find your dear daughter, Abigail. I know this may be coming a bit late; but I have discovered the means to create such a portal. The boy in front of you is named, Riku. He holds the vital ingredient to the portal and needs your help to harness its power. I am ashamed to be asking your help after being absent so many years; however, I had no alternative choice. A young vital girl is missing from her dimension and without your help she will be stranded in this dimension forever and her own universe will cease to be the way it was intended to be.
What I require of you is…'
Callaghan stopped reading and immediately crumbled the paper up with a scowl, tossing it behind him. He looked up at Riku and grumbled, "I don't know where you came from but I am in no position to help."
"We know you can't build it, but do you know where the plans are?" Riku asked him, anticipating the reaction Callaghan had given him.
Looking away, he replied, "That part of my life has ended. After that man you are acquainted with abandoned our invention I took matters into my own hand." He motioned his head towards the officers, "And you can see how that ended."
"You messed up, I get it." Riku told him plainly. "But that doesn't mean you can't help us now. All we need to know is where the plans are and we'll be on our way."
Callaghan glared up at him, "Why should I be obligated to do anything for you? I don't even know who you are. Just leave me be, I've already destroyed everything that mattered in my life."
"You don't know these people?" One of the officers in the corner of the room asked.
"Know them?" Callaghan asked, "I've never seen them before in my life."
One of the offices stepped forward and told Riku and Hinata, "We're going to have to ask you to leave."
Hinata stood up and stopped them, "Wait, just one more minute." She looked down at Callaghan and placed her hands on the table. "Professor, I understand why you did what you did. You lost your own daughter and wanted justice to be served. I get that. And yeah, what you did to get that justice was wrong and put a lot of people in danger; but the thing is that while I am talking with you right now I see a man who is filled with remorse. You obviously want to take what you did back and I have a feeling that you really aren't a bad guy." Slowly sitting back down, she continued. "There are a lot of things people do out of jealousy and vengeance that can bring them to a really low point in their life. But the important thing to remember is that even when you hit your lowest point you can get back out again. You have a second chance to be someone better, to be the person you were before you sought vengeance for you daughter." She motioned her head towards the mirror behind him, "There's a girl out there that can't get home. She probably has friends and family back at her home that feel the same way you did about your daughter. You have the power to help get her back to those people. Do you really want to do the same thing to her family that happened to you?"
Callaghan stared at Hinata for a moment, his once hardened face slowly softening. With a sigh, he mumbled, "Go to Akuma Island, you'll find everything there."
Hinata gave him a small smile and was about to reply, but was cut off by an officer.
"Alright, your minute is up." One of the officers spoke up. "You're going to have to leave."
"Ok," Riku replied, placing his hand on Hinata's shoulder.
Hinata nodded and stood up from her seat.
"Thank you." Callaghan told her quietly as she stood.
"For what?" She asked.
Callaghan gave a small sad smile before looking away and muttering, "Nothing, never mind." Looking back at them, he told them. "Tell the man you're working for that I said hello."
"We will." Riku told him, heading with Hinata towards the door.
As they reentered the hallway, they were escorted out by the officer they had met at the front desk. Once they were back in the lobby and got their thing back, Kitigin whispered to Hinata, "You weren't kidding. You guys can be persuasive."
Hinata shrugged and replied, "I told you." She looked over at Kitigin and smirked.
"How can we get to Akuma Island?" Riku asked Hiro and Fred.
Hiro exchanged a look with Fred, before telling them. "We can get you there. We'll just have to head back to the University first to get out ride."
"Why are you going through so much trouble for us?" Akira asked, stepping forward. "Just a few minutes ago you didn't even trust us to come here on our own. Now you're going to get us to a whole other island?"
"You need to get home." Hiro simply replied.
"Although, I for one still wouldn't mind knowing what exactly is going on with you guys." Fred spoke up, pointing at the three of them.
"I could say the same thing about you." Hinata replied with a small laugh. "You guys are obviously up to something too."
"It'll make sense one you get to the University." Hiro told her, motioning his head towards the exit to the station. "Now come on, we'll have to take the trolley again."
He turned and began walking out of the station, everyone following behind. They opened the doors and headed back out to the busy city outside. As they got onto the trolley, Riku stood beside Hinata's and grabbed her hand.
"Good job, by the way." He told her quietly. "If you hadn't spoken up I don't think Callaghan would have helped."
She was about to respond, but Kitigin cut in, "Yeah, do you actually feel that way… like about what you said to him?"
Hinata nodded and easily replied, "I do. I think that everyone deserves a second chance and that if they really want to change from the way they used to be, they should be able to." She felt Riku squeeze her hand as she spoke.
"But didn't you hear about what he did?" Akira pointed out. "He tried to destroy an entire town, just to get revenge on one guy. I'm glad he's in jail."
"You didn't see his face though when he came into the room." Hinata told her. "There are a lot of horrible people in the galaxy that don't regret anything they do; but there are others that get caught up in something and make some bad decisions when they aren't necessarily bad people. Callaghan thought what he was doing was right and felt he needed to bring justice since no one else would. He found out later that he was wrong and now he's paying the price for it… but I don't know. Just seeing him in there, I wish there was a way we could help him."
"I think you already did." Riku assured her.
They remained silent the rest of the ride and soon got off at their stop. All together they walked out of the busy town back to the University. They approached a large glass building in the middle of a vast grass field. Hiro pulled open one of the tall doors, allowing everyone to enter. Hinata looked up at the massive building entirely made of glass, shielding her eyes as the sun brightly reflected off the walls. Walking inside they saw the rest of Hiro's friends inside some sort of laboratory. Various machines and robots were scattered throughout the large room as the four teens worked diligently on different things. They each looked up when they heard the door to the room open and smiled when Hiro and Fred entered with the others in tow.
"Welcome back!" Honey Lemon greeted, a smile spread across her face as she pulled off goggles she was wearing over her eyes.
"So how'd the meeting go?" Wasabi asked, also leaving his project to address them.
"Really well actually." Hinata admitted with a small shrug. "We are about to head to Akuma Island."
Go-Go looked up from her project with widened eyes as the six friends exchanged concerned glances. "And why exactly are you heading to that place?" Go-Go asked, crossing her arms, still not trusting the group.
"Guys it's all right," Hiro assured them, putting up his hands to calm them down. "There's something at Akuma Island that can help Akira get home. I was thinking Baymax and I could take them there and help them out."
"Alright, I think we need an explanation before you go anywhere." Go-Go pointed out. "Why exactly do they need to go to Akuma Island? The last time we were there was when we first went after Callaghan."
"You guys went after Callaghan?" Akira asked. "I thought it was that Big Hero 6 group you mentioned."
"Explanation first," Go-Go stood firm.
Hinata sighed and stepped forward, "Alright fine. I'll explain everything. Basically the three of us are from another world. Akira and Kitigin are from an entire different dimension and they walked through a portal that led to our world. So Riku and I brought Akira here to find Callaghan because according to our employer he used to be researching a way to create a cross-dimensional portal; but like you told us, he's in jail. We got him to tell us where all his plans for the portal are and he told us they were on Akuma Island." She paused and looked at their shocked expressions.
"Is that a good enough explanation for you?" Akira asked, looking specifically at Go-Go.
"Woah!" Fred exclaimed, walking forward. "So you're like from a whole other world! That is sick!" He motioned towards his friends, "And you guys told me aliens weren't real."
"We aren't aliens." Riku sighed. "But look, we are in a hurry, can we get to Akuma Island now?"
Hiro looked at his friends and smiled, "Yeah," He nodded. "Let me just wake up Baymax."
"Baymax?" Kitigin asked, peeking out from Akira's hair.
"He's my brother's robot." Hiro explained while looking around him for something. Picking up a roll of duck-tape, he held it up and explained, "Someone has to say 'ow' first though."
"Ow?" Hinata repeated in a confused tone.
"He means seriously," Go-Go sighed, walking forward and grabbing the duck-tape from Hiro. Stretching out a piece she walked up to Hinata, "Hold out your arm."
Hinata reluctantly put out her arm and watched as Go-Go placed the sticky side of the tape against her bare skin. "What are you doing?" She asked right before Go-Go grabbed the edge of the tape and ripped it off her arm. "Ow!" She exclaimed in surprise, retracting her hand and looking at her now red stinging skin.
"Oh, don't be such a wuss." Go-Go told her with a small smirk before feeling the glare Riku was giving her.
"Why did you do that?" Akira asked, stepping forward to look at Hinata's arm.
The sound of something inflating caught their attention and across the room a red rectangular container on the floor opened along the top, allowing a white robot to emerge. The marshmallow looking robot grew several feet out of the container, a large plush body but with a small oval head with two black mechanical eyes staring at the group of teens.
Once it was fully grown, it slowly stepped out of its home and toddled forwards on its two stubby feet towards Hinata. It came to a stop a couple feet in front of her and lifted its four-fingered hand.
Motioning its hand in a small circle, it greeted in a kind voice, "Hello, I am Baymax; your personal healthcare companion. I was alerted to the need of medical attention when you said 'ow'."
"Oh…" Hinata slowly spoke, looking up and down at the robot in front of her. "Hello."
Baymax looked down as a small screen appeared on his chest showing two rows of faces, starting with a yellow smile going slowly to a red face of pain. Hinata looked at the screen as Baymax continued, "On a scale of one to ten, how would you rate your pain?"
"Uh… maybe a four?" Hinata shrugged, "It was more a surprise than anything." She cast a quick glare at Go-Go who smirked in response.
"I will scan you now." He told her, quickly looking her over. "Scan complete. You have a slight epidermal abrasion on your forearm." As he spoke the screen on his chest changed to a diagram of a human with a red mark along the forearm. Holding up one of his fingers, he stepped forward. "I suggest an anti-bacterial spray."
Hinata nodded, and reluctantly allowed Baymax to take her arm to spray a mist of anti-bacterial spray. "Thanks," She told him, as the spray came out of his finger. She glanced over at Riku and motioned her head towards Baymax, "What do you think of this? We should get a robot nurse back home."
Riku smiled and told her, "I don't think DiZ would appreciate that."
"You have been a good girl." Baymax interrupted, pulling back his hands from Hinata, "Here's a lollipop." He told her holding up a blue lollipop.
Hinata's eyes lit up as she grabbed the candy, quickly putting it in her mouth with a smile. "Thanks!" She told him
Baymax nodded and turned towards Hiro and greeted. "Hello Hiro. Is there another mission?"
"Yeah, we have to get to Akuma Island." Hiro told him.
"Wait," Akira interrupted, "How is a robot nurse going to get us to an island?"
"Along with my medical protocol I am also equipped with various forms of martial arts and flying capabilities." Baymax happily explained, turning towards Akira and looking her over. "My scans indicate a rise in your adrenaline and cortisol levels; often found in cases of stress."
Akira's cheeks barely blushed as she quickly glanced at the people around her and defended, "Of course I'm stressed. I'm stuck with a bunch of strangers in a different universe."
She stiffened and tightened her muscles as Baymax walked forward and awkwardly wrapped his plush arms around her for a hug. "You will be alright." He told her, patting her head, "There, there."
Akira's face was red with embarrassment as she quickly pushed him away, "Ah, yeah thanks." Darting her eyes away as Hinata and Kitigin giggled.
Chuckling, Hiro grabbed Baymax's arm, "Alright Baymax, let's suit up." He glanced at Hinata and told her, "We'll be right back. You guys can go ahead and wait for us out front."
Hinata nodded, and took the candy out of her mouth as Hiro and Baymax left the room. "So I guess we'll see you around then." She told Hiro's friends. "Sorry for sort of barging in today."
"I'm just thankful we finally know what's going on." Wasabi admitted with a shrug. "Although, I'm still just as confused."
With a small chuckle, Hinata agreed, "Yeah, it's kind of complicated."
"We should get out front to wait for Hiro." Riku reminded them, wanting to get a move on.
"Right," Hinata agreed, waving to her new friends. "Well, see you guys."
They waved back and gave them small smiles as Hinata followed Riku and Akira out of the University. Walking out of the glass building, Hinata looked around at the fields of green grass surrounding them. She looked over at Riku standing next to Akira, both of them with stern expressions on their face; it was obvious that both of them were beyond eager to get a move on.
"You guys alright?" She asked, walking up to them.
Akira sighed, "Yeah, I'm just glad we're getting to this island. I hope Callaghan was telling the truth."
"I think he was." Riku spoke up. "He didn't really have much of a reason to lie about it."
A strong gust of wind interrupted their conversation and shielding their faces, they looked up to see Baymax flying towards them wearing a slick red suit of armor, masking his otherwise cuddly complexion. The three of them stumbled backwards as Baymax landed on the grass in front of them with Hiro firmly on his back. Once they landed, Hiro jumped off of his back and took off a purple helmet that was over his head.
Holding it under his arm, he smirked, "Like my ride?"
"Did you make that armor?" Hinata asked, walking forward while examining Baymax's new look.
"Sure did, designed it myself." He explained proudly. "We can ride Baymax to Akuma Island. All of you can get on his wings."
With Hiro's instruction, the three of them situated themselves on the red wings; Hinata with Akira on one side and Riku on the other. Once everything was ready, Hiro got onto Baymax's back and instantly flew they group into the sky. A cold rush of wind brushed past them as they took off towards the sky. The city of San Fransokyo quickly shrunk, the lights from the buildings creating an array of sights getting smaller by the second. Soon they could see the sea in the distance that led to Akuma Island. Akira looked down at the world around them, feeling Kitigin curled up on her shoulder.
"This is amazing." Akira whispered to Kitigin. "We would never see anything like this back home."
Within thirty minutes Baymax began to decelerate and landed softly on an island that was made up of concrete. An old beat up building stood in the middle of the area and a chain-linked fence surrounded the perimeter.
"Well this place seems welcoming." Akira muttered, looking around as she got off Baymax's wing.
"Yeah, it used to be a classified base." Hiro explained, jumping off of Baymax and walking forward to lead the way. "Now it's just abandoned."
"Where do you think Professor Callaghan hid the plans for the portal?" Hinata asked, coming up beside Riku and grabbing his hand.
"We'll have to take a look around inside." Riku replied, giving a small smile to her as she interlaced her fingers with his. "I'm going to guess it won't be too hard to find, considering the place is supposed to be abandoned."
Hinata nodded and they followed Hiro towards the old building, entering through a misshapen hole in the wall that looked to have been cut open. Long hallways met them as they entered; noticing pieces missing from the walls and ceiling from decay. They went forward, looking through each doorway to see if they spotted anything suspicious.
"Last time I was here I found remnants of an old science experiment to create a portal that would teleport one object from one place to another in an instant." Hiro explained.
"That's the experiment where Professor Callaghan lost his daughter, right?" Hinata asked to clarify.
"Yeah." He replied shortly.
"So are those the plans we're looking for then?" Kitigin asked, poking out from Akira's hair.
Hinata shook her head, "I don't think so. I'm pretty sure Callaghan was working with DiZ after that incident, trying to create a portal that would get one person from one dimension to another."
"So like the portal that lost his daughter but to a different dimension." Akira pieced together. "Did he think his daughter got lost in another dimension?"
"Well that is actually what happened." Hiro informed them. "Baymax and I found Abigail in some weird cross dimension."
"But why would Callaghan hide his work at the same place he lost his daughter?" Akira asked.
"This place is supposed to be abandoned." Riku pointed out. "And his portal probably used a lot of the same materials as the other experiment."
Akira was about to respond, but Baymax interrupted. "My scans indicate that there is a lower level." He informed them.
"A lower level?" Hinata repeated, looking around, "That would be a good place to hide his research. How do we get to it?"
Baymax stopped walking for a moment and a small screen appeared over his eyes. After a few seconds, he replied, "An entrance is unknown." Holding up a finger, he added, "However, another solution has presented itself."
Hiro nodded with a smile and ordered, "Baymax, rocket fist."
"Please stand back." Baymax told them, waiting for the group to be a safe distance away, before clenching one of his hands into a fist and aiming towards the floor.
Along the sides of the armored arm, four small rockets came out of small hatches. The backs of the rockets lit up a bright yellow and in an instant his arm flew towards the floor, destroying the concrete in a loud blast. When the dust settled, a large circular hole led from their floor to a door area below.
Baymax stood safely at the edge of the hole and recalled his fist before informing the others, "There is now an entrance to the lower level."
"Good job, Baymax," Hiro told him, looking down the hole.
"Anyone have a light?" Hinata asked, also looking down at the darkness below.
"I've got it." Akira told her, holding out her hand and clenching it into a fist. A dark blue and purple glow began emanating around her hand and when she opened her finger, the same color flame appeared in her palm.
"Dark Fira." Riku recognized the spell, clenching his hand and summoning a slightly bigger flame in his hand."
"Dark Firaga…" Akira noted, looking at the larger flame in his hand. "How did you manage to learn that advanced darkness spell?"
"Long story." He shortly told her.
Hinata cleared her throat, interrupting their exchange, "Alright magic users; go scope out the lower level. Hiro and I will keep looking around in case we find any other suspicious places."
"Alright," Riku nodded, "Be careful."
"I always am." She told him with a smile before turning away to walk off with Hiro and Baymax.
***Author's Note: Akira and Kitigin belong to Spirit of Writing. One more part! ***