#12 An Ominous Start

"Insolent brat!" Yama growled to himself while surrounded by several other criminals. He was watching Hiro and his brother Tadashi being released from incarceration after they all had been arrested for illegal bot fighting. The cell he was in was cramped well beyond normal capacity and he was absolutely seething in anger, causing those around him to inch away as best as they could. He made his phone call to his lawyer to get him released and pay whatever or whoever he needed.

A couple hours had eventually gone by and Yama wasn't any less enraged. If I ever see that kid again, I'll give him more than a beating, I'll…the gangster's train of thought was interrupted by one of the officers approaching with a set of keys. The cop appeared to be in his 40s with golden brown hair that was streaked with grey.

"Well, it seems as though our system has you slated for release. Your lawyer must get paid immensely," he commented, looking at the larger man with a touch of suspicion at wondering how did this happen so fast. Admittedly, even Yama was surprised at the response time and expected he would be getting an invoice soon. The mobster went through the process of being released and being sure to grab his personal effects: a white burner phone, some keys and a rolled-up wad of cash that hadn't been seized in the bust. Yama found that the upside of having minions do his dirty work meant he typically didn't need to have a weapon on his person; being well over 6ft tall and stacked like a sumo wrestler helped to deter confrontation too.

With a smug grin, Yama walked out into the cool San Fransokyo night as the time was after midnight. He then used his phone to call his limo driver Rourke to pick him up. The large man didn't care what time it was, his driver was on retainer no matter the hour and expected to provide prompt service. While he waited for his pickup, Yama paced back and forth impatiently and thinking about his next course of action. I'll have to stage the next bot-fight with a little more security and a more isolated spot, but first, I'll need a new Little Yama. The gangster growled again at remembering how that teenager dismantled his prize bot like it was nothing. His mind briefly wondered if his lawyer Travis was going to take the initiative and get his men out too. If he does, they better be flipping the bill. Yama does not do charity.

Yama waited for another 15 minutes before his ride finally arrived, with the driver quickly stepping out to get the door for him and looking extremely nervous. "'Bout time," the mobster complained as he stepped inside his car and waited for Rourke to resume driving. The interior was decorated with a tan hue and included a mini-fridge, TV and a controller for the front window to the driver's area. Yama rolled the tinted window down and ordered, "Take me back to my place!" His driver rapidly obeyed as he put the limo into gear and proceeded to head towards Yama's Tower.

The tracksuit wearing man then raised the window backup and reached into his little fridge to pull out a weakness of his: a can of ice-cold lychee cream soda. After it hissed upon opening, he took a few swigs from it, unaware that some red had flashed across his TV screen. When he sat the can into the cup holder, he let out a satisfied sigh before an unfamiliar voice said, "Enjoying your freedom?"

This startled Yama as he feverishly looked all over for the source. For a moment, he was about to chalk it up to it was all in his head when it appeared again, this time snidely saying, "I'd look at the monitor if I were you." The large man snapped his head to the TV screen, where a red demon symbol flicked to life on the otherwise dark image.

"Good. I finally have your attention," the male voice said condescendingly and making Yama growl in anger.

"Listen here! I don't know who you are, but no one talks to Yama like that!" he shouted at the disembodied voice.

There was a slight scoff heard before the man on the other side replied, "If you had an ounce of patience, you'd let me introduce myself. You may call me Obake, and your rapid release was only possible because of my intervention."

A puzzled expression appeared on the gangster's face as curiosity also worked its way into his mind. "You? Yama didn't ask you to do that! If you expect me to pay you back, forget it," he angrily told the intelligent man.

"You mistake your position here," Obake coldly informed him with an underlying threat.

"Huh?" was all Yama managed to say before he felt himself lurch forward from the brakes suddenly slamming on the limo. Fortunately, the late hour meant minimal traffic and they avoided an accident. As Yama recovered himself, the vehicle was brought back to life as it surged forward and pressing the gangster against the seat; he remained there a couple seconds until it stopped, leaving him and the driver properly rattled. A moment later, all the lights in the interior burned brightly before exploding from the surge of power. Then, the monitor flashed the demon emblem again and making it clear who was behind this incident.

"Now, have we learned our lesson?" Obake said almost mockingly.

The large man grumbled and finally replied, "What do you want?"

"That's better. As you just saw, I can get you anywhere, at any time, but there are circumstances that require a physical presence," he cryptically answered.

"So, what? You want me to be your muscle or something? Is that it?" Yama inquired with a scoff. Once again, the brakes on the limo slammed as Yama lurched forward from the sudden movement.

"Clearly, it's going to take some work to break you. That attitude is not going to be tolerated while I'm calling the shots. Now, to answer your question, I am in need of someone who can deliver items I myself cannot gather; an errand boy if you will," Obake explained as a small evil smile crossed his face, unseen by the gangster. Yama growled at his forced title, but he didn't snap back this time as he waited for the villainous character to finish. "Your position won't be without its perks. My expertise can help get you top technology that will undoubtedly be worth a fortune; provided, those will only be given for success," the enigmatic man bluntly told him.

"What if something goes wrong and I fail?"

With yet another cold, unseen grin, the voice simply said, "Use your imagination."

Yama gave an audible gulp as that sort of line never had a positive meaning in his line of work. He then let out an angry sigh as he repositioned himself in his seat. "Alright. I'll do it," the gangster resigned with a look of malice aimed at the TV.

"Like you even have a choice," Obake smirked as he severed the connection.

With control of the vehicle returned to normal, Yama shook his head as the reality of what just happened set in. Great. I've been reduced to a lackey for someone who clearly can make good on his threats. No pressure, he internally complained and worried.

While the crime boss was being driven back to his tower, the scheming intellectual stood staring at his monitors inside his massive lair. He had begun construction of his mostly underwater fortress almost a year ago in secret with the aid of robots; he had since dismantled them to be repurposed elsewhere. Unless he was somewhere else inside, the structure was mostly kept dark except for the eerie green glow of his computer screens, which often would be Obake's only view of the outside world. Using his advance intellect and programming capabilities, he was able to hack almost anything to get the materials he needed or else get the money to buy them.

The pale man once known as Bob Aken had not gone through all this trouble just on a whim; ever since he suffered a terrible accident when he was a teenager, he had always felt changed. They had said the incident had affected his brain and that he was lucky to be alive, but the way he had come to see it was this was a sign he was destined for greatness; he had survived, he was stronger, he was smarter, and that meant he was superior. From this belief, he knew he'd need the accolades to prove it and that it must be for something undeniably worthy. Overtime, he began working from the shadows as he knew his ambitions would undoubtedly be blocked by those that thought he was crazy. When he wasn't inventing/building something, Obake was researching on notable figures and how they achieved their greatness; this interest had yielded its most promising results when he got to Lenore Shimamoto.

The determined man knew of her immense influence she wielded as evident by the many things named after her as well as her being on their money. Obake became fixated on the famous painter, looking up every archived story, picture or art she had ever made. From his obsession, he discovered something of great magnitude that pertained to her "City Rising" painting. Although currently lost, the old notes and pictures of it marked a very small, but curious detail: It was the only painting she didn't sign. How odd, he had wondered and continued to further explore this abnormality. He found that Lenore's contributions to society were sporadic, even in the art community, for several years with her appearances also being few and far between; then, almost out of nowhere, there was a surge of charity and dedications from her that for practically everyone appeared completely selfless. Almost as if she felt guilty about something, Obake countered the belief with a lingering suspicion.

Going back to the "City Rising" painting, which depicted San Fransokyo rebuilding itself after the Great Catastrophe, he noted that event marked the turning point for Shimamoto's campaign of good will. That can't be a coincidence, the pale man with increasing glee had thought and the fact that he alone had managed to connect these dots only reinforced his belief of superiority. Even over a hundred years later, no one truly knew what happened that day, with the only consistent report being a loud, rumbling boom was heard during the disaster. People had assumed it was a large earthquake, and given that it happened in 1906, when a lack of structurally-sound buildings and not really having any method to disprove this theory at the time made this the general consensus.

As Obake continued in his quest, he believed whole-heartedly Lenore Shimamoto was responsible for the city's destruction and her painting was the key to recreating it himself. Although most would surely call him mad, the way he saw it was tragedy often leads to innovation and progress, so his act of genocide would be for the betterment of future generations. He had poured through his research to find where the painting could have been lost and managed to locate some possible locations. The spots pertained to evidence that "City Rising" had been kept in a doomsday vault of sorts for safe-keeping along with other historical artifacts during the Unbridled War of 1916. Several of these spots fell victim to tunnel collapse when an actual earthquake struck San Fransokyo the same year.

Obake was planning to look for these burial places himself and gave a smirk when he saw reports of excavation teams working on a similar plan. Even a simpleton can sometimes put two and two together, he condescendingly thought. I'll keep an eye on them, but leave them alone until they retrieve my prize. He also knew that at some point, he'd have to investigate Lenore's house at SFAI as that was clearly where she spent a good deal of her time cooped up; they were currently renovating it and it would undoubtedly reveal more into her research once he could look around undisturbed. With the wheels for his plan finally turning, this became the reason he had reached out and forced Yama to do his bidding. He returned again to his life's obsession and gave a sinister smile before quietly saying, "Almost time now."

"Failure. Absolute failure," Obake coldly remarked to himself as he assessed his current situation. Yama had not only failed in retrieving his energy amplifier, he had led to it being completely destroyed. I'll have to find a way to make another; the plan will need it to necessitate a larger performance. The scheming man returned to his monitors, gazing at the six superheroes that led to his blunder. "Big Hero 6," he said aloud as he pondered. "Well, it seems my work will have some new opposition," he noted as he put a hand to his chin.

"They may have to be dealt with if they hinder progress beyond a mild irritation." Obake in this moment, suddenly found himself inspired as an idea occurred to him. If these do-gooders become a nuisance, I may need more than a conditioned mobster in a tracksuit to deal with them. A devious smile now crossed his pale face as the left side suddenly started to glow purple, clearly excited at the prospect of having more powerful/skilled lackeys at his disposal.

"It seems my good work will require some adjustments. Better get started on potential candidates," he said to himself as he began using his computer, leaving him to spend another night in his vast, dark lair alone, ever focused on achieving his dream.

NOTES

Since we don't know how Obake came upon Shimamoto's secret, I figured the detail that we saw in "Failure Mode" where the excerpt about "City Rising" mentioned that it was the only painting Lenore didn't sign would be a good place to start. ;) We also don't know what happened to Yama during the rest of "Big Hero 6," so I figured it made sense that Obake would put Yama under his "employ" and do so in the menacingly cold way we've come to expect.

The next story will be what Dibs's first day as Globby was like. (Some parts will have overlap conversations from what was shown in "Big Roommates 2," but I've added additional scenes/dialogue and Globby's thoughts on what his transformation/situation was like).