#28 It's Better This Way
"I just can't be trusted," Globby sullenly sighed to himself, avoiding the gaze of his friends. The immense guilt he felt that his actions caused Nega-Globby to start controlling his body was something he was unable to shake, no matter how much the others tried to comfort him.
They're risking so much trying to help me and here I am just causing nothing but problems. Some hero I am if I can't even save myself, the pink and purple mutant lamented internally. This is worse than when I was a bad guy because at least I could truly stop whenever I wanted to, but this gelatinous jerk clearly ain't going to and doesn't listen to anyone.
Globby lifted his head upward to see 5 of the 6 people he'd come to care for dearly as they'd shown him genuine kindness, valuing him as a friend and not a tool to use; those who forgave him for his past misdeed and never held it against him, but instead further supported him and showing he could be good at something. The superheroes currently seemed to be consoling Wasabi about his broken vacuum, ranging from telling him "They can just get a new one" to "There, there" with a pat from Baymax. He let out another sigh as he kept a safe distance from them, unsure when the unstable monster inside of him would flare up again.
"So, any objections to Baymax and I going?" Hiro asked, pulling Globby out of his thoughts as he listened more intensely to the conversation.
"Nah, I think we're good here, or as good as we can be all things considered," Fred casually answered with a clawed "So-so" gesture.
"Yeah, we'll manage," Go Go added as she kept her arms crossed, still looking pretty peeved off.
"Alright. Hey Globby," the tech genius called out to the reformed mutant, making him raise his head more and go, "Huh?"
"We're gonna go check in with Honey Lemon. Okay?" Hiro informed him pointing towards the door with a gloved thumb.
"Oh, uh, yeah. Safe flying. Tell her I said hi and give her a hug for me," Globby requested as he gave a weak smile and waved goodbye.
"I am programmed for hugs. I can give it to her," Baymax answered, turning now to let Hiro onto his back and preparing his rockets.
A deafening roar came as purplish flames shot out of the armored robot's thrusters and the duo soared through one of the giant holes in the roof. Everyone's eyes followed them as they took their exit, leaving the other three to start a new conversation about what else they wanted to try while on guard duty.
The troubled shapeshifter's head sank again as he slipped back into his downtrodden thoughts, unsure of what fate awaited him. Honey Lemon is like the smartest person I know, but what if she doesn't get done in time or if this is something that doesn't have a solution? It was hard enough to stop Nega-Globby last time and if I'm gone, would he just go on an unstoppable rampage again? Globby anxiously wondered. I can't do nothing and leave them here to deal with my screw up. Ugh. Why do I have to get carried away every time I'm a T-Rex? he chastised himself.
"Globby, you good?"
"Huh? Wha-" Confused and snapping out of his own cycle, the slime monster frantically looked up to see his friends staring at him with concerned looks on their faces.
"Oh, sorry. I guess I'm just tired you know. Been a crazy couple days," he quickly volunteered an explanation, not willing to provide all that was really going through his mind. It occurred to him that he was still sitting down and may have been the reason for the question. He stood back up a moment later and wiped the nonexistent dust off himself and gazed warily at his friends. "If it's alright with you guys, I was just gonna look around this place by myself. We've been here all day and there's a lot of space for me to keep my distance from you," the shapeshifter glumly told them as he self-consciously grabbed his left arm.
"Come on man. There's plenty of stuff we could try, like we could play catch or watch a movie or order some dinner because I am always down for some pizza," Fred objected as he started listing activities off.
"Fred, the catch one is liable to wind up with there being another hole in the wall if Nega-Globby gets his ugly mitt on a ball, and we've seen what he does to food too," Go Go pointed out as she gestured to the broken vacuum cleaner.
"So, what I'm hearing is you're cool with a movie?" the reptilian hero eagerly deduced as he looked at her expectantly.
The engineer sighed irritably and gruffly said, "Fine, but it better be one we can all agree on; I'm not in the mood for a monster movie," making Globby wince at guessing the reason why.
Wasabi then piped in with, "But we should order something to eat soon since you burn a lot of calories running and screaming."
The reformed mutant's head still hanged low as he avoided their eyes and said, "You guys don't have to do any of that for me. I really don't deserve it right now."
Fred gave a dismissive gesture and sincerely told him, "Please, we want to, and besides, guard duty will fly by if we're actually having fun while doing it."
Go Go raised an eyebrow and flatly replied, "I don't think of fun when I picturing guarding somebody."
"But Go Go, don't you know a lot of quality bonding time can happen between the guard and the person they're guarding when they open themselves up to finding common activities together?" the rich young man countered, only to be met with an unamused expression.
"You got that from some movie, didn't you?" she deadpanned.
"Several actually, and I know Wasabi will back me up on this," Fred admitted as he now gestured to the physicist.
Wasabi then put up his hand placatingly and insisted, "Don't drag me into what you should or shouldn't do debate. I just care about the objective and adhering to the best way possible to achieve it."
Globby couldn't help but put a small smile on his face as their conversation went back and forth, glad at least they could stay in high spirits; this moment was ruined however when he felt his left arm start to go numb. Oh no!
"Guys!" Globby tried to warn his friends, but was too late as it turned blue and shot out to go after Wasabi.
The green and black-armored hero just barely managed to avoid getting hit as he fell onto his back with a grunt. Panic appeared on everyone's face as the possessed arm then swung left to hit Go Go, who spun and swiped low under it. Unfortunately, Fred trying to jump over the appendage wound up getting him smacked against the nearest wall, making him give a weak "Ow" after he made contact with it.
The gelatinous mutant let out a gasp as he began trying to punch his arm back into submission. "Stop it! Stop it!" he pleaded as it made another swipe at the speedster, only to get struck by her discs, causing an angry hissing sound to be heard as the vile culprit popped out to get a better view of everything.
By now, Wasabi had righted himself up and activated his plasma blade to deal some damage to the foul-tempered slime, slicing off good-sized chunks of goo that fell to the floor with an audible squish. Nega-Globby continued to put his energy into regenerating as the onslaught of attacks came, which meant Globby was still left with his right arm to use, but so far wasn't able to stop him either. The possessed hero repeatedly kept hitting the blue one in different forms such as a hammer, rock and even acid, which made the parasite laugh maliciously. The sound he made combined with him moving just enough into Globby's line of sight caused the reformed mutant to impulsively aim his malleable fist and punch Nega-Globby square in the eye; this disoriented the menace long enough to make the left arm go limp and allow Wasabi to rush over and cut off the infected limb at the base. As soon as the appendage hit the ground with a wet slap, the one-eyed monster retreated back from whence he came.
Everyone but Fred was panting as Go Go helped him onto his feet, still feeling some lingering pain and needing to bend over slightly as they moved back to the front doors. The physicist turned his blades off and was about to comment on how fast they took Nega-Globby down when he saw Globby already starting to back away with a look of absolute guilt and fear.
"I told you to stay away from me! It just keeps getting worse," the shapeshifter said as his voice started to break. His left arm quickly grew back and was returned to its normal pinkish-purple color, but that was the furthest thing from Globby's mind at the moment. "I'm sorry, but I…I need to be alone," he sullenly added as he now turned to go further into the desolate factory, unable to bear the pained stares of sympathy from his friends.
"Wait-" Fred started to say only for Go Go to place a hand on his shoulder and shake her head.
"He wants a moment alone. We can give him a few minutes, then let him know we're not going anywhere." The engineer turned to look at Wasabi now as he gave a nod in agreement before they all faced the direction their fellow hero went.
The distressed mutant didn't stop walking until he was well within the large structure, where it was dark and away from everyone. Above him was more decayed roof with beams of late afternoon sun barely trickling in while on the ground, he could make out patches of weeds that had grown inside; in addition, there appeared to be a row of giant rusted vats, a few broken tables and cracks along the walls.
Now they're safe, he sadly remarked to himself as he proceeded to collapse back into a huddled, sitting position and burying his face into his legs. But are they though? he found himself asking after a minute or so of quiet sulking. As long as I'm here, everyone's in danger and they're all too kind to actually give up on me, regardless of what might happen because of it, he anxiously deduced, panic rising in him once again. If they can't save me, maybe I can at least save them while I still have some control, he grimly thought as he realized there was only one course of action he could take.
Globby stood back up, knowing the longer he waited the more likely his friends would find him and try to stop him. Using his fabrication powers, he produced a letter in his left hand to leave behind, looking over it to see that it had everything he wanted to tell them. In his depressed state of not really wanting to go and wishing there was a better option, the mostly transparent man couldn't stop himself from letting a few gelatinous tears fall onto the paper.
"Ugh," he groaned before he wiped his face and attempted to clean the sheet, only to hear the sound of footsteps a second later. Darn it. They're coming, Globby quickly thought as he stopped what he was doing and just stuck the letter on the ground. He then shot his right arm up towards the ceiling and snuck out through one of the holes. The pink and purple man spared one last look and whispered, "Bye guys," followed by snaking off the roof using the water spout and taking it all the way to the nearest storm drain.
Meanwhile, three of the intrepid friends were searching the candy factory to see where their fourth went.
"Hey Globby, you in here?" Fred called as he took a big leap into another section of the building.
"I thought he came this way," Wasabi commented, looking all around the area and wearing a grimace expression when he saw the state of this place.
"Yeah, me too," Go Go added as she skated over to one of the broken tables.
"Could he be hiding? You know as something so we can't find him. Should I start poking some things?" the reptilian hero inquired before proceeding to do just that.
The engineer went a little further in when something caught her eye in the failing light. She picked up the sticky paper that could only have been left by Globby and looked it over, followed by informing the other two, "Oh, he's hiding alright, just not here." Her statement made Wasabi and Fred come to her position as she handed the note over to the blue and black-armored hero so they could read it too.
"Well, this isn't good," Wasabi simply said as he shook his head in dismay.
Go Go sighed tiredly as she pulled out her phone and told the young men, "I'll make the call."
Snaking through the drain, the gelatinous mutant was led to the outflow pipe to the ocean, where he dropped in as covertly as he could into the water, still unsure of where to go. I don't think being adrift in the Pacific would do me any good and I might accidently hurt the sea life if Nega-Globby shows up, Globby anxiously thought as he barely kept his head above the waves. Clearly anywhere in the city is out, since I'm doing this to keep people safe from me. Could I go to the woods? Nah. I wouldn't be surprised if this one-eyed jerk starts a forest fire just because he can; plus, that bear monster creature is there. The pink and purple man then shuddered at thinking of how terrible that fate would be too. He caught sight of the Torii Gate Bridge off to his left in the distance as he looked for other ideas, but aware that he didn't know of many places to go. I need to be someplace alone with nothing that can get ruined or hurt, somewhere no one can find me. Maybe an island or something.
It was then that a spark of a memory popped up. Wait a minute. There was that Akuma Island Obake used for one of his plans and it got totally wrecked if I'm remembering right, he recollected as a splash of salty water washed over him. Yeah, there'd be no reason for anyone to visit there and it's a pile of rubble now, he worked out as he started a new plan. Well, I better get going.
Globby proceeded to dip below the surface and began traversing along the rocky coast underwater, peeking out every minute or so to make sure he was going the right direction and wasn't seen. Although he had luminescent eyes, the sky was not completely dark yet, so he was able to remain undetected.
After what felt like forever, the shapeshifter finally saw the desolate place come into view as night finally fell. "I guess I'm swimming for real the rest of the way," he said to himself as he gave the surrounding area a once over to be sure he still wasn't found. Globby proceeded to dive underwater again and kicked his legs faster than humanly possible, making it to the island about a minute later. He then looked up the tall cliff and stretched his arms from each rocky protrusion to the next until he made it to the top, collapsing on all fours once he was on solid ground.
The reformed mutant laid on the ground before rolling over to somberly look at the full moon rising as a few clouds floated on by. He was letting out a depressed sigh when it occurred to him Nega-Globby hadn't bothered him since he left the abandoned factory. Why would he be quiet now? the shapeshifter puzzled over for a half minute when the answer came to him. Frowning in anger, he couldn't help but growl, "Unbelievable petty jerk! You only really wanted to come out in order to ruin things for my friends and I, huh? Not just take me over!"
He then sat up as his heated moment quickly passes to be replaced with sorrow. "Well, now I know I made the right decision as I'm going to be far away from my friends for a long time. Happy?" Globby thankfully didn't get a response from the blue parasite, but that did little to bring him any joy as he scrunched his legs up and hugged himself. Guess this is my new life, he sullenly thought as he now stared at the city that was once called home, convinced there was no going back and he truly was a monster that should be left alone at all cost.
NOTES
I felt so bad for Globby in "The Globby Within" and my heart always aches at the fact that he left his support network to go live on Akuma Island; what makes it even sadder is the fact that him running away wouldn't solve anything since Nega-Globby would still be trying to take over his body, so him running away would only delay the results at best. ;_; I also wouldn't be surprised if Nega-Globby only flared up to antagonize Big Hero 6/make Globby suffer, especially because he attack Joe's Diner, a place Globby loves, and the whole montage with him destroying everything Globby's friends brought with them; for goodness sake, Nega-Globby knocking the popcorn off for Wasabi to clean it up was a total jerk move because he didn't have to do it, but he wanted to. :( I'm always drawn to stories of people who are good, but that see themselves as monsters and think isolation is the only option for them; it just makes my heart wrench, especially when they have people who do love them and want to help because they know that's not the real them. 333 Honestly, the part where he's telling Big Hero 6 to leave him is always heartbreaking to watch since he clearly doesn't want to stay there, but would rather suffer on his own than drag his friends into it. ;_;
In addition, I hope you felt I captured Globby's thoughts and self-doubts accurately given how he seemed in the episode as well as how much he cares for Big Hero 6's safety. :/
The next story will be about High Voltage being broken out of prison. O_O