Chapter 20: Comes Back to Haunt You
In a workshop buried somewhere deep in the bowels of Home Base, Hiro sat at a computer, dressed in his casual clothing, and rapidly typing on the keyboard. After a moment, Hiro sighed and leaned back in the chair before pushing another key, causing the computer tower to eject Baymax's green datachip.
"Well, I think I've been able to fix any damage Phantasma caused to Baymax's code," Hiro said as he pulled the chip out of the tower and spun his chair around, "How are you guys doing?"
On the other side of the workshop, Megamind and Minion had Baymax laid out on the table. The android was back to his fully inflated self, and had a number of wires attached to his dataport that ran to a nearby, rumbling generator.
"It would appear that we've sealed all of the punctures in our inflatable friend here," Megamind reported before looking over at Minion, "How are our energy levels looking, Minion?"
"Battery cells are fully charged!" Minion answered.
"Alright, then let's get him back on his feet," Hiro said as he hopped out of his chair and walked over to the table while Megamind detached the cables from Baymax's dataport. Reaching the table, Hiro leaned forward and put the datachip in one of the ports. A moment after the dataport retreated into Baymax's chest, the android sat up and blinked owlishly.
"How are you feeling, buddy?" Hiro questioned as Baymax slid off the table.
"Running diagnostic," Baymax replied, pausing for a moment before continuing, "Batteries are fully charged and my core code is free of corruption."
"Do you have any idea what this Phantasma was trying to do to you?" Megamind questioned.
Turning towards Megamind, Baymax looked at him and Minion for a moment.
"I do not believe we have been introduced," Baymax observed, before doing his small, circular wave, "I am Baymax, a personal healthcare companion."
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Baymax," Megamind replied as he gave the android a dramatic bow, "I am Megamind."
"And this," Megamind continued as he indicated towards Minion, "Is my faithful sidekick, Minion."
"Sidekick?" Minion repeated as he looked at Megamind in confusion.
"Well, of course," Megamind replied as he turned to address Minion, "We're not villains anymore, so I can't rightly go around introducing you as my henchman, now can I? Besides, you should be happy, sidekick is a promotion!"
"It is?" Minion questioned doubtfully.
"Of course!" Megamind exclaimed before he began emphasizing his explanation with exaggerated hand movements, "Now, we're a dynamic, crime-fighting duo, and if I were to ever fall in battle, you could take up my mantle and continue my crusade."
"I don't think I want that," Minion said, a troubled expression on his face.
"Of course you don't," Megamind said joyfully as he patted Minion on the shoulder, "That's what makes you a good sidekick."
"Your biometrics do not match anything in my files," Baymax observed as he looked between Minion and Megamind, "Are you alien lifeforms?"
"Uh, yes," Megamind replied, a look of confusion on his face, "How did you-"
"Baymax, you really have got to stop scanning people without their permission," Hiro interrupted with a sigh.
"I shall log your biometrics in my alien lifeform archives," Baymax informed them.
"You have an alien lifeform archive?" Megamind questioned in surprise.
"You guys aren't the first extraterrestrials we've encountered," Hiro explained with a shrug.
"You've encountered other aliens?" Megamind asked as he crossed his arms and quirked an eyebrow at Hiro.
"I mean, my friends and I did kind of stop an alien invasion," Hiro replied with a chuckle, "Plus, didn't you notice the little purple guy we were hanging out with?"
"Fair enough," Megamind replied with a shrug before he turned his attention back towards Baymax, "Now, I do believe I asked you a question."
"Right," Hiro agreed with a nod, "What was Phantasma trying to do to you?"
"I believe this Phantasma was attempting to rewrite my core programming," Baymax answered, "She said my healthcare protocols were illogical. I believe she was trying to fix me, as she saw it."
"God, Baymax, I'm sorry," Hiro apologized, a stricken expression on his face.
"I do not understand why you are apologizing," Baymax replied, "You are not at fault for Phantasma's actions."
"But I am," Hiro argued with a shake of his head, "She was made using my technology."
"That Enigma copied," Megamind countered as he crossed his arms, "I admire your sense of responsibility, but it's not your fault that someone else figured out how to make these….tiny robots?"
"Microbots," Hiro corrected with a sigh, "And yeah, I guess you're right, but I just can't shake the feeling that this is my fault."
"I'm told that an overdeveloped sense of responsibility is a good thing in a hero," Megamind said as he laid a hand on Hiro's shoulder, "Congratulations!"
"Thanks?" Hiro replied with a bemused laugh, "I have to say, all things considered, it's actually pretty cool to meet you. Especially after Violet let us in on what actually happened with Metro Man."
"Ah, so she told you about that, huh?" Megamind observed, a troubled expression on his face.
"Yeah, we were actually talking about it before all the stuff at the prison went down," Hiro explained with a shrug, "I mean, shouldn't you be happy about this? Now less people think you're a murderer."
"I suppose," Megamind agreed with a reluctant nod, "But I have plenty of other things to make up for."
"Now who has the overdeveloped sense of responsibility?" Hiro asked with a chuckle, earning a laugh from Megamind and Minion.
At that moment, the door to the laboratory opened and Lucy stepped into the room.
"Agent Wilde!" Megamind greeted cheerfully, "And how are you this fine evening?"
"As fine as I can be after a major supervillain attack," Lucy replied with a sigh as she crossed her arms and eyed Baymax, "Is your robot back up and running?"
"Pretty much, yeah," Hiro confirmed with a nod.
"Good, all of you need to come with me then," Lucy replied as she beckoned them over to her, "The higher ups need to talk to you all."
With that, Lucy turned and left, prompting Hiro to look up at Megamind with an expression of confusion. Megamind's only reaction was to shrug before he followed Lucy out of the room, prompting the others to follow.
With Lucy leading them, the five made their way through the hallways of Home Base towards the room the meeting was going to be held in. Along the way, they ran into Honey and Violet as they made their way in the same direction.
"Hey guys," Hiro greeted, "How are you holding up?"
"My ears are still ringing a little," Honey replied, "But the doctors said that there wasn't any permanent damage, so it should stop in a little while."
"I'm doing okay," Violet added as she grinned, "It's good to see Baymax back on his feet too."
"I am currently operating at one hundred precent effectiveness," Baymax confirmed.
"So, I take it this was the big secret thing you couldn't tell us about?" Hiro inquired as he looked at Violet.
"Yeah," Violet answered with a look of chagrin, "Sorry I couldn't go into it, but I'm guessing this meeting we're all going to will explain everything."
"You'll also get to meet everyone face to face," Megamind added with a broad grin, "I'll admit, when we first started out, things were a bit rocky, but now, I think all of us will get along swimmingly!"
"Hey, guys, wait up!" Susan called as she hustled down the hall after the others, "You all heading to the meet-"
Susan abruptly cut herself off as she froze and stared up at Honey, who stopped and looked back at her with wide eyes. The abrupt stop in the conversation caused everyone to pause and look back at the two women, most of them wearing looks of confusion, except for Violet, who had an expression that seemed like a mixture of concern and fear.
"Why did we all stop talking?" Megamind inquired as he looked around at the others, "Did something happen?"
As Susan and Honey continued to stare at each other in silent shock, Hiro glanced up at Lucy, who sighed.
"Right," Lucy said awkwardly as she began slowly making her way down the hall again, "We should probably go."
"Yeah," Hiro agreed as he took Baymax's hand and led the robot away.
"I don't understand what's happening," Megamind commented as Minion began pushing him down the hall.
"I'm sure I'll be able to explain it to you later, sir," Minion replied as they left.
Once the others were gone, Honey and Susan continued to stare at each other in mute horror for a few more long, agonizing moments.
"P-Pamela!" Susan finally said with a tone of forced cheer after working up the courage to break the silence, "What….what are you doing here?"
"...What are you doing here?" Honey repeated in confusion.
"I, uh, I asked you first," Susan replied with a nervous laugh, "But, in the, uh, the spirit of fairness, I'll let you know that I, uh, work here…."
"You work here?" Honey questioned.
"I told you I was in the Army, didn't I?" Susan answered, "Though I don't know why…."
Susan trailed off as she looked at Violet, who looked back at her with an expression of chagrin.
"Oh…." Susan mumbled as she turned her attention back to Honey, "You're part of the Big Hero 9, aren't you?"
"How….How did you know that?" Honey questioned in shock.
"Because I'm going to the same meeting you are," Susan explained awkwardly, "Because I'm Ginormica."
"What?" Honey questioned, her expression completely baffled, "Y-You can't be Ginormica, she's fifty feet tall."
"Size reduction technology," Susan replied as she held up her arm and pointed at the watch-like device on her wrist.
"But, Ginormica doesn't wear a mask!" Honey countered, "How could I have not recognized you before?"
"You'd be surprised how easy it is to blend in when people are expecting you to be ten times taller," Ginormica said with a shrug and a look of chagrin.
Honey wanted to argue, but bit her tongue as she realized that, now that her brain was making the connection, Susan did look exactly like the giantess she had seen earlier that night.
"How could you not have told me this?" Honey demanded as she narrowed her eyes at Susan.
"Why would I?" Susan countered defensively, "I had no idea you were on the Big Hero 9 until tonight!"
There was a pause as Susan looked Honey over while thinking.
"I'm guessing you're the one with the balls….?" Susan questioned awkwardly.
"Miss Chemistry, yes," Honey replied with an exasperated tone before she sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, "What I don't understand is how this could have happened."
"Yeah," Susan agreed with a nod, "I feel like someone would have known enough to let us know about each other."
There was another pause in the conversation as looks of realization passed over both Honey and Susan's features before they slowly turned their gazes towards Violet, who grimaced.
"Look," Violet said after a moment, looking specifically at Honey while she spoke, "You all got real mad when I found out you all were the Big Hero 9, so there was no way I was going to give away either of your secret identities without your permissions."
Both Honey and Susan looked at Violet for a few, quiet moments before the taller girl let out a defeat sigh.
"You're right," Honey relented, "I suppose I should thank you for that. It must have been an….awkward situation for you."
"Yeah," Violet agreed as she glanced between Honey and Susan, "Definitely awkward."
"Anyway, I suppose we should get to the meeting," Honey said as she turned and began to walk away.
"Right," Susan agreed as she looked at Honey with a worried but hopeful expression, "And then after did you want to….talk or something, Pam?"
The question caused Honey to pause and she looked back at Susan over her shoulder.
"I don't think we really have anything to talk about, do we?" Honey questioned.
The response seemed to cause Susan to deflate, the young woman's shoulders sagging as her face fell.
"No, I-I guess not," Susan mumbled in reply.
"Alright," Honey said with a nod before she turned away from Susan and continued down the hall.
As Honey left, Violet looked at Susan with a stricken expression.
"Sue, I-" Violet began to say.
"Don't," Susan interrupted as she quickly ran a hand over her face, "Please, just….just don't."
With that, Susan continued down the hall as well, leaving Violet standing alone. Sighing to herself, Violet ran her hands through her hair before resting them on the back of her neck.
"And here I thought I left all this stuff back in high school," Violet muttered before she made her way down the hall as well.
Reaching the meeting room, Violet took a seat between Fred and her family. Looking around, Violet saw Hiro sitting between Riley and Cass with Baymax standing behind him, while Megamind and Minion were with Roxanne. Susan was sitting with the other monsters, who looked at the young woman with concern as she sat with her head lowered, while Honey seemed to have taken the seat as far away from Susan as possible. Violet also spotted Wasabi and Go Go sitting nearby, a pair of crutches sitting next to the young woman while the young man seemed to be wearing a back brace of some sort.
As everyone settled down, Rick walked to the front of the room, flanked by Lucy and Mirage. As he did, the screen behind him turned on, revealing the images of General Monger and Director Ramsbottom.
"Good evening everyone," Ramsbottom greeted with a nod, "I hope you are all well, given the circumstances."
"I'm guessing a bunch of you are wondering what in Sam Hill is going on," Monger stated as he scanned the crowd.
"Wait a minute, I know you!" Hiro spoke up, causing everyone to look at him as he pointed a finger at Monger, "You were the general in charge of the portal KreiTech was working on."
"He's right," Fred agreed with a nod, "I remember seeing him on that security footage we found."
"Ah, so it's you kids that I have to thank for cleaning up that mess," Monger observed with a wry grin, "Yes, my name is General W. R. Monger, former military liaison to Project Silent Sparrow and now military liaison to the Anti-Villain League, run by my associate, Director Ramsbottom."
"A pleasure to make your acquaintance," Ramsbottom said as he nodded at the group.
"So, let's get down to the brass tacks," Monger stated, "The question on most of your minds is "Why are we here?" and I think that damn hippie Bob Dylan said it best. "The times, they are a changin'.""
"What's that supposed to mean?" Tip questioned in confusion.
"It means that the time of the Supers Ban is at an end," Ramsbottom explained, "The public opinion is siding with superheroes once more and the law is quickly becoming unenforceable."
"So what you're saying is that we're not going to be arrested?" Wasabi questioned as he raised a hand to draw attention to himself.
"No, son," Monger replied while giving Wasabi a slightly incredulous look, "None of you are going to be arrested."
"Okay, good," Wasabi said with a relieved sigh as Go Go rolled her eyes next to him, "I was still kind of worried about that."
"So, why are we here?" Hiro inquired.
"That's the million dollar question," Monger replied with a grin.
"With it becoming more and more likely that the Supers Ban was going to become a thing of the past, Agent Dicker proposed a radical solution that would get the AVL ahead of the curve," Ramsbottom explained.
"We put our own team of superheroes together," Rick stated as he scanned the room.
"Your own team of heroes!?" Fred asked excitedly, "Sign me up!"
"Fred, you're already on a superhero team," Honey pointed out as she looked at him in confusion.
"Yeah, but this is like, a super superteam," Fred explained, "We can't miss something like that!"
"Presuming that's why you brought us here," Wasabi observed.
"It is indeed," Rick confirmed with a nod, "We've been trying to keep tabs on the Big Hero 9 since you all first showed up, with a little help from Ms. Parr."
"So, this is the thing you couldn't tell us about," Riley observed as she looked over at Violet, who smiled and shrugged in reply.
"Okay, well, I think I speak for everyone when I say that the Big Hero 9 are totally willing to work with you guys," Hiro said as he looked up at the screen, "But I have to ask, does this have something to do with what happened tonight?"
"It does indeed," Ramsbottom confirmed with a grave nod, "What originally set us about forming this team was info we received about a large amount of activity happening in the villain community. Soon enough, after an attack in Russia, we had a name to put to this rising threat."
"Enigma," Hiro stated grimly.
"That's the one," Monger agreed, "And after pulling a brazen jailbreak like the one we saw tonight, he might be even more of a threat than we gave him credit for."
"What do you think he's doing?" Stan questioned, "He's gathered all of these villains together, he must have some kind of plan."
"No doubt, with the number of supervillains he's brought together, Enigma must have a truly sinister plot in mind," Ramsbottom mused.
"Do we have a better idea yet of what this plot might be?" Helen asked hopefully.
"We don't have any further intel at the moment," Monger answered with a disgruntled shake of his head, "As far as we can tell, they stole an experimental formula from the Russians to break Yokai out of jail, but why they want him so bad, nobody knows for sure."
"There has to be some way of finding out what they're after," Bob sighed.
"Why don't we send Mirage in undercover?" Lucius suggested as he indicated towards the woman in question, "Enigma seems to be holding open tryouts for any villain who's interested, and she's got ties."
"Ties that have been severed, since everyone knows I'm working for the AVL now," Mirage countered, causing Lucius' shoulders to sag.
"Well, I guess there goes that idea," Link said with a sigh, "It's not like we know someone who could go undercover for us that these guys wouldn't expect."
"Actually," Megamind spoke up, bringing everyone's attention to him as a smile spread across his face, "I might know just such a person."
Meanwhile,
As the Underminer's drill tank finally rumbled to a stop, Callaghan couldn't help but sigh in relief. While the drill tank was impressively large, it wasn't quite big enough to properly house all of the villains currently inside, especially the oversized Oni, which meant that Callaghan had spent hours sitting on a cramped metal bench. The ride had been a quiet one, with none of the other villains showing any interest in talking with Callaghan, which suited the man just fine, even if it did leave him alone with his thoughts.
Holding his mask in his hands, Callaghan stared down at it and thought over everything that had led him to where he was. Now that the adrenalin had worn off, Callaghan couldn't help but wonder if he had made the right decision. In the heat of the moment, he had been happy to try and take his revenge on those people who he thought had ruined his life.
But that wasn't true was it?
The Big Hero 9 were responsible for his incarceration, certainly, but he wouldn't be in prison at all if he had truly committed no crimes. He could justify what he did as necessary to save his daughter's life, but that didn't change the fact that what he did were crimes. Terrible crimes that still ate at his soul.
And even then, he had been wrong in the end, hadn't he? Callaghan had been convinced that his was the only way to save Abigail from the monster that held her, that the only thing he could do was to do what the Gorg wanted in exchange for his daughter's life. But then the Big Hero 9, most of whom were his former students, had come along and managed to both save Abigail and defeat the Gorg. There had been a better solution all along, and he had been too blinded by his fear and anger to see it.
And it had cost him everything.
But things were different this time. Sure, another madman was threatening Abigail's life, but this time, he could back up his words. The Big Hero 9, who has stood triumphant against the Gorg and his forces, had been beaten soundly by Enigma and his Syndicate. True, other heroes had come to their aid, but Enigma had gotten exactly what he wanted and Callaghan couldn't help but think that the man had plans on how to deal with the other heroes the next time they crossed paths.
So here Callaghan was again, dawning this wretched mask in the vain hope of saving his daughter's life. Had he been right to side with Enigma in the prison yard? Or was he just a deluded old man falling for a moral sunk cost fallacy?
"In for a penny," Callaghan muttered to himself, "In for a pound."
As the drill tank came to a complete stop, the other villains surrounding Callaghan began to stir, dragging the man out of his thoughts.
"Finally," Rollergrrl groaned as she stretched her arms above her head and arched her back, "I thought we were going to be in this tin can forever."
"Hey, you shouldn't complain," Bratt whined as he walked over to the opening door, "You didn't have to spend the whole ride next to our new resident attack gorilla."
In response to this, Oni, who had been lumbering behind Bratt, growled down at the man.
"N-Not that there's anything wrong with that," Bratt said nervously as he looked up at Oni while backing out of the door, "Some of my best friends are attack gorillas."
As the villains filed out of the drill tank, Callaghan stood up and followed them, his mask still in his hand. Walking through the door, Callaghan found himself in front of a large metal door built into the side of a rocky cliff face. Glancing around, Callaghan saw that they were high up on the slope of a tall mountain. Most of the mountain slope near the drill tank was completely rocky and barren, though after a while it gave way to lush jungles. Even further down, Callaghan could see the jungles gave way to the blue waters of the ocean that stretched on to the horizon.
"Where are we?" Callaghan wondered aloud.
"A little island off the coast of Central America," Enigma's electronic voice replied as he exited the drill tank with Phantasma at his side, "The dormant volcano provides the geothermal energy we need for our little endeavor."
"And what endeavor is that?" Callaghan questioned as he turned his gaze towards Enigma.
"Eager to be part of the team now, huh?" Enigma questioned as he stopped next to Callaghan and looked at the older man.
"You went through all this trouble to get me here," Callaghan observed, "I might as well find out why."
"Very perceptive of you," Enigma observed as he pointed a finger of his robotic hand at Callaghan, "Come on. It's easier if I show you."
Following behind Enigma and Phantasma, Callaghan entered the facility that had built into the side of the volcano, the large metal door already having been open to allow the other villains to enter. Beyond the door was a wide metal hallway illuminated by fluorescent lights built into the ceiling. As they made their way down the hall, Callaghan saw other men and women, guards he guessed based on their matching uniforms, going about various duties.
Reaching the end of the hall, Callaghan saw another large metal door that slowly opened as they approached. Beyond the door was a large circular room with a domed ceiling. At the center of the room was a sizable machine. The machine consisted of a large circular metal platform that was fed by four thick cables that were positioned at each of the platform's axises. At the center of the platform was a domed metal pod slightly larger than a person. The pod had a single door to allow entry, in which was a small window that allowed someone to look inside.
As Callaghan looked at the machine, an ominous sense of familiarity washed over him.
"Is that…." Callaghan began to say, but found himself unable to utter the words.
"A gene resinquencer?" Enigma provided, a smile clear in his voice, "It sure is. I thought you'd recognize it."
Turning to face Callaghan, Enigma pulled out an old, faded photograph from somewhere on his person and held it up for the older man to see. In the picture, a group of people, all scientists judging by their white lab coats, stood in front of a similar machine as the one in front of Callaghan. At the center of the photo was what was clearly a much younger Callaghan, looking as though he was in his early twenties, standing side by side with an older man with black hair and a pencil mustache.
"That's you, right?" Enigma questioned as he pointed at the image of Callaghan, "Because if it is, then you're just the man I'm looking for."
A/N: Been awhile since I got to update this one but happy with how this turned out. Hope you all enjoyed it as well! As always, feedback and critiques are always welcome, so please review! Later!