Chapter 20

Hiro and Baymax located the cruise ship according to the photo and Asch's description. He touched his communicator.

"All set!" he said.

Way deep in the ocean was a submarine where his teammates and Asch were on standby. Asch got Hiro's message. He nodded to Honey and Gogo who were fidgeting on the controllers. They sent a small fly-sized drone to scout the area.

Back to Hiro, he was using Baymax's enhanced scanner to assess the situation. Baymax spotted Alicia. The young man became emotional upon seeing his beloved. He shook it off and descended.

Alicia was tied to a pole. Her dress was in tatters. The man decided to torture her before this arrangement was made just to satisfy his rage. She was furious but she could not fight back. All this time she had been relying on Hiro. Without him, she felt somewhat helpless. Her life was on the line, too. The man stared at her proudly, as if he had won a prize. She looked away from him.

"You really think he would come?" Alicia asked.

"Yes, just look up~" he chirped.

They saw Hiro and Baymax with a duffle bag. Samantha was told to go hide and be on alert if anything went wrong. Hiro landed with Baymax by his side.

"We're here! Now, let her go!" Hiro said immediately.

"Gee~ that's how you negotiate?" the man was not pleased. He glanced up at Alicia.

"Hiro…" the young lady called.

"Hiro, I can see bruises on Alicia's body," Baymax spoke up.

Hiro took a deep breath. "What have you done to her?!" he shouted.

"Relax. I just had a little bit of my own fun with her~" the man smirked, pulling Alicia's hair to make her look directly at Hiro. "Now, where is my money?"

Hiro threw the duffle bag in between them. Goon #1 took it and started to count the ransom money. The man chuckled and then laughed. He was mocking Hiro. He kept his grip on Alicia's hair. The young lady cringed in pain. Hiro was losing his patience by the minutes.

"You really think it would be that easy for me to give her up?" he asked.

"We kept our end of the bargain! Your money is there!" Hiro shouted.

"You need to understand the consequences of saving a murderer," the man said.

A few goons appeared and surrounded Hiro and Baymax. They started to attack, punching Hiro and shooting Baymax with guns and lasers. The two heroes did not fight back and Hiro dodged a few attacks. Baymax blocked the lasers with his arms.

"Is this necessary, uncle?!" Samantha exclaimed, appearing from her hiding spot.

"Yes, this is the consequence of trying to save her!" the man shouted, pulling Alicia's hair harder.

He took out a very familiar knife. All eyes were on them. Recognizing the knife, Alicia gasped. He stabbed Alicia and twisted the knife. She screamed in pain.

"NO!" Hiro shouted, blocking a kick from one of the goons, "You'll pay for this!"

"Hiro, my sensors and energy storage are damaged," Baymax reported.

"We need backup!" Hiro called through his communicator.

"Thought you'd never ask!" a voice was heard.

Asch appeared, grabbing the man. He lost his grip on Alicia and the knife. He was pushed onto the edge of the deck. Asch stood up, pointing a gun at him. He took one glance at his sister. Fury filled him.

"What have you done to my baby sister!" he shouted.

The man smirked. Samantha snuck to Alicia's side. She was trying to unlock the handcuffs. Alicia glanced up weakly at the girl. Samantha bit her lower lip, feeling guilty.

"I never thought it would turn out this way…" she muttered.

Alicia breathed out once. Samantha nodded. She was having a hard time uncuffing Alicia. A gun was placed in front of her forehead. It was one of her uncle's men. She stopped what she was doing and trembled. Alicia looked bravely at the man pointing a gun at them. A brief silence, but then they heard Samantha's uncle cackling. All eyes were on him.

"Did you think I was naive enough to believe you would only come with your robot?" he said, taking out a remote control. "This ship is equipped with a few bombs…"

He pressed the first button. An explosion was heard underwater. The cruise ship's alarm was blaring as water started to fill up. Hiro gasped. With the help of his thrusters, he forcefully pushed the men holding him down. Baymax spun around and flew up to avoid them all. The men started to evacuate the place using the lifeboats on the side. They pulled Samantha's uncle with them.

"Shoot!" Asch exclaimed. He flew away to go after the man.

Samantha was panicking. She looked at brown haired shook her head and smiled.

"Thank you for trying to rescue me, but you should go," Alicia said.

"But…" Samantha stammered.

"I'll be fine…" Alicia assured her.

"If we had met in a different time, we could have been friends," Samantha said before leaving to save herself.

Another explosion was heard in the cabin corridor. The rest of the team arrived at the deck. Honey Lemon and Gogo started off by trying to uncuff Alicia. Wasabi ran to Baymax to check on his energy level. Honey used her chemicals to make a small corrosion. Alicia was released. She fell onto the floor, coughing. Gogo knelt down beside her.

"She needs medical help," Gogo picked her up.

Hiro ran up to them as another explosion was heard. He took Alicia into his arms. The cruise ship was going down. The submarine emerged with Fred inside. Honey created a pathway for them to get onboard the submarine. Baymax tended to Alicia's wounds. Hiro laid her down on one of the chairs. Their communicators rang. Fred played the voice on a big hologram screen. Hiro made his way there.

"Guys, I found him!" Asch announced.

"Where are you, Asch?" Hiro asked.

"I'll send you my location," Asch replied.

"Hiro, are you going there?" Honey asked, concerned.

Hiro turned to the unconscious Alicia. She cringed once. He took a step closer to her, taking her hand into his. Gogo heaved a sigh.

"We'll go. You and Fred can take her back," she suggested.

"No, I want to be the one to put him behind bars. He did not just kidnap Alicia and her twin… There must be more charges on him than on Alicia…" Hiro muttered.

"I'll take her to the hospital. You guys can go and subdue him," Wasabi offered.

Hiro nodded. He knelt beside her. "I'll be back…"

With Baymax all charged up, they got ready to head out again. Asch was in hiding, waiting for them to come before barging in the man's hideout. Fred drove the submarine back to the port. Kate was waiting for them. She looked very anxious. The submarine rose from the waters, thrusters were installed to help it with this elevation. It landed right in front of Kate. She rushed to the door.

"Where is she?" she exclaimed.

"Inside. We need to get her to the hospital… like right now!" Wasabi said.

Kate nodded. She ran in to get her sister out. A car was waiting for them. Mr Koizumi drove as fast as he could.

Hiro rushed to the hospital after his successful capture. Alicia's whole family was there, including Asch. He went up to the young man. Asch stood up straight when he saw Hiro.

"The doctor is still checking her," he said.

"I shouldn't have just left Baymax with her," Hiro sighed.

"It's fine, Hiro. Let the doctors do their work," Asch assured him.

Hiro looked dejected. He walked past Asch and made his way to the parents. Mrs Koizumi flashed a weak smile. Mr Koizumi was in deep thoughts. Hiro wanted to greet him but Joey chimed in.

"Hey, thanks for saving my sis, Bro Hiro!" Joey chirped.

Mr Koizumi turned to look at him. "Oh, Hiro! I apologise for not noticing you."

"It's okay, Sir," Hiro scratched the back of his head.x

He smiled at Hiro and placed a hand on his right shoulder. "Thank you for saving her."

Hiro nodded. "She's my responsibility too," he replied.

Mr Koizumi nodded. He decided to head to the police station to pay the man a visit.

"Hiro, I thank you again for saving her," Mrs Koizumi said.

The doctor made an appearance after the parents had left. Alicia's siblings circled him. Hiro stood beside Asch and listened in as well. After the long explanation, they were allowed to check up on Alicia. She was still unconscious after the surgery. Hiro decided to excuse himself to give the family some space.

He went out to the field. A lot of nurses were seen, busy tending to their designated patients. Hiro heaved a sigh of relief. Everything was working fine. He thought of the old days when he first met Alicia. Who would have thought they would turn out this way.

"Hiro!" Kate called, running up to him.

"What's wrong?" Hiro was startled.

"It's Alicia! You have to come back to her ward!" she was hysterical.