#19 Going Home Again
It was well past 4am in the morning that things in San Fransokyo started to wind down after the latest villain disaster. Big Hero 6, Globby and the police department had finally finished clearing the last of the corrupted Buddy Guardians, either by removing their Trina/Obake chip or in some cases, destroying them if they tried to escaped. The heroes had also sought to quickly dismantle the altered Krei-Tech garbage trucks before they could be used again, lest the dangerous machines possibly end up in the wrong hands.
While Mini-Max and Roddy were taking Mega-Max back to their base, the other seven had gathered downtown as there was still the matter of dealing with Trina, the robotic mastermind who was still confined by extremely powerful magnets. Chief Cruz had arrived once the worst of the danger was over and he had coordinated emergency services to the proper areas. He proceeded to call in a flatbed to pick her up since she was too big for a transport, and was to be taken to the maximum-security prison where proper sentencing and containment could be achieved; he of course was taking great delight that his daughter's kidnaper had been apprehended.
Despite not having most of her face covering anymore, the growl and single eye were plenty to show the extreme contempt she had for the heroes, especially Hiro for defeating her yet again. Baymax was fortunately there to provide help in loading her onto the truck and Globby was able to create extra-strength restraints, all while Trina stared menacingly at the teen prodigy standing a safe distance across the street with the rest of his friends. True, they had won and the city was saved, but the young genius still felt the victory was tainted by the fact Noodle Burger Boy got away, but that was for another day. Hiro continued to stare back at the vengeful robot as they secured her tight before bringing the flatbed to life and finally pulling away with an 8 police car escort for added assurance.
Once she was finally out of sight, the weight and stress of the evening's events finally began to lift, leaving everyone to realize how exhausted they were as fatigue wore on their muscles and minds.
"Phew, what a night," Globby tiredly stated with a sigh of relief as he and Baymax walked over to join the others.
"Yeah," Hiro weakly responded before he gave out a loud yawn, which was soon mirrored by the other heroes except for Baymax.
"Emergency services and the road repair group are going to be busy for a while," Wasabi added as he surveyed the area.
"They've already been called and aren't too happy about it either," Chief Cruz informed the team, appearing to them not long after Globby and Baymax came over.
The teen genius then looked worried as he remembered something and proceeded to tell him, "Hey, you should know that Trina's body can separate from her head, so you'll have to be careful when she makes it to jail."
The police officer nodded and told him, "Don't worry. She's not going to be doing anything for a long time. We plan to dismantle and destroy everything except her head. Trina may be smart, but she can't accomplish much if she can't get around." Chief Cruz then turned in the direction the aforementioned robot had been taken and scowled in contempt. His expression was quickly replaced with one of guilt as the memory of his role in this ordeal flashed across his mind. He proceeded to face the seven heroes yet again as he scratched the back of his head and said in an apologetic tone, "Look, I uh, never actually said 'sorry' for my part in making this mess, or at the very least not listening to you when you tried to warn me. I was wrong, plain and simple, but I won't let that way of thinking guide me anymore."
He gave a small cough as he put on a straighter posture and continued. "But I know words don't mean much without action. So, as of this moment, I am officially revoking your fugitive status and ending all further pursuits. I hope you'll find that satisfactory for now until I feel I've done enough to repay you," he humbly informed them. There was a round of smiling from the group with Fred doing a double-arm pumping and cheering "Yes," which then resulted in a little chuckling from everyone but Baymax.
Globby was doing some joyful laughing when he stopped all of a sudden and just appeared to freeze. "So wait, this is for reals with no backsies?" the pink and purple man asked in all seriousness to the chief.
"Uh, yes," the blue-uniformed officer slowly answered, confused as to why Globby questioned him.
The gelatinous mutant then bore a large grin as he squealed with happiness while this information erased all trace of weariness. Without further explanation, Globby proceeded to surge from one friend to another, giving them the briefest hugs and unintentionally leaving a little bit of slime behind as he went. "Bye guys! If you need me, you know how to find me. Talk to you later. See ya," he rapidly spoke before launching an arm at the nearest building and swiftly began swinging away.
While Big Hero 6 was casually shaking off the goo, Chief Cruz raised an eyebrow and wondered, "Well, that was weird. Where'd he go off to in such a hurry?"
All the human heroes more or less gave a small smile at being happy for their friend, with Honey Lemon simply telling him, "Home."
"Oh," the lawman responded as the obvious answer set in, followed by him looking down and avoiding eye contact out of guilt. The other heroes just looked in the direction Globby had went when Fred yawned, starting another round of it between them.
Hiro then gave a small, tired laugh and said, "Come on guys. Let's try to get some sleep before you guys graduate and I have to give a speech." There was a wave of agreement from the crime fighters as they went with Hiro's idea, climbing onto Baymax and flying off into the dark early morning.
While his friends were heading back home, Globby was doing the same thing, only he hadn't been there in over two months. He had thought about maybe sneaking in or even just to go to the front door where he'd leave something behind to let Felony Carl know he was alright, but decided against it since hurting those he cared about was still a very strong fear for the gelatinous mutant. He swiftly went from building to building, ignoring the wind rushing around him and making the lights below streak by as he searched for the right street; his mind was racing too at what to do and say when he got there.
Finally! I knew it wasn't going to be forever, but darn if it wasn't tough to stay away. Wonder if he's even up. Should I make something really quick as a gift for coming back? Oh, I hope he hasn't been suffering too much. I'll just feel awful even though it was for his own safety, Globby anxiously wondered from one thought to the next.
After about 10 minutes of swinging, his luminescent eyes recognized the area and with one more stretch across the way, he found himself on Ichiba St. Almost there. Almost there. When at last he came upon the apartment building, he lowered himself to the entrance before he let out a long sigh, both at how tired he realized he was again and at hoping this reunion would go well.
The shapeshifter promptly entered the lobby (feeling grateful that it was empty) and rushed up the staircase to the second floor. Once there, he again surged over to the end of the hall to be standing in front of apartment 8. He could see there was a light coming from under the door. Good, he must be up, he thought. Without even bothering to unlock it, Globby slid under the wooden panel and reformed on the other side. He looked around to see he was right and the light was on in the hallway with nothing seeming out of place. He could smell (somehow) that coffee had been brewed and thought he heard something in the living room. Oh, please let him be in there, Globby hoped internally. Instead of taking the hallway to his left however, he decided to go straight towards the closest entrance that opened to the side of the living room. He slid the doors open and sure enough, Felony Carl was laying on the couch, sadly looking at his phone until the gelatinous mutant revealed himself.
Globby smiled with immense joy at the sight before him as he simply started with a "Hey" and a small wave; evidently, just seeing his boyfriend was enough to make Felony Carl instantly perk up, making him get off the furniture while Globby slinked over and reformed next to him as fast as he could. Once together, they embraced each other with a tight, warm hug and not caring to let go anytime soon.
"I've missed you so much! It was just awful not getting to see or talk to you every day," the shapeshifter emotionally confessed as it sounded like he was on the verge of tears; whether it was from sadness or newfound joy, it was hard to tell.
Felony Carl nuzzled into Globby more and honestly replied, "I too have missed your joyful company. This place has truly felt empty and devoid of the real meaning of home without you to brighten my world. I love you Globs."
The reformed mutant gave a weak smile upon hearing this as he still was caught between his two extreme emotional states, but he still managed to utter, "I love you too Carl. And I'm so sorry I left you alone for so long. I just didn't want you to get arrested or hurt because of me and-"
"Shh," Felony Carl interrupted as he pulled apart a little in order to look Globby in the eyes.
"Do not go blaming yourself for what happened. Your hero friends already informed me of the highly unusual and improbable circumstances you found yourself in. It would also be accurate to say you are not responsible for the Chief maintaining the false notion that you are guilty, which if you are here now means he has finally reversed course," the buff man imparted onto him while deducing Globby's reason for coming home.
"Uh, yeah actually. He finally stopped his hunt on Big Hero 6 and me, but only after we helped saved the day. Don't worry, I made sure to double check that he meant it and wasn't going to go back or "renege" on the deal as you would say," the shapeshifter enlightened Felony Carl, making them both feel at ease as the anxiety over the past 2 months began to lift.
The husky biker then raised part of his unibrow as he coyly asked, "So, you helped save the city again? I got an alert from the news about it, but I have a feeling you will be able to provide a more in-depth account."
Globby responded with a cheeky grin and said, "If you insist." They then let go of their embrace for the first time as they sat down side by side on the couch. "Well, I was out doing my patrol to see if anyone needed help when the kid genius Hiro flew in and said those new robots the police got were evil. Big surprise there," Globby started with the last sentence being in a sarcastic tone. "So, I was on my way to their base to see what was going on, but I then saw them flying overhead and was like 'Okay I'll follow them instead.' That led to a creepy warehouse filled with boxes and an inner chamber with evil glowing computers and lots of robots hanging up; and let me say, I'm not surprised it was in a warehouse because seriously," the shapeshifter smirked as he tapped his transparent head, making a squishy sound.
This got a small laugh from Felony Carl as he genuinely smiled at hearing his boyfriend's remarks. "Anyway, I sneaked in and managed to infiltrate one of the robots that was trying to crush my friend, so I saved him and took out a few more of them while Baymax handled the rest. Then, I get a hug, which was awesome, but that twisted mascot Noodle Burger Boy got away," Globby grumbled while crossing his arms. He then let out a sigh before continuing. "Oh well, we had bigger things to worry about. Since Baymax was a no-go for flying, I carried everyone back in pterodactyl form to their base. While he was getting a fast recharge, Hiro went over his plan to take down Trina and her minions, which quite frankly, looked cool but crazy; so, we got to work making this giant robot and I got to help with manufacturing and assembly," the gelatinous mutant excitedly proclaimed as he uncrossed his arms and proudly pointed to himself.
Felony Carl nodded in acknowledgement and inquired, "What pray tell happened next?"
Globby then got a sly smile on his face and replied, "After we put most of it together, Hiro says we need the rest of the team, so I thought, 'Maybe I can get them out of jail.'"
The goateed man raised part of his unibrow up again in curiosity, taking the bait and asking, "How did you manage to pull that off?"
The pink and purple man proceeded to stand up while keeping eye contact with his boyfriend. One second, he looked like his normal self; a second later, a Chief Cruz lookalike stood before Felony Carl, making his eyes go wide in surprise as Globby changed back. "I know! So cool right? It's how I managed to avoid being caught while I was out and about. Took some practice, but it beats dark alleys, sneaking and only being able to come out at night. Only downside is my voice is the same but somehow, I fooled everyone at the police station and even my friends…until the real Chief Cruz showed up; admittedly, I was concerned that Fred still didn't realize it was me when that happened," Globby informed the husky biker while scratching the back of his head as he sat down again. "Chief Cruz then is begging us for help because his kid got kidnapped by Trina, so it's like, 'Of course we'll help. We're not the bad guys here.' Next thing we know, we're racing to find her and have to take on a bunch of Buddy Guardians in order to save her, so there was a fair amount of punching and lasers; but we did save her and went back to the police station afterwards to go over the final plan, which was split up and take down the last of the robots."
The shapeshifter then looked noticeably more scared as he recalled what came next. "Unfortunately, they started their final plan too, which was to reduce everything to ashes, and let me say, not a fun time to learn that all of this don't like high temps," he anxiously told Felony Carl while gesturing to his whole body.
His boyfriend bore a worried expression now too as he asked, "Were you in any pain or could you not turn into something else?"
Globby nervously rubbed the back of his neck as he answered, "Well, it didn't necessarily hurt, but my body just didn't want to listen to me, so maybe I could have still been fine but just be a puddle for a little; as for turning into something else, I guess I sort of blanked on thinking up any other options. I mean, I'm melting while everything else is being burnt to a crisp and there's Honey Lemon right next to me about to meet the same fate, so I wasn't just going to leave her there alone; I guess if anything I would have tried to shield her, even though admittedly I didn't know if it would work." The gelatinous man then looked more pensive as he thought out loud, "Now that I've had some time, if I hadn't drawn a blank, probably some kind of rock or brick maybe would have worked at least better than most of the stuff I can turn into." He proceeded to shrug it off as it was in the past and nothing could be done about it, although Felony Carl still looked worried at how dire the situation sounded.
Globby then smiled again as he recalled, "Anyway, things turned around for us once that giant robot I told you about finally arrived and stopped Trina from powering those robo-hot spots. So, I quickly reformed and helped Honey Lemon stop the Buddy Guardians from getting away, followed by me stomping the machine they used to bits. The rest of the time was filled with cleaning up some and making sure Trina was restrained good and tight before they took her to jail." The shapeshifter proceeded to let out a long sigh as he collapsed onto the couch and tiredly said with a smile, "It has just been such a long night Carl, but I couldn't wait until later to come home and see you. So, enough about me. How have you been and what are you even doing up this early?"
The unibrowed man gave a small chuckle at the endearing action of Globby fighting his need for sleep just to hear how he was fairing. "Life has unfortunately been in a perpetual dreary state since you were labeled a criminal once again, but I endured as best as I could. Things were following a predictable cycle of part-time work as a bouncer or security depending on the day; there was however the inconvenience of being arrested back in early April," Felony Carl told his boyfriend, making his luminescent eyes grow wide in surprise and concern.
"What?! Did you get into a fight or something?" he asked quickly.
"There was admittedly an altercation outside a club I was working, but even though I did not initiate it, they decided to bring me in for questioning on an unrelated matter for which the fight provided the police with a legal loophole," the husky biker answered, now looking to avoid eye contact as he knew what question was coming next.
"What 'matter' would they want to interrogate you about?" Globby predictable inquired despite a small lingering notion he already knew the answer.
Felony Carl let out a sigh of defeat and replied, "Apparently, they were among the many folks who knew of our relationship and were hoping I would have been in contact with you."
"Darn it! I knew it. Ugh," Globby groaned as he leaned forward and buried his face into his propped-up hands. "Man, I'm sorry they did that to you Carl. It's not right and you didn't even know anything. I stayed away and they still went after you," the shapeshifter lamented and failing to see Felony Carl lean over to pat his back in an effort to comfort him.
"Hey, as a reformed criminal, it can still come with the territory and just know, I never blamed you for that. It did get interesting when your hero friends arrived to save their reptilian companion," the bandana-clad man consoled him.
Globby lifted his head up in curiosity and asked, "Reptilian? You mean Fred? He got arrested?"
Felony Carl nodded and added, "Yes, but he was quickly rescued by the others and I sadly was unable to accompany them as the tall one in pink encased me in a frozen cocoon."
"What?!" Globby exclaimed as his jaw dropped. "While I'll admit that the ice may have been a bit much, I've got to agree that it would have been a bad idea to follow them. I mean, no doubt a high-speed chase and you without any protection; plus, wouldn't that prove you knew Big Hero 6? That prejudiced chief would have never let you go after that," the gelatinous mutant pointed out. He then looked noticeably sadder as something dawned on him. "You were hoping they could lead you to me, didn't you?" he questioned in a softer tone.
Felony Carl nodded with a sad smile and replied, "It was a spur of the moment notion attempted after sharing a poignant life lesson with the one you called Fred. There was a positive outcome however as they no longer felt the need to question me at length, presumably due to the long night the cops had chasing your friends."
Globby visibly relaxed a little upon hearing that he got off easy, leading the husky biker to finish his piece. "So, except for the egregious misunderstanding, I have been patiently and wistfully waiting for your return, occupying my time any way I could whether work, tuning my bike or keeping the apartment orderly." Felony Carl then leaned back on the couch as he was still a bit tired from waking up at this early hour, reminding him to check the time on his phone. He proceeded to let out an audible whistle as he read it was now nearing 6am.
"What is it?" Globby curiously asked.
"Well, you inquired why I was up so early and I had yet to answer it until now; the reason for my whistle of realization is that I have a new security gig at a convenience store that I should be getting to soon," the reformed criminal informed him.
"Oh, well, that would explain you being such an early bird today," the gelatinous mutant remarked with a small tired laugh. "Don't let me hold you up. I'm using most of my willpower right now just to keep my eyes open." He then punctuated his statement with a big yawn and to which Felony Carl reciprocated with a small one. "Oh, there I go. Better not make you tired too," Globby said with another tired laugh. "You go do your thing and we can make up for lost time when you get back; besides, I'm about to collapse on this sofa, so I won't be any good to you anyway."
Felony Carl gave a small chuckle as he stood up to leave for work. "Alright, but I expect you to be properly rested when I return. Being tired truly does not make for a good time," he replied while Globby mustered up enough strength to stand too. They both met in the middle to hug each other close and finding it hard to let go once more.
"It really is good to see you Carl. Thinking about coming home again helped me through so many nights in those dark warehouses," the shapeshifter openly confessed as he rested his head on the biker's shoulder.
Felony Carl did the same as he smiled and told Globby, "The same thought crossed my mind many an evening as I worried about you all this time. I knew you could survive, but surviving and living are two different things. Love you Globs."
"Love you too Carl, and this time, I'll be here waiting for you to come home," Globby softly replied back, making both men smiled contently. They proceeded to make their embrace a little bit tighter to indicate it was time to leave. After they separated and Felony Carl headed for the door, he turned around and said, "And just so you know, I am making dinner tonight, but I could use some help if you are not too busy." He then gave a wink and slid the door close.
Globby gave a small grin as he heard the sound of the front door open and close before a moment later, he surged himself over to the couch Felony Carl had previously been occupying and let out a long sigh. "Oh, does it feel good to be back," he mumbled as he let himself finally drift off to sleep, feeling an immense wave of relaxation and leaving the sound of soft snoring as the only thing to be heard in the apartment.
NOTES
I hope you enjoyed seeing Globby and Felony Carl reunited. ^_^ I figured I'd add the bit about Felony Carl being arrested since we never heard the exact reason why, but I would not be surprised if Chief Cruz got him brought in just to interrogate him. -_- Also, Cruz should feel guilty about what he's done, not just with the Buddy Guardians but him essentially forcing Globby to live on the streets for ~2 months. :( In addition, it made sense to me that Globby probably manufactured a lot of the materials because even for cartoon logic, that's a lot of metal and parts to just have lying around to assemble a giant robot in like an hour. ;) Also, I still feel that if Globby changed into something else, he'd have been fine with the high heat as long as it was something that could withstand it as well as I don't think he'd have left Honey Lemon either because of how much she means to him. :)
The next story will be about Megan and her dad Diego talking after what happened in "Legacies." ;_;