"Baymax, destroy."
Those words were never, ever forgotten. Not by Honey Lemon, who barely managed to scramble and recover the nursing chip that was once Baymax's heart. Not by Wasabi, who had to avoid cutting up Hiro while simultaneously trying to give everyone a chance to escape the rogue robot. Not by GoGo, who managed to wheel out everyone to Heathcliff's helicopter before the facility collapsed from the structural damage inflicted by the extension of Hiro's disturbingly deep wrath. Not by Fred, who could only sit in his monster suit and wonder at how he had been witness to and instrumental in a villain's start of darkness.
No one knew where Hiro went after that day. Aunt Cass went up to find him for dinner, thinking he had gone off on another's depressed slump, only to find the room ransacked. Baymax's charger was gone, so was the tiny robot that inspired his college-interest-winning microbots. The computer was missing its hard drive, screen cracked and smashed and useless. Clothes were gone, a bed sheet and pillow were missing. The garage was trashed as well, all of Hiro's hard work in robotics gone.
A missing person report was filed, as well as a report of theft, but after a year of searching hope faded. Fred rounded everyone together to search for Hiro and put their gifts from him to use, but even they were unable to find the boy.
No one could place what had happened to Hiro: did Baymax go even more haywire and kill him? Or did Baymax lose battery power and they crashed into the bay? Did he die in the wreck of the facility that sent Abigail to her doom? Worst, did he commit suicide due to his unstable emotional state from losing Tadashi and then hearing his murderer say it was Tadashi's fault he died? Hiro was gone, so the answer would never be found and all that would be left was Fred's "Hiro disappearance theory" pin board in his room with all kinds of explanations ranging from mundane to fantastic.
After the days of grieving for Hiro the friends decided to preserve his memory by forming a group dedicated to making the world a better place. Superheroes, in a sense. They didn't like that title because the only reason they were special was because Hiro had made them their wonderful outfits with the gifts anyone could garner. All they did was study hard and explain to him how to implement such study.
Still, the city couldn't help but adore the moniker as time after time the group ended up on the news for rescuing a bank from robbers, or helping people get out of a hospital fire, or even rescuing a mere kitten. Their fantastical efforts were hailed by the city as new protectors alongside the police department. The news even started calling them that outdated title of that superhero group from the past: the fantastic four. They always cryptically remarked it was supposed to be a group of six, but no one besides them ever learned why.
Aunt Cass had shut down the Lucky Cat Cafe and gone on to work some other place, but as family friends Honey, Wasabi, GoGo, and Fred were welcome to crash in it any time. No one ever said it but Cass was always happier when they were around, more like her old genki self. She tended to dote and hug and treat the group like she did Tadashi and Hiro.
Honey Lemon sighed as she swirled her green tea. How long had they been their little freelance heroic group? A few years now... Enough for the "fantastic four" to be out of college and for Hiro's nineteenth birthday to pass. Boy that was a tear jerker. Every birthday for both Hiro and Tadashi passed in a day of absolute heartache.
GoGo blew a bubble and popped it. The radio was droning the music of some rising biwa star who no one bothered to remember the name of. Wasabi was swinging his chopsticks to the time of the music in- of course -perfect tempo. Fred was fingering through a comic book and occasionally muttering how they "ruined" this new take on a childhood favorite of his. Because how dare they try and implement something new to a path that had been trod before.
Honey looked up to see the weather on the television in the corner. Sunny, few clouds. Krei Industries was still working on the portal tech and trying to convince society that it was "perfectly safe". To no avail, since GoGo went and uploaded the footage of the test that lost Abigail Callaghan to the internet after witnessing it and the video went viral. Honey wondered why Krei hadn't even been halted, even after not only the leaked video but the terrorist attack by Mr. Kabuki mask not long after that destroyed Krei Industries's new campus. Honey shrugged. Money could buy a whole lot, she supposed. It wasn't right but it was true.
And then the screen started flickering. She blinked and took off the safety glasses she still had from her college days. The others turned and they watched together as the screen began fluctuating between the news and a shadowy image they couldn't make out yet. The radio was bursting with static.
A distorted message burst out of it: "Robert Callaghan... I know you're still out there."
GoGo popped another bubble- this time not on purpose -at the image that finally settled onto the screen.
Wasabi had turned to the radio, "How many people knew he's still alive?" Honey shook her head and Fred shrugged; they never reported Professor Callaghan because they had no evidence whatsoever, especially after getting beaten at the terrorist attack. A dead man trying to get vengeance on his daughter? No one would believe them. Funnily enough he had quieted down in his activities since, apparently sated.
But now they all watched the screen with rapture. Those eyes were still wide, but now sunken and bagged and bloodshot. That mop of black hair was even more unkempt and long. He still liked to wear purple after all these years, and still had a proficiency and preference for robotics. Assuming this wraith of a mad man was Hiro, after all. His hands were clasped in front of his obviously scowling face, one normal hand engulfed by the massive robotic one over the other.
"I've been looking for you for awhile now, Callaghan." He continued, waving the robotic hand around. His voice echoed on the radio and countless other places throughout San Fransokyo, "That... stunt of yours at Krei Industries had such a good get away, didn't it? I was so close to finding you and yet you slipped out of my grasp again."
He shook his head and wagged a finger, "And don't say that you can't hear me, I've hijacked every radio, every television, every little broadcasting device, just to find... you. The man who," his expression flickered into a furious and deeper darkness "MURDERED my brother Tadashi... And you will pay."
It was too clear it was Hiro. It couldn't be anyone else. Honey dropped her tea, "Hiro... No."
Fred held his head, "Aw man! I almost wish he was dead because Hiro's a super villain!"
"We don't know that!" Wasabi chastised him. "A-and don't wish he was dead okay? That's not cool!" It was an unconvincing scolding, though.
The threatening manner Hiro was displaying and the words he said next proved his descent into evil, "You say it was..." Hiro laughed- a bitter, sardonic chuckle worthy of the most vile of immoral characters, "You say it was his fault? Tadashi's fault, when he was the one who gave his life to save you?" Hiro swiveled in his chair, gaining an affable and insufferable grin, "Baymax, isn't his lack of gratitude hilarious?"
There was a mechanical noise that could've been a chuckle. Maybe. Honey felt her hands trembling at the memory of those red eyes that now observed her in the background. Fred was starting to panic, realizing through his compendium of comic book knowledge that Hiro was going to be their worst threat by far. GoGo's silence was only unusual with the shock on her face with gum residue still lingering. Wasabi was apparently having a panic attack.
Hiro stood- camera following his image obediently -and walked over to the robot, "Oh, you remember Baymax..." He patted the new blood red carbon fibre armor the bot wore, "He couldn't kill you last time we met... Because of those silly... Oh, what are you all calling them? Fantastic four? Please..."
He shrugged, "I've had to look for you on my own because they made off with that useless nursing chip that allowed Baymax to track you. But now, after a good couple years of getting by with Bot Fighting winnings, I'm willing to let this game of cat and mouse between us change."
Hiro sat down again, letting the words sink in as he scowled in the pause. The team hoped and prayed the announcement would be that Hiro had finally let it go.
"Baymax can lift 1000 pounds. His rocket hand has a thruster capacity of over eight hundred newtons." Hiro said, calmly, a wince of sick laughter and enjoyment in his eyes. "Your death won't be pretty- oh no, little bits of brain matter will probably rain over San Fransokyo as your corpse hurtles across the bay -but it will be very quick. You'll see hell and all the punishment you deserve very soon, my friend..."
Hiro apparently had to point out his brother had no such opportunity, "Unlike poor Tadashi, who had to suffer for agonizing minutes as his skin was burned to a crisp, as molecule by molecule his body was burned with him conscious of every painful second of it." His expression was twisted into a wrathful and horrible grimace that clashed with how mockingly cordial he had been.
His composure returned, "I just ask that you come in, hand yourself over. Your death will be so much quicker, I assure you." Baymax walked forward, and Hiro patted his arm, "Baymax's rocket punches won't miss this time, Callaghan. They'll go right through your skull in a beautiful and cathartic flash of blood and brains." Hiro sighed, "I can't wait to see it. I can't wait to be reassured you're burning forever in that special place of hell." Hiro started chuckling, "In fact, everyone involved in that fire, the fire that took my brother Tadashi Hamada, you're all invited. You're all invited as the sinful cowards you are, letting my brother die alone because none of you had the heart he had."
Hiro started laughing. "I'll see you at the bay docks, Callaghan, ex-students and faculty of the San Fransokyo Institute of Technology. You all know where they are. Your old student, Hiro, awaits you all for the comeuppance you deserve." Louder and louder the laughter became as he turned around, becoming engulfed in shadow. The screen and radio flickered back to as they were, but Hiro's soulless and psychotic laugh rang horribly in the air with one last whisper.
"If not, I suppose me and Baymax will have to come and find you ourselves. You have until dawn tomorrow, otherwise we're taking the city by storm... For Tadashi."
The silence over the entire city was unbearable. It returned slowly, fearfully. San Fransokyo had been reduced to complete panic.
Wasabi leaned forward, "Okay. Please tell me this is just a collective nightmare."
Fred shook his head and banged his hand on the table, "We got a super villain on our hands, guys."
"But Hiro's our friend." GoGo said, blunt as ever, "And he just wants revenge against Callaghan." She shrugged, "Wrong way to go about it, but revenge is what he wants."
"I do believe the old Hiro is in there somewhere," Honey agreed, "but to be honest he seems a little... Off his rocker."
"Who knows what he's gonna do after he gets Callaghan!" Fred added, "He seemed a little too enthusiastic about all the gore and blood he planned on, and not to to mention bringing innocent people into this." Fred seemed reluctant, but for the umpteenth time in their hero career he said, "We're the protectors of this city, and we gotta do things for the greater good, even if we don't want to." However, he varied from the usual pep talk, "Guys, we're at fault for letting Hiro become this, we made our own villain and we gotta stop him!"
"But Fred," Wasabi pointed out, "in case you forgot, Hiro made everything that makes us heroes! He knows our weaknesses and he knows where we meet up! He's got a huge advantage!"
GoGo and Honey Lemon exchanged a glance as Wasabi and Fred argued. They nodded, and Honey Lemon stood, "Guys, we're giving a press conference."
...
The four stood in front of a sea of photography and cameras rolling them all over the city. Honey Lemon took a deep breath, then began her message, "I know, you all are terrified of the threat given by Hiro Hamada, and wondering if he meant it or not." She sighed, "He did. He very much meant that message, and so I strongly advise you all to stay inside. Baymax is a dangerous machine, and he will not hesitate to hurt you if Hiro demands it. I promise we will handle the entire situation."
The crowd murmured before GoGo silenced them as she brought up the next point of discussion, "Hiro, if you are listening, this is for you. As the protectors of the city, we will stop you." Her expression softened, "As your friends, however, we are giving you time to stand down, call off the attack, and come back to us."
"We will help you." Wasabi added, "We will help you recover and cope with Tadashi's death with no strings attached if you cease and desist before innocent people get hurt."
"But that won't mean that if you don't comply we'll come in and give you tough love." Fred cut in, "Because we will treat you as a serious threat to the city if you refuse to listen."
The four said together, "Hiro, you stand down or we will bring you down with us."
...
While the others were training for their fight with Hiro, Honey Lemon had sat down with Cass. She had time, all of her skill really came from chemical formulas she could tap in her sleep now. She knew Heathcliff was probably filling her bag to full capacity, maybe beyond if he could. Anything that would happen tomorrow relied solely on how well she knew her chemistry and how well she could implement it. How she could "look at it at a new angle" as Tadashi had said once or twice.
Honey Lemon couldn't believe how dead Cass looked. "My Hiro..." She whispered, "My Hiro... Driven to this... Where did I go wrong?"
"Nowhere," Honey rubbed her shoulder, "nowhere, Ms. Hamada. Hiro is just... Confused, lost, coping."
"I should've reached out to him more, I was getting too distant." Cass lamented in reply, "I let him get so depressed-"
"Cass that isn't your fault." Honey said firmly. "Yes, you could've done more to reach out and comfort him, but honestly what really drove him over the edge wasn't your fault." Honey adjusted her safety glasses slightly as Cass munched on a donut. "Stress eating." Honey quipped as she gently took away the other donuts ready to be eaten, "You know how I keep telling you you shouldn't. You'd probably be overweight by now if it weren't for our reminders."
Of course now she'd need to explain what happened five years ago to them and Hiro, just to convince Cass that really she wouldn't have been able to do much besides doing a better job of reaching out... Honey hoped she never would, but here it came, tumbling out of her lips. The backstory, the secret identity and double life she had been leading, what drove Hiro into becoming so obsessed and ultimately into villainy. Discovering project "Silent Sparrow" and finding out who had started the fire that now had drawn both of Cass's boys away from her.
...
Hiro wondered why the police hadn't come down to the docks themselves. He made a city-wide threat and not a single siren had rang in the air all night. Cowards.
Hiro had been sitting on Baymax's shoulder. Or to be more accurate hanging. He had sat there all night with one hand and knee on the robot's magnetic grip points while the other set dangled in the air. Hiro knew he was getting too big for this position, but it comforted him for reasons he couldn't place. He could adjust where the magnets were for comfort later. Right now, all that mattered to him was the red sunrise that began to peek through the fog.
"Almost time Baymax..." Hiro whispered. "Almost time..."
He had made improvements to his old costume- while one hand was open for gripping Baymax during flight, he'd bulked the other into a third rocket fist to use between them. He could now send electrical impulses through his electromagnetic pads, and he'd studied up on how to make them as lethal as possible. Not to mention the new measurements to account for his growth.
"So many years," Hiro continued his little soliloquy, "all this time we've scraped by and prepared for doing Tadashi justice, and now it's finally happening..." He closed his eyes with a crooked smile, "Dare I say it I feel happy again."
Baymax was as silent as he had always been since the chip was removed. Hiro still talked to the robot as if he could respond, filling in what he supposed would be a typical Baymax response in his head. Really the only thing that remained of "old Baymax" was the air, carbon fibre skeleton, and vinyl design. Hiro always made sure it was as pristine as the first day Tadashi had shown him the robot.
"What was Tadashi thinking..." Hiro sighed, "You have so much more potential than being a silly nursing bot..." He gave the docks one more look around. He put on his new helmet and said, "Baymax, ascend."
They rocketed into the air. Hiro pressed a button, and the docks gained a green overlay as it scanned for life. Not quite like what Baymax was able to do with a few upgrades to his medical chip, but similar enough for Hiro to learn that no one had taken his more than gracious offer. He scoffed, "Really? I said it would be a quick death and no one trusts me."
He leaned over to his mechanical buddy, "Didn't I say it would be quick, Baymax?" The robot nodded. "Would we make it quick?" Another nod.
"Hiro!"
Hiro and Baymax looked down to see their old friends standing on top of some shipping crates. Wasabi's plasma blades were glowing, GoGo had both discs prepped to throw, Honey had brought up who knows what with her chemical concoctions, and Fred had a small flame ready to grow into an inferno.
"We're gonna give you to the count of ten to show that you've realized that this revenge isn't the path!" GoGo yelled.
"One." Wasabi began the countdown.
"Two!" Fred continued with a small fiery blast.
"Three." GoGo growled.
"Four, Hiro." Honey braced to throw what would become a gel that would give Hiro and Baymax limited mobility if they decided to bolt.
Hiro had other plans. "Baymax, dive." he commanded. As the two dropped, he yelled, "FIVE!" He held out his robotic hand, intending to blast one of them away, but as he swooped past their completely shocked faces, something within him broke and faltered. He had little time to comprehend it before Baymax's thruster got gummed up.
"You know the plan!" Wasabi yelled like a battle cry as the group charged. Honey was already typing in the chemical formulas they had planned on, and absently she gave GoGo a swing boost to get her caught up with Baymax and Hiro to distract them. She was honestly amazed how well they were working together considering the incident that separated the six of them was a disaster.
"GoGo! Slick!" Honey yelled, throwing down a ring of ice. GoGo zoomed in and used the almost frictionless environment to her advantage to go faster. Baymax was getting lower and lower, and they all needed to get in to stop Hiro before repairs were made. Wasabi and Fred were bounding over, and at the apex of their jumping Fred dropped off Wasabi to cut off the only functioning thruster.
"BAYMAX!" Hiro wailed. This wasn't a deluded monster's cry; this was one of a boy who had lost too much in his life to lose again.
Hiro roared at them "QUIT IT!" He couldn't say more, because Wasabi had cut through Baymax's vinyl foot. Baymax's leg was deflating faster than a blink, and the already overtaxed thruster gave out with a small explosion. Baymax crashed into some indiscriminate part of the docks while Hiro tumbled through the sky. He frantically fussed with his robotic hand, trying to get the thrust right so he wouldn't die-
Hiro landed in Fred's arms. Before he could squirm out Fred bear hugged him, "You're not getting away this time, Hiro."
Hiro watched GoGo skating Honey off towards Baymax and roared, "LEAVE HIM ALONE! YOU ALREADY CRIPPLED HIM!" His thrashing grew more and more wild as he tried to escape Fred's grasp.
Wasabi turned off his plasma blades and approached cautiously, "Hiro, he's a robot, we can go and get him patched up-"
"YOU HURT HIM!" Hiro screeched, "YOU HURT HIM HOW COULD YOU?!"
GoGo dropped Honey off at the deflated mess of carbon fibre and vinyl while Hiro continued screaming in pent up rage and loss. GoGo panted a little, "Sheesh... Kid's completely breaking down..." While it sounded indifferent, her crumbling stony mask told otherwise.
"Well, Baymax should fix him up a little." Honey sighed as her hand reached for her neck. Her fingers tucked into the collar of her suit and pulled out a small green chip that read "TADASHI HAMADA" with a smiley face doctor declaring proudly that this bit of plastic and silicon was Baymax's original functions.
Honey Lemon cautiously approached the jittering robot and opened up the disk drive. She put in the medical chip and pulled out the red one. She and GoGo frowned at the silver-sharpie skull, "So this is what drove him crazy... Probably programmed by Hiro." She tossed it to the ground and crushed it under her boot, "Well, not anymore."
GoGo ran her wheels over it several times, turning it into red and silver dust for good measure, "Wasn't that useful anyways."
"Scanning patients." GoGo and Honey turned to see Baymax- no longer in kill mode -blinking at them. He held up a finger, "May I inquire that your identities are Honey Lemon and GoGo Tomago?"
"Yes, you remember us, Baymax!" Honey squealed. The mission was a success.
"You both have aged an indeterminate number of years." The robot said. He tried inflating himself, but there was just a hissing, flapping noise from his cut open foot.
"BAYMAX!" Hiro scrambled to the robot, shoving aside Honey and GoGo without care, "Baymax! Baymax, have they done anything to you?!"
"My proper medical protocol has been restored..." Baymax trailed off for a brief scan, "How do you know my name? My database has no record of you."
"Hiro," GoGo stood back up, "we just put Baymax back to normal."
"YOU CUT OPEN HIS FOOT!" Hiro screamed at her, "YOU CUT OPEN HIS GOD DAMNED FOOT!"
"My limb can be properly repaired given the correct tools." Baymax interjected, "But Hiro... My database suggests Hiro is supposed to have a far better neurological condition than this." He then added, "Did the treatment not work?"
"No, not very well." Honey Lemon said, "It's been five years and he's just gotten worse."
"Worse..." Baymax repeated, almost forlorn.
"Baymax what did they do to you?" Hiro begged again, "We were going to avenge Tadashi! W-we were gonna... We were gonna..." Hiro broke down into a pile of tears, realizing five years of scheming had been ruined.
Fred bounded over alongside a breathless Wasabi, "S-sorry! Kid's a stick but he's got more muscle than he seems!" He also muttered, "Shocked me too! He's turned into a real rascal!"
"... Hiro is displaying symptoms of malnourishment." Baymax admitted, "Hiro, as my patient-"
"I'M NOT YOUR PATIENT! I'M NOT SICK!" Hiro bellowed at Baymax, "I WAS PERFECTLY FINE UNTIL THEY RUINED YOU!"
"Hiro, I have not been ruined-" Baymax said before Hiro shrieked:
"HOW CAN WE AVENGE TADASHI NOW?! HOW?!"
The silence that followed was only disturbed by police sirens and helicopter blades. Hiro made no resistance as he was handcuffed and arrested on charges of terrorist threat and illegal gambling. All in all Hiro was a wreck who could only stare as tears flowed with no restraint. He sulked in the shadows of his police car as the cops filed up all the necessary paperwork on his profile and such.
Baymax was going to be arrested, too, until the team reassured the police that Baymax was back to normal and complete medical operation, and was expected to change the future of medical care. Baymax, however, had one other step in such a plan.
"Hiro Hamada is my patient." He said, "And I am willing to be his personal healthcare companion, no matter what he has done, for as long as it takes, for him to be satisfied with his care. Then I shall offer my services to the public at large."
The whole group was surprised by the remark. Honey smiled, "Of course, Baymax. You can help Hiro more than anyone else can." She waved her hand to the police car Hiro was sitting in, "After you."
The heroes waved goodbye to the fluffy nurse bot, but he failed to notice them.
Already, dwarfing the young man sitting next to him in the back window, the robot was trying as hard as he could to bring Hiro back from the shadows.
Ok so I saw BH6 and fell in love with not only the movie but the idea of Hiro going psycho super villain