Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Daddy!”

The man turned to the kid.

“We’re not done playing.” The little girl continued, sorrow on her face.

Her dad sighed and crouched down to be on the same eye level with her. He stroked her hair and smiled encouragingly. This seemed to cheer the girl up for a moment, though she soon turned sad again.

“You have to go?”

“I have to. This is a very important meeting, the boss is counting on me.”

“But we’re playing now, it’s important too. Why doesn’t he understand?”

The man sighed. It was an incredibly trivial and incredibly difficult question at the same time.

“He does understand, but this is a special situation. These investors are also very busy with very important things, this was the only time when all of them could come at once.”

“Ivystores?”

“People I’m meeting with.”

“But it’s after work.”

“It happens sometimes.”

“But it’s stupid.”

“World usually is stupid, Lisa. I'll be back as soon as I can, I promise. And then we'll finish playing, what do you say? And maybe mom will join?”

The girl looked up and smiled slightly. But a second later, she frowned again, as if considering something. She looked down at the tiny lion plushie she was holding in her hand and squeezed it tighter before holding it out to her dad.

“Rico will take care of you.”

He smiled slightly. It was his daughter's favorite toy, the fact that she wanted to lend it to him meant a lot. He carefully took the stuffed animal.

“And I will take care of Rico.”

The man stood up and put the plushie animal in his tuxedo pocket. Then he went to the mirror, smoothed his clothes and straightened his blue tie. And soon everything was spotless. Exactly as it should be.

He turned towards the girl, proud of himself.

“How do I look?”

“Like a smart dad who’s going to stupid meeting.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“Oh! I know! I’ll have my own meeting! My plushies will. And they will be talking about really important things until you’ll be back.”

“Will you give me a report later?”

“So we could compare which was cooler?”

“Exactly.”

“I’m in!”

He smiled and ruffled his daughter's hair again. Out of the corner of his eye, he also noticed his wife, who was standing in the door, watching them with curiosity. When they exchanged glances, she approached the girl and lifted her into her arms. Lisa didn’t protest.

“And I'll make sure this meeting doesn't turn into any kind of rebellion.” His wife stated humorously, then turned to him once more. “Stay safe out there, okay?”

He nodded.

A minute later he was outside, walking down the sidewalk toward the tram stop. He had a few blocks to cross, but a quick glance at his watch calmed him down a bit. There was more than enough time, so barring an emergency, he'd be there exactly when he had to. There didn’t seem to be much traffic in the area either, since most of the neighborhood was at some cultural event, so the tram shouldn’t be late. In fact, there was no traffic at all.

He could hear birds singing from time to time, he could hear his own footsteps, and if he focused hard enough, he could probably even hear his watch ticking. No cars, no bikes, no shouting, no people. It was so quiet.

Too quiet.

Now he could probably hear his own heart beating as well.

“Relax. You’re overdramatic.”

Everything was fine. Only about four blocks left, nothing major. He was in no danger. It was a normal evening, and people on normal evenings are going where they had to go and coming home safely. No need to worry.

And then he saw something white in the corner of his eye.

He carefully turned his head and unfortunately he wasn't imagining things. On the other side stood a figure, leaning against a wall, their head turned towards him. A figure with an outfit far from casual. Without looking at them, he slowly turned his head forward again, not wanting to attract the stranger's attention. Although he probably did it anyway. Apart from that guy, he was the only person here.

That didn’t sound well.

The man took a deep breath, trying not to speed up his pace. Panicking wouldn't help him now. He had to get to the tram as quickly as possible. It was a good thing there was a shortcut between the streets. He didn't use it often, because it wasn't the safest place possible, but if there was a shortest route to the tram stop, it was this one. He'd be safe there. And other people would be there as well. Hopefully.

Or maybe he panicked too much? Maybe it was some kind of artist in disguise? Maybe some street performance? Some kind of prank? A really cruel prank? New hero? New hero, who likes to stalk people when they’re all alone and there is no danger to threaten them? Or just a regular guy who liked dressing up?

Or maybe it was a supervillain, because normal people in strange costumes didn’t happen in San Fransokyo.

“Don’t panic.” He whispered to himself. “You’re overdramatic.”

The villains had things against the heroes, against the police, against other influential or wealthy people, and against Krei (they all seemed to have a bone to pick with him), but not against ordinary, insignificant civilians. That person must have been waiting for someone. Maybe Big Hero 6 would show up there in a moment and start fighting, and he simply left home at the worst possible moment. If so, then he should get to the tram stop even faster.

He turned into a narrow street. And just a few seconds later, a chill ran down his spine. The villain had a bone to pick with the civilian.

He tried to go around him, but instead entered a dead end.

The villain blocked his path.

“Leaving so quickly?”

He turned to the criminal. And he realized it was a woman, or at least that's what the voice with the odd accent said. Actually, upon closer inspection, the posture pointed at that too. Not the face, since it was covered with something like a motorcycle helmet, but way stranger. Rest of her costume was strange as well. Black and white patterns, swirls, all kinds of geometric shapes. It was confusing. Hypnotizing.

He looked away immediately. This apparently amused her, because he heard her chuckle.

“You think you can escape? How childish.”

The man blinked. His family. His daughter. He had promised them he would come home. And now he didn't even know if that would happen. He didn't know anything.

“What do you want?”

“That’s a grand question. Unfortunately I can’t answer.”

Has he ever gotten under the skin of villains without even knowing it?

“Why? Why are you following me? Why did you chase me here?”

“You chased here yourself.”

“I don’t have money. I have nothing you could want.”

“You’re wrong.”

“What?”

He blinked, still not looking at her.

“Just a random man with a random life. You’re useless. For now.”

His breathing quickened, and if he hadn't heard his heartbeat before, it was now difficult to hear anything else. The villain was in front of him, behind him there was nothing but a wall, and he probably couldn't count on Big Hero 6. He didn't think they even knew she existed. Usually all the bad guys were shown on TV so people knew who to protect themselves from. He'd never seen her before.

He tried to run forward and push her, but she pushed him instead. She was stronger than he thought and pinned him to the wall.

He didn't stand a chance.

“Who are you?”

“You can call me Raito. Wanna know why I’m telling you this?”

“Why?”

“Because you won’t remember it anyway.”

Faster than he could see, she pulled out something resembling a flashlight and shined it right into his eyes. He managed to put his hand on the pocket where he kept Rico. And then there was only darkness.

Chapter Text

A little bit to the left. Then a little to the right. Carefully press against the wall to make the gap smaller and be sure it’s stable. And… there it was.

Perfect.

Hiro took a deep breath, smiled slightly and sat up in bed, looking at his handiwork. Tadashi’s degree certificate, framed, was finally hanging in its proper place. It involved taking down Hiro’s favorite robot clock, but he was willing to do it. He could find a smaller one and hang it somewhere else visible (if there was any in this mess) and he would still know what time it was. Tadashi was more important.

It had been a few days since Hiro had received his brother’s degree certificate, but it had only been that day that he had found the energy to frame it and hang it up. Trina, Buddy Guardians, the Robot Revolution, it had all been exhausting. But not as exhausting as the several-minute speech he had to give. He wanted to give.

The boy lowered his head and reached for the cap lying next to him. He turned it over in his hands a few times until he finally began to stare at the symbol.

“You deserved that, big brother.”

He closed his eyes and all he could hear was the slight creak of his bed boards. Well, at least until the all too familiar sound of actuators reached his ears too.

“Your stress level is elevated.”

“I’ll be fine, Baymax.”

“Your behavior indicates that you still have not recovered mentally from recent events.”

“Maybe I haven’t.”

“Do you want to talk about this?”

Did he? He wasn’t sure. On one hand, he just wanted to hit his bed, but on the other… he probably needed to talk about it with someone. After all, just because they had defeated Trina and everything had more or less gone back to status quo didn’t mean everyone was suddenly safe. They still had a lot of problems to deal with. They still had to make the world a better place.

“I just…really want to follow Tadashi’s leads.”

“Is following Tadashi’s leads improving your well-being?”

Hiro blinked.

“What? Why are you asking?”

“You seem tense when you say that. It is the opposite of well-being.”

“Of course I’m tense, everything’s changing, my friends graduated and the crazy noodle bot is loose on the streets.” The boy replied, more angrily than he intended to. “We have no idea what he’s planning in this noodle brain of his. And… that speech… I hope I didn’t mess anything up. I really wanted this to be perfect.”

“This was an excellent speech. I do not feel emotions, but everything you said was true. Also the gestures and facial expressions of Aunt Cass and your friends indicated that for them, this speech was perfect.”

Hiro smiled slightly. That was enough for him.

“Thanks Baymax.”

“Tadashi would be proud of you.”

“Now, that improves my well-being.”

“I suggest you look for Noodle Burger Boy tomorrow and now go to sleep. Rest helps to improve mental condition.”

The boy sighed, stood up, and hung his brother's cap back on the desk lamp. Well, he wouldn’t catch the crazy robot this tired anyway, so he could listen to Baymax.

He turned the lamp off.

_-_-_

Hiro went downstairs feeling much better than the day before. No one was keeping him awake and he was able to get a good sleep, as long as the smells from Aunt Cass’ café didn't start to reach him. All the bruises he'd gotten from fighting Trina had also mostly healed, so the pain had stopped bothering him so much. It was a good way to start the day.

Until he heard Bluff Dunder’s voice. He looked at the TV.

“…has not shown any signs of life for three days, so the police have released his image. On the day he disappeared, Mr. Kaneda was wearing a black suit and blue tie. Anyone who has seen the missing man is asked to report to the police station immediately.”

The boy focused on the photo. It was of a man in his thirties, maybe a little older, with black hair and brown eyes. Nothing special, no very distinctive features, maybe except a mole by his nose. Easy to mistake for other people. But… Hiro shouldn’t really focus on this. He wasn’t the one who should be looking for him, even though he really wanted to. Big Hero 6 couldn’t help everyone, it wasn’t their area of expertise. It was the area of the police. They had to do their things as well.

“This is the second person who has gone missing this week.” The presenter continued. “And now, let’s go back to the interesting things. Part eighteen of ‘Food I Don’t Care For’.”

Hiro rolled his eyes. Bluff Dunder will always be Bluff Dunder.

He greeted his aunt and walked over to one of the tables, a breakfast plate in his hand. But just as he was about to sit, he saw someone he recognized. Megan was sitting next to the window, staring at the TV and she was clearly lost in thoughts. Maybe he could disturb her a little?

He walked up to her and waved his hand in front of her face.

“Earth to Megan. Over!”

It worked. She looked at him and brightened up a little.

“Hiro! Hi.”

“So…” He placed the plate on the table and sat down across from her. “Long… morning?”

“Yeah, you can say so.”

“What happened?”

“Really? I thought you'd be the first to know.”

“About what?”

Megan pointed to the TV, where Bluff Dunder was currently holding the cauliflower.

“Missing people?”

Hiro sighed.

“We live in a city of five million. People are missing and will be missing.”

“But not in this way.”

The boy frowned.

“What do you mean?”

“I've read about this guy.” She pulled out her phone, opened it to an article, and showed it to Hiro. “He has a family that misses him, he has a stable life. There's no reason for him to disappear. Same with the other three.”

“What if it’s just the surface? Maybe his loving family isn’t as loving as we think it is.”

“Maybe, but something’s wrong, I can feel it. They’re not the typical cases. And I can’t believe you’re not moved by it!”

Hiro sighed. In the meantime, Mochi apparently decided to rub himself against his legs. He meowed and looked at Hiro, but the boy turned to Megan.

“I can’t help everyone. Besides, that’s the police’s job.”

“Yeah, but can’t you scan for them?”

“If I could, I would! But I first need to scan these people to be able to find them. Without scans I can do nothing. And I’m not going to stalk random guys with Baymax until I scan all five million of citizens, it’s impossible! I’d run out of life. And I don’t think everyone would want this.”

“Who would want what?”

They both jumped in their chairs and looked toward the interior of the café. Aunt Cass stood next to them, a pot of tea in her hand, and a confused look in her eyes.

Hiro needed an excuse, immediately. But Mochi, who made himself known again, this time at the worst possible moment, wasn't being very helpful.

Or wait. Mochi.

“A cat!” The boy shouted. “We talked about this new… experiment, you know, which was running, about how much having a cat improves well-being… But we don’t think everyone would want a cat. Unfortunately.”

“Yeah, my dad’s allergic to them.” Megan played along.

Aunt Cass sighed.

“Poor Diego. Well, his loss. And thanks for saying that, I’ll be keeping Mochi out of him. This could be the reason why he started sneezing so badly last time. Anyway, tea?”

They nodded, and after a moment their cups were filled. Aunt Cass moved onto the other tables, but not before letting out a little squeal at the sight of them together. Hiro pretended he didn’t hear that.

“And you?” He asked Megan. “Are you allergic to cats?”

“Luckily, no. It’s only my dad.”

“That’s good.”

Hiro put Mochi on his lap, and the cat finally calmed down.

Megan sighed.

“You may have a point about scanning people. Sorry I got at you so much.”

“I’m fine.”

“I just really feel something’s wrong. More wrong than usual. And these guys’ families? They need help. These guys need help. I need to figure out what’s happening.”

“Isn’t that too big?”

“It is big, that’s the point.” Megan raised her voice a little, but after a moment she calmed down. She also lowered her head. “They kicked me out of the newspaper club.”

Hiro blinked.

“What? When?”

“Right before the end of the school year.” She murmured. “I promised them something big, but I didn't deliver it. So they kicked me out. I didn't want to tell you and worry you, because you were busy with the whole being-a-fugitive thing.”

Hiro looked down at the cat, not feeling particularly proud of himself. This ‘something big’ was revealing their identities and while logically keeping that a secret was more important than Megan's club, it didn't change the fact that he still didn't feel good about it. After all, it was very important to her.

“I’m sorry, Megan.”

“It was my mistake, really. I was so obsessed about it, I didn’t think that this could put you and your friends in danger. I deserved that. But I also want them to accept me again.”

“Are they worth it?”

“What?”

“If they kicked you out just because you didn’t give them what they wanted…are they worth it?”

“They were the only guys who accepted me. Being new at school and the chief’s daughter at the same time don’t make you popular. People think that if they make one wrong move, the next day they’ll have all the force on their backs. And my dad usually proves them right.”

“He cares about you.”

“Yeah, but it’s sometimes so annoying. Besides, it's just the club leader who doesn't really like me. The rest of them are cool.”

“That changes things.”

“It does. If I could solve these disappearances, or at least one of them, even Ellie would have to admit I can be useful for them. And if not... these people deserve it anyway. They're not criminals or anything, they just disappeared.”

“Do you really think it’s safe? If they didn’t disappear on their own, you can mess with someone you don’t want to.”

“Yeah, I know. But I have to try. Even if I wouldn’t release it by my name.”

Hiro sighed. Megan was Megan, and her stubbornness was almost comparable to his own. He wouldn't be able to stop her. But at least he could help her and make sure she didn't get into any trouble.

“I’m more into chasing villains than missing people, but…”

“But?”

“But if you need any help, you can count on me.”

Megan smiled.

“Thanks. And… how about you? Sorry I’m asking now, I should’ve done it earlier.”

Hiro waved his hand and drank some tea.

“I’m better. Well, we still have Noodle Burger Boy to catch. We tried yesterday and the day before, but… he disappeared just like these people. Though… I have one more idea I haven’t tried yet, maybe it’ll give us some clues.”

“Sounds exciting.”

“I wish. But… I really could use some help from Super Sleuth Megan Cruz, if you wanna come.”

The girl immediately brightened up.

“To your secret base?”

“To our secret base.”

“Are you kidding?! Of course I wanna come!”

“Cool. But I need to eat my breakfast first if I don’t want Baymax to start lecturing me again about the importance of eating all my meals during the day.”

“Yeah, I almost forgot lectures are the ultimate torture for you.”

“Hey! Not all of them!”

They both started laughing. And then Megan moved suddenly, as if remembering something.

“I’d almost forgotten, I have a message from my dad. The court decided, the prison management is going to dismantle Trina. And… turn her off, I guess? Like, for good.”

Hiro sighed and started to eat. His mood suddenly darkened.

“You don’t seem happy.” Megan stated.

“It’s the best they can do.”

“You still don’t seem happy.”

“I don’t have to. I know she kidnapped you, I know this was scary, I was scared too, but I’m not obligated to be happy when somebody dies. Even if it’s a villain.”

Maybe he said it a bit harshly, but he really meant it. Trina had done a lot of wrong things, but most of it was due to Obake's influence. Hiro still wasn't sure if everything she had said back when they had seemed to be friends was because she had been programmed to, or if she had come to those conclusions on her own and truly believed them, if a robot could believe anything. But she seemed to be able to. She seemed to have emotions. She seemed to act on her feelings, to have them, to genuinely grieve Obake's death, to want to honor his memory because she wanted to, not because she had been programmed to. Was she programmed for anything at all?

Her body was robotic, but the way she analyzed things was so very human. Maybe if she weren't so hell-bent on her father, Hiro could influence her somehow.

“She’s… a robot.” Megan said, snapping him out of his thoughts. “She was never alive anyway.”

“She’s way more advanced than Baymax. Maybe I could… but I don’t have her code. And even if I had it, it isn’t morally the best thing to do. She probably wasn’t programmed to go down that path, she chose it herself. Forcing her to do anything, wiping her memory or something... it’s messed up, but it doesn't seem right to me.”

“She’s not human.”

“It’s more complicated.”

“You’re sorry for her.”

“She’s dangerous. It’s the best they can do. But… I can’t help it.”

“You two had a history.”

He smiled slightly.

“You really are Super Sleuth Megan Cruz, aren’t you? We had. She tricked me by forming some twisted kind of friendship with me and pretending she liked me. But now I think maybe she really did. Anyway, now she hates me, so it’s the past. Your tea is getting cold.”

“Yours too.”

“Yeah. Mine too.”

Hiro shook his head and tried to focus on the positives. He and his friends had saved the city, they had finally earned Chief Cruz's respect, and even though there was still a lot of work to do, they could at least breathe and enjoy a normal life for a while. Those were good things. Aunt Cass, Megan, the rest of his friends, they were all safe and sound.

He smiled and continued his meal.

Chapter Text

They entered the conference room. Basemax screens were activated, and the largest one displayed blue, hexagonal eyes, the same as those of their other robots. Megan looked around, still amazed.

“Okay, I know I was here already, but still. This is so cool.”

“Thanks.” Another voice replied. “It’s nice to hear that from someone who isn’t Fred. Or the rest of them.”

The teenagers turned to the man. On one of the six chairs, probably Hiro's, the handyman was sitting. Only, he had no tools in his hand, but what he did have was a huge sandwich, wrapped in greasy paper. A few crumbs were laying on his work apron. Not to mention the usual stain.

“Hi Roddy.” Hiro waved.

“Hi kid. So, bringing the reporter again? What this time, a documentary?”

The boy looked at Megan, who gave Roddy the hairy eyeball.

“Actually, searching for Noodle Burger Boy.” He replied.

“Oh, this guy. He gives me creeps. Who came up with the idea of ​​a bot supervillain, looking like a mascot? Back in the days they at least looked normal. Well, more or less. Supersonic Sue was always creepy, even when she was younger.”

“I don’t know how she was when she was younger, but I have to agree she is creepy now.”

“Yeah, right? Anyway, I’m on my way to finish your room. Or should I say lab? I have no idea what this stuff you wanted is for, but I know it’s almost in place. I just need to put in place this sandwich as well and I can go back to work.”

“You’ve got more rooms in here?” Megan asked.

“It’s a secret base, kid! Secret bases have a lot of rooms.”

“Yeah, whatever.” Megan turned to Hiro and made puppy dog ​​eyes. “Can I see the rest of them?”

“Can we focus on the crazy noodle mascot first?”

“Fine. But later, sightseeing.”

“Deal.”

They shook hands. Hiro walked over to the table and sat in one of the chairs. He pressed a button, and a holographic monitor appeared in front of him. Soon Megan was sitting next, staring at the screen.

“Basemax, review the city's surveillance footage from the last four days and find all that show Noodle Burger Boy. Arrange them in chronological order, fix his way of moving and pinpoint him, if possible. And… if you could find some other villains as well, it would be nice.”

“Noted. However, the command you gave me will use up all my computing power. The rest of my services will be disabled for a few dozen minutes.”

“Rest of services?” The girl asked.

“Indeed.” The AI answered. “These are scanning for villains and crimes, operating SimMax, eavesdropping on a pol—”

“Politicians!” Hiro interrupted. “We want to make sure that politicians aren’t villains.”

Megan looked at him skeptically.

“That's the poorest excuse you've ever given me.”

“Yeah, I have to agree with her, kid.” Roddy added. “My late aunt was better at this, and she couldn't speak!”

He scratched the back of his head and laughed awkwardly.

“Let’s go back to the topic, can we?” He looked up, trying to make eye contact with their AI assistant, even though it wasn’t physically possible. “Anyway, I understand the risk, Basemax. You can start.”

“Procedure has been initiated.”

Roddy left the conference room, and a pie chart appeared on the main wall screen. After a few seconds, it dawned on Hiro that the whole process might take a bit longer than he thought. But why was he surprised? After all, Basemax had thousands of recordings to review, each a few minutes long, so it could be tens of thousands of hours. She had a lot of computing power, but it could be a bit too much to analyze, even for her. He really should have installed this additional RAM.

But just as he started thinking about how to solve this problem structurally, in the server room, Megan spoke up again.

“How do you even have access to city surveillance anyway? Is it legal?”

“I won’t answer that question.”

The girl sighed.

“I shouldn't be surprised, should I? A hero who breaks the law?” She elbowed him in the arm, smiling slightly.

“It’s for a good reason.”

“Couldn’t you just ask?”

“Asking requires documents. Documents require identity. And time. Breaking in is faster.”

“And way more risky.”

“I can live with that.” He smiled mischievously.

“You seem to like living with that.”

Did he? He was simply doing what was necessary. If he wanted to make sure his team was safe and not being tracked by the authorities, he had to make sure of that himself. If he wanted to keep the people of the city safe, he needed first-hand information about what was going on. Basemax scanners were powerful, but they couldn't catch every crime. Despite the weaker technology, the police were still better informed. And Hiro was well-informed about the police. The fact that he was basically breaking the law by doing it didn't really bother him. As long as it saved lives, he was willing to take the risk.

And maybe Megan was right. In fact, for as long as he could remember, he had never been very law-abiding. He’d never wanted to hurt anyone directly (and non-directly too, though it happened), but he’d also been cool with things like taking part in bot fights or breaking into places. Maybe he actually liked the risk a little too much.

He awoke when Basemax announced the procedure was complete. And when he saw the final frame, showing the mascot opening a very specific hatch, he awoke even more.

“Oh no.”

“What’s that?” Megan asked.

“It looks like Noodle Burger Boy just discovered the old subway tunnels.”

“How bad is that?”

“Basemax, overlay these tunnels on the city.”

A map of the entire city appeared on the main wall screen and a second later, red lines were drawn across it. A huge, dense web of red lines.

“Most of them lasted the Great Catastrophe.” Hiro explained. “Some have collapsed, some are still in use, but hatches are practically everywhere in the city.”

“Which means he can get in anywhere without being spotted.”

“Exactly.”

Megan sighed heavily and leaned back in her chair.

“Oh no.”

_-_-_

Hiro entered the room and sat. Baymax stayed downstairs again, helping Aunt Cass, and Megan returned home, of course after he showed her around the rest of the headquarters. They also tried to find more information about the missing people with the help of Basemax, but there were no recordings that would give them leads. In fact, these missing guys weren't on any recordings in the past few days. So either they were extremely unlucky to move in places where there were no cameras, or Megan was right and someone was actually behind it. And Hiro didn’t know what to think about it anymore.

But missing people weren’t his main problem.

The search for Noodle Burger Boy they had been doing so intensively lately had turned out to be a complete waste of time. They wouldn't have found him anyway. In fact, even without the mascot knowing about the tunnels, they were doomed to failure from the very beginning. Finding one villain in a huge city without the ability to scan for him? Not very possible.

They could only wait. But for what? What could Noodle Burger Boy plan? What was he capable of without Obake and Trina's guidance? What could he possibly want? Hiro couldn't find the answers to these questions. Even the concept of revenge seemed too advanced for the robot’s noodle burger brain. But he was clearly planning something. Otherwise he wouldn’t be hiding so much. He wouldn’t be using subway tunnels.

Noodle Burger Boy was dangerous. He was all that was left of Obake, besides Trina, and Obake was an extreme threat. They couldn't let him run around San Fransokyo, because who knew what else was in his chip?

They couldn’t, yet they had no choice. And Hiro hated that.

“Waiting. Why does it always have to be waiting?”

The boy sighed.

Well, at least he could do something in the meantime. After all, Noodle Burger Boy wasn't the only villain whose footage Basemax found, but since Hiro was too busy with the robot, he asked the AI ​​to upload it to his computer. Now he turned it on.

He found the file, opened it, and a player appeared on his screen. The length indicated that it was a compilation of at least several recordings.

“Well, let’s get this over with.”

Hiro pressed play.

For the first few seconds, nothing happened, but Hiro already identified the place. It was one of the streets bordering Good Luck Alley. And then someone ran around the corner. The boy immediately perked up. He could recognize that mop of black and blue hair everywhere.

“Momakase?”

She probably didn’t do anything bad right then, since she was in her civilian outfit, not the supervillain one. The only thing that was different was that she had her hair down. And a sheath on her back.

But right after her, several Buddy Guardians ran around the corner too. Hiro tensed a bit.

“So we weren't the only ones Cruz wanted to catch that day.”

Did the Chief succeed? After all, the Buddy Guardians were able to defeat Big Hero 6. Did Momakase stand a chance against them? Or was she sitting in a cell now?

He focused on watching.

One of the robots shot an electric net, but she realized it and threw a knife. This caused the net to open faster and block the path of another robot. For...half a second. She used this half a second to stop and throw another knife at the first Guardian’s main sensor. This must have fried a few components, because it started moving slower.

“Of course.” Hiro murmured. “It wasn't protected by titanium, the sensors wouldn’t work.”

Momakase drew her katana, and the robots circled her. And unfortunately there were more than two of them, though she didn't seem to mind. Even with the average quality of the recording, Hiro could see her crazy grin.

Several robots attacked at once, but she was able to dodge their blows. This caused two Guardians to knock themselves out for a few seconds. Momakase took advantage of the confusion again and jumped at one of them, cutting it in half.

Hiro blinked.

“Graphene. Of course. Why didn’t we think about graphene?”

Probably because it was hard to solve problems under the stress and Hiro had assumed from the beginning that the Guardians were made out of reinforced titanium, since Wasabi’s blades couldn’t cut them. And probably the most important reason—they didn't have time to deal with Momakase. Momakase didn't seem to have much time either.

Hiro pulled his knees up onto the chair and continued watching.

Momakase was dodging, jumping at the robots, knocking them off balance, and cutting them, sometimes taking them down on the first try, sometimes piece by piece. And soon, before Hiro knew it, he was focused more on her movements than on the fight itself. She was moving fast, faster than his brain could register, but after a moment he began to notice a pattern. Dodge, attack, allow throw, dodge, attack while reloading. Fall back when the opponent has a speed advantage, strike when he slows down for a moment.

He continued to watch, and began to notice more details. The way she held her sword, the position of hands during attack and defense, the movement of legs, the posture. He had never had the opportunity to analyze her fighting style well. He noticed some things, but every time before, he somehow had been more concerned with saving his life—whether from Momakase herself or Yama's thugs. Now it was a different story.

He leaned closer to the monitor.

Her fighting style wasn’t unpredictable. She was analyzing her opponent, looking for weaknesses, predicting moves and hitting before these moves could even start. She was more observant than Hiro thought. Though how she was able to do so much thinking so fast was still a mystery for the boy. Probably years of training had something to do with it.

He snapped out of his thoughts when one of the robots actually hit Momakase. It threw her back a few dozen feet, and if she hadn't reacted quickly, the next net would have pinned her to the ground instead of landing sliced ​​up behind her.

She stood up and said something. Whatever it was, it caused all of them—that were more or less intact—to be prepared to attack.

And then they all suddenly stopped.

Hiro blinked. Momakase seemed to be surprised as well, as she stood in her place and didn’t immediately run to attack. Even though that was exactly what she should do at that moment, her curiosity was clearly stronger.

“Trina’s call.” The boy whispered.

As the robots restarted, one of them walked towards her. It extended its hand, probably proposing something. Hiro didn't need an audio to know that this was about joining the Robot Revolution.

The answer was quick. Guardian’s hand fell to the ground, severed.

Hiro smiled slightly and continued to smile even as the situation worsened and all the robots attacked her again. Something had changed. Something that had stopped Momakase from joining other supervillains whenever she could.

The woman continued to fight them until only three remained, and Hiro calmed down. She had a chance. She would win this.

But he didn’t predict—and neither did Momakase, apparently—the terrified people running down the street, right into the remaining robots. The crowd attracted their attention, and since they were already under Trina’s influence, the Guardians began attacking civilians. Chaos ensued. One man barely escaped the electric grid, another wasn’t so lucky and was pinned to the wall by it. Somewhere across the street, the third Guardian shot out an arm and grabbed a random passerby who hadn’t gotten away in time. That didn't seem to deter people, though. They were still trying their luck to get past the robots, seemingly unable to get back because of the heatwave.

Among the people, there were also kids. But the Guardians had no sentiments—one of them aimed at a little girl and shot a net at her. Only it did not reach there, because the knife changed its trajectory.

Hiro smiled wider.

Momakase dealt with the robot that tried to kill her and apparently decided to deal with the others as well. She jumped at it, knocked it off balance, and then cut it in half. After this only one remained, and it shot both arms at her. Momakase was able to dodge it.

People began to disperse, the heatwave apparently wearing off. The fact that Momakase had the robots’ attention back certainly helped. Except for one unfortunate soul who ran into a trash can, fell over with it, and distracted the woman.

That had its price.

This time the robot grabbed her and pulled towards itself. She couldn't move her arms, and the Guardian must have squeezed her harder because she let go of the blade. Still, Momakase didn't seem to give up, as she tried to reach for something on her hip. The quality of the recording wasn't the best, but Hiro could still make out what was happening. The guard heated up the laser because it glowed brighter, and Momakase finally pulled out another knife. She dropped it handle-side down, then kicked the handle with her knee. The blade got stuck in the main sensor. The laser missed her. But she needed more than that to win.

And she actually had it. A black spot with a green chip appeared on the horizon, which after a moment jumped onto the robot and swapped the programming. Momakase watched in shock as the Guardian rebooted, then set her down and extended its hand. Once again, Hiro didn't need to hear anything to know that this time it was offering medical attention.

Momakase frowned, reached for her katana, and cut it in half.

Hiro gulped.

“Well… fair enough.”

She pulled her knife out of the sensor, sheathed it, and jumped over the remains of the robot. The entire street looked like a battlefield, but the place where Hiro himself had fought didn't look much better. In fact, it might have looked worse, considering Megamax.

Momakase gathered her weapon and cut through the net that held one of the men who tried to escape earlier. He ran from her with his mouth open, clearly screaming. And clearly not looking ahead, because he had barely taken two steps before he had hit the lamppost. The woman was watching this comedy for a moment, and Hiro could bet she rolled her eyes.

Then she walked toward Good Luck Alley and probably went back to her hideout. There were no cameras in that area to catch it though.

The recording ended, but for the next few minutes Hiro sat motionless.

Something had changed.

He leaned back against the chair. Momakase had actually helped these people. She didn't have to protect that child, she didn't have to refocus the robots' attention, she didn't have to free that man. She could have simply escaped once the robots had focused on the civilians. She didn’t. Maybe she just liked fighting that much, or maybe…

Hiro sighed. Momakase was crazy, dangerous, arrogant, selfish, mocking and unpredictable. But she wasn’t completely bad. That actually cheered him up, compared to the whole Noodle Burger Boy thing.

Until his phone vibrated and Hiro opened the messenger.

Krei:

Get me a macchiato on your way, intern

Because I assume you’re on your way, right?

Hiro groaned and stood from the chair, only to fall face down on the bed instead.

Chapter Text

TeenGenius:

hows it goin?

SuperSleuth:

it’s not going

that’s the problem

TeenGenius:

no clues?

SuperSleuth:

NOT EVEN A TINEST ONE

TeenGenius:

woah

its serious

youre usin caps

SuperSleuth:

ugh.

my dad can actually have some

but he changed password in his laptop

TeenGenius:

not your birthday anymore?

SuperSleuth:

no

sth longer

but you’re in hacking

could you deal with it?

TeenGenius:

breakin into chiefs comp?

im in

and ofc I can deal with it

hope he wont make it easy

SuperSleuth:

showoff

TeenGenius:

but I mean, I dont have to, right

SuperSleuth:

if not my dad’s comp, we can eavesdrop a politicians

in your secret base

works for me as well

there could be more in the database than my dad knows

but my dad could know sth they don’t too

so both

TeenGenius:

I shouldve shut up

SuperSleuth:

you should

so when can we meet?

TeenGenius:

tomorrows good?

SuperSleuth:

tomorrow’s good

_-_-_

Hiro closed the messenger and began to scroll through the latest news on the missing people. There wasn't much information, the police hadn't come up with anything yet. Or at least they had decided not to share it. Well, he could do something about the latter, he had access to their network after all, but Fred's couch, full of his friends, wasn't exactly the best place to do it. But maybe he could let Basemax know so she could dig around without him for now? He had nothing better to do anyway. Fred refused to explain anything until the team was complete.

Hiro had barely finished typing when the door opened. The boy turned and saw Go Go, who was looking at Fred.

“So, why did you call us?”

“Isn’t that obvious?”

“No.”

Fred jumped over the couch and stood in front of everyone, gesturing to all of them.

“We've been fighting a bunch of supervillains and crazy robots lately, and we're all heroic, but sometimes we have to do something normal! Like watching a movie. Which is great, because Kentucky Kaiju 8 is coming out soon, and I managed to buy a tape of the movie before it even came out. There it is!”

Hiro looked up as Fred pulled a flash drive from behind his back and started waving it around, clearly a little too excited about this. Everyone else raised their eyebrows in surprise, maybe except Go Go, whose face was stoic as always. Well, almost. Hiro could see a reproach there.

“Really? A movie?” she asked. “Is this the super important thing you called us for?”

The boy reached for the phone again and opened their group chat. After a moment of scrolling he found a message that read:

Fredzilla:

Team meeting, 14 pm, tomorrow, my room.

ITS AN EMERGENCYYY

Yeah, he knew what Go Go was getting at.  

“Yes, a movie.” Fred replied. “Do you have something against movies?”

“No, but I do have something against invitations which sound like the world is burning. You could have just said so.”

“And you wouldn’t have come, since you’re all very busy lately.”

“Well, looking for a job usually takes some time.” Wasabi stated.

“It really does.” Honey Lemon added.

“I know, but most of the things we've been doing together lately is superhero stuff. And I love this, but… I miss the times when we were doing normal stuff too.”

Go Go sighed.

“Fred, it was less than a month ago that we last did something unrelated to being heroes. We’re not done doing normal things.”

“But we’re done with a lot of things! Because, you know, next year you won't be going to SFIT anymore, it'll just be me and Hiro.”

Hiro blinked and paused for a moment at what his friend had said. He didn't like to think about it. About how he would be alone at SFIT next year.

“That doesn't mean we're not a team anymore.” Go Go replied.

“But it does mean spending less time together!”

“That's what happens when you become an adult.”

“Change is an inevitable part of growing up.” Baymax chimed in. “Not all change is bad.”

Suddenly Mini-Max jumped out of nowhere and landed on Fred's shoulder, then not so gently tilted his head.

“Exactly, fearless hero! We'll get through this together, and if not, you can always count on my mini-maximum rocket fist to deal with the changes literally. Who should I punch first?” The small robot slammed his fist into his open palm.

Fred carefully caught Mini-Max and placed him on the couch.

“I don’t think punching changes or people is a good way to deal with problems…but thanks for your support, Mini-Max.”

“You’re welcome!”

Hiro watched as Fred let out a heavy breath and then sat on the table, not making eye contact with anyone.

“I know we’re still friends, but… it was so nice having you all in the lab, watching what you do, planning revenge on SFAI together, just simply spending time in there. And that won't happen again. I just already miss it.”

“We’ll miss it too, Freddy.” Honey Lemon smiled weakly.

Everyone frowned, and the room fell silent. It seemed that no one—even Fred, who was usually the most talkative—was going to break it, preferring to take a few minutes to reminisce about the past. The past that would never come back. Hiro really wanted to think about anything else right now and not analyze the future that awaited them.

Even Go Go lowered her gaze and sighed heavily.

“Fine. A movie.”

“YES!”

“We need to fix that mood. But only this one. Then I’ll go to search for a crazy noodle mascot, since I have some free time. Anyone want to join?”

“I can.” Wasabi volunteered. “The sooner we find him, the sooner my nightmares about him will end. And trust me, you don't want to know the details.”

Fred raised his hand.

“No Fred, you don’t want to know the details either.”

“Actually I was going to ask if searching for him isn’t kinda pointless, since Hiro discovered he knows about subway tunnels.”

Baymax raised his finger.

“We still can increase our database about where he is not.”

“We’ll check the tunnels.” Go Go stated.

“And what if you meet him?”

“It’s just Noodle Burger Boy. Not the worst villain we’ve fought.”

“Classic.”

Suddenly everyone, including Fred, who was in total shock, turned to the door. Mr. Frederickson was leaning against the doorframe, arms folded, obviously listening to them for some time, discreet enough that no one noticed him.

“Dad!”

“Hi, son. Talking about villains during rest time? Chill out a bit, kids. Not everything is in your control, and not everything will be. So let it go for a while and enjoy this movie.”

“We let go of Trina and it ended up with a Robot Revolution.” Go Go replied.

“It's not like you could have found her anyway.”

The skater had no arguments with that.

“Don't beat yourself up like that, revolutions happen and will happen, not everything can be predicted. So get some rest, kids, that's also necessary. Sometimes even more so. And I really mean it. Once I was so obsessed about finding Dark Volt, I was searching day and night, and in the end I was so tired I couldn’t even fight him when he finally showed up! There's no point in overdoing it in either direction.”

“Mr. Frederickson is right.” Baymax added. “Rest is essential for maintaining proper brain condition and reaction speed.”

“This guy speaks well, you should listen to him.”

Hiro saw Go Go and Wasabi exchange glances, clearly pondering Mr. Frederickson's words. But Fred didn't give them much time to think. He walked over to his dad.

“What are you doing here?”

“Long story, son. Our company has almost completed the design of our newest freighter, the one I told you about. But like always, there are complications. And they require my presence.”

“So you won’t stay for long?”

Mr. Frederickson's smile faded a little. He looked at his son, then at the rest of his friends, and sighed, struggling with his thoughts for a moment. Then he perked up again, and patted Fred on the shoulder. Hiro smiled slightly at the gesture.

“Y’all know what? The freighter won’t run away, but this moment can. So if you have nothing against the old man sitting around for a while… Is there one more place to watch this movie with you?”

_-_-_

They didn't watch the movie. They ended up all sitting around Mr. Frederickson, listening about his adventures, fights, and sometimes even superhero habits. In Hiro's opinion, it was even better than the movie. He sat on the other end of the couch and pulled his legs up, staring at Fred’s father and for the first time in a while feeling like a kid. Not even like a teenager. Just a normal, regular kid, who wasn’t going to university but was listening to the stories.

He had long forgotten what it felt like.

“…and then I said,” Mr. Frederickson continued “’You should’ve eaten your oatmeal while it was still warm’.”

Fred jumped on the spot.

“Did it confuse her?”

“More than I thought! Because she actually ate the cold oatmeal for breakfast and I didn’t know about it. For the next few minutes Supersonic Sue thought I had time-related superpowers!”

The group laughed, and even Go Go lifted the corners of her lips for a moment. Then Mini-Max joined in, laughing more manically than gleefully. It didn't seem to bother anyone much though. Only Mr. Frederickson looked at him worriedly, but quickly perked up and continued with the story.

“Anyway, when she finally realized that I had no control over time, she got overconfident and, let’s just say, the reversed hammer always gets the job done.”

Fred leaned against the couch.

“I wish I could do the reversed hammer thing.”

“And I wish I could do the super jump thing.”

“You do?”

“Everyone has their strengths, son. You have yours, I have mine. And that's okay. You don’t need to be me, you just need to be you. You are and this works.”

Mr. Frederickson put his hand on Fred's shoulder, and his son smiled. Hiro watched the picture with a strange feeling he couldn't name. Yet he remained silent, just like the others, until Go Go finally broke it, surprising everyone with her question.

“Actually…why did you quit?”

The rest of the team looked at her.

“I mean,” the girl continued “The old newspapers say nothing about it, you just disappeared without a known reason. Why?”

Wasabi blinked. Hiro blinked too. Even Mini-Max and Baymax blinked. But Fred, instead of blinking, took a deep breath.

“You were reading newspapers about superheroes?!”

“I can do it. Sometimes. I’m just curious.”

After everyone had absorbed this information, and Fred had refrained from bombarding Go Go with questions, everyone turned to Mr. Frederickson. The man smiled weakly and leaned back against the couch.

“There was…an accident.”

“An accident?”

“Well, an accident, a defeat, all in once. Too much at once.”

“Someone defeated you?” Fred couldn’t believe it.

“I’m still a human. I may have my strength, I may have some gadgets, I may have skills, but I’m not unbeatable. No one is.”

“What happened?” Go Go asked.

“A kid happened.”

Wasabi raised his hands up.

“Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. What?”

“I learned two lessons that day. The first is to never underestimate your opponent, no matter how defenseless they may seem. I caught her committing a crime. I wasn't sure what to do with her since she was really young and I didn't really want to throw her in jail. If there's one thing jails can do well, it's perpetuating criminals in a criminal lifestyle. So I just tried to stop her.”

“She didn’t give up?”

“Didn’t even plan to. We went into battle, and I quickly realized that she actually knew what she was doing. She could fight, she could fend off my attacks, and she was faster than me. I could have stopped her if I hadn't been so arrogant at the time and if it had crossed my mind that a hero could also lose. I didn't take it seriously. And the weather wasn't working in my favor, because it was raining and slippery.”

“Yeah, fighting in the rain is terrible.” Wasabi flinched.

“Especially on the roof.” Mr. Fredericson continued. “She tripped me and I slid. I think she planned for me to hit the railing and pass out, but she didn't calculate it right. Instead of railing, I landed on the sidewalk. The next thing I remember was waking up in the hospital. Two legs broken, spine miraculously intact. There was also some internal bleeding, the doctors said that if I hadn't been to the hospital quickly, I would’ve been pushing up the daisies.”

The man laughed, although he didn't seem to feel like laughing.

“To this day I am not sure who called that ambulance. The streets were empty.”

Hiro frowned, considering something.

“Could she do that?” He asked.

“It’s possible. I never asked. But she wasn’t the killing type. Well, at least not yet. Anyway, Fred was four at the time, and my wife said she didn't agree to him growing up without a father. That was the second lesson I learned then. There are more important things than being a superhero. Helping people is necessary, and I still do it, though sometimes in different ways. But when it's at the cost of the people closest to me, it's not worth it. Well, the fact that most of the dangerous villains were already defeated, helped a bit with that decision.”

“That’s not what I expected.” Wasabi whispered.

“Classic! But not everything ends in glorious battles. It wasn’t Baron von Steamer. It wasn’t even Dark Volt. It was just a random girl. Life can be tricky sometimes.”

The man laughed, then stopped, as if reconsidering what he had just said. After a moment, Hiro could tell the older hero was having some kind of epiphany.

“Maybe that’s exactly what I need.”

“About what?” Go Go asked.

“Business matters. Gonna talk to Heatcliff, but maybe not yet. What about you telling me some stories, huh? These old ears might still catch something.”

Fred immediately perked up, stood and began to report on the last fight with Trina.

Chapter Text

Heathcliff has done a lot of things in his career as a butler. He's looked after Fred, he's watched his Kaiju mech destroy the city, he's signed up for illegal racing to help Big Hero 6 take down the organizers, he's even protected his protégé from his own mother, who's posing as a supervillain to test him. Not to mention all the things he's done before.

He was still a little surprised, though, when Mr. Frederickson asked him to do this.

Now Heathcliff stood before the large door, which was ironically the back entrance to the building—and knocked on it.

After a few seconds, the door opened and a man stood in the doorway. He had eastern facial features, he was dressed in blue and black traditional clothes, and the scar that crossed his eyebrow and cheek indicated that he had some combat experience. This was someone Heathcliff probably wouldn't want to mess with.

The butler cleared his throat and straightened his tie.

“Good evening, sir.” He bowed. “I was looking to speak with the owner of this restaurant.”

The employee raised his eyebrows, obviously surprised by the intruder's behavior. He didn’t comment on it though.

“You’re speaking with him.”

“Forgive me, please, I expressed myself badly. I would like to speak with the one who is not listed in the documents. I am here on business.”

“Wait a moment.”

The man disappeared inside and closed the door. It might have been several minutes before he reappeared. He sized Heathcliff up, then nodded slightly.

“Come inside. There you’ll talk to the owner.”

“Thank you, sir.”

Heathcliff followed the employee, who wordlessly led him through a strange arena, a narrow corridor, and a flight of stairs, finally inviting him into the office and closing the door behind him. Fortunately, Heathcliff did not hear the lock turning.

“So, let’s talk about this business of yours.”

He turned toward the voice. The woman stood with her back to him, looking at the arena through a thin paper window. But not for long, because she soon walked over to the desk and looked him in the eye. He decided this was a good time to start talking.

“Thank you for inviting me here, ma’am. My employer needs urgent help and is counting on your support. He is also willing to pay.”

She frowned, and looked at him suspiciously.

“Employer? And who is your employer?”

“Mr. Frederick Frederickson the Third, ma’am.”

Her eyes suddenly widened. She walked over to him, but Heathcliff remained where he was, his face stoic.

“Is this some kind of a trap?”

“Why did you arrive at that conclusion, if I may ask?”

She frowned again.

“I’m not a fool. I know who he is. And I know he would not cooperate with someone of my profession.”

“Mr. Frederickson is willing to bury a hatchet. I can assure you that this is not a trap.”

“And what does he want from me?”

“He was in possession of valuable documents that were stolen from him. He managed to obtain their location, but he does not have the skills to recover them. Unfortunately, I do not know more. To discuss the details you will have to meet with Mr. Frederickson, ma’am.”

She hummed.

“And how much is he willing to pay?”

Heathcliff pulled a slip of paper from his jacket’s pocket and handed it to her. She read it but seemed neither surprised nor satisfied—or at least she didn’t show it. She actually seemed to be thinking though, probably whether it was worth taking the risk.

Finally, she nodded.

“Fine. When?”

“As soon as you can, ma’am. Tomorrow morning will be too late.”

“Tell him, I’ll be there at midnight.”

The butler bowed gratefully, then left the room and found his own way out. It had gone much better than he had expected, but that didn't mean that there would be no setbacks. He could be certain of one thing though.

It was going to be a long night.

_-_-_

Hiro walked up the stairs to the first floor and looked toward the kitchen. Aunt Cass was busy at the counter and he could smell the dinner she cooked. He could also hear Baymax's footsteps, which caught his relative's attention.

“There you are. Come here, both of you, or it’s gonna get cold.”

Baymax raised his finger.

“I am a robot. I do not eat. I can, however, replenish my water supply.”

“Well, go ahead.”

Hiro watched the entire process, including Baymax's amusing attempts to squeeze through the narrow gap between the counter and the refrigerator to get to the inner part of the kitchen—and the sink that was located there. That still hadn’t distracted him enough to forget what had been nagging at him for the past few hours. Ever since he’d realized how much he’d learned about Mr. Frederickson today.

And how ignorant he was about something else.

“Aunt Cass?”

“Yes, Hiro?”

He took a deep breath. It was now or never.

“What were my parents like?”

Aunt Cass blinked, her hand stopped in midair.

“Are you okay? Did something happen?”

“Nothing, just… Fred’s dad arrived, you know? They were both so happy, he was telling stories and I realized… I know nothing about mine.” He sighed and lowered his voice to a whisper. “Because it was never important to me.”

“Oh, Hiro.”

The woman put down the knife and before Hiro knew it he was hugged tightly. He hugged her back, pressing his face against her shirt. It wasn't like no one had ever told him about them. They had. Aunt Cass, Tadashi. Especially Tadashi. Hiro had just never cared enough to really listen. Partly because he didn’t want to know much about the people whose deaths had made Tadashi cry at night for over a year and had unintentionally caused his older brother so much pain, and partly because…Hiro was just ignorant. And he didn’t feel good about it.

“You were three, it doesn’t mean you’re bad or something, you were just too young to remember, too young to really get close to them. I don’t blame you, no one does. At least you didn’t have to suffer as much as…”

“You and Tadashi did.” Hiro finished, moving away from his aunt.

Cass smiled weakly.

“I don’t know much about Tomeo.” She admitted after a while. “He was quite mysterious.”

“Why?”

“I’m not sure. Maybe it’s because of his character, maybe it’s something else. He was really attached to his family tradition. Well, most of times.”

Hiro frowned. He knew that his father’s family had come from Japan to San Fransokyo when Tomeo was still a teenager. And the boy vaguely remembered Tadashi saying that his parents had hidden their relationship from grandparents, for maybe... years? He wasn’t sure. Whatever the tradition was, it was pretty strict.

“What was it?”

“I don’t know much, it had something to do with cooking, they passed it down from generation to generation. With some family rules and a noble ancestry, if I remember correctly.”

Hiro raised his eyebrow.

“They were in possession of something important, some… heirloom.” Aunt Cass added. “Anyway, they lost it. Maddie actually told me that by accident, it was a huge shame to them. I probably shouldn’t run it with you, but... I don’t think it really matters now.”

“What was that heirloom?”

“I don’t know. She didn’t tell me that.”

Cass walked over to the counter and leaned against it, still looking at Hiro.

“His previous last name was Takachiho, but when he got married, for some reason he took ours.”

“That’s… not normal, isn’t it?”

“As far as I know, family name was very important for him, so no, it’s not.”

“What happened?”

“I’m not sure, and… to be honest, I don't think I want to get into it. He had his honor, he had his rules and he really cared for my sister and for you, guys, but… there was something he didn’t tell. But he's been through a lot, maybe I don't even blame him.”

“Through a lot?”

“His family died. Ironically, in a fire.”

Hiro blinked. In a fire? His grandparents died in a fire? Like Tadashi recently? Was history just repeating itself that much?

“What happened?”

“Gas explosion. He wasn’t in the building at the moment. That’s why he survived.”

Hiro clenched his fists and took a deep breath. Why was he only finding out now? Sure, he had never asked before, if his grandparents were dead then they were dead, but the knowledge that they had died in a fire seemed important enough to share, whether she was asked or not. And if so... why didn’t it happen?

“Why didn’t you tell me that earlier?”

Cass looked at him sadly, obviously feeling guilty. The boy unclenched his fists.

“I’m sorry Hiro. Your parents didn’t want you to know. Tadashi was probably unaware of this either. He also never asked.”

“He was just saying we don’t have grandparents. They all died? The entire family?”

He had a vague memory that his father wasn’t their only child. What happened to the others?

“Officially, yes.”

“And unofficially?”

“One of his siblings survived, but they had a huge quarrel later. I don't know what their motive was, but it was probably to disgrace the family and I think that’s why no one ever mentioned the survivor. I wasn't supposed to know that either, but Maddie complained that it took him months to recover. He really loved that sibling. Anyway, Maddie never mentioned them afterward, like they were dead, so maybe something happened in the meantime and they really were.”

“You never tried to find out?”

“Those were their private matters, this was Tomeo’s family, not mine. And I had my own problems to deal with. Besides...sometimes it's better not to know answers to some questions. Your father's family is one big mystery. But I don't think it's worth solving. We have everything we need, and we especially don’t need any trouble.”

“Do you think…”

“I don’t. But… there was something fishy. I can’t explain that, it’s just my feelings.”

“Could Tomeo be involved in something?”

“I don't want to make accusations, Hiro.”

The boy sighed, sat, and took a few deep breaths. He was grateful that Baymax had decided not to interfere, but to observe the situation. Because truth be told, Hiro had no idea what to think about it. That his father, who until now had been just a parent in his head, nonexistent, but almost perfect—that's how Tadashi had always described him, so Hiro believed it—might actually have some flaws. And serious flaws at that, because being mysterious, hiding a surviving family member and then pretending they’re dead usually didn't mean anything good. Changing his name as if he was running away from someone? Even more. And why didn't he want them to know about the fire? Not to mention Aunt Cass's hunches, because even if they were just hunches, they usually came true. But he was the one who wanted to know more about his parents, didn't he? He was the one who asked.

He should have never asked.

And while he had been a little upset at his aunt for never telling him, he was starting to understand it now. He would rather stay in his comfortable bubble than know that his family had some movie-worthy secrets. Because now it was haunting him.

“I'm sorry.” Aunt Cass said after a while. “I should have told you all this earlier, but... you're quite stubborn, you know? And curious. I didn't want you to get into any trouble. But... I trust you're mature enough to make a wise decision.”

“You won't stop me if I try to find out more about it?”

Not that he planned. He wasn’t even sure what to do now.

She sighed.

“It’s your family, Hiro. If you want to, you have the right to. But I want you to be sure, you’re not obligated to do it. You don’t have to know what your father was involved in to know who you are. And I will always love you for who you are.”

Hiro snuggled up to his aunt once again, although this time for longer. His mind was still a mess, but her presence helped calm him down a bit.

“Thank you, aunt Cass.”

Their dinner got cold.

_-_-_

Hiro closed the door and all he could hear was Baymax pacing, though not for long, because soon he started to hear his own footsteps as well. It was easier for him to think when he was moving. And he had a lot to think about.

“My scan indicates your hormone levels are elevated. You are nervous.”

“Seriously? I didn’t notice.”

“I do not understand. You are usually aware of your emotional state. Downloading data about the problem. Suggested course of action is therapy. We can start now.”

“It was sarcasm, Baymax. Download data about sarcasm.”

“Downloading. According to the data people are more willing to use sarcasm when their emotions are high. That matches my scan. Your emotions are high. Do you want to share what is bothering you?”

“You were there. You heard it.”

“Your father went through a traumatic experience. How could his traumatic experiences have an impact on your emotions?”

“It’s not…it’s not his experiences Baymax, it’s… I don’t know what it is.”

“Your emotions increased when aunt Cass mentioned fire. You have traumatic memories related to fire.”

Hiro grabbed his hair.

“It’s not about Tadashi, not about fire. It’s just too many revelations at once. I think.”

“Does this cause you stress because some of your father's behaviors go beyond the accepted patterns of society?”

“Yeah. It does.”

“Why?”

“Because…I don't know what I was thinking, I didn't know him, I shouldn't have expected him to be perfect even if everyone else said so.”

“Your expectations have been disappointed.”

“But…I shouldn’t have them.”

“People develop expectations, especially when they are children. It is a natural thing.”

“But I’m not a kid anymore. And my dad… he wasn’t bad. He cared about Tadashi, he tried to teach him a lot, they really had a bond. He wasn’t bad. So why do I feel like he was? My mind’s just so messed up.”

“You have learned things that have a huge impact on your emotions. Some of your reactions may be hard for you to understand.”

“And for you, Baymax?”

“I am not able to feel human emotions.”

“But you can analyze them. Understand them.”

“Every behavior and reaction has a cause. Something you have believed in for a long time has been shaken. This causes confusion. I suggest rest.”

“I don’t think I’ll be able to do it, buddy. Not now.”

“Then I suggest taking deep breaths instead.”

Hiro looked at Baymax and then listened to him. It helped him calm down a bit, but it didn't take away all the confusion that was in his head. Not to mention that his father wasn't all Hiro had on his mind. The fact that he'd be practically alone next year wasn’t really helpful. The fact that his friends were looking for work and Hiro wasn't even sure if being heroes was important enough for them to stay in the city, didn't reassure him either. Breathing? He couldn’t deal with this just by breathing. He needed something else. Something to occupy his mind much more effectively.

“Baymax?”

“Yes, Hiro?”

“What do you say about night patrol?”

“Are you sure night patrol is a good idea in your condition?”

“I need to clean up my mind. Do something else.”

“Running away does not solve problems.”

He wasn’t running away. Was he?

“But it can make them smaller enough to be solved.”

“Solving these kinds of problems usually requires time.”

“If it requires time anyway, why not spend some of that time on night patrol?”

Perhaps that got Baymax's processors going, because he took a moment to process what Hiro had said. Then he tilted his head.

“Do you want to join your friends in search of Noodle Burger Boy?”

“No. Just a normal, regular flight.”

“I understand.”

“So, what do you say?”

Baymax blinked and the logo of the summoned Skymax appeared on his belly.

“Flying makes me a better healthcare companion.”

Hiro smiled and summoned his own Skymax as well.

Chapter Text

Go Go frowned and looked back. About a second later, Fred landed there, carrying Wasabi on his back. Wasabi, on the other hand, quickly went down and moved a safe distance away from his friend. Go Go had a guess as to why. She could smell garlic from a mile away.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Fred became irritated.

“You’re slowing us down.” She answered.

“Or maybe it’s you, who is too fast, huh?”

“Sure. And it was me who left my suit in the garage, even though a garage is the last place our suits should be.”

“It's not my fault Hiro didn't install a tracker!”

“Hiro did install a tracker. And it's your fault it didn't work.”

“My fault?”

“You were the one who insisted Roddy install impenetrable walls.”

“Excuse me, but these days everyone has garages with scan jamming systems! Heathcliff explained it to me. It makes it harder to steal vehicles.”

“Yes, because everyone would want to steal a vehicle from a dingy factory where no one would think there's a garage there.”

Fred raised one of his claws, but before he could say anything, Wasabi cleared his throat and stepped between them.

“Could we please move on to the searching part?”

“Sure, but just for your information,” Fred chimed in, “the bad guys don't usually show up until midnight anyway. Backed up by research and a lot of comics. So I basically did us a favor, because it’s almost midnight. Now we can move on to the searching part.”

Go Go rolled her eyes and looked around. She walked to the middle of the street, thankfully rarely used, and activated the display on her helmet's visor. A picture appeared before her eyes, the center of which was a hatch with a clawed logo. The exact same hatch that lay beneath her feet.

“Okay, this is it.” She said. “It’s from Hiro’s photo. We’re going in.”

“Yeah! Fredzilla time!”

Before anyone could react, Fred lifted the hatch and jumped in. And before anyone could follow him down, they heard a loud 'ow'.

“We really need to cure him of it.” Wasabi stated.

“Yup.”

“I’m fine!”

Go Go sighed, hooked her discs onto her back, and climbed down the ladder like a civilized human being. Wasabi joined her, and soon they were both down, Go Go turning on the flashlight in her helmet and leading the way.

“So how do we find him?” Wasabi asked.

“The answer is simple.” Fred whispered, waving his hands in front of his friend. “He'll find us.”

“Stuck in a tight space with a crazy robot that can cut you in half with a laser? The first one is scary, but the second one is even scarier! You know what, I’ll pass.”

“We may also find some clues.” Go Go added.

Fred scratched his head. Or rather, his costume.

“Yeah, he leaves condiments everywhere, remember? I'm sure there's ketchup, mustard, or pickles in here somewhere. Honestly, I'm surprised he can fit that much in, but oh well, villains usually defy the laws of physics. Too bad heroes can't.”

Wasabi stopped.

“What did you just say?”

“That heroes can’t defy the laws of physics?”

“No, earlier. That Noodle Burger Boy can fit that much in. What if he can’t?”

Go Go turned to the boys and raised her eyebrows. She knew what Wasabi was driving at.

“He has to replenish his supplies somewhere.” She finished.

“Exactly! If we knew the place, we could find him faster.”

“Basemax,” Go Go called their AI “plot all the subway hatches on the city map, as well as all the Noodle Burger locations and factories.”

“Analyzing.” They heard a voice in their helmets. “I’m sending a map.”

A plan full of dots in two colors appeared before their eyes. Usually the points were far apart, but there was one place where they almost overlapped.

“There.”

Go Go enlarged the space and sent a screenshot to the boys.

“That’s where we’re going.”

_-_-_

Hiro tilted slightly to the right and Baymax responded by changing flight direction. The boy looked down but the city was as quiet as ever. Nothing happened during the last half hour and this night patrol turned out to be more annoying than helpful in clearing his thoughts. Literally the only emergency they encountered involved pulling a panicked cat down from a tree. Very mind-cleaning.

They lowered the flight. Baymax was about to cross Good Luck Alley and if there was any place where something bad could happen, it would be this area.

Hiro zoomed in on his screen and started to watch the alleys. All he could see was a few guys fighting each other, other few guys sleeping on the pavement and another guy, who definitely ate, drank or sniffed some bad stuff, because he was wandering around and arguing with a dumpster. The boy didn’t want to know more.

And then he noticed one thing. A circle, brightly lit, with a lot of people standing around.

“A fight?” He asked himself.

Old habits came back to haunt him. For a moment he thought about leaving, but eventually he came to the conclusion that the city was quiet anyway. He could stop for a while and watch from a distance. There was nothing bad about it, right?

He turned Baymax around and activated silent mode. They landed on the roof of a building right next to the arena. People were too busy yelling and cheering to notice them. The boy jumped off the robot and walked to the edge. Someone smart had put a barrier there.

Baymax shifted.

“Hiro. Are you sure watching bot fights is a good idea?”

“What bad can happen? It’s not like I’m the one fighting.”

“People with addictions may feel a stronger urge to relapse when they observe others doing the same thing. Especially under strong emotions.”

“I’m not addicted, Baymax.”

“Your reactions while participating in fights last time indicated otherwise.”

“Well… these were just reactions. That doesn’t mean I’m addicted. I’ll be fine.”

“If you say so.”

Hiro frowned. He wasn’t hooked, was he? After all that happened last time he promised his friends to never do it again. And he was going to keep the promise. Yet from time to time the thoughts of trying again would come up. To take a chance and go all in. It was risky, it was illegal and it could end up very badly if he decided to double-cross someone he shouldn’t mess with. Not to mention how furious aunt Cass would be if she found out about it. But maybe that was the reason. He missed that excitement.

Well, maybe he was addicted.

Hiro sighed and tried to think about his friends. About aunt Cass. Even about Mochi. He couldn’t betray their trust. He couldn’t go back. But at least he could watch a little. He had Baymax by his side, superhero suit on him and no Megabot around. This excluded participation.

The boy zoomed in on the view again. Another fight was about to begin. There was a guy Hiro knew who had a dinosaur-shaped bot with a cutting disc instead of a head. But he didn’t recognize the other fighter. She must have been new, because her lizard bot wasn't scratched up yet. It wasn't well built either. Too long, too easy to catch and pin down, even if fast. Unlike Trina's bot, it didn't look like it could dismember itself.

The gong was struck, the fight began.

The girl’s bot seemed to be very agile, but she made a mistake by revealing this trait right away. That could be her biggest advantage and now her opponent knew about it. His bot was slow, so he wouldn’t be as much threat to her if she didn’t go full speed. It was strong though, and its operator had some experience.

The girl tried to use her bot’s agility and confuse opponent but he apparently predicted her strategy and waited. Soon she made one wrong move. The more experienced player raised his machine’s leg and pinned the lizard by the tail.

“Knew it!” Hiro whispered.

The saw blade was activated. However, the stuck bot left its part and continued running.

“Leaving the tail? Right. Real-life lizards can do this. Well, maybe she has a chance.”

“This bot is a good replica.” Baymax stated. “Excluding that real-life lizards do not have laser eyes”.

“See? You’re getting it.”

The man’s bot left the part and started chasing its opponent. Hiro narrowed his eyes and set his view to the max level.

“You see this, Baymax?”

“I do not know what you mean.”

“The servo in its left leg is loose, not working smoothly. If she hits there, she'll win.”

The girl apparently noticed it as well. She lured her opponent to the place where the tail lay, and then it turned out this part was more than just a distraction. The tail wrapped around the bot’s both legs, causing it to fall, and then the girl used her lizard’s laser eyes to hit the servo. One of the machine’s legs fell off. That was it. It didn’t take long until the processor was destroyed, bared the man from controlling his bot. He screamed and slammed the remote into the ground.

Hiro smiled slightly. She was good.

“Did TV become too boring?”

He recognized this voice immediately and tensed a little. He turned to the woman, knowing that standing backwards to someone who can throw knives with a great precision may not be the wisest idea. One click and his view returned to normal scale.

“I don’t watch TV. Well, maybe besides news.”

Baymax turned around too.

“My cameras detected Momakase. I will call the team.”

“No, Baymax. Not yet.”

“I will not call the team.”

Momakase smirked.

“You’re hiding me from your sad friends? That’s cute.”

“Hiding? No. Just don’t want to make any hasty decisions.”

They had worked together recently and cooperated surprisingly well, but he didn't know if they were back to status quo or not. She could have good traits, she could actually help people, but she was still a wild card. She could just as easily be neutral towards him as want to fight him. But he needed to be alone with her to figure that out. Especially that after what happened recently she seemed a bit more open with him—with him, not with the rest of his friends.

Besides, he had a few questions. One of them came to his mind the moment he saw her. Why was she wearing the flexible display suit he’d given her recently?

He might’ve actually know the answer. And he didn’t like it.

“What are you doing here?”

“I could ask you the same thing.”

“I asked you first.”

“Can’t I just go outside and enjoy fresh air?”

“Everyone else? Sure. You? No.”

“You hurt my feelings.”

“You have any?”

He might’ve actually regretted that. But surprisingly, he didn’t. She just smiled evilly, knowing he played her game and didn't really think so. In a way, Hiro felt relieved.

“So? Why did the genius boy end up in Good Luck Alley?”

“Night patrol?”

Momakase walked to the railing and took a peek down. Then she looked at him mockingly.

“That’s surely something you need to patrol.”

Hiro groaned in irritation. He really should have pressed her and found out where she was going (probably to steal something) instead of having a casual discussion like they weren't on opposing sides. He should stop her.

“Need to clean up my mind a little.” He said instead. “But there’s no cleaning stuff around.”

“Let me guess. No villains to fight with? Little boy, already addicted to defeating bad guys, who doesn’t know what to do, when they’re not around? That’s sad to watch.”

“Great sushi chef, addicted to stealing? That’s even sadder.”

“You’ve got me here.”

She smiled slightly, then looked down again. The next fight was about to begin, the participants started to set up bots, and the girl went to the second round. And yet Hiro couldn't focus on it anymore.

“Too much on your head?”

It took him a few seconds to process what she asked.

“Don’t act like you care.”

“Oh, but I do.”

“No. You want me to think like this, so it would be harder for me to chase you.”

And it worked. It really worked. Their last collaboration had messed with his head more than he thought. He had gotten to see a different side of her that wasn't so... nasty. She could be honest with him. She had some honor. She didn't treat him like he was her slave, and even if she blackmailed him, he could actually understand it. It wasn't like he loved asking others for help.

They both had memories they wanted to hold on to at all costs. Somehow they started to respect each other. And then she helped his team. Chasing her after that? Well, he would if he had to. But now it would be harder, so he preferred not.

Until then she was just a villain. Now she has become more human.

“Well,” Momakase started after a while “if I have you by my side, the rest of your team won’t be a problem. You’d take care of them instead of me. Unfortunately that’s not in my best interest.”

“Why?”

“My life would become too boring.”

This actually made some sense. Perhaps he got an answer to one of the questions that was troubling him.

“That’s why you didn’t reveal our identities.”

“We had a deal. You fulfilled it. So did I.”

“But… you didn’t need to.”

“Excuse me?”

“I mean… these were just words. And you are a villain. We are your enemies. You could just tell them everything even if I did what you asked, and you would be free. No superheroes around, no threats. You could do whatever you want.”

“I could.”

“You tried to kill us multiple times. You wanted revenge. What changed?”

“Guess I’ve got over it.”

Hiro was about to comment it but he noticed she was still thinking. That wasn’t all she wanted to say. And he wasn’t going to push her. Well, not this time, at least.

“It’s nothing personal.” She continued after a few seconds. “It never was. I was just too blinded to see it. These are professional matters and nothing else. I’m a thief, you’re heroes. It’s my job to steal and it’s your job to catch me. That’s all. Besides, as I said, you’re quite the challenge.”

“Thanks.”

It didn’t sound like she was going to quit, but it was… something. A beginning.

“Well, anything interesting down there?”

Hiro blinked.

“You serious?”

“Why not?”

He sighed. He could pretend for a while before he would probably have to stop her.

“She created a nice bot. I’m pretty impressed. Didn’t see her here before, she has some good ideas.”

“Guess you could make them better.”

Hiro gave her a glare.

“What?” Momakase continued. “I know you were in bot fights.”

“Obake told you.”

“Actually, he just helped me connect the dots. I’ve heard of you myself. I wasn’t too interested, because it’s not my game, but I heard. You upset Yama.” She noted with some kind of approval.

“Yeah, I did.” Hiro said arrogantly.

“I wish to see you down there, I never watched any of your fights. Well, not live.”

“And you never will.” He replied more sharply. “I’m done with this.”

“Sure. That’s why you watch bot fights instead of patrolling the city.”

Hiro heard Baymax's actuators moving. Oh no.

“Reminding addicts about addictive factors does not help them stay away from addiction.”

“I’m not—” The boy screamed in a slightly too high-pitched tone, but after a moment he regained control of himself. “Well. Thank you, Baymax, you’re very helpful.” He added sarcastically.

“You are welcome.”

Hiro looked back at Momakase just to find her barely holding back laughter. Yes, that was predictable.

“As you said, TV was too boring.” He concluded.

“Your robot doesn’t have the best sense of timing, does it?”

“Can we just pretend this never happened?”

“No.”

“Great.”

He leaned against the railing and looked down again, avoiding eye contact with her. They had been standing there long enough, he had made an idiot of himself, and still had no idea what she was planning. The conversation wasn't all that bad, but the longer he waited, the harder it would be to ask that question. And it already was hard.

“So, what are you planning?”

“I have to plan something?”

“You have a display suit on you. This isn’t a typical walking outfit.”

“I’m not a typical person either.”

“Yeah, you’re surely not.”

Or maybe he should just leave? Maybe he didn't need to know? But she was obviously planning something and he already was aware of that. Everything would be easier if they just didn’t meet. But now? He couldn’t let innocent people suffer.

“Just… whatever you’re gonna do, don’t hurt anyone. Please.”

“You’re letting me go?”

“I don’t have the energy for this today. Besides, it’s not like I can beat you.”

Baymax raised his finger again.

“Should I call the team?”

“No, we’re… going home, Baymax. It’s enough for today.”

Hiro turned towards Baymax and prepared his magnets. He will regret this, won’t he?

“Nothing bad.”

He stopped.

“What?”

“I mean, I won’t do anything bad.” She replied, obviously with slightly wounded pride. “Well, at least anything very bad. They probably deserve it.”

“Who?”

“I don’t know. I was going for further instructions and then saw you. Relax, if I had planned something worse I wouldn't have gotten in your way tonight.”

“That’s a relief.” Hiro answered sarcastically.

“It is, isn’t it? Anyway, if you need to know, your friend’s father hired me this time.”

Hiro almost choked. There was only one person who met the criteria and could afford it. And that person had been at odds with supervillains for years.

“Wait. You mean Mr. Frederickson?”

“If that’s how you want to call him, yes.”

He looked at her and tried to find any trace of a lie. He didn’t.

“You don’t believe me.”

“Sorry, but Mr. Frederickson with all his… law-obedience… doesn’t seem like someone who could hire you.”

Unless… it was a trap. But he retired years ago, what could he have against Momakase now? It didn’t make any sense. Also because Mr. Frederickson wasn’t the type of person who likes to set traps. Even for villains. What happened then?

“If that’s any comfort,” Momakase stated after a while, “I was as surprised as you are. He lost something and need me to get it back. I don’t know much though. If you still have doubts, you can go with me.”

He thought for a while.

“No.”

“No?”

“I mean I’m not gonna jump on roofs this time. But… I can take you on Baymax.”

“Are you sure this is a good idea, Hiro?” Robot asked.

“No. But it’s better than breaking my spine.”

“I meant going with Momakase.”

“I’ll be fine. You too, Baymax. I need to know what’s happening.” Hiro jumped on the robot and then turned to her. “So? You’re going or not?”

She looked at him from under her brows, then rolled her eyes. Eventually, she climbed in next to him and grabbed one of the robot's wings.

“Baymax? Let’s go.”