Big Hero 5: the Ghost Soldier

“And what about this guy? He seems pretty tough.” Hiro hummed in response, opening the video Globby was pointing at. It was a short one, just a few minutes of another hero fighting his local villain, one of many, many of those they’ve watched just over this week. He hummed again as the clip ended and shook his head, fingers tapping on the other arm’s plastic. “He sure is tough, I’ll give you that,” the boy admitted, “but he lacks agility. And pretty much everything else, actually. Good to be a human tank, but will barely pass as anything else. That’s why he has a team, saw these guys in the back? My money’s on him just covering their backs.” The slime monster tilted his head, gooey mouth moving as if to argue, but in the end he just nodded. “Yeah, you’re probably right. I mean, you’re the smart one here… err, how’s the arm?” “Huh?” Hiro slowly blinked at him, then followed his gaze to look at his new prosthetic with a quiet ‘oh’. “Well… it's good to have two arms again, I guess. Though, it does take me a while to get used to this. I mean, it doesn’t really feel like an arm, you know? But it’s a start. Plus, David started giving me something else to these painkillers and it apparently works even better like that, so I can focus more on getting used to it than all these headaches.” “That’s… good, I guess…” Globby felt… uneasy, about this new David guy. Sure, he was helping Hiro heal after Akuma and treating Momakase’s wounds after her latest missions, but… he saw that look on the doc’s face whenever the kid looked away, he was looking at him like he was just a cool lab rat! But given the circumstances… okay, that may have had a bit of sense to it. After all, none of them even thought Hiro would survive just a few weeks ago, much less survive and lose all his memory, making him… actually, pretty much the perfect specimen for whatever both Obake and David wanted to test, now that he thought about it. Globby wasn’t stupid, he knew there was something fundamentally wrong with everything going on about Hiro, but not that he could do much about it. Heck, he was forbidden from even bringing up his old life so that he wouldn’t accidentally trigger some repressed memories if he still had any — and, if never ending nightmares were any say, he actually still had a lot somewhere deep inside his head, waiting for some trigger to show up again — and ruin everything. He wouldn’t lie, he did feel bitter about every restriction he had when interacting with Hiro, especially since he was fun to talk to when they weren’t trying to beat the crap out of each other. But he also knew that wherever plan Obake had in mind, he wouldn’t dare to interrupt it. After all, the guy was just too scary to mess with. “Hey, are you listening?” the young genius’ voice startled him as Globby whipped his head around to look at him in confusion. “Not listening, got it. I was asking if you want to watch something else later after I come back.” “Where are you going now?” He asked with a frown. Or, at least, that sounded like a frown. It was hard to read his face sometimes. “Obake,” Hiro shrugged, getting on his feet and putting the tablet aside. “He needs to talk to me about something, apparently. I, er, don’t want to know what’s gonna happen if I take too long to show up.” Relatable, Globby thought to himself and nodded. “Alright, I’ll be waiting for you here! Or... somewhere else, hah…” With that, he smiled and left the room, leaving the other villain in the silence and darkness as the lights went off. He sat there for a minute, considering his choices, but in the end, he just decided to take a walk around the lair and find something else to distract himself. These little meetings with Obake could be really long, since he was clearly interested in that… what did he call it? Oh, right. This experiment. Globby sighed. He wasn’t stupid. He knew Hiro wouldn't want that if only he knew exactly who he was before.

***

Obake was already growing a little bit impatient when Hiro had finally shown up in his lab, as wary as always, no matter how injured or tired he was. He quickly schooled his expression and gestured to the boy to come closer, barely hiding his faint smile as he followed the silent order with less hesitation than before. He’s beginning to trust me, even if slowly, he noted and smiled at Hiro. “You’ve been more active lately,” Obake started, scanning for every reaction the young genius could have. “And even putting this brain of yours to work already. Needless to say, I’m impressed with your determination to recover as soon as possible,” the man put his hand on Hiro’s shoulder and narrowed his eyes as the boy tensed under the touch. “But tell me, how do you think your process is going?”

***

Red kept staring at the files Mel had in front of them. The very files Leiko had given them when she suddenly decided to come back to the Family. And he just couldn’t believe what he was looking at. She was going to murder someone. She, out of all people. And if that wasn’t enough concern on its own, she was aiming for the people the gang had been avoiding for oh so long for very obvious reasons. “Any idea how in the world little beast managed to get Momakase in her list?” He asked, hand coming through the sheets of paper that had probably even more info than they ever dared to gather over years of nearly interacting with her side. Well, okay, the absence of need to spy on probably the city’s most infamous thief of the decade was a good sign, but still… she didn’t even seem to be the biggest problem here. “Whatever it is, the shit is serious,” Key rat mumbled and tapped their finger on the other file, way more concerning for both of them, even if for various reasons. “I thought Obake was more like an urban legend, though.” “Unfortunately, he’s more than real,” Red sighed. “You probably got there too late to hear, hm… Or maybe that’s just me hanging around Mother for so long speaking. Either way, he’s been active for about 15 years now, I think? People said different things, but that’s when everyone agreed he actually existed and wasn’t a collective image of several people. Smart ass, resourceful, and eerily good at disappearing from under your nose. I guess, be it his wish, the guy would have built a whole criminal empire and wouldn’t be caught until he’s finally had it. But he just… you know, disappeared for real several years ago and there was barely any gossip about him, let alone decent news. Obake became a literal underground ghost. And, well, an urban legend in a way, too” “And we obtain information about him from the one who was supposed to be away from all of this…” The man only nodded to this with a sigh. Mel frowned. “I am very concerned about the enemies little sister gains with each year, Red.” “You and me both, pal, you and me both…” There was a minute of uncomfortable silence between them. Neither said a word or even moved an inch as they just stared at the files on the table. And here they thought that mission was risky, but this? This was a whole other level. Red snapped first, digging his nails into his own skin. “Father will never let that happen, he just won’t approve of you trying to dig anything on a goddamn master mercenary and a literal ghost just so that she comes back, no matter what she offers in return. There is no way.” They just had her back after all these years, but her conditions were just unbelievable. Nobody sane would’ve done that for a runaway and a traitor. But. “Eh, she’ll be fine. The current Father might not be that experienced in leading the Family, but I don’t think he’s dumb enough to turn down a local hero.” He blinked. Then frowned. Then glanced at Mel with the most confused look on his face. “What.” “Eh? Oh, right, sorry,” they put a hand on the back of their neck with an apologetic smile. “I forgot you were actually forbidden from spying on her. Well, the little monster is a part of Big hero 6… 5? I think she kinda became the leader after this Akuma shit, too? Long story short, she's a badass and if she’s serious about her intentions, Father better not mess with her because I don’t think she won’t cross the line a few more times just to get what she needs.” “Huh,” was all Red managed to choke out of himself in response. He didn’t think looking into this whole local heroes mess was an idea worth his time but apparently he was wrong. “Well, uh, good luck to her then, I guess? Anyway, I’ve got the brats to watch over, see ya’.” “Bring some noodles on your way back!” Mel shouted at their brother as he left the room with what looked like the most conflicted look on his face in the last several years. Not that they could blame him, though. That was… a massive can of worms to unpack. Key rat sighed, gathering the files and carefully tucking them into a new folder before locking the cabinet and throwing the key into the wall, smirking as it stuck to it, completely blending in with the others. With that, they pulled their field uniform out of the closet, slipping it on quickly, and soon enough, they ran on the nearest roof, outlining today’s patrol route in their head. The sooner they’re over with it, the sooner they could help their little sister with whatever this walking menace had in her head.

***

Gogo probably should’ve thought this through. She could’ve at least outlined the plan of what she was to say in front of the newest Father to make him even consider letting her back into the Family. But well damn, this was a couple of weeks with a bunch of very impulsive actions and decisions, might as well keep it that way while it works. Kind of works. Sighing and shaking her head, the hero knocked on the door of the office, part of her wishing nobody would answer. She really wasn’t very excited about reopening old wounds by biding herself with these people again, but… hell, that was the only possible source of information she could use without risking too much, both her life and identity. “Come in,” the voice from behind the door called and Gogo braced herself, pushing the door forward to reveal herself to the Family’s current leader. Father Michael did a double take, glancing at what clearly looked like one of Winona’s personal students, specifically the one that was supposed to be as far away from them as possible at this point. Yet there she was, clearly standing in front of him. From the first look alone, the young woman was tired in every way possible, from her stance to half-lidded eyes already showing dark circles. Oh, this was going to be interesting. Father Michael smiled, gesturing for Leiko to take a seat across the table from him. Reluctantly, she followed. “Well, isn’t that lovely to see you here after all these years, Leiko,” the man purred, resting his head on his calloused hands. “And what brings you here, if I may ask?” There was a brief moment of hesitation when she let herself reconsider the decision for the last time. Then, the realization of this being her best option finally settled down enough as she nodded to herself with a short sigh. Now or never. “I’ve come to make a deal,” she said in a cold tone, putting her hands on the table. “I’ll be honest, I need the intel on two bastards I have reasons to murder and you guys are the safest option to turn to. In return I am willing to work with you again, even if it means killing someone while I’m at it. Sounds good?” Father hummed in response, considering her offer. This was almost too nice to be true, if he stopped to think about it. Almost. Yet, one thing still seemed very wrong about it. “I may not know all the details about your case,” he narrowed his eyes, “But I’ve heard about your status as a runaway. A traitor, if I may say. So how am I supposed to believe that this isn’t a trap to turn us in, given your current ‘hobby’?” Gogo tensed at the words slightly, shaking off the growing frustration. So much for keeping an identity secret. “Well, first of all, I was following Mother Winona’s direct orders,” she said slowly. “This is not a frequently occurring case, but there is a certain part in your rules about children who still have families to go back to if needed. She pulled me out. I had to comply. Then again, even if it was a set up, and knowing that you apparently do know what I do now, don’t you think I wouldn’t hesitate to raid you the moment I’m given a chance?” There was a brief moment of silence between them, while Father Michael studied her face for any sign of a scheme. But then he saw something else as she looked directly back in his eyes. It wasn’t anyone could notice, but after you spend years upbringing generations of criminals, this can’t leave your eye anymore. The well-hidden animosity in her stare, something that always happened whenever his kids had to lose someone. Oh. She was serious about it. Really, were they legal, he’d put out an appointment with a therapist for each of them the moment he saw that stare. But they were anything but, so he was really running out of options here. “Why? Why now, I mean?” Leiko seemed to hesitate for a moment at this, as if not willing to admit something even to herself. Soon, however, the hesitation was replaced with determination as she lifted her head. “I’m tired of losing my closest friends, Father Michael. If pushing my morals aside and killing a few assholes will help it, then… well, time to get my hands dirty for once, I suppose.” “So, what you’re saying is that you’re going for revenge, then?” “Yeah, pretty much. Got a problem with that?” The man only laughed at this, shaking his head. “Not at all. In fact, I am almost convinced that this will actually keep you on track for long enough. You’re in, kid, and just in time I see. I hope you didn’t forget how to fight thugs without your fancy discs?” “Who are you taking me for,” Gogo scoffed, rolling her eyes. “Good. Then you’re dismissed. Meet Red and update him on joining his assault squad.” With that, she nodded and got up from her seat, heading for the exit right away. When she reached the door, however, she turned again with an unreadable expression. Michael arched his brow, as if prompting to say what she wanted. “I’m gonna need access to the workshop,” Leiko stated, fingers drumming on the door frame. “I’m not going with my hero equipment and my shooting skills are rusty, so.” “Suit yourself, kid,” he nodded. “Oh, and one more thing before you leave.” “Hm? What is it?” The man in the chair smiled warmly, losing all the ‘gang leader’ image for a moment. For a split second, he actually looked like someone’s parent rather than the person elected for their effectiveness and reputation. “Welcome home, Fury. We missed you, especially your siblings.” Hesitantly, Gogo smiled back, surprised by this. “Yeah… I guess I missed you guys too, in a way.”

***

Globby honestly wasn’t planning on eavesdropping at first. Hiro was just taking so long with his meeting with Obake, he was getting impatient and worried! He had to freeze in the vents as he saw what was going on, too afraid to draw attention to himself. He was still there, obviously, he never left the room. Obake was standing right behind the boy, pale hand pointing at the screen as he quietly said something the monster couldn’t make out because of all the machinery noises around them. Instead, he squinted to try and see what he was pointing at. The footage of Big hero 6. Globby nearly jumped back at this, bewildered. Why would Obake risk it, showing him his friends? They were forbidden from bringing them up in front of the kid for a reason, after all. Something about bringing unwanted memories back… “So if we throw her off balance, she’s going to be much less of a threat, just like here,” Hiro concluded to the man’s nod. What. Globby shifted in his place uncomfortably, leaning closer to listen, disbelieving. Why was he talking about ways to defeat them? He couldn’t have trusted Obake’s obvious lies about his friends so quickly, right? Right? Wait. Wasn’t that a little too simple for Obake? Why would he need the kiddo involved in this in the first place? Unless… he couldn’t be possibly expecting Hiro to turn on them already, right? “Yes, that appears to be the case… the real question is, how do we do this quickly enough not to get hit in the process if we don’t get Globby involved?” “Hm. Perhaps, magnet field disruption? No, that’s going to mess with our tech, too…” “We can come back to this later, take your time. Now, how about the others here?” The man suggested softly, putting his hand on Hiro’s shoulder. The kid frowned at this, but nodded in response, zooming in another part of the footage. “They don’t act as a whole when you look closer, not really. They have so much miscommunication between one another, they are obviously very new to the field. And if you look closer here…” He pointed at the part where Wasabi (was that his name?) jumped in front of the orb he himself was trapped in. “Everything here was so irrational. The safest thing here would be throwing him—me off balance to avoid getting hit by that thing, not trapping in with it, especially considering that the orb broke so easily. And this guy? He could’ve easily cut it, but decided to leave himself one member short when one was already down and the other two were trapped. It’s impractical and always as if… as if…” “As if they didn’t trust you enough to let you go without the robot? As if keeping you this way was easier for them?” Obake supplied, making the young genius’ eyes widen in shock. Globby was starting to feel sick. What exactly was he trying to achieve here? “What?..” “Do you keep track of how long it has been since your incident, Hiro?” He asked then, eyes instantly filling with sympathy. Hiro did a double take on this, counting days in his head. “It’s… tomorrow is going to be exactly three weeks since Momakase rescued me—oh. Oh,” he whispered in response, panic crawling under his skin. How could he lose track of time so easily? Was it because of his memory? Why wasn't there any news on the search in the whole two weeks? Why? Have they already forgotten? He’s seen fresh recordings of the heroes, they were still out there! They were still fighting local criminals. They’ve even encountered both Globby and Noodle burger boy just several days ago! But they weren’t looking. They weren’t even trying to. Not anymore. Hiro could feel how there was suddenly not enough air in his lungs. He couldn’t care less, for some reason. His vision suddenly lost all focus. Gasping on the verge of tears, the teenager collapsed on the floor, letting out a panicked shriek as the realization suddenly hit him. They weren’t looking for him anymore. They haven’t for days now. They’ve forgotten about him. They didn’t care anymore enough to try to find him. They left him. They left him, they left him they lefthimtheylefthimtheylefthim- Distantly, he heard someone saying something, yet he didn’t know who that was and what they were saying. He didn’t know how long it took until he felt a firm hand on his shoulder, the feeling grounding him as Hiro finally gasped for air, shaking. Heavy tears flowed down his cheeks, leaving hot wet tracks as the young genius sat there, hardly breathing until he was running out of air again. They left him to die. They buried him there and moved on. “Why?” Was all he could choke out, letting Obake help him up. Hiro distantly registered getting hugged by the man, wet circles instantly forming on his vest’s fabric as Hiro only cried harder. He never realized how cold he really was until now. He felt the slow heartbeat, the low sound somewhat soothing enough to start processing everything else around him. “Why?.. I—they, they left me…” “It happens sometimes,” he sighed, carefully patting Hiro’s back with his free hand. He wasn’t expecting a sudden breakdown, much less what appeared like a panic attack when he decided to remind the boy of the time. Sure, this would’ve destabilized him, but this hard? He didn’t realize how hard he’s been dealing with all this abandonment situation. Well, that was only making things easier for him, in a way. “Sometimes, people seem to care while you’re around them, they make you care in return, they make you want them in your life. But the truth is, many of them will move on just as easily if you disappear from theirs. Of course they must've felt uneasy when they had to declare you dead, but look at these so-called friends now. They’ve done what the public wants from them, they told everyone how sorry they are, and now they’re ready to forget.” “B-but… I’ve almost recovered now! Soon I will be able to come out of here and show them that I’m alive! They weren’t just looking good enough!” “Will they accept it though?” Obake put both his hands on Hiro’s shoulders and gently pulled him away, taking a knee to look him in the eyes. “Hiro, by the time you’ve finished your basic recovery, it will be more than a month. Do you think anyone is going to believe you if you say that you’re alive after they saw you die?” His heart missed a beat at the words, mouth suddenly going completely dry. “I…” “They’re most likely to claim you are a fake.” The man shook his head with a sigh, his sight alone enough to cut off any protests. “You’re dead to everyone, you’ve seen the proof of that. It doesn’t matter if they’ve moved on or not, nobody likes seeing a ghost. I think you understand it just as well, Hiro, you…” “Can’t go back… I… oh no, they don’t even want to see me alive anymore, do they?” “I’m afraid that is the case now. It hurts, doesn’t it?” The villain let him go, getting up to brush off the dust of his knees. Hiro glanced back at the scene, his gaze still disbelieving as he zoomed in and out of the footage, now looking at the whole picture. “They don’t trust me when I’m alive and choose to leave me to die… and they don’t want to deal with the ghost afterwards,” he muttered, unaware of the grin Obake flashed at his words, still focused on the feeling of his world slowly crumbling in his head. “What can I even do?” “Well, you can always stay with me for as long as you want. Who knows, maybe you’ll grow to like it here?” There was a moment of hesitation in the teenager’s eyes as he looked back at Obake before frowning in doubt. “Why would you want me to stay anyway? It’s not like I could even be useful to you with…” He eyed his prosthetic with a sheepish smile, “this.” To his surprise, Obake was taken aback by this. “Are you kidding me? Kid, you’re one of, if not the smartest teenager I’ve ever met, having you around is already a good thing. Besides, you don’t become any less smart with a prosthetic, do you?” “Well… no? But still, I was weak before, my—they made it very clear, and now I’m even weaker—” “Only because you haven’t fully recovered. Besides, once I’m done with an upgraded version of your arm, you won’t be any weaker than before, quite the contrary. Well, if you want to be stronger, that is. So, would you like to try staying here?” The man offered him a hand with one of the softest smiles he’s given throughout the entire time the young genius knew him. For another long moment, Hiro was silent, fully aware of the fact that he was, perhaps, very close to making a major choice in his life. He could not be sure what drove him at the moment, but it only took him so long to accept Obake’s hand with a sheepish smile. “I… I think I can try, at least. If I really am a ghost to them now, well… there isn’t much use for me in the outside world.” All of the sudden, there was an audible shuffle in the vents, at which Obake only frowned, not saying anything about the suspicions he could’ve had about the noise, while the teenager suddenly bent, groaning in pain as both his hands pressed on his head. The villain whipped his head towards him, concern clear on his face and he even almost voiced it, before Hiro forced himself to slightly straighten his back with a wince. “Ugh, these headaches again,” he hissed. “At least they don’t last that long anymore…” Yet again, he failed to notice Obake’s reaction to this, preoccupied with the fact that his vision was still slightly blurry from the sudden outburst of the pain. He also didn’t register the movement behind his back until the hand was on his shoulder again, this time, the grip a little tighter than usual. “You should go rest, Hiro. You just had another outburst on top of a panic attack. It can’t be good to exhaust yourself like that and you know it yourself.” “But I still haven’t finished my analysis,” Hiro protested, hiding any sign of him being in pain or exhausted in seconds, which was alarming to anyone normal, but then again, this kid was a hero. Amnesia or not, he still had the skill, Obake figured, sighing. “You can finish it later. There is no rush now, your recovery is my primary concern here. I cannot allow you to harm yourself no matter how good you think your intentions are. I promise I will let you finish it in the morning if you promise to go get some sleep right now. Not working in bed, sleeping, got it?” “But—” “Hiro,” the young genius flinched at the change of tone, cutting himself off. The man frowned at the reaction slightly and shook his head, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Look. I know you want to help. But I really need you to take care of yourself as well. After all, you will be a better helper when your brain is fully functional, not clouded with tiredness, right?” Hiro huffed in response, still reluctant to follow, but in the end, what choice did he have? “Fine, fine… I just… is it okay if I won’t be able to fall asleep in the end? I really don’t know if I can.” “At least try to. Now shoo, don’t make it harder than it has to be,” Obake waved his hand at him, letting the corners of his mouth slightly lift, distantly resembling a smile. This time, the teenager silently complied, leaving the villain alone to his work and thoughts, empty vial rolling between his fingers as he hummed quietly. He did not like where his train of thoughts was getting.

***

When Hiro finally got to his room, Globby was there, pacing from one corner to another impatiently. He was muttering something under his breath and it took the monster a whole minute to notice the stripe of light on the wall from the opened door. The monster twisted his body in the direction of the light to see the teenager who looked absolutely drained of energy. He did not think twice before rushing in to pick the kid up before he passed out on the floor, and he did not like that Hiro didn’t even flinch at the sensation of cold sticky slime enveloping his body as he was gently put down on the bed. “Hey, are you okay kid?” Globby asked quietly, getting a soft groan as a response. “Peachy,” the young genius chuckled, wincing. “I… ‘M just… gon’a sleep, aight… just…” Hiro didn’t even finish the sentence. His speech became too stuttered to make out a word, and soon enough, he fell asleep. The thief looked at him with the purest concern on his face, but in the end he could only sigh and leave the room as quietly as possible, making sure to close the door on the way out. It was fine. Well, okay, it clearly wasn’t, but he could wait until he could talk to the kid properly. When he wasn’t seconds away from passing out or too driven by emotions to think. He couldn’t help but feel so, so worried about Hiro, even though just a little less than a month ago they were enemies. It was surprisingly easy not to think that it was a child under the armor back then. Now? Now he couldn’t understand why everyone else didn’t see that too. Before he knew that, Globby was thinking about every encounter he’s had with Big hero 6 so far. Every time they fought and every time they ultimately failed, even though they clearly had more experience than he himself had. If he ever wanted, he could’ve crushed those heroes with ease. If he were a little more ruthless, he could’ve had the kid’s and his little friends’ blood on his hands. Startled, the monster stopped in his tracks, anxiously glancing back in the direction of Hiro’s room, then in Obake’s lab’s as he frowned, slightly disappointed that he only decided to question himself on this now. Just how far Obake was actually willing to go for whatever goal he had? He already nearly killed actual people just to get rid of an obstacle they were. He was clearly trying to make Hiro turn on his friends now. He was… What did he even have in mind? Sure, that was kind of a weird question, knowing that Obake was clearly not the most sane person, but, well, before that he thought he was more of a fun crazy kinda way or whatever, but… looking at what he and David were doing to the kid, he wasn’t so sure anymore. He wasn’t sure if he was ready to follow Obake till the end. Sure, the man has given him purpose, he actually believed in him. Or, well, at least he saw his potential. Hell, he wasn’t even sure if he wanted to follow him in the first place anymore. Obake was cruel. He was so cold that he was surprised anyone could actually be around him and not feel the chill running down their spine. Globby didn’t know what was going to happen next, but looking back, he started to think of one thing he never allowed himself to consider ever since he became what he is today. Was all of this one big mistake? Was it too late to turn back now? He didn’t know. But now he wanted to, now that he’s seen the other side. He really didn’t like it here anymore.