Big Hero 5: the Ghost Soldier

Contrary to what some might have believed, Momakase barely saw Hiro ever since the incident. Be it her actually avoiding the boy for whatever reason, Obake himself trying not to get him to interact with people involved in more recent events too much or just coincidences, but Globby could count no more than four times throughout his stay here when the two were in the same room. And that was including the time she actually brought him to the lair, unconscious and covered in his own blood. That being said, he was honestly surprised to catch the mercenary casually chatting with Hiro in the kitchen in the middle of the night. He was just roaming around the place in the vents, trying to find something to entertain himself when he spotted the already familiar metallic gleam and soft thuds of a knife cutting through vegetables. Oh right, he did mention his sleep problems worsening after getting the arm upgraded, the thief nodded to himself, stopping to watch the boy and only saw Momakase now, the woman staying in the shadow close to the other wall. “You know, that really looks not bad, especially with a prosthetic,” she hummed, watching the boy lay the tomatoes on his toasts. “How long have you been wearing this, three weeks already?” “Two, actually,” Hiro shrugged. “Obake made a different one for me first, a beta version of sorts. This one is heavier than I anticipated, but also easier to control. More like the flesh one in terms of efficiency, just metal and actually, you know, heavier.” “Huh. Impressive.” Momakase stepped closer and circled around the table, taking a closer look at his work with a hum. “Did you learn it here in your free time?” The young genius stopped, glancing at the knife. “Uhh… no, not really. That’s like, another skill I don’t remember learning, so it probably came from before the incident, I think?” The mercenary only nodded to this, understanding. Perhaps, from your aunt, then, was left unsaid but understood by the two who knew. She then glanced over the boy and arched an eyebrow, noticing the nervous fidgeting as Hiro took one of the toasts. “So, what did you want to talk about?” For a long moment, he hesitated, looking away. Then, the teenager smiled softly and turned his gaze to Momakase with a shrug. “I wanted to know if you could train me. I mean, not that you have to— it’s just… I really want to be helpful to you guys and, well, Obake doesn’t really trust me with too much other than analyzing every bit of information I can dig out on my own, or some random bits of something he wants my opinion on, but that’s it, so I thought maybe— maybe I could be of more use in field? Like, I know for a fact that I know stuff about hacking, or that I may not know, but can feel things about Big Hero 5 with my gut sometimes, but I can’t be useful if I can’t even defend myself when these guys are constantly developing newer and newer equipment because, well, apparently now they care about each other’s lives and— ugh. I don’t know. I just— I can’t sit still anymore and David said that my rehabilitation process is almost over and soon I’ll be able to do anything! And—” She patiently waited for the boy to finish with his rant — which took only five minutes in the end — and tapped her finger on her chin, considering the main idea. To train Hiro meant to take responsibility. To tie herself to this place and these people even more than she already has. Under any normal circumstances she would’ve turned that idea down without a second thought, but honestly? She was rather curious about how this could’ve turned out. Besides, who was she to turn down a potential force to fight with these heroes? After all, the boy was right. These kids were developing faster than ever, now that they’ve faced the loss of a teammate because they were underprepared. Hence why Obake kept the kid close now at all times. He really did have a gut feeling of sorts that helped him break the heroes’ patterns down when nobody else could. “I’ll see what I can do. I still need Obake’s approval for this,” she said and that was enough to make Hiro jump, throwing his free hand in the air. “No promises he gives it, though.” “That’s still better than nothing. He will at least listen to you,” he shook his head with a grin. “Yeah… perhaps, he will.” Globby shifted in the vent uncomfortably, listening to the conversation. Even thinking about this kid as much as getting a chance to learn to fight with his own hands was… scary, in a way. Especially if he ends up taking on the knives too. Absolute terror. And with his newly growing spite for Big hero 5 who presumably left him to die a month ago? Yup. He was clearly seeing a child villain in the making. Fun. Cool. Awesome. Globby hated it. But there really wasn’t much he could do. Not yet, at least. Obake was careful and the kid’s wound was still fresh, it wouldn’t be a smart idea to try and interfere now, especially considering that now Momakase might be also watching him more frequently. Shit, Globby thought, I have no idea what to do about it. Should he even do anything? Sure, this whole thing sounds and looks absolutely horrifying when you take a step back to look, especially the literal human experimentation that this doctor dude’s been doing for a while under everyone’s noses but… he hated to admit it, but despite it all the kid looked so in the right pace here no matter how wrong the thought itself felt. Maybe his presence in the lair was simply rubbing onto him? Perhaps. But even if that were the case, he couldn’t deny that even with the nightmares and slowly uncovering details about his past Hiro was beginning to look more relaxed and, well, maybe happy was a bit too strong of a word, but it was pretty close. Hero in the past or not, he clearly liked it here, and Globby was starting to feel guilty for feeling so wrong about this. Maybe he was just overthinking things? Maybe, just maybe, he wasn’t really as happy with the Six as everyone could’ve guessed? Maybe taking him here and making everyone believe in his death was really a good thing? He couldn’t know for sure and god, this was so irritating. Making his way to his corner shortly after witnessing the kitchen dialogue, Globby was a bit too lost in thought to notice a pair of eyes carefully watching the vent even though not a slightest sound was heard from there. “Something’s wrong?” Momakase asked, following his gaze suspiciously. Hiro only shrugged in response, finishing his toast. “Nah, just thought I heard something. Doesn’t matter, just the usual underwater stuff I guess.”

***

“Miss Miyazaki,” a voice called from somewhere too far away to be registered by the brain at first. Honey didn’t even bother to make a sound in response, too focused on her work. The formula was almost perfected, she only needed a few more test runs to make sure it was efficient enough to be implemented in her pre-set list! Just a little more… “Miss Miyazaki!” Came a lot louder and obviously closer. The young woman slumped in defeat, taking off the protective goggles and turning an uncharacteristically annoyed glance to face… Oops. I forgot about her. “I was certain you of all students would know better than to show up in the labs off hours. I am not even going to ask how on earth you managed to break in without triggering the system,” Professor Granville narrowed her eyes at the student who at least had the decency to smile sheepishly at this. “Comes with several months of vigilantism?” Honey Lemon tried. “I-I promise I’ll be in and out! I just need a little more time!” The dean sighed and ran her hand on her face, muttering something that sounded suspiciously similar to ‘that’s what they always say’ before giving in and stepping a little closer, eyeing the test tubes with curiosity. “Well then,” she said, arching her eyebrow, “mind enlightening me about your project? Surely this must be something serious enough for you to break the rules. And to pick up an extra microbiology class under two whole semesters before the graduation, if I recall correctly?” “Ah, well, you see…” She chewed on her lip, trying to come up with a short, yet understandable explanation for someone not majoring in chemistry, until she just sighed, tucking a stray strand of hair behind the ear. “Actually, let me just show it.” With that, Honey Lemon picked up a scalpel from behind the test tubes and swiftly ran it through her wrist without a flinch, drawing blood and a panicked yelp from the professor, which was successfully ignored in favor of getting pipette to collect some of the newest sample and putting it onto the wound. In a matter of seconds, the bleeding stopped under the quickly solidifying liquid, soaking into it until there was only a pinkish film left on the closed wound. “I know there are already analogues for this in medicine, but thing is, they aren’t easily accessible and aren’t suited for, well, patching up a big wound in a middle of or straight after the fight and, well, let’s be honest here, I wouldn’t trust Freddie with a needle to stitch someone’s wound for my dear life, so I needed an easier solution, and besides…” She trailed off there, but perhaps Granville has already heard enough to know what was left unsaid. Or, well, at least about whom it was for sure. With a heavy sigh, the woman nodded her approval. “Very well. This does indeed have potential, especially considering your… extracurricular activities. However, I am sure this isn’t a finished product, correct?” “Well, no… but it’s very close! I just have to make sure it is safe to use in the field.” The dean of students nodded again, humming in consideration. Perhaps, it wasn’t the perfect time to offer this, but at the same time… she was fairly certain that there wouldn’t be a perfect time anyway. Especially now that they’ve lost one of the most promising biotech students… “Say, Miss Miyazaki,” she started, gaining the attention back. “Would you be interested in introducing this project to Liv Amara? She will be visiting our institute very soon and I have a feeling she might be as impressed as I am now, especially with a final version…”

***

“...And that’s all for today, kiddos! Remember, stay…” “Out of the public eye, and out of the cops' sight!” Came in a chorus from the teenagers. Red smiled at them fondly, swinging his staff for the last time. “Yeah. Now, get the hell outta here,” he shooed them a bit hesitantly, eyes darting at the figure in the hallway as the kids scattered. Frowning, he tried his best not to show the unnecessary worry, even though it was harder than he anticipated. Seeing Leiko here after everything was already hard enough. “You can’t just let them take her away too! We’ve already lost—” But seeing her in their uniform was so much harder to comprehend than he had ever thought it’d be. “She’s unfit for this, Red. Letting her stay would only put you all at risk.” What was on your mind when you agreed to this, old man? Red couldn’t help but wonder as Leiko— no, Fury entered the room, zipping her jacket up just a moment too late to hide all the scars she’s already gained in her… hero hobby? He still couldn’t think of the right name for it. And it happened only in several months. How many of them would appear later? Now that she was picking up another pretty dangerous activity? “Didn’t know they’d make it so quickly for you,” the man noted, distracting himself from the thoughts. Fury hummed in response, examining her gloves, one hand clutching the visor. “Guess it was a bit of a special case, with Father stepping in and stuff,” she shrugged. “Though, I’m still gonna need a few days to finish the equipment. For now, I have to settle for the knives and a gun.” Red couldn’t help his frown again, taking in every detail. She’s matured so much since we last met… it’s almost like I’m looking at a different person now. And perhaps it wasn’t really that far from the truth either, considering how much time has passed since then. And god, did it feel wrong. “You dyed your hair.” “Huh?” She glanced at him, confused for a moment, then reached to the bangs of her hair. “Oh yeah, thought it’d be kinda stupid to leave such a noticeable detail if we run into someone. Especially someone I know.” "Yeah, okay, that's reasonable," he nodded, uneasiness finally fully showing on his face as he put a hand on Leiko's shoulder. "Be careful out there." Leiko frowned at this, torn between annoyance and genuine appreciation for care. She knew what these words meant, she knew it shouldn’t hurt as much now that the years passed since that day, and still, still it stung as hell no matter how hard she tried to shake it off. “Don’t worry. That was a lesson I had to learn the hard way,” she smiled bitterly, shaking his hand off and pulling the visor and the mask on. “I actually need to go with you on this one patrol, Father insisted someone take me with them to keep me in line and shit. Mel is out there doing whatever and I don’t know any of the new guys so I can only trust you here. You up?” “Sure, just let me grab my stuff. Wait outside.” He didn’t like to admit it, but this was one of the moments he was genuinely grateful for Father’s way of things. Perhaps, he was just seeing his little sister as a useful tool and wanted to keep her comfortable enough to make her stay after she’s done with whatever shit she got herself roped into, but… a win is a win. Red wasn’t going to throw away such a perfect chance for reconnecting with her for a childish grudge. He would do better this time.

***

Elsewhere, Mel wasn’t having much fun with their current situation. Really, out of all things they could’ve done this evening, spending the evening with a Good luck alley’s chatterbox in a bar on the outskirts of San Fransokyo definitely wasn’t on the list initially. Yet, whatever this stirred in Father’s gut enough to throw Leiko right into action was a reason enough to check it out as soon as possible. “So, you know how we were freaking out when those hero dudes caught Momakase a few months ago, right?” They were on their third set of drinks already and Mel had to physically restrain themselves from jumping into that pit instead of keeping focus on the conversation. It’s been a rough few weeks, okay? But the job first. “We honestly thought they’d shut the biz down, but they still managed to keep going while she was in jail.” “Uh-huh. Wasn’t she released, though?” The man in front of them laughed, then shook his head with a twirl of his glass. Never a good sign, if you ask Mel. “That’s where you’re wrong, kiddo. You see, word in the streets says that someone broke her out. Nobody says who exactly, though, but that’s half the problem, really. Her biz, remember? She never really checked up on them more than necessary to make sure they’re doing alright without ‘er. Not very Momakase of her, if you ask me. She’d always fight tooth and nail for these guys, and now just leave them behind like that? Yeah, sure.” The first part was along the lines of what Leiko retold them after her return. Obake broke her out himself, either for her to return a favor immediately, which could’ve been the Akuma incident, or he wanted her for something else. The latter part, though… Key rat ground their teeth, thinking of the implications of the second fact. Sure, it could’ve happened naturally if she found something better than this food fight business with theft commissions for extra funds, but… something was telling them that wasn’t the case. At least, not entirely. “Something bigger came up,” they breathed. The chatterbox grinned smugly. “Look at ya kid, using that brain of yours. Ya know, there are only a few cases where this shit happens. One, there’s a turf war coming up. Which is unlikely, ‘cuz she was never the type to chase after big territories. Better have a few buildings in your hand’s reach to keep everything in check if you don’t have a whole ass organization with a shit ton a’ contacts all over, ya know. The second, though…” “...she’s siding with someone who can be a threat if ignored or declined. She either has no time or opportunity to come back to her people just yet.” Meaning, this Obake guy has something in his sleeve they haven’t heard of yet. Something that is enough to stop Momakase and, most likely, someone else from leaving his side now. But who, and more importantly, why? Sure, one could’ve easily pointed at any of Big hero 6—5’s enemies and said they’re on the same side, but come to think about it, there were just too many criminals who have encountered them, and only a few of them came out mostly unscathed. They probably would have counted all of them with a single hand’s fingers— Wait, but what if that was it? What did Red mention a few days ago about this guy, he would have built an entire criminal empire if he wanted, but chose to stay in the shadows? If that was the case back then, why change it now? Surely, a handful of skilled and versatile criminals was a better match for him then, but that still leaves the question of why. “Looks like you have something on your mind already. Something that ain’t pretty from the look on your face,” the man smirked. “Have you noticed any other strange changes among people down here? Just want to make sure I’m thinking in the correct direction.” “Hm…” He scratched his chin, tapping on the table surface. “Come to think about it, there is one case that just… doesn’t sit right with me. Ever heard of Globby?” “That new monster villain? Yeah, heard a thing or two, why?” “There’s… well…” he winced sympathetically. “I think I should show you. My friends have recovered some CCTV footage with him and let me say, that’s a concerning view to say the least.” Yeah. Mel definitely did not like the sound of it.

***

“So? What was it you wanted to ask?” To be entirely honest, Momakase was dragging this out. Having thought this through overnight, she’d come to the conclusion that this was a bad idea knowing that the kid was frankly unstable and his recovery was only in progress, not anything near complete no matter what this doctor said. Then again, she knew where he was coming from with this, and she wasn’t in charge of him anyway, she didn’t risk anything by just asking. Right? “The kid wants me to teach him to fight. Thought you might wanna know it before I make any decisions myself.” Obake raised an eyebrow at this, frankly surprised. Just a week ago he was one step from passing out from the amount of pain these headaches were giving him, but he supposed it has finally passed with David changing his medicine at last. Something about experimental samples and unexpected complications… well, he has seemed more livid recently, so that was probably successful. “And did he have any reasoning behind this?” “He wanted to be more helpful to you,” she shrugged, sparing a glance to the screens. “I take it I barely missed him myself here. Another of these hero analyses?” “He’s starting to see the developing patterns within his old friends,” the man nodded with a sly smile. “Clever, and only more and more bitter with each day, I’m certain he’s only one little push away from turning on them completely. Perhaps, this might be of help, too. I am quite curious how Hiro is going to apply himself once he learns how to defend himself without relying on these children.” “In other words, that’s a yes,” Momakase narrowed her eyes. Was he not going to run the idea through the doc first? Or did he know all about the kid’s recovery and it was enough to make a decision? She could never understand how exactly these two worked together, and David has almost been there for a month, only a few days less than Hiro. But these two clearly shared some ugly history together. There is no way they didn’t. “Sure. Just remember not to push him too far at first, and I might as well observe some of your meetings if he doesn’t give up too soon.” “Right… any chance you’re willing to let him into the field soon?” she arched an eyebrow, maybe not exactly suspicious, but wary of what a positive answer would imply in the future. It’s not that she was particularly worried about Hiro’s mental stability after an inevitable fight with his former friends, should he leave the lair at some point not to return to his aunt, but still, she just knew these kinds of things never ended well for both sides. Better have him prepared just in case. If there even is a way to prepare a child for this. Finally, after almost a minute of consideration, Obake sighed, “we’ll see about that. We still need to see if he’s capable of learning to fight at all.” With that, the man waved a dismissive hand at her and Momakase promptly left the lab, furrowing her eyebrows at the annoying soft noise from the vents. She was really close to starting seriously considering the rats being a possibility here with the way it’s been going for the last week… but then again, it was still probably nothing serious if Obake hadn’t done anything about it yet. And he probably knew this place much better than he ever showed anyone. “Oh, by the way,” she suddenly turned, feeling a weird uneasiness as she realized one thing. “Hasn’t your doctor been there every day before? I don’t think I’ve seen him for the past few days.” The villain hummed in response with a slight shrug, “he says he had some unattended business that he couldn’t delay any further. Should be back by the night, I think.” Because that didn’t sound shady at all. Oh, who she was kidding, it was easier to say what didn’t seem shady about this David guy. Whatever. Not her circus, not her monkeys.

***

Fred has been pacing in his bedroom for what felt like hours at this point even if he knew it couldn’t have been more than 10 minutes. His suit still felt unusually heavy after more than an entire week after the last upgrade, Gogo was very adamant on implementing titanium padding to their suits after a particularly nasty fight not too long ago, and honestly, despite being slightly uncomfortable with all the extra weight, that was a good idea with how ruthless the criminals were becoming week by week after the incident. Speaking of Gogo, where was she and Honey Lemon? The hero glanced around the room for a hundredth time and shook his head with a disappointed groan as the only other members he saw were, yet again, Wasabi and Baymax. He could understand Honey being late, at least she had the decency to text about a holdup in SFIT with whatever experiment she had, but Gogo just disappeared several hours ago and never mentioned a thing. What’s more concerning, Baymax couldn’t find her with his scanners either, and he could scan through the entire city! “Do you think something could’ve happened to her?” Wasabi asked with the uncertainty very characteristic for him, yet… off. He’s been like this ever since Akuma. As if it came not from fear anymore, but from… Fred couldn’t quite name it. Calculation, maybe? Sure, he still worried for his friends, but now this came out more like throwing himself in front of him and Honey Lemon or even Baymax, literally an armored robot, and basically tanking various fights with little regard for himself. And he always shrugged it off when confronted. But it was different with Gogo for some reason. Somehow, she was trusted enough to tell him to stop and let others take over. Somehow, he knew better than to protect her, instead covering her back and expecting the same in return. And somehow, somehow it worked perfectly like this. But Fred’s seen it. He saw the knowing glances he and Gogo shared from time to time. He knew that there was something neither of them was going to tell everyone else no matter the circumstances. So sue him if he didn’t like the way Wasabi asked something about her specifically, because Fred knew he knew something he wasn’t telling. “Dunno,” he sighed, stomping on the floor tiredly. “She’s been acting weird for a while. I hope it’s nothing though, because I don’t think we can handle losing anyone else at this point, haha!” Because like in everyone else on the team, Fred has started noticing certain changes in himself as well. For instance, what felt like a dream came true before, now seemed painfully real, which came with an unpleasant feeling he didn’t know could last for weeks on end without fading. Fear. Ironic, how one of them seemed to have gotten rid of it only for it to pass on the other. It stung. Waking up from the same explosion noise and a certain name on his lips every other night. Learning that the villains in their city could, in fact, stoop low enough to kill their opponent, even knowing for a fact that they were a mere child. Seeing how his very friends were becoming less bound by their morals, driven by their shared grief and anger— now that he thought about it, it’s probably been accumulating since Tadashi’s death, nobody just took the notice in time. Back then, they had Hiro to care for, but now? Now they only had each other in this and man, did it hurt to see all of them fall apart. And then there’s Gogo, again. There was something about her ever since the incident that just… rubbed him in the wrong way. She became too closed off even by her own standards, avoiding them in anything but patrols and throwing herself straight into work at SFIT. He could’ve sworn he’s seen her stay in the exact one position for 3 hours one time, mending with a piece of machinery. And now she disappeared all of the sudden? That was just very concerning at this point. Wait. Hasn’t this already— “Hey guys! Sorry I’m late, I had to talk several things over with Professor Granville!” Fred’s head snapped towards the voice, the thought immediately leaving his head. He almost forgot they were waiting for someone until Honey Lemon finally came here, fully geared up. Wasabi frowned beside him. “Wasn’t Gogo coming with you?” he asked, crossing his arms. “Gogo? Uh, didn’t she mention that to you too? She has some work to do tonight, she won’t be joining us…” she cut herself off, humming in consideration. That really didn’t sound convincing even to herself, and she spent weeks living with Gogo before she finally learned to pick up on her sarcasm. “But that’s okay, right? We still can go like this, we’ve done it before.” It’s… probably nothing much. She’d done it before, she needed some alone time sometimes, and with all the extra pressure of taking the responsibility for their team after Hiro… look, she got it. It was a lot to handle, especially with the public on their tail always asking uncomfortable questions. But she surely would have said it directly instead of making it sound like she was caught up in some shady business. The black hair dye box she found in the bathroom earlier this evening didn’t help at all. “Right,” Wasabi narrowed his eyes at her, earning a slight flinch as Honey snapped out of her thoughts. “Let’s go then, better not waste time if we can help it.” “And I sure hope she knows what she’s doing if I’m right,” he sighed quietly enough for nobody to hear as he went ahead, crossing his fingers for his friend to be alright. Surely she wasn’t going back on her promises, right? Gogo never lied, not to her friends, and definitely not to herself.

***

Red did not question Fury on how she managed to keep up with him after so long out of business. It made sense, he mused, with her apparent involvement with all this Big hero 6 hussle, but still, she seemed just fine with straight parkouring their way through the city, which clearly should’ve taken time to get used to. Just what the hell was she doing back there? He didn’t hear about many fights with them happening on the rooftops, nor did he hear about many roof running enthusiasts from Mel. Well, can’t drink your talent away, he supposed. Or, er, hero it away? Whatever. “I thought you were in the assault squad, not security or intelligence to go on patrols,” Fury arched an eyebrow, perching on another roof and glancing at the city below. “I don’t mind though. Has some familiarity to it with everything, you know.” “We’re not doing a regular patrol tonight,” the man shook his head, adjusting the staff on his back. “We’re shadowing a carrier in Fishtown so that they don’t get into trouble on their way. Piece of cake, really, with your combat training and speed, if things even go south at all tonight. Though we must be wary of your little friends here… there was no update on their location when we left, so we’re kind of going in blind with them.” The young woman sighed at this, frowning. It was weird, in a way, not going with everyone. She was sure they did go on a patrol tonight too, but not knowing where they were exactly brought a new nervous edge to this. If anything, she would like to avoid fighting her friends out there. Oh well. She got into this herself. It’s not like she didn’t know that everything came with a price.