shorterpass | BH6 Series AU-Ish Thing

BH6 Series AU-Ish Thing

[ Liv Amara is lying. He can feel it in his gut, darnit, and he isn't going to let something like a false positive sway him from that. Because like heck Mr. Sparkles is behind the city suddenly filling up with monsters. That guy couldn't bio-tech his way out of a paper bag.

So when Baymax picks up a massive power surge from Sycorax while they're out on patrol, Hiro already knows what he has to do. Sneak in. Alone. Could he get help from the others? Probably, but they're (rightfully) a little bit skeptical of both Hiro's assumptions and his tendency to suggest sneaking in undercover, especially when his rivalry with Karmi is involved. Which - okay, fine, yes, it would be great to show up Liv's mentor as being a massive fraud, but it's not why he's here today.

He doesn't quite convince her to help him sneak in. That would have been smarter, probably, but it's much faster to have Baymax distract her while Hiro swipes her keycard. That gets him past the initial security and into the parts of the facility he's bypassed before. A few wires pulled here, a console override there, and he's descending deep into the facility. Past sublevel 9, down ... well, he's not sure which level he's on? The elevator indicates sublevel 10, but it's such a long drop past 9 that he's wondering exactly how big this level is. And what the hell even needs to be down this far into the ground.

When the elevator finally comes to a halt, Hiro carefully creeps out into the underground vault. It's almost completely dark down here, save for the occasional flicker from a distant panel. The ceiling is somewhere high overhead - he can't see it, though whether that's from distance or darkness, he can't tell. ]

Baymax? I made it in.

[ Static answers him. The portable scanner he brought still works, but he's so far underground that he can't get a strong enough signal to contact Baymax. Or anyone else. If there's a monster down here ... He swallows nervously, trying not to think about it. He can hide if he has to, right? There's a forest of cylinders down here. Some filled with liquid, some filled with god knows what else, but more than a few of them are empty. He could hide in one of those, right? Totally safe. Yep. Definitely a great idea coming down here ... ]

Keep it together, Hiro. You've got this. Amara's up to something, and I'm gonna find out what it is.

[ His scanner still detects an energy surge coming from the opposite side of the vault. Something hot and volatile? It isn't clear on what the energy is, just that it's massive. And that it matches what he scanned the other day. Whatever it is, he's going to come face to face with it real soon. ]

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[Further into the floor, he's sitting. Almost waiting, but not really waiting for anything. No one comes down here except for the monsters when one first walks in.

He sighs, and lights his hand again. They want him to test, get results, try different things. See how long he can keep it up for, see how far he can throw it, how hot can he burn it. They may be recording the tests, but he's taking his own notes as well. There's something different though.

He hears someone walking through, not footsteps he's used to hearing. He lights both his hands and stands ready, just out of sight of the main walkway.]

[ Smaller footsteps this time. Human footsteps, made by ordinary sneakers. He's still getting that strange energy reading - in fact, it seems to be getting stronger? Is that just because he's getting closer? No, it's definitely fluctuating even when he adjusts the settings to account for distance. It's active, whatever it is. And hot. Baymax would probably have a too-literal comment about the temperature.

He continues down that main walkway, looking up at the cylinders as he passes. Not there. Not there... He stops next to one of them, taking a moment to hunch behind it as he checks his scanner again. He's close now, he's sure of it. But - where is it? He can't see any monsters here. And yet the scanner is beeping faintly at him, letting him know that that strange energy signature is almost on top of him. He peers around the tube, trying to see anything in this dim light... Was that a glimmer? Two of them? Something reflects off the glass of the tube across the aisle, illuminating ... what, exactly? ]

[There's definitely someone there. Someone that shouldn't be. They wouldn't need to walk slowly or hide while they check something in their hand. They're small, whoever it is.

He steps a couple steps toward them, raising one hand up, and the light is reddish orange between his fingers.]

Who's there? Step out so I can see. [He sounds calm, but the other hand at his side is trembling with fire. He's never actually attacked something living, and he doesn't want to, but... ]

[ That voice. He knows that voice.

The scanner clatters uselessly to the ground, Hiro's fingers suddenly nerveless and trembling. The last time he heard that voice, it was a trick. Obake in his head, using contacts to project holograms onto the real world. He automatically reaches his fingers up to check his eyes, to make sure he isn't falling to that trick again. And - sure enough, there's nothing there. Just his eyes. And his ears. Both of which are telling him that there's an orange glow in front of him, illuminating ... ]

Tadashi? Tadashi, is that you?

[ It can't be him. It can't, it's not possible. But he can't help but ask anyway, despite knowing what the answer must be. A trick. A monster. Somehow Amara's gotten his brother's voice print and has put it into something awful-- ]

[The hand by his side extinguishes when he hears the voice. Tadashi steps closer, letting the light burn down a little to a dull glow.]

Hiro?

[There's no reason he'd be here, that Hiro would have snuck down here looking for him; he knows the world thinks he's dead. But sure enough, that's Hiro's voice, and Tadashi finds himself stepping closer.]

What are you doing here?

[ Hiro stumbles back, tripping over the fallen scanner and ending up on his butt. His eyes are wide and terrified as he takes in the vision of his brother standing in front of him, dimly illuminated by whatever he has in his hand. ]

This isn't possible. You - you have to be a hologram or something. A robot clone. Some kind of trick.

Whoa whoa whoa--

[He sees Hiro trip and reaches for him, kneeling down and hesitates just short of touching him and keeping some distance. Tadashi swallows hard, watching his brother be scared or--whatever he's nervous about.]

What-- No, I'm. I'm real, I'm here. But what are you doing here, Hiro? You shouldn't be down here.

[He'd heard some gossip around that Liv had taken a really young intern but was gifted for their age. Maybe it was Hiro?]

[ Terrified is the exact word. He's already been burned once by a villain using his brother against him. It's all too easy to believe that Amara's somehow doing the same thing. He cringes just out of Tadashi's reach, not quite willing to reach out and dismiss what must be a hologram. ]

Energy signature. I - it was coming from the lab. And there's been a lot of weird stuff going on, so I came to investigate.

[ He probably should lie, but he does at least think to keep the and I'm doing this because I'm a superhero out of it. ]

What? Oh--

[Energy signatures. He looks at his own hand still aflame and kind of smiles a little. Then shrugs a shoulder looking back at Hiro.]

If you're investigating that, then... You found it.

[ Hiro follows his brother's gaze. And his eyes go wide again as he sees what's causing that glow. He gropes for that scanner, clumsily drawing back up so that he can confirm what his eyes (and his brother) are already telling him. ]

It was you? You did that?

Yeah, I. I did.

[He sees Hiro get the scanner and decides to prove it, making it stronger in his hand so the scanner picks up the spike, then lowers it again.

He takes a breath and offers his free hand.]

Come on, let's... Not talk here.

[ His brother just casually set himself on fire. Cool. Awesome. He's having the worst hallucination right now, isn't he? That has to be the only explanation. He's been caught already and tossed into a tube and gassed with some kind of hallucinatory agent -

(But Tadashi's hand is warm and solid, and when Hiro tugs on it to stand up, it holds his weight--) ]

I - I don't understand. This isn't possible.

It's... A lot. I know.

[Once Hiro's on his feet, Tadashi just puts one hand on his shoulder, then starts leading him to the end of this walkway, one turn int oa sort of open area. There are tables of equipment, a few beakers and chemicals (entirely for quick extinguish of fire or burn salves), and one large cryo-tube that's open and empty. Against the wall are some burn marks that look like they've been there for a while.]

I.. didn't think it was either f or a while.

[ Hiro takes all of that in as he walks, trying to glean whatever clues he can. Fire extinguishers, burn salves, a cryo tube ... is this all for Tadashi? For - those flames that leap out of his fingertips? What the hell are they doing to him down here? How did they get him here in the first place?

And when did he start thinking about this in terms of how rather than disbelieving in the whole scenario? He still knows he has to be hallucinating, but ... he can't help but squeeze his brother's hand more tightly, just clinging onto him. ]

Tell me everything. Anything.

[He moves a couple things around and gets a chair for Hiro who looks like he needs to sit down. It's fine. It's fine, he tells himself, it's just his little brother who snuck into the high security sub-level of Liv's lab where he's supposed to be kept secret for the time being, it's fine.

He takes a breath and leans against the table. His hands aren't on fire now, letting a table lamp illuminate the area.]

I remember the expo. And I remember running in. After that, it's kind of a haze... Until I woke up here. [He looks at his hand, flexing and unflexing his fingers individually.] They've been working to help heal me. I was... apparently not in the best condition when they found me.

[ Is Tadashi really surprised that Hiro somehow snuck into a top secret lab? That is the least weird part of this story, let's be honest.

He all but collapses into the chair, trying to keep himself from shaking. That - sounds plausible? It's possible at least, and after almost making a star in the bay he's a little more flexible on what possible includes. And most importantly, this guy is talking like his brother, even if Hiro is still certain this is a trick. It's close enough to not being a trick that maybe - just maybe - ]

They pulled you out of the wreckage alive? [ His voice is a whisper, barely daring to hope. ] You - you would have been in terrible shape. You'd have to be.

[He rubs at his eyes with his thumb and forefinger.]

I think they have photos somewhere in their files. Away from me, I- I'm not... really permitted to look.

[It doesn't mean he hasn't though. They are related, and when Tadashi wants answers, he can be just as sneaky as Hiro to get them. He doesn't want to give a definitive 'yes' though; Hiro shouldn't see those photos.]

I've been here since. I have this - [A small flame on the end of one finger before he puts it out again] and they want me to stay down here to run tests with it.

[ God. He both does and doesn't want to see those photos now. They're horrifying, surely, but they'd be proof, wouldn't they? That what he's looking at is really his brother, resurrected and relatively whole. Is it possible that this is what Amara's been working on? That this is what she needs the gold for? It doesn't make any sense, but. Well. Neither does any of this.

He watches those flames appear with muted awe and horror both. Superpowers. Well - he's seen that a couple times already. With horrifying results, but ... His gaze goes up to his brother's face, trying to see if there's anything else wrong with his brother physically. ]

That's insane. They - they saved you, but - why didn't they tell us? Are they keeping you captive? Are they hurting you?

In order: I don't know, no, and no.

[He huffs a sigh but he's smiling at him, same as he's ever been.] I wish I had better answers for you, but I've been down here since I woke up. I don't even know what day it is.

It's February. Months since the expo. We've - we've been --

[ Fortunately for his secret identity, Hiro breaks down before he can actually go into what he's been doing all this time. He rushes forward, just throwing his arms around his brother for a moment. Even if this is a trick, if he gets one more hug with his brother, then it's worth it. ]

[Tadashi just lets out a quiet oof before looking down, and wrapping arms around him. He's missed his family, his brother. He keeps himself warm to help warm Hiro too and hugs him tight.]

I'm sorry. I had no idea.

[ That's weird, Tadashi, but he's not going to knock it right now. Because Tadashi is warm, and solid, and not a hologram. If he's a trick, it's one hell of a trick. Close enough to real that he can believe it, if only for a moment.

He doesn't say anything for a moment. Instead, he lets out a strangled sob, clinging tight to Tadashi's back. ]

Edited 2019-06-30 19:49 (UTC)

[Oh man... He hasn't had to deal with a crying Hiro in a very long time, since before he turned to acting out instead. He keeps his voice low:]

It's okay. I'm here, I"m not going anywhere.

Y-you - you better not. I can't. Can't deal with losing you again.

[ His voice is unsteady, choked by sobs. The wound was raw enough even before Obake tore it open again. ]

You won't.

[He pets through Hiro's hair once before carefully pulling away just enough to look at him.]

You shouldn't stay too long. I just... [He looks around the area again, like he's trying to figure out a puzzle.] I don't have a way to communicate outside of here.

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