Posted originally on the Archive_of_Our_Own at https://archiveofourown.org/
works/4332237.
  Rating:
      Explicit
  Archive Warning:
      Graphic_Depictions_Of_Violence, Major_Character_Death, Underage
  Category:
      M/M
  Fandom:
      Big_Hero_6_(2014), Madagascar_(Movies)
  Relationship:
      Hiro_Hamada/Alistair_Krei
  Character:
      Hiro_Hamada, Alistair_Krei, Honey_Lemon_(Marvel), Gogo_Tomago, Wasabi-No
      Ginger, Wasabi_-_Character, Tadashi_Hamada, Baymax_(Marvel), Robert
      Callaghan, Abigail_Callaghan, Mort_(Madagascar), King_Julien_XIII,
      Skipper_(Madagascar), Kowalski_(Madagascar), Private_(Madagascar), Rico_
      (Madagascar), Maurice_(Madagascar), Yokai_(Marvel), Aunt_Cass, Fred_|
      Fredzilla
  Additional Tags:
      kreiro, Kreihiro, hirokrei, Slash, Smut, Humor, Fluff_and_Crack, Angst,
      Tadashi_still_dies, the_one_crossover_that_shouldn't_have_been_made,
      grizzly_bear_-_Freeform, flamingo, tasmanian_devil_-_Freeform, wolf_-
      Freeform, Panda_-_Freeform, komodo_dragon, panther, Kitten, Puberty,
      pubescent_mood_swings, Cute_Baymax_(Marvel)
  Stats:
      Published: 2015-07-13 Updated: 2015-07-19 Chapters: 4/? Words: 9940
****** Menagerie Malfunctions ******
by DarkFoxKirin, FionasEmbrace
Summary
     Hiro Hamada has always been a fan of Krei Tech, especially of Mr.
     Alistair Krei himself. And it seems as if Krei's quickly becoming a
     fast fan of the younger Hamada brother as well.
     But what happens when a project meant to blow Krei's mind ends up
     blowing up instead? Thus, turning everyone within range into animals.
     Yes, including Baymax.
Notes
     Hey! So, me and the absolutely lovely FionasEmbrace are giving you
     the best fanfiction that you have ever seen!
     *Cue clapping audience*
     Thank you, thank you! (They love me! They really love me!) Ahem,
     enough of The Mask quotes, sorry. Anyhoo, we will be writing a
     chapter each. (The first chapter is mine. As is the cover art. Here's
     a link to some close ups if you want: http://forqt.com/
     gallery.asp?user=darkfoxkirin&folder=MENAGERIE%20MALFUNCTIONS )
     Enjoy!
***** I'll Take What's Behind Door Number Two *****
 
Hiro Hamada was thrilled at his success. The presentation blew everyone out of
the water!
 
Hiro jumped down from the stairs just in time to meet his brother's fist bump.
"Nailed it!"
 
As everyone came over, Fred threw his hands up in the air. "You just blew my
mind dude!"
 
Honey Lemon swept the young genius up into a hug before gently putting him
down. "They loved you! That was amazing"
 
As Tadashi messed with his hair, they heard a new voice travel to them. "Yes,
with some development, your tech could be revolutionary."
 
Hiro looked up at the billionaire in awe. "Alistair Krei!"
 
Krei smiled gently and politely reached out a hand. "May I?"
 
After realizing that he was still staring, the younger Hamada blushed and
fumbled at his jacket pocket till he found the microbot that was nestled in
there and handed it over.
 
 
Krei took it and examined it with a hum of fascination. "Extraordinary." He
looks back down at the 14 year old. "I want your microbots at Krei Tech!"
 
Hiro was stunned. "Shut. Up." He was about to agree immediately when yet
another voice spoke up.
 
"Mr. Krei is right. Your microbots are an inspired piece of tech." The
professor says as he comes to a stop right beside Krei. "You can continue to
develop them, or you can sell them to a man whose only guided by his own self
interest."
 
Krei rolls his eyes. "Robert, I know how you feel about me, but it shouldn't
effect-"
 
"This is your decision Hiro, but you should know that Mr. Krei has cut corners
and has ignored sound science to get where he is." Professor Callaghan
interrupts.
 
Krei sighs and looks back at the teen. "That's just not true-"
 
"I wouldn't trust Krei Tech with your microbots." Callaghan interrupts again,
glaring up the small height difference between them. "Or anything else."
 
Krei closes his eyes and brings his hands together as he opens them again.
"Hiro. I'm offering you more money then anything a fourteen year old could
imagine. In fact-" He frowns at Callaghan. "I am willing to make you an even
better offer. Impress me even more, and you can join my company. Great minds
like yours are exactly what Krei Tech needs." He smiles benignly and places a
hand on Hiro's shoulder.
 
Hiro feels a thrill go through him at the touch of the hand on his shoulder.
Krei is touching me! Krei is actually touching me! Goes on like a mantra
through his head. He pretends to think about it as Tadashi walks up and stands
protectively behind him. "I appreciate the offer Mr. Krei..." He looks over at
Professor Callaghan nervously. "And... I would like to accept your offer."
 
Most of the group has a shocked look on their faces, but the most startling one
is Callaghan's. He was glaring at him, but seeing him catch his stare, he
smooths his face into a softer look of disappointment. "I... thought that you
were smarter than that. Krei." He glares one last time at Krei before stalking
away.
 
Krei smirks at the professor before bringing his attention back to the
unsettled boy infront of him, handing him his microbot back and his personal
card. "I look forward to seeing you again." He smiles kindly at the younger
Hamada and nods at everyone else. The billionaire starts to walk away before
stopping and addressing Hiro once again. "Thank you," Hiro looks up, startled.
"for not believing Callaghan's words about me." He smiles again and makes his
way out of the building.
 
Everyone else makes their way outside as well. While they were a little
disappointed that Hiro wouldn't be joining them at SFIT, they were mollified by
the fact that Hiro said that if he gets the job, he would visit at much as he
could. In fact, he needed to borrow their lab for the project that he was going
to impress Krei with. They agreed, but Hiro had to promise to let them help
out.
 
After they opened the doors that led outside, Aunt Cass brought herself up to
the front of the group. "Alright people! How about some dinner? Let's feed
those hungry brains cause dinner is on meeee~!" She strikes a pose at the end
of that. The Nerd Herd let out various sounds of excitement.
 
Fred jumped forward as the group continued to the car. "Yes! Nothing is better
than free food! Unless it's moldy!"
 
Tadashi chuckled and stops with Hiro. "Aunt Cass? We'll, uh, we'll catch up,
ok?"
 
"Sure!" She looks at them before lunging to tackle Hiro into a hug then
bringing Tadashi into it with her other arm. "I'm so proud of you! Urrrgh! Both
of you!" Both of the Hamada brothers laugh as their aunt catches up with the
group.
 
Tadashi jerks his head over to the small bridge leading to the college and
heading over there. As Tadashi leans against the wooden rails, Hiro comes up
beside him. "I know what you're gonna say. 'Even if I'm disappointed that
you're not going to college with me, I'm glad that you are finally using your
gift for something important!'"
 
Tadashi smirks and shrugs nonchalantly. "No! No, I was just going to tell you
that your fly was down the entire show."
 
“Ha ha, hilarious.” Hiro mocks as he leans against the railing as well. Like he
wouldn't have noticed... He looks down. “WHAT!?” He scrambles for his zipper
and fixes it. He wacks Tadashi in the shoulder afterward.
 
Tadashi yells out and laughs. Attempting to shield himself from his brother.
After a moment they settle down and go back to watching the view. “I hope you
like your nerd job... Nerd.” Tadashi says as he smiles down at his younger
brother.
 
Hiro smiles and shakes his head. “Hey, I wouldn't even have been here if it
wasn't for you so, you know, thanks for not giving up on me.”
 
Tadashi smiles back, but then an alarm went off back at the show case building
followed by panicked screams. They both look up, alarmed, and rush back to the
building where they can see a bright orange glow coming from around the bushes.
 
It's a terrible type of magnificence. The haunting orange glow coming from the
flames that consume the once fine structure. Plumes of smoke rise from high
broken windows. People are screaming and falling over themselves in an effort
to distance themselves from the burning building. Tadashi and Hiro stop to gape
at the scene before them before the elder Hamada brother hurries forward to
catch a lady who was having trouble getting away. “Are you okay!?”
 
The woman nods but points back toward the flames. “Yeah, yeah I'm okay, b-but
Professor Callaghan is still in there!” She keeps on running after that.
 
The brothers watch here leave, then Tadashi turns and heads toward the flaming
entrance. Hiro panics and rushes to grab a hold of his arm, keeping him from
going any further. “Tadashi, no!”
 
Tadashi jerks to a stop and gives Hiro a helpless look, then gives the burning
building the same before turning back. “Callaghan's in there. Someone has to
help.” These were his parting word as he rips his arm from Hiro's clutch and
dashes for the fiery entrance and inside.
 
Hiro whips his head around, seeing the people that are far away, watching the
once magnificent building burn. He sees Tadashi's hat float to the ground
before him and moves to pick it up and run after his brother, but then
everything explodes.
 
 
MM~HH~AK
 
 
The funeral was almost unbearable. It never stopped raining and the emptiness
in his chest just wouldn't go away. As soon as they came back to the cafe, Hiro
slowly trudged up the stairs and sat at the top, hanging his head as he did so.
 
Why? Why did Tadashi have to go into that building? He knew that it was only a
matter of time before it came down!
 
WHY!?
 
WHY wHY WhY!?!? He could keep on asking himself that. Why. It wasn't like
anyone was going to answer.
 
 
__________________________________________________
 
 
By the time he started to smell tea wafting up the stairs, he had decided to do
something, anything, to try and distract himself from that horrible ache
inside. He got up and walked the rest of the way to his room, shedding his
monochromatic attire as he went.
 
He stopped when he saw something white fall out of his jacket pocket and
flutter to the ground. The last Hamada bent down and picked it up. It was
Alistair Krei's personal business card. And just like that, some of the aching
in his chest eased the slightest bit. That's it, he'll just work on his project
for Krei! And he did.
 
It was finished in a month. A month of working until his fingers felt as if
they were about to fall off and there was a constant churning hunger in his
belly. But it had all paid off because it was finished. As he gathered his
project and put it into it's case, his eyes caught a video message indication
on his computer. Hiro frowned and clicked on it. It was the Nerd Herd. “Hey
Hiro. Just wanted to check in and see how you're doing.” Honey Lemon spoke up
first. Then it was Wasabi. “Wish you were here buddy.” Next it was Fred. “Hiro,
If I were a superhero right now, the only power I'd wish to have would be the
ability to crawl through this camera, and give you a big hug-” Hiro turned the
computer off. The motion sent Megabot tumbling off of his desk and slamming
right onto his foot.
 
“Argh!” He yelled out as he flailed and hopped toward his bed. He sat down and
tried to rub the soreness away. “Ow...” Across his room and into Tadashi's, a
light flared in a circle on Baymax's casing, followed by the robot nurse
activating.
 
He inflated himself and met Hiro's gaze when he turned around. He then looked
down and lifted his long arms as he shuffled sideways and an attempt to get out
of the cramped space next to Tadashi's bed, thus causing most of the books on
the late Hamada's bookshelf to fall. Once the healthcare companion finally
freed himself, he toddled over to the gaping Japanese boy. “Hello, I am Baymax.
Your personal healthcare companion.”
 
Hiro shook himself and blinked a few times. “H-hey, um, Baymax. I didn't know
you were still... active.” The last part he said with a small shrug.
 
Baymax tilted his head down with a whir and blinked. “I heard a sound of
distress. What seems to be the trouble?”
 
Hiro looked away and shrugged again. “Oh, I just stubbed my toe a little. I'm
fine.”
 
With that, Baymax straightened up and had his chest light up with the screen on
ten different faces for levels of pain. “On a scale of one to ten, how would
you rate your pain?”
 
Hiro stared at the robot for a moment before answering and standing up. “Uuuh,
a zero? I-I'm okay, really. Thanks, you can shrink now.”
 
Instead of doing just that, he walked over and bent down, trying to poke at his
foot. “Does it hurt when I touch it?”
 
“No, no, no, no. No touching, just go-” The last part of that was cut off by
him tripping and falling over. He then got stuck in the spot between his bed
and desk. He sighed. He really needed to go and present this to Krei.
 
Baymax waddled over and looked down at him. “You have fallen.”
 
Hiro made a face at the large marshmallow. “Ya think?”
 
He tried to grab a hold of his shelf to pull himself up, but it broke under his
weight, making all of the bots on his shelf slide and fall right onto him.
Throughout all of this, Baymax kept on trying to ask him how high his pain was.
Hiro sighed in aggravation. “Zero. I'm fine.”
 
This must go over Baymax's head as he leans over to pick him up. “It is alright
to cry. Crying is a natural response to pain.” It's like he can't hear Hiro
muttering 'no' in the background.
 
“I am not crying!” He squirms out of the bot's hold.
 
“I will scan you for any possible injuries.”
 
The young genius furrows his brow and points a finger at the robot nurse. “No
scanning.”
 
Baymax looks him up and down quickly. “Scan complete.”
 
The boy throws up his hands. “Unbelievable.”
 
“You have sustained no injuries. However, your hormone and neural transmitter
levels indicate that you are experiencing mood swings, common in adolescence.
Diagnosis;” Baymax holds up a finger. “Puberty.”
 
Hiro's go wide as he waves his arms around. “Whoa, whoa, what?! Okay, time to
shrink now!”
 
Baymax's gaze follows Hiro as he goes and gets the robot's charging port. “You
are to expect an increase in body hair. Especially on your face, chest,
armpits, and-”
 
Before he can finish, Hiro butts in, placing the port infront of the robot.
“Whoa, thank you! That's enough!”
 
As the boy continues to crawl all over him, Baymax continues. “You may also
endure powerful new urges.”
 
“Okay, let's get you back into your luggage!” Hiro exclaims as he tries to push
Baymax's head down.
 
Baymax's voice is slightly muffled when he replies. “I cannot deactivate until
you say that you are satisfied with your care.”
 
The fourteen year old has had enough of this. “Fine, I am satisfied with my-
Whoa!” He gets cut off as he falls off of Baymax and lands face first onto the
floor. As he opens his eyes with a grimace, he sees something moving around in
his jacket's pocket. He blinks in confusion as he reaches out and drags it from
out of there. He reaches in and stands up at the same time. He pulls out one of
his microbots squirming around in his hand. “My microbot? This doesn't make any
sense...”
 
As he finishes that statement, Baymax comes back over. “Puberty can be a
confusing time for a young flowering adolescent into manhood.”
 
Hiro could see that he was trying to be supportive, but he shot that down. “No,
t-the thing's attracted to the other microbots. That's impossible, the others
were destroyed in the fire.” He grabbed a petri dish on his desk and places the
microbot inside and closes it. “Dumb thing's broken.” He shrugs and moves to
pick up his case again.
 
Baymax looks at Hiro, then goes to pick up the petri dish with the microbot
gently clinking against the side continuously inside. He turns in different
directions, observing the way the microbot kept on going in one direction. Hiro
sees this on his way to the door and arches his brow curiously. Baymax backs up
to where Hiro is infront of the door and looks at him. “Your tiny robot is
trying to go somewhere.”
 
The boy thinks about it but no. He has to get this project into Krei first and
foremost. “Yeah, I can see that, but I really need to get my project to Krei
first.”
 
Baymax tilts his head. “Will taking this project to Krei stabilize your
pubescent mood swings?”
 
He follows Hiro down as he makes his way downstairs. “Uh huh. Absolutely.” He
answers, not really listening anymore. The crate was kind of heavy. Once he
came down the stairs and evaded Aunt Cass and she went by, and the door closed
on his squeaky vinyl casing on his arm, that he finally noticed that Baymax was
following him. “Baymax? You know you don't have to come, right? I'll be okay on
my own.”
 
The large robot patiently waits as Hiro frees one hand to help pull him out of
the door. “You had replied that taking your project to Krei will help. I am
merely helping you archive that goal.”
 
Hiro sighed and turned back around once Baymax was free. “Well, then follow me
and don't get lost. I don't have the time to go searching the entire city for
your marshmallow butt.” He looked both ways before crossing the street.
 
Baymax blinked and looks behind him at said butt. “I have been told that it is
a 'rather fabulous butt indeed'.” A laugh bursts out of Hiro before he can stop
it. This robot is something else.
***** The Demo *****
Chapter Summary
     Hiro agrees to take part in the prototyping of Krei Tech's new
     flagship device, and visits the company's test center for the first
     time. The new portal experiment is as ambitious as it is dangerous,
     with no saying what the machine will have in store.
Chapter Notes
     It's my absolute pleasure to collaborate with DarkFoxKirin, and write
     this chapter of the story. I'm so very impressed, and super grateful
     for the cover art. The fic idea was conceived out of this comment
     thread:
     http://archiveofourown.org/comments/33996840
     Gives you an inkling of what to expect, not that I can give away
     anything! I hope everything matches up okay with the first chapter.
Perhaps stranger things have happened. No one seems to mind when Baymax is
yanked and dragged, squeezing between people's shoulders like an oversized
balloon. Taking the squeaky vinyl hand in his own, Hiro zips through the foot
traffic and dashes for the transit stop. The downtown streets are narrow, and
bustling with people this time of day- everybody's getting off work. He could
make better time if he weren't encumbered like this. Was Baymax ever slow. Was
this backpack ever heavy. He didn't think getting there would be this
difficult, but he never actually imagined it with a twenty-pound backpack in
tow. Why'd there have to be so many people on this exact street? Yet, if not
for how squishy and malleable this thing was, his personal healthcare companion
would've been left out in the dust, city blocks ago.
He glances down at the crumpled business card once more. Great, and he still
hasn't left his home district within downtown. The sun is setting, now. There's
the address. Krei Tech Central Campus, Studio #4, 1800 Pacific Choume, near the
corner of- this was more complicated than he thought. He pulled out his phone.
Somewhere, at that building, he was waiting for him. Another double-decker bus
blows by. Hiro puts the card away in his pocket, and adjusts the straps on the
heavy backpack. Funny how he was entertaining this image of Krei Tech, as some
vertiable Oz of the tech industry. Bustling with the latest frontier of science
and innovation, right at this very moment. Play his cards right, and his
project would be its newest flagship item.
But it's late now, and they aren't crunching, and on any normal day, the entire
executive office would be empty. He failed to realize Krei Tech is as much an
administrative center as a test site. At this hour, there is still most
definitely one person there.
Two, actually.
"Have you thought this through?"
The executive is pointing at Krei, angrily. Given it's now long after quitting
time, they overstayed the conference room- the next group didn't dare kick them
out. What started as a simple, informational board meeting with the directors
had become heated, gone late, and none were left except the CEO himself, plus
one of the financial directors. They've been here, for how long? "This is
craziness. Insanity."
"You've gotta understand, we rushed it last time. This stays between you and
me, but it's obvious where we went wrong. We were underfunded, under-researched
and understaffed. We didn't understand the domain. Now, we're operating fully
through adequate private funds. We've had enough time, learned from our
mistakes. And we have our new contractor-"
"What was the name?"
"Hamada." The director snorted. Krei continued, saying- "You see, things are
diff-"
"Different?!" Somehow, this set the man off. He knew who Hiro Hamada was, and
figured it would be a terrible gamble, paying someone like that to contribute
to their R&D. "Have we really even had the chance to recoup the damages? And
that was how many years ago? We are still paying for that project, one way or
another."
"Those're sunk costs." As Krei frowns and looks absently at the blimp outside
the window, the director stays alongside him. "Look, we didn't get where we are
today by sitting there with our finger in our ear."
"I know, but-"
"C'mon-" Krei is exasperated, still in the throes of an angry conversation he
shouldn't really need to have. "He's already signed on to do the prototype. Why
are you acting like this is an open issue?"
"Because it technically still is. There is a probationary period, conditional
on-"
"No, no. Is this what we're doing? Really?"
"I just don't want this kid's invention to become a liability. Instead of an
asset, Alistair."
"I get where you're coming from." Resurrecting this project is all but decided.
In practice, there is no going back. Yet, as a courtesy to the directors, he
was entertaining this gauntlet of questions from them, and right here is the
most tireless one. "Please, be on the same page as me. If something backfires,
I'll own up to it and fix it. But I have a good feeling about this one.
Really."
"I'll trust you, but I've got no choice, do I."
He smiles. "That's the spirit!"
The executive's mood lightened up and he chatted with Krei about some less-
weighty things, the same way they used to do as friends. Golf. Investment
firms. Recent trip to Spain. Krei is stifling back a yawn and doesn't know
which he finds less exhausting. As for Hiro driving the company's newest
robotics project, he wasn't expecting to have to fight tooth and nail for that.
He shouldn't have to. Of course, no one lands the position of chief financial
director through banking on the innovation of- whom he had to consider-
children. But for anyone that could see the microbots in live action, it was a
surefire sell. At least, it sold Krei. Now, Hiro may just have the key,
unlocking the next frontier in material cross-space transmission. Portal
technology. They are so, so close, and being first-to-market matters- so he'd
take what he can get. And if-
There's a knock at the door.
He sees those familiar glasses. Krei's assistant peeps out from the door,
paper-thin tablet in hand. "Mr. Krei. Your six o'clock."
"I didn't know I had anything?"
"Uh, it wasn't booked, he just showed up. And it's six o'clock now."
He glances at the time on his personal phone. "...Well, okay." Couldn't argue
with that. Frankly, he wants any excuse just to get out of this. He excuses
himself from the other executive, who won't let him go for love or money, and
follows his assistant over the lobby.
And, at least the visitor's lobby was living up to Hiro's expectations. There's
a 'Wall of Robotics History', a chronological arrangement of robots from all
vendors, dating back to the last century. And a massive hologram projector that
Hiro can't help but play with. He has half a mind to try and hack this thing.
It might not be the best early impression to leave on the company. That's, if
they found out. Table that idea.
Baymax sits on one of the big, plush couches opposite Hiro. His plump little
feet dangle off the edge of the couch, and he playfully swings them back and
forth. "We are in the headquarters of 'Krei Tech'! What plush couches."
"I know, right-" Hiro wasn't fully listening, futzing still with the
holoprojector.
Baymax abruptly leaps up off the couch, and bounces over to one state-of-the-
art water cooler. "Allow me to get us some refreshments." Hiro is too pre-
occupied to look over, but the robot's secondary optical sensor is immediately
kicking in. He processes the machine through careful 3D image analysis, then
and delicately and accurately fills two disposable cups of water. "Here you
are." He hands one to Hiro, and dumps the other on himself.
Hiro sighs, wiping Baymax off with his sleeve. There are footsteps behind him,
and as he peers at the reflection in Baymax's optical, he sees whom it is.
"My, your portal prototype is much different than I was expecting!" Krei and
his assistant look at the assembly, spilling out of Hiro's overstuffed
backpack.
"I-it's... You gotta wait until it's fully set up, to get a sense of the
functionality."
"Wow! My pleasure to finally meet this one." He reaches out to shake Baymax's
hand, but is instead greeted by a high-five with both of the robot's 'hands'.
The assistant chuckles, and gives Baymax a fist-bump. Hiro finishes re-
packaging the item into his backpack. "We're not setting this up here, are we?"
"No, no. Let's show you one of our testing centers, the same ones we're using
for our material translocation project team." They must not have a snazzy
codename for this yet.
Like, you know, Silent Sparrow.
Hiro deliberately decides not to bring this up- it feels like a taboo topic.
Was this whole investigation meant to pick up where that left off? It feels
like another question for another time. They exit out the lobby, and the
assistant had just left for the day. Hallway after hallway, Hiro feels about to
become lost in this place. Conference room after conference room, it's even
bigger than it looks from the outside. But finally, Krei keycards into one door
simply marked 'Suite A5' and reveals a pristine and modern, fully equipped
laboratory. It isn't anything like Hiro's garage. It'd do, maybe.
"I'm dying to see this thing in action." Krei hovers over Hiro, as he pulls
the... item, out of the backpack. Yeah, that's why it was so heavy. This is one
solid, tangled mass of metal and wires.
The man's enthusiasm changes now that he's examining it more closely. Loose
cabling. Remnants of a timer. Grounding wires. Reason being- he doesn't know if
it's a computer, or an actual, functioning, bomb.
"Wait. No- is this-"
"My sensors indicate that this man is- 'concerned'." Baymax offered. "Rest
assured, it is not a bomb."
"Why on earth would you say that?" Hiro shook his head at Baymax. "Thank you
for establishing that."
"You are welcome."
"Uh, are those wires live?"
"No, they're detachable. See?"
"Okay." He sets a fire extinguisher back down.
"This is actually just the timing module. It sustains the device while it's in
hibernation, so- on the trip here. It isn't necessary, so I'm unhinging it
now."
After he pulls the black, cable-covered wrapping away, it reveals something
entirely different. A complex patchwork of very sophisticated-looking
components. It might as well contain the secrets of the universe. Krei can't
help himself, and picks up the heavy item, which Hiro allows him to do.
"Incredible!" If this thing's performance is anywhere near as wondrous as it
looks, the company's investors are very much in luck.
He marvels at it. How vastly, vastly complicated this device is. The component
is an impressive mess of wires, switches, and mechanical connectors.
Parallelizing link interface boards. Next to that, a self-starting generator.
He recognizes some of these components, but not all of them. He turns it to
examine the other side, and it's one fascinating story after another. This
segment is complete with a side-mounted fuse system, two-tiered mounted circuit
board and power control.
What incredible sorcery this thing must have in store. To think, he initially
underestimated Hiro.
He initially wrote the microbot project off as an interesting investigation. A
clever trick. A worthwhile business opportunity, worthy of purchase, and some
distribution, but probably little other investment. He soon realized that Hiro
was capable of much more than that.
Sometimes, when Krei finds the time alone to think to himself he wonders if
there is any limit to the potential of modern robotics. Transportation,
medicine, architectural infrastructure- everything lies delicately on the cusp
of a complete revolution in design. How many hours he had spent researching the
trends in advancement for the last several decades. This master showpiece, this
Pandora's box, a one-of-a-kind developed by this SFIT robotics prodigy, must
hold the key.
Even with his years of experience in this area, seeing all six sides of this
box, the CEO can't make heads or tails of how the thing works. Given the person
by whom it was made, he chalks it up to it being too sophisticated to be
understood by mere mortals through simple inspection. "Um, how does it
interface with our computers? Where are... the ports?"
"This is just the case."
"It's-"
"Literally just a bunch of random crap I duct taped together." He chuckles.
"Oh." Krei, feeling a little bit sheepish, watches Hiro cut a piece of tape off
with an old pair of kitchen scissors, and all the components come cleanly off.
"Wait-", with the unwrapped mass of components dropping, one by one, to the
floor, the words 'safety' and 'hazard' together come to mind. "How on earth did
you take this with you on a streetcar?"
"I'unno." Hiro mutters, appearing to be singing a song inside his head, busying
himself with removing the rest of the scotch tape, and Krei is making a strong
mental note to never ever take that line again. "Okay, here!" He pulls off the
rest of the encasement, to reveal a shiny white, modern-looking device with
clean edges, almost no cabling, an appealing, minimalistic exterior. Much, much
neater than the last thing he saw.
Krei's eye catches some decal work on the side. At a glance, it's pleasing to
the eye, and quite impressive. Then his face falls. Oh, no. His look of
excitement slowly withers into disapproval.
"Mexxon. You're buying parts from our competitor."
Hiro notices that, and flustered a little- "Uh, it was a free sample?" The CEO
doesn't look any more impressed. Hiro has half a mind to say that he just likes
how they look. Since, it's true. They sure know how to design a case. He thinks
better on it. "Anyway, this is just the chassis. Totally peripheral. Totally
detachable. Not part of any critical function. This is the only thing that uses
their brand. I promise."
"Let's see the actual functional parts. I'm on the edge of my seat, here."
"One second-" Hiro mutters, 'holdyourpointynosedhorses' under his breath. He
switches a latch on the pure-white chassis, and it unlocks and pops off in
three large pieces. Hiro removes some connectors from the white plastic and
ties them away. Once that's all said and done, the small, metallic item he
pulls out- Krei sees it. It has a smooth surface and a hinge, and this assembly
is now far, far smaller than the original box that the boy dragged in.
This is far different than what he envisioned, he'd give it that. Far simpler,
far more fascinating, even. Something catches his eye.
"It looks like-" Yet, there is something oddly familiar about the device,
belying its true purpose. Those crisp edges and single hinge on one end pique
his interest. There were two tines, finally tapering down to one connected
vertex, suggesting something mechanical in addition to the computational. Yet
he can't fathom how such a form factor could especially lend itself to the
portal experiment- during Krei Tech's earlier days working with the government,
he'd seen prototypes for portal interaction of all shapes and sizes.
"Pretty sick, right?"
"... a staple remover? Is that literally a staple remover?"
"No! What are you talking about?"
"It says 'Office Mart' on the side."
"That's just some leftover paint."
"There looks like a crushed-up staple in the one end?"
"That's the photoradiation translocator module."
"I see."
"It's very delicate, please don't touch it."
"I wasn't going to."
"Good."
"Does it hurt? If I touch it?" Baymax chimes in and Hiro simply looks at him
and shakes his head. He was about to tell the robot he's satisfied with his
care today. Showing it off this early, bringing Baymax here- maybe none of this
was such a good idea.
"Don't touch it."
"I'd like to see it interfaced with the NAV system."
"I'd show you all of that, if you'd give me one frickin' minute."
"Sorry. Please, continue."
Hiro plugs not one, but three power cables from the device into the wall, and
several more into his personal computer. And then there's the switch. One small
yellow hobby switch, tucked away on the underside of the device. Krei silently
looks at the boy, in terrible, painful anticipation, since he wouldn't ask to
do the honors. No, he doesn't dare say anything. Rest assured, the waiting is
killing him.
The CEO needs to know if this device is really it. The next frontier in portal
technology. The proof of concept that translocation was possible. The holy
grail of everything they were investing in. All, tucked away within the
confines of this device, developed by a teenager in a garage. When Hiro pulls
the switch, the assembly completely comes to life. It's for real, whatever this
is. Krei tries to get a read on Hiro, but it's impossible. This might be, once
and for all, his way of knowing that his faith in Hiro is warranted. It just
has to be. The contraption whirrls and glows, becoming louder and brighter. It
levitates slightly off the table. The parts rotate amongst itself. There's
something so ominous about it- but he watches it, and waits.
***** Mistakes Were Made *****
Chapter Summary
     The portal is a great success! ...Or not.
The device whirls and produces a strange baby blue and lilac swirl in the
middle, which slowly expands and creates a perfectly oval portal to – God knows
where. A small part of the contraption detaches and rolls across the floor to
the other side of the room, unravels and produces the same portal as before.
Krei makes as if to say something, but Hiro holds up his hand to stop him. This
is the best part. He smirks at the billionaire before stepping through the
portal. Krei leaps up from his seat in a half attempt to pull him back, but
then Hiro comes out on the other end on the far side of the room and waves.
Krei is stunned. He's done it. A fourteen-year-old has created a fully
functional teleportation device. Finally, the world will have teleportation
capabilities! He realizes that he's gaping unattractively (untrue) and quickly
shuts his mouth. “Hiro... This is- I-I'm-”


Hiro smirks. “Speechless?”


The CEO gives a breathless chuckle. “Yes, that would be the word for it.” He
covers his mouth for a moment, looking at the portals then back to the young
genius who created them before speaking through his fingers. “Whatever you
want, it's yours. Just please join our company. No one in the entire world
could have created such brilliance. At such a young age too!” Before he can
truly fanboy too much more about it (and attempt to get to his knees), there is
a loud ruckus at the entrance of the building.


It was the Nerd Herd. They were attempting to get past security. Fred slipped
under one of the guards an made a dash past him before he could grab a hold of
the comic fanatic. The others follow shortly with the security detail right on
their heels. Fred leans against Baymax, breathing hard. “Sup Hiro. Baymax told
us to meet you here. Something about showing a project- oh, there it is. Cool.”


Hiro whips around and glares at said robot. Baymax merely points upward.
“Conversing with loved ones is one way to treat the grieving process. Would
anyone like to share?”


Fred eagerly hops over, dragging Honey Lemon with him. “Ooh, me and Honey! Me
and Honey! Okay, so we've been making something to cheer Hiro up, right? Right.
So, this-” He holds up a pink spray can with green polka dots in front of him
proudly. “is a special spray to create animal DNA on the spot!”


“Um, and why did you put animal DNA in a spray can?” Hiro really doesn't see
where this is going.


Honey Lemon steps forward while Fred shows the bright coloring on the can to
Baymax, who reaches for it, but Fred takes it out of his reach at the last
second. “What Freddy's trying to say is that this chemical compound can give
animals similar attributes of other certain animals. Like, if you want a cat to
turn into a dog equivalent of that cat, it does so.”


Krei perks up from he's been examining the portal. “Really? That's interesting.
What can-”


Before he can even finish, Fred and Baymax had gotten a little too close to one
of the portals. The comic book collector kept on taunting Baymax with the spray
can, making him toddle forward to try and take a swipe for the can with a bad
paint job and filled him a dubious chemical compound. Baymax, getting rather
determined, places one hand to Fred's face and the other towards the spray can.
But then Fred slips and falls, causing Baymax to smack the spray can from
Fred's hand to come into contact with the vibrant portal. There was something
in the chemicals that made it corruptible to the portal's system. The younger
Hamada's masterpiece makes a rather gross sloshing sound before emitting a
noise that would have put the animatronics at Five Nights at Freddy's to shame.


Hiro paled, as did everyone else in the room. Krei quickly steps back from the
violently shaking portal. “I'm going to guess that it's not supposed to do
that?” Before anyone can speak or move, the portal explodes.






MM~HH~AK




Hiro felt like one big bruise. He's never felt this bad since that one time he
got a really bad fever. The inventor sat up and groaned. More groans and
whimpers sounded all around him in pain. Well, at least he wasn't alone in the
extreme feeling of discomfort. He opened his eyes and had to quickly close them
again. All of a sudden, he could see everything. He slowly opened them again
and gasped. Right infront of him was a ginormous, white dire wolf with a shock
of golden blonde stylish hair (that was a bit mussed) on the top of it's head.
Hiro slowly backed up as the giant beast slowly got up and groggily blinked at
him. Before Hiro could get much further, he sank into a surprisingly soft and
furry wall. He stops and slowly turns to look behind him and sees an even
bigger panda bear just sitting there and looking at him! The panda brought it's
large paw towards the young genius and he flinched, but all it did was gently
pat his head. Confused, Hiro looks up into the panda's face, wait... “Your
emotional and neural transmitter levels are rather chaotic. There, there.”


Hiro looks at Baymax the panda incredulously. “Baymax!? Then that means-” He
spins around, searching the room frantically. The dire wolf was watching with a
look of panic on it's face. That hair... “K-Krei!?” Krei the dire wolf
hesitantly nods in disbelief. There was also a grizzly bear with Wasabi's hair
and headband, a rather vibrant flamingo with Honey Lemon's hair style, her
glasses and hairband, a Tasmanian devil with GoGo's hair as well, along with a
Komodo dragon with Fred's hair and beanie. “The heck happened!? Wait-” He
brings up his own hands to examine, no wait, paws. He has freaking paws! No one
could blame him for the embarrassing scream that erupted from him later. He
frantically looked himself over, he had charcoal colored fur with faint grey
spots. “I'm a young panther!? What the heck happened!?” At this point, he was
screeching.


His bewildered question was left unanswered since everyone else was having
their own freak out sessions. Except for Fred. He seemed ecstatic. Honey Lemon
calmed down first. Smoothing down her pink and black feathers, she looks at
Hiro from a few paces away. “W-well, since it was the animal DNA that created
the explosion, then I think that the chemicals mixed with whatever was in that
portal and didn't react well. Causing an explosion that changed us into various
animals.”


Krei quits pawing at his face in despair and joins the conversation. “Well, how
are we going to change back? We should be able to reverse the effects of the
chemicals, correct?”


Honey Lemon nods thoughtfully. “I believe so.”


“Great! Then let's go.” No one seemed to be disagreeing, so he awkwardly
marches back towards the double doors. There was a problem about opening the
door, but after fighting with it for a bit, the door opened. To reveal a masked
man. The masked man seemed just as surprised, but didn't stop gliding into the
testing room on a wave of something black? Once the man got close enough, he
saw that those tiny black things were his microbots! “Hey! What are you doing
with my microbots!?” But all the strange man seemed to hear was a bunch of
yowls and growls.


The man in the kabuki mask looked around in evident confusion. “I could have
sworn... Krei was supposed to be here!” Everyone gasped. They knew that voice.
It was Professor Callaghan! But how- It all came together. Callaghan was the
one who started the fire, stole his microbots, and faked his death to achieve
it! Hiro growled in earnest this time and launched himself at the man's broad
shoulders. Hearing the growl, he twirls and snatches the attacking panther from
the air with the microbots and examined him. He looked at everyone else strewn
about the room and the broken portal piece everywhere. Callaghan was anything
but stupid, so when the realization slowly started to bloom across his face, it
was inevitable. He tosses Hiro away and quickly set his sights on the one
animal that matched Krei's features. The dire wolf.


Krei yelped when sharp tendrils of microbots shot towards him. He immediately
turned tail and ran as if the devil was on his tail. Everyone else followed his
example and ran through the open doors. Everyone else but Hiro, that is. But
Baymax had reached over and scooped up the protesting boy in a panther body and
ran with the rest of them.


Now, if they had still been human, they most likely would have been caught by
now, but since they were animals, they had faster reflexes and were able to
dodge and avoid the tendrils of microbots that were trying to catch them. All
of the rest of the building was trashed. Looks like Callaghan had been
searching pretty hard for them.


When they make it outside, they come face to face with a wall of police
officers.


Krei ran up to them. “Oh thank goodness you're here! The man is behind us
somewh- HURK.” He stumbled off to the side, but tried to keep his balance. “Did
you just-!?” Five more tranq darts thudded into the side of his neck and down
he went. The fuzz then set their sights to the rest of the wild animals in the
middle of the road.


Everyone scattered. (Callaghan slinked back into the shadows, vowing to find
another chance to get his revenge.)


Honey Lemon tried to fly away, but a helicopter was hot behind her. She dodged
in between various buildings and trees, but nothing could shake the persistent
chopper. She finally got caught when she tried to reason with them. What part
of being an animal incapable of human speech doesn't she understand!?


Wasabi was screaming and running through the streets of San Fransokyo as if he
was trying to give a banshee version of a serenade to the whole city. He even
managed to hide for a few minutes inside of a tree before the police shot at
the rather bright greenish yellow headband. He fell from the tree with a huge
goofy grin on his face.


Fred tried some karate moves on a rookie cop and managed to knock him out
before the rest shot the Komodo dragon down.


GoGo was the fastest of them all and just flat out ran. She zipped through
streets, dodged various vehicles and tranq darts. It wasn't until she started
to tire and ran into a dead end in an alley.


Baymax just sat infront of the cops and stared at them. One officer hesitantly
walked over to him and shot him with a few tranq darts. Baymax kept on staring
and didn't move. A few more were applied until Baymax had around thirty six
darts embedded into his fuzzy tummy. Baymax looked down at them. “Oh
nooooooooooooo-” He stopped when Hiro came barreling down the other street. He
had lost his grip on the panda's fur which he was towing him around with but
couldn't stop because of the various darts heading his way. So, he went around
and was coming back for the fat marshmallow nurse. But as soon as he got into
reach, Baymax snatched him up with a dopey look on his face and began to pet
Hiro even as he squirmed and flailed. “Haaaairrrrrrryyyyyy Baaaabyyyyyy!”
Before Hiro could get loose, eight darts thudded into his back, knocking him
clean out and drooling on Baymax's chest. Baymax finally fell over backwards a
moment later. “H-h-health care!” Thud.


 
(~Who can make a sunrise...~) 
***** Separated *****
Chapter Summary
     The portable portal backfires, and Callaghan hasn't given up. The
     seven of them find themselves in new danger.
Chapter Notes
     This is FionasEmbrace again with another Madagascar-inspired chapter!
The ambient sound of the rain coming down. The ocean, all around. The last
thing anyone can remember is a scuffle with the masked Callaghan, and then
police, and then... Animal control?
Ah, yes. Hiro groggily looks down at his black fur, little paws, and tail. The
malfunctioning portal put them all in this state. It could be a life sentence,
for all he knew. Maybe that wasn't the worst of their problems right now. If
the masked man really wanted them dead, it might be even easier to do it this
way. He looks around. There is some black, stamped text on the side of this old
crate, something he could barely read. Something about the zoo? Then, why were
they afloat? Something must be horribly wrong. The crate was large and
waterproof, and he stood up. In the absence of light, it was tough to make much
sense of his surroundings.
Wait a minute.
He isn't alone. There isanother creature here. A mass of white fur, subtly
rising and lowering. A tail. He curiously walks toward it. Something's
familiar. He bats at the tail, and it moves. The creature starts awake. They
look at each other, each looking quite fearsome to the other, and shriek at the
same time.
"Mr. Hamada?!"
"Krei?"
The wolf looks momentarily scared, and then settles back down. "Christ, for one
fantastic moment, I forgot what'd happened to us."
"We were turned into... these, and then animal control took care of the rest."
Another familiar voice sounds from the other side of one wall. "Hiro?! Is that
you? I'm in here with Go Go." It's Honey Lemon's voice.
"And I am over here, administering care to our friends, Wasabi and Fred."
Baymax's synthesized voice stays the same, somehow. Hiro might never actually
understand how that one works. In any case, that solves the rest of the
mystery. That puts Krei and Hiro in one box, Go Go and Honey are in another,
and then Fred, Wasabi, and Baymax are in one large shipping container. They all
made it, and could hear one another.
"It's dirty in here. Fred won't stop drooling for anything."
"I can't help it, okay?!"
Hiro speaks, muffled against the wall. "We can find a way outta h-" But the
water is choppy, and sends the boxes flying. Suddenly, the animals could no
longer hear the inhabitants of the other boxes. Hiro shouts for Baymax and his
friends, but to no avail. In another box, Wasabi faints.
Finally, Hiro feels a sizable impact. The box with him and the wolf washes up
against some rocks, and breaks into several pieces.
Go Go punches a hole through the side of her box, freeing Honey as well, but
neither one knows where they are.
And Baymax still, somehow, had a rocket-propelled fist. The panda paw shoots
through the crate and actually tows them far across the water, to a remote part
of the island. And the rest would be history.
The wolf shakes the rest of the debris off. Hiro, happy to be on dry land,
licks his fur. Now that they are freed of the crates, he runs along the beach
to stretch his legs, and feels slightly better. He is having trouble wrestling
his animal instincts with his normal, human ones. He has a million solutions
for the robots they could build to get them out of this mess.
But without his garage, or his computer, what could they possibly do?
His companion isn't much better off. Maybe he should have listened to the
financial director. He was so optimistic, in thinking that they had it this
time. They were so close. The investors would have his head. He sighed, which
came out as more like a 'snort'. Even if he were to transform back, how could
he ever explain this to the board of directors? While all of this was going on,
he kept experiencing strong cravings for raw meat, and fought the urge to keep
barking and howling at nothing. He focused back on the situation at hand. At
least, it was only their own money they were wasting. Yes, they squandered the
chances of any access to government funding ever again.
Maybe Hiro had some genius idea for fixing all of this.
Out from the Sanfransokyo skyline, whenever he looked at pictures or postcards
of the city, he could see places like this far off into the horizon. Funny how
he never noticed this place before. Never inquired too much about what was out
there. There were so many smaller islands like these, used as nature reserves
or small retirement communities. Didn't know if he could find this place again
if he tried. The whole island was eerily quiet and lifeless.
This was clearly designated as some abandoned, military-use test site. It was
fallen into disrepair, and completely unsuitable for anything. The remnants of
an old factory and some warehouses were still here. Off to one side was a truck
that was left here. The foliage had grown in and completely overtaken it.
Probably inhabited by a pack of wild raccoons. Or, maybe creatures not too
different from himself.
"Karate Punch."
That was easy. Baymax breaks the side of the fence open. The three animals-
finding themselves walking along the shores of a small island, clearly intended
for industrial use and little else. It's bordered off by a chain-link fence
around the perimeter, with cautionary signs and private property disclosures
everywhere.
The assembly lines are long shut down, and there was no possibility of human
occupation.
Wasabi is still trying to get the seaweed out of his fur. Baymax hauls his
round, black-and-white body up some of the steps. The day was clear, and they
could see far into the horizon off across the water, but that didn't help. What
they really needed was some inking of how to get anywhere in the test facility,
and find the others. It was a massive complex.
Elsewhere, the marsupial asks, "You can fly, right?"
"I think so," Honey replies. "But I'm afraid of them catching us. The police,
or animal control. We reveal ourselves, they'll just have us sent away."
Go Go has a toothy, unhappy expression. "Or worse than that, Callaghan will
immediately know where to find us."
"I-I don't even have my chemicals here... What can we do?"
"Don't make me say it."
"Woman up. Yeah, I know."
"I was going to say, we're in this together." The flamingo looked at her. "But
now that you say that, it gives me an idea." She pointed toward the facility
test site. "What if we were to find out how the portal was meant to work?
Surely, the evidence is on this very island."
"Don't you think that's a little bit dangerous?" She looked at the path up
ahead, and how the whole place had fallen into a state of disrepair.
"Sure. But I think it's our best shot."
The marsupial shoots out after one of the side entrances to the building, with
a bright pink flamingo hot on her tail. This island is massive and so is the
facility- there is no saying how long it could take before they find the
others. It would be easy for them to become hurt or separated if they weren't
careful. Nobody knew what was inside, except for the remnants of a failed
experiment. Nothing good. The sign that said 'quarantine' is there for a
reason. There is simply no other option.
The whole day long, the three groups of animals travel forward. Baymax, Wasabi
and Fred are in the warehouses. Honey and Go Go are by one of the test
facilities. Hiro and Krei are far off from the buildings, in a grassy area by
the beach.
As for things to aid in survival, they had practically nothing. No fire, to
sign of the others. Hiro eats a bug. Krei kills and gets halfway through eating
a lizard, but it's terribly unpleasant, and he becomes sick shortly after.
The facility has tower after tower, with spires reaching all the way up
alongside the smoke stacks, and several large warehouses at the bottom. Baymax,
Fred and Wasabi are by the vehicle docking area, and the garage doors were
falling off their tracks. The winds and weather came down hard on this place
over the years, and it's hard to maintain something that doesn't officially
exist. Some debris that had flown out of one of the warehouses was trapped
amidst the rest of the structure and cycloned sometimes when the wind picked
up. At least, it wasn't so cold anymore. The sun came out, and dried up all the
water in all the animals' fur and feathers. If they were lucky, they would meet
one another.
The three of them heard a boat horn far away, and the sound of the waves, and a
plane overhead. They were not so cut off from civilization, and yet they were
utterly trapped.
Wasabi asked, "Do you know how long it is we've been walking?"
Baymax answered, "One point five times 'e' to the plus twelve nanoseconds."
"Great. Now, Baymax has lost it too." Fred muttered.
"Hasn't been that long."
"Hey- do you see that, over there?"
"What, a broken-down electric door, ready to come to life and smash its
surroundings at any moment?"
"Yes, that one."
"You're not. We're not."
"My sensor detects evidence of recent living activity, several miles in that
direction."
"See? It's at least worth checking out."
"If we end up going the way of the dodo, this is on you, Fred. It's on you."
The three of them set off, toward the broken-down garage. It would take them
through the complex of warehouses, into the main section of the test site. When
they encounter a door they can't immediately enter, Wasabi breaks it down. It's
easy to forget the strength in his arms, vaguely reminiscent of his blade
hands. Fred possesses the strength as well, but he's lazy and easily distracted
by some seagulls.
Hiro wishes he had Baymax here. As a panda, or as a robot, it didn't matter.
He'd be able to analyze and make sense of this whole situation. The ten-
thousand-or-so lines of code that comprised his AI routine wasn't just for
show. His brother always did incredible work and software was right up his
alley. On that subject, maybe he didn't even need Baymax, either. No, he needed
his brother. His heart sank. Much as he didn't want to get him self stuck,
languishing in the pask, it was awfully tempting, times like now. Nothing
worked.
He should probably just try and sleep. It was difficult.
And they were so close in hand. As animals, Hiro and the group were vulnerable,
and he could have ended them faster than you can say 'Megazon'. Now, he once
again finds himself watching the tiny robots, one by one, churned out of this
busy makeshift assembly line. His army was building itself. These were like
Hiro's initial version, but better, more adaptable- more capable of
destruction. From a mind such as his, one could expect nothing less. He looks
over at the terminal, at the current enumeration of them all, and wrote down
the number. Yes, they were on the order of tens of thousands now. These ought
to be more than enough.
In some ways, it wasn't entirely fair. Those kids were bystanders, caught up in
all of this. Much like his former student, there was perhaps a sense of
injustice about it, having that young man's story end so early on. Only to
serve as a mere stepping stone. It was sad. Nothing ever came for free. He
couldn't be in the business of dwelling on these things. He needed to finish
the project- the exact same one that began on Akuma island all those years ago.
He needed to find them.
Animals or not, they had already seen too much.
He needs them gone. It was only by a small miracle, that the cops hadn't gotten
word of his work. Just as he always did, he would keep himself concealed,
hidden in the shadows. If only the Sanfransokyo police force- or, to be more
accurate- the regional animal control- could've only kept their nose out of
where it didn't belong, this would have all ended much, much differently.
And out of one of those six targets- one is undeniably special. That one
warrants a different course of action. He crushes the pen in his hand.
It might not be too late to find them. Couldn't have gone far.
Whenever Hiro meant to sigh, he mewed. It was due to become a roar, when he's
fully grown, but for now, it was almost a cute sound. Ah, well. The night air
is quiet, but every time he drifts off, something wakes him again. In the dark,
a flash of movement catches Hiro's eye. A fuzzy tail. Unable to resist, he
sneaks up behind it. Wait. No, not from here. He re-positions himself from
another angle of attack, and readies himself. No, not here, either. He abandons
that idea and simply bats Krei's tail a little. Krei started up, annoyed at
this, and rolled over.
But there it is, his tail keeps moving every so often involuntarily, enticing
Hiro all the same. He bats at it again, and then leaps through the air and
dives and rolls. One of his smoothest hunting moves, for right now. Krei feels
himself steadily losing patience, and with one eye open he growls. Hiro's human
sense kicks in, and he realizes what he's doing, and mutters a "sorry." Krei
shuts his eyes and continues trying to sleep.
Moments go by. He must be asleep now, by the way his ears twitch every so
often, he must be dreaming about something. Probably Callaghan. Hiro can't help
but smile. There was a sense of irony about it all. All the events until now
had put them all on this island, the very same one responsible for the original
portal experiment. It could very well be, that the whole thing was doomed. He
feels that if he could find Baymax, and the others, they could find out the way
to reverse this transformation and to stop Callaghan. And he could do that.
But now, it's just so damn cold. He snuggles up to that white fur, and makes
himself comfortable against Krei's stomach. The wolf halfway opens his eyes.
"What are you doing?"
"It's cold." Hiro says. He didn't know if Krei is sleep talking or what. The
canine drifts back off. The white fur is soft, and fuzzy, and he feels better.
He snuggles right up to the canine's side. He looks over. He wonders if, maybe
if he listens hard enough, he could hear Baymax's jets. But all he hears is the
sound of crickets, and the water far away.
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