Big Hero 7

Chapter 57 - Afterburn

(A/N): Hello, everyone! Sorry for the hiatus! I'm back to writing and should have the whole fanfic finished and uploaded before August starts. If anyone is a fan of Gravity Falls or Over the Garden Wall, I'll be working on fanfics for those too and will upload them after Big Hero 7 is finished! Without further ado... I present Chapter 57!

Chapter 57

(Hiro's POV)

A week had passed since the fight in the warehouse. We had infiltrated the rest of the base and searched the computers, learning that Yama was planning on building multiple even more powerful robots. Now, my team was sitting in the café and we were whispering about plans to take Yama and Evan out. The café's television was on in the background as a news reporter spoke.

"So remind me again why we can't just barge in and attack? I know we still don't know where Yama's main hideout is, but we can attack Evan's hideout at the least, right?" Fred questioned.

"That would back fire horribly on us. We'd be busy taking out Evan's bots and Yama would probably try to strike while we were busy," Gogo objected.

"It helps that they're split up because now they don't have full force on us, but now we have to fight two fronts at once. We have to really plan this and be strategic," I agreed with Gogo.

"What about asking Afterburn for help?" Wasabi voiced. "She helped us last time and she said she was on our side."

"True, but we don't know how to contact her," I sighed.

"Plus, we don't really know who she is or why she helped us. It could be another trap like with Tadashi," Gogo reminded.

"This is so frustrating!" I groaned.

"BIG HERO 6!" A familiar voice shouted from the television. We all spun around to see that Evan was on the screen. "You really should hide yourselves better... Practically the entire city knows your identities... After the little incident with Tadashi, I figured out where you live. I've had all of the time since then to gather my resources and prepare. Let's see how you handle this," he trailed off before the screen turned to static and then back to the news channel. It took me only a moment to realize what he was getting at.

"Everyone! Evacuate the café!" I screamed. The four of us hurried everyone outside. I used the watch Akira had given me to turn on Baymax, as I had altered it slightly. Baymax came tumbling down the steps and we had to push him to get out in time.

Just as we made it out of the building, it burst into flames with a loud explosion. The five of us that made it out last were flung to the pavement, but Baymax managed to pull all of us into him in time. It wasn't enough, so we still had a few scrapes on our hands and knees, but it saved us from more injury. Baymax helped us up.

I looked up at my home to see it completely engulfed in flames and the houses nearby beginning to burn too as families evacuated from them. It was all crumbling down before me. Everything was in there. The pictures of my friends and family, my laptop, Tadashi's stuff, gifts from my friends, everything.

"Let the games begin," every nearby radio and car spoke out with Evan's voice.

(•-•) (•-•) (•-•) TIME SKIP: A few hours (•-•) (•-•) (•-•)

The firefighters had come and put the fires out. Our house was just a pile of ashes and rubble, and the houses next to us, including Akira and Lyn's house, were badly charred. Most of the civilians had left or been taken to the hospital for any injuries. Baymax had also put disinfectant and bandages on the few scrapes that my team had received.

I stepped forwards towards the charred mass in front of me. The sound of crunching echoed as I walked through the debris. I heard a slightly louder crack, so I looked down, only to see a picture of Tadashi, Cass, and I from several years ago. The frame was blackened and the photo was in pretty bad shape, but it was still intact. I reached down and removed the picture from the broken frame before slipping it into my pocket. I continued walking through the rubble only to see a hint of metallic red. I walked to it and picked it up. It was a fragment of Baymax's suit, but it was horribly scratched and misshaped.

That's when another glimmer of metal caught my eye. I picked it up, only to see it was the security bot that Akira and I had created, but badly charred and completely ruined. I let it slip from my hands and then shuffled back out of the ashes. My legs and hands were covered in ash from shifting through the rubble. Once I made it back to the street, I looked at the others. Cass was in tears with Wasabi comforting her, Baymax was covered in ashes, and Gogo and Fred were seriously shaken up.

I looked across the street when I noticed somebody out of place standing there. Of course there were some firefighters, investigators, and civilians still. Heck, even Ms.Lyn was there in the crowd. But this one person stood out... Afterburn. She was standing there in the back watching us. I quickly walked straight for her, ignoring everyone in my way and pushing them if necessary. Instead of moving or running, she just stood there watching me come towards her.

"I promise you, Hiro. I will do everything in my power to make them pay for this," her mix of voices said with determination as I reached her.

"Who are you?" I sounded strongly. She didn't speak and didn't move. "Baymax!" I called. The white robot hobbled over to us from across the street. "Scan her." I ordered.

"Scanning now," he told me. "Unable to conduct scan."

"What?" I asked, astonished. "Do it again."

"Scanning now. Unable to conduct scan."

"Why not?"

"My scanning device will not work on her," he explained.

"If you really want to know, you must figure it out on your own. You're smart. I've given you enough hints. But I will say, I'd prefer for my identity to remain hidden for now, so if you do figure it out, don't say a word to anyone for right now," she told me.

What hints? Wait... No. It doesn't make sense. But the clues all point that way. Her name was Afterburn, she barely had to hit the robots to knock them out, she knew my name, she was helping us, she wore goggles that nobody should be able to see out of clearly, her boots used something akin to hover tech, and she was trying to stay hidden.

"Look, I have no idea who you are. Your hints point somewhere that they shouldn't," I observed.

"Sherlock once said that once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth," she answered before turning around. "I'll talk to you later tonight. Find a computer and wait." I stood there in shock as she left without another word. There was no way... There was no way Akira survived the fire, right?!