I Didn't Realize

Chapter 36

  I still rode on Hiro's back, but now, Gogo rode on Baymax's right wing, and Honey Lemon on his left. The island wasn't that far away now. Fred dangled from one of Baymax's legs, attempting to look as if he were flying on his own, while Wasabi clung to the other one, seemingly fearing for his life.
"Killer view," Gogo marveled, actually looking impressed for once.
"Yeah. If I... if I wasn't terrified of heights, I might actually enjoy this," Wasabi's distressed voice called from below. "But I'm terrified of heights, so I don't love this." I chuckled at Wasabi, sounding almost like a child, as Baymax flew closer and closer to the island. Being right against Hiro's back, I could feel his heart beat, thundering out of control, and his breathing was extremely rapid.
"Hiro, are you okay?" He didn't look back at me, in fear of knocking me off, but I could tell he was trying to smile and reassure me.
"I'm fine, Mae. I'm just... we're finally going to catch Krei. He'll get the justice he deserves." I nodded and kept silent after that, but I knew that wasn't the full reason he was one sentence away from a full-blown panic attack. "There." Hiro pointed to an open spot in the fenced area of the building. "Baymax, take us in." The armored robot slowed down, then slowly lowered, making sure not to crush Wasabi and Fred. Everyone climbed off, and once Hiro did, he reached for my hand, almost in desperation, and held on tight. I looked at him in concern, but decided to not say anything.
"Awesome! Our first landing together as a team!"
"Fred, you are the biggest fangirl I have ever met in my life." I looked at everyone else nodded. "Guys, come on." We walked to where the entrance to the building was, passing by several signs that could warn us from going any closer. Wasabi was walking the farthest behind, cowering a little more at every sign he read.
"'Quarantine?'" He hissed. "Do you people know what 'quarantine' means?"
"Quarentine: enforced isolation to prevent contamination that could lead to disease, or in some cases, death."
"There's a skull face on this one. A skull face!" I turned around to look at Wasabi, my pink hair flying.
"Could you grab me that one? I can put it on my wall." Wasabi flashed me an unamused look and I laughed at my own joke, then turned back around. We stood in front of the door, our nerves all on edge.
"Be ready," Hiro cautioned. "He could be anywhere." Something snapped behind us, and we all jumped on it, firing our weapons like crazy. I lifted away some loose wires from the fence and brought them to my hands, then began swinging at the air.
"Fire!" Fred screamed, voice still slightly muffled by the head of his suit. "Spitting fire! Spitting fire!" The dust cleared, revealing a circle of where our materials hit, completely avoiding a pigeon that just sat there, staring at us. I face palmed, careful not to crush my glasses.
"That... was a bird," I sighed, feeling embarrassed.
"Well, at least we know our gear works." I smiled at Honey's ever-present optimism. Wasabi stepped up to the doors, and rather than trying to open them, he activated one of his hand blades and dug it into the steel of the doors. Much like a Jedi from Star Wars, Wasabi began moving the blade in a large circle so that we all could step through. However, when it came time for him to finish the circle, he messed up and ended up veering way off. He groaned and back tracked, forming the crooked circle. The metal fell to the ground, and one-by-one, we entered, Gogo rolling her eyes at Wasabi. Fred walked in the back of the group, and as we walked down a long, dark corridor, he began singing.
"Seven intrepid friends led by Fred, their leader, Fred. Fred's Angels... Fred's Angels. Harnessing the power of the sun with the ancient amulet they found in the attic. The amulet is green. It's probably an emerald."
"Fred?" Fred stopped and looked at Wasabi. "I will laser-hand you in the face."
"Please do," I encouraged.
"Guys." Everyone shut up so that Hiro could be heard. "Any sign of him, Baymax?" The robot tried scanning, but looked at us in defeat.
"This structure is interfering with my sensor."
"Perfect. Robot's broken," Wasabi deadpanned. Everyone kept walking, except for Honey Lemon, who had stopped to look through a narrow doorway. I stopped and looked at her, halting the whole group.
"Honey?" I asked, concerned.
"Guys, you might want to see this." I helped her pry open the doors so everyone could enter. In front of us stood giant, broken circles, looking as if they had been burnt. To our left, there was a control room looking as ancient as the rings.
"What do you think it is, genius?" I whispered to Hiro, who let go of my hand.
"I'm not sure, but look." Hiro pointed to one of the rings, and there, imprinted on it, was the red and white bird symbol from before. We walked into the control room and began pushing buttons. Honey Lemon was able to pull up camera footage of something that seemingly happened recently.
"Hiro..." We all gathered around the monitor. There stood Krei, talking to some government officials.
"Krei..."
"That's right. We were asked to do the impossible. That's what we did. We've reinvented the very concept of travel. Friends, I present Project Silent Sparrow." The rings powered up, to reveal that they were teleporters. "General, may I?" The official looking man handed Krei his hat. and he threw it into one of the rings, and it came out the other one, landing in a man's hands. The man who caught it threw it back, and the hat went back to its owner perfectly fine.
"Magic hat..." I rolled my eyes at Fred's stupidity.
"Teleportation: the transport of matter instantaneously through space. Not science fiction any more." The view switched to another camera, revealing Krei and the others standing in the control room we were currently in. Some scientist-looking people pushed buttons, making sure the portals stayed stable. "Now, we didn't spend billions of tax dollars to teleport hats. Ladies and gentlemen, you're here to witness history." Krei pushed a button and began speaking over an intercom. "Ready to go for a ride, Abigail?" The camera switched again, revealing a young girl in a white suit stepping into a pod.
"We've invited all these people. Might as well give them a show." The camera switched again, now back to the control room.
"T-minus thirty seconds to launch. Twenty nine... twenty eight..."
"This is argo. Capsule's in position."
"Twenty seven..."
"Sir, we've picked up a slight irregularity in the magnetic containment field."
"Mr. Krei, is there a problem?"
"No, no. No problem. It's well within the parameters. Let's move forwards. Three... two... one..."
"Cabin pressure is go."
"Pod engaged." The camera switched to Abigail's view, but the footage began breaking up, and the portals began freaking out.
"Field breach! Abort!" The footage from Abigail's camera cut off, and it flashed back to the control room.
"Oh no..." Honey Lemon whispered.
"It's breaking up! The pilots gone!"
"Portal two is down!"
"The magnetic containment field's down." The portals began sucking in materials surrounding it, out of control.
"Krei, shut it down now!" Krei smashed a button, and everything shut down. Abigail was forever lost. "I want this island sealed off!" Hiro stopped the footage and we all turned around as Hiro walked over to stand next to Baymax.
"The government shut down Krei's experiment..."
"...and he's using your Microbots to steal his machine back. Krei's the guy in the mask."
"Oh no." We all turned around just to see a panel come smashing towards us. Everyone ducked and Hiro covered me, but Baymax was, luckily, strong enough to stop the panel of concrete from crushing us. My lungs began to sting, and I found myself coughing hysterically, barely able to breathe.
"Baymax, get us out of here!" Baymax threw the panel back, revealing the man in the mask. I tried to stand, but my lungs were too weak, and I collapsed back to the ground. Hiro placed his hand behind my head and looked up at the others.
"Go for the transmitter, behind his mask." I coughed harder, my lungs attempting to rid themselves of all the dust. The others raced off, and Hiro looked down at me. "Mae, are you all right?" I could barely squeak out a response.
"Y-ye-yeah." I let out another cough and began tasting blood. Hiro turned to the robot.
"Baymax, do you have an inhaler."
"I am programmed to provide for all of my patients needs." There was a compartment in his armor, and out of it he pulled my inhaler, the same color as his armor. I quickly took it, and after a few more coughing fits, I was able to stand. I was a little light-headed, so Hiro helped me up onto Baymax, and the three of us flew over to the others. Honey Lemon threw down some slippery chemical meant to slow down the masked man, but instead, Wasabi ended up slipping on it, and crashed into Fred.
"Oh my god..." I muttered. "Hiro, shall we take care of this?" Baymax shot out his rocket fist, sending Krei tumbling to the ground. We all went down to meet him, and Hiro snatched up the mask he had worn that fell to the ground. The hooded man, Krei's apprentice, emerged from the shadows and stood over Krei.
"It's over, Krei." The man stood up, and the Hooded Man removed his face covering. I practically screamed at who it was.
And then I looked at the man in the mask.