//------------------------------// // 219. Here Comes Heroes. // Story: Baa-Ram-Ewe! // by Darkonshadows //------------------------------// -Inside Ms. Shuttle somewhere in San Fransokyo, Shanty- “Shock.” Ms. Shuttle announced and the slow beeping continued afterwards. Both Dormarch and I be sighing with relief, Dormarch not be letting his eyes off of Pom for even a moment. He be looking restless and I be hearing he be calling Pom his mother. I moved over to him and put my hooves around him carefully, he stiffened then relaxed as I held him close. “Why do I think that things are only going to get worse in the city?” Looking away from the near corpse that was Pom, I tried to think of happier thoughts. Like what will come from the metal egg of my familiar Dodo, would he even be remembering me? “With our collective luck so far and how bad off we all happen to be currently Shanty, do you really even need to ask?” Grumbled Smolder from where she laying. “I’ve been stuck with my spine splinted for days, but you don’t hear me complaining about it constantly.” “We, personally, will be avoiding all unnecessary fighting unless the situation requires it. By that I mean I will provide artillery support and that’s about it.” Ms. Shuttle be showing us the situation by way of something called SAT on a map of the city. “You can help me by monitoring the situation, also I ask that all of you please take care of your own health. Remember to eat, drink and use the restroom.” I still be hurting, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have it in me to put up a scrap if it came down to it. I would only be doing so if we were found, for once I didn’t feel like fighting and knew that fighting would be a bad thing this close to Pom as she was. After Dodo’s close call, that I can even still feel bits of his personality as being intact was a miracle, I really didn’t want to be almost losing anyone else. Pom was strong, she had to pull through after willingly giving her all for us and others. I was quite willing to do the same for her. Thankfully I couldn’t do Shock Ram, but seeing her like this again brought back some painful memories of weeks of not knowing if she would ever wake up. -Skies of San Fransokyo, Hiro- “Hero, what does SAT see about unknown red robot seen near our position?” Quietly asked Mini-Max, it was worrying when one of your sub members was quiet and not blasting the normal overblown heroic confidence we’ve come to associate him with. He was actually a good sidekick and recon unit for our team. “I have one image as Oracle Ocellus went back to see it and I followed her. Abigail noticed it on the rooftops and what I want to know is if there is more than one, so that we can minimize our interactions with them optimally to the max.” I decided to humor him and looked it up on my visor… that… The number of red blips throughout all of San Fransokyo was not a good sign, at least none of them were near Bunny Shuttle. “There are more than a hundred of them in the city, all skulking around on rooftops, alleyways or hiding in corners or odd place and seem to be looking for something.” I answered after looking over the data of how they were spread out around the city in a grid pattern. Thankfully SAT was giving us knowledge of their appearances across the city and they were hiding all over the place. “All the red robots seem to be primarily made up of an abnormal materials… some of which are not found on this planet. The materials are not magnetic, they appear to have readings synonymous with weaponry based on energy within their arms.” Paling in thought at Baymax’s words. This wasn’t just the random villain invasion, we were also being invaded by a number of unknowns on top of many knowns. This might become another Saint Canard Crisis, we didn’t have the numbers to deal with all of this at once, even with Globby possibly being able to handle at least one of the problems. At best we were going to be mitigating the damage. The main question was, how did someone get that many robots in the city without anyone noticing their movements before now? “They seem to be doing nothing at the moment, but the spread of their placement indicates they are searching for something or someone within the city.” “Well keep them in mind Baymax, we vaguely know what they are capable of and we don’t know when they will start attacking or what their target is.” Though if most of this was centered on Abigail, Wower or any number of other people, then we were going to be busy today. “Be advised guys, be wary of red robots hiding around the city. They are not active yet, but there are enough of them that they could turn hostile any second, so sneak attacks are likely to happen if you aren’t paying attention. They are unknown force and there are literal hundreds of them staying out of sight for the time being throughout the city. SAT is at least picking them up and marking their movements on your HUDs.” “Guys, I don’t know how, but these robot bug cultist guys know Leap Lamb is around, they keep shouting about the greatness of some guy call Beelzebug... also they seem to catch fire and explode a lot. Otherwise they seem somewhat harmless despite trying to attack me, apparently they keep saying time travel is involved or something? ” Wasabi didn’t sound panicked, but he sounded concerned. “They really aren’t that dangerous now that I’m really paying attention, they are doing more damage to themselves trying to attack me really… I think I’ve got this handled, but they won’t stop saying ‘thousands of years ago’ and keep trying to convince my turkeys should be robots. Is it me or do I always get the weird ones? Also one of them just said something about Fred being their ultimate destruction and they need to stop Leap Lamb from telling him something… I can’t make this stuff up man!” “You think that’s weird, I’m in the middle of fighting my cousin Shego who’s a world renowned thief…” Stated Gogo blandly as I heard a grunt of pain. “I might have to withdraw and find a different target to deal with since I’ve distracted them from Dr. Wower and Abigail long enough, also thanks for the heads up about the robots Hiro. As if knowing my cousin and her employer are around isn’t enough paranoia fuel considering the kind of mad science that happens around Dr. Drakken.” “Be advised Motor Ed sighted, you handled his gang before, so you can switch to them if…” I started to say. “Where, I’ll be on him immediately!” Gogo really didn’t like Motor Ed trying to steal her technology, the fact that she managed to beat his entire crew of six trucks and more than twenty people without her costume and just a tire iron said a lot about how scary Gogo could get when she really got going. That she did it by herself was even more impressive, it probably comes with the fact that Gogo works as a mechanic in her spare time. “Sorry cousin, but I hear Motor Ed is around and he’s on my ‘beat the tar out of’ list.” “That might actually be worth seeing.” I heard a feminine voice say from Gogo’s feed. “He’s mostly cruising the city west side around Krei Tech, we do not want another Krei Tech problem in the middle of this! We all know his MO is vehicular technology based thefts, all yours Gogo. Hey Fred, want to swap villains with me? Professor Dementor is getting annoying about his back story.” Bazooka Bunny’s tone went from peppy to whining pretty quickly. “He and his guys are not really difficult, haven’t even needed to bust out the big bunny, it’s just that he won’t stop with the monologue about it how his sister keeps causing him trouble and his mother drove him to villainy!” “Can’t, too busy fighting ninja monkeys… aw, they got cute little swords.” Sounded like Fred-zilla was busy for the time being. “Ahhh they’re stabbing me, NEED TO FOCUS!” “Hiro, we have another problem, apparently Baron Von Steamer is currently getting into a super villain fight with a Professor Norton Nimnul. The damage to the city where they are is escalating.” I don’t think Globby was going to help us here even if he could get ‘maybe’ one villain and we certainly didn’t have enough heroes to go around. We wouldn’t be getting any help from Saint Canard after what happened the day before yesterday. “Are they both fighting one another with machines?” “Yes.” Baymax answered. “We’ll focus on them then, but if the red robots start attacking or show any unusual signs of activity then notify me immediately Baymax, you too Mini-Max. Also stick with Leap Lambs team members Mini-Max, you’re to assist them to the best of your abilities.” Baymax swooped down and we saw what Baron Von Steamer the steam machine maker and Norton Nimnul world renowned crackpot ‘insanity plea’ scientist were fighting with. “This… is going to be a rough day, we might even have to ask for Globby’s help.” “While you’re doing that I’ll deal with Drakken or at the very least Shego, no thief is coming onto my turf without answering to me!” Momakase, how did she get on our communications network?! At least she seemed willing to help. “Just giving you a heads up of what I’m doing hero.” -Momakase- I threw my knife as soon as Wheel Cat was clear of the last plasma blast from her cousin Shego and I swung down to land on the ground. I silently checked my numerous knives with my movements and looked to Shego. “You’re on my turf.” I stated as I stalked forward, I was still a thief even if I was trying to keep my nose clean. “Then kick me off it!” Shego stated with a grin. Wheel Cat had put up one heck of a fight, but Shego was still hungry for more as her cousin went to hunt down Motor Ed. “Come on Shego, we need to go!” Dr. Drakken tried. “No can do Dr. D, you know what my contract says about thief fights.” Shego’s hands lit with a glow as I took up my dodged knife and pulled out my main blade. “Besides, I’ve always wanted to see if Momakase was really good or was just all talk.” -Elsewhere, ???- “Guys, big trouble!” One shadow figure shouted as he hit an alarm on their base attracting everyone’s attention. “What is it, it better not be a false…” One of the five other shadows that swiftly arrived started to say, it was a female shadow with goggles. She looked at the screen that youngest among them was watching. “Hunter Drones in San Fransokyo, also there’s another mass villain outbreak. Unlike Saint Canard they don’t have enough heroes to deal with that many issues, they won’t be getting much timely backup.” A really large shadow stated pointing at the screen of the various things going on in San Fransokyo. He sounded calm and wise. “They need our help.” “Why are those Hunter Drones skulking around San Fransokyo though?” The other more lithe female shadow asked with a concerned voice. “I’ll tell you why.” A tall and suave looking male shadow stated. “You ever hear of the ‘Yokai’ portal incident? Abigail Callaghan was saved from the experimentation of portal technology years after the fact of what was an accident that was thought to have killed her. She didn’t age a day or so some say, she’s been laying low ever since. If she’s capable of creating portal technology with the need for less aggressive unusual power sources that can tear holes in the dimensional boundaries…” After trailing off, all of the shadows shivered and turned to their leader. “This situation definitely involves us, ready the Aerowing and load up the Migrator!” The armored shadow stated with a glowing mask. “Grab whatever gear you can in five, this is an emergency and those heroes won’t know what’s awaiting them if those Hunter Drones decide to start tearing apart the city to find their target! We need to prevent the capture of this Abigail Callaghan and get there like yesterday!” With that they were all scrambling to get ready for a fight. They were six crime fighting vigilante heroes, each embodying an element of harmony in their own ways. After running about and they were ready in less than two and a half minutes, then they were on their way to San Fransokyo loaded for a long fight. -San Fransokyo Hotel, Penny Forrester’s room, Dolly- “Ugh, really, dim vole is here!?” At least he wasn’t currently my problem. “Big Hero Six are getting hammered out there...” I paced around, despite my bandages pulling at my cuts and irritating me further than I currently was knowing that the animal hating squinty glasses guy was around. At least he was fighting that evil looking steam punk guy and not any actual heroes. “They are doing pretty well, considering they are outnumbered and are practically like a turtle stuck on their backs being surrounded by vultures.” Not going to lie Mittens, that was a pretty good read on the situation. “At least they don’t have to get stuck in, they can retreat easily enough. That would just be letting most of the villains invading the city win though. Might not be a bad idea to let some of them go about their business as the fighting is causing a lot of property damage.” “Yeah, it doesn’t help that Magica is around trying to attack me, if she’s here then Phantom Blot can’t be too far behind her either and that guy would be bad news for you guys too.” What could we do? Not many great options here, if I get into the fighting I’d be exposing the fact that Pom was in San Fransokyo again to anyone that recognized me. A Dalmatian doing a bunch of weird things would be kind of highly noticeable considering I am Pom’s primary sidekick. Also I don’t know how many of the mercenaries were actually caught the last time we were here. Out of one crisis and after basically twenty four hours, straight into the next back to back from pan directly into a fire. It’s a good thing Dalmatians can handle the heat pretty well, but still... “If you see completely black cloaked guy with glowing eyes aiming a golden gauntlet thing at you, dodge, he’ll try to drain your powers right out of you.” Something about this hotel seemed fairly familiar… oh dog, is this the same hotel where Pom and I slept on the elevator?! Small world, there was a decent escape route now. -Ocellus- Dolly was anxious, but she was also wanting to get out there, when she saw that Professor Nimnul guy she even growled a bit in recognition. She was conversing with the animals about who knows what, but I knew she was taking this situation seriously. “Things… are not going so well out there are they?” Penny asked slowly, she was trying to remain calm and was doing a good job of it. The Power Pets, Penny’s name for the super powered trio of animals possibly infected with Equus friendship magic, looked raring to defend everyone here alongside Dolly. We were not currently under threat though, everyone the streets were in more danger than we were at the moment. “Well do you have any ideas as to what we can do to help? While I could go out there I don’t want to, Dolly shouldn’t go out there and staying put is in our best interests.” I had to keep everyone grounded on the idea that, no, we weren’t going to rush out and start doing heroics. Pom would only do so if people’s lives were endangered, but we were not Pom and I would like to think I had better common sense and more intact self-preservation instincts. “Unless you know heroes that can help out. We’re not going to do absolutely anything to draw attention to ourselves.” “Information from an anonymous source… watch out for red robots, they are confirmed to be after Ms. Callaghan. Trying to maximize potential source of the information by trace.” Mini-Max paused and looked about. “I cannot seem to trace it back to whoever sent it, but it states that Big Hero Six should keep Abigail Callaghan protected at all costs or else the world is doomed.” “Why did I ever invent teleportation technology?” Lamented Abigail as she covered her nose with her paws. “Hey you just wanted to help make the world a better place, even If you originally planned it for package deliveries only and not actual live people.” Wower crouched down and cuddled her companion and friend. “Though live people being able to teleport would have been awesome, no jet lag from commercial flights for one!” “Admittedly that was one of the reasons I created teleportation technology… I don’t like flying.” Whined Abigail as she curled up on the couch putting her nose under her big fluffy tail. “I might have an idea, there is a hero anyone can call at any time, provided they can interest her and her companions enough to show up. She’s almost willing to take any case and will do just about anything if it’s in the name of making the world a better place.” With that Penny went to the computer she turned on to watch what was going on around us, she eventually came up to a site with the name ‘Kim Possible’ showing a cheerleader biped fox. “A cheerleader?” Well cheerleading was fun, but how would she help. “She’s more than a cheerleader, some of the villains currently in San Fransokyo are the ones she tends to fight with alarming regularity.” Penny stated as she sent a message. “She’s a really good hero, she also has a funny sidekick and an intelligent mole rat named Rufus.” -???- “Do-de-do-do~.” Came the sound from a girls pants, she pulled out how her communicator. “What is it Wade?” The biped red headed fox known as Kim Possible stated. “Kim, we’re getting hits from the west coast. You might not have been able to show up for the Saint Canard Crisis due to the communications blackout, but there are a lot of people asking for help in San Fransokyo. A number of your villains are present, but I don’t think you ever faced anyone quite like Professor Nimnul or Baron Von Steamer before. Shego and Dr. Drakken are present, along with Monkey Fist to name a few…” Wade, a large heavyset bird, didn’t get much farther. “Where’s my ride and how soon can we get there to help out the local defenders?” It didn’t take long before Kim, her best friend Ron and their little buddy Rufus were on their way to assist San Fransokyo with a villain problem. She hoped Big Hero Six were as good as some people said they were. Individually they didn’t sound as great, but together they were a better team than even ‘Team Go’ was. “Sending you pick up information, though I’m still wondering how we’re getting such high level transportation for you helping a pregnant horse. Anyway, you are going to need to find and protect Abigail Callaghan. Someone has sent a message that she’s being sought out for her teleportation technology knowledge.” Wade paused before adding. “Apparently Penny Forrester states that they received a message that there’s world ending consequences involved if she is captured. Be on the lookout for red robots among the many villains. Big Hero Six are doing surprisingly well individually. In Particular Wheel Cat and Fredzilla are dealing with Monkey Fist and Motor Ed quite well from what people are seeing.” “Maybe I won’t have to actually use mystical monkey mojo this time?” Stated Kim’s best friend Ron Stoppable as he arrived, he was a lanky biped ferret who was shivering slightly at the thought and he had Rufus the mole rat sitting on his shoulder. -Penny’s Hotel Room, Ocellus- Estimate Time of Arrival, twenty minutes. Wow, that fast? “How accurate would that be?” There was some skepticism from me, given the distance they would be traveling. “Pretty accurate, Kim has a lot of help getting around.” Penny stated, she also sent Wade some extra knowledge about the team currently protecting Abigail, her Power Pets. She also made vague mention that some Team Leap Lamb members were on site, but she couldn’t tell Wade who they were because Leap Lamb was in critical health condition and asked if there was any help he could give in keeping any assassins from targeting her. Pom needed everything we could give her so that she would have a chance to live. -Load house, Wade Load- “Huh, more information, apparently we have the person who warned about the robots as the head of her own small hero team acting as bodyguards for Abigail Callaghan at the moment. You might want to look into that when you arrive.” She sent me a cute pic of four animals, two of them were familiar for some reason… I forwarded that to Kim. “Can you confirm any of this information Wade?” Already enroute, Kim was being kept up date on the situation in San Fransokyo by me. Dr. Drakken and Shego were both still in the area despite having fought with Wheel Cat for a short while, they were currently being distracted by the sharp bladed thief Momakase. They didn’t seem to be leaving it in a quick manner at all considering Shego seemed to be enjoying herself. “Why does the name Penny Forrester sound familiar?” Ron asked. “Hold on… child actor of the popular Bolt the Super Dog show, quit after a fire on the set nearly took her life and her agent tried to use it as publicity. Her dog Bolt apparently ended up being accidentally shipped to New York beforehand. Leap Lamb was apparently rumored or vaguely spotted crossing the country with Bolt in tow back to Hollywood in time to help save several people that were working on the set with Caper Canine when it went up in flame, while Bolt personally rescue his owner’s life. Apparently Leap Lamb went through some major trouble with getting the star of the show back to his owner alive and well.” While there was a connection to Leap Lamb, I didn’t think… wait… the Dalmatian… was that Caper Canine in the pic without her gear?! Okay, I think I can confirm this as legit to Kim. “Can confirm Abigail’s possible location, one of her bodyguards is Caper Canine.” “Always wanted to meet the world’s most popular skateboarding dog.” Ron stated pleasantly. “Also Rufus has some monkey mojo too you know, so mystically empowered animals are not impossible.” “Coo pup, yeah!” Rufus stated in a childish manner before hopping and taking a fighting stance. I still wondered about Rufus being able to verbalize some words, that he was doing it before he got some mystical monkey power was something of note. “Monkey mojo, hiyah!” “Focus Ron, we’re going to be hitting the ground running, if we have time we can try to get to know Caper Canine afterwards.” Kim never had to tell Rufus that, he was always on top of everything for being so small. Rufus generally stayed out of trouble. -Ocellus- I was actually considering taking action, but could I actually fake being Abigail Callaghan well enough though? I have a ridiculous plan!