Masses of black moved through the side streets, sliding beneath parked vehicles and swarming around the Hydra agents standing in front of the café. Hiro shifted on Baymax's back, tentatively straightening his legs and moving to a low crouch. His magnetic gloves detached, hovering in the air as he took a step forward, shoe pad attaching to the shoulder pod. He stood on Baymax's back, staring down at the swirling mass beneath them. His eyes flicked over the area and his mind began to work quickly. Thoughts began to rapidly fire through his brain, sending signals to each and every microbot on the ground. The neurotransmitter, embedded in his helmet, channeled his desired moves. Tendrils of black rose into the air and slammed down, coiled around black vehicles and squeezed, shoved agents away- everything he could do to clear a path for them.

Hiro settled back onto Baymax's back. "Let's get in there."
The bot twisted in the air, thrusters firing off loudly as they dive bombed towards the ground. The wind whipped along the wings, flying by Hiro and flapping the material of his sleeves. He braced himself for the sudden jerk of the robot's frame, Baymax quickly pulling into an upright position. When his pedes hit the ground, the cement cracked underneath, making their arrival apparent and slightly foreboding. Hiro glared over the bot's shoulder, fingers curled against the armor. The microbots around them coiled upwards, long tendrils reaching to the sky, points aimed downwards.
"All right, nobody move," Hiro commanded, sliding from Baymax's back.

He turned to face the entrance of the café. "Bucky," he called, not knowing what answer he would receive. He stepped forward, slowly and cautiously, microbots swirling along the ground and moving along the ground as he stepped. "Bucky, are you still in here-."
"Hiro-!" Baymax's arms moved around him quickly and, out of instinct, Hiro thought of a shield. The microbots formed a sphere around them, just in time to hold off a barrage of bullets. He turned to look at Baymax, feeling cramped in the small coverage.
"Looks like we're gonna have to take care of the guys outside first," he said, looking around the interior of the sphere, "Attack them from the air. I can get them from the ground. Make sure you use your rockets to destroy their cars, not them. We're not here to kill anybody. We just wanna stop them."
He grabbed onto Baymax's shoulders and pulled him down, resting their helmets together.
"Our programming prevents us from injuring a human being."
Baymax's optics shuttered and he nodded. He moved his arms and hugged around the smaller boy, pulling him in tight. Hiro held onto him, squeezing his armor.

He pulled away and pat Baymax's helmet. "All right, buddy. This is it. On three, you get to the air, I'll keep them distracted." He could hear the rattle of the microbots on the outside of the sphere.
"One."
"Get rid of that kid," a muffled voice shouted.
"Two."
"Guns trained on him. We're not going to leave empty handed."
"Three!"
"Fire-!"

The microbots exploded, scattering across the short distance between the café's front doors and the agents outside. Baymax took to the air in a flurry of motion, rocket fists raining down to split some of the agents up. Hiro ducked down from the swinging end of a gun, lifting his hand and palming the man in the throat. He kicked his midsection and twisted around, microbots swatting him away.
"Baymax!" He threw the discarded gun into the air, a rocket fist immediately breaking it to pieces. He turned on his heel, microbots spinning around him, spreading out to whack more agents down. Some wound around them tightly, keeping them tied together. Other tendrils slammed down in attempts to prevent agents from flanking him. Baymax curved in the air, heading down for another swift barrage of rocket fists. Hiro was moving quickly, trying to keep the agents from swarming him, microbots moving in masses through the open street around them.

His goal was still to get into the café. If the agents were still there, then that meant that Bucky was still inside, though Hiro didn't know with who. He was just about to make his way inside when he heard something whizz by his audial. Then he felt something slam into his helmet and tear it from his head. He jerked to the side as he fell and turned, seeing a man standing with a gun aimed at him. Hiro froze, eyes wide.
"You're getting yourself into one giant mess, kid," the man said, advancing on him. With his helmet off, the microbots sputtered and fell to the ground, releasing the agents once captured. They advanced upon him quickly and he slid backwards, back pressing to the doorframe of the café's front doors.
"You should have never gone in that alley."

Hiro tensed, his mind reeling. Baymax was moving in from the air, heading his direction, but Hiro knew a bullet was faster. He could see the index finger slowly curving and he clenched his eyes closed. All he could think about was his Aunt. His poor Aunt who had already lost on nephew. Sometimes Hiro thought that the reason she pulled through was because they were both grieving in their own way and she pushed her concern onto Hiro to help him. In a way, they had become closer as they moved through the sorrow. Within Hiro, she saw so much of Tadashi; Hiro saw his brother in himself. They were a family, even if it wasn't what a normal family should be. He couldn't imagine his Aunt losing her second nephew- her only remaining links to her family. He heard the click of the gun and he tensed, preparing to face Tadashi and his disapproving speech.

He heard the gunshot go off, yet he felt no pain. Was death that quick? He didn't think it would be painless. He felt a large hand on his shoulder and he snapped his eyes open, head jerking upwards. He saw Baymax staring down at him, Bucky's back facing him. The bullet fell from the silver hand, a gun in the other. There was movement and all Hiro could see were the flashes of Bucky's gun and the numerous agents going down.
"Scan complete. Hiro, you are unharmed."
"Bucky," Hiro breathed, moving to stand with Baymax's help.
"You're an idiot," Bucky snapped, looking over his shoulder. There was concern in his voice, worry lingering beneath the angry tones.
"I came back to help you," he said, moving to stand quickly, "You don't need to kill them."
"I'm not," Bucky said, looking back at Hiro, "I don't want to do that anymore."

Hiro nodded and rolled his shoulders. Without his helmet, he didn't have any true weapons at his disposal. Except a few he had been experimenting with, of course. He reached into his utility belt, pulling out a retractable rod. He pressed the button on the side, green electricity dancing along the metal, crackling dangerously. He pulled himself back, narrowly avoiding the swing of a knife. He twisted the baton and sliced it upwards, green electricity cutting through the steel weapon like paper. He stepped forward and slammed his foot into the man's gut, shoving him back. He turned, seeing more armed agents headed their way.
"Baymax! Rocket fist!"
The robot launched his fist forward, slamming a group of agents back and rendering them unconscious. Another impacted an oncoming black vehicle, sending it into the side lane with no movement from inside. Hiro winced, hoping that everyone was at least still alive.
"Baymax, scan and make sure no one's dead!"

Hiro backed up, bumping into someone much taller. Bucky turned to regard Hiro before looking back at the Hydra swarm.
"I hate these guys," Hiro huffed, swiping his glove across his face, "There's so many of them."
"They travel in packs," Bucky replied, shooting his last round. He threw the gun aside, pulling out a knife instead. "We're gonna have to fight our way out."
"I figured." Hiro lifted his baton and his other fist. He glared, brown eyes focused on any movement. Hydra wanted Bucky alive, so they wouldn't kill him, but there was a possibility they may kill Hiro. His eyes flicked to the right at the first lunging agent. He twisted around, swinging his baton in a crescent formation, effectively slicing through a heavy set of gauntlets. Bucky took the moment to sweep the man's leg, reaching down to slam him down. Hiro moved and used Bucky's back as a stepping stone, hoisting himself up and jumping onto the back of another agent. He flicked the baton off and slammed it in front of the agent's neck, pulling back. The man staggered with Hiro on his back, his gloved fingers curled as tight as they could be. Bucky's fist was there quickly, impacting the man's chest and sending him down. Hiro released him, flicked the baton on and took Bucky's offered silver hand. The man twisted and threw the teenager against an armored set of agents.

Baymax's rocket fists echoed in the background and Hiro was grateful. At least Baymax was ensuring that no back up could arrive.

Hiro recalled every cartoon he'd grown up with, holding the baton like a sword. He ducked, swung, ducked and flipped around. The green electricity cut through the armor, slashes joining together to reveal chunks of under armor. A helmet cut apart, back plating cut in two, shin and arm guards undone; he entertained the idea of pretending to be a ninja, but this wasn't the time to exclaim how sick this was. Green flashed as Hiro turned the baton on and off, swinging non-lethal hits to the real bodies beneath the armor. He would have to thank Wasabi for allowing him to work with his lasers; they were coming in handy. Bucky was moving on the outside, silver arm flying out to punch and swing, throwing the now exposed agents down and knocking them against the ground. Hiro was winded by the time the seemingly last agent was taken out.

"Hey... we make a pretty good team," Hiro said, wheezing between words, "I mean, all things considered."
"You're not so bad, kid," Bucky said, but he stopped short of any other words. "Shit."
Hiro turned his head, spotting what Bucky was swearing about. A woman, wobbly on her feet, was loading up an RPG. He felt his blood go cold. Directly behind them was the café - if she even missed by an inch, his entire house would be destroyed. Everything inside would be singed to a crisp. He needed his helmet. He still had microbots, but he needed his helmet. He looked around in a panic, trying to locate it. He spotted it, but it was far. Too far for him to grab it in time. He looked back at the woman and saw her lifting the weapon and aiming.
"Oh no... no- Baymax!"

"Kid, get down," Bucky shouted, grabbing onto Hiro. The teen's eyes frantically searched the sky for the mech, spotting the red soaring through the air and curving to head down towards them at full speed. Large hands scooped up the helmet and Hiro struggled to wrestle free from Bucky's hold. He reached his hands out, grabbing the helmet as soon as it was in reach. He scrambled to put it on, fumbling with the armored piece until it set on his head. The program reset and recognized his neural net.

His eyes flicked towards the woman one last time. He saw the flash and smoke as the RPG was launched towards them and, inevitably, the café. Hiro grabbed onto Bucky's arm and clenched his eyes, willing his mind to do the best it could. Baymax held them both, moving so his back was facing the direction the RPG was coming from.
Protect us! Come on, come on- COME ON!

The explosion was incredibly loud, fire red coiling with dark smoke as it engulfed the café and everything along the street; everything went black.