Chapter 18
Hiro and the group gathered up the projects they had made at SFIT and brought them to Hiro’s garage.
“We’re never going to catch this guy unless we can take out the microbots. So we need to level the playing field,” Hiro said.
He looked at Go Go’s bike, Wasabi’s laser, Honey’s chemical concoctions, and Fred’s Kaiju costume. “Yep,” Hiro said. “We can work with this.”
Hiro had them all stand in front of the garage door. “Arms up,” he directed before running a scanner over them. “The neural transmitter mustbe in his mask. We get the mask and he can’t control the bots. Game over.”
Hiro rolled his chair to his computer workstation. Baymax watched over him as he worked late into the night. Hiro had six screens going in order to modify and design all the new gear. The 3-D printer was working overtime printing out sleek armor for everyone. Each member of the team worked hard, dismantling and redesigning their tech. Hiro worked with everyone on the improvements.
When they were done, Hiro and his friend stook their tech out to Fred’s estate, where they could refine their new skills. Within the walls of the private garden, Fred set the mood by placing a Kabuki mask on Heathcliff.
Then they all suited up. They looked like they belonged in Fred’s collection of superhero action figures.
Honey was thrilled with her new pink body armor. She thought it complemented her blue eyes. Then she looked at her shiny new chem purse. “Oh, I love it! I love it! I love it!” she said. Suddenly, a pink chem-ball popped out and Honey caught it.
“Give it a try,” Hiro said, so she tossed it at Heathcliff. The butler was instantly covered in sticky pink goo. Honey clapped her hands.
Go Go was wowed by her new gear, too. Her yellow mag-lev wheels were modified into discs to fit her feet instead of her bike. This gave her the hyper-speed she’d always dreamed of as she skated along. There were also yellow discs on her arms, which were powerful weapons that could be thrown to cut through anything in her path.
“Got to say, I like it!” Go Go said.
“Take it slow,” Hiro warned.
Go Go pin-wheeled her arms a bit, then found her balance and zoomed around the hedges. She grabbed a garden hose and coiled it around Heathcliff, immobilizing the butler in a flash.
Hiro smiled and put the head of a Kaiju suit on Fred to complete his armor.
“Whoa! This is awesome!” Fred said. He bent his knees and felt himself bounce. Then he took a giant leap, shouting, “Super-jump!”
“And there’s one more thing,” Hiro said while a flame jetted from Fred’s Kaiju jaws.
“I breathe fire!” Fred shouted. He blasted a ring of fire onto the grass around Heathcliff, who seemed to barely notice. Fred was so happy, he nearly cried. “This is the best day of my life,” he told Hiro.
In another part of the garden, wearing his green armor, Wasabi was trying to get comfortable with his new gloves. They were equipped with high-powered retractable lasers that could slice through anything.
Wasabi was terrified of them.
He held them away from his body as he approached a decorative marble pillar. He closed his eyes, and with a single swipe, sliced the pillar in two. He opened his eyes and smiled. “Whoa! Laser hands!”
Hiro smiled. “Guys, I’d like to introduce ... Baymax: Mark 2.”
The friends stared up at the huge robot in awe.
Hiro had designed Baymax’s bright red body armor in a way that amplified his stature and strength. With a purple ribbed midsection that allowed him to bend, he made a powerful impression.
“Ah. He’s glorious!” Fred exclaimed.
Then Honey gathered everyone around Baymax for a quick selfie.
Hiro smiled. “Show ’em what you got, buddy.”They stared at Baymax, but the big robot didn’t seem to understand.
“The fist!” Hiro said to him. “Show them the fist.”
Baymax reached out for a fist bump. “Batalata ... ”
“No, not that,” Hiro said. “You know? The thing ... the other thing.”
Baymax held out his arm and his giant red fist shot out like a rocket. It destroyed a huge flower pot, then smashed through the garden wall.
“Whoa!” was all the team could say.
“My hand is gone.” Baymax stared at the wisps of smoke where his hand used to be. Just then, the fist returned to Baymax’s arm. “It is back,” he said.
“Rocket fist makes Freddie so happy!” Fred squealed.
Hiro nodded. “That’s only one of his new upgrades. Baymax, wings!” Baymax’s fixed carbon-fiber wings deployed.
“No way,” Fred said, dropping his jaw.“Thrusters,” Hiro directed.
“I fail to see how flying makes me a better health-care companion,” Baymax said.
“I fail to see how you fail to see that it’s awesome.” Hiro climbed on Baymax’s back. He locked on to Baymax with magnetic knee pads and gloves that were part of his own black-and-purple armor. And his helmet allowed him to communicate with all the members of the team. “Full thrust!”
Baymax and Hiro took off, but Baymax seemed to have trouble rising into the air. They hit the ground, nearly clobbering the team.
As Baymax and Hiro took off again, the group held its breath. This time Baymax was a little steadier.
Hiro realized they all needed time to sharpen their new skills. And he was right. With some practice, Fred was jumping and shooting flames at targets with absolute precision. Out on Fred’s tennis court, Wasabi began knocking tennis balls out of the air with ease—and they were perfectly sliced in two. Go Go was throwing her discs with lightning speed and control. Honey had mastered the art of launching the chem-balls so that they always hit their mark.
And eventually, Baymax flew through the air like a pro with Hiro on his back. So Hiro decided it was time to really crank it up. He rocketed Baymax over the city, barrel-rolled and banked sharply left, then right, weaving through a tunnel, over and under neon signs. They flew past a high-rise that reflected their own image back at them. It was incredible. Hiro couldn’t help yelling, “Yeah!”
Baymax told him, “Your neurotransmitter levels are rising steadily.”
“Which means what?” Hiro asked.
“The treatment is working,” Baymax explained. Hiro could feel it, too. For the first time since Tadashi’s death, he was happy.
第 18 章
小宏和朋友們把他們?cè)谂f金山理工大學(xué)做的項(xiàng)目都集結(jié)到了小宏的車(chē)庫(kù)中。
“我們不能除掉微型機(jī)器人,就別想抓到那家伙。我們需要?jiǎng)?chuàng)造公平競(jìng)爭(zhēng)的條件。”小宏說(shuō)道。
他看著神行御姐的自行車(chē)、芥末無(wú)疆的激光、哈妮檸檬的化學(xué)制劑調(diào)和物和弗雷德的怪獸裝扮。“耶,”小宏說(shuō)道,“我們就用這些。”
小宏讓大家都站在車(chē)庫(kù)門(mén)口。在他打開(kāi)掃描儀對(duì)大家進(jìn)行掃描之前,他指揮大家道:“舉起手來(lái)”。“神經(jīng)傳感器一定在他的面具里。我們拿到面具,他就不能控制機(jī)器人了。游戲結(jié)束。”
小宏把椅子轉(zhuǎn)向了他的電腦工作站。他連夜工作到很晚,大白在一旁照顧著他。小宏同時(shí)開(kāi)著六臺(tái)電腦,用以修改和設(shè)計(jì)所有新裝備。3D打印機(jī)加班加點(diǎn)一直運(yùn)行著給所有人打印著造型優(yōu)美的盔甲。小組里的每個(gè)人都十分努力地工作著,他們不斷地拆除并重新設(shè)計(jì)自己的高科技裝備。小宏和其他人一起努力做著改進(jìn)。
裝備一改進(jìn)完,小宏就和他的朋友們把高科技裝備帶去了弗雷德的莊園,在那里苦練新技能。在這個(gè)高墻林立的私人花園內(nèi),弗雷德讓希斯克利夫帶上歌舞伎的面具來(lái)制造氣氛。
隨后大家都穿好裝備。他們看起來(lái)就像弗雷德收集的超級(jí)英雄人偶一樣。
哈妮檸檬為她的粉紅色盔甲感到很興奮,因?yàn)樗杏X(jué)它能襯托自己那雙藍(lán)色的眼睛。隨后她看了自己閃著光澤的化學(xué)手袋。“哦!我愛(ài)死它了!我愛(ài)死它了!我愛(ài)它!”她說(shuō)道。突然,從化學(xué)手袋中彈出一顆粉紅色的化學(xué)球,哈妮檸檬抓住了它。
“試試吧,”小宏說(shuō)道。哈妮檸檬將它扔向了希斯克利夫,管家立即被粉紅色的黏性物質(zhì)覆蓋了。哈妮檸檬拍起手來(lái)。
神行御姐也在為她的新裝備喝彩著。她的黃色磁懸浮輪子被改裝成了裝在腳上的磁盤(pán),而不再是裝在自行車(chē)上。這使她在滑行的時(shí)候具有了她一直夢(mèng)寐以求的超高速度。她的胳膊上也配備了黃色的飛盤(pán),這是她的有力武器,可以扔出去切割任何阻擋她行進(jìn)的東西。
“我得承認(rèn),我很喜歡它!”神行御姐說(shuō)道。
“慢點(diǎn)滑,”小宏警告道。
神行御姐劃動(dòng)了幾下胳膊,隨即她找到了平衡,繞著籬笆飛快地滑行起來(lái)。她從花園里拽起一段澆水用的軟管,把它纏繞在希斯克利夫身上,瞬間就把管家弄得動(dòng)彈不得。
小宏笑著把怪獸裝備的頭套給弗雷德戴上,這樣他的盔甲就完整了。
“哇哦!這個(gè)太酷了!”弗雷德說(shuō)道。他屈了屈膝試了一下自己的彈力。隨后他用力一跳,喊道:“超級(jí)跳躍!”
“還有另一個(gè)功能,”小宏說(shuō)道,與此同時(shí)一道火焰從弗雷德的怪獸嘴巴里噴了出來(lái)。
“我會(huì)噴火啦!”弗雷德喊道。他噴著火圍著希斯克利夫在草地上畫(huà)了一個(gè)圈,希斯克利夫鎮(zhèn)定自若像沒(méi)看見(jiàn)一樣。弗雷德十分開(kāi)心,差點(diǎn)喜極而泣。“今天是我一生中最開(kāi)心的日子!”他告訴小宏。
在花園的另一邊,穿著綠色盔甲的芥末無(wú)疆,正在試圖收放自如地使用他的新手套。他的新手套配備了高性能可伸縮的激光,能夠切開(kāi)任何東西。
芥末無(wú)疆有些害怕這雙手套。
在靠近一處裝飾用的大理石柱子時(shí),他讓戴著手套的雙手遠(yuǎn)離自己的身體。他閉上雙眼,輕輕一劃,就把柱子切成了兩段。他睜開(kāi)眼睛笑道:“哇哦!激光手!”
小宏笑道:“伙計(jì)們,請(qǐng)?jiān)试S我向大家介紹……大白2.0。”
朋友們抬頭敬畏地看著這個(gè)巨大的機(jī)器人。
小宏為大白設(shè)計(jì)了鮮紅色的盔甲,這樣可以放大大白的身高和力量感??赘共勘辉O(shè)計(jì)成了紫色的肋骨形狀,可以使大白任意彎曲,讓大家覺(jué)得他十分強(qiáng)大。
“啊,他太棒了!”弗雷德大聲叫道。
哈妮檸檬讓大家都聚集在大白身邊拍了張自拍照。
小宏笑道:“讓他們看看你的本事,伙計(jì)。”他們盯著大白,但這個(gè)大個(gè)頭機(jī)器人似乎沒(méi)有明白過(guò)來(lái)。
“拳頭!”小宏對(duì)他說(shuō),“給他們看看你的拳頭。”
大白伸出胳膊作碰拳狀:“吧嗒啦嗒啦……”
“不對(duì),不是這個(gè),”小宏說(shuō)道,“你知道的?那招……另一招。”
大白伸出他的手臂,他那巨大的紅色拳頭像火箭一樣飛了出去,打碎了一個(gè)巨大的花盆,又打穿了院墻飛出去了。
“哇哦!”所有人除了驚嘆一句話(huà)都說(shuō)不出。
“我的拳頭飛出去了。”大白盯著他拳頭飛出去后留下的幾縷煙說(shuō)道。就在這時(shí),拳頭又回到大白的手臂上。“它又回來(lái)了。”大白說(shuō)道。
“火箭拳讓弗雷德開(kāi)心死了!”弗雷德尖叫起來(lái)。
小宏點(diǎn)點(diǎn)頭道:“這只是升級(jí)組件中的一個(gè)。大白,展翅!”安裝在大白身上的碳纖維翅膀展開(kāi)了。
“不是吧,”弗雷德張口結(jié)舌。“推動(dòng)器!”小宏命令道。
“我不懂飛翔對(duì)我成為更好的健康顧問(wèn)有什么幫助,”大白說(shuō)道。
“我也不懂你為什么看不出這有多么帥。”小宏爬上大白的背,通過(guò)磁力護(hù)膝和與他自身黑紫相間的盔甲配備的手套固定在了大白身上。他的頭盔可以讓他與戰(zhàn)隊(duì)的每位成員溝通。“全速前進(jìn)!”
大白和小宏起飛了,可大白在升空的過(guò)程中似乎是遇到了問(wèn)題。他們撞向地面,差點(diǎn)擊倒其他隊(duì)員。
大白和小宏再次起飛時(shí),整隊(duì)人都凝神屏息。這次大白看似比剛才穩(wěn)多了。
小宏意識(shí)到他們都需要些時(shí)間去磨煉他們的新技能。他是對(duì)的:經(jīng)過(guò)一些練習(xí),弗雷德跳起來(lái)對(duì)著目標(biāo)噴火的技能已經(jīng)達(dá)到十分精準(zhǔn)的程度。在弗雷德的網(wǎng)球場(chǎng)里,芥末無(wú)疆擊打飛來(lái)的網(wǎng)球也開(kāi)始變得輕而易舉——網(wǎng)球都被精準(zhǔn)地一切為二了。神行御姐拋擲起飛盤(pán)來(lái),速度如閃電,收放自如。哈妮檸檬掌握了發(fā)射化學(xué)球的技巧,化學(xué)球總是能夠擊中目標(biāo)。
最終,大白也可以像行家一樣背著小宏飛翔。小宏決定是時(shí)候開(kāi)始反擊了。他騎著大白在整個(gè)城市上空飛馳,時(shí)而橫空翻滾,時(shí)而向左大幅傾斜,再向右大幅傾斜,在隧道內(nèi)穿梭,在霓虹燈上下飛舞。他們飛過(guò)一幢高層大樓,里面映照著他們的身影,太難以置信了。小宏控制不住大喊起來(lái):“耶!”
大白告訴他,“你的神經(jīng)遞質(zhì)水平正在穩(wěn)步上升。”
“那說(shuō)明什么?”小宏問(wèn)道。
“治療起作用了,”大白解釋道。小宏也能感覺(jué)得到。從泰迪去世至今,這是他第一次感覺(jué)這么開(kāi)心。