Hiro to the Rescue! Read online

  Copyright © 2014 Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved. Published by Disney Press, an imprint of Disney Book Group. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher. For information address Disney Press, 1101 Flower Street, Glendale, California 91201.

  ISBN 978-1-4847-0846-0

  For more Disney Press fun, visit www.disneybooks.com

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  A large crowd stood in an alley in the city of San Fransokyo. They watched as two robots got ready to fight.

  Fourteen-year-old Hiro Hamada waited. One of the robots was his, and it would be fighting Mr. Yama’s robot. Mr. Yama’s robot was the current champion.

  “Two bots enter. One bot leaves,” the referee said, looking from one to the other. “Fighters ready? Fight!”

  It was over in seconds. One robot was fast and broke the other robot into pieces. The crowd was silent. Hiro’s robot had won!

  Mr. Yama was angry. “No one can beat Little Yama!” he shouted. “You cheated, and I want to know how!”

  Mr. Yama grew angrier. His men closed in on Hiro.

  Just then, Hiro’s eighteen-year-old brother, Tadashi, drove up on his motor scooter.

  “Get on!” Tadashi shouted. Hiro jumped on the scooter, and they raced through the streets. Mr. Yama’s men chased them. They drove until they were safe. Tadashi took them to the campus of San Fransokyo Institute of Technology, known as SFIT, where he was a student.

  “What are we doing at your nerd school?” Hiro asked.

  Tadashi used his ID to get into the robotics lab. “Relax, you big baby,” he said. “We’ll be in and out. Anyway, you’ve never seen my lab.”

  Hiro rolled his eyes as he followed his brother down the hallway. “Oh, great, I get to see your lab.”

  “Heads up!” A blur on a bike zoomed past them in the hallway before stopping right in front of the two brothers.

  Hiro’s eyes widened when he saw the mag-lev wheels.

  “Whoa!”

  The bike rider removed her helmet and snapped her gum. “Who are you?”

  “Um, I’m...Tadashi’s brother...” Hiro stammered.

  Tadashi smiled and introduced his kid brother to his friend. “Go Go, this is Hiro.”

  Go Go Tomago was an industrial designer who loved to ride fast.

  Tadashi led Hiro into the lab and introduced the rest of his friends.

  Wasabi was a physics student who loved organization. He showed Hiro his invention—an optic laser system that could cut items into wafer-thin slices.

  Honey Lemon was a chemistry genius and the happiest person on earth. “Oh my gosh, hi!” she said to Hiro. “Perfect timing. You are going to love this!”

  After selecting a few chemicals, Honey whipped up a pink goo. She put the mixture on top of a metal sphere. When she touched the metal with one finger, the metal turned into dust.

  Then there was Fred. He was the school mascot, even though he wasn’t a student, and he didn’t invent things. He just liked hanging out with the rest of the group.

  Hiro saw that Tadashi had walked to the other side of the lab. He joined his brother. “So, what have you been working on?”

  Tadashi put a piece of duct tape on Hiro’s arm. Then he ripped it off. “Oww!” Hiro exclaimed.

  From a suitcase at Tadashi’s feet, a white robot emerged and instantly filled with air.

  “Hello. I am Baymax, your personal health-care companion,” the friendly, huggable bot said.

  “A nurse robot?” Hiro asked Tadashi.

  “I programmed him with more than ten thousand medical procedures,” Tadashi explained. He showed Hiro a green chip in Baymax’s chest. “This chip is home to the caregiving matrix that makes Baymax...Baymax!”

  Baymax scanned Hiro’s injury and sprayed it with medicine.

  Tadashi said Baymax could also lift heavy weights. “He’s going to help a lot of people.”

  “I cannot deactivate until you say that you are satisfied with my care,” Baymax said.

  “Well, then: I am satisfied with my care,” Hiro said. At Hiro’s statement, Baymax deflated and folded himself back into his suitcase.

  The brothers were surprised to hear another voice. Professor Robert Callaghan, who taught robotics, was standing behind them. Tadashi was excited to introduce him to Hiro.

  The professor stared at the fighting bot in Hiro’s hands. “May I?” he asked.

  “Uh, sure,” Hiro said, reluctantly handing it to the professor.

  Callaghan asked where Hiro had learned to make it.

  “Taught myself,” Hiro said.

  “Have you thought of applying here?” Callaghan asked.

  “Actually, sir, my brother’s pretty serious about his career in bot-fighting,” Tadashi said, giving the professor a wink.

  Callaghan stared at Hiro. “I can see why. With your bot, winning must come easy.”

  “Yeah, I guess,” Hiro said.

  “Well, if you like things easy, then my program isn’t for you,” Callaghan said. “My students go on to shape the future.”

  For once, Hiro didn’t know how to respond.

  Hiro and Tadashi said goodbye and then went outside. Hiro stared at his brother. He was no longer thinking about bot fighting. “If I don’t go to this nerd school, I’m gonna lose my mind!”

  SFIT sponsored an annual Tech Showcase. Anyone could enter, and the kids with the best tech won admission to the school!

  “Come up with something that blows Callaghan away, you’re in!” Tadashi told his brother.

  Hiro got to work. In a makeshift lab in his aunt Cass’s garage, he worked night and day. When it was time for the showcase, Hiro was ready.

  Hiro, Tadashi, and their friends arrived at the showcase early. The building was packed. Hiro moved quickly through the crowd.

  “I really want to go here,” Hiro told Tadashi. He didn’t want to blow his chance to get into SFIT.

  “Just take a deep breath,” Tadashi said. “You got this.”

  When it was time, Hiro walked onto the stage. He began to speak, and the microphone squealed with feedback. He nervously put on an electronic headband. Then he opened one of his hands. In it was a small black piece of metal.

  “This is a microbot,” Hiro said. But the crowd wasn’t paying attention.

  Offstage, Tadashi gave his brother a thumbs-up. He knew Hiro could blow the crowd away and win them over.

  “It doesn’t look like much,” Hiro said, “but when it links up with the rest of its pals...”

  Suddenly, the whole room buzzed with microbots. They moved through the crowd like a swarm of insects and gathered onstage. Now people were paying attention!

  “The microbots are controlled by this neural transmitter.” Hiro pointed to his headband. “I think what I want them to do, and they do it.”

  The microbots joined together and formed the shape of a hand.

  Hiro used his microbots to show that one person could move big objects. Eventually, people using the microbots would be able to save time and money. They could even save lives by sending bots into dangerous situations instead of humans.

  The crowd roared with approval. They loved Hiro’s bots
!

  One man, Alistair Krei, was particularly impressed. He was the owner of a large tech company, and he wanted to talk to Hiro.

  When Hiro exited the stage, Krei took one of Hiro’s microbots and held it in his hand. “With some development, these could be revolutionary,” he said. “You are about to become a very wealthy kid.”

  Hiro was surprised. Krei wants to buy my microbots?

  Professor Callaghan walked over. “This is your decision, Hiro, but you should know that Mr. Krei has cut corners and ignored sound science to get where he is.”

  Krei objected. “That’s just not true—”

  Callaghan cut him off. “I wouldn’t trust him with your microbots...or anything else.”

  Hiro was quiet as he looked from one man to the other.

  “I appreciate the offer, Mr. Krei,” said Hiro. “But I’m sorry, they’re not for sale.”

  Krei turned to walk away.

  “Mr. Krei,” Tadashi said, “that’s my brother’s.”

  Krei looked at his hand, still gripping the tiny robot. “Oh, right,” he said, chuckling, and gave it back to Hiro.

  When the showcase ended, the brothers got great news. Hiro’s microbot had impressed the judges. He had won a spot at SFIT! They walked outside. They looked at the campus. Tadashi put his arm around Hiro.

  “The Hamada brothers are going to do big things,” Tadashi said.

  “We’re gonna change the world, right?” Hiro added proudly.

  Suddenly, the doors burst open and people ran from the showcase. Someone yelled, “Fire!”

  “Hey, are you okay?” Tadashi asked a student running past.

  “I’m fine. Callaghan’s still in there!”

  Tadashi moved toward the hall. Hiro grabbed his brother’s shirt.

  “Tadashi, no!” he shouted.

  His brother looked at him. “Callaghan’s in there. Someone has to help!”

  Hiro let go. Then he watched Tadashi run inside the hall. There was a loud explosion.

  “Tadashi!” Hiro screamed. But Tadashi didn’t come back.

  The next day, people began putting flowers on the steps leading to the robotics lab in honor of both Tadashi and Professor Callaghan.

  Honey, Wasabi, Go Go, and Fred found Hiro. They hugged him. Nothing helped.

  Tears ran down the boy’s face. “Tadashi!” he cried.

  Rain hit the window of Hiro and Tadashi’s room. It was quiet. Tadashi’s baseball cap lay on his bed.

  Hiro sat alone on his beanbag chair with his old battle bot in his hands.

  Aunt Cass knocked on the door.

  “Hey, sweetie!” she said. Aunt Cass tried to sound happy. She brought Hiro breakfast. She went to the window and raised the blinds. “You get any sleep?” She looked at his plate of food from the night before. He hadn’t eaten a thing. “The university called again,” she added. “It’s not too late to register.”

  “I’ll think about it,” Hiro said.

  Aunt Cass quietly left. Hiro got up and closed the window blinds. School had started. But Hiro no longer cared.

  Hiro headed toward his bed and dropped his battle bot on his toe. “Ow!”

  Something moved near Tadashi’s bed.

  Baymax, Tadashi’s robot, inflated to full size. He had been in the room since the showcase! Hiro’s cry of pain had made him activate.

  Hiro was so shocked to see him, he tripped.

  “On a scale of one to ten, how would you rate your pain?” Baymax asked.

  “Zero,” Hiro answered, wishing Baymax would return to his charging station.

  Baymax scanned Hiro. “No injuries,” he reported. “However, your hormone and neurotransmitter levels indicate that you are experiencing mood swings; common in adolescence. Diagnosis: puberty.”

  “Whoa! What?” Hiro said. “Okay, time to shrink now!” He pushed the robot toward his charging station.

  Baymax continued. “You should experience an increase in body hair—”

  “Thank you!” Hiro shouted. He did not want to hear about body hair!

  Hiro tripped and fell. As he lay on the floor, he heard a noise coming from a hoodie peeking out from under his bed. A microbot was in one of the pockets! It was the one that Alistair Krei had handed back to him. It had survived the fire at the showcase because Hiro had taken it home.

  The microbot buzzed! Hiro placed it in a petri dish. It’s rattling against the glass like it wants to join the other microbots, Hiro thought. But the others were destroyed in the fire!

  “Dumb thing’s broken!” he said.

  Baymax was interested in the microbot. “Your tiny robot is trying to go somewhere,” he said.

  Hiro sat down at his desk and began working on his fight bot. “Why don’t you find out where it’s trying to go?”

  Baymax picked up the petri dish. The bot continued to buzz in one specific direction. It was like a compass. Baymax followed it out of the room.

  Moments later, horns honked and tires screeched. Baymax was outside!

  Hiro needed to go after him. But he had to get past Aunt Cass.

  “Hiro?” she said. She was happy to see him out of his room. “Are you registering for school?”

  “Uh-huh,” Hiro replied. He was afraid he’d get in trouble if he told her he was chasing a robot!

  “Okay, special dinner tonight!” Aunt Cass said. She promised to make extra-hot chicken wings. But Hiro had already rushed outside to follow Baymax.

  First, Baymax got on a trolley car. Hiro ran after him. Then Baymax went along some train tracks, and Hiro still couldn’t catch him. When Baymax entered a mall, Hiro lost him in a crowd. He finally caught up with Baymax and the microbot at an old warehouse by the ocean.

  Inside the warehouse, Hiro found barrels full of microbots. Someone must have stolen them! A giant machine was making even more!

  Suddenly, the bots all came together and chased Baymax and Hiro! A man in a mask stood in the shadows, controlling the microbots.

  “Run!” Hiro shouted to Baymax, who was moving slowly. “Go!”

  Hiro pushed him and pulled him. The swarm got closer and closer. The microbots punched holes in Baymax.

  Hiro and Baymax jumped out a window to escape. Luckily, Baymax cushioned Hiro’s fall. They hurried to make a report at a police station.

  The policeman Hiro spoke to didn’t believe him. “All right. Let me get this straight. A man in a Kabuki mask attacked you with an army of miniature flying robots—”

  “Microbots!” Hiro said. “Yeah, he was controlling them telepathically with a neurocranial transmitter.”

  “Look, kid,” the policeman said, reaching for his phone. “How about we call your parents?”

  Hiro couldn’t let him call home! Aunt Cass would be furious.

  Hiro quickly grabbed Baymax and left. The police weren’t going to help him. He had to catch the masked man alone.

  Hiro needed to think.

  By the time they got home, Baymax was almost out of power. He was being difficult...and loud.

  “Okay,” Hiro whispered to Baymax. “If my aunt asks, we were at school all day. Got it?”

  Baymax flopped onto the stairs. “We jumped out a window!” the robot shouted.

  Hiro tried to quiet Baymax, but Aunt Cass heard them go by.

  “You home, sweetie?” she asked. She was cooking and had her back to Hiro. “Wings are almost ready!”

  “Wings!” Baymax squealed. Aunt Cass turned to face Hiro. But she didn’t see Baymax because Hiro had pushed him out of sight.

  “Tell me everything!” she said.

  “Uh, the thing is...” Hiro said nervously. He needed to move Baymax upstairs. He didn’t want to get in trouble! “Since I registered so late, I’ve got a lot to catch up on.”

  “Well, at least take a plate fo
r the road!” Aunt Cass said, disappointed.

  Hiro took the plate and pushed Baymax upstairs. He sighed when he had finally gotten Baymax to stand inside his charging station.

  “This is crazy. It doesn’t make any sense,” Hiro said, sitting on his bed. He pulled out his microbot and stared at it. Who was that guy in the mask? he thought. And how did he get my microbots?

  “Tadashi,” Baymax said. The robot looked around the room. He saw Tadashi’s baseball hat on his bed. “Tadashi,” Baymax repeated.

  “Tadashi’s gone,” Hiro said.

  “When will he return?” Baymax asked.

  “He’s dead, Baymax.”

  Baymax pointed at his chest. “Tadashi is here—”

  “I know,” Hiro said, “people keep saying he’s here; he’s not really gone as long as we remember him. It still hurts.”

  But Baymax continued: “You are my patient. I would like to help.”

  “You can’t fix this one, buddy,” Hiro said.

  Baymax went over to Hiro’s computer. “I am downloading information on personal loss,” the helpful bot reported. “Treatments include contact with friends and loved ones. I am contacting them now.” The computer screen showed images of Wasabi, Go Go, Honey, and Fred.

  Baymax gave Hiro a hug. “Other treatments include compassion and physical reassurance.” He patted Hiro’s back. “There, there.”

  Hiro smiled. “Thanks, Baymax,” he said softly. He remembered Tadashi’s hugs.

  “I am sorry about the fire,” Baymax said.

  “It’s okay. It was an accident.”

  Saying it made Hiro think of that terrible day. Why didn’t I stop Tadashi from going into that building? he asked himself.

  Then he realized something: “The guy in the mask! He set the fire so no one would know he had stolen my microbots!”

  Hiro hurried down to his computer in the garage. He wanted to teach Baymax some fighting moves—the ones his little fight bot had used to win. Hiro was ready to hunt down the masked man.