Jay flopped onto his hotel bed, exhausted in the best possible way. Through the floor-to-ceiling windows, Tokyo's neon skyline painted the night in electric blues and pinks. Past midnight now. Thirteen hours since he'd left the Yashida compound with their butler Shiro acting as his chauffeur in one of the family's understated Mercedes sedans.
Thirteen hours of pure, unfiltered fun.
The first stop had been DiverCity Tokyo Plaza. Seeing the life-sized Gundam statue was everything his inner mech-obsessed teenager could have wanted. The RX-78-2 stood eighteen meters tall in perfect 1:1 scale, white and blue armor gleaming in the morning sun. Jay spent nearly an hour walking around it, taking pictures from every angle while Shiro waited patiently nearby.
"It's... really just a statue, Jay-san," Shiro said, adjusting his tie nervously while tourists streamed past them. His formal posture never wavered, but Jay caught the slight bewilderment in his voice.
"It's not just a statue," Jay replied, running his hand along one of the massive feet reverently. "This is the RX-78-2 Gundam. Eighteen meters of pure engineering perfection. Do you know how many kids dreamed of piloting one of these?"
Shiro blinked slowly. "Many... children, Jay-san?"
"Exactly!" Jay grinned, pulling out his phone for another dozen photos. "And now some mad genius actually built one. Life-sized. Just because they could."
'I really need to get Tony to build me one. Wonder what it'll take to convince him,' Jay thought.
From there, they'd hit Akihabara. Electric town, the beating heart of otaku culture. The sensory overload hit Jay immediately: flashing neon signs advertising the latest anime series, electronic beeps and chirps of arcade games bleeding through storefront doors, crowds clutching shopping bags filled with figurines and manga. The air itself seemed to hum with electricity and excitement.
Jay went overboard. Limited edition figurines, rare manga volumes, Blu-ray sets he'd been hunting for years. At one specialty shop, he found a first-edition Rei Ayanami figure that made his collector's heart sing.
The look on Shiro's face when prices started climbing was priceless. His formal composure cracked as he frantically tried to convert yen to dollars.
"Ano... Jay-san, he says this figure is... rokujū-man en?" Shiro's voice pitched higher with confusion, sweat beading on his forehead. "I believe that is... very expensive?"
"Shiro-san," Jay said gently, switching to fluent Japanese mid-conversation with the excited shop owner, "I've got this. And yes, sixty thousand yen is worth it for a first-edition figure."
The butler's jaw actually dropped. "You... speak Japanese? Fluently? When did you...?"
"Among other languages," Jay replied in perfect Japanese.
One month of intensive preparation using Sage's kinetic memory to absorb various languages. What would take years of study, he'd compressed into weeks of total immersion.
The real entertainment came at the Maidreamin café for lunch. The moment they walked through the door, Jay was hit with a wall of pink décor, frilly uniforms, and the enthusiastic greeting of "Welcome home, Master!" delivered by three maids in perfect unison.
"Shiro-san," Jay whispered as they were led to their table, "you look like you're about to have a stroke."
"This is... not my usual dining establishment, Jay-san," Shiro replied stiffly, sitting rigidly like he was facing a firing squad.
The maids absolutely lost their minds when Jay responded to their kawaii routine in perfect Japanese. When their server, a bubbly girl who couldn't have been older than twenty, started the traditional "kyun kyun" heart pose photo session, Jay jumped right in.
"KYUN!" Jay called out, making exaggerated heart shapes with his hands while posing next to the delighted maid, who squealed with genuine delight.
Shiro slumped progressively lower in his seat, his face burning crimson. "Jay-san... please..." he muttered desperately from behind his menu, his years of butler training barely saving him from complete mortification.
And the food. Jay ate enough to feed a small army, much to the kitchen staff's amazement. His Heavy Eater Drawback meant he needed constant fuel, and watching the maids' expressions as plate after plate disappeared was comedy gold. By the time they left, Shiro looked like he needed a stiff drink and a long nap.
But the real adventure started later that evening, on the way to Tokyo Tower for the evening finale.
Jay's danger sense buzzed, then exploded into full alarm.
He saw it in slow motion. A truck spinning through the air, tumbling end-over-end with devastating force. Metal shrieked. Below it, evening tourists stood frozen in that terrible moment when the brain registers death hurtling toward you, but the body hasn't caught up.
Jay saw that a knockoff Iron Man suit fighting near Tokyo Tower's base had miscalculated a repulsor blast. The energy beam had caught a delivery truck at the worst possible angle, sending it airborne like a child's toy. An armored figure didn't even seem to notice, too focused on the team he was battling.
Collateral damage. Acceptable losses. The kind of thinking that got people killed.
Jay didn't think. He absorbed an adamantium bullet from his necklace, feeling the molecular absorption flood through his system like liquid metal coursing through his veins. His skin shifted, cells restructuring themselves into an unbreakable alloy as he planted himself between the flying death trap and the screaming civilians.
The impact was catastrophic. The truck hit Jay like a freight train, the sound of metal meeting adamantium creating a thunderclap that shattered windows for blocks. His feet carved deep trenches in the asphalt as the kinetic force tried to drive him backwards, but his enhanced strength held firm.
The twisted metal groaned and shrieked as Jay's grip compressed the truck's frame into scrap. Steam hissed from the ruptured engine block, and the smell of burnt oil filled the air. Behind him, he could hear the shocked gasps of people who'd been seconds away from death.
That's when his enhanced senses picked up more.
At Tokyo Tower's base, the armored figure was wreaking havoc against a team that made Jay's Comic Book Nerd Perk light up with recognition.
Hiro Hamada, now clearly older and more battle-hardened, moved with practiced precision in his purple and gray armor. His helmet display flickered with targeting data as he coordinated with his team.
"Go Go, flank left! Wasabi, cover her!" Hiro's voice crackled through external speakers.
Go Go Tomago shot past on her mag-lev discs, her yellow armor a blur as she dodged energy blasts that left scorch marks on the pavement. "On it! This guy's tougher than the usual wannabe villains!"
Wasabi's plasma blades hummed to life, their green energy casting eerie shadows as he moved with methodical precision. "Careful, everyone. His targeting system's more advanced than it looks."
Honey Lemon bounced behind cover, her chemical purse already producing combinations with practiced efficiency. "Working on something special! Just keep him busy!"
Fred, in his kaiju-inspired suit, was living his absolute best life despite the mortal danger. "Dudes! This is just like issue #47 of Robot Fighter Supreme! Except with actual death rays!"
And floating above it all was Baymax, but something was fundamentally wrong. The healthcare companion's movements were too tactical, too strategic, coordinating the team like a military commander.
The knockoff Iron Man was clearly outmatched skill-wise, but he had raw firepower. Each blast from his repulsors sent hairline fractures spreading up Tokyo Tower's support structure, the metal groaning ominously.
"The tower!" Hiro shouted over the chaos. "If he brings it down—"
"Half the district gets pancaked," Jay came to the same conclusion, his adamantium form shifting as he prepared to intervene. "Not happening on my watch."
Jay's adamantium hand reshaped itself mid-motion, molecular structure flowing like liquid metal until it had become a blade, and then applying his latest power from silver samurai, a tachyon layer of silver light over his arm/blade. He closed the distance to the knockoff Iron Man in heartbeats.
The pilot never saw death coming. One moment, he was lining up another devastating shot at Tokyo Tower's foundation, the next his arm cannon was gone. Severed so cleanly the metal edges gleamed like mirrors.
"What the hell—" The pilot's panicked voice cut off as Jay's second strike took out the chest repulsors, leaving him in free fall.
"Incoming package!" Honey Lemon called out, her chemical sphere already in flight with perfect timing.
The gelatinous ball expanded on impact, completely engulfing the falling terrorist in what looked like translucent amber. He was trapped but breathing. Classic hero work with zero casualties.
"Holy efficiency!" Fred whooped, his enthusiasm undimmed. "That was like watching a surgical strike! Who are you, mysterious metal dude? Are you like The Thing's cousin?"
Jay shifted back to human form, the metallic sheen fading from his skin as Big Hero 6 regrouped around him. "Just a guy who doesn't like seeing landmarks get knocked down."
Hiro removed his helmet, revealing features that had matured from the movie Jay remembered. Sharper cheekbones, more serious eyes, but still unmistakably the tech genius. "Thanks for the save."
"No kidding," Go Go said, her mag-lev discs powering down as she touched ground. Her voice carried that same dry sarcasm, but aged with experience. "Tower comes down and with it three city blocks minimum."
Fred bounced over in his monster suit, practically vibrating with excitement. "Dude, you just morphed your hand into a blade! That's so metal! Literally! Get it? Because—"
"Fred," Wasabi sighed, his plasma blades retracting with a soft whir, "maybe save the puns until we're not standing next to structural damage?"
That's when Fred's expression shifted behind his helmet's visor, recognition dawning. "Wait. You're that guy from the American news feeds. The Power Broker, right? Aren't you like a villain?"
The mood shifted instantly. Go Go's hand drifted toward her disc controls. Wasabi's stance became defensive. Even Honey Lemon stepped back slightly, her chemical purse ready.
"Villain is such a loaded term," Jay said nonchalantly, keeping his hands visible and non-threatening.
Hiro's expression was conflicted, helmet tucked under one arm. "You just saved those civilians. And us. That doesn't exactly scream 'villain.'"
"Hiro," the voice from Baymax said urgently, deeper and more human than it should be, "we should go. Now."
But Hiro wasn't moving. He was staring at Jay with that particular intensity of someone who'd been backed into a corner for too long and suddenly saw a door.
That's when Baymax approached, and Jay's enhanced hearing caught something that made it click into place.
The voice coming from Baymax wasn't the gentle, healthcare-focused AI from the movie. It was deeper, more human, tinged with the kind of weariness that came from prolonged suffering.
"Hiro," the voice said with obvious affection that made the younger Hamada's entire face transform, "we should retreat! He's a villain."
Jay's memory supplied the context immediately. Hiro's older brother Tadashi, had died in the university fire that destroyed Professor Callaghan's lab in the movie. But apparently, in this reality, death hadn't been quite so final.
"Weren't you supposed to be dead?" Jay asked bluntly, looking directly at Baymax's inflated form.
Hiro's expression shifted to pure panic. "I don't know what you're talking about. We should really get going—"
"Kid," Jay interrupted gently, "if you want to keep a secret identity, maybe don't use a glass visor. Also, your brother just called you by name. In public. While fighting crime."
The voice from Baymax, Tadashi's voice, let out a tired chuckle that carried years of pain and resignation. "He's got a point, little brother. We're about as subtle as a neon sign."
Go Go snorted behind her helmet, crossing her arms. "I've been telling you that for months. Woman up and get a proper mask."
"We could get you a proper mask," Fred offered helpfully. "I know a guy who knows a guy—"
"Can we focus?" Wasabi interrupted, though his voice was gentle. "We're standing next to a crime scene, police sirens are getting closer, and you're really trying to explain yourself to a known villain."
Tadashi's voice carried a weight that made the whole team go quiet. "The official story is that I was caught in the university fire but survived. The unofficial truth is that my body was... extensively damaged. I can't exactly walk around in public anymore."
The mood shifted immediately, becoming heavy with shared grief. Jay could see it in their postures. The way Go Go's shoulders tensed, how Fred stopped bouncing and Wasabi's hands clenched into fists.
"Hey," Jay said, his tone becoming genuinely warm, "what if I told you I might be able to fix that? All of it."
[A/N]: I write across multiple fandoms. Support my writing and get early access to 45+ chapters, exclusive content, and bonus material at my P@treon - Max_Striker.