It’s been half a year since Hiro’s death.
Tadashi has struggled and suffered, but he’s finally coming to terms with it. He’ll never forgive his former teacher for causing it, and part of him still wants to go back and tear Callaghan apart, but he’s finally at peace with everything.
He never thought he’d be a superhero, of all things. However, San Fransokyo needs the Big Hero 6, as Callaghan’s madness seemed to awaken the more dangerous enemies within the city. Though none of them are supervillains, each one becomes progressively more dangerous to the point where he’s spending more time on the team’s armor and weapons than actually studying.
But just as he becomes accustomed to it, an entirely new and horrifically dangerous situation makes itself known.
Raging, uncontrollable fires have been popping up all over California. At first, everyone assumes they are the yearly wildfires, but it’s when the forests away from the grasslands start to burn wildly that foul play is suspected. News reports about a serial arsonist makes headlines in the news, but no evidence can be found that points at any one individual.
When the fires start to appear outside the city, Tadashi decides they need to investigate. At first, nothing turns up because everything they see is burned to ashes; but upon further look, the team discovers the fires are controlled. Too controlled.
Uneasy with the prospect of someone having such a powerful weapon, Tadashi remains alert for any emergency reports of a fire breaking out. After a few false calls, he finally finds the perpetrator one night, at the outskirts of the city.
Clad in black armor, with glowing red-orange lines in a peculiar pattern on the rest of the body. A helmeted visor not unlike his own made it impossible to see their face. They were pretty short, around the height Hiro had been when he had died, but...if they were suited up like this, they were up to no good.
Before he can question them, the figure literally shoots flames from his hands, igniting the area around them. As they fight, Tadashi notices that it’s not actually fire the figure is making, but super-heated plasma that makes Wasabi’s lasers look like mere paper cutters. Still, fire is fire, and he has to try and fight back as best he can.
The figure retreats without a word once the rest of the team show up, confusing Tadashi. Why do that? They were at a disadvantage, so why give that up? Regardless, they put out the fires as best they can and keep a look out for their mystery figure.
There are more skirmishes in the days to come, and Tadashi can’t help but feel that there is something unnervingly familiar about their foe. The team has determined that the figure is male due to their stature, but not much else. Still, it isn’t just his small size that makes him pause, but the way he moves; it doesn’t look like he’s been trained for combat, so whenever he’s on the ground, he simply scrambles out of the way.
When he’s on the ground, at least. It was the shock of the century when their foe revealed that he could fly unaided.
Everything changes during one battle. This time, the figure is actively attacking them, not caring what or who gets hit by his attacks. The southern district is in flames, and Tadashi is left to fend off their enemy while the others evacuate the innocent. For some reason, their foe is reluctant to even attack Tadashi, something that hasn’t gone unnoticed.
Finally, Tadashi knocks off the figure’s helmet, but freezes as he catches sight of his face. He can’t believe it; his heart is hammering wildly in his chest and he feels like slumping to his knees in disbelief.
The hair was different, with glowing red-orange streaks through it, and black sclera with orange pupils stared back at him when he met his eyes. But the face was undoubtedly the same.
This was Hiro. His brother was alive...and was fighting him as his enemy.
Despite the situation, he can’t move. Even when Hiro is pointing a finger at him, one charged with super-heated death, he can’t do anything but mutter his name.
“Hiro is dead,” his brother tells him sternly, although his face flickers in pain for a moment. “My name is Sunfire.”
Tadashi refuses to believe that and keeps insisting that he’s Hiro. He’s his brother! Doesn’t he recognize him?! Why is he doing this? Why are they fighting?!
Sunfire doesn’t answer, simply choosing to hover over the ground menacingly before pulling back. He warns Tadashi to fight him as an enemy next time, as he’ll be attacking more areas otherwise. He departs, and Tadashi screams his name as he does so.
Big Hero 6 is shocked. Baymax does mention he did get a scan of Sunfire, but they didn’t match Hiro’s previous scan at all. Fred says that Hiro must have gotten superpowers from the explosion, something that’s met with derision by everyone else, but his theory is the only one that makes sense out of the countless scenarios they have.
Tadashi doesn’t care what those scenarios were, however. Hiro was alive, Hiro was still out there, and he was going to bring him back. This time, he really had to be there for him; he had to make up for his previous failure!
There are more battles over the next few weeks. Sunfire fights them fiercely, and Big Hero 6 can barely keep up with his actual superpowers. But they do glean interesting information from him, such as that he’s not doing these attacks entirely of his own will, and that he’s really trying not to hurt people if he can help it.
Tadashi keeps trying to get through to him, even though Sunfire keeps insisting that Hiro is dead. He can’t be dead, the older brother counters; if he was, why isn’t he trying to kill him? Or does he recognize him as his brother?
He gets a savage right hook for his trouble.
But just when they’re at their most exhausted one night, Sunfire comes to them. He’s not there to fight, but to explain what’s going on.
Apparently, Sunfire is being used as a weapon by a strange organization called Megido. When he woke up with all these powers, he was nigh uncontrollable; his rage made it hard to focus on anything. The scientists of the organization helped him find a center so he could control his powers, and they helped him to gain proficiency with them. However, all he wanted was a cure; despite having so much power, he never wanted them.
Megido promised him a cure, but only if he did what they said. With no other choice, he helped them carry out their plans. Burning down the districts in San Fransokyo was a way to have the organization’s arms get in and establish bases. Their goal was to upend the city by effectively taking all of its residents hostage with the threat of immolation of the entire Bay Area. If they could gain control of the city government, they could begin to snake out and take control of the entire area.
He hated what he had to do, but felt that he had no choice. It wasn’t until he saw Tadashi and everyone else that he began to devise a way out of his situation. He doubted Megido’s promise of a cure from the very beginning, but held out on the brief hope they did have one. But maybe he didn’t need the organization from the beginning.
Tadashi sees what Sunfire is saying. In exchange for helping him to look for a cure, Big Hero 6 will assist him in toppling the Megido organization. Despite some concerns that it could be a trap, Tadashi readily agrees to it...but only if Sunfire confesses that he is indeed Hiro.
Sunfire hesitates briefly, but nods and says he is Hiro Hamada. He never forgot that or his friends and family. But it was easier to pretend that Hiro was dead, because when he woke up as Sunfire, he knew he wasn’t entirely human anymore. It would be crueler to return as this...monstrosity he now was, with no hope for some sort of cure.
Tadashi hugs him, even though Hiro’s armor is hot to the touch. He’s never going to give up on Hiro ever again, and he will help him with whatever he needs. He’s not alone anymore.
Hiro sheds a few tears, which evaporate instantly.
After that, Megido falls easily, and the brothers are living together once more...in a way. Hiro’s body is too dangerous to be left out anywhere, and if the government found out about him, there would be big trouble. Instead, Fred sets up a containment room for him to safely be in, and Tadashi and Baymax are with him nearly all the time. Sunfire becomes the unofficial seventh member of Big Hero 6, brought in when his overwhelming power is needed to combat threats that his brother can’t handle alone.
A cure is never found, but Hiro manages to adjust anyway. He has Tadashi back, after all.
