Finite Heroes

Xandar

"Please. P-Please, take it."

The air was thick with smoke, flames roaring beneath the destroyed vault, threatening to burst into the main store room. Bodies lay scattered about the perimeter- soldiers that had refused to abandon their post, choosing to fight against the incoming threat. In all his life, no matter how short it had been, Hiro had never seen a planet in so much chaos. The sight was nothing like a war, damage received over time and soldiers at a stand-off. No, this was much worse than anything he could have imagined. When he stepped through the portal, he had expected a fight- a few enemies to defeat, people to rescue- but, there was just too much damage to remedy. The fleet of the planet, the Nova Core, were falling from the sky like flies sprayed with toxins, crashing into buildings that they desperately tried to avoid. The vault was destroyed, blown from the outside, doors torn open by a force Hiro could only imagine was brute strength. It was there he found the pleading guard, holding up a gray orb in hopes of the young man taking it.

"What is it," Hiro asked, reaching out tentatively. He hesitated, only for a moment, before scooping the orb into his gloved hands. He looked over the sphere in interest but saw nothing important from the outside.
"All this chaos for a ball," he murmured, twisting the top slowly.
"Don't!" A hand grabbed a fistful of his collar, pulling him close. Hiro froze, staring at the injured man.
"It's d-dangerous. You can't touch it. Don't touch it."
"... What are you talking abo-ow!" The fist gripped tighter and yanked him closer, forcing him to listen to ragged breaths that threatened to choke out at any moment. The horror of watching a man die before his very eyes was not only scarring, but it terrified him. Death meant one less person saved. His fingers were forced to grip the orb tighter, bloody hand pressing them closed.
"Run," the man choked out, "Y-You have to run... before..."

He never finished. Hiro watched as eyes dilated and the man's grip slackened completely. He pushed himself back, stumbling into the dirt, staring at the bloody mess of a once proud man. In his right hand, he still grasped the orb, the left hovering just at his collar, blood soaked into the fabric and smeared on the armor. Run before...? He took one look at the orb in hand, visor glitching as it tried to run a scan. Run. He scrambled to his feet and stood, determination sealing his grip and steeling his shaky nerves.
"I'm sorry," he murmured, looking away from the man. He clenched his teeth and turned, jumping over a fallen pillar, climbing onto a broken fountain ledge and running along a support beam. He tapped the side of his helmet, signal sent out to call for Baymax.
:: Baymax! Where are you? We need to get out of here! ::
:: I am rescuing survivors south of the vault. Hiro, I am detecting hostile life signals. They appear to be moving on foot. ::
:: Send me their locations. Avoid engaging until we're together. ::

The locations were sent quickly, three visuals showing on his visor. While they did nothing to warn him of their capabilities or size, they did tell him where they were. The vault was no longer of interest, seeing as the signals were moving in a sweeping fashion around its perimeter- not far from where Hiro had been. He hoisted himself up a fallen building, using his magnets to latch on and climb, flipping himself over the top. He was just getting to his feet when he heard the faint beeping of a warning in his audial, alerting him of an approaching hostile. He quickly moved his slim body, squeezing into a fissure between the building's cracked structure. He wiggled down, kicking until he managed to create a decent depth to hide in. He looked up, visor dimming as the signal became a physical pair of feet. He held his breath, clutching the orb behind his back, eyes watching the feet carefully. They moved along the fissure, yet never too close to its ledge. After a brief pause, they began to move away, steps getting fainter in sound until his visor activated with the signal once more. He let loose a breath, shifting himself to make his way back up, relief washing over him. Yet, as his free hand reached up for the fissure's ledge, the entire structure seemed to jolt. Pieces crumbled down and pressed to his body, painfully tight as they practically constricted him. He wheezed out his panicked yelp, crushing debris now lifting him from the fissure and carelessly throwing him down to the ground. He landed with a hard fall, breath knocked clear from his lungs. Hiro coughed, wheezing through the pain as he pushed himself up, visor scanning quickly, but registering no signals.