A/N: I edited chapter 1 a bit, due to some stylistic preferences and a few mistakes, but anyways, here's the next chapter!


Chapter 2

"What do you mean I'm supposed to be dead?" Hiro asked, a mixture of confusion and shock evident on his face. Gogo simply responded with a sharp twist of his arm. "Ow, ow!"

Wasabi, looking as nervous and confused as everyone else stepped forward and said, "Look, Gogo, maybe we shouldn't resort to these sort of," he paused searching for the right word. "Tactics. I have no idea what's going on either, but what you're doing isn't helping."

"Yeah, cause I mean…. I'm not saying this isn't weird, but I'm sure there's a reason why uh... He's here." Fred said hesitantly, blatantly skirting around Hiro's name as if it were an ill omen.

What in the world is going on?

Hiro was tempted to label this situation as some sort of humorless prank, but he wasn't entirely convinced that Gogo's assault and cold demeanor towards him was mere acting.

"I've seen my fair share of strange and unusual things, and this" she pointed at the teen below her, "Is no exception!"

Ow, okay. That stung a bit.

"There is no 'good' explanation for this. For all we know, this could be some sort of trick." she scoffed. "Somebody trying to take us down from the inside, or maybe even some sick joke on..." she trailed off, her eyes suddenly taking an interesting to the corner of the room.

"Could you please just tell me what's going?!" Hiro gasped from beneath Gogo. His ribcage felt just about ready to burst from the excessive pressure.

Just as he had uttered his raspy question, he was suddenly able to hear the familiar shuffle of vinyl feet entering the room.

"Hiro," Baymax's soothing voice stated. "I heard a sound of distress. What seems to be the problem?"

The next thing Hiro could hear was something, possibly from one of the lab tables, clattering onto the floor, and then… silence. Thick, tangible silence. As he turned his eyes upward, he once again witnessed several pairs of widening eyes, burning holes, this time, into Baymax. But something was wrong…. Their eyes seemed to hold something different from when they saw Hiro walk into the room. An emotion even stronger than their previous shock. Something more reminiscent of...

"My sensors indicate rising stress levels, increased breathing, and elevated heart rates." Baymax stated as he tilted his head. "These are indications of: fear."


"Was it really necessary to tie me to a chair like this?" Hiro asked shifting uncomfortably within his restraints. "It's not like I was gonna go anywhere."

"They're precautions, I guess. Sorry about that." Wasabi apologized. The avoidance of eye contact didn't go unnoticed by the smaller teen.

"Was locking up Baymax in my lab supposed to be a 'precaution' too?" he muttered irritably.

"Well, technically that lab hasn't been occupied for two years, so it's really nobody's at this point," Fred chimed in although not in the usual energetic manner that defined him. He too kept his gaze elsewhere.

"But yes, that was also a necessary precaution." Honey Lemon added nervously, her eyes looking anywhere but Hiro.

The way they were speaking to him was really trying his patience. If this really was some kind of joke, he seriously couldn't rack up how his friends would come up with a cruel prank like this!

"And how about this whole 'don't look Hiro in the eye thing' going on right now? Is that also a precaution? " he cried out in frustration.

Hiro flinched as a gloved palm slammed onto the table in front of him, noticing within a second that he was just inches away from the coldest look that Hiro had ever locked eyes on, and when it comes to Gogo, that was saying a lot.

"No." Gogo said, intimidatingly popping a bubble. Even after two years of being friends with her, Hiro still couldn't quite grasp how she could make any action of hers appear so menacing.

"A-alright." Hiro managed to choke out.

"We just want to know what you're doing here." Wasabi said approaching the chair the teen sat in.

"And how for that manner." Gogo added, apparently refusing to let up her cold staredown.

"Also, why the heck marshmallow man is here with you!" Fred said nervously as he fidgeted with his fingers.

Hiro's head spun at the plethora of questions. How was he even supposed to answer them if he himself had no idea what was going on or why his friends were blowing everything out of proportion? Just a second ago, they refused to even look at Hiro; why did they choose now of all times to drown him with discomforting stares? How did they expect him to give any remotely decent answer under such pressure?

"I-I…." Hiro stammered nervously, looking up at all the hard gazes concentrated on him.

A warm, gentle hand suddenly placed itself onto Hiro's shoulder, interrupting his own onslaught of questions. When he trailed up the hand, he locked eyes with Honey Lemon's large green orbs, as she gave him a sad yet sympathetic smile.

"If you could please just cooperate and answer our questions, it would make things easier for all of us." she said. "I'm sorry we have to treat you like this, but we're just… confused and," she paused. "Concerned."

"Well, I'm pretty confused myself here, and I'm fifty percent sure that you guys are trying to pull some crazy, totally unfunny prank on me," Hiro was interrupted by another intense glare shot from Gogo, "And now I'm ninety-five percent sure you're not."

Ignoring his comment, Honey asked, "Can we ask you if you're… if you're Hiro?"

Hiro raised an eyebrow.

"I mean," he looked down at himself. He was wearing his usual blue SFIT sweatshirt and his mid-calf cargos. His hair was definitely still a mess, probably more so after that smackdown with Gogo. "I don't see why I wouldn't be."

"Then how did you even get here, little dude?" Fred asked quietly.

"What do you mean? I just came in through the front like I do every morning. Although, I did kind of go through something weird right before tha-"

"What he means is: how are you even here? Existing in front of us?" Gogo rephrased popping her bubble nonchalantly.

Was this going back to that whole thing about how he's supposed to be dead? "I don't really... understand."

"Look," Wasabi started. "You… you died in a fire back at the university's exhibition hall two years ago."

"So again, we ask: how are you here?" Honey Lemon finished in a firmer tone.

Hiro blinked. Once. Then twice.

The SFIT exhibition hall… two years ago… a fire….

"What are you guys even talking about? Tadashi," Hiro paused for a second. He was moving on from his brother's death. He was moving on. He knew he was. He just has to accept it. "Tadashi was the one who died in that fire."

The silence that followed was just about as thick as the lump in Hiro's throat. He looked up to only meet four deadpan faces staring back at him, making him feel even more uncomfortable.

"Great." Gogo muttered. "Now he's spouting nonsense."

"Hey! I'm telling the truth!" Hiro protested. "It's been a while, but I still remember that day pretty clearly y'know. Tadashi rushing into that building, me not being able to stop him, the… the explosion. And now I'm here, telling you this, so I'm very much positive that I'm alive."

"If you're so alive, then explain how we all went to Hiro Hamada's funeral, which is by the way only held for someone who is dead." Gogo challenged.

"Look, despite whatever you claim about me being dead, the fact doesn't change that I'm here in front of you living and breathing!" the teen snapped. "But if you don't believe me, just have Baymax scan me, and you'll see that I am Hiro Hamada, and that's who I have been for my entire life."

There was something about his name - Baymax's name to be specific - that made the gang recoil and exchange wary glances. It was one thing to treat Hiro like he had blood on his hands, but why Baymax too?

"What's wrong?" the teen asked as the gang exchanged nervous whispers amongst themselves.

Honey Lemon was the first to look back at him. "Where did you get that robot?"

"You mean Baymax? Don't you remember? Tadashi made him! " Hiro exclaimed in disbelief. "Or I guess technically I made this Baymax."

"You made him?" Wasabi asked raising an eyebrow.

"Well, yeah. I mean, I had to. After Baymax left himself in that space-dimensional portal thing that tore itself apart."

"Okay." Wasabi said making a face. "Now you've lost me."

"That sounds totally awesome!" Fred exclaimed, with a face that looked more reminiscent of the Fred that Hiro knew. With the rest of his friends acting in such a bizarre manner, it was definitely a reassuring sight for him. "It sounds just like those dramatic climax scenes in-"

"Aside from all the questions I have about your proclaimed 'space adventures'," Gogo interrupted making finger quotes as she spoke to Hiro. "Is your robot stable?"

"Uh, he's functioning like normal if that's what you're asking."

"What I'm asking is," Gogo crossed her arms. "Is your robot a killing machine?"

"What?" Hiro's eyes widened. "No! Of course not. He's a healthcare unit; he's nowhere near violent! I mean not unless I command him to attack something," He noticed a few of his friends stiffen. "but um that's just because of his karate database. He usually knows when to draw the line on his own… unless of course, I removed his fighting chip, but that hasn't happened since…" Hiro trailed off, turning his gaze downcast. Shameful memories flashed in his head as he remembered how he turned on his friends, worried them and left them on an abandoned island. Pretty much all of the things a true leader wouldn't do.

"Not since…?" Honey Lemon urged.

"Since I uh… tried to kill Callaghan." Hiro answered quietly.

The teen could hear Wasabi groan loudly in a mixture of confusion and frustration. "None of this is making any sense!" he exclaimed. "Is anyone here getting this? Cause I'm most certainly not understanding a single thing here! We were the ones who went after Callaghan weren't we? Hiro was dead long before we pursued him… wasn't he?"

"Look, just let Baymax scan me, and you'll see that I'm not lying!" Hiro said. "About anything."

Everybody seemed to turn to Gogo. It was as if she were their designated leader, and in all honesty, their obvious reliance on Gogo made him feel a bit hurt. He had worked so hard for two years building himself up to be the proper leader that his friends could put their trust in and to be a leader they can respect, but now in a sudden sweep, all of that effort was stripped from him as if it meant nothing at all. He just couldn't believe it. And he could tell that Gogo wasn't believing him either.

However as she solidly stared the teen straight in the eye, she popped a bubble and said, "Get the bot."


"Bayma-" Suddenly, a strip of duct tape was slapped across Hiro's mouth, cutting him off mid-sentence

"Oh no you don't." Gogo said with a smirk as she tossed a roll of duct tape in one hand. "We're still just getting to know you. Can't risk having you call out any sketchy commands to that bot now, can we?"

Wasabi looked down at Hiro, with a sliver of sympathy evident in his eyes. "You know, this is starting to seem a bit… excessive."

"Just another precaution." Honey noted with a meek smile directed at the restrained teen.

"Can't risk anything, like our heads getting blown off or something like that, you know." Fred said with a simple shrug.

All Hiro could do was groan and glare in irritation, while Baymax simply tilted his head to the side, oblivious to the situation.

"My sensors indicate that-"

"Hey. Robot. How about you use those sensors of yours to scan this guy here." Gogo said interrupting the robot, thumb jutting towards the tied teen. "Tell us about him and who he is. Name, age, and everything."

"Understood. Please wait a few seconds as I scan the target." Baymax stated. As blue light briefly flashed from the robot's eyes, Hiro's friends seemed to take a fearful step back; he still couldn't fathom why they were acting like this around Baymax. "Scan complete. The target in question is my patient, Hiro Hamada."

Hiro glared at Gogo with a look that scoffed, "I told you so." Unfortunately for him, he was ignored.

"What do you mean 'your patient'?" Gogo questioned suspiciously. "We were told that he created you."

"It is true that Hiro rebuilt me, but my initial creator is Tadashi Hamada who passed away two years ago." Confused murmurs immediately emerged amongst the college students.

"So I guess... he was telling the truth." Wasabi said, a hint of disbelief still lingering in his voice.

Hand on her chin, Honey Lemon whispered, "But what does this mean?"

"During that time, Hiro Hamada became my patient due to certain difficulties." Baymax paused. "I am sorry, but I have been programmed by Tadashi and Hiro to follow a patient-doctor confidentiality agreement, and so I am not able to discuss the matter further without Hiro's permission first."

It was then that everybody turned to look at Hiro, only to see a disgruntled teen glaring at them in annoyance. Talking about his feelings, especially from such a vulnerable time, wasn't an especially ideal option, but it seems to be the only choice that would sway his friends to finally believe him.

"Lets just get something straight before I let you talk." she said popping a bubble before leaning down to eye level with Hiro. "I'll take this tape off only if you agree to let that robot tell us more about you, but if you even try to utter out a single suspicious or hostile command, we'll do more than just tie you up like a princess. We wouldn't hesitate to take more drastic measures."

"I-I would." Wasabi barely said under his breath.

"So, do you understand?"

Hiro battled against Gogo's glare with a defiant one of his own.

It's just a fact from the past. It won't do any harm. It's all… in the past.

Before the teen could take any chance to look away, a hand jerked Hiro's chin upwards, forcing him to look Gogo in the eye.

"I said: do. You. Under. Stand?" Gogo stated more forcibly.

He didn't. He didn't understand. Everything that was happening, he didn't understand any of it.

And yet, he still found himself nodding reluctantly


"Ow!" Hiro yelped, the prominent feeling of fire licking at his face lingering as Gogo balled up the strip of duct tape.

Baymax shuffled forward, displaying the usual pain scale chart on his stomach. "On a scale of one to ten, how would you rate your pain?"

"Zero." Hiro uttered, wishing he wasn't tied up so that he could rub away the stinging feeling on his mouth. "I'm fine Baymax."

"Are you certain that you are fine? My sensors indicate that you are currently feeling-"

"Baymax, I'm fine don't worry!" Hiro said a bit too loudly.

Baymax seemed to take a moment to process that. If he had the ability to make any other expression, Hiro was sure that Baymax would have sympathy strewn across his face, but thankfully he began talking again.

"Hiro, I have been asked to talk about incidents involving your previous medical records. Do I have your permission to speak with your friends about it?"

"Yeah." he muttered. "I guess you do but don't go too far into the details, okay?"

"Understood." With that, Baymax turned toward the SFIT students once again, continuing from where he left off. "After Tadashi's death, Hiro became my patient due to his resulting grief. It was my job and goal to help him deal with that grief, which was gradually achieved after Hiro, Gogo, Honey Lemon, Fred, Wasabi, and myself became what Hiro calls the Big Hero 6. That goal was further reached after Abigail Callaghan was saved and when Robert Callaghan was sent to prison. However due to certain events with his friends, Hiro is currently trying to deal wi-"

"Whoa, whoa, wait," Wasabi interrupted. "We got Callaghan into prison?"

"Abigail Callaghan?" Honey Lemon murmured. "When did we save Professor Callaghan's daughter?"

"We became superheroes with Hiro?" Fred asked with his jaw dropped.

Hiro frowned.

You don't have to say it like I'm not cut out to fight with you guys.

"How is this possible…." Gogo whispered, a skeptical look still glued to her face.

"I took the liberty earlier to scan the four of you, and I can confirm that while there are indeed many similarities between you four and Hiro's friends, there are also some differences that indicate that you four are not the same Gogo, Honey, Wasabi, and Fred that Hiro has spent the past two years with."

Needless to say, eyebrows were raised.

"You… you kinda lost me now, Buddy." Hiro managed to say.

They looked exactly like the friends he always went to school with and hung out with, so how was it possible that the people in front of him standing in this lab weren't actually them? The idea was just preposterous! Although Hiro had to admit, that would definitely explain why his friends were acting like they had acquired some sort of dissociative amnesia, but if the four of his friend look-alikes in front of him weren't actually his friends… what did that mean?

"Wait just a minute! Hold the phone!" Fred spoke up as he took a step forward. "I've seen something like this before!" he exclaimed throwing his hands up.

"I swear if you compare it to another one of your comic books…" Wasabi said crossing his arms.

"It's exactly like what happened in my comic book!" he said, receiving a tired grumble of "of course" from Wasabi. "Think about it! This Hiro in front of us has memories that are significantly different from our own memories of the past two years. He says that Tadashi died in the SFIT fire, when we know that Hiro was the one who died." Fred began to pace. "He says that he formed a superhero group with us, when we definitely made our group with…" He paused and bit his lip nervously. "Yeah... with him"

Hiro raised an eyebrow. "Him? Who's 'him'?" he asked in confusion.

Fred continued, ignoring the teen's question. "According to Hiro, or I guess according to the uh marshmallow guy, Robert Callaghan was put in jail and Abigail Callaghan was somehow saved. In our time, Robert Callaghan is dead," Hiro wasn't sure if he just imagined it, but he could've sworn that he saw a dark expression flash across his friends' face. "And Abigail Callaghan is still, and has been, presumably dead."

The Callaghans are dead? But how?

"Get to the point already," Gogo growled impatiently.

"Don't you see?" Fred gestured his arms towards Hiro. "This Hiro must be from a different timeline! An alternate universe or something!"

"Okay, now you're just speaking nonsense." Wasabi stated.

"No," Honey Lemon spoke up, surprising the others. "I think Fred might be on to something."

"See? It's totally possible!" Fred said with an excited look on his face.

An alternate universe…. That might explain that strange falling experience from earlier today. Although, I can't say for certain that it's related to this whole alternate timeline shenanigan, but if this really is some other world where I died, then that means there would have to have been a different catalyst that started the Big Hero 6….

"I don't believe it." Gogo said, crossing her arms.

"Gogo, didn't you say it yourself?" Honey Lemon started. "We've all seen enough crazy things in our lives to know that what we're seeing here is definitely no exception."

"Well, I wasn't really implying that universe hopping was an exception." Gogo added.

"But the fact that he's here makes my theory all the more possible!" Fred added.

Fred had talked about someone. He referred to that person as 'him' and looked at no one in particular; that must mean the person he mentioned isn't in the room at this moment.

"Look, how about we scan him and see how old he is." Wasabi pointed out. "Dead people shouldn't be able to age right?"

"Good idea," Honey Lemon said as she turned to Baymax. "Baymax? Could you please tell us how old Hiro is?"

There's one person in this room who shouldn't be here but is, and that would be me I guess, so the other person who should be here but isn't...isn't that…?

"Hiro Hamada is currently sixteen years old and in good health. Should nothing happen to harm his health, it would be safe to assume that he will live a moderately long life." Baymax stated.

But that would be….

"Dead people can't age you say?" Fred challenged. "Well look now! He's two years older than he was at the SFIT fire!"

That would mean….

"Tch." Gogo closed her eyes and clenched her fists.

Tadashi is-

"Is my brother… is Tadashi alive?" Hiro asked, eyes that looked at no one in particular widening in revelation.

Fred's insistent persuasions were immediately silenced as soon as that name left Hiro's tongue. When Hiro lifted his eyes, he only found himself looking back at four pairs of unreadable stares.

"Is he here?" Hiro continued more frantically.

"Hiro, your heart rate is drastically increasing," Baymax stated. "Please make sure to take deeper and slower breaths to avoid hyperventilation."

"Please," Hiro begged, disregarding his robot companion. "If he's alive, then I just- I need to see hi-"

All he had seen was a blur, before the sound of thunder bounced off of the lab walls, stunning the teen into silence. Blinking once, he took notice of Gogo's palm smashed against the table in front of him, and as his eyes traced from her hand up her arm and to her face, his wide eyes met with a fierce glare tinged with… pain?

"Do you really want to know the answer to that question?"


A/N: Sorry for keeping you guys waiting! I kind of like having at least one upcoming chapter written out and ready for editing before posting another chapter, but Chapter 3 is kind of long, so of course, progress is a bit slow at this point (school is also a pesky factor, but that still doesn't excuse my slowness)!

I don't want you guys to think that I'm ditching this fanfic though, so I thought it was about time to post the next chapter. It's a bit dialogue heavy this time around, but hopefully its still interesting! There are still so many things to explain, but that will happen gradually as the story progresses~ I hope you stay with me in the process, and thank you for your support!

Also just in case you're wondering why Hiro still isn't fully over Tadashi's death, I mentioned in the summary that he was learning to move on, which means he's still in the process of moving on! It also has to do with how (as mentioned in the previous chapter) he still has things he wants to tell Tadashi.

Anyways, that's all for now, but if you have the time, please tell me what you think~