Notes: For those of you interested in soundtracks, I listened to Immortals from the OST a lot while writing, but the bit where the point-of-view rapidly shifts was actually very much inspired by Silent Sparrow - also on the soundtrack - particularly the bit about three minutes into the song. You might also want to consider listening to The Streets of San Fransokyo.


Chapter Two

"So, since you've commandeered my project for yourself, what did you have planned for me?" Tadashi asked, trying for casual. It was good Hiro was 'borrowing' Baymax for this. Baymax would keep Hiro safe.

"I was thinking turn about is fair play," Hiro replied as he spun the chair he was sitting in around, holding the project he'd been working on up for inspection. It was a white helmet with red and purple detailing. Hiro tilted it so Tadashi could see inside and Tadashi felt his breath catch in his throat as he caught on.

"Is that...?"

"Yeah. I figured out it wasn't working with the exoskeleton because of frequency interference from the one that was stolen, which means that you-"

"Might be able to take control of the microbots," Tadashi finished in unison with Hiro. Hiro nodded, handing over the helmet with the extra neurotransmitter inside.

"Are you... sure you want to give me this?"

"Yeah. I mean, I kinda took Baymax from you and then... I never meant for the microbots to be used this way. Never even thought about it. They need to be in the hands of someone I trust, and I can't think of anyone I trust more than you."

"I'm honored," Tadashi said. Then he realized he was grinning like a sap and tried for an expression that was more 'cool big brother'. He apparently failed because Hiro just smirked at him.

"So...," he tried for casual again, "What else do you have knocking around in that big brain of yours?"

"Oh! Wait until you see what I have planned for Fred! He's gonna love it!"


Honestly, Hiro wasn't all that comfortable with Tadashi not having any weapons. What if he got hurt, like with the fire? The fire that bastard thief no doubt started. Hiro forced himself to unclench his fists, taking a deep breath and letting it go as he did. He needed to hold it together right now. Revenge on the bastard for hurting his big brother and stealing his microbots would come. Right now, super suits.

Hiro had made Tadashi's as safe as he could while maintaining lightness and flexibility. Tadashi needed to be able to dodge, after all, and karate required a certain level of free movement to be effective. Hiro had also quietly taken the others aside one by one and requested they protect Tadashi as he was unarmed until he gained control of the microbots. They'd agreed, something Hiro was thankful to them for.

Now, where was that schematic he and Honey Lemon had made for her portable chem lab...?

Meanwhile, the next room over...

"Did he ask you to protect his brother too?"

"Who? Hiro or Tadashi?"

"Both."

"Brother issues, the both of them."

"But we're going to look after both of them, right?"

"Oh hell, yes."

The four friends exchanged looks and promises. The Hamada brothers weren't going anywhere without them going down first.


Everyone else made it through the gauntlet to Fred's butler, Heathcliff, just fine but now that it was his turn...

"I don't know about this. I mean, I don't have any weapons," Tadashi stated as he baulked at the challenge.

"What're you talking about, White Knight? You are a weapon! Karate your way through!" Fred insisted.

"Well, there is that- Wait. White Knight?"

"Superhero name to protect your secret identity," Fred intoned solemnly.

"What? Oh, no. No."

"Too late! We already agreed," Honey Lemon cheerfully told Tadashi.

"But, I didn't agree. This is my first time even hearing it."

"Give it up, man," Wasabi advised. "With everyone else on board, the day you stop being White Knight will be the day I stop being Wasabi."

Well, that was never happening, Tadashi thought, which meant he was stuck with the nickname. Dang.

"You're up, White Knight. Quit stalling," Hiro insisted with a teasing grin.

"Right," Tadashi agreed, letting out a slow breath. He might be rusty on the karate, what with college and then being hospitalized but, if he was going to be there for Hiro, he needed to do this. Then he was running. Over the hedge, dodge the tennis balls, grab the mask and done.

"Alright!"

"Way to go!"

"Nice!"

"I think you have the best time yet," Gogo stated approvingly.

"Well done, sir," Heathcliff offered.

"Thanks, guys, but this isn't going to be anything like the real thing." That made the group a little more solemn.

"No, it's not," Hiro agreed before going on to state, "But we know what to do. Don't worry. We'll be great!"

And while Tadashi was worried, he could only stare in pride at Hiro. While it wasn't how he'd expected, his little brother really was going to change the world.


Baymax's advanced scan picked up Yokai (as Fred had started calling the guy) on one of the islands off the bay, so they were flying out on Baymax. Tadashi had a death grip on Hiro, who was magnetically attached to Baymax's armor, Honey Lemon and Gogo had the wings, while Fred and Wasabi had one arm each. Tadashi felt sorry for Wasabi, what with his fear of heights, but Tadashi wasn't moving from his spot behind Hiro and any other configuration would throw off Baymax's balance.

The landing went well but they were all obviously on edge. At the noise, Tadashi quickly dodged out of the way of any potential attack only to realize...

"Guys! Guys, stop! It's a bird!"

Sure enough, in the middle of the attacks and not only unharmed, but unphased, was a pigeon. Maybe, Tadashi thought, they should've practiced with a target they weren't afraid of hurting. Not that he wanted the pigeon dead but their aim...

"Successful field test," Fred announced as they got over their sheepishness. Tadashi shook his head fondly and didn't voice the thought that this was a bad idea. When Wasabi started moaning about the quarantine signs, Tadashi tried to calm him.

"Relax. We're too close to San Fransokyo for this to be a radioactive quarantine. We would've heard about it if it was. As for a sickness quarantine, well, it looks like the people left awhile ago."

"Then why leave the signs up?"

"Duh. To keep people out. Standard secret base operating procedure," Fred informed them. "The average law-abiding citizen would turn away upon seeing the signs."

There was a pause before Wasabi asked, "Uh, if the average law-abiding citizen would turn away, what does that make us?"

"Above average," Fred replied with blithe ignorance. The others exchanged looks and the rest of their walk was silent. Well, aside from Fred coming up with a ridiculous theme song for them and their supposed origins. Tadashi had long since learned not to ask. Then they reached a huge room with tech marked with the symbol Hiro had seen at the docks. It was pretty obvious something big had gone down. After a quick debate, the team headed up to the command room.

"What happened here?" Honey Lemon asked as she looked in dismay at the strange destroyed machine.

"Let's find out," Hiro said as he started hitting buttons on a control panel, quickly bringing up a multi-camera video feed. What followed was the story of Krei Tech's secret project Silent Sparrow.

Tadashi started when he saw the pilot. She'd been so excited by a summer internship she had refused to tell him about and Tadashi had thought maybe she'd gotten a job when she hadn't come back. Suddenly, Abigail Callaghan's failure to return as a TA made a certain, horrible sense. He could barely stand to watch the video from that point on, knowing something bad had to have happened just from the state of the other room. He'd liked Abigail, too. Hell, she'd bought him his first drink, even though it had technically been illegal for her to do so at the time. He mourned her loss when the return portal went up in flames in the video.

"So it was Krei," Fred stated.

What? Krei? That didn't make sense. Tadashi shook his head and opened his mouth to point that out, but noise and movement made them all freeze and look out the window just in time to see Yokai throw a huge piece of reinforced concrete at them. Baymax saved them, although the resulting dark and dust was alarming.

"Is everyone alright?"

"We're okay, Hiro," Honey Lemon said after coughing.

"Alright, Baymax. Get us out of here."

Suddenly, Tadashi was very glad Hiro had given Baymax a rocket fist. Once out, they could see the microbots dismantling the last piece of the still intact portal.

"What's the plan?" Wasabi asked.

"Time for Fred!" Fred replied before jumping out. "Super Jump!" The microbots hit him mid-leap. "Super Fall!" Then more microbots smashed Baymax back onto the rubble.

"Baymax!" Hiro cried out, scrambling up to the robot.

"What's the plan?" Wasabi repeated a bit more desperately.

"Get the mask," Gogo replied before moving to harass Yokai. Honey Lemon dropped a chem ball to make a safe landing place and followed.

"No, seriously, what's the plan?!"

"Come on," Tadashi told Wasabi, grabbing the taller man by the shoulder and heading for the stairs even as he prayed Hiro would be safe with Baymax. The reached the lower level in time see the girls go after Yokai and get slammed into each other thanks to a combination of Yokai and Honey Lemon's chemical slick. Tadashi winced at the sight.

"Hey! You want a piece of this? Because I've got this! And this!" Wasabi cried out before Yokai could go after Fred or the girls. The microbots attacked and Wasabi held them off.

"Hey, not bad! You want more of this? Oh. You got that," Wasabi said before the microbots holding his legs tossed him into Fred and the girls, knocking them back down. A mass of microbots formed into a block, reading to crush them.

"Now might be a good time to use your neurotransmitter!" Wasabi yelled.

Tadashi reached out mentally towards the microbots, willing them to stop and feeling stupid that there was no better way to describe what he was doing. But the microbots did indeed slow and then stop. Yokai paused and then his stance turned angry.

The microbots started moving again, this time towards Tadashi, slow at first but gaining momentum. Tadashi tried stopping it but, while he was bleeding off the microbots on the edges, the main bulk was still coming at him, shaping into a curved spike. Then it was coming at him with frightening speed, far too fast to dodge. Tadashi yelped and threw up his arms in a desperate protective gesture even as he ducked and turned his head away.

There was the sound of metal clashing against metal. Tadashi looked up and let out his breath in one whoosh because the microbots he'd taken from the main mass had formed a protective shield. Then there was another clang as the microbots that weren't under his control hit the shield again before swarming over and around it.

"Oh shit," he breathed, trying to back away. But there was nowhere to run to. He was completely surrounded. In every way, he realized, as the microbots crested like a wave above him, ready to crush him. Then the wave crashed down.


"TADASHI!" Hiro screamed because he'd just gotten Baymax upright and that was his big brother that had just disappeared under the sea of microbots. And all he could think was how Tadashi had been right about this whole idea being stupid. It was stupid to face Yokai on his own turf; it was stupid to be fighting with weapons and suits they'd barely tested; it was stupid not to give Tadashi extra weapons just in case; and it was stupid to have not realized that Tadashi would become the main target once Yokai found out Tadashi could control the microbots too. It was all stupid.

And it made Hiro angry. Angry with the others for letting him talk Tadashi into this, angry at Tadashi for agreeing anyway, angry with Yokai for causing all of this to begin with, but mostly angry with himself because it was his fault Tadashi was... was... No! He wasn't going to think like that because Tadashi had to be alive, even if Hiro couldn't see how he possibly could be, because that had been a lot of metal. No one could survive that much metal crashing down on them.

The deep breath didn't work. Neither did the next one. His hands were still clenched but it still felt like Tadashi slipping out of his grip at the fire all over again. Tadashi was buried under a tide of metal and probably dead and it was Hiro's fault but it was also Yokai's and Hiro had a way to make him pay.

The world felt eerily calm as Hiro ordered, "Baymax. Destroy him. Take out the man controlling the microbots."

"My programming does not allow me to harm a human being," Baymax protested. Hiro hit the button on Baymax's chest and all but ripped out the green chip - Tadashi's chip - in response.

"Not any more. Now rip him apart."

"What?"

"No!"

"Baymax, stop!"


Apparently the microbots responded to proximity, which was damn lucky for Tadashi as it meant they formed a dome around him. It was claustrophobic as hell, but at least he wasn't being crushed. When he felt Yokai tugging them away, he let them go and straightened up in time to see Hiro yanking a green chip out of Baymax. The implications of that action hit Tadashi like a load of bricks.

"HIRO! STOP!"

Hiro paused, turning to give Tadashi a shocked look that turned happy an instant later. Yokai, however, didn't stop and took advantage. The microbots lashed out. Hiro fell.

"HIRO!"

Tadashi ran, ripping the microbots away from Hiro and shoving them all back even as he placed himself between them and his brother. Suddenly, controlling the microbots was easy. They flexed under his control, going after Yokai but, just as proximity to Tadashi had made them turn towards his will, so they turned to Yokai's. The mass of microbots wavered and changed as they shifted allegiance back and forth time and again each second that passed. And Tadashi realized to his horror that he was losing.


Hiro blinked and tried to shake the daze away as he tried picking himself up off the floor, only to pause and stare in horror at the situation he'd caused. Tadashi was standing between everyone and Yokai and the microbots were twisting and contorting like a massive dying thing as they rose and fell in the air. Everyone else was trying to hold back Baymax and stop him from using his rocket arm. It was when Fred managed to send one shot from Baymax off target that Hiro realized in terror that he hadn't specified which man that was controlling the microbots.


Tadashi startled as Baymax's rocket fist hit the microbot wall far too close for comfort before he turned his attention back to microbots because they'd started moving closer far too fast. He slowed them back down but, despite his best efforts, he was still losing ground.


"Tadashi, move, before he takes you out!" Wasabi shouted before Baymax knocked him away.


"I can't!" Tadashi couldn't move or he'd lose his already tenuous grip on the microbots. It was all he could do just to keep Yokai from making the microbots hurt the team. At that thought, Tadashi's control on them slipped a little further and the microbots built an impressively disturbing set of spikes and started to push them forward as they crawled closer.


Baymax had the closer target lined up in his sight. All he had to do was release the rocket arm. He shrugged off the others like they were bugs.


It wasn't going to be enough, Tadashi knew. If Baymax running on only fight protocols didn't kill him first, then Yokai would because Tadashi wasn't strong enough to stop the incoming bots. But he had to try, damn it. The microbot spikes grew bigger and more daunting as they came closer, curving around the team as the outer edges moved faster than he could hold them back.


The wings on the rocket arm spread as it readied. The target was locked on.


Tadashi gasped as a spike brushed his fingertips. That one stopped, but the ones going for his face and heart kept coming. The worst part was knowing that he was the only reason they hadn't already rushed forward and impaled his little brother and friends and that, soon, they wouldn't even have that much protection.


Baymax blinked, the red disappearing from his eyes, before looking down at where Hiro had pressed his card slot closed.

"I'm sorry," Hiro said, almost sobbed. "I shouldn't have... I'm sorry."


Tadashi blinked in surprise when Wasabi cut through the spikes before they could impale him. Then Honey Lemon was tossing one of her chemical balls and Fred was setting it on fire, causing a huge explosion even as Gogo grabbed Tadashi and got him out of the way by dint of the sheer force of her speed. Yokai pulled back and fled rather than face the now complete team. Tadashi slumped onto his hands and knees, mental exhaustion taking its toll, even as the masked man, microbots, and stolen portal all disappeared.

"What the hell was that?! No, seriously, what the hell?!" Gogo shouted as she pulled off her helmet. "We agreed to help stop the guy, not kill him! We didn't sign up for this!"

Tadashi forced himself into an upright kneeling position instead of his hands and knees because that was his little brother Gogo was screaming at. Then he blinked in surprise when Hiro, turned to the side and head down and not even facing him, put his hand on Tadashi's chest as if to stop him. Tadashi could see Hiro's lips silently moving and he realized with a start that Hiro was counting his heartbeat.

"Hiro?" Tadashi asked as Gogo paused in her rant.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have... it was stupid. I- I thought you were dead and I nearly ended up getting you killed instead."

Tadashi sighed and grabbed his little brother's arm, tugging him closer even as he settled his own body into a seiza position.

"One day, I'm going to die, Hiro," he said. When his little brother started to protest, he spoke over him. "Shut up and listen. I'm going to die one day. We all are. We're not exactly immortals here. And while I certainly pray it won't be any time soon, if I go first, I do not want you becoming a murderer on my behalf. Do you understand?"

"Yeah. It won't happen again. I promise," Hiro stated softly.

"No, it will not. I have changed my programming so that only I may access my data chip vault," Baymax proclaimed.

Tadashi looked over his lapful of little brother and nodded at the robot, saying, "Good job, Baymax."

Hiro flinched and Tadashi frowned even as he wrapped his arms tightly around his brother.

"Hey. I'm not mad at you."

"You're not?" Hiro said, finally turning towards Tadashi in order to give him an incredulous look. Tadashi could see even through the mask that Hiro had been crying.

"I'm disappointed, bonehead, not angry. But you're smart and I know you. You never make the same mistake twice once it's been drilled through your thick skull that it is a mistake," Tadashi stated, tapping a finger against Hiro's forehead.

Hiro shot a quick look at their friends. Wasabi nodded and Fred gave him a small smile and a thumbs up gesture.

"So long as you don't do it again," Gogo agreed, popping her gum.

"Of course he won't. It's Hiro," Honey Lemon said.

"Thanks, guys," Hiro said, ducking his head again only this time in embarrassment judging by the blush Tadashi could make out.

"While I am certain this bonding is excellent for your mental health, Tadashi is showing signs of mental fatigue and I would like to make sure Hiro is not suffering from a concussion," Baymax spoke up.

"Yeah. Good idea," Tadashi agreed as he gently shoved Hiro away so he could stand.

"What are we going to do now that Krei got away?" Fred asked as Baymax scanned Hiro and started asking the standard questions for possible concussion victims.

"That wasn't Krei," Tadashi insisted.

"What? How do you know?"

"Think about it. Why would Krei take Hiro's bots and don a mask in order to steal his own tech? It doesn't make sense," Tadashi pointed out before pausing as a terrible idea struck him. The very idea made him sick to his stomach, but it made far too much sense. He added, "But I can think of someone who would. Where are the videos?"

Everyone followed Tadashi back to the command center with confused looks. Well, confused except for Baymax, who was still asking his questions as he tagged along behind Hiro. Tadashi ignored them in favor of bringing up the multi-camera video feed again and studying the various screens as they played out the tragedy they'd watched before.

"Wait. There."

"What the...? Professor Callaghan was there?"

"Yeah, and I think that's the proof I was looking for. He's Yokai," Tadashi proclaimed grimly now that he had proof Robert Callaghan was aware of Abigail's fate.

"What?!"

"No way!"

"You can't be serious! Why would you even think that?"

"No, no, I'm getting you, Tadashi. Faking your own death is a standard supervillain trait. Never assume the villain's dead until you find the body," said Fred.

"But-"

"As Fred pointed out, no one ever found the Professor's body after the fire. And we assumed the microbots were destroyed in the same fire until Yokai showed up with them. Professor Callaghan would've had the opportunity to take them and even figure out how to mass produce and control them."

"Assuming he survived, and I'm not saying he did, why would he steal Krei's tech?" Gogo asked.

"Her, of course," Tadashi stated, pointing at Abigail.

"The pilot? What about her?" Wasabi asked.

"Oh, that's right. You guys never met her," Tadashi said.

"Wait, you knew the pilot?"

"Yeah. She was my TA in Applied Aerodynamics. Her name's Abigail and she's Professor Callaghan's daughter."

"So that's why. This is a revenge story," Fred stated with sad determination.

"You can't prove this," Gogo pointed out.

"Only way to prove it is taking off the guy's mask," Hiro stated. "And whether he's Callaghan or Krei, we need to ask where he'd go with that tech."

"Oh, that's easy. Same place for both of them. Krei Tech's grand opening for their new facility is this afternoon," Fred stated with a grin. "Krei will be there because it's his company and, if it's not Krei, then that's the perfect time for Yokai to get back at him."

Everyone exchanged looks.

"Are we doing this?" Wasabi asked.

"Hiro has only suffered a minor contusion, but is otherwise alright aside from adolescent mood swings. Everyone else is likewise healthy," Baymax added.

"I say we're doing this," Gogo said, holding out her fist.

"I'm in," Tadashi agreed, holding his out as well.

"Definitely," Honey agreed.

"Couldn't stop me if you tried," Hiro stated with a grin.

"Of course I am!" Fred exclaimed as he added his fist to the growing circle.

"Yep," Wasabi confirmed. Baymax added his fist in last after a confused tilt of his head. Everyone then pulled their fists back while making a noise to mimic an explosion, wiggling their fingers. All except Baymax, who wiggled his fingers and said, "Balalalala."

"Did you teach him that?" Tadashi asked as he nudged Hiro's shoulder with a laugh and a grin. Hiro shrugged and smiled.

"Someone had to."

Then they left. They had a day to save.


Notes: I'm pretty certain I borrowed the idea that Abigail Callaghan was Tadashi's TA without permission. It kinda became head canon and I forgot it wasn't actual canon until I took myself to re-watch the movie. If you're the originator, sorry for borrowing the idea without asking you first. :(

I have no idea why but when I think of character colors, Tadashi strikes me as a white. So I stuck him in a white superhero suit with Hiro and Baymax's colors as detailing to keep it from being boring. And if anyone wants to draw Tadashi's supersuit, I will love you forever.

As for his super powers, well, Hiro's the only one of the gang with the type of mind to turn something as squishy as Baymax into a fighter so that combo kind of has to stay, which means Tadashi has to get Hiro's microbots, which honestly impressed me during Hiro's presentation. Imagine what a superhero could do with those things! In fact, I already have a ton of plans which is why I'm certain this is going to end up a series. It also gives a nice rounded feeling, the boys having each other's tech protecting them. Tadashi just has to gain control of them first...