Badass Tadashi is awesome Tadashi. I hope you all like this chapter, battle scenes aren't my strong point. And I hope you enjoy semi-manic Nico, he was fun to write. In other news, since I last updated I've fallen completely in love with Seraph of the End. It's a great manga/anime if you're okay with dark stuff. And minor curse warning this chapter, kittens. Hiro has a bit of a potty mouth~

Everything had been going pretty well for Nico until he spotted Tadashi running into the fray. Nico had found himself a nice hidden vantage point and summoned a group of skeletons to do his bidding. The looks on the mortals' faces were priceless. But fun as it was, messing with them wasn't the point. Nico had guided his warriors to assist Tadashi's friends and kill as many monsters as possible, and even used the shadows to ensnare some hellhounds a couple times. Though when Hiro and the robot were shot down via hydra acid, Nico had braced himself for chaos. So he wasn't at all surprised when Tadashi ran to his brother's side—from what Nico knew of the older demigod he'd do anything to protect his family.

But now that Hiro was down, there was nobody left to fight Callaghan. Nico looked around the cavernous room quickly and found the masked man trying to escape through a hole in the roof. I don't think so! Thanking his not-so-often lucky stars that it was dark, Nico once again disappeared into the shadows.

Callaghan recoiled in shock when Nico appeared right in front of him, and the son of Hades smirked before swinging his sword as hard as he could. He'd struck with the flat of his blade though, so the strike that would have cleaved a monster in two just sent Callaghan crashing to the ground in a shower of microbots. Twisted though he was at times, Nico only killed when he had to.

A wave of microbots met his sword when he swung it again. Nico scowled, these things were beginning to get on his nerves. Shadows twisted around his body as he fought, preventing the tiny things from latching onto him and doing who-knew-what. Get in close…he has no regular weapons, if I get in close enough he's finished. With that thought, Nico charged at Callaghan faster than he had before and managed to whack the older man on the head. The force was enough to make him stumble, and Nico took full advantage of the opportunity. He punched Callaghan so hard that the kabuki mask cracked, though it didn't break. While his opponent was dazed, Nico made one last strike and grabbed the mask, ripping it from Callaghan's face and throwing it across the room. The microbots fell to the floor and Nico grinned savagely. "You're finished, you wannabe villain!"

Apparently, this taunt had been louder than Nico expected. All around him the battles slowly ended. Nico couldn't fathom the reason why the monsters would freeze as well, but nevertheless silence crept over the room.

That is, until a shocked voice no older than his own called out, "P-Professor Callaghan?"

Hiro wasn't sure what hit Baymax, but it was powerful enough to knock him off. He had the faint idea that he needed to make the magnets on his suit stronger before he slammed into a wall, hard. He fell to the ground in a daze and probably wouldn't have moved if he had the choice, but this was a battlefield. Standing still could get him killed, as Honey Lemon had said more than once.

When he managed to get up and look around, dread ran through his body. A bunch of the chimera had surrounded him—six of the monsters, to be exact. Oh, man. This is bad…I didn't plan on fighting monsters directly. Hiro didn't know if he could get away, much less kill the beasts. Still, he had to do something.

Hiro hit the buttons on his gloves and the blades sprang out. He held them up in front of him. "G-get away from me!" He shouted. But in all honesty his desperation probably made him seem like even more of a target. "Hey, guys! I could use some help over here!" Nobody answered, they were all caught in their own fights. Even Baymax was fighting a huge snake monster, which was probably the thing that had hit them before. Hiro was on his own. The group of chimera began to open their mouths, most likely to breathe fire, and Hiro know he was done for.

But then out of nowhere, a strange figure appeared. Hiro had definitely never seen the orange clothes and gold armor before, but things were happening too fast for him to wonder about who he was or why he was carrying a spear in one hand. The man—from his build, he had to be—vaulted right over one of the chimera surrounding Hiro. He stared at Hiro for a moment, face hidden by a helmet. And just as suddenly as he appeared, the stranger shoved Hiro to the ground. "Get down and stay down!" He ordered angrily, before turning to face the monsters. But before he could attack, they blew a great wave of fire and completely engulfed him. Had Hiro been standing, he would have been caught in the inferno.

"No!" He yelled. Even though this man was a stranger, he didn't deserve to die trying to save Hiro. Not like Tada…shi… Hiro's thoughts trailed off when he noticed the stranger was still standing tall. His clothes hadn't even been singed.

The man dropped into a battle stance as a bright ball of fire formed in his right hand. "Try that again," he growled with obvious fury, "And I'll turn you all to ash." Hiro gaped at his rescuer. What the ever-loving fuck is going on here? Who is this guy?

One of the chimera growled and stepped closer. The man laughed humorlessly. "Big mistake." And quick as a snake, he threw the fireball in its face.

That move was the beginning of a fight that blew Hiro's mind. In a bizarre combination of fire, stabs, and at one point an unintentional piggyback ride, the stranger dispatched the group of chimera. He was fighting too desperately to seem like an expert and got a few nasty knocks, but somehow beat five out of six monsters without even being cut. The last chimera looked at the warrior for a minute, then whimpered and fled. Sighing hugely, he turned back to Hiro and offered his hand. "You okay?"

"Yeah—hey, I should be asking you that! How'd you fight off those things? Who are you?" Hiro took his hand and stood up, eyeing the stranger warily. Normal people can't fight like that. And that fire, he can't be any ordinary human. And why does it feel like I've heard his voice before? "Are you a…demigod?"

The stranger nodded. "I'll explain later, okay? Just stick close to me, the fight isn't over yet."

But before Hiro could reply there was a burst of maniacal, half-crazed laughter followed by a huge crash. "You're finished, you wannabe villain!" an unfamiliar voice taunted.

Hiro felt the oddest rush of cold as he found the source of the noise. The speaker was small, like him, and wearing black armor. But more importantly was the figure standing in front of him. Yokai. And he was unmasked.

Hiro knew that face. It was that of the person his brother had given his life trying to save. But it couldn't be. That fire…nobody could have survived. Feeling like the world had been yanked out from under him, Hiro tentatively called out. "P-Professor Callaghan?"

Maybe it was because everyone had frozen, but Hiro could have sworn the room was growing colder.

Callaghan staggered to his feet, breathing hard. "What?" He asked, sounding irritated. "You've just fought a bunch of monsters. Is this really all that surprising?"

"The explosion…you died." How can he be here?

"No." Callaghan growled. "I had your microbots."

"B-but Tadashi. You just let him die." Hiro stuttered in horror. "He went in there to save you."

"That's right." A voice whispered in his mind. "Your brother died for nothing."

"He's gone because of that man." A second, similar voice added. "The one who stole your hard work and is using it to terrorize the city."

Hiro ignored this sudden bout of schizophrenia and waited for an answer form the former professor.

Callaghan glared at all of them. "That was his mistake. He's gone because he got involved in something that had nothing to do with him. So will you be, if you keep butting in."

Tadashi's death…a mistake? He doesn't…he doesn't care? Hiro didn't want to believe this. He couldn't. This wasn't the same kindly man that his brother had looked up to.

"That's right, Robert could care less about Tadashi…he never did, in fact. It was all a lie."

"He consorts with monsters. What good person does that?"

"He deserves to be punished." The voices said together.

Hiro didn't know what these whispers were, didn't know why he was feeling so cold, but he did know that they were right. "Callaghan…" Hiro muttered furiously. How dare he...

Before he could move, a hand landed on his shoulder. Annoyed, Hiro turned around to face the man in gold armor. "What's going on? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. But he won't be." Hiro turned back to Callaghan, fists trembling in rage. Glaring, Hiro began to advance towards the older man.

"Go, boy. Give him what he deserves."

"We've even stopped the monsters for you. Do what must be done." It may have been Hiro's imagination, but the voices almost seemed excited.

"Hiro, stop! What do you think you're doing?" GoGo demanded.

Hiro paused for a moment, to look at her and the rest of the room. His friends, the strangers, and every single monster in the room had stopped moving. Nearly all of them were looking right at him. If it was really the creepy voices that had made everyone stop, then Hiro was grateful to them. It would have been impossible to get at Callaghan in the chaos of a few minutes before. When his eyes landed on Baymax, an idea sparked in Hiro's mind. He locked eyes with the robot and pointed at Callaghan. "Baymax. Destroy him!"

The robot shook his head. "My healthcare protocol prevents me from injuring a human being."

This time, Hiro charged at the robot instead. "Not anymore!" It's not like Callaghan has a human heart anymore.

"Oh no you don't!" The gold armored stranger grabbed one of Hiro's arms. Hiro tried to pull away, but the stranger's grip was too tight.

"Let me go, damn it!" Hiro continued to struggle, but it was no use. "Baymax, get him!"

Hiro reached towards the robot desperately, and all of a sudden he felt the oddest sensation, like something had snapped within himself. Just as this happened, the access port on Baymax's chest opened and the green chip flew out. Before Hiro could wonder what exactly he'd done, Baymax straightened. Even from here Hiro could see that his eyes were now glowing red. "Destroy him!"

Baymax focused on Callaghan, and without hesitating launched one of his gauntlets at the professor's head. Somehow Callaghan managed to dodge, but Baymax just charged after him.

"Take out the robot!" Callaghan yelled in fear. But the monsters just stayed where they were. "Why aren't you doing anything?"

"I hope you appreciate our help." The mysterious voices were back.

"It's not easy to manipulate the will of so many at once, even if they aren't human." The second one added, and Hiro nodded in satisfaction. If the monster horde was moving around like it had been before there would have been no chance of taking Callaghan out. Their stillness was eerie, but Hiro was grateful for it.

Now Callaghan was running. Several times he would have been hit by Baymax's attacks, but Hiro's friends kept jumping in and throwing off his aim. The skeleton warriors from before were in on it too, and arrows kept flying out of nowhere and bouncing off Baymax's armor.

"What did you do?" The stranger demanded.

"I did what I had to! We can't let Callaghan get away!" Hiro thought that maybe now, when the stranger was distracted, he could get away. But it was useless, his grip was as strong as ever.

By now Callaghan had reached the edge of the room and was scrambling through support beams, trying to evade Baymax. And Baymax was just crashing through everything, heedless of the destruction he was causing. Any monsters they came near just shifted out of the way in a daze. Suddenly, Callaghan tripped over a piece of rubble. Hiro thought that would be the end of it, but the old man managed to get back on his feet and away from Baymax. But this time there was something in his hands.

The mask.

No! But held back as he was, Hiro couldn't do anything to stop Callaghan from putting his mask back on and summoning the microbots to his side once more. He's getting away!

Baymax raised his arm to fire another rocket fist, but before he could a black shape appeared literally out of nowhere, right in front of him—the black armored stranger who'd revealed Callaghan in the first place. He made a couple quick motions and suddenly Baymax relaxed. Damn it! He must have put the healthcare chip back in!

Callaghan paused in his retreat, taking in the new development. Hiro thought for sure that he would attack, but the microbots just continued carrying him up to the hole in the roof.

"Echidna! Take your minions and get out of here. This isn't a battle we need to be fighting." Callaghan ordered as he retreated.

"But the half-bloods are all here! Why not kill them now and save yourself the trouble? They've even stopped their strongest weapon!" The snake woman hissed. Hiro didn't know where she'd gone to during the fighting itself, but suddenly she was there, standing next to a large, multi-headed snake monster.

"That's not the plan!" Callaghan snapped, "The deal was that you listen to me until the job is done. Now take the filthy things and meet me on the mainland!" He didn't wait to see if his order would be followed, choosing instead to escape in the hole in the roof via microbots. Hiro tried once more to go after him, but the stranger still stubbornly refused to let go.

Echidna growled. "The man is too soft…children, away for now! We will test these heroes another day."

With many growls and odd, slithering noises, the pack of monsters began to retreat. Some into the shadows, some out the door, until all of them were gone.

For a moment, nobody moved. Then the kid wearing black armor called out. "They're gone. Nothing's going to come out and get us."

"How do you know?" Wasabi, ever the worrywart, demanded.

"I can summon skeletons to fight for me. Sensing nearby life forces is a piece of cake compared to that." The kid told him. Doing that…he's got to be a demigod. Still, it doesn't give him the right to but in! Hiro thought, half in annoyance and half in respect for his skill.

"You should see him when he's mad!" A cheerful, unknown voice called. Hiro looked around to find a boy, who couldn't be more than two years older than him, standing on top of the giant pile of rubble that used to be the observation room. This boy was dressed only in an orange t-shirt and shorts, looking seriously out of place among everyone else. Judging by the bow in his hands, Hiro guessed that he was the source of the arrows that had become scattered across the battlefield. When the blond kid reached everyone else the golden armored man finally, finally let Hiro go.

Hiro spun around to glare at him. "What the heck was that? We had him! Why'd you stop me?"

"And what would you have done if you caught him?" The stranger yelled. "Huh? Could you really live with killing someone? That's not you, Hiro!"

Now Hiro was even more furious. What gives him the right to criticize me? He's not Tadashi, he doesn't know anything! "And how would you know? It's not like you're my brother."

For some reason, the stranger recoiled at this accusation. Good. He doesn't deserve to tell me what to do. "Baymax. We're going after him."

"My scanner has been damaged, and my armor as well. It is really not in your best interest to—"

"Then I'll fix it! We can't waste any time. Wings." Hiro ordered, marching over to the robot.

"Wait! You can't do this by yourself!" The stranger called to him. "Don't go!"

"Don't tell me what to do!" Hiro ran for it. I won't let him stop me again. He knew the stranger was running after him, and that the rest of the assembled group probably was too, but he managed to get to Baymax first. "Fly! Now!"

"I must advise that you—"

"Just do it!" Hiro screamed. He had only seconds before the others pulled him down. Luckily, Baymax listened to his command and powered on his rockets. Just as they lifted off the floor, the stranger called out one last time.

"Please! Just let me explain—"

"No! My brother is dead because of that man! I don't want you to explain anything to me!" Hiro would have never admitted it to anyone, but at that moment he was crying. Baymax's damaged rockets lifted them unsteadily off the floor, towards the hole in the roof.

"There's something you don't know! Hiro, I'm your—"

Hiro didn't hear the rest of the stranger's desperate explanation and he didn't care.

Because he was already gone.

"There's something you don't know! Hiro, I'm your brother!"

If Hiro heard, he gave no sign of it. The boy was gone, disappeared through the hole in the roof like Callaghan has a few moments ago. No, no, no…if I'd have told him sooner this wouldn't have happened. Damn it! The amanojaku had exploited Hiro's grief and anger and nearly driven him to murder. He didn't know exactly what they'd said to Hiro, but Tadashi had felt the inexplicable cold coiling around his brother, and he'd seen Hiro's expression gradually turn from grief to fury. All because he thought Tadashi was dead.

There was only silence in the room for several long minutes. "We need to go after him." Tadashi decided. But at that moment, he realized that his four old friends were staring at him with a mix of shock, disbelief, and in GoGo's case, extreme anger.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. You're not going anywhere." GoGo told him, taking a suspicious step forward. "You're going to explain what the hell you just said."

"You're his brother? Does that mean…" Fred asked, at a loss for words. Tadashi had never seen him looking so serious.

"I, um, I..." Tadashi didn't know what to do. Sure, he'd planned on revealing himself when he returned, but now that he was staring that moment in the face he was lost.

"Just go." Honey Lemon said quietly. When Tadashi looked at her, he found that she was the only one who didn't seem surprised. "Don't worry about us. You can explain later, but right now you need to find Hiro before he does something he'll regret."

She's so mush calmer than the rest. Did she...did she know? But how? Tadashi wondered. "I—"

"You're not the only one who's been keeping secrets, Tadashi." Honey Lemon smiled sadly. "Now go find your little brother."

Tadashi wanted to protest for a minute, but he just nodded. There would be time for talking later, but right now finding Hiro was top priority. "Nico? We need to go to the Lucky Cat Café." Tadashi was more than willing to bet that Hiro had gone back home to repair Baymax.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm on it." The son of Hades held out one hand to Tadashi and the other to Will. As soon as the three of them connected, they shadows swallowed them.

When he could see again, Tadashi found himself on a quiet back street, facing an open garage. He didn't know how Nico could be so accurate having never been there before, but that was his garage. Tadashi had spent enough time working there to know it on sight, without the large and obvious figure of Baymax lurking inside. He heard the robot say something, but he was too far away to know what it was. But whatever the statement was, Hiro's anguished voice drowned it out.

"Tadashi's gone!" Hiro…oh, no.

"Come on," Tadashi whispered to Will and Nico, and the three of them crept across the street. Just as they reached the door, Tadashi heard Baymax's calm voice.

"Tadashi is here."

Hiro shook his head. "No. No, he's not here."

"Tadashi is here." Baymax repeated a bit more forcefully, and pointed. Hiro looked up, then sighed in disappointment when he saw the group of demigods.

"That's not him. They were just helping us." Hiro wiped his eyes and gave them a halfhearted wave. "Hey...Sorry for storming off like that. It's just…it hasn't been that long since my brother died. When Callaghan just brushed it off like that, I snapped."

"It's okay." Will told him, "Everyone has buttons people shouldn't push."

Hiro nodded and sighed, looking at the floor. "He's gone. I know it was wrong to freak out like that, but I just miss him. I just wish I could see him again."

"What if I told you that you could?" Nico asked quietly, giving Tadashi a not-so-subtle shove forward.

Hiro looked back at them curiously, but before he could ask what Nico was talking about a glowing cloud of mist erupted between them, and formed into the irritated figure of Leo Valdez. An Iris-message. Damn it! Not now!

"Where the heck did you go?" The Latino boy threw his hands up in exasperation. "Harley woke up and noticed you weren't in your bed. He got the rest of us up and we've been searching the entire camp! And wait, why are Nico and Will with you?"

Oh, crap. Tadashi hadn't thought about what would happen when the rest of Camp Half-Blood realized he was gone. "I, uh, had another dream." Tadashi explained. "Things were about to get really bad. I ran into Nico and now we're…in San Fransokyo? Listen, this really isn't the best time…" Tadashi explained hesitantly.

Leo groaned. "You could have told me, instead of running off on your own! Damn it, Tadashi, I thought you trusted us!"

"Wait. Hold on." Hiro said from behind the Iris-Message. Slowly, he walked around to Tadashi's side so he could stare at Leo. "You called him…Tadashi"

Leo raised an eyebrow at him. "Who are you?"

"Hiro Hamada."

Leo blinked at him, but his eyes went wide as realization spread across his face. "You're his…and he's still wearing the…he hasn't…you don't know yet. Oh, gods...I made a mistake, didn't I?"

Hiro looked from Leo to Tadashi and back. "What are you talking about?" He asked cautiously.

"Sorry! It's not my story to tell. I'll call back later, all right?" With that nervous statement, Leo waved his hand and the IM disappeared.

Slowly, Hiro turned around to face Tadashi. Disbelief was all over his face. "What—what you were trying to tell me when I left. It can't be. It can't be."

I guess it's now or never. Tadashi thought, and took a deep breath. He reached up and pulled the helmet off his head. Hiro's jaw dropped, and Tadashi gave him the mother of all awkward smiles.

"Hey, little brother. I'm home."

Hehehehe. Hehehehehe. MUAHAHAHAHA! I did the thing! I can only imagine your faces when you get to this cliffhanger! My friend/unofficial beta cursed me out when I showed her the ending for this chapter. So I knew it was good. But in all seriousness, I wasn't being deliberately cruel. This was just the best place to end the chapter without making it a ten thousand word behemoth. Okay, maybe not ten thousand. But you get the point. And not to be a whiner, but I feel like reviews have been dropping a bit lately. So give me your reactions, my loves! Reviews are my favorite!

(And here's a bit of an Easter egg: The titles of the last three chapters are all part of a 30 Seconds to Mars song. Kudos if you can figure out which one!)