Because so many asked - originally, this part of the fic was going to follow the movie plot a lot more and it was going to be a lot more light-hearted, but the problem with that was that I wasn't sure at that time how I was going to fit Vlad into that. So I changed it and wanted to be more inspired by the movie instead of following it almost word for word so I can branch out from the canon. If that makes any sense at all?

Please review! Chapter's a bit shorter since I wanted to split the next few parts up more.

~CWA


CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT


Hiro Hamada

The man that walks in isn't exactly what I pictured – a part of me pictured something more human like Danny, while the other part of me pictured something more grotesque and monstrous like Plasmius. This one – Amorpho as Baymax identified – falls in some strange mix of the two. Like both Danny and Plasmius, he has a humanoid form that's tall and thin. His long extravagant coat, tallish hat, and cane give the illusion of him being even taller. His skin is as white as snow and bares no facial features save for what seems to be red, round glasses that give the illusion of red eyes. If it's a he at all; do ghosts even have genders? When I look closer, I can see that he floats a good inch or two off the ground and the coat morphs a bit in a way that makes it seem as if he has no legs nor feet – like a ghostly tail. Unlike Danny, he doesn't have a visible, strong glow and instead has a very faint glow that gives off a slight sense of unease in his presence.

"Gh-Gh-Gho-Gho-"

Wasabi can't even get the word out before he begins to look faint. He backs away quickly and sits down on a chair with a brown bag, breathing into it as a way to ease his nervous. But his eyes are still wide and frantic and focused on Amorpho's every move. GoGo stands protectively beside him, her eyes dangerously narrowed and her arms tightly crossed against her chest. Honey Lemon looks disorientated – unsure of herself, of what she's seeing, of what to do. Her eyebrows are furrowed and she bites at her lip, a hand absently gripping at her heart. Fred can't seem to tear his eyes away from the supposed ghost – when I look closely I can see little, excited stars dancing in his irises. But me? I can't seem to remember how to breathe. I hold my breath tightly, my chest constricting from the lack of air as I stare at the ghost, waiting for him to do or say something. My fingers twitch.

"Hello, hello," his voice echoes off the walls as he makes a grand gesture of stretching out his arms, "Your hero has arrived…. Really? No applause? No thank you? You're just as ungrateful as the halfa for my services. What do you think it's easy for me to hold off Plasmius long enough for you to make your escape? Do you think it was easy for me to sneak the halfa's new squeeze out of the hospital so he was here where it's safe? Ugh. I just get no appreciate around here, I swear."

His eyes – glasses? - seem disgruntled as plops down on the nearest empty bean bag chair. He doesn't so much as plop as gracefully float down into it. His arms cross in a huff as he mumbles incoherently under his breath. He doesn't seem to notice most of our presence as I try to process his words. Halfa – he knows what Danny is. He's listed as an ally and when Baymax called Danny, he said that Amoprho would fight off Plasmius to let us escape (a fact that Amphoro himself just mentioned). But what does he mean about sneaking Danny's new squeeze out of the hospital?

"Um I don't suppose any of you have some clothes I can borrow," a familiar voice reaches my ears and the breath I was holding releases in relief as I relax into my seat.

Tadashi wanders in, briefly looking at Amphoro and opening his mouth as if he's going to make some sort of comment before stopping himself, shaking his head dismissively. He briefly looks around the room, raising an eyebrow at the large fantasy portrait of Fred, before he gazes at all of us. He has a look on his face that I know too well. The apologetic, worried face. The one he makes when he wants to make everything better, to keep everyone safe, to make everything right. But this is a bit different, if slightly, as there's something else in his expression. Shame. Guilt. He's hiding something and I feel it has something to do with all of this and not just about Danny being half ghost.

However, his question is a rather important one as it's very clear he had no time to get any clothes. He still dawns the thin, hospital gown that barely even covers anything and there is a such thing as seeing too much of my brother. I quickly turn my head with a gag, yet I can see GoGo looking at him perceptively.

"G-GoGo," Tadashi protests her staring and I can hear the blush in his voice as I see GoGo shrug with a non-apologetic expression on her face before her attention goes, once again, to the ghost in the room.

Baymax's shield seems to be back up, I note absently as I spot the green dome-like energy surrounding the room before, like GoGo, I turn my attention back to Amorpho. He doesn't seem too concerned about anything as he leans in the beanbag chair casually. If I didn't know any better, I'd say he looks tired. Even the faint glow around him is dimming and fading in and out of eyesight. Though he does glance warily toward the jewels and stones that GoGo wears.

"Someone get the poor kid some damn clothes," Amphoro's voice lacks its earlier enthusiasm and energy, "And I don't think Billy's going to appreciate any of you staring down his boyfriend."

That's the comment that makes Wasabi finally get a hold of his breathing. The gasps into the brown paper bag slow before he finally looks up at the ghost, flinching when the ghost meets his gaze.

"B-Billy," Wasabi questions, "….Don't you mean Danny?"

"Billy, Danny, Halfa, Bob, Inviso-whatever," Amorpho huffs and waves his hand tiredly in a dismissive manner, "Tomato tomato, potato potato. It's all the same. Whatever. All I know is that I'm washed out like a celebrity with no more movie deals and is stuck on shitty Disney TV shows while dealing with a drug addiction after fighting Plasmius and want nothing more than to go back into my lair into the other realm, binge watch Housewives, and pray that there's something, somewhere that can get me drunk enough to get over all of this shit. But no. Gotta obey my orders and whatnot and stay here to protect you lot. Cunningham, or whatever, is watching over your aunt by the way. I hate that damn dog as much as it hates me, but at least she's safe so don't like, worry over her or anything."

I raise an eyebrow at that, but don't offer any comment. There's something about the way he talks, his attitude, that makes him less threading and a lot more casual. But the mention of my aunt makes me shy away with a bit of shame and guilt. I didn't even think about her. I didn't even think once about her being in danger from all of this or about her safety or anything. I bring my knees up to my chest and wrap my arms around them as I rest my head, hiding away from the guilt in my chest.

"Seriously though," Amorpho looks to Tadashi, "You really need to get dressed. No one's going to take you seriously when you're half naked."


It's not until Amorpho leaves, after briefly calling Danny to give him an update and asking (a bit domineeringly and desperately) if it was okay for him to dash, and Fred lends some clothes to Tadasahi – even if it's just some rather large sweats paired with an almost too small t-shit that has a picture of nyan cat on it – do we finally get the chance to really discuss on what our next move is. Wasabi is more vocal now since the ghost is gone, but he constantly looks at Baymax nervously as if he expects another ghost alarm to go off any second. GoGo seems the most intense about all of this, constantly giving her two cents about going after Plasmius or better yet, even calling Danny about all of it. While Tadashi seems worried about the idea of Danny fighting Plasmius, he seems to still be holding something back about all of it.

"If Danny isn't going to fight that ghost, or hell, even do something more productive at all like show his damn face around here to help out, then I'll go after that monster myself," GoGo argues fiercely, her hands on her hips, eyes narrowed dangerously as she stares up at my brother, daring him to challenge her.

"It's too dangerous," Tadashi insists, running his fingers through his hair – the tight shirt he wears stretches to the point where it almost looks like it's going to break from the movement of his muscles.

His hair is so mangled and unkempt. There are bags deep enough to have their own bags under his eyes. He doesn't seem like he can even keep still as he's constantly moving his arms and hands about. Occasionally, he glances toward me with worry. I've never seen him look this distraught. Almost as if he's only paying half-attention to the argument while the other half of his mind is somewhere else entirely, worrying about something else. Or someone else.

"Look, I don't like sitting around here and doing nothing either, but none of us are prepared to go help Danny -"

Help Danny. So Danny is going after Plasmius or Vlad or whoever alone. So that's what Tadashi's been hiding. Or at least part of it. But why? I know Danny, being a half ghost, has more chance than anyone to defeat the ghost, but still. I shift in my seat. How can Danny not even tell us he's going to go after such a dangerous ghost? He may be powerful, from what I've seen, but is he powerful to defeat that Plasmius guy on his own? Does he think we aren't capable of helping him? Sure, we didn't do so good tonight, but if Danny would have let us help, we would have been prepared.

"-Help Danny," Honey Lemon interjects and Tadashi winces at the slip of tongue, "What do mean by help Danny?"

"Do you mean he went after that thing alone," Wasabi's voice sounds a bit more stern, "Because call me crazy, but I don't think he stands a damn chance against that Plasmius guy! He's just one man, Tadashi!"

Tadashi lets out a slightly frustrated huff, refusing to meet anyone's gaze as he tries to gathers his own thoughts. Everyone else, myself excluded, seem to be adding their own thoughts and arguments now. GoGo is the loudest, saying how now we had a duty to go help Danny. Honey Lemon is worried and hurt. Wasabi even more so. Fred seems to fairly okay with it, but I can see in his eyes that even he's a tad concerned.

"We are going to help him," GoGo takes a stand, her voice firm in a way that makes it hard for anyone to argue, "Whether you're with us, or against us. But we are not going to leave Danny to fight that monster alone. I don't care how much experience he has."

He can't argue with her. I can see it in his eyes. He doesn't have a good argument against that – he has no ammunition that will make her back down. I can see the defeat in his irises as he sighs deeply, plopping down on a nearby beanbag chair – as Fred seems to have too many of them. He looks tired. As if he wants nothing more than to just go to bed. I don't blame him. Even I feel like going to sleep and not waking up for a good long while.

"Fine," he finally speaks up softly, his voice a bit hoarse, "I won't stop you. But if you're going to do this, you have to know what you're up against."

When he looks up at us, he looks older than I've ever seen him. As if the weight of the world and then some rest on his shoulders. There's so much emotion swirling in his eyes. Regret. Guilt. Shame. Love. Worry. It's all there, creating a storm in his irises. It's as if someone died or is going to die and he doesn't know what he can do about it. I've seen that same look before – I blink and I can see him staring down at me with that exact same face before he told me the worst news I had ever heard in my life. That Mom and Dad were gone and they weren't coming back.

"I don't know everything," he explains, "But I know enough to tell you that Vlad is your main concern. He's more devious than you know and capable of so much more than what you're giving him credit for. If we want to stop Plasmius, our best bet is to get through Vlad first. And I know exactly where we can find him… But first things first, we all need a serious upgrade."