Chapter 64, everybody! Still working on wrangling these chapters onto paper but I can say with some reasonable certainty that we are within ten chapters of the end. We're getting close, friends.

Continuing blanket disclaimer: I still have not finished Season Two. We're flying blind, boys. And again, I am still in denial of the end of "Countdown to Catastrophe" don't at me this is how I cope, okay? D: And it's very strange writing this knowing both shows are over but were going strong when I started that's a weird feeling and yet I should be used to it by now. Once again, if you are dissatisfied with these shows ending, send all salt to Disney corporate every nastygram they get that represents fifteen people who couldn't be bothered so WRITE TO THEM.

So now back to the fic…yes, I am aware of that one big twist in "City of Monsters." Do I know the details? No, because I still have not watched it and I'm starting to wonder if I'll be able to bring myself to watch it afterwards because once I finish Season Two that's it there's no more curse you Disney you self-sabotaging cowards.

Moving on from calling mega-corporations names…this one scene had always been scripted in from waaaay early on—but, once I got close enough to see the nitty-gritty enough to outline…it went from a random whale-monster to being Karmi. Sorry, Karmi.

In other news, Tadashi is quoting…some Alvin and the Chipmunks cartoon I remember the guy who took care of them saying that once and that is literally the only thing from the cartoon that stuck with me. And yeah Hiro is canonically allergic to peanuts so I imagine Tadashi is aware of epi-pens.

Angelwings2002, thanks for the review! Yes! Drama, intrigue, bits of emotion flying everywhere! Oh my goodness yes on all counts. Aaah thank you me too! :D

Big Hero 6 © 2014 Disney

Ducktales © 2017 Disney

Ironically, Hiro remembered being pretty sure when he first met Karmi that she was going to kill him.

Granted, that had not been from being torn to little pieces or crushed or whatever horrible thing Liv—Di?—whatever Dr. Amara was going to make her do. No, he had always been pretty certain it would be from being annoyed to death—he and she had gotten along like oil and water, her hating him for 'stealing' being the youngest to ever attend SFIT, him hating her having the hots for his superhero identity, detesting her writing fanfiction about them and 'shipping' herself with him (thank you for that term, Fred), the both of them having their triumphant smug moments when the other failed and delighting in driving each other to distraction—he had rushed off half-cocked and gotten an internship with Krei in response to her dream internship at Sycorax—

Them constantly butting heads over Sycorax, him convinced they were evil and her convinced he was jealous—

And then him bringing the feather to her, knowing she wouldn't have an answer and therefore having to see it his way….Her, going to confront Dr. Amara over it….

This was his fault.

"K-Karmi," Hiro managed, trying to wave and get that murderous look off the monster face snarling at him. "Karmi, please—"

"Oh, sorry, Karmi can't answer the phone right now," Dr. Amara said, tone mockingly sweet. "Hope you're not trying to appeal to a monster's better nature—those don't exist."

Don't listen to her, don't—"Karmi, please—listen to me—you don't want to do this—you're smarter than this, you can beat her—"

"Karmi, be a dear and eat this little troublemaker."

"No!" Hiro barked—managed to get an arm free when Karmi pulled him away from the machine she had him pinned against—"No Karmi—" Pushed, shoved his helmet off, heard it clatter against the floor—

"I'm sorry, okay?" he choked, face feeling wet. "I'm sorry I got you into this mess. I'm sorry I never really took the time to consider things from your point of view. I'm sorry I was so focused on our rivalry that I…that it never even occurred to me to be happy for you. I'm sorry that I was so focused on being right that I didn't even think about your safety. Karmi…please…come back to us. Come back to me. Please."

Karmi had stopped, startled by the noise of his helmet hitting the floor, stared at him as he begged—

Something approaching recognition was entering the eyes, he could feel the vice grip loosening, himself being lowered…smile at her, hope starting to frantically beat against his chest—

"Aw, cute," Dr. Amara said. "And sickening—let's get back on track, shall we?" Lifted a remote, pressed a button—

Karmi shrieked fresh, flailing, Hiro screaming as the room flew haphazardly around him, seriously regretting taking his helmet off—

Was suddenly arcing for the floor and hoping it didn't hurt much—

It didn't, actually, mostly because he didn't hit it—he hit something red, solid, and familiar instead.

"Baymax!" he gasped, hugging him around the neck as recognition sank in—

Slipped off when a screeching Karmi reminded him that he had bigger problems at hand.

"Please be careful," Baymax said, gently pushing Hiro behind him—Hiro ran around to his other side.

"Karmi! Karmi fight it! Baymax, how do we stop—whatever she's doing?" he asked, jabbing a finger at Dr. Amara.

"Scanning," Baymax started—

Hiro squeaked at being suddenly shunted to the side, realized Nox had tackled him right as Karmi hit Baymax. She flattened him into a machine bank, crumpling it on impact—bounced back, charging for him and Nox—Hiro tried to react, was thrown off by Nox clinging to him and screaming, torqued to put himself between Karmi and Nox—

And then something else tackled Karmi, screaming as well, orange and gold feathers flashing—

Oh no.

Tadashi.

Tadashi wasn't sure which was worse: Hiro ignoring all laws of self-preservation, Nox ignoring basic common sense, or the two of them together teaming up. Oh, have I ever told you how much you remind me of my brother Hiro? Well guess what, Nox was exactly like Hiro and Tadashi was very much regretting this whole situation AND the fact that Webby apparently was happy to help enable the chaos.

"Oh please let them be all right," he begged as he climbed up to the next level through the hole Baymax had made. "So I can kill them."

Baymax blinked at him. "That is: not, a recommended action."

"Remind me to teach you about hyperbole later," Tadashi said, waving him off a little as he looked around, ears pricked (nope, still weird to think about, especially the way they twitched around at the various little sounds). "Do you see them?"

"Scanning," Baymax declared. "Webby: has gone downstairs."

"Well at least that's one with common sense," Tadashi muttered. "What about Nox and Hiro?"

Baymax's answer was cut off by screeching and screaming—Tadashi started, bolted for the sound, skidding and bumping against the opposite wall as he rounded a corner before bounding forward—

"Nox!" he gasped, tackling Nox from behind as he backed up, hugging him close when he screeched anew and tried to twist free—

"'DASHI!" he screeched, pointing at the huge monster in the room that had—

Hiro.

It had him pinned to a wall, was pulling him away and looked like it was going to eat him—

"Baymax!" Tadashi squawked, spinning—had to do something had to do—

Spotted the box Baymax was still holding.

The gene cleansers!

"Gimme," he said, yanking the box away, kneeling and scrambling to open it with shaking hands—several vials were gone, but he only needed one—

"No!" Nox wailed, grabbing his arm. "No 'Dashi NO!"

"Nox!" he barked—head jerked up at what sounded like Hiro sobbing—"Nox no—we have to do something—"

Looked sharply at Baymax, not really looking like the healthcare robot he had made what felt like a lifetime ago, in what might not even be his life—more like one of Hiro's battlebots—

Which was exactly what Hiro needed right now.

"Baymax," he said. "Baymax, save Hiro."

Baymax was already surging into the room.

"Nox," Tadashi said, putting the vial down so he could put both hands on Nox's shoulders. "Nox…listen to me. I have to do this. I have to save Hiro."

Nox was still looking at the box like it was about to eat him alive.

"Nox," he said, putting his hands on either side of Nox's face so he had to look at him—rest his forehead on Nox's, commanding his attention. "Nox, trust. Me."

Those blue eyes stared at him, soaked in fear and terror and worry….

And still trust, deep down. Hug him when he sagged, finally—

"Okay," he said, holding Nox at arm's length. "Stay. Put. Here." Turn, grab a vial, shove the box under a nearby table so it didn't get trampled on, turned back—

Nox had not listened.

"No," he breathed—scrambled for the end of the hall, flinching at the sound of a hard impact, slid around the corner—

Just in time to see the monster bearing down on Hiro and Nox.

No.

Conscious thought didn't really play a part in his next actions—his entire focus was on getting the monster's attention off Hiro and Nox—

Conscious thought unhelpfully returned when he was scrambling to keep a chokehold from behind as the monster thrashed, razor-sharp fins on the back complicating things and long claws grabbing for his flailing wings—

The gene cleansers were stored much like an epi-pen, and he knew how to use those thanks to Hiro. Bite down on the covering on the end and tug, revealing the needle—

And jab it deep into the nearest available artery—in this case, the neck.

Thrown off the monster as it screeched and bucked, slamming him into a tube hard enough to crack it—collapse to the ground, winded, trying to suck in enough air to pull himself up—

Watched with growing horror as the monster thrashed and wailed, slowly, painfully slowly, regaining its humanity. Oh…oh no, this was going to hurt.

If it worked.

Finally managed to shakily push himself up, still staring as the monster-turned-human collapsed, unconscious—

Hiro managed to extricate himself from Nox and run over to…her.

"Karmi!" he wailed, looking like he wanted to shake her shoulder but was afraid to. "Karmi—Baymax!"

"I am stuck," Baymax announced.

"I'll get him—you stay with her," Tadashi said, waving a hand to keep Hiro where he was—Hiro sank back to the floor, focused on the poor girl they had been hunting for—

Pulling didn't quite work, managed to squeeze around and push—or try to. Claws scraped on red carbon-fiber armor as he found a better grip, shoved harder, feet pushing against Baymax and back shoved up against the wall which was really uncomfortable when you had wings, feeling like he was about to unintentionally bust his spleen (was that even a thing? It felt like a thing right now)—

Squawk when Baymax finally popped free, scrambling for purchase and narrowly avoiding landing hard on his rear on a bunch of sharp-looking parts—Baymax reached in and hauled him out.

"Thanks, Baymax," he gasped—pointed out Hiro's friend—

Hiro was looking all sorts of distraught when Baymax waddled over.

"Scanning," Baymax said. "Karmi: has suffered multiple traumas. There is a: microchip, embedded in her neck, which has resulted in severe electrical burns—"

"Can you fix her?" Hiro asked, sounding fragile.

"I cannot," Baymax declared. "I will need to deliver Karmi to a hospital, where she will receive more targeted care."

Tadashi almost wanted to ask Baymax how he figured a hospital would know how to treat monster-issues, recalled that he had programmed that in when Baymax encountered a problem beyond his programming or something he couldn't feasibly treat. Look at Hiro looking at him, looking brittle and like one wrong tap would shatter him…nod, gently.

"Do it, Baymax," Hiro said, rubbing his nose along the back of his hand. "And…be careful."

"I will exercise caution," Baymax assured them, gently scooping Karmi up. Looked around, scanning—"There is a large: window, approximately twenty-two feet away. I will need assistance in getting through."

Tadashi looked at Hiro, who was watching Nox mince up to him and hand him his helmet. "You want me to get it?"

Hiro nodded, short ones, like something bigger would break him. "I…I need a minute."

Tadashi reached out, gently touched his shoulder, led Baymax away. The plate-glass window wouldn't open, of course, and 'Kase's method just bounced right off—Baymax handed the girl off to him so he could use his rocket fists without jostling her. She felt…very small and fragile in his arms, didn't look like she was much older than Hiro.

What is this? he thought. What kind of person would do this to kids? To children? The way she was—is this what the kids are trapped in? Unable to express themselves?

Or were they just made, for no better reason than because she could?

Is that why I'm here? At the end of the day, am I only something she made on a whim?

"Tadashi."

He blinked, looked up at Baymax, looking at him—allowed Baymax to take the girl, even though every instinct was demanding he keep her and hide her somewhere safe, away from her. Baymax was her best bet, would definitely accomplish that, but some part of him was demanding he do it himself.

"There, there," Baymax assured him. "It will be all right."

He couldn't help the little smile, couldn't help but wonder if he had programmed positivity or naivety into Baymax, brushed those thoughts aside. "Thanks, Baymax." Tip his head. "Now go."

A small nod from Baymax—

And then he was gone, arching away over the bay and to the city.

Tadashi stood there a moment, warm breeze ruffling his feathers temptingly—he was tired, so very tired, so ready to throw in the towel on getting back to a normal he wasn't even certain was his…just grab everyone and go, build off of 'Kase's idea and just find a safe place with plenty of food to live out the rest of their bird-lives.

Sigh when he realized that wasn't the answer—it wouldn't work, flying away wouldn't solve his problems, wouldn't make the issues hanging over his head go away. He had to stay, had to stay and work at it because someone had to help. And the sad fact of the matter was, often no one did—they figured someone else would do the work, and then it never got done. He had always tried to lead by example, had felt strained and stressed at the best of times….

Working himself to the bone, helping Aunt Cass any way he could after their parents died, doing his best to keep Hiro out of trouble—

Laughing and hanging out with his friends, hugging Hiro and Aunt Cass close, people he could relax around and trust—

The one he had been so, so wrong about—waking up in a horror show with everyone looking to someone else for suggestions, him feeling compelled to do something—

'Kase hugging and rocking him when that horrible, horrible thought occurred to him: that the real Tadashi Hamada was dead, and he was just some pale imitation.

"Is the way you remember yourself the way you act, or do you have to work at it?

"You listen to me, Tadashi Hamada—the real me? Wouldn't be caught dead doing this. This here? This is me.

"And maybe I needed to know—needed to know so I could stop being someone I'm not.

"Now you tell me: letting go of it all, what is it that's important to you?"

Deep breath…deep down, what was important to him right now was getting everyone safely out of here, away from her—

Cold ice prickled along his skin, making the feathers lift slightly—he had been pretty sure he had heard her egging monster-girl on.

He did not, however, recall seeing her in that room.

Panic—maybe she had moved on, but if she didn't—

Hiro and Nox were alone in the room with—

Bolt back, bouncing off the wall to skid into the—

Empty room.

"No," he breathed, trying to see everywhere at once. "No no no HIRO! NOX! HIRO!" Nowhere to be seen no way to know where they went why had he been late to the super-senses super-senses would be really nice right about now—

Noise—spun, tense—

Her.

Immediately over there, fury and fear warring for dominance, was yanking her up by her arm and snarling "Where are they!?" before anything resembling logic started trickling in, realizing this woman was dressed entirely differently, still damp from the tube behind her, was looking at him in absolute terror—

That was enough to snap him out of it, to let go of this terrified woman who…had no recognition. No recognition of him just fear as she shrank back, one hand gripping her upper arm to try to stop the—

Bleeding….

Look at his hand in horror, seeing the red tips on the claws—

Oh hon, monsters don't have families.

"I'm—" Back up, hands up slightly, looking around—pounce on a first-aid kit mounted under a counter, on anything that he could use to fix the situation, to ironically put a band-aid on it—

Oh hon, monsters don't have families.

"Listen," he said, bounding back to her and ripping the first-aid tin open—blink in surprise at it being empty. No what—"Listen I'm—I'm sorry, okay? I'm sorry but—" Wait hold on he still had—dig in his pockets for the little first-aid tin, reach for her arm—

She flinched back further, making him freeze—he had—his whole thing was helping people and because he had—

Is the way you remember yourself the way you act, or do you have to work at it?

Oh hon, monsters don't have families.

"I'm sorry," he repeated, lowering his hand. "But…listen we don't have time for this—there's some horrible woman here and she's going to hurt two little kids if we don't do something. Do you understand me?"

She was shaking, either from cold or fear he didn't know—wasn't responding, edging further back when he tried to show her the working first-aid kit—he couldn't—he couldn't keep wasting time on her he needed to find Hiro and Nox—

Noticed the way her eyes flicked in a certain direction.

Look, look back at her, point—"That way?"

The tiniest of nods, a flood of relief—had to arrest the immediate need to hug in response to that when she flinched back again—he had to help but she wouldn't let him—

Is the way you remember yourself the way you act, or do you have to work at it?

Oh hon, monsters don't have families.

Hiro needs you. Nox needs you. You don't have time for this.

The last time he had thought along those lines he had abandoned Sherman in the pipes.

But this wasn't self-preservation. This was him needing to triage who was in more danger, this shell-shocked person who would probably be fine once he was gone or two kids who would be killed or worse if he didn't get moving. He had to make the decision, and he had to make it now. Someone had to help.

And right now that someone had to get the lead out.

"Thank you," he said, standing and pocketing his kit. "You need to get downstairs—it's not safe here." She was probably a clone, something that she had made to try and worm out of this, but this woman was also not in immediate danger of death; she'd be fine once he left.

Maybe everyone else would be too.

Shake his head, run in the direction she indicated—he would worry about that later. Right now he had bigger problems.

Please, please, please let them be all right—I can't—

I don't think I could handle them being hurt because of me. Because I wasn't there.

Please, let them be all right.

Please.