It had been so long since he had seen the sun, the moon, or even the stars that would glitter above the thick smoky clouds of the city, revealed by the wind turbines that would pump all day long to keep the air fresh and clean.

He kept reflecting on every little detail of the city as his mind slipped with time.

His last faded memories of the outside world being his futile attempts to seek vengeance on her at that accursed gala, something knocking him out, and barely ebbing in and out of consciousness as she claimed to help him, to heal him.

He should've paid more attention to the little signs Liv showed all those months ago, the cruel captor that locked him in here, poking and prodding him, tossing small portions that never filled the aching hunger in his belly, was nothing like the kind woman he had met.

But she had the same hazel eyes, the same powerful, honeyed, voice, the same golden locks of hair and pearly smile. But her eyes were more cruel and empty, her voice more cold and laced with anger, and the smile cruel with a complete disregard for humanity.

If he ever got out of here, he'd make sure no one else would go through this suffering at the hands of her.

"Game over!"

"Ha, I win again Rach!"

"Uhg. How are you so good at this game Fred?"

The comic fan grinned. "Practice." Then the door opened.

"Master Frederick, your friend Hiro has come to visit." Heathcliff told him. The robotics genius and Baymax were behind the butler.

"Oh, thanks for telling me." Fred waved. "Hi Hiro!"

"Hey." Hiro waved back, he then noticed the scruffy brunette also on the couch, and her blue feline. "Hi Rachel, hi Katie."

"Hi Hiro!"

"Hello, nerd." Rachel glared at the blue. "What? He goes to a nerd school, no offense."

"None taken." He sat down on the couch. "What're you up to?"

"They're playing Monster Smash." Katie flicked her tail to the screen, where the victory pose for the green monster was playing. "Rachel keeps losing."

She handed the controller to Hiro. "Avenge meee."

"Don't worry I will." The game started, and the two players were fighting, doing combos, jumping, dodging, each smashing the controllers to try and win.

Fred then twitched. "Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Snack break!" He scooted to his popcorn bowl, but it was empty, he looked at the kernels on the floor. "Five second rule!"

"The five second rule is a common myth." Baymax turned to him. "Harmful bacteria will cling to food immediately upon contact."

"What?" Fred asked through muffled floor popcorn.

Rachel gagged. "Ew, next time I drop my steak it's going to the cat."

"Hey!" Katie grumbled. "What am I, a vacuum?"

"More like a dog in a cat's body."

"Come on, Fred." Hiro got his opponent's attention. "I'm in the middle of a twelve-hit super combo."

On screen the purple monster was kicking the green monster's butt.

"But this is a snack emergency! And I'm out of clean popcorn!"

"Yeah? Well, you're also out of HP."

The combo hit, and Hiro had won, the victory pose playing on screen.
"Yes!" Rachel cheered.

Fred pouted. "No fair. I wasn't paying attention. Time out."

"Fred, no time outs." Hiro shook his head.

There was a scream from the kitchen.

"Time out!" They scrambled off of the couch. "Ouch!" And bolted to the kitchen.

Rachel and Katie just stared at each other, then walked with Baymax as he waddled after the boys.

When the group made it to the kitchen, Hiro and Fred panting like dogs, Mrs. Frederickson was sharing a cute puppy video with another guest in the household. "It's so darling!" She told Liv Amara.

"Okay, not what I was expecting." Hiro blinked.

"What did you expect, a serial killer?" Rachel raised an eyebrow. "And I thought I was paranoid."

Katie twitched her whiskers at the blonde woman, and hid behind Rachel, her claws starting to dig into her shoulders as if preparing to bolt.

"Yeah." Fred nodded. "My mom's a joy screamer. Honestly it's embarrassing-ahhhh are those cupcakes?!" He joy screamed himself when seeing a plate of cupcakes being placed on the counter by Chris.

Rachel and Hiro simultaneously rolled their eyes at him.

Mrs. Frederickson then saw the two by the door. "Kids! Look at this adorable puppy." Mrs. Frederickson chuckled.

"I personally think Katie's adorable, but puppies do have this 'cuteness that makes you cry' factor." Rachel walked up to see the video playing on the tablet. "Awww it's so cute I could cry!"

"I know!" Both of them giggled.

Hiro turned to Baymax. "I don't get it."

"Watching cute videos appears to increase enjoyment." The robot blinked. "Partaking in something that makes you happy is a type of self-care."
"Uh, huh, well I was more into the candy eating type of self-care."

"I hate to admit it, but I'm addicted to these viral videos." Liv told Mrs. Frederickson.

"My scan indicates zero viruses on that video." Baymax pointed out. "It is safe."

"She means it's popular!" Katie called out, but then hid behind Rachel.

"Literal robot. Also cute." Liv smiled.

"I bet the internet would love him." Chris added. "Cupcake?" He held out a platter, and Fred started wolfing the sweets down.

"It's nice to see you again Ms. Rosemary." Liv turned to Rachel. "And Katie the Talking Cat herself, the internet sensation."

Katie just squeaked.
"Oh uh, Ms. Rosemary is my mom." Rachel nervously giggled. "I-It's nice to see you."

"How is your father liking the new K-9 unit? I know his assigned partner is practically made for him." Liv hummed.

"I've met Jax, he's a nice doggy." Rachel mumbled. "Katie doesn't like him."

"Huh." The CEO frowned. "Well, cats and dogs don't get along." Liv turned to the hiding blue. "Quite shy today, are you?"

Katie just yowled and ran out of the kitchen like the roadrunner, Rachel rubbed her shoulder. "Sorry, she doesn't like strange people." Her voice was neutral. "Katie really doesn't like scientists however."

"I see."

"Oh, Ms. Amara?" Mrs. Frederickson got her attention. "Before we talk about investment opportunities, I've been meaning to ask you about your progress on curing my dear friend, Orso Knox."

Liv frowned. "Oh, Orso Knox, of course." She then smiled at the woman. "I'm confident we're two to three weeks from a breakthrough."

Mrs. Frederickson bought it. "Well, that's a relief to hear. Oh, Liv! Have you seen the sleepy hedgehog?"

"Have I?" she laughed. "I made it into a meme on Sycorax's 'life-smile' blog."

Hiro just frowned, Rachel saw him gesturing to come over, and she followed.

They went back to Fred's room, Katie had made a nest out of blankets, and Fred was giving her soft pets to calm her down.
"Oh, you had a bad encounter with a scientist, didn't you?" The comic fan asked.

Katie sighed. "Yeah, it's why I can talk and why my pelt is so strange." She shuddered. "Liv gave me flashbacks."

"You poor thing, would some belly rubs make you feel better?"

"Yes!"

Hiro cleared his throat. "Hey Rach, did what Liv say sound familiar to you?"

"Oh, what she said to Fred's mom?" Rachel hummed, her face scrunched. "Yes, she said the same thing when delivering the K-9 unit to the police, I was just there not paying attention much, and then she brought up investments…"

"Investments?" Her father raised an eyebrow. "Oh, well. I'm not interested in investing in anything anytime soon." Rachel hadn't been paying attention, just playing on her phone, but then Liv asked Elio if he was doing any investments.

"I see." Liv hummed. "Well, I did hear that you occasionally donated."

"To charities and orphanages." Elio quipped. "Mostly to organizations dedicated to helping the future."

"Well investing in Sycorax is investing in the future." Liv told him.

"Oh, well I'll think about it." Rachel just narrowed her eyes at the CEO, was she trying to get her father to invest? Didn't she have a lot of investors? Even the snobbish Mole and Rose families had invested in Sycorax.

"Though, speaking of your company." Elio looked down. "How is progress on Orso Knox? I feel horrible he's still condemned as a mindless monster, no person should deal with that, I've seen innocents who were turned into monsters by their tormentors, so it's a sensitive subject."

"I'm sorry to hear. But I'm confident we're two to three weeks from a breakthrough."

"Well that's a relief. How's running things so far?"

"So wait, she tried getting your dad to invest like how she tried getting my mom to invest?" Fred paused. "Okay, that's a red flag."

"I know, right?! I always found it weird she was looking for investments."

Hiro coughed. "Not the point I was trying to make. What she said was really familiar."

"Yes. I am often told that I am cute. I am not programmed to know what that means." Baymax stated.

"No, I mean- Here." He showed them a video on his phone, an interview between Bluff Dunder and Liv Amara.

"Random aside, Liv. How is that mutated fellow? So horribly mutated. What is his...? Orso Knox."
"I'm confident we're two to three weeks from a breakthrough."

"Freaky." Katie gasped.

"See?" Hiro paused the video. "It's the exact same answer. And this was two months ago."

"Okay, the red flags are so going off.." Rachel grumbled. "Liv's sus, so we should investigate."

"I'm on board with that!"

"We need a plan though." Fred pointed out. "We can't just poke around Sycorax asking about Orso Knox."

Hiro rubbed his hands together. "But I know who we can ask."

Ari felt a shiver down her spine in the cafe.

"Meow?" Mochi looked at her.

"I feel a disturbance..." she shuddered. "What stupid thing is my brother up to now?"

Ferns and Nerds group chat:

Sara Ferns: FLANNERY KILLED MY MARSHTOMP

Gogo: F

Wasabi: Oh no!

Sara Ferns: SHE GOT A CRIT

Sara Ferns: I'm crying now I just have my Swellow as my last og party member

Gogo: What happened to everyone else?

Sara Ferns: They died.

Honey Lemon: Wait I thought Pokemon didn't die when they fainted D :

Sara Ferns: Did I forget to tell you I'm doing a nuzlocke challenge? I'm doing it with a level limit and no buying healing items, it's pretty hard

David Ferns: Nooo not Marshy! She was my favorite!

Sara Ferns: At least in case of emergencies I bred her with my Aron to get a spare Mudkip

Honey Lemon: Wow.

Sara Ferns: LOOK DO YOU KNOW HOW GOOD MARSHTOMP IS WHEN IT COMES TO FACING GROUDON?! I NEED BACKUP ON THIS OKAY?!

Mikan Ferns: What is going on

Mikan Ferns: Sara I told you to train up that Sandshrew in case of emergencies

Sara Ferns: I did and Flannery killed him

Mikan Ferns: How did you not die?

Sara Ferns: Quick Claw Take Down by Aron

Honey Lemon: Plz don't orphan your Mudkip

Sara Ferns: I WAS PANICKING, OKAY?!

Wasabi: This is why I overlevel in Pokemon, thank goodness for the Gen 6 exp share.

Karmi opened up one of the drawers in her lab. She looked around for a certain petri dish, when getting it she closed the drawer, but as she walked to examine it, she bumped into something soft. Karmi gasped and the petri dish flew up.

Baymax caught it. "These microbes are dangerous."

"Which is why there's a sign!" She pointed out, a little shocked to see Hiro, Baymax, Fred, and even Rachel at her internship lab.

"It is advisable to be cautious when working with hazardous organisms."

Karmi grabbed the petri dish back. "The point is to make them less hazardous."

Rachel raised her hand. "How do you do that?"
"With modified viral vectors that reprogram DNA."

"Oh, the old vector method, eh?" Fred raised an eyebrow.

Karmi gave him a look. "You don't know what that is."

"Well, I know it involves vectors, and... and a method."

"Vectors is a term used to describe an organism that transmits a disease." Rachel explained. "I guess a modified vector is used to cancel out the disease without much harm." Hiro and Karmi gave her a surprised look. "We recently learned about it in Biology, I tend to study in advance."

"We're not here to talk about viral vectors." Hiro spoke up. "We're here to ask about Orso Knox."

"Any progress?" Rachel asked, but then saw Fred poking around and ran to stop him from breaking anything.

"And why is that your business?" Karmi narrowed her eyes.

Hiro sighed. "You were right Fred! Karmi doesn't know anything."

"What? I never said-" Rachel shushed him.

"I mean, why would Liv tell an intern anything important?"

"Excuse me?" Karmi looked offended. "Liv and I are BFFs. If I wanted to, I could find out all about your monster friend by lunch tomorrow."

"Great! I'll put it in my calendar."

Karmi then realized what happened. "Wait. Did you just-"

"Fred do NOT stack those petri dishes!" Rachel yelped, realizing the stack was unstable and quickly putting the dishes down. She then dragged him out of the lab. "Sorry about this, and thanks for trying to get info on Knox! He's a family friend!" She and Fred then left, leaving the two teen geniuses alone. "Don't spend too much time staring at each other!"

Karmi just blinked. "What was that she said?"

"Would you like me to replay it?" Baymax replayed Rachel's last thing she said while leaving her lab.

"I meant the part about Knox, what family friend?" She questioned.

"Oh." Hiro realized. "Well, according to Fred, Orso Knox is a family friend of his, and Rachel told me that her mom knew him."

She blinked. "If you told me that in the first place I'd be fine with getting info." Karmi crossed her arms. "Why'd you have to trick me?"

"'Cause I knew you'd say no."

"No I wouldn't!"

"You just did."

"Grrr, Hiro." Karmi huffed. "We're supposed to be friends, right? You can be honest with me."

"I know. But friends sometimes keep things from friends to keep them safe." He wanted to hide the truth about his suspicions about Liv, knowing she'd ask answers from her "BFF" to prove him wrong.

And what if something bad happens to her while she tries finding that out? Hiro shook his head. "It's been over two months since the gala, being stuck as a monster could really do a toll on you, and no offense to Liv, but she hasn't really given any new information about curing him."

"Yeah." She sighed. "I'll try to find out what I can."

"Just, promise to be careful, okay?" He held out his pinky. "Pinkie promise?"

"I don't need to be careful, helping people is what Sycorax does, but fine." Karmi returned the gesture. "I'll just do a progress check."

Hiro chuckled. "Yeah, not like anything bad will happen from that."

"Nothing at all." Karmi nodded in agreement.

Oh they were so wrong about that.

AN: muahahahaha!

Finally at Prey Date, a beloved ep for the Karmi (and Karmiro) fans! It was fun getting to write this one.

Disclaimer to you guys, our resident Karmiro shipper Ari isn't going to get too involved with the shenanigans, but Rachel is, she's got sus vibes from "Liv"
Things are a little different in this ep since Hiro and Karmi's friendship was already established in this one. hee-hee-hee!

QOTW: Related to the current group chat shenanigans, do any of you Pokemon gamers play any challenges on your runs?