Disclaimer: I certainly don't own Big Hero 6 - Marvel does - nor have any ownership over the characters Disney created for the animated universe. Fun to think about, though.

Bad Ideas: Genetic Memory

The experiment was actually working, despite how terrible her new surroundings were. If she were prone to bouts of humility, Karmi would admit she was kind of surprised.

Then again, she thought with a smirk, you can't stop progress, can you?

It wasn't a luxurious laboratory in Sycorax. Nor was it a perfectly tailored workspace at SFIT. It wasn't even a smaller scale station, someplace less prestigious but still willing to accommodate the needs of a genius. It was just her parents' basement, hastily thrown into a makeshift lab without their full knowledge.

She felt like a castaway trying to live on a ramshackle treehouse, but - like the guy in that movie with the volleyball - Karmi wasn't going to give up yet.

Her parents were going to kill her once they found out what she was really doing down here. They had practically had her on house arrest since… what happened. They didn't like talking about it, which was cool – Karmi didn't like talking about it either. But keeping her home while they figured out wherever they wanted to flee to felt like a step too far. She was going stir crazy! They were living in suburb of San Fransokyo for now, far enough away to be safe in case "another maniac tried to blow up the city or turn everyone into kaiju" (her mother wouldn't let her correct them about the kaiju thing – technically, that had been something different), but close enough to see what she had left behind.

She really couldn't stay cooped up with nothing but her thoughts – she could hardly believe she used to crave solitude. Now it just gave her mind an excuse let fragments from weeks ago wander into her head, terrifying whispers she couldn't even process…

Attack. Capture. Follow. Anger! Destroy!

Protect Hiro…

Thinking too hard about… what happened always gave her a headache. The whole thing was a blur, full of vague and frankly freaky memories that she wasn't sure she even wanted to have. And since she didn't want to think about that – let alone about Hiro - here she was, secretly doing science in her pajamas and an old lab coat, hoping her parents didn't come check on her any time soon. Picking through viruses and empirical data was so much easier than picking apart her own traumatized brain.

Last week she'd had a real close call, when they almost caught on from the chemical burns on her sleeve. She wore gloves all the time now: it might have been suspicious, but it was better than the alternative.

Not that they were being reasonable. It wasn't as if she were messing with the same insane experiments Liv… Di had inflicted upon her, or anything that bad.

Okay, technically she was, but only by the slightest association. She wasn't foolish enough to get tangled into more any horrific mutagenic madness (the fact that she had been foolish enough to get tangled in it in the first place was something she was currently ignoring). Di had used Sycorax' discoveries to exploit her and terrorize San Fransokyo, but that wasn't the science's fault. And even after her terrible experience, even in this tiny, barely-functional "lab," Karmi's devotion hadn't changed: to use science to cure diseases and make the world a better place.

Not all of her work at Sycorax was confiscated: she was going to make things right. Liv… Di – she really needed to start remembering that – had stolen Karmi's chance to be the person she wanted to be: to be a hero in her own way. It was only fair her crazy designs be the stepping stone to put the teen genius back where she belonged.

Her parents wouldn't understand. She wasn't even sure her… colleagues (it was still hard for her to call them what they really were: friends) would understand. Hiro would definitely have tried to lecture her about it, the hypocrite. She was going to miss that.

Protect Hiro…

She shook the cobwebs out of her head. Not again, she sighed as she stifled a sneeze that could've upended her research. Why did that keep popping in there?

Obviously it was some aftereffect of… what happened. She wondered, not for the first time, if this was normal. Did anyone report Orso Knox showing any residual instincts? Maybe he still eats raw meat like a slob, she thought with a laugh. Karmi was pretty sure she wasn't doing anything like that.

Maybe. Her parents gave her funny looks sometimes.

But this - for lack of a word she didn't utterly despise using - protective instinct, these random urges to check in on someone she wouldn't even ever see again, leaving her sitting by her computer waiting for him to respond to the latest chapter of her fanfiction in his ridiculous username (it was so adorable of him to try, really) just to be assured he was safe. That bothered her.

She thought back to her room, and the homemade cosplay she'd stashed in her closet. Lab Lady, she had called it – just like in her story. Ever since… what happened, she'd had this bizarre, laughable urge to fight. It was easy to check herself, though: it was a cool thought, but seriously! Imagine a kid like her jumping over buildings, fighting villains (all of which looked like LIv – or Di, she supposed – in her mind) alongside seasoned professionals like Captain Cutie and Big Hero 6!

Not that her beloved idol didn't need the help, what with the idiotic police chasing after his team like they were the bad guys, after all they had done for the city…

Anger! Protect!

She blinked again. Another of those ridiculous impulses. Enough of that noise: back to her actual work. This was how she was going to be a hero, and make Captain Cutie proud: by revolutionizing medicine in a way no one had since penicillin!

She called it the Genetic Antibiotic Stimulant. The GAS – she didn't even want to think what Frederickson would have done with that. The inspiration – just an inspiration, with maybe a basic designs or two – was Liv… Di's genetic cocktail chips. Genius as she was, Karmi realized that if something like that could be used to completely mutate a human being into a plant or a sasquatch…

… or a fish, she couldn't help but think, ugh…

If it could be used to do that, surely the same science could be used to modify the body to fight diseases. And not the unnatural manmade kind, like the parasynths that started this whole mess, but real ones – viruses, vemons, genetic disorders, all sorts of things. Like a vaccine, she devised a way to introduce a bit of viral material into human DNA that would allow them to resist any harmful foreign bodies, not to mention heal much faster.

She could hear Granville - or Hiro – telling her that she was acting much too recklessly, diving into this far too fast. But while Karmi wasn't even sure she wanted to go back, Granville should have fought harder to keep her at SFIT instead of letting her go. Now she didn't get an opinion. And Hiro…

Protec-

She slapped herself in the face this time. None of that…

The problem was, before now she didn't have a way to tell if it worked. The biggest thing she lost being stuck here wasn't resources or technology – though that was an annoying hassle - but the ability to test. She couldn't pop her solution into a simulation like at SFIT or use a control subject like at Sycorax.

But something about… what happened filled her with a sense of daring, that urge to fight. All she needed to do was wait until she got the sniffles. She spent all her time working in a dank basement, it was bound to happen eventually – and now it had!

Scratchy throat, check. Runny nose, check. Despire to throw herself back into bed and yell at anyone who wanted her to leave, check. Time to test.

Carefully, maybe even a little nervously, she pressed the GAS onto her arm. It was a patch – it looked almost exactly like the ones L- Di used. Her parents were yelling at her in her head. Granville was yelling at her in her head. Hiro was yelling at her in her head. For once, she wasn't yelling back.

Maybe this is a bad idea… she thought, just those last minute jitters. It was too anyway, since she was already doing it. Unlike Liv's remote, this was automatic.

She tensed, waiting just in case she felt the cracking pain of a hundred muscles twisting into something inhuman.

But it never came.

Nothing happened at all, in fact. She sniffed, carefully – still clogged up. But that just meant she had done the job right. Obviously. She didn't know why she was even concerned.

The stimulant wasn't meant to wipe out her cold right away. This was going to take a little time, and she had planned for it. There was already a television and a couch down here all set up.

She jumped over the seat and plopped down for a few mindless hours, looking just like any other teen her age. "Hah," she laughed out loud, "if only the boy genius could see me now."

After a second, she grinned. None of those blurry, freaky memories popped into her head that time. Clearly, all this success was good for her focus. To tapped on the tv and started flipping through. Talk show. Mystery movie. Picture of Captain Cutie on the news. Rerun of some insipid cartoon…

Wait a minute…

She nearly dropped the remote, she turned back so fast. Right away, she was assaulted with Bluff Dunder's pompous face. But next to him was an image of a certain red-suited hero that made her sit straight up.

"Oh! It is him! Captain Cutie!" She squealed, as if his image could hear her through the screen. She turned up the volume, until Dunder's voice came in nice and loud.

"… and as the manhunt reaches its second week, the San Fransokyo police report a significant milestone in the citywide manhunt for our formerly heroic former heroes Big Hero 6." Karmi let out a gasp as Dunder continued. "The new Chief of Police has sworn to hunt the team down after their collaboration with the dangerous monster known as Globby, and now the end is in sight!"

Suppressing a reaction at the word "monster" (now she knew what Honey Lemon meant, correcting her back then), Karmi leaned forward in her seat. She ignored a slight twitch in her arm, where she had touched the stimulant to her skin.

The image of Captain Cutie was replaced by a live video from San Fransokyo's Chief of Police Cruz. She was struck by a sudden wave of revulsion at the sight of him, so strong it surprised even her. But then, he one who turned her beloved idols into criminals. It was his fault.

Anger…

"These so called 'superheroes' think themselves above the law," the Chief was saying. "But their reign flaunting this city safety will soon come to an end!"

"What do you know?!" She ranted to the television. "They're ten times the heroes you are!"

Naturally, the broadcast didn't react to her response. Bluff Dunder continued the conversation, chuckling amicably. "And here I thought Big Hero 6 was doing lots of good for the city. Shows what I know, huh?"

"Yes," the Chief replied, frowning. "This fair city, bless it, has given these vigilantes the benefit of the doubt. But it's time to treat them like the criminals they are."

"No!" Karmi shouted, surprising herself again. She chucked one of the couch pillows at the television, but it went wide – she would need to work on her throwing arm. "Stop calling them that!"

Don't you dare say that about him! Her thoughts ran frantically. She barely had control over them. Just… stop it!

But the Chief did not stop. He continued, relentlessly in Karmi's eyes. "And we have now acquired new information that will allow us to strike a decisive blow! We're cutting down their avenues of escape – soon, they will be hunted down and brought to justice."

She froze… or at least, time seemed to stand still. She felt another spasm, running further up her arm, but ignored it. Hunted down? she thought, shaking uncontrollably. Hunted down?

Those words struck a chord, something dissonant and chaotic. Like a whirlwind, terrible memories flashed across her eyes. Hunting down prey on command. Mindless, animal fury, gnashing teeth...

Protect Hiro! Protect Hiro!

She gripped her head to work through the haze. Why was she thinking of Hiro at a time like this? Why was the thought of her beloved hero in danger dredging up… what happened?

This wasn't the first time. When she wrote her fanfiction – replacing Captain Cutie for Hiro – it just… felt right. But now, it was like something in the back of her mind was telling her something. Something she couldn't quite remember.

Fight! Protect Hiro! Attack! Destroy!

But they were different as night and day. Hiro was such a child, so pompous and annoying. He could be surprisingly kind when he wanted to be, and he rushed to help her without question when she needed it, but come on! Captain Cutie was perfection in every way!

So why did she keep putting the two together? What was going on?

Something was wrong. Memories of… what happened came by in a blur, but they always passed unless she wanted to think about them. But now they weren't going away. They were repeating over and over, like an alarm!

Of course something is wrong! She thought, the anger talking for her. How could they do this to him! He saved them all so many times, but they kept attacking him! Kept victimizing him! How dare they?

If she noticed the long rips her fingers were leaving in the felt of the couch, she didn't react to it. She was too transfixed, too infuriated.

Protect Hiro! Protect Hiro!

She gasped. No! Focus… focus! She couldn't stop the flashes, now. They just kept coming. She was attacking Hiro. Liv… Di was speaking to her, telling her what to do. She was attacking Hiro, but she didn't want to…

No! This was bad. Something horrible was affecting her, and the tv was clearly making it worse. She wasn't just overreacting, she was infuriated! She had to turn it off so she could figure out what was going on, but her hands wouldn't do what she wanted them to.

And Chief Cruz was still talking…

"It's hard to think of them this way, I know," he said reassuringly, staring at the screen. The sound was like nails on a chalkboard to her. "But we'll all be safer once Big Hero 6 is gone for good."

"SHUT UP!" Karmi roared, leaping to her feet. She threw another cushion at the television – this time, the projectile clipped the edge and knocked the plug out of the wall. The video cut out, but she was beyond caring.

She clutched her head, trying to still her ragged breath. Somewhere, she still realized this wasn't right. It had to be the GAS. She had done something terribly wrong! But logic was drowned out. Something far simpler and more instinctive was pushing it aside.

They can't do this…

Protect Hiro.

She was still shouting at the tv, though it was no longer listening. And in any case, she was no longer speaking words.

How dare they do this!

Protect Hiro!

She didn't quite know or care where she was any more, but she had to control herself. She had to calm down. No… she had to get out! She rose, now finally seeing with perfect, unrestrained clarity.

I'll make them stop! I'll mAke tHEm PAY!

PrOTecT…

She woke with an undignified snort on the floor of her makeshift lab.

Immediately, Karmi pulled herself up into a sit. What if her parents saw her sleeping on the ground? They were already going overboard, she didn't need them assuming something was wrong with her too.

But why was she on the floor anyway? Last she remembered she was working on the Genetic Antibiotic Stimulant, then she was observing her physical state, watching that terrible news report (she really should send in a complaint to the San Fransokyo police. Maybe a letter?), and then… nothing. It wasn't like her to be forgetful… what happened nonwithstanding.

She must have worked herself into a stupor again, she realized – just like Honey Lemon did that one time. Except this was worse. She lost her lab coat somewhere, which made her realize she obviously needed to replace her pjs - they were starting to tear.

She really ought to start checking herself more diligently. Karmi didn't have strict lab scheduling hours or Professor Granville any more to force her to leave, should she spend too long on a particular experiment. Another thing she missed about home… or just SFIT now, she guessed.

She stood herself up, and the first thing she realized was how utterly exhausted she was. Ever muscle was on fire, like she had just run a marathon. She took a deep breath, but it only seemed to make it worse. This is why she didn't exercise much!

The second thing she realized was that her deep breath was through her nose. She breathed again – no clogging, no sniffle. No tired bones or scratchy throat. Her cold was gone!

"Of course! The stimulant must have overworked my body to excise the virus!" She gasped. "This is-" She nearly whooped in excitement, before her body definitively said no. "-painful, ow! But it's a real breakthrough!"

No one who was on the fast track to curing disease could be help back by mere exhaustion! This was cause for celebration! Maybe even a victory jig where absolutely no one would be able to see her.

Her muscles screamed for mercy, and she decided to amend her statement. This was cause for a nice sit down in front of the television while her body worked through the pains of progress.

Just one problem: The tv was unplugged.

"That's odd. When did that happen?" She mused. She was only one who came down here, and she certainly didn't remember unplugging it. Shrugging, she figured it must jostled out somehow and decided to roll with it. Unfortunately, that meant she had to drag her aching legs over to the wall and plug it back in herself.

Just perfect…

She was still standing when the video came back on – she could hardly believe she was too tired to sit of all things. The channel was already on the news as the video came on, and she knew she really should have ignored it and turned to something more scientific, but given that she was only here until the exhaustion passed she decided to keep it on.

Besides, there was something strange in the report tonight, and she got the strangest urge to keep watching. After the success she just had, there was hardly anything the city could throw at her that could ruin her mood.

Bluff Dunder was on the screen again. Karmi pouted harmlessly at his ridiculous mustache - still thinking what she heard that morning - before really listening to what he was saying.

"… this just in, the San Fransokyo Police Department is still in a state of panic after the major incident this afternoon."

Good, she thought ruthlessly, though she knew she shouldn't. Serves them right for picking on Captain Cutie…

She blushed, even though nobody was around to see – let alone hear her thoughts.

…a-and the rest of Big Hero Six, of course.

But the satisfied smile on her face at her idols' enemies' plight soon slid to the ground, once Bluff went on. "Eyewitnesses describe it as… something – spooky, isn't it? – that tore through the San Fransokyo Central Precinct early this afternoon. The devastation was immense, and many of our finest were rushed to the hospital in critical condition – though lucky, there are no losses expected."

Karmi's heart sank with a terrible feeling, and tired or not she dropped onto the couch. Across the screen flashed pictures – mostly from phones – of officers being thrown from the building, being taken away in ambulances, broken glass and shredded metal. And every once in a while, a blurry, shadowed image of something clawing through the walls…

There was nothing else to make of it. Like Bluff Dunder said, it was a… "something." Karmi couldn't tell what it was from those dark images any more than the police apparently could. But for some reason, its shadow gave her a primal thrill of terror.

Okay, no. This was horrible. Why had she been so happy about it?

"No eyewitnesses or victims have stepped forward with a clear description of the creature – as if it came in like a blur – but police currently believe it to be an aftereffect of the clone Diane Amara's terrible attacks on the city some weeks ago."And that just made it worse. On instinct, Karmi backed away from the tv, as if Liv… Di would suddenly jump through it. "And it is still at large. Citizens are encouraged to lock their doors and – should they see anything with fangs or claws in their vicinity – scream in terror before calling the authorities. Chief Cruz had this to say:"

Bluff Dunder's face disappeared from the screen, replaced with Chief Cruz at a crowded press conference. Despite the awful situation he must have been in Karmi couldn't push back that wave of dislike.

A low growl escaped her throat, but she didn't notice it. She just kept watching, muttering under her breath.

"As of tonight, the manhunt for the fugitives known as Big Hero 6 is official postponed!" The Chief span, as if even saying it was like a punch in the face. Karmi felt a wave of triumph, despite herself. "All available units have been scrambled in search of this… thing. Our number one priority is the safety of our citizens. No monster will harm another person in this city."

Karmi scoffed. Yeah right… where were they when the monsters were harming her? Nowhere, but Big Here 6 was there. Where were they when she was the…

A sharp haze shot through her head at with line of thought. Attack… Anger…

Okay, clearly that was enough letting her mind wander for today. She really needed to talk to someone about processing those memories, before she gave herself an aneurysm or something.

When she looked back up, Bluff Dunder was back. "Words to live by, Chief." He was saying. "As for me, I'm going to be hiding under my table with a broom tonight. Just FYI. And that's the news!"

Karmi turned off the television, having been left far less at ease than when she turned it on.

She hated thinking it, but maybe her parents were right to take her out of San Fransokyo. Things weren't getting any safer there, not if there were still monsters on the attack. She couldn't do monsters again. She just… couldn't. At least wherever they were going to send her, terrible things like that wouldn't follow.

Her hand traced over couch, and her touch found the deep grooves that had been left there hours before. She nearly fell on the floor: had a wild animal gotten in while she was out? Or maybe…

No, she thought, laughing at her own paranoia. Wherever that monster was, it was miles away from here. Probably just a raccoon or something.

Karmi looked up and finally noticed the mess: beakers were on the floor, scratch marks were all over the walls, a couple pieces of furniture were upended. How in the world did she sleep through that?

She would have to be careful, or she really would turn into Honey Lemon. She remembered all the times the others had ruined her samples or flooded her lab, and almost smiled.

But she had no time or patience for sentimentality, as usual. She just hoped whatever caused all this was no longer here. It didn't look like it, but…

Maybe, she thought, her eyes nervously tracing the room before resting – for some reason - on her antiviral serum, I should make myself scarce. She stood up and slowly took to the stairs, tightly gripping the handrail – she was just so drained, even after those few minutes of apparent rest. Hopefully she hadn't traded one illness for another. Last thing she wanted to do was end up like the real Liv Amara.

There was nothing for it but to tell her parents something had gotten in and get some real – hopefully without clueing them in on what she had been up to. The last thing she wanted was for them to shut down her experiment now that she was making real progress.

But she could clean up the mess tomorrow, then maybe run a few more experiments. A shiver of excitement ran through her at the thought, despite how spent she felt.

Yes, she would definitely be running more experiments tomorrow. She almost wished her parents would try to stop her. There's no way she would let them, this time.

Part of her wanted to grin. Another part was confused. Where did that thought come from? There was a phantom twitch where the GAS had planted on her skin. But it was nothing, just the aftereffects of a first test. Just jitters, she sighed, allowing that proud grin. I don't have anything to worry about any more.

Although… maybe she would check again to see if Hiro responded to her latest chapter before bed.

Again, she couldn't shake the feeling that she needed to confirm his presence. And again, she didn't want to think about it. All she knew was, she thought of him being alone out there in that city with shadowed monsters, and she thought of Captain Cutie being cut down by renegade cops, and the whole thing made her… edgy.

If she noticed the way her grip bent the wood of the handrail, or the growl that returned from deep inside, she didn't react. He was her friend. She cared about him - though which him, she wasn't sure. There was nothing odd about it.

Nothing at all...

It's just good that there's always someone to pro... protect him… she thought, thinking of Big Hero 6 but unconsciously describing... something else. Otherwise, I don't know what I'd do...

She disappeared past the stairs, leaving the makeshift lab in the dark. On the table the plans for the Genetic Antibiotic Stimulant laid in pieces, ripped into shred by the claws of something savage and deadly - something that had made its exit, but was not at all far away...

Author's Note: City of Monsters was a fun arc. Reminded me of some of the cool monster arcs from back in the day, especially the one from the 90's Spider-Man series (which also did a whole season of that), so when trying to come up with another Bad Ideas concepts this was a natural choice.

I think I would actually dig Karmi as the Animated Big Hero 6 universe's Curt Connors or Kirk Langstom. There's a lot of fun ideas on how they could end the season, and this probably isn't the likeliest but it is plausible – them going the Two-Face or Varian route with her, albeit not with these specific circumstances - especially if Di comes back for the finale. Granted, this has her bringing it on herself, but this is also the Bad Ideas series. It's all about characters screwing up canon by doing stupid things. And what a more classic superhero stupid idea than testing mad science on oneself?

Writing Bluff Dunder was so fun he nearly took over the whole thing - true story. Getting into Karmi's head was fun too, thinking "wait, of course she hates this," or having her react strongly to things characters like Hiro wouldn't - and vice vera.

But like the previous story, this was just something random I thought of to shake out the cobwebs and kick my writers block in the can, so don't expect more. I don't even have any other Bad Ideas ideas for other series right now – it's back to the things I'm supposed to write.