Jason Fournier was feeling rather smug.

He was stood in a large hall. On one side was his brother. The other was Caine. Behind him stood half a dozen men, all cracking their knuckles or grinning menacingly.

Opposite him stood a man built like a house. Nobody flanked him, as requested. The man stood tall, as though he was trying to intimidate him. Fournier couldn't help but smirk. This man was the least of his concern.

'Yama, did you do as I asked?'

'Yes sir. Yama fought the fight.'

'The kid?'

'Injured. But he got away.'

'As I requested. Good. And... his brother?'

Yama laughed loudly. 'Don't worry, my little friend had that all sorted.'

'Meaning?'

'The green thing. It was implemented into his neck, as you asked.'

Jason smiled. 'Excellent. Now, your payment.' He extended his hand outward and dropped a bag of money onto the floor. 'If you're lucky Yama, we'll never speak again.'

Yama grinned, his eyes lighting up greedily. 'Nice doing business with ya!'

Jason nodded. He turned and gestured to his guard. 'Gentlemen.'

'Wait!' Yama called. 'What.. what was that green thing? Should it be something Yama should be investing in?'

Jason turned back to him and gave him a cold smile. 'That thing? It was a chip. And I wouldn't worry about it Yama... that was the only one in existence.'


Tadashi Hamada felt like he was losing his mind.

Most days, he would wake up with a pounding headache that would not subdue for hours, sometimes not at all. A pain in his neck constantly bothered him, sometimes sending sharp jolts up and down his neck and spine so powerful he could scarcely move. Sometimes, hours would pass by without him having any recollection of what he had even achieved. More than once, he had come to sat in his car parked in a random street in the city. Once, he found himself lying in a dumpster with no idea of how he has gotten there.

And his own family was beginning to distrust him. Hiro would always flinch when he made any sudden movements. Rena always side-eyed him whenever he entered a room, as though afraid he would turn around and hit her. Even Aunt Cass was beginning to grow wary; he barely had any shifts in the cafe anymore.

Tadashi did his best to ignore it. Some days, these subtle things were barely noticeable. On a good day, he would be able to make it through without blacking out. On others, it took every ounce of his strength to get out of bed.

He considered confiding in his sister. Or even Baymax. However, he shot down this idea quickly. The last thing he wanted was to worry anybody, especially when they were determined that one day he was going to snap. Maybe he was.

One thing was for sure though - for all his medical expertise, he had absolutely no clue what was happening.

'Where were you this afternoon?'

'Hmmm?' He said, snapping his head up from the book he wasn't reading. He was in the garage, hidden in a corner on the couch. The lamp was on and it was peaceful.

Rena was stood over him, her arms crossed and her eyebrows knitted together. 'This afternoon? You were supposed to come to Fred's with us? You know... we were going to go over the schedule for night watch?' Her voice dropped at this last bit, as though she didn't want anyone to hear. Not that it mattered, they were the only ones in the garage.

Tadashi paused, wracking his brains for a good enough excuse. Truth was, he'd come to about an hour ago sat on the street outside. He'd simply stood up and walked inside, trying not to think too much about where he might have been. 'Oh! I knew I had to do something! Sorry, I forgot.'

'Forgot? You told me you were on your way there!' She replied, holding her phone out to him.

Tadashi squinted at the screen, reading his own message out loud. 'I'm on my way. Be there in 10'

Huh. Weird.

Rena raised her eyebrows. 'So? Where did you go?'

Tadashi shrugged. 'Something came up.'

She sighed and sat down next to him, putting her feet up on the table in front of them. 'Right. So something came up, and you didn't think to let any of us know? How urgent could it have been? What were you doing?'

Tadashi closed his book. 'Stop with the questions! You don't need to know where I am every minute of every single fucking day!'

'You're twisting my words. All I'm saying is that I have the right to know why you just disappeared!'

'God! Just leave me be!'

'What is going on with you?!'

'Nothing! Fuck off Rena!'

She stared at him, her eyes full of hurt. 'You always tell me everything. I know you Tadashi, something's going on. Why can't you just tell me?'

'Nothing is going on. I'm just tired.'

'Well that's the biggest lie if I've ever heard one. Ever since Hiro's botfight, you've been... off. Has something happened? Is it just the botfight?'

Tadashi closed his eyes, his mind drifting back to that day. It was only a couple of weeks ago, yet it felt like a decade ago. He cringed at the memory of sitting opposite Hiro and Rena, begging them to forgive him. Not even he knew why he'd done that, it was like he was in a trance. One minute he was absolutely fine, then it was like a switch had gone off in his head and all of a sudden he was trying to hurt him. And he had said some terrible things. He hated himself for it.

'Rena, I'm fine. Stop over analysing everything.'

'Tadashi, two weeks ago you pinned our brother to the ground. You broke my nose. Sorry for being a little bit wary.'

Tadashi wanted to tell her. He really did. But something was holding him back. A little voice in the back of his head telling him not say a single word. The voice was convincing. It was the same voice that had told him to hit Hiro. The same voice that had told him to do countless questionable things over the last couple of weeks.

'I'm sorry I bailed on you today.'

'It's not about that. I'm worried about you.'

'Don't be.' He snapped, surprising himself with the coldness in his own voice. 'I can take care of myself. Alone.'

'I know you can! But you don't have to. You never have to do anything alone.' She said quietly, taking his and squeezing it. 'I'm just trying to look out for you. This year has been rough.'

'You can say that again.'

She laughed softly. 'Well. At least it's almost over.'

Tadashi would agree, but in his delirious state of mind, he couldn't even remember what the date was.