hey you guys! i'm so sorry this took forever to post...i love this chapter tho!

silvie, thanks so much for reviewing! it means a lot! thanks to everyone who reviewed a hero's journey too, i haven't had any reviews except from silvie for a while, so thank you so much, whoever reviewed it! y'all need to be more like silvie!

and silvie, honey is kinda connected to this i guess...she knew it was Hiro's mom when she talked, cuz she would have been older than both hiro and tadashi when their parents "died" and might have been able to remember their voices. Tadashi would have, too, but Hiro was only three, so he had no idea. and honey has probably been friends with tadashi for a long time now, so i think she might have interacted with his parents on several occasions.

and also, apologies for the reveal at the end of this chapter...in my defense, he's the best villain to work with in my opinion. plz forgive the alarming number of stories with this guy as the villain

i hope y'all like this chapter! there will be tears, perhaps...

peace out!

—HIRO—

"My mom's dead," I whisper, my voice trembling. "She's been dead for thirteen years."

"That's what worries me," Honey explains. "If she and your dad survived the explosion somehow, where have they been all this time? And why are they villains? Well, I guess I'm assuming your dad is doing the same thing as your mom, but I wouldn't know."

I push my bangs off of my face, rubbing my forehead and trying to think. I have so many questions—why is my mom alive? Why is she here? Why is she a villain? Why did she kidnap me and Honey? Why hasn't she shown herself before now?

Why didn't she come back?

She and my dad left behind a toddler who would never remember them, who never admitted that he wanted anything more than his tiny family. A grieving seven-year-old who took it upon himself to raise his baby brother, who suffered in silence because he knew his parents best and missed them most of all. A sister who was given the burden of their two sons, who tried so hard to raise them the way her sister and brother-in-law would have.

A family.

Confusion, fear and anger are all coursing through my brain. I don't understand. All my life I've wondered what my parents were like, wanted them back. And now I find out that my mom is the person who kidnapped me and my sister-in-law, and my dad is probably in cahoots with his wife. What's going on? The parents Tadashi has described to me would never do something like this.

"Hiro," Honey says gently. "There…there must be some mistake. Your parents were good people. They'd never kidnap you—something's wrong."

I get up and pace the cell, eventually stopping at the bars and grabbing onto them.

"That's what I'm worried about," I murmur. "What if—what if they weren't good people, Honey? I can hardly remember them. Who am I to know what kind of people they were?"

A tear slides down my cheek, and I reach up to wipe it away. My hand brushes a scratch on my cheek and I wince, knowing that if I cry, it'll hurt the abrasions on my face. One reason not to cry, even if I really want to. But I want to be strong.

I cried during the hurricane, and my face was pretty banged up then, so the tears stung every cut and scratch on my cheeks. But I was terrified and upset, and I didn't care how much it hurt or how weak I looked.

But now I do.

I don't want to be weak. I want to be strong like Tadashi used to be, like how I thought my parents were.

But what if they weren't everything I thought they were? What if they didn't care?

What if they never loved me?

Honey comes over and puts a hand on my shoulder. "It'll be okay, Hiro. We'll figure it out, I promise."

I give her a half-smile, then take a deep breath. "Thanks, Honey. But right now we've gotta make a plan to bust out of here."

We do try to make a plan, but I'm so distracted it's not really working. We do come up with a few ideas, like collapse cave and run and steal keys from cell and blow something up. The last one is my favorite.

But our planning is interrupted when my mom steps into view on the other side of the bars, another figure behind her.

Dad.

My dad looks just like the pictures of him—short, chubby, lopsided glasses, messy black hair. But his eyes are filled with an emotion I don't want to identify. Rage? Hate?

Sorrow?

"Hiro," Mom says softly. "You have a visitor."

And Tadashi rolls forward into the circle of light cast by my phone, looking exhausted. His cheek has a nasty-looking scrape on it, but he seems otherwise all right.

"Dashi!" I exclaim, beckoning him toward the cell. He pushes his joystick forward and I wrap my arms around him, reaching awkwardly through the bars.

"Are you okay?" Tadashi murmurs, sounding worried. "And Honey, what about you?"

"We're fine," Honey assures him, blowing him a kiss.

Dashi fingers a scratch on my cheek. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah," I tell him. "We crashed, but Baymax protected us and we only got a couple scrapes from tree branches. What about you—what happened to your face?"

"Fell down the stairs. We're gonna have to use the emergency blasters to get out, I can't exactly go up the stairs in a wheelchair."

"With all due respect," says Dad, "I don't think you'll be going anywhere."

"Oh yes we will," Tadashi growls, glaring at him.

"Not if we stop you first."

Dad pulls a ring of keys out of his pocket and unlocks the cell door, gesturing to me and Honey not to move. We don't—I don't think it would be a good idea in this situation.

Suddenly, Mom and Dad lunge at Tadashi, who lets out a yelp and tries to roll away. But he's not fast enough—they wrestle him out of his wheelchair, which topples onto its side.

But as my parents drag Tadashi toward the cell, his limp foot catches the electricity blaster button on the armrest. And since the wheelchair is on its side…

"Hiro, Honey, run!" Tadashi screams, and a searing blade of electricity shoots upward into the ceiling.

The rocks start to fall, and I realize our collapse cave and run plan is being put into effect.

"Hiro, I'll get Tadashi!" Honey yells. "Run! Go call 911!"

I don't want to leave them, but it's definitely important to get help. I force my shaking legs to work and sprint forward, running across the large stone chamber, dodging rocks and heading for the stairs.

I don't make it.

My foot catches on an already fallen rock and I stumble. Even though I scramble up instantly, it's enough time for me to not make it to the stairs. I let out a scream as several rocks tumble toward me from the ceiling, and I try to get out of the way.

But it doesn't work.

A rock slams into my head and the world goes black.

The first thing I'm aware of when my senses return is a weak, flickering light. It's my phone flashlight, evidently buried under a lot of rock. I hope I'm not buried under a ton of rock, too. But I'm too tired to check, so I don't move.

It's probably at least ten minutes until I muster the strength to lift my head. My vision is all blurry and the cave is swaying strangely. I wonder why.

I discover that I'm facedown on the stone floor, covered in dust and dirt and little pebbles. A few larger rocks lay scattered around me, but for the most part, the rockfall has left me alone. Not completely, though—I can feel a huge bruise on the side of my head where the rock that knocked me out hit me. I'm sure I'm hurt elsewhere, but I'm too exhausted and in too much pain to check. My head is throbbing and I don't want to move.

After a few more minutes, I struggle into a sitting position, rubbing my head. I feel terrible—my whole body aches. I really hope nothing's broken. At the moment, it doesn't feel that way, but I guess it could be worse.

I decide to assess my capacity to rescue Tadashi and Honey from this cave, knowing I won't be any help if I'm hurt too badly to move. My wrist is slightly swollen and hurts when I flex it, and my bad hip feels sore and stiff. But it does that pretty often, so I'm not too worried. I think I'm really just bruised all over, with a significant amount of cuts and scrapes. My forehead is bleeding all down my face, and a gash on my shoulder trickles blood onto the stone. Last but not least, there's a huge scrape on my knee that stings like heck. Yep, I feel great.

Holding on to the wall for support, I dazedly get to my feet. My head is still spinning and my legs are so shaky I'm pretty sure they'll give out before long.

I'm so dizzy I can barely see straight—I definitely have a concussion, so I hope I wasn't out for too long—but I limp over the broken rocks toward where I think Tadashi and Honey were. I really hope they're okay—or at least that they're not hurt too badly. And I hope we can find the wheelchair so Tadashi can get out okay.

As I make my way across the cavern, I twist my ankle as it scrapes against a sharp rock, and I yelp as I fall over. When I scramble back up, though, I catch sight of a limp hand sticking out from between the rocks. I gasp and fall back to my knees, pulling rocks aside. I quickly uncover Tadashi's face, bleeding and streaked with dirt.

Tadashi's eyes open as I pull several larger rocks off his chest and legs, and he immediately explodes into a coughing fit. When he's done, he looks up at me with exhausted hazel eyes. "H-hiro?"

"Dashi—"

I don't get anything else out before Tadashi flings his arms around me, wrapping me in a hug.

"Nice to see you too," I mumble into his shoulder.

Tadashi releases me and then holds me at arm's length, studying me. "You okay, little bro?"

"Yep," I mumble. "Just a little beat up. Dashi, we've gotta get out of here…did you see Honey?"

Tadashi's eyes widen in panic, but his wife's voice comes from behind him as she climbs over the rocks. "I'm here, guys. I'm okay. I think the baby is too."

Honey sits down beside us, and Tadashi puts a hand on her stomach, sighing in relief as he feels his daughter moving. He gives his wife a kiss on the cheek and then looks down at his limp, unmoving legs.

"Um. How are we gonna get out of here?"

We manage to drag Tadashi's wheelchair and my phone out of the rubble, which is good news, but the wheelchair is broken, which is bad news. There's no sign of Mom and Dad, either, and I can't decide if that's good or bad news.

I stare at the broken pieces of Tadashi's wheelchair, realizing that we're gonna have to carry my big brother out of here. Unless I can make something with only wheelchair parts—

Aha.

I am a genius.

After several minutes, I've managed to make two braces from the wheelchair, equipped with emergency blasters. Thank goodness I always carry around a screwdriver and duct tape—cargo pants are good for something.

"Okay, Tadashi," I rasp, my voice still hoarse from the dust. "We're gonna try these on and see if they work. If they don't, well, I guess Honey and I can try to carry you."

I strap the braces onto Dashi's legs, then step back and take a deep breath. "Tadashi…try to stand up."

Dashi looks at me questioningly. "But—"

"Try."

Tadashi glances down at his legs and tries to flex one, his eyes squeezed shut.

And for the first time in two years, my big brother stands up.

—TADASHI—

I stare down at my feet, my eyes filled with tears. I'm standing. I don't know what technology Hiro put into my wheelchair that would also work for braces, but it apparently works.

I take a long, deep breath, hoping against hope that this will work. I lift my foot and take a step forward.

Then another.

I can walk.

I turn to Hiro and scoop him into a huge hug, crying into my baby brother's shoulder.

"Thank you," I whisper. "I love you so much, Ototo."

"Love you too," Hiro gasps, sounding slightly choked. I release him and he grins at me as he rubs the back of his neck.

I reach for Honey next and pull her into a hug too, pressing my lips to hers. She's crying too, and I wipe the tears off her cheeks.

"It's gonna be okay," I whisper, cupping Honey's face in my hands. "We're gonna be fine."

I wipe my eyes and straighten up. "Now let's try and get out of here."

Getting out proves to be a lot harder than coming in. I have only a few band-aids and some bacitracin in the first aid kit in the bag I keep on my wheelchair, and I'm silently cursing myself for not being more prepared.

I check everyone over and am relieved to discover that no one seems to have broken anything—mostly it's just a bunch of cuts and scrapes and bruises. I'm pretty sure Hiro's wrist is sprained, though, and he's got a concussion for sure. Thankfully, Honey doesn't seem badly hurt, and I'm amazed the baby is still kicking—we've been through a lot of trauma today.

As for me, I hurt all over, but I don't think there's anything serious. I probably have a concussion, and it's not like my back is any better, but I'll be fine.

I patch up the worst scrapes and scratches on all three of us, wishing I could do more. I'm a medical professional—I really should have been more prepared.

We're just about to leave when I remember.

Mom and Dad are still in here.

And we need to save them too.

"Guys," I declare, my voice echoing around the cavern, "we need to go find Mom and Dad. I don't want to leave them down here if they're still alive. Even if they did kidnap us, I'm absolutely certain something's wrong—we can't just leave them."

"Tadashi," Honey says gently. "I know they're your parents, and I know you want to help—but isn't it better to leave them for the authorities to find? If we dig them out and they get angry at us, if they hurt us or something—"

"They won't. I know it. I can feel it, Honey—I just know. Somehow."

"Tadashi's right," Hiro breaks in. "Even if I don't always agree with him, he's always right."

I give my baby brother an embarrassed smile. "Thanks, Hiro."

Honey sighs. "Alright, I'm with you. But remember, Tadashi, I just want to protect you. I don't want to leave anyone behind, but I don't want you to get hurt, either."

I give my wife a kiss on the cheek. "I understand."

I turn to the huge pile of rocks, which I'm sure my parents are under.

"Okay, let's start."

After what must be at least an hour of shoving aside rocks, scraped knuckles, and a heck of a lot of dirt, we've uncovered the limp bodies of my parents.

I check both their pulses and am relieved to find that Mom and Dad are both alive, though they're both probably injured pretty badly. I loop Dad's limp arm over my shoulder and stand up.

I still can't believe I can stand up. I'm so glad my baby brother is a tech genius—I don't know what I'd do without him.

Honey supports my mom, and Hiro tries to help her, but he's so short that it doesn't really work. Besides, his wrist is sprained, so I'm cutting him some slack.

We limp slowly across the cavern, heading for the stairs. When we finally reach them, though, we discover the huge boulder blocking the staircase. There is absolutely no way any of us can move that.

"Now what?" Hiro rasps, coughing on the dust again—that can't be good for his asthma. "Is there another way out?"

"Not that I know of," I tell him. "I think we're trapped."

"Indeed you are," drawls a voice behind me.

I turn around and face him, even though I don't have to—I know that voice. I'd know it anywhere.

In the center of the cave stands the one and only Obake.

Oh, not again.