hey y'all! here's part 4, i'm sorry it's taking me so long to write, but i love this chapter...although my sis described it as a little bit disturbing...i'm just crazy medical, sooo...yeah. it's great tho

thanks so much to silvie for reviewing! i'm glad you're liking the story! hope y'all enjoy the plot twists!

*note: a cerebrectomy is NOT a real medical procedure. However, the terminology is accurate, so i'm pretty sure this is what it would be referred to as in the medical field. we'll see if they ever invent one.

more tadashi heroics coming in the next few chapters! enjoy!

peace out!

"You," I say, trying to sound intimidating, but it comes out more like an exasperated sigh. "Why can't you just leave us alone?"

Obake laughs softly. "I simply can't resist. Besides, your attempt to destroy the amplifier worked, so I had to come back for more."

"We thought you were dead," Hiro interjects. "How are you not? Your underwater base collapsed."

"You thought Project Silent Sparrow was gone too, Hiro. You should never assume something is gone for good—I'm still here, and so is the aforementioned device."

"That's not possible," Hiro whispers. "It was destroyed. I saw it."

Obake sighs. "Intelligent, but so narrow-minded. You only saw that half of the portal be ripped apart. The other half, the one that was already broken, was left on the island. After fixing it, it wasn't hard to recreate the other half." The villain waves his hand, gesturing at the ceiling. "How are you enjoying my new base? I confess I hoped Big Hero 6 wouldn't—what is the word?—trash it like my other base—but I suppose that was too much to hope for, considering I planned to bring you here anyway."

"Well, we're here," I growl, gently lowering Dad to the ground and facing Obake again. "What do you want?"

"All I want is your brother, Tadashi. I would not hurt a paraplegic or an expecting mother. I understand your plights, and I would prefer to let you leave in peace."

"What—what are you going to do to Hiro?" I ask, trying to stop my voice from shaking.

"As you're a medical student, Tadashi, I'm sure you'll be able to understand the procedure. I am going to perform a cerebrectomy."

All the blood drains from my face.

"No."

It's not an official medical procedure, but if it's what it sounds like…

"You're going to cut out his brain?" I gasp, my voice rising at least an octave. I hear Hiro's sharp inhalation from behind me and know his face must be as white as mine.

"Yes, Tadashi, I certainly am. Hiro won't work for me voluntarily, so naturally, the only logical course of action is to force him to do it. And what better way to do that then to take his brain and use it for my own?"

"That—that's sick," I stammer. "You're sick."

"I am not sick, my friend. I simply have a medical condition. Don't you have any? Would you consider them an illness?"

"Well, I—I have OCD," I stutter, "and I guess that's a medical condition, not an illness. What's yours?"

Obake taps the side of his head. "My temporoparietal junction was damaged in a laboratory accident, causing me to have no comprehension of morality. In other words, I cannot tell right from wrong."

A chill runs up my spine. There's no reasoning with him, then. He won't understand that it's wrong to cut out a teenager's brain.

Obake notices my shocked expression and laughs. "Yes, I know it's a little…disturbing. Now, I ask you to hand over Hiro, and you and your wife can leave. And before you turn your little brother over to me, let me assure you that he will feel no pain in the transplant. My surgeons will put him under anesthesia, and it will be completely painless—they are the best doctors I have ever seen."

"Who—who are your surgeons?" I ask, my voice trembling.

Obake's lips curl into a smile. "Why, your parents, of course."

"Seriously?" I burst out, my anger going over the top. "You're going to have my mom and dad cut their son's brain out of his head?"

"Very much so. Now hand them over."

I stand protectively in front of my family, refusing to let Obake get to them. "No."

Obake sighs. "I thought you'd say that. You're remarkably selfless, Tadashi—and brilliant. Would you like to join me in building a new world? I could let Hiro and your wife go free."

"I will never help you," I growl. "And neither will they. No matter what you do, we'll keep fighting."

Obake smiles cruelly. "Brave words. But they won't save you. Nothing can save you now."

"Tadashi," says a softer voice from behind me. "Let him take me. Please. I want you and Honey to get out of here."

Hiro has come over to my side, his eyes pleading. He looks so small, so vulnerable.

"Please, Tadashi," Hiro begs. "Just promise me you'll do everything you can to stop him."

"Hiro, no," I tell him. "I am not handing you over to a murderer who wants to cut your brain out. We're all leaving or none of us are."

"It's the only way, Dashi," Hiro whispers, his dark-chocolate eyes shining with tears. "I'll—I'll miss you, Nii-chan."

And my baby brother steps forward, eyes closed. Obake smiles again and snaps his fingers.

Before I can do anything, two large robots step out of the shadows, each modeled something like Baymax but much larger and with sharp angles. One robot takes Hiro's arms and sprints away into the darkness on the other side of the cavern.

"HIRO!" I scream, launching myself forward, but the second robot slams a huge hand into my chest, throwing me to the ground and knocking all the wind out of me.

Honey gasps and rushes to my side as Obake and the second robot, who scoops up my parents' limp forms, disappear into the shadows.

When I get my breath back, it comes with the shattering realization that I can do nothing for Hiro. Obake has him and he's not giving him back.

My baby brother is going to die.

—HIRO—

I don't fight the robot carrying me until we enter a large chamber, in which there are three tables: one with many sharp tools on it and two with pillows and padding. It's an operating room, no doubt about it.

I start fighting the robot. I thought Obake was probably bluffing, or I'd never give myself up—but no! I don't want to get my brain cut out of my head!

The large robot just clamps a hand around my whole entire chest and squeezes, leaving me gasping for air. I punch its huge metal fist as hard as I can with both hands, only to let out a yelp of pain as I slam the sprained one into the metal.

When we reach the center of the cave, the robot raises its hand and unceremoniously dumps me onto the stone floor. I let out a yelp of pain and curl into a ball, clutching my sprained wrist to my chest. My head is pounding and my heart is racing—I'm terrified. Obake is going to cut my head open and take my brain. Well, I guess he's not going to do it—my parents are, and then they're going to put my brain in Obake's head. This situation is so wrong I can't even.

I scramble up as Obake stalks into the room, still clutching my wrist, and I glare at the supervillain as he stops in front of me.

"I won't let you do it," I growl. "I'm not gonna just let you take my brain."

"I'm afraid you can't stop me, Hiro. You're not getting away this time."

Obake picks up some kind of remote control from the table and presses a button. The limp bodies of my parents spring to life, and Obake stares at them, looking like he's analyzing them.

"Hmmm," he muses, sounding doubtful. "I hope they're not too injured to perform the surgery…well, I suppose they'll do."

"How—how are you doing that?" I demand, trying not to let my voice shake. "How are you controlling them?"

"Oh, it's simple. You see, your parents suffered similar brain damage to mine in the accident that destroyed their laboratory. All I had to do was implant a chip into their brains that would take advantage of that damage, amplify it so they would stop at nothing to get you to work with me."

"How long have you been doing this?"

"Ever since the explosion. I thought you and your brother had been killed, or I'd simply have kidnapped you as well."

I want to stop—I don't want to hear about more of his evil plans, but there's one more question I have to ask.

"I need you to tell me something," I say softly. "My…my mom was pregnant when the explosion happened. What happened to my baby sister?"

Obake's expression morphs into something like pity. "Unfortunately, the fetus did not survive the accident. I am truly sorry, Hiro."

"It's—it's okay," I mumble, then remember that I'm trapped in a cave with a supervillain who wants to kill me.

Obake claps his hands, and my parents walk blankly forward, along with one of the huge robots. The robot picks me up—I let out a yelp and struggle furiously—and slams me down on the operating table, then binds me to it.

"It would be wise not to struggle, Hiro," Obake informs me as I thrash around on the table. "It will only make things worse."

"Don't," I gasp. "Please—no—"

Then my dad picks up a syringe filled with liquid and stabs me in the arm with it. I fall limp as the world starts to go dark.

The last thing I feel is the scalpel slicing across my forehead.

It's over.

Tadashi—

I'm sorry.

—TADASHI—

"Hiro," I gasp, still struggling to breathe. "Hiro…"

"Dashi, are you okay?" Honey asks worriedly, taking my hand. "That robot hit you pretty hard—"

"I'm fine," I groan, shoving myself into a sitting position and massaging my side. "I think it's just a couple of bruised ribs."

Honey helps me to my feet and we limp toward the chamber into which Obake has disappeared. I have to get to Hiro, have to save him. I can't let Obake kill my baby brother.

The cavern narrows into a passageway, and the air gets damper and colder. When we come to the end of the passage, though, we discover it's blocked by a huge boulder. Behind it I can hear faint voices—Hiro and Obake.

"We've gotta move this!" I gasp to Honey, and we both start shoving the huge rock as hard as we can. But it's too big—it doesn't budge. It's got to weigh at least a thousand pounds.

A thousand pounds…

I reach down to my brace, which is still equipped with the control panel from my wheelchair, and find the button labeled with two dots connected by a line. I press it, but all I can do after this is wait—

Not thirty seconds later, I hear a loud crash, and then Baymax soars down the tunnel to land beside us.

"Hello, Tadashi," he says mildly, looking around. "What seems to be the problem?"

I'm still staring at him in shock, and it takes me a moment to find my voice. "Obake—he has Hiro—they're in there—he's gonna kill him—"

"Oh no," Baymax says, and then he waddles over to the boulder, staring at it. "Do you need me to move this rock?"

"Yes, please move it! Hiro's in there!"

As Baymax reaches for the rock, I hear, from the other side of the boulder, "Don't…please—no…"

Hiro.

They're putting him under.

Baymax finally lifts the rock and then throws it back down the tunnel, and all three of us burst into the room.

Mom, Dad, and Obake stand around an operating table. Obake has a look of shock on his face, but my parents are blankly staring forward. My dad has a syringe, empty now but undoubtedly used to administer the anesthesia. And my mom holds a scalpel.

A bloodstained scalpel…

And Hiro lies on the table, unconscious and bleeding.

I let out a guttural scream and charge forward, yanking the scalpel out of my mom's hand and throwing it to the side of the room. Obake snaps his fingers, and the two huge robots lunge forward, ready to stop Baymax.

"Tadashi," Baymax says calmly. "Take Hiro and go. I will be alright. I will take your parents with me if I can. My scan shows that they have suffered brain damage, but this condition is treatable. Go now. I will protect you."

"Honey, come on!" I call, running over to the operating table. "Go! I'll follow you out!"

I shove Obake out of the way and scoop Hiro's limp body up off of the table, cradling him in my arms. He's still pretty banged up from the rockfall, but the worst part is the deep incision on Hiro's forehead. It's at least three inches long and bleeding all down his pale, round face.

Honey puts an arm around my shoulders and we limp toward the exit. Baymax is trying valiantly to stop both robots and Obake from getting to us, and he's doing a pretty good job.

We make it to the stairs, and we run up them as fast as possible. These braces are kinda weird—I still can't feel my legs, but they somehow work. I love it, though, so I'm not complaining.

I hear pounding footsteps behind us and realize Obake is running up the stairs after us.

"Faster!" I gasp to Honey, and we keep struggling up the stairs. Somehow Hiro is a lot heavier than he has any right to be, being so small. Since he's dead weight at the moment, it's a lot harder to carry him than it usually is.

We burst out into the night, and I let go of Hiro for just a moment to press the button on the side of my brace—the emergency blaster one.

Honey grabs my arm and we shoot into the sky, ignoring Obake's scream of fury slicing through the night sky behind us.

An hour later, Hiro is peacefully asleep in a hospital bed. The doctors stitched the cut back together, saying that thankfully, it didn't break the skull, so Hiro won't need any intensive treatment. He'll be okay.

But I still feel so bad. To save Hiro, we had to leave Baymax and our parents behind. I still don't know what's wrong with them, but I don't think they're in their right minds, because there is no way they would kill their son. Something must be wrong.

After fifteen more minutes, Hiro's eyes open, distracting me from my thoughts. Hiro puts a hand up to his forehead, looking confused, and whispers, "Dashi?"

"Hey, Hiro," I murmur, dragging my chair closer to his bed. "How're you feeling?"

Hiro thinks it over. "Well, my head hurts, I guess, but I'm slightly more concerned about why I still have my brain right now."

"Oh—I called Baymax and he blasted the door down for us, so we were able to get you out after only one incision."

Hiro looks around. "Where is he?"

I stare at the ground, rubbing the back of my neck uncomfortably. "Hiro, we…we had to leave him behind. To get you to safety. Him and Mom and Dad."

"What?" Hiro whispers, his eyes wide. "We just…left them there?"

"To save you! Baymax told us to take you and that he'd be fine on his own—he's a robot, Hiro, and he's better at taking care of himself then we are."

Hiro deflates somewhat. "I guess so. But promise me we're going back as soon as possible to rescue him."

I sigh. "I will. But you won't, Hiro—you're hurt, so you're going to stay right here in this bed until the doctors say it's okay for you to leave."

Hiro's temper rapidly inflates again. "What? No! What's even wrong with me?"

I count off on my fingers. "Laceration on frontal portion of cranium, grade one traumatic brain injury, grade two tear of scapholunate ligament, and various epidermal abrasions."

Hiro stares at me blankly.

I sigh and repeat the diagnosis. "Stitches in your forehead, concussion, sprained wrist, and little scrapes and bruises and stuff. Better?"

Hiro nods. "Yeah—but it's not my fault I'm not a med student."

"Yes, it is. You could've decided to do that instead of go bot fighting all the time."

Hiro rolls his eyes playfully and flops back onto his pillows. "Whatever. When are the doctors gonna let me leave?"

"Just after they check you over, I think. They said they were just gonna wait for you to wake up and then you'd probably be good to go."

Hiro shoves himself into a sitting position. "Well, I'm awake now, so can we get the heck out of here?"

I laugh and ruffle Hiro's hair, being careful to avoid the stitches in his forehead. "We'll see, buddy."

The doctors tell us that Hiro is free to go after they run the last tests on him—and after they let Aunt Cass in. Apparently they've kept her in the waiting room for the last hour, despite the fact that she threw several temper tantrums and was looking for us for the whole time we were gone, even calling the police. I don't understand people.

After much yelling, crying, and hugging, we're on our way out of the hospital. Hiro has a brace on his wrist and several band-aids, along with the stitches. I just have a couple of band-aids and a request from the doctor to take it easy, along with sheer astonishment that I can walk again. At this point, I'm pretty sure the hospital just never wants to hear from me again.

Honey is waiting at the café for us when we get back—the hospital staff sent her home immediately after running the necessary tests so she and the baby could rest.

When we step through the door, Honey gives Hiro and I both a kiss on the cheek and Aunt Cass a hug, then pulls me aside. "Dashi, I've got to show you something."

She pulls out her phone and shows me a text, the sender labeled only as Unknown Number.

hello, honey lemon.

you and the boys might have gotten away this time, but I'm never going to stop trying to get you back. bring hiro to me by midnight on friday, or your husband's parents die. I know you want them back, and I will gladly exchange them for the boy. it's not a hard choice.

make the right one.

until midnight,

obake

My heart rate speeds up. "Oh my gosh."

Honey looks at me with tear-filled eyes. "What are we going to do?"

"I don't know," I whisper. "But what Obake said is true. We have to make the right choice."

"But what's the right choice, Dashi? Either way someone gets hurt."

I cup my wife's face in my hands and plant a kiss on her forehead.

"Not on my watch."