I Could Scream Forever

Crack.

Ice coursed through his veins, disbelief freezing him in place as his mind fought to come to terms with the facts before it. This couldn't be happening. This was a dream, a nightmare from which he would wake to find himself back in the past, back to the day of the showcase, back to when his life still made sense. He would be alive again and his brother would be whole, safe and sound, planning escape routes to nightly bot fights. His reality would be warm, familiar and normal instead of this heated hell where his brother lay bleeding and broken upon the ground…

But life didn't work that way. All the wishes and dreams in the world couldn't change the harsh face of reality. The nightmare before him was all too real and there was only one person to blame.

Tadashi glanced up, angry dark amber eyes clashing with ice cold blue as he faced the root cause of the situation he now found himself in. His fault! Everything that had come to pass since the showcase fire could be traced right back to him yet he continued to remain unharmed while innocents paid the price for his arrogance in his stead. Flames came to life all over his body, flickering over the surface of his suit, appearing to encase him in flames that danced, twisted and sang in response to his sudden thirst for revenge. Heat rushed through the air, outwardly echoing the raging intensity within. Chemicals glowed, a moment passed and then all hell broke loose. Tadashi twisted out of Baymax's grasp and threw himself into a sprint, his feet barely making a sound on the concrete floor. He dodged the remnants of flickering flames and leaped over scattered debris with only a single goal in mind. Get to Alistair Krei. He had, after all, a promise to keep. Tadashi was nothing if not a man of his word.

I'll kill you if you hurt my brother.

Alistair Krei was to blame. For all of it. He was responsible for the loss of Callaghan's daughter which had led to the good natured Professors downward spiral into madness and ultimately Tadashi's death in a showcase fire. He was responsible for Hiro's kidnapping and the suffering his brother had to endure while in captivity and now he was responsible for Hiro's broken body, lying still and lifeless at the bottom of a dark pit. Alistair Krei was the root cause of all of it and the time had come... The time had come for someone to ensure that he suffered the consequences of his own actions for a change.

Something in Tadashi's eyes, or perhaps in his body language gave him away and revealed his intent to his prey. One moment Alistair Krei was calmly returning the intensity of Tadashi's gaze and the next he was off, a loud clang echoing through the open space with each step that connected with the metal walkway.

Alistair was running, desperately fleeing for his life in a bid to escape the flaming fury of the dark angel of vengeance that was now seeking his blood. Unfortunately for him, he couldn't even begin to hope to be fast enough. Tadashi was on him before he even managed to step off the suspended steel platform.

Clap.

Searing pain coursed through him the moment Tadashi's fist connected with his cheek, causing the screaming panic in his mind to rise to new heights. The flickering flames that continued to dance on the outer layer of Tadashi's suit, seared his skin filling the air with he acrid scent of burning hair and skin. Instinctively reacting to the pain, Alistair raised his arms to cover his face only to open himself up even even more pain, fresh blows landing on his chest, right shoulder and abdomen adding the scent of charred fabric to the acrid scent already permeating his presence. A blow to the back of his knees threw him off balance and all too soon Alistair found himself on the ground, staring up and the burning demon that had come to take his life. "I told you. I'd kill you if you hurt him." Tadashi said, the intensity of the flames in his hands rising ever higher with each word, a stark contrast to the icy calm that Tadashi used to deliver his threat.

"No, no, you can't!" Alistair protested, quivering in fear, the realization that he was completely powerless lending credence to the true terror that had him in its grasp. The dark hatred he could see in Tadashi's eyes reminded him of a similar confrontation he'd endured just over three years ago. Ignoring the foreboding sense of déjà vu that washed over him, he continued, "Please... let me go. I'll give you anything you want." And with those words his fate was sealed.

"I want my brother back." Tadashi snarled, moving to shove the raging inferno, that now flickered in the palms of his hands, directly into Alistair Krei's chest.

"Tadashi! No!" The outcry was lost in the heat of the moment, completely irrelevant in the face of a decision Tadashi had already made. Alistair Krei was going to pay for what he'd done to Hiro and no one was going to stop him.

Clang.

Instead of connecting with soft flesh as expected, Tadashi's palm connected with something hard, cold and metallic. Caught off guard, Tadashi lost control of the chemicals he was controlling in order to encase himself in flames. Stray flames, twisted, flickered and danced and flared white for a moment before completely dying out. A bright red armored hand was blocking him from connecting with Alistair Krei's chest. "This course of action is detrimental to your mental health." Baymax informed him closing his hand around Tadashi's effectively preventing him from reigniting the flames that had covered his suit mere moments before. "Revenge will do you more harm than good. Recommended course of action: Take him into custody and allow the authorities to decide his fate."

"Let go of me." Tadashi ordered not even registering the new set of footsteps that had joined them on the walkway.

"I cannot comply."

"Cannot comply or won't comply?" Tadashi demanded, the embers of rage not yet extinguished from his heart. "I'm your creator and I command you to let go of me so I can make good on the promise I made before he decided to hurt what is mine!"

"I will not comply." Baymax replied, correcting himself. "This is not what Hiro would want."

"It doesn't matter what Hiro wants!" Tadashi yelled, his surge of anger finally finding a verbal outlet. "Hiro is gone and this man is the one that took him from me!"

"Hiro is here." Baymax said, turning to face the lifeless figure on the floor before turning back to blink at Tadashi. "And he needs you."

Hiro is here.

Baymax's words echoed through Tadashi's mind, stirring the deep seated pain and grief that he'd been ignoring in favor of the rage that had gotten him this far. Hiro was still there, lying on the ground, broken and alone and Tadashi hadn't even bothered to see if there was anything he could still perhaps do to save him."Hiro isn't dead?" Tadashi asked, voicing his worst fear for the first time since this entire confrontation had begun. Somewhere in the back of his mind he'd convinced himself Hiro had died in the fall and he had nothing left to lose but if Hiro was still alive then that would mean there was still hope and where there was still hope…

"Hiro has sustained severe injuries." Baymax informed him, unable to lie. "But his pulse is still strong, even though it's a little erratic."

His pulse is still strong. Hiro still had a heartbeat. He was still clinging to life and Tadashi was wasting what little time he had trying to hurt Krei instead of trying to help his brother. "Yo, man, I've got him." Fred's voice broke into Tadashi's chaotic thoughts grounding him once more. Fred was kneeling over Krei holding him face down with his arms behind his back. "Go check on Hiro."

Tadashi would never know how Fred had managed to slip past both him and Baymax and incapacitate Krei in the time Tadashi was dealing with his moral dilemma but it didn't matter. Tadashi had more important things to take care of.

I've got him. Go check on Hiro.

Those seven words were all it took to drain all the heated anger out of him. Fred had control of the situation with Krei. He would make sure the man got what he deserved and Tadashi was now free to focus on the thing he should have been focusing on in the first place. "Baymax, please…" Tadashi licked suddenly dry lips, fighting the tears that threatened to escape now that he no longer had anger to stem their flow, "P… please… t.. take me to him."

"As you wish." Baymax replied, gently lifting Tadashi into his arms before flying over towards Hiro's prone form.

- BH6 - BH6 - BH6 –

A/N: This chapter didn't exist in the original draft but after reading one of Dreamer's reviews several chapters ago, I realized this wasn't actually a moment I could skip so I went back and wrote it to fill in the gap. It turned out to be a lot more heart wrenching than I imaged T_T

Kiki Anderson: He's not dead yet... There is still hope but I can't promise that this story won't go where you think it might.

Guest: Looks like your guess was right. I haven't killed him off but the ordeal is not over yet. As for the bracelet, I've already dropped a lot of clues pertaining to it in this story. Enough for people to make a good educated guess by now but the topic is going to be revisited in the next chapter where I will be revealing more information about it. I promise, I did not forget about it. It is, after all, important.

CrazyBlueOwl: I'm assuming you are glaring at Tadashi on Hiro's behalf. He appreciates the support. Hope you managed to get to homeroom in once piece...

Cosmickatsu: I repeat... please don't hate me...

Ern Estine 13624: He's still hanging in there...

Guest: Come back! * Reaches out to pull you back*. Breath, he is not dead yet. There are still a few more chapters to go before this story is done. I may still crush your soul a little as the full details of what is actually happening are revealed but I hope you will continue to love this story despite that.

shooting2stars: I do agree. The Hamada brothers seem to attract tragedy (the death of their parents, Tadashi's death in the fire, everything that happened in this story as a result) but they continue to fight and that's why we all love them so much. There is still a glimmer of hope. Don't give up just yet.

Rosycat: * Wince* I'm sorry but it would appear that I did...

NotShort: Very perceptive of you to realize all of that. Now to see if you got it right... As for the second part of your review... sadly the answer is not enough... not for lack of trying though.

Nausicaa of the Spirits: I can see why. Battle at one of Alistair Krei's facilities - check. Microbots - check. Tadashi fighting - check. Hiro falling - check. Impact - check. Death... not checked at this stage.

EclipseHeart185: A dramatic ending to a dramatic chapter...