Chapter 24 (Hiro's POV)

Part of the prison was already engulfed in flames when we all arrived. Gogo and Fred were holding their own against Enkei, but she'd brought backup this time. The goons with her appeared to be some of Obake's typical androids, only these he hadn't bothered trying to make seem human. There were more than a dozen of them besides Enkei herself. It meant we were outnumbered, but that didn't really matter. I'd stop him if it killed me…

Without hesitating Baymax and I lunged into the gaping hole in the prison wall. Scanning through the smoke my visor lit up with incoming opponents. Dodging left, one of the androids caught Baymax's rocket fist at full force. Jumping off his back I drew my blades again, making short work out of the goon coming my way. But they were just the start, wave after wave emerged from the smog. I gripped my katanas tighter as the reality of Liv's dark revelations came back to my mind in painful jolts.

In Obake's mind, he'd already won, because we all were as good as "infected." But the realization that he'd already affected the baby drove me on to the near point of madness. Fighting my way through I didn't break my frenzy until I'd cleared the smoke and was face to face with Obake himself. He was surrounded by a dozen more androids with Enkei leading the charge. I can't say I expected to see Dr. Watashi with them though. Least of all, did I expect her to be the first to attack.

She was unarmed but lunged at me with her full force, which in this case, wasn't human. The force of the punch caught me off guard and I staggered backward.

"Do you like my new toys, Hiro?" Obake asked as he grinned from behind the chaos.

Before I could answer Honey Lemon burst through the smoke and did her own double take at Watashi. "She's an android, don't hold back!" I shouted before she could get taken off guard too. It was a warning Gogo didn't even wait for because a disk suddenly launched from underneath a pile of rubble and struck Watashi directly. Standing, Gogo brushed the debris and dust away with a grimace

"Yeah, I could have told you that."

"I'm glad you're impressed," Obake gloated before gesturing toward Enkei. "Of course, my greatest work you're already well acquainted with."

Even she was an android… A part of me thought I should have guessed.

"But you see, Hiro," he went on smugly. "I needed someone to do my bidding while I was locked up in this vile place. So I made sure to construct a small private army. Those years ago, I let you believe you'd won, when really, I'd already made up a lovely alternate plan. Aren't you impressed?" he asked in his own brand of twisted humor.

"Less talk, more punching!" Fred suddenly shouted as he jumped into the fray. "I'm really tired of the villain monologue!"

"For once, I agree with you!" Gogo added as she rushed the mob.

Everything felt like a blur. Wasabi and Honey Lemon joined in the action, while I jumped back on Baymax and tried to get above the chaos. I didn't want to be distracted by drones, not Enkei, all I wanted was Obake…

Once we were over the fray I waited for the right moment to strike. When the opening came I lept off of Baymax and landed close enough to hold a blade to Obake's throat.

He smiled at me, a taunt in his eyes. "Why are you hesitating, Hiro…?"

"I'm not," I whispered as I let the blade meet his skin. It cut through the image until the hologram flickered away.

"But you're just a ghost," I added as I lowered the blade to my side.

I already guessed as much, and Baymax's scans had confirmed it. He'd never risked staying here. He'd likely made his escape in the chaos long before I even arrived. He was arrogant, yes, but he knew this was his last chance at his New World. He wanted it, in his own sick way, as much as I wanted to save my family's lives. I felt the anger boil inside of me, the fear of loss mingling with disgust.

"Enough!" I shouted against the erupting chaos. "Where is Obake!?"

But none of his androids cared about my anger or anguish, they were simply caught up the battle. It was only Enkei who met me with dual flame throwers and a sinister grin.

"You truly want to kill him, don't you, Hamada?" she asked as I lunged to dodge the flames.

"No…" I said through gritted teeth. "I don't. But I will end this, I will protect this city, whatever the cost."

"Then perhaps you are ready to face the master…" she whispered, her guard lowering for just a second.

But the instant was long enough. I struck without hesitation. The hit was enough to disable her, and she fell to her knees. The fake skin on her face started to peel away, revealing the cold metal beneath.

"Very good, Mr. Hamada…" she whispered. "But I will not allow defeat, I was made to serve the master to the very end…" Before I could question, she grabbed hold of me. "I've activated my self-destruct, Hiro…you have sixty seconds."

"That's enough!" I shouted as I held on to her tighter. Dragging her onto Baymax with me, we shot out of the prison and straight into the air. I had to climb high enough to contain the blast. But every second meant I was a little closer to dying with her.

Finally, as we reached the final ascent, she pulled me closer whispering one last cryptic poem in my ear.

"But, haste! for night is darkling-soon, the festival it brings;

Already see the hydra show its tongues and somber wings,

And mark upon a shrinking prey the rush of kindling breaths;

They tap and sap the threatened walls, and bear uncounted deaths;

And 'neath caresses scorching hot the palaces decay-

Oh, that I, too, could thus caress, and burn, and blight, and slay!"

The words seemed to play in slow motion inside my mind, for all the arrogance and horror they conveyed. In one last motion, I pushed her away and let Baymax and I drop below. The moment was just enough as the explosion rippled out; the fractured air hot against my skin. We fell, our eyes locked on the flames above us. The same flames that reminded me of those old nightmares.

Tadashi…

I held onto his name tightly as we both fell to earth.

At the last second, I signaled Baymax and we pulled up just short of an impact. My old injuries from my fight with Callaghan weren't completely healed, but I didn't have time to worry about the pain.

Once we landed I jumped back into the fray. When the bad guys and flames were finally contained we retreated to an alleyway to regroup, before deciding our next move.

"What happen back there, Hiro?" Honey Lemon asked, concern heavy in her voice.

"Enkei was an android like all the rest of them. Before she self-destructed she delivered one final message from Obake…"

Wasabi arched an eyebrow. "What kind of message?"

I pulled off my helmet and wiped the sweat from my brow. "Another poem…"

"Great," Gogo scoffed. "As if we have time to deceive that."

"I don't think we have to, he made it pretty obvious…" I mumbled.

"It was a very violent poem," Baymax commented, sadly.

"Oh, that I, too, could thus caress, and burn, and blight, and slay…" I whispered thinking out loud.

"Ouch, bad taste in art…" Fred winced.

I inhaled a sharp breath, my body achy. "One of the verses mentions the Hydra. That's way too obvious and specific to be anything other than a calling card."

"You mean like The Hydra that place in Good Luck Alley we investigated?" Honey Lemon wondered.

I nodded. "It has to be, but it's likely a trap. He made it so obvious…"

"Then what do we do?" Gogo asked, seeming restless. "Just how small is this small army he said he made? He could have hundreds of them."

I pulled my helmet on again and turned to face them, determination in my every move.

"It doesn't matter how big or small his army is, we do the obvious."

Fred hesitated. "Okay…usually not the best plan. Even I know that."

"As long as we all don't walk into the same trap, we're fine," I said, trying to be reassuring. "After all, he meant this for me…"

"Hiro," Honey Lemon frowned. "You can't do this all alone."

"I'm not going to…" I looked up at all of them sincerely. "We need everybody if we're going to have a chance at fixing all this. But Obake wants me to join him, he always has. As ridiculous as it seems, he hasn't given up on that. If I go I can buy Karmi and Liv time to figure out how to reverse the genetic alterations. If you're all free, you can make sure no one gets in the way of that, and you can formulate a counterattack."

"And what about you?!" Gogo demanded.

I looked toward the ground, gathering my courage. Finally, I looked back up at them, firm in my resolve. "I have one last demon to face."

The Hydra looked abandoned. All the hustle and bustle of low lives had ceased. That in itself seemed very suspicious. Everything was quiet, too quiet…

"Hiro…are you really going to go alone?" Baymax asked from beside me. We were stationed on a rooftop across the street from The Hydra. The rest of the team was hidden on other buildings nearby.

I turned to face him, giving the best smile I could muster. "I have to go buddy…"

"I can not agree. We have always been…a team."

"I know… But walking into a trap with me will just mean we have one less person on the outside who can help. Obake wants me to take this bait, he just doesn't understand why I'm going to. He knows it's in my nature to lose my head and rush in alone. That's what he's hoping I'll do now, but I'm not rushing in alone." I put my hand against my heart. "I'll have all of you right here…"

"Hiro…I-"

But I cut off whatever he was going to say, pulling him into the tightest hug I could manage. I wished we could have stayed that way forever, but duty was fraying the edges of this last beautiful moment.

"I love you, Baymax."

He pulled away, blinking at me. "I love you as well, Hiro."

I smiled. "Take care of Karmi for me, please?"

"I will do that."

I had both feet on the fire escape, ready to leave when I took one last look at him. It was one of those moments when the weight of a lifetime seemed to rush in on you all at once. The memories that seem to replay all at once somehow.

I saw it all. Every moment in my life.

Turning away I climbed down and walked slowly across the street. This time, I wasn't going to waste time with the back door, no I just went straight for the front. Unsheathing my two katanas I carefully crept to the door, hesitating before kicking it open.

The bar room was dark; the smell of dust and dank alcohol filled the air even through my helmet. Slowly, I crept forward, the silhouettes of scattered chairs and bottles littered the floor. I swallowed sharply as I pressed forward into the darkness. In the air was the tense feeling of being watched. By who was no surprise…

"Hello, Mr. Hamada," I heard echo from the darkness.

I spun on my heels, trying to pinpoint just where in the darkness his voice had come from. But like a ghost, he seemed to be both everywhere and nowhere all at once.

"Have you come for vengeance? That's not very becoming of a hero, now is it?"

"I've come to end this, Obake, whatever that takes."

I heard his laugh echo. "Have you now? Is it that I've at last reached the nerve deep enough within you?"

Out of the corner of my eye, a figure swayed from the darkness, but as soon as I turned he was gone.

"Was it just a matter of waiting until you built a life up with your own hands? A life I could tear down and destroy?"

Another shadow crept out of the darkness but soon vanished into the open air.

His every word was meant to trigger me, to make me lose control of all the parts that still felt attached to the past. The parts of me that wanted nothing more than to hate him. The parts so afraid of loss… But I held my breath steady, waiting, waiting for the right moment.

"Isn't that so, Hiro?" He asked again, clearly unhappy his bait was yet to work. "Your friends? Your aunt? Your wife…your child?"

"Does your rambling have a point, Obake…?" I mumbled into the darkness, determined to hold my emotions together.

Playing a mind game of my own, I could feel his irritation rise. Finally, stepping out of the shadows in front of me he frowned. "The point is, I control them all. I even control you."

"Then try," I said defiantly as I lunged toward him.

But at this point, he was almost more machine than man, one of his mechanized hands caught the blade effortlessly.

"You were a fool to come here, Hiro. Just what are you hoping to accomplish by being so reckless?"

"You wanted me to come, didn't you?" I said calmly as I stared him down. "You have your own weaknesses, don't you? You can't give up on me joining you, why?" I scowled at him. "Or are you just that lonely in this New Word of yours?"

I expected his anger, I even wanted it, but instead a deathly calm came over him. With a gesture of his hand, the lights came on suddenly, and filing in from the adjoining rooms were another six dozen robotic goons. It was growing to be quite a large army.

I pulled back my swords. I knew I was outnumbered, but I could still try and fight my way out of this. But something held me back… This was all a mind game… What did Obake really want? Did he have a dead man's trigger set in place if he was defeated? It felt like the whole city, including my family and friends, were held hostage to his madness. My every decision mattered now more than ever. I couldn't mess this up… Ultimately, Karmi and Liv just needed time. I had to find a way to give them that time, even if it meant playing this game to the end.

"Why, you ask? I'll tell you why…" he said in a low bitter growl.

But first, he pulled a dusty bottle of wine from the liquor shelf behind him. After glancing at the label to admire the year of all things, he popped the cork and poured himself a shallow glass. Taking a sip, he looked over at me.

"Wine, it's rather nice, isn't it?" He smiled. "One sip to meet the divine, one sip too many to become a raging fool." He held the bottle carefully. "Intelligence and disciplined willpower can use this like a gift, like a pleasure. But it isn't just a gift for the intelligent or disciplined, is it?" He looked up at me as the glow of his face illuminated his scowl.

"No it isn't," he went on. "It's also the elixir of fools. Fools like my father."

"Obake…"

He laughed. "Don't worry, I won't bore you with tales of bygone eras and traumas of a pitiable youth. Those indignities were just the teachers in this wretched classroom known as life." He smiled. "And they taught me well…" Taking the wine bottle, he broke it across the counter, where it shattered into violent shards.

I could feel his rage seeth beneath the calm veil he was hiding behind.

"Free will is like wine, Hiro. In the right hands it can be divine, but left in the grasp of fools…" He held his arms out. "We have this horrible world. Justice is never brought, because the powers that be are too weak to execute it. Knowledge is never sought because the masses are too lazy to seek it. And when it is served garnished and dressed they reject it because the bitter truth is not a taste their childish palates can tolerate."

"So you'd kill them, Obake?"

He looked into my eyes, no part of him flinching. "Yes, I would. And I shall, I'll use their own hands to do it. And when the final horrid ashes of this world fall, there will at last be room for something better."

"And what would you have me be in this new world of yours, Obake?" I asked, my disgust mingling with pity.

Even through his madness, I saw his eyes soften. "A son, Hiro, my son. I could teach you so much." A certain desperation lingered in his voice. "And when I'm gone…You could ensure my perfect world remains."

"Obake…" I pleaded softly. "Stop this."

But he only shook his head. "I can't do that, Hiro. I want you to join me willingly, I need you to join me willingly."

"I'd rather die than serve you," I said without hesitation. "So you only have two options, take my will away, or let me fight to the death with it intact."

A sad sort of acceptance crept across his face. "Then I shall give you that right. But not here, not yet."

Before I could react I felt a jolt of electricity surge through my left shoulder. I turned just in time to see one of the androids jabbing some sort of device against me. I lashed out taking it down, but not before I felt my legs buckle under me. Try as I may, I couldn't keep my footing.

I cursed the weakness even as the world faded to black. The last thing I saw was Obake's smile, that sick twisted smile…