omg ByeFelicia you're so funny

As Tadashi watched everyone in the garage gather their equipment and lay out their blueprints, the feeling of uneasiness he was sure would have evaporated the night before had only grown and gnawed at the corners of his mind uncontrollably. The questions flooded into his head one by one and each one made him feel sick inside. What if Krei pulled a gun on all of them the second they arrived? What if he didn't fall for the other's costumes and what if he was too rough with Hiro?

Tadashi swallowed hard, too shaken and confused to even answer his own thoughts.

The full plan was that Tadashi, Honey Lemon, and Abigail would attend the Krei Tech expedition museum event in disguises, just to make sure that Krei didn't pull a gun out or anything and to make sure that it was a clean exchange. It was a formal event with champagne and formal attire, so there shouldn't be any abuse toward Hiro of any kind. Hiro would walk in and surrender, a camera hidden on the button of his shirt. He would go downstairs to the basement and be returned to his cell. After being locked in, Hiro would send the footage on his button to Tadashi, who would send it to the police. They would go to Krei Tech, free Hiro, arrest Alistar, and Krei Tech would be shut down.

Although the others didn't seem to find any holes in their plan, Tadashi looked at the plan as if it were a sponge. Too many holes and too many ways to spill and ruin everything.

He sighed, reaching to grab his mug and gulping coffee. He would need as much caffeine as he could possibly get, and this had to be his fifth glass already.

"Tadashi, are you alright?" Hiro asked, setting something down and walking over to Tadashi in concern. "You look like you're going to be sick or something."

"I-I'm fine," Tadashi said in barely a whisper, and Hiro had to strain to listen.

"What-?"

"I said I'm fine, Hiro," Tadashi said sternly, walking around Hiro and helping Honey Lemon write something down on the map of Krei Tech. Hiro turned and tilted his head, his eyes trailing to the floor.

Something's not right.

Hiro shrugged nonetheless, pulling out his phone and dialing a number.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Wasabi," Hiro said with a sigh. "Could we borrow your car today?"

"Uh, sure. Why?"

"We'll explain later. Can you swing by at 5:30 and take us to Krei Tech?"

"Why the hell are you going to that place again? Isn't that place the whole reason you were gone for a whole month?"

"Yeah, and I promise I'll explain. Thank you," Hiro pocketed his phone, rolling up the scrambled pieces of parchment and strapping them with rubber bands, preparing them to be loaded off in thirty minutes when Wasabi came. Tadashi and the others took note of what he was doing, following suit and gathering their equipment.

The thirty minutes flew by fast, too fast for Tadashi's liking. They were boarding into Wasabi's car as soon as he pulled up to the garage, and Hiro explained the plan to the man as the others got into their disguises.

Abigail put on green contacts and a pink wig with a blue hoodie and glasses. Honey Lemon slicked her hair back and put on a silver wig with wavy hair, blue contacts, and a yellow blouse. Tadashi wore a beanie and blue contact lenses, which Hiro couldn't help but laugh at.

"Dude, you look like a werewolf," Hiro snickered, earning an eye roll from his brother.

"Whatever. You look like a business man."

Hiro looked down at his clothes and laughed lightly. It was true, he had to return to his old clothing from back when he was held captive. Every day the same; a white button down, a navy blue tie, and black dress pants. He was never fond of it, but he had no choice this time, just like the other times. He had to bring himself and his family justice, and he had to make sure Krei wasn't getting off clean for forcing him into labor. Tadashi seemed to think the same, but he was dying to find an alternative. Another way to serve justice.

Tadashi laid his head back on his seat, letting out a long breath. He would rather be anywhere else but in this car and he would rather be on his way to SFIT than to Krei Tech.

When they parked, Hiro got out of the front seat and limped around to help the others out, breathing in the night air and turning toward the Krei Tech building where the event and party were only just starting. Tadashi glanced at the large Krei Tech building uncomfortably, and Hiro hardly missed the look before helping Honey and Abigail out.

"Alright, let's do this!" Honey Lemon grinned, walking toward the building and grabbing Tadashi by the hand to follow.

"If you guys need anything, don't hesitate to ask!" Wasabi called from behind the wheel. "You know I live close anyway, it won't be a problem."

"Thank you so much," Tadashi called. Hiro waved, looking at Wasabi fully aware it could be the last time he would see him. Hiro would never tell Tadashi, but Krei always had a weapon out when he was with him, and he wouldn't hesitate to shoot him in the head if he had to. Hiro shrugged, however, chuckling as Abigail jogged to catch up with everyone.

He would never forget them if this truly was his last time. Never.

Shaking his head, he finally caught up with everyone, pulling his phone out.

"Okay, here's what we're going to do," Hiro said, capturing everyone's attention. "Tadashi, you walk in and sit on the bench by the stairs of the foyer. Act civilian like."

"But I am a civilian-"

"Honey Lemon, you try and talk to the staff and ask questions about the tech you see. Abigail, don't talk to anyone. They might recognize your voice and they'll force you out. That, or Krei will get his hands on you."

"Got it," Abigail nodded. Honey Lemon smiled firmly at Hiro, turning back to the building.

"Your job is very simple; make sure that it's a clean 'prison' exchange," Hiro continues. "I'll get a recording to you as soon as possible, and I'll be out of this place as soon as noon tomorrow. This should be easy, yeah?"

The girls nodded. Tadashi frowned, stuffing his hands in his pockets and squinting his eyes shut as a headache overcame him. He hated this. He hated this whole plan with a burning passion, but it was apparently the only way. He obviously didn't believe that, though, and it gnawed at every part of his splitting head.

"Hey, Tadashi, hold back for a second," Hiro said, and Tadashi perked, walking beside Hiro as the girls chatted in front of them. "I know you don't like this and all, but I just want to thank you for helping me. I really want Krei behind bars so that he can't hurt anyone else, and I appreciate that you're helping me do this."

"Of course, Hiro," Tadashi assured him, putting a supportive hand on Hiro's shoulder. "The month I didn't have you with me hurt more than you'll ever know. I know you were actually probably hurting so much while you were here, being alone and hurt, but I want Krei to be gone just as much as you do. We'll catch him and you won't be so hurt ever again, I promise."

Hiro smiled lovingly at Tadashi, purely genuine. He ducked his head, and Tadashi barely missed Hiro wiping away a tear before he caught up with the girls and they were suddenly at the entrance.

"Okay, guys. Walk in one at a time. I'll go through the side entrance so it doesn't look too sketchy. Ready?"

"Ready!" they all said in unison, Abigail walking in first. Hiro nodded, making his way to said side entrance.

"Hiro! Wait!"

Hiro turned his head and gasped as Tadashi pulled him into a tight embrace, wrapping his protective arms around Hiro. Hiro slowly came to, letting out a light laugh and returning the hug.

"Everything is going to be okay," Tadashi said, and Hiro couldn't help but let out a strained sob. "Everything we've been beaten and bruised for is going to come to a clean end, and we're going to get you out of their as soon as we can. I promise."

"I know," Hiro said, pulling out of the hug and grinning warmly at Tadashi as his nose turned red and he wiped his tears away with his sleeve. "I know."

Tadashi looked on sympathetically, wiping Hiro's cheek with his thumb before slowly walking back and going into the building's front doors. Hiro took in a deep breath, turning the corner of the building and going through the side entrance.

Hiro took in his surroundings, sighing in relief to find that the others had gone exactly where he had told them. He looked around, spotting Krei having a conversation with a visitor. His breath caught in his throat at the sight of him, and he checked to make sure the camera on his button wasn't recording quite yet before making his way toward a nearby coffee station and starting himself a brew. Krei turned toward the sound of the coffee pot, eyes widening at the sight of the teenager and he politely dismissed his guest before making his way toward Hiro as briskly as he could.

"Hiro Hamada," Krei scoffed, leaning against the coffee station and crossing his arms. "You son of a bitch. What the hell do you think you're doing here?"

"Figured your business would crash if I wasn't here," Hiro said. "Came back. Thought I would attend your party before you locked me away forever."

"Oh, and why's that?" Krei asked.

"What? Do you want me to leave? Because I can, if that's what you want-"

"No!" Krei found himself shouting, capturing everyone's attention. Tadashi, Honey Lemon, and Abigail snapped their heads up toward Krei's booming voice, each person stiffening as they prepared for Krei to lash out. Krei waved his hand and looked around sheepishly, making everyone return to their conversation and bubbly drinks.

"Careful there, Alistar," Hiro said innocently, taking a sip of his coffee and looking around the foyer. He flipped the camera attached to his shirt on, smirking subtly. "Say, didn't I invent half of the attractions you've got set up at this party?"

"Oh, shut up," Krei said, grabbing Hiro by the arm. "You've got work to catch up on, and now that Abigail's gone, you're never getting away from me."

"Right," Hiro said, gasping as his hot coffee fell from his hand and crashed to the floor. Krei began walking Hiro slowly to the basement.

"I see you've got yourself a sling," Krei said, gesturing to Hiro's broken arm. "We'll have to work around that, but you'll be back to inventing in no time."

Hiro gulped, turning to Tadashi before they disappeared out of the room. His brother looked at him with a nod, dreadfully watching Krei drag Hiro away from him. Hiro turned back to Alistar as he cleared his throat.

"Actually Hiro, it's a funny story," Krei said as they descended the stairs of the building and underground. "We don't need you anymore."

"What are you talking about?" Hiro asked, confusion overcoming him.

"Well, some digging around in your notes, we realized that with our current brains in our labs and with your findings in your paper, we'll do just fine on our own. In fact, this company is back on its feet after a very long depression. Now, we're unstoppable."

"Then why the hell did I just walk all the way down here?" Hiro rolled his eyes, desperate to get out of this situation.

"Because now, we can't have teenagers like you ratting us out to the police. It's time for us to burn our bridges, and we're finally prepared to do it. So, Hiro, here we are."

Hiro stared, realizing they were now standing in front of Hiro's cell. Krei threw him in, and Hiro cried out as he landed on his broken arm. He stood and glared at Krei, watching in disgust as he slammed the door. Krei tuned into the intercom of Hiro's room, his laugh filling Hiro's ears.

"Hiro, we didn't tell you this, but we experimented on you during your stay with us," Krei started, and Hiro's breathing escalated. "It was your first week here. Remember how hot and sick you felt?" Hiro groaned as the horrible flashbacks of him lying on his cot flooded through his mind. He had been vomiting for several days, overcome with a strange heat. The heat, oddly enough, never went away. He only slowly became used to it. He never missed the strange looks on his nurse's faces when they checked his temperature at the hospital that week. "That's because we injected a serum into your veins. A special serum we've worked on for years. All we needed were you equations, which we got from you the first three days. We had everything but a test subject."

"What did you do to me?!" Hiro roared, hugging himself tightly with his only useful arm.

"Now, Hiro, it's time for us to fully activate the serum. To bring it to its full potential. To finally see just what beautiful monster we've created, and how it will respond to its true form."

"No, no, don't..." Hiro whimpered, terrified of just what Krei had done to him and what he might accidentally do with this serum inside of him.

"What we've given you is nothing short of a superpower, and it's time we tested it."

Suddenly, from the vents above Hiro's cell, a strange gas began to flood in, making Hiro cover his mouth in awe. It was a hot pink chemical, and it slowly swirled around before a fan was activated, sending it flying toward Hiro's direction. With no time to react, he found himself inhaling the cloud of color, choking on it seconds later. He coughed and sputtered, wrenching over.

"I'll be back, Hiro."

"N-no, wait-!"

More of the chemical was released, and Hiro didn't fight back anymore, allowing the burning heat to overcome him. His voice became more and more hoarse with each cough he gave out.

"T-Tadashi," he mumbled, rolling onto his back.

This was a REALLY bad idea...

Hiro's eyes began filling with tears from overexposure to the chemicals, and he unclipped the camera from off of his shirt. He sat up and lifted the small, crumb-like camera up to his face.

"This is what I could get," Hiro said, coughing between each word. "Please get this to the police. As you can see, I've been held captive, exposed to harmful chemicals, and tossed to the ground. You must have heard Alistar Krei's talking as well, so please get this recording to the right hands and arrest this man. He is a criminal and he allowed me to be his slave for a whole month."

With that, Hiro tugged his lips in a reassuring smile before pressing a small switch on the side of the camera. Hearing a faint ding from the device, he knew the recording had successfully sent to Tadashi, and he let it tumble to the ground, knowing it was now useless.

"Now, Hiro," Krei said from above, Hiro tiredly lifting his eyes toward the speakers. "I don't know who you were talking to just now, but this chemical does warrant hallucinations. Anyways, your powers should be fully functional. Your job is to find out how to use them. Goodnight, and good luck."

Hiro groaned in frustration, looking down at his hands. He knew Tadashi would get him out in no time, so he may as well be trying to find out what his new abilities were.

Painfully, Hiro unclipped his sling, letting out a scream of pain as his broken arm fell to his side. He swallowed and closed his eyes as he tried to think he could go about this. What kind of powers were they? And were they harmful? All he knew was that Fred was going to be SO jealous.

He laughed to himself, simply thinking that maybe if he just flexed his hand out, his powers would work. So, with that thought in mind, he extended his arms painfully and flexed his palms and fingers.

He yelled in alarm as fire flew from his palms.

Again and again, he flexed his hands, and sprouts of fire flew out in front of him. Krei had given him fire powers. Hiro really had fire powers. He leaned his head against the wall, letting out a loud sigh. How would he ever explain this to Tadashi? Nobody would ever be safe in his presence again.

Hiro limply fell to his side, sleep holding him in a tight embrace until Tadashi would finally come and get him tomorrow.

Tadashi paced back and forth in the cafe garage. He had sent Honey Lemon and Abigail home to wait until Tadashi heard from Hiro, but he was starting to think that would never happen.

So, when his computer got a notification from an unknown contact, Tadashi was sprinting toward the desk, clicking frantically on the new message. He shouted in triumph at the sight of the video and quickly downloaded it onto a thumb drive before grabbing the keys to his moped. He would deliver the video to the police and he could even get Hiro back sometime early in the morning.

I'm coming, baby brother.

Tadashi hesitated as he stuffed the thumb drive into his pocket, looking back at the video on the computer screen.

It wouldn't hurt to watch it myself...

Tadashi sighed, collapsing into his chair and pressing play on the video, eyes fixated on every little detail.

"Say, didn't I invent half of the attractions you've got set up at this party?"

"DAMNIT!"

Hiro woke with a start at the sound of Krei's booming voice in his cell, and he sat bolt upright as Krei cursed continuously overhead.

"What?" Hiro called, coughing shortly after. "What's wrong?"

"You were CHIPPED!" the man roared, and Hiro's eyes widened as he realized the meaning behind his outrage. Tadashi must have sent the video to the police, and they were probably there to haul the man away. "I'm done with you, Hiro! DONE! You're going to die down here if it's the last thing I do!"

Hiro's stomach turned as the vents of the room were suddenly replaced with what looked like faucets, and Hiro bolted to the door of his cell.

"No, no, no! Alistar, don't do this! Don't leave me down here!"

"I'm done, Hiro. Goodbye."

"NO!"

Hiro yelped as water burst from the faucets and began to flood the cell. He pounded on the door and he heard Krei running away in the distance. The water reached Hiro, the nipping cold making him gasp and jump up from the ground. The water felt sub-zero, and Hiro knew he had to find a way out before he died for sure. To temporarily warm himself, he flexed his hands and let the flames touch his skin soothingly. He sighed in minimum relief, melting back down to the floor.

Maybe I should die here. It would be a long death, but I'd be gone and that would be a relief

No, Hiro scolded himself, sitting up with a newfound desire to escape. The water had now reached his knees and he felt panic rise in his chest as he banged on the walls of the cell.

"HELP! Somebody, please help me out of here!"

"-here? No, over...maybe?...there!"

Hiro pressed his ear against the door, listening to the sounds of people on the other side. He gasped, hearing what sounded like Tadashi, Honey Lemon, and a police officer perhaps. Hiro slammed his fist on the door harder.

"Help! Help me! Tadashi!"

"-iro? Sir...over here!...ro! Hiro!"

Hiro heard banging from the other side of the door, and he let out a long sigh of relief as he heard Tadashi's voice calling his name.

"Hiro? Are you in there?!"

"Yes!" Hiro choked out. "Listen to me-"

"Oh, thank god! Sir! Ma'am! I found him! Hiro, I've got two police officers here with me and we're going to get you out, okay?"

"Tadashi, this room is filling with water," Hiro said. "It's up to my stomach, and it's freezing!"

"A-are you serious?" the female police officer said from the other side, touching around the door.

"Jesus," Tadashi said, leaning against the door. "Just-just don't panic, okay? We'll get you out and you won't drown, I promise."

"O-okay," Hiro said, sniffing and wiping his nose with his sleeve. "Okay, there's a green button on the side of the door. All you have to do is press it three times and the door should open."

"Alright, Hiro. There are a lot of buttons over here, so we're gonna try and find the right one. You just hang tight, okay?"

"Please hurry, I'm swimming," Hiro said, his voice shaky from the cold.

Tadashi cursed under his breath, moving to the panel beside the door and quickly locating the green button.

"Tadashi! I'm going under! I-"

Tadashi's eyes widened as Hiro's talking quickly ended, and he knew Hiro was now underwater.

"Everybody stand back!" Tadashi yelled, pressing the green button and running to the side as water flooded into the hallway from Hiro's cell. As the water flooded, Hiro flew out of the room and into the hallway ahead, slamming into the wall and falling to his back. He looked up limply to see Krei struggling to stand from the oncoming water, and he stood and raced for the stairs.

"HEY!" Hiro shouted, running up after Krei and pulling him down by his suit, making him splash into the water below. The power suddenly went out, and Hiro faintly heard Tadashi screaming his name from down the hall. He paid him no mind, however, as white hot rage flooded his mind and he was sprouting fire at Krei. Krei ran from Hiro's wrath, but Hiro had already set the walls of the basement on fire. Hiro looked at Krei one last time before running to Tadashi, knowing Krei would find his way out and get arrested one way or another. Tadashi gaped at Hiro's flaming hands, unsure of what to say.

"Dude-"

"LATER!" Hiro roared, gesturing for Tadashi to follow him out of the basement and up the stairs, something the police officers had seemed to have already done.

sorry for the wait i worked at a church retreat for middle schoolers which sucked because they just talked about fidget spinners and donald trump (two things i HATE)