Disclaimer: I do not own Big Hero Six. That honor belongs to Disney Animation Studios and Marvel Comics.

Author's Note

Greetings, my fellow animation and comic book lovers! T.O. Cole is my name, and writing is my game! And this story is my foray into the Big Hero Six fandom.

Now for a bit of backstory…

I watched the film a few days ago, and immediately fell in love with it. Hardly surprising, given my lifelong love for the Disney Animated Canon, but it is still always nice to enjoy a good flick. I am already making plans to see Big Hero Six again.

In the meantime, though, I found myself bitten by the writing bug. It gave me the creative itch. So while I am working on several other pieces at the moment, including a fan fic for The Lorax, I have to put this new idea to the page before it drives me crazy!

I am a glutton for punishment that way.

I suppose this story will fit into the AU now known as Alive!Tadashi. This is in no way a fix fic, however. As heartbreaking as Tadashi's death was (and is), I believe the lessons Hiro learns as a result of that loss were important. I don't want to wash his character growth away. This piece is just a fun trip into "What If" land.

Much like my unfinished Bridge to Terabithia fan fic, if truth be told.

I will admit something. I really liked Tadashi Hamada. I'm the eldest sibling myself, and totally understood his character. I thought it would be interesting to see what happens when he steps back onto the San Fransokyo scene.

Though maybe not in the way you expect him to…

Writing bug? What can you do?

Fair word of warning. This is the first time I have written a fan fic without the source material on hand. I do have the junior novelization, and hopefully it will help me with the details I may have forgotten. Even so, if you spot any mistakes, feel free to point them out. I would very much appreciate it.

Happy reading!

OoOoOoO

IMMORTALS

Chapter One

OoOoOoO

He woke up cold, sore, and soaked to the bone.

His head was killing him.

"Ermmm…" groaned Tadashi. Grimacing, he shakily pushed himself off the wet ground. Moving was painful. Just taking in a breath ached, tore at his tight, fiery lungs. Tears bit at his scrunched up eyes. He bit his lip, but a wobbly "Ow-Owww…" still escaped him.

Everything hurt.

Why did everything hurt?

Had one of his inventions gone wrong?

No… He felt leaves and dirt and grass beneath his trembling fingers.

Definitely not the garage.

So…

Where was he?

Tadashi opened his eyes, hoping to find out.

Bad decision.

His vision swam, upended and then righted itself before twisting around yet again. He watched trees melt and twirl in midair. Jagged clouds tumbled down from a badly painted sky, and the ground beneath him undulated and rippled. Up was down, down was up, and even the dim light of a setting sun was blinding.

It was too, too much… He was going to be sick…

He collapsed onto his scuffed hands and knees. He retched, but his stomach had nothing to give. He dry heaved, again and then again, and again, unable to stop.

An eternity later, the vicious attack mercifully came to an end. He lay on his side, pressing a flushed, hot cheek against the damp ground. Something pounded at the foggy space between his popping ears. Now he was crying, for real, swamped by a nearly suffocating sense of misery and helplessness.

"A-Aunt C-Cas-ss…" he whimpered. "I-I don't feel good… A-Aunt Cass…"

Only the sound of a gurgling creek answered his plea.

He tried again. "Aunt Cass?"

Nothing.

"Hiro?"

Still nothing.

There was no Aunt Cass.

No Hiro, either.

He was alone.

Alone.

Tadashi's aching stomach dropped, even as his heart climbed into his throat. His lungs, already so tight, tight, tight, began to seize up still more.

Oh no, oh no, oh no, ohnoohnoohono…

Wait!

Wait.

Easy, easy, easy… Not yet…

He took in as deep a breath as he could.

One…

…Two…

…Three.

He released the breath, drew in another.

It was okay.

He wasn't alone.

Aunt Cass and Hiro… They… They just couldn't hear him, is all.

Right?

Right.

Okay then.

Tadashi rested a few more moments, breathing deeply, slowly, until he had the strength to sit up again.

This time, he took things easy. His movements were slow and measured, only an inch at a time. Then he opened his eyes. He focused first on his jittery hands, staring long and hard at his bruised knuckles and fingers. Only when there were two hands instead of six did he try investigating his surroundings.

"Huh?" he said.

Because apparently, even right-side up, his surroundings were just as confusing as they had been upside down and wrong-side out.

He was in the jaws of a ravine. Clumps of grass, weeds, and flowers clung to its rocky shoulders. A few trees draped their arms over the edge of the gorge, but only bushes and ferns grew along the chasm floor. A light drizzle pitter-pattered against their leaves. The stream he had heard slunk its way alongside these scraggly plants. Its icy tongue lapped at his muddy sneakers.

Tadashi slowly, carefully, drew his soggy feet up out of the water. His legs throbbed a little. His knees were bloody and stinging pretty badly, too. But the scrapes did not hurt nearly as much as his head or stomach.

Besides, his injuries were not what bothered him. No, no, he was wondering…

"Why am I at the bottom of a ravine?" he thought aloud.

He tried to remember, but it was difficult. His brain wasn't cooperating for some reason. All his thoughts just kept slipping away from him. Tadashi struggled to concentrate, to hang on to a single concrete memory before it fluttered off into the foggy nothing.

What was the last thing he could remember?

Come on, Hamada, come on…

Mm…

A picnic table.

A picnic table?

Oh, yeah! It was his birthday, wasn't it? He was finally thirteen years old, practically a man. And he had begged and begged for a hiking trip, and good old Aunt Cass had come through for him.

That's right…

The whole family had taken a trip out to the state park a few miles outside the city. Hiro had griped and complained about spending a day in the woods, but it had been such a breath of fresh air. San Fransokyo was a wonderful place to live, an adventure around every corner, but sometimes you just, you just had to get away from it all, you know, out of the cramped spaces, see things from a different point of view, so you could get your creative juices flowing, and Hiro got to have a Gummy Bear party of all things, so it was only fair he got a simple hike and picnic, and—

Wow. There went his thoughts again. Everywhere and nowhere, all at once.

Try again, Hamada…

Okay. So…

They had gone on a hike. They had walked one of the trails in the park, and that afternoon they had stopped at one of the picnic areas for lunch. They had grilled hotdogs, and Hiro had squirted ketchup all over his shirt. And—

The entire world was doused in flames. They were eating it alive…Eating him alive!

Tadashi started. It was freezing outside, he knew that, but all of a sudden he felt as if he were burning up. Like the time he had scorched his thumb while working on a project for the science fair, only this pain was far worse.

It hurt so bad…

He cried out, a new wave of tears hitting him. He smelled and tasted smoke. It stole down his throat and flooded his lungs.

He was gong to die!

Just swiftly as it had come over him, the nightmare was over. But the moment had still left him breathless—tight, tight lungs, oh gosh, where was his inhaler?!—and shell-shocked. A slightly acidic taste lingered in his mouth.

What… What had THAT been?

He didn't know.

He couldn't… He couldn't remember…

Confusion and frustration and fear came together in a dizzying maelstrom. It made him feel so… small. Tadashi drew his knees close to his chest and did his breathing exercises once more, as he tried to calm down.

It was harder this time around. Even after he was able to compose himself, at least a little, he could not stop shaking.

He rubbed at his aching forehead, wincing. "W-What's wrong with me…?" he mumbled.

Maybe, maybe he should try remembering again?

Yeah. Yeah, that would explain all of this.

Hopefully.

Tadashi thought back to the picnic. A lopsided picnic table, grilled hotdogs, Hiro being a little knucklehead, check. He remembered those things, clear as crystal.

A fire had NOT happened.

Definitely not.

Heck! He had NEVER even been close to a fire of that size and strength! Not once in his entire life!

So no fire.

But… Something had happened. He knew it had. He could feel it! Now only if he could remember…

Oh! The robot!

Hiro had been working on a weird little robot the past several weeks. What had once been a simple hobby meant to stem boredom had transformed into a real project. The kid had not even allowed Tadashi to help him. Which was big, because they usually did everything—tinkering out in the garage, robotic kits, homework, you name it—together. And though he was curious, Tadashi had given his baby brother his space.

Which hadn't kept him from sneaking peeks every now and again, of course, but who could blame him? He had to make sure it wasn't anything dangerous! Big Brother's Duty, and all that.

Hiro had become quite dedicated to his project. Every second he could spare, he devoted to the little contraption. It hadn't surprised anyone when he had taken it with him on Tadashi's birthday adventure. Aunt Cass had lectured him about it, but Hiro had ignored her and gone right on tinkering with it.

Mostly because his gift to Tadashi was the robot.

Apparently, it was meant to be the Swiss Army Knife of miniature robots. It boasted several neat features. It could lift ten times its weight, adhere to walls, and transform into a cool—if bulky—watch. It shredded paper and crunched up cans for recycling, and would retrieve on command all those caffeinated drinks and salty snacks Tadashi loved so much.

And, yes, it had a knife.

A blow torch, too.

Tadashi still wondered where the heck Hiro had gotten such a thing.

But none of those tricks were the coolest, not in Hiro's book. Oh no. The best of the bunch, no doubt about it, was that—

"It can fly!" Hiro had said with an impish smile.

And it had flown!

For a while, that is.

Hiro had been so eager to show it off, he must have missed the fact his invention was not quite ready for a test run. At least not as vigorous a test run as they put it through…

It had started off so well, too! They had marveled as the robot floated in the air, laughed while watching it dart back and forth between the trees and underneath picnic tables. They had grinned as it skimmed the nearby creek, and shared a high-five whenever it flipped in midair or turned on a dime.

The celebrating came to an abrupt end, though, when the robot began to sputter. It spewed smoke and sparks, and rapidly lost altitude. Then it had fallen like a rock, somewhere deep in the woods.

Tadashi swore he had even heard a small explosion.

To say Hiro had taken the crash pretty hard was the understatement of the year. His baby brother had burst into tears, absolutely convinced the day was ruined. That he had ruined it. The kid had been a blubbering mess.

Tadashi hated seeing his brother cry. Always had, probably always would. So he had offered to go into the forest and find the robot for Hiro.

"We can fix it together," he remembered saying.

Again, it was a Big Brother's Duty.

After promising Aunt Cass he would be back soon, and, yes, that he would be careful, Tadashi had raced into the woods. He had walked in the direction he had seen the robot go, making sure to watch out for roots and loose rocks. The last thing he wanted was to turn or twist an ankle.

He also kept an eye out for any signs of the robot.

Only…

Well.

He wasn't having any luck.

There was absolutely no trace of Hiro's little project. No damaged trees. No smoking holes in the ground. No scrap of metal, no silly painted faces, no remains of a mysterious blow torch. It was as if the robot had vanished into thin air.

But Tadashi had refused to give up. His little brother was counting on him.

Big Brother's Duty.

Tadashi Hamada's Duty.

He knew he had been gone for too long. Aunt Cass was probably beginning to worry. Tadashi hated to worry her, and remembered picking up the pace.

And…

He had come across a ravine.

It was steep, but it was also in the general location of where the robot might have crash landed. It made sense to think the robot—which he had not seen thus far—might be at the bottom.

Maybe not so logical was his decision to lean over the edge and take a look.

But… Well…

Big Brother's Duty!

So he had looked.

Then he had slipped.

And then…

"I fell," said Tadashi. He looked up at the opening of the chasm. The trees there waved at him in the wet breeze. "I fell!" He groaned, barely resisting the urge to smack his forehead. "Unbelievable!"

No wonder his brain was acting all loopy and fuzzy, and he was hallucinating imaginary fires. He probably had a concussion. A bad fall also explained all the scrapes and bruises.

Unbelievable.

"Happy birthday to me," he grumbled.

Because what he had really wanted for his birthday was a generous helping of grievous bodily harm.

The robot was nowhere to be found, either.

Typical. Just typical.

Since when did Big Brother's Duty mean nearly getting yourself killed?

Wait a second.

Big Brother's Duty meant…

"Hiro! Aunt Cass!"

Gosh, how long had he been lying unconscious down here? His family was probably going crazy with worry. He had to get back to them.

Like, right NOW.

Tadashi slowly pushed himself to his feet. His legs shook, and he nearly crumpled back to the ground as a wave of dizziness struck him. His head swam. It was altogether an unpleasant feeling. But he gritted his teeth and waited out this spell, and soon enough he was taking wobbly steps towards the ravine wall.

Yeesh. It was really steep. He didn't think he would be able to climb up.

His family was waiting on him, though. He couldn't let some stupid rock wall stop him.

All he had to do was find another way up.

"Look at it from another angle," he mumbled. "Find the solution."

One hand brushing the side of the ravine, Tadashi walked downstream. He moved carefully, slowly, not daring to push himself too hard. All the while, he searched for his new angle, the solution to this puzzle.

If it was one thing he had learned, it was there was an answer to every problem.

He found it a few minutes later.

It was a small, narrow path, winding its way up a rocky shoulder that was not nearly as steep as its brethren. Tadashi could have kicked himself for not taking the time to find it before. He could have used it to get to the bottom of the ravine in the first place, instead of, you know—THROWING HIMSELF INTO IT.

Oh well. There was nothing he could do about it now.

Except climb the darn thing, of course.

Tadashi stumbled his way up the path. It was not as difficult as he feared it would be, either. The longer he walked, grasping weeds and stones for leverage, the less disoriented and off-balance he felt. Even his mind seemed to be clearing. It was much easier to focus on the task at hand now.

Confidence flooded through him. He could do this. He could!

And sure enough, it was not long before he was scrambling over an earthen lip and out of the belly of the beast.

Tadashi did not waste time celebrating this achievement. He immediately headed for the picnic area.

Only to discover it was empty.

Tadashi stared at the forlorn space. It was covered in dusky shadows. The fire-pits and grills were cold and dripping rainwater. The wooden tables slipped in and out of the dim light, looking so much like the fossilized relics he had seen in museums. There was not a single checkered tablecloth or vehicle in sight.

But… But… That couldn't be right.

Where was Aunt Cass and Hiro?

They, they wouldn't just leave him… Would they?

He was alone…

All alone in the woods…

The panic which had nearly taken hold of him down in the ravine returned with a vengeance. It brought with it a swimmy head and shaky limbs. Tadashi collapsed onto one of the picnic tables, slapping his pockets for his inhaler.

It wasn't there.

It wasn't there!

And his family wasn't there either! They had left—

STOP IT! he screamed at himself, before whispering it aloud, "S-Stop it…"

He was being stupid. Really, really stupid. Aunt Cass and Hiro would NEVER, EVER leave him behind.

There had to be another explanation.

Taking several deep gulps of air (or at least as deep as he could, and jeez he hoped he didn't have a serious attack out here), Tadashi tried thinking logically. He stared at the abandoned picnic area, brow furrowed, his breathing wheezy but controlled.

It was awfully dark. It wasn't just because of the weather, either. The sun was setting.

And it had been close to noon when he had gone searching for the robot.

That could only mean he had been in the ravine for hours.

He had been missing for hours.

Well, that explained it. Aunt Cass and Hiro had probably not been able to find him, and had been forced to leave so they to call the police and forest rangers. They were searching for him this very moment, probably.

Yeah. That had to be it.

Poor Aunt Cass. Poor Hiro. He could only imagine the pain they were going through. Guilt twisted his insides.

It was time to go home. Past time.

Tadashi searched his pockets again, this time for his phone. He would call Aunt Cass and let her know where he was. And if he couldn't reach her, he would just call the police. Easy.

Only it wasn't. As his luck for the day would have it, he did not have the phone on him.

"Unbelievable…" he grumbled. He stood, shivering. He swiped at his wet eyes and face. "Looks like I'm walking."

It was not too bad a plan, given his current situation. Surely he would run into a forest ranger or policeman sooner or later. He was missing, so obviously people were searching for him. Someone out there would help him get back to his family.

And that was the only thing that mattered: going home. Nothing in the world could stop him.

Tadashi shambled forward, one step at a time, following the road out of the picnic area.

"I'm coming, guys."

OoOoOoO

Author's Note

Some of you have probably noticed something familiar about this scenario. And you would be right! I was inspired by Flight of the Navigator, which is a pretty good movie too. I highly recommend it to those of you who have never seen it.

Knowing this story has a touch of Flight of the Navigator in it should also give you a hint as to the situation Tadashi is about to find himself in. Of course, there is more to it than just that. Either way, Tadashi's day is about to get even crazier.

I've also given Tadashi a bit of a respiratory problem. I had asthma in mind, something I went through myself as a kid. I eventually outgrew it, for the most part. There is no hint of this in the film, but hey! Hiro has a peanut allergy. Why not give Tadashi a health issue too?

Thank you so much for reading. Reviews are like donations—not required, but very much appreciated! Until next time!

EDIT: December 4, 2014-Just fixed some redundant sentences.

EDIT 2: December 5, 2014-I found a few more mistakes and fixed those.