"Wow Tadashi," said Hiro, looking at the knife in his brother's hand with wide eyes. "How cold was the water you washed the knife in?"

"What do you mean?" Tadashi asked, turning to look at the knife in confusion. "Oh. Oh my God." The metal blade of the sharp kitchen knife had frosted over slightly, with cobweb patterns of thin ice shimmering over the cold surface. "I don't understand, it was hot, I used hot water!" Tadashi continued to stare at the knife, before Hiro grabbed his forearm and pulled him the rest of the way to where the pile of objects laid.

"Here – burn it all." Hiro pulled the knife from Tadashi's hand and threw it on the ground, where it bounced off of the blue rabbit before hitting the cold grass.

"Is there anything else you can think of that needs to go before we do this?" Tadashi asked. "It might make them… restless, and this could be our only shot at getting rid of these spirits."

"I'm positive," replied Hiro with a firm nod.

"Wait – what about that diary?"

"The one that got soaked?" asked Hiro, and Tadashi nodded. "Oh, I couldn't find it anywhere. It's either already in the pile, or the ghosts destroyed it. Or, y'know. Something."

"How can you be so sure?"

"I searched for it for ages." Hiro replied, before laughing sheepishly. "I was actually planning on keeping it as a souvenir, but I guess that's not happening."

Tadashi hesitated, before shrugging and picking up the red container filled with gasoline he'd picked up from the garage. He poured it over objects on the ground, watching as the gasoline splashed over them, soaking them with flammable liquid.

"Do you have the matches?" Tadashi asked, throwing the empty container behind him and turning to Hiro.

"Yep," Hiro replied proudly, fishing into his jumper's pocket. "Here," he pulled out a small box of matches and opened it, preparing to light a match when Tadashi promptly snatched the match away from him.

"Nope," he said, lighting the match himself before throwing it on the soaked objects, watching with wide, hardened eyes as they immediately caught fire, the orange flames growing higher as they set alight. Tadashi placed a hand on Hiro's chest and pushed him away from the open fire, just as Baymax waddled outside.

"Tadashi," said the robot.

"Yes, Baymax?" asked Tadashi, not taking his eyes off the roaring fire.

"We are not alone."

"Is Aunt Cass back already?" asked Hiro, looking around as if he'd expected to see his aunt walking towards them. Tadashi, however, had gone a sickly shade of white and his hand fisted the material of Hiro's jumper. "Bro?" asked Hiro, looking up at his older brother worriedly.

"C'mon, c'mon," whispered Tadashi, ignoring Hiro and instead staring at the fire, willing it to burn faster.

"Tadashi, what's going on?" asked Hiro, panic lacing his voice. "Baymax?" he turned to the robot and Baymax blinked at him.

"There are three figures approaching us," replied Baymax, pointing a chubby finger in the direction of the large tree at the back of the garden.

"It's them," whispered Hiro, before speaking louder as he addressed his brother. "They're coming for us because we're getting rid of them, aren't they?" his wild eyes searched Tadashi's blank face. "Aren't they?!" Hiro faltered as he watched his brother's expression slowly twist into unadulterated fear. "Tadashi?" he questioned slowly, taking his time in turning around to see what had captivated his brother's attention, reluctant to see what Tadashi was so afraid of yet his curious mind wouldn't let him keep his back turned.

Hiro's eyes widened dramatically, and a small gasp of terror escaped his lips. In the distance, just in front of the tree, was a pitch black mist. It was as if Hiro was looking into a black hole, the total abyss of the darkness shaking him to the very core.

"That's it, isn't it?" asked Hiro. "That's what you told me about. That's the darkness."

Tadashi just mutely nodded his head in answer to his brother's question, and a shiver ran down his spine as the air around them grew cold.

"Tadashi, they should be gone. Why aren't they gone?" Hiro ripped his gaze from the dark mist and turned to his brother in panic. "We've burned everything, why aren't they gone?"

"Not everything is burned." Hiro and Tadashi both spun around to fact the robot.

"What?" exclaimed Tadashi. "Of course it's all burnt – it's on fire!" he gestured wildly towards the flaming pile. "Unless… did we miss something?"

"I do not think you understand," said Baymax. "The fire isn't hot, therefore, it cannot burn."

"Tadashi!" Hiro choked out, tugging on his brother's sleeve. Tadashi spun round and cried out in shock as he realised to his dismay that the dark mist seemed to have expanded, and had also gotten closer, like it was trying to corner them in some kind of a cruel, twisted game.

"Baymax, that's impossible! Fires are hot, they burn – it's kinda what they do!"

In response to this, Baymax raised an arm and swung it through the fire. Tadashi was ready to jump towards him and stop his creation from causing himself harm, when he realised that Baymax hadn't sustained any form of an injury – not one trace of a burn could be seen on the white arm.

Hesitantly, Tadashi raised his arm too, and ignored Hiro's cry of protest as he quickly swept it through the fire, wincing and squeezing his eyes shut upon contact. He soon opened them, however, as he realised that he, too, was totally unharmed. He experimentally put his arm through the fire again, this time slower than the first, and got the same results.

"Tadashi, it's getting closer!" Hiro had turned his attention back to the approaching black mist, which was now completely covering the bottom half of the tree and over half of the garden, having more than tripled in size since he'd last checked on it.

"Hiro is correct. The three entities are closer than they were before," said Baymax. "However, their vital signs are critical and their body temperatures aren't high enough to sustain life."

"That's because there is no life to sustain!" exclaimed Hiro, grabbing his head in frustration and tangling his fingers in the messy black locks.

"Hiro!" Tadashi gripped his brother's shoulders, spinning him around so they were face to face, before grabbing his wrists, pulling him closer and bending down to look him in the eye. "Calm down, we're gonna be fine, okay?"

Hiro gulped and nodded, but didn't seem convinced.

"Hey, look at me," Tadashi shook Hiro's arms as the younger boy turned to look back at the mist. "We're gonna make it out of this. You remember what I told you before? That I wouldn't let anything hurt you?" again Hiro nodded and Tadashi smiled warmly, doing his best to squash down his fear to give some form of reassurance. "I told you I'd get you out of the basement unharmed and I did, didn't I? This is the same thing."

"But I'm scared," finally admitted Hiro, looking at the ground in embarrassment.

"And who wouldn't be?" said Tadashi, ruffling his brother's messy dark locks. "You were brave when you were trapped in the water, but don't try to tell me you weren't scared. You were, weren't you?" Hiro once again nodded. "But in the end, you made it out fine. This is the same thing. I know you're scared, but just put on a brave face for a little while longer, and I promise you we'll be okay, all right?" Hiro sniffed and wiped his nose with his sleeve.

"Yeah," he replied with a watery laugh. "We can do this."

"Baymax," said Tadashi, satisfied that Hiro was okay. "How is it possible that the fire's cold?"

"Tadashi, that is beyond my knowledge."

"Right right, just checking. Now and again you come out with some strange stuff. Any idea how to make it hot?"

"Tadashi, I think it's the ghosts that are making it cold." spoke up Hiro, tearing his eyes away from the approaching darkness.

"Well what should we do? Lead them away? Somehow, I don't think that'll work."

"Was there any other way of stopping these things? You did say it varied depending on haunting – maybe fire won't work with these ghosts."

"Uh…" Tadashi frowned as he racked his brains for an answer. "There was a burial?"

"Great!" said Hiro. "I saw a shovel nearby; I'll go and grab it,"

Tadashi turned to Baymax as Hiro raced off. "Baymax, we don't have any of the candles or herbs for the burial. It's ritualistic; it's not like just burying something in the garden."

"What do you mean?" asked Hiro, having returned with the shovel gripped tightly in his hands. "It's our only chance – there's no way we have any time for anything else!" he gestured to the black fog, which was now less than thirteen feet away. Are you sure it won't work?"

"The only way I read it'll work without all the herbs and candles is if you have a body, or at least part of one body to bury as well."

"Shouldn't we just give it a shot? C'mon it's all we've got!"

Tadashi could now feel the air getting even colder as the fog began to form a tighter circle around them, isolating them from anything outside and preventing escape.

Without bothering to reply, Tadashi grabbed the shovel from his brother and began to dig a hole right next to the fire.

"Tadashi, can you dig any faster?" asked Hiro, anxiously wringing his hands as his eyes flitted from his brother to the black mist, which now seemed to be moving towards them at twice the speed it was before. "Or maybe try a patch of ground less frozen?"

"Here's an idea, why don't you take over, Hiro?" Tadashi snapped, "I mean, since you seem to be such an expert." He heard Hiro inhale sharply and sighed in resignation, his voice softer as he asked, "Is there another shovel lying around you could use?"

Hiro shook his head, "No, that was the only one, and I mean, I can't exactly go looking for one."

Tadashi nodded, not once looking up as his muscles strained and burned with the effort of constant digging into partially-frozen ground.

"Would you like me to take over?" asked Hiro, noticing his brother's trembling arms and his short breaths. The hole was now deep enough to cover Hiro's knees, and about as wide as two footballs, but they still needed it bigger if it was to fit everything in.

"No, Hiro. Just keep an eye on those ghosts."

"Uh… keep an eye on the invisible ghosts hidden in the dark mist. Gotcha."

They stood in silence for a while longer, with Hiro and Baymax watching and Tadashi digging, until Tadashi made a noise of accomplishment.

"Hiro, grab the stuff!" he called.

"But it's on fire!"

"Cold fire, Hiro!" he replied. "Just grab it, we don't have much time!"

Over the time it had taken Tadashi to dig the hole, the darkness was only a meter or so away, and he could already see it was getting closer faster than before.

Hiro nodded and ran to the fire, hesitating for only a second before picking up all he could carry and hurrying over to his brother with it bundled in his arms, before running back for the rest, shaking off the strange feeling of having the cold flames licking at his body and clothes, but setting fire to nothing.

Before Hiro had even finished piling everything in the small hole, Tadashi had started filling it in, the shovel a blur as earth spilled everywhere in his haste to finish.

"Dude, some of this stuff is still of fire!" said Hiro, as he threw a coat and a few stuffed animals into the hole.

"It's fine, maybe it'll help – just keep going!" Tadashi stopped filling in the dirt as he waited for Hiro to finish throwing everything in, before starting up again. He'd only been shovelling for under a minute when he heard his brother gasp in fear.

"Tadashi…" Tadashi briefly glanced up at Hiro and his eyes widened to saucers as he saw the darkness was now inches away.

"Hiro," started Baymax, but he was interrupted by a terrified shout from Hiro.

"Tadashi, my arm, I can't–!" Tadashi cried out in horror as he watched as Hiro was suddenly dragged backwards into the blackness by an invisible being, too fast for him to even release a whimper.

Tadashi stared at the spot his brother had been standing in with an open mouth and wide eyes, his arm outstretched and his had reaching as if he could somehow pull Hiro back by sheer power of will.

"Tadashi, hurry," it took Tadashi a moment to recover from his shock before he turned to look at his robot.

"Wh-what?"

"Hiro is here, but is moving further away. I would suggest hurrying."

Tadashi swallowed unsteadily before going back to shovelling the dirt into the hole, finishing quickly with the incentive of his missing brother and the knowledge that he would soon meet the same fate as him if he didn't do as Baymax had said. Tadashi threw down the shovel and stomped a foot on the newly-covered ground, and immediately the darkness around them dispersed into a thin mist before evaporating completely, giving Tadashi and Baymax the ability to once again see the garden.

"Hiro?" Tadashi called hoarsely, stumbling forwards and looking around wildly. "Hiro, where are you?"

"Tadashi?"

A faint voice could only just be heard from the direction of the large tree, and that was all Tadashi needed to hear to sprint over, arriving in record time to skid to a stop. Sitting at the base of the tree with his back against the dark, rough bark and his knees pulled close to his chest was Hiro, shivering from a cold that Tadashi couldn't feel and looking up at him with relieved, frightened eyes.

Tadashi let out a breath of relief and dropped to the floor, bringing his brother in close, ignoring the icy touch of his skin and the tremors that shook him.

"I'm so glad you're okay," he whispered into the teenager's messy hair.

"H-hey," Hiro stuttered with a smile, pulling back, "you needed s-some incentive to w-work faster. Y-you're the slowest digger I've ev-ver seen."

"And you attract trouble like no one I've ever known," Tadashi replied fondly, laughing shakily and pulling Hiro towards him again in a comforting, safe embrace.

"Are you boys ready to leave?" Cass asked as she stood waiting by the door. Tadashi appeared from the kitchen with Baymax's case and turned towards the stairs.

"Hiro, come on!" he called as Aunt Cass opened the front door. "We're leaving!"

"Okay – one sec!" came the reply as Hiro soon appeared on the landing. Cass winced as he took the stairs two at a time, somehow managing to only stumble even with his suitcase in one hand and something that looked like a book in the other.

"What took you?" asked Tadashi suspiciously as Cass walked out to the car.

"Souvenir," replied Hiro with a wink, pulling out the now completely dry diary he'd found in his room from behind his back.

"You found it?" Tadashi asked, bewilderment written across his face.

"Yeah, it was back in the drawer. Guess I must've missed it."

"Are you sure you should be taking that?" Tadashi quirked an eyebrow as they followed Cass out the door.

"It's just a book, Tadashi." replied Hiro with an impish grin. "It wasn't even needed in the burial and the ghosts are gone – what's the worst that could happen?"

"Famous last words," murmured Tadashi.

"Say goodbye to the house, boys!" said Cass cheerfully as they clambered into the car. Hiro and Tadashi shared a knowing look as the younger waved mockingly at the house, before blowing a raspberry and sitting back in his seat, the diary resting in his lap as the car pulled away.

A/N: I am so incredibly sorry for the long wait! I swear it was never meant to be this long but life just kinda overtook me a little. Anyway, for anyone actually still reading this, I hope you enjoyed this extra long chapter! It's very late right now so forgive me if this ending seems a little weak. I'm thinking about re-writing it, or changing it completely and having an alternate ending or something. I don't know, I'm just not happy with this one and couldn't seem to get it right.

Thank you so much for everyone who's reviewed, favourited and followed, you guys are awesome! I love how into the story you were getting, and I'm again very sorry for the long wait, but hey – you might get another chapter in the form of an alternate ending if I'm feeling it! ;) (Might not happen though, as I may or may not be planning on writing a sequel).

Speaking of which, the sequel (if I do decide to write one) will be completely pre-written so there isn't a repeat of what happened with this story, and I'll leave a temporary update as another chapter here to let you guys know when I post it, so you won't have to keep checking for it if you're following this one already.

(Also, GuitarGeek thank you for the message, it was lovely of you :))