Chapter Text
Did he scare them with cracking?
He couldn't help it! After staying as cramped up as he had been and then carrying around the cat for so long, he needed to release some tension. He felt so much better now, and it won't hurt as much to carry the cat. It was oddly sweet that the dragon-like alien was so worried about him. First, they covered him with that guard, and now they were checking up on him. Sero really owed them one. Sero grinned at them, and carefully pulled his hands out from between their claws. Their claws were really warm, it felt amazing after being stuck in that cold cage for so long.
The cat alien and bird alien had moved closer at some point, Sero pushed down the sliver of annoyance he felt upon realizing the cat had willingly moved despite their injury. The dragon-like alien was smiling back at him! He wasn't sure what type of mannerisms humans and aliens shared, he didn't know any of their languages either. However… they all seemed to be similar in some way to one of Earth's smaller species. Although there's no proof of dragons ever existing, Sero likes to think they did. Maybe the dragon-like alien was a descendant of dragons that had once lived on Earth but moved on to another planet? That's an interesting thought. Maybe he can try asking them about it later, once they are all safe.
From what he can remember pheromones and odors are how snakes and lizards communicate, for the most part. The dragon-like alien before him kinda smells like burnt caramel. It's a nice smell, only a bit strong.
He doesn't know what the smell, or what the series of strange sounds coming from the dragon-like alien's throat could mean. He's pretty sure they're trying to talk to him, he says a few things back in Japanese. Mostly trying to ask if they can understand him, but all he gets is a puzzled look in return. Okay so a language barrier is definitely something they have to deal with, only that can be pushed off until later. What's another way he can show them that he's comfortable with them? Something that will show the dragon-like alien that Sero acknowledges their help and appreciates it? Sero looks back at them as they bob their head. He's not sure if this will work but… it's worth a try.
Sero does his best to mimic a few quiet chirps and gently pats the back of one of the dragon-like aliens' claws.
He thinks it sort of sounds like something he's heard lizards make, maybe a bit off, but similar enough to get his point across.
They huff at him, muttering something as they step back and bob their head at him once more before turning toward the others and speaking. Damn. He really wishes there was some way to learn their language. Sighing softly, Sero moves over to the cat alien and ignores their obvious protests as he picks them back up. They're shit out of luck if they think he's going to let them walk around on their own. He stands and looks at the others, for some reason they seem pretty shocked about something. Was it because of him? Oh God, please tell him he didn't accidentally say something embarrassing to the dragon-like alien?! Before he could work himself up into a panic, the bird alien takes charge and heads toward the only door left for them to go out of. He's pretty sure they were led into a trap. It's not like they had much of a choice as to where they could go, he's more worried about what's waiting for them on the other side of that door. He'd have to be an idiot not to notice how exhausted the aliens are, plus there's the fact that the cat alien can't move on their own, not fast at least. He's pretty sure he's the only one who can carry them as easily as he can, but he's not confident in his ability to carry them all while keeping the others safe. What if he needs to fight? That'll be precious seconds wasted between carrying and setting down the cat alien before he can join any fight and keep the others safe. He would leave them here and go through the door himself, but then there's the chance of it being locked behind him and leaving the cat alien defenseless.
The quicker they get out of here the sooner he can see if he can do anything for the others' injuries. Plus there's the fact that his arm is still bleeding, honestly, he should have taken the time to try and stem the bleeding earlier.
It's too late to try and do it now as the bird had already opened the door. They all walk through, as quietly as a mouse.
The door led them to some type of docking station but for many odd-looking spacecraft. He couldn't help but take a moment to stand there and take in the truly advanced-looking machinery around them. The spacecrafts alone were unlike anything he had ever seen before, they don't look like any of Earth's rockets or airplanes. He's not even sure if they are made of machinery, they look like they could be alive if not for the way they were so still. He doesn't have long to look around as one after another, different aliens come rushing around the spacecrafts, a few of them even crawling out from under what looks like desks. There's quite a variety of them, Sero can see a lot of them seem to be a similar species to the guards and medical personnel he's had to deal with on this ship. However, there are also quite a few of them that are so different that it startled him to see them come running at him. Two of them in the back even look like they're a part of the same species as the bird alien from his cage, just with different colored feathers. He hikes the cat alien further up and looks at the others, unsure if they had a plan or not. Regardless, they need to do something soon otherwise they're going to get caught.
The bird says something and it gets the others moving. Sero almost stumbled as the purple fox alien had pulled his elbow to get him to follow them.
Fuck that hurt. He definitely needs to use his quirk soon, the tape build-up is putting pressure on the joints there, and just having that little touch hurts. Sero keeps up just fine, it's not hard to figure out that they are going to try and get on to one of the spacecraft. He does his best to keep an eye on the enemy. He doesn't know if they are carrying any type of weapon, but there is always a possibility they have something that can be used in a long ranged fight. The cat alien's back is the perfect target right now and it's freaking him out. The Lizard and pink alien are the first ones to reach a ship, then the yellow fox. There's still a good distance between them and where Sero is at with the others.
The only reason why he saw that one of the enemies had caught up to them was that he had a gut feeling that something was wrong.
Sero jerks to the side, crashing down to his knees and slamming a hand down to the metal flooring to keep the cat alien from taking the fall. They moved just in time to avoid getting stabbed by some mockery of a sword. Shit. Shit, okay. That actually knocked the wind out of him. The cat alien was light, but not light enough to go jumping around with them on his back.
Sero was too busy trying to catch his breath to stop the cat alien from pushing itself away from his back. Sero's head snapped up, watching as the cat alien's eyes began to glow, their fur sticking up and something that was an off-white, possibly gray, came shooting out from their neck. It looked a lot like his tape, just a bit thicker…
Whatever it was, it lashed out at the alien that had almost stabbed them. The alien was flung away from them, Sero kind of wanted to see where they would land but he was forced to look away as the bird alien came to his side and tried helping him stand up.
The key word here is, tried. Apparently, Sero was too heavy for them to do much more than pull their arm up a few inches. Which hurt like hell, it wasn't the arm he'd gotten injured with earlier but both the joints in his elbows hurt, and having his arm pulled wasn't helping. A glance at the spacecraft they chose showed that the purple fox had made it with the little white and gray alien still in his arms, although it looks like they'd woken up. The dragon-like alien must've turned around at some point, because now they were by the cat alien's side, lunging at any enemies that got too close. Sero got his legs underneath him, clumsily getting to his feet. The bird was trying to pull him away from the fight, toward the spacecraft.
Did they seriously think he wouldn't help with the fight? Sero ends up having to use his injured arm since the bird alien had yet to let go.
He shoots a strip of tape at the alien that was about to tackle the dragon-like alien from behind. It's not hard flinging then away into a group of aliens running at them. Is being lightweight normal for aliens then? This alien was lighter than the cat alien! A quick headcount shows that there's about twenty or more aliens surrounding them, the only open pathway is toward the spacecraft but that's just because the cat alien, the dragon-like alien, and himself are keeping the enemy from storming the mini ship.
"Whoa!"
Sero's mouth drops as the bird alien talons dig into some aliens' shoulders. They do some sort of wobbly flip while flapping their wings and toss the alien over themselves and out of the way.
He's definitely not the only one here with fighting experience.
Although his fighting experience comes from wrestling with his cousins, brawls with bullies, and matches against others that were attending the same martial arts lessons as himself. This is the first time he's gotten himself caught up in an actual fight. It's exhilarating. His cage-mates seem to be used to fighting though, especially the bird and cat aliens. Now that the bird isn't trying to force him to leave, it jumped right into the thick of things, fighting with the others. Sero's not sure what the goal is here. Are they fighting to take out the enemy or just to lessen how many try to shoot them down as they make it onto the spacecraft with the others? The cat and bird alien both seem to be yelling at the dragon-like alien although he doesn't know why. It's not like they're fighting poorly, just the opposite.
The miniature explosions coming from the dragon-like aliens' claws are fucking cool as hell! He didn't know they could do that!
Is it like a quirk? Do aliens have quirks? Do the others have their own little superpower too? Sero can't help but grin, the awe of his cage-mates capabilities refusing to fade despite being in a life or death situation. The yelling stops and Sero sees out of the corner of his eye how the dragon-like alien splits off from the others and makes a beeline toward him.
The dragon-like alien gets to his side quickly enough. Sero's sort of surprised they were able to get there so fast considering they were in the middle of fighting.
He still can't understand what they're saying to him but the dragon-like alien doesn't seem to care that Sero doesn't know what they're saying. Huffing, the dragon-like alien snarls slightly before pointing at the spacecraft ahead of them and then pointing at both Sero and then themself. What were they...
Oh. Oh! They're trying to tell him that they need to get to the escape pod thingy? Okay, Sero can do that– as long as they take out as many enemies as they can along the way. That way it's easier for the bird and cat aliens to catch up with them. Sero nods at the dragon-like alien, hoping that they understand his agreement. What about the cat alien though? Will they be alright without Sero carrying them? The bird alien won't be able to get them to the escape pod in time. The dragon-like alien nods back before turning their attention to the enemy.
Sero can't help but feel kind of intimidated at the menacing look on the dragon-like aliens' face. Regardless, he makes sure he's following right behind them as the dragon-like alien darts forward. He tries not to think about it as he actively decides not to hold back. It's frankly unnerving just how easily he's able to plow through those aliens. He can't ignore the sounds of their bodies breaking the moment he hits them. He tries to stick with using just his tape but it's hard when aliens get too close and he has no choice but to stick with punching and kicking at them. Sero yelps as one of the aliens manage to slice the back of his hand, it's thankfully not very deep looking, but it is long and stinging. Before he can even try to retaliate, the dragon-like alien sets off an explosion from their palm directly into the other alien's face. As the alien stumbles back he shoots out some tape at them and spins on his heel to toss them out of the way.
Damn, he needs to be more careful. The dragon-like alien shouldn't have to worry about him in the middle of a fight.
Sero wasn't specifically looking for it, but when his gaze happened to drift upward and spot the pipes hanging low enough, he got an idea. It took him a couple of minutes of moving around to be able to spot the bird and cat alien. They definitely look like they've been put through the wringer. There's alien blood on them and he's not sure if it's theirs or the enemies. It looks like the bird is missing a few of their feathers too… What was he thinking of leaving them to fight on their own? He doesn't know how long they've been held captive, plus they were already injured. He's lucky neither of them had gotten killed in the time he stepped away from them.
He'll get the dragon-like alien to the spacecraft and then he'll come back for the bird and the cat. Hopefully, they’ll be alright on their own… they have each other to watch each others’ backs.
It’s probably just nerves giving him that bad feeling.
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Hi’ashi was refusing to get to the escape pod.
If their positions were reversed then he’d do the same, but they’re not, and the longer Hi’ashi refuses to go the more likely it is their enemies will get there before them and put the kids in danger. It’s bad enough that Bak’go had turned back for them when the Deathworlder had to dodge an attack meant for him, but without Hi’ashi there to pilot the others wouldn’t be able to escape on their own. U.A. hadn’t started the flying course just yet. They’re just first years, they’re not supposed to learn that until their third year.
The thing is, A’zawa knows that he won’t be able to make it to the escape pod quickly enough to avoid getting himself recaptured.
He’s lucky that the Deathworlder was willing to carry him this far, but after that tumble they took trying to keep him from getting stabbed? He highly doubts they’d be able to pick him up again, certainly not without harming themselves further in the process. Plus, he already ordered Bak’go to get the Deathworlder to follow him to the escape pod. He can’t risk trying to see if they’ve made it there yet. His injured leg is hindering his performance, he’s not as quick as he usually is and because of that he has to rely more so on his venom wrap. An injured leg can be deadly to most species for more than one reason. A few of them being that it leaves people with limited mobility, and most of the time injured legs cannot be healed. Amputation is the frequent solution. Hi’ashi’s covering him the best he can, but there’s only so much he can do when the collar on him keep him from being able to scream as loudly as his species is known to do to burst the eardrums of attackers. His talons are an excellent weapon, as is A’zawa’s own claws, but they can only resort to those once someone gets close enough.
They can’t keep this up for much longer.
If he can tell that Hi’ashi is wearing down, then they can too. Every movement is sending a jolt of pain through his leg, it’s taking all of his strength not to fall down or let his pain show.
Not that it does any good as he stumbles through flinging the next person away from him. They were heavier than he expected. Hi’ashi lets out a loud caw but it doesn’t cause the enemy to falter like it should have.
“Sho’ watch out!”
Before he can even try to look around for the incoming threat, something wraps around his torso and he can't do anything as he is pulled upward into the space above the crowd. A split second later he sees Hi'ashi being pulled up as well. Tilting his head up shows the Deathworlder in the spaceship's rafters, long white strips coming out of both elbows. Strips that look eerily similar to his venom wrap. Terra Deathworlders don't have venom wraps. Right? Even if they did, surely the Deathworlder knew not to use it on potential comrades? The white strips retreat into the Deathworlder's elbows, lifting Hi'ashi and him all the way up to the rafters. If it weren't for the Deathworlders' wrap, he would fall to his death. There is no space up here for him to stand. The Deathworlder starts talking to them, saying something that he knows neither of them can understand.
They seem to realize this as they pull Hi'ashi up to stand on the rafters while leaving A'zawa just hanging there, close enough to hear anything they might say.
The Deathworlder's wrap comes undone around Hi'ashi. A'zawa notes how it seems to be sticky at the tip, but rather than pull it back into their elbow, the Deathworlder rips the wrap off at the elbow and lets it fall to the floor below them. Why would they tear their wrap?! The Deathworlder looks at Hi'ashi and points their right arm out in front of themself, bending the wrist down, and waving their fingers. It's an odd gesture, one that he can't understand the meaning of, but Hi'ashi hops a bit closer to the Deathworlder. A'zawa always knew his bondmate's curiosity would lead to their death, but that doesn't mean he wants to see it happen. He hissed out a soft warning, but Hi'ashi ignored him.
Then the Deathworlder does something even more questionable, for some reason they start to hit the air with their palm?
Their fingers aren't curled, and they don't seem to be aggravated although he's not sure if Terra Deathworlder's show the same signs of aggravation as other species he's come across in his travels or his years as a teacher. They nod at Hi'ashi, before turning their attention toward him and A'zawa tries not to let it show how uncomfortable he is under their gaze.
"Wait, wait, what are you doing?!" A'zawa was able to keep from instinctively clawing the Deathworlder, but it was hard to keep still.
Either he lets them pick him up again and harm themselves in the process or he struggles and risks falling to his death.
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Sero was glad that the cat alien wasn't fighting him on being carried. They don't really have the time to play charades and he needs to be quick before the enemy gets any closer to the escape pod that the others are in. It was hard getting the dragon-like alien to stay there while Sero ran back, but in the end he managed it… after taping the dragon-like alien to a seat inside. The others didn't try to stop him, they just stood there watching it all play out so he assumes that they're on his side in not wanting to leave the bird and cat on their own. From up in the rafters he can make out the lizard alien shooting some kind of… Laser from their abdomen area at any enemies that get too close to the escape pod.
The bird willingly comes up on the rafters, after he pulls them away from the fight, and Sero hopes they have good balance because they're going to need to wait there until he comes back.
He uses his tape to make sure the cat alien is secure on his back, he's going to need both arms to swing back to the escape pod. He makes sure that it's just the ends that are sticky and that the sticky bits are on him rather than risk it touching the cat aliens' fur. Taking a deep breath in, Sero slowly breathes out and tries to ignore the way his nerves are starting to get the best of him. He can't freak out, not right now.
The bird and cat are saying something to each other and he'll have to apologize later but they really need to get a move on.
Sero yelped as he felt something sharp digging into his shoulders as he dived off the rafter. It doesn't throw off his momentum or his groove as he falls into the rhythm of slinging them around to get to the escape pod, but it does hurt.
"Okay, shit. That was my fault, I probably should have warned you that I was jumping, sorry dude, but damn your nails – claws? – are sharp!"
They vanish just as quickly as they arrive, and Sero almost fumbles through his next move when the cat alien starts purring. Were they trying to say sorry? Did they think he was mad? The aliens below them are shouting, they have been since he pulled the others up into the rafters, so he doubts the cat alien would be able to hear him… but it won't hurt to try. They're on his back, so even if they can't hear him, they might be able to feel his response. Mimicking the cat aliens pur is awkward, not in an embarrassing way but in a 'he's not really sure what he's doing' way. He thinks he sounds pretty stupid. The cat alien jolts, and that causes Sero to panic as he ends up shooting the tape too far on the next swing. It brings them lower to the ground than he would have liked but thankfully not low enough to get them within reach of the alien's weapons.
They're nearly at the escape pod. Thank God, the combined weight of both him and the cat alien is putting way too much stress on his already sore elbows. His arms feel like they're going to pop off at any minute but as much as he wants to take a few minutes to rest, he can't. It's bad enough they're taking as long as they are to escape.
Any aliens that noticed them are being pushed back by the laser coming from the lizard alien. Sero shoots them a sheepish grin as dropping to the ground near them has them startling badly enough that their next laser shot misses the alien they were aiming at.
He rushes into the escape pod to see that the others were all strapped into some seats but the purple fox alien was standing by what looks like the controls. Their heads all snap over to his direction the moment he runs in, but Sero doesn't have time to waste apologizing for startling them. He kneels down and rips the tape down the side so the cat alien can slide off his back. They all start talking, and the dragon-like alien is yelling, but Sero pats the cat alien on what should be their shoulder before spinning on his heel and rushing off. The Lizard alien calls out to him as he runs past them but Sero keeps going. He needs to get to the bird alien then they can finally get out of here. He's a bit reckless with swinging back to the bird, and his elbows hurt badly enough that he has to clench his jaw to keep from making any noises.
If there's one thing he knows for certain, you do not let the enemy realize you're injured in some way. Showing them a weakness is just asking for a beating.
He knows the bird alien can't fly, they're missing too many feathers to be able to do that.
He's kind of proud to note that he's only slightly out of breath by the time he makes it back on up to the rafters and by the bird's side.
His tape is still holding them to the rafter, loose enough that they can hop around a bit, but keep them from falling down. They chirp at him, and make a few other noises he can't put a name too, but when he crouches down and gestures for them to get on his back; they only hesitate for a few seconds before slowly climbing on. He's pretty sure they're trying not to scratch him with their talons— which he's honestly thankful for because those things look sharp as hell and he doesn't want to know what it feels like to get scratched by them.
He uses his tape to secure them the same way he secured the cat alien earlier. Sero does his best to take an alternative route back to the escape pod, this way the enemy can't try tacking his path and targeting him.
The Lizard alien is still shooting lasers at anyone who gets too close, but is it just Sero or are the lasers shrinking? Like, the laser beam is getting thinner the more it's used. Their claws are pressing down on either side of their stomach… Does using their laser hurt them? The cat alien is standing by their side, eyes glowing and their gray thing from their neck is wrapping around the enemy and flinging them away. If they're both in pain and injured, they really shouldn't be exposing themselves to the enemy. They should have waited inside the escape pod and kept the door shut until Sero returned with the bird. The moment Sero drops down, the Lizard alien is grabbing him by the elbow– ow! What's with aliens and grabbing his elbows?! – and tries to drag him into the escape pod where all the others are waiting. Sero follows since he doesn't want the lizard alien to pull on his arm, he'll just set the bird down inside then.
He tears his tape down the side, slightly startled when the bird slips off his back. They land on the floor but thankfully not too hard, not hard enough to get hurt at least. Before he can even think about turning and seeing if the cat alien needs help, the cat comes hobbling in with the door closing behind them.
After that everything happens in a quick frenzy. Sero isn't entirely all there as the bird herds them over to a seat and buckles them in like they're a child. The bird and cat move to the seats up front, by the controls, and there's static coming from the little screen the cat alien is turning knobs for.
…This is it, right? They did it? They did it. They're free.
Adrenaline rush is helpful in the moment, but when it fades… Sero didn't even notice anything was wrong, but the yellow fox alien starts yelling and Sero blearily looks over at them just to see they're pointing at him. It captures the others attention and soon they're all staring at him, even the bird who is piloting and really should be looking ahead so they don't crash into an asteroid or something. It gets really loud really quickly. The purple fox alien takes off their seatbelt and nearly trips in their mad scramble to get from their side of the escape pod to the side he's on.
They start messing with something above him, and Sero's too tired to flinch as some blocky thing drops down in front of him.
His eyes slip shot just as the purple fox alien grabs whatever that thing was and presses it against his face, right over Sero's mouth.