Chapter Text
It was the beginning of summer break the next day. It didn't change much for Izuku and his adoptive brother, Bakugo “Kacchan” Katsuki, nor for the two others in their piloting team, Kirishima Eijiro and Uraraka Ochaco, funnily enough. While most cadets left to go visit their families or leave for a short vacation out somewhere with actual greenery within sight, these four were staying at The Galaxy Garrison Academy.
Eijiro stretched his arms after putting on a cotton sleep shirt, resulting in some satisfying pops. “So… what do you guys wanna do tomorrow…?”
“Nothing, if it involves you two and Round Face ruining a perfectly good day.” Katsuki immediately responded.
At the gruff member’s response, both Izuku and Eijiro merely sighed as they made eye contact with each other. Yes, Katsuki may have said that, but they both knew that he’d still hang out with them and Ochaco . Katsuki had special nicknames for them and the other cadets, whether he liked them or not.
Eijiro chuckled as he turned to Izuku, “‘kay. How ‘bout you then, Midoriya?”
Izuku shrugged in response at first, not really knowing how to answer his friend right away. “I dunno… maybe go out and take a hike. Visit the House, do something relatively questionable… something like that.” That same feeling, the need to go out and explore the vast landscape surrounding the Garrison and sometimes drove him nuts if he didn’t go and sate it, was nagging at him again, like an itch in the back of his mind.
Katsuki deadpanned, groaning, “Damnit, Deku! Can you just… not go out to the desert like a fucking sane person for once ? Just once .”
As Izuku tried laughing off his brother’s jab at his arguably uncontrollable habit, Eijiro tilted his head, “Yeah, what’s with that?” He sat down on his bed on the other side of the room as Katsuki and Izuku’s bunk, “You’ve been sneaking out to the desert ever since I met you two!” Which really was barely even a testament to how much Izuku went out there, and he knew it. “Why do you go out there? What’s so special about ‘the House’ , anyway?” He made little air quotations with his fingers as he emphasized the weird air about the particular location.
Right as Izuku was going to attempt playing it off, Katsuki intercepted, “No, Deku. Go ahead. Tell us . Has to deal with Auntie Inko, right?”
Izuku rubbed the back of his head, “I mean… yeah, it does. It’s just… really weird .”
“What, really? How so?” Eijiro’s curiosity was piqued, but now his absolute attention was on his oddly mysterious classmate. Other than Midoriya being an orphan, the guy didn’t really give off the typical “mysterious vibe”, which made it all the more intriguing.
“Well… for one…” Izuku took a moment to consider what he should share. It took a while to show Kacchan, but it was different now that they lived under the same roof, whether or not they were at the Garrison. But Eijiro was now part of their team . Next year, along with Uraraka, they’d be doing everything together. Plus, how long would he be able to go with Kirishima never seeing his only heirloom from his father? So, he turned around and from under his pillow, pulled out a sheathed knife.
Which, unsurprisingly, shocked the other boy. “Wh-what the Hell , Midoriya!? What are you doing with a knife !?”
“Shut up and listen, Shitty Hair.” Katsuki snapped from where he leaned against the wall. “‘least you can do after all the damn questions ya asked.”
“It’s my only heirloom from my father.” Izuku explained, before putting the knife back in its admittingly poor hiding spot. “Mom told me to keep it with me at all times, before giving me with it a key to an old house where she and my father lived for awhile, like some weird hideout before he disappeared.”
“Deku, it wasn’t a hideout, you paranoid freak.” Katsuki rolled his eyes, clearly tired of probably hearing the same idea over and over.
“Kacchan, you saw all that weird stuff on the walls!!” Izuku cried out, “It looks like something from Mulder’s office!!”
“Yeah, and you live in X-Files. Watched way too much of it too, you conspiracy obsessed dumbass.” Katsuki finally came back over, getting ready to just crash. “You’ve been saying the same shit for years now, and it’s only gotten worse after Kerberos. Don’t try denying it. Give it a rest, already.”
Despite his harsh tone, both Izuku and Eijiro could tell Katsuki was really trying to voice his concern, in his own, unique way. And even Eijiro knew what Katsuki was referring to. About two years ago, Izuku’s mentor, Mr Yagi, and best friend, Todoroki Shoto, were both selected to pilot the ship for the group of scientists going on the now infamous Kerberos Moon Mission. They were… lost during the journey. It was roughly just a year into their mission, when it was announced that the expedition was a failure. People say it was a crash, caused by pilot error…
But Izuku was adamant in believing it was a lie. They had Yagi Toshinori at the helm of the spacecraft, the best of the best piloting out there. He wouldn’t just crash . At least say that there were mechanical errors, something that couldn’t be fixed out there, not lay the blame on a person, let alone his mentor. And Todoroki ? No, the kid was a genius . If there was a glitch in the system, he would’ve caught it. There was no way they could be dead , there just couldn’t-!!
“DEKU!” Katsuki shouted right in front of Izuku’s face- ‘When did he get there??’ “You’re muttering again! Shut up, you stupid Nerd! I only said your name like five hundred fucking times!”
“He said it three times.” Eijiro translated with a listless tone, before growing concerned, "But yeah, you were going off, there."
Izuku blinked before forcing himself to relax, Katsuki’s way of demanding that he’d calm down oddly effective. “S-sorry…”
“Jeez… it’s fine .” Katsuki curtly turned his head away, “… it was my fault for mentioning that .” To avoid giving a complete apology, he leapt up and into the top bunk, flopping over and getting ready to clock out.
“Oh, yeah…” Eijiro mused, “I forgot about that… that hit a lot of people hard, but you especially, right?” He shook his head slowly, “Man, I’m sorry…”
Izuku shook his head, “N-no, it’s fine! Really.” He chuckled, though he kicked himself for how hollow it sounded. “Not a lot of people knew about how close I was to them, I’m used to it.” Again, he kicked himself. ‘Wow, way to sound like a total ass, Izuku.’
Eijiro waved him off, already knowing how self-conscious Izuku was with how he sounded. After only about a year of knowing the kid, he had gotten to know both Midoriya and Bakugo pretty well, not to toot his own horn. “Don’t worry about it, I should’ve known. We’re friends, after all!” He gestured towards the pillow and the knife it hid, “And obviously I won’t tattletale about the cool blade. It’s super manly , having a knife like that! Like, dude! I’m jealous!”
Katsuki then interrupted before the two could gawk over the lump of metal, “Hey, dipshits, I wanna go to sleep . Stop drooling over the glorified kitchen utensil already.” He flipped Deku off, knowing that the Nerd was childishly sticking his tongue out at him. “Grow up, Shitty Deku.”
“Make me.” Izuku flipped him off back, before crawling in bed as Eijiro chucked a pillow at the light switch.
“Izu … ”
The boy moaned in his sleep, tossing his pillow off of his bed as he jerked, flipping over to his other side.
“Iiizuuu … ”
He shuddered hard, not from the sudden lack of comfort from a missing blanket, but from something internal…
A flash of something yellow, deep, two eyes glaring at him, “ COME! ” the voice, if he could even call the feeling that, rang out in a commanding rumble, like that of a beast’s.
Izuku jolted awake, not even a peep escaping him as he came to. His sped up, heavy breathing was the only indicator of his startled reaction, taking a moment to catch his barings-
Immediately, he felt the almost tugging sensation to just go . Go into the desert. Explore. Search. Find . It was beckoning him, more than just some sort of trauma influenced urge. There was this voice , just egging him on. It was so powerful, he nearly fell out of his bed.
And he needed to answer it.
Eijiro woke up hearing shuffling in the dark, the soft glow from the lights lining the room giving just enough soft luminescence to outline the person trying to quietly put things in his oversized, yellow backpack. “M… M-Midoriya…?”
Izuku nearly jumped out of his skin at Eijiro’s voice. He apologetically whispered, “O-oh!! Kirishima, I-I’m sorry, I d-didn’t mean to wake you up-”
If Eijiro startled him, then Katsuki gave him a heart attack . The ash blond didn’t even bother whispering as he growled, “You moron… you’d wake anyone up with all that racket.”
Seeing as how everyone was now awake in the room, Izuku snarked back, “Well, I at least tried, okay?”
“Still…” Eijiro rubbed his eyes, struggling not to yawn, but ultimately failing, his voice drawled as he spoke, “What are ya even doing up this late- early . Dude, it’s like 1 AM…”
Izuku flushed a bit, hating getting called out, “… I’m going out.”
“Oh, for fucks sakes…” Katsuki grimaced under his breath, before getting up himself.
“K-Kacchan…?” Izuku gawked at his friend in the dark. His confusion with Katsuki’s behavior was painfully blatant. “Wh-what are you doing-!”
Katsuki landed on the floor, not once having used the bunk ladder in all his time at the Garrison. “What does it look like, dumbass? I’m getting dressed. I’m coming with you.” He stomped over to the light and flicked it on, hurting all of their eyes, but he couldn’t give a shit. “Kirishima.”
“H-huh?” Eijiro stiffened, caught off guard by both the light and Katsuki’s attention, “Yeah?”
“Text Round Face. Or something. Pound on her door if you have to. We’re gonna use this as a team bonding exercise, or whatever you wanna call it.” He gritted his teeth, muttering, “Deku’s having a hard time, and it’ll make the team suffer if we don’t all try to help, because the Shitty Nerd doesn’t know how to grieve like a normal person.”
Izuku was… moved, if not mildly insulted, which he was used to at this point in his life from Katsuki. “Th-thanks, Kacchan… this is probably the nicest thing you’ve done for me-”
“Shut up! I’m not doing this for you , asshole! I said the whole team!”
Izuku and Eijiro both had their internal sighing-filled moment.
“Mind telling me why we’re breaking into the garage, again? At…” Ochaco had to squint through her bleariness to see her watch, before continuing, “… nearly 2 o’clock in the morning?”
Eijiro sympathized with her, both Bakugo and Midoriya having unnatural amounts of energy for people woken up that early. “Midoriya needed help with whatever he’s dealing with, and that, apparently, involves going out to the desert.”
Ochaco, who was contemplating strangling Bakugo and maybe tossing Izuku over her shoulder at this point, grumbled, “But why the garage?”
Izuku finally got it to open up, Katsuki snickering at the fact that the easy going idiot knew how to pick locks. He explained to his two friends from over his shoulder, “Because… we’re gonna need this to make the trip shorter.”
Even with their tiredness, the two gawked at the odd machine in front of them. With two massive propellers at the sides and a sleek body, they knew that whatever the heck it was, it was fast . It screamed aerodynamics.
Izuku shyly rubbed the back of his head, “Y-yeah… Toshi got me into hover-biking, since I could pretty much ride anything-” He glared at Katsuki, who began snickering over something he found funny. He ignored his brother, before grabbing from the bike's seat a thick, old fashioned, leather pilot's jacket with patches of all sorts, dusting it off before putting it on. His friends, including Bakugo, noticed the fingerless biker gloves he had on… the punk rock look was strangely suited on their normally timid companion.
Ochaco snapped out of her shocked state, admitting, “W-wow, Deku… I didn’t take you for a biker …”
“Yeeeaaah… you’re not the only one, so don’t feel bad.” Izuku waved her off before strapping his backpack down on the back of the hover-bike… and dope slapped Bakugo when the blond muttered something about a piercing.
“You’re just full of surprises, aren’t you, Midoriya?” Eijiro murmured, before heading over to the bike with Ochaco.
“Yup. Surprisingly enough, the Nerd isn’t a total waste of space.” Katsuki nonchalantly agreed, still rubbing his head where Izuku smacked him.
“H-hey!!” Izuku cried out, before deciding to drop it, since Kacchan only began to guffaw at his expense. “Ugh, whatever. Shut up before we get caught, jerk.”
Soon enough, they were flying across the desert, the land still cold from the night air. Even without morning light or strong headlights, Izuku knew where he was going. He knew the way to the well hidden house like the back of his hand. The seating arrangement was a bit tricky, since at most, only two people could comfortably fit, but with Ochaco holding onto Izuku’s waist with some of the seat to claim (much to Izuku’s flustered chagrin, not that she needed to know that, it was good that she got the seat), Eijiro behind her and Katsuki holding on in the back, everyone fit. Izuku was careful to call out any turns he’d be making, not getting too lost in his driving like he usually did, especially out here with that odd energy tingling in the air.
As he came up to the House, he could hear Kirishima briefly explain it to Ochaco. He chuckled and slowed down, skillfully parking right in front of the porch. “Okay! Let me unlock it, and we can kick back for a bit and wait for the sun to get a bit closer. There’s water bottles inside… and a lifetime’s supply of Spam and dried ramen, because that’s just what every not- hideout has, Kacchan …”
Katsuki groaned, dragging a hand down his face, “For the last time, dipshit, it’s not a fucking hideout .”
“… do I want to ask?” Ochaco deadpanned.
Without turning to face her, Eijiro answered, “No.”
She nodded once, pursing her lips, “Okay.”
As they all got comfortable inside the surprisingly cozy living room of the House, Ochaco went over to Izuku, who currently was scrutinizing the cork board covered with odd pictures, mostly reoccurring cave paintings… of a big cat? Huh. She poked his side, knowing fully well that he wouldn't hear her in his deep-thinking state.
And it worked. He jolted, hating that she had figured out just how ticklish his sides were. "O-OchAco!!" He pointedly ignored the fact that his voice just horribly cracked from the startle, clearing his throat with a hefty cough, "Wh-what is it? Did you need something, or…?"
While trying to stifle her giggles for her friend's sake, she shook her head. "No, I just wanted to chat!"
"… o-oh. Okay!" He felt a smile tug at his lips, always enjoying his conversations with her. "So what-"
"When did you get that earring? The little golden helix ring?" She pointed up at his ear, the earring in question hidden in his hair.
"O-o-oh!!" Izuku felt his blood rush to his cheeks as he felt his eyes shoot down to the floor, unable to look up. "You saw that…"
"Yeah, when we were on the bike! The wind was blowing your hair back, and I saw it when you turned your head!" She chuckled at how his head dipped lower in shame, "Don't be embarrassed, I think that's cool!"
Izuku slowly found it in him to look up again at his friend, "Really…? Thank you, I-"
Tugging… rumbling…
Izuku went silent, his head whipping upward and directing his attention outside.
Suddenly, Bakugo came from the front door, shouting, "Hey, love birds !! Something huge just entered the atmosphere!!"
They could hear Eijiro shout, "It's getting closer !!"
Izuku and Ochaco both blushed at the unnecessary nickname, but they ran outside to join their teammates.
"Safe… watch…" the growling whispered.
Izuku felt his nerves begin to dissipate, instead watching the coming object in utter awe-! He went wide eyed, before dashing to his bike, going through his backpack. As the others watched him in confusion, he pulled out his binoculars.
"Oh, great idea, Midoriya!!" Eijiro smiled, praising his companion's quick thinking… but soon losing his enthusiasm when he saw Izuku's expression turn frozen. "… Izuku? Buddy?"
Katsuki piped up, "Yo, Nerd! Earth to Deku, what the Hell is wrong-"
"It's… it's a ship ." Izuku lowered the binoculars, before spurring into a frenzy, "It's not one of ours . Guys, it's… j-just look!!"
Katsuki snatched the piece of tech from Izuku, before looking through them-!! "Woah, what the fuck !?!?" The spacecraft definitely wasn't like anything made on Earth, that's for sure. It was a dark, crimson red, the edges sleek and sharp , the design looking… dark . Aggressive. Katsuki handed the binoculars to Round Face, his jaw dropped to the floor.
"W-wait, are you saying that aliens made that??" Eijiro felt his nerves spike almost as much as how his hair was spiked upwards. "Are you kidding me?? C'mon, guys!! There's no such thing as aliens… right?" He felt his stomach drop when then Ochaco whispered words of amazement.
There was a distant bang from when the ship crashed, but it was close enough to investigate, nor was there an explosion.
The voice came back, again with only powerful emotions, but ones that were indistinguishable. "Go… save friend… needs help…"
Izuku shuddered, be it from the presence that no longer was just whispering or from the chilly air, he couldn't decide. The only thing that was certain was this: "We need to go check that out. Someone needs our help." Without another thought, he climbed onto his bike, though he did wait for the others.
"Wait, what !?" Katsuki may have cried out, but he was already getting up on the bike, "Deku, are you insane?? What if it, whatever the Hell it is, is gonna kill you the moment it sees you??"
Izuku immediately turned his head to give Kacchan the most incredulous glare he could muster. "I didn't say you had to come!! If you're so concerned, why the Hell are you coming??"
"To potentially see your ass get kicked by an alien." Katsuki answered truthfully without a single flinch.
"… okay, fair enough."
Ochaco hopped up and settled in her spot from their first ride, “Well, we might as well stick together!”
Eijiro stood where he was, but he caved. “Aww, man! When you say it like that, Ochaco, I can’t help but join too! It’s not manly at all to ditch your pals!” He scrambled up onto the bike, grumbling, “But I still think this is a stupid idea.”
“Shut up, Shitty Hair! We all die someday anyway! Death by alien is probably the coolest way to go.”
“K-Kacchan… knock it off, please .” Deku felt his eyebrow twitch, but he calmed himself, “No one’s gonna die, alright? We’ll just check things out.”
“Yeah, yeah,” The ash blond waved him off, “Just get this damned hunk of metal going, already!!”
The crash site was hot . The sand carried the heat far from the long trail the ship made from barreling into the ground. The ground held some small flames, the ship had been so hot from entering the Earth’s atmosphere. Honestly, even if the ship was made by other lifeforms, it would still be a miracle if the person or thing inside it was still alive. And the ship was surprisingly small, like a sort of shuttle instead of sophisticated spacecraft, an escape pod, perhaps? Yes, that seemed likely-!”
“Deku, you’re muttering again!” Ochaco again gently poked his side, snapping him out of his speeding thought process.
“Ah… thanks…” He bashfully looked down, though he did throw a dirty look at Kacchan really quick when he heard him snicker at his folly. He refocused on the situation in front of them, “The metal might still be very hot, and I don’t know where the opening would be-!” A lightbulb went off in his mind. “Got it!”
The three other teens were all confused by Izuku’s actions as the green head shuffled away from the mini boulder formation they were hiding behind, when from a compartment in his bike, he pulled out a crowbar . At their baffled expressions, Izuku merely shrugged, “What? After everything I’ve been through, I’ve learned to come prepared!” He pointed a finger towards his massive backpack as an example.
As he began jogging over to the spacecraft, Katsuki was the one to shout, “Deku, wait!! Wait a fucking second- ARGH!” Reluctantly, he got up and followed the stupid idiot towards the craft, but not before turning to the other two, “Wait here. If that thing blows up, at least two of us should survive.”
“But Bakugo-!!”
Eijiro cut off, Ochaco gasping loudly herself, as they saw Izuku getting ready to smash the front glass (or whatever the clear, dark material was) of the pod. In one powerful looking swing, Izuku brought down the crowbar with vicious force-!!
The ship’s screen glowed and repelled him backwards with a loud, electric sounding crack, an odd pulse rippling over the front half of the ship. Izuku crashed into the ground, the crowbar flying much further back behind him and clanging on the hard desert floor.
“Deku!!” Ochaco screeched as she immediately ran to his side, though she was second to reach him, since Katsuki was already headed over to the idiot, dropping to his knees and skidding over to his brother. “H-holy shit…” Eijiro gawked for a moment, before scrambling to his feet.
Katsuki was relieved to see that the moron wasn’t bleeding , but he was still afraid of other injuries, like possibly hitting his head in the wrong way. He roughly shook Izuku’s shoulder, shouting, “H-hey!! Deku, wake up!! C’mon, talk to me… Mom’s gonna kill me if you’re dead!! C’mon…!!”
Everyone released their held breath when Izuku groaned, “Kacchan… stop shakin’ me, ‘m fine… ow.” He held up his hand to hold his head, luckily not having hit it too hard, just his butt and shoulder mostly… that was definitely going to leave a nasty bruise or two, ouch .
The other teen sighed in relief, not caring that the other two were now up close too to hear it, “Oh my God, you fucking idiot… you scared the shit outta me.”
Ochaco lightly slapped his chest, some tears still stinging her eyes from the scare. “You should’ve braced yourself better, anyway!! You big dummy…”
When Katsuki offered a hand to get up, Izuku happily accepted. “Haha… energy fields . Didn’t expect that…?”
The entire group froze in place (Katsuki nearly dropping Izuku back down in the process) when they heard the machinery whir and something opening with a loud cranking and an airlock’s hiss from the other side of the spacecraft.
Izuku grimaced at his soreness, but with bated breath, he was the one to lead the group slowly to the back, quietly wishing he still had his crowbar, but… his knife would do, he guessed, reaching into his jacket and gripping the handle from behind him. He paused at right at the edge, acknowledging the fact that the other three were close behind, everyone tense with rising anxiety. He took a deep, quiet breath in to still his nerves…
He leapt out, unsheathing his knife and brandishing it with an intense look in his eye, quickly scouring the dark entry way to the-!!
The other three startled at the sudden sound of Izuku’s knife hitting the sand (especially Ochaco, having no prior knowledge of the blade), but even more so at the strangled sound of utter shock that escaped Izuku as he staggered backwards.
“T… T-T… i-it can’t be…” He suddenly launched forwards, lunging down in a frantic motion, shouting, “TODOROKI!!”
The others were stunned at their friend’s outcry, scrambling to get a better look. They each dropped their jaws at the sight.
“O-oh my gosh…” Ochaco’s hands shot up to cover her mouth.
“H-holy shit… h-he’s alive .” Katsuki hesitated for a moment, before taking action to go help Izuku wake his friend up.
“I-is that… is that really …?” Eijiro steadied himself, the shock almost overwhelming… he was seeing a dead guy, o-or at least, someone who was supposed to be dead.
There, lying unconscious, but alive , as Izuku was beyond thankful to discover, was Todoroki Shoto, with his two-toned hair (though there was a new small stripe of white in his bangs on the left side with his red hair), same eye scar… and a robotic prosthetic for his left arm . He grimaced in his sleep when Katsuki nudged him, his white and red eyebrows twitching.
“Okay, good… the moron’s not in a coma…” Katsuki sighed in relief. “Goddamn it… Half n’ Half comes back from the grave just to immediately scare the fucking shit out of me, too. Next person to scare me today is gonna wish they were actually-!!”
A scampering in the cockpit of the ship snagged all four of the teens’ attention. Izuku, after carefully setting Todoroki, got up slowly to his feet.
“Wh-what was that-”
Ochaco cut of when Izuku held up his finger to his lips, silently gesturing to quiet down. He tiptoed without making a single sound, before stopping at the slightly ajar, broken door to the cockpit. He carefully looked into the foggy glass-!!
His entire body went rigid when he made direct eye contact with red eyes similar in hue to both Katsuki and Eijiro, only luminescent and… soft. Trembling. Tears were pouring out of the tiny little creature that crumpled in on itself in the shadows. Through the tiny crack between both door panels, he heard the tiniest of gasps when he inched closer.
“Protect … ”
Yeah, he didn’t even attempt arguing with the voice at all on this one. Immediately, he relaxed, a large, blinding smile stretching on his face, much like the jovial one Toshi always wore to ease everyone around him if they were scared or upset. “H-hey… it’s okay!” He only grew happier when the small figure seemed to stop shaking in response. “Yeah, it’s okay! We’re here to help…”
“Izuku!” Eijiro cried out quietly, stunned with how Midoriya was going about it.
“Deku, what the Hell ??” Katsuki began to edge closer, though he was still wary of the fucking alien the Shitty Nerd was cooing to-!!
“Someone, go get my crowbar.” Izuku turned to face the group, an intense, determined look burning in his eyes.
“… shit.” Katsuki deadpanned, dragging a hand down his face. He knew his brother too well, and he knew for a fact that the idiot was absolutely set on saving the damn alien. “Goddamnit… Round Face, go get the Shitty Nerd’s crowbar, it fell in the sand at the front.”
“O-okay!!” She didn’t even think to sigh at his nickname for her, instead just following orders… better than letting herself have a mental breakdown over the fact that they were saving an alien .
“Shitty Hair, help me carry IcyHot to the flying-”
“Kacchan, insult my hover-bike one more time and you’re walking all the way back.” Izuku didn’t change from his calming tone, nor drop his smile, which made a shudder run through the other two boys’ backs.
“…” Katsuki grumbled quietly, before turning back to Eijiro, “Just help me carry him to the bike .”
“Y-yeah, man!” Eijiro internally freaked out more over how Izuku could get surprisingly scary when he wanted to.
Izuku turned back to the small alien, all anger vanishing instantly. He was glad that the poor thing was now easing closer to the door. “Hey, do you understand me?” He tried not to make the little one uncomfortable, so he didn’t approach the door any more. When he got an affirmative nod in response, he asked the first thing that came to mind, “Do you have a name?”
The small alien nodded her head, squeaking out, “E-Eri…”
“Eri? That’s a cute name. Very pretty.” Izuku internally, however, began to have a meltdown, ‘Oh my gosh, she sounds so young !! Is she young?? What is a child doing on board a pod like this?? Why is she so scared??’ He cleared his throat, placing a hand on his chest, “My name is Midoriya Izuku-” he kicked himself for not thinking of how long his name probably sounded to the maybe-child, so he quickly stammered, “B-but people call me Deku! You can call me that if that’s better.”
“D-De… ku…” She tried it on her tongue, before she glanced back up at him with those warm eyes, “Deku?”
“Yeah! You got it!” Izuku felt his heart warm at how proud the small girl looked when he confirmed she had said it right-!”
“Deku! Here’s the crowbar!” Ochaco came back with the long metal tool, catching a glimpse at the small girl who retreated slightly back further in the shadows, “O-oh!! Hi there…” She quieted down, not wanting to scare off the surprisingly tiny alien.
“Eri, this is Ochaco.” Izuku whispered a small thank you to her when she handed him the crowbar, “She’s very nice.”
“O-O… Ocha… co?” Eri murmured her name.
“Yup! You’re really good at names, Eri.” Izuku then crept closer to the door, “Eri, can you back up? I’m going to try and pry this door open so you can get out.” He saw the little girl nod her head, before she obediently shuffled over to the pilot seat.
Right as he was about to start opening the doors, he heard Eijiro shout, “Uh, guys? You better hurry up!”
“We’re gonna have some pretty fuckin’ awful company!” Katsuki added. “The Garrison is just a couple of miles away!”
“Sh- crap…” Izuku nearly cursed under his breath, before looking at Ochaco, “Help me with this?” He noticed her hesitation, but it was understandable. She nodded her head and the two of them pushed and pulled to break apart the stuck doors-!
The moment the gap was large enough, little Eri slipped through and tackled Izuku’s leg, grappling on tight. It shocked him at first, but his heart instantly melted. In the better lighting, her milky fur covering her entire body was visible, though her hair on her head was long like a human’s. She had a long tail with a slight lion tip to it, a little button nose like a cat’s, a tiny horn at the center of her forehead and large, fluffy ears at the sides of her head that currently were drooping low. Her claws were pretty sharp, but Izuku could care less. Not only was the definitely-child clinging onto him like a lifeline, she was in a tattered dress the same color as Todoroki’s odd garment, and little pink scars littered the poor girl’s arms.
He bent down and Eri immediately reciprocated his act of lifting her up into his arms. He turned to Ochaco and they both nodded their heads, Ochaco carrying both his crowbar and unknowingly his family heirloom, “I grabbed your knife.”
Izuku went wide eyed, sighing in relief, “Thanks. Here, just put it in the sheath. It clicks in place sorta.”
They rushed to the hover-bike, the two guys trying really hard not to react to the small furball in Izuku’s arms.
“Took you long enough, idiots.” Even Katsuki refrained from cursing in front of the child… sorta. “Half n’ Half’s body is getting really freakin’ heavy.”
Eijiro used the binoculars, hissing, “Yeah, guys, we need to go . They’re getting really close for comfort.”
“Yeah, I got it.” Izuku looked at Ochaco, “Can you sandwich her between me and you?”
“Yeah, sure.” Ochaco reached out, pleasantly surprised when Eri accepted her hold and even called her by her name-! Oh, her fur was really soft. “Oh no, you’re too adorable…”
The tiny girl’s eyes flashed brighter for a moment, before mumbling a small, “Th-thank you…”, the sweetest looks of awe written on her face.
Eijiro murmured as he looked over Ochaco’s shoulder, “Aw crap… I’m a sucker for cuteness…”
Later in the safety of the House, Todoroki Shoto found himself waking up without a memory of his escape. But he sure did recognize his two friends, not surprised in the slightest when Midoriya nearly broke his back with an insanely strong hug and stained his already pretty ruined prison ware with even bigger tears and heavy sobbing. Hell, he nearly teared up himself, and he knew he saw Bakugo tear up in the corner where he stood.
It was good to be home.
After getting changed into some of Midoria’s clothes, simple jeans and one of Midoriya’s sweaters, and enjoying some ramen, he looked over to Eri, who Ochaco put into one of Midoriya’s mom’s old pink shirts that were big enough to be worn as a dress on the tiny girl with a tail, along with one of Auntie Inko’s crocheted scarves, a bright cherry red one that covered her lower face, it was so big on her. She was currently clinging onto his friend’s back like a koala, refusing to let go of her dubbed “big brother”. “I see that Eri has taken a liking to you.”
Izuku blushed a bit, “Y-yeah. I guess she has.” He coughed into his fist, “I’ll admit… I’ve gotten attached too…”
“Yeah, no shit.”
Izuku cried out, “Kacchan!”, at his brother’s foul language, “No cursing in front of Eri!”
Eijiro joined in, “For shame, Bakubro, for shame. A real man does not curse when children are present.”
“Red…” Eri reached out and brushed at Eijiro’s dyed hair, before recoiling, “Pointy!”
“Haha, sorry, Eri! That’s from the hair gel.”
Ochaco deadpanned at him, “Still can’t believe you took the time to do your hair this morning…”
Before the two could bicker, Izuku turned to his reunited friend, “I still can’t believe you were on an alien spacecraft!” However, he was a little hesitant to ask, “What… what were you doing on there…? What happened…” He glanced at Shoto’s prosthetic, worry creeping into his mind.
Shoto also looked at his left hand, raising it up to look at it better. He rolled the artificial wrist, flexed his fingers… it feeling like a normal hand with fluid movement and not robotic whatsoever. “We were captured by hostile aliens. The Galra.”
Izuku felt his new little sister flinch at the mention of the race. He extended his arms and she clambered around to his chest so that he could hug her close instead. He sat down on the couch next to Ochaco, Eijiro taking the chair nearby and Katsuki deciding to sit on the barstool near him.
Shoto spoke of all that he could remember, not that it was much. He didn’t know why it all blacked out, but he remembered fighting in an odd gladiator ring, being forced to work as a slave… “But nothing comes to the forefront of my mind more than them repeatedly looking for something called Voltron , and that it’s on Earth.”
Katsuki again cursed under his breath, Ochaco still shaken at the thought of him being tortured and Eijiro being unable to process most of it. It was… all so surreal.
At the mention of the name, however, Izuku went rigid. The presence… it came suddenly in his mind with such a powerful impact to his head, he nearly heard ringing in his ears. The voice said nothing, no specific emotions… just recognition . “Voltron… I-I…” He didn’t pay any heed to the other’s in the room, not that he could , going over to the cork board. Eri had migrated to his back again, so he wasn’t that surprised when her paw stuck out and pointed at one of the pictures of the cave paintings. He grabbed it, pulling it off of the board. “… Todoroki, do you know what Voltron might be…?”
Shoto shook his head, only confused about Midoriya’s actions like everyone else in the room, “No, though maybe it’s a weapon?”
“Lion!” Eri pointed at the picture, making everyone go quiet. After all, how in the world did an alien know about African big cats? Again, she squeaked, “Black Lion! Voltron!”
Izuku turned his head to glance at her, “Eri… you know about Voltron?” When she nodded her head, he looked back at the photo. “… I know where this is taken. I’ve seen the outside cave.” And whenever he got close, the presence told him “Too soon … wait … ” , but now seemed like the time to try ignoring it if it tried stopping him from exploring again.
Everyone was quiet for a drawn out moment, before Shoto sighed, “Well, no use in not investigating it.”
“A-are we seriously doing this?” Ochaco stood up in spite of herself, her curiosity and adventurous side getting the best of her, “Are we really going to look for this Voltron?”
“Sounds… exciting , to say the least.” Eijiro threw his hands up in surrender to the mood shift, “I’m in!” He stood up, eager to see how everything played out, though he was still cautious about the whole ordeal. Someone was gonna have to be there in case they tried doing something too reckless without the voice of reason there, especially between Bakugo and Midoriya.
Speaking of Katsuki, Izuku glanced over to his life long friend, even if the latter was reluctant to call him that back, “Kacchan?”
Katsuki fumed for a moment, hating how everyone, including the half pint, all gawked at him like dumb, gaping fish. “ Fine … got nothin’ else better to do anyway.” He waved them all off, “Let’s go find this fucking weapon already and get it over with.” He pointedly ignored everyone, including IcyHot, shouting at him for cussing. “Calm down, the squirt’s not even from Earth. She doesn’t understand-”
Simultaneously, the other four shouted, “THAT’S NOT THE POINT!!”
“Deku, there was no map… how the heck did you find this place?” Katsuki growled, gesturing at the massive cave that was about a mile out from where the House was.
“You’d make fun of me if I told you!” Izuku chuckled as he ran forwards with Eri riding on his shoulders, sitting up on top of his backpack and holding his head as he held on to her legs. She finally began to giggle at his antics, happily screaming, “Faster!” repeatedly, which he obeyed to the best of his ability.
“Okay, this is pretty weird.” Ochaco muttered as the small group followed Izuku and Eri. She rubbed her upper arms under her teal jacket, “Does anyone else feel that weird vibe, or is it just me?”
Eijiro shook his head, glancing around at the seemingly desolate area too, “N-no, I’m feeling it too…”
“I’ve felt this energy before, I think… or something similar.” Shoto glanced up at the ceiling of the cave once they entered it, “It was less strong than this, though. That I do remember-?” He did a small double-take when he saw the carving of a lion in the wall next to him. “… how did the Natives here know about lions?”
“They did the same way Squirt over there knew about them, genius.” Katsuki snarked.
Izuku rolled his eyes, but his attention was drawn back to the biggest discovery he made so far, “Well, whatever is going on here, I’ll tell you what’s different… the fact that I’m able to actually come in to the cave itself…” He walked up to the biggest of the carvings, observing it in total awe for a good pregnant moment, before explaining himself to the others, “The energy here… it usually deters me away… I-I can’t really explain it right, like it’s this kind of… I dunno, presence . Not ghost, but… something .”
“No, I get what you mean… I think we all do, now.” Ochaco reassured him, chuckling a little as she spoke, “Honestly, I wouldn’t know what to call this, either!”
“I know: spooky ass shit, that’s what.” Katsuki nonchalantly ignored yet again the glares he got from the group.
Eijiro came over and patted Izuku’s shoulder, “Well, no wonder you were drawn out to the desert! Bro, you should’ve shown us this before!”
Izuku deadpanned, “Would you have believed me before?” He cringed, quickly waving his hand, “I’m sorry, d-don’t answer that…” He sighed, “I just… I’ve been dealing with this for years now. It was… very stressful.” His expression and tone only dropped more when he muttered, “I almost thought I had schizophrenia for awhile… I really thought I was crazy!”
“Aww, Deku…” Ochaco frowned as she came up close to provide what comfort she could. Just like Eijiro, she held his other shoulder-! She giggled when Eri’s tail wrapped around her wrist.
“Oh, shut up, moron. You’re crazy anyway.” Katsuki rolled his eyes as he begrudgingly followed IcyHot over to the pseudo group hug, ruffling the Nerd’s hair.
“Thanks, guys-” Izuku chuckled, sarcastically monotoning, “Gee, thanks , Kacchan,” before turning his attention back to the massive carving of a stylized, lion’s face-
Reaching out … “Touch … mark … carving … ”
Without hesitation, Izuku reached out and brushed away some of the dust from the ancient carving-!!
Purple, florescent light spilled out from within the cracks in the carved lion face, all around the other tribal carvings lighting up in the mysterious glow.
“Wh-what the Hell!?” Katsuki whirled around, backing up to the circle the group formed.
“What’s going on??” Ochaco cried out, yelping when another carving lit up right next to her, making her bump into Deku.
Before anyone of them could react, however, the floor below them lit up in an even stronger purple light. Without any warning, the floor began to crumble and crack, before it completely gave way. Like a slide, they slid down in the tunnel, Izuku holding onto Eri in a tight hug, Shoto utterly silent with fear plastered on his face- well, and mild annoyance from Eri’s scarf repeatedly smacking him across his cheeks, Eijiro falling backwards, Ochaco on her belly facing forwards and Katsuki trying to slow his decent by scrambling for any purchase his hands could find, though there was nothing but slick, cold stone. Except for Shoto, they all screamed and hollered as the smooth, winding tunnel took them down, down, down , far into the mountain side than they could keep track-!!
They all crashed into one another in a massive pile at the very end, save for Eri, who was sheltered by Izuku who took the brunt of the impact from everyone hitting him.
“O-ow… Katsuki, get your butt off me!”
“Give me a second to stand up, Round Face!!”
“Todoroki, are you okay?”
“I’m fine, Kirishima. I should be asking you that. I think I hit you with my left arm…”
Izuku sighed in relief when he heard his friends all talking. And Eri was giggling slightly in his arms. ‘Good, no one got hurt-’
A deep, rumbling growl tore his attention away from his own thoughts, the sound reverberating though what felt like his entire being. His head shot up- he scrambled to his feet with Eri in his arms still as he gawked up at the behemoth sitting before him and his group behind a spherical, segmented force field. He could barely register the others following his lead as they all stared dumbly at the massive, robotic lion that looked down at them.
“H-holy…” Izuku murmured, Katsuki finishing his thought with, “… shit.” Everyone agreed and didn’t bother showing their disdain of him cussing around Eri.
A deep purring echoed in the cave- no, in Izuku . It tugged at him, beckoning him, almost eagerly, for him to come forwards … “Long time … waited long time … ” it- he cooed.
“… g-guys, do you hear it at all?”
Everyone of them looked at Izuku, though any brief thought of him being crazy left. It wasn’t fair to call him crazy at this point. But, no one was going to lie, either.
“No, did you need to get your ears checked?” Everyone ignored Katsuki’s remark, which he expected.
“No.” Ochaco was a little disappointed, wanting to know what her companion was talking about.
“Nope.” Eijiro shook his head.
“I heard nothing, unless you’re talking about that humming sound from the energy field.” Shoto offered.
Izuku sighed, but it was hard to feel disappointed, especially when what was clearly the big lion’s voice was pushing him to come closer. “All this time… it was you driving me insane.” He squinted his eyes in a humorously annoyed manner, a smile blatantly betraying him. When the lion’s almost grin inside of his head bounced around his skull, he knew that the lion had no intention of apologizing talking to him.
The lion’s joy was infectious. Izuku, with Eri now on his back again, started running forwards to the massive energy shield. Right as Kacchan was starting to shout something about him getting sent flying from yet another force field again, the moment Izuku slowed down and rested a hand on the odd energy, the many segments fell away and deactivated.
“… okay, that was fucking cool.” Katsuki admitted.
“Hell yeah!! They just disappeared!!” Eijiro cried out, waving his arms in the air.
“Amazing…” Shoto whispered as he stared up at the mechanical beast, his desire to know how it worked itching in the back of his mind.
Izuku smiled ear to ear, voicing what the lion crooned to him, “You ain’t seen nothin’ yet.”
When the gargantuan lion suddenly stood up on its own accord and let out a mighty, overjoyed ROAR , even Izuku staggered a little bit in place. Makes sense, the very ground shook with the lion’s power. The beast backed up a little, before lowering his massive head. His jaws opened up and revealed a stairwell inside… and a deactivated cannon looking thing in the back. No big deal.
‘Yeah, you don’t mean any harm! Eh, big guy?’ When Izuku got a surprisingly soft purr in response, he continued to run forwards, eager to see what was inside, but not before shouting, “C’mon, guys!” He was happy when Eri began bouncing on his shoulders, sharing his excitement.
Katsuki took a moment, before grumbling, “Okay, cool. He’s completely lost it. Remind me to tell the gravestone maker to add ‘Got killed by getting eaten by a robot lion from space’ to his epitaph.” To further illustrate his point, as if he needed to, he slowly dragged his hand through the air in front of him as if reading a headline.
“Oh, knock it off, Bakugo.” Ochaco rolled her eyes, following after Izuku, “If it wanted to kill us, it would have already.”
Shoto shrugged, following after her, “She’s got a point. Though that was funny.” He gave Katsuki a little thumbs up as a sign of his approval… which he knew would only irritate Katsuki further.
Eijiro sighed as he was caught in the middle of the sparks going off between the two.
Once up in the cockpit, Izuku set Eri down as he took in the appearance. It was lit with purple and almost turquoise blue accent lights, the entire control panel lit up with various gauges and information being displayed. There was only one seat in the center of the cockpit, which made some sense.
“Sit! Sit!”
Izuku laughed, swatting at open air, “Okay, okay! I’m sitting, I’m sitting. Cool your jets.” He sat down in the surprisingly comfortable pilot’s seat-! Before he could ask Eri if she wanted to sit on his lap, the chair shot forwards, making him smack his head against one of the long controllers in front of him. He rubbed his head hissing, “You did that one purpose…” The chuffing coos he got in response, a laugh , told him that it wasn’t the first time he’s done that to someone. “Gosh, I feel bad for your other pilot…”
He heard Ochaco come in, “Who are you talking to, Deku?” She gave a low whistle as she gazed around the techno room.
“Oh, the lion. He is sentient, so…” Izuku still was rubbing his head, muttering, “If pulling pranks isn’t a show of intelligence, I don’t know what is.”
“Black’s funny.” Eri murmured from where she clung onto the back seat, having climbed up on it.
“Black…” Izuku went wide eyed, looking up at the ceiling, “Is that your name, big guy?” The affirmative rumble he got in response made him smile again, already forgiving the lion for the practical, yet slightly painful, joke. “Okay, Black. Nice to officially meet you.”
“Yo, what kind of name is that ?” Katsuki muttered as he and the guys shuffled into the now cramped cockpit. “It’s not a dog, Deku.”
“Y-yeah, well I’m not the one who named him!” Izuku cried out indignantly. He sighed, before turning back to the controls- with some direction from Black, he let his hand fly across the control panels, the lion standing up as the screen in front of them flaired to life, showing the lion’s view as he let out another excited roar that they could all hear. “Okay! Here we go…”
The group all stiffened, except for Eri who was bubbling with joy.
“Midoriya…”
“Deku…”
“Izuku…”
“Deku, you Shitty Nerd, don’t you fucking dare -”
Without warning, Black launched forwards the moment Izuku grabbed hold of the controls, the boy nearly having no say in the matter. The lion bulldozed through the mountain wall, cantering along the sand with overflowing glee as he roared and growled.
“Woah!! Easy, boy!!” Izuku squawked, embarrassed over not having any control over the beast… though he’d be lying if he didn’t enjoy it. He felt Black’s joy coursing through him, and it was a little addicting. Okay, very addicting. A laugh that was partially his own escaped him, thrilled to experience a sort of freedom he had never experienced before, definitely not to this grandiose of a scale.
“DEKU, KNOCK IT OFF!!” Katsuki screeched as he held a hand up to the ceiling, everyone except for Eri struggling with not falling over from the lion’s galavanting.
“It’s not me! Black is doing this all on his own! I’m just holding the controls!” Izuku shouted over his shoulder. Black suddenly cooed in his ears, before the lion launched up into the sky, beginning to twirl in the air and defy gravity. Izuku jerked on the controls and next thing he knew, Black was literally rocketing up towards outer space . ‘ … okay, now I’m a little worried.’ He looked back at everyone and with the most innocent expression he could manage, he chuckled softly, “H-hope no one left the stove on…? Heh heh…”
He wasn’t surprised when Katsuki smacked the back of his head in a dope slap.
“We die out here, and I’m haunting you in Purgatory.” Katsuki growled.
Ochaco cried out, “Where is Black taking us…? Why in space?” She looked out at the screen, still processing that yes, they were in space… via giant lion spaceship.
“Wait- how are we- is that Jupiter?? ” Eijiro pointed at the massive planet right as it flew by them. In just a few seconds, the rest of the outer planets zoomed on by… at speeds absolutely impossible to conceive.
Which only made Shoto even more impressed. “I need to know how Black works… this is utterly amazing…”
“Arcane power … deep life … ”
“I-I think… he’s saying… magic.” Izuku murmured, not really believing Black himself.
“… cop out.” Shoto muttered in response.
Izuku chuckled, before Black growled to him. “Guys, he says that there’s a ship up ahead-”
Before he could fully finish his sentence, a massive spacecraft, larger than any manmade feat in all of history, appeared before them after rapidly slowing down- hyperspeed . Something that should’ve been utterly impossible just happened before them, other than the fact that that was definitely Pluto they just passed, and with it, Kerberos -
Eri whimpered at the appearance while Shoto went silent, a different one than his normal stoic silence.
“Oh my gosh…” Ochaco paled.
“Holy crap !! That’s… that’s a big ship!!” Eijiro cried out.
Izuku let Black lead him in how to properly attack the spacecraft. “We need to lure it away from Earth…” He and Black flew over to the blindspots and in perfect sync together, they clawed at the sides, Black’s talons slicing through the metal like butter and causing a chain reaction of explosions as he laid down lazy curly cues. ‘Heh, guess that’s what happens when you live with the same voice in your head for, what, how many years?’ he asked Black.
The rumbling from Black felt like a soft smile, “Whole life … but mostly last seven years.”
“Huh, how ‘bout that.” Izuku chuckled, before refocusing on dodging and evading the shots fired at him and the now swarming fighter ships pouring out from the sides of the battleship. “Well, I think we made them angry-”
“YOU THINK!? THANKS, CAPTAIN FUCKING OBVIOUS!!” Katsuki shouted right into his ear.
“Ow, Kacchan.” Izuku deadpanned as Black began firing at fighters with his mouth and tail cannons.
“Dude, how are you even piloting this thing!? We’ve only ever flown in simulators !!” Eijiro also shouted, but more controlled than Katsuki.
“I’m not! Black is doing most of it, I already said that!” Izuku gestured to the controls with a tilt of his head. He turned his head back to the front, “Okay, buddy, get us out of here!”
As fast as the lion could, he rocketed forwards with insane speed. Sadly, it was only just enough to get a little bit of distance between the battle ship and them.
“Midoriya, they’re gaining on us.” Shoto spoke up with sternness, hoping that something would happen soon for them to get away.
“I know, I know…” Izuku frantically looked around, trying to come up with a way to save them, while purposefully ignoring Kacchan’s shouting at him to think faster, yeah, like that ever helps…!
Suddenly, an alarm popped up on one of the screens, garnering all of their attention. It served for a small heads up for the equally sudden appearance of a sudden gateway made of blue and black, pulsating and swirling energy. Black crooned that they needed to go through, but still, Izuku told his friends first, “Guys, that’s a portal. Black wants us to go through it-”
A very sick looking Ochaco (ah, yes… her weakness of motion sickness…) moaned, “I-if it gets us out of here, please .”
“YEAH, GET US OUT OF THIS HELL HOLE-”
“Bakubro, please…” Eijiro tried to get the explosive blond to calm down.
“Deku…” Eri whimpered, “I don’t want the bad man to hurt me or Big Brother Todo again…”
That was all the confirmation Black and Izuku needed. Izuku sighed, “Well, guess we won’t be celebrating summer on Earth tomorrow…” before slamming the controls down, spurring Black to go rocketing through the opened gateway, the portal end slamming shut right behind them and before the Galra ship could make contact as well.