#he didn't punch the wall. i may have gone too far. he keeps careful track of this he KNOWS just from that cue that he fucked up not just as

[hermitmoss]

dog motif this, i'm his guard that. can we talk about the disability i want to talk about how vimes knows vetinari's body in maybe the second most intimate way (being aware of what a disabled person's Situation is). everyone knows it's OOC for vetinari to ride off, but vimes says character be damned i don't think he could ride a horse. yes it's charged and sort of funny but in feet of clay when vimes wants to stay with him and it's transparently to tend to him - i can tell you there is nothing more truly an act of love than not for a second thinking you are a burden for your illness and impairment, just immediately wanting to shove everything else in your life off the table and be with you even if it doesn't do any good.

[adelior]

Name: Unconditionally

Author: R. Adelio

Genre: Romance, Minecraft, Comedy, Fluff

Main Lead: Technoblade, Dreamwastaken, DreamXD

Female Lead: Reader

Chapter: 3

Special Addition: Tchnomaid, Blob Dream, Accidental Marriage To Technoblade

Letters: 8,087

Tag: Territorial Behavior, Delusional Behavior From Wilbur, Wilbur Slowly Tipping Away Into Madness, Fluff, Possessiveness, Deep Kisses, Blob Dream

<- ->

Wilbur stood up, his fists clenching. You noticed the odd behavior coming from the brunette, it was unusual for him to look so stressed, and on top of that bothered. "Wil, what's wrong? You can't just lie to me if something is happening" You caught the way his fists tightened. "Don't worry, it's nothing."

He gave you a reassuring smile, turning to the door and leaving you behind with a questionable expression on his face. Wilbur looked pissed, but what could it possibly be that made him this distressed.

° ° °

"M-Mm.." You whimpered, eyes closed as the being kept exploring your mouth with its tongue. His eyes narrowed, enjoying the way your body reacted so naturally to his. "So obedient even in your slumber." The blonde complimented but stopped in his tracks when he sees a man in the corner of his eye.

XD quickly became defensive, hiding your unconscious body under his cloak. "What the.." Wilbur's eyes widened, teeth pulled back into a snarl. "LET HER GO-" The God chuckled, softly patting your head from above his cloak. "A mere human, ordering me to submit what is mine? How ridiculous." He said as he looked down, admiring your kissable lips.

"I'll fucking kill you if you don't let her go."

° ° °

Even thinking back to what he saw gave him the shivers. A God, specifically DreamXD being infatuated with a human? And not just any human, but it just had to be you, someone who he sees as more than just a friend. "Fuck." He cursed under his breath as soon as he exited your room. Once he was far away he punched the nearest wall. "DAMNIT."

"Wilbur..-?" Tommy's voice softened, he was about to call out to him but decided that maybe it wasn't a good idea. "What do you want Tommy?!" Wilbur screamed, stepping back once he realized that he had raised his voice. "Sorry, I'm just.. Stressed from all of this" He chuckled, stroking his bangs back with a sigh.

"That's.. fine? But enough from that man, what are we gonna do about the problem? We can't fucking contact Techno or Phil without actually going to where they are"

"Tommy, I'm well aware that it'll take days for us to get there but it's alright. As long as we resolve this problem we shouldn't complain about it."

"What about [Name]? Will we bring her along?" The kid asked, a hopeful look in his eyes. Soot knew how much Tommy wanted you to experience the world, more than anybody else. "We aren't bringing her, neither are we bringing anybody else. It'll just be us two."

"WHAT? Bro, I'm gonna fucking starve out there. Not to mention it's gonna be cold as fuck in that damn tundra." He complained, childishly stomping his feet on the ground. "Tommy, it's for the sake of everyone, for us. Now, will you join me or not?"

Tommy pondered but eventually gave in with a grumble. "Fine, we better stop by at Tubbo's place when we're heading out"

"Deal."

° ° °

"If you need anything just let me know," Niki said in a soft voice, pressing her hand against your neck, checking if you have a fever. "Niki- I'm not sick so it's okay!" Despite your words, she still looked somewhat puzzled. As if she couldn't connect something but was restricted to tell you. "Well, alright! I'll be at my cottage so just ping me whenever"

"Alright" You responded. "I'll make sure to keep that in mind" She smiled, turning to exit your room. "Is she doing okay?" Tubbo asked in a worried tone, earning a nod from the passing female. "Thank god.." Sighing, he walked in once Niki left the room. The goat hybrid came closer to where you sat on your bed, his hands behind his back.

"Tubbo?"

"Yeahhhhhh?" He dragged his words along, smiling happily as if he's waiting for you to ask what he was hiding, it made you laugh. "Haha, what's in your hand?"

"Oh, this?!" Tubbo happily revealed the flower crown, one that he crafted himself. It took a few hours, but he was able to pick out your favorite flowers on his way back during their exposition. "Wait... Is that for me-" He nodded, gently placing the flower crown on your head. "It suits you! I hope you like it"

"Like it? I LOVE IT TUBBO! Thank you! When did you even have time to make this?" You asked, earning a confident 'hah' from the boy. "I was able to pick out a few of your favorite flowers on our way back. I saw them so I asked Wilbur if I was allowed to bring them home"

Too sweet, you thought. Tubbo was a child who always looked at you with stars in his eyes. It was as if you were one of the many thousands of pulsars that adorned the limitless sky, something that he always admired. "Look I even made one for me, so now we match," He said as he showed his own, one that was decorated in yellow, black, and white flowers.

"How does it look?" Tubbo asked with a sheepish smile. "It looks amazing" You returned the same expression, causing the boy to laugh in satisfaction. "Fuck yeah!"

"Tubboooooooo" Fundy said as he peeked from the door, waving at both you and the male. "We gotta go out now, didn't you say you wanted bees for your bee farm?"

"OH YEAH!"

"Bee farm-" You stared at the brunette with a baffled look on your face. "Oh sorry I didn't tell you, but I'm planning to make a bee farm! I love bees"

Smiling, you waved both of them off. It was always nice to hear Tubbo express his liking for bees. You couldn't blame him for liking them, after all, they were cute when they didn't viciously attack you. "Man now I feel fucking old" You muttered, falling back onto your pillows. "Not to mention, everyone has something to do apart from me"

'Damn that just makes me seem like a freeloader' You thought in your head, smirking at how stupid it was. "Wait I could help farm the Nether Warts-" With that, you quickly changed your clothes and head towards the Nether Portal room. 'I could at least do this. And if I get caught I could just say that I'm preparing ingredients for future potions that I'll be brewing.'

You praised yourself, patting your hand against your right shoulder with a smug smile. 'I'm so smart'

Minutes passed, and you've been working away with growing the Nether Wart farm that's been installed beside the Portal. You managed to harvest at least a stack or two before you became tired. It was more tiring than you expected, but you didn't care. Being able to move around was better than sitting in a singular spot.

"Farming Nether Wart sure is tiring huh?" A male voice asked. "It sure is, takes a lot more strength to pull them out compared to normal crops." You replied, groaning. "That may be true but did you know you could easily harvest them if you heated the roots with lava?"

"Oh, rea- WHAT THE FUCK" You realized how familiar the voice was once your brain started to regain energy after all the moving. "You scared the shit out of me Clay-"

"My bad~" He smirked, pushing himself off of the Nether Portal that was.. lit again..? But how, how did the portal appear again? "Since when did that portal reopen?" You questioned, walking past the male who was outstretching his arms, expecting a hug. "How the hell is this..-"

"Rude, I didn't even get a hello how are you hug?" You glared back at him, nodding to the portal that you were curious about, silently telling him to explain himself. "I wanted to see you again, so I thought I should light it."

"Light it? Are you saying you were the one to destroy that portal in the first pla-"

[SLAM]

You stiffened in your spot, back pressing against the wall as you feel Clay's staggered breaths fan over your face. "You know... You should be grateful I came all the way here just to see you, on top of that with an.." He stumbled forward, body leaning over yours as he continued to breathe heavily.

"Hey, are you oka- CLAY YOU'RE BLEEDING-"

"It's fine." The man breathed out, lips dangerously close to your neck. "What do you mean it's fine?! Let me heal you with potions are you insane?!"

"Just.." His voice softened, body slowly getting smaller and smaller. "Let me rest.."

[POOF]

'Huh' You stood there confused, a gust of wind blowing in your direction. He was gone, and what was left was a white blob that happily pressed its cheeks against your neck. "What the- FU-"

<- ->

ec: @quacobs (instagram)

[alchemistbee]

Back in your Arms

「Five Hargreeves x reader」

Ask: Could you write a Five reader fic where y/n gets kidnapped by the Swedes and Five saves them. Thx

Words: 2556

Warnings: mentions of blood and torture. Kidnapping. Season two spoilers.

A/N: this is the first fic I’ve ever got requested. I hope I did it justice. I hope you enjoy! I know I took long to publish it, I apologize, school is kicking my ass. Sorry for grammatical errors. Enjoy!

[gif from @thisgameissonintendo ]

After having attended the horrific light brunch with the Hargreeves family, they were all feeling far more worse than when they had arrived. Five had explained to Sir Hargreaves each of their powers, Vanya had exploded a bowl of fruits, Allison rumored Diego, Diego got a very non-friendly slap of reality, Klaus seemed to have a seizure mid-dinner and Lurther confronted their father by ripping his shirt off in front of everyone.

In your opinion, it could have gone a lot better, but it could have also gone a lot worse.

Unlike the other siblings, Five had stayed behind and you had figured that it would be better to wait for him in the lobby. He was having a conversation with his father, whom he hadn't seen for over fifty years, he bet his ass you were going to wait for him. Especially after the horrible way he had spoken to the rest, you would be there for Five if he needed to. What you didn't know by then was that Five was trying to see if his father could tell him how to go back to 2019, one that didn't evolve making a deal with The Handler. Which, may I add, he hadn’t told anyone about, not even to you.

You waited patiently for Five, your back leaned against the wall while your arms intertwined in front of your chest. You counted the minutes that passed, not that you were in a hurry, but to hopefully make it seem like the time was passing faster. After almost twenty-seven minutes, the elevator emitted that one ‘bing’ it did whenever the doors were about to slide open. As you expected, it was Five, who now had his hands shoved inside his pockets and seemed quite puzzled. You asked him if he was okay, but Five only dismissed your question to tell you to go ahead of him to Elliott’s place. Apparently, there was something he needed to take care of, something he wasn't willing to explain to you just yet.

He knew that if he did tell you, you would either try to stop him or not let him do it on his own. Five didn’t want to drag you into Commission business. He found that not telling you of the plan all together was the easiest way to keep you from being in Commission's eyes, more than currently at least.

You nodded suspiciously towards Five, but did not push the subject any further. Maybe he just needed some time to let everything sink in, and it's not like you nor him considered the walk back to Morty’s dangerous. You could take care of yourself pretty well. You parted ways with Five, and walked back to Morty’s where you saw Elliott himself was just arriving too. He smiled kindly upon seeing you, to which you returned with a smile of your own. You had to be honest, you had grown to like Elliott more than expected. He was like that one cousin in the family, and you enjoyed hearing his rambles about any conspiracy he could think of. He truly was a sweetheart.

You followed Elliott up the stairs to his place, he carried a paper bag in hand, calmly telling you the things he brought back from the supermarket. You listened thoughtfully. Once inside. Elliott flickered the lights on and to both of your surprise, a cat sat in the middle in the kitchen. Elliott looked confused, but figured the cat must have somehow climbed in “Hey buddy, how did you get up here?”

He approached the kitchen casually, where he sat the bag down and looked at the cat as it meowed to him. You couldn’t help to feel your skin crawl. The nagging feeling of people watching you being present “Elliot?-” You turned your head to look behind you, swearing you had seen something lurking in the shadows. You averted your gaze back to him, now watching as he pulled out a tiny can of food for the cat and asked if it was hungry. You walked to the kitchen window, the one that let you view outside in case anyone was suspiciously close to the building. You saw nothing, but that was because you didn't know that they were already inside.

Your head snapped back to Elliot the moment a loud sound came from the living room, there you saw that one of the tall assassins had punched Elliott right on the side of his face. You felt your heart accelerate, and moved quickly to help him until you felt someone pull you up, stopping your tracks to help the man. The other assassin got a hold of you, if it hadn't been for your small body, you could have stopped the leader from hurting Elliott any further.

You saw the man try to scramble from his gun, but the other man was quicker to lift him up by the throat, asking the whereabouts of Diego. Upon receiving no answer, the man punched Elliott twice, this time letting his body fall harshly on the floor while blood dripped down his nose.

“Elliott!” You struggled under the second man’s hold. You couldn't move, you couldn't fight. The siblings were not even back and there was no way for you to contact them when the phone was this far “We don't know where Diego is! Leave him alone! He has nothing to do with this!” you pleaded loudly. The leader only shifted his gaze at you, studying the way your eyes flushed with fear. He was trying to figure out whether you were the one the woman had referred to not killing, you were merely a teen after all. Yet, not killing you didn't mean they could not use you for information.

After that little stare down happened, making you hope that maybe the men would not use Elliot as their little puppet..You were gravely mistaking. The man dragged Elliott through the living room, knocking over a lamp and breaking it before pinning him into the dentist chair violently. He kept asking for Diego, and Elliott is only able to answer with a “I d-dont know” while you keep battling for the second man to let go of you. At this point, you felt the tears welling in your eyes as you noticed him take the forceps, priding Elliott's mouth open and sticking them into his mouth.

“NO!” you cried out “ELLIOTT!”

Elliott’s screams filled the building alongside your pleas and cries, but as much as you told the men that none of you knew where Diego was, that didn't seem to make them stop. Not until Elliott’s body was drained from life entirely, the blood from his body splattered all across the floor and body. You couldn’t help the soft cries leaving your lips, calling his name out ever so softly in hopes of him still being alive but that’s when you felt a sharp pain come from the back of your head. The world turned black and your body fell not too far from Elliott’s chair after the second man got tired of holding you.

The brothers could use you. They could use you to lure Diego, the man they believed responsible for the murder of their younger brother.

The next day, after Diego and Lurther find Elliott’s body, they try to figure out who did this to Elliott. Diego believes it's the feds, but Lurther claims that was no work of feds but of a psychopath. Believing the words written below are a name, they search through the phone book until discovering the phone number linked to whom they believe is responsible for Elliott’s death; They phone the number up.

Five jumped into the building, quickly noticing the blood painted words on the floor, making him hurry up the stairs to meet Elliot’s body. He can feel a lump forming in his throat as he approaches it. There were clear signs of torture, there was something stuck into his left eye. Five couldn’t help to feel guilty. He liked Elliot, he was a good man, he had helped them and welcomed his siblings in without the slightest complaint. He had become one of them, and for that, his life paid the price.

Five followed the voices of Lurther and Diego through the kitchen, taking off his blue and blood dripped jacked as he heard the brothers threaten someone over the phone for killing one of them “Hey! It's Öga för Öga, idiots. Swedish for ‘an for en eye’. It means The swedes killed Elliott '' He didn't want to think how the missions went after his run; It was clear Diego and Lurther shared one brain cell.

“Wrong number, have a lovely day” Diego hanged the call, looking at Five and easily spotting the blood on his clothes “Uh, you got some blood on your clothes”

“A lot actually”, Diego added as Five pushed by them, entered the bathroom and turned the sink handle to let the water flow down. He grabbed a white towel, carefully washing the blood off of him as best as he could “I found a way home”

“What? How?”

“All the details are irrelevant but i made a deal to get back to our timeline”

“What about doomsday? And the 2019 apocalypse”

“won't happen. Everything will be back to normal” Five remarked exasperated “All right? No more questions. We gotta go. We have to find the other and get back in 77 minutes. Luther, you get Allison, Diego go get Klaus, I'll get Vanya, Y/N-“ he stopped his pacing all suddenly, eyes roaming the room and back to his younger siblings “Wait—Where’s Y/N?”

Five’s eyes widened as realization suddenly hit him and his siblings. He saw you last night, you were supposed to be here, why weren’t you here?

“They stayed after the brunch, we thought they were with you…” Diego, Five and Lurther shared a look, all of them now realizing that you had been taken by the men who killed Elliott.

“Dammit!” Five exclaimed angrily. He had just gotten a way back home, and you...You had been taken. How was he supposed to find you in such little time? He didn’t even know where to start.

“Calm down. Okay—We’ll find them—“ Diego started while Five started to pace around, muttering words under his breath “This was so simple. So simple!” He turned his head to look at them “I am going to go find Y/N, and get Vanya. We meet here as planned, this is our only chance to go back” Five raised his finger at them both before started to walk to the stairs, but stopped abruptly when he Diego spoke up once more

“You expect us to not help you—“ before Diego could finish his sentence, Five jumped from the small distance to right in front of his brother, raising his fingers with a threatening look “If you don’t do this, I swear I’ll kill you myself” he said more sternly “there's not enough time for all of us to go in a search, I’ll tell Vanya to meet up here. If i don't make it in time just go back home, I’ll manage a way back”

“How are you planning on finding them?” Was what Diego last said before Five teleported out of the building.

You woke up with a sharp breath. Your head was pounding and when you opened your eyes, you were welcomed with nothing but a blindfold on your eyes. You tried moving your arms. But soon found out they were tied down to your back while your ankles were tied against the legs of a chair “Shit” you muttered hoarsely, your throat was still dry from the crying. What the hell happened? Where were you?—

That’s when it hit you

“HELP! SOMEONE!” You tried to scream as loudly as you could, but considering the silence in wherever you were, you knew no one was coming to your aid. Strangely, the smell was like cat fur, and that was confirmed when you heard the several meows and the cat passing it’s tail over your leg.

How in the world were you going to get out of here now?

Five jumped all over town trying to find any clues, even the smallest, of your whereabouts. Even though he didn’t show it, he was extremely anxious and worried for your self being. He feared what the Swedes could be doing to you, or worst, what they had already done. The images of Elliott kept flashing back to him, and something in his stomach made him believe that if he didn’t hurry up, he would find you the same way.

He didn’t know whether it was luck or simple fate, but as he walked through the town he spotted the familiar milk truck that had followed them around for some instances. It was parked in front of an apartment, a quite small one, and Five knew that you should have been there. He kept looking down at his watch, counting the minutes they had left before having to go back to 2019.

They still had twenty minutes. He still had time, it was enough to save you and go back. At least he hoped so.

He watched The Swedes get in the truck, and without thinking it twice, teleported himself inside the cat filled apartment. His blue eyes roamed the place all over, scanning it for any trace of you until he heard a few knocks coming from a nearby closet. He didn’t waste time on pulling the door open.

Five’s eyes fell on you, and instinctively, you started to try and kick thinking that The Swedes were back again “Y/N!-Its me!-Y/N” he crouched down to your level, scanning your body for any signs of torture or harm. He sighed sharply, relieved to see that The Swedes hasn’t gotten their way with you. Gently, he reached out to pull your blindfold off. It broke him to see you like this.

Your eyes weren’t shining like they used to. They were completely flushed by pain, regret and fear “F-Five” you muttered softly, finding it hard to believe he had actually found you. You felt the ropes become loose on your legs and wrists, and the moment you had the chance, your body fell against Five’s. He held you firmly, worried that maybe you weren’t as okay as he thought you were. He was only relieved to have you back on his arms again, the place where he could make sure of your safety.

“F-Five—Elliott—I couldn’t s-save him” You started, tears stinging your eyes as you remembered what The Swedes did to the man “I c-couldn’t—“your shoulders shook alongside your small sobs.

“I know...It wasn’t your fault. I shouldn’t have left you” Five said softly, his arms slowly wrapping around you, hoping that would comfort you in the slightest “We have to go...I found a way back, but we need to go now or we’ll be stuck here forever” He pulled you up the ground, his thump caressing your tear stained cheeks while his free hand took a gentle hold of yours.

“You w-what? How?” You blinked twice, sniffing softly “Five, what did you do?”

“I’ll explain on the way...Let’s go home”

[primroseprime2019]

Darkness Rising- Part One

The sun's rays pierced through the clouds. On the road, a red Dodge Challenger drove down the road. "So there I am on the lookout when out of nowhere, these highlight beams light up my rearview," the red Autobot said, "and then it hits me. I'm illegally parked!"

"Another parking ticket?" A blue and pink Kawasaki Ninja 250R asked in a knowing tone as she drove down the road. "Better. The boot," the red bot said.

"Big metal tire clamp impossible to remove," the motorcycle said.

"Bingo! So the local police do their thing, and I let 'em get all the way down the back," the red bot said, "that's when I kick off my new shiny shoe and bang!" "New York's finest soil themselves," the motorcycle said, amusement in her voice.

"You know me Arcee," the bot said, "you mess with Cliffjumper-" "And you get the horns," Arcee said, earning a laugh from her partner, "not sure how that complies with Autobot rule number one: keep a low profile."

"What can I say? Patrolling out here in Dullsville gets lonesome," Cliffjumper said, "almost makes me miss the Decepticons." "Like Jasper Nevada's a party? We're alone wherever we travel on this rock Cliff," Arcee said.

Cliffjumper's GPS navigation system started going off. The screen changed from the road route to a sonar picture of the area he was in. "I'm getting a signal," he said.

"Need backup?" Arcee asked, alert. "Do I ever need backup?" Cliffjumper said before going off-road. At the highest speed, Cliffjumper sped towards the location. When he arrived, he skidded to a stop at the edge of a ditch. There were big and small dark blue energon crystals sticking out of the bottom of the ditch.

"I just found a whole lot of energon!" Cliffjumper said. A shadow suddenly loomed over the Autobot and the energon. Cliffjumper transformed into his bipedal form and looked up to see a large ship. "Decepticons," he said.

The Decepticon warship- or the Nemesis, as most called it- loomed over the energon. A gun-like blaster unfolded on the side and fired at Cliffjumper. The blast exploded at Cliffjumper's pedes, the force of the explosion sending Cliffjumper flying into the ditch. The Autobot warrior got on one knee as he looked up to see a few Decepticon troops flying out of the ship and landing near the edge of the ditch.

"Arcee... about that backup," Cliffjumper said, "fair warning boys. I'm gonna put a few dings in ya." He transformed into his vehicle form and drove up the wall of the ditch before he flew off it, transformed into his bipedal form and began to fight the Vehicons.

◊◊◊◊

"Arcee to Optimus! The 'Cons are back. Cliff might be neck deep in scrap," Arcee reported to her leader, Optimus Prime. "Understood," the Prime replied, "Ratchet, do you have Cliffumper's coordinates?"

"I'm locked onto his signal Optimus," Ratchet said as he drove through a snow-covered area, "but our teams are scattered across time zones."

"Arcee, Bulkhead, Bumblebee, Firestorm, Primrose, rendezvous back to base and prepare to ground bridge," Optimus ordered.

◊◊◊◊

Cliffjumper was having a rather hard time fighting the troops. The odds weren't in his favor now as the Decepticon troops punched him hard. One punched him hard enough to send him flying back into the ditch and the punch sent one of Cliffjumper's horns flying off.

Cliffjumper got to his pedes. "You want the horns," he said, unlocking his blasters, "you got 'em." With that said, he began to shoot at the Decepticons, taking one of them out before the others started to fire back at the red Autobot. Cliffjumper dodged the shots before the energon exploded, the force of the explosion sending Cliffjumper flying into the wall.

As the smoke drifted into the air, two Vehicons dragged Cliffjumper to the warship.

A silver and dark grey Seeker stood in the command center. "The energon," he said bitterly, "it's worthless to me now." He turned to see the Vehicons dragging in a nearly burnt and beaten Cliffjumper.

"Scream... been a while," Cliffjumper coughed, "so... where's your master?"

"Nevermind him!" Starscream snapped, "I am my own master." With that, the Seeker slammed his digits into the left side of Cliffjumper's chestplates. "Any last questions?" The Seeker growled.

Cliffjumper let out a weak groan and when Starscream pulled his claws out, the Autobot fell to the floor limp.

Starscream stepped back, "clean that up."

◊◊◊◊

Once the Decepticon warship flew away, a ground bridge opened. Firestorm, Bulkhead, Arcee, Bumblebee, Primrose and Ratchet jumped out, their weapons out. Optimus came out last, his blasters out.

"An untapped energon deposit," Optimus said. "What's left of it," Bulkhead said.

"The first Decepticon activity we've seen in three years," Ratchet said. "That we know of," Firestorm huffed.

"If the Decepticons are scouting for energon, they may be preparing for his return," Optimus said gravely.

Primrose, Arcee and Bumblebee bounded down the wall of the ditch and to the bottom. Primrose looked around before she froze as she saw something.

Arcee followed her gaze and widened her optics. It was Cliffjumper's horn. She scooped it up into her servos, "no." Optimus walked up beside her before he looked to Ratchet, "Ratchet, can you track his position?"

Ratchet opened a mineature computer in his wrists. "No... Cliffjumper's signal... just went offline," he said gravely. Firestorm widened his optics.

"No," Primrose whimpered, "no." Arcee wrapped her arms around the young Prime, feeling despair in her spark.

◊◊◊◊

Starscream stood in the command center. A slender Decepticon Seeker with black and purple colors and a visor silently walked up to the other Seeker.

"Soundwave," Starscream said, "what is it?" "Like Jasper Nevada's a party? We're alone wherever we travel on this rock, Cliff," Soundwave recorded the conversation between Arcee and Cliffjumper before the red Autobot's death.

"Ah, the one called Arcee," Starscream said with a smirk, "why slay one Autobot when we still have the advantage of surprise?"

◊◊◊◊

"We must not allow our anger over the loss of Cliffjumper to impair our judgement," Optimus said as he and his teammates stood on the roof of the silo, "as of today, only we seven Autobots remain on this Earth. We owe it to ourselves, to the memory of Cybertron, to any Autobots in any galaxy seeking safe harbor, to humankind."

Primrose knelt down and placed a rose next to Cliffjumper's horn. "And we owe it to the memory of our fallen comrade to survive," Optimus said and he looked to Arcee, "Arcee."

"If Cliff's gone, standing around here sulking won't bring him back. So unless anyone minds, think I'll get back to protecting humankind," Arcee said bitterly as she walked away before she transformed into her vehicle form and drove away.

"Optimus, helping humans will only result in more tragedy," Ratchet said. "Your opinion is noted," Optimus said with a nod.

◊◊◊◊

In the busy part of Jasper, Nevada, a sixteen year old boy was working at a local fast food restaurant called KO Drive-In.

He had raven black hair and deep blue eyes. "Welcome to KO Drive-In where every patty's a knockout," the boy said in a bored tone, "may I take your order?"

"Uh, two super combos, extra fries," the customer said. "Okay, dos numeros twos," the boy said as he prepared the order, "anything else?"

"Yeah," the customer said, "some advice. How do I get an awesome job like yours?" Then the sixteen year old boy heard laughter in the background and his eyes narrowed.

"So that's two we're-not-as-funny-as-we-think-we-are combos with a side of bite me," Jack sniped.

The customer laughed before he realized what Jack had said, "what you say?"

"5.59, sir," Jack said, "at the window." When he said that, he turned away as the customer drove up, grabbed the bags and drove off, laughing.

"H-hey! You have to pay for that!" Jack said. However the customer didn't get far as a fourteen year old girl stood in the way. She had midnight black hair, light brown eyes and she didn't look happy.

"I suggest you pay my friend- even though I don't do violence, would you rather have your precious car vandalized?" The girl asked with a smirk.

The customer quickly backed his car up and paid Jack before he drove away. Jack gave the girl a thankful look, "thanks Paige."

"No problem Jack," Paige said with a soft smile, "you coming outside yet?"

Jack laughed softly and he nodded.

Arcee drove down the road, almost getting lost in her thoughts. She hadn't meant to leave her teammates behind.

Cliffjumper's death was really hard on her. First it was Tailgate, now it was Cliffjumper. Something caught her attention and she shifted her side mirror and saw two Vehicons driving after her.

"Twins," she said to herself before she sped up and drove over to the restaurant. She drove into a spot and watched as the two Vehicons drove past.

"Take five Sadie," she said once the hologram of the motorcyclist disappeared and she turned off her engine.

After a few moments, Jack walked out of the restaurant and his phone started to ring. He took it out of his back pocket and answered it. "Hi Mom," he said, "I just got off. No, I'm not going to the dance. Experience says I should never cut a rug; unless it's stolen carpet."

Paige smiled at Jack as she walked up beside him. She saw the motorcycle and went over to it.

"Be careful? Seriously? This is Jasper," Jack said with an amused smile. He paused in mid-step when he saw the motorcycle. "I love you," he said dreamily before he realized he was still on the phone, "uh, yeah, Mom. Love you too. Gotta run." He hung up and he hurried over to the motorcycle.

"Hello, beautiful," he said, "where have you been all my life?" Paige chuckled slightly as she looked the motorcycle over curiously. She squatted down in front of the motorcycle and gazed at it's headlights.

Something felt strange about this motorcycle. She didn't know what it was but she could almost feel it's presence surrounding hers. She could feel it's emotions.

She looked up at Jack as the sixteen year old mounted the motorcycle. "It may take a few KO paychecks but I am gonna own a ride like you someday," he said.

"Are you talking to your motorcycle?" He and Paige looked to see two girls laughing.

"U-uh, to my motorcycle? N-no," Jack stuttered, "but- to you, I am." He pressed his palm to his forehead in embarrassment, 'lame.'

"Smooth Darby. Smooth," Paige said with a slight smirk, earning a light glare from Jack. "So how's things, Sierra?" He asked the girl, "take you for a spin sometime?"

"C'mon, smooth operator," Arcee whispered as she kept her side mirror on the two arriving Vehicons, "wrap it up." Paige looked at Arcee for a moment before she sat behind Jack and placed her hand on his shoulder.

"You know my name?" Sierra asked. "We're in home room together," Jack said, "I'm Jack. Jack Darby." Lights shone in the teenagers' direction.

"Scrap," Arcee hissed. The two Decepticons drove towards the group. Sierra and her friend ran away. Arcee started her engine and drove towards the Vehicons. Jack shouted in fear. Paige shut her eyes tightly in fear and shock as Arcee sped past the Vehicons and she drove out onto the road.

"Do not let go," Arcee said to Jack and Paige. "Who said that!?" Jack shouted, freaked out.

"Commander Starscream, target sighted, acocmpan by two human youths," one of the troops said. "Destroy them all!" Starscream ordered.

When Arcee had Jack and Paige safe in an alleyway, she finally stopped and let the two off. "What are you?" Jack asked, stepping back.

"I don't exist," Arcee hissed, "tell anyone about me and I will hunt you down."

Paige widened her eyes slightly before she ran away with Jack quickly following. Arcee drove out of the alleyway and the Vehicons drove after her.

One of them turned down the alleyway. "Scrap!" Arcee said. In the process, she jumped over the oncoming vehicon before turning the corner. In the alley, Jack and Paige were running. Jack grabbed Paige's hand so she could keep up.

"We don't even know her!" Jack shouted at the Decepticon that was chasing them. "What do you want with us!?" Paige shouted.

Arcee drove past the Decepticon and up beside Jack and Paige, "hop on!" Once the two did just that, Arcee sped ahead of the two Vehicons.

Once Arcee was on a highway, the Decepticons followed in pursuit and started to shoot at the Autobot femme.

"Why are those guys shooting at us!?" Jack asked nervously. "There's no us, kid," Arcee said firmly, "and there are no guys."

Bumblebee joined them on the highway and rammed into the Decepticons. After skidding around the highway a little bit, Bumblebee regained control and immediately went to follow Arcee.

"Friend of yours?" Paige asked curiously. "Family," Arcee corrected.

◊◊◊◊

Under the bridge in Jasper, Nevada, a young boy was racing a toy car around by himself. As he had fun with his remote control car, his phone rang, which he immediately answered.

"Hey Mama," he said, "racing right up the street. Okay. Just five more minutes?" He hung up and started to drive his toy car around.

Arcee drove over the bridge and landed a few yards away from Raf who dropped his remote in surprise. "Whoa," he said.

"You have no idea," Jack sighed. Raf walked over to Jack and Paige. Paige got off of Arcee's vehicle form and let out a breath of relief.

The sound of revving engine caught the kids' attention as the two Decepticons drove over to them. Paige widened her eyes slightly and she pulled Raf close protectively.

Arcee transformed into her bipedal form. Jack, Paige and Raf hurried to the side.

"This ends here, Cons," Arcee said and she charged at the two Vehicons. That's when the fight started.

"Wh-what are they?" Raf asked. "Talking cars that turn into robots," Jack said, "or the other way around."

Arcee punched one of the Vehicons multiple times, "this. Is. For. Cliff!" Her punches didn't seem to phase the Vehicon as he looked at her.

She stepped back before she started to dodge the Vehicon's blaster shots by doing backflips. There was one she couldn't dodge as one of the shots hit her right in the abdomen, sending her skidding back across the ground.

The Vehicons walked towards her only to stop when Bumblebee jumped down and attacked the two. He punched the closest Vehicon next to him before he kicked the other away. He walked forward until there was a loud crunch under his pede, causing him to pause in surprise. Looking down, he lifted his pede and saw Raf's crushed toy car.

"Sorry about that," he said, looking to the kids. "No problem. Really," Raf said.

Suddenly Bumblebee was shot, the force of the shot sending him flying back and landing on the ground. He pushed himself up only for one of the Vehicons to slam their pede on the back of his helm. The scout turned towards them and they aimed their blasters at him.

"No!" Paige shouted. "Leave him alone!" Raf shouted angrily. Bumblebee and the vehicons turned towards them.

"Please?" Raf squeaked. "Bad call," Jack said. One of the Vehicons walked towards the three. "Go! Go!" Paige exclaimed and she quickly ushered Raf to run ahead with her and Jack quickly following.

The three climbed into a storm drain and continued to run as the Vehicon reached towards them. Suddenly the Vehicon was pulled away from the storm drain. Bumblebee peeked into the storm drain. "You kids alright?" "Thank you," Paige and Raf said in unison.

"No problem," the scout said before he quickly left to help Arcee.

"Don't look back," Jack said. "What did we just see?" Raf asked. "No idea and I'm not sure I wanna find out," Jack said.

The fight between the Decepticons, Bumblebee and Arcee continued. One of the Vehicons punched Bumblebee hard, sending him flying back next to Arcee who quickly knelt down to help the scout.

The Decepticons walked towards the two Autobots only to stop when a green Lamborghini LM002 drove towards Arcee and Bumblebee. He transformed into his bipedal form, standing beside his comrades, "who's ready to rumble?"

The Vehicons looked at each other before they transformed into their vehicle forms and drove away.

Bumblebee bent forward, placing his servos on his knees in exhaustion. Arcee looked to Bulkhead, "what took you?"

"Traffic," Bulkhead said with a shrug.

◊◊◊◊

At the base, Arcee was explaining the events to Optimus. "And the Cons would've been scrap metal if I wasn't distracted by the human," she said.

"Human?" The Prime repeated. "Two boys and one girl," Bumblebee said.

"I guess the other one caught us in action? I don't know. Was a little busy at the time," Arcee said, crossing her arms over her chestplates.

"If the Decepticons are targeting us, anyone perceived as our ally will be at great risk," Optimus said. "Well this will be interesting," Firestorm said, leaning against the wall.

◊◊◊◊

At the school, Jack walked down the stairs and he looked towards Raf and Paige who waved at him. Jack hurried over to the two, "guys, hey. Look, let's just forget this ever happened okay? Keep this between us?"

"I honestly doubt that'll happen," Paige said and a honk caught her and Raf's attention. "Jack," Raf said happily.

"Oh not again," Jack groaned as Bumblebee drove up beside them and opened his door.

"You two, get inside," he said. "It wants us to get in," Jack said.

"No. Just me and Paige," Raf said. "How do you know that?" Jack asked, surprised.

"He said so," Paige said. "What!?" Jack gasped. "Yours is over there," Raf said, gesturing to Arcee who was parked on the other side of the street.

"Yeah, I really don't think-" "How's it going?" Raf asked as he and Paige climbed into Bumblebee's venicle form.

"Wh-hey! Stop!" Jack protested but Bumblebee was already driving down the road. The sixteen year old boy frowned before he sent a glare towards Arcee and walked away.

A fifteen year old girl sat on the stair, drawing a sketch of Arcee. "Coolest bike ever," she said. Her phone rang and she picked it up. "Host parents? Ignore," she said with a huff as she closed her phone and continued her drawing.

When she looked up, Arcee was gone. She groaned in disappointment before she saw the motorcycle drive down the road. She quickly got up and ran to follow it.

In an alleyway, Arcee drove up and stopped in front of Jack. "Relax. I just want to talk to you," she said.

"Don't you mean you and your new friend?" Jack asked. "Kid, there's a lot you don't understand," Arcee said, making Sadie disappear.

"I get it, I get it," Jack said quickly, stepping back, "the first rule about robot fight club is you don't talk about robot fight club." He turned and started walking away and much to his dismay, Arcee began to follow him.

"What you need to understand is that I don't want any crazy, talking robots following me around trying to get me killed!" Jack snapped. Arcee transformed into her bipedal form, kneeling down, "look. Jack, is it? Your personal safety is exactly why Optimus Prime requested your presence."

"O-Optimus who?" Jack asked, confused. "You may be in danger because you are one of the few- one of the only who have ever seen us," Arcee said.

"Dude, what're you waiting for?" They both looked to see Miko standing next to the corner, looking excited. "Go with!" She said.

"Scrap," Arcee sighed.

◊◊◊◊

Arcee and Bumblebee drove down the road. Miko was cheering loudly in Jack's ear, much to his and Arcee's annoyance.

"And why exactly are we bringing her?" Jack asked. "Rules," Arcee said. The two Autobots drove down the road and sped past the stop sign.

"Whoa!" Jack yelled in surprise and fear. A rock slab slid down and the two Autobots drove into the base. They drove down a tunnel and into a large room.

"Whoa," Jack and Miko gasped. "Cool," Raf said. "Amazing," Paige said.

Bumblebee stopped and Raf and Paige stepped out of his vehicle form, allowing him to transform. "I thought there were three," Ratchet said.

"Haven't you heard? Humans multiply," Arcee said sarcastically. Paige looked at Arcee then at Firestorm and Primrose.

"I'm Raf," Raf said to Miko. "I'm Miko," she said as she ran up to Bulkhead, "who're you?"

"Bulkhead," Bulkhead said nervously. "Are you a car? I bet you're a truck- a monster truck! Do you like heavy metal? How much do you weigh? Ever use a wrecking ball as a punching bag?" Miko asked eagerly.

Primrose chuckled softly. "So if you guys aren't robots, who made you?" Raf asked. Ratchet scoffed, "puh-lease."

Paige couldn't help but frown and she tensed up when there were heavy, rumbling footsteps. She turned to see Optimus Prime walking over to them.

"We are Autonomous Robotic Organisms from the planet Cybertron. Also known as Autobots," he said. "Why are you here?" Jack asked.

"To protect your planet from the Decepticons," Primrose said as she walked up beside Optimus.

"The jokers who tried to bump us off last night," Arcee clarified. "Okay... why are they here?" Jack asked.

Optimus knelt down so he could be a comforting sight to the humans, "a fair question, Jack. In part, they are here because our planet is uninhabitable; ravaged by centuries of civil war."

"Why were you fighting a war?" Raf asked. "Foremost, over the control of their world's supply of Energon, the lifeblood of all Autobots and Decepticons alike. The combat was fierce and endured for centuries," Optimus said, "In the begining I fought alongside one who I considered a brother. But in war, ideals can be corrupted. And it was thus that Megatron lost his way."

"Is there gonna be a quiz?" Miko sighed and she grunted as Paige lightly elbowed her in the arm.

"So what does Megatron or any of this have to do with us?" Jack asked.

"Megatron has not been seen or heard from in some time," Optimus said, "but if his return is imminent, as I fear, it could be catastrophic."

◊◊◊◊

"Those transmissions are aminating from deep space. I would hate to waste the Energon," Starscream sighed, "unless you are absolutely certain." Soundwave nodded his helm in confirmation. Echo looked at her brother then at Starscream.

"Then lock on transmission coordinates and activate the space bridge," Starscream said.

◊◊◊◊

In the darkness of deep space, a space bridge opened up. In mere seconds, a silver and purple jet flew out of the space bridge and transformed into his bipedal form.

"DECEPTICONS! I have returned," Megatron said with a triumphant grin.

[dominaecaede]

Tomorrow Never Comes

Chapter 7 results: 88% chose to move quietly

〘 twitter 〙

The following story will have themes such as blood, gore, situations that may cause anxiety and major character death. If you are sensitive to any of these, please do not proceed.

[Additional warning: needle mention]

Chapter 8: Regret

Shouto peeked above his cover that he'd taken from a lab sink and observed the akuma before ducking down again. His heterochromatic eyes looked up at Bakugou and the others.

"We have to move quietly," he whispered. "If we shoot them all down, that will only trigger a hoard. This isn't a videogame, Bakugou."

"Tch." Bakugou clicked his tongue and peeked up to also see his surroundings. "Don't you think I know that?"

Deku rested his chin on his fingers as he began to think of a route. His eyes lit up in success. "There are other wash stations in the lab that we can use for cover to catch our breath. We'll have to be very careful. I'll lead."

Shouto nodded in which prompted the others to do the same. Deku peeked up once more to see if any akuma were around before proceeding. He lead the group down a path that seemed more clear towards the right of the room and everything was going well. It wasn't long until they were in front of their teacher's cage doors. A surge of confidence surged within the greenette.

"Almost there...!" He whispered.

Before he began creeping towards the cage again, there was a sudden slam coming from the group's proximity. It alarmed them, but when Dabi hushed them, he peeked up from their cover to see what was going on. Guns suddenly began firing, immediately forcing Dabi back down. From the corner of her eye, Uraraka can see almost every akuma go down with no effort and adrenaline made her heart pump rapidly. When the firing ceased and the creatures stayed dead, the sound of rapid footsteps were soon to follow.

"Coast is clear," a firm male's voice spoke out, sounding as if he were wearing a mask.

The sound of heavy footsteps soon took over their eardrums. Each step echoed within the walls of the lab. It wasn't hard to figure out that whoever made those footsteps was wearing heels. A feminine chuckle followed, and Aizawa grunting in distaste.

"Looks like you made a few friends while you two got comfortable," the voice spoke, obviously to the two men who were stuck in cages. "How are you two holding up?"

"Is that supposed to be a trick question?" Aizawa grit his teeth. "Your taunting is annoying me. I'd rather be sleeping than listen to you any longer."

"Oh, Shouta. That'll soon be arranged but it's best to not get too excited," the woman chuckled. "You two have - or should I say, had - powerful quirks. Your transformations are something worth seeing."

"Transformations...?" All Might coughed. Izuku winced at the sound as he kept listening to the conversation. "What are you planning to do with us? You know what, it doesn't even matter. Just don't hurt the students..."

"I'm touched. However, I can't promise anything. I'm sure your students know how much you care. After all, they're not very slick."

The hand of one of Clearnox's security grabbed at Bakugou's shoulder and the stronger figure yanked him up, making the blonde stand. Deku shot up automatically in panic.

"Kacchan...!"

When the greenette turned his head, his eyes widened a bit. There stood before him was a woman with short wavy blonde hair and alluring tangerine eyes. She had a seemingly polite smile but the expression in her eyes contradicted any sign of kindness she might've shown. The woman was surrounded by four armoured soldiers, including the one having a hold on Bakugou. Three of them were masked. The only one who didn't wear a mask was towards the woman's right side, and he looked like the kind of villain you'd see in an action film. The soldier's vests had Clearnox's symbol embedded into it. Deku immediately recognized who she was from all the news he's watched and realized his mother was right about having doubts.

"Yuna Hana...," Deku muttered as he raised his gun at the woman. He wore an intense expression, his emerald eyes watching her every move. "Let him go."

Yuna's empty grin smiled as she walked towards the blonde, who was trying to fight his way out of the tight grip with an angry expression much more different than usual. She stopped in front of him and pulled up the touch screen pad she was carrying.

"Bakugou Katsuki," she read from her screen. "Student of UA High School... Placed first in the sports festival? Impressive."

"Let him go!" Deku shouted again but was completely ignored.

"Let's see... Birthday: April 20th... Quirk: explosions? Interesting..." She continued to scroll on her touch screen before putting it away and reaching to grip his jaw. "Not that bad looking, either. He'd make a fine addition."

Bakugou yanked his jaw from her grip and attempted to bite her hand. "Piss off, lady."

Yuna had reacted in time, letting out an amused chuckle. "Your feisty attitude will come in handy, too. Take him to quarantine."

"No!" Aizawa had shouted from his cage. Deku aimed his gun at the soldier walking away with Bakugou and almost pulled the trigger before another one landed a punch on his jaw with brutal force, knocking tbe greenette down. Dabi had gotten up from his cover and threw a butcher knife conveniently found next to him towards the soldier who had the blonde. The knife plunged into his arm and he screamed, letting go of Bakugou. The blonde used this to his advantage and began beating him up before shooting him with his shotgun. Shouto and Uraraka stayed down but it wasn't like they weren't doing anything. The firing gave a distraction while the two-toned haired boy was thinking of a plan.

Bakugou had rushed back to Deku's side and aimed his shotgun towards the woman, the greenette doing the same.

"Let my teachers go," Deku said firmly. "I'm not afraid to shoot you."

The blonde woman chuckled. "A kid acting big and bad. That's cute."

"A fucking bullet in your face will be cute, too," Bakugou snarled.

The woman's eyes grew emotionless, her empty smile fading. A sigh escaped her lips before she simply turned towards the door she came in from. "Maybe," she finally responded. "But your chance to shoot me hasn't come just yet."

"Wait, what is she doing...?" Uraraka muttered. She was following Shouto, who was creeping towards one of the soldier's standing guard next to the cages. Shouto hushed the brunette as a response.

However, the two were stopped in their tracks when they saw Yuna holding up her watch that she wore on her wrist. She pressed something on it, they were too far to tell what it was, but a loud noise was heard from behind them. When Uraraka looked behind her, she could see that a hoard of akuma were headed their way.

"...! Shit...!" Shouto muttered.

The other boys soon noticed the hoard coming and fell back. "Fuck...!" Bakugou shouted.

Dabi didn't waste any time. He began shooting the two other soldiers through their masks before they could react. He aimed his gun towards the woman, but she was unfortunately already walking through the door with the only unmasked soldier.

"Dammit...!" Shouto spat. "We have to get the teachers out of the cages before that hoard gets here!"

"Already on it!" Uraraka nodded and ran towards the metal bars. The lock was a heavy one, and she didn't have enough time to look for a key so she found another way. "Stand back, you two!" She told the teachers. Aizawa and All Might stepped as far back as they could as Uraraka got her gun out and shot the locks. She hastened to open the cage doors and helped them out, however, All Might stumbled a little. Uraraka helped him up and the man smiled kindly towards her.

"Did you have an escape route planned?" Aizawa asked the group.

"We have to head back towards the elevator," Uraraka answered while she had All Might's skinny arm wrapped behind her neck to keep him up. "Yuna blocked the other way out."

"Then let's go!" Deku nodded.

The hoard of akuma was already charging at them and Bakugou shot some of them down to hold them off. Luckily the elevator wasn't too far ahead, but before they could all enter, All Might stumbled again.

"A-All Might...!" Deku shot back and rushed towards him. "C'mon, we're almost there!"

All Might wheezed. "Sorry... Looks like those soldiers landed some pretty rough blows on me."

Deku looked down and noticed that the white shirt All Might was wearing was tainted red. He knew his teachers were in bad shape but it's only now that he's seeing just how bad the damage was. All Might was stabbed in the stomach twice and cut up pretty bad on his arms and cheeks, along with bruises to his face and neck. Deku was horrified.

"What did they do to you...?" He whispered.

The group had gone ahead and was holding the elevator door open. They were ready to go back to the first floor until they saw that Deku was with All Might. Shouto immediately ran towards them and took one of his arms.

"Come on, we have to go. I'll help him up!" He told Midoriya.

"N-No...," All Might answered. "I'm too badly injured. I'll just slow you all down."

"All Might, you gotta try! Come on!" Deku had taken his other arm to try and hold him up. When they began running again, the teacher had only stumbled again. The panic began clouding the greenette's mind.

"No no no... Come on, we're almost there...!" Shouto heaved and pushed on.

It took a huge effort, but both boys had managed to carry All Might into the elevator. Aizawa saw how close the hoard was getting so he closed the door before they could get to the group. Uraraka sighed in relief, and Shouto and Midoriya helped All Might sit down on the ground of the elevator and rested his back against the wall.

"He's in awful condition...!" The brunette gasped. "Did they do that to him?!"

Aizawa grunted. He gripped his side and sat down. "They tried to torture us until our minds b-broke."

"Why?" Dabi raised an eyebrow.

Aizawa looked up at Dabi, then raised his eyebrows at Deku and the others. No words were needed to see that their former homeroom teacher was confused why a villain was helping. Deku only nodded, and that was enough.

"All Might and I overheard the guards talking," he began. "F-From what we heard, they were going to try and turn us into those freaks and Yuna was going to oversee the whole operation."

"And why the hell would she do that?" Bakugou asked.

"All I'm thinking is that maybe it's because of the kind of quirks we had. Otherwise why else would she take us?"

Shouto listened as he began thinking. His eyes lit up and he turned his gaze towards Midoriya. "Mutations..."

Midoriya blinked in confusion at first before realizing what he meant. Shock fell before him. "The quirks people used to have determine how mutated the experiment will become... That's what happened to Shigaraki! The reason why he looked like that was because he had a strong quirk! If Yuna was trying to turn you into those things..."

"... Then she was trying to mutate us," All Might wheezed out. "B... But why?"

Aizawa blinked. "And how did you even come to that conclusion, Midoriya? You went up against Shigaraki Tomura while we were gone?"

Midoriya nodded. "Dabi was helping us get better equipment that happened to be located at the League of Villain's hideout. We found a very deformed akuma and fought it, but we soon found out that it was Shigaraki. He was fast, too. Looked like an insect..."

"Gave me the fucking creeps," Bakugou shivered.

Aizawa blinked again and looked down. "That's insane..."

The elevator binged to it's stop and the doors opened to a familiar hallway. Bakugou helped All Might up while Midoriya lead. The group wasn't too far behind.

"This way," the greenette called out.

They reached the familiar set of stairs that lead back up to the trap door. Slowly they crept out and looked around to see if the coast was clear before continuing on their way. Shouto closed the trap door when everyone was out and let out a sigh.

"Alright, we should head back to the others and get All Might patched--"

His speech was interrupted by one of Clearnox's soldiers gripping him and covering his mouth. The others immediately got defensive and got their guns out.

"Todoroki-kun!!" Uraraka shouted in worry as she began firing at the soldier holding onto him.

"Uraraka-san, be careful! You could hit Todoroki-kun!" Midoriya spoke out.

Shouto was wriggling in the soldier's arms and trying to kick himself free, but the sound of a helicopter interrupted everyone's thoughts. The helicopter landed just in front of the group as Yuna Hana appeared from the industry's entrance.

"This is the one we need," she spoke out to the soldier. "I took the liberty of researching information on this little group. He's the son of Endeavor and Todoroki Rei. No doubt he had a strong quirk. Take him."

"??!!" Shouto made an angry muffled noise and continued to fight the strong grip holding him. His constant wriggling opened a window and he bit the soldier's hand hard. The masked individual winced and landed a hard punch to the dual-toned haired boy, making him cough out a little bit of blood.

"Icyhot!" Bakugou shouted and pointed his shotgun at the soldier, but Yuna Hana shook her head at him before he could even pull the trigger.

"I wouldn't try that," she told the blonde boy. "My men might use your friend as a shield."

Bakugou grit his teeth before noticing the other soldiers pointing their guns at the rest of the group. Shouto was weakened from the punch but he still pressed on. He wriggled some more and grunted in frustration, and this only made Yuna sigh. She walked over to the captive boy and pulled out a syringe she had in the purse she carried.

"I didn't want to use this, but you leave me no choice, young one."

She gripped Todoroki's hair and pulled it to the side to make his neck exposed before inserting the needle into it. The effects were quick and he began feeling drowsy, but even so, he fought to keep his eyes open.

"That should calm him down. Bring him in. We'll go to the center of operations," Yuna ordered.

Midoriya felt panic grip his bones. He began running towards the helicopter while gripping his weapons. Whatever that was in that syringe was strong. Shouto's vision began getting cloudy as he tried to lift his head up to see his friend. All he could see was a blotchy figure with a green head.

"Mi... do... riya...," He muttered quietly before becoming unconscious.

"No...," The greenette whispered as he watched Shouto being put into the flying vehicle. The helicopter began flying up before taking off. "TODOROKI-KUN!!!!!!" He screamed.

He heard the clicking of the other soldier's weapons and anger spilled into his veins. He screamed and began shooting at all of them, his eyes glowing with a rage that made Bakugou jump. But even so, it made the group join him. Midoriya showed no mercy as he shot every one of them down. They landed a few bullets into his arm and leg, but he didn't feel the pain over the adrenaline talking over. When the last soldier was down, Midoriya didn't even stop. He began kicking and stomping the body's face into the ground until the face wasn't even recognizable. The body's blood was even getting on his pants. Uraraka rushed towards him and took ahold of his back, holding him close while closing her eyes painfully.

"D-Deku-kun, that's enough...!" She spoke out.

Midoriya didn't seem to come back to reality until Uraraka's hold made him stop. He began shaking and tightened his fists. He knelt to to the ground and slammed his fists on the gravel, finally letting out a scream he held in. The group couldn't tell if he was crying but they weren't about to judge him. Bakugou walked up to him and put a hand on his shoulder, gritting his teeth in anger while looking up towards the direction they took their friend. All Might slowly trudged towards Deku and gently petted his head to calm him down. Both Dabi and Aizawa looked towards the direction Bakugou was.

After a moment of silence to allow the greenette to calm down, Aizawa spoke up. "We have to patch up All Might. Let's go to the others-"

"No," Midoriya interrupted. "You all go ahead. I'm gonna go get Todoroki-kun back."

The group shot up a look. "By yourself?! Are you crazy?!"

"Look, I'm going!" He stood up, making Uraraka let go of him. He began walking towards the helicopter's route. "You're either with me or you're just in my way. I don't care what you choose."

Of all the irritating things he could say that would irritate Bakugou, this one seemed to take the cake. He stomped towards him and gripped his arm.

"Oh hell no, this isn't the time to act like a reckless hero, shitty nerd!" He shouted. "We all wanna save Icyhot but we need to get All Might to safety first. Your ass is coming with us whether you like it or not!"

Deku shot back at him. "What, and stall time while they're doing god-knows-what to Todoroki-kun?! No way! I'm not failing him like how I failed saving you before!"

Bakugou gripped his teeth and didn't hesitate to sock his childhood friend right square in the jaw. It knocked him down, as to be expected from the force. The blonde knelt down and gripped Deku's shirt to make him look at him.

"You're irritating as fuck, Deku, but that crossed the damn line!" He shouted in his face. "How are you gonna save him if you can't even save your own first?!"

"That's why I said to go on ahead without me!" Deku shouted back, not caring to wipe his bloody lip.

"To hell with that! We're in this together and I'm not about to let you die without me making it happen first!"

Deku tightened his lips. Bakugou looked at him angrily before letting out a frustrated sigh. He let go of Deku's shirt before standing up. "You know what? Fine. Go. Go and play hero and get killed. But don't you fucking dare think for one damn minute that I didn't try and stop you."

Bakugou began headed back towards the group but he stopped in his steps and looked back at Deku, who was still on the ground looking at him.

"You act like we're just abandoning Icyhot. We're not that fucking stupid," he put his hands on his waist. "But we're not that smart, either. That's why if you want to actually save him and not get killed, we need time to think of a plan. You of all people should know this."

Deku looked down and furrowed his eyebrows. Bakugou had a point. He can't just swing in there recklessly. But still, the more time they waste, the more Shouto would be closer to being dead. Or worse: mutated. His train of thought was interrupted by the sight of Bakugou's hand reaching out towards him.

"Look," Bakugou started again. "We need to make sure our group is secure and we need time to think of a plan. But one thing's for sure: we're gonna shoot those damn doors down. We're gonna shoot their fucking skulls in and we're gonna save that half n' half bastard. We'll teach them not to fuck with us, but first, you need to use your damn brain. It's the only thing you're good for. So come on. Get your ass up."

Should he:

• Take Bakugou's hand?

• or save Shouto now?