Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

They had been cruising through the Centaurus Arm and Katsuki knew it would be another two weeks before they were even close to Orion’s Spur. Katsuki reclined in his chair, bored out of his skull. This trip was super uneventful.

It’s not like he was hoping for danger either, but everything had gone so smoothly. They were now entering into an even more remote part of the galaxy, courtesy of the paranoid git they were working for.

There was zero chance of anything eventful happening here. Pirates weren’t a possibility, not with how far away they were. Everyone avoided the area because of how empty it was. There was a reason this part of space was labeled a Dead Zone. There were no resources, no planets, not even a slight threat of a meteorite field.

There really wasn’t anything to see.

Hell, that would have been a little bit more interesting if they had to manoeuvre through a meteorite field, but Katsuki knew that he couldn’t even justify that action with the cargo he was carrying this time. Because Katsuki didn’t have just any job. He managed to land an elite job at the government as a security official for the Intergalactic Federation of the Milky River.

Usually this meant patrolling areas and responding to resource stations, but every so often they would get a real kicker that ruled out all other responsibilities. As of right now, they were charged with cargo duty. This wasn’t a simple cargo job of shipping fuel and space rocks either. This was legitimately having the responsibility of carrying a planet’s futures in tiny microchips. With new sectors being built up on the far ends of the galaxy, communication had gone back to the stone age. Information and data had become an expensive service and the pay for information security and transport was astronomical.

Now while this is not exactly the job he had signed up for, he had most certainly busted his ass getting here. He needed to be a master pilot, be in peak physical form, top grades, resourceful, skilled engineer, multi-linguist, sharpshooter, the list could go on.

The applications for this job were in the millions and only 50 candidates were chosen each year. 50 candidates for the entire Milky River.

Katsuki had gotten in on his fifth try.

Being part of the security force meant an exciting career, open doors to all corners of the Milky River, and a wage that was unfathomable to some. But it wasn’t even the pay that drew him in. It was what the title meant and it was fucking worth it.

Sometimes.

Right now, he was experiencing the drawbacks.

He took the job because it was exciting and important. But the unfortunate truth was the job was often not nearly as exciting as it should be. Even with the intense training, the actual encounters of danger in space were limited. There were the occasional crackdowns of pirates and malicious gangs, but most of the time it was monitoring reports, or giving organizations and governments an extra sense of security.

Right now, they had dealt with new safety measures in one of the newly stationed planets, and the prime minister there had wanted to discreetly deliver information to the Federation because of a worry in corruption. It was not Katsuki’s usual job, but it was marked as a top priority. So in hindsight, if Katsuki was going to make this job exciting, then he would obviously not be doing his job right. Not while he was carrying important documents and future plans for world building and negotiations.

Katsuki sighed again and checked the monitor, they were approaching star G-367. It was the only source of actual light and it would be the only thing that would register on their monitor for another week.

“Man Katsuki, if you keep sighing like that our trip is going to drag on for another hundred years,” Taiga scowled, munching on his disgusting choice of dried meats.

“This trip already feels like a hundred years, so that wouldn’t make much of a difference. Fuck, this is painful.”

Taiga grinned knowingly, “We can’t be shooting at pirates everyday, you psycho.”

Katsuki couldn’t help but allow a grin as well. While Katsuki had busted his ass for an exciting and prestigious career. Taiga Kariage had gotten in because he figured the opposite. He was hoping to get a desk job, but he done so well in his training that they had bumped him to onsite physical duty. Taiga had whined that he was aiming for a cushy retirement with the pay and was not expecting to get ‘promoted’ to this field of work. He figured there was no point in complaining now since he’s a new hire, but he was definitely making connections and accommodations to getting his ideal desk job.

Katsuki hated the idea of partners for these missions and sometimes depending on the project they would enlist up to 10 security officials. Katsuki hated most of them, as they were either annoying, incompetent, or only there because of ‘Daddy and Mommy’s’ power connections. Sometimes there were a combination of all three.

Taiga was tolerable at least. It was nice to have another descendant of Japan and Taiga was efficient in his duties. Though Katsuki did think he was squandering a lot of his potential with his lazy fucking attitude, he was easy going, and probably was one of the few people willing to partner up with Katsuki.

Katsuki may have made a couple of enemies within his workplace, but that’s only because people were sensitive cunts. Katsuki knows someone had tried to make a complaint about his ‘hostile’ attitude in the past. Which is bullshit because most of his coworkers in senior positions were pampered little shits that mentally combusted when they realized Katsuki wasn’t planning to kiss ass.

But flying through a Dead Zone was making him reconsider what was worse to deal with.

Katsuki sighed again, “Do you mind taking over monitoring business, I’m fucking tired of looking at the screen and I want to take a nap.”

Taiga offered a lazy smile, “Tired or bored?”

Katsuki just grunted, “Does it make a fucking difference?”

They switched spots and Katsuki nestled himself into the other chair. Honestly, he wasn’t tired enough for a nap so he kept his minds busy with his eyes closed. One of the things required for this job was mental fortitude. It made sense because they were dealing with dangerous and stressful situations, and some people couldn’t manage the nothingness of space. Katsuki had never been weak. He was also very good at keeping his mind busy. A quality Katsuki excelled at was maintaining routine and creating tasks and jobs that needed to get done. He went through the list of ship maintenance that was needed, hoping that would keep his mind busy, while he organized his to-do list.

“Oh shit.”

Katsuki grunted, not appreciating the disturbance.

“Katsuki, you need to look at this.”

A soft pinging noise was heard and Katsuki frowned as leaned forward to check the monitor.

A monitor specifically for picking up distress signals.

Fucking great.

No job was perfect, but something Katsuki despised about the work was having to report any wreckage, distressed, or abandoned ship, whether they were in the inner or outer parts of routes. Because of the immensity of space, nothing could be overlooked. That meant a fuck ton of checks, paperwork, and overall headaches.

He clicked his tongue, “Are they in range for a connection?”

Taiga shook his head, “Looks like they are circling sun-G37, probably caught in its gravitational pull.”

“Goddammit,” Katsuki hissed, as he quickly overrode their ships auto pilot.

“I’m getting closer and hopefully we’ll get a better connection. Did we get any other information?”

“Yeah, there’s a sent screened message in New English.”

“Fucking perfect, I hope we’re not dealing with people from Earth. What did the fuckers say?”

“Just says that there’s an engineering problem. They need a new combustion chamber or a cooling agent to fix theirs. Someone overlooked stocking backup equipment and resources.”

“Cooli- don’t they fucking have extras? What’s the point of having mandatory emergency protocols if they are not going to bother to bring aboard replacements, let alone having one for a fucking emergency?”

“Katsuki.”

“What?”

“The message was sent out almost a month ago.”

Katsuki’s anger dissipated. He narrowed his eyes, “And they haven’t sent any other messages out after that?”

Taiga remained grim, “No.”

Bakugou remained silent, running his tongue behind his teeth.

So they could be facing a Graveyard Case.

“Fuck, well just because these people are too stupid to bring aboard cooling agents, doesn’t mean they wouldn’t have brought rations. You can last a month on rations. Fuck a ship is supposed to have rations and air supplies to last for 6 months. And the hell are they doing so far out of the system anyways?”

Taiga didn’t answer, but he nodded his head indicating he was listening. Bakugou let him continue to scan the message as he crossed his arms. The case was strange. Either the people were real fucking stupid, or they had run into some trouble. But how could trouble have chased them so far and into a Dead Zone of all places? Most ships avoided Dead Zones for the fear of being stranded with no hope for resources or help. Government crafts were one of the few ships that were efficient enough to endure isolated space, but most government aircrafts avoided the spots as well.

The Prime Minister had wanted to minimize interactions with other ships because of the information they were transporting, but it was a surprise to both Taiga and Bakugou when they were asked to move through the outer systems for discretion.

“Says here they are a carrier for REVELmineralium,” Taiga tapped on a different monitor, disrupting Bakugou’s thoughts. The monitor came alive, showcasing different ships active in the last month. “Looks like their vehicle is registered by the Federation, though it looks like the company has gotten away with carrying an outdated model. Company is clean in every other regard, they transport minerals, big surprise,” he muttered sarcastically.

“What the hell is a mineral ship doing all the way out here?” Katsuki repeated to himself.

Taiga scrolled through the rest of the message, “They said there were pirate warnings in the inner routes, so they thought they had a better chance on the back outer routes. My guess is they got lost.”

“Fucking great. They all must be real fucking proud of themselves now. Instead of hiring extra security, they decided to run into a Dead Zone with no fucking emergency shit.” Katsuki ranted.

Taiga smiled, “Want me to go if we need to do an investigation?”

Katsuki really did.

But he slumped forward, exhaling again, “No. You took the last two. It’s only fair that I go and do this one.”

Taiga shrugged, “Suit yourself. I do know how much you love friendly socializing and easing the minds of the people.”

Katsuki’s lip twitched.

He really hoped this wasn’t going to be a case where he would have to disembark and mingle with mineral morons. Katsuki also half wished Taiga could come with him, but an absolute rule was not to leave the important cargo unattended. Even just to examine closer, someone must stay with the government cargo at all times.

If, in the worst-case scenario, Katsuki had to embark on the ship, Taiga wouldn’t be able to get close and provide Katsuki support. Missions including the security of data were at first priority, even if that meant abandoning the investigator. It was to ensure minimal risks to the cargo, in case the distressed ship was compromised in any way or if it was a hostile. Honestly, in this case it was highly unlikely that this was a hostile situation because it would be idiotic if pirates had commandeered a ship and was now lying in wait in the outer systems hoping to come across a vulnerable ship. The chances of coming across anything way out here, was… well, it was stupidly lucky that Katsuki and Taiga had found this carrier ship at all.

“Are we in better range yet?” Katsuki asked impatiently.

Taiga frowned, “We should be. But there’s no sign of open communication links.”

“Maybe it’s broken, or maybe they’re trying to conserve energy,” Katsuki assured clapping Taiga’s back, sensing his growing unease. Katsuki was sure that if they were out here for a month, they might have abandoned certain parts of the ship to conserve oxygen and energy. Most ships were designed to have the control room and the communication controls in the same location, but this was an older modeled ship which Katsuki bet had a lot of dysfunctional quirks. This whole situation seemed to be built upon incompetence.

Katsuki went to the visual monitors to check on the telescope.

 A tiny speck, barely visible. Katsuki couldn’t make out anything else, but the ship didn’t seem to be emitting any light and there was no indication of floating debris. It was just suspended there, no signs of anything else in the remoteness of space

“Nothing still?”

“No, nothing. You sure you want to go, man? This seems really weird. We should be in range for close distance communication, but there’s no sign of activity.”

Katsuki snorted. “I’m faster with the cruiser than you, so I’ll be quick.”

“I meant weird overall. Something doesn’t sit well with me.”

“I highly doubt it’s a hostile case.”

“No, I don’t think so either…” Taiga trailed off, biting his lip.

They couldn’t afford to waste time. The sooner they got the investigation cleared, the better.

“Well, the only other options are a Graveyard Case or a dumbass case. My bets are on a Graveyard Case if the morons forgot to bring cooling agent, but that’s out of our hands,” Katsuki stated bluntly and Taiga’s expression soured.

“Taiga, we have to be realistic. If they’re not answering, there is a chance someone's alive, but most cases like this do turn out for the worse.”

“I mean, I know. I was thinking the same because no one is responding,” but Taiga’s face remained concerned. Katsuki didn’t refrain from rolling his eyes. Of course, there was always dangers in investigating, but Taiga’s never got so antsy before and it was starting to piss him off. It’s not like he’s never seen a Graveyard Case before.

“I’m going to get changed and start loading up the cruiser with cooling agents, just in case there are people still alive,” Katsuki announced as he got up from his seat.

“If there’s people, you might want to load up on food, water, and oxygen,” Taiga remarked as he glanced back at the monitor.

“Yeah, I fucking know.”

This was going to be a fucking pain that would most likely put them behind a couple of days. While the Federation was forgiving to a couple of weeks delay, Katsuki was fucking punctual and hated side detours… unless it was something a little more exciting.

He stripped off his usual sweatpants and tossed his shirt to the side. If there were stragglers, he would have to present himself in his fancy white Intergalactic Federation uniform. It wasn’t nearly as comfy as his casual clothes, as everything was fitted, but the uniform was one of the ultimate symbols of authority and prestige. He pinned his nine-star badge and strapped on his boots and belt with the stunner, before heading towards the loading dock. Katsuki used the PALrobots to begin loading equipment and crates of supplies into the cruiser, as well as the fucking cooling agents and his own emergency equipment. Because unlike the mineral morons, Katsuki was always bloody prepared.

Before heading out he checked up on Taiga for any updates.

“Well?”

Taiga shook his head, “Nothing man.”

“Good, then this will be fast.”

“It’ll probably be a day trip to get there.”

“Got it.”

“Hey, Katsuki.”

Taiga’s usual face of ease was replaced with a serious one.

“If there are people on board, they might need help. I can’t get closer because of the package on our ship. If anything happens, I’ll have to leave.”

Katsuki snorted, “The fuck you giving me a pep talk for? I now the drill. No hard feelings, it’s what we signed up for.”

“I know, but… I don’t know I just find this weird.”

“Not really, this stuff happens all the time.”

“I know, but we’ve never had a case where the ships were so far from the main routes.”

“Well, it’s not like it has never been documented before.”

“I know but we have never had a case like this. And it just feels… off.”

Katsuki rolled his eyes, he went over to smack Taiga on the head.

“You’re relying too much on feelings, and not enough on logic. I’ll cruise around to see if there are any stragglers. If there are, fucking whoop-de-doo. I give them their rations and tell them how much of an idiot they are, and then we report this to the nearest station so they can get an emergency airship to them if the cooling agents don’t work. If not, easy. I fly back and we tag the site as a Graveyard Case, so when we report this, some other fucker gets to fly back and deal with the wreckage.”

Taiga’s face remained unchanged.

“Fucking relax, Taiga. I’m built for this shit.”

“I’ll circle for a week, that should give you a chance to stick around if they need you for longer. If they’re still alive.”

Katsuki shook his head, “You’re breaking protocol and a week’s going to put us further behind schedule. If I’m not back in 3 days, that means it’s a code black, and you have a duty to get your ass back to Central to report that.”

“A week, Katsuki. I’m sure they will understand. I’ll take responsibility.”

Katsuki just shrugged. “I’m going to be back sooner anyway. My bets are still on a Graveyard Case.”

Taiga’s face didn’t ease up, but he nodded. “I’ll be on the close communications link until you get closer to the ship.”

“Sure,” Katsuki said and then turned to wave, “We’ll see each other soon.”

Katsuki made his way back to the loading dock and made his final preparation of gearing up in his IVA suit while stuffing his EVA suit into the cockpit. Hopping into the cruiser, Katsuki locked the systems and monitored the machines.

“Good luck,” he heard Taiga say through the speakers and Katsuki just shook his head at how mother hen Taiga got all of a sudden. The lights from within the cockpit flared into their usual warm soft glows, and the soft hum of the machine began as he prepared to launch himself from the ship. The loading dock depressurized, and he watched as the doors opened up to realm of stars. Propelling the cruiser forward, Katsuki entered the abyss.

…

Several hours. Several hours and Taiga had not shut up in the communication link. Taiga had kept in contact as promised, and Taiga was making a real bitch effort to keep the mood ‘lighthearted’ with his singing and stupid space games. A bit of Katsuki was relieved, because it was weird to see Taiga all serious. He was the old Hollywood example of cracking jokes in danger, so it was out of character of him to be so worried. They had definitely faced worse things together.

But the trip itself wasn’t bad. Katsuki loved flying the cruiser. It had a sleek design and was faster than any non-governmental cruiser could ever hope to be. Taiga had also finally grown quiet, and Katsuki placed bets that he got bored with his worrying and was now watching holographic porn or some shit, because he had the ship to himself. And that was fine. Flying with purpose in the cruiser was a good break and it was definitely one of the benefits of this job.

He was also closer to the ship now.

He could see it clearer through the visual telescope. It was an old hunk of metal, with the outer mossy coloured paint being stripped off, a sharp contrast to Katsuki’s unblemished smooth white cruiser. He peered at the monitor and saw that there was light coming from the carrier ship, but it was flickering.

Well that wasn’t a good sign.

Katsuki itched to just tag the location as a Graveyard Site, but Katsuki was thorough and professional. He was beginning to prepare to slow down when he heard static on his message receiver.

“HE-LL…”

….

Katsuki blinked as his message receiver crackled again.

“HE-LL-O?”

Chapter Text

Katsuki froze as he heard the receiver crackle again.

“He-LLO?”

Katsuki pulled the receiver “Hello?”

“OH! Th- OD! CAN – HeAR US?”

“Is this the REVELmineralium?

“-ES!”

Katsuki glared at the receiver.

“Why haven’t you responded to our contact?”

“Main Tran-sMitter -DeaD. On- COnt-ACT Small RaNGes.”

Katsuki drummed his fingers on the control board. He was really not expecting this.

Like, it wasn’t bad that there were survivors, but he had been prepared to just circle around and attach a tracker to the ship. Make it somebody else’s problem. People on board meant a whole other procedure and a fuck ton more paperwork.

“Is there anything I need to be aware of? Is it safe to embark on your ship?”

“-Pen. aIR Lo-ck. We- EASE!”

Katsuki rubbed his face. He had a lot more questions.

Had there been casualties?

What supplies were they missing?

What was the state of the ship?

Was anything else malfunctioning?

But trying to talk through broken communication was annoying. Katsuki opened up communications connecting to his government ship, hoping to get in contact with Taiga.

“Hey Taiga. I lost the bet. There are people on board. I have no idea how many. Seems like their ship is falling apart.”

Silence.

Katsuki frowned and tried again, “Taiga. Are you there?”

Nothing.

That was strange, even if he was sleeping, which Katsuki really doubted when he was the one all antsy about Katsuki leaving, their communications should be linked throughout all the communication systems on the ship.

Katsuki tried again, “Hey Taiga!”

Static erupted through his receiver.

“Kats? Wha- c’t? I-terfe-…”

Katsuki felt his heart leap.

Interference? The cruiser and the ship had state of the art communications. There shouldn’t be any interference. It made sense that he was having troubles communicating with a shitty transport ship, but not with his own government ship.

He didn’t like this. He didn’t like being cut off from the main ship. Having Taiga understand as much of the situation was important… and comforting.

He had a choice. He could circle back and see if he gets better reception or push on forward. While it was important to keep other officials up to date when dealing with distress calls,

Katsuki hated inefficiency more and it would be a waste of time to go back with the cruiser already loaded full of resources.

Making up his mind, he flicked on the receiver again.

“Hello? I’m from the Federation. I have emergency supplies.”

“Gr-AT! OpEn Do-rs!”

At least they seemed to understand what he was doing here, but Katsuki really didn’t want to interact with these people.

This won’t take long, Katsuki reminded himself.

He’ll document as much as he can, dump their shit, and be on his way. He gave himself three hours tops.

Bringing the cruiser closer, he could see the massive doors leading to the airlock. The doors looked like crude jaws, as they opened ready to swallow him. The cruiser slipped in like a fly entering through a vast open window. There was an alarm that sounded, a warning that the doors would be closing. Katsuki watched as the doors closed behind him, cutting him off from the outside world and encasing him in harsh fluorescent lights.

A second air locked door opened as he entered deeper into this dysfunctional ship. He glided the cruiser through what he assumed was their warehouse, as it was filled with PALrobots, Indoor and Space Forklifts, and crates all organized in neat little rows. He landed gracefully and waited for the okay to open up as the warehouse depressurized and let oxygen flow back. Uncomfortably, he stripped off his IVA suit so he would be presenting in his white uniform.

The receiver sparked to life again.

“Hello! Can you hear us more clearly now? We’re so happy to meet you!”

“Sure,” Katsuki dismissed as he made sure his boots were done up. The voice sounded young, like maybe the guy was in his early 20’s.

Katsuki paused for a second.

We? How many people were going to ‘greet’ him?

“Okay, you can come out now!” His receiver broke through, crisp with sound.

He opened his cockpit, readying himself for whatever meetup was going to be presented to him.

He was not ready to be confronted with a dozen crew members, presenting themselves with one of the oddest expressions.

They were all looking at him expectantly. They all had the cheeriest expressions on their faces, like Katsuki was indeed their saviour. And like okay, people were sometimes excited to see officials from the Federation. Kids usually. But the room had a dozen adults, with not a shred of professionalism in their expressions.

They were smiling.

Not timid smiles that Katsuki received on occasion, but full out, stretched smiles that showcased their teeth. One lady looked like she was practically vibrating, while another guy had clenched his hands so hard into a ball his knuckles were white.

An odd reaction was an understatement. This was beyond strange and there was something unsettling about the fact that they all had mirrored expressions in their matching high collared grey, blue or green uniforms. They all seemed to be copy and pasted from one another. Their expressions showing no hint of individuality.

Uneasily, Katsuki climbed out of the cockpit. He stuck out his chin and scanned the faces, waiting for someone to speak.

No one said a word. They just kept smiling.

He really did not take this job for his people’s skills.

Katsuki lightly brushed against his holster, making sure he had his stunner clipped on. He might have been a little optimistic to think they weren’t hostile just because they were government approved, but like hell he was going to let a bunch of extras intimidate him. Especially since it was their own dumbass decision that stranded them in a Dead Zone in the first place.

Using his ‘authority voice’, he demanded, “Is the Captain here?”

“Yes! That would be me!” A woman approached, looking like she was in her late thirties. Still young considering her position. She had a tanned weathered skin and looked like she had red highlights that were receding to reveal her naturally dark peppered hair.

“My name is Katsuki Bakugou, I work for the Intergalactic Federation of Security, specifically under the sector of Orion’s Spur. My colleague and I picked up on your distress signal.”

“Oh wonderful, Katsuki. That’s an Asian name, correct? From Earth?”

“I’m not from Earth,” Katsuki dismissed bluntly.

The Captain went and grabbed his hand, “Oh I see. My name is Fran Chevalier. I’m also not from Earth,” she giggled, shaking his hand vigorously.

“Right…” Katsuki answered slowly.

This was… not typical behaviour. He’s seen people act weird in distress, that was normal. Nervous laughter was a thing. Anger, crying, mental breakdowns… humans processed stress differently. But this? The fact that everyone was mimicking the same behaviour of intense smiling was weird.

And they were all staring at him. No one had moved or had broken eye contact. No one’s smile relaxed even a little bit.

Katsuki had to physically retract his hand from her, but no one seemed to be bothered by the interaction. They all kept smiling.

Right… get in, get out. He told himself.

“You needed supplies, right? How many people are on this ship and were there any medical emergencies?”

“Oh! No, we are all healthy,” the Captain bobbed her head, “there is currently 37 of us on board. No problems here!”

 37…. That was a low number for a transport ship this size. And no health problems? Crews usually have a couple of mental health problems during times of crisis, and Katsuki knew there should be at least a couple people who would not be able to handle the idea that this ship would be their coffin. Space work usually meant trying to find tough minded people, but there always a couple that broke.

Maybe she didn’t want to say more in front of the crowd?

“I have food rations and cooling agents. Also, I’m not your mum and I’m not your superior, but that was really a dumb decision that you guys came this unprepared, flying on the outer routes.”

“Oh that’s so thoughtful. Thank you, are you hungry now?”

“No,” Katsuki said, resisting the urge to take a step back. Something was definitely off. Being isolated and drifting around a sun for a month without the guarantee of hope might have started messing with their heads.

Space Fever and all that.

It would be best to leave quickly and report their strange behaviours. Even though they had the cooling agents now, he could still contact an emergency crew and maybe they could drop off a therapist or something.

“I’m going to drop off the stuff and then head out. You just needed the cooling agents, right?

Her smile faded automatically. Actually, all their smiles disappeared at once.

Okay, that was fucking weird.

“You’re not staying?” She asked, her voice very quiet.

“What? No.”

Were they trying to be creepy? Their united expression theatrics looked practiced. The timing was too perfect for it to be a coincidence. No one said a word. They all stared at him, the smiles now gone. Damn, he really should have taken Taiga’s offer.

Steadying himself with a breath, he kept his voice as ‘friendly’ as possible, “Look. We’re very busy. The sooner we can unload your sh-resources, the sooner I can continue on my merry way and you can all get the hell out of this solar system.”

Silence.

Not a hint that anything even registered in their slow processing brains. Before Katsuki could open his mouth again, probably to say something he might regret, another man stepped forward, wearing gloves and a dull green jumpsuit. “We could maybe use your help. There was a problem with our machines.” Katsuki assessed him for a second. He seemed to be in 40’s or 50’s, but he had a big stocky build. His face was starting to show his age, but his dark hair didn’t have a single stand of grey.

“I’m aware. You just needed cooling agents, right?

“What? No, we have plenty,” the Captain giggled.

“Your message though…”

“Oh, is that what it said? No, no, the engine seems to be busted,” the new man waved his hand.

Katsuki gave them a deadpan stare. “And what? You don’t have engineers for that?”

The smile froze on the Captain’s face. “Of course! Of course we do! Devi is one of our senior engineers” She waved her arms at the man, like she was promoting a ship sale. The man with dark hair beamed, his gaze cemented unto Katsuki. “Devi’s short for Devin. Call me what you like,” the man forcibly took Katsuki’s hand and shook it enthusiastically.

Katsuki set his mouth to a frown.

“Do you or do you not need supplies,” Katsuki asked, trying to be as straightforward as possible.

“Yes! Supplies are always good!” Devi laughed, his gloved hands still shaking Katsuki’s. Katsuki almost had to use force to withdraw his hand again.

“I don’t like being inefficient with my time. If you have robots and crew members that can start to unload the cruiser, then I can talk to you about what you think might be the problem with your engine. But I’m not an engineer, I would assume you would have more knowledge about it,” Katsuki stated irritably.

The man nodded with a damn smile, and the crewmembers jostled awkwardly into action. Most of the workers that were lending a hand were in grey jumpsuits and Katsuki wanted to bet they were the people that did all of the grunt work. The rest of the crewmembers lined themselves in a line, as if waiting on orders. His orders, Katsuki realized.

Katsuki clicked his tongue. They were incompetent assholes if they needed step by step instructions on how to unload supplies.

Katsuki opened the hatchet as the PALrobots and grey clothed workers began to take crates out. Once he finished babysitting the warehouse workers, he refocused his attention on Devi. “Can you give me any other information on the state of your engine? Who’s the lead engineer?” Katsuki demanded.

“Oh!” the man laughed, palm flat on Katsuki’s back as he steered him away from his cruiser, “that would be Yulia, but she’s not feeling well. Though I’m sure she would be happy to meet you! And we already know what’s wrong with the engine,” the fucker said proudly.

The hell do you need me for, then, Katsuki angrily thought. Katsuki took in a breath, trying to hold on to his patience .

"So, was the engine your only issue? No emergency supplies needed? From the message it sounded like you didn’t stock up on emergency supplies."

The man laughed a little too long for Katsuki's liking. "Oh, we had emergency supplies, we just used them all up!"

"You… How-"

"Es can show you the engineer room!” Devi cut him off,as he navigated Katsuki into a smiling crowd, “I think you’ll like Es!”

I’m sure I won’t.

"That's not necessary. If you already know what the problem is, I don't need to take a look at it,” Katsuki objected. Devi ignored him, beckoning a mountain of a man closer. "This is Evspin, or Es. He's pretty good at getting things done, one of our prime specimens,” Devi said with a crooked smile.

Evspin. A colonist name. Katsuki was going to guess most of the workers were from the colonies. Katsuki focused his attention on the new man, hating that his neck had to crane so much to look up at him.

“And you are?”

“An apprentice!” The giant man boomed, puffing out his chest. He looked to be the same age as Katsuki, and his fiery hair was eye catching. "Look, if you know what the issue is I don't-" The man, Evspin, clutched at his hand. It was strangely cool for a man his size. He clutched it into a grip that Katsuki would almost categorize as challenging and began to profusely shake his hand.

Seriously, what was with the people here and their energized battery handshakes?

"Call me Es! What should we call you?"

“Agent Bakugou,” Katsuki replied flatly.

"I see!"

"Look," Katsuki raised his voice, "I understand this all might be exciting to see someone new arrive, but there’s really no point for me to stay here. I promise help will arrive soon." The men kept staring, smiling. It reminded Katsuki of a kid at a school play, where he had forgotten his lines, and was waiting for help. The thought was unsettling.

"We need an extra pair of eyes!" A muscular lady jumped into the conversation, her brown hair cropped short. She was wearing a similar green jumpsuit, and Katsuki figured that it must be the colour for the engineers.

Katsuki looked her up and down, "Aren't there supposed to be a bunch of you for that reason?"

A chorus of laughter sprung up from the crowd, that forced Katsuki to suppress a shudder.

"It gets hard when we’re together all the time. We need a fresh pair of eyes!"

Suddenly there was a chorus of chants of 'fresh pair of eyes!' and Katsuki could feel the veins throb in his head.

The hell did they hire your incompetent asses for!? Katsuki wanted to scream.

Katsuki grinded his jaw and counted to five. No point in blowing up with workers from a low-grade company. Things did get missed under stress. Though no one should try to do space work if they broke under stress.

'Es' grabbed him by the shoulder and begun to lead the way. His hand was fucking massive and Katsuki did not appreciate being led around like they were pals. He glared at the man, only to receive a psychotic smile under a rugged mess of a red stubble.

Seriously, was this whole ship on drugs?

“I’m going to be blunt, are you high?”

Es’s eyebrows rose up in a comical way. 

Yup, definitely high.

"Look, I'm not here to get you guys in trouble. Your people were in a stressful situation. So I can imagine taking intoxicants to moderate everyone’s moods, but I need to know how efficient everyone's capabilities are right now is because everyone’s acting like inadequate dumbasses."

“Oh! Were we acting so strange? I'm so sorry! I hope you weren’t feeling uncomfortable. We all are really, really just happy to see you!" Es squeezed Katsuki’s shoulder tighter.

"Uh huh."

Yeah that was bullshit.

But if they weren’t high, then why were they acting like this?

Were they all feeding each other into having this go-happy attitudes? Katsuki felt his stomach sink as a thought came across.

Pirates?

Could it be pirates disguised as a the REVELmineralium? They would be pretty fucking stupid if they were all acting like morons the minute an agent from the Federation strolled in. Could this be a potential hostage situation? It would make more sense to why everyone was acting on edge. How could he even miss such a theory?

Katsuki wracked his brains, feeling unease sprawl throughout his body. There was no evidence of aircrafts anywhere else, but they would have probably ditched them. But for what purpose? And who the fuck would be travelling out here? It would be a stupid idea to try and pirate a ship where the chances of meeting anyone out here is as promising as escaping a black hole. You never place your bets on the emptiness of space. And even if this was a hostage situation, what would they try and accomplish? It would be an incredibly stupid plan to take over a ship and wait for another ship to come by. There was no reason for a hostile take-over to happen in the far reaches of space. 

Katsuki eyed Es suspiciously, but Es seemed to not pay him any attention as he softly hummed to himself.

No, there really was no point of even thinking of a hostage situation if there was no reasoning for it. Ships didn’t fly out into the outer routes of the Milky River. It wasn’t forbidden, but you would get next to no help out there. Depending on which routes were taken, the chances of having anyone on your radar was next to zero.

Even in the inner routes, Pirates had plenty of opportunity to hide from the government, ambush whoever the fuck they wanted, and disappear into the vastness of space without setting off any alarms to the rest of the galaxy for months.

No, this was something else.

Katsuki hated to say it but Taiga was right on the situation being really fucking weird. He would just try to be mindful to his surroundings and try to hurry up with this shitshow.

They entered in what Katsuki assumed was the engineering room. There was only one other person there, and he was just standing there awkwardly looking like a fucking unproductive git. The PALrobots were finally catching up, and Katsuki thanked god that at least one thing was working properly on this ship.

“Okay, so what specifically made it seem like the engine is busted?” Katsuki asked rolling the sleeves of his white uniform.

He would murder someone if this gets dirty.

“Woah! Look at your arms, big guy! You have some toned muscles!” The fucker had the audacity to squeeze his arm.

Katsuki slapped the hand away, “We don’t sit around on our asses all day. Of course, our bodies are going to be in prime condition. Just what kind of work do you think we do?” Katsuki hissed, letting all pleasant speech bleed away from his voice.

“Yeah, but it’s so different from everyone else’s. We have bulky or scrawny here, you’re just perfect!” Es laughed, but his eyes roamed on Katsuki’s frame.

Was he really blatantly checking out an official from the Federation?

Katsuki’s hand itched to punch him the nose to see if he would keep that smile.

Get in, get out, he repeated the mantra in his head.

“How about instead of wasting my time, we get shit done instead?”

“So productive! Your kind is like a whole other species!”

“It’s called being competent,” Katsuki muttered, “now what the fuck is the problem?’

The ginger smiled, his eyes squinting as he looked deep in thought. Then he shrugged and said, “I dunno. You can check. Ladder is to your right. That will help you see the whole engine better.”

“You… you don’t… Don’t you have any theories!? Aren’t you the apprentice? The fuck are you even-!” Katsuki stopped himself and took a ‘calming’ breath. He had gotten into trouble in the past for his temper.

“You know what? Never mind.”

Es laughed, “Alright, Katsuki,” he patted Katsuki on the back and Katsuki mentally dared him to try that again.

He climbed up to get a better view of the engine.

The engine was huge and clunky. A real outdated look to some of the smaller engines you can get nowadays. Katsuki felt a blood vessel in his brain, as he realized these people had gone into the abyss of space with not even decent equipment.

He opened the glass compartment that held most of the cooling agents, but the capsule for the cooling agent was gone.

The fuck?

“Hey! Shitbrain! Why the fuck is the cooling agent capsules taken from the engine?”

Es blinked at him from down below. “Me?”

“Do I look like I’m talking to anybody else!?”

“Oh! Haha, I’m surprised you gave me a nickname. Shitbrain... But I took the capsules out, Katsuki.”

“Don’t call me…Wait, you took the capsules out? Why?”

“They were empty!”

“You don’t just…Take out the entire gas chamber if you run out of gas, I… How did you even manage?”

“Oh, it was quite difficult.”

“You… You! FUCK!” Katsuki shouted fisting his hands into a ball, “fuck. FUCK! Get your robots here! I can’t carry that shit up here.”

“You sure? You look quite strong.”

Oh THIS motherfucker.

“Yes, Es. Now hurry the fuck up.”

…

It took hours of work.

Katsuki had to begrudgingly accept a jumpsuit, because none of the crewmember knew how to put a chamber back in. The most he got out of the conversation was ‘aren’t you going to take your uniform off?’ as he slipped the jumpsuit over his uniform. Which no, he wasn’t, that would be fucking stupid. As time passed, other engineers began to trickle in. Katsuki counted about seven of them and put their faces away in his mind.

Because for fucks sake they did nothing. Absolutely nothing! They stood around like jackasses watching him like an alien at a zoo. None of them offered help. None of them could.

(“Well it’s really hard to put back capsules in.”)

YEAH NO SHIT!

Once finished, Katsuki dumped the gloves and jumpsuit into a pile and began to stalk off. The engine was humming, but they said it would take some time before they could jumpstart the ship into action. Katsuki would fucking have to wait until tomorrow to see if he needed to file for an emergency vehicle or if the engines would start up again.

Bottom line, Katsuki was pissed, because Katsuki was staying. Staying another second with a bunch of brainless extras was going to make his brain combust, and now he had to wait for 24 goddamn hours. He really hoped that Taiga made good on his promise of orbiting for a week, even if it was breaking protocol.

He noticed there were steps following behind him and he whipped his head around.

“What?” He spat.

Es was leading the group and stopped in his tracks.

“Where are you going?”

“My cruiser. Your welcome for fixing your problems.”

Another tall lanky man stepped forward, looking like he too had Asian ancestry, “We thought you said you weren’t an engineer?”

Katsuki clicked his tongue, “I’m not, but my job requires me to have knowledge in multiple fields. I’m pretty sure I could pass for a better engineer than all of you combined right now,” he said scathingly.

He was expecting the engineers to feel shame or anger, but amazement swept through their faces.

“That’s amazing!”

“As expected from someone from the Federation!”

“What else can you do?”

Katsuki opened and closed his mouth. He was expecting some kind of retort, or defense before he ripped into them. Thrown off by their reaction, he spun on his heels and stalked through the corridors. The group kept pace with him and Katsuki really wondered if they were purposely trying to test his patience.

“Do you know where you’re going?” Asked Es.

Katsuki rolled his eyes, “Of course, I’m not walking for exercise.”

Es eyebrows shot up again, “How?”

“The fuck do you mean how? It’s not hard to retrace my steps.”

Es walked silently, his expression devoid of anything. Suddenly he laughed, as he slapped his knee, “You memorized where we went? You’re truly something else. It’s a labyrinth in here! Why do you want to go back to the cruiser anyway?”

“What else am I going to do for 24 hours,” Katsuki scowled. Katsuki rounded another corner, not breaking his stride as he re-entered the loading dock. He was not expecting to have a hand suddenly clutch at his uniform and tug him backwards.

“Wha-“

“Where are you planning to sleep!?” Es asked looking desperate.

Katsuki stared at him for a single second, mouth opened as he realized what the fucker had done. Katsuki was then quick to grab his forearm, slowly applying pressure. There was a little bit of satisfaction as he saw Es wince.

“Don’t you ever grab at me like that again,” Katsuki warned, voice low and not caring if he caused a scene. Es, surprisingly, offered an apologetic smile, “Sorry,” he said quietly.

“What’s going on?” The brilliant Captain of this shitshow decided to reappear, demanding answers, but Katsuki wasn’t having it.

“I’m going to take a nap,” Katsuki announce, as he pushed himself away from the crowd.

“A nap!? But I’m sure I and the rest of the crew would love to get to know you a bit better!” The Captain protested

“Well I don’t. Aren’t you going by the standard military time? Shouldn’t you guys have a bedtime or something?” Katsuki glared.

The Captain peered at Katsuki behind half lidded eyes, without turning to her crew, she gave Katsuki a teethy smile, “Some privacy, please!” She ordered politely.

The atmosphere changed a little. The crewmembers began to shuffle out, without a word, leaving Katsuki and the Captain alone with his cruiser. The Captain was twiddling with her hair like a school girl. In weird jerky movements, she managed to come up by him.

“I’m sorry if we put you at an unease, that wasn’t our intention. But you have quite a few hours with us, so might as well allow u to keep you company,” She smile encouragingly, head bobbing like a bird.

Katsuki narrowed his eyes, “24 hours isn’t a few hours, and how did you know that I would have to be staying?” Her smile slipped a bit, but then she regrouped herself.

“Well darling, I doubt you would have just left without informing us about the situation. But sorry if my assumption was wrong.”

Katsuki set his jaw.

It wasn’t weird that she would assume he would stay, but her response sure was.

“Don’t call me ‘darling’. I already told you and the crew to address me as Agent Bakugou.”

She tilted her head, her eyes never leaving his face, but she promptly responded with, “Alright, Agent Bakugou, but I would really appreciate if you allowed yourself to be in our company. I think everyone is really excited to see you.”

“My job isn’t to be entertainment. I’ve gone far and beyond with my duties in helping your people out.”

Her expression cringed, and then it twitched like she was trying to soften her expression. “We’re very grateful for your service, I wish that you allowed us to repay you.” She was suddenly very close that Katsuki could count her crow’s feet and smell a faint scent of licorice.

Katsuki realized how uncomfortable he felt with the Captain, but it was more noticeable now that they were alone. Everyone was really fucking weird in this ship, but the Captain moved and spoke with such a rigidness, he wondered if she was suffering from a form of motor neuron disease.

Katsuki locked his expression down, refusing to show anything that might register as discomfort on his face. Keeping his voice hard and steady, Katsuki coolly stated, "I want to talk to some of the crew members afterwards. A lot of your problems seem to stem from a lack of discipline with your engineers. There’s been a hell of a lot neglection on your ship. Don’t expect that I’m here to clean up the messes and problems of your staff.”

The Captain’s response was delayed, but she ended up giving Katsuki an exaggerated eye roll, "I really wish you'd relax. Think of yourself as a guest! We have no intention to overwork you here."

I’m not relaxed, because you haven't done a single damn thing to try and intervene as Captain, you incompetent asshole.

But Katsuki kept his anger in check, probably grinding his teeth into dust in the process.

“I’m going to talk to your crew in a couple of hours,” Katsuki repeated himself.

The Captain stared at the ground, then her eyes went wide, her eyebrows reaching her hairline,

"You know what. I think this is a fantastic idea! A good way to get to know each other better” She chirped clapping her hands.

“That’s not my intention,” Katsuki replied, but the Captain ignored him. “I’m sure the we wouldn’t mind getting to know you a little better," the Captain said a little too suggestively as she eyed him up and down, her eyes resting on his chest. Well fuck, now Katsuki felt like punching the Captain in the face. He wondered if that was even something he could write in his report. ‘Captain leered at official from Federation, so official punched the Captain in the face’. Right, that would go over nicely.

"Well, we’ll let you do as you please, if you’re tired you can sleep in one of the extra sleeping quarters!" The Captain said enthusiastically, eyes bright.

"I'm sleeping in my cruiser," Katsuki stated bluntly.

The Captain peered behind him, as if assessing the comfortable worth of sleeping in a cockpit. "That's no place for an interstellar government worker like yourself, I insist!" The Captain beamed, stretching her lips so wide, Katsuki saw it crack. She went to grab his arm and Katsuki pulled his arm away fast.

Stone faced, Katsuki just repeated himself, "I'm sleeping in my ship."

"Oh, come now, you're our guest. It's not a nice feeling if the guest doesn't seem comfortable around his host." She said reaching for him again.

Alright, no more mincing words.

"I'm not your 'guest', I'm an enforcer. I am authority. I would appreciate it if you start treating me as such, instead of someone you think you can be buddy-buddy with,” Katsuki snapped.

Katsuki clicked on his key, and the hatchet to the cockpit began to open up. 

“If you need me, for an emergency, you can find me here. Otherwise, don’t disturb me. I’ll find you when I want to talk to your crewmembers,” Katsuki finished, hopping into his cruiser.

The Captain stared up at him with a smile, but her eyes looked like they were beginning to tear up. If she’s going to fucking cry from this, she should never have been Captain, Katsuki scowled. The cockpit closed over Katsuki, offereing Katsuki a little peace as the warm yellow and pink lights lit as a reminder of what something functional should look like.

Katsuki let out a sigh, wanting to scream in frustration instead. At least the cruiser was working as an escape.

Katsuki tried his best to make the cockpit comfier. He fiddled with the controls, hoping to hear some sign from the main ship, but no luck. He leaned back in his chair back, exhaling and closed his eyes. Taiga would have been the better choice for this check-up. His easy-going attitude would be the best to dealing with people like this. Well, dealing with anyone really. Katsuki was not a people person. That was just a fact.

He was beginning to nod off, when the lights in the cockpit flashed, and Katsuki grumbled, “Oh, what now.”

He checked one of the monitors, and it the screen flashed saying that there was a foreign disturbance making contact with the cruiser. Katsuki peeked out the window, and he saw there was a very petite girl, tapping the side of his ship. She was wearing the green engineer jumpsuit and work boots. He hadn’t seen her in the engine room. He could just ignore her and turn off the monitor, but irritation had already weighed in.

He opened the cockpit, startling the girl so bad that she physically jumped. She had a pretty face, with long strawberry blonde hair in a braid and freckles splattering her skin, but her eyes were wide with fright.

“What?”

The girl assessed Katsuki, looking unsure of what to say. She looked to the ground like she was trying to work the courage to say something.

“Look, I get it can be exciting wanting to talk to someone from the Federation but I-“

“I need to talk to you somewhere private,” the girl’s voice cut in.

Katsuki glared at her, “The fuck for?”

She bit her lip and glanced to the side, she then whispered, “We- we have surveillance here. I- don’t … I can’t…” Her voice trailed off and Katsuki felt his body fall into the similar pattern of being on alert.

“Are you talking about something going on with the crew?” Katsuki muttered fast. She side glanced at the walls and didn’t say any more.

He was right, something was going on here. He checked the cockpit. There was no way they would both fit without it being uncomfortable… and if there were cameras, he didn’t want anything misinterpreted.

“Is there someplace we can go alone, where people won’t bother us?” He asked, hoping she would get the gist and take them away from any surveillance areas if that was her worry.

She nodded, not looking at him. “Bathrooms, or our sleeping quarters…”

 “Sleeping quarters,” Katsuki decided, “come on,” Katsuki huffed.

He leapt out of his cruiser, closing the hatchet behind him

 Katsuki could see tension ease off her shoulders, and she gracefully led the way through the winding grey walls of the REVELmineralium. Katsuki realized that he himself was feeling more at ease since he first step foot into this shitty ship. Katsuki recognized that whatever was going on, this girl might be separate from the whole situation.

Her whole body language was so different from everyone else here. She moved fluidly, her steps seeming natural and her face wasn’t plastered with awkward and exaggerated expressions. Whatever was going on here, the girl seemed untouched by it.

"What’s your name?" He asked quickly.

She eyed him and gave a quick smile, "Alysia."

"You seem different from everyone here."

She offered another small smile, "I hope that's a good thing." 

“How come you weren’t with the group before? You’re wearing the engineer outfit?”

She chewed her lip as they spun into another corner, “It can be… uncomfortable.”

She was hesitating to say more. Katsuki guessed that if something was wrong with the crew, she was trying to keep herself safe.

“Right. Okay. We’ll talk more in the room.”

She nodded and their pace quickened.

Turning a corner, one of the blue uniformed cleaners was standing in the middle of the corridor. His dry grey hair stuck out like wisps of spider webs around a balding top. He wasn’t looking at them. He was looking at the wall, muttering. Katsuki felt Alysia freeze and felt her press a little closer towards Katsuki. The man seemed to jolt to action, and Katsuki watched his eyes shift towards them without moving from his spot. His muttering increased.

Katsuki could see the whites of his eyes wide.

"Sheng," Alysia said quietly.

As if a spell was broken, ‘Sheng’ physically jumped up to face them, his smile stretched to the point of looking painful.

"Why 'ello, Aly! Where are you taking our guest?"

Before Katsuki could even speak, Alysia cut in, "I'm taking him to his sleeping quarters. He changed his mind." 

The smile stayed frozen, but he whispered something so quietly that Katsuki missed what he said. Alysia didn’t waste any time grabbing Katsuki by the hand again and tugging him to get by. The man didn’t even turn to watch them. He stayed frozen in the same place, staring at the empty corridor.

"Wh-", Katsuki began to ask, but Alysia looked at Katsuki with big eyes and Katsuki pressed his lips together. 

She looked terrified and Katsuki wanted answers.

They didn’t meet anyone else, thankfully. Katsuki and Alysia made it to what Katsuki assumed were the sleeping quarters. Each door had a code. Alysia led him to the very end.

"This is the code for the room, we should have some privacy here."

The door automatically slid to the side, revealing a very basic layout of a bed, cabinets littering the walls, and a smartglass surrounding a tiny corner for a bathroom. She trotted inside and the door slid shut behind them. She sank into the bed and looked at him eagerly, patting the side for him to sit next to her.

He sat down, noticing that she was zipping down her jumpsuit. Her frumpy outfit fell away, as she showcased her curves by having nothing else than a tight grey tank top and a scarf underneath.

Odd.

It didn’t feel too hot in here, but maybe she was nervous and needed to feel some air on her skin. She didn’t do or say anything. She just fiddled with the pull tab, looking like she was waiting for Katsuki to do something.

Well if she was scared, maybe she didn’t even know where to begin. Katsuki would have to have to steer the conversation.

“What’s going on?”

“With what?” She asked tilting her head.

Katsuki stared at her, trying to assess her response.

“With everything. You said you had something you wanted to talk about somewhere private.”

She continued to fiddle with her zipper, her expression thoughtful,

“Do you want to talk now or later?” She asked as she pulled the zipper all the way down.

Her demeanor seemed to have shifted a bit, as she seemed to have relaxed a little too much on the bed.

“Now,” Katsuki answered confused, “ You said you were afraid. Why? The crew are also acting odd, and you have one of your cleaners fucking around in the middle of the corridor looking like he’s having a mental breakdown. I want to know why.”

“Well I think you have the gist of it. The crew is going crazy. I didn’t want to be alone with them,” Alysia stated.

Katsuki clenched his hands into a fist, feeling himself lose patience, “Can you be more specific? When did this occur? What kind of behaviours do you register as ‘crazy’? Who are you concerned about and do you think anyone would compromise the safety of the ship?”

Alysia stared hard at the floor, her expression looked… angry? Katsuki couldn’t tell, because her facial features had already shifted again making her look more frightened and sad. She closed her eyes.

“I’m worried about the Captain,” Alysia admitted, “she’s been making irrational decisions for a while. I think she started having a mental break down when the decision to travel through the outer routes didn’t go as planned.”

Katsuki felt himself relax. He had figured, but it was good to hear awareness about the situation come from someone else’s mouth. “Some of the other engineers guessed that somehow we got lost, because we began to randomly stop and just drift for a bit. Everyone from the control room was pretty tight lipped with what was going on. The Captain and her advisors told everyone not to worry. That they were making a detour that was authorized by our company.”

Katsuki tapped his leg. If that was true, then the ship wouldn’t get in trouble for their actions. If the Captain had lied, she would most certainly lose her license, possibly even face incarceration. 

"She started snapping at everyone and crying all the time,” Alysia continued, “I think her behaviour started affecting the others. I think everyone’s trying to pretend it’s okay. To be honest with you, I haven’t really connected with anyone else since our engine problems, everyone’s been so distant. I was so scared,” Alysia finished in a harrowing whisper.

Katsuki nodded. Yeah, no that would make sense. Watching people break down usually brought out your own paranoias and fears. But this was good, some info on what happened before. Nothing extreme or too unpredictable.

Yet, something unsettling nestled in the back of Katsuki’s mind. Her explanation was almost too normal.

That sounded stupid, and honestly everything fit with what she said, but it didn’t feel quite right. There were missing pieces to what was going on. She really hadn’t given Katsuki any specifics, only confirmed what Katsuki had already been suspicious of. And she hadn’t really confirmed it either… No, it did fit with what she was saying, but it didn’t explain the weird synchronizing or the behaviour. It was almost cult like. Katsuki’s thoughts were interrupted when he felt her trembling.

Not one for comforting, Katsuki tried placing a hand on her shoulder. Her bare skin felt cold, Katsuki’s brain immediately registered the unexpected temperature. She glanced at his hand and Katsuki realized this was probably weird too.

“It’s going to be okay, if you’re Captain’s having some kind of mental break down, we-“

“Mmm,” and suddenly Katsuki felt a small hand up his thigh.

Pulling back, he asked, “What are you doing?”

She wasn’t looking at him, she was gazing downward with a small smile on her face, “You’re warm.” Suddenly her hand slid farther up cupping his crotch.

Anger and confusion sparked through Katsuki he grabbed her hand and spat, “What are you doing?”

“I thought my hand was making it clear,” Alysia said with a coy smirk.

“That’s completely inappropriate and not why I’m here.”

“Oh? So why are you here? You came with me pretty easily,” she shifted so she was leaning on his lap, “out of all of us, you were the nicest to me.”

She smiled as she slid to press their bodies together.

Katsuki shoved her so hard she fell off of him and on to the floor. She looked stunned, but not as surprised as Katsuki felt as he wondered what the hell was going on.

Suddenly he heard a timid snicker that evolved into a full and colourful giggle. It was so musical and so natural, but it was completely out of place with the situation. Her face was bright with tears, as she moved to wipe them away, “Goly Kacchan, I was just trying to figure out what you liked. Since you rejected the old one so quickly, I thought you might have liked someone younger.”

Katsuki felt completely rooted in place as her words sunk in. He didn’t understand.

“The fuck did you say?”

She tilted her head and some loose strands brushed over her face. Katsuki felt his heartbeat go off.

Hardened, Katsuki demanded, “Explain yourself. Now.”

She played with her braid, letting her hair spill out in waves as she took out the elastic. She got up and sat next to him again. Katsuki got up in a rush, not letting her anywhere near him. She laughed, “Awe, don’t be scared. I’m not going to hurt you,” she promised, crossing her ankles, seemingly interested in tying the jumpsuit around her waist.

“I said explain,” Katsuki snarled.

She tilted her head from side to side, her long strawberry blonde hair swaying, “Like I said, Kacchan. I’m just seeing what you like. I’m not here to hurt you.”

“Why?”

A smile broke out, a genuine smile that a mother would show to her newly born child, “To get to know you Kacchan. I want to be intimate with you, Kacchan. That’s all. I thought you wanted it too, with how cooperative you were.”

Katsuki’s nostrils flared, “The hell are you talking about? Your ship is in a fucked up situation and you’re playing games? Were you lying about what you told me about the Captain?”

“Hmm, no. She’s pretty troublesome. Same with some of the other crew members. I did want to warn you about her. I’m on your side Kacchan, you talk like I’m plotting against you,” she mocked, like Katsuki was the one behaving absurdly.

What the hell made her switch like that? Mental Stress? Paranoia?

There was something seriously wrong with this girl, but she was so high functioning, Katsuki wouldn’t know how to classify her. She had been talking so normally and so honestly about her fears and now she’s done a 180.

“Then you’re not taking this seriously. I allowed you to bring me here because there’s something going on with your crew, not to fuck you. Also,” He brought himself up to his full height, allowing the menacing response seep into his voice, “I’m a fucking agent of the Federation. Don’t you ever put your hands on me again, because I don’t restrain myself when it comes to self-defence.”

Alysia raised an eyebrow, “That seems awfully excessive. Self defence implies I meant to harm you. I would never.”

“And. Address me as Bakugou. Or I’ll promise you regret even wishing for signing up for a life in space,” Katsuki’s voice was dark, but full of promise.

The girl actually fucking pouted. “Your making this hard. Guessing your type,” she moved swiftly off the bed and moved through the room like a dancer, she trailed a hand on the metal doorframe in contemplation, “I don’t like when things are too difficult… Buuuut I’ll leave you alone for now, Bakugou-sama,” she finished with a mocking traditionally Asian accent.

Katsuki felt himself flare up. This girl didn’t register him as a threat and wasn’t even considering respecting an official from the federation.  

She offered one last smile, before leaving the room

“Sleep well, Kacchan.”

Chapter Text

Katsuki felt them.

Light, cool fingered touches on his back.

They danced across his skin as Katsuki felt himself sink further into the bed. It felt like they were drawing patterns rather than giving him a proper massage. He felt his shirt ride up as the fingers trailed to reach closer to his neck.

It had been fucking forever since he had a massage. He waited for the fingers to dip into his muscles, hoping for a deep tissue massage from all the built-up stress.

Of course, stress was always part of the job. Katsuki was excellent at handling burnouts from stress by blocking it off until he needed it to unravel and there were a few ways to do that. Flying, sparring, and in the very rare occasions, other human contact. Other human contact was rare, and Katsuki really didn’t bother to make friends or look for a romantic partners. Most of the time he looked for sex, but it was so rare and infrequent, because it was often a hassle to hook up.

He just didn’t have the time.

Katsuki’s job was his life, and it was a fulfilling one. Why fuck it up by trying to look for someone he would rarely see anyways? But on the odd occasion, when his usual coping mechanisms didn’t work out and he needed to let out stress, he sought people.

And right now, he really needed it.

The fingers stretched out, dragging over his upper back, causing Katsuki to breathe a sigh of relief.

The fingers hesitated.

Katsuki grumbled, body heavy, and mouth slack, unable to voice his needs. The noise seemed to reassure the fingers as they pressed close to his trapezius muscles. Katsuki groaned in a satisfied response, and that was all the encouragement the fingers needed, as the plunged down, deeper into his back. Katsuki shuddered as the touch was cold, and the fingers became open palmed as the grabbed Katsuki’s flesh.

Katsuki felt weight added unto his legs, but the hands never left his back.

The hands did not seem interested in getting rid of the knots either, but they were eager to dip deeper into his skin, like they were trying to slowly work their way inside of him. Large hands, Katsuki thought, as they clenched around his waist, and gliding up to cup his hips.

Fuck, fuck, fuck. The massage was good.

Well actually, no, it was probably one of the worst he’s ever gotten, but it was so needed. Katsuki didn’t realize how much that annoying ship had built up so much stress in him.

That annoying ship…

The REVELmineralium.

What was the end report again?

Katsuki felt his brain slowly churn.

Was there an end result?

No, there hadn’t been one…

Unease washed through Katsuki as he felt the fingers dip down his ass, sliding against his crack. Like having cold water doused over him, Katsuki got up with a gasp. His vision swam a bit, and he felt unsteady as he blinked to find the fucking red-haired colonist sitting on his legs.

Smiling.

It was a blur. Pure instinct of outrage, confusion, and apprehension as Katsuki drove his fist into the fucker’s cheek. The sound was satisfying and Katsuki felt a little more clear headed to see that the impact landed Es’s ass on the floor.

Es looked as confused and surprised as Katsuki felt.

“What, are you doing?” Katsuki hissed.

Es sheepishly touched his cheek, “You really are strong,” he murmured.

Katsuki felt his body clench and heat took over his body as he felt blind rage spread throughout him.

“Explain, what the fuck is going on because I’m about 10 seconds away from driving my stunner through your mouth.”

“I didn’t mean to startle you. I just came to wake you up,” the fucker chastised cheerfully.

Fuck no. Katsuki was not playing with this bullshit. He grabbed the collar of Es’s uniform, squeezing it tight around his throat, “Try again. You were assaulting an official from the Federation. In what existence did you think that would turn out well. In what existence did you think you could fucking touch me!”

Es blinked. “Oh, my bad. I thought you might like men more.”

Oh, Katsuki was ready to straight up murder the bastard. A wee part of his brain reminded him that there were protocols for assaulting officials and Katsuki would be in unnecessary trouble if he lost it with this piece of shit. However, every cell in Katsuki’s entire being was buzzing, and it was taking every bit of willpower to stop himself from just wailing on the bastard.

But jeopardizing a stain in his career over a Shitstain would be even stupid, though holy shit, that Shitstain smiled like he knew Katsuki couldn’t touch him.

Fuck, fuck, fuck. FUCK.

Katsuki drew him close, but the man did not seem intimidated in the slightest.

“I’m going to personally make sure you know the definition of karma, you son of a bitch,” Katsuki hissed. The Shitstain cocked his head, his smile never faltering, and suddenly the fucker’s face turned fuzzy.

Huh?

Katsuki blinked, as he recognized the feeling of dizziness and it took all of his training not to sway in front of the piece of shit.

He was off balance.

He blinked again, not feeling entirely clear headed. Es just watched him the same way a cat stalked a mouse with its eyes. His eyes never drifting from his face and remained unblinking.

Katsuki shoved the man away. “Get out. You’ll regret it if I catch even the sight of you. And if you ever touch men again, I will fucking break your arm.”

For a terrible moment, Es didn’t seem to hear him, or rather ignored his warning.

Katsuki felt cold as he thought Es didn’t view him as a threat at all.

Es watched Katsuki, his gaze drifting downward as he took in account of Katsuki’s posture, his expression thoughtful. Katsuki swallowed, trying to keep focus and his body prepared if the fucker tried to make a move on him. Katsuki let his breath go as the man picked himself off the ground and turned for the door. Yet, there was a moment where Es stalled by the door and Katsuki felt himself straighten up through sheer will power. Tilting his head, Es offered and apologetic smile. 

“Sorry Kacchan,” he said softly before he slipped passed the door.

Katsuki grimaced at the pet name, and the obvious disregard Es had of Katsuki’s authority when he felt his blood cool.

‘Kacchan’

Why did he use that nickname?

It was the same nickname that the bitch used after she copped a feel.

A coolness settled into Katsuki as he realized what was unsettling.

‘Chan’ was specifically a Japanese honorific, usually to address women or children, but it had been dying out in use and was only ever heard in New Tokyo. How many people knew or cared about old Japanese culture? The two people that happened to assault Katsuki were addressing him as something ‘cute’. Why? To mock him? Had they talked together about this?

Feeling lightheaded, Katsuki sank back on to the bed.

His mind was a mess, as there were too many strange things to process but nothing there to explain them. This was not the kind of wakeup he needed with the all the stress and uncertainty building.

And what the hell had that been anyway? Did the fucker really try to... what? Rape him?

That seems like the stupidest crime a person could commit. Was he expecting Katsuki to do nothing? And how the fuck could he just have… slept through some asshole’s manhandling!? Katsuki had always been a heavy sleeper, but to have slept through that?

Katsuki tried to assess himself.

He definitely felt off. Katsuki’s mind still felt sluggish, his body felt like it was going through gravity training, and there was an odd soreness in his arm. He hadn’t felt right since he ‘woke’ up and he had been slow to react. Was he drugged? How? When?

Unease budded in him. He was losing control of the situation and he didn’t even fully understand what the situation was to begin with. He tried to swallow down his encroaching panic. He’s been through more stressful and hazardous things in the past, but this was a fist where he really felt left in the dark. There were too many unknown variables and he had no idea what to make of the crew as they seemed the biggest addition for all the weirdness going on.

He had to leave and report this.

 Whatever was going on with the ship was not to Katsuki’s strength’s. Katsuki was good at thinking fast on his feet, executing plans, and terminating or detaining dangerous suspects. Katsuki was not equipped with dealing with fucking loonies who were still technically categorized as being protected and served.

Katsuki had to leave as soon as possible, even if it meant not waiting for the 24 hour engine check. How much did he sleep anyways? With a sigh, he sank his head down wanting more than anything to let his mind rest.

What else was he missing?

He rubbed his face. Trying to find reassurance, Katsuki glided his hand over his stunner. He turned the nozzle and the weapon sparked with blue. Thankfully the Shitstain didn't seem like he touched his stunner

He knew he couldn’t exactly trust anyone here. The captain was having a mental breakdown, the ship apparently hired molesters, and the only sane people looked incompetent in their jobs.

He was deeply regretting leaving the safety of his cruiser.

Making his way to the sink, he opened a vacuumed sealed moist toilette and dragged it over his face, hoping to gain some clarity. He probably would need to speak to the Captain, even though she would do diddly-shit. He winced as he noticed his left arm was sorer than expected. He didn’t lift anything too heavy with the engine room, or so he had thought, but it felt weak and sore.

Carefully, he tried rolling up the sleeve, when there was a startling ‘bringing’ noise, as the door to the room lit up. Glaring, Katsuki re-strapped his stunner and stalked to the door.

Opening the door, Katsuki was confronted with a very small old lady. She blinked up and smiled at him. "Good morning, Agent Bakugou! I hope you slept well! We've cooked quite a banquet for you!"

Katsuki glared, “Who the fuck are you?"

The small lady crinkled her crisp blue eyes, "My name is Nes. I'm the lead cook. Come! You must be hungry!" Katsuki glanced at the hallway to see if there were other problematic people.

Noticing it was clear, he gruffly responded with an “I’m not hungry.”  

She looked up, her eyes looking like they were straining to keep open, her crooked teeth horribly revealed as she opened her mouth to realise a short shrill burst of laughter.

Katsuki suppressed a shudder, as he allowed the crazy hag to recover.

 "We wanted to properly attend you when you woke up!"

“No,” Katsuki said flatly, not caring if he was ‘rude’, “My only plan right now would be to speak with your Captain.”

 The woman’s face drooped a bit, but then she showcased her crooked teeth again. “Everyone’s in the eating room right now. Please. Come. We want to show you our skills as hosts!" She beckoned with her knobbly hand.

"No, I just want to speak to the Captain," Katsuki responded firmly, his patience drawing thin.  

"She’s there!" Nes said somewhat frantically. 

“The Captain?”

“Yes! Yes, of course. We want you to get to know us.”

Well I don’t.

“I don’t have time for this,” Katsuki rerouted his answer.

“Certainly you have time to eat? How else did you grow to look so healthy? Our Captain will be more than happy to talk to you while you eat.”

“I’m not looking for a show, I’m looking to talk with her privately.”

“That can be arranged! But come eat fist!”

Stubborn hag.

Katsuki was half tempted to close the door on this lady’s face, but he honestly didn’t want to stay in the room where he had been assaulted twice. He refused to respond to her, but his actions of leaving the room made it clear he intended to follow her.

Katsuki couldn’t help but see from the corner of his eyes that the cook was eyeing he stunner. Katsuki wasn’t so much of a gentleman that he wouldn’t try to knock down an old lady if she went near his stunner.

Thankfully, she didn’t do much else, her movements looked lethargic and they walked in silence. He took an opportunity to increase his knowledge of the place. It would be good to know where all the main areas of the ship were, and possibly map out where the crewmembers were stationed. 

The creepy hag moved to a corridor and opened a double door for him. Katsuki peered inside and saw tables and a counter that partially hid what looked to be a relatively clean kitchen. The old cook shooed him in before departing , but a bunch warning bells were triggered in his mind as he entered.

There was only a single tray of food, and the rest of the counters were spotless. The eating room was quiet. No one was moving or chatting. They all had their heads turned towards Katsuki, watching him.

Katsuki’s unease grew.

They had to be acting weird on purpose, but for what? Intimidation?

Trying to feel more secure with the stunner on his belt, Katsuki tried to break the silence.

"Where is the Captain?" Katsuki demanded.

He scanned the faces, but no one spoke up. The all awaited eagerly for him. At least freckles and the Shitstain colonist weren't here.

He saw Devi stand up and strolled casually over to Katsuki, "She’s still resting, but she'll come soon. Come! Sit!"

Damn that hag for lying.

Devi didn’t deem bothered by Katsuki’s resilience, as he guided Katsuki to a table and the eyes seemed to fall on Katsuki’s every movement.

“The hell's everyone looking at?" Katsuki blurted out, hating the way his skin was feeling like it was crawling with their eyes.

Smiles broke out throughout the room.

"You'll have to forgive us!” A hand clasped his shoulder and Katsuki restrained himself from flinching away. “Someone from the Federation is a pretty big deal! You're like a celebrity! We don’t encounter anything interesting in our lives other than rocks. I'm sure we're all excited to hear about your space adventures," the owner of the hand beamed, her accent heavy.

She was a tall, thick lady and her white hair was tied in a bun. Her skin was smooth with vey view wrinkles, except for the crinkles around her eyes that gave her age away. She stuck out her hand,

"Yulia! Lead engineer. I heard my staff might have given you a hard time."

Katsuki didn’t take the hand, he was sure he had used up all his politeness at this point, "If by hard time you mean didn’t know what the fuck they were doing, then yes." 

Her smiled softened, seemingly genuine, but Katsuki was wary of the smiles by now. "I apologize if we added stress, I think this is why it’s so important that we get you fed as a form of apology.”

Katsuki glanced around the bare counters, "Why the fuck is no one else eating?"

“We already ate!” She said enthusiastically, as if practiced.

Katsuki let go of a deep sigh. It was probably good to get some food into him. If the Captain was out, he would have to wait either way. Submitting to their pushiness, Yulia and the rest of the people livened up.

“Great!

A couple of people danced around to serve him his extravagant meal… or not so extravagant.

The cook had sounded so ecstatic about sharing their food, but the meal itself didn’t look anything special. It looked like sausage and eggs that had been rehydrated, and some weird granola stuff topped off with a mystery smoothie that was gray in colour.

Fucking awesome.

Katsuki absent minded, shoved the food in. It’s not like he hadn’t learned to be unfussy with food, but the damn old hag had hyped up the meal like he was going to eat fancy shit. Katsuki should never have had any expectations from a mineral ship.

He felt them watch him eat, feeling like he was being compared to watching a supernova.

“I’m not a fucking side show,” Katsuki barked, and the crowd at least eased off his ass. None of them went back to their own conversations, though. They mostly fidgeted with odd things in the room or focused on cleaning. Katsuki slowly swallowed the food as he counted the crewmemebrs.

Less than the 37 that was said. He wasn’t expecting everyone to have come to watch the amazing show of watching him eat, but he was wondering where the other staff was.

Other crewmembers took their seats around Katsuki, and Katsuki tried to push back the feeling like he was being surrounded. Breaking his own discomfort, he asked, “Where are the others? I thought ‘everyone wanted to see me’.”

Yulia stretched out a grin, her skin looking thin, "Oh well some people aren’t feeling well, and others don’t have sleep schedules that match everyone else’s,” her breath fanned over, and Katsuki recoiled at the smell of black licorice.

"Not feeling well? Are they sick?"

"By the stars, no! They're the best they've ever been!"

Katsuki arched a questioning eyebrow.

Yulia’s reaction seemed to have a delay for a second, before waving her hand, “Some people can’t climatize to space perfectly no matter how hard they try.”

“Should have stayed on the ground,” Katsuki fired, as he shoveled the cold soggy eggs into his mouth. Yulia opened her mouth, but then perhaps thought otherwise as she snapped it shut.

A big hulking guy with dark smooth skin sat across from Katsuki, as if to distract Katsuki from Yulia’s discomfort. "How long have you worked in the Federation? You look really young to have gained a position like that.”

“Long enough,” Katsuki answered, not wanting to get into a conversation.

The guy didn’t seem to pick up on the hint, “Your cruiser is beautiful by the way. Model 361?"

Katsuki couldn’t help but smirk. 

"365"

The guy whistled, "Man I would love to test to see how smooth and fast that goes."

Katsuki scoffed as he shoveled more food in, "Like I'd ever let anyone touch it."

The man laughed, "I probably wouldn't either. I'm a pilot myself and I'd break hands before I'd let someone touch my ship."

“You fly? What can a warehouse worker possibly get their hands on to fly?” Katsuki challenged, eyeing the man’s high collard grey jumpsuit.

The man beamed, "Kurt,” he said pointing to himself, “and unfortunately not much here. I have had other jobs where I got some interesting ships to fly. Nothing as fancy as a government cruiser, but I’ve flown a frigate.”

Katsuki chewed slowly, “You’ve flown a frigate? A starship for weaponry?” He asked disbelievingly.

The man laughed, “Hah. Not in the way you think. I used to have a job moving airships to different sectors for maintenance. There was a major downsizing in the Scutum-Centaurs Arm where they were first establishing bases. I had to find the first job opening, and luckily for me most places take pilots. Though warehouse duty was part of the deal.”

Katsuki nodded. The Scutum-Centaurs Arm was a vast new area. Katsuki had heard that there was an attempt to boost population in the Eastern sector first, and they were trying to dissuade growth in the west.

“That’s impressive though. Frigate’s are not easy to manoeuvre,” Katsuki acknowledged.

Kurt laughed, “I’m glad I finally impressed you.”

Katsuki couldn’t help enjoy the conversation about ships and flying. It was a weakness. This was also the first semblance of a normal conversation since he got on the ship. Too bad he didn’t trust him.

“You should find something that values your skills more than a warehouse worker.”

Kurt shrugged, “I surprisingly like it. I still get to fly, but with Space Forklifts.

Katsuki snorted. A forklift and an aircraft like a frigate were hardly the same thing. Katsuki was going to make that argument when one of the engineers he met yesterday came bustling in.

“I have terrible news,” he announced, though his face contradicted the statement. The crowd turned their attention onto the new arrival, but the man only had eyes for Katsuki.

“What news?” Katsuki snapped when he realized he was waiting to be prompted.

“The engine won’t start up,” the man said simply.

Katsuki felt his blood begin to boil.

"Don’t you need to wait 24 hours to be sure?"

"One of the wires inside is fried."

"And there’s no way to fix it!?"

Man shook his head, “‘fraid not!”

The crowd did not seem to be concerned about the information, they began to joke or dismiss the message altogether.

 “Guess you’re staying a little longer, eh Agent Bakugou?”

“What other parts of the Milky River have you been, Agent Bakugou?”

“Did you want us to cook you some more? We got lots now and you’ll be here a while!”

Katsuki was about three seconds from flipping his tray at these unaffected morons. What was wrong with them!? They had just received he news that their engine was fried. He was about to lecture everyone about what the definition of an emergency was, when he noticed a small red dot on his uniform.

It was just a glance, and the dot was almost too small to notice, but he always kept his uniform pristine white, so it stuck out to him like a single star in a galaxy. It was located just in the crook of his arm, and it was dark and rustic in colour. He nearly dropped his eating utensils when he realized what it could be.

Blood.

Katsuki felt sweat build up as he realized where the soreness of his harm had come from. Realizing it now, he knew he’s experienced this soreness before. Nausea overtook him as paranoia began to solidify into possibilities.   

The food Katsuki was swallowing suddenly felt slimy and poisonous.

There’s no way, there’s no fucking way.

Katsuki fought the clenching of his chest, and the need to gasp for air as he trained his body to subdue a panic attack.

There were eyes watching him.

They’re looking for a reaction, he reminded himself.

He did his best not to react, but there was no way he could hold down the food. Keeping a neutral expression, he said, "Bathroom."

"Hmm?" 

"I’m asking where the fucking bathroom is."

"Oh, you're not feeling sick are you? I thought people like you would be the paradigm of health!"

Katsuki's eye twitched.

"I need to take a piss," he lied, “and afterwards I need to talk to your Captain. Someone better have given her the information about the engine by the time I get back, whether she’s ‘resting’ or not,” he managed to say in a steady voice.

That was good.

He didn’t want to clue in anyone that something was wrong.

As he scooted out of the chair, two warehouse workers got up with hime. One tanned and rectangular body, and the other plae ad oval shaped. "Karl and I can take you to the bathroom, but you sure you don’t want to finish your meal first?" Said the rectangular man.

"I wasn’t really hungry," Katsuki said gruffly, pushing the tray away, "and I don’t need two escorts. I just need to be pointed in the right direction."

They laughed in unison and ignored his remark as they both turned to wait for him. Katsuki bit back a remark. He was resilient in keeping his cool, but his body was having a hard time keeping the food down with the thought that they could have done something to the food. He allowed tweedle dumb and tweedle fucko to guide him to the public stalls and they even had the idiocy to follow him in.

“Leave,” Katsuki spat as he entered the stall. Katsuki locked himself into the stall, waiting to hear for the footsteps to recede. With trembling fingers, he pulled up his sleeves.

Staring back at him was the small red mark of a needle entering.

There was slight bruising around the area, but the dot was unquestionably there.

Katsuki felt sick, violated.

How the hell could a needle pierce him without his knowing? Even if he was sleeping, fucking how did he not get up? What would they even inject him with? Was this even a needle mark or was he being paranoid? No, he knew what this was and shouldn’t second guess himself.

Katsuki expelled a shaky gasp as he felt disbelief that someone had the idea of targeting him… and possibly getting away with it. He stumbled back into the bathroom stall gripping his arm as if that would somehow make the mark go away. Everyone was a suspect, or rather, Katsuki was realizing with horror, everyone was the suspect.

Christ and he just eaten their food.

Nausea washed over him at the thought of ingesting someone’s unknown malicious intentions. Not taking any chances, Katsuki shoved two fingers down his throat. He didn’t have much of a gag reflex, so he had to work at both pressing on his stomach and hitting the back of his throat until it hurt. His stomach heaved, but worked its way of emptying out its contents.

Gagging, Katsuki pressed further, pushing as much stuff out of him as possible. He hated throwing up, it stung his throat and left a sour aftertaste, but the thought of having his food tinkered with repulsed him so much that at least it was helping with the expulsion.

Finally, unable to get any more of a reaction, he stopped. He was breathing harshly, spitting any leftover residue back into the toilet. Flushing the contents away, he put the seat down to sit. His breathing was still ragged and he felt like he was shaking. He was aware he was panicking, but it was taking a lot out of him to calm the fuck down.

He forced himself to take a long breath and hold it as he closed his eyes. Panicking wouldn't help him. He would need to have calm, rational thoughts if he was going to figure this out. He focused on letting his breath go, concentrating on the action of clenching and unclenching his fists, feeling his heart steadily go down. 

Calm rational thoughts, huh.

Rationally speaking everyone on this ship was probably fucking crazy, and crazy tends to spread. He had to decide if there was a ‘purpose’ to their behaviour or if it was random. He vibrated his leg as he thought for an answer.

Nothing was ever truly random, at least not in humans. What might not be rational, can still be rational in the minds of loonies. But was it a rationality that Katsuki could decipher? Were these irrational characteristics and actions based on individual goals or decided in groups? And what would be the goal? Was there a goal for keeping him here?

He couldn’t see it.

In no way would keeping him here benefit them. He told them there was a main ship that belonged to the federation, of all things.You didn’t start shit with them. Did they think they could maybe use him as a hostage? They were fooling themselves if they thought they could make any meaningful demands. 

Katsuki sucked in a breath when a thought crossed his mind.

Maybe this had nothing to do with him or the federation but with the new stationed planet. Their prime minister had been worried about information leaks and right now there was a very valuable chip with confidential information about the planet’s future aboard the main ship…

But the only people who should know about that was Katsuki, Taiga, their Boss, and the Prime Minister, all who were physically present when the information was delivered. Katsuki pressed his fingers to his eyes. Even if that was a possibility, that still wouldn’t make sense. The REVELmineralium had been stranded for a month. The report said that they had been behind schedule and Katsuki received his mission two weeks ago. The timeframe didn’t make sense and any ideas of trying to ambush anyone in a Dead Zone was ludicrous.

Katsuki lowered his head in defeat. Trying to figure out the 'why' for their actions was crazy and wasteful to his time. He doubted that he would get answers sitting in a bathroom stall.

The only thing he could construe was that they seemed to be stalling him and there were a couple that wanted to do harm or immobilize him.

Scratch that, he needed to consider everyone hostile.

He’s been stupid giving a mineral ship the benefit of the doubt just because most of them worked as labour workers.

He rubbed his arm, the soreness still vaguely there. He was glad that it wasn’t his shooter arm at least, but he hated feeling even a little bit impaired. One thing he did realize was that the pretext to keeping him here was lost. Their engine was busted so they needed an emergency ships, so Katsuki was absolutely within his right to leave so he could get the help they needed. Perfect. He had an excuse to get the hell out of here.

Rolling back his uniform, he was going to make the best damn impression that nothing was wrong and that he didn’t suspect anything from these weird ass psychos. 

Leaving the bathroom, Katsuki wasn’t surprised to find the two men waiting for him. He ignored them and started to make his way to the loading dock.

He noticed from the corner of eyes that he was beginning to gain a bit of an entourage but ignored them still. He felt sweat pinprick on his neck when he counted nine of them slowly following him, most of them either warehouse or engineers.

One of them finally piped up, "Agent Bakugou, where are you going?"

Katsuki didn’t answer. He deliberately disregarded everyone, not faltering in his steps.

He noticed when more footsteps approached. Yulia and Devi even joined in on the march, but he didn’t slow down. At least they didn’t seem pressed to stopping him either, but Katsuki’s entire body pumped adrenalin at the thought of trying to defend himself from 12 people if they decided to do anything, trained or not. Katsuki felt a smidge of relief when they came upon the air docks without a hassle. No one said a word while he prepared his cruiser, checking the engine and popping open the cockpit. As he did a last check of his cruiser and strapped on his riding gloves, one of them seemed to flash with understanding.

“You’re leaving?” A lanky man said.

“We’ll get an emergency crew to you in less than a week,” Katsuki replied in a monotoned voice.

"Didn’t you want to talk to the captain?" Yulia pressed.

"It’s not important,” Katsuki shrugged as he checked his fuel. Good it looked like there was enough to get back.

“Didn’t you say it was?” Another warehouse crewmember sputtered.

“Not as important as getting you guys an emergency vehicle," Katsuki responded, tapping the walls of his cruiser.

"Don’t you want to say goodbye to everyone?" Another engineer bemoaned.

"Not necessary. If you're engine is busted, then there’s not much else I can do but get you help."

There was a sudden chorus of mourning. No words, but groans and sounds of despair. They were all overly dramatic to the point that it was chilling. Katsuki couldn’t tell if it was bad acting because they were morons or bad acting because they didn’t care what Katsuki thought of the situation.

“The sooner I go, the faster I can get some help to you guys,” Katsuki tried to finalize.

The crowd quieted, they shuffled closer towards him and he noticed some were still smiling but their brows were now crinkled like they were in pain. 

Katsuki felt a drop of sweat slide down his neck as he felt claustrophobic, the crowd getting a little too close for his taste. He was half tempted to start threatening them with the stunner to get them to back off, but he continued to play the role of the good agent.

"You'll get help soon. Just try to ration your resources and keep yourselves busy."

Katsuki jumped into the cockpit, locking out the world outside. It was amazing how the effect of not sharing a room with the creepy bunch caused his muscled to unclench.

He was a little concerned if they were uncooperative with the door, but at this point Katsuki was ready to blast a hole through their wall.

The machine came alive and Katsuki relaxed as the familiar glow of lights danced around him. The cruiser hummed quietly… and then suddenly shut off.

 Katsuki blinked as the world darkened around him.

The hell?

 Katsuki started the cruiser again and it came alive only to shut off just as quickly.

No.

"Is something wrong?" His receiver lit up. Katsuki felt ice in his veins. His hands clenching the control board.

"Katsuki? Hello? Kaaaaatsuki."

No, no, no. That wasn’t possible. He started it a third time only to get the same result. Katsuki could practically hear the pulsing of his heartbeat in his ears, his stomach returning to the sensation of queasiness.

He was stuck here.

No, NO. This couldn’t be happening. Tampering? Did those fuckers tamper with the cruiser!? How!? This wasn’t a machine that could be broken into easily without smashing it open, and even that would take some work as it built to take hits from meteorites. This was state of the art technology for god’s sake! And why would they? What would have been the purpose to keeping him here?

 Katsuki realized he was breathing heavily.

His mind was blank with fuzz, the cruiser now felt unsafe and contaminated, and small. And yet the only barrier from the psychos was its aluminum walls. The fuzz in his brain continued as the receiver continued to parrot, its ‘hello’s and ‘Katsuki’s’. He willed his fingers to stop shaking as he drew in the receiver.

"Hello? Hello? Helllloooo?"

“Shut the fuck up for a moment. I'm getting out," Katsuki hissed.

"Oh! We're so happy to hear that!"

Katsuki set the receiver down, he was starting to regret leaving his lethal weapons back on the main ship.

With a breath, he opened the hatchet.

They had all surrounded the cruiser, looking up at him expectantly. 

Katsuki took a second to consider the faces.

"I need you all to back away from the vehicle," Katsuki stated murderously.

They all took a step back.

Synchronized.

Fucking, of course.

Scanning the crowd, he asked in a threatening voice. "Where's the captain?"

Stares and silence.

“Do not make me repeat myself,” Katsuki said full of malice.

Like a dam breaking, an onslaught of questions arose, like bird screaming for food.

"What's wrong Katsuki?"

“I thought you said she wasn’t important.”

"Weren’t you leaving?"

"What's wrong? Are you staying with us?"

Their expressions and tones was about as sincere as a butcher’s reassurance to his sheep. They were doing a piss poor job of hiding their guilt if this was an intentional tampering. Katsuki saw no reason why any of them were trying to play this façade. Katsuki wondered if they were giving Katsuki a choice. To play along with them or reveal his own knowledge on their intentions. It probably wouldn’t be smart to antagonize a ship where a dozen of its crewmembers were right now crowding him.  

Though gritted teeth, Katsuki managed to say, "My cruiser isn't working."

There were some exaggerated gasps, others looked like they were fighting hard not to smile. Honestly, Katsuki felt like a jackass for even considering to play along with whatever game they had. 

"Oh? What do you think the reason could be?" Devi cocked his head, his face contorting like he was fighting to laugh

“Maybe as an engineer, you could give me some insight,” Katsuki challenged.

“Maybe we can help out,” Kurt stepped forward, his big figure parting the crowd.

“Doubtful,” Katsuki responded, snapping the gloves from his hands and tucking it into his pants. There was no way he was letting anyone else touch his baby. 

Kurt laughed, as he understood Katsuki’s protectiveness of his cruiser. “Maybe we can help you in other ways. I don’t think any of us know how to help you with your cruiser, but maybe we can help you get back out to space. I’m sure we all want what’s best for us too,” Kurt preached, and there were soft murmurs of agreement.

“That’s a wonderful idea, Kurt! Don’t you fret, Katsuki, our space forklifts are pretty durable in space though not nearly as extravagant as what you might ride,” Devi reassured, “and Kurt is an excellent pilot! You seem more comfortable with him around!”

Katsuki raised brow, “What are you suggesting?”

Kurt chuckled, “I can tow your cruiser out with one of the forklifts. Our forklifts can get out pretty far, it's how we excavate.”

 “How soon?” Katsuki questioned, though Katsuki had no intention to go through with the plan. It was the furthest thing from a good idea to leave these people with the chance to leave him stranded out in space.

"Well all are forklifts were being repaired, but we should have them up and running in maybe another 30 hours?” Kurt said.

Katsuki’s felt his hand twitch. How convenient for them.

“In the meantime. It’ll give you a chance to warm up to us,” Kurt’s smile came easily, but it actually looked more jarring in contrast among all the other crewmembers faces that were spasming to force a smile.

 “You’re suggesting I just what? Relax?”

Kurt’s laughter was hearty, but his eyes didn’t blink, “Well, what else can you do?”

Katsuki felt his muscles tighten.

It was an underlying threat, but a truthful one. Katsuki could do nothing. He suppose he could tinker with the cruiser, see if he could see what the problem is. But the ship had some advanced technology that even Katsuki wouldn’t be able to fix if it was broken from the inside… though he might gain a clue to what the cause of his cruiser’s malfunction was.

“Well I guess it’s settled! You wanted to chat with the Captain first, right? You got real interested in her all of a sudden,” Kurt gave him a cartoonish wink, “I was hoping you were taking an interest in me.”

The crowd of people laughed on at the pilot’s ‘joke’, and Katsuki felt his stomach flip at the response. Truthfully, he sometimes forgot other people we even there. It was either one person talking and the rest of the crew acting like a pre-recorded laughing audience. It always felt like he was only ever talking to one person.

“You were mistaken,” Katsuki replied coolly.

“Oh! So that means you haven’t lost interest in me then!” The damn Captain popped up through the crowd, her own smile fake and plastic. Her face didn’t look as sickly, but Katsuki realized with distaste that the woman had put on a fresh coat of makeup and had touched up her roots. Her freshly painted mask didn’t hide the exhaustion in her eyes. Katsuki hoped that the Captain’s ‘resting’ wasn’t something stupid like caking on makeup.

Ignoring the anticipated stares of the crowd, Katsuki stalked over towards the Captain.

"I wasn’t really looking to talk to you anymore, but there is something that I did want to bring up.”

 The dumb sheep crowd actually moved closer, and Katsuki had to yell. "Alone!"

The crowd had a delayed reaction, but dispersed as quickly as fish moved when stone was dropped into a pond. 

The Captain turned her blinding smile towards Katsuki. "Perfect, I’m glad I haven’t lost your interest. I heard you were trying to leave. I wasn’t expecting you not to say goodbye." 

“Your engine’s been busted. The best thing for me to do now is to get you and your men help. I can only do that by going back to the main ship.”

“Oh, yes. Such a shame about the engine.”

Katsuki glided his tongue behind his teeth. He was half tempted to demand answers about his tampered ship, but she most likely wouldn’t give him anything worthwhile.

And she was untrustworthy.

Every damn person on this ship was hiding something from him. Though they were morons if they didn’t think he suspected them, he didn’t want to antagonize them quite yet. Instead, he chose a different topic.

“Two of your crewmembers assaulted me last me. I would hope as the Captain you should be aware of the behaviours on the ship and would enact disciplinary action,” Katsuki said impassively, crossing his arms.

The Captain laughed, but it was an octave higher than what would be considered natural. "Why would they do that!?"

“I don’t think motivation is the issue, but I’m concerned about your hiring process and appropriate actions on the ship.”

 She twisted her hair as if she didn’t hear his response, slowly she spoke, but she didn’t meet his eyes. “Assaulting… I think that’s a little strong of a word. We really like you, so I think you might be mistaken. "

She’s nervous.

“One of your engineers was in my room when I awoke.. On top of me. I’d assume that’s not considered appropriate behaviour here.”

“Well, it depends if you also had a good time or not.”

Katsuki felt anger roll off him.

“I don’t appreciate people getting away with the intention to harm me.”

She laughed. “Harm you? My dear Katsuki, it sounds like you don’t trust us!" The Captain said playfully, but her eyes didn’t blink as she watched him. 

"I don’t,” Katsuki snarled before he could stop himself.

The Captain’s eyes remained blank, but the smile disappeared in a single smooth motion. She watched him, expression blank and cold.

In another breath, the smile came back all at once. 

"I do hope we have ways to convince you otherwise.”

 Katsuki has dealt with angry, emotional, aggressive, and unbalanced people in his life, but never had he met people so off putting. Vocally, nothing was off, but nothing reached her eyes. Robots had more life than her desolate eyes. Her eyes were focused, but like the lens to a camera as they watched for trespassers. Like a target.

“I highly doubt it,” Katsuki snorted, “your ship has been failing every basic function. You know what, nevermind. This has been a waste of time. I’m going to be in the room until your pilot can send me off. I’m not looking to interact with anyone else.”

There was disappointment in her face, but she shrugged. “Whatever makes you comfortable, Kacchan.”

Katsuki’s chest tightened, his jaw clenched at the sound of the name. Without finalizing a goodbye, he left.

…

Katsuki had lied. There was no way he was going back to the room where he woke up potentially drugged. Stalking through the hallways he thought about what he could do for an escape.

His options were to investigate the ship more or to be upfront with his intentions of leaving now.

The second choice would bring him conflict, most likely with the entirety of the ship. It would be difficult to have everyone his enemy, but right now that option was looking very appealing.

Looking for more 'evidence' would be dumb. He needed to leave. He just needed to think of a solid plan and stick to it. Should he start by trying to commandeer the control room? He could try and block it off to take over the entire ship. Shit, but that won’t work if they were telling the truth about the engine being busted and he was sure the crew would make it difficult for him.

Should he turn around and bulldoze his way back to the air docks? And what? Try and steal a slow as fuck forklift?

…Well actually, there was a chance of that working. All he needed was to get away from the interference and reconnect with the main ship. Have Taiga aware of the situation. He could even…

Movement was caught at the corner of his eye as he saw a figure hobble at the end of the hallway. The figure slipped around the corner, their movements looked jarring. Something about how it looked like the person had almost intentionally hidden from Katsuki alerted his instincts. He ran down the hallway at full speed, only to turn to see that the person looked like they were desperately running away from him.

"Hey!"

Whoever it was had long wavy black hair that looked dry and unkempt. They were clutching the side of the wall as if to steady themselves. Katsuki took his stunner out. The person looked like they were shaking, but Katsuki could see the person peer through a curtain of black hair, revealing the white of their eyes, before taking off again.

“Stop,” Katsuki commanded, but the person took no notice of his words as they ran. Not smoothly either as they ran with a hindrance, almost limping. It didn’t take much to catch up with them before they collapsed.

He came to a skidded halt as he saw it was a woman who had collapsed on the ground.

She literally tried to drag herself on the ground, and Katsuki could see she was trying to childishly hide herself, ducking her face in her sleeve. Katsuki also noticed a wave of that pungent smell of black licorice, now closer to the smell of absinthe. Katsuki grabbed her by the elbow to try and pull her upright and froze when he saw her.

It was apparent that the woman had naturally dark skin, but all the colour looked like it was bleached from her skin.

Shit. Was she sick?

There was a snap, and the girl had twisted herself awkwardly to look at him. Her face was a horrific nightmare. Her faded colour made the dark greenish-blue veins prominent on her face, her eyes looked sunken in. She opened her mouth, and a rattle shook from her throat. Her face muscles twitched and Katsuki realized she was trying to smile.

“What the fuck.”

He was prepared for a million things, but not for this. What was wrong with her? Was she having an aneurysm? His brain tried to list diseases that might have her look like this, but everything came short. Genuine fear sunk in as he thought of a worse-case scenario.

An unidentified disease.

It would explain so much. But what was the infection process? By air? Contact? If it was by air then Katsuki was already fucked. Everyone on this ship would be fucked!

"He-help me," the girl rattled, her smile still prominent, her stretched lips now cracked and bleeding. Her face was wet with tears, her brows scrunched in pain. Cautiously, Katsuki took a step back. If this was some kind of airborne disease, there would be no escaping, but if it was some kind of contact, Katsuki should keep his distance.

But fuck if he didn’t want answers.

She seemed lucid enough to be aware that he was there. He crouched down. "Oi. Can you talk to me? Are you aware of what’s happening to you?"

 Tears poured down. She made a short jerk of a nod, and Katsuki spoke clearly, "I want to help you, but I need you to help me. Can you tell me what's happening to you?" She jerked her side to the side, as if fighting off something. 

She did a half sob-laugh. “Get. Get away!” She choked.

“Is this… infection transmitted by contact?”

She shook her head, her face scrunched in pain, but she held on to that horrible smile.

"Ne-ck."

Katsuki looked at her questioningly.

“Neck!” She forced out.

Neck? Was it transmitted through the neck?

“See neck!” She cried.

"You want me to check your neck?" Again she jerked her head. “What’s on your neck?” Katsuki asked quietly.

“I- i- IT! GET AWAY!”

That was risky. She didn’t seem as conscious as he thought, but if he was going to have any plan to go forward, then he needed to see what kind of disease he might dealing with. Cautiously, he pulled out gloves from his back pocket and slipped them on. As gingerly as possible, he tugged her uniforms collar down. 

And sucked in a breath.

He had never seen anything like this on a human before. Embedded in her neck was a strange growth. It looked like a clump of dark green and blue fungi. Katsuki pulled the uniform down and saw with horror that their roots were going into her neck, their roots causing her skin to bulge.

"The hell is this?" He murmured.

An infection? Of what? He listed in his mind what kind of botanical diseases this could come from, but nothing came to mind.

This was foreign. Alien. 

Katsuki swallowed hard. His mind flitting through all the crewmembers. How many others might have this infection?

The girl was still shaking and sobbing. Katsuki steadied his voice. She needed assurance. "I'm going to find a way to get out and I swear I'll get help or you and your crew," Katsuki promised, but he felt his words empty. 

Her eyes went wide when she heard his voice. She started shaking, her smile twitching.

"Ki-ll. Me."

Katsuki froze.

"Please. Please." She begged, shaking.

"I'm going to do everything in my power to help you. I can’t guarantee how soon, and I know it’s unfair to ask you to wait, but I promise I will do everything to mobilize a health crew."

She both half screamed and laughed, shaking her head. "Ki-ll. Ki…" the effort seemed too much for her because she collapsed, her body spasming.

She must be in pain.

Katsuki swore. It's not like anyone in this ship could help her, and he wasn’t lying about trying to get her help as soon as possible, but he couldn't bring her with him. "I know this must be hard, you look like in you are in pain. But is there anyone on this ship that you can trust? Who's the doctor?"

She sobbed and laughed again. "M-me. Me."

Katsuki was realizing the situation on the ship was turning bleak. "Okay. Okay. I understand. I'm going to do my best to get help."

Suddenly her eyes turned wide. "Get out," she whispered.

Trust me, I'm trying, Katsuki thought, but she wasn’t looking at him. She was looking behind him.

"Run."

And before Katsuki could process another thought, multiple hand grabbed for him.

Chapter Text

Katsuki immediately reacted when he felt the hands on him. He tried to lurch forward, but two arms were already looped around his own, holding him back.

He side glanced at the two men that were gripping him at either side. They were big fuckers. From their uniform they were part of the engineering crew as well and they were as big as the red headed Shitstain.

"There you are! We were worried where you went,” Katsuki swung his head at the casual greeting.

It was Devi.

He had a smile of concern, but he waved his hand like a windmill. There was also the female engineer with short hair beside him. She ignored the exchange and was crouching beside the infected doctor’s spasming body

Four people managed to find him right away. Lucky him.

Katsuki tried to wrench free but the big muscled idiots didn’t move. They had brought their heaviest looking people, Katsuki thought grimly. An Asshole on the right, and a Dumbass on the left.

Katsuki snarled, “Let go of me.”

None of them seemed disturbed or willing to address the scene. If anything, Devi seemed to try and block the view of the doctor with his body.

“Come on Kacchan, you must be hungry again. Let’s get you fed. You have to wait for your ride back home, right?”

Katsuki bristled at the incessant spread of that stupid nickname. He tried to pull himself free again, but they didn’t budge.

"Let me go,” Katsuki dropped his voice, letting the ice settle in.

“Of course, where would you like to go?”

From his peripherals, Katsuki saw the female engineer pick up the doctor.

“Don’t touch her!” Katsuki ordered.

Devi’s eyes widened a fraction, but he kept his frozen face of ecstasy.

“We haven’t shown you all our sleeping quarters! You seemed interested in Kurt. He’s got a lot of miniature models of ships in his room.”

Katsuki bunched his muscles as he tried to twist his arms. The two stupid blockheads held fast and Katsuki found himself caring less and less that he was behaving like a feral animal.

“Let go now! And don’t touch that woman!”

They paid no mind to Katsuki’s words.

The two men holding Katsuki might as well be stone walls with how unresponsive they were. The only one seemingly making an effort to act human was Devi, and he was doing a piss poor job.

The female engineer also ignored him as she dragged the doctor to a room at the far end of the hallway.

Even with the events turning unsavory, he still had his training. He knew to pay attention when it was needed. He watched her punch in a code that he was just able to see it from his angle.

478177.

Easy.

He tried to twist again, and the two dickwads tightened their holds. He knew that was stupid and he was tiring himself out, but his frustration had bubbled over.

 “Are you deaf!? If you don’t fucking let me go now, I’m going to assume you are deliberately opposing my authority,” Devi pressed his lips like he was holding back a laugh and Katsuki felt the muscles in his neck seize up as he yelled “If you fucking go against me, then you are an enemy of the Federation!”

The smile dropped and Devi sighed, shaking his head as if Katsuki was acting unreasonable. "Kacchan, you're being difficult again. She’s sick and we don’t want to get you sick. We’re trying to keep you safe. Of course, we don’t want any kind of bad relationship with you… or the Federation. You are incredibly important to me." 

They were still playing with him. Did they honestly think he was this stupid?

"Cut the bullshit! This is all fucking bullshit. I’m not a fucking moron! If you don’t start giving me some actual goddamn answers, then I’m going to light a fire in your ass!”

“Kacchan, I don’t think that’s a saying. At least not one I’ve ever heard of.”

“Fuck!” Katsuki screamed, “This is all fucking… I know what you’re fucking trying to hide! Doesn’t take a genius to figure it out. You broke a law. I don’t know what specific fucking law, but she wouldn’t have a goddamn alien mushroom growing on her back if there were protocols followed!”

Devi’s features were smoothed out, “That’s quite the assumption.”

“Then stop me where I’m wrong,” Katsuki hissed, “any infection is to be reported and documented. If you knew she was sick, you should have sent a message, alongside your emergency message. Fuck, I asked you people if there were any medical emergencies. THIS IS A FUCKING MEDICAL EMERGENCY! Whose ass were you trying to cover? What fucking benefit is anyone on this ship going to have a fucking doctor who’s sick and-“

Katsuki felt a strangling sense of apprehension.

It was like someone had cracked an egg over his brain, and he felt the idea slowly soak through his mind.

“You’re all infected.” He whispered.

He thought maybe a couple of them were, he thought it was a possibility but… no… everyone was infected. It explained a lot. The weird behaviour, the apathy involving their own well-being, hopefully their moronic nature as well.

“Hmm?”

“This whole ship is sick, isn't it?"

Devi’s eyes widened. "Why Kacchan, that would be improper protocols. She only has the flu. Just a common bug. You seem on edge since you got here, so maybe you’re exaggerating what you saw, hmm? We have other nurses that can check on you.”

Th fucker had the audacity to look worried for him.

"Why did you lie then? When you said no one was sick," Katsuki tested the men’s hold by wrenching forward again, not gaining any results.

"We didn’t want you to panic."

"Because you look like you've got this so under control," Katsuki spat out his sarcasm. 

Devi presented a smile that stretched forever. “Everything is always under control.”

The Dumbass and Asshole beside Katsuki rumbled, and Katsuki realized they were laughing. They were all laughing.

"Then show me your neck!” Katsuki shouted.

The laughter stopped.

"Show it to me now!”

Laughter erupted in the room. The two monster fuckheads were hysterically laughing.

Devi wheezed as he seemed desperately trying to catch his breath.

“We’ll have them take you to Kurt’s room. You seemed to enjoy his company. Kacchan you should simmer down on your outrageous stories. It is cute though,” he finished with a wink.

Katsuki’s eyes widened as he realized that he was being dragged away. He turned his head to see Devi enter the room with the doctor.

The men that took him were robotic. They hadn’t said a word. Katsuki tried again with them. “I need you brainless fuckers to let go of me. Now.”

They didn’t even glance at him. They only had plastic smiles.

Katsuki breathed through his nose.

"I'm warning you. If you don’t start fucking taking me seriously and my position as a goddamn official, I will have the authority to use force. Let me go. Now,” he commanded aggressively again.

They didn’t respond. 

Fine.

He had tried being diplomatic.

Katsuki arms were pinned back, but he still had his legs.

Side stepping, Katsuki hooked his leg behind the knee of the Asshole on the right, and twisted. He let the guys own weight become a disadvantage as he became unbalanced before knocking the guy over. The Dumbass on the left, fell with them, surprised, and still holding on tight. Katsuki rolled over the first guy, quickly smashing his nose. The Asshole flinched and instinctively let go. The Dumbass was quickly trying to get up, still clinging onto Katsuki’s arm. Katsuki tugged him forward.

Katsuki wrestled with the man. He had weight and height over Katsuki, but he didn’t know how to use it. Katsuki bunched his muscles taking Dumbass in a snake grip as he flipped the guy on to his belly. The Dumbass grunted and was slow to react as Katsuki dislocated his shoulder.

“Kacchan!” The Dumbass gasped, floundering beneath him.

From the corner of his eyes, Katsuki saw the Asshole get up and move fast towards him. Katsuki felt his mind calm. His body fluid and perfectly timed to their movements, a result of his training.

He wasn’t afraid of incompetent men.

Katsuki pulled out his stunner in a smooth motion before catching the Asshole between his eyes. The Asshole convulsed before finding himself plonked on to the floor.

The Dumbass seemingly recovered from his pain, used his brute trength to rise, toppling Katsuki over. But Katsuki’s stunner was already warmed up and he shot another volt into the man’s spine. Katsuki felt the Dumbass’s muscles seize up before going lax. Katsuki eased out a breath, making sure it helped decrease his adrenalin levels.

Not wasting time, he pulled Dumbass’s collar down.

The strange fungus was rampant on the man’s neck. Most were the size of a pebble, but there were one or two that were thick in size and bright in colour.

“Not sick my ass.”

If the ship did have cameras, then he didn’t have much time. He needed answers though, and the doctor looked to be the only sane person even broken. He ran back to the door.

478177.

The door unlocked and he barged in. Upon entering he saw Devi hunched over the doctor, but he looked like was prepared for Katsuki because he immediately ran up to him.

Katsuki didn’t let him finish as he hit him with the stunner. Devi went rigid and fell to the ground with a heavy thud. The stunner worked for an hour, so he didn’t really have to worry about him waking up. He ignored the stunned body as he approached the doctor.

She was breathing in small, rapid successions. She didn’t even look like she had the strength to lift up her head, but her eyes watched Katsuki, furrowed in pain.

"I need you to give me as much information as possible. You’re the doc, yeah? Anything that you found out. Anything. Preventative measures, what the fuck this thing is, do you think that the people can be saved?”

Her short breaths didn’t stop, but she was no longer looking at him. Her gaze was transfixed behind him.

"Hey."

Katsuki crouched beside her again.

She watched him and then flickered her eyes behind him again.

Shit.

She might not be able to reply. She might have lost even understanding what he was saying.

She repeated the motion with her eyes. She looked at him, then behind, and then back again.

Katsuki paused as he followed her line of sight.

The room itself was in disarray, but she was looking specifically at a desk with some prehistoric items like paper. Katsuki didn’t know any airships that bothered carrying the stuff. Katsuki got up and examined the desk. Surprisingly there was a lot of paper with what he assumed was her own writing. Paper was valuable, and not really used to scribble on anymore.

There were a couple of electronic pads on the desk as well, and Katsuki tried to flick them on hoping it would have reports of the last month. The screen turned blank causing Katsuki to frown.

Cheap garbage.

He rustled through the papers, one catching his attention as he realized it was a list. 

He skimmed the list realizing it was the names of all 48 crewmembers aboard the REVELmineralium.

48 not 37.

The familiar sensation of ice flooded his veins as he checked the dates. Yes, this was the number of crewmembers that was reported at the start of the expedition. Katsuki glanced back at the doctor, her eyes now closed and her lips overextended in a combination of a smile and pain. 

Katsuki checked the list hoping for answers. There were notes sprawled everywhere. 

REVELmineralium: Crewmembers

Captain: 1

Fran Chevalier – Healthy Infected

Captain Advisors: 2

Hogarth Thomas - Healthy Infected

Stephen Krueger - Healthy

Moss: Engineers: 10

Engineers:

Alysia Sect 422- Healthy Infected

Evspin Sect 134- Healthy Infected

Deven Sect 62- Healthy

Yulia Olyinik (юлія Олійник)- Healthy

Gesveena Sect 134- Healthy

Ted LeBlanc- Healthy

Björn Helvig - Healthy

Chemical Engineers:

Li Zhao (李赵)- Healthy Infected

Chen Yang (陈杨)- Healthy

Gevore Sect 22- Healthy

Mustard: Communication Experts: 4

Camila Garcia - Healthy Infected

Janeen Sect 198 - Healthy Infected

Uma Pepple- Healthy

Jason McKlean- Healthy

Grey: Warehouse: 10

Kurt Williams – Healthy

Steffan Frangos (Στέφαν Κοτόπουλα) - Healthy

Chakir Bahar - Healthy Infected

Charlie Sec 111 - Healthy

Zeal Sect 144 - Healthy

Solel Sect 144 - Healthy

Orion Sect 232 - Healthy

Kristoff Fredrikson - Healthy Infected Deceased

Karl Sect 190  - Healthy Infected Deceased

Aldrin Thomas – Deceased

White: Health Unit: 5

Doctor:

Sameeta Nadu (समितानाडू)– Healthy

Nurse:

Keeley Green - Infected

Zeal Sect 52 - Healthy Infected

Carol Whitmore - Healthy Infected

Psychologist:

Emilia Tang - Healthy

Geographical Experts: 4

Mineralogist:

Claire Sect 134- Infected

Pam Sect 422– Infected Deceased

Botanist:

Izuku Midoriya (出久 緑谷) -Infected

Geologist:

Fred Jones - Healthy Infected

REVELmineralium Market Team: 2

Robert Brown - Healthy Infected Deceased

Augustine Claude - Healthy Infected Deceased

Security Guard: 2

Donnie Pittsburg - Healthy

Kepler Jezeene - Healthy

Star Navigator: 2

Io Panama - Healthy

Yoire Sect 134 - Healthy

Astronomist: 1

Dmitri Petrov (Дми́трий Петро́в) - Healthy Infected

Blue: Ship Housekeepers: 5

Sheng Sect 62 (胜) - Healthy Infected

Nes Sect 43 - Healthy Infected

Charlie Sect 62 - Healthy

Gilese Sect 134 - Healthy Infected Deceased

Vihaan Patel (विहानपटेल)- Healthy Infected Deceased

Infected.

It was a word that was sprawled beside almost every name. How did it start? Was there a carrier? Did it even matter? He looked through again. There was a point where the doctor no longer thought it was necessary to update the list as he saw her name Sameeta was tacked on as healthy. Or maybe she was no longer capable of updating.

"I'm sorry." Katsuki said softly, unsure if she could really hear him anymore.

She looked like she had tried at the very least to research and update what she could about the situation. But if this was some alien infection, the usual procedures would be useless if it had unknowingly entered the ship. Someone on the ship was responsible for this though. If this was an alien infestation, there was a point that one of the crewmembers came in contact with it. There were procedures if people encountered new lifeforms. Procedures that if followed, this shitshow would have never then happened.

There was no point in wondering who might be the culprit. If this whole ship was infected, this ship was nothing more than a tomb. Katsuki felt his chest tighten as he thought he might be infected too, without even knowing. But he refused to die here. He would do his part to fly back to the main ship and report this.

He had to figure out his next step then. Deciding whether to take down everyone or try to flee in the state he was in now. 

He would have to get the doors opened. 

He would have to steal a forklift.

He should assume they wouldn’t let him leave easily, so force would be his best option. Stun them. Apprehend them. He might have to kill, if he wasn’t able to guarantee his own safety. 

He glanced at the paper and flipped it. In a desperate scrawl, he saw the doc make an attempt to write theories and science terms. He didn’t have time to read it all, but he noticed what looked like an acronym circled several times.

De-cku?

Dionaea

Endoparasitoids

Cordyceps

Koercitio

Universalus

It was a long ass name.

Dionaea… that was familiar. Katsuki frowned as he realized it was Latin. Only hardcore science nerds had any use for the dead language. Everything was already re-written in New Science. But at least it gave him a hint. These were the biological scientific terms. He skipped to the next word.

Endoparasitoids. A parasite. This was definitely referring to the strange things growing in the back of the doctor’s neck. He had no idea what the fuck Cordyceps or Koercitio were. Katsuki crinkled the paper in frustration as he realized his own lack of knowledge was keeping him in the dark. He glanced at the last word.

Universalus. Could mean a number of things. The part of the universe this infection was found in, it could mean the entirety of an entity or be referring to the spread of the parasite.

He couldn’t say this was a useless finding. It did mean something that there was already a greater number of deaths or missing persons than he previously believed and that he was dealing with a parasite, meaning it was possibly leeching off the life of the crewmembers. Katsuki wondered if it worked more like an insect or a pla-

A body collided into him, nearly knocking him over. Wide eyed, he turned to see the doctor desperately trying to get a grip on him. Her eyes were wide and frantic, the smile stretched to show graying gums.

"What the hell?"

Then he saw her reach for his stunner.

"Hey!" He barked, quick to grapple her arms. She moved with a hurricane frenzy, but she was weak. She probably weighed only a hundred pounds.

"Stop that!" Katsuki shouted.

She had no strength. She was only fighting with desperation.

"Enough!” He shouted, as he kept a firm grip on her wrists.

A piercing laugh broke from her.

"Ka-ka…"

"Don’t make me use force," Katsuki warned.

He would. He didn’t want to as the situation was not her choice, but he couldn’t let her sporadic behaviour go unchecked. But she kept swaying, her legs moving in an uncoordinated dance.

He slammed her to the ground,

She made a surprisingly satisfied noise, "Mm-Kacchan" she murmured, as if in a dream. Glowering, he twisted her over, so she was laying on her belly, pinning her arms behind her back. The strange fungus was bare, it's strange colour almost a toxic luminous colour under the vibrant lights.

She wiggled against him, her breaths coming in short. He would have to stun her too. She would be a liability if he didn’t do anything to immobilize her. He stared at the growth and a thought occurred.

"I'm going to try and take that shit out," he notified her as he grappled with a glove. He felt her stiffen and stop wriggling. Her wrists were tiny, and he could switch off holding them with only one hand. He slid over a glove, pulling it down with his teeth.

"Kacchan, don’t. That would be a bad idea."

Katsuki froze as he heard her voice, smooth and coherent. No desperation or pain could be heard from her voice. Katsuki felt his heart thud.

"What do you mean? That thing is obviously the problem. Might as well try something to help you."

"That'll kill her."

"What do you mean ‘her’?" Katsuki asked, confusion crept into him.

The doctor twisted her head to look at him, the smile still plastered on the bottom half of her face, but her eyes were sharp and warning.

"It’s connected to the hippocamps and the brain stem. You’ll sever the brain from the body, killing her. You’re not supposed to kill civilians, right Kacchan?"

Katsuki looked at her in disbelief.

Suddenly the bringing noise lit up the door, warning of invaders.

"Shit" he swore, preparing to aim his stunner at the door, when he heard a sickening crack and an arm was flying at him. She had twisted her whole body and had broken her back.

Willingly.

Katsuki felt a thrill of horror as she latched on to him in the vice grip of a snake hold with a twisted broken back. She barely made a sound other than a grunt, but Bakugou could hear the deformation she was causing her body. He still had free arms and he aimed the stunner at her forehead before zapping her, but there were already people streaming into the room. Katsuki blasted two or three, but they came barreling in fast using the front people as shields.

Shit!

Katsuki dodged arms but they all came at him seemingly with no fear of consequence.

He had to get out. The worse situation would be to be trapped with these fuckers in his room.

He pushed his way out, making sure that his stunner was aimed and carful of the movements of the people.

He dashed out of the door, only to come face to face with 20 other people.

Well fuck, did they bring everyone? 

They weren’t particularly coordinated, but they were outnumbering him and looking like they were trying to dog pile.

Katsuki let loose his stunner into the crowd, but there was 2 second interval between each charge. The crowd seemed to catch on that the stunner had a delay, as they tried to rush him. Katsuki’s perfect luck for taking a non-lethal weapon instead of an automatic gun that was lethal. He kept his distance as he danced away.

A hand managed to grab his shoulder and it pulled. He elbowed the fucker in the face, when he felt a hand slide over his arm for the stunner. He tried to tug his arm away, but he felt his stomach drop into desolation as he felt the stunner slip away from his grip. Frantically, Katsuki made an attempt to retake his only hope, when Katsuki felt a giant hand grab his wrist.

Katsuki whirled his head to meet the red scruffed face of Es.

“Ah, ah, ah. Kacchan. Can’t have that.”

Rage overtook fear, and he grabbed the hand with his free hand, yanking the fucker closer. Es stumbled stupidly over, but his arm was now taut and straight. Katsuki took the chance to twist his arm and using all the force he could with his other arm to break the arm.

Es cried out, “Yo-You broke the bone, Kacchan,” the smile was still there, but his face a mask of pain.

About time, Katsuki thought, as he went to strike his mangled arm again.

He was not expecting the Shitstain to use his arm as a shield, driving Katsuki against a wall. The man was crying and laughing as he freely fell on top of him.

“It hurts, Kacchan, it really hurts,” the man was dripping with tears and snot on to him.

“Get off, you stupid son of a bitch,” Katsuki snarled, but the Shitstain paid him no heed as he reached to pin him. Katsuki was expecting obstinance, but not a zero acknowledgment of a broken arm. Using a free hand, he dug his finger into the man’s socket. The Shitstain screamed, but still kept roaming his hand to pin Katsuki. Taking the opportunity of his lack of coordination, Katsuki rolled under him and tried to flee.

They now had his stunner.

He only prayed that they had no idea how to use it.

He would have to do this all by hand. He was trained, he’s been through rigorous work and pressuring situations before. He was supposed to be trained for the worst.

Keep calm, strike to immobilize. Strike to kill.

But a strangling sensation of being swept by a tidal wave hit him as they clambered on top of one another to get to him. He was fighting off an army of fearless zombies that had seemingly lost any sense of self preservation.

He struck out, moving low. Using their incoordination to his advantage.

He was about to reach the end of the hallway, when a barrage of 10 new people blocked his way.

Fuck me.

They were all hyper focused on him. Not hesitating, Katsuki tried to bulldoze his way through the new groups of people. Hands dug into him from behind, and he kicked out. He couldn’t let even one of them pin him. He’d be finished.

They were aware of that too, because they began to block any exit by standing side by side, anticipating his aggressive break through.

I just need to get behind them. Lock myself up somewhere and-

Someone who had fallen in the ground had snagged his ankle, causing him to trip.

No!

They dog piled on him. Cold stiff bodies, like corpses.

He felt his breath leave him as he was slowly crushed by these iced bodies. Hands were insistent in pinning him to the ground. They were fast in grabbing at any part of them that they could.

The room was full of heavy breathing and small sounds of giggling.

They had trapped him.

Katsuki tried to move, but it was like iron bars on his calves, arms, and even neck.

Finally, one of them seemed to gain back their voice.

“Goodness, what a rush. Not gonna lie, Kacchan. You had us worried. I really thought you might find a way out. That’s an official from the federation for you!” It was that bitch Yulia. She was right by his face, her hands digging into his hair.

Katsuki’s own breath was coming out hard, his cheek pressed against the smoothness of the floor, “You’re going to regret ever making me your target,” he warned, his chest tight.

“Oh Kacchan,” said one of the warehouse fuckers, “You’ve been the best thing to come our way.”

Some of the crewmembers got off him, but they were adamant to keeping him secured. They formed around him, a perfect circle. Katsuki briefly wondered how the fuck they were still in a weird synchronization. There was no communication between them.

Through the legs of the crewmembers, he saw one of the men, Katsuki thinks he remembered his name was Sheng, enter the doctor’s room and returned dragging her body out by the foot. He felt his stomach clench.

“Where the fuck are you taking her?”

Some of the crewmembers followed his line of sight. “Sorry, you seemed to have liked her, but we have to dispose of her now.”

“What do you mean?”

"There’s nothing we can do for that one. She’s not sick. She’s dying. No point for needless worry, Kacchan. Also, not trying to make you feel guilt or anything, but you’re kind of the reason she has a broken back now.”

A heartbeat.

“How do you know that she’s dying?”

They laughed.

“What aren’t you telling me!”

They laughed again.

In desperation, Katsuki angrily yelled, “At any moment, my colleagues will send scouts to find me. I was supposed to be back on the ship by now. There’s a crew of trained officials on that ship, and I promise you they don’t hold back if you’re a threat to the Federation!”

There was an explosion of laughter. There bodies didn’t move, but their heads and chest bobbed with the intake of air.

Through the giggles, he could hear someone reply, “But Kacchan, you said that you and your colleague and were the ones that heard the distressed call. Colleague is singular, correct? We assumed you would have come in pairs if there were more of you on that ship.”

Katsuki froze.

Fuck, he fucked up.

“Someone is going to check this godforsaken ship if I’m not back,” Katsuki stated darkly, refusing to lose his composure, “I’m still a member of the Federation, and they will send someone to investigate.”

More giggles, “But how long will that be? Days? Weeks? It’s enough time to spend time with you, Kacchan. And there’s a lot of outer space for them to try and look for you.”

Katsuki felt his innards shrivel at the ominous implication.

Suddenly, it was like switch was turned and they abruptly came to him with outstretched arms.

They were on him like hungry carnivores descending on a fresh kill. They had him pinned, a chorus of laughter and giggling that made his head swim. He squirmed on the ground, their hands trapping him at every corner.

“Fuck!”

Suddenly he felt his boots loosened.

He stilled for only a split second.

“What the fuck are you doing!?” He screamed as one of the fuckers pulled off his boot.

“Checking the goods,” one of the older ladies winked.

“My feet!?” He asked incredulously. 

Unexpectedly the hands were all over the place. They smoothed their palms over his stomach, they tweaked his ears, they dug into his flesh and a synchronized sigh sounded off through the crowd. Katsuki tried to retract from the touches, but he had nowhere to go.

“What. The fuck.” Was all he could manage to choke out, before more hands were stripping off his uniform.

“Stop!”

But hands were cradling his head, cold and dead, the smell of licorice prominent. He did his best to struggle, but there were dozens of faces with hands ready to snatch at him if he moved too much.

They got his shirt off and the weird compliments began.

“You have such healthy skin Kacchan!”

“There’s not a blemish on you!”

“Mm, you’re like, the perfect temperature.”

“Your body is so proportional!”

The cool hands danced around his skin, not shying from their touches. They all seemed to have a different goal.

One was inspecting his head, turning it from side to side. One was simply combing through his hair. One was fixated in his chest, cupping his pecs while another thumbed his nipples. Another was very interested in his feet, bringing it close to their face. He tried to kick the person in the face, but another person had his thighs locked in a hold, their hands massaging his thigh.

“The fuck are you doing!?” His voice cracked.

Shit, he was not scared. He was a trained official. He wasn’t afraid of shit! But he couldn’t formulate any kind of thinking without knowing what the hell was going on. What the fuck did they want!? Faces towered over him, he felt them try to rub their bodies on him, their breaths getting heavy and the thick smell of bitter licorice wafted into his face.

And then he saw some of the men. Through their jumpsuits, the evidence of their arousal.

Katsuki nearly threw up.

"Get off me you infected bastards!" 

"That's quite insulting. We're not infected, Kacchan."

"You think I'm stupid or are your brains so scrambled you don’t even realize how messed up everyone-“, Katsuki yelped as one of the bigger men tugged at his nipple. He scowled and tried to twist away from the contact, but they pressed more weight on him.

They tilted their heads, like dogs on command.

"Oh Kacchan, we're not scrambled. Enlightened. Enhanced. Evolved," a smile, like they had all practiced the same sales pitch, “I think those are more fitting words."

Katsuki shuddered, "The fuck do you mean 'enlightened'. You've got a goddamn plant growing on your neck.”

“All part of the evolving process, Kacchan,” it was Kurt who whispered that into his ear, before sniffing the side of his head.

"Fuck, do you realize even what you're doing?" Katsuki cried, turning his face away.

“Of course, Kacchan. I’ve been planning this for some time. You were absolutely perfect,” the Captain’s voice emerged. It sounded like forced enthusiasm a sick person would try to emulate.

“You specifically? Planning what!?” Katsuki questioned.

“Mm. I do want to tell you, but I told you I wanted to get more acquainted for the main event.”

“What main event. What gah!” Hands teased down his waist band, unhooking his holster, lingering a little too fucking long on his crotch.

“Goddammit! I told you to stop bullshitting. The fuck do you people have to gain by talking cryptic shit! I already fucking know the truth!”

It was Alysia who appeared before him. Her eyes glinting in an almost electric colour. She pushed herself forward, so she was inches away from his face.

“You don’t know everything, Kacchan,” she traced a finger on his brow, dragging it across his cheek.

“I know enough.”

She laughed, clear as a bell, “I don’t think so.”

“Then show me,” he challenged.

“Show you?”

“What you’re fucking hiding! If you’re so fucking confident that I don’t know, then show me!” Katsuki writhed under another cool touch that traced down his naval.

The bodies stilled. They froze into perfect statues. Not a blink or breath was uttered. Slowly, Alysia grabbed his head so he couldn’t turn his head, the strange electric green colouring flicked through her iris.

“Do you want to see me?”

The hands didn’t loosen their hold, but they ceased their movements. 

The eyes had all turned back on him expectantly.

Katsuki shuddered.

"The hell do you mean?"

"Do you want to see me?" Someone else repeated

What was that supposed to mean? Why were they referring themselves like that? Katsuki felt unease, his heart felt like it was trying to crawl out of his throat.

The smiles were gone. Stone faced and watchful. Katsuki’s instincts were screaming that he should decline whatever she was asking, the tension of the room awaiting his answer was dense. No, he didn’t want to answer the question, but his situation was looking grim, and he needed something to change to gain an opening. He needed to stop being such a fucking coward.

Steading his voice, Katsuki replied, "Are you going to answer some of my questions if I say yes?"

Smiles sprung back into the crowds faces, “Absolutely Kacchan! But I will ask that you behave.”

“Fine. Let me see.”

Alysia’s lips curled. She pressed her lips to his cheek in a soft gesture, “We were right to choose you,” she whispered.

Suddenly the crowd of voices sounded celebratory.

"This is a great idea!"

“I’m really happy, Kacchan!”

“I wasn’t expecting this so soon!”

They hoisted him up and carried him along. Katsuki was hoping that they would try to move him in another way, but they kept him locked in a cage of limbs. He tried to look for anything that could help him, as they were engaged in moving through the maze of corridors.

Please, please something. Anything.

But this kind of hope was never found in the unknown quarters of space.

Katsuki still struggled, refusing to lay quietly as they took him into deeper unknown parts of the ship. The crowd just chuckled and held on fast. They arrived at a freight elevator, the size looking like it could fit smaller airships in, so the crowd fit in no problem.

They were taking him below deck.

They squeezed themselves in the elevator, the feeling was suffocating as cold bodies pressed together, hovering over Katsuki, softly crushing him. No one spoke. Katsuki felt butterflies in his stomach, he felt like the situation had spiraled hard out of his control. It would be harder to get back to the main floor. Had he made the wrong choice?

As the sunk down farther below, the elevator stopped with a jerk. The doors opened up into darkness and the crowd bounced happily forward into the unknown.

Katsuki blinked trying to let his eyes adjust.

There was a concerning musty smell, evidence of poor air circulation and callous care for humidity quantities. The smell of licorice or anise was sickeningly evident down here that it slightly burned his nostrils.

They didn’t bother turning on the lights.

The crowd of sunshine and smiles kept him hoisted up, as if in preparation to give him up for sacrifice. Katsuki couldn’t help but feel that was exactly what was happening. Something was also moving in the room. A strange slithering sound had Katsuki’s breath caught in his throat.

What the hell was down here?

The crewmembers walked sure footed in the dark.

A small light was seen at the end of the tunnel. Katsuki tried to twist and peer to see what awaited him and did his best to keep a rational mind. He could not panic. He had to wait for an opportunity.

There will be a chance, he just had to be calm enough to see it. But disparity crept into his heart as the unnatural circumstances enveloped him. As they led him closer to the only source of light, he was surprised to see an ordinary man in a shirt and sweats standing under it.

 He squinted to get a better look at the man. He had not seen him before, but his unusual appearance left goosebumps on Katsuki’s skin.

On the surface the man was plain. He had a slight baby face, he was not that tall, and his skin was painted with freckles. However, it looked as if something unnatural had leeched into him. He had dark curls, that looked almost green, but it didn’t look dyed. He had slight blue veins encasing his arms and neck, reaching to the sides of his face.

And his eyes.

They were bright, almost as if they emitted their own light, a poisonous bright looking green. His face was disarming, as his smile came naturally and the voice that came out was quiet.

“I’m so happy that we get to meet, Kacchan.”

Chapter Text

Katsuki slowed his breaths, staring at the glowing eyed boy.

The crowd waited in anticipation, probably for him to react, but Katsuki wouldn’t lie that it was all a little anti-climactic.

This? This was it?

Katsuki would be less surprised with a freak boss fight you would see at the end of old video games, but this dumpy person was the one calling the shots?

Even if he had weird glowing eyes, he was still very much human. The fucking cook had a scarier aura, as she had acted like she could snap at any moment.

This freckled fuck smiled like a dumbass child.

“Is this the real you? Can’t say I’m impressed,” Katsuki stated scathingly.

The boy with green eyes widened before bursting into a fit of giggles, bubbly like a champagne bottle.

“You don’t seem very intimidated.”

“I’m not,” Katsuki answered slowly, wondering if he was going to at least get a proper conversation out of this one.

His brain didn’t seem too scrambled.

“What the fuck are you supposed to be? Everyone was acting like you were fucking important. What makes you so special that these fucktards had to bring me all the way down here, other than showing me that your eyes turned into lightbulbs.”

The boys softly pressed a hand to his lips.

“Oh, I hope those don’t bother you too much.”

Good. This was good. If he could reason with someone, maybe it can convince the other infected people to let him go. Confidence built up in Katsuki as an opening for an escape unfurled before him.

“So, I’ve met you. Is that all you wanted?”

The boy chuckled softly, smoothing out the front of his shirt.

“Well, you still haven’t quite met me yet.”

Katsuki frowned at the information.

“Yeah?”

So there was another one. Something else out here that was connected to the infection.

“So who the fuck are you?”

He saw the boy press a hand to his mouth, like he was trying to stop from laughing. He looked at Katsuki in an amused way, but he didn’t address what was so fucking funny.

“A host. A very good host. Probably the best one on the ship.”

“I’m guessing not the type of host that serves at parties,” Katsuki stated dryly, feeling sweat build up on his neck.

The laughter bubbled up again, as the man snorted a laugh. It was so human. So natural. But Katsuki was chilled.

“Hah. No. This one is called Izuku Midoriya. I’m quite fond of him,” the freckled fuck patted his own shoulders like a boss would to a favoured subordinate.

“Great. Now who the fuck are you?”

“I’m Izuku Midoriya,” the freckled fuckface grinned, his eyes glittering “and I’m Alysia,” he pointed to the blonde, “and I’m Yulia Olyinik, and Io Panama, and Dmitri Petrov, and Li Zhao and Deven. I’m everyone here and I’m also something else entirely. And we,” Izuku spread out his arms, “are something limitless.”

Great, the fucker was talking in stupid riddles.

“What makes this one so special?”  Katsuki jutted out his chin towards the freckled ‘host’, unable to point with his arms bound.

 “Hmm a number of things,” the freckled fuck drawled, “his body is like a second skin to me. I feel like we are far more in sync than the others.

“Why’s that?” Katsuki puzzled aloud, trying to find a link on what was going on.

“Not sure. I haven’t solved that mystery yet. Might be biological, might be intelligence. Couldn’t tell you. My own theory is that we happened to share similar… values. Our importance on life. Our longing for partnership. The importance in honouring our mothers,-”

“That’s a bit pathetic,” Katsuki interrupted with a sneer, “all I’m hearing is how you relate the best to a mama’s boy.”

The boy burst into another fit of giggles, he eyed Katsuki with a level of mirth, “My goodness Kacchan. You’re really not made like the other humans. I think you’re the first to insult me.”

“I’m not built like these plebs.”

“No, you’re not,” The plant boy spoke softly, “You wouldn’t have caught my attention otherwise. So, I think you’ll be fine when you meet me. After the first one fainted and the second brought a flamethrower, I made sure to prep the crewmembers as hosts before they met me directly. “

A flamethrower would be too weak, it would only be proper to nuke the damn ship.

“But I don’t have to worry about you, do I?” The freckled boy cocked his head, his curls bounced along with him. In any other world, Katsuki might have thought that was cute.

Katsuki, however, felt intensely aware that he was in a horror setting.

The person just admitted to being a host. That could also mean that the hosts, the crewmembers, were truly zombies responding to something else’s whims, or that they were aware of what was going on, but their control over themselves had slipped. If they were being ‘controlled’, he was dealing with something intelligent. Something intelligent that could take over human beings.

Katsuki heart raced as he remembered the doctor’s notes.

A parasite.

An intelligent parasite that took over hosts. It wasn’t possible, not on Earth and its sister solar systems, but there had been such strange findings throughout the galaxy that it wasn’t in the realms of impossibility.

Katsuki’s brain churned as he remembered about an epidemic where a fungus from earth had taken over an alien species that had called for 6 planetary interventions.

The fungus was Cordyceps.

DECKU.

C for Cordyceps.

He was so fucking stupid.

“Can I take a guess?” Katsuki asked rushed.

The freckled boy’s eyebrows shot up, “About what, Kacchan?”

“Your identity.”

A smile, “Oh?”

“You said I haven’t met ‘you’, yet, but I can guess what you are.”

Admiration was plain on the boy’s face, so much so that it made Katsuki sick, “You have an idea?” Freckles asked.

Katsuki licked his teeth, “’DECKU’.”

A bright smile developed on the boy’s face, it progressed into chuckling that turned into a bellow of laughter, tears on his face, “You paid attention to the doctors notes,” he said after he recovered a bit.  “Well that’s the identity she gave me, I’m not sure if I agree completely though,” he said wiping a tear, “parasite is a little rude, don’t you think? While yes, they are my hosts, I think it would be more accurate to say I'm a guest, rather than a parasite.”

"A guest that kills the host."

“Not always!” ‘Deku’ replied brightly, “I try to avoid that. Wasted resources. But unfortunately, some people aren’t very compatible with ‘me’,” he said tapping at his neck, “Izuku and I get along very nicely, it's hard to find out what's the link. I have greater control over him, but he influences my values and preferences too,” he gave a very leering look towards Katsuki’s exposed chest. “I also believe my taste in preference in humans also comes from him.”

Katsuki tried to squirm away from the apparent oggling.

“And the ones that aren’t ‘compatible’?” Katsuki asked.

Deku gave a regretful smile, “Well, you met them. I can’t motor control them that well, and sometimes their body rejects me completely. But not to worry, they don’t go to waste. Every piece of meat has nutrition.”

Katsuki’s stomach turned as he remembered the doctor’s plea for him to kill her.

“I should have ripped that goddamn mushroom from her neck,” Katsuki spat out hatefully.

“No, no, Kacchan. I wasn’t lying when I said it would have killed her. And painfully.”

“As opposed to losing your fucking mind!?” Katsuki yelled, his mind a blind fury.

Deku laughed, the equivalent to sunshine and rainbows to Katsuki’s darkening rage.

“Oh Kacchan, you’re so quick to anger. She hasn’t lost anything. No one has.”

“Bullshit. Humans don’t act like this, you stupid vegetable.”

Deku’s lips curved, tapping the side of his cheek, “You’re quite insulting for a human. No Kacchan, they’re all still there. It’s a lot more detrimental to work with a brain that half works. I just have more difficulties controlling motor functions than others, is all.”

He just controls the motor functions?

Katsuki scanned the area turning to all the smiling faces with wide eyes.

Oh fuck, the people were still in there.

Were they all conscious right now?

He felt a pang of pity if that was the case. They could only watch as everything deteriorated around them.

I was probably their only hope.

“The fuck are you?” Katsuki asked thickly, but his voice blackened.

“The future,” Devi replied quietly with a smile.

Katsuki snapped his head towards him, surprised that the voice came from somewhere else.

“Fuck off with these cryptic answers. The fuck are you and the fuck do you want with me specifically?”

“I think we’ve answered as best we could. As for what I want with you…” Another bitch answered and slid their hands carefully across a nipple.

“DON’T FUCKING TOUCH ME!” Katsuki yelled and he was met with a chorus of laughter.

Kurt burst out sniggering, "I'm sorry, sorry. I don’t think there’s ever been anyone with your reactions before. They're so angry!"

The giggling continued and someone else piped up. “It’s really cute, something so harmless can have a voice like yours that carries.”

“Fucking let me go, and then we’ll see if I’m harmless,” Katsuki challenged as he tried to kick out to one of the arms gripping him.

“No, no, Kacchan. You wanted to know why I want you? I’ll show you.”

Something was moving on the floor.

Katsuki tried to twist his head to see, but the fuckers held on tight.

“What the fuck is that?” Katsuki asked, trying his best not to sound panicked.

“Scared?” Yulia asked, her cold hand flat on Katsuki’s stomach.

“You wish,” he snarled, “I’m just sick of playing 20 questions with you people.”

The freckled fucker didn’t move closer, but he answered, sounding mildly surprised, “No Kacchan, I don’t wish you to fear me, though it’s understandable to fear the unknown. I promise we won’t harm you.”

Something cool and smooth touched Katsuki’s bare back, and he couldn’t repress the flinch. Twisting, he’s eyes widened with terror as he saw what looked like fucking vines slowly curl over his mid-section.

What the fuck!?

The dim lighting revealed clearer shapes, as he could hear multiple tentacle looking things slithering.

Oh, you got to be fucking kidding me.

Were they alive? Was it conscious? It wasn’t reaching for anyone else.

They slowly slithered over his wrists and legs.

“Lemme go,” Katsuki hissed.

“Soon,” The Captain said with a bright smile, but her eyes looked like a soulless abyss.

Katsuki could see clearer shapes. There tentacle or vines, or whatever the fuck they were, were covering the basement. What looked like mushrooms sprouted from different parts of the vine, they looked like they operated with green and blue bioluminescence that could almost be described as pretty.

Slowly, they encapsulated him. Strong heavy tendrils that felt oddly rubbery on his skin. The brainless shitheads began to let go of him, one by one, giving space to the vines.

“Fuck. Fuck! Just tell me what you’re going to do!”

“We don’t want to panic you.”

“You’re doing a fucking terrible job with these creepy ass vines!”

There was giggling, and someone murmured ‘rude’, as the vines took hold of him. The vines were strong as they held him suspended in the air, probably stronger than the crewmembers as they locked themselves into place.

Fuck. They were going to stick a zombie mushroom on him too, weren’t they?

Fuck, fuck, fuck.

What if it didn’t work? Would it be worse? Would he become a plants lunch food?

Katsuki did everything in his power to not start hyperventilating. He was an official from the federation! How the fuck was he in this kind of position!? Treating him like goddamn fertilizer!

Then he felt hands tug at his pants. Katsuki instinctively snarled and tried to wrench away, but there were iron grips everywhere as they pulled off his last remaining garment. Katsuki was by no means ashamed of his body, but he for sure did not want to be exposed to these freaks and tried to curl up his legs as a form of resistance. It was his last bit of barrier, and they slunk it off effortlessly. Hands brushing up his thigh and little soft gasps and chuckles echoed in the basement as they commented on his size.

He didn’t want to seem disturbed, but he was completely exposed and vulnerable, naked from head to toe.

“Oh Kacchan,” he didn’t know who said it, but it sounded breathless.

He tried moving again, but the strange tendrils fastened around him, tightening as they curled around.

I’m not scared. He told himself. His heartbeat betrayed that sentiment.

“Whatever you’re going to do just do it,” he shouted out, hoping his words would bury away the fear.

I’m not scared. I’m not.

The freckled monster smiled. “We will. I just need to prep you up.”

 The freckled ‘boss’ of the loony crew finally approached and the crowd parted like the sea from old stories of gods and demons.

 Katsuki’s lower half was at the same height as Deku’s chest and his cheeks burned as everything was exposed to him.

“Don’t touch me, Deku,” Katsuki warned.

The freckled host for ‘Deku’ smiled, “Awe I quite like that name coming from you,” he walked around Katsuki, brushing the curve of Katsuki’s Adam apple, “It sounds intimate, Kacchan.”

Deku eyed something behind Katsuki, and out of his peripherals, Katsuki saw one of the tendrils slunk up towards his face. It wasn’t as thick as some of the other vines, but it was pulsing strangely. The vine was green blue in colour, but it had an ‘opening’ that was dribbling out clear orange shit.

“Now hold on Kacchan, I’m going to make this good for you.”

“What the fuck is that?” And unfortunately, Katsuki’s voice did break.

Kurt kissed the side of his head, “Something to make you feel better.”

“I fucking said stop with this cryptic shit! Wha-uhn!”

Fingers were shoved into his mouth as he felt them try to pry his mouth open. He snapped his head to the side, before feeling the fucking vine enter his mouth!

What the fuck, what the fuck, what the fuck.

Katsuki tried to bite down as hard as he could, but the gross thing was like biting thick rubber.

“Oh Kacchan, biting won’t help,” Deku actually groaned, as if the host had felt the bite. Maybe he did.

No stop this. Get this thing away.

But it was pushing farther in his mouth, stretching his mouth impossibly wide.

“It’s so warm, it’s so warm,” he heard the crowd whimper a chant and his brain sparked fear as he remembered antique space movies about humans being ripped apart from the inside by aliens.

He gagged as the ‘vine’ touched uncertainly the back of his throat.

His breathing was laboured and his jaw ached as the fat plant just sat in his mouth.

He dared to open his eyes when nothing else happened, and Deku was right beside him, waiting for him.

“Now Kacchan, I’m going to need you to stay calm and take a deep breath. You’re not going to be able breath for about a minute and a half.”

What!?

“I’ll count to three, but it would help if you try and swallow.”

No.

“One.”

Stop!

“Two.”

Please.

“Three.”

The thing moved slowly, but it pushed relentlessly to the back of Katsuki’s throat. Katsuki had no choice but to swallow the vine, because it pushed persistently inward.

It moved down his esophagus, gently, but Katsuki jerked against the vine as it felt like he was swallowing solid food with no end.

“You know Kacchan, I always thought it was one of your human’s biggest biological flaws. Keeping your intake for food so close to your airways is a very primitive design. Most species I’ve come across don’t have such an evolutionary mishap.”

Katsuki blocked out his voice as he focused on the fact that he was choking on a vine, his throat screaming as it clenched around it’s rubbery walls.

The thing moved delicately downward, as it wormed its way to his stomach, but it hurt like a bitch.

He tried to swallow around it and felt his brain unnerved when he couldn’t get an intake of air.

I’m going to die.

He was choking on a fucking plant.

He tried not to panic.

He had breathing training for piloting exercises. He could not panic, because panic leads to death, which at this point didn’t fucking matter. He tried to keep his heartbeat steady and his mind sharp as he tried to process what the hell he could do, when he felt something filling his stomach.

“Mmn!?

He couldn’t taste what was entering, but he felt his stomach expanding and began to feel queasy.

“Almost there Kacchan.”

The fucking thing was putting shit inside him!

It felt like when he would pound back a jug of water, and he could feel his stomach feel sloshy. He tried swallowing again, and panic resettled with the lack of air.

Shit.

Pinpricks of tears filled the corner of his eyes.

He was going to die in the most horrific way possible. He hoped he passed out first and thought maybe it was a blessing that he should die from asphyxiation instead of whatever was in store for him.

“That’s it,” the freckled monster cooed, and when Katsuki finally felt his vision begin to white out, the vine began to retract. Katsuki gasped at the sudden intake of air, spluttering and wheezing as feeling came back to his damaged throat. He began to try and gag out whatever was fed to him.

“That’s it. That’s all that was needed, see?” Deku patted his hair.

“Fuck you,” Katsuki spat out, his voice sounding bruised.

Deku offered a cat like grin, his body moving in between Katsuki’s legs, his hands tracing up the sides of Katsuki’s waist.

“You’re so interesting. I wonder if it’s because you’re someone that works with danger, but you’re very strong spirited,” he kissed Katsuki’s stomach, and trailed down to his shaft, “but it’s almost childlike. Oddly innocent.”

“Fuck off,” he snarled, hoping they would take it as an actual threat.

Deku just chuckled as he kissed the side of Katsuki’s cock.

“The fuck are you doing!?” Katsuki rasped immediately alarmed at the behaviour after the plant just tried kill him.”

“Hmm?” Deku hummed, trailing kisses all the way to the base of his cock.

“You- you fucking poisoned me! Why are you doing this if you just want to kill me?”

Deku was now the one to look alarmed.

“Kill you? Poison you?”

Deku gave him an apologetic smile, “Oh Kacchan. You’re really misunderstood the situation. We don’t want to kill you. Quite the opposite.”

“What the fuck did you feed me then?”

“Something to help ease your muscles. It’ll help keep your temperature high too.”

Why?

Katsuki looked at the boys glowing eyes, confused. Why the fuck did it want him alive? What the hell was going on? Feeding him a strange alien substance was definitely not going to help keep him alive. Katsuki blinked at the plant’s mistake. 

“Holy fuck. You’re stupid for a plant.”

Deku cocked his head to the side, confused. The glow from his eyes highlighting his face as he gave Katsuki a questioning stare.

“You’re some kind of fucked up alien plant, right? You just fed me alien shit of god’s know what. Put two and two together. Most species aren’t compatible with a lot of shit in outer space.”

God if there was one satisfaction Katsuki might gain, was that the plant might not get whatever it wanted from Katsuki. 

Deku’s face didn’t move.

He was going to die. Hopefully quickly, but for all Katsuki knew, the monster had fed Katsuki toxic substance unknowingly. There were few things outside of earth that didn’t give negative reaction to humans, and even earth was full of toxic substances.

Through fear, Katsuki always learned how to smile though and he felt his own lips spread wide at the revelation of the plant’s failures. He hoped it was as warped and haunting as he imagined.

“Whatever you were planning for me, it’s not going to work if you needed me alive. Your surprise space juice will only probably fuck up my body. You don’t know the first things about humans, do you asshole?”

The freckled monster smiled apologetically, not seeming too bothered with Katsuki’s revelation.

“Well?” Katsuki shouted, pushing for a response

“Sorry Katsuki, but I wouldn’t commit up such a mistake with you. I told you, you’re perfect. You’re exactly what I needed. Why waste it?”

The vines slowly lowered Katsuki to the ground, and Katsuki heard his heart take off.

“But you’re right. Humans are fragile. It was good to have so many test subjects on this ship.”

Katsuki felt his veins grow ice.

“What do you mean?”

“This has been done before. I’ve tried seeing what works for your species. I wouldn’t give anything poisonous to you. Besides” he trailed the needle mark on Katsuki’s arm, “I already had your biological code to examine. I’ll only give you things to digest that I know your body will accept.”

Realization dawned on Katsuki. They didn’t inject Katsuki with something, they drew blood out.

“What the fuck does that mean?” Katsuki whispered in horror.

A smile, “It means, Kacchan. That I’ve already analyzed you on a cellular level. And,” Deku climbed on top of him and Katsuki tried not to shiver from the contact, “I’ve already matched my biology to yours.”

“What? Why?” And for the first time, Katsuki was afraid of the answer.

Deku just stared, unreadable. Softly he came forward and pressed his lips to Katsuki.

“Mmf!”

The lips were cool and dry, the thick smell of absinthe was tasted from the tongue that entered in. Katsuki bit down, and Deku made a small sound of protest before the vines tightened around Katsuki making him gasp for air.

“That’s not nice, Kacchan. I feel a lot with this body,” the fucker grimaced.

Katsuki just breathed heavy, “The fuck are you doing!?”

“Initiating breeding, of course,” Deku said simply.

“…WHAT? The fuck do you mean breeding?” Katsuki’s voice did tremble, but he was in complete disbelief.

There was no way the plant thing knew what it was talking about.

They were two different species.

 “Breed. Mate. Have sex. Intercourse. Fuck. I wasn’t expecting this to be this complicated, Kacchan. I’ve been trying to see which host you liked best for a while now, but in the end, I realized it doesn’t matter with you.”

“We… You. We can’t. How would you even begin to think that’s possible?”

Deku’s teeth glittered as he smiled, reflecting the light from his eyes, “We have a far more sophisticated way to breed than any species you’ve ever come across.”

Breed.

The crew circled around them, grinning, as if they were all ready to get their pictures taken. The vines came alive as they moved Katsuki’s arms and legs like a compliant doll.

“What the fuck are you talking about?” Katsuki cried out as he felt the vines effortlessly wedge his legs apart, his body on full display, with no hope of protection.

Deku slowly glided up a finger from his hip to his asshole and circled it suggestively around Katsuki’s hole.

“Exactly what I meant. I chose you as a partner because you seem to be one of the best candidates of your species. Intelligent. Young. Physical Pique. Attractive to your species. And lastly acquired a job that by your species standards, would only be given to less than 5% of the population. You are ideal, or as close as I could hope for.”

A vine slithered by, and Bakugou felt something wet up against his hole. His body shook as he realized the implication.

Cannibalism would be a mercy over what was happening now.

“You think you can breed with humans? Stupid fucking- I’m not even female!” Katsuki tried to cover his distress by screaming, as whatever vine was slicking up his ass with some gross alien fluid.

“I know.”

Katsuki twisted again, trying to use his rage to condescend the monster.

“Fuck. Are you stupid? Fucking do your research! Do you not know how sex works? Why are you even doing this with us? Go find a plant to fuck! You’re not even in the same level as a human, you fungus freak!” Katsuki raged, trying not to choke as the vine stopped momentarily.

Deku smiled, as if patronizing a child, “On your level? How arrogant you humans are. You humans have indeed traveled a lot through space. But you’re not conquerors. And you are far from the epitome of a perfect species.  Most of you die at disagreeable temperatures, pressures, or being exposed to the wrong element. You’re incredibly fragile and you take years to evolve. But! The brain is quite creative. I’ll give your species that they have managed wonders simply with the tools they’ve made. It’s quite fantastical. Our children will revolutionize the galaxy, Kacchan. We’ll bring about a new era of true conquerors.”

He felt it, something slick and wet prob at his hole.

“Stop,” Katsuki asked, feeling sick.

“It’s okay Kacchan. I figured you’d want a human partner, so I’m right here to make it easy for you.”

“That’s not why I-“ Katsuki gasped as it started to push against his ring of muscles. He tried clench down, and Deku only tutted.

“I need to get in, Kacchan.”

Confused, Katsuki looked over to see Deku positioning himself behind, with an erection. The cock of the host was veiny and large, and Katsuki caught the drip of precum.

“The fuck are you doing!?”

“I figured it would be better if I ease you in with a more human experience,” he replied casually, his fingers pushing at Katsuki’s entrance while the vine continued to drench Katsuki’s ass.

“I don’t want it,” Katsuki said, the closest thing to a plea.

Deku hummed as he pushed cold fingers into Katsuki, forcibly stretching him out. Katsuki jolted violently at the intrusion but couldn’t inch away. The crowd leaned forward, and Katsuki tried to hide his face.

Deku chuckled, “You’re acting all shy now. There was a lot of crewmembers that fantasized about you, Kacchan. I would say 90% thought of you as attractive, and 60% thought about fucking you.”

Fucking terrific.

But no voice came out as Katsuki was holding his breath and squeezing his eyes so hard because he didn’t want to feel some stranger’s fingers in his ass. He didn’t want to see the faces of all the creepy zombie fuckers. But the slight rubbery pressure from the tendrils that encircled every limb kept reminding him exactly where he was and how dire the situation had become.

As Deku’s fingers fucked him slow, Katsuki tried to keep his mind busy. His body wasn’t allowing for him to wander, as his body was starting to feel hot, despite the cold monster pressing against him.

“You humans sure take a lot of prep work.”

“Then stop,” Katsuki choked as the fingers stretched in deeper.

“No. The anticipation adds something. That’s definitely a unique human emotion, but I can understand the gratification-,” Katsuki’s breath hitched when he felt his hole stretched, making room for something thicker, “of finally getting what you want,” Deku grunted.

Katsuki squeezed his eyes.

He was inside.

Deku’s cold zombie dick was in his ass.

He felt the familiar sensation of his asshole widening to fit a man’s cock and tried to pretend he was somewhere else. The occasional giggling and smell of licorice wouldn’t let him forget.

“Oh Kacchan,” Deku trembled, eyes closed, “I can feel it. I can feel how tight you are.”

With a slow push of his hips, Katsuki lightly gasped as he felt the cock slip in further.

Deku fell over him, shaking, “It’s so hot inside you. So perfect”

“Fuck, get the fuck out,” Katsuki managed to sob out.

“Not yet.”

The body pressed against him was cold, Deku took his time to glide his hand up and down Katsuki’s chest. Katsuki shivered but felt himself heating up and his head swim.

Shit. Was it from weird stuff that was forced down his throat?

Katsuki felt the cold dick slide in and out of him. He tried to twist away, but the vines held him to an almost bruising degree.

Deku had a fucking gross expression on him. His eyes were closed, and he held on to Katsuki’s shoulders as he slowly moved.

 “Ah. It feels good, Kacchan. Mmm I can see how – un- your species lose themselves in this,” Deku groaned as he shoved himself a little too fast into Katsuki causing him to yelp.

Katsuki tried to shut it out. He tried to not think about the cold corpse like body fucking him. Maybe he could retaliate by throwing up on him.

Unwillingly, he felt his body relax as Deku began to pump faster inside of him. The sound from Deku’s own grunts was starting to mingle with Katsuki’s own, as his breathing became harder. The vines were moving on their own. They slithered over Katsuki’s body, forcing him closer to Deku as they wrapped around him. Katsuki felt himself quake as the sensually touched and prodded Katsuki, over his back, across his thighs. Like they could feel him.

Deku groaned again, and without warning, Katsuki jumped as he felt a cold splash coating his insides.

Jesus fucking Christ.

Deku sunk into Katsuki’s body, as if trying to absorb Katsuki’s heat.

It was over at least.

He laid there for some time, out of breath and Katsuki kept his eyes closed, waiting for the verdict on what they were going to do with him now.

“Sex is quite strange with human partners. Everyone experience is so different” Deku said contemplatively after a bit, still panting in Katsuki’s ear.

Katsuki gritted his teeth, wondering if it would be better to be silent, but anger has been spiked when he thought that the fucking plant was using the humans on the ship like sex dolls.

“You’re a damn expert after fucking the rest of the crew?” Katsuki bit out.

He laughed, “Not quite Kacchan. I haven’t slept with anyone else. Just you. But I can access their memories.”

A kiss.

“Every thought

Another planted on his cheeks.

“Every feeling.”

He slid his lips up to Katsuki’s brow.

“It’s a lot easier to understand species if I simply connect with their minds, no?” Deku’s face was close, his eyes glowing and mouth in a wry grin.

The creature kept horrifying Katsuki.

If that was true, every crewmember was at the mercy of this monster, both physically and mentally. There would be no privacy to a monster’s curiosities.

Fuck, what couldn’t this thing do?

He cursed when he felt cold fingers wrap around his dick

“You didn’t get hard,” Deku commented.

“I’m not going to get hard for a vegetable,” Katsuki hissed.

Deku spewed out another perfect laugh, “I’ve fed you something to feel good, Kacchan. No need to be so hostile. But you’re taking this very well. I would say most of the crewmembers would have broken from this experience. I like that we can continue with our conversations.”

“I don’t break,” Katsuki promised darkly.

He was Katsuki Bakugou. He was an official to the Milky River. He had single handily taken down one of the biggest heists in his sector.

Deku grinned, cat like and predatory, and he pressed a kiss to Katsuki’s forehead.

“I hope you do good on your word.”

Katsuki noticed he was starting to sweat, his body feeling too hot. He was also very conscious of Deku still buried inside of him, and a small part of his body wanted to grind down.

“Fuck. Pull out if you’re done.”

“Mm, but Kacchan we’re not done,” Deku giggled as he pressed the cold cock deeper into Katsuki.

Katsuki stilled, unsure of those words.

“You fucked me like you wanted. Congratulations. We’re done,” Katsuki tried to sound unperturbed, but he felt a chill rock through him.

 “Kacchan, I’ll be disappointment if that’s all you had for stamina. I expect you had a lot of physical training as someone from the Federation. We need to impregnant you, sweetheart.” The words stuck to Katsuki’s insides like tar.

Katsuki released a breath, hoping he heard wrong.

“Impregnate me? I told you I’m male! Also let me clear some fucking things, since you have some fucked up ideas about humans. Humans can’t fuck with other species!”

“I’d beg to differ,” Deku raised an eyebrow, a sly smile on his lips.

“We can’t have babies, you stupid fuck!”

“Kacchan I haven’t even implemented the eggs yet.”

“The- what?”

“Eggs, Kacchan. Most species use eggs.”

“I – I can’t carry eggs!?” Katsuki stammered.

Was the plant thing just insane? Did it not understand?

“Why the hell did you just fuck me for?” Katsuki tried to defelct

“I told you, to ease you into a human experience. I am also affected by my hosts. Izuku especially. I’ve come to share his interest in romanticism even though there’s no logic to it. But I want you to be the one to bear the children, Kacchan.”

“Fuck, no. You’re crazy. I’m telling you there’s no possible way you can impregnate me. I’m human!” Katsuki cried outraged.

“I can and I will, Kacchan.”

“You can’t keep cumming in me, expecting babies to pop out,” Katsuki protested furiously.

“Of course not, Kacchan. A human male can’t impregnate another human male. Please give me a little more credit. That’s quite infuriating that you don’t think I comprehend the situation. I’ll have to be the one to impregnate you, obviously. It’s how my species reproduce.”

“How,” the words slipped out, unintended. It was just incomprehensible.

“I’ll show you,” the freckled fuck whispered in his ear. Without signaling, the crowd parted, and Katsuki could hear the shifting of the creepy vines. There were soft glows of blue and green throughout the room, reminiscent of lost souls. Katsuki caught the side of a particularly larger glowing shape at the far side of the room. The vines lifted Katsuki up again, and he felt like when he struggled this time, his muscles felt strangely like goo.

It will help you relax, Kacchan.

Fuck. Fuck. There was no way he could just let this thing drag him into a new nightmare, but there was really no other choice but to be towed.

The crowd pattered silently behind him, their faces eager and their breathing synced. Katsuki’s own noise of struggle echoed through the halls.

Fuck!

They didn’t bother turning on the lights and Katsuki blinked to try and take in more of the darkness. All that was seen was the faint glow of the bioluminescent mushrooms. He looked like he was being dragged through some warped wonderland.

The place was huge, obviously used for storage of what the ship collected, but Katsuki was extremely aware of how the vines dominated the area. A larger source of light was made more evident now, looking like it was in the form of what looked like a giant aqua coloured glowing plant. It looked like a giant pitcher plant, maybe 8 feet tall, though not as wide.

The glow slowly pulsed, slightly shifting into more bluer tones and then back to a brighter green.  

“Come,” Deku said, his eyes seemingly matching the pulse of the glow, “You have no idea how excited I am to have you inside me.”

Katsuki didn’t even want to ask what he meant.

The weird plant answered for him instead. The plant ‘opened’ up, and Katsuki could see the inside of the plant. The entire interior of the plant was glowing in a vibrant light. The smell of absinthe hit Katsuki like a disgusting wave of sludge.

“What do you think?”

“I think if you put me anywhere close to that thing, I’ll do everything in my power to tear it open,” Katsuki’s voice shook as he tried to sound menacing.

Deku just stroked Katsuki’s head affectionately, “Awe that ‘thing’ is me, Kacchan. Well, a big part of me. It’s part of my brain, and my stomach, and my reproductive parts,” Deku laughed, as he continued to stroke his hair.

“You’ll regret this,” Katsuki half whispered, unable to make his voice sound more convincing.

Deku just kissed the side of his face, and the vines began to drag him inside the plant.

“Don’t!” Katsuki shouted, turning to his captors. They all stood behind Izuku, their faces freezing in a last frame of pure happiness.

The fucking thing had no hesitation to drag Katsuki inside. He shivered when he felt how blubbery and cool the inside of the plant was. The walls and floor were coated in a thick gel, that covered Katsuki’s entire body, causing him to slip and slide, even whilst being restrained. The feeling was like being doused in lubrication, and Katsuki half wondered if it would be enough to slip out from the vines.

He fought as more vines joined Katsuki’s restriction. He eyed the opening to see if there was a chance he could escape when he saw Deku started stripping off the host, Izuku’s, clothes.

“The fuck are you doing?” He asked cautiously.

“Joining you Kacchan. You might feel more at ease with another human companion,” at ease was not the adjective Katsuki would have used, “but my insides stain clothing, so this is probably for the best to get rid of this,” Deku smiled as he revealed Izuku’s figure underneath.

And okay, so that was not the body Katsuki was thinking for the baby-faced low-class worker.

His chest was a lot more solid than he thought, and his thighs looked like he regularly worked out.

The crowd thankfully didn’t follow them. They stayed a distance away, nothing but their smiling faces were softly illuminated by the neon light.

Deku squeezed himself next to Katsuki and Katsuki watched with a last bit of despair as the plant closed in around them, nothing but soft glowing walls surrounded him. The smell now so prominent it stung Katsuki’s nose and made his head spin.

“Cozy.”

No it really wasn’t. Katsuki was now squished against Deku, everything oddly cool against his overly heated skin. It felt like he was running a fever, and he hated how his body relished in the coolness enclosed over his body.

Deku seemed overly eager about the situation. He slid on top Katsuki, using the gel from the plant to easily glide his hands up and down. Katsuki didn’t bother biting back a growl, frustrated that the fucker thought he could touch him again.

“I’m going to fuck you now,” Deku said breathless.

Vines crept in, and Katsuki began to try and thrash around, hoping to slip out from the grip of the creepy vine tendrils.

“LET ME GO, YOU FUCKING BASTARD. LET ME GO!”

“Kacchan,” Deku chided, as Katsuki felt fingers in his ass again.

“RAAARGH.” Katsuki screamed, redoubling his efforts, hoping Katsuki made it seem like it wasn’t worth it.

To his dismay, the fucker gushed out another laugh, “Sorry, sorry,” Deku tried to appease when Katsuki shot out a glare, “Your anger is just too funny. Your reactions are really cute.”

Katsuki ignored him, and tried to wriggle, but the vines began to bind him head to toe, their grip iron.

Apparently satisfied with Katsuki’s immobility, he used the gel stuff to pry Katsuki open again, the fingers slipped and Deku had to renew his efforts to keep him open.

“Stop,” Katsuki moaned, the fingers were leaving a tingling sensation, and the feeling of heat was pooling in his belly.

“Almost there, Kacchan.”

He felt a stir in arousal, and he tried to keep his mind distracted. He did not want to be aroused for this monster. He refused. He tried to shift his legs together, but they were just pulled apart by the vines at an uncomfortable angle.

“You’re so flexible,” Deku complimented, as the vines seemed interested in widening Katsuki’s legs, to the point of him doing the splits.

“Stop,” Katsuki tried again, his voice sounded more like begging than commanding.

He felt his own erection finally perk up this time with the soft squish from Deku’s fingers.

“That’s it,” Deku murmured.

The vines rubbed at him, extra slippery with the gel. The aqua bioluminescent light was everywhere, the light reflecting on their now slicked skin. Katsuki was half aware that he was leaning into the rubbing, feeling it push against his skin.

Fuck. Fuck. What’s going on?

He felt pressure on the outer part of his hole as it felt something squirming to get in. Looking over, one of the thicker vines was trying to push inside him.

“No!” Katsuki started again, slipping in the fluid, but more vines just wrapped around, tightening around.

“NO!” He tried again more panicked, the fucking thing wiggling slowly in, coated in lubrication that felt cool on his burning skin.

“Calm down, Kacchan,” Deku implored, his voice out of breath, the hosts body sporting its own erection.

“It won’t fit!” Katsuki choked fearfully.

“Yes it will, you just need to relax some more.”
The vine was thick and heavy. Katsuki tried to gasp at air as he felt his airflow slowly push out of him.

“NO!” He screamed again, but with a soft plop, the vine pushed through the tightest ring of muscles.

Deku’s head dropped as he moaned, his own cock rutting against Katsuki’s thigh, his precum adding to the excessive fluids. The walls of the plant pulsed a bit and constricted, the light of the bioluminescent flickered to a brighter green, back to blue.

“Your insides are so soft,” Deku leaned down to suck on Katsuki’s skin.

Katsuki couldn’t produce any sound but a small whimper.

“I’m going to move.”

The vine kept a steady pace. It was fucking big, but Katsuki’s body felt slack as it took the thick tendril. Vines slithered over his nipples, eager to poke at Katsuki’s more susceptible areas and they slid over his dripping cock and sensitive nipples. Deku’s hands were eager to pinch his stiffened nipples, tugging at them, having difficulty to have a proper grip because of the weird alien gel.

Katsuki’s head knocked to side of the blubbery walls of the plant, the smell stinging his nose and frying his brain. The vine fucking him pushed deeper and deeper. Katsuki wanted to protest, because his body couldn’t just take all that in when he cried out as he felt it press against a very sensitive spot.

Deku was panting, but offered a crooked smile, “Found it.”

Katsuki couldn’t hold back the moan as he felt the foreign sensation of something wiggling in his ass. He never tried any of the weird sex toys that were promoted at hubs, but he thought they would all be incomparable to what was happening now. This was something alive inside him, seemingly aware in how to move inside him and to move in an unnatural way.

The walls of the ‘plant’ seemed to contract more, as they pushed Katsuki up against the corpse of the human, the vines very fervently rubbing their bodies against each other, which slithered easily against one another.

“I want to be entirely inside you,” Deku said almost feverishly and Katsuki felt the stretch of his asshole again.

“NN!”

It was stretching to the point that it hurt. Katsuki felt open and gaping as he tried to clench down on the foreign feeling.

“Kacchan relax,” Deku scowled, the politeness in his speech had bled away to a more primal sound.

“N-No” Katsuki sobbed as he realized that the alien plant was trying to add another vine.

“Kacchan I’ll be careful.”

“Won’t fit,” Katsuki moaned.

“Human rectums can stretch up to 13 cm in diameter, taking in up to 30cm in length. You won’t break,” Deku replied, slightly irritated.

“Fuck off with your fucking facts,” Katsuki sobbed, but he felt Deku’s finger scramble to hold him open.

He was spread wide as he felt another vine nudge at his hole.

It teased as it gently poked back and forth. Katsuki grunted as he felt himself forcefully stretched open to accommodate the second vine.

Please, god, no.

Katsuki wasn’t religious, but he prayed for everything to end here. The vines, Deku, ignored his fears as it slowly shoved its way forward.

“I’m going to rip!” Katsuki cried, but Deku just shushed him, cradling his head.

“You won’t break. Isn’t that what you said?”

Katsuki pinched his face, as he felt the second one finally enter in.

It was slippery with the gel, but the sensation burned and ached, like his bones were being forced apart.

The fucking thing began to slide forward.

“Oh fuck.”

“That’s it, that’s it,” Deku was holding on to Katsuki like a toddler would hold onto their favourite toy. The vine reached a point where it couldn’t move forward anymore and Katsuki didn’t hold back another sob.

“I’ll give you a second to adjust,” Deku promised, kissing the side of his head. Katsuki didn’t think he ever would. It fucking hurt and he felt them occasionally twitch inside.

I’m actually stuffed full of fucking plants.

He was open too wide, there was no way he didn’t rip from trying to accept the girth of the two vines.

“Okay,” Deku finalized and he felt one of the vines move.

No.

The vines began to alternate in which one pushed forward, which one pushed back, and Katsuki felt like his innards had turned to mush. Heat was accumulating in his gut, as the ache and pain was being replaced with something else.

Deku hissed and gripped at Katsuki, his voice spilling into moans.

“It’s so good. So good. I wish I could mm. Fuck,” Deku’s voice turned more chaotic, as the vines bumped and slid around Katsuki’s innards.

They moved rhythmically, making Katsuki feel like he couldn’t quite catch his breath, and his voice dribbled into a nonsensical mess.

“Fuck!” Katsuki exclaimed, as they pushed again his prostrate again.

The vines took turns on which one bumped into it, and Katsuki felt his body go rigid as they began to add pressure. Deku kept using the host to rut against Katsuki, Katsuki could see the other man’s cock turn purple as it grinded against Kastuki’s thigh. The vines felt like they sat loosely on Katsuki, heavy and thick as they glided over his skin and the two vines began to pump into him.

He felt sensitive, as his skin felt like it was ready to burst into flames, and the vines help cool it down by spreading the gel like substance to every corner of his body.

Katsuki had no control over the pace or ferocity of the thrusts, but his brain felt like a switch had turned off and he sunk into the tingling feeling the vines had left on his skin.

As another vine reached the tip of Katsuki’s cock, he felt it kiss the tip of the head. It opened up like a flower, and Katsuki groaned as it felt like a suction cup at the tip of his cock. The vine worked its way to swallow the entirety of Katsuki’s cock and Katsuki moaned. The feeling inside the vine was cool, but thick with the gel like substance. Like a fleshlight but the walls pulsed and sucked in his cock.

Katsuki felt helpless and tried to restrain from moving his hips, but the two vines in his ass pushed against him, so they were fucking him between the three vines. Katsuki’s body felt wracked with pleasure from being pushed into the felshlight vine, to being pulled back from his ass, the sounds of wet skin and plant echoing in the tiny glowing room.

The vine in front soaked his cock in the gel substance and it began to make a slurping noise as it acted like a vacuum.

“What-why are you-“ Katsuki couldn’t even form sentences, but Deku seemed to understand his meaning.

“We need you to mmm, help fertilize the eggs.”

What? What does that even mean?

Katsuki felt like couldn’t ask anymore questions. He whined from the overstimulation, the vines drifting over, bending his arms and legs in different direction.

Katsuki could only sigh in response.

Katsuki felt his eyes flutter as he was jostled between all of the vines, the ones in his ass slow and purposeful.

“ I- I want my host inside too,” Deku finally broke the sound.

Katsuki regarded him with half lidded eyes, confused in what he meant.

Not explaining any further, Katsuki was dangled temporarily upside down, as the vines still fucked into him. They flipped him over with ease and strength that made Katsuki realize there was no chance in hell he was going to get away. His face was turned so he was face to face with cock of Izuku Midoriya.

Eye to eye with the thing, it was a lot bigger than Katsuki realized. The girth probably matched the vines that were fucking him right now. Deku pushed the cock against Katsuki’s mouth, and he realized what he wanted.

Reason dawned on Katsuki, and snapped his head back, “I’ll bite,” Katsuki cried frustrated.

Deku was panting heavily, “Come one, ah, Kacchan. Open wide.” The vines fucked into him slow and deliberate, and the other one over his cock slowly slid over leaving shivers down his spine.

 “N-no. I’m not… I don’ want any of this,” Katsuki whimpered.

“Kacchan,” Deku warned through a groan.

“Put that shit near m-me and I’ll -ah. I’ll bite it off. You can- Fuck! Watch your host bleed to death!”

Deku actually pouted as he shoved a little too harshly into Katsuki with one of the vines, causing him to cry out.

Temporarily, Deku ceased activity. Katsuki wasn’t sure if he should be thankful. His whole body was much too hot, he needed the things to move. He was so hard. He needed to cum.

Do not give the monster the satisfaction.

A small voice echoed, but Katsuki’s body felt weakened and prepped for pleasure.

Another tendril approached it looked squishier than the other vines. It came towards Katsuki’s face, and he moved his head away. Deku gripped at Katsuki’s hair using his host to force Katsuki to face the approaching vine. Katsuki watched with repulsion as the end of the tendril broke off into smaller bits, looking like the top of a sea anemone.

“I don’t mind using force if you’re unwilling, Kacchan.

“How can your body do that?” As the vine’s tiny tentacles reached for Katsuki’s face.

“The pros of my ancestors breeding with so many different species, Kacchan.”

The ‘sea anemone’ shoved itself against Katsuki’s mouth.

Frantic, Katsuki tried to bite down, but it was like biting into a hundred wiggling worms. It was revolting as they moved around Katsuki’s mouth, seemingly unfazed by Katsuki’s attempts.

The worm like things pushed into Katsuki’s mouth. It felt ticklish, and Katsuki’s brain would have gone into panic mode if it wasn’t for the sudden thrust of the vines in his ass that made Katsuki accidently open his mouth wider.

They forced his mouth open with surprising strength, the little worm like structures forced his mouth open and Katsuki watched ‘Izuku’ push his cock inside his mouth.

“MmF!”

The taste was bitter, Katsuki tried to clamp down but his mouth was held forcibly open. The vines began to move in earnest from the back and the one on his cock began to suction again. Katsuki groaned over the cock in his mouth, as his mind couldn’t keep up with what was happening to his body. Other vines pushed Katsuki’s head towards the hosts cock and Deku wrapped the hosts thighs around Katsuki’s head, as Katsuki took it further and further in.

If that wasn’t enough, Deku decided to overwhelm Katsuki in other ways.

Whatever happened for Deku’s body to produce the ‘sea anemone’ that was now stuck to his face, seemed to have replicated in his ass.

“MM! MMM! MM!”

The two vines that were in his ass felt like they had fucking exploded into what felt like hundreds of tiny snakes, slithering and moving inside him. They moved in every direction, pushing sliding, and the fucking thing on his dick began to suck harder.

It was too much, there were too many things inside him. Too many things going on at once. He felt his sweat add into this mixture of fluids, as it felt like every bit of his body was touched. Katsuki couldn’t break out of the moment. He was being jostled between multiple vines, face pried open to welcome the hosts cock on his tongue.

The host began to whimper, and Katsuki’s own voice had long been lost to the overstimulating pleasure. Everything was moving at once, and he began to feel his cock pulse as an orgasm was violently ripped out of him.

“MMf! MM!”

His hips didn’t stop shaking as the sucking vine slurped up every drop of cum, his body hypersensitive to the other vines that kept overworking his body.

The host groaned as he came again, this time in Katsuki’s mouth, forcing him to swallow or choke on zombie jizz. It tasted like spoilt eggs and Katsuki gagged, trying to wrench his head away. Deku kept his face there, his own hips spasming, before slowly sliding the cock out of Katsuki’s mouth. Katsuki sagged, as he felt the vines pull away. The vines retracted from his body.

They didn’t say anything. They were both breathing too hard.

The vines encircled Katsuki so that he was forces to lie on top of the host, the vines pressing their bodies together, but his body felt too heavy like stone to do anything about it.

He shook as he realized that no place on his body had been untouched. He was defiled at every inch of his body. Shame crept in, but his body was currently a separated entity as he felt squirmy and much too hot. His body wanted to grind against the host to relieve some of the feeling, but his reason and pride kept him sane.

The vines slunk lazily over his body, and he felt himself unfortunately arch into the touch.

The host looked unbelievably happy, like he and Katsuki were lovers, and not like Katsuki had been raped by multiple alien tentacles.

“That was so good Kacchan,”

Katsuki didn’t respond, he felt like crying, as he laid pathetically on the chest of the cold host corpse.

“You’re ready Kacchan. We got everything we need. You were perfect.”

Confusion resettled in Katsuki.

Deku picked up on that and smiled.

“The eggs, Kacchan.”

Katsuki’s voice was raspy when he quietly asked, “What the hell did we just do?”

“I needed you to help fertilize the eggs, Kacchan. Though I might have indulged a bit as well,” the fucker actually winked.

Anger and fear washed over Katsuki, and he refueled his last remaining energy by trying to get away. The vines were ready for him and they pinned him down with ease.

”No. NO! Im not carrying your fucking parasites!” Katsuki’s voice sounded small as he tried to make a last stand of sounding threatening.

“Well Kacchan all pregnancies are technically parasitic in nature.”

“Don’t. Don’t! Please!”

 “No Kacchan. You need to carry the eggs. No one can get to a nice enough temperature while they are my hosts. The temperature needs to be,” Deku sighed devotedly, “nurturing.”

Katsuki realized that he never had chance to bargain with him. He never had a chance to escape. It’s why Deku wanted him on the ship so bad.

“Now Kacchan, I’ll need you to be very still. This is a very dangerous procedure.”

“The fucking parasites are going to kill me anyways!” Katsuki howled.

“No, no Kacchan. All of my species children understand not to hurt their mothers. It won’t be any different to having a tape worm in your belly.”

“That’s your reassurance!?”

“Please Kacchan. I need you to calm down while our copulation is so fresh.”

“Fuck!”

The vines had Katsuki once again flat on his back, legs spread and knees over his head. He was barely flailing, as all the energy was sapped out of his limbs, but his heart was going so wild he wondered if he incurred a heart attack.

Katsuki was hyperventilating when he saw the thinnest of vines approach his ass.

“Fuck, n-no.”

“Please don’t thrash around. I promise this will be more precise than any endoscopy you’ve humans have experienced.”

Feeling the vine enter was nothing compared to the two vines that were fucking him before. His ass still felt stretched and gaping, he could feel the gel stuff dripping from his ass. The thin vine slid in with ease, no resistance to be met.

“I can hold your hand if you’d like?”

“Fuck off,” Katsuki sputtered as he felt the vine creep up his innards.

It pushed against something that made Katsuki stop breathing. Katsuki could feel it curve and move, making him feel bloated, even though it had looked like such a small thing.

“This might feel odd. I have to get to the small intestine,” Deku narrated.

Katsuki didn’t want to know. He didn’t want this to be happening.

It didn’t hurt, but it felt like a gross violation that it was reaching in a place so deep inside of Katsuki.

He felt incredibly sick and wondered if he’ll vomit.

Katsuki didn’t dare move, though he wondered if death by internal bleeding or allowing parasitic creatures grow inside him was the lesser of two evils.

 “That’s it, that’s it almost there,” the host had his eyes closed again, but Katsuki saw disgustingly that that the host had another erection.

Katsuki breathing intensified as he felt it climb into a spot that could only be described as uncomfortable.

Deku’s face was pale, but his face looked like it was in ecstasy.

“Oh Kacchan,” he whimpered, “it’s so hot inside you. Our children will be so well taken care of.”

Katsuki just shook as he felt the thing move and shift through his intestines.

Deku reached for Katsuki’s face. “I love how human eyes can see so differently. I love that I can see you like this. I hope we give the gift of eyes to our children.”

Katsuki’s own eyes widened as felt pressure on his ass. He tossed his head to see that something was moving inside the vine.

“Our children,” Deku remarked happily as the ‘eggs’ moved down the tube, to reach inside of Katsuki.

He felt them flow through his body, felt them reach into a place that was private. He felt their movement as the finally nestled in their new home, anchored in within Katsuki’s bowels. The vine slowly withdrew from Katsuki’s body.

 There was a slight bump in Katsuki’s abdomen. Very, very slight, that would have gone unnoticed if Deku didn’t stroke the bump directly.

Katsuki actually burst into tears.

In the years he was trained as an official, nothing had made him close to crying.

Nothing had been even close to this horrifying.

“Shh, shh. It’s okay. Nothing too scary, I promise.” Deku cradled Katsuki into his arms and rocked him like a child.

“Please, please don’t,” Katsuki babbled, as he hiccupped. But the damage was done. He felt bloated and knew that whatever was inside him had chosen to settle in their new little pretend womb.

“Oh Kacchan.”

Deku pressed very lightly on Katsuki’s abdomen and Katsuki could swear he felt multiple things in there.

“You’re going to realize the importance for all this. You’ be the mother for a new kind of galaxy. You just have to wait for the children to come out.”

Katsuki’s face flooded with tears. He cried in the nook of Deku’s shoulder, as he was gently rocked back and forth.

xXxXxXx

Taiga paced back and forth impatiently across the onyx floors. He wasn’t one for feeling anxious, but the feeling had grown wild and out of control after he had landed back at the citadel. He’d been waiting for weeks to hear anything. Anything at all! The most he got was 'be patient.'

Yeah, he knew that finding any information would take a while. All he could do was wait, but the feeling had bubbled over when scouts had taken a week longer than expected.

When he got the call this morning, he didn’t even wait to take a shower. He jumped in his uniform and sped to headquarters.

Well it was just his luck that he had to wait for Aizawa's debriefing or meeting, or whatever the hell he needed to do. The receptionist had offered him tea or a virtual eye set to distract him, but he declined it all. He was too antsy to accept anything else. He just wanted to hear the news. 

“Taiga…"

He whipped his head up as Colonel Fukukado called for his name softly as she exited Aizawa’s office.

She was in her full black and white uniform, her blue hair tied in a bun. Usually she was loud and cracking obnoxious cracking jokes (how she made Colonel was anyone’s guess), but she had a stern and pitying expression on her face.

Well fuck.

He nodded and saluted her before entering Aizawa's office. 

Pristine white walls with black furniture filled the space.

Aizawa was in uniform as well, but his hair was out of its usual ponytail, shaggy and unkempt which would have warranted a penalty if anyone else looked like that. He always looked tired, but he looked downright haggard today, which twisted Taiga’s stomach. 

He nodded when Taiga entered in, "Take a seat."

"Sorry sir, I don’t think I'd be able sit still," Taiga answered honestly.

Aizawa regarded Taiga before nodding.

"With all that happened, I forgot to congratulate you. You'll be happy to know that the President of Gyes was very pleased with your delivery. You'll get a bonus."

That's not what I wanted to hear.

"Thank you, sir."

"I also have another assignment for you. I was hoping you'd check the north quadrant of Perseus. There’s been talk of riots and I need an investigation on who might be in charge. It’ll be a team of 5, I-.”

"Sir,” his voice came out as hesitant, but the request was heard from his tone.

Aizawa scratched his stubbled cheek, "Right, your partner. I guess I should have started with that."

"Thank you, sir."

He waved his hand, "Don’t thank me yet. I can’t say there was really any good news. There really wasn’t much information."

Taiga's heart sunk

"The scout ships got to the point in four weeks ago, no problem, but there wasn’t anything there."

Taigas heart stopped.

"Excuse me?"

“They circled around the area and they recovered your tracker, but there was no ship. They tried following the curve of Sun G-367’s gravitational pull, but they didn’t find anything."

"Impossible," Taiga whispered more to himself.

Taiga had guessed there was something wrong with the engine when Katsuki didn’t return back from his delivery. Taiga had the telescope monitored, but after he saw Katsuki’s ship enter in, meaning there were people operating the damn ship.

He never came out though.

The ship never moved. It floated like a piece of garbage, at the mercy of the sun’s gravitational pull. There was no way that it just went… missing. 

"Are they sure they followed the projectile of the sun correctly."

"Taiga, there was no doubt."

Katsuki.

He could he loud and obnoxious, but he was clever. He didn’t let mistakes happen. How did he wind up missing with the rest of the ship? Why did he never respond? If there was anyone that could get out of a hostile situation, it was him.

Taiga remembered the interference he heard from Katsuki’s transmitter before he went dead silent. What had filled him with dread was that that should never happen. Only through deliberate interference could you jam up a signal from a government spacecraft. 

He had left Katsuki in the hands of potential criminals. 

“I should have never left him," he whispered.

"You did your duties, you both did. You protected the cargo and he investigated a distressed signal. He knew the drawbacks of the job and the dangers. He made the decision."

I should have never let him go, it should have been me.

Katsuki always did things by the book, but he would have found a way to help faster if Taiga had been trapped on the mineral ship.

"I understand he was close to you. He was a very good official. I will accept you skipping the next mission if you need time to process and grief."

"It… Could they have taken him somewhere?" Taiga tried to bargain.

Aizawa sighed. 

"It’s hard to say. The citadel is on the lookout and has sent word to keep watch for the ship in other sectors, but nothing's turned up. But don’t hold for hope kid. That ship was out in a Dead Zone, poorly equipped and by the looks of, poorly managed. It's hard to think that it would make it with the resources it had.”

“I understand, Taiga muttered, his hands balling into a fists.

“If that’s all sir, I’d like to take some time to think about my acceptance for the next mission.”

Aizawa looked at him with tired eyes, “Of course.”

Taiga spun on his heels, and when the doors slid open he heard Aizawa call softly, “I’m sorry, Kariage.”

He stalked out, pushing himself along the hallway. He wandered aimlessly, ignoring other employees that might be whispering when they saw him.

The windows were vast here. They opened up to the giant city protected by the citadel from the terrors of space.

As Taiga stared at the glittering city, aircrafts flying from all direction and blinding lights out of every venue, he thought of the face that had disappeared from this world.

He thought of the person that had been lost to the unknown.