Chapter Text
Well. This is it. This is how Shouto dies. Staring through the glass of his ship's control room at a black hole, the gaping, unending darkness promising to swallow him and his crew in just under thirty clicks. Honestly, he thought he'd be killed in battle, a weapon in hand as he faces an enemy that gave him an honorable fight. Though, that had changed once he'd become a ship captain. Then he thought maybe he'd go out facing an enemy ship, hired by the Galactic Federation to help defeat some upstart species that decided to take over major trading partners.
He hadn't considered a black hole. Not until now, at least.
Maybe he should have, considering the dangers of space. How many exploding stars have they narrowly escaped? How many enemy ships they just barely managed to defeat? How many meteor fields they navigated through only to come out on the other end with a ship barely held together by its bolts? It seems foolish for him to not have considered a black hole before now.
"Oi, Captain, you gonna tell us anything or just let us get sucked into that shit?"
Shouto looks over at his First Navigator, Katsuki Bakugou, one of the two humans on his ship. He's abrasive, rough around the edges, a little impulsive, but all-around good to have on the crew when they need a little bit of that insanity humans are known for. He's got an annoyed look. It's very similar to his other looks, but the particular way his eye twitches is enough to denote annoyance rather than anger.
"There's not much point, I don't think," Shouto replies, pressing a button on his chair that opens a compartment by him. He pulls out a small bottle and two glasses, looking over at his Second-in-Command, Momo. "Would you like a glass?"
She nods as Bakugou growls at them. He turns, looking down at his screen for a moment before sighing. "Well, I'm gonna fucking call for help since you won't do shit," he says.
It's amusing that Bakugou thinks anyone would help them. If they aren't strong enough to make it out of the black hole's pull themselves, then death is what they get. Nobody helps others in the cold, vastness of space. "As you wish," Shouto says, pouring out a glass for himself and Momo.
He passes one to her as he takes a sip of his own. Bakugou gets up and goes over to the Communications radio, shoving Sero out of the way as he leans close to the mic. A few dials are turned and then Bakugou is pressing the button to transmit a message.
"This is Katsuki Bakugou on the ship Entropy, identification code I67-893-M, calling the ship One For All, identification code S29-714-T. Deku, I know you're in this sector and better get your ass over here right the fuck now. If I can't see Eiji cuz you're too late then I'm gonna come back and haunt your ass so fucking hard."
Shouto wants to laugh at the futility of Bakugou's transmission. No sane ship, no matter how close or how good their captain, would come near enough to rescue them. It seems like the others in the control room are thinking the same thing during the silence that follows Bakugou's transmission.
Just as Sero is stepping closer to place a consoling hand on Bakugou's shoulder, the radio crackles. Then, an amused voice that has Shouto's head tilting comes through. "Kacchan! You should call when you aren't in life-threatening situations too, you know. Don't worry, we're on the way and should be there in about twenty clicks. Oh, and Eijirou says he's looking forward to seeing you."
"Hurry the fuck up already," Bakugou replies, letting go of the transmission button as he stomps back to his chair and sits down, arms crossed and watching the black hole pull them in closer.
Shouto looks from him to the radio, and then back at him again. "Why is he coming to help us?" he asks.
"Because he's a dumbass that woke up one day and decided he wanted to save everyone in the Galaxy. And right now, we're the bastards that need saving."
Exactly twenty clicks later, when their ship is closer to the black hole, the radio crackles once more.
"Hello, Entropy! This is Captain Izuku Midoriya of the ship One For All, here to rescue you from that black hole. Please open your cargo bay so a rescue ship can enter and evacuate your crew."
How can the voice sound so chipper right now? They're ten clicks from death and this Izuku doesn't sound at all concerned about that.
Sero glances back at Shouto, waiting for direction. Before he can say anything, the ship lurches towards the black hole, groaning and creaking under the force of its pull. Well, if help is being offered then he'd be stupid to deny it. He nods once and Sero looks relieved as he turns back to the radio and says, "Roger that, opening the cargo hold."
As he pushes the button that will open the cargo hold, Shouto pushes up from his chair and walks over to the radio. "Get going, I'll send out the ship-wide notice," he commands. He looks back at Momo and adds, "Make sure they all get there safely."
She hesitates before nodding once. "Yes, Captain. Everyone, get moving in a calm, orderly fashion," she says, urging them all towards the doors.
Shouto sits down in his chair and presses the button that activates the ship's speaker system. "Attention, crew, this is your captain speaking. All are ordered to make their way to the cargo hold where a rescue ship will be waiting."
Right, that should do it. Shouto starts to stand, only for the ship to lurch again, almost turning on its side before being righted once more. He can barely hear surprised yelps from his crew, huffing softly in response to them. They should focus more on getting to the hold than being scared by the black hole.
The main lights shut down as he steps into the hall, emergency lights glowing a soft purple from the floor. The groaning of the ship's structure is near-constant now, grating against his ears in a way that makes him grimace. He's nearly halfway to the hold, a few other crew members rushing past him, when a spark of realization goes through him, his breath catching.
The tablet. The photo tablet in his quarters. He can't leave it behind. That's all he has of his mother, his siblings. Shouto turns and runs back through the halls, knocking into a door with one particularly harsh rock of the ship.
His quarters are a mess when he gets to them. Shelves are thrown on the ground, the furniture sliding around the room as the ship groans and something pops. Shouto hopes it's nothing too important as he grabs the tablet from where it fell on the floor. The screen is cracked, the break running through the photo used as his screensaver, one of his mother and siblings gathered in front of the ship, all smiling at the camera.
Another pop of the ship, the screeching of metal being torn away and crashing into something else just outside the door to his quarters as emergency alarms start to sound. Shouto groans and shoves the tablet into his pocket as he opens the door only to see the walls of the ship crushed inwards.
The metal is twisted and he can't fit through, has absolutely no hope of being able to pull it apart enough to get to the other side, either. He stares at what used to be the walls of his ship, feeling the dread set in. Shouto isn't getting out of this.
The ship jerks once more and Shouto grunts as he's thrown into the wall, his shoulder aching from the impact. He slides down it, huffing as he hits the floor and lets his head rest against the cool metal.
At least his crew is safe. All of them should be at the cargo hold by now, the rescue ship should be leaving without him. After all, what's the point in coming back for just him? One life compared to the entirety of his crew? Nobody would take that risk with the ship so close to being crushed by the black hole.
His fatalistic train of thought is interrupted by a dull thud against the metal blocking the hall. Shouto blinks and frowns, wondering if it's just the ship continuing to cave in on itself. Then there's another one, followed by a voice calling, "Captain Todoroki?" It's not a voice he recognizes, which means they're probably from the rescue crew.
"Yes. You aren't going to be able to get through that. It would be best to leave the ship and escape while there's still time," he calls back.
There's a short laugh. "No can do, Captain. Make sure you're backed away from the metal, please!" This is followed by more dull thuds that Shouto realizes must be them punching the wall.
Is this being stupid? Foolish? Harboring a death wish? They'll both be crushed with the ship before they can even make a dent in the wall. Shouto pushes himself up, ready to argue for the other being to just leave him, when one more punch results in a visible dent.
Shouto is starting to wonder if being proven wrong is going to become a trend. Though, in this situation, he can’t find it in himself to be very upset about it.
A few more punches and a robotic hand breaks through the metal. Shouto can hear a sigh of relief before the hand starts to pull at the edges of the hole, making it wider. Once it’s big enough for someone to fit through, a human with wild green hair, a slightly breathless grin, and a determined glint in his eyes steps halfway through the hole.
He looks like a warrior. Had they been in any other situation, Shouto may have been deceived by the slightly soft curves of his face, the spots that are supposedly called freckles splashing across his cheeks like constellations, the way his hair looks so easy to run a hand through. But, no, this man in front of him is a warrior. That much is clear in the hardness hiding in his eyes, the scar cutting through his left eyebrow, the lean muscles obvious under the uniform as he holds a hand out to Shouto.
It’s a prosthetic, obviously one since it doesn’t have the camouflage most request in order to hide their cybernetics from being noticeable. The end of the prosthetic is hidden by his sleeve, leaving Shouto to wonder just how much of his right arm is robotic and what’s still human. The joints of the hand and wrist stand out, a golden color set against the green of the arm.
"C'mon, Captain, I don't think we have enough time to sit around," he says, smiling reassuringly as he takes Shouto's hand and starts to pull him through the opening he created. His hand is cool, the metal of it smooth and giving Shouto something to focus on with the black hole a few clicks from killing them both.
The ship screeches around them, the walls buckling slightly and shaking in preparation to buckle more. The human looks around as they run down the halls, then glances back. "We need to go faster," Shouto says, tightening his grip on the human's hand as he takes the lead.
They slide against the walls of the ship as they turn corners, narrowly avoid getting impaled by more of the ship's structure as it pulls in on itself, threatening to collapse, to crush them and make this entire rescue attempt by this human completely pointless. Emergency sirens keep screaming as the lights flicker, making it hard to focus, near impossible to concentrate on getting through the ship. The entire time, Shouto's mind is streaming through every curse word in every language he knows, his whole body feeling on fire and ice cold at the same time as his survival instincts kick in.
The door to the cargo hold is wide open, and Shouto can see the rescue ship that must be from the One For All. The ship's loading door is open and Shouto can see his crew inside, along with a few others he doesn't know. It's clear the ship is ready to take off, hovering just above the floor with its engine rumbling along with the creaking of the ship. The Entropy's own loading door is open, the atmospheric field that surrounds the ship shimmering and waving as the ship lurches and the bay starts to crumple in on itself.
Once it's come into sight, the human gains speed, taking the lead again and dragging Shouto behind him. "GO, GO, GO!!" he shouts, throwing both himself and Shouto into the rescue ship just before it can shoot out of the cargo hold.
Shouto vaguely registers the sound of the rescue ship's door closing as he stares at the ceiling, still gripping the human's hand like his life depends on it. For a few seconds, as he feels the rumbling of the ship beneath him, nobody says anything. And then, "Cutting it pretty fucking close there, Deku."
That makes the human start to laugh, the sound filling the rescue ship as he pushes himself to sit up, looking down at Shouto. There are tears in his green eyes, his shoulders rising and falling with his heavy breaths as he smiles. Shouto thinks he's starting to understand how humans can be considered beautiful.
"Captain Shouto Todoroki?" the human asks, squeezing his hand as Shouto nods. "I'm Izuku Midoriya. Nice to finally meet you."