Finished two more crossovers, but SURPRISE they have dragons in them! I'm back in another drag craze. Was shapeshifting for a bit, but we're back to dragons lol. Anyways, enjoy. Sad there were no reviews on the last chapter.
They called the police, and were told to stay there. They waited for a long time for the police to come. All of them sat outside, heads in their hands, so many having lost friends or classmates. Luffy was lucky and lost none of his friends. But he'd gone through hell a second time, this one exponentially worse than the first.
But now that villain who created that reality was dead. To save Luffy, but he was dead regardless. When the police came, they were taken right away to a police station. Nobody would say that Law killed the villain, who had ended up falling into his own black puddle, maybe to never be seen again.
Maybe, they could have saved the kids who volunteered, but they decided they wanted to die anyways. They might have just killed themselves the day they got out of the hell.
When they got to the police station, they were treated for their wounds, and then questioned. It wasn't very tactful at all. Not giving them any time to relax, feel safe. They were just questioned immediately. It made Luffy mad, but he complied. By the end, the group was told none of their stories matched up at all.
They each censored specific things. Nobody offered to testify again. They just stayed silent. "We need a clear story." Almost immediately, the group, as a whole, refused. They gave the information needed. That was all they needed to know. This surprised and angered the cops and detectives.
But the students didn't back down at all. They swore to one another they wouldn't talk about the murders. Or the deaths that were accidentally caused by them. They had all had a loose timeline of what happened, and those matched up enough. That was as good as they were going to get.
The students stuck their grounds, and protested with silence until it was let go by angry investigators. Honestly, the students were all holding up okay. Or they were just so shocked and traumatized that their feelings were internalized. Or maybe they thought it was just a terrible dream. Luffy wished it was a bad dream, but he knew it wasn't.
He eventually fell asleep against Law's shoulder until busses came for them to bring them back to their schools. Another school event was ruined. This one was really bad, students died. For good. This wasn't students had intensive care to be fixed, kids died. They turned into blobs, unable to move. They killed themselves, exploded into bits.
Ace and Sabo were at the school, waiting with the families of those that were taken. They were all alive, thank god. Luffy got off the bus and ran to his brothers, hugging them before he started to cry, sob. Ace hugged him tightly, resting his cheek on Luffy's. "You're okay, now," he said kindly.
"Th-they d-died right in fr-front of me! I did all I c-could and they died!" he sobbed. He wouldn't tell anybody about the necessary killings. Tokoyami pushing one of the blobs off of the beam, leaving some behind, putting the one out of her misery, deciding who would escape and who would stay to die. It was nightmare fuel that could never, ever be topped.
Sabo said they should get him someone comfortable. The families of those who were taken were there, taking their kids inside while their classmates begged to know what had happened. Law was the only one to say anything. "Many of them died. Over twelve students died in there. Painful deaths. I won't say any more." He walked in with his head down. Luffy didn't go to him, he stayed with his two brothers. They went to the dorms, and got something to eat. Luffy wasn't the only one who escaped to be crying silently. The smallest could easily see Tokoyami's fingernails digging into his hands so hard they bled. He wiped it off on his hero costume.
Law was in his room with the door shut. After Luffy forced himself to eat some toast, he went into his bedroom with his brothers. His three best friends were very worried, but Luffy told them he wasn't going to talk about it. "Not this time, guys. I won't tell you what went on in there other than we watched people die and worse…"
Of course they wondered how anything could be worse than dying. Luffy wondered if the blobs were still alive, forever trapped in there. Or if the whole world was destroyed once the bad guy was killed. Or if that was ever some strange world at all.
When the three were in Luffy's bedroom, the youngest brother gave key points. "Last time, we couldn't go back up without getting hurt. This time, we couldn't go down. E-even a little bit… they turned into fleshy blobs, mindless and unable to move. Or they exploded and landed as puddles of flesh," he said quietly. His eyes were wide, and when Sabo put his hand on Luffy's head, rubbing his ears, Luffy flinched and gasped. "S-Sorry."
Ace told him it was okay. "You don't need to tell us. Or anybody, not if you can't, not if you don't want to," he said in understanding. Luffy nodded, unable to say anything else. He was ashamed of not being able to get everyone out, even if it wasn't his duty. He felt like it was. Luffy'd been through it before, he should have known what to do! He failed.
It seemed his brothers could read him and Sabo said, "It isn't your fault. It wasn't your duty to get them all out." They knew him too well. He clasped all of his hands together, and brought his knees up to his chest. His small feet were pressed to the bed tightly.
"But I went through it before! I should have known what to do!" he said angrily, angry tears down his face. "I want to be a hero but so many people died, or they're just trapped them for forever!" Sabo took his left hands and Ace took his right's.
"There are things heroes can and can't do. And you're not a professional yet. But, with this, you've learned more what it feels like to be a hero than anyone else. Well, those that went through these times with you know, too. Still don't understand why it was you," Ace said. Luffy frowned, and decided to tell them about the drugs. As long as they swore not to tell anybody else.
"Will you promise to not tell anybody what I say next?" Luffy asked quietly, making full eye contact with both of them. They looked uneasy, but promised. So Luffy explained about the drugs that the bad guy gave them, that still he didn't know the point, what it was for. Why they were targeted. There was nothing special about them. Besides Luffy's whole two quirk issue.
The brothers were shocked and horrified. Ace asked, "And Law, too? That might be why you both…" Luffy's face scrunched. He didn't like thinking all he was was from some drug nobody knew about. "It's you, it's your quirk, but it definitely could be an influence," Ace made sure to say. Luffy nodded, and then said he had two quirks. Might be why, that there was an artificial reason.
"That only happened to you because you hit your head. That's what I think," Sabo said, talking to himself a bit. Luffy nodded, since the quirk came after he hurt himself. "Can I see the others? You said there were more than one."
Luffy nodded, but said he would get exhausted from it. His brothers nodded, and Luffy brought out the different glowing creatures. They sat on the floor or walked around the room, lighting it up in all sorts of colors. Ace tried to touch one, but it went right through his hand. The two heroes were in awe. They really were beautiful.
"Do some tricks, Dazzy," Luffy said, glad to have something light hearted, even if it was just for a minute. Dazzy changed the scenery of the room, made all sorts of glowing patterns, the other lights returning to Luffy when their job was over. Sabo and Ace were entranced, and it made Luffy smile. He would merge with them, the coolest power, but didn't want to vomit.
When the light show stopped and Dazzy returned to Luffy, both of them were smiling lightly. "That was beautiful," Sabo said. Luffy smiled and nodded. The mood was lifted, and they didn't speak of the heavy topics again. Eventually, they left, and Luffy's face fell until it was blank. He sighed, and went to bed without food. Nobody tried to stop him from just going to bed, but he knew he'd definitely have a terrible night of sleeping, if he got any sleep in the first place, so he went to Law's room and got into the sleeping bag.
The taller teen didn't eat either, and just laid on his back on the blankets. Luffy moved over and reaching his hand up to the bed. Law wordlessly took it, and they both didn't have a second of sleep together.
-x-
The next day, it was not surprising that those who had been through the second, exponentially worse nightmare all had bags under their eyes. Luffy asked if they got any sleep, and all three shook their heads. Tokoyami said that he'd had a nightmare and hadn't slept after that. It was clear that everybody wanted to know what happened, but the traumatized students said nothing. Nobody asked, and they didn't offer.
Instead of school, the four who were taken were brought to the counseling office. But instead of just school counselors, there were skilled, professional ones there. They were forced to have to do it. There was no option, it was an order from the school. No matter how much Law scowled and protested, he was lumped in, too.
But, surprising to those in charge, the four insisted on being together. Maybe speaking of it alone was just too scary. Maybe they did it to keep the information in check, so nobody spoke of Tokoyami pushing one of the blobs off of the beam, falling to their doom. But nobody spoke of that. The only one who said a thing the whole time was Luffy, and it was the bare minimum of information.
He spoke of the different levels, but not what personally happened to them there. Nobody mentioned the blobs, only that they would be in trouble if they descended even a couple inches. Nobody said a thing about the level where they had to sacrifice students, who would stay behind and who would move on.
They didn't mention the suicide, those that willingly stayed behind to die. They didn't mention stabbing the blob student, the blood burning the other. They left out almost everything that had happened to the students, and only gave a brief mention of what happened around them. Luffy just couldn't bring himself to share more, share how much of a failure he felt he was.
Law was completely silent as well. He held Luffy's hand, but that was it. They just wanted to get back to class and move on, but nobody was going to let them go on. They'd be prodded to talk about it when they made a pact to not reveal it. Luffy had to his brothers, briefly, but they weren't going to tell heroes or teachers or the government.
Anyone with any influence would not know. And they trusted the others from other schools to not tell anyone either. It was a huge secret and they wouldn't let it get out.
-x-
Luffy cried into the pillow at the sleeping bag, trying to be quiet, but he'd had a dream that he was turned into the blob, and left there. Left there, imobile, unable to move, all alone in the dark. He could hear the monsters noises from the open plain level. He could hear the screams around him as the others left him behind. Like how he'd left them behind when they couldn't take them with him.
Law sat up and picked Luffy up and put him on the bed, putting a blanket over his shoulders and pretty much tucking him in. So he was laying on one side of the bed while Law was on the other. Luffy was small enough to fit just fine. They both went to sleep, Law holding one of Luffy's hands. He didn't have a bad dream again, and both of them actually slept through the rest of the night.
-x-
With Blackbeard gone, the heroes knowing he was dead, but nobody said how he was dead, there should be no fear of the black void coming back for them. But regardless of that, a provisional license exam was not going to happen how it had before. The final activity, saving injured people, would be done at schools. So only class 1-A would be doing theirs.
It was bound to make them all pass just from team work, so it didn't have the same affect as it would with the other schools present, but it was necessary. So, they were all dressed in their costumes not a week later, in the arena UA easily built for just this time. There were no HPSC people there, and it was kept under wraps so no more villains could even think of interfering.
They did their work, and the actors were few and far between. They had to really search for them, under rubble, dangerous rubble. At the other place, the first try, it would have been bigger and with more of the actor victims, but for this, they all had to work together to get them out. Luffy used Dazzy to give directions and got into the small spaces to get people out.
It worked alright. It was definitely not the same experience that most hero students for most first years had, but it was necessary. So they did it, and all of them passed. It felt like a cheat. It didn't feel like they actually accomplished something, which was not a nice feeling. Luffy wasn't alone in not feeling like they cleared a milestone. Everyone felt the same.
But it was the same for all of the schools. It's just how that batch of first years was going to be. But they had their licenses, even if they got them too easily, like an after thought. They would be choosing where to do their work studies, but Luffy and Law already knew they were returning to the Whitebeard agency.
His other three friends were torn. Going to Endeavor's agency would be easier, but the Whitebeards were also really good and welcoming to Luffy's friends. Midoriya chose to go with Endeavor's agency, probably having something to do with Todoroki being there, just Luffy's hunch. He didn't get to go with his first teacher since he wasn't available anymore.
So, finally his friends chose, and went with Endeavor. Both of them liked the challenge, and Zoro said he wanted it to be hard to earn respect. "If I go to Whitebeards' agency, then they'll be polite right off the bat. I'd rather wrangle it out of the prick. Show him we do deserve respect and to be truly acknowledged."
They were in the common area, and Luffy saw Todoroki looked amused. In his own way; he rarely smiled. If at all. So, everyone had their decisions picked out. Sanji was cooking dinner when they got the surprise that Rayleigh came in. He was wearing a smile. The class went quiet, though Sanji and Ashido continued to cook. "Principle Nezu has made a new decision. With Blackbeard gone, his unique way of kidnapping, as well as all other major villain groups tamed, we are allowing the students to leave campus.
"You still must come here before 6:45 pm, but during the day you are free to leave campus," he said with a grin. The class cheered. It wasn't full freedom, they couldn't go home yet, but they weren't trapped and confined to the campus at all moments. Luffy sent Law a look of appreciation. The teen didn't regret killing Blackbeard, but he wasn't happy about it. He'd never bragged, but that split second decision not only saved Luffy, but partially freed them from their prison.
Everyone went to bed that night feeling happy, stuffed with the good food and looking forward to Monday, the first day of work studies. They had to balance school work as well, though. Luffy knew he could do it, his friends could do it. But even going to bed satisfied did not chase the night time demons away.
Luffy slept on Law's bed again, the door locked. Nobody but his friends knew that he slept in Law's room at night. They were under different blankets, but it was on the same bed. Luffy knew that his siblings and mother would completely understand the need for this. After all, there was nobody else.
If he was at home, he'd sleep in his mom's room. Maybe not on the bed with her, but that would be a possibility. He was a teenager, but still traumatized and scared of being alone. Scared of the dark. So they wouldn't be upset by the arrangement, and his brothers trusted Law, had met him personally.
He was glad they approved of Law. He really did love him. Hadn't said it yet, but he did.
-x-
The first day back at the agency was hectic. Very hectic. There had been a terrorist attack on one of the banking buildings and heroes from all agencies were working to get them out. Luffy was the smallest of them, so he was able to get inside and find the victims before having Dazzy leave him and guide the heroes inside while Luffy attempted to move the rubble off of them, giving them reassurances that the heroes were there.
There were two children who were sobbing until Luffy walked over and handed them his tail to pet in comfort. Soft things relaxed people, even if it was just a little bit. He told them things would be okay, and then asked if they wanted to see something cool. When they nodded, Luffy brought out one of the other lights as Dazzy still lead the heroes inside to where Luffy was with the survivors.
They were in awe and distracted until the rubble was moved from the door, and the normal sized heroes came out. They cheered, and people cried in relief. The little boy and girl hugged Luffy, and he had Dazzy walk up to them and shower gold lights down on them, making them gasp at the beautiful sight.
The light returned to Luffy's body, and he helped people out. It was a success, and nobody died at all! Luffy did what he had wanted, he used his size to do things nobody else could. And he used his appearance to comfort children, help them get through a scary situation. Luffy was so proud, and Law beamed at him for it. It was rare to get such a smile from him, and it made Luffy smile back brightly.
Thatch pat his back, telling him he did a damn good job. Luffy blushed and thanked him. He would have wanted to hug Law, but they'd decided to definitely not show anything in public besides maybe holding hands. They were very recognizable without their costumes regardless, so they'd try to not bring attention to themselves in regular clothes.
They were going to go on a date outside of school the next day after classes were over. Luffy was excited.
After they cleared everything up, got everyone out, the little kids' parents asked if they could get a photo with Luffy. He looked to Thatch, who said it was fine. Luffy walked to between the kids, barely taller than they were, and smiled. He had his two lower hands linked through the arms of the kids while the other two were doing a peace sign.
Then he left with the Whitebeard heroes and Law, all of them feeling good about successfully saving everyone. Luffy didn't let anyone die. They kept telling him it wasn't his responsibility or duty to keep all those students alive, but it didn't help. Not at all.
-x-
After class the next day, Luffy and Law went to the more busy part of the city UA was in, so nice to not be trapped there anymore. Not confined and claustrophobic on campus for everyone. A break from the others. They were holding hands and just went to get Starbucks and then wandered around.
Luffy hadn't really been around this place, since he wasn't from this city, but the downtown area sure was colorful and busy. After they finished their Starbucks, they got Chinese food, and just talked about random things. It was nice, and light hearted. But when Luffy was spotted by little kids, he was confused.
Law was, too, since Luffy had never met these kids. He didn't know many kids in general. And he wished that they hadn't come over, but they knew who he was somehow. They asked for photos with him, and Luffy really wanted to decline and just keep being quiet and cozy with Law in one of the more back tables.
But he didn't decline, as he wanted to be a hero kids were comfortable around. Not big and intimidating. So he took photos with them, their parents taking the pictures with their phones, and then they left the couple alone. "I wonder how they knew who I am," Luffy said, returning to his food.
He was sitting as straight as he could to reach the table just fine, but it wasn't enough, so Law had asked for a booster seat for him, saving him from the humiliation of having to ask. Of course Law saw nothing wrong with it. He was small, accommodations were perfectly reasonable to need.
They were unbothered the rest of the meal, and stayed out until five minutes before curfew, when they entered the school grounds again, Luffy clinging to Law's back. It was a day where Luffy had kept his thoughts, his guilt, at bay with the distractions. When they got back to the dorm, Uraraka and Jiro were cooking, following the recipe Sanji had in the large cookbook.
They all followed his recipes now. He was gone, supposedly training with Zoro at the training grounds. Luffy decided he wanted to see them, and zoomed out of the dorm and to where he knew his friends were. When he got there, he saw both of them were bloody. Just a bit. They would get in trouble for this most likely.
"What are you guys doing?" Luffy asked, standing a bit away. Zoro wiped his bloody lip and grumbled that Endeavor still treated them like chumps. So, they were trying to get as tough as possible. Luffy was glad he was in a nice agency. He wouldn't want to be constantly underestimated. Well, if it drove them to get better, that was good. It was a very different drive than Luffy's.
They both stopped, getting drinks of water or gatorade. "So, how are you doing?" Sanji asked.
Luffy told them about the kids who interrupted him and Law eating. But he knew what they meant. He replied to that. "I didn't think about it much today." They didn't know what happened, but were there for him regardless. And Law, too, of course, but he wasn't openly upset about it. Luffy and Tokoyami showed the most emotion about it.
Since the birdlike teen couldn't really form a lot of expressions, it was his body language and self-isolation that showed how he was affected. Luffy isolated himself from most besides his friends and Law, and he got distracted a lot, sometimes zoning out with a sad expression until someone shook him out of it.
He was glad that nobody had seen him vomit in his bathroom toilet when he saw an ad for some sort of slime before a YouTube video. It looked too much like the fleshy blobs of kids. "Are you guys mad? That I didn't tell you? And that I spend a lot of time with Law?"
Zoro said they weren't bothered, and were happy he'd branched off. "And about not telling us, it's really okay. It was a nightmare, that's clear. Nobody wants you to have to relive them more than you already do, especially us." Luffy sniffled and nodded. He couldn't stop the tears down his face.
His friends said nothing, but came over and sat next to him, on either side, giving silent comfort. It lasted for awhile, until the sun set and the stars were coming out. Then they headed back to the dorms to shower and then eat.
When Luffy got his phone off the kitchen counter, having forgotten it when he went to his friends, he saw he had a couple of friend requests on Facebook. He opened them, finding they were those who had survived with them. The final six. Luffy accepted all requests. Maybe having more people to talk about it with would be good for him.
Law had all the same requests, as did the other two. All four of them.
We're having a memorial for the deceased over Zoom if you want to take part in it, too. It's not with their family, only us. Luffy couldn't really remember their faces much. He remembered the faces of those who died much more clearly. Every detail, he remembered, he saw in his mind.
What time? Shoji responded, as this was a group chat with all ten of them. They replied that it would be in two hours. They would take part, and headed to the backyard area, bringing out Luffy's laptop. Everyone were a bit curious, but when Law told them to not hang around them, they agreed, a bit grumpy. They didn't like being out of the loop, weren't all as understanding as Luffy's three closest friends.
When the vigil started, it had the photos of those deceased. The presentation for them was full of photos of those who had died. They watched the simple presentation, acknowledging them all, acknowledging their deaths, what had happened to them. All of their death dates were that horrific day.
Luffy was in a ball, crying quietly as he watched the slides. Law put his arm around his boyfriend's shoulders silently. Tokoyami lowered his head when the teen he'd pushed over the ledge was brought up. Luffy took his hand, squeezing it. Nobody said a thing over him and Tokoyami's tears, even though Luffy had many more. Shoji had his large arms wrapped around his knees. For a handful of them, they came with videos with various content, but all showed the deceased happy.
They could see the others in the video chats, and all of them looked pained, were crying or doing their best to hide their thick emotions. Finally, once the videos were over and they said goodbye to their fellow victims, fellow survivors, Shoji and Tokoyami went inside while Luffy sobbed, rocking back and forth, on the grass.
Law comforted him, but Luffy didn't stop crying. So, he got out Luffy's phone, asking for the unlocked pattern, and then called Ace over video call, giving it to Luffy. This helped, while Ace told him he didn't betray anybody, fail anybody. It wasn't his duty. Not his responsibility, either. He did the best he could. And he helped his friends get out.
Eventually, Luffy was pulled together, and then went straight to bed, Law following with a hot chocolate and some sleeping pills. Luffy took them gratefully. Hopefully this memorial would help him move on a bit. Even if it was just a little bit, he wanted to feel better. He slept okay on Law's bed, holding the bigger hand, even though he wasn't sleeping and Luffy was.
