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*Enters scene loudly*

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Kirishima felt so heavy; a battle presented itself by simply prying her eyes open. What happened? A fog seemed to shroud her mind as she searched for answers. The village, Bakugou, and dogs? That last part made her frown. That's right, dogs and men. With this realization, Kirishima forced herself onto her knees before falling flat on her face when her legs didn't move with her.

"Huh, so that's what I could smell." Great."

Chains.

An unwelcome but sadly familiar sight. She should have known—how long had she spent in their company, and yet she was unable to recognize the scent?For a moment, Kirishima wondered if she had gotten spoiled since she was free. No, that wasn't it; the time she had spent in the outside world felt as if it had washed away a lifetime of pain, and forgetting such a sorrow was nothing but a blessing—usually, that is.

She had a sense of freedom as if she were a child once more, but as quickly as she found it again, it was stolen away once more. Was this her fate—a life of chains and having everything ripped from her? Even in the worst of situations, her mind wandered to her newfound companion.

Did he even know she was missing, and if he did, would he care? She knew she shouldn't have these thoughts and that she should have more faith in the one she had chosen to follow, but with recent events, she wasn't so sure if he wanted her around anymore. Kirishima regretted having left things as they were and wondered once again what she could have done differently.

The redhead paused. What was she doing sitting here feeling sorry for herself? Pathetic. If the blonde man were here, surely he would be angry at her for acting so helpless. No matter the situation, she vowed to be stronger. How was this unbreakable?

It had happened fast and had greatly taken her off guard, but that was no excuse. She was done with being held down by the greed of others, chosen her own path, and she refused to let another take that away. Kirishima knew she couldn't break through these chains with her human strength, but she would soon see how they fared against a dragon.

"Let's see who breaks first!" With a less than subtle cry, the redhead strained to get her blood pumping through her veins in place of the slow burn. She felt the heat, a familiar burn that she was used to smoldering in the pit of her belly.

She needed more.

With a hoarse yell, she felt her body begin to bend and ripple as her muscles contracted and flexed under her skin. Kirishima braced herself as an unfamiliar pain spread through her body—this wasn't right. She knew that something was off, but she knew if she stopped now then she may not get another chance.

She couldn't tell if the screams were hers or if they belonged to the meatheads bashing on the bars of her confinement, and she didn't care. Louder and louder, all she could hear was ringing. What felt like an eternity later, her transformation was complete, and with her head spinning and ears ringing incessantly, the crimson dragon began to riot. Pure instinct drove her forward as she began to thrash and flail, charging the bars again and again.

Again.

...

Again.

...

Again.

Was the ringing all in her head, or were the bars reverberating from the brutal punishment they were receiving? Who cares. They were bending. Kirishima felt the sharp metal of the spears before she saw them, and her ears finally distinguished their panicked yells, but she kept going. The chains were a thing of the past; they littered spear tips on the ground around her feet, spurring her on, and then the iron bars shattered.

The red mass crashed to the ground at the sudden release, and Kirishima barely had time to get her bearings before a weighted chain net was cast over her body.

With gritted teeth and sheer willpower behind her, Kirishima flexed and forced herself to her feet as she made her body mass increase.

"Go bigger, stronger, harder, and push to the limit!"

Soon the small dragon that was once in her place nearly doubled in size, throwing the men who were holding the stakes to the ground and running away. Kirishima whipped around and lashed out at the first man within reach, sending him crashing into one of the wooden carts another man was pushing forward, clearing both.

"Fire!" A gruff voice bellowed loudly behind her.

Kirishima spun with frightening speed, but somehow not fast enough as thick iron chains shot out of one of those wooden contraptions and wrapped tightly around her long, scaled neck. Another and another, and the red beast found it harder to maneuver, but she wasn't done yet.

Even as the contraptions rooted into the ground and began to pull her in, she dug in her feet and forced her body to hold its ground. Loud creaking and the sickening strain of chains could be heard from miles away as wood splintered and scars were carved into the earth.

Her strength was draining quickly, and she didn't have much left to begin with. Her head was spinning; they always drugged her, and it was infuriating. If only she could fight on her terms for once. They couldn't take her at full strength, so they resorted to underhanded tactics and their chemicals.

A large quantity of moisture hit her hind legs, and Kirishima found herself beginning to slip. Looking over her back, she saw broken barrels of a chemical-smelling substance coating the ground.

This wasn't good.

More men grouped up at the chains to her front and others attached themselves to her hind legs; pressure from both fronts had her sliding forward, inch by inch, and that was when Kirishima caught sight of the man approaching her head.

He was large and muscular, with long, knotted hair in a braid over his shoulder, and covered from head to toe in badly beaten metal. However, what stood out the most was the sharp-looking great axe he had resting against his shoulder. A weapon that he was now retrieving.

Not good.

With newfound vigor, Kirishima slammed her tail onto the ground in an attempt to dissuade anyone approaching and swept it forward to wrap around the chain at her neck. Despite her efforts and halted movement, the axe-wielder approached.

She was left with no other option. Kirishima took a deep breath, dragging it in through her nose and filling her chest, feeling heat pool in her long neck drawn deep from within, and held it.

All at once, Kirishima released her breath with a mighty roar and an even mightier turret of molten heat in a wide sweep in front of her. Many scurried to the sides, diving left and right, but the sight in front of her made her heart drop.

Shields, an entire row of them in a line formation. Some were smoldering and melting, but she hadn't even scratched the surface of their makeshift defense.

Her last resort had failed, and not even a second later, the giant shot forward with a burst of speed. He planted a large foot on the side of her neck, and no matter how much she thrashed, she couldn't get the freedom of movement to throw him away.

Time seemed to slow down as Kirishima fought to draw another breath, perhaps her last. If she was going down, she was going out ablaze.

In that final moment, Kirishima could have sworn she imagined the blonde's face. He was drenched in sweat and radiated fury, but he was a sight for sore eyes.

It wasn't until the giant was sent flying and the ax split cleanly in half that the mist cleared from her gaze and her ears tuned in to hear the familiar war cry. He was yelling something, but she couldn't quite make it out over the grinding chains.

Her hypersensitive ears strained, and finally, something broke through.

"-said move you shitty lizard!" Bakugou locked eyes with her, and Kirishima felt another kind of burning inside before releasing another stream of overwhelming heat-blaze towards the wooden contraption, this time connecting and bursting into pieces.

The red beast was finally able to shake free of all chains, save for the one around her neck, though that did little to hinder her now that it was free.

"You bastard, I knew you were a snake the second I saw you!" The blond yelled before charging with a burst of his explosions at a man that Kirishima hadn't seen before. "How did you know? How did you find her? Start talking before I redecorate with pieces of you."

"The dogs led us." The scrawny-looking fellow was shaking beneath the blonde's crackling grip as he slowly reached into his pocket, pulling out a familiar crimson scale: hers. Bakugou froze before snatching it out of his hand and blasting the man into the treeline, falling limp against a tree trunk. Kirishima wasn't sure if he survived.

Bakugou turned and strode towards her, much to her surprise, blasted himself up onto her back.

"Torch the treeline, towards the village." The blonde grasped the chain at her neck and melted it in a few short blasts. Kirishima watched it fall limp before taking one more deep breath and making the forest burn with a final fiery shot.

"That should keep those asses busy for a while. We're done here," Bakugou raised his arm in the direction to her right, "that way, we're out of here... Don't fucking drop me this time, got that?"

Kirishima chirped happily before taking flight.

(20 minutes later)

"If you're tired, then land; how the fuck do you fall asleep while flying!?" An angry bellow sounded for miles into the previously silent night.

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