Hey guys! Yeah, sorry this one is a week late. I had LARP last weekend. Just assume for the next few months that there will be delay on updates at the end of the month.

Borderlands is owned by Gearbox and 2KGames and My Hero Academia is owned by Kohei Horikoshi and Funimation. Please support the official release.

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"This means someone is talking."

'This means someone is thinking to themselves.'

This means it's a flashback.

*This means it's a sound effect!*

{This means I'm speaking in a different language!}

Angel in a Gilded Cage

Angel could faintly register that someone was yelling at her, but she couldn't hear it over her heart galloping in her chest. All of her attention was squared on the monster towering over her, her vision palpitating and blurry. It was just like the first time they met, how his mere presence caused her to tremble. When her terrified, innocent mind dubbed him;

'The Metalman!'

With that moniker came the feeling she so desperately tried to run from, to no avail. Helplessness, helpless before the hunter before her like a rabbit cornered by a slavering wolf.

It would only be a matter of time before this one pounced.

"A-Angel-chan! Snap out of it!"

Something shook her arm and she blinked to see Aoyama in her face trying to get her attention. He looked about as terrified as she was, if that were possible.

It wasn't.

"Aw, that's cute. You've made a friend." They both turned back to the mercenary, a mocking smirk on his face as he rested his shotgun over his right shoulder. He wasn't the slightest bit worried. "Didn't think you had it in ya, what with you jumping at your shadow all the time back home."

She could feel Aoyama look at her when Wilhelm said that, but she didn't dare rip her gaze away, even as she slowly pulled the two of them to their feet.

"Why… W-Why are you here?" She swallowed, her voice shaking and low. He snorted.

"C'mon little bird, you and I both know you're way smarter than that. You do what you did, and didn't think I'd come knockin? Gotta say though, I appreciate the change in scenery. Might hit up one of those gundam conventions while I'm here."

"H-He… He sent you, is that it?" She enunciated slowly, keeping her left hand hidden behind her back. She knew what Wilhelm was capable of and what he was likely to do. There was no fighting him, only running and praying to God that they could slow him down. Thus, she needed to keep him talking while her mind scrambled to come up with a means of escape.

She could do that, right? She was stronger now, she had to be.

"I know there are other villains here tonight. I-It's the league isn't it? They hired you to help them get back at us. You think you're pretty smart, getting paid by two people at the same time."

He chuckled. "I'm living the dream alright! I'm getting double doing what I love doing."

"Do your new employers know who you're really working for? Probably won't be happy about that." She probed, readying her finger gun.

"That's rich coming from you. Do any of your little pals know about who you really are?" He shot back, making her sweat. Who knew what was going through Aoyama's head right now.

"But enough chit chat." Wilhelm said, taking a couple heavy steps forward and forcing them back just as far. He held out his free hand. "It's time we head home. We can do this the easy way..." He leaned forward, his optical scope flashing red again. "...or the fun way."

Despite her fear, Angel was still able to muster the courage to narrow her eyes into something resembling a defiant glare.

"I'm never going back. Ever!" And she called upon her power as fast as she could, her markings lighting up in a flash as she whipped her hand around to bear.

The skin on Wilhelm's forearm was already shifting by the time her hand was out from behind her back. In the next instant his fist had stretched across the three meter distance between them and had Angel by the throat! With a strangled cry, she was wrenched from Aoyama's side and slammed against Wilhelm's chest. She gasped for air, desperately grabbing at the now hamsized, mechanical fist holding her a foot off the ground.

"Maybe I didn't make myself clear." He growled, lifting her so close to his face that she could smell the tobacco on his breath and hear the whirring servos in his right eye. "You're going to come with me, kicking and screaming or not, I don't care which, before I do something you'll regret."

"Y-You-kuh-won't hurt me!" She gasped out against the cold, steel fingers digging into her skin. "He… w-will k-kill you!"

"Oh, I know that." He retorted, the hot, smoky air coming out of his mouth making her eyes burn. "Here's a fun little tid bit you probably didn't know; I never made it past the eleventh grade. And if you don't do what I say…" He turned her around so she could see him level his weapon in his other hand towards Aoyama, who was petrified in fear. "...he won't either."

Angel's eyes met Aoyama's, which trembled uncontrollably. The true weight of the situation hit her there like a ton of bricks. She didn't want to go back there. Back to that dark, suffocating fear and isolation. But it wasn't worth sacrificing someone else.

Her struggling ceased and she hung limp, face bunching up and tears burning trails down her cheeks in the cool night air. She stiffly nodded and the grip on her neck lessened the slightest bit.

"That's more like it. Get outta here kid, while I'm in a good mood!" Wilhelm yelled, making Aoyama flinch, but he stayed rooted. His one eye rolled and he shifted to his hostage.

"Tell him to run. Do it or my finger's gonna get itchy."

"A-Aoyama-kun, run!" She sputtered.

"But-!" The boy started.

"Just run!" She demanded again.

"You heard her pretty boy, hit the road!" Wilhelm barked. It seemed that was all the "encouragement" Aoyama could take. After a moment's hesitation, he spun around and sprinted into the brush.

Angel let out a small breath. At the very least, that was one of her classmates who wouldn't die today.

Her captor let out another laugh. "Not much of a hero now was he? Looks like he isn't going to make it to graduation either way, or whatever it is in this country."

His eye caught something and his smile broadened. "Well lookie here… staple face is doing his job." He turned Angel around and her eyes widened at the sight of great, blue blaze of a fire further into the valley, sending pillars of black smoke into the night sky.

"Anyway, let's get going, shall we? Just remember to behave yourself like a good little bird and I probably won't blow anyone away." He said and turned back onto the path leading towards the base of the mountain. Angel swayed limply in his grasp, trying to think of what to do, but with her hopes diminished, all she could was let herself get carried away.

She closed her eyes and fought back a sob.

'Goodbye everyone. I'm sorry.'

"Pardon moi!"

Her eyes shot open and Wilhelm whirled around, just in time to catch a glimpse of Aoyama jumping out from behind a tree with his shirt pulled up to reveal his support belt. A resplendent beam of sparkling energy shot forth!

Wilhelm staggered back as the laser grazed his mechanical arm, sending up a shower of sparks. His grip slackened enough for Angel to wriggle out, her tattoos lit before she even hit the ground. Landing on her feet, she held her palm up to his face and let her power go. A small burst of light and heat exploded in his face.

"ARRGH!" Wilhelm bellowed, out of surprise and getting blindsided than any chance she had caused him any pain. Staggering down to one knee, he aimed in the vague direction Aoyama had been. The shotgun boomed.

The buckshot struck Angel's rescuer in his midsection, making him squeal in pain as he was thrown backwards, his laser sputtering out like a strangled water hose. His belt was knocked off his body, clattering to the ground.

"Aoyama-kun!" Angel screamed, running over to him. "Are you okay?!"

"I… I think… I think so." He panted from where he was lying on the ground, holding his stomach. "I don't think I was hit-guh."

Giving him a quick once over, Angel confirmed that he had indeed evaded a belly full of lead. Small miracles, but now wasn't the time to appreciate it.

"Come on! We've got to go!" She told him, helping him to his feet and leading him into the forest.

Behind them, Wilhelm's single eye blinked wildly while his artificial one's lenses contracted and expanded. After a few seconds, the static in the scope faded back to red just in time for him to spot his quarry and her accomplice disappear into the foliage.

He grinned and pulled himself up. "The fun way it is then! Good, I was getting bored." He called after them, pumping his smoking gun.

Turning his head, he walked over to where he had shot the blonde. Stooping down, he picked up the abandoned laser belt. His internal targeting computer clicked and whirred, the crosshairs in his vision highlighting each of the device's components. It appeared that his bullets had only struck the metal straps that kept it wrapped around the boy's torso. The rest of it, including the large circular lens, was still intact.

"Hmm… not bad. I've always wanted one of these."

He jabbed his metal thumb under the edge of the lens and popped the bulk of the mechanism out of its casing. Tossing the useless belt aside, he unclipped the top two clasps of his jacket, revealing his bare chest, thick with hair and scars in equal measure. Pressing the lens to his skin, it seamlessly sank into his flesh. Straight, geometric lines attached to it underneath, locking it in place in the center of his torso a few inches below his collar bone.

White text flitted across the red filter of his HUD.

/INTEGRATING NEW WEAPON SYSTEM… WEAPON SYSTEM CONNECTED TO REACTOR CORE… INTEGRATION COMPLETE…/

He let out a pleasurable groan, relishing the sensation the acquisition of new technology gave him. Like the flexing of a new muscle deep inside his body, which in a sense, is exactly what he just gained.

"Aw yeah… that's the stuff." He grunted, rolling his shoulders then squaring them as he planted his feet. "Let's see what this puppy can do!"

Meanwhile in the forest ahead, Angel ran as fast as her legs could carry her, as much as she could at the moment. She held a tight grasp on Aoyama's arm as she pulled him along. She squinted to avoid running head first into a tree. They needed every inch they could put behind them, between them and their pursuer.

"Oooo…" Aoyama moaned, holding his belly with his free hand. "It hurts!"

"Are you going to be okay?" She threw the question over her shoulder while ducking a low hanging branch.

"I-I should be!"

"Good! Can you use your quirk without your belt? We might need it!"

He grimaced. "Not very well. M-Maybe in a pinch, but it'll really, really hurt."

"Darn it!" She spat. "Then, here!" He almost crashed into her when she suddenly halted and bent over. She grabbed a fallen branch, a long stick with a bulky knob at the end where it once sprouted from the tree. She gave it a quick swing to test its weight and nodded.

"Here, take this!" Angel said, shoving it into Aoyama's hand, making his eyes boggle.

"Y-You want me to hit s-someone with this?! I-I don't think I can do that!" He stammered, getting a flat look from her.

"Would you rather have to get up close and punch whatever bloodthirsty maniac we run into?"

"...point taken." He conceded and they started running again. They kept sprinting for a moment before she glanced back, giving her classmate a softer expression.

"Thanks for saving me back there by the way. I know I told you to run but… I'm really glad you didn't leave me."

Aoyama gave her a shaky smile. It somehow felt more genuine than the one he gave whenever he tried to dazzle every person he ever met.

"You saved me first. What kind of hero would I be if I left such a glimmering star such as you to a ruffian like him?"

Angel snorted at his flowery prose. His constant flamboyant nature had always been off putting to her since day one, which had her hesitant to interact with him. But in their current, harrowing circumstances, it was a bit of relief that it could serve to keep the panicked boy focused. And if his fixation on being beautiful and otherwise self-flattering had been the reason he had saved her, then who was she to complain?

"Well, you're pretty, uh, glittering yourself?" She offered. She seemed to have cracked the code as Aoyama's smile widened a bit more. She returned the expression then frowned, looking behind into the shrouded wilderness.

"Hold on." She slowed down and stopped.

"W-What's wrong?"

"I don't see or hear him anywhere."

"And? Is that not what we want? That means we're getting away!"

"That's the thing!" She insisted, lowering her voice to a whisper. "We got away too easily. I don't like it."

"Maybe he gave up?" Aoyama suggested, only for Angel to shake her head. She had watched Wilhelm "work" for the better half of a decade. He never gives up, he gets worse.

Sure as she came to that conclusion, Aoyama froze and held up his hand. "Ssh… you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"It's like… a hum." He said, his brow furrowing. "It's… oddly familiar."

Taking Aoyama's word for it, Angel quieted and listened. Pushing past the rustling of the wind blowing through the treetops and the buzzing of insects it took her a second, but she finally did hear it. As described, there was a low hum coming from behind them.

In the direction that they had just run from.

Turning back, she peered into the darkness. There! There was a faint, blue glow. It was also growing, the humming rising in sync.

Wilhelm's quirk. She had been too overcome with fear that she had completely forgotten.

"Aoyama-kun, I think we need to go." She said, taking a couple steps backward.

"Hold on Angel-chan, I need to figure this out. I feel like I'm so close it's driving me mad!" He answered, tapping his head as if it would speed up his thinking process. Meanwhile, the light and sound intensified, the former nearing that of a search lamp. The illumination revealed Wilhelm, the source of the commotion emanating from his bare chest, visible even all the way from where they were.

"Aoyama-kun!" She repeated, her voice cracking from the rising panic.

"Wait… I know that sound!" He beamed, slapping his fist against his palm. "It's the sound my belt makes whenever I-!" He trailed off as he turned around, finally noticing what was happening.

"Venting reACTORRR!" Wilhelm yelled, his voice having taken a deeper, synthetic tone that Angel could just barely make out over the din.

"DOWN!" Angel screamed and tackled her classmate for the second time in under five minutes.

The energy gathering in Wilhelm's chest sparked and there was a brief moment of silence as if the world suddenly held its breath. Then there was a terrible roar as a massive beam of cyan light burst forth. Angel's hair whipped about as the stream of destruction passed over her head. The glare from the attack was so great it was blinding, even through her closed eyelids. Aoyama screamed from where he lay under her, at least she assumed he was from the tensing of his shoulders rather than hearing him, any sound he'd make getting drowned out.

After several agonizing, panic ridden seconds, the sound and light began to abate and finally cease. Slowly tilting her head and cracking her eyes open, her breath caught. What had been an acre or two of wilderness around them had been completely decimated. Every tree and shrub had been erased in one big swath. Nothing remained aside from the smoldering stumps, cut almost neatly in a horizontal swipe, as if culled by a flaming scythe. Even the vegetation on the sides of the cone were set ablaze.

"Mon Dieu…" Aoyama gulped.

At the origin of the attack stood Wilhelm, the lens in his chest crackling from residual energy. With a groan, a flaming tree crashed down behind him, sending a wave of embers into the air. A long, imposing shadow stretching across the ruins before him. His head cocked in their directions and his mechanical eye gleamed. Angel felt his gaze pierce her like an arrow.

He knew that she would survive. The mercenary had made no effort to conceal what was preparing to do. She had narrowly escaped death, but now she and Aoyama were out in the open.

Wilhelm was a hunter afterall and they just got flushed out.

He stepped forward, crushing charred branches under his boot.

"W-We need to go!"

"O-Oui!" Aoyama nodded as they got to their feet, albeit with some difficulty from how much their knees quaked. The sudden bang and whizzing of buckshot just missing their shoulder didn't help matters, nor did the spray of dirt afterwards.

"Keep your head down!" Angel yelped, reaching back and letting loose a volley of wild shots in their pursuer's directions. Only one managed to actually hit her target and even then it harmlessly impacted the metal arm the cyborg raised to shield his face. Pumping his shotgun again, he leveled it in Aoyama's direction.

Thinking fast, Angel leapt in the way, shielding as much of her companion's body as she could with her own. If there was one thing she could leverage, it was how important her wellbeing was to Wilhelm's mission as well as being too far for him to grab with his extendable limb.

It worked, as the man lowered his firearm and sneered. "Ballsy." With no other option, he broke into a lumbering sprint.

Giving him as much of a scowl as her nerves would allow, Angel pushed at Aoyama's back frantically. "Faster! He can't shoot at you without hurting me!"

"I'll take it!" He replied, running as fast as he could without losing the cover Angel was providing. They were thankfully able to keep distance with the larger, heavier man chasing them and made it to the newly made tree line, ducking under some flaming branches.

"You can't hide from me forever!" Wilhelm called out, which Angel tried to ignore in her effort to get as far away from him as possible.

"Thanks for… saving my life again!" Aoyama said from in front in between labored breaths.

"No, hah, no problem! Just keep running in the direction you think is the lodge! We'll be safe there!"

"Right! W-Which would be?"

"T-That way, pretty sure!" She pointed in the vague direction of the blue blaze on the horizon.

"Do you see him behind us?"

"No, but I can still hear him! We just need to get far enough, then we can sneak away! Just keep running!"

They kept going for a few seconds before Aoyama shook his head with a whimper. "Why is this happening? How did they find us?"

"I've been asking myself the same question." She answered in a solemn tone. The school had made sure to keep the new location of the trip a closely guarded secret. It was possible they had slipped up, but with all of them being professional heroes she felt like that wasn't the case.

She bit her lip in worry at another possibility. Was one of them working for the league? Or worse, him? Nezu had promised that they could trust every one of the teachers with her life, but doubts had a way of eroding trust.

Angel tried not to think about it. She didn't want to think that the very people sworn to protect her and the rest of the class was a traitor. The league could had found out another way. Perhaps they had simply been watching the school closely, tracking the buses from the beginning? Maybe that signal she had been detecting sporadically over the last two days were the villains spying on them, planning their attack?

The more she thought about it, the more sense it made and the more crushed she felt for not informing the teachers, thinking she had just been imagining things or that it had been Kota.

Kota. A pang of worry went out for the little boy. Who knew what was going through his mind right now, with Mandalay's telepathic message and the forest fire. Then there were her classmates and friends.

"I hope everyone's alright." She mumbled.

"As do I." Aoyama agreed.

"Attention!" Both teens froze in place as Mandalay's voice echoed in their heads. It was another telepathic message! "Students of class A and B! This is a message from your teacher Eraserhead! You are hereby authorized to use force! Use everything you have to survive!"

"A little late for that, but appreciated nonetheless. At least we're not getting in trouble for defending ourselves." Angel muttered, getting a nod from Aoyama. "Let's get going, Wilhelm will be on us any-"

"Alert! We have identified one of the villain's objectives!" Mandalay's voice interrupted. "The villains are seeking to capture two students in particular; Kacchan and Angel!"

Angel almost tripped in shock. The villains were after her? Her?! Why? Was this just part of Shigaraki's vendetta against her, like he threatened in the mall?

Or were they seeking to retrieve her for him?

"Students Angel and whoever Kacchan is, avoid combat at all costs and travel groups! Do not allow yourselves to be taken! I repeat, do not get captured!"

Mandalay's voice faded and the message was over, leaving Angel to dwell on the latest development. For whatever reason, the league was after her, but also Kacchan, or Bakugo as he preferred to be called. It took her a moment before her eyes widened.

Kacchan? Only one person called Bakugo that.

A relieved smile crossed her face. That meant Izuku was still alive and had reached the heroes! That was one less friend to worry about getting hurt.

"Angel-chan?" She looked up to see Aoyama looking at her in concern. "Are you okay?"

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine! Just more reason to keep running! We've wasted enough time." She assured him, taking a moment to glance about. She couldn't see Wilhelm anywhere and his heavy footfalls were still a ways off. "Actually… I think I can fly us out of here."

Aoyama perked up. "Fly? You're going to fly us? Is that a good idea?"

"I think it's our best bet of getting to the lodge safely. It'll make us really obvious, but if I go high enough we should be fine, I mean, unless they have any flight quirks or something."

Aoyama glanced at the sky and back at her, a hint of uncertainty in his expression. "W-What about that metal monstrosity with the gun? Won't he be able to shoot us down?"

She shook her head. "Wilhelm's shotgun won't be able to reach us if we're high enough. I know it's a risk, but I think it's all we've got here. Come on, we've got to hurry, Wilhelm will be on us any minute."

Aoyama peered back the way they came and pursed his lips before finally nodding. "A-As you say Mademoiselle. How, um, how do we do this?"

"Just stand right there, completely straight." Angel instructed, moving around until she was standing closely behind him. She then looped her arms onto his torso, somewhere around his diaphragm and pulled him until his body was against hers, the close contact causing her no small amount of embarrassment. "N-Now hold onto my arms, tightly."

He reached up and did so, grasping her limbs like a safety bar. "L-L-Like this?" He stammered, probably feeling nervous out of the physical contact as well as their impending flight. At least she could count on him not to try anything like some other boy.

"Yep. I'm going to charge up. Get ready."

He nodded. Angel closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Her markings flashed and her wings flourished from her back.

"Ready?"

"A-As I'll ever be!"

His answer came just in time as Angel's ears twitched at the sound of snapping branches nearby.

"Here we go!" She said, bending her legs and fanning her wings out. With a gust of wind, the two students ascended into the night sky.

Not a moment too soon, as their pursuer burst out of the foliage into the small clearing. Wilhelm didn't need his robotic eye to spy the two glowing wings several dozen feet in the air and soaring higher, out of his reach.

"Right. She flies now." He grumbled to himself, reaching over his shoulder and resting his shotgun on the bandolier on his back. He then slipped a hand into one of the bulky packs on his belt, retrieving a chrome plated sphere the size of a baseball. Pressing down on the single white button, the device began to blink and he pulled his arm back.

"Clip her wings Wolf!" He barked and pitched the sphere into the sky.

"You okay? My arm isn't burning you is it?"

"Non! It's just a tad warm." Aoyama said from where he was hanging under Angel, anxiously watching the forest pass below.

"Good." She said, returning her gaze to the landscape before them. The forest fire was much worse seen from the sky, almost an entire third of the valley was engulfed in flames, the vast plumes of smoke filling the air, she could smell it from here. But if that wasn't enough, blanketing around half of the forest was a dense cloud of purple gas, most likely the handiwork of one of the villains as she couldn't recall if anyone in class B had such a quirk. She didn't know if it was toxic, a sleeping agent or something else, she was going to steer clear regardless. Between it and the fire, it created a sort of cul de sac, blocking off most routes towards the lodge and likely trapping many of the students within the center track of the forest.

It was a well planned attack and Angel hated the league for it. They were considerably more prepared than their last attempt at USJ. She could only hope everyone was going to make it out and try to get herself and Aoyama to safety.

Speaking of, she was somewhat consoled in the fact that at least her training had paid off. She was having little difficulty carrying her classmate, albeit with a little discomfort.

"What a mess." She murmured.

"T-Truly." Aoyama stammered and she looked down.

"You okay?"

"Oui." He answered, looking a bit weak. "I-I've just never flown outside a plane before."

"Fair. My advice, just don't look down."

"R-Right."

They flew in silence, the whistling of the wind occasionally punctuated by the roaring of the blue fire and the sounds of combat, too far away to audibly make out. Though Angel could have sworn she heard a distant popping somewhere in the gas cloud, one that suspiciously sounded like a gunshot.

"Um… pardon moi, Angel-chan…" She blinked and looked down at Aoyama, who was facing ahead while twiddling his thumbs from where they were clasped around her arms. "I didn't bring this up before on the account of us running for our lives… but… well… did you know that thug that was chasing us? W-Wilhelm I think you said?"

Angel's brow furrowed and she broke into a cold sweat. Right, it had been made abundantly clear that she and Wilhelm had a history. How was she going to get out this one?

"Ye-Yes. I do know him. I, um, I…" She floundered, trying to come up with as believable of a story as she could. So she settled with a little bit of the truth and a little bit of falsehood. "I was kidnapped by a really bad man back… home, in the states. Wilhelm was one of his chief enforcers."

"You were kidnapped?! Why?!"

"For my quirk." She answered truthfully. "The man wanted me to do something horrible with my power over technology. He made sure to leave me with little choice in the matter."

"I see… that's… terrible." Aoyama said, then he paused. "Wait, you control machines, oui?"

"Oui?" She answered back. "What of it?"

"That monstruosité mécanique, couldn't you just use your quirk on him? Force him to not move or something?"

Aoyama's question made Angel stiffen and her mind drifted away. Away from the dark, burning forest and to a memory she wished she could forget. To the screaming of the man, held aloft a few feet off the ground. His blood, as it dripped down from where the mechanical fingers dug into his skin, hitting the white linoleum like rain drops. The cracking of his bones under the metal fist, crushing them like a nutcracker. Wilhelm's smile as she wailed and pounded her small fists against his leg, desperately trying to make him stop.

Her eyes fell.

"No. No I can't." Angel said, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Are you sure? Have you ever tri-?"

"I HAVE tried! And I know I can't, okay?!" She snapped, stunning her passenger quiet. She sighed and shook her head. "I… I just can't. Alright? So drop it."

Neither of them said a word, just quietly floating through the sky.

"Sorry…" Aoyama said quietly, making guilt eat away at Angel again.

"It's not your fault. You didn't know-AAGH!" She screamed as something impacted her left shoulder, burning the back of her shirt and her skin. The duo dropped a few feet before she remembered to flap her wings again.

"Angel-chan! Are you okay?!"

"I…I'm good!" She hissed, grimacing. Her breaths came out in short gasps as the pain made it hard to take in air.

"What was that?!"

Angel craned her neck and grit her teeth, spying a kite sized object rapidly approaching, its four orange, unblinking eyes fixed on them.

"Wilhelm brought backup!"