Strings (BNHA x OC)

91 || Regret

Hawks' P.O.V.

It didn't take me long to decipher why the heroes were here. It wasn't for me, getting me would be a bonus to their efforts. No, they were here for Puppet.

When I had looked at Puppets case file last, she had a recorded 137 murders to her name. Police probably missed several homicides as well, so there was no telling what the true number was. She had been committing murders, whereas I wasn't. She was a villain who had been left to her desires for too long, even I was told that back when I was still a hero.

They'll kill her.

There was no doubt in my mind that if it came down to it, they would in fact kill her. All heroes are trained to kill if there is no other option. Puppet certainly fit the bill of who to kill, she was powerful, too powerful to be left alone. Not to mention the fact she escaped out of Tartarus.

"Hawks!" Endeavors voice was as loud as ever.

Right. Puppet had been launched away from Endeavor before she even landed a hit. It was too fast and there was too much dust and smoke clouding the air, I didn't even know where she was now. All I could hope was that she was managing without me.

I was circling Endeavor like a vulture, staying hidden in the thick dust and smoke that was still lingering. I had my visor, so I didn't have to worry about anything getting into my eyes while flying.

"Hawks! I know you can hear me!"

I finally understood it. I finally understood the actions of my senior colleague, why she fought back against the Hero Public Safety Commission. I never thought I'd end up like her, but here I was, fighting back against top heroes to keep a villain- a villain I loved no less, out of harms way.

Looking back, I never should have met Puppet, if I hadn't we wouldn't be in this situation. But life tends to have a funny way of not doing what you want.

"Hawks, you can hear me and you know why I'm here! Stop this foolishness and come quietly!"

"Yeah, I hear ya, Endeavor!" I called back, quickly changing my flight path so I wasn't in his line of fire if he decided to attack. "But I can't do that!"

Endeavor had his sidekicks here to fight as well, with this huge dust cloud he couldn't see any of them. That also meant that he couldn't shoot off big bursts of flames and risk hitting anyone on his side.

I heard a yell coming from a thicker part of the dust cloud. They sounded like they had just been hurt badly.

I took off my coat and placed a few of my feathers into it. I flew the jacket around in the dust near Endeavor as a decoy so he would think I was still circling around him. This cheap trick wouldn't buy me much time, but it bought me some time nonetheless.

I flew in the direction of the pained yell. If there was a yell of pain then it had to be caused by Puppet, Endeavors sidekicks wouldn't hurt themselves.

Before I got too far I had to quickly dodge back and away from black strings that sliced through the dust. They missed but more came in my direction. I cut them with a swing of my wing and dove at the origin of the strings.

I appeared in front of Puppet and grabbed her hands quickly, making sure she didn't use more strings and slice me to pieces. "It's me. It's me."

"Hawks." She sounded relieved, letting out a heavy exhale. She pulled her hands away.

Behind her I could make out several bodies on the ground, some of them were badly dismembered, others only laying motionless. I had seen details of her crimes in files, they were to put it simply, gruesome. But seeing blood pooling under severed body parts in person was horrific.

She looked roughed up, her outfit stained with dirt and some blood, but it didn't look to be from an injury to her.

"We need to move." I grabbed her arm and pulled her into my arms, flying up into the air and away from where we were.

"Mirko's down, she won't come back into this fight." She said as we flew.

'Mirko? Mirko is here too?' Just how many top heroes came? There was no telling. I didn't even know Mirko was here, so there could be someone like Ryuku somewhere, maybe Kamui Woods or even Edgeshot or Crust. Any of it was possible, and I would be lying if I said I wasn't worried. This was no joke.

"Endeavor's still up and has barely used any of his quirk. You can't take him on alone like that, he'll burn you to a crisp. My feathers aren't of much help against him either, they'll be turned to ash in seconds." I said.

I had little information and not enough leeway. There were very few options in this situation, but I had to choose one, and quickly too, otherwise we'd be done for.

I placed Puppet down. She was probably gonna hate me for what I was about to do.
——

Puppets P.O.V.

He looked at me with a face full of regret. I watched most of his feathers left his wings and they all whizzed towards me.

"Don't you dare." I growled lowly.

"Sorry, Puppet." He apologized. "But I'm not gonna let you get killed."

Each of Hawks' feathers attached themselves to my back. In an instant, my feet were off the ground and I was up in the air, the feathers quickly flying me away.

My long hair whipped into my face from the wind, making my face sting. I fought against the feathers attached to me, throwing my body around. I tried to slice at them with my strings, but the feathers parted each time to avoid my attacks.

'DAMMIT HAWKS!!' I wanted to scream, but that would just draw more attention to me. I was concealed enough by the smoke but I couldn't give my position away.

I knew Hawks was doing his best to get me to safety, no matter the cost to himself. I don't know why I hated that, but I did. It may have to do with the fact that he was acting like a hero right now, or just because he was forcing me away from him. Regardless, I couldn't do anything. All I could do was let the feathers carry me to safety, and hope Hawks would follow suit.

A/N: Apologies for not updating the book in a bit. Recently I've just been in shambles, please understand where I'm coming from. Also regarding my commitment to this book, I do fully intend to keep writing until completion, I just have to take breaks due to my overly-complicated health needs.