#grounded indefinitely

There weren’t anymore ‘jokes’ about mutilating him or what he assumed before was false anger when he disagreed with one of their points. The conversation was civil and businesslike. If he was more comfortable Genos might have even called it friendly as he listened to them go over what he was to do.

Fortunately, he had not had to bring up the idea of formal negotiations instead of just a flat-out attack. They had another alien coming down who would go in and attempt to explain the situation, or at least, the cover story, to Hero Association leadership. In the meantime, the others would cut off communications so any other S or high ranking A class heroes who had either left or not shown up at all would not be able to be called to assist, rendering their threat null for the time being. This would all be in preparation for their leader to come to ground and establish a tentative peace treaty with Earth, or at least the country for now.

That was where the important work was being done, Genos realized. Where the critically injured survivors of City A would gain access to alien technology, giving them the extensive help they’d need to live normal lives again, and where Saitama would be cleared of any false allegations of wrong doing. There was even the possibility that City A could be reconstructed, which Genos was doubtful of, but considering everything going on in his life at the moment, wouldn't say was an impossibility.

He was to go in with the negotiator, acting as an ‘official escort’. It was intended to have a calming effect, or so he was told, for other heroes to see one of their own alongside a potential threat instead of an alien waltzing in on its own. They didn’t share much of the cover story with him, as that was not his task and because his reactions wouldn’t ‘look genuine’ if he knew ahead of time. The only thing he did know was that they were tying it in with the meteor incident. Two space originating potential world ending events occurring within the span of a few weeks was too much of a coincidence for humans, who were naturally inclined to search for patterns, to ignore no matter how skeptical they were.

Genos was given the most minimal of outlines, which mostly just consisted of coaching on proper body language that would create a relaxed atmosphere, where to stand, and what to do if or when things went bad. Red was talking to others in the background as they conversed with Genos, clearly going over much more detailed and in depth scripts in an unfamiliar language that some kind of restriction within the alien interface prevented him from translating.

He was to improvise, go with whatever came to him and felt right. He was irritated that in their eyes his part was apparently not important enough to warrant extensive instruction, but the more logical part of his mind watched the pages upon pages of incomprehensible text the alien was throwing around and sending out to who knows where. And that was only what he could see through the one window they were sharing. He knew he wouldn't be able to handle that level of scripting if his life depended on it. So he didn’t complain.

They were to land at the beacon point, a small blip of blue on his map, where the negotiator would be waiting, then rendezvous with the rest of ‘Melzalgald’ closer to the HA HQ. He’d been instructed not to say the heads names once they were around others. Apparently, those were not something he was supposed to know anyway, and if he told anyone without permission they would ‘assimilate him and use his parts for shift metal’, whatever that meant. So he repeated the name over and over in his head, mouthing the sound but unsure he would be able to replicate it correctly when the time came. Hopefully they wouldn't mind a shortened version, or horrid pronunciation.

The call ended as the three of them began to lose altitude, leaving him with a mix of anticipation and that special kind of nervousness he’d come to associate with the coming of a difficult battle.

Nim was trying to talk to him again, nervous chatter by their own admission. It would be their first large scale ‘mission’ and they wanted to impress the elder heads, or at least not mess up bad enough to embarrass themselves.

The cyborg could definitely relate, but he had too much on his mind to muster up the energy to engage with them.

The energy field that had previously been used to block the sound of the wind he now used to discretely ignore the little alien, who had fortunately disabled their interface, so were unable to tell that he had activated the technology.

Whatever they were saying must not have been very important, nothing more than one sided conversation to fill silence, because they did not once pause to wait for him to respond up until large pillars of black smoke broke the pristine white of the clouds, signaling their arrival at the ruins of City A. They then tugged him back close to them, stretching and winding one of their limbs around the spine they’d hung onto before in preparation for landing.

With all the fire and ash in the air, visibility was more than poor, but with his sensors he was able to locate the unnatural shape of the alien craft beneath them, as well as the movement of a lifeform nearby.

They descended in a circle, spiraling down lower and lower until they touched down roughly in one of the smaller craters beside the alien vehicle. Like the two who were with him…well at least before Lo had changed their shape for flight, this alien was humanoid. The four red eyes, rocky and crystalline skin, tail, and bioluminescence stood out, but other than that it was not particularly odd looking compared to many of the monsters Genos had encountered previously. It wasn’t even very big, only just breaking two meters and muscular, but in a gangly way that suggested youth.

A durable being perhaps, but not something he would consider dangerous looking if not for one abnormality.

There were lines of something, almost like veins, beneath the gray skin that protruded slightly despite its stone like quality. Upon closer inspection and enhancing his vision further with the alien interface, he saw what looked like vines winding and crawling not just beneath the skin but within the eyes of the creature, each so thin they wouldn't have been visible if their green color didn’t stick out like a sore thumb when placed against luminescent red.

What he was seeing was not what was really there.

He couldn't say for sure, because aliens were, of course, alien, but he had a massive feeling in his core that this creature was inhabiting a body that did not belong to it. And that fact alone was more than enough to make it unnerving. Combined with its ridged, almost aggressive posture and carefully expressionless face made Genos extremely nervous. As discretely as possible he allowed his weapon systems to rev up, careful to conceal his body’s typical glow and vent heat away from the little alien attached to his side.

Nim had to help him getting down, once again not asking or giving him any warning before they grabbed him and leapt from the other heads back. The landing was much softer, he was kept off the ground through the impact, an improvement that he was thankful for, but he still shot the alien a scorching glare.

They set him down quickly, bumping into his side in what seemed like an apology before running to greet the other newcomer. The ensuing conversation was again blocked from being translated by his device, so he did not give them much attention aside from keeping an eye on the location of the negotiator in case it decided to get too close. He was far more interested in watching the other head change its shape anyway.

He really couldn't determine how they worked, and it was somewhat transfixing watching the way the obviously solid mass could swell then bubble in a way that almost liquid like, then in the next instant stretch like flesh, or even float, hover in the air as it turned to dust and the previous form fell away. Lo was shapeless for a second, then the mass began to fold. Somehow compacting in on itself instead of just being discarded as he assumed Lo would do to shrink their form. The next thing he knew the alien looked the same as it did in his apartment but with the addition of a pair of large folded wings on its back. Now standing up straight it was at least three times his size as it strolled over to him, motioning him to follow.

“You shouldn’t grump at Nim for helping you. With landscape like this you will need it. It would be even more humiliating for you if I were the one picking you up. At least Nim is closer to your size.” They told him as they approached the other two. And before he could let his temper loose on them for scolding him like a child they were moving on, addressing the other alien.

“Groribas, this is Genos, the guy that’s going to go in with you.” They said.

The next sentence was something he couldn't understand once again, but it made the crystalline alien’s cold face twitch, lips curling up slightly into what might have been a smile if the creature was more expressive. He had a feeling it was likely something mocking toward him, but he said nothing.

“Genos…” It said in a voice that was just as deep as his, testing the pronunciation twice before it mimicked Lo’s well enough to be satisfied. “You are to be my escort and secondary negotiator then? I do hope you have some kind of effect on your fellow warriors, and that your injuries will not impede you when we get to the fighting…”

“And if something does go bad, you will be in good hands!” Lo told him loudly, sliding between the pair as soon as Genos' eyes narrowed. “Groribas is our best fighter, she is more than capable of dealing with any S Class threats if they should arise. Let’s all try to get along alright?”

So more or less, it would be wise for him not to start anything with it, Genos gathered. He wouldn't be able to win.

“I was just saying…” the negotiator said, all four of its eyes locking with his and holding no hint of apology. “He looks heavy and this body is way too small for me to be dragging a huge metal deadweight and fight at the same time. That’ll be way more effort than I'm willing to put into this mess of an operation.”

Genos didn’t get a chance to engage the alien any further due to Nim tapping his shoulder and bumping him again, remembering to ask for his permission before leaping with him out of the crater, the two other aliens following shortly after, then moving into the lead.

According to Red the approach needed to be neutral and discrete so to not cause any panic. Every vehicle they had access to was visibly armed, even the small, ground based hovercraft that Groribas had come in. That combined with the ships ‘portaling system’, what Genos assumed they used as transportation when armed craft were not appropriate, was not functioning, meant they would have to walk.

For the overly large and winged Lo and nimble Groribas that was not a problem, even with the towering mounds of rubble, deep trenches, and jetting towers of flames from gas fires. They easily maneuvered around and over obstacles as if they hardly noticed, but for Genos it was a nightmare.

A single misstep sent sharp jolts of pain up his spine from the artificial nerves in his damaged leg, and whatever damaged his balancing system had taken was making it nearly impossible to keep his footing on the uneven ground. He was forced to rely on Nim to keep him steady and while they were kind enough, or perhaps scared enough, not to laugh or say anything at all when he stumbled the entire thing was borderline humiliating as far as the cyborg was concerned.

He couldn't stand the worried expression on their face, or way Lo glanced back every so often to check on him, and absolutely hated the roll of Groribas’ eyes when Lo slowed down. Genos was determined to keep up with their long strides on his own power, but within twenty minutes Lo seemed to have had enough.

He only looked down for a second to navigate the caved in and greased slicked remains of a car, but it was enough time for the large alien to catch and restrain him in its now much more massive hand and lift him away from the ground. They looked to have unraveled a bit of their mass as their size had increased to what was reading close to five meters, a height that allowed them to hold him aloft like some kind of living doll.

Despite them being almost nothing but benign towards him for the entire time they were in contact, every bit of him screamed at him to fight back, and before he knew it his battle mode was flaring to life from where it had been standing by, cannons heating enough for the mass beneath where they rested to turn from its usual ruddy brown to bright glowing orange. As they brought him up to eye level the fingers curling around him began to crush down. It wasn’t enough to kill him, not even close, but the metal beneath them groaned with the strain and the nerve like sensors underneath sent out tiny pinpricks of pain, warning him of damage to come if he did not act.

But they weren’t really hurting him. He might not be the most socially aware person, but he felt like he could recognize a warning when he saw one, and the stern look they leveled him with proved his suspicion right.

“Genos I’m going to let you go in a second, and if you shoot me I’ll hit you so hard you’ll be kissing the ionosphere. You got that? You better power all that shit down.” They told him, to which he replied with a quick nod, doing his best to cool his body as they lifted him a bit higher, moving him towards one of their shoulders and setting him down slowly, never taking their eyes off him the entire time.

The spot was precarious, and with his balance issues it took him a moment, and a tight grip on one of their fingers to stabilize himself. Indignant and embarrassed steam huffed from his vents and mouth at the treatment, but already his leg was feeling better. And it wasn’t like he had much ability to fight them on the decision, so he resigned himself. Calming his raging temper by repeating a line of advice from Saitama that he had not much liked at the time he heard it, but that now brought him some kind of comfort.

It’s fine to get help when somethings hard for you Genos. If anything, it’s the best thing to do, because then you don’t have to do the hard thing, someone else just does it for you! You can never go wrong there if you ask me, especially if it makes them happy.

“What are you even so bent out of shape about?” Groribas growled beneath him, earning laughs from both other aliens, likely directed at his crooked leg. “If you ask me you’re in just about the best position one could be in right now. The rest of us are stuck walking through all this shit.”

To emphasize her point, they kicked the sewage covered remains of a table out of her way, face screwing up in disgust.

“You know…actually…”

He soon lost track of her visually, but his sensors were alerting him to movement behind Lo, moving quickly to the big alien’s other side. Lo did their best to swat her down, but Groribas must have jumped in a blind spot because the next thing he knew the crystalline alien was landing in a causal sitting position on Lo’s opposite shoulder, completely ignoring the other’s complaints.

“You know, I usually can't stand being much smaller than this shifting freak is right now, but I suppose it does have its advantages.” She laughed, wrapping her long, whip like tail around Lo’s neck to prevent herself from being pushed off.

“What do I look like to you?? The local wasteland public transportation??”

“You need to be more sympathetic towards your friends Melzalgald, I almost died. I'm fragile right now and require your assistance.”

“We actually did die you rotten skrugg, that is not justification!”

“Well…not really though right? It wasn’t you specifically who was down there so it sort of doesn’t count. And either way you still can't justify letting that guy up and not me, he's done nothing to deserve such privilege. Especially after calling me something nasty like that you owe me this.”

“Yes he has don’t harass him!” Nim shouted from the ground, tossing a rock up that Groribas snatched out of the air before it could hit her. “He’s distraught because he thought his intended mate was dead and now is a criminal when he’s innocent...And because we destroyed their little nest, it was so bad Groribas. All of their stuff was everywhere he was so upset.”

Genos choked. He did not have the ability to blush thank god, but with all the steam gushing from his vents at an alarming rate at the little alien’s words he was given away regardless.

“W-what? Wait, that’s…that’s not how it is at all!” he stuttered when he managed to get his mouth to form words again. “Saitama is my sensei only! We are not…together in that way. Why don’t you shut up!”

“Well of course you’re not, you’ll never move any relationship further with an attitude like that.” Groribas drawled, peaking at him over Lo’s massive head. “For someone as powerful and accomplished as him to stoop to mating someone as weak as you you’re going to need to offer something a bit more substantial than…whatever general mediocrity you have going for you currently.”

“She’s right you know…well not about the mediocrity…we’d call it more of a slight confidence issue but the point still stands. By the looks of it you’ve been sharing quarters with him for a while, plenty of time for you to make your intentions known and yet, by your own admission, you haven’t. He probably has not even considered you and never will because of the power divide unless you say it loud and clear.” Lo chipped in. “I don’t really know a lot about how it works with humans but that sounds to me like the best course of action…unless…your intention is to cultivate a deep emotional relationship first to bridge the power divide and make yourself more appealing as a mate in a different way. Humans usually mate for life right? That makes a lot more sense in that case.”

“Shut up!” Genos shouted again, and again was ignored.

“That’s a risky strategy…But maybe humans are more attracted to emotional connection as opposed to physical qualities or the ability to provide in a materialistic sense…” Groribas pondered out loud. A very strange looking smile stretching across her face and the stiff posture she’d been in when they first met relaxing slightly as she lounged against Lo’s head. “Come to think of it, I'm pretty sure that’s what most of my suiters try…..never works..…but the attention is nice. I’m not really one for miracles but I suppose they can happen…You are clearly a risk taker to set your sights on someone like him, I wouldn't get my hopes up though.

“I just…wonder how actual mating would work….” Nim said quietly. Receiving knowing nods from the other two. Genos was sure he was lit up like festival fireworks at this point.

“Agreed. I fought that human you know. Well…hardly, he was so powerful I think it would be more appropriate to call what happened between us a massacre…but that aside, you do not look particularly durable Genos. He is so strong that one misstep, one moment of concentration lost…and you’d be dead…” she held out the rock she had caught before so he could see and crushed it to dust in the palm of her hand, giving him a frightening visual of what he knew could happen all too well. “A risk taker indeed.”

“You’ve gotta tell him quick though Genos!” Nim shouted at him. “You probably have so much competition…..but you’re nest house was really small…..you two obviously love each other a lot…or be very close somehow to live in such a way…..”

“Sensei and I are NOT LIKE THAT! It is not any of your business anyway, so can we all just stop discussing my nonexistent love and sex life! This had nothing to do with the situation at hand and is nothing more than your attempt to mock me, and I don’t want to hear one more thing about it!”

The steam coming off him was beginning to take on darker tinges, smoke probably, as his rising temper and embarrassment started to overtax his damaged cooling fans. Fortunately, all the aliens quieted down. Nim was looking at the ground, suddenly paying a lot more attention to where they were stepping, Lo staring straight ahead, blank faced and wide eyed, and Groribas attempting to do the same but unable to contain snickers at his expense, which pissed the cyborg off, but was an improvement from before. He thought he was in the clear, until he saw Groribas lean in ever closer to Lo and he realized his mistake.

“…His nonexistent sex life……Hey Melzalgald…how long is nineteen Earth years?”

“Nearing two cycles….by the stars Gror he’s practically new born….”

“Honestly I’m more inclined to believe him about the not together thing now…it’s probably something more of an adult supervision relationship than anything….”

“No wonder he hasn’t asked yet. No experience…Poor thing…”

They were sharing a Look. Nim was yelling on the ground, asking what that meant, what was going on, why was everyone smiling. Genos’ temperature was skyrocketing as they laughed at him, but he meant what he said.

He knew that it might be childish…probably was childish, but Genos didn’t want to deal with anymore of their ridiculous drivel. As Lo opened their mouth to explain the situation to the other head Genos switched off his audio receptors.

  Genos wasn’t sure how long he let himself sit in silence. The aliens had tried to get him to engage again. Lo had given him a few good shakes and heavy pats with their oversized hands, Nim had crawled up to sit next to him and tug his arm and hair, and Groribas had flicked the remnants of the broken rock at him for almost five minutes before giving up. Eventually though, they all left him alone.

Once he was sure they were ignoring him he let his stiff posture and blank facial expression relax a bit. With a heavy sigh he slumped down, resting his head against his hand as he stared out at the dark and glowing orange landscape

He was so tired. He’d felt so much in only a few hours, panic, fear, desperation, loss, grief, then near euphoria, rage, and now tinges of something else, something terrifying were bubbling in his artificial gut. It was well past more than he could deal with, so he didn’t. He pushed everything down, did his best to forget every bit of nonsense the aliens had spouted and the thoughts it all was conjuring up. He would deal with it some other time, when Saitama and he were safe at home and he could think clearly.

Don’t worry Genos, if it’s too much now just put it away for later. Tomorrow’s problems for tomorrow’s me haha.

Genos smiled at the memory of Saitama giving him that piece of advice not long after they’d become heroes. The sudden influx of positive attention, people, his fans, shouting at him, touching him, swarming him in public instead of steering clear was overwhelming, and he had not known how to deal with it. No matter what he was unable to figure out how he should react. But of course, with his sensei’s excellent advice, he managed. By putting his worries aside to deal with at a later date when he was not stressed he was able to realize that the HA had information available for him to consult on how to deal with the public. Watching other heroes, and some advice from Kuseno were also extremely helpful, alongside simple avoidance measures. So far, he felt like he’d been doing well. So he would use that same advice here.

Instead he focused on his surroundings. He would not turn his hearing back on, as he could see out of the corner of his eye that the aliens had not calmed down and were still talking and laughing amongst themselves about god knows what, but the new and vast array of sensors at his disposal via the alien comm more than made up for it.

The instant he switched it on the ruined landscape was alive with heat and vibration and color so vibrant he could almost feel it. His own body was a wonder to scan, so intricate, almost beautiful. He could see his core output, the heat, the radiation contained within, the types of light it was giving off, and many other energy readings that he could read in chart form and see when color coded, but must not be known to humans because they did not translate, the identifying text staying in the alien script.

Genos had been right about Groribas. A BioScan revealed two distinct lifeforms. The host body, which not much was revealed about, and an organic, viney mass inside that stretched throughout like a second nervous system, connected to what looked like organs, but Genos couldn't say. There was interference inside, possibly from the host’s thick skin and whatever chemical makeup made its crystalline parts glow the way it did as it seemed to be coming from their body, but that Genos soon realized was more than likely from the other two.

Lo and Nim were odd to look at, the interference messing with his comm, but no less incredible. They were both vibrant with unnamed energy, Lo in particular was so bright that they nearly eclipsed the other two…or three including the host alien when he focused on that particular type of energy. Maybe it was radiation from space, or something from their ship, Genos didn’t know, but they were all drenched in it.

Closer inspection showed what could possibly be the source. The marbles inside them that he’d been looking for were hard as hell to pinpoint, cloaked with energy swirling around within the mass as well as moving constantly inside their bodies, but Genos thought he could see a vague outline. It came close to him, passing through the shoulder he was sitting on, a blinding red, hazy orb that reminded Genos of a star, that he was sure he could reach out and touch it was so close, only a fingers length below where he had his hand pressed to the mass. Then it jumped away, down into the chest, then right leg.

Genos watched it closely, unable to tear his gaze away as it climbed back towards him. As it neared his hand again something happened. It abruptly flashed, and in the next second was zipping around erratically, leaving long streaks of light behind it as it circled the chest, then surged toward his perch, forcing a startled gasp out of him as he scrambled to move aside before he realized what was happening.

“Lik wat u see Genos? ;)” The streaks of lights spelled out before fading away, leaving only the glow of the single orb that floated lazily back towards the now laughing aliens hip.

Quickly Genos canceled the vision mode and looked away from them, refusing to give them attention and acknowledge that he was tricked.

He felt the rumbling laughter subside soon after and with it his irritation, allowing him to enjoy the interface for a few more amazing minutes before something began to ping to his left. It was faint, the mode he was in was for looking at the energy flow through his own body, so what came up was not from the alien interface, but from his own sensors. A proximity alarm he had set to alert him to living things in his vicinity, monster, animal, and human alike. He could not get a more accurate reading as it was nearing the edge of the maximum one hundred meter radius, but Genos knew how to fix that.

Quickly he switched back to the interfaces BioScan mode, and promptly froze at what he saw.  

People. Survivors. Dozens of them, many with what read as life threatening injuries, and many that were too small to be anything but children. The little ones sat off to the side, huddled together away from the fires in a mass while a few of the adults looked to be digging, and helping others along in the same direction he and the aliens were traveling. Toward the HA HQ. But they were not making much progress.

Genos knew Saitama needed them to stay on task, that whatever the aliens were doing at the HA HQ was important for him to be able to come home, even if it didn’t seem to be central, but he also knew he couldn't leave those people behind. If the injuries or the hazards of a destroyed city didn’t get them, monsters would. He had not checked his phone before he’d left the apartment, had not even brought it with him in fact, but he knew from the information the aliens had been looking at that there was quite a spike in monster activity in and around Cities A and E after the ship was out of sight. No doubt taking full advantage of the established destruction and chaos to cause some of their own. There were reports of every disaster level from low level tigers to a possible dragon not far from their current location.

They wouldn't survive alone for long. He had to do something.

“Lo stop.” He said, turning his hearing back on and shoving Nim to the side so he could knock a fist into the big alien’s head.

“Oh so now you're gonna talk to us, done having your fit haha?.” They said, not even slowing down.

“Stop walking damn it. We need to go…northeast, about ninety-eight meters, there are survivors showing up on my sensors, we can't leave them out here.”

“Yeahhh, not gonna happen kid. Red’ll kill us if we just decide not to show up to the rendezvous point and it’s still quite a way away. Besides, Nim and me aren’t supposed to be seen and those humans would shit themselves and die if we just came walking up to them anyway. All around not a good idea.”

“You don’t have to go, in fact I think that would be best.” Genos told them as he stood up, preparing to jump down when they did not stop.

“Genos you aren’t gonna be able to get over to them by yourself.” Nim said, clearly agreeing with their other head, but taking him around the waist and helping him to the ground regardless. “If we can't stop you at least bring someone. Groribas can go with you…she’s gotta be with you anyway…and me and Lo can go to where we’re supposed to be, tell Red what’s happening and wait….”

Genos really didn’t care what they did if he was honest. He heard Lo mutter something about ‘absolutely being able to stop him’ but as he shook Nim’s hands off him and began to make his way toward the survivors the big alien did not go to stop him.

He heard them talk quickly and quite loudly amongst themselves in their own language for a bit, no doubt arguing over what should be done, and did not make it far before his sensors alerted him to Groribas jogging up behind him. He turned to see her looking none too happy with him.

“Just when I was starting to think I could have a good time doing all this. You’re a real nuisance you know that?” she growled, taking his arm roughly and dragging him to the top of the hill of debris he was struggling to scale. “I know we were all laughing it up earlier, but just between you and me, you’re little mate better be worth all of this shit, because if I had things my way we would have blown him out of an airlock and been done with it.”

“Well it’s a good thing it isn't up to you then.” The cyborg sneered, trying to break away from the alien, but her grip was unyielding. “Such a change of heart from earlier, what happened Groribas? All the jokes and laughing…Was it all just some kind of front? How pathetic…”

Genos didn’t get to finish before the alien’s hand was curled around his neck, lifting him clear off the ground. He felt a quick, sick sense of satisfaction at her sudden, angry reaction, glad that he was able to get under her skin so quickly, but it was almost completely washed away when he saw her face.

He knew in an instant that if it were only she and him, if the shapeshifters, and perhaps whoever was in charge of all of them, weren’t factors to consider, he would have probably already have been dead.

“You are so right Genos. It’s all a front, and for you, it wasn’t exactly a bad thing.” She growled, the voice he knew, the voice that must have belonged to the host, falling away into something higher pitched, rough, and gravely. Like she’d had the worst kind of acid imaginable poured down her throat and survived, and from the acrid scent her breath carried, Genos knew that description probably wasn’t far from the truth.

“Look kid, I'm gonna be straight with you, it has been a very long two cycles. For me, and especially for Melzalgald, and considering the fact that they did, fully, die only hours ago, I'm inclined to go along with whatever’s making them happy, and if that means laughing along and letting them have their fun with you and this fucking planet, then I’ll do it. But let’s make one thing very clear, I’m really not happy that I have to be here, and you and I aren’t friends. And I know that none of this is your fault, you’re caught up in the shit as much as I am, and it’s probably unfair of me to be angry here, but honestly, my patience is long past spent. You wanna know a secret? All this shit you’ve been pulling, the arguing and yelling and the throwing fucking temper tantrums to get your way is only getting you anything but killed because Melzalgald thinks you’re cute. They’ve got a thing for bipeds, think all of them are just the most fucking adorable things, especially a tiny little skrugg like you. Unfortunately, it’s something the two of us don’t have in common.”

Genos tried to free himself, kicking out with his good leg into her side, but the hosts body was solid, maybe even more so than his own, and in his weakened state he could do nothing more than make her grunt in irritation. He was having trouble breathing her grip was so tight, and he was ready to engage his cannons if it meant freedom, but before he could do anything she flung him into the ground hard, and was on him in the next second, pinning his hands palm down against his chest. She was heavy but not like Lo had been. Genos was sure he could throw her off if not for the tail anchoring her to the ground and tangling his legs as he struggled.

“Pathetic.” She mocked, squeezing his injured leg and smiling wickedly as the pain punched a cry out of him against his will. “Stop moving, or I’ll tear it off.”

He almost wished she would, at least then the injury would be bad enough to bypass his predetermined threshold and his body would cut pain reception from the area. But he knew he needed it, so he tried his hardest to obey, not doubting she’d go through with it. Genos didn’t know how, but somehow, he managed to still to only the occasional twitch when the tail constricted particularly cruelly. His breathing was ragged, lifting her up and down with as much weight she was putting on his chest to keep his hands pinned, but she seemed satisfied as she leaned towards him.

“The only reason you’re here is because Melzalgald felt sorry for you and decided to accommodate you and your ridiculous requests. You are unnecessary, and everything would be going much smoother if you weren’t here, so now that they’re gone, all these games you’ve been playing are officially over.” Her four eyes bored into his, freezing him in place even though the now visible fumes rising from her mouth were more than enough to cause tinges of pain where her breath puffed against his skin.

“I will kill you.” She hissed, low and dangerous. “I’ll kill you, all these fucking people you’ve got me chasing, every warrior in that building, and your little mate. Just give me a reason, I'm begging you.”

Genos narrowed his eyes defiantly, “No one can kill Saitama-sensei. You’re a fool for thinking you even have a chance against his power.”

“Oh please, spare me all that.” she laughed. “That thing is so drugged up right now he probably couldn't tell you his own name, let alone fight back. All it would take is five, maybe ten minutes because he is pretty strong…”

Her fingers tightened around his throat again, cutting off his oxygen supply. He threw his head forward, trying to hit her when she didn’t let up, but the was too quick, too far out of his reach. Warning sensors were lighting up in both interfaces, and his body switched him back into his more efficient high altitude settings, but as time ticked on his vision began to cloud, then darken. His arms strained against her hold, desperate to get free, to be able to do anything, but nothing was working…

“Hey guys, you okay over there? Genos?” Lo’s voice sounded in his ear though the comm. “Genos' vitals are going crazy over here. Groribas, can you make sure he’s alright?”

The gray alien only huffed out an irritated breath, but must have been somehow placated, because her grip loosened, allowing him to suck in a much needed breath.

“Yeah, I’ll check on him, no problem.” She responded, voice back to ‘normal’ and nearly as calm as she was before.

“See Genos? Ten minutes and that would be it. The boss would be pissed but he’d get over it. And all this mess would be taken care of nice and clean. I am so ready for all this to be over…so Genos, for everyone’s sake, don’t temp me. Is that clear?”

With that she released her grip, allowing him to gulp down heavy lungful’s of much needed air. To her question he nodded franticly, at least until he was physically able to croak out a yes.

“Yes what, Genos?”

“Yes ma’am.” He snarled, glaring daggers up at her as she laughed.

“It’s Commander actually, Lord to a groundling like you, but I guess that will do.”

She did not offer a hand once she was on her feet, choosing instead to simply haul him up by an arm before flinging him toward the source of the bio signals, all but throwing him down the hill like he weighed nothing at all.

“Let’s hurry this along now, we’ve wasted enough time already.” She said passing him and leaping clear to the top of the next rubble stack, then out of sight.

Genos pushed himself to his feet. He didn’t have the time or focus to go through the complicated process that was required to manually disable his pain receptors when he wasn’t critically damaged. After multiple incidents when he was younger where he intentionally shut them off to ignore and avoid going in for repairs, Kuseno refused to allow him to shut down the sense on his own, at least not without work. It was something he protested vehemently, but later grudgingly admitted had helped him stay safer and manage his upkeep better. Now though, he wished he would have protested louder.

There was nothing that could be done though. Groribas was already gone and he was sure she would not be coming back to help him, and the longer he waited the longer it would be before he could see Saitama again, so he grit his teeth and bore the pain. Using the leg like he normally would Genos closed the gap between himself and the alien within a few minutes.

It was nothing, he repeated over and over, a mantra in his head. Nothing compared to the pain he’d felt before. It didn’t even come close.

It wasn’t really that far. He’d made it all the way from City E back to his home.

He could do this.

  *****

  Saitama wasn’t sure what happened exactly but not long after he’d fallen asleep he began to feel less sick. He felt much more stable with a comfortable, familiar weight pulling down on him in addition to the low gravity this smaller ship offered.

Cracking his eyes open he understood why things were different. Outside of the big windows was an expanse of dark water in one direction, and off to the right a bit were the lights of a city a few hundred meters down.

Shakily wiping away the thin line of drool leaking from his mouth Saitama slumped into the soft seat, so relieved to be back on Earth and away from the zero-gravity nightmare that was Boros' ship. Even though overall, he felt more groggy and out of it than he had the first time he’d woken up, and there were frightening tinges of pain in his arms, shoulders, and back, he was happy. Maybe Genos would even be wherever Boros was taking him. He could certainly count on him to make sure he got home okay if Boros was busy with whatever he was fretting over, whatever they had been picking out fancy clothes for. And besides, he didn’t think Boros would fit through his front door…and Una definitely wouldn’t.

Speaking of the aliens, Saitama couldn't find them. He was having a lot of trouble moving, the seat belt things were pulled too tight, locking him securely against the back of the seat, which was great when he was trying to sleep and the ship was moving, but horrible for really anything else.

It was a bit of a struggle, his mind was so hazy it was hard to form simple thoughts coherently, let alone figure out where the unlocking mechanism was and how in the world to make it release. And on top of that his fingers refused to cooperate. They were like jello, some felt like they weren’t even there at all, slipping and bending off in odd directions no matter how hard he tried to get them to move right, and too much pressure anywhere set his nerves ablaze with pain.

Eventually he just gave up, using what remained of his strength to tear the restraints from his body.

He didn’t dare try to stand on his own. The only way he was functioning before was because he didn’t have to support his own weight. As horrible and disorientating as it had been he supposed the lack of gravity had had perks. Instead he slid himself down onto the arm of the oversized chair, letting it support him as he had a look around.

There was no sign of anyone. Not Boros, or Una, or any of the other Mel-zigs that were with him before. He would have been worried if he was in a clearer state of mind, but as he was he was more frustrated than anything, he wanted to go home and he didn’t know how to get out of the ship himself. Didn’t even know if he physically could.

Off in the distance, somewhere down one of the dimly lit corridors there were faint voices. Instantly he recognized Boros. He’d know that voice anywhere at this point. The others though…they sounded so normal compared to the comm translated and massively varied alien voices he’d been surrounded by for the past few hours that he didn’t immediately pick up that they were human.

But they were, and there were dozens of them, many men and a few women by the sound of it, all shouting and talking over each other franticly with Boros stuck in the middle but doing a pretty good job at addressing each of them.

Saitama couldn't imagine any of them actually being on the ship. it was higher in the air than the main ship had been, no one would be able to reach them without an aircraft being allowed to approach or Boros sending something down to pick them up, and the alien had said nothing about anything like that.

It must be a call or something, Saitama thought.

He was glad he hadn’t started shouting or something like that. It was probably part of the important thing they had gotten all dressed up for. He wouldn't want to interrupt, especially since he figured it was something for his sake. Boros had already said the only thing he wanted with the Earth was Saitama, and he didn’t seem like the type to bother with peace talk for any other reason that wouldn't directly benefit him.

And it was certainly peace talk. Saitama was too groggy to follow the conversations completely, and it also sounded like Boros was being brief here and attempting to organize a more formal face to face meeting at a later time, but with words like ‘tragedy’ and ‘reparations’ and especially the phrase ‘absolutely necessary for safety of Earth’, Saitama couldn't think of anything else that could be going on.

Sighing drowsily, Saitama sat himself back up and pulled his jelly legs up to his chest. He wasn’t particularly cold anymore, the majority of the chill miraculously kept out by Boros’ magic clothes, but the cloak was soft and he was tired and wanted to be comfortable, so he wrapped himself up to wait for Boros to get done.  

He didn’t want to actually go back to sleep again, knowing he’d probably only feel worse waking up a third time, but it was nice to just have his eyes closed, to lay back and listen to Boros talk without actually having to pay attention. His voice was so deep and smooth, so relaxing even at a distance, especially the way he spoke now. There was no underlying wildness, harshness that Saitama first heard when they fought, none of the sharpness of the voice he gave orders to the crew with, even the natural growl and roll, something Saitama figured was his version of an accent, was absent.

Saitama laughed to himself, labeling this new, soft voice his ‘honey voice’.

The giggles kept coming as he tried to imagine what Boros looked like as he spoke.

Would he look soft to match? Saitama thought it would be really difficult to imagine someone like Boros looking anything other than powerful. It was probably the size, or his one eye, or the teeth maybe, that drove Saitama to label him as intimidating when he put himself in the shoes of…anyone who wasn’t him. Even decked out in pink armor and more jewelry than Saitama had ever seen changed nothing. If anything it made things worse in Saitama’s opinion now that he thought about it.

Just like pretty, too pretty, out of his league girls in high school. A wheezing laughter bubbled out of him at the out of the blue comparison, laughter that turned into ugly snorting when he imagined the alien in his old high school’s girls uniform. Boros would hate it he thought. The colors and Boros' blue and pink clashed so horribly that even someone like Saitama could clearly recognize it. With a closet like his Boros would obviously be crazy about things like that. His face would be all twisted up in disgust just like Genos looked (and tried to hide) when Saitama wore socks and crocs and his hair shirt out shopping.

He was so caught up in his fit of laughter that he didn’t notice the talking stop, or hear the clack of Boros' heavy, heeled boots as he returned to check on him. The hero opened his now watery eyes to find the amused face of the alien looking down at him from behind the seat and Una crouching a bit off to the side with their signature, soft little smile that Saitama was really coming to love.

“You sound like you’re having quite the time in here. Are you alright, Saitama?” Boros asked, lips twitching up, infected by Saitama’s good mood.

“Yup,” Saitama responded, trying his hardest to take a deep breath and stop his giggles. “I was just…thinking about some weird stuff from high school.”

“You find school funny?” Boros questioned as he untangled Saitama’s legs from his cloak and helped him scoot to the edge of the seat, probably wanting him to try and stand on his own. “I always hated it.”

“Yeah, me too, it sucked…but there were some things…I…I don’t know…you have to be here to get it.”

“Where, school?”

“No, in my brain. Its aaaahhh, a picture in my brain.”

Boros clearly didn’t get it, and the look of confusion on his face kicked Saitama’s laughing fit back into high gear.

He really did try when he was urged to his feet but between his jelly limbs and the laughter shaking his body he had no hope of walking on his own, at least until he could manage to calm down.

He ended up flopped back into Una’s giant hand, out of breath and probably beat red. At least his arms didn’t hurt as bad anymore. He was sure he’d be okay in a few minutes, and even if he wasn’t, as long as he got to go home he didn’t really care.

“I forgot to ask…Where are we going Boros? If it’s far I don’t care if Una picks me up. We can just go.”

“I would be more than happy to carry you Saitama, but we are going to meet with your country’s heads of government. Boros just got off comm with your prime minister and his ‘cabinet’. Obviously, this is top priority for them, and we are expected in just under an hour. Boros thought it was something you would want to be moving under your own power for.” Una answered in the blue alien’s place before pausing for a moment, disapproval clear on their face as they locked eyes with Boros. “I do not think that really matters, pride is a silly thing to risk one’s health and comfort over in my opinion.”

“I couldn’t agree more.” Saitama said, already having forgot nearly everything but the last part.

Huffing with effort the hero pushed himself the rest of the way up into Una’s hand, which curled around his body carefully, making it possible for him to lean against their cushy, oversized fingers and relax. Boros didn’t look too happy about it, but the adorable, self-satisfied smile on Una’s face put Saitama at ease. There was no way there was any real anger in the room with a look like that.

“As you wish Saitama.” Boros told him, “Just be warned, if you continue to let them get away with this, it will never stop. Especially if the rest of the cluster sees one doing it, the behavior will be set. They will grab you without asking, and pick you up no matter how many times you tell them to stop. Eventually you will give up trying to stop them, resign yourself to being carried always. Soon you will forget how to walk entirely. Your legs will lose muscle mass, probably atrophy completely. There will be no going back…we will have to cut them off. Your species does not regrow limbs, so your demise will be slow…quite a tragedy, and end unfitting of someone with power like yours. But if that is what you want I will not stop you."

The alien was looking up at him as he peaked through Una’s fingers, mouth gaping. His single eye, wide and completely serious.

“Don’t tell him stuff like that when he’s medicated Boros!” Una’s hand closed around him as he tried to squirm away, get to the ground. He could picture his legs…at least a little. He had no idea what ‘atrophy’ looked like, but his brain supplied something looking like the thin, shriveled up things that happened in foreign cartoons. They would get dry and crusty, then break off. Maybe the wind would even blow them away. Genos’ doctor would have to replace them with cyborg legs, but he was only good with…regular technology…he could never manage the kind of special upkeep that Genos did. He could hardly manage his own regular upkeep as it was…sometimes he even forgot to take showers…he had to keep his legs.

“By the darkest void Boros now look what you’ve done!” Una growled, irritated, but thankfully, releasing him despite it.

He was completely unbalanced, legs already weak to the point where he had to hold onto Boros' arm to keep himself upright. He was glad Boros had warned him just in time. Who knows what would have happened if he hadn’t been there. The hero didn’t even want to think about it.

“You really are horrible Boros, I can't believe this.”

“He’ll recover faster if he’s up and moving, you know that.” Boros responded, moving slowly to match his pace and careful to help him when he stumbled.

“Well yeah but…”

“I'm sure he’ll let you carry him after we’re done. At which point it won't matter. Isn’t that right Saitama?”

He was trying to focus on his feet, but did shoot Una a quick thumbs up, the likelihood that they probably wouldn't understand the gesture not even crossing his mind.

“As long as you promise not to do it forever…I need my legs…I can't have cyborg legs…”

Una just shook their head looking tired just like he felt. “Your legs will go undamaged, and we will not carry you forever. That would be cumbersome for us. Only sometimes when no one is looking so Boros doesn’t get upset on your behalf to the point his hair falls out.”

Saitama would have probably physically cried out in shock at the implication that Boros could possibly end up looking……like he did…because of the stress Saitama caused. But the alien had him scooped up and whisked away from Una before he could draw in the breath to do so.

“Just when I think maybe one of them will be even slightly pleasant they always act up and prove me wrong.” Boros growled almost to himself as he adjusted Saitama from hanging from his arm to a more comfortable position on his hip. It was a bit uncomfortable with the bulk of his armor, even with the bits of cloth decorations acting as cushioning, and Saitama was still worried about what would happen to him if he didn’t walk on his own, but it did allow him to get a closer look at Boros' hair, just to ensure it was all still there.

“They're looking out for you Boros, you should be happy…you have such nice hair…you can't end up like me…”

With that the little sparks got going on Boros' face again and though Saitama didn’t exactly know why, he was glad, because with them came a smile. So they must have been something good.

“So, you are opposed to me becoming even more amazing than I am currently, gaining immeasurable, unimaginable power, with kindness and self-control to match? I think the rest of the universe would have to disagree with you there.”

Saitama rolled his eyes but said nothing, feeling his cheeks heat up a bit at the ridiculous praise. What could someone even say to something like that? How can anyone even say such embarrassing stuff with a straight face?? Weirdo alien.

As Boros set him down in front of the door they’d used to board the little ship he had the nerve to look so disgustingly pleased with himself. Saitama wished Una was there to say something to him, tell him off for harassing him and saying stupid stuff. But they were nowhere to be found.

He shooed Boros to the side so he could look back, but the curvature of the corridor prevented him from seeing the room they’d come from, and he didn’t know the layout of the ship enough to tell if there was anywhere the big alien could have gone.

“They are bringing the ship closer to the ground so we can exit safely Saitama.” Boros told him with a chuckle, gripping him tighter to keep him on his feet as the ship began to drop. “Once we are on the ground they will engage the autopilot and defense systems, keep the ship hovering for when we come back, then jump down to join us. They will stay with you while I am occupied, as you will not be welcome to join in peace talks. Some garbage about you not having clearance for it…ridiculous considering the Earth is only still here because of you, but whatever…as long as they do what I want and your name is cleared it hardly matters I suppose. It would probably bore you to death anyway. Once everything is done with we will pick up the rest of the cluster, my other elite Groribas, and your disciple from the Hero Association HQ, ensure the Association clears you of charges and reinstates your status as a hero, then you can go home and get some rest. Does that sound alright?”

It sounded like a lot, enough to make Saitama tired just thinking about it, but he nodded anyway. At least Boros was taking care of everything, and Una would be with him. As long as he wasn’t getting interrogated or going to jail or something like that it wasn’t really all that bad.

Once he has Saitama’s approval, Boros opened the door, letting the cool fall air come billowing in. they were not close to the ground to the hero’s horror. The drop was at least a hundred meters, but Boros, with a hand between his shoulder blades, moved them forward anyway.

“You won’t fall, it is a gravity drop system. We will descend gently.” The alien assured him.

He couldn't see anything that would indicate anything would stop them from falling, but he knew Boros wouldn't lie to him, at least not about something so small.

Taking a deep breath, and making sure he had a firm old on the alien, Saitama stepped over the edge.

   *****

  Groribas did end up having to help Genos, even though she swore she wouldn't. About half way to the location the cyborg had marked on the comm there was a wide gully of water and debris standing between them that he had no hope of getting over by himself no matter how determined he was to keep pace with her on his own.

She had been right before, he was heavy, and lifting him in the causal way she was used to when she was at her preferred size and healthy was quite irritating. She ignored the tinges of pain that pricked through her vines upon taking his weight easily, but it was a vivid reminder that she was nowhere near her best.

The only upside was that she got to watch as he steamed and swore up a storm, cursing her to void and back as she lifted and tossed him over. There were even a few new words she hadn’t encountered with the translator yet that were so crude she couldn't help but laugh, wondering if Melzalgald had heard them yet. Either way, it was nice to be able to look forward to sharing. It did well to calm her, to get her mind off everything that had been piling up over the course of this voyage.

The cyborg was ahead of her by a bit now, allowing her to relax a bit, to let her anger settle and fade, leaving only the stress and anxiety that it stemmed from originally. With a sigh, she drug her hand through her hair, and toy with the glowing strands that felt completely alien after so long without using a host with the trait. She had no idea why she thought it would be soothing. In reality the motion only served to irritate her more when she realized she was probably mirroring Boros' habit of doing it when he was frustrated or upset. He was the very last person she wanted occupying her thoughts.

By some miracle only minutes later her comm came alive with Melzalgald’s many voices, all trying to chatter and talk over each other until Red got them in order.

Lo was quick to apologize for Genos running off, with Nim following in close behind trying to tell their primary about the surviving humans, doing their best to make sure Genos didn’t get in trouble, but they were reassured fast that it was fine.

Groribas figured as much would happen. Even with as long ago as it had been, she remembered the leading head a bit, their personality and how they operated. Little bumps in the plan were anticipated, probably even welcome. And considering how casual, almost happy the head sounded, Groribas almost felt like they were having fun with this.

At least someone was.

“How close do you think you are to the humans?” they asked, to which she responded with about twenty minutes if they were able to keep their current pace. The distance was hardly an issue, but ahead Genos was already struggling with another massive mountain of collapsed building and fire. He’d probably need her assistance again in no time.

Genos turned back to look at her, probably hearing her talking, but she waved him forward. Red had cut off his comm from theirs, so whatever was to be discussed was none of his business. He looked like he was going to fight her yet again, but surprisingly he resumed course with nothing but another nasty glare to which she paid no mind.

Red was already planning to use the detour to their advantage, seeming excited beyond words as they dragged the others along while reminding the group one last time of everyone’s target and engagement instructions. Using surveillance footage from the neighboring cities they had been able to narrow down which warriors were most likely inside the building, and plan accordingly according to their official, and the clusters personal threat assessment. Unfortunately, it seemed that many of Earths more powerful fighters had remained, which Groribas assumed was probably the reason there was little objection to her coming along despite being injured.

There were seventeen S ranked warriors to be dealt with, sixteen if Genos was subtracted. There was no sign of S2 anywhere, at least since Melzalgald had been revived and started looking, so it was agreed to assume that Geryuganshoop had taken care of it. If it did turn up, one of the elder heads would deal with it, but having seen the damage done by Geryuganshoop to the other city, Groribas did not expect to see the little psychic anywhere other than perhaps it’s sending off ceremony, or whatever humans did for their dead.

S6 was also a no show. No other battle androids had appeared on any of their scans, and each of them hoped the warrior’s forces had been depleted by Geryuganshoop’s psychic blast along with S2 to render its threat null. But they never bet on being that lucky. So Lo would be on the lookout, and ready to deal with anything that showed, keep the androids away from the building until other heads could assist.

Once inside, assuming negotiations would go bad, they would take out the warriors as quietly as possible. With the building being as solid as it was, it created an environment they were more than used to and comfortable in, perfect to employ the technique they most often used when clearing out ships they boarded together. Any exits would be sealed off to prevent escape and the confined and confusing environment used to divide the warriors, get them alone and disoriented they would be easier to handle.

S15 was designated to be the first to go. It was the loudest and most reckless, most unpredictable, with a weapon that was supposedly unbreakable, a weapon that could possibly be beneficial to them later on. It needed to go down fast and quiet, by whoever could manage it first. Groribas had a feeling it might be her. She hoped it would be her.

Zee would get S17. An easy takedown with what they had in mind. Then move to assist the younglings with S14 and S8, the least dangerous of the present S ranks.

S5 was deceptively small and very dangerous. That one was Tal’s, with at least one other head ready to assist if necessary. Not a warrior to be faced alone despite its young age.

Groribas could already see issues arising with S11. Durability and strength to contend with as well as significant hand-to-hand combat capability. She would have offered to take this one as well, but Sen was quicker to volunteer, with Tal and Zee offering backup. More than enough, so she had no excuse to get involved.

S7 and A1 were dangerous unknowns. The first having absolutely no record of ability other than other humans’ accounts of its power and reports filed by the Hero Association. No footage to analyze fight patterns or gauge strength from. Not even a cohesive list of the kind of threats the warrior dealt with.

The second, at least according to Red, was a clear case of false classification, the same as Boros' human. With its popularity and raw power, A1 should have been categorized higher, well into the S ranks, top ten easily, but for some reason, it wasn’t. And there didn’t seem to be all that much on it when it came to the peak of its abilities. All of which made both Groribas and the cluster concerned. Enough so that Red decided to take out both alone. Unwilling to let anyone else walk into such uncharted territory no matter how much Groribas argued.

A2 was dangerous, but not deadly. Skilled, but not fast enough, or powerful enough to kill anyone accept maybe a careless youngling, and they would never be alone. And considering the fact that the previous cluster had already injured it, its overall threat level was almost zero. So, it, along with any of the lower ranking warriors that Red speculated may be inside were left up for grabs by whoever got to them first.

That only left S3 and S4.

Before she was taken out she’d been in constant contact with the artillery crews, having overseen the initial bombardment to take some of the command load off Geryuganshoop, so, she was able to gain access to the targeting footage easily on the way down to the planet, her comm having been already connected to the targeting system. With it she was able to see the warriors who’d killed Melzalgald. S3 and S4 were the main culprits, S3 in particular being a deadly combination of strong, fast, durable, and now, with the addition of outside intel, immensely skilled in a style of hand-to-hand combat that Melzalgald seemed to have an acute weakness to. They had lost stone after stone to its attacks in quick succession and only managed to land a single hit that was, in the end, only temporarily effective.

She knew before they’d even touched ground that S3 was the one she wanted to herself. She couldn't speak for the elder heads as she only remembered bits and pieces of them fighting, but compared to the others she was positive she would be more equipped by far to deal with such a threat. But more importantly, she did not want either of them near Melzalgald again, nowhere near any of them, not even Red. She would not allow it, even if it meant using killing moves if the creatures refused to be stopped by other means. Boros wouldn't be happy, probably fly off the handle as usual, and Melzalgald would be irritated at her as well, but she could always be forgiven later. As long as they were safe, and with the possibility of fighting and killing their previous attackers seeming more and more like a certainty, she couldn't bring herself to care about whatever consequences she could possibly face.

Once all the warriors were safely contained (or dead), they would separate the remaining humans inside, injured from the uninjured, then wait for Boros to get clearance from the human’s government to render aid. The medics would land and deal with whatever was left alive under their protection, they’d arrange for engineers to show up at some point and reconstruct the city they destroyed, then they would be done. All so easy in theory, but Groribas knew in practice, things would most likely go to shit, as usual.

She didn’t say that, but she was sure Red could tell she was thinking it, because they assured her that ‘contingency plans were arranged’.

Groribas really hoped so.

Somewhere off to the side there was a commotion. The sharp whispering of the younglings who had stopped paying attention cut the conversation short as Red was pulled away to attend to whatever was getting them worked up.

Groribas was not aware of how they planned to get into the building but they must have been close because in the next second comm silence was ordered until further notice, and every one of them disconnected, leaving her with only Genos for company.

She didn’t know how good his senses were, but from where they were at the top of the pile she could hear the humans begin to shout, calling out with relieved excitement to what was presumably another group, or perhaps more survivors trapped under rubble.

‘Great’, was the only thing that went through her head at the thought of that. The more of them there were to wrangle the slower the going would be and the longer it would take them to actually get to the good part of this trash mission.

Genos was making much faster progress going down than he was up, and in no time, they were already working on the second hill. She was in a much better mood just from talking with Melzalgald, and the cyborg was surprisingly not slowing her down all that much, only needing minimal assistance with balance and a bit of a boost over a nasty overhang before they were able to reach the peak and finally lay eyes on the pack of grimy, gore and ash caked humans, slowly picking their way through the valley below.

Something like sadness, and a bit like pain passed through the cyborgs dim eyes as he watched them, but it was quickly blinked away when he noticed he was being watched.

“Once we get down there, stay behind me and stay quiet until I can calm them down and explain what’s going on, then just keep your distance. Don’t touch anyone.” He ordered, as if he was in any position to be doing so, but she had no interest in arguing with him. She’d already made her expectations clear.

“Wasn’t planning to kid, they're all yours.”