Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“The medical bay has been secured. Two lifeforms recovered.”

“The crew quarters have been secured. Six crew members have been arrested.”

“The cargo hold has been secured. No lifeforms or crew present.”

A’zawa listened to the ‘wrrr’ of the mechanics and the occasional chirping of his communicator as he waited for the door to open. Once it did, he stepped through with his team. Snipe, N’muri, Sero, and Shioz’ki followed close behind, all of them observing the standard cells and smaller, stacked cages lining the walls. A mix of Xenos, or higher lifeforms, and baser lifeforms. 

There were guards to be dealt with. It didn’t take them long, only keeping them conscious so that they could glean more information about their captives from them. 

“The prisoner deck has been secured. Fourteen crew members arrested. Preparing to catalog the captives, the number currently unknown,” Snipe informed the rest of their organization.

They each took a section of the deck to inventory. The Xenos identified themselves and even a few of the creatures that came from the same planet as them. All were stolen by a poaching and trafficking ring that his organization had been tracking for a long time now. The ring sold Xenos as slaves or fighters and the baser lifeforms as pets or attack creatures.

Every lifeform contained here was their current “stock.” But now they would be freed. 

“What are these?” A’zawa demanded, gesturing to a line of reinforced cages that seemed to be separated from everything else. The crew members he was asking laughed. 

“Have you heard of the Deathworld, Terra?” one asked, her lip bleeding from a hit she had taken earlier. 

“Terra has a no-contact order. Their lifeforms wouldn’t be out here,” N’muri pointed out. 

“Unless you go there and bring some back yourself,” she laughed. “Do you know how much a Deathworlder goes for? How good they are as mindless fighters? Throw them in a ring with anything and they’ll rip them to shreds. Instant entertainment!”

A’zawa turned back to the cages, filled with a variety of unfamiliar creatures. With a sigh, he pulled out his communicator. “Get Nezu. We have a problem.”

“We’re not really going to kill them, are we?” Shioz’ki asked, her prehensile hair twisting to show her nervousness. 

“Unfortunately, they are simply too aggressive,” Nezu replied solemnly. “They can not be released anywhere and there is a no-contact order on Terra. We can not return them. The safest and kindest option is to put them down.”

Shioz’ki looked back into the cage that had been brought to their organization’s lab. Two quadrupedal creatures with some sort of spotted fur occupied it. One laying in a corner and the other pacing and occasionally hissing, baring large, sharp teeth fit for a carnivore. 

“This one too,” Snipe spoke up, eyeing a long, skinny, and limbless creature that kept attacking the reinforced glass of its container. It seemed like it would hurt itself before it let up. 

Most of them were violent, attacking the walls of their cages while they were moved or making aggressive sounds or displays. That was expected from anything on Terra. Even their flora were toxic and their climate inhospitable. The poachers took a huge risk just going to the surface of that planet, let alone capturing anything on it. They weren’t cowards, he’d give them that.

The environmental danger of that planet and its total lack of Xenos species got it classified as a no-contact planet. A Deathworld. It was illegal to even enter its orbit. Occasionally, poachers took the risk, finding the money they could make worth it. Anyone found owning a creature from that planet was arrested while the creature was typically put down by the planet’s government. 

The ship they raided was under Nezu’s jurisdiction. He wanted to give them a chance. 

“What about these?” H’zashi questioned, observing three bipedal creatures held in separate cages. All three had different coloring but looked similar enough that they were probably the same species. A green-furred one watched them without blinking often. A pink-furred one lay curled in a ball, not sleeping. And a brown-furred one seemed to be grooming itself, tugging dull claws through its longer fur. “They seem docile.”

“They’re wearing garments of some kind. Are we sure they aren’t Xenos?” Its’ka asked. 

“Terra doesn’t have any Xenos,” Momo reminded her. “Nothing has left their planet, without being stolen from it, or attempted to reach out. The first expeditions to go there reported that none of the creatures used any form of higher communication. They just attacked, typically without provocation, and relied on body language and baser sounds. Just growls and calls.”

“They have not attempted to communicate since we recovered them or responded to communication,” Nezu added. “The garments are likely to keep them warm. They only have fur on their heads. Plenty of people put their pets in clothes.”

“It's a silly practice if you ask me,” Snipe grumbled. 

“Regardless, yes, H’zashi’s assessment is correct,” Nezu said, moving on. “These lifeforms have been docile thus far. I believe it would be safe to keep them. A’zawa, H’zashi, you two and your third have helped to rehabilitate injured creatures before. Would you be willing to again, keeping in mind that it may be permanent since they can’t be released to the wild?”

“Not for a Deathworlder,” A’zawa replied at the same time H’zashi chirped out an, “Of course!”

They froze and stared at each other for a moment. “Oh my, well… Do discuss it. You have time to decide,” Nezu assured them before dismissing everyone.

The green-furred creature was still watching them and the brown-furred one had joined in. A’zawa avoided their gazes while they waited for their third, Oboro, to arrive. They arrived pretty quickly though. “How’d the raid go?”

“Fine,” A’zawa replied before steamrolling onto the issue. “Nezu wants us to let Deathworlders into our home. Around our kids.”

“They’re docile,” H’zashi added. “They were found in the raid. Supposedly from Terra.”

“They’re docile for now . We have no idea how they’ll behave once they get out of those cages or if they’re the kind of creatures that stalk their prey before attacking them. Or they might only be docile now because we’re bigger than them. Eri is closer to their size. What if they hurt her?”

“What if they don’t?” H’zashi countered, feathers flaring slightly. “Why should they be put down without being given a chance? As long as we keep an eye on them, it should be fine, right?”

“What if we let them out in one of the testing rooms? We could see how they behave uncaged that way,” Oboro suggested, interrupting their arguing. 

“You’re actually considering this?” A’zawa asked incredulously. 

“H’zashi’s right. Even if they’re from a Deathworld, if they can be rehabilitated, they should be.” Oboro glanced at the cages. “Terra is largely unexplored. It’s possible that there are peaceful creatures on it. I mean, the predators have to be eating something.”

A’zawa groaned at his bleeding heart partners but helped them move the cages nonetheless. The pink one jolted out of the little ball they had curled themselves into when they were moved and the brown one whined quietly. Then the trio armed themselves with tranquilizers, just in case, before releasing the creatures into the sealed room. 

The creatures didn’t leap from the cages the second they were open like he’d expected them to, so he and the others backed up to give them space to come out on their own. The pink one moved first, crawling forward and then standing once they were out. They were just a little taller than the cage, meaning it had been restricting their range of movement. 

In the next cage over, the green one crawled out, albeit a little more cautiously than the pink one had. The wide, green eyes that had barely left them finally drifted over to the pink one, before both headed toward the brown one’s cage together. Together, with quiet coos, they coaxed the brown one out of their cage. Then all three huddled together in some sort of cuddle pile. 

“Oh, do you think they’re pack-bonded?” H’zashi questioned, quietly so he wouldn’t startle them. 

“It’s possible,” A’zawa replied. He was just happy that the green one stopped staring at them. 

He spoke too soon. The green one’s head poked out of the cuddle pile and turned back toward the side of the room they were on. Green eyes, green fur. The brown one’s eyes and fur matched too. If it weren’t for the pink one having yellow eyes, he would have thought that was just a trait of their species. Or maybe it was and the pink one had a mutation. 

They had no way of knowing. This species didn’t even have a name. ‘Terrans’ encompassed all the unknown, unnamed species on that planet. There wasn’t anything specific to just this one. 

After a few rels, all three creatures stood from their cuddle pile. Their stances seemed defensive. A’zawa was sure they were gearing up to fight but instead, they bolted in the opposite direction, finding an equipment cart to hide behind. It was rather anticlimactic. 

What kind of Deathworlders were these?

Oboro and their goth husbands!

Chapter Text

Inko had a twin sister, Aiko. Multiples ran in the family so it hadn’t been surprising to anyone when she had triplets later on with her husband Hisashi. Although each sister had different family names now due to their marriages, they were still close. That’s why they had been together, driving home after an evening of shopping, when a drunk driver had killed them. 

The triplets were only 6 when they lost their mother and their aunt. They continued living with their father, Hisashi, although their uncle was too distraught to visit anymore. Contact with the Uraraka side of their family was lost after that tragic accident. But they moved on. 

Mina was the most energetic of the trio, having an interest in athleticism like her aunt had. She joined dance, swimming, and karate classes over the years, throwing herself into each activity with as much passion as she could muster. School was never her strong suit but still tried her best. Her confidence and peppy attitude made her a joy to be around. 

Ochako was much more reserved than her sister but just as cheerful. She held an optimistic outlook on life, although it suffered for a few years after the death of her mother and aunt. Still, she eventually returned to seeing the bright side of things more often than not. Her fascination with the stars knew no bounds. She begged her father to send her to space camp due to her dreams of being an astronaut. He relented and also bought her a telescope and many books. 

Izuku was different from his sisters. He looked the most like their mother, sharing her green hair and eyes. He had no one passion, preferring to learn about anything and everything. He was quiet and often accused of being uncaring. His family knew better and paid no heed to strangers. He just communicated in his own way. All his time was spent absorbing information. 

The three were inseparable. When other kids picked on Izuku for his assumed indifference or Mina for her hyperactivity, they ignored their peers and huddled further together. They were a small, tight-knit trio with impenetrable walls. Much of their time was spent away from their peers. 

Even that day, they had been playing in a heavily wooded patch of the park by themselves. Climbing trees and playing tag in solitude, completely unprepared to deal with an abduction. 

That’s what it was. A sudden and quick abduction. 

There was no fight, no resistance. Each of them felt a pinching pressure and then they woke up in cages. They’d learn later that they were shot with tranquilizers. And that they weren’t the only ones taken. And that they weren’t even on Earth anymore. They were taken by aliens . 

Out here, they knew nothing. They were only 10 after all, and aliens were nothing more than myths or theories on Earth. So the girls turned to Izuku. He watched and he absorbed . 

The Triplets (Except they're 10 rn, so a lil more baby)

No quirks so Mina looks different than canon!

Izuku and Ochako share a face while Mina and Izuku share their curls.

“Aw, come on, little ones,” H'zashi cooed-- yes, cooed --at the Deathworlders. “It’s okay. We won’t hurt you. You’re safe here. We just want to help.”

“I don’t know… This seems like prey behavior,” Oboro pointed out, observing the pack of Deathworlders where they cowered behind an equipment cart. 

“Stealth predators hide too,” A'zawa argued, still untrusting of the little creatures. 

“I really don’t think they’re dangerous, A’z,” Oboro argued. “I mean look at them.”

A'zawa rolled his eyes but obliged, taking in the way they clung to each other and inched back every time H'zashi inched forward. The brown one was trembling, hidden further behind the other two. Their weaker link, perhaps? Maybe an age or gender difference? 

When it came to these Deathworlders, they knew nothing. 

“We can’t take care of them,” he realized. 

H'zashi’s head whipped up from where he was trying to coax out the Deathworlders. “They haven’t done anything aggressive! You can’t write them off yet.”

“That’s not what I meant,” A'zawa sighed. He could have worded that better. “I mean that we don’t know enough to take care of them. If we take them home, we could kill them. Before we even consider taking them home, they should have medical scans done here so that we know more about their biology. We’ll need to test foods to see what they can eat, but that should also be done here in case they eat something that’s poisonous to them. Things like that.”

“Are you agreeing to take them home?” H'zashi asked, trilling with excitement. 

“I am open to considering it after more observation,” A'zawa huffed. “We’ll inform Nezu and keep them in this observation room for now. He can pull us off active duty so that we can study them.”

“Let’s go tell him now and give the little ones a chance to calm down,” H'zashi suggested. 

They were all in agreement so they left the Deathworlders to go tell Nezu about their plan.

“We aren’t going back in the cages?” Mina questioned after the three aliens had left. 

“Guess not,” Izuku shrugged, turning his attention to the room they were in. The floor was white and smooth but not tile or metal. A bit like hospital flooring. The walls were also white but were made up of large rectangular panels, like extra-large tiles. The room was mostly empty but contained some metal tables, cupboards, and drawers along the walls. 

They were standing next to some sort of rolling cart with drawers and there was some equipment a little ways away that reminded him of medical equipment. Nothing he could really name though. The lights above them were bright and there weren’t many places to hide. 

Curious, he opened one of the lower drawers on the cart that he could reach. Inside there were tubes and gauze and a ton of empty vials. “I think this is a medical lab,” he concluded. 

Mina gasped. “Are they gonna dissect us like in that one movie?” 

“Why would I know?” Izuku frowned. “Hopefully not.”

“I don’t think Big Bird looked like he wanted to hurt us,” Ochako said quietly. 

“Big Bird?” Mina asked. 

“Because that one is big and yellow and a bird, like Big Bird from Sesame Street,” Ochako defended. “And then there’s the Grumpy Kitty. Because he kept growling. And the Sky Dragon.”

“Yeah, I can see it,” Mina agreed, nodding seriously. 

“Whatever they want with us, we should try to escape as soon as possible. Until then, we can’t let them separate us. Dad always said we should stay together in strange places,” Izuku reminded them. “If kidnapped, it's good to be cooperative though. To avoid angering them.”

“That’s for human kidnappers. There are no instructions for alien kidnappers,” Mina whined. 

“I think it would be the same,” Izuku replied, tilting his head in consideration. 

“Except they’re huge,” Ochako countered. “What can we even do to protect ourselves against them? We can’t outrun them when we try to escape. We can’t fight them if they separate us.”

“If we get something sharp, we could cut the tendons in their legs. Should have the same effect on them as it would on humans,” Izuku offered tentatively. 

“And we can reach their Achilles' tendons!” Mina cheered. “My instructor said that’s one of the spots to aim for in a fight!”

“I guess that might work,” Ochako muttered, though her hesitation was obvious. 

“We have a plan then,” Izuku grinned. “They will regret kidnapping us.”

“I will authorize your use of that observation room to study the Terrans before you decide if you’re equipped to take them home,” Nezu agreed easily. “Any materials needed will be made available to you. You must share your observations with me in a report. You may also put in requests for medical staff but you will need to work around their primary schedules.” 

“Understood!” H'zashi chirped. “We’ll do our best to study the Terrans.”

“And not kill them with food poisoning,” A'zawa added, earning a glare from his partners. 

“Right. We will monitor them closely after giving them any new food,” H'zashi nodded. 

“And not let them eat us or others.” Oboro smacked A'zawa for that comment. “What? I’m not optimistic that the Deathworlders won’t live up to the classification of their planet.

“We will parse out if they have any violent or aggressive tendencies and curb them accordingly,” H'zashi reassured Nezu. “Everyone on board, including the Terrans, will be safe.”

Nezu made an amused sound. “I must say, I am particularly interested in seeing how A'zawa will adjust to them.”

“Why is that?” A’zawa dared to ask. 

“Because you have a track record with your rescues and I think there’s an 87.6% certainty of this turning out the same way despite their… irregularities,” Nezu answered, far too pleased. 

“Irregularities?” A’zawa deadpanned. 

“It’s not every day such a unique and unknown creature is taken in as a pet. It’s bound to be different,” Nezu dismissed, waving a paw. “That being said, I don’t think it will be too different.”

“They’re from a Death world, Nezu,” A’zawa growled. 

Nezu’s whiskers twitched. “Might I remind you, that I am too?”

I couldn't find a more exact example, so essentially a combination of these.

The observation rooms are for testing equipment, experimenting, and monitoring live patients.

So they have a basic multi-use stock of equipment and supplies.

Chapter Text

I bring art of the babies. 💜

They're 10 but they got Inko's small stature.

“The first thing we should probably do is a basic physical exam,” H’zashi suggested as they headed back to the observation room. “Then we’ll see if they’ll cooperate with medical scans.”

“You seem optimistic about this,” A’zawa noted flatly. He didn’t even think the Deathworlders would cooperate with the physical exam, let alone any scans. 

“Well, they were docile when we let them out,” H’zashi pointed out as they reached the room. 

Oboro opened the door and they all stepped inside, making sure it closed behind them. “We’ll need to find them first,” they said gesturing vaguely around the room. Looking around, the room appeared empty. Panic rose inside A’zawa immediately. Could they have gotten out? 

“They’re probably just hiding,” H’zashi reasoned quickly. “They seemed scared before. Plenty of prey species are adept at hiding.”

“So are stealth hunters,” A’zawa deadpanned. 

“Enough of that. You’re being ridic--” H’zashi’s scolding was interrupted by a shrill cry as the pink one jumped out of a cabinet and ran for his legs. Moments later, the green and brown ones darted out of their hiding spots too. 

Catching the green and brown ones with his tentacles wasn’t particularly hard for A’zawa. He failed to catch the pink one along with them though and that one started aggressively waving their arm at H’zashi. 

“Hey, ouch!” H’zashi exclaimed, stepping back. The pink one jumped back, holding a defensive position. Now that their arm was still, A’zawa could see the glint of a scalpel. Using tools to hunt could explain their lack of claws. Checking the ones he caught, they each had a scalpel too. 

“Are you okay?” Oboro asked H’zashi, moving toward him slowly so that they wouldn’t startle the pink one into attacking again. 

“They cut me,” H’zashi pouted. He lifted his leg a bit to inspect the wounds the pink one had made on the back of his leg. “Why would they do that?”

A’zawa’s eyes narrowed, recognizing the spot as one that could permanently disable many mammalian species. Luckily, H’zashi’s legs weren’t built the same as his own. “They were trying to paralyze us,” he hissed angrily. His grasp on the two he’d caught tightened. 

The brown one whined at the tightening pressure. “Don’t hurt them,” Oboro frowned. “No one actually got hurt. They were probably just lashing out in fear. It’s not like we haven’t gotten bit or scratched by the creatures we’ve rehabilitated in the past. Even safe ones lash out in fear.”

“The other creatures we’ve rehabilitated weren’t that efficient with their attacks,” A’zawa argued, glaring at the pink one to deter them from attacking again. 

“These ones are from a Deathworld,” Oboro reminded him. “I’m sure they had to evolve that way to stay alive in that kind of place.”

They had a point. Still, he was irritated that the little menaces attacked him and his mates. Taking them home was even less favorable now. What if they attacked the kids?

“It’ll be fine,” H’zashi insisted gently. “We’ll earn their trust. Once they aren’t scared anymore, then they shouldn’t lash out like that. I mean, think about it. They got taken off their planet, possibly thrown into fighting rings before we rescued them, and they probably haven’t seen anything like our ships or even this room on their home planet. Of course, they’re terrified.”

“I guess,” A’zawa grumbled, loosening his hold on the Deathworlders. He took the scalpels from them before letting them go. They scrambled away from him and hid under a table. 

“See? Scared,” H’zashi said pointedly before approaching the pink one to take their scalpel. The little thing dropped it, running to join the others under the table. 

“Fine then. They’re scared. And they’re prone to lashing out. How exactly do you propose we do the exams then?” A’zawa questioned, gesturing to their hiding spot. “I doubt forcibly removing them from their new hiding spot will go over well.”

“Well… No,” H’zashi agreed. “But we could try--”

“What the hell was that?!” 

“Mina, that’s a bad word.”

“And who exactly is gonna stop me from using it out here in space , Ocha?”

“Clearly, that’s not a scarf,” Izuku concluded, ignoring his sisters’ little spat. “Those are some kind of limbs and that scarf appearance is just their resting position.”

“It’s freaky,” Mina scowled. “And cutting Big Bird did nothing!”

“Their anatomy is probably different. Like an actual bird’s,” Izuku shrugged. 

Outside their hiding place, they could hear the aliens talking amongst themselves. Izuku had no doubt that they could be reached under the table. It wasn’t the best hiding spot. It was just the closest. The aliens could just grab them whenever they wanted, so why haven’t they?

“What do you think they’re gonna do to us?” Mina asked, following his gaze. 

“I want to go home,” Ochako whimpered quietly. 

“I don’t know what they’re going to do,” Izuku replied as one of the aliens could be heard walking away. “But I think the fact that no one knows that aliens are real back on Earth means that we probably won’t get to go back. Someone would have said something.”

“What about the people who say they were taken and probed?” Mina asked.

“Do you see any little green men?” Izuku countered with a scoff. 

“That cat’s scarf is alive! That kind of weirdness doesn’t rule out little green men!”

“What’s probing?” Ochako whispered fearfully. 

“The people with stories like that were almost all the same,” Izuku pointed out. “And yet our experience so far has been nothing like those. So one person probably told the story, true or not, and others just repeated it. It’s statistically improbable for only us to meet different aliens.”

“Ocha, he’s using the big words again,” Mina whined. 

“I know. I hear him,” Ochako replied, patting Mina’s shoulder. 

Izuku sighed, shaking his head at his sisters. Before he could say anything else, the door opened. The alien that had left was back. Peering out from under the table, he could see that they had some sort of box and a couple of pouches. 

“Are those the probe tools?” Mina whispered. Izuku just shot her a tired glare. 

The alien with the boxes, the Sky Dragon, approached their hiding spot and sat down on the ground a little ways away from them. The other two followed behind them but stayed standing. The Sky Dragon spoke in a soft tone that was not unlike the cooing speech that adults sometimes used with young kids. Big Bird had spoken like that earlier too. 

After a few moments, Sky Dragon reached into their box and pulled out a flat, metallic disc-- oh, a plate, judging by the leafy-looking thing that they placed on the disc. 

“They’re trying to feed us?” Ochako guessed. 

“What is that?” Mina questioned, grimacing. It was leafy but looked a bit like… well, a lobster or something. Izuku couldn’t tell if it was a vegetable or seafood. It certainly wouldn’t lure him out. 

The alien seemed to sense this and removed it from the plate. Another food was pulled out of the box. It was a stringy clump of dark brown. Mina reacted first. “Ew, are those worms?”

“I think they’re roots, actually,” Izuku told her, though he didn’t disagree that they looked gross.

That food was also soon removed from the plate. Some apple-green bits of something were placed on it next. Ochako’s eyes widened. “Is that mochi?”

“I highly doubt it,” Izuku replied, though that didn’t stop the mochi-fiend from darting out to snatch some off the plate. He and Mina watched with bated breath as she shoved one in her mouth once she was back under the table. 

Ochako’s face was immediately filled with disappointment. “It’s not mochi,” she sulked. 

“Does it taste bad?” Mina asked, watching warily. 

“Well… No. It kinda feels like cheese. But it tastes citrusy? Either way, it’s not mochi.”

“I want to try one,” Izuku requested, holding out his hand. Ochako handed over the others she had grabbed, sharing with both him and Mina. He tried it and after a moment of chewing, he decided it wasn’t so bad. It really was gooey like melted cheese but tasted like lemons almost. 

“I wonder what other weird foods they have in space,” Mina said curiously. 

“Ooh! They like the bloetti!” H’zashi cheered, making an effort to keep his voice down. 

“Now we just have to wait and see if it’s toxic to them,” A’zawa reminded him. 

H’zashi pouted at him. “Oh, you’re such a killjoy sometimes, A’z.”

“You knew that when we started this,” A’zawa huffed, feeling his tail lash in irritation. 

“I know, I know. But why focus on the bad when there’s something good going on!”

“Becau--”

“Because the good can turn bad without notice,” Oboro interrupted. “It’s always good to be prepared. Come on, H’zashi, you know how A’zawa is. Don’t antagonize him.”

“I’m just teasing.” A’zawa didn’t move when H’zashi rubbed his arm in apology. “Sorry.”

“It’s fine. Let’s just keep a close eye on them now in case they get sick,” A’zawa sighed. He couldn’t stay mad at his partners, even if they sometimes annoyed him. He loved them, after all. 

Chapter Text

After several rels passed with no sign of a reaction in the Terrans, it was assumed the bloetti was safe. Oboro poked through the box of food samples they had brought trying to find something similar. He settled on xokkeope. It was a blue fruit with a slight acidic tang like the bloetti. Hopefully, the Terrans were herbivores. That would make it easier to convince A’zawa. 

They peeled the rind off the fruit and gently tore it into pieces for the small creatures. Then they placed it on the plate and waited. The ticks seemed to pass by so slowly. 

Eventually, the pink one hesitantly crawled out from under the table. They leveled a mighty glare at them before darting forward to take the fruit. This time, the whole plate was taken and brought back to their packmates under the table. Ah… That might be hard to get back now. 

Crouched down like they were, Oboro was able to see the creatures pretty clearly. The table didn’t do much to hide them, only covering them from sight at a standing height. They watched as the Terrans shared the fruit amongst themselves, chittering quietly. The blue juice from the fruit dripped down their faces and Oboro had to admit that was pretty adorable. 

The waiting period repeated. Oboro set out another sample. With a new plate.

Dried lunar iyu. Lunar iyu was a 6-legged creature found on several moons in the Uakari System. Though too tough to even eat raw, it was delicious when cut thin, stretched, and dried. Many people added seasoning but it was also flavorful enough plain. Since they had no idea what seasonings the Terrans could have, they stuck to plain options when picking the samples. 

All their hopes that the Terrans were herbivores were shattered when the green one slunk forward to grab the dried meat. Omnivores then. Better than just carnivores at least. 

The green Terran moved slower than the other two, pausing in front of Oboro before taking the dried meat off the plate. Their gaze seemed to bore into them, eyes wide and tracking every micro-movement they made. Cataloging every detail about them. It gave them a distinct feeling of danger. Like a predator was locked onto them, hunting in silence. It was unpleasant. 

They breathed a soft sigh of relief when it finally looked away, returning to its packmates. 

“Still want to take them home?” A’zawa snarked quietly. 

“There is nothing wrong with them staring at us,” Oboro defended. “Look how skittish they are! They’re probably just keeping an eye on us because they feel unsafe.”

“It’s still creepy,” A’zawa grumbled. Oboro just shook their head in fond exasperation. 

“I can’t believe they have jerky!” Mina exclaimed, tearing off another piece of the meat. 

“You do realize that this is probably made from an alien since they don’t have Earth animals out here to make jerky with,” Izuku pointed out. Ochako paused and looked down at the meat she’d been munching on. Would eating an alien hurt her? 

“Well this alien is tasty,” Mina retorted, sticking out her tongue at their brother. 

Izuku seemed to notice Ochako’s hesitation. “Hey, it’s okay. Even though it’s an alien animal, it wouldn’t be any different than when you tried elk for the first time.”

“What if we get sick?” she questioned, looking up at him. 

“I think they’ve already considered that,” Izuku replied, gesturing to the aliens that had been feeding them. “They keep waiting for about 15 minutes after we eat something before giving us something else. To see if anything poisons us. They’re trying to figure out what we can eat.”

 “If they want to feed us, that means they probably won’t kill us,” Mina said thoughtfully. 

“Right. Whatever they want with us, they want us to live and stay alive for some time.” Ochako felt a little relieved as Izuku nodded along with Mina’s observation. 

…Until Mina added, “But that doesn’t take probing off the table yet.”

A’zawa watched as Oboro went through the food samples. Several, the Terrans wouldn’t even come out for, glaring at the food with their faces twisted. Other foods got brought under the table only to be rejected after a sniff or a tentative lick. That same twisted expression appeared when this happened. Most likely disgust, given the context. Only a few foods were actually eaten. 

They were omnivores, eating both plant matter and meat. He was mildly surprised that they ate the plicrirra bread, but that was technically a plant. Just ground into a fine powder and mixed with other things before being baked. The Terrans really liked the bread. H’zashi recorded that. 

“I bet they’d like cookies too,” H’zashi chirped excitedly as he wrote their findings down for the report. “Sweet like fruit, similar to bread… We’ll have to test that soon.”

Rolling his eyes, A’zawa watched as the Terrans ate some steamed eccuva. A small aquatic critter that was heavily farmed due to its rapid reproduction rate. The eccuva farming industry provided food for several solar systems these days. They seemed to like it. But then things went sideways. 

The green Terran started to look a little more green. He would have brushed it off if the other two didn’t also start turning a faint green despite that not being their natural colors. When the pink one hunched over and started vomiting, H’zashi began panicking. 

He may not trust the Terrans but he wasn’t heartless. Seeing them sick did trigger a surge of concern and protective instinct in him. A’zawa crouched down, prepared to restrain them with his tentacles so that he could get them to the medbay. But they were practically immobile due to the nausea they were experiencing. He had no difficulty scooping them up. 

Oboro opened the door for him while H’zashi flittered around uselessly, still panicking. 

Once they reached the medbay, A’zawa set the three Terrans down on one of the observation tables. He heard Oboro securing the door in case the Terrans tried to flee. Not that they would at the moment. But once they’re feeling better, that could change. 

They were so small, all three fitting on the table with room to spare. The brown one suddenly shot up. He tensed, expecting them to run, but they just scrambled to the edge of the table in time to vomit. He eyed the chunks of eccuva in the expelled digestion fluid. Rejected whole, aside from the chewing process. So their systems couldn’t digest this at all then. 

If the last Terran expelled the eccuva, then they might be fine. But there was still the chance that the aquatic creature also poisoned them. Just to be sure, he used the control panel on the side of the observation table to initiate a scan. The computer wouldn’t be calibrated for Terran biology yet, but it could at least detect basic things like organ death or poisonous substances. 

Gentle chimes told him the scan came back clear for all three. 

All they needed to do now was wait for the green one to expel the undigestible food. 

Of course, the green one managed to throw up on A’zawa.

“They have what in their digestive fluid?” A’zawa growled, glaring at him. 

“Uh…” H’zashi considered whether or not he wanted to repeat himself. Maybe it was a rhetorical question. Yes, maybe he should keep his beak shut. 

“Hydrochloric acid,” Oboro said, grinning at their husband. Their husband who was currently shirtless because the Terran’s digestive fluid burned through his shirt. He barely got it off before the fluid started burning his fur. 

“If that’s some kind of defensive attack they can use, they’re not coming home with us.”

H’zashi squawked unhappily. “It’s not their fault the eccuva made them sick!”

“No, it’s not,” A’zawa agreed. “But if they can spit acid when scared, we can’t bring them home!”

“Test their saliva,” Oboro shrugged.

“Yes! Yes, we should do that!” H’zashi clacked his beak. The poor little Terrans couldn’t help getting sick. He felt so bad about it even if it was basically unavoidable. But if he could prove that their saliva wasn’t acidic, just their digestive fluid, A’zawa might calm down. 

Although they had perked up a little, the Terrans were still pretty lethargic, sitting on the table and tiredly watching the adults argue. The brown one had actually fallen asleep, curled up in a little ball and holding their arms against their stomach. Poor thing must still have tummy pain. 

With the Terrans too tired to fight back, he was able to swab their mouths, including the sleeping one. He put the samples in the composition analysis machine. Then they waited. 

A paper with the results was printed and he read the results. He felt his feathers ruffle. 

“Are you kidding me?” A’zawa groaned. 

“I didn’t say anything yet!” H’zashi protested. 

“Your feathers fluffed up. The results aren’t good,” A’zawa concluded, knowing him well. 

“Well… I wouldn’t say they’re bad,” H’zashi tried downplaying it. “Yes, they have acidic saliva, but it’s not too much stronger than most other life forms and it wouldn’t burn anyone.”

A’zawa nodded with a neutral expression, clearly placated by the results.

Group Picture <3

Remember, Oboro is their dam.

So H'toshi is biologically a hybrid of Oboro and A'zawa's species.

And Eri is biologically a hybrid of Oboro and H'zashi's species.

Chapter Text

“Stop that,” A’zawa huffed at H’zashi. 

The other was looming over the now sleeping Terrans on the table and cooing softly. The green one was still awake, but their usually wide eyes were half-covered. They were obviously exhausted. Still, they watched H’zashi as closely as they could, tensing when he got too close. 

“They’re just so cute, A’z,” H’zashi cooed in response. He was visibly restraining himself from petting the damn Deathworlders . A’zawa didn’t think the green one would react well if he actually tried to. Hence him trying to get H’zashi to quit fussing over them. 

“Focus. We need to finish as many tests as we can while they’re in a cooperative state.”

“Right. Sorry.” H’zashi straightened up and headed across the room to get a fluoroscope. The machine would use ionizing radiation to capture video of the Terrans’ internal processes. 

Tired green eyes tracked their every movement but the Terran didn’t seem to have much of an issue with the machine being set up next to them. When H’zashi tried to scoot one of the sleeping Terrans further down the table, the green one got upset. They hissed and swiped at H’zashi before pulling their pink-furred packmate into their lap. 

His husband and the green Terran were locked in some sort of standoff. He took the opportunity to position the machine over the brown one who was now separated from the other two. It was better to record them separately so that none of their biological systems would overlap in the imaging or be otherwise misread. The actual recording process didn’t even involve contact. 

The machine started up with a barely there hum. As quiet as it was, it still caught the green one’s attention. The machine hummed. The Terran stared at it. Nothing happened. 

Of course, unless one already knew what the fluoroscope was, it wouldn’t appear to do anything. A’zawa watched the monitor, ensuring that the video was being recorded for further analysis later. He was not a medical biologist. A professional would need to look over their data. But he at least knew enough to pick out some things on the screen. 

They had a single heart, though he couldn’t say much about its structure, and it beat at a surprisingly steady pace. A single-chambered stomach, which seemed fairly large considering that it had been emptied just a bit ago. The brown Terran was still holding their stomach, so it could be bloat. In some species, bloat could be lethal while in others, it could be a non-issue. 

Monitoring the Terran was all he could do at this point. 

An extra limb appeared on the screen causing him to look up at the Terran he was scanning. The green one had released their hold on their pink packmate to inspect the brown one. The extra limb was their arm getting in the shot. That wasn’t a problem. 

With the third Terran no longer in their lap, he would be able to get a recording of this one as well. He moved the fluoroscope over. The green Terran froze, looking up at the machine with more alertness than they’d shown earlier. Their exhaustion must be wearing off. Or fear was filling them with enough chemicals to ignore it. Some species could do that. 

Yep. This one’s heart was beating faster. They were probably scared, their circulatory system scrambling to get blood and whatever fear response chemicals they had to their limbs. 

Since he wasn’t really sure how to calm them down and he also couldn’t just explain the procedure to them, he kept his attention on the recording in progress. The Terran’s heart rate didn’t slow down, but he was able to observe a few more things. Mainly, that there was a different set of organs present in the green Terran. He flipped to the previous recording to compare. 

Everything else was the same except for these two sets of differing organs. He concluded that this was the species’ reproductive system, though that didn’t tell him which each was or if their species had more than two observable sexes. A race on Yidreon had as many as twelve depending on the season. And then some species only had one biological sex. 

Green eyes followed him as he moved the machine over the pink Terran who was now alone. He himself was a predator species, but the staring still unnerved him. You didn’t need to be a prey species to find that sort of thing creepy. There was always a stronger predator than you. 

Scanning the pink Terran, he found their systems to be identical to the brown one. Perhaps that was why they were able to sleep and the green one remained awake to stand guard. Their species had protective instincts hardwired into at least one of their biological sexes. 

He looked back at the green Terran. They still watched him closely as he scanned their packmate. If this one was so protective, they would need to be extra cautious when handling the other two. Upsetting either of them could cause this one to lash out in defense of them. 

“What’s next?” H’zashi asked once the third and final recording finished. 

“Blood tests,” A’zawa answered, not looking forward to it. 

His sisters fell asleep. 

His sisters fell asleep!

His sisters fell asleep in an alien lab in space!!

The only reason Izuku wasn’t extremely disappointed in them was that they had the excuse of having gotten food poisoning just now. Still, it would have been extremely helpful if they could resist the urge to nap while in an alien lab in space surrounded by alien strangers!!!  

Instead, he had to keep an eye on everything by himself.

Big Bird tried to grab Mina but Izuku was quick to slap away his hand-- talon? --and pull her away. He almost didn’t notice Grumpy Cat moving a machine over Ochako. An annoying whining clued him in, dragging his attention off Big Bird and over to his other sister. He watched for a moment but nothing seemed to be happening. 

Placing Mina back down gently, he headed over to Ochako, sticking his arm in front of the machine to see if it hurt. It didn’t. Grumpy Cat noticed him and moved the machine over to rest in front of him. They were looking at some sort of screen on the other side of it. 

Eventually, the machine was moved further down the table to Mina. Izuku craned his head to catch a glimpse of the screen. It looked kind of like an X-ray. Except it moved. 

And then the aliens started talking amongst themselves again. The machine was put away by Grumpy Cat and Sky Dragon approached the table for the first time. With needles. 

Pardon his language but as Mina would say: absolutely the fuck not. 

Being the only one here certified to provide medical care beyond basic first aid, Oboro would be the one to draw blood samples from the Terrans. And judging by the snarl on the green one’s face, this was going to be a difficult process. They had picked the smallest needles that the medbay had in stock though, so they shouldn’t damage the Terrans’ blood vessels. 

The Terrans had used scalpels to defend themselves earlier, so they weren’t really surprised that the green one recognized the needles and seemingly categorized them as a weapon. 

“A’z, can you restrain the green one?” Oboro requested. Their lovely husband nodded and wrapped both of his tentacles around the green Terran. 

Since the other two were asleep, Oboro figured it’d be best to start with them. But the green one would certainly try to act in defense of them. With A’zawa keeping them out of the way, it wouldn’t be as difficult to get the samples from the sleeping Terrans. 

Feeling along the brown Terran’s limbs, they tried to find a blood vessel that felt like it could handle a blood draw without bursting. There were a few in their arms but they ultimately decided to use a larger one in their leg just to be safe. The Terran flinched and woke up when they inserted the needle but they were sleepy and disoriented. It wasn’t hard to hold them down. 

In A’zawa’s tentacles, the green Terran thrashed and growled. A’zawa let out a clipped yelp when the Terran bit one of the tentacles. Now usually those tentacles didn’t feel much, being more durable than A’zawa’s regular skin, so the Terran had to be biting pretty hard to get a reaction like that. Oboro winced in sympathy and headed over to the pink Terran. 

Soon he had multiple vials from each Terran except for the green one. It took A’zawa’s tentacles as well as his arms, plus H’zashi helping , to hold the Terran still enough for Oboro to get a sample. They weren’t able to get as much blood due to their frantic fighting. 

“Poor thing,” H’zashi cooed softly when the Terran protectively pulled their packmates into a cuddle pile and glared at the adults, who were now trying to give the Terrans space. 

“Poor thing?” A’zawa repeated incredulously, tail thrashing in annoyance. “That poor thing can handle themselves fine! How is something that small even that strong? We can’t bring them home if I can barely restrain them.”

“That’s an easy fix,” H’zashi dismissed. “We’ll just train them!”