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He struggled against the hand that dragged him back, firmly grasped around the back of his shirt.
"Let me go Raven!" He shrieked, attempting to grab at her wrist and tug her away, "He's in there! Let me go!"
"Not a chance." She responded, her voice cold, yet he could hear a hint of worry, "One student in danger is enough. I can't let you run in and get hurt. None of you." She shot a glance over at Shelby, who was being held back by Laura. Otto was unable to hear what they were saying as they screamed over each other.
He eventually wrenched away from her, stumbling back and looking her in the eye. Her face was illuminated by the burning building behind him, and he could see the light of the flame reflecting in her cold, blue eyes as she stared past him. There was a look he rarely ever saw from her.
Fear.
"You want to save him too." He finally spoke, venom leaking into his voice, "Go in there!"
Her gaze snapped towards him, "It's dangerous, Otto, even for me."
As he stared at her, he saw that she was right. Raven was capable of surviving a fire like this in any other situation, but he noticed the new injuries that littered her. She'd be lucky if she could even get to Wing.
She knelt down in front of him, a hand on his shoulder, "Trust me, Otto, you have no idea how badly I wish I could go save him. All we can do right now, though, is wait. I'm sure he'll understand. Besides," a small grin split across her face, "I'm sure we both know how capable he is. I'm partially convinced he's looked the reaper in the eyes and flipped it the bird." She said that last bit with a chuckle. Otto didn't laugh or smile, though. He believed her, of course, but he couldn't shake off the feeling that hung at the back of his mind.
He only stared back, silent, watching as she carefully stood and gently dragged him back to the others. He started to get lost in his thoughts, calculating.
Raven sighed, "I know that look, Malpense. Don't even think about it."
"He can die in there Raven." He said, "I can't just stand by as my best friend burns to death!"
"Otto I understand b-"
"No! No you don't!" He stepped back, his face twisted into a snarl, "There's nothing I can say to make you understand! Someone needs to save him! And if that person is me then so be it!"
He turned, not seeing as she leaped forward to grab him. But, she was too late. He had already sprinted off.
"Otto Malpense! Get your ass back here!" She screamed after him, but her words only fell on deaf ears as he made his way to the blaze in front of him.
The inside was worse than out. It looked as if the devil itself had gone on a rampage. Otto looked around the wreckage, unconsciously scanning the area and calculating the best route.
He knew where Wing was last when they saw each other. Somewhere towards the back of the building, in a room of wires. They had separated just before the fire, and Otto was unable to get to him before being dragged outside by Raven.
Otto picked his way through the fire, making a mental map of the destruction around him as he went. The debris around him made it difficult, creating dead ends or forcing him to climb over burning rubble. Despite the difficulties, though, he continued on. Wing depended on his determination.
After what felt like hours, he stumbled into a large room. There were equipment and terminals scattered everywhere, and he saw wires all over the room. They snaked across the floor and hung from the ceiling, and quite a few of them were set ablaze. He was here. He had to be.
"Wing!" Otto yelled over the crackling fire. He heard no response, but out of the corner of his eye, there was movement. He looked over to see a few wires moving in a strange way, as if something was caught.
He wasted no time, scrambling over to the wires that entangled his friend.
They were wrapped around his limbs and chest, the burning rubber nearly melted into his skin. He looked up at Otto with a look of shock.
"Otto!" His face twisted into a strange grimace, which Otto assumed was an attempt at smiling, "You're here! Oh goodness you're here! Is Raven with you?"
Otto shook his head, "She… erm… couldn't really come. She got pretty beat."
"So she sent you?"
Otto's face went red, "No, not quite."
Wing sighed, shaking his head with a chuckle, "Of course."
Otto knelt down, carefully reaching for the wires. Wing was tangled up pretty good, and the melted rubber didn't make things any easier.
"Alright," he looked at Wing, "I want you to stay very still. This will probably hurt." He demanded, pulling out a knife from his pocket. Wing gave him a look of doubt. "Don't worry. I may have snooped in the Professor's classroom. This is just a mini version of Raven's katanas."
Without waiting any longer, he got to work, staring at the wires around Wings arms. The knife cut through like butter. After freeing one arm, Otto carefully tugged at a wire, attempting to see just how stuck they were. Wing let out a yelp, wrenching away.
This was going to be more difficult than he thought.
Raven paced anxiously in the shroud, lost in thought. Otto had been gone for half an hour, and it was driving her insane.
Luckily, shortly after he foolishly ran off, the shroud finally arrived. Now, all she had to do was wait for the rescue team to return. She hoped at least one of the boys would be in one piece.
"Jeez, Raven." Shelby's voice ripped her out of her thoughts, "you're about to burn a hole into the floor."
She stopped, leaning against the wall with a sigh. "Oh, my apologies for being worried, Trinity." She snapped, causing Shelby to flinch a bit in response.
Laura spoke next, "I'm sure they'll be fine. This is Wing and Otto you're worried about."
"Yea, what Laura said! Those two are expert death evaders." Shelby added.
Raven stayed silent. Those two were right, but nonetheless, the situation was still incredibly stressful. She had no idea what could've happened in there.
"Raven." The voice of the rescue team leader was heard, and she looked over to see him standing by the ramp, Otto by his side, "We found them. Both are alive, but Fanchu is in need of medical attention."
She marched over, completely ignoring the man and looking at the smug little boy next to him.
"Are you insane?! You could've died in there!"
Otto only shrugged, "But I didn't. Plus, if I didn't go in there, Wing would be dead. I found him tangled up in half melted wires."
Before she could respond, she saw Wing being led in carefully by more of the team. She took a good look at him, noticing the burns that snaked around him.
She turned back towards Otto, "I'd ask how you even cut him out, but something tells me that Pike's missing knife has nothing to do with his scrambled mind."
Otto only smiled back and walked past her, going over to where the girls huddled around their injured friend.
She looked back at the team lead, "Go up and let the pilot know we're ready for takeoff. I'll contact Dr. Nero and let him know what happened."
The man nodded and made his way to the cockpit.
She glanced back over to the four students. Wing was still conscious and talking, though making no effort to hide his pain. Otto was also quite scuffed up from his rescue.
She sighed and grabbed her blackbox. This'll be a fun report to give.
"Hello Max. So, there was a bit of a situation...."