Work Text:
WHAM
“Ah… Those poor bastards don’t stand a chance.”
Sipping his coffee with a small, proud smile Corvus hummed in amusement as he watched Guita in her level 1 kaiju form throw another Marauder onto a mattress 30ft away. A few days ago when he’d announced that the Marauders had gotten wind that Semiu would be gone and were planning some revenge on his cleaners to get back at her for the last ass whooping everyone had been annoyed. Multiple accusations of them being “sore losers” were brought up but he’d just warned everyone to be on the lookout and if someone came knocking for trouble to deal with it.
Now Team Child, Akuta and a couple others were all outside putting their rusty hand to hand combat skills to use. “Well not too rusty.” he thought as he watched Gris throw man after woman to the ground. The only two not actively in the fight that he could see were Fu and Amo. Amo was still offering support to the others with her smells, making the marauders turn on each other and Fu was carrying her on his shoulders well offering words of encouragement. Honestly these days it wasn’t unusual to see Fu carrying Amo around at all. Those two in particular had become inseparable since their nearly unanimous arrival. The disastrous Doll Festival and events afterwards had bonded them closer as friends.
Seeing two wayward souls like them find each other and form a deep friendship was heartwarming.
Maybe It Was Because He Was Watching Them It Was The Only Reason This Marauder Lived…
It happened faster than Fu or Amo could react. It seemed one of the marauders had figured out the trick to Amo’s boots and had slipped his mask on to block her powers. The man snuck up on them quickly and pushed both Fu and Amo with one hand, slipping his other hand into Fu’s cleaner uniform pocket. Fu stumbled a few feet, too focused on keeping Amo steady, before they both whirled around to face their assailant.
Only for Fu to freeze.
Corvus felt his own blood turn to ice in his veins when he saw what had given Fu pause. The marauder was holding Hii in his hands, dangling the little doll above his head mockingly. “I’ve heard of you from one of my raider friends, you little desserter.” He could faintly read the man's lips from where he sat. “Now that I have this ugly little thing.” The man Corvus saw him mouth, giving Hii a small shake from where he was holding him over his head “How could a weakling like you ever take it back?” Corvus couldn’t see Fu’s face but he could see his body shaking, with rage or with fear Corvus didn’t know. He could also see Amo’s sudden look of terror as her lips formed Fu’s name.
“We’ll That's Not Good…”
Suddenly Fu threw Amo off of him into the arms of a nearby Rudo making her let out a shriek he could hear through his window before lunging at the marauder, startling everyone. Fu began to viciously claw and kick and scratch and bite at Hii’s kidnapper, clearly having been thrown into a frenzied panic. The man was screaming and trying to pull Fu off of him with one hand instead of just dropping Hii to defend himself. Fu reared back slightly only to slam his head directly into the others, butting their heads harshly making the marauder lose his balance. They both crashed to the ground as Fu continued his attack.
The fighting around the pair stopped as the other marauders retreated in fear and his cleaners looked on with horror at Fu’s viciousness. Both Enjin and Gris instantly broke into a sprint to get to Fu too and try to pull him off. Gris made it to the boy first but when he grabbed his arm Fu just knocked him away with ease and continued tearing into the quickly stilling man. Enjin ran past Gris’s dazed form on the ground and began trying to pull Fu off by his clothes, shouting an order for Fu to stop but Fu just ignored him and continued his attack.
He needed to handle this himself. Immediately.
Whisking out of his office as fast as he could he hurried down the corridors to the front lawn where the scrap was taking place. He made it to the bases front doors in record time and arrived outside just in time to see that the marauders mask had been pulled off and Fu was ripping off a good portion of the man's jaw with his teeth as Enjin failed to pull him off the man's mangled form.
The carnage had become even more severe in the short time Corvus traveled from his office to outside. Underneath Fu the man’s face was completely disfigured. One of his eyeballs popped and his other hanging out of his socket by its optic nerve. Claw marks running down his face and neck left shredded flesh swinging grotesquely with each of Fu’s continuous attacks. Fu had even bitten off the man's nose but it seemed he couldn’t stomach human flesh because it had been vomited up along with the rest of Fu’s stomach contents all over the man. There were vivid bite marks and quickly blooming bruises appearing as well but Fu wasn’t stopping even as the man laid limp.
Enjin was still trying to pry him off as Corvus drew closer but he could see that Fu couldn’t hear his “host’ at all, still sobbing and shrieking in panic with vomit dripping down his chin. Enjin gave Corvus a lost and panicked look that reminded him of years long past, yellow eyes moving between Fu’s continuous assault and Corvus with a silent plea for help. He couldn’t blame him, he imagined Fu was much stronger than most bargained for…
Reaching into the bloodied man's hand he gently pulled Hii from the slacked grip and raised him into Fu’s eyeline with a blank look, not wanting to continue upsetting the boy by showing emotions that could be misinterpreted. The boy's head whipped to the side and he almost looked ready to pounce on Corvus next before he registered Hii in his grasp. The small teen snatched his beloved object away from Corvus and flopped sideways off his victim, curling in on himself and muttering to the small object with relief, small choked sobs breaking up every word. Corvus looked back to Enjin who was looking just as relieved as Fu that everything was over.
“Find Eishia please and get her over here quickly. I don't want this man to die and for Fu to be in too much trouble.” he said calmly and Enjin nodded before quickly departing. Turning his attention back to Fu who had started to settle down the foggy panic in his eyes was receding to make way for exhaustion. He was clear minded enough to recognize that Corvus was crouched beside him and didn’t do much but whine in pain as Corvus draped his jacket over him. It seemed Fu would need a visit from Eishia after she resurrected the man on the ground.
Scooping Fu up into his arms he turned around to begin heading to the infirmary but he could see a gaggle of his cleaners staring at him. The others who had stepped out to defend them from their attackers were worriedly hovering nearby. Amo in particular was looking upset from Rudo’s arms that Fu was being carried off in such a state despite her previously rough treatment.
“He’ll be alright everyone, nothing Eishia and a little rest can’t fix.” He said placatingly, walking back inside “The rest of you should clean up and find something relaxing to do.”. At his dismissal they all began to shuffle awkwardly but he could hear them moving to follow him inside even if they went in different directions.
Doing his best to not jostle Fu around too much as he walked to the infirmary he could hear faint talking muffled by his coat. “Sorry I’m sorry…. Just got scared because he took you… I’m sorry Master Hii I know… Yes I’ll let you… Yes I understand I’m sorry…”.
It seemed Hii himself was quite upset at Fu… interesting.
They made it to the infirmary and Corvus gently placed Fu on one of the beds before grabbing a chair and pulling it next to the bedside. He could see Fu shuffling slightly under his coat but it wasn’t till Eishia appeared to finally heal him that he came out. Eishia always examined whoever she was healing before using her vital instrument to make sure she didn’t miss anything and this time was no exception. Corvus stayed silent and took in the information Eishia explained to Fu as she examined his bloodied form.
The marauder had managed to get in a few blows himself but most of Fu’s damage had been self inflicted. The teen had managed to rip up all his nails from the sheer force of how hard he’d scratched the other, even having broken the ring finger on his left hand from force alone, having probably snagged it in the man's clothes while attacking. He’d chipped his teeth from biting at the other's face and hitting jaw bone. Fu had also managed to give himself a concussion from headbutting the man since he’d actually been wearing metal goggles.
Eishia quickly used her instrument before backing up swiftly, avoiding looking at either of them and muttering a small “Please eat something light.” before making a hasty retreat. If only that girl could get a little more confidence but honestly she probably knew that Corvus wanted to speak to Fu now that he was physically ok, so he’d let her run off for now.
“I’m sorry… Are… you going to get rid of me now?...Should I go pack?” The boy spoke, voice soft with despair and guilt. Corvus could pretend to be surprised Fu thought they were going to get rid of him but he had expected this. “No Fu there is no need to pack, you're still a cleaner.”
“...Oh…” Fu said voice still soft but disbelief was now coloring his tone next to the guilt. The boy hadn’t looked at him once since speaking, just down at his hands turning them over and over again. Eishia may have healed his wounds but the blood still coated them. The man's blood was drying on them and Corvus could see how when Fu flexed his hands it would crackle across his skin to bend with the folds of his palms. “You know you’re not the only person here to have lashed out when someone took their vital instrument from them.” he began trying to level with the boy but Fu interrupted him.
“I know Corvus sir but I’ve always been told I take it too far, that man is lucky to be alive, lucky you all pulled me off…” Fu said gravely, clenching his fists. It wasn’t unusual to see the boy somber but maybe it was because he was covered in blood he looked more miserable than usual. It pained him to see one of the kids under his protection like this so he pushed on.
“Yes, I bet there have been moments where you have taken defending Hii too far, but do you wanna know who else has taken things too far to protect a vital instrument?” he questioned. Fu finally looked at him since they’d started talking to peer at him curiously, somber expression slightly giving way. “Yours truly hit someone with a car once to get anothers item back.” He said pointing at himself with a small smirk and Fu’s jaw dropped as he gaped at him in shock.
“You!?” he gasped “You’ve hit someone with a car!?” Corvus laughed at his disbelief and gave a quick nod “Yes, Enjin, Semiu and Gris were there they can confirm. We were in quite the predicament and I acted on impulse.”. Fu kept staring at him in shock for a moment longer before he wilted in on himself again. “But you did it to help someone else… Someone others can also see and hear.”
“That may be true but you did it to protect someone who couldn't protect themselves in that moment and I find that just as admirable.” He said, reaching out and putting his hand on Fu’s shoulder. “Listen I know it must be hard since most others don’t believe you about Hii but let me tell you that I believe you. I imagine it’s been you and Hii against the world for a very long time and that you both feel awful about not being able to protect the other today. Am I wrong?” Fu gave a small, soft “Yes” letting Corvus know to press on “Now that you're one of us we’ll protect you and help you move forward. Both you and Hii, do you understand me?”
“Ye..Yes Sir.” Fu said through the beginning of a choked off sob, fresh tears springing to his eyes. Giving Fu’s shoulder a small rub of comfort he kept it up as the boy broke down again until he heard a hesitant voice pipe up from behind them near the entrance.
“Is… Is Fu ok now? Amo forgives him for throwing her, Rudo’s not angry either…” Amo said, pushing a furiously nodding Rudo forward “Yeah! I don’t think I wouldn’t have been able to keep my cool either if someone took 3-R!”. Fu looked a little lost at what they were talking about before Corvus could see the memory click behind his eyes and he flushed red. “Oh man I’m so sorry Miss Amo! I’d Never! Not On Purpose!” The teen began to stutter, standing up with a bit of struggle before starting to go towards the other two who recoiled in panic.
“You’re! You're Still Covered In Vomit So Amo Prepared You A Change Of Clothes! In Your Room! Go Clean Up So You, Her, And Rudo Can Get Lunch, That's An Order!” The girl said hurriedly waving her arms in front of herself and Fu stopped to process what she said before standing ramrod straight and giving a salute. “Yes Ma’am!” He said before hurrying past them to follow Amo’s order. The other two children looked at each other with relief and amusement behind Fu’s retreating back before presumably heading to the cafeteria to wait for him.
Leaving behind Corvus and his bloody coat.
Heaving a sigh he stood and collected his coat, brain buzzing. He knew he’d also have to talk to Enjin about this next and that the younger man was definitely shaken up by this like everyone else, even if he hid it well. Today had been an unwelcome gauge of how strong Fu alone without Hii could be, even if most of it was adrenaline. Fu had been such a shy, well mannered child so far and his obsession with following orders, especially Enjin’s, must have made the sudden disobedience jarring. That and the gratuitous violence he couldn’t stop. Corvus would also have to check on Gris, seeing as the boy had easily tossed him aside.
For now though he would need to run his coat through the washer. The leftover blood from this bitter incident was becoming sticky on his hands.