Strings (BNHA x OC) [Rewrite]

22 || Traitor

Kurogiri looked up from the tracking device in his hand. "She hasn't moved in the last few hours."

"Compress, we're sending you to get her." Shigaraki said, gesturing to him.

"Alright," Mr. Compress accepted with a nod.

"I will open a warp gate to her location when you are ready," Kurogiri said.

"Just open it," the magician responded swiftly. "I'm ready to get Puppet back."

——

A very recognizable purple warp gate opened in the middle of the cell. At seeing it, Puppet stood up, expecting someone to walk through. Indeed, someone did come through; Mr. Compress stepped through the portal.

She smiled. "Took you long enough."

Mr. Compress' brow furrowed as he looked over his friend. "Your mask..."

"I'll live."

The magician was one of the very few people who had ever seen her without her mask. That went to show how much she truly trusted him.

Mr. Compress took a blue marble out of his pocket and snapped his fingers. The marble decompressed into his blank white mask. He held it out to her. "Here."

She took the mask from his hand and placed it over her face, muttering a simple, "Thanks."

How do you breathe in this thing? she questioned. The mask was slightly oversized, but it wouldn't matter — she wouldn't be wearing it for long.

"Now"—he gently grabbed her hand and led her to the warp gate—"let's get you out of here, my dear."

The two stepped through.

—

Both Puppet and Mr. Compress came out the other side of the warp gate, and it closed momentarily after they were through.

In an instant, Puppet was engulfed in a hug by Hawks. Soon, most of the others joined in the now group hug; the only ones who didn't join in were Shigaraki, Kurogiri, and Dabi. Even Toga hopped her way over on her one good leg to join in.

"It's getting hard to breathe," Puppet let out in a high pitch, the others were squeezing her too tight. It didn't help that she wasn't an overly affectionate person and wasn't much of a hugger.

"Oops." Magne was the first to break out of the hug, followed by Twice, Toga, then Hawks, and finally, Mr. Compress.

"Well? What happened in Tartarus?" Shigaraki asked Puppet.

"For starters, they took my mask."

"I can see that."

"Hey, hey!" Twice caught the room's attention. "I can help with that!" He held up a mask that was identical to Puppet's old one. He handed it to her.

She took the mask with a simple, "Thanks." She turned away to face a wall, hiding her face from view. She took off the mask that Mr. Compress had let her borrow, replacing it with the one from Twice. Once it was secured, she turned back around to the group and handed the blank mask back to its owner. The magician took his mask back and compressed it, putting it in his pocket.

"What else happened?" Kurogiri asked.

"They interrogated me, got little out of it though," Puppet explained.

"Good to know you're stubborn," Twice commented.

"Yeah... I guess." Puppet said back, "But in all seriousness, how did the heroes find us?"