Twisted Nightmares

Chapter 1

Just a nightmare?


The first time it had happened, Mineta wished it was just a nightmare. An attack on the campsite was impossible, right? They said it was safe from any villain attack! Or so they thought. They certainly hadn't been safe in the USJ, Aizawa's scars could attest to that. Maybe in another universe, Mineta would be frozen to the ground, terrified and unmoving as the villains walked towards them with malicious intent. Perhaps he'd be fine if he hadn't switched spots with Pixie Bob, he'd be watching her crippled body hit the floor while he was stuck to the ground.

But fate had different ideas. Mineta knew something was very as he found himself spotting some... stranger holding a rather strange object. What was that, a giant salt block?What kind of villain carries around a salt block? Weren't those things for animals like cattle to lick? Strange weapon of choice, for a villain. And Mineta had seen a very colorful cast of characters during the USJ attack, and half of them had some weird object they seemed to fashion as a weapon. Well, if he was trying to stick out, he was doing a damn fine job. It was obvious it was a villain by now. The odd looking villain licked his lips while eyeing the Pro Hero Pixie Bob, who, like everyone else in the group, was focused on the purple smoke and the odd scent in the air. The purple smoke had just appeared a few minutes ago, with a burning scent along with the threatening looking clouds currently in the sky. Mineta knew he had a matter of seconds. He had to do something. He couldn't stand by and watch as a Pro Hero get bludgeoned to death. The gruesome image in his head shaking him to his core. He could not let this happen. He refused.

All rational thought left his head. He had to save her. He had to act fast.

And so, Mineta acted.

Mineta knew he couldn't just "push" her out of the way, given his small size. Mineta knew damn well that he was basically a soccer ball to everyone at UA, especially during training. He'd have to try something a bit more riskier if he wanted her to move. If he missed, Pixie would probably be dead. The thought of that disturbed the grape boy greatly.

"LOOK OUT!"

He immediately began sprinting as fast as he could, ignoring the screaming protest of his muscles. He barreled towards his one and only target; Pixie Bob. The Pussycat turned towards him instead of heeding his warning. Turn around, dammit! You're about to die!

He noticed one of those oddly dressed villains had turned towards him at the sound of him calling Pixie. He unintentionally had just bought himself a few more seconds. Precious time he needed, and was very thankful for.

Pixie didn't move, which was good and bad. Pixie not moving meant she was still in range of the villains. But, standing still she made an easy target for Mineta to throw himself at.

He noticed that Pixie Bob had at least turned at the sound of the tinny voice. So that meant she had spotted him, which Mineta was slightly happy for.

Pixie Bob rolled her eyes at the sight of him sprinting towards her as fast as he could. He didn't blame her. With his current reputation, Mineta figured she expected him to latch on to her leg or something. She appeared to have angled her leg, probably to give him a good punt in the crotch. Given his social status as the school pervert, he couldn't exactly blame her.

As he homed in on the target, the surprised look on her face told him she hadn't expected for him to jump straight at her, with arms out to push her away from the danger.

Please work , please work...

WHUMP

A direct hit. The catlike Pro Hero was slammed in the stomach by the human projectile.

He couldn't of landed a more direct hit if he had asked for one. It was a direct bullseye. If Snipe was there, he probably would have tipped his hat. Mineta felt a pang of satisfaction as he saw Pixie stumble back a nice amount of feet. Away from danger. Away from the villains. Her wide eyed expression and open mouth upon impact was a telltale sign that he'd knocked the wind out of her. But she was out of danger, and that was all that mattered.

Pixie Bob quickly regained her composure, which was no surprise. Pro Heroes were known for quick recovery in combat. She stood up and shot the grape boy a glare. Her icy look told him that he was in for a scolding.

But the scolding seemed to have sudden cancellation, because her face quickly turned into one of alarm.

Mineta suddenly felt surprisingly weightless, and when he looked at himself he noticed he seemed to be glowing? He usually didn't glow. Actually, he never remembered glowing at all. Then the realization settled in that he was floating. He struggled, a cry for help threatened to escape his throat.

He couldn't scream. Was he so afraid that he had lost the ability to speak?

Then, an invisible force seemed to violently pull at him, forcing him towards the trees.

The trees where the villains stood. Oh right, villains. I didn't think this far ahead.

Mineta noticed they had a brief expression at surprise at the new choice of prey, but they quickly began smiling evilly once they saw the look of terror on Mineta's face. Looks like a single UA student was good enough for these villains.

"Mineta?!" A voice cried at the sight of the boy being yanked towards the strangers. Mineta recognized the voice as Iida, the class rep of their class at UA. He was famous for his heroic family heritage, and was probably the fastest person in their class, thanks to his popular Engine quirk. And now he stood watching as Mineta was brought closer and closer to the villain's grasp.

Something told Mineta that these villains were no longer looking for any hostages.

What happened next, would be burned into his mind forever and ever.

An old saying went that the first time you did something you really didn't want to do, would be the worst time, and would get easier over time. That saying couldn't be anymore wrong.

Not to say the first time would be a nice experience or anything.

Mineta felt the wind get knocked out of him as the giant block was violently rammed into his frail little ribcage, multiple sickening cracks could be heard from anyone nearby., and he was pinned to the cold forest ground by the villain.

Mineta had never felt pain like this before. Sure, the grape boy had his fair share of being occasionally shoved into lockers, or getting a beat down during combat hero training, but nothing could compare to his ribs snapping and breaking inwards. Mineta tried not to scream as he physically felt the jagged ends of his broken ribs puncture several internal organs inside him. But the agonizing pain proved to be too much. He cried out in agony, but shortly lowered into a pitiful whine as his ribcage was easily crushed by the block carried by the strange sunglasses wearing villain. The browned haired man was now accompanied by a green scaly man with a giant sword that was probably bigger than Mineta He also wore a mask that eerily was similar to the mask wore by Stain, the infamous hero killer. Must be a fanboy.

"Mineta!" A green haired boy cried, bounding towards the injured boy pinned by the block.

The boy in question coughed up blood. The block effectively crunching his ribs, and his innards. He began to choke on his own blood. Every breath he gasped out felt like needles in his lungs and chest. It felt like boiling water when he coughed up blood. Some of the broken ribs probably had pierced an organ or two. He couldn't even talk, it hurt so bad.

Pixie Bob leaped into action, summoning an earth flow to knock the two offending villains off their feet, and the tailed student Ojiro, being agile as he was, utilized his tail and acrobatics and leaped and effortlessly caught the crippled boy. After catching Mineta, he landed and quickly brought him back into the safety of the group. Mineta groaned as his tailed classmate lowered him onto the cold earth.

Even being in the comforting presence of his friends and the Pro Heroes, Mineta felt something else other then pain begin to bubble up in his chest. Something way more horrifying then the pain in his chest.

Fear.

He was dying. Actually dying. He realized it with horror as his hands grabbed at the gaping wound caused by the block. He felt nauseous as he ran his hands along his wound, feeling his shattered ribs under his skin. He swallowed a sob. Mineta was acutely aware that his friends were gathered around him, he caught small parts of what they were trying to say to him, everything was getting a little fuzzy, and he started to hear snippets.

"Mineta! Stay with us!" Was that Iida? It was hard to tell. Everything was hurting. Certainly sounded like him, the Class Rep loved to yell, didn't he?

"Oh stars, he's bleeding everywhere..." That sounded like Mandalay, the other Pussycat. It seems the other Pussycat had joined the group currently huddled around the small boy. He wanted to say something, anything. but he feared it would waste his energy. For how little he had left, anyways. The very thought of his essence was basically flowing out in front of him was terrifying.

"Don't fall asleep Mineta, you've got to hold on.." Midoriya said, his voice shaking with sorrow.

Mineta eventually complied, and forced his beady little eyes open, and the fear of death gripped his heart, well what was left of it anyways. Mineta was pretty sure the block probably smashed his little two fist sized organ. He couldn't feel his heartbeat anymore.

Mineta was known to get upset pretty fast in bad situations. Especially during the attack at the USJ, where he had cried multiple times. But his emotions eventually were too much, and he let out a sob. One full of fear, horror, and sadness, while occasionally coughing up blood. What would happen after it went black? Was it nothing, pure darkness for eternity and he'd stop thinking? He'd never graduate UA with his mother there in the crowd, clapping with happy tears in her eyes.

His mother. He would never see his mom again. He'd never hug her when he was feeling sad, or had a bad dream. She'd never be able to wipe away his tears when he got upset and teared up. He'd never hug her again. He'd never tell her about how his day was when he returned home. Never again.

I don't want to die.

I don't want to sleep.

I don't want it to go dark.

His classmates seemed to realize as well there was nothing they could do for the poor boy. Mineta was going to die a horrible, gruesome death, and there was nothing he could do. To say he was afraid would be a massive understatement. The terror of the unforgiving darkness of death was the scariest thing Mineta could imagine.

His terror however, was momentarily forgotten about thanks to a certain blue Pussycat.

"Mineta." Her voice was so soft, it was almost a whisper.

The boy in question forced his eyes towards the woman in blue who was crouched by his barely moving form. She had a serious look in her eyes, and a sad smile graced her features.

Pixie Bob looked at him, tears in her eyes. "Thank you." Pixie said, sincerity clear in her voice.

Mineta thought his hearing was going away as well. Because out of all the things he had expected her to say, her thanking him wasn't on his list. He didn't deserve it, as far as he knew.

"Wh-what?" Mineta managed to gasp out, his voice a balance of pain and confusion.

The blue clad pussycat sniffed, tears flowing out of her sky blue eyes. She wiped away at the tears, as they starting blurring her vision."You saved my life, Mineta. I'd probably be dead right now if weren't for you." But slowly her sad smile died. "But I'm so sorry. So, so, sorry. It should have been me who took the hit. I wasn't paying attention. And now you're paying for my mistake. It's because of me you're dying now. Some hero I am, huh?" Pixie said.

She felt awful. She was completely ignorant of the danger that was before them, and now it costed her a life of a child.

Mineta let out another sob, this time out of sadness instead of terror. His sniffling was followed by grotesquely coughing more blood, splattering against his shirt, coloring his shirt a grotesque crimson. He coughed again, and more blood came out, also sprinkling on anyone unfortunate enough to be crouching too close to him. The area around his mouth was now painted a dark red, the blood reflecting in the luminescent glow from the moon. "I-I.. I'm glad you're okay." Mineta managed to croak out. "It's what Midoriya would of done."

It was true. Midoriya was a true hero, and Mineta wanted to be like his new idol. If he just stood there, what hero would he be?

Midoriya's eyes widened at the mention of his name. "Mineta, what are you talking about?"

Despite the agony of his upper torso being crushed, his ribs shattered and causing gruesome amount of damage to his organs, Mineta managed a pathetically small smile. "M-Midoriya, do you remember USJ? When the villains a-attacked us?"

He nodded. Mineta continued, "I was a blubbering baby when we were on that boat, screaming about how I was 'useless' and that we were 'probably going to die'. But you kept a straight face, smiled and came up with a plan. You were the bravest person there. You were... really c-cool. I wanted to be like you. I wanted to be a h-hero."

Izuku's eyes glistened with tears at the praise from the dying boy. He'd never heard such sincerity from the grape boy, and his kind words made Midoriya's chest hurt."You were a hero Mineta. You saved a person from harm, a Pro Hero no less. Isn't that what heroes do? You didn't hesitate, Mineta. You just moved without thinking right?" Midoriya quoted his idol All Might, the Pro Hero saying how heroes "act without thinking". The purple boy nodded as best he could. "That's what heroes do. You were.. no, you are a hero. I'm sorry this happened to you." Midoriya said.

Mineta couldn't tell if he was crying now because of the pain, or he was crying from people him that he finally was a hero. Just like All Might. Just like Midoriya. Was he a hero now as well?

"M-Miss Pixie?" Pixie lowered herself closer to Mineta at the sound of her name. She had to lean closer, as Mineta's voice had lowered considerably because of his weakening body. His energy was slowly dissipating. Mineta looked her right in the eye, tears spilling out of his little eyes.

"I'm scared." Mineta's voice was filled with terror and uncertainty. His voice was even shakier then before.

He heard a sob come from somewhere else. Iida had begun to cry as well, the normally composed boy finally let his mask break, and let the tears flow. Mineta felt oddly touched that Iida cared for him. He didn't deserve it.

Pixie said nothing but silently embraced Mineta. No words needed to be said anymore. As much as she hated to admit it, Mineta was going to die. If he was going to die, he might as well be in the presence of people who cared for him. It was the least she could do for the poor kid, right?

"O-oh god..." Mineta's panicked whisper made Pixie look at the boy, who was now weakly looking everywhere, as if searching for something.

"Mineta?" Ojiro whispered, the tailed boy now joining the group circled around Mineta. He had a horrified look in his slightly glassy eyes.

"I.. think I-I'm... I don't want to d-die... I don't w-want to die... I'm sorry...M-Momma, help me. I'm scared Momma." The teary eyed boy began to weakly gasp in and out quickly, as if he was choking on air. He was close to death. He could feel it.

The sight of the small boy choking made Midoriya panic. "Mineta, no! Just hold on! We can..." his voice faded once he saw the blue cat hero's solemn expression after she looked up at Midoriya. She sadly shook her head. He had to accept the reality. This was it for Grape Juice. And there was nothing they could do. He was about to die.

One final gasp, and the flicker of light in Mineta's eyes finally faded. He went limp. Lifeless.

Dead.

The only sound now was the blood drops splatting wetly against the cold ground.

Dead.

Pixie's grip tightened, as the green boy sitting next to her finally began to sob as well, mourning the innocent boy.

Dead.

Her train of thought was not of mourning the poor boy who had died an awful death.

No, it was anger. Scratch that, she was fucking LIVID. These villains showed up, completely disregarding a child's life like it was disposable. A red haze began to cloud her vision. She wasn't focused on beating the villains anymore. She was focused on beating the villains. Her anger was only shown through the hatred that burned in her eyes.

"Miss Pixie?" Midoriya manged to choke out. Tears still came out of his eyes, and he faced the angered Pro Hero.

"Midoriya, do you think you could check up on Koda? I don't like him being alone, you know where he is, right?" Pixie asked with a chillingly calm tone. She knew Midoriya had visited Koda the other night.

Midoriya reluctantly nodded. He took one last look at the still form of Mineta, who's eyes were dull and lifeless. He wiped the tears away and sprinted past his mourning friends into the darkness.

Hang on, Koda.


The Pro Hero Tiger was currently keeping both villains busy as best as he could, but he was struggling with the block one, who somehow predicted his moves and dodged while taunting the hero. It was getting pretty annoying.

The lizard villain screamed about how they "Weren't real heroes" and swung his massive blade like a maniac. Juggling both was proving to be a challenge. But the lizard one was less annoying, especially as the only things he said were probably recycled Stain quotes he saw on the internet.

Suddenly, a giant land mass came from behind him, and unceremoniously threw the lizard one into a tree.

"Tiger!" Pixie said, running to stand by his side. Tiger felt grateful that one of his comrades had finally come. This situation was getting back.

"Pixie." Tiger nodded back. However a thought crossed his mind. The grape haired kid, what happened to him? He risked a glance behind him. The students were sobbing around what was presumably the kid. Their crouched forms blocked his view. "What about the boy?"

It was then he took a closer look at his fellow Pussycat standing in front of him. Her hair was disheveled, and her eyes were slightly pink. A few fresh tears ran over dried marks on her cheeks. That wasn't a good sign.

His fears were confirmed when Pixie just looked at him sadly, and shook her head. "He's gone."

Tiger's paw somehow managed to curl into a fist. He was angry now. Villains had came and killed an innocent boy. The villain's sadism gave Tiger another reason to despise these villains. They had treated a murder of a boy like it was inconsequential. They clearly did not care for the life of an innocent little child.

Pixie began to stalk forward, glaring at the reptile, hatred burning in her normally calm eyes. This villain was going to suffer for what he did. She'd make sure of that for sure.

"I'm going to peel off your scales one by one." Pixie said, extending her claws. She did not stop her advances towards the unlucky villain.

The villain gulped.


"Minoru!"

What? What's going on? Is this the afterlife? Am I stuck between Heaven and Hell or something? It doesn't look too awful, but it doesn't look to great either.

"Sweetie, wake up!"

Mineta opened his eyes, and was acutely aware that his eyes were wet with tears. What had happened? Was he in a hospital? The room was dark, other then the light coming out of the door of his... room? He was acutely aware of the shadow that loomed over him. Fear gripped his heart for a second, but then he recognized the voice.

His mom.

His mom was sitting on his bed, hands on his shoulders. "Sweetie, it was just a bad dream."

Was it? It felt sickeningly real. His hand felt around his chest where the item had been shoved into his ribs, where the jagged edges plunged into his innards.

Nothing. Not a single scratch. He felt another sob threatening to escape his mouth.

That...that was horrible.

Mineta was aware that his mother now was hugging him, whispering words of comfort. The reality of the situation settled in.

It was just a dream. Thank All Might. He began to cry again, hugging his mother and burying his face into her embrace, the comfort of a loving mother was something that seemed to be able to fix anything.

It was just a dream.

….Right?


Hey guys, if you're a new reader...welcome to twisted nightmares! As of right now, only chapter one has been rewritten! So please excuse the lower quality chapters later on! I'm going to get on them ASAP. As to my older readers, I'm going to try doing both when I get the time, but you've all probably seen my update post. I'm gonna do my best though! Plus Ultra! If you enjoy my work, please consider Review/Follow/Fav the story! Bye!