Alright, I have been siting on this thing quite some time now... and it is collecting Dust (hehe see what I did there?). Might as well post it if some people are going to enjoy it, who knows. I will probably post the rest. Although I should really get back to my MHA/Naruto crossover fic...

Enjoy

Nothing…

A cold void…

I was floating in a sea of darkness… unable to tell how I got there in the first place.

My memories were sluggish, obstructed by a veil of mist that was slowly being lifted, if only partially.

I could still "feel" my body, but couldn't really use it, couldn't move. The realization made me panic for a moment, like those night terror when one wouldn't be quite awake nor asleep, consciousness fading in between, unable to move. Night paralysis I believe it was called.

Having my body betraying me would probably always be one of my most horrible experiences. Wanting to do something, knowing that I could…that I should be able to, and yet... I couldn't. It remained impossible to achieve…

It was in this state that I found myself, adrift in empty space. It was neither really cold nor warm, although, I would probably describe it as being on the chilly side. Not only because I was sensitive to cold but because the simple notion of being here was unpleasant. Even more so when I realized I had no idea what here was to begin with, thinking about it…

Was it a dream? The thought was unlikely… even for a lucid one. My consciousness was way too good for this to merely be a construct of my imagination… For starter, I was able to think logically, even count time in my head, and neither the landscape, if it could even be called as such, neither my rambling changed erratically and randomly as dream oft would. One might hesitate while asleep, confusing dreams with reality, but when awake, there would be no hesitation, we just… knew it to be reality. Be it by touch, smell, or whatever over senses one could muster. The sheer amount of information would be too important and too consistent… in a way that dreams simply could not hope to replicate…

So, this was not a dream… was the conclusion I came to. As for what it was, I still had no idea…

I should be afraid, terrified even, but somehow I was not… I couldn't help but remember a quote I had heard before… at least I think I heard it? It was about fear being one of the eldest emotions of man, and among it fear of the unknown being the greatest… Well given the state I was in, I tended to disagree, none of what surrounded my being, if there was even something out there, was known to me, not even remotely… and yet I just didn't fear.

In fact, there was a lot of thing that I couldn't feel… Looking back at it, in hindsight, maybe I should have been afraid.

It would in fact have been a perfectly apt reaction…

I awoke in an enclosed space, frightened by what I had experienced. 'So it was a dream after all?' I couldn't help but think in a self-mocking tone. I had been so sure of myself…

I would probably have continued on this line of thought if I didn't realize that something was… off…about me. I couldn't quite remember… a whole lot of thing actually. My name, for starter, and I was pretty sure I had known it for a long time… around at least… well… that was the thing wasn't it? I couldn't remember how old I was supposed to be either. This certainly had me panic.

I tried to move myself, get up, but I couldn't, not that I didn't have a body this time unlike when I was floating in the dark space, no, I could tell I had one, but, it just… wouldn't move, no matter the amount of trying. The thing just refused to respond to my command.

Did I become tetraplegic in my sleep? Did I somehow hurt my spine falling of a bed or something? Was that even a thing? It didn't make sense… and why was it so hard to see? I couldn't even bring focus to my eyes. Everything was shifting and moving all around me, blurry and vague. Shapes shifted into one another in a meltdown of bright and gaudy colors flowing endlessly, never bothering to stop at any particular moment to form something vaguely familiar.

I had to concentrate a lot, to see, and it was just something I shouldn't have to do. I should just be able to see, point! And yet, I had to push myself beyond limits just so I could do what should be some of the most basic of passive human physiology… shit. 'What's happening to me?'

I began to hyperventilate as I felt cold sweat running down my back. First a strange dream, then an unmovable body and now I was going blind? 'I have to calm myself. 'I repeated in my mind like a mantra. Taking deep breaths, in and out…

There it was, after untold amount of self-eye-wrestling, if the term even made sense. I could discern a grey and tern ceiling; there was a light on as well. A whole row of them actually, deep neon white-blue tubes, encased in plain metallic protections, that hummed quietly as they bathed the place in a pale embrace.

That was when I saw it… my body, that is. Small, round and greasy, with folds made of fat and extremities that might have well been stumps for there was no way, absolutely no way in hell any human being would be able to stand on those… or catch anything really. At least, no adult ever would. But that was the thing. This… wasn't an adult body…

Naturally, being the highly sophisticated and intelligent person that I was, totally not frightened at that very moment, I did as any sane adult with a bit of wit and two functioning brain cells to rub against each other would do in this perfectly normal situation:

I screamed.

I screamed a lot and struggled with the cover I was encased in. I tried to bump the plastic border of the coffin I was trapped in. The only thing I heard was a cry, a baby cry I noted, probably my own. Soon it was answered by a cacophony of many other cries. And I realized I wasn't the only baby in the room.

"Where the fuck did he go!? "A hoarsely voice roared, somewhere in the building. It didn't come from this room, but it was close by.

This definitely came from an adult though, a man judging by the voice. A very angry man, by the sound of it… one that was exasperated by whatever was happening.

I was never good with crying babies myself, so I could relate… although… I suspected it had nothing to do with that.

"No idea sir, he simply went and vanished." I heard another muffled voice reply in a hurried tone.

"What do you fucking mean vanished?! What about security cameras? Why do you think they are here for?"

"Security feeds have been disabled, he probably tempered with the server as well. All we know from oral reports is that he was seen in this room, sir."

I heard the sound of a door hissing open, rapidly followed by heavy footstep. It was close, very close. This meant that whoever was shouting was now in the same room I was.

"I want a security team after him as soon as possible. And send someone down to salvage whatever we can from the server."

"Now, what was he doing here?"

I silently listened to the voices, trying to make sense of their discussion or, at least, get some clues about where I was or why was I in a baby body.

I heard them stop just nearby, and I swore, I couldn't tell how, but I swore that I felt them looking at me.

"Well, would you look at that? It appears there has been some sort of mismanagement..."

I heard the man say, though this time it got me a bit anxious. The way he phrased it was anything but reassuring. In fact it sounded down right threatening for some reason…

"You..." I heard the voice come even closer now.

And I was suddenly lifted in the air, by a hand I realized. Probably attached to the very same intimidating man I kept hearing.

I tried to wiggle to get away, or at the very least, get a better look of what was going on around me.

From my elevated position I could see the cradle I had been taken out of, a simple square-ish semitransparent plastic box with a white blanket.

What really stood out was the rest of the place, though.

The room wasn't exactly distinctive in itself, a very simple rectangular one with white floor tiles. A very trivial and ordinary room, all things considered… if it wasn't for one simple feature.

It wasn't the fact that the place didn't have any form of window or decorations making it look like an illegal underground facility…

It wasn't the fact the lighting had somehow changed without me realizing it, no. Although the silent rotating security beacons, alternately plunging the room in darkness and a deep crimson, did gave it a ghastly ambiance. No it wasn't that either.

The nearly endless amount of plastic cradles extending as far as the eye could see on the other hand?

That… that was anything but normal...

I watched in muted horror at rows upon rows of containers, ever extending in a neat and organized fashion. The sheer amount alone made it disturbing to look at. Now, considering the fact they probably all held babies… that was downright terrifying.

"Yes… you will do nicely."

I had almost forgotten the man that held me as I was flabbergasted by whatever was going on down there. What could people even do with that amount of newborn? Nothing good that was what.

My custodian rotated me in his palm, eyeing me with rapt attention. I could now see the face of the man who was apparently weighting me, judging by the lights up and down shakes he made with his hand.

He looked pleased somehow… as pleased as his very angular and scary looking face that screamed 'Im gonna murder you in yar sleep twerp' could be. And that was all but reassuring.

"Hum… look healthy enough… certainly bigger than the other scrawny things around…"

I saw his emerald eyes glint and narrow as he scrutinized me even more closely… almost, suspiciously even.

Standing where I was, it looked more like a very dangerous predator curiously looking at an interesting bug. One he would play with a bit, before ripping it apart… I couldn't tell what would interest this kind of man, but the way he talked about the other babies around, I could infer our standing wasn't exactly high in his mind. Meaning I was in a very precarious situation as I was completely unable to defend myself if needed…

I was wordlessly put back in my little box. The man observed me one last time, a sinister smirk at the corner of his lips, and then, he left.

I heard his steps echoing loudly on the floor, one after the other, taking him closer to the exit.

I sighed in relief, thinking the danger gone for now.

I was wrong.

He stopped in the middle of the doorway, pondering for a moment.

"Bunch of amateurs."

"Sir?..."

"That one obviously got no business here."

"The bigger one? Sir."

"The literal one and only in this room… yes." I could almost hear his eyes roll. "Put him on the list. I got a good feeling about him…"

Well… I certainly did not.

…