Marked
Chapter 4
Dipper and Mabel had just barely touched the door when it swung open. "YOU'RE BACK!" cries a happy-looking young woman. She was very pretty wearing a red, plaid shirt and torn-up jeans. She hugs the two teens and the three laugh together as she messes with their hair. "Hey, Wendy." the both greet in unison. "Wendy?" Shoto hums. "Isn't she in one of the journals, Midoriya?" he asks in soft Japanese. Izuku nods, hanging back to give the group a moment.
Wendy pulls away from the younger two. "Glad you made it here so quickly. The old guy is going insane." She worries, looking back inside. At that moment, the door bursts open revealing two bickering older men. "I'm tellin' you, poindexter, you're just being more paranoid than normal." One says in a slight pleading voice. "And I'm telling you, Stanley! It's something to worry about! I had them on my desk in the lab! MY. DESK, Stanley!" he insists before seeing the twins. "Kids! Welcome back!" the man named Stanley says, rushing over and hugging them. The other man, probably Stanford, relaxes. "Thank goodness you made it here safe." he sighs, joining the hug.
"What's the problem, Gruncle Ford?" Mable asks. "It's nothing, Pumpkin," Stanley says. "We just missed you a lot." He tries. It was clear he wanted to keep the kids out of what was going on. "U-Um...Excuse me?" Izuku calls, drawing attention to the newcomers finally. "Oh ho! Tourists! Welcome to the Mystery Shack!" Stanley says. Before the man can continue with his sales pitch, Shoto speaks up. "We...our friend here...seems to think you might be able to help him," he says in his normal, overly calm, monotone. "Help with what, exactly?" Wendy asks, putting her hands on her hips in a way that reminded Izuku and Katsuki of Katsuki's mother. Both boys shudder and make a mental note not to mess with this woman.
"Midorya?" Shoto looks to Izuku. "H-huh? OH! Right!" He quickly pulls his backpack around, reaching to reach in. Something catches Stanford's eye and he suddenly storms over, grabbing Izuku's wrist a bit roughly and staring in horror at the boy's palm. "OI oi oi! Don't just grab him like that!" Bakugo yells, grabbing Izuku and pulling him away from the older man into his protective arms. Izuku blinks in shock, his face bright red at the position he finds himself in.
"That mark...Where did you get that burn on your hand?" Ford demands, shaking. "Whoa, whoa easy there, bro," Stan says, seeing his brother was on the verge of a meltdown. He forces the man to focus on him. "I-I..Um...It just kinda appeared one morning. T-That's why we're here. I don't know what it is. Please, I need to know what you do!" Izuku pleads, pulling out the journals. This seems to have been the wrong move as everyone but the twins freeze up at the sight of the books. "WHERE DID YOU GET THOSE?!" Wendy demands, pulling an ax out of its holder and tensing for a fight. The three boys tense, as well as Stan and Ford, move away with Ford pulling a gun of some kind out of his coat.
"You extras want a fight, just try it!" Bakugo roars, popping off with an insane grin. "Kacchan, no!" Izuku and Shoto both grab Katsuki's arms to hold him back. "Let me go! Get the hell off me!" Izuku holds on tighter. "We aren't here for a fight!" he reminds in a panic. "We need answers!" he tries to reason before a sharp pain fills his head. Izuku cries out, falling to his knees. "Deku?!/Midorya?!" Bakugo and Todoroki both catch the smaller boy to keep him from faceplanting on the ground. "DAMN IT! HELP HIM! WHATEVER THE HELL IS GOING ON, WE'LL TELL YOU OUR SIDE AFTER THIS DAMN NERD IS OKAY!" Bakugo shouts, shaking. He knew Izuku could handle a lot of pain. Between what he himself did when they were in middle school and the nerd's willingness to shatter his bones over and over it was a given he would have a high pain tolerance...so hearing his childhood friend and (Secretly beloved) rival scream like his body was being ripped apart and burned it scared him and his mood flipped from anger to panic.
Izuku was barely aware of what was going on. His head felt like Kirishima and Kacchan were both slamming at the inside as hard as they could. He could hear someone screaming in pain, but it took him a second to realize it was his own voice screaming like that. He could hear Kacchan's panic and feel Shoto trying to put ice on his aching head. It would have felt a lot better if this was a normal migraine, but it wasn't. Izuku was no stranger to migraines and headaches and last he checked they didn't feel like someone was trying to rip him out of his own head. It was so tempting to just let it pull him free.
Dipper tries to calm his irate gruncles, looking back at the pained Izuku with worry. His eyes widen as Izuku's emerald green eyes flicker between normal and bright gold with black slits. "G-Get him inside..." Dipper says shakily. "HURRY!" he says, putting strength behind his voice. "NOW! GET HIM INSIDE! HE WON'T BE ABLE TO STOP BILL FOREVER!" Dipper runs over, stunning his gruncles and sister for a moment as Dipper throws Izuku's arm over his shoulders. "Wendy, the door!" She quickly opens it as Dipper practically throws Izuku into the shack. He pants as Izuku's screams finally stop and the Unicorn Spell they cast three years ago activates to keep him safe.
"Dipper..." Ford tries to protect but Mabel stops him. "If Izuku meant to harm us the barrier would have kept him out of the shack, remember?" she says. "They need our help...HE needs our help." Ford sighs, rubbing his head. "Let's all get back inside..." Bakugo and Shoto run over to Izuku, sitting the exhausted boy up. His eyes were glazed over and his breathing was heavy. "Deku? Hey, look at me, Deku." Bakugo says firmly, making Izuku look at his face. "What the hell was that? What just happened?" he demands of the boy. "Bill was trying to possess him," Dipper says quietly. "Possess?" Shoto asks, holding Izuku tighter, pressing the smaller teen's back into his chest.
Dipper nods, bowing his head. "I've...seen it happen. I know how he does it." Bakugo growls. "Who? Who is HE?!" he demands. "I'LL BLAST HIM TO THE FUCKING MOON!" he snarls, pissed. "It won't be that simple," Ford says, looking for something. "What we are up against is a demon from the second dimension. Possibly one of the vilest and vicious creatures in every universe. Bill Cypher." Ford growls darkly. "We barely defeated him six years ago, but now, it seems he's made your friend his newest target." He sighs. "There's one solution." He pulls out another gun-like weapon. Dipper's eyes widen in horror. "YOU REBUILT IT?!" He shouts. "GRUNCLE FORD, I BROKE THAT FOR A REASON!" Mabel shrieks in terror. "I-i knows...but I thought it wouldn't hurt to have in case of an emergency like this."
"Oi! Whatever that thing is no way you're using it on Deku." Katsuki says firmly, holding his arm to shield Izuku from the man with narrowed eyes. "It must be done. Don't worry, I'll just erase his memories of Bill if he has any. He should be fine after that." he says, adjusting the dial on the gun. "ERASE HIS MEMORIES?!" Shoto and Katsuki both cry in shock. "LIKE HELL!/NOT HAPPENING!" They shout in unison. "You came here for my help, this will help!" Ford protests. "There has to be another way!" Dipper protests, standing with Bakugo and Shoto. "Yeah! We can find a better solution! Gruncle Ford, you remember how it was with Gruncle Stan last time... We can't...I can't see someone else go through that." Mable whimpers, pleading. Ford sighs, hating seeing the kids upset like this. He wanted to help. As much as he hated to admit it when he first met them, but the green-haired boy's screams shook him to his core and gave him intense flashbacks to his time in Bill's 'care' before the kids came to save his sorry hide. "We know he's safe with the unicorn spell around him...That's a start." He says, putting the memory gun down to show he wasn't going to use it. "We'll work from that." He concludes, looking to his journals lying on the floor where they fell out of the green-haired child's bag. "So...how did you even get these?" he asks Bakugo and Shoto.