CHAPTER ?:
THE SANDMAN
Mr. Sandman, bring me a dream
Make him the cutest that I've ever seen
Give him two lips like roses and clover
Then tell him that his lonesome nights are over
Sandman, I'm so alone
Don't have nobody to call my own
Please turn on your magic beam
Mr. Sandman, bring me a dream
Mr. Sandman, bring me a dream
Make him the cutest that I've ever seen
Give him the word that I'm not a rover
Then tell him that his lonesome nights are over
Sandman, I'm so alone
Don't have nobody to call my own
Please turn on your magic beam
Mr. Sandman, bring me a dream
Mr. Sandman bring us a dream
Give him a pair of eyes with a "come-hither" gleam
Give him a lonely heart like Pagliacci
And lots of wavy hair like Liberace
Mr. Sandman, someone to hold
Would be so peachy before we're too old
So please turn on your magic beam
Mr. Sandman, bring us, please, please, please
Mr. Sandman, bring us a dream
"Excuse me." A polite but hoarse voice asked the waitress. The woman turned to the more isolated table in the corner. How did she not notice the customer sitting there by himself? How long has he been sitting here? "What's this song playing?"
"I'm sorry I didn't notice you sitting there stranger-san." She apologized and smiled at him. She couldn't see most of his face as his messy bangs covered his eyes. Going by his height he looked to be a teenage boy.
"Its fine. Not many people notice me." He smirked gleefully. She finally took in the customer's appearance. He had pale, almost white skin, a messy mop of matching white hair. The stranger was dressed in a beat up black hoody with torn up jeans and a pair of sport shoes that looked like he fished them out of the trash.
"Can I get you something to drink?" She asked him.
"A coffee would be nice." He continued to smile at her, yet the tapping of his fingers on the table suggested an impatience. His other hand seemed to be holding something small and red. The waitress didn't get a good look at it. "What's the song you have playing in here?"
"Oh its Mister Sandman. It's a really old one." She supplied while pouring him a fresh cup. "The owners, they like old music from the west."
"I like it too." The stranger's grin widened even further, looking a bit sinister now. "Give him two lips like roses and clover. Then tell him that his lonesome nights are over." He started quietly singing along with the lyrics. The waitress left him to go get a menu, never noticing the red glow coming from the object in his palm. "Sandman, I'm so alone. Don't have nobody to call my own." He turned to look out the window watching the light of the day disappeared. Time to go to work.
ELSEWHERE
As the sun started to set over the horizon, bathing the city in an amber orange hue. Unknown to the everyday people and heroes about a figure rested atop the tallest building. Cloaked in a black raggedy robe that came to life in the wind. A gas mask shaped like an oversized skull, with a tube resembling a piece of spinal cord, hid his identity.
The mysterious individual closed his eyes from beneath his helm. His mind focused on the cries that reached out to him during night. He'd been tracking it for a while. This one was more powerful than any he felt. The fear and pain was familiar to him. It glowed like a lighthouse in this sea of subconscious thoughts. A beacon in the abyss of dreams that called to him. He would not rest until he silenced it.
'The Sandman never sleeps. No he doesn't.' The figure thought to himself as black dusty particles gathered around him, emanating from his robe. The sand converged to form black angelic wings as he took off into the sky just as the last ray of light from the sun vanished, blanketing the city in the night. Time to go to work.
THE NEXT MORNING
Sir Nighteye scowled as he wandered the scene of the crime. The police and heroes were still rounding up the beaten and unconscious members of the Shie Hassaikai. As the hero in charge of this investigation he was called this morning after the yakuza group were taken down during the night. An entire crime organization defeated in darkness and silence by one person. Based on the evidence and testimonies so far, they believe the vigilante known as the Sandman was behind this.
The various thugs that were still conscious were shaking in terror. Stuck in a traumatized state, muttering to themselves. It was if they'd seen their worst nightmares. This had Sandman's signature all over it. Fear seemed to be his main weapon.
"Erasure Head." His eyes spotted the underground hero who also was brought into this investigation. "I assume this is your friend's doing."
"This isn't his MO." Aizawa replied. "He's hit groups before, but not one this big. Not a well-established organized crime group" Even he was confused by this attack.
"From what I've been told about the Sandman this might be his MO." Nighteye argued as he adjusted his glasses. Just as he said that his intern Mirio Togata popped out of the ground.
"I searched the underground tunnels." Lemillion reported. "I found a little girl's room. Just as you thought Sir. It was empty and no sign of her."
"A little girl?" Aizawa raised a brow hearing this. "What does that have to do with this?"
"You've been chasing this vigilante for two years, you know that each of his targets share one thing in common." The former sidekick lectured.
"Children." Lemillion answered for them.
"That hasn't been released publically." Aizawa sighed. He was hoping to keep that aspect of this case close to the chest.
"Every act the Sandman commits involves a child. Usually one that's being hurt, abused or bullied." Nighteye summarized. "The Shie Hassaikai had a young girl that they were keeping. It was my theory that she was the source of the new quirk suppressing bullets. Traces of blood and skin were found inside them."
"Shit." Aizawa muttered to himself. Now it made sense. If they were harvesting a little girl for materials to make these bullets, then of course Sandman would do everything he could to rescue the child. "Where is the girl?" He usually left the child at the scene for the authorities to find. He didn't see her when he arrived. The children were often found sleeping wrapped in a blanket with a custom made toy or stuffed animal in the arms.
"Exactly. It seems he took this child with him for some reason." Nighteye finished. "As the hero that's been chasing him. I was hoping you might know why." Erasure Head was also puzzled about this unusual turn of events.
"One thing that remains unclear. We still don't understand how he finds out about these children." Aizawa explained. At first they thought that Sandman had some sort of mind reading quirk that was eventually dismissed when they interrogated the villains he defeated. They all described horrifying descriptions of monsters and terrors. Some even described seeing their worst fears and traumas brought to life. So then they theorized that he might have an illusion projecting quirk. That was also dismissed due to the amount of damage done to the criminals and environments around them. Their thoughts were interrupted when the heroes dragged Kai Chisaki out from the mansion. The man was bruised, bleeding and disheveled, lacking his plague doctor mask. He was also shaking like a leaf.
"Get them off me! Get them OFF!" He shook and thrashed. "Please get them off!" Chisaki was weeping like a child now. "Please! I can feel them on my skin!"
"I don't think we're going to get much from him." Aizawa said with Nighteye nodding in agreement.
UNKNOWN LOCATION
Eri opened slowly opened her eyes. As usual her sleep was restless and fitful. She looked around fully expecting to still be in the same room, even after that dream about a masked hero coming to save her. However the bed was different. So was the ceiling and the walls. Eri got out of the unknown bed and finally noticed that the door was open, with music coming from somewhere. She followed the noise down the hall and through a set of double doors.
Sandman, I'm so alone
Don't have nobody to call my own
Please turn on your magic beam
Mr. Sandman, bring me a dream
Mr. Sandman, bring me a dream
Make him the cutest that I've ever seen
Give him the word that I'm not a rover
Then tell him that his lonesome nights are over
The room opened up into a large abandoned warehouse with all the walls, ceilings, and windows covered in a patchwork of metal plating. The room was lit with several hanging bulbs. Over the music Eri also heard another noise and followed it to a hunched over figure sitting at a work bench. The figure was shirtless with a messy mop of dark green hair. His skin was pale with scars and fresh bruises. The boy held up a remote and pushed a button stopping the song.
"Clip Clop. Clip Clop." He spoke aloud. Eri froze hearing him finally speak. On the table close to him was the strange helmet she saw in what she thought was just a dream. "Clip Clop. I thought it was a horse. Clip Clop. I kept hearing that noise. Clip Clop. Was it a pony?" He turned to face her. Eri flinched. His face was also pale, his mouth flattened into a thin line. A light dusting of freckles over his cheeks. His eyes kept hidden under his messy bangs. Turning allowed her to finally see the sewing machine that he was using and the finished product that he was making. "Clip Clop. I looked deeper and figured it out. It was a unicorn." He picked up the stuffed animal and held it out towards her. Eri's eyes widened in wonder. One of the few memories she had left of her dad. A picture from a story book. Her favorite animal. With shaking hands she reached out and took it.
"How did you…" She questioned.
"Hungry? Shiny red. Sweet taste." He got up from his work bench and glided over to a makeshift kitchen. "Shiny red. Sweet taste." He opened the fridge and started to rummage through it. "Not a tomato. Has to be an…apple." He turned holding out her favorite fruit. "Shiny red. Sweet taste."
"How did you know?" Eri questioned again.
"It's all there." He extended his other hand and gently poked her forehead. This time Eri didn't flinch. She was too confused. "Clip Clop. Shiny red. Sweet taste." He didn't say aloud the other thing in there. 'Big scary bird monster.'
"Your name is Eri. Mine's Izuku." He introduced himself. "You're safe here." He went back to his work table and started making repairs to his helmet. Eri quietly ate the fruit in her hands while watching Izuku use the tools to fix some of the dents in the metal.
"What is that?" Eri asked curiously.
"It's special." He said simply. The green haired fellow turned to look at her. She still couldn't see his eyes, but could detect that he was staring at her with a curious gaze. "Want to see?" He gestured for her to come closer with a wave. Eri slowly and cautiously approached. She looked into the black lenses of the strange helmet. "It helps with my quirk."
"How?" The little girl wondered.
"Like this." Izuku picked up his helmet and gently placed it over Eri's head. "Now I can't feel your dreams." He let out a small chuckle. The helmet looking a bit silly on her, tilted because of her horn, and he found it amusing.
4 MONTHS LATER
Aizawa having finished his lecture to his first year students about the upcoming final exam, retreated to his sleeping bag and hid himself behind the podium. He ignored the kids trying to converse with that Bakugou brat and the typical explosive shout that came after. First semester wasn't even over and already he was getting used to their antics.
His thoughts then drifted to his ever increasing head ache of a vigilante case. The Sandman had been less active these past few months. Ever since his attack on the Shie Hassaikai group and the disappearance of the child Eri. The connection was obvious. From what little they could get out of the twisted frightened mess of the former boss Kai Chisaki aka Overhaul was that Eri had a special quirk that let her rewind living things, but couldn't control it. Overhaul planned to use this power to eliminate quirks from people.
Perhaps that's why the vigilante took the girl. He might be planning to use her for his own purposes. At this point anything was possible.
'Not that it matters to me anymore.' Aizawa thought with a sigh. After his report to the commission he was promptly removed from the case. Due to the severity of the situation with the Sandman two top ranked heroes were placed in charge of capturing the mysterious vigilante. The underground hero wished them luck, they were going to need it when chasing after a ghost.
He sent everything he compiled about the Sandman to the heroes last week and immediately after he was hounded by their agencies by the lack of information. Aizawa scoffed at them and told them it was their problem now.
The Sandman, in the two years that he's been looking for him, never once had he ever laid eyes on him. The only description they had was based off the villains and criminals he defeated firsthand accounts. Most of which described something different each time. However the tall dark masked figure, draped in black sand was always a constant in the descriptions. Even the children he saved never got a good look at him.
Using his contacts in the underground led Aizawa to even more disappointment. The Sandman never worked with any other vigilante nor did he ever appear before them. He was a complete lone wolf that operated independently. He didn't even pay a single visit to the back alley doctors or visit illegal support tech suppliers.
'Why bother?' Aizawa suddenly realized how pointless these queries were. Being forced off a case was basically being forced to give up.
MEANWHILE
Izuku and Eri had gotten closer in the past four months. Now that he had a child to take care of his vigilante activities had slowed down a bit. Something he was sure his pursuer Erasurehead picked up on. Izuku honestly felt bad for the man after seeing the state he was in during U.A's sports festival. It must have been caused by the villain attack during the USJ incident a few months back.
During his now rare nights out as the Sandman he usually left one of his dream constructs to watch over her while she slept. One of the unique abilities of his quirk allowed him to feel and sense things around his constructs, so he could always be by Eri even when he wasn't there.
Unfortunately life wasn't all good for them. In all this time Izuku still couldn't sooth her fear, pain and trauma. Every night the girl had nightmares and Izuku could feel it all. He cursed over and over whatever god gave him this damn quirk that let him feel dreams, yet be unable to reach into and access them. If he had that power he might be able to actually do something to help Eri, instead of just sitting on the bed by her, stroking her head and humming his favorite song 'Mister Sandman'.
One night Eri was having a particular terrible nightmare. Izuku had just arrived home to the warehouse and had taken his helm off when the full force of her terror hit him like a train. It was so strong the green haired vigilante almost threw up. As he approached her bedroom he concentrated on her nightmare and was given a clear picture. It appeared to be a memory of when she was younger and her quirk activated.
'That must be her father.' He saw the man rewind out of existence the same way Eri saw it. Izuku finally understood why she was so scared of her own quirk now. A topic he never pushed in his efforts to treat her fears. He doubted that miserable bastard Chisaki ever did anything to help her with her quirk. No, keeping her scared and traumatized made her easier to control Izuku imagined.
As he opened the door he wasn't prepared for the yellow energy coursing through the room, emanating from the poor Eri while she curled up on the bed. It was so bright, almost blinding. Izuku tried to get closer only to get zapped by her quirk, making him recoil in surprise. He noticed the wound on his arm he got that night during his activities was healed instantly. No not healed, it was rewound to before he got stabbed in the first place. If he tried to get close and touch Eri he would end up a child again or worse end up ceasing to exist completely, just like her father. He needed some way to shut off her quirk from a distance.
"Erasurehead." Izuku mumbled to himself. That man could shut down quirks with his gaze, or so he heard. Could he lure him here then get him to erase Eri's quirk? No. Trick him maybe? No. He's too quick and clever for that. Strong arm him into coming here? No. Izuku's quirk would also be shut down the moment he met his line of site.
"Only option then." Izuku sighed knowing this day would come eventually. Even so he didn't hesitate to do the right thing. Summoning his black sand he made a unicorn to watch over Eri. Grabbing his helm he placed it back on before exiting the warehouse. Once outside Izuku's sand swarmed around him, shaping into large black wings, one of the first tricks he learned with his quirk, allowing him to take to the skies.
Reaching his destination he loomed over the shabby rundown city blocks, like a black cloud of churning particles. The underground hero worked in many areas, but this one was his usual haunt and patrol rout. He knew that Erasurehead was investigating and pursuing him. Izuku decided to learn everything he could about the underground hero, so he could stay a step or two ahead of him. Keep his own movements random and off Aizawa's radar as much as possible. Searching the rooftops his eyes scanned around for the man. He should be here tonight. Why wasn't he here? Izuku was growing more and more frustrated the longer he left Eri alone with her uncontrollable quirk.
"Weeknight." He realized. "It's a weeknight." Erasurehead was a teacher at U.A. That's where he needed to go. Full on assault on the front gates of the country's best hero academy. "Oh joy. What a fun night this is going to be." He said aloud with palpable sarcasm. Izuku's black sand pulled him faster over the city, heading straight for the prestigious school.
'If I can just get there without any interruptions-" Just as he thought that a swarm of red weathers cut him off. Izuku came to a grinding halt in the air.
"So you must be the Sandman that everyone's talking about!" Hawks appeared facing down the vigilante.
"Get out my way." Izuku ordered.
"Sorry I can't do that." Hawks answered back defiantly.
"How do you sleep at night?" Izuku groaned out, feeling the man's nightmares even with his helmet on, if he concentrated hard enough it was all like an open book to him.
"Excuse me?" The third ranked hero wondered what he was talking about.
"How do you sleep? When all those people you killed come for you?" Izuku with a wave of his hand launched a large arc of black sand at the hero. Hawkes was ready to move, but froze when he saw the distinct faces and forms of every life he ended screaming and clawing for him. The sand reached its target and due to his hesitation formed a swirling cloud around him.
"Dammit! He's headed your way!" Hawkes said into his ear piece as he struggled to fight against the bodies trying to pin him.
Izuku was almost blown out of the air by a wall of fire. His eyes glared down at the number two hero Endeavor through the lenses of his helmet.
"Please! This is an emergency!" He tried to plead with him. The hero just ignored him and shot more fireballs at him. Izuku's sand maneuvered his body out of the way of each attack. "I said…STOP!" A massive storm of sand dispersed all the flames in one fell swoop. He landed gracefully on the ground.
"What the hell?" Endeavor was shocked that his quirk was thwarted. "They told me you were low level vigilante punk!" He wasn't even trying against this guy after all.
"Let me pass! This is an emergency!" Izuku pleaded again. His efforts were met with a torrent of fire in his face. In response the dark vigilante gathered his black sand around him forming a protective shield that blocked Endeavor's flames. A tornado formed out of the sand, inhaling and sucking up the fire until every ember was gone.
"I don't have time for this!" Izuku growled. "Blue scalding. Choking ashes. Stench of charred skin!" As he said that a figure formed out of his sand. Its shape resembling a skinny child covered head to toe in burned flesh. The face of a boy with white hair could barely be made out, but Endeavor recognized it to his shock and horror. The burned zombie child charged towards the man, leaving footprints of hellish flames. Izuku took off back into the sky rather than watch the man try to fight or break down in the presence of his greatest nightmare. He was too pissed off to care that he just used his quirk against two heroes now. He spotted his target in sight. The front gates of U.A. Soaring over the entrance he crashed down in front of the school tripping every alarm they had. His sand held him in the air, creating a small tower of swirling darkness as tendrils reached out, whipping about chaotically.
"Bring me Erasurehead!" He demanded. The entire staff excluding the man in question emerged from the school's main building ready for battle. "Where is Erasurehead!?"
"You certainly picked a lovely night to attack my school." Principal Nezu bravely strolled out towards the vigilante. "My do you look scary." He didn't even flinch when the churning mass bent down. The mask was inches from his muzzle.
"Rubber gloves. Needles. Smell of disinfectant." The Sandman listed off the dark nightmares buried deep in the principal's subconscious. As he spoke them, various hands holding surgical tools formed out of the black sand that cloaked the vigilante. Nezu swallowed the nervous lump in his throat. That off white color of latex gloves and those tools were very familiar to him. Despite his fear his mind was rapidly piecing together the quirk this person possessed. All the clues finally fitting together. "Bring me Erasurehead!" Izuku screamed louder this time. He was in no mood for games anymore.
"I'm right here!" The underground hero called while activating his quirk. As soon as he did the sand dispersed and the vigilante collapsed to the ground without it to hold him up. He stood back on his feet and walked over to the hero.
"Wait a second." He noticed how short this person was. Every description they got of this menace described a figure with a tall stature. That must have been his sand making him out to be bigger than he actually was. As if to confirm his fears the Sandman took off his helmet revealing the face of a young teenage boy no older than his first year students. "You're just a kid?"
"A kid that is officially surrendering himself to you." Izuku walked up to him and held his hands out in surrender. "On the condition that you come with me."
"Why would I do that?" Aizawa glared down at him.
"The girl I rescued from the yakuza." Izuku started. "I need you to come with me to help her. After that I'll face whatever charges you want to pin on me. I won't resist."
"Shouta" Present Mic looked at his friend. "This could be a trap."
"Put a tracker on me if you want." Izuku argued. "We don't have time. I told Eri I was going to get help and I've already been attacked by several heroes on the way here." As if to confirm suddenly Endeavor appeared at the entrance to the school. The man looked infuriated to the say the least. Even his flames were burning wildly.
"You bastard!" He charged at the vigilante. He would have attacked if Aizawa didn't suddenly erase his quirk.
"Take me to her." The underground hero knew one truth about the Sandman, he helped and protected children. He wouldn't be surrendering himself like this if it wasn't a serious emergency. Scooping up his helmet he put it on and reformed his black sandy wings. In addition bird like talons formed over his feet. He used them to grab up Erasurehead. The man didn't resist and let himself be carried over the U.A barrier and into the city. The two of them flew quite fast. Izuku noted that Hawks had recovered and was now following him at a distance.
Eventually they reached the abandoned warehouse where Izuku landed them safely.
"This way, quickly!" The Sandman kept walking. He snapped open the doors with a whip of his sand. Aizawa followed close behind, still wary in case this was a trap. They reached the room and found Eri clutching her head as her continued to rage out of control just like he left her. The unicorn he made was still there trying and failing to comfort her. It could get close because it wasn't real and therefore unaffected by her rewind quirk. "What are you waiting for!? DO IT NOW!" Izuku snapped at him.
Aizawa didn't need to be told twice. Activating his quirk erasure, the bright yellow sparks of energy suddenly dissipated and the little quirk ceased shaking. The vigilante didn't hesitate to run over to her, discarding his helm as he scooped her up.
"Eri? Can you hear me?" Izuku asked quietly as he held her gently.
"Funny…helmet." She opened her eyes just briefly and muttered those two words.
"I'll make you one soon okay." He promised softly. "One that fits, just for you." Izuku wasn't sure if she heard him or not as she passed out in his arms. His thoughts were interrupted when the underground hero cleared his throat.
"Time to go." Aizawa now focused his quirk on Izuku, causing his sand and the unicorn he created with it to vanish into thin air.
"Time to go." Izuku repeated, allowing the man to grip his arm and escort him out the building. When they reached the outside the young vigilante was surprised to see many police, several pro heroes, an ambulance, a handful of reporters and the maiden ready and waiting. "You guys work fast when you want to." Izuku scoffed.
"Let's go." Aizawa kept them moving, parting the line of police as they passed. Once they reached the ambulance Izuku allowed the paramedics to gently take Eri from his arms without a fuss. He also allowed Erasurehead to place handcuffs on his wrists. Izuku was glad that he let his bangs grow over his eyes, otherwise he would have been blinded by all the camera flashes and helicopter search lights. He didn't say a word as the officers escorted him to the dark metal container known as the maiden, reserved for villains with dangerous and powerful quirks.
Once he was secured the warehouse was flooded by the police. They searched everything, confiscated every tool and piece of equipment that belonged to Izuku. They wouldn't get his helmet as a certain underground hero and U.A teacher had already taken possession of it.
POLICE STATION-THE NEXT MORNING
Aizawa sighed in agitation as he stared at the file in his hands. Two years of trying to catch this vigilante and it turns out to be just a kid. A kid that clearly had some problems if his initial meeting with him was anything to go by. With the Sandman's real name he was able to quickly find out a background and he couldn't help but feel sorry for him.
Izuku Midoriya abandoned by his parents and left to rot in a psychiatric hospital for paranoid delusions, severe depression, and schizophrenia. He was just a child for god's sake and he was abandoned like trash. It's no wonder he escaped and became what he is now. Yet despite this he still tried to use his powers for good. All be it illegally.
The next file was the medical report on the girl Eri. Astonishingly no bruises, injuries, or signs of malnutrition. She was even surprisingly clean and well dressed. Midoriya took the utmost care with her. For what reason, they still didn't know. What was so special about Eri that the vigilante took a more hands on approach? His eyes wandered over to the one way mirror where Midoriya had spent the rest of the night after being moved from his cell.
INTERROGATION ROOM
Izuku fidgeted as he sat in the interrogation room. Without his helm, he could sense them, all the dreams, hopes, and fears and it was starting to make him twitch in agitation. He found himself singing his favorite song to keep his mind distracted.
"Mister Sandman bring me a dream. Make her the cutest that I've ever seen." He'd been here long enough to get through the song fifty times. "Give her two lips like roses and clovers. And tell her that her lonesome nights are over." Just when he thought he would snap the door opened and in walked someone for the young vigilante to focus on.
"Good morning." The man greeted as he sat in the chair opposite to the boy. "My name is Detective Naomasa."
"Is it morning?" Izuku cocked his head. "There's no clock in here. I've been here for the rest of the night?"
"Sorry about that." The detective apologized. "We had to make sure the girl was alright before we questioned you."
"You couldn't do both?" Izuku asked critically. "Is the police and hero profession so understaffed?"
"We're not here to talk about that." The man course corrected. "First off can you confirm your name?"
"Why am I handcuffed?" Izuku deflected. "I surrendered myself peacefully. Why would I try to escape?"
"Just tell me your name please." Naomasa asked again with strained politeness.
"Izuku Midoriya." The vigilante supplied.
"Age?"
"Sixteen." Izuku answered robotically.
"What's your quirk?"
"Complicated." He answered cryptically.
"Try me." The detective started to jot down some notes.
"I call it Dream Lord." Izuku stared at the detective through his thick bangs. "I can sense people's dreams."
"How does that work?" Naomasa questioned. "You sense the dreams of people when they're asleep?"
"Not just the sleep, the awake too. All your subconscious and unconscious thoughts buried deep down." Izuku explained. "Sometimes it's a vision, a sound, or a smell even. I can sense them all, but that's just step one."
"What's step two?" The man nervously asked.
"Bzzz. Bzzz." Izuku suddenly made the sound of a noisy insect. "Bzzz! You were stung as a child, weren't you?" As he said that some black sand formed on the tip of Izuku's index finger, clustering together to form a large bee bigger than his thumb. It flew towards the detective who panicked and tried to duck away. The doors to the interrogation room burst open allowing Aizawa entrance who immediately erased the boy's quirk causing the insect to dissolve back into black sand. "Ah that's so much better." Izuku sighed in relief. Not being able to sense all the dreams and nightmares for a brief moment was liberating.
"Were you just threatening the detective here?" Aizawa demanded as he loomed over the vigilante. Child or not, a threat would not be tolerated from anyone.
"Relax. He wanted to know about my quirk, so I was just giving him a demonstration." Izuku shrugged uncaringly.
"Please don't do it again." The underground hero warned as he walked over to stand behind Naomasa in case the boy tried anything else.
"Understandable." Izuku nodded. "White clouds, lots of blood." He mumble aloud, getting a quick glimpse of Aizawa's nightmare when he stopped erasing his quirk.
"What did you just say?" The underground hero snapped at him.
"I'm sorry. I can't turn it off." The young vigilante apologized. "When I was little my quirk came in. I tried to tell everyone what I was sensing, but everyone just thought I was crazy." He shuttered at the memories of his childhood. All the bullying, the neglectful parents, the disgusted and sometimes looks of pity. "One day it became too much and I was shipped off to a hospital." He never saw his parents ever again after that.
"No one believed you?" Naomasa said in disbelief. It seemed farfetched. "There are quirks out there that can read minds."
"I don't read minds. I sense dreams." Izuku corrected. "It's not the same."
"Describe it to us then." Aizawa wouldn't admit it, but he too was intrigued by this boy's unique quirk.
"Sometimes I just hear a noise. With you detective it was the buzzing of an insect. If I focus and go deeper I can get a clearer idea of what it is." Izuku continued to explain. "Bad, evil dreams and desires, they have a very rancid smell. I met this guy once who was interested in my quirk. His face was covered by some sort of creepy life support helmet. His dark dreams smelled like a field of rotting corpses. It was repulsive." Izuku practically spat out. Just remembering that guy made him want to vomit. Though when he looked in deeper it was surprising to see that the man's greatest fear was for some reason his little brother.
"Why do you always rescue children?" Aizawa was starting to get an understanding of the full picture here.
"The fear and pain of children glow like a beacon in the night to me." Izuku elaborated. "I saved them because no one else would. I tried. I tried so hard…" The boy clenched his fists in frustration. "To get people to believe me, but you…heroes, if I could even call you that. You all just dismissed and ignored me."
"You must have talked to the wrong heroes then." Aizawa replied. "There are some out there that would have at least listened and investigated your claims."
"Not enough it turns out." Izuku shot back. "Where is Eri by the way?" He wanted to know before hand, but this stupid interrogation came first apparently.
"She's safe." Aizawa answered him, but neglected to tell him where she was.
"From physical harm maybe." Izuku worriedly glanced around. "Her nightmares…not so much." He whispered that last part ever so quietly.
"Why did you keep the girl?" The underground hero finally asked the questioning that was bothering him most. "It's not like you to do that."
"There was something different about her." Izuku rubbed his palms together nervously. "I couldn't just save her and then leave her to you people like the other kids. I only ever felt that great fear from a child once before." He sighed remembering that poor boy. "I couldn't help that child and I swore I would never fail again." Aizawa allowed himself a small smirk. The kid sounded a lot like a hero when he said that. "I still failed though. All that time with me and I couldn't make her nightmares go away." He mumbled something about his 'Stupid useless quirk.'
"You didn't fail." Aizawa told him honestly. "When she really needed help, you ran off into the night and surrendered your own freedom and autonomy to save her." The underground hero was impressed at the logical action. "I bet you didn't even hesitate."
"Of course I didn't hesitate." Izuku snapped back before clutching his head with a groan. "Can I have my helmet back?"
"Why?" Naomasa asked.
"I made it out of materials that I found were able to muffle my quirk." Izuku explained. "It doesn't block it out entirely, but it turns it into…kkkkkkrrrrrrr…static." He made a noise replicating a television with no signal. "It also helps me to focus on a single individual dream by forcing me to push my quirk out."
"You can't turn your quirk off so the helmet helps." Aizawa summarized. Even now he felt even more sorry for the kid. It must be difficult to constantly be picking up other people's dreams and fears, like a radio antenna. No one believed him and that must have led him to become a vigilante to help when no one else would. Still the kid broke the law. However the fact that the boy couldn't control his quirk properly might give him a way out of this. "Hey problem child. How would you like to not go to jail?"
"Problem Child? I already accepted my fate when I surrendered myself to you." Izuku shrugged. "What does it matter what I want?"
"But do you want to go to jail?" He asked again.
"Not really. All those criminals with malicious dreams." Izuku stuck his tongue out in disgust. "I'll probably be sick every day. The hospital was bad enough."
"What are you up to?" The detective wondered aloud.
"Excuse me. I need to make a call." Aizawa grinned as he stepped out of the interrogation room. Naomasa continued the questions without him, asking Izuku about the various criminal gangs he put down and other incidents he was involved in. To his surprise the boy answered honestly to everything.
THE NEXT DAY
"This just gets more and more fascinating." Nezu said excitedly as he poured over the boys file and notes that Aizawa made. The helmet sat on his desk as he finished reading through everything for the third time.
"In what way?" Toshinori asked. He'd been here in the principal's office because he was curious about this mysterious vigilante as well.
"Well I've never seen a quirk like this before." Nezu commented. "To not only sense dreams, but bring them to life."
"Its almost like the kid's head acts as a radio antenna and 3D printer." Aizawa remarked. "But the only aspect he seems to be able to control is the printer part."
"Hence the helmet." Toshinori picked it up and looked into the lenses of it. Pretty creepy, but not the scariest mask he'd seen in his long career.
"I examined it. Pretty simple support device the boy managed to rig up." Nezu explained looking at the helmet. "The combination of metals must be jamming his quirk. Looks like he started with some sort skull shaped Halloween mask and worked from there. Not bad for an amateur."
"Aizawa." Toshinori began. "You can't seriously want this kid in your class."
"Did it seem like I was joking?" Erasurehead stared at the number one hero seriously.
"He needs psychiatric help. Look at his file." The gaunt man tried to argue.
"That's for crazy people. Which he's not. It was his quirk the whole time, not some psychosis." Aizawa corrected. "Look the kid's been doing nothing but scaring villains, and giving away free toys."
"Aizawa." Nezu stated, locking his paws together. "Why do you want him in U.A? Specifically in your class. Its not just because you see potential in him is it?"
"I spent two years chasing this vigilante. Only to find a scared awkward kid, who can't fully control his quirk." The underground hero spoke softly. "Despite the laws he's broken he still chose to use his powers for good. That doesn't sound like something a potential villain would do." Even Toshinori had to agree with.
"He's right." All Might nodded. "Besides we're heroes aren't we? Heroes lend there help where it is needed."
"Give me week." Nezu had already decided. "It will take a week to come up with a good cover story for the press. If anyone asks Izuku Midoriya aka the Sandman is a rogue U.A student that went missing the first day of class."
UNKNOWN LOCATION
"It appears the little Sandman finally got himself caught." The faceless man grinned with his only remaining feature as he listened to the news report, exposing the vigilante's true identity. He nearly laughed at the false narrative that the masses were being fed. "I just love fake news. It's so useful." What was really important was now he knew exactly where to find him.
"Its been almost a year." The doctor next to him spoke up as he observed. "Since he escaped your grasp master."
"Indeed." The villain scowled to himself as he remembered how the boy unleashed his worst fear on him before he could steal his quirk and fled. After that he proved to be incredibly elusive. None of the goons he hired seemed to be able to find him and the ones that did were subjected to their own nightmares and dumped off at the nearest police station. He would have sent Tomura or Kurogiri, but they were too valuable to lose. "Now the boy with the potential to make dreams come true and rewrite reality itself is once again within my reach." His evil smile returned as he reached out to run his fingers over the screen that displayed the face of Izuku Midoriya. Plans forming on how to capture him already forming in his wicked mind.
ELSEWHERE
"Izuku Midoriya meet world." He chuckled while sitting on top of the counter. Skinny legs dangling over the edge, kicking them about like a child. His mouth grinned in delight as he watched the news on the screen. His left hand gently fondled his red glowing ruby, while his right parted the hair on his face revealing a dusting of freckles similar to the face on television. "World…meet Izuku Midoriya." His white eyes glanced around the restaurant, at the end result of his play time. The mutilated bodies of the employees and customers scattered about. Their faces twisted in abject horror. Their blood painting the floor and walls. The sight gave him such a feeling of euphoria. Made him feel so alive. His evil gaze went back to the screen as he stared at Izuku's revealed face with malicious perversion.
"Mr. Sandman, someone to hold. Would be so peachy before we're too old." He started to sing in his wretched voice. He jumped from the counter and started to dance and twirl in the puddles of blood. "So please turn on your magic beam. Mr. Sandman, bring me, please, please, please Mr. Sandman, bring me a dream!" He bellowed out a loud guttural laugh as he finished the song.
I had this idea a few years ago. Based off one of my favorite comic books. At the time I scrapped it. However when that Netflix adaptation came out. Loved it by the way. I was inspired to revisit this idea and at least make a one-shot. Not a hundred percent happy with it. Mainly because I couldn't figure out a good point in the story to stage the one-shot. In the end I sort of jammed what should of have been six or so chapters together and cut out a bunch of stuff. I just wanted to give people a little taste of what the story would be like.
I'm going to talk a bit on how I prefer to do crossovers. Not sure if I talked about this before. My method is similar to what I did with Apotheosis, where I like to take elements from one universe and apply it to another universe. Rather than just mash the two universes together. In Apotheosis I took the concept of Marvel's Infinity Gauntlet and the stones and asked myself what that would be in the MHA universe and how would it function. In this one I took one of my favorite comic book characters Dream of the Endless and applied him to Izuku. I asked myself what would his quirk be, how would it function in this world. The helmet doesn't just look like Dream's because it had to, it also serves a purpose in conjunction with his quirk, the ruby will as well.
Izuku's quirk in this. I tried to explain it best I can. Basically it has two aspects. First he can sense dreams and inner fears, desires and hopes. He cant read them. I tried to illustrate that. The second is this black sand that he can produce and control, forming things he senses from those dreams and weaponizing them. He has yet to reach his full potential. AFO thinks that Izuku's quirk can eventually grow to rewrite reality in some way. Hence why he wants it so bad.
Aizawa is going to be his dad in this. Yup we are doing that. Might make Kyoka the love interest in this. Izuku likes music so I thought hey why not music girl as the girlfriend. I'm open to other ideas.
I was going to end this on a funny note. Where Izuku shows up to class wearing his helmet and freaking everybody out.
So this mysterious killer is actually a manifestation of Izuku's quirk. In case I wasn't obvious enough. If he can bring other people's nightmares to life, why not his own. This thing is a nightmare version of himself containing a portion of his quirk, born from his unresolved past trauma and fear. The character is sort of an amalgam of John D and Corinthian from the comic book.
On to other business. There is another version of this I plan on doing in the future as a six chapter short story. I wanted to sort of adapt the original comic book. Follows the same story of Dream being captured, getting his tools back and meeting his sister Death. Playing around a lot with the character personalities. Izuku isn't going to be as stoic and serious as Dream is in the comic. Its still the same MHA universe. I just plucked certain characters out of their respective roles and gave them new ones. All For One is filling in the role of Roderick Burgess. Some occult people promised they could capture Death in exchange for powerful quirks. AFO decided to humor them, but not believing at first until they captured Izuku. Tomura Shigaraki is filling in the role of John D. Imagine him with Dream's ruby, yikes. I decided Kyoka Jiro is going to be his sister Death in this one. The idea is that the since humanity, despite the quirks and advancements, is still in its adolescence. Thus the Endless take the form of teenagers and can't reach adulthood till humanity grows the fuck up. Katsuki Bakugou is taking on the role of Lucifer. He and Izuku have a very interesting relationship. A friend of mine had a suggestion, being the sick twisted yaoi fangirl that she is, and I decided to go with because it made for some interesting drama and banter. Haven't figured out whose going to be in the role of Constantine yet.
Look out for this sometime in the future.
Thank you for reading. Happy Thanksgiving.