Izuku Midoriya silently stalked the streets of Mustafu.
He pulled the hood of his jumper over his head and tried to be inconspicuous. He slithered around bends and ducked into the shadows cast over dark corners as he made his way home. Short curls of dark green hair peaked out from beneath his hood and equally green eyes darted around his vicinity.
Even for a unique individual like Izuku, this was highly odd.
For some reason Izuku felt on edge that day. The moment he had started his journey back home a weight had settled deep in his stomach. His instincts were akin to that of a cornered dog; his heart hammered in his throat, seemingly eager to escape. There was a feeling of foreboding growing in the deep folds of his mind that refused to abate.
And so Izuku moved like an experienced ninja as he made his way down the street. Or like a sniveling, wet rat, a voice that sounded like Bakugo snarked in head.
The April sun burned with a vengeance in the blue skies over Mustafu, making wearing a hoodie particularly uncomfortable.
But Izuku soldiered on, carefully moving forward even as rivulets of perspiration slid down his flanks. He gazed skywards as pale pink petals sailed downwind, likely shed from a Sakura tree in bloom somewhere nearby.
Just a bit longer, he mused. He was close now. Only a few blocks separated him from his home. He could barely see the top of his apartment complex if he stood on his toes.
With that thought in his head, he increased his pace, approaching an over-head bridge that ran over the road a few meters away.
Suddenly, a loud bang cut through the silence of the peaceful afternoon. The man-hole under the bridge exploded outwards, ejaculating the metal cover above it high into the air
Izuku jerked to stop, his eyes wide as saucers as he traced the trajectory of the man-hole cover as it made its way back down to Earth. He felt the hair on the back of his neck stand erect.
What happened next, shocked him.
A man, looking old enough to be in his twenties, rose out of the hole in the ground. He wore dark blue overalls that were stained with mud. He was facing away from Izuku and was probably unaware of his audience.
His appearance was frightening, Izuku noted. His skin, whiter than snow, was stretched thin over a construction of bones, muscles and sinew. Veins greener than grass shone brightly against their pale background; a network of emerald roads on a ground covered with snow. His limbs were gangly and appeared to be too thin to support his weight.
Izuku silently watched, his breath held securely in his chest, as the man made his way across the tunnel his gait clumsy as he put one foot at the head of the other.
Izuku let out a shuddering breath. His stomach was a pit of snakes. The man hadn't turned, but Izuku couldn't shake the feeling he was privy to his presence. He could feel someone's eyes on his person, like a second skin over him, following his every move.
He's probably just an employee, he snarled in his head, a bit peeved and angry at the feeling of horror that slowly permeated his self. He found the sudden bout of nervousness to be very odd.
He rallied his spirits and forced his limbs to obey his command.
Izuku crept forward, never taking his eyes away from the still figure ahead him. As he reached the cool shade under the structure, he couldn't stop the sigh of relief that escaped him; standing in the sun had overheated his body and he reveled in the new coolness that seeped in him.
'Should've listened to your quirk child', a gravelly voice interrupted his moment of peace.
Izuku head shot upwards and quaked at the sight before him. His heart was a marching band, drumming a haunting tune.
The man hadn't moved at all, yet his head spun around to look at Izuku like an owl. His skin now had a distinct grey tinge to it. Like he's decaying, his mind morbidly supplied. His belly bulged at random places while the rest of his skin rippled like the surface of a lake when disturbed by a large boulder.
All the while he had a grin on his face. As if looking like an eldritch abomination was commonplace in this world. His eyes, a deep scarlet, stared straight into Izuku's terrified green.
Izuku stood rooted to his spot. The gaze of the man was scorching, two blazing infernos burrowing deep into his body.
Izuku fought against the bile that rose up in his throat and sharply turned back, intent on running away from the thing behind him.
Alas, he was not to escape today.
He was plucked up and bodily thrown against the side of the tunnel, the rough walls digging into his back. Izuku looked back at the monster. He had opened his toothless mouth, far wider than any human could, while he expelled green sludge from deep within. The sludge itself seemed to have a mind of its own as it writhed about. Izuku found a few of them latched to his torso.
Several green tendrils made their way up Izuku's body from where they held him captive, all the while the man pumped more of the liquid out of his mouth. He could only stare in horror as a behemoth rose out of the man. Its shape oddly humanoid with a pair of eyes similar to the man's.
Izuku tried struggling against his bonds but he was quickly overwhelmed. His hands could find no purchase on the surface as the sludge slipped between his fingers. The creature forced his jaws open and stuffed his face full of the green mud.
Pain.
His nerves were alight with unbearable pain. The mud seemed to carve its own path as it made its way down inside his body, forgoing his esophagus entirely. The creature was literally hollowing him out to make room for itself.
Suddenly two scarlet orbs filled his vision. The creature continued to stare right into Izuku's soul while it defiled him. Its eyes were filled with a perverted pleasure.
Izuku clawed at his throat in vain as liquid fire stirred inside his body. He felt his skin being stretched as the filth entered him, filing him up like a hideous stuffed animal.
His mind was a maelstrom of ideas, each more desperate than its predecessor. He wildly swung his arms around trying to find something, anything, that could grant him a brief respite from this nightmare.
In a last, dying attempt, he aimed a punch at the only palpable part of the villain's body, his eyes. But as the punch sailed towards them, the two spheres simply sank inside the mass of green filth. Izuku's arms uselessly pawed at the surface. They reemerged just out of his reach, continuing their mocking stare.
'You're my hero, child', Izuku felt rather than heard the voice as it echoed in his very bones, his sanity finally slipping as his body succumbed to its injuries.
With a final squelch, all of the mud finally made its way out of its previous hideout. The final few tendrils picking up the now useless body and tossing it back into the man-hole and reapplying the cover.
All was silent beneath the bridge for a long moment. The boy standing limp against the wall, his chest unmoving.
A warm breeze wafted through the tunnel, bringing with it a collection of beautiful pink petals.
The boy lurched forward, fumbling over himself as he moved forward.
As he stepped into the unforgiving sun, he raised his head mechanically to the sky, like a puppet on strings.
Two scarlet orbs stared unflinchingly right at the sun as a slow grin spread on his face.
