Encroachment

Chapter 10: Discussion

The Sludge pressed himself against the door. A long, open hallway extended far behind him and was lined with identical doorways. Viran grunted, the lock picks in his hands slipped as he struggled to get a grip on them. Beads of sweat trickled down his forehead. A fairly floral scent drifted through the hallway. A golden 24 glared at Izuku from the door in front of him. Most of the hallway was crimson and cream. Large bouquets decorated the many tables that dotted hallway. A retro window peered out at the twinkling skyline of the city, the traffic noise seeped through its cracks. The sludge's grip on his lock picks slipped again. "Runt, stop it." Viran hissed under his breath. Izuku mentally gritted his teeth and focused on the terror that knotted his stomach. He pictured himself staring face to face with his mother, a knife plunged into her gut and horror leaking from her eyes. A cold sweat claimed his back and palms. A feint trembling gripped his hands and fingers. Warm liquid dripped from his eyes and manoeuvred over the skin pressed to his mask. "Stop it." Sludge commanded, his voice harsher than before.

A click made Viran jolt. With a sickening grin, he pushed open the door and slid into the darkness. Almost instantly an alarm blared to life, screaming its head off. Sludge located a small, glowing keypad by the door and quickly pouncing on it before punching in a sequence of four numbers. The alarm went silent. The villain closed the door over gently and bent down in one knee. With careful precision he inserted his lock picks back into the locks from the other side and began to fidget around. Izuku felt his attention shift elsewhere. He couldn't help but wonder how his mother was doing. If Ka-Chan got into U.A. If anyone even remembered Izuku was missing. Midoryia gave himself a mental slap, he had seen more than enough missing posters of himself to know that there was someone out there searching for him.

There was another click. Reaching out with a gloved hand, the sludge pressed down on the handle and tugged. Sure enough the door would not budge. Smiling smugly to himself, the Sludge rose to his feet and surveyed the area. The room was shroud in darkness, but Izuku could easily make out the shape of a couch, the familiar glint of a T.V. screen and even a few cracks of light seeping out from under doors. Viran stretched his arms up high and returned to the keypad on the wall. Pressing an oval button titled 'set' a loud beeping rang through the house. With that he turned on his heel, ran through the room and tore open one of the doors. The room he entered next was not much brighter than the last, but some pale moon rays shone in through the window, illuminating a cream bed decorated with many plush pillows.

Without a second thought Viran yanked up the edge of the blanket, which was draped lavishly over the side of the bed, and dove underneath its wooden frame. Carefully placing the cover back in it's original position, their world became entirely black. The only light was from the dim specks where the blanket met the carpet. Viran held his breath and listened intently the final loud beep of the alarm before the house was once again plunged into silence.

*

All Might placed his fingers against his temples and slowly rubbed in circles. Many of the teachers had congregated around a u-shaped desk that was at the centre of a large, closed off room. The room was very bland and bare. Aside from the desks and chairs, there was no other furniture. The only decorations were small fake plants dotted around the perimeter and a basic clock which hung above the door. The scent of coffee wafted through the air. The corners of his lips tugged downwards. "We must make a decision today," a small humanoid-mouse creature said from the top of the table. A large scar ran over one of his beady black eyes.

"The trip should go ahead," Midnight traced circles on the desk in front of her. "It would be unfair to rob them of such an opportunity that was offered to all their upperclassmen." She stared out from under dark lashes at her colleagues.

"It's a risk." Cementoss hummed, scratching his chin. "If the league of villains are recruiting as we have been led to believe, then a camping trip to the woods would be presenting them with an easy opportunity to strike again."

"Their main target is All Might," Vlad King added with a serious scowl. "If All Might is not present at the trip then surely the league would have no motive to attack. Not to mention that we aren't even sure if the league is recruiting. The only villain we know for sure who was associated with them is Stain." An eerie silence dropped across the room.

"If I am not present however, it does leave the children vulnerable incase the league uses a creature like the Nomu again." All Might sighed, leaning back into his chair. "As Vlad said however, they made it clear their target was me. So my presence would only attract their attention." The hero's bones creaked as he ran his hand over the wooden surface. The strain of maintaining his power form pushed out from inside his skull. His colleges penetrating stares held him to the spot. "Although I am not naive enough to assume the league wouldn't harm the children just to spite or hurt me."

"The location of the camp is in a secluded forest in the mountains with the pussycats, who are reliable heroes." Aizawa rubbed his eyes and stifled a yawn. "The whereabouts of the camp is not public knowledge either."

"So unless the league was specifically targeting the first years, they wouldn't just stumble upon them." President Mic hummed in agreement.

Principal Nedzu cocked his head to the side, "so needless to say, the children would be more or less safe?"

"I would like to think so, yes." Aizawa responded with a slight dip of the head.

"In that case, the trip should commence." The small mouse threw his hands up into the air with a cheesy grin on his face.