Encroachment

Chapter 11: Acceptance

Izuku's limbs felt heavy. The darkness cradled him. The bed above him creaked, the covers crinkled. The soft whooshing of the breath from the bed lulled him into a sleepy state. Izuku's mind wandered. For a moment he saw his mother, her hands clasped around his face and tears glittering in her eyes. Behind her, two burning red eyes bore into him and shot him a reluctant smile and a thumbs up. He glanced down. On him was a green hero suit with black stripes on his sides and several red pouches. When Midoriya glanced upwards again, he was at the centre of a mob of people. Shigaraki was pinned under one of his feet. The crowds of hazy faces cheered for him and held up banners that screamed his name. A jovial belly laugh echoed throughout the air, causing Izuku to crane his neck upwards towards the city skyline. There was All Might. The glinting of light off his teeth could be seen for miles round. The sun was setting just behind him and his silhouette stood starkly against the orange light. An unmistakable thumbs up was presented by the number one hero. Izuku's heart clenched. Warm tears dribbled down his cheeks.

A sharp pain on his tongue brought him spinning back to consciousness. Fresh tears were stuck between his mask and his face. The bed above him creaked. With a sharp inhale, the Sludge shimmied out from underneath it. It was just as dark in the surrounding room as it had been underneath the furniture. Warmth stalked up Izuku's throat, thrashing as it went. The sludge opened his mouth, allowing the liquid appendage to creep out and squeeze through the mouth slit of his mask. The small amount of air that rushed past the acidic liquid burned inside his lungs.

The Sludge reached his hand out to the side and gently felt through the darkness. His fingertips brushed something cold and light illuminated the room. It was all cream and beige. The carpet, the curtains the bedsheets the pillows and even the arm chairs and closets. The only thing that wasn't was the woman, who was curled up in a ball underneath her covers. She had hair so multicoloured it would put a rainbow to shame. The colourful hair was laid around her head and spread across her pillow. Izuku's heart clenched. This was pro hero Kaleidoscope, she could control inanimate objects of certain colour depending on what colour her hair was. The Sludge's dark appendage lunged like a snake and wrapped around the woman's face. Within seconds she began to thrash and claw at the viscous liquid. Her vibrant hair shifted through the rainbow and flicked angrily behind her.

Izuku began to count in his head, using Viran's heartbeat as a pacer. By the time he reached 300, her body had gone limp. Longer than most. Warmth puddled in his eyes and seeped underneath his mask. The salt was making his skin itch. A hot nausea stirred in his stomach. The villain drew his appendage back into Izuku's body and within a short moment the boy could breath easily once more. Sludge ran a gloved hand up his neck and over the base of his chin, wiping away the few liquid tears that had escaped from under his mask.

A dresser with a large oval mirror sat on the wall opposite him. Izuku caught sight of his reflection. It was the same as always. A black and white suit with the black vest and black gloves. The green curls that sprung up over the mask and were shaved close the the side of his head. The mask itself was white with a wicked smile lined in black and slit like, grinning eyes. Two piercing emerald orbs shone out from beneath the darkness in his eyeholes. The mask's most distinctive feature was the two pronged horns that curved up and backwards from the edges of his forehead and intermingled with his hair.

With a groan, Sludge stretched his arms up into the air. His back gave a loud crack. Rolling his shoulders, he flicked off the brass lamp and once more engulfed the room in shadows, taking Izuku's reflection with it. Midoriya felt a familiar numbness behind to ebb away at him. The tears stopped. The breathing calmed. The heart slowed. Sludge fumbled forwards in the dark and managed to grip the door handle and pry it open. The room beyond was just as dark, if not darker. Sludge strode in with his hands reached out. After two steps his fingers brushed an odd protrusion in the wall. With the flick of his wrist, the room was illuminated.

A T.V. was pressed into the corner, a couch opposite. Curtain covered windows took the majority of space on the far wall. The vague shapes of the city lights twinkling far below fighting off the inky darkness from above could be seen through the pale blinds. Izuku felt a cold shock run through him. This was the room they had originally been in when Sludge first broke in. It's walls were painted bright orange and lining them were rows, upon rows, upon rows of shelves and most of them were filled entirely. On those shelves were various items. Mostly weapons, rubble, clothing items, masks and even small toys and sweets. The Sludge let out a grunt of disgust and scanned the room. With a satisfied hum he made his way to a lower lying shelf next to the couch. A long Katana was brandished upright. It had a black and white interwoven hilt and a black leather sheath. Just behind it were vials of an inky, dark liquid that Izuku saw in his nightmares.

Sludge reached out and brushed his fingers along the length of the sword. "It's been a while..." he murmured before picking it up and securing it around his waist. Sludge tested his grip, partially unsheathing it to reveal the glinting metal beneath. A grin cut Sludge's face. He sheathed the weapon and let out a long sigh of relief. Izuku felt his heart skip a beat. The sword was stunning. Beautiful,  but he couldn't help but see the pained and panicked faces of people impaled on its blade. The blood everywhere, covering everything. A flash of light shone in his peripheral vision.

The Sludge wandered slightly closer to the window, and carefully drew back the blind covering it. The night sky imbibed all light that travelled its way. The cityscape was covered in flickering lights. On a building across from him he could make out the indistinct silhouette of a man. His shape was constantly shifting, as though he were on fire or letting out smoke. Sludge gritted his teeth and narrowed his eyes. "Kurogiri," he grumbled. "I guess this is my call to arms."