Twisted Nightmares

Chapter 1

I want to be a hero too!

Death.

Death was a natural thing that happened in life and nature. Everyone knew this. It came for everyone eventually, whether they liked it or not. Some people would try to avoid it, or some embraced it.

In the age of quirks, some people lucky enough to develop an anti aging quirk could buy themselves a bit more precious time on this planet. But no one lives forever. Immortal or not, a lucky shot from a desperate thief needing money would easily end someone's life for good. People needed sustenance to survive as well. Immortal yes, but still needed food to live. Though some people could live safely in their mansion with their immortality for as long as they wanted, it wouldn't matter. For death is patient. It is eternally patient, calmly waiting for someone to fall into its cold embrace.

Everyone dies eventually. Either from dangers from the outside world, or by their own hand. No matter how long someone would live, their luck would run out eventually. And when they died, they died. No chance of coming back, or a second chance in life, or reincarnation. Death is permanent, and can't be undone.

Well, it was permanent, for a peculiar boy from UA.

The camp was safe.

It had to be safe, right? The students knew that they were safe in the camp, it was miles away from any major city or village, and they had been assured on arrival that not many people knew of it's existence.

Pro Heroes were watching over them, even the damned Wild, Wild, Pussycats were there. Along with them was Eraserhead himself, and even Vlad King. They had been called to protect the students from harm. There was no way villains could be here. An attack on the campsite was impossible, right? They said it was safe from any villain attack! Or so they thought. They certainly hadn't been safe in the USJ, and everyone knew Aizawa's scars could attest to that. Several students recalled the Pro Hero getting almost killed by the monster known as the Nomu. When they realized that Pro Heroes weren't invincible, it made the threat of villains all the more terrifying. But the heroes and teachers had reassured the students that where they were going, it would be perfectly safe.

But now, they were intruders. People who didn't belong in the camp had infiltrated the campsite, ready to strike against the unsuspecting students of Class A and B A rather large figure holding a large object was creeping behind Pixie, who was completely unaware of the intruder. And it seemed that no one was aware of their presence.

Mineta Minoru shuffled as he sat on the ground. It was pitch black outside, the only light source being the illumination from the moon that slightly made it less hard to see. The light from the moon only barely reflected off the grapes on his head. The dirt he sat on was still a bit warm thanks to the rather hot weather from earlier during training. It wasn't scorching, but it was no room temperature weather either. Mineta hoped that it would cool down soon. He didn't know when he was up for the whole "Scare contest" activity the Pussycats had set up for their training. What was it called again? Test of Courage? He rolled his eyes. Give me a break.

Ever since they arrived, Mineta had despised this camp from the start. Not to mention the first day they arrived, it wasn't even at the camp itself. The bus had pulled up besides a rather steep cliff with the only protection from falling being a dinky wooden fence. They were then instructed to make it to the actual camp by noon. After that, they all were tossed down by one of the Pussycats, and left to fend for themselves. And while they ran to the camp, they were also being attacked by giant earth beasts created by one of the Pussycats. Other than the fact that task was borderline impossible, it was only thanks to one of his classmates giving a boost to the class morale that they were able to keep going. Besides the fact that their teacher Eraserhead had put them through what could only be described as absolute hell for what he called "Training".

What Eraserhead called "training", was more like torture. Mineta faintly recalled being on his knees as he painfully pulled grapes off of his head and putting them in a little pile, while his blood poured out of his head. I still don't get how that makes my quirk stronger... His body had stopped aching a while back thanks to rest and food, but Mineta still felt a small amount of pain from his head. When I climbed on the bus those few days ago, I assumed this camping trip would be a lot more...laid back. Next time I go to a UA based activity like this, I'm reading the brochure. He glanced over to his classmates who were either quietly chatting or thinking to themselves. Who hadn't gone out to the forest yet?

His eyes landed on a bespectacled boy who seemed to be talking with Ojiro, the one with the tail. No offense Ojiro, but I really can't think of any description other than "good at hand to hand combat" and "having a tail". The one with glasses was Iida, who's family heritage was famous for the amount of heroes in their family tree. Mineta was a bit disappointed upon realizing how Iida behaved when he first met him. It turned out instead of a rich snob, the student was respectful to everyone, which Mineta didn't mind too much, Iida was nice enough guy to anyone he met. Well, unless they did something wrong, such as Bakugo acting like an asshole. Mineta didn't mind Iida calling Bakugo out on his childish behavior, but he the one thing disliked about Iida was how much of a boy scout he was. Boy scout is a huge understatement, he mentally huffed to himself as he looked at Iida from the corner of his eye. With that family status like that...think of all the popularity with people, especially the women. C'mon Iida, think bigger man! He clenched his fist. With that much money and the social status...ugh!

Tearing his prying gaze away from Iida, Mineta looked to Koda, who, like usual, wasn't speaking a single word. Although he was rather oddly shaped, the borderline mute boy had a rather remarkable quirk, even if he was shy. The quirk was being able to speak to animals was a really cool quirk in hindsight, but Mineta felt that kind of quirk would be more appropriate for an animated princess or something. Still, pretty sweet quirk. I'd kill to have something like that, if I could command animals and insects.

Finally, Mineta glanced over to the only other student in the group that hadn't gone, Izuku Midoriya. Midoriya had gained a huge reputation over his time spent in UA, especially during... well basically everything. The green haired boy had made a name for himself at the start at the entrance exams, when he took out the Zero Pointer with a single solid punch, basically amazing everyone there. He also got himself some attention during the Sports Festival with a powerful display of his quirk.

Which resulted in multiple broken limbs, and he didn't even place. That part was pretty sad. When he first met Midoriya, Mineta had originally saw him as kind of pathetic due to how shy and hesitant he was. Boy was I wrong. Whatever he had thought of the green haired boy at the start, it didn't matter now. Not once the attack on the USJ had happened.

Midoriya had displayed an amazing amount of confidence and intelligence during the attack. Thanks to the portal villain, Mineta remembered himself, Midoriya, and Tsuyu being unceremoniously dropped into the water out of a portal. While Mineta himself was panicking and crying aboard the boat, Midoriya had kept a shockingly cool head. After finding out what everyone's quirks were, Midoriya came up with a plan that somehow worked. Now Mineta thought...no, knew, that Midoriya was the coolest ever. He knew no matter how much angst Todoroki vomited out as he froze and burned stuff, or how much Bakugo screamed while exploding stuff, they would never be as bad ass as Midoriya was.

Right now though, he greatly pitied Midoriya, who was uncomfortably shuffling in place. Mineta knew very well the boy's discomfort was caused by the fact he had to go by himself. Thanks to the odd numbering of students, Midoriya would have to face the scares by his lonesome. Poor Midoriya. At least you got the attention of one of the Pussycats. He shook his head. Well, he probably wouldn't care. Right now Midoriya has his mind set on Uraraka. Those two definitely have a mutual crush for each other. Watching those two try to talk and just get too embarrassed to continue, ugh. It physically hurts me to watch them try to talk to each other. Like watching a car crash in slow motion.

Upon reminding himself of the cat heroes, he looked at the group of Pro Heroes near the other students. The Wild Wild Pussycats were all there in a group, save for one. Ragdoll was somewhere out in the forest somewhere, she represented the "checkpoint" or whatever. And there was Tiger standing over near Midoriya. Tiger was a very buff man, but with his cat outfit matching his female comrades, he was kind of weird.

Speaking of females, Mineta found himself staring at the remaining two Pussycats. There was Mandalay, the red Pussycat famous for her Telepath quirk. Although he hadn't known the Pussycats for long, but with the time spent around her Mineta could safely say that she probably had the biggest rack. Her costume probably wasn't helping either, with how tightly her colorful vest was squeezing against her chest. It wasn't skin tight, but it still made her breasts a lot more pronounced. But Mineta didn't mind that at all. Not. At. All.

Last but not least, Mineta's eyes were glued on to Pixie Bob, the blue one. Her chest wasn't as big as Mandalay's sure, but she did have that good ol' fashioned hourglass figure, and her costume made it easier to appreciate. Her little skirt didn't really cover much, so her legs were almost completely bare, which made it all the harder not to stare. Nice. Although she was surprisingly interested into a group of the male students who performed the best. Mineta recalled her circling the group, which included Midoriya.

What floored him though was how negatively her prowling was received by the males. The boys didn't even seem to consider her even though she literally said she was interested and would "wait until they were eighteen" but the four had held up their arms and said some dumb stuff like "Get back" or something. Ugh, talk about ungrateful. They got complemented by an attractive female Pro Hero, and don't even show their gratitude. Besides, it's not like anyone else has an eye on her. Well, other than the other two guys staring at her. His eyes wandered back to his shoes, as he once more began to think to himself.

His thoughts quickly came to a grinding halt. Mineta quickly did a double take. He almost got whiplash as he turned his head back in Pixie's general vicinity. Wait, other two guys? I don't remember other heroes being here...

He stared at the two strangers who seemed to be keeping their distance away from the group. The two strangers were keeping their distance from the main group for some reason. One looked like a giant lizard with weird hair. The lizard seemed to be holding a sword that actually looked like a bunch of knives glued together. The other one with big lips wearing sunglasses seemed to be holding a block. Wait, was he holding a salt block? Like the ones that animals lick? It definitely looked like one. Mineta narrowed his eyes. Who were those guys? Are they part of the activity? He didn't remember the Pussycats mentioning extra heroes coming. Maybe I should ask Pixie? Although I'm sure this is probably a dumb misunderstanding but I can't be too sure...

Mineta turned to say something, although he stopped once he realized something about the green one. He once again turned to the two strangers as he squinted at them. Wait, I know that mask... He realized that mask from anywhere. That was Stain's mask! He remembered it from the photos of him he saw online, and the video of Stain he saw a while back. The unsettling video still sent shivers down his spine. His confusion quickly turned into alarm as realization slammed into him. I don't think a hero would be wearing a Stain mask...

Confirming his suspicions about their identity, Mineta froze in place. Panic slowly begin to bubble in his chest. No, no, no! Feeling a drop of sweat roll down his face, he tried to keep his breath steady. They're villains! But they said it was safe! I thought they made doubly sure! Why...Why are their villains here?!

Pixie Bob hummed thoughtfully to herself as she watched two students disappear from sight into the forest for their test of courage. This training camp sure is something, but still... She wondered to herself. Aizawa really has been really pushing them to their limits... Pixie glanced to the group of students awaiting their turns. But it's probably for the best. Villains attacks are worsening each day, even attacking children. She shuddered thinking about the reports of the USJ attack, how some of the students were scarred for life. Damn those villains.

Pixie breathed deeply in through her nostrils, trying to calm herself before she got too worked up. Her attempts to calm herself were cut short when she noticed something wrong.

The air smelled wrong.

Pixie narrowed her eyes as she started sniffing the air. Something smells wrong. Like a chemical fire? What is that? She didn't immediately alert her friends, because it could be a false alarm, just nothing.

But she feared it was something.

They were going to kill her.

They were going to kill her.

Mineta tried to even his breath as he kept his eyes from bugging out. Sweat rolled down his face as he stared in terror at the villains who were now a bit easier to make out as they had inched closer to Pixie, with disturbing smiles plastered on their faces. The villains definitely were going to hurt Pixie. And no one was the wiser.

What do I do?

His first instinct was to run. Run as fast as he could and just to get the hell away from the villains. Just to get somewhere safe. He slowly got to his feet as his eyes wandered to the pathway that would lead him straight to the cabins. To safety. It wouldn't be difficult to just hightail it back to base and leave.

But Pixie... His legs refused to allow him to escape. His subconscious argued against the idea of staying. Forget her! She's a Pro Hero! She can take care of herself! Just warn her and run!

If I warn her, the villains will probably attack her immediately. Her back is turned, and I know that those villains probably aren't idiots. They'll probably catch on! Where you're standing, it's the perfect angle to push her away from harm!

Mineta's breath began to quicken as he turned back to face Pixie, who was currently staring at some purple smoke in the sky. He felt his tiny hands begin to tremble. Am I actually considering this? Why am I not running? I have to run! For a split second, that train of thought was starting to win again. He started to turn away from Pixie.

Midoriya wouldn't run.

He stopped in his tracks once more. He knew the little voice in his head was correct, as much he hated it. Pixie's life was at risk.

Forget it all! There's no time! They're probably gonna attack any time now!

Dammit! Fine! Mineta turned towards Pixie. Another reason to save her! I hope I don't mess this up! If I die, I'm blaming Midoriya for inspiring me!

Mineta was well aware that he lacked the size or strength to simply push the Pro Hero aside. Back at UA he was the kicking ball to everyone else, especially during training. Desperate times call for desperate measures, Mineta thought as he sprinted towards her. If I miss, Pixie is as good as dead. He shivered at the thought of Pixie's limp bloodied body on the ground. He couldn't let that happen.

Even though his muscles cried out in agony from being exercised earlier that day, he continued to run towards Pixie. Glancing out of the corner of his eye, the villains didn't seem to notice him catching on to their plan. Good thing I'm pretty light, makes me a bit quieter because.. "LOOK OUT!" Mineta shrieked as he kicked up dirt running towards her.

The Blue Pussycat turned towards him instead of heeding his warning. Mineta resisted the urge to facepalm mid sprint. Turn around, dammit! You're about to die!

Mineta saw one of the villains turn towards him instead of Pixie. The villain unintentionally had just bought Pixie a few more seconds of being alive. Precious time both Mineta and Pixie needed. The grape haired boy was very thankful for that. As long as you're not looking at Pixie.

It appeared Pixie was still refusing to move, to Mineta's irritation. Her lack of cooperation meant that she was still in clear view of the villains, so if one of them acted early, it would be over. Only bright side to this was that Pixie wasn't moving, so she's easier for me to hit. He noticed that Pixie Bob had at least turned at the sound of the tinny voice. So that meant she had spotted him, which Mineta was slightly happy for.

Mineta noticed that Pixie appeared to have a glare on her face when she saw him running towards her. By the way her face twisted into one of annoyance in disgust, Mineta assumed she probably thought he was going to cling on her leg, or something perverted in general. His theory was quickly proven correct when Pixie angled her right leg to most likely kick him in the face. If this was any other situation, I'd probably latch on, so I can't blame her. He shrugged off the negative thoughts about himself as he got closer to his target. He sped up. I can't afford to be thinking like this at the moment. It's now or never.

As he got closer and closer, he noticed that Pixie's irritated expression twisted into one of surprise. The Pro Hero probably wasn't expecting him to be sprinting towards her at that speed. He just had to hit her at the right angle.

Please work , please work... He thought to himself over and over as he jumped towards Pixie, arms outstretched to give her a good shove.

WHUMP

As he slammed into Pixie, Mineta let out a grunt of pain. Ow. But the hit was so accurate, that it would probably make Snipe blush. He heard Pixie grunt as well. He felt a little pang of satisfaction as Pixie stumble a few feet back, then landed on her back. Mineta could tell he knocked the wind out of her, by the way her eyes widened and she made a noise that sounded like a deflating balloon. That probably wasn't pleasant, Mineta thought. But she's farther away from harm. Away from the villains.

Unsurprisingly, Pixie Bob quickly regained her composure. Pro Heroes were always known for having quick recoveries, especially in combat. Pixie quickly was back on her feet, and shot Mineta a very unpleasant glare. Uh oh. She's probably about to scold me. However, Mineta could tell something was wrong. Instead of pure anger, Pixie's expression was that of pure shock. What's with that expression? Shouldn't she be furious with me?

His question was answered when he started floating. Mineta looked down in surprise to see his entire body seemed to be glowing. Mineta's breath began to quicken once more as panic bubbled in his stomach. What's going on? Does Pixie have a second quirk? No she didn't say anything about a second quirk! He started to struggle against the invisible force as he tried to cry for help. But he was too terrified, his scream was stuck inside his throat.

Then whatever invisible force holding him up started to violently yank him away. He realized with horror that it was taking him straight to the villains that hid in the trees. No no no! Get away! Let me go! Mineta struggled in vain to escape whatever quirk was pulling. It was almost like he was magnetized towards them. His yelling from earlier now gaining an audience, a voice called out from the group as he was yanked to the villains. "Mineta?!" Someone cried. Mineta couldn't tell who it was since he was facing the villains. As he stared at the villains, the expression on their faces told Mineta something. He realized with horror that they probably weren't looking for a hostage.

The next events that took place would be burned into Mineta's mind for the rest of time.

An old saying went that the first time you did something you really didn't want to do, would be the worst time, and would get easier over time. That saying couldn't be anymore wrong.

Not to say the first time would be a nice experience or anything.

As he was yanked right in front of the one with the block, Mineta felt the block get violently rammed into his chest. He let out a gasp of agony as the block penetrated his chest cavity, effectively knocking the wind out of him. Mineta had never felt pain this horrible. He had experienced multiple painful encounters of being shoved into lockers at his old school, or getting multiple bruises during Hero Combat training. But none of that could compare to this.

He couldn't scream, the noise he let out was more like a pathetic whine of agony. The block snapped the ribs on his chest. Mineta gasped as the jagged ends snapped ribs were pressed inwards, and pierced multiple internal organs inside him. Finally finding his voice, Mineta cried out in pain as the villain used his block to crush his ribcage with little effort. He heard the green villain with the giant sword cackling in amusement. He let out a gasp as the block slammed him into the ground, kicking up a find cloud of dirt.

"Mineta!" A green haired boy cried desperately, running towards the two villains pinning the purple boy against the ground.

The grape boy coughed up blood after gasping out once more. The salt block had effectively crushed his ribs, damaging his insides even more. Mineta struggled to breath, for he started to choke on his own blood. Every time he breathed successfully, it felt like fiery needles piercing his lungs and chest. He felt like he was coughing up hot, boiling water whenever he coughed up more blood.

IT HURTS! IT HURTS! He wanted to scream, but he couldn't get himself to talk. Nothing would work. he gasped in agony as tears freely fell down his cheeks. Hurts...Hurts... He attempted to speak again, to no avail. It hurt so much that he was unable to say anything at all anymore.

However, Pixie seemed to finally to snap out of whatever temporary trance she was in, and leaped into action. Charging at the villains, she summoned a massive earth flow to knock the offending villains off their feet, causing them to fly up unceremoniously, Mineta included. Luckily, Ojiro managed to catch on to the villains as well, and ran past Pixie towards Mineta, who was still midair. Utilizing his acrobatic skills, he wrapped his tail on a thick branch from a nearby tree to boost himself. He caught the limp the limp boy and retreated back to the group of students.

"Shit!" Pixie cursed as she ran over to the group of students who were grouping around Ojiro, who was gently setting a gasping Mineta on the ground.

However, the grape haired boy began to gasp as something began to bubble inside him. Something that was much more horrifying then any pain.

Fear.

Mineta realized with terror that he was dying. I'm going to die. Running his hands along his chest, he felt nauseous as the wound stung upon his touch. He swallowed his nausea as he felt how warm the wound was as blood continued to spurt out of it. His fingers were poked by the jagged bones that were jutting out of the wound. He was faintly aware that his classmates were huddled around him. He strained to hear them talking, and he managed to hear small snippets.

"Mineta! Stay with us!"

Was that Iida? Sounds like him... he likes to yell a lot...

"Sh-Shit. He's bleeding everywhere." A voice sounding like Mandalay said. It appeared that the other Pussycats decided to join the huddle.

Mineta wanted to say something, but he was afraid it would waste his energy. What was left of it anyway. Swallowing a sob, he clenched his eyes shut as his eyes watered out wet tears.

"Don't fall asleep Mineta," Midoriya choked out. "Y-You've got to hold on. Open your eyes..."

Eventually complying, Mineta managed to force his beady eyes open as he blinked away more tears. He didn't want to look, but morbid curiosity combined with pain eventually forced him to look downwards at his chest. Well, what was left of it anyway. He couldn't even feel his own heartbeat, the pain was too much. He could see the open wound glisten a dark red in the moonlight as more blood seeped out of it. He was pretty sure a few bones were sticking out, or he was just hallucinating from the loss of blood. He struggled to fight off the increasing nausea once he saw his gaping chest.

I'm dying.

Mineta knew that he had a reputation for crying, especially in bad situations. One example was the USJ, he remembered bursting into tears multiple times. But this... was nothing like it. He was going to die. He was hurting so much, it hurt so much. He'd never become a hero, and graduate to become a full Pro Hero like he promised his mother. His emotions were a jumbled combination of fear, horror, and sadness. He let out more tears as his mindset went to what would happen when he died. Was it just pure darkness for eternity and nothing else? Not even able to think ever again.

He'd never see his mother again.

Mom... Mineta let out a sob realizing that he'd never see her again. She'd never be there for him when he was sad or had a nightmare and softly embrace him when he ran up to her crying. He'd never be able to hug her again. Never again would he be able to hear her asking how his day was once he returned from school. Never again.

The students around him seemed to realize as well that there was nothing that could be done. Mineta Minoru was going to die from being gruesomely maimed by an unnamed villain, and there was nothing anyone could do. The people surrounding him had a grim understanding at how terrified the poor boy was.

"Mineta."

A soft voice momentarily brought Mineta away from his thoughts. Wh-Who? He looked in the direction of the sound, and saw none other then Pixie Bob looking at him. Pixie? She was crouched by him, having a serious look in her eyes, but with a sad smile.

The Blue Pussycat rubbed at her eyes. "Thank you."

Thank you? Her words shocked Mineta, so much that he thought he had heard her incorrectly for a minute. Her voice held sincerity in it, which confused the half alive boy. Why is she thanking me? "Wh-What?" he gasped out. It hurt so much to speak, but he wanted to know what she wanted to say. He needed to know. He could tell that the horrible shake in his voice was very noticeable, as Pixie winced when she heard him speak.

Pixie took a deep breath in, and let out a shaky exhale as tears flowed out of her eyes. The blue pussycat wiped away at the tears, for they started to blur her vision. "You..." She started. "You saved me, Mineta. You saved my life. I wouldn't be here right now if you didn't push me out of harms away." She glanced back to where Tiger and Mandalay were facing off against the villains. She turned back to Mineta. "But I'm so, so, sorry. It should have been me. I should have been the one to get hurt, I wasn't paying attention. And now... now you're paying for a mistake I made." She sniffed again. "Some hero I am, huh?"

In truth, Pixie Bob felt awful. She was completely ignorant of the danger that was before them, and now it costed her a life of a child. A child, of all things. She had lost innocents before in her work in rescuing, but children... it still made her insides twist when she failed to save them. It was something she would never get over.

"I-It's not your f-fault," Mineta said as he let out another sob. His terror was slowly winning over his pain, making his already quick breathing get even faster. His hyperventilating was only stopped by him coughing up more blood, grotesquely splattering against his shirt. "I'm glad y-you're okay."

Unfortunately, Pixie was leaning a bit too close when Mineta coughed, and droplets of blood splattered on her face. However, she didn't seem to acknowledge it. She looked down at Mineta's chest and quickly looked away. The massive wound made her want to look anywhere but there. "But why?" Pixie said, making Mineta look at her in surprise again. She sadly smiled. "You could of just ran from the villains, yet you saved me. You didn't have to... Why did you?" She watched as the grape haired boy tried to cough again, but the excess blood made him struggle to cough. She winced as the boy spasmed, and instead of coughing, he made a horrible gurgling noise, and crimson liquid pooled out of his mouth, and covered his chin.

After hacking a few more times, he turned to Pixie once more. "It...It was what Midoriya would of done."

The green boy in question widened his eyes in surprise. "Wh-what? Mineta, what are you talking about?"

Mineta coughed again, accidentally sending a few drops of blood onto Midoriya's face. "It's what a hero would of done, right? I w-wanted to run away... but I r-remembered how you acted during the USJ attack... Remember that?" Once Midoriya nodded, Mineta continued. "Y-yeah... I was just crying about how useless I was, but you smiled and came up with a plan..." Mineta coughed again. "And I th-thought about what you would do... I just...I h-had to act, like you did."

Midoriya felt his eyes glisten with tears. He inhaled deeply, trying to steady his breathing as the emotion was making it difficult. His chest hurt as he shakily exhaled. It's not fair. Ever since he had started at UA, he had a good impression who Mineta was, and what he liked doing. He had wanted Mineta to change, to be a better person. A hero. But now, when Mineta finally does just that, he's punished for it. And now he's was going to die. Midoriya clenched his fist as more tears ran down his cheeks. This isn't fair to Mineta! Why is this happening to him?!

"M-Midoriya?"

Midoriya shook the thoughts out of his head, and turned to the confused Mineta. "S-Sorry Mineta." He wiped at his eyes. "I-I'm glad that I helped. You were a hero Mineta."

Mineta's eyes seemed to widen even more. "R-Really? I-I am?"

"Of course you were. Y-You said you just acted, right? You saved her. That's what heroes do." Midoriya's eyes wandered to the gaping hole in Mineta's chest. "I'm so sorry this happened to you."

Mineta stared in shock at the green haired boy smiling sadly at him. He coughed up blood as he realized what Midoriya meant. He's said I'm a hero... He didn't understand why, but someone telling it to his face...it meant that much more to him. He felt his eyes water once more. But as the pain throbbed in his chest, he realized he might of just been crying from the pain. He squeezed his eyes shut, forcing the tears to spill out and onto his cheeks. He was feeling rather tired now. That probably means that I'm getting close to...to... "M-Miss Pixie?"

The blue eyed hero had to lower herself closer, as Mineta had gotten quieter. She felt sick to her stomach as she realized that the boy was getting weaker from blood loss. Shit...He's fading... I don't know how much time he has left. "Y-Yes Mineta?"

The boy looked at Pixie right in her eyes. "I-I'm scared. I...I wanna go home Miss Pixie. I-I want my m-mom."

Pixie heard a sob come from somewhere behind them. She followed Mineta's gaze to see that Iida had finally let his mask break, and he had tears coming down from behind his glasses. Ojiro was still looking on in horror, with Koda doing the same, although he was crying a bit more from terror.

"I-I know Mineta. It's okay. It's okay. We're here for you." Pixie said softly. "We're all here for you." As she watched Mineta close his eyes and sob quietly, she knew that words obviously weren't enough for the poor boy. He's suffering. Glancing down at her gloved hand, she slowly used her left hand to pull at the glove on her right. It slowly slipped off, and her pale hand almost seemed to glow in the moonlight. She slowly reached to Mineta...

And wrapped her slender fingers around his hand.

Mineta's eyelids flew open, and he stared down at his hand. He looked back up at Pixie in surprise, as if to question her. However, when he attempted to speak, he started to spasm painfully with coughs. "S-Sorry," Mineta managed to whisper weakly. He let out another gasp and squeezed her hand with his. "Th-Thank you."

Midoriya looked on in surprise, but after he looked down at Mineta's frail form, he grabbed the boy's right hand and squeezed it. "W-We're here Mineta," Midoriya said through tears. "It's o-okay."

However, Mineta let out another cry of pain as his gaping wound spurted out, and began to hyperventilate. "O-Oh God..." Mineta cried in agony. "It h-hurts, it hurts. It hurts Miss Pixie." He began to repeat himself faster and faster. "It hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts."

"Mineta?" Pixie said, taking notice at Mineta's voice going borderline hysterical. "Talk to me Mineta, we're right here!"

"I-I wanna go home. I w-w-wanna go h-home." Mineta said as more tears slid down his cheeks. His eyes were wide with panic as he started to spasm with coughs. He let go of Pixie's and Midoriya's hands, and instinctively reached for the wound, but retracted in pain when he touched it. "A-Ah! H-hurts.."

"Mineta!" Midoriya said quickly in alarm. "D-Don't do that! You're hurting yourself!"

Mineta seemed to ignore her, and his hands still hovered near the hole in his chest. "It h-hurts... M-Miss...Mi...Mama, I don't want to die Mama. It hurts..." Mineta gasped. "H-Help me...please..."

"Mineta!" Midoriya cried in panic. "H-Hold on, we can do something, we can..." His voice trailed off when he saw Pixie's solemn expression. The blue Pussycat slowly shook her head, but now she also had tears in her eyes as well. Midoriya slowly looked back at Mineta, who was now looking around in panic, his eyes not able to focus on anything. Midoriya swallowed, unable to say anything as he watched the grape haired boy writhe in agony. Why? Was all Midoriya could think to himself. Why did this happen?

Mineta's breathing begun to slow down, as his movements became less spastic. The amount of blood loss slowly began to weaken the small boy. "I d-don't...f-feel well..." he gasped.

"Hold on Mineta!" Midoriya cried out desperately. He watched hopelessly as Mineta kept crying out for his mother in terror. Why can't we do anything?!

"I don't w-w-wanna die...M-Mama..." Mineta choked out. He began to spasm and cough more, alarming the people crowded around him. Finally, he let out one last breath. "help...me..."

After he let out one last gasp, Mineta stopped breathing, and went limp. The light in his eyes went empty and hollow.

Everything went silent. The only noise now was blood dripping against the ground.

"M-Mineta?" Midoriya said, not daring to raise his voice. "Mineta? Get up Mineta!"

No response.

The green haired boy felt a chill go down his spine. He put his hands on Mineta's shoulders, and shook him. "Mineta! Get up!"

The boy did not move.

Panic began to swell in Midoriya's chest. "Mineta!" He shook harder. "Get up!"

"Midoriya."

The boy ceased his attempts to wake his friend to look in the direction of the voice.

Pixie Bob had a solemn expression, although she had a few stray tears going down her cheeks as well. "I'm sorry." Pixie said as she stood up. She put her hand on Midoriya's shoulder. "He's gone." She was calm, although it was for Midoriya's sake. Because of her, a child was dead. She realized she would have to live with that for the rest of her life. She knew that once this was over, the other Pussycats would try to reassure her that it wasn't because of her. She could already see Ragdoll telling her to not blame herself, and Mandalay saying that "no one would of seen this coming". But this hurt a different way. A dead child. She felt a spark of anger...no, hatred towards the villains among the sorrow she was feeling.

Midoriya looked at Pixie hopelessly. "I..." He looked at the pale form of Mineta's corpse. "Why...? W-Why did this happen?"

Pixie took a deep breath in, and slipped her bare hand into her paw glove. "I don't know." Her eyes focused on the villains currently clashing with her teammates. "But they're going to tell me why, whether they like it or not." She ignored the other noises from the other students who were crying, and sprinted towards her teammates.

Mandalay desperately dodged a slash from the lizard villain's giant sword as she leaped over to Tiger's side once more. "Damn!"

"Fuckin' fake heroes!" Roared the lizard as he clumsily swung his sword in a vain attempt to get a lucky hit on the Pussycat. "Die!"

As she dodged another swing, she cursed under her breath. She did not expect for any of this to happen, she herself was completely sure this camp was free from any possible villain attack! We made doubly sure! How the hell is this happening? Or more importantly, who the hell knew of this place, and told the villains about it? Now she was in a dance for her life as she narrowly avoided attacks from this psycho lizard, who seemed to like vomiting out Stain propaganda.

"Mandalay! Tiger!"

She and Tiger both looked at Pixie Bob, who was currently running up the join them. As she got close, Pixie summoned a land mass to force the villains away. The villains cursed as they were thrown back, but were temporarily dealt with. Thank you Pixie! That was getting on my nerves! Mandalay smiled and opened her mouth to say her thanks, but stopped when she got a good look at Pixie's face.

Despair.

That's all Mandalay could make out when she stared at Pixie. The blue Pussycat look so worn, so tired. Her usually bright and cheerful blue eyes that would always stand out during the day, now... They just looked so dull. Mandalay could make out a few fresh tears on her pale cheeks. Looking past Pixie's tears, she managed to make out what looked like little droplets of blood on her face. Something happened. What the hell happened? A small part of me doesn't want to ask... not a lot of things get to her like that, but... "Pixie?" Mandalay started cautiously, "What happened?"

Pixie rubbed at her eyes, trying to wipe away the tears that ran down her cheeks. "I...I lost him.. the k-kid. Mineta. He's gone."

Mandalay's eyes widened in shock. She shook her head, trying to absorb what Pixie had just said. What? "H-How? He didn't look that bad when..."

"It was too much," Pixie managed to say as she tried wiping the crimson specks off of her face. "His body just..just couldn't take it. Too much damage to his internal organs. It...It looked like his own broken ribs did most of the damage."

Mandalay tried to swallow whatever threatened to come out of her throat. She had dealt with failure in the past as a Pro Hero, an innocent dying because of their failure never hurt any less when it happened. To see the relatives or loved ones weep... but a child... Mandalay's eyes went wide with horror. No... But why would they... they go for him? He's just a kid...was a kid. She thought to herself. Just like Ko-

Her eyes went wide in alarm. Kota. She realized with horror that she had no idea where the small boy was. He wandered off again, and she didn't have the faintest idea where. In the forest of villains."P-Pixie.." Mandalay stuttered out, "Do you know where Kota is?"

Pixie's eyes also went wide. "N-No... I thought he was back in the building..."

"No!" Mandalay cried. "He usually wanders off, but always comes back. He goes out to think or something, but I don't know where." What if something happened? What if a villain found him? What if-

"M-Miss Mandalay?"

Mandalay's panicked thoughts grinded to a halt when she saw Midoriya a few feet away from her. When did he get there? She cringed when she saw the boy also had blood drops on his face. The boy had a rather odd stare, as if he really wasn't there. He must have been there when the kid...Mineta... "Midoriya?" She honestly couldn't think of anything else to say. She knew that this wasn't exactly the time to be socializing, but she wasn't able to bring herself to scold him for not running. Or yell at him to get back into the group.

But Midoriya appeared to take her silence as an okay to keep talking, so he continued. "I... I know where Kota is."

Mandalay's wanted to ask "where", because she needed to go get him. Get him away from villains. "You do?!" She asked, keeping herself from panicking, as she had been in situations like these before, she had to keep calm.

Midoriya nodded. "Y-Yeah!" He absentmindedly wiped at the blood splattered against his face. "I..I can go get him!"

The red Pussycat felt a surge of gratitude towards the green haired boy. "Thank you Midoriya. Just... be safe out there, all right?" She glanced in the direction of Mineta's pale form. "We...We don't need to lose another student."

Midoriya glanced at Mineta's body, and wiped away the tears in his eyes. "A-All right. I won't let you d-down."

And with that, the boy turned in a random direction and begun sprinting in the direction where Kota presumably was. He clenched his fists as he remembered Mineta staring into his soul as the boy begged to go home. Now he was dead.

Dead.

Never to ever return.

I'm sorry Mineta.

As Pixie heard the pattering footsteps of Midoriya fade away, she could only feel anger now. Anger was the only thing now that kept Pixie going, after witnessing the death of a child and having him bleed out in front of her, she felt a certain hatred for these villains bloom in her chest, and she saw the other children mourn. These villains... treating a child's life like trash...

She was barely aware of Mandalay returning to their side as the villains recovered from the attack, and crept towards the Pussycats to get another shot at attacking. Her eyes were glued onto the one with the sunglasses. "You." She extended her claws. "I'm going to shred you apart, 'villain'"

"Minoru!"

Mineta could only see darkness, but he had definitely heard someone calling his name. They sounded oddly familiar. He couldn't see his body at all, everything was completely black. He felt very confused. What? What's going on? Is this the afterlife? Am I stuck between Heaven and Hell or something? It doesn't look too awful, but it doesn't look to great either.

"Sweetie, wake up!"

Wake up? I'm asleep?

Mineta was now faintly aware that his eyes were actually closed, as he felt his eyelids covering his beady little eyes. Deciding to comply with the voice giving him orders, he forced his eyes open to see...

More darkness.

What?

Straining them open, Mineta saw that there was light coming from the side of his view, but what alarmed him momentarily was the shadow that was uncomfortably close to him. Fear gripped his heart, but he said nothing. As his eyes adjusted, he actually saw that he was in his room, and not some hospital room. No hospital would have a poster of Mt Lady, at least none like that. A light could be seen coming from outside his room door, and he looked up at the shadow on his bed.

"Minoru?"

His brain finally kicked in, and he recognized the voice that called his name. He squinted his eyes. "M-Mama?"

His mother smiled. "Yes sweetie, it was just a bad dream?"

"Bad dream?" Mineta was still half asleep, and admittedly was having trouble remembering anything, as it was all foggy.

"Yes...you were tossing and turning when I came to wake you up." She wiped away at a tear that was running down her son's cheek. "Are you okay now?"

Mineta looked at her hand in shock, as if the sight of his own tears was entrancing. I...I was crying? Why would I cry? It was just a dream...what had happened again? I was in a forest...when...

His memories came crashing down on him at once. He remembered it all. Him hesitating to save Pixie in an effort to save his own skin, him pushing Pixie out of harms way. The villain dealing a fatal blow, and how he bled out in front of his classmates. It was a bad dream? It had felt sickeningly, sickeningly, real. He remembered his ribcage being crushed, and how his broken ribs had shredded his innards. He experimentally ran his hands over his chest.

Nothing. So it was just a bad dream...

Overwhelmed by emotion, Mineta felt more tears run down his cheeks. That...That was horrible... He cried as he couldn't even control his emotions.

His mother quickly caught on, and fiercely embraced him. "It's okay Minrou... shhhhh." She said as she felt her son's arms hesitantly wrapping around her torso. "It's okay... Just a bad dream..."

Mineta felt at peace for a split second as his mother softly hugged him, reminding him that he was alive, and that he was okay, and that the events previously was just a dream.

It was just a dream.

….Right?

And...that's chapter 1 redux finished! If you're new here, welcome to Twisted Nightmares! Right now only chapter 1 has been fully redone/remastered. The other chapters, if they have the words "rewrite" in the authors note, that means it's not gonna be like this one obviously. When I first made this story, I was disappointed by the chapters how they were so I tried "Rewriting them." And by rewrite I meant fixing some spelling errors, and adding a few lines or two, they were still pretty awful. But now that I've done this chapter, I'll try to do as many of these as I can. Remember, if it says "Rewrite" it's not redone. Only when it's "Redux" is finished, it'll be redone officially. So apologies if the chapters after this one are trash, I promise the story gets better, because I'm evolving as the story continues, so I'll try to Redux as many of the older chapters as I can. Other than that, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. If you liked the chapter, please Review/Follow/Fav! It really, really, helps! Until next time my friends, see you!