Izuku The Cipher (Adopted) - (Slow Updates)

There's Something Happening

But that still left the question of how he got here.

This wasn't a prison cell, it was a cage. No hero would leave him here, so something else was going on. That Tomura brat was probably petty enough to get revenge for him turning down the business offer, but why keep him alive then? He didn't seem like the type to spare his enemies unless it was for torture. Maybe that's what his captor was planning.

Chizome's head hurt less now. It was just enough to listen to his surroundings without making the pain worse than it already was. There were muffled whines to his left that were slowly fading with each passing second. Cracking an eye open, he peeked at whatever his captor was working on that he would likely experience in the very near future. It was one of those 'Nomu' things.

A small green-headed figure in a yellow hoodie was floating over the thing and recording its behaviors, scribbling away at whatever it was he'd seen. He knew that looks could be deceiving, but this was obviously a child (a boy by the looks of it). There was still baby fat lingering on his cheeks for crying out loud. His fingers were small and chubby, like a baby. The child looked familiar for some reason, but not enough to pin down where he'd seen them. The experiment didn't seem to be too cruel, just a blood draw. Then he pulled out a scalpel.

Chizome felt sick.

Sure, the thing wasn't human, let alone alive for that matter, but did that honestly warrant what was happening in front of him? Watching this child (is it even a child or is it some demon in disguise?) rip apart the zombie-thing as it cried and screamed was terrifying. He seemed annoyed at its sudden lack of oxygen, only allowing an oxygen tube to keep it alive long enough to finish the experiment. What was he even trying to do? Why the gentle blood draws and sentience tests if he's just going to torture it in the end? Why not just let it die at this point? Is that what was going to happen to him?

He's going to die here, isn't he?

Chizome scanned his cell, looking for some route of escape that he could use. But aside from the digital lock that needed both a passcode and a key to open, the was nothing of use. Even worse, his sudden movements did not go unnoticed. The boy seemed to hum in thought before looking at him, seeming to ponder what kind of atrocities he'd do to him. Relief washed over Chizome like a tidal wave when he opted to return to his current project, which was returning the 'mask' to its original owner. For some reason, he decided to drug the Nomu this time rather than make it experience the pain of having its face put back together. It took a heavy dose and a full minute, but the thing finally fell asleep long enough for the doctor kid to put it back together and return it to its cell, right across from his own.

Chizome was definitely going to die here.

. . .

Dipper was in the Dreamscape again.

He 'woke up' in his old room, looking around for Izuku before deciding that the kid wasn't there. He climbed down the rickety ladder that led from the attic down to the main house and walked down the stairs into the shop. He didn't like leaving the Dreamscape cabin, as it was the safest place to be, but he had to know. If Izuku could get into his mind, then he could do the same to him. So Dipper left the cabin and walked into the woods.

Much like lucid dreaming, dreamwalking is a very delicate process. Lucid dreaming is knowing that you are dreaming and having full control of said dreams. Unfortunately, the moment you lose control of your dream, it could very quickly turn into a nightmare that results in waking with temporary sleep paralysis. This can lead to some of the nightmares following you into the waking world, despite not being real. A sleep paralysis demon.

Bill was Dipper's sleep paralysis demon.

But now, Bill was different. Everything was different. The fastest way to get answers was to find the source: ie, dreamwalking. Very few people have ever experienced this phenomenon, and hardly ever did they meet in reality. Dipper was an exception. Bill using his dreams to torment him had taught him the skill at a very young age and he'd honed it to perfection. It was his way of keeping in touch with family and friends to see how they were all doing.