In the Shadow of Revenge

Chapter 2

Mei dashed up the stairs, heart racing. She didn't know why, it wasn't like she really knew Iida. But she had felt guilty for how she had used him in the Sports Festival. He was so honest, so trusting, that the thought that something had happened to him made her falter. Mei stepped off the stairs and into the hallway of the third floor. She wasn't sure which door was Iida's though.

"Recovery Girl, it's Hatsume, you said you needed my help?" She called out

The third door down the corridor stood open and Recovery Girl popped out.

"Ah, glad you're here, my dear" she responded cheerily, though her eyes looked sad and tired. "I called you for-well I suppose it's best that you just see for yourself."

Recovery Girl gently pushed open the door, careful not to make a sound. As she stepped inside, Mei gasped. A hospital bed took up most of the room, with the furniture all removed or pushed to the sides, to make room for the softly beeping machines. The machines that she realized were hooked up to Iida, lying so pale and still in that bed. And oh God, the damage was worse than anything she could ever have imagined.

Iida's left eye was horribly swollen, almost black, his lip split, fevered cheeks hollowed by hunger. His arms and thighs were covered in burns, bruises, slashes, and needle marks, even a few human-sized bite marks. His chest and back were wrapped in bloodied bandages, and Mei could only guess at the horrors hidden beneath them. But no the worst part, by far, was what had been done to his legs. His calves had been viciously mutilated, broken in several places with bones jutting out around smashed, sawn through and dented engine mufflers. Accompanying this were several horrible gaping holes, oozing blood where the mufflers had been viciously yanked free. Mei nearly gagged when she realized that some of the openings had been crudely burned shut.

In short, he looked nothing like that strong, confident boy she'd battled in the Sports Festival which now seemed as though it were centuries away.

"W-who did this to him?"

"Endeavor and a team of heroes found him a few days ago in a recently closed down psychiatric hospital not far from here. Of course, he'd been missing for almost two months by then."

"Two months? But no one heard about this?"

"Listen dear, what I'm telling you is highly confidential, and I need you to keep it secret from everyone outside of 1-A. Do you understand?"

Mei nodded numbly.

"Months ago the Hero Killer: Stain murdered Tenya's older brother, the hero Ingenium. During his internship Tenya pursued Stain for revenge, and was instrumental in getting him captured. This was covered up the chief of police, due to Tenya's noble, but illegal actions. The arrest of Stain spurred outrage among the villain community and somehow one of these villains, a man with a lizard quirk going by the alias Spinner, learned of Tenya's involvement. Spinner then infiltrated the League of Villains and participated in a raid on the 1-A and 1-B summer training camp, where he captured Tenya, while working alongside another League of Villains member, Toga Himiko. The two of them tortured Tenya out of revenge for Stain, while also attempting to use him as ransom for Stain's release. Several ransom videos were sent, but despite the pleas of the UA staff, the Commission refused to investigate. Thankfully, Aizawa was able to decipher the location where Tenya was being held and a team of heroes was sent to find him, which brings us to where we are now, that poor boy" Recovery Girl sighed.

Mei couldn't believe what she was hearing. She'd never paid much attention to the Commission or hero politics before, beyond their support licensing requirements. But to think that the Commission would allow Iida to be tortured for months without intervention made her blood boil and her hands shake. And now that he was back, shattered and lifeless in that bed, they weren't so much as lifting a finger to help him, or sending a doctor or specialists. Instead, they wanted her, an obsessive, grease-stained, accident-prone, mess of an inventor to fix him when he was already so, so broken.