XXXV:recovery again.

When Raiden opened his eyes, it was already morning. He glanced around and let out a sigh as he pushed himself up into a sitting position. A hospital room. Again. A saline drip was connected to his arm, the clear liquid slowly dripping into his veins.

"Ugh, not this again," he grumbled, rubbing his temples. "At this rate, I'm gonna end up with brain damage."

With a tired sigh, he scanned the room for a calendar. One was hanging on the wall, but it only displayed the month and year.

"Well… at least I'm still in the right time." That was already a relief.

Feeling good enough to move, he carefully removed the IV and swung his legs over the edge of the bed. His body ached, but it wasn't anything he couldn't handle. He stepped out into the hallway, making his way toward the reception desk at the far end.

"Excuse me, can I ask something?" he called out.

The nurse at the desk looked up, but the moment she saw him, her expression shifted to one of concern. "Wait—you should be in your room!" She immediately stood, likely to call a doctor.

Raiden sighed, already knowing where this was going. "I'm fine. I'm not a patient, just someone they let rest after yesterday's incident. I think I passed out. It was yesterday, right?"

The nurse hesitated, then nodded. "Oh my, you were involved in that attack? I should call the doctor—"

A familiar voice cut in before she could reach for the phone.

"It's okay, miss. He's fine."

Raiden turned to see Snipe approaching "Teacher!"

Snipe walked right up to him and pulled him into a firm hug. "Good job, kid. You did well."

Raiden's eyes widened, caught off guard. But then, a small, grateful smile formed on his lips. "Thank you, teacher. I just did what I could."

"You did more than that, kid," Snipe said, pulling back to look at him. "It's good to be humble, but don't downplay your achievements. What you did was extraordinary. I'm proud to be your teacher."

Raiden swallowed hard, feeling the weight of those words settle deep in his chest. He had no response except a quiet, "Thank you, teacher..."

Then, as if suddenly remembering something, his expression shifted. "Right—Tamaki!"

Snipe chuckled. "Ho ho ho, I figured you'd ask. Come on, I know where he is."

Together, they made their way through the hospital, navigating turns and corridors until they reached Tamaki's room. Inside, the pro hero lay in bed, his face, arms, and legs still swollen. His body was wrapped in thick bandages, and his limbs were secured in massive casts.

"We told them not to use external fixators, plates, or screws," Snipe explained. "It could mess with his hero work in the future. Recovery will be here in an hour."

Raiden nodded, then without hesitation, his body began to change—his form shifting into that of Mewtwo. His energy flared, and he held up a hand. "I'll finish the job," he declared.

With a smooth motion, he activated Life Dew. A soft, shimmering glow enveloped Tamaki's body, the healing energy seeping into his wounds. Rested now, Raiden could channel his ability at full strength without pushing himself to the brink.

Slowly, Tamaki's bruises began to fade, the swelling receding as his features became clearer. His fingers twitched, and his breathing grew steadier. Raiden pushed on, using Life Dew a second time—then a third. Finally, Tamaki's eyelids fluttered. Then, his eyes opened.

Raiden smirked, lowering his hand. "Welcome back, buddy. It looks like we've got the same target now, hahaha, let's go, I'm going to heal the rest."

_____________________________________________________________________________________

After Raiden healed Tamaki and the rest of the heroes, a meeting was held in a private hospital room, as both Tamaki and Fat Gum were still recovering in bed, by medical recommendation.

The room was filled with key figures: several U.A. teachers, the same detective who had previously met with U.A., Yoroi Musha, Fat Gum, Raiden, Tamaki, and a representative from the Hero Public Safety Commission.

The atmosphere was tense, thick with unspoken concerns. It felt eerily similar to the meeting held at U.A. weeks ago. No one spoke at first, their expressions heavy with unease.

Detective Kumawara was the one to break the silence. "For those who don't know me, I'm Detective Kumawara. I've been leading this investigation from the beginning." He paused briefly, scanning the room before continuing.

"Now, while most of you know the events of yesterday, not everyone knows the full story from the start." He sighed, reaching into his pocket to retrieve a small device. Pressing a button in the center, he activated it.

"With this, all incoming and outgoing communications are blocked." His tone grew more serious. "Everything started two years ago."

Raiden's eyes widened. He knew exactly what the detective was referring to. That day was the most traumatic of his life. Yet, for the first time, he was about to hear details he'd never been told before.

"Two years ago, multiple bombs were planted across the city," Kumawara continued. "This forced us to deploy nearly every hero agency, including heroes working under the Public Safety Commission, to secure the areas where the bombs had been placed."

Raiden felt his breath hitch. He had always known about the bombings, but nothing beyond that.

"But the bombs were just a diversion," the detective explained. "At the exact moment they went on, ten stores on the other side of the city were being robbed. It seemed bizarre—why go to such lengths just to rob a few small shops? The answer: the robberies were a second layer of deception."

Kumawara let the weight of his words settle before he continued.

"During those robberies, the perpetrators hacked the CCTV systems and deliberately killed one person in each store. This made us believe the attacks were isolated murders linked to the chaos. But in reality, the killings were yet another distraction from their true objective—abduction." The detective sighed as he said this.

"That day, they kidnapped three people from each store, making a total of thirty victims—all taken right under our noses. And we didn't even realize it until two days later, when missing person reports started coming in. Most of those abducted were young adults, ages 19 to 23—college students living alone. No one noticed their disappearance right away. Only when they stopped answering calls, failed to show up for class, or missed work did people begin to suspect something was wrong." Kumawara's jaw tightened.

"And out of all the stores, there was only one location where their plan failed." He turned his gaze directly to Raiden. "The store where you were that night." Raiden's chest tightened.

"From that day forward, we launched a nationwide investigation to track down the missing people," the detective continued. "But for nearly two years, we found nothing. No traces. No leads. Until a few months ago."

Raiden finally spoke up. "That was the day I encountered the guy who attacked me and Tamaki, right?" His voice was low, his brow furrowed in frustration.

Kumawara nodded. "Yes. And we don't believe it was a coincidence that you found him that day." He exhaled sharply.

"That attack was part of another operation—similar in nature but on a smaller scale. This time, however, they were bolder. Instead of targeting multiple locations, they abducted eighteen people from a single store. And that store?" The detective's eyes darkened. "It was just blocks away from where you happened to be at that moment. More than that—it was disturbingly close to the very place where you had been two years ago."

The implications made Raiden's stomach churn.

This time, Snipe was the one to break the silence. "Are you saying they tried to lure Raiden that day?" His voice was sharp with suspicion. "That doesn't make sense. If that was the plan, why didn't they just take him then?"

Raiden reluctantly nodded, agreeing with Snipe's point. Whatever was going on, it was bigger than just coincidence.

"Yes, they could have taken him, but they—or rather, he—didn't want to," the detective replied. "One of the key figures in this unknown organization appears to be this 'Red Man.' Everyone who has fought him describes him the same way: moody, unpredictable. We believe that day, he was simply hoping to lure back the boy he had beaten before—just for his own satisfaction."

"And he didn't kill me because I wasn't worth the effort, right?" Fat Gum interjected, his voice laced with frustration. "That's exactly how it felt at the end of our fight. He even went after Tamaki harder than he did with me."

"So, we have a psychopath among the top executives of this organization. Fantastic," a new voice chimed in, laced with sarcasm.

The speaker was a woman with striking purple eyes—eerily similar to Raiden's own. Her violet hair, streaked with pink highlights, framed a face that was both sharp and composed. Her physique balanced strength and agility in equal measure.

She was Lady Nagant, a pro hero assigned to the case to ensure smooth communication between the heroes, the police force, and the Hero Public Safety Commission. Her presence in the room made it clear how serious the situation had become.

"Alright," she continued, folding her arms. "How do we capture these kidnappers?"

"That's the problem," the detective said grimly. "They're not just kidnappers anymore."

He placed a device in the center of the room. As it powered on, a holographic screen flickered to life, displaying images of five individuals—two women and three men.

Musha and Raiden both stiffened.

"They're..." Musha started, but the words died in his throat.

"They're five of the forty-five missing people," the detective confirmed.

"For two years, we had no trace of them—until yesterday. And this is what they've become."

The screen changed, showing footage from multiple locations—each clip capturing the same five individuals in combat against pro heroes.

Raiden recognized the images from the hotel's security feed, watching as their bodies twisted and mutated, growing larger, stronger. No matter how many attacks they endured, they simply stood back up and kept fighting.

"They're the kidnapped victims," the detective continued.

"Each of them originally had a single, low-level Quirk. Take Rie Kurosawa, the woman young Raiden fought—her only ability was turning her fingers into small blades, and only on one side. But what you see here... this is a level of power development that only a handful of heroes could ever dream of reaching in a lifetime."

"Oh, hell no," Lady Nagant muttered, slamming her palm onto the table. "Are you telling me these bastards did this to them? How?"

The detective hesitated before answering. "Forced adaptation," he said at last. His voice was heavy. "These people... they all died yesterday, just an hour after being captured. During the autopsy, we found mixed DNA in their bodies. And..." He trailed off, his gaze shifting to Snipe.

The silence in the room thickened.

Snipe let out a slow breath before nodding. "Go ahead. They can handle it," he said. "This is one of the ugly truths of being a hero—but they need to hear it."

At Snipe's affirmation, Detective Kawamura continued, "We found traces of mixed DNA from two more people and another thing, maybe part of a synthetic virus. One sample belonged to Raiden, the other to Tamaki, and the last one as I said is unknown. We believe they used their genetic material to force the adaptation process that connects humans to their Quirks, somehow stabilizing it."

Tamaki's hands trembled as he spoke. "They… used us to create monsters?"

"No," the detective replied firmly. "They wouldn't go this far just to create mindless monsters. These are most likely failed experiments. We believe their real goal is to enhance their own organization's power—but their ultimate motive is still unknown."

Lady Nagant crossed her arms, shifting her weight onto one hip. "So, what's the plan? Do we at least know where they're hiding?"

"We're working on that," Kawamura said. "A facility capable of holding forty-five people and conducting experiments on this scale would have to be highly specialized. We're analyzing possible locations and cross-referencing suppliers from the past four years who deal in genetic research equipment."

As the detective laid out the investigation's direction, a new voice cut through the conversation.

"That covers the investigation," Eraser Head said, speaking for the first time. "But what about our students? This is the first time something like this has happened, and it's already the second time they've been targeted. It's clear these people don't care about when, where, or who's around—they attack regardless."

Snipe nodded in agreement.

At Eraser Head's question, Lady Nagant responded without hesitation. "We're putting them under the Okapi Protocol—along with the Hawk Protocol, they will be under Public hero safety commission care, so from now on, they will be under my direct protection."

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Power stones 43/80