Chapter Text
“Ah, you are awake.”
Where am I?
Todoroki woke up slowly, his thoughts sluggishly coming back to him. His head pounded, it was as if someone had hammered a nail inside his skull. Not only did his head hurt, but his entire body ached. Why did he feel like he was just crushed by a building?
What happened? He wondered.
“You were out for quite some time.”
Todoroki felt cold, the frigidness coming from below. Needing to distance himself from the cold, he used his shaky hands and pushed himself from his lying position into a seated position. Then, his eyes locked on a mysterious figure ahead. His vision was blurry, but he could make out what looked like a man dressed in a lab coat looming above him, standing a few feet near the ajar steel door.
Frightened yet perplexed, he moved his gaze away from the man and glanced at his surroundings. He was in a steel-walled and mirrorless room, except for the long one-way window situated next to the door. The room was brightly lit with fluorescent lights and a cot laid in the corner. The floor was tiled and strangely smelled of floor cleaner which mixed with the overwhelming scent of antiseptic.
“W-where am I?” He asked. He felt strange…he felt foggy.
“You are in my lab. I just wanted to check in on you. Do you remember anything that happened?” The man asked.
“No, I—” Todoroki suddenly stopped after feeling an odd metal object wrapped around his neck. Then his eyes landed on his wrists. The same metal was wrapped around them as well.
“What the—” What was going on? He then gazed at his legs and behold his ankles were wrapped with the same metal bracelets.
“I see you’ve noticed. Don’t worry, they are merely for “preventive” measures. But back to my question, I must know, do you remember what happened?”
Todoroki had no idea; everything was so out of place. Other than the strangeness of his location, what he was wearing was very odd. On top of the metal bracelets, he was now dressed in a pair of grey joggers and a grey shirt. He was also wearing slip-resistant socks. It’s as if he stepped into a psychiatric facility. Was that where he was?
No, that wouldn’t make sense. He said I’m in some kind of “lab”.
Todoroki was conflicted. What was going on? There was a large blank spot in his memory…why couldn’t he remember getting here…how the hell was he even brought here?! And when!?
His face scrunched up in frustration as he desperately tried to recall something. Anything. But it just turned out blank.
The scientist looked at him gleefully, taking his reaction as his answer, “I’m guessing you don’t.”
Todoroki’s vision began to clear. He could get a clearer view of the man standing before him, smiling amusingly. He was young, probably in his mid-20s. His blond hair was cut short while glasses framed his icy blue eyes. Under the lab coat, he was dressed nicely in business casual attire. He seemed approachable…but seeing the unusual location Todoroki was in…this man emanated malice.
“What did you do to me,” Todoroki asked, interrupting the man’s upcoming words. He stood up, ignoring his body’s pains, “Why can’t I remember? Why am I in pain? I don’t have any injuries, so why am I feeling like this.”
“Oh, it’s a secret, let’s just say, you’ve been helpful in advancing our little research.”
Todoroki’s eyes widened, “Research?”
“Yup, one you’ve been helping us for quite some time now,” Todoroki’s heart pounded. Quite some time? Exactly, how long has he been here?!
The man grabbed the handle to the door, “Anyway, now to get to business. We have a few tests to run. So just sit right there, we’ll get started here in a minute.”
Todoroki was not having any of this. This was pure insanity. He stood up, ignoring his body’s pains, and gazed angrily at the man, “You’re insane! You really think I’m just going to let you—”
But before he could pounce on the vile man, suddenly, the metal bands began to glow.
“What?” He analyzed the bracelets and the anklets in confusion as a blue hue encased the mechanisms.
But, before he could question the oddity of the situation, instantaneously, an invisible force began to push him to the ground.
“AH!”
He stumbled to the ground, unable to hold himself upright as the force pushed forcefully onto his neck, wrist, and ankles. Then, as quickly as it came, the sensation disappeared.
Rattled, Todoroki panted as he lay on the cold ground.
That hurt, the pains he had were now flaring at high levels.
Whilst breathing heavily, he glanced at the bracelets and then at the scientist who watched him, grinning, completely unfazed by the teenager’s pain, almost as if he enjoyed watching the scene that unfolded.
“What the hell…did…you do?” Todoroki asked, his breathing labored.
The scientist’s smile expanded, “You like them? They are our latest invention. We are testing different restraining methods and this one is one of our proudest creations! We can simulate various gravity levels. We can use them to simply immobilize someone. Or we can inflict pain, or we can even kill if needed. It beats the barbaric use of chains!”
Todoroki listened in horror. These people were maniacs!
“Right now, we are testing its various features. One of them is automatic activation as soon as it detects actions of rebellion or resistance, which you graciously provided…and as you saw, it worked as intended.” He opened the entrance door, “Time to see what else it can do.” He then left, leaving the teenager to himself.
Todoroki tried to stand but his legs felt like jelly. Every attempt simply led to him falling back to the ground.
What in the world was happening? How did he get into this situation? He was so confused. The scientist told him that he has been here for a while, but how long? Has he been tortured like this for days, weeks, or even months!? And why can’t he remember getting here or even what happened yesterday? Hell, he can’t recall anything that’s happened during his capture?!
“Okay, Todoroki, let’s begin” The voice of the same guy boomed from the intercoms placed in his cell, interrupting his racing thoughts.
Whatever. He may not know what is happening, but it doesn’t mean he should just sit there and be their lab rat.
Defiantly, he stood up, ignoring the pains and the shakiness of his legs. He stared at the large one-way mirror with a furious frown. These villains have done something to him. They’ve messed with his mind, they have him shackled, and they are now using him for their own twisted curiosity. He was not going to show his vulnerability. No matter what it takes, he’ll fight, he will not let these maniacs win.
“Oh, brave, aren’t we? Well, it’ll just make our observations more interesting. Turn on the immobilization feature.”
All of sudden, Todoroki was stuck in place. Unable to move a single muscle or even form words. It’s as if he was stuck in time.
“Hmmph!” He grunted. His muscles constricted, simply getting worse as he struggled. He felt as if he were being squeezed. Pins and needles traveled through his extremities as his blood vessels constricted, unable to relax.
“Lower the output, his blood vessels are being strained.”
Immediately, the squeezing subsided. He could move but barely. He tried to take a few steps, each slow and stiff. He felt weighted down and constricted at the same time.
“Nice, great job. You can turn it off.”
The blue glow dimmed. Todoroki’s body was released from the constricting force. He collapsed onto all fours, the ordeal taking a substantial amount of energy out of him.
“Dammit…” He gasped, trying to control his shallow breathing, “You bastards…”
“Doing great Todoroki. Last thing, I want to test out the pain output…go ahead and amplify it to 10x the Earth’s gravity.”
The metal glowed yet again. Without a moment to react, he was shoved onto the floor, pushed strongly against the tile as an invisible force pressed forcefully.
The pain was unimaginable.
“AHHHH!!” He belted as his limbs screamed. Each shooting with agonizing stabbing pains.
“STOP!!! IT HURTS!!” He could feel various pops as his joints moved abnormally. He could sense quiet cracks as his bones strained from the pressure.
Nobody said anything. The pain continued. He could taste a metallic flavor in his mouth, his gritted teeth having bitten a chunk of his inner cheek as the pain amplified.
“PLEASE!!”
“Okay, you can stop.”
To Todoroki’s alleviation, the pressure subsided. Too winded and exhausted from the physical ordeal he endured, he lay on the floor, motionless. The shock was too much, tears began to pool from his eyes.
A click was heard from the entrance. Weakly, he looked up and saw that the same scientist was back.
“Wonderful job, Todoroki. That is it for today.” He spoke.
“You…bastard…” He cursed, his tears now flowing freely as he lay in a fetal position.
Todoroki heard footsteps. The man approached him and crouched next to him. Todoroki tried to inch away but to no avail.
“Don’t worry Todoroki, we’ll begin anew tomorrow.” The guy touched his head, “You won’t remember what happened. It’ll be truly a new day.”
Todoroki’s eyes widened. He wanted to fight, but it was too late. A red glow wrapped around his head. His memories of the day began to fade. The events, his emotions, and his thoughts, all gone. He lay completely empty, a hollow shell. He stared his gaze unseeing as his mind was left blank and subdued.
“There we go. It’s taking some time but eventually, I’ll remove all your memories. You will soon be our permanent lab rat who won’t fight, won’t resist, and who will agree to our request without question.” The man grinned as he stared at the lying teenager, “I can’t wait till that day comes.”
He grabbed his limp body and placed him on his cot. He laid him on his back, his eyes staring ahead.
“See you tomorrow for another fun-filled day.” With that, he left as the glow in Todoroki’s collar, bracelets, and anklets activated. The shackles, once again, enforced. Taking away any means of escape.