The night was slowly coming to an end and the bustling nightlife was soon to follow, though some sooner than others.
Some places were closing up for the night as soon as the last customer walked out the door, some others lowered the copyrighted music for a more chill beat and some places such as a few bars stayed open for a few hours more.
While some stayed where they could, others had to call it a night. The fun never lasts, but the memories would...for whoever wasn't blackout drunk. Just now, a small group had left from one such place, ready to return to their normal routines.
"Shit that was good. We really need to do this more often," stretched Tai as the guards from Styx walked back to where Alexios parked one of their buses.
"I am...not opposed to this." came the voice of Shi, with what appeared to be a small smile on her canine face.
As the group walked down the dark path, illuminated by the street lights overhead, the occasional car and taxi passed while muffled music played from nearby buildings.
"Oi, Tai. It's getting colder, heat us up." Dahlia poked at the blonde's sides.
"I'm not a portable heater, miss was-gonna-wear-her-guard-uniform."
For that, Tai got another poke. "Shut up and just warm us up."
"It would cause more problems for us if he did," Osamu put a hand on the auburn haired guard's shoulder. "Using quirks out in public is illegal, after all."
A hum came from Alexios, his smile clear to all. "So what you're saying is: don't get caught."
"That's not what I'm saying, Alexios."
"You heard him, Tai," Dahlia began with a smirk solely directed to the guard with the sun quirk. "Don't get caught."
In the back, Muika shook her head. "We're almost there to where we parked anyway..."
Shi, who was also in the back with her nodded. "Then we best move a little faster before Pietyr freezes where she stands." the guard dog stopped in her tracks when the five others looked back at her. "What?"
Stares.
"...Was I hearing things or did Shi make a joke?" The red eyed Tai asked, looking a bit taken back.
"Was that what it was?" Dahlia's stare on the other hand was harder to read. "Does she even know what a joke even is? Would that even count as a joke?"
Quickly tapping on his smartphone, Alexios continued heading back to the bus. "No one's gonna believe this. We gotta mark it on the calendar. Shi's actually showing something other than that serious business attitude."
"Okay guys, I think that's enough..." sighed the older Yomaura sibling, but unfortunately for him, his sister joined in.
"Weren't you more shocked than all of them though?"
"M...Muika!"
Soon, the group followed save for Shi, who stood behind with crossed arms and a tilted head. "...Was it really that shocking?"
Realising she was falling behind, 'Cerberus' quickly caught up to the rest.
...
When the group finally arrived at the bus, the two that chose to drink alcohol quickly found their seats in the back while Osamu and Alexios talked about who was driving back.
"I'll drive us back," Osamu stepped forward. "You drove us down, it's only fair that you get to sit back for a while."
Muika didn't spare a glance to whatever her brother was doing, rather she looked out the window. At all the lights in the night where people enjoyed themselves. It was a very pretty sight, one that came at the cost of the stars in the sky.
As she was lost in the lights, Alexios walked past, choosing to sit on some random seat behind her. "Huh." she thought, now snapped out of her thoughts. "I never realised that all of us, save for Shi, are near the back."
At least Osamu had someone to talk to while he was driving.
It wasn't long before they were moving, yet she kept going back to that one brief moment she uttered. "What I want." that same phrase echoed throughout her mind. "What do I want?"
She definitely had people that gave her a shoulder to vent on...some advice too. Right now, it boiled down to what mattered more.
"Otherwise he's going to get you fired."
The future observing woman never realised her fist was clenched until it started to hurt. "Will I really be fired? I mean, I am still doing my job but...no, I would."
Her reddish eyes turned to the night's driver, her older brother. A smile on his face as he drove all the way back, eventually the buildings ceased to exist and then there was just space for all the eye could see as they headed back to Styx.
"If I don't do my job, I would just be letting Osamu down..." Muika inwardly sighed, "...but what if him trying to keep me safe leads to..."
She shook her head. Now wasn't the time to be thinking such things. She looked behind her, seeing the others talk and even got a friendly wave from the tall Alexios.
Returning the wave with one of her own, she turned back around and waited for them to arrive back at the prison. "I'll consider it if it happens again." she muttered quietly.
Right now she just wanted to get changed and sleep.
It was time to head back to Styx.
It was dark and the search had gotten them closer. At least they hoped it was closer. The bus filled with Styx guards was parked in some random parking lot, underneath the future shade of a tall tree.
Across from where they parked was a small park with a bus stop on the other side. A location they had scoped out for the night before inevitably going to the next bus stop.
Styx's Search Team was currently taking a rest for a bit of the night.
Zugai, the bus driver, was fast asleep on one of the seats. When Hokori saw Dion put some blankets and pillows on the bus, he didn't know what to expect. Now though, he was glad for the decision.
Sitting at the wheel of the bus was the hero sidekick that aided them.
"Hokori, you should get some rest."
Upon hearing his name, the small fox guard's head sprung up. "Huh?"
Only three people were awake. The hero, Dion and the fox himself. Suimin was also fast asleep, wrapped up in a blanket.
"We need everyone at full strength, so get some sleep." Dion waved his hand while resisting the urge to down a bottle in his hands.
"But, what if-" Hokori was quickly drowned out.
"It should be fine if we sleep," the hero sidekick added. "I doubt that Mariko would travel under night, especially when the last bus route for the night was a couple of hours ago here."
Dion at this point took off his red wig. "Mhm. It would be a pretty bold move on her part." shifting his aviators, 'Shuten' turned his attention to the fox. "By the way, how is your quirk holding up?"
"You mean from the boost? It's still there, a lot of smells are still pretty strong. I still feel pretty strong."
"So we might get a couple of more hours from the day then..." Dion leaned back on the seat. "I'm going to get some shut eye, wake me up when you need rest. We'll switch."
The hero nodded as she tapped her hand on the steering wheel.
"I hope we can find this inmate before she gets too far," came the thought of the rookie. "We already moved to the next suspect location. Mariko should be closer now."
Taking a look at his phone and the image of what Mariko looked like, or what she might have looked like, he could only hope that she was close now. The young guard chose to lay down, now scrolling through some news articles.
It was just the usual stuff. Villain attacks, arrests, new development plans, the works. You know, normal stuff.
"Huh. Villain attack...member of the Mares of Diomedes caused an incident. Hmm. We're not that far from there..." He paused at that. Perhaps that could be a good place to check out?
Giving a look to the front of the bus, it seemed the hero was busy going over some plans of attack for tomorrow. He truly hoped that she would get some rest soon.
The last thing that the bushy tailed fennec fox thought was, "I really hope this operation is a success." He soon closed his eyes and soon drifted asleep.
Operation Eurydice would continue at the crack of dawn.
A brand new day was upon everyone, including the inmate that broke out of Styx, Mariko Tsujihara.
Leaning against a wall while people walked on by, the lithe woman looked up at a tower. A tall, white tower in the shape of a pentagon. The windows reflected the clear blue sky as gold accents coated the building. While it wasn't as tall as the skyscrapers, it was still pretty tall and for good reason.
This was just one of many hero agencies.
It was a risky gamble on her part, incredibly so. She had been travelling all across the country whenever she could afford to, all in order to remain hidden.
"Maybe I would have better luck if I broke out of a smaller prison like Ba'ku instead..." the sudden thought came to her. If she was sent to a smaller prison, she would probably have a much better time with what she was doing. In the end, she did the impossible.
She broke out of Styx.
That sole fact gave her trouble.
Bounties, rumours, her name spreading by word of mouth. The fact that she broke out of a prison like Styx, one of the most well known ones across the world, a part of the Underworld Prison System.
One of the greats around the world such as the most known one in Japan, Tartarus.
It would have made her feel great about her accomplishments (and it did for a while) if it wasn't for her trying to lay low. "I'm stuck on the run," she shook her head as she removed herself from the wall. It wasn't like she could just leave the country, even illegally. "The best I can do is stick to this life. I choose it after all."
She took a bite out of a stolen bun she had gotten her hands on earlier.
Now walking down the street, getting further and further away from the hero agency, Mariko took another bite of the bun with the simple goal of surviving and laying low. Business as usual.
Her regular routine ever since she gained her illegal freedom.
Mariko's amber eyes watched diligently as her hands got to work, swiping anything of value and use to her. "Where to go next?" was the thought on her mind, despite her current plans on staying under the hero's noses for a couple of days.
It was times like these she was glad that hero agencies garnered more villainous attention.
Definitely took some needed heat off her back for a while.
"Hm?" she paused in her tracks as a loud shriek came a few streets down. Her body automatically went the other way. That was pure trouble.
As the missing inmate walked around the street, scoping out all possible points of escape should the worst case scenario come barreling down on her, she put away some stolen goods that could be useful. "I should probably prepare some more smoke bombs...if I knew how."
The bob cut styled woman sighed to herself, this was the life she chose. An inescapable path with no turns or forks. Real trouble.
Speaking about trouble, she already saw something brewing over the horizon. A lot of people gathered around the flashing of police sirens. Mariko let out a sigh of relief when she took a closer look.
"Seems things are already wrapped up..." there was no hero in sight. The villain was already captured and ready to be taken away.
Stepping back a bit, she heard the onlookers around her. "So...this guy. Was it just me or did he just appear out of nowhere?" a man with four elf-like ears asked with his arms crossed.
A lady nearby shrugged with her large toothy grin. "Now that you mention it, it was sort of sudden..."
Some random student then added, "he sort of went down pretty easily, didn't he?"
Glancing from the gossiping civilians back to the villain, she got a decent look of the recent villain. Mariko couldn't tell for sure, but the captured villain looked calm. Very calm.
The villain was tall and lanky, easily towering over many others that surrounded them with a face similar to that of a moray eel. Their large, round eyes never blinking as they just stared into space.
Despite the look that the tall villain possessed, hands cuffed while the police only reached to his waist. Mariko couldn't help but wonder...if he was staring at her.
She couldn't deny that it was a reasonable possibility. While lately things had been calm and quiet for her, there was still a bounty on her head. A big one at that. It wasn't long ago that she heard of some rumours about herself whether she was in prison or not.
Despite her best efforts to hide, she couldn't completely become a ghost. She didn't recognize the captured villain led by police while they waited for a large vehicle to contain him.
It was a hard feeling to shake off, but just then the dark purple skinned villain opened his mouth, full of blocky teeth. Immediately a shrieking sound pierced through the air all around them.
There was the high possibility that the villain might have known about her. It was hard to really say in the end nor did she really know why he started shrieking. Windows shattered and the crowd grew distant, but watching. The officers that didn't fall went to silence the tall villain. Mariko on the other hand...left.
As she quickly turned a corner, away from the sudden activity and crowd, she bumped into someone. "Sorry," she uttered automatically before walking on by.
"Are you ready to go?" asked a voice.
"Yeah," replied the second. "How did the carpentry work go?"
The first voice sighed. "Boring as usual, so many watching eyes." It was then that Zuko shook his head, "I guess they just swapped the tools around after I left. I made sure to memorize what they looked like and all places they could have moved it to."
"We're doing it today, right?" Touya pushed his sunglasses up.
"I believe so. That or it could just be a test to see if this kind of plan works." the con-man huffed suddenly, "I don't even know if your quirk can help my quirk with snagging those tools."
Touya waved his hand before reaching for his shades, "only one way to find out."
...
Elsewhere in the prison, Remko and Li were also preparing for the future event.
"You're sure it's a good idea to trust that madman?" Li grumbled out, looking at a small plastic cup held in Remko's hand.
"Oi. It's fine. He already told me about what he saw last night!" Remko almost slammed the cup down but managed to hold back. "I know you don't like him, but fucking hell. At least try to get over it when he acts as a distraction."
Rolling his eyes, the neon blonde threw an arm into the air. "Fine. Whatever. So what did you learn?"
"That night, Rin was allowed to walk around the ward at night, though because of his quirk that kept lights on him to help weaken his quirk." began Remko as he pointed at the lights that were currently turned off. "So that means two things. The first being that guards still patrol the night and-"
"Even in the darkness, it would still be illuminated." Li finished for his temporary partner.
Nodding along, the metallic armed inmate placed the cup down, red liquid swished within. "According to him, he saw no real difference in the amount of guards, so a night escape wouldn't be the best. With the amount of inmates in the day and the recent shifting of the guards, this is our one and only golden opportunity."
"So we better not mess up then."
With a sharp look in his heterochromic eyes, the escape artist simply asked, "are you sure you can get us through those guard doors?"
Remko received a confident look. Li didn't need to say a word with that kind of look, but he did regardless. "As long as I have tools, absolutely."
...
Touya took off his sunglasses, his blazing eyes akin to fire tightly shut as he got ready to focus. "The workshop is right in front of me, yes?"
"Correct," the con-man nodded before realising what he did was useless. "Dead ahead."
Opening his eyes, Touya stepped forward towards the workshop, to the point he almost pressed his face against the walls. He didn't have much time before anyone realised what he was doing, so he focused as hard as he could. The walls were a bit thicker than he would have liked, but thankfully for him the door was good enough.
It took a few seconds for his eyes to adjust to the focus, straining as it was, but it was worth it in the end as Touya was granted the sight of the workshop and he immediately looked around for tools.
"Since I was being watched, I couldn't really mark any places." he heard Zuko mutter next to him.
"The only real problem would be tools that are within drawers." the older Touya mumbled out. "That could take a few seconds."
As Touya Kotaki scanned the room, Zuko was immediately alerted to some potential tools.
"I don't know what we need, so I'll just say everything I see. There's a chisel hanging on the third rack on the left side as well as a hammer just under it on the table. Both are against the wall, at the left end when you enter." The slender, good postured Touya continued, "a flathead screwdriver is in the second draw of the blue drawer right in the middle with a phillips one right next to it, but it's upside down. The draw isn't pushed in all the way either. Now-"
Zuko closed his eyes, picturing just what he was told. Most of the time he spent in the workshop was solely to memorize what everything looked like. Now was the time for it to pay off if it worked...
It took a couple of minutes before Touya pulled away from the wall, shades already over his eyes. "Come on, let's go before we draw any more suspicion."
The scarred smooth talker followed right behind, keeping the image he was told fresh in his mind. "Let's find a safe space to use my quirk."
The two managed to find a place not too long after as they sat against a wall, creating a small little space to drop something he stole behind them.
Sweat rolled down the smooth talker's face. There was a size limit to worry about and he only focused on the smaller objects, but now? "Let's see if this works..."
It was the moment of truth.
Holding his hand behind him in the small hidden gap they made with the image of one of the smaller tools in his mind, he focused hard and then...
...
Nothing.
"Damn." he bit his lip, refocusing the image in his mind once more. "Off..." the second time wasn't much better.
"Fuck." the third time wasn't the charm.
Again and again before a gasp. "Oi. Am I feeling something odd right now?"
Touya glanced back, thanks to his shades after seeing as the con artist couldn't really look behind him. "...hey."
"Yeah?"
"Congratulations. You got a screwdriver."
With her arms crossed, Sae just frowned into the void. Thankfully, it was enough to keep some of the other inmates away from her...especially due to what she did to said inmates before she herself ended up in this place.
Enemies were all around her and if she ever let her guard down...they would get their revenge. She was sure of it.
This expression remained unchanging on her face even when the other two she had to work with appeared, sitting on the other end of the table like they were having some meeting or working out an agreement.
"When we all went our separate ways, did you manage to learn anything?" she asked, looking at the two who were clearly opposites. One who gave a playful smirk and the other unflinching with her stoic expression.
"Did you?" Yua asked back, crossing her arms at the table.
The tallest and silent of the three briefly looked away to give a scowl to an inmate who gave her the stink eye. It was one of those inmates, her natural enemies before prison.
She had to shake her head though when she returned back to the conversation. After they had all gathered in the prison's church to find Eiri, a chaplain working within Styx, the trio had left empty-handed.
It was also during that time that they decided to go their own ways at Ashita's suggestion after Yua suddenly got business from a hyperactive Fushiko.
"I returned to see if I can find the chaplain, Eiri." began Sae, crossing her leg over the other. "In the end I still have yet to find her, perhaps we were too late or something, but even after that, I couldn't find her exactly."
Instead of addressing Sae herself, Ashita found herself being questioned instead. "You mentioned Eiri before, but why would she be the first person you'd go to for this?"
"Hm?" the dyed haired girl wasn't really prepared for the question so suddenly. "What was that?"
Repeating herself in the same exact tone and wording, Ashita got the picture. "Oh that. It's because Eiri's a good source to trust, she shows genuine concern and if she's seen someone shady, she would be the best person to ask. That's it."
"You also mentioned that you couldn't find her exactly. What does that mean?" the shortest of the three turned her attention back onto the usually distant inmate.
"It means that I asked for her specifically when I went to take a look around alone." Sae gave the oleander flower petal eyebrows woman a look. "In the end, she wasn't there when we went or when I went."
Sae was back at the church, the first time being a failure. She didn't really know the reason for getting information from a nun. She was a good person, Sae knew that for sure, but for information purposes? No. Unless said people acted suspiciously outside of where inmates normally go…
"Huh."
Was that why? Clever. She had to admit that.
She kept up the search though, looking around the mostly empty prison church. It got to a point where she had to ask someone else about the nun's whereabouts.
"Ah. Eiri isn't in today, but she should be back in a day or so. You must understand, I have no right to tell normal inmates, but for you. Some business came up that required her personally."
"What happened? Is she okay?"
The chaplain nodded. "I believe so. Just that the woman who was running an orphanage she was connected to passed away a couple of days ago and now she is dealing with setting things up over there." stroking his short grey beard, the chaplain continued. "I've also heard that the Helping Hand company is offering a hand, but the last I've heard is that she declined the offer."
"Really? That's surprising. I hope things work out over there then. I'll guess I'll catch her another time."
"After she helps get everything set up over there, she should be back soon." The male chaplain then bowed. "And despite how things turned out for you, I thank you for your service."
"So in the end, she's still away for a while." Ashita stretched once more as her upturned, light green eyes looked around at those at the table. "Doesn't really matter at the end of the day. Yet."
"Hm?" Sae gave the tanned inmate a look.
"If she was away, she might not even have info we're looking for."
The short, pale inmate nodded. "True."
Sae gave a look at the oleander haired inmate, "so, what did Fushiko want with you yesterday? Did she know anything about what we're supposed to be finding?"
If Sae said she was expecting some different emotion to appear on the pale woman's face, she would have been disappointed. On the other hand, she did think it was impressive. Keeping a stoic expression like that put her own frown to shame. Not that she'd voice it of course.
"I have no idea what she was doing," was the reply. "I doubt she would have any clues."
"She was probably just trying to mess with you again," voiced Ashita as she made herself comfortable at the table. "But, she could be useful in the future."
Both Yua and Sae gave her a look. "How so?" they inquired.
"Her quirk would be good to have when we need it."
"She wouldn't do it though," sighed Yua Aoi, blinking her petal eyelashes together for a moment. "This isn't something she would do."
As expected, Ashita had just the solution. "Just got to trick her, like saying it's a prank."
Now Sae looked over to the info broker who just smiled back at her. "I did find something interesting." she revealed.
"And what's that?"
Stretching at the table, the incredibly talented information broker put her cards on the table. "I was approached by Sora actually."
"Hey," the bluish-grey haired Sora approached. "Can I ask you something? I need some...help."
Gesturing to the empty bench close by, the two sat down and the deal was already underway. "What do you need to find out?"
Sora sighed, "late at night, I heard the guards enter Konkeo's cell as it's next to mine. Ever since that night though, I've begun to notice that sometimes late at night that they enter her cell and then leave. I even asked Koneko about it but she has no clue despite being in the cell at the time!"
"Is that why you need my services?"
"...yes. I'll pay you back, but...I have suspicions now. Something's up."
Ashita nodded to herself. "Since then, I've done my magic and had a little look into it. It could actually be a clue if we go forward with it."
"Why didn't you tell us about it sooner?" Sae put her fist down on the table, though there was no force behind it whatsoever. "We could have investigated it together."
"I can't reveal all my tricks!" Ashita playfully smiled, tapping her feet to some random rhythm. "But there is still more to investigate, plenty more."
"Then what are we doing here then?" Sae stood, ready to get a move on already.
Ashita leaned back on the chair as she played with her white dyed hair. "Remember. Sora mentioned that some guards entered Koneko's cell a couple of times randomly in the night."
"Then we should just go to Koneko and let you do the work." commented Yua, still sitting at the table.
The playful smirk returned. "That's if she really doesn't remember."
"It totally sounds suspicious..." Sae commented as the info broker stood.
"Mhm! Plus, we would still need the guards to continue the search!" slapping the round table, a glint appeared in her eyes without warning as she quickly looked between the two. "So here's the plan! We can go find Koneko and get the info from the cat's mouth, or I can go gather the info myself, and then we stick close to the guards around Koneko from a safe distance in case it is related. We can always get Fushiko's quirk too."
Ending the conversation with a shrug, "We don't have any other leads to follow." said the usually distant prisoner. "Koneko and the late night guards are probably the best course of action."
"Then it's settled then." the last remaining inmate that sat at the table said as she too stood. "Let's go find the cat."
Nozomi kept her sole, uncovered eye on the newbie of the ward whenever she appeared. Lately she had decided to hang out with Fushiko of all people for whatever reason.
And now she knew why. Ashita's info was always up to date, she could trust it.
Knowing what she knew, her opinion on the masked goth changed a little. So far, nothing major happened, but the chance was still there. She would keep an eye on her for a while longer and wait for the signs.
It all depends on her actions.
"?!" Nozomi turned her head suddenly, only to see... nothing. "..."
Narrowing her only available eye, a sudden voice made itself known. "Morning, Nozomi."
The older woman turned back to see Sora approach with a yawn, immediately taking a spot at the table. "Morning Sora," came the sarcastic tone of Sora herself before she snapped her fingers. "Hey, you okay?"
"...I'm fine."
Waving her hand, the charming voice user continued. "You don't look like it, but whatever. Not my-"
"Howdy!" a booming voice greeted out of the blue, causing Sora to fall backwards.
"What the hell, Chikuha!" The first thing Sora heard to her response was laughter.
"Morning to you too, Sora!" the tank top wearing woman grinned. "So whatcha doing? Besides absolutely nothing that is."
The blue eyed Sora in her baggy prison garbs sighed, "dunno. Came over after seeing Nozomi acting weird."
"I wasn't acting weird," the milky white skinned woman in question shook her head in a very polite way.
It was then that Chikuha leaned in besides Nozomi. "You wanna blow shit up? We can blow Sora up if you want. That'll help."
"Hey! I'm right here you know," came the hiss from the other one. "Should I ask you to kindly go and jump off a cliff?!"
Her 'kind' gesture was shrugged off with ease. "Pft, if you wanna wear that shock collar again. I'm all for it!"
Sora Natsumi looked away, not wanting to remember that experience again.
"HAHAHA! You should see your stupid ass face, Sora!"
"Shut it! I'll do it you know!"
A sigh came from Nozomi, a sigh that went unheard. "Hm?" she looked over the shoulder of the convict with the simple compass tattoo of her left hand. Nozomi could have swore she saw someone in the distance.
"Oi. Why don't we go to the co-ed ward for a while?" offered the bomber.
Sora just waved her hand. "Not much else you can do here, anyway. Right? Not like I can-"
"Oh yeah!" slamming her hands on the table while jolting up, Chikuha shouted, "I remember! Someone there wants to pass a message onto you for some reason!"
Thanks to her slam, it caused Sora to jolt as well. "Fucking hell mate!"
"A message?" that definitely caught her attention. Nozomi completely ignored Sora's shouts. "What about?"
The light bluish-green haired Chikuha shrugged with a grin. "No clue!"
Closing her green eye with a sigh, the sophisticated Nozomi stood. "Might as well check it out."
"Eh? We're going?!" the slim, blue eyed Sora looked between the two other inmates who already started to move.
"You coming or what?"
Sora had a response to that, besides the middle finger she gave Ueno. "I don't have access there yet," she huffed, crossing her arms now that Chikuha stuck her tongue out.
"Sucked in." the tank top wearing inmate turned on her heels to face the other convict. "Now let's go and blow shit up!" she pointed her constellation tattooed forearm at said other convict.
"I can still walk with you to the gates at least. Geez." huffed the boyish looking inmate. "Besides, I need to confirm something with Ashita anyway."
Normally, Nozomi would just shake her head at the scene, like a mother watching her children playfully bicker. However, this didn't apply here. Not now.
"We better get moving then, let's go." As quickly as Nozomi stood, she left the table just as fast. "Maybe it's related to this recent feeling?"
"Whoa, hold up a second!" Sora called out and she quickly caught up to Nozomi and the already ahead Chikuha who just dashed right on by.
Suddenly looking over her shoulder, Nozomi's sharp eye scanned the mostly empty room as she walked with Sora and the mad bomber before the bluish grey haired Sora departed, going somewhere else entirely.
Entering the gates leading to the co-ed area, the guard present at the booth there glanced up and hailed them to take their positions.
"Which one of you is going in first?"
"I will," Nozomi walked forward, now standing in front of a clear white wall. As she stood, she noticed that the guard was different from the one usually working here.
The guard rolled his hand around. "Stand still and empty your pockets if you have anything on you." as the guard said this, green beams of light shot out of the wall in a wave, scanning all the way down and back up again.
With a few clicks on some keyboard that was out of sight for the inmates, the guard looked back up. "Nothing on you?"
A quick shake of her head and the showing of her pockets just caused the guard to point his cracked thumb over to the co-ed ward after a few more clicks. "You're free to enter the co-ed ward, Nozomi Tendo."
Giving a nod to the guard, she walked on by. Chikuha on the other hand...
"Empty your pockets."
"I don't-"
"Empty your pockets, Ueno."
The older woman waited patiently as Chikuha was forced to fork out whatever she had in her pockets. At first, it was tiny rocks and pebbles. A fair amount of them too.
"Can't have shit in here." she heard Chikuha grumble.
Soon some plastic utensils started coming up. It wasn't much, just a couple of forks and spoons.
"Please put them into the chute," the guard pointed which caused the walking bomb to roll her eyes and dump all her ammo into the chute.
"I didn't use my quirk on them."
"Yeah sure, now stand still."
She was totally brushed off...
Once again the beams of light scanned up and down a couple of times before the guard got to clicking and it wasn't long before the guard shooed her along. "You're free to enter the co-ed ward, Chikuha Ueno."
"Fucking finally." Chikuha huffed as she met up with the very experienced inmate of the prison, "now they shouldn't be that far from here. This way."
Now that both of them were in the co-ed ward of Styx, trying to find whoever the messenger was, Nozomi turned her head to where she came from with a frown, the feeling from before was back.
"Oi, Tendo! Don't slow down!"
"Sorry."
That's right, there was a message waiting for her for some reason, but that didn't stop the persistent feeling on the back of her neck.
She couldn't help but felt like she was being watched...
By the time Hokori woke up, he noticed that the bus was already in motion. "Huh?" he thought as he saw the trees pass on by. "We're moving already…?"
Springing up, the poor fox looked around to see that the sun was already out and that everyone save for Suimin had woken up. "Wait, what time is it?!"
"Morning, Hokori." Dion's voice greeted him as he held out a small, brown bag with some logo of a fast food joint. "Don't worry, it's not even lunch... yet. Got you some food."
His fennec ears dipped a bit. "I didn't mean to sleep in that late..."
Dion, who already had his red wig back on, shook his head at that. "Nah, don't worry. You were probably still getting used to the enhancements of Sagimaru's Boost. Your body probably took some extra time to get used to it while you slept. It should be wearing off soon, so let's put it to use again today too."
Slowly nodding, the newest guard took hold of the bag. The first thing he noticed was that it was still warm. "They must have gotten it recently." he thought as he peeked into the brown paper bag after noticing a few more bags on another seat nearby.
"Didn't really know what to get you, so we just got something, you know."
Arashi's fox-like ears perked up as he looked into the bag. It wasn't much, just some burger made styled for a morning breakfast with a hash brown.
"We should probably wake Hatori up before her breakfast gets colder," the hero added behind the wheel of the bus. Noticing that fact, Hokori's head spun around to see the skull headed bus driver take a bite out of some morning burger.
"Oh. Do you want a drink, Hokori?" Zugai's head snapped towards the rookie, gesturing to some bottles of drink of different brands and flavours.
"Ah! Yes please, thank you."
For a short time, the worries of trying to find the missing inmate didn't exist.
...
Hokori now kept his eyes peeled for any silver haired woman that passed on by. Any one of them could be Mariko Tsujihara.
After Suimin woke up and they all had something to eat, the search was back on as Zugai swapped with the heroic sidekick and it wasn't long before Hokori departed to search with said sidekick and his senior 'Shuten'.
Thanks to the suggestion of the hero that traveled with them, they once again took to the streets in order to find the missing inmate. "I wonder...what she's like." the sandy haired undercover guard thought to himself as he cycled through another song.
He had a fair idea with what his senior co-workers told him, but there was also that sense of mystery to it. What if it was an act? What if she changed since her escape? At the end of the day, Hokori could only go off what he was told about her.
So he jogged some more, glancing to the distance hero agency in the distance. Where there's heroes, there's sure to be villains lurking about...
"Just like what she said," a smile popped on his face when thinking back to the hero he had been travelling with.
Keeping up the appearance of a daily jog throughout the city, his ears picked up on a commotion and it wasn't long before he broke out into a sprint, faster than ever before.
"Sagimaru's Helping Hand quirk really is helpful!" a smile appeared on the fox's face, his tail wagging as he rushed to the source.
He could definitely get used to this speed...before it eventually wore out of course. The time he finally got there, he saw a crowd.
"Villains?" he thought aloud as he got closer before he saw someone appear and he couldn't stop himself in time.
Falling to the ground with a thud, he looked up in time to see a young woman utter, "sorry." before quickly power walking away.
"Hm?" he blinked as he watched the woman walk away. "She...has silver hair..." the undercover Styx guard jumped up and quickly followed the short haired woman, having no idea if she really was Mariko or not. It was worth a shot at least.
He tried his best to ignore the screeching of the villain and quickly caught up with the woman.
"Sorry I bumped into you, are you okay?" he asked, taking off his specially made earphones, letting it rest around his neck. The lady in the black pea coat and brown leather boots kept walking.
Gulping, he kept following. She did have silver hair after all.
"You...okay?"
She never looked back, but she did respond to him. "...I'm fine. Just had to get away from that noise."
"Ah. I understand what you mean, it was really loud despite trying to drown it out with music!" he quickened his pace to walk besides the taller, slightly older, pale skinned woman. Enough to catch a glimpse of her amber eyes before she turned down another path. "Ah! I must look weird! Suspicious! Creepy even! I need to say something!"
"Uh, this is totally out of the blue, but can I ask you something?" the fox asked, without really waiting for a reply. "You see-"
"I'm not looking for work, dates or easy money. Sorry." came the somewhat laidback response.
"Eh?" It did take him off guard, that was for sure. Quickly raising his hands in a defensive manner, the guard tried to explain himself. "No! No! That's not it! I just need some help with something! I'm a little lost and got separated from someone and need some help!"
The pretty amber eyed woman glanced back at the tower.
She didn't have enough time to reply as he spoke again.
"Uh, is that screaming getting louder?" the short guard looked back to where that tall villain was...and how it broke the chains that bound him. Some sort of punch sent a police officer briefly into the air and the moray eel face looking criminal was already on a rampage.
With a swing of its lofty arm, a police car was practically thrown, causing an instant reaction from the fox. His hand gripped onto the short haired woman's wrist.
"We need to go!"
She had no time to think as the screaming got louder and louder.
He hated this.
He hated this A LOT.
How was HE this bloody weak?! How could someone like him be forced to follow every word uttered by this background character?! It pissed Gousen off to no end.
Rhys was one of those inmates that just sat there, in the background among a bunch of other inmates. He was someone you wouldn't pay attention to normally, especially when there were others that were much more dangerous.
"Fuck. It hurts."
Even when Gousen activated his quirk, the pain remained. When he tried to walk away when this puny inmate before him passed through the double doors, pain flooded his own system.
"This fucking guy!" It didn't help that when he chose to do what he was told, the pain was replaced with a complete total turn around. The exact opposite of pain.
It was the best thing he had ever felt.
So good. Very good.
He hated it.
While the weak looking parasite-filled inmate before him was full of openings, Gousen raised his hand. Fist clenched ready to grind this bastard in front of him into nothing more than paste.
It took less than a second for multiple waves of pain to erupt within and through his body. The bald inmate crumbled where he stood. It bypassed all defences!
The lanky inmate with brown hair turned his head briefly back in the direction of the fallen convict. "Come on Gousen, keep up. I told you before, acting out like that will just cause more and more pain."
"Shut it."
A sigh. "Seriously. If you follow along and be a good bodyguard, nothing will happen. In fact, you'll feel great instead. Better than any drug or dopamine kick."
When the pain resided, the bald Gousen stood up with a sigh that just didn't fit with him in any way. It was clear that no matter how many times he tried to fight it, the pain kept growing and growing.
Something that pissed him off to no end.
In this state. He was weak and utterly useless.
The only thing he could do for now was follow the person that was supposed to be just another dead criminal at his hands.
"Anyways, since we're here. There's some people I need to get."
"What the?" When Gousen looked around the room with his soulless green eyes, he just realised where they were. It was just another area inmates could spend their days at, nothing that exciting or groundbreaking. It was just the fact that he managed to zone out of his surroundings because of the pain. "How long was I just mindlessly following this guy?!"
"Now let's give our stalkers something to entertain themselves with," with a snap of his bruised fingers, two figures came walking up, dropping whatever it was they were doing.
The two figures had contrasting expressions. The first grinned from side to side, almost like he was having the time of his life, enjoying every minute of it to a worrying degree. The other on the other hand, frowned. If the first was enjoying it, the second was hating it. Every action carried a grunt of pain, suffering.
With a sudden click of his fingers, Rhys pointed at the doors he and his newest bodyguard walked out of. "It seems we have some uninvited guests, be dears and take care of them, will you?"
"HAHAHA!" the smiling one laughed. "Yes! Yes! I can't wait!"
"You'd do it even if we weren't forced like this..." the frowning one grunted in pain.
As the smiling one laughed, a wave of drool started to drip down his face. "Maybe! Maybe! Now let's cut our fingers off! HAHAHA!"
"You know, the pain will stop as soon as you give in and follow orders," Rhys' tone was nothing like it used to be when he gave a dirty look at the frowning one. "The pain might even stop."
Gousen watched the bruised inmate go about acting like some sort of creepy bastard. He could practically see the parasites crawling around in that tiny head of his. Eyes traveled to the hands of said inmate before a sudden clap brought his attention onto this cocky bastard.
"Now get into positions," Dignam demanded, getting ready to lay a hand on the other two. "All I want is a quiet life for the remainder of my sentence with some strong bodyguards to keep me safe. Now, get to work."
The two inmates Gousen had no idea about just walked on past.
"Come on Gousen, let's go."
With a reluctant grunt, Gousen followed. If only so he could save his strength from the pain. "I'll kill you...Rhys."
The frowning and smiling men on the other hand, waited in position.
"Shitty bastard," the frowning one cursed, "just because of that damn quirk-"
"It doesn't matter, does it? It's fun! FUN!" as the smiling one wiped the drool away, he suddenly started to play with his own fingers.
With an unending frown, he shot back. "Only because you're a psycho who was like this before that weakling asked you if you wanted to go to pleasure heaven!"
"Do you reckon the ones we're hunting will have fingers?"
The meaner one scoffed, nothing was getting through. All the while all he felt at the moment was a dull pain that could grow sharp at any second.
"Urgh. Whatever. At least the pain will subside for a while." when he looked back at his partner, he witnessed the sight of the smiling, grinning man biting his own fingers.
He really hoped these other guys that were following Rhys hurried up...
Suddenly two more figures made themselves known as they followed the trail. An odd pair, but a pair nonetheless. One of them was very, very tall. A giant. The other didn't wear the prison garbs, looking like something made to resist flames.
"Ah, these guys. So they-"
The frowning guy didn't have much time to think as the laugher jumped forward.
"HAHAHAHA! GIVE ME YOUR FINGER KURO!"
In the world, right at this moment. Three different events took place. All around a similar time as if fate was watching their every movement. All three connected by a simple location, whether from within its walls or elsewhere. In the end, all three events pointed here.
Styx.