A day had passed since the funeral, and the guards of Styx returned not that long after. All the inmates were still kept in their cells for the time being, when things started to slow down, that's when the trusted inmates were released into the wards first.
As the day continued, it seemed more were being released into the prison from the week-long hold in their cells.
"How was it?" Eris asked as her fellow warden entered the room, throwing himself face first on the longue.
"Honestly? If Kansuke wasn't there, it would have been better," Seimei Tokugawa sighed. "But…it was a good funeral, he got a respectable send off for his service."
"I'm glad. I wish we could have joined…but with this Limbo party and others in the prison, it was unwise and unsafe to leave."
Still face first on the lounge, he mumbled out, "since we've been gone for a while, did I miss anything?"
"Pretty much the same as the whole week prior to the funeral. Nothing much." she sighed. "As you know, we questioned the traitors but they used some method to avoid my quirk so they need another round of interrogation, though I have an idea about a workaround."
"Still unsure if Anayama has access to the same method as he came clean as well. Juro claims that Sarutobi and Kirigaku are inflitrated assassins along with Anayama still. Former assassins in jail aren't anything new, like Yua and Kara." the urge to slam back down onto the desk was rising. Only thing really stopping her was the egg under the desk.
"If they do have a method that prevents your quirk, at least we have bigger groups of guards patrolling together and keeping an eye on him." the only other person in the room mumbled on the lounge.
"The egg has made no change since and the destroyed nursery still leaves questions about the egg, we still have no leads on the person that obtained whatever they got from the funeral home though thanks to Furore and his sidekick, we got camera footage but it doesn't show much. Speaking about camera footage, we have no idea who the person who stole Yubi's fingers in the security footage is and we haven't seen them since."
When Seimei turned his head, Eris' own head slammed down onto the table.
"At least we know that Limbo fits with Vito's account and we have deceased inmates within Limbo that have their limbs removed and nowhere to be found." he took over the discussion. "We lost many inmates too, Iron Gauntlet went down much like his older brother Steel Gauntlet, Jolly Holiday, Crazy Ape…the inmates from longer ago, the two thieves for example, that ink criminal…a lot. It seems that the corpses there have different prints from other people, we can confirm that Maneater ate most of them thanks to you, but for the others…it seems that the third party tamperer was from Limbo after all."
She nodded slowly. "A higher up too if they're still not found after all these interrogations…"
"There's also what Sae and that said about Maul and Kumamoto. I thought they left Styx a week before Limbo went under way, but it seems that could have been a cover by some uncaught remnants. Ashita, Sae and Yua found Limbo…I doubt they'd lie about them. If they're involved with Limbo, we need to find them now. The question is, are they still in Styx or not?"
"We haven't heard anyone leaving the prison outside of funeral arrangements and Zugai's inmate prison shifting run. Increased security is told to keep an eye out, they could also be hiding with other Limbo higher ups." the eye quirked warden stretched. "Then there is the red eyed third party that Vito mentioned, we have to bring everyone with red eyes back into the interrogation room and re-screen them."
A horrible thought passed between them as they looked at one another. In terms of red eyes, some that came to mind in terms of guards that weren't arrested in the raid were: Tai, Penthus, Anyama, Dion, Muika…and Osamu.
With a method to avoid Eris' quirk, a re-screening would have to be done, but the horrible thought that both of them shared, right after the funeral, was the fact that Osamu and Muika both had red eyes.
To make it worse, they could each think of some reason, basic as it may be, for them to act as a third party…well most of them. At least, they used to when they first learnt of the red eyed individual from Vito.
Tai and his vast hatred of the inmates and getting hands on when they step out of line in the slightest, Anayama and the recent claims of working as an assassin and potentially with Limbo, Penthus' supposed complaints whenever something went wrong in Styx and mentions of Tartarus, Muika wanting to help the prisoners with more counselling and treatment, Dion usually not wanting to deal with the inmates on most days and Osamu wanting nothing more than to protect his sister, even if some called him creepy or gross, no matter what.
But now? Who knows.
No matter how horrible the thought was, there was always the possibility that if Osamu was indeed the red eyed person that Vito mentioned, it could give a reason behind the murder rather than the murder of someone who saw the quirkless guard as trash.
Plus a dead man that wouldn't be able to continue causing chaos like that again if they were.
It was a horrible thought, but they couldn't rule out all of them.
However, there were inconsistencies in all of them too.
How would Muika know where Vito is if Osamu would never let her get close enough? Why would Osamu risk letting his sister get in danger that would risk her own life if he was so overprotective? If Dion was lazy as he shows himself, why did he give himself more work and makes things even busier? If Anayama is an assassin as Juro claimed and potentially with Limbo, why would they release Vito? Especially if they were allied with Limbo. Just because one person like Penthus complains about the Styx's problems, it doesn't mean much when many regular people would complain if the same happened in their neighbourhood. While Tai was violent towards inmates, he showed no mercy to the traitors as he aided the raid and has been nothing but loyal, offering multiple times to be screened when the whole potential traitors issue was brought up.
There were potential theories of what their goals could be if they were. A better prison and security? More treatment for inmates? Stricter policies on inmates? Safer work environment? It was hard to say.
Reasons to act, motivations and reasons why they wouldn't act.
All of it was something that needed to be thought about later.
"We also have what Osamu reported about his killer apparently targeting people with quirks. It's a shame that we couldn't catch the other one alive. Not to mention how Rhys was taken and found in Limbo when he was meant to be sent to the funeral home…and our missing inmate Gousen was found dead in Limbo as well. Both missing limbs and some weird burnt note about orders." the duo frowned. It wasn't a good picture. Inmates missing limbs, going missing, bodies not turning up where they're supposed to go, someone targeting others that have quirks. Not a good picture. "At least Noriko was able to shed some light on things."
"Why are they taking their limbs? Nearly everyone in the prison has a quirk though. The orders we found…there's a few different answers to that question, with some answers being incredibly concerning and if connected, how does it involve the egg nursery?" she thought with the most concerning answer locked in her brain before asking, "I…have a theory to discuss with you about it, but first, what did you learn from Noriko?"
Seimei hummed as his eyes drifted away.
Left alone with the open casket that held Osamu, Noriko looked down at her older brother. "He seems really peaceful, doesn't he?" she asked, brushing some of his hair away. "It's a shame he was born quirkless or none of this would have happened to us."
When Muika's older sister turned to the warden, she gave a small smile. "I have to admit, that was pretty clever in tricking Dad to come. He would never have let us come here ourselves, a clever foolproof plan." She then placed her hand on the corpse of the family's disgrace. "I just want to let you know, my quirk only allows them to talk about their final moments."
"That's fine. Thanks for helping out."
"Anything to get back at the old man really."
Noriko's quirk was similar to her brothers in the sense that it made people question the legitimacy of Kansuke and Shina's children.
Reasons that were already explained.
However, compared to her brother, her quirk was widely different. Noriko called her quirk, Spirit Medium!
As her hand rested on the eldest Yomaura sibling, she activated her quirk and then, Osamu's eyes shot open.
Spirit Medium, Noriko's ability to make a corpse talk about their final moments. Maybe if she was stronger, something more could be obtained from them, but as it stood, her wildly different quirk was mostly useful on more recent corpses. Couldn't do the same to an older one or a skeleton, it had to be relatively…fresh.
It wasn't long before the corpse started to speak. "A strange figure, targeting the inmates…people with quirks…consuming what they ripped out of Juro…" he started, "Harvest…trash…"
As Noriko pressed her hand harder down on her brother's corpse, Osamu suddenly blinked and started to speak again, unblinking just like before. "Who is that? I don't recall seeing them ever. They're targeting the inmates…they're ignoring me…guess being quirkless bites me yet again huh. I'm not even worthy of their attention. It got Juro…it ripped out and ate one of their eyes!" The corpse paused for only a second. "It keeps saying Harvest…it's definitely after people with quirks…it can apparently tell that these are all clones. I must have pissed it off, it's calling me garbage now. It's too strong, if only I had a quirk…I still need to apologise…to Muika…I can't keep up…it's too strong…Muika? What's she doing her-"
The corpse went silent after that as it silently tried to mumble out something, "s…sor…" and then there was silence for a moment.
"Harvest…Juro's eye…sounds like he was right. Targeting quirks and eating the bodies of inmates…it also seems Muika had a vision…I hope." the warden thought as he stared at the lifeless Osamu. "Wish I had a bit more info…but as she said, only the final moments are where she is right now."
Now there was the question of why target people with quirks to eat them?
The silence was suddenly broken when Osamu started to talk. "Who is that? I don't recall seeing-"
Noriko stopped her quirk when the corpse of her brother began to repeat himself.
"Is there anything else you need?" She removed her hand from her brother, closing his eyes in the process.
"No, that will be all. Thank you." he bowed his head at her assistance. "I must say, I thought you two were his golden children."
"Oh we are, we are definitely Mum and Dad's favourites. I suppose you're wondering why I decided to accept your invitation and help you out?" All she got was a very slight nod from the warden. "As I said, to get back at them, mostly Dad. I assume Osamu would have told you about it? I doubt Muika would even speak up about it."
"He has mentioned it. Why? Some regrets?"
She shook her head. "In that house, it was survival of the fittest. Osamu and Muika didn't fit to survive. So no, Shinsei and I don't really have any half-assed apologies to give for our actions during our time as kids, not like they'd accept it to begin with. No use in it. Not like it's an easy situation to explain." she kept looking down at her oldest sibling. "It wasn't just an older brother being kicked out when he was old enough or the youngest child not fitting the family expectations when their useful quirk they inherited was nothing but trash. While Shinsei and I got off easier, we weren't exempt from those standards. We don't plan on apologising, not only since it's useless and I'm not going to talk about those strict high standards for perfection the three of us were put through."
"What makes you think that they won't accept some apology?"
Noriko shrugged. "A lot of reasons. Osamu was nearly kicked out at four years old, so he was forced to stay until Dad was able to kick him out without consequences and because of that, he was kept away from us all and treated way differently so I don't suspect he had a grudge on us, perhaps connecting with Muika after he was kicked out helped with that somewhat. It was a bit weird when he started contacting her out of the blue. Shinsei and I didn't make it any easier for Muika either, though I will tell you this. Shinsei's Misremember isn't to blame. Besides, I know if someone did me wrong like that, I wouldn't accept their apology…not when it makes me feel much better when I refuse it. That sort of thing is powerful to have, especially when done in front of their face."
Seimei closed his eyes, "I see. We should get moving, we used more than enough time."
"Just one last thing," she brought up.
"Yes?"
Noriko hesitated before asking the warden, "was it helpful?"
Seimei looked down at the former Styx guard. "It was." he said, spying a slight smile to appear on her face. More genuine than anything he saw from her before.
"It's time for us to go so the funeral can start."
"That's pretty much what he said," Seimei repeated the corpse's final moments. "So what's this theory?"
Eris pointed to under the desk. "It involves the egg we found, more specifically the nursery that was found and destroyed."
"I'm listening."
"Before I start, I'll say that now knowing that, my theory needs some work. Why would they eat the inmates' corpses, limbs and body parts? It makes Koneko's injuries more concerning as well." she asked, receiving no answer. "It makes no sense with them targeting inmates with quirks and the nursery."
Now with the confirmation of this Limbo associate hunting down people with quirks and eating the corpses and body parts of them, it raised many questions. They knew that inmates like Koneko had missing body parts because of factors like Limbo, but they just assumed they were taken for whatever reason like all the others, but now finding out they were being eaten? It was puzzling.
"Ah, so a new theory is needed then," Seimei rolled around, "do you need some more time? Or do you want to give your original theory?"
"I probably do, the eating is the real wrench in the works. Anyways, a room full of eggs. A nursery, though according to reports it was more like a storage room for a bunch of now destroyed eggs, save for one." she tapped away on the desk. "If we continue to call it a nursery, or even a storage room, these eggs had to come from somewhere. The guardian that was there appeared the same way as the two new faces when Limbo was raided, meaning there are people within the prison that have gone undetected. The nursery didn't seem focused on hatching them either."
"We can assume that the nursery IS connected with Limbo and thanks to Shi, we can confirm that it is indeed connected. Though that shadow that took Yubi's fingers could go either way, we have more reason to believe that they are also with Limbo. They have a nursery, full of eggs that don't hatch and many limbs and corpses have been tampered with and missing. Only people with quirks have been targeted, though the only ones ignored were obvious clones and the only quirkless guard we had." she continued, "unless they targeted Juro first to prevent their quirk and are actual cannibals, the order note you found seemed to be requirements, judging from the female feline part of this order number, something that Koneko's quirk matches. The words Drone, S-Type and M-Type are made out, something that Shi had noticed on the chamber that held the person that destroyed the nursery. It was marked M, presumably M-Type followed by a number, presumably registration. If it is registration, it could match these order numbers, though it could be unrelated between the two. Perhaps though, the nursery is also one in terms of plants, to be sent somewhere else as a holding and transportation area."
Finally, Eris crossed her arms. "If we go by order numbers, not just as orders for whoever got this list, but from a customer perspective…we could be looking at whatever is in those eggs being sold to others." the warden sighed as she leaned back in her chair. "It's a shame that the note was too burnt to make out the other details. We might be dealing with…a new form of human-quirk trafficking or worse...they're making whatever is in those eggs…"
Seimei looked up at the ceiling when Eris finished before turning his head her way.
"Hm, we can't dismiss anything of course, but if that egg hatches soon, we might get our answers." Seimei looked at the desk in question.
"My theory could be completely annihilated if whatever hatches proves otherwise, so we need to keep it safe until it hatches. The real problem here is the consuming of inmates, both corpses and parts of them as well as how they're making these eggs if they really are." Eris then coughed into her hand not long after. There were other subjects to discuss.
"Now there's a matter of the inmates-" she was interrupted as someone knocked on the office door. "Enter."
In came the guard that carried himself like a butler or a valet.
"I hope you don't mind the intrusion," Shimaru nodded, entering the room with a tray and two cups on it. As he placed it down on the desk. "I brought some refreshments, now I must-"
"Actually, stay a minute, Shimaru. You will be needed for this," the golden eye Argyris waved her hand. "We were just about to discuss what to do with the inmates."
"Oh?"
Eris looked back to Seimei, "as I was saying, the matter of the inmates. What are we going to do with them? So many things happened at once. First we had Rin cause a riot in the male ward because he was asked to and bribed with blood from what he complains about, the group that tried to escape the prison by having Rin act as a distraction, the pair that hunted down and killed Rhys, the group that fought in the co-ed area and Akita sleeping with the now arrested guards and last of all, the group that willingly participated in Limbo."
"Due to these recent events, we need to crack down even harsher on inmate behaviour thanks to so many inmate-related events happening one after another in rapid succession." The eyepatch wearing warden continued. "Many inmates upon their arrest don't show any remorse for their actions or try to change during their sentence, many in fact actually do, but just as many also refuse. Especially so for a prison like Styx, one meant for the worst criminals."
Seimei, still on the longue, nodded as best he could from his current position. "We need to re-enforce this lesson. When we opened up our gates to accept more regular inmates, successful prison rehabilitation increased, but thanks to these prisoners that refuse to change, we need to really make these troublemakers understand that."
"Prison riots, fights and problems among inmates will always occur, no matter how civilised it can be. However, the inmates that do cause these problems need to learn that they can't keep doing this. Murder, assasult, sleeping with guards in Akita's example, joining up with traitors to engage in prison matches and deathmatches. It needs to be punished. It needs to be drilled into them." Eris then glanced over to Shimaru. "And that's where you come in, Shimaru."
The monocle wearing guard blinked. "Oh! My quirk is required, it seems."
Seimei sat up at that as Eris smiled. "Yes. I think it's time for the Stygian Ward to get some new inmates for a while."
"That's just perfect! It's been quite a while since new inmates have been sent there, outside of the solitary confinement area nearby." Seimei smirked at that.
Shimaru silently chuckled at the idea.
"There's quite a few inmates that were in a lot of these recent problems, we should split them into groups." the cloakless guard rolled his neck around.
"I think we'll split the Limbo group in half, they definitely need to go. Kuroishi Yukimaru, Gin Shinoha and Rin Yonaga shall go too, seeing as they have prior Limbo history from their questioning as well as what they've done. David Flannegan, Inyoku-Yui Shiro and Koneko Hirayama for their long Limbo history. I think we'll let Jin Nakamura off for now, seeing as from questioning, he was dragged there." Eris began, looking over the names. "The prisoners that tried to escape too. Remko Akko, Zuko Yamamoto, Kagayami Li and Touya Kotaki…even though Touya seems to have no intention of escaping. More so doing it for the thrill."
Seimei looked over the list of names too when he hopped over. "Chikuha Ueno for the display she showed the co-ed ward. Nozomi Tendo and Sora Natsumi as well," he added. "Akita is also a no-brainer, so she can be sent to Stygian too."
Seimei then looked up at the other two. "Now, there are three names to discuss."
"Which ones?" Shimaru asked, looking over the names.
"Juro Raisa, Fushiko Karakuri and finally, Fumma Yoshitsune." Seimei checked under the desk to see the large egg wrapped up in his cloak. "Fushiko doesn't seem the type to seriously join in on fights."
"When I questioned Sora, she confessed that her quirk made her stay and fight." Eris added with a nod.
The other warden continued, "Juro Raisa, even though they joined in the co-ed ward fight, apparently he reported that Anayama is apparently an assassin from a group known as Underbelly from what we've got from when you questioned him."
"Underbelly?" Shimaru raised his eyebrows. "That sounds, if you pardon my rudeness, something a child would make up. Are you sure?"
"Apparently they claim that the name makes it easier to believe they don't exist," Eris sighed. "All I was able to get was that they met Sarutobi some time long ago before they got arrested."
If there was one downside to her quirk, it was the fact that it was limited to what the target knew. Similar to Ashita's quirk in a way. While Ashita's quirk could get information her targets knew, no matter how repressed, if the target truly didn't know it then she'd get nothing. Eris' quirk got information from what her targets understood if they knew something about it.
If she asked a prisoner for say, the eye colour of an individual, if the target only considered the different shades as a single colour, that was it. Red, maroon, bright red, dark pink…if the target only considered that as red, then that's the answer Eris would receive. Now, she had to deal with people finding a way to bypass her quirk's questioning.
It forced inmates to tell the truth, but when she interrogated them to get certain answers, it was limited to what they truly knew, even though they were still forced to come clean about it.
Asking an inmate if they really committed a crime? Easy. She got the truth.
Asking an inmate what they recall? Dependent on the individual, but always the truth.
At least she had her super-move though.
"With the existence of Limbo, we can't be too careful." she took a sip from the cup Shimaru brought in. "Before we get into that some more, why Fumma?"
"Fumma has been making an effort to stay out of any 'drama' in the prison, refusing to join riots and that. His group's record has been a little too clean as of late to the point of being suspicious," Seimei frowned. "He still believes that he controls the ward and the prison, even when we easily busted someone trying to get a job as a guard here to help him thanks to the screening process. As well as his failed bribes. While I have easily sent him running with his Jormungandr between his legs, it's another good opportunity to hammer home just how much control he lacks here and teach him a lesson. He is deluded enough to think he has power in both inmates and guards, just like Akita."
"You make a good point," Eris nodded. "He wouldn't be able to keep up with anyone in the Stygian Ward either."
"However, the main problem here is trust. Since he hasn't really done anything as bad as the others being sent to the Stygian Ward recently, it might hurt the trust the behaving inmates have. Normally, an inmate behaving like that is ideal and makes a good example for other inmates and taking an inmate that has been behaving and being a 'good' role model away for punishment without clear reason will give other inmates no reason to behave if they just get taken away when they've done nothing to warrant it."
Seimei sighed as he sank deeper into the leather lounge. "However, if we can't throw him in there, then that's no skin off our backs. He's not worth our time. I'll just walk out there and put him in his place if he steps out of line."
"...actually," the eyepatched warden stood up. "In fact, there might be something for that."
Seimei and Shimaru shared a look when the female ward warden quickly scooped up their phone.
She quickly tapped on her phone as a voice soon came through. "Boss?"
"I'm going in for another round of questioning, they might have a method there to make sure my quirk fails, bring Ashita along. We have some questions to 'ask' our dear traitors."
"Roger that."
As she ended the call, Seimei had to ask. "A new lead?"
"Not really, but we have a new question to ask these Limbo traitors thanks to a certain information broker." she smirked, "we might be able to stop outside sources from helping Fumma, but that doesn't mean one of these traitors already inside didn't help him out."
"That's a great idea! Ashita's quirk should work wonders for that!" Seimei grinned as he got off the longue. "Wait, was that your workaround you mentioned earlier?"
Eris only responded with a nod and matching smirk.
"Let's get going then!"
A cough then caught their attention.
"And what should we do with Juro and Fushiko?" asked the monocle wearer.
"...we can't take any chances with there being an additional factor within Styx. We already have Limbo and this is a first for Fushiko, though she was influenced by Sora's quirk." the burgundy haired warden crossed her arms.
"We have no idea if they'll target Juro but as it seems, Anayama has made no moves. He's the main one we're concerned about here, especially if he is letting Sarutobi and Kirigaku free because they are in the same underworld organisation…" the black haired warden hummed. "Right now, we also have no idea if the others involved in the co-ed ward fight know what Juro knows. I doubt Fushiko or Chikuha really know, but if they're going for silences, will they target them?"
"We also don't know if Anayama is with Limbo, the third party or a different factor altogether." The female ward's warden finished their cup as Seimei only just started his. "It might be a safer option to put Juro in the Stygian Ward for a while. Fushiko was influenced by Sora's Charmer's Voice, I think we can give her a pass for the ward."
"So it's just Juro now." The valet guard stood patiently in the room.
"Hm…if we're splitting the groups in half, we'll keep Kara, Sarutobi, Kirigaku, Yubi, Naut, Kajiru, Lilim, Maneater, Arai and Mulhall in another group for Stygian. We might place those new Mares of Diomedes with them. Fleabag too if she makes it. However, with Juro's claim of Anayama, it might be safer to put them in Stygian. Anayama doesn't have access there, so if he appears there, that will make it clear." the burgundy haired woman snapped her fingers. "If he is an assassin, he has made no move in order to keep suspicion off him and we're unsure if he has the same bypassing method as the traitors if not working with them."
"Not to mention your interrogation. Anayama claimed that he was there to stop if going a little too far, however, if he did use the same method, it seemed he was able to keep composed and not so clueless like the others." Seimei mused. "Unless…"
Anayama, sitting in the interrogation room, giving his story during another wave of guard screening. Seimei remembered the process as he watched Eris question the man.
He gave the story and sat there in silence, when Trance came out, Anayama sat there, not knowing anything about Limbo at all.
"...he truly doesn't know a thing about Limbo."
Shimaru gave a polite nod. "That could very well be the case. Perhaps another immediate screening is required?"
"That's a possibility, though…when I asked about Underbelly, there was nothing. Unless he used that method to bypass my quirk right when I asked about Underbelly somehow…" Argyris mumbled under her breath. "When I first questioned that traitor that showed me they had a method to bypass Trance, they didn't know a thing about Limbo even though they just came out of it, though some in holding had different expressions when they suddenly didn't know anything of the place they were in, though the majority had blank expressions to my interrogation…perhaps that's a sign? At the very least, they have a method even now and Anayama needs another re-screening."
Seimei turned to the valet guard and waved his hand a bit. "We might have to inform Juro off to the side before we send them into the Stygian Ward, but it should be the safest play for them then out in the ward, especially when that harvesting individual got one of their eyes. We definitely need to inform the guards there about it too. Now we need to go."
Shimaru bowed as the wardens left the room. "I'll let the guards in the Stygian Ward know of the new arrivals. I'm sure they and the inmates there will be thrilled for some new faces and entertainment to put in their places."
A pair of eyes started to open, seeing the bright white ceiling of the roof. The first thing they heard was from someone nearby.
"Hey, you, you're finally awake."
"I'm going back to bed…or waking up for real now."
He closed his eyes right after.
"Hey! Don't just close your eyes on me!"
"Leave it, Remko," another voice revealed itself, "if he doesn't want to find out what happened to him, that's his choice."
"Juro…"
"What happened to… me?" Zuko's eyes shot open.
"We'll be tossed out soon, seeing as we've been fine for a week." Juro continued as Zuko sat up.
When Zuko Yamamoto sat up in the infirmary's bed, he looked around the room. Juro, who was missing an eye, laid in a bed sitting up with Remko doing the same thing asides from the missing eye thing. Li was strapped down in a bed, not moving an inch. Some other inmates were strapped down too, like an inmate with moss-like hair he never met due to the ward separation, who was far away from them and signs didn't look good for them. Some more inmates were there like another strapped down inmate, a red haired woman but she didn't stay long before she was taken away by some clones and Mulhall who was just sleeping nearby.
A few more female inmates were there, one with a metallic eyepatch, another with short light bluish grey hair that looked a little boyish and an inmate with cat features missing an eye and ear along with an arm! David was also there, strapped down in a bed.
"An inmate missing an arm…it seems like a lot has happened…" as Zuko thought about that, seeing that brought back memories of the pain in his leg.
As he moved his leg, he tried the other one. Nothing.
"My leg feels…wait. My leg?!" The memories of the bear trap slamming down on his leg hard just when he tried to escape Styx came flooding back. Rushing to sit up, he struggled with the sheets until he realised. His hands, over his hands were a pair of red mittens, like he was going to bake a wonderful pie or cake.
He knew instantly that this was going to get annoying. He could barely use anything complex like this!
Zuko tried to pry the baking mittens off, but they were locked around his wrists. "An anti-quirk measure."
Now, if he used his quirk to gain something, he might be able to hold it in one or both hands, using what he grabbed after his quirk brought it to him was going to be difficult. He couldn't see him holding a gun like this, that was for sure.
It was all going to be annoying real fast.
However, right now, the mittens weren't his biggest concern.
While he couldn't grab his sheets, he managed to eventually throw them off as he saw his leg, bitten by the bear trap…
It wasn't there.
IT WASN'T THERE!
"So you're finally awake," Lambert yawned as he walked over, making the inmate with a missing leg look up at him. "You've been out for a while, the longest here actually. As you can see in my hands, and your lack of leg, we had to amputate."
In Lambert's hands was a prosthetic leg.
It wasn't anything like those high tech robot ones. It wasn't hero-grade, just a basic prosthetic leg for the inmate.
Not like they'd give him anything of importance that he could use to his advantage anyway…
But…it was a replacement for his leg…all thanks to that bloody sadistic bastard that shoved that water pistol down his throat! Unable to keep his eyes off his missing leg, it was all he could focus on..
Just then Li woke up. He didn't say a word as he thrashed around wildly, glaring at Zuko and Remko. The only thing stopping him from moving was Lambert's bindings keeping him down. Bindings that were also around his mouth, preventing many of the hurtful things he was going to tell the two. It was enough to remove Zuko's eyes off his missing leg.
As Li, under the bindings created from Lambert's quirk, thrashed around, Carna walked up as her finger grew a thin needle from the tip of her finger and jammed it into the convict's neck. "It's time to go back to sleep."
Li's eyes struggled to stay open as something shot through his already drugged up body right before his eyes closed and his body stopped trying to escape to get revenge.
Carna removed her needle finger from the neck of the inmate with a huff.
Sedate: Carna can grow needles from the tips of her fingers that allow her to tranquilise targets like a human tranquiliser gun!
Carna then looked over at Zuko. "It's okay, just take deep breaths."
She walked over slowly, "it must be a shock to your system, but your leg was too injured to leave hanging on. So we had to do what we did." The needle coming out of her finger tip was still out, but not as long as before. It was really short now. "Just take your time. Deep breaths."
Remko said nothing as Zuko could only take the advice, shaking all the while.
After the mass arrest of Limbo traitors, Ashita sat around the ward watching as things were slowly going back to normal. Or she hoped. As Yua mentioned, it could be the calm before the storm.
She didn't have much time to herself as she saw a guard approach her. When she noticed who it was, the broker began to sweat a little.
"Not him…"
He had already approached, right in front of her.
There stood Tai, with no angry look on his face. It seemed…calm. Which only worried the information broker more. While guards were a bit more used to his current expression off work, Ashita was freaking out. "They say that some people who are so incredibly angry are able to keep a super calm expression and composure! Is he going to attack? I haven't done anything wrong, right?"
As she was worrying, something unusual left Tai's mouth. "It was thanks to you that Limbo was discovered," he huffed, sounding a bit more like himself…if only for a moment.
"Oh no! Was he a part of it all along?!" bracing herself for any attack. She was certain that the guard known for violently lashing out at inmates the second they stepped out of line was going to end her right then and there. Normally, she was fine if not worried and cautious around him even if she never crossed that line like so many others, but that Limbo mention? She wasn't as confident.
Nothing came, only for what he said after. "Thanks for helping us out. Thanks to you, we got to beat the shit out of those traitorous fucks."
Wait. He was acting…normal? Where was the angry guard that hated inmates with a passion? This was uncanny. Him thanking an inmate? Was he replaced? Was she dreaming? There was no scowl on his face!
It wasn't long before he returned to normal as he spiked his miniature sun at an inmate far away who was able to start a fight. "NOT NOW YOU FUCKERS! YOU PIECES OF USELESS SHIT-" and there it was, the usual Tai.
After a while as the inmates ran away, he turned back to her, annoyed but no signs of anger towards her.
He then asked her.
"You want to help out with another problem?"
…
A guard sat in the room, looking nervous as hell as he fiddled with his hands and a glass of water on the table. This man was a nervous wreck!
Or so it seemed as Eris and Seimei watched behind the glass.
He was acting. His movements too precise and practised as their eyes looked around the room, avoiding the clearly known one-way mirror outside of a few instances. No matter how he moved, it seemed rehearsed. No matter how you look at it. It was like someone pretending to be confident when you could clearly tell they were a nervous wreck.
This was the same but in reverse, someone trying to act scared and nervous but was clearly confident, they weren't shaking as much, their eyes told a different story and the way he moved of course was another sign. All acted.
This was one of the traitors from Limbo, caught red-handed as they and their accomplices awaited their transport out of Styx, or perhaps in Styx for some. Right now, it was still in the middle of questioning, once again.
When the wardens walked in, that's when he began.
"I told you before, I don't know anything," he started, reaching for the glass of water. "Yes, I admit it, I was involved in gambling on inmates fighting, but that's all I knew. I assure you."
"You say that," Eris began as the former guard was about to take a sip from the glass. "You have your methods of avoiding my quirk, I'll give you traitors that. It's just a good thing I have another method to get answers out of you."
The confidence in the man's eyes halted as Eris, instead of sitting down, let someone else sit in her place. A woman with dyed white hair and quite well known within Styx.
Ashita Insatushi.
That confident look in his eyes vanished the moment he laid eyes on Ashita. Almost downing their glass of water almost instantly because of it.
Ashita placed her hands on the table as the man refused to look her directly in the eye.
"What's wrong? If you're innocent, you'd look her in the eye. Are you confessing?" Eris walked around the guard who downed their glass immediately with a hoping, pleading look.
"..where were we?" he asked, a little confused as Eris pointed at the inmate.
"Just look in her eyes."
Once the guard with a now blank expression was looking at her, Eris gave the inmate a nod. "Proceed, Ashita." as the convict nodded, Eris could only think back to the first traitor that dodged her quirk. "He's already showing signs just like the others. I'll leave it to you, Ashita."
The information broker stared into the guard's blank eyes, her hands stretched out on the table as she mentally asked the questions Eris wanted the answers too.
The answers were soon engraved on the flat surface of the table.
As Ashita read her findings, the first thing she pointed out was. "They avoided your quirk with drugs." she revealed, giving a shot to the water. "Also, the water's drugged as well."
Eris was quick to move, leaving Seimei behind with the inmate.
Outside, near the water cooler, Dion finished another white plastic cup of water.
"Dion?" she asked, only for him to turn to her.
"Is there a problem, Warden?" he asked, taking another sip.
The warden only stared at the alcohol drinker and the water cooler. "...Dion's immune to liquids thanks to his quirk…whoever drugged it must have hoped that Dion would be on…" she then asked him, "where did that container for the water cooler come from?"
"The storage room. Why?"
"It seems we have a bad batch. Don't give any of them water until we buy new batches. Apparently someone got really sick. You should be fine though. I'm heading back in."
Drugged water. Someone that had yet to be discovered replaced the water for these traitors. "It's a good thing we have Ashita," she thought as she walked back into the interrogation room. "I questioned Dion earlier, but seeing how he's immune…it seems he's safe."
A double check later on probably wouldn't hurt. As it stood right now, he was clean.
Dion barely had time to get a word in as he looked down at the cup and the water cooler he was leaning on like he was on a work's lunch break in a company's cubicle office.
When Eris entered back into the interrogation room, she saw more carvings on the table.
"What else were you able to find?" she asked as Seimei gave the carvings a look over.
"We found something we wanted, but it turns out regular people like him were unable to look at any of the faces of Limbo's higher ups. It seems there are a few and according to some prisoner accounts and Shi's team that we discussed earlier, the only one they knew of is some guy called Teddy. Teddy the Third, apparently. Another lurker in the prison. Kumamoto and Maul seemed to be hired as some blockade to ensure Limbo wouldn't be discovered. We need to find them if they're still inside the prison."
"All other higher ups and even the Mastermind are completely unknown to them. They only know the faces of the other regulars there." the information broker then pointed to a list of names. "There's a list of some names of guards and other staff they know about."
"Thank you Ashita, you've been a great help," both wardens said in unison.
"We'll need your hand with a couple more traitors," Seimei began, "you'll be rewarded for this, I'll assure you. Your track record in Styx is amazing, one of the best we've seen. So thank you."
"I…uh, I'm glad to be of help." she was definitely not expecting that sort of praise.
Eris then asked, "What was the thing we found?"
As Seimei was about to explain, Ashita beat him to it. It was her pride as Styx's info broker, after all. "Some of the guards working with Limbo have had dealings with Fumma Yoshitsune. I listed it all down here." she pointed at another area of the table.
Eris's eye read the list of what these traitors did with Fumma.
"Drugs, standard and quirk boosting. Pardons for in-prison crimes and looking the other way for what he and his little group do. Smuggling things in and out of prison. All of these in return for easy inmates for Limbo, aside from the ones in his group with a promise of being spared, but the main thing is that Fumma's new syndicate joins under Limbo as a higher up, which they doubt he'd accept, as well as a potential takeover of Styx should the need arise?!" she almost slammed her fist through the table. "They were planning a takeover? Did they seriously think that would work?"
"Yeah, bastards had a back up plan and tried to enact it during the raid. If they learnt we found out before then, maybe we'd have a bit more trouble on our hands. Apparently…there were some forces that weren't here…"
Eris noted a certain part again. "It says here that the ones from his group are spared from Limbo, but that inmate with the blood tendril quirk was a part of his group and over here it confirms what Vito said as a participant in fighting and killing inmates. Seems they had no intention of following their deal completely."
"Vito killed a person that they promised wouldn't be in Limbo but threw them in anyway," Seimei thought back to the body that started it all. "Not a big surprise, really. It also mentions stuff about the phone call we hijacked when Fumma got that call, if you remember."
"At least this truly confirms that Vito was in Limbo officially." She then spied another name, Akita. "It seems even Akita is mentioned here…seems a few that bypassed my quirk also had dealings with Akita. More cases of Akita and guards sleeping with one another. However, ones that didn't sleep with her tried the same deal given to Fumma to protect her 'girls' and other benefits. Seems like Fumma was the only one to agree though."
"And that Limbo had been going for quite some time according to this," Seimei tapped the carvings on the desk, looking back at the information about Fumma. "We might not know what Fumma's planning, but at least we know what he has done."
"It even has the more recent times of their dealings," Ashita pointed out with that playful smile she was known for among the inmates. "And one of them is actually real soon!"
"You're right," the black haired warden looked over the carvings.
He paused as his phone rang.
As Seimei looked down and pulled out his phone, he answered as he talked with whoever was on the other end.
Seimei, getting off his phone, reported, "Alexios just contacted me, he said that the doctors have some results. Still busy with other matters though. I'll go and speak with Fumma after I throw this guy back into the cells after I use him for a bit, I'll leave the rest in your hands."
As Seimei Tokugawa left, taking the blank faced traitor with him, Ashita stretched. She just hoped she had enough table space for the rest.
…
"Here," a guard threw a small package. "Here's your side of things. Make sure to keep it hidden as always. Things are getting rough now, it might take longer so keep your forces prepared."
"Not my problem." Fumma scoffed, catching the package. "I wasn't the one who got found out."
"Weren't you the one who claimed that he had authority throughout the prison? The only reason you had that authority, which is just us allowing you to get away with crimes, gain quirk boosting drugs and smuggling things for you, you know that right. Authority you say, what a joke. Just keep to the plan." the guard harshly whispered, leaving the yakuza captain alone with a frown.
Luckily things couldn't get worse.
"Yoshitsune," the voice that Fumma hated to hear came from behind. When Fumma turned around, the sight of the warden, both hands on his wooden sword that rested on the ground. "It seems you've been busy."
"Is there something wrong?" Fumma raised an eyebrow at the warden, cautious of their arrival. "As far as I'm aware, I've done nothing wrong."
"Hm, are you sure about that?" the warden asked. "It seems to me like you're preparing something."
"Hey!" one of Fumma's underlings shouted. "Just because Boss is staying out of problems so beneath him, it doesn't mean that he's planning something!" a few more underlings seemed to get riled up at that.
"It seems you're growing your little group," Seimei shook his head. "Now, you need to come with me, Fumma."
The jade haired inmate with bandages wrapped around the right side of his face and eye just stared at the warden. "Is it a crime to behave during a prison sentence?" he gave a polite smile, holding back something violent. "Surely this breaks the trust between guards and inmates."
"Fumma, Fumma, Fumma," Seimei shook his head, ignoring the rallying agreements of Fumma's underlings. "It's like a kid trying to act tough and scary."
"...what?!" Fumma held himself back, glaring at the warden.
"I'll be honest, you are not worth our time."
The leader of the male ward's biggest group gritted his teeth. That tone, he hated that tone so fucking much! So much it made his Jormungandr quirk, currently in its coat form, shake.
And how DARE he say that to HIM!
You could practically see his veins pop out in anger as Seimei tapped his wooden sword on the ground.
"How many times do we have to tell you that we're not afraid of a tantruming child? How many times do you think you hold some sort of power in here? Last I heard, it sounds like the yakuza group you were a part of is long gone. Absorbed and replaced by another."
Fumma didn't really want that reminder. How some fucker from another yakuza group took over everything!
They would be the first! Just as soon as he got out of here! His syndicate will rule! Hold on…
"...how-"
Seimei pointed to the guard handcuffed in prison garbs and held by clones. "You see Fumma, working with guards to further your homemade syndicate, not a good look. Drugs, smuggling, crime pardons and looking the other way. All these bribes." It wasn't long before another set of clones dragged the guard the convict was just dealing with out. "It's a good thing we kept back for a minute. Not only did we see you making dealings with those guards in person, we know now from the confession of multiple traitors, that you have been a very busy snake. We know everything Fumma."
Unable to hold it back any longer, the black coat turned back into its usual form! Jormungandr lunged forward, intending on ripping the warden in two, only for the warden to slap the serpent, blasting it's head clean off into multiple tiny shards, causing Fumma to drop as blood poured from his mouth as Jormungandr repaired itself automatically.
"I said this before, I'll say this again. Fumma Yoshitsune, you have no authority here in Styx. Never had, never will. Those traitor guards that were aiding you are gone. You are going to be punished for your crimes."
Fumma, out of breath and on his knees, could only stare up at the warden's cruel smirk.
As time went by to give certain inmates time to adjust (about a day), especially to any missing parts of their body, many inmates were gathered and rounded up by the monocle wearing guard.
Standing before Shimaru were the following: Kuroishi Yukimaru, Gin Shinoha, Rin Yonaga, Akita, Fumma Yoshitsune, David Flannegan, Inyoku-Yui Shiro, Koneko Hirayama, Remko Akko, Zuko Yamamoto, Kagayami Li, Touya Kotaki, Chikuha Ueno, Nozomi Tendo, Sora Natsumi and Juro Raisa.
The sixteen inmates were currently held close together, but still quite scattered from one another. All of them were within Shimaru's line of sight as other guards were present.
Some guards definitely kept others in line, like Rin who kept staring at Remko…and he wasn't the only one as Li was glaring daggers at both Remko and Zuko who noted Zuko's lack of a leg. "That'll make things easier."
As Zuko was still getting used to their new prosthetic, the shy Koneko was still dealing with her lack of arm. "Koneko…what happened?" Sora asked, looking from the missing ear, the missing arm and the missing eye.
Nozomi also gave Koneko a concerned look at her injuries.
The one with the metallic eyepatch looked at the one with the standard issue bandaged one. However, unlike Zuko who got a prosthetic leg, she lacked a prosthetic arm.
When Zuko noticed that detail, it made him question why they brought him a leg…and what they had planned.
"I…I'm not too sure…" the one eyed cat quirked prisoner stuttered out. "When I came to…I was getting atta…attacked…"
"At least you're alive," the motherly tone of Nozomi was enough to keep the shy convict from thinking back to the sight she witnessed.
"Bring Kuroneko back out, at least she is worth something," said a snake, slivering on by checking out the potential challengers.
Koneko, a bit confused by the name, shrunk. A part of her felt like she should have known that. It wasn't the first time someone mentioned that she was out of place in Styx.
She wasn't supposed to be brought here in the first place. Nozomi's hand rested on her shoulder for a minute as someone was watching not that far away. "Kuroneko?" the yakuza daughter thought.
The nearby Akita was also staring at Koneko and her lost arm, how dare someone hurt one of her girls! "When I find the fucker who did that, they'll pay for putting a hand on my girls!"
Fumma huffed, frowning at the thought of those damn guards slipping up at the final hurdle. Now he had to do this shit, whatever it is.
"He's been glaring at us for a while," Remko thought as he spied Li glaring at Zuko and him. "Then there's Rin…I really hope he forgot about the payment…"
David, who just looked down at the floor, sighed. "I don't see Jin anywhere…that's good…that means they're not punishing him…" the American had a whole week to think, seeing as his motivation the moment he joined was a lie by the people running the event…now…he was empty. "I hate this temper…it almost got Jin hurt…"
However, not too far from them, Touya smiled at the now one-eyed Juro.
"It seems like a lot of interesting things happened as of late," Touya, ever the gentleman, continued to smile as his fiery looking eyes noted Juro's lonely snake slitted eye.
"...you can say that again," Juro sighed as a bandage covered his missing eye.
The tallest inmate of the group, the long haired Kuroishi, stood with Gin after their recent exploits with the now gone and, depending on who you ask, forgotten or not forgotten Rhys.
"Hey," Gin started, looking up at Kuroishi. "Seems like Gousen bit the dust too."
Kuroishi blinked at that. "Not surprising."
Chikuha's grin seemed to widen as she saw more people she could test her quirk on and when she heard the rattling of a snake's tail, Inyoku looked to have the same idea! "I wonder what's going to happen next?" thought the white haired, slitted eye inmate. "It looks like things are getting serious! I can't wait!"
They shared a look and a grin before a guard appeared out of nowhere with the sound of a clap!
Right in front of them!
All eyes turned to Shimaru Hakushu. He just popped in right in front of the bomber and rattlesnake. "It's good to have your attention." he said, opening his eyes and walking back to where he was standing before. "I assume many of you know why you're here?"
He was met with silence.
"I'll keep it simple. You are going to be punished for your crimes."
As he said this, Koneko seemed to retreat into her hoodie, now with a dangling sleeve, even further.
"I would explain why, but I don't need to explain the reasoning. I'm sure you have your own ideas as to why." The guard looked over at the inmates as many other guards stood behind him. Rarely did he see concern on the faces of the inmates.
The sixteen inmates mainly shared looks of either excitement or were just stoic or quite calm as they listened to the guard. Shimaru was sure that they weren't really listening either. Only a few showed looks of worry and it was mainly from Koneko and a down in the dumps David and Zuko who were clearly worrying about other things rather than what he said. Then there was a furious looking Li in the back, but he didn't dare move as Rin was focused on someone else after the guard holding him back let him go.
"Ah well," the guard thought, making sure no guards were in his line of sight. "No use in hanging around here any longer."
"But now, it's time to send you…to your new temporary ward!" Shimaru raised his hands.
"Huh? What?" A sudden confusion spread among the inmates but they didn't have much time to react to what followed next.
As the monocle wearer kept his eyes on all the gathered inmates of the first batch, he suddenly clapped his hands together, and to the sixteen inmates of the first batch, the scenery…changed!
No longer were they in the ward where they were gathered. The inmates looked around and wherever they were, it seemed more…abandoned than anything. Grass was growing from the cracks in the ground!
Not to mention the atmosphere in the hall they now stood in carried a feeling that caused most of them to feel something crawl up their spines. Whatever this place was, it reeked of danger.
Meanwhile, Shimaru patiently waited for the inmates to gain their bearings, causing a few inmates to look directly at him…and the moment he clapped his hands just seconds ago.
Clapport: By clapping his hands together, he can teleport himself and others as long as the people he's teleporting are in his line of sight! Closing his eyes only teleports himself and he needs a good mental image of the location!
The butler-like guard with the monocle gave a tiny, unnoticed smirk as he released his clap.
"Welcome to the Stygian Ward."
Hey, so this chapter was finished around the same time as the last one, it was going to be a double upload, but I was a little lazy in editing it so I gave it a little bit of time before doing so, seeing as both are kinda lengthy if uploaded together.
