"What is the Stygian Ward?" Hokori asked in the break room.
The rookie had just witnessed Shimaru teleport away with the inmates with a single clap moments ago and now, Shimaru was standing right in front of an electric kettle as he prepared a cup of tea for himself.
"Ah yes, this should be your first time hearing about it, correct?" the man preparing his tea asked, seeing the fox guard nod.
"It is. I thought Styx only had the three prison wards..."
The other guards in the break room turned their attention to the rookie. "Styx actually has four wards," Shi said, walking in as she adjusted the dog collar with 'Cerberus' around her neck.
As the young guard's ears perked up, Shimaru continued. "Yes, as Shi said, Styx actually has four wards. The male ward, the female ward, the co-ed ward and finally, the Stygian ward." he began, taking a seat near the rookie as he took a sip from the tea cup. "You must be wondering, just what is the stygian ward? Well, let me ask you…what do you know of the Underworld Prisons? Styx or more so, Tartarus."
Hokori tilted his head with a hum as he heard a few other guards scoff the second Tartarus left Shimaru's mouth. "The Underworld Prisons are known as being the best prisons in the world. Holding some of the worst of the worst criminals around the world in various prisons also around the world..." Hokori listed off what he knew. "Uh…Tartarus still sticks to its worst of the worst in Japan, but Styx actually lets regular criminals in as well and it's international."
Shimaru gave the young man a smile. "Correct. Though, perhaps a proper history lesson is required." he took another sip from the tea cup. "The Underworld takes only the worst of the worst around the world in many different global locations and yes, while Styx has opened up to taking in more of the regular criminals, it still retains its history and continues to take the worst of the worst the world has to offer."
Hokori's ears drooped a little. "The worst of the worst…it doesn't feel like that sometimes…"
"Well yeah, that's what happens when we let those common criminals more suited for regular prisons be sent here." Tai huffed from his spot, opening a small carton of chocolate milk he got from the fridge.
"Can you imagine a prisoner like Johnny or Koneko being here?" Shimaru asked the rookie who shook his head.
"No…they feel out of place among the worst villains…"
"Exactly. Acceptance for all sorts of criminals. There are many here that would have gone to prisons like Shian, Bagu or Kuin." Shimaru placed his cup on the table. "Stygian is just that, while the prison has grown over the years, the stygian ward retains its past as holding the worst of the worst."
"And it's used to punish other inmates, like what we're doing now." Tai smirked as Shi rummaged through the break room's fridge.
Hokori looked between Tai and Shimaru. "Retain its past? So there are inmates and other guards in there?"
"Of course," Shi nodded, "it's still in use to this very day."
Hokori gulped. If Styx kept the worst of the worst, then the Stygian ward's inmates…
Must be true monsters.
As he sat there processing the information, there were some other questions he wanted to ask. "Why did Styx open up its gates?"
"There are multiple reasons. A prison known for only taking the worst of the worst taking in regular criminals is quite the shock, especially to villains. At the same time, Styx opening its gates for many more inmates gives Tartarus a bad look." the valet-guard grinned, "many reasons that will take too long to go over."
"There's Tartarus being mentioned again," the rookie thought as he heard the laugh of some guards.
"Uh, I noticed that a lot of people get annoyed whenever Tartarus is mentioned…why is that?"
"It's because they're pompous assholes that wouldn't even know what to do if a prisoner escapes their cell." Tai hissed. "Boasting how they never had a single fucking problem or boasting their low prisoner numbers as the 'true worst of the worst' bullshit. Attention seeking bastards. It's just bullshit they use to make them look good, keeping a good public eye with their inmates. Pathetic."
"...oh…" it seems that answered his question.
"I guess you could call it a rivalry in a way," Shimaru hummed. "A very aggressive one on both sides..."
The red eyed guard scoffed, "they're not worth being anything even close to rivals!"
The fennec fox guard looked down at his still uneaten lunch. "It sounds like their complete opposites the more I hear about it."
"Apt." Shi mumbled as she got her lunch ready.
"Well, over time things changed. Tartarus clung to its roots while Styx decided to grow." Shimaru sighed, finishing his tea as Hokori ate his lunch. "Just how things are with the passage of time as quirks grew more common."
"Hm? What do you mean?"
A sigh escaped the monocle guard's mouth. "There's a reason why the Underworld prisons are known as the best prisons around the world…do you know why that is?" he asked, only for the newest guard to shake his head. "Do you really want to know?" he asked, taking off the monocle.
Hokori Arashi nodded with a determined look in his eyes. "Please tell me. I am a guard of Styx too."
Shimaru closed his eyes briefly as he soon began the tale the moment his eyes opened. "Very well. It goes all the way back to when quirks first started to appear in the world, that's how far back these prisons went. It does require a bit of a history lesson though."
The other guards like Tai and Shi just leaned back from wherever they were as they listened to the story they clearly knew.
"The Underworld Prison System was created by three people who went by Minos, Aeacus and Rhadamanthus. These were the three founders of the Underworld and are known as the Judges of the Underworld. The Judges are the ones that own the prisons between them with their lineage acting as the current judges, unless otherwise, taking on the codename of their predecessors." Shimaru told the rookie. "Many prisons opened around the globe. Styx, Tartarus, Acheron, Lethe, Oceanus, Cocytus, Phlegethon, Elysium, Asphodel Meadows, Mourning Fields, Isles of the Blessed or Fortunate Isles depending on who you ask, and a few more. Worldwide prisons all with one goal."
As Arashi listened, his fox tail wagged a bit as Shimaru continued, "that one goal…the origins of these prisons…they aren't the best and as I said before, it was during the time that quirks started to appear." the teleporter messed with the monocle in his hand.
"The reason why the Underworld's prisons like Tartarus and Styx are held in high regard and as the best of the best around the globe with amazing track records is because they were MADE to contain people with quirks."
Hokori coughed on his sandwich. "P…Pardon?"
"In the time when quirks first emerged, those with quirks were seen…differently, mutants or monsters. Regular prisons couldn't hold them, they weren't made to contain superhumans." Shimaru continued, cleaning his monocle. "However, the Underworld's prisons like Tartarus and Styx were specifically made to contain people with quirks. Basically, to 'lock away the scary monsters' at the time."
"They were originally made for the first users of quirks?" the rookie blinked.
"At that time…things were different." Shimaru coughed as he put his monocle back on. "You remember how I said Tartarus stuck to its roots? Well, the treatment they do now is quite similar to the treatment back in the day. Anti-quirk and counter-quirk measures, complete isolation and bindings that restrict movement and heavily restrains them, turrets that are constantly aimed at inmates should they try anything, etc. While Tartarus did add some new stuff, you can clearly see the old ways in my description. Back in those days, there were many people who used their quirks for crimes and many who hated those quirked individuals. While it eventually led to the formation of heroes we know today thanks to vigilantes, the Underworld's Styx, Tartarus and others were put to work with many of these superpowered criminals that were specifically made to hold them…and I can tell you that not all inmates that were sent to them back in those days committed crimes…but there were tons of crimes running rampart too at the time."
Shimaru sighed. "At least, thanks to quirks growing rapidly among more and more people, things sorted themselves out. It eventually turned into holding the worst of the worst criminals."
"While regular prisons grew over time to properly house those with quirks, the prisons built specifically to hold them grew in turn as they quickly became known as the best in the world. As you can see, Styx and a few others have long abolished the old treatment while Tartarus and some stick to the old ways."
Shi then added, "some also stick to only the worst like Tartarus, but I heard some others are being more open to the idea of letting regular villains in like us here in Styx."
"But what about the Stygian Ward?" asked the rookie. "You said it retained its past."
"That ward doesn't apply the same method as Tartarus, but it is used as a place to hold the worst criminals Styx has to offer, which is why it's connected with both the solitary confinement area and where death row inmates are held. It's the same area, all Stygian, just different parts of it with different required access levels with the actual ward part being open to only a few guards, usually the ones that work there. The other areas are more accessible, like the solitary confinement area that you've been to. It's no wonder you don't know about that ward with high security, access restrictions and it being further away and deeper in than the solitary confinement block with perhaps only the death row cells being close to the actual ward to the point of being side-by-side. It also serves as a reminder of that past…" Shimaru explained as he shook his head after rambling on. "It retains its past as holding the worst of the worst criminals and ONLY the worst. No regular inmates."
When the fennec fox was about to ask, Tai stepped in as he spoke up. "The inmates that were just sent to the ward are only there temporarily for a punishment."
"Is there anything else?" Shimaru asked the fox.
Nodding as he finished his lunch, the young fox asked, "are the judges and their successors the only ones with codenames?"
"Oh. No, no." the butler-guard shook their head. "It's mainly the wardens and the higher up guards."
"You should already know one," Tai said, pointing his thumb at Shi.
"Cerberus…" he thought, looking at the jackal headed woman who just looked back at the three of them briefly with a little bit of confusion.
Shimaru then said, "Shi's codename started off as a nickname among staff when she was giving that collar there until it stuck and she adopted the official codename of Cerberus not that long after." the butler guard nodded as Shi seemed to take on a look of pride. Shimaru then leaned forward as he asked, "anyone else?"
"The wardens, uh, if it's all based on mythology going by Shi's codename and the Judges…what's Eris' codename?"
The valet-guard could only laugh at that. "It's actually a coincidence! It's also Eris!" as the monocle wearing guard chuckled, he muttered out. "I'm not sure whether she inherited that name because it was her name anyway, or it was just a funny coincidence."
"Huh," the fennec-eared guard mumbled. "Crazy." It wasn't long before a timer went off in the room.
"Ah, it seems our little chat ends here for now," Shimaru sighed standing up. "Perhaps we'll continue this next time."
As Shimaru placed his now empty cup in the break room's sink, he went back to work, leaving the fox thinking back on what he said.
"A place to lock away the scary monsters…"
Meanwhile, back at the place where the sixteen inmates were suddenly dropped in, four inmates faced off against a pair of guards! The guard wielding the kanabo swung their weapon as they sent the charging Inyoku flying away!
As Inyoku flipped through the air, Kuroishi and Gin came charging in next.
As the grey skinned Shinoha and the long haired Yukimaru charged in, Chikuha Ueno was rushing around the side.
As she pitched one of the small rocks she picked up, Gin and Kuroishi attacked before Gin was tossed into the slower moving Kuroishi thanks to the catchpole wielding guard's weapon of choice! As the grey skinned inmate was caught by the taller, bone inmate, the rock that Chikuha threw had exploded!
As a larger than normal explosion brought up a bunch of dust, Inyoku couldn't help but whistle as his slitted eyes glanced to the bomber. "So…it was you that made that ruckus in the co-ed ward," he grinned widely. "It has the same vibrations!"
A part of him just wanted to fight her instead, but coming from the dust were the two guards, seemingly unfazed!
"Oh!" Chikuha grinned as she threw more of the rocks she picked up at the two guards, letting them explode at different times and intensities! "Let's see how you handle this!"
As the barrage of explosions assaulted the guards, the inmates had a difficult time seeing through the explosions.
Gin got back on his feet as Kuroishi headed forward, not caring about the explosions. As Kuroishi produced a bone to act as a blade, he jabbed forward, only for something with the explosion barrage to hit back. When the barrage ended, Kuroishi was slashing at his opponent.
His opponent, the guard with the catchpole, blocked and deflected each strike with the catchpole as both guards appeared unharmed thanks to their armour, though you could see the marks the explosions made.
"Oh what the hell!" Chikuha sounded a bit bummed about her bombs which made her wonder if one of them used a quirk, their armour was really tough or if they were pure monsters. As she thought this, Gin charged past her, clashing with the kanabo wielding guard as Inyoku was following right behind!
"Next time go all out like you did earlier in the co-ed ward!" Inyoku muttered as he followed behind Gin as they charged the kanabo-holding prison guard.
"But that's boring!" was the bomber's reply as Gin and Inyoku attacked the guard.
As the two attacked in a strange unison, the guard armed with only a kanabo was able to keep up with the two of them! Easily!
From the corner of Gin's eye, he saw Kuroishi being driven back. "They're not even using their quirks!" Gin growled at the thought as he pushed further, only to get whacked away and then used as a springboard for Inyoku, sending the snake high into the air as he went for one of his Spiral Tornadoes!
While he was unable to land a proper blow, connecting with the guard's weapon, the mid-air snake finally landed on something.
The kanabo.
As Inyoku landed on the kanabo, the guard swung up as the white haired rattlesnake jumped off the weapon as he flipped through the air.
When the snake landed, he could tell something was up. "Those vibrations…something must have happened earlier…" he thought, not even sparing a glance behind him. "So far the best place to be is right here with the guards…but, are we being driven closer to where the others ran from?"
Breaking his own line of sight, the rattlesnake observed the surrounding area as quickly as he could before returning back to the threats in front of them.
In his quick observation, he noted, "they're driving us back!" The surprised tone was overshadowed by the pure excitement he felt rush through him. "These Stygian Ward guards are great! And it's only two of them!"
Inyoku wasn't sure, nor did he care, if their ragtag group being pushed back was some sort of strategy of the guards to make them go through whatever the vibration did earlier or if they were simply being overwhelmed by these pair of guards with no ulterior motive. Either way, they were strong and the rattlesnake's rattle rattled.
It was good enough for him!
Bringing his rattle close to his mouth, Inyoku-Yui used the same method he used to expel his own venom, something much like how snake milkers milk a snake's venom. As the venom came out and coated the rattle, he got ready to act.
When a little bit was applied, the snake came charging in, only to see the one with the catchpole hold their weapon like it was a javelin or spear! Inyoku had no time to use his new move, Venomous Tornado, as the thrown catchpole went around the snake's neck!
Now with the catchpole around Shiro's neck, the heir and killer of the Shiro family was still moving as soon as the catchpole…catched him. However, unlike before, Inyoku was being sent backwards! He crash landed into a wall not long after as the catchpole pinned him in place.
The catchpole guard, now without a weapon, took a step as a voice screamed! "HA! YOU'RE DEFENCELESS NOW!" Gin screamed as he closed in, body already going under the early starting effects of his Burn Out!
As Inyoku tried his best to remove the catchpole holding him hostage to the wall, Kuroishi called out. "Wait. Gin."
Gin however, did not wait.
Not at all.
As Gin approached, beginning to steam a bit, the catchpole guard just looked up at the approaching opponent.
It wasn't long before a green fog or mist began to creep out of the futuristic white armour the guard was wearing, as if coming out of the cracks of the armour!
"What the-!" Gin watched as the pale light green gas came out from under the plating of the guard's armour. Within seconds, Gin reached for his eyes as the world started to blur, appearing warped and twisted!
As Gin closed his watery eyes and tried to blink it away, one wrong step made him fall to the ground as the guard that threw the catchpole kicked him away!
Miasma: Despite the name, the user releases pale light green gas from their body and those inflicted by the gas have their eyes become watery, making it hard to see to the point where they close their eyes and when they do try and see, they world is warped and twisted, removing their sense of balance!
As Catchpole kicked them away, the pale light green gas still emitted from their body under the plating of armour with no signs of stopping.
It didn't help that Kanabo right behind them started to spin their kanabo in a way that helped push the gas towards the rest of the inmates.
"What the hell." Chikuha jumped over the kicked Gin, letting him slam into the wall.
Meanwhile, as Inyoku was pinned to the wall, his tail wrapped around the catchpole as he began to yank it off his neck and the wall.
Kuroishi and Chikuha took some steps back as the pale green gas was heading their way. A quick look at Gin showed it didn't look that bad, unless they wanted to tear up of course or lose their sense of balance.
Speaking about the man who had stopped his quirk ever since he was hit by the gas, got back on his feet as the world was still blurring and it felt like he was wearing those drunk goggles or even actually drunk.
As he took a step and almost went tumbling back down to the ground, Gin huffed as Inyoku managed to get the catchpole off him, right as the green gas seemed to double in size as it headed their way.
The four inmates were pushed back a bit now.
"...if I'm already inflicted by this gas, it should be fine to rush back in…fuck it." Gin sprinted forth into the gas, but as he charged, something came out.
Looking up, Gin watched as the kanabo wielding guard held their weapon in both hands, prepared to bring it down!
And that's exactly what they did!
Bringing down the kanabo, the guard's weapon hit Gin's sudden act to defend himself! His left arm blocked the blow, but it was for naught as soon, the kanabo broke through! Shattering his arm in two, like a blade had cut it off!
Gin Shinoha had no time to act as the world was still a bit blurry. He was whacked away and his arm followed right behind him.
"It's a good thing they're wearing those helmets…they got the advantage here…" the rattlesnake glanced at the guard's helmet before glancing at the knocked back Gin.
"Hey! Don't just take my fucking arm!" Gin shouted as he watched as Chikuha broke his cut off arm even further. "I can't afford to lose any more parts of my body!"
Gin huffed as he was ignored. He really couldn't afford any more injuries like this…or return to being a core. "There might not even be any fires or quirks that could help me regenerate fast…"
Chikuha, who broke the grey skinned hand into small pieces, pocketed them as the kanabo wielding guard was already on their way. Now, the broken forearm of the man behind her, she held onto it for quite a while before tossing it right towards their attackers!
Kanabo went to hit the arm turned bomb right back, but as soon as the kanabo hit the arm, all that was met was a large explosion!
Tha gas was pushed back and so was the kanabo wielding guard! They weren't the only ones as the four inmates were blasted back as well, though not as much as the guard and definitely not like Kuroishi and the weight of the bones practically keeping him in place.
"It might be best if we get out of here," the bone horned inmate began once the explosion finished, looking at the other three. "We might be here for a week as they said, but I don't think we want to spend the whole week just fighting the guards, especially if it's going to be packed and busy with more of them."
Inyoku grinned. "There are some people here that I wanna scope out," he said, holding the catchpole.
"Likewise!" the bomber grinned in turn. "It's not everyday you get to fight people from other wards."
"We can deal with these guys later too…" Gin grumbled out, glaring at the gas as the group got moving.
However as they moved, the gas guard burst through the remnants of the gas, no longer using their quirk as they homed in on the snake.
Dodging under Kuroishi's sudden attack, the guard rushed the snake as they used their catchpole against them!
The rattlesnake lunged forward as he tried to catch the guard as the other three headed down the path. "We'll come back and deal with you two later!" Inyoku-Yui hissed. "Just don't get defeated by any other inmates til then!"
The silver-white haired and slitted eyed inmate jumped back, throwing the catchpole at the guard as he quickly slivered away and quite fast at that.
The guard simply caught their weapon as they watched the inmates head off…to go fight the other inmates while they still could.
For now, they were all scattered around. It wasn't long before he heard the sounds of the turrets fire at them.
"Are they gone?" a woman's voice asked, causing the catchpole wielding guard to see his co-worker walk forward with their kanabo.
"Yeah," he nodded, twirling his weapon in his hand. "Just now, actually."
"That's a shame. I wanted to use my quirk on them too…"
Catchpole just stared at Kanabo. "You'll have your chance. They still have a week…besides, they're just going to fight each other before they focus back on us."
Placing her kanabo down, she sighed. "They better get it in quickly then," she rolled her neck around. "It's not gonna be long before the others get involved…they'll be swarmed by the others soon enough."
Elsewhere, in a completely different corridor, some sort of serpent lashed around the abandoned looking area.
It roared as it passed right through Akita's chest with some force!
If the inmate in question was someone else, Fumma would have gotten a solid hit in, alas Akita and her quirk were unaffected by such nonsense.
It just phased through her.
As soon as Jormungandr passed on through, Akita landed a punch in the bastard's face!
"Look at you! You call yourself a yakuza captain?! Is this weakling someone that's supposed to be building their own little yakuza in prison? That's kinda pathetic!" Akita landed another punch as Fumma's follow up fist lashed out and phased through her.
"SHUT UP!" Jormungandr whipped around with open fangs!
As it came within biting distance, Fumma's Jormungandr just sailed right through her body.
"This is like fighting a street thug!" her teasing laugh echoed, making Fumma's veins pop.
"BITCH!"
In response to his angry shout, he was given the middle finger while she made a crying gesture, specifically calling him a crybaby!
"Calm down, Yoshitsune!" Fumma scolded himself as it looked like every vein in his face was going to burst. "She's not an opponent you can just swing wildly at! So just take a goddamn fucking second to think!"
Jormungandr blasted into the ground and acting as a spring, launched Fumma away from his tricky opponent. "One of the worst matchups I could've gotten myself into."
An enemy that he just couldn't lay a hand on.
"I just have to give it time. It's only a matter of time before I start getting my hits in…"
"Aww, running away now?"
Fumma could only glare. "How annoying…"
As Fumma and Jormungandr readied themselves, Akita was leisurely walking towards them.
As the serpent wrapped around the one eyed yakuza captain, formerly of course, the jade haired man was ready to strike at a moment's notice.
The coiled Fumma waited as Akita got closer before she just gave him odd looks, stopping just short of striking distance.
"What the hell are you doing?" she asked, "have you gotten to the point where the only thing you can do is defend? Have you finally realised that it's futile to fight against me where you can't win? Finally register that you can't even touch me in that tiny, microscopic brain of yours, big guy?"
Yoshitsune didn't say a word. The short tempered man just continued to glare at the fellow prisoner in front of him. That big, cocky and confident smirk on her face pissed him off more and more by the second!
As Yoshitsune watched as Akita started walking back and forth, just looking at him like he was some kinda idiot, the coiled Jormungandr loosened.
"At least you learned your place now," she smirked as she began to walk away. "Stay out of my way from now on."
Instead of approaching, she left…
"HOW FUCKING DARE SHE WALK AWAY!"
The coiled Jormungandr unwrapped as it pierced through Akita's stomach as fast as it could! Akita however, only turned her head around to see the yakuza convict charge at her. "Really? Are you so stupid that you can't even learn your lesson?"
Fumma feel to his knees right after as Akita's short lived intangibility wore off. "Wha…" he coughed as his back serpent returned. Jormungandr…was lacking its head and a part of its neck!
Holding himself out of pain as he felt his blood drain to repair his quirked serpent, the head that was cut off hit the ground as it melted into the ground, fading away. "How?" he asked in pain as he got back on his knees.
"It's simple. It was in my way!"
Akita's intangibility, while she could go through thin objects like a really thin wall for at least five seconds, there was something special that happened when she was still within something. If she solidifies within something and then phases again, a hole would appear where she was! In Fumma's case, his snake got beheaded!
As Akita stomped the remnants of where the beheaded serpent's head used to be before it faded away into nothingness, the female ward's top dog just gave the former yakuza captain a big middle finger.
The one eyed inmate attacked the other prisoner again as she jumped back! As soon as she did, the regenerated Jormungandr followed right after her!
As the serpent from his back phased through Akita once more, the yakuza captain followed up with his fist, only for Akita to catch it.
"Oh!" he mused in surprise, not really caring how his arm was tossed aside before being punched in the face. "So it's only a temporary thing huh?" he kicked her just as he was punched, landing his first hit in. The inmate with black gloves and bandages wrapped around the right side of his face that covered his eye just grinned.
"Now the game begins!" As he grinned, the kicked Akita landed with no issues.
However, she did say one thing about her opponent's landing hit. "You're finally understanding my quirk? You're quite slow on the uptake huh? Even newborns could tell right away the issues and details of my quirk."
"I'm not biting this time," he thought, though it was more of a command to himself.
Still, despite not biting at her remarks, he charged in. The quicker this was over with, the better. This ward was still a mystery and there were a lot of unknown factors from both the Stygian Ward's guards and inmates.
Wasting too much time with Akita would just weaken him for future encounters in this ward.
A thought that was similarly shared by his opponent.
Both wished to end this quickly despite encouraging this conflict.
Engaging in another squabble, the two attacked one another, yet as the fight dragged on…Fumma was being pushed back! As Akita phased through most of his attacks before counterattacking, she backed off after Fumma's strikes phased through her, until a few seconds passed before she jumped back into the fray.
"I can't believe I'm being pushed back by a leader of some shitty street gang!"
Roaring, he and his Jormungandr attacked in unison.
Aiming for the exact same timing as he did before! "If it's only a few seconds, I should be able to hit her!"
A few seconds of becoming intangible and an equal amount of time to become intangible again. A cooldown that he was aiming for! One that was sure to show itself again! Fumma knew with the sheer amount of times she used her quirk in this fight, he knew it would be soon!
"As soon as you show your cooldown, you're dead! DEAD!"
Letting himself wide open, he watched as Akita came in close as he did his best to hide his grin. The two shared their attacks once more as Fumma couldn't hide it anymore as Jormungandr blocked the top dog's escape route after she phased through his punch.
Backing into the serpent, Fumma's fist crashed into the gang leader's face! Fumma got most of his hits in then as Jormungandr instantly wrapped around her. It was short lived though as she phased through the serpent and put space between them yet again.
Spitting on the ground, she glared at the yakuza captain. "Seems like you got some lucky hits in."
"And I'm going to keep getting those lucky hits in!" Yoshitsune grinned as he stepped forward as the sound of gunfire fired in the background went unnoticed by the pair as they prepared for each other's course of action.
As they waited for the other to move first, the sound of rattling caught their ears as Fumma suddenly dodged a sudden strike from a still rattling tail!
Fumma saw only a grin as a new face joined in the fray. "So this is who I ended up with?" Inyoku-Yui Shiro grinned widely after his not so subtle sneak attack. "Now come on, let's see what the 'Top Dogs' of Styx can do! You better make this entertaining, cause the both of you seem like easily replaced title holders!"
The three way brawl happened almost instantly as Inyoku lashed at the two with no hesitation.
Sora Natsumi followed David Flannegan and Juro Raisa down the hallway that was opposite to the turrets that fired at them. She glanced up at the cameras that diligently watched them. There were a lot more than the regular wards.
"We've been walking for a little bit now and still no inmates or guards from this ward…is it completely deserted? It can't be…" she thought to herself as they soon came to a stop.
"Huh, a fork in the road…" Juro mumbled as they looked at two different paths. One going straight ahead and another turning to the right. "Shall we keep going forward, or should we go down that path?"
"Hm…" David looked between the two. "It would be unwise to split up now…" he hummed, stroking his beard.
The main question for the group now, was which way to go in this abandoned labyrinth.
"Huh?" it seems they didn't really need to pick as they all turned their attention down the path Sora was looking at when she heard something coming.
As all three kept their eye on the path, someone did emerge from the path.
Walking out of the right path, the only turn so far down this particular path, a man covered from head to toe in bones walked in with heavy steps. As the bones surrounded the man, it looked like a sturdy set of armour and there were plenty of what looked like bullet holes within the bones!
"Kuroishi?" Juro gave the tall, long haired man a look as the bone covered prisoner marched towards them.
"Juro…" he replied slowly as he gave David and Sora a look. "Hmm…so you are the ones I ended up with…"
Sora raised an eyebrow at that. "What?"
The bone horned inmate, who just talked to himself, just sighed as he formed a bone-like spear that was still attached to his arm. "In this ward, we won't get punished for fights among inmates…or at least that's the theory," he started as he pointed the attached spear at the three of them. "We won't have many chances to fight each other, especially those from other wards…"
The stoic man took a step forward as he told them all, "so before we get swarmed by the guards and inmates of this ward, I want to fight everyone that I can only fight now without repercussions…"
"I'm guessing the other three that were with you are doing the same thing?" the charming voiced inmate asked.
"Correct. Plus, once this is over and out of the way, we can go back to focusing on the inhabitants here." the combined force of a masochist and sadist said as he thought back to the two guards that greeted them here in the ward. It really made him curious for the other guards and inmates that resided here!
"Kuro-" the half Russian inmate didn't have much time as Kuroishi rushed them as a few of those heavy bones fell off him, primarily the ones that were shot, solely to speed him up a bit.
However, he was intercepted by the bearded David.
"Are you really sure now is the time to fight?" asked the former underground fighter as he pushed back against the boned inmate.
"I'm sure…" Yukimaru pushed back as the two were locked in a struggle. "It's a good thing your quirk can make things more interesting."
David had no clue whether the tone Kuroishi used was supposed to be a sadistic tone or a masochistic one.
Though that moment of wondering was enough as the much taller inmate headbutted him out of nowhere! Causing the man with the celtic bear paw tattoo to stumble back as the taller inmate followed up with a knee to the stomach.
Almost being tossed away, David managed to hold his ground. "Not this time!" he thought, remembering the last battle he was in. "You gotta try harder than that."
The stoic man soon gained a grin. "That's more like it."
As David kicked the very long haired inmate, the two on the sidelines watched on as David attacked back which made Kuroishi grin more as he tried to spear David with the bone-spear.
Sora had no idea what to think of it. "It's probably not worth being here…better to just leave." Just as she was about to do that, Kuroishi's hand shot out to the side and fired small bones at the pair!
"...or not…" she muttered as she watched as the small bones passed by her and into the wall.
Juro kept their sole eye on the practically giant inmate after that. "You really want to fight then, Kuroishi? I don't know how well my quirk can do after that monster took my eye…" they glanced over and nudged the woman next to them. "Come on, you have no choice. Especially when he's targeting you more than us."
"Don't remind me," came the rather rude tone as the tomboyish inmate stretched, prepared to head in as the other two were fighting.
David landed an uppercut on the masochistic inmate who only responded by using their bone-covered fist to slam into the buzz cut inmate's solar plexus.
As the strongman looking inmate kept up the brawl, Kuroishi could tell that slowly but surely, David was getting stronger…but… "Did you perhaps get weaker? The last time we fought you were a bit tougher than this. Oh well, let's get you back up there then!" Kuroishi's somewhat sharp bone covered knee that just formed spiked itself into his opponent.
David grunted as he almost doubled over, but as he remained strong, he couldn't help but think back to that Limbo match, months before Limbo was discovered and eliminated. It felt like a distant memory.
"Good thing it isn't sharp enough to pierce me…yet…that sadist…" Flannegan then headbutted the rib-cage armoured man. As it probably hurt him more than Kuroishi, he used the newfound boost of power to push his taller opponent back!
Pushing the heavy (fellow) villain back, without warning he felt a weight on his shoulders!
Out of the blue, hopping onto his shoulders, Sora appeared as she swung her leg at the bone protruding convict.
"Oh!" Kuroishi grinned as Sora kicked him in the face. "Just when I was about to go over to you myself. Nice timing."
Sora leapt off the shoulders of the pain-powered prisoner after that as more bones started to grow from Kuroishi.
It was time for him to get some newer, stronger bones out.
As Nozomi walked down the only path, the trio of Nozomi Tendo, Li Kagayami and Touya Kotaki came to yet another branching path as the overgrown grass seemed to be everywhere.
At least there were no turrets to shoot them.
Or if there were, they were hidden with no intention of doing so.
When Nozomi glanced at the walls, she could see clear markings where turrets would be if they were being used.
"At least they're being kept away," Touya glanced at the same places she was looking at. "It seems their intentions were to solely separate us, otherwise those turrets behind those walls would be shredding us to pieces."
"WHO CARES! I JUST WANNA FIND REMKO AND RIN!"
As Li shouted, slowly dragging behind, something hit him in the back of the head. "Who the fuck-" he looked down to see a small rock, or what appeared to be a rock. "What the-" instantly, the rock exploded!
Nozomi's visible eye widened as she saw a familiar face walk out of one of the other paths. "Oh! Nozomi!" the timebomb quirked prisoner waved. "I didn't think I'd find you first!"
As the oldest of the current four present was about to wave, Li shot up from the explosion. Thankfully one of the weaker ones she uses when messing around a guard like Shi or an inmate like Demelza, especially when new faces show up!
Li's glare directed itself towards the person who made the rock explode, only for Ueno to point at both Touya and him. "It's your turn now!" she grinned. "You can join in too, Nozomi!"
Chikuha brought out another rock, a grey looking one that didn't seem like the previous rock that was thrown.
As Touya looked at the yakuza woman, he asked, "is there no way out of this?"
"No…" the daughter of a yakuza boss just watched as Li charged forward, enraged by the sudden previous attack. "Knowing Chikuha, I doubt there would be a way out of this without fighting…"
As Li rushed Chikuha, rearing back a fist, Chikuha just had the rock on her open palm before she flicked it at the charging neon skinned man.
The rubble flew across the air as Li didn't even plan on dodging such a tiny projectile, as it got close to the neon blonde (more so yellow) haired man, another explosion was let loose!
"Hm, you must be one of those rookies I heard about that joined a while back," the bluish-green haired woman with constellation tattoos along her right forearm laughed.
"Fuck…you…" Li, who got blasted back from the weak explosion, rolled back onto his feet as the explosion did leave a clear mark on him.
Kagayami didn't have time to waste on this fight. He needed to find Remko and Zuko before it was too late!
If someone got to them first, whether another inmate that he was transported with, a guard from this ward or an inmate contained in this ward, it would all be for naught!
"I WON'T LET ANYONE TAKE MY KILL!" he screamed to himself as it looked like his visible blue veins seemed to pop. "I GOTTA KILL THEM FIRST! THEY ARE MINE TO KILL! MINE!"
"Fuck you too, you bastard!" Chikuha grinned as she looked over to the other two. "I hope you two haven't forgotten!"
"I thought I was only given the option?" Nozomi raised an eyebrow at that, only for Chikuha to shrug nonchalantly.
As she shrugged, she sidestepped the charge from Li. "It has been quite a while since we've last done something like this. Plus I didn't want you to feel lonely!"
Nozomi knew that playful grin all too well.
Seems she was left with no choice as Chikuha pitched some grey rock at them. It didn't quite match the ward's colour at all!
Both Touya and Nozomi dived in different directions as the bomb erupted!
It was a lot stronger than the weak ones she used before!
"She doesn't pull any punches…" the gentlemanly Kotaki mused as Nozomi quickly got back to her feet with assistance from the gentleman before Chikuha went for a follow up, until she turned around in an instant.
"This is nothing compared to what she can really do."
Touya just stared at her for a little. "Really?"
"Really," Tendo watched as Li decided to leave to chase down his targets, only to get hit by a rock and knocked down by a weak, small explosion. "Consider this her easy mode. Chikuha's explosions can get way more powerful…to the point of shaking the entire prison…" the memory of the bombardment replayed in her mind, at least the parts she remembered.
Touya could only stare back at the pink eyed convict with a minimalistic compass tattoo on her left hand that was throwing bombs everywhere. "She was the cause of the rumbling earlier in the week?!" Just what kind of firepower was she packing?!
"And don't you run away, newbie! I ain't letting this chance go before we get swarmed by more of the ward!"
The downed hero killing inmate huffed as he could only focus on the path in front of him. Looking back, he watched as the bomber threw another piece of her ammunition into the air and back into her hand.
It seems escape was going to be a bit more difficult.
"Hm…" Touya hummed as he stepped to the side, keeping his eyes on the bomb throwing inmate that threw the rock up one last time, she slapped the rock away from her.
To no one's surprise, the rock exploded in Li's direction. "Come on. Do I have to make the first move?" Pink eyes scanned the two standing convicts. Nozomi and Touya made no move, they just kept their guard up with caution. Probably waiting for her instead. "Guess I have to do it then!"
As Chikuha stepped forward, both inmates she was aiming for, braced themselves as they put up their own self defence stances.
"DIE!" came the sudden voice from behind her as she turned her head right around to see Li and his fist coming right at her!
Seems he didn't run after all!
As the punch connected, Ueno fell back a bit, but still stood tall and proud! Already returning the gesture!
"Fucking finally!" Chikuha grinned as Li threw that punch at her, getting a clean hit in. In response to this act of violence, she replied with more violence!
The downed Remko could only stare up at his attacker. Rin Yonaga was waiting, grinning underneath that mask strapped to his face. "Rem…ko…" the vampire sang, "Rem! Ko!"
"...what do you want, Rin?" Remko asked, already knowing the answer.
"You got something I want! I want it now!" The red eyed inmate began to sway back and forth. "I need it, Remko. I need it!"
The downed inmate shot a glance at Zuko and Koneko before looking back at the inmate standing above him. "Can it wait, we're both kinda stuck in here-" Remko was interrupted as he was kicked in the face.
"I want my blood, Remko!"
"Argh!" Remko gasped at the sudden kick. "And how am I supposed to give you your 'supply' if we're both locked in a place that isn't where your blood is stored!"
As Remko fired back, his thoughts were quite different. "Ah shit. He's addicted." The silver-armed inmate prepared his quirked arm, just in case, as he kinda hoped that Rin wouldn't question it…or learn that there was never a lifetime's supply of blood just waiting for him.
Koneko, who was just watching, looked over at Zuko who remained unfazed.
"Then give me all your blood, right here, right now!" Rin stomped down on the man's chest. After the first stomp, he followed up two more times. "Or…are you saying…you don't have anything!"
The man in a straitjacket glared with wide eyes down at the silver-armed inmate as something crawled around in the vampire's eyes.
Madness or fury?
It was hard to tell, but as Remko still had the foot of Rin on him, his arm expanded and suddenly blasted the vampiric inmate off him! Rin went flying as the jailbreaker (of regular prisons) got back to his feet.
"Thanks… you two…" Remko huffed as Zuko just raised an eyebrow.
"And how are we supposed to fight?" the con-man gestured to his leg, mittens and the woman next to him with a missing arm who just watched on timidly.
Sighing, Remko Akko turned back to Rin who was back on his feet swaying side to side muttering something.
"He's right. Neither of them look like fighters, especially with how Zuko's heavily restricted with his replacement leg and those oven mittens making him hold things even more difficult…" the androgynous looking inmate huffed as he braced himself for the vampire's charge. "I highly doubt he drank any blood since the riot either…so this should be fine!"
As if on cue, Rin sprinted at the silver armed jailbreaker.
Remko clashed with the kicking Rin, mostly blocking most of the fight as Koneko stepped backwards. Should she run? Where would she go? "I can't go back…but I don't know what's ahead…they said that the worst of the worst are kept here…but there's surely to be more guards…what do I do?"
As the one armed cat was wondering what to do, Zuko just glanced at the timid wreck as he shared a similar thought.
A part of him thought about leaving, though the thought of Li trying to hunt them down going by the earlier glare was what stopped him. Like hell he was going ahead alone with all these nerfs. He couldn't run properly nor could he handle any proper weapon.
All he could do was stand there and wait for a victor to emerge.
Back to the fight, Rin leapt off the silver haired inmate's arm, heading back towards the pair on the sidelines! "BLOOD!" he screamed as he kicked down, making both Zuko and Koneko dive out of the way! "If you're doing nothing, DONATE YOUR BLOOD TO ME!"
As he screamed, causing Koneko to scramble away as Zuko tried to get back on his feet with his new prosthetic, Rin stamped on the one armed cat featured woman, pinning her down.
"Am I going to die?!" she wondered as Rin tried his best to remove his mask and straitjacket to no real avail. When the one eyed young woman tried to move, the crazed inmate pushed her back into the ground.
She closed her eyes as she heard the sound of some sort of attack as the weight was gone shortly after.
When she opened her eyes, she watched as Remko fired a part of his arm at the now knocked away assailant, blasting him back further. "I'm not letting you power up…"
Turning back to his attacker, Rin jumped towards Remko, kicking away the next shot as he engaged with the experimented man. A flurry of kicks pushed the inmate back as the shifting silver arm gripped onto the vampire as they both fell to the ground, punching and kicking each other as the red eyed Rin still tried to get his mask off!
For the two onlookers, they only saw the fight unfold as the con-man was eventually helped up by the timid woman who almost ran away when Rin stood, jumping back towards them as Remko got to his knees.
The blood sucker was about to send Remko's head back into the ground, however, the kick never came as Remko was back on his feet.
Rin stopped his assault as he turned down the hall where the barrage of gunfire came from. "Someone's coming~!" he grinned under the mask as someone indeed arrived.
Walking into view was Gin Shinoha, missing an arm and what appeared to be a few holes through his body, probably from the gunfire further back.
Rin sighed as he looked at the inmate. There was nothing to gain from someone who didn't bleed.
"Oh, Gin," Zuko noted as all eyes were on the late arrival. "It seems those guards were too tough, I'm guessing the others were forced to flee too?"
Gin just glared at the inmate now wearing what looked to be baking mittens. "Excuse me?"
"I'm asking if you and the others separated from the guards." Zuko repeated, still getting used to his basic prosthetic leg. "Seeing as you got a few bullet holes and a missing arm-"
"That's not what I'm asking," Shinoha began walking forward with more powerful steps than before. "What was that about the guards? About me?"
"All he's asking is: were the guards too strong and caused you all to flee?" Remko asked the grey skinned inmate as Koneko backed away.
"It's unusual for you to run from any fight, so the guards must mean business if the four of you are separated…which doesn't look good for the rest of us, especially if they went far enough to break off your arm…" Zuko mumbled. "Then again, the turrets would do that, like it did to us…"
When the con-man looked up, he realised that Gin was steaming! Both emotionally and physically!
More accurately, Gin started to smoulder!
"Run away? You think we ran away? You think I fucking ran away?!" the grey eyed inmate hissed as he stomped his foot into the ground. "WE DIDN'T RUN AWAY! WE'RE GOING BACK TO FINISH THEM OFF WHEN WE HAVE OUR FILL ON THE REST OF YOU WHILE WE STILL CAN! IT'S NOT EVERY DAY WE GET TO FIGHT INMATES FROM OTHER WARDS!"
Koneko paled as soon as he said that, and he didn't stop there!
"THIS WARD WILL PROBABLY BE SWARMED WITH OTHER GUARDS AND INMATES SO I'M GETTING THIS IN WHILE I STILL CAN! SO I CAN FOCUS ON ALL THE NEW BASTARDS! AND YOU HAVE THE FUCKING NERVE TO SAY I RAN AWAY?! WHEN I'M FINISHED WITH ALL OF YOU, I'M HEADING BACK THERE TO FINISH WHAT I STARTED!"
As the steaming and smouldering Gin dashed forward, Koneko could only scream as she was dragged into the upcoming fight.
"WHY ME?!"