Chapter 137:

"I am the Warden here at Tartaros. You will call me Warden, understood, prisoner?"

"Understood, Warden," Zach replied.

Adam Ryusuke kept frowning at the young man even after he replied affirmatively and without hesitation. "Out there you might be a celebrity, you might think that people want you to get special treatment while you're here, but that's not how this is going to go. You are from today until the day you are released, designated as Inmate 1667. Am I understood?"

"Yes, Warden."

"Now, I don't know why you turned yourself in," Ryusuke started, stepping forward and looking into the hazel eyes of the teenager. He continued while searching his dark orbs for a sign that would give away his intentions, "But the prisoners here believe you have turned yourself in and got yourself sent here specifically, so that you could kill them. Can you assure me right now that this is not your intention?"

"It isn't, Warden," Zach replied. He looked around at the other prison guards all around him, and then up at the turrets on the ceiling, and then over at a one-way mirror that he suspected there were more people behind watching him from. He looked back at Warden Ryusuke and continued, "I'm just here to serve my sentence. That's all."

"Hmph, I wish I could believe you on your word alone. The truth is though, I don't," Ryusuke said it and stepped another foot closer to the boy who was a couple of inches taller than him. "The way you manipulated the media back last June has become public knowledge. You lied about your time with the League of Villains, and who knows how much else." Ryusuke paused and gave the boy in front of him a moment to say something in his own defense. Say something. The prisoners are all afraid of you. I'm trying to show my people that I am not. Give me something to work with. Don't be so, easy. It's just making me look mean.

"Well I'm not lying this time," Zach said. "You fat fuck," he smirked at the Warden who pulled his head back while all the guards around them gawked. I don't think that's what he was looking for. Well, it's my first day in prison. Time to learn the rules. What happens when I curse out the Warden? His lips flattened back out and he stood still awaiting whatever punishment was about to come.

Did he, know what I was thinking? Ryusuke narrowed his eyes at the teenager but he hesitated a long time before replying with anything. "Obviously, you haven't matured as much as the news has been saying. You may still be seventeen, but in this prison you will be treated as an adult as you have been tried. Am I making myself understood? Comments like those, will result in punishments. This is not going to be a pleasant experience for you…"

The prisoners here are scared of me. The news has apparently been saying that I've matured. That's good. I think I have too. Zach's focus had completely left the Warden while the man in front of him kept talking. They were still making eye contact, but Zach's mind was on the building around him. I wonder how quickly I could escape from here? I've made it very clear that I don't plan on resisting, so no one's even tried to lock me up in a Maiden or even make sure that I'm being watched closely by a strong hero… though maybe Endeavor is behind the glass over there. I would have had him watch me up until the moment I'm in a cell. I think I convinced him that I'm really not who he thought I was though. The prisoners here are scared. I'm sure some knew for sure what I was doing. Others who hear the rumors will just be more afraid, as the rumors will get worse and worse, more exaggerated which is rough considering how bad the truth already is.

"Understood, Warden," Zach replied when the man in front of him finished his speech. "Sorry, Warden," he added as the man had mentioned his insubordination at the end.

"Hmm," Ryusuke glared at the teen for a few more seconds, then he turned and nodded at a couple of the guards. "Take him to his cell."

In the explanation Ryusuke was just giving, Zach had only very barely been paying attention but he did retain what the man told him. He turned when the guards walked towards him to take him to his cell, ordering him to follow them. Two walked ahead and two stayed behind him, wearing heavy uniforms with helmets on that still showed their faces behind them but also looked strong too. "Move Inmate!"

"Follow us."

"Don't dawdle."

"This way."

Zach looked around at the two men and two women walking with him. Kind of thought they'd cut my hair. Maybe that's only in other countries' prisons. I guess Stain's hair was still so long, that he couldn't have grown it out that long since he escaped. "How am I going to get food?" Zach questioned the man in front of him on his right.

Edo Ebboro tried to keep a straight face though he was feeling unnerved by the boy behind him. The prisoners don't know what they're talking about. The news is right, he's just here to atone for his crimes. Wait… "Uh, what?" He questioned, turning his head to the side as he had forgotten the question.

"I'm being kept away from the others, so does that mean I'll be going to the cafeteria at a different time or-"

"Your meals will be brought to your cell, and slid through a slot in the glass," Tachibana Miyuki stated firmly, no hesitation in her voice as there was in Edo's on her right. She did not turn back to face the boy behind her, and her expression was dark after her response. "Now keep moving and stay quiet. No more questions."

"Alright-"

"What did I just say?" Tachibana snapped, turning her head a few inches and glaring back at the boy behind her.

Zach opened his mouth to apologize, then he just closed it into a frown and nodded instead in an apologetic way.

Oda Bunogawa looked straight ahead at Tachibana with an amazed look on his face, and he glanced to the right at the other guard to see if he was impressed too only for the man on his right to be glaring hard at Lifebringer's back. Kaitou doesn't like him. Tachibana's just being serious. I thought Edo was more like Kaitou here, but he got way too flustered from just a single question. We need to be prepared for Sazaki to try something, so don't get freaked out by a single question.

"We're about to walk through a cell block to get to the hall your private cell is in. In that hall are a couple of other prisoners with special circumstances that requires they be kept separated from the general population of villains in here. This usually includes the worst of the villains in here, as well as ones who are at high risk or whose Quirks require special treatment." Tachibana was speaking as they approached a set of steel doors, and she glared over her shoulder again at the teenage boy behind her. "You're being kept with some of the lowest level villains in here. Ones who are in danger from the other villains if kept caged with them. As you would be."

The left corner of Zach's lip curled up, but he dropped it back down as Tachibana was still looking back at him. She turned forward as they were nearing the door, but her hardened look shook as she thought about that expression she just saw. He thinks that's a joke. I was trying to spook him or something, but even a straight look would have been better. The way he reacted, he knows- wait. The Warden! The Warden told him already that the prisoners think he's there to kill them. That's it. He's not, smiling because he knows they'd be in danger from him. He's not… going to freak out in a second and attack all the prisoners here.

"Open Cell Block D," Edo called out.

"Don't make any funny moves. Our zap-sticks carry enough charge to take down an elephant if we needed to. And each of us has permission to use our Quirks to calm any prisoners who get too out of control…"

An elephant? I almost forgot, but I guess Ganeshi should be in here somewhere. Even if his brain is still fried, though that should have worn off after a while. That's why that case for Psycho never gained steam. He's here too somewhere, Twice too, and the Chemist. Probably a good thing they're not leaving me in here…

The cell block opened up and the guards started walking forward. Each of the cells around the room did not have metal bars on them, but they were heavy doors that had closed over every single cell made completely of transparent but powerful material none of the criminals could break through. Yet they could all see out just as any guards could see inside in case they were planning or trying to hide anything. All the villains were currently in their cells when the doors opened up. They looked out of their cells and many moved towards the edges to get closer and a better look at who was coming in. It had been a while since the rumors had first spread, and the doors had opened many times since then so some did not even get up right away.

One by one though, the villains froze while staring down to Block D's floor and the young man who just stepped inside. He was close to six feet tall, with long black hair that fell behind his head and some over his shoulders in a messy way. His head was bowed only a bit, but enough that his bangs cast shadows over his eyes when he walked forward into the cell block.

Kawasagi backed up in his cell. The Chemist grabbed his blanket and he put it up in front of him to block off the inside of his cell, then he pressed his back up against it like even facing that way with a blanket in front of him was not enough to stop Sazaki from seeing his face. Please no.

Damian cowered in his cell with a terrified look on his face, and he glanced back towards his toilet but yelled at his body to wait until Lifebringer was gone. If the rumors are true, I don't want to die taking a shit!

Hydro opened his mouth to yell out from his cell, but he hesitated and then kept hesitating while looking down towards the boy walking through the room. He was taller, more muscular, and he had a bad scar on the left side of his face closer to Hydro. His neck was all messed up, his hands were cuffed behind his back, and yet Hydro felt his feet sliding back from the heavy translucent cell door.

"That you, Lifebringer?!" A voice called up from the third floor of the cell block, screaming it out the thin holes in his cell door. Breakneck's eyes were covered, but he smirked because of the silence in the room that told him who had just entered. "I escaped once! I'll get out of here again! If you want, I'll help you get out of here!"

He thinks I'm planning an escape already. And that I might be able to use his help teleporting a safe distance away. Maybe he doesn't believe rumors that I'm Death. Maybe, Breakneck's just that ballsy. He could have been a big shot if we didn't stop him early on. If he had fled Japan, he could have been huge. His Quirk, is one that even I would still have difficulty with. Then again, he's predictable. I doubt he'd try to fight me now though. Taking him down would take a few minutes for sure, depending on the location. The time limit between jumps is short enough though that a quick attack on any location I see him appear…

Zach did not call anything back to Breakneck. He waited until they were through the rest of the block that had started getting louder the closer he got to other doors, showing he wasn't going to attack any of them. Hydro started yelling at some point, followed not long after by Fez. Villains shouted at him and taunted him, and then he got into the next hall down that cut to the right at a nearby intersection. He spoke once they were heading towards the bend, "I didn't want to say anything, since you said not to." Tachibana glared back at the boy who was speaking straight to her. "But I'm not going to break out or anything, definitely not with Breakneck."

"We're almost at your cell," Tachibana said, looking back forward and ignoring his comment even if it did settle her thoughts down.

They turned into a long hall with white walls and long glass panels stretching along one side, and they started down it right past a cell with a man inside who was sitting on a bed near the back with his legs dangling off the side and a book in his hands. He lowered the book for a second and looked over it towards the boy walking by. The man looked like he was nearing ninety years old, and he had several books in the room on the bedside table and the counter near his toilet that extended away from his sink. There was a shower in one corner with a curtain, though the curtain was pulled to the side as it had to be when there was no one using it.

"You're allowed five minutes when you take showers," Oda began behind the boy who he saw stare towards the corner for a second.

"They just get younger and younger," the old man began while staring towards the boy walking past. Zach turned back to the old man who smiled out at him and nodded his head. Zach nodded once back before walking past the second wall of the cell and losing sight of the old-timer.

"You'll be given three meals a day," Edo began, and Zach looked back forward at the man who was slowing down and then turning to the left. Zach looked left himself and he realized that the second cell did not have anyone inside it. The bed was made with a white blanket on it, his shower curtain was opened, there was a toothbrush and some toothpaste on the sink counter near his toilet. Besides those things, most of the wide cell was just open space. The floor was hard and white just as his walls and ceiling were, no carpeting down or any decorations about. Edo continued as the boy looked into his cell that was much more empty than the man's next to his. "You are allowed to make requests to have things brought in here as long as they pass a certain safety code. Books, posters if you need something to look at, weights if you'd like to work out. You'll be accommodated for to a certain extent, but do not expect things quickly or in any short amount of time."

Three meals a day? Books and posters? It's still confinement, and I guess I'm being restricted a lot too so it is prison… It's definitely not the worst place I've been caged. "Thank you," Zach said, nodding at Edo in gratitude for explaining those things. "Am I going to be in here for all six years? No, walking around or-"

"You can pace back and forth in your cell, thinking about what you've done," Kaitou said behind him.

Did enough of that in the Void. The time for thinking is over. It's time for action! …Except, I guess there're only a few things I can start from in here. Zach nodded back at the man behind him on his right, then he started towards the door of the translucent wall that he did not even notice until Tachibana walked up to it and pressed her hand on a scanner to the side of it.

The door opened inwards, and the guards motioned for him to enter. "Once you're inside," Tachibana started to the boy walking past her. "Put your back to the door and stick your hands through the slot I will open up and where you will be receiving your food. I will take your cuffs off now."

"Cool," Zach said, and he moved to the side so the door could be shut and locked on him. He looked around his big empty cell and then stepped back and kept checking it out while sliding his hands through the slot. I always wondered what would happen to me if I got caught. So this is it, huh? A nice box with some semi-hostile guards. Freedom to use my hands, walk around, work out. I could even read, I have a bed, a shower! I haven't showered for a few days now. "Ahh," Zach let out a breath of relief as the cuffs came off. He brought his hands up in front of him and rubbed his wrists for a few seconds, then he took off his black glove and tossed it over towards his bed.

A bit smaller than my bed on The Cloak, at least on the first one. I said they didn't need to make my room as big on the second one, but I really didn't need one at all. I probably slept in that bed what, five times? Not even… "So," Zach turned back to the big glass wall that the guards were still standing on the other side of. "I guess, I'll see you around. Thanks for bringing me to-"

"We aren't leaving," Tachibana started.

Edo nodded his head in agreement, though the other two did turn and start heading off. "We're on first shift."

"'Shift?'" Zach wondered. The Warden's really taking their concerns seriously. I guess he thinks they're right, or at least he's taking the possibility that they're right as seriously as he should with a fear like that. "So I'm going to have twenty-four seven surveillance on me?"

"That's what it means to be imprisoned," Tachibana said harshly to the boy who seemed to be questioning their orders.

"Just wondering," Zach said. "So, I guess I'll be seeing a lot of you two. Are all the guards here going to have shifts watching me?"

He's, a talker? Edo Ebboro wondered. He started over to the right side of Lifebringer's cell, and he turned his back to it instead of looking in at the boy. There was already a camera in the top corner of Zach's room just inside the translucent wall on the side closer to his bed than the shower. The two guards did not need to be looking in at him at all times, and instead they each moved to one side of the exterior and faced out into the hallway while standing guard.

"Are you guys, instructed to ignore me?" Zach asked, his voice sounding confused.

He glanced over at the woman first. He stared at the back of her head and her short brown hair that he caught a glimpse of some sticking out the bottom of her helmet. His eyes shifted around her uniform much darker than his white prison jumpsuit. "What about laundry?" Zach asked after a few seconds of hearing no response to his last question. "You guys never mentioned what I'm doing for that, and there's no washing machine in here. Plus, this is the only change of clothes I have, so when I wash them am I going to get a second pair or-"

"You will get a second set, and your laundry will be taken on a regular basis," Edo explained.

"So you can talk to me," Zach said, and he hummed and scratched his chin with his left hand. The guard who just spoke turned his head to the left and looked back into the cell in surprise, and he caught the kid inside smirk when they locked eyes through his visor. It felt like the laundry thing was just Sazaki's excuse to trick him into seeing if they could converse or not, and Edo started frowning after a few seconds. "Don't be upset," Zach started, and he crouched down before falling to his butt. Zach crossed his legs and sat up close to the glass, "I'm not in solitary confinement, right? If this is how my days are going to be from now on, I'm not going to just be sitting in here by myself. Solitary confinement sucks, a lot. I'm really sick of it."

The two guards both had their heads turned inwards now and looking partially back at the teen sitting inside the cell. Tachibana's lips were curled down far at the sides though in her head did flash for a second the sight of the scarred kid behind her strapped to a chair in a small room with screams echoing around him. He did not look much like that young boy anymore, and the way he was speaking sounded too carefree too. In the cell to his right, an old man stepped up close to the glass and looked to his left as he heard this voice coming clearly out through the walls of their cells. Edo looked back at the teen in surprise for a few more seconds too, then he turned back forward and said in a calm voice, "You may not be in solitary confinement, but that doesn't mean we have to talk to you."

"Hmm," Zach hummed and he scratched his chin again. He smirked though and lifted his head up, a dangerous look in his eyes that had Tachibana pulling her head away at the sight of. "You still don't seem to understand." Edo got chills through his body and he turned to the side again with wide eyes. "You've been ordered to stay here and stand watch over me, and you don't want to. Whereas I turned myself in and came here by choice." Edo stared into the teen's eyes while Zach smirked more and called out, "So I'm not locked in here with you! You're locked in here with me!"

"Yeah, but we get to go home when our shifts are over," Tachibana Miyuki started snidely back at the boy. His shout annoyed her as he was smiling about it and even looked to be having a fun time at their behalf. "And we…" she trailed off and she dropped her bottom lip as the boy behind her was facing her with interest and nodding along at what she was saying. Damn it, she stopped and turned away quickly as she realized she had been baited into talking to him again. No more. My directive is to stand here and keep watch. He doesn't sound like he's going to try and escape, but he could just be lulling us into a false sense of security so he can get back into D Block and kill those villains we just saw. He has a past with a lot of them. They killed people close to him, tortured him, so this facade he's putting on for us has to be faked.

Zach looked left at the female guard and then right to the male. He shifted his attention back and forth between them and he leaned back while still sitting just behind the glass. I'm not tired. I rarely ever am. I could go to sleep right now. It's the first day though. The best day to start making progress on them. "So," Zach started, after a minute of silence between the three of them. "You guys want to hear a story?"

Edo sweatdropped and glanced down the hall to his right. I don't think the Warden realized what kind of job he was creating when he made this one of the new official duties. I don't want to complain about it to him after one shift, but-

"I never went up on the stand during my trial. I had the right not to do so," Zach said. "So that means, the only things they could talk about were Lifebringer Incident things." The two just outside of Zach's cell found themselves getting more nervous, but they were resisting the urge to look back at the teen who they could tell was trying to make them look again. Sazaki continued to them though, "I didn't have to answer any of their questions, but I did answer a couple if I wanted. I told them that I wasn't Death. It was something they asked me a bunch of times, since as often as I told them no, they just wouldn't believe me. I couldn't have been Death though. I never explained to them why I couldn't, because, well… what I was really doing, they never would have believed."

What was he doing?

I really want to ask. Why's he hesitating so long? Edo took in a deep breath. He's baiting me. That's all it is. He just wants…

"So do you want to hear what I was really doing all that time? Where I really was the past year?" Zach eased his head forward while dangling that out in front of his jailers.

Edo started turning his head to the left. Tachibana caught the movement out the corner of her eyes and she shifted her head just enough to give him a look. Don't you do it! "Don't," she started towards her comrade as he was turning more. I, kind of want him to though, Tachibana thought, unable to cut off the subconscious thought halfway as much as she willed it. She grit her teeth, then she let out an annoyed and disappointed sigh as Edo turned fully to Sazaki and opened his mouth.

"Where were you?"

Zach smiled and a look of relief covered his face at the question. Edo's eyes opened wide at that relieved look, and he felt strange about how hard he was trying to isolate this kid after seeing how he felt just by being talked to. Tachibana turned back away in annoyance as she was unable to stop it, and she pretended to stop paying attention while facing the opposite wall. This is going to be a long shift. Still, Lifebringer might wind up confessing more of his crimes right here. He's not under oath or anything, so he could just make stuff up though. He probably will…

Alright. First try. Let's do this. Zach took in a deep breath and he let it out slowly. "The truth is," he started. "When I left Japan, I went straight towards America. The U.S. is really lenient towards vigilantes, with this unspoken rule about what they can and cannot do. Everyone knows it because the vigilantes arrested are thrown in jail for more than just vigilantism… Now I can see you don't look like you believe me already, so I'm guessing that's because of the report that I was in the Philippines heading west?"

Edo frowned at the teen as he was just thinking about that. He nodded his head instead of responding, showing he did not think he would believe him even if the kid tried changing up his story here. "Well with so many heroes after me, I had to make some sort of redirection," Zach explained with a shrug. "So I sent everyone west then headed east myself. It worked, didn't it? No one saw me again…" Zach trailed off and he rose his head to stare up at the ceiling of his cell. "I went to America and became a vigilante. I had to stay in the shadows even more than the other ones, since if people knew I was there, heroes would have come after me, and at that point I still believed I was in the right for running away even after what I did."

The guard looking back at Zach lost his frown. He curled the right corner of his lip flat and his eyebrows furled at what the teen just said to him. I'm not supposed to consider him as different from the other prisoners. He's Inmate 1667. Not some kid, with regrets. But a murderer. Who abused the hero system. Who's probably here for some ulterior reason and needs to be kept under constant surveillance… Who might even be an international terrorist known across the world for murdering villains. Edo reminded himself not to let his guard down in a pretty effective way, but he did keep looking back at the boy who had taken a long pause there after what he said last. "So, you were a vigilante the whole time?" Edo asked, his voice curt and suggesting that he just heard the end of the story.

Zach shook his head and he let out a low chuckle. "No," he said. His voice got darker, but only for a second before he rose back up his lips that were curling down to get a carefree look back on his face. "Some time passed, and I was going after this thief." Tachibana curled her lips down while glaring at the opposite wall, but she got a confused look on her face at the tone of the boy behind her like he was just starting this long, long story. Edo looked at him in confusion as well as to why he would start off a story about a specific villain. "She had this power to move through walls, solid objects, anything she wanted as long as she made a Doorway on them. That's what I think her Quirk was called, or at least what I called it for the next year…" Tachibana turned her head and looked back at the teen who paused for a second when she joined in at looking at him in confusion and interest. She cursed that she turned, but she kept staring at him waiting for a further explanation as there were thoughts racing through her mind.

"You see," Zach continued, smiling at the interested looks of the guards just outside his cell. "I thought her Quirk could just open Doorways in the safes of banks she robbed, or into locked rooms of convenience stores, into any place she decided to steal from. I chased her and it was a difficult chase that night, because she was fast and she could slip through any wall and hide in that building or pop out any of the other sides. If I went inside the building to chase her, she could have popped outside and ran off before I ever caught her, so the chase wound up taking a long time too. She'd try and pretend like I had lost her only to come out hours later and the chase would continue as I'd come out of my own hiding place. I chased her all the way to this abandoned building outside the town we were in, and this time when she went inside I knew there was nowhere left for her to run. The building was big but open, and I knew I could get her if I went inside and searched the place fast."

Zach hesitated and he looked straight into Edo's eyes. "So I went in, but I didn't see her. There were a couple of side rooms, so I needed to check them fast before popping back out to see if she was trying to run from the building. You see, her Quirk let her come in and out of solid objects but it wasn't like teleportation. She couldn't just run through a Doorway and disappear, or so I thought." Zach's voice got lower and at the same time he started speeding up. "In that decrepit building though, I found a basement. I went down expecting a trap waiting for me, because she clearly knew the place well to have gotten down there so soon after we arrived. I went down and the basement was wide and open, and across the room from the narrow stairs, through the musty, dark basement, there was a Door."

He gulped and he glanced from Edo to Tachibana and back again. Then he lowered his head and he said with a small smile on his face, "The main reason, I didn't say anything at my trial is because… It would have sounded too crazy. Too, absurd. But when I went through that Door, I didn't find some abandoned subway or a sewer as I expected was on the other side." The two he was talking to started breathing faster at the look on the kid's face. His eyes that filled with wonder and amazement as he rose his head up and stared right between them at the white wall across the hall like he was imagining something very different. "I was right, in thinking that I was walking into a trap. But, you can't- on the other side of that Doorway wasn't the other side of the wall, even if the Door was in the same spot in, that place."

"What are you talking about?" Edo asked, turning his body fully to face the see-through wall and staring down at the teen's face.

"The Door, was a pathway to another world," Zach whispered like he was telling the man a secret. "A different universe, or realm, maybe in the same exact location as ours but on a different plane of existence. There are, amazing Quirks in this world… but then again, I don't know if she really was from this world. I never knew what her original world was," Zach whispered that last part with a faraway look in his eyes.

"Are you-" Tachibana started. She glanced at Edo whose eyes were huge, then she glared back and continued darkly, "You seriously think we're going to believe-"

"Whether you believe it or not is up to you," Zach said, shaking his head and shrugging. "But it is what happened. I, went through that Doorway. And on the other side, waiting for me with their Quirks and weapons ready were the Queen's forces that she gathered in a few minutes' notice to attack me when I came through. It's why she didn't just, close off the portal after going through herself. She wanted me dead so that she could continue what she was doing on our world-"

"The Queen?" Edo asked, which received an eye-roll from Tachibana though her gaze did snap quickly back to the teen when he continued without pausing.

"The Queen of Arcasia," Zach replied. "The Doorway woman," he explained. "In that world, she was so powerful. She was the most powerful person in that world. Her people revered her as a Goddess, I figure because of the technology that she was able to bring from other worlds that they didn't understand, which would have just seemed like magic to them. After all, magic is just science we don't understand yet." His eyes darkened and he continued in a lower voice, "That world didn't understand any technology though, as it was trapped in the dark ages. If I compare it to our world, it was like medieval times… except with Quirks. You know how they say that we would have been in the time of space exploration already if it weren't for the dawn of Quirks? Well in that world, Quirks had existed for tens of thousands of years already. Advancement stalled, though I found ruins of an old civilization that I swear discovered ways to use electricity… the ruins suggested something more civilized and advanced than anything I had seen in the rest of that world, yet it was still just ruins. Another civilization torn down, by the wars that had covered that world for millennia."

The two guards stared in at this teen who they could not decide if he was crazy or if he was telling them a lie. The idea that it was the third option, that he was telling them a true story was getting harder and harder to believe even as they focused more and more on him. Zach stared out towards the white wall and he could hear screams in his head, and his eyes darkened more as he spoke in a lower tone, "And the Queen of Arcasia was spreading her empire that already stretched such a huge area of Terra. She oppressed the people in her lands, and she did nothing to stop the violence or the crime, the bandits and the pirates, the rogue trolls and ravagers and… entire villages, and towns, slaughtered. Massacres so horrible in just the first few weeks I was there, looking for her after beating her ambush instead of searching out the Doorway I had entered from. She couldn't close them as long as someone from the world a Door was open to was not where they were supposed to be. I learned that through our months of fighting each other…"

"Sazaki," Tachibana started. "You can't- this couldn't have really happened. If what you're saying is, if it's what you really remember then you must know that it was an illusion-"

"I thought that for a while too," Zach said, but he shook his head at the female jailer with a smile coming to his face again. "But the people in that world, they're what convinced me otherwise. I thought there was a chance I had entered into her mind, or that we had gone into my own or something. The people there though, were as real as you or me. They all had feelings and stories, and each one of them was a real person which I couldn't deny even when some of them were dwarves and elves. The ones who ambushed me at the start were orcs and since I still didn't get what was happening, I just assumed they were humans with Quirks that made them green and bumpy-"

"Elves? Dwarves? Orcs?" Edo muttered. "You said 'trolls' before too. What are- those things aren't real."

"Not here," Zach agreed. "But, the resemblance was uncanny to the ones that I'd already heard of. The creatures that we don't think exist at all, but were real in that world. But in their world, Quirks had existed for over 30,000 years at least. So who's to say that someone else with a Doorway Quirk hadn't existed in that time, or even multiple beings? Everyone had Quirks, all the intelligent races living on Terra. And I think that in the last few millennia here, people in our world have been given the occasional glimpse into theirs. Someone in that world came here, and the stories were made about the creatures we call myths and legends. Isn't it strange how our different ancient cultures somehow came up with many creatures that looked similar, without ever coming in contact with each other? And I think even some novelists who made stories about these creatures may have been having dreams that those people from that world had jumped into, or maybe they put thoughts in their heads across the worlds without ever coming here, or maybe even people in our world with early indicators of Quirks that they didn't understand caught a glimpse in their world. Once I accepted where I was, I thought about this a lot and realized that with Quirks… there are endless possibilities as to how those creatures could really exist in the cosmos."

"So you," Tachibana rubbed the side of her helmet for a moment and then had to speak up to get things straight. "After killing Kurogiri and five others, fled to America… and then vanished into a fantasy world-"

"Exactly," Zach replied with a nod and a laugh at how crazy it sounded. "I don't expect you guys to believe me right off the bat-"

"I don't," Tachibana agreed. "That's a ridiculous story."

"Don't worry," Zach said, and he smirked at the woman who got a bead of sweat on the side of her face at that look on his. "It gets way, way more ridiculous."

Edo cracked a smile and half-snorted before turning fast to avoid the teen's gaze as he was looked at. Is he just having a go at us? He seems totally serious about this story, yet it's SO stupid. It's not like we can leave though, in case he's just telling us all this to try and get us to go away and give him some privacy… So as long as we're stuck here, I guess it's better than four hours of nothing. "Did you ever catch her? That, Queen of Arcasia?" He asked.

Tachibana frowned and looked over at her fellow guard who just kept grinning while facing away from Lifebringer. She rolled her eyes at him and turned her back to the boy as well, but then both of the guards felt chills at the cold voice behind them. "I did," his voice was dark and his eyes distant as he glared at the white wall across the hall from his cell. The guards did not turn back but they felt the hair on the back of their necks stand on end as the boy's cold voice continued, "After months of fighting with the Allied forces... The wars, I mentioned, were not just in the past. I wasn't going to leave that world the same way I found it, so I, went to war. In a world like that where everyone has Quirks, where most warriors were bred and trained from childhood to fight and kill using their Quirks and the natural abilities of their races, I fought. In battles where tens of thousands would face off against each other and scorch the land, with Quirks that were beyond my imagination, devastation on a scale I couldn't dream of…"

Holy shit! What the hell is he talking about?! Is he for real? He really believes this happened! He's insane! There's no way that could be real! Edo was panting and trying hard not to turn back around.

Tachibana did look back though. She turned her head to the side and looked back through the glass at the teen down on his butt staring through the clear wall looking so dark. When he saw her look back at him like that though, his dark look faded away and he shook his head around. "But," Zach continued, while looking into her eyes through her dark visor and lifting the corners of his lips back up. "It wasn't all bad. That world, was an amazing place too. The people who I became comrades with, my closest friends in that world who would all go to war with me, but who also came on other adventures too. My mentor who had the same Quirk as me. Death was a rare Quirk there too, but there had been others with it before. He didn't want to teach me at first, but after helping to save my Master's village during a raid from Arcasian soldiers who were free to do as they pleased while taking taxes from the people- the Queen's men who were as bad as any bandits, he agreed to teach me just so I wouldn't embarrass myself any further. Though he said it was so I wouldn't embarrass all users of our Quirk, that I'd make them look bad. Haha," Zach chuckled nostalgically, then his expression turned sad for a moment before he rose it back into a nostalgic one and continued, "But I think I'm getting way ahead of myself. I jumped too much around and it's gotta be confusing right now, right?"

Edo nodded once without turning back around, as he was very lost. Tachibana kept staring into the teen's eyes and she hesitated before just looking away from him with a dark look on her face. Unlike Edo, she was not having a hard time questioning all she was hearing. It's all fake. I won't believe anything he tells us. But, the way he looks, what if that's real? Even if it's all lies, I don't know if he could fake that… Does he believe it's real? I don't know what happened to him, but Lifebringer's mind is… He's a seventeen year old, whose body is completely covered in scars. I should have realized it's not just his body. Her eyes darkened more while facing away from the kid behind her. We watched his mind break once before. Then Raijin betrayed him and we all saw him breaking again, until the Incident happened. Is this, what Raijin did to him? Is this what he became after that? But… why turn himself in? Where did this story come from? What's he trying to do here, or is he really just here to live out his sentence? I don't understand as much as I think I do. I don't, know how I feel about this. His mind is broken again if he really thinks this is real. People who are crazy, never think they are.

I'm not doing a great job so far. Well, it's a first attempt for a reason. I had no one to bounce these stories off of in the Void. Gentle thought it was stupid to try and convince people it was actually real, but I can do this. Because it was real. Today's the first day. They wouldn't have believed anything I said, so this isn't a good indicator of whether or not it's believable. Even better, if I can convince these skeptical guards, then people who are actually willing to believe me right off the bat will be no problem. Zach took in a deep breath and then restarted, "So I went through the Doorway and entered into the world I would come to learn was called Terra. I was surrounded by orcs, and it was the first fight there and one where I realized a few things. The fighters in that world were much stronger than any villains I had been facing in America, but from the ways they were reacting to how I fought, I was very strong for that world too. I don't think the Queen expected I'd beat her warriors, or she would have brought the stronger ones who I would come to face later and who would have destroyed me had we fought that day before I trained Death more. As I chased her though, leaving her unconscious soldiers behind, her Royal Grand Wizard appeared and hit me with his staff, sending me flying a hundred miles in seconds. One of the many unbelievable powers I saw in that world, not the most unbelievable, but definitely one of the strongest. I landed in the Borderlands of Arcasia, where I would spend the next few weeks in the village getting acquainted with this world…"

"…we had to cross the Shungzhi, but the river's current was strong and there were beasts that lurked within. I could have made it fine, but General Vucre had to make sure the entire forces could make it across in one go so we wouldn't get caught with our pants down. If the counter-strike came while we were split in half, it would have been a disaster. And it was a smart move to wait, since it turned out they were watching us. I don't know if-" Zach slowed down and he started grinning more as he got out of the serious mood. "The way we managed to get everyone across in one go though, involves taming one of those 'beasts' that came up to fight us… and riding it like a horse with our whole army on its back… but that's a story for later."

Tachibana and Edo were looking through the thick cell wall made of Cyn Glass, which was not glass at all yet called that because of its translucent nature. They opened their eyes wide in surprise and then spun to their left, and they saw two other guards walking towards them. The looks of disappointment on their faces made the other two heading over smirk, and Neo and Doruno motioned with their heads back the other way with Doruno lifting his right arm and turning his wrist like he was showing off his imaginary watch.

"Damn," Edo muttered under his breath. "It's been four hours already?" He said, still half-disappointed but also half-impressed and chuckling after he said it. "Never see the end of the shift coming," he said, looking back through the Cyn and shaking his head at the teen on the other side.

"Well you two can get on out of here. We'll relieve you of this duty," Neo said, nodding her green-skinned head and then smirking a sly grin at Tachibana who just sighed at that look.

"Yeah yeah, let's go," Tachibana motioned away with Edo. "See ya' later, Sazaki."

"Yeah," Edo muttered. He turned, then he looked back and asked with a hand cupped to his mouth just below his visor, "What kind of beast?"

"Well, it had eight legs," Zach hinted, then he just grinned while getting up and stretching his arms over his head. Edo smiled back at the response then he turned and headed after Tachibana who was looking back waiting for him.

"You in the middle of one right now?" Doruno asked while heading to one side of the wall, leaving Neo on the side they came in on.

This is the best part of my day, Neo thought, putting her back up against the wall behind her and letting out a long breath. B Block was rowdy, the cafeteria had to be shut down during E's lunch time, the fucking maximum security ward went in full lockdown mode 'cause 0154 scratched his nose. I needed a Lifebringer shift today.

"Actually, need a bit of a break. Not sleep or nothing," Zach assured as he saw Neo's relaxed look start to shift. Damn, she's been looking forward to this all day. Guess that means I'm doing good. Zach had his arms stretched up over his head, and he turned his head to his right armpit and sniffed in an exaggerated way. "I'm going to take a quick shower, then once my dinner gets here I'll tell you guys where I went with the Army after crossing into Arcasia's central region for the first time. The original Arcasia before they started expanding, it was like a whole different world… well, not really, but the change was almost that drastic compared to the rest of Terra."

The two guards grinned, and Neo let out a laugh as he went back on the 'different world' simile. "How'd you get to the border? The last time we had a shift you were still camped in Yuselburg," Doruno mentioned as Zach headed towards his bed and was starting to strip. The two guards lowered their smiles as they stared in at the young man sliding his shirt up his body. Doruno continued and tried to ignore what he was seeing which always disturbed him, "I know you've gotten farther in, but you said you couldn't just go at any time. I know we missed some big operation-"

"You missed a lot," Zach said with a laugh. He had his back turned to the guards and he looked down while getting out of his shoes. Don't know why I even wear them in here. Seems like I could just go with socks forever. No one's coming for me. Two months of this and not a single attempt. "I'll catch you up on the important parts you need to know, but you gotta ask the others if you want the details. It's a long story, won't finish it in time if I backtrack for every new crew." Plus, there's a higher chance of me repeating details wrong the second time through. The main points will be the same because they're what really happened; the converted, the parallel.

Zach slid his pants down his legs and then stood back up straight. He had a pair of boxers on but was going to walk into the shower and pull the curtain before taking those off. The guards wanted to look away, but instead Doruno said in a low voice, "Five minutes."

Zach nodded with a look over at them. He did not need to give them a look of understanding anymore or them one of apology for having to keep doing this, as they had shared those looks enough and by now it was just routine. None of the guards wanted the Lifebringer shifts to end, though at the same time none really felt they needed to keep these up with the teen whose stories had become a part of their daily lives. At first not all of them were interested or enjoying them, but Lifebringer wouldn't stop telling them even when a few told him to stop, and sooner or later those guards all got too intrigued too. The fact that when he took his clothes off to head into the shower, and the scars he had on his body matched ones exactly from the fantastical story he was telling with so much detail, amazed the guards who were shocked that the teen was still alive at this point.

Every inch of his body had something. His back that he turned to the guards on his way into the shower was all cut up and burned on the sides, there were claw marks cutting down the center and dug up into his right shoulder looking like they did not drag down as far there. There were wounds that matched ones on the other side such as bullet holes and stab wounds, and he had some surgical scars on his lower right and left sides. There were scars that dipped right down under his waistband too showing even his ass did not escape the markings covering his body. His right arm that he reached back to close the shower curtain had a long scar going down the inside of it from his tricep almost to his wrist, yet that scar got hard to see from his elbow to his wrist where his skin was darker than anywhere else on his body. Zach closed the curtain and he got out of his underwear with his eyes going dark and his expression grim.

I messed up there. Making a joke about a 'different world' like it's ridiculous or a really huge change, when I have to treat that like it's normal. At least to me! Zach shook his head and turned on hot water to fall over his head. He let out a breath while reaching his hands up to wash his long hair. At some point I wish they'd look at me less like, there's something wrong with me. Every time I undress I'm hoping they're normalized to it already but they never are. There are too many scars I haven't given origins for. Too much I haven't explained. The majority of them already believe every word out of my mouth as long as I take a certain tone, it took a while though for the skeptical ones. I still need to try out the rest but it's like, how do I know it's believable at this point or if I just already have them believing anything?

Zach grabbed the shampoo and he let out a sigh while continuing his shower. I can't let up. I need to have my story straightened out for when I actually have to start telling people. Just avoiding the questions and refusing to answer- I mean it annoyed them at the trial but I had the right not to self-incriminate. I had the right to only be charged for what they had evidence that I did. They couldn't even ask me where my accomplices were, especially considering it's not like they would have given me as the mastermind a better deal just to turn in the people I got to help me. That's their reasoning I think, though-

"Hey, Sazaki," Doruno started, making Zach turn his head from the other side of the curtain.

"What?" Zach asked. Something happen? His voice is uncertain. He doesn't know if he should tell me it. Did someone die? Is it too late already? Fuck. Please no.

"You, had a visitor again," Doruno began. Zach looked back forward and his expression calmed down a bit. His eyes stayed dark though and he just kept showering off while the man outside his cell spoke. "They were really hoping you would come see them this time-"

The water cut off. Zach grabbed a towel by reaching around the curtain to where he left his underwear. He pulled the towel inside, dried off his whole body, and then tied the towel around his waist to step out. He looked towards the guard facing in at him, and Zach shook his head at the man before grabbing his clothes and walking over to his bed to sit and put them back on. Why'd you say 'this time?' I told you no visitors, and I don't want to know who it is. "Unless it's my lawyer," Zach started, not looking back towards the guards and just sliding his clothes on without paying attention to them. "Then send them away."

Neo lowered her eyes to the floor. She cursed in her head at the feeling she just had for the prisoner in front of her. She saw his eyes drop down to the floor though while he was holding his clothes in his hands. His eyes were dark for a moment, and Neo looked away with a grimace as she thought about how appreciative she was that he was stuck in this prison to give her some free time during her stressful days. It's his choice to tell us those stories, but I shouldn't enjoy them so much. His body's destroyed, he's in jail, and he's still just a kid but- "Why, won't you see your visitors?" She asked, and Zach turned his head towards the green woman who wanted an answer from him.

The look in her eyes made Zach start shaking his head. He leaned back on his bed as he had told them he was going to hold off for a little before telling a story. Zach stared at the ceiling and said, "Don't worry about me. I'm not too lonely in here, since I've got such great company already." He cracked a grin and lifted his head, looking towards the guards and bouncing his eyebrows at them. Zach's look made Doruno laugh and Neo to smile too before trying to get serious only to chuckle as it was too difficult with him giving her that look. It's going to be a long time. I'm glad you guys really are good company, Zach leaned his head back and stared up at the ceiling again. Should work-out a bit during this shift, maybe after I eat when I'm telling the story. Train for a little, make sure I don't lose combat sense. And I'll put a request in for some more language books. Shouldn't slack on anything just because it'll be a while. Zach shifted his gaze to the bedside table where there were already several thick textbooks piled up.

I'm in prison but it's not over. Nothing's over. I have resources at my disposal. I have time, and my mouth, and people to listen and spread rumors. Use everything. Think, constantly. And prepare…

A/N Thanks for reading! Zach's got quite a story for how he spent his year outside of Japan. Zach's new life begins in maximum security prison, and time passes fast as 2 months jump by in that scene change. Lot of great predictions you guys and I'm hoping you're excited for what's coming in Death. I need to write 3 chapters of my Thesis by Friday, so probs going to be a slow week 'til maybe next weekend. Zach doesn't want to see any visitors as we see here close to the end, he's gotten on good terms with the guards, and a new routine has started for him... No responses this time, sorry but gotta run. Leave a review below telling me what you think of the chapter or predictions for what's coming!