Sorry that this took a while, but we back! Onwards!
FinnyFalolou: Why thank you! :D means a lot
Supreme Kai of Booty: Plot twist, we're all in league with one another or are all the same person. Jokes aside, damn, yeah, thankfully they're all good eh.
A tail wagged a bit as a small fox stared up at the jackal headed woman. If Hokori was honest, he had to say he felt a bit intimidated when he stared upwards at this jackal woman, body honed with years of training and experience, a facial expression that grew accustomed to battle.
She screamed no nonsense and her silence amplified that when he had just previously took her appearance in.
It didn't really help his nerves. He was still excited to meet her (hence his tail wagging) but the initial intimidation of her stoicness had managed to raise his nerves more than excitement. Hokori had just heard the story that happened recently with the guard dog.
When she arrived back from her vacation, she only took a few steps before rushing off to apprehend rowdy criminals that overstepped their lines. She took her work seriously and because of that it screamed workaholic to the fennec fox, but he also summed it up to being the loyal guard dog that she prided herself to be.
But that meant one thing from the vacation. She did not seem like the type of person to take a vacation willingly, so he theorised that it was some sort of forced vacation. Perhaps too many saved up vacation days, or hell, even sick days.
The large fox ears drooped down a bit as he sent a glance or two towards the much taller guard. There was one thing he had learnt in her presence.
She wasn't one for conversation.
Hokori was in quite a pickle! What should he say? Should he say anything? The silence while peaceful was also kind of awkward...well, at least for him that is. Shi was perfectly fine with staying silent and she seemed like she was on guard, ready at a moment's notice. "Come on Hokori! You gotta make conversation! Somehow...what can I even bring up? She's always so prepared and—" Hokori blinked, that was it!
"Hey, uh, Shi?" he waited a second, no real verbal response, just her eyes gliding over to him as he felt his hair spike up a bit.
He was successfully intimidated.
"No! Don't freeze up now!" With enough mental urging from himself, he managed to squeak out his question. "You always seem so, what's the word, ah can't think of it, but I think prepared also fits it. So why are you always so prepared? Ready for anything, so tense and guarded."
It felt like an eternity as Shi remained silent, thankfully she did end up responding. "You never know when a prisoner over steps their place."
"Yep...she really does take it super seriously." he thought, watching the jackal turn her attention back. Hokori didn't really feel that intimidated anymore (at this moment), but rather, he respected such a dedicated guard, a real role model in terms of dedication.
"Welcome to the Styx."
Hokori was caught off guard by that, Shi was looking back at him once more, though she actually turned her head this time as she had just welcomed him into the ranks of the guards of Styx.
Li just wanted to go about his day, but of course, there was always something that wanted to get in the way. Such as now, when a topless cowboy wannabe wearing a wide-brimmed hat and long flowing scarf stood in his way.
"Let's see if you're up for a challenge," was all that his opponent said before the whole scene turned into a western and Li felt himself hit by an invisible force.
The first shot took him by surprise and while he did expect the other attacks afterwards, there was nothing he could do about it, and he hated it. The cowboy's flicks hitting him with nothing but air.
Finger Flex: Also called Coin Toss by its user, the user has incredibly fast and strong thumbs (and fingers, though the thumbs are considered stronger) that allow them to be flexed quickly within microseconds! Using Coin Toss, Mulhall is able to fire off bursts of air to hit his opponent rapidly. It gets deadly once he has something to use as ammo!
"Come on now, don't hold back," the cowboy taunted. "Use your quirk."
Li's frown turned into a glare as he was helpless against the barrage of air blasts.
"Hmm, perhaps you're a mutant?" the cowboy wondered, not letting his barrage end for a second. Li gritted his teeth together, something that Mulhall had noticed. "Seems I hit a nerve."
"Shut up!" Li was still under the intense barrage of air blasts, he just couldn't do anything against it. He hated it, he hated it, he hated it! It was then that the barrage stopped.
"Wait," Mulhall blinked. "Could it be..."
Li tried to glare, but that didn't faze the shirtless man at all, in fact, the shirtless man just found it amusing.
Mulhall laughed, "oh this is some interesting news. I wouldn't normally do this, but, with your situation, it will make for something very interesting. Now there pardner, what's your name?"
The newer prisoner turned away, "Li."
"Well then Li, make sure to keep your schedules free. It'll ruin the surprise." Before Li could even ask what he meant, the cowboy just simply tipped his hat and vanished from his sight.
"Surprise?"
The cowboy however, didn't go far, just around the corner, speeding along to his next test. A proper one this time. He didn't get far though as Mulhall froze in place, not because of fear, but rather because he felt like he was being stalked. A quick glance over his shoulder revealed that not to far behind, was Inyoku. Watching… and waiting. "How long has he been there staring?"
Inyoku's stare was enough to send a single message. "This isn't exciting."
The shirtless cowboy didn't take any action, if the rattlesnake was going to attack, then he'll fight back. The rattlesnake however, kept his distance and just watched the cowboy's movements. "A shame I can't test you, rattlesnake. You seem to be itching for it."
Mulhall continued walking, feeling the snake's eyes on his back and he could have sworn that he heard something rattle.
Alexios walked through the male ward, keeping an eye on the prisoners throughout. His slightly wavy beige hair blowing in the breeze thanks to an open window.
It was then that his electric blue eyes spied a familiar face, a rather small fellow. He was just a prisoner, like the others, but he wanted to change himself. Alexios saw those eyes, he knew those types well.
"How are you doing today?"
The prisoner sighed a bit. "Fine, just want to go back home, really. It's a bit hard, the whole changing yourself thing that is." he waved his own hands as they ignited with flames for a few seconds. "Everyone here, whenever they get bored they start fights..."
Alexios turned, looking at all the other prisoners as his on the shoulders military coat stood strong behind him. He saw some inmates just quietly going about their day, hoping their sentence was over with one day, some arguing and some keeping their distance from one another. "Perhaps we need to add more recreational facilities."
…
Silence.
"Do," the prisoner began. "Do you think we can reform properly?"
"Of course! Everyone here has an equal chance of becoming a better person, learning from their mistakes!" the tall and muscular guard grinned. "You can still become a good person, you've already started to make steps to better yourself and sometimes, you need some help in order to better yourself."
The prisoner that could ignite their hands looked away. "...thanks, I guess." he mumbled, which Alexios heard pretty well, it wasn't like the prisoner was trying to hide it. "Support...huh, been a while since I had something like that..."
"That's why I'm here! To help you inmates become better people...and to let those who suffered wrongdoings as well." Alexios gave the prisoner no time to respond as he tossed something he dug from his pocket.
Ember hands looked down at what was tossed at him, a half-eaten candy bar, well, it was one of those snap-off ones. Something that prisoners couldn't really get their hands on.
"Thanks!" he stuttered at first as he scrambled to hide the candy bar away.
Alexios smiled as he walked away. It was quite a large smile.
"How are you doing today, Sae?" the prison's counsellor asked as the prisoner wasn't frowning like she usually was.
"I'm fine." her patient's feral tone was absent, but it just sounded empty.
Muika paused for a moment, "you...you can tell me whatever's bothering you."
"Nothing's bothering me right now."
Muika was fairly happy with her current patient. Sae gave no trouble and worked well with the guards, hence why she had access to the co-ed ward, and sometimes only stayed in there, for obvious reasons.
What the counsellor wasn't happy with was Sae's denial and refusal. She wanted to help her, she had heard stories of Sae and thanks to working in Styx, she had her profile on hand. It allowed her to learn just who sat in the leather lounge chair.
"I mean, isn't there something you want to do when your sentence is over?" she asked the long, black haired prisoner.
Said prisoner however just looked up, originally looking down at herself, she now gazed towards the wall, the same empty look in her eyes.
"I got nothing to do if I do get out of here."
The words lumped together in Muika's throat, she wanted to say something, but she didn't want to sound pushy.
Seconds had passed as her current client spoke up. "Are we done here?"
"...Yes," the ultraviolet haired counsellor nodded. "Great job Muika, you really helped today." she scolded herself as she watched Sae stand before being escorted back to her cell by a guard.
Her droopy red eyes just stared down at the ground, her hands gripping the sides of her skirt. "I really want to help you Sae, but—" she shook her head, she had heard from another guard that if you had the ability to help someone, you should use it to your best ability. "I'll do better next time!"
After she gave herself a pep talk, she took a quick glance to her schedule before grabbing the mug of hot cocoa that her brother had just dropped off prior to her meeting with Sae. She savoured the taste as she placed it back down.
"What if...I can't help her?" the sudden thought interrupted. Swallowing the sip of hot cocoa down, she went and shuffled the scattered pages on her desk together.
If Osamu was here, he would probably wrap her up in a hug and tell her to ignore those thoughts and to look on the bright side.
Maybe, just maybe, she should try and take a page out of his book.
So the counsellor of Styx put the best smile on her face that she could muster. "Next time, I'll help you, Sae! All of you!"
Chie was sitting quite comfortably as she watched the basketball game unfold. It looked like it was getting pretty violent.
"Perfect."
It wasn't long until two shadows began to cast over her. Glancing over from Sora kicking Chikuha across the basketball court, she saw the oleander girl and the information broker.
"You're the one causing the fight." Yua, with no change in her expression stated as she stared down at the source. "Stop it."
The feather mantled woman smirked. "Irritated?"
Yua's stoic expression persisted and it only ended up irritating her instead! That was when the bubbly sounding Ashita took over.
"Chie Shigeki, known by the assigned villain name of Instigator with the quirk of Irritation." Ashita began with a rather upbeat tone to her voice as she dished the intel out. "Arrested for the illegal use of your quirk and pleaded guilty in court for using it, sentence for ten years. Quirk is activation based."
Irritation: A quirk that causes people to become irritated and that's just the start. The affected start off irritated but find themselves growing more irritated to the point of frustration, to cut a long story short, the longer this quirk is in effect, the more aggressive the people in the radius of the user become!
"My, my, seems I'm famous."
Ashita kept up the smile. Chie was a rather interesting case from what she had found out through her info. Her quirk was as it sounded. Irritation. It caused many people to grow irritated, agitated for whatever reason before it got to the boiling point.
It caused plenty of fights where she just watched on, like an empress enjoying the spectacle of a bloody gladiator arena. You would think it would be easy to arrest and sentence such a cruel person, right?
WRONG!
Her arrest and sentence was anything but easy! It was clear as night and day for her actual arrest by the authorities, they got frustrated too, but it could be handled. The hardest part was her trial and that was solely because of her strength, her quirk.
Do you think that it would be easy to say she used her quirk to cause fights and then send her off to jail? If you said yes, then you're absolutely wrong! There are many types of quirks in this world, fitted into three major categories.
Emitter, Transformation and Mutant.
Chie's quirk might fall under emitter, but that doesn't mean anything in court, especially in regards to Chie's type of quirk.
Honestly, how can you jail someone with a quirk that can't be controlled?
Simple, you can't. At least with no standard evidence. That's why Chie was so hard to be put in prison where she lived, just because her quirk can cause irritation, doesn't mean it counted as intentional. Even if it was.
However, this could easily be blamed because of where Chie lived. Chie had lived the majority of her life within the Ryukyu Islands, specifically Okinawa. The laws of quirks were different per country, per state and this included Okinawa. Okinawa was a bit slow when it came to quirk laws, a history lesson that needed to be done another time, but due to this, the island of Okinawa was one of the few places that had laws that allowed loopholes for certain quirks. Though, that was a story for a later time.
Evidence for quirks like that on Okinawa was incredibly hard to obtain. Uncontrollable quirks were placed in the same category as these harder to pin quirks used in ill intent. Say for example: a quirk that allows you to brainwash people who respond to you, the use of that type of quirk can be easily written off as accidental. Chie's quirk was the same...or so she claims. If someone got into a fist fight by the effects of her quirk, that could be written off as accidental, even if she did it with the sole intention of enjoying a spectacle or just to cause chaos within the streets.
Normal evidence did nothing. There was no proper evidence, you couldn't just blindly label a quirk like that as a fully intention attack, overall, it was easy to get away with crimes with those types of quirks. There were a few transformation and mutant quirks that also fell into the same category.
There was no way to get a guilty verdict or even know if was intentional or not.
When innocent people got involved into the mix, it only reinforced the previously mentioned problem of making it harder to pin those quirks down as intentional use, accidental use or considered an uncontrollable or unstable quirk.
It was almost hopeless. Almost.
There were actually two ways to get a person with a quirk like Chie's to plead guilty, as even normal evidence like witnesses, victims and even recordings proved useless. Though one was more successful than the other.
The first was by lie detector quirks. This actually worked pretty well when first established in her homeland, however it had flaws. Remember how innocents were said to be involved in the mix? Well, that same thing happened. Despite refusing that they used their quirks, even if they had no control over it and were caught lying, that did nothing for their actual intention of using said quirk.
Lying didn't matter to whether the quirk was used or not. It just happened. If someone was caught lying or telling the truth, they still couldn't pin it on them as the quirks were harder to control than the norm.
It ended up being scrapped and deemed as pointless once too many flaws started to poke their heads through, so they opted to try something else. Memory Searching. It didn't last too long either, memory searching and mind reading, it was actually like lie detecting, reading their minds didn't dictate their actions. A lot of people wanted to kill someone that hated, but never act on it, memory and thought searching was the same, but most quirks of that type, didn't involve their thoughts at the time of the memory.
So they put their trust in their final option, the second and more successful way compared to the now short lived and currently defunct lie detecting quirks. When dealing with quirks like Chie's irritation quirk that didn't involve contact and can easily be put under uncontrollable or accidental, with everything that had been mentioned previously, these invincible quirks within places like Okinawa were hard to touch even by the law themselves, there was one way though.
Have them plead guilty by their own volition.
Even then it wasn't perfect, they could still plead innocent. It was shitty but if you were lucky enough to be born with a quirk like Chie's Irritation or some other fitting 'uncontrollable' quirk, then you'd be untouched by the law itself as long as you only commit those crimes with that type of quirk and never relent into confessing and owing up to your crimes you committed.
As long as you only used your quirk. As long as you never give up and reveal the truth behind your actions, your crimes. As long you persisted to your own brand of 'innocence' despite your guilt.
You will walk freely, like a modern day Jack the Ripper.
Of course, that didn't mean shit if you lived in an area that had laws with those quirks in mind. Okinawa was one such place where the laws on 'uncontrollable' quirk usage intentions were wavy. You'd still walk like the notorious ripper, but only within the place where the laws were flexible and wavy where you could get away with it. Do it somewhere else, and you were fucked.
If you pulled this same stunt in Tokyo, let's say, Hosu City as your hunting grounds for example. If you pulled this stunt, claiming to have a uncontrollable quirk, you wouldn't get away with it. Those with lie-detection quirks would easily slammed you behind the bars of a nice little cell with your name on it. You couldn't play with the loopholes as easily, they had those quirks in mind, they had laws for those very situations in mind, they knew what they were doing. They continued to update their quirk laws.
It wasn't somewhere like Okinawa, that was for sure.
In one of those places like the previously mentioned island, there was no evidence solid enough to prove a thing otherwise within those areas where you could easily get away. Unless they had committed another crime that didn't involve quirk use or were apart of something bigger and sinister. There were other ways, but if they just used their quirks… then it was pretty much pointless... evidence was fleeting and if it was there, there was a high percentage that it would be useless to charge them on the illegal use of quirk.
With everything said previously, those quirks were incredibly hard to charge with illegal use in today's certain societies and only change with time could fix it in those areas that desperately needed it when these types of quirks popped up. Until then, it rested on fate.
It was an incredibly risky process, leaving it up to fate itself. Some scare tactics could be implemented into getting them to confess or even tampering with the accused themselves if they had no choice (and could get away with it), but still, they were largely untouched, only caving into their own guilt.
However, fate was a miraculous thing sometimes.
Some people never caved in however, some remained 'innocent' while some just agreed to the guilt for whatever reason. Chie was one such person who pleaded guilty by her own volition.
It was another court case for a string of fights ranging from simple bar fights to massive street fights, even a concert in front of a crowd of ten thousand ended up in a bloody fight, starting with hecklers taunting the band with the band taunting them back until it just exploded. Erupted into a large fight where officers dispatched had to deal with the raging crowd.
In the centre of these fights, was a single woman who held onto her sanity.
Chie Shigeki.
Among a sea of insanity, she remained untouched. It was as if the whole situation screamed that she was guilty.
Though this wasn't her first meeting with the officers and they knew it wouldn't be the last. They knew her quirk, uncontrollable she pleads, life threatening if the frustration built up in others reached the point of causing others to go berserk. Yet, she was also innocent thanks to their islands outdated laws, even if her lips twitched up into a cruel smirk that taunted them.
The riot officer who was deployed detained her first, with the source gone, it would make the clean up of those involved come to their senses sooner. That day forward, that concert was known as the Big Bash. Tales of the violent fights spread and short video clips had managed to garner slight attention on the web, until the next big, worse event engulfed their interests and free time.
It was just a fleeting moment.
The trial was short, as where all others she had been involved in. The judge not looking very happy at attending this trial again, all the evidence provided in the previous cases, in fact, she had never set foot in a court for her crimes in months. She was only here, because she requested it.
"I'm not guilty," the words escaped her lips, almost ending the trial she requested if it wasn't for her continuation. "But, if it puts you at ease, I'll happily spend time in prison."
"W-What?" to say that everyone was shocked was an understatement. It raised suspicion.
"I mean, if I keep getting accused of using my quirk with ill intentions when I'm not, I don't think I can ever get some piece of mind. So it's better for me to spend some time in prison, yeah?"
The judge cleared his throat. "And what's the catch?"
There had to be a catch to this, no sane person would want to go to prison willingly if they were innocent, but it seemed like a few others in the room who wanted her locked up were more than shocked and even refused to agree with her.
"I want to choose which prison I go to."
The judge narrowed his eyes, "what for?"
"Protection."
The elderly man closed his eyes. With how many cases she was apart of, it was only natural for her to succumb to a terrible fate. There were definitely people who didn't want to deal with her quirk anymore, making sure she never returned. There would surely be a few people who will try and commit such acts to ensure that they won't have to deal with her quirk, intentional or accidental.
When the judge reopened his eyes, he had a rather mellow look, as if granted a child solace. "Where do you want to go?"
There was simply only one answer.
"Styx."
And that was the story of Chie came to Styx. It was the safest prison she could have chosen, for Styx bowed to no particular country. It was international, you could say that Styx lived up to its namesake as the River Styx. A river that formed the boundary between Earth and the Underworld. Society and the Criminals that resided within it. Operating on the premise of international waters, not under the jurisdiction of any country.
It wasn't perfect, but should anything happen, she was safe.
Protection wasn't the real reason she chose Styx, rather, it was a more selfish reason.
She wanted to cause more chaos.
That was it, that was her sole reason coming to this prison. There was no greater purpose, though her sentence was short, some tried to extend it, yet, she landed herself a few years in prison and her fun was about to run out...
...or it was supposed to run out and was supposed to be a short one.
Chie smirked, arms crossed and eyes closed as the mutterings of the jury echoed like a melody of chaos to her ears. The pat on her shoulder felt really nice, as her lawyer (who wasn't really needed at all) stood.
"Thank you, but my client wants to talk about how long she should stay in Styx."
The judge raised an eyebrow. "Two to three years, correct?"
The lawyer smiled, charmingly as he did. "Not quite," his smiled twisted into a fox-like smirk. "My client would like to extend her own sentence to ten years minimum."
The smile on Chie's face vanished, or it felt like it did. She opened her eyes, she tried to refute, but she couldn't. She couldn't move, she was locked in place! She tried to open her mouth, but she couldn't, she couldn't even scream if she wanted too. The only thing she could move was her eyes, the lawyer sent a charming smile back to her.
Only it seemed to be much more twisted than it seemed.
"Is this true?" the judge asked as the few in the jury began to smirk. With a false smile that she couldn't change, her eyes trying to plead that it was not the case, the judge slammed his gavel down. "Very well, Chie Shigeki will spend ten years at the international prison, Styx."
Chie wanted to scream, to move. This wasn't what she signed up for! This was an outrage!
The lawyer sat down for a moment, gathering his things. He did not smile, he did not spare her a single glance. "I just hope ten years is long enough to keep you behind bars," his tone was full of venom. When they finally made eye contact with one another, it was then she saw the twisted look of the lawyer.
"Enjoy your stay in prison, you fuckin' bitch." after gathering his things, she still couldn't move. It was then she made the connection. This lawyer who approached her was affected by her use of quirk, she had no idea if it was a direct use or because someone else was effected, he also knew that her quirk could be controlled at will and his quirk just let her sit silently as her sentence was extended. "I hope that's enough time for a new law to pass."
A quirk to pause her body completely, she would remember that lawyer when she got free. Oh she'll remember. She silently swore that she would get back at this lawyer who approached her with a seemingly good deal. There will be hell to pay!
And then, the rest was history, of course.
When she first arrived, she spent a week sleeping with one eye open. She could have been removed or snuffed out at any time, or maybe, they hoped the other inmates would do the job for them. When she arrived, she was still treated as a criminal, no special treatment, but that could be due to her sentence. She did agree to it after all.
There was a bright side however.
Now, Chie could spend her time using her quirk freely, as honestly: who would care about some criminals fighting each other and dying over it?
No one.
She could use her quirk freely here. It was a shitty world and system, but she would walk at the end of the day, that's what was promised during her trial of free will. She might have the lawyer at the top of her personal hit list, but ten years would look a lot better for her also. She was free to start using her quirk without the law being able to touch her...at least until laws passed in her hometown that caused her to be locked up for good. For her now though, Styx was just an extended vacation.
If that vacation included being a prisoner and treated exactly like one. Despite heading off to Styx willingly, there were regrets with the decision. Chie had no special treatment in the prison, as soon as she arrived, she was already considered like the others and she had suffered the same punishments some days. Though she was thankful to the experiences, even if it was painful at times.
The guards made sure of that, and that almost caused her to shiver. She might have chosen one of the safest prisons from outsiders, but the criminals and even the guards that were allowed to use their quirks on the inmates...
She didn't enter a haven. She entered hell itself.
To make matters worse, she had heard from the high wall mounted TVs that Okinawa was talking about updating their laws. She really hoped that wasn't the case.
Now she was trying to do what she wanted, though limiting herself a fair bit, enjoying what she could when she could. Everything was done in moderation, while she could use her quirk freely, the guards didn't care about her quirk being 'uncontrollable', plus with some people like Ashita that could prove it was an activation quirk (and Styx not having her hometown's laws) it made things difficult. "But it seems I got someone more entertaining in front of me."
"Now, what do you want?" the source of the fighting asked, smirking.
"I told you. Cease this." Yua pointed her thumb behind her, to the chaos on the basketball court.
Chie's smirk slowly but surely transformed, flipping upside down as the intensity in her stare grew. "No."
The silence persisted for a while, until the Yua stopped crossing her arms.
"Ashita, stand back." without a word, the info broker did just that as they gave Yua plenty of space. More than she should.
When people thought about deadly plants, what was the first thought that comes to mind? Nightshade, or rather, Deadly Nightshade. That was a common one that came to mind, but there were other plants just as deadly like the deadly stinging tree known as the Gympie Stinger or the Suicide Plant, common in the Australian rainforests that is known to contain a neurotoxin that is known to be so painful that it drives the person stung to suicide. What about the Poison Snakeweed or Bad Man's Oatmeal, causing progressive paralysis of the central nervous system and was used to kill Socrates in the distance past? Perhaps the Mother of Millions that caused one hundred and twenty five grazing cattle to die on a single trip? Deathcamas, anyone?
Perhaps, we're thinking too inside the box, searching for those that are normally out of our grasp, maybe we should have a look in our own gardens. These examples aren't just the pinnacle of deadly, there is another plant that can produce fatal results to both man and beast alike.
"I'll make this quick."
Was this an issued challenge? Well, Chie would take that challenge up! She wasn't going to relent easily. It was then Yua approached.
The flower grown in many gardens around the globe. Oleander! It was even said that people got sick after eating honey made by bees that had visited the flower, so easily transmitted, but thankfully it had a bitter taste that reduced fatalities. Imagine if it wasn't so bitter. Do not look down on such a common plant, something so common can be quite deadly. Yua's oleander however was a much more dangerous beast.
Nerium: It grants Yua the abilities of oleander that she herself is immune to! Whether that be through physical contact or a radius around her!
"I wonder, can you keep calm for long?" Chie taunted, grinning. She really hated that unchanging expression of her opponent's.
"Then I guess this is a race, who's quirk will cause the other to fall first."
The black haired woman grew uncomfortable as Yua never moved, just continued their little stare down. "Does she have a quirk like mine?"
"Tell me when you start feeling sick."
"T-This woman! She plans on outlasting me with her quirk?! Not gonna happen flower!"
This match turned into a game of quirk chicken. A rough stare down, seeing who will give in first. As this was happening, Ashita stood to the side, watching the two stare each other down. The info broker of the prison did look back to the basketball court, to see how they were faring.
"Something's wrong," she noted. "The effects of her quirk are different from before."
Styx's Information Broker glanced at the warriors on the court, blindly trying to attack one another as if they could only see red. "Something is definitely odd here."
The staring contest continued, frustration vs a flower's pheromones.
Yua stood close to the source of frustration, the previous distance between the two, as short as it was, was now shortened even closer than before. The woman with a feathered mantle went to stand, but it was if that lunch she ate suddenly started to revolt against her.
"Ah, it's starting." the light green haired convict stated, as saliva started to build up and pour out of the other's mouth as her stomach just wouldn't settle. "I'll stop here, before it gets worse. Now, cease."
When Chie looked up, Yua was offering a hand and it was getting closer to touching her, so in a quick burst of speed, the feathered mantle woman smacked the hand away. "Shouldn't have done that." was all that the woman with oleanders in her hair said, almost sounding like a sigh.
It took a few seconds, but then it happened.
Chie grasped her hand, it was...irritating her! "Could it be from that smack?" she wondered at her now redder hand. She didn't like the feeling.
"Do you see now? How irritating it can be?"
"How?! How can she be this composed?!" the mantled woman backed away. While she used her quirk, Yua never lost her composure.
It was then she came to a sudden conclusion to this mystery. It was just a theory, but she would have to look into it, she had heard of quirks evolving or learning what truly happens with your quirk. She came to the answer that this was also apart of her quirk: while it did in fact raise people's frustrations, there were people who were more level-headed than others.
Some people had short tempers while others were like monks that had practised their patience for years on end. Chikuha was one of the first ones to break out in frustration while Nozomi was irritated and while she fought, wasn't like Chikuha. Then there was Yua, who was seemingly unaffected by it at all.
The conclusion was: it might have raised people's frustrations, but it also took their level of composure and patience into the mix, having people with short tempers would explode first while those who were very calm and composed took quite a while to reach that boiling point.
Chie also came to another conclusion: "She's my worst possible match up."
"Are you done now?" Yua looked down at the instigator, that same indifferent look causing the master of irritation to grow frustrated herself, yet she couldn't quite tell what was making it worse. The skin irritation or Yua.
It was then that Yua, ever so slightly, moved her leg, grazing against the exposed arm of the instigator.
"You know this can end, anytime you want."
"Never," the irritation user seethed.
The stoic looking Yua just stared, her quirk now activated once again and the sick feeling returned stronger. "Very well."
"I think you should wrap it up quickly!" the stoic woman heard Ashita call out, a brief glance in her peripheral vision showed that the people on the court, were a lot more violent than before. Chikuha had exploded the basketball, Koneko tried to scratch everyone with her claws, the masked Demelza seemed the calmest out of the frustrated group and Nozomi looked pretty scary with that look on her face. Fushiko though, while frustrated seemed to enjoy herself in an odd way and Sora was very similar to Chikuha, except without the explosions.
If this went on any further, light injuries would be the least of their problems. It was time to wrap this up.
"You...you're done with the staring—" Yua took a page out of Chikuha's book and kicked the other convict in the face, sending the sick feather mantled woman to the ground.
Simple and effective.
"I think we're done here."
When Chie fell, that was when the fighters on the basketball court started to find themselves more relaxed, still a bit frustrated, but nowhere near the level they were at before, but now, as Ashita filled them in on what had happened (when Nozomi asked of course), some decided there might be a new target to let their now easing frustration out on and none was more eager than the mad bomber herself.
Chikuha grinned as she slammed her fists together. "Perfect! I feel much more relaxed! Now we can return the favour—" the bomber was interrupted as Yua held up her hand, not sparing a glance to the explosive woman, but instead, focusing on Chie.
"Find a guard and request medical assistance, I stopped using my quirk, you'll be under the weather for a while."
"WHAT?! You're just going to let her get away?! Are you a dumbass?! I know you're a plant but fucking hell!"
Through all of Chikuha's shouting, Yua remained perfectly calm and only had one thing to say. "Unless you want to kill her, don't bother with attacking."
The literal timebomb huffed, looking away. A beat-down was one thing, but death meant dealing with the guards more than she liked.
"It's not like you were really angry anyway," Ashita jabbed.
"I was so goddamn angry! You don't know me!"
"Yes I do."
"...fuck."
Chikuha turned away again as Yua watched as Chie slowly dragged herself away from them, only for Fushiko to shout in her ear. "But let's give it up for Yua! I think we should celebrate her saving our asses!"
It was just then, for a split second, that Yua thought that her decision to interfere was in fact, the wrong one. At least she didn't have a headache, so that was a plus.
"Ow!" Fushiko recoiled from trying to put an arm around the oleander girl.
Ashita shook her head as she noticed that Chie was long gone now. "Is something the matter?" Yua asked while the others were with Fushiko, Nozomi offering to have a look to see if she could ease the pain somehow.
"Yeah, something had been bothering me a bit." she began, looking back to the basketball court. "Didn't the effects of her quirk seem a bit fast to you?"
Yua crossed her arms as she looked up at Ashita, "wasn't that how it was originally?"
With a shake of her head, the info broker then stared intently at the ground beneath them. "Chie cannot speed up the effects of her quirk, she can only activate her quirk, though I did notice that the others got frustrated faster than before."
Yua raised a single eyebrow, though it still made her look indifferent to the whole thing. "For example, Koneko got frustrated pretty quickly, when she should be one of the last ones on the court to get to that level of frustration." Ashita continued, now looking over to the group. "We were in her range, you more so, and you didn't find yourself growing frustrated any faster... did you?"
Yua brushed some hair behind her ear. "I am not immune to the effects of her quirk, but I believe I have some resistance. To answer your question, no. The irritation I felt...the best way to sum it up was that it was slow and only stayed at irritation."
The oleander woman wondered just what was up as Ashita sighed. "Since Chie's quirk can't boost the speed and therefore effect of her own quirk, it can be said that there was another quirk in play here that caused them to get frustrated much faster."
Once more, the toxic flower raised an eyebrow, the other one instead this time. "I assume you know who it is?"
A playful grin took over Ashita's lips, though Yua could see the pride in such a grin. "I would be a pretty bad info broker if I didn't."
One of the tallest prisoners in Styx, Kuroishi Yukimaru, was currently going about his sentence. Just killing time as he went around the block so to speak. He had recently heard about one of the new prisoners, Jin, getting into contact with Fumma.
Normally, prisoners meeting up with one another normally wouldn't bother him, but this was a special case.
"Fumma..."
He quickly spun around, looking behind him as his thoughts were interrupted. He had definitely heard something. A rattling sound.
It was faint, incredibly so, but it was there.
Kuroishi's long hair suddenly blasted into the air as a voice let themselves be known to the giant. "Howdy, pardner."
Kuroishi snapped his head around as he saw a man, shirtless with a wide brimmed hat and a long white scarf with a single 'tail' of the scarf flowing behind him, as if picked up by a gust of wind.
"Hope I wasn't intruding, you seemed pretty focused elsewhere."
The long, dark purple haired giant remember silent, watching the cowboy starting to walk around him, without closing the distance. "You seem to be a bit strong or maybe, that's your quirk giving off that strength, either way, I hope you don't mind if we have a little sport, do ya?"
It seemed that Kuroishi didn't have a say in the matter as the sudden cowboy flicked his thumb, blasting a powerful shot of air that brushed by the side of his face. The man that stood before him gave a taunting smirk.
Neither of them said a word, just choosing to stare at one another until one decided to attack first. Said person who attacked first, was indeed the cowboyish prisoner, Mulhall. Unleashing his quirk, the blasts of air hit the body of the giant, though unlike his other victims, Kuroishi stood tall, the rapid barrage of blasts doing nothing to push him back.
"If it's a fight..." Kuroishi took a step forward, albeit incredibly slowly as he did.
"Tanking my shots, eh." Kuroishi heard the cowboy say as the number of blasts had rapidly doubled, causing the giant to try and walk through the blasts. "With a body or quirk like that, you might make things a bit more drawn out. Something that could be useful."
When the barrage of blasts began to decrease, that's when Kuroishi began his charge. He reached his arm out but Mulhall had easily backed away, until something came out of the giant's palm.
"Bones?" The bone fired towards the cowboy, but thankfully due to his quick reaction, managed to blast the small bone away with a quick air blast. It was almost as if the small piece of bone was a bullet!
Osteokinesis: This quirk basically allows Kuroishi to enhance the strength of his bones! Growing the ones he has or completely new ones, it also applies some minor regeneration when he forces or shoots those bones out of his body and can quickly heal the existing bones within him. Though depending on the length and thickness of the new bones. He does need some time and concentration to create or grow his bones for them to be stronger. The stronger the bones, the heavier and slower he becomes in a trade for power. He could even use some bones as weapons!
Kuroishi's hand healed the wound where the bone came out pretty quickly, causing the cowboy to smile. "Hahahaha, it seems we're going to have a duel!"
Shooting out bones was painful, though nothing he couldn't handle after years of using his quirk in the first place. He was quite thankful to the pain tolerance his quirk had given him. He doubted however that he could keep up with his attacker in terms of shooting out bones.
The purple haired prisoner thought about focusing something stronger, perhaps something to mimic a shield, but his opponent didn't look to be the time to sit and wait until he made something from bones.
Well, not for long.
He raised his hand as Mulhall slipped into position. He just hoped that the pain wouldn't build up too much. That would be a problem.
If there was a tumbleweed, it would have rolled past right about now.
Mulhall flicked his thumbs, blasting air blast after air blast towards the bone giant, who fired a few bone-like bullets in return. Even if the exchange of attacks was quite brief, Kuroishi understood.
He didn't really stand much of a chance with long ranged fighting, especially when he was the one also focusing on ranged attacks.
So he decided to change his strategy, moving a bit slowly due to his bones, he planned on finishing this fight as the blasts hit his chest, legs, arms and even his face, a slight smile appearing on the once stoic face as he took the hits.
"You enjoying this? Don't worry, I am too." thought the cowboy as he let up his attack, allowing Mulhall to attack free of being hit by ranged attacks. Kuroishi took a swing, but his current bones slowed him down enough for Mulhall to easily dodge the attacks the giant threw at him.
"A bit slow, but it seems you got power behind those swings...and in those bones of yours."
Kuroishi continued his onslaught as he fired a few bones out of his body, sadly with Mulhall continuing to build distance between them, it gave him ample time to shoot his bone bullets out of the air.
Mulhall watched in amusement as Kuroishi still tried to hit him, despite not being attacked anymore. It was then that Mulhall came to a decision, right as he ducked under a pretty powerful swing.
"That's enough, we're done here." the cowboy mused.
Kuroishi however just kept his eyes on the wild west gunslinger.
Mulhall smiled. "You seem to be pretty strong there pardner, how about you put that to something?"
The giant narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean?"
The cowboy just grinned. "It's nothing really, just a friendly little get together to relax and let off some steam."
"I refuse." Kuroishi ignored the look the cowboy gave him as he continued. "You attacked me as a test, I passed but I have no intention of letting out some pent up frustration."
Mulhall snapped his fingers, pointing at the giant. "You seemed pretty into that fight though."
"That was self defence." the stoic Kuroishi defended.
It was in vain as Mulhall countered, "People don't charge in and continue the attack as a part of self defence, nor do they enjoy getting hurt. I saw that smile."
Mulhall grinned as the stoic giant remained silent. "I still refuse your invitation."
The cowboy slid his hands into his pockets. "Shame." the disappointment was clear in tone. "If you ever change your mind, just meet up with me or I can tell you where to meet up, or better yet, I'll find you again."
Kuroishi watched as Mulhall walked right on by, he didn't act, they didn't act, the fight was over. Whatever Mulhall was trying to do, was a mystery to the giant and he wasn't really interested in finding out.
Though he could have sworn he heard that rattling sound again.
Chie weakly stood as she could barely lean against the wall. It was a wonder that she had regained consciousness so quickly.
She tried to walk forward a bit but ended up falling to her knees, her breathing quickened if only for a moment as she kept opening and closing her mouth a couple of times as she felt that there was more saliva in her mouth than before and it didn't help as her stomach contracted so suddenly that she could describe it as violent.
It wasn't great.
Chie tried to stand back up, using the wall to help, but then fell back onto her knees as her head bobbed forwardly randomly, mouth shut as tight as she could as she then returned her last meal to mother nature as it poured out it waves.
She heaved as the ground was coated in her old meal's new form. She did feel a little better after regurgitating her lunch, but now her mouth tasted of vomit and that she was paler than before and now sweating to add onto everything.
Great!
The worst part was the the pungent stench from her vile pile. She didn't even want to look at the chunks that protruded from the small swamp as the smell continued to invade her nostrils.
After she concluded that she was fine (after another round of bile being emptied onto the ground), she managed to stand up and walk away. There was only place she wanted to go and that was her cell. Her haven.
Though she didn't get far. Leaning on the wall with one of the guard's jackets was none other than Akita. "You were messing with my girls." the tone was almost emotionless, though it quickly gained a darker tone towards the end there and the glare was only an added bonus.
Chie wasn't in the mood to deal with her after what had just happened nor was she well enough to deal with her. She cursed that there was no one else asides from her, that mean there was one to use her quirk on.
Her quirk had a flaw, it made everyone around her more and more irritated to the point causing any sort of fight, random acts of violence...however, while she was immune to the effects of her own quirk, she wasn't immune to the frustration of the people around her.
Which meant an isolated use on a single target like this would result in her being attacked and if the levels were high enough, there was a possibility of her suffering a brutal death.
In essence, she was fucked.
"I don't like it when people hurt what's mine." Akita growl, stepping forward, approaching her, here, alone.
Akita placed one foot forward with enough force that it caused the dust from underneath to briefly bounce off of the floor but only by an inch. She reeled back her fist before it soon came into contact with Chie who tried to dodge the attack but was too weak to achieve that goal of hers.
She tried blocking her face, but it was as if Akita had slipped through guard, through her very arms and punched her anyway. As the instigator fell, only one thing went through her mind. "I haven't seen enough wonderful performances yet..."
As Akita stared down coldly to the now unconscious Chie, a sigh escaped from her that seemed to be a little more shaky than usual. "I hate it more when it's one of my girls that does it."
Tugging at her jacket, she decided to head to the mess hall. Not even sparing a glance to the fallen woman behind her.
The place was empty. A ghost town if he had to call it that. Mulhall brought his hands up, ready to fire as he turned around, facing the rattlesnake that appeared. The rattling gave it away.
"Knew you'd show up, pardner."
"..." the snake was silent, the eyes did all the work. Eyes that needed excitement. Eyes that were bored by the cowboy's actions.
Mulhall had his thumbs ready to attack. "You going to continue your attack this time?" he asked with a hint of caution.
"You fought with others and didn't even give me the time of day," the tone didn't settle well with the cowboy. The snake was furious. "You even instigated those fights. I thought what you said was exciting, but it doesn't seem to be exciting in the slightest."
The one who wasn't a snake sighed. "I know you might feel a bit insulted from that, but that's because you're already worthy of what I'm trying to do. The others that I fought with was more of a test to see if they are worth the time and effort."
Inyoku had slid fluidly into a fighting stance, ready to strike at a moment's notice.
"I don't care."
The snake slithered with greater speed than Mulhall anticipated, so he began to rapidly fire his quirk.
"No wonder he took up that pose," thought the snake. "It's not exactly what I'm strong against."
Inyoku didn't have any way to properly counter the cowboy's quirk. The best way for him to deal with it was to get closer.
Rattlesnake: A mutant type quirk that grants Inyoku-Yui snake-like abilities and other features such as the addition of a snake tail that he can use for quite a lot of different situations. It also grants him other snake-like abilities that might spring to mind. To sum up his quirk, he truly is a snake.
As Inyoku ran forward, he opted to block the attacks, though that didn't seem effective as he was already being pushed back.
"Again!"
Inyoku tried to close the difference between them again, alas to no real change as he was brought back to where he started.
"Again!"
Mulhall focused only on keeping Inyoku at bay, but the snake just wouldn't give up. He still continued the assault of air blasts, blasting Inyoku back further and further.
The snake still persisted.
"He's...he's insane."
Just what kind of person was this?! The desire to fight was strong with this rattlesnake. "You don't need to be tested! You should know why!"
"And I said I don't care!" Inyoku was blasted back again, he just couldn't reach the cowboy. Not like this.
Inyoku-Yui narrowed his eyes as he stared at the cowboy. "Air. He's firing air huh." he stood up again from his failed attempts. For a second, he knelt for a second before darting into a full on sprint.
"This again?" Mulhall fired, blasts of air firing at blistering speeds towards the snake, but this time, the snake had jumped high into the air and started to spin towards him at great speeds. The snake spun and spun mid-air as the shirtless man watched as his own shots were quickly rendering themselves useless.
"What?! My air blasts aren't—"
Inyoku's tail hit the scarf wearing cowboy right in the face, knocking him back, flat on his back as the wide brimmed hat followed suit on the dirt. "What just happened?" After a few seconds, he concluded that the snake's spinning repelled his own air blasts. He needed to be faster! More force! This snake wasn't going to make this easy on him.
Sadly he didn't have time as the snake was above him.
"Get up." the rattlesnake's voice was full of excitement. "I'm not done with you yet."
As Mulhall coughed, rolling over and pushing himself off the ground as he clutched his fists together into the dirt, he slowly got back into his previous stance. "Just a lucky strike, that's all." he panted while swiping away the blood. He knew better now.
"I can't waste anymore time!"
"You better act fast," taunted the snake. "I'm a lot closer this time. Go on, say your thing, like always."
…
"DRAW!" Mulhall fired instantly as Inyoku charged, but the snake's yellow eyes noticed a difference.
Mulhall had ammo this time, small clumps of dirt and rocks. Mulhall's air blasts had changed as the rocks that were fired did something that the regular blasts of air didn't. It pierced the snake's skin!
The rocks shot into his legs and arms, there wasn't actually many rocks that were fired as the dirt was destroyed during the launch. Blood poured out upon impact, but thankfully none went through his limbs fully.
The white haired snake was sent flying backwards, landing on the dirt. It was much harder to move as the cowboy picked up his hat, dropping the rest of the dirt and rocks on the ground.
"If it's a fight you want that badly, then I'll fight you when the time is right. Make our own little match, so I'll see you in the ring rattlesnake." Mulhall dusted his hat before placing it firmly on the top of his head. "When that day comes, it shall be at high noon."
Inyoku couldn't move fast as the cowboy had used his own quirk to boost his own speed out of there. Despite being unable to chase after the cowboy this time, he actually felt excited!
He just had to wait for that fateful day, whenever that would come. Luckily for him, however, he might not have to wait long, it had been a while since the last time he fought someone. He was quite pumped.
Though, he needed to do something about his injuries...
A man wearing the normal black and white striped uniform panted as he had nowhere to run too, he was stuck in a corner.
Swiping the sweat from his brow, the man glanced up to see a hulking figure shadowed by the darkness at the other end of the room despite the multiple lights shining down in the room.
This cornered man was quite bruised as the light reflected off his bald head before he clenched his fists together, ready to go in punching and swinging at a moments notice.
The sweating man suddenly charged at his opponent as a tendrils of blood appeared from his wounds, but that sadly was a mistake.
"Heh," the larger man grinned. When he had swung his four digit hand, that was the moment the shadowed man attacked!
A quick strike to the solar plexus had managed to cause the man to spew blood out as he was lifted into the air. After hanging seemingly motionless on the fist, he was suddenly sent to the ground and this man soon placed his foot upon his head.
Pinned under that man, now bathed in the light that shone down on the fallen man, his opponent's form took shape.
He was a tall and muscular man with a grin that seemed to be full of sharp looking teeth, but that could have just been the way he was grinning, a trick of the light. He wore what seemed to the the orange prison jumpsuit, but the top half was nowhere to be seen, instead wearing orange pants that belonged to the jumpsuit as he was barefoot. If there was one way to describe this man, it would beast-like. Dark orange eyes, blazing hotter than an erupting volcano and ash blonde hair that fell down to the back of his neck. What a monster.
And the pressure slowly began to apply itself to the rather soft skull. "I thought you'd be more fun than this, oh well." grinned the victor.
Once he pressed his foot down fully, he never raised it up again. Nor did he need too.
That's it for this chapter! It might be a bit obvious to see who exactly the first arc antagonist may or may not be, haha. As well as some minor antagonists.
Sorry it took a while for this chapter to come out, but we all good now. Enjoy!