For the second time in his life, Vito fell to his knees.
"Huh? What's happening?" He, Vito, was forced down to his knees?! He wasn't someone who could be defeated so easily, but he did want to throw up. "Seems that it's all piling up now..." The poison, the continuous surges of pain, the constant battles up to now.
He couldn't help but show his wonderful smile to the world! How he longed for this feeling. It had been so fleeting and rare in the past.
When was the last time he was forced down on his knees like this? So long ago, like a distant memory.
What was strength?
Was it something that came from the heart? Strong heart of courage that allows one to continue forward? Was it instead strength of mind? Rational thought, common sense and general intelligence to formulate strategies and plans?
No. At least not to Vito. Vito's own personal brand of strength was the basic. Pure physical strength. The power to crush and withstand. To take and give. It was a brutish way of thinking, a simple yet effective mindset for one such as him.
Yet, his strength that he held was unrivalled. Uncontested.
It made things boring. Yet, the title of strongest eluded his grasp, just like all the rest. The title of the strongest was not a permanent title. Just a title that was passed on whenever someone stronger appeared.
And it all started at a young age.
It was all due to being born lucky. Being born with a strong quirk. The day he was born, he was blessed with a simple yet powerful quirk. He took pride in his quirk, it made him strong after all.
A shame it all went to his head and created a troublesome child.
As he grew, he was told that his quirk was a basic, but a strong one. "You'll be strong, Vito." were the encouraging words he received. "With a quirk like that, you'd be a great hero. That's if, if you want to be one. Your quirk is super strong!"
But was he strong as they said he was?
That was something for him to test and confirm for himself.
He got into multiple fights, both inside and outside of school. Little twelve year old Vito didn't care about who he fought, as long as it was to prove that he was the dominant one.
A boy the same age as him, known as a model student in intellect and physical skill? Beaten down into the dirt. No challenge whatsoever. So much for a future wannabe hero.
A girl in the same class as him who chose to run when confronted by him? Smashed her into a locker, uncaring of the blood that poured from her body.
A teacher that tried to stop him? He remained unscathed as the teacher lost both of his legs that day, the damage caused was irreversible.
His reign of terror didn't last long at the school when he was expelled. His parent's didn't take too kindly to that.
"Vito! What the hell is wrong with you?!" his mother shouted with tears in her eyes. "Where did we go wrong?"
"Get out of our house, young man!" his father demanded. "We didn't raise a monster! We didn't raise you to hurt people!"
"You said I was strong! So I proved it!"
His father grabbed him by the collar of his shirt as his mother, teary eyed, went to grab a phone. "That doesn't make it right to hurt another person, especially hospitalising them! You're going to stay with your-"
Both continued to shout at him, trying to drag him out of the house as piles of clothes sat in an unzipped suitcase. Shouting things like "you were a mistake," or "you ruined our reputation!" as he tried to defend himself as being the strongest, though those shouts were rare among the sea of how he disappointed them, those were the ones that stuck the most.
Despite their increasing profanity as they continued, keeping a strong hold on the child until he was picked up, Vito ended it all with a chuckle. "I see...so you're just like those weaklings too."
He raised a hand against his parents, his quirk making him unstoppable as his fists dug deep into his parents' skulls, unaware of the sudden grabs as he easily overpowered them. One watched the other suffer, before they too suffered the same fate. Their child, the sweet little boy that they raised turned into this monster, leaving a fist shaped dent in their faces. Grabbing their arms, their legs (like his teacher) and treating it like a pretzel. Twisting and turning as they snapped like twigs in his enlarged hands.
And all through that, they heard their child laugh as their blood covered his face. It was the last they had ever heard.
If his parent's didn't see him as strong, it was only natural for him to prove his strength. No matter who it needed to be proved to.
That was the last the neighbourhood heard of the child named Vito.
Little did Venice know at that time, it had a monster growing at a rapid rate.
Since then, Vito roamed the streets of Venice, keeping to the back alleys as he jumped out, attacking anyone he thought that could give him a challenge, entertainment or just for a want of a good old fight.
The child had grown after his expulsion. The school bully was now a teenager, he joined many backstreet brawls. His opponents didn't matter, a random youth that also fought or a punk from some street gang that wanted to prove their worth. In the end, Vito stood tall over all, no matter who the challenger was.
He was simply too strong for these punks. So he decided to attack dojos. Raiding them, tanking through their techniques as he demolished both the students and the masters.
Thanks to both these events, Vito's reputation grew.
The schoolyard bully, the backstreet brawler, the dojo raider. All titles he required as he proved himself to be the strongest.
"Why are you doing this?" coughed the aged master, coughing on the ground, protecting the student behind them.
Vito's grin was terrifying. "Because I'm strong."
The title of the strongest. A perfect title for one such as him. It was like that the title of strongest existed for him and him only. Yet, it was a title passed from one to another, so easily. Whether that be by succession via combat, inheritance through passing, judgement from others. Not to mention each place had its own strongest.
The person who held the title of strongest in Japan could be outclassed by a person who held the title of strongest in Korea and so on and so on. There was no real way to determine the strongest. The strongest might go unnoticed, there might be multiple contenders, they might not have been born yet or have just passed away.
Not to mention the definition of strength could be classified differently.
The strongest physically, the strongest emotionally, the strongest will, and so on. Heroes, villains, civilians. Past, present, future. Who knows who the real strongest person in the world was!
There was also another reason. Villains rarely inherited those titles. Heroes sure, but a villain? They needed to make an impact on the world as a villain or before their villainy to gain a title like that.
Because of that, the title of strongest was a worthless title.
A title that would escape his grasp.
It fit Vito well, even if he knew it was a bullshit goal. He was strong and he was going to prove it! "Watch me world, witness my power!"
So he continued. Continued his assault on men and women. Even children if he thought that had a shot.
This of course, attracted more attention from both the law and heroes. Even the occasional vigilante! These low ranking heroes thought they could get an easy rank boost by taking him out, but they found themselves tossed and toyed with like the weaklings they were.
The law couldn't keep up with him and the vigilantes that attacked fell before his dominating strength like lambs to the slaughter, even those that he himself spawned!
He was no longer a young dumb teenager. No no. Now he was a man.
"Stop right there Vito!" some vigilante dropped from the roof, her eyes glaring daggers into the bastard. "I've been looking for you for years!"
The now thirty-five year old Vito yawned. "Oh? And you are?"
As he observed her, he could tell that she had been run ragged. She looked to be a complete mess, the only thing keeping her going was that dangerous look in her eye. It was if everything was thrown away, even the life that would have been in those had been replaced by the cold, dead glare. Which meant one thing to him.
Revenge.
"My daughter, you hurt my daughter." the woman roared. If looks could kill, Vito might as well be dead ten times over.
"And she was...?"
The vigilante's face turned red as she barked, "YOU DON'T EVEN REMEMBER?!"
Vito gave a reassuring laugh. "I don't remember every mosquito I swat! Haha, give me some hints, okay? Get my memory jogging."
Furious, she stepped closer. "You attacked her in the hallway back in middle school, she was found lying IN broken lockers."
Realization flashed through Vito, now it all made sense! "Oh! Her! She was kinda cute, weak, but cute."
His words only sparked more anger in the vigilante.
"Did you know what you did to her? What every day of her life was like?! Every day for her was living in fear in case you came at her again! Scared of her own shadow. Every single day, she felt nothing but pain! Pain and fear for years YOU FUCKING MONSTER!"
Vito whistled, a glint appearing in his orange eyes. "Damn, and she survived all this time? I thought she died after that. Man, I better pay her a visit then!"
"Don't bother. She's been dead for the past ten years. Every single day until the day she died was one full of never ending pain and fear. She suffered every second. Do you even know what that was like?! No...of course not." a knife flashed into the woman's hands, her hands gripping it tightly. "DIE VITO!"
Vito yawned as he swung his arm. A bored, disappointed look appearing in his eyes. "That's a shame. I thought she was strong there for a second."
The mother's head had effortlessly been smacked off, it offered no resistance whatsoever as it went flying through the air, smashing through some nearby shop's window as the body fell to the ground, blood painting the pavement a nice shade of red.
"How boring..." yawned Vito as he walked on, leaving the now dead mother in the empty street.
Definitely wasn't the first person that sought him out for revenge.
The older Vito grew, the more he realized that he might have been too strong. He rarely had to use his quirk during fights anymore.
But he kept fighting regardless. He kept accepting and declaring challengers. He kept raising the body count.
He was a known monster to the people of Venice, having one of the highest prices on his head in years. Tourism plummeted because of him, even Venice's famous Canal Quirk Aqua Circuit races were cancelled because of his sheer presence.
He quickly became known as the Monster of Venice.
You might be asking: why does he still continue to fight people despite him winning time after time? Is he just searching for the stronger foes at this point to give him a challenge as he holds back?
Well…
The reason for so many fights now?
He liked hitting people. There was no other reason. He never started a fight over being pissed at another person, he fought because he liked hitting the other person, hurting the other person. The power of dominance, the allure of power. A show of strength!
Men, women and children. None could stand against his strength! They all fell before him like the weaklings they were.
He enjoyed every minute of it.
It grew of course, the reasoning that is, but at the base of it all... Vito just loved to hurt people. It was one of the greatest pleasures after his own pain that he longed for nowadays. Sure, he wanted to prove himself as the strongest there was, but it all started with the enjoyment of hitting another living person.
Nothing could stand in Vito's way. Everyone was just too weak for him, after all he was strong. Strength Incarnate. No matter who fought him, he won in the end. It was almost boring.
So of course, he limited himself. Held back each and every fight, only showing more of his true strength when a slightly stronger opponent appeared.
It was a shame that they were all still too weak.
None were able to bring out his full power.
"Is there even a challenge out there?" a bored Vito thought as he stood tall among his fallen foes.
For the longest time, Vito never had a challenge. No one was able to beat him, there was no satisfaction anymore.
...At least those were his thoughts before HE showed up.
Vito could still remember the moment he met him. Clear as day. It was an ordinary day for him.
The streets empty, hiding from Italy's Monster. Only one person stood out to the muscular villain that day. "So you're the Monster of Venice? I didn't think my home would have such a weak looking villain."
"Ho ho, those are some fighting words, you shitty looking hero." Vito grinned, showing off his pearly whites. No ordinary person would wear such an eye-catching outfit like that out in public unless they were a hero. "You came 'cause you wanted to go a round, right? I do hope you'll be able to last longer than those other weaklings."
The hero only smiled as Vito charged.
As Vito charged, he soon realized that he had gotten himself into a pickle as he had been sent flying into the plaza's fountainhead.
So he got up and tried again and again. No matter how he attacked, the hero kept dancing around him as he sent him into the dirt with little to no effort.
"Is that all the Monster of Venice has to offer? Shame."
"SHUT UP!" Vito roared as he jumped back up. His quirk increased his size and power. "You're the only one who has been able to keep up with my base form. You get to witness my quirk!"
The end result was the same.
No matter what, Vito found himself…
...losing.
No matter how much power he used, the hero was always a tier above him. Another stage, another level. An obvious gap between the two.
"You might as well go all out if you want to defeat me."
Even at his full strength, Vito couldn't even land a scratch on the hero. It pissed him off.
He couldn't accept this!
"How am I losing?" thought the orange eyed villain as he laid in the dirt. "I'm the strongest in all of Venice. No, all of Italy!"
Vito kept up his assault, but so did the hero. Punches, kicks, headbutts. Anything Vito threw was useless as the hero packed a mean punch of his own.
It was then that it finally registered to the brute. This was the first time in his life that someone had forced him down on his knees in combat. The first time someone had treated him like the way he treated his victims, and as the hero attacked Vito from all angles…
...the first time he had ever lost a fight.
Pain erupted through his body, despite going all out with his quirk. He was toyed with, made a fool of, beaten down into the dirt.
"How does it feel? To be made a mockery? I wonder, was this how the people you harmed and killed for your own amusement felt? Just how many innocent lives have you destroyed for this pathetic display? How many families have you ruined?"
Despite the hero's cold tone, Vito kept struggling the best he could. Right until he lost the ability to even move an inch as the ground broke beneath him.
"How...did I lose?" the weak and defeated Vito asked.
The hero only had one response. "It's simple. I'm stronger than you."
That would have made the Monster of Venice smirk if it wasn't for the fact that he was in complete, total pain.
"Who the fuck... are you?" a weak Vito asked, using the rest of his strength to look up at the smiling hero.
"Just the 34th ranked hero in all of Italy. No one that important."
Vito couldn't believe it. He lost to a hero that wasn't even in the top ten?!
THIS WAS NOT HAPPENING!
IT COULDN'T! IMPOSSIBLE!
Did that mean there were heroes stronger than this guy?! No way, impossible. It just had to be that this guy was his natural counter, that was it! Rank meant nothing when it came to the strengths of heroes, a higher ranked hero in Italy wasn't strong but had a great service record of cases solved and social contribution. So this guy was just on the rise, that had to be it. A new guy aiming for the top.
That face said it all. The smile that eased into a slightly smirk, the fact that he looked younger than he did, perhaps in his early twenties. A star that was only just rising. He refused to believe that someone who held that rank had it for a good while was able to beat him so effortlessly! Unless he was unpopular or didn't contribute much to society.
That or it was to get a rise out of him. Get him worked up over the fact that he wasn't in the top ten to make him feel even more defeated. It worked if that was the case. Surely he couldn't be defeated this easily!
It wasn't because he was weak. It had to be due to some other reason. Yes, that's it. This hero was prepared for him, this seemingly countering hero was his Achilles heel!
...but...wasn't this what he yearned for? A challenge? A foe he could go all out against?
"I don't know how long you'll be locked away for, but I don't think we'll meet again...so..." A powerful kick turned the whole world dark for Vito.
Swarms of police cars and armoured vans arrived at the scene, rushing the unconscious form of Vito as various drugs were injected into his body.
By the time he awakened, his trial was already over. He woke up with just enough time to be shipped off to some high security prison across the sea.
It was only after he was detained that the sore loser smiled fondly.
He wanted to fight that bastard again. A shame the drugs kept him from moving, otherwise he would have escaped and began searching for the bastard then and there.
The one thing he had been searching for during his journey to display his strength, a foe that he could go all out against for once. He wasted it. He wasted the feeling of an all out brawl and now, he slowly began to regret it. He knew he would.
To him, it was a once in a lifetime occurrence. What were the chances of meeting someone like them again?
It was then that the nearby doors opened, revealing a man in a suit.
"You'll be going to jail for a long time. Kiss your freedom goodbye, Vito." the man from the trial (he presumed) told him as he was checked over, making sure he was secured so he couldn't break free as a pair of officers began to take him onto a boat or plane, whatever it was that was going to be used to transport him. "Tell me, how does it feel to lose everything? It's horrible, right? Because I bloody hope so. They should have just executed you, but I hope you have the worst time of your life within that prison."
The lonely villain, his body limp from the amount of drugs pumped into his body, now carried out of the small dark police van as he was about to be shipped off, showed that man his pearly whites, no— his honed fangs.
Because even in defeat, Vito grinned.
"Prison...that means stronger people are in there, right? I can't wait!"
He never once registered the terrified looks of those around him. He couldn't wait to get even stronger.
"Quick! Attack him while he's down!" a distant voice had snapped him back into reality.
"Is this it? It's over? But...I haven't had my fill yet...it's too soon!" regaining his senses, the prisoner rose from his position, the others were already on the attack. "I'M NOT DONE YET! I DON'T WANT MY FUN TO END!"
Vito disliked going all out. It made things too easy, fights would be over before he even got invested. Why waste his full strength on ants that couldn't take it? It was too boring to go all in.
He always fought at the weakest he could be, increasing his power the more promising the opponents that appeared before him proved. It was the only way that gave him a challenge (most of the time).
There was barely anyone who was able to stand against him.
"Maybe I can go all out again?" It was a foolish thought. No. Despite his current predicament, his full strength was still a game ender in his mind.
But, as some twisted reward for his entertainment, he decided that it was time to use his quirk some more.
A sudden roar bellowed from the criminal, halting any attackers as Vito grew. The even more muscular wall of a man got back onto his two feet, standing taller than before.
The man still continued to sweat, his vision being somewhat blurry, yet he still attacked. Far from done. The now taller, thicker and overly muscular man vanished from where he stood with a great burst of speed.
Reiji had no time to defend himself, as he found himself flying backwards right into a wall, quirk deactivating as he fell face first into the cracked ground immediately after. "One." Vito grinned, turning his back to the snake, bomber and flower.
If only Inyoku didn't charge in. "Two." Vito muttered as the force of his impact sent the already damaged snake into the ground with little effort.
"Agh!"
Before Vito could do anything else, someone else had arrived.
"So you're the guy who attacked my underling?" Vito turned to see a man walk in through the hole he made in the wall. This man with jade coloured hair and a black coat had immediately shot him a glare. "To think it was you of all people."
"Finally. Someone who knows of me. Guess I had a fanbase after all!" Vito's annoying laugh seemed to taunt him. "Now, now. Don't give me that flimsy excuse of a glare!"
"Seems he's only just holding on..."
Just then, a new voice made itself known. "How dare you try to touch my girls!"
"Great..." Fumma frowned as Akita made herself known, stomping forward.
"I don't like it when people try to damage what's mine!" She blinked once she noticed Fumma. "You're here too?"
"Tch."
Many might think: Do these two know each other?
The answer to that question was: no.
These two were separated by wards, but they've heard of each other. There were always prisoners that were put on higher pedestals or followed, these same prisoners gaining a reputation, being called things like Top Dog.
This was mostly by those who followed those people who managed to get called Top Dogs.
Many prisoners were labelled as Top Dogs, many others didn't care about some worthless title. These two were just two prisoners that managed to get the same worthless title of Top Dog of their respective wards.
But sometimes, people don't like sharing the same title with another.
"We're not your god damn property you psycho," Chikuha gave Akita a nice big middle finger. Seems she was ignored, however.
"Just stay out of my way. This guy is on his last legs, anyway." Fumma groaned.
"Who the fuck is this guy, anyway?"
The coat wearing man just sent Akita a look. "He's name is Vito. A real pain in the ass. That's all you need to know."
"Real cautious, aren't ya?" Just then, Akita strolled right on past him.
"Tch."
"Oi! That's my fight! I'm not done yet!" hissed the snake inmate. Man, if looks could kill.
Fumma didn't even spare a glance to the rattlesnake. "You're still conscious? Amazing, but shut up now, you're pissi— actually, no. Keep talking."
Meanwhile, Vito just stood there as he spat his saliva on the ground. His breathing, while not quite back to normal, was a little better than before.
"A pair of bloody vultures coming in for the kill steal, that's what you fuckers remind me of. VERY WELL! I'M ALWAYS UP FOR A CHALLENGE!"
Vito then watched as dark green sparks of electricity surged around Fumma's black coat.
Why? Because Fumma made the first move!
The sleeves on Fumma's coat seemed to disappear as the coat fluttered in an imaginary wind. Vito could swear it was shifting, molding itself.
"What the hell?" Now that Vito got a better look at the coat, it was actually attached to his shoulder blades. "So that's a quirk, huh?"
The coat had fully morphed, now bearing the head of a demonic looking serpent!
It mimicked a roar as it shot towards the prisoner, fangs open ready to chomp down.
Jörmungandr: Fumma's quirk generates a living beast, incapable of intelligent thought, originating from Fumma's shoulder blades. Through sheer force of will, Fumma bends the destructive force of Jörmungandr to his will to control it as well as bend, stretch and harden it. When damaged, Jörmgundar can drink Fumma's blood in order to repair itself, however when stretching or hardening it becomes more fragile, causing it to drink more blood from Fumma unless it bares its fangs into someone else, opening up its options. Because of Fumma's experience in stretching Jörmungandr, it mostly takes the form of a black coat for easy access to its true form, that of a demon headed serpent.
A quick punch from Vito caused the serpent to take it head on, coiling around the large arm and biting right into the inmate's shoulder.
"Heh! Like a mosquito!" the ash blonde convict sneered, punching the serpent's head.
From the corner of his eye, he saw that other woman, the one with the guard jacket. So he threw a punch right to her face! Yet as he punched Akita, he watched his fist sail right on through her as she landed a kick to his chest, making him stumble over the broken table he used from earlier.
Intangibility: Akita's quirk allows her and by extension, anything she touches, to turn intangible. Though it can only last five seconds. With this short time limit, she can phase through floors and walls depending on how thick or thin they are with it being much harder to pass through thicker obstacles. She is also still bound to gravity and when intangible, can only go down until she stops on the ground with it being too dense and thick to phase through.
"Fuuck!" The Monster of Venice seethed, right as Akita jumped away. As he stumbled over, he quickly shifted his attention.
Vito had managed to squeeze the neck of the serpent hard enough to force the unintelligent beast to let go.
The world was just the same as before to Vito, just now with the additional pain of the recent kick, the arm which that serpent clamped onto and the tingling feeling in his other arm.
"Not yet you stupid bag of flesh. We're not done yet!" He gripped his leg as hard as he could, digging his nails into his skin until he drew blood. "LET'S FUCKING GO!"
Now, as Vito was distracted by the two 'vultures' as he called them, Chikuha was juggling a single piece of the broken concrete as she sat to the side.
"Welp. He's their problem now." She sent a look towards Yua, who also stood back. "What about you? Gonna join in?"
"No."
"Oh? Why's that?"
Yua kept her arms crossed, not even sparing her a glance. "I cannot work with any of them."
The timebomb user grinned. "Same. I can't stand either of them."
"It wouldn't be so bad if everyone could follow a plan." came the thoughts of Yua, watching the shitshow unfold.
Chikuha stretched, keeping her attention on the fight in case things went south. She had the opportunity to leave, but at the same time...
"Guess we get to watch the show for now."
As Chikuha turned her attention back to the chaos, she focused on Fumma's serpent as it bore its fangs once more, ready to attack.
He wasn't the only one.
Akita had been standing back, using hit and run tactics with her quirk. Arms crossed with an overly smug smirk as she taunted the hulking man. It sort of pissed Fumma off.
They both went in on the attack, yet no matter what they did...Vito proved to be a sturdy wall.
"I knew Vito was tough, but to be able to stand this strongly on his last legs like this? Outside of my own expectations." Fumma wiped the sweat of his face, trying his best to ignore the pain. "He would have been a great yakuza...if he even possessed the ability to be both loyal and follow orders."
"You bloody vultures better not think that this is your stolen victory lap!" the large form of Vito stomped on the ground, slipping into something that could have been described as a somewhat decent fighting style.
"Just fall already you bastard!" screamed Akita as she rushed in.
As Vito made no effort to move, his eyes widened as that serpent, Jörmungandr, phased through the stomach of the guard jacket wearing inmate.
"Hey! Watch it next time! You're lucky that I saw your snake lunge behind me."
Akita was promptly ignored as she jumped out of the way.
Now that Jörmungandr was in front of him, jaws right open ready to chow down...he acted.
It was fast, but he thrusted his fist down the serpent's open jaw. Of course, this allowed Jörmungandr to bite down on the arm, but Vito swung his arm past behind him.
And Fumma, left the ground.
Destination of his flight? Right into the warm embrace that was Vito.
"Jörmungandr's stuck!" Right at that moment, Vito decided to introduce his fist to his face, and down the so-called top dog of the male ward fell. If his underlings could see him now.
Yet, the serpent was still stuck, its fangs piercing Vito. Looking a little paler, Vito grabbed hold of the serpent's head as he yanked his arm right out, keeping a tight, squeezing grip on Fumma's quirk.
Once more, he pulled the serpent to the side and watched Fumma follow.
During all this, Vito only had one thing on his mind, "Is there no one I can go all out against?" Maybe he was too hasty? Maybe he should try? Give it a shot and see what happens?
As he debated, his body moved. It was like it was on autopilot. A direct, full contact blow had hit Fumma, a traditional reverse punch!
Fumma paled, just a little, not a single drop of blood left his body from the strong impact. "This bastard knows karate?!"
As Fumma's quirk tried to bite its target, Fumma himself braced for another hit when suddenly…
"Did you really forget about me, big guy?"
Out of the corner of Vito's eye, Akita sprang into action. Vito barely had time to react as she ran up his arm as quickly as she did.
With careful timing and a finger reaching out, Akita drove it forward, right as it phased through Vito's eye.
It only took a second for Vito to see a different shade of red and black as the roars of pain filled the co-ed ward. Vito thrashed as he held his hand over his eye, releasing Fumma's Jörmungandr.
The same couldn't be said for Akita as a large fist smashed her into the ground before Vito fell down onto his knee, trying to minimize the pain of his now lost eye.
"Finally, some real damage on the bastard." Fumma huffed as his quirk circled around him.
Meanwhile, a certain onlooker wasn't too thrilled. "Hey! That was my fight! You better fight me next!" As Inyoku continued to hiss, Chikuha whistled.
"They got a decent hit in."
"It was only a matter of time for them to get a hit like that in." the stoic Yua informed. "All the fights he had been in weakened him down to that point. His body is probably fuel of toxins working him down and that attack to his eye was the result of that."
The bomber slouched, gripping onto the piece of the broken wall she was messing with. "I wonder, you think a single explosion will knock them all out?"
Yua didn't respond that time, but Inyoku struggled to his feet. "Don't bother, I'm going to beat all of them!"
"Calm down you bloody rattlesnake!" She chucked the rock, causing the injured kariginu wearing inmate to lose his footing.
As he fell, she blinked. "Wait, Yua...do you hear that?"
Yua raised an eyebrow as she tuned out the roars of that Vito guy. "I can't hear anything— wait...I hear, growling."
The growling got louder and louder. The louder it got, the more fierce it sounded. Until, at that very moment, a jackal headed woman entered the ward, homing in on the now cycloptic Vito.
She didn't waste any time as she charged the kneeling prisoner. It was just a matter of taking out the biggest threat.
Her first course of action was to take advantage of the kneeling position of the larger form of Vito. A simple clothesline smashed him into the ground.
"Great, now that fucking bitch is here." Akita huffed, clenching her fist way too tightly. "Just who else is going to show up?"
"Like you're one to talk!" shouted both Chikuha and Inyoku.
Normally, Shi would just turn her attention to the other inmates and put them back in their place. Right now, there was a much bigger threat in front of them.
A bigger threat that was still able to move.
"Man, what a great guy! He can still fight!" In rushed the battle hungry snake, ignoring his wounds as Vito rose from the ground ever so slowly.
No words were needed after Inyoku ran forward, ready to rip into the already rising Vito. Fumma's serpent charged in as Styx's guard dog already got to work on taking the growing giant down as a rain of exploding rocks and pebbles filled the room.
"This better not backfire on me," groaned Chikuha as her bombs rained down.
Some might say that this was a coordinated attack, one which Yua would be pleased with, however this wasn't the case.
It was simply a coincidence that they all attacked Vito simultaneously. It was more accurate to say that this group attack was done out of their own survival instincts.
Vito was surrounded, attacked by so many people. Yet, despite it all he grinned ever so slightly as he kept his now ruined eye tightly shut.
"Fighting...is so damn fun."
Vito staggered backwards from all the attacks, all the punches and kicks, bites and scratches, the explosions and the pain that already dwelled within his body, growing more and more intense.
"...this is the best...I don't want this to ever end..."
Vito...had fallen to the ground...
...and he laid there defeated.
Sae was caught off guard when Shi had approached her, of all people.
"Inmate Kumiza, I would like to have a word with you."
That was how it started. Short and simple, Shi's style.
Unlike the cold attitude she showed towards her fellow inmates, she had quietly followed the guard until they sat together in private.
"What's this about?" she asked, wondering what the prison's guard dog was up to if she needed to talk to her.
"You, along with some other prisoners, were recommended to be the most trustworthy." Even though they were talking, Sae felt that Shi could snap at her at any time. "That's why I sought you out."
Sae had to blink, this was probably the most she had ever heard the jackal even speak. Usually it was just silence with the occasional grunt, growl or even just a short sentence.
And she kept going!
"While you are hostile to other prisoners, you keep in line and follow through with what we ask of you. In short, you have all the qualifications for the co-ed ward."
"I am aware."
The guard scoffed. "But that's not why I'm here."
The emerald eyed prisoner raised an eyebrow. "Then...what?"
"You, and two other trustworthy convicts, are going to help us out with a little problem. You might have heard of a recent prison murder happening last night."
Sae didn't respond immediately but it didn't take much to assume what the jackal headed guard was saying, "so...you're saying that you guys are relying on criminals to help with whatever? Like finding the killer?"
As soon as the words left her lips, Cerberus was already on her. Snarling up a storm. "No. We don't." Sae could feel the dog's breath with how close she had just gotten. It probably didn't help that she gave the dog quite the dirty look when she mentioned the whole relying on criminals thing, as if she was spitting pure venom on the guard dog. "We are perfectly equipped to handle this situation on our own."
"Then why? What's the point of getting the dregs of society to help in some investigation like this?"
"Multiple reasons," the dog huffed as she leaned back. "First, you are one of three trusted prisoners recommended to me, so this should be a good opportunity for you. A sign of trust in your rehabilitation. Second, it's good to have an extra pair of hands and eyes, especially when inmates seem to have loose lips when guards aren't around. Third, it saves time. Not by a lot, but with the amount of prisoners here, a trusted prisoner like yourself can help a tad with narrowing things down around the ward."
"...you say that, but you also said that you could handle it, I don't think I'd be needed—"
A growl silenced her. "As I already told you, we have this under control, we can easily find the killer without help from inmates. We're more than capable of doing it ourselves and have the ability to do so. There are a lot of prisoners within Styx, so it's more of a time issue with screening every prisoner thoroughly and I don't want to wait until we find one that gives us a lead. That might take a while depending on how unlucky we might be when screening inmates. I'm not saying that I want you to find the ones responsible per say, I just want you to have a look around and keep an ear out for anything that could relate to the issue."
The jackal was definitely the type to hunt down the ones responsible as soon as possible. Sae had to give her props to her dedication as she listened to what the guard dog had to say, but she just couldn't understand why she chose her of all people. There had to be something else. "Is there any other reason why you chose me?"
Shi didn't skip a beat as she said, "your background."
The long haired woman froze, if only for a second as it almost made her stutter. "Surely, you can't be seriously considering that."
"I am."
"But I'm a criminal. You know this right?"
"And we also have your history on record. You're a trusted inmate for a reason, Kumiza."
Sae had no comeback for that. How could she?
"So what do you need me to do?"
It didn't last long though as an alarm went off which meant another prisoner was doing something stupid. But Shi seemed to think otherwise as she ran off, her growling worse than before. It was like she was out for blood.
Knowing what she knew, those darn criminals were probably causing more problems as usual.
Heh, not like she's one to talk.
She wondered if she should tackle the whole problem that was given to her and two other prisoners now, when the chaos was somewhat high. Shi didn't mention much before she left when that alarm rang, but from what she recalled...
It wasn't the murderer that they needed to find, which had surprised her.
They needed to find a third party that got involved afterwards.
Or rather, anything that might hint towards that third party. There were still the two others that she was supposed to be working with, Shi didn't mention anything about them at all.
However, right now, the only option to do was to wait until she got the full story once whoever decided it was a good idea to get the guards riled up was dealt with.
Shouldn't take too long.
As Muika and the rookie froze under the intense gazes (or glares) of those within the room, the male warden Seimei stood almost immediately. "What?" While he didn't shout, it was powerful enough to silence the room...that's if anyone had been talking that is.
Gulping, Hokori was able to mutter out, "Some guy named Vito, he managed to break out of his cell or something! I don't know, I...Bunri told me to get you guys!"
"I see...thank you, Hokori." the other warden, Eris thanked as she gave a nod in his direction. "Seimei, I believe you can handle this."
"Of course." The caped warden began to walk around the table. Right before he did however, he grabbed a bokken off a nearby table against the side of the room.
"Tai, Alexios, follow me. Dahlia, Iwazaru, go and deal with any of the prisoners trying to take advantage of the chaos."
The only reply he received were four salutes.
And with great speed, Seimei had already dashed out of the room. The speed was so great that it caused the two that weren't used to the speed to grab hold of the desk to prevent themselves from being blown away.
"Perfect. This is just perfect!" Tai grinned, sending a shiver down Hokori's spine. He had the misfortune of seeing such a wicked grin. "I can't wait to burn all those pathetic bastards down a peg."
"Easy, Tai." Alexios stood, placing a hand on the more than eager guard's shoulder, "remember, we're only going to deal with Vito should Seimei need or want us to or deal with any other prisoners trying to get in on the action."
The blonde, red eyed guard just flashed a sadistic grin towards the taller guard. "I'm just keeping them in line, that's all. Better for us to act first than give those ingrates the idea about it."
The new guard watched as the two left the room as the guard with the lower face mask dashed right on by, without a word. "Be careful!" Mizaru had called out, feeling around the table.
Dahlia had an unreadable look in her eye as she walked on past the new guard. Hokori didn't know what was up with her and thinking about it, he didn't really know most of these people aside from a couple of names that he heard in conversations or stories.
Just before Dahlia left however, the other warden coughed. "Remember protocol, everyone. Good luck."
Dahlia gave her a nod before she ran out the doors. Now, the warden turned to Muika and Hokori. "Thank you for informing us of this problem. To think it would happen now of all days..."
"I'm just glad...I could deliver it in time." the younger Yomaura sibling bowed, almost tripping on the carpet, as the fox joined in not too long afterwards.
"Yea...Yeah! No trouble!"
The woman with bird wings sighed. "Ah man, I sorta wanted to go too..."
Her coworker didn't seem to share the same feelings. "Easier for us." Despite looking in her direction, his hat was still obscuring his eyes. He took a swig from his drinking gourd as some of it rolled down the sides of his mouth while the short, grey bird-featured woman shot him a pout. "Hey, I'm just saying. There's always next time."
"Hn, guess you're right...still, I think my quirk would be pretty useful in keeping those criminals in check!"
"Yep, yep." The drinker swished the gourd around, frowning at the low swishing. "You might be the backup's backup."
Stopping from another chug, he shrugged in the direction of Hokori. "Oh yeah, we got the new guy with us. Must've been quite a day for you, eh?"
"Oh right! We haven't introduced ourselves to the new guy, haven't we?!" the bird woman's smile wavered for a second. "Though, with the situation now might not be a good time, especially if we might be extra backup without warning, but it's good to meet you!"
Eris on the other hand was looking down at some papers, an intense look from her one visible eye.
It looked like they had to postpone this matter for another week or at least a couple of days. "Damn it." her sole eye glared down onto the page. They couldn't waste too much time, but Vito was a big issue.
Thankfully for her, she had seemed to have gone unnoticed thanks to the other guards introducing themselves to the rookie.
"Uh, thank you! It's nice to meet you guys too!" The fox smiled as he turned back to Muika once Eris coughed to gain the other guard's attention.
Leaning in, the fox whispered, "are they always like this?" he gestured to both the seated guards and the ones who left.
Muika only gave him a polite smile in response.
"Urgh. Can that alarm stop?" Li groaned as Remko looked over his shoulder, seeing the neon yellow inmate cover his ears.
"Hmm, this might be a good opportunity, actually."
Li shot him a look, "for what? What could possibly be a good opportunity during this racket?"
As if crossing the street, Remko looked both ways multiple times, checking if they were alone, before leaning in. "Jailbreak!"
"Oh...this again."
Remko just huffed when Li shot him another deadpanned look. "I'm serious! I have experience! What's one more?!"
"Well, seeing how security is super tight and that there's been no escapes ever, as far as I'm aware, that 'one more' is more akin to what people call: famous last words," said a rather smooth voice as it entered the conversation unnoticed. The half American, Zuko, gave them a charming smile.
"Who...Who are you?" Remko jumped back, ready to fight as his silver arm shifted slightly.
"Easy there tiger, the name's Zuko. Zuko Yamamoto, at your service."
Looking around, Remko cautiously approached the invasive convict. "And why are you here?"
"Simple! I overheard you mention about being an experienced jailbreaker so I decided to offer you my services. Should you be serious about it of course." Zuko's smile widened as he threw an arm around the jailbreaker. "Seems like this chaos can provide good cover, no?"
Before Remko could even get a word in, it seemed Zuko had noticed someone, judging by the slightest change in his expression.
A playing card soon flew past them, embedding itself into the wall like a throwing knife. "I wouldn't try that if I were you." the owner of the card, Johnny warned.
It was Remko that asked, "and why's that?"
The young American pointed in the direction of some of the guards. "See? Despite the alarm and some guards, like Bunri, going by earlier, there are still many guards sticking to their routine."
"Tch, they're not gonna stop any brawl that's going on with those low numbers." the silver armed inmate frowned. It would make those plans much harder if there were still this many guards lingering around.
The brown eyed card shuffler sighed. "It's not about stopping a brawl. From what I've seen during my time here, short as it is, it's about keeping the others in line and that includes us doing anything that might take advantage of the situation."
"Is that true?" Li asked, turning to Zuko who just nodded.
"Yep!" Zuko sang, "plus those low numbers are more than enough to deal with any bad egg prisoners. Trust us, the guards can be unrelenting when they need be, right Johnny?" Looking over his shoulder, Johnny just gave him a cold look. He still nodded, but ouch.
The heterochromia-eyed inmate kept his eyes on the card thrower. "How long have you been here? You definitely seem younger than me."
Johnny turned away from the group, focusing on his deck while Zuko popped in. "A couple of months before you. Can't remember exactly, almost a year? Maybe not? Eh, who cares though."
"So a newbie like us, eh?"
Johnny didn't respond, but Zuko definitely did. "Look at him now, acting like the experienced prison mentor—"
Another card was thrown not a second after.
"Uh oh, he's flustered!"
Johnny was about to throw another, but a voice had caused him to freeze immediately.
"You inmates better not try anything on my watch."
Turning to see just who owned the voice, all were greeted to the sight of Dahlia, arms crossed as she looked down on them all.
"We're not causing any problems," Zuko gave that charming smile of his to the nice, lovely guard. "We were just teasing the kid about his flustered face, that's all."
However, she wasn't having it. "Shut it." The way she said that so coldly carried a dangerous tone that caused him to do exactly what he was told to do. Shut up.
"At least it's better than having Tai burn us alive..."
Sweat rolled down Bunri's face. Another clone bit the dust as the blood drinking Rin was pinned to the ground.
"Work on opening that cell," the original ordered one of the free clones.
Rin wiggled and squirmed, trying his hardest to reach the nearby puddles of blood. "Hehehehehehe," Rin giggled, as he was once again slammed into the ground.
"Stop trying to resist, Yonaga." one of the clones spat as the vampiric prisoner kept rolling around. He was a persistent one...
One of the clones fell shortly after, a chunk of their leg being ripped out. As the clone dissipated, the convict hungry for blood slammed his head into the ground.
"What is he even doing?" Bunri watched as Rin slammed his head on the ground again. The third time however, was what concerned him. "Restrain him! Quickly!"
Blood was pouring down the handcuffed prisoner's face.
He went to slam his head down again, right as a clone reached out to stop him, one of the clones holding him down at that, when he changed his course of action and instead clamped his fangs down on some of the very same clone's fingers.
Unfortunately for Bunri, that act removed one guard holding the vampire down.
"What the hell is his plan? If there even is one..." Bunri thought as more clones emerged just as Rin managed to get to his feet after the other clone dropped its guard. It didn't take long for him to be free as he spat all over the ground, making retching noises as he did.
"Disgusting," came the low groan from the red eyed convict, "no blood. Bad taste."
His nose quickly got back to work when the scent of blood tickled his nose. Rin tried to reach the other inmates that were sprawled along the ground, but was thwarted by another round of clones.
Pesky flies that wouldn't go away.
Bad tasting flies at that.
A roar of anguish preceded his lunge. Kicking and biting as he fought through the clones as they tried to drag him down.
Slamming his foot down, Rin broke into a sprint, right as an opening had appeared!
"Guess the clones were too soft for you."
Right before Rin's eyes, the white haired cloning guard slid in between him and his next meal.
The black haired criminal continued his sprint, he wasn't going to let this guy stop him. In the end, it was just more blood to drink. Wasn't it?
As soon as he got in range, Bunri acted, rushing forward sending a quick palm thrust into Rin's face, staggering the inmate thanks to the suddenness of the attack.
Grabbing a hold of the prisoner's uniform soon after, Bunri flipped the vampire into the air. While said inmate was in the air, they soon came crashing down faster than expecting, thanks to the guard slamming them downward.
A gasp of pain barely escaped the inmate before even those were silenced with a hard punch to the throat.
Then a wave of clones were upon him, taking over the original's job of handling the inmate.
"Should've followed orders, Yonaga." the white haired guard tipped his hat before heading over to the cell. Inspecting the cell's door, it was clear that it had been damaged a bit, probably from when he tossed the inmates around. "Hm, needs some repairs." he mused as his clones threw Rin back into the cell.
One clone, without being told, immediately left as Bunri looked back to where Vito had been. "Some of you go and find Vito, the rest of you stay here."
The clones then jumped the railing as they ran in the opposite direction.
"Well, at least this allows us to update this old door."
Vito laid defeated for the second time in his life as he was now up against a wall as Fumma worked on removing the sweat from his forehead, his quirk turning back into its coat form.
"That's what you get for trying to hurt my girls you bastard." he heard Akita shout at the fallen one-eyed man.
"The same can be said for harming my underling." he added on. Sure, they swooped in and attacked Vito while he was weakened, but who cared about that, the job was done. Well, maybe that snake prisoner who looked at them with a similar look Vito gave them...
Now, that left Fumma with one last problem. The guard dog glaring at him. He had to respect her loyalty to her duty, she was practically unmovable in that regard.
As far as he recalled, the only thing he did wrong was get into a brawl and go into a ward he had no business being in. This was probably enough to get the so-called Cerberus of Styx to attack him, despite someone like Vito previously walking around.
From one prisoner to the next. Another day for a guard.
Yet, she might just give him a warning instead, but he found it hard to tell (but mostly hard to believe), but he was already prepared to defend himself should anything happen...thinking that through, that would just dig his grave deeper.
It was then that Fumma felt a strong gust of wind passed right on by him, and instinctively, he froze if only for a short time. Despite having his guard up, it was easily bypassed by this person.
"And what are you inmates doing?"
All eyes were on the newcomer, bokken in his hand as he stared— no, glared them all down with an indiscernible look in his eye.
"Ah shit..."
The warden had arrived.
Putting on a charming smile, Fumma held his hands up. "No worries! I can explain. I, or we, were just handling Vito from doing any more damage. A bit of self defence. You can thank—"
He fell to his knees as pain suddenly erupted throughout his body. Fumma held his stomach from the impact.
Two things had caught his attention as he tore his gaze from the ground he was now forcefully fixated on. The first was the warden, looking down at him, the weapon of pain in his grasp. The second was Akita, looking awfully smug at him.
It looked like she was going to taunt him any second now.
But before anything could happen, she too was forced onto her knees. Her eyes were just as wide as his were before and he could only imagine that she now felt what he just felt.
"Inmate Akita," the warden's tone was icy at best. "How did you get into this ward? The walls are too thick for you to phase through."
The kneeling convict just shot the warden a sly smile with a wink to boot. "I just walked right in~, that's all."
Akita was in a hurry. If what she saw was real, then it looked bad. Sure, she had no idea who that fucker was, but her girls were at stake.
However, there was a problem. The gate into the co-ed ward was inaccessible to her. No matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't get through.
It seemed luck was on her side this time, as she recognized the guard on duty. "...Akita," they noticed. He took the time to eye her up and down with a cautious look. "What are you doing here, you know you're not allowed to enter the co-ed ward. Turn back."
Akita ignored him, walking closer and closer. Reaching out as her hand slid down his cheek. "Really? 'Cause I don't think so." a glint in her eye sent a shiver down the guard's spine. The slight shade of pink swelling in his cheeks as she continued., "I think I have a very valid reason to walk in this time."
The guard's cautious look only amplified. "Return to your ward, Akita." Despite the guard's words, Akita smirked at the slight stutter that would've been unnoticed by most other people.
"It would be a real shame if another guard or even a warden learnt of what you did. I mean, if anyone found out... it wouldn't be a pretty picture for you."
The guard's expression did a one-eighty, from pink to red, the guard glared. "You wouldn't."
"Try me."
"..."
"..."
"...Fine, just this once."
"All I did was—"
The warden's bokken was now pointing at her face, only an inch away, daring her to continue. "Silence. No matter how you got into this ward, it will be looked into."
As Akita stared up at the warden, Fumma glanced over to see the snarling jackal, standing over a guard that had been knocked out. "How long had that guard been there?"
"We missed out on all the fun, shame." Tai walked in, sighing as Alexios followed, heading straight over to Osamu once he saw him. Following them, was a small group of clones that had managed to make it to the scene as they looked both relieved and worried.
The tall, olive skinned guard checked Osamu over. "Seems you got thrown through the ringer there, buddy." He then sent a glance to the unconscious Reiji who wasn't too far from his co-worker. "Seems like you're not the only one."
It was a really good thing Osamu wore that armour. Vito sure made a mess of the people he chose to fight.
Suddenly, a deafening roar came from the wall. "I'M NOT DONE YET! NO WAY, NO FUCKING WAY! I DON'T WANT THIS TO EVER END! I'M HAVING WAY TOO MUCH FUN TO END IT HERE! I REFUSE TO LET IT SLIP BY MY FINGERS AGAIN! I DON'T WANT TO REGRET IT THIS TIME!"
"No fucking way, he's getting up again?!" Chikuha spat in disbelief. "Why can't he just stay down!"
This time as he rose from the brink of defeat, Vito continued to grow, much more than ever before or what he had even shown while in Styx. His muscles were expanding further than before! He was no longer the hulking figure he was before, no no. Thicker, wider and taller. It was like a completely different man save for a few traits. He was even taller than Kuroishi at this point, one of the well known prison giants.
Since the days he was defeated by that random hero, he got stronger. Pushing his own limits on the inmates within Styx, but soon he too was locked up away. He couldn't remember the exact details, only the bored look of a warden, surrounding darkness and pain. Soon, he was locked up within that cramped little cell for ages! Years even! Sure, he was able to get out for some night time fun (rare as that was), but he had all the time in the world to make himself stronger...this was that result of that new sought out strength.
Now, Vito was at his limit, his muscles and form were at their limit, further than his first defeat. His quirk pushed him to his very limits. This new monstrous form was his peak!
His hard work didn't go to waste. Vito was back in action.
"I'm not holding back anymore! Now show me a good time, warden!" Once he had spotted the warden himself, he couldn't help but grin! What a perfect victim to go all out on.
Seimei tossed his bokken over to Alexios. An act that seemed to please the hedonistic monster. "Now that's what I'm talking about!"
"Fuck him up boss, try not to kill him and that's coming from me of all people." Tai grinned, "but if you can't hold back. Nothing some shallow graves won't solve."
The pale lavender eyed warden just stared down the rampaging monster that was Vito as he loosened his tightly clenched fist.
Ignoring all over distractions, Vito with incredible speed couldn't be followed as he zoomed in on the warden. Seimei in response, raised his hand, swinging it to the side, right at Vito...hard! It was a simple backhanded slap that sent Vito barrelling into the wall with tremendous force in less than a second.
And Seimei, had nothing to say.
"What...the FUCK...!" Chikuha's jaw dropped as Vito was smashed against the wall, his grin gone as well as his consciousness.
The kneeling Fumma and Akita just looked on, but one thing was clear to them at that moment. They kept to the ground.
Surprisingly, Yua still kept up her calm, unchanging expression as Inyoku just looked like a kid that saw Santa putting presents under the tree.
"I wanna fight him!"
"You can't be fucking serious! Did you see what he just did?" The woman with the compass tattoo on her hand shot the snake an odd look. She even grabbed his kariginu and shook him around for a bit!
Tai just grinned at the snake, "be our guest. Go for it."
Inyoku just might have done just that if it weren't for Chikuha already having a hold on him.
Meanwhile, Seimei took back his bokken. "Alexios, I want you to stay here and keep an eye on the co-ed ward. Do not let any prisoners who don't have access to the ward walk through the hole. I'll get the drones to start on repairs. Bunri's clones, patrol the area and take inmate Maeda to the infirmary. Also take the other inmates injured by Vito to the infirmary as well."
Alexios smiled and gave a salute along with the clones. "Understood, sir."
As the clones ran about into positions, one scooped up Reiji and immediately booked it for the infirmary as another clone followed.
"Tai, I want you to do the same, but in the male ward and keep them in line. Stay close to the hole as much as you can. Shi, I want you to do the same with the female ward."
Upon his orders, they saluted. One with a sadistic grin and the other with stoic loyalty. The prisoners didn't dare to move as Seimei walked on by them, scooping Osamu into his arms.
"I shall take Osamu to the infirmary and will enter the patrol routines." he shot a look to the down Vito. "And deal with him personally."
"And what about these prisoners, sir?" Alexios asked, looking in their direction.
Seimei, now with Osamu in his arms said, "inmates Aoi, Shiro and Ueno are fine. Leave them be." Now, the other two were under an intense glare. "Inmates Akita and Yoshitsune should be escorted back into their wards."
"Ouch." Fumma sarcastically spat, earning a glare from the guards. Akita didn't exactly help with her less than pleased expression.
"Because of Vito's interference, I will allow some leeway with self defence, but you two, have entered wards you had no business being in and if I could guess, willingly entered after Vito. Now go back to your wards before I reconsider your punishment. Consider this a strike."
Both of the supposed top dog convicts of Styx didn't even say a word as they stood before clones flanked them, already herding them out like sheep.
Once those two were gone, the caped warden turned his attention to the other three. "I hope you three will continue to uphold good behaviour. As I said before, I'll give you leeway with what happened here with Vito." He took a step before adding, "don't mistake that as a free get out of trouble card." a sharp look in his eyes told them all that they needed to know.
It was hard to even respond, but Yua found a way.
"Thank you," Yua nodded.
"Eh?" A stunned Chikuha blinked, turning to see Yua's calm expression. "Huh?"
The warden then turned his attention to the rattlesnake. "Your arm...come with me." Inyoku tried to say something, yet no words came to mind. In the end, he gave the warden a nod.
Glancing down to the guard in his arms, Seimei already began to walk off, Inyoku in tow. "I'll leave things in your hands, Alexios."
As quickly as he arrived, the warden left with Osamu in his arms. The remaining guard, Alexios, just smiled at the two inmates. "It must have been tough for you guys when he attacked, hopefully you can put that behind you moving forward with your rehabilitation."
"What are you on about—" Sadly (or rather thankfully) for Chikuha, she was politely cut off.
"It was just self-defence."
The guard nodded, keeping up his smile. "Now, if you excuse me. I have to keep an eye on Vito. He shouldn't get back up, but you never know these days."
The duo had walked away by then, going down a hallway to return back to the female ward of the prison, but they didn't get too far when Chikuha jumped in front of the oleander haired woman. "What the hell was that? With the warden and that?"
Without missing a beat, she got an answer. "Remember that we are in the co-ed ward, there's an amount of trust that we have gotten. Even if that isn't shared by all the guards. I was simply ending it on a good note."
"What are you trying to imply with that?" A fierce look had appeared within the slender woman's pink eyes.
"That the both of you would make it worse."
It didn't take long for Chikuha to slump a bit after that. Was Inyoku and her that bad? "...seriously?" All she got was a nod. "You could have made it sound nicer for me at least! Fuck you."
"No."
As Chikuha threw profanity around, she eventually shrugged saying, "well, thanks I guess? Don't know what for, but felt I should thank ya."
Silence filled the hallway and it was then that the tank top convict noticed that Yua was further ahead than what she had been just seconds before. When did she start walking again?!
"Hey! Where the fuck are you going?!"
"Back to my cell to rest."
The wavy haired Chikuha scratched the back of her head, "...that does sound pretty good..." Now that everything was over, it seemed like fatigue was indeed catching up.
"You're welcome."
Lambert looked over the infirmary, multiple beds filled with various prisoners. All unconscious due to the rampaging Vito. It had been only a couple of hours since they were all brought to the infirmary, the good news being that they would be able to recover in time.
"I can't believe Vito got out." he heard as Carna walked in. "That should have been impossible."
The tired doctor looked in the direction of his fellow doctor before turning back to the inmates. "So how did he get out?"
"Hold on. While I was out, I got you something." he heard the sound of papers hitting the table.
"...Really hope that's a nice warm glass of milk." Maybe if he believed hard enough, the paperwork that was there would magically be replaced.
He heard a light chuckle from his fellow doctor, "calm down. It's not paperwork over all the inmates. Though I need you to seriously have a look at this. It involves our previous discussion."
Now that caught his attention. Quickly making his way over to the table, he immediately began scanning the documents. "These are...Vito's prints."
"Exactly. Seimei wanted me to check Vito's cell while he dragged him back. So as I was inspecting his prints—"
Lambert's eyes widened as they brimmed with realization. "You made a connection."
"That's right. Vito's prints were the same ones that were found on the body. We found our killer."
Lambert placed the papers back on the table. "To think it was Vito..." That only raised questions. Questions he didn't have the answers to, but wanted. "If he was the one to kill that other inmate, and he broke out today...how the hell did he get out before?!"
"Even when they checked out his cell, there was no damage done to it," Carna revealed as she picked up the pieces of paper, "Osamu regained consciousness briefly and during that time he managed to tell us that Vito claimed to have broken out himself, but that was clearly a lie looking at his cell. It will still take time for him to recover completely though."
"I'm glad...I'm guessing Eris will be taking control of Vito's interrogation?"
"Of course."
Lambert really wanted that drink now. "So now we have to deal with a third party that dealt with the corpse but also another that allowed Vito to leave his cell, presumably many times before."
The other doctor pulled up a chair as she searched through a desk draw. "We have no idea if those two incidents are the same third party or not, either way prints on them are limited. Only Vito's prints were in his cell as well as the body. Whether it's a single person, or multiple, they're keeping their trail clean."
The dark brown haired doctor dropped himself down on a chair, right on the opposite side of his fellow red-haired head doctor. "Do the wardens know?"
"As far as I know, only Seimei. I did watch him drag Vito back after all."
"And...?"
As Carna pulled out a pen, she tapped her fingers on the wooden desk as she skimmed the page. "He quickly connected the dots of someone helping Vito escape and I informed him of what I found. So right now I just have to compile my notes and bring this to him later, but now I have to add in the fact that Vito's prints were the same ones involved with the recent murder."
Lambert hummed as he listened. "And bring up all the possible other times Vito has left his cell thanks to a third party."
"Mhm."
He dipped his head down in thought as he decided to let Carna work, probably for the best. This gave him time to shift through his own thoughts. "We also need to tell Shi about it too." It was probably a good idea to do that now.
Styx's Cerberus ran off after being told about three trustworthy candidates among the inmates and now with Vito being involved in both in the murder...he had to call her back.
He could only hope that Eris was able to get significant information out of Vito. Information that would hopefully close the murder case for good.
It had been a few days since he was defeated and thrown back into his cell. Now his arms were restrained by the new cutting anti-quirk technology straitjackets.
Made just for him after his latest stunt. He couldn't even use his quirk properly without feeling like his entire body was about to explode.
When he looked up after hearing the noise in front of his cell door, he saw a familiar figure (at least from what he could recall last time). Standing sideways, as if pausing from a walk, a red eye turned to him. "I see you were captured again."
The large man huffed, "yeah, yeah. Whatever. At least I did what you wanted and I had the time of my life!"
The voice stayed silent for a while. "Did anything happen?"
"Just some questioning of how I got out of my cell, don't think they bought it though, probably because of the door." With a strong kick, Vito couldn't even dent it.
"Is that so..."
Vito smirked at the figure. "At least I never mentioned anything about your involvement. So now you can let me out again when things blow over!" Laughter filled the small cell.
"..."
Shortly, the laughter stopped once the confined prisoner noticed it was only him revelling in the moment. "Oi, red eye, why so silent? I did what you told me to do."
"That you did. But it seems that there has been a misunderstanding between us."
Vito scrunched his face up. "What? What are you on about? What the fuck are you trying to say?"
"You've done your part, even your containment was a part of it. I just needed some needed chaos, that's all. Why should I let you out again when you've already done what I needed you to do?"
"You...YOU BASTARD! WE HAD A DEAL!"
"And that deal has already come and gone. We both held up the ends of the deal," the voice replied coldly. "Don't worry though, your actions will not go to waste."
Vito began to kick the door harder than before. He was still unable to dent it. "YOU'RE GOD DAMN FUCKING LUCKY YOU'RE ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THIS DOOR SHITFUCKER!"
"Besides, because of your 'escape', the guards have increased security on your cell. Even us talking right now alone is just a miracle, or rather, taking the smallest sliver of opportunity." this time, the voice chuckled. "Ah, and about your 'night time activities'. You can kiss them goodbye. With your increased security, they're not going to let you out again and I believe there was a misunderstanding between us the other night. I am not one of those people who allowed you to go on those night time activities. I was simply unrelated to it all. So it seems you're stuck in this cell indefinitely."
"WHAT?!"
"It doesn't matter though, I'm done with you. Thank you for your contribution, this is the last time we'll see each other. Goodbye."
"GET BACK HERE YOU FUCKING DIPSHIT! I'LL RIP YOUR SPINE OUT! COME BACK! BASTARD!"
The solitary confinement cell was quite lively that night as a pair of footsteps were drowned out by the roars of a raging, caged monster.