The surprised duo attacked with Maul sending out yet another phantom strike. Striking Sae dead on as the real Maul followed right up, sending Sae down to the ground in a clean self-tag combo.
"Come on, Dark Feather. I thought you could do better than that!"
With a growl at the nickname, Sae kicked the robotic limbed woman off her before she started swinging while occasionally getting tag-teamed by her opponent's 'phantoms'.
Meanwhile, Ashita was focused more on Kumamoto as she watched as a few more words appeared on her skin.
"Argh!" Kumamoto shouted as another word carved into her skin.
Ashita widened her eyes in surprise for a second time as the word 'bear' appeared again. "Yep, there's no mistake there. It's definitely bear again..." she thought as she watched as Yua easily dodged the bear woman's punch to land twice as many into her face. "Glad she's on our side." she thought, watching Yua continue to fight the bear as she gained space between them.
Insatsushi knew her limits. She wasn't a fighter like the two before her, but they had answers to questions she wanted to know. "You two got this, I mean, you two are pros when it comes to fighting to some degree!"
While Ashita kept back, Sae on the other hand was dealing with Maul's robotic punches. It hurt.
Jumping back, Sae Kumiza found herself in a bind as Maul's phantom appeared behind her, grabbing a hold of her arms. "Shit-" Sae doubled over as a robot's fist suddenly landed in her gut followed by a robotic foot sending her to the ground soon after.
Placing her foot upon the convict's skull, a phantom lunged itself at Ashita. "You think you can just watch?" the veiled woman mused as Ashita did her best to block the attack. Sadly, she was a tad too late to block it, and was sent back from the quick strike.
"Augh-" she was immediately silenced as a transparent hand grasped around her throat.
"This is as far as you go," Maul began to push her foot down as she heard the shattering of her phantom behind her. "Ah, you smashed in did you?"
At that moment, as the tightening fist of Maul's phantom began to crush the throat of the information broker, Ashita's hand gripped tightly on the phantom's wrist and with a brief look into Sae's eyes, the phantom shattered, starting with its wrist.
Releasing the intel gatherer back on the floor while Sae's predicament got worse. In her position, it felt like her head was going to burst!
The pressure left for a second, only to return as it felt like her head got deeper into the ground. "Agh!" the prison loner screamed.
As soon as she was about to do it again, her robotic hand swung behind her and began to squeeze. "Sorry," Ashita weakly smiled with a metal hand around her neck. "But… I can't let you end this here, not when there's so much… I need to know."
"What are you-" Maul was cut off as she was suddenly face first into the ground and what felt like a foot smashed into the back of her head as Sae got back up within mere seconds.
"Stand back, Ashita. It's dangerous."
"Don't have to tell me twice!" and back she went, quite happily at that.
"It's just you and me." Sae glared as she twisted the veiled assailant's robotic arm back with no regards for the inhuman shape it became. "I ain't letting you do that again."
Taking this opportunity, the usually silent Sae started punching her attacker, not letting up any attacks until Maul started to stand regardless of the attacks when she kicked the long black haired woman off of her easily.
"Seems you still got some fight in you," Maul's robotic arm fixed itself back into position. "Let's see if you can keep going?" she asked, phantom already striking at her opponent.
Meanwhile, with Yua, she was busy handling the larger, muscular woman before her.
Kumamoto's fighting style was noted to be quite similar to that of a wild bear with a few human touches. It was something Yua easily noticed as she managed to dodge the heavy swings and apply her own counterattacks.
With each attack from Yua, Kumamoto fought off the urge to scratch as what felt like stings appeared across her body. She even noticed a build up of extra saliva within her mouth. "Egh…" she stopped mid-swing, right as Yua brought up her hand. "...I see. Letting her touch me…is dangerous!"
Unfazed, Yua was swept off her feet by a surprisingly fast leg sweep before she was blasted away with pure strength from yet another kick.
A normal person would have been surprised or shocked, but Yua? The expression on her face? It was completely unfazed. Calm, composed.
She stood up despite the pain, ready for whatever her opponent was going to throw at her. A complete mystery if Kumamoto had to describe her.
"Hmph," Kumamoto smirked, getting down on all fours. A low growl built up in her throat as she suddenly darted forward! While she missed her first strike, Yua had a large grizzly bear smash into her with great speed! Faster than what she was expecting as she was now in the middle of a hit and run.
The next time the on-all-fours Kumamoto went in for another strike, that's when the prisoner with oleanders in her hair acted. Despite getting hit, she grabbed a hold of her and was taken for a ride. "I never expected to be in a rodeo." the convict with the off-the-shoulders styled prison styled garb thought as she clung to the back of the bear who so desperately tried to shake her off, even getting back on her two legs to get her off. "So this is what it's like to be in one."
As Yua got up on the bear-quirked woman's back, out of the corner of her eye, Sae and Maul were getting much closer with Sae being slowly overwhelmed by the attack output of the robotic limbed woman.
She also spied two scars on the back of the bear's shoulder and punched as hard as she could. As a primal roar followed suit, the wild shaking had managed to get Yua loose enough so the large bear paw that came in for a wide swing was able to get her in the blast align with Maul's opponent, blasting both Yua and the nearby Sae away, sending them into the info broker.
"We need to deal with the powerhouse…" Yua was the first to stand back up despite the sudden powerful spike that sent them down.
"...easier said than done…" Sae mumbled as she slowly got to her feet…and off Ashita.
Speaking of which. "...ow…"
Their opponents weren't waiting for them to finish talking however as Maul rushed in with her phantom strike. As Maul went left, the phantom went right and with a single attack from each, Sae and Yua barely managed to defend themselves from the attack, watching the phantom image shatter soon after.
"Nice try," Sae hissed, but Maul didn't say a word as suddenly, the grizzly was right above them, bringing her arms down with a powerful force that would leave quite the impression on the ground.
"Sorry, but you're staying." smirked Maul as Kumamoto's fists impacted the ground as Yua backed off, leaving poor Sae in the grasp of Maul.
When Sae opened her eyes from the pain, she noticed that Maul was nowhere to be seen. Only Kumamoto.
She had no time to react, if it wasn't for Ashita sneaking up and placing her hand on her back. "Ah, did Yua intercept? No time to think about it, gotta take her out first."
…
"Oh? Are you my opponent now?" asked the veiled Maul, but her new opponent didn't show anything worthy of a reaction. "...how boring."
Sending out yet another phantom strike, she watched as Yua easily dispatched her quirk. "Hm, nice." Maul would have clapped if she didn't rush in immediately.
Yet, as she engaged with the heel-wearing inmate, the flash of her gold and pearl bracelets appeared in front of her, right across her face. "Auh!" She was sent to the floor while her phantom clashed against the lightly freckled Yua.
Maul found herself sweating as she stood up, glancing over to the woman who was still composed, waiting for her. The inmate in the pink prison garbs had to be taunting her. At one point, she adjusted her gold choker, causing poor Maul to slam her fist into the ground when she and her phantom rushed her to a similar result.
While she did manage to land a hit, Yua Aoi immediately hit her back not that long after. Maul rushed in once more and while they clashed for a while, effectively making it a two against one, the sweat increased, she could feel like throwing up at one point.
…but Maul landed on the ground, yet again.
"What the hell? Nothing I throw at her is phasing her at all! No wonder Kuma had a difficult time." Maul and her phantom struck, only for Yua to easily intercept both her and her now shattered phantom.
When she looked at the light green haired woman's face… "she's completely unfazed! How is this possible?!"
The only thing that Yua did in response was blink her petal-like eyelashes before a rather quick punch.
"Not only that, she's a lot harder to read!" Maul thought as she felt the wind escape her body. "Argh, it feels like everything's spinning!" she thought as Yua kicked her down.
"Surrender."
It was the first thing Maul heard since they clashed away from the other lot. Glaring at the calm inmate in front of her, it was like she was the embodiment of zen!
"Never!"
And so she charged right in, regardless of the woozy feelings.
…
Now up against Kumamoto, Sae was sent back as the bear's wild swings got faster and faster. The sudden all fours method threw the inmate off guard as she and Ashita dealt with the bear. "...I could use my quirk…but I got nothing on me…damn it. How could I let a major oversight like that happen!" she thought as she dodged the bear's attacks before kicking said bear in the face.
"Is it me, or is she more bear-like?" asked Sae as the bear pawed attacker roared as she heard the broker's reply.
"Seems like it! Who knows what a wild animal will do!"
"Yeah, yeah. I'll be on my toes." she scoffed as she fought off the almost feral bear that attacked, trading blows the best she could while making sure to avoid those sharp claws. When she first got slashed, it was a very clear sign.
Ashita however, kept her distance, watching both the fights of Sae and Yua with Maul and Kumamoto. She watched as Yua fought Maul and her phantom, occasionally getting hit in the process while Kumamoto's latest uppercut sent Sae off the ground for a split second. Luckily it lacked the claws. "Hmm," hummed the green eyed inmate.
There was a brief moment that the two battles joined together as one and Insatsushi got a close look of how it unfolded.
As Maul and her phantom now kept Yua at bay in Maul's favour, Sae and Kumamoto smashed through the phantom, returning it to a two-on-two. Ashita found it a bit difficult to keep up with the close quarters chaos, but she noticed that it was more even than she thought.
The combined effort of Sae and Yua's assault of pummelling the tanky grizzly didn't seem to do much as Maul and her phantom swatted the pesky flies away. Kumamoto's pure strength as she managed to grab hold of said flies and began to crush them, only to drop the flower-based prisoner who, out of the four, was the least hurt and seemed to have a good handle on things.
"Come on you two," Ashi thought as she watched the fight. Getting involved now was a bad idea for her. "End it quickly."
"It seems they're putting up more of a fight than we thought," Kumamoto glanced down briefly at Maul, standing a fair distance across from the resistant duo. "What shall we do with the onlooker?"
"Leave her for now," Maul responded with a smile only the bear could tell under the veil as she adjusted her robotic wrists. The corners of her smile slowly grew, stretched and widened behind the veil. "She'll be easy to take out after these two, besides-" she took a single step forward.
And as her robotic foot touched the ground, it cracked right under it. "-I'm really pissed right now."
"...Maul…"
"Screw it. If they die, they die." Maul punched her robotic fists together. Kumamoto reached her bear-claw out, but Maul was already charging, leaving the same small cracks- no craters, into the ground.
Not being one to stand behind and watch, Kumamoto quickly followed right behind.
Meanwhile, during that time when their enemies kept their distance, Sae shot a sideways glance to the inmate with the gold choker around her neck. "What shall we do?"
"...the strength of a bear and someone with metal limbs that both contain some strength and makes her partially immune to my quirk's touch," Yua began, not even sparing a glance at the fellow inmate beside her. "Here's the plan."
"...already?"
"We make sure to keep the pair away from each other while I activate my quirk to poison both of them. You be sure to keep your distance and when they show signs of slowing down, that's when you use your quirk to dispatch them for questioning. I'll be sure to take at least one of them off you while you get in a position to use your quirk. We can't have them intercepting you while we take them one of them out of action.'' It was then that Yua's eyes drifted to the dark haired woman next to her. "Be sure to stick to the plan."
"...okay, I guess, but not all plans-"
Sae was cut short when the prosthetic and bear duo rushed towards them. "Stick to the plan." was the only thing Yua responded back with as the pair jumped back from the sudden attack and how easily Maul's attack now broke part of the ground.
"I can't really use my quirk right now anyway…" Sae thought to herself, briefly touching her arm in the process, "If only I had something on hand…"
As the two kept their eyes on the veiled Maul, they watched as she jumped much higher than normal. "Where the hell was that earlier?" The usual loner of the ragtag group then spied the much larger Kumamoto charging with her bear claws. "...oh…"
As the bear quirked woman swung her claw, the sharp claws slid along the ground, showing just how sharp they were when they craved the ground itself!
"Watch out," came the warning from Yua as two figures dropped from above. One being the original Maul accompanied by her phantom, coming right down at the both of them.
Dodging the double Maul combo, the inmate with petal eyelashes and the long black haired convict now faced off against the phantom and the original.
The phantom striker lashed out at the nicknamed Dark Feather, but as soon as the pre-planned playout was over, Sae striked right back, shattering the phantom easily. Yua on the other hand had to deal with Maul at a slight disadvantage. Less area to irritate her skin with her quirk, enhanced strength that she was holding back with the limbs…Maul was really going after her now.
Making sure not to get hit, she could see the strength behind those robotic limbs now that they were going right at her with a more serious intent. However, not everything goes your way and Yua was hit right in the gut and felt the wind leave her in an instant.
As she staggered back, she heard shattering from beside her. She looked up to see Maul, but she wasn't there. In fact, the one before her was the muscular Kuma!
Sae shattering the phantom didn't really stop the bear either.
Both were right in the path of a powerful clothesline!
"Agh!" Sae and Yua dropped to the ground like flies as Ashita couldn't help but wince as Kuma glared at her right after. She understood the look quite well.
"Interfere and die."
Something that she was sure that Maul was giving her the same look at one point there.
While Sae and Yua were on the ground, they both felt a burst of pain as Maul and her lookalike stomped down on the pair, and you could guess which one got the stronger stomp of the two. Winding the two further, Maul removed the robotic limb from her downed opponent while her phantom faded away.
With a snap of her fingers, Kumamoto was already baring her fangs as she grabbed a hold of the duo. With ease, she lifted them into the air with her claws and immediately felt the urge to scratch her arm while she squeezed.
In response to their screams of pain, she threw the one with oleanders in her hair down to the ground first before pelting the other one right at her.
Kumamoto walked right up as Maul clapped. "Oh! Nice one! Hitting one with the other, toss one this way!"
"I thought you were getting serious?" replied the partner, only to receive a shrug in turn.
"Oh, they got it and looked at what happened here." Maul gestured at the downed two and the one on the sidelines. "They got a taste of what it would be like. Now let's wrap it up."
Maul watched as Kuma picked up the two in a tight grip again. The bear bit her lips as the desire to scratch the itch grew. It even got to a point where she started to growl!
And before Maul knew it, her partner was hit in the face. "Kuma!"
As Yua and Sae now stood back up now that Kuma stumbled back from the surprise attack, the first thing Yua said was: "Stick to the plan this time. You had plenty of opportunities to use your quirk, yet you didn't go for it. So stick to the plan this time."
"Stick to the plan? There was barely a plan to begin with!" Sae shouted back.
"It's still teamwork and the only thing we got right now." Yua never once changed her tone as she braced for Maul's attack. "Yet you refuse to use your quirk in combat."
As Sae opened her mouth, she sighed instead. "Not now…later."
There was a fight to take care of first.
The two prepared for combat while Maul and Kumamoto attacked once more. Kumamoto on all fours and Maul with her stronger prosthetic attacks.
It didn't help that they were hitting like a truck!
Yet here she was, Sae Kumiza, fighting both a bear and someone who was technically a cyborg? Not to mention a hologram that could punch you as well. A string of punches too. Side by side with Yua who seemed dead set on making her use her quirk. It wasn't really a plan no matter how Sae looked at it.
But, at the same time for Sae…
"It's been quite some time since I've been in a real fight."
There was no real enjoyment that crossed her mind at the thought, but her body definitely remembered the very practice she had given up the moment of her arrest. It came naturally to her, like she never lost her touch after a slow warm up.
Like riding a bike, might be a bit awkward at first but the memory remains.
Especially with foes like the ones before her, being much tougher than most of the usual crowd she was used to fighting.
As the pairs fought together, the assailants held the advantage. Despite Yua's efforts with her quirk, it was taking quite some time as Kumamoto tanked most of the hits while Maul and her phantom landed strong counter attacks back at them.
No matter how they clashed, their opponent's pure strength was keeping them at bay…
As this went on, a figure went ignored as they watched.
The onlooker, Ashita Insatsushi, stuck her hand into the pocket of the jumpsuit, ready to look either of them in the eye. At first her target was Maul, but frowned a little at the veil over her eyes. "No good there. No clear sight of her eyes…" and so, she turned to the next one.
A much easier target.
…even if trying to stare her in the eyes was proving a bit difficult with the way she moved around.
Prepared to use her quirk, a voice shouted. "KUMA! CLOSE YOUR EYES!"
"Ah! Come on!" As the broker's shout went unnoticed as the now closed eyed Kuma swatted the one called Dark Feather away with a sharp slice of her claws.
Even Yua had trouble dealing with the grizzly themed woman as her sharp claws suddenly came her way. "A bear's senses are pretty strong…" The ever calm prisoner noted as a metallic fist came her way. Intercepting it was one thing…but dealing with the pain that came from catching flying metal? That was a different story.
Yua felt her arms buckle as she tried to hold the metallic fist back. "What? Surprised by the pain?" Yua couldn't help but silently agree, even if her face didn't show it.
"Let's see if we can get a single new expression on your face for once?" the veiled assailant mocked, coming in with another attack. A simple kick to the side that sent the oleander prisoner down. The roar of the bear came next and with sharp claws, swang down with such power, Yua would've had her arms ripped off.
Maybe that was the case, if it wasn't for a sudden punch to the face that she didn't see coming.
"Did you forget that this was a three on two?" the info broker smirked with the usual playful tone she was known for. "Should have kept your eyes open."
It was then that Kumamoto realised.
She couldn't smell anything.
Only oleander.
Ashita's moment of glory was short-lived as the cold embrace of Maul's hands grasped her wrist tight. Tight enough to hurt instantaneously before being thrown onto the floor. "You should have just stayed on the sidelines!"
Ashita watched as Maul's robotic hand seemed to pull back into itself, like one of those spring plungers in pinball machines. Ready to deliver a fast and powerful blow. Eyes wide, it felt like everything flashed before her!
The robotic fist came down on the pinned dyed hair inmate…or it would have if a certain other knocked down inmate hadn't gotten behind her and held her back.
"Surrender."
Maul smirked beneath the veil. "Kuma! Go!" she shouted as a phantom lookalike grabbed hold of Yua Aoi!
A sudden roar from the bear, the pinned broker, the held back veiled attacker and the poisonous inmate held by a phantom copy were all in the direct path of Kumamoto. No way out as she came crashing down!
And then before they knew it, Sae Kumiza, jumped at Kumamoto.
The shoulder-length black haired Kumiza wrapped her arms around Kuma's neck and brought her down with all her strength after a short-lived struggle. The feral bear came tumbling down face first.
"Kuma!" Maul cried out as the bulkier of the pair smashed into the ground.
She didn't move an inch afterwards, with eyes rolled back into her head. "You'll pay for that…" as her phantom striked right at the oleander haired inmate holding her back, she couldn't help but feel like the world was starting to tilt.
The phantom…shattered as soon as it made contact with Yua's tightened fist clearly passing through the now shattering image of Maul.
It was then that she started to feel a lot worse when it came to being woozy, the world seemed to spin as she fell to her knees. "What the hell?" she coughed, almost wanting to throw up.
It was then that she realised. "Poison!"
Maul stared up at the oleander quirked woman, still in a fighting stance. "Heh, I thought Dark Feather would be more troublesome…seems we overlooked you."
"If you keep going, the poison will kill you. It will reach a point that not even the guard's medical staff can treat it fast enough." Yua mentioned as she watched the last one kneeling cough.
"But you're not pouring it out, aren't you? You stopped."
Yua's expression didn't change as she stared down at the robotic limbed woman. "Ashita, use your quirk. Now."
Ashita just nodded with a smile, but she wasn't the only one. Maul's sudden grin came out of nowhere, and none of them expected what came next.
Just as soon as that happened, a translucent copy of the veiled attacker grabbed onto Maul's head before slamming them into the ground. It was so sudden that it took all of them off guard.
Sae quickly ran over to the veiled woman. Enemy or not, what she did was mostly on reflex. "...she's still breathing, but..." as she trailed off, Ashita just mumbled out.
"She...knocked herself out..."
As Sae removed her hands from the veiled Maul, Yua turned to face the door they were guarding. It was time to see just what was lying beyond that specific door.
"If you don't find a key or keycard to open that door, get ready to use your quirk, Kumiza." The woman with petal eyelashes turned back to the other two as they both gave the fallen enemies two different looks.
"I don't have anything to use it on..." came the glare from the distant loner.
"Can't you use it on yourself?" Aoi asked back as Kumiza turned away.
"I...prefer it if it doesn't come to that..." she mumbled, rubbing her arm at the thought.
As Yua looked down at Kumiza's arms, she turned her attention to the information broker...pointing between the two unconscious opponents. "What are you doing?"
"Deciding which one of them to question first," was the reply as her pointing eventually landed on Maul, lifting up the woman's veil. Seeing the face of their adversary.
Sae immediately gave Ashita an odd look. "Question them? They're unconscious!"
Pulling out a few pieces of cardstock paper, Ashita laid it out on the ground, unfolding them as flat as she could. It wasn't folded that many times to keep it safe from being crumbled. "At least it wasn't ruined in the fight." It saved the usual alternative she was used to. Now with the piece of paper, unfolded into four segments, Sae and Yua watched as the information broker looked between Kumamoto and the veiled Maul. "It's a hard choice, I really want to know why it came up as 'bear' when I used my quirk on her before, but...I wanna know what they were taunting me with!"
With the pieces of, surprisingly larger than normal, stacked cardstock paper on the ground, the information broker placed her hands onto it. Making sure it was as flat as possible. On a closer inspection, it was pretty thick paper too. Compared to regular paper.
It was really a miracle that it wasn't scrunched up in a worse condition.
Now with one hand on one of the flat surfaces of the piece of paper, Ashita opened the eye of the scarred, robotic limbed woman.
Print-Out: Ashita's quirk allows her to make a 'print-out' of other people's information! By staring a person right in the eye and touching a flat surface while thinking of specific info she wants to obtain, her quirk will carve out that information that the target knows into the surface she touched! However if the info she's looking for is non-existent and the target doesn't know then she'll experience headaches instead!
"Let's see just what you were hiding from us!" Insatsushi grinned as the somewhat thick, blank cardstock paper soon began to fill out with the information she was more than eager to learn. "Good, no headaches this time."
Nothing hides from Ashita Insatsushi!
"No wonder she's a skilled info broker…" thought Sae before she remembered the battle. "Words did appear on these two when she touched them…"
"Is that how you made the word 'bear' and all that appear on them?" asked Sae as she glanced down at the unconscious duo.
"Yep!"
While mostly useful to gain information only, Ashita however discovered a more self-defensive and if needed, offensive method to use her quirk. Contact with a person's skin and intentional using trivial information like age, gender and other easily known facts the target would know to carve that information into their skin.
She was quite proud of it. "It's good to have a backup option on hand. It's really useful as you've seen!"
"Does it hurt?" Kumiza asked as she got a chill when the broker replied.
"If you count having words or numbers carved into your skin as hurting, I would say so!"
"Can you not sound so…cheerful about it?" Sae kept staring at the dyed haired inmate. "Carve?"
"Why did it show the word bear? Was that you?" the silent Yua asked, receiving a nod. She watched as Ashita looked over her handiwork.
"I guess you can say I asked a question and they gave me the answer," Ashita glanced over to Kumamoto, staring at the unconscious bear woman up and down. "Favourite animal, gender, species, quirk, etc. Easy carvings..."
"Ah, that explains a lot. We should get moving before anyone comes." Yua immediately turned to the door the pair guarded. "Whatever they were guarding is behind that door."
"That and there was no alarm…" she added in thought right after.
"You said your quirk carves, right? I'm surprised that the paper wasn't torn up from it," the other inmate continued as she watched Ashita head over to the bear quirked woman.
The info broker grinned, "have you ever heard of card carving or perhaps paper carving? It's a similar deal and the paper here is thicker than what you might expect."
"Huh, so what does it say?"
Ashita looked down at the first word her quirk carved into the cardstock paper. When the other two had a glance from where they stood, they could only see the resemblance to a fine craft as Ashita read out the first word.
"Limbo."
"Limbo? What the hell is Limbo?" Sae raised an eyebrow. "Is that another prison? A section?"
Shaking her head, the user of Print-Out kept reading. "I made sure to search for whatever info they were guarding. Limbo is what that is, it has instructions to get to it via those doors they were guarding."
"And?" Yua Aoi asked as she looked back at the two.
Ashita remained silent for a while. "These two are definitely not inmates or guards. They were hired to protect Limbo and managed to convince the guards that they were undercover cops or heroes. They even denied Eris' help in the matter. Hmm." she gave the cardstock paper with carving you'd see out of some card carving knife skills a look over. "It seems whoever hired them however, made sure to keep details about it to a low minimum."
"So we're empty handed?"
"Nah, I got the gist of it from what was mentioned here. Inmates go in, some never come out."
"Never come out? What is that place?" Sae's silent inner question clearly overtook the cold, lonely expression on her face. That or Ashita read her like a book.
"I think it will be safer if I keep you two in the dark for now, just in case we get confronted!" The cheerful, playful tone was back once more as she folded and hid the note on her person.
"Good call," Yua nodded as Sae began to search the unconscious duo, reinforcing the old look on her face.
"Huh," Sae mentioned, "it seems they were carrying mints, but I got a key." It didn't go unnoticed that she looked a little relieved at that fact.
The trio wasted no time opening the door up, they were on borrowed time. As far as they knew.
Entering through the door the pair guarded, the trio now had dangerous access to a land where inmates had no right to be. Like the living entering where only souls dwelled.
"We shouldn't just leave them out there," Sae immediately turned on her heels, already walking over in the same type of shoes all inmates were given. She immediately grabbed hold of Kuma. "Come on, lend a hand."
"Very well," the oleander petal-eyebrowed woman assisted in bringing Kuma into the hallway after sharing a look with Ashita as the broker went over to drag the remaining Maul. It wasn't long before the door closed with a lock after the pair were pulled into the hallway and slanted up against the wall. "We should go now before any of the guards realise what we're doing. I doubt many would be aware of Shi's plan."
Yua paused as she gave Ashita a look as she hovered near Kumamoto. "We don't have time, get your answers from her later."
The broker's only response was: "tch…"
Another time perhaps.
"Right, let's get going," Sae nodded as her current company walked down the hall.
On the other hand, Sae pulled out the key she pulled from Maul. "It'll be a problem if this finds itself back into the ward. They can't let any other inmate make any sort of escape." as the green eyed distant inmate opened the same pocket on Maul, she quietly slipped the key back in before hurrying to catch up with the other two. "At least these two don't seem to care about making an escape...I hope..."
She really hoped that was the case.
With a steady eye on the two in front of her, the trio made their way closer to the place listed on the now hidden note.
Limbo.
"Remember, if we're intercepted by any guards, we should feign ignorance of Limbo if they have connections to it."
"Yep!" she got a playful tone from the broker once more. "I made sure to use my quirk outside of the eyes of the cameras, so it'll be at least a fifty-fifty doubt."
"Just be ready," was all that the ever so calm Yua had to add to the conversation.
Sae soon mumbled, "isn't it weird how no alarms went off despite inmates being in the staff only areas?"
The woman with flower petals for eyebrows blinked at the mention. "It is a bit strange, but there are inmates that get brought in, though accompanied by guards...it could also be a trap of this Limbo place too."
"...Limbo...yeah..."
The white haired information broker took a turn. "Come on, it's this way according to their info."
On their way to Limbo, another trio was walking in their direction. Leisurely, but homed in all the three. "Inmates," the first spoke up, their voice concealed by what they were wearing.
This guard, accompanied by two others in matching attire, wore what looked to be a dark green helmet, almost crusader-like in a way. It was different from the ones guards like Osamu wore, slightly that is. Not only that, they wore black cloaks that covered the entirety of their body. Whatever was lying beneath the cloak was a complete mystery.
The only difference between these three...were their heights.
"What are you three doing here?" the guard huffed, the sound of cracking knuckles under the cloak was heard from one of the two in the back. "If you don't go back into the ward and tell us how you got in here, you'll be spending a nice long week in solitary confinement."
The way the helmet wearing guard walked forward, their tone got more and more playful. One that oozed confidence, like a villain that knew they could slip away from the hands of the law.
"What do we say? If anything at all. Us being here, unsupervised is-" Sae was interrupted from her thinking when the second guard took over.
"Whatever you three are thinking, it doesn't matter." they said, stepping forward. "Especially along this path that you're taking."
The third guard began to grumble. "So...the fact that you took this path...mind telling us just what a suspicious ragtag group of inmates are doing in the one place they're not allowed? Or do we have to apprehend a bunch of criminals again? Please say it's an escape attempt. I'm dying over here for something like that."
"Stop it you," the second chided.
The first guard stepped forward then. "It doesn't matter how much or not you know," they said, looking directly at Ashita as they said this. "Knowing you, you probably already know. Right?"
All they got was an innocent smirk. "I dunno. Are you holding stuff out on me?"
Ashita got a lingering look from the helmeted guard before they straightened themselves up.
"...they're avoiding talking about Limbo, it's what Ashita said. A fifty-fifty...but how long will this last? We can't stay here in the hallway forever." the stoic Aoi thought as she took in the guard's appearances. "Their outfits are also something strange."
It was something that the guards didn't even wear to begin with.
"Anyways," the second coughed. "The closest door here is locked, only opened with a key on a guard. The fact that you're here in that direction, it's clear what you three are doing. We shouldn't be wasting any more time playing this strange game of confession chicken."
"So we're breaking the ice now," Yua braced herself, ready to use her quirk at a moment's notice in case of any danger.
"So those two were defeated huh. Surprising." the third guard huffed, walking around the trio. "Yeah, it might be better to drop all pretence in case Ms Broker here has it all figured out. Partially at least."
"And that brings us to the question," the second helmet wearing guard continued the conversation, walking past the trio of inmates. "What could have prompted a group of ragtag inmates, one of which never lets anyone else get close to her, to fight to obtain a key to an area that's off limits, going deeper into the prison instead of escaping?"
"We've been found out, but do we stick to our guns?" Sae Kumiza looked over to the other two. Both of which she found incredibly hard to read. "At least Yua's still unfazed as ever..."
The first guard uttered, "go and check on the defeated. We'll get the concrete answer soon enough."
"Roger that."
"Shit...they're gonna find Maul and Kumamoto!" Sae's green eyes moved back over to the guard that seemed to be in charge of the three. "Why are they staring at me? Wait...I'm sweating...oh no..."
The second guard didn't get far as they hummed. "Hmhmhm."
"It's a battle of confession!"
A battle of confession and time, as Sae thought. "It'll only be a minute before they see from a distance that Kumamoto and Maul are in the hallway..."
"How about we escort them out?" the second offered. "We could see how they got in."
"Whatever happened to the dropping all pretence thing?" Sae asked, refusing to turn to face that specific guard. "You all seemed pretty confident before..."
Even though their faces were completely hidden, they could sense some sort of smile forming on that one guard's face. "I wonder, guess I'll take a little walk then."
"Don't you have access to security cameras here?" Yua asked, raising an eyebrow at the guards. "You approached us pretty quickly."
"Security cameras should still be in these hallways, aside from a few blindspots," the nerium-quirked criminal thought. "By the time we encountered them, it was as if they knew of our arrival, which should mean they used the security cameras...but if the information is correct, Limbo is supposedly a secret from others...are they controlling the cameras here for themselves?"
"Screw it," the more rough of the three grumbled. "We already know that they fought their way in here."
"Hm, yeah. The fact that they're in here is a clear sign, oh well. I thought we might get a confession, but perhaps you're right." the second gave up.
The first guard that intercepted the inmates kept their concealed eyes under those helmets right on those very criminals. "Now, since you all came all this way here, it seems we need to do something about this. Out of bounds is a big no no for you criminals."
The third seemed to grin under the helmet. "I got a good idea, since they came all this way. We can either bring them in…or have a crack at it ourselves." the guard punched their palm. "There haven't been any fights recently that I could join in on."
"That would be a waste," the leader of the three scoffed. "But you make a good point. You two are coming with us." he said, pointing towards Yua and Sae.
The second of the group however gestured for Ashita to leave. "You on the other hand, you gotta go. Back to the ward with you." they said, already putting space between the two fighters and the broker.
"Now let's get-"
"Now hold on," Ashita grinned, throwing up her hand in an instant, "those two still haven't repaid their debts to me. I have no idea what you're planning to do with them, but it would be a shame if something were to happen to the plumbing, leaks are a hassle to deal with."
The guard who cracked their knuckles stepped forward. "Do you think you can blac-" they didn't do much as a hand pulled them back.
The one leading the current group of 'guards' sighed, pulling back their partner. "Very well. You have our word."
"You can't be serious-"
"However, a deal is a two way street," the level-headed guard continued. "Our cooperation for your silence."
It was then that Sae glanced over to the information broker, slowly nodding her head. "Sounds fair," she began, just as slowly. "But-"
The same guard continued. "In return for your silence, all of your silence mind you. I can think of some ways to make your time here more enjoyable. Perhaps indulging you in what goes on behind the scenes?"
Yua raised an eyebrow as she looked over towards Ashita who was staring the guard down with her award winning friendly smile. "Now that's an offer. You don't plan on holding back on me with the intel, are you?"
"Of course not," the second guard nodded. "It's not like we can just hide the information from you forever, now can we?"
"It'll be better to inform you of everything," the first continued. "Silence for all the information we can give you. All the things you don't know."
While Ashita didn't budge, the second guard joined back in. "You've learnt of something that went under your nose for a long time," the guard said, causing the dyed haired woman's eye to twitch. "As my colleague said, there is so much that you don't know here."
"We can also share a light on some others you might have zero intel on," the first jumped back in. "I'm sure you have many questions and we can give you all the answers. All this knowledge about Limbo. All the information that you lack. We can even share a murder mystery or missing person's case that might interest you. All inmate records will become like eating forbidden fruit to you."
Ashita gripped her fist as she eventually sighed. An annoyed little sigh as the still playful eyes seemed to glare down the guard in front of her.
If there was one thing she hated.
It was people knowing something that she didn't know!
Especially if they were flaunting about it.
Taking a moment to herself, a cheery hum escaped her lips. "You better not be hiding anything from me then, cause it's going to be a deal." she said after a while.
"Great, then we'll escort you back into the ward and as for your silence, you can join us later and we'll tell you everything you want to know." The guard that struck the deal gave the broker a nod. "Also, we'll stick with ours and return your indebted pair back to you."
"Better."
"You have our word." The second bowed, choosing to stay with the pair while the first and third helmet wearing guards began their journey back to the ward. "You better get back to the ward before things get difficult."
"I'll see you two later then!" Ashita waved at the pair before it was time to separate them. These guards were pretty quick to do so as Ashita now walked right towards the unconscious pair of Maul and Kumamoto. Not even a minute passed since Insatsushi had parted ways with the others.
Soon brought in front of the door, she heard a whistle. "Damn, they really were defeated. Huh. You really wanted to know that much about Limbo, huh?" The third helmet wearing guard, the violent one of the three, gave Ashita a look.
They wasted no time in opening the door, the same old ward greeted Ashita once more as she walked back into familiar territory.
And now, she was back out in the ward, as if the fight she participated in never happened.
As she stepped into the ward, the second of the three guards stood before her, "you know the drill. A quick check that you don't have the key on you. Oh and let me see your arms."
As quickly as it started, it was practically over. The helmeted guard felt nothing out of place and when they rolled up her sleeves a bit, she had no idea if they were squinting or not before she rolled them back down as soon as they let go.
"Everything seems clear."
"That was lucky," she thought as the guard walked back into the hallway, "they must not know of the paper. Perhaps it was good that they were coming for us now?"
"Remember our deal, Insatsushi." the guard that struck the deal mentioned, still wearing the helmet as they were clearly out of the camera's vision.
"Of course. As long as you keep your end, both with those two and the information."
"Yes, yes." the guard turned, "you shall get your wish. Nothing will be held from you any longer."
The knuckle cracking guard on the other hand sighed as the first walked away. "Fucking hell, whatever. Just remember this, Insatsushi. You might hold power over all these convicts, but not the guards. If we wanted, you could be stuck in solitary for the next ten years!" they dragged their finger right over their neck. "I don't mind inmates going missing if it's to keep things under control. So watch yourself, cause we are."
And with the sudden closing of the door, not loud enough to be considered a slam, Ashita was on her own.
Yua and Sae on the other hand, continued to walk as soon as the other two guards returned after dropping off the information broker. The black haired woman glanced over towards her companion, at least she assumed so. "...so they bought Ashita off...so now what? Are we safe? Am I safe? I still have no clue about Yua either..." she couldn't help but frown as they walked closer and closer to Limbo. "I have to be ready for anything."
And so they continued, getting closer to the Limbo that Maul and Kumamoto were guarding.
After being brought back into the ward, Ashita was now all alone.
With nothing else to do, she shoved her hands into her pockets and immediately began walking back to her cell. A mostly empty and boring journey that quickly came to an end as her cell was right in sight. Stretching her arms up high for a yawn, the twenty-seven year old woman entered her cell and crashed down on the bed.
At least that's what it sounded like from the outside.
When the cell door closed, Ashita briefly lingered around her bed before walking back into a wall, slowly sliding down until she was effectively sitting against it. "Oh god, oh god. That was cutting it close!" she sighed, running a shaky hand through her dyed hair. It was a miracle that they allowed her to redye it. She was glad for Styx's perks. "I was so close to the edge there."
"I don't mind if a few inmates go missing-" that one violent guard's words replayed, sticking out to her.
"No doubt about it. That was a death threat, as clear as day!"
Clenching her hands tight and then releasing them, again and again, the information broker's ragged breathing was the only thing she could hear, and anyone sticking a bit too close to her door should they stop to eavesdrop.
But thankfully for her, Ashita's glance at the door…revealed no one there. There was no shadowy pair of feet at the door, but it made her consider moving deeper into her cell.
Despite the comforts of her cell, even with the additional perks she was able to get thanks to her good behaviour and much more, Ashita didn't move an inch, just letting all the sweat she was holding back pour out in waves, releasing the shaking she desperately wanted to do when times got real close to the edge.
"..fuck…fucking hell…" she whispered to herself, against the wall.
"I was gonna die! Right?" she leaned back into the wall, as best as she could considering how close she was already to it. "I'm still shaking…I think- no, we definitely would have seen something we definitely shouldn't see…Limbo…"
Within her safe haven, the dyed haired convict took some deep breaths and with a final exhale, looking across from where she sat, her own bed. "...Limbo…" the word escaped her lips. "Limbo?"
Limbo.
If there was one thing that she hated, it was something that she didn't know. Her pride as the prison's info broker rode on knowing it all. It was worth the safety it gave her, after all! The details gained from Maul were crucial, it told her a lot about Limbo.
"The name of the place, what happens to the inmates that get dragged there and the current location for it today. There's still pieces I'm missing. I should have asked more questions aside from 'what are you protecting' and 'where it is'...those inmates are used for something else besides the 'main attraction' there…"
Ashita let out a sigh. "So many questions, so little time to get answers."
Especially with how quick the guards arrived in the hallway. It made her wonder, if they took any longer, would they be stopped at the door? They were expecting them, right?
Then there was Kumamoto...
"Favourite animal…bear…" she frowned at the answers she was able to carve out. A real shame she couldn't get more. "...species…bear? I know her quirk is a bear and her favourite animal is one too…well, there are people who identify as animals, but-" she froze as she heard footsteps walk right on by her door. Ah, how could she forget.
It was possible someone would be out there to watch her…right? She was trusted by the guards…but how much?
She had to be careful.
Taking off the orange crocs all inmates were issued, she grabbed hold of the piece of folded up paper she hid away. She really hoped that the effort to hide the act from the camera worked, that or she was really lucky with the guard's checking her usual spot for info.
Staring at the paper, the memory of Shi handing her the paper and an out of the blue task.
"I need your help with locating someone that has been tampering with bodies," The jackal headed guard said as she pulled out a piece of paper. "Your quirk is perfect for the job, so take these with you when you seek out any info."
"What are these for?" the broker asked, holding the cardstock paper in her hands.
"I don't want you using your quirk on yourself," Shi began, "we might not show it at times, but we do wish the best for you inmates…including any harm you might do to yourself if you use your quirk. Besides, since we're asking, we'll throw in some bonuses for you."
"Do I have a say in what bonuses?" a curious look was in those upturned green eyes.
"Depends on what you want," the guard dog responded in her usual way.
"...first off, where do I begin?"
"Two others will be assisting you, I hope…"
Ashita's eyes glanced to her sleeves, rolling them up until she spied countless amounts of scars along both arms. Many would just assume that was it until they got a closer look. Words. Words upon words, overlapping each other. Full of details mixed and matched into the scars.
A question lingered now in her mind.
"What should I do?"
…
"...what would you do, Mother?" she scoffed as soon as she asked. She already knew the answer to that.
As Sae and Yua followed the helmeted and cloaked guard while the other two were right behind them, they progressed towards their destination.
Sae took this time to look around. Many questions, but no answers.
Especially with the information broker cut off from them. "It makes sense as to why they didn't want Ashita here." with someone who could gain information so easily thanks to her quirk, it was dangerous if she got to use it on someone who knows about it in much detail.
"No wonder she's a successful information broker," thought the black haired inmate as they continued on their way.
On their way to wherever this Limbo was, they suddenly came to a stop.
The helmeted and cloaked guard that led them turned to face them face-to-face. "Since this is a one time agreement, you will need to wear these," as soon as the guard said that, two black masks appeared.
Well, to call them masks, you'd be wrong. No, they weren't masks at all.
It was more akin to a sack.
A sack given to prisoners about to be executed.
As gloved hands each gave the inmates the 'masks', the two were ushered to put them on. "This must be a safety precaution." Yua thought as she put the mask on. "There's no telling what they think Ashita told us when she herself learned about this place. They're playing this safe."
Sae had similar thoughts as she put her own 'mask' on. As soon as they put the masks on, the helmeted guard started to walk. "Let us continue."
More footsteps and guidance to their destination. Yua listened as the footsteps changed, the way the boots of the guard's clicked off the floor were now replaced by some metal stomps. They went down twists and turns, some doors opening.
It was hard for the oleander haired woman to figure out just how much of this was actually the path to 'Limbo' or if they were trying to confuse their senses, make it think it's much, much further than what it was.
In the end, it didn't matter.
The pair were finally at their destination.
The two completely covered and mysterious guards removed their dark hoods, revealing their destination to the pair.
"What...is this?" Sae blinked at what she saw.
It wasn't just these three helmeted guards, at least she thought they were guards.
It was packed with way, way more than she ever expected.
They walked around, stood around. Some were talking with each other and thanks to the crusader-like helmets and cloaks, it was incredibly hard to tell if one of those guards was someone they saw. Yua even took note of those same mints that Kumamoto had on her.
Specifically how they were passed around.
But the main attraction was right in the middle. Sealed off from the helmeted guards. The room didn't seem like it got much use compared to many other rooms and maybe that's the reason why?
What shocked the black haired Sae was what was happening. "To think something like this was happening right under our noses..."
In their own little pig pen, cut off from the helmeted guards, were two inmates.
Sae nor Yua didn't really know who they were, but what they were doing definitely stood out and told them all they needed to know.
These two inmates were fighting!
Unrelenting as they pummelled each other to the best of their own ability. Grabbing hold of their enemy, striking with their fists are hard as they could. Blood eventually splattering onto the ground before one of them fell while another fell to their knees.
A helmeted guard entered the room as they swiftly dealt with the aftermath, but for Sae and Yua...
"This is an underground arena."
A complete and total hidden fight ring. A quirked fight ring at that.
It was then the person who guided them to Limbo turned to them and said.
"Welcome to Limbo."
Hi, so it's been a while since the last update. Quite a while indeed. Sorry about that, things got a bit busy irl (along with some laziness on my part in between), but right now the next few updates will be pretty quick! I hope. I decided to write the next couple of chapters along with this chapter (before the long gap break of course), so quite a few of them are either done (and need a once-over) or are nearly done (just a tiny bit more to add to some). Hell, this chapter could have been out quite a while ago if I didn't also work on the next few chapters as well (plus more irl). Updates for them will probably be a few days or so after updating to not drown you in updates. Some of them are pretty lengthy, but we'll see what happens. Regardless, thanks for your patience!