Located in a warded off area, a shirtless cowboy sat on what appeared to be a beanbag. "I'm surprised they're keeping Limbo going with everything going on. Guess they're confident." grinned Mulhall as he looked over at the other two in the room.

This man had been in the room most of the morning.

"I wonder what that rumbling early was though..."

"It doesn't matter," came a woman's voice. "It's not important, so why bother?"

This woman's outfit was similar to Fushiko's, but not in the way that it contained zippers to turn a long sleeved uniform into a short one or vice versa, but it was one of those inmate uniforms that were more suited for summer. The one fact that made it similar to Fushiko's was in the terms of adaptability in function with their quirk.

The jumpsuit she was wearing was light grey and lacked any sleeveless while it stopped just past her knees, making it similar to shorts in a way.

In Styx, they called her Lilim.

Lilim had short white hair and a pair of soft purple eyes and definitive muscles. Sitting on a proper chair with crossed arms, the slightly tanned woman just kept her eyes on the blank wall, only shifting them over to Mulhall to continue, "the only thing to concern ourselves with is our reign."

"Mhm~!" came a hum as they both looked over to the final person in the room.

The next was a dark blue skinned man with black sclera in his bright orange eyes. With short, swept back black hair, this man wore only what seemed to be torn pants from a dark greyish prisoner jumpsuit with the pants looking a bit more baggy than others.

It was the only thing he wore. Those baggy pants. Compared to the other two, he was probably the least muscular, yet still defined.

Among these three, he was the only one standing. Currently striking a pose as if stopped mid-dance.

"It's time to fight and we all pack a mean bite," he said, either mid-dance or mid-stretch. It was hard to tell.

"Stop it."

This man was known as Kajiru.

These three were known in Limbo as its three champions.

All their attention shifted to the door as it opened.

Opening the door, it was a person wearing a heavy looking helmet, almost as if they were going to go on a crusade. It was dark green in colour but it blocked their features incredibly well. They even had a black cloak that surrounded their entire body, making it incredibly hard to figure out their body type.

Not to mention, that helmet also supported another useful feature.

"It's almost time," the helmeted figure said as they entered the small makeshift room. "Get ready."

The helmets distorted and muffled the voice!

You had no idea just who you were talking to! A real mystery!

Standing up from one of the 'chairs' the three were provided, the three champions of Limbo got ready for their turn.

"Inyoku...if you're here, you better be ready." smirked Mulhall.

It was going to be fun.

As she walked through the female ward, Ashita had a plan. A plan she knew would work...or at least had a high chance of working.

She tried her best not to look around her, at the guards on duty. So far, none of them paid her any attention, focusing on the more troublesome inmates instead. It was hard for her to tell if any of those guards were a part of those same ones in Limbo.

The idea that a fighting ring was right under the prison was definitely shocking, though she was more shocked she didn't learn about it herself until just recently. "It doesn't matter if it's repressed, I can get that out…but I guess I just assumed I had all the details when I first used my quirk on the others." she mentally kicked herself for not using her quirk more and asking the real questions. "Next time, I gotta ask more about any secrets within Styx."

It was going to bug her all day.

Walking by a guard, she flashed one of her smiles and continued onward. "It's a lot harder when you have no idea who's in the know or not…"

It didn't take her too long to find just who he was looking for, in fact, it was pretty easy!

…

It was an awkward experience for Mariko Tsujihara.

Bad luck or sloppiness. She was back at Styx. She couldn't tell which it was and to make matters worse, she now had a tracker on her ankle, thankfully loose enough not to cause too many issues.

However the part she was dreading the most, inmate confrontations. Yet, the first inmate that approached her out of the blue asked.

"Hey, is it true that you broke out of Styx?!"

To say it was a shock to her system was an understatement. The only times other inmates approached her were ninety-five percent threats or trying to harm her. It was rare that an inmate approached her on positive terms.

"Damn! You're like a legend, then! I can't believe you got out!" that inmate that approached earlier beamed when she nodded her head at the question. A few other inmates approached afterwards.

They either believed the story the guards told them of her being locked away elsewhere.

Or they believed her own words and how she escaped.

"Man, even if you did get caught again, the fact you got out is amazing! You gotta tell me how you did it!"

"I think I need to get out of here too, there's someone I wanna kill…"

"You really escaped? Yeah right, it's impossible."

"Security's pretty tight, but I guess we could try one now?"

And so forth.

It was a bit too much for the black sheep of the Tsujihara household.

She had finally managed to get some alone time, each time an inmate approached, she got worried that this one might be an attacker. "I do wonder if what they said was true, that all my attackers…ended each other or were sent elsewhere?"

In her thoughts, she didn't notice the inmate standing before her until it was too late.

Looking up, she spied a mask.

And the first thing she asked was: "you escaped from Styx?" when Mariko nodded, she pressed further. "How?"

"...who…are you?"

The masked woman just stared. "Demelza Braithwaite."

Ah. A new one.

Mariko stared at her for a bit, "a lot of planning and my quirk."

Demelza leaned forward, getting ever closer to the jailbreaker, but was suddenly moved aside. "Huh?"

"Mari! You're back!" another voice joined in as Mariko was suddenly taken back, now looking at upturned light green eyes. The small skinny woman got real close. "How was life on the outside?"

"Ashita…it was…okay."

"Nice. Hey, I have a question for you. Since you were outside the walls, have you heard or seen of a hero called: Satori?"

The look was all that she needed to know. When Mariko shook her head, the broker sighed. "Figures." for a slight second the smile dropped, but came back full force. "You were on the run, so there was probably no chance, right? Anyways, you're looking good!" she gestured to the now short silver haired escapist's khaki prison garbs.

"Thank you?" Mariko Tsujihara raised an eyebrow as she was suddenly pulled into a hug. "Ashita?"

Insatsushi only grinned as Mariko felt something in her now clenched hand. "I want you to do something for me!" she smiled, whispering the words into Mari's ears as she gave her a hug. "Deliver that to Shi."

Demelza just stared at the smile. "...Not filling enough like a true smile."

"Why?" the escapist whispered back, only to be brought out of the sudden hug.

"Still can't believe you got that new haircut, it's not bad!" the broker laughed, pushing Mariko back a tad. "I see you also met Demelza, she's a new face in town."

The masked convict just watched as the broker turned to her. "She'll show you around if you need to get reacquainted."

"No! I don't remember offering…"

"Come on, don't be a Killjoy!" Ashita nudged the masked girl. "Be a team player, otherwise you might lose your friends if you keep being a loner. It would be quite depressing for you."

The two stared at each other for quite some time. Under the mask, Demelza couldn't help but frown as her dimly lit silver eyes stared out. "Fine. I get your point."

"Anyways, I'll leave you two to yourselves! I got some things to do! Have fun doing whatever you were doing! Make sure to be a good guide, Demelza!"

The two watched as the broker scampered off to who knows where. Mariko, hand still clenched with whatever was put in there.

The masked convict turned to face the black sheep. "...so…where are you going?"

Hesitating for a moment, Mariko looked down at her hand.

"...to a guard."

"Welcome to Limbo." The helmeted guard greeted the two new arrivals. "As per our arrangement, you two will be disciplining some inmates that can't get it through their heads."

"So they're getting us to fight the dregs," Yua glanced past the guard, right to where the last fight happened. It was all cleaned up for the next round at pretty blistering speeds.

"Probably because of what happened..." Sae thought as she thought back to what Shi had told them before enlisting them for this task. "They're playing it as safe as possible to avoid another incident..."

As the guard, or who they assumed was a guard thanks to their access in the staff only areas, began to walk, they called out in a distorted voice, "follow me."

"Everyone here makes it look like this is a regular event," noted Yua as she followed the helmeted guard. "It also seems like it takes time to set these up each time."

It wasn't exactly a luxurious underground battle arena.

But it served its purpose...right?

Going deeper and deeper into this 'underground', it wasn't long before one person who stood out from the rest of the cloaked guards approached them.

It definitely wasn't an inmate.

It was then that a man greeted them, a shirtless man wearing a helmet that was unlike the dark green crusader like helmets the guards wore. Thinking about it, this man didn't really wear any uniform that indicated them as a guard.

Putting their hands into their dark leather pants, the man that seemed to wear a motorbike helmet with a really dark tint stood in front of them.

"Newbies?" the man asked as he approached. "Do they need a combat test?"

"No need," one of the escorting guards shook their head. "We're just on our way, focus on the others. Keep moving."

"Alright," and the man left, already heading back to his original position.

Sae looked back to the cloaked 'guard' that guided them through this makeshift place called Limbo. "Combat test?"

The mystery figure shook their head, "don't worry about it. Just to make sure certain inmates can relieve their frustrations on him. Nothing more."

"...sure..." Sae kept that to herself as they continued, but as they continued her eyes caught something. Someone.

Yua noticed Sae leaning closer as she whispered, "is that Koneko?"

Looking where Kumiza briefly pointed, they watched as an inmate wearing a hoodie approached the man that greeted them.

"Brown hair, cats ears and tail, hoodie," Yua took note of the individual, "it's her." was the simple, stoic response from the pink eyed woman.

However, one thing to note was that her hair seemed different. Odd.

"I wonder what she's doing..." Sae mumbled, as Koneko was in front of that man that didn't seem like a guard. "She's a part of this madness?" another whispered question.

"If she's here, then that goes without saying."

"Can you at least try to whisper?" Sae sighed, thankful that no one was paying attention to them now that Koneko stood in front of the greeter. Almost as if they were waiting for something. "It's hard to believe that Koneko would be a part of this..."

"Not really," the flower petal eyelashes lady watched the scene before them. "It's common sense to not judge a book by their cover."

Sae glanced from the ever calm Yua back to Koneko.

"There is some truth to that." Sae silently agreed. Koneko was an inmate at the end of the day.

Meanwhile, as Koneko approached the man that didn't seem to belong in Styx, the man simply asked, "here for another test?" he asked, only to get a grin from the woman before him.

Koneko suddenly slashed the man after she had revealed her rather sharp claws!

It easily tore through the man's chest as Sae was about to rush forward, if it wasn't for one of the helmeted guards that grabbed a hold of her.

"Leave it." the guard told her as they pulled her back. "He's fine, just leave it."

"But-"

"Leave. It." the guard huffed as they pointed and there they watched as the man's wound opened wide.

There was no blood, there were no organs. No pain on the man's face.

Just...stuffing.

Stuffing: When the user is slashed or cut open, instead of blood in their body, they have stuffing like a stuffed teddy bear! The user can easily survive being cut in half and/or having their limbs ripped off and can easily be stitched back together like nothing ever happens! However, if the stuffing isn't put back it, the user would just flop around or that part of their body won't work.

"It seems your claws are still sharp, you're free to wait for your match," the man full of stuffing said as the cat quirk woman scowled for about a second.

"The next time you come here, I'll rip you limb from limb, Teddy..." and off she went, on her way as the man pushed the stuffing back into his body.

The man, now named Teddy, just smiled as he pushed the stuffing back inside himself. "Better get to stitching."

It was like nothing ever happened as the motorcycle helmeted figure patched themselves up.

"So Koneko actually attacked someone...that's...weird...is that really Koneko?" Sae Kumiza watched as Koneko walked away, to whoever knows where.

"It's not like she'll remember any of this..." the guard mumbled to themselves, and while it was unheard by Sae, Yua heard it clear as day. "Okay you two, that's enough standing around. Come on."

The helmeted guard (they assumed) ushered them to walk and eventually their walk brought them to a random room. "Because of our agreement, you two are to stay in here while we get things ready."

As they entered the room, it was immediately apparent that it was just some random, currently unused room of Styx. Maybe a training room, potential break room, spare room, scare juvenile delinquents room. It was hard to say considering that the two brought here were inmates after all.

"We will come get you when it's time and everything's ready." the cloaked guard huffed with their distorted voice. "Leaving will cause problems." they added before leaving the small room as the door closed behind them, leaving the two inmates alone in the small room.

As they were left alone in their own private 'room' which was just like any other, ordinary currently unused room, Yua took a seat while Sae began to pace around the room.

The only thing the oleander woman could think of was, "who do they think they're fooling?"

In the room, right where the previous two inmates beat the shit out of one another, the floodlights illuminating the dark battlefield shined the ground, showing how spotless it became.

It would be bad if evidence was left behind.

Especially after the mess up last time due to some unplanned dog's nose.

A little speaker from one of the walls greeted the helmeted onlookers. "Welcome back to Limbo," the voice from the speaker greeted. A very distorted voice, much like the helmets the guards there wore. "After that little warm up match to get our blood pumping, it's time to get back to the main events!"

The helmet and cloak wearing guards either talked with one another or just nodded, waiting for the match they were waiting for.

"I gotta admit," one of the helmet wearing guards nodded, crossing their unseen arms under the cloak. "After what happened with Vito's botched match, it's surprising that we've still gone strong with these matches."

"Right?" a second looked over in agreement. "It's a shame that we had to dial back some of the death matches and dismemberment fun, it looks like they're steadily rising back up! I even hear we might bump these matches up to be more common."

"Oh? Sick!"

A third sighed, "as long as it doesn't cause any attention like that one time."

"...it is a risky move, but whatever. We won't get caught. We all took extra precautions!"

"Ssh, it's starting..."

The voice from the speaker spoke once more. "Starting off Limbo's once in a blue moon matches, we start it off with this young man!"

The lights in the room shifted as the doors opened, yet the voice continued.

"This young man is practically a regular of Limbo, this surely isn't his first rodeo and for our first match he'll definitely get the blood pumping for violence!"

And of course, the first fighter emerged from the door!

Walking out in his usual white kariginu, azure sashinuki hakama pants, black chinese flats and one of his favourite dark blue silk scarves.

"Some consider this young man a psychopath, but others might claim the exact opposite!" the voice boomed. "After months of killing, this young man grew bored and looking for a worthy challenge, he came to Styx to quench the thirst for battle and boredom!"

The lean young man with silver-white hair with three yellow highlight streaks, yellow snake-like eyes with a purple snake tongue-like tattoo underneath his left eye raised not only his hand as he entered the centre of the room, his rattlesnake tail rattled in anticipation.

"Without much need for a reintroduction, returning for another match. Rattlesnake!"

Inyoku-Yui Shiro was back for another round!

The voice wasted no time with his opponent. "And his opponent is a newbie when it comes to Limbo, while not fresh in the pits of hell, he's still wet behind the ears!" the light shined back on the doors. "Charged with assault, property damage and assaulting an officer multiple times, it's time to introduce one of Limbo's rookies."

From the door, out walked a much larger man.

Dressed in the classic black and white striped prisoner getup with the sleeves rolled up, the man was a little pale and had shaggy brown hair with equally brown sideburns, not to mention the larger built man had quite hairy arms and what looked like sharp nails and monkey-like feet..

"Crazy Ape!"

The larger man nicknamed Crazy Ape just cracked his neck. "I don't know why they bother calling us by these stupid nicknames, but whatever." as the taller man looked down at the smaller snake, he just smirked. "But seriously, you're my opponent? They say you're a regular here, I can't believe my ears. Surely you can't be-"

"Are you done?"

When Crazy Ape stopped, he looked down at the snake who just looked...

Bored.

"...is he looking down on ME?!" the shaking ape then laughed. "You cocky little shit."

Raising his right hand into the air, he prepared for a quick and swift chop. "If that's how you're going to be...then DIE!" he swung his hand down, effectively going for a karate chop he called, "BANANA SPLIT!"

As his chop hit the ground with quite the bit of force, the man laughed. "How do you like my secret technique! Hahaha-"

The inmate was struck right in the face as they went flying backwards!

"Ugh..." the fallen inmate looked up as his face stung, quite badly at that. It was then that 'Crazy Ape' saw Inyoku standing there, unharmed as his rattlesnake tail rattled around.

Cheekily the little snake sang, "you missed~!"

Quickly getting back onto his feet, the bulky man growled. "Little...whatever. Guess I have to go serious!"

A yawn came from the snake as their tail rattled a little. "I thought you were already serious when you did that banana split attack..."

Clenching his fists, the monkey foot inmate shook in anger. "This little cocky shit! I'll show him!" the wild inmate charged in. "FOUR FIST BARRAGE!"

Not only did the larger of the two fire punches with his hands, his monkey-like feet joined in on the equation. Jumping from one foot to the other, the monkey man threw multiple punches. "I like to see you dodge this!" they laughed to themselves, eventually doing in place cartwheels to keep the attack flow going.

"Huh," as Crazy Ape pelted Inyoku with a barrage of 'fists', something felt off with his attacks. "Something feels off...I'm hitting him, but why does it feel odd?"

Eyes widened as Crazy Ape realised just what he was hitting, he could still see the rattlesnake, but thanks to constantly rotating on his one-handed in place cartwheels...he soon realised what he was hitting...

Was the rattlesnake's tail!

Immediately coming to a stop, now knowing that all his attacks were blocked by the snake's tail, he was hit right in the stomach. "Ehgh..." they wheezed out as they crumbled to the ground from their handstand.

"Come on," Inyoku gestured for the monkey to attack as they caught their breath. "We don't have all day." he taunted the monkey.

"AAAAAAARGH!" jumping into the air, the monkey raised both of their arms high into the air as well, hands held straight like he was going to chop the snake's head off!

"DOUBLE BANANA SPLIT!" the monkey cried out, swinging both of his arms down, karate chopping the ground as his target disappeared...until something touched his back.

Feet.

"I should have expected a double version, huh." As soon as the inmate turned his head, a swift smack of the snake's tail made the monkey kiss the ground once more as Inyoku landed safely on the ground.

Rattlesnake sighed as he stretched before he felt something wrap around him.

"Got you now!" laughed Crazy Ape as a tail revealed itself!

A tail wrapped right around Inyoku's ankle!

"Oh?" for once in the battle, Inyoku's expression actually showed excitement.

As the monkey tugged, Inyoku stepped forward with more strength than the simple tug, "nice try." he smirked, showing off those fangs. "Try to keep it exciting, alright?" he asked as the monkey got back to his feet. At the same time, Inyoku gripped the tail around his ankle.

"Ergh," Crazy Ape flinched as the claws dug into the tail he kept hidden. His trump card. Monkey Rope!

As Inyoku let go of the tail that eased up a little from such a simple grip, Crazy Ape jumped right at him. Head first!

So Inyoku responded in kind.

With his own headbutt.

As the two headbutts connected, the one who dropped to the ground was Crazy Ape. "Down again? Some ego you had," that bored tone once again, but it brightened up pretty quickly as the bulkier man stood with a huff in sweat.

After a second failed attempt to sweep the snake off his feet, the tail released itself as it started to whip around. "Monkey Whip!" it didn't last long as the thicker, sturdier tail whacked it off course and the snake dashed forward with an open jaw.

Within seconds, the monkey was brought down as Inyoku's sharp snake fangs bite into the monkey who could only scream.

As Rattlesnake's fangs sunk into the monkey prisoner's shoulder, Inyoku wiped his mouth on his sleeve. "I'm ending this now, I'm done with this fight."

"I'm...not done!" the monkey roared, only to hear the snake's response.

A yawn escaped the pointed ear Inyoku, "...fighting you is boring."

The beaten, bitten and defenceless Crazy Ape stared up at Inyoku, the overconfidence nowhere in sight. "Eh?"

Inyoku stepped closer, the rattling of his tail was going crazy, yet the bored look was still on his face.

Each step the snake took sent shivers down the monkey's spine. "You were boring, goodbye." Chilling. A chilling tone that revealed the snake's intentions.

"Wai-"

The inmate referred to as Crazy Ape didn't have a chance as Inyoku was way too quick for them to react. Inyoku had dashed forward with his tail already in mid-swing, passing them by so easily with a loud snap echoing throughout the room.

And Crazy Ape's head...was twisted right around.

The inmate fell to the ground as Inyoku already began walking out of the temporary arena. "I hope my next match is more entertaining than that."

"And the winner is Rattlesnake!"

"Oh hell yeah, Inyoku is starting it off strong with a death match." one of the helmeted guards grinned under the helmet.

Granted he turned a regular match into one, but in Limbo...

In Limbo, anything can go.

Sure, deaths were limited at times, but whenever one did happen? It wasn't a big deal. In fact, it was seen as refreshing.

Two helmeted guards walked into the arena, grabbing a hold of the deceased inmate, they carried the defeated man out. "So how are we going to deal with this one?" the one carrying the corpse by the arms asked.

The one carrying the legs shrugged to the best of their ability. "Dump it in the ward and report it like the others," they sighed at a bad memory. "At least it won't get a bloody autopsy like that no pinky yakuza guy."

"How did that slip up even happen?"

"I don't know, all I really know is that Cerberus found the body before one of us could report it in. Bad luck, I guess."

The first groaned. "I just hope it doesn't cut it close again. All those other guards and the wardens are on edge with the mysterious tampering of the body...what was the point of that?"

"Better not be someone trying to fuck us over..."

As they left, dumping the body somewhere for later, the voice then spoke up once more. There were plenty more matches to do here in Limbo.

"As we finish yet another round, we move onto the next one!" Once again attention was on the door as Inyoku was allowed a front row seat with a few others, if they chose to of course. "As the rattlesnake claimed victory, it's time to behold yet another one. Which side will be victorious? Only one way to find out!"

The doors opened as the first figure began to wander in. A tall, lanky man.

"This man could be considered by some to be the spirit of the holidays if that holiday included murdering people on a whim!" the voice coughed, "now here comes the Christmas Killer himself."

The tall, lanky man that walked out wore the striped prisoner garbs, but instead of being black and white, it was red and white. Not only that, the uniform was actually short, instead the man's skin also contained red and white stripes.

That also included his hair! Being primarily white, it had multiple red streaks throughout.

"Jolly Holiday!"

As the new inmate walked into the middle of the arena, the light returned to the door. "His challenger is also a regular of Limbo. A real killer herself so don't let her appearance fool you!"

She was already making her way into the arena.

"Murdering a total of five people and captured by a hero, for some reason this woman was sent to Styx instead of any old prison. Acting shy, deep down she's a killer." the voice munched as it continued. "Even if she doesn't remember, her body does and we primed her up for the following matches. She's thirsty for blood!"

Walking out was a short woman with short brown hair, equally brown cat ears on her head as well as a brown cat tail as she wore a hoodie with her black and white prisoner garbs.

"Kuroneko!"

Koneko Hirayama entered the fray.

However, unlike before, the shy girl was nowhere to be seen. Her yellow eyes seemed more feral, her hair was more messy. She really looked unhinged now as the doors closed behind her.

Meaning the fight was already underway as she launched forward, not wasting any time!

With incredibly and agile cat-like speed, her opponent barely dodged her first attack. "Hmph," the lanky man soon grinned to himself. "Alright."

Kuroneko came to a stop as she turned on her heels, ready to pounce again as the red and white striped man's arm began to shift.

As Kuronkeo pounced, her own claws ready to tear the man limb from limb, Jolly Holiday swung his arm as they easily caught the cat, slamming her into the ground. However, Jolly's arm was no longer a regular arm, though the colour remained the same.

Wrapped around Koneko's neck was the 'handle' of a candy cane! It kinda looked like she was going to be pulled off stage for a bad comedy act!

Candy Cane: Jolly can transform his body into candy canes! He can even grow them from his body. Including making the ends sharp!

Jolly wasted no time as his left arm transformed into the other end of a candy cane, the 'stick' with a flat end as he came in, striking the cat hard in her stomach as the 'hook' of the candy cane did its best to keep a hold of her. As Jolly landed a second hit, Kuroneko freed herself from the grasp, dashing right past the candy cane man, slashing him on the way past.

"Tch, stand still will ya. Can't kill ya if you keep moving!" roared Jolly as he charged forward, transforming his right arm to match his left and that's when the punching began as the cat dodged with her agile reflexes.

During another thrust of those 'punches', Kuroneko slashed at man's chest, landing her own strikes against the enemy.

Launching himself away with his candy cane sticks, the brown haired cat dashed forward before sliding on her back, slashing at the man's legs, causing the man to kneel instantly.

"You stupid cat..." he hissed, "I guess I have to use more!"

"More what?" a playful tone asked. When Jolly looked up, the grinning face of Kuroneko faced him. It wasn't just any playful tone. "Surely it can't be your strength. That left aeons ago!"

It was purely sadistic.

"Hmph, whatever you say!" Jolly's candy cane handle hand swiped the cat off her feet.

As she landed on her back, the lanky Jolly took her for a spin before throwing her across the arena. It was then that he transformed that same hand into a spear! Unlike before, the stick of the candy cane was now sharpened!

"Heh," Kuroneko had managed to land back on her feet as she watched the man effectively change his hand into a spear.

As he charged forward, Kuroneko jumped to the side…

But Jolly was right on her heels, his hand turned hook grabbed hold of her ankle, throwing her back down to the ground.

"I see!" she grinned like a blood hungry beast as she rolled out of being stabbed. "Getting me focused on the pointy end, huh?!"

Quickly, she closed the gap between herself and the man. "Try some of this!" She let out some battlecry, unleashing multiple sharp clawing strikes on the festive-themed convict.

As Kuroneko made sure to jump out every so often, cuts appeared all over the lanky man.

But then, pain erupted in her side.

Being kicked away by Jolly, the cat prisoner rolled around as she looked down to see the stab wound in her side. "Fucking hell..." she seethed, her palm covering the wound. "Maybe you're not as bad as you look, fodder." she grinned, raising her hand to her mouth.

In the midst of her attacks, the man rushed in with his candy cane spear, predicting just where she would jump, his free hand grabbed the hooded prisoner, holding her still for just a moment before stabbing her side.

It was enough to put the cat off-balance.

Licking her own blood off her palm, the feral Kuroneko on all fours, made herself look as big as possible. Just like any other cat. Hissing as she did, she was ready for the strongest pounce she had. To think this was the same, shy Koneko.

Out of all the inmates in Styx, Koneko Hirayama was probably one of the most 'normal' cases. In many ways, despite Styx opening up and allowing regular prisoners to be housed within its walls, there were still standards and many regular joes were sent to so-called 'normal' prisons.

Prisons like Shian, Bagu or Kuin.

However, that wasn't the time or place. It was time for the story of Koneko Hirayama.

Koneko Hirayama. One of many that had and lived a pretty normal life. Born in a middle class home, went through normal schooling. Nothing special, nothing extraordinary.

In a way, some might call that.

Boring.

This young girl shied away at the slightest glance, any conversation ended up as, "uh...um..." multiple mumbles. It didn't help well with her school life at the time.

Unlike many other children, Koneko had no desire to be a hero and combined with her shyness...she felt completely alone.

She watched as her classmates played with one another, even when the teacher knelt down, gave her some encouraging words to go and say hello, all that happened was her standing still like a statue.

"..." she couldn't even get a word out when it came to grouping up. She gripped her shirt, wanting to join in, but as soon as she took one step forward.

She took two steps back.

However, that wasn't to say she didn't have any pastimes to ease that loneliness.

"Ooh," Koneko, slightly older than before, sat in the library reading a book. From an early age, she learned that she liked reading thanks to her mother's introduction of novels, romance ones at that. So now the teenage Koneko read through the books, not even noticing the passage of time.

Growing more and more absorbed into those books.

"Aw," she read the book, "...I wonder what that would be like?" she mused to herself, looking up from the library as she watched her highschool classmates enjoy their youth. Returning to her book, she read and read until she was shooed out of the library.

And an idea popped into the cat's head.

"I'll write my own!"

Her thought process was: if books hooked her and gave her so much joy, then she'll give other people so much joy with hers!

Since that day, she began to write her own stories. It started off as short stories, trying to emulate the romance novels she read. Sometimes she broke out, tried something new. She never did anything with them, but she was having fun over the years. "Hmm...something doesn't seem right..." her head hit the table as her pen dropped. "I guess it's time for a break..."

"Koneko," she heard her mother open the door. "Have you been studying? The university exams are just around the corner-"

Her mother stopped as she noticed the many open books.

"Koneko..." her mother sighed. "How many times have I told you?"

"...but...but...it's what I want to do-"

"I know, I know. It doesn't mean that you'll instantly gain success. A full-time writer is much more difficult, what if your books fail? Just keep it part-time!"

Standing up, the shy Koneko had...changed. "I don't want to study for something I don't have a heart in!"

"You're not listening, Konkeo!" her mother almost gripped her own hair. "How are you going to pay for groceries, taxes or other commodities if you don't at least have a part time job? Full time writing doesn't guarantee success right out of the gate."

"And what am I supposed to do?"

"Study for a good paying job, for starters," said a new voice as her father appeared in the doorway. Seems he heard everything. "As your mother said, keep your writing as a part time job and get a good job. Study up for a job so you can get a good flow of money going and publish your books in your spare time. Effectively a safety net."

The cat almost hissed, "but writing is the only thing I have an interest in!"

"Then get into journalism," her mother said. "It's a decent paying job, you get to write."

"Or just go into an office job, that's a decent living." her father added, "decent pay, stable job."

"And waste my time doing something I don't like? I-"

"KONEKO!" a simple shout from her father silenced her immediately. "You don't understand. We're not saying that you have to stop writing or not to pursue it. YOU NEED A JOB TO STAY AFLOAT! EVEN IF IT'S A JOB YOU DON'T WANT TO DO!"

"I...I-"

"No. You're still not understanding. You're too close minded. We'll go over a list of jobs, so choose between journalism or an office job, wait for the list to go over or you can just-"

But Koneko wasn't giving up and for the rest of the night, she found herself speaking out against her parents. The normally shy girl had found a backbone...that barely lasted.

For the first time in her life, Koneko got into an argument. It didn't end well as she now lived on her own, in some small apartment with most of her belongings.

It was then she learnt the pain that was rent and taxes.

"Ugh...work sucks, why can't writing novels be easier?" she sighed, stretching as it was almost time to head home from work. It had been some time since she moved out, working simple jobs.

As she headed home from a long day's work, ready to just crash on her bed or maybe heat up some dinner, she noticed a group walking her way.

"Urgh, multiple jobs suck..." she kept it to herself, just in case one of those five knew her boss or something, but they didn't pass her. Instead, they blocked her path thanks to what seemed to be the leader.

"Hey," the first of the generic group of five thugs greeted themselves. "Whatcha doing? What's ya name?"

"Sorry, but it's been a long day..."

Only for another one of these thugs to block her. "Hey now, no need to be in a hurry?" the second said. "If you had a rough night, we can help relieve that!"

"You don't have a boyfriend, right?" the third asked as she side-stepped him.

"Sorry...I'm not interested in-" the fourth stood in front of her as the fifth grabbed her wrist.

It was then that she realised... she was cornered.

"Come on now," the fifth began as he stepped closer, still holding her wrist. Koneko tried to wriggle her hand out of the thug's grasp, but nothing happened. "Why so distant?"

The fourth chuckled as Koneko continued.

At this moment in time, Koneko was freaking out. The cogs in her head spun at rapid rates as she tried to figure something out as the first thug that approached her got closer and closer, as he leaned in-

Her claws lashed out.

As the man toppled backwards, he clutched his eye as the cat's sharp scratch really landed quite the strike from how he fell and the amount of blood. "You fucking..." Koneko didn't even hear what they said after that, only that they were pissed.

However, Koneko couldn't help but think how freeing it was. Almost as if unshackling herself!

It didn't last long as one of them punched her right in the nose, she could feel the blood pour from the impact and yet, all she wanted to do was…

Hit them again!

And so she did! Immediately striking back at the other one of the five thugs and the rest was as blur as her sharp claws drew blood.

The rest was blank to the woman, all she knew was that it felt good as she hacked and slashed.

Watching them bleed and fall apart into smaller pieces!

By the time she regained her senses, almost as if waking up from a dream or nightmare, she had a pro-hero looking down as pain ran through her body. The pro-hero was a little pale, confused as Koneko's nose twitched.

It was then that he smelt…

...blood.

"You're under arrest for murder." The hero's voice was almost lost on her.

When Koneko finally had the strength to look around, she noticed those same thugs...all five of them were dead.

Some in really bad conditions if it made the hero a bit pale.

"Wha...what?" she gasped, it felt like someone was choking her. She couldn't breath as she looked down at her hands, covered in blood.

She couldn't look at what 'she' did to those bodies.

It was clear cut, even to her, as she was picked up. It was like everything was flashing before her eyes and how her life stopped right before it could truly start.

"And the court finds Koneko Hirayama guilty." the judge sighed as her gavel came down with those loud knocks. The proceeding court case flew by so fast she couldn't keep up with it.

She sat in silence.

However...it was taking a long time for a prison that was meant to be a two hour drive without traffic.

"It's going to take some time before we get to Styx." the officer said with a long drive ahead of them, not to mention other potential modes of transport.

"Huh?" she looked up at the officer. If there was a mirror there, she would have seen quite the face. "S...St...Styx? But that's not what the judge said...s-she said I…I was going-"

The officer just shrugged. "I don't know it myself," the officer sighed. "It says here to take you to Styx, so you're going to Styx."

Koneko could only gulp.

She was not expecting such a drastic change. Why Styx? She wasn't that good for Styx, so why?

It was a question she kept asking herself for the rest of the journey to her new home.

A question she still asks ever since.

Kuroneko kept up the pace as Jolly kept his candy canes with sharp, pointy tips. It was then that the stand-off came to its conclusion as Kuroneko pounced, moving faster than she ever had before. Launching herself with bared fangs and sharp claws, Jolly thrusted his candy cane spear arm right at the speedy cat who swung her claws.

Kuroneko passed right under the tall, lanky candy man as the end of the blood tipped candy spear touched the ground.

If they were outdoors, they might have experienced a pleasant breeze as one of them felt pain rush through their body as their blood was already pouring from their newly acquired wound.

"Beaten...by a fucking house cat..."

Jolly fell to the ground with an unceremonious thud while Kuroneko flicked the blood off her claws. It was her victory.

"And the winner is Kuroneko!"

As the sadistic little cat walked out thanks to the open doors holding her side, she ran into a snake. "You wanna go?" she flashed her claws, which only made the sharp toothed inmate grin.

"You'll just lose again," what a cheekily inmate he was.

"And this time, you'll lose!"

"Whatever keeps your boat afloat, fodder." the cheeky grin on his face grew as she snarled.

The two shared a look as one of the helmeted guards clapped their hands together. "You two, move it. As much as we like to see you go at each other's throats, save it for a match."

And so, the two parted as the voice prepared the third match.