Guilty Act

by PainX65

Styx, one of the best prisons in the world. Second to only Tartarus itself. It would be fine...if you weren't in this prison filled with convicted criminals of all kinds and guards ready at a moment's notice. You know what they say though, even the best have the worst. SYOC

40. Match Made in Heaven

"He vanished."

"...what?!" Eris immediately frowned, almost jumping from her seat at the news.

"He has vanished. He's no longer in his cell." Bunri repeated. "I have my clones searching the areas we highly suspect he could have been taken too. We now believe it could have been done by that third party."

"When was it noticed that Gousen wasn't in his cell?" she asked, spying her fellow warden heading towards the door.

"That's the thing, we gave him his meal in the morning and the plate came straight out. Empty. The guard on duty only checked it out when it was oddly quiet. Normally Gousen would complain about the parasites, but it was too quiet for him."

"And what of the wannabe escapees, solitary confined inmates and the ones still in the infirmary?" Seimei asked as he stopped by the door.

"The ones in the infirmary have increased security guarding them. The same goes for the ones in isolated containment due to recent events, they all have their security increased, including the Mares of Diomedes that were kept in Styx have extra security too," Bunri continued, "even Gousen's security was increased…but…"

"But?"

The clone quirked guard let out an annoyed sigh. "When the guard went to check why Gousen was abnormally quiet, the room was pristine. We suspect that Gousen was immediately taken from his cell in the first place and whatever ate the meal was someone in on the abduction…"

The wardens stopped in their tracks. "He was only sent there in such a short amount of time…not even a day has passed since we sent him to his isolated cell…" his eyes darted to his fellow warden. "I'm going to go ahead and do a quick sweep."

"Understood." she gave a nod before turning to Bunri. "Send out more clones to increase security along the more enclosed areas from the infirmary to solitary confinement. Make sure every area with a lower amount of guards is increased."

She leaned back in her chair after that. "It had to happen after Akita got together with guards in her bed…" she sighed as Bunri saluted. "What's next? Losing more guards?"

Right as Seimei was about to leave as he opened the door, a familiar face was staring right back at him. A few at that. More…than anyone in the room was expecting. A mix of both guards and inmates.

"We need to report something."

---

He had been waiting for this day, oh had he been waiting for some actual entertainment. Inyoku-Yui stretched as he waited for the announcer, host and mastermind to hurry up and announce the next match.

"We got one final match lined up for Limbo!" The successor's voice started up as what sounded like beating drums began to fill the silence. "What comes after? An encore? Perhaps, but this is the final of the main matches today!"

As Inyoku stretched, he wasted no time in getting back into the arena!

"Returning for another match in heaven or hell, RATTLESNAKE!" The voice cheered as Inyoku-Yui entered back into the fray. "His opponent is one he has been itching to take on for quite a while now!"

It was time for the last champion of Limbo to make his appearance.

"The rattlesnake's opponent is the last of Limbo's champions!" The host began as a shirtless man walked into the arena. "The leader of a notorious gang of outlaws, committing all types of crimes associated with an old western gang! Highway robbery, bank heists, train robberies, murder, gang violence and war, cattle raiding and more! You name it and they've probably done it! Keeping the spirit of the old wild west alive, leader of the Mares of Diomedes, Champion of Limbo, Quickdraw Mulhall!"

"I've been waiting for this," grinned the rattlesnake. "Are you carrying any rocks on you this time?"

The shirtless cowboy flicked his scarf, letting the end of it float in air for a moment as he tipped his wide-brimmed hat. "I guess it's high noon already," the ab-showing cowboy mused. "Come on Snake Oil…"

The two stared at each other for a while to a point where a tumbleweed could have rolled on by. It was then that Mulhall gave the words Inyoku-Yui wanted to hear.

"DRAW!"

The duel officially began for the fighters at this moment and not a moment before. It was a similar start to the fight that felt like ages ago, Mulhall firing air blasts at the snake, keeping the distance game between them.

Unlike last time, Inyoku started the fight by running to the side, avoiding being barraged and blasted by tons of air blasts. There was also the possibility of ammo being carried by the Limbo champion. The air blast bullets followed right behind the snake as he climbed the walls of the damaged arena before using the wall to fire himself at the cowboy.

As he lunged forward, the snake began to spin around and around, picking up greater speed as their tail definitely stood out. The air blasts fired at the noble looking inmate didn't do much before they stopped.

"This move again?" the cowboy asked as he watched the snake spin right at him with his tail.

The white haired rattlesnake came in with the old, familiar attack. A spin so great it deflected most attacks!

SPIRAL TORNADO!

One of the moves Inyoku-Yui Shiro made himself and one of the moves Mulhall knew quite well.

Pointing their hands down like he was going to toss a coin on the ground, Mulhall fired both hands at the same time, making sure to put a lot more force into this one than ever before. As soon as he fired, the cowboy showing off his abs blasted himself back into the air a fair bit, avoiding the snake that crash landed right where he used to be. Inyoku's attack landed on the ground, the tail slashing the ground like a whip with enough force to break a little bit of the ground.

"You dodged!" Inyoku mock-whined, already chasing after the cowboy.

"You expect me to just stand there and take it?" smirked Mulhall, using another dual air blast to send himself elsewhere when Inyoku lashed out with his tail.

"A little, yes!"

The snake chased after its prey who easily jumped around the arena with air blasts.

The chasing game played for a little bit before Mulhall landed on the ground and reached out his hands. Placing both of them together. Arms now facing forward, fingers interlocked with one another, both thumbs pulled backwards, right before firing off a blast.

DOUBLE BARREL BLAST!

Similar to that of a double barrel shotgun firing both rounds, Mulhall fired off two air blasts at the same time at a close combined range, striking the rattlesnake with an even greater force than what a single air blast did in their previous match.

"Ugh!" The snake rolled along the ground as he was blasted back with a much stronger hit. "Where was that during our last fight? Was he holding back on me?!"

As soon as the snake stopped, he was blasted again by the double barrel blast. Being sent rolling again as he gasped out from the strike into his side, Mulhall didn't waste any time in continuing the assault.

"Where were you hiding that? You better not hold out on me!" Inyoku-Yui asked as he rolled away from the next shot, eventually getting back on his feet while Mulhall took potshots at him.

"We'll see." was the cowboy's reply as he fired another shot at the snake that slivered around the room and on the walls. Jumping from the wall, Inyoku went for another Spiral Tornado.

Spinning at an incredible speed, the slivering Inyoku-Yui got real close as Mulhall fired another of his Double Barrel Blast. The large blast of air connected with the spinning snake mid-air, sending the still spinning snake backwards!

Releasing his attack, Inyoku landed on his feet, sliding a little backwards until he came to a full stop.

He grinned, but didn't have much time to stay in one place. Mulhall was already firing at him, going back to his regular type of air blasts, one hand each. Increasing the fire rate of the blasts in the process.

As the air blasts reached their target, the fast and agile snake dodged each of them, showing off not only his reflexes but also his flexibility. Twisting and turning, bending and weaving, Inyoku was able to dodge any of the shots Mulhall took.

Once the volley ended, Inyoku ended back in a fighting stance, ready to move in and attack his cowboy opponent.

However…

Just then, during the middle of the match, the world seemed to rumble and shake as the very distant sounds of what seemed like bangs happened in the…well, distance. It was enough to stop the match right where it was for the most part.

Mulhall glanced to the side of the arena, in the general direction of where it could have been from while Inyoku-Yui just grinned at the sound of a potential, future challenger! If it was man-made from an inmate (or even guard or other), the thought of a strong opponent was enough to cause the rattlesnake tail to shake in anticipation!

The onlookers all had varied reactions from who to what.

The shaking receded after a few seconds of appearing, but it left all the onlookers and participants confused as to what happened and while they were all still questioning things, two already got over it and back to what really mattered.

Inyoku and Mulhall.

Charging back into the blaze that was their fight. Nothing was going to interrupt this one, not on their watch!

"Come on, Rattlesnake! I hope you've improved since last time!"

A laugh came in response. "That should be my line! I hope you're more entertaining this time!"

Inyoku couldn't help but give a wide grin to his opponent. He really hoped that Mulhall would give him that challenge he wanted for so long!

Inyoku was born into a powerful family. One of the families whose names stood out and instantly recognized when you said it out loud. One of those influential families. This powerful family had it all for a young, naive child. Money, a loving family, a powerful quirk, all of it.

Many would have wished to be born in the same circumstances as Inyoku did. Everything was at his fingertips and soon, as he got older to replace and take over his parents, within his hands.

"Now, Inyoku," his father, Katsumi, began. "When we address guests, be sure to-" the man prattled on to the young child about some boring lesson he didn't need. The lesson went half-ignored before his father ruffled his hair. The day went by as normal for the family heir.

His mother, Saiyoko, gave him a smile as soon as she saw him enter with his father after he performed what he was told to do, as soon as he showed off his quirk. "How was today's lesson?" she asked, kissing her son's forehead.

"He did well!" Katsumi boasted. "Far beyond our expectations!"

Inyoku knew what was coming now…it was almost…routine. Predictable even. Next was…

"That's our little boy! We got something for you for such hard work!" in her hands…was an expensive looking toy.

…the shower of gifts and praise. The brand new latest toys and games, the kind words from his traditional, strict by spoiling parents. It was all the same. Day in and day out.

All so he could take over the family business once his parents stepped down.

As the days went by, Inyoku couldn't help but feel…bored. While he had easy access to the newest games, toys and other interests he pointed in, he couldn't help but feel a little lonely in it all. From expensive pianos, the latest console that was difficult to even get a hand on and even toys so advanced only those with wealth like his parents could even afford without a dent in their finances.

If only…

If only he could do something FUN.

…

"Now, as your father told you, the family business requires-" an older Inyoku tried his best to remain comfortable on the chair as his mother talked about the family business. Saiyoko stopped herself as her phone went off. "That time already? We shall take a break, my little snake."

When she walked off to talk with whoever was on the other line, Inyoku-Yui was left alone. Walking into his room, Inyoku walked past all the expenses gifts his parents had gotten him, both the ones he had an interest in and the others he never really cared about. Instead, the child sat down in front of a TV, flicking through the channels.

News, forecast, soap opera, children's television…nothing really exciting for the lonely, bored child.

Then, something caught his attention.

A hero.

"Huh?" the young snake looked up at the TV. Unlike many other children his age, Inyoku was able to meet a varying amount of heroes thanks to the family business. However, while he got to see many heroes in person that attended the same events as his parents, he never understood what a hero was or what they even did.

Until he saw the footage on the big screen before him.

It was nothing like the heroes he met at those parties.

He watched as a hero smacked around a villain with ease without the assault being considered a crime. He watched as they were freely able to use their quirk when many others could not. He watched them grin widely, having the times of their live fighting villains and basking in the glory.

"I…that looks fun! I wanna do that!"

It was the only thing he thought of the entire day, it even got in the way of his lessons. Something his parents were quick to pick up on with the constant daydreaming.

"Inyoku…" his father began, snapping his child out of their daydreaming. "You haven't been focusing on your lessons and it's been days now. What's on your mind?"

"I…wanna…hero…" the child mumbled out, softly as he avoided eye contact. A rare instance from the usually bored child.

"What was that? Speak clearly, like we taught you."

The snake-eyed child, now looking right up at his father, spoke loud and clear! "I wanna be a hero!"

Katsumi and Saiyoko stared at their son and then at each other as Inyoku waited patiently in return. His parent's response to his sudden dream?

Laughter.

Howling laughter.

Something he wasn't expecting as they continued to laugh, mentioning what clever joke he sprung on them. Sniffling, he ran out of the room as his parents began to calm down from the laughter.

"A HERO! HAHAHAHA! WOW, I haven't laughed that hard in a while!"

"Well, it's to be expected," Saiyoko wiped a tear from her eye. "He's getting to that age where they all want to be heroes."

Katsumi who coughed from the sudden laughter straightened himself back. "I remember when we were like that." he sighed, happily. "It's a common phase, but a phase nonetheless. It's a silly little dream that will be forgotten in no time."

The teary eyed child that never left, hiding around the corner wiped his face with his sleeve as he ran out the door. The only thing he could think of now was his parent's laughing at his silly dream. His little forgettable phase.

That night, sitting alone in the family's esteemed garden while he tried to calm himself down from the stinging laughs of his parents, Inyoku tried desperately to fight the tears, clenching and releasing his fists as he did with bared teeth and the sound of a rattle. He wasn't alone for long though, as a bird landed on the family's bird fountain, the chirping caught the young child's attention.

As the snake stared at the bird, drinking from the fountain, an unknown sound caught the child's ears, almost like something was rattling. While Inyoku stared at the bird, in the next few seconds…the bird fell to the ground! Dead!

Realisation settled in for the child who quickly scurried to the bird. Whether on instinct or some other reason, the rattlesnake crushed the bird to death with his tail in an instant! "I'm sorry! I'm sorry I didn't mean to hurt you little birdie!"

A poor innocent creature, dead in his hands. No matter how he held it, the child knew…it was dead. Unable to hold back the tears now, the guilty snake cried for the life lost that night…but…the anger he held towards his parent's demeaning laughter was satisfied.

…

A week passed since the accident and Katsumi and Saiyoko…noticed a change. Inyoku started to change before their eyes. "Katsumi…what's wrong with Inyoku, why is our baby like that? He's…he's starting to scare me."

"It's…alright, dear," Katsumi hesitated, trying to ease his dear Saiyoko. "He's soon nearing his rebellious phase…he's almost ten… soon…"

"Katsumi…"

She didn't sound too convinced.

"...I…I know. I know," the man sighed. "We'll keep an eye on him. A close one. Just in case."

Katsumi had no idea why his protege and heir was acting the way he was, but as a person and a father…he was terrified. Inyoku changed somehow, he seemed more violent and unsympathetic. Almost as if he didn't care.

Usually he'd kiss his mother's boo-boos, but now, didn't care if she cut herself or worse.

He remembered a time when he came home in bruises…but looked like he enjoyed it with the only thing he had to say about what happened was: "I won."

When the time came and Inyoku was ten years old, that's when he fully mastered his mutant quirk. Saiyoko and her husband also noticed that with the mastery of his quirk, he ran off by himself more and more. Usually to the same destination most days.

The garden maze.

When her child went into the garden she tried to follow him, as secretly as she could. She let Inyoku get far, walking outside and into the maze. "Where are you going, Inyoku?" she thought to herself as she followed, only to stop almost immediately within the maze as her son stared back at her…with a smile.

"I thought you said it was rude to follow people like this?" the ten year old snaked asked, tilting his head in an innocent manner. "Is it not bad to sneak behind someone?"

"Wha- No, no! It's…I was just making sure you remembered what we told you!" Saiyoko laughed, best as she could after being caught red handed.

"Oh, so it was a test!" he playful smiled. Despite his actions, his eyes didn't quite fit what he was doing. "Well, I'm going to go play now!"

She watched as her child slithered off somewhere.

"My son…is changing…"

…

As the years went by, the relationship between Inyoku and his parents became distant as the child's violence only got worse with each passing day. Violence that would bring down the family business if it went unchecked.

"Inyoku", his father began. "We need to talk…"

"We do? What's the matter? Is it about the party coming up?" the teenage Inyoku asked, "if so, you have nothing to fear. I have already gone over what to say, who to say it to and who to avoid for the sake of the business."

Katsumi blinked, "I…" suddenly, his wife nudged him. "That's not why I'm here. It's not why WE'RE here."

"Then what's this about?" he asked, looking up at his parents while he continued the task they set up for him.

"It's…your violence." Saiyoko was the one to bring it up.

"Violence?" the rattlesnake blinked.

His father huffed, "you've become more and more violent in recent years. It's starting to get concerning." After he started, he soon listed off more and more reasons why it was concerning. From the business, to scaring his mother, what happened and how he ended up like this and more, but Inyoku just stared, unblinking as he replied. They didn't know if he really listened or not.

"As I said before, you have nothing to fear from the upcoming party. I won't harm the family and business image at all."

All he gave after that was a reassuring smile from their son. A smile that didn't ease the fear in their hearts.

When the party eventually came, to say his parents were nervous was an understatement. The social event went by much like all the other ones, both before the change and after the change in their son. Inyoku talked and mingled with the other rick folk and even heroes that showed up.

It was to help him socialise with others, seeing as when he takes over the family business, he would need to get involved in these sorts of things.

Sadly for them, he wasn't too keen on it. Though, he did have a good poker face for that kind of thing. It managed to fool his parents a few times, before they remembered just what happened to their son.

Or rather, what little they did know what happened to their son.

He went around, being introduced and talking to some influential family members of some distinct names in Japan. Sometimes even people acting on behalf of someone else, heroes included. A young woman acting as a spokesperson for some Helping Hand company, named Sente who was accompanied by a steel winged hero. The husband and wife of the wealthy Tsujihara family, Goro and Chiyo, who seemed to mingle with the others at the social event. The affluent Yomaura family whose lineage stretched back to the Edo period as a strict looking couple, named Kansuke and Shina, were accompanied by some of their children that Inyoku didn't remember the names of that well or cared to remember. A young woman by the name of Tomiko Tokugawa was also there for the social event, sharing an almost bored look at the proceedings. It was practically the same as his own and one of the more genuine conversations he had at the party besides that steel winged hero. While he was reintroduced to old faces, and introduced to new ones, the social event was nothing new to the teenage Inyoku. Nothing new at all.

It only offered a handful of moments that piqued his interest.

One day, however, Saiyoko walked around their house calling out for her husband. "Katsumi? Katsumi?!" she called out, "we need to talk about Inyoku…" she whispered that last part out, unknowingly to herself. The party went by fine, but whenever they looked over at Inyoku, he was either perfectly fine or about to lash out. It was getting serious now.

So, Saiyoko tried to find her husband. He hadn't been around for a few hours now, so she was looking for him. As she searched everywhere in the house, a thought popped in her mind. "Maybe he's talking with Inyoku?"

That meant one place for her: the family's garden maze.

Quickly getting outside, she looked around briefly before heading into the maze, calling out to her husband to see if he was there. As she went through the maze however, an awful smell caught her nose. Saiyoko followed the putrid smell, she turned the corner and felt the urge to vomit.

There he was, her husband, Katsumi. In the middle of the maze, ripped apart and impaled. His arms and legs were ripped off, his guts were ripped out and strung along the garden like some holiday decoration, the skin of his face was peeled off, well it was more like it was scratched off.

As she was about to scream, scream for help, to run and call for the assistance of a hero or the police, she was lifted into the air as something tight wrapped around her neck and it squeezed. Hard. Her legs kicked in the air for a while, trying to pry whatever was strangling her and then, as she was losing consciousness.

She saw her son, Inyoku, squeezing the life out of her with his tail before it all went dark with a snap.

…

After the death of his parents, the bored looking Inyoku sighed as he tried to think of some idea to keep him entertained, whether that was fighting or otherwise…though he just wanted to fight, other reasons be damned.

Ever since that day he 'changed', the violence swelled, the bloodlust crept up. He just couldn't ease the temptation, the desire. So, he came up with fun little ideas for himself to keep himself entertained.

"..." a man looked down at the information their client had given them. "Seems simple enough, just another rich brat."

Under the cover of night, the man slipped into the building, slowly approaching their target. With grace and silence, they took notice of the empty beds, making sure to stand in the darkest corners the room offered.

After a short wait, the target never appeared, so they carefully stalked the building, in search of their target. Their client was paying a lot for taking out this target.

"The target might be having a midnight snack…it's possible they might still be up…yet no lights are on anywhere…" they thought as they approached the kitchen. As they did, they dropped, concealing themselves in the darkness as they heard the sound of a rattle. "What was that?"

"Is that the target?" they thought to themselves as they retreated back into the darkness. "Is my target really alone? It'll be a problem if my info is off…I can't rush to any conclusions with that noise, it wouldn't be the first time something fell from a shelf. I'll wait until my target shows up."

Retreating from the direction of the noise, the man stalked another area of the building.

It wasn't long before they saw their target! "Height matches, tail confirmed. Said to be the only one in here…" the stalker thought as they went over everything to make sure it was their target. It was still too dark, but hearing them yawn, that's when the assassin leaped into action.

Dozens of sharp knives flew from the assassin's hands, impaling the target with ease as they (the target) slowly slid along the room. Once the target started falling, the assassin ran forward, jumped over and twisted the target's neck right around and booked it. Once they got to the window, the sound of rattling was heard once more.

Hanging around the window, the assassin glanced back at the body on the ground. The way it hit the ground was odd…besides, they needed confirmation of the kill too. They were surely dead, but they needed to confirm the target's demise.

And where did that sound come from?

So, they got closer to the newly made corpse.

It was then that the assassin got a good look at their kill. A…training dummy with a hastily attached 'tail' (now busted up) on a coat hanger being pushed along on a homemade zipline. "What the-?"

It was then that the rattling sound was heard again. Louder this time...closer, as if right behind them! This caused the assassin to spin around only to be lifted up into the air as a tight force gripped around their neck, squeezing out all the air in an instant.

"Good attempt," the voice of their target mused as their tail crushed their neck. "Not as good as the last one though, a bit amateurish in parts. Stealth was decent, though your caution to my overexcitement, the rattling, didn't alert you to the possibility of danger of being hunted or that your target might have been aware of you or drawing you out nor did you use it to confirm your target's location. Which is me by the way and while caution is good in your business, not exactly what I asked for when looking over your resume. Should have just taken the chance to take out your target as soon as possible when you heard the rattling or left when you thought you did take them out, but I guess that's just my personal preference. The last one was way better, but I'm rambling now. Goodbye."

The last thing the assassin saw was their target snap their neck with their tail, as they reviewed their assasstination attempt. There was no chance to even question what they meant.

Inyoku grinned as he dropped the assassin on the floor. This was just one of the many fun little ideas he concocted.

Placing an assassination hit on himself!

"Hm…when should I do the next one? I hope they're better than this one! I might need to fork over more cash though…ah well, let's do it!"

And off Inyoku went, ordering another assassin like he was ordering another pizza with their most unarmed delivery man.

…

"Stop right there, villainous scum!" a pro hero shouted as they cornered a villain. The villain glanced over her shoulder to see a hero.

Instead, the villain kept running.

"I said stop!" shouted the hero as their punch landed in the villain's back, sending them further away. "Try to run and you'll regret it! Like all fool's who try to cheat justice!"

"Shut the hell up!" the villain spat back, "you fame hungry jackass!"

"Fame hungry?!" he seethed, "I don't want to hear that from someone who stole from the Museum of Heroism!"

As the villain started to run again, she shouted out: "I've seen you on the news, arriving on the scene and only looking at the cameras!"

"Shut it!"

Right as the hero gave chase, something or someone dropped right in the middle. The villain heard, "who the hell are you?" When she turned around, she saw a young man with a snake's tail stand between her and the hero.

"How dare you get in the way of justice! Are you this woman's accomplice?"

"...who?"

Inyoku said nothing as the two were confused by his sudden appearance, right as the hero growled. "No matter, I'm taking you both in!" he lunged at the snake, only to get whipped by the tail at high speeds like someone cracking a whip!

"Ah! You little-" they had no time to finish as Inyoku jumped at him with a single thing to say as they closed the distance easily.

"Boring."

Inyoku opened his mouth wide, showing off his sharp teeth as he easily clamped onto the hero's neck, causing them to sputter and try to pry the snake off…when they weren't screaming out in pain that is. It was then that the hero realised and started to struggle with where the snake bit him and kept such a tight grip. He was done with this new toy now. It was time to move on.

As Inyoku's fangs ripped out the hero's jugular with ease, the villain dropped to the floor. She did not expect that.

"Ah…thank you?" the villain raised an eyebrow as the snake just stared at her now. It was a bit…unnerving to say the least.

"Are you more entertaining than him?" he asked, immediately giving red flags to the villain. "Fight back a little more."

"Wait-!"

Inyoku has already charged in, forcing the villain to fight back to the best of her abilities. She was a bit better than the hero, but the end result was the same as Inyoku-Yui had snapped her neck with his own hands.

When Inyoku left the scene of the crime, he spotted a person walking by. Not a hero, not a villain. A random civilian. "Potential challenge or easy victim?" he thought to himself as he ran right at them, not giving them a chance to scream for help. "Let's find out!"

…

Inyoku sighed as he glanced up at the ceiling. It was his turn next. He was able to get into this place with money as a customer and then into the ring with his own skill. Now, the regular was up against his next opponent.

Inyoku joined an underground arena.

Something that felt natural to him, in a way. "Let's see who wins this next round!" the local announcer…announced as Inyoku entered the ring. His opponent was a bit taller than him, seems to be a close ranged fighter from what he gauged of the man. Nothing he couldn't handle.

"I didn't know they gave us free nobles to hit!" the man laughed, letting Inyoku know just who this man was. A newbie.

Perhaps he could have fun with this in another way? "Then come get your stress relief!"

"Gladly!" The fighter charged, starting the fight as Inyoku dodged their first attack. The whole fight involved Inyoku dancing around the newbie, just completely embarrassing the man. Since he was an honest man, Inyoku would have told you how fun it was to mock the newbie, but as all fights, it must end.

And the ending was all the same.

In Inyoku's victory.

The man went down as Inyoku stood tall and strong, but his tail slumped down as the rattlesnake sighed.

As he won another round, Inyoku couldn't help but feel bored. The excitement only lasted a short while, as it always did. It was never enough, the assassins, the heroes and villains, the fights. Never.

But…at least it 'did' work in the moment, if only for a little while.

This was pretty much his life now. Ordering an assassin for an attempt on his life, fighting both heroes and villains, attending underground arena fights and generally attacking others for a challenge or to simply kill.

The rattlesnake kept wandering the city for potential challenges and easy victims to quench the boredom and the bloodlust.

…

Months passed since the death of his parents and the many exploits he concocted just to alleviate the boredom he felt deep down. "...I'm bored…" the rattlesnake threw a rock into a nearby lake. "That last guy was all talk, all predictable right down to the loser flags."

The young snake stood, hands in his pockets as he walked down the street with an empty look in his eyes. It was all predictable!

He had to do something, anything, to ease his constant boredom!

Suddenly, he got an idea, judging by the smirk on his face. Entering a building, his tail lashed out at the desk worker in front of him, breaking the glass as he gave his best smile.

"Hi! I'm here to turn myself in, thank you!"

In the middle of the police station, Inyoku-Yui was sent to Styx that very day. The rattlesnake really hoped that whatever Styx held prisoner behind its walls, that they'd at least provide a challenge to ease his boredom.

As Inyoku charged forward, Mulhall opened fire on the approaching snake. Diving and rolling in mid-air, the snake avoided the fired shots and kept on course.

Right up close, Mulhall fired another shot that the flexible snake slivered around with ease, before landing a strike against the cowboy's chest. As the tail whipped at the cowboy, Inyoku already got into punching distance as he punched Mulhall straight in the face!

"Not so good at close range, eh?" Inyoku smirked. "Don't worry, this makes us even when we get into each other's weak and strong ranges!"

Landing another punch, Mulhall shot the snake with a smirk of his own as he caught the following punch. "Who said I was weak at close range?"

The snake's surprise was short lived as Mulhall landed a fist in his stomach, but then, Inyoku felt Mulhall flick his thumb. The flicked thumb with the fist landed in his stomach, the snake was shot by a point blank air blast!

"Uegh!" the snake went up in the air. "So he has a fighting style like this! Point blank too!"

Inyoku didn't get far as Mulhall grabbed a hold of him. Soon landing an odd uppercut using the side of his fist that hit Inyoku-Yui's chin, a thumbs up soon followed, which blasted Inyoku back into the air with another point blank blast!

"How do you like my Point Blank Style?" asked the leader of the Mares of Diomedes. "My own QMA!"

Grabbing the still mid-air Inyoku's leg, Mulhall slammed his opponent into the ground and opened fire. Landing a few blasts into the snake who tried their best to use their tail to deflect the blasts.

Quickly getting back his groove, the rattlesnake slivered around, managing to gain some distance between him and the posse leader. "Running now?" the Mares of Diomedes leader asked, seeing the snake turn right around to rush him.

Inyoku's eyes widened at what he saw. Mulhall gave chase!

Landing punches of his own, Mulhall ended the barrage of punches with two fists against the snake's chest before he gave two flicks of the thumb in point blank range. It was like getting hit by the double barrel blast as it sent Inyoku into the nearby wall with a sharp gasp of pain.

Inyoku realised right then, he was stuck in a corner.

"Mulhall's quirk can keep me locked at any range. In a corner, I can't escape any further shots. It's risky, but I need to break free." he thought as Mulhall was already closing the distance he made.

Back on the ground, Inyoku raised his rattling tail and then slammed it into the ground, launching him into the air!

Inyoku then went to flip over the cowboy, using his tail to jump even higher than normal! However, Mulhall just smirked.

Keeping his hands by his side, Mulhall fired to the roof just as Inyoku jumped over, hitting the snake over and over again, locking him to the air. "Never been juggled before?" he asked, firing his air blasts in a pattern. Right, left, right, left and so on.

It was similar to a person keeping a tin can in the air by shooting at it.

GUN JUGGLER!

Inyoku was kept in the air for quite some time. As the barrage of air blasts kept hitting the snake, Mulhall frowned a little.

Was this it? After all that?

"One wrong move and you're stuck getting comboed. An infinite combo at that." The cowboy continued to watch the snake get pummelled in mid-air. "...it's over, just like that then? After all that, with just one wrong move, it's over. What a waste of time."

Mulhall didn't know how long he had been doing this. A minute? Nah, it had to be longer than that. Two? Three? More? It was probably more. He had no idea, but he was growing bored as the fight was basically over, but then, he saw something. "Hm?" he narrowed his eyes at the juggled Inyoku.

The rattlesnake was grinning!

"What the? He's grinning?! He's still conscious after so many repeated hits?! We've been doing this for minutes now!" Mulhall was taken back from this development as Inyoku regained control, using the blasts of air to spin around for another spiral tornado but then, he was free.

Spinning around in the air, he stopped spinning as he got some nice hang time as he looked down at the cowboy.

"Now this is what I'm talking about!" The rattlesnake gave the most blood-thirstiest grin that Mulhall had ever seen.

Landing on all fours, his tail rattled like crazy.

He bared his teeth once more, widing his mouth, showing the two snake fangs that went along with his other teeth.

"What's he doing? I kinda wanna see…but, that's the sort of thing that'll take me down!" Mulhall aimed at the snake who stuck his tongue out. "I ain't letting you do that!"

As he fired an air blast, the on-all-fours white haired snake jumped to the side with enough time to spare.

Mulhall tried again, though the result was the same as the snake's pupils shrunk.

Not letting himself be stopped, the snake prepared something and soon, he spat something out.

"I didn't know you were a spitting snake!"

It wasn't actually spitting, rather it was dripping (if you could even call it that) onto his tongue in a large dosage. It was similar to that of snake milking, placing a snake's fangs through a material like glad wrap or cloth to then milk the snake's venom into a container.

As the waves of venom poured from his fangs on his tongue in a clear line, Inyoku then tilted his head up a bit as he consumed his own venom, jumping to the side to avoid the cowboy's shot.

Suddenly, still on all fours as his tail rattled even more, Inyoku with a mouth full of venom, sprayed it out. As Inyoku sprayed the liquid out, it was like someone spitting out their drink at some shocking news! The snake seemed to have more than what he let on as what came out was a large mist of the venom.

MIASMA!

"Now that's something you don't see everyday!" grinned the cowboy as his scarf fluttered in some breeze. "I ain't stupid, I know that you're using it as a smokescreen!" Not to mention how he didn't plan on letting that mist touch him at all. It was made from venom after all.

Jumping back from the approaching miasma, the cowboy aimed his fists at it, ready to flip yet another non-existent coin. As he fired multiple air blasts that pierced through the miasma, he couldn't quite see the snake behind it as he blasted through it. "It's that thick? Not to mention how much venom-" something then caught his eyes as he looked up. "Sonva-"

Inyoku was on the ceiling!

It looked like he just reached it too as he bounced right off, using the wide brimmed hat of the cowboy as a blindspot.

Already in mid-fire, the cowboy tried to redirect the shot, but the snake was too flexible as they slivered around the shots in mid-air.

Inyoku was already too close now, reading his tail as he opened his mouth, just as the fangs showed themselves.

Knocking Mulhall's hands away with his tail like a whip, Inyoku got in close with his mouth!

The rattlesnake then bit down into the cowboy's exposed shoulder, sinking his fangs deep as he let loose a bit of the venom he still had stored.

Inyoku's fangs removed themselves from the cowboy's shoulder as he landed the rather simple super move.

VENOMOUS BITE!

Rattlesnake fangs are connected by venom ducts to large venom glands near the outer edge of their upper jaw, towards the rear of their head. When the rattlesnake bites, muscles on the sides of the venom glands contract to squeeze the venom through the ducts and into the fangs. When the fangs are not in use, they remain folded against the palate.

Inyoku's venom was the culmination of the rattlesnake, in every sense. He was the snake! His venom contained both hemotoxic and neurotoxic properties. Inyoku didn't just go out of his way to kill people without experimenting with his quirk, learning and growing from it to a point where he could choose what was in his venom at the moment he brought it out!

Hemotoxins that can destroy tissues, cause necrosis and coagulopathy. Neurotoxins that can cause severe paralysis.

Both were enhanced thanks to Inyoku's quirk.

The mojave rattlesnake, the world's most venomous rattlesnake, was one such rattlesnake that had both neurotoxic and hemotoxic venom which is considered to be one of the most debilitating and potentially deadly of all rattlesnakes, even matching several elapids.

Rattlesnake venom is also very stable and it retains its toxicity for many years in storage, making it a popular long storage poison for assassins and other underworld types like black markets and organised crime groups.

Rattlesnakes are also born with fully functioning fangs and venom, and are capable of killing prey at birth!

Older snakes possess more potent venom and larger snakes are frequently capable of storing larger volumes of it. Which meant one thing when all were packaged together with the fact that it was now combined with a human body thanks to quirks enhancing attributes of animals. Inyoku the rattlesnake's potential was continually growing!

"GOTCHA!" grinned the rattlesnake as Mulhall fell to his knees.

A smirk appeared on the cowboy's face. "You got me good…snake oil…you win this duel…" Mulhall, the leader of the Mares of Diomedes, fell flat on his face not a moment too soon.

"THE CHAMPION OF LIMBO IS DOWN! MULHALL IS DOWN AND OUT! THE WINNER IS RATTLESNAKE!"

---

When green eyes opened, the wall of muscle they belonged to immediately scanned the room. Dark, empty, a tray nearby with equipment he didn't care about. Yet, the bald and tall man then saw that they weren't truly alone in the room. A body was next to them on another table.

Gousen Hikudo frowned.

He knew that man…well, from their body anyway. The face though…well, you wouldn't call that a face anymore.

It was completely blown off!

"Fucking hell, they got to you first! Those punks!" the inmate beater growled at the parasite next to him. "You were my kill!"

Right next to him was the corpse of Rhys Dignam.

Kuroishi. Gin.

They were next. He was going to take down those disgusting parasites down for taking his fucking kill! As rage exploded within the man, he went to move…yet…

He couldn't get up.

He moved his hand. Nothing happened. He moved his legs next. Nothing happened. Wiggling both his fingers and toes? Nothing!

It was then that the inmate tried their best to sit up, held back by a bunch of belts. It was clear to him then and there that this was no infirmary. Gousen's eyes widened at what he soon realised after he managed to peek his head down at his body.

His arms and legs, from the knees and shoulders down, were gone!

"What the fuck?!" his roar of rage did absolutely nothing as even he didn't think the guards would have done something like this. When he got out of here, he was gonna smash whoever did this to nothing but dust!

"My, my. Aren't you lively?" a new voice the man never recognized before entered the ward and that's when the delusions began again.

When Gousen stared at Vito, he saw an amalgamation of parasites that made up the form of a human.

Most people the delusional inmate glared at usually had one, maybe two or three parasites worming around their head. Some more infested inmates (as he called them) had different sizes from small as a worm to big as a baby kitten. At the end of the day, it was simply a delusion that gave him an excuse to kill.

When he glared down at this new bastard, he saw only one parasite, but the sheer size of it was as big as a man. Gigantic compared to all the others he claimed to witness.

Vito was the one to break the normal parasite limit he saw within others and now this guy broke the sheer size of them. It was like he was a child exploring a whole new world.

"Who the fuck are yo-"

The giant parasite infested bastard cut him off. "Silence. It's not important to you in your condition."

"Did you fucking do this? You infested freak!"

"Hurtful, aren't we?" the mysterious figure began. "I see that you saw what happened to Rhys."

The inmate tried to spit at the new person. "That was my kill!"

"And now it's my prize," the figure touched the corpse as their fingers dug into the flesh, ripping it off as they chucked it into their mouth. The large unblinking eyes they had then fell to the inmate. "So are you. I also see you are coping well despite what just happened to you, but don't worry. I already have put your limbs to good use."

As Gousen watched as this freak took a bite out of his target, they now focused their attention on them!

"The fuck are you doing?!" He watched as the freak got some tools from said table. Tools that were going to be used on him, considering it was immediately put to his skin!

"I got some orders to follow through on and I need to get them done now before I return to Limbo."

A cocky smirk appeared on the bound inmate's face which faltered the moment the bastard turned to him. "What's that smirk for? Your quirk only works on your skin, which I have bypassed with the removal of your limbs."

"You…you freak! YOU FREAK!" Gousen screamed. "DON'T YOU FUCKING TOUCH ME! I'LL KILL YOU!"

The host of Limbo looked completely sinister to the bound man. "As I told you before, I put your limbs to good use and now you will be too. Rhys and you shall serve as great material. It's time to sleep. Forever."

The screaming of the wall of muscle was unheard and even if someone was able to hear it, it was drowned out by the fighting and cheers not too far away as the Mastermind of Limbo was faithfully watched by a white mask as they continued with their dark, dirty work.

---

"And that is all for Limbo for now…is what I would say!" the host continued. "While the final match of Limbo has concluded, it's time for our last encore for the day! We hope you return next time when Limbo's up and running!"

The lights ran around the arena until they settled back onto the doors. "IT'S TIME FOR A BLOODBATH!"

The murmurs among the onlookers grew more excited for one last spill of blood. "Finally! I was getting tired of not seeing any more of these bastards die!"

"Rip them to shreds!"

"Our chosen ingredient is this woman! She has fought before, but now she's facing quite the challenge! Welcome back to the arena, Kuroneko!" The lights then shined down on the cat quirked woman that walked right out. No hints or signs of the shy Koneko still. "Her opponent is a special case and one to fill the void left by Vito!"

If the crowd's excitement seemed to grow more and more as a new figure entered the arena.

The new fighter replacing Vito's role was an incredibly tall and bulky figure with yellowish-green skin. They were bald with no eyes, though they had slight curves where the sockets went on the skin. Their right hand looked to be like a mechanical claw with three pointed talons that when closed spun around with quite the force. Meanwhile their left arm was that of a large tendril with slight long marks on it as it writhed. The only thing they had on their face was their mouth with slightly taller than normal and sharp canines on either side of their lower line of teeth.

"HARVESTER!"

As Harvester opened their mouth, a mechanical clicking noise was heard by the feral cat, and despite having no eyes, Harvester was staring right at her and said the only thing it could say. "Harvest."

Harvester's outfit was also kinda strange. It looked like it was made out of black garbage bags for pants.

It was like the top half was ripped completely off for the battle too.

The new arrival was also adorned with multiple belts and chains all over their body!

"NOW!" The host's voice boomed. "WE BEGIN THE DEATHMATCH OF LIMBO!"

The crowd's excitement was enough to shake the arena itself! "ONLY ONE WILL LEAVE THE BATTLEFIELD ALIVE! FALL BACK TO NATURE AND RIP OUT THEIR HEARTS!"

Without wasting much time, Kuroneko launched herself at the monster.

The feral cat brought out her claws at Harvester, only for them to turn, sending the cat flying past them. A slight confusion appeared in those lost eyes of hers before a venomous hiss followed right behind them. She tried again and again, but somehow the eyeless thing was able to turn around her without doing much.

"I'LL CUT YOU!" Kuroneko screamed as she tried to go even faster. She didn't even take notice of how Harvester stopped moving at all and just kept their unseen sight on her. Her claws landed against the new fighter's skin, but it was nothing like Teddy. It barely did anything to the one tentacled armed person's skin.

Kuroneko had to wonder how someone with no eyes at all was able to keep a track of her. She couldn't see ears or a nose on the bizarre addition to Limbo, but she also didn't care that much about it. So she kept the assault up, but her claws weren't sharp enough to cut through the giant…or leave impacting cuts.

To Harvester though, what they saw wasn't her features. No face, no intricate designs. Only an orange glow, as if she was thermal in a way or something similar to that.

"Harvest."

Harvester finally acted, after standing still and taking all of her attacks, Harvester made their move! Swinging their large tendril, Kuroneko was sent flying into the wall.

She didn't spend long in the wall however as she jumped right back at her opponent, who just whacked her with their tendril again.

It continued like this for a while, Kuroneko was unable to get close as Harvester kept sending her away with powerful swings, though as Kuroneko was slammed into the ground by the next strike, Harvester kept up the assault. Slamming the tendril back down onto the feral cat like a whip, the drill-like claw on Harvester's actual arm opened and closed as it came down.

A pair of hands grabbed onto the claw, trying to keep it away from her face. It opened and closed as it got closer and closer. "Harvest!" her attacker bellowed as the claw pushed past her defences, opening their claw as it got real close to her eye and then…a scream.

Kicking Harvester away from her, Kuroneko rolled on the ground clutching her eye as her left eye was now on one of the three claws of their drill-claw. Harvester popped open their mouth with a mechanical clink and then, the eye was gone.

That bastard ate her eye! Back on her feet, the feral cat didn't care about the blood or the soon-to-be scar that was now down her eye. She charged back, regardless of the blood, scratching her sharp claws along Harvester's body, hoping it did something. Harvester however, just stood there, as if processing what it just ate, before turning back to the cat.

Striking with its claw, Kuroneko got close and personal, climbing the giant's body as Harvester tried to catch up to catch the cat. Kuroneko performed some hit and run tactics as she scurried over the drone's body as it failed to catch her, only ending up hitting themselves in the process.

"Harvest…" it groaned, opening its mouth, now trying to bite the cat when she got close.

As Harvester's tendril snaked around its body, Kuroneko jumped around, about to knock the giant over. Right as she knocked the giant off balance and went to kick their chest…

Harvester took a bite out of her, specifically her right cat ear. The giant fell, Kuroneko tried to get away and free from the bite, which only ended up tearing her ear clean off as the giant fell to the ground. The towering figure, wrapped up in its own tentacle, slammed into the ground as Kuroneko hissed at her now lost ear.

At least Harvester was down now. "Stay down!" Kuroneko hissed, clutching her bleeding ear. Down an eye and an ear, safe to say she was fucked. On her knees, the cat watched as Harvester stood, unwrapping themselves in the process. "Come on… seriously?"

It didn't waste any time in attacking her with its tendril.

Harvester attacked the cat with their large tentacle, slamming her into the ground. The bloodied cat had no time, lost to the adrenaline as she rushed forward. Not caring about the still bleeding injuries or the depth perception she needed to work with now. All she needed to do was kill! Kill this thing in front of her! She'll kill it!

Charging forth with whatever strength she had, she made an x-cross shape slash at the so-called Harvester.

Only for Harvester to turn once more, like they did at the beginning, allowing Kuroneko to fly right by before they put their knee right in her stomach and sent her higher into the air.

Now up in the air, Harvester followed the tossed Kuroneko with an open maw, eager to bite down and within seconds. Harvester was already following through with their orders.

Biting down hard on her side, Harvester shook her around like a dog with their chew toy and tossed her aside, causing her to gasp out in pain.

She managed to glance up right as the spinning drill was brought down upon her as she tried to get away or at least block it in a feeble attempt. The drill easily blasted her left hand in two as she screamed out in pain. Harvester opened his claw and gripped it around her arm.

The claw-drill then began to spin. It didn't take long for what happened to her arm with the sound of screams and breaking bones. "Harvest!" they groaned, as they began to rip the broken arm right off her body, their foot pinning the cat to the ground as slowly the broken arm that pointed in every which way now cracked before the sounds of ripping flesh filled the silence where the screams failed to reach.

Koneko has been disarmed.

"Harvest!"

On the ground, Kuroneko tightly held her arm, hearing the mechanical noise of Harvester's jaw as he 'harvested' her arm into his stomach. The bastard had already taken one of her ears and eyes, but now her left hand, from halfway down her upper arm, was gone!

Whatever they did to Koneko, to put her into this trance that was Kuroneko, it started to fade.

The screaming from the cat changed its tone as the bloodthirsty cat was replaced by the shy inmate, who had no clue what was happening. A haunting figure, the loss of her arm and of course, the pain that hurt so bad she couldn't focus on anything else as she screamed out. Screamed in pain. Out for help that never arrived.

Screamed for anyone. Anyone.

Only hearing the chilling words of, "Harvest."

Unable to control her tears, Koneko's cries went ignored as Harvester's tendril lifted her up in a tight grip, easily choking the air right out of her. The spinning of the drill-like claw spun at an incredibly fast rate as the crowd's lust for bloodlust was felt by all in attendance.

Eventually, Koneko's remaining eye rolled up, to the back of her head as her arm now dangled beside her, constricted by Harvester's force. Arm pulled back, the drill was ready to pierce right through!

"Harvest!"

Just as Harvester was about to pierce through the cat's heart, a door slammed open and within seconds, the helmet wearing guards were blasted back into each other as a rush of the same guy suddenly surged through the room.

"Bunri-?" one of the helmet wearing guards was knocked to the side as they were pinned by a clone.

As more non-helmet wearing guards entered the arena, Harvester glanced up as Shi slammed a guard's head into the wall. More and more familiar faces were popping up.

It didn't take long for everyone to realise just what was happening…

LIMBO WAS BEING RAIDED!

"SCATTER! WE'VE BEEN FOUND!" one of the distorted guard's voice screamed out, only for another to fire back.

"STAND AND FIGHT!" The other one called out. "WE CAN'T RUN ANYMORE! WE NEED TO FIGHT!"

As the helmet and cloak wearing guards struggled with whether to flee for another day and try to blend back in or take down their raiders now and assume control of the prison, feathers flew past a couple of faces, dropping them down like flies.

"Go to sleep now!" The winged arm Suimin grinned as she fired her feathers around the arena.

As some fell to sleep, others were knocked around like ragdolls while more and more clones swamped the entire underground operation. The ones now known as traitors started to put up a decent fight as they allowed others of their rank escape.

"Was there a leak? There must have been, right?!" one of the helmet wearing guards asked, "god damn it!"

"How? HOW?!"

"Oh! I'll kill that backstabbing little info-" the third was unable to continue as a jackal punched them hard in the gut.

"STAY DOWN!" Shi growled as she kicked him away while Hokori took out one of the others that went to hit her.

As the rookie fox guard looked around at the numbers, he couldn't believe just how many were here. "There's so many here! Just how many of them were in on this?!" his eyes then fell onto the prisoner with the lost hand as she was being carried…er, held and choked by an unknown inmate. "Wait…who is that?!"

Within the initial confusion and surprise of the raid, many were knocked out and pinned with clones tying them up or handcuffing them in some way or fashion.

"How did we get taken by surprise?!" one of the captured traitors slammed their head against the ground, trying to get themselves free from their position.

One of the helmet wearing traitors rushed in to free one of their comrades, but was met with an electric wall as volts coursed through their body, before dropping to the ground. As soon as they fell, Alexios gave the room a grim look.

"So they've been making all these inmates fight here…" he had a bad feeling about it the more he thought about it. So he turned to the traitors and joined the fray along with Bunri's many clones.

As all the guards stormed Limbo, the clones led by Alexios turned their attention to the fighters. Alexios, pointing right at Harvester, issued the order. "Restrain the inmates. We got a seriously injured inmate."

"Roger!" The clones charged forward with Alexios right behind them, though Harvester kept a tight grip on the unconscious criminal. As Harvester fought off the guards with large powerful swings of their spinning drill claw, a voice played on the speakers.

"Harvester!" the successor's muffled voice was heard on the speaker. "Disengage! Go harvest the other material!"

Raising the unconscious Koneko up, Harvester tossed her right at the incoming guards, knocking them down as the drone smashed itself through the wall of the arena!

"Some of them are getting away!" one of the many clones pointed out.

"Focus on the traitors!" one of the other guards that stormed Limbo growled out. "Let's put these fucks back in their place!" grinned Tai as he unleashed his Miniature Sun.

"Ah! Let me help!" Hokori ran towards the clones holding Koneko. "Focus on the captures, I'll take it over from here!" and off the clones went, leaving Hokori with one seriously injured inmate.

"Where are you, Sae?" Shi thought, keeping an eye out for a certain someone. She had already gotten confirmation on Ashita and Yua being in the ward just moments ago. One was missing. "Catch any inmates too. We have no idea if they forced some of them or not."

"Better to assume most of them were in on it!" Tai huffed as his sun burnt brightly, slamming one of the traitors into the ground.

As a line of traitors were shocked by a sudden barrier, Alexios ran on by. "I'll be right back!" and off he went, deeper into Limbo.

As one of the guards pulled out a small container, with widening eyes at who was taking them down, a wooden sword fired them into the wall as they caught the container. "What are you doing with this? Mints?" the cloakless man looked at the container of mints. "Suspicious how this is the first thing you grabbed when you saw me."

When he looked back, the helmet wearing guard was clearly knocked out. "...ah…"

However the other traitors that were close halted any attack on the man.

"The…The…THE WARDEN'S HERE!" one of those helmet wearing guards that were nearby alerted the rest of the traitorous correctional officers.

"IT'S BAD!"

"OH FUCK! OH FUCK!"

Just then, one of the traitors jumped at the warden, arm out to hit the warden with a clothesline! "SHUT UP AND GET OUT OF HERE!" The helmet wearing guard screamed at the others, closing in on the warden who raised his wooden blade. "As long as 'they' get out, we're good-"

The tip of the wooden blade jammed into the guard's stomach, lifted them up and slammed them into the ground as a clone came to pin and tie the guard up.

Seimei, looking back towards the rookie now holding the bleeding inmate with a missing arm as he did his best to stop the bleeding as he carried her out after taking her from the clones, waved his hand. "Hokori! Take her to the infirmary as quickly as you can. Don't waste time if you can't stop the bleeding."

"On it!"

Seimei turned back to the mess in front of him. "God damn it. It's always one thing after the other." he stretched, leaping at the other traitors. "It's been quite some time since the prison had a mess like this…"

It made him wonder if this was only just the middle of the storm, considering all the things that happened.

No use thinking about that now though. He had to deal with all these traitors now.

"THEY GOT NUMBERS ON THE OUTSIDE! WE'RE SURROUNDED!"

"You all have some explaining to do," Seimei began, bringing one down with his bokken. "It's time for divine punishment."

---

"What do we do about Sae?" one of the rushing helmet wearing traitors asked. "Eliminate? Or are we still going to pin the murders on her?"

"No use pinning the murders if we're going to get busted before we can set it up! Eliminate the target!" the other commanded as the small group ran up to where Sae was being held…only to see the pair of guards in front of the door, sliced into pieces with their heads nowhere to be found.

As one of the guards opened the door, a pair of unmasked heads were gagged by their ripped uniforms. A quick unveiling of the gag told them all they needed to hear. "Sae has escaped!"

"No shit. FIND HER AND ESCAPE!"

…

Sae ran towards an exit as fast as she could. She had no time to wait for whatever they had planned for her. An execution? Something else?

"They said my death would complicate things, but it seems right now I'm more of a liability…" the former hero thought as she ran, briefly thinking back on the conversation she eavesdropped on. "I need to get out of here!"

"What do we do about Sae?" one of the two guarding her room asked as the former hero eavesdropped behind the door. "You've heard the alarm! We can't keep her alive anymore!"

The other sighed. "Yeah, we got no time to waste before those guards show up here. Thank fuck we're further away from the arena. No pinning if it's all crumbling down, better to get rid of her."

"I'll take care of her, you let the others know-" the first didn't have time to finish as a noise caught their attention, a painful one.

As they turned around to the door, they watched as a dark light sliced through the door and through their bodies.

Falling to smaller pieces, the guards watched as Sae broke out, chopped their heads off and threw them into the room while ripping off a part of their cloaks to gag them. It happened so fast as the former hero Dark Feather booked it out of there with more scrapes of their cloaks.

Sae Kumiza made some distance between her and those guards, if they could be called that now.

She held her other arm that was used for her quirk and the pain that it felt. Now both of her arms had the burning sensation as she ran through the halls, eager to escape back into the ward and away from Limbo.

A part of her was glad. Very much so about what was happening.

Even if it came back around to burning her not long after. Stopping some villains from using inmates as a way to gamble, as entertainment or whatever they planned Limbo for? It scratched that old heroic itch she still carried deep within.

Just a shame it burnt her now that she was one of the villains now.

Now that her arm was burnt and that she ran so far, she knew those two were probably back to normal now, meaning more people on her trail. She just hoped she was able to get to safety when she could. She couldn't risk another battle, it was all catching up to her. Injuries and fatigue alike.

She was lucky enough to take more scrapes to use for her quirk, but with the ways her arms were now? God rest her soul if she had to fight someone.

As she rounded a corner, wondering where her exit was, she suddenly bumped into someone and her blood ran cold. "Oh no, oh no!" her body was prepared to fight, but all she wanted to do was run. Her arms were too burnt to do anything. She didn't spare a look to whoever she bumped into as she turned to run, but their hand gripped their shoulder. At first a tight grip, but eased immediately after spotting the injuries and how Sae winced.

"Sae. Good to see you." said the familiar voice and one that wasn't usually the sort of friendly voice an inmate wanted to hear. That's when Sae turned to see just who it was.

"Shi!"

The guard dog was here.

---

Walking through the area connected to Limbo, the traitor wearing one of the altered helmets sighed. They really needed a drink after this.

Pulling out a walkie talkie and bringing it close, they said, "attention to all members off site. Be wary of a possible hijacked frequency," they began, voice luckily still distorted by the helmet. "Do not respond. Limbo has fallen, a large majority of 'regulars' are highly assumed to be arrested. Keep hidden, do not reveal connections and hope you didn't show your face to others that might be arrested right now."

They paused for a second and started again. "Exception to the rule. Plug up the leaks."

The higher up sighed as they put the walkie talkie away.

"Chances of them knowing about the frequency is pretty high." they thought as they took their cloak off that all the non-inmate Limbo partakers wore. "...today was a packed day too, more than usual. I estimate that almost all of us will fall today."

At least his fellow higher up was able to avoid capture at least with how quickly they left after their lunch break.

The same for the founder of Limbo, they had a good idea that they'd be able to get out of there with ease. It was just the remainder of them that were the issue.

"..."

Yeah. Chances of everyone but a small handful being busted was high. "We'd be lucky if any of the regulars managed to keep their faces hidden from the others like us after attending Limbo for so long…"

Might as well be wishful thinking at this stage.

As they entered a room, they started to remove their helmet and cloak. "Limbo has fallen..after going strong for such a long time. It's almost surreal." their eyes shot to a bottle just ready for them. "Right after the boss showed up too. It doesn't bode well for the rest of us."

Picking up the bottle as they ran a hand through their hair, they wondered when to pop it open as they just decided to hold onto it for a while longer. Now was not the time. "A bad omen." they thought, grabbing and opening a bag. "It's time to head out."

Throwing their helmet and cloak into a small duffle bag, the higher up traitor was already long gone.

---

As Inyoku rested, he quickly caught onto the chaos. Something was happening. He could feel the vibrations from here. "There wasn't supposed to be any more fights…" his tail began to wave back and forth as it rattled in excitement. Whatever it was, it was chaotic. "Maybe I should join in?"

It was then that the door opened as a person walked into the room. Fully covered from head to toe with the zipper being completely up to the top of his hooded prisoner garbs, nothing of what the inmate looked like was seen. He was completely concealed.

Naut had walked back into the inmate waiting room, or rest area more likely.

"Naut…" Arai glanced over from the beanbag chair he was in. "Did something happen?" he asked, pushing the sunglasses up a bit.

"Limbo has been raided. It's over."

A whistle came from the snake. "So that's what the chaos was about!"

"Huh," the sunglasses-wearing prisoner hummed. "Just like that then."

"It seems we're missing a few fighters…" Naut took notice, "the new fighter they introduced, Harvester, has left Limbo completely. Dark Feather and Oleander are nowhere to be seen either…"

"Hmm, well…if you're wondering about David and Jin, those two actually got up not too long ago and left. David was in a hurry for something and Jin followed. Ember Hands? I have no idea where he ran off to, but he booked it when he saw me." smirked the sandpaper skinned criminal.

"The others are probably dead," came a new voice joining the conversation. One of the three champions of Limbo, Lilim. "That's if they're not in this room."

This resting room was practically Limbo's makeshift infirmary. Lying in the nearby beds were Mulhall, Maneater and Fleabag. All were down and out with Maneater being strapped down by multiple belts and Fleabag being in the worst position…if she makes it or not. Mulhall seemed better than the two.

Sitting near them was Kajiru, sitting crossed legged as he stretched. "The arena has fallen. It will never be forgotten."

Lilim sighed as Arai turned back to Naut who gave the devil a look. "The question now is: what are you guys going to do now?" asked Naut.

Lilim waved her arm. "In terms of the raid? Wait here." she sighed. "No use fighting for something that's gone now. It's better for us if we join the winning side."

"She speaks the truth," Kajiru nodded along, "it doesn't need a sleuth."

"You staying here too, Naut?" asked Sandman, who leaned deeper into the beanbag.

The cultist leader didn't even look in their direction. "Naturally. It's as she said, it's better for us this way. I see you're doing the same."

"Mhm, though I am surprised that you're staying, Inyoku." As Arai glanced at the snake, the snake eyed killer just grinned.

"I'm just waiting to see some options first. I might still run in if it gets exciting!" The snake then turned to the door, focusing on it in an instant as his tongue poked out. Sticking his tongue out a little bit more, he tested the air for a while. "...someone's here…"

The door slammed open not long after to reveal a bunch of clones. "Inmates! Stay where….you are?"

What they saw when they entered the room was a bunch of inmates just…patiently waiting. Like..good inmates…

The rattlesnake gave his best, polite smile to the clones.

"It took you a while!"

---

As Alexios ran deeper into the areas of Limbo. He soon came across a sight.

The traitors of Styx along with an inmate, both trying to escape yet helping one another. At least, that's what it seemed at first. "I DON'T CARE, I'M GETTING OUT OF HERE! I'LL GET OFF SCOT-FREE WHILE YOU'LL GET ARRESTED! I'M NOT GOING DOWN FOR YOU! THAT FRIENDLY DUMBASS WILL BACK ME UP AS ALWAYS AND IT WILL BE LIKE NOTHING HAPPENED! I'LL GET TO KEEP DOING WHAT I DO WITHOUT LIMBO THANKS TO THAT IDIOT!" the inmate shouted, hands burning with a seemingly intense flame. "NOW I'M GONNA KILL THAT SANDPAPER JACKASS IF IT'S THE LAST THING I-"

Ember Hands's eyes widened as he saw who it was standing in the hallway. "A…Alexios…!" he took a step back as the helmet-wearing traitors rushed in.

"Big mistake coming here alone!" one of the traitors shouted as they threw a punch…

That was caught by Alexios!

Alexios then, while still holding the traitor, slammed him into the wall before the traitor was shocked by the guard's barrier.

Ember Hands gulped as the normally inmate friendly guard walked forward, causing Ember Hands to look back at the small group.

"Uh, guys?"

When Ember Hands turned to the other traitors that didn't move in, they just ran with the last one saying. "You said it yourself. You don't want to fall down with us or for us. Have fun dealing with that 'friendly dumbass' you said you've been using for some time now. Bye!"

"You bastard!" Ember Hands shouted, only to see Alexios approach. "Wait, Alexios! It's not what it looks like!"

Alexios said nothing as he came to a stop.

"I…I wasn't using you! I promise! It was the only way they wouldn't kill me! You got to believe me!"

Alexios then sighed, looking up at the ceiling. "...you know…I always had a feeling," he started as those electric blue eyes fell back down onto the inmate with fiery hands that eventually went out. "I thought I'd give you a chance, a chance to change your ways."

"I am, er was!" Ember Hands put his hands together. "But then they dragged me here and forced me to-"

"That's enough." Alexios' tone was quiet, yet commanded such power it silenced Ember Hands with ease. "It seems my second chances with you were all for naught."

"No, wait-"

Alexios shook his head as he continued his approach. "You actively partook in criminal activities with Limbo, you showed what you really were despite me giving you multiple chances and you've abused that kindness that was more suited for another inmate…" electricity then began to spark around the guard. "It's over for you."

Ember Hand's hands flared up once more, to an even greater amount than the fight with Arai.

"DIE!" he screamed as he ran at full sprint right at the guard with silver sparks in his eyes. "I WON'T GO BACK! I WON'T LOSE IT ALL BECAUSE OF YOU! JUST DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE!"

INCINERATING BLAZE!

As the flaming hand inferno approached Alexios, getting ever so closer, the electrical sparks around Alexios grew in turn.

A wall of electricity appeared in front of Alexios, shocking the fire hand inmate where he stood! The criminal continued to get shocked to the point where the flames were instantly snuffed out! It wasn't long before Alexios ended the barrier, causing the unconscious inmate to fall on the floor.

Alexios sighed as he fixed up the long military coat that wore over his shoulders as it settled down from the breeze caused by his quirk.

As he looked down at his attacker, it was quite the easy takedown. Not even a challenge. Alexios looked back up at the ceiling after he cuffed the inmate and the traitor. "...it's over…"

All he had for the inmate was nothing but disappointment.

He gave chances, but if he didn't want to actually reform, then he'd just help actual inmates who really deserved it and actually regret their actions rather than someone like that. "Someone like Arthur or Sae." Yes, inmates like them. There were a lot of inmates that regret what they did and he would be there to help them.

Right now though…

There were still traitors that put the lives of inmates at risk to do with first and so, Alexios gave chase.

---

Meanwhile, in the female ward of the prison, Ashita took note of the sudden movement of the guards.

On one hand, it was probably the fighting in the co-ed ward early that they were rushing towards and the shaking too. Yet, she didn't rule out the possibility of her note being delivered and seeing some of the guards didn't head towards the co-ed ward,

It had been a while since she saw the guards appear and head off to wherever they went, perhaps they did both.

"And there it is…" thought the broker as soon the sounds of chaos erupted. Just as soon as she thought about the guards moving out a short time ago too. Funny that.

She had no idea what exactly happened, but the chaos was growing regardless.

Something had happened and she had a fair idea about what it was.

"Time for me to get out of here," Ashita thought, not wanting to get wrapped into any more messes if she was certain about what happened.

Just as she turned around to leave where she was, the very same guard that was trailing right behind her, keeping a watchful eye on her, came right at her! Fist reared back, wide eyed, and full of murderous intent as they threw a punch right at her!

The distance was closed in an instant!

It was as if everything slowed for the information broker as the guard attacked her. "Wha-! They're not taking any chances!" she recalled nothing of the sort where she slipped up in revealing Limbo's location. They kept her eyes on her the entire time. They were simply playing it safe. Eliminating the potential leak regardless of if she did or didn't leak the info.

They were going to take her out anyway!

Then again, the coincidence between Limbo's discovery and her discovery of it…didn't look good either…

"Am I going to die?"

The white haired inmate had no time to brace herself or even blink as the guard's attack…never came.

Instead…

The attacker was punched right in the face, sending them to the ground! "IDJDJAJMSOJDPAJSD!" Ashita exclaimed, before blinking and grabbing her throat at whatever she just blurted out. "JOISJDWPAS?"

The guard associated with Limbo fell to the ground as they glared at their attacker. A guard with a black mask that covered the bottom half of their face, from the bridge of their nose down. One of the three Sanzaru of Styx, Iwazaru Sarugaku.

As Iwazaru had knocked down the guard, the few inmates that were around to see the guard on guard attack were quite shocked to say the least.

"QTHSAAEH!" The guard tried to defend themselves with their actions, but was quickly kicked by Iwazaru. It wasn't long before the handcuffs came out.

Iwazaru glanced back at the info broker and the two stared at one another for a while. He then pointed at her, then gestured to stay close. Ashita, unable to speak, nodded as she stayed near the safety of a real guard as Limbo started to fall.

---

Being released back into the ward, Yua glanced over her shoulder to see the person that was supposed to be watching over her for the time being. Limbo's security. "Hm…"

There was nothing left for her but to fall back to her regular routine. Approaching Ashita would probably cause problems if they had doubts about the both of them, plus Yua was certain that the information broker could handle the task they were given. Perhaps she had already done so?

It didn't take her long to find something to pass the time.

Suddenly, after wasting some time in the ward, the world seemed to rumble as many in the ward appeared confused at what was happening. The blank face oleander convict glanced around when the rumbling receded. "What was that?" she glanced over her shoulder back at the guard keeping an eye on her, looking just as confused as everyone else in the ward.

It wasn't long after the rumbling that the guards appeared and rolled out in waves towards the co-ed ward. The assassin noted that some of the guards went elsewhere, as if breaking off from the group. "Did they plan that? Or was it just a coincidence that the rumbling occurred?"

Yua thought about meeting back up with Ashita, seeing as she saw the guards move out. It was time to report in.

There was still her observer who didn't seem phased at the guards rushing out. "They probably think it's for the co-ed ward. They must not think Limbo is discovered yet," not sparing the guard a glance, she failed to see that after some time, the guard picked up a walkie talkie. "I guess for now I just have to-"

She stopped in her tracks as she heard someone run right up behind her! From her peripheral vision, the corner of her eye, she saw just who ran right at her!

The person that was following her attacked! "Something must have happened." she thought, dodging the strike from the Limbo guard. "Guess the deal's cancelled?" she asked, but only got a growl in response.

Normally, fighting a guard would bring nothing but trouble.

It just wasn't worth it.

But, Yua had a rare opportunity. A jail free card, ironically.

She had the backing of a guard, one trusted by the wardens. Shi.

With what Yua knew of Limbo from her short time there, she knew that it was kept a secret from the other guards and wardens with how they wanted her secrecy in exchange for benefits. This Limbo guard wasn't one of the regular ones…so…

As the guard attacked her again, she flipped them over onto their back with ease.

She was free to defend herself and attack them! All she had to do was explain to Shi the situation.

Her observer got back up and threw themselves at her with quick punches and kicks, ending with a roundhouse she leaned back to dodge. The fashionable assassin dodged each strike of the guard with ease before counterattacking.

Landing her own punches where the traitor guard failed to do so.

As they came in once more, shouting profanities at her and other nonsense she didn't much care for, she flipped them over once more, letting them hit the ground face first.

If this was a normal, regular guard, she would be in a lot of trouble.

Since they weren't, she was free to make the other inmates watch in horror as she beat up a guard with ease.

"But I don't think I have to worry about that with what's going on." the expressionless inmate thought as she pinned the Limbo guard down.

The guard struggled a bit, but she shoved their head deeper into the ground.

As she kept the Limbo guard pinned, she noticed the chaos unfold around the ward.

"Yua Aoi, are you alright?" one of the clones (she assumed) ran over with a pair of handcuffs. Yua turned to face the clone and was about to respond until she saw the clone cuff the guard she pinned. "Don't worry, we know."

---

"How is this happening?! How is this HAPPENING?!" The successor kept their screams inside their skull for the present moment.

The moment their master left, not that long ago all things considered, this fucking shit happens! What luck! Shitty luck!

"Oh man, oh man! No use planning all that shit trying to pin the blame on whoever let Vito out if Limbo's down the drain!" frowned the host and mastermind of Limbo as they scurried around the room as fast as they could, grabbing everything that was worth taking. All the evidence.

"I really should have told the Master about Ashita and her little group! Now look at us! There can't be a coincidence between them finding this place and the raid happening! Fuck! Fuck!" Suddenly, the successor shook their head before slamming their cold fist down. "No. It's just like I told myself. I need to deal with my own problems, this is just one of those moments. I'll deal with this setback and make Mentor proud!"

There was a lot to do now.

"I got enough ingredients from the inmates to finish up some of the custom orders and more drones can be produced without problem. Plus the long pork that Master dropped off early today helps with that. I should signal Harvester to return soon." their large compound eyes would have glared if they could. "Mark my words! Limbo might have fallen today, but it will live on! Our plans shall not stop! Curse you!"

Opening their inhuman mouth, the successor tossed more discarded human flesh into their mouth as they picked up everything they could into a large bag they could easily carry.

Picking up a gas can that sat in the corner with their darkish green shaded hands, they tossed all the fuel around the room as much as they could. Nothing else was important enough to keep anymore.

So, pulling out a small trigger lighter, they set a small flame to the ground and within seconds, watched as the flames spread and grew along the fuel that was splattered everywhere.

Turning to the last active drone in the room, the successor shouted. "Eyesore! Engage hostiles!"

That was when the shorter drone, compared to Harvester, shot up and left the room with incredible speed. Limbo's Mastermind followed right behind their creation.

It was time to get out of there.

---

I think I mentioned this before, but I think I should mention it again. Unless I didn't then well, here we are. Which is the addition of a few new super-moves given to a couple of characters, though it won't happen often (though I think that was a given with the previous chapters when that did happen). Also, 40 chapters! Nice!