"Welcome to the Stygian Ward."
The inmates who all looked around the seemingly abandoned ward looked right at the monocle wearing guard, standing before them in this new ward. They all noticed one crucial thing immediately.
Shimaru wasn't alone.
Standing on either side of Shimaru were two guards. The two guards were quite tall but they lacked any sort of uniform that the regular guards like Shimaru wore. No, these two guards were wearing armour similar to that of Osamu, though not in the riot-like fashion. As both of these guards wore futuristic white armour, with noticeable black linings and material underneath, they also wore matching white helmets that covered their faces completely.
These two Stygian guards also held something in their hands. The one standing on Shimaru's right side had one hand on a man catcher or as some call a catchpole! The one standing on Shimaru's left also had one hand holding onto a long weapon, in fact this one wielded a kanabo!
Luckily, neither had spikes on them (though the long thin kanabo did have a lot of round iron caps), but the two guards were definitely staring the inmates down.
"The Stygian Ward?" Nozomi stepped forward, "what do you mean? I thought Styx only had three?"
"It looks more like the Abandoned Ward…" Sora mumbled, looking at the grass growing where they stood.
Shimaru shook his head, "not at all. Styx has four wards, it's just that this ward isn't used much for inmates of your standing."
"...what?" Fumma raised his head at the wording, "explain."
"Styx is home to the worst of the worst." the butler smirked. "Stygian is where the worst of the worst reside, permanently. You lot are just here for a quick punishment."
"Quick punishment?" the grey skinned Gin growled. "Are you saying that we're not even the worst?"
The guard just raised an eyebrow. "Why of course. Styx might have opened the gates to regular criminals, such as a few of you here..." As he said this, Sora watched as Koneko shrunk where she stood. "...but that doesn't mean Styx has abandoned the principle of keeping the worst of the worst within its walls. Styx does have standards on which and what criminals enter it, even among regular villains, though a few slip through the cracks. It's just that the more dangerous villains are sent here instead."
"You said this will be a quick punishment," Akita spoke up, "how long are we stuck in here?"
"Hm, that's a good question." The guard's smirk wasn't comforting at all. "Let's give it roughly a week, that should be enough time to start with."
The bomber then grinned. "A week? That's not so bad!"
"Surviving a week can be done easily." Nozomi crossed her arms as more of the inmates seemed to agree, in their own ways.
"I'm glad you all think so," Shimaru gave them a pity sigh. "It's good to be optimistic though."
It was Sora's turn to ask, "what do you mean by that?"
Shimaru then coughed as all attention was on him.
"Raise your hand if you're unfamiliar with Tai." Shimaru looked over the sixteen inmates, only for none of them to put their hands up. "Good, good. That makes things easier. This ward is full of people like Tai."
Upon hearing that, the collective thought of the group was…
"Huh?"
"A whole ward…full of…Tai?" mumbled one of the inmates as Shimaru pulled out a pocket watch. It was time for him to return.
"Yep, a full ward of both guards just as ruthless as Tai!" Shimaru gave them an innocent smile as the two guards by his side seemed to emit a different atmosphere to the inmates now.
"I think that is everything. I'll pick you up when your time is up." Shimaru then turned to the two current guards. "Have fun you two, don't rough them up too bad."
As Shimaru closed his eyes, all he said to the inmates with a smile was, "good luck with surviving!" and with the clap of his hands, he was gone!
Now all that was left were the sixteen inmates and the two futuristic armoured guards armed with two long reach weapons. However as the one with the man catcher raised their weapon, they slammed the catchpole into the ground as they turned to the kanabo holder.
And both…threw their hands at each other with three distinct shakes!
The one with the kanabo fell to their knees with an open hand while the catchpole wielder's hand held out the clear sign for scissors!
As the catchpole guard cheered, the inmates in their stunned confusion at the sight were shaken loose when one of them lunged forward, grinning all the while. "Screw waiting around!" Inyoku charged right in as suddenly, the guard with the catchpole turned around, slamming their weapon around the snake's neck and slamming them into the ground, as they struggled to get the catchpole off them.
The guard looked up as they watched as Gin charged them. "It's not bad if there are only two of them."
The guard with the man catcher lifted Inyoku on the catchpole and threw the convict right at the grey skinned Gin Shinoha!
As Gin took the suddenly thrown Inyoku, Chikuha picked up a small rock from the ground and pitched it right at the guard! It was like the ward was just giving her ammo! Sadly for her, the one in the kanabo ran forward and hit a home run on her thrown time bomb, sending it back as it soon exploded, sending any nearby inmate back from the force.
Gin and Inyoku got back to their feet right after as the two guards walked forward. The one with their kanabo resting their weapon on their shoulder as the one with the catchpole spun the weapon in their hand, prepared for the next assault.
However, some inmates got the hint early and legged it. Koneko followed Sora and Nozomi as they ran down the hall, Remko and Zuko made their escape with Touya having already left the moment the fighting (if you could call it that) started. The quirkless Li soon left once he noticed the disappearance of his target and Rin followed after, but only after hesitating on whether or not to join in to get some blood. The only reason why he followed was the sole promise of a lifetime's supply of blood from Remko.
Fumma and Akita had already left in a leisurely way with Akita looking for her girls. David only left to make sure Li and Remko would be alright, Juro despite being pretty calm left just after Touya and finally, Kuroishi stood there, remaining behind, prepared.
Four remained behind as the twelve booked it from the hallway, deeper into the pits of the Stygian Ward!
"They really booked it, huh?" Chihuka glanced back where the other convicts used to be as she grabbed some more ammo.
Kuroishi stepped forward as his bones emerged from his body, wrapping around the giant with ease to form a protective armour.
"Just forget them," Gin scoffed, as he watched Kuroishi walk forward. "Are you going next, Kuroishi?"
"Naturally."
As the bone covered Kuroishi stood a fair distance from the other three inmates, the two guards shared a look with one another before the one with the kanabo stepped forward.
Still with the kanabo resting on their shoulder, the guard lifted their weapon as they pointed it at the bone covered inmate.
All the bone armoured inmate had to say was, "bring it."
Inyoku, who wanted nothing more than to join in, stood back as he watched the scene that was about to unfold. The slitted snake eyed inmate glanced at the other guard, the one with the catchpole just standing there, spinning their weapon in their hand as they watched.
Kuroishi raised his arms while the guard gripped their weapon with their other hand as they switched into a two-handed reverse grip, pulling the kanabo behind them like they were prepared to unsheathe a blade to strike down their foe.
The two stood before one another, unmoving. The guard ready to strike and the bone horned inmate ready to take the blow.
"Hey, uh, can you two get a move on no-" Chikuha had no time to finish as the guard darted forward with great speed as they brought their reverse gripped kanabo right at the bone armoured inmate!
Showing speed that Kuroishi wasn't initially prepared for, the bone covered villain braced himself for impact!
The swing of the kanabo landed right on target! A powerful swing that hit the centre of Kuroishi's chest with both a loud thud and what sounded like a crack as the powerful swing performed by the guard sent their opponent backwards!
Kuroishi was blasted back as his feet dragged along the ground a fair distance. He had already passed the three he was with as he eventually came to a stop as the hefty weight of his bone armour slowed him down while he shifted all his weight into stopping. When the inmate looked down, right where the kanabo landed, the bones were cracked until a few pieces of the rib cage armour fell to the ground.
"Enough to crack my armour like this and push me back this far?" The long haired inmate looked back up to see the guard hold their kanabo normally once more. "And that's possibly without their quirk. Interesting!"
Slowly putting a foot forward, the sound of rattling started to fill the hallway.
It was then that Inyoku shouted. "Finally! Our turn!"
"Maybe when this is all over, we can go on a vacation?" Lambert asked as he looked over to his fellow doctor.
His fellow doctor just glanced over her shoulder at him. "It would be nice." she returned to the computer before her.
"Looking over the footage again?" he asked, wheeling himself over on his office chair. When he reached her, he pretty much answered his own question.
On the computer's monitor was the footage taken from a week ago.
It was already playing…
An armoured guard stood in front of a tall figure. A figure no one knew. They were tall, lacking eyes but containing visible eye sockets. The right arm had what looked like a drill-like three pointed claw while the left arm was that of a large tendril.
Clad in a dark ruined uniform with multiple belts and chains, the figure then opened their mouth as blood covered the floor of the ward. Without eyes, it was staring right at the armoured man. "Trash."
Then they lunged at their target.
The following was grim as the armoured guard was impaled and the perpetrator fled the scene. The cameras were able to keep up with the hulking figure they soon learnt was addressed as Harvester, but then, static.
"Even with other security cameras, it ends up in static, even locations that make no sense were showing static…clearly signs of this Limbo mastermind." Carna huffed, rewinding the footage. "Apparently that footage and the part where he was impaled were both visions Muika had…" she added, thanks to what Muika had said during a quick check-up before she was taken straight home.
"Anything on that shadow? Or are we still in the dark on that one?" Lambert asked as he watched the security footage.
"It hasn't shown up on any other recordings…only that finger collection. Must be playing it safe."
In the room someone else yawned, causing the two to look behind them to the bed occupied by a winged guard. "You'll… find them...!" the tired harpy yawned out as her foot talon rubbed her eyes.
"Have a nice nap?" the male doctor asked.
"Yep!"
Lambert could only shake his head with a smile. "Thanks for offering to be a subject again. I just hope it doesn't have long term effects though…"
The short harpy guard raised her wing-arms. "Lamby, you also took it upon yourself to be a test subject too! Plus, we need more people to tell the wardens!"
He was about to say something when the door opened, revealing one of the prison's wardens.
"I heard you found something?" Seimei walked into the room, "what did you discover?"
Carna, raising a clipboard, began immediately, "when we ran an autopsy on the bodies that were discovered in Limbo, while we can confirm that the villain Maneater has consumed the flesh of the deceased, but the main thing we found was that two others also consumed the flesh of the deceased…one of them fits with the body Shi found long ago."
"So the body tamperer is here…and probably the mastermind or a higher up…" the warden mumbled. It wouldn't be long before all the other lower ranked, regular members of Limbo would be caught thanks to Ashita. That left the higher ups that kept up their secrecy.
"Do you also have a list of their quirks?" he asked, "apparently one of Limbo's associates, Harvester, was reported targeting people with quirks and consuming their body parts. Not really sure what for, but we have some theories…"
Carna nodded as she pointed to the computer, "the same quirks we listed last time with the deceased and missing body parts, we compiled all them with the more recent cases." She then turned to the computer. "Ink, Blood Tendril, Steel Gauntlet, Iron Gauntlet, Fake Gold, Whip Fingers, Eyelatches and more. A quick investigation shows that many have been from Limbo as well as out in the ward." she said right as Lambert spoke up next.
"We also ran a test on the vial that was found by Shimaru in the co-ed ward," the doctor with binding fingers said.
"What did you find?" he glanced over to the other doctor as Suimin stretched her wings.
"We believe that it might be smuggled in or obtained behind staff lines," Lambert sighed. "It's definitely a quirk boosting drug as well as an overall performance enhancer."
Seimei placed a wrapped package on the table, the wrapping already undone as it opened to reveal lines of vials with green liquid within. "We intercepted this parcel today when we went to apprehend Fumma. Are they the same?"
Quickly taking one of the vials, Lambert's inspection and test was quick. "...yep, they're the same. It's a hero-grade drug."
"Hero grade?" the winged guard asked. "Heroes are doing drugs now?"
Carna shrugged as she typed away at the computer. "More or less. Support companies are always bringing out new tech, but drugs are a new one." She paused to look at the rest of the group. "It was always gadgets, but when there's a company that also works in multiple fields, it's no surprise that someone managed to produce quirk boosting drugs."
"The only company that works in both pharmaceuticals and hero support gadgets that can produce hero-grade drugs to use in the field would have to be Helping Hand." the tired looking Lambert waved his hand as he spun around on the office chair. "It has to be them, seeing as we've asked Furore and his sidekick about it and they've confirmed it."
"Unless someone else suddenly came to the market, but it's a Helping Hand support gadget." Carna mumbled. "The main problem here is where it was obtained. Was it smuggled in like those ones? Or was it obtained elsewhere? Did someone bring it in themselves? We know that Sagimaru drops by and offers us stuff like that from time to time."
"Since it was found in the co-ed ward, it could have been from the fighting that happened there." Lambert offered his own thoughts.
Seimei gave the two a look as Suimin's head popped over his shoulder. "While this package was smuggled in to be given to an inmate, Fumma, I do not recall us having any of these drugs on site or at all." the black haired warden closed his eyes. "I could be mistaken."
"We have accepted other stuff he has dropped off before," Lambert said, spinning his chair a little. "It could be possible that that kind of drug was added without much notice? However, I'm sure we would have noticed it then though…"
"It doesn't help that in his old age he acts like someone's spoiling grandpa at times!" Suimin grinned at the last time she saw that exact image play out. "He probably gave it to someone who asked for it without question!"
The warden opened his eyes at that. "That's…definitely a possibility." As he glanced at Carna, he said, "make sure to make a list of who to question first when it comes to interacting with Sagimaru. Since this drug wasn't listed in any of our armouries or storage facilities, we need to find out what else wasn't noted down. We can't rule out smuggling or that someone bought it on their own time and money either, but it's still good to know especially if anyone that was with Limbo managed to ask for anything from him."
"Roger that." the human tranquilliser nodded.
"Oh and make sure to add the inmates that were in the co-ed ward to that list as well as Anayama. We can't take chances." Warden Tokugawa quickly added in as the doctor gave a thumbs up.
It was then that the short harpy woman said aloud, "Sagimaru has dropped off a lot huh? Parts for the armourers, ingredients for the kitchen, some extra medical supplies for you two and quite a lot now that I think about it!"
"Well…" the tired male doctor yawned. "He has been a helping hand to us…"
"Lamby! You did that on purpose!"
As Suimin patted her wing on the tired man's head, the other doctor got the warden's attention.
"Another thing to mention is the other type of quirk boosting drug we have locked away," the sedation-quirk doctor added.
"Oh yeah!" Suimin chirped. "All the contraband!"
"At the time when we were still unsure of the drug," the binding doctor crossed their arms. "We ran cross checks among the two."
"Despite the colour difference, the purple smuggled drug is weaker than the green hero one." Carna stretched where she sat as she took over. "It doesn't give the same boost and it lasts shorter too, but there was a match between them."
The warden raised an eyebrow at that. "A match? You're saying that the hero grade drug and that underworld black market drug match?"
"As we said, its boost is short lived and weaker compared to the hero made one, which is longer and stronger. Yet when we analysed the liquid of both, we found there was a match between them, even if it's a bit more flimsy. While we don't know how these are really created, matching patterns have emerged. Not quite the same, but similar, like they were made from the same stuff."
"It wouldn't be the first time someone took support gadgets and tried to make cheaper alternatives even if it becomes weaker." said the other doctor, yawning. "Even so when the company in question is open to a wide array of buyers that aren't always heroes."
The warden nodded. It was true. A hero-grade boosting drug like that would be pretty up there in price…so weaker versions for cheaper wouldn't be out of the question.
All it really took was one legitimate buyer that decided they wanted a cut and set out to make a fortune with inferior copies.
"Cheaper, weaker and easier to supply and roll out in quantity." Tokugawa tapped his foot on the floor. "A real quality vs quantity selection."
"Another thing is the mints we gathered from the Limbo traitors." Lambert held up a container of the mints in question. "We did some tests and it's the real main reason we called you here. While the others are important and could help, this is the main one."
"How so?"
Lambert popped the mint case open. "Upon testing these mints, we found that they are actually drugs."
The words Ashita mentioned just moments ago rang in the warden's mind. "Do they bypass Eris' quirk?" he asked the important question, making the three in the room look at each other.
"It does." Lambert sighed, running his hand through his hair. "When consumed, it leaves the target with a blank expression but they don't recall a thing. Answers they know are suddenly forgotten."
"When I came back from the operation to bring Mariko back, I was apparently like that!" the cheerful harpy flapped her wings. "I can show you! It doesn't last too long!" Suimin already took one of the 'mints' and threw it into her own mouth.
And after a really short amount of time, her expression became blank.
"Suimin?! Are you okay?" the warden gave the guard a look, only for the blank faced guard to nod. "Why did you take the mint? Do you know what day it is or know my codename?"
"What mint? Huh? Day? I don't know…"
"Did you have a nice nap?" the tired doctor asked, only for the guard to tilt her head. "It's time for Operation Eurydice, you ready?"
"Operation…Eurydice? What's that about?" she asked with a blank face.
As they asked Suimin a bunch of different questions that she obviously knew, the end result was the same. She knew nothing.
It didn't take too long for her to regain her old self though. A couple of minutes at most.
"A blank stare…it's the same as the ones we questioned. Now we know how they're doing it. Liquid and pill form." the warden glanced from the mints…or pills now that the secret was unveiled.
It explained why some pulled them out when they encountered Eris during the raid.
He had to let Eris know!
"Thank you for your hard work." he gave a nod to the three of them. "Please continue to fill us in if you find anything else out."
"No problem!" Suimin flapped her wings.
The three watched as the warden headed back into the wards, leaving them to their own work and investigation.
Muika sat on the lounge that was once shared between her…and her now gone brother. Sitting on the table before her, currently, is a small urn filled with ashes that she brought home from the funeral after the cremation.
As her fingers dug into her hair, she had no idea what to think as she heard her father leave another voice message on their…her answering machine. "Just…stop…" she shakily sputtered out. Since the day he learnt of Osamu's passing, it felt like everyday was her father demanding that she returned home.
Yet, as her father left a message right after the beep, the ultraviolet haired woman didn't even spare a glance at the small ash filled urn on the table.
A refusal out of shame and…confliction.
Biting her bottom lip, the droopy eyed woman just sat there as she tried to make sense of everything that happened.
"I'm sorry, Osamu," she said to the urn. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it."
The droopy and teary eyed counsellor still didn't look at his ashes. It was like everything happened that day just hit her like it just happened.
Her clear frustration over his overprotectiveness, the words of fellow co-worked agreeing and calling him a siscon to the point of being gross and creepy, how controlling and manipulating he was, how possessive he was, how he was going to get her fired from the job he managed to help her get, how she compared him to their parents and much more.
Then the memories of him getting impaled on someone's drill arm played in her mind right after.
She had no idea what to think about it all other than feeling like actual trash when she thought about all those horrible thoughts about her brother…and how she saw some actual truth within the words of her co-workers about her brother's actions when she looked back on it… before her nasty vision struck.
She fidgeted in her own home as her mind went back to the assailant in her vision. There was no doubt about it, it was the very same person right down to the details of their appearance. The dark ruined uniform, the multiple belts and chains over their body and the visible eye sockets that looked her way after tossing her brother to the side.
It was truly the exact same person she saw in both her visions.
The moment they lunged at her brother…and the moment they impaled her brother.
…even if the end result of the last visions was only slightly altered…
Now completely exhausted from her brother's funeral, witnessing the murderer killing her brother that caused said funeral, the multiple voice messages her father left on the landline phone and the conflicting thoughts that filled her head about her brother from her own frustration with his overprotectiveness and the words from other guards and co-workers…as well as the fact she would never be able to apologise to Osamu.
It all piled up incredibly quickly.
She felt like falling over. She felt like collapsing.
And she did.
Falling to her side on the longue, all she could do was curl up into a ball. The tightest ball she could muster.
Right now though, she had to make a decision on something very important.
Return to work…or find a new job.
Sitting in the area where visitors come to visit the inmates, sat a young woman in front of a phone. Once a rare occurence from only heroes and high positions in law and government fields that became more open thanks to the change of inmates the prison received…even if visitors were still rare due to the prison's location.
Making the use of the phones in Styx much more preferred.
Fushiko Karakuri sat in front of the phone as she picked it up with her hand that had her dis-coloured pinky.
Keeping the phone close to her ear, she simply waited as the guard on duty gave her a nod.
"Hello?" As soon as Fushiko said hello, the familiar voice on the other end responded with an energy that rivalled the energetic inmate perfectly.
"Fushiko!"
"Kanako!"
"Are you doing well?" Kanako asked. "Are you eating well? Sleeping well? Not pranking the guards too much over there are you?"
The detaching inmate could only laugh. "Kanako! I should be asking YOU all that! Just replace the guards in your case though!"
As the two laughed, this person on the other end was someone close to the prisoner's heart.
Kanako Moriyama.
Fushiko Karakuri's best friend!
The incredibly pale inmate eventually stopped laughing as she asked, "how are you? Is it going well? How is your health?"
"Fushiko…" Kanako groaned, "I'm alright, just like the last time we talked. Still stuck in bed sadly, but I'm doing well and I'm not over-exerting myself…"
"Kana…you're trying to hold back a cough…" for the first time, Fushiko's smile faded a little. As her best friend, caught in the act, let out a really nasty cough that could have shot out a lung or two, Kanako quickly responded.
"I'm fine, Fushiko. It's okay." As silence sat between the two, Kanako continued. "We've talked about this before, remember? I don't think of you differently just because you're behind bars now. You've done what you could for me so-"
A small laugh came from the criminal. "I know, I know! I still remember how you chewed me out on that little chat of ours. Still got that bite, huh?"
"Oh shut it you."
"Nah."
Even if it was only on a phone, Fushiko could tell that her best friend just shook her head in that usual way of hers. It wasn't long before the pair chuckled, mostly at old memories.
"I'm glad to hear that you're doing well," Kanako beamed through the phone. "Anything new that happened?"
"And the same for me! I'm happy to hear that you're doing better!" the black haired woman with dark brown eyes grinned. "Yep! A lot has happened, but you'll never get my secrets! You gotta hand over your side of things too!"
"You drive a hard bargain…alright!"
As Fushiko and Kanako exchanged stories, the guard on duty just watched as the inmate had the time of her life on the phone, which was the usual result of these phone calls. It was hard not to smile along at the sheer genuine joy that Fushiko radiated from her. It could have fed even the most sadden souls.
The guard looked down at their watch that beeped. That much time had passed? The guard quickly gestured to the inmate. "Ah, sorry Kanako. It seems that the phone time is up for today! We might only have time for just one two-minute chat."
"Ah, of course. Time flies. Just when we were having fun too, shame you have to have a time limit though." Moriyama hummed for a bit as she thought of something for their last topic. "Hm, well, I think I got one."
Karakuri with her discoloured pinky hummed in turn. "Whatcha got in mind?"
"Got any new friends since last time? Give me the details if you do!" Fushiko's bestie asked, only for Fushiko to grin.
"Yep!"
…
Meanwhile in the male ward, Reiji looked between the two he was currently seated with, Johnny and Jin.
Reiji was…unsure about why the three were seated together.
It wasn't like they were friends or anything. "Is it because of the mostly empty feeling?" The ward did feel a little emptier than usual.
There were still guards and other inmates around, though there was a change in the air so to speak. Reiji was wondering about that feeling as Johnny asked, "so he attacked you after learning that there was never a parole? Never thought he'd raise a hand against someone he considered new in the prison, though then again, I barely know him or been here super long myself…"
"Yeah, it was like he saw only red. The only real problem was his quirk though." Jin nodded, "and what about you? Assisting in stopping a jailbreak isn't something most convicts would ever do."
Johnny flipped through some playing cards he made as he dealt out a hand, it was something to do while they talked. "I am a vigilante after all…besides, I didn't do that much though…"
It was then that Reiji checked back in, "so what was Limbo anyway?" he asked as Johnny shared the same curiosity. It was brought up earlier when the three somehow got together and started just talking about the events they've been through. Limbo was one of those topics, though it wasn't touched on much.
"From what I've spent there, an underground fighting arena," the crystal inmate revealed. "I don't know if there's any other purpose to it though. When it was raided, that's when David attacked me and really, the only notable thing I really remembered outside of watching inmates fight each other."
"That explains what happened then," Reiji mumbled, picking up the cards. "I haven't seen David or anyone else either. I heard the warden came through here earlier, but…"
Johnny then added, "I haven't seen Inyoku, Kuroishi or Gin either. Are they still in solitary confinement?"
"Right after Limbo's raid too, something must be happening…" the rookie of the group thought as he picked up the cards. "Anyways, Reiji. What did you do in all the chaos that happened recently?" he asked, hoping to get the conversation flowing on a different track.
"Oh! Ah, not much…not much at all…"
As Reiji gave a nervous little laugh, Jin called out. "Got any sevens?"
"...go fish."
The trio played their little card games, talking about current events they witnessed, unaware of what was happening to the other inmates in question.
…
In the co-ed ward, Yua Aoi was sitting at one of the tables in the now repaired ward. Ever since the discovery and raid on Limbo, things felt a little peaceful…in a strange way. "It feels like something is about to happen…" she didn't know when, but she couldn't shake the feeling.
The stoic inmate didn't dwell on it much however as she looked up at the shadow that crept up on the table.
Blinking, the inmate with petal eyelashes watched as the inmate standing before her, Sae Kumiza, rubbed the back of her neck. "Hey, uh…" she refused to look the blank faced inmate in the face for long periods, only quick glances here and there. "Anyone sitting here?"
"No."
"Oh…" the inmate that was usually a loner removed her hand and crossed her arms instead.
"Can I help you?" Yua asked, blinking at the former hero that stood before her.
Sae just sighed as she sat down. "I was just wondering if you wanted to hang out?" she tilted her head a bit. "You know, after the whole Limbo debacle."
Yua just stared as she watched the bandaged inmate get comfortable across from her. "Are you perhaps feeling lonely?" she asked out of the blue, no real change in expression which made the former hero freeze for a second.
It wasn't a secret to know that Sae Kumiza was a loner, especially as a former hero turned villain.
Especially with how Sae kept other inmates away from her, which did prevent most attacks. Most.
"Was it that obvious?" Dark Feather shot a weak smile, but at least she tried.
"You've been keeping your distance with the whole ward," Yua started, "it's natural to feel lonely if you're not used to it."
Sae had to admit, even though she was a loner and made sure to keep it that way in Styx, those days when she was paired up with Yua and Ashita…she opened up. "...yeah, I suppose…it's been a while since I've opened up I guess." she sighed out, thinking back to the last time she was this open, or perhaps more. "I haven't been this open since the agency I worked in…I wonder how they're doing…do they despise me? No, don't go there, Sae."
As the warm tainted memories washed over her, Dark Feather could only think about how she missed those days, when they were like the family she never really got to have. A place where she felt like she could be herself and not some loner. "I miss them…"
The former hero stood from where she just sat. "So uh, yeah…" she said as silence was the only thing that replied, especially when she noticed that Yua had not said a word since. "It was probably just a job to them, wasn't it? What reason would either of them have to just hang out?"
"Sorry about that, guess I just needed to get that out. I'll be going now." Dark Feather was about to leave and return to her loner routine.
"You can stay," Yua spoke up, breaking Sae out of her thoughts. "I don't mind your company, if that's what you're worried about."
Sae didn't move an inch as she asked, "you sure?"
"I'm sure."
Sitting back down, Sae tried to think of something to say as she started to talk with the inmate she worked with. It wasn't long before she started talking away about different things from stuff she wanted to talk about to topics for general conversation.
As it turned out, it was exactly what she needed all along.
…
Elsewhere, Mariko Tsujihara sat by herself as she kept an eye on the multiple inmates around her. Not once did anyone attack her when she got back. Sure she dealt with the wave of meeting the legend in person with people either believing her escape or not.
Yet, no there was no one that knew her from her past exploits. "...I was told that they were all gone now…either in other prisons or dead…" she thought, watching inmates go by. "Not sure about the male ward, but it seems like they were telling the truth."
It's been over a week and then some and it appeared that it was true. Speaking about the news she was told when she arrived, she thought back to the note she was told to deliver. It seemed that while the guards were cautious with her, that note did seem to help.
Though, there was one guard that seemed to trust her more than the others…
"Are you doing okay?" a man's voice said as they sat down next to her. "If you're having any problems, feel free to come to us."
The man sitting next to her was none other than Alexios Tatopoulos.
"Are you sure you should be spending time sitting with an inmate like this?" she asked instead as Alexios leaned back a little.
"Of course!" he said with a large smile. "If sitting and talking here like this helps any inmate, then of course that's what I'll do. I know many of the other guards aren't like me, but that doesn't mean we just ignore problems our inmates are facing."
Mariko just looked at him, not entirely convinced.
"Take Shi and Tai, both of them are quick to put inmates in their place should they step out of line, but even they know when to step back. Shi and the inmates that discovered Limbo or Tai with Ashita and Johnny. Sure they might not show it, but they stepped back and put their trust in the inmates with the events that unfolded and recently with Tai and Ashita, personally thanked them for their assistance." Alexios continued, placing his hand on the shoulder of the Tsujihara family's black sheep.
Mariko didn't say anything for a while as her eyes drifted from the beige haired guard's electric blue eyes down to the floor. "Why?"
"Hm?" Alexios almost missed it.
"Why?" she repeated, a little louder.
"Why what?" A bit of confusion was starting to show on the guard's face.
Mariko looked back to the man sitting next to her. "Why are you…being…so trusting?" she asked, seeing his eyes widen a little. "I was the one that escaped Styx, the first in history and probably the only inmate to do so. Maybe, I'm not sure. Maybe someone will try to follow my footsteps, but…but you're sitting here, offering nothing but trust, even when I brought Ashita's note, you were the one that didn't give me a cautious look…"
As she rambled, Alexios Tatopoulos just listened, only occasionally patting her shoulder.
"...I know, I know," Alexios sighed, removing his hand. "I…believe that a lot of people deserve second chances. Many inmates here do not regret their actions or refuse to change, but there are also many that do want to change, that do regret."
Facing her head on, he continued. "Your jailbreak was the first time you actually did something the other inmates would have done. You also felt guilty for the crimes you committed and that's why I'm here. You are deserving of a second chance, not many can say that in the river of hatred." he said, standing up. "I better get going now, but remember Mariko, feel free to seek us out whenever you have a problem, or me if you feel that's more comfortable."
It wasn't long before he left with a wave, something the short silver haired jailbreaker did in return.
When Alexios was gone from her line of sight, Mariko just stared in his general direction with what he said repeating in her mind. "Deserving of a second chance?" Mariko was…completely unsure about that.
It…was nice to hear though.
…
Ashita huffed as she nursed her head. When she opened her upturned light green eyes and looked around where she was currently residing. It was a first for the information broker, sitting in an area only reserved for the guards.
In a place where convicts weren't allowed, but she was…and without punishment to boot!
Right now the information broker was resting after a round of questioning the guards that were a part of Limbo. Sadly for her, some of the questions she asked were met with nothing…and of course a headache…mainly the headache, but she felt nothing but pride when she easily bypassed the drugs they used to avoid being questioned.
"We went through a lot of guards so quickly, plus there's still a ton to go. Just gotta deal with this headache until the warden comes back…" when she stopped to think about it, she was practically on break! It kinda felt like she was a member of the prison's staff! Speaking of guards, she glanced at the guard that sat in the room with her.
Naturally, she wasn't alone in these out of bound areas as Dahlia Pietyr sat nearby, concentrating on her phone.
Leaving the guard alone, Ashita mentally reviewed everything she learnt about from the guards, the traitor ones.
"With the multiple questions we've prepared and the discovery of the drugs they've used, it should be easy breezing through the rest of the guards, especially with the warden focusing on the ones that I'm not using my quirk on, after the drug's usual time limit expires." It made her wonder if they'll find anything about those higher ups that seemed to go uncaught and still apparently roaming the prison.
While she was busy reviewing her thoughts, Dahlia glanced up from her phone, looking right at the information broker.
"...it seems we've resorted to relying on inmates again, at least it's someone trustworthy…" the silent and reserved guard thought as she watched the prisoner do whatever it was she was doing. "And to think that Tai himself went ahead and brought her here, the world truly is going to shit if Tai's being nice to an inmate."
She kept watch over the inmate, going back to her phone every now and then.
"And to think there were so many members of Limbo discovered too and more remnants are being brought in even now…what the hell…I'll be glad when this is finally all over." Dahlia leaned back in her chair as Ashita was focused more on the information she learnt as well as the headache she was having.
Dahlia looked back at her phone as the message from Eris came in out of nowhere.
The warden was on her way!
It was time to get back to work soon.
…
In a cell, in the female ward, sat an inmate with very, very dull silver eyes.
Demelza huffed as she laid on her prison bed, curled up the best she could.
Looking up from her bed, the incredibly dark silver eyed Demelza immediately glanced down to the mask on the floor. She absolutely hated this, it was the dullest her eyes have ever been! Pulling her grim reaper styled hooded cape's hood over her head even further, she tried her best to gain something, anything other than the current negative waves of emotions she was going through.
She had failed to see Fushiko again. That sweet, happy prisoner. A real genuine bundle of joy. Unfortunately for the curled up inmate, ever since that day just over a week ago, the prison's atmosphere seemed to change.
The lip pierced inmate shivered as she looked down right miserable.
The prison Styx had a gloomy feeling, as she called it. There were a lot of negative emotions at present, causing her to curl up in bed, trying her hardest to deal with the flood of emotions.
She hated whenever this happened. "Fushiko…" she whined. "No…someone happy…anyone."
The hooded inmate's hand slowly crawled up to her neck.
Demelza Brathwaite, the glossy skinned inmate that was usually quite cheery in most groups within the ward, was trying her hardest to expel the built up negativity.
It was like she was starving.
There were barely any positive emotions at present and the stuff that was around? Barely worth anything substantial.
Only slivers of slivers at best.
"Why did I have to get caught like that? A prison is the worst place for a person like me! Especially with my quirk! Damn it, damn it, damn it! Just had to get lured in with my own addiction!" The inmate began to roll on the bed as her frustration was starting to get through before she rolled off the bed with a loud thud.
Falling off the prison cell's bed, Demelza glanced at the door for quite some time as her hands released themselves as she immediately grabbed onto her mask. She had to take matters into her own hands and get her fill by any means necessary.
Anyone would do, anyone positive.
Anyone.
"Hey, they all split up." a voice said. "Let's go 'greet' our new guests!"
"..."
"Are they really worth our time?" a new voice asked as the other remained silent.
The first voice seemed to pout. "Come on! It's been ages since we got some fresh blood in here! It'll be fun to put them in their places!"
"...I guess…I can go…" another, different voice spoke up.
"Great! Then-" the voice was stopped when yet another voice spoke up.
"No, no. Let's not intercept them just yet," they said, cutting off the other voice. "Leave this to me and we can make this even more fun."
…
In the ward that no regular inmate knew about, many inmates darted off into different directions in small groups.
Running down the halls, running through some overgrown grass, the twelve left the other four behind as they put distance between them and their supervision.
However as the twelve ran through their new ward, it seemed they weren't left completely alone.
Mounted on the walls were not only cameras.
"Watch out!" Nozomi called out as the mounted 'cameras' turned to them as a loud bang followed shortly after.
While cameras were the ones that decorated the ward high up, some of these cameras were a part of mounted turrets! As a small group of inmates scattered at the shot, what was left behind wasn't anything resembling a regular bullet.
The more inmates ran into the fray, the more the mounted turrets in the area fired at them, dispersing any established groups even further as they all ran in different directions!
"Shit!" scowled Fumma as he used Jormungandr to protect himself, running down a hall while Akita took it easy with her quirk with no real worry at first thanks to the under five seconds limits of her quirk, until the rate of fire forced her to choose a hall to go down.
"Fucking hell!"
"AAHHH!"
"Oh come on!"
The turret fire only ended once the twelve inmates were all scrambled and disoriented. It left the twelve completely scattered as they all went down different halls, turns and paths.
Once all the inmates scattered even more, in complete mayhem, a voice grinned from ear to ear.
"There we go, much better. Mixing things up is much more entertaining."
…
"What the hell?! I can't believe they opened fire on us!" Sora shouted as she leaned against the wall after making some distance from the mounted turret's barrage.
"When they said we'd be punished, they definitely meant it…" David, a little less down in the dumps, mentioned as he wondered about the other two newbies, Remko and Li.
The last member of the group just sighed as they sat against the wall, taking as much time as needed to catch their breath. The one eyed Juro looked up at the two. "We gotta keep moving…" they huffed out. "We have no idea if they have other methods to punish us."
"...but the turrets didn't seem to be targeting us when they opened fire nor did it seem to take my situation into consideration." While Juro knew they were being sent to another ward while Anayama and co were being looked into, they did know that they weren't going to be completely left off the hook either. "I'm still being punished thanks to Kara…and maybe Rhys? I did use my quirk on him when Gin and Kuroishi hunted him down…did they reveal my involvement in it? They probably did and I'm probably being punished for that, assisting in a murder and all that and Kara probably doesn't help seeing as she isn't connected with Anayama or Underbelly. But what was the point in that poor shooting? What are they planning?"
As Juro sat there in thought, David seemed to agree with getting a move on. "It might be better to stay in larger numbers for now, until we truly know what we're dealing with."
Sora just gave the bearded man a look. "I think a smaller group is more manageable for now," she said, looking around the ward. "...this place is kinda like a labyrinth, huh?"
As Juro looked around the room, they got back onto their feet. "Group size doesn't matter, let's just go. If they sent those two to come after us the moment we got here, we need to keep moving before more come."
The group of three then proceeded down the only path open to them. Like hell they were going back into the gunfire.
…
Elsewhere, two inmates walked down one of the halls. "Stop following me. It's creepy." Akita scowled at the man walking with her down the hall.
"Following you? You're the one following me!" Fumma growled back. "Why don't you go back the way you came?"
The top dog of the female ward just glared at the leader of male ward's biggest group. "And let you take my original route? Fuck no, you head back and get shot."
Gritting his teeth together, the former yakuza captain and self-proclaimed founder of his brand new prison yakuza syndicate just glared at the younger inmate.
"Aww, what's wrong?" the outgoing Akita sounded more than confident as her smirk turned into a vicious grin. "Are you upset because you want to follow me? Sorry, but I don't want your ugly ass getting near my girls."
It was like every vein had popped in Fumma's face, almost throwing a punch at what he supposed was his ward counterpart.
As he held himself back from lashing out, considering the unknown factor of this so-called Stygian ward, Fumma instead chose to attack in a different way. "Your girls? You just claim that they are a part of your little group! THE ONES YOU SAY YOU CLAIM TO BE APART OF YOUR GROUP DON'T TAKE YOU SERIOUSLY! YOU PRACTICALLY HAVE NO ONE! YOU ACT LIKE YOU HAVE A BIG GROUP BUT YOU BARELY HAVE ANYONE! YOU'RE DELUSIONAL!"
This time, Akita just glared at Fumma as she gave him the middle finger. "At least MINE actually like me and aren't staying with me out of fear! At least I NEVER RAISE MY HAND AT THEM! AT LEAST MINE ARE NEVER ABUSED! YOU GO THROUGH THEM LIKE TISSUES! I'M SURPRISED THAT YOU EVEN HAVE A GROUP STILL AROUND!"
Suddenly, without warning, the pair lashed at each other as Fumma's thrown punch sailed right through Akita's head without doing much as Akita's punch however did in fact connected with Yoshitsune's face.
As Fumma staggered back from the punch, Akita just laughed. "Wow, you're really dumb, aren't ya?"
Glaring at his enemy, Jormungandr sprouted out from between Fumma's shoulder blades!
All he did was growl in rage…
…
Down a different path, Touya Kotaki watched with Nozomi as Li paced back and forth. "It seems another person has joined," he said, shifting the shades that were acting as anti-quirk countermeasures.
Nozomi didn't say a word as she watched as Li punched the wall.
"THOSE FUCKERS GOT AWAY!" Li shouted as he tried his hardest to put a decent dent in the wall, to no avail. "WHEN I FIND THOSE TWO I'LL KILL THEM! I'LL RIP THEM TO PIECES!"
"So what did they do?" Nozomi asked the man standing next to her.
As Touya went to say, Li was the one that shouted. "THOSE FUCKERS LEFT ME BEHIND!" he roared. "INSTEAD OF HELPING ME DURING OUR ESCAPE, THOSE FUCKS RAN AWAY! TO ESCAPE ON THEIR OWN THOSE BASTARDS! I'LL KILL THEM FOR LEAVING ME BEHIND!"
"Oh?" Touya lifted the anti-quirk shades. "I'm not on the list?"
"You?" Li glared at him, "hell no. You stayed behind with me, it's just those two bastards who need to be erased!"
Touya only smirked as he put the shades back down.
Nozomi could only look between the two as she sighed at the group she got stuck with somehow. "Let's just keep moving before any more guards show up." she said, taking control of the group and leading down the only path forward.
…
Another path, another assortment of inmates. However for the inmate that ended up scattered thanks to the machine gun fire of the turrets, they were left feeling…worried. Scared even.
Koneko Hirayama had no idea who these two really were, personally that is. She at least knew their names from the roll call right before Shimaru gave his speech and sent them here.
Right now though, the now one armed and one eyed inmate was separated from Nozomi and Sora and in a strange ward that was meant to punish them all!
"It's better if we all stay together," Remko said, leading the group. "We might find a way out of here."
"If we're lucky…" Zuko mumbled under his breath as Koneko took note of the basic prosthetic leg he had.
"I should probably find a way back to Nozomi…or Sora…" she thought, only for the turrets to pop back into her mind. "Perhaps not…it's much safer here…I think…"
Remko then turned around to the one armed inmate slowly following behind them. "How are you holding up?"
"I…I'm fine!" she jumped at the sudden attention.
"You sure?"
"Uh, yeah. Just thinking about those turrets…" the one eyed cat nodded, causing Remko to sigh.
"I know what you mean. I couldn't believe they opened fire on us like that." Remko Akko nodded as well as the trio kept walking forward. "In all the prisons I've been to, this is a first for me." The usual prison breaker thought back to the bullets he had to block and dodge with some thanks to his silver arm.
Zuko was about to say something as he was still testing out his prosthetic leg until someone else spoke up.
"Remko…! Remko!" a deranged voice echoed down the hall. "I! Found! You!"
Zuko cautiously looked down the hall as Koneko seemed utterly terrified of the creepy tone of whoever was approaching them while Remko just went, "god damn it…"
Approaching the group of three was a man in a straitjacket with their mouth being concealed with a strapped-on mask that covered their face from the nose down. Most likely to prevent this man from taking a bite out of the inmates before him.
As soon as this short black haired and red eyed inmate came into full view from out of the shadows of the hall, they lunged immediately! Not giving Remko any time as the silver armed inmate barely dodged the attack as his assailant immediately landed on the ground and spun around, roundhouse kicking the silver arm inmate away!
Now on the ground, Remko groaned as his attacker now stood tall in front of him as Koneko only watched on in shock.
As Remko looked up at his attacker, he could tell that he was there for one thing only.
Rin Yonaga was here for his payment!
…
Somewhere, a voice mused.
"Aw, infighting already? Ah well, let's herd the sheep once they're done."
In a room, someone was on a phone, tapping away at the contact details.
Red eyes glanced up to the door, sealed shut with a clear transparent sticky substance over the door. Red eyes glanced back down as the phone started to make its call.
"It's been a while since your last call again…" the voice on the other end mused once they picked up. "What was the hold up this time?"
"You know that thing Vito revealed? Well it's taken down now, we can't use it." they said, looking down at the small container of…mints. "I've been keeping my head down to avoid detection, I have even obtained their little drug to avoid the Eris' quirk."
"Oh? That's a shame…I was counting on that still being up and running when we got there, and as you mentioned, it sounded easy to infiltrate…now, tell me more."
"While Limbo went down, I think I found a good way to further the plan…I'll continue it soon but first, there was a lot that happened." As the red eyed figure told the person on the phone the recent events that unfolded within Styx, that other person chuckled.
"Ah, perfect. Not only can we use Limbo's existence now that it's gone, we can use all that. It's like Styx is just giving us reasons to come and knock them down!" They laughed at the thought while the red eyed figure walked around the room, kicking a bucket away. "It could speed things up even further!"
The red eyed person in the room then asked as they threw the drugged mints into their duffle bag with a black uniform within, "further? How are things on your end?"
"Don't worry, the preparations are all in order. It's been a busy time for us over here as well, but I was able to do it and get it done. We'll be there soon."
"You are? How soon is that?"
"With travel? More or less a week. Stay hidden until then." the voice paused then added, "oh and be sure to throw some more chaos around too when you can, really take them down a peg by the time we get there. I can't wait to see Styx crumble."
A smirk accompanied those red eyes in the darkness.
"Roger that."