The once feared Yakuza Boss appeared to be just a shell of himself, detached from the world around him to keep his sanity. When the great Tartarus prison had fallen, the cogs of his mind resumed and he was determined to reclaim what was stolen from him.

Embers of The Yakuza

Chapter 1 The Great Prison of Tartarus

Everyday blended together, the lights from the cell were never changing. Bleak white rooms, lined up together on both sides of the prison's walls. Heavy metal doors secured what society felt were better off being left to be forgotten, eager to let human beings rot away within the mixture of neglect and imposed insanity. Far from what this hero society could call humane, but the system lacked rehabilitation – once a person goes criminal, society took the easier route to just throw away the key. There wasn't any room for rehabilitation, no therapy or psychological medication – it all resorted to the blacks and whites of Heroes and Villains. A decent number of villains could have been avoided if society had equally focused on different aspects of professions, rather exhaust all economical funding to professions that involved heroism.

The correctional officers within Tartarus didn't see their charges as human beings, they were just beasts in human clothing… Many prisoners within these walls were husks that lost themselves due to their quirks, they were all just dreadful creatures. Creatures that only had the past to reflect on and nothing to look forward to in the future, because once one enters Tartarus – they never get out.

Kai Chisaki stared at the door, waiting for the cue that singled another day. The days blended together; the only distinction that another day had passed was when meals were served. He couldn't even take care of himself anymore; time was estimated on when a guard had to physically come into his cell and force feed meals onto him. His dignity was taken from him with each embarrassment of filthying himself and the ridicule of the guards treating him like some needy parasite. He couldn't keep his composure; he couldn't remember how long it took for him to just ultimately close in on himself. He flipped off the switch that functions – just saying fuck everything and just zombify himself.

It was better to just freeze rational thinking, let the day go by without a notice – save himself from insanity. Let the guards have a compliant zombie that would just stare blankly into an unseen world behind golden eyes. Anything was better than to live with the fact that the once great and feared Yakuza boss had been rendered to the need of others.

When he first lost his arms, he couldn't stop screaming – the realization of the true devastation Shigaraki had brought down onto him nearly drove him insane. The anger of his hard work being stolen, everything he had done, everything he had to do, was for nothing. He had screamed at the world for the weak and useless authorities that bragged about their righteousness and ability to help people – where were they? If the authorities hadn't subdued him, he could have already secured Pops – they ruined a man's life by robbing another's freedom. He had screamed at the idea of Pops being cursed to be forever suspended in limbo…

There were more attributes that ultimately made him decide to switch it off. The severe itchiness of his unkept hair that curled under the nape of his neck and over his ears, the prickly facial hair that was slowly breaking skin. The intensity of the ghost hands that subconsciously twitch and fist to further his displeasure – had made him curse for hours for the uselessness.

He had to shut it off, it was worse enough that his mind was determined to nitpick anything and everything he had done – what he could have done differently to avoid falling into this predicament. Replaying the same reminder of losing his arms and to never get to undo the damage he had done on Pops. Never getting to hear the old man's voice nor see his eyes open again – that almost broke him psychologically. On top of that, to even have his body react to the uncleanliness and lack of dependency – he knew if he didn't halt his rational mind, he would surely lose it. So, the husk of Overhaul continued to stare blankly at the door, the minimalization of brain function were his attempts to preserve his methodical mind from more psychotic breaks.

The everlasting bright lights of the facility turned dark and an alarm blared through the heavy walls. Unfocused gold eyes, twitched slightly by the new development. Excited howls and screams were just beyond the door, a symphony of bare feet was hitting the concrete floor. The cogs of his mind turned on slightly, the bear minimal of understanding that something different had happened. Deep within the husk, a presence stirred, "I need to get out!" Overhaul slammed his body into the metal door, kicking and shoving his whole weight into it – instinctually trying to get free from his cage.

An ungraceful tug of the metal door opening had sent Overhaul falling into the hallway. A slight flicker of life entered the husk when a hand gripped the empty arm sleeve of his uniform before he could fall onto the floor, "Pops…" A single word left his lips in the first time in months.

His slow-burning gold eyes gazed up at the person who had his sleeve. The woman with dark blue and pink hair gave him a curious glance, noticing his dull eyes were slowly igniting with small embers. She pulled his sleeve under her shoulder and held onto his side to steady him as other prisoners raced passed them. "Come on, let's get out of here." She stated simply, forcing the unresponsive man into a steady walking pace.

There was a surge within him that continued to heat up the cogs within his mind as they slowly kick-started in mental thinking. There was a slight hope of seeing the Boss again with this woman guiding him out of the prison. The need to apologize for dismantling the Yakuza's traditions – to apologize for continuing to disregard the lessons the old man taught him. He needed something to layout to the old man before he had to break the news of the extinction of the Yakuza… He was sure, maybe, some of the members got away, but they had probably succumbed to the villains' jest of becoming renter thugs. So yes, at the moment the Yakuza only existed in his and the Boss's mindset, the others were doomed to fall from grace without their guidance.

Overhaul felt his legs drag underneath him as the woman continued to haul them over rubble and bodies. His eyes took in the blood that painted the floor from fallen officers and prisoners. The woman trudged them through the carnage, creating a sticky and warm sensation to register in his mind. His mind took in the blood that slipped and squished under their feet, coating their bare skin and pant legs. He turned off the train of thought before it could bother him, he decided he would let the woman do the thinking as he completely tuned out the chaos and carnage around them.

The cold night graced them as they stepped through the last threshold of the prison's ground level. Cold droplets littered their soiled bodies, mocking the sensation of getting cleaned with the downpour. Gold eyes focused downward, the exhaustion of overexerting himself too quickly from months of lack of stimulation and mobility was starting to take a toll on his body and mind. He barely took notice that the woman's grip on him had tightened as though she could tell that he was declining.

She slowed her strides as she adjusted her hold on her additional baggage. She noticed he hadn't said another word nor even looked away from the ground aside from their initial meeting. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but she felt there was something more to this guy than he led on.

A large shadow cast over them that completely blocked the glow of the burning facility, "Ah the traitorous hero, the beautiful Lady Nagant. It is an honor to meet you."

Nagant brushed her dark blue and pink hair aside as she made eye contact with the devil himself. In all of his glory with raised arms and chaos around him, All for One grinned down. His eerie faceless head tilted down as though he could perfectly see her. She forced a tight smile to address the Dark Emperor, "All for One… I remember chasing after you back in the day."

All for One's grin became larger, "I consider you to be leagues ahead of the other patrons of this facility. Please, I have a favor to ask of you… Soon there will be a boy who will leave U.A. and will start acting independently. I would like you to capture him and bring him back to me."

Lady Nagant eyed him, unsure why the most infamous villain would ask her of all people for this particular request. She was sure there were other contenders that could get the job, why her? Surely there were others that are capable of capturing a target alive.

All for One continued, "He will be closely followed by several big-named players, so it will be best if you could find a way to separate them before engaging –."

"Wait, wait, wait." Nagant cut in glaring at the man that wanted her to do his dirty work, "I'm doing none of that. You are letting all of these people leave this place on the simple promise that they can go on a rampage. So why should I do anything for you?"

"Simple, you've slaughtered many of your fellow heroes. The fall of pro-hero society that you wished for, will never happen as long as that boy lives…" All for One emphasized.

Nagant's face darkened at the thought of another ignorant person idolizing the sham of society, "Another one clinging to those phony hopes, huh?"

Overhaul barely kept mind to their conversation, but his focus finetuned onto the fall of the hero society. "The boss…" can retake the underworld. His mind wandered, knowing the Yakuza can reclaim what was once theirs when society had fully fallen to chaos.

Nagant recoiled slightly in surprise by the barely audible man under her arm that had spoken up with eagerness.

All for One took notice of him for the first time, "Huh, the young leader of the Shie Hassaikai… Is he a friend of yours?"

Nagant's eyes fell back onto the man under her arm, noticing him retreating back within himself when All for One addressed him. She narrowed her eyes, "…No, he's a broken man. But I thought he could be useful later on."

All for One nodded in understanding, "He is another victim of the evil pro-hero society. Come and take my offer, let's put an end to these damned heroes."

Nagant hotwired a car once they made it off that godforsaken prison island. She glanced back at the island in the distance, it's large inferno couldn't be quenched by the downpour. Her body tingled slightly by the additional quirk All for One gifted her on good faith that she would complete her mission. The aircraft lift to the city had been unnerving, of the selected escapees that were deemed worthy of hitching a ride with All for One to the mainland – she had felt out of place. The people on the craft all had the glee of mayhem and murder, but her? She had silently taken in the situation and placed her plus one safely on a cargo box away from others.

All for One didn't question her bringing her tag-along, possibly he was under the impression she took pity on this young leader of the Shie Hassaikai. But she had this gut feeling, and she was going to follow thru with it. She had stood by the man on their lift, and watched him to see if there was anything alive behind those now blank gold eyes. But he just sat there silently, his head bowed and was unresponsive. She had felt a slight wave of annoyance that maybe her gut feeling had been wrong – that it was just her buried instinct to save someone.

When the aircraft had landed, she grabbed the man's empty sleeve and pulled him out and made a beeline to the first vehicle she had seen before the other criminals got any ideas. Nagant successfully started the car and adjusted her mirror to the backseat, catching the eyes of gold that nonchalantly shifted to look out of the window.

Nagant huffed to hide her annoyance at the lack of response of getting them a ride. She pulled the car out to begin her stakeout for locations.

"I know that kid. The one you're looking for…"

Nagant swerved the car by the unexpected voice from behind her. She put the car in park and threw her head back to look at her extra passenger. The gold eyes were alive with an intense aura that was slowly leaking away with exhaustion, but his facial expression was unreadable.

"Huh, I guess it's destiny. So, All for One's painfully stricken description of the boy triggered you in being alive? Couldn't have mentioned it sooner when we were stuck in the aircraft when he was painting the big picture?" Nagant remarked noticing a slight trickle of annoyance flickered within the gold.

Overhaul felt exhausted, it was tiring to keep himself from slipping back into that safety net to retain his sanity – his body was so used to turning off functions in that prison. Reconstructing himself to be used to stability again will be a feat of its own. His gold eyes set on the woman again, "I dislike villains as much as heroes, I didn't see the point of adding any information." On the aircraft, he allowed himself to blank out, barely registering what was around him – he didn't want to draw attention to himself.

His mind slipped slightly back to when everything went wrong, and he had to fight the urge to turn it off again. He gritted his teeth, "The kid is the one that ruined my plan, he has the worst case of hero syndrome I'd seen."

Nagant felt a hot rage bubble within her, the mere thought of a child that was so desperate in wanting to glow within the façade to act and play hero… made her sick. "Alright, I guess I will be bringing you along after all. You will be great to scout and confirm the target for me." She gave him a slight smile as she shifted back into the driver seat and put the car in drive once again.

Overhaul closed his eyes feeling overwhelmed by the bombardment of emotions that ran through him, "I – only have one condition –."

"Nope, I'm not reacting on taking on your old grudges." Nagant looked into the rear-view mirror noticing the man took a grievous expression, like he was on the verge of having a break down.

"That's not it!" His gold eyes glared fiercely back at her through the mirror. "I don't care about that!"

Nagant couldn't take her eyes off his reflection, frozen by the raw expression. She watched in bewilderment as the expression shattered with exhaustion, he broke the trance as his gold eyes shifted downwards.

Overhaul took a deep shaky breath, memories of Pops overwhelmed him, "I've lost everything… he's all I have left… Let me see the boss." He gritted his teeth when his mind glazed over, showing himself standing over Pops' comatose body, "Boss…I'm so sorry." He closed his eyes, giving in to the safety net of turning it off.

Nagant watched it unfold as the man behind her fell silent, the exhausted and pained expression on his face was wiped clean with a blank expression. He shifted his weight to face the car seat, away from her prying eyes. Her expression softened hearing an almost inaudible snore after an hour of silence on the dark road. Poor guy, he's just waiting to break out of his shell…

I'm back at it again with another Overhaul-centric story. Couldn't help it, his character is so intriguing and it didn't help to see him on the screen once again (even though it was short lived), so here I go.

If you are familiar with my other Overhaul-centric story, "Guardian" you might be aware that I tend to change my rating from T to M depending how descriptive the torture, death, and trauma scenes get. So, heads up if this story falls under M in the future…

Let me know on your thoughts on this first chapter, and I will catch you all in the next chapter!