As Dion waited outside the interrogation rooms, he had a whole water cooler all to himself. Mostly because he was the only one there that was immune to its mind altering effects. "..."
Watching the warden interrogating the guards that were cuffed in their holding cells. The immune drinker to all things liquid just glanced down to the cup he had. Eyes darted from the half-filled cup to the partakers of Limbo.
Just then the door re-opened, another defeated guard was dragged out by Bunri, all the while a clone sprinted out of the room not that long before the defeated guard's emergence.
And then, the warden herself stepped out.
"Dion," it was on sight. Just her expression got him to straighten his posture just a little. Every step she took felt heavy. Despite the calm facade over her face, she was pissed.
He could already feel a single bead of sweat rolling down the side of his face at any moment.
"The interrogation is on hold for now," she looked over at the other traitorous guards that needed another screening. "I'm not quite sure when I'll get back to finish it, so make sure to have their cells ready just in case it gets too late."
"...we…have a lead?" he asked, causing the warden to look back at him.
"It depends," she sighed, looking back at him. "Will it find us the mastermind behind Limbo? I'm not too sure. It's just one traitor so far. Now I must be off, hold down the fort with Bunri."
"Roger that…and what of Ashita?"
"I'll take care of Ashita."
And speaking of the devil, a tired Ashita walked out of the room, slowly behind the warden.
Dion Meade didn't say a word as one of the wardens walked off, to who knows where with an inmate in tow. He knew one thing though. Whatever she managed to find out, it was even more serious than what they fought about the underground quirk fight ring.
"..."
He needed another drink…
The gates of Styx were quite large, in fact they looked even larger to the woman standing before them. A lot more menacing too.
It loomed over her, casting her into the underworld's shadows!
Muika Yomaura was starting to have doubts about coming back here again…
With one hand in a pocket that was grasping her resignation letter, just in case, Muika just stared at the gates of foreboding.
"Are you just going to stand there? Or are you coming in?" Penthus asked as he was already heading into Styx. "You're not getting cold feet, are you?"
"Of…of course not…" snapped out of her staring contest with the gates (that she lost against), she followed Penthus into Styx.
The first time since her brother's passing not that long ago…
Barely over a week.
How was she supposed to feel about him now? She was unable to even look at his photo! Both in grief and untrust!
"You're spiralling again…" the janitor sighed, his brown hair covering both his eyes as usual. He caught her at the right moment.
She snapped back to reality as she let go of the resignation letter in her pocket.
The moment she thought about her older brother, the supposed good one, she was hit with conflicting feelings. The older brother who offered her a job away from her parents, a place to stay as well…
A brother who was overprotective and controlling in a manipulative way that was quite similar to their parents.
The more she thought, the more she agreed with the latter thoughts and then, his death…his death that she was told put her into this conflicted grief. Shaking her head, Muika shook off the thoughts of her older brother.
She didn't know how much her older brother was truly doing it out of the kindness of his own heart, but the more she thought about him, the more she came to the conclusion that Penthus showed her. His own actions showed it.
It was the same. Nothing changed.
From one roof to another. The exact same scenario but with a different flavour, different paint.
As she kept her eyes forward, with only a single task on hand, she followed Penthus into Styx.
It felt odd to be back.
Walking into prison, it felt like she was an outsider and perhaps she was, seeing the way Osamu treated her when she was first brought into Styx to work. A warm memory now tainted by the very same man she was conflicted with. "Don't spiral, don't spiral." she told herself multiple times, unable to shake the conclusion of her outcast brother being just like their parents.
Passing by the workers who took notice of her, a skull headed bus driver was the first to comment on her return.
"Oh, Muika. You're back." Zugai said as she walked on over to the janitor and prison guidance counsellor. "I thought you were still taking time off…how are you holding up?"
"I'm…" the droopy red eyed woman glanced over to the janitor with their hair covering their own red eyes, just looking back at her. "I'm…managing…"
Zugai's expression was hard to pin-point, due to the fact her head was just a skull. "..." it didn't seem like she believed the guidance counsellor though. Despite the lack of belief, she didn't push further. "Just don't push yourself too hard. If you need anything, you'll know where to find me and the others."
Giving her some space, Muika was left alone with Penthus. "...are they just saying that? Despite knowing what Osamu may have truly been like?"
Her already broken will was shattered even harder after recent events.
She had no idea who to believe or what to believe.
Were people being genuine with their concern? Or were they lying? Are they doubling back on calling out her brother since he died? What was real?
A hand grabbed her wrist and dragged her off. "Come on, no time to waste." the janitor huffed, not liking how she kept freezing in place. "This is going to be really common, isn't it?"
"...um…" he heard her mumble, bringing herself back to reality. "...when do I drop this letter off…?"
Referring to the resignation letter, the janitor let go. "Not yet. If you quit right now, you can't stay here. Remember what we talked about on the way over…and don't just selfishly do what you want. We discussed this back when I visited your apartment."
"...sorry…" Muika glanced around, "so what now?"
"In a week, I'll be heading on to my…" looking around, he leaned in to whisper in her ear. "...to my next job, Tartarus. Keep that low, people will get real violent if they hear that."
She did know of some rivalry between the two prisons…and how heated some discussions about them got.
"I can help you get a new job there, out of Osamu's deep claws. However, right now, this is your chance to prove Osamu wrong."
Penthus had immediately caught the long haired woman's attention with that. "...prove him wrong?"
"Yeah, he never let you work with any inmate he deemed dangerous, right? Well, now you can prove him wrong in that you CAN work with the more dangerous inmates and it will look way better on your resume. You can use this chance to work at a safer prison like Tartarus if you prove yourself."
"Prove him wrong by doing what I was paid to do, my job…" Muika looked down at the letter in her coat. "I think I can handle that."
Her mind was set. "I just have a week to prove myself."
"That's the spirit!" Penthus grinned. A wide grin as he led the way. "Then let's drop by your office to get started! I hope you got some inmates in mind, we will also need their files. I can help pick out a few too, but we will need those files, can you get that?"
"I got that handled." A now determined Muika took the lead as she headed to the room she used to work in. "I'll prove to you that I can handle it, Osamu! You can't stop me anymore! Neither you nor our parents!"
While the interrogations were underway, the prison kept up its usual routine with the inmates. Guards, mostly clones, patrolled and kept an eye on the inmates as they went about their day.
Despite the intensity of the reveal of Limbo, they weren't machines that could function all day and night. Unless they had the quirk for it, of course.
And that's when Shimaru popped into the break room.
Literally.
Out of thin air.
A haven for the guards that just needed to relax a little.
With closed eyes, Shimaru disappeared from where he stood, already re-appearing instantly in front of the electric kettle.
"...you could have just walked the distance…" Tai blankly stared at the butler-like guard.
It wasn't even that far!
"It's also faster than the few seconds it would take to walk over here," was the reply as the guard waited for the water to boil. As he prepared his cup of tea, he turned to face the others in the break room as ads cycled on the tv.
Besides Tai, a few more familiar faces littered the break room. Not just guards, but those who worked in other sectors of the prison. It wasn't just a break room for the guards alone.
Shi, Dahlia, Alexios, Myrmex, Yukiko, Suimin and the three members of the Sanzaru were in the break room as well.
"It's not every day you're up here in the break room, Myrmex," Shimaru smiled, still waiting for the kettle to boil.
"It's easier to eat in the kitchen and by myself," was the reply, "no one wants to see me eat with my mandibles. Plus, it's a special occasion."
"Yeah! Myrm here made us lunch!" Suimin flapped her wings on the lounge, grabbing her meal with her talons. As the harpy ate, the humanoid ant nodded.
"With all that's happening recently, it's the least I can do to help," the ant chattered, mandibles clicking together. The cook with large round compound eyes glanced back to the meals they were still making. "Do you want anything specific? If not, feel free to help yourself with the platters."
"I'm good, thank you." Shimaru smiled, now with his tea in hand. "I assume you're all done with the kettle?"
"Yeah, for now at least." Yukiko looked down at her own tea, which was almost empty.
"Can we change the channel now?" Dahlia sighed, leaning back on the lounge.
"The news will be on shortly," Alexios said, focused on the television.
The jackal headed guard wearing a literal collar was also focused on the tv. Despite being in the break room, she was ready to spring into action as even the slightest call! "...Myrmex, can I get another serving of this dish?" she pointed to one of the nearly empty platters on the table.
"Coming right up!" the literal ant-man clicked his mandibles together.
Tai, who just yawned, got even more relaxed where he was sitting. "As long as they don't play any news segments of heroes or those bastards from Tartarus, I'm happy."
At a table not that far away, the silent Iwazaru and Kikazaru were playing a card game, not taking too much notice of what else was happening in the break room. Mizaru however, was sitting close by, his fingers running over a book with the pages full of braille.
"Tartarus is only on the news when we're informed of it beforehand," the blind, blindfolded guard spoke as they read their book. "It's either something big, shared in the system or just them wanting to rub it in."
"...that's true," Dahlia shrugged, as the news started right on time.
To most of the guards there, it was pretty much background noise. "I wonder if we will get any new inmates from it?" questioned Shi, looking at some headlines from some crimes that happened today.
"Probably not, most of them are too minor for something like Styx," Tai shook his head. Despite the prison opening its gates to more regular inmates, many of the regular prisons took many of the regular crowd. Styx still had some criteria for their inmates, despite the ones who didn't fit in the prison that somehow passed through the cracks. "They'll likely go to prisons like Shian, Kuin or Bagu."
However the one most focused on the news was Myrmex, who stopped in the middle of preparing food, eager for something to come on.
"You okay over there, Myrm?" Suimin asked, reaching her talons out.
The exoskeletal ant with the large, round unblinking eyes snapped out of whatever trance he was in when he turned to the harpy. "Ah! Apologies!" the 'myrmidon' clattered with their mouthparts. "There's just something coming up that I'm looking forward to."
"Ah, you got some insider knowledge, huh?" the winged-armed woman gave a playful grin, causing Myrmex to click his mandibles together in fluster.
"We'll see it soon enough then," Yukiko mumbled as she went to refill her cup.
Shimaru, who had taken a seat in between Tai and Dahlia snapped their fingers. "I'm guessing it's this part about Helping Hand that's coming up now."
"As you know, Helping Hand has been assisting many around the globe. We gave a helping hand to orphanages around the globe, we gave a helping hand with our pharmaceuticals, aiding with sending and spreading medicine over the world. We gave a helping hand with the heroes of the world, the sung heroes of the world people associate with today and the unsung heroes looked over by the world." Sagimaru said on the television. "However, our helping hands are limited. We work over the globe we call home, but we also need more helping hands."
As Sagimaru stepped out into the bright sun, multiple buildings looked similar to the ones owned by the Helping Hand company. "Despite having a few global branches all over the world, they are few and far between. You might have seen more Helping Hand branches pop up in your area, well we have something to announce." Bringing his hands close together, Sagimaru said with a smile. "We are pleased to announce a true global release of multiple Helping Hand branches!"
"Orphanages, Pharmaceuticals, Hero Support and more! We are here to give a Helping Hand!" As he said the classic slogan that's been with the company since day one, the background of the ad shifted to the planet as Sagimaru was surrounded by many people from different parts of the globe. "Helping Hand is now truly global with many branches now around the world! We thank you for helping us give out a helping hand!"
"...they've gone truly global?" Mizaru titled his head, hearing the ad while Iwa and Kika watched as the ad played out with subtitles.
"Yep, the preparation has paid off from what I've heard, even before the public announcement." Myrmex nodded. "Compared to before, hundreds more Helping Hand branches were constructed all over the world. More support for heroes and more pharmaceutical branches working on medicines and of course, many more orphanages that have, from what I've heard, have already taken in a lot of orphans. I'm proud to be close to someone like him…and to help in my own way as well."
"Now that I think about it, you were always so grateful towards Sagimaru," Mizaru commented, pausing in the middle of his braille book.
"Of course, I owe him a lot!" Myrmex straightened his posture out of pure pride. "He's also the reason I'm able to put my natural talents to good use!"
"Wouldn't you do much better at one of those orphanages?" Dahlia immediately asked as she turned to the head cook of Styx. "It would be a better use of that talent, wouldn't it?"
"Hmm…I suppose…but I would probably scare the children looking like an ant, wouldn't I?" the unblinking compound eyed cook tilted his head.
The kind Alexios shook his head. "Nonsense, that's not true at all." with a reassuring smile, he alleviated the feelings that might have been sprouting in the ant man's mind. "You have nothing to worry about with your appearance. I'm sure the kids of the orphanage, if you worked there, would find you the coolest."
"Bugs are cool…" Tai thought to himself, thinking back to this one bug he found years ago.
"Aw thanks, but truly, I do like working here the best. I guess I'm just that attached to all of you!" the bug grinned. In his own way of course.
Shimaru just smiled. "If that's how you feel, then that makes you a true son of Styx, you know."
"One of us! One of us!" Suimin chanted.
Shi then turned the conversation around quickly, "when you said that Sagimaru helped you with putting your talents to good use, you mean he helped you with coming to Styx?"
Myrmex nodded as he started getting his lunch once everyone was seemingly finished with theirs. "Indeed. When I was looking for work, he did mention the orphanages but he also mentioned Styx and I grew interested in it." opening a container, he brought a sandwich with seemingly raw meat. "That's the short version of it. A slightly longer version of that short version is: I was looking for work, he brought up Styx and I decided to take it up out of interest and there were openings."
"...that's still the short version…" Dahlia just stared at the cook. "Besides, should you be eating that? It doesn't look like one of those meats you can eat raw."
It kinda resembled an uncooked steak.
"Ah, that's where my quirk comes in!" Myrmex clattered. "It's easier on my stomach sometimes."
"It happens with animal-based quirks," Shi added, looking down. "At least there are alternatives out there."
Standing on top of the lounge now, Suimin just flapped her wings! "Whatever the reason is, we're glad to have ya, Myrmy!"
"You're causing a breeze…" Mizaru held his book closed as Kikazaru and Iwazard held the cards on the table down.
"I guess we should thank Saggy–" Suimin stopped flapping her wings once she registered what she heard. "Sorry! Sorry!"
Meanwhile, Myrmex was shaking his head. "I should be thanking him for everything. I wouldn't be here. Not just in Styx, but alive at all without him." his mouthparts twitched a little at that. "We might not be related by blood, but he's like a father to me."
"With how you two act, I thought you were father and son," Alexios added. "I'm surprised to hear that you're not."
"Re…really?" Myrmex perked up at that. "...that means a lot to hear…I mean, he did take me in when I was really young, like when I was a baby, so I AM his son…technically…"
"Oh, is this a case of not feeling like it?" Tai glanced over, "don't worry about that shit. Just cause you don't feel or see yourself as not being his son, you are at the end of the day, aren't you? He took you in after all."
Without missing a beat, Dahlia mockingly gasped "...shit, Tai's sick."
"Shut the fuck up."
Yukiko returned with a refilled cup. "He is right, though."
"You are making him proud," Shimaru joined in. "I've heard conversations between the wardens and him and whenever you were mentioned, it was always of the highest calibre. He feels the same way, as a father to a son. So don't let yourself be convinced otherwise."
Myrmex, who was halfway through his sandwich just knelt down, coughing. "...I'm…I'm glad to hear that!" as his voice wavered, a bell chimed throughout the break room.
"...great, what timing. Work."
Tai and Dahlia just rolled their eyes at that, not even bothering to glare at each other when they spoke in sync once more.
It would be a few minutes before the group in the break room got back into it…
Returning back to her usual ward after a busy day of work, the tired information broker was accompanied by the warden once her rest was done and now, it was time to call it an early night.
Ashita knew that when she was being treated to dinner by a warden of all people, something was up when Eris answered her phone, triggering the early night for the whole prison.
"Thank you for your assistance today, Ashita," the warden bowed her head slightly forward.
"Oh, uh…" Ashita briefly glanced away from the warden. "No prob…?"
"We'll come by tomorrow to continue with the rest of those ingrates, but you deserve some rest…and a proper reward for your efforts in this troubling situation."
"Proper reward?" the dyed haired woman asked, looking back at the warden as they approached her cell.
Eris didn't even look her away as she said a single word. A name. "Satori…" her golden eye glanced back at the inmate. "You're still looking for her, right?"
Wide-eyed and speechless, Eris recognized the hope in those striking light green eyes.
"Once this mess is behind us, I'll reach out to some connections of ours to help find Satori for you." Eris started to slow down as they soon reached Insatsushi's cell. "I know it sounds like some sort of bribe to make you keep working with us, but I assure you, I'll make sure those heroes dig up anything related to her."
With the cell door opened, Ashita walked straight in, silently at that.
It was only when she turned around that the warden saw the mask-like persona of the information broker she wore out in the ward nowhere in sight. "Thank you."
"..." silently, the warden closed the cell door. "I hope we can find something for you to go on…good night, Ashita."
Letting a few minutes pass, the warden continued on her way. "Satori…I hope there's something out there that can help…" as she continued, she soon came across a sight with one of the prison guards.
Right at the perfect moment too.
Just as the guard was about to radio in her findings, they locked eyes with the warden. "Oh, good timing." Dahlia put the radio away as her callused hands pointed down at what she came across.
"What happened here?"
"Don't know for sure, I came across them like this. They're all alive though." Dahlia said with her colourless expression. The woman with freckles spread across the bridge of her nose glanced from the warden and back to the group of unconscious inmates.
The guard with unkempt long hair had a reserved look as she glanced over the inmates. "There are no signs to point out that there was a fight here. No signs of another party, no alarms raised. Nothing. So what happened here?"
"You just discovered them, correct?" Eris asked, causing Dahlia to nod. "You haven't checked the cameras yet?"
"The moment I saw them, I was about to report them and let the others know and then you came along. I know as much as you do." the guard rolled her eyes. "Now the question remains: how long have they been here? Why has no one reported it? Was it those connected to Limbo that played a part in it? Or was it someone else?"
"...or is this a recent development the moment I turned the corner?" Dahlia muttered under her breath.
With no true way to know as of now, she silently stared at the group of inmates.
"I really am the only one with a sane mind here…"
She could almost hear someone scoff at that…somehow.
A few hours after lunch, a certain trio had formed in the male ward of the prison Styx.
A trio that focused on a single goal at this very moment, once they were sure the sight was clear. Keeping up appearances of just three inmates hanging out, these inmates and their previous discussion were now aimless roaming the ward.
At least that's what it appeared to be to an outsider that just so happened to notice them.
The truth was, they weren't so aimless.
Just partially.
"I haven't seen anyone in Fumma's gang get together yet," Reiji mumbled under his breath, the vigilante within him that used to aid Vanguard was taking centre stage right now.
"I've seen a couple of faces that I'm sure are in that makeshift prison yakuza, but they're all just in their own groups or riding solo…" the other vigilante holding a deck of cards frowned.
The non-vigilante wasn't quite sure what to look for specifically, he only encountered three members of Yoshitsune's yakuza. One being the main man himself. Out of the other two, one was a guy that disappeared off the face of the prison and the other just threatened him only recently.
Right before they started their search, they spent time discussing plans and strategies. "Is that what all vigilantes do?" the crystal quirked inmate thought to himself. "We found some inmates that are in that yakuza group, but nothing we can act on. We could take them on individually, they are spread out enough to take them out with Reiji's quirk after all. Start with the small fry and go from there…"
After thinking about it for a while, Jin Nakamura spoke up. "Why don't we start with the small fry?" he asked the vigilantes. "Reiji's quirk can be used without much suspicion and from what you told us Reiji, since you don't stick your head out when you use your quirk, no one suspects you when infighting happens."
The dark purple haired twenty-three year old stayed silent for a moment, "...it's a bit risky." they muttered out. "Just because no one generally suspects me butting in with my quirk, it doesn't mean they can't piece it together when they learn about it. While it can be easy to take down the grunts, when only the yakuza grunts are taken down, the higher ups are going to notice as well as the guards."
"We could have it be like a gang war…though we do need another gang to set them up against…" Johnny scratched the back of his neck. "And that's hard without a decent sized gang as well. Fumma really pushed to make a decently sized group."
While it wasn't the majority of inmates, it was still the biggest group of formed inmates currently in the male ward.
"And the only group that rivals it in size is in the opposite ward. We can't really get both of them fighting each other when they're are literal walls between them as well as being unable to reach them to get assistance…" Reiji sighed. "Right now it's the three of us and if they happen to catch our trail, we're easily outnumbered."
"It's that big of a group?"
"For the groups that are inside Styx? Yes. Outside of Styx? No." Reiji answered the non-vigilante of the group.
Johnny fanned his deck of cards as the group lingered around. "We got a few faces, should we just follow the grunts?" he asked, pulling out one of the cards, giving it a test swing. "It doesn't take long for a grunt to go running into the big fish."
"That depends on if they do end up running to meet the higher ups, whether it's them alone or when the majority of the group gets together. We could each stakeout one inmate each and they might never meet up with the bigger group." Reiji walked over towards a bench. As he took a seat, the vigilante sidekick just sighed. "...if anything, we'll be better off searching for one of the four demon generals…"
"Oh! Take out the big ones that are an actual threat and the minions won't do diddly-squat!" Ace of Spades grinned at the possible plan. "With their so-called leader not here either, when the pillars fall, it will all fall with it!"
Reiji Maeda said nothing for quite some time. "...yeah, the pillars holding them up is what causes them to fall once they're removed."
"It's settled then!" the brown eyed American inmate clapped his hands together, the deck of cards now shoved into his pockets. "We'll take down the pillars and clean up any minions that remain!"
"Easier said than done…" the other vigilante thought, but didn't deny it. "What would Vanguard do?"
The moment he asked himself that question, the dark purpled haired man gained a determined look in his eyes. "Vanguard would have taken it down earlier! Maybe this was a test all along? No wonder Vanguard hasn't come yet, he wants me to take down the untouchables!" Standing up from the bench with his head full of delusions, Reiji nodded with enthusiasm that the other two had never seen. "It's more than settled. We'll find the generals and put an end to that farce of a yakuza organisation!"
Silently listening to the two vigilantes, Jin glanced around the ward. Just in case for any prison yakuza wannabes hanging around…or perhaps Kataoka. "If we're going to take down the four pillars, then how are we going to do that?" He turned back to the keen pair. "Are we going to fight them, three against four? Or are we going to get them to fight each other? Not all of them would be terribly loyal, would they?"
"...if we fought them three against four, we'll not only be at a disadvantage in numbers, but the ones chosen to be the four generals aren't exactly random inmates either." Vanguard's sidekick mentioned. "If it's three against one, maybe we'll have a chance. Depending on what they have in store. I don't think I've seen them use their quirks…or at least not alone."
"It does get pretty wild sometimes. When a fight breaks out, it breaks out." commented the man really named Arthur. "Would the four generals fight each other though?"
When he asked that, he wasn't only met with a shrug from his fellow vigilante.
The crystal-quirk inmate then focused on the potential battle. "I don't know if Kataoka is really loyal to Fumma or not, the idea of a large group is also appealing to many as well, right? If at least one of the four demon generals isn't actually loyal, we could spark a fight between them without being targeted by all four of them."
"...it'll seem we'll need to discuss this even further, but we have one major issue." Reiji pointed out, catching the attention of the other two. "We still have yet to find where any of the four generals hang out. We have to find them first."
"Ah yeah, that's true…" Johnny rubbed the back of his head. He forgot about that.
Just then, the familiar ringing went off throughout the ward. "Huh? The day's over already?" Johnny blinked, taken off guard. "Isn't it a little early? It feels early."
Reiji shook his head. "It's earlier than usual, that's for sure. Not surprising though." as the vigilante looked at the American vigilante, they gave a brief explanation. "Since you've been recovering for a while, they've been ending the days a bit earlier than usual for a week straight now."
"Yeah…" Jin nodded, as they crossed their arms. "The sun is setting, but we usually have more time than that…maybe something happened?"
"...we better get back to our cells. We can continue this tomorrow." Reiji Maeda turned, already heading to their cell.
"And we have yet to narrow down where they usually get together…ugh, man."
Jin just stared out into space, deep in thought. "We're also on a time limit as well. It's only a matter of time before Fumma comes back…whenever that is. Hopefully not too soon."
It was going to be more than a headache if Fumma popped up sooner than later.
"We just have to pick up the pace tomorrow," Jin gave a wave to the vigilante.
"Of course. We'll get something more concrete soon. Meet up at the same place, yeah?"
With a nod, Jin and Johnny went their separate ways, back to their cell after their first day of their investigation into Fumma's Prison Yakuza.
It wasn't that long after Seimei parted ways with Hokori, after looking over the wall of previous wardens. It sparked an interest in watching old footage, the footage of Styx and Nomos.
The watery oath of Styx and the restricting collar of Nomos.
"Perhaps things would be going differently if they were still here," he thought, watching both quirks play out on the old footage. "No use thinking too hard about it. We better clean this mess up quickly…"
Just then the door opened after a knock, when the male warden looked up, he wasn't too surprised to see Muika standing halfway in the door. "Zugai did mention that Muika had returned…it took her a while to get here, then again, there's probably a lot of doubts."
It was quite easy to read the woman's expressions as she stuttered out, "I'm…I'm back," muttered out like a child that slipped out for the night and returned home to see their parents waiting for them.
"Welcome back," he gave her a nod. "You're back….early. I thought you were spending time at home?"
"I…" she gulped, turning her gaze away from him. "I thought it would be more…productive if I returned to work…if that's alright…"
"It's clear that she's barely holding on right now, she's not exactly hiding it well." he closed his eyes with an audible sigh. "Normally, I would refuse and send you back home."
Muika gulped as the warden opened his eyes. "However, we all have ways to work out our grief. Some of us isolate, others dive head first into our work and of course, some do both and others do none of those things. I will leave it up to you."
"O…oh! Th…thank you!" as she bowed, the warden typed away at the computer he was at, after closing the old prison footage. "You will have to report to Carna or Lambert though, either now or when they're a bit more free. As long as you do it before the day ends. You should know why."
Quietly, she could only nod.
To make sure she was fine to really return to work.
Just then one of Bunri's clones ran in. "Sir, we've made progress with the Limbo traitors! It's urgent!"
"You're free to go, Muika. We'll talk later."
The younger Yomaura sibling wasted no time in leaving the office, leaving the clone and the warden alone. "Send word back so we can discuss it. I'll gather up the others." Seimei ordered, but called out once the clone was almost out the door. "We're also issuing an early curfew today as well, so send the inmates back to their cells early."
"Roger that!"
And just like that, he was gone.
"...some progress…I hope it's good news…" he muttered, unaware of the wiggling egg hidden in his desk.
…
Later that night, when the sun had just started to set, the inmates were all escorted back to their cells, save the nocturnal few who began their time in the ward under the many eyes of watchful clones.
In that same office, a bunch of trusted guards lingered around the room as the night time curfew had cut in.
It was also at this time that once everyone had assembled, Eris and Bunri revealed what they managed to learn about Limbo.
Those who weren't present for the current meeting were focused on aiding Bunri's clones with the night shift or weren't exactly guards themselves.
The guards who were able to be present were Alexios, Tai, Shi, the real Bunri, the doctors Carna and Lambert, Shimaru, Hokori who originally offered to aid Bunri's clones, Dahlia, Yukiko, Suimin, Dion, the Sarugaku triplets and Zugai.
The Sarugaku triplets were focused on making sure the meeting went uninterrupted despite attending said meeting, Dion was busy making sure all the traitor guards that were being questioned were locked away until questioning began again as he talked on the phone with one of Bunri's clone that was leading the operation in his stead thanks to the sudden meeting.
The other workers like Muika, Penthus, Myrmex and Eiri were also busy with their own parts of the prison or assisting someone else. Same with other guards that weren't caught up in the Limbo scandal. Naturally the stygian guards were busy in their own ward as well.
"...even inmates that were alive were killed by the ones that were running Limbo…" Alexios looked down. Head hung low, his fingers digging into his knee.
"What the fuck were they using the bodies for then?" Tai leaned back on his chair. "Alive, dead and dismemberment…"
"Sounds right up your alley," Dahlia spat.
When she looked at him, she only got a dark grin in return with a silent message. Either he was agreeing with that or she was being asked to be the next one. It was hard to tell.
The nearby collared jackal snarled as her face scrunched up, "not to mention that Gousen and Rhys were also taken into that room too. That means plenty of bus runs never truly made it to the funeral parlour!"
"Or they were just empty rides that existed only to waste gas…" Dion downed his gourd the moment Shi brought it up.
"...hold on," the skull-headed Zugai shot up. "Does that mean the bodies that we DID transport there actually STAYED there or were they also taken straight from the funeral parlour?"
All eyes were now on Zugai as something hit Bunri at the moment. "Wait a minute! While many of us can confirm dropping off the deceased there, I know I personally saw some off as well, I remember seeing a hooded figure in an unmarked car enter and drive away from the funeral home. At least my clone did."
"You did mention that in your report on that night," Seimei nodded as Hokori looked around.
"Is it just me…or did it get very tense in here?"
Sighing, Mizaru asked, "that would mean that the funeral home is also in leagues with Limbo then?"
"It's a possibility," Yukiko shrugged, crossing one leg over the other. "We have an unknown figure in the middle of the night that went into the funeral parlour and took something or I guess someone out after working hours."
"Hey, wasn't that when we were hunting down Mari?" Suimin asked, tilting her head. The little harpy looked towards the fox and the one that went undercover as Shuten Doji.
Dion raised an eyebrow. "Probably?"
While discussions between the guards grew, Carna and Lambert just shared a look with one another.
"It might be time to discuss what we found," Carna looked down at the report in her hands.
"Before we continue, before the meeting, Dahlia has encountered some unconscious inmates that need to be looked into immediately." Eris spoke up once more.
"...yeah, don't know if it's related to the Limbo situation, but just to be safe than sorry."
A groan from Tai. "Great, just what we need…"
"More problems for us…and it could have been that third party that released Vito, whoever they are." Dion grumbled, angrier than usual.
"I still can't believe that those Limbo bastards used Vito in those matches…" Bunri suddenly growled. "And to think some other person just let him out for who knows what!"
"We just got to find this fucker then!" Tai stood, ready to hunt down whoever the poor bastard was.
"Not yet," Lambert said, standing up. "With the new knowledge of what Limbo was doing, and even the confirmed fact that there is someone who is up to their own unknown goals, we…might have something to go off…"
"And it might be connected to what Shi and Bunri found while chasing down an inmate in the middle of an escape attempt." Carna also stood as they prepared a projector to go over their findings.
"First, we will start off with something that we don't think is connected, but noticed due to testing." Lambert started, showing a slide with two vials. A green vial and a purple one. "The purple vial is a liquid that has gone through multiple drug rings and even attempted to be smuggled into Styx. Boost, a drug noted to be an enhancer for not just physical capabilities, but also boosting the abilities of one's quirk."
"And the green one?" Dion asked, already getting a feeling of what was about to come next.
"That's the thing, it's also a quirk boosting stimulant…that has been approved through hero committees and in use by today's heroes. Not all of them, but it's starting to gain more usage as time goes on."
A slow clap came from the guard who could produce a miniature sun. "Heroes doing drugs. I guess all those anti-drug runs they do at schools were all for show, just like everything else they do. Pathetic."
"Doesn't surprise me," came a scoff which surprisingly came from Alexios.
Lambert continued to the next slide. "We've found that there was a match between the two drugs. The purple boost and the quirk stimulant were a match…and seemingly made from the same source."
"...which is?" Dion put the gourd down on the table before him.
"We still don't know at this moment, but it does contain DNA that we're not quite sure of its origins."
"DNA? Like human DNA? Creepy!" as the harpy flapped her wings, Seimei narrowed his eyes. As well as a few others.
Shimaru clasped his hands together, "that means that a hero support and gadget company might be connected with the criminal underworld?"
"There's a chance of that, but-" Lambert was immediately cut off as someone asked a question.
"But the question is what came first, isn't it?" Dion raised his hand. "It wouldn't be the first time some criminal got their hands on hero grade items and attempted to break it down and reverse engineer it for their own goals. Anything that can boost a person's quirk is highly sought after in the black market."
"I'm guessing the approved stimulant was also found within Styx?" Shi asked, getting a nod from Carna.
"It was found in the aftermath when inmates fought in the co-ed ward," she revealed, causing some of them to remember.
"Huh, the one where Juro claimed that Anayama was working with Sarutobi and Kirigaku? The Underbelly claim, right?" Alexios asked with a raised hand, his electric blue eyes focused solely on the doctors.
"I completely forgot about that in the chaos. We still have to re-screen him about it." Bunri shot up.
"Calm down." the male warden waved his hand. "We never forgot. Continue."
With a nod, Lambert continued. "We found the hero stimulant, at least a droplet of it, in the aftermath of Chikuha's explosion."
"Which we also need to look into, especially which support company made it, on the chance they were working with Limbo or the one who released Vito." Eris sighed as she fixed up her eyepatch.
"It might also just be a case of them buying the stimulant straight up, especially if they were with that Underbelly group." Dion sighed, drinking from his gourd once more.
"Hmm…" Seimei and Eris hummed in thought.
"What else do you have?" asked the blind Sarugaku as his siblings sat beside him in silence.
Carna took over as a new slide appeared. "It's actually about the bodies we've recovered…"
"I see-" as Mizaru said that, the mute Iwazaru slapped the back of his head. "Ah!"
"Will this also be related to what Shi and Bunri found?" the guard dressed in a white uniform, Yukiko, asked.
"We have a high chance that it could be," Carna nodded as she pointed to a list of deceased inmates and inmates with missing limbs. "Thanks to what was discovered by the efforts of Eris and Ashita, this list of inmates is a portion of those that partook in Limbo."
"..." Alexios couldn't but sigh as he looked at the list.
Some of those inmates he spent time with and even assisted them in small ways that he could.
Both liars like the one with fire hands and those who were genuine about wanting to reform. He barely noticed Tai's hand that briefly patted his shoulder.
"It doesn't help that some of those inmates were also forced to partake as well." Eris shook her head. "It's more concerning that the majority of them willingly joined though."
"To take advantage of the system as well…" Shi scoffed, crossing her arms. "So…what's the connection?"
"While we've gone over this before, quite a while ago in fact, the first connection is that all of these inmates have a quirk." As it was pointed out, it was kinda obvious... "However, none of the quirkless inmates we have were ever taken to Limbo. Case in point, Li."
"Wasn't it noted to be an underground quirk arena?" Dahlia pointed out. "Those usually don't throw quirkless people in."
Carna nodded, "that's true, however, since all the guards that partook in Limbo had access to all inmate files, save for a few," the slide changed to show Li's records. "Li Kagayami, while quirkless, managed to concoct a serum that gave him quirk-like effects of super-strength."
"That's….that's possible?!" Hokori's ears perked up. "But, how? Wouldn't that have side effects?"
"Naturally, Li's body suffered the side effects, resulting in his appearance." Lambert pointed out. "However, despite being quirkless…"
"He had the strength to fight other people with combat related quirks," Tai snapped his fingers. "If it were a fight ring, they would have thrown him in regardless. Either by going by his neon-skin or the fact that he managed to achieve non-quirk super strength."
The red eyed guard wasn't done yet however as he continued. "With that, they would have made him fight others, knowing about him being quirkless or not. They continued to exclude him due to a lack of quirk…and some quirk arenas might allow some quirkless fighters, but they usually stick to those with quirks, like what she said." Tai finished, pointing to Dahlia.
"Yeah…it's rare, but generally not a thing in a majority of quirk ring arenas…"
"That's not all. Many people chosen for Limbo have quirks suited to combat in some way, but…" the doctor changed the slide as a new list was shown. "We also have those with non-combat quirks also be confirmed to be taken into Limbo, either as a fighter or…straight to the room where they either die or get cut up. Some of these are dead bodies that come from outside of Limbo too…whether they were planned or not."
"...so they're taking anyone with a quirk?" Shimaru raised an eyebrow at that. "Some of the quirks on there work better with other quirks on the list!"
"A quirk that can rotate an eye in any direction freely…and a quirk that allows eyeballs to be grown anywhere on the body…and a third quirk that makes the eyes explode…wait," Alexios immediately took note of that last one. "That third quirk, the inmate that has that is still alive and well. Same for the finger related quirk."
"That's also another point we noticed, those like Mejiro and Yubi that can mass produce parts of themselves are left alone, but any excess 'material' as we will call it, is taken. Many of Yubi's fingers have been snatched up by some shadowy blur on some camera footage we recovered."
"...it's a farm…" Dion muttered. "Inmates like Yubi…they're farming their quirks then?"
"But why?" Yukiko asked, crossing her arms. "For what purpose?"
"Farming inmate body parts?" the tall guard with beige hair wondered. "Some of the bodies found also looked like they were eaten…"
Eris nodded, continuing on what Tatopoulos said. "They assumed it was mostly for the cannibal inmates like Maneater, but someone else could have also been tampering with the bodies, like the one that Shi found that day."
"If it wasn't for the cannibal inmates, then what was it for?" Tai asked as he cracked his knuckles. "Some of these bodies were confirmed to have either been not touched by inmates like Maneater or sent straight to the funeral parlour."
"There's also Osamu's killer who wasn't even known to be inside Styx as well…" he thought with a glare. "How does someone hide like that without being noticed? These fuckers are looking down on us!"
"A combination of all three of those quirks…it will allow for a mass production of floating, exploding eyeballs that also have the power to scout by having free range to look in any direction." Hokori's ears drooped as he mentioned it.
"...and I think that multi-eyed laser individual was also able to look into multiple directions as well…is it connected? Or coincidence?" Eris thought aloud, causing a new wave of discussions to echo through the room. "Oh, while I think of it, how did the test with the drugged water go?"
"We found a connection with that too." Lambert nodded, "the water that was used to allow those traitors to skip being interrogated…matches a set of pills that were found on them the day they were taken into custody. Disguised as tic-tacs and mints. Not only that, the effects shown via both were the same symptoms that Suimin showed while on Operation Eurydice."
"So it was a match…they really planned this for quite some time…" Seimei hummed as Suimin was about to ask about it.
"Hey, so I'm curious…what did Cerberus and Duplicator find?" Dion asked, having not touched his gourd in a while.
"Oh! Yeah! I'm curious about that too! It sounds super important!"
"Oh! Right! It's an important clue to either Limbo or the other party…and we still don't know the reason behind it…yet. Now, with what Shi and Bunri found-" before Carna could continue, Hokori's ears twitched, causing him to cut in.
"Hey, doesn't anyone else hear a…cracking sound?" Hokori asked, causing Shi to narrow her eyes.
"Now that you mention it, it does." she confirmed as both the jackal and fennec fox looked over towards the warden's desk.
"Wait…" Seimei muttered as he opened the small door right where the sole surviving egg was hidden.
Pulling the egg wrapped up fully in his black cloak, the warden looked at the few present who had no idea what was within the cloak. "What you're about to see…is to be kept in this room."
"Oka…okay!" the fox nodded rapidly as Dahlia and Yukiko just nodded once.
"Sure thing, Sei-Mei!" Suimin waved her wing around in the air.
When the others gave their own nods, Seimei looked down at the wrapped up egg, yet to be revealed to those that didn't know.
"I would have preferred fewer people knowing about this, but if it's hatching now…we have no chance…even if it may alert a potential hidden danger in the room about its survival…I trust everyone here…but…there's still that precaution. We screened no one about the eggs yet, just Limbo." as he grabbed the black cloak, the warden held back a sigh. "The only good thing that can come from it is someone slipping up and trying to get the egg…or whatever's within it…it'll either be a secret or end up becoming bait…and now that it's hatching, it's going to be near impossible to keep hidden away…"
No choice left but to reveal it and risk it becoming bait now.
As much as he preferred that it wasn't the case. "Not everything always goes according to plan, as they say…"
Revealing the egg to all in the room, every person that was unaware of the egg was left shocked! They had no idea what to expect, definitely not an elephant bird egg, that's for damn sure.
"...is that an…" Hokori pointed at the large egg.
"Egg?" Dahlia just stared at the thing in front of her.
"An egg?" Mizaru titled his head, unable to see the shocking reveal. "What's so shocking about an egg?"
Dion just looked down at his gourd. "...it's the size of one of those elephant bird eggs…that's what…bloody hell…"
"This egg was found by Bunri and Shi during an inmate escape attempt," Seimei began, looking down at the egg. "It was the only one that survived when they encountered a squatter. The squatter protected many eggs just like this, but with their death, this egg is the only one that survived. I want everyone to keep quiet about this, even though this might not be easily hidden once this hatches…"
As he said this, the egg wobbled where it was placed.
It seemed today was the day. Or night rather…
The egg rocked back and forth, wiggling as more cracks appeared on the egg. Something was trying its hardest to hatch!
…it was successful! The top of the cracked egg began to crumble, leaving a large hole in the elephant bird sized egg. Once a hole was formed, a loud scream erupted from the egg. A scream that many heard at some point in their life.
A cry!
"No way…" Seimei stared into the egg, his hands reaching in to pull out just what was within it.
"No fucking way…" Tai just stared at what he saw.
"That's impossible…" The one in charge of the buses, Zugai, shook their head at what she was witnessing.
"That's what was inside them?!" Bunri stumbled back as Shi just snarled, thinking back to all the eggs that were destroyed.
"So that's why they destroyed every single egg there…"
What Seimei pulled out of the egg just got louder with its wail. "WAAAAAAA! WAAAAAAAA!"
Dahlia was lost for words and the others were just staring in shock. "What…the hell? Huh? How? Why?" she muttered out, clearing out of it.
Dion downed his gourd, unable to feel the effects. Yet his eyes were solely focused on the egg, no matter what he did.
Lambert narrowed his eyes at the scene before him. "..." his mind was already running multiple questions about how this was possible. "This is clearly the result of a quirk…but…" he was too shocked to even think of possibilities at that moment!
Everyone in that room was now silent, all except the one crying to begin with.
Now fully in view of all who happened to be present, in Seimei's hands was a seemingly healthy and crying HUMAN BABY!