Chapter Text
“Good morning everyone. It’s 5:30 am, April the 29th of 2024. Wednesday. Block 4 and block 5 will be soon moved to the cafeteria, while 2 and 3 have duty sessions in the backyard. Everyone please, remain calm until you hear the unlock of your cells. Guards will be waiting for you to come out peacefully. Please, do not throw a fist or a tantrum, or you will be punished with severe consequences. During this minute and a half, let’s revise our top five rulebook. First, it is highly prohibited to own sharp or harmful objects, and to keep them in your cells. Second, every person deserves a second chance, you just have to earn it by sweat and blood if needed to. Third, don’t forget what brought you here, and what can make you come back again in the future. Four, aggressive verbal and physical actions will be punished hardly as it demands the law of penitentiary institutions. Five, regret is the cheapest yet most effective way into redemption, everyone has a choice to redeem and rebuild themselves. Nonetheless, what goes around, comes around. So do choose wisely what decisions you make from here. Now, according to the program…” the woman didn’t stop talking through the loudspeakers. And the guy sat on his bunk bed, barefoot touching the cold ground, had to cover his ears while the voice echoed in the hallways and his brain. Groaning and with a great headache, he slowly stood up and walked to the wall in front of him, showing a big amount of white sticks drawn in the surface:
“181” Magna said. It had been 181 days since he was captured and brought to this madhouse. The Clover Prison. Technically it was a reformatory, but god knew how much sicker that place was. People had the death penalty there. And the punishments were heard to be more sadistic than what the prisoners themselves had done. It was a rathole to those condemned to their ends. At least, those placed in Blocks 2 and 3. Magna was in the number 2. Number 4 and 5 blocks were for people with minor crimes but long records. Number 1… had it’s own name: “The Asylum”. Sounded like a good place, ended up being a living hell, as unexpected. The label was given by the guards, because of, quoted words: “That cellzone is a literal paradise compared to what is done outside the bars. The only way of escaping from there, is perishing, and most of the penitents are sentenced to death anyways. The amount of suicides committed in that Block… is surreal. The best you can do is to stay in your cell, and wait until god takes your life away.”
Such a lovely place, right? Magna stayed there. For a whole week. His first week in prison. He was masked and tied up to a chair with metal bracelets that covered half of his arms and hands, also restricted from moving his legs which were glued to the chair he was sat on. Food came by once daily. He could use the toilet when he woke up and when he went to sleep, with a guard present, and armed to their teeth. Another important thing to mention is that the room was soundproof, so he couldn't communicate in any form with people from other cells. And his chair was placed backwards, so he would face the wall from behind, without windows, for obvious reasons, and with a little tiny conduct that let new oxygen come into the space.
Magna could agree that the place was made to go out of your mind, even though the people were in that Block for that exact point. The most brutal and unforgivable crimes were punished there. Sociopaths and people that were a true menace to society ended up in Block A. Magna wouldn't consider himself a menace to society though, he would just do anything to make his way through. Depending on the crystal you use, you could see him as a hero. But the police department preferred to call him a villain.
The boy was ready to die. He knew he would, eventually in Asylum.
That's why, when he was put out of there, and he was moved to Block 2 with the rest of the prison facilities… he was taken aback. Why would they transfer him? Once he made it to his new home hallways, rumors were already sprayed:
"That's the new one"
"He's survived Block 1"
"Heard he burned a whole building by himself"
"I heard that he killed his family and then tried to kill himself after"
"He's been here for 20 years already"
Only one of those statements was incorrect. And let's just say Magna had barely made it to the age of 19. But the life quality of prison made you look miserable enough to add you a few lustrums. The boy kept listening to everyone whispering about him, until he heard something interesting:
"So he's the exchange, right? With his criminal report, who the fuck did it worse to be his replacement?"
Oh .
So that's why he was moved to a new place. A newbie came to take his cell in the Asylum. But he was wondering the same thing that the guy pointed out: who on earth could make Magna look like a normal criminal, so they could replace him in the Asylum?
He never knew. It had been 174 days since then, and Block 1 was completely isolated. They never interact with the rest, so Magna never knew who it was.
That was, until that day he woke up with a horrible headache, and once the girl from the speakers shut up, people were talking once again making a fuss of whatever.
"They're bringing him here"
"They're bringing who here?"
"Dude! The guy. The smiling battle maniac"
" The what ?" Magna thought to himself, as he kept listening closely to the rest
"And why would they transfer him? Another replacement like Magna?"
"Hey Magna! Do you know anything?" A brunet boy situated two cells to his right, shouted. That caught our guy's attention. He walked up to the bars, and see most of his prison mates waiting for an answer
"Do I look like I know shit? Tch, the smiling battle maniac. The name sounds pretty lame to me"
"People call him that because of how sociopathic he seems while confronting people. Never showing anything but a creepy, freaky smile on his face. Only the idea of picturing him gives me chills." Magna sighed rubbing his forehead
"Finral, everything you see at this point gives you chills, shut the fuck up"
"Hey! Watch your mouth fire boy, I know where you live!"
"SILENCE!" a guard ordered from far away, and the floor went dead silent. Sudden steps were the only sound that echoed in the hallway, and when Magna could have sight of the guard that called them out, a young boy was accompanying him. A blond kid with big blue ocean eyes, and a very friendly face.
" A visitor…?" Was the first thought Magna had. And once the boy and the guard walked passed his cell, he could take a better look at the guy. He had-
"Such a pretty face for a shitty place like this one" Magna mumbled, and the new boy turned around and faced him. A sinister spark appeared in the other's eyes. Magna had to gulp because of how tense the air suddenly was. Then, the guard stopped, and announced to the whole floor:
"Everyone, may I present you to your new cellmate. Luck Voltia. Better known as the smiling battle maniac" gasps could be heard among the silence. People were confused. Magna himself was confused. That little and innocent young boy was a number one criminal, Asylum survivor, and his replacement 174 days ago?
"Magna Swing" that was him. Magna stood firmly, and waited for both visitors to walk up to him. "From now on, you two are sharing space. Fortunately by the end of the week one of you might have killed the other, and there will be a rat less in this shithole…" this last part was supposed to be a thought, but clearly it was said loud enough to make him notice. The guard opened his cell, and pushed the other boy in with him, making both of them crash into each other as they were still tied up from hands to their backs.
"ALRIGHT, SCUM! BLOCK 3 IS IN THE BACKYARD NOW, YOUR TURN WILL START IN 30 MINUTES, BETTER START GETTING READY" said the guard already leaving the cellzone. When a metallic sound echoed all around, meaning he had left, Magna sat back on his bed, not caring about his new roommate. That was until the boy started talking
"Hello! I’m Luck! Do you want to fight?"