A loud smack sounded right next to my face, shocking me awake.

As my eyes adjusted to my new environment, I began understanding where I was.

I was in a courtroom.

Next to me was an older man with grey stubble in a blue and black suit, his fist right next to my face from smacking the table to wake me up.

“Wake up kid, you’re being sentenced.” The man said, his voice sounded uncaring.

Sentenced? I’d been detained. You can’t beat a speedster, but at least Mac and Moriti got out of there before they could get them too.

“Wait, I’m being sentenced? I thought it was innocent until proven guilty or whatnot.” I asked, genuinely confused that I didn’t have a chance to defend myself.

The man’s face scrunched up at my question, his eyes rolling. He was annoyed that I had even asked a question like that, apparently it’s common knowledge. Too bad I was basically born yesterday.

The man sighed before answering, “In cases against superhumans or involving superhumans, jail time is guaranteed. You can only defend yourself against how long your sentence is. I’m your state-supplied attorney, and I’m here to try and lower your sentence, which won’t be easy considering you’re being booked for mass murder and destruction of property. Considering how much you were accused of doing, the current sentencing is looking like around 150 years in The Nine Circles.”

I stared wide-eyed at the attorney, I felt myself almost pass out. 150 years?! I can’t even imagine how I could lower this sentence, and even if I did manage it, it would only be by 25 years or so. Also, I had no idea what The Nine Circles was. That speedster hero said they were taking me there and now my attorney said I was going there. I had to ask or else it’d be on my mind. The name was vague but strangely ominous.

“I’m sorry, what the hell is The Nine Circles?!” I yelled, struggling to maintain my composure after being told I was going to be sentenced to 150 years in prison.

The attorney looked even more irritated by me when I yelled. It looked as though a vein almost popped in his forehead.

“God, do you know anything? I swear I don’t get paid enough for this,” The attorney grunted, “The Nine Circles is a prison made specifically for superhumans. Powerless people who decide they can try to kill, assault, or otherwise hurt superhumans are tried as superhumans and can be put in The Nine Circles as well. Basically, your situation right now.”

When he mentioned the word kill, images flooded my mind. The hundreds of crushed bodies, the bloody rubble, and the screams of the few that managed to survive an extra few seconds. Who was I to complain about being put in prison for 150 years? I killed all those people, they were innocent. They weren’t involved with Weaponsmith, they didn’t support him, they just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. I killed so many people so I could get to Weaponsmith.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

How many lives did I have to ruin just to avenge one gunshot wound? Because of me, now Aria is certainly dead. Before she had a chance of living, now she’s dead and it’s all my fault. Because of me, Mac will never be able to live normally or use his power properly again.

“I’m going to accept the sentence. I’m not going to try and fight it, it’s what I deserve.” I said somberly, realizing that either way, I’d be spending the rest of my life in prison.

The attorney stared at me blankly, his face even becoming slightly less scrunched up and annoyed.

“That’s less work for me, so do whatever you want,” The attorney grumbled, “Just know that The Nine Circles isn’t a normal prison.”

I understood that The Nine Circles was going to be hell, but I knew I was going there either way. Whether it was a longer or shorter sentence didn’t matter. I already had a plan in mind, steal other inmates' powers using power thief, overwhelm the security, and escape.

I deserved to spend some time there because of what I did and I’m not avoiding prison no matter what, so it’s better to try and escape once I’ve gotten there and avoid this whole court process.

“What do you mean when you say it’s not a ‘normal prison’? Does it have tougher security or what?” I asked.

A loud and exaggerated sigh left the attorney’s body, the sass was clear as day, “I swear, were you born yesterday? You quite literally know nothing about anything, this is all common knowledge. Okay, in The Nine Circles, there aren’t any amenities supplied. You aren’t given food, a bathroom, or entertainment. In The Nine Circles, you must partake in one of nine different activities to earn ‘credits’ which you can exchange for food and amenities. The amount of credits you earn is dependent on how well you do. You’ll figure out the specifics once you get into The Nine Circles.”

Before I could think about how awful that sounded, the judge slammed her gavel down and got everyone’s attention.

“The accused has been charged with mass murder and destruction of property, facing 150 years in The Nine Circles. The accused has been found guilty, any appeals to lower the sentence must be made now.” The judge explained matter of factly as if she’s had to deal with things like this daily.

I looked over to my attorney and he looked over at me, motioning his head over to the podium so I could accept my sentence since we’d decided not to fight it.

I reluctantly got up, realizing how stupid I was to accept the punishment. I can never make what I did right if I’m stuck in prison for the rest of my life. It was too late now, and we didn’t have any defenses prepared.

I walked up to the podium, my hands restrained with handcuffs and in a bright orange jumpsuit. A man in a suit with a wire going down from his ear holding a syringe stood behind the podium.

I sat down and adjusted the mic, saying, “I have decided not to fight the sentencing, I’ll accept the 150-year sentence.”

The jury’s eyes all lit up with shock, they were confused at my decision. It seems as though no one has ever accepted a sentence like this before.

Before I could think, the syringe that the man was holding was stabbed into my neck and injected. I immediately went unconscious.

They wasted no time taking me to The Nine Circles.

I couldn’t have anticipated how horrific it would be.