The panicked voices of the settlement rang out, strained whispers of people echoing as they looked into the distance with paled faces. The roar of the beast signalled their doom. He had failed… they would die.
Javil was mouth was set in a grim line. His long black dreads shifted in the hot winds. The sand in the air caused the tracks of sweat to show in grimy lines that ran from his brow. He would move the people to one side of the settlement. He could hold the beast off for long enough.
He had hoped that the stranger, Aurem as he had called himself would have ended the fight in one blast. But it didn't seem to be going in his favour.
"How is it going, Micheal." His voice strained as he asked the question, dreading the answer that might come.
Micheal was useful in circumstances like this. But his quirk was harmless in everyday life here. As long as he saw someone he could 'target' them. Then as long as he kept his eyes shut he knew what their condition was. He knew how hurt they were and what parts of them were injured to what extent.
"N-Not well sir, he has just been sliced into 5 pieces… he is de- wait. No, he just HEALED in an instant! He is fine?" His voice confused, he had never felt someone heal this fast. It was like he was never injured in the first place.
Watching the distance there was a sudden blast of fire. An intense heat was even felt from here as a wave of air blew his locks back despite the matted weight. It was almost scary.
Standing there in silence the noise finally faded. He was shocked that the beast was this close, it was still a good distance away but the sound of the eruption of power had even been heard from here. And the enraged roar.
Waiting for a few moments Javil asked again. "And now?"
"He is burning sir, his own quirk is burning and healing him, he is healing at a much faster rate, however… he is fine now. His quirk is off. I think he has won?" The hesitant voice of Micheal filled with a level of hope. That they wouldn't have to live in such silence and fear.
It wasn't long before Javil saw him walking over the mound. The cracks in his skin that ran over his body still let out those flickering motes of fire. The ethereal flames shimmered in the air distorting it with heat. And dragging behind him in a channel of sand.
Was the beast.
Where Aurem's hand gripped was charred and burnt from the contact. The upper half of the body was clearly missing the back section but no innards trailed behind it. The corpse was hollowed out by the heat.
Smiling slightly he shook his head. What monster had appeared to have toyed with a creature and let it 'kill' him. How powerful was he really? To have ended the fight in one shot when the beast had powered itself up. It was almost ridiculous.
The fight was louder than he had expected it to be however, the roar would attract nearby colonies that were searching for food. If it was a scouting party it would be alright. But if it was anything more than that he would need the help of this man.
He would ask, but he didn't have much to offer.
---
As Nick dragged the corpse back he looked at the settlement, although his thoughts were elsewhere. On a fact that he had just noticed.
He had kept his hand on the creature as he had dragged it, he had kept contact. And as he had been just looking at the plus alpha genes in his body he had noticed something in the body of the beast… it was a quirk, but not the beasts. It was just the remnants of one that had been active.
By the time he had noticed it, he wasn't able to find out what it really was. He knew that it was someone's quirk that had been applied to the beast. But he didn't know anything more than that… he would look into it if he came across anything but it really wasn't his problem.
Cracking his neck he sighed, the quick check he had made it clear merging the best parts of the beast's bones with the best structure of his bones clearly wasn't going to be as easy as 1 2 3 but that didn't matter much right now. He had yet to make his new, new body. But that was going to be after he finished here. Hopefully, he would find some powerful quirks.
Getting to the wall he watched as a hole formed, the sand flowing away from a point to form a gate. Javil standing on the other side as he looked at the smirking Nick.
"Your order. Sorry about the condition, my quirk isn't very… forgiving." Nick said, pulling the beast forward and leaving it on the floor in front of the man. A proud smile on his face as he patted the side of the beast's head. The beast's head was bigger than he was.
Looking at the beast Javil said. "Thank you Aurem, you have my gratitude. I will give you all the information that I can, I am afraid that it is not much but if you stay for a while I am sure that I may be able to gather more information from the citizens." A smile on his face as he motioned to the beast that some other people started to haul away.
"I don't plan to stay for long. Give me what little information you have and I will be on my way. After all, if you know little about what is happening I have a place that I know he will be heading. I need to get there before he leaves." He had a time limit and while it was generous he didn't want to dally.
He needed to get moving before Shigaraki ran too far.
Seeing Javil furrow his brows he turned to the man, it was clear that the response was not what he was hoping to hear.
"Even if I did hang around, what information would these people know that you don't? There couldn't be more than 200 people here… what interaction with outsiders would they have beyond you?" His voice questioning. Probing for an answer, or some type of response that would let him know the man's thoughts.
"They would not know anything I don't, no. I simply am worried the noise of your battle could have attracted more trouble than I can handle. Not that I am blaming you for that, I am simply worried and wish you would stay around to help. His voice was concerned as he expressed his worries.
Seeing the man's shoulders hang with trouble Nick tilted his head to the side. Looking out into the distance, maybe… maybe more would come. If he could see if that quirk remnant was in those creatures as well it would lead to more questions. If it was a wider spread then that meant that it might be the reason that every animal was so horribly… mutated.
But which quirk would have the power to spread so far and so wide? One that was heavily supported… the leader of a community.
A community that was forced to do something drastic to survive such as All for One finding out where they were.
Some pieces were missing but it might be a reason. That was only if every other animal had remnants of that quirk. They might not have it could just have been someone that was controlling that one beast. But it was a theory he was willing to bet on.
"I can stay around and help, I have something I want to check. Oh, on a side note. The beast came here because of a water spring that is over the dunes. You might want to go have a look at it, I cleared the area and made a glass basin so… what information do you have?"
"I'm afraid I haven't heard anything about this Shigaraki you are hunting. No one has passed through here for years as well, we are fairly isolated." Javil started to say, seeing the unimpressed look on the face of Aurem he quickly said, "I can say however, I will say. That the biggest settlement that exists in Australia is along the coast."
Pointing roughly west Javil continued. "If you head that way you will find the coast. Travel along it keeping the water to your right and you should find the only city soon." His voice was a bit embarrassed that was all the information he could offer.
Raising an eyebrow Nick said slowly… "So… I killed the beast to be told something that I already know? Nice… that seems fair. If he ever comes through here you better crush the ball mate." His voice was defeated as he let out a small sigh.
"You are lucky that I want to check something out or I would just leave now." His voice tired as he climbed onto the wall. Could the beasts just get here so he could leave?
---
It wasn't long before a few scouting parties of bugs came through. And Nick dealt with them with a few waves of fire. It was clear that he wasn't really happy about the information that he received. And the intensity of the fire that he was sending out in waves across the sand made his feelings clear.
The part of the wall that he was standing on had become glass, the sand in front of the settlement had become a dune of shattered shards. Jumping from the wall he basically felt the tension of the 'soldiers' dissipate.
Honestly, he was more tired than he was mad. It made sense that there was no information that he would get when he already had a map basically. He should have fucking expected that.
He wasn't that upset though, he had gotten some information on what the communities leader may be. Putting his hand on one of the corpses he felt it, now that he knew what he was looking for it was clear that whatever this quirk was it helped the body bind with remnants of quirks. It was… frightening.
It was a quirk that allowed the body to pick up on traces of plus alpha genes in genetics. And it was spreading. It was clear that as the monsters spread and consumed each other the quirk spread with them. Making it so that the quirks were no longer a rare mutation in offspring but a guaranteed one.
No wonder they were so desperate to hide from All for One or stop him from coming here. But still, something wasn't adding up. Something didn't make sense. Sure the quirk was strong but he assumed that it had limitations there were being removed by other's quirks somehow, at least that was his assumption.
Something was wrong though. It was certainly a quirk that All for One would be interested in… maybe he didn't know what it really was. After all, it wasn't really clear. That must have been it, or something along those lines.
Heading back to the settlement he shook his head. He would figure it out later when he got there. For now, he would head to the city. That was his best bet at finding the community for now.
Letting out a sigh he couldn't help but feel that something was wrong with this entire situation but he wasn't prepared to try and figure it out right now.
Getting to the settlement he soon exchanged goodbyes with a guilty-looking Javil who clearly wasn't the most happy with what he had given Nick in return, it was nice to see that he had some guilt about it but he didn't blame him. It was clear that there wasn't much here. With the new spring, it would both bring trouble and relieve some.
Receiving some food and water for his troubles he soon started to make his way to the beach. He would follow it like he had been advised and soon he would be at the city. His search would continue from there.
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Thanks for all the support! Finally getting into some things to do with the community here.
Reviews and comments are always welcome, let me know how I am doing and if I can improve anything!