Musutafu Nature Park.
Nature Park's Artificial Ocean Lake.
The Artificial Ocean's Lakebed.
The ebb and flow of the artificial ocean's currents brushed soothingly against Nami ga oshiyoseru's carapace as the crab Ant oversaw the harvesting of a hammerhead shark carcass. Five Chimera Ants underneath his command worked dutifully to tear off sizeable chunks of the shark's nutrient-rich flesh whilst the remaining four collected the harvested meat. They stored it within containers crafted from the local seaweed. The containers in question weren't solely filled with hammerhead meat since Nami's squad used the blood pouring out of the dead ocean predator to attract any scavengers that came to investigate.
"Captain Nami, sir," an eel type Chimera Ant assigned to command the meat storage group communicated with his captain via telepathy. "I'm pleased to report fifteen out of the thirty containers are now filled to capacity." The eel Ant reported whilst continuing to help the others with storing the processed meat into the other empty containers.
Nami grumbled in approval at the eel Ant's report. "Excellent, with a few more successful catches like this one, we can return to the Queen with our heads held high." The squad captain gazed towards the hammerhead carcass, which the harvesting team had reduced to mere bones and scraps of flesh. Nami was confident the mighty sea beast's meat would produce a powerful Chimers Ant, maybe even another squad captain. However, such thoughts about future comrades would've to wait as more food needed to be hunted to satisfy their Queen's ravenous appetite.
With their scavenger lure and primary source of harvestable meat depleted, Nami ga oshiyoseru's squad tied the containers to any available limbs and proceeded to walk in a random direction in search for fresh prey. The Chimera Ants gifted with aquatic genes slowly walked across the sands for a few minutes only to pause their marching when they felt vibrations coming from the surface of the seawater. The carnivorous hybrid insectoids glanced upwards in curiosity as the vibrations felt like something was skipping across the water's surface.
"What is that unusual sound?" A Chimera Ant who possessed the genetic ancestry of a pufferfish asked his comrades whilst trying to make sense of the strange vibrations echoing above their heads.
"I'm not sure," The eel Ant in charge of meat storage replied while glancing towards the surface with uncertainty. "The vibrations are shifting in ways none of us has ever heard before." The entire squad agreed as they've never sensed vibration skip across the lake's surface until now.
The pufferfish Ant huffed with barely contained annoyance. "Well, whatever is skipping up there must be heavy," more vibrations reached the Chimera Ants resting at the lakebed. "The vibrations are too loud for it to be anything lightweight." Another set of skipping vibrations could be heard from above the watery surface. However, they stopped above the Chimera Ants, causing the insectoids to snap their heads upwards, where a decent-sized stone smashed into the water and fell slowly to their location.
None of the Chimera Ants uttered a word as Nami plucked the stone from mid-fall. The crab Ant felt warmth emanating from the hunk of rock which was puzzling since any natural warmth the stone would've normally given off should've been absorbed by the seawater long before it reached his carapace covered palm. The continuation of the vibrations above their heads also meant it wasn't the only object being skipped across the watery surface of the artificial ocean.
"A stone?" The eel Ant curiously commented while examining the piece of rock resting upon Nami's palm. "How did something so heavy manage to travel so far into the lake?" It was genuinely baffling to the Chimera Ants as nothing they knew could've sent the stone flying to their location. Nami turned the stone with narrow eyes whilst the seawater surrounding his crustacean form slowly absorbed the heat. The object couldn't have gotten here without outside influence, meaning that something or someone had thrown it with such force that it skipped to the deeper sections of the lake.
It didn't take Nami long to put two and two together. "An intruder is throwing stones up above!" The squad captain discarded the stone with an angry growl, Chimera Ants were a highly territorial species, and the thought of an intruder so close to their preferred huntings grounds made Nami's blood boil with hellish fury. The others took aggressive stances at the news since their hunting ground was close to the hive, meaning that the intruder could become a threat to the Queen. Their instincts demanded that anything that threatened the Queen must be exterminated at all costs.
"We should ascend to the surface immediately!" The eel Ant flashed his fangs while rage bubbled within his veins. "With our numbers, we can easily dispose of the intruder!" The other squad members voiced their agreement to the idea of ascending to the surface of the water to deal with the intruder; however, Nami had other plans.
"No," the squad captain denied the suggestion to swarm the enemy on the surface. "I shall confront the intruder personally while the rest of you swim to shore and return to the hive." His subordinates were surprised that their captain would order them to retreat whilst confronting the enemy alone. The aquatic Chimera Ants glanced between each other before the pufferfish Ant asked the question burning within their minds at the moment.
"Squad Captain Nami, sir, wouldn't it be better for all of us to confront the intruder?" The others nodded while Nami stared blankly up at the surface where the vibrations caused by the stones kept echoing throughout the seawater.
"If there were more of us protecting the Queen, then I'd not hesitate to use swarming tactics on the intruder," the crab Ant exhaled, causing bubbles to rise up towards the surface. "However, we don't know how many intruders are within our territory, so it's for the best if everyone heads back to the hive to check on the Queen." Their greatest enemy at the moment was lack of information, and with so few Chimera Ants currently birthed, it was unwise to take any chances when it comes to the Queen's safety.
The other Ants knew that their captain was right about the situation, so they bowed submissively to their leader before swimming towards the shore. After the Ants finished from Nami's sight, the squad captain began walking across the sandy lakebed, following the echos of the skipping stones. The vibrations acted like a set of beacons that would lead the crab Ant straight to the person who dared to enter Chimera Ant territory. Once found, Nami was going to take great pleasure in eliminating the potential threat to his Queen.
Time Skip, Ten Minutes Later.
The Shore Of The Artificial Ocean.
"Dammit!" The thunderous roar of a particular hot-tempered teenager filled the air. "I've sent hours patrolling this shitty forest, and I've gotten no closer to finding anything important!" Bakugo picked up another stone from the ground and quickly proceeded to throw it across the lake's surface with the assistance of his explosive quirk. The lack of progress was annoying to Bakugo. Yet, he wasn't going to give up since a real hero never surrenders nor admits defeat which was why he came back to throw stones across the lake since it allowed him to blow off some steam without having to cause any unnecessary destruction.
"Tch, I bet the heroes sent to take care of whatever the hells going on are in the deeper parts of the forest." It was a reasonable theory as Bakugo hasn't seen anything during his patrols that might indicate that a villain was hanging around the forest. He'd check those sections next and hopefully find something besides the broken animal bones that were apparently scattered everywhere. Bakugo had been slightly worried about the bones at first, yet after a while, he decided it was just leftovers from a local predator's meal.
Bakugo raised his arm for another explosive throw; however, the hot-tempered teen paused when he noticed a cloud of sand forming within the seawater. "That wasn't there a moment ago." The wannabe hero's eyes narrowed in suspicion, and without hesitation, Bakugo sent an explosive powered stone towards the heart of the sand cloud. However, before impact, a massive humanoid crab launched itself out of the water and landed a few feet away from the explosive teen; the crustacean's multiple black eyes gazed at Bakugo with murderous intent.
"Hum, good instincts," Bakugo growled furiously at the crab bastard that had been hiding within the water. "The fact that you suspected something was amiss shows that you're not going to be easy prey." Spindly carapace covered legs stretched outwards to their full length while the bastard's skinny arms laid uselessly at his sides. The only dangerous thing that Bakugo could see on the overgrown crab were the muscular pinchers that snapped threateningly from the guy's shoulder blades. Bakugo grinned wickedly since the guy was obviously the villain that caused the park to be shut down and appeared to only possess a crab mutation quirk which meant that it'd be easy for him to send the bastard straight to hell.
"If that's all it takes to impress you," Bakugo exploded into the sky via his explosion quirk and proceeded to charge towards his opponent. "Then this fight will be over before you know it, crabby!" The Chimera Ant stared with interest as Bakugo rapidly closed the distance between them. The explosive teen prepared to fire a powerful blast into the villain's face; however, the crab proved to be far faster than something of his size should've been and dodged the attack via leaping over Bakugo. Several curses escaped the wannabe hero while manoeuvring into a more favourable position.
"Interesting," the crab Ant kept dodging Bakugo's relentless attacks. "Tell me, human, just how are you causing those explosions without harming yourself in the process?" It was odd to the Chimera Ant as the teenager should've been hurt by his proximity to the point of the explosion's origin, which seemed to be the teen's palms.
Bakugo paused in his assault upon hearing crabby's statement. "What the hell? Can't ya recognise a damn quirk when you see one?!" This was absurd everyone on earth knew what a quirk was and the superhuman abilities it grants to those born with one. Yet, the overgrown crustacean was acting like this was the first time he heard about quirks. With 80% of the human population possessing some kind of quirk, it simply wasn't possible to have zero knowledge on the subject leading Bakugo to believe that the crab Ant was just trying to screw with his mind.
"A quirk?" The Chimera Ant muttered while watching the violent teen get ready for another assault. "Quirk signifies a trait unique to an individual, meaning that your ability to cause explosions is genetic." It was an exciting discovery and left Nami with a particular question if the loud and hot-tempered human possessed a quirk, wouldn't that mean Chimera Ants with human genes also inherited these quirks. If the answer was yes, how can they manifest these abilities and use them to better the hive.
"Get ready crabby!" Bakugo roared with determination as he fired himself towards the unmoving crustacean. "Cause I'm gonna turn your ass into seafood!" Once again, the distance was closed within seconds; however, instead of dodging the incoming teenager's explosive attack, the Chimera Ant let out a battle cry and activated his own quirk, causing seawater to burst out of the Ant's carapace. Bakugo, startled by the sudden appearance of the seawater, blasted backwards to a safe distance and watched as the Ant examined his own quirk.
"How fascinating," the Chimera Ant held up a hand and studied the seawater as it slipped through his fingers. "From the sensations, I'm feeling these quirks function much in the same way as muscles." Nami concentrated and watched as the seawater within his palm rose upwards and twisted into the form of a miniature watery version of himself. It was slightly tiring to force the seawater into such a shape, yet the results showed the Chimera Ant that his quirk had the potential to be rather valuable for the Queen.
Bakugo appeared in front of the Ant while he was distracted with studying his quirk and fired another explosion. Yet, instead of landing a clean hit on his foe, the smoke was blown away, revealing that the Chimera Ant had shifted the seawater into a shield to absorb the blast. An amused chuckling left the Ant's lips whilst his fist snapped out and connected with Bakugo's face with the force of a sledgehammer. The explosive teen felt his nose break whilst being sent flying across the clearing, skipping over the earth much like the stones he'd been throwing earlier.
"Goddammit!" Bakugo got up from the ground while holding his heavily bleeding nose. "I've underestimated this damn crab!" The crab in question slowly walked towards Bakugo whilst experimenting with his quirk. The sight of the crab playing with the seawater was seriously pissing Bakugo off. Yet, as furious as the explosive teen felt at the moment, he wouldn't rush the crab Ant this time since he'd learned of the vast strength hidden within the Chimera Ant's skeletal form.
"Nami ga oshiyoseru," Bakugo blinked in confusion at the Ant's words as it stopped a few feet away from the explosion quirk user. "It is the name gifted to me by the Queen, and as a sign of gratitude for revealing the existence of quirks, it shall be the last name you ever hear." One of the pinchers was directed at Bakugo, allowing the hot-tempered teenager to see the circler hole in the centre of the appendage. A wave of seawater blasted out of the hole much like a cannon and soared towards Bakugo, who was just fast enough to shoot into the sky before the tide could hit him.
"Shit!" Bakugo saw the wave smash into the trees and reduced the once-mighty flora into a pile of splinters. A second wave jetted out of the other appendage, trying to score a direct hit on the teen, yet Bakugo was far more experienced with a quirk and thus managed to dodge the second wave and the next few that came after it. "I need to get away from here and find a place where the bastard can't fire those wave cannons without risking himself in the process." Bakugo blasted away from the battlefield and entered the trees.
"A tactical retreat?" Nami gazed into the forest where he could just make out the escaping Bakugo. "Given the human's violent tendencies and threats to kill me, it is unlikely to be his actual strategy." The crab Ant entered the forest and proceeded to chase after Bakugo as allowing the hot-tempered teen to escape the forest wasn't an option as the hero wannabe could return with reinforcements. This outcome was unacceptable to the squad captain.
He'd ensure that Bakugo never left this forest alive.
Time Skip, A Minutes Later.
Bakugo soared across the forest canopy with the outer edge of the musutafu nature park as his set destination. The explosive teen knew that with so many obstacles surrounding his position, the oversized crab wouldn't risk firing those wave canons since it would most likely result in him dodging and the Ant wasting energy. The small animals in the forest heard the explosions and ran away since they weren't accustomed to loud noises. The sudden lack of those animals allowed Bakugo to listen to the sound of tree branches being shaken from behind his position.
"I shall not allow you to escape human!" Bakugo glanced backwards and was treated with the unsettling sight of Nami using his spindly arms to swing from tree branch to tree branch whilst his legs were held tightly against his torso. The crab Chimera Ant was gaining speed fast and would soon catch up to the explosive teen unless something was done to slow the squad captain down. Thinking quickly, Bakugo blasted some trees with his quirk, causing them to start falling to the ground. However, Nami countered the attempt to delay him by firing a wave cannon, thus destroying the falling trees and removing them as an obstacle.
"That's right, yeah, cocky bastard, just keep following me," Bakugo smirked as the duo played a high-speed game of hide and seek, which might end in each others death if they weren't careful. "After I've lured you to where we are going, I'll kick your crab ass back to the Stone Age." Nami, during a midair jump, slashed at the air sending a crescent blade of pressurised seawater towards the fleeing Bakugo. The temperamental twisted away from the blade, which soared past and created a shallow cut into the side of a nearby tree.
The chase lead the past miles of trees and various types of animals until they arrived at a clearing filled with massive boulders and other natural obstacles. This section of the nature park was one of Bakugo's many training areas meaning that the blonde, spiky-haired bomber had an advantage when it came to the knowledge of the terrain. Upon hitting the earthy floor of the forest, Bakugo took his basic combat stance and watched as Nami extended out his legs to safely land without injuring himself.
"Alright, crabby!" Sparks ignited from Bakugo's palms as the duo stared each other down. "It's about time I kick your ugly ass and show you why I'll be the next number one hero!" Nami didn't respond and activated his quirk, causing more seawater to flood out of his carapace. The Chimera Ant and blonde bomber glared at each other for a moment before charging towards their opponent with the intent of finishing this battle once and for all.
Bakugo raised a hand, which was covered in tiny explosions, and screamed his signature battle cry.
"Die!"
AN.
Present Mic's Quirk Announcement.
Nami ga oshiyoseru.
Quirk: Aqua Surge.
With the D.N.A inherited from the Sludge villain Nami ga oshiyoseru can generate and manipulate seawater, even sources not created from his body. The scary crab can even use holes in his pinchers to shoot destructive waves towards any target. The only downside is that manipulating seawater found naturally takes far more energy and tires the big guy. Oh man, talk about a crabby opponent.
Current moves.
Aqua Slicer: A crescent blade that Nami creates from manipulating seawater and condensing it into a sharp, thin blade.
Ocean Shield: Manipulates seawater into a shield that can withstand high impacts and absorb explosive damage.
Hydro Cannon: uses the holes in his pinchers to fire high-pressure water that can cause massive damage to a target or surrounding environment.