The night was cold, his muscles were tight and protested any movement on his part, but he knew running away was the only choice he had. The Heroes would be on top of him if he wasn't fast. In his vulnerable state they'd take crush him with ease, and his new(original?) memories of what Heroes were on the scene only ushed Nine to rise faster as he wandered through the woods to make an escape.
His name was Mugen Azuma(or maybe it always was), otherwise known as the Villain Nine. His mind felt as though it were being assaulted by pain, which was only in part thanks to his body modifications, and the pressure building up in his head was only equalled by the immense itching he felt under his gloves.
The operation was a success(or at least if the movie was right it was), he now held the power of All for One. Well, at least partly. It was an incomplete copy, with the amount of Quirks it can hold only being severely limited, but that was fine. It was almost poetic given his Villain name.
Besides, he could make up for quantity with quality.
His original Quirk, Weather Manipulation, allowed him to bend mother nature to his will. He would have been a god on earth if not for it's devastating drawbacks, which he now knew exactly how to regulate. All he needed was to find Katsuma Shimano and take Cell Activation from the boy.
The mask over his face made breathing easier, yet Nine still found himself panting with exhaustion. He came to a halt, his body aching as he slumped against a tree and sat down, not at all surprised by the purple veins running over his forearms.
It had gotten worse. Weather Manipulation was already tearing his body apart, but the inclusion of All for One only made his body even more unstable, like pouring gasoline on an already raging fire. That was probably why the doctor even allowed him to have a copy of All for One's Quirk, his body would destroy itself soon enough that he wouldn't be a problem for them. Even if he didn't use his Quirk at all- preposterous- he'd be dead in months if he was lucky.
Still though, he just needed a Quirk that would reinforce his body. He needed Cell Activation.
Mugen tore a syringe from his back, his pain tolerance not allowing a hint of pain to show as he jabbed the needle into his arm. Unlike what the old him thought when watching the movie, this wasn't a Quirk boosting drug of any kind. On the contrary, the purple fluid was meant to keep him stable so that he could recover and/or keep using his Quirks despite the drawbacks.
The discomfort under his skin eased up, the violet streaks retracting and disappearing, as he let out a sigh. Not a permanent fix, not even close, but it took the edge off and stabilised his body.
Mugen frowned under his mask as he felt the fresh holes in his palms twitch, the irritation swelling for a moment before dying down. The Quirk obviously wasn't settled in yet, which made sense since it was essentially a foreign organ that was transplanted into his body, but he could use it to an extent. Or, at least the only Quirk currently held within.
Activating Scanning, Mugen's eyes flashed a golden-yellow as his vision morphed. He honestly could not understand why the Doctor would ever give this Quirk up, since it was an immensely useful ability.
When using this Quirk he could 'read' the Quirk Factors and vital signs of himself and others. He could even 'filter' what it is he's looking for by thinking of a specific Quirk, his vision will then be altered to search for said Quirk. It was perfect for analysis and an invaluable non-physical ability.
Mugen 'scanned' his hands, where the All for One Quirk Factor resided, and studied the red lights spreading through his palms. His suspicions were confirmed when he noticed another light, this one a bright grey, clashing and meshing with All for One. That light was presumably Weather Manipulation, and that colliding must have been conflict between his Quirks. It was like they were at war with each other!
It was just like he suspected, the power wasn't entirely compatible with his body. Even now, he could see it was trying to consume Weather Manipulation into itself, only for his Quirk to fight back and reach an equilibrium with it's enemy; which in turn worsened the side effects.
That was troubling to say the least.
Mugen shook his head and his irises returned to their normal stormy grey as he deactivated Scanning. It was troubling, but a problem he'd have to solve later, especially since taking Cell Activation would make this issue a non-factor.
He tiredly picked himself up, noticing a car in the distance with three familiar figures standing in wait, and started to trudge forward. It didn't matter if he'd gotten these new memories, nor if he was Nine or someone else entirely.
His goal remained the same: to create a new world.
"He's sure taking his sweet time." Chimera commented as he leaned against their vehicle, taking a deep puff of his cigar as he looking into the distance. "Are we sure he's even still kicking? The Heroes could have gotten to him before he got out."
Slice rolled her eyes, wiping a few loose strands of red hair out of her face. "Have a little more faith, Nine is tougher than that and you know it. Besides, a few Heroes wouldn't be able to stop Nine."
Though her words were spoken with certainty, internally she had her worries. Nine's body was destroying itself, his cells dropping like flies, and he'd decided to take a massive risk by accepting All for One's very suspicious offer. Quite frankly, she was against the idea, but Nine was stubborn and she caved eventually.
They didn't even know of Nine's condition. He was strong, but he might not have been lucid, and if he wasn't fast then the chances of his capture were high. It was a massive gamble to tip the Heroes off like they had, and it made her anxious to know if it paid off.
Chimera didn't look entirely convinced, but didn't speak again. Despite his intimidating demeanour and attitude, he was loyal to a fault, and the idea of their leader being in harms way was obviously troubling him; even if he wouldn't admit it.
Mummy tapped his foot anxiously, his eyes darting back and forth between the ground and the path, only for him to eventually freeze and stand straight. "Guys, look over here."
Her and Chimera's attention was drawn to the space between trees below, and she nearly let out a sigh when she saw a familiar head of silver hair. He was dressed in a suit, strange tubes prodding off his back, and the mask on his face gave off a needlessly ominous aura, but it was definitely Nine.
It was obvious he was tired, his eyes drooping and his steps slightly laboured, but Nine still rose to the top of the hill and met them face to face. Now that she was close, he looked paler than normal, and his eyes were slightly red, so she took note to check him over later. It wouldn't do good for their leader to remain fatigued afterall.
"The experiment was a success." Nine's voice was deeper through his mask, and he didn't bother with greetings. "The Doctor successfully implanted me with the All for One Quirk. I can only hold eight at a time, but that's more than enough."
Slice allowed herself to grin, and she wasn't alone as Chimera did much the same. Mummy was the stoic one between the trio, but even he gave off an aura of excitement.
That didn't last long.
"However." Nine began, dampening their celebration. "All for One isn't fully compatible with my body, since it's not my Quirk, and because of this Weather Manipulation's drawbacks will be worse from now on."
The grin dropped right off her face, and Chimera was much the same. That wasn't good, the whole point of this operation was to fix Nine's body and instead it was apparently worse now. What were they going to do now?!
Chimera shared her thoughts. "You're kidding me?! Then there wasn't any point to this whole thing! We've just-"
Nine placated him by holding up a hand, not letting worry show. "It's fine, I can take Quirks now, so by finding the right Quirk this won't be a problem. I just need a strong healing ability."
Slice relaxed slightly. It was certainly a comfort to know their leader would be fine, but what ability could counter drawbacks as intense as what Nine faces?
"And, I already have the perfect Quirk in mind." Nine informed them, she could tell he was smiling under his mask. "The Quirk is called Cell Activation. It's in the possession of a boy named Katsuma Shimano. If I had that, I'd be able to heal and improve the condition of my own body's cells."
Slice felt her smirk return full force at the thought. "That's perfect, if you could get that then we'd be set." She could feel the others agree with her, and she wondered for a moment how he knew about this miracle Quirk.
Not that she was complaining though. Their new world would be born soon enough, and they just needed to find a single child.
How hard could it be? It was almost too good to be true.
Nine was looking remarkably neutral about the whole deal as well. Whilst he wasn't the most emotive, she figured that her leader would be ecstatic like the rest of them.
It was probably just weariness, the operation to get All for One couldn't have been pleasant.
"Agreed. The child is being held on Nabu Island, his father has a similar Quirk but it doesn't work on type-B blood. It has to be Katsuma. We'll head there shortly, but I want to pick up a few Quirks along the way to help." Nine ordered, walking over to the vehicle to get in the back. "Weather Manipulation's drawbacks have worsened, so I'd prefer not to use it until I have Cell Activation."
"You've... really thought this through, haven't you?" Mummy stated, rubbing his chin as he studied their leader as he lied back. "By the way, how do you know about this boy and his Quirk? You told us before the operation that you didn't know any power that could help, so what changed now?"
Nine didn't respond, closing his eyes as his form went slack. After a few moments of silence, Mummy repeated himself with mild concern. "Nine?"
Slice approached Nine's unmoving body, slightly worried for his safety, but eased up when she looked over him. "He's just unconscious. The operation must have taken everything out of him."
Chimera shrugged uncaringly. "He should get his rest, just make sure to wake him in a few hours. We'll need orders, but for now we'll just get on the road. Whatever Quirks he wants will need to be strong, so lets head for the nearest city to Nabu Island."
"Agreed." Mummy stated as he got behind the wheel, with Chimera following to the other front seat. Slice decided to stay behind with Nine so she took a place next to his head, wanting to make sure nothing happened to him in his vulnerable state.
Slice looked over Nine, noticing how serene and carefree his expression, and let a tiny smile slip. It wasn't false or bloodthirsty like the ones she gave her enemies, nor forced like the ones she made as a little girl, but rather a hopeful curve of the lips.
Nine's Quirk had been destroying him for a long time, in fact it was a miracle he was still alive, and now he had a concrete solution to cure himself. It was a wish come true for her.
She brushed the back of her hand against his face and frowned. He was cold, much too freezing than could be healthy. It was probably due to being enveloped in a tube for months on end, and she doubted he was being well taken care of.
Slice's eyes strayed over to a few supplies they'd gotten- stolen- to make the winter less biting. Chimera couldn't handle the cold very well, so there were a few blankets tucked away, and she was thankful for their foresight as she wrapped one over Nine's unconscious body and shuffled up against him.
Maybe he'd warm up a bit.
Doctor Daruma Ujiko sighed to himself as he closed off his monitor, having finished interacting with Tomura and felt the teeniest, tiniest, bit annoyed. He wasn't outraged, nor even particularly angry, he was simply... irritated that the Heroes had somehow caught wind of Nine's transport and intercepted the convoy.
Furthermore, because Nine wasn't someone he knew particularly well, he couldn't have Johnny use Warping to force him back. It was a useful Quirk, but it could only be used on someone the user was close with. Ujiko, not being particularly close to Nine, couldn't force him to return.
If only Kurogiri was still around, it would have been easier with Warp Gate. Only Tomura had lost him to the Heroes, yet another point off from his Master's 'successor'.
As bad as losing the warper was, losing him was actually worse.
Subject Number Nine.
He was a man who Ujiko had personally approached a while ago, one of those 'might makes right' folks that would fit right in with the Meta Liberation Army, and with his original Quirk being Weather Manipulation it was quite the understandable mindset to have.
However, that was the main issue. His Quirk was a bit too powerful, the drawbacks were literally tearing his body apart from the inside. That understandably caused Nine to become desperate for a cure, so he volunteered his body for Ujiko's experiments.
Why would Ujiko, All for One's right hand man, ever for any reason want to even consider giving someone else his Master's glorious Quirk? Well, the answer was quite simple. Test of theory.
Ujiko was fascinated by his Master's Quirk, since it was fundamentally unique to anything he'd ever worked with, so he wanted to practice transplanting it into another human before Tomura. That way, any mistakes were simply learning opportunities.
The All for One given to him was nothing more than a prototype version of his Master's Quirk. It didn't hold as high control over the vestiges within, and his body was just altered to handle a meagre nine Quirks including his original. Maybe it could hold more if his body was stronger, but with the way Nine was his Quirks will have killed him long before that ever happened.
Though his duplicate lacked a vestige, meaning he couldn't be possessed, Nine would be dead soon after release and that was if he didn't use his Quirks at all, which Ujiko found highly unlikely. In all likeliness, Nine wouldn't be a problem for them long term. He'd definitely die a slow, painful death before the month was up.
…Still though, he felt very uneasy about Nine's escape for some reason. Even if he was going to die, having a holder of All for One running rampant without watch generally felt like a bad idea. The plan was to transport him to another facility where he'd be checked over before being put in stasis. Whether they'd kill him or even experiment on him was something Ujiko hadn't decided, but he was to stay firmly in their grasp. Now? He was in the wind.
Ujiko sighed. This was all a headache for him, not to mention convenient for Nine.
'It's almost as if he tipped off the Heroes to free himself.' Ujiko chuckled at the thought, since there was no way someone caught in stasis could possibly contact the authorities months in advance when he didn't even know the route they'd be driving through. He would need outside help to do something like that.
Wait. Nine did have allies though, a red haired woman along with two others if the data they'd collected was accurate. So, theoretically, it was possible they could have called the authorities.
In which case, it was him who made a massive miscalculation, not Tomura.
'Oh shit.' Ujiko groaned, knowing if that man-child ever found out he'd never live it down. Then again, Tomura has matured a good deal, even if he still used gamer references like a little brat. Hopefully when his Master took over, absorbing his 'successor' in the process, he wouldn't take Tomura's vocabulary too.
Ujiko rose, deciding to walk through his library of Quirks to settle his nerves. They were glass jars filled with liquid to preserve their contents, being Quirk Factors held on special chips, which could be inserted into a human being. He took pride in his work, especially since it took him decades to get to his current level, and seeing it on full display always reignited his resolve.
Heavy Payload, Radio Waves, Rivet Stabs, Reflection, Refraction, Barrier, Search and so many more amazing Quirks he'd gathered over the years, via taking or copying, and stored onto disks. His Master, amazing though he might have been, was still one of the first people to ever have a Quirk. His body wasn't as evolved as the newer generations, and as such more complex and powerful Quirks were difficult for him to hold inside his aging body.
Tomura could solve that though. Ujiko could modify the boy to bring out the full potential of every Quirk All for One stockpiled, allowing his Master to both use and hold more Quirks, whilst having enough hatred to finally take One for All. It was essentially his way of 'upgrading', so that his Master would have the 'hardware' to keep up with his 'software'.
Everything Ujiko did was for All for One, his Master, his saviour, his god. All of this was his way of repaying All for One, with his research their plans and dreams would come to fruition. All those years ago, when he was Kyudai Garaki, he was cast out because of the world's willing ignorance. That day, Garaki died and Ujiko was born.
Stopping in front of one particular case, the one holding his Master's original Quirk, Garaki rubbed it reverently as he nodded to himself.
Yes, everything was for his Master.
This is a fanfic I came up with to get rid of my writer's block, since my exams finished a bit ago and my head has been numbed down by the repetitive, torturous experience of revision, the stressful and grey-hair creating horror of exams and the... wait, what was I going on about?
Oh yeah, I decided to make this fic because I think Nine is the best All for One holder plot wise. Him being limited is really a pretty good thing because what Quirks he does use end up being creative, plus his original Quirk is fucking sick as hell! I'll be writing this for a bit and I'm mostly just having fun with it. If you want more though then check out my P-word so that you can D-word to my W-word... okay, I'll admit that was a lame one.