Super Science
Ch. 118: An Assassin's Tale Part 2
Nagat finally awoke with a killer headache and groaned in pain while rolling over but found that she couldn't. She tried to roll over to the other side but quickly found she couldn't do that. She felt so restricted and tight like she was all bundled up into a box. When she finally opened her eyes, she found that she was indeed in a box. She tried to sit up but hit her head, finding that the top of the box was only tall enough for her to sit up straight in. Looking around, he noticed a few things. One, it was dark. Two, the box was metal. And three, the box only had a dozen air holes for her to breathe and look out into. That's when she realized that the association got the jump on her and captured her before she could warn N.I.P. She failed. But where were they taken here? Why wasn't she dead?
Shaking these thoughts from her mind, she tried to come up with an escape plan. Luckily, they hadn't put her in a quirk-dampening collar, but the box was too small for her to activate it fully. Just before she could formulate a counter plan of attack, she heard the sound of an exploding thunder and crashing lightning that shook her box, followed by many beeping sounds. She recognizes those noises as ones from a plane. Was she on a plane? But before she could question that even more, the box began to rattle even more violently, and she had to hook her feet to the box and her arms to the body to keep from getting hurt! The shaking went on for several seconds until the plane's radio picked something up and what sounded like a prerecorded message.
"Attention unidentified aircraft. You are flying in restricted airspace. Leave now or be shot down by-.", but the transmission was cut off before it could finish.
Before Nagat could get comfortable and calm down, she heard the sound of gunfire, followed by the plane getting hit and shredded, the controls going wild with warning beeps, and finally, the sensation of dropping. The box and she fell, and then something hit the box, causing it to spin! Then, for the second time, Nagat's world went dark.
When she woke up again, she found she was still in the box, but during her fall, it had been dented enough for her to try and escape! Getting her barring, Nagat managed to position herself and, with three strong kicks, busted the opening enough for her to escape! After pulling herself out, she fell onto…sand? Getting up, she heard the sound of the waves and quickly took in her surroundings. She was definitely standing on a beach since the sand was below her and the ocean was behind her. In front was a jungle, thick, dark, and imposing. The moon was above the sky at its zenith, and what she assumed was the plane she was transported in crash landed into the sand several hundred yards away from her.
Moving to the plane, she saw how it had been shredded by anti-aircraft artillery. But where in the world did that kind of firepower belong on a beach? It looked unsalvageable and was already on fire. No way she was getting anything out of it. Then she saw that one of the pilots had been flung out of the window and sprawled on the beach.
Nagat checked, and they were dead. Taking off the helmet, Nagat noticed how strange his eyes were and realized that the president's assistant was behind them. She then looked out into the place she had landed and asked, "W-Where the hell am I?"
Seeing no reason to stick around, Nagat decided to try and find…something. Anything at all in this situation? So she trudged into the jungle in hopes of finding somewhere to get a bird' s-eye view of the area. However, she didn't get far, as her leg was caught in a snare, and she was hung upside down. Nagat recoiled from the vertigo, and her head swam like a tidal wave.
Before she could do anything, Nagat saw something peeking out of the bushes and began to creep towards her as her mind cleared. Nagat gasped as she saw a hunched and dirty creature stalk out towards her. In a moment, she pulled out her quick and aimed it at the creature! Upon seeing her quirk, the creature made a sound like a gasp and stopped.
"That's a quirk. Are you a human?", the creature asked.
Nagat paused and carefully replied, "Y-Yes."
The creature took off an enormous and ugly mask, revealing itself to be a human man. With stress on his face alongside relief, he said, "I'm so sorry; I thought you were an animal."
With that, Nagat put her quirk away, and the man quickly went to the rope and gently lowered her down. Even though the landing was slow and soft, her head was still tender, and she moaned in complaint while touching it.
"You okay?" the man asked with concern while helping her to her feet.
"I'm fine. No, actually, I'm not. I hit my head real hard.", Nagat told him while gingerly cradling her throbbing head.
"I've got some medicine at my base.", the man offered.
"You've got a base?" Nagat questions, curious about how long he has been here to make a place to live.
The man then hit something against the ground, and a torch burned to life in his hands. As he held it up, he placed the ugly mask back on his face and told her, "Follow me."
Nagat followed the man for what felt like hours through miles of dense jungle. He always stopped when he did, stayed low, turned here, and creased the bend there. It was like he was being careful but also lost, or maybe he was trying to shake something off his trail or trying to hide his tracks. After a long while of trekking through the dark, they finally came to the mouth of a cave that sloped down into the earth. He motions for her to follow, and she does. Once they are within and deep down in the cave, Nagat surmises, "Your base is underground?"
"It's the safest place to live here.", the man tells her, keeping his eyes forward.
"Where exactly is, here?", Nagat asked the question she had nipped at the back of his mind.
"Pacifica.", the man answered.
"The murder island?!", Nagat exclaimed while stopping in her tracks.
"The one and only." The man confirms, only to notice Nagat wasn't following. He walks back to let her digest this information. A thought crosses his mind, and he asks her, "Say, I didn't catch your name?"
"Tsutsumi Kaina.", she tells him, careful not to use her hero name, knowing full well this guy was either a death row inmate or had a life sentence.
"You know, you look awfully familiar, and so does your quirk." The man tells her while getting uncomfortably close to her face with the torch next to her, trying to get a clear view. But Nagat stays calm through the whole thing, hoping he'll brush it off.
He then had a eureka moment and exclaimed, "Wait a second!"
Shit.
"Lady Nagat!? What are you-? Why are you-? You know what, never mind.", the man suddenly stops his incoherent babbling and continues his walk down the tunnel.
"Never mind?", Nagat questions back while following him.
"I won't ask. You were sent here for a reason. Only the worst of the worst are sent here to die.", he says in an understanding tone.
"Right.", Nagat said while looking away, not knowing what to say and knowing not to say too much.
Eventually, they came upon a large wooden gate that encased the whole cave, lit with torches and guarded by two men with makeshift weapons. The men tensed up at their arrival, but the masked man walked up to them without hesitation. He whispered something to both and handed off a flower to each. Seeing this, the men relaxed and opened the gates. When Nagat tried to enter, the men stopped her with the tips of their weapons!
But before they could do anything, the masked man came back and grabbed their shoulders while assuring them, "It's okay; she's new."
The men looked at one another, shrugged, and lowered their weapons, allowing her to enter through the gates.
After a while, Nagat was given a hot meal, clean water, and first aid for the injury on her head. The masked man, who was the leader of this place, tended to her. After tying off the bandage on her head, he said, "All patched up."
Thanks, um…", Nagat began to say, trying to remember his name if he ever said it.
"Dacken, call me Dacken.", Dacken introduced himself.
Now, in more light, Nagat could get a better look at him. He was taller than her, no surprise there, younger than her, a bit of a surprise, and not wearing much, a big surprise. In fact, all the people here were dressed similarly. Whatever clothing they had was used to make loincloths alongside animal pelts, plant leaves, and mud for camouflage. Dacken's eyes were like those of an animal; they were alert and always watching.
"Doesn't sound Japanese.", Stated Nagat.
"I'm from Ireland. Lots of us are from around the world.", Dacken.
Nagat looked around again and observed, "Not many people here."
"There used to be thousands.", said Dacken.
"Thousands?", Nagat said in a small yet surprised voice.
"Yeah, then the animals and plants were released on the island, the spiders started to hunt us, the dragons appeared, then the spider creations and the half-dragons appeared. Oh, and how can I forget about Quelaag.", Dacken listed off in anguish and anger.
"Quelaag?", Nagat questions, thinking it was some kind of animal.
"Pray that you never meet him or Shelob. He's the one and only zealot to the spider queen Ungoliant. However, I heard of someone like him. I think her name is Quelana.", Dacken explained in detail.
Looking around once more at the "fortifications," Nagt asked in concern, "Is down here really that safe?"
"Not really, but it's far better than up there.", Dacken told her with a stressed sigh.
Suddenly, a loud roaring sound was heard from outside the front gate, and people began to grab weapons and rush towards it. The gate shook and buckled from whatever was hitting it.
Standing up fast, Nagat exclaimed, "What's that?"
"Something is trying to break in.", Dacken said with cool alertness as he grabbed a spear and ran with the others.
Nagat followed after him and activated her quirk. Several people were holding back the gate while several others were at the ready. Suddenly, a massive animal paw full of sharp claws flung the gate open! Then, a huge gray animal with paws the size of a human head and blunt teeth came roaring with anger!
Before the other or the animal could do anything, Nagat felt her instincts kick in as she raised her rifle and, without looking through the scope, shot one bullet straight at the animal's head! The bullet passed through its eye and exited out the skull, where the animal took one last breath before falling back dead.
Everything went silent for several seconds before everyone exploded in cheering and praising the woman. Nagat breathed a sigh of relief and deactivated her quirk as everyone surrounded and thanked her.
Dacken pushed through and clapped her back while saying, "Nice shot!"
After things had settled down a bit, Nagt approached the animal's body and asked, "What is that thing?"
"Cave Troll. They're quite common underground." Dacken explained to her.
Nagat looked it over a bit before stating, "Looks like a sloth, but big."
"It is. A lot of the more mystical creatures here are just regular animals.", Dacken told her as she watched several people drag the huge corpse inside the base.
Looking around and taking in all she knew from such a short time here, Nagat asked without thinking, "If living like this is so bad and you can't fight back against…everything. Why haven't you guys tried to escape?"
Everything went dead silent as all eyes fell on her, making the woman nervous. Then, everyone burst into laughter! Nagat was shocked but confused, and she asked, while looking around, "What's so funny?"
"We have tried, Tsutsumi, it's impossible.", Dacken said. Clearly not satisfied with the answer, he went on to explain further, "Look, between the regular flora and fauna that tries to kill us on a daily basis, the beach would leave us in the open. The spiders and half-dragons are actively hunting us down. Not only that but even if we make a raft, we can never brave the storm on the edge of the island. There's only one way on and off the island." this got her interested, and she listened with intrigue as the man explained, "Rumor has it that the scientists who keep making all these fucked up creatures and plants have a teleporter. The only problem is that not only is it heavily fortified and protected by all manner of high-tech shit, but it's in the beaching area of a colony of merrows."
"Merrow?", Nagat questions.
"Big fucking apes made into a bunch of fucking walruses. Real mean too, especially the females." a person from the crowd who has a really thick accent tells her.
Suddenly, the gate was forced open, and one of the guards happily exclaimed, "Hey, fellas, look who's back! It's my brother!"
The guard then pulled in a new man who, to Nagat at least, seemed very suspicious-looking. Unfortunately, her thoughts were confirmed when Dacken yelled, "No, you idiot, don't!"
But before the guard could react, a hand was forced out of his chest through the back, with the guard's heart in the hand of the man next to him. The guard coughed blood and then fell to the ground when the man pulled his arm out, still holding the beating heart!
Suddenly, the man smiled, and his body began to morph! He became bigger; his clothing was absorbed into his body, wings, a tail, and a horn sprouted out as claws and sharp teeth poked out. His skin grew scaly and red as his face elongated, and embers danced in his mouth. When the transformation ended, in mere seconds, he stood before the shocked and frightened men, where it raised its head up and began to make a hooting sound.
"Stop it!", Dacken yelled, only for Nagat to act fast and shoot the dragon straight through the reverse scale on its chin and straight out the head. The dragon fell dead, and Dack told her, "Nice shot again."
Putting her gun down and steadying her breath, Nagat exclaimed, "Is that a half-dragon?! You didn't say they could shapeshift!"
"Yes, but there's no time to explain. We have to leave!" Dacken yelled as everyone else began to grab small premade bags and stuff other things in other bags.
Nagat was completely taken by surprise by this, and following Dacken, she asked, "What? Why?"
"We've been compromised. The spiders will be here soon!" he explained in a hurry, shoving things into a bag and tying it closed.
"How? All it did was hoot.", Nagat asked in concern, feeling rushed.
"It released a death hormone. The spiders will smell it and swarm this place!" he explained quickly while grabbing the two bags he had made.
Only for the man to freeze in his spot, and as the sound of chittering fangs and many legs filled the cave, Dacken and everyone else froze in fear. The man said in a horrified tone, "It's too late."
As several people tried to close the gate, dozens of spiders poured into it and busted the gate down without any resistance. People ran from the spiders as they filled and flooded the cave like a massive tidal wave! Nagat expected small spiders but not ones the size of large dogs!? If this is what the spiders look like, what the heck does this Quelaag thing look like!?
Unfortunately, she got her answer when the swarm of spiders separated like a grand wave, and an even larger figure strolled in like an unyielding force. And looking at it made Nagat want to scream or puke! It was a gorgeous man with a well-toned physique, long black, and flawless skin. But from the waist down, he was a nightmare! His human body was fused into something that looked like a spider! A mass of red eyes dotted the second head, more legs than needed, hundreds of teeth in the maw, and spikes of hair in the thorax that were engulfed in flames.
"Is that…Quelaag?!", Nagat said under her breath in terror.
Quelaag smiled at the frozen people and said with a husky yet smooth and sinister tone, "Well, well, well. It seems that the very last outpost for the mice has finally been uncovered. I have to admit, you made this a fun challenge. So for that, I'll make your deaths swift.", he said the last part while curling his finger like claws and slashing the air.
"Run!", Decken screamed.
Everyone scattered like bugs or began to fight off the swarming spiders as Quelaag cackled manically. Nagat wanted to fight, but Dacken grabbed her arm and pulled her to the farthest section of the cave, where the sound of spiders and people's screams died in the background. Nagat soon found herself with Dacken at a section of the cave that had a crawl space that went out and then up when she ordered into it. It was only big enough for a human to crawl through comfortably.
Dacken quickly pushed one of the bags into her hand alongside a strange glowing crystal and told her in a hurry, "Go up this tunnel, and you'll find a hatch that'll take you out of here! Take this bag; it has everything you need to survive the island and this!"
"What about you and what is this?", Nagat asked while also looking at the strange crystal in her hands.
"It's one of those splinter things the scientist uses. Don't ask how; it's a long story. Just turn it on in your mind, and you can use the quirk within; it's called Air Walk. And don't worry about me. I'm gonna hold Quelaag and the spiders off!", Dacken told her while walking back towards the center tee of the cave.
"Wait!" Nagat cried out while grabbing his arm. After catching her breath, she turned him towards her and exclaimed, "Why are you helping me so much? You know I am… I was a superhero. And why are you trying to throw your life away? Just come with me, and we'll survive together." She practically begged him.
Dacken smiled at her words but then looked to the ground, where he said in a somber tone, "I've done a lot of messed up things in my life. I think it's about time I did one good thing. After all when I was younger, I always wanted to be a hero like you." hearing this made Nagat teared up a bit. Still, Dacken pushed her against the hole and told her, "The map has the lab's location with a compass. It's on the southeast end of the island. You're our last hope, Nagat. Find Doctor Egon. End this madness. There may be more of us out there.", he begged her, making Nagt shake her tears away and nod in promise.
Only for Dacken's smile to shift to surprised pain as a spider leg pierced through his chest from his back! Nagat gasped and looked back to see one of Quelaag's disproportionate spider legs reaching out towards them, with her only saving grace being the man in front of her!
"Run.", was the last thing Dacken said to her as he was pulled towards the man spider.
In a fit of rage, Nagat activated her quirk and shot a hole straight through Quelaag's human head! The force of the bullet forced his head back, and all the spiders stopped in shock! Only for the man to bring his head back up, where a hole had been carved straight through his head, and Nagat to watch in horror as he smiled and the wound healed like it was nothing. Nagat grabbed the bag and the splinter and quickly shimmied through the small tunnel.
Quelaag tried to chase after or grab her, but due to his size, he couldn't fit in the hole or reach her. The only thing he did was yell in the tunnel, "You can run, little mouse, but you can't hide!"
Seeing that the woman was long gone by now and chasing her wasn't in the cards. Quelaag decided to revel in his victory. Holding the man he pierced through up to his face, he gloated; the last of the rats had finally been flushed out alongside their leader. I'm actually a bit sad about that.", Dacken said nothing but coughing up blood as he tried to keep himself up on his leg to keep from opening his wound more. Quelaag then narrowed his eyes in thought and asked, "Though you sure gave me a run for my money, uhhhhh. What was your name again? Derik or something? I can't remember." Quelaag waited for a response, but Dacken only coughed more blood and grew more pale. Quelaag sighs and tells him with a grin, "I've gotta say, this has been a fun game, but the fun ends with you."
Only for Dacken to spit blood into his face and say through the pain, "Screw you."
Quelaag licked the blood off his face and told him while coming close, "You've got some fight left in you. Let me hear your final words before you pass."
"We're not the only ones left," Dacken managed to say despite the pain and his blurred vision.
Quelaag laughs a hearty laugh before saying, "Oh, I can assure you that there are none of you left, and if there are…well, at least we'll have some more fun.", he says in a sinister tone as Dacken starts to weaken and fade. Only for Quelaag to make a connection and tell him, "Oh, you meant that woman. Don't worry, she won't be alive for too long, that I can promise." hearing this, Dacken finally died upon the spider's leg as dozens more swarmed his body to eat it.