20 Battle

"Fuck that," Andrew said.

Chuckling lightly Andrew shook his head. "Honestly? Fuck that, look, I beat the shit out of people to entertain myself, I have no interest in joining a group of wanna-be villains that break into schools. I'm not interested, for now at least." Andrew wasn't interested at all actually, but he didn't want to just shut Giran down, if the man thought that Andrew could be bargained with he was more likely to be nicer to him and offer to help out to stay on his good side.

"Look if they start to grow I might consider it, but for now? I'm more than happy to play monkey in a cage." Leaning forward the put his elbows against the table as he said, "Although I did want to meet you for another reason, other than just hearing what you had to say."

Raising an eyebrow Giran was quiet for a moment before he chuckled, "Fair enough. Honestly joining a no-name villain group is pretty dumb, especially when they put a target on their back. I will ask again in the future though, they do have potential just like you. So, just consider it as a standing offer, if you want it. Just find me."

Smiling Giran continued as he said, "Well what is it that I can help you with then? I can do almost anything for the right price," holding his hand out and rubbing his thumb and pointer finger together, in the classic give me money motion.

"Muscular, I'm looking for a man that goes by Muscular," Andrew said, a small smirk playing on his lips.

---

The information had been cheap for all it was worth, possibly because Giran wanted to make a positive relationship or he didn't think that the information was worth much. Either or, Andrew wasn't complaining.

Right now Andrew was going to stay as his persona for a week, he had quite a bit that he wanted to achieve and some of them would be easier with another identity.

First of all, as normal, he wanted to increase his strength further. He knew that levels of strength comparable to All Might were possible to bioengineer. Garaki had managed to do it after all, but he had 120+ years of research under his belt, Nick had 15 and that was being generous. So he needed to get his hands on more information for that, his best bet was to wait for the Nomus at Hosu. Honestly, he saw no reason to go after Stain, he wasn't that interested in him anyway.

This was why he was interested in Muscular, he knew that Garaki had gotten his hands on the man sometime in the past to get the muscle augmentation quirk. As it was seen being used by a Nomu in Hosu. So he suspected that the engineered strength might have something to do with how Muscular's muscles worked. Maybe. It was a guess but at the same time it was still a chance and he would get something out of seeing a quirk such as that even if he was wrong.

The next point was he wanted to gain fighting experience. He was very lacking in that regard. Yeah, he had fought and beat Kendo, but that was because he tanked blows. If he came across someone with a quirk like his and had his quirk erased somehow? He wasn't going to have a good time. Honestly, his fighting style had holes in it that needed to be patched. He wanted battle experience since that was what was setting him and Aizawa apart, Aizawa had a lot of experience.

Lastly, he wanted to see how threads interacted with other people. He had seen All Might's and the Nomu's properly, but that was about it. If they for some reason had the effect that he thought they would have, something related to quirks, he wanted to find out more about them.

Now, Nick was far more interested in only having his one quirk, mastering it to the level that he had briefly achieved. After all, what was the point in having others if they just served to distract him?

Still, he wanted to know how quirks worked, so that maybe, he could improve his own. After all, quirks did evolve and adapt between generations. Surely he could help his become stronger artificially. It was an idea and one that he was very much interested in.

There was one that he was planning on stealing though… Rewind. Not so that he could use it, hell it didn't have much use to him apart from maybe erasing other's quirks. Something that he would be able to do anyway if his theories about threads were right. But solely to keep it out of All for One's hands. The quirk was dangerous enough since it could return him to his prime even if only temporarily.

If he could steal the quirk he would be a lot more confident. So that was the plan at least.

But for now back to Muscular.

He was mostly staying away from the city, he had holed himself up in an abandoned warehouse in an old mine before the ground had collapsed. A layered mine, one of the ones that went deep into the ground in a spiral.

It was close enough to a few villages that he could make his way there, he had a few reportings in the area of people going missing but after the water hose heroes he had been laying low for quite some time now.

It hadn't taken long for Andrew to get out there. As soon as he was outside the city, he just ran. And he could go fast, it felt amazing with the wind rushing past him. He had changed his legs to be less human. Mechanics enhanced the now longer foot as it was more like he bounded through the forests instead of running. Each jump carried him hundreds of meters. It felt good, he felt free.

Feeling the wind rush past his hair he made his way towards where the mine was. It was getting late so Muscular should be at his home base resting, if not he would just wait for him. Guess it was time to start doing some vigilante work… get his hands on some people he wouldn't have hesitations testing on.

---

Slamming into the side of a giant mining rig with enough force that the thing spun a bit on its rusty bearing. Some metal twisting and warping under the stain. Some around his feet just having outright snapped. Andrew had just launched himself into the mining yard with enough force to go through a building.

He had thought about sneaking in but what about that experience he was seeking? It was time to kick some ass.

Climbing up to the top of the mining rig he looked down into the old mining base. Surely his impact had been heard, there was no way in all of hell that it hadn't.

Looking around he saw the lights to one of the warehouses on the outer edge flick on. Smiling he jumped down and slammed through the roof of the building. Instantly looking around with his air sense he felt that there were three people. Only one of them could have been muscular, his shoulders broad and his height tall. The others were what looked to be a lanky man and the other stout.

As the dust was heavy in the air he ignored the confused and raging sound of whatever was going on. The three people in the room wondered where the attack had come from.

Dashing towards the short one Nick put his hand against their chest for just long enough to see who it was, their eyes wide. Irises a blazing yellow as lightning was starting to coil around his hands. A lighting quirk, cool.

Sending a pulse through the person's body they collapsed unconscious. Just as he was about to turn around he moved to the side on instinct. A large arm with red muscles coiled around the outside slammed into the concrete floor where he had once been standing. Putting his hand against it he froze Muscular in place. Welding the muscle together so that it couldn't move as he said. "Wait your turn… let me get rid of the variables first."

With that, he dashed towards the lanky man as he turned to start running away. Grabbing the man by his blonde hair he sent a pulse through him and dropped the man's unconscious body to the floor. With this, the dust started clearing as Nick rolled his shoulders a bit, turning around to see a frozen Muscular face red with rage.

New none frozen muscles had formed and were wriggling around but the main ones were already frozen. So there was nothing the large man could do.

Looking at both of the companions he walked around the lanky one as he reached down and touched the man's back. He could feel the man's threads when he closed his eyes and concentrated. Unlike All Might's they didn't hold a quirk, since One for All was a unique case he guessed it worked differently. But he could feel the man's quirk factor.

It was focused in his neck, after a bit of toying he couldn't find out what it did so he just stood up as he walked over to Muscular and put his hand on the man's back, he unfroze his voice box. "So what doe-" Andrew started to say but wasn't able to get out another word as Muscular started to yell.

"WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU! I'LL KILL YOU AS SOON AS I GET OUT OF WHATEVER THIS IS!" Flinching back a bit Andrew just patted the man on the shoulder. Waiting for him to stop yelling, this only seemed to piss off Muscular more. Realizing what he was doing Andrew lowered his hand.

"Okay okay, god… I came here to fight you anyway so don't get all caught up in all of this. You can still have a chance in a moment. I just wanted to get rid of your… company before I started." Unfreezing Muscular he immediately swung an enhanced fist around planning on taking off Andrew's head.

Ducking beneath the sloppy blow Nick threw a fist into Muscular's stomach but was surprised when the damage wasn't actually that much. If anything. Smiling Andrew saw that this would be fun.

Dodging another blow Andrew backed away just to be followed, at speeds that were comparable to his own. While Muscular was far stronger than he was fast he still had explosive speed.

Dodging beneath a swipe that took down a pillar Nick focused simply on dodging the raging gorilla of a man. Weaving around strikes that probably would take limbs off if they landed. Despite his enhanced durability. Andrew wasn't scared though, he knew worse come to worse he could win easily. He just wanted to figure out how these muscle fibres worked.

Every strike that Andrew landed against Muscular hulking form was a palm strike and each time he hit Muscular he read his quirk and examined his body. Seeing how the quirk affected the muscle's structure and layers. And it was impressive.

Dodging another blow that decimated the ground that he had been standing on Andrew backed away as he said, "Your quirk is as impressive as I thought it would be. Honestly, you levelled this warehouse in no time at all!" His hands clapped as he congratulated the villain. "How about this then Imasuji, I'll beat you still though. Your strength is just letting me grow stronger!"

Andrew wanted to make Muscular fight harder, he knew the man's ideals of right and wrong and wanted to make him fight to be right, not just to beat Andrew. Smiling as Muscular growled at him, responding. "Fine then! Let's see who is right then! I'll enjoy making you bleed!"

Getting ready to dodge Andrew barely had time to move out of the way of the man barreling towards him at speeds faster than even his eyes could follow. He felt the air shifting before his brain registered the movement, and his body responded on its own. Leaning back so that he was parallel to the ground he saw Muscular pass over him, a blur of red muscle. Before he felt a hand close around his head.

When passing over him Muscular grabbed his head and with a solid grip, spun his body in the air as he launched Andrew with enough force that he passed through the warehouse and sailed into the main mine area. Passing through the air before crashing into a mining rig with enough force to make it start to topple. Coughing out blood he was shocked honestly, the strength was insane.

Healing himself in an instant Andrew rolled to the side as Muscular crashed into the already falling machine at equal speeds. Sending the toppling machine sliding despite its massive size. Grinning as his blood pumped Andrew rolled back onto his hands throwing himself into the air and over a swing. Starting to fight back he pushed his muscle enhancements to the limit as he felt his body strain.

Every blow he delivered made Muscular stumble but every blow he received broken bones and ruptured organs. That wasn't an issue though as he could heal the injury before Muscular had even finished delivering them.

Dodging below a swing he smashed his fist into the side of Musclar's head as he felt his skull break beneath the force but before he could finish the blow a side swing faster than any before sent him catapulting into the walls of the mine. Crashing into the stone deep enough that all light disappeared.

In a moment of dark silence, Andrew healed his injuries… he got it now. How the muscle augmentation was working. Part of the quirk did enhance the muscles, yes, but unlike other strength quirks it wasn't the source of the strength, the muscles were much denser, and their structure was complex and detailed. It was a work of art. The quirk just let Muscular grow more of them at a rapid pace and prevented degradation of the strands meaning his strength wouldn't change through the fight. Normally such a large amount of muscle would tear itself apart. But with the added effects Muscular could fully utilize every ounce of muscle instead of having his brain limit the use.

Something similar must have been done with the Nomu letting super regeneration act as a filler for muscle augmentation when the quirk itself wasn't used. The muscle structure was the valuable part to Garaki. And to Andrew. Luckily for Andrew, he could replicate both the growth and the healing with his quirk, he just needed to remove his brain's limit on using the muscles. Combining the organic form of Muscular's muscles and his mechanical ones he felt his body start to shift.

Grinning Nick Slowly dragged himself from the stone as he looked over a muscular, the blow to his head was causing him to stumble. It had clearly dealt a lot of damage.

Walking forward Andrew said with confidence and clear enjoyment in his voice. "Come on get up, I am just getting started!"

His chest was caved in, his right arm a mangled mess as he walked forward but as he spoke black muscles looked like a mix of metal and flesh coiled around bones that were thicker than a normal human. His right arm reshaping. Normal skin covering the new arm that looked far more defined than his unchanged left. But with each step, his body reassembled before the eyes of Muscular who was looking with shock at the changing human before him.

As Nick closed the difference Muscular stumbled to his feet but as soon as he did Andrew's legs got covered in a layer of that new black muscle. Fighting through the splitting headache and swimming vision Muscular tried to follow the movement of Andrew but he couldn't. Andrew disappeared from where he was standing.

Feeling a hand on his back Muscular felt his head shift back into place. All his wounds vanished in an instant. Swinging around he threw a downward blow towards Andrew with all the might he could muster. And was shocked when the ground caved in around Andrew's feet.

Andrew raised a hand catching the wrist of Muscular in a grip strong enough that muscle split and bone shattered. While he didn't have as much muscle as Muscular, his body was far lither. He had strength comparable. Maybe even greater.

Holding Muscular's wrist he looked at the shocked eye of Muscular as he hit him in the chest with all the power he could muster from his other arm.

Feeling the muscles explode from the impact, Andrew's right arm broke the sound barrier as it slammed into his opponent's chest. Although the arm itself also exploded from the impact. Before the arm could turn into a mess however muscles coiled between the parts and pulled it all back together as the punch finished. With a final push Muscular despite the hasty defences was launched at the same wall Andrew had impacted earlier.

Seeing the dust settle Andrew started to walk just to feel his legs start to break from the movement of the muscles. Clicking his tongue in annoyance he downgraded them to something similar to Muscular's without the more mechanical structure mixed in. He still needed to work on the design clearly. But for a mid-fight construction, he was happy with it.

Andrew was able to replicate the muscles easily enough. After gaining an understanding of it. Then he combined them with his mechanical ones in terms of structure. With both melded he felt that there was a problem. They would break if he used them, because of all the power they were unable to hold themselves together without the quirk factor. Luckily his quirk solved that issue. He could heal them as they were breaking. Something that Garaki hadn't been able to do. Even with super regeneration, it didn't happen as the wound was being made. So the doctors made muscles had to not tear themselves apart as they were used.

So while Andrew's worked, they were just a crude almost brutal replication. They drained a lot of energy but they worked as long as Andrew had energy enough. And he had a lot of energy at this point however so it wasn't that much of a price. He would still have to improve them though. He couldn't wait to face the Nomu as Hosu. See what the Nomu's were like properly.

Being brought from his thoughts Andrew looked up towards the dust that settled. The entire wall of the layered mine had a crack running through it. Rocks and rubble like a mini landslide had slid down the side of the mine and to the final layer. Seeing the large crater in the wall where Muscular must have hit he didn't see any sign of the man. Enhancing his legs just a bit he leapt through the air repairing the damage and reverting them just before he landed.

Crashing into the edge of the crater about three times taller than him he looked and saw Muscular stuck firmly in the wall dead centre. Barely breathing, but still breathing. The muscle that he had coiled around his chest to defend himself was gone. Blown away enough to reveal his ribs almost peeled open. Some of his organs were damaged and broken but he was alive. Barely.

Honestly shocked Andrew walked forward and putting his hand on the man's head put him out of his misery. Leaving him there as he was Andrew just shook his head. To survive even that, the man had insane durability. No wonder it took Yo unravelling the muscles for Midoriya to beat the man. It was a good fight. He learned a lot but still, he could improve. He was not yet ready to start making his perfect body. He needed to get his hand on a Nomu and properly examine it. The one he had petrified was stone… like nothing else. It was truly just stone so he couldn't use it. Which did piss him off a bit.

Going up to Muscular's companions he saw that one had been impaled by a falling roof beam when the warehouse had been smashed, and the other with the lightning quirk. Had been blown against a wall by the battle and despite being badly hurt, was alive.

Walking forward he put his hand on the man's chest. Cutting his brain functions and killing him. He had no interest in these people. And if they were living with Muscular he doubted their character was anything better… Standing up Andrew looked around… well, it was time for him to go back and train with Kendo. He still had a lot more he wanted to do this week, he wanted to start experimenting with quirk factors but he was too tired right now. Honestly, those new destructive muscles took a lot out of him but their power was amazing.

Before he could make a new body he needed stronger bones and a better design for the muscles. As well as a lot of other things. But that would come in time.

He had things to get done, he better get moving.

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More improvement from Nick! He wants to make himself a stronger body so that is his focus when being Andrew, that and finding out how quirks work so that he can replicate some like Muscle Augmentation. Even if it is just a bootleg version right now it works. Still needs to get his hand on the Nomu at Hosu to get a better look at how Garaki did it.

Also yes! He will be going to the Nomu instead of Stain, he has no reason to go to Stain after all.

And for now he won't be having any personal interaction with the league. It would be far to disadvantageous to him right now, at least while All for One is free. He will probably try have a hand in the underworld but nothing with the League for now.

I am thinking he might start a bodily enhancing business or something so that he can get his hands on more people and see how there quirks work without going and beating the shit out of villains. Let me know what you think though!

Also thanks for all the support and comments! Hopefully this chapter picks up the pace, I did feel the last two were a bit lacking.

Reviews and comments are always welcome! Any advice always help me grow and make a better story!