[Open] 🚬 July Flames

[burnitblack]

Who: Dabi & others
What: July Catch-All
When: July
Where: Various

Content Warnings: Potential mentions of domestic/child abuse, potential mentions of murder, violence, adult language/subjects

Notes: General and specific starters and event prompts are found below. Contact under cut.

If you want to hit me up for ideas on prompts or plots, feel free to comment on Dabi's CR meme post or his Event plotting post, hit me up on my contacts – Plurk (StarSeed69) / Discord (StarSeed#3572) – shoot me a PM, or drop an ooc comment down below, and we’ll hash it out. I'm down to write a unique starter for our threads if you prefer.

Comments

[burnitblack]

[surprise. dabi can be accommodating when he feels like it. though as the new threat drags itself forward out of the trees, he's somewhat irked that he'd avoided a full-bore blast. that would've given them something of a head start on this thing...

whether or not those dripping flows down its body are flesh or something else, he can't tell. it looks like the creature is a living blob, but somewhere within those rolling oozes is a framework of a body. dabi lifts one hand to the side, a ball of blue fire appearing and abruptly spiraling into a wilder, more intense flame as he charges it up.]

Not sure I'm gonna be able to avoid settin the forest on fire. If ya got some kinda handy teleportation spell, better use it now.

[and shoves upward with a brief spurt of flames from his feet. getting above the creature while nara'a goes at it with his scythe. it's almost like carving into sentient molasses, with the scythe carving into the folds and gunk and rending it open in a clean slash, but that cut's just as easily sealed up as more of its slime oozes down into the split.

it does, at least, recognize the attack, and turn its head towards nara'a before sprouting one of those large humanoid arms and reaching for him with a splay of dripping fingers. not fast, but still large and powerful. and probably sticky enough to capture a hand or foot or weapon if left longer than a second on its surface.]

[burnitblack]

[it's not exactly a hard moment to realize he's probably helping shigaraki do some career-choice efforts over there. after all, the entire time the man's known him, dabi's been gunning for war and death, albeit his being smattered with hints of focus and something more intent behind his actions. sending stain's message, backing up the idea the heroes are worthless, attesting to the reality there are no true heroes in the world, those are all things he has no problem ascribing to and holding up as his championing cause. but in reality... dabi couldn't give a shit about those as a main goal. they're offshoots. they're things he can point to that all stem from the one reason why he thinks those things. not all might. not all for one.

instead, it all burns down to endeavor.

but unfortunately for him, endeavor's not here. so... he has to make a somewhat new life for himself here. and figure out what 'dabi' is to do in a world where his source of survival is no longer around. well, obviously he's going to survive until he can get back home; that part alone is easy enough to decide and focus on. selfish, but hey, so's he.

c'mon. gambling's fun.]

Awww, ya worried about hurtin my feelin's, boss? I'm touched. [granted, dabi's never thought "broker" to be an insulting term in the first place. he always thought it was just one of those villainous job titles. like assassins or fences or drug dealers or prostitutes. though he has to roll his eyes at the "impressive for a lazyass" comment.] Careful. I might think ya actually complimentin me.

[too bad for tomura, dabi's not bothering to slow down. then again, he's also never been one for fast walking, stalking along with his normal languid and lazy pace. walks with the air of a man who doesn't care how long it takes him to got one place to another so long as everyone around him knows he's going to get there, come hell or high water or whatever's in his way.]

Who's "them" ya talkin about? If ya meanin the Hunter guild and the Night Walkers, I don't think either of them are on borrowed time. They ain't half bad either. Not as creepy as the doctors in the Lumenarium and I ain't gonna shack up with the scholars.

[tomura lost him with the "first swing" comment; he's confused if the man's talking about people and things here in trench or if it's something back home. or if it's just another gaming terminology that always goes over his head, dammit...]

Uh-huh. [well, he's certainly free to ask anything he wants. there's no promise dabi'll be in a divulgitory mood.]

[burnitblack]

Hai, hai.

[in such a way that more or less repeats his comment's insinuation. totally what inference he was saying. she just decided to take it that way without his being literal about it. sides, doesn't look like himiko's got much a problem with it.

mah, he's been here for a few months, but usually doesn't muck in with the more common community of sleepers. lone wolf with trust issues and a wary nature. he's content to live off random encounters and the occasional stalking on the network to gather some information off people who don't know how to make shit private. also doesn't mean he'll part with information readily...]

Whatever it is that's affectin everyone'll pass. Ya ain't gonna see "good" people robbin stores and burnin down the town like they are now. It'll go back to "normal" and everyone ends up pickin up the pieces.

[yeah, it most certainly "poofs" back to the previous status quo, though with the damages to both world and person remaining to contend with. dabi's far more interested in those who see themselves as "heroes" in this world having to deal with the destruction and pain they caused while under the influence. it's one reason he's pretty damn glad his recording device came with him into this world. he just needs to find a computer to start dumping shit into...]

Then ya brace for the next wave of new arrivals at the start of the month and eventually another "event" to fuck things over soon after. Rinse and repeat. Try not to die in the process.

[comecatchthesehands]

[Imagine that someone who hasn't been handed a life on a silver platter has an easier time accepting restarting the entire level. Shigaraki certainly feels that way. He'll do it, but he's not going to like it.

Neither of them do, but they've got things they need to get home for, no matter what the reasons are.

Fiiiiiiine. No bitching when he beats you tho. Just expect bitching if he loses.]

Mmh. [A non-responsive response. In this instance it's a rare show of actually not being a complete asshole where his allies are concerned.] Good thing you know better.

[A tick of his eyes only looks to see if Dabi is bullshitting him asking him that question.]

You know who they are, you know who them are and especially when I say take first swing. The annoying little bastards.

[They don't get names. They get 'annoying bastards'.]

The same annoying bastards that I'm hoping you're going to tell me we've beaten.

[aetherweaver]

[Normally he does. Here? Not so much. He kicks backwards, getting his distance and assessing his options. He's dealt with slimy creatures before, but they tend to have at least some kind of core. Maybe this one doesn't.]

[He hisses at the creature and ducks to avoid the slimy arm, getting in another slash and another. Right, then. Time to get serious.]

[The miqo'te concentrates and a figure manifests behind him, shooting a cloud of dark energy forward. He dodges and slices, all the while the dark entity swoops and almost 'breathes' out the clouds of dark energy. Finally he twirls his scythe and the being settles around him like a cloak, and Nara'a is changed.]

[He knows it won't last long, but he darts around the creature, sending bolts of dark energy at the thing. He has to destroy it before it hurts someone. He has to. With a final bit of strength, he tosses a ball of dark energy at the creature, sending red and black spikes up to impale it. The avatar leaves Nara'a's flesh and disappears, and he's back to how he looked before.]

[burnitblack]

[dabi remains where he is in the sky, watching the miqo'te assault the creature with enough flare he swears he's watching one of those weird video games that shigaraki likes to play. from scythe swinging to creating some kind of ethereal creature behind him that attacks with him in tandem, it's an impressive display that has the villain figuring he made a good call to pull back his initial antagonism towards nara'a when they met today.

that said, it also means he can't get in a good shot with this asshole flipping and dancing around the pile of goo. dabi's not known for precise sniper shots of flames...

while the scythe doesn't seem to do anything to the creature, asides from threaten to get itself stick the more and more its blade and shaft get splattered with the gunk, the dark energy pouring out onto the monstrous beast does have more effect. calcifying, crystalizing, freezing, burning, whatever he wants to call it, the energy hardens the outer exterior of the drip-covered skeleton. the beast's lumbering form swipes at nara'a multiple times, but like a giant swinging at a fly, it's not able to catch either attacker. however, it's big enough that unless the miqo'te has a way to extend his scythe's range, he's not able to cut deep enough into the beast's oozing cloak/flesh to reach anything solid or vital. if there is indeed anything under there...

with a final lob of a bomb, spikes erupt from the creature, causing it to recoil and roll back on itself, one arm up and a low groan of annoyance and pain emanating from within it.]

Move.

[that's all dabi's going to call in warning before sending down a flood of blue flames from above. directly above. almost as if the beast is taking a shower in burning fire. with the spikes keeping it--somehow--in place, and nara'a to the side, dabi's got a clear shot to outright drench the thing in an inferno. pouring his flames out to cook and incinerate. the massive size of this thing reminds him of that damn giant all for one left behind, but its slow flailing and groaning indicates it's not nearly as impervious as that bastard.

only after he notices a faint wisp of smoke rising from his own flesh does dabi cut off the attack and drop back down from the sky. he lands on the ground a bit of a distance from nara'a, though the scent of burning flesh is prevalent among the smoke. at least until the odor of the torched and impaled beast rushes past them. it's gonna be cooked into a solid mass.]

[burnitblack]

[hard to say which of them got the silver platter, all things considered. dabi initially, that's for sure. but later on, things get weird. likely won't be pleasant or anyone to restart their entire life. unless it was real shit already.

getting home is the ultimate goal, though surviving is the means to that end. dabi's not sure 'how' they're going to get home, but that's more a community problem than an individual one. let them figure that out; he'll ride the coattails.

would this be a good or bad time to say dabi's not exactly "the best" card player out there...]

Ain't like I wasn't paying attention to ya this whole time.

[dabi makes a habit of watching his allies as well as his enemies. only an idiot would turn a blind eye to someone who said they were there to "help" yet is also a known killer.

and no, he's not bullshitting. he's honestly confused. stop with the fucking pronouns, jeeze.]

The kids? [dabi lifts his hand in a waive of dismissal.] I ain't got a quarrel with them here. So long as they don't get in my way.

[whether that's disappointing to shigaraki or not, he doesn't really care. he's not looking to strike out at a buncha hero brats who 1) aren't doing jack shit to them, and 2) will just come back with the next tide.]

Take it ya askin about home with that one. [dabi stretches his arms over his head.] Hard to say. We killed some heroes, but most of our forces got stopped. [give him a second to think, before-] Almost 17,000 villains captured, and a little over 20 heroes killed.

not the exp he ever wished for

[detonating]

I ain't here for him!

[That vicious shout is all that Dabi gets. Katsuki should care, he shouldn't be up in the air chasing after the man who's dodged his blast. Should be digging through the broken building to find the broken person he's left in his wake--but he's fucking not. They're probably dead anyway, and he wouldn't have ever put them in the crossfire if he gave a shit about anything but ending Dabi. This is Katsuki's revenge for everything that happened in Kamino, finally rearing its ugly head--and if the other man weren't sure before, he's going to know when Katsuki enters his space again.

Having chased him immediately upon seeing him expel himself from the crossfire of the blast, it's only a matter of seconds before the blond is right in his face. Crimson eyes are wide and alive with hatred, teeth bared in that vicious grin of his--only this one has an edge to it that says he actually means to tear to shreds with them. Both hand are already up, curled in a way that might seem as though there's an invisible ball in between them, and it's followed by a bright and blinding flash.

If he can--and he's ready for immediately retaliation despite Point Blank Stun Grenade, he's making a move to grab Dabi by face with a hot hand--ready to blow that fucking Frankenstein melon into pulp.]

but the exp he's gonna get; put some more points in that guilt stat

[burnitblack]

No kiddin.

[that's a murmur of sarcastic amusement in response. so this is a hero who's gone over the moral edge. fascinating. blue eyes burn down at the blonde below him, watching the way his hands ignite and preparing himself to move, but also more focused on katsuki's face. the look in his eyes. heh, this guy really means to take him out, doesn't he. the corruption this month has that much an effect on people. someone so stubborn in his moral convictions he stood against the entire league to reject shigaraki's offer. and now he just murdered some poor son of a bitch without giving a shit. that's gonna feel good next month.

but hell if he's letting katsuki get into his space. close range is a dangerous place to be for him, despite having ways around it. but this kid's not someone he wants getting near him. not only the concussive force of his explosions but this brat's physical strength and ability as well. (still "remembers" that damn kick in the head from the old geezer.) all he can think of now is that katsuki's coming at him for revenge. likely for the kidnapping, the only real "beef" this kid's got with him. and if this event is making good people bad, well... that's as logical enough a reason as any--]

--mh!!

[he's fast! right in his face already! dabi throws one hand up immediately, eyes widening the second those cupped hands ignite. fuck! it's like someone opening the blinds in the bedroom! that same stabbing pain straight into his retinas. his eyelids slam shut, one arm instinctively crossing in front of his face. meaning katsuki grabs the villain's forearm with that hot hand of his rather than his face proper. but it's enough for dabi to feel himself getting manhandled. just cause his pain sensory is deadened doesn't mean he's walking around a numb corpse completely.]

Hands off!

[you can emit from your hands, kid. but dabi's got that power everywhere! blue flames erupt from his body, bursting out of his legs, racing up his arms, spewing from his elbows, and roaring out the top of his head, igniting his body in an aura of those destructive azure fires. like a match ripped across the box. FWHOOSH!

very much a "get off me" move.]

[aetherweaver]

[He's frustrated, angry that the thing doesn't seem to be reacting. It's just making him more and more angry as he continues - but he hears that call and shifts to the side, leaving a glowing portal where he was.]

[The flames pour down and he winces, frustrated that Dabi got the kill. He knows he should just be glad the thing is dead, but his scythe can only reach so far... ugh. Whatever. At least the thing's done. The stench doesn't really bother him all that much - he's used to the stink of monster carcasses.]

[He huffs and squares his shoulders. At least it's done.]

Should have gone paladin... just haven't had much cause to use my voidsent much.

YEAAAAH THAT IS. He'll be fucking loaded up there.

[detonating]

[It's definitely revenge for that kidnapping. And unfortunately for Dabi, the rest of what followed is also getting slapped onto his shoulders here simply for the fact that Katsuki has never had an outlet for revenge in the first place. It wasn't something he'd considered, given those convictions that had him denying the League in the first place. Now that he's snapped, every shred of hatred for them using him and every measure of guilt for his having any kind of involvement in the ending of All Might... it's now Dabi's fucking problem, since he's the one who is right in front of Katsuki.

It's an arm that Katsuki grabs instead, and that has the entire plan switching gears. Woulda been hella fucking badass to just KO this motherfucker on the spot like that, but it would have been foolish to anticipate anything but what happens. No sweat off his damn back, he's ready for the next plan and is already forming new contingencies as he moves.

The second the heat flares through his gloved hand, the blond is pushing out a heavy, potentially damaging blast right in between them as he releases Dabi's arm, taking full advantage of the attack by using it to propel himself away from the man going dangerously aflame.

Once safely distanced, the angle of his hands adjusts to palms pointing down-- instead of allowing himself to drop, Katsuki is pushing himself higher into the air with more explosive force. Then they're right back out in front of him, unleashing AP Machine Gun's heavy hitting barrage that will follow the azure flames in a sweeping movement that follows the azure flames wherever they go. The hope is to hit him with them obviously, but that isn't all it's meant to do. Anything that misses him will hit something else around them, causing a combination of smoke, dust from debris to start to kick up all around them. A smoke screen of sorts, that might help him to nail down what he plans to do next.]

C'MON! FUCKING SHOW ME WHAT YOU'VE GOT!

[[OOC: SWEATS, FIGHTS ARE FUN BUT HARD!!! I'm trying to/gonna be like... leaving openings and shit but he also is HIGHLY aware that he can't let up on someone like Dabi, not if he wants to succeed at killing him so! Man if you need me to remove a thing, or wanna hash out next things so it flows right you have my discord! Likewise, if you feel like a time becomes the right one for Toga intervention, shout at me :> ]]]

go up by three levels. earn two emo brooding slots.

[burnitblack]

[there's something thrilling about seeing a hero falling off that pedestal. even if he's aware by now that it's some sort of outside influence messing with the minds of "good" people, dabi's taking what sadistic satisfaction he can get out of this. knowing that katsuki, the same kid who denied shigaraki his alliance and spouted all those words about heroism and resolve mirroring all might, is given into the notions of rage and revenge... fuck. that's some poetic irony there, isn't it. especially since he'd be "obligated" to talk a fellow classmate out of taking revenge for something like this. too bad there are none around.

sorry, but dabi's not one to be KO'ed so easily. especially when he's already been taken out with little effort. glass cannon, er... jaw... flamethrower. but he doesn't want katsuki near him. those explosions of his aren't something to be trifled with and even the shockwave they produce is enough to rattle through his body. the same way the sheer heat from dabi's flames are dangerous despite someone avoiding the actual fire.

does he expect that flare-up to go unpunished? nope! the explosion between them sends them both flying away from each other and leaves dabi with a smoldering arm. (wow, not like it's alien to that sensation.) flipping backwards, he slams onto his feet atop one of the buildings nearby, leaving a boiling trail of molten roof in front of him as he skids to a stop. his flames stopped mid-flight, leaving him "extinguished" at the moment. only enough to catch sight of katsuki above him. he tracks this kid at more medium to close range preference, but that doesn't mean he's completely out of long-range options...

like a meteor storm, those orange blasts erupt from the blonde in the air, arching in a spread and plunging towards him. tsk. dabi yanks his arm up, swiping an intense swath of blue flames in front of him. explosive rounds collide with a wall of fire, punching into it and detonating halfway through, blowing the flames apart, but not reaching close enough to dabi's person. others more widespread rain around him, blowing up against the rooftop and blasting chunks of rubble to the side. bastard's trying to take down the entire building as well?!

footing weaker, it's only a few more seconds before that blue jet launches from the smoke cloud and curves upward into the sky. dabi's eyes narrow at the blonde, knowing that rain of fire's going to be following him. and abruptly throws both arms outward. fire scorches in an arch, blindingly-fast in the same speed and maneuver he did when entrapping hawks and endeavor within that ring of flames. though this time, he aims to crush katsuki between the two "sides" where they meet.

one weakness is this kid's only got his hands to work with, meaning he has to cut his offense if he wants more aerial movement. not a weakness dabi shares.]


[ooc: damn right they are! oh i'm very much aware he's not going to be letting up on dabi. you don't want to give this guy a chance to stake himself out and start putting up walls. that said, thanks to his fight with shouto, at least we know dabi's not exactly a pushover when it comes to physical fights, since he's surprisingly fast and his flames give him more "physical" strength. not that he really wants to get close to katsuki right now... but yeah! if something happens, i'll message you. and likewise, the same offer extends from me to you. (watch this dick probably spend some time trying to lure katsuki into blowing up more buildings...)]

[burnitblack]

[truth is, dabi wouldn't have felt confident enough to pour down those flames without nara'a's involvement. the dark energy and the spikes certainly left the creature slowed down enough to give him the chance to charge up and strike it. without catching the miqo'te in the blast. consider that a brief extension of trust.

dabi looks at his hand, frowning slightly at the faint wisp of smoke drifting up from between two of the staples on his wrist. he's not at his "warning" threshold yet, in that what burns he's endured will heal fine without further scarring. but until he has a chance to cool down, it won't be advisable for him to pump out more flames.

that's what you get when your damn mother gives you an freeze-resistant body and your fucking father gives you a fire-manipulation quirk.]

What? Ya sayin that's enough to wear ya ou-

[*thwup*

dabi's voice cuts off as a dark tendril of slime abruptly slams him right in the chest and knocks him off his feet. the charred husk of the creature cracks and more of that slime spews from the burned carapace as the beast semi-literally sheds its outer "shell" and sloughs out onto the battle again.

who said this thing was dead?

waves of sludge-like flesh shlorp and splash onto the ground and the beast's skeletal face once more pushes through the "hood" of its vaguely body shape. it does look smaller than before, both men having burned and energized and skewered a chunk of its mass away with their first assault. but neither got close to hitting anything "core" on it. and now it's faster, retracting that tendril of slime before launching off four more towards nara'a, coming in like living snakes of viscous flesh.]

[aetherweaver]

No, I -

[He senses it before he sees it, the beast's 'revival'. His Echo warns him of something coming, so he switches back to paladin and he jumps away, slashing at the tentacles as he does. He's annoyed more than anything, that this thing won't quite die.]

[He slashes, again and again until he finally slams down his blade, forming ethereal blades in front of him. Once, twice, three times they slam down and up through the creature, trying to hit something, anything that's a core.]

[It's his last gamble - if this doesn't work, red mage spells definitely won't do shit against it. If only he had a dragoon here, they'd probably have a weapon long enough to pierce this thing's 'flesh'. Whether they'd want to get such a thing on their weapons is another matter entirely.]

[burnitblack]

[the impact takes his breath out. feels like he just got jammed in the chest with a beam. there's a dull pain somewhere inside his torso and his vision rolls in his head from the impact on the ground. not even wolf had been fast enough to warn him of the attack.

fuck... gonna... take a few moments to catch his breath as he sits up, a few sucking pants trying to get his lungs unstuck. what'd he think, that this beast would go down in an instant? cursing himself at being an idiot, dabi glares to the side at nara'a and the beast.

the slashes slam into the creature and pass right through it, causing the low moaning to evolve into a louder moan of distressed surprise. the ethereal blades carve clean out the other side, sending one of its slimy arms falling to the ground and crashing into the brush like a rotten fruit bursting all over the area. for a moment, nara'a would be able to make out a black bone within the shoulder area, glowing red and orange in the center like an archaic cigarette lighter in a car (not that he'll get the reference, but meta). before the sludge covers the wound up again.

the other strikes through the side and the chest definitely sever it, but like passing a knife blade through gelatin, the creature easily settles itself once again as its body flows back together. another arm sprouts where the previous had been sliced off, shrinking the creature down once more thanks to shifting its mass to make up for the missing limb.

only to charge forward in a much faster rush. both arms spreading open and throwing an X-shaped stream of gunk towards the warrior.]

it's SO good that he's unloading on fucking Shigaraki about it lmao

[detonating]

[Katsuki's turn to think it: he's fucking fast with his quirk. A split second decision is all that can be afforded with speed like that and even that is almost not enough. It's the hot gust just before the fire hits itself in that arch that has the explosive teen stopping his aerial assault in favor of throwing his hands back to emit two large explosions behind him. Those very explosions causing a disruption are the only reason that his hands don't get caught in it as the flames smash together just behind him.

Forward, towards Dabi, and for a multitude of reasons. First, that assessment about primarily being a close or mid-range fighter was on the money. As evidenced, he has long range within his arsenal of attacks, but relying solely on that isn't going to produce any results. Katsuki is far more dangerous when there is proximity. It ain't any fucking fun that way anyway, which leads right into the second reason that Katsuki decides that the risks of getting close to someone like him are senseless. Self-preservation doesn't fucking matter, not anymore. Ain't like there's anyone back home to cry about him going and doing something as meaningless as dying in this place, Ochako sure as hell made sure of that when she betrayed him and left. If he has to go down to do it, bet your ass it'll be worth it to kill this bastard and that he won't fail.

In a lot of ways, Katsuki is disadvantaged in a fight against Dabi. He's not fire resistant despite having an insane tolerance for heat itself. The very closeness that makes Katsuki so dangerous is also something that applies to him as well; dodging a wall of fire with that kind of speed becomes all the more difficult, if not impossible. He's going to get burned for this. One thing that he does have on his side, however, is the heat from the weather and Dabi's quirk alike. Where Katsuki normally has to build up to being able to unleash his power in full, today his sweat output is on an unprecedented level. Add in his near complete disregard for the strain of using his quirk so strongly and you get this. More speed, more power being utilized, even more of a relentless drive.

Barreling towards Dabi, it's just a matter of seconds before Katsuki's leering face is right there again with one hand out and ready. Red-hot and crackling in that tell-tale way, there's an explosion coming. But instead of unleashing that power directly between them, the angle changes at the last second with his hand shifting palm down towards the ground instead.]

[Boom!]

[Katsuki's movement is upward, with another smaller blast pushing him forward in an arching catapult that ends in his landing just behind the taller man. Back to back with minimal space in between them, all it takes is one simple twist of his body to point one hand at him. His left this time, since that arm is more expendable to Katsuki in this state of mind, he doesn't even need to pull the pin on the other bracer to (try to) unleash a furiously powerful explosion right at Dabi's back.]

[[OOC: LMAO GOD just. DESTROYS THE ENTIRE DISTRICT, THIS IS JUST FINE!!! Also I do feel like... maaaaybe??? a couple more tags?? and we'll want Toga to come in just cause lol. Katsuki is gonna get his reckless little bitch ass killed prematurely....]]

aww, and he here was expecting an apology~

[burnitblack]

[dabi follows those explosions with his eyes, landing on another building after jetting himself away from the smoke cloud. good thing about both their quirks is that they're very visible. neither of them is going to lose sight of the other if they don't actively try. and that means using less of their quirks, which would make this fight pointless. if katsuki's serious about killing him, then he'd best come at him with all he's got. it'll take nothing less than that to do him in. he's died once before. got no intention of doing it again for someone else.

the hell's going through this kid's mind? seeing him with such a look on his face and in his eyes... not the expressions of a hero. he's seen angry heroes, he's even seen them with eyes that want to kill, but can't bring themselves to. these eyes are neither of those. murderous. and plenty of reason flung to the wind. dabi's left with a mild case of surprise when he comes to that realization. if he doesn't defend himself, this little shit is going to kill him. and he's not quite sure how that makes him feel. amused, obviously. but wary, because he's pretty damn sure both of them have figured out chinks in each other's proverbial armor and tactics. katsuki's coming straight towards him, a senseless rush towards death. does he really think he can plow through his flames by himself alone? idiot...

yeah. this isn't time to kick back and dole out his own limitations. heat bubbles in the air and the man steps forward towards that charge, coat flaring out behind him as blue flames ignite. pouring across his arms and shoulders light water, gathering in his hands as spiral vortexes of azure hell. it's dangerous to enter close range with katsuki. one of those explosions could take him out like a piece of dynamite lodged in someone's ribcage. but that explosive stick still has to get through his quirk first. glass shatters below and the building under his feet erupts in fire, blasting out of the windows and sending up such a scorch of heat, the air itself warps and waves around dabi. plowing through that should be difficult enough. this kid's power comes from sweat, right? well what happens when said sweat evaporates before it's able to be ignited?]

How hot can you handle it, Bakugou Katsuki?!

[slamming one hand upward, transferring the charged flames from his other arm to this one in a doubled up version of his own rendition of endeavor's fire fist, dabi's splayed fingers almost meet katsuki's own. a fatal hand crash, before everything erupts in a roaring blaze of flames. JET BURN!! fully intending to incinerate the guy in front of him without remorse or regret. but at the last second, that explosion's down and a shockwave rocks his legs, cracking a hole in the weakening rooftop. he steps back for brace, coming up back to back against the young hero now planted on the ground behind him. shit! no time-! katsuki's shoving his hand through the flames itself, and dabi's driving his own hand down at the same time as he jumps.

not enough.

he feels that one. right through his back and out the chest. somewhere his lungs end up smooshed in his ribcage. the nearly-melted building collapses beneath katsuki in a spray of molten rock and burning interior. dabi isn't even aware of the time between explosion and regaining his senses. somewhere on the ground across the town square. his coat's burned open on his back, one of the tails completely missing, and the scent of smoke and burning flesh is everywhere. bastard... even his mostly-dulled pain receptors are telling him that hurt. but he's been hurt before and pushes himself up, standing among the smoke and flames. tsk...

can't see that little shit. that. fucking. does it. he crosses is arms in front of him, lips dragging back in a teeth-bearing grin as his eyes widen, blood vessels seeping into the whites. flames drag across his arms and fingers, crawling over his shoulders and down his body. erupting in gouts and spray-like explosions.]

Flashfire Fist. [now he's serious.] I'm gonna fucking murder you.



[ooc: oh yeah! this town square at least is gonna be shit! yeah we're gonna have to have them crash equally and knock each other down for a bit, cause dabi just went ballistic in his own recklessness. they're out for blood now. i'd think that if katsuki's able to get between the oncoming hell spider and get him with another point blank, dabi should be down for a bit. enough for katsuki and toga to have their thing. before dabi recovers and tries to murder them both with a point-blank prominence burn.]

FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFT that won't even happen over his *dead body* and you know it!!

[detonating]

[How hot can he handle it?

Pretty hot, but this is a whole different fucking animal. Everything burns this close, and everything that he's just managed to successfully pull off is seriously by the skin of his teeth. Avoids getting rendered into nothing but ash by a hair's worth of movement. No seconds to spare, his thoughts and movements have to be in sync here and in an instant. The stakes are high, and the toll that even being near Dabi is taking on his body is immediately apparent to the teen. It's so hot that it's fucking suffocating, and his gloves feel like the moisture of his sweat is getting sucked right out of them for it. The protective ribbed brace on his arm feels like it's actually on fire even though he's managed to blast that son of a bitch and pull it out of the azure flames before it literally caught.

It ain't fun.. Seriously fucking unpleasant, mildly put. Burning might be one of the worst things he's ever forced himself to endure, and dying this way isn't... exactly appealing now that he's being overwhelmed by it. There are going to be so many varying degrees of burns to tend to for it, if he even makes it out of this alive. His body wants him to rip everything off before it can melt into him, every nerve is screaming for fucking reprieve that the blond won't give himself, even still. Bakugou Katsuki doesn't back down. He doesn't care how fucked up he gets. He won't lose.

His quirk output is suffering for that scorching heat, he confirms, as he tries to use a blast to avoid sinking into the burning building when the roof caves beneath his feet, rocketing himself off of the rooftop after his target. Where Katsuki tries to force the maximum, he's only producing half that, which tells him that he needs to finish this. Now. As soon as humanly possible. The landing on the ground in the square isn't entirely graceful because of it; one hard knee pad and one hand slam into it alike in order to keep himself eating shit. It's not long that the blond is in pause, but it offers Dabi a few seconds of recovery time to get to his feet.. and they're both up and ready at the same exact time.

Running forward, his hands are moving swiftly and angling up, down, every which way with each explosion he uses to jolt himself one way or another to dodge the spouts of flame that threaten to touch him every step of the way. That maniacal grin of Katsuki's is wider than ever, his eyes just as wide and pinned small with the thrill of the danger, with his murderous intent.]

WHAT'S- [Boom, dodge!] WRONG- [Boom, again, though that stream of flame catches his arm as he rockets to the side. He's too high on adrenaline to fucking care how much it hurts (and it god damned does).] DABI?! [Closer Boom. A low dodge that yields a narrow miss of a point blank blast of blue fire to the face, closer, just a couple of yards away now-- that's just right. There's no dodging this one--he's just too close for it, but there is potentially minimizing the damage if Dabi is fast enough for it. Better hope so, you Frankenstein fuck! He skids to a stop while swinging his left bracer up fast, right hand moving just as swiftly to hook into the pin while he bellows out the rest, and then pulls.] ARE YA MAD?!

[BOOM]

HE CAN ARRANGE THAT!! Write it on your fucking pyre! "Sorriest Shit Loser Lies Here!"

[burnitblack]

[good! it's not as much fun if they don't writhe in the flames for at least a few seconds before washing away into ash. thank fuck his nerves are shit about feeling pain. the burns on his back, there's something running down his leg, not sure if there's a rib broken or what, it's a minor struggle to breathe. but none of that matters as everything goes from deep turquoise to a darker blue as dabi's flames rev up to max. not letting that shit happen again. not letting him get close enough to hit him. death has never been something he fears. running towards it in a mad blitz, leaving in his wake an inferno that even the fucking demon king himself left alone! don't bitch to him about pain, about hell, about death! BEEN THERE! FUCKING DONE THAT!! no more sweat, no more blood, no more liquid! he'll incinerate him in a single flash! just like that god damn son of a bitch that put him in this world and took him out of it!

tatters of his coat flutter against his burned back, a few strands fused to his skin from the heat and explosion. staples blown open, leaving the purple burn scars to pull away from the still-healthy flesh, leaving a gaping "eye-shaped" hole of red sinew across dabi's back. doesn't care. doesn't matter. he'll pull that shut again later. might need to call in some healing favors to get that taken care of better... but that's for future dabi to worry about. right now, he'll turn his damn body into charcoal if he has to, just so he can send this fucking punk child to an early grave! broken bones be damned, bruises forgotten, burns ignored, torn muscles waived, skin peeling off, sure! put him down for the victim of a grenade to the back. it won't matter in a few seconds anyways! this ain't about winnin or losin, ya inexperienced child! it's life or death! LEARN IT WELL!

something buckles and he falls to one knee, not able to tell if it's his ankle or his knee itself. but that's not stopping the charge as dabi's eyes widen in a mixture of elation and insane hate. that dull throbbing in his head threatens to throw his focus off, making reaching his maximum output a wavering goal. almost reaches it, then falls down again, drives it back, only to slip. and katsuki's not gonna give him time either. he hears him, then sees him, approaching. amid this burning square, buildings on fire, blown to pieces, charred corpses scattered around from the fight, some blasted apart, some torn by rubble or scorched by burning debris. it's a hellzone of a battlefield. who knows how many deaths are chalked up to which combatant? dabi's certainly made sure that katsuki's blasts have caused more than enough damage.

footsteps and that's it-- he can't play this fucking game of dodge with his own body anymore. MOVE!!]

HELL SPIDER!

[no point in wasting it on a single burst. he'll dodge it. so instead--!! fire erupts outward, as dabi uncrosses his arms in a vicious slash out and downward, throwing ragged, widening streams of crisscrossing flames in front of him. leaving closing squares of space between them as the flaming net rushes out across the slowly-boiling street. catch him in it, get burned to pieces, lacerate your damn arms and legs, he doesn't give a shit so long as it leaves this piece of trash a smoldering mess on the ground! one explosion after another, and dabi's eyes widen in frustration, elation, and rage as the kid weaves through the nets, shoulders and legs barely brushing against the flames. minor burn damage despite the intense heat, but should be enough to make his life suck!

one more, a second one, slashing the lines out as they arch and sweep, curving around in controlled fury to rear midair and plunge back towards the hero driving towards him. feels a finger pop and one of the strands soars past katsuki instead of landing on his back. shit. closer. ducking down, avoiding another stream of flame, jumping and sliding through a closing square. dabi stands his ground, now a pool of molten rock all around his feet. katsuki's suddenly in front of him, that mad grin of his meeting the villain's own slasher smile. arms outspread and he abruptly jerks them inward the second the blonde pulls the pin on that grenadier bracer.]

GO TO HELL!

[one explosion. streams of fire. crash together in a fury of orange and blue and yellow and white. a volcano's blast, spewing into the air and clearing out the entire square around them. buildings blown off their foundations, lamps vaporized, windows shattered, and molten street flung away like glowing mud from an impact crater. there's... there's no pain. there's nothing. hell, he's not even sure where the fuck he is. just that it's black. can't feel, can't see, can't hear. numbness all over, darkness despite his eyes being open (and totally grayed out), ringing in his ears that blocks out everything. crumpled on his side in a smoking mess, thrown across the grounds like a rag doll. oh there's blood. it's pooling under him, not even sure if he's got an arm at the moment. part of his cheek is missing, white teeth visible to the burning air around him through the rippled-away portion. half his coat gone, shirt slowly burning down around his chest. whether he's alive or dead is hard to tell, but dabi's certainly the worse for wear at the moment. victor... victor goes to the first one to stand up.

or the only one not to die by the end.]

[comecatchthesehands]

[Well, regardless, they're both in the same boat in the same way and Shigaraki is the only one (to his knowledge) that feels like he's still a drowning squid in this ocean. At least before he was able to do what he wanted in a way that didn't matter. Before that he ran all the underground. Here he has no direction and has to think on it.

A bad time. Tomura is going to count those cards so hard.

A soft sigh leaves him as Dabi professes not to have been listening sometimes. Or rather paying attention. Yeah that tracks. He's quiet as he hears Dabi dismiss it. No, he's not exactly disappointed, it's not like he's gone hunting them down and he definitely could when Search isn't malfunctioning. Still otherwise quiet again when the man confirms for him the worst of it for everyone else.]

They were always just disposable AI when it came to anything else I wanted. As long as everyone worthwhile that's left after Twice is still alive I don't care.

[Not to imply he cares about those left either he does. Alright he has his answer. Dabi's given him that much and what he feels is a little more by just the time spent walking to clear his head.]

Equally doesn't matter here, it's just my curiosity getting the best of me. I don't think we get to remember if we go back here.

[burnitblack]

[dabi does not think of the squids. he refuses to accept he was one, refuses to accept other people were one, and completely ignores the entire stupidity of that reality ever fucking happening. instead he focuses on his own shit, though he'd be lying if he didn't question whether or not trench had an "underground" scene like other larger cities did.

maybe they won't realize what he's doing...

he isn't surprised to hear that response from shigaraki. despite being prone to violence when he wants, dabi's pretty laid back about things, not going after people unless he has a reason to. that he isn't seeking to really fuck up their mutual annoyances from back home likely isn't something his boss had been hoping to hear? that's simply his nature. too bad. he doesn't need much a reason to get aggressive, but if he's staying away from them... easy to ignore.

onto other issues.]

Mister's gone, the Giant's gone, only the Lizard, the lunatic, you and I are left of the original group. [shigaraki can decide who's "worthwhile" from that small bunch. losing twice still annoys him. dabi had plans for that guy...

the neighborhood around them continues to show different signs natural growth, some houses swallowed, some still clear, though none really displaying any show of people regularly living within them. it's a place dabi feels save enough to stash the main collection of his goods.]

Ya mean, go home, and come back?

[he doesn't sound happy to entertain that idea.]

[aetherweaver]

It's the shoulder!

[He knows a weak spot when he sees one. He attempts to get out of the way but can't quite manage it. He's slammed back against a tree as the gunk covers the front of his armor and shield. It's gross and smells terrible, and it gets everywhere.]

[He growls a little, kicking off from the tree and trying to slash into the shoulder. He lands a hit and misses the second swing, but he darts out of the way in case Dabi wants to try to take a shot. He's slower than he was before, still trying to get the goo off of him. He's pretty sure that's not good to have on him.]

See but that's just putting words in his mouth, still doesn't count for anything

[detonating]

[Katsuki's got a pretty fucking good idea of what's about to happen. What's coming for them, for their surroundings and any poor sons of bitches that might still be hiding from their destructive battle in the remaining buildings around them. But no amount of knowing or bracing himself for the force of the blowout that they create together helps. It's bright and fucking hot, it's loud and he's unable to track anything as he's sent flying away from the place he just stood.

Impact, hard impact at his entire back, the hit that his skull takes temporarily making his already skewed vision blank out. Everything blanks out.

No idea how long he's been out, but he doesn't allow the disorientation, the extreme aches and burns prickling at his limbs--all over, or the heavy thrumming in the entirety of his skull to keep him from moving when he's returning to consciousness. Must've been thrown into one of those buildings, because Katsuki's having dig deep for the strength to push something large and heavy off of himself to do much of it. If the victor is the one who stands first, it's him, but it isn't with any kind of grace that he does so. The blond sways as he tries to stand, and stumbles sidelong a couple of steps before he manages to fucking steady his shaking legs and get himself straight. There's wet, rolling down one side of his face and at the back of his neck--blood surely. He isn't going to check. This fight isn't over. No fucking way that it's over.

There's a more prominent throb in his right arm, one that screams just a little bit more than everything else that hurts, and the only time he spares to check himself out is to glance to it. It's a decent sized shard of glass is sticking out of the muscle of his bicep, and the act of reaching up to rip it out has Katsuki snarling, disgust and rage at the pain it causes to do so so harshly.

That motherfucker. If he ain't dead, he's gonna be. Pitching the glass away from himself into the burning mess all around him, Katsuki's eyes start sweeping over everything.

It's a fucking warzone, in every sense of it. A smoky haze fills the square as it billows off of things that are still burning, pieces of building and street alike, and everything... everything is in shambles. It fucking stinks of burning flesh, wood and hot asphalt. Bodies... there're a few that he can spot out in his sweep. One crushed underneath a concrete pillar, another arm poking out of another pile. Another that is smoldering, over to his left. He should care about them. About every last one of them. Should give a shit that he's played a hand in this horrific destruction that's cost many lives, apparently.

But he still doesn't. Not even a little. So little, in fact, that the closest burnt up corpse he comes to, face down and too crispy to fucking tell, only gets the sickening crunch of a boot pressing its the side as he rolls it to check. There's only one body that he has interest in, and that's that of his fiery opponent. Not him.

Frustrated, he snarls again and uses his foot to push the body further from him as he raises his gaze again.] Where are you, you motherfucker?? [To himself, his voice is scratchy and breathless. Katsuki's been unaware of it, too focused to give a shit, but he's been panting this entire time. Whether it's from the smoke or something that his body has endured he doesn't know, just that it's hard to draw breath to talk.

Where. The. Fuck. Is--

Ah. Just past the crater, he finally finds his prize. Down, on his side and still burning and smoking. Dead? Dunno, but seeing that he's not fucking upright is enough to bring the battered teen back to life. Adrenaline that's never entirely left his body is surging anew, pushing him to clamber over piles of rubbish with haste. When he finally gets there? Oh.

What a fucking sight. Dabi is wrecked. He's a god damn bleeding burning mess, and he can't help but grin even wider in triumph, almost ear to ear as he tips his head back with a deep bark of a laugh. This fucking piece of shit, this is exactly what he deserves. Maybe he's a corpse already, maybe not. Not worth a fucking pulse check, that's for sure. Katsuki is just going to make sure the job is finished. One black and orange boot comes up and presses into his side to roll him onto his back, before going flat and hard into the center of his chest to pin him there. He speaks as he bends down while bringing a hand forward towards Dabi's face with the intention of grabbing it--hot and crackling and ready to burst that nasty fucking melon just like he wanted to from go.] You're the one who's goin' to hell! Die!

[burnitblack]

[something about a shoulder... dabi isn't sure if nara'a's yelling about the creature or if he's bitching about his own injury. doesn't really matter. he's getting up anyways. pushing himself back to sitting position, just in time to see the other man get smacked right off his feet. familiar sight, huh. but with nara'a jumping back into the battle, he can't get a clear shot without tearing the guy open.

lucky for him, that problem's resolved soon enough and he immediately pours an explosive cone of flames outward, slamming into the creature with enough force to wash clean over it. probably far more width than he actually needs, considering the outer rims of the attack blaze through the forest again. but in this case, they're gonna get fucked over even worse if they worry about some goddamn plants.

if nara'a's armor is magical, then it likely won't have much trouble resisting the corrosive effects of the sludge. if not, however, it's going to start eating away at the metal. case in point, dabi's basically lost the front part of his shirt thanks to that slime. doesn't seem to affect skin though? weird... the villain's already burnt the rest off him. sticky shit is sticky.

the creature, once again caught in the flames, struggles through it, having to deal with another outer layer burning and hardening into a blackened, glowing shell.

hope that attention's sharp, because the sliced off arm? yeah, that thing's getting up on its fingers, devoid of slime now to reveal a skeletal set of black bones, and goes running towards the smoking husk. likely to try and crack it open.]

[comecatchthesehands]

[Squids they were. Or are. Maybe they are squids. He's not one to sit and dwell on that either, but at least one of them isn't in denial there. But. If there's an underground to the underground, they might be hitting magma. They've got no further down to go at the moment.

They can only ignore them until they can't, but yes the more important thing is the thing that ticks his eyes to Dabi's face. Why Dabi would lie is above and beyond him, but with how mix and match Shigaraki's brain has been... It's all of them. All of them that were left were worth while. "The Giant" wasn't a loss as much as a loss of a powerful pawn that they worked hard on. Gone doesn't feel great where Mister is concerned.]

Who killed Mister?

[As for going back... Shigaraki looks back to the pathway instead, striding along beside Dabi, putting his hands back into his pockets for the time being.]

We don't have a choice. There's only been one place I had a choice and I ended up being drug somewhere else shortly after. Then here. If we go back home, we don't get to take what we remember from here.