Chapter 18: Dabi and Atsuhiro Adventures Part 1
"You're such a downer you know that?" Atsuhiro chuckled while strolling down the street, currently they were headed to the first address of a mid-size gang known as the Baipa.
"Shut up." A vein appeared on Dabi's forehead trying his hardest not to punch this fool.
While they have been walking to the address Atsuhiro hasn't stopped talking even for a second since they left the abandoned building, greatly annoying Dabi.
"Why are you being so annoying?" Dabi asked without gazing at him.
"I want to know more about you since we will be working together to pursue a better future and it's funny." Atsuhiro cheerfully responded until he froze, making Dabi smile.
Atsuhiro's mind was in a frenzy all of a sudden not knowing why he just said that, in fact he would've answered him regardless but he would've worded it in a more confusing way to annoy Dabi.
"At what age did you stop peeing your bed?"
"7-STOP!"
"Pffft!" Dabi covered his mouth while his eyes gave him a mocking look.
"How are you doing that!" Atsuhiro stomped his foot onto the ground pointing his cane at him.
"An entertainer never reveals his secrets." Dabi started cracking up, putting both his hands on his stomach.
'Thank god Shin gave me this power.' Dabi had known that Shin would eventually give him tasks in the future and he reasoned that this power was to get necessary information.
"YOU!" Atsuhiro's extended cane started to shake vigorously at those familiar words.
"HAHAHAHAHA!" Dabi hadn't laughed like this in a long time wiping a tear from his eye.
"Are you sure you're not a clown because from what I see you have a real talent for mocking yourself while making others laugh." Dabi mocked and Atsuhiro became livid at those words.
"I'M NOT A CL-"
"Have you ever pissed yourself in public?"
"YES!"
"HAHAHAHAHAHA!"
"STOP IT!" Atsuhiro started swinging his cane at him and Dabi easily dodged while laughing his ass off seeing Atsuhiro flustered for the second time in his life.
"Wow, I never thought that you would successfully entertain me but here you are proving me wrong." Dabi leaped backwards mocking Atsuhiro even more.
"Bastard!" Atsuhiro pulled out a marble enlarging it revealing a glock in his hand.
"You're not going to pull the trigger." Dabi rolled his eyes, crossing his arms.
"Why don't you ask me." Atsuhiro squinted his eyes behind the mask, already deducing that it only activated if a question was asked.
Dead silence ensued, they stood at a standstill neither daring to make the first move. Their eyes showed a cold look yet both of their faces conveyed an evil smile.
"Do you guys have a death wish?" A man shouted from the side holding a metal pipe, their heads turned and they saw a group of gangsters wearing leather jackets showing a viper spitting venom.
"Pause." Atsuhiro spoke and Dabi nodded.
"Pause."
"Hello members of the Baipa gang! I am Mr. Compress and this is my sidekick Goth boy!" Atsuhiro's words struck a nerve, making Dabi scrunch his eyebrows.
"Are you a hero or something?" The guy in front scoffed, causing some of them to chuckle.
"On the contrary we-"
"Where is your hideout?" Dabi interrupted Atsuhiro before he could convey his grand speech.
"Three blocks down in the old abandoned steel mill." The man pointed backwards before widening his eyes and covering his mouth.
"Kenji what the fuck!" A man from the side yelled out.
"Goth boy I'll let you handle them." Atsuhiro motioned and Dabi huffed.
"I'm gonna to scorch your flesh later." Dabi took his hands out of his pockets as fire started to leak from his palms while making its way up his arms.
The group of people seeing this stopped bickering and became ready for what was to come though that thought was only momentary as Dabi swung both hands horizontally.
"ATTACK HI-" The command was short-lived as Dabi's flames arrived at the leading man before he could issue a full coherent sentence.
"AHHHHHHH!"
"HELP SOMEONE!"
"MY FACE! I CAN'T FEEL MY FACE!"
"OH GOD!"
The smell of burning flesh filled the air once the flames arrived at their destination, screams of agony resounded filling the slums with countless cries for help that would never arrive.
Atsuhiro had a disgusted look on his face catching a whiff of burnt flesh in the air leading him to take out a marble enlarging it to show a can of air freshener.
"So barbaric." Atsuhiro started spraying his surroundings heavily, filling the air with an artificial lavender scent instead of the standard roasted humans.
The cries stopped but Dabi continued to burn their bodies until only ash remained, the event was only ten seconds but for those victims it felt like ten years.
"Can you stop that?" Dabi had an annoyed look on his face seeing Atsuhiro spray all around him with air freshener.
"Can you burn them without leaving that disgusting scent?" Atsuhiro countered and Dabi frowned.
"I'm still working on the potency when at a long distance so-"
"So I will be spraying air freshener until you become better with your quirk." Atsuhiro remarked walking past Dabi while spraying the path in front of him.
*Sigh*
Dabi pinched the bridge of his nose and extended his other arm engulfing it with fire before taking another deep breath resulting in the fire all of a sudden disappearing.
Watching Atsuhiro continue spraying the pathway in front of him he reluctantly followed behind Atsuhiro, after a couple of minutes they arrived in front of the abandoned factory.
In the front entrance stood two intimidating men with serious looks plastered on their faces, they immediately saw the two figures and reached for their waist.
"Stop! Who ar-"
*BANG*
*BANG*
"See how I didn't fill the air with the scent of burning flesh?" Atsuhiro, who was holding two pistols pointed and Dabi rolled his eyes.
"I'm surprised you didn't introduce yourself first." Atsuhiro smiled at Dabi's words as five marbles appeared in his hand.
"Well to make a grand entrance you first need to set up the stage." Atushiro instructed throwing a marble in front of him, enlarging it to show a stage.
"You did not-"
"Oh but I did." Atsuhiro walked up to the stage upon hearing the shouts from inside the factory.
Another marble was thrown onto the stage revealing a banner with two poles holding it firmly in the air.
"You have got to be shitting me." Dabi tiredly said seeing Atsuhiro's actions.
"Whatever I'm going to find the person in charge of this factory do what you want." Dabi waved him off while walking over to the side not wanting to deal with him anymore.
"What the fuck?" A grunt who was the first to arrive at the scene stood still muttering to himself, seeing a stage as well as a banner that read 'Welcome!' that originally wasn't in front of the factory.
"Greetings! I am Mr. Compress and I will be entertaining you on your last night alive!" Mr. Compress spread his arms into the sky.
More grunts rushed out and were baffled like the first grunt at Atsuhiro's words, but after a while of being stunned one saw their fallen comrades who had been shot and woke up from his daze.
"Dammit get him!" The first grunt yelled, causing the others to also wake up from their previous dazed state.
They pulled out guns while others started to get their quirks ready and Mr. Compress dropped a marble revealing a glass panel.
*Ping*
*Ping*
*Ping*
*Ping*
The bullets hit the glass however instead of piercing it they only managed to make a small dent in it.
"What the?" A man spoke out unconsciously.
"Now shall we start the first act with a flash!" Mr. Compress threw two marbles into the air before revealing them to be flash bangs.
"Close yo-"
*Bang*
*Bang*
Both flashbangs went off blinding everyone in front of Mr. Compress, seeing this he pulled out six more marbles showing a sadistic smile.
"This audience seems a little packed, how about we thin out the crowd a little." Atsuhiro followed up his words by throwing five marbles high in the air above them.
The grunts started to rub their eyes until their vision became somewhat manageable, then all of a sudden a large shadow started to loom over them causing some to look up.
"Mommy." One squeaked out seeing five humongous boulders falling down upon them.
"DODGE!" A man who didn't hesitate like the rest grabbed two men, throwing them out of the way before leaping out himself.
His words were ignored by the others who were standing like a deer staring at headlights as if in a trance resulting in the boulders colliding with the ground.
*BOOOM*
*SPLAT*
Blood splattered outwards once the boulders crashed onto the ground crushing the men into mush under the horror of the three survivors.
"Now that the audience has been thinned out a little, why don't we proceed to the second act." Atsuhiro spoke to the horrified three.
"M-Monster." One stuttered out shivering under Atsuhiro's gaze.
"Alright watch closely as I make a rabid animal appear!" Atsuhiro threw the last marble in his hand revealing a Bengal Tiger.
The Tiger started looking around until it gazed back and upon seeing Atsuhiro the tiger started whimpering.
"You better stay on script." Atsuhiro glared under his mask and the Tiger seemingly understanding him nodded meekly.
"The second act has now begun! The name of it? Survive or die by mauling!" Atsuhiro shouted, shocking the three who survived.
"What the fuck is happening!"
"Oh god is that the missing tiger that was stolen from the Zoo recently!"
"Jesus christ you sick bastard."
All three shouted completely different things, however they all understood his meaning, the tiger turned its gaze to the three hearing their shouts and started to bear its teeth.
"NOW BEGIN!" His announcement caused the tiger to start to rush at the three.
"Shit!" One of the men shouted holding his hands out as his fingers started turning into knives.
"Come on, we have to kill this tiger or we'll die!" His proclamation caused the other two to snap out of their shock and stand up.
The guy on the side started spitting on his hand, the spit quickly accumulated until he controlled it into a knife.
The last one started pulling out his teeth while changing them into sharp weapons, then after his teeth were fully pulled they started growing out of his gums replacing the lost ones.
The Tiger rushed at them in a fury as if wanting to vent its rage on them, leaping at the one in front with knife fingers.
"Daiki!" One of them shouted not expecting the tiger's speed.
"AHHHHH!" The Tiger bit down on Daiki's arm before aggressively shaking its neck, ripping it clean off of his body.
"WHAT THE FUCK!" The man with tooth knives yelled out rushing at the tiger who still had Daiki's arm in its mouth.
"TAKE THIS!" The man jumped at the tiger, thrusting both knives into the tiger body.
The tiger who felt this let out a loud roar dropping the arm while sending a deadly stare at the weak man who caused its injury.
It immediately lunged using its hind legs to propel its front legs into the air, bringing down its claw it swiped diagonally taking a huge chunk of the man's throat with the abrupt motion resulting in blood immediately gushing out of the new wound.
Gazing downward he saw the blood start to spray out of him at unprecedented speeds even spraying the Tiger in the process.
*Gurgle noises*
The man couldn't let out any sort of speech with it being replaced with him gurgling on his own blood, the red substance spewing out of his mouth until his body became limp and fell completely onto the ground.
"No I can't die, I can't." The man with a mere spit dagger started to cry, dropping it while backing up.
"Souma help m-" Daiki reached out with his still attached arm until the tiger lunged at him grabbing his neck between its jaws and biting down.
*CRUNCH*
Souma froze, seeing Daiki's head being fully separated from its body, the head dropped to the ground while slowly rolling to Souma's feet.
Daiki still had that shock-ridden expression still plastered on his face as if not even realizing that he had died.
"No this-wait I-HELP SOMEONE!" He fell to the ground seeing the tiger drop Daiki's headless corpse.
Blood painted all around its mouth while slowly turning its gaze at him showing a predatory look, the tiger slowly moved forward under Souma's horror before leaping at him.
"WAIT! WA-"
Atsuhiro nodded his head with a smile at this performance being greatly satisfied at the new attraction incorporated into his show.
Atsuhiro had abducted this tiger from the zoo after finding out it had a quirk known as consciousness.
Basically it meant that like humans it was able to be aware of its surroundings and learn more about it.
Though it didn't mean it was a genius like Nezu, just that the tiger was able to learn and retain information like a normal human.
"I'm glad that I was able to add such an attraction to my performances, sadly it will only be for a short time." Atsuhrio nodded, patting himself on the back while turning his stage back into marbles.
"Good job Whiskers!" Atsuhiro cheerfully spoke, making Whiskers, who was tearing off a piece of human flesh, suddenly flinched.
Whiskers slowly turned his head, the predatory eyes were surprisingly replaced with fear causing Whisker's body to shake uncontrollably.
"I still cannot believe that the zoo was going to sell you to some rich prince in a foreign country! Unbelievable! You were made for the spotlight!." Atsuhiro proclaimed and Whiskers started whimpering.
"Awww~ don't be like that, we're going to be partners for the time being so shouldn't we be comfortable with each other, right? Right." Atsuhiro jokingly spoke before saying the last word with a dead serious tone.
Whiskers nodded its head knowing what this human was capable of and understood the horrors that he could cause.
"You're probably in a lot of pain right?" Atsuhiro stroked the soft fur of the scared Whiskers who meekly nodded at his words.
"Unlike your real owner I can only use the medical supplies I have on me so be at ease and let me help you." Atushiro intended to give this Tiger to Shin however before he did he had to make sure that it would be obedient so as not to sully his image in Shin's eyes.
Whiskers hearing this made its shaking become even more intense, it was only about two years old and hadn't grown fully yet so it still had a child-like mind.
It had been abducted when it was about a year old then was put on display, only after another year did the zoo find out that it could somewhat understand them before announcing it.
Only a day after this announcement it was kidnapped in its sleep and 'tamed' by this new human.
"Alright I'll tend to your wounds before I put you back." Whiskers ears twitched at this looking up in horror however before it could do something stupid Atsuhiro spoke.
"Whiskers, if you try something you'll surely regret it." Remembering what this human showed it earlier Whiskers buried its head into the dirt not daring to even move one of its muscles.
"I wonder what Dabi has been up to." Atsuhrio spoke, pulling out some medical supplies to help the wounded Whiskers.
15 minutes ago
Dabi made his way to the side of the factory, it didn't take him long to find a side entrance before opening it and entering.
Looking around he saw multiple grunts rush to the front entrance while he casually slipped to the back of the room.
"What is happening!" A shout resounded, causing Dabi's ear to perk up.
"We have an intruder, sir! There is a weirdly dressed man in front of the hideout standing on a stage!" Another man shouted.
"A stage? Like an actual stage?" The man, confused at the words, asked for clarification.
"Is this like a new hero thing or something?" A different voice chimed in.
"Hero's really go overboard nowadays, don't they?" Someone boredly spoke out.
"Whatever, just go deal with him and if you guys can't handle him then radio it in."
"Yes boss!" The man rushed out of the door next to Dabi however before he could move another step a hand grabbed his face.
Instantly flames covered his whole body turning him into ash leaving the three in the room watching this in shock.
"What the" Someone muttered out, a little stunned at what just happened.
"Die a slow and painful death or die instantly like your subordinate." Dabi showed himself while wiping off his hands giving the three an ultimatum.
"Choose."
"PFFFT!" A lady laughed out grabbing her stomach at Dabi's words.
"Do you know who we are? We-"
"You're the Baipa gang, a midsize gang that has been making waves in the underworld recently." Dabi interrupted her as Atsuhiro already told him about this gang while they were walking here.
"Whatever slow and painful it is, I don't have time to waste on grunts like you." Dabi needed to wipe out other hideouts today under Shin's orders and he didn't want to waste time on them.
"Look at this kid Yua, he really thinks he's all that." A fat man roared in laughter holding his belly.
"Honestly Junpei, this guy really has a death wish." Yua smirked, pulling out a lighter.
A small flame formed from the lighter until it suddenly started to turn into a distinct shape as she controlled the flame into a whip of fire, after it was done forming she grasped the handle and put the lighter back in her pocket.
"Hebi I got this so don't worry." Hebi who remained quiet this whole time had his gaze locked on Dabi only nodded at her words while his eyes remained on him.
"Your quirk can control fire?" Dabi became serious as his control over his fire was severely lacking and having a quirk that could help with it would greatly boost his combat.
"Ha! Why should the dead care about things like that." She laughed, flicking the flaming whip in the air as snapping sounds echoed throughout the factory.
*SNAP*
*SNAP*
"NOW DIE!" The wicked smile that was slowly forming reached its peak when she over extended her arm flicking the flaming whip towards Dabi who didn't seem bothered in the slightest.
*Whish*
"Wha-How?" Yua became stunned seeing Dabi catch the whip but what truly shocked her was that he wasn't burning.
"Isn't it like you said? The dead shouldn't care about things like that." Dabi coldly spoke, causing the other two from the side to rise to their feet feeling something was about to go awry.
"Why can't I release the flames!" Yua panicked seeing the flames start to turn from a bright orange to a cold blue.
"YUA LET GO!" Hebi ordered rushing over to her while reaching out his hand before abruptly retracting it and leaping back.
The words reached her ear but as she released her grip the blue flames had already reached her arm.
"AHHHH!" She screeched in pain feeling her arm being devoured by the hungry blue flames.
"HELP! HEBI! JUNPEI!" Yua turned around as the blue flames made their way to all ends of her body as if wanting to consume her entirely.
"YUA!" Jenpai yelled, causing his second and third chin to jiggle; however before he could reach out his hand Hebi pulled him back.
"HEBI LET ME GO-"
"She's already dead." Hebi held him back while pointing at her figure already laying motionless on the floor.
Jenpai saw her completely covered in flames until they suddenly dissipated showing a charcoal painted Yua.
'I only wanted to burn her arm and head dammit.' Dabi inwardly swore at his control.
Dabi's flames were very deadly and powerful, however the only side effect was controlling them was like controlling a hungry hoard of lions.
Ever since the battle at the Beast forest when he used prominence burn he was unable to copy the control he displayed no matter how hard he tried and Dabi could only lament at it.
"What are your quirks?" Dabi asked using confession.
"I can turn into the mythical creature known as the naga."
"The more fat that is on my body the more physical strength I have."
Both of them widened their eyes and Dabi nodded, deducing that the fat man was useless as two fireballs formed in his hand.
"Damn!" Hebi jumped backwards again as the two fireballs were hurled at the stunned Jenpai.
"AHHHH!" The fireballs quickly consumed him as a thick burnt meat smell started to heavily permeate throughout the large space.
Hebi rushed for the exit knowing his quirk was no match for Dabi's after seeing him completely decimate his subordinates in seconds.
'I have to warn-'
"It's useless." Dabi voiced behind him swiping his arm causing a curtain of flames to suddenly block Hebi's path.
"FUCK!" Hebi roared before he suddenly started to change knowing he would have to confront him head on.
Suddenly his whole appearance started to change into that of a huge snake, his clothes didn't rip but instead formed with him.
Long arms with claws formed as his legs combined together into a snake's tail, the change enlarged his whole being growing to a height of eight feet.
"Die!" Hebi roared and Dabi swiped his other arm causing a horizontal slash of blue flames to rush and hit Hebi.
"ARGH!" Hebi let out in pain feeling some of his flesh burn upon impact.
Much to Dabi's surprise all of a sudden Hebi dug his claws into himself, clenching his burning skin and ripping it off his body.
'I only need one punch.' Hebi who just shed his skin was very vulnerable at the moment since he could only do it once every hour though he believed since Dabi was an emitter user then he must be vulnerable in close combat.
'One punch! Just one punch!'
*BAM*
Hebi unleashed his punch at Dabi who calmly didn't stop him as a sudden small shock wave resounded throughout the space.
"How?" Under Hebi's horror filled eyes his punch only made Dabi's head cock a little to the side.
"Maybe a couple of months ago that would've worked on me." Dabi slowly turned his head moving one of his hands in front of Hebi's heart.
"But now a weakness like close quarters combat doesn't even make me flinch." With that proclamation, Dabi flicked all the kinetic energy received from his punch at Hebi's heart.
*BAM*
Blood and bits of flesh sprayed backwards making a gaping hole suddenly form in his chest where Hebi's heart used to be, turning his gaze downward Hebi brain wasn't responding until he moved his claws over the wide hole in his chest.
Hebi slowly started to revert back to his human form yet the hole still remained present before turning his gaze back at Dabi.
"Your quirk could be useful for Shin so be at ease knowing that at least some part of you isn't worthless." Dabi calmly reassured him resting the other hand on Hebi's head before burning it to ash.
Wiping off his hands he grabbed each arm of former members of the Baipa gang and dragged their bodies out while setting the factory in flames.
Walking out the entrance he saw Atsuhiro giving first aid to a Tiger which made him extremely confused at how a tiger suddenly appeared.
"A Tiger?" Dabi weirdly spoke tilting his head giving Atsuhiro a weird look.
"You're already done? Dang it I wanted it to be a surprise, well whatever no use crying over spilled milk." Atsuhiro finished the treatment before shrugging his shoulders.
"Why a tiger?" Dabi threw the two dead bodies to Atsuhiro who understood that they had useful quirks and turned them into marbles while putting them in his pocket.
"Because this Tiger I named Whiskers has a special quirk that evidently makes it conscious of its surroundings like a human." Atsuhiro proclaimed, causing Dabi to be shocked.
"Is that even possible?" Dabi turned his attention to Whiskers who started to growl at him but before it could bare its teeth, a pilar flames shot from his hands flying into the air telling Whiskers it was no match for him.
Whiskers seeing this started to whimper again covering its eyes with its paws while the shaking of its body continued at how scary humans can be.
"What did you do to it?" Seeing his reaction, curiosity peaked inside Dabi seeing a supposed predator become a scared kitten.
"Well I wanted to see if it really was conscious and could exhibit emotions like humans, so I found some videos of people being tortured on the black market then had it play in front of the tiger and much to my surprise it reacted like it understood what they were feeling." Atsuhiro explained and Dabi gave a disgusted look.
"And you say I have issues." Dabi felt a little bad for the tiger and gave it a pitiful look.
"Eh." Atsuhiro shrugged before tapping Whiskers, turning it into a marble.
"Why bring it out and have it fight?" Dabi asked, staring at the mutilated corpses to the side.
"I wanted to make sure it could follow orders so it wouldn't attack Shin and make me look bad." Atsuhiro replied while twirling his cane.
"Anyways don't tell Shin it's a surprise." Atsuhiro pointed the cane at him and Dabi frowned.
"Is it really a gift and if so what is your true intention from it?" Dabi asked using confession on Atsuhiro feeling a little weary at his intentions.
"Yes, and my intention with this is to slowly make me appear more worthy in Shin's eyes until one day my worth outshines you, since right now Shin barely even trusts me to be alone with my own thoughts." Atsuhiro drooped his shoulders after feeling the effect of Dabi's new quirk again, and was a little sad that his plan was revealed.
"....." Dabi became a little speechless at this.
"Pffft!" Then Dabi started to laugh at this under the disgruntled gaze of Atsuhiro.
"Well if you want to brown nose him that much be my guest." Dabi gave him a mocking smile.
"Whatever I'm guessing you didn't find anything in the factory." Atsuhiro huffed, turning away from Dabi.
"What would I find in this factory?" Dabi asked with a bored look.
"YOU DIDN'T CHECK IF THEY HAD A SECRET STASH!" Atsuhiro put his hands on his head as Dabi's eyes widened.
*Cough*
"Oh you mean that, yeah I checked and there was nothing there." Dabi turned his head away, not daring to make eye contact with Atsuhiro.
*Sigh*
"Dabi dispel some of the flames so I can take a look." Atsuhiro rubbed his mask while Dabi complied.
Atsuhiro walked past Dabi while taking out a marble, enlarging it into a fire proof jacket while changing the coat he was wearing into a marble.
30 minutes later
"You're so lucky." Atsuhiro muttered out loud, taking off his burnt coat and replacing it with the previous coat he had on.
"What did you find?" Dabi raised an eyebrow standing up while brushing off some of the dirt.
"Nothing notable other than crates filled with trigger, however it's not the pure stuff but the cheap diluted vials they sell to the bottom feeder criminals." Atsuhiro explained turning a pouch filled with something into that of a marble.
"So it wouldn't have mattered anyways." Dabi shrugged, making a vein appear on Atsuhiro's forehead.
"THIS IS HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF YEN WORT-calm down Atsuhiro he's not worth it." Atsuhiro calmed himself down by practicing the breathing technique his therapist taught him.
"Let's just go to the Tetsu gang next." Atsuhiro calmly spoke and Dabi nodded.
"We still have five different hideouts we need to take care of so that the Yakuza will know what we can bring to the table."