#wow 2 oc drawings in a row???? impossible

[randomguywithwords]

As The Dust Settles: Chapter 15 (Geten X Dabi Slowburn)

Chapter 15: Soldiering On

AO3 Link: Here

Previous Chapters: 14, 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1

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Extinguishing his flames, Dabi saw only charred ashes on the ground. Wind will get them. It always does. 

“What did they do to me? Why can’t I use my meta ability?” Geten said, as Dabi rubbed his arms. He turned to look at her.

“I should have figured…” Dabi muttered. “Tokugawa Prefecture was near their territory. These guys must have been one of the last few to acquire them.”

“What’re you talking about?” She pressed on, frenetically rubbing her hands. She made a few gestures, trying to use it, but to no avail. 

“You mean you don’t know?” Dabi stared at her. “You guys kept track on the League so well, so why not – oh.” 

Again with the hierarchy. The pieces put themselves together; Dabi knew why she was in the dark. 

“What? What ‘oh’?” Geten screeched. 

“Hey, calm down, girl. It’s only temporary.” Looking at the store, the door was still open and the lights were on. “Let’s get something to eat. Might help.”

That seemed to relax her for now, although she was still trying to move ice. The two of them entered the store and walked out carrying some snacks. In spite of the abandonment of this town, the snacks’ preservatives lasted for a long time. Dabi made sure to turn off the lights as they left.

“Ok, explain,” Geten said as they sat on the sidewalk. 

“First off, the quirk-erasing bullets are temporary. It was an unfinished product made by the Shie Hassaikai, a yakuza group that got shut down a while back.”

“And I’m guessing here,” Dabi said as he munched on his chips, “But your leaders – those lovely asshats – they knew about the Hassaikai. They probably knew the group had a way to erase your precious meta abilities. Since their whole army was based on the principle of free meta ability usage, your Re-destro didn’t wanna make everyone panic. So he and his group shut up. Makes sense?” 

“So they kept it from me.” Geten growled. “Again.”

What does she mean, again? Dabi took another bite in silence. 

“Well, like I said, it’s temporary, and we can just call for an extraction –” He pulled out his phone when Geten unexpectedly grabbed his arm.

“No! We’re not leaving.”

“But...you’re gonna be useless, aren’t you?” Dabi raised an eyebrow. “I mean, you saw what happened to that guy. We might be up against something...problematic.”

“We can handle it.” 

“Speak for yourself. You’re quirkless for the next couple of hours. And do you even have any ice?”

Geten balled her fist. “I have some ice cubes in my pocket. They’re cold enough to last a few hours. I’ll take care of myself. And I’ll help with this assignment.”

Dabi sighed. You and your ego will be the death of me. “Fine. Whatever, if you’re going to be so difficult about it.” He put his phone back in his pocket, and Geten released her grip. 

Her hands aren’t cold, he realised.

He caught her with a blank stare at the pavement. “What are you thinking about?” He asked, suddenly feeling that her pride was not the only reason she was so insistent on continuing.

No, she’s not that afraid of the rest laughing at her quirklessness, or that she got shot...but what was it?

She put on her hood. “Nothing.” Her face was shrouded once more, and Dabi felt a tinge of disappointment. Can’t see what’s she’s thinking, it’s unsettling, he rationalised. That was probably the reason. 

“Let’s go.” She said, standing up. She had stopped trying to use her quirk by now, giving up. He thought of saying something, but his mind came up blank. So he followed suit in silence, with the both of them getting on the motorcycle and speeding off. 

Are her hands shaking? Dabi thought. 

The silence of the ride was more somber than peaceful, knowing that what lay ahead was a real threat. Skeptic’s talk of this dissenter managing to evade capture from the soldiers sent to stop them sent chills down Dabi’s spine, but also a burning thrill. This better be good. 

“So, what’s the plan now?” Dabi shouted over the wind. 

“You still have your fire, so you can take care of large groups. I think it might be a gang or cult of some sort that hates the Liberation ideology, considering the advisor back there looked like he was beaten to death. I can run distraction or disruption. We should split up and use our communicators.” Geten replied.

Good plan, Dabi admitted. “Ok, and what if things go south?” 

She had no reply for a good three seconds.. “Usually things never go south for me, but seeing the condition I’m in...maybe we should regroup in an area?”

“Fine. Don’t die, okay?” Dabi thought out loud, then added hastily, “Gonna be a hassle to explain your death to everyone.” 

“Worry about yourself,” She retorted. “I’ll be fine.” 

If you say so...He thought, his grip tightening on the handlebars, unable to push out the thought that something bad was going to happen to her. She was quirkless, after all, during the most crucial time of the night. 

“Who do you think those guys were back there?” Dabi asked. 

No response came for a few seconds. “I don’t know,” She finally said, “But I don’t think they were just random thugs. It seemed more like a hit squad. And who’s Mesa?”

“No idea. Never heard it in my life.” Dabi racked his brains, but he never bothered keeping the names of people in his past. Just the few, and the rest were smouldering corpses like those trash back there. “Do you think they were targeting you?”

He felt her bristle at the question, as if that triggered a thought. “Don’t know,” She said throatily. 

Lying? Whatever. She’s not gonna tell me. But it might be linked to this whole assignment…

“Anyway, they might have tried to shoot me too, but I probably burnt the bullets up.”

“Fast reflexes,” She uttered.

“Thanks.” Was that an actual compliment? She sounds bitter about it – that she didn’t react fast in time. The rest of the ride was spent in silence, until Dabi saw their destination. 

“There.” He flicked his head towards the fast approaching factory. 

It was run-down and abandoned, complete with a “NO ENTRY” sign and worn-down wire fences which provided as much protection as fabric against a bullet. Towering metal and concrete chimneys gone dormant studded the compound; five-storey high buildings were placed next to them. Large metal containers occupied the expansive courtyard with dark lampposts situated in an orderly fashion, surrounding the containers like patrol guards.

Strange, have I been here before? No, that was impossible. He’d never visited Tokugawa Prefecture in his life. His mind was being a prick.

The two disembarked. “Guess we’re playing hide and seek. This place is massive,” Dabi said as he retrieved his earpiece from his pocket and wore it. Geten did the same.

“Let’s set here as the meeting point.” Geten pointed at their motorcycle. Dabi assented. 

“Search the buildings first. It’s the most logical place to hide,” She said as she rubbed her left arm up and down. Did she always do that? Or is she just nervous? Just as he finished the thought, she abruptly stopped and tucked her hands in her parka pocket.

They walked through the row of buildings, until Geten tapped his shoulder to draw his attention. She pointed at one of the doors. In particular, a handprint on the dusty iron. Damn, she spotted that? He nodded. 

The door was shackled by a chain, and said chain had been broken and strewn on the floor. Dabi pushed it open. 

He wasn’t surprised that he was greeted by darkness. With the faint strings of moonlight permeating through the dusty windows above, he could make out the silhouettes of stacks of crates, catwalks and broken lamps hanging on the ceiling like death row prisoners. No movement caught his eye when they stepped in. 

Getting her attention, he made a ‘split up’ gesture. She nodded and the two separated down the narrow paths.  

Dabi walked until he saw a sparkly glint of reflected light shining on one of the crates. He automatically read the label engraved on them, and his eyes widened. 

BUSHIDO ENTERPRISES PTE LTD 

So that’s why –

The ground shook. He heard Geten yell over the thundering of crates shifting. 

Shit. He turned and ran back as he saw crates beginning to collapse where Geten had headed. He spotted a blue parka and grabbed it, hauling her into the clear. With his other hand he shot a plume of azure flames into the darkness.

The fire illuminated a tall figure as it passed through like water around a rock. The figure had its hands braced to take the brunt of the damage. It looked like –

Dabi hid his surprise with a grin. “Well, I’ll be damned.” He retracted his hand. The fire lingered on some wooden planks strewn on the ground, casting a blue glow on the man’s face. 

“Beatdown.” Geten breathed, veins of fear pulsing through the word. 

Advisor to Violet Regiment, Shingu Takame, eyed the two of them with a stoic face, void of any expressions of pain. It seemed as if Dabi had sprayed water rather than a torrent of fire. The man had no words; he raised his fists and leapt towards them. 

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Cliffhanger? Plot twist? Eh. 

Uhh right my thoughts on this chapter. I went through about 2 revisions? Major ones. I wrote the first draft in that flurry of creativity (and evasion of my academic responsibilities), then after hearing some of the thoughts on c14 (thanks Kannra in particular btw), it helped clear some of my thoughts and I realised I characterised Geten slightly incorrectly there, so I did a revision, and then once more when the chapter wasn’t “correct”. 

Yeah I always planned for Takame to be an antagonist here (I hoped I made that pretty clear with the last few sentences of this chapter). Also look at me with chapter planning. Much wow, very writer.

Hopefully he’ll be one of the few OCs I’ll ever need to use.

Next chapter’s going back to Geten and...yeah. Not gonna spoil anymore than that. Thanks for the support, any feedback is much thanks from me.