The clash between Guren and Dabi was not a battle. It was a slideshow.
Guren, clad in the armor forged from Dabi's own blue hellfire, moved with a speed that defied the weight of his massive greatsword. He didn't just absorb the flames; he commanded them. Every swing of his blade sent arcs of condensed blue fire tearing through the forest, turning the wet, rain-soaked trees into pillars of ash in milliseconds.
With every blow he unleashed, even though the intensity and range of the flames were enough to incinerate an entire forest regardless of the weather, they ultimately only served as "fuel" for Guren to become more and more radiant than ever before.
His entire armor was no longer just simple fire armor; instead, it shone like a dazzling star, radiating such intense heat that it could burn anything around it...
In contrast to Guren, Dabi was in a far worse state than he could have imagined. Both of his hands were charred red-hot, and countless burns from the overheating caused by his Quirk made him look like a burnt-out matchstick.
"Is that all you've got?" Guren taunted, his voice echoing from within the blazing visor of his helm. He swung the greatsword horizontally, creating a shockwave of heat that blew Dabi back against a burning tree.
Dabi coughed, smoke rising from his stapled skin. His eyes were wide with a mixture of rage and disbelief. For the first time, his destructive power meant absolutely nothing. "You... fucking monster..."
"Monster?" Guren scoffed, stepping closer, the ground melting beneath his boots. "I bet you've never looked in a mirror even once."
He raised his sword for a finishing blow. Dabi, realizing he was outmatched, gritted his teeth. "Kurogiri! Get me the hell out of here!"
Almost instantly, a black mist swirled behind Dabi. He fell backward into it, flipping Guren the bird as he vanished.
"Coward," Guren muttered. He dissipated the armor with a thought, the blue flames vanishing into thin air, leaving him standing amidst the charred ruins in his pristine white suit. He adjusted his collar, looking bored. "Well, I have to explain myself to that damn council again...."
...
Back in the deep forest.
The plan was proceeding faster than I expected. "Mustard" (Himiko) was dragging my "unconscious" body through the mud, heading towards the extraction point.
"Hey, heavy ass," she whispered, her voice low. "Can I drop you now? My shoulder hurts."
"Okay," I whispered back, keeping my eyes closed and body limp. "We can take a short break. But don't forget the act. You are Mustard. You hate U.A, and you are an edgy teenager."
"I know, I know. 'Society is trash, heroes are fake,' blah blah blah. I practiced."
She dropped me onto the wet leaves with a thud that was definitely intentional. I groaned, not needing to fake the pain this time. Being dragged through a forest while pretending to be a corpse is surprisingly physically demanding.
"You're enjoying this too much, darling," I muttered, opening one eye to look at her.
Himiko—currently looking exactly like the edgelord gas-mask user Mustard—crouched down, poking my cheek with the barrel of her gun. "Maybe. But you have to admit, I look cool in this. And his gun feels nice."
"Focus," I scolded gently, sitting up and brushing mud off my T-shirt. "We're close to the extraction point. From now on, no more breaks. And remember this clearly: The guy who looks like a sewn-up rag doll is Dabi; the big one with sunglasses is Magne, and remember that's a bitch, not a brat; the guy who looks like a lizard is Spinner; the masked guy who likes playing marbles is Mr. Compress; the guy in the full-body suit is Twice. Don't forget that."
"Got it," she said, her voice shifting perfectly into Mustard's nasal, annoying tone. "I just need to remember all of them, right?"
"Yep."
There might be a few people I don't know, because in the original timeline, Himiko was supposed to be on the other side instead of being an unofficial U.A. student, so there might be one or a few people filling in the blanks to fill plot holes. Definitely, but I'm really not sure if this will have as much of a canon impact as it does...
We heard rustling in the bushes ahead. I immediately went limp again, my head lolling to the side, while Himiko stood up, leveling the gun at the noise with practiced ease.
"Who's there?" she barked.
A man in a full-body black suit burst through the foliage, flailing his arms.
"Don't shoot! It's me! I'm friendly! / Die, you motherfucker!"
Twice. Jin Bubaigawara.
"...Twice...?" Himiko paused, then lowered the gun slightly, keeping up the act. "Where the hell have you been? I thought you were supposed to be guarding the perimeter."
"I was! But then the fire started! And the ice! It was chaos!" Twice grabbed his head, looking frantic. He spotted me on the ground. "Whoa! You caught one? Who is this guy?"
"It was a real struggle," Himiko sneered. "We need more hostages, too, otherwise it will be difficult to get out of here...."
"Go to the meeting point! Everyone's gathering / Compress got the prize!" Twice pointed deeper into the forest. "Let's go! / Dabi is going to burn us if we're late!"
Himiko grabbed my collar and started dragging me again. "Lead the way..."
...
Five minutes later, we broke through the trees into a clearing.
The scene was... chaotic, to say the least.
Mr. Compress was standing on a tree branch, looking elegant despite the mud splattered on his coat. Dabi was leaning against a tree trunk, clutching his side, his skin looking even more grotesque and charred than usual—clearly the aftermath of his "meeting" with Guren. He looked like he'd been put through a meat grinder and then deep-fried. Besides the familiar faces, there were two more characters that I'm absolutely certain aren't in canon. One is dressed exactly like Van Darkholme, and the other is a girl in a black "sailor uniform" style schoolgirl outfit, and I know absolutely nothing about either of them.
"You look totally like a congratulations steak, leader." Himiko said as we approached, throwing my body down at his feet like a sack of potatoes.
Dabi's blue eyes snapped to her, filled with murder. "Shut up, Mustard. At least I'm not playing with toys." He kicked my leg weakly. "Who is this?"
"Dunno," Himiko replied, shrugging. "Thought he might be useful. Intel, maybe? Or a hostage."
"Whatever," Dabi spat, looking away. "As long as he doesn't wake up screaming."
"Where are the others?" Twice asked, bouncing on his heels.
"They're coming. Magne and the gecko are slow as hell," the girl in the sailor uniform—Vault—replied, leaning against a tree and casually cleaning the blood off her katana with a silk handkerchief. She looked at Dabi, then at me, her eyes narrowing slightly. "And who's the baggage? Another student?"
"Mustard's souvenir," Dabi grunted, wincing as he shifted his weight. "Ignore him. Did you get the job done?"
"Halfway," Vault shrugged, looking bored. "Ran into some interference. A multi-armed freak and an ice user. Had to retreat."
"At least you enjoyed that," the leather-clad man—Cupid—chimed in, his voice smooth and unsettlingly deep. He walked over to Himiko, sniffing the air near her. "And Mustard... you smell... different. Wildflower. And some iron and secrets."
Himiko stiffened slightly but didn't break character. She shoved the barrel of her gun into Cupid's chest. "Back off, pervert. Unless you want a new breathing hole."
"Feisty," Cupid chuckled, raising his hands in mock surrender, his eyes lingering on her with a predatory gleam. "I like it."
I lay there, trying to control my breathing. This guy... his intuition was dangerous. If he sniffed out Himiko's true identity, or worse, realized I was faking it, we'd be in a 2v6 situation instantly. And with Dabi injured but still lethal, plus Compress and these two unknown variables, our odds were shit.
"Everyone's here now" Mr. Compress announced from the branch above, checking his pocket watch. "We have some hostages. The mission is a big success. It's a shame that Nomu, Moonfish, and Muscular were defeated and couldn't escape. And I lost the bird-boy too. Clumsy me..
Having said that, he turned to Dabi and hesitated before asking.
"Should we save...?"
"NO!" Dabi snarled, "Contact Kurogiri immediately. We can't afford to delay any longer."
There was a tense silence. The forest seemed to hold its breath. Then after a few minutes, a swirling vortex of purple mist began to manifest in the center of the clearing.
"Finally," Vault muttered, sheathing her katana with a click.
"Wait!"
A shout echoed from the trees. Izuku burst into the clearing, followed closely by Shoji and Todoroki. They looked battered, covered in mud and blood, but their eyes were burning with determination.
"Give Kacchan back!" Izuku screamed, his voice raw.
"Oh, look. The cleanup crew arrived," Dabi sneered, blue flames flickering in his palm despite his injuries. "You're too late, heroes."
Mr. Compress tipped his hat, revealing two small blue marbles in his hand. "Indeed. The show is over. Curtain call!"
"Shoji! Todoroki!" Izuku yelled, not slowing down. He activated Full Cowl, green lightning crackling around his body. "We have to stop them from leaving!"
As the trio of students charged, chaos erupted.
Dabi unleashed a torrent of blue fire, forcing Todoroki to raise a massive ice wall to block it. Spinner drew his massive sword—made of smaller blades bound together—and leaped at Shoji. Magne, arriving just in time with her huge magnet, swung it menacingly.
And with her incredibly cunning yet equally intelligent brain, Himiko immediately grabbed me, pointed a gun directly at my face, and threatened in the calmest voice possible:
"Anyone who takes another step forward, I'll send this guy to sleep on the ground forever. I'm not just saying that."
Kidnapping and threats. This trick isn't new. But her ability to improvise to this extent really scared me. No one knew if that gun would accidentally fire and kill me right then and there.
"Darling, my plot armor isn't that thick, damn it!" I thought to myself, but still pretended to be unconscious so no one would notice.
Of course, everyone on the other side was terrified. They all stood still, not daring to do anything because my being kidnapped was completely out of the script those kids had planned.
"Don't do anything stupid," Himiko hissed, her voice distorted by the gas mask but carrying a chilling intent. She dug the gun barrel deeper into my temple. "One wrong move from you, and his brain matter paints the forest floor. I'd love to see that red color, but my orders are to retreat."
"Onodera!" Izuku screamed, his face contorted with helplessness. He took a step forward, his hands trembling.
"I SAID STAY BACK!" Himiko roared, her finger tightening on the trigger.
It was an Oscar-worthy performance. If I didn't know she was head-over-heels for me, I would have pissed my pants right there. But beneath that panic, I saw the calculation in her eyes. She was buying Dabi time.
"Let's go," Dabi growled, stepping backward into the swirling void of the warp gate. "We have the prize. Don't waste time on trash."
"Onodera... Kacchan..." Izuku's voice cracked, tears mixing with the rain and blood on his face.
"Save them..." Todoroki gritted his teeth, launching a massive wave of ice, not at us, but at the ground to create a ramp, trying to bypass Himiko's line of fire.
Suddenly, a beam of sparkling light shot out from the bushes.
BZZZZT!
A Navel Laser. Aoyama Yuga.
The beam didn't hit anyone, but it sliced through the branch Mr. Compress was perched on. The masked magician lost his balance, stumbling into the portal.
"Woah there! A surprise guest!" Compress yelped as he vanished into the mist.
The distraction was enough. Dabi grabbed Himiko (still holding me) by the collar of her Mustard costume and yanked us backward.
"We're leaving!"
"NOOOOO!"
Izuku launched himself forward, a desperate, broken leap. His hand stretched out, fingers brushing the air where I had been just a second ago.
Our eyes met for a split second before the darkness swallowed me. I saw the sheer devastation in his green eyes, the crushing guilt of losing two classmates in one night...