This Thing A Quiet Madness Made

Chapter 15

Toga gasped from behind the counter. Her hands flew up to cover her mouth as she glanced between them, excitement flooding her pale expression.

"Be quiet," Dabi rolled his eyes.

Naoko winced, jerking her head back painfully and suppressing a whimper as the hand around her throat tightened. Bakugo instantly fell silent, gritting his teeth and glaring daggers at the uninterested man as he struggled against his restraints, the cold steel digging harshly into his skin.

"As I was saying," Shigaraki continued nonchalantly, "the League of Villains wants to offer you a deal. You have a lot of promise, you know. We could use someone like you."

"The hell is that supposed to mean?!"

"We're giving you a chance to be a part of the new future of the world. Together, we can turn over a new leaf for this misguided society and truly change the world once and for all. "

"You're as crazy as you look," Bakugo sneered in disgust. His eyes flicked to Naoko again, almost growling as he saw the way her face scrunched in pain. "Let her go."

"No, no, I'm afraid that's not possible. She's far too useful for that," Shigaraki shook his head, hands resting on his knees, "Though maybe you don't know about that yet."

"Useful?" he echoed poisonously, "The hell do you want with her, fucking bastards?"

"You know, I would have liked to speak to you civilly, but I don't think that's a good idea now."

"Take these damn chains off and see how civil I can be!"

"Your abilities are wasted on a crumbling world, don't you see? Today's heroes can't protect us anymore- we have to rebuild a new society where-"

"Fuck you!" Bakugo roared, the metal block around his hands bursting open with a deafening boom. He quickly grabbed the chains around him and blasted them with as much force as he could, shattering the metal links as if they were glass. He lurched forward, lunging at Dabi as his palms crackled viciously, eyes wide with boiling rage.

Magne and two copies of Twice jumped in front of him before he got five steps in, however. He shouted as he swung at the copies, both of them bursting into sludge upon contact, before aiming a blast at Magne's head. She raised the large magnetic block in her hands just in time to block the brunt of the explosion, but the sheer force was enough to send her flying into the back wall. Spinner shouted as he charged at Bakugo with twin blades raised high; however, the boy merely sneered at the green creature, dodging his sword. With a roll of his wrist, he blasted him into the wall of bottles behind the bar, sending a dozen of them crashing to the ground and shattering upon impact. His seething glare snapped back to Dabi as he charged at him once again, explosions bursting to life in both hands.

Out of the corner of her eye, Naoko saw Dabi raise his arm, a blue light flickering in the center of his palm.

Her eyes widened, and time seemed to slow to a crawl.

Bakugo was now barely a few feet in front of him at point-blank range. She could see his face twisted in anger, pupils contracted to pinpoints as the sparks of a deadly explosion built in his hand.

He wouldn't reach her in time.

The fire in Dabi's palm grew brighter, aimed at the center of Bakugo's chest. She felt the heat of those same flames earlier.

She knew he wouldn't miss.

No...

They couldn't hit him...