Warped

Dabi

      "Approaching the target's location in 3... 2... 1."

      It wasn't as though the rest needed that reminder anyway. They could see the blue flames rising above the trees and the gray smoke that came off of them. Still, it just felt like a countdown to Sakura. It was a countdown to her death.

     "I'm going first, all of you stay behind and listen to Hitoshi's orders, " Sakura ordered while stopping 200 feet away from the target.

      It wasn't that she was undermining their abilities, but she needed to see if Dabi had a touch of humility before the battle. Who would know if Dabi would still answer the phone once he saw Todoroki?

     Instead, she approached him calmly and steadily. Sakura needed Touya to perceive her as a lesser threat and at least hear her out. Well, she wasn't planning on him breaking down and crying upon hearing his mother's voice. It was actually quite the opposite. The pinkette was already planning on getting a new phone anyway. 

     She stepped through the trees while avoiding the burning blue flame that was scattered about.

      "Hello, " she greeted with a smile while gripping the muted phone in her hand.

      Dabi's eyes watched her cautiously as he replied back, "... Hi."

     She looked at the flames again and did a small water jutsu to see if she could put it out. She didn't know how a quirk would react to chakra if it produced an element. It went out.

      He was still observing her, obviously intrigued by the fact that she was letting her guard down around him. Then again, he may have realized that it was all a facade.

     "... I believe that you aren't supposed to have a quirk, "he stated with mild interest.

     "And I believe that have someone you need to talk to, " she quipped back, slowly approaching him with the phone outstretched in her hand.

     She stopped two feet away from him, knowing that it was dangerous to be so close when he had such a versatile quirk. However, she wanted that small bit of trust before it got broken. 

     After examining her hand and phone, probably for any traps, he took the phone and pressed it up against his ear. 

     "Hello?"

     On the other end of the line, Rei's heart leaped because although the voice wasn't exactly familiar, she had a distinct gut feeling. At that moment, she instinctually knew that it was her son speaking to her.

      Her hands couldn't stop trembling and she was scared that she would drop her phone. Her eyes were being overwhelmed with tears, so she doubted that she could grab it in time.

      This was a moment that she never thought could possibly happen. Reaching her concessions with Shoto already felt impossible enough as is, yet it still happened. Now she was speaking to the son that she thought was dead. Rei regretted not sipping some water before because... would he understand?

      Her voice would be overtaken by so many emotions. Would he be able to make out what she was saying through everything? Would her maternal love be able to come through?

      Taking a deep breath, her voice could only come out in a short, desperate whisper, "... Touya?"

      As soon as she spoke his name, the sobs that she was holding back flooded forth, but that at the same time gave her vocal cords more energy. "Touya, is that you? ... Son?"

     Sakura watched in just a few milliseconds the change that overcame his facial features. The shock. Guilt. Anger. Desperation. After seeing it for just that split second, Sakura came to her conclusion on him.

      He could be saved.

     Rei was gaining momentum, crying through the line, "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry, Touya! ... I should've been stronger. Mother should have been stronger for you. I'm sorry for being so weak and-and leaving you with him! If only I could've held on...! I'm sorry, my son-"

      The call was shortly cut off by the phone melting in his hands, the molten metal dripping onto the grassy terrain. Sakura knew enough to jump back some feet to create more distance. 

     The battle was going to start and she already had her opponent unhinged. As long as she played it safe, Sakura knew that they could win. They would all survive. They had to.

     "So this is what you're playing at..." he trailed off, his face contorting into a terrifying grin, "Did you think you could push me into a corner with that?"

     He lunged forward, fire at his hands as he savagely swung at her. Each move had no thought behind it as her earlier actions made him lose his typical cool rationale. Each time he went at her, she applied chakra to her feet to move away.

     Dabi was fast when he used his quirk, but she also knew of the side-effects of using it. She doubted that he would want to drag it out and would probably try to go for a finishing move once he started to strategize again. As much as she wished that she could just stall, she desperately needed to beat him quickly. Especially since he could call back-up if needed.

     "Everyone come out!" she called out, "Shoto, the ground!"

     She could sense the wave of Shoto's ice quirk and she launched forward to miss it. Sakura knew that it wouldn't last for long, but she just needed the element of surprise to see if her seal could work.

     Having the same thing work would be a blessing, but the pinkette knew that she was dealing with a different situation. The Nomu no longer had human intelligence and was instead self-reliant on the orders while Dabi could at least adapt himself while facing against Sakura... Perhaps her old self was reminiscent of a Nomu's will.

     Not waiting for Dabi's reaction, she outstretched her hand with a prepared seal on it and pushed her chakra into it the moment it touched him. Then she jumped away, watching to see the results.

     She felt Hitoshi's presence come closer and sensed his unease. He also had doubts because the seal had been performed too quickly and easily.

     Shoto was a little bit behind Hitoshi, and she glanced at him. Of course, his emotions were still a mess with the way his own signature was erratically changing every second.

     "We did it, right?" Kaminari asked, staring at Dabi's unmoving body, "We can capture him and head back now, right?"

     However, his words were short-lived as she sensed a spark within Dabi, a movement from his quirk. Her muscles tensed up and she quickly put up an Earth wall to block all of them. Just a split second later, there was a sudden explosion of blue light and the heat had turn several degrees.

     Releasing the wall, after she felt his quirk died down, she saw that the paper seal that she had placed upon him was gone. It had probably burned to a crisp under the extreme heat. Under normal circumstances in the shinobi world, the target with the seal on it would be incapacitated. However, Sakura could now see that there truly was a different effect when it came to quirks.

     Since he had willpower over it, it no doubt had to be an anomaly like the tailed-beasts. Sakura had especially tweaked with it so it would become flame-resistant, yet it seemed that against certain quirks and willpower, the seals could be broken.

     "Plan B?" Hitoshi asked.

     "Mmn, Plan B, " she agreed, "Shoto. Hitoshi. We three need to keep Dabi busy so Kaminari can get in close and paralyze him. his quirk is strong, but if we limit his movement, it'll be easier to capture him."

      Sakura looked at Shoto and patted his back, "I'm sure that you have things you want to say to him, but let's do it after we can declare we're safe, okay? Everything is only just getting started."

(A/N: AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. I meant to update sooner but then there's school and finals and I failed some of my finals asdfghj. Now I'm working for the whole week except for Friday... I plan on updating on my normal day but at this rate, idk if life will let me ;-;).