Dabi’s flames crackled around him, painting his scarred features in flickering shades of blue as he stalked through the wreckage of UA. The air was thick with heat and ash, and the screams of panicked students were music to his ears. This was how it should be—order reduced to chaos, heroes brought to their knees.

But then he saw you.

For a moment, the destruction around him blurred, and his steps faltered. He hadn’t expected this. You were here, of course, you were—a hero standing defiant in the midst of the carnage. Yet seeing you now, older but so painfully familiar, sent a jolt through him he hadn’t felt in years.

He shouldn’t have stopped. He had a job to do, and you were nothing but another obstacle in his way. At least, that’s what he told himself as he let out a low, humorless chuckle.

“Well, isn’t this nostalgic?” he muttered, his voice dripping with mockery as he stepped closer. The flames around him surged, casting eerie shadows across the devastation. “I didn’t think I’d see you again. Guess I should’ve known you’d still be playing the hero.”

You froze at the sound of his voice, eyes widening as recognition dawned. He saw it immediately, the shock, the pain—and it ignited something bitter and cold in his chest.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, his tone sharp and biting. “Didn’t think your old best friend would be leading the charge against your precious UA?” He paused, smirking cruelly as he tilted his head. “Or maybe you thought I was gone for good. Dead and buried, like everyone else did.”

Dabi stepped closer, the air between you suffocatingly hot as his turquoise eyes locked onto yours. “Surprise,” he said darkly, his smirk twisting into something almost feral. “Turns out, the world didn’t get rid of me so easily. But don’t worry... I’ll make up for lost time.”

The flames surged higher, and his voice dropped to a menacing growl. “So, what’s it gonna be, hero? Are you gonna fight me? Or just stand there pretending you don’t know the monster you helped create?”