"T-Touya…. How…."
A gasp was caught in Todoroki's throat. Did he just say? No, that's impossible. All this time his eldest brother was someone who he could barely remember the face of. Now, he was standing right in front of him after all these years of not knowing if he was alive or not.
"Surprised? I figured you would be, father." he emphasized that last word with malice in his voice.
"No. This can't be! Touya was quirkless! You can't be him!" Endeavor argued. "He was weak. Probably died out on the streets for not being able to defend himself."
"Funny you say that." Dabi interlaced his fingers behind his neck. "Remember the day I ran away? Probably not, hell I barely do. Either way, while I was hopeless and alone all those nights, something I never imagined happened." he impatiently paced back and forth. "After all the turmoil you created. Living through the belittling, and being forced to hear the constant cries of pain and sadness from my mother, my brother's and sister who I couldn't protect even if I wanted to-!" he stopped dead in his tracks. Faced away so nobody could see through his mask of anger that he wore over the true sight of sadness. "I still wanted to be able to come back home stronger and make you proud… It was supposed to be my job to protect… And I couldn't even do that right… I always fantasized about leaving and being free from you, but when that day finally happened, I came to the realization how that's not what I wanted at all… All I wanted was for you to give a damn. I tortured myself with sticking around and had to live on as you tried to replace me with someone stronger and better." he jerked around, making Endeavor and Todoroki flinch. "That killed me inside! But you didn't care! Nobody did!" The red veins in his eyes pulsed.
"What did you do to yourself, Touya?"
"I thought about making you proud so much that it drove me to the brink of insanity." His words were bleak. Cutting through the feelings that Dabi created a wall around. "When I was growing up, I always felt cold. Like my body was freezing from the inside out." he clutched tightly at his acting chest, "I never knew why, but it made me feel so weak."
Endeavor growled, "Your sickness wasn't my fault. So don't you dare try to blame me for your failures. Typical of a villain to blame others rather than themselves."
Dabi wagged his finger, "Missing the point. You see, I later discovered why I always felt that way. I was never quirkless. I just had a power that nobody could understand. My interior was ice cold because of mom's genes, allowing me to use my fire to a maximum without overheating."
Todoroki and Endeavor's eyes grew out of shock. It explained so much. Why Touya was always cold to the touch, and how nothing would be able to warm him. The child never learned how to control his power due to the lack of attention from his father who couldn't see what was really going on with his child.
"Only problem was, I didn't know that at the time. I wanted to be strong, so I tried so hard to call upon your power. I tried to use Hellflame only for it to nearly char the skin from my entire body." His arms and legs tensed, recalling back to that dark alleyway where his horrific incident took place all those years ago. "Now I know I can only control it from my hands while balancing the coldness of my body." he pointed to the staples in his face. "You see these? My skin began to fall from the muscle, so I stapled it back into place. I do that to remind myself that even though I look like this, that I'm not a complete monster."
"This isn't who you are." Todoroki finally spoke up. "This isn't you. You don't have to be like this anymore. I'm sorry for not remembering you. I can't change how you're feeling. But we can move past this!" he reached for his brother's arm, catching him by the wrist. "I know it's easy to forget everything that's happened in the past when all you focus on is the bad. Believe me, Touya. I know. Before someone very important to me opened up my eyes, all I saw was mom crying. All I remembered was how she hurt me. During all that, I lost sight of why I was striving to be a hero. I didn't want to be like him! I wanted to be what I thought a hero should be! I know you hate him. I did too for a very long time. I probably won't ever forgive his actions, but listen to me. This isn't how you want things to end! Do you think killing us is going to make things better?!"
Dabi looked down, contemplating his next action. He didn't want to admit it out loud but his little brothers words moved him. Creaked open his eyes just a bit. "Get outta here Shouto." he spoke softly. "Run far away from here. I came to the conclusion that this no longer has anything to do with you." Todoroki's hand slowly dropped. "More blood will be spilt before the night's over. And if you don't want it to be yours, I suggest you leave."
The boys hands shook. His brother had the word death looming in his eyesight like a target. Somebody was going to be sent to the grave. He knew this yet his feet couldn't move. Something was telling him to stop this, but how? His arm was broken and he was pretty sure one of his ankles was fractured during his fight with the nomu's. What more could he possibly do?
"Listen to him, boy." Endeavor spoke from the ground he was still forced to kneel on. "If he wants a fight to the death. I'll give it to him." he struggled back to his feet once more. Dabi wasn't fazed due to his father being severely weakened, and he knows if Shouto were smart that he wouldn't interfere again. "You can't be the #1 hero if you're dead. So leave this to me."
Todoroki was disgusted how this was all his father was concerned about. He could care less about saving his eldest son if it meant his chosen child would be crowned as #1 in the future.
"You don't have to fight! Please!" he begged. Todoroki was sick of all this violence. All this hatred. Sure the feelings were justified, but if it meant a fight till the death, then it wasn't worth it. Yeah he hates his father but he's never wished death upon him. That wasn't in his nature. Dabi… Touya was no different, after learning his true identity and why he was made this way.
"You're working on my last nerve, kid. Don't make me change my mind." Dabi opened up his hands, igniting his signature blue flames.
"I won't let you kill each other!"
"Stay the hell back!" Endeavor roared, charging at Dabi, giving Shouto little time to jump out of the way before smashing Dabi into a tattered building. "Look at you! You think because you've changed a little that you're any different from what you used to be?!" he held the thin man in the air, on the side opposite from his broken ribs, then launched him into the ground. "Now it's your turn to kneel." his teeth gritted.
Dabi managed to get his hands free from Endeavor's large frame that was crushing him, then flamed the side of his face. Momentarily blinding him. He kicked his father off, getting a few more jabs in before Endeavor could leap out of harms way.
Once he got his footing under control he took a quick moment to catch his breath.
"What's the matter, father?" Dabi panted, "Tired already? Maybe it's time that you hang up the boots and retire too."
"Not before I rid the streets of the garbage that is you and the league!"
Dabi chuckled dryly, "That's what you don't get, Old Man. I'm no longer that scared kid that you used to bully and intimidate." he pulled both his arms together, gathering flames from both hands and firing them all at once to stun his father where he stood. He ran, roundhouse kicking him, sending his father flying into a guardrail. Dabi grabbed him by the collar of his torn hero suit, as he said: "Touya Todoroki is dead." his fist engulfed in blue flames, "And soon. You will be too."
"Stop!" a wall off ice cut between the father and son. Standing there, with a broken, purplish hand held out was Todoroki. "This isn't how we should solve this! Don't you see? We can fix this!"
Dabi scrunched a chunk of his little brother's hair in his hand, "I'm only going to say this one more time. Leave, before I do something to you that I'll regret."
"T-touya… Please…" a tear slipped down his cheek.
"You're scared of me, aren't you? Little Shouto."
"A real hero sticks around and tries to save others even if he's scared."
Dabi scoffed, "You're trying to save him?" He raised his other hand that was covered in flames, "Pathetic."
"I'm trying to save you…" Dabi's eyes grew in shock, the flames in his hand disappearing. Save me? Why… "He was wrong about you. You proved that you're strong. Shouldn't that be enough?"
Dabi curled his lip in disdain, throwing his brother to the side. "No… I want to hear him say it. He tried to create a masterpiece. But what he ended up with was a failure. Little did anyone know, that this failure, manifested into the very thing that is chaos itself."
"Brother stop!" he understood why Dabi was so angry. No, he wasn't okaying his brutal actions from now and the past. But he had nobody to guide him. He turned to villainy because there was nobody that believed in him and he wanted to finally feel strong. He felt important now. This was his chance to rid the world of so called hero's that only cared about their image and paychecks. More importantly, he wanted to get revenge on the man who hurt him. Todoroki sympathized for his brother, not wanting him to remain on this path for the rest of his life. He needed Touya to find peace.
"Stay back, Shouto!" Dabi punched through the wall of ice. He held Endeavor's bloody face between his burning hands, "All I wanted was for you to be proud! Well look at me now, father! Aren't I the strong son you've always wanted?! I'm standing over you, the #1 hero and I have your replacement shivering in his boots! So what if I use fear as a tactic! I learned it from you! Doesn't that prove how wrong you were about me being weak and pathetic?! Now tell me! Tell me how proud you are!" he screamed with the sound of heartache spilling from his voice as it cracked between words.
He's right. How could I have done this? Endeavor thought. I turned my own flesh and blood into someone driven by wrath. All because I pushed him so hard. I disregarded how everyone around me was feeling because I was so stuck on raising my children, my creations to be stronger than All Might. It's because I saw them as nothing more than weapons rather than children who didn't share the same goals as me. Touya turned into this hurting, vengeful soul because I didn't care about him…
Endeavor's eyes fluttered open slowly. "I am proud." he coughed, "Proud that you, my son… Proved me wrong. I shouldn't have treated you the way I did, T-Touya… I'm sorry…"
Dabi's eyes began to burn. A burn that he hasn't felt in a long time. An almost aching sensation coming from… His eyes? What the hell is wrong with me? All my life I wanted to hear these words and he finally says them. But I don't feel the way I wanted to. I don't feel proud. I'm… Angry! "No…." he gritted his teeth, "You feel guilty. After all these years of torment and abuse you finally feel guilty! Well guess what, Enji! It's too late for apologies! You're only saying this because you're scared! You don't mean a damn word! Now perish along with the rest of this pathetic society!"
Todoroki watched as his brother was seconds away from murdering his father. Suddenly everything went silent. The crackling cage of fire. The distant screams of terror. The propellers from the news helicopters above. None of that mattered. His mind blocked it all out.
Instinctively, Todoroki flashed a wall of crystal ice, as it spiked out sharp like the emotions penetrating his chest. He didn't mean to lose control the way he did. His broken hand wasn't able to shoot out the proper way that Shouto wanted it to. The ice walls were way too jagged than he intended them to be.
Dabi saw the rugged ice speeding in his direction. Once again, out of pure instinct to protect himself from an attack, he blasted his fire to hopefully melt the on coming ice as it rushed his way.
Through his blury vision, Endeavor saw how dangerous Shouto's ice looked. He grabbed ahold of Dabi's wrist, attempting to pull him out of the way. But the sudden surprise caused the villain to tense up and put more fire power behind his attack. The fire swirled into a beam like figure that would in fact cause fatal injuries if it came in contact with its target.
Before Endeavor had time to react to stop his son's from severely hurting each other, the beam of fire went straight through Todoroki's stomach while an erratic icicle impaled Dabi's chest.
Time felt like it had stopped for the #1 hero. He wasn't fast enough. Wasn't strong enough to even put a halt to the chaos that he helped create.
"N..No…" his voice shook. Endeavor grabbed both of his bleeding sons into his large frame. Holding them close to his injured body. "Sh-Shouto…. Touya! You stay alive, dammit! Don't you die on me!"
"Th-this i-is your fffault…" Dabi coughed up blood. His eyes fading out to gray as more blood spilled from his chest. "Get your… Hands off of… Me… I hate you, Enji… I h-hate y-you… "
"I know, son… I know… You have every right to. But you're gonna be okay. You and your brother. You'll both be okay…" Endeavor looked over to his youngest child who's eyes were half lidded, he gently rocked him in his arms to make sure he stayed awake. "I can't lose you both. I can't! There's so much I need to make up to you all."
Dabi brought a bloody hand up to the icicle, pulling it from his chest. Blood squirted on the faces of his father and brother, as well as his own. The man wanted to die. He had nothing else to live for. Dabi wanted Endeavor to suffer as much as he did growing up. And he was. He was finally feeling what it was like to be helpless, alone and afraid. Sadly it came at his baby brothers expense. That's not what he planned on doing anymore. He had forgiven Shouto mid battle. Now the hatred in Dabi's body was replaced by pain and guilt.
"Touya no! Why would you-!" he cried, watching more of his son's blood spill around him.
"I could survive death but I don't need this life. All I want now is to never… Be forgotten again."
A/N: And boom! There is chapter 2! Thank you guys who commented and added this story to your reading list, it really gave me motivation to keep on writing! Chapter 3 will be posted soon. But for now, I'd love to know how you all feel about this chapter :)
