Well, the last remnants of summer are now gone and dark times are upon us. At least I don't need to worry about running into people whose hands work like grenades. For today's chapter not everyone has that luxury.

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Proofread by 3DPhantom

Chapter 77: An Unholy Duo part 2

Several days later Katsuki was walking in the dim red glow of the descending sun. He held up and investigated a seemingly gold ring he had liberated from the powdered finger of a pickpocket that had fallen for his bait disguise. Katsuki adjusted the plastic bag with the oversized shirt. He'd have to wash it, again.

He stopped and put the ring away as a familiar figure stepped into the middle of the sidewalk in front of him, hands in pockets. Something in his posture irritated Katsuki to no end in addition to the grin on the scarred face.

"Took a while to find you again. Ran out of explosives?" Dabi asked.

"Not my problem," Katsuki responded. "Only got small fry last couple of days. My quirk is wasted on them. Better stretch my muscles when running into that scum."

"So you have not gone after that 'hero' yet?"

"His name is Glare. He can paralyze people he stares at, at least if they are close enough."

"Which is perfect for fighting any one person, and why you can't take him on alone," Dabi smiled and huffed. "My offer is still open."

Katsuki's eyebrow twitched. "You knew already last time."

"Of course I did. I have been around while you were still worried about homework."

"And you never said anything," Katsuki's forehead was now ticking.

"You never asked, and if you hadn't bothered to look it up, I wouldn't want to risk being involved."

"You don't want to play with me," Katsuki growled, his hands sparking.

"Good, because I was planning to work with you to clean up one rotten hero. If you are still interested in taking that step."

"I didn't research him for fun. Only needed an extra for him to look at. With your face it will be hard for him not to."

"I don't think he'll even notice me when an angry Pomeranian starts exploding around him."

"Oh shut it scar-face! That guy won't even notice me coming after he gouges his eyes out so he wouldn't need to look at you."

"Well in that case he is going to be in trouble being also deaf from your shouting. Then I'll take him out."

"You mean I take him out!"

"Don't point. Come on, let's go this way," a voice interrupted the unholy duo as a mother ushered her kid away to the other side of the street.

"Let's talk somewhere else," Dabi suggested.

"Fine," Katsuki responded, still scowling at the family that had the guts to disrupt them.

They left the open street and found a more private empty yard behind some store several blocks away.

"So you in?" Dabi asked as soon as they stopped there.

"No," Katsuki responded. "You are in with me."

"Fine," Dabi responded, holding up his hands and shrugging. Something about the gesture really gritted Katsuki's nerves, but they'd never get anywhere if he responded to every annoying thing Dabi did.

"Now we just need to come up with a plan and find him," Dabi said in a slightly less annoying way.

"Who do you think I am?" Katsuki asked. "I already know where he is going to be. Pro heroes are pretty predictable with their patrols and this one is rotten. There are at least three different spots where he gets out of sight and stops to look around."

Katsuki had learned that when he almost got caught

"…probably in case the criminals want to contact him."

He pointed at Dabi.

"This time he is going to find you waiting. You probably can't convince him you are with those thugs with that face, but all you need to do is get his attention. I'll come from above and take him out."

"If you are fast enough," Dabi responded and continued before they could have another argument. "Show the way."

Katsuki headed out walking ahead and Dabi followed. It took a while to reach their destination. Authorities working with these corrupt heroes were already well aware of Katsuki and he had to constantly move and avoid getting stuck in places like trains, at least not without a better disguise.

The sun was already going down as they reached the sheltered nook behind garbage containers at the edge of a parking lot inside the city block. With multiple alleys and access to two streets it a was great place for shady meetings where one might want to get out quickly. It also had space to move around someone who could only use his quirk in only one direction at a time where shockwaves wouldn't immediately reflect from walls back to their source.

"Are you sure this is where he is going to be?" Dabi asked.

"He has come here twice in the past four days, every time from a different direction, but he came by this corner both times."

"Oh, twice, that isn't exactly statistically significant."

"Just shut up and act like you are waiting for him if he shows up," Katsuki said and looked up at a nearby fire ladder. "I'll be nearby."

He climbed up to the roof with his usual agility even most adults couldn't match, hell, many pro heroes would be left in his dust. He positioned himself across the opening from Dabi. To cover the distance, he'd need to use his quirk, which might warn the crook hero, but this way he could get behind the crook if he paid attention to Dabi regardless of what side he came from.

Then Katsuki sat down, relaxing against an air-conditioning unit enjoying the fresh air, much better than a corner behind garbage containers. The AC was making just enough noise to keep him awake and make sure he didn't need to watch every little thing he did for noise.

The sun went down while they were waiting and Katsuki crawled away from the AC to hear better as seeing became more of a challenge. There was only little bit of light left from the sun below the horizon. There was movement across the parking lot. Katsuki focused on it but no, it wasn't the 'hero', but two unknown people looking for their car.

Except they walked past the last car on their path heading for where Dabi was waiting, not even one of the alleys. They stopped as soon as they came across Dabi. Katsuki couldn't hear what was being said, but they just stood there for a moment.

The two moved quickly, one of them bringing his arm closer, pulling a weapon.

Both of them burst into flames with a blue flash that lit up the parking lot and hurt Katsuki's eyes that had adjusted for the dark.

"Damnit," he muttered as the corpses collapsed to the ground, still burning, the fires now transitioning to a normal reddish color like two big bonfires. Katsuki rose to a crouching position. That was one evening wasted.

Another person ran across the parking lot. He was really sprinting. Katsuki would have been hard pressed to exceed that without his quirk. He squinted.

The runner had a hero costume. It was him. Katsuki grinned in a manner that would have scared a whole school worth of kids into sleeping in their parents rooms. He started running on the roof trying to get as close as possible before exposing his presence with a bang.

Dabi raised his hand and it was lit by his fire, then, nothing. The fire glowed for a moment as Glare slowed down to walk towards Dabi. Apparently that bastard couldn't use his fire without moving. With such quirk he should at least have been able to catch Glare with it when he got close.

Would probably have burned himself just as bad if he tried. Those flames looked impressive but were clearly an inferior quirk that hurt Dabi himself. Katsuki grinned as he leaped off the edge, hands pointed behind him. The blast probably blew away piece of the roof's edge but for him the shockwave was simply a push that launched him forward.

Getting hurt by your own quirk, the whole idea was laughable.

In an instant he was almost across the whole parking lot and was moving his hands, ready to stop himself and end the 'hero' in one blast. Dabi might be caught in the blast zone but he'd survive. Katsuki was just about finished twisting in the air for that, when his gaze met Glare's.

Katsuki felt his body go rigid like a statue right at the most critical moment. His hands were pointing forward but there was no way to aim or control his landing.

But he wasn't like Dabi.

His hands sparked and a flash of explosion lit the lot. Katsuki was jolted back, burning much of his speed. He was briefly blinded. He passed the two men both of whom jumped out of the way, Dabi barely.

Even Katsuki felt hitting the ground uncontrollably, but it was nothing especially at his remaining speed. The explosion he used to launch himself had hit harder. His ability to move returned somewhere during the crash. He took advantage of his last bits of momentum to vault back to his feet. His explosion had kicked up dust that made seeing harder, but it was descending.

An idea hit Katsuki. He swung his arms towards the ground releasing multiple small explosions that kicked off more dust and asphalt bits with each hit. Even he blinked as the particles irritated his eyes. He could barely distinguish the figures that dust twisted around.

"Scarface!" He shouted. "Light yourself up if you want to live."

A blue glow appeared in front of one of the figures. Katsuki instantly charged at the other one with a bang.

Glare turned towards him and jumped back. The dust was thinning as Katsuki flew through it, arm extended towards the figure. He'd get his shot even if…

His body was paralyzed again despite the remaining dust. Glare started dodging. Katsuki set off his explosion right away, but it wouldn't finish things.

Half of his body felt hot, burning even. The right side of his vision glowed blue. Katsuki could move again and launched himself away from the fire. Glare screamed. Katsuki followed the sound to the figure trying to back away from the fire. Katsuki launched himself in the air above the 'hero' bringing both his hands down together.

It only took one blast.

The shockwave engulfed the whole square and the air was filled with both dust and shrapnel from every single window in the surrounding buildings, all of which had shattered.

As the rest of the dust settled the ground was sparkling in what little light there was, except for the wide area of what used to be the upper half of the Glare's torso, much of all that blackened and burned. The mix of blood and burnt smells was stomach churning, making Katsuki pinch his nose.

After catching his breath for a moment Katsuki turned his head around to glare at Dabi who was already holding his ears.

"What the hell you think you were doing?! You almost burnt me!"

"Look who is talking! Don't tell me a tough guy like you can't take some heat!" Dabi shouted, making Katsuki grit his teeth. "Those explosions look pretty hot so don't pretend that much hurt you!"

Well he wasn't wrong in that. Katsuki glanced at himself and stretched to look also at the back of his arm. He'd need to get some new clothing but there were no proper burns.

"Also, it saved you. Could have probably finished turning him into fuel even if you hadn't blasted him."

"Without me he would have paralyzed and arrested you before you could even use your quirk," Katsuki shot back.

"Wasn't that the plan? One of us can focus on his role in a plan at least," Dabi said and before Katsuki could respond added. "The smoke screen was a good idea thought."

"Of course it was."

Katsuki stepped closer to the corpse and stopped to stand in front of it. He felt a bit in his throat but whatever it was he squashed it. He had no time for such weakness. This man was considered to be a pro hero, and he had taken him down, with little help. It hadn't even been too difficult in the end. By the time he turned 18 he'd be unstoppable.

He used his phone to take a couple pictures in case anyone else tried to steal his credit.

"Yeah, that is dead for sure," Dabi muttered. "At least you left enough for people to identify him, even if you took away the head again."

"At least there is more of him left than those two," Katsuki said nodding towards the piles of ash that had been the two crooks Dabi took out.

"At least half the city did not hear their death. Too bad your quirk isn't very subtle. We should go before more heroes and police show up."

They left the lot to one of the many alleys.

"Hope you like attention. People are going to know the one responsible was the explosive hero killer McBoom."

"If you call me that again you are going to be the next one they find on both sides of the alley, at the same time."

"I guarantee it won't be that easy, but people will give you a name if they haven't yet. Might want to get ahead of them."

"If it is something stupid like that I'll kill them."

"Well it doesn't take much to set you off. How about Mr. Nitroglycerin."

Katsuki growled under his breath. The only thing holding him back from more was understanding that it was exactly what Dabi was trying to get out of him.

"Or BoomBoy, maybe Dynamight, if you are a fan of All Might like most kids."

"Keep at it and there won't be an alley left for you to be found on."

"Man, you are like a walking ground zero."

They both stopped for few seconds after the words until Katsuki huffed.

"If you have to call me something stupid that is not as bad as the others."

"Not very heroic though if you still think about being a wannabe hero vigilante."

Katsuki huffed and grinned at his own superior cleverness.

"You really think so? When there is a ground zero most people run away. Who are going to go towards it?"

"Heroes," Dabi said.

"At least real ones."

"That is pretty smart Ground Zero."

They walked a bit more until Dabi stopped and turned to look back.

"What now?" Katsuki asked without stopping.

"It is too quiet. There is no way that fight didn't get reported, but doesn't seem like heroes or police have responded."

Katsuki stopped too. Dabi wasn't wrong. They stood in silence for a moment and gradually Katsuki could distinguish a low sound with the rhythm of a siren, but it was far away. Actually it was too quiet overall, which became even more obvious as they stepped on a street. Even at this hour there should have been more people around.

"Why do I have a feeling we have missed something?" Dabi said the obvious.

"Because your instincts haven't completely burned off," Katsuki responded and turned back to the relative cover of the alley, phone in hand. One he had to yank with some force to get it out of his pocket.

He turned it around. It had been in his right pocket, the pocket which looked blacker than before. The surface of the phone felt rough, softened by heat and welded in the fabric, the cheap junk. He had long since told his mom he deserved a better one but the old hag had always refused because she thought he didn't need more as a teenager, as if he should have accepted same as an average loser.

He did not even need to look for any news as the news he was looking for were displayed as soon as he opened the browser app.

"Hosu," Katsuki muttered. "Of course the day I decide to take out a fake that League thing decides to release their ugly monstrosities on rampage. Now people are not going to even care about one more fake being taken out or what he did."

"Well, not like they would have known anyway."

"What do you mean Scarface?"

"You killed him, but did you do anything to expose what he did? That Long Arm thing only blew up because Stain's partner recorded his confession."

Katsuki stared at Dabi for a long time. A loud explosion banged on his palm followed by strands of smoke surrounding his head and red-hot stare.

"Why didn't you remind me Scarface."

"Because it is not my job to remind you of what you want. For that 'hero' I'll be satisfied if Stain notices. I am more interested in exposing someone else."

"You are just another fanboy."

"And you are wannabe hero, though I rarely see ones that are so angry about it. Maybe you should also consider what or who you are really interested in. Might help you remember what it is you are actually supposed to do."

Put the thief Deku in the ground and show everyone Katsuki is the number one.

Those were the goals but how to make people understand was a bigger problem. With such a rotten system. being number one of that system was pointless. For being the real top guy, not just being the strongest, but being recognized as such meant people had to understand. The corpse of a hero whose crimes he had not been exposed was not enough.

"If you are so desperate for Stain's attention you wouldn't mind working for me if I find more clear fake heroes."

"Unless you are offering a paycheck, the word you are looking for is with. Don't get too full of yourself kid."

"That better mean yes."

"If you find someone interesting. I can deal with you until I get to ask Stain."

"Ask, what?"

"His help in dealing with the biggest fraud in the hero business."

"And who's that?"

"All in time. Maybe I'll let you tag along. You don't seem to burn too easily."

"Unlike you," Katsuki shot back and continued walking, reading the news as he went. "You call me kid, but you just want to follow Stain around like a little kid. What even makes you think he'd accept anyone, let alone you to work with?"

"I didn't before, but he was working with someone when taking out Long Arms. If he is going to stop working alone, I intend to be part of that."

"Whatever. Why are you still following me?"

"I feel like it."

Unfortunately he felt like it for a good while as they walked away. It was okay as long as they were getting away from the corpses but Katsuki was not about to lead Dabi to where he was currently staying.

Once they were at a safe distance and his tag-along wouldn't leave he really started thinking about getting rid of the guy. He looked at his phone to not have to look at that face. He flicked to update the news feed again.

He stopped. Dabi had to step aside to not crash into him.

"What now."

"Stain," Katsuki responded and could feel Dabi's attitude change, "he is in Hosu. Was."

"What do you mean?"

"They caught him."

"Caught," Dabi muttered. The air was getting rapidly hotter around them. "How?"

"I don't fucking know. The police department just posted about it. Some people comment they saw Endeavour where Stain was taken."

"Endeavour," Dabi seethed in a way that made even Katsuki tense.

Why did it make him think of Deku at the end of their fight at that stupid school?

A flash warned Katsuki just enough to jump away and boost his flight with explosion as blue flames burst from Dabi, covering the entire width of the alley where he stood.

"What the fuck are you doing?!" Katsuki shouted.

"Endeavour that bastard. He'll pay," Dabi growled from within the flames.

Katsuki didn't need to ask who Dabi had talked about before, but this was getting out of hand.

"Hey cut it out Scarface!"

He didn't listen and the flames only spread.

"Fine."

Katsuki raised his arm straight ahead, pointing his open palm at the fires. At the last moment he tuned down the explosive force before setting it off. The shockwave blew away the flames and knocked Dabi back. He fell on his ass. It was really disappointing how he let that little shockwave make him fall without even catching himself.

Katsuki stepped closer.

"Back to your senses?"

"Not as long as that man lives."

"I know the feeling, but if you try to burn me like that again I won't hold back in blowing you away."

Dabi huffed and a blob of smoke came out his mouth. He grimaced a bit.

"Thanks. I'm going to kill that man someday."

"How about you start by getting yourself new clothes," Katsuki responded turning his head away from Dabi. "You were hard to look at already."