The Emperor's Dragon II

It's a Learning Curve

Dabi sighed internally. Of course Shouto would message now. When they were about to go on a mission. He glanced down at his phone.

Where can I meet you?

It was 2:43am! What was Shouto doing up? Dabi slipped his phone away. He'd have to answer it later and Shouto couldn't expect a response from him immediately. But the answer was what he wanted! He just had to organise a time with Dragon. Speaking of whom... Dragon was having what looked to be a heated conversation with the misty guy. The warp gate was apparently refusing to do something. Dabi wasn't sure what but they appeared to be discussing numbers. He watched as Dragon frowned and huffed. While he wasn't proficient at reading lips, the words were clear enough that he didn't need proficiency.

One then. In and out.

Dragon hissed them, while glaring at the misty man. The warp gate stared back before nodding. Dragon glared for a moment more before he huffed and turned away. He looked at Whisper and gave her a smile. "Are you ready?" he asked.

She nodded and made a gesture as if she was flicking something outwards. He didn't feel any different, being in the radius of Whisper's quirk but it was suddenly eerily quiet. He couldn't even hear his own breathing! That was... odd. Intellectually he'd known there were things he heard all the time but didn't think about. Actually experiencing it was odd.

He watched, listening to the background beat of his heart, as Whisper disappeared and Compress picked her up, putting the pearl safely in an inner pocket. Twice moved to stand next to him. He had his mask on and from the vague expression Dabi could see he was being serious. Dragon and the warp gate stepped into Whisper's sphere of influence and after Dragon covered himself with scales, and flexed his clawed fingers, he nodded at the misty man.

They'd discussed the plan earlier so there was no need for further communication. And really it was a simple plan. Arrive, grab the prisoners, and leave. It was best to keep it simple.

The holding cells were set up for the night, so the light difference was minimal. The warehouse had a black feel to the light, the holding cells had a blue light tone.

Dabi glanced around and then threw fire balls at the security cameras. It would make it obvious someone was there, and the Police reaction would be quick but it might buy them some time. Then he advanced to one of the doors. Dragon was already breaking the locks on the cells. He had indicated he might be able to melt the locks to the holding cells but it would take him too long. Twice, or at least one of his clones was following Dragon, and grabbing the prisoners.

Dabi could see that they were shouting but he couldn't hear it. He could see where Whisper's quirk was useful, but he could also see the disadvantages. If they couldn't talk to each other, then they couldn't adjust their plans. They could barely communicate. But it appeared things were going well. Twice was wrestling the prisoners they wanted into position, and Dragon was... He was at one of the entry points, holding the barred door closed with one hand. Himiko was doing something with the lock. He could see officers through the door and several had drawn their firearms. Dragon didn't look concerned. Were his scales really that strong?

Whatever else Dabi was thinking left his mind when he saw a flash and a sheet of ice covered the door. Dragon's scales might not be that strong, or he might have another quirk that would block bullets but he also had Shouto's quirk. He resolved to answer Shouto's text as soon as they got back. Dragon said he'd give the quirk back, and so far he'd done everything he had said he would do but...

There was no need to tempt fate.

In the silence it was actually hard to know how much time had passed, so while he was watching the door, Dabi was also glancing back to see how Twice was going. That's how he saw that the warp gate had formed again and that Twice's clones were wrestling the prisoners through it but he also saw one of the other prisoners decide that their dubious freedom was better than here.