The Emperor's Dragon II

Ambush

Dabi sat and watched the square from the window. He should have brought coffee, or snacks, or something. While today would be the culmination of years of work, and he was full of anticipation about that, waiting was boring.

But... Dabi reminded himself. This wasn't bad.

A lot of the heroes would be taking today off after last night's Hero Billboard. Endeavor would be working. He'd have shown up at his agency at about 8am and done paperwork for an hour or so, and now, during morning peak, Endeavor would be on patrol.

Today's patrol was likely to rile the man up in a way that... Dabi could admit to himself that he'd never be able to get Endeavor that angry. Today, instead of melting respectfully out of the way, Dabi fully expected the public to want to congratulate the new Number One Hero. They'd want his autograph. They'd just want to be near him. They'd want the reassurance that they hadn't lost a protector. All Might had retired weeks back, but the Billboard last night was the first, tangible evidence for the public that a new era had arrived.

In Endeavor's eyes, they'd just get in the way.

But Endeavor was also Hero enough to know that he couldn't just shoo them away and that would make him angry. Really angry.

If Dabi didn't have the Nomu with him today, he'd almost be prepared to stay and just watch that and laugh. No, he wouldn't but, he'd probably watch for longer, just laughing.

He was reasonably secure in an empty office block. The whole building wasn't empty, but the floor he was watching from was currently for lease. If you knew what you were looking for, it was easy to find vantage points, especially if you didn't have a problem with breaking and entering.

In this case, Kurogiri had deposited him, and the Nomu here, including a small, extra Nomu that Yakuni had insisted he take. It hardly mattered. Between Rappa and Rikiya, Dabi didn't expect Endeavor to survive long.

On the other hand, the man hadn't been the Number Two hero for so long without having some skill. Endeavor probably had tricks he hadn't shown the world.

But if you countered his quirk, with fire proofing as the Nomu had, and you countered his physical strength, which the Nomu did just by being Nomu, and you could deal with his sidekicks, then Endeavor was just a man. A strong man. A skilled man. But just a man. He'd bleed and die just like any other.

There was a commotion at the corner of the square Dabi was watching.

There he was now... and... Dabi felt the scarred tissue of his chin stretch as he grinned. There was a crowd of people around Endeavor and while Dabi's eyesight wasn't good enough to pick out the man's expression, he could tell it was annoyed. The man gave off that impression.

"There he is," Dabi said to the Nomu.

They came up to the windows, with Rappa glaring down at the newly crowned Number One Hero. Endeavor was easily discernible from the crowd. The flames of his moustache, beard and eyebrows were clearly seen, even if the larger patches of flames on his costume were obscured.

"There's probably some sidekicks in the crowd," Dabi warned the Nomu.

The look Rappa gave him was distinctly unimpressed. The look reminded Dabi that the Nomu had to obey him, but they didn't have to like him. "They will interfere with your fight," he pointed out.

That somewhat mollified the High End.

"Let's let him get into the middle of the square, then-"

Dabi had a feeling if he didn't give the order, Rappa would attack now.

A few minutes later, Dabi regretted saying it, as Endeavor seemed to crawl across the square. The only consolation was that the man would be even more frustrated at his progress. And if anything, the crowd seemed to be getting bigger. Eventually the new Number One Hero reached the centre of the square, and the Nomu lunged forward, breaking through the glass to attack.