Shockwave | MHA | Dabi/Male OC

Chapter 25

"It's going to be the pinnacle of creation."

It felt like a waking nightmare.

Dabi's eardrums throbbed, overwhelmed by the pounding of his heart, drowning out the doctor's words in a macabre symphony. The disconcerting rhythm echoed in his ears, merging with the terrifying anticipation welling up inside him. It felt as if his insides were coiling tightly, ready to unravel in a spiral of nausea, primal screams, or a cataclysmic inferno that would consume the world. Oblivious to the fact that the rest of the League had been transported back to the quarry to resume their battle against Gigantomachia, Dabi remained frozen in place, a silent witness to the horrors unfolding before him.

Stagnant and paralyzed, Dabi could feel his very essence straining against the tenuous stitches that barely held him together. His gaze, fraught with agony, fixated upon the source of the intrusive voice that had stealthily invaded his presence. The doctor, seemingly oblivious to the turmoil and suffering he had inflicted, stood with his hands casually clasped behind his back. His gaze fixated on the gladiator trapped within the stasis pod, a grotesque display reminiscent of a deranged parent admiring a sinister creation.

The urge to incinerate the surroundings, to watch the electrical circuits sizzle and rupture under the scorching heat, and witness the laboratory crumble into a desolate husk, surged through Dabi's veins. Anything to expunge the grotesque tableau before him. Yet, even as the desire clawed at his very core, he found himself unable to avert his eyes away from the lifeless form of Shockwave. A motionless puppet, the vision haunting Dabi's consciousness with unspeakable dread, keeping him rooted in place with a macabre grip.

Ujiko's voice reverberated with an undertone of twisted pride as he proclaimed, "It'll be the Ultimate Nomu." His words dripped with the sickening satisfaction of his own malevolent genius. "Naturally, numerous tests must be conducted before it even approaches a state of readiness."

It...

Dabi's voice, constricted and entangled like thorny tendrils, struggled to escape his constricted throat. With a strained yet deceptively composed tone, he posed a question, "And what if you were to remove him?"

"Within mere seconds, he would perish," the doctor responded, casting a disinterested glance at Dabi, seemingly handling the volatile pyromaniac with caution. "Shockwave has endured a devastating impalement wound, eight inches in width, cleaving through his abdomen. He has already succumbed to multisystem organ failure and catastrophic hemorrhaging. Should his life support be withdrawn, my painstaking efforts would be rendered utterly futile."

The doctor's words were uttered with casual indifference, as if they held no significance. But to Dabi, they resonated like a chilling echo, compelling him to flee with every fiber of his being. The unfolding horror before his eyes demanded an immediate escape, a desperate need to put as much distance as possible between himself and this abomination.

His sanity teetered on the edge, threatened to further splinter and fragment into irreparable shards. Yet, Ujiko's voice pierced through the disarray, momentarily snapping Dabi back to a semblance of awareness. "I have a task for you," He declared, his tone laden with a disconcerting blend of authority and madness. "The High-End specimens require a field test to ascertain their capabilities. This will allow me to implement necessary adjustments."

Dabi forced himself to swallow, the bitter taste of nausea lingering in his mouth, uncertain if he still drew breath. His voice, strained and hollow, emerged from the depths of his horror. "What do you want?"

"It would be prudent for you to return in a few days' time," the doctor's figure receded into the labyrinthine recesses of his laboratory, swallowed whole by the encroaching shadows. His voice echoed ominously through the vast space. "By then, the High-End will be primed for your evaluation."