Online Friends | Bakugou X Deku

One: Toast

"Clear. Stay low and stay behind me," He cautioned, his voice accompanied by the gentle clicks and clacks that came with each movement of the joy-cons and press of the buttons. His ruby eyes were glued on a tv screen; his eyebrows creased with focus.

He intently scanned the scene displayed on the tv as he made his character once crouched behind the remnants of a fallen pine tree stalk carefully out from behind what little coverage it offered. Another character followed in pursuit, staying close as he was ordered to. The avatars were tall and looked nearly identical. With their bodies decked with thick insulated clothing to fight off the bitter cold of a harsh winter and their faces hidden behind their wrapped scarves and beanies where only their eyes were visible. The two crept through the snow, their bodies bent and sturdy, all the while dismissing the push of the snow blizzard gushing against them. A blizzard matched the risk of frostbite if they lacked no less than a layer of clothing was nothing to them.

In their hands were weapons of sorts. The one in charge held a black and blue rifle while the one at his heels held a staff—capable of significant hidden damage—made of platinum metal.

With a flick of a joy-con, the character turned to check on his companion. At first glance, he only saw his friend waving at him with reassurance. But a second later, his eye caught movement from behind a nearby tree where a silhouette emerged near the corner of the screen. Their weapon was aimed at them, and looked ready to fire.

A new sense of alarm washed over him. "Behind you!" He shouted and used his avatar to lift his rifle to shoot, but it was too late. Before he could hit their new opponent, the enemy had already fired.

Katsuki wasn't fast enough and was punished by taking a missile to the chest, followed by the sight of his online best friend's avatar falling to his knees once he was shot soon after. The impact of the explosions was powerful enough to throw both of their pixelated bodies a few feet away from the scene where expiry waited for them.

The blonde stared wide-eyed, his jaw slightly ajar, as his tv screen faded to gray where bold black lettering spelled YOU DIED in all caps stared back at him from the center of the screen. They had lost with nothing but a gray gleam emitting from their TVs to mock them for their failures. Bakugou exhaled an exasperated sigh as he carelessly tossed his controller to the side. He leaned back to rest his head against the bed frame he sat in front of and crossed his legs, dragging them against his carpet before bending one and tucking the other underneath it.

Katsuki had been sitting on his bedroom floor since he'd gotten home from school three and a half hours ago. As usual, he'd long since forgotten the troubles the day brought to indulge himself in video games with his online best friend, ProDeku1. They were two battles away from obtaining their well-deserved victory before a player dressed like a knockoff Pink Panther waltzed over with their missile launcher. An hour of strategizing, fighting, persevering, and surviving through a punishing survival and combatting game went down the drain.

It was discouraging, losing for the third time in a row. Katsuki and ProDeku1 had only just found the game the a few weeks ago. They both bought it and installed it and after nearly three weeks of it sitting on their digital shelves, they finally got the chance to play it. It was called Battle Gale. The objective was to survive through a frozen terrain with twenty other players. Teaming was allowed, but that was arranged before the game started—to avoid accidentally killing your teammate. A team or player had to face a series of battles against overgrown beasts and overpowering monsters. Whichever group or individual managed to finish these battles first—while surviving the region and other players—won.

On their first round, Katsuki and ProDeku died almost immediately by failing to defeat the first beast they'd encountered. They hadn't realized how ill-prepared they were until they fell victim to the monster's relentless claws. On their second, they had been raided by another team of four. Katsuki was sure they had the win in the bag on their third try. But that proved not to be the case.