Adrift - atla and mha

Chapter Uraraka

"I've got to fix this, I sent this guy after you." Zuko said with reckless bravery.

"Pump the breaks, princey. Let someone qualified in explosions handle this." Bakugo said with reckless stupidity.

"But Kacchan, you're still injured. You can't fight yet." Midoriya warned, trying to pull him behind the wall.

"I can do what I want." he replied harshly. "I have these." He held up his grenade things, smirking.

"You still can't fire them at this distance, and you can't get closer without getting hurt again!"

"SHUT UP DEKU!" Midoriya was taken back at this. Bakugo had been quite calm - at least compared to how he usually was - until this moment. "I don't need you to care for me! Fuck off!"

He sparked a little before taking off completely. He was smart enough to fly in a zig-zag motion to make him harder to blow to smitherines at least. When he was about 10 metres away from the assassin, he pulled the trigger.

The grenade spun closer and closer to Sparky Sparky Boom Man, pressure building up inside it. He knew that he would die if it hit him, and he would do anything to make sure it didn't. In a moments worth of thinking, he attempted to explode it; it was risky, that was garunteed.

For all his best efforts to not get blown up by Bakugos grenade, it ended up being his own explosion too close to his face that was the end of him. He had underestimated its power - it was travelling at immense speeds and the material it was built with was strong.

(A/n this next part is kinda gruesome so tw I guess)

The feeling of having your face blown apart was not one that is pleasant to describe, however toned down, it felt like the moment directly before you sneeze but with your whole head, and million times worse.

Back on the temple, Bakugo collapsed near the gangs feet, coughing slightly from the smoke, which was double the amount he was used to from using his grenades.

"What the hell was that?" Zuko asked, astounded at what he just witnessed.

Bakugo merely scowled, and tried to storm off before Katara froze his feet in place.

"I wasn't done healing you, and if you don't mind, I'd like to finish." she demanded, earning an exhausted grumble from him and nothing else. Midoriya pinned this down to him being too tired to argue and that he knew he needed help, which he couldn't do by himself.

Since he had nothing better to do, Midoriya went and sat down next to Sokka, who was watching Aang, Zuko and Todoroki practise their fire again.

"Why isn't it working?" Zuko shouted at himself after producing another round of smoke puffed into the air.

"That one kind of felt hot." Aang said, trying to keep morale up.

"Don't patronise me!"

"Sorry, Sifu Hotman."

"And stop calling me that!" he took a breath to calm down before turning to Todoroki, who was absentmindedly watching Momo fly in loops. "How do you make your flames?"

"Fighting Midoriya." Todoroki didn't seem to like Zuko at all, and no one really understood why. Because of this, he tended to give even more bland and vague answers than he usually did.

"Huh?" Midoriya blanked at the sound of his name. "Why me?"

"Remember, at the sports festival? I accidentally used my left because of you. And then I set myself on fire because of you like an hour later." he technically wasn't wrong. It wouldn't hurt to try, and it would only be like fighting a 16 year old, infinitely less dickheadish Endeavour. What could go wrong?

He rose to his feet, activating One For All as he made his way to Zuko.

"Watch out, he's stronger than he looks, even when he isn't using his quirk." Kirishima said, emerging from the clearing.

"Had enough of Bakugo?" Todoroki asked sarcastically.

"I've had enough of all this waiting around, fight!"

They both took their stances at Kirishima and Sokka started a countdown.

"Three!"

"Two!"

"One!"

"Fight!"

Despite Zuko having good reflexes, Midoriya was easily quicker than him. He noticed however, that his agility wasn't great. Sure, he could bounce of walls, but if there wasn't any wall to bounce off, he would have an issue. He was a slower fighter overall, which would work well with Zuko's much quicker style.

Midoriyas mind was also racing with a battle plan. Zuko was quick, but he could avoid fighting up close with his air bullets. He'd briefly watched Aang practice with airbending, and he didn't underestimate how strong air can be. On top of that, Zuko couldn't make much more than a puff of smoke, which can easily be put out.

Midoriya bounced around for a few seconds before leaping at Zuko. He barely managed to dodge the attack, their hands scraped for a second, but no harm done to either party. When their hands touched, Zuko felt a momentary surge of energy before it left him again. He had to get another moment of contact in somehow to test out a theory he had.

Said moment never came however, as Zuko spent seconds too long thinking. With a thump, he was pushed to the floor by Midoriya's bright red boots, which were more painful than he'd care to admit.

"I win." he said with an innocent smile.