Of steel and plasma

To Be A Winner

''Crap, that was fast!'' was all Izuku could say before Bakugo pounced on him again, an explosion ready in his right hand. The explosive teen had rushed all the way up the stairs, not bothering to wait for his poor teammate. Really, the greenette wasn't expecting him to get to them so fast, and had to take the first blast head-on to protect his comrade.

In the observation room

''Did he just tank that explosion?!''
''So his quirk doesn't make him just fast and strong, he is also really tough'' analysed Yaoyorozu.
''Taking the hit to protect his team-mate, what an honorable action to take!'' Iida couldn't help but exclaim.
'Not bad, young Deku, not bad.' All Might thought.

Needless to say, that first contact left quite the impression on the fight's witnesses. Thanks to the previous day's test, they all more or less knew how powerful those explosions were, and seeing someone perfectly take the hit without budging was quite the sight.

Back to the fight

''That' s all you got?! A bit weak coming from you, compared to your attitude!''
''What did you say you punk!? I'm gonna blast ya'!''
Izuku swiftly motioned to his comrade to go, not wanting to face both the battle junkie in front of him and the musclehead currently making his way upstairs at the same time. As the tape-boy discretly got away, Izuku continued on with his taunting.
''I asked if you couldn't do any better than those sparks! Unless you got tired rushing here? Are you really that eager to taste defeat?''
The sand-haired teen litteraly exploded.

'Okay, as long as I stay a foot away from the palm of his hands, I'll be fine. Any closer than this, and the blast becomes much stronger, and to top it off, the heat is scorching, even for me. But, outside of this 'danger zone', the explosion is made of: a bit of wind, a decent amount of smoke, and a lot of noise. So I avoid close combat, and favoritise mid-range battle. Nice and smooth.' Izuku rambled in his head.

Well, that was the plan. Thankfully, his opponent was so drunk in his own power that he didn't notice the greenette's tactics. When the 'villain' came unharmed through a second explosion and punched him in the gut, he couldn't help but wonder what the hell was happening right in front his eyes. An extra was completly ignoring his attacks, breaking through it without breaking a sweat (Izuku doesn't sweat by the way. His body got rid of this function long ago, but Katsuki didn't know that).

Bakugo was fast and powerful. To most people, he looked like a barbarian when fighting, but he was in fact extremely precise. He minutely dosed the power of each explosion to achieve the desired effect, created tactics on the spot to adapt to whatever resistance his ennemies could put up, and was generaly speaking a true genius when it came to fighting.

His couterpart, however, couldn't be considered as a normal extra. He was a being who had been trained since his youngest age to endure and inflict as much pain as possible. He was a being who survived with the weight of a life in his hands for the few years he was free. He was a being who would never give up no matter what, who saw and experienced to much to get discouraged, who proudly fought for his life on a daily basis. He was a true survivor, a warrior and a hero in training all lumped up together, he was Izuku Deku, the one who would never weild, no matter what obstacle got in his way.

And Bakugo felt it. Not just how powerful the being in front of him was. But also the raging determination behind those eyes. It was pratically screaming ''I won't back down!'', he could almost hear it.

That's when he started to freak out, throwing explosions left and right, the now weirdly dangerous being in front of him slowly wearing him out with light attacks. The corridor was in shambles, with rubbles everywhere.

''Yo, man. What's going on up there? That's some loud noises I'm hearing! You need any help?'' asked the green hero's teammate.
''I'm fine! Just keep looking for Kirishima! I can handle things all right!''
''Kay. I'm counting on ya, but I can't track the other with sound now.''
''Neither can he!''
''Are you fucking ignoring me? You friggin' extra! I'll kill you! ''