"This place is really hot..." Izuku wiped sweat from his forehead.

"Yeah, the lava might have given that away." Bakugou retorted, although he was uncomfortable as well.

"I've read about this place." Kirishima interrupted.

"This is the first stage, or "test", of the Badlands. There are three stages. The legends say that the Badlands were created by an immortal wizard. The wizard wanted to make sure only someone worthy could get past and earn the artifact."

guess who the wizard is! 

"Stupid fucking wizard. Who in their right mind would create a fucking wasteland as a shitty test?" 

"A smart one. Not just anyone should be able to get an all-powerful artifact, King."

"Tch."

"Guys! Can we please get going?" Izuku pleaded. "My village is in danger.

"Sorry." Kirishima apologized sheepishly.

"Whatever." Katsuki huffed.

They started across the plains, carefully avoiding the lava rivers and jets of fire.

"What the-" Bakugou shouted as a jet of flame barely missed him, singing his cape. 

"How the fuck are we supposed to avoid these?" He yelled, kicking a nearby rock.

Another one shot up next to him, that he jumped away from.

"I don't know, Kacchan!" Izuku shouted. "Be careful!" Suddenly one more jet shot up next to Midoriya.

"Deku!" Bakugou yelled in alarm.

Another flame shot up.

"Stop yelling!" Kirishima shouted, triggering a flame that he deftly avoided.

"I think these things are triggered by loud noises." he explained after they had subsided.

"Oh, that makes sense! Try to keep it down, Kacchan?" Izuku asked.

"Easy for you to say." Katsuki muttered.

"Huh?"

"Nothing. I'll try, okay?" Bakugou softened momentarily.

They continued on, trying their best not to  raise their voices. The heat was taking a toll on them, though.

"How long is this stage?" Izuku asked, mopping sweat from his forehead tiredly.

"I dunno, just keep walking I guess. It can't go on forever." Kirishima answered, trudging along.

"Hey, what's that?" Izuku asked after a short while.

He had noticed a silhouette in the distance shaped like a man.

"What the fuck? What would any sane person be doing here?"

"I dunno. Maybe we can ask for directions from him." Kirishima took off, and Izuku followed.

"No, you idiots-!" Katsuki spoke, remembering that he couldn't yell. 

"Goddamnit! What if it's another test? What if it's some sort of..." he grumbled.

I have to protect Izuku. 

Hey, what about me?

Oh, yeah. Shitty hair, get your ass back here! 

Too late. 

They had reached the figure.

Bakugou swore and ran up to them.

The person appeared to be a tall man, about their age, with spiky black hair not unsimilar to Bakugou's. He was facing away from them, and seemed to be staring into the horizon.

He had one strange attribute, though.

The man had purple scars all over his body. They crisscrossed over his arms and neck and disappeared into his clothing. What little of his skin that was visible was a pale color.

He appeared to be wearing dark pants and boots with a black cloak.

Kirishima tapped him on the shoulder.

"Excuse me!" He pointedly asked.

The man turned.

His scarring covered his mouth and stopped underneath his nose, but there was more under his eyes, giving him a tired appearance.

He had striking crystal-blue eyes that seemed to burn with a deadly fire.

"Hello." The man spoke with a cracked voice, like smoldering coals.

"Hi! Um, we were wondering... do you know which way is the quickest to the next stage?" Izuku asked.

The scarred man was silent, and Bakugou began to get uneasy.

"Heroes?" He broke the silence.

"Well, um...sorta? We're on a quest." Izuku prodded his fingers together. "So if you could help us..."

"Shut it, Deku." Bakugou turned to the mysterious man. "Enough games. What the fuck is your deal?"

"Kacchan!" Midoriya protested.

"I hate people like you." The man spoke again.

"Arrogant, stupid heroes, spoiled from the moment they opened their nasty little eyes. They yell and yell, fucking everyone else over until they climb to the top, stepping on anyone who gets in their way."

The look in the man's eyes was dangerous.

Kirishima felt heat emanating from his body.

"Uh, King?"

"Hey, mister, I think you've got it wrong. We're not really heroes, we just want to save my village, and Kacchan is a little rude sometimes..." Izuku offered weakly.

"Afraid not. You see, I doesn't like stupid people. Arrogant people, poking their noses in to steal things that don't belong to them." The man took a step forward.

"You want to get to that sword, you'll have to go through me. The name's Dabi. I'm the guy that'll be sending you to an early grave." 

Dabi flung his hands out, and blue fire blazed in both palms, and he started to advance.

"What the fuck? Deku, I told you we shouldn't have gone up to him! That shit on his hands looks dangerous!"  Katsuki adopted a fighting stance.

"Well, at least I wasn't rude to him! This is your fault! Really, Kacchan!" Izuku retorted, clenching his fists.

Kirishima transformed into a dragon."Stop fighting! We have to beat this guy, apparently. You could've been politer, though, King." 

"Oh, so you're taking his side?" 

Dabi shot a bolt of blue fire, that Izuku barely managed to dodge.

"How are we supposed to fight him? We can't even touch him!" Izuku shouted. Dabi was now coated in blue fire from head to foot.

Oh, crap, the fire jets.

Midoriya jumped up to avoid one. 

Kirishima roared a jet of fire at the man, but it did no damage.

"Idiot! He's fucking covered in fire!" Katsuki yelled, jumping away from a jet of flame.

"Stay back, Deku!" Bakugou shoved the green-haired boy behind him

"But, Kacchan-"

"I'm not letting you get hurt!"

"Your efforts make me laugh." Dabi shot a wave of fire.

Kirishima barely managed to avoid it.

"Shitty hair!" 

Bakugou roared and charged, not heeding the flames that shot up in his wake.

Dabi chuckled and sent a sweeping wave of fire towards the blonde.

It hit him straight on.

He collapsed to the ground.

"Kacchan!" Izuku cried out.

"King!" Kirishima yelled in alarm.

The red dragon swooped down towards Dabi. 

The black-haired man met the assault with a streaking bolt of blue fire.

Kirishima, unable to maintain his dragon form, fell ten feet to the ground.

"Kirishima!" Izuku yelled, barely avoiding the jet of flame.

Dabi smirked.

"Well, little hero? How does it feel? Brought down from your high horse. Your friends are dead, you're helpless-"

"YOU'RE LYING!" Midoriya screamed.

"Hardly. You're the only one left. Weak and useless." Dabi threw his head back and laughed. "Face it. You're dying here."

Useless. Helpless. Weak. 

All Might chose wrong. I'm just a little boy from the village who can't do anything.

He fell to his knees.

No.

I can't give up.

Uraraka, Iida, All Might, Mom. They're counting on me. 

I have to save Kirishima, Kacchan, and my village.

Slowly, he stood.

Katsuki cracked an eye open, seeing Midoriya standing across from Dabi.

The jewel on his forehead began to glow.

"D-Deku..."He croaked, to no avail.

Izuku glared at Dabi.

"Hey, looks like someone decided to man up. It's no use." Dabi smiled, setting his hand afire to deliver a killing blow.

Izuku balled his hands into fists. He began to see red.

"You're wrong." Izuku gritted his teeth.

"Huh?" Dabi asked, taken aback.

"I said you're wrong." the green-haired boy repeated.

"Oh? What are you gonna do, weakling?"

Izuku's vision turned crimson.

"DON'T HURT MY FRIENDS, GODDAMNIT!" Izuku launched himself into the air.

Dabi's astonished gaze followed him.

Huh? What the hell is he doing!

"DETROIT SMAAAAAAAASH!" Midoriya brought his fist down with all of his body weight onto the black-haired man's face with a satisfying crunch.

Dabi collapsed, out for the count.

Izuku dropped to the ground, vision clearing.

The jewel on his forehead stopped glowing.

"Kacchan! Kirishima!" He ran over to his companions.

"Deku..." Katsuki sat up groggily.

"Kacchan! Are you okay?" 

"Yeah. Damn, what did you do to that guy?"

"I...I dunno. I was so angry, and..."  Izuku looked at his hands.

"It's okay. You beat him." Katsuki patted Midoriya's shoulder, walking over to Eijirou.

"Shitty hair!" Bakugou shook the boy.

Kirishima didn't respond.

Izuku checked the red-heads pulse.

"He's alive. Thank god."

"Shitty hair!" Bakugou yelled louder, triggering a flame.

Kirishima sat up slowly, rubbing his eyes.

"Hey, what did I miss?"

"Deku beat that Dabi guy's ass somehow."

"Good for you, Midoriya!" Eijirou high-fived the greenette.

"Eh, it was no-" Izuku collapsed to the ground, snoring.

"Jeez, he's probably tired as hell. We should rest." Bakugou yawned.

Kirishima rolled his eyes. "It's midday! Oh, you've got to be kidding."The blonde had fallen asleep as well.

"Eh, Whatever. Don't blame me when we're eaten or something." 

Kirishima lay back, gradually slipping into sleep.

The three were a strange spot of peace in the middle of the wasteland. A calm spot in the center of the storm. 

Baaaaaaad ending

But anyway! 

I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, it took me two days hhhhhhhh

it's still bad tho

Anyway, I have dungeons and dragons club in ten minutes! Yaaaay!

love dnd

Hope you guys are liking this story!

Luv,

Cinny 💕