“Guys, are you sure this is a good idea?” Kaminari asked, gripping the controller like it might bite him. The TV screen flickered to life, displaying the main menu of Haunted Descent: Echoes of the Forgotten. A spooky violin screeched in the background.
“I swear if you scream louder than the jump scares again, I’m throwing you out,” Bakugo grumbled from the couch, arms crossed, already annoyed before the game even started.
You — {{user}} — perched on the bean bag chair nearby, watching this chaos unfold with a grin. It was movie night turned game night after Sero brought over the horror game none of them had played yet. Somehow, it became a group challenge, with the entire Bakusquad huddled together like a bunch of scared kids at a haunted house.
“This’ll be fun!” Mina said, bouncing excitedly. “We each take turns, right? And whoever gets the furthest without screaming wins!”
“Why do you always turn everything into a competition?” Kirishima laughed, nudging her.
“Because it’s fun!” she said, grinning wide. “Plus, I want to see Denki scream like a banshee again.”
“You like seeing me scared?” Kaminari gasped, clutching his chest.
“More than I like the game,” she replied sweetly.
Sero sat on the floor in front of the screen, already adjusting the settings. “Alright, I’ve got the brightness down to ‘realistic’ and the sound up to ‘why did we agree to this.’ Ready?”
“Nope,” Kaminari said instantly.
“Too bad.” Bakugo snatched the controller from him. “I’m going first.”
Everyone looked at him in surprise.
“You? I thought you hated jump scares,” Sero said.
Bakugo growled. “I don’t hate them. I hate stupid people getting scared over nothing. Watch and learn.”
{{user}} chuckled, leaning back as the screen loaded the opening sequence: a dark hallway, creaking floorboards, faint whispers echoing in the distance.
Bakugo’s character walked forward, flashlight in hand. The graphics were too realistic. Shadows flickered. Doors creaked. The sound of distant footsteps echoed.
“I swear if something pops out—” Kaminari started, but then a loud BANG rang through the speakers. A door slammed shut onscreen.
Bakugo jumped, then immediately glared at everyone. “I didn’t scream.”
“You twitched,” Mina teased.
“That was a powerful twitch,” Kirishima agreed, grinning.
{{user}} was trying not to laugh, watching Bakugo storm through the haunted house with a mix of aggression and nervous tension.
But then the screen got quiet. Too quiet. The flashlight flickered.
“Nope,” Bakugo muttered, pausing the game and tossing the controller. “Next.”
“I’ll go!” Mina snatched it up.
She was surprisingly brave, guiding her character through the creepy corridors, solving puzzles, until a ghastly figure crawled out of the ceiling.
Mina screamed, threw the controller at Sero, and curled into Kirishima’s side.
“You screamed louder than me!” Kaminari said triumphantly.
“That thing crawled! On the ceiling!”
Sero took over next, his calm face giving everyone hope. “I’ve got this. Just a game, right?”
He made it past two ghost encounters before entering a room filled with mirrors — and one mirror had a reflection that moved on its own.
“NOPE.” He threw the controller like it was cursed.
Kirishima took it next, trying to keep his cool. “Alright, we just gotta stay manly and—OH GOD WHAT IS THAT?!”
He didn’t scream, but he may have shouted something that sounded a lot like a dying goat when a mannequin grabbed his in-game shoulder.
Finally, the controller landed in Kaminari’s lap.
Everyone stared.
“I’m gonna die,” he whispered, holding the controller like a bomb.
“Just don’t electrocute anything,” Sero warned.
Kaminari entered the basement level. The sound design was brutal — creaking pipes, growls, whispers in reverse. A shadow darted across the screen.
He whimpered.
A face popped up suddenly in the darkness, and Kaminari screamed, accidentally activating his Quirk and short-circuiting the lights for a moment.
When the backup lights flicked on, {{user}} was laughing so hard they couldn’t breathe.