An Explosive Arbiter
Chapter 6: Going Places
Kirishima stared in intense concentration at Ashido, waiting with bated breath as she mulled over his words.
Her lips parted slightly, then closed. A small smile graced her face, and Kirishima allowed himself a moment of hope.
"Go fish." She said, a devious look crossing her face.
"DAMN IT!" Kirishima roared, punching the carpet beneath him.
"How are you so good at this game?" Kirishima moaned, slumping forward.
"I think we might just be bad…" Kaminari added from beside him.
The trio had gotten a hotel room with a little bit of money to spare. They were about as stocked up as they could be, and they would be leaving in the morning. For now, though, they needed to kill some time before they went to sleep.
And so, here they were, playing card games to pass the time.
Ashido chuckled. "Maybe if you were a card master like me, you would have a chance at beating me!" She proclaimed, laughing evilly.
"You're cheating, aren't you?" Kaminari asked suddenly, a deadpan expression on his face, and Ashido's laughter was cut off with a choked noise.
"Uh-no, what makes you say that?" Ashido said, laughing nervously.
"Pardon me." Kirishima muttered, grabbing Ashido's arm and rolling up her sleeve despite her words of protest.
Cards of all different kinds fluttered out of her sleeve, and Kirishima gave Ashido a disbelieving expression.
"You cheated at Go Fish." Kaminari asked incredulously.
"My pride was on the line, okay?" Ashido complained, looking genuinely guilty.
"We're playing GO FISH!" Kaminari shot right back, a disbelieving expression on his face.
A knock on the door sounded throughout the room, and all three persons inside paused in their small squabble.
Instantly, the three were on guard.
Who could it be? We didn't call room service, and there's no one that we're expecting...
Kirishima rose to his feet, walking towards the door with his Quirk ready to activate at any moment.
Slowly, he opened the door, and his eyes widened.
In front of him stood Bakugo, looking annoyed and frazzled. One small part of his hair seemed to be burned off, and the clothes that Kirishima had given him looked even more frazzled than before with a long cut in the shirt. He looked like he had fought, and recently.
"Bakugo? What are you doing here?" Kirishima asked, genuinely surprised.
"Long story." Bakugo said, pushing past Kirishima to enter the room, amidst the surprised cries of Kaminari and Ashido.
"I'm taking a shower. I'll explain when I get back." Bakugo said gruffly, entering the bathroom and almost slamming the door shut behind him.
Kirishima blinked.
Such an abrupt and confident entrance...The true mark of a man! Kirishima thought, spirits soaring.
It was several minutes later when the door to the bathroom opened back up to a significantly cleaner and happier looking Bakugo. This by no means meant that he looked happy, but he didn't look ready to cut someone's head off anymore.
"Alright, you little shitstains, here's the deal. I'm under attack from these absolute fucking tools who named themselves after the old Roman gods for some fucking reason. I don't know why they're targeting me, but apparently they think it'll make them famous. These are the same guys who made the town the way it was. They attacked the guy who sold the ships, and now I can't get off this hunk of metal without a ship. And now, here I am." Bakugo explained, looking for the life of him like someone had just killed his dog.
"Pretty rad, dude." Kaminari said, clearly having not paid attention to anything Bakugo had just said.
"Hey, this sounds pretty manly! With the government at our heels and the deities at our front, we must fight our way forwards to save the galaxy! Or something like that." Kirishima said with a deep, booming narration.
Ashido giggled at his theatrics, while Bakugo just rolled his eyes and Kaminari snorted.
"Whatever we do, we need to do it fast, right? Bakubro, how much time d'ya think we have?" Kaminari asked, throwing an arm around Bakugo.
"Get your hands off of me! And what the hell did you just call me?" Bakugo raged, forcibly removing Kaminari's arm.
"Bakubro! You know, like Bakugo, except more friendly than you are!" Kaminari explained, Bakugo's rejection of his action leaving him completely unphased.
Bakugo snorted. "Gross. Don't call me that again."
"Whatever you say, Bakubro."
"I'LL KILL YOU!"
"Hey, maybe we could calm down a little?" Kirishima timidly interjected, and Bakugo let out a small snort before dropping the matter.
"I'd say that I have a few days before the next one finds me, giving how these guys normally work. There's what, twelve of em? I've already taken out one, and he was a bit of a bitch. They'll be roadkill by the end of the month, assuming the Federation is as useless as ever." Bakugo grumbled, crossing his arms.
"I might as well stick with you idiots until they're gone or I get to where I need to go." Bakugo grumbled, looking annoyed.
"Wait, so you're sticking around, Bakugo?" Kirishima asked, a bright smile forming on his face.
"Don't look so happy about that. There's still the assholes that we have to deal with." Bakugo grumbled
"Well, can't we just go after them? We'd solve the problem a lot easier that way, right?" Ashido asked, a small frown on her face.
"I would, but the one that I fucked up, Venus, was fucking useless. Didn't know jack shit about their plans, and if their leader, probably Jupiter, isn't fucking stupid, then that'll keep up. Each one will probably know even less about their plans." Bakugo added, a troubled look on his face.
Kirishima nodded, understanding what Bakugo meant. "So what you're telling me is that we're gonna be on the defensive for a while."
"As much as I fucking hate to admit it, yeah." Bakugo grumbled, crossing his arms.
"Alright, that's fine by me! I'm great at that!" Kirishima proclaimed, flexing his arms.
Bakugo just rolled his eyes again.
"Alright, so what's our next step?" Ashido asked, a worried expression on her face.
"We need to get on the move. They'll find us eventually, but it's less annoying if we handle it ourselves. Less collateral damage. Plus, the earlier I can pick up a ship, the better. I don't need you dumbasses involved in this." Bakugo grumbled, looking down. Kirishima could only imagine the thoughts flying through his head.
"Ohoho, Bakugo, is that care about other people that I'm hearing from you?" Ashido chuckled, curling a finger under her chin with a mischievous look on her face.
"Like hell. You guys are just annoying deadweights, and the more collateral, the more interested the Federation is. I don't need them back on my ass. I just got 'em off of it, too." Bakugo grumbled. Ashido looked disappointed for a long moment, before she perked up.
"Wait, you got them off of you? Aren't we in a Federation station, though?" Ashido asked, a curious look on her face.
An annoyed look crossed Bakugo's face for a moment before it dissipated back to his usual annoyed expression.
"...I ran into Aizawa." Bakugo let out after the silence was beginning to get slightly uncomfortable.
Ashido inhaled sharply, and her pupils dilated somewhat.
"Aizawa?" Kirishima asked hesitantly, unsure of whether this was a conversation that he should be intruding upon.
"Our old homeroom teacher at U.A. What happened? What did he say?" Ashido asked, face seeming to be torn between curiosity and dread as she grit her teeth.
"He talked a lot of nonsense about being a hero. He thinks that that's still my goal." Bakugo said solemnly, looking down.
"But how did you get forgiven for what you've done?" Ashido asked, a strange look in her eyes.
Bakugo shot her a glare. "All that the bastard really wanted was some help on a fucking stupid problem that could've and should've been solved in seconds. Instead, I had to step in, and a pardon was what he offered in return." Bakugo snapped, annoyance overtaking his features again.
"But isn't that a good thing? I mean, I would kill for a pardon…" Kaminari said, trailing off.
"That's because you're a dumbass. Pardons are basically fucking useless. Sure, heroes can't punch you in the face anymore, but that doesn't stop the entire galaxy from viewing you as a villain, especially if you were as infamous as I was. It also doesn't get rid of bounties, and if you managed to land yourself in Tartarus, then bounty hunters come to you like moths to a flame." Bakugo explained, the annoyance giving way to a familiar look of anger as Bakugo crossed his arms again.
Kirishima blinked twice. Something didn't quite add up here. Beside him, Kaminari gulped, and Kirishima didn't quite blame him. There was probably already bounty hunters after them and everyone else who had escaped.
"Then why did you do it?" He asked, confused. Sure, Bakugo could have just done it for the pardon, but he couldn't really see any benefit to doing it beyond that.
"What, I can't do anything out of the goodness of my heart?" Bakugo asked, tone completely flat.
The silence in the room was telling.
Ashido coughed once. "So our goal is to get rid of the villains, right?" She asked, nervously, completely shifting the subject.
"Yeah, yeah, that sounds about right." Kaminari continued quickly, sounding equally nervous.
Bakugo rolled his eyes. "Did you dumbasses even have a plan for what you were going to do after this before I got here?"
Kirishima looked to Kaminari, who looked to Ashido, who looked to Kirishima.
"Um-"
"Well-"
"You know what, I don't give a damn." Bakugo suddenly interjected, rolling his eyes as both Kirishima and Ashido started to talk at the same time.
"Let's sleep on it, yeah? There's not really much we can do right now, right?" Kaminari asked casually, leaning back from where he sat.
"Pikachu's got it right on target. Everyone in town is freaking the fuck out right now because they don't remember the last five hours or so, and the heroes that are here are searching for anyone they can find that might be connected to it." Bakugo explained, looking troubled as he agreed with someone for once.
"So, once everything settles down a bit, it'll be safer to leave?" Kirishima asked.
"It's not like we can leave even if we fucking wanted to. The station's on lockdown. It'll be lifted sometime tomorrow." Bakugo elaborated, looking peeved.
"So the only thing that we can do is wait." Ashido summarized, a somewhat disappointed look on her face.
Bakugo nodded. "This is why I fucking hate collateral damage. It's only useful if you can get in and out. Now, they might know that I'm on the station, or suspect it. Either way is a major pain in my ass." Bakugo groaned, an exasperated expression on his face.
"We can hide you if they ever come searching. What should we do in the meantime?' Ashido asked, completely ignoring Bakugo's problems.
The small group was quiet as they processed the question.
"We could always-"
"We're not playing Go Fish." Kaminari quickly shot down, and Ashido wailed.
"Why won't you let me have my fun?"
Looking back on it, the heroes were either fucking dumbasses or Aizawa's promise held more than he let on.
Their ragtag band of dumbasses managed to just walk out of the station. Hell, Raccoon Eyes even managed to convert all of his credits to scrap before they left.
Bakugo was tempted to use the scrap to upgrade this piece of shit ship, because goddamn did it need it. He had the strangest feeling that their flying chunk of scrap wasn't gonna make it to the next station, or wherever the hell they ended up next.
On the bright side, the idiots managed to install a proper weapon. Not enough power for both the ion and the burst laser, but that could be fixed.
Before they left, Bakugo had taken some time and separated the oxygen and the reactor. It had been worrying, and there were several moments where he was sure that something was going to explode. It made him uncomfortable. He didn't know everything that went into building a ship, damn it! He usually relied on drones for it.
At the end of the day, though, the ship was less likely to fall apart at any moment and they had managed to take off successfully.
Bakugo eased himself into the captain's chair, opening up the starmap. In the bridge with him were the three dumbasses.
Bakugo's eyes roamed. Which path could he take to reach his goal? Moreover, which path was Deku taking to do the same? He knew that Deku was going through Mantis territory like a fucking idiot, so how would the shitty nerd go about it?
"So...where to first?" Raccoon Eyes asked from behind him, and Bakugo grit his teeth.
"I'm trying to figure that out. There's a lot more shit that goes into this than just the beacons." Bakugo grumbled, eyes roaming across the overall map of the galaxy as well as the map of their sector. They needed to travel through seven separate sectors before they reached their goal.
"Then where are we trying to go? You said that they would just find us eventually, right?" Shitty Hair piped up, probably trying to add to the conversation in some way.
Bakugo hesitated for a moment. He debated whether or not he should actually tell them.
After a long moment, he sighed. There really wasn't any harm in it. If any of them were smart, which he doubted, they might be able to figure it out.
"Terra Ultima." He said shortly, and the stunned silence of the bridge could practically be heard for all of the questions it asked.
Terra Ultima. The center of the galaxy and the largest planet in it. Home of the primary Federation base and the city of Musutafu, spanning most of the planet. The place where U.A was founded as the first hero school, just short years after the Kestrel freed the galaxy from the 'tyranny of the rebels'. A galactic trading post of epic proportions.
In short, it was a recipe for disaster for any villain who tried to attack there, which was why Bakugo was heading there first to cut All For One off at the pass.
Looking at the most likely route that Deku could be taking and taking a logical leap to assume that All For One was going to shake the galaxy at its core, he could get there around three days before Deku, assuming everything went to plan.
"T-Terra Ultima? Why? We'll be shot down before we even get in sight of the planet!" Pikachu stuttered out, looking panicked.
"You dumbasses might have been. I actually know how to get in and out of the planet without getting caught. Done it plenty of times." Bakugo bragged, feeling his ego inflate.
"But why are we even bothering?" Shitty Hair complained, looking as distressed as Pikachu.
Bakugo huffed in annoyance.
He would really have to tell them everything, wouldn't he?
Bakugo's face dropped it's usual scowl, settling instead on a mostly troubled expression.
"You're going to find out soon enough, along with the rest of the galaxy, so I might as well tell you dumbasses." Bakugo huffed, biting his bottom lip. This had been said in implied confidentiality- he didn't like to betray that.
"Do you remember the attack on Tartarus?" Bakugo asked, finally locating the best possible beacon to go to.
"Uh- yeah, what about it?" Shitty Hair asked, sounding clueless.
"They weren't attacking the station for me." Bakugo said, waiting for realization to set in.
It was a very long moment before any of them even had a shadow of a clue of what he was talking about, and it was only a small look of dread on Raccoon Eyes' face.
"Who were they there for, then?" Pikachu asked, a look of clear displeasure on his face from having to use all three of his brain cells.
"Come on, Pikachu, think! Which one of the motherfuckers could the League want to launch a full-scale attack for?" Bakugo urged, feeling anger well up in him at Pikachu's cluelessness.
"Um...Well, I don't really follow the news, but I think that they captured that one misty guy a while back...and, uh…-!" Pikachu cut himself off with a sharp inhale.
"You- you're not-!" Pikachu asked, fear in his eyes. Bakugo stared back with a level stare.
Sighing, Bakugo fired up the FTL drive.
"All For One is out of prison, and Deku is on the warpath to try and take him out." Bakugo said hollowly.
The shocked silence in the bridge spoke volumes more than anything they could have said.
"N-no way...Then- then was what All Might did for nothing?" Raccoon Eyes asked, a confused and dazed expression on her face.
"Not a chance. The bastard is weaker than when All Might fought him, but Deku still won't be able to take him out. That's why I'm going to go kill him myself. Like I said, I don't need you shits around. I can handle it." Bakugo said, making sure that his point was clear.
"Bakugo, this isn't something that you can let pride take over for! We're talking about All For One! The guy who killed All Might! You were there when it happened, you saw how strong he was!" Shitty Hair pleaded, gesticulating wildly with a panicked look in his eyes.
"This isn't me bein' proud, you dumbass! I know how strong he is because I was there, and he's a piece of trash compared to me." Bakugo fired back, annoyed.
"Bakubro, this is...kinda nuts, you know? I mean, I'm not very bright, and even I can tell that going after a guy like that is suicide. We should let the heroes handle it this time, y'know? Deku will have that guy done in in no time flat." Pikachu said warily, unknowing of the effect that his words might have on Bakugo.
"Kaminari!" Raccoon Eyes quietly scolded from behind him.
"What? O-oh, shit, uh-" Pikachu stuttered. Bakugo didn't bother meeting his eyes.
He wasn't sure what he would do if he looked at the stupid look on Pikachu's face right now, and Bakugo still needed someone to man those engines.
"Everyone believed the same thing about All Might, and look where that got us." Bakugo said, voice low and threatening.
For the first time in the short time that Bakugo had known him, Pikachu held his tongue.
Everyone had relied on All Might. He was the Symbol of Peace- and when he left, that peace shattered into a million fragments for the rest of the galaxy to try and pick up.
Endeavor had gone rogue soon after All Might's death. The Mantis had left the Federation, and the Zoltans went neutral. Tensions had risen to an all-time high, and one could almost feel the rising worry of the general populace.
Crime skyrocketed. After Endeavor's sudden abandonment of the Federation and All Might's death, there was simply no one fully suited to stopping the rising crime levels. Without anyone to hold the system together, it began falling apart, and pro heroes started dropping like flies. To make matters worse, an underground Yakuza group synthesized a Quirk-erasing bullet, only to have the League of Villains steal it not days later.
And then came Deku.
To the general public, he appeared out of nowhere and began solving all of their problems, one by one. With a determined scowl on his face, he fought valiantly against a seemingly never-ending swarm of foes, day in and day out. He was their guardian angel, a sign that things might finally be okay again after so much despair.
He was their Symbol of Hope.
And nothing had pissed Bakugo off more.
Slowly at first then worryingly quickly, Deku shot to the spot of the #1 hero. The public loved him, and he was competent enough to take out every villain that stood in his way. He stole the title before reaching the age of twenty- something that was unheard of. Even All Might hadn't taken the spot until his mid-twenties.
Along with Deku came the rest of Bakugo's class. Half-and-Half, going by Cryo Flame, claimed the #2 spot, constantly warring with Deku in both popularity and combat. Half-and-Half and Deku were basically fucking even in so goddamn many of the polls, but Deku always pulled through by some small number. One time, and Bakugo remembers this vividly, Half-and-Half could have taken the #1 spot, but the bastard voted for Deku and let him keep it.
With them, Glasses took #3, going by Emergency Exit. Slowly, the top numbers were replaced by people who had attended U.A. Hell, even the purple-haired extra who had made it to the Sports Festival got a spot. He was underground, but still on the map.
Bakugo had watched it happen with a detached sort of rage.
However, that was neither here nor there. All Might was dead and gone, and the battles for the top spot were trivial.
"Just don't get in my way when I fight him, and you'll be fine." Bakugo spat out. He wasn't saying that out of the kindness of his heart; no, he couldn't have cared less about the lives of those three. But they did care, and in this case, he couldn't fight them on this.
The bridge was quiet, and Bakugo let out a small scoff. "Hah? Not gonna fight back?"
"Bakugo...Alright, your manly soul has convinced me! I'll fight alongside you!" Shitty Hair suddenly proclaimed, voice filled with optimism.
Bakugo's head swiftly swivelled to look at the red-haired idiot. "What the fuck? Didn't I just tell you to stay out of my way? You got wax in your ears?"
"If Kiri's with you, then I am, too! Plus, it's kind of romantic, wouldn't you say? The true maiden voyage of the Ground Zero is a mad rush to the heart of the galaxy, piloted by four people wanted by the Federation, only to save it…" Raccoon Eyes trailed off, a dreamy look in her eyes.
Four people…?
"You two- Gah, I'm in too! It's our ship, after all, and you need us!" Pikachu said, throwing his hands in the air.
"I don't need you fuckers!" Bakugo yelled angrily.
"Who saved your life from the League and got you on a ship?" Shitty Hair asked, eyebrows raised in mock confusion.
"And who helped you recover while you were in a bad shape?" Pikachu added on, a sly look on his face as he grinned at Bakugo.
"And don't forget about the pirates! If we hadn't been there, you would've been dead meat. Done and gone! So don't go saying that you 'don't need us' just yet, mister!" Raccoon Eyes butted in, wagging her finger in front of Bakugo's face.
"You're the sword, but you don't have a shield, and that's where we come in. You can do all the fancy dodging all you like, but once you get hit, there's no one to save you." PIkachu said, throwing his hands behind his head and closing his eyes, a proud look crossing his face.
"Wouldn't that be more like armor, though?" Raccoon Eyes asked, putting a finger to the corner of her lips.
"You get what I mean!" Pikachu squawked indignantly.
Bakugo huffed, and the bridge fell silent.
"I've figured out what you three are." Bakugo said decisively, feeling a true sense of right in him as he thought.
"Huh? What do you mean?" Shitty Hair asked, furrowing his brow.
"You three are like tapeworms. You're stuck with me and you give me stomach problems, but even tapeworms can be useful sometimes, so I keep you around." Bakugo said with a smirk, positively giddy at having found the perfect analogy.
The bridge was quiet for a second as each of the three tapeworms adorned a slightly disgusted expression.
"I...Is that a compliment?" Shitty Hair asked, hesitant.
"It is if you can keep being useful. I fucking hate repeating myself- don't get in my way while I fight All For One, and I won't turn you into chunks on the concrete. But...if you can be competent and be more useful than not, then I'll stick around, at least for now." Bakugo grumbled, forcing the words out.
He didn't like the idiots. They annoyed him, and caused him more trouble than they were worth. By all rights, he should have ditched them by now. But he was stuck with them, and he had a feeling that he would be stuck with them for a while, like it or not, because as it stood, they were the strongest ones around.
One by one, their eyes lit up.
"YES! We'll be like vigilantes! Now, we have a full team!" Raccoon Eyes squealed, and Bakugo found himself instantly regretting his decision.
"This is gonna be GREAT!" Shitty Hair roared, slamming a fist into his chest and activating his Quirk, and Bakugo found himself regretting his decision even more.
"Oh, uh, yay." Pikachu said, subdued.
Somehow, Pikachu's reaction helped, just a bit.
"Come on, Kaminari, put some more 'oomph' into it! You have to give it your all! Plus Ultra, you know?" Raccoon Eyes encouraged, throwing a fist into the air.
"Yaaaay." Pikachu said blandly, slightly louder. Raccoon Eyes had an imperceptible look in her eyes for a moment before she suddenly broke out into a large grin.
"That's what I like to see!" She said with a bright smile, giving Pikachu a thumbs-up.
Even Bakugo could tell that Pikachu was only putting up an act, because the idiot was barely even fucking trying to repress a smile.
Shitty Hair began laughing, which lead to Raccoon Eyes laughing, and then Pikachu began cracking up at Raccoon Eyes' laugh.
Soon, the bridge was filled with laughing idiots, and Bakugo's eye twitched.
This is gonna be a long fucking trip.
After a solid few hours, the Ground Zero reached the first beacon- merely a traffic stop, with the beacon placed on an uninhabitable planet as a way of making intergalactic travel easier.
The beacon was mostly empty, save for one or two ships that had also just pulled out of hyperspace. The ships didn't bother talking to each other most of the time; there was a radio frequency that was standard fare for most ships that anyone could talk through, but not many bothered to meet people that they would never see again.
Bakugo hadn't bothered to hang around. The very second that the engines had been able to, he had fired up the FTL drive, and the black expanse of space had been replaced with the blue of hyperspace.
The only downside was that he couldn't work on this piece of shit while they were in hyperspace. The systems became unstable if their energy output fluctuated too much while in hyperspace.
With their course generally plotted, Bakugo could take some time to himself to plan.
Bakugo was constantly coming up with new moves to use in battle. Most of them didn't make sense, or even have too much of a practical use, but explosions could be used in such delightfully creative ways.
However, all of the fancy moves in the world wouldn't help him against All For One.
Bakugo was strong, and he knew it. He had been told that he was strong since he was a child, and with each passing day, he proved himself more and more worthy of the praise.
However, All For One was no pushover.
Quirks out the ass and plenty to compensate for his injuries. Hell, at least half of the damage that All Might had dealt to him had probably been negated in different creative ways. Now, it was a race against time to make sure that the bastard didn't completely change his moveset. The advantage that Bakugo had over Deku was predictions- everyone had seen the fight, but Bakugo had been in the thick of it, saw the overwhelming strength behind each blow, watched as All Might took hit after hit, stronger any explosion that Bakugo could have made at the time.
He knew exactly how dangerous the bastard was, and now, he needed to plan around that.
So, while the three idiots jabbered in excitement over their goal, sometimes biting their lips and sometimes avoiding the subject entirely, Bakugo was doing something productive.
He wasn't going to rely on any of them. They could have their uses, but relying on them would be a stupid mistake. He had learned better than that- and Deku would probably do the exact opposite of that, leading to his loss.
Deku hadn't sent anyone after the Mantis ships for a reason. Deku wasn't an idiot; in fact, he was a damn nerd. He should have known better than to make a dumbass mistake like that. But he was careful, and he held back from sending anyone after a clear threat.
The only reason to do that would be because he believed that he needed everyone who was with him at the moment. He believed that the biggest threat was All For One- that everything else was just background noise, just something to push to the side until his goal was accomplished.
Deku was a damn nerd, but the stupidest one that Bakugo had ever known.
More people fighting one man lead to those very same people being in the way. All For One was tricky and experienced- he knew exactly how to use others against you.
Bakugo would never give him the chance.
He would ditch the idiots when they reached the planet; he was sure that he could slip away unnoticed. They weren't friends, and he had no obligation to allow them to help. They really were what he said- tapeworms.
And when the time was right, he would flush them out of his system.
The next three beacons were much of the same. One of them was a tourist trap, which Pikachu had gawked at and practically begged to go to, but Bakugo had ignored him and continued on. The other two were, for the most part, the same.
As it stood, a day and a half had passed since they left that space station, and Bakugo was getting a little antsy. It seemed like he wasn't the only one, either. A lot of the ride had been spent in silence, or with one or more of them playing a game.
Bakugo gave the silence another day, tops.
As it stood, the crew of the Ground Zero was at an impasse.
The were at the exit beacon for the next sector. The beacon itself wasn't very special; a scientific research center was on a large asteroid nearly. Visitors were allowed to come and visit, but it didn't seem to be too popular or even high-class.
The exit beacon lead to one of two different sectors- a Rock sector and a civilian sector.
"Hey, I'm part Rock! They should be friendly with me, right?" Shitty Hair asked, activating his Quirk to prove his point.
Currently, they were trying to decide the best course of action. The Rock were tough, proud people- Bakugo had done 'business' with them before. They could take his hits like no other, and they could throw one back as well. That earned them his respect.
Unfortunately, that pride lead them to be very territorial. They would almost certainly be attacked by rogue Rock ships if they went into that sector. However, it would save them a lot of time, which was what Shitty Hair was trying to say.
"Yeah, but we can't guarantee that they'll try and communicate. Sometimes they just warp in and open fire!" Raccoon Eyes protested, crossing her arms and pouting.
"Yeah, but I really feel like we can beat them if they do! We're strong!" Shitty Hair protested again, a determined fire in his eyes.
"I prefer life, myself." Pikachu commented blandly, not looking up from his book.
"Come on, I can't be the only one! We've gone through Rock territory before, and it went well! What do you think, Bakugo?" Shitty Hair complained, looking to Bakugo for assistance.
He was met with a face of stone and the sound of a button press as Bakugo activated the FTL drive.
"Bakugo, no!" Raccoon Eyes wailed, looking at their destination: The Rock sector.
"Hey, you did agree with me! But you could've just said that instead of just doing it, y'know?" Shitty Hair mentioned slightly uncomfortably.
"We can't be taking the scenic route, you fuckers! We don't have that kind of time." Bakugo snapped, turning his attention back to the console and re-assigning power.
"But what if we get shot down! You insist on fighting every battle that we can, and the Rocks are really tough!" Raccoon Eyes pointed out, exasperated.
"I know, but we don't have another option. All For One has too big of a head-start. If we start lagging behind, we'll never get there in time." Bakugo retorted angrily.
"So in this case, safety can go fuck itself. We're on a goddamned time limit here." Bakugo continued, a deep furrow in his brow.
Raccoon Eyes huffed and pouted, but didn't say anything beyond that.
An uneasy silence settled over the bridge. It took much less time to travel from sector to sector than between beacons- the exit and entrance beacons were streamlined, made to be as efficient as possible to allow for smooth travel.
Within a few short minutes, they dropped out of hyperspace, the blue being replaced by a sea of black, littered with specks of purple, yellow, green...every color imaginable.
This basin of color had been his home for almost a third of his life.
What a depressing thought.
Bakugo pulled up the starmap, eyes roving over it questionably.
Here. This route will be the fastest.
The ship's FTL drive fired up once more, and that colorful basin was replaced by blue once more. Idly, Bakugo thought to himself about how this would be most of their trip. With better engines, the time that they took could have been halved. Because of it, they had to take risks- risks like this one. Risks that would only endanger them, but were necessary in the long run.
This specific route conserved around two days. It also brought them through pirate, rock, zoltan, and slug territories- and regardless of what ship you had, the slug territories were a bitch to navigate.
But the more ships they fought, the more chances they would have to upgrade, the more weapons they could get, and the more filth they could clean from the galaxy.
So yes, Bakugo knew the risks of doing this. He knew them all too well, but in this case, he was going all in. Double or nothing was the name of this game.
No matter what he said, or thought, or rationalized, however, he couldn't shake the heavy feeling that dropped into his gut.
As it turned out, that heavy feeling in his gut was justified.
Upon successfully warping to the beacon some two hours later, the very first thing that had registered to Bakugo's eyes was a laser impacting on their shields.
"Fuck! What the hell?!" Bakugo spat, quickly grabbing the controls and veering them out of the way of another laser, one that would have impacted on the hull.
"What the-" Raccoon Eyes started to speak, choking on a bite of food as she fell off of the small chair off to the side of the bridge.
"Get into your spots and maybe I can get out of this goddamn situation!" Bakugo quickly hissed as he noticed the three idiots gawking.
"Right-uh, yeah!" Pikachu said, snapping out of the panic-induced haze.
None of them had been prepared for a fight. Bakugo had chosen this beacon over another, faster one specifically because this one was protected by the Federation.
There wasn't supposed to be a large scale battle going on.
Bakugo narrowly swerved the ship out of the way of another errant laser.
"What the hell is going on…" Bakugo muttered, throwing his communicator on.
In front of them, a small group of Rock ships, numbering in the low tens, were battling the Federation garrison on this planet, nondescript as it was. Bakugo knew of the planet- it was a scrap planet, where Rock workers operated the trash machines that had been built there. There were several planets similar to it across the galaxy- atmospheres barely sustainable as it was, and not worth much beyond the purpose that had been given to them.
Whatever was going on here wasn't their business. The ships that the Rock were piloting were thrown together, probably using scrap. It might have been an uprising from the planet below, for whatever reason they would have for doing so. The ships that the Federation garrison were piloting were a sharp contrast- simple and run-of-the-mill, but yet sleek and refined. They could probably thank the pink bitch from U.A's support department for that.
The monitor on Bakugo's right flashed red, drawing Bakugo's attention.
"We're being targeted? Shitty Hair, what flags are we flying?" Bakugo asked urgently, even as a missile was deployed from a Rock ship.
"Last I checked, Federation! It seemed the safest!" Hair-for-Brains yelled back, muffled sounds of buttons being pressed in the background.
"God fucking damn it! Raccoon Eyes, shoot down that missile!" Bakugo ordered, taking a nosedive to avoid immediate death.
"Working on it!" Raccoon Eyes said, right as the ship fired. Both shots went wide, with one of them impacting the ship that had originally fired the missile.
Bakugo's eyes widened as that specific ship shifted its focus onto them. Scrapped together that ship may be, it was leagues better than their pile of flaming garbage of a ship.
"Damn it! They must think we're reinforcements. We're getting the hell out of this one." Bakugo said, gritting his teeth. He could recognize when to retreat- this was one of those times.
"Bakugo, look out!" Raccoon Eyes suddenly shouted, and Bakugo's eyes zeroed in on the battle in front of him, searching for an enemy.
"Raccoon Eyes, what the hell are you-"
Bakugo heard the missile impact the engine room more than saw it, and as the ship began to spiral towards the planet in a heat-fueled frenzy, Bakugo could only curse as control of the ship was wrenched from him and his fate was left to the cards.
Izuku Midoriya frowned at the report that came through.
"An uprising in a Rock territory…? That scrap planet is important, too…" Deku trailed off, curling a hand around his lips.
This isn't one that I can let fly to the wayside, either. If we lose this planet, there will be serious repercussions.
Deku let out a small sigh, bringing up the starmap, which had listings off all of the nearby heroes in relation to planets. The report itself had been sent by the garrison that was at the planet, not a hero, and it was fairly recent- the decision of what to do with it was his and his alone.
Deku's eyes brightened upon seeing a familiar name; Real Steel, an old friend and someone that was in class 1-B while they were in U.A. His Quirk would be perfect for the situation.
After all, sending the man with the Quirk of steel to the planet revolving around it would simply be a homefield advantage...wouldn't you say, Kacchan?
Alright, that's chapter six done. Kind of a slow and relatively short chapter, I know, and I apologize. Next chapter will be a quicker-paced one, and it will be featuring someone that honestly doesn't get enough love. We're going back to the action soon, but I felt like it needed a bit of a break in the action. I'll be releasing that one as soon as it's finished instead of waiting a while, so you might be able to expect it in the next few days. It's my sort of apology for how little happened in this one.
This chapter took me quite a while to write. It went through two rewrites, and regardless of what I changed, I just wasn't quite happy with it, but it's a necessary chapter. This is the period where the group has to travel to reach their next goal, and my limited writing skills can't quite circumvent this.
Next chapter, Kirishima learns just how far he has to go to become a hero, Kaminari makes a friend amidst chaos, Ashido learns that sometimes, words can't change a person's heart, and Bakugo is forced to make an important decision: fight or save.