An Explosive Arbiter

Chapter 9: The Title of 'Hero'

"Bakugo! Your actions for the past several years have been utterly reprehensible and rash! You should consider the consequences of your actions before making life-changing decisions in the manner that you did!"

"Can it, Glasses. You're the last goddamn person I want to hear this shit from on this ship. Just fucking talking to you is giving me a headache."

"You must be more careful with your words! If someone with much worse intentions for you were standing where I was, your situation would worsen by the second!"

"Hah? And just what are your 'intentions', Glasses? Always did wonder if you swung that way."

"Bakugo, there is no need to attempt to goad me! I simply wish for you to return to society as a better man."

Bakugo snorted and rolled back over.

Glasses stayed for five more minutes, ranting, before he realized that Bakugo wasn't listening anymore.

He let out a long sigh. "Bakugo...Your tenacity and endurance were something that I admired. I've fought many villains since you left, and none could fight quite like you. I've visited U.A recently, and your Sports Festival clips were used as reference for battle strategy. We don't need you to be a hero, but...we do need help."

Bakugo flipped him off, and after a long moment, metal boots could be heard clanking their way down the hallway.

Consider the consequences of my actions, huh, Glasses? Sorry, but the only thing that matters right now is making these motherfuckers pay.

"Ashido, be ready on that goddamn laser. Be ready to shoot down missiles."

"Bakugo, what's going on? Who are we fighting?"

"Sero, what are they flying?" Bakugo growled, his rage making him forget the nickname entirely.

"Uh...Rebel flags, it looks like! Yeah, one of them is a Red Tail. Old model. Should we really be fighting these guys, though? One of those is a Heavy Cruiser class." Sero warned, sounding nervous.

And he had a right to be nervous. A Heavy Cruiser class ship was a single step down from the size of the Rebel flagship that the Kestrelfought all those years ago, and the Kestrel had far fucking more upgrades. Not to mention, that was a one-on-one battle; there were six more ships lying in wait for them.

Bakugo Katsuki knew all of this, and yet he still was going to fight.

"We're fighting Rebels, then. Be ready. These assholes were the ones who made this asteroid field. There used to be a goddamned planet here. They brought a fucking Nova Bomb, so they could have fucking anything." Bakugo warned, eyes trained and searching for the first flash of orange.

"Wait, they can blow up a planet with this bomb? How did they even make it? How is it even legal?" Kaminari asked, panic obvious.

"Did you not fucking pay attention in school? I'll fucking tell you later, after we kill these bastards." Bakugo snarled, red eyes wide and hungry.

"How are we even going to do that? Didn't Sero say that there were seven ships?" Kirishima asked, worry laced in his voice.

"We're not going to kill all seven of these motherfuckers. We don't need to. We just need to be the bait." Bakugo roared, a sadistic smile crossing his face.

"What do you mean by that…?" Mina moaned, worried.

A flash of orange caught his eyes, and Bakugo's anticipation skyrocketed.

"Let's fucking GO!" Bakugo roared, firing the engines forwards.

Combat in space wasn't even fucking close to planetside aerial combat. An ace pilot on the ground would be completely out of his element if he tried to use all of the same tricks in space. In this case, getting above his opponent was optimal. Rebel ships were built with their guns facing forwards and on top of heavily armored plating, which meant that they couldn't aim down or up. The Ground Zero was built the same way, which meant that the best strategy was a dive from above, transitioning into a chase.

He would need to use the asteroid field to his advantage. In open space, his ship would be gunned down in a matter of seconds. At such a disadvantage, Bakugo was certain that victory would have been almost impossible to attain. However, in an asteroid field, that situation changed drastically. Asteroid fields were special in that it became a game of cat and mouse just trying to catch a ship. Pilots had to juggle avoiding asteroids, chasing an enemy ship, and making sure their ship's guns were in a proper range to hit that enemy ship.

With seven ships, it would be difficult but not impossible to avoid them.

And Bakugo Katsuki was all about making the impossible happen.

"Firing!" Ashido's voice crackled as the Burst Laser perched on their ship fired off two shots of deadly energy, travelling through the small distance of empty space only to fizzle out into nothingness against the superior shields.

An attempt to open a comm channel was made by the Rebels. Bakugo opted to ignore the small screen in the corner of his vision, slamming a fist down on the DECLINE option.

"Kaminari, I want those engines to be at peak performance at all times! If we stall even fucking once, I'm going back there and beating your ass!" Bakugo yelled into the omm as the enemy Rebel ship began turning their way.

It wasn't the Heavy Cruiser class ship. Not yet. This was one of the older models, the Red Tail. In the end, it didn't really matter which ship was chasing them, though. All that mattered was keeping their attention here, on them, for just long enough.

"Kirishima, I want those shields to be running at all times! We're going to be taking damage no matter what happens out here!" Bakugo barked out another order, eyes scanning the rapidly moving asteroid field, searching for a way through.

"On it, Bakugo! You can count on me!" Kirishima's voice cheerfully registered through the comms. Bakugo grunted in reply.

"Sero, keep that display running! I need to know what the hell these bastards are doing at all times!" Bakugo ordered, dipping the ship at a narrow, dangerous dive and barely avoiding a small hail of laser fire.

Burst Laser Mark V… These ships are old, but damn it if they aren't equipped well. That level of laser requires a lot of power, though, which means…

"Ashido! These assholes are relying on just one weapon! I'll take care of the asteroids. You focus on hitting those assholes! Aim for the front of the ship and the shields will fall to pieces!" Bakugo roared.

As he spoke, a red blip appeared on the sensor screen, and Bakugo narrowly veered, bringing the ship in a rapid roll that brung them in a full rotation, barely dodging a missile as he did so.

"Damn...Ignore that order! There's a new asshole attacking us from above!"

"Don't worry, Bakugo, I was already planning on ignoring that order." Ashido responded, and Bakugo could just fucking hear the smirk in her voice.

He snorted. "Fuck you too, Raccoon Eyes." He shot back mindlessly, almost entirely focused on the battle at hand.

An enemy behind him, and an enemy above. Two ships, both of them capable of outclassing him. And yet, Bakugo Katsuki could still say that he was winning.

"Two ships have warped away! It's only five-to-one now!" Sero announced, voice shaky and full of sarcastic joy.

"Aw, come on, Sero, live a little! It's not every day that you get chased through an asteroid field by a group of insane rebels who- you know, the longer I think about it, the worse this sounds." Kaminari said, coming to the realization much, much later than he should have.

"Focus on the damn engines, Kaminari!" Bakugo snarled, kicking the engines into overdrive in order to shift the ship in a hard left bank in order to dodge the raining laser fire. Bakugo's eyes shifted, taking focus on the ship above him.

One more missile flew past him...and the constant stream of them stopped.

Bakugo's eyes widened, and his tongue darted out to lick his lips.

Bakugo pulled the ship up in a harsh climb, weaving through asteroids. A laser impacted on their shields, and it dropped. A second later, two more lasers hit the ship, causing the entire ship to rumble.

"Status report!" Bakugo roared, pulling the ship into a flip, levelling the ship out before pulling into a sharp dive, staring straight down into the face of the Red-Tail.

"Firing!" Ashido yelled, just as Sero yelled, "Engines damaged!"

Two lasers landed, both near the middle of the shields of the Red Tail.

The shield dropped on the first one, and the second one landed on the engine room.

A large smirk crossed Bakugo's face as the engines on the enemy ship stalled, and the Red Tail crashed.

Right into a large asteroid.

"...One ship down! It's now four to one!" Sero announced, sounding mildly amazed. Damn straight.

"WHOO! No idea what's going on out there, but whoo!" Kirishima cheered.

Bakugo's smirk faltered slightly when his eyes flicked over to the sensor display.

"KAMINARI! GET THOSE DAMN ENGINES RUNNING!" Bakugo roared.

There was another salvo of missiles on the way.

Twenty of them.

And on top of that, he could see two other ships coming out of the woodworks.

"I'm trying! That laser hit something important!" Kaminari yelled back, his voice garbled like something was in his mouth.

"I'm on it! Be right back!" Sero volunteered, flying up from his seat and disappearing into the hallway.

Bakugo grit his teeth. He couldn't direct the ship with its engines gone, but it still kept its speed. The missiles were on a perfect path to land on his ship, and the ship that fired them, a more modern Red Tail, was rapidly descending on them. The type of the missiles themselves didn't matter- if they landed, the Ground Zero would explode.

"Firing!" Ashido declared, and two lasers shot out, one hitting a missile and one going wide. Bakugo grit his teeth. In all honesty, she should have saved the shot.

Seconds ticked by, and slowly, Bakugo's unease grew.

"Got it!" Kaminari said over the comms, just as the engines flicked back to life.

Without bothering to respond, Bakugo pulled on the controls, pulling the ship away from the deadly barrage mere seconds before their ship was pulverized into something that someone would find floating in the air of a deep-city bar.

"Whoa, don't jostle the engines that much just out of the gate! It's a patch job at best. I'm gonna get it back to normal in a sec, just be a bit more careful!" Kaminari pleaded.

"We don't have the TIME to be careful! If you didn't already know, we're under heavy fire here!" Bakugo spat, jostling slightly as the ship was hit by a laser from an enemy ship.

"Ah!" Ashido suddenly cried, and Bakugo's worry spiked. He couldn't afford to be without weapons. Not right now.

Sero slid back into his seat and threw his headset on just as Kirishima yelled "Mina, are you alright?"

"Grr...I'm fine! Just got jostled a bit! I can keep going!" She reassured, and Bakugo had to take her word for it. He didn't have any other choice. One of the ships was descending on them, letting loose a constant stream of laser fire that was coming from several smaller laser guns, while the missile ship was probably reloading for another salvo, and-

Where was the other ship?

Bakugo's eyes widened, and he threw the ship into a sudden dive through a group of clustered asteroids.

Out where he was, the asteroids were getting thinner. He had to bring the fight back more. It was risky, but the bigger ships would be a lot more susceptible to the huge chunks of space rocks in comparison to his smaller ship.

Bakugo pulled the ship into a tight spin, barely avoiding colliding with a group of asteroids. Missiles screeched through the air around them, travelling almost faster than he could react to. Almost. He had enough time to pull the ship's starboard side upwards in order to avoid a missile that would have decimated their ship.

"Ashido, clear a path in front of us!" Bakugo commanded sharply, eyes scanning the area. There was another ship around here, one that he knew that he was missing. Did the bastard have cloaking?

Their Burst Laser fired ahead of them, destroying a large asteroid and breaking it into many smaller pieces, one of which protected them from a laser and several of which bounced off of their shields, making them fall.

Bakugo grit his teeth. This wasn't good. The Heavy Cruiser class ship was still lurking ominously somewhere in this asteroid field, and there was an unaccounted for ship. If he wasn't damn careful, they would be fucked.

Something flickered in front of them, and a ship appeared from seemingly nowhere.

Shit.

They were cornered.

Several ion blasts erupted from the ship in front of them, and at their distance, no amount of fancy flying would protect them. They slammed into the ship, and Bakugo let out a grunt of pain as electricity coursed through his body.

His vision flickered for a second as he tried to regain his bearings. Ion blasts fucking hurt, especially when they came from a particularly strong weapon.

Bakugo shook his head, focusing back on the battle. "Look alive! What systems are down, Sero?" Egg-head himself seemed to just now be coming out of his own daze.

"Uhh...Looks like everything but the engines and shields. Thought that the engines got hit, too, but I ain't complaining." Sero muttered, despair creeping back up on him.

Bakugo eyed his controls warily. He didn't want to risk touching them as they fizzed with electricity. He would just have to wait it out, unfortunately.

"I kept our engines moving by absorbing the electricity. Don't really know how many times I can do it before I short out, though." Kaminari updated him, sounding a bit worried and dazed.

"I'll be fine over here! I can keep moving!" Ashido told him breathily. Bakugo's eyes narrowed. He couldn't check on her, but from the sounds of it, she wasn't doing very well.

Bakugo forced his attention back to the battle at hand. He couldn't pilot for a moment, which meant that they were dead in the water for now.

"The shields need a bit of work! I'm fixing them now, but it'll be a moment! Something hit us in that barrage!" Finally, Kirishima's voice came in loud and clear.

Bakugo grit his teeth. Damn…

This wouldn't be the end, but it definitely didn't look good. There just wasn't anything he could do right now, damn it! He fucking hated feeling defenseless.

"Damn it, there's gotta be something I can do!" Sero muttered to himself, fists tightly clenched. Bakugo could see him glance towards the console for a moment, just in his peripheral vision.

"I'm not dying here!" He suddenly proclaimed, bending his arm at a sharp angle. Sero's arm emitted a whirring sound as tape shot out of it to stick sharply to the console, and the ion electricity greedily jumped through the sticky substance to course through Sero.

Sero's back arched in pain, and a strangled cry erupted from Bakugo's new crewmate.

Bakugo's eyes widened slightly, and he looked back down at the controls. They were free to use now. That debilitating electricity was no longer a hazard.

A mixture of emotions crossed through Bakugo, emotions that he couldn't identify and didn't even consider acknowledging, all of which resulted in his face contorting awkwardly into something vaguely resembling a smirk.

"You idiot…" Bakugo muttered under his breath, finally grabbing the reins once more.

Their ship, once more, avoided certain doom from a stream of laser fire as Bakugo quickly and carefully maneuvered them deeper into the asteroid field, putting all engines on full throttle.

A minute slowly passed- but for Bakugo, it might as well have been an hour. He was focused, more so than he'd had to be in a space battle thus far. It was making him break out in a light sweat, the adrenaline and blood roaring through his ears at every near-miss and every command that was snarled out. He'd come to miss this, he realized. It had been so, so long since he had felt a real, tangible challenge in space that he was only now realizing how rusty he was getting.

With only one layer of shields, one mistake was paramount to death. A stray asteroid bouncing on their shields once would drop them, and if that happened again before the shields came back, they were taking hull damage. If he were at peak condition, back before Tartarus, then his shields wouldn't have dropped once on this chase of theirs, but now, they had dropped six times.

Another minute passed. The enemy ships were getting frantic- they sensed their own artificial timer as much as Bakugo did. They probably could have just left him well enough alone, but now that he had destroyed one of their ships, it was a matter of pride. They couldn't just let this unnamed Federation ship get away from under their noses.

The more frantic the Rebels got, the more confident the crew of the Ground Zero became. Uneasy calls of status became quick, well-defined reports telling him exactly what was going on if something was going wrong. Even Bakugo's strangled smirk had grown into a confident smirk, with several layers of anger protecting another, smaller smirk.

The only thing that was making him uneasy was the lack of a Heavy Cruiser. He knew it was floating around this asteroid field somewhere- he just goddamn knew it. You don't just hide a ship that size. It wasn't going to be his problem soon, though.

"Cap'n, we're running out of real estate! The asteroids end soon!" Sero warned, panic starting to creep back into his voice.

That sort of worry was useless. Why panic when they had already won?

"It's smooth sailing from here on. Don't let these bastards get the drop on us, but we're almost done here" Bakugo said, tone leaving no room for argument.

"...But how do you-!" Sero suddenly paused at the very same second that status reports began to fly across his screen.

"We've got reports of several large ships warping in! It looks like it's... more Rebels." Sero said, any tone of cheerfulness dropping from his voice almost instantly.

Collectively, groans could be heard across the comms.

"Transmission for you…" Sero said, face down on the sensor's console, sounding almost depressed.

Without saying a word, Bakugo accepted the transmission, just as the final ship warped into existence.

The ship eclipsed the asteroid field and, more importantly, their own ship. Sero let out a choked cry, even as Ashido let out a cry of "What is THAT!"

The transmission came through, and Bakugo was left staring into the eyes of someone damned by heroes and villains alike.

Endeavor, flaming mask of fire burning bright over his missing eye, stared down at him with a neutral expression.

"Took you long enough, bastard." Bakugo spat, glaring at the man over double his age even as Sero made frantic motions in the background for him to stop.

"Bakugo Katsuki. Somehow, I'm not surprised to find you involved in this." Endeavor said, letting out a small sigh. He seemed to age a few years in a single moment.

"You think I'm fucking involved with these assholes! I just held the bastards here for you! You might as well be the fucking police for how useful you are!" Bakugo growled, bucking his ship to the right to avoid a laser which fizzed out of existence against the vastly superior shields of the Dreadnought class Hellflame.

Endeavor narrowed his eyes, his gaze threatening. Bakugo felt like he was being sized up, judged before his senior. He fucking hated the feeling.

"Hey, are you going to just fucking stare at me all day, or are you going to actually help? I know that that bastard Deku talked with you, so these guys were just looking to frame you. Hah?" Bakugo threatened, feeling the first seed of doubt grow in his mind.

Suddenly, Endeavor spoke.

"Open fire on all ships except for that tiny Federation ship. Raze this asteroid field to dust if you must. I want these ships destroyed!" Endeavor barked, the Rebels in the background moving to action with startling speed.

Almost immediately, a salvo of missiles, ion blasts, lasers, the entire arsenal, fired, all of which flew past his ship in a calculated manner. Bakugo was almost impressed. The Rebels knew what they were doing.

"Young Bakugo. If you truly did not have involvement with these traitors, then I suggest that you leave the area. I can't guarantee that my men will miss forever." Endeavor told him, just before the transmission cut off.

The threat was clear- leave, or I will kill you.

"Alright, you heard the man, lets-" Bakugo started, turning around to look at Sero.

Bakugo cut himself off when he saw Sero huddled into a ball in his chair.

"I'm travelling with a madman. Should've just stayed on the planet. Anything would be better than this…" Sero muttered to himself.

"Damn it, Egg-head! Get your head out of your ass and start focusing!" Bakugo roared, explosions crackling in the palms of his hands.

Sero quickly jumped up. "Right, right, uh, got it! Um...there's not really any beacons near here!" He warned Bakugo as he threw his comms back in his ear.

"The hell do you mean there's no beacons near here!"

"It means what I said! There must be some kind of interference, or scrambler. The entire starmap is going haywire!"

Bakugo bit his lip as his eye twitched.

"Alright, fuck it! We're blind jumping! Kaminari, how are our engines?"

"Uhhh….They're stable enough, I guess. But I really don't think this is a good idea. I don't want to die today." Kaminari told him, sounding concerned.

""Good enough for me! Let's FUCKING GO!" Bakugo roared.

"Wait, what do you mean we're blind jumping, Bakugo?" Kirishima asked, a huge spike in worry from his normal tone.

Before anyone else could voice their opinions, the stars around them zipped by, and they entered hyperspace.

Bakugo let out an explosive sigh, slumping in his seat and slowly letting go of the controls. His hands had been clenched tightly around them; nitroglycerin coated them.

The door behind him opened, and a frazzled Pikachu stumbled out, collapsing into one of the open seats.

"Thank god that's over with. You would not believe the stuff I went through in there." Pikachu said wearily, his eyes somewhat crossed as he stared at the ceiling.

The door opened again, and Shitty Hair and Raccoon Eyes made their way into the room, with Shitty Hair supporting Raccoon Eyes. The red-haired half-Rock gingerly eased Raccoon Eyes onto their improvised bed, with every movement being careful.

"Raccoon Eyes, what the hell happened back there?" Bakugo asked warily, keeping an eye on her.

"I was thrown into the side of the ship from one of the blasts. Didn't really hurt at the time, but…" Raccoon Eyes trailed off, sucking in air as Shitty Hair gingerly lifted the side of her shirt.

A huge, nasty bruise had already begun to form along her side, various patches of green and purple standing out against the pink of her skin.

"Guess I won't be dancing for a bit, huh?" Raccoon Eyes laughed humorously, her breathing slightly labored.

That's gotta hurt like a bitch.

"Mina, are you going to be alright? This isn't something to just shrug off, you know. You got hurt, and bad." Shitty Hair stressed, gingerly pressing a single finger onto the bruise. Raccoon Eyes' eyes scrunched up in pain at the simple action.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm really starting to feel it. I think I'll be alright soon...maybe." Raccoon Eyes tried to reassure them, but it was shaky at best.

"Fuck's sake. Egg-head, wrap some tape around her. Not too tight. We don't need a goddamn mummy walking around here. Shitty Hair, get some ice in a few bags and put it over the tape. We need to get the swelling down. Raccoon Eyes, hope you're settled in for the long haul, because you're not moving a goddamn muscle until that's in better shape." Bakugo quickly ordered, remembering some basic first aid that he picked up over a long time of collecting his own bruises.

Shitty Hair nodded, making his way over to their mini-fridge, while Egg-head started to wrap up Raccoon Eyes' chest. Bakugo stood up himself, stretching for a moment before grabbing one of the pillows on the ground and propping it under her chest.

"Can't we do a bit more for it? It seems kinda wrong to just leave it like that." Pikachu pointed out. Bakugo was about to snap at him for not even helping, but he saw the weariness in Pikachu's eyes. The adrenaline was starting to wear off for him, and earlier than the rest of them. Pikachu looked like he was running on fumes, and given what he'd done in there, Bakugo could at least understand why.

"Not right now, aside from these." Bakugo grabbed their small bottle of painkillers, tossing it to Shitty Hair.

"Give her two or three of these. What's in there is what we have, so don't fucking overdo it. It's not top of the line shit, either- it'll help with the swelling and make it hurt less at best. It's no fucking recovery gel." Bakugo snapped, settling into the captain's seat again.

Raccoon Eyes looked a bit surprised, for some fucking reason.

The entire bridge was either directly helping her or keeping an eye on her. It wasn't all that different from normal, if Bakugo were being honest. Shitty Hair and her were practically joined at the hip, she and Pikachu were friends, and even Bakugo wasn't a total stranger. There was no goddamn reason for her to look like she was on the verge of tears.

"W-wow, Bakugo, didn't think you had it in you." Raccoon Eyes stuttered out, wiping at her eyes.

Bakugo snorted. "What, helping you? I'm only an asshole to people who deserve it."

"But you're an asshole to everyone." Pikachu said plaintively, raising a finger in the air.

Bakugo glared at him.

"Right, point taken." Pikachu coughed into his hands, averting his eyes.

Bakugo let out a long sigh. "Anyway," he began again, completely ignoring Pikachu's existence, "just because I'm not the nicest guy around doesn't mean that I'm not going to help you fuckers. You're my goddamn crew. It's the duty of the captain to make sure that his ship can always work at its absolute best, which is what I expect from you fuckers. The very goddamn second you're feeling good enough to man those weapons, I want you on 'em, got it! There are no slackers in my crew!" Bakugo roared, slamming a fist into his chest with a small explosion to accentuate his point.

That, at the very least, was enough to make her stop crying, thank fucking god. Now, she just had an all-knowing smirk on her face, the one that Deku used to put on when he got a plan. He fucking hated that smirk.

"Right, so it was just about the ship, huh? Then why were you calling us by name earlier, huh?" She asked smugly.

Bakugo's right hand slammed into his left with an explosion. "Don't push your luck, Raccoon Eyes. That was a one-time thing. I was more pissed than I've ever been before. I wasn't seeing straight." He growled threateningly.

"Because they blew up the planet, right?" Shitty Hair asked quietly as he finished setting ice along Raccoon Eyes' side.

Bakugo was quiet for a second. "...Yeah." He said in a low voice.

"How did they even get their hands on something that strong? I mean, even the One for All doesn't have that kind of firepower, and from what I saw, those guys weren't Rebels or Federation." Pikachu asked, a hint of worry in his voice.

Bakugo was quiet for a moment before he realized that all of the eyes in the room were on him, even Egg-head's, who was busy wrapping Raccoon Eyes.

Bakugo let out a sigh. "Far as I know, there are only a few of 'em in the galaxy, and for a good reason- both the Feds and the Rebels agreed that it was way too fucking dangerous to just be throwing around that kind of power. There was one at Tartarus to be used if there was a prison break, which obviously never went off. It was why I was hell-bent to get off that damn rock as soon as possible. They probably stole that one." Bakugo explained, feeling like that covered most of it.

"I'm not a gambling man, but I'd put my money on this being personal for you, Blasty." Egg-head suddenly spoke up without stopping what he was doing. Bakugo's eye twitched.

"Most people would be upset that these guys destroyed a planet, yeah, because that's a lot of people dead for no reason. But you got mad- more than you have in the time I've seen you. Now, I may just not know you very well, but I'd say that you have some connection to it, yeah?" Egg-head continued, sounding sure of himself.

"Hey, man, you can't just go around asking stuff like that! It's not the manly thing to do! Let him-" Shitty Hair started to speak and defend Bakugo before a loud explosion rippled through the small space of the compartment.

"Kirishima. I don't need you to talk for me, got it?" Bakugo warned, not entirely aggressively, as red eyes met red eyes.

"If you really want to know, then I'll fucking tell you. Yeah, it was personal. That kind of power doesn't just come out of nowhere. There needs to be a transfer, a buildup, something to make it happen. Energy can't just be fucking made out of nothing. Those bombs were a fucking eldritch combination of Quirks." Bakugo spoke, voice dangerously low. His entire body had gone still.

"What...what do you mean?" Raccoon Eyes spoke up quietly.

"Seven years ago, some scientist in a backwater planet in the Outer Rim managed to figure out how to replicate the effects of any Quirk using his own. The man made fucking billions, but it wasn't useful until Hatsume fucking Mei came around and figured out how to improve it and make it actually useful. See, the science didn't do jack shit in a practical setting. What Gadgets over there did was make it so that Quirks could be used in an every day setting by every day people. It's basically the dawn of a fucking new age. Hearing problems? Fucking eradicated. You get hurt? Recovery gel, made straight from U.A's own Recovery Girl. Hell, with a DNA sample big enough, you could replicate it to hell and back for thousands of years as long as it was alive." Bakugo essentially spat, hands clenched. The bridge had gone deathly silent, as though even the stars that they passed were listening to him.

"But...what does that have to do with the bombs?" Pikachu asked, his face slightly pale. Good. They needed to understand just how important this was.

"Those bombs had seventeen Quirks in them. One Compression Quirk. Ten different types of Enhancer Quirks. Three different Barrier types. Two Conversion types. And finally...One Explosion Quirk." Bakugo rattled off the information, the pure anger in his head making his vision blurry.

Bakugo didn't bother looking at any of the people in front of him. He wasn't sure how he would react if he had to see the pity in their eyes. The fear that he knew he would see there.

"My Quirk works by producing nitroglycerin sweat in the palms of my hands. The Enhancer Quirks made it happen in the blink of an eye, and they made it happen bigger. Then, the Conversion Quirks turned that nitroglycerin into an even more explosive compound. The Compression Quirk came from one of the League of Villains members. I like to call him Captain Asshat. Fucking hate that asshole. He's probably out of Tartarus by now, but he was captured just before they started it. That Quirk of his compounded all of that explosive power into marbles, which were then covered by the Barrier Quirks to make sure it would get through the atmosphere." Bakugo continued, feeling his anger slowly beginning to fade into apathy.

"In ten seconds, one of those bombs had enough power to destroy any goddamn planet in the galaxy. After thirty, you were probably getting its neighbors, too." Bakugo spat, feeling his rage slowly build.

"So yeah, it's fucking personal. I've wanted to kill the bastard who made it ever since I heard that it existed, but Endeavor beat me to the punch. I can't even fucking destroy any of them because they're too goddamn unstable! It's pissed me off for the past five years, and now some asshole with no goddamn idea of the value of life has gone and fucked up a planet with one, and it's all my goddamn fault! I didn't even get to kill the bastard because I'm not strong enough! Damn it! GOD FUCKING DAMN IT!" Bakugo roared, slamming a hand down on the console, panting heavily as his anger overwhelmed him again, curling in his gut like an insidious snake.

Bakugo moved his gaze back up to the people in the room, eyes broiling with hate.

And before he could even register than anything else was happening, he was enveloped in a tight hug. Pointy red hair filled the left side of his vision.

Kirishima began to speak, voice barely steady, as though it was him who was at fault.

"You're one of the most manly people that I've even known. You couldn't have known that this would happen. None of this was your fault, you hear? I know that if you had any chance to fix this, you would have gone marching right in and fixed it, just like that. But you don't have to hold the weight of the galaxy on your shoulders, you know? We're all here for you. We'll help you out as much as we can. I'll say it again, none of this was your fault." Shitty Hair whispered, although with the silence of the bridge, it was clear for all of them to hear.

Bakugo was limp in Shitty Hair's grip. His tired eyes slowly passed over each member of his crew. Egg-head looked guilty, guilty for even asking, guilty for bringing the topic up. It wasn't his fault. Raccoon Eyes had silent tears running down her cheeks, and a hand was covering her mouth as pity filled her eyes, as though she was to blame. She wasn't. Pikachu couldn't even meet his gaze, but he looked...sad. So, so sad. It was a wasted feeling, wasted on him.

So much was wrong with their shitty galaxy. People endlessly quarrelled over petty, useless things. The heroes could barely do anything to protect their people. Quirks ruling the entire galaxy, entire planets worth of people placed below the heel of another because he had been born lucky. People died for nothing more than the amusement of another. An entire planet, gone, because he hadn't been strong enough.

All Might, dead, because he hadn't been strong enough.

...Aizawa...I think I'm starting to understand you more now.

What it means to be a true hero...I still don't know what it is. But I think I'm starting to understand a bit more now.

It was here, being held in a bone-crushing embrace by one of his crew- one of his friends- that Bakugo Katsuki truly wondered, for the first time, if he had ever been worth the title of 'hero', even to just one, single person.

Does that title even mean anything, if he was the type of person who could hold it?

He didn't save people. His power was a destructive one, just like his personality. He fought people. He fought everyone. He was brash. He was arrogant. He was cruel. He broke people, just to see them broken. Could someone have all of those traits, and be a hero?

He thought of Deku's fearful eyes as he scrambled away from him.

He thought of Uraraka's determined expression as she raced towards him, desperate to prove herself, desperate to fight a monster and come out on top.

He thought of Todoroki's lost expression as his fire fizzled away into nothing.

He thought of Endeavor, battered and broken under a Nomu, missing an eye and yet coming out victorious. He thought of All Might, crumbling to his knees after his fight. He thought of every Pro Hero that he had fought, every person that had stood in his path.

Was he anything like them? Was power really all that was needed in this galaxy?

His mind said no, you're nothing like them. You're a monster.

And yet, Kirishima's voice in his ear, speaking increasingly worried reassurances, told him that yes, he just might be a hero, someone to be admired.

The people in front of him...He'd come to care for them, in some sort of strange way. It had been so long since he'd had anyone by his side. A friend. Someone he could rely on. And, from the looks of things, everyone else here was the same way.

He'd never thought that he would ever be in this situation. He wouldn't have even let it happen a month ago.

These people had fought alongside him. They'd all just survived a life-threatening situation. There was a certain sense of trust, one that Bakugo hadn't felt in years.

Bakugo was afraid to trust them. He was afraid that, one day, one of them would walk out onto a battlefield for him and they wouldn't make it off of it. He was afraid that they would trust him, in the same manner. He wasn't anything like them. He was different, and they wouldn't understand until they died because of one of his secrets. They almost had already.

Bakugo's hand settled over his heart.

He wouldn't let that happen. He couldn't. He'd become attached now, damn it, and he had to look out for them. After everything they had gone through, he couldn't let these idiots just go and die.

Even Sero. He'd been dubious about him at the start, but he could honestly say that the man was good at what he did. He had a useful Quirk, and he was a nice, if not very smart, person. Just like the rest of them.

He wanted them to make it. He wanted to win against All For One, and he wanted everything to just be over. He'd been fighting for eight years. He wanted to rest, damn it.

"Kirishima… I'm alright. You can let go." Bakugo said quietly.

Not a single tear had fallen, through all of that. Had he been younger, he wouldn't have been able to handle even a single strike to his pride. It was a testament to how far he'd come that he could manage to keep his face neutral.

Slowly, Kirishima let go of him, a worried look plastered on his face. "You sure, man? It's alright if you want to talk to us about it. Sharing your feelings is one of the most manly things you can do!" Kirishima weakly tried to joke, rubbing the back of his head.

A thin smile worked its way onto his face. "Fuck off, Shitty Hair. And don't you dare say shit about this. This never fucking happened, got it!" He yelled at the rest of them, although his heart wasn't really in it. Either way, it had the intended effect- Raccoon Eyes let out a shuddering laugh, Egg-head relaxed and gave a small smile in return, and the tension fled from Pikachu's shoulders as the despair slowly melted from his expression.

"Right. Got it. Lips are sealed." Egg-head joked.

"They better fucking be. That goes for you too, Raccoon Eyes. Don't go flapping your gums about this to anyone." Bakugo warned, pointing a threatening finger at the woman in question.

She let out another laugh, more composed this time, and managed to look him in the eyes, despite the awkward angle."When have I ever let you down?" She asked rhetorically, her body slowly settling down after the emotional rollercoaster.

"Hey, what about me? Can I tell anyone?" Pikachu slid up to him, throwing an arm around his shoulder mockingly.

Bakugo snorted. "If you remember that this even happened tomorrow, then I'll fucking tell the galaxy myself." He slapped the back of Pikachu's head, who recoiled and rolled on the ground in a gross exaggeration of pain.

"Ow, Mom, Bakugo hit me!" Pikachu complained with a shit-eating grin to Kirishima, who rolled his eyes and sat down.

The mood was...lighter, to say the least. Everyone was calmer. No one looked like they were about to run from the room.

As for Bakugo himself?

He'd made a decision.

Before, he didn't have any plans for what he wanted to do after fighting All For One. He wouldn't need money after the deed, so there was no point in returning to his previous ways.

But with these people, he could build something up. A life. Something for him to be genuinely proud of, something that wasn't just his skill in battle or flying or in his Quirk.

He would win, and he would twist fate so that even a monster like himself could have a future worth living for.

That was his starting line.

Izuku Midoriya's mouth was set in a hard line as the One For All warped to the place where the planet named Sol Aeternum once stood.

This was the work of a Nova Bomb. One of four remaining in the galaxy- one of which was on his very ship. The one used here had been stolen from Tartarus, and it had been a worry of his for quite some time. Of all the places to bomb, however, this had been the least of his worries. It was a populated planet, to be sure, but there was no tactical advantage in it. The attack had been orchestrated by the League for no apparent purpose.

The races that had been held here were supposed to be finishing up soon. There were less people killed than there would have been, but the death toll was still staggering. This incident couldn't have been avoided, but the media would descend upon him like vultures, attacking the heroes like no tomorrow.

The only good takeaway from this was that Todoroki and Yaoyorozu hadn't been on planet when it happened- it had been a few hours after they warped away.

Their communications officer stood, drawing Midoriya's attention to her. "Sir, we have a-"

"Patch him through." Midoriya said quietly. He didn't need to be told who was contacting him. Even without any sensors, the Hellflame could still be easily seen, it's massive, overbearing presence overshadowing anything else in the area.

Endeavor's face filled his vision, and Midoriya was suddenly reminded as to why he didn't like talking to him. Something about Endeavor always unnerved him- whether it be the looming presence, the knowledge of what he did to Todoroki, or the long scar sustained in a battle that may have decided the fate of the galaxy, one that left him with a single eye.

"Deku. You're late. I've already dealt with the enemies here. Use that new tech of yours and find the ones that fled." Endeavor ordered, a menacing look crossing his face.

Deku nodded. He didn't bother asking how Endeavor knew about it.

"You heard him. Begin tracing those warps." Deku ordered. This was one of the best leads they had gotten, despite the cost.

Deku turned his attention back to his console, flitting through reports. He needed to keep his emotions tightly under control right now. He could be emotional later. But for now, he needed to be the leader that the others expected him to be.

It was only after a few moments that he realized that the comm channel was still open.

His eyes unwillingly flitted up to meet Endeavor's once more. "Was there something else that you needed?" He asked, somewhat impatiently.

He was expecting him to ask for Todoroki. Endeavor had stubbornly avoided asking about his son in previous meetings, but Deku figured that it wouldn't be long until that changed.

"You just missed someone that we know. Bakugo Katsuki. He warped away around two hours ago." Endeavor spoke begrudgingly. Midoriya's eyes widened.

"Kacchan was here?" He asked. That...didn't make much sense. Why would he even be here? Kacchan wasn't the type of person to even care about all this, as little as Midoriya wanted to admit it.

"They would have escaped if not for him. Of all the people to be fighting a group of villains, I didn't expect it to be him, let alone in that dingy old ship." Endeavor admitted.

Midoriya's mind was whirring at a million miles a minute. Kacchan was the one who kept them here? But...but why? That didn't fit at all with his personality, unless they made him mad. Why would he care about this?

"Just thought you should know. He was the latest warp, so I didn't want you chasing shadows. I trust that you can focus on the mission." Endeavor said conversationally, although the implications were clear. There's more important things than him right now. You have to focus on what's happening now and what you can do.

Midoriya let out a shaky sigh- and the mask of Deku, the commander of the Federation army had returned.

"Understood."

He would focus on the mission, and he wouldn't get distracted.

That's what you would do, isn't it, Kacchan?

And that's a wrap for chapter 9! Hope you enjoyed. This was probably my favorite one to write so far. A lot of stuff happened in this one, and I enjoyed writing some good character interaction as well.

We're starting to get into the thick of things now. Bakugo is getting closer to Terra Ultima, and with more and more villain activity, the heroes are going to be a bit more busy, too.

The plot is finally going to start chugging along at a faster pace now, so there's going to be some more action.

Sorry that the chapter is a little shorter than the others. I didn't want to extend it out and ruin any emotional impact.

Until next time,

Anonymuss45, signing out.