A/N: Hey, I don't know if this has been happening to anybody else, but for some reason, I no longer get notifications even though I have them turned on, and my view counter is busted. If you leave a review on ANY of my works, PLEASE PM ME so I'll know.

Kacchan woke up the next morning, but not without a massive hangover. He flopped his hand around for a bit before grabbing his phone.

"What time is it…WHAT THE CRAP!?"

Seeing that he could quite possibly be late for work, Kacchan quickly grabbed some bread and smeared some honey on it, knowing that toast with honey could alleviate the effects of a hangover. Then, he slugged four cans of Monster and quickly threw on his hero costume as he bolted out the door for his Trans Am. Upon getting in the car and starting it, he floored it and headed for work…or at least tried to floor it:

"Come on, COME ON! GET OUTTA MY FUCKIN' WAY! I'M GONNA BE LATE!"

Kacchan honked his horn a couple of times, and when the car in front of him came to a stop at a red light, the other driver – a tall man with brown hair – got out and approached his car.

"Hey buddy, ya got a problem or somethin'?"

"Yeah, it's called a hangover. Now get your ass back in your car; the light's gonna turn green!"

The other guy merely shook his head and wondered why heroes thought they could abuse their positions of power. Fortunately for Kacchan, not only did the light turn green, but the other guy made a right turn, so he was free to head to work. After parking his Trans Am, he rushed into the Genius Office, and Kirishima was the first to take notice:

"Whoa, Bakugo, what's the big rush for?"

"Shut up, Kirishima! Just…shut up, OK?"

"Is somethin' wrong? You don't look too good."

"Oh, you mean aside from the fact that Ashido broke up with me and I have a massive fuckin' hangover? No, nothin's wrong! Why the fuck would anything be wrong?"

Kirishima's eyes widened. "Oh no, that's awful! What happened?"

"So I went over her place, and we were havin' a good time when all of a sudden, she starts bitchin' at me about leaving the toilet seat up. We got into a fight, and…and…"

Kacchan broke down crying, much to Kirishima's shock:

"Hey, listen, it's gonna be OK! Everything's gonna be OK!"

Kirishima gave Kacchan a big hug, which he gladly returned. As if having a hangover wasn't bad enough, Kacchan felt really messed up from crying, especially in front of his coworkers. On the other hand, he was grateful that Kirishima was still his best friend and that he cared enough to do this for him. Even his fellow heroes cared enough to give him a group hug. In the past, he would've pushed them all away, but considering he was at what was perhaps the nadir of his life, he needed all the support he could get. Even after he stopped crying, they continued to hold on to him for a while.

"Guys…thank you so much," said Kacchan. "I'm sorry I ever yelled and swore at any of ya."

"It's OK, Bakugo," said Hsu. "We're all here for you."

After the daily briefing, Kacchan was about to go out on patrol when Best Jeanist called him into his office.

"Yeah, what do ya want?" said Kacchan.

"Bakugo, you look as though you've come severely unraveled. Is everything OK?"

"No, everything is not fuckin' OK. I have a massive hangover and I feel like a fuckin' mess."

"I'll forget your vulgar language in the interest of your physical, mental and emotional well-being. Please see Mrs. Vanderbilt before you conduct your usual patrol. I can't have your stitches coming loose because you're not fit to perform your usual duties."

"Got it."

After his meeting, Kacchan went to see Sarah Vanderbilt, an attractive middle-aged brunette with curly hair who served as the Genius Agency's head nurse. She gave him a small packet of pills.

"Take one of these a day, and please be careful, dearie," said Vanderbilt.

"Whatever."

Being one of the few people hardcore enough to do so, Kacchan took one of the pills without any water before heading out on patrol with Alexandra "Berserker" Herbert, a petite, well-endowed woman with neck-length black hair. Her hero costume consisted of a black shoulderless bodysuit with an armored chest plate, a studded leather belt and black knee-high leather boots with steel toes.

ALEXANDRA "BERSERKER" HERBERT:

QUIRK: Berserker. When suitably enraged, her strength, endurance and reflexes grow to an exponential degree, but she gets really tired if she uses it for too long.

"Ground Zero, how are you feeling?" asked Herbert.

"I still feel like fuckin' shit, but I feel less like fuckin' shit than I did before. I guess that pill did somethin'."

Berserker put a hand on Kacchan's shoulder. "I don't expect ya to feel better overnight, but I wanna let ya know that we're all here for ya, OK?"

Kacchan nodded. "Thanks."

"You're welcome!"

Kacchan and Herbert continued their patrol. Today was a pretty quiet day, which was good for Kacchan because he was still feeling a bit out of it. Not helping was the fact that Ashido would cross his mind, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't help but think about her. On one hand, he wanted to forget about her and move on, but on the other hand, he wanted a second chance with her because he still felt awful about yelling at her. Then, his thoughts were interrupted when they passed by Worldwide Electronics, which had a big-screen TV playing a broadcast from WGN-9 in the window:

"Breaking news: the League of Villains, the most wanted villains in the world, have just released a video demanding a ransom from the city of Chicago, threatening to kill heroes if they don't get what they want. Be advised, this video could prove disturbing to certain viewers."

The feed switched to a video of Tomura Shigaraki in what appeared to be a warehouse of some sort:

"Greetings, people of Chicago. We've had it up to here with hero society, and we've decided that all heroes should die. Fortunately, I am feeling merciful, so I've decided to cut a deal: bring us $10 million in unmarked, non-matching bills to 901 West Division Street at the CTA Material Distribution Center on Goose Island by 10 PM tomorrow night. If you fail to do so, or if you try anything funny, this hero and many more like her will die."

The camera panned over to Ashido, who was bound and gagged in a chair and struggling to get free. Seeing his one-time girlfriend tied up like that, Kacchan just couldn't help but analyze the surroundings, trying desperately to find clues.

"I'm a man of my word," said Shigaraki.

With that, the video stopped, and the normal news broadcast came back on, while Kacchan thought about what he just saw.

(The CTA warehouse…now where is that? I know I've been…WAIT! I know now!)

Kacchan used his explosive power to blast off towards Goose Island.

"GROUND ZERO! Where are ya goin'!?" exclaimed Herbert.

"I'll be back, Alex! I got some important business to take care of!"

Berserker reached out for Kacchan, but she was unable to stop him, so she shook her head and wondered about him. In her mind, he was quite the character.

In short order, Kacchan arrived at Goose Island, and it didn't take him long to find the CTA Material Distribution Center. Contrary to his usual tactics, he decided to play it cool and not cause a huge ruckus lest Ashido get killed. Fortunately for him, he managed to get into the warehouse without anybody noticing. All that remained now was to get to Ashido without being spotted. This was anything but easy, for the League of Villains had creatures known as Nomus helping to guard the place. However, these were mostly lower-tier Nomus, so they weren't extraordinarily intelligent. One Nomu did give Kacchan a bit of trouble because he was rather close to Ashido and it wouldn't move, so he needed a distraction. He looked around for a bit and ended up finding a bottle of motor oil. It was evident by the weight of the bottle and the sloshing around noise that there was still plenty of oil in it, so he threw it, and the loud plastic "clunk" was good enough to distract the Nomu, so he slipped past it and soon came upon Ashido. Unfortunately for him, she too was being guarded by a villain whom he recognized as Himiko Toga, one of the top lieutenants in the League of Villains. Again, he needed a distraction, and again, he found one in the form of an adjustable wrench, which he threw. Once again, Toga fell for the distraction, so he slipped in as quietly as he could and started to undo Ashido's restraints. She took notice and let out some muffled sounds of concern.

"Look, I know ya probably still hate me now, and I'm sorry for what I said." Kacchan got the cable that was holding Ashido down off of her. "I hope this makes up for it."

Kacchan tore off the duct tape that was covering Ashido's mouth and undid the gag.

"Thank you thank you THANK YOU!"

Ashido gave Kacchan a hug, which he gladly returned.

"That'll be the last thanks you ever give."

Kacchan and Ashido turned to see who'd addressed them: it was none other than Shigaraki, who was flanked by his other top lieutenants in addition to some more Nomus.

"I've heard of you before," said Shigaraki. "You're Ground Zero, one of the top pro heroes in Chicago. Sadly, this is where your career ends."

"Hey Shigaraki, did I miss…" Toga gasped when she saw Kacchan. "YAY! Another handsome boy! His blood is gonna be so TASTY!"

"Hey guys, can we quit screwin' around here and kill 'em?" said Dabi.

"I agree!" said Jin Bubaigawara, aka "Twice". "Nah, let's get outta here!"

"Then let's put on a show!" said Atsuhiro Sako, aka "Mr. Compress".

Mr. Compress threw a few marbles at Ashido and Kacchan, which materialized into crates of dynamite. Fortunately, both heroes dodged them before they shattered and produced very large explosions, rocking the warehouse to its core.

"Alien Queen, get outta here!" shouted Kacchan. "I'll take care of these motherfuckers!"

"NO! We're a team! I'm still kinda angry at you, but you're a hero too, and heroes stick together!"

Ashido shot some acid at a couple of Nomus and melted them. Within seconds, the entire warehouse had devolved into a war zone, with crates being smashed, tools and equipment being thrown about, and Kacchan living up to the name "Ground Zero" with his explosive Quirk. Thus far, the battle was a stalemate; while Kacchan and Ashido were doing well with the Nomus, the other villains were proving to be tough customers, as evidenced by Dabi attempting to fry Kacchan like chicken:

"You're quick, I'll give you that. However, you will die when I say you must die."

"NOT TODAY! HOWITZER IMPACT!"

Kacchan used his Quirk to propel himself in a circular motion. The resulting tornado amplified the explosive power, which he unleashed on Dabi. The fire villain was knocked back harder than a boxer who took a nasty haymaker.

"SUCK ON THAT, ASSHOLE!"

"Then perhaps you'd enjoy sucking on these, too!"

Mr. Compress threw some more marbles at Kacchan, which turned into steel I-beams. Fortunately, Kacchan managed to evade these, but Mr. Compress still had a bunch of his own personal munitions at his disposal: anvils, vehicles and even parts of destroyed buildings, each of which – if they didn't hit Kacchan – tore up the warehouse like a piece of paper. Still, Kacchan held tough.

"STUN GRENADE!"

Kacchan unleashed a blinding flash of light at Mr. Compress, which succeeded in stunning the magician villain. Taking advantage of this, Kacchan grabbed him by the collar, shot up into the air with his explosive power and then delivered an explosive piledriver, which weakened Mr. Compress even further. Kacchan then proceeded to beat his face into the concrete floor, not only shattering his mask, but even tearing up the balaclava he wore underneath it, revealing his true face.

"You…may have…d…defeated…m-me, but…this isn't over…"

Mr. Compress groaned as he passed out, and Kacchan turned around to see Shigaraki and Twice, plus a bunch of Twice's clones.

"Oh shit…" said Kacchan.

"Goodbye, Ground Zero…or should I say…Katsuki Bakugo?"

Shigaraki used his Quirk, which ordinarily required him to touch his target in order to disintegrate them, but he could now send out shockwaves of disintegration. Once again, though, Kacchan propelled himself out of the way with his explosive power. He'd heard of Shigaraki before and knew the guy was bad news, so he had to figure out a way to defeat him somehow, but then he realized that Ashido was still in danger.

"Alien Queen, where the fuck are ya!?"

"Hey, down here, Ground Zero!"

Kacchan headed towards the sound of Ashido's voice and found her looking a bit worse for wear.

"You all right?"

Ashido nodded. "I'm a little banged up, but I'm fine. Let's get out of here!"

Kacchan did his best to evacuate Ashido to a safe place. However, doing so proved to be a more difficult endeavor for him than he'd originally anticipated, not necessarily because of the villains' efforts, but because he felt two wires wrap around him.

"WHAT THE CRAP!?"

Kacchan heard some evil giggling behind him, so he turned around, only to notice Ashido melting. As it turned out, it was really Toga using her Quirk to disguise herself as Ashido, and she'd used her blood-sucking needles to restrain him.

"Wow, I can't believe you were stupid enough to fall for that!" said Toga. "Everybody, get over here! I have Ground Zero!"

Kacchan attempted to escape from her restraints, but they were too strong, so he attempted to use his explosive power to blast himself away. This worked, but only briefly, for Twice's clones restrained him again.

"So sad that it ends for you here," said Shigaraki. "Any last words…Katsuki Bakugo?"

Kacchan gritted his teeth, not wanting to give Shigaraki the satisfaction of winning, but also not sure how he was going to get out of this one. He'd used up a lot of his explosive power already, and all he had left was some sweat left in a special reserve. Then, when things seemed to be hopeless, Shigaraki yelped as a stream of acid knocked him down, and Ashido was behind him.

"It's OK, Ground Zero! I'm here!"

Ashido used her acid to stop some of Twice's clones, and Kacchan was able to break free.

"Alien Queen, stand back!"

Kacchan raised one of his grenade gauntlets and pulled the pin on it, thus releasing a seismic explosive blast and wiping out pretty much all of the clones. He wasn't sure, but he figured that Twice was down for the count as well.

"Come on, let's get the fuck outta here!"

Kacchan attempted to lead Ashido out, but a couple of high-end Nomus blocked their path, and no matter how hard the two heroes tried, they couldn't seem to get away, and Shigaraki was gaining on them:

"There is no escape! Prepare to meet your inevitability!"

Shigaraki unleashed another disintegrating shockwave. Kacchan and Ashido jumped out of the way, but it was clear that unless they had some backup, then they were done for. Just when all seemed lost, a tendril of black energy ensnared Shigaraki and threw him against a pile of rubble.

"Everything will be all right, because I am here!"

Kacchan and Ashido looked to see who'd made this proclamation, and it was none other than Izuku Midoriya, better known as "Deku", the world's #1 hero.

"What the crap…?" said Kacchan.

"TEXAS SMASH!"

Deku unleashed a powerful punch in Shigaraki's direction just as the villain was getting up, further putting him out of commission. However, Shigaraki wasn't out yet, and neither were the two Nomus that had been targeting Kacchan and Ashido.

"Come on, Deku!" Kacchan pumped his fist. "Let's show these sons of bitches how we do things in Chi Town!"

"Right! MANCHESTER SMASH!"

Using a move that he'd prepared using his Fa Jin Quirk, Deku unleashed a powerful rapid kick against one of the high-end Nomus, and Kacchan – having built up some more explosive power – unleashed another explosive blast while Ashido shot a stream of acid, and the Nomu was vaporized. This left just one Nomu, and Deku had another attack lined up for this one:

"DETROIT SMASH!"

Kacchan lined up another attack in conjunction:

"CLUSTER BOMB!"

Ashido also took part with…

"ACIDMAN!"

With this simultaneous attack, Deku, Kacchan and Todoroki took down the last Nomu. Unfortunately for them, Shigaraki was still going, and attempted to disintegrate them with another shockwave. Deku's Danger Sense Quirk alerted him to this, and he attempted to grab Kacchan and Ashido and get them out of harm's way. Fortunately, all three just barely avoided the attack.

"Got any more bright ideas, Deku?" said Kacchan.

"Just one more. It's very risky, but I'm convinced it'll work!"

"Hey Ground Zero, need some help?" said a familiar voice.

Kacchan looked to the source of the voice and saw that Kirishima had arrived, along with Herbert.

"Red Riot, watch out!" cried Kacchan. "Shigaraki's too tough!"

"We'll see how tough he is! Berserker, stay behind me until I say so!"

"Right!"

Kirishima hardened himself, while Deku distracted Shigaraki with Blackwhip, the dark energy from before.

"RED GAUNTLET!"

Shigaraki attempted to disintegrate Kirishima, but Kirishima was able to withstand the attack, and together with Berserker, he unleashed a vicious double punch against the villain. While it did do seismic damage to Shigaraki, the madman was still going, which prompted Deku to step in with the finishing blow:

(One For All, Full Cowling, 100%!) "UNITED STATES OF WORLD SMASH!"

Deku unleashed a violent volley of punches on Shigaraki and ran around really fast before finishing with a killer kick. That did it: after so much effort, Shigaraki was finally down and out.

"OK team, let's move in!"

A bunch of other Pro Heroes moved in to secure whatever was left of the warehouse, as did Chicago Police officers and FBI agents. Among them was Best Jeanist:

"Congratulations, Ground Zero. Although I disapprove of your penchant for collateral damage, I congratulate you for sewing up the case against the League of Villains. Thanks to you and your fellow heroes, the cloth that binds us is stronger than ever. Truly, you deserve to be called a hero."

Kacchan nodded. "Thanks, but I can't waste time on congratulations. There's somebody I really gotta talk to right now…"

Kacchan turned to Ashido and looked her directly in the eyes. Then, he fell to his knees and cried:

"I'M SORRY I CALLED YOU A 'BITCH'! I'M SUCH A HORRIBLE PERSON! I DON'T EVEN DESERVE YOU! I PROMISE I WON'T DO IT AGAIN! PLEASE FORGIVE ME! I'M SO SORRY!"

Ashido smiled, got down on her knees and put her hands on Kacchan's shoulders:

"It's OK! People make mistakes! What's really important is that you said sorry! Believe me, honey, I forgive you, and I still love you very much!"

Ashido gave Kacchan a big hug, which he gladly returned. After feeling so messed up from hurting her feelings yesterday, he felt as though his soul was being cleansed of all the darkness and depression that he'd been going through, and that he'd finally come full circle. While it would take him some time to completely get over the hurt, for now, he not only relished being in his lovely pink girlfriend's arms, but in feeling her soft warm cuddliness against him. That, and she smelled like a cool spring day.

(Wow, she always smells so good. I wonder what her secret is.)

Even after he stopped crying, Kacchan continued to hold on to Ashido. She was the kind of woman he'd die for, after all. She didn't even break away from the hug until he did.

"Thank you, babe," said Kacchan.

Ashido gave a thumbs up. "You're always welcome, honey!"

"Now if you'll excuse me, there's somebody else I gotta apologize to…"

Kacchan turned towards Deku.

"Deku, I'm sorry for every time in my life that I yelled at ya, bullied ya and just treated ya like shit. I know it probably doesn't mean anything at this point, but I couldn't live with myself if I didn't get to tell ya this before I died."

Deku smiled and put a hand on Kacchan's shoulder. "Kacchan, of course it means something! The fact that you're willing to be a better person and admit to your mistakes means a lot to me! I forgive you, too!"

Deku gave Kacchan a big hug, which the bomberanian returned. If making up with Ashido had been something, it was nothing compared to mending relations with the green bean. Finally, all the darkness that had plagued him was nothing more than a bad memory.

"Deku, I don't care if this is gay. I'm just so happy right now."

"Kacchan, you don't have to be gay to hug your best friend! Don't lots of guys hug each other?"

Kacchan sighed. "OK…that is a good point…I guess…"

"Come on, everyone!" said Kirishima. "Let's show my guy how much we love him!"

"What the CRAP!?"

Before Kacchan could do anything, Ashido and Kirishima joined in on hugging Kacchan, who blushed, but soon ended up smiling.

"OK, you guys are too much, but at the same time, this feels really good."

Ashido giggled. "And so it should! SELFIE TIME!"

"Hey, WAIT…!"

Before Kacchan could do anything, Ashido brought Kacchan, Deku and Kirishima together and took a group selfie with her phone. Even if the past few days had been an up-and-down warhellride, Kacchan was firmly on the up like Little Suzi, and he was looking forward to spending his life with Ashido.

Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.