Energy (D.P./M.H.A.)

. 5 6 .

"What are you even doing in there?"

Shigaraki had had enough of their constant planning and had decided to saunter up to their little shield. Kurogiri appeared right behind him, the Nomu coming up from his left. With his hands nearly in his pockets and his back relaxed, Danny hated how confident this guy looked with the situation compared to when he first appeared before them.

But that was all about to change.

He clicked the button.

"Remind me to thank Hatsume for this one."

"Sure will," Bakugou grinned.

The blue-tinted mist around them stirred.

"What are you even—"

"See that mist?" Danny interrupted. Shigararki froze, shoulders pulling up further to his ears as his hands twitched to clench. "That's not mist. That's energy. My Energy." The air continued to shift, moving toward them. The little battery in his belt felt immensely powerful already, and it had only been activated for a few seconds. He took it out of the pocket, careful not to accidentally pull on the wire. He shook it a little to show it off.

"A battery? What are you going to do with that?"

"Catch and release."

Pocket dimensions were serious business to make, but critical in this situation. He opened a small one just behind them, and Midoriya and Bakugou turned, each keeping one hand on his shoulder, the other pointing toward the superficial black hole. Releasing all three of their maximum power at one moment could blow up the facility. It was up to Danny to regulate and control the flow, with a little help from his friends.

Midoriya and Bakugou fired, raw power now contained in the small space Danny had created. The battery lit up further and further, its limits being tested.

"You're trying to combine separate forces and make them work together. But there's no cohesion between you," Danny said. "You're still detached, disjointed, and yet you try to be a united force. You can't."

"We can."

The battery hit yellow.

"I've realized some things since coming here," Danny continued, mist now actively forming a whirlwind around them. "When we first arrived, I thought it was us three against you. Me and my two best friends. We came here with a mission. A clear goal. And there was nothing else."

Shigaraki took a step back as Danny took one forward.

"You see, it's easy to think of nothing else when lives depend on you. You're told it's the three of you alone, and that there are no others to help you. They're relevant in their way, of course, but not people who are on your side. They're not against you, but not with you either. So you push them aside, try not to get too close, because they might get in the way—" he looked at Bakugou— "or start joining you." He turned to Midoriya.

Orange.

"But in the end, it doesn't matter what you do," Danny said, now looking at Shigaraki again. "Because those people that aren't relevant? Unessential? That you push away, that you try to keep out of it? They're good people. And because what you do is important, is good, they join you anyway. And they make you stronger because of it."

Their combined power got louder, breaking out of the pocket dimension. The hands on his shoulders clenched, harder and harder until it became almost painful.

"These people become your friends, in school, in training, in life. They join you and your cause without knowing, and you try to keep them out of it even harder. And though some of them might not believe in you or your cause at first..." Bakuogu's hand gave a little squeeze. "They join you anyway. Because they're smart. Because they're good. Because they know what it means to fight for what's right and what it is worth winning for."