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

. 3 9 .

That Monday afternoon proved to be one of the most draining ones yet. Aizawa had little mercy for the class and even littler for Danny. The teen was sure the man was trying to get him to either exert himself so he could scold him or 'show his true potential', as he had oh so gently addressed last Friday. Tucker had said he was just being his usual self, and Sam had assured him that wasn't the case, and that he must've been imagining it because of the lack of sleep. Danny assumed Nezu also hadn't talked to him yet.

Danny was pretty sure his body was used to the little amount of rest he got, but the mental draining? It was exhausting. With their mission, the new world, the stress of school (even though he couldn't care less about that, but Sam (and Tucker, surprisingly) were pretty insistent on doing homework), and his extra spent energy (no pun intended) on Midoriya and his training on mornings proved to be too much for him, after all.

He couldn't even be bothered --or afford to-- feel stressed for the 'conversation' Nezu had set up for him and All Might later that day.

So he merely trudged off to some separate room on the other side of the building after class and plopped on the chair on the other side of the coffee table, where All Might was sitting, in all his Hero-esque glory. "Door's closed, you know," he sighed, rubbing at his eyes.

"I wish to apologize," he said as he went back to regular ol' Toshinori Yagi, not responding to Danny's remark verbally. Danny merely hummed, giving him a tired look. "About the 'thing'," he added hopefully. "I did not mean to pry, and I apologize for asking."

"It's fine," Danny yawned back. "Someone was bound to ask. It had to happen sometime. Anyway, asking is better than finding out and being salty about it." He swiftly clasped his hands together and pointed at the door. "Can I go, now? I kind of have homework from Aizawa and he's not going to be happy if I don't have it tomorrow." And Sam and Tucker decided it would be a great idea to do a combined training tonight. And they needed to talk strategy for next week. And it was his turn to cook after having convinced Sam she didn't need to do all of it and he knew how to operate a stove.

"You look like you need your sleep, young man," he said, reverting to All Might with a grin. He gestured to the door after standing and slightly frowned as the teen swayed on his feet, resisting the urge to reach out and steady him. "Sam also mentioned something," he quickly added before Danny could leave the room.

"Was it the 'you're like his mentor'-talk or the 'I'll mess you up if you mess up'-talk?"

All Might laughed. "Both."

To say Present Mic was excited was an understatement, and Danny was regretting everything he'd done in his life that had made it lead up to this point. The man had been very loud in the way, and wouldn't stop yelling he was excited. "How did you even find someone with a pocket-dimension-Quirk, yo? This is amazing!"

"It is also sound-proof and very echoey, so please keep the shouting to a minimum, Present Mic, sir," Danny half-pleaded-half-demanded, avoiding the actual question as he did. "It's been a long day, you see. Mr. Aizawa..."

"Shota's ruthless at times," Mic interrupted with a wave of his hand, "but he means well. And, Listener, if you say you'd rather do this another time—"

"Right now will be fine," Danny answered with a tired smile. "To just get it over with."

Mic gestured for him to start. "Whatever you say, Maestro! Any questions before we begin?"

"I was wondering how you regulate your volume," Danny said as he played with his fingers, though he did keep his eyes on Present Mic. "I can tell people all kinds of things to keep them from using too much energy, but I can't help myself with that. Not the mental part, anyway."

Mic nodded, one hand on his chin in thought. "Have you talked to someone from the Support Department?"

Danny blinked. "Support? Yes, but why?"

Mic tapped at the speaker around his neck. "Your friend was smart enough to figure out to target this. Directional speakers! It helps me regulate where my voice goes." He grinned. "Maybe someone can figure out how to make something to regulate your volume, yo!"

Danny blinked at the thing. "So that's what it does. Cool." 

"I'm sure Power Loader has a recruit learning under him," Mic added, hand to his chin in thought. "Heard she's pretty inventive. She might be able to do something!"

"Hatsume? Yeah, we talked to her," Danny shrugged off, staring off into space. "She and Tucker get on like a house on fire. They're both into machines and tech and stuff. Sam is being a bit skeptical. I think she's alright. Just a bit too loud at times. She's working on our costumes right now."

"Making friends outside of class already!" Mic half coo-ed and half yelled. "That's great! But!" He stuck a finger up before pointing at Danny. "First I want to see you without volume regulation. To see what we're working with."

"Yeah okay, seems fair," Danny muttered under his breath. "I have to warn you though, it's pretty loud and not good for your head."

"And you assume I don't know what that feels like?" Mic grinned at him. "Trust me, Listener, some villains know how to turn my Quirk against me. It's not fun to stand in their shoes, as I've learned the hard way!"

Danny rubbed at his temples as the pounding in his head got louder. "Wish I couldn't say the same, but unfortunately, that would be lying."

As Danny turned and readied himself, Mic blinked and had to take a mental step back. 

This kid had faced villains? Fighting them? Mic supposed Danny hadn't meant to let that slip, but he didn't seem to be realizing what he'd just done. Mic knew that half the things they knew about the three were carefully constructed lies or at least half-truths. He trusted the kids, of course, but... He couldn't shake feeling there was more to the stories they told. Things they've seen, villains they've faced...

"Ready, Present Mic?" 

And yet there he was. A teen, looking at him with those big eyes as if he held the secrets to his life's problems. 

Mic rubbed his hands together before pointing at him and dramatically shouting, "Go for it, Listener!" Maybe one day, the three of them would tell them who they really were, but for now, trusting them to finish whatever mission they had was enough.

Danny took a few deep breaths pulled Mic back to present and reality, and when the teen held his breath for a second, he had to admit he was kind of anxious. If even Danny had said it was destructive and powerful, it had to be.

Mic had expected it to be loud, maybe high-pitched a bit wobbly, but what he got was a piercing, echoing, resonating and steady flow of sound. And it was loud. He put his hands over his ears despite standing behind the source and stared at the flow of green swirls moving away from them at a fast pace. 

It took maybe twenty seconds before Danny stopped, sinking to his knees, palms on the floor and eyes on his hands. His breathing was ragged, and he looked like he was going to be sick. 

"Damn," he heard Mic breathe out behind him, and he laughed.

"Yeah. That's also what the others said the first time they saw it," Danny croaked out before sitting down, hands behind him for support. "Any tips on how to improve that?" 

Mic laughed, once, short and sarcastic. "You're kidding me, right?" He blinked at Danny. "Okay, you're not. Fine. Kid, I'm useless to you. There's nothing I can help you with!"

Danny frowned. "What? Why?"

"You can already do way more than I could ever hope to."