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

. 5 5 .

Danny has been forced into many strange alliances in his time as a vigilante. 

There was the time he had to team up with his entire class, ghost powers unreachable in the guise of his identity. Once with Dash alone, stuck in a half-state of half-ghost-ness, racing against the clock to keep a secret. Fighting with Plasmius against the Ghost King, who turned out to be a tyrant, and then another time against what was the God of the Weather. Many partners in battle were initially against him and turned to trusted allies.

He's had his friends help in fights a lot, too. Sam and Tucker were invaluable as a support system, always having his back. Whether they helped him to keep up with homework, or to catch him when he was stupid enough to forget to dodge again. Jazz helped, too, but in a different way.

Combining the two had never happened before.

Bakugou was already flying ahead, straight toward the villains and the danger, giving in to a seemingly impulsive desire to fight. Despite knowing Bakugou always thought out his actions before committing to them, it was jarring to see him flying at the Nomu. It was even worse to watch Midoriya follow him instantly because Midoriya sometimes didn't think about his actions before executing them. Especially when Bakugou was involved.

Danny had no choice but to follow.

Shigaraki seemed unbothered as the Nomu charged, meeting them halfway.

Bakugou feigned a right hook but instead moved down, swinging his legs up and kicking the Nomu in its exposed brain. He landed in a roll, one knee up, arms up to send a volley of smaller explosions flying at it. Midoriya ducked under the barrage coming from his left and went for the Nomu's knees, punching straight at the kneecap before sliding past. Danny followed their moves with a straight punch to the Nomu's jaw, sending its head flying to the left, right into the next volley of explosions from Bakugou.

The Nomu barely moved.

Danny halted by Midoriya, watching Shigaraki. He seemed so sure of himself, standing hunched in the background as he watched Bakugou and Midoriya attack the Nomu again. It had some form of shock resistance or absorption, they knew that, but not attacking felt like giving up.

Midoriya and Bakugou never gave up.

It was almost like Shigaraki had something up his sleeve.

Or someone...

Midoriya yelped, darting away from the Nomu as black smoke started to surround it. Bakugou was already at a distance in a defensive stance, ready for a surprise attack from the direction of the Nomu. The black smoke expanded, forming a circle on the floor around the Nomu, obscuring it in a cloud of purple and black swirls. Bakugou kept his eyes fixed on the now dome of smoke, shifting on his feet.

Danny saw it before Midoriya, but Midoriya was closer. He tackled Bakugou, sending them sprawling over the gravel, just as the Nomu slammed into where Bakugou just was. The two sprung back up, and although Danny couldn't hear the exact words, he figured he knew what they were saying.

The Nomu charged at Danny, having been isolated from his allies, but Danny turned intangible and invisible and flew at Midoriya. He popped back into visibility, making Bakugou curse and Midoriya jump. "We need a strategy."

"What's wrong with kicking ass!?" Bakugou said.

"We're not coordinated, we might get in each others' way," Midoriya cut in, words tumbling out in a mad rush, eyeing their opponents as they regrouped. "We need a united plan of attack."

'People rely on sight, most of the time, so if they can't see me...'

"How about some stealth?"

Bakugou and Midoriya turned to Danny, who narrowed his eyes. "You didn't forget about the mist, did you?"

"Of course not," Bakugou huffed. "But stealth is for cowards."

Danny hummed, shot a look at Midoriya, and readied the move anyway. "What do you say, Midoriya?"

"It would give us an advantage, especially with the teleportation guy back here," he said, voice low. "I'm pretty sure--"

"Yeah, yeah, the metal neckpiece, we've all seen it. Let's take out the teleporter and then figure out what to do from there."

Danny smirked and bumped his shoulder with his own. "Look at you! Communicating! We'll make a team player out of you yet, Bakugou."

"Can we focus?"

The Nomu had grouped back with Shigaraki, now also joined by Kurogiri. The three of them weren't speaking, merely waiting for the teens to attack, seemingly unbothered by their obvious strategizing. Shigaraki had stopped scratching at his neck, confident now that he had both Kurogiri and the Nomu right by his side. With the rest of the class unable to provide support due to the remaining villains, and the teachers still not anywhere near the facility, they had the upper hand. 

But Shigarki was all out of tricks.

Danny was just getting started.

"Cover me," he said, closing his eyes. Danny breathed deeply, connecting with his core within. It thrummed when he reached out to it as if responding eagerly to the touch. The ice didn't feel cold to him anymore as it spread through him. He let it build up —maybe a little more than he would have done usually— and opened his eyes. Cold air swept over the area, a rush of wind accompanying it as the light blue clouds seized the vicinity.

Bakugou and Midoriya still couldn't see, so he ran past them, making them able to like had done with Mina all that time ago. The two were quick to catch on, following him as they sprinted through their cover toward their target. Stealth was no good without speed, after all.

Bakugou and Midoriya both gave off light as they moved, and they must've looked like they were preparing a single big attack because the three villains were spread out to avoid getting taken down in one big hit. Bakugou veered off to their left, charging at Kurogiri. Midoriya went to the right, going after Shigaraki.

Danny went for the Nomu.

Everything else seemed to blur out of focus, his entire attention devoted to dodging and weaving around the Nomu as it swung at him, getting in his own hits when he could. Punches, kicks, Plasma Blasts,  ice attacks. All of them found their way to the Nomu, and all of them seemed to disappear into its skin. Contained there, ineffective. Danny vaulted over the Nomu's arm as it took a swing at him and landed in a crouch further back with a little support from his flight.

Absorbancy.

There had to be a limit.

But what could they do?

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

'Have you talked to someone from the Support Department?'

A flash of hot pink, bright eyes, and a wide smile. 'Just let me do my thing otherwise.'

Hatsume.

"Guys!" Danny yelled, flying over to collect Midoriya first. "I've got an idea but it's really stupid!"

"At this point, I'm open to a new suggestion!" Mirdoriya yelled back, dodging another slap from Shigaraki before throwing his hand upward and letting Danny lift him up as he flew over. Danny turned them invisible and intangible and shot off toward Bakugou.

Kurogiri was teleporting back and forth, hoping to outspeed Bakugou. Bakugou was not letting himself get chased, and instead charged at Kurogiri every time he appeared. That metal neckpiece seemed to shine to taunt them all.

Danny slowed down as they got near, throwing up a domed shield around them for a second to create some breathing room. "Wanna blow some shit up?"

"Hell yeah."

"Okay, here's the plan..."