A/N - Just wanted to thank saiken2009 one more time for all the help, being my beta (and not beating me!)


He got up and ran back home determined to convince his parents into letting him buy a drum set.

"So I ran as fast as I could home and begged my parents for a drum set. It took about two days for them to get sick of me drumming on every surface I could find. Once I had it I practiced for hours upon hours just to get a bit of quiet in my head. I also noticed I was staying awake for way longer than normal. The amount of energy I had was overwhelming so I just focused it all on drumming. The worst part was that as soon as the energy wore off; I was dead to the world. For every hour I was awake, I would need two hours of sleep. It was getting ridiculous."

"How is it even possible to sleep that long?" Davy questioned, "You don't sleep that long now. Sure you sleep like a rock, but only a little longer than the rest of us."

Micky smirked before replying, "See a few months into this odd behavior I did some research and discovered that because my brain was producing such strong and chaotic wave patterns while I was awake, it needed long periods of slow-wave sleep, also called NREM sleep to regulate my brainwaves."

"Uhh Micky?" Davy interrupted, "I know you learned all this fancy, science lingo a long time ago, but for the sake of the rest of us what exactly is NREM sleep?"

Micky smiled, "Sorry, Davy baby, I forgot you guys have no idea what I'm talking about. NREM stands for Non Rapid Eye Movement. It means that I'm in an early stage of sleep where dreams don't occur. Dreams happen during REM, or Rapid Eye Movement sleep. REM sleep includes hallucinatory and bizarre content, which wouldn't help with my brain trying to calm down. NREM sleep allows my brain to reset itself, if you will. It causes all the chaotic brain waves that occur when I am awake to calm down."

"Oh I see now," Davy replied, "continue then please."

Micky chuckled to himself before moving forward, "So I figured out if I take short naps throughout the day, then I won't crash like I used to. I usually have to force myself and it isn't always easy, but usually I can get by. If I don't nap I'll just keep going like I drank an entire pot of coffee until I literally can't hold myself up anymore"

Davy looked at him jaw slightly agape, "Man you really are crazy, Micky. I always knew you were crazy, but I wouldn't have guessed in a million years you were that crazy." Of course what Davy said and what Davy was thinking weren't quite the same. I still can't believe he actually did all this to himself. Then again, it is Micky we're talking about. Now it makes sense how he can be bouncing off the walls one minute and passed out on the couch the next. I guess there's no real reason to worry too much. After all, he is still Micky and if something were really wrong I suppose he would let us know. I hope! Davy's face morphed from playful to concerned, "Just promise us that you'll get checked out if anything is off. Well more off than normal." Micky nodded.

Peter, who was now sitting on the floor next to Micky, looked up to him in awe. "Gosh, Micky, you're so smart to have figured all of that out all by yourself! Not just what happened to you, but the thought for the experiment in the first place! Gee, I hope your hippopotamus is ok though!"

"Hippopot…," Mike started, "Peter, it's not a hippopotamus, it's called the hypothalamus. It's part of Micky's brain. We've all got one. "

"OH!" Peter smiled, "That makes much more sense." I still can't believe a kid in high school figured all this out. I could never think of something so clever. I'm glad Micky is ok though, and his hippopotamus, or whatever Mike called it, too!

Mike stared at Micky for a long time, just studying him. He didn't utter a word; just looked. His expression was unreadable; as is typical of Mike when he was thinking of just the right words to say. Micky was beginning to feel uncomfortable under Mike's scrutiny. He was squirming in his seat; waiting for the inevitable. Finally, when Micky didn't think he could take much more, Mike spoke in a soft, but stern voice.

"Micky, I think what you did has got to be about the craziest thing I've ever heard of. Not only was what you did crazy, but dangerous! You're lucky to be alive! That being said, it also explains a lot and if that's what caused you to start drumming then I'm grateful for it. In a way this crazy experiment brought you to us." With that Mike gave Micky a small smile, letting the drummer know that he was happy things turned out the way they did. I just hope he doesn't try anything that crazy ever again. I'll have to be mindful of kitchen appliances and the like to make sure he's not scheming. If that boy gets any ideas about using us as guinea pigs for some mad science experiment; well we'll deal with that when the time comes I suppose. No sense in jumping the gun here. I sure hope he's learned his lesson though.

Micky grinned at his three band mates, his best friends. "I sure am glad you guys know now. It was really hard keeping it a secret for so long. I guess there really wasn't a need to keep it a secret to start with. I guess I was just embarrassed because when I tried to publish my findings no one would touch them. They said it was too high risk. Too dangerous even. So I tucked my tail between my legs and never told anyone else. I'm sorry guys."

"It's ok." Davy started, "We're your friends, Micky."

"We'll always be here for you!" Peter added.

"And we love you no matter what," Mike concluded, "But don't even think that we're gonna let you do anything so careless ever again!"

"Thanks guys," Micky stood up and walked over to the spiral staircase, "and now that you know everything, I'm going to take a nap." With that he ascended the steps to his and Mike's room and closed the door behind him. Man I sure am glad that went well. Mike's right, I couldn't be happier with where my life has ended up all thanks to a little science. Micky cracked the door open to make sure his friends were still downstairs then quickly shut it again. Science will never get old. There are always more experiments to be done. He grinned wickedly.

Once the door was closed again Micky pulled three vials out of his pants pocket and put them back into the box he kept hidden under his bed. It's too easy to hide these experiments when Mike never bothers with my messy side of the bedroom. He studied the vials, marked 'Growth Serum', 'Extract of Intellect' and 'Self-assurance Elixir', one last time before closing the box and replacing it in its hiding spot. Shouldn't be long now; that story went on for hours. I bet by the time morning comes I'll already have some results. He climbed into bed and shut his eyes. Ahh, I love science.

Meanwhile downstairs…

MICKY!


Just one more thing. This is the last chapter in this story, but don't worry there is most definitely the possibility of a sequel. So hang tight and I'll see ya next time. Thank you to everyone who read/reviewed. I love you all and your words mean the world to me! :-)