Zero Hero ||MHA||

7. The Sing Off

My eyes fluttered open to a bright light. I rubbed my eyes tiredly, feeling my frigid hands against my eyelids. They felt nice against my forehead that practically steamed with warmth. Groggily standing, I found myself on a stage. In front was a fantastical blue table full of ribbons. It looked like one of those places where the judge stays during those talent shows. Behind were rows of the empty theater seats. An expensive-looking camera aimed towards the stage. It had all sorts of weird gadgets on it; it was way more elaborate than the one that hotdog dude used. A blinking red light was on which meant that the camera was recording.

I looked around me, and my dad was lying on the ground dazed look in his eyes. Both his arms were sprawled out. I noticed that there was a metal bracelet on his left wrist. There was also a circle tag that had the number 2 on it. Next to Dad was an all too familiar strawberry vigilante. He looked completely knocked out. His torso was twisted to the left with his right arm on his face, and his left clutching his abdomen. His legs were crossed over one another. I saw a small stream of drool on the corner of his lips. He also wore a metal bracelet and a number tag.

I peered down at my hands to see that I was wearing a matching bracelet. I also had a tag, but it had the number three. I tried to play around with my bracelet to see if anything were to happen, and I felt a small zap erupt up my arm.

"Great... Now I have my own personal shock collar-bracelet thingie."

I sighed but immediately regretted it. I started to have a small coughing fit. The sounds bounced off the walls echoing within the empty theater. I was able to regain my composure again and this time, I carefully exhaled. Hot breath gently touched my lips, trapped in the facemask that I wore. It sucks being sick.

I heard the slight shuffling of my dad getting up. I glanced over to him as he slowly stood up from the ground. He tiredly rubbed the back of his neck and stretched his back. It let out a loud crack.

"Ah, what the hell... Where are we?" he mumbled. "All I remember was heading to your doctor's appointment when some sleeping gas came in."

I gave him a shrug. Since I got sick, Dad scheduled an appointment with the doctor. When Hiro found out, he freaked out. I told him it wasn't anything bad, but he still went on a worried rant. He was always like that; he always treated me like I was a little kid.

His mannerisms towards me were completely different from Dad's. Dad never complained about Mom or Hiro but when it got to me, he's always ready to jump in and say something. I wouldn't say that he was super mean to me, but he wasn't nice either. He's just very strict and critical. I don't want to sound like I'm declaring my hatred for him, but he and I weren't really on good terms. Dad never used to be like this; maybe he's going through a midlife crisis or something.

I heard the sound of mechanical gears underneath. The stage began to shake, and it sounded like something was coming from below. I tried stepping off, but I smacked my face against an invisible force field. Doing that also caused my bracelet to go off, and I got zapped again.

"What's going on?" Dad demanded, slowly backing off the stage.

The area where Dad and I were lying on (and also where Strawberry Shades was), slowly opened up in a circular radius. I watched as Strawberry Shades' limp body dropped into the dark abyss while the sound of gears grew louder. A smoky platform emerged from below. The shape of stairs appeared from the edge of the platform, and the outline of a woman appeared in the mist. Then, it stopped.

Once the smoke cleared, I saw a young woman standing on the platform. She had on a fancy masquerade mask with white jewels on them. Her outfit looked like something straight out of a magical girl or idol anime as it was very girly and frilly. Her curly hair was pulled into a high ponytail. She had on bright pink lipstick. In her hand was a sparkly microphone.