Zero Hero || MHA ||

8. Song Showdown

"A question from BigdaddyJoe: Can you show us your feet? For the last time, I'm not showing you my feet," Sonnet remarked, slamming her fist down on the table. "I'm not selling my bathtub water either, so bug off!" She let out a sigh and looked up at the camera plastering a dazzling smile. "Anyway, that's the end of the Q&A! Thank you for all the questions! Now it's time for our contestants to come up on the stage."

        I was sitting understage watching the tiny tv in front of us. Knowing how well Strawberry Shades sang, Dad and I both knew that we had no hope of escaping this round. It was basically definite that he was leaving. At least when he leaves, he'll be able to finally save us. I can think of all the chances he had that he could've used to help us escape, but he never used them. I can't tell if he's just an airhead and he didn't notice or he purposely got us stuck in this situation to show off his talent. Besides, we were being live-streamed so it kinda makes sense why he would stay. He likes attention.

        "I am so behind schedule today... I don't have time for this..." Dad mumbled under his breath. "If only there was an exit somewhere..." He was pacing around the room trying to find some sort of way to escape. However, I doubt there were any secret exits and when I told him that, he wasn't too happy with my response.

        "At least try, would you?" Dad remarked in frustration. "Damn it, this bracelet is so annoying!" He tried to pry it off.

        "Uh, you probably shouldn't do that--" Before I can finish, a zap of electricity ran up his arm. That only made his mood even worse because he let out a slur of curses.

        "Now, welcome onstage, Contestant Number 1!" I heard Sonnet announce from the tv. "Singing a rewritten version of Renai Circulation!" She moved out of the way as Strawberry Shades emerged from below. The lights dimmed, and Sonnet retreated into the darkness. Strawberry Shades held up his slip of paper with his lyrics. He whispered into the mic.

        "One ~ two!"

        The sounds of an electric piano started playing.

"I bet you must be wondering
I bet you must be thinking
How I came up with my hero name:
Strawberry Shades!"

        Just as the beat kicked in, a surge of electricity erupts out of his metal wristband. It must have been really strong, because he fell over. He let out a high-pitched shriek.

        "Oops! Wrong button!" Sonnet remarked.

        Meanwhile, Strawberry Shades was crouching over and groaning in pain as the peppy and upbeat music blasted through the speakers. He was yelling something in English. Nevertheless, he continued on with the show but in a voice that made it sound like he was constipated.

"In West Philadelphia, not born in raised and I wanted
to become the best hero
so I trained and trained and pretty soon
and wow! I became a hero!

The problem was I didn't have a name
What would match me the best? I didn't know
Maybe something cool sounding like Hawkeye
But the thing is that my Quirk doesn't match!"

        "What? Is this supposed to be his origin story?" I heard Dad mutter from behind. I guess he finally decided to come and watch...

"Day and day I thought, day and day I dreamed
What would be the perfect hero
name for somebody
me

Day and day I thought, day and day I dreamed
Then finally, it came
to me
Strawberry Shades

Why? Because I love wearing shades
It serves as a good sun blockade
My Quirk matches perfectly too
I can make strawberries