Dead Man Walking

Part Two

Shoji - Sero's Squad (Team JS, Defense)

A brush of wind struck Shoji in the face, nearly knocking him over.

"What was that?!" Kaminari asked, glancing everywhere.

For a moment, there was nothing but silence. The entirety of Sero's squad was on edge, waiting with bated breath. A light breeze whistled through the old buildings and made the fabric of their flag flap lightly on its pole in the middle of the clearing.

"They're here," Yaoyorozu whispered. "Get ready, everyone."

One of Shoji's appendages spoke his reply in Kaminari's ear to avoid being overheard. "I'm afraid that was Iida."

"Dude. There's no way he can run that fast." Kaminari paused, eyes widening with the possibility. "...Can he?"

"Dark Shadow!" came Tokoyami's voice from the rooftops.

"Oh, non," Aoyama sweatdropped from his hiding spot beneath a dilapidated front porch. Suddenly the wooden boards above his head splintered as paintballs zipped into the dirt by his feet. He screamed and scrambled out from under the porch, glancing behind him as he ran forward blindly— and smacked right into Tokoyami.

"Revelry in the dark," the avian said, almost with a chuckle, and Dark Shadow knocked Aoyama out of bounds.

"Aoyama was hit," Shoji said, grabbing Aoyama's gun from the debris and moving to intercept as Ashido rushed toward Kaminari. "Move, Kaminari!" Shoji shouted in warning.

Kaminari dropped to his knees at the same moment that Shoji fired at Ashido. She yelped and tried to dodge, but Shoji had Aoyama's gun pointed in the direction Ashido moved. With another pair of arms, he shot the second gun, and Ashido dodged right into the line of fire.

"Aww," she pouted, now covered in red paint, and threw her hands into the air.

"Ashido was eliminated," Tokoyami shouted, backing away from Sero's squad.

Kaminari jumped back to his feet. "Yaoyorozu, now!"

A net fired at Tokoyami, too quick for Dark Shadow to intercept, and knocked him off his feet. Kaminari rushed to shoot, but Dark Shadow ripped through the net before he could pull the trigger. Tokoyami was upright a moment later, and Kaminari stopped short a few feet away. Dark Shadow bulleted through the air toward Kaminari, ready to fling him out of bounds like Aoyama, but Shoji tackled Tokoyami from behind. In surprise, Dark Shadow stopped his attack on Kaminari and whipped around to help his master, tearing Shoji off of Tokoyami.

Both Shoji and Tokoyami had dropped their guns by this point, creating an opening for Kaminari to steal Tokoyami's gun and pick up Shoji's for him. He tossed Aoyama's gun to Yaoyorozu, who stood at the ready as she guarded their team's flag, a net launcher in her other hand. Sero was out of sight, but Shoji knew he was preparing to make his move.

Shoji and Kaminari fended off Tokoyami and Dark Shadow. The paintballs whizzed through Dark Shadow, but when they targeted Tokoyami, Dark Shadow materialized just in time and hit the paintballs at an angle so they would be redirected without breaking or eliminating him.

Shoji used his Quirk to create another eye and used it to secretly look up at the roof of the old building behind him. Sero waited from above, his gun propped on his knee as he crouched behind the parapet. He saw Shoji's extra eye and gave a thumbs-up. Shoji's eye morphed into a hand and returned the signal in confirmation. Sero made his move.

A moment later, Tokoyami was walking off the field, his upper body wrapped up in paint-splattered tape. Sero looked pleased, and Shoji felt himself begin to relax. Ashido and Tokoyami had been successfully eliminated, and the others from Bakugo's squad were nowhere to be seen.