Tokoyami's boots crunched along the cracked tiles of I-Island's abandoned promenade, the moonlight reflecting faintly off the shattered glass lining the streets. A few lamps flickered red with emergency power, painting everything in alternating tones of dim gold and blood.
Far above them, the tower loomed like a monolith—eerily silent save for distant metallic shrieks and the blunt, thunderous booms of battles neither Tokoyami nor Shoji were close enough to witness.
Shoji paused atop a streetlight, his multiple eyes scanning from several angles at once. Tokoyami called up, exhausted but composed.
"Are you certain it's around here, Shoji? Not to question your perceptive talents, but… I am becoming quite wearied by red robots attempting my life every eight steps."
His voice carried that dramatic monotone he always used—even now, dressed in a dark blazer and black dress pants, practically the embodiment of midnight solemnity at a dinner gala.
From above, Shoji crouched low on the rooftop of a nearby café, his blue windbreaker rustling in the wind.
"I'm positive. That sound wasn't metal hitting ground—it was mass. Something heavy from at least fifty floors up. Even with the echo, I know it was a body."
Tokoyami made a faint grimace.
"How comforting."
Before Shoji could respond, a red cylinder bot screeched toward Tokoyami from behind a toppled fountain. Tokoyami didn't even turn; Dark Shadow rose from his back like a silent black flame. Its claw extended, crushing the bot with one decisive squeeze.
"Futility suits them," Dark Shadow muttered.
Shoji, already moving, leapt down to the café entrance—what remained of it. There was a crater punched straight into the dining area, tables reduced to splinters, steaming coffee machines hanging by severed wires. Dust hung heavy in the air. A dangling sign flickered the word Latte in broken neon.
And in the center of the crater lay Eijiro Kirishima.
Bloodied.
Barely conscious.
Chest rising sharply and shallowly.
Skin is pale instead of its usual hardened sheen.
Shoji immediately dropped beside him, six hands working with delicate precision to assess damage. Tokoyami arrived moments later, Dark Shadow lowering him carefully through the hole.
"He lives," Shoji murmured. "But he's losing consciousness. Fast."
Tokoyami eyed the grotesque indentation in the floor.
"Something threw him. Hard."
Shoji didn't answer—he didn't need to. Both boys stared upward at the tallest skyscraper, where dozens of floors above, a faint, unnatural light pulsed through one of the windows. It flickered like a dying star.
Shoji pointed to it.
"That's where the sound came from."
Tokoyami folded his arms, cape rustling.
"If we investigate that… we step directly into danger beyond our present means."
Shoji tightened his jaw, arms retracting and reshaping into long gripping pads as he inspected Kirishima's wounds again.
"…He might survive. But we would need medical supplies—beyond anything in this café. The safest place would be the central medical hub. But that means crossing half the island."
Dark Shadow groaned, hovering over Kirishima.
"Hold on. Hold on. Fumikage… you're not thinking what I think you're thinking, right? Because breaking into the most important building on I-Island is—how do I put this—suicidal."
Shoji glanced at Tokoyami, waiting for the verdict with quiet loyalty. Even under curtains of smoke and chaos, Tokoyami's pupils glowed sharp with resolve.
He spoke clearly.
"…Our classmates possess a streak of reckless nobility few heroes can match."
Dark Shadow's eyes widened.
"Oh no. He is thinking it."
Tokoyami continued, voice heavy with conviction.
"Kirishima… fought with every ounce of his spirit. You don't receive injuries like this unless you stood your ground against something far beyond yourself."His clawed hand clenched."If he did not falter—how can I?"
Shoji nodded slightly.
"So what's our move?"
Tokoyami lifted his gaze to the skyscraper's silent height.
"We retrieve supplies from the medical facility. Then… we restore power—or contact Doctor Shield. If our classmates still fight… then they must trust we will light the path behind them."
Shoji exhaled, steadying himself.
"Understood. I'll carry him. You lead."
Dark Shadow scooped Kirishima's limp form into a gentle cradle of claws and energy, wings fluttering anxiously.
"I can't believe this. We're actually doing it. We're breaking into the biggest tech stronghold in the world."
A beat.
"…Kirishima, you owe us so many yakisobas for this."
Tokoyami strode forward, silhouette sharp against the smoking island horizon.
"Then let us move. Darkness accompanies us—but we shall illuminate the way."
And the three vanished into the night, heading straight for the heart of the storm.
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[Auther: Toko and Shoji are heading to the medical facility. I-Island obviously has its main facility being the giant tower; however, the hospital is different, and logically placing it in the middle of the island or nearby is the obvious choice.]