Chapter 2: Fight for the Future
AS the flying get docked in one of the hangers of the main AKB0048 ship, the group of hopefuls, Suko, and Ito were ushered off to a room where the other hopefuls were gathered. The room was a hard wood floor that resembled the old practice studio of the original AKB.
As Suko looked around the room, she saw a grand piano situated close to the front of the room. As she looked closer she realized that it was her piano, the piano that she and Minami bought together when they first joined AKB. "Ito, Look." Suko said with a dazed tone as she continued to gaze at the piano.
"Hahaha,." Ito laughed as he saw Suko marveling at her old piano. "Why don't I play you a song?" After Ito had said this Suko grabbed his arm and quickly dragged him over to the piano. Once he and Suko had both sat down, he took off his jacket, allowing his right arm complete movement. He then hung it over the railing next to the piano. After cracking his knuckles, Ito tested out the piano by playing a few scales. After taking a deep breathe, Ito closed his eyes and began to play a melodious into and began to sing.
Mezamete ha kurikaesu nemui asa ha
Eri no TAI wo kitsuku shime
Kyoushitsu no DOA kuguru to honno sukoshi mune wo hatte arukidaseru
Sonna nichijou ni fuknukeru kaze
As Ito sung, the kirara on his arm began to glow as a green light flowed from the kirara and around Ito as he continued his song. Unknown to Ito, whose eyes were still closed, Tsubasa-san entered the room to address the hopefuls but was met with Ito's performance. She could only gawk at the sight, no aura she had seen had ever come close to what she was seeing from Ito.
Tsubasa shook her head to get her back in the right mindset and turned on the PA system that connected the practice hall to the rest of the ship. All throughout the vessel, understudies and successors alike all dropped whatever they were doing and just stopped to listen to the music, not wanting to miss a single note of the performance.
Kikoeta ki ga shita
Kanjita ki ga shitan da
Furuedasu ima kono mune de
Mou kuru ki ga shita
Ikuoku no hoshi ga kiesatteku no wo
Miokutta
Te wo futta
Yokatta ne, to
Rouka no sumi miorosu souji no tochuu
Okashina mono da to omou
Atashi no naka no toki ha tomatteru noni
Chigau hibi wo ikiteru you ni
Hokori ha yuki no you ni furitsumu
Matteru ki ga shita
Yonderu ki ga shitan da
Furuedasu ima kono toki ga
Mitsuketa ki ga shita
Ushinawareta kioku ga yobisamashita
Monogatari
Eien no
Sono owari
Itsunomanika kakedashiteta
Anata ni te wo hikareteta
Kinou ha tooku ashita ha sugu
Sonna atarimae ni koko ga odotta
Itsunomanika kakedashiteta
Anata ni te wo hikareteta
Kinou ha tooku ashita ha sugu
Sonna atarimae ni koko ga odotta
As Ito finished the song, he opened his eyes only to be met with a room full of tearful hopefuls, Suko, and Tsubasa. Everyone was still in shock at what an amazing performance they had heard, no one had ever heard anywhere close to how beautiful that voice was. The lucky ones who had seen the vid feeds of Ito's other concert could only think one thing 'The vids don't do him justice at all.' As Ito looked over at Suko, she leaned in close to him and they pulled each other in for a deep kiss.
Chieri and Nagisa had plenty of tears in their eyes yet they were also very curious. They both heard from Yuuko that the kirara react to the aura of an idol and that is what causes them to glow. But how did a man come to find a kirara? Let alone be able to glow so blindingly all due to a basic piano performance for a group of people?
"Oi. Now that the performance by our very own Ito is over, let's begin. Welcome. I am AKB0048's manager and producer, Katagiri Tsubasa."
"Manager?" A wondering Orine asked.
"You will be going through the selection process for the 77th generation. Only those who pass will become understudies and be invited to our planet, the home of 00 Stage, Akibastar."
"Akibastar." Nagisa said with a determined look in her eyes. That was where she had to go to fulfill her dream.
"The theme of this audition will be 'Beginner.' The successful performance of 'Beginner' is the criterion for passing." Once Tsubasa had said this, all the girls began to talk amongst themselves.
"I love that song!" said a cheerful Yuuka, but that changed when Orine reminded her that it had some of the most difficult choreography.
"I-I can probably handle 'Beginner,' I think…" said a stuttering yet cheerful Makoto.
"Pay attention to what I said." Clapped Tsubasa trying to get the girls attention back to her. "A successful performance is necessary for you to pass, understand? You will now be undergoing a round of intensive training." Right as she said this Kojiharu rushed past her. "Okey-Dokey! Don't fall behind girls. Here." As she said this, she handed what looked like a new age microphone into the hands of Nagisa.
Not knowing what was special about the mic, Nagisa clicked the button and a glowing blue saber of light jutted out of its hilt. Ito was shocked, did he not train Mariko? Why put all these idiots through micsaber training, a skill that only understudies and up should know, if not all of them are going to pass anyway? Nagisa, being surprised by the sudden appearance of the glowing saber, fumbled around with it and accidentally swung it causing everyone in the room to duck to avoid the blade.
Kojiharu quickly grabbed the micsaber from the hands of Nagisa, ensuring that she didn't injure her fellow hopefuls.
"Not quite! Meet the assault micsaber!" Kojiharu said striking a pose so that the blade pointed away from her yet she could still sing if she wanted you to. When she turned it off, all the other girls were confused.
"What?" Jumping on the confusion of the girls, Kojiharu ushered them out of the room leaving just Sonata, Tsubasa, Suko, and Ito alone in the room. "Practice time. Hurry along now!" Tsubasa faked a movement to leave the room when Sonata grabbed the hem of her pants.
"And who are you?" Tsubasa asked, pretending to not care as to who this girl was.
"Sonata." With a determined look in her eyes. "I'm participating in the selection round!" When Tsubasa looked into Sonata's eyes, she noticed the key feature, the feature that marked every single member of AKB0048. Hearts in their eyes.
"Go ahead." Tsubasa said to the excitement of Sonata. As Sonata raced out of the room to join the other girls. Tsubasa turned around to Ito and Suko.
"Ito, as the manager of AKB0048, I welcome you home to the stage. I have heard you have begun to speak."
"I have begun to speak again. The cloud that has closed my heart from speaking has been moved. My voice is mine again." As Tsubasa heard Ito speak, she was shocked. She had heard Ito's singing now she was hearing him speak. It was only rumored that he spoke but no one had heard him speak since the last member of the original successors went through the center nova effect.
"Ito who is this that you have brought with you to this group? I didn't know that you knew anyone." At this point Suko decided to step in.
"You, Mariko the fifth, have never known me that well. But I knew your predecessors, all four of them. You have never known me, but your sister knew me well." When Suko had said this, the worry that Tsubasa had contained within herself for the past few years.
"MY SISTER KNEW YOU?! How? Who are you? What happened to my sister?"
"Calm yourself Mariko. Let her finish." After Ito had said this, Tsubasa calmed down enough to let Suko finish.
"I'm not actually from this time period, I was born on an island nation known as Japan."
"Japan… What one minute you don't mean?"
"Yes I was born on Earth back before its destruction. I was raised there for my entire life. One day I met a new person at school who had immigrated to this new land because his new guardians lived there. He became one of my greatest friends. We heard about a new project that was going on in a city just a few towns over. They wanted to start a pop group based on nightly performances. Together we auditioned, I was given a role as the center position, and my friend was given the job as head of security for both his weapons training and his knowledge of security technology. He later joined the group for a few concerts at the persistence of the other girls in the group. But then the war on Earth broke out and he joined the army at the bequest of the National Government. He was given a battalion of elite troops to help stop the war. He called them the 'Shinda Sekai Sensen.' They were the greatest defenders of the nation, but in order to stop the war and help everyone ascend to the stars." At this Tsubasa fell down as the weight of what the girl in front of her had said.
"Then you must be the first and eternal center nova Maeda Atsuko the first."
"That's right Mariko." Ito said in reply.
"But what is she doing here? How even did she even come here?"
"In order to stop the fighting I ascended into a realm known to Sensei Sensei and the forever stage. During the war, in order to give everyone enough of a hope to stop fighting, I evoked the power of Sensei Sensei before he was found. I was the first to enter the forever stage and give hope to those who live under the oppression of the entertainment ban."
"That still doesn't answer my question. How is she here?"
"I was returned to this realm by Sensei Sensei. My goal was to convince him to help you guys in the upcoming war that is to ensue. I am allowed to stay with him until the time that we both return to the forever stage."
"What now?" Asked a confused Tsubasa as she wondered why the first Acchan would be in front of her.
"Well we felt that it was time for the original AKB members to take the stage. But instead of just a takeover, Suko felt that we should take part of the audition and see how it has changed in the past few hundred years." Whatever Tsubasa had thought Ito would say, that was not it. Not fully comprehending the whole situation, all Tsubasa could do is just nod.
"After we finish the auditions though, I think both me and Suko would like to take over the training of the next generation. They have potential to be grand members of the group. You can also let the world know that we are back." When Ito had said this, the two original members left the room to go find the rest of the girls training for the final test.
After ten minutes of just walking around the ship aimlessly they happened upon the group coming back from changing. They were dressed in white sweat suits. When they say this Suko and Ito used the magic of Kiraras to change their outfits into workout clothes. Ito's outfit changed into a black sleeveless shirt with the word SUKO on the back in big, bold, pink letters while the logo for AKB48 was on the front in pink also. She also wore black yoga pants with her outfit.
Once they had returned to the group, the girls were surprised to see Ito and Suko joining them. Nagisa, being more or less the leader of the group, went up to Ito and asked them "Why are you guys here? I thought you were already a part of AKB0048."
"That is a simple question. I am here because my fiancé wants to go through the auditioning process again."
"Oh that is a simple wait what?" Nagisa said when what Ito had said registered. "How can she be your fiancé? I thought relationships were against the rules of AKB0048?"
"Normally that is the case. The rules of AKb0048 do say that the members can't engage in romantic acts with the opposite gender. But we have always been a special case, we have been dating for a long time and the continuation of our relationship was a stipulation for her to join the group." Replied Ito who wrapped one arm around Suko's waist.
While everyone was confused by what Ito said, Kojiharu introduced their first training session. The first session was just old school hand to hand combat training. To gauge their abilities they would each go one on one against a training robot. The girls, not knowing how to fight, were beaten easily by the robots. Nagisa, when she fought the robot, got spun around by her feet. During Ito's time training, he went up against the twenty robots they had, each one of which was taken down within 2 minutes. When Suko went up against three robots, she had defeated then within 5 minutes.
After everyone got over the shock of both Ito and Suko's easy victory, they began zero gravity training. To the rest of the girl, it was one of the hardest things they have ever done. But when the other girls saw Suko and Ito, it appeared as if they were dancing through the "air." Their movements were so graceful that it was unbelievable that they were in a zero gravity chamber. After the zero gravity training, they began to train with rifles. The only one from the hopefuls who succeeded at this was Chieri, but she was still excelled by both Suko and Ito.
Once all the training sessions had been completed, the girls were ushered back into the dance studio where they ended up collapsing onto the ground. A little while later Tsubasa came in and pulled up a holographic image of a planet.
"In ten days, AKB0048 will be holding a guerrilla concert on this planet. Meanwhile, you will train until you can protect the current successors without fail."
A tired and worried Makoto gathered up the courage to ask Tsubasa what everyone else in the room was wondering. "You mean we'll be battling at this concert?"
"You'll be bodyguards, no more. Similar to what Ito is for the entirety of the AKB0048 group, just not as good. If the enemy craft are manned, you are forbidden to use lethal force." Tsubasa said with a commanding tone. This was one of the guiding rules of AKB0048. Everyone took that for a sign that they should not argue. Well everyone except Ito.
"Can I kill them a tiny bit?" This shocked everyone. The single greatest rule of AKB0048 that they don't fight with violence, they fight with song. Suko was the only one that understood what Ito meant. If AKB0048, a small sliver of the original AKB48, is all that remains of AKB48, then his pact to protect the group at all cost still stands.
"Ito…" Tsubasa said in a normal tone of voice. "While I have no actual authority over you, I want to remind you exactly what will be going on." This confused the rest of the girls before Orine spoke up.
"Oh yeah, back then, the members had to fight didn't they?" Referring to the concert on Lancastar.
"You're telling us to do that?" Yuuka asked in shock and disbelief.
"No way, no way! That's totally impossible!" Said the ever worry filled Makoto.
"In that case, your journey ends here. If you intend to perform on planets where entertainment is banned, you must learn how to defend yourselves. That's right. This is no ordinary selection round. If you cannot surmount this challenge, then you'll only join 0048 at the cost of your life. 'Beginner' will be this performance's finale. You must guard the concert until the last note is sung. That is your selection round!" As Tsubasa said this, most of the girls in the group were losing more and more hope in this challenge, the exceptions being Chieri, Suzuko, Sonata, Makoto, Yuuka, Orine, and Nagisa. Ito and Suko were just off to the side not paying attention to the speech but instead on the girls in the audience. Ito, knowing that these girls were nervous, stood up to tell them his opinion.
"The original members each had five times the skill you had when they entered this group. If you want to achieve anything, surprise me. If you surprise me in the auditions then your shot at AKB0048 is not over at all." The girls all left the room with happy faces, on their way to the shower. While the hopefuls went to the shower room, Ito and Suko went to their own room with a private shower. Ito really didn't want Suko to accidentally get the rusty shower. He once tried to fix that rusty shower by invoking the old magiks of Earth, but it seems that the gods have left them.
After a nice hot shower, Ito and Suko walked over to the dining hall in their sleep wear which consisted of a fuzzy black robe, black silk shirts, and pink silk pants. When they sat down to eat, the two noticed how the different successors were handing out plates of juicy steak to each of the hopefuls. Each of the girls were complaining about the food in some way either it being too much food or the food not being good enough. Ito, being the hungry man he is, leaned over to Suko and said "Watch this."
Standing up and leaving a confused Suko, he walked over to Mayuyu and sat down across from her. "Hey Mayuyu." Ito interjected before she could eat a single bite causing Mayuyu to give him the evil eye. "Let's have an eating contest. First to finish 20 steaks wins?" Mayuyu pondered this as the rest of the successors were shocked. They knew that both Ito and Mayuyu had the biggest stomach of everyone in this half of the Universe. After what seemed like a minute, Mayuyu nodded causing the other successors to move 40 plates of steak in front of the two. To start the contest Takamina shouted "Three! Two! One!" When Suko said one, Ito and Mayuyu began to eat the steaks as fast as they could. When Mayuyu had finished her 8th steak, Ito had just started his 11th. Which didn't surprise the successors but did surprise the hopefuls.
"Done!" Ito shouted as he finished the last of the steaks while Mayuyu was still working on her 15th steak.
"Dang you Ito!" Mayuyu shouted as she entered combat mode and begun to chase Ito around the room.
After evading Mayuyu, Ito found Suko in their bedroom. "Ito…" Suko said with a glint in her eyes as if she wanted something. "Can we head over to the dance studio again?"
"Sure, let's go beautiful."
When the two arrived outside the dance studio, they saw Yuuka and Nagisa outside of the door.
"What are you two doing?" Ito asked while wondering why these two girls would be here at this late of an hour.
"We uhhh… we were following Chieri as she left but we kind of got lost." Nagisa replied. At this Ito face palmed. Right as he was about to respond, the group heard a voice shouting from inside the room.
"When will you get it right?" Ito took a quick look inside and saw Yuuko had turned off the music to chew out the successors. "This routine has a lot of quick changes, so you have to move more smoothly!"
"That was you entrance!" Takamina shouted back in rage.
"Are they fighting?" Yuuka asked a broken hearted Nagisa. Before Nagisa could respond, Takamina began shouting at the rest of the successors,
"Everyone pay attention! You're getting distracted! Don't forget, tomorrow's the real deal." Yukirin, noticing that Takamina was getting heated up, tried to calm her down.
"Calm down." Yuuko, not paying attention to Yukirin, grabbed Sayaka by the arm and said to her
"Like I said, you gotta…" Before she could continue, Nagisa shouted at all of them from the railing of the studio.
"Please, don't fight!" Realizing what she just did, Nagisa continued even though she was now thoroughly embarrassed. "Um, we're really sorry! Uh… I don't think… you should fight… Um right?"
'Wait! When did she run into the room?' Ito thought.
Suddenly, to Nagisa and Yuuka's surprise, all the successors, Suko, and Ito began laughing their heads off.
"'Please, don't fight,' she says… Sorry, did we scare you? Were always like this." Takamina said to the two hopefuls.
"Always?" Nagisa asked while being really confused.
"Yep. We let each other know what we think of each other and then correct our mistakes. That way, we can put on our best performance. Even if we hit a dead end," Takamina said as she began to sing and dance with the rest of the girls.
Try again! Try again!
You'll figure it out somehow!
With this new knowledge, Nagisa and Yuuka left to go back to their rooms leaving only the successors, Suko, and Ito in the room.
"Hello Ito!" Takamina and the rest of the girls greeted.
"Good evening girls, I would like to introduce you all here to my fiancé." Ito said with a grin as he pulled Suko into a one armed hug. When what Ito had said finally registered, they began freaking out.
"WHAT?!" At seeing the reactions of the girls, Ito began to laugh.
"Here let me do a formal introduction." Ito said as he let go of Suko and gestured to the successors.
"Suko, meet the current successors of AKB0048. Successors, meet my fiancé. The one who gave me my current name, the one who gave me part of her name, the one who gave me the courage to fight in the end war as a Shinda Sekai Sensen, the first artist to be raised into the stars, the first member of AKB48, the Eternal Center, Maeda Atsuko the first." With each phrase Ito said, Suko began to blush more and more. But when Ito said Suko's full name, the successors just stared in disbelief. Here, standing before them, was one of the original members of AKB48. But to Yuuko it was a different story, she was excited for before her is the ultimate Center Nova, the first, best, and greatest.
"How is she here?" Takamina asked Ito after what seemed like an hour.
"I was brought here by Sensei Sensei to bring Ito home." Suko said before Ito could say anything.
"What do you mean by that?" Yukurin asked Suko.
"That is a story for another time girls. You guys should head to bed and get ready for the annual concert on this planet." Ito said to the girls as he and Suko went back to their room.
On the day of the concert, Ito, Suko, the hopefuls, and all of the successors were down in the hanger of the Flying Get ready to go. The hopefuls wore tan jackets and pants that could easily be classified as camouflage. The successors wore the black, red, and white blazer skirt combination. Ito's outfit was his normal golden jacket with black pants, he also had two weapons on him, an assault rifle and a midnight black katana. Suko was wearing an outfit similar to Ito's, a blue and white sailor girl outfit with only a pistol and a bronze dagger that emitted an ethereal light even from its sheath.
As the group exited kirara drive, images o0f the venue began to appear on the wall of the hanger.
"And the doors are now open."
"Wow. There are so many people!"
"They're all here to see 00."
"That's right. They've all been waiting to see us, no matter what dangers they may face. To return their love, we have to put on our best performance! Let's give them all our love! Let's sing for them our love!" Takamina said to everyone in the room in hoping to put the fire in the eyes of the hopefuls.
As Ito surveyed the different girls, he saw that not a single girl had been able to develop the love of AKB in their eyes. Only those that entered the auditions with the heartfelt eyes still had it. Realizing that the number of girls in this generation was small, Ito gave a sigh. He didn't have much hope for the success of this new generation.
As the successors gathered around in a circle. Sayaka waved the girls over, inviting them all to join them. As the girls rushed over to the successors Ito and Suko remained on the side lines. Watching them as always.
"Here we go!" Takamina said as everyone linked their pinched index and thumb together to create a giant circular link including everyone with the exception of Ito and Suko.
"Ready, set… Always thankful, calm, kind, and just! Are you following your hearts? Yes sir! AKB0048!" The girls said together as a whole. As the girls turned to get on the shuttle to the protection detail zone, they heard the sound of a sword being drawn. They turned to see Ito with his katana held high in the air, following his lead Suko drew her dagger and held it so that it crossed with Ito's blade. At this Ito said eyeing his blade, "No God!"
At this Suko said in response "No Buddah!" The together with one voice they cried out "No Angel! Rebels against the God! Shinda Sekai Sensen!" When they said then last part, both Ito's blade and Suko's blade began to glow brighter than before which ended up temporarily blinding everyone in the room.
Not knowing how to respond everyone boarded the shuttle for their respective spots. While in the shuttle many of the girls became more frightened as they approached the ground. Nagisa on the other hand was wondering about the blades that Ito and Suko carried. Trying to take everyone's mind off of the approaching danger, she asked Ito and Suko
"Where did you two get those blades of yours?"
"I forged my blade back before the great war of destruction on Earth. Forged in the fires of Mt. Fuji herself, I named it Sachi, after and old friend of mine who died. Suko's dagger has more history to it. Her blade was a gift given by Paris to Helen of Sparta as a wedding gift. It was said that if you who was worthy looked into the dagger, they could see the future." At hearing this most of the girls were in shock at hold old both of the blades looked in contrast to how old they were. Both could be considered ancient. While the girls were still in shock, Ito opened a private channel between Suko, Tsubasa, and himself.
"Mariko, will the suites be unmanned or will they be manned?"
"Ito, the suits will be unmanned and don't enter combat at all. Once you step down and engage the suits, let the hopefuls fight against them."
"Ok. Mariko, if I find someone that you have rejected, I might take them in."
"Why Ito?" Tsubasa asked in confusion as to why Ito would accept someone she rejected.
"Because I feel that one of them may be worthy to take my place as leader of Class triple S when I ascend into the forever stage."
"Very well Ito, but you have to have a plausible reason for your choice." Once Tsubasa had said this, Ito cut the private channel between the three of them just as they were touching down. Once everyone exited the shuttle, Ito and Suko rushed out to the main look out position, which was far enough away from where Tsubasa said the first suit will land.
As the concert began, rain fell down on the hopefuls. Only Ito, Suko, and Chieri were unaffected by the sudden rain.
The concert went without a hitch until the final song began. That's when a warning appeared on Ito's and Suko's sun glasses, the enemy had arrived. Once the machines touched frown, they fired heavy rounds all over the place. Ito and Suko sat on the edge of the battle field in order to watch the girls fight.
After only five minutes all but the 7 girls that Ito and Suko had traveled and one other girl were left alive. This was surprising to Ito due to the amount of determination the girl had to protect the concert even though she didn't have the love of AKB0048 within her. The girl looked to be about 14 with hazel eyes and dirty blonde hair which was rather uncommon now a days. In all the years he has been alive, he had yet to see a girl without the hearts in their eyes becoming present. When he looked closer at the situation the girl was in, Ito became even more intrigued. The girl was up against a single machine but her assault rifle had run out of ammo.
From Ito's view, the girl was finished, but the girl had other plans. She calmed herself and remembered what her grandmother had told her just before she had left for the auditions.
*Flash Back*
Standing at the train station surrounded by grass stood two figures, one with a luggage and one slightly taller carrying nothing except for a single rectangular package. Just before the younger of the figures began to board, she turned to the other and spoke.
"Well Grandma, I guess this is it. The next time you see me, I will be a member of AKB0048."
"My grandchild, I know you have your hearts set on this so I won't stop you. What I will do instead is pass this on to you in hopes that we meet again." The grandma said as she handed the package to the younger girl. With confusion the girl opened it to reveal a silver rapier with a single word spelt on it in ancient language.
"Grandma, what do these strange letters mean?" With a slight chuckle the grandmother replied,
"My child those letters are written in an old language once used on Earth. It was called Futhark, the language of ancient warriors known as Vikings. They spell out the word Sachi, a name that meant strength when one was weak. The forger of this blade was known as a man named Maeda Ito, though no one ever referred to him by his last name from what I'm told. That rapier has been passed down from generation to generation ever since our ancestor received it from Ito during the War of Destruction. You have been trained to wield this blade so that you could eventually fight as our ancestor fought, the protection of the innocent."
"Grandma isn't Sachi my name?"
"Yes child, your mother named you Sachi in hopes that you would wield the blade in battle."
"But I'm not going to be fighting, I'm going to be singing."
"Oh don't be too sure about that, if you ever find that you are in a situation where you need to defend yourself, unsheathe the blade. You will know what to do from there now go and follow your dreams."
With that the two embraced in a final hug before Sachi boarded the shuttle to the auditions.
*Flash Back End*
Sachi, knowing that now would be a good time, unsheathed the blade hanging at her hips and ran at the machine and began thrusting at it with the might of a master rapier wielder. After hitting the machine a hundred times in a row, she gave one final leaping thrust and went straight through the machine and out the other side.
As she sheathed her blade, she ran to where the other hopefuls were, grabbing a rifle from a 'dead' body on the way. Ito's opinion after seeing Sachi fight the machine was elated. Now he could train a successor to the leader of the Shinda Sekai Sensen and be able to enter the forever stage after he finished.
"Oh well, we better join the fight now Suko." With those words, Ito and Suko jumped out of their hiding spot and began to open fire at the machines. With one hand, Suko pulled the pin and threw several grenades at the different machines. Out of the five that had landed, Ito and Suko were able to isolate three of them and subdued two of them with the barrage of grenades. Deciding to take the last one out, Ito charged forward and fired again but this time to the head of the machine. Once he was within five feet of the machine, he jumped and hit the mech over the head with the butt of the gun. This ended up breaking the rifle beyond repair but also KOed the mech.
"Ito! Stop breaking all of my stuff." Tsubasa shouted over the private channel. Right before Ito responded, he heard a saddened voice cry out.
"Chieri!" Ito turned and saw Nagisa crying over the 'dead' body of her friend Chieri. As Ito and Suko walked over hand in hand, Ito saw the paint on Chieri's jacket come off to reveal no injury.
"Paintballs?" A tired Nagisa asked aloud. Ito could see that Chieri was beginning to realize what was going on.
"Nagisa, are you alright?" Yuuka asked as she walked over with the remaining girls including Sachi.
"Yuuka! And Everyone Else!"
"You're alright?" As the girls embraced each other. They began to hear a slow clap coming from behind them. Fearing that it was more DES agents, they quickly turned around to see Tsubasa, Ito, and Suko standing next to the fallen machine.
"Excellent. Good Show, girls." Tsubasa said much to the confusion of the rest.
"Tsubasa-san? You act like it's nothing…" Much to everyone's surprise, Tsubasa started to giggle.
"The concert went off without a hitch. You all did well."
"The same goes for you." Ito said as he kicked the mech. To the surprise of the hopefuls, the mech suddenly turned purple and white.
"What?!" Exclaimed all the girls as the robot stood up now displaying the colors of AKB0048.
"Today you faced dummies designed to test you." Tsubasa said to the surviving hopefuls. "These aggressors were made from captured enemy craft. It was all a simulation. This planet is not under the Entertainment Ban. You've just begun your training. We couldn't put you in a real battle."
At these words, the girls dropped to the ground in a more relaxed state.
"I'm sure you've learned you lesson." Ito said as both he and Suko took off their excess guns. "Fighting with a weapon bring only hatred and pain. However despite that you stood you ground to protect the stage of your dreams." At this point Suko took over for Ito.
"And most important of all for 0048 members: you showed that no matter what, you would be there for your friends. Therefore, all of you girls have passed the selection round. All of you except for you three," Suko said as she pointed to Sachi, Nagisa, and Chieri. "Are now 77th generation understudies of AKB0048." At this all of the girls began cheering and jumping on each other, with the exception of the three girls who began to cry. Seeing this, Ito went up to them and lifted their chins up so that they were looking into each other's eyes.
"Let me tell you a story. Back before the destruction of Earth, the original members of AKB48 were led by Takahashi Minami and Maeda Atsuko. They led them both in spirit, song, and dances, but they also had help. A young man the same age as them helped to lead the group from behind the scenes. He protected them and essentially became an older brother to all of the members. Always there to protect them. Except for the last day of the Destruction War on Earth, the day that AKB48 ascended into the stars. In order to save as many people as possible, Maeda Atsuko called forth the kirara from the far corners of the galaxy and used their powers to stop the fighting. This cost her, her own life. The man she loved could only do one thing, so he made a deal with the kirara to ensure her survival at the cost of his ability to die. For generation after generation of understudies, he never took on another student. Only helping out the successors and generations lucky to have an heir to his beloved's name." During Ito's story, the girls were all enthralled by the tale. Nothing like this had ever been made known to them
"Nagisa. Chieri." Suko said, calling them out of their stupor.
"Yes." They both responded.
"You two may not be members of the 77th generation of understudies of AKB0048. But something even greater." At this, Suko clapped her hands together and two old world microphones, similar to what she used to use back when she was still on Earth. As she tossed the two microphones to Nagisa and Chieri, their clothing changed to that of a red and black blazer skirt combination that was similar to what the successors wore.
"What's going on?" Nagisa and Chieri shouted at they were in the outfit the successors wore.
"You two are now first generation understudies of Maeda Atsuko, eternal center and original member of AKB48." With those words Suko began glowing a vibrant pink as did the two girls. Now it was Ito's turn.
"Sachi, that blade you have, was a gift. Given to your ancestor during the Destruction War. Though you do not wield it as well as she did yet, you have greater potential that Alli ever did. With that I fear that you are too worthy to become a member of AKB0048. No offence Mariko." Ito said to Tsubasa who took no offence.
"Soon, I will be able to enter the forever stage and at that time I would like you to take my place as guardian. So will you become my apprentice?"
"It would be an honor to become the guardian." Sachi said in as proud a voice as she could muster. Once she said yes, Ito clapped his hands together and Sachi outfit changed into a blue, white, and feminine sailor suit similar to the one that Suko wore except that her left sleeve was completely gone. Now, there was the symbol of the Shinda Sekai Sensen on her arm.
"You are now one of the only people of AKB that can use weapons without breaking its code. You are officially Clark Sachi the first and last understudy of Maeda Ito, guardian and original member of AKB48. You will have all the same rights as a member of AKB48." With those words, Ito and Sachi began to glow a brilliant green glow. Sensing the approach of the Flying Get, Tsubasa spoke up.
"Now toss away those guns and pick up your microphones. Together, let's spread song through the entire galaxy!" Right as Tsubasa said galaxy, the Flying Get appeared right behind her with all of the successors shouting
"Congratulations!"
