I Wanna Be An Idol! Live 3-Act 3
Rather than create a behemoth of a chapter, I felt it'd be better to break it into easier to digest chunks.
Can't OD on the crack and the relatively more sober moments of this story.
Special thanks to xXxTeaChanxXx for the reimagined English lyrics of Hello, Hoshiete O Kazoete.
Next chapter will be the Sing-off, I hope.
/x//
Taylor mumbled under her breath as she reached out beneath the bed covers for her phone, silencing the alarm set to a randomised pop ditty that roused her. The teen peeked out of her quilt as her eyes stared at the roof of her room using the moonlight flowing in from the window, while her mental connection to her swarm of spiders and flies alerted her to the presence of several early rising neighbours as they left their homes. Even now, she felt the skittering motions of her insects as they swung to the tunes that played inside her head. Who knew arachnids in particular loves J-Pop? Or that the common housefly buzzed lovingly to the sound of glam rock? Ignoring the ambient cold and thankful for central heating as she crawled out of bed, Taylor shivered as she rubbed her hands before throwing open her wardrobe, running an appreciative but apprehensive gaze over her newly acquired collection. The idol slapped her cheeks, thankful for the slight stinging sensation on her face as it jolted her out of her fugue at seeing so many pieces of glamourous clothing in a single wardrobe.
Her wardrobe to be precise. Taylor audibly sucked in a gasp of air, worried that she might just wake up as miserable as she was only a morning ago.
She picked a silver grey coloured tracksuit with white stripes running down the sides from the rack, she ran a finger down the front as she admired the smooth yet firm material that was miles apart from her old ratty suit that she had discarded as part of her old, withdrawn identity. All hints of sleepiness gone as the sound of her heart pounded in her ears, Taylor took the tracksuit and waltzed straight to her dresser's mirror. Her footsteps tapped out a steady rhythm as she danced to the song she had decided will accompany her for her first morning run since…
Taylor glared at her reflection, her eyes hard and face stern even as she admired how her hair remained relatively unruffled despite the fact she had just crawled out of bed. Then she practiced her smile, and felt surprised how bright she looked. Taylor wasn't sure if it was due to the Producer's powers or her makeover, but the smile went to her eyes as the idol admired her new looks.
"Guess Producer wasn't kidding me when he said that salon is the best in all of the Bay." Taylor muttered under her breath. It was still hard to believe she would actually be paying so much attention to making herself look good, rather than her previous standards for looking presentable which began and ended at not looking like a homeless person and not attracting attention. Moving a few stray strands of hair from her face, Taylor placed the tracksuit over her jammies, smiling in satisfaction at how her running attire would complement her headband she would be putting on later. The idol psyched herself as she muttered her new mantra to drive her towards her goal.
"You can do it, Tay. Shine like a sun among the stars like a centre is supposed to."
Quickly getting dressed and followed by washing up inside the bathroom where she adjusted the ribbons on her drying hair, Taylor soon found her dad hard at work with the blender in the kitchen. The teen felt uneasy as the noise of the blender assailed her sense of hearing, fighting the rising urge to make a run for the door. Danny turned his gaze from the blender and the sickly green concoction that was forming inside, cracking a gentle grin to his child.
"Mornin' Taylor." The look on Danny's face made Taylor really apprehensive. "Breakfast will be done soon."
"I really hope you're not going to make me drink whatever is inside that blender, Dad." Taylor shuddered as she pulled out a chair. "It looks like green puke mixed with snot!"
"It's a shake I've made from the instructions Producer left for me." Danny said as he started to pour the mix into a glass before handing it to his daughter. Taylor looked at the shake suspiciously, sniffing it before taking a sip. Danny chuckled as the idol winced after the taste, ignoring the accusing glare from Taylor.
"Reminds me of the first time Annette and I made you eat your vegetables." Danny sighed wistfully. "Now go on, I checked the recipe online. A lot of dancers and singers swear by this."
"Oh I can see why they're swearing alright." Taylor grumbled as she downed the vile shake as quickly as she can while she suppressed her gag reflex. She was thankful at least there was a pleasant aftertaste of mint as she dashed for the kitchen sink to gargle.
"Going for a run?" Danny asked as he looked at the bright clothes his daughter was wearing. "Isn't that look a bit flashy? Brockton isn't the safest place to be."
"I'll be fine, Dad." Taylor assured her father as she pulled out a can of pepper spray from her tracksuit and laid it on the table. Danny's ears perked at the sound of angry buzzing and looked out of the kitchen window, starting at the sight of an angry cloud of bees.
"Besides, It's not like I'm helpless, Dad."
Rising from her feet, Taylor squeezed her father's shoulder before she made for the door. The idol stood on the porch, eyes gazing over the dim streets with only the lights from the neighbour's homes and the occasional functioning streetlight breaking the darkness. Taylor pulled the hood over her head, and began a slow jog towards her usual route.
/x/
"Is this going to happen every time I go for a run?" Taylor thought as she jogged along the sidewalks of Downtown. Once she was past the local community college, the idol's unease grew as she noticed a growing crowd of people trailing her as she ran. The music played in her head and when Taylor came to a stop, the crowd followed.
"Was it the humming?" Taylor muttered as she stopped again to look at the people trailing her. Mist drifted out of Taylor's mouth as she exhaled deeply, picking at the pants of her tracksuit.
"I guess it won't hurt?" Taylor hummed as the music in her head got louder, before she nodded and cracked a wide smile towards the crowd. "Just a little performance for the fans following me?"
Pointing at the dark sky, Taylor yelled out to the throng of followers.
"Good mornin' everyone! I'm so glad all of you decided to join me. Now, say Hello and Count the stars with me!"
Taylor frowned as she noticed the ominous cloud cover.
"I said, Hello and Count the stars with me!"
A strong breeze picked up and the idol's face regained her smile as the stars peeked out from the retreating clouds.
"Hello! Can you hear the music call?"
The idol skipped among the crowd as they split apart and formed a corridor between them. Taylor grabbed a pipe from a bald teen in red and white colours and took a white top hat from a man wearing a full red mask and grey tuxedo.
"This whole town is lit up like a shining carnival!"
Taylor leapt onto a van parked on the roadside, her legs tapping to the beat of the bass and synths while the crowd surrounded her and raised their hands to the sky and swayed to her movements.
"Hello, this is my answer to you."
Fireflies swarmed the air, accompanied by the buzzing of bees that reflected the light from the fireflies through their brightly coloured bodies.
"Everything will be fine, when we pick up and say Hello."
Taylor spun the pipe like a cane as butterflies fluttered around it, gave a tip of the hat to a security camera in front of an office building before sliding along the floor towards a traffic intersection.
"When the intersection starts dancing, why not we join in?"
Sophia burst out of the crowd and shuffled to the right of a Taylor who spun around a streetlight, the dark idol dressed in the same costume from last night.
"We feel so free here, right in this metropolis."
Glory Girl, long blonde hair flowing free and dressed in a blue and white costume with a shiny tiara landed from the sky with a thump between the singing duo before she spread her arms to face the gathered crowd and joined in.
"It makes me feel like we should never leave!"
The blonde heroine then hugged the two singing idols, lifting off into the air before landing on the roof of a three storey tall building. Half of the crowd stood in a daze, while the rest dashed towards the new location.
"Glory Girl, Sophia! Take it away!" Taylor yelled out.
"Feel the energy of those in the crowd
I'm getting swallowed up that's for sure
The mystery melody with words I don't know
Mysterious power that's growing stronger bit by bit!"
The bees swarmed into the glowing feathers and fireflies and transformed into a dazzling galaxy of stars, which swept towards and blanketed the growing, cheering crowd.
"All together now!" All three parahuman girls chorused.
"Hello! We're counting the stars right above!
If only we can tell the next time we will meet.
Hello, everything's unpredictable!
But if we're together, surely we will enjoy it all! Hello!"
The trio stepped to the edge of the building and leapt off, trailed by the stars before Glory Girl stopped their descent, hovering just inches from the concrete sidewalk. Taylor then walked towards the gathered audience, with Glory Girl and Sophia flanking her.
"What happens now at the end of this show? Oh I know, everyone visit our show!"
Sophia stepped forward and grabbed Taylor's free hand, exchanging knowing glances before giving bright smiles to the audience.
"Come visit at our show!"
As the applause and cheering started to die down, Sophia and Taylor exchanged wide grins and thumbs up. Then the smile on the dark idol's face stiffened before she spun away from the other idol.
"Aww, are you blushing?" Glory Girl giggled as she peered at the burning face of Sophia. "How adorable!"
"Shut up! Shut up shut up shut up shut up!"
Taylor watched as the blonde heroine doubled over in laughter at the sight of her tormentor fleeing the scene, before she heard a rough voice calling for her.
"Excuse me."
"Awfully polite for such a threatening voice." The idol thought as she turned around to see the bald man in black and red looking at her with a dirty crumpled notepad in one hand and an open palm on the other.
"Your autograph and my pipe please." The bald man's face was carefully neutral as his voice rumbled. "That was a lovely song by the way, if a bit degenerate."
"Umm, thanks?" Taylor replied slowly even as she kept her expression cheerful while she signed with the pen clipped onto the note pad and returned the pipe. "What was the pipe for anyway?"
"I was planning to rob you and maybe beat you for being a dirty Jew." Taylor froze as the man took back the notepad. "Thanks for the autograph."
"Visit our show!" Taylor called out to the retreating back of the Empire member who almost engaged in a hate crime. The idol made sure the bald man was out of earshot before she shuddered in revulsion. "Or maybe not."
"Hey!" Taylor fell forward as she felt a slap on her back, before she felt a hand grabbed her tracksuit to stabilise her.
"Sorry about that. But it's the most fun I've ever had in my entire life!" Taylor's chest felt warm at the presence of the cheerful blonde cape. "But swiping Trickster's hat and making him stomp off in daze? Now that takes skill!"
Taylor's face paled at Glory Girl's news.
"I took the hat of a cape?"
"Yep! And a pretty nasty one based on what I know. Last heard his group was operating elsewhere in the country though." Glory Girl then grasped the right arm of Taylor firmly. "Well, time to go then."
At Taylor's confused stare, the blonde heroine gave a calming smile.
"Just a short trip to the PRT HQ. I mean, you didn't do anything harmful, but you did kinda Master a whole group of people to join in a sing along." Glory Girl patted the idol on the shoulder to reassure her. "Don't worry. Just give a statement and maybe register. Nothing else, I promise."
"I…guess." Taylor nodded carefully. The idol looked at her tracksuit, wrinkled her nose as she took a sniff of her sweaty arm and fished out a mirror and shuddered when she saw her reflection.
"Can I at least get a shower and change of clothes?" Taylor said as she adjusted her newly acquired hat. "Somehow I don't think I will be alone when we visit the PRT building."
/x/
Brian Laborn considered himself reasonably patient, if only that was needed to keep a group like the Undersiders somewhat in line. But there were days when he found himself really hoping he had just murdered his father and took Aisha away from Brockton Bay, to hell with the custody battle. This was one of those days, where Bitch's dogs were all amped up and chased a suited man with long dark hair around the Trainyard. Resisting the urge to rub the bridge of his nose in frustration, the leader of the Undersiders went straight for the two likely sources of this mayhem. Said sources watched with glee at the unfolding chaos from a lawn chair while holding their phones to record it for posterity.
"Tats, this Dog's Out challenge is the funniest shit you've come up with in a long time. Bra-fucking-vo." Tattletale turned towards her fellow villain Regent, her deep purple body suit with stylised eyes and domino mask the portrait of simplicity in stark contrast to Regent's flashy Renaissance jester costume. Tattletale allowed herself a smug grin as she brushed her blonde hair.
"What can I say? I almost doubted my power when it said that the suited creep will actually do it even with all the information given to him." Tattletale shrugged as she shared another laugh as Angelica barely missed snapping off the head of the suited man. "Ooh, one of the dogs got him by the leg! It's over!"
Brian followed the blonde Thinker's gaze and saw the other two amped dogs converge on their prey. Brian cursed under his breath at the effort and cost it will take to clean up and cover up this mess, before he noticed the dogs had raised their heads and sniffed the air in confusion. Instead of the bloody carcass that he expected, Brian found an empty space at where the suit had been pinned down only seconds ago. Bitch glared at her dogs, before she whistled for them to return to her. As the canine trio trudged back to their mistress, Brian's eyebrows arched when he saw the suited man clamber out of a rusty train car. Bitch's dogs quickly reoriented themselves towards the reappearance of their quarry and were only less than six feet away when the suit pulled out a whistle and began to blow.
Bitch began to twitch as the dogs came to a sudden stop. Whistle in mouth, the suit walked up to Angelica, slowly reaching out with his free hand. The mutated dog quickly snapped at the hand which withdrew, but there was no follow up aggression. All of the Undersiders looked intently as the suited man attempted once more to touch Angelica, and Brian heard a choked sound from Bitch when the mutated dog stopped trying to bite off the hand that was patting her side.
"Well, Tats. Congrats on finding a new career." Regent quipped while Tattletale jumped off her lawn chair before she found herself intercepted by the remaining two dogs and Bitch.
"Angelica likes him, Tattletale." The bulky villainess snarled along with her two dogs. "You will keep your promise and sign on with him."
"As a pop idol." Tattletale said flatly even as her eyes darted around for an escape route. "Like the singing in flashy, skimpy costumes belting out brainless manufactured bubble gum pop. Idol."
"Angelica likes him." Bitch growled along with her two dogs. Brian watched as Angelica started wagging her tail at the suited cape, who patted the dog on the nose before he approached the blonde villainess with a card in hand.
Brian shrugged as Tattletale whimpered in his direction, ignoring the blonde villainess as he walked towards the abandoned conductor's office where their pantry was set up. As the cape helped himself to a beer inside the fridge, he heard a loud popping sound and rushed out of the office just in time to see a cocoon of light engulf Tattletale.
Idolise!
"I wonder if I can get Aisha to work backstage at Lisa's performances." Brian thought as he admired the new idol's costume.