I Wanna Be An Idol!

Live 3-Act 4

/x/

Danny Hebert had seen many things in his life, though his daughter dropping a bombshell that she had triggered close to a month ago after that horrible incident then telling him that she's set her mind on pop stardom had stretched the limits of his appetite for weirdness.

"But I suppose I can stretch it just a bit more." Danny muttered under his breath as he watched from his car, keys in hand as Glory Girl descended from the sky with his daughter in a bridal carry. The elder Hebert comforted himself that it was not the police or the PRT that arrived with grim news of his daughter, having suffered some terrible fate. So he greeted the new arrivals with a wide smile.

"Hi Dad. Just to let you know before you find out from the media or online, but I kinda mastered a crowd of people into watching my impromptu Live when I went on my run from here to Downtown." Danny's smile stiffened as his daughter continued sheepishly. "So, Glory Girl here is going to bring me to the PRT HQ to register so I can be legit."

Danny's face relaxed just a bit. On one hand, his daughter mastered someone. On the other, she's brought home with no restraints on her and visibly relaxed. But Danny decided to make sure and ventured a question.

"You're not under arrest I hope?" Danny asked carefully even as he started thinking of notable lawyers for parahuman related crimes.

"Nope." Taylor said readily, prompting a sigh of relief from her father. Glory Girl then stepped forward and waved in greeting before she grabbed Danny's hand and shook it vigorously.

"You must be her dad." The blonde heroine smiled brightly as she introduced herself. "I'm Glory Girl. I mean you probably already know who I am, but I always believe in introducing myself to people I've never met before."

"A pleasure, Miss." Danny nodded as the bubbly heroine before he turned towards his daughter. Taylor was still wearing that smile he saw her practicing the night before, when he walked pass the bathroom and she left the door ajar. But the creases on the side of her eyes raised concern for the Hebert patriarch, who gently took the hand of his daughter. The slight shaking in his daughter's hands further accentuated his worries, but Danny kept a poker face as he waved towards the house.

"Glory Girl. Please make yourself at home." Danny walked with his daughter into the house, with Glory Girl following close behind. The blonde heroine's eyes lit up as she spotted the brightly coloured bags still laid on the living room and went straight for the largest of them, before she helped herself to a rainbow silk scarf and dashed into a bathroom. The Heberts winced at the cape's spontaneity, but kept their peace.

"Wow! This scarf looks wicked cool!" Glory Girl's head stuck out of the door as she spoke, the scarf hanging off her neck. Taylor gave a strained smile and shrugged.

"Help yourself to it, Glory Girl." Danny's eyebrows rose at his daughter's unusual generosity. "It doesn't fit my look anyway."

"Ohmygod really? Thanks!" The idol choked as Glory Girl grabbed her in a tight embrace, before the blonde heroine noticed and let go. "Shit, girl. You alright?"

"I'm fine, Glory Girl." Taylor wheezed out after she caught her breath from the cape's enthusiastic hug. The blonde cape frowned as she rolled up Taylor's sleeve and gasped as she saw the bruises that had formed on her upper arm.

"I'm so sorry." The blonde pled as she rolled up the other skin, the frown on her face grew more pronounced as she noticed the same injuries on the other hand. Glory Girl fished out a phone and began to dial, her eyes still fixed on the idol.

"Let me make this up to you, umm." Taylor blinked at the blonde cape's sudden hesitation, before she caught on. The idol decided it was as good a time as any to reveal her stage name.

"Call me Spotlight." Glory Girl beamed and flashed a thumb up in response, before her face reverted to a mask of worry as she began to speak.

"Hey Ames? Yeah I will be needing you to help me fix up someone." A muffled voice came from the other end, prompting Glory Girl to roll her eyes.

"Baby sisters." Glory Girl stage whispered to the idol, before she went back to her phone. "It's only the third time this week. And this time I only bruised someone by mistake!"

Another round of muffled voices, before the line went dead. Glory Girl frowned at the phone like it had insulted her, before she put it away and faced Taylor.

"I will be picking up Panacea, so you stay here okay?" The Heberts watched as the cape then stepped out of their home, a dull boom from outside their home informed them that Glory Girl had left. Danny sighed in relief and turned towards his daughter, then frowned as he peered at Taylor's face. The intensity of the stare caused Taylor to laugh nervously.

"What's the matter, Dad?"

"You look different, kid." Danny said as he continued to stare. "Like a filter over your face was removed. I recognised you since you identified yourself, but otherwise my mind was having trouble connecting your looks to your identity just now."

"A Stranger power, then." Taylor said as the pieces of the puzzle came together. "So that means if the music in my head stops playing, the Stranger effect wears off."

"Wait, hold up." Danny looked at Taylor with concern. "You have music playing in your head?"

"Only sometimes." The idol paused before she continued. "Scratch that. More like most of the time I have it playing in my head. Just that it becomes so soft sometimes you barely notice it unless you go hunting for it. I feel and think differently when the music is softer."

"So that explains your shaking since Glory Girl brought you home." Danny shook his head sadly at his daughter's surprised look. "You think I won't notice something like that?"

"You certainly didn't notice a lot of things before." Taylor thought as she recalled how things gone south when her friendship with Emma broke down.

"If Ms Jabroski hadn't rescued me…" the idol shook her head to clear her thoughts, before she looked her father in the eye.

"I know I wanted to do this." Taylor picked at her new clothes as she spoke, "But the effect is so potent, so there. I sometimes wonder how much of it is the power and how much of it is me."

Both Heberts stared at each other in silence, before Danny broke the silence.

"You want out of this?"

"No." Taylor said firmly. "It's maybe hard to believe, but being approached by Producer and becoming an Idol is something I still want to do. The head music and the fact I Mastered people unknowingly is unsettling, but I'm not giving it up."

"Then I'll support you." Danny said as his daughter broke into a smile again. "I suppose you'd want a change of clothes and…"

"A shower, yes." Taylor cut in. A beep from her phone prompted the idol to fish it out and fumble with it before she read the message and saw the linked video from Producer.

"I will also need to apply some makeup." Taylor said flatly even as she felt her pulse racing when she saw her recorded Live with Sophia and Glory Girl racking up the views. "The media's going to pounce!"

/x/

Director Piggot paused the stream, turned off the screen and swivelled her chair to face the grey sky her office window was facing. Steel blue eyes regained some vitality after a few minutes of staring at the grey clouds, before the head of the Brockton Bay PRT gathered enough courage to view the video again.

"Someone please tell me this is a bad dream." The director muttered darkly as she saw the concert, or Live as the documents in Producer's suitcase calls them. The only upside to this whole thing was that the audience didn't seem to connect the unmasked Shadow Stalker to her civilian ID, going by the comments on the video that Dragon had traced to classmates of Sophia Hess and their interviews with several of the audience if they matched Stalker's civilian ID to the people performing on stage.

"It's not a bad dream, sorry Director." Piggot shot a glare at Assault, fully recovered from the effects of being Mastered by Shadow Stalker and every bit a smartass going by the remark he made. Miss Militia coughed into her hand, drawing the attention of Piggot away from the annoying former villain.

"Director. As you can see from the video and our gathered intel, the Idols created by Producer are a grab bag of Masters, Strangers and Breakers. They also are able to retain their old powers from their previous trigger." Piggot watched as the scarfed cape that used the American flag as a mask looked pointedly away from her, focusing on the report.

"You're finding this very funny, aren't you Miss Militia."

"Absolutely not, Ma'am." The scarfed heroine lied as the mirth in her eyes betrayed her when she raised her head to face Piggot. "I do not find the concept of pop music as a parahuman power hilarious. Not at all."

"You don't lie so good." The director said as she pored over the report that was handed over by the cape. A beep from her phone and Piggot scowled as she saw the message sent.

"I can't believe this!" Piggot huffed as she slid the phone over to Miss Militia. The cape's eyebrows rose as she read over the short message from Chief Director Costa-Brown.

"Regards to the issue of Glenn Chambers- Head of the PRT Public Relations triggering." The scarfed heroine read out. "Issue of Chambers escaping from M/S cells to be set aside. All PRT branches to set up supporting offices for the Pro Talent Agency?"

"I can't believe it myself," The director growled while she stared at the cape. "I'm having words with them over this, believe me."

"I'm sure you will, Director." Miss Militia shuffled her feet uneasily under Piggot's glare. "But is there a reason you're looking me over from head to toe?"

"Nothing much." Piggot said as she bared her teeth, which caused both capes present to flinch. "Just wondering how you'd look in an idol costume."

/x//

Spotlight tried to sneak a peek at Panacea, but found she was rebuffed every time by an icy glare from the healer cape. Still, from her peripheral vision the idol was able to make out the features of Brockton Bay's most valued parahuman. Dressed in white robes adorned with red crosses over pants and t-shirt, the cape hid her head under a hood.

"Ames, stop being grumpy!" Glory Girl shouted above the wind's roar from between the healer and the idol. Spotlight gave a grateful smile to the blonde as they flew towards PRT HQ, even as she rehearsed what to say to the media that waited for her. Deciding that conversation might make her less nervous, the idol decided to venture another attempt to speak to the healer cape again.

"So Panacea? You like any music? Movies?"

"Nothing you sing anyway." The healer said acidly. "I'm allergic to pop music full of feel good nonsense because it rots the ear drums and the brain like candy on the teeth."

"Ames!" Spotlight patted the shoulder of a fuming Glory Girl even as her practiced smile grew progressively strained at the healer's needling.

"What's wrong with her?" The idol thought even as she kept her cheerful mask on. "The things I've read and heard about her certainly didn't tell me she could be such a petty shithead."

Spotlight kept silent for the rest of the journey and heaved a sigh of relief as Glory Girl touched down. The idol gulped as she saw the media scrum gathered at the main entrance into the PRT building, held back by velvet rope and a line of blue clad PRT troopers. Glad that her sunglasses both dulled the flash of the cameras and hid her nervousness, Taylor began walking towards the media pack when Producer and a new blonde Idol strode out of the entrance.

Glory Girl waved towards Producer and the newcomer before she turned towards Spotlight. The young idol blushed slightly at the blonde cape's infectious smile as they held hands, while Panacea scowled in the background.

"Well, Spotlight. Guess it's goodbye for now." Glory Girl said. "Call me if the Protectorate gives you trouble okay?"

"Thanks, Glory Girl. I really…" The idol paused mid-sentence as the blonde cape held up a finger to shush her.

"Vicki. My friends call me that."

"Oh God! I'm friends with Glory Girl! Yes!" Taylor screamed internally even as she kept her cool expression.

"Sure, Vicki. Thanks!"

The suited cape approached Spotlight as she exchanged farewells with the New Wave youth before Glory Girl left the scene with Panacea in tow. The blonde's heavily made up face was a scowling mask which caused her freckles to scrunch up, while Producer remained as stoic as he usually is. Spotlight alternated her gaze between the teeming horde of media, the PRT troopers holding them back and Producer.

"Producer, aren't you wanted by the police and the PRT?"

"I was." Producer said as he adjusted Spotlight's sunglasses and straightened her tie.

"But I was informed that the PRT has decided not to pursue the issue of me slipping out from the M/S cells and they found no lasting harmful effects" The blonde idol coughed into her hands. "To the Idolising of my charges."

"And the problem with the police hunting you down every time you approach another prospect?"

Producer shrugged at Spotlight's query.

"Occupational hazard for us production types."

Somewhere in the US Eastern seaboard, Ms Lucky sneezed. Paige passed a tissue to her mentor even as she looked nervously at the approaching police cars.

"So," Producer looked at his latest idol. "You chose Spotlight for a stage name?"

"Yeah. I thought of Cicada, but I figured loud insect wasn't the type of imagery that'd win me double platinum awards."

"Yeah, loud bug isn't the kind of name you'd want people to know you by." Spotlight turned to the newest addition to her team and looked over the purple dress and, red leggings and boots and the hair accessories that glimmered with a faint glow she was wearing.

"She's so pretty." Spotlight thought as the blonde idol grinned and extended her hand.

"Nice meeting ya, Spotlight." The brunette idol felt uneasy at the blonde's smile. "Name's Illusion. I wanted Banter, but Producer wanted us to have a theme."

"Well, time's running short girls." Producer said as he looked at his watch. The suited cape placed a hand on their shoulders.

"Let's go meet the media and the PRT."

/X/

Emma threw open her covers as the sound of loud tapping on her doors woke her up from a pleasant dream involving her bitch of a homeroom teacher Mika Jabroski being humiliated and then fired for interfering with her plans.

"Emma, open up." The sound of her elder sister Anne's voice annoyed her to no end, but she grudgingly trudged towards her door.

"Sophia's here to see you."

Suddenly wide-awake at the sudden appearance of her friend early on a Saturday morning, Emma hurriedly straightened her hair before she opened the door and beamed at her Ward friend. Confusion then slipped into her smile when the part time model saw how stylish Sophia looked.

"Hi." Sophia growled as Anne went downstairs. Without waiting for an answer, the Ward pushed pass Emma and sat at the foot of the bed. Emma stared dumbfounded at her friend's new sense of chic. Coloured stockings matched with a deep purple skirt, dark grey jacket over a red cotton blouse. The redhead couldn't help but whistle in appreciation, prompting a glare from her friend.

"So, Soph?" Emma grinned as she looked over the Ward. "Here to show off your new sense of fashion."

"I'm dressed like this because I got Mastered." Sophia spat out, which caused Emma's smile to fade. "Also, look at the video link I've sent to your phone."

Emma felt her worldview collapse as she saw the video playing. Sophia and Glory Girl was easy enough for her to recoginse, once the Stranger effect broke when the Ward pointed out she was the black girl in the trio. But the girl in the centre though?

"The centre," Sophia bristled at Emma's words, "She looks very familiar."

"That's because she's your former bestie."

Emma stared hard at the video again, as her mind started to link the name to the face.

"How? Taylor? But you're up there with…? Glory Girl! Fucking Glory Girl joined in!"

Sophia shrugged as she started to hum along to the video.

"Idol Bullshit. Maybe I will find an explanation after I corner that fat pervert Producer and stick him like a pig?"

The redhead breathed deeply before she turned off the video stream and slid under her bed to retrieve a bunch of keys.

"Make yourself at home, Soph." Emma said tightly as she went out of the room. The redhead ignored the greetings from her parents as she dashed down to the basement and unlocked a storage cabinet built into the floor. Emma coughed as clouds of dust billowed out when she pulled open the doors, but the redhead pushed ahead, pushing aside piles of junk before she pulled out a thin book with a red velvet hardcover. Using the light from her phone, Emma looked over the lyrics and dance steps written within, her eyes burning with envy.

"Well Tay." Emma muttered to herself. "I guess you weren't being completely delusional when you said your mother's song book had something special."

/X/

A/N So this chapter's a bit dry, since there's a bit more focus on the aftermath of Taylor's Live. On the bright side, this story's planning is now more focused and I am visualizing the endgame already. So yeah! All the Way to World Idol Domination!

Also, I finally settled on a theme for the Idols. Comments on it are most welcome.

Next up will be a flashback. Both during Taylor's trigger, her future trainer and her Mom.