I Wanna Be An Idol!
Backstage 1
/x/
(November, 2010, Winslow High School)
Sophia glared at the redheaded female that was walking a few paces in front of her as she followed her to the detention room. The Ward fingered the dart she had hidden in her jean's back pocket, but decided against it. The redhead who was fashionably dressed in a dark brown sweater, heeled boots and white pants walked in front of her with a spring in her steps like she was dancing. She looked back at Sophia with a ghost of a smile resting on her face, her fiery hair with streaks of pink twirling in the crisp November air.
"So, Sophia. How does it feel to be singled out for a one to one session with your homeroom teacher right after the Thanksgiving break?"
The Ward rolled her eyes at the light tone adopted by the educator, but carefully noted the sharp glare the older woman fixed on her.
"Eyes of a predator." Sophia thought with carefully hidden approval. "Even if her power is totally lame."
Sophia's cheeks burnt at the reminder that she was brought in by the same cape that had collared her back in the end of September when she messed up and the Protectorate found the excuse to bring her in. Getting cornered and then beaten black and blue by glowing musical notes set to a synth-pop background wasn't the kind of end to her solo indie career she had envisioned.
"Come in."
Sophia dragged her feet into the empty classroom as she heard the click of the classroom doors. The Ward glared at the back of the senior Protectorate cape who was also her homeroom teacher and scowled as she sat down on a chair facing the teacher.
"Just your luck the Protectorate is experimenting with undercover capes when I got loaned here from New York, isn't it?"
Sophia returned a glare to the cheerful smile from her homeroom teacher.
"What do you want, Butahime?"
The teacher blinked at the insult hurled at her, before she laughed lightly. Sophia noted despite herself the redhead had a very melodic voice.
"I see Clockblocker's nickname for me after I demolished four servings of pasta in the cafeteria caught on." Sophia stiffened as the smile on the teacher's lips faded away. "But really, Shadow Stalker. Utahime isn't that difficult a name to pronounce."
The older cape reached for a cream coloured folder, nodding as she read it's contents. She handed the file over to the younger cape, before she placed it on the desk with a shrug as Sophia's arms remained resolutely folded. Utahime's cheerful expression then melted away, replaced with a hardened mask.
"That file was the report I've requested from your case worker." Utahime said in a low tone." Specifically, it was related to the alleged bullying of Taylor Hebert."
Sophia remained silent as she sat stiffly. Utahime nodded with approval as their eyes met.
"I'm glad to hear that so far, no one has linked anything regarding her to you." The older cape gave a small smirk. "I won't be around much, but do note if anything happens here in Winslow leads back to you Piggot will know, despite Principal Blackwell's best efforts."
The redhead leaned towards the Ward, her golden brown eyes boring into Sophia.
"I will know." Sophia's clenched her fist and took in deep breaths as Utahime continued. "You really don't wanna hear what kind of music I play when I'm riled up."
Ward and teacher exchanged glares before Utahime leaned back. Sophia unclenched her fists as her breathing slowed.
"That'll be all, Sophia." The Ward stood up, her chair toppling over at the rapid ascension. Sophia gave another hateful look at the teacher before she left the room. Utahime shook her head as the teen parahuman stormed out of the room and the walls shook when she slammed the door shut. The redhead retrieved another file and looked at her watch for the next appointment. Utahime put on her brightest smile as she heard soft knocking on her door.
"Ms Jabroski?"
"It's Jougasaki, Taylor." The teacher said warmly even as she winced internally at the careful tone used by her student. "Call me Mika when we're alone, okay?"
The teacher's eyes narrowed when she noticed the dripping wet hair and juice marks on the lanky teen's brown jacket.
"Tell me everything." Taylor flinched when the teacher growled
/X/
(September, 1999, Shikoku, Japan)
Lung cast a disdainful gaze over the huddled masses at the dock, while ships of every size called and unloaded their cargo of more teeming throngs of desperate humanity onto the soil of Shikoku. The tattooed cape averted his eyes from the crowd, having seen his fill of refugees lamenting their misfortune whether in words or through the look on their faces. Every few minutes, the drab colours of the refugee tide will be broken by streaks of bright colour when another teleporter or flyer cape appears and drops another cargo of survivors.
"More human refuse to dumped by both the so called heroes and the gaijin capes." Lung thought as the new arrivals sought to insert themselves into the endless lines for supplies.
"Can't even be bothered to sort them out. Typical gaijin." The cape snorted as he saw scuffles break out between a few more impatient refugees. Swamped JSDF and US Army personnel sought to break up the fights that sparked among the human wave, but found themselves swamped. Lung wandered if those near him would soon allow desperation to overcome their self preservation and attempt to grab his share of supplies. The cape looked over his neighbours, who kept a wide berth even as they eyed his stash hungrily. Smoke flowed out of the nostrils of his metal dragon mask as Lung began to grow.
"Broom! Soko wa Broom da!"
Lung felt his building rage short circuit at the sheer bizarre spectacle of people shouting over a cleaning tool, using English at that. Then he heard the distant sound of electric guitar riffs interspersed with the steady beat of the bass of an electronic organ. The music stirred up memories of his youth, when the radio played in the family living room.
"It's Bloom!" This time the shouts were from some of the English speaking gaijin troops sent to maintain order. "She's out of retirement!"
The music got louder and Lung's eyes widened as he saw a woman dressed in a red and white dressed with yellow studs fly above the mob in a saucer shaped platform. Strobe lights below lit up the sky and faces of the cheering refugees, while speakers blasted out the music which competed with the roars that arose from the crowd.
"No, not crowd. An audience." Lung thought as he watched his childhood idol shake the hands of eager fans from her platform without breaking her stride as she continued to sing.
kon'ya wa HARIKE-N
anata ni HARIKE-N
tsutaetai no Loving You... (Loving You)
Lung gave a wry smile at the choice of song, considering that Kyushu had been engulfed by the sea only a few hours before. Still, the audience apparently didn't mind as Bloom made her way above them. The iron-masked cape tensed as the singer's platform hovered above him, his pulse racing at seeing someone he admired once in the flesh. He found himself straightening his pants and not caring that he looked foolish.
"Steel yourself, Kenta!" The cape roared in his head at his own pathetic display. " She's a relic from your past! Before that damned dancer humiliated you! She betrayed you when she quit to marry some unknown!"
Then Bloom smiled as she descended from the platform, a rainbow streaming behind her as her shoes touched the waterlogged earth.
And Lung found himself in love again.
/x/
(November, 1989, Los Angeles, USA)
Lucky watched the mahogany doors leading to the meeting room intently as she touched the tip of her fedora. She pursed her lips as her trembling fingers rested on the hat before she moved them to the top of her fedora and removed it completely. As the trainer ran her slender fingers through her wavy mane, her ears perked at the sounds of dismay and begging that leaked from beyond the doors.
"Never thought I'd reject the Groove." Lucky muttered under her breath while she prepared herself for the confrontation her power had warned her about.
"Guess I'm not above some self denial."
Lucky slapped her hat back on as the heavy doors swung open, her ears ringing from the shouts emerging like a tide from the room. The most successful idol singer in history emerged, her face plain and dressed in a simple grey business suit with her wavy, dark hair tied into a bun. Trainer and idol shared a sigh of relief as the wooden doors closed with a thump, blocking off the incessant noise from the gathered suits within.
"Bloom." Lucky said as she glared at the singer. "Or do you prefer to go by Mrs Annette Hebert now?"
"Please don't make it more difficult, Lucky." Annette pleaded as she held onto her trainer's hands.
"You're a legend, Bloom!" Lucky burst out, her cheeks flushed with anger. "Zion himself attends all your Lives!"
Annette's face hardened as she faced her mentor. Lucky returned the favour.
"You can stop me if you really want to, Lucky."
Both women stared at each other, before Annette broke the stalemate and walked past the trainer.
"Mika will be so disappointed." Annette stopped and glared with narrowed eyes at her trainer. "She's looking forward to training with you once she's old enough to join as a junior idol."
The retired idol stopped mid-stride and spun on her heels towards the trainer.
"That's a low blow, Lucky." Annette said frostily before she took a deep breath and continued in a gentler tone. "I'm sure you can bring out her talents."
"Answer me this, Bloom." Annette sighed at Lucky's trembling tone. "Is love and that man so worth it? That you'd abandon our plan and your chance to make a real impact on history?"
"Hell yeah it is." Annette said with a smile. She squeezed Lucky's shoulder and didn't flinch as her mentor shrugged it off roughly.
"Maybe someday you'd understand." The idol planted a kiss on Lucky's cheek before she waved goodbye.
Lucky watched as the singer who's music reached an Entity left the building.
"Okay then." Lucky thought.
"Time for B-Side."
