It was the next morning after a terrorist attack in a local restaurant in Los Angeles took place. Among the casualties were several AKB0048 fans who had just got back from AKB0048's comeback convert in Tokyo, a few NovaStar fans, and the representative for the AKB0048 American Tour. Due to the death of the representative, the tour has been postponed indefinitely and candlelight vigils were held in many parts of the United States and Japan out of respect for the victims. Alan, who was the first among NovaStar and AKB0048 to have seen the tragedy, started having post-traumatic stress disorder, causing him to be mentally unstable. As a result, NovaStar became uncertain of their future. The rest of the NovaStar members then decided to meet up with AKB0048 in Space Records while Alan is recuperating back in the apartment.
"The terrorist attack is no doubt part of a plan to separate NovaStar and AKB0048 in an attempt to weaken not only our alliance, but each of us as well. The fact that they targeted both of our fan bases is also considered an attempt to draw confusion and fear to make fans hesitant to support us." Tsubasa explained.
"But that doesn't explain who did it and why. Only the DES and the DGTO would want to separate and weakened us, but even they wouldn't do such cowardly acts. Still, are you sure it wasn't them?" Takamina said.
James then stepped forward. "We are sure. There are reports from several DGTO-administrated planets that reported a breach in one of their bases in Lancastar. Casualty reports show that an entire DES mech team was subdued in an attempt to prevent the suspects from escaping and a prototype mech was stolen from there. They pose more of a threat than we do so their main focus is on them, not us."
"Do we have any leads on who might have done it?" Ethan asked.
"Not at the moment, but we do know that they are not on either side. It seems as though there is a connection between the two cases, but we can't assume anything at the moment. The investigations have only just started." Cassie added.
"So what is going to happen to us? Is our tour with NovaStar canceled?" Nagisa asked.
"That's something I need to discuss with the representatives of Space Record, but it is postponed indefinitely due to the threat towards both of you as well as Alan's condition. Since he is the leader of NovaStar, getting him out would indeed negatively affect not just NovaStar, but AKB0048 as well since he is the one who proposed bringing us back to Earth. However, we will also discuss possible charity events to raise money for the family of the victims in both countries. For now, I am sure that both AKB0048 and NovaStar are quite affected by the tragedy, though not to Alan's extent, so we will rest here for a bit until we can get back up to our feet. The meeting is now over."
Tsubasa then left the room with James and Cassie, leaving NovaStar and AKB0048 on their own.
"So what are we going to do now?" Erik asked Ethan.
"I don't know about you, but I am going to go check on Alan. He was shaken up very badly when I last saw him."
"Yeah. Nobody can blame him for being like this. He just recovered from his childhood trauma and what yesterday's attack did to him was bringing back all of his horrible memories. I just hope he is okay." Ryan expresses concern.
"What exactly are you girls going to do?" Daisuke asked.
"With the attack yesterday, many of us are going to the hospital to visit survivors of the ordeal. Even in the wake of tragedy, we want fans to continue their support." Chieri answered.
"I am also going to see if I can help treat them since I am a nurse for AKB0048." Yukirin added.
"I am going to go pay my respects for the victims at the restaurant. I am sure the rest of the girls will either do this or the other. With terrorists now looming around, everybody has to be careful. We could be next." Sayaka warned.
"All right then. Me and Ryan will go to the hospital and do the same for our fans. Let's go." Daisuke and Ryan follows Chieri and Yukirin along with the rest of the girls intending to visit the hospital.
Erik puts his hand on Ethan's shoulders. "Ethan, among us, you seemed to be closest to Alan. I am going to go pay my respects as well, but we need someone who might be able to get him back to his feet. Can you do that?"
"Nobody gets up from that so easily. This isn't the first time Alan has been scarred for life. I don't know if we can bring him back this time."
"Please try at least."
"I will. It's unbearable for me to see my friend like this as well."
"Thank you." Erik then left the room, leaving only Ethan and Yuuko.
Yuuko then pulls on Ethan's sleeve before he was able to get up. "Hey Ethan-kun."
"What is it Yuuko?"
"If you are going to visit Alan-kun, let me come with you. I want to help him."
"He barely knows you other than what you've shown yourself on TV. If his friends and family are having a hard time helping him get out of his depression, what makes you think you can help?"
"I was the first one in AKB0048 to know about Alan-kun's rough childhood in Lancastar. We became friends not long after that and took me to see the Hollywood Sign before I left. We then promised to always be in contact with each other no matter what. Please, i want to see Alan-kun."
Ethan hesitated for a moment, but eventually agrees reluctantly. "You better keep quiet about what you told me just now or it might cause a scandal. To be on the safe side, find yourself a disguise to wear on the way to the apartment. If I can't help break him out of his shell, then maybe you can."
"Thank you."
Yuuko and Ethan then make their way to the apartment.
In NovaStar's apartment room...
"So this is where all of the stars in California live at the start of their careers. It's quite spacious." Yuuko is currently looking around the room after taking of her disguise.
Ethan closes the curtains of the living room window in case Yuuko gets near. "Glad you like it, but right now lets help our friend up."
"Right."
Yuuko and Ethan are then seen in front of Alan's room with the latter knocking on the door and calling him out.
"Alan? Alan? Are you okay? It's me. Yuuko is also here. Look I know you are still traumatized over what happened yesterday, but we can't help you if you keep shutting us out. Please let us in."
"Alan-kun, its me. Everybody is worried about you when we heard that you were a witness to the attack. I know it is hard right now, but we are friends, right? We promised that we will remain in contact so please talk to us."
After a few moments of silence, Ethan soon becomes wary.
"Something is wrong here. As much of a shut in as Alan is now, he would still make a little noise for us to hear if he doesn't want to talk, but there is no sound."
"What!? What could this mean!?"
Ethan becomes worried. "I hope I am wrong, but I am fearing for the worst for Alan."
Yuuko becomes more scared hearing this. "You don't mean-!"
"I don't know yet! Let's open the door and find out!"
Ethan then kicks the door open. "Alan! You better not be doing anything stupid! Huh?"
As soon as Ethan and Yuuko entered Alan's room, they find that he is no longer there. What is left are piles of paper on his desk and many news articles on the wall relating to yesterday's attack. His TV is also on, showing a news report about the investigations. Ethan then went towards Alan's computer and notices that it wasn't turned off. He moved the mouse and the screen shows a picture of a middle aged man with brown hair, wearing a dark hooded sweater. Ethan then looks at the headlines of the page, revealing that the investigations have identified the perpetrator and his approximate location. Both Ethan and Yuuko realized what Alan is planning after reading the article and some of the papers next to the computer.
"This is bad! Alan is now consumed with the desire for revenge! He is going to try to kill the extremist!"
"We have to get to Alan-kun before its too late!"
"Yuuko, call the police! Its still not too late to stop him before anything happens!"
"Right!" Ethan and Yuuko then rushed out of the apartment as Yuuko takes out her cell phone.
In an abandoned warehouse...
The same man found in Alan's webpage is seen carrying a Heckler & Koch HK416, aiming the gun at several hostages he kidnapped while on the run. Outside, armed police officers are hiding behind their vehicles, trying to persuade the man to surrender and let the hostages go.
"We would like to negotiate for the release of the hostages! Please refrain from using lethal force against them or you will be given a death penalty by the court!" One of the officers yelled using a megaphone.
"There will be no negotiations with a planet that oppressed our beliefs! You want me to put the gun down and give the hostages back, then kick AKB0048 out of this planet and close down all companies associated with entertainment!" The gunman yelled.
"If you are trying to assist the DES, they would never approve of such methods!"
"No! The DES are only a shadow of their former selves! They used to be an organization I highly respected because they would ruthlessly bring down the disease that entertainment brought to the people! Now look at them! Because they have gotten soft, there are even defectors within the DGTO, because they have all been infected with this disease! This ends now!"
The gunman then brought an extremely frightened female hostage and holds the rifle in front of her.
"She will be the first victim. If you don't accommodate to the demands then another hostage will die within ten minutes!"
"Please no!" The hostage begged.
"You will live if they listen."
As the gunman prepared to fire, he suddenly felt a cold metal object touching the back of his head.
"If you pull the trigger and don't drop the gun, it will be you that will have a hole inside." Alan emerged, aiming a Glock 17 at the gunman's head.
"W-Where did you come from!?"
"You think after you bombed a local restaurant yesterday that nobody will come after you? I was trained by a member of the USSF. Don't think I won't fire after seeing the dead bodies that were being dragged out. I will not say this again. Drop the gun or I pull the trigger."
Realizing that killing the hostage would most likely mean death for him, he drops the gun. Alan then tells the other hostages to head towards the police outside. Alan then begins interrogating the subject after kicking his carbine away and locking the door to prevent the police from interrupting.
"I am going to ask you a question, who the heck are you working for? And don't bother lying since I've heard that you are not part of the DES."
"We are an independent anti-entertainment group that neither work for the DES or the DGTO. We are on our own. I am sure you know why we left since I already explained it to the police."
"Former DES and DGTO members bombing civilian populated areas and taking hostages? I can already see how much you guys have fallen."
"Now that we no longer work for either, there is nothing holding us back from enforcing our beliefs through any means necessary. If civilian casualties are needed to wipe out the scum that entertainment brought, then we will bring that."
"Where are the rest of those scumbags?" Alan then pushes his gun to the gunman's head.
"We are not based on one planet, but are hiding within the DES in numerous DGTO administrated planets. Even though I told you, there is no way a former resident of Lancastar that has been exiled will be able to convince the DES or the DGTO that we are within them."
Alan briefly goes into a state of shock. "How do you know I am from Lancastar!?"
"I recognized your face when you were heading into the spaceship to this disease-filled world. I was one of the soldiers who was ordered to raid towards your hometown! That will teach them to bring entertainment to our planet!" The gunman gives a sinister smile.
Alan felt anger rising within him. "You did not just destroyed our homes, you guys killed civilians along the way! Including the innocent!"
The gunman felt no remorse. "Maybe that will act as a warning the next time they did something so stupid."
Outside the warehouse...
A sniper is laying down on one of the branches, looking inside of the building.
"Do you see anymore hostages?" One of the officers asked through the comms.
"No. One of the hostages was able to get a gun behind him and set them free." The sniper responded.
"How should we proceed?"
"Not yet. We need to listen in. This young man is making the terrorist reveal everything, including his affiliation and his role in the bombings and the Lancastar Incident eight years prior."
"Send all the information back to base afterwards. The military will want to hear about this. Make sure that he doesn't kill the suspect."
"Roger that." The sniper then continues to listen in.
"What are you planning now? I know that there is a link to between your group and why our planet's defense shields are weakening."
"If you are so smart to figure that out, why don't you try guessing that yourself?"
"I am not playing games here. You give me an answer or I will put a bullet through your head!" Alan gets angrier.
"You know, the angrier you get the less smarter you become and apparently its starting to show."
"Then it looks like this is the end."
"Yeah. For you." The gunman immediately regains his footing and swaps away the pistol, punching Alan in the face before reaching for the pistol.
The sniper outside immediately reports the action through his comm. "The gunman manages to escape his grasp and is trying to make his way towards the pistol! I need authorization to fire!"
"Negative! We need the suspect alive! He might still be able to tell us more about the his association with the extremists! I will authorize the use of explosives to open the door! Give him warning shots to slow him down!"
"Will do!" The sniper then aim in the area in front of the gunman and shoots, successfully slowing him down.
"What the!" Before the gunman can figure out what happened, he was tackled by a furious Alan, who then proceeds giving him punches to the face and stomach.
After a brief struggle to free himself, the gunman then runs towards the pistol with Alan following behind. He manages to grab the pistol and caught Alan by surprise and shoots.
"Guh!"
The bullet manages to hit his shoulder, but Alan ignores the pain and knocks the gun out of the gunman's hand.
"All of those people never got a chance to live their lives because of you! Let's see how you feel once your own life is taken away!"
Alan picks up the gun and aims at the gunman's head while pinning him.
"Those people will never be brought back! Do you think killing me will change this?"
"I will avenge their deaths at least!" Alan gets closer to pulling the trigger, but the gunman remains unfazed.
"Hurry up! The young man is holding the suspect at gun point!" The sniper ordered.
"Charges almost set!" Another officer responded.
The scene then changes back to Alan and the gunman.
"Tell me, will killing me make you feel any better? Even if I die, there are still more of us out there doing the same thing. If you kill, you will be no different from the rest of us."
"At least I don't target civilians."
"Killing me out of vengeance will also make you as much of a monster as I. Do you know why police officers and soldiers kill? They kill because they believed that it is necessary or that they are doing the right thing. Why do you kill? Is it necessary? Do you think that it is the right thing to do? From the look in your eyes, I can tell that neither of them are the reason."
Hearing this, Alan started thinking what would happen if he suddenly killed the gunman and awakens to reality. Realizing that killing him has no purpose and will only cause his friends to further reject him, Alan reluctantly let's go of the trigger. Still aiming his pistol at him, he forces the gunman up and raise his arms behind his head before being ordered to stand in front while turning back.
"Charges set, get back!" A couple of officers yelled.
The explosives were detonated and the police immediately charges in. Alan then willingly hands the gunman over to the police, who are confused by his actions.
"Take him away. If I see him again, I won't be able to resist my urge to kill him." Alan warned.
The officers obeyed and cuffed the gunman before taking him to the police car.
"Alan!"
"Alan-kun!"
Ethan and a disguised Yuuko came into the warehouse passed the police lines to see Alan slowly recovering back to his old self. Alan's Kirara, who had just been outside of the warehouse, started glowing a little brighter. The sniper that had just been outside also entered the warehouse.
"This guy has a lot of information on the extremist group responsible for the order of yesterday's bombing as well as the Lancastar Incident. I am sure that he will be very valuable to the USSF." Alan told the sniper.
"I am glad that you are able to restraint yourself. It looks as though you've had a personal vendetta against him."
"I still do, that is why I asked you officers to take him away as soon as possible."
"Thanks anyway, but please don't do this again. Good thing your wound is not serious, but you better go to the hospital to get the bullet removed." The sniper then guides Alan to the ambulance waiting outside to check on the condition of the hostages.
Afterwards, Alan's family was contacted from the hospital about his injury. As soon as they saw him recovering in the hospital room, their reactions were mixed of both relief and anger due to his reckless actions. It didn't take long for them to reconcile with Alan promising not to do it again as was told. A few hours later, he was released from the hospital and find that his friends and coworkers are not as forgiving for his actions as his parents.
Back in the apartment...
"Are you crazy Alan!? You could have gotten yourself killed by being involved with a terrorist!"
"I agree! When news gets out of what you did, Space Records is going to fire you, because what you did can affect their image! Even worse, like Ethan-kun said, you could have died!"
Alan is currently receiving a scolding from Ethan and Yuuko, both of whom are furious after finding out that he intended to kill the perpetrator of the restaurant bombing. As they continue, James and Cassie entered the apartment to see what has transpired.
"This is quite an unusual report we received from the police, especially coming from you Alan. I know that you were traumatized over the bombings, but for you to go this far as to hunt down the guy is not something we can ignore. Do you have anything to say?"
"I know that all of you are mad at me for what I have done. Having all of you worried over me was definitely what I wanted the least and I heavily regretted my actions for it. James, I want to continue to work as an idol, but I understand that the image of Space Records might have been badly affected because of me. If you want to fire me, I understand. I will leave with no complaints. I'm sorry."
"Alan-kun..." Yuuko realized the sincerity coming from Alan.
"Usually I would fire someone for doing something this stupid, but take a look at this newspaper article."
James hands over a newspaper to Alan. The headlines stated "Up and Coming Teen Idol rescued Hostages and Subdued Terrorist Responsible for the Restaurant Bombing!". The rest of the newspaper then details Alan's heroic effort with no mention of his PTSD or his attempt to kill the gunman.
"It seems that the police decided to cut you some slack since you did rescue the hostages and the image of Space Records improved instead." Cassie explained.
Alan then sighed out of relief. "I am glad."
"You've manage to save yourself this time Alan, but please don't ever do this again alright? I really might have to fire you next time you do something this stupid. You are the leader of NovaStar after all and if the police ratted you out, our reputation would have sank instead. I know that life is tough, but please go to your friends and family rather than the bad guy. That is all we will ask of you."
"I promise that I won't do this anymore."
"Great! Then we will get going. Be ready for some charity events tomorrow." James and Cassie then left the room.
"I am going to go pay my respects like I am suppose to. Yuuko, if you are going to stay, don't get caught." Ethan then leaves the apartment room.
Alan and Yuuko then shared an awkward moment of silence before the former decided to speak.
"I am guessing you are still mad at me, huh?"
"SLAP!" Yuuko gives a hard slap on Alan's left cheek.
Alan looks up at Yuuko as he holds his check and saw that there are tears coming out of her eyes.
"You've had no idea how worried me and Ethan-kun were when we went to your room! There was absolute silence so I started fearing for the worst before entering, only to find that you weren't there!"
"Yuuko, I am sorry. I guess it really is better for me to get fired so that I wouldn't do such things."
"Don't say that!" Yuuko grabs hold of Alan's jacket before putting her head down on his chest.
"I don't want you fired either. You helped rebuild AKB0048 on Earth, you brought us back, and even promised to remain in contact after we became friends. You are my first friend here as well as one of the most important people here. If you weren't there, we would have never been this well off."
"Am I really that important to you?"
"Yes. Please don't leave me like Acchan did. I can't bear to lose another important friend so please don't do this anymore."
Realizing how important he is to Yuuko, Alan further regrets his reckless actions and returns Yuuko's hug.
"I won't do this anymore Yuuko. I promise I will open up to you."
"Yes, please do."
Yuuko and Alan's embrace lasted a little longer until they are interrupted when the door is suddenly knocked open.
"Alan! We saw the paper! What happ-!" Daisuke and the rest of NovaStar froze at the sight.
"Eh?" Both Alan and Yuuko were in complete shock to respond.
"Make sure that you two don't get caught." Daisuke immediately closes the door.
"Wait Daisuke! This is a misunderstanding!" Alan tries to call out.
"That's right! Don't wrongly accuse us of being in a relationship!" Yuuko also screamed, but NovaStar had already left the hallway.
At the Northern California Space Station...
"Commander, it seems that we are able to stabilize the Earth's defense shields. The energy level is back to normal." The operator told the commander behind him.
"Excellent. Maybe now the DES or those extremists will finally stop bothering us. Let's take a break."
"Yes sir."
After both of them left the room, the energy levels on the screen begins dropping from 98% to 95% and doesn't seem to be increasing after it stopped.
Finally I am back with another chapter. Sorry it took so long, I had writer's block and was quite busy at school. Don't worry, I will not quit writing fanfictions as I want to see my stories completed as much as the other readers. Hope you've enjoyed this chapter.