A/N: Ok I know I said that the next Lost Stories arc was going to be Ordinal Scale, but the latest event in the mobile game SAO: Memory Defrag gave me the idea for this next one, plus I had a couple people ask me to do this. This will be a short one, probably 2 or 3 chapters, but I'm sure you will all enjoy it. And don't worry, the Ordinal Scale fic will arrive on schedule after my current semester at college as promised.

Pop-Star Online: Chapter 1

It was March 31st, right after school. Due to some interesting rumors going around, Dan and the others had gotten together at the Dicey Cafe for a hangout. Other than Wyvern's Inferno, there were also most of their friends present too.

"Are you sure this isn't just a prank someone's pulling?" Hyde asked from his seat.

"It's true, trust me." Kazuto said as he typed away on his laptop. "MMO games always have these April Fools Day events. And one certain company announced a few days ago that they're releasing a special VRMMO for a limited time for it."

"And why should we care? I for one am fine playing ALO."

"Oh come on, Hyde. Where's your sense of adventure?" Lilina said with a smile from his side. "Most of us are going off to college in a few months. This is a perfect opportunity for a big adventure in a brand new world."

"Found it." Kazuto finally said. "Looks like they released an announcement trailer for the game too."

The group all walked over and looked at Kazuto's laptop screen as he started to play the video. None of them had any idea what this game could be about, so curiosity was nagging at them. But what they saw on the video was not what any of them had been expecting.

Lots of lights and colors brightened up the screen with shades of pink and other girly colors all in the background. Pop music could be heard by all of them.

"... What the hell are we looking at?" Hyde asked.

Suddenly, two girls in frilly pop-idol outfits came on screen, walking out to a crowd of people that were cheering loudly. Together, the girls began singing and dancing on the stage with spotlights shining on both of them. After a long few moments of watching this, the words 'Pop-Star Online' were read at the top, along with the dates of April 1st to April 16th.

Once the trailer video was over, the group was left speechless. All of them looked at each other, wondering what they had just witnessed.

"Oh we are SO doing this!" Alicia said with an excited cheer.

"Wait, what?" Hyde exclaimed. "You mean us too?"

"Of course!" Asuna said. "We're all going to perform on stage together! It'll be so much fun!"

The guys all looked at each other, seeing that they were going to be resigned to the fate of becoming pop-stars while this event went on. When the girls got like this, there was simply no stopping them.

"We should get Hikari to join too!" Alicia suggested.

"Good idea!" Keiko nodded.

Ever since the SAO Survivor School's prom, Alicia and Hikari had become much closer as friends. The two had even partied together at times in ALO. And with a big event like this, Alicia knew Hikari would be interested.

Asuna took another look at the details for the special event. "It looks like players can enter as groups in order to form troupes. Should we all enter together as one group?"

"Probably not. A group that big would have too many conflicting voices." Lilina pointed out. "How about we split up into two groups?"

The group nodded. After some debate, the two teams were decided. The group of Wyvern's Inferno, along with Asami, would make up one team. The rest would form their own group.

Hyde groaned at the table where the others guys were at. "Do we really have to do this stuff? I'm not one for being eye candy for a bunch of people."

"Ha! Mr. Public Enemy Number 1 over here thinks he's gonna have fangirls." RIka laughed from her table. "That's the funniest joke I've heard all day!"

Almost immediately, Hyde pushed himself out of his chair and marched right over to his nemesis. "Oh someone is getting full of herself isn't she? Tell me, how long did it take for you to even find someone who remotely likes you. And pray tell, how many girls were into me before anyone loved you?"

Lilina growled from her seat at her fiancee pulling that card out. Kaia did not leave a good taste in her mouth after being mentioned unless it was insulting her. The fact that he was using her as ammo made her understandably upset. "Hyde… You know how I feel about you mentioning other women around me."

"O-Of course I'd never want anyone else other than my beloved wife-to-be!" Last thing Hyde would want right now was to upset her.

"Hyde's fear of Lilina aside, let's not get into insulting each other." Kazuto started in order to diffuse the situation. "This is supposed to be a fun time for us."

Emi nodded in agreement. "As much as I'd love to see Lilina kick Hyde's butt, let's go and have fun."

WIth the situation resolved for the most part the two groups left to their homes in order to log on for this unique new event. Dan had to wonder what sort of time they were in for in this new VR world of Pop Star Online and just how many people were gonna be going on for this event.

Once Dan finished downloading Pop Star Online, he laid down on his bed and closed his eyes. He had no idea what to expect from this game but he knew there was only one way for him to find out.

"Link Start!"

As Ren opened his eyes, he could almost immediately tell that he was in for an interesting ride. He had a black rock-star outfit on, and a red electric guitar strapped to his back.

"Ren? Is that you?"

Turning around, Ren blinked in surprise as he saw Alice, Mai, and Himiko. Each of the girls were dressed up in frilly pop-star outfits, similar to those seen in the trailer. Each of them was a different color, Alice's being red, Emi's being green, and Himiko's being blue.

Himiko tilted her head at Ren. "Rock star huh? Well I guess they needed to give male players something different than a dress to wear for performing."

Ren slung the instrument from his back so it was in front of him. "I don't even know how to play the guitar."

"Hey guys! There you are!"

The group turned and saw Helios, Dagger, Riku, and Asami all walk up to them. Helios and Riku were in male pop-star outfits similar to Ren's. Dagger was like the other girls, wearing a shiny gold idol outfit. Asami was different however. The blonde girl was dressed up in a professional looking business suit.

"Not exactly the idol look I was expecting." Asami said as she looked at herself.

"I think the game mentioned that every player gets a certain class when they start." Alice mentioned. "Check what yours is, Asami."

Asami opened her menu and took a look at her stats. "It says I'm a… manager?"

"A manager?" Dagger questioned. "So what, you're supposed to be our coach?"

"I guess so." Asami shrugged as she looked at her skill list. "So does anyone know exactly what the main goal of this game is?"

"According to the website, groups have to perform at least once in each area." Alice explained. "Think of it as kinda like a tour."

Asami nodded her head understandingly. "Alright then. If we're traveling as a pop group, then we need a cool name."

"We've already got one, genius." Helios pointed out. "Wyvern's Inferno."

"Maybe in SAO and ALO, but a name like that won't cut it in here." Asami explained. "We want to sound exciting and cute, not powerful and intimidating." The blonde girl thought to herself for a moment before snapping her fingers. "I've got it! How about United Front?"

"United Front…" Emi said, echoing the name. "Not a bad idea."

"Yeah, we'll be the united force that sweeps throughout the world of PSO, spreading music across the land!" Himiko cheered.

"Alright then. We've got ourselves a name." Asami said. She opened her menu and took a look at the map. "Looks like the closest town isn't too far away. How about we go to our first concert and see how we do?"

"Yeah! This is gonna be awesome!" Emi said with a cheer as she raised her fist up. "Time for United Front's first big concert! Let's rock the house!"

When the group of United Front got ready for their first performance, they had expected a lot of things to happen. There was the nervousness of possible stage fright, but with them all together, they had a good feeling for their concert. Sadly, they had neglected to realize the effects of not improving their singing stat. On multiple occasions, the girls hit the wrong notes, going so far so to make sounds that didn't even sound human. The booing and hissing from the NPC audience didn't help boost their confidence either.

"Ok… So we ran into a few snags." Asami admitted as the group sat together to plan out their next move.

"Yeah, seems like the singing stat is the most important aspect to focus on." Ren agreed with a tense expression. "Our instruments sounded good but those sounds…"

"You mean banshee screeches right dude?" Helios butted in, clearly displeased that he couldn't give those booing NPCs a good thrashing. "I knew that Alice was a demon but seriously, that stuff could've made Satan's ears bleed."

RIku sighed. "You're just begging to be punched in the face aren't you?"

Like clockwork, Alice immediately took a swing in at Helios considering she was the lead singer. He would never admit it but the pain from that strike was so strong he could almost feel it in the real world. While she took joy from seeing the jackass roll on the floor in pain, Asami jumped in to break up the conflict.

"Okay while I know that Helios deserved that twenty times over, we can't fight among each other." Asami said while using that tactician brain of hers. "For now let the guys practice their instruments while the girls up their singing stat. Once we clear the next town we can switch the practice around so the guys can have a turn singing."

This plan made Dagger raise her eyebrow. "Why would the guys be singing? Isn't the whole point of a pop group for the girls to sing?"

"In Japan yes, idols have mostly female groups at the main singing leads but in other countries boybands are also extremely popular." The manager explained. "That's why I came up with the name 'United Front'. It represents both sides of boy and girl idol pop groups."

Ren felt himself smile at Asami's reasoning logic. She wasn't wrong considering in America boybands are all the rage. With logic like hers it was no wonder she was a head tactician on the front lines. "You heard the manager, let's get to practice!"

After Helios recovered from his injury the group began their on the road practice for their next concert. Alice really had to admire just how Asami was handling the whole situation. She never had the chance to see her, Ren and the other tacticians during their bull sessions but if this was the kind of minds that were leading the charge at the time then a lot more people should be grateful for helping clear floor after floor.

Within time the group made their way to their next concert location. The venue for this stage was much bigger than the one before was. THe NPCs murmured to each other, curious as to when the show would start. Mai took a look outside through the curtains and felt a bit shaky in the legs. It wasn't so much stage fright as it was simply just nervousness about failing again. Alice took note of her sister's nerves and pulled her aside

"Mai, are you okay? You seem nervous."

Mai sighed deeply and looked at her sister with a worried expression. "It's just… I'm not sure I can be up to Asami's standards. She has the bar set so high for our performance tonight that I don't think I can do it."

The older of the sisters pulled her into an embrace to calm the younger ones nerves. "Mai, I know you can do it. You're already a pretty good singer when you hold yourself up in the shower singing your heart out."

"Don't say that out loud!" Mai screeched, earning a few looks from the other members.

Alice laughed at her sister's embarrassment and patted her on the head, earning her a few soft swats. "Relax Mai. You got this, I know you do."

While the sisters had their own pep talk, Asami gathered the rest of them and began her own motivation speech. "Alright guys, I know that we haven't had the best start but this time I know we can knock it out of the park! The guys did a good job on band duty last time so keep up that and considering how much you girls have be practicing your singing this should be a piece of cake. So let's get in there and wow this crowd United Front!"

Asami's cheer brought forth a wave of excitement to the other members of the idol group as the raised their hands with a powerful cheer.

The stage lights shot up into the sky to let the audience know that the show was starting. The curtains gave way to show off the group, making the crowd cheer as the music began to play with the guys playing their instruments. The girls took center stage as they grabbed their mics and began their song.

Soweoneul malhae bwa

(Tell me your wish)

Ni mamsoge inneun jageun kkumeul malhae bwa

(Tell me that small dream you have within you)

Ni meorie inneun isanghyeongeul geuryeo bwa

(Draw that ideal person you have inside your head)

Geurigo nareul bwa

(And then look at me)

Nan neoye Genieya kkumeya Genieya

(I'm your genie, your dream, your genie)

Deurimkareul tago dallyeo bwa

(Get in your dream car and speed off)

Neon nae yeopjarie anja

(You're sitting next to me)

Geujeo nae ikkeullim soge modu deonjeo

(Just throw everything into my guidance)

Gaseum beokcha teojeo beoryeodo

(Even if your overwhelmed heart was to explode)

Baramkkyeore nallyeo beoryeodo

(Even if it all flies away in the wind)

Jigeum i sungan sesangeun neoye geot

(Right now, this moment, the world is yours)

Geuraeyo nan neol saranghae eonjena mideo

(Yes, I love you, you can always believe in me)

Kkumdo yeoljjeongdo da jugo shipeo

(Dream, passions, I want to give them all to you)

Nan geudae soweoneul irweo jugo shipeun (shipeun)

(I'm a goddess of fortune (fortune))

Haengune yeoshin

(That wants to make your wishes come true)

Soweuneul malhae bwa

(Tell me your wish)

I'm genie for you boy

(I'm genie for you boy)

Soweuneul malhae bwa

(Tell me your wish)

I'm genie for your wish

(I'm genie for your wish)

Soweuneul malhae bwa

(Tell me your wish)

I'm genie for your dream

(I'm genie for your dream)

Naegeman malhae bwa

(Tell it to only me)

I'm genie for your world

(I'm genie for your world)

The crowd cheered their lungs out from the amazing performance of United Front, all of them demanding an encore which served to tell the group how well they did. Although they really wanted to follow through with their demands, Alice moved up to the mic and waved to their fans.

"I'm so happy you guys enjoyed our show! We'd love to give an encore but we have to on the move to share our voice with even more fans." She could see the NPCs look a little discouraged so she decided to add in something great. "But don't worry everyone! Next time we're gonna have our amazing boys here take lead on a wonderful song they've been cooking up just for you guys!"

The effect was almost immediate as the cheering resumed in stride with the girl's in the audience seeming especially excited. Asami sighed at the high signs of fangirling, not realizing how much the kettle was calling the pot black considering once upon a time she was the same with Ren. With one more goodbye, United Front left the stage with a fantastic feeling of high buzzing through their veins.

"Woo! That was kickass!" Helios cheered while lifting Dagger over his shoulder. "You were the best babe!"

The merchant turned idol giggled at her fiancee's praise as she sat on his shoulder. "Glad you think so. You boys did awesome on that solo."

Ren quickly swept Alice off her feet and held her close with pride glowing in his chest. "And let's not forget about that amazing voice that lead the whole performance."

While RIku was feeling happy, it was downed a bit at the fact that he was unable to hold and complement his own girlfriend. Sinon had decided to join Kirito's group for their idol group so he had no idea how she was doing. Knowing her, she should be doing pretty good since she wasn't one to back out from a challenge.

Asami gathered the group from their cheering and brought them all together as she lead them to an inn to rest for the day. Once they all got settled in a group room, the manager smiled at all of them. "Alright guys! Fantastic performance on this one! I think we can call it a night for today since we have quite the following right now." Seeing everyone agree with her suggestion, she set up a meetup time for United Front to meet up after school to continue their conquest on PSO to be the greatest idol group this VR world had seen.

Kirito and his group needed watch their backs, because United Front was in it to win it.

A/N: I hope you all enjoyed the first chapter of the Pop Star Online story. For all of you playing Memory Defrag, I know you have probably been working tirelessly to get up in the rankings for the Pop Star Online event. I wish you all the best of luck and hope you place high.

Also, the song the girls sang this chapter was Tell Me Your Wish by Girls Generation. I hope you all liked it.

Next chapter will hopefully be up within a week. See you then everybody.