Chapter 20: Feelings of Resonation
Anonydeath pushed his way through crowds, his feet carrying as quickly as possible, looking back to see the very agile Imu zigzagging in between people without even so much as bumping them. "She's certainly a persistent one." Running by an ornaments and souvenir stand, Anonydeath flipped the table, spilling pillows, action figures, glass cups and more before taking off. Imu extended her staff out, pole vaulting over the mess before landing on her feet, continuing the pursuit.
Anonydeath kept tossing and trashing things to halt Imu's advance. boiling food trays, large wooden barrels and even a shelf full of large plushies, which he brought down in a local store much to the owner's anger, all went flying Imu's direction. Forced to get creative, Imu displayed her athleticism by sliding, leaping, and parrying with her staff. At one point, she ran around a corner only to get slammed by a wide, flat-screen TV that Anony had broken out of a nearby window. "Raugh!" still feeling the sting, Imu pushed the TV off of her, adjusting her glasses before dashing after Anonydeath again.
"How did that not slow her down?! My goodness, I do not get as much exercise as my figure implies." Anony huffed, continuing jogging hard before reaching a three-way path. Imu, a bit of ways behind, turned the corner just in time to see Anony talking to a couple of security guards, pointing in her direction.
"Dammit!" Imu quickly pulled her shirt cloth over her mouth as the security guards approached. Ignoring their commands to halt, Imu quickly slid in between them, one of them grabbing her arm. A quick elbow to the chest and Imu was free, once again following after the armored hacker.
Chaos ensued, as Imu now began to evade local security, trying her best not to engage them while also pursuing Anonydeath. At one point, a guard nearly tazed her but Imu's quick reflexes only turned the guard's weapon against him. Damn guards! I almost caught that bastard too! Quickly sliding down an escalator railing, she watched as Anony ran into a large open hanger with a floor sign beside that said 'Mecha Meetup at J-Pop Con'.
Turning the corner, Imu quickly found that the hanger was full of mech suit cosplayers. "Hm… clever. But not clever enou-…" Imu began feeling for the tracking device, realizing it was no longer in her pocket. Dammit! Must have lost it during that chase.
Imu moved slowly and quietly through the mecha cosplayers, eyes peeled for any sign of Anonydeath. From the corner of her eye, a pink suit of armor was walking towards what appeared to be an exit door. Imu's body tensed, her feet picking up pace to a fast walk as she approached the pink suit from behind. Quickly grabbing the person by the shoulder, Imu turned it around only to see a pink mech suit with a large plastic triangular shield, a fake, white beam rifle and the shape of a what appeared to be a golden boomerang above it's head. With eyes widened, an embarrassed, light blush rushed to Imu's face. "Uhm… that's a really authentic, nice costume."
"Thanks." The cosplayer replied, "Yours too. You look like you're ready for war. Me? I can't exactly fight a war with a big smile on my face." Imu simply smiled back, nodding and pretending to know what he was talking about.
Anonydeath found his way into an electrical breaker room, taking deep breaths and holding his hands on his hips. "Jeez, with those running stats you'd think she was meant to be a Neptunia villain! Honestly, who was she? Arfy and her new business partner are gonna have a lot to answer to for this madness."
"You're all gonna have a lot to answer for when I'm through with you." Imu approached Anony, staff out, taking careful, slow steps.
"My goddess, you are a persistent one." Anonydeath sighed, "I'm afraid I'm a guy who doesn't really like the pushy types, sweetheart."
"Hmph. Well, you'll just have to learn to like it then, cause there's plenty more of that where you'll be going." Imu said with a glare.
"Oooohohoho, you're a saucy one. I must say it's impressive that you've kept up with me for this long. You must really have the hots for me." Anony's words came off in a slightly seductive tone. Imu's lip twitched but she ignored the comment, focusing her eyes on Anonydeath. With a sudden, higher pitched change in tone, Anony said, "Either that or you're just lonely! If you just wanted to be friends, you could have said so, you poor thing."
"Eeh… S-Shut up! I am not lonely! And why would I wanna be friends with someone who looks like he was ripped out of one of my sister's mangas?!" Imu said, showing slightly gritted teeth.
"Oh come now, this suit is a highly advanced piece of technology. It might not be hyper-explosive to words like some people, but I've gotten much more than my money's worth on this baby. Have you ever seen these kinda suits where you live?" Anony asked casually.
"I didn't come here to discuss tech trends! Now quiet, you!" Imu replied, gritting her teeth.
"I bet you don't even have technology where you come from with that stick of yours. So needless to say, I was quite shocked when you sent that little lightning bolt to spank my cheekles." He turned around, patting his rear, "I'm still feelin' the tinglies a little."
"You'll be feeling a lot more than that once I'm through with you, creep! Now get down on the ground!" Imu raised her voice, aggressively pointing her staff at Anony as if to command him.
"You'll have to ask nicely, sister. I told you I don't like girls who are pushy."
"Oh, you don't? Then how about this?" Imu began shaking, the veins on her forehead beginning to boil, her words seething through her teeth. "Get down on the ground before I ELECTROCUTE YOUR ASS FORCIBLY!"
"AH! Such a barbarian, but just like my Noire you are sooo cute when you're angry." Anony once again put his hands on his face in a melodramatic fashion.
Imu began angrily spinning her staff as the ends of it began to generate electricity. "Rrgh, EAT LIGHTNING, STUPID ASS! Secret Ninja Art, Rolling Thunder Two!" Anonydeath leapt out of the way as Imu sent her staff flying, creating a small electric twister. Sparks began flying wildly as switchboards, breakers, transformers, and more all reacted violently to Imu's attack. Imu yelped, falling on her ass, as surrounding sparks spewed like a fountain, blacking out the entire convention within the main building's complex.
As a majority of the sparks faded, Imu got up in pitch darkness, walking slowly forward. Imu felt the wind knocked out of her as the steel tongue of Anonydeath's boot kneed her in the stomach. With a paralyzing shove, she fell back onto the ground, barely making out the green lights from his visor. "I'm sorry, but I simply don't have the time to be messing with… why, I never caught your name."
Despite her resistance to electricity, between the hard blow to the gut and the paralysis, Imu struggled to get up. "I am… Imu… of… Hebijo." a few coughs left her mouth before her arms gave in and she fell face down again.
"Imu, huh. I would make you pay for the damage to my suit, but luckily I got off with minor scrapes. You know, you really are a cute one, but still too pushy for my tastes. Hope we can talk again sometime though; I haven't had that much exhilarating fun in a long time!" Anonydeath said, running off.
The moment the lights went out, 5pb stopped singing. Only a small bit of sunlight from the window of the outside doors shone in the rear of the arena, but it was not enough for the hundreds in the audience, who's incessant chatter over what just happened began to irk Murasaki's nerves as she tried calling out for Vert.
"I'm right here, Saki. But I can't find Ram!" Vert's voice called out, Murasaki gripping tightly onto Vert's arm as the latter called out for Ram. As Vert tried pushing through the crowds looking for Ram, so too did the endless swarms of people mix themselves up in a frenzy in what Murasaki would have called 'a clusterfuck', had she not been wrestling to keep a grip on the Leanbox CPU. "Vert, please! Don't move so fast, I can't… keep up."
Another confused body pushed it's way through the masses and in that moment, Murasaki felt Vert's fingers slipping from hers. "Vert?... Vert? Vert… please. Where… are you?" Murasaki weakly cried out, but her voice was drowned out by the clamoring masses. Her heart then pounded faster with each passing beat, the hair on her skin standing on end as her body trembled. Despite the shimmer of light from the rear of the arena doors, for Murasaki, everything began to grow darker. She could barely make out microphoned voices saying, 'Ladies and Gentlemen. We apologize for this horrible inconvenience, please remain calm and stay where you are. The show will continue once…' but they faded into the background as Murasaki's anxiety began to slowly boil. Just then, she made out the silhouettes of people falling and flying out of the way as clanking, steel footsteps could be heard.
Ram jumped out in the middle of the isle, blocking a large, pink power-suited man as she called out the name Anonydeath. Between his lit-up visor and Ram being close towards the exit, Vert caught a perfect glance. "Well, well, if it isn't the Noire-ophile. Now just what are you and the Sages Syndicate planning?" Vert approached, pulling out her lance.
"Oh, give me a break." Anony sighed, looking back and forth at the two closing in CPUs. "Now, now, let us not get too hasty." Faking an attack towards Vert, he dodged an ice beam from Ram who attempted to hit him from behind but only ended up freezing Vert's leg. Vert cried out in pain, but as Ram called out to her, Anonydeath disarmed the little Loweean Candidate and grabbed her. "Not a sudden move from anyone or the little big mouth gets it."
"Put her down, Vermin!" Vert demanded.
"Yeah, lemme go, you big dummy!" Ram yelled, kicking her legs. Some of the locals in the audience who were close enough began to chime in with Vert and Ram until Anonydeath showed them a dangerous electric spark from his hand.
"On the contrary, this kid is my ticket to freedom. Believe me, I usually don't enjoy resorting to such scummy tactics, but you leave me no choice, Verty-pie." Anonydeath took slow, careful steps back towards the door until he dashed out, with Ram in his arms.
Using the blunt end of her spear, Vert quickly busted the ice on her leg. Upon a brief look back, she saw Murasaki reaching out to her from a distance, attempting to call to her. Vert tried to call back, but the crowds were too great. As if stockpiling stress, Vert looked back at the exit doors and then back at Murasaki again. And again. And again… shaking in her skin until finally with an upset grunt, she turned and dashed out the door.
Vert… I thought… you cared. The water rushed to Murasaki's eyes as she watched Vert leave, unaware of what had fully occurred. This is why… I hate people. This is why I'll never be good enough for anyone. Because I've never been good enough. Not for my family, my school, my sister. Murasaki felt the dark aura rising from inside. Her hair follicles, alive with malice, started to rise as an overwhelming urge began to boil her blood. Oh no. No, not now. Not here. Bebetan. Please. I don't wanna… be a monster. Help me… "HELP MEEEEEEEEEE!"
Murasaki's scream burned, as a sinister, black sphere engulfed in the immediate area. Panic; screams echoed as Murasaki opened her eyes to the sight of people fleeing the arena. Body after body surrounded her, their still, lifeless and mangled forms all pointing to what she'd done, to which her eyes reflected the horrified stare of death.
One crying man held one of the bodies in his arms. Murasaki attempted to apologize, but when the man rushed her, a weak "No, stay back." was all she could muster before her hair turned and lunged a spectral, purple shruriken at the man, impaling him in the stomach. "No. No no no no no no no! This is why I told them I wanted to stay home." Murasaki sobbed, dropping her head. Rasping her voice, she made Bebetan say, "Why bother with any of them? Why bother when none of them care for you? They all hate your guts anyways! So why not hate them back?"
As security guards rushed in, demanding Saki to freeze, she looked up slowly, glaring at their tasers aimed her direction. "Out of my way." Murasaki's voice dripped with a deep venom before dark, ghostly claws came from the tips of her hair, slashing away several of the security guards and injuring the rest. "Anyone ELSE wanna try and get in my fucking way!?"
Just then, Murasaki detected an incoming attack. Attempting to dodge, she still got knocked back as an electric resonance rose up from the ground. Looking up, she saw the music idol now standing a bit away from her, holding her guitar in a fighting stance. "You're… the music artist. Vert's friend, aren't you?" Murasaki droned a deadpanned glare Lyrica's direction.
"I am 5pb of Leanbox! I don't know who you are, but I can't let you harm any more innocent people!" 5pb shouted.
"Innocent? None of us are innocent. We are all selfish, hypocritical, ignorant sacks of flesh who's only goal in life is their own personal gain and bringing others down to their level. By the way, I am Murasaki. It would seem that even your friend, miss Vert, has abandoned you just as she abandoned me. What say you to that?"
"I didn't see exactly what happened, but one of our enemies was in sight! So, my Lady Vert would never run off without reason!"
"Lies… LIES! She abandoned me just like EVERYBODY ELSE! And listen to yourself. Calling her your lady. That kind of ass-kissing submission SICKENS ME!" Murasaki screamed, forming a dark energy orb, which she swung in 5pb's direction.
Swinging her guitar like a baseball bat, 5pb deflected Murasaki's orb, sending it into a hanging light fixture. "I call her 'Lady' out of respect. NOT BECAUSE I THINK SHE'S BETTER THAN ME!" 5pb responded by firing a series of multi-colored waves from her guitar at Murasaki.
Murasaki dodged to the side before sending more dark spheres at 5pb, who performed a ducking slide under the first two and quickly got up reflecting the 3rd sphere back at her. Murasaki swung her primary hair shuriken, slashing the energy orb and making it dissipate. But then she noticed 5pb charging up a ball of electricity over her head, which grew bigger and bigger as she played a guitar riff. "Haaaaaa! Plasma Oven!" 5pb shouted, using her guitar to pitch it.
"You… you STAY AWAY WITH THAT THING!" Murasaki charged up her own, large energy sphere before launching it. The two attacks met in the middle, dissipating into a small explosion that rocked the arena. The area filled with a sparking smoke, 5pb keeping her eyes peeled for her opponent. Suddenly Murasaki flew through the smoke, swinging her hair shurikens at 5pb. The two found themselves in a lock as 5pb's battle guitar pushed back against Murasaki's main hair blade.
"I would ask… how you know Lady Vert." 5pb grunted, unwilling to give in to Saki.
"She seemed like such a nice person. She was so nice to me when I was all alone! She and the little one said they'd help find my sister. And they… they LEFT ME!" Murasaki squeezed tears out of her eyes as she attempted to strike 5pb with her two smaller, side-hair shurikens.
While the body of her guitar blocked Murasaki's main blade, 5pb whipped the head of her guitar up, blocking one of Saki's smaller blades by entangling her hair around the guitar neck. However, her right shuriken sliced across Lyrica's cheek. The idol winced in pain but stood her ground. "I pity you, you know. The way you talk… I can tell you're in pain. And that you've bottled things for so long that now you can no longer hold back."
Murasaki looked ready to cry for a moment, "Shut up, shut up, SHUT UP! Like you would know ANYTHING ABOUT PAIN!" Murasaki flared up, dark aura around her blazing. "You idols live the good life! Travelling around, adored by millions! Singing with voices so beautiful that many envy and WISH they could even have. So don't talk like you KNOW MEEE!"
5pb yelled, still pushing back against Murasaki, her muscles growing stiff. "I could say the same thing about you! My parents did not support my singing, my mother degraded me because she was jealous of my voice! I never wanted fans or to become popular! I just love to sing, and it turned out that way! I may look confident on stage, but the truth is I suffer from stage fright unless I absorb myself into my songs or unless I'm in battle! I still struggle with talking to people!"
"An introverted idol? That doesn't make sense." Murasaki questioned.
"So ya see! Just because I'm popular DOESN'T MEAN I'M PERFECT!" with a swift kick, 5pb sent Murasaki rolling on the ground. Briefly wiping the blood from her cheek, 5pb took aim. "Now, resonate with my song! Heavenly Sound!" Murasaki yelped as with each guitar strum, a spark of electricity painfully hit Murasaki in various spots of her body, tearing small parts of her dress in the process. Until finally the last strike had seemingly paralyzed her.
"Murasaki, was it? I may not know you, but that does not mean I don't understand suffering. I've been there!" 5pb walked forward slowly, placing an arm gently around a teary-eyed Murasaki.
"Don't be fooled. She's lying to you and you know it." Murasaki trembled, hearing the deep feminine voice in her head again. That voice… No, not that voice again. "No… No, please."
"It's okay. You'll be alright." 5pb said.
"No! No, go away and let me DIE!" Murasaki cried, unleashing the surrounding root of calamity once more. 5pb's outfit shredded, leaving her already somewhat exposed body in little more than rags as she was thrown back, hitting the ground. Murasaki, still on her knees with paralysis, struggled to even look her head up. Her face an absolute mess with tears and snot streams. "You're… still alive… you're… no ordinary person. Just… who are you?"
5pb grunted, turning over. "Someone… who's gonna set you free from whatever possesses you, Murasaki."
"But don't you see?" Saki's lips trembled. "There's nothing you can do for me. I was cursed with this power from the moment I was born." As she attempted to continue talking, her words slurred as she began bawling quietly.
5pb forced herself to her feet, her legs shaking as they struggled to support her stiff body. "There is power in this world, Murasaki. It is neither cursed nor blessed. It all matters on how we use it! And I'm going to use mine to set you free! Prepare yourself… 5pb. LIVE!" climbing back up onto the stage, 5pb sent wild guitar waves Saki's direction as she sang "Shine! Stars of dreams. Over Limit! Going beyond limits, surely. Because I will not lose to anyone!"
Murasaki screamed, her bloodcurdling scream echoing the arena, making 5pb sing stronger. Murasaki fell backwards onto her back her dress getting destroyed, leaving her in her undies as 5pb finished. Limping over to where Murasaki lay, 5pb looked down, holding out a hand to the girl. "You fool…" Saki muttered. "Why can't you see? Nobody can help me."
5pb tried to console Murasaki when suddenly Imu's staff struck her in the back of the head, knocking her out cold. Running towards her sister, Imu held Murasaki in her arms. "Murasaki! What happened? WHAT HAPPENED?!" Imu began to break down. "Where did you go!? I told you to wait outside the bathroom!"
Murasaki simply held on to her sister, sobbing into her chest.