Standard Disclamer Procedure
I, Vincent Voltaire, do not own the rights to DDR or their characters, nor do I own the song, "True..." done by Kosaka Riku(part of BeForYou). The reason is because Alice gets her own concert, and I needed a song for her to sing, so I decided to choose that song, since I think the overall music part fits the scene's nature.
Also, don't sue me, I'm just a fanfic writer.
Chapter 3 – Singing Worries
It was still raining outside. Yuriko, the man in the tuxedo, and I were in the back room, seeing as it is the only place in the store that had places to sit on. I looked at the man in the tux in more detail now, and this is what I was able to pick up.
He had on your standard black pants, followed by a vest that covered his white t-shirt; the standard uniform, except this person had, on his left side, a sidearm pistol. When looking at this, I realized that this person was serious. Either that or it was part of guarding the daughter of a famous director. "Akira is your name. Am I correct?" Yuriko said.
"Yes, you can call me that."
"So anyway, you came here to talk about the Revolution the Oni, or the Oni Revolution, is that correct?"
"Yes."
"So tell us already! I've been growing impatient since this morning!" I blurted that out in desperation. Yuriko and Akira looked at me funny. I apologized. "Sorry, I've been excited since this morning."
"Well, then can I explain?"
Yuriko and I nodded.
"Well, first I need to explain a little about myself. I am Akira, and not only have I been assigned to guard Ms. Yuni Berth, but I am also part of a special task force assigned to uncover and search what you have called "Revolution the Oni" or The Oni Revolution. I am only one of a series of agents investigating around the world to uncover the mysteries of this new found problem."
"The truth behind the revolution is that it is a secret cult that police agencies around the world have been trying to uncover since the late 90's. What we have been able to figure out is the following: Somehow, they are trying to gather citizens from all across the world in join them in their quest for eternal salvation. So far, we have considered this to be an isolated incident only happening in Europe. However, with the recent start of the Becamite World Dancing Championships, more and more people appear to be influenced by this new world cult."
"What we have picked up is that they appear to attract supporters through the use of music. I'll give you an example." Akira took out a CD from his pocket. "Do you have a CD player anywhere?" I showed him the player and he placed it in. "This is one example of how they attract their followers." I began to listen. It felt something in the lines of relaxation: soothing waves across the ocean, and a piano playing in the background.
I did not get how this was to any benefit to their recruitment, so I told him, "Uh, Akira, I don't understand how this is actually attracting followers."
"Think what this music is doing to you right now. It is releasing your feelings and awareness of the outside world, virtually making you sleepy and entering to your own fantasy realm where you are the queen and everyone is your pawns. That is what they are trying to preach. Using the hypnotic like music, they try to place people and bring them to their control, and I am aware that they are not using just this type of new age stuff." He changed tracks on the CD and it now played a familiar tune to me. It is a dark trance song using various tones to create the melody. "PPK's Resurrection?" I said.
"Listen, Emily." I did as the monotones began to make sense as I was slowly swept away. I felt such in another world, a bit aquatic, but still it is a different world. Yuriko did not feel anything. "I don't get it. It isn't affecting me."
"That's just it." Akira turned off the player. "Somehow, the people that the revolution is trying to recruit are people that depend on this type of thing to escape their world. Most of the time they are depressed people who not willing to deal with the after affects of standard drugs but want to escape their fantasy through whatever non-lethal means and this is the escape: The music."
"And what does this have to do with us, Akira?" Yuriko said.
"The truth is, we don't know. Somehow the Konsento bots are part of a greater purpose, but for now we have nothing to go on. That is why I came to speak to you. I was wondering if you had anything information as to what the robots were made for."
I spoke. "Akira, I wish I knew. The thing is that, the only thing that I remember that involved the robots is that I was the costume-playing companion of the first two robots."
"You're kidding! That was you!?" He said in a very excited tone.
"Now who's looking funny?" I told to Akira. He regained composure.
Yuriko took the floor next. "Well, I really don't remember anything either. Except for the possibility of the robot being modified to emit a hypnotic suggestion and…"
Akira and I looked stunned. "Yuriko, what are you saying?" I said to her.
"What I am saying is that there is a possibility that the robot could be modified through conventional means. I looked at the schematics before and it could be possible, through some crafty manipulation techniques, to create a program that will very well brainwash people to believe in an ideal like that. The chance of anyone actually pulling it off is slim however, because of the complex processes that are required to pull it off."
"So what you are saying is that the bots could very well be used for a brainwashing device?"
"It's possible. I'm not saying that…"
"It's official! The robots are being used as a brainwashing plot to take over the world!" I think Akira got a little too excited at that point as he jumped up from his seat and it fell over. "Uh… you've starting to get a bit jumpy." I told him
"Sorry. I've had coffee about 2 hours ago and I feel all jumpy. You can understand that."
I nodded. From then on, Akira left us to go home. Yuriko did the same. I closed the shop and left in the pouring rain.
And yet I smiled being all wet.
The next day, the rain dried up, but the weirdness shot up 200%, and that is all thanks to Remi.
It was morning and I opened the shop. Inoue was waiting for me with some strange news. "Uh, Emily, I just spoke to Remi on the phone, and I think you may want to rethink about what you said about your Kaeru model."
"Why? Did she pull off something completely insane?"
"She cosplayed as a fairy."
"What?! Repeat this to me again, and make it much clearer."
"Remi had decided that because of your constant conflicts over not making a fairy costume, she decided to make one of her own." I could not believe this. Out of all the possible ideas that would come to Remi, I would never have though that she would go to such lengths to dress up as a fairy. Normally, I would never find Remi the type of person to go out of her way to dress up as one, but maybe she was trying to make a point in what I wanted to choose.
Remi walked in a few minutes later with a trench coat on, probably to hide her costume from the public. Her hair had been dyed blue for reasons that seemed obvious, and the shoes had an aqua tint that was very noticeable from looking at it. "Remi, please tell me you didn't do what I think you did." I told her.
"Well, I figured that you wouldn't make another fairy costume again, so I agreed with that."
"Oh, that's good."
"But I decided to do it anyway." She took off the trench coat, which revealed the entire costume, dragonfly wings and all. The upper part of the costume exhibited a shiny aqua dress that reflected with the sunlight. The dress was tight on her, all the way down to her waist, where it branched off around her body to her knees. Remi placed on top of her a "diamond" tiara, (It really didn't have diamonds. Duh!) and fixed her wings, which were colored white with a tint of blue. "Remi, what were you thinking?"
I didn't think she was so pleased at my response. "Emily, why do you hate all these fantastical archetypes so much? Explain to me that."
"I don't hate them… it's just that I feel that those types of characters are completely stupid to cosplay."
"No, they are not."
"She's a fairy for crying out loud! Doesn't that give you something to deal with?"
"What about Kaeru-Zukin, Devil-Zukin, and Princess-Zukin?"
Somehow she won me there.
Suzue came over feeling a bit excited. She had an envelope in her right hand and her jovial attitude would have continued had she not noticed Remi. "Hi everyone, how was…" She noticed the costume. "Remi, is that you?"
"Yes"
"You do realize you are dressed up as a fairy, correct?"
"Yes, although Emily is disagreeing with me 100%."
"Look, all I can say is that the costume deserves to go straight to the trash heap. I mean, why would you go insane at take the time to dress up as them?"
"Anyway, before I was rudely interrupted, I have a gift for all of you." Suzue showed us 5 tickets. "O.K. But what are these?' I told her.
"They are for the Alice Ip concert tonight and I am inviting all of you!"
"Where did you get these tickets Suzue? The Alice Ip concert has been sold out for weeks." Remi asked.
"I won it off a radio contest. Can you imagine that everyone in the city wanted these tickets badly? They sold out in about 10 minutes. I was lucky enough to be selected. Anyway there are five tickets and four of us. My friend is out of town, so I decided if anyone has a friend that could tag along with us..."
There was one person, Emi, who could come with us. I'm not sure if she is a fan of Alice Ip. "I have someone who could come with me. I'll have to check on it later today."
"Great, but you will have to make it quick. The concert is tonight, and if we don't find someone, I will have to scalp these tickets for cash."
"Hey, can I come with the costume?" said Remi.
"Hell no!" we all told her. She actually whimpered.
Emi walked in later in the day. The conflict of the glass panel being smashed had made her miss out on choosing clothes for the competition. "Hi, Emily?" she said
"Hello." I decided to tell her the news. "Say, Emi are you a fan of Alice Ip?"
"Alice Ip? Of course! I have virtually every CD she released. Why?"
"I have a spare ticket to go see Alice in concert tonight, and I want you to go."
"You're kidding, who else is coming?"
"You see the three workers here?" Emi noticed Inoue, Suzue, but not Remi. She was in the back. "Well, two actually. The third one is the back, but they are all coming with us."
"O.K. I'm there. Now if I can only get my mom to confirm."
She walked over to her mom's shop and came back ten minutes later. "She said I could go." Emi noticed Remi walk in, still stuck in the fairy costume. "Whoa! That was completely unexpected."
"Forgive Remi, she decided to wear that costume today just to annoy me."
"…and to retaliate over your fairy bashing!"
"I was not!"
Emi causally walked away, realizing that it would not get anywhere if she got involved
Whatever Suzue said was right, the tickets were sold out a long time ago. How can I tell? The entire stadium was full. Probably every ticket that existed for the concert became bought, scalped, or auctioned off on the internet. It was pretty understandable, considering that her popularity was equal to that of every other pop singer in the US.
The four of us got the VIP treatment as we all drove up to the place via limo. Suzue was excited as hell. She wanted to see Alice ever since she won the Becamite competition three years ago. Suzue's dream was to be a singer just like Alice and become famous, or at least sing with her. Her problem is that she has always been suffering from stage fright. In about every audition she has gone to for the past year now, she was unable to sing properly. In the store, she sings just like Alice, but in auditions, she sings like a banshee, which isn't really all that great.
Inoue felt ok that she got out of the house, but in all honesty, I seriously wonder about her. She seems so lonely at times. Most of the time she hangs out in the back, just taking inventory on all the shipment of clothing that we got. During that entire time, I have not once seen her ever stay happy for 5 minutes. When she appeared this morning to open, she seemed happy, but after a while, she just became her normal, depressive self. I never really did ask her why she acted like this, but considering that I have only seen her depressed since this morning; I might as well talk to her.
Remi is one person that I wish I could understand. Her jovial attitude has made me wonder if she just wanted to wear the costume just for the sake of wearing it. Throughout the limo ride, she kept on talking about how cute she looks and even commented on Emi's looks, which tonight she had on a plaid orange shirt with blue jeans. Another thing that I have noticed about Remi is that she always carries this lollipop red necklace around her neck. Somewhere around this, there has got to be a reason for her positive disposition.
And about Emi… well I have nothing for her, since I just met her yesterday. The only thing that I could come up with is that she is a very balanced person; that and one of her friends has a temper problem.
"Come on Emily! We are here!" Suzue said. I came out, along with Inoue, Emi, and Remi. We were quickly settled past the standing lines and the crowds, past the main entrance, and into the main building. "I am so excited!" Suzue said. "I can't believe it. I am finally going to see Alice and Co. live on stage! You do not understand how much I have craved this moment."
"Wow, this is the first time I have ever seen anyone this fanatic over Alice Ip." Emi added. "I mean, she is just a singer, and you have to factor in the rest of her group helps in as well."
"You mean her other two dancers? Well, they are o.k., but I don't care! Alice, you're biggest fan is here." Suzue noticed a lifelike poster of Alice on the wall and she ran aimlessly into it thinking it was her. The rest of us started to sweat a little. "Emily?"
"I am not going to even ask Emi."
About a couple of minutes of waiting, asking, understanding, and controlling the appetites of all four of us, plus Suzue's unusual and ridiculous idol worshiping of Alice, We finally got inside the stadium. "Come on Alice, show yourself! I didn't wait all night in the phones just to waste my time here."
"Suzue, would you just calm down for one second?" Emi said. "She will show up just as soon as the lights dim, and they are doing so right now." Sure enough, the lights were dimming, which resulted in a dark stadium. Suzue was screaming for Alice to come out. The rest of us were just looking at her jumping like crazy.
Alice did come out in a blaze of glory, entering onto the stage with her two partners among a backdrop of blinding lights. The lights didn't help at all to identify who was who, although Suzue did tell me on the limo ride which person was which. The first partner, Zhen, had on a green shirt which if you look carefully; you could see part of her light brown hair stand out in the back, which also had some highlights in it. Jun, Alice's second partner, had a tan shirt on and red hair with nothing fancy in it. Alice herself had her long hair blue and a red shirt. All three were wearing the same shoes and white pants, and all three were making Suzue go crazy.
Emi, Remi, and Inoue to some extent were all cheering on. I was standing around trying to enjoy myself, but I began to notice someone backstage who did not seem to look like anyone that was part of the stage crew, nor was he dressed up like one. I couldn't get a clear picture of this person, but I saw this person messing around with the light controls.
Realizing this, I thought that I had to tell someone, but this was a concert for crying out loud, so who was I going to tell? The people in the moshpit next to me?!
Wait a minute! What's a moshpit doing in a concert like this? First I see this strange guy hanging out on the system, and then I see a moshpit forming. I can see that on a rock concert, but I just don't see the point of it in a pop concert like Alice and Co, unless that mysterious guy set something up.
"Attention everyone," Alice said on the speaker as she finished singing. "I have a surprise for all of you. As part of a national radio contest, numerous tickets have been won on radio stations all across Japan and people have been flown in from all parts of the island with the hope that one person will have the chance to sing with me on stage."
Suzue never told me about this. This was most certainly a surprise for me.
"I have been asked to draw out the winner." A box which contained the results of every single winner has been taken out. Suzue's name had to be among one of them. "Suzue, you never told me that there was this involved." She didn't respond. She was waiting for the decision.
Alice placed her hand inside and drew out a name. "Is there a Suzue Momotami in the stadium?
"Ahhh!!!! Alice!" It was official. She had her wish come true, and she ran up on to the stage, dragging us along with her. "What is she doing?" Emi said "She is worse than Yuni."
I did not know what that meant, because I have never seen Yuni yet.
The three of us went up the stage where we all stood: Remi, Inoue, Emi, and I along with Suzue ecstatic over meeting Alice on stage. "Wow! You must really like me, Suzue." Alice commented.
"You do not understand how much it makes me feel to finally talk to the one and only Alice Ip, along with Jun and Zhen."
"Much obliged. Now you probably know the song, "True…" Correct?"
"By heart. I mean I've tried singing, but I don't think I can do it well in public, especially in a big stage."
"Stage fright?"
She nodded.
"It's Ok. I will support you every step of the way."
"All right, I'll try." She began to slowly start singing the song.
nee tatoeba moshi...
guuzen aeta toshitanara
The first couple of moments, she was starting to slag off and sing off key, but she gradually got the hang of it! At the same time, she started to feel less and less afraid of singing in front of people.
futari de warai atte
hanaseru you ni naritai ne
The less stage fright that she had, the better she sang, up to a point I would have never expected. Alice joined in with her, and eventually the entire audience joined in and sang with her. I think Suzue was in tears of joy for she has basically been given her lifelong dream.
I wish I could say the same thing thirty seconds later.
The lighting system began to short out and all the lights began to blow up randomly; some being set on fire. "What's going on?" Emi said.
"I don't know." said Alice.
The audience ran toward the exits in a mad riot. Everyone on stage asked everyone to calm down, but no one would listen. Alice was also speechless. "How could this be happening? Suzue, I'm sorry."
Suzue didn't say a word. I think she was mortified that her dream was ruined.
Two security guards came out, dragging a man who, by the way he was dressed, somewhat patriotic toward England, as his white jump suit had the British flag around his arms. "We found this man leaving the scene just after the lights started to blow out." One of the guards said.
"Oh, no it can't be you."
"Alice, do you know this guy?" I said to her.
The man smiled at Alice. "You don't remember me after all this time? I think you should, for it is the same man you defeated in Tokyo."
Alice looked at the man and saw a familiar face, a face she was hoping he would never see again. "Spike…"
Wonderful! First, the Alice concert is ruined. Now, Emily and the girls have to find out why Spike is on the stage. And what was it with that mosh pit anyway? You will have to hold out for Chap 4, after I finish that term paper. (Lousy college.)
I, Vincent Voltaire, do not own the rights to DDR or their characters, nor do I own the song, "True..." done by Kosaka Riku(part of BeForYou). The reason is because Alice gets her own concert, and I needed a song for her to sing, so I decided to choose that song, since I think the overall music part fits the scene's nature.
Also, don't sue me, I'm just a fanfic writer.
Chapter 3 – Singing Worries
It was still raining outside. Yuriko, the man in the tuxedo, and I were in the back room, seeing as it is the only place in the store that had places to sit on. I looked at the man in the tux in more detail now, and this is what I was able to pick up.
He had on your standard black pants, followed by a vest that covered his white t-shirt; the standard uniform, except this person had, on his left side, a sidearm pistol. When looking at this, I realized that this person was serious. Either that or it was part of guarding the daughter of a famous director. "Akira is your name. Am I correct?" Yuriko said.
"Yes, you can call me that."
"So anyway, you came here to talk about the Revolution the Oni, or the Oni Revolution, is that correct?"
"Yes."
"So tell us already! I've been growing impatient since this morning!" I blurted that out in desperation. Yuriko and Akira looked at me funny. I apologized. "Sorry, I've been excited since this morning."
"Well, then can I explain?"
Yuriko and I nodded.
"Well, first I need to explain a little about myself. I am Akira, and not only have I been assigned to guard Ms. Yuni Berth, but I am also part of a special task force assigned to uncover and search what you have called "Revolution the Oni" or The Oni Revolution. I am only one of a series of agents investigating around the world to uncover the mysteries of this new found problem."
"The truth behind the revolution is that it is a secret cult that police agencies around the world have been trying to uncover since the late 90's. What we have been able to figure out is the following: Somehow, they are trying to gather citizens from all across the world in join them in their quest for eternal salvation. So far, we have considered this to be an isolated incident only happening in Europe. However, with the recent start of the Becamite World Dancing Championships, more and more people appear to be influenced by this new world cult."
"What we have picked up is that they appear to attract supporters through the use of music. I'll give you an example." Akira took out a CD from his pocket. "Do you have a CD player anywhere?" I showed him the player and he placed it in. "This is one example of how they attract their followers." I began to listen. It felt something in the lines of relaxation: soothing waves across the ocean, and a piano playing in the background.
I did not get how this was to any benefit to their recruitment, so I told him, "Uh, Akira, I don't understand how this is actually attracting followers."
"Think what this music is doing to you right now. It is releasing your feelings and awareness of the outside world, virtually making you sleepy and entering to your own fantasy realm where you are the queen and everyone is your pawns. That is what they are trying to preach. Using the hypnotic like music, they try to place people and bring them to their control, and I am aware that they are not using just this type of new age stuff." He changed tracks on the CD and it now played a familiar tune to me. It is a dark trance song using various tones to create the melody. "PPK's Resurrection?" I said.
"Listen, Emily." I did as the monotones began to make sense as I was slowly swept away. I felt such in another world, a bit aquatic, but still it is a different world. Yuriko did not feel anything. "I don't get it. It isn't affecting me."
"That's just it." Akira turned off the player. "Somehow, the people that the revolution is trying to recruit are people that depend on this type of thing to escape their world. Most of the time they are depressed people who not willing to deal with the after affects of standard drugs but want to escape their fantasy through whatever non-lethal means and this is the escape: The music."
"And what does this have to do with us, Akira?" Yuriko said.
"The truth is, we don't know. Somehow the Konsento bots are part of a greater purpose, but for now we have nothing to go on. That is why I came to speak to you. I was wondering if you had anything information as to what the robots were made for."
I spoke. "Akira, I wish I knew. The thing is that, the only thing that I remember that involved the robots is that I was the costume-playing companion of the first two robots."
"You're kidding! That was you!?" He said in a very excited tone.
"Now who's looking funny?" I told to Akira. He regained composure.
Yuriko took the floor next. "Well, I really don't remember anything either. Except for the possibility of the robot being modified to emit a hypnotic suggestion and…"
Akira and I looked stunned. "Yuriko, what are you saying?" I said to her.
"What I am saying is that there is a possibility that the robot could be modified through conventional means. I looked at the schematics before and it could be possible, through some crafty manipulation techniques, to create a program that will very well brainwash people to believe in an ideal like that. The chance of anyone actually pulling it off is slim however, because of the complex processes that are required to pull it off."
"So what you are saying is that the bots could very well be used for a brainwashing device?"
"It's possible. I'm not saying that…"
"It's official! The robots are being used as a brainwashing plot to take over the world!" I think Akira got a little too excited at that point as he jumped up from his seat and it fell over. "Uh… you've starting to get a bit jumpy." I told him
"Sorry. I've had coffee about 2 hours ago and I feel all jumpy. You can understand that."
I nodded. From then on, Akira left us to go home. Yuriko did the same. I closed the shop and left in the pouring rain.
And yet I smiled being all wet.
The next day, the rain dried up, but the weirdness shot up 200%, and that is all thanks to Remi.
It was morning and I opened the shop. Inoue was waiting for me with some strange news. "Uh, Emily, I just spoke to Remi on the phone, and I think you may want to rethink about what you said about your Kaeru model."
"Why? Did she pull off something completely insane?"
"She cosplayed as a fairy."
"What?! Repeat this to me again, and make it much clearer."
"Remi had decided that because of your constant conflicts over not making a fairy costume, she decided to make one of her own." I could not believe this. Out of all the possible ideas that would come to Remi, I would never have though that she would go to such lengths to dress up as a fairy. Normally, I would never find Remi the type of person to go out of her way to dress up as one, but maybe she was trying to make a point in what I wanted to choose.
Remi walked in a few minutes later with a trench coat on, probably to hide her costume from the public. Her hair had been dyed blue for reasons that seemed obvious, and the shoes had an aqua tint that was very noticeable from looking at it. "Remi, please tell me you didn't do what I think you did." I told her.
"Well, I figured that you wouldn't make another fairy costume again, so I agreed with that."
"Oh, that's good."
"But I decided to do it anyway." She took off the trench coat, which revealed the entire costume, dragonfly wings and all. The upper part of the costume exhibited a shiny aqua dress that reflected with the sunlight. The dress was tight on her, all the way down to her waist, where it branched off around her body to her knees. Remi placed on top of her a "diamond" tiara, (It really didn't have diamonds. Duh!) and fixed her wings, which were colored white with a tint of blue. "Remi, what were you thinking?"
I didn't think she was so pleased at my response. "Emily, why do you hate all these fantastical archetypes so much? Explain to me that."
"I don't hate them… it's just that I feel that those types of characters are completely stupid to cosplay."
"No, they are not."
"She's a fairy for crying out loud! Doesn't that give you something to deal with?"
"What about Kaeru-Zukin, Devil-Zukin, and Princess-Zukin?"
Somehow she won me there.
Suzue came over feeling a bit excited. She had an envelope in her right hand and her jovial attitude would have continued had she not noticed Remi. "Hi everyone, how was…" She noticed the costume. "Remi, is that you?"
"Yes"
"You do realize you are dressed up as a fairy, correct?"
"Yes, although Emily is disagreeing with me 100%."
"Look, all I can say is that the costume deserves to go straight to the trash heap. I mean, why would you go insane at take the time to dress up as them?"
"Anyway, before I was rudely interrupted, I have a gift for all of you." Suzue showed us 5 tickets. "O.K. But what are these?' I told her.
"They are for the Alice Ip concert tonight and I am inviting all of you!"
"Where did you get these tickets Suzue? The Alice Ip concert has been sold out for weeks." Remi asked.
"I won it off a radio contest. Can you imagine that everyone in the city wanted these tickets badly? They sold out in about 10 minutes. I was lucky enough to be selected. Anyway there are five tickets and four of us. My friend is out of town, so I decided if anyone has a friend that could tag along with us..."
There was one person, Emi, who could come with us. I'm not sure if she is a fan of Alice Ip. "I have someone who could come with me. I'll have to check on it later today."
"Great, but you will have to make it quick. The concert is tonight, and if we don't find someone, I will have to scalp these tickets for cash."
"Hey, can I come with the costume?" said Remi.
"Hell no!" we all told her. She actually whimpered.
Emi walked in later in the day. The conflict of the glass panel being smashed had made her miss out on choosing clothes for the competition. "Hi, Emily?" she said
"Hello." I decided to tell her the news. "Say, Emi are you a fan of Alice Ip?"
"Alice Ip? Of course! I have virtually every CD she released. Why?"
"I have a spare ticket to go see Alice in concert tonight, and I want you to go."
"You're kidding, who else is coming?"
"You see the three workers here?" Emi noticed Inoue, Suzue, but not Remi. She was in the back. "Well, two actually. The third one is the back, but they are all coming with us."
"O.K. I'm there. Now if I can only get my mom to confirm."
She walked over to her mom's shop and came back ten minutes later. "She said I could go." Emi noticed Remi walk in, still stuck in the fairy costume. "Whoa! That was completely unexpected."
"Forgive Remi, she decided to wear that costume today just to annoy me."
"…and to retaliate over your fairy bashing!"
"I was not!"
Emi causally walked away, realizing that it would not get anywhere if she got involved
Whatever Suzue said was right, the tickets were sold out a long time ago. How can I tell? The entire stadium was full. Probably every ticket that existed for the concert became bought, scalped, or auctioned off on the internet. It was pretty understandable, considering that her popularity was equal to that of every other pop singer in the US.
The four of us got the VIP treatment as we all drove up to the place via limo. Suzue was excited as hell. She wanted to see Alice ever since she won the Becamite competition three years ago. Suzue's dream was to be a singer just like Alice and become famous, or at least sing with her. Her problem is that she has always been suffering from stage fright. In about every audition she has gone to for the past year now, she was unable to sing properly. In the store, she sings just like Alice, but in auditions, she sings like a banshee, which isn't really all that great.
Inoue felt ok that she got out of the house, but in all honesty, I seriously wonder about her. She seems so lonely at times. Most of the time she hangs out in the back, just taking inventory on all the shipment of clothing that we got. During that entire time, I have not once seen her ever stay happy for 5 minutes. When she appeared this morning to open, she seemed happy, but after a while, she just became her normal, depressive self. I never really did ask her why she acted like this, but considering that I have only seen her depressed since this morning; I might as well talk to her.
Remi is one person that I wish I could understand. Her jovial attitude has made me wonder if she just wanted to wear the costume just for the sake of wearing it. Throughout the limo ride, she kept on talking about how cute she looks and even commented on Emi's looks, which tonight she had on a plaid orange shirt with blue jeans. Another thing that I have noticed about Remi is that she always carries this lollipop red necklace around her neck. Somewhere around this, there has got to be a reason for her positive disposition.
And about Emi… well I have nothing for her, since I just met her yesterday. The only thing that I could come up with is that she is a very balanced person; that and one of her friends has a temper problem.
"Come on Emily! We are here!" Suzue said. I came out, along with Inoue, Emi, and Remi. We were quickly settled past the standing lines and the crowds, past the main entrance, and into the main building. "I am so excited!" Suzue said. "I can't believe it. I am finally going to see Alice and Co. live on stage! You do not understand how much I have craved this moment."
"Wow, this is the first time I have ever seen anyone this fanatic over Alice Ip." Emi added. "I mean, she is just a singer, and you have to factor in the rest of her group helps in as well."
"You mean her other two dancers? Well, they are o.k., but I don't care! Alice, you're biggest fan is here." Suzue noticed a lifelike poster of Alice on the wall and she ran aimlessly into it thinking it was her. The rest of us started to sweat a little. "Emily?"
"I am not going to even ask Emi."
About a couple of minutes of waiting, asking, understanding, and controlling the appetites of all four of us, plus Suzue's unusual and ridiculous idol worshiping of Alice, We finally got inside the stadium. "Come on Alice, show yourself! I didn't wait all night in the phones just to waste my time here."
"Suzue, would you just calm down for one second?" Emi said. "She will show up just as soon as the lights dim, and they are doing so right now." Sure enough, the lights were dimming, which resulted in a dark stadium. Suzue was screaming for Alice to come out. The rest of us were just looking at her jumping like crazy.
Alice did come out in a blaze of glory, entering onto the stage with her two partners among a backdrop of blinding lights. The lights didn't help at all to identify who was who, although Suzue did tell me on the limo ride which person was which. The first partner, Zhen, had on a green shirt which if you look carefully; you could see part of her light brown hair stand out in the back, which also had some highlights in it. Jun, Alice's second partner, had a tan shirt on and red hair with nothing fancy in it. Alice herself had her long hair blue and a red shirt. All three were wearing the same shoes and white pants, and all three were making Suzue go crazy.
Emi, Remi, and Inoue to some extent were all cheering on. I was standing around trying to enjoy myself, but I began to notice someone backstage who did not seem to look like anyone that was part of the stage crew, nor was he dressed up like one. I couldn't get a clear picture of this person, but I saw this person messing around with the light controls.
Realizing this, I thought that I had to tell someone, but this was a concert for crying out loud, so who was I going to tell? The people in the moshpit next to me?!
Wait a minute! What's a moshpit doing in a concert like this? First I see this strange guy hanging out on the system, and then I see a moshpit forming. I can see that on a rock concert, but I just don't see the point of it in a pop concert like Alice and Co, unless that mysterious guy set something up.
"Attention everyone," Alice said on the speaker as she finished singing. "I have a surprise for all of you. As part of a national radio contest, numerous tickets have been won on radio stations all across Japan and people have been flown in from all parts of the island with the hope that one person will have the chance to sing with me on stage."
Suzue never told me about this. This was most certainly a surprise for me.
"I have been asked to draw out the winner." A box which contained the results of every single winner has been taken out. Suzue's name had to be among one of them. "Suzue, you never told me that there was this involved." She didn't respond. She was waiting for the decision.
Alice placed her hand inside and drew out a name. "Is there a Suzue Momotami in the stadium?
"Ahhh!!!! Alice!" It was official. She had her wish come true, and she ran up on to the stage, dragging us along with her. "What is she doing?" Emi said "She is worse than Yuni."
I did not know what that meant, because I have never seen Yuni yet.
The three of us went up the stage where we all stood: Remi, Inoue, Emi, and I along with Suzue ecstatic over meeting Alice on stage. "Wow! You must really like me, Suzue." Alice commented.
"You do not understand how much it makes me feel to finally talk to the one and only Alice Ip, along with Jun and Zhen."
"Much obliged. Now you probably know the song, "True…" Correct?"
"By heart. I mean I've tried singing, but I don't think I can do it well in public, especially in a big stage."
"Stage fright?"
She nodded.
"It's Ok. I will support you every step of the way."
"All right, I'll try." She began to slowly start singing the song.
nee tatoeba moshi...
guuzen aeta toshitanara
The first couple of moments, she was starting to slag off and sing off key, but she gradually got the hang of it! At the same time, she started to feel less and less afraid of singing in front of people.
futari de warai atte
hanaseru you ni naritai ne
The less stage fright that she had, the better she sang, up to a point I would have never expected. Alice joined in with her, and eventually the entire audience joined in and sang with her. I think Suzue was in tears of joy for she has basically been given her lifelong dream.
I wish I could say the same thing thirty seconds later.
The lighting system began to short out and all the lights began to blow up randomly; some being set on fire. "What's going on?" Emi said.
"I don't know." said Alice.
The audience ran toward the exits in a mad riot. Everyone on stage asked everyone to calm down, but no one would listen. Alice was also speechless. "How could this be happening? Suzue, I'm sorry."
Suzue didn't say a word. I think she was mortified that her dream was ruined.
Two security guards came out, dragging a man who, by the way he was dressed, somewhat patriotic toward England, as his white jump suit had the British flag around his arms. "We found this man leaving the scene just after the lights started to blow out." One of the guards said.
"Oh, no it can't be you."
"Alice, do you know this guy?" I said to her.
The man smiled at Alice. "You don't remember me after all this time? I think you should, for it is the same man you defeated in Tokyo."
Alice looked at the man and saw a familiar face, a face she was hoping he would never see again. "Spike…"
Wonderful! First, the Alice concert is ruined. Now, Emily and the girls have to find out why Spike is on the stage. And what was it with that mosh pit anyway? You will have to hold out for Chap 4, after I finish that term paper. (Lousy college.)
